Multiverse Crisis MUSH - User contributions [en]

5896/Dark Lady: To Catch A Thief

2018-06-05T12:00:55Z

MoreBeer:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/06/02
|Location=Japan- SAO - Earth
|Synopsis=Yuuki tries to defeat a foe without actually fighting!
|Cast of Characters=874, 6
|Tinyplot=The Dark Lady
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     While it's true Yuuki doesn't have a jealous bone in her body, she does feel a little left-out that several of the team have met their goals while she's been... well, while she's been coasting along. Participating, but not really taking an active role. She more wants to show her friends that she's taking this seriously than she wants to prove her skill, but there's a bit of both in the mix.     And so, it's time for her cunning plan. She's passed off a few joking comments about how she wants to convince the remaining 'heroes' that they're not really evil. Or not all that evil. Or maybe just not bad guys despite being evil. She's commented how they could seduce the heroes to their side, just like they did with the priestess and with Bolt. And now... she's run off.     Not that anyone's too likely to notice. There's no reason to expect Yuuki to be hanging around in the Dark Lady's castle right now after all. She's got school to do, and other stuff besides. The same things she's been doing all along. Only this time she's sneaking out of the castle in her full Ninja uniform (such as it is). Taking to wing, she heads off towards the last known location of the heroes, scouting about. Looking for a campfire or the like, or some other sign that they're around somewhere. Given the rough truce between the Heroes and the Evil Lady, she doesn't expect them to be exactly hiding. And if they're off their guard, she can execute the next stage of her plan.     Yuuki may not be great at stealth, but she doesn't really need to be to take advantage of darkness and the cover of trees. Once she finds the heroes, she's going to camp out and spy on them, hoping to isolate the fairy twin that seems to be her target. Then she can sneak up and ninja him. Or rather, since she doesn't actually like to do that sort of thing, she can show him that she COULD have ninjaed him... and use that to lead into a nice conversation where she can show him they're really not so bad. Really. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe has always been able to count on Yuuki in time past, she just didn't' quite click to what was going through Yuuki's head. Still Tomoe was busy holding court today to keep her minions in line and away from the various inhabited areas in the region, also having to make it not sound like she was sabotaging herself. So Yuuki was off on her plan so far as Tomoe knew and the current Dark Lady? Had no idea just what Yuuki was going to get up to. With several of the heroes down, or having given up their artifacts? Brick Slabmeat's party was down to half of its old number. So they are spread out, and the male thief has made camp for the night and is cooking something over a fire, maybe a rabbit? It's hard to tell, what is clear though from how small the campsite is? He's not paying too much attention as he grills his dinner. The spiggan mutters something then pauses as eventually he will notices that Yuuki gets close that she could have shanked him. "You didn't attack what do you want?" The tone isn't pleasant, think like Numan meeting Jerry levels of oh it is /you/. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki HAD considered dropping out of a tree to startle the poor hero, but fortunately thought better of it. Or more likely, got bored and decided to make a move before he walked out into the forest to take care of business. Good thing too, really. If she were a thoughtful imp, she might have realized that scaring someone in THAT particular state might have unpleasant consequences.     She just beams happily, though most of the effect is muffled by the scarf she wears. Yuuki seems oblivious to his tone. "I just wanted to talk." she claims cheerfully. "Say, that isn't a ragout rabbit is it? I mean you're as fast as me, so I bet you could catch one. But I don't think you'd be cooking it like that if it was a ragout rabbit, right? Still they're SOOOOO goood!" she gushes. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe he looks at the food roasting over the fire. "It is, there were other rabits but they were off." Likely local rabits that predate the fusion of the data and material worlds. "It's food, I caught it and didn't have to pay for it." He's one of those who uses the rare foods just like someone else would but there's a faint smirk. "So the Dark Lady's ninja lives her meat huh? Really what do you want if your not here to kill me?" 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki blinkblinks at the man when he sources the food. Her eyes go wide, partly in longing, and partly in abject distress over such a delicious food item going to waste by being cooked mundanely. "I even know a max-level cook." she says mournfully. Then shakes her head. This isn't why she's here! Well, not why she initially came anyways.     She sighs, then seats herself near the fire, holding her arms out towards it. "I really doubt this'll work. I *know* that the best way to convince someone you're serious is to prove it by fighting. And maybe it'll come to that anyways, you and me. Me fighting for the Dark Lady, you fighting for... uh... you know, I don't even know what you really believe in. It can't just be that we're evil, right?" she asks simply.     She shrugs, then reaches up to push back her scarf, unwrapping it to reveal she's not a hideous evil-looking ninja after all. Just a small imp. "I figure you'd expect us to only solve things by fighting, so I decided I'd try the other way. Two of your friends were willing to trust us, so I thought I'd try. If you tell me what you're fighting for and why, I'll tell you the same. Any questions you have, I'll answer as best I can. Promise." 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' The thief is pausing though he is putting some spices on it at the very least. "Is it Deidra Longwing? What have you put her to work feeding your Dark Lady's legion of terror?" he asks while the rare classed rabbit cooks on the spit. "What you sound like Misty now. Talking with her fists and all that." She looks at the nip longer for a moment. "Bolt and our dear healer have lost it. I don't know what your /did/ to them to make them give up like that." "So questions? Fine why are you doing this what does the Dark Lady want with all this and us, you seem very keen in keeping us all alive? What does she want to body jump into us later or put you all in our bodies? What does she want with this area or the strange people who have those freaky blunt ears down by the coast? Why do you really put on this act of caring so much? What is your game and don't think I have forgotten what was done to my sister." 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     "Y-yes..." Yuuki agrees, gulping. It's true, they did put Deidra to work. Well, more like allowed her to do it. "She volunteered, I think. She's a better cook than any of us at the castle, and now she's kinda running the kitchen."     The 'ninja' girl grins at the description of Misty. "I think I like her." she admits. "Say, what's your name? I know the names of most of you, but I can't just call you 'Misty's Brother' can I?" she asks, then shakes her head. It's not super-important, it's just polite. "Oh, my name's Yuuki." she adds. "And I have no idea what the Dark Lady wants. I'm just helping her because she's one of my best friends." claims the imp girl. She COULD explain the humans, if she could figure out a good way to do so, but it's tough to describe. "Look, uh... I could try to explain the area, and the humans. And maybe even why we care, I think. It's true though, I'm doing this for my friend. But I think I understand something of what's going on, if you really want to know. And I'm not really sure you do." 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' The man pauses for a moment "...Trying to keep her out of the kitchen is like saying one can't fly." Is all he has to say on that, maybe the food was that bad that Deidra was a massive improvement. The Ninja girl reaction to Misty gets a bit of a facepalm. "Now there are two...of them." He looks for a moment "Misty's the monk she's not my sister." HE makes a face. "Jiton Starwind. My sister is Jita Starwind." HE looks at Yuuki for a moment. "Yuuki? Strange name and wait she's seriously your friend? How could someone like that have friends. "There are legends about people of Aincard who were not fairies wait are you saying that's they are? That the people here are from the floating castle?! How did they get down without wings, it would be too far even to leap when it was over water." She has him engaged now he's talking to her and the talk goes on. "So your doing this for your friend the Dark Lady and what do you mean by that I don't know what I'm doing?!" 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki winces at the misunderstanding, but she's used to screwing up. "Jiton! Oh, I should've known because of the punch comment... I'm sorry!" she laughs, amused at her folly. "I mean, it's okay. I like all of you. You fight for what you believe in!" she claims. Then pauses. "At least one of you is a bit of a jerk sometimes, but I guess I don't really mind that much either." she confesses, grinning. "Just like I like the Dark Lady. I knew her before she became that, and she's a really nice girl. Soooo~ I want to help her. And I don't want to see you guys hurt because you're trying to do the right thing. But thing is, well..."     Yuuki pauses, shaking her head. "Look, maybe you can talk later with the others and confirm this. For now, I'll tell you what I know. And you'll just have to not believe me." she says. "This isn't Alfheim. You might call it Midgard, the realm of Men, but that's not even entirely right." she explains. Yes, she's looked some of this up. "None of us fairies really belong here. Not you, not your friends, not me, not the Dark Lady, not the villagers nearby. We've all been sent here from Alfheim, and I honestly don't know why. Or even who did it." 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Jiton for a moment "Accepted." He looks Yukki wondering where she's going with that. "Wait she wasn't always the Dark Lady and you keep saying she's nice?!" He's very confused and must-see Tomoe how many people your typical dark lord or tinpot dictator. "Midgard but that's just a myth....then again the castle exists." SHe looks right at her for a moment. "You're saying we crossed into another world?! The world that the natives of the Castle came from?!" 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     "She IS nice!" Yuuki insists. "I owe my life to her and some other friends. And even if I didn't owe her my life, I'd still be her friend and help her with anything!" she says hotly.     Cooling down slightly, Yuuki has to consider the question for a bit, but mostly to see what Jiton means by it. The truth of it is fairly evident. "Yes, this was originally a land of humans. Now, some of Alfheim has been moved here. Your part. My part." she explains. "The Dark Lady - Tomoe - is just trying to protect innocents here." Yuuki pauses, considers just how much she can say without risking the questline. Then decides to go for it, at least in part. "She became the Dark Lady to protect people who couldn't protect themselves." she finally says. It's the truth, and she could surely say more, but let the Heroes think them all evil if they want. Yuuki doesn't really care what others think. This much truth is all she thinks she needs to say for now.     Yuuki pauses, considers, then gets up. "That's why we don't want to fight you if we don't have to. I'd rather you join us than fight us." she says.     Abruptly Yuuki draws her short sword, flourishing it, then wheeling it to point at Jiton hilt-first. She holds it out, arm fully extended, unflinching. "I'm sorry what happened to your sister. Give her my sword. I know it probably doesn't make up for her loss, but..." she pauses, shrugs, waggles the blade. "And if you still believe in your cause, I'll fight you. Maybe both of you, or all of you together. I believe in my friends that much. But not until I get another weapon!" she grins playfully. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' The classic ate the dark power to keep someone worse from getting it? He kinda stares for at Yuuki, this is getting wild too wild to be just randomly thought up. "She claimed the power so someone else didn't get it?" He looks confused she could have killed him at any point now and with Bolt and the Priestess having just backed off and /got/ rid their items of power. He looks to Yuuki again whose earnest nature is getting his attention. "So you are saying he became ..." He pauses as he takes the blade for a moment looking at Yuuki long and hard as he checks the blade, he mutters a spell, it appears he's checking it for curses, there appear to be none. "All right this blade is clean maybe you are not lying. You really seem to like to fight, yet I never heard of you. You think a fairy like you would be known to the arena at the world tree." He tilts his head and then looks at Yuuki "Bolt said ... the city your Dark Lady burned doesn't exist." 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     So someone else didn't get it? Yuuki frowns, not entirely sure that's the truth. And she doesn't want to lie, so the truth really does matter to her. "More like it had to be done so we could try to find a way to put things right." she hedges. It's true enough, right? If Tomoe hadn't accepted the mantle of Dark Lady, Cardinal would've just warped some other quest into place. Tomoe HAD to accept, or things would get worse. Or something like that.     Yuuki giggles, entirely unlike an evil ninja imp, at Jiton's spellcasting result. As if she'd be messing about with cursed blades, or stoop to something so unfair! That'd be.... evil! "Check out the city for yourself. Talk to Bolt and the others. I might be lying to you!" she insists brightly, making a shooing gesture to the thief. "For what it's worth I don't know if it exists or not. I just know it's not in THIS world. And if it was destroyed, it was destroyed before Tomoe became the Dark Lady. But if we have to accept responsibility for that city in order to see this through, then yes it's our fault." Without Tomoe, Yuuki and the others accepting the quest, the city might never have been destroyed. Then again if they hadn't accepted the quest, Jiton and the others might not have been created either. That's a bit too much truth though, Yuuki imagines. Let them clear the quest first. When it's clear, they can work on helping the heroes deal with their existential issues. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Jiton has the blade now and thinks about this for a moment "I have talked to Bolt about it. Brick seems to think it's a trick." He grits his teeth for a moment "Your right I'll have to see it for myself. Your saying that Tomoe is cursed to he the Dark Lady to keep worse from happening? Fine here's the deal I'm going to find Bolt and we're going to go see the city. If it's somehow not there I'll give you my daggers, that a deal?" 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki peers at Jiton, then flashes one of her broad, sunny grins that surely seems entirely out of place on an evil henchwoman. "Just be careful of the humans. They'll probably be afraid of you and they'd see you as the invaders." she warns. "Plus I'm pretty sure what you'll find. You don't have to give me your daggers, just decide whether your cause is one worth fighting for. If it is, I'll fight you! If you'd rather join us, I'll fight beside you! You only should give up the daggers if you decide you can't fight on either side." she offers.     And with that, the ninja girl wraps up her face again. "Be sure to say hi to Jita and Misty for me!" she says with another flashing smile, this time hidden, before she retreats into the darkness. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' He looks to yuuki for a moment "Right, I'm a theif not a bandit." He makes a face for a moment and then he watches Yuuki wrap up her face and get ready to go vanishing into the darkness. He meanwhile gets up and calls out. "Bolt! We need to talk!" 
}}

5896/Dark Lady: To Catch A Thief

2018-06-05T11:53:51Z

MoreBeer:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/06/02
|Location=Japan- SAO - Earth
|Synopsis=Yuuki tries to convince a foe... WITHOUT fighting for once!
|Cast of Characters=Tomoe, Yuuki Konno
|Tinyplot=Dark Lady
}}
{{Poses}}

5896/Dark Lady: To Catch A Thief

2018-06-03T03:29:56Z

MoreBeer: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2018/06/02 |Location=Japan- SAO - Earth |Synopsis=Yuuki tries to convince a foe... WITHOUT fighting for once! |Cast of Characters=Tomoe, Yuuki Konn..."

5226/Welcome to Our World

2017-04-29T04:07:57Z

MoreBeer: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2017/04/28 |Location=SAO-1 Earth |Synopsis=A monstrous giant comes from the sea and attacks Tokyo. |Cast of Characters=874, 960, 571, 215, 968, 714..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2017/04/28
|Location=SAO-1 Earth
|Synopsis=A monstrous giant comes from the sea and attacks Tokyo.
|Cast of Characters=874, 960, 571, 215, 968, 714, 631, 42, 973, 1, 6, 385, 680
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     In the days since the World Reload, Japan has been watching the skies. The immense flying castle Aincrad is not, so far, a threat. It slowly flies there some hundred kilometers off the coast like an alien mothership from a science fiction movie. It hasn't attacked Japan, and Japan collectively has seen enough movies to not attack first. They still watch the skies however.     They should have been watching the seas. Like some other types of movies, the threat to Tokyo rises from the waves. The giant kaiju hits the shore before anyone even realizes it's there. Unlike certain other kaiju however, this one doesn't just randomly start to destroy. It's also not a giant fire-breathing lizard. No, this one's a man-shaped giant, black-skinned, red-eyed, with two horned heads and four mighty arms. It's huge, some eight meters tall, and with muscles that would have been huge on a normal-sized creature. On this giant, they're colossal.     Radio and television begin to pick up on the monster. Response to it is slow. At first, the only resistance is scattered and ineffective. Tokyo police take shots at it as it passes. Those who are out of its way are ignored; pistol bullets apparently ineffective against its iron-hard skin. Those who stand in its path are crushed, either by one of its monstrous hammers, a sweep of the long chains worn around its waist, or stomped underneath a charging foot. Cars and even some of the smaller buildings suffer a similar fate, though the giant doesn't appear to seek destruction. It just moves through obstacles in its path, striking out only at threats, not caring as it clambers over cars or small buildings that they weren't designed to support its incredible weight.     At least, it crushed all in its way for a time. A small group has managed so far to avoid being crushed. Five colourful figures flit around it, trying to destroy the monster. They appear to not be having much luck. They've slowed it, but every time they try to draw it off its path it turns away and returns to its course. Not that they're trying very effectively. They seem... hesitant to fully engage. As if they're afraid. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Several among the Gatecrashers would recognize the party of five faerie warriors. A Gnome with heavy armor and a shield, a Salamander with a greatsword, a Spriggan armed with a warhammer, a Leprechaun wielding a spear and a staff-wielding Sylph. Even to those who don't recognize them, they have the same visual interface of other Augma users, marking them clearly enough as Alfheim Online players skilled enough to have earned the mysterious transformation device.     They're in a bad spot. The giant, though familiar, is at least twice as big as any they've seen before. It's much stronger and tougher as well. The only reason they haven't been squashed flat or driven off is that the creature is outdoors, letting them fly out of range of it before healing back some of their wounds. Even so they look to be considerably more damaged than it is.     Of course, for those who know who they are, their purpose here should be obvious. While they're impressive fighters at the highest ends of the current crop of Alfheim Online players, they're not exactly crusading heroes. Not in the real world at least. The five of them, even when they'd had access to Wander Mode, didn't typically leave the VR worlds without their leader, and without a solid reason. Clearly they've figured out what lies at the end of the two-headed giant's vicious attack, and despite all their skill and determination they're faring poorly without the heart of their team to lead them.     As to the monster's destination? It's in sight. Not right there, not quite yet, but visible in an open space in the distance between several other buildings. A fairly large complex, taking up a sizeable city block. It's a hospital, one of the most advanced of this near-futuristic world. It wasn't, unfortunately, built to stand up to a kaiju attack. 

:'''{{#var:960|Kain (960)}} has posed:'''     Speed was his game, and he was going to use it as Kain kicked his flight up as fast as possible! Thankfully not much cloud cover at this time of day. Sun shining brightly give his wings physical form as he kicks forward as fast as possible towards the Tokyo Center where the CARDINAL boss would be headed!     It was not hard to find the large monster tromping around in Tokyo... it kinda sticks out! He kept his distance for now. Last thing he wanted was to just go in without any info at all and get suddenly one-shot.     Kain kicks on his radio and signals out to the rest of the Gatecrashers. "This is Kain. I'm in the air near the creature. I've not entered its aggro radius yet. I'm thinking on making a quick fly-by to try and get an idea of its attack pattern. Go or no go?" Kain waited for some of the more experienced members of the Gatecrashers to weigh in on their thoughts. 

:'''{{#var:571|Alexis Maaka (571)}} has posed:'''     Desdemona is, true to her word, setting up.     However, she can't exactly bring her in-game avatar to the physical world, but she has something way better. Something much better than the Nanbu .38 specials the cops have and the 9mm SMGs SAT can bring to bear. Positioned on an office building rooftop, she reveals herself via comms.     She has a Barrett .50 BMG loaded and zeroed, as she takes aim at the behemoth coming down the street. "Okay, you big sod, show me your weak spot..."     She requests over radio for any weaknesses to be identified, but she's keeping a sharp eye on the creature as it approaches, holding off on firing while she waits for the beast to show its hand first. Can't let it know where she hides just yet, after all. 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:''' If there's one good thing about taking something in real life as opposed to a virtual reality setting, it's the fact that Iria is able to utilize her skills as an elite bounty hunter to gain an advantage over her foes. Even if this is a lot huger than what she's generally taken on in the past, it doesn't bother her, since she figures it's a great chance to improve her skills as a bounty hunter. From up in the sky, Iria glides in on her Teppidan, using the hang glider mode to give herself a bit more speed to get into the area, then dismounts from it, landing on a nearby rooftop, while her Teppidan returns to her home via autopilot. She quickly checks her weapons, making sure she's got plenty of ammunition for her bazooka, her assault rifle, and even her hand gun. She also checks to make sure her chain-katana is ready for use if the need for it should arise. "We're not playing any more video games!" Iria comments with an evil grin. "We're playing for real now!" Her grin gets slightly bigger. "This is gonna be real fun!" She stares at the giant creature and says, "Prepare to be taken down by a girl who knows a thing or two about taking down big things!" 

:'''{{#var:968|Nicky (968)}} has posed:''' Not build to withstand a kaiju attack is also the small Udon booth, in which Nicky had taken a nice cup of noodles when the the monster came through the wall behind her. Plowing through the tables, sending splinters through the room and surprising the girl with the shaking thunderstruck, of the roof starting to come down, Nicky vanishes in a small cloud of cream-white mist.     Within moments - the giant nonchalantly walking past the cloud, only disturbing it slightly in his march - the mist starts to contract, pulling together and condensing into a fox-shaped stuffed animal of the same off-white color the cloud had had... just it sprouts about 8 tails too much.     Flailing, the Kitsune-plushie tumbles onto the floor, the giant breaking through the other wall meanwhile, and Nicky is doomed to just shake tiny fists after it for messing with her lunch! Those were good noodles! But of course, one can't hear Nicky's scream... plushies are mute after all. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:''' What. The hell. This was not the way the plan was supposed to work at all. Sanary had been on her way to the hospital, clad in her usual white coat bearing a slightly faded emblem recognizable to some as a captain's insignia for what was formerly known as the Confederacy. She was suposed to show up at the hospital, flash her badge, claim eminent domain or something, and then smash a few walls until an unlikely young hero stopped her.      Granted, the plan probably would have worked better if she had TOLD anyone about it first. And also if a giant siamese S&M demon didn't decide this would be the best time to come rampaging through Japan. Still, maybe she can work with this. Somehow.      She'll figure out the plan on the way. For now, however, Sanary finishes off the last of her sandwich before taking to the skies, her anklets roaring to life and propelling her straight towards the giant. Calling upon the power of WILDLY SPINNING, the axe-wielder starts... Well, spinning at an angle with a giant mechanical axe taller than herself, apparently intending to slam it right into the center mass of the monster with all that built up speed.      And maybe puke a little. Spinning is not as easy as it looks! 

:'''{{#var:631|Reker (631)}} has posed:''' You know it's funny. A week ago, Reker was sitting in GGO, thinking about how awesome it would be to bring his avatar to bear against ALO monsters. They'd never know what hit them, having to deal with guns and explosives instead of swords and magic. Then the event happened...And now he can do just that. The screech of tires can be heard behind the mercenary Maaka, and if she looks behind her, she'll see what it is. A large uparmored LTV pulls up, and the driver shifts positions and gets up onto the mounted .50 M2. "Welcome to the real world, jack ass!" Reker yells, as he presses down on the butterfly trigger and starts to spit some VERY REALISTIC digital lead towards the monster. THUMP THUMP THUMP. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     A giant monster is attacking Tokyo.     That means a giant robot has to show up to fight it, right? Right.     A plane-shaped construct of gleaming metal dives out of the sky, slowing a bit as it nears the ground, unfolding arms and legs as it stops to hover before its body transforms and it lands, a humanoid twice the height of the monster standing in the street a block or so away, facing it. Those who've seen the Star Hawk before might notice it's carrying a different giant futuristic gun instead of its handheld missile launcher. It stands tall and imposing, as if to say in a language even a giant monster can understand: I'm bigger than you.     "This is your last chance." Staren announces over loudspeakers. "Turn back, or face annihilation. Unless you feel like talking."     The mecha hefts its weapon and takes aim, with the ominous whine of electronics powering up. It doesn't fire unless the monster moves towards it or attacks someone, though. 

:'''{{#var:973|Silica (973)}} has posed:'''     Keiko is pushing her legs to their limit, her bicycle giving off a mild hum as it skims across the asphalt towards the location of the disturbance. She spots the light trails of the Sleeping Knights, then hops off her bike, quickly loops the chain around something, then sets her Augma into place. "Child of Beasts. LINK START!" She strikes a pose, as the Augma wraps her in her Avatar... then deploys her wings and leaps into the air to join the others. She opens her menu midflight, and taps a gold rimmed item and picks: Release. Pina emerges in a flare of digital light, and roars shrilly as she falls in beside the tamer. "We have to stop it. Pina, we're on support duty." she says to her companion, who gives a nod and chirrup in response. 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:''' IT's bad enough that there's a MONSTER attacking his Tokyo. That enough has Kirito's blood running cold. Hell, it's a dreadful doomsday scenario he'd theorized to be quite possible since unification. He just prayed and prayed it would NEVER become reality.     The Multiverse just l oves to spite him.     Time to act.     A new black streak swoops around and clashes against the Giant's arm, striking with precision after a swing into the back of one of its legs. The impact scatters sparks everywhere... but how effective it might've been remains to be seen.     KIRITO swoops away from the impact, Elucidator in one hand and Excaliber in the other. "Crap, that barely scratched it--!"     Kirito swoops away from the thing, coming to land just outside the creature's path on a lower-standing building's rooftop. He's still baring steel at the creature, but seems to be deep in thought and rapidly puzzling out just WHAT to do.     Then he recognizes the creature. "The boss of Floor 27's Labyrinth... The Four-Armed Giant." The Black Swordsman says through grinding teeth. But why, WHY is it here? Why is it making a beeline for...?     "...Is it out for revenge....? Like Nicholas the Renegade's Rematch...?!"     His breath catches in the next moment, as he sees the rising smoke. Hears screams. The mess this thing's leaving in its wake... lives might've been lost.     Kirito shivers and trembles. It's been so long since he heard such screaming. The noises are sending fears he'd buried slashing down his spine like a cold knife blade. His grip clenches even more tightly 'round his trusted weapons... 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe had been at the house talking with Kirito's mother about everything. Things had been rocky when she first showed up to rent a room several years ago but things had become far better after that. Even with some rather hilarious cultral misunderstandings on both sides. However at the report Sheena had taken off running. She'd grabed Aguma and shouted out. "LINK START!" Tomoe took Sheena's place and her wings flared out. A moment later she takes off at top speed for the Kaiju and a sickening feeling filled her stomach. They should have never spread the world seed they should have let the Wretched Technology Heathciff made die with him. No this wasn't Heathcliff's fault he made it long before the multiverse, it's more the fault of the multiverse in the end. She'd already firing off invites to the rest of the responders whom she's able too as she flies in a bit after Kirito. "Don't know going to put it back in the bone yard, Kirito..." There's fear in Tomoe a lot of itbut also anger. Whatever had caused this drove the rest of the world into a massive death game. She couldn't get her hands on the cause but the thing threatening Tokyo? She damn well could. She's alredy chanting as fe flies in and is firing off her taunts and several low levle light spells to get it's attention she's going to get right up in it's grill. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     The two-headed giant roars, flailing about with its chain. Too defensively, the fairy warriors engaging it leap back and aside. They're quick, but they're not used to real-world consequences. The damage they've taken so far HURTS, and worse they know that if it catches them full-on with one of its monstrous attacks it could kill them. At one time the Sleeping Knights were ready to die. Now though, reprieved, they find life sweet and not so easy to give up on.     The monster reels as it's struck by high-caliber gunfire. The bullets stitch a pattern of red across it, much like the blades of the fairie warriors do. Not huge splashes of red, fortunately. Reker would recognize his effectiveness based on experience with GGO monsters. It'll take some time to whittle this monster's health down yet. The creature flinching is more due to the surprise of the attack than a damage-stun. It roars, and breathes out a cloud of purple gas in his direction. His and Maaka's, as it expands as it flies out. The two have some time before it reaches them, but not much.     Staren's answer, it seems, will come much more quickly. The two-headed giant charges, swinging one of its monstrous spiked hammers. Sometimes, it's just not a good idea to be a bigger target. The beast may not be as large but it appears to be a floor boss. Meant to be a challenge to a full raid worth of people. It probably can't destroy the giant robot outright or anything, but it's probably not a good idea to trade blows with it either.     The giant otherwise ignores other attackers, giving a moment's break to those who are engaging it in melee. They'll get their chances to attack, cutting huge red digital rents into the beast. Its HP bar is being depleted, but there are more bars underneath. The red-armored Salamander Knight, currently tanking the giant, leaps and rolls out of the way of its charge. Seeing others come to join the fight, he flashes a brilliant smile and a raised fist in salute before turning back to chase the foe, trying to catch up and get a hit in. The others follow, though not quite so quickly. 

:'''{{#var:571|Alexis Maaka (571)}} has posed:'''     [Plug your ears.]]     Maaka sniffles briefly before she takes a breath, clutching her .50 cal. Sighting down the behemoth's chest, once Silica brings up that weak spot, she stares down the crystal. Focusing only on it, she waits and waits before the creature stays still.     Then, she fires. The Barrett kicks against her shoulder mildly, muffled by her coat's thick material as Maaka fires on the crystal on the giant's chest, aiming to shatter it by the time she's done. 

:'''{{#var:960|Kain (960)}} has posed:'''     Okay. Kain's got this... weak spots on any humanoid... backs of the knees, neck, nape... strong strikes at any of those spots can deal decent damage... but then Silica mentions a jewel on its chest... good a spot as any... sweeping around and holding his ears as the very loud gunshot rings out, he pulls towards the front and unsheathes his Rapier, holding it upside down as he places a hand to the pommel and chanting! "Ek fleygja þrír geirr muspilli!" Three blazing spears of fire shoot from the jeweled pommel of the Rapier, aimed right for the jewel on the Giant's chest! Even if this wasn't a weak point, that would definitely be a hardy blow! 

:'''{{#var:973|Silica (973)}} has posed:'''     Silica shifts her flight path, after sending the others the invite to the raid group. Even the non-Augma users would get one! Thanks to the way the new world seems to work. Her shift, has her coming in from above as the giant comes to a stop after its last charge, hey eyes glowing brightly as she looks for the weakspot, that crystal the Sleeping Knights had told them about the smaller version in the ALO version of Aincrad. She vectors in, a machcone forming before her(Not an actual one, but a VFX for her hitting some kind of speed cap.), as she brandishes her dagger. "Kyyaaahahahahaaaahaha!" she lets out as a warcry, while her dagger glows bright white-blue.     If she finds it, she stabs her dagger into the crystal, then slams her feet into the giant's chest and launches herself away again as the ice explodes out of her Glacier Slash. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:''' After finding the axe sinking into not-digital-but-sort-of-digital flesh, Sanary rips her gunaxe out of the Giant and falls back several yards to get a better look at what she just slammed into. Yep, that's a... Torso. Just how big is this thing?!      No matter. As long as it dies, that's all that matters! Spotting Silica charging into the free, Sanary pumps energy into her anklets to meet up with her halfway (and hitting the weird symbol that appears about a raid group which she somehow recognizes). The healer doesn't move to get in her way, but instead...      "I got your back. Just don't get too far!" Sanary calls out as she directs a cloud of that energy Silica's way, providing the beast tamer with a sizable boost to her power and endurance.      Never mind how this seemingly unknown person could recognize Silica just from hearing her once or anything. 

:'''{{#var:631|Reker (631)}} has posed:''' The .50 caliber machine gun on Reker's truck continues to spit fire, until he notices the incoming gas attack. He drops out of the turret and back into the driver's seat, slamming the truck into gear and pulling down an alleyway. He hopes this stuff can't turn corners, but just to be safe opens up his inventory and equips a rebreather. Won't last long but should help negate whatever debuff that gas will give him. He hopes. He opts to abandon the truck for now, hopping out and de-summoning it, hoofing it on foot until he can get into a better position to fire. He has an idea. A terrible idea, but an idea none the less. He just needs to be very close to the monster to hit that weak point with his idea. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' This isn't supposed to happen. Not in their real world - Kirito, Silica, Yuuki, and their friends aren't supposed to have to fight monsters in the real, waking, offline world. So when the Gatecrashers mentioned a monster in Tokyo, both the long day of rehearsals and lessons and the previous day's emotional travails are wiped away by a cold wave of adrenaline - fear for her friends' well-being. As such, when Yuna Kagurazaka emerges from the nearest warpgate, she's flying as close to Mach 1 as she dares test her Flight Form's capability for sustained high speeds. She still has to pull up *hard* to avoid plowing into traffic; Jiina and Marina, flying behind her, are considerably better at adjusting course in a hurry - and as usual, of course, the little robo-faerie Elner doesn't even bat a nonexistent eyelash: it just teleports to a good aerial vantage point, beginning to study out the situation even as Yuna and the rest of the Matrix of Light hasten to join the fray. It's clear enough when Yuna arrives, announcing her presence with a brief series of high-powered shots from the Matrix Divider - not aiming for that little jewel in the chest, but blasting the monster in both of its faces. She can't aim precisely enough to shoot any of its eyes out, and a blinded monster could be more dangerous than it is with its vision (if not to the fighters, then to the local architecture and civilians) ... but shooting people or things in the face tends to be a great way to get their attention, and Yuna wants to draw aggro AWAY from the Gatecrashers for the time being. She just has to stay out of range of counterattacks, at least for the time being. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Aaand it charges. Staren fires a three-pulse burst from the mecha-scale laser rifle at its center of mass and then raises that arm as the monster comes in too close for him to use it, holding the left hand out with the palm forward to try and catch the monster, the giant spiked hammers impacting the mecha's armor plating with a shower of sparks and leaving large dents. He can't just sit there and let it beat on him, but he's willing to tank its attention for a few seconds and give the others a chance to wail on it with everything they've got. Some kind of beam weapon in the leg packs fires a volley or two, but it isn't very powerful.     Then he leaps back (and he has rear cameras to make sure he doesn't jump into a building or anything, and he'll /try/ not to crush any cars) before firing another triple pulse followed by a long burst from the forearm-mounted gatling railgun.     If it follows him again, then he'll know he can lead it. And if he can lead it, well... He's not sure exactly what to do with that yet, but it's surely important! 

:'''{{#var:968|Nicky (968)}} has posed:''' Plushing out just in front of a giant, that quickly turns into the center of a battlefield is not a smart move. As bullets fly, the sound of .50 BMG reminds her, that she left her own remington... somewhere. You can't walk through Tokyo with a hunting rifle, right? But that doesn't matter: that bastard destroyed her lunch! Pissed, the ninetails-plushie called Nicky jumps up and tries to persue the giant, but falls back in speed - that is untill she manages to calm herself enough to turn into a misty cloud again, expanding rapidly and re-condensing as the quite dusted, but otherwise unhurt Nicky.     Persuing on foot through the trail the giant leaves, Nicky uses the rubble trail like a ramp to get some height, then vaults herself forwards, grabbing a streetlight to redirect her momentum more upwards in a swing and through the broken window of a second floor. Over the tables the destroyed office, she dashes after the giant, still the chopsticks in her left hand. On the other side of the building, she jumps up, barely passing the frame of a fallen over truck, just to land next to the poor policeman trapped under it on two feet and a hand. Even as she can't really use his gun... it is more than nothing. Swiping it from the KOed man's holster, she speeds up to finally close in on the giant...     "You owe me my LUNCH!" Nicky yells as she starts to try to climb up on the back of the giant, ignoring the other combattants, the pistol in her left. Pulling herself up, she plans to try to do what the Purifiers do... 9mm Parabellum applied to the foramen magnum. If she reaches it. 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:''' Death and pain. Real consequences. Kirito's breathing slowly steadies as thoughts of SAO flash through his head. This might be a fight they can't win. He's not ready. He's not ready AT ALL. Even if the smartest thing to do might be to fly away from this and never look back... he can't do that.     He absolutely CANNOT abandon this fight, even though he's not ready. If he does so, innocents will die. Yuuki will probably die. His other friends, too...     The shakey breathing ceases as the boy's will to fight surges into a fury that's been deeply hidden over these few years of peace and tomfoolery.     A ferocious, blood-curdling battle roar is his only words for the beast. It echoes down alleys and across rooftops, sure to draw attention from anyone who hears it.     Though just as quickly, he's not on that rooftop anymore. His wings are once again out, and WHOOOOOOSH - he's springing straight for the creature's front!     One of Kirito's blades shines white, the other black. The powers of Light and Dark gather together and cast motes of starlight from his blades as he whips about and up for the Giant's oversized face!     "FALL! FAAAAAAAAALL!!" The impact of blade against thick hide will almost certainly cause an effect like fireworks, explosions of white and dark that light up the skies. The impact is titanic and would certainly be decisive against most other players. Against this giant though... 

:'''{{#var:680|Nagato (680)}} has posed:'''     It's one thing to play ALO, but when Nagato hears the words of a monster from those games in the real world... She's off as fast as her turbines will let her to the nearest warpgate. "Well, didn't expect this to happen." comes a mutter under her breath. "Been a while since a real sortie..." and out through the warpgate and into the version of Tokyo that Kirito and the rest are from... standing on the water, taking in information from Elner as soon as she got in.     Big... monstrous thing. Radar is pinging... she's got a mental lock on it. Turrets swing into place and elevate, "Type One AP Shells loaded. Firing solution obtained... Compensating for movement..." Nagato skates a bit forward, all four turrets 'locked on' as best as she can. "FIRE!" comes her shout, echoing over the waves as eight barrels eject the white shells with a resounding thunder-like bang, traveling in a, at least for her, majestic arc towards the humongous thing.     Okay, load next shell. Get ready to fire. give them long range support, that's what this battleship is going to do. It'd take her too long, even when running to get to a physical confrontation in melee. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     As the battle begins in earnest, the giant shifts up its attack patterns. As more people swarm in on it, it attacks back with several sweeps and swings of its chains. They'll flail at the fliers, though the threat there comes mostly from the wind of the chain's attack. The giant is spinning and whirling while it attacks, so Nicky's going to have a hard time clinging to it. It also sweeps the chains along the ground, a more immediate threat for grounded melee fighters. And as they jump and roll and try to avoid, it brings up one of those monstrous hammers to smash down on any caught midair, unable to dodge.     This would be one of those new patterns no one's seen before. The ones that kill people who believe they've seen it all before.     The giant lets out a roar however, and abruptly flinches back. It tucks its arms in, covering its chest. An attack managed to slam home into its weak point. In the chaos it could've been anyone. As quickly as the giant whirls around, that weak point's tricky as hell to hit. Skill though, or luck, either way it saves lives, interrupting the giant's attack that likely would've crushed someone.     Within the hospital, secreted in an upper-floor chamber and entombed within a medical device, Yuuki watches the scene with horror. Not with her eyes of course. Those haven't opened in years. She sees everything through the transmissions of the medicuboid, watching through VR. It's not all horror though. It's excitement, pride... even some embarrassment. She heard what was going on earlier, though she kept quiet while they talked on the channel she's almost always listening to. She's not about to blame Kirito for letting them know what hospital she was in. Not when the Two-Headed Giant was so obviously heading there for her.     She wants to be out there. She wasn't kidding about how much she wants to. Her frustration at being confined to VR after being free to roam the multiverse, her fear at seeing friends risking their lives for her... and of course the rush of impending battle, right there literally before her. She's never wanted anything so bad in her life.     Yuuki closes her virtual eyes, not entirely wanting to see the battle through the shaky hand-held videos of the Tokyo populace. Instead, she's THERE. She can hear the fight, not through her ears but through the Gatecrasher's channel. She can see it in her mind's eye. She tries to will herself to go there... but it's futile. Her will, unyielding as it is, can't simply change reality. If only she could somehow move her body. But that too is impossible. Within the Medicuboid she feels no pain, and can move no muscle. The machine bypasses her central nervous system, dealing directly with her mind.     Staren's gunblast, geared as it is to this kind of fight, splashes the giant with red pixellated wounds. Individually more powerful than Reker's gunshots though they are, they're about equivalent in damage to his earlier volume of fire. A bar of health goes orange. When the crystal is struck the orange health bar drains and shatters immediately due to massive damage, but revealing more health bars to come.     Those health bars are suddenly at risk though. Battleship guns pound in the distance, and thanks to the accurate targeting from those close-by the shells strike home, shaving off large chunks of the newest green health bar.     Recovering from the brief stun of having its weak point attacked, the giant unfolds its arms and begins to flail about with hammers seemingly at random. While this is perhaps not as accurate as a targeted attack, it's a lot less predictable and chaotic, and attackers had best be careful! 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe has her mind focued on one thing imporant to her that's tanking this thing, to keep it away from otherss so the rest of the responders can send this thing back to where it came from. If this shows the nature of Cardinal? She's not liking this at all and some gears start to turn in the depths of Tomoe's mind. That's what she's foc uing on she keeps with the taunt attacks and she will also be flying at it moving to strike it with her sword even as she keeps her feet off the ground. "TWISTED MOCKERY OF WHAT IS SUPOSED TO BE A GAME!" She shouts at it nlt tht she thinks it will reply to her and she's damn well doing eveything she can to keep it on her as much as possible but things are not going well for her. 

:'''{{#var:973|Silica (973)}} has posed:'''     Silica's ears twitch... it's almost, very nearly, like she can hear the silent cry of the girl stuck in VR. Whether it's coincidence, or some kind of empathy, the Cait Sith breaks from the battle, pointing Pina towards Sanary. "Protect!". "Miss! You can give Pina orders with your voice. She'll listen to you." she explains quickly, before she bursts off towards the hospital, dropping low to the ground, as low as she dares without actually skimming the top of traffic. She doesn't tell anyone her plan, she needs maximum stealth for this.     So, instead of flying straight up to the front doors, likely choked with panicking people, the girl swings wide until she finds a service entrance, drops to the ground and dismisses her transformation, panting soft from the exhurtion of flight. Like running a marathon.     The beast tamer, now in her normal, human guise, slips into the building, and starts looking for a stairwell... what floor was it... she'd find out, even if it took time... lets just hope the others could hold that thing off long enough. 

:'''{{#var:960|Kain (960)}} has posed:'''     Kain would have been absolutely decimated by the wind catching him off guard, but thankfully everyone's attacks caused it to become staggered, giving him enough time to avoid the strike! "Too close! Guys, keep it busy! I'll be back with some help!" And with that, Kain was speeding off... towards the hospital! Was he...     Kain was quick to get there, probably arriving as the hospital itself was getting ready for evacuation procedures. He started looking around for one of the hospital attendees that looked to be in a head position. He was still in his ALO Avatar, 5'11", long flowing silver hair, his Rapier was sheathed on his hip and as he entered the hospital, his wings disappeared but they were as red as the longcoat he wore. 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:''' The others show up and begin their assault on the monster. When it roars, though, boy does it roar! It nearly blows Iria off her feet, but the bounty hunter isn't keen on being blown away today! She plants her feet firmly into the ground and stares down the huge beast with a look of defiance on her face. Even if it's not roaring directly at her, she's still not fazed by it one way or the other. "You talk the talk, but I doubt you can walk the walk!" She sneers a little. "How about I show you what I'm capable of?" She draws her grenade launcher and loads a shell into it. "It may be small, but big things come in small packages! Take THIS!" She yells out as she fires the grenade round at the beast. 

:'''{{#var:571|Alexis Maaka (571)}} has posed:'''     Maaka feels the roar of artillery from the seas, as Nagato lets loose with her shelling. Of course, she isn't going to sit around and watch herself.     She takes aim, before she's jarred off target by the roar of the monster itself. "SON OF A BITCH!" She exclaims in anger, as she nearly looses control and quickly takes her hand off the grip of the Barrett. Last thing she needs is to fire off target and either hit an ally, or end up shooting a civilian. That...would not be good.     She grunts angrily, before she begins to reasset her position and sights down the monster's ugly face. "Okay, so you wanna play this way? Fine by me." She growls, firing into the beast's eyes directly. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:''' As she cuts the magical line between her and Silica, Sanary braces the gunaxe in front of her to defend herself from the giant's oncoming chain. The healer takes that rather nasty hit head on, letting the momentum of the blow carry her back towards a building and landing with a shaky step.      Dodging is for nerds. Also, people that are actually fast. Coughing once and spitting out... No blood? Huh. No blood. She shakes her hands off to get that pain out, then blinks as a familiar... Familiar? Mini-dragon? Pet thing? A Pina appears, and Sanary blinks at it slowly before swapping the gunaxe for her Physic staff.      "Orders, huh? Alright... We're on support for now, then. If you got any buffs or healing abilities, get them on the attackers. If not..." She scrunches up her face in thought while raising the staff, directing a burst of healing magic Tomoe's way to try and mitigate some of the damage she's taking.      "... Shoot it with whatever you've got, but don't get too far away from me. Silica's gonna get pissed if I let you get hurt!" 

:'''{{#var:968|Nicky (968)}} has posed:''' Again and again, Nicky's attempts to get up on the giant are thwarted by his movement, his jerking, his dodging and her need to evade the chains. falling prone and barely flopping over the sqishing obstacles, she tries to make out a gap, only finding one when the giant halts stunned, the hammer about to strike her down. Saved by the bell?     Surprised just a split second, she takes the chance to scale the immoving beast, pressing the stolen gun into the spot where neck and left head combine and pulling the trigger.             BAM! CRTSCH!     For humans... a gun to the head is pretty much a death sentence. For this thing? Not so much... the gun and wrist of Nikcy on the other hand do have to follow newton's third law: Actio = Reactio. And with a nasty sound, the gun barrel bends, the sled getting forced off its rail, and the wrist taking a powerful blow, forcing the girl to wince and drop the useless weapon. "BASTARD!" she yells, still holding onto one of the horns with her right hand...     which is not the most smart idea as the artillery fire whistles in... with her ON the target... 

:'''{{#var:631|Reker (631)}} has posed:''' Reker had vanished from the battlefield. Most unlike him. He's not the type to run away from a fight, after all. It takes a bit of time, but Reker does appear again, standing on a rooftop much closer to the monster. He knew the new rules, the ones about the players being less likely to survive if the avatars died. But he wasn't going to let this thing hurt more people than it already had. A single shot from his grenade launcher blows up the lip of the building, clearing a path for him. A quick swipe of his hand and a couple of taps later and the LTV appeared on the rooftop. Reker quickly went to work, doing his sapper thing. Fixing plastic explosives onto the truck, here, there, another place here. He throws a couple of jerry cans full of fuel into the back and then straps C4 to those for good measure. Then he gets into the driver's seat. Another quick menu switch, and he equips two different items. A parachute and the detonator. He throws the vehicle into gear, slams his foot down on the accelerator, and races towards the edge of the building he had cleared. It approaches the edge, and then sails into nothingness. "Yippie-Ki-Yay motherfucker!" The truck sails into the air, flying about as well as a brick should fly, and the driver bails out, falling through open air. This is so dumb, why are you doing this you idiot. You're going to die. As soon as the truck slams full on into the creature, Reker hits the detonator, sending out a massive blast that'll probably shatter windows and ear drums in the vicinity, and as soon as he feels the pressure wave pass him, he pops his chute, hoping he has enough time to not die. 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:''' How strangely opposite Tomoe and Kirito seem to be. He's far from about to say it, but a deep and almost shameful part of his souls is REJOICING in the midst of this dreadful and calamitous event. With his life on the line and swords in hand, he's more alive now than he's been most of the year.     His heart screams for this thing's downfall not just to save the day, but for the sheer sake of it. But conscious mind is all anyone's got to go on, huh?     The spinning chain meets Kirito's hastily-crossed blades while the Spriggan's midair. The impact's powerful enough to see it - shockwaves fly haphazardly. It's a blow that would have probably pulped any non-tank player. But Kirito's simply propelled down to the ground with half his health shaved off and whole body screaming in pain.     He slams into the pavement hard enough to crack it and goes skidding past Tomoe with Excaliber dug into the street to anchor him against the momentum.     Kirito swiftly comes to a halt, but he's panting heavily and shaking from head to toe. Forcing down the pain.     With a grunt he's up and dashing into motion again, wings carrying him into formation within Tomoe. The Black Swordsman has no words to answer her rage...     Instead, he turns into a rocket-like nuisance to the Giant, swooping about again and again at every weak spot that Tomoe uncovers in its stance with ruthless precision, working his way up. By now his health's already back up to seventy percent...     Hooray for battle healing? 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "Aw YEAH!" Staren cheers when he sees the artillery strikes hit -- he has his support AI supply his own targeting data as well.     Now the boss has become a whirling dervish of death. It's NOT chasing him: Boo. But if it's staying in one place, then the hospital, and Yuuki, are safe for now...     And he can pour on the ranged attacks.     So he stands back out of chain range, firing the laser and railguns to do his part to chip down the health.     After he sees it use the hammer pattern ONCE, he's on guard, watching the people at its feet. If he sees it go for the hammer again, he's ready to boost in and attempt to ram it, or at least try to catch or block the hammer. The Star Hawk can be repaired -- corpses cannot. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Well, whether due to Yuna's shooting it in the face or not, the monster is flailing at targets above or around it, not so much at ground level - and she's still staying out of the giant's reach to the best of her ability, too. One wrong move and she still might get swatted, but ... Honestly? This is neither a game nor an honorable duel. Wherever the monster came from, however it got into Tokyo, it's endangering real live people - not just gamers like the Gatecrashers, but *innocents*. That's always been one good way to set Yuna off, putting innocents in harm's way *on purpose* has always been a great way to get her coming after you. And this monster is no different. "Nobody's dying today," Yuna says, mostly to herself but other flyers nearby might hear her. And then, more loudly, "I won't let anyone die here!!" Now she just has to do her part to make sure that the monster goes down before it CAN hurt (or kill) anyone. Kirito's judgment is that Powered Form and its heavy firepower is the best option; Yuna glances around, finding a likely rooftop at the right height, and swoops down to land ... although just before touching down, Flight Form is disengaged, so it's the basic Light Suit's boots which alight on the roof. Jiina is already coming in to rendezvous with her, and a moment of secondary transformation later, Yuna is encased in Powered Form's heavy armor, with comparably heavy beam cannons cycling up in the exo-suit's shoulders. The Matrix Divider is still in Yuna's own hands as well, but for the time being ... "GOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" ... she just cuts loose with the beam cannons, twin torrents of radiant concussive force blasting at the giant's chest. That crystal may already have been dealt with to the point it's no longer a viable target (and the beam cannons are NOT precision aiming) - but the monster's torso is a big target, and keeping it as close to 'off-balance' as possible is a good part of keeping its advance halted. 

:'''{{#var:680|Nagato (680)}} has posed:'''     Her radar's getting more signal, this time from Staren's support AI and with Elner's own support information coming in, it's almost like she can paint a pretty picture of the populace from her area. A bit of a course correction, skating forward, the lone battleship girl's face stern... the little Repair Goddess Fairy is on top of her head, pointing, with Nagato following. She turns her rigging and the turrets and elevates the barrels a smidge. "Reloaded. Another rapport incoming."     Meanwhile, in the sky, a simple Type 0 Observation Seaplane flies over head, the prop propeller seaplane, starts transmitting everything it sees to anyone willing to recieve it. The final aerial view gives Nagato another moment to move. "Incoming!" The thunderous rapport of Nagato's turrets resound over the city once more, breaking glass panes from her closeness. The white shells travel in that illustrious arc on the way to its target as she starts reloading once more.     "I've lost a couple allied targets. Unknown location. Need a sitrep now!" 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Shots continue to blast into the Giant. Shots to its eyes, shots to its body. A truck roars off the shattered lip of a nearby building and explodes, staggering the beast. Another health bar orange, red, gone. The collected heroes are doing considerably more damage than the Sleeping Knights alone were doing. Both because of sheer firepower and because the gathered heroes aren't flinching from the risk of pain or the threat of death in this real world. The Knights probably have earned undying thanks for slowing the giant before anyone else effective could take the field, but they're not really in the same class as those who also joined the fight.     Defensive effects by Sanary and Staren will surely help those who are in trouble, but currently there are a lot of people in trouble. Reker's jumping off a building, fortunately with a parachute, but with blasts going off all around that might well interfere with its deployment. Nicky's clinging to the horned helmet of a beast that's being shot in the face. Tomoe's taking hits as she tanks a beast that normally fights an entire raid group. And Kirito's doing his best to get in the monster's face. Er, faces. Again, while massive incoming fire is going on.     Meanwhile approaching the hospital, Silica and Kain will find pandemonium almost worse than that of the battle outside. It's a hospital, full of the sick and injured. As such many of them simply can't escape. Others might be able to but don't think they're in danger within the huge building. The giant looks smallish, from the upper floors at least, and only looks large when one realizes that the buzzing things flying all around it are humans. Well, humans and human-sized beings for the most part. There's even a bunch of people holding up personal computing devices, recording the fight visible in the near distance.     Their job of infiltration will be complicated by them not knowing exactly where Yuuki is inside this huge building. It's a hospital after all. Hundreds of patients, dozens of wards, and no easily convenient way for them to identify the particular department holding one small helpless girl.     Though really, is this all Yuuki can do? Is the all-mighty Zekken going to be helpless, restrained by a stupid machine? No... not Zekken. Yuuki Konno. She's not who she is because she plays a high-stat character in a video game. Zekken is bound by rules, by the specifics of her world. No, Yuuki became the top duellist in Alfheim Online not because of stats, but because of her will. Because she wanted so badly to BE, to be without limits, to be herself. Death itself wouldn't stop her from being herself, as long and as hard as she can possibly manage.     Slowly, agonizingly, her arm begins to move. It's HER mind and HER body. She's NOT going to let a machine stop her! With enough will, even death itself can be turned back. But even as her arm begins to move, even as she begins to feel the real world around her rather than the virtual world she's trapped in, it's almost too little. She's incredibly frail, her body wasted and almost skeletal from long disuse and the ravages of disease. But if she can get the Medicuboid's head-rig out of the way, maybe she can somehow rise out of the bed, stumble over to where the Augma would be. It hasn't been taken from her after all. Even the doctor agreed it was hers, even if he refused to put it in her hands and allow her to risk herself in that way. It's hers, bought through effort and will, and now she's earning it again with pain. 

:'''{{#var:973|Silica (973)}} has posed:'''     Silica skulks as well as some small-bodied teen can, which is pretty well considering all the blood-over from Silica that's gone on over the last few years. She's checking the wall plaques, seeing if she can figure out where the frail girl might be from the wards indicated. It's like looking for a bone needle in a stack of hay using a magnet, but she'll be damned if she doesn't do anything at all. Her contributions outside wouldn't make a difference with everyone else there already, so here she is, skulking around and trying to figure things out by the writing on the walls. 

:'''{{#var:571|Alexis Maaka (571)}} has posed:'''     Maaka notices that two people are missing, though she's not entirely aware of WHO exactly. Doesn't matter, what does matter is keeping this thing distracted for the moment. The cyborg keeps firing, aiming to blind the monster in its eyes before she shoots it in the face...both faces, even. Best she can do is keep firing before the Barrett runs dry, then she takes a break to reload.     Also, she lights a cigar, letting the tobacco scent fill her nose as she exhales smoke. Ohhh, that's good. 

:'''{{#var:960|Kain (960)}} has posed:'''     Kain is looking frantically around the hospital, trying to find someone in charge... but ultimately not even able to get the attention of someone in the hospital... he was so sure he'd illicit some sort of response by showing up in his Avatar... but then again, maybe it's just they've seen many people Wandering around. So instead, he... just goes deck by deck on his own two feet... stumbling every now and again as he tripped up steps... but catching himself before he fell completely and continuing his trek through the hospital to find the Legendary Zekken... 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren can't do much about people CLIMBING ON ITS BODY except be careful not to shoot them. The machine takes another ugly dent when he takes a hammer hit -- a gout of flame explodes from cracks in the armor and Staren winces. That'll be expensive to fix. If he has to dive in a second time, he'll try to grab the arm with the hammer instead.     Other than that, not much else to do besides keep shooting! 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:''' Taking out her grappling hook, Iria fires the cord at a nearby building that gives her more height. As soon as it makes contact, she utilizes the momentum to try to surprise the monster in mid-flight. She draws her handgun and fires off a few rounds in hopes of surprising it. She's hoping that the distraction will cause it to look to where she was, setting her up for her next plan of attack. "How do you like this?" Iria comments with a grin as she fires another grenade shell at the monster. "I do this better than when I showed everyone how well I adapt to a three part harmony!" She adds with a laugh, remembering that time from way back when. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:''' Sanary keeps her healing efforts going, switching from Tomoe to Reker to Yuna to Alexis to Kirito and... Someone trying to shoot the monster right in a face? Sure, some healing for the girl, too. She's just firing off long-ranged healing burst after healing burst with that Physic staff, the wooden focus starting to look rather shoddy with each passing moment.      <<"Holy hell, this thing can really take a beating... If you need me to go back on the offensive, just say the word!">> 

:'''{{#var:631|Reker (631)}} has posed:''' The thud of the cannon fire makes Reker realize he's sort of in the way. He looks down, spotting a car below him, probably about a thirty foot drop, and he cuts his chute. He twists himself in midair to land back first on the car, smashing it. His health bar drops a bit, and holy hell does that hurt. "Fuck. Ow." He's not out of the fight yet though. Taking a moment to compose himself, he rolls off of the smashed car and steadies himself, popping a health pack from his menu, for whatever good it'll do. "Hey ugly, I ain't done with you yet." Reker takes a knee, switching to his HCAR. The Devastator earned it's name for good reason, as Reker switches it to explosive ammo mode, and begins to open up on the creature. Even more explosions, even more gunfire. This thing will not go down, but neither will Reker, at leat not without a fight. 

:'''{{#var:968|Nicky (968)}} has posed:''' Nicky is surprised, as the hurting wrist stops to pound and instead glows, then her ears pick up something.... from above? A whistling wine... and... AND ENGINE ROARING?! Looking up, she sees the truck coming in... followed by artillery shells. "Oh Sweet fragging Jesus..."     Car. Gasoline. Artillery. FIRE?! That's it. They want the giant, they can have the giant. But why HER?! Abandoning the 'boat', Nicky tries to run, darting away from the thing as fast as possible. "F**cking MOAB incoming!" she yells, possibly claiming too much, but a truck full of fuel... No, she's totally NOT doing that slowmo walk away from an explosion! Trying to kill this giant like she tried was... clearly suicidal! 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe is just in a fury right now while she's far more happy as Tomoe than Sheena? It's the price tag that grips at her. For so many pepole to be indanger for the world to be turned on it's head? Her personal happyness isn't worth she muses but she's got a fight right now as she does her best to keep the thing on her as much as she can. She's tanking hit and it hurts a lot more than it did before she tries to fight her way through this new state of pain. Even as she fights, sheena would be nothing but diversion at best someone to save or just another name on a list of dead. 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:''' Kirito is not so much better than the Sleeping Knights, the Sprigganw ould say. There is only one thing that's keeping him going despite the pain.     Pure refusal to abandon a friend EVER AGAIN. NO MATTER WHAT. If he has to endure pain... then he'll endure it until his body falls apart.     Which it almost threatens to do under that transformation. He's breathing hard for a reason - he's rather out of shape and unused to exerting himself this much, physically. Unlike FullDive, he's feeling the G-Forces. The impacts. His lungs have to keep worrying about balancing breathing and exertion.     Nothing a little more exercise won't solve, but it's definitely a different and somewhat disorienting experience from the usual boss fight.     NOT a good time to learn the new ropes...     Sanary's healing that reaches him fills him with renewed strength though, and supercharges his regenerating HP meter back to nearly full. Kirito stands straight then... blinks.     Who is that girl swearing to hell and back up near the giant? He totally doesn't recognize her. The boy blinks a few times... then steels his will.     He'll have to ask later.     "Tomoe! Hold in there! I've got your back!" 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki continues her efforts, slowly managing to pull a few leads away. The sting from the leads is nothing compared to everything else she's feeling. Nevertheless she can barely move a few plastic tubes, let alone a fixed headset. She manages to push aside the breathing mask though, and disrupt one of the sensors monitoring her vitals.     "Code Blue." an automated voice reads out, calmly and professionally. The voice is quite at odds with the rest of the chaos in the hospital. It's not the only emergency signal that's gone out in the last few minutes of course. In the panic caused by the attack, it would be a miracle should no one at all be harmed. No, the significance of this particular announcement is in the followup. "Responding personnel to Ward 4, Medicuboid A."     Outside, no reason to fear that the Two-Headed Giant has forgotten anyone. With over half its health depleted, it begins to change its patterns. It turns away from its immediate antagonists, lumbering into a charge. It gives everyone a brief respite. Shots continue to slam into its back and shoulders, chipping away at its health. Abruptly the blue Sylph call out, "It's on the move!"     The phrase is perhaps a bit too obvious to everyone there, but... well, it's HOW the creature is moving that's significant. It rushes past Staren's mecha, past the fixed position Alexis Maaka took, past the melee fighters. Towards the hospital, bounding in a dash that would break olympic sprinting records if it were ever allowed to compete. As it dashes, it brings itself more into the shadow of some buildings. Nagato will no longer have a clean line of fire, and will have to engage at a closer range if she's unwilling to shoot through buildings.     It stops as soon as it seems to be sheltered from cannonfire. It might well be surprising, seeing actual intelligence from such a creature. It moved only far enough to gain cover, moving along its fixed route to its goal. As soon as it stops it whirls, breathing out another great cloud of dark poison, this time whirling more as the poison spreads out. The wind of its whirling motion, combined with flailing chains, sends choking clouds of gas out fast and far. While not quite as deadly as the potent concentrated gas attack earlier, this one covers a much broader field and its approaching speed is high enough to make it somewhat harder to avoid.     As people come in once again to attack it, it responds with those hammers once again. Broad sweeping attacks, slow enough to be dodgeable but powerful enough to ruin anyone foolish enough to get in their way. It doesn't slow the attack though, swinging again and again and again in the space before it, putting up a screen of attacks that may be easy enough to dodge but very hard indeed to pierce. 

:'''{{#var:973|Silica (973)}} has posed:'''     Silica perks up... "Ward 4... Medicuboid... Yuuki." she says to herself, shifting from skulking to a flat out run to another stairwell to get to the right floor. She practically parkours over the banister rail and swings through a door, knocking it so hard to slams against a wall. "I'm coming Yuuki." she adds to herself, feet squeak slipping along the sterile tile floor. She catches sight of her target. Ward 4, and hands a turn the has her skid out and slide into a wall, wincing from the impact.     She stands again though, and continues to make her way, limping slightly, down the hallway to her goal. 

:'''{{#var:571|Alexis Maaka (571)}} has posed:'''     Maaka growls as she sees the monster take off past her position. "Sonofa-" She lets out before toppling over, and she stands up before taking off to chase the monster.     She dives off the rooftop, height be dammed, before she uses her grappling hook to rappel and angle herself towards an adjacent roof to land on. Once she does land, she tucks and rolls to absorb the impact before continuing to run, doing the same as she goes from building to building like a Friendly Neighborhood Cyborg.     Shame this thing doesn't really respond to gunfire, by the looks of it. Producing a disposable anti-tank weapon, Maaka takes aim and fires it. Sadly, she only has one of these things, better make it count. 

:'''{{#var:960|Kain (960)}} has posed:'''     The moment Kain heard those words, his heart stopped for a moment. "Konno-chan..." and hearing where the Code Blue was happening, it was the better idea he'd had in ages, pushing his speed even more to get going towards Ward 4, hopeful that there were signs pointing out where everything was...     As Kain showed up, his idea gone out the window, he found... a young girl... no gown, no bracelet... and the party border... "... Silica?" He ran up to the girl and helped her to stand on the limping leg more properly. "I gotcha. Let's get our friend..." And with that, he helped Silica towards the end of the hall, towards BOTH of the party members' goal. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' That was arguably Yuna's biggest single attack, at least out of her on-foot options, and she can't even tell how much damage it did. For a fleeting moment, Yuna considers resorting to El-Line - but the idea is abandoned almost before the thought can take coherent form; as big as the monster is, El-Line is *far* bigger, and just trying to maneuver the Matrix Figure around this fight would risk the very collateral damage that Yuna wants so desperately to prevent. So she'll have to stick with Powered Form's firepower. At least Elner can confirm that they're chipping away at the giant monster's health bars - there just haven't been any massive, dramatic drops from specific attacks; it's like any boss fight, just wearing away at the monster's immense but limited supply of health. It's a matter of attrition. ... or at least, it has been. The beast is moving again. *That* sends a new icy spike of alarm sliding down Yuna's spine, and she doesn't even bother to coordinate with her allies this time: she just advances, 'jumping' off the roof's edge with a light burst of her hover thrusters, then kicking them in full-thrust to put the brakes on her descent. The maneuver puts her directly in the giant's advancing path - right as it breathes out another cloud of poison. She hadn't known it *could* do that, and if she'd known it was coming, Yuna could at least have taken a deep breath beforehand, or something. There's no real help for it, though - Yuna just tries very hard not to breathe in, even as she focuses power into the Matrix Divider and begins unleashing blast after blast, standing her ground, hoping the poison disperses enough for her to risk inhaling so she can call for her kite shield, Shugoseiheki. Preferably BEFORE the monster steps on her. Which she'd like to avoid entirely, of course. And if her beam cannons finish their recharge cycle in time, she's going to dispense another blast from them as well. 

:'''{{#var:680|Nagato (680)}} has posed:'''     "Damnit.... firing solutions are busted." she mutters to the waves, the repair goddess upon her head drops down to her shoulders and bats at the earring that she wears. A nod is given to the fairy and she let's Kirito know what's going on. Finding an open dock, she sails right into it and weighs anchor... letting her gear float up into the water. She pulls something out of a compartment and gives her Fairies a nod. "I'll be back soon. Don't let anyone get near the rigging."     The fairies all pull out small rifles and start traversing the turrets in a formation, guarding the rigging from others acquisitions.     Finding a quick area to change in, the battleship doffs her normal outfit to get into the lighter armored connective suit she has. "Yugana Kaze. Let's launch." the earring flashes and the Repair Goddess Fairy ducks back into Nagato's hair as she armors up into her Air Kit, and with a quick blast of energy, she's off to join the fight, rapidly maneuvering between buildings as a large laser rifle materializes in her hands. "Kagurazaka, above you. I'm coming in."     Nagato moves to ready herself, and keep herself in the air. She had to contain herself for flight, something she normally got to do in ALO... but she had to focus. Compartments open up on the Yugana Kaze's legs, revealing large missile pods, firing out to home in on the monster, trying to pelt it with as much firepower up close as she can while she blasts it with shots from the laser cannon. 

:'''{{#var:968|Nicky (968)}} has posed:''' Gunfire, Artillery shells, trucks exploding... Nicky is pretty much done... and... totally realizes she kind of forgot to breath properly the whole time. Stopping to take a breath however is a pretty hefty mistake - because she is still in pretty much a poison gas cloud... which turns a tad bigger as some purple gas mixes into it.     Collapsing, the cloud condeses into some snake thing plushie... with a yellow ring... and huge plastic eyes. Great nicky... slither away as long as you are not drenched ingasoline and trampled into the ground... at least the gas was like ignorable now. 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:''' Moving quickly, Iria tries to avoid being caught by the hammers (or whatever) as she attempts to drop towards the ground. She's not going to drop quickly though, as she's activating what looks like a fan behind her, which slows her descent. Kei had wanted one, but was disappointed when Iria pointed out they only let her go downward. "Too bad for Kei! I bet she could've had a lot of fun with this!" Meanwhile, as she's gliding towards the ground, Iria fires off some more gunfire from her handgun. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:''' After another round of rapid-fire healing, the healer's staff crumbles into bits of splintered wood. Physic staves are meant for occasional long-range healing rather than sustained sieges, after all, and that leaves Sanary with plan... C? D?      Whatever the plan is, it involves Sanary grabbing her gunaxe again. Instead of just trying to swing at it, though, she's opting to take to the skies once more! Her path is taking her between the giant and the hospital, but the healer isn't going towards giant. Instead, she's going towards...      Yuna! And Nagato?! Clouds of green light shoot out of the healer as she tries to connect her magical reserves with the flying idol and ship, likely even missing a few times in the process. Once the green magic clouds make contact, though, they'll be able to draw on Sanary's reserves instead of their own.      <<"Go nuts! But... Not too nuts. I still need to be awake for all this!">> 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren tries to stop the monster, but it just shoves past. "Hey!" He turns and shoots it in the back, but suddenly it's... taking cover? The heck? Why would a monster from an SAO boss room be prepared to take cover from ranged attacks?     Could CARDINAL be controlling it directly...?     He can't let it reach the hospital. The Star Hawk raises its left arm, and three missiles shoot up into the air. These are larger than the mini-missiles he usually uses -- they're actually designed for vehicle-to-vehicle combat. They soar high, then fall... their cameras locking onto and tracking the target as they rain down from above. Large HEAT warheads explode just above it, sending down lances of metal plasma at physics-bending energies.     Staren himself doesn't just stand back and missile, though -- the mecha hurries after the monster, and after the missiles go off, he tries to charge and TACKLE it, through the chains (they hit, but the mecha has a lot of mass so isn't /stopped/) attempting to wrestle it to the ground.     "You're going to hurt people CARDINAL! People are going to DIE! Killing isn't your purpose! Stop this!" 

:'''{{#var:631|Reker (631)}} has posed:''' Nothing Reker is throwing at this thing is working. He's been firing every single thing he has at it, save one. He stores the rifle and swaps weapons, busting out the M-202 FLASH. Sure Staren is trying to negotiate with it, but that's not going to work, "You can't argue with these things once they have aggro!" He yells out, pulling the back of the four tubed rocket launcher to prepare it. This launcher is designed to fire incindiary rounds, stuff designed to melt through tank armor, so napalm, esentially, but it burns even hotter. He takes a knee again, trying to keep his distance. He is DPS, not a tank. He angles the launcher up, and unleashes all four rockets, aiming for where that crystal had been before. That has to be a weak spot, maybe he can get the rounds inside of this thing and burn it down from the inside. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Inside the hospital, Kain and Silica meet up and get an idea where they're going. They'll have to deal with security perhaps. Not guards and such; they're too busy dealing with other emergencies. In fact they won't have much to worry about from people at all. Locked doors with coded access however, that's an obstacle they'll have to deal with. The isolation ward is a secure facility, of course. How they overcome that... well, that depends on them. Maybe an appeal to a human will fit their style. Maybe they meet locks with guns blazing. Maybe Alfheim-style magic.     Once they pass the locks, however they choose to proceed, they'll be met with a sight. One that might well shock them, if they don't realize just how sick poor Yuuki truly is. She'd be Death Walking, if she could walk. There's little of Zekken in the sickly and wasted girl lying helpless, half-embedded in the medical machine. Little, that is, beyond her slowly-flailing arm. Yuuki continues to try to free herself. With only one arm free, she can't do much. Perhaps she's done enough though. Perhaps her actions are what leads her friends to find her.     Outside the hospital the fight enters a new phase of urgency. The poison is more magic than an actual venom, a game effect that causes unspecified damage over the duration of exposure. Breathing it in can't be pleasant, but it's dissipated enough to not do much harm to those who merely pass through the cloud. A slight depletion of health, much like the boss itself suffers from attacks. Though of course various people suffer different effects from losing 'health'.     The giant seems to recognize Nagato, or at least to greet her arrival on the battlefield with a special welcome. A chain unwinds and shoots out, the giant attempting to bind her and haul her in close so it can properly smash her. In the meantime though, the other three arms continue their assault, guided by both heads in tandem. The other chain arm flails about, using wind to try to disrupt the flight of Iria and Sanary. It might make things a bit difficult for them, but wind itself can do little real harm. The hammers attempt to smash the suits of Staren and Yuna. But before it can connect, it's struck by missiles from Staren and rockets from Alexis Maaka and Reker.     THIS hurts it, rocking it back visibly. Possibly something got a piece of the vulnerable crystal, or perhaps the attacks were just that deadly. The monster recovers, trying again to smash its assailants, but its attacks are beginning to smack of desperation rather than deadly intent. Another health bar crumbles. If this were a normal boss, it might well be on its last bar now. As a Renegade however... who knows? 

:'''{{#var:571|Alexis Maaka (571)}} has posed:'''     "Oh hey, that worked." Maaka muses, before she's knocked off her train of thought by a sweeping hammer from the giant. "OH SHIT-!"     She leaps, using her grapple to adhere herself to the monster's waist, and she climbs her way to the the monster's back. She has a few more explosives, specifically some semtex, and she releases and retrieves her grapple as she plummets. "Gonna need some air supportrightnowthanks-!" She radios over comms, hoping SOMEONE gets her.     Then she sets off the charges. 

:'''{{#var:680|Nagato (680)}} has posed:'''     Nnngh, those missiles did a thing and her rifle, but... with her entry into the battlefield proper, she stares down the big thing... and the chain it shoots out wraps around the flying battleship, causing her to squirm and let out a surprised yell! Her shield level lowers immensely in the bind, and her arms and legs bound up in the tight chain. "NNngh! Help!" she shouts, "I.. I'm weapons locked, I can't fire anything bound up!" she coughs a bit, struggling against the chain around her.     Think Nagato, Think. How did you allow your guard down to get caught. Looks like she needs more training in the future, but... for now. "Kagurazaka!" 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe has Kirito at her back and she's thankful for it, very thankful as she keeps fighting. She knows very well it's better to keep the boss monster's attention and dodge, rather than tank direct hits. Even with her build? She'd not be able to take many hits but she has Kirito watching her back so she should have a prayer, right? She knows it's going to get ugly, she doesn't have the rope to do it but she makes a suggestion to her friend and allies. IF they could somehow trip the beast it might slow it down. She now start to make user of a sword skill while she has a moment and then dives in at it unleahsing th skll in a savage barrage of attacks, the biggest question she wonders about is /why/. Why is this thing doing it? 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren's not trying to negotiate with the monster, but with the intelligence he believes is controlling it. He's all for killing the monster -- it is but a puppet.     Their weapons buy him a brief reprieve, but soon it's free to attack him again. He's trying to use his machine's arms to stop two of its arms from attacking, but it has more arms than him! <"Finish it! Quickly!"> he urges over the radio. He can't use his weapons like this, only try to kick it! 

:'''{{#var:960|Kain (960)}} has posed:'''     Kain lets Silica go and looks at her. "Stand back." He then draws his Rapier and assumes a pose. "Let's hope this works... sorry Hospital... I'll send you a check..." The sword glows light blue before Kain opens his eyes and goes through the motions and calling out "Vertical Square!" It creates a hole in the door that causes the cutout to fall through. He looks at Silica and nods before going in...     ... and seeing a grisly sight... "... Konno-chan..." The sight of Konno Yuuki in this state... it... it was quite a bit grounding... "This... this is..." He was stunned too much to really do much of anything... 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:''' If Sanary was on the ground, she'd be able to just slam her weapon into the ground dramatically and rely on both its and her weight to hold her ground. In mid-flight with nothing more than careful leg movements to direct her anklets' thrust, though?      Sanary's going for another ride. She angles her feet and pumps more energy into the flight anklets to slow herself down, at least, but it's getting harder and harder to stay afloat while still maintaining those energy-supplying links to Yuna and Nagato. Luckily, the healer spots something that'll be invaluable for keeping herself from getting blown away:      Another giant! Putting another burst of energy into the anklets, Sanary's going to try latching herself onto Staren's mech before taking potshots at the creature with her gunaxe. They're not particularly powerful shots, though, and her aim's not exactly the best with only one eye and a lack of practice, but...      It makes her feel better, dammit! Besides, it's not a huge drain on her magic reserves, and she's got to do something with her hands while maintaining that energy link to Yuna and Nagato. 

:'''{{#var:973|Silica (973)}} has posed:'''     Keiko hangs back when instructed by Kain, keeping behind the wall, out of the line of sight of the cameras above the door... As Kain does his thing, Silica is brought back out. She transforms with a call of "Link Start!", then steps around and fires a single small shard of Ice at the camera to knock it out, then scampers down the hallway to the newly cut open door. "Yuuki-chan..." she says softly, pausing at the sight, before steeling herself and looking around for the Augma. "There." she says, scooting past Kain, and scooping the Augma up. She cradles it reverently, then moves over to help unhook Yuuki from the machine, and presses the device into the girl's hand. "C'mon Yuuki-chan. Lets get out of here." 

:'''{{#var:631|Reker (631)}} has posed:''' Spotting the woman deciding to nose dive off of the building, Reker springs into action. Nobody's dying today if he can help it! As he runs towards her, he swaps weapons again, this time pulling out the M-32. He has no idea if this will work, but damnit, he has to try. Positioning himself below her, he aims the grenade launcher straight up at Alexis, and then fires. The grenade spirals up through the air, and when it detects that it's in range of her, explodes into a massive cloud of rapidly hardening riot foam. It's like being wrapped in bubble wrap. Really tight, bright pink bubble wrap. He quickly dives out of the way of the now decending foam ball that has Alexis inside of it, so he doesn't get crushed by it. Once it hits the ground, he'll head back over to it to get her out of it. He has the agent to break the foam up in his inventory as well. He just hopes she survived, it was the last thing he could try. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Yuna can't hold her breath forever; she finally *has* to exhale, and then inhale again, coughing softly at the irritation. That ... doesn't seem *so* bad. Except for the pins-and-needles prickle of her Light Suit's defensive aura, anyw-- "Nagato!! Hang on ... SHUGOSEIHEKI!!" And while Yuna was breathing, Nagato got snared by that chain. Yuna summons her kite shield, although her allies missiles and rockets forestall the need to fend off the descending hammers. That also buys her the chance to direct full power to her hover-thrusters ... Which amounts to a massive vertical leap, rocketing into the air, the Matrix Divider flaring to life in her hands once more as she raises it over her head. She almost didn't need her kite shield for this, really; the exo-arms' manipulators grab hold of the chain, with maybe a meter's length being drawn taut between the mechanical hands ... "TORYAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" And Yuna slashes downwards, releasing the Divider's charge as her weapon's barrel/blade contacts the chain. *That* should break it, freeing Nagato - and with Sanary's mana-support helping fuel Yuna's reserves, she can even cut loose with another blast of her beam cannons. Nagato's going to have to handle her own landing (or recovery to continue flight); Yuna pivots to face the monster as gravity pulls her towards the street once more, and leans back, angling up to fire off another pair of those powerful blasts. Maybe she'll hit something more delicate than she did previously? .... ehh, whatever. Nagato's safe again (as safe as anyone in this fight, at least), and as long as the monster's advance is subject to EXTREMELY AGGRESSIVE BRAKING, Yuna can't complain too much. 

:'''{{#var:571|Alexis Maaka (571)}} has posed:'''     Maaka is still panicking as she plummets, before she notices she's about to hit the ground.     And...FOAM!? She lands in riot foam, remembering an unfortunate op years ago during her early days as a mercenary. It's weird, but preferable to a rough landing on the ground and splattering. She'd survive, but would be pretty fucked up after the impact.     Once her face is free and she sees Reker cutting her out, she just laughs weakly, "My hero." She says teasingly.     And then she kisses Reker. It's a chaste peck on the cheek, but he's earned this. 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:''' Things are getting a bit out of control. Kirito's starting to show real nervousnes beyond his usual tenseness during the many floor bosses. One slip here and someone could die. He ends up coughing once the clouds of poison reach him, feeling his lungs vaguely burning... but it's not enough to sap his fighting spirit. Not yet.     An arm comes down towards him and Tomoe, smashing with its brutal weapon...     CLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!     Once again, the attack is stopped by Kirito's crossed blades. It wouldn't be possible normally... but that stance glows and shimmers with power. Cross Block halfway holds up just long enough for Kirito to sidestep the blow and take advantage of the momentarily ground-bound arm.     "UUUUUOOOOOOOOOAAAAAARGH!!!" Light and Darkness flare from his blades once again, and the young man launches into a number of stylish spinning cuts that draw a glowing hexagon mark on the arm... which, as he pulls his blades away... bursts like a small nova.     It should be pretty obvious to SAO survivors what his Unique Skill is. 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:''' As Yuna goes in to slash the chain, Iria moves quickly to provide covering fire for her. "Go, Yuna! I've got your back!" She calls out as she draws her assault rifle and opens fire rapidly, trying to hold off any potential threats. As she gets closer, she goes to check on Nagato upon her being freed from the chains. "Are you all right?" She asks with concern. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Doubtless the hospital would be scandalized. Cutting through a security door. Breaking into a sealed isolation ward. Exposing a patient to pathogens that would almost certainly kill her, at least if mere medical science is to be accepted. But then, medical science doesn't generally deal well with the weirdness of the multiverse at large, let alone what happens when strong-willed superhumans get involved.     She can't see the people in her room. Can't hear them. It's probably for the best. Yuuki'd be mortified at someone seeing her in her current state. Asuna's done so, but then she's Asuna. This is something Yuuki's not happy about, even though she'd already decided to ask the Gatecrashers for help. She knew they'd come in, that they'd see her. She'd resigned herself to that moment of vulnerability. Still, it's for the best that she can't see that first moment of pity. It'd drive her to tears.     Only when her head is freed from the machine does she realize anyone's there. She blinks, her eyes failing to focus at first. Those eyes... as they focus, they're the only thing that truly looks like the Yuuki that the people here know. The intensity, the strength, the sheer will to live. No matter how her body looks, those eyes show who she truly is.     Those eyes also fill with tears as Silica speaks, even though she didn't witness that first moment of pity. She can't help it, being as emotional as she is. But she awkwardly closes her hand over the Augma, nodding feebly. "Link... Start." she says in a hoarse whisper.     Perhaps surprisingly given how much Yuuki wants to get out and join the fight, and how much she must have been hating her captivity, she doesn't tear free from the device. Once her imp body forms, once she can move, she slowly and rather fondly removes every last sensor and device. She's not even sure she CAN move freely but this body seems to respond well, with strength and with precision unlike that of her natural flesh. But as much as she hated her illness and her confinement, the Medicuboid gave her years of true life. Well, of as much life as she could have, then. It was her freedom, once. Only in the last week or so has it been her jail too, and a week of dislike can't entirely cancel out years of delight.     It'll take a bit of time before she's fully ready to go, but soon enough she hops down lightly, seeming to completely forget about her frailties of a few moments before. Her tears have stopped, and she beams with a suddenly bright smile. "I knew you'd come!" she says, and abruptly throws her arms around Silica. And Kain too, if he gets close enough. She's pretty equal-opportunity with hugs. "Come on, we should help the others!" she adds, grinning yet wiping at her cheeks with a dangling sleeve. 

:'''{{#var:960|Kain (960)}} has posed:'''     Kain smiles as the familiar Imp is finally revealed through everything. Placing a hand on her shoulder once all the stuff was removed. "This is a better look by far. Let's get out of this place quickly."     Kain runs out of the hole he put in the security door and looks around for a window, finding one rather quickly. He runs up to it and, drawing forth his Rapier once more, uses the Vertical Arc Sword Skill to smash open the window! "Got a door out!" He then hops onto the radio with his next words: <"Silica and I are on our way back! And we're bringing a friend!"> He then sends a Raid Party invite to Yuuki as he heads back into the fray! 

:'''{{#var:631|Reker (631)}} has posed:''' Having saved Maaka, and gotten a surprise kiss for his efforts, Reker helps her the rest of the way out of the foam and off the streets, to an alleyway where they should be safe enough from the monster, "Don't suppose you got an extra cache of weapons laying around anywhere, do you?" He asks, peeking back out of the alley, "Maybe an M1 Abrams...Damn that's what I need to do..But where am I going to find an M1 Abrams at this hour.." 

:'''{{#var:680|Nagato (680)}} has posed:'''     Nagato's struggling. She's wriggling up against the confines of the chains until she hears Yuna's shout. She knows that name, it was the name of her kite shield. She turns her head to look at the oncoming magical girl and the strength needed to break such a chain... sends Nagato tumbling down and down and down. "Nngh! Come on, Yugana Kaze. Don't fail me here." she grumbles, "Aaaaaugh! Let me fly again!"     Nagato tries tapping into the power she's receving from Sanary, still a bit reluctant to do such but when in dire straits... things kick back on, her shield's energy is back to somewhat full... and... she has someone next to her. She turns to look at Iria, then back at her wounded and scuffed self.     "I'm alive, that's what matters. Go, let's see if we can't trip that thing up." 

:'''{{#var:973|Silica (973)}} has posed:'''     Silica eeks softly as she's glomphugged like that. Her ears pin back and her tail lashes about, but she hugs back after a moment, smiling softly. "Kain's right. We need to go help the others. Just a little bit more and we'll finish it." she eases back from the hug, then points. "C'mon, we've got a raid boss to kill."     The Cait Sith turns, and follows after the Salamander, and follows him out the window, settling into freefall for a few moments before her yellow wings sprout and arrest her descent. She levels out, and turns back toward the battle, drawing her dagger and holding both hands out before her.     Midflight, she begins to chant, Words of Power locking into place in front of her as she casts a spell... and once she's in range, speaks the final word that sends the magic spirallying outwards towards the giant Boss. Adding to the others efforts of tripping the thing up, this spell freezes its feet to the ground in giant blocks of ice! 

:'''{{#var:571|Alexis Maaka (571)}} has posed:'''     "Sorry mate, that was my only AT4." Maaka says with a frown. "We uh...we may need to lie low and let the heavy hitters do their thing. All I got left would just be a bunch of mosquito stings to that thing." 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:''' Iria nods to Nagato and readies her grenade launcher again. "You're right! Let's finish what we came here for!" An evil smirk forms on her face again. "We've got this made!" She aims carefully before firing another grenade round at the monster. "There's more where that came from!" Iria exclaims as she adds another grenade round and fires that too. 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:''' Hearing that Silica and Kain have met with SUCCESS, Kirito's flooded with a bit of relief. But instantly worry at the same time. He's already feeling strained to the limit and sore. "... Well... all I can do is trust her." He mutters to himself.     He's in this shape just from a skirmish with this crazy-strong boss. Will the Absolute Sword be able to join this battle? He has no idea...     But he hates leaving things to fate.     Kirito backflip-airdashes away from the monster's arms with a burst of wing-thrust and skids along the ground while his Health meter refills through Battle Healing. He's still breathing hard. Likely MUCH harder than Tomoe, who routinely 'breakdances on the roof' as Kirito's teased once or twice.     How lame, the 'hero of Aincrad' limited by low stamina.     "You ready for the grand finale?" He asks the long-standing tank. "Once Yuuki's here, we'll go on the attack!" 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Kirito tears into the Giant with a deadly Sword Skill. The streaks of red carved into the boss are broad and visually deep, though its health bar depletes little more than it does for cannonfire. Effective certainly, but not itself a boss-killer. Iria's grenades tear into the boss, exploding and sending its health spiralling down yet further.     Reker saves Alexis. Yuna saves Nagato. Staren wades his suit into melee with the Giant, grappling its hammers. No, fortunately no one's dying here, except perhaps for the Two-Headed Giant. Its health bar continues to deplete, sinking through yellow through to orange and into the red. The monstrous form wrenches at Staren's battlesuit. It might well be stronger, physically, but it's in a bad position and won't be able to simply wrench metal apart. Especially since Staren's mostly just smothering its attacks, not trying to oppose force with force.     And... a window is smashed open. Yuuki nods to Kain and Silica, grinning fiercely. "Let's go!" she cries, hurtling herself headlong out the window. Black wings blur and she's off, leaving behind a streak of violet. Leaving behind, too, the hospital and all its associations. For good or ill, she won't be turning back.     Swooping in, Yuuki swings her obsidian blade. At speed, she shears off the very tip of a horn. "Hey! You big jerk!" she shouts out, swooping back down. As she touches down she staggers, almost falling. Wobbling on her feet she looks up at the giant, frozen in place briefly by Silica's magic. "Did you come to take me out while I was helpless? Or did you come to make me get up and take the Augma?" she challenges it.     The Giant snorts, not responding verbally. It may not even be capable of speech. Yuuki shakes her head. "Well either way, there's only one good response. Either you tried to kill me, or to get me back into the game. And you know what we say to that?" she challenges, brandishing her sword fiercely. Yuuki looks around, seeing her friends and new faces alike. Or some new faces at least... others who may well be behind avatars that only look different on the outside.     "Come on. Let's finish this!" Yuuki calls out, raising her sword. Honestly she's not sure she CAN fight. She's exhausted from the mental battle she's already fought, not to mention the state of her flesh-and-blood form. But she's not about to let a simple thing like exhaustion stop her! 

:'''{{#var:960|Kain (960)}} has posed:'''     Kain could see the fatigue in Yuuki... this was her being here mostly for morale at this point. She wasn't going to fight... but now that they weren't fully fighting to keep the creature from killing her, they could fight properly with no worries on their mind at all! "Yeah! Let's do it! All together!" Swinging his sword upside down, blade pointed down, he held the sword like he were holding a staff from a mage, chanting! "Ek verpa einn brandr muspilli, kalla bresta bani, steypa lundr drótt!" As he chanted, a large fireball began forming above his head as he raised his 'staff' high. As he finished his chant, he pointed the tip of the sword towards the jewel in the center of the creature's chest as the Fireball sailed straight for it, intent on helping with the final blow! 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Zekken is here.     And she presents a worrying theory: That CARDINAL sent the monster, endangering and terrifying innocents, to move her to act.     Very worrying.     Right now though, all he can do is stand there and keep grappling it. <"Hurry! Finish it!"> 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:''' Now that's a more familiar face. Sanary tries not to make it too obvious, though, glancing at something inside her coat that definitely isn't nothing before nodding once towards the newcomer. "Ah. So you're... The one I was supposed to find."      That's her story and she's sticking to it. "Was supposed to find you another way, but... Eh, this'll do. Alright, just leave the rest to us!" She boasts, finally cutting the link to Yuna and Nagato in order to conserve the last of her energy. The giant is close enough that she could probably get in for one big attack, so...      Why not. Sanary's got the big axe, and she wants to use it for real! Running along Staren's mech's arm, she takes advantage of the monster's grappled state as she leaps right off and aims a big downwards swing right at its face with both the combined weight of herself and the weapon along with gravity to try and drag it downwards! 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:''' By now, Iria's starting to feel a bit run down. Not to mention, she's on her last grenade round. Loading it with a scowl, she raises it again. "I suppose it's like in the movies, where the last shot helps take down the big bad? Well, if that's the case, then I'm gonna take it!" She smiles a little and fires. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Fireballs, swords, axes, bombs and guns. A hail of deadly weaponry rains in on the Two-Headed Giant. How and why it came here is anyone's guess, but it goes down only a brief sprint away from its apparent goal. Assuming, of course, that goal was the hospital. If its goal was Yuuki, well...     It's hard to say what blow did in the beast. It might even have been Yuuki. She wasn't really able to fly up in reach of that crystal to deliver a Mothers Rosario. Even assuming she COULD deliver a Mothers Rosario in her condition. She did pretty good just hacking into its foot, all considered. The blow was more symbolic than lethal. In the end perhaps it's best that the giant fell to a concerted attack from friends. That, after all, is what this should be all about. To Yuuki that's so, even if not in reality.     As the boss bursts into fragmented pixels, Yuuki collapses to her knees. Whoever's there to get to her first, they're going to almost immediately be joined by the Silent Knights. The elfin warriors don't try to push anyone away, and aren't being exactly protective of Yuuki here. They're just collapsing in on her, joining one big pile, adding congratulations and welcomes and utter amazement at her being here 'in the flesh' as it were. If they fear for her it's not exactly made obvious, not in the moment of joy and welcome. What the future brings, the future will bring. for now, it's enough to be together.     In truth, that's all Yuuki ever wanted. 
}}

Yuuki Konno

2016-10-09T22:24:29Z

MoreBeer:

{{CharacterNew
|NameOnMUSH=Yuuki Konno
|Color=#0099FF
|Char_id=874
|FullName=Yuuki Konno
|Gender=Female
|Species=Imp
|Theme=Sword Art Online-1
|Chartype=FC
|Active=Active
|Function=Absolute Blade
|Faction=Unaffiliated
|Rank=N/A
|Ranktype=Unaffiliated
|Groups=Gatecrashers
|Quote=There are some things you can only share with someone by fighting. For instance, how serious you are.
|PAge=16
|AAge=16
|Aging=Yes
|Hair=Purple
|Eyes=Red
|Profile=Yuuki is known as Zekken, the seemingly unbeatable Absolute Blade who came out of nowhere in Alfheim Online to challenge and defeat many of the game's top duellists. Speed is her strongest asset; the kind of speed that only comes from someone who essentially lives within the VR world. Essentially that's the literal truth. For years now, Konno Yuuki has lived within a prototype medical device. While she undergoes treatment to preserve her life, her consciousness roams a limitless number of VR worlds. She's free to glory in the movement and the freedom the VR worlds give her; the freedom her own flesh and blood body is denied. Never one to dwell on bleak fate, she remains bubbly and cheerful as long as she possibly can, being both warm and honest in everything but her real-life situation, determined only to have her and her friends leave their mark upon the virtual worlds in some unmistakable way.
|Powers=Theme Powers: Yuuki is an Imp in Alfheim Online, and has the powers listed for that race in +themelist Sword Art Online-1. Namely she has the ability to fly, and she has exceptional night vision. Yuuki can theoretically learn magic, but has not learned any of the game's spells.
Walk-out Mode: Yuuki has essentially lived within VR for years, with a very tenuous connection to her own living flesh. Her character is more herself than her flesh is, which would give her the ability to survive leaving the VR game should she be able to find a portal out.
1-UP: Since most of her interactions with others involve her virtual character, Yuuki has little reason to fear death. Reducing her health to zero means her character disintegrates into pixels and a Remain Light, which will shortly vanish and return her character to her most recent spawn point - a safe zone within Alfheim Online. A death outside the VR world is sufficiently traumatic to her to make it difficult for her to return to the 'real' world after suffering a character death. She can return after a scene - typically it takes half an hour to respawn - but she'll still have somewhat-slowed reactions and hypersensitivity. Simply put, she has a heal time just like anyone else. If she returns before sufficient healtime has passed, she will still be 'wounded'.
Bullet Cutter: Yuuki has the perception and the speed to dodge or even cut bullets, so long as she can see them coming. This can also apply to magic or other similar attacks, if the magic is sufficiently-physical to be deflectable.
|Skills=Agility: As one of the light races of Alfheim Online, Yuuki can wall-run and is extremely quick in combat. Combined with near-perfect control of her avatar form gained through years of experience, this gives her an incredible degree of speed, precision and control. She also has excellent control over voluntary flight, able to easily turn loops and flips in the air and to set down delicately and precisely.
Zekken: Yuuki's signature ability is the one-handed blade resembling a rapier. Zekken means 'Absolute Blade', and the title was given to her by those who believe there's no one out there who can match her with a sword. She is a spectacular duellist, and can both strike at speeds faster than the normal eye can follow and can potentially parry strikes that are likewise faster than a normal eye can follow.
|NPCs=Sleeping Knights: Six skilled VRMMO players who have teamed together for years across many VRMMOs. The team consists of Siune the Undine healer, Jun the Salamander tank (heavy armor and great sword), Tecchi the Gnome tank (mace and shield), Nori the Spriggan DPS (light armor and warhammer), and Talken the Leprechaun DPS (spear). They have powers as listed for their races in +themelist Sword Art Online-1. Any of these NPCs are PL 30-31 individually. Collectively with Yuuki, the Sleeping Knights are PL 34.
|Disadvantages=The Flesh Is Weak: Yuuki has an incurable disease which has destroyed her immune system. She has spent over three years in a medicuboid, a device which can radiate signals directly into her nervous system to override the pain of her disease without medication. It also allows her to access her world's VRMMOs as an alternative therapy, since she can't leave a sterile room without lethal consequences. She has no effective way of interacting without using a VR avatar.
No Game No Life: Yuuki's never had a chance to complete grade school let alone high school, and has never had any significant life experience due to spending the last few years in hospitals. Though she's done some self-study on typical school subjects, she has little experience in dealing with anything that can't be beaten with a sword or that otherwise exists outside the sort of solutions found in RPGs.
Distant: While Yuuki has come to terms with her pending death and with the deaths of others close to her, she doesn't like letting others know about her condition. She has a great deal of trouble dealing with how others might react, and pity is one thing that can break through her acceptance of her fate. She finds it easier to face death than to face the pity of others.
Swordmarm: While Yuuki has played dozens of VRMMOs, she's a sword wielder above all else. She has no experience with magic and no desire to spend time or effort learning the skill, instead glorying in movement in all her fighting abilities. While her wings and speed make up for quite a bit, when it comes right down to it she has no options for dealing with anything outside of lunge or charge range.
}}
== Notes ==
{| class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed wikitable"
! Beacon Academy  
|-
| Yuuki's a full-time student at Beacon - yeah, the RWBY theme. She loves going to school since it's something she hasn't been able to do for a long time, and the purposes of Beacon appeal to her. She likes the idea of defending people from monsters, much like she does in VRMMOs. Of course Yuuki's attending in avatar form rather than in the flesh, and so she stands out a little in her classes. She's also a little young - roughly Ruby's age - and so stands out in that way as well. 
 
While it's well-known that Beacon has multiversal attendees, there's a rumor going around that Yuuki's actually a bat-faunus. The rumor's fuelled by her slightly inhuman appearance, her batlike wings she occasionally uses, her covering her ears (with a headband), and her general approval of other Faunus students. Most students surely know the rumor's false, and that Yuuki's an offworlder. She doesn't confirm or deny the rumor. When asked, she simply laughs. 
 
Yuuki got in a public fight with Cardin Winchester once, and actually had to be physically pulled off him. This amused plenty of people since she's about half his size and no real harm was done. She has a bit of a reputation for a temper though, even if it's not precisely earned. Most students believe the cause of the attack was because Cardin believed that Yuuki was a Faunus and insulted her over it. Yuuki's not saying, and neither is Cardin. Truth is though that it was because Cardin was bullying Velvet Scarlatina, and due to certain incidents in her past Yuuki can't stand bullies or bullying. She also has absolutely no problem standing up for those who won't stand up for themselves, and never caring about the consequences or about what others think of it.
|}

4446/The Flying Dutchman (CCO)

2016-08-28T05:33:16Z

MoreBeer: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2016/08/20 |Location=Alfheim Online <ALO> |Synopsis=Final confrontation with the Flying Dutchman, a supposedly-unbeatable encounter within the VR g..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/08/20
|Location=Alfheim Online <ALO>
|Synopsis=Final confrontation with the Flying Dutchman, a supposedly-unbeatable encounter within the VR game.
|Cast of Characters=874, 707, 215, 1, 960, 675, 6, 922, 162
|Tinyplot=CCO
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     With Crystal Bones on-board, presumably every trip of the Windstar is a potential run-in with the undead vessel. As the group has seen, running from the encounter seems futile. The group owns no island at which to store the bones. The only safety seems to lie in remaining in port until once again the heroes can gather in force to take on the deadly seas.     Fortunately, having had plenty of time to prepare, the group should have what they need as they now gather on-ship in the open seas. Improvements to ship and ship cannon may have been made, though the effectiveness of a ship-to-ship battle seems dubious. Suggestions were made to ready a cannon to fire point-blank with something that will hopefully damage the undead sailors on the ghost ship. Possible, perhaps enough to make a supposedly unwinnable battle winnable, but it'd need to be done just before the fight becomes an open brawl. Personal gear will have to be good, but Yuuki's been making sure her weapons and trinkets are enchanted with diamonds for their Light element affinity. There may be other ways to prepare, depending on each individual's own weapons and skills, but she's putting her bet on Light. If nothing else, it should help the group out when the fog surrounds them.     There's also the option to NOT fight. The undead ignored the crew of the Windstar once before. Of course that was when the Windstar weren't their target. Choosing to give up the first strike might just get the crew dead, the ship sunk. Death isn't a big deal since everyone here is logged into the game. It's just a loss of XP, loot, and the ship. But it would also be a loss of the Bones. Weeks of high end raid hunting lost at a single stroke, along with the group's fine vessel. Both are replaceable, but the cost would be devastating. Dare the group sit tight and become victims, on the slight chance that this seemingly unwinnable battle is meant NOT to be fought?     Yuuki's showing pre-raid jitters, or perhaps she's just expressing her perfectly normal bounciness. This is just a fight... or not a fight. She's not really sure. If they find out the truth behind this encounter... who knows? She's beginning to suspect that her original suspicion, shared with Kirito, is untrue. That this is NOT some rogue AI thing, but an actual coded adventure. As such it should be winnable, and she trusts in this group. They can win the encounter if anyone can. But if it's an adventure rather than rogue AI elements, that means that the force behind the encounter isn't who or what they thought. It means the many weeks spent in Cutlasses and Cannons Online didn't advance her own purely selfish quest for life. But that, too, is fine. In the end, it's not life that matters. It's living, and Yuuki surely wouldn't trade her time spent fighting alongside friends for an entire lifetime's span without them.     So she's not in a melancholy mood. Yuuki's not regretting the time spent ascending the ranks, becoming among the best pirates on the digital seas. She's putting her heart into sailing, bobbing along while performing her duties, apparently engrossed in her own personal soundtrack somewhere... or just in the joy of movement. This isn't a rare thing for her, thouhg perhaps she's slightly bouncier than usual. She always seems at her happiest when moving. "Come on, come oooon, come get us!" she says, not entirely to herself. The words are directed outwards towards the horizon, but she doesn't shout. She's calm, more or less, speaking in a normal tone of voice to no one in particular as she tends to sailing. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' Something to try and damage the undead sailors with a point-blank shot? Sunshower's been cooking up options for that. Literally. Well, brewing, but that counts as cooking of a sort, right? She hasn't found any more potent specific recipes, but once you've mastered a recipe it's possible to tweak it and improve on the results, and that's what Sunshower's been focusing on. She does keep her eyes open for new recipes to put to use, but by and large, when she's not resupplying recovery brews, buffing drinks, or debuffing doses, she's making cannon-sized kegs of what *ought* to be exorcism-class supergrog. As for her gear - well, buffing brews have gotten her this far when her main gear isn't enough. It helps that her mixing staff carries a 'residue' from whatever she last mixed, and as the Windstar sets sail once more, Sunshower puts the finishing touches on another anti-ghost-ship mix so she'll be ready to clobber some undead. The only other idea she's had to take on the ghost ship without *fighting* is to offer a libation for the undead ... but she has her doubts that even that would work. She's borrowed the crystal bones a couple of times to see if a closer look reveals anything to her, but so far, likely no dice. (Which is kind of an appropriate reference, since the original dice were knuckle bones from some animal or other. Or something.) 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:''' Unlike Yuuki, who is in a good mood for CCO, there's something definitely noticeable about Iria's demeanor today. Namely in that she seems more irritable and grumpy than usual, and while she's never been known for being patient, today it's quite obvious that she's really got no patience today. She can be seen pacing around and fiddling with her sword nervously occasionally, a scowl on her face indicating that she's not one to be messed with today. But what caused all this? "I can't believe what happened," She can be heard muttering to herself. "One of my close friends, having that happen to her." After a while of self-dialoguing, Iria returns her focus to the current situation. "If those undead jokers try to get too close to me, I'm gonna make 'em really regret coming back from the dead!" She narrows her eyes. "No one is gonna mess with me and live to tell about it! Nobody!" 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:''' It may or may not be a dead end. All evidence in Kirito's book points to this being so. A thought he's less than happy about - it pisses him off, really. For Yuuki's sake. For Asuna's sake. For everyone's sakes!     Time is a precious resource. But today they'll have their answer, won't they?     Of course with Yuuki's exuberance on full display, he can't hold a frown for long. The boy in black (a terrible choice for open tropical waters, if this was real) adjusts his coat and pair of short swords... and plants a boot on the deck railing, now smiling out at the sea with builting anticipation.     "Everything comes down to THIS MOMENT! ... Come on out, ghost ship!" 

:'''{{#var:960|Kain (960)}} has posed:''' Kain isn't all that happy nowadays either. He's been in kind of a grumpy mood for a few days now in the grinds. He's been a little more merciless towards enemies as well, treating them to an execution-style kill: one in the head, 2 in the chest. A cold, expressionless face as he did so. Today was no different. His face was just as cold, just as expressionless.     "Whatever happens will happen. Ghosts or not, they're not gonna WANT to leave their crypts!" 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:'''     Palmira sits in the cabin, looking at maps of the region. Sightings of the ghost ship, the islands they've visited, raids they've completed all marked on the maps.     The silver Estoc she won off a spanish conquistador is proped up against the table, as an astrolobe on the desk spins by clockwork power. Despite the disparate nature of 'pirate' and 'holy power' Palmira has made enough of an impression on the online comunity that some people talk about her build under such names as 'sea crusader' and 'faithfull navigator'. She pays it no mind. She established her skills to kill a specific thing, a very narrow section of possible enemies: the undead.     For that reason she's replace her obsidian throwing knives with blessed silver, the clockwork reloading holster drapped across the back of her chair. Even if they can parley, they have to do it from a position of strength.     The purple haired woman considers if they' reall obtain Yuuki's goal, and the idea that they might not makes her frown deeply.     Putting her navigation tools aside, she dones her gear and walks back up to the deck towards the wheel. "No ghost ship sightings for a while noe, but were almost in the center of the formation of previous sightings. If it's going to happen, it should be here, and soon." 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' This had been quite the unexpected thing, she'd not expected a mystery like this. CCO has proven to be the sort of experiance Tomoe or should we say Dread Pirate Eisen was not expecting and there's been a lot to think about. There shge was she'd be willing to risk things to see if they could talk to the ghosts. After all if it is just an unmarked quest there could be more than one way to end it. So She had voiced her view of trying to talk, if they lose first strike? They lose first strike. 

:'''{{#var:922|Weiss Schnee (922)}} has posed:'''     If anyone's excited about what the party has been working up to this entire time, it's Snowflake. After the successful raid on Devil's End, she's spent much of her downtime either crafting fresh and interesting flavors of grenade, musket ball, what-have-you every day, or practicing her new fully-formed weapon to perfection.     What, you thought an unnecessarily difficult rhythm-based boss fight against swarms of little demons and their heavy metal overlord was the end of it? Nope, successful operation of the final product is a minigame in and of itself. Therefore, she's been working her tail off to make sure she doesn't end up getting the party killed somehow because she missed a beat at a crucial moment - or even worse, make a fool of herself!     Currently, she's dancing to some inaudible rhythm, emerging from the hold spinning in circles. "I, for one, am quite excited for this. You guys just tell me when you see something, yeah?" 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Time passes while the crew broods, chats, good-naturedly banters or plots respectively. Windstar has little to fear from most pirate craft. She's a fast ship, relatively small and sleek, and her crew are highly skilled in the arts needed to get the most speed out of such a vessel. More importantly the ship's not laden with cargo; any would-be pirate seeing her pass would be more interested in waiting for a wallowing tub. Travel speed varies. When there are no nearby ships the Windstar flies across open ocean. When other ships are nearby the ship still travels fast, but sea and land don't pass her by quite so swiftly. The game's fast-travel system cuts down on the boring parts of sailing, speeding through them to allow crews to spend more time in the more exciting parts of the age of sail.     It doesn't take too long, therefore, before a chill strikes the air. The August heat of the digital seas is normally strong. It'd be uncomfortably so without the high winds of the ship's passage and the spray of water. This chill isn't so much cold though, as a familiar sort of clamminess striking. At the same time the sky dims. It's not clouds rolling in... the sun still shines. It's just not bright out, not any more. The sun's still just as brilliant overhead, and looking up is just as uncomfortable, but the bright hue of sea and sky just pales as if the world itself had begun to fade.     Low clouds roll in, coming hard from portside. The oncoming rush of fog is fast and massive, like a mountain collapsing and spilling debris all around it. It looks almost solid. It's too fast to outrun. Faster Alfheim Online characters could probably outfly it, but this isn't Alfheim Online. Nothing in this game moves quite THAT fast, not upon land or sea.     Even the air seems to go silent. The wind dies somewhat, though not completely. Not enough wind to speed along, but more than enough to maneuver. The stillness is more spiritual than physical though, as if not even the wind dares to make a sound, and the flap of canvas and hum of rigging seem almost apologetic in their relative loudness.     "I see something!" Yuuki abruptly shouts out, her voice breaking the stillness in an eager cry. She beams broadly at Snowflake, seemingly unaffected by the gloomy atmosphere that surrounds the encounter. She points, unnecessarily. Or perhaps it is necessary. Perhaps this is her way at crying out against the inevitable. To face it with her whole heart, and to show no fear. Not so long as she's with friends. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' "Yeah," Sunshower remarks, "that's not ominous at all ..." The nice thing about kegs - even those of the right size and shape to load into a cannon - is that they don't HAVE to be loaded into a cannon to be useful, so if the group doesn't generally want to try sneak-attacking the ghost ship, she's not so attached to the idea that she can't defer to a peaceful approach. The cheerful blonde Brewmeister sets one of her select kegs down - not on the bulkhead, but next to it - and watches the ghost ship drawing closer. "So, we going to offer them a drink instead of a fight, then ... ?" Given some of the logic that was cycled around earlier, the libation idea DOES seem promising. The worst thing that can happen is that the fight starts with a buff for the undead side, and she's not about to offer her best buff brew for the purpose ... unless something of the sort is specifically asked for. 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:''' The more the trip takes, the more Iria paces around, grumbling to herself. Whatever happened last night with her friend is really pissing her off. When she finally gets word that there's something coming, she looks up a little and her frown seems to ease up a little bit. "Well, it's about time too. I've been craving some action." She sneers a little. "Let them come after us. We'll be waiting!" 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:'''     Palmira hns as the fog starts rolling. "It's as if they were waiting for their cue." she walks out to front of the aftcatle and waits as the fog gets denser. "The ghost ship may attempt to come from the sides. Make sure port and starboard keep a close look out."     "Either in diplomacy or combat, you can't be taken unawares." 

:'''{{#var:960|Kain (960)}} has posed:''' Kain just rubs his face a bit, sighing a bit as he hears the call. Pulling out some of his crafted food, he eats it up to get his buffs before getting ready to fight! He doesn't pull his weapons yet... but he does have both his pistol and sword unclipped to be able to draw them out quickly should the need arise.     "Let's just get this done... I don't want to do this any longer than is necessary..." He rubs a bit at his left leg as he kneels down to wait for the inevitable... 

:'''{{#var:922|Weiss Schnee (922)}} has posed:'''     Absorbed in her own magical world of pirate metal and who-knows-what-else, Snowflake doesn't seem to notice the odd change in the weather for a few moments, only opening her eyes and looking to the gloomy skies when her mental playback finishes. She holds a hand up in the air and shrugs her shoulders, an inquisitive half-grin on her face.     "Huh. Don't think the forecast called for that today, did it..? Does that mean-" Her own question is promptly answered by Yuuki, drawing the lass' attention to where she's pointing. Yuuki's projected energy and confidence seems to seep into Snowflake as well, or at least helps to sustain her own good mood, as she swipes at the air to put her playlist on pause. "Finally," she comments. "Yknow, this is what's so great about having a magical instrument as a weapon - it should help out whether we decide to fight them or not. Personally, I'd prefer the former, but that's just me," she offers with a smug smirk. 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:''' The air chills, and Kirito's eagerness - and tension - skyrockets. A hand goes to his blade on pure subconscious reflex, but he hurries over Yuuki's way and plants a hand on the deck railing. "Don't know about you... but I'm sure ready for this finale. And back to having wings! Wonder what these ghosts really want..." 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Fog engulfs the Windstar, blotting out sight of anything much farther than the rails of the ship. Not sounds however. Though distant sounds are muted, things are still quite audible. Shapes swirl in the fog, as if the Windstar were surrounded by ghost ships that remain distant rather than just having the one deadly vessel to fight. The shapes move and fade however, only to reform elsewhere. Mostly they provoke panic, a sense of uncertainty where any enemy might be, rather than being an actual threat.     Yuuki shrugs, standing her ground at the sails but not really doing anything. Fleeing seems futile, and she's not got the skills to make a meaningful difference in carpentry to bulwark the ship or in cannons to defend her. "I have no idea! I hope we get the chance to ask." she answers Kirito. "And that they'll answer, I guess. I mean, I don't mind just getting in a fight, but we've come a long way for answers right?" she grins.     Abruptly cannonfire rips through the air. The deep rolling boom of a broadside fusillade explodes into the air, unmistakeable even without sight. So much for the ghost ship being friendly. There's no telling where the cannonballs are coming from however. The sound rolls about in the fog, making it impossible to tell range. Still on the port quarter, but that's about all that can be easily told. "Take cover!" Yuuki cries out, huddling down behind the rail and reaching out a hand to yank Kirito down if he doesn't move fast enough to suit her. It might do nothing to protect them against a cannonball, but if the deck were to erupt in splinters from a hit they'll at least have some cover from that.     Perhaps surprisingly, the cannonfire doesn't rip into the Windstar. The whistle of torn air comes from overhead. Splintering and tearing noises follow, but not the crash of hull damage. Grapeshot and some chainshot, not solid-bore hull-piercers. Sails tear, rigging parts, and the slow rush of the Windstar falters and dies under the ghost ship's cannons. Most of the sail falls or is torn to useless shreds in that single assault. Not content with its speed advantage, the ghost ship seems to be insisting on making it impossible for its prey to get away.     There is time for people to get to cannons, if they choose. To return fire, or to prepare an ambush for boarders. But the ghost ship is coming fast. It's making for the Windstar at speed now, barely visible in the fog. It's turned head-on now, so most of its cannons can't come to bear. It's sacrificing its superior firepower for speed. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe blew a strand of red hair out of her face and adjusted her bandana a bit They have to wait she looks out across the water and she sees that it's coming in it's time to make ready she doesn't make for any weapons at least not yuet. "It looks like them and I as I said eariler I want to see what happens if we try to talk. She hopes it goes well but ther'es nothing else to do but wait and stay alert wwhich she is. She looks for a good spot to hide then hits her hide skill, she'll do her best to wait to see how things pan out but it does seem that the talking operion isn't going to work well, oh well time to do this the other way. "AVAST! They be making to board!" 

:'''{{#var:960|Kain (960)}} has posed:''' Kain draws out both his pistol and rapier, ready for some swashbuckling and face-stabbing! Whatever parley was going to happen, it wasn't going to happen now! Using the fog to his advantage, he moved to a location where he wouldn't easily be seen unless they started looking. But even then, unless they can see absolutely perfectly in this fog, they'd need to be right up to his face to find him. Whereas, he can use his ears to find them... 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:''' Rapier at the ready, Iria's now looking ready for a fight. And with a scowl that shows she's in no mood to be messed with, it's plain to see that anything that comes their way with hostile intentions will meet a rather abrupt end. "Don't care who or what we're up against, they're gonna regret messing with me on a day like this!" 

:'''{{#var:922|Weiss Schnee (922)}} has posed:'''     Snowflake's happy expression falters a bit as the fog surrounds the ship, slowly giving way to her traditional battle determination. Of course, this wouldn't be much of a traditional battle with the fancy weapon she's brought. She glances around now and then, certainly confused by the illusions in the mist - but it doesn't faze her for long, the digital heiress soon tiring of them. "Come on, show us the real one..." she says to nobody in particular.     The sudden attack certainly takes her off guard, of course. She instinctively dives to the side in an attempt to dodge whatever it is that needs dodging, and ends up being pelted by bits of wooden mast and sail tarp. "Gah, we're under fire!" Her gaze frantically snapping about in the fog to find the source, she soon spots the vague figure off in the distance through the fog. This time, it's more solid and corporeal - at least, she has to assume.     "Alright. I'm just going to warn you guys now that I'll be a bit... vulnerable at close range, so a bit of cover would be appreciated," she shouts to the rest of the crew, opening up the hammerspace that is her inventory with a swipe of her hand. Selecting something and dispelling it, something appears seemingly out of thin air - a gleaming golden fiddle in one hand, complete with a familiar golden bow in the other. Taking a deep breath, she plants her feet and prepares for combat. 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:'''     So much for diplomacy. Palmira drops to the deck "tch." She slides across the deck to one of the wivel mount guns and opens the ship's combat UI, selecting grapeshot for the broadside guns. "Broadside, load grapeshot!" And loads the same into the smaller swivel mount. "Sunshower, get your special shot ready!"     Palmira continues to scan as much of the sourrounding mist as she can - if she could see the stars, maybe she could use a navigator skill to help find enemy ships nearby, but the fog seems tailor made to block all such abilities. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' One of these days, Xiaomu's going to stick to her guns when one of her friends or allies takes a more optimistic approach, and her pessmism will be rewarded. It sure ain't being rewarded this time, though, because she let herself be convinced. So for now, while the cannonballs start flying, she hunkers down protectively over that cask she had ready on the deck, she keeps a knife in hand ready to throw at anything which presents itself as a knifeable target - or alternatively, to stab if something gets TOO close before she can throw - and she waits for a good chance to throw, not the knife, but the *cask*. See, that's one of the little-remembered facts about alcohol: it burns nicely, and since these ships tend to have wooden decks, a busted-open cask plus an open flame in the right place tends to mean the ship in question starts burning. There's a reason why Greek fire was more dreaded as a naval weapon than a weapon of landlocked warfare, after all. Of course, they'll also have to make sure the Windstar doesn't catch flame as well ... But possibly-anti-undead grog should be just as viable a weapon if it's burning the ghost ship's deck as if it were blowing up in some undead pirates' faces, right? Maybe even better. 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:''' BAM! There goes the mast. Kirito dives the moment it goes down, hitting the deck quite literally and sort of skid-rolling behind and past Yuuki. "So much for that idea." He mutters, all but kicking himself for thinking this quest would have such a path.     Well, they have PLENTY of chances left. He's quick to flip through his menu at lightning speed between peeking overboard at the incoming ship...     Blue light flares upon his opposite side, manifesting in... yep.     Another sword materializes, albeit at his waist. He draws both his weapons with a single motion and springs up to a low crouch, ready to dash across the deck... 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     The crew of the Windstar, the NPCs who follow orders and keep things going when PC crew aren't at a station, hurry to follow Palmira's orders. There's little to see until the ghost ship is almost too close to fire at, but there's time. They have their orders, and the hideaway cannons are made ready, waiting on the order to reveal and fire.     The enemy ship comes on hard, though the only sound from it is the slap of wave as the ship wheels over. The huge ship begins to turn, ponderously gliding across the water, presenting its broadside. The cannons remain quiet however. The ghost vessel could easily fire now, and cripple or even sink the Windstar. But it doesn't. The undead seem content to have the vessel unable to flee. It can still limp even if it can't run away. Even the damage to sails and rigging is repairable, given time. Nothing crippling, not yet.     The threat is those undead though. Several of them line the rails, ready to leap aboard when the decks come together. And yes, that seems to be the intent. The ghost vessel isn't going to use its bulk to grind into the Windstar. The impact, when it comes, is surprisingly light. The ghost ship isn't terribly substantial. The defense that renders it mostly immune to cannonfire also renders it unable to throw its weight around. The jarring shock is enough to make unbraced people stumble, but likely little more.     Undead pirates are quick to swing aboard, leaping down. No guns fire, not cannons, not personal firearms. Not from the undead side at least. They come brandishing cutlasses, clubs and axes. They may be giving up the chance to strike first, but then why would that matter to those already dead? 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' "SO WHO'S THIRSTY?!" That unlikely battlecry comes from Sunshower as she raises her keg overhead, and - rather than launching it from a cannon - simply THROWS IT, as hard as she can, into the midst of the swarming undead, preferably while they're still mainly on THEIR ship instead of the Windstar. "Coming back from Davy Jones' Locker must be a long, dry sail; a pity you won't walk our decks long enough to quench your thirst, be it with booze or blood, grog or guts!!" She pulls ANOTHER keg out of her inventory, and throws THAT as well. She was talking about setting things on fire earlier; now's the chance for somebody to make good on her hint! 

:'''{{#var:960|Kain (960)}} has posed:''' Kain hears the cry, and uses that as his cue! Hearing the crash of one keg against something, presumably undead pirates, Kain loaded a cartridge of Fireshot quickly before firing it at the second thrown keg so as to have it explode JUST as it would hit towards the pirates! How's THAT for a surprise?! 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:''' Iria has her rapier sharpened and ready for action. When the undead come aboard, Iria's got an evil grin on her face. "Welcome aboard! Shall we dance?" She grins a little more as she rushes towards them with her rapier at the ready. "Because we're gonna be dancing the dance of DEATH!" She stops abruptly, wanting to get the undead a little closer to her, before she attempts her tactic of trying to catch one of them off-guard then striking swiftly with her sword. 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:''' "Alright boarders! We know what you want! Now we'll learn why!" Kirito shouts at the top of his lungs. "Offering one solid chance to parley for it! It's that or my blades."     Kirito... feels foolish. Shouting at NPCs is usually fruitless, but it worked EARLIER. So maybe, just maybe... JUST MAYBE.     He's done some weirder things when lost in thoughts, all alone in Aincrad... and a few less-weird things when not alone.     He's left facing an undead pirate ghost nearby. Kirito's weapons are at the ready though! If he comes under attack...     He's going to RUTHLESSLY counter-parry with EVERYTHING he's got from his dual swords style... 

:'''{{#var:922|Weiss Schnee (922)}} has posed:'''     Snowflake hardly seems jarred by the sudden impact, predicting it and staying focused on something else anyways. She monologues internally while the skeleton crew begins to board, raising the fiddle to her chin in proper position: 'Remember your training Weiss. Head up, shoulders back, right foot forward - not that forward! - slow your breathing, wait for the right time to strike, and... Now!'     Just like that, everything springs to life in her vision. Four different tracks appear to her with rapidly approaching notes on the leftmost one as she loses control of her avatar and switches entirely over the rhythm minigame. Each enemy gains a fiery orange outline, and each friendly gains a glowing green aura.     As the song begins, leading with the accordion, a faint red shield envelops the player, providing a bit of protection should she come under fire - and then, the fiddling begins. Every stroke of the bow fires blazing bolts through the air, homing in on any locked-on undead targets. They aren't dealing too much damage yet, but they do inflict a bit of lasting fire DoT. Hold on to your butts, ladies and gentlemen. 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:'''     This isn't exactly the plan she had in mind, but the keg has been launched and ignited. "All guns." She brings the swivel gun around. "Up angle...FIRE!" and she pulls the triger on the swivel, sending it's relatively small complement of grape sho outwards.     The real surprise will be when the deck guns fire their grapeshot at such short range up into the boarding ghostly enemies. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Kirito has an idea she's going to follow it up as she ends up getting to back up Kirito, she's got to wonder about his plan? Yet she's always trusted him, in the end that trusty has her following along into the storm of parrying attempts. "Kirito! I'm with you!" She's only got one blade but she's pretty good at parrying her self. "Come on ye lubbers! Why are you seadogs at this?!" 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     The undead swarm onto the Windstar, a horde of the deadliest creatures on the digital seas. Grog and gunpowder explode into them, setting several on fire and ripping into others with the powerful explosions. The semi-corporeal forms are damaged, especially the ones nearest the point of impact. The fire doesn't seem to scare them though. Damage them, yes. Their health bars slowly dwindle as they charge. But the fires go out. Fire is a deadly status, causing rapid health loss, but it doesn't linger long. Damaged, the undead are still coming. There's a gleam in their eyes, a chill of malice.     They didn't have a choice, not at all. They had their orders, commands from the one who is their master in death. Seek out the Bones. Show the holders no mercy, and allow none to escape. Kill all who oppose you. Until the moment the PCs attacked, they hadn't technically opposed the undead sailors. The undead technically weren't under orders to kill. This was the loophole Palmira had inadvertently exploited in their original encounter, that let her speak with them and actually get an answer. Now however, with their orders unambiguous, there's only one thing remaining for them to do.     They'll have a hard time following that command, however. They may be unwilling to serve their new master, but they have little choice. They have little will to succeed, but nonetheless they're dread fighters with resistance to just about all damage. Not to all damage though. Everything done by the crew of the Windstar is going to be at least somewhat effective. And the damage the heroes can dish out is like nothing seen before in the game.     Cannon open fire and grapeshot rips into the back ranks of the boarders. This is new. Before, attackers would open fire on the ghost ship. The ship would shell back, to take out the resistance to their commanded duty. No cannon would remain with the ability to take out boarders once the Dutchman finished rendering their prey defenseless. The Windstar hadn't fought back however, so the attackers only had to make her unable to escape. That was all their orders commanded, so it was all they had the will to do.     The assault of fire, alcohol, and magical bow aren't new. They're nonetheless effective however, and the boarding party's opening line takes a beating even as it closes ranks. Fire rips through them, leaving them damaged. Not hurt... the dead feel no pain, but certainly damaged.     Which leaves them facing, well, the blades and guns and bombs of the Windstar's crew. A force unlike any other this game has seen before. The fight may be considered unwinnable, but only because the rogues of the Windstar had never attempted it. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     "Cannon deck! Cease Volley! Prepare to repel boarders!" calls Auralia as she vaults from the wheel deck, drawing one of her pistols as she lands on the main deck. Her other hand? Holds a glowing white cestus. "Turn ye back from this place!" she roars, using a rare item ability. Turn Undead. A Holy Element spell that, which is /can/ put a 'Fear' effect on Undead creatures, is more directed at damaging them with one of the few elements they're vulnerable to. She 'fires' this item-bound ability in a cone, trying to disrupt the initial charge, while adding Ivory's glowing white bullet fire into the fray as well. 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:''' "Come on, ya landlubbers!" Iria yells as she tries to master speaking like a pirate some more. "Arr, I be sendin' ya t'Davy Jones's locker!" She wields her scimitar with one hand and waves it at the invaders. Then she realizes it'll have no effect against these monsters, so she rushes at the nearest one, attempting to slash it with her scimitar. "Ye be feedin' the fishies shortly!" She yells as she advances on the nearest undead enemy. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' Blades, guns, and bombs? Somebody forgot knives, mixstaff, and BREWS. They may even escalate to be considered 'bruising brews,' at this rate; while the lack of extra damage from fire isn't particularly encouraging, Sunshower knows that blunt-force bashing damage tends to do a number on undead - particularly the skeletal type - and she's hoping that holds here as well. Especially because that's the bulk of what she's got to offer at this point. Rather than simply chucking another keg into the undead, Sunshower plants her next keg on the deck next to her feet, pops the lid off, and dips the end of her mixing staff into it, 'stirring' briefly to help soak the buff into her weapon; it won't be much, but every little bit helps. "ORDER UP, YA SCURVY SCALAWAGS!!" she bellows over the din of combat - And instead of simply lifting the staff back out, she actually swings it in such a manner as to hurl the open keg onto the enemy ship's deck, spilling its contents not just over her staff but also over the undead. Hopefully the largely-empty keg will bounce off some numb skull for extra damage - but either way, she now has a mixing staff which has soaked in an anti-undead buff ... the same 'buff' that just spilled on a swath of the enemy. And she starts clobbering them with it, much as though she were subduing rowdy drunks back in the comfort of her tavern. Except maybe a little more viciously; she doesn't need these guys as returning customers, after all. 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:'''     Palmira releases the swivel gun as the volley impacts the ghostly forces, reducing their numbers. The Crusader/Pirate steps back from the gunnery station, drawing her silver Estoc out and holding it in an offensive posture. As the ghost being boarding the ship, her free hand reaches down and grasps three throwing knives from their clockwork reloaders, and flings the holy silver projectiles to impact with the front ranks.     "Ranks to muskets!" she shouts to the crew in support of Aurilia's order to repel boarders. And as the boarders approach, she slices the silver Estoc - a rare, high level weapon that can only be found by raiding Spanish Conquistador ships. They got lucky finding it in only a few tries. But now it gets put to use dealing damage to ghosts instead of being used as symbol of an empire that will soon begin to flag. 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:''' "UUUUUUUUOOOOOOOOAAAAAAH!!!" No programmer in their right mind, nor any quest generation algorithm, would ever have anticipated the sheer FEROCITY that Kirito brings to bear against the ghost pirates.     Resistant to all damage, fine.     Very high stats, sure.     Superior AI compared to most monsters, a given.     But anything with health can be whittled down. Anything with an AI can be observed and predicted.     ... And far, far outmatched in pure speed and skill.     Screaming bloody murder, the Black Swordsman uses sheer speed and skill to slash slash slash four times between his two weapons for every single strike landed on him. He ducks and weaves, mitigating a tremendous amount of damage from strikes that DO get through his guard by not taking direct hits - this does indeed factor into the damage calculations, after all...     He's a whirlwind of motion and the only person on the deck likely to exceed his furious assault in this one context is... the Absolute Sword.     These pirates are a HELL OF A FIGHT, but a fight meant to be UNWINNABLE to most players... is enough to get Kirito's blood pumping furiously at the challenge.     "... " But he spares a half-second to glance at his comrades, and mutters bemusedly, "It's talk like a pirate day everyday with this crew." Then sparks fly as his blade again meets his opponent's... and by watching their eyes he slips in past their guard the instant they make a move and STRIKE hard with a blow to the middle, leaping past and towards the next! 

:'''{{#var:922|Weiss Schnee (922)}} has posed:'''     The same cold, calculating expression of determination settles over Snowflake's face, laser-focused in on landing each and every note perfectly. It's rather easy for now, with only two instruments to attend to - at least, in relation to the rest of the song. While the rest of the battle rages on around her, she trusts her allies and her own rhythm skills to protect her, blasting every enemy she can see with increasingly damaging firebolts.     hen, the real battle begins.     As the electric guitar and the drums kick in, more projectiles launch into the air, hover for a moment, then zoom towards everything nearby. Green orbs of light jump to her allies, conferring helpful heaing and damage resistance buffs, while red pellets lance towards the opponents, making them even more vulnerable to damage. A weapon truly worthy of the rhythm queen - let's just hope she doesn't mess it up. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' The undead swarm the ship and it seems tht any chance to talk things out isn't going to work. She's gong to fight at htis point while she's got a Cutlass in one hand and pistol in the other. She leaps from hiding dropping her stealth and she moves into engage some of the undead who have boarded. "You wishe to deal with Eisen the Rose? Very well! YOU HAVE HER!" She's already uysing several techs as she becomes storm of movment, blade strikes and pistol shots, she's also vaulting about like some kinda arch enemy of all pirates, the dreaded ninja. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Not having guns, bombs, brews or anything of the sort, Yuuki waits with rapier in hand for the undead to board. She watches as her friends make this seem easy. Well... almost easy. The back ranks of the undead are being significantly weakened by cannon and fire. The front ranks are being dazzled and disrupted and set on fire. As they present themselves, charging across decks to the Windstar, they're already being almost entirely destroyed.     Well, almost. In truth the undead have a high health pool and their etherealness leaves them highly resistant to all damage types. Even being set on fire doesn't deplete their health as fast as it would a normal character. Holy magic, even anti-undead buffed holy brew, does plenty of damage but it won't destroy such a mob by itself. No, the withering fire and magic-like effects are a start, but by no means the end of the fight. There's going to be plenty left to deal with directly, and the fight's not yet over. In fact the fight's barely begun.     Grinning at Kirito and Tomoe, Yuuki matches their face-on attack. She doesn't quite match Kirito strike for strike. Two blades do give him an advantage there. She maintains an edge on raw speed however, darting into the middle of the undead horde borne on sheer agility and Swashbuckling Skills. Like him, she seemingly cares little for attacks made against her. Her speed helps ensure the attacks land on nonvital areas, or are partially absorbed by armor. Either way, she takes no major wounds while dishing out considerable punishment. The few scrapes she does take are partially negated by Snowflake's support buffs, and her health bar's holding relatively high despite the attacks sent her way.     She sees the effect of Auralia's Turn Undead debuff, and the timing seems perfect. The enemies had been beginning to react to her assault, turning to cut her off, surround and overwhelm her. They flinch however, slowed somewhat by the debuff. It's enough to spare Yuuki from the brunt of their counterattack, and it allows her to spring her own surprise. "Creatures of darkness!" she calls out. Oh the irony. In Alfheim Online, her usual game, she uses elemental darkness. She's an imp, a literal being of darkness. Here though, she seems to have settled on light. "Blaze!" she cries, abruptly thrusting her sword up into the air, triggering the enchantment held within.     The flare of pure light washes out the chill of the fog, and for several feet it wipes out the fog itself. The boarders flinch, hesitate, and lose their guard for just a moment. Abruptly renewed, Yuuki makes her next true strike. No longer is she surrounded by enemies. Now she's surrounded by TARGETS. Switching immediately from defensive to offensive she lunges, striking deep, putting the light-enchanted sword through one of the foe before spinning, drawing the blade out, and striking hard at another. These aren't the lightning-fast cuts she tends to use when drawing attention. Not the attacks that charged up her blade as she danced her way into the middle of the first wave of boarders. No, now she's striking to finish the undead.     The NPC crew of the ship, while nowhere near comparable to the front-line force of PCs, still man swivels and carry muskets. They respond to Auralia's command, firing into the back ranks of the undead, continuing to deplete them. It's not much, but every bit helps. Should the battle continue long enough, the depletion of enemy reinforcements certainly would help. The dead, like the tides themselves, can't be shifted by effort alone. But with effort and skill and will, they CAN be overcome. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     But the undead horde are numerous, incredibly resilient, and utterly deadly. They have some of the best AI in the game, and are absolutely no easy target in melee. They fight with little regard for their own lives, making them easy targets, but they threaten to give out far more damage than they receive. Any single hit they land is likely to be a big one. Yuuki, Kirito and Tomoe, charging the enemy's front line, face the most aggro. Sunshower has fewer to face, since she hasn't waded out into the attack itself, but a few undead sailors do target her, swinging at her with cutlass and club. With anti-undead buffs she can probably give as good as she gets.     An undead swordsman engages Iria, clashing sword to sword, weaving an assault of blades her way that seem like three weapons instead of just one. Seems she's found herself a duellist, not merely a dead sailor. 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:''' Iria finds herself in a bit of a situation. She's underestimated the enemy, and now she's in a bit of a battle for her life. She finds that three blades (or something similar) against one does not work too well. She finds herself struggling at first, then loses her sword. "Arr, shiver me timbers!" She yells, diving for the blade quickly and grabbing it while she rolls away, giving herself a little breathing room between her undead swordsman foe and herself. "If ya desire more, ye landlubber, ye best c'mere now!" 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     "Blessings of Neptune be upon us." intones Auralia, as she turns to another of her Prayer 'spells'. This one joins Snowflake's buffing abilities, providing each crewmember's weapon with a mild Holy enchantment, stacking with any inherant buffs it has. It's not a powerful Prayer, but like the NPC crew, every bit helps.     Buffs and her Big Opener out of the way, the Cestus is returned to inventory, and the gleaming white hand-axe is brought out. She dives in with the others, firing Ivory and hacking with Lambent, dancing amidst the boarders, joining Tomoe, Yuuki and Kirito in thinning the main thrust. "Steel yeselves! This fight is far from over, and I'll be cast to Jones' Locker 'fore I let these knaves have me ship!" she roars, clashing steel against steel, firing point blank into the fray, and generally being a royal niusance. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' Of course this isn't going to be a fair fight, thinks Sunshower as she sees how little overall damage she's done - although to be fair, that was a *debuff*, not direct-damage. She has to do the damage herself, the debuff just makes it easier. Hopefully. It had better, anyway. So she sets about doing damage - or rather, for the most part, defending herself from the undead. It helps that Sunshower's *player* is well-accustomed to using a staff in battle; she knows what tends to work, what doesn't, and what gives her the best chance of parrying a cutlass successfully as opposed to her staff taking damage; too many chips and chops will reduce her staff to a pair of half-length staves, after all, and while those aren't *useless* per se, it takes a whole different set of skills to dual-wield cudgels like that. And it would reduce her total reach - which matters a LOT when you're trying to keep undead with cutlasses from getting close enough to spill your blood. So, for the most part, the bold brewmaid swings and swats at the encroaching undead, happy to actually knock a skull off or shatter other bones if the chance presents itself, otherwise just making the bill as expensive as possible for any of the undead who want to get up close and personal. It doesn't stop her from cracking jokes, though. "So if there were a buff that lets y' do twice th' damage t' enemies," she calls out, "what d'ye think it'd cost? A doubloon?" .... just remember, she's on your side. 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:'''     With battlefield control well established by the others, Palmira switches to offensive focus. The silver Estoc swings through the air, leaving silver flashes of light where it travels. The purple haired woman pushes her attacks, laying in with thrusts and slashes to clear the way. Her style isn't quiet as fast as Yuuki or Kirito's but still fast enough that the combination of hard hitting attacks and ability to move quickly lets her collect aggro from multiple mobs and pull them together where an AoE effect, or her own silver throwing knives can damage the whole group at once.     Those clockwork bandolier just work over time reloading the spent knives, with constant whirr-click of delivering three new knives to Palmira's hand as she fights. But where Palmira doesn't DPS as fast as others, she make plans.     "NEST! Fire!"     NPCs setup in the crows nest at the top of the mast peek over with muskets and begin firing on the groups of pirate ghosts she's collected, further weakening them.     Palmira brings the Estoc up in a eye-level hold and charges in, slamming the tip of the weapon straight through, two, three of the weakened foes with the thanks to all of the buffs being laid down by the rest of the party. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe was meeting the enmy head on and she was not alone as Kirito and Yuuki joined her. It was two SAO vets and the person who has the likely highest response times in Full dirve gear all going after this mobs. It's a heck of a fight it realy is. Yet? Eisen is seeing why so many others fell to these things. She was being pressed but she keps fighting doing what she could to keep these things at pay and parrying the attack she could. Yet these things are able to ... get past her guard and score hits, nothing to bad /yet. However such hits will add up over time. "I'll hold these sea dogs as long as I can!" 

:'''{{#var:922|Weiss Schnee (922)}} has posed:'''     Safely nestled behind the lines of her more melee-focused allies, Snowflake amps up her efforts, hitting every note just as she practiced. All of her projectiles grow larger as her note combo climbs ever higher, amplifying their effects. They provide a larger buffer of regeneration for her allies, a greater magnitude of damage-eating debuff for her enemies, and simply more raw damage per fireball. Each one whacks into its target with a good chunk of flat damage, DoTs aside.     "My friends, I stand before you... to tell a truth most dire. There lurks a traitor in our midst, who hath invoked the captain's ire!" The lyrics play just as loud as the rest of the song - in fact, much louder, while the other instruments cease briefly. While Snowflake keeps her note combo's momentum, each instruments effects simply stop with their instruments. While the buffs and debuffs linger, for that brief moment, she's no longer dealing damage and no longer has a personal shield - this would be a very bad time for, say, an enemy projectile to strike! 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:''' Kirito can hardly hear the battle for the battle itself. His ears filled with ringing steel clashing against steel. The Black Swordsman ducks and weaves, leaning forward in a highly aggressive stance that can snag the insanely fast swings of his opponents and turn them aside. But the strength of undead is mighty indeed - every time he blocks, a bit of his HP's shaved off.     And when he can't, a bit's shaved off from a graze or a blow onto armor he narrowly manages to mitigate.     But his body lightens and blade glows from a sudden rush of blessings and magic...     Kirito does something quite odd. He LEAPS over his opponents, twirls about in midair and brings his weapons down. He leaps back from the expert-timed reprisal, and dives in to counter. As the fight goes on he's starting to learn the monster's patterns and techniques...     And those patterns are always a monster's undoing.     In Sword Art Online it was common knowledge that monsters adapted their combat algorithms to their enemy, and rapidly alternating who's fighting them throws them off.     The practice doesn't seem to have caught on for Alfheim though...     The only question, as he turns and starts leading his opponent Tomoe's way across the deck... is how well her reflexes have remained over the years.     Because...     "TOMOE! SWITCH!!"     Because he dive-rolls for her enemy and comes in with a heavy set of slashes from nowhere, trusting her with his back! 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Enemy losses begin to mount, undead warriors begin to fall. Well, not fall exactly. The creatures show a surprised look, then regret, then they fade into mist. Only the faintest ghostly echoes remain, untargetable and unthreatening. This doesn't relieve the group's danger however. A new enemy comes forth to take the place of any who falls, and each fresh undead is every bit as deadly as the one they replaced. They're damaged however, these fresh reinforcements. They don't take quite as many hits before they're hacked into mist as well. There's just no immediate obvious end to them.     Iria's foe, who Palmira would recognize if she weren't busy, is the boarding leader VINCENT RUUD. He brandishes his cutlass high, showing that it's indeed a single blade. The afterimages merge into one before the undead sweeps it down and hacking into Iria's digital avatar, carving off a chunk of her health. She can recover her sword however.     Sunshower's staff skills serve her well. The long reach keeps her fairly safe, but again the undead have no regard for their own so-called lives. They're willing to take a blow, even from an anti-undead enchanted weapon, in order to strike at her. She'll make them pay, and may even shatter skulls and arms to great effect. As she downs foes though, more replace them as with others. Sadly, her jokes don't seem to effect the undead at all. They're dead to her puns.     Snowflake's buffs will continue to climb, to the point where she becomes a genuine threat to the undead reinforcements. It's something they can't ignore. Two hurled harpoons arc out towards her from the ghost ship's deck, from reinforcements waiting for their chance to engage the crew of the Windstar. If she's not alert and careful she'll be impaled. Even if she is alert and careful the attack may well break her combo, stop her attack for at least a moment, and reset her buff level.     Interestingly though, Snowflake's song itself seems to be just as irritating to the undead horde. A number of the waiting reinforcements focus eyes on her, not just the ones currently attacking. Eyes begin to glow red through the gloomy fog. They have other things to throw. Swords, axes, knives, each other... and it looks like they're not happy with how things are going right this moment.     Palmira's careful combat style serves her well and combos nicely with the aggressive assault of the front-liners. As undead turn to menace Kirito, Yuuki and Tomoe, some present openings which Palmira skillfully exploits. Her silver blade and throwing knives are quite effective and she can finish off several foes. They're not easily replaced, being behind the lines, letting her advance into the breach and cover the flanks.     Yuuki continues her own assault, though she reverses direction. She'd reached the deck, now she fights back towards the rest of the Windstar's crew. She smiles over at Kirito and Tomoe, realizing they've done this before. No doubt they've been doing it for a long time. Far longer than she's known either of them. They can handle themselves. She works her way back towards Palmira, adapting her fighting somewhat to play off Palmira's strengths and to assist the other young woman as well. They've fought well together over several battles now. Not as well-attuned as Tomoe and Kirito perhaps, but a good duo nonetheless. 

:'''{{#var:922|Weiss Schnee (922)}} has posed:''' Hoo boy, here's where it gets really interesting.     Snowflake's vision is partially blocked by the musical tracks, but luckily for her, the oncoming projectiles are quite obvious to see, with a large warning sign and everything attached to them by her HUD. She had hoped that she wouldn't have to deal with this, but it seems like she has no choice - she has to juggle dodging and playing, somehow.     The minigame shifts to the side as she reassumes control of herself - only for a moment, though, as she quickly dashes to the side out of the way of the first javelin and returns to the interface during the brief period of musical inactivity. The second one lands just in time for the song to renew again, her personal barrier swiftly rematerializing and absorbing the projectile. Her interface shudders with the impact, but not enough to throw her off - however, her shield fizzles and sparks while it tries to regenerate. There's no way it can take another hit like that - seems like she'll have to stay wary for more incoming attacks. 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:''' It may be a VRMMO, but it still hurts like hell! Iria is stricken by the enemy, causing her to drop her scimitar while she reels back in pain as her health decreases. "Son of a Zeiram-eating bitch!" She snarls, the worst curse she can think of off the top of her head. She shakes her arm out, trying to get the pain to go away a little, before diving for her scimitar and grabbing it again. "You pissed off the wrong girl!" Iria snaps, forgetting about her pirate accent. "Now I'm gonna make you PAY!" She spins around a little as she tries to strike her enemy with a spinning strike instead of the usual swordplay. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Auralia's found her way through the melee and into Sunshower's combat zone. "Nice day for it." she calls over to her crewmate, grinning as she hops up, leaping over a lunging Undead, planting a foot on its back to send it sprawling, before bringing her axe down through the skull of another ghost. She turns, glancing a blow from another Undead, before ducking and using a powered Sweep to clear some space. "On my mark, Switch!" she warns the Brewmaster, leveling her pistol and unleashing a Piercing bullet to punch through a line of Undead. "SWITCH!"     She leaps, mantling off of a falling undead to clear the ground route for Sunshower... if she's fast enough. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' This is about the point, thinks Sunshower, when you start wondering what's going to bring the encounter to an end. Lots of undead, no obvious limit, no boss lurking behind the horde, how many undead can a ship the size of the Flying Dutchman actually *carry* anyway? "Hey, Captain?" she calls out to Auralia over the noises of the fray, "Did you get a good look at the size of the enemy ship before we grappled, or - Oh right, switching out. she leaps back in the opening provided by that piercing shot, and unslings a wineskin to swig some recovery brew. "Thank you!" She pulls out a few knives, ready to throw them while Auralia's in melee. Stabbing weapons may not be as useful against undead, but she's not going to lay off *completely* from the fight, even while she's recuperating from having to hold her share of the front line. She's also keeping that wineskin ready to pass to Auralia when they switch off again .. although while she's recovering, she glances around to see how her other crewmates (the PCs at least) are doing, and if anyone else needs a pick-me-up. She can't go too far, but she can at least try to toss a spare wineskin to anyone who needs it. 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:'''     Despite the cacophony of battle all around them, Palmira smiles a little as Yuuki joins up with her. She's grown to like Yuuki regardless of her own normally icy nature, or perhaps because of it and Yuuki's own desire to live life to the fullest. The classical odd pair.     "Snowflake's being harried by ranged and the one fighting Iria looks like a special unit." She says as she circle back to back with Yuuki. "I'll clear the path, you can deal with it as you see fit."     And with that established, Palmira surges forward, silver Estoc slices through the air, and while Palmira isn't the fastest, and she isn't a video game ace, she has real combat experience so there's one thing she does do better then most others here.     Palmira's sword slices through the air and is pulled back in an upwards sweep, just enough room for her to punch the ghost ahead of her with a gloved hand. The point of the sword is quickly driven down into the ship's deck, through the foot of one ghost.     Using her sword as a leverage point, Palmira spins around, delving a second gloved-knuckle to the ghost with a spinning backfist, opening Palmira up to dislodge her weapon and drive it upwards in bisect of the third piratical specter.     A fourth ghost swings it's axe down at Palmira just as she turns towards it-     *SCRUNCH*     Palmira stands there, red pixilated lines of damage across her body, her fist in one ghost's face, her sword in another's leg, and the axe of the third...     Held fast as her teeth crush the pirate's wrist.     Palmira knows how to fight dirty.     *spit*     "Switch!" 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' IT had been some time since she'd seen Kirito use this tactic but she knew it quite well. The Pirate Eisen Rose moves to swap with Kirotp with rapid speed she's used pulling off sucj tactics. So far everyone is playing their parts, she hopes to keep the undead focused on them so her and the other 'tanks' so the rest of the party. Shje knows mass combat after all and has worked with Kirito so long they know what the other will do such as when they are switching spots she'll even drop a taunt or two to make sure this has a chance to be pulled off. 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:''' Absolutely perfect. In the instants of the switch, Kirito makes eye contact with Eisen Rose... in those brief moments of diving for her enemy. Hopefully she'll pick up on the trust there!     As it is... his execution is all but flawless. Right past her and into the enemy charging at her, he rises up and unleashes a stream of blows with ridiculously different angles and timing against an enemy who's probably NOT paying enough attention in the throes of Aggro! 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki flashes a grin back at Palmira. She loves all her new friends dearly. Without them, life wouldn't be worth living. Without them... she wouldn't be alive. With them though, she can be anything, do anything. They're special, and they make her special too. What's a bunch of moldy old animated bones in comparison to that?     She considers Palmira's question. In a way Palmira reminds her of Asuna. That cool analytical mind is a treasure, though Palmira lacks a certain something which is probably the reason Asuna's been nicknamed the Berserk Healer. This... isn't necessarily a negative lack. But as to the question, Yuuki only can give one answer. She can do little against ranged attackers. Those, she'll have to leave to the others. Iria she can help.     She darts through the opening Palmira provides, lunging for the back of Iria's attacker. "Finish him!" Yuuki yells at the very last moment, leaning forward in a dive, arm outstretched. Her rapier buries itself between undead shoulderblades as she lances into Vincent Ruud. On any corporeal foe it would have surely been fatal. With the undead damage reduction though, the boarding leader doesn't quite fall. It turns instead, raising its phantom blade, twisting Yuuki's rapier out of her hands as she falls helplessly at its feet.     The flood of reinforcements seems to be slowing. With many of the undead attackers turned to ectoplasm, most of the rest are burning, being treated to holy brew, are whittled down by buffed bow magic and small-arms fire, or are currently regarding Snowflake as a ranged threat they're focussed on. The end is in sight, and the crew of the Windstar seem to have weathered this tide fairly well. No one's dead, no one's in the red, no one's trapped. They just might be able to pull off a feat that's never been managed before! The Windstar's NPC crew have been busily firing away, and are currently focussed on the ranged attackers, trying to give Snowflake a break.     What with clever switching and skills that go well beyond casual video gamers, the group's handling the encounter well. Which means naturally everything's going to suddenly go bad. From the ghost vessel comes a chilling voice. Not the echoing 'everywhere' voice that Palmira heard before, full of clipped syllables. This one is a cold menace, articulate and venomous with hate. "The curse of the betrayer. You cannot overcome it. You cannot overcome the tides themselves. The deeps shall drag you down into watery doom."     Up to the deck strides a tall, powerful figure. BENEDICTUS MARINUS, Captain of the Flying Dutchman. He's cadaverous, literally so, rotting and malign. But he glows with a faint green light, the illumination filling out his form where flesh itself fails. He bears no obvious weapon, and bears himself as if he doesn't need any.     Benedictus holds up a hand, as if commanding the fight to stop. And just that suddenly, the attacking undead jerk and pause, taking a shuffling step backwards each in unison, leaving themselves desperately open as the unuttered command affects them. The PCs are unaffected, leaving them able to exploit the moment's weakness. Only a moment however. "The grasp of the deeps take you." the captain hisses, and from his hand bursts a pale sea-green mass of watery tentacles, lashing out at everyone aboard the Windstar. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' Oh hey, would you look at that, the boss finally showed up. Sunshower promprlty greets Benedictus Marinus with a knife aimed for his eye. Well, one of them - if one eye is covered by an eyepatch (because come on, *PIRATE THEMED GAME*), she aims for the uncovered one. Although really, the eye that *is* covered would be the most obvious target. She doesn't have time to prep the knife with one of her baneful brews, so it's just a plain old thrown knife, unlikely to do more than draw aggro. Which she probably shouldn't have done. It also does little or nothing to prepare her for the grasp of the deeps, unfortunately enough. Sunshower whips her staff around as soon as she sees the watery tentacles, trying to splash through whatever comes reaching for her - more of a desperate parry than an 'attack,' really, but if it helps, she won't complain. If it doesn't help ... she'll have other things to complain about. 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:''' With Iria's opponent turned away, the brunette has the upper hand. She decides to stop the enemy before it can cause any more problems. Grabbing her scimitar, Iria attempts to rush in from the back with her scimitar in hopes of impaling it and teaching it a lesson that it'll never forget... or something like that. Then she spots Benedictus Marinus and she goes wide-eyed for a moment. "THAT'S the boss?" She shakes her head. "It could've been more gross, but oh well!" She attempts to focus her attention on it, hoping her other enemy is done. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     And there's the Boss.     Auralia snarls back at Benedictus. "Grasp this!" she cries as she shifts over, jinking out of the strike of that tentacle, scoring her axe blade along it as it goes past her, only to drop her pistol, the weapon dematerializing into her inventory, to be replaced by that cestus again. "I summon Poseidons Trident. Smite thee unto my foe!" she locks the target, and the weather above opens briefly, shining a pale white light onto the glowing green of the Ghost Boss.     Much like the last time she used this Prayer, a large golden trident lances down and impales the target, before vanishing as quickly as it came, the weather returning to that same mist-choked norm. 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:''' As ghost soldiers fall back, Kirito flips away and onto a barrel, and from there to further back on the deck. He knows SOMETHING'S up. Gamer's instinct is screaming it at him.     Then the first view of a far taller corpse hurling himself to the decks sends a chill down his spine.     Those ghost soldiers were nearly impossible to beat, as monsters go. But now a BOSS is showing up?     If the difficulty scales... they might be screwed. When numbers get high enough... no amount of personal skill will be enough.     Usually.     "Those enemies were insane... I can't imagine most players even REACHING this guy if it's a quest...!"     On the other hand, the fact that it's acting so Dreadfully Ghostly in-character means the reason they had for coming here to investigate has just proven, once and for all, to be a false lead.     "An unmarked quest. We've come all this way just for..." He has no desire to be here for questing. He's not interested in the loot, or the system, or the Swashbuckling Skills... he'd rather be flying in the skies of Alfheim or challenging further through Aincrad...     He's here for Yuuki, and with these results...     Bitterness fills his gut. Bitterness and a rage that perhaps Benedictus Marinus doesn't deserve. A fierce, contained FURY ignites in Kirito as he takes a battle stance... and JUST in time!     "What IS THIS GUY?!" The Black Swordsman cries out. WHO would expect TENTACLES FROM THE SLEEVES?!     But Kirito takes a desperate leap over the deck. He only gets struck after landing by the aftermath of the strike... and it sends him tumbling over the deck timbers in a lopsided roll. But he somehow twists a foot around and half-recovers with a third of his health meter GONE.     "Ghh..." He's no interest in the loot, achievements.     But if there's one thing he really wants to do right now...     Kirito fixes Benedictus with a DEATHGLARE. A quite serious one. FAR more serious and genuine than practically any VRMMO would be capable of.     "Cut the crap. You want our crystal bones?" His voice is full of hollow, vaguely irritated amusement - his true feelings a bit suppressed. A few people might realize though, this is a sign that he is REALLY DEEPLY PISSED. "After this yours'll be dust. What drove you to chase these down?"     He doesn't expect the NPC to answer, but sometimes NPC AIs surprise him...     Very few bosses in ALO even TALK to begin with... 

:'''{{#var:922|Weiss Schnee (922)}} has posed:'''     And here's where it... oh, you get the point.     Of course, she needs to keep doing as much work as she can, but Snowflake finds that a bit difficult with a range of weaponry hurtling towards her face. Yeah, that's a problem - her shield can't take all those hits. Any projectiles that manage to get through the NPCs' support is met with a series of fireballs, with the intent of shooting them down before they can land. This reduces her overall damage output, but she gets to keep her combo, right?     And... here comes the TRUE true fight. Oh joy. The undead minions become a secondary priority as she focuses on defending herself from the watery tentacles, meeting them with barrages of fireballs, pelting and debuffing the boss himself in-between. Who ever said water beats fire, anyways? 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe pauses for a moment she doens't care much about the loot. She had to wonder about this quest? Was it something intended to change the setting if someone beat it somehow? She wasn't sure. She was not happy ither a eary unking thought fills her mind but she does not give it word. She watches Kirito enraged ans she joins his attack, she tries to dodge the tentacles, moving to hack slash and cut those that try to get close to her. "What the hell is wrong with you!" She's loing HP as well but she's still going strong, this thing is using Tentacle and this seems like very cheap quest design to her. "You want some of this?! WELL I AM SENDING YOU EXPRESS TO MR D JONES HIMSELF!" 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:'''     With Yuuki lunging to help finish of Vincent Rudd, Palmira extracts her fist and sword from the suddenly retreating ghost pirates and turns to look at Benedict Marinus, eyes narrowing slightly. "This isn't the one that spoke before." She moves forward, using the time to slice into more of the ghosts. "Where's the one that spoke to me before?" she asks the cold menace of a gaunt undead. "The one that said you would take what's yours?"     And although she readies herself, the sudden explosion of tentacles catch half-off guard. The estoc slices through two in a single stroke and she reaches for her throwing knives, only to be caught! "Nhhg!" Dragged towards the undead ship, Palmira struggles to get free, one hand still in her coat. "I'm asking you, who your true master is!" she spits out as she's drawn over to the other boat. "Because I know..." Her hand reaches into her coat and grasps something just as it's pulled out by a tentacle. A golden disk about two inches thick goes flying from her hand and lands on the deck.     With a click and a whirl the outer edges of the device begin spinning around, slowly ascending as they seperate and begin spinning around each other as they assemble into an astrolobe, projecting beams of light into the sky through the thick fog, spinning around like a light show until they lock into position.Coloured lights representing the planets turning, the beams of light suddenly spinning around in their own miniature show of lights until they start clicking into place.     The ultimate navigation skill, AND ultimate item.     Atlantean Astrolobe Skill: Planetary Alignment     As each light of each planet lines up, a buff representing the planet descends on the group. Jupiter for Lightning, Saturn for Wisdom, Neptune for water resistance, Mars for War and Strength, Mercury for Speed, and Uranus...     The God of the sky grants favourable weather. But does it cut through the fog?     With her buffed strength, Cirra break free of the tentacles holding her, slicing into them with her Estoc. "Well?" she asks the undead one last time. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Perhaps ironically, Yuuki's not bitter. She can draw the same conclusions Kirito draws. Yes she's here seeking out a metagame answer. She's looking for something which no actual in-game quest is going to provide. This is a dead end, a false lead. But that doesn't matter at all, not to her. Sure this won't save her life, but while she's doing it she's still actually living. That's what counts to her, not the outcome.     But in order to continue living, at least in this avatar, she has to survive this battle. Things were looking a little grim when she'd lost her sword. Sure she could scramble away, undignified. Even flat out on the ground after a diving lunge she's not helpless or crippled. But fortunately she doesn't have to. Iria carves into Vincent Ruud. Between her initial assault and the moments given by the Captain's ordered halt, there's enough time for Iria to turn Vincent into ectoplasm.     One telling point about the Captain is, despite his cold menace and obvious power level, he only has a single health bar. He's not, technically, a boss. Bosses always have four bars, at least in SAO and all its derivatives the heroes have yet travelled. Those tentacles are deadly enough however. When cut or burned they spray an acid-like substance that debuffs and damages the target. It's not big damage, but it's a slow drain of health for a few seconds. If they latch on they reel in their target while constricting, causing moderate damage and making it hard to wield weapons properly, let alone call upon chants or prayers. And there are lots of them. Cutting down one wouldn't stop others from attacking. And cutting them, sadly, doesn't actually deplete Benedictus' health bar.     Auralia's skill, on the other hand, does. Poseidon's trident strikes the Captain with possibly poetic fury. Even so, the blast is reduced by the undead incorporeal-state damage reduction, turning a potential fight-ending attack into a merely damaging one. But Marinus roars in pain. "Curse you as well. Horkus take you all. The answers you seek are within a watery grave. COME, I will send you there!" comes the malign voice, as he lashes out with his other palm. MORE tentacles. By this point the Windstar's crew are all engaged, the NPCs no doubt entirely helpless, and only the fast-moving and skilled PCs still fighting.     Yuuki recovers her rapier, turning towards the captain, and charges at him. "Go back to your master!" she cries, moving forward in a streak of blazing light. All around the ship, the sky lightens. Not Yuuki's light though... Palmira's. The blessing of the Astrolabe at work. Some of the oppressive aura diminishes, raising hope and buffing stats at this, the final battle. "Tell him the pirates of the Windstar sent you!" she cries out, darting, weaving, cutting, and moving closer and closer to the Dutchman's deck as her health begins to steadily drain from the spray of the acidic tentacles. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Acid spray bathes Auralia, draining her Health Bar. She drops both weapons, and with a flourish, does a twirl and draws a long musket from within her long coat. She spins and twirls it like a short staff, knocking those tentacles aside... just for long enough to perform a Gunslinger Trickshot. "Grape Shot!" she calls, and then fires a string of blasts from the musket, peppering the remaining Undead, and hopefully clearing a path for the melee fighters to get into combat with Benedictus. She's not trying to damage the Boss himself, she's already done her part in that battle. 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:''' After dealing with our friend 'Vincent,' Iria decides to try to help out with the boss. However, rather than just use her scimitar to fight like before, Iria draws her pistol. "Yar gonna be fired for this!" She yells, trying to make a bad pun while doing her pirate accent. She fires off a couple shots while moving closer. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' "Urk," is Sunshower's only comment for a moment or so as she gets splattered by surprisingly corrosive water from the tentacle her staff just 'sliced' through. She does wave to Palmira, though, and manages to call out a quick, "Thank you!" in regards to the Astrolabe buff. If she had a little more thought free for punning, she might joke about the stars being right, but she's more concerned with laying the smack down on the ironically-named Benedictus Marinus. There's nothing good about his words so far, is there? She quaffs another gulp of recovery brew, and then charges into the fray once more, barreling along the lane opened up by Auralia's Grape Shot and swatting some undead further out of the way with the ends of her staff. "Sorry, Captain Marinus, but your voyage ends here!" she calls out before she plants one end of her staff, uses it to *pole-vault into the air* ... And then does a mid-air somersault, shouting "SKULL SPLITTER PREMIUM!!" as she whips her staff up, over, and down to try and give Captain Benedictus Marinus the concussion of an undead lifetime - or at least a headache that'd make your typical hangover look pleasant by comparison. 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:'''     The acid was unexpected, burning through Palmira's over coat, turning it into more of a hazard then a protection, and Palmira tosses it off rather then deal with the persistent debuff that comes from wearing armor burning with acid. Leaving her in white blouse white black and red vest. The silver holy symbol dangles around her neck.     Yuuki streaks by, and Palmira brings the estoc up in a one handed attack stance, other hand held tightly behind her back. She lunges forward, thrusting the point of her sword into the tentacles that try to flank Yuuki. Still not as fast as the younger girl, Palmira can make up for it in accuracy, and footwork. With the blessings of Mercury upon them both, they probably look like one streak slicing through with the second just a moment behind, whirling around the first. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe gets the idea that this entire thin is a horde boss fight and not just a single boss with adds. She's not seen that too often in games but had things been a bit different she'd have enjoyed that. She's still got a card to play now. She does does wonder if winning this will lead to some kind of underwater location or leave there party as some sort of new undead race? She doesn't know she doesnt care for now. She pops the last ability which she has skill points for. Se lets out a loud cry. "CUTLASS FURY!" Her HP is low she's been smacked about pretty good an the acid isn't helping she's got to deal with the damage from that and she just attempts to lunch into an inhumanly fast chain of cutlass strikes which is also intended to cleave the captains tentacles as much as the rest of him. Tomoe is just in a very bad frame of mind at the moment. 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:''' 'Horkus?'     Kirito mouths the unfamiliar name, but that's all the more he dwells on it for now. It's something to ask about when they're not all about to get WIPED by a... well, mid-boss in charge of some VERY powerful monsters.     The danger here is real, very darned high...     But not going to kill anyone, huh?     Even so, Kirito's fuelled to vicious heights here, more than one simply playing a game. He's disappointed, frustrated. All this, was it a waste?     If it is, the cost will be this captain's sorry face being split in two.     Kirito stays low, zigging and zagging over the deck, slicing lengthwise up one of the tentacles as it approaches. He stumbles badly, falls under splashes of acidic sea goo... and yet he doesn't stop the mad plunge onwards. With the amount of raw asskicking being unleashed, some of it ranged, he has very little time to spare up close unless he wants lead in the back.     So upon getting near, he activates a Swashbuckling Skill... in MIDLEAP.     Body and blade aglow briefly, the swordsman executes a twirling spin that probably ISN'T so smart, given how it dices into tons of tentacles as well as the ENTIRE of Benedictus being in range... but the moment he lands Kirito goes SKIDDING AWAY across the deck on it, tumbling around and slamming against the railing instead of getting himself pulverized by the abundant friendly fire.     "Sometimes we really need some better coordination," he observes... 

:'''{{#var:922|Weiss Schnee (922)}} has posed:'''     Wow, those tentacles really don't let up, do they? Her attacks only barely manage to hold off the attacks, the resulting acid spray either burning up in the fire or hissing violently as it spatters her shield. It holds for a while, but the constant barrage proves to be too much for the barrier as it visibly shatters like glass. Now Snowflake is directly taking the spray, eating away at her health and violently shaking her minigame's interface.     Her expression turns from determination to a scowl of frustration with the extra difficulty - and then into an evil smirk. Stomping the ground with her foot, a shockwave of fire erupts around her as her eyes literally gush with blue flames, laughing maniacally all the while.     Activating the magic fiddle's equivalent of Star Power, the music tracks move to the side and play themselves on autopilot, leaving Snowflake with a new interface containing a reticle right in the center. While the same bolts of fire continue to erupt towards the Big Bad, now colored blue and easily taking care of the tentacles with increased damage, a solid cyan beam of energy erupts from the center of the instrument and lances straight for Snowflake's target - the boss' FACE. "Keelhaul that filthy landlubber, send him down to the depths below! Make that bastard walk the plank with a bottle of rum and a YO HO HO!" The voice is downright demonic: deep, scratchy, and intoning from everywhere. With a perfect streak the whole song, the laser's damage would outright disintegrate many of a boss's minions and put a sizeable dent in its health bar - let's hope it's as effective on this one! 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     This, on top of the other undead... any of them individually is as tough as any normal fight. There may be no technical Boss Mob in this encounter but it's definitely end-raid boss stuff. It's a fight no one's beaten, not even players who have beaten the very tough island raids needed to get the crystal bones in the first place. The sheer number of the mobs, along with their power and resistance, was the core of this fight. That and the implacable and seemingly invulnerable foes that cared nothing for their own survival so long as they could cut down a foe. Tomoe's supposition is indeed correct. This whole battle is a boss fight, not one big boss with a bunch of trash mobs.     It would have been enough to beat pretty much any casual gamer. Only a group who fought for true, who fought for life, could stand a chance here. It may be just a game, and the final outcome of the battle may not be quite what some members had hoped for, but it's still beyond anything that a casual player would possibly believe.     Fireballs, pistol and musket fire sweep the way. Yuuki, Palmira, Kirito, Tomoe and Sunshower sweep and vault forward. The fighters support each other, weaving around tentacles, cutting them down, Opening themselves up for acid-splashes to free up someone else to advance a few feet further. This is only a game, but the acid stings nonetheless. The pain isn't severe, isn't real, but it's still there. Nothing committed fighters can't deal with, and nothing like the pain of a real-life injury of course. Pain limiters are in effect here. Still, it takes a certain bravery to suffer pain for another, even if that pain is merely a mild sting.     Staff and Blades carve into the Benedictus Marinus. Cutlass, Rapier and Estoc land home as Kirito sacrifices himself to cut away a swath of tentacles. Sunshower's undead-smashing staff splinters upon the deadlord's skull. The beam of Snowflake's bow attack lances into the captain, blinding and disrupting him. Then more strikes land. Heroes freed from their defense by the onslaught can join in, adding shots to the fray. As the hits land, the boss shrieks an unearthly wail until, finally, he explodes in a burst of scintillating green and red.     Abruptly the fog loses its grip, and warmth floods back into the digital Carribean waters. The fog visually fades slowly, though its effects vanish immediately. The ghost ship itself shimmers, slowly beginning to fade. And, of course, treasure. This is only a MMO quest boss after all, not a real foe. There's a reward for victory. That can wait until everyone gets back aboard the Windstar safely, of course. Top-end talisman and armor drops. Several spectral weapons. Crafting materials of spectral class including gems, wood, metal and cloth. And loot... oh yes, definitely loot. An epic ghostly treasure of doubloons and saleable valuables.     And ... one last thing. A key, listed as 'unique' loot. It can be given only once on a server, and it is given to you. The silver key, covered in disturbing runes, indicates it's used to unlock the Drowned Halls. Which no one has heard of. It matches no known location in the game. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' Sunshower actually swears out loud as her staff *breaks* upon clobbering Benedictus with it - but it served a purpose, knocking off a chunk of Benny's HP and helping her allies carve the rest of the bar down to emptiness. That mollifies her a little over the loss of a favored weapon and an important tool ... just a little, at the moment, but she's not going to waste time bitching further about it. The Windstar awaits, and the Brewmeister returns to the actually-physical deck of the party's ship without further delay. At least there's a lot of interesting loot to look over. She could use an armor upgrade, and if nobody else wants the staff, she'll take it ... 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:'''     As Benedictus is defeated, Palmira stands with her sword held up. Red lines of damage slowly fading as they exit combat mode. "...Just a quest." a note of disappointment creeps into her voice as she turns back to the Windstar. She wanted to find Yuuki's answer. Even if Yuuki will laugh and say it was a great experience anyways, Palmira wanted to see the burden of a short life removed.     The Crusader walks back onto the ship with the rest of the crew as the loot is given out, and one thing catches her eye. She bids for it and gets the drop. She turns back towards the lower decks of the ship as she uses the game interface to equip the item. A black coat with officer's barding, and St. Elmo's fire at night appears on her.     Equip: Ghost-Duster. 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:''' Iria shakes her head as Xiaomu's staff breaks, knowing too well the frustration of having your gear break on you during battle. Even after a battle it's still annoying. But at least the boss is defeated. Unlike the others, Iria doesn't rush for the loot. Instead, she waits for the others to have their chance before perusing the leftovers. Odds are she's not after anything big right now, and even if she were, it would be leftovers which she could sell for a little extra money in-game. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     As Captain, Auralia gets first refusal on loot she participates in acquiring... by default at least. She's always had her loot table set to Open Loot, but she's quick to spot something, and roll a need die on it.     Spectral Cestus, and a new musket, "Dead Man's Longarm."     "Looks like we have another destination. We'll find it later, but for now man sailing stations, batten the hatches and unfurl the sails. We make for safe harbour." 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' "Aye aye, cap'n," Sunshower drawls, still looking over some of the loot. She does pause to plant a big cask of recovery grog in front of the mast, so the crew can drink on their way back to port. 

:'''{{#var:922|Weiss Schnee (922)}} has posed:'''     Snowflake's Demonic Pact fizzles out the song does, lowering her fiddle down to her side. She just stands there for a moment before she collapses backwards, dropping the golden instrument and its bow on either side of her. "Hah... Hah... Well, that was... a thing..." She hadn't noticed how tired out she was from all that playing until it hit her like a freight train - should probably down a flagon of grog or something to fix that.     She didn't even seem to notice for a little while that the fiddle seems to be breaking apart, its pieces slowly burning up into nothingness. Once she finally looks to the side, she bolts upright and desperately tries to save them, picking them up as they disintegrate in her hands. "No, no, no! What's happening...?" Opening her inventory, she finds the shadow of the fiddle in its previous spot - with a lengthy timer below it. Seems like it can only be used once in a blue moon. "Ah well. We did it, crew! Yarrr! Or something." Charisma hasn't really been her highest stat lately. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe Seems to b e breathing hrd as she looks to the rest of the team grinning. "Not bad, good to see that you all had fun. I like games when they are like this. Rather than how the first one like this was." She puse and leans on the deck. "So who wants to head to Dicey's Cafe to party?!" 
}}

4269/Island's Got Booty!

2016-07-02T13:23:45Z

MoreBeer: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2016/07/01 |Location=Alfheim Online <ALO> |Synopsis=To lure the Ghost Ship, our players have learned they need a certain item found only in Raid-le..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/07/01
|Location=Alfheim Online <ALO>
|Synopsis=To lure the Ghost Ship, our players have learned they need a certain item found only in Raid-level islands. Their heart and skill is put to the test as they fight through some of the toughest content available in Cutlasses and Cannons Online.
|Cast of Characters=1, 6, 162, 215, 675, 707, 874, 922
|Tinyplot=CCO
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     The island is a sweltering jungle, with seemingly impassable walls of vegetation blocking most travel. Only game trails allow passage from one clearing to another. The game on this island, however, is a bit larger than most. As a result much of the time the party can advance with relative comfort and ease.     When they're not facing the 'game', that is. The island is full of monstrous beasts, any one of which is an easy match for an endgame player. Fortunately the crew of the Windstar are a team, and have the skills and gear to take on several such beasts at once. Having run other endgame islands together, even the relatively small crew can take on a force with considerable more game-levels. Not that the crew's lacking in game levels by this point either. If no one's maxed out any of their skills, they've probably still managed to gain enough points in their primary abilities to use the best gear in the game, and to have similar skill in crafting and utility skills besides.     Aside from giant cats and lizards that are more small dinosaurs than friendly reptiles, the island also hosts humanoid enemies. Half man half lizard, seemingly, these creatures have superficial scales like armor around brow, forearms, chest, legs and tail while their midriff, upper arms and thighs, and lower face and neck is vulnerable. It's not a combination evolution would ever favor, but the digital seas of the age of piracy bears little resemblance to a Darwinist origin.     As the group finishes cutting the latest group of lizard-men to bits of glowing red pixels, Yuuki lifts her hat and wipes her brow. "Phew! That was fun!" she says cheerfully. Her health bar is yellow, the line somewhat below the halfway mark. Probably much the same as any other melee fighter's, since the party has to spend its healing resources wisely on the most-injured members in any given battle. Besides, she's reckless as long as she sees the enemy's health bars going down faster than her own.     She's still geared much like she was originally, though her gear is rather ... pretty. She's long since left behind the threadbare outfits she joined the game with, having replaced them with richly-dyed and accessorized vest, blouse and pantaloons. Her cutlass bears a silvery gleam to it now, courtesy of Yuuki having spent some of her now-considerable game resources on light-element enchantments. She's prepared as well as she can, to face the undead that are sure to soon be an issue. "We've GOT to be getting close to the end of this dungeon right? It's been what, two hours now? Everyone doing good?" she asks. She downs a recovery flask (of ale) meant to boost her out-of combat regeneration, which would put her at full health and spirit in a minute or two. Standard fare for these sorts of fights. Healing up between battles isn't supposed to be a huge drag, right? 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Eisen was here again hot pants, bandana and all she was grinning in a good mood and was certainly enjoying the look of her avatar but still there were other things to worry about. She's also seeming to get some more gear but she's got the very anime pirate ideal going on wiuth her current cosume a she moves to finish off the last of the mobs. "Well tht was fun, what are we going to do now?" she gets her own flask, all the fun of booze without getting hammered. "At least this grog won't melt through the hull of a ship, right? Yuuki?" 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' "About that," Sunshower nods to Yuuki, rapping her knuckles on the side of the keg she's been toting around as a backpack - but which is now sitting on the ground near where Sunshower was slinging knives during the last battle. Of course she has to set it down when a fight breaks out, but that's why she's a support member instead of taking the front lines in the dungeon. "Running low ... might have enough for two more rounds for everyone. There's a fast way out from beating the boss, right?" Once everyone who needs it has a recovery flask, Sunshower starts retrieving some of the knives she threw during that battle - and then double-takes at Eisen with a mostly-playful glare. "If it tastes THAT bad, you can let others drink your share! I take pride in my craft!" 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:''' Iria's not big a drinker, whether in-game or out. Still, she feels that a little grog now and then won't kill her, so she fills a flask with it and sips it, then makes a face as if to say, "What did I just drink?" After recovering, she accepts the recovery flask gladly, putting it into a spare pouch. "We be needin' this if we run into any scurvy dogs!" She says, attempting to perfect her pirate's dialogue. After her speech, Iria takes out her scimitar and admires it. It's a fairly new one she got recently after completing some quests in her spare time. She looks at the shininess of the blade, how easier it is to grip, and how powerful it is as well. "Got a good deal on this one, I did!" She comments to nobody in particular. 

:'''{{#var:922|Weiss Schnee (922)}} has posed:'''     Nobody splurges on flashy, elegant gear like good ol' Snowflake! Holstering her top-of-the-line rapier, upgraded with all sorts of enchantments to make it even -more stabbier-, she brushes the pixel gore off her clothes, giving them a look over. She wears a black pirate's hat with a huge feather arrangement sticking out of it, as well as a pocket-laden utility vest, both studded with gold. Four holsters across her chest hold four small flintlock pistols, each one with a different elemental polarity. Under that, she wears a white -combat skirt- rather akin to her own real-life style and a pair of leather boots, also dyed white. All of it is loaded with the best enchantments she could muster up, primarily augmenting her agility and speed as well as a bit of bonus defense.     "Yar har or something," she simply says as she chugs down her own flask of grog. "Uh, great job on that, Sunshower," she offers. It's rather uncertain whether she means that or not. "This is where you find that gem thing, right?" she calls to Yuuki. "One of these creatures should drop it at some point. I need it for my, er... recipe," she explains with what sounds like an evil laugh. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Auralia has, for once, ventured away from her ship and has joined the group on land. "I'll consult the map." she says, pulling her menu open, then tapping an item, which forms a traditional parchment map. "It looks like, we're about two points away from the boss room." she says, tapping the map and pointing along the path along the right side of the area. "We should head down there, it's a lower level point than the more direct path, and it's only travel time, not rooms."     She puts the map away, reloads her brace of pistols then looks around the group. "If we can wait for my Spirit to restore I'll focus more on healing than damage in the next encounter." she puts one pistol back in it's holster, then opens her menu again, and requips a cestus that wafts a dark purple smoke. 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:'''     Palmira's own gear has been upgraded, having progressed through a gamut of beiges, greys, patterns until finally it settled on a black overcoat with red vine-like embroderie on the silk inside and along the cuffs and shoulders. The coat has a squarish cut to the shoulders and the button flap, which she has opted to wear open. Underneath it her corset and shirt are equally High Quality gear of purple and black silk. Black leather long boots complete the outfit, with a silver cross amulet providing protection from undead. She has as much of it crafted by her teammates as possible.     Her weapons have upgraded to a silver stenciled Estoc and hip holsters of obsidian throwing knives that cause extra Bleed damge. And lately she's been much better on the rigging.     As the party pauses to advance to the next clearing she looks back at the others, almost disapointed to not see the rag-tag bunch from so many sessions ago. "Hopefully something comes from this. Not that gearing up is unwelcome, but a more solid lead would certinaly be helpfull." 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:''' Given how Kirito came into the game with an avatar with many maxed skills... his main challenges have been getting good gear. now that he has some of that...     Now that he has that, he's been doing circles around Lizard men. They were one of his biggest targets in Aincrad so long ago... and the ones here are apparently similar enough in execution that he can predict every move they're going to make and get them to repeatedly fall into traps and Swashbuckling Skill combos that light up the beach!     His bar's also hit yellow - his familiarity with predicting the AI from years of experience grinding for his life is just an enormous advantage in this field.     He's elaborately decked out in a captain'y black suit with long coattails buttoned down the middle, but ditched the hat in favor of just his hair. And his current blade's... predictably, black, and on the heavier side for a user of swashbuckler skills. Just as heavy as he can get away with.     "Should be close!" He spouts airily, still full of energy... though a little bit winded physically. He's breathing hard, as cheerful as he sounds. "We've finally gotten this setup nice and tight. Think we can handle anything?" 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     The battles have been going pretty fast. The general power of the group makes that easy enough, even if the enemies tend to hit uncomfortably hard. That's all it is though, uncomfortable. Like Alfheim Online, the pain regulation in CCO is set to an easily bearable level.     Yuuki grins at the paint remover reference. "She's just saying it's strong!" the former imp chirps. Part of this giddiness is natural, part the (extremely temporary) effects of game-drinks on her. "And yeah, once we beat the boss we can just teleport back to the ship." she notes. Not if, *when*. Yuuki's boundless confidence is matched only by her cheer.     The loot from the encounter is nothing special. Each battle so far in a series of dungeon raids have dropped similar stuff. Rarely will weapons and armor drop, since the good ones usually drop from the Island Bosses. Plenty of doubloons worth of 'monster bits' though, and a good chunk of crafting ingredients besides. Gems, metals, leathers and brewing ingredients may be rare, but at the pace the party's churning through the PVE Islands the ingredients come at a steady enough rate.     Yuuki peers over Auralia's shoulder. Actually more around her shoulder, given their heights. "Lower level means faster fights, and less recovery time. Suits me!" she agrees. It's the boss fight that has her full attention. Trash mobs are fun and give valuable experience and loot, but it's the boss fights she really lives for. And of course it's unlikely their ultimate goal lies in the hands of anything other than an Island Boss, much as Palmira observes. "Should have plenty of time to regain Spirit while we move!" she suggests, bouncing up and taking off in the direction indicated.     The path winds a bit, rewarding those who move recklessly and take advantage of the parkour-like Swashbuckling Skills with a remarkably fast rate of travel. Not to mention those of the athletic persuasion in their real lives. Even so, the recovery drafts will have the time to put everyone's stats to full before they reach the next fight.     Yuuki stops as she enters a clearing. Not because of mobs therein... there are none. Instead there's a set of lit tiki torches ahead framing a path formed of flat flagstones laid out in a regular pattern. It'd be a common enough sight now. The indicator that up ahead lies the boss 'room'. That pattern of stone, those torches, form a barrier. Once a group enters, no one can enter or leave until either the boss is dead or the raid fails. She pauses, takes a breath. Also, waiting for those who might not be quite so fast, enthusiastic or energetic. "We all ready for this?" she asks rhetorically, grinning. "This time we get a skull! Arr, I hope!" 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Auralia grins a bit at Yuuki, ruffling the shorter girl fondly. She then follows after the group, using the Swashbuckler Skills she's trained aboard her ship, to keep up with the rest of the group.     She comes up short as the Boss Door is found. "I guess the islands change a big between raids... that map was wrong." she mentions, but grins a bit. "I'm excited now though, lets get in there and grab us a Skull!" 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' "If we're not ready yet, it's a little late to find out!" Sunshower calls out cheerfully; one of her daggers is drawn from its (mostly hidden) sheath, and she licks one side of the blade before dribbling something from a different flask onto the streak of saliva - and a poof of purple fire flares up, surrounding the blade before thet 'aura' fades to near-imperceptibility. Status effects really *are* an adventurer's best friend, and she's learned brews to confer advantageous statuses (stati?) on allies - as well as disadvantageous ones on enemies. If she manages to plant the prepared knife in an enemy's vital spot, the effect is MUCH stronger. The downside is that once she preps a knife, she only has a couple of minutes to land that hit, or the baneful brew is wasted. "Skullhunters of the Windstar, FORWARD! Drinks are on me once we get home with our prize!" 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:''' Iria's one of the type who have done the Swashbuckling Skills, since it not only works better for her as a sword wielder, but knowing a lot about parkour in real life helps too. So the path is no problem for her really. In fact, she finds herself going a bit faster than the others, but she stops when they get to that spot with the torches and other notable bits. She knows what it means, and she's a little uneasy about it for some reason. She pauses, then looks to the others. When Sunshower charges forth, Iria's with her. "Let's go! Let's show them who's in charge here!" She says with a huge grin. 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:'''     Palmira chooses to move at a more sedate pass then Yuuki. Slightly. Where Yuuki has enthusiasm, Palmira always checks for the position ahead to not be reckless, but still tends to move by wall running, or whatever is at hand. This clearing though, she pauses for a moment before walking into it.     "I didn't realize the dungeons shifted." she hopes thats not an effect of the rogue AI. She waits outside the barrier for the others to catch up. There was an incident with a limited time event dungeon where one of the party got locked out, resulting them being burried under reminders to get mother's day gifts.     Afterwards she steps through with the rest to bring up the reaar. High level dungeons like to drop groups in behind the players, and a secondary effect of her silver rosary is partial night vision. 

:'''{{#var:922|Weiss Schnee (922)}} has posed:'''     Snowflake grumbles inwardly as she finds nothing of much use on the bodies of the recently deceased enemies, but isn't shaken off her battle course by any means - chances are, she'll find this crafing ingredient in the Boss room! What was it called again? Something something of power, probably. Or maybe destiny. It's not important.     She's a natural at parkour already, combining her real-life agility with in-game abilities and stats to navigate the rambling path with relative ease. By the time she arrives, her status bars are topped up to full, which she confirms as she rifles through her inventory one last time. "Buffs, check... emergency healing, check... lucky charms, check..." She has a lot of those. "Alright, I'm all good to go!" she calls as she draws her gleaming, jewel-encrusted rapier. "No holding back, yeah? I wanna see everyone pushing themselves to their peak!" 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe is not having an issue with the enemies. "Maybe so, but you can bend me into a prezek Yuuki if we were to fight again. Heh the grind is real what can I say." Eisen seeme to be in good enough spirits as they make fo the clearing and she nods. "Ready to not be the tank for once, so ya I'm all set to go." She's got a cutlass in one hand and a pistol in another, nd she's been watching Weiss's own parkour antics with a good dela of respect. "Weiss, Palmira you both ready and sometimes they do. Events and what not, right? Palmira?" 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:''' "Here's hoping." Kirito agrees emphatically, pulling up alongside the Absolute Sword with an eager, almost cocky smile of his own to show. He's ready for this challenge, make No mistake about that...     ONWARDS. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     "Yeaaaah!" Yuuki yells an excited cry of agreement, raising her arm and offering a flying high five to Snowflake. Which would look incredibly foolish and silly if Snowflake refused to return the gesture or was somehow unaware of it. But the sentiment does speak for her and probably for all of them. Everyone pushing themselves to their peak.     The light flickers as the party passes the magical gate of the boss lair. Within, they can see the battle arena. It's a large clearing lined with the ubiquitous heavy vegetation. Within, a platform rises above three stone tiers. Between the party and the bottom tier stands four lizard men armed with long obsidian-chipped wooden blades. Each lizard man wears an alligator-head helm obscuring its features, and the lot of them loom huge and bulky with muscle. Atop the central platform stands six more lizard men, similarly bulky with similar outfits, carrying blowguns and darts in addition to large axes strapped to hips. Behind them is a final figure. His crocodile head isn't a mask. He's easily fifteen feet tall, his thighs bigger around than any PC's shoulders. His tail thrashes, and he reaches back with both hands to pull out a pair of blades. Long, vicious and jagged-looking things, either of them would be wielded two-handed by any mere mortal.     The Island Boss, the Crocodile Lord, stands ready. His strongest minions stand ready. They await the party's rush, with darts being the first line of attack and with sword-bearing lizardmen ready to prevent the party from ascending the stairs to the shooters. That's not the only possible path, however. There's the 'steps' of the platform itself, not quite vertical, a good ten or twelve feet between each tier with three tiers to the top. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Auralia charges in with Yuuki, but pulls up to let the others assault in first. "God of the sea, hear my prayer, grant us your blessings of protection." she lets the cestus sway, the smoke billowing out, and a wave of energy pulses out from it, bathing the party in a protective sheath. It'll reduce ranged damage by a portion, but won't help against melee strikes.     She then levels her pistol at one of the blow darters, firing off a Gunslinger Shot that splits into three explosive fireballs, trying to thin out the incoming damage. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' The boss has *minions*. As if the mobs which the party has already confronted weren't enough. Sunshower's not about to waste a perfectly good debuff-dagger just because her preferred target isn't quite close enough. So as Auralia invokes the protective charm from her cestus, Sunshower brings her arm up, then flings her dagger (Throwing Skill, yay!) towards another blow-dart wielder. She's hoping to sink it into the lizardman's mouth when the lizard opens its mouth to inhale - but she'll take pretty much whatever, and the debuff she's using should be enough to impair a mob's accuracy and attack strength even if she *doesn't* nail it in the eye or the mouth. The second knife she throws is not thusly prepared; as such, she's less concerned with weakening a target than just wearing down their HP - preferably taking each mob out as quickly as possible, and not just spreading the DPS across targets. Six half-dead enemies can still dish out as much damage (barring debuffs) as six full-health enemies. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe looks at the lizardmen and gets a grin on her face as she makes ready with her weapons as the fight starts she looks at the olord and the other lizardmen for a moment smrirking but she's also going to keeps movcing firing her pistol at one of the Lizard men as she starts to parkur hr war toward the encounter and honestly she's going to deal witht he adds before she rven thinks about engaging the boss. 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:'''     Palmira looks to Tomoe "Of course I'm ready." She stops as the party comes out into the boss clearing and frowns. "Though /expecting/ a fifteen foot crocodile man, is another thing entirely."     Palmira dives sideways as the blow darts rain down, grasping the obsidian throwing knives at her hips between each finger, flinging them through the air towards the sword bearing lizardmen to inflict bleeding damage. A *clickclickclick* reveals the knife holsters to actually be clockwork devices that reload the knives for a fresh volley very qui     chm">Obsidian Assasin Holster Throwing Knives were quiet expensive on the market. Rolling out of her dive, Palmira draws out her Estoc, and the embrodier on her clothes losses it's red hue, turning to purple as she switches from Infliction Stance to Direct Stance. The Status Enchantment on her Decorated Officer's Long Coat didn't cost much, but made it clear to her team mates what role she was taking on the field.     Palmira launches herself at the steps of the dias, grasping hold of the larger ledges with one hand to pull herself up. Unless something attempts to stop, she'll be moving straight for those dart blowers. 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:''' Minions? The more the merrier! Iria doesn't mind taking on multiple people at once. After all, she likes things more extreme, it makes things more interesting and enjoyable! "Come on, I'm ready for ya!" She calls out with a look of determination and a grin that shows no fear whatsoever as she narrows her eyes a little. Iria takes on one of the minions directly, using her skills to try to avoid the minion attacks while trying to catch it off-guard and land a counter-attack at the most opportune moment. 

:'''{{#var:922|Weiss Schnee (922)}} has posed:'''     For once in her lifetime, Weiss decides to go along with it and return Yuuki's high five with gusto. Savor it! "Woo, let's do this!" As she charges into the portal with the rest of the party, she pulls a special buff potion she's been saving for this very moment out of her inventory. More lizardmen? Well, alright, who wants some?!     She downs the mixture as she surveys the enemies at hand, significantly buffing her agility stats. Also targeting one of the ranged enemies, she rolls to the side and activates one of her combat skills, unleashing a flurry of bullets from each of her flintlock pistols. It'll take her a little while to ready those guns again, but it should deal a hefty chunk of damage, as well as bestow a number of status effects and DoTs from her various elemental enchantments. 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:''' Into the boss domain they go... facing down LIZARD MEN wielding MACUAHUITLS. They're weapons Kirito's seen before - rare as they get in SAO and not at all frequent to appear in Alfheim Online, typically only showing up in the hands of some weird jungle enemies in a fwe floors of Aincrad...     But they can inflict NASTY Bleeding Damage over time, so he's wary of them.     BLOWGUNS though... they're trouble. He flinches, once again a bit frustrated that he doesn't have his wings here...     "We'd better deal with the darts fast! I'll keep the guys with macuahuitls busy!"     And that's not even counting the GREAT CROCODILE LORD further back...     Kirito dashes in with great speed for the lizard men warriors, hoping to use his blade's superior weight to DESTROY the obsidian chips and use an old tactic of his: Arms Break.     Because weapons aren't indestructible, even those wielded by enemies. Strike them just the right way and...     Well, we'll see if this game works under that logic too. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki doesn't need much in the way of agility. She invests points into the stat, but mostly she relies on the superhuman reaction speed of a person who's lived within VR for years. Her eyes track the darts coming in towards the party and she charges forward with a high-pitched roar. It may sound more suited to a kitten than to a lion, but for Yuuki it's more the results that count.     Taking a lesson from Kirito and from stories she's been told, she engages the blowgun fire heading for the core of the group. Her sword flashes repeatedly, light gleaming from the silver blade in near-blinding flashes as several darts simply explode in contact with the cage of steel she weaves before her. Others explode quite literally from Auralia's fireball rounds, which makes Yuuki's attack somewhat less suicidal. Leaping, twisting, spinning, she cuts a path through the surviving darts, her HP bar barely scratched. She's received poison damage though, and the DOT attack will add up before long.     Kirito, Tomoe and Iria are going to have their hands full among the ground-level lizardmen, though it's not impossible odds by any means. The four combined aren't worse than a standard set of trash mobs, not even considering the risk of darts which diminish once the party closes to melee range. And the three fighters are, all considered, more than a match for just about anything in melee. It should in fact be relatively short work, especially with assistance from others in passing.     Kirito will indeed find that his strength-based build can effectively damage the relatively-fragile obsidian weapons. Unfortunately chipped obsidian is every bit as nasty and damaging as unchipped obsidian but he might have an easier time destroying their weapons outright than cutting through their armored flesh while warding from blows and missiles.     Palmira's throwing knives are effective, several striking home against the guardian forces. The DOT-inflicting weapons don't do much damage up-front, but they add up in damage quickly, softening things up for the frontline fighters while Palmira's otherwise heading up for a side-ascent.     Yuuki, seeing this, changes her mind. Instead of continuing her headlong charge into melee she glances aside. Grinning, she dives to one side and follows Palmira instead of engaging in melee. The first ledge is a struggle, but she has an idea for the second "Launch me!" she cries to Palmira, trying to get a boost. If it works, she should be able to clear the next ledge in a jump and then reach a hand down to her friend so they can both climb more quickly. Then only one level left to the top... and a pair of dart-blowers who set down their blowguns to ready axes.     Snowflake and Sunshower make their shots, the dagger weakening one ranged opponent to near-uselessness while Snowflake's shots make the defenders flinch even as they inflict solid damage. It should protect the group from further darts and, maybe, give Palmira and Yuuki just enough of a distraction to clear a path if they time it right! 

:'''{{#var:922|Weiss Schnee (922)}} has posed:'''     Snowflake takes a brief moment to make sure her attack landed and to recover from that roll, now focusing on dodging any incoming attacks. She should have a pretty decent time with her improved agility, a point she capitalizes on by drawing her rapier and dashing forwards. "You guys are covered, go for it!" she calls to the rest of the party, making her way towards the nearest melee lizardman. Time for a rather... impromptu tactic!     Her first objective is to drive the butt of her rapier into the baddie's chest, trying to stagger him. Once she's accomplished that, she'd use his body as a kickstand, launching off of him onto the next tier and delivering a damaging sword swipe on the way. If that's successful, she ends up hanging from the edge, promptly hoisting herself up and preparing to strike the nearest ranger up close and personal. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Auralia tchs as her shots are largely intercepted by the blow darts. That wasn't her target, and now she's on cooldown for that skill. At least it made her friend's job a bit easier. She hangs back still, tossing out healing skills and generally playing the healer. She is the more support oriented of the group, at least in this game.     She holsters the pistol, ready to draw it again for another burst shot as the blow-darts begin to thin out. "Get ready! Once the last minion goes down the Boss is going to go into attack mode!" she calls in warning, as she quickdraws, and fires another burst shot of fire-balls, aiming once again at the blow-dart enemies. 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:''' It might not be easy, but Iria keeps a steady stance with her sword, watching the creatures carefully. At one point she gets caught off-guard and is hit lightly, but she remains steadfast and retains her scimitar. She spins around one of the other mobs and attempts to strike it from behind. "You picked the wrong girl to mess with!" 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' Sunshower flings a couple more knives, helping whittle down the minions; her first priority is to finish off the one she already disabled, and she's not above taking off the last chunk of HP from another of the blowdart-wielders - but she's going to leave the majority for her allies to get the Last Attacks in on. She also wants to save some of her knives for later - and some of her attention *now* for matters more important than carving off chunks of the enemies' HP ... such as, for instance, the fact that one of her allies is losing HP independently of the attacks being unleashed by the enemy forces. "Hoi, Yuuki!!" Sunshower calls out, pulling a small flask out of her vest. "Got a cure for what ails ya! Grab it and chug!" Hopefully Yuuki can pull out of the front line long enough for Sunshower to toss the flask to her. Fortunately, it's leather rather than glass - a miss won't shatter it, but Yuuki'll have to scramble to retrieve it ... preferably BEFORE one of the wounded monsters can do so. 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:'''     Palmira turns as she hears Yuuki's call and nods in understanding. She slides the Estoc away and gets down on one knee, both hands out for the smaller girl to plant her foot on. With a heave from the fairly well strength attributed Palmira Yuuki is launched upwards to the next dias.     "Hold on tight!" Palmira grabs Yuuki's hand and uses it to wall run sideways up to the next dias., releasing her hand as she reaches the top, flying through the air just enough to make her coat billow out as she draws her Estoc, and comes down on one of the axe weilding Lizardmen trying to get up behind Yuuki, slashing down with a ferrocious force.     despite having avoided the poison darts from earlier, the next axe weilder hits ehr with a sideways tackle, that nearly sends her flying back off the dias. "Oof!" she grunts and turns back on him with a fist full of knives, but she simply punches the lizardman with them. A secondary attack for knife throws called Indominable Claw inspired by a ravenous creature that was thought to be industructable, a Wolverine. 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:''' "Come on...! COME ON!" BREAK! Kirito wants to scream. He can easily cleave away at these weapons' durability and break off chunks of obsidian cosmetically, but it's weak points structurally he hunts for. He activates skill after skill... clashing and slashing, and a few grazes against his arm bite into his HP and inflict mild bleeding. But he ducks around and COUNTERS, perhaps simply cleaving through one of the monsters then turning around to start parrying the next.     It's slow going with these unfamiliar skills, but he eventually figures out what angles to strike at that shatter the weapons and leave the monsters open to vicious counter-attacks! 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe is just having one of those day dealing with the ground adds she move from one to another moving to take them dowen as qukckly as she can a and she's laughing as she goes. Tomoe is just laying down a good deal of pain on the lizardmen and then she puts he cutlass away and gets another pistol, did she pull it out of somewhere odd?who knows with this game but now she's twin weilding pistols and just shooting rapildy at any remaining trash. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     It's unclear who's more surprised when tiny Snowflake knocks a massive lizard off-balance with the butt of her rapier. The lizardman, or the observers. But then, it's more about skill than strength and mass. She goes up and past the lizardman and has an easy sprint in to the blowgunners, who are beginning to ready themselves for the heroic pirates' attacks.     Auralia's attacks blast into those targets, helping to soften them up. Palmira lands among them, slashing into them. They're perhaps slightly less dangerous in melee than the macahuitl wielders, if only because the axes are slightly slower though better at penetrating armor. This group isn't one to rely overmuch on armor though, so the axe-wielders are just slightly slower, weaker-defense opponents.     Yuuki might have been able to deal with her attacker, but Palmira's help lets her avoid having to do anything heroically stupid like flinging herself over the edge to get out of the line of attack. She grins, helping Palmira out by carving several rapid bloody lines on a lizardman moving in to flank her. Then she glances down, hearing her name. Disengaging is easy, at least for her, and she bounds away while leaving a few more silver-glowing red lines in her wake. "Sankyuu!" she cries out happily, lunging after the thrown bag, catching it, chugging it. After a moment her health bar stabilizes. 80% or close to it. Not bad, not before they engage the boss himself. She might have time to chug a healing dose before the main event starts, which would be even better.     Iria, Kirito make short work of the remaining ground-level foes. Kirito smashes through their weapons while Iria dances lightly around the foes. Both get easy openings, both get to see their foes disappear in a burst of red pixels. Tomoe, taking advantage of their melee dominance, steps away to assist against the ranged foes with her pistols, having no remaining ground-level targets. The melee group suffers some wounds, yes, and Iria will be suffering from the Bleeding status for a short time, but they're in a similar state to Yuuki. Wounded, but with plenty of fight remaining and probably some opportunity to recover before the Boss itself takes the field.     The six ranged minions are easy meat at this point, what with Tomoe, Sunshower and Auralia attacking up at them and Iria, Palmira and Yuuki already up on their platform with Kirito close behind. It's easy work for the skilled pirate team. But then, this isn't even the main event. This is just a warm-up. As his last minions burst into red pixels, the Alligator Lord raises his two weapons and roars, the kind of roar one might hear from a Tyrannosaurus Rex. A primordial scream of bloodthirsty rage and hunger.     "Keep light!" Yuuki suggests, probably unnecessarily. "Two weapons, probably that tail too. And jaws! If he focusses on you don't try to block it! Just get clear and let someone else take their turns on offense!" It's much like what she's said before, really. She may not quite have Kirito's experience with bosses but she's been a squad leader probably as much as he has. And besides, she learned from the best. At least, the best in her biased opinion... Asuna.     With that advice, Yuuki begins the charge, aiming to circle the mighty beastlord and hoping to draw its attention so others might get to take a clean hack at it. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     "So, you finally face us... good. I have a gift for you." says Auralia, as she lifts the cestus high. "King of the sea. Poseiden. I invoke your name. Lend me your trident and smite this foe!" Those keeping tabs would note that Auralia's Spirit meter is emptying out rapidly... and when it zeroes out, a STAB of golden light hurls down from above the Crocogator Thing, the outline of a great trident skewering the titan's form for the barest of moments, before it vanishes, taking with it a good chunk of the Boss's HP gauge.     After the burst, Auralia staggers a little, putting the cestus away to quaff an Invigoration Draught to replenish her Spirit bar. Expensive things, but necessary for high level combat. "Five hour cooldown on that one... lets hope that swings the balance in our favour." she murmurs to herself, picking up the cestus again and invoking healing prayers to top off the others HP bars. 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:''' "So you're finally here!" Iria says with a determined smile. "You may think you're tough, but we've got more than you think!" She does a slashing motion with her sword, which, if one were to look closely, would be the method of writing her name in katakana. Clever how she can do that with her sword, huh? "We're gonna cut you down to size! Now prepare to see some of my new tricks!" Iria carefully advances, waiting to show off one of her knew scimitar tricks to the boss. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' Sunshower's keg-backpack is (finally) set down; she wanted to keep it on her person while the battlefield was still liable to force party-rearrangement without notice. But now that the enemies have been reduced to that single, solitary boss, she's willing to set down her keg and give full attention to the battle. (As if she hadn't been already.) Another flask of baneful brew is readied and applied to a dagger; this time, the 'aura' of flame is a dark, bloody crimson - and Sunshower wastes no time in throwing it, aimed for the Alligator Lord's invitingly open mouth. Whether the blade sinks into the roof of the mouth, or the tongue, or actually gets *swallowed whole*, the effect is going to be much the same - the abrupt disappearance of a generous portion of the boss's HP meter. No status effects this time, just raw damage (which may hurt badly enough to create an unofficial status effect, such as [Agonized Rolling] or something to that effect - momentarily forcing a guard-drop due to extreme pain. Of course, what constitutes a 'generous portion' is likely to vary wildly based on the boss's starting HP ... and Sunshower's going to keep throwing knives when she has the chance. Taking the boss's eyes out is always a good move if you can pull it off. 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:''' With the Lizard-men down, Kirito grins. "That's the way to go..." The Black Swordsman's relieved to have THOSE guys down for now, and he disengages for the moment while the others exact their plan - whatever it is that requires a whole TWENTY SECONDS. The whole while his eye flashes to the party HUD section, checking health levels. His attention's split between that and Crocodile Lord. For just one exchange of blows he wants to try and read it, see if he can recognize anything noteworthy in the way it moves beyond the basics for humanoid bosses... 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:'''     As the trash mobs get cleared, Palmira looks up at the towering beastman. He's even bigger up close. She nods at Yuuki's assesment of the enemy and waits for the younger girl to start things. the Aliggator lord starts following Yuuki, and Palmira moves in, striking at the beastlord with her silver Estoc, motes of light sparking off the blade as it strikes.     Real life doesnt have a Hate or Aggro mechanic, but in Galianda it's smart to let the big monsters sink into a state of tunnel-vision. So already, Palmira knows to keep her strikes light for the time being, letting the Boss's attention stay on Yuuki for a moment... ntil she sees a casting bar. "Yuuki, switch off!" And draws her Estoc back and slams it forward three times with the point. tStarlight Octant an attack that can pierce armor, which naturally increases DPS and Hate Generation. 

:'''{{#var:922|Weiss Schnee (922)}} has posed:'''     "Yeah, that's what I'm talking about! Keep at it, team!" Snowflake encourages as she recovers from the daring maneuver. Having exhausted herself quite a bit already, she decides to hang back and take potshots at the boss with her pistols, taking careful aim before loosing a fire pellet here and a lightning pellet there for some DoT and slowing effects.     Between every shot, she dodges to the side, careful not to stay in one place for too long in an attempt to avoid taking damage as much as possible. "Charm Crafting, don't fail me now," she comments to herself, hoping that her numerous lucky trinkets will allow her a few critical hits. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     The Alligator Lord is a menacing figure, powerful and robust. Either of his two swords are a deadly threat, and he uses them singly or in combination. When pressed by multiple foes, as he is when the group first presses forwards, he strikes at each with a heavy blade. Yuuki dodges her easily, already moving away as the Boss begins his swing. Palmira will get a similar swing during the testing-out phase, as will Kirito and Iria.     Sunshower's baneful brew - among the ultimate of the brewmaster arts - is effective. Not outright lethal, certainly not on a boss of this caliber, but effective. Expensive, but she'll be able to recover the cost in materials gathered easily enough. It's no way to earn Doubloons in the game, but then the heroes aren't here for Doubloons. They're here for, well, boss loot.     Auralia's own attack is tremendous, and has a similar cost. But yes, the cost is to be paid by those who want to raid with the big boys. You don't take on a raid-level boss, the equivalent of one of New Aincrad's floor bosses, without being willing to pay the price. Between the melee and ranged fighters, Poseidon's Trident and the Baneful Brew, the boss's health bar is quickly wiped out.     Unfortunately, the Alligator Lord has four health bars. As the first health bar breaks, the great beast roars its terrifying roar and begins to spin, obsidian blades outstretched. The attack starts slow and would drive everyone quickly out of melee if they weren't already out because of Auralia's warning. The attack speeds up though, even though the heroes are out of range. Winds begin to whip up, pulling in towards the Boss, as his whirling deathblades begin to form a tornado funnel.     This tornado attack isn't just a threat for melee-range foes. Anyone on the top level of the battle platform will feel it, and will be pulled towards the boss. Yuuki desperately lunges for the side of the arena as she realizes what's going on, latching on solidly with one hand to the stone edge, resisting the pull. She clings there, waiting, for the attack to end. She doesn't have to wait long however.     The tornado quickly blows out, and the boss stops spinning. Raising its blades in challenge it heads towards the staircase and whoever uses that as their shelter from the winds. Yuuki releases her hold, charges in, and carves into the boss's backside with a dazzling series of cuts only to be knocked away screaming by a sweep of a tail as thick as a tree trunk. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe may indeed be laughing like pirate as she cuts through the remaining adds she's having a lot of fun, honestly at this point. She doesn't care if they wipe as it's a game and she's turned off her brain to be Damage Per Second here and she's going on full on huntard today but she's having dun and then comes the boss and well that isn't going to go well she does however back off a bit on her DPS "COME ON YOU LUBBER" She is just going to use her shot skills on the guy and then comes the tornado and well she ends being pulled towards the boss. 

:'''{{#var:922|Weiss Schnee (922)}} has posed:'''     Snowflake doesn't give up her assault, trying to stay under the boss' radar as much as possible while she continues to lay on the steady pain. "Yeah, alright!" she cheers for Auralia and Sunshower's big attacks, grabbing a little something out of her inventory herself. It's a rather large grenade of her own craftsmanship, packed to the brim with tasty damaging shrapnel, appetizing poison and fire DoTs, and a hearty dose of stunning flashbang as well. It took -faaar- too much time and effort to gather all the ingredients, but it's now or never!     "Fire in the-!" She stops as the boss shifts into phase 2, throwing her off balance with its whirlwind. Going into panic mode in an attempt not to drop the bomb, she leaps off the side of the platform with Yuuki, grabbing the edge with her free hand and barely hanging on. "Everyone, look away! FIRE IN THE HOLE!" Pulling herself up simultaneously, she lobs the bomb straight at the gator beast's face and covers her eyes, preparing to leap on the opportunity. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' And this is the OTHER reason why Sunshower keeps her distance during boss fights: trying to stay out of AOE attack range. The downside to her chosen suite of specialties is that she doesn't have the HP to handle really big hits - and the tornado would probably throw her around by the everything. So when the wind starts moving in concert with the Alligator Lord's whirling blades, she hunkers down and backs off, trying to stay out of the whirlwind's clutches. Of course, she can't throw any more knives through the whirlwind - they'd probably veer off-course, maybe even hit one of her allies. But as soon as the wind subsides, a pair of knives go flying - one for an eye, one for a sword hand - as fast and, thereby, as hard as Sunshower can send them on their way. 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:'''     Damnit, Palmira thinks. It didn't draw the boss' attention like she hopped. The tornado spin starts and Palmira jumps back as the swords nearly graze her, and the winds start to pull her in.     "Yuuki, you're just to good at making him angry!" she drops to the ground and grasps on to the ledge as the winds whip around. She's slower to get up then Yuuki, but she's up in enough time to see the creature smash her away with his tail.     "Hnn... Creatures like you..." She dashes forward with her Estoc, coming in on the same path Yuuki did, but leaps into the air. "...Really make me irritated!"     The Obsidian Assasin Knives are pulled out of their clockwork loaders and flung down into ground around the Gator-Man.     "Restrict!" THe daggers break apart on the ground, but the shards stop in mid air, a beam of purple light reflcting between them to draw a pentagram to slow the boss' attack speed. "Starlight-" more obsidian daggers are tossed into the air, breaking apart into twinkling lights. Constalattions flashing through the air. "-Zodiac!".     Palmira has been grinding navigator for a while, much to everyone's curiosity...     Because it's top level skill is to use the alingment of the stars to boost your stats!"     Palmira comes crashing down, the Grand Silver Estoc is a weapon she took from a Conqestador spawn. And the silver filagrree lights up with the blessings it recieved from the church before it's owner sailed to Mexico from Spain.     "EVOKING PIETY!" the high level mid-weight sword attack lets her drops on the Gator-Lorfdd like a ton of brick flung from a truck on the Interstate into a window factory. r     Palmira seems to slide left as she land, then right. The after image of a holy cross in the air.     Envoking Piety. A top tier undead killing manuver.     And boy dis she /stack/ her buffs for that. 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:''' With the big boss here and now, Iria brings out the big attacks. She decides to show it a combination of several techniques she's learned during her past few runs through the game, and mixes them together in a manner so that she unleashes a literal flurry of attacks. "Here we go!" She calls out as she launches into a series of carefully choreographed strikes! 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:''' Kirito chooses to clash against the test-swing, activating one of the offensive skills and slamming it against the slash. This doesn't offset the massive difference in weight and power, but it does mean that instead of getting blown through he just goes skidding stylishly back over the ground and only loses a sliver of HP from the clash.     Having Parry <MASTERED> really helps against these bosses.     He just as quickly leaps backwards in a HURRY when the obsidian blade whirlwind starts. "Oh... you're kidding!"     Who came up with such a crazy attack?!     ... And how come he can't do that?     He makes like Yuuki, scrambling for something to hold onto until the spin stops. Seeing Yuuki be blown away though... kirito LEAPS HIGh and comes down hard with a slash for the creature's back! 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Auralia draws her pistol, and, instead of firing a shot at the whirling dervish of a boss, fires at her feet, causing several vines and roots to lash out and anchor her in place. She weathers the storm like such, hosltering the pistol again to reload it, before she draws a cross in the air with her cestus. "Pieous light, grant us strength." Party heal, topping everyone off again.     She then turns her eyes up onto the Boss, opening her menu, she swaps out the cestus for her second pistol, and activates her personal Gunslinger Skill. "Gates of Babylon!" leveling her pistols she fires... and doesn't /stop/ firing, each bullet taking a chromatic hue from the rainbow as it flies, each one a different element, from fire and water, to Holy and Darkness. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     The group lances in and out, a nearly-choreographed dance. Yuuki grins at Palmira. "New sword!" she comments cheerfully. Her taking aggro isn't really that surprising or unwelcome. She's incredibly fast on defense, and so causing more aggro just balances that out somewhat. It's no great harm to her to be a target after all, and if she can't deliver top DPS then she can certainly help her friends do so.     The attacks come in hard and fast. The boss responds in kind with devastatingly powerful blows of its own, great sweeping things that aren't easy to avoid mostly because of the great length and breadth of the weapons. With the group carefully trading off aggro however, none of the boss's blows land critically. It does the spinning tornado attack twice more as well, as each of its health bars crumble in turn. Blades, guns, knives and grenades; player attacks buffed by their crafting and their chosen skills; each chip away at the boss until, with a final groan, it collapses to its knees and dissolves into a burst of red pixels.     This isn't the first raid boss to fall to this group. It probably won't be the last. The few moments it takes before the loot results are shown are likely to cause mingled hope and dismay. Dismay because the group has been here before, and each time the boss didn't drop the one thing the group truly sought. Hope... because this time it might.     When the pop-up message finally appears however, there it is. Alongside several endgame arms and charms, treasures and crafting components, appears a singular and rather unimpressive-seeming item. A cage of red crystal columns, joined together and curved organically. A rib cage, in fact, of red crystal. Not a skull at all, but just as obviously a piece of a set. 

:'''{{#var:922|Weiss Schnee (922)}} has posed:'''     "Hah... hah... we beat it? It's over?" Snowflake pants, having used up numerous taxing Gunslinger Skills, along with a majority of her valuable consumables. "Come on, gimme gimme..." she chants to herself as she waits for the loot payout to appear, hoping for that one remaining key component for her ultimate work of craftsmanship.     Searching through the ingredient section, sifting through a number of materials she already has too many copies of but still won't exactly turn down, she finds exactly what she's looking for: a huge, iridescent, downright radiant gem. "YES! Haha, I got it!"     Slipping it into her inventory, she remembers that she has teammates who also want loot. "Er, I mean... we got it! Right?" She glances around nervously at that. "Hey, everything else is all yours," she assures the party in general. After grabbing her share of doubloons and a few more materials to replace the consumables she spent, of course. 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:'''     When the fight is finally over, through all of the health bars, the status effects and the near misses. Palmira stares at Yuuki's boundless enthusiasm for a long moment...     Then pats her on the head. "You're impossible to be irritated at." and ruffles the girls hair.     She then looks at Weiss, "Didn't we agree, crafting materials to crafters? Theres nothing to be emberassed about. To move fast we have to be self suffcient after all." she then looks at the loot table and rolls need or pass as approprite.     "...Jungle Tribe Hairbeads?" 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki stares at Snowflake in surprise. It's ... it's not really like her to be like this. She isn't like this at Beacon. But then, this is a game isn't it? It's about having fun. Sloooowly Yuuki begins to smile at Snowflake, the smile widening. The chant of 'one of us!' isn't done aloud, but savvy folks might well hear it echoing in Yuuki's head.     When she receives a headpat, Yuuki's smile broadens into a rather goofy-looking toothy grin. Not caring if she looks goofy she holds up one hand, splaying two fingers in a Victory Pose. "Enjoy it!" she nods, agreeing. "We get to take on the ghost ship next time!" she says. She's not sure when that'll happen. Could be right away, could be within weeks. The timeframe isn't obvious, but sooner or later it'll come. "And get crafting! We need to be ready for what's going to happen. And I gues... we need a plan too!" 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe is not doing so well b ut she's not died the party sh not wiped and there's a lot of loot here. She mutters about drops but pauses t the item that did. "...well we got part of it. Such is the ways of armed bandits tht want to kill you." She looks for a moment and tilts her head and looks at some of her own loot, she gets something that works for her she pauses at hte preview window and just stares. "...who designed ... this armour? Still those stats.." She grins at her compaions nd tilts her head at Weiss and Cirra. "I'm glad both of you have joined up with us, things have been far more interesting with some fresh blood in the guild." 
}}

4216/IMPossible Sword Skills

2016-06-14T02:22:21Z

MoreBeer: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2016/06/13 |Location=Alfheim Online <ALO> |Synopsis=Why must Original Skills be so hard?! |Cast of Characters=675, 874 |pretty=yes }} {{Poses |Pose..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/06/13
|Location=Alfheim Online <ALO>
|Synopsis=Why must Original Skills be so hard?!
|Cast of Characters=675, 874
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     It takes almost no time for Yuuki to reach Cirra. As an Imp, she can get teleport items to the twilight home city of the Imps. From there, a simple party request, and she can fly in to wherever Cirra's chosen to train. She's not as good at flying as she is at swordplay, but then that's a pretty high bar to set. She'd probably end up at least as fast as Kirito, and he'd be able to beat just about anyone other than a Sylph in a race.     Unlike Kirito however, Yuuki's graceful in flight. She turns loops and flips simply because she can, for the sheer joy of movement. She turns a flip as she sets down, her wings vanishing the instant her toes touch the ground. And then she grins. "Hey Palmira." she greets cheerfully. She doesn't quite throw herself at Palmira, but she does come in to land awfully close. Like, close enough that in other circumstances, someone might fear it was an attack. She doesn't seem to notice that she might be violating personal space however. She just likes being close! 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:'''     Palmira is standing in a clearing a bit off the beaten path, where she is swing her sword spear in practice - she isn't attempting the sword skill anymore, just trying to lossen up.     As Yuuki lands suddenly, the spear/trident is swung up... and driven into the ground. She turns to look at the other Imp. "Yuuki." she smiles a little, but it's genuine. "Sneaking up on people like that could get you in trouble one day." 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     It'd be easy for someone with Yuuki's skills to dismiss such concerns. What does she need to worry about, possibly having to dodge a reflexive swing? But then, it never actually occurs to her that a friend might react badly to her presence even in surprise. "Really? Why?" she asks, bright and innocent.     Not waiting for an answer, Yuuki continues. "Oh hey, you're using a polearm here? That'll be a bit easier. Making a sword skill's really hard because sooooo many people use them. The uniqueness qualifier means you need something really special that no one's ever tried." she explains. She hadn't really had difficulty with uniqueness, not when building her own skill... but that's because she had built it intending from the beginning to count eleven hits. No, her burden was being able to do it fast enough to register, and that was a challenge even for her.      "It's easier to get uniqueness with a spear but... you know, I have no way of judging a skill and figuring if anyone's used something like it! It's not like the skills are public knowledge or anything!" she confesses, still grinning but looking a little sheepish. 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:'''     Palmira raises an eyebrow at Yuuki's nonchalant response. "Well, I suppose it doesn't matter as much in a video game." she looks down at her spear and nods. "I trained in Polearms and Scythes in school, but since I serve in the Judges I use a Law blade." she shrugs, not really expecting Yuuki to be versed in Galandian schooling.     "So I ddecided to use the Assault Spear class in the game since it has a good blend of defense, damage and accuracy." Probably suffers a little in attack rate though.     She looks at the spear in the ground ,then back at Yuuki. "I don't know if uniqueness is the problem. I've tried the advanced polearm manuvers I know, I've tried changing them up, adding to them..." she sighs, "But I don't know what the system wants. Yet Nero successfully recreated one of her powerfull attacks from outside the game."     "I'm frustrated." 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki shrugs. "Nero's kind of loud sometimes, but she has incredible skill. At least I assume so." she claims. That sort of obvious raging confidence, if it didn't have anything to back it up, would quickly get her in incredible trouble. "I don't know whether you could beat her in a fight or not, but that's not really what matters when it comes to sword skills." she says.     Of course Yuuki knows nothing about Galandian schooling, but she's aware of the 'assault spear' weapon as classified in Alfheim Online. One of the Sleeping Knights uses the weapon class after all. Yuuki's more than merely familiar with what such a weapon can do.     She eyes the blade critically, then nods, holding up a fist in a sort-of salute. "Well, if it's uniqueness then we don't have a hope of figuring it out." Yuuki admits with a complete lack of shame. "But there's other reasons it could be failing! Balance, aesthetics, and speed! If it's not any of those then it HAS to be uniqueness! Why don't you show me what you've got, and I'll see how it measures up?!" 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:'''     "I came close laast time, but I was well prepared with consumable items." Palmira contemplates the last fight against Nero, she probably can't count on fire protection items next time.     Yuuki's admitance that if uniqueness is the problem then it's hopeless makes the normally stoic Palmira hang her head with a sigh. It's so much easier outside of this game, where she just stays mobile and attacks openings as she sees them.     "Alright." She turns and picks up her spear. She takes her starting stance, feet wide and one hand holding the spear near the tip and the other near the back. She moves forward, stabbing with the spear point to lead off.     Palmira then changes her hold on the spear to te center, spinning it around as she continues to advance. Using the butt of the spear for a stun, and spins round, attacking again with a hard down ward slash followed up by stun-kick move.     It's all very good, technically. But it's also rather mechanical. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     "Hmmmmm." Yuuki muses. Her smile disappears, changing into a frown of focus. She can be lighthearted and whimsical much of the time, but when things get serious she shows a true warrior's intent. Watching the routine, the frown deepens. It's ... really rather basic. Mechanically it's fast, with no wasted motion and no offbalance steps. But it's not special.     "I don't really know the spear." Yuuki admits finally when Palmira finishes. She takes a moment to consider, to assess. This is the time to be a friend though, not the time to be nice. "But I think it's likely too close to what someone else might've come up with?" she adds, shrugging helplessly. "I mean, you're quick. Maybe as quick as Talken. And it's obvious you're not flailing around. Those are really precise hits that'd work well in a real fight."     Yuuki, even when trying to be serious and critical, still isn't mean about it. She's actually pretty nice even when criticizing. "But ... I think you'll need to add some things. Not make it longer or anything, just less... um, I really don't know what word to use here..." she says helplessly. "Oh, and that last hit? It's GOT to be with the spear. The last hit's what delivers most of the elemental damage." she points out. 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:'''     Coming out of the attacks combo Palmira turns to look at Yuuki. She's rather good at taking criticsm of this kind. She goes over the manuvers in her head and considers the input. She nods about the last hit. "I understand...Do you suppose it's not..."     Palmira tries to think of a word "...Flashy enough?" 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     "Hmmmmmm." Yuuki considers thoughtfully. "I guess that works. I mean, you don't HAVE to be flashy. Mother's Rosario is just, you know, a lot of thrusting attacks chained together." she says. "None of the moves in it are the least bit flashy. Together though, they build a pattern. So... I guess flashy might be part of it?" she says. She seems obviously frustrated, not being able to express herself to her satisfaction.     "Maybe I should get Talken to come here." Yuuki finally suggests. "He knows the assault spear AND he's really into game mechanics." she says, suddenly grinning. In fact Talken's a total nerd, down to the nerdy hairstyle and glasses. "Next time he's online, I'll MAKE him come help you!" she adds, some of her usual playfulness and joy coming forth at the thought. There might even need to be some arm-twisting involved, given how Talken usually reacts to girls. Especially pretty girls. 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:'''     Palmira hms, "Perhaps flashy, isn't the right word but maybe... daring?" So Yuuki's sword skill is rather simple then. At the mention of Talken she looks up. She shakes her head a little, "Please don't put someone else out on my account."     "This is very different then from the fighting I'm used to. Theres no creation of sword skills to some unknown overseer. Most of the time when I fight, I'm making up what I do as I go by combining basic and advanced techniques." 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Straightforward, at least. Mother's Rosario isn't exactly simple. Yuuki shrugs. "I don't think he'd mind. He's kind of shy, but he likes helping people." she claims. That first part is a bit of an understatement, but not the second. Maybe Yuuki'll just not tell him that this is for a girl.     "There's nothing wrong with making up your moves as you go." Yuuki notes, starting to bounce her heels off the ground, balancing on toes. "That's what fighting IS really. If you use the same stuff all the time, you get predictable and you get beat!" she grins. "Obviously I don't need to tell you that, because you do this sort of thing for real. Fighting for real is going to get you a lot farther here than knowing any number of sword skills. And creating one is..." she pauses, stops her bouncing and tilts her head, considering. "Actually, why DO you want to create an original skill?" she asks abruptly. 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:'''     Ah, the all important question.     "Nero refuses to be quiet about it until I do." Ah, annoyance.     "But..." Palmira looks down at her gloves and pulls them on tighter. "I've never had a challange I couldn't over come by studying it and understanding it. Yet that isn't possible here. I suppose I feel like if I can't accomplish this task, I'll be admiting there was a hurdle I couldn't understand." 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     "Aaaaaaaah~!" Yuuki muses, her eyes suddenly sparkling with suppressed laughter. "That explains it!"     Yuuki can understand both reasons, actually. Both the challenge of a rival, and wanting to learn and overcome a more personal challenge. She doesn't disapprove, not at all. "Well, you can tell Nero to shut up if you like. Making an original skill doesn't mean you're better than someone who can't. You could show her up by learning her skill and beating it when she uses it!" she grins.     "Actually... you know, the first time I fought Asuna? She almost did that. My best move. The combo everyone thought was unbeatable. She'd never seen it before and she managed to stab me in the middle of it! She almost broke my combo, and if she had she'd have beat me! Seriously, it was amazing!" Yuuki gushes, sounding suspiciously like a young teenager having a crush on someone. For some unknown reason. Ahem.     "Er..." she pauses, seeming to get some control over herself almost reluctantly. "Oh, so you can do that, OR you can put your heart into learning an original skill and show her up THAT way! But you'll never do it with your head. Original Sword Skills come from your HEART!" 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:'''     Palmira's eyebrow raises in a comical camera shot as she listen to Yuuki gush about Asuna. She knows that bubbling and gushing, she's seen girls at Alexander Academy do it while talking about here and some of the other top female students.     "Ah-ha." She smiles a little ruefully. "Well now you've set thhe bar." she grins a little.     "I'll just have to beat Nero in both manners." 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     At that, Yuuki BEAMS. "That's the spirit!" she cries out, throwing her arms around Palmira in a celebratory hug. Or at least trying to do so. She moves FAST though, just one moment slightly apart and critiquing and gushing, the next moment she's right there, arms wide. "With that attitude you'll get this for sure!" 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:'''     Pamira maybe ready for a lot of things, but suddenly being hugged isn't one of them! r    The smaller Imp girl jumps tossing her arms around Palmira, and slightly stunned by it, the taller girl sways back until she processes it enough to turn around, wrapping her arms around Yuuki as she swings.     "Ha! Your laughter is infections, did you know that?" 
}}

4208/Skull and Crossbones

2016-06-12T04:10:09Z

MoreBeer: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2016/06/11 |Location=Alfheim Online <ALO> |Synopsis=Preparation and planning for a fight against the ghost ship. |Cast of Characters=1, 6, 162, 215..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/06/11
|Location=Alfheim Online <ALO>
|Synopsis=Preparation and planning for a fight against the ghost ship.
|Cast of Characters=1, 6, 162, 215, 675, 707, 874, 960
|Tinyplot=CCO
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     The skies of the virtual Carribean-like seas of Cutlasses and Cannons Online are grey, the wind high and blowing hard. The Windstar skips along the sea, riding the waves in a way that might have made players queasy in the past. Having become veterans of a sort, the swaying of the ship should be a comfortable welcome to most now.     The group now knows what the rogue encounter is, but not exactly why or how. They know the Skull is some kind of trigger, only not where to find one. They've had time to gear up, to prepare to face undead revenants, and should now be among the deadliest of characters in the game. Whether that's enough or not remains to be seen.     For now though, they have to get their hands on one of those Skulls. To take it from a player, to loot it from an island, or to bargain and investigate. Either way requires entering the deadliest of waters; the homes of the elite, and perhaps even the halls of the watery dead themselves. Grey prospects, and a grey day to match... sometimes it seems only rum can truly help a pirate cope. 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:''' New equipment, all shiny and new, and a bit of extra practice under her belt means that Iria has been looking forward to doing a new quest for awhile now. She's still trying to master talking like a pirate, but she's getting the hang of it from how she's talking nowadays in-game. Of course, in or out of game, her sixth senses never fail to work. And today, she's definitely got her sixth sense going off for some reason.     As Iria puts her new cutlass into its sheath and checks her pistol carefully, she runs a hand through her hair before looking to the others, her eyes slightly narrowed. She looks ahead and scowls a little bit. "Something about this doesn't seem right, but I suppose I should be used to things like this. Maybe it'll be fun!" She smirks a little at that, although it's kind of an evil grin. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     The Windstar is almost a whole new ship now. Reinforced hull, better sail material, even better cannon. She's a bit bigger too, more cargo space, and an extra deck... but she's still just a modified cargo ship.     Auralia stands at the helm, keeping steady as plans are talleied up and strategies are thought of. She remains largely quiet on the matter though, oddly so even. Something is preying on her thoughts, pulling her from the 'now' into the 'then'. 

:'''{{#var:960|Kain (960)}} has posed:'''     The overcast sky, the wave on the ocean, and the grilled food of the most recent catch. What more can a pirate ask for? Kain was belowdeck, as usual, with any of the other cookers cooking up some delicious food for the PCs and NPCs alike. Along with the others, Kain did get quite a bit of new gear, as well as materials to make some gear and level his crafting skills some more. He wasn't epic tier, but he was at least able to repair high level items so that they didn't break on the journey. As well as, he was learning so many new recipes from the meat drops from some of those larger animals they've slain. And it's all been pretty awesome!     Kain, while below, is still in his gear. His armor is basically body-hugging Chainmail. He wore a new Rapier at his side, intricately carved patters on the side of the blade and well-crafted to boot. He also had some tattoos on his body this time. All along his left arm only, though. His Rapier was sheathed on his left side for his right hand to draw forth, and he also found a pretty neat Pistol that he used to close any distances with foes. So while he was a chef aboard the ship, he was no slouch in combat.     As the food was just finishing up and he was plating it out to be served to the crew, he called up from belowdeck: "FOOD'S UP!" and stood back to allow the onrush of hungry PCs and NPCs to swarm the mess. 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:''' "If it was just me... I'd go and hunt in the high-level areas and see what happens. But we're on a time crunch. Tracking down someone we know has a Skull's the quickest way to at least find out how they got it, if not bargain for it." Or fight them for it...     Kirito muses from his perch on the deck, overlooking the waves.... 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:''' Cirra Cosntantine, AKA, Palmira climbs the rigging of the Windstar, performing her maintence duties. Her shipboard skills have caught up to her combat skills. Once done she slides back down to the deck and dons her long coat.     Most of her gear has much improved over time, though she habitually sticks to the long-coat and trousers with long boots fashion. Her Estoc has guilding now and the throwing knives look as if they've been much more carefully crafted then the old ones and a silver cross (probably crafted by Sunshower) sits on a chain around her neck with a red gem set in the center. Getting that one done took work, finding a priest to bless it in this godless sea was a side mission unto itself.     "So, is their an island that fits both a crew raid, and has a place where we can ask questions?" 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' Fortunately, Sunshower the Brewmaster brought some of her finest to help lubricate the group's progress on their sometimes-grisly quest. And not always by drinking it. In between forays into the wild blue yonder (meaning the ocean, not the sky), Sunshower's been working on her Brewmaster skills - finding new ingredients and boning up on her crafting skillset. Of course the Windstar tends to get first dibs on her product, but she's been turning out enough casks and kegs to sell some off through the in-game auction house, and still to hang onto some choice brews for offer in direct trade. Most of them have at least a modest buff associated with their consumption, but she's gotten outlandishly lucky on a few occasions and is keeping those results stocked for very special occasions indeed. She's been turning enough of a profit to keep her personal adventuring gear up to her needs as well. She's not exactly bustling around in full plate, mind you - anyone who boards a ship in plate armor is asking to have a sign saying 'Anchor' secured to their backs - but she's wearing a full leather vest that can be fastened in front, now, plus bracers to protect her forearms; her boots are pretty well armor-grade too. Plus she's gotten a stash of better-quality knives, some of them larger and better-suited for melee - although she can still throw them if necessary, and she's been polishing up THAT skill too. "Heard a rumor that there's a pub off Blackwater with a monster problem in their wine cellar," she suggests in reply to Palmira's question. "Could be just foam and froth, doubt it's worth much of our time, but the brightest treasure shines sometimes under the ugliest rock." 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki's own armor is looking pretty good. Not a whole lot different from her original style of blouse, trousers and buttcape. The difference is it's a whole lot more ornamental, less ragged, better accessories, and she's got awesome black boots and a rakish floppy tricorne. Her rapier is a work of art as well, long and deadly, like her obsidian blade from Alfheim Online.     "I hope we don't have to kill giant rats." she grumbles. "Or bats. Bats are soooo annoying!" she claims. "I don't think we'll find any really gleaming treasure in a bar unless it's like, sparkling ale or something like that..." she grins playfully. She's never really gotten into speaking piratey, but she's well into the game's style of dynamic combat and of boozing it up.     At the call for food, Yuuki ZOOMS. You'd think she was hungry or something. She does like to eat though, if it's a social sort of feast. "So we're going to try to find some good loot, right? Either a Skull or something we can trade for one?" Yuuki asks, as people file in for food, booze, and various feast buffs. Best part of raiding, except for the whole killing monsters for loot thing. 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:''' Iria has already eaten, so she ignores the call for food. Instead, she simply stands by idly, watching and waiting for the time being. She looks to Yuuki before she goes by and says, "I've dealt with a lot worse than those, so don't get too uneasy yet." She sighs and looks out across the virtual ocean. "I wouldn't mind seeing some good action for a change. These past few days of grinding have been BO-RING!" 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe is here chipper as ever in the form of her avatar for this game though those who know Tomoe/Eisen out of the game? She's been more and more sober as of late oddly but there's none of that here as once again the dread pirate Eisen was here and seemingly in good spirits. She's bouncing on her feet a bit on her feet today in her standard pirate outfit and she's looking over at Palmira as she clumbs up into the rigging, before going back to her own work. "Hummm I wonder what we're going to get into this time?:" 

:'''{{#var:960|Kain (960)}} has posed:'''     Once the food had been finished set up and everyone was getting their buffs and such, Kain took the time to get his own buff before going topside to meet with the others just as Tomoe was speaking. "Whatever we get into, let's do so awesomely!" Stretching a bit, he looked around at the ocean before them. "I don't know why... I know it's a game, but for some reason I feel so cramped in the Mess..." He shrugged a bit and just gave his left leg a bit of a squeeze... a normal thing for him, seemingly. Or at least, it was a constant thing for him. Whether it was normal was up for debate.     Looking around at the others on deck, he chose a spot out of the way of everyone else and began shadow-fencing with his Rapier, getting some more practice with it. His stancing was much better now... and his speed... it was even faster than when he was in ALO! All that work and training was doing some real good for him! But, every now and again while he was training, he did stumble over his left leg and crumple to the ground before picking himself back up and getting right back at it. More of the same. He kept his ears open for the plan, however. He wasn't very good at coming up with plans like this. He was a fighter, not a thinker. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' For her part, Sunshower's been munching already - and serving drinks to go with everyone else's grub. She doesn't seem to mind if her rumor gets ignored - you get so MANY rumors in a game like this, and some of them aren't worth following up on ... while some are just hooks for content that isn't quite in the game yet. Honestly, though, an instance linked off of a pub probably isn't going to be that much of a challenge. "We *could* bait some hooks, see if any other ships have one of those Skulls and don't know what to do with it. Worst-case scenario is we wind up telling them what they want to know and come away empty-handed, but a little clever conniving should save us *that* little trouble." 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:''' "About as good a plan as we'll get." Kirito affirms with a nod to Yuuki. Totally in agreement with this idea. Also looking forward to some food to be sure... but he's TRYING to keep from looking too eager.     For seemingly no reason he ambles over to Kain. "Game or no game... what you're feeling is real enough, isn't it?" The black swordsman, dressed like a swanky swashbuckler in black captainish attire, asks of Kain. 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:'''     Palmira takes some of the food, but is carefully choosing which ones give the most benefecial buffs to her. It's this behaviour that has allowed her to keep up and progress in CCO and ALO.     Looking at Kain, she tilts her head as he practices with his rapier. "Lock your left knee, with a weapon like a rapier your balance and your ability to lunge is going to be key." 

:'''{{#var:960|Kain (960)}} has posed:'''     As Kirito approaches, Kain gives him a look of silent contemplation. "If I slam my head against a tree, I feel it... this..." He smacks his leg. "I shouldn't be ABLE to feel it. But I do..." He let the implication of what he was saying take hold there. He then looked to Palmira and shook his head. "Pretty sure that won't help in my case... besides, I do that anyway. And it's the dominant leg you lock your knee on, not the off. A couple years of fencing lessons taught me quite a bit..." He glanced to Kirito when he said that, the couple of years spent in there being his meaning... 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe looks over to Kain for a moment as she's working on the deck her self. "So long as no one actually gets hurt." That sense of caution she gained in SAO, will likely never go away, shge however gives Kain a big grin. "You got a heck of a lot better from when we first met, you know." She seems to be just at home here s she is in any other game. 

:'''{{#var:960|Kain (960)}} has posed:'''     Kain gives Tomoe a smile and a nod. "Thanks. I'm still nowhere on the level Kirito here is... but I think if I face any Dire Crocs again, I won't get put flat on my ass anymore." He chuckled a bit, going back to his shadow-fencing some more, keeping a mind to steer clear of any NPCs or other players on the ship. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' Sunshower cocks an eyebrow at Kain, "So you'd be more worried about the Dire Clocks, huh? The ones that tick at you before they rear up outta the mire to take your arm?" 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:''' "This isn't never-neverland!" Kirito snorts Sunshine's way, amused... but it's an amused mod that doesn't last, as he considers Kain's words. The swordsman's gaze sharpens when he looks at Kain. No doubt his mind's on FIRE analyzing into that explanation and it settles in a concerned, brief-lived stare. Then he looks away, but nods.     "Asuna's fighting style's something else, right? Rapiers are too light for my style, but they're awesome weapons." 

:'''{{#var:960|Kain (960)}} has posed:'''     Kain rolled his eyes at that. "First off, Crocs. As in Crocodiles, not Clocks. Second, that was just his hand, not his whole arm." He smirked a small bit at the reference nonetheless.     Kain takes a small note of the concerned stare, but then just smiles, nodding to Kirito's words. "Yeah! She's the reason I stopped using a Sword and picked up a Rapier instead! She was awesome against those A.L.F. bullies!" More shadow-fencing, going so far now as to practice a new sword skill, striking out several hits in rapid succession. He wasn't anywhere near 11 hits... but he was getting faster and faster. A succession of 7 hits now... he was frozen from the Sword Skill, though... but after a few seconds, he could move again. "Ugh... hate being stuck like that... but I suppose that's what powerful skills do for you." 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe Says "Lets be honest few people are on his level of beyond him though Zeeken sure damn well is, she can bend any clearer into a pretzel in a fight and it's liberating to not be the biggest fish to b e honest." She looks ove to Kirito for a momet grinning. "It's one of the European martial schools that surived to the modern day honestly, Kirito. My anceswtors had a bad case of throwing out the old and forgetting about it. IT's a shame so few of the fighting styles surived." 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' "Slightly different breed of mob," Sunshower says to Kain, grinning widely. "Ah well, enjoy your delusion while it lasts, but when you hear them ticking you'll wish you'd taken me more seriously." She finishes eating. "So, who wants something to drink? Got a few cordials I cooked up earlier, plus that keg of coffee should be just about ready ..." She pauses, checking a clock. "Hold that thought, let me go and check on it." And out the door she goes. 
}}

Yuuki Konno

2016-06-08T23:13:36Z

MoreBeer:

CCO

2016-06-08T23:10:48Z

MoreBeer:

{{TPPage
|Summary='''Cutlasses and Cannons Online''' is a plot involving exploring a virtual reality MMO. It takes place in the same theme as Sword Art Online, and is a spin-off MMO with appropriate safety mechanisms in place for the characters.
|Scale=Minor
|Plot_id=-1
|Runner=874
|Contacts=Kirito
|Theme=Sword Art Online-1
|Audience=Gatecrashers Union
|Genre=Age of Sail. Lighthearted high adventure.
|Events=Several of the players get involved in CCO for fun, however there's a deeper purpose for some. They're there to investigate a "rogue AI" encounter believed to be unbeatable. This isn't exactly a problem needing investigation since no players get hurt from encountering the AI, but it suggests something else going on.
|Info=Kayaba Akihiko, the creator of Sword Art Online, is believed to be 'alive' within the VR worlds and is potentially going from world to world changing the AI to make things more like his idealized creation.

This is of particular interest to the Gatecrashers Union group, and to Yuuki Konno in particular. Kayaba Akihiko holds the secret to digitizing a person, to allow them to discard the flesh and live entirely within virtual reality. This may be the only possible way that exists to save Yuuki Konno's life.
|State=Current
}}

CCO

2016-06-08T23:08:06Z

MoreBeer:

{{TPPage
|Summary='''Cutlasses and Cannons Online''' is a plot involving exploring a virtual reality MMO. It takes place in the same theme as Sword Art Online, and is a spin-off MMO with appropriate safety mechanisms in place for the characters.
|Scale=Minor
|Plot_id=-1
|Runner=874
|Theme=Sword Art Online-1
|Audience=Gatecrashers Union
|Genre=Age of Sail. Lighthearted high adventure.
|Events=Several of the players get involved in CCO for fun, however there's a deeper purpose for some. They're there to investigate a "rogue AI" encounter believed to be unbeatable. This isn't exactly a problem needing investigation since no players get hurt from encountering the AI, but it suggests something else going on. Kayaba Akihiko, the creator of Sword Art Online, is believed to be 'alive' within the VR worlds and is potentially going from world to world changing the AI to make things more like his idealized creation.

This is of particular interest to the Gatecrashers Union group, and to Yuuki Konno in particular. Kayaba Akihiko holds the secret to digitizing a person, to allow them to discard the flesh and live entirely within virtual reality. This may be the only possible way that exists to save Yuuki Konno's life.
|State=Current
}}

CCO

2016-06-08T23:05:56Z

MoreBeer: Created page with "{{TPPage |Summary='''Cutlasses and Cannons Online''' is a plot involving exploring a virtual reality MMO. It takes place in the same theme as Sword Art Online, and is a spin-o..."

{{TPPage
|Summary='''Cutlasses and Cannons Online''' is a plot involving exploring a virtual reality MMO. It takes place in the same theme as Sword Art Online, and is a spin-off MMO with appropriate safety mechanisms in place for the characters.

Several of the players get involved in CCO for fun, however there's a deeper purpose for some. They're there to investigate a "rogue AI" encounter believed to be unbeatable. This isn't exactly a problem needing investigation since no players get hurt from encountering the AI, but it suggests something else going on. Kayaba Akihiko, the creator of Sword Art Online, is believed to be 'alive' within the VR worlds and is potentially going from world to world changing the AI to make things more like his idealized creation.

This is of particular interest to the Gatecrashers Union group, and to Yuuki Konno in particular. Kayaba Akihiko holds the secret to digitizing a person, to allow them to discard the flesh and live entirely within virtual reality. This may be the only possible way that exists to save Yuuki Konno's life.
|Scale=Minor
|Plot_id=-1
|Runner=874
|Theme=Sword Art Online-1
|Audience=Gatecrashers Union
|Genre=Casual age of sail
|State=Current
}}

4143/Party Like It's 2028!

2016-05-24T02:53:17Z

MoreBeer: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2016/05/23 |Location=Techno Urbania |Synopsis=The Sleeping Knights throw Yuuki a small party for her 16th birthday. Without telling her, they invit..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/05/23
|Location=Techno Urbania
|Synopsis=The Sleeping Knights throw Yuuki a small party for her 16th birthday. Without telling her, they invite her new friends as a surprise!
|Cast of Characters=1, 6, 20, 42, 162, 385, 411, 675, 691, 874
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     The party's address is a modest house in a Japanese suburb, a semi-detached family dwelling that's moderately large while having almost no actual land footage to spare. Jin's family's house, in fact. He cleared the party with his parents. Just a bunch of friends from online and all that. Yes there'll be adults present, no there won't be any rowdy stuff. It's going to be, from the looks of things, a farily simple party. The house is already decorated up on the inside, with a huge 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY YUUKI' sign hanging in the living room in site of the main entrance. Like most Japanese homes, there's a front room for people to remove their shoes before entering the house itself.     Inside, the five Sleeping Knights are present in their human forms. Those who may have seen them before, in fairy form, would still recognize them. Their online avatars are entirely based on their real life appearances, with only suitable modifications in pointy ears and a few cosmetic changes in hair color and the like. They're moving around, organizing, setting things up. Except for two, that is. Nori's lounging in clothing that's rather revealing, sprawled out languidly on a couch and taking up way too much room - at least before people start showing up and needing their own space. Siune, a willowy woman in perhaps her 30s, is at the door greeting arrivals. Yuuki, the birthday girl herself, still hasn't arrived. The plan was to gather all the surprise guests early and have them there when Yuuki showed up expecting only the Sleeping Knights.     As for the plan itself? It's fairly simple. This is going to be a simple enough party, as no one here is rich. Food is potluck; everyone brings a single dish. Anyone here by invite would have been told this. Anyone crashing, well, hopefully they know it from spying. If not, there's still likely to be plenty of food for everyone. The hosts have provided pizza, rice balls, finger sandwiches, various drinks and ... well, more pizza. Okay so pizza's popular.     As each person enters the home and is greeted, they are assigned a number plate which the host will show them and then attach to their backs with tape. This is, explains the hosts, for the game of Backstab. It will run the duration of the party. Everyone will be secretly given two numbers to hunt. The object is to steal the number plate from the person who is one of your targets without them noticing. If they notice, you have to return the number and that target is 'safe' from you as you failed to 'backstab'. Anyone who survives the night with their number intact, as well as those who claim their targets, will be recognized as winners.     Other games for the party include cards, simple games such as checkers, and perhaps a few events to be mentioned later. The cards and checkers board is available just in case, not as a required party game. There's music playing, mostly J-pop sort of stuff. 

:'''{{#var:411|Twilight Sparkle (411)}} has posed:'''      Twilight Sparkle arrives with a saddlebag full of goodies! Veggie burger sliders! That might not sound appetizing to others, but to a pony it is delicious. Toasted buns, cheese, portabella mushroom patties topped with lettuce, tomato, onion, and mustard! They are good, really! And one of Twilight's favorites.      She is smiling brightly as she steps through the door, the pastel purple pony fast to greet all the knights as well as any other partygoers. She asks where to put the sliders, then makes her way over to spread them out. Several cardboard boxes float out of her bags as her horn glows with magic, then a large serving dish floats out and sets itself on the table before the boxes open and a few dozen of the sliders float out before stacking themselves on the dish, forming a little pyramid of tastiness! Which...Twilight nudges and tweaks a few times with her magic to get it a perfect pyramid shape. "There we go!" 

:'''{{#var:691|Yari Takane (691)}} has posed:''' Yari Takane is here! After being cleared by Medical for light duty, the ninja has decided to do a bit of recon. Namely: Yuuki Konno, the one who beat Momoyo Kawakami. To say the Devas and Momo are a sore spot for Yari is an understatement. Eventually stealing the duelist's spot would be a direct jab in the woman's neck, and so here she is. Also, the ninja would love an honest party that doesn't involve her poisoning the birthday girl. She's come in a simple hoodie, jeans, and sneakers, though not bothering to cover her horns /or/ the tail. Or the many bandages along her throat. Honestly, she still looks a hot mess. A stiff breeze could probably push her over. She has a large covered plate balanced on her tail, as well as a wrapped gift. It's rather long in fact! What /ever/ did Yari get? Giving a half-bow to the hosts, offering over gifts to the gift table and food to the food table, the ninja is off to grab a cold one. She uses her horns to pop the top, like a proper Au Ra. 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     It's only recently that she met Yuuki in ALO, but still, Toph had been only a bit confused when she was contacted and invited to this surprise birthday party with instructions. Who's she to turn down a party? The blind girl had gotten to the task at hand, and she's in time for the party. And rather nicely dressed.     For today the earthbending master has decided to wear a yellow sundress along with white leggings that end right underneath the knee, along with some metal bracelets. She's got her satchel with her, carrying Yuuki's wrapped gift in it, as well as the food she decided to bring; dumplings from Gaoling. Hey, they are a bit hit in the Stark family, so they should be popular here too she assumes. Especially when some of them are vegetarian too.     Sure, she hasn't met any of the Sleeping Knights aside from Yuuki before, but she greets them nonetheless, takes the strange piece of paper as she raises a single eyebrow, then heads inside. Okay, this is going to be a bit weird, which the others might notice that the blind girl is a bit more insecure about where she's going. And alas, she doesn't have any shoes to take off to begin with.     She does hear a familiar voice though, and she turns her head slightly. "Twilight? You're here too?" she asks with a grin. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Of course there will be adults present! Some of the guests are adults, aren't they? They're probably glad this doesn't make them chaperones by default, though.     Staren follows Twilight in, quirks an eyebrow at the party game but nods -- this seems less likely to put him in a bad spot than Werewolf -- and uses his matter manipulator to deposit some items on the food table -- Two small tupperware containers, a bag of chocolate-coated mini-donuts, and a couple bags of potato chips. The tupperware containers contain a mixture of rotini, 'meat', sweet onions, peppers, and cheese seasoned with salt, butter, garlic, and paprika. One is labeled 'beef' and the other 'vegetarian', explaining why there's two.     Staren nods along to the beat of the song currently playing. "I like the music." He turns to the nearest sleeping knight with a curious look. "So... you're all well enough to leave the hospital now? Even Zekken?" 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr's here! She's bringing... more riceballs. They're a bit different though, the inside is a local Marchian delicasy, not the usual for Japanese ones. She also has some meat skewers with... is that meat /purple/!? Either way it smells alright.     She walks up to the front door at the address marked, and glances to DIvine Wind on her bracer, before knocking and waiting to be greeted. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Siune's greeting people at the door, being charming and graciously polite. Not shy, but she's the sort of quiet woman who rarely makes a fuss. She hands out nameplates to everyone, taping them to backs etc with a minimum of trouble after explaining the rules. She directs people to put their food on the main table, and there's paper plates and plastic forks and cups for everyone.     Staren's question gets a special answer. "Yuuki will be in her avatar form." she says, glancing around in some mild distress. It's a sensitive topic, and she answers Staren quietly. "The rest of us are recovering or fully recovered, but not her. We'd have come in our own ALO bodies but... well, we'd need her to bring us through, and it might have spoiled the surprise." she explains. 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:''' Kirigaya Kazuto's not the best cook in town. He's brought... a bowl of salad. Which is probably as far as he's gotten with food that can just be brought around and enjoyed by everyone. Well, Twilight Sparkle will certainly approve at least!     He's also got a bag slung over his shoulder with well-packaged dishes from Asuna and a few from Suguha. Those will probably be far more popular overall!     "Hoho!" Kirito exclaims, rather pleasantly surprised at who's turning up so far. He doesn't have much to say yet, because he's looking over the Sleeping Knigghts and working to pin down who's who of the bunch. Doesn't take him long, thankfully.     Of course, he's much the same, if not even MORE closely resembling his avatar. Were it not for the entirely normal ears... if not for THAT...     The identical appearance may in fact be a little weird to people who don't know.     "Y-yo, hope I'm not too late." 

:'''{{#var:691|Yari Takane (691)}} has posed:''' Yari is devouring one of those delicious rice balls while she looks over the party-goers. Toph is here, and that alone has her tensing, before she finally controls herself. Cue more drinking and devouring rice. People better hurry up if they want any! Other than that, Twilight Sparkle looks interesting. She'll start to slide her way over through the small crowd, but unhurriedly. She'll get there eventually to be friendly! 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:'''     Cirra Constantine wasn't sure what to think of this invitation. But she arrives anyways - it would be rude not to show up and never mention you weren't going to.     The Judge of Ramuh arrives in neat black clothes and with her silver hair pinned up with a broach - so she looks a bit more like 'Palmira' for the sake of those she's never met off the game...     Which comes to think about it is just about everyone in the Gatecrashers.     She arrives with a tray of pasteries similar to cinnamon buns, but with a crunchy shell (Ramuhan food tends to be designed to resist moisture and humidity.)     "Good evening." she greets at the door. "I was invited to Yuuki's-"     Once the door is open she spies Twilight Sparkle, a momentary pause compared to whats next. Yari. That gets a flat out resting angry face.     But Cirra inhales deeply and puts on an expression of socially acceptable neutrallity and forges ahead.     "I'm sorry I'm late." 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Of the Sleeping Knights, by far the most boisterous are Jun and Nori. Nori gets up from her shameful display of lounging, strategically adjusting her outfit. She seems to be having a particular fascination with Kirigaya Kazuto... who she clearly recognizes, and she pats the couch beside her in invitation and smiles up invitingly at the younger man. College-aged, with a thinness that comes more from her long illness than from athletic pursuits. She makes up for it with her attitude though. She's friendly enough, and actually rather cute in a slightly tomboy manner.     Jun makes his way around, shaking hands with everyone (except Twilight, whose inhuman form manages to fluster him somewhat). He makes no moves to reach around anyone's back and make a play for their tag. Unlike Nori and Siune he seems in remarkably good health, robust-looking for his age, almost exuding a healthy glow.     Tecchi makes his way towards Toph. Gnomes have to stick together! The large man looks down at her, though his imposing frame shows a kindly expression. "If you need any help, just let us know." he invites. He knows her after all, and knows Yuuki knows her. Plus, papa bear looks after little ones. He has kids Toph's age.     Talken looks utterly flustered, glancing down secretively at his papers then balling them up and stuffing them in a pocket. He looks around the room, his cheeks flush red, and then he heads over to strike up a conversation with Staren. And Twilight. Nerds unite? 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren nods to Siune. He knows it's a sensitive topic, but he doesn't like beating around the bush.     Aaand Yari is right there. He blinks at her. "Well, that's awkward." He tries to smile, "I'm glad you're healed." He nods to other guests as they arrive. "Hey Kirito, it's been awhile!"     He sees Talken approaching, and offers a smile and wave, "Hey. What's up?" 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     The Sleeping Knights seem friendly enough, and Toph shakes Jun's hand awkwardly, considering she can't 'see' here. Tecchi might have a kindly expression, it doesn't help Toph, but she recognizes the man's voice. "Oh, heya! Just tell me where stuff is. Like the food table so I can set some stuff out there. Where do we put the gifts?"     Though hey, there's more familiar people! And well, she kinda expected Kirito to be here. "Heya Staren! Cirra! Kirito!" Pardon Toph for not walking over, she's not going to risk bumping into other people while they're moving about.     Staren's comment however makes Toph look confused. "Wait, were you all in an accident or something?" she asks Tecchi. Obviously she doesn't know the story. But then Siune responds, making the blind earthbender look even more puzzled. Okay, this is weird. 

:'''{{#var:411|Twilight Sparkle (411)}} has posed:'''      Twilight blinks as she hears Toph, then turns and smiles warmly to the earthbender. "You're here too!" she says with a giggle. She moves to give Toph a little hug, then looks around. "There are more here than I expected." she admits, then raises a hoof to wave to Kirito. "Oh my! You look just like your avatar!" she says, seeming pretty surprised.      Talken and Yari approach, and Twilight greets both with a smile and a hoof/handshake. "Hello there! It is nice to meet both of you. I am Twilight Sparkle, and this is Staren." she says, then looks around. "So, where is the birthday girl anyway?" 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' The life of an idol singer tends to be busy, and Yuna Kagurazaka is no exception. In fact, it's even worse today for a couple of reasons: she's FINALLY (it feels like 'finally,' at least) been declared fully-recovered from the injuries she took during the last leg of Operation Rei-Go, and she had a few catching-up appearances to do thanks to being off her feet for the intervening week, plus she had to get ready for the party. Yuna fishes in her purse for something, looking around ... then makes a face, drawing her hand back out of her purse, empty. "The guest of honor's busy, huh? Ah well ..." Time enough for her to go around and say hello to the people who *are* here. Particularly those she knows. And ESPECIALLY a certain Yari Takane. Funny, you'd think she'd want to avoid the Confederate ninja ... 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Tecchi looks a little dismayed by Toph's question, but rallies quickly. It's not all that hard to talk about, not now, except for Yuuki's situation. And Toph's Yuuki's friend, or at least Yuuki seemed to think so when she gushed to the Sleeping Knights about making friends with the WMAT warrior. But if Toph doesn't know Yuuki's condition, well... that gets awkward.     "Hm. We... all met a few years back. An online game for terminal patients." Tecchi explains in a deep rumble. "The five of us are better now, thanks mostly to our friends here." he adds with a gesture. Five of us. He doesn't include Yuuki in that group directly, though it might not be obvious.     Talken isn't awkward around Staren, or by extension with Twilight. "Just wanted to say thanks. For coming here and for helping us out." he smiles, somewhat shyly. "You and everyone have been amazing." he says. And with that he reaches forward, attempting to hug Staren in an almost-manly fashion. And to take his number tag from his back. Talken's not particularly agile or stealthy about it though, even if he's almost subtle.     "Yuuki is on her way." Siune explains to Yuna. "We wanted to make sure everyone arrived before her if possible. She doesn't know you're here, you see." the woman says. "If you brought a gift you can leave it under the table so no one will step on it by accident. If not, well, it's not required. Your presence is more of a gift than she'll be expecting, I'm sure." 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:''' Kbuh? Nori's expression and gesture... Kirito spots it and immediately enters CRISIS DECISION POINT. Why's she singling him out? How's it going to look? Would not going with that be bad somehow?     It's questions like these that makes Kirito far comfier with online life than reality.     "Seems almost everyone's here!" He answers Toph and Staren.. before finally ambling over to the couch and plopping down for now.     Eyes just slightly self-consciously wide over this choice. Hope he doesn't somehow regret it.     "Having EVERYONE in one place like this'll be the last thing she's expecting." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren smiles, "No problem! I like helping people, when I can." For a split second he looks confused at the approaching hug, then steps back, smiling and shaking a finger. "Uh-uh! Nice try, though." He looks to Kirito, "Why wouldn't she expect people to come to her party?" 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:'''     Cirra nods her head to Toph, "Hello." she says simply. "I don't think you'll be hearing me sing karaoke this time though."     Cirra looks at the tag on her back, then at the numbers she's given. So she has to get these tags while protecting her own. And by her estimation, she'll have competition of at least one person per target.     Cirra smiles at the other guests as they pass her.     She can get behind this kind of party game. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Sheena we should say rather than Tomoe arrives, she actually shows up as her self. She's still tall but not as tall as she would be in ALO, she's still 5 10 though na shas red hair which goes down to the mid of her back and she's wearing a sports jacket jeans and running shoes and she's actually grinning. "Hey! Sorry I'm late! I think My father is bringing somehing later but he's not said /what/ he/s up to." 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     What, no karaoke? Toph smirks as that and reaches out to punch Cirra in the shoulder. "But you did so well at /my/ birthday party!" Herss Tecchi explains what people were talking about, he should easily be able to see the look on Toph's face go from confusion, understanding... and then realization.     "... oh." It's said with some obvious guilt about asking in the first place.     So instead of saying more, she will do as Siune instructs, then make her way over to the table, feeling with her hand until she finds it, then she crouches down and retrieves the somewhat sloppily wrapped gift box so she can place it underneath. 

:'''{{#var:411|Twilight Sparkle (411)}} has posed:'''      Twilight blinks as Kirito heads over to the couch, then she smiles before following after him. "Good idea!" she says before hopping up on the couch beside him. With her back against the cushions it will be much harder for anyone to take her number! As she hears comments about gifts, her ears perk. "Oh! Excellent." she says, then her horn glows and she looks at her saddlebag, which detatches itself and floats over to slip beneath the table, the top cinched up like a pouch. "It got crowded quite quickly, didn't it! It is wonderful that Yuuki has so many friends. The support of good friends can get one through just about anything." 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     "It was Nori's idea." Siune explains, looking just a little sheepish. "Though honestly, if we'd told her we were making a big deal of her sixteenth birthday she'd have probably refused. But really, I think she'll be really pleased. She likes you all so much, and you've been such wonderful people. She just gets a little shy sometimes, that's all."     Talken looks sheepish as Staren steps away. "You caught me." he admits. Not that he's particularly skilled or subtle in social situations. "Still mean the thanks though. Both of you." he adds, smiling towards Twilight inclusively.     Nori puts her arm around Kirito's back, probably giving him some flashbacks to Alicia Rue or Sakuya or other players of ALO who were clearly older than him and flirty besides. She even runs her fingers over his number tag, as if trying to take it. It'll feel like it, surely... but Kirito is NOT her target! She's just trying to make him jump. "Us Spriggans have to stick together don't you think?" she says teasingly, though there's little that's Spriggan about her right now.     Tecchi smiles down at Toph, obviously not upset by her awkward revelation. He drops a hand onto her shoulder, squeezing roughly though likely not bruisingly. He doesn't speak aloud, but 'that's okay' is pretty loudly screamed in body-language.     Jun returns from gathering food. He seems to have done pretty good for himself. He finds himself before Cirra, looking at her in puzzlement. "I'm Jun." he says, extending a hand. "Sometime Salamander and future space-tank pilot!" he insists, grinning widely. He then looks past her, seeing something in the window. "She's coming!" he hisses excitedly.     The 'she' in question is Yuuki. Unsurprisingly the birthday girl's still in her Alfheim avatar, looking quite out of place in the Tokyo suburb. Less so than Twilight Sparkle perhaps, but still not human. Jun rushes past Cirra and Sheena, flashing a smile up at the tall redhead before he usurps Siune's place at the door. It IS his house after all, and Siune gives way with grace, moving in to the party itself to begin to mingle.     Yuuki enters with a broad smile on her elfin face as she's infected by Jun's cheer. When she sees all the people though, she freezes in surprise. Just completely frozen. It's obvious she's pleased at all the faces both familiar and not, but she's also got a bit of a deer-in-headlights look to her, trying to figure out whether to flee or not. And as pleased as she is, she's also definitely mulling over the fact that, despite being told this would be a simple party, EVERYONE is here. Well, not everyone exactly, but plenty. And they're here for HER sake. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Yuna nods to Siune, "Got it!" and detours over to the table to put a little, silver foil-wrapped package with any other gifts which have been placed there. She's also keeping half an eye open for other people's number tags; she probably isn't going to worry that much about taking anyone else's numbers. There are more important things to do at a party! Like have fun, and celebrate the birthday girl. And she's just thinking that when Yuuki comes in. "Hey Yuuki!" the blonde idol smiles brightly, waving. "Happy birthday! Hope you don't mind the visitors ..." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Noone answer's Staren's question, but soon enough Yuuki herself is here! Staren's ears perk up and rotate towards the door, followed by the rest of him. He smiles, "Hey, Yuuki!" and waves, "Happy birthday!" 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     It's a good thing they realise that she didn't mean to make people awkward. She certainly looks awkward about it herself! Though Tecchi's non-verbal reassurance does help her relax somewhat.     Though little time to think about that now, as the birthday girl is coming! Toph blinks and rises from putting the birthday gift in place, places the box of dumplings onto the table with the other food, then heads over towards the door. Not right by the door, since Jun seems to want that spot. And once Yuuki arrives, the blind girl offers a big grin. "Happy birthday, about time you got here! We were going to start eating food and opening the presents without you!" she teases. 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:'''     Cirra looks up at Jun as he introduces himself, and shakes his head. Howwever, she does this by manuvering herself a half step to the side t o face him, and keep her back to the wall. "Cirra, though Yuuki knows me as Palmira. Thank you for hosting us tonight, it's most generous of you and your family."     When Jun bolts to gather at the door, Cirra lets him go before following him more casually and past Suine. She lets her go past, but glances at her back briefly to determin how well her tag is attached.     At the door however, she becomes a bit self-concious and straightens her shoulders. Yuki probably doesn't recognize her at all. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe Grins as Yuuki arrives and is also happy tos ee some of the sleeping nights have recovered, there are good things about the multiverse after all right? She's grinning and honestlyt his is the first time Cirra, Twilight and maybe Toph have seen. Sheena whose better known to the multiverse as Tomoe or Eisen. She hower is focused on Yuuki. "Happy Brithday, nd it's good to see you." Sheena's already stashed a present somewhere and likely has something addtional waiting in ALO for Yuukio given how much time she spends in said game. Her voice is the same as Tomoe though her actual name? She's never been /too/ free with that. However some people are about to find out that. She also going to go say hi to Jun as well, but first Yuuki! 

:'''{{#var:411|Twilight Sparkle (411)}} has posed:'''      Yuuki is here! Twilight perks as Yuuki arrives, and she happily calls out, "Happy Birthday!" She hops up and heads toward the door along with the others. "I hope you have had a good birthday so far, but if not then it is sure to be better now!" the purple pony says happily. She moves in next to Jun and giggles. "Isn't it great? So many people came out for your birthday! We're all glad to be here for you!" she says.      She looks up at Jun after that. "It was certainly nice of you to allow this party at your house. I hope we aren't being too boisterous for you." she says, raising a hoof and patting Jun's back in a 'good job' sort of way. But, secretly (At least to Jun she hopes), she is attempting to swipe that number and slip it into her saddlebag! 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:''' "Ahahaha... I'm more of a wandering swordsman." Kirito jokingly protests, instantly NERVOUS and trying not to show it from Nori getting all hands-on with him. He just gets the most aaaaaawkward of smiles here!     And tenses RIGHT UP when he feels the hand getting a biiiiit too close to that tag on his back.... 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Jun's not the most sophisticated youngster. He's savvy enough in a combat situation and well-used to maneuver and protecting his back, but he's too busy and active here to passively protect himself. Twilight's attempt to steal his number tag is quite successful, and he only realizes it a few seconds later. After he's already 'dead'. He grins ruefully, then puts an arm around Twilight's neck (if permitted anyways). He's no way the type to hold a grudge, and even if she was being sneaky he appreciates her words.     Yuuki's still pretty stunned by all this, and tears slowly begin to leak and run down her cheeks. She's still smiling though. She's not bawling, not trying to flee. She could do either, and has done both in the past when faced with similarly emotional situations.     Siune is quick to move over and support Yuuki, putting an apparently-welcome arm around the young girl. Not an attempt to steal her number to be sure, since Yuuki hasn't even had the game explained to her. Soon. Siune's just a strong supporter, gentle and caring and trusted. She whispers a few words, patting Yuuki soothingly, which only makes the tears run faster. Yuuki's still smiling though, broadly enough that her jaw must be starting to hurt. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Birthday girl is getting emotional! Staren's not sure what to do, so he stands around awkwardly. No, wait -- he can wander over to the refreshment table and start looking over the stuff Kirito bought. 

:'''{{#var:411|Twilight Sparkle (411)}} has posed:'''      Twilight eeks and giggles as that arm drapes around her neck. "Sorry! I really do think it is nice of you." she says, giving Jun a hug around the waist with one foreleg. She blinks as she realizes Yuuki is on the verge of tears, or past the verge. "Aww. Yuuki." she says, smiling warmly and moving to give her a hug as well. Just a quick one. She doesn't want to make things worse! "So, what would you like to do first? Enjoy some of the pot luck, or open a few gifts?" she asks.      She notices Staren isn't nearby, and looks around for him before waving. 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     It's easy enough to hear the faint change in Yuuki's breathing, how her heart is beating faster... man, she's crying? Better not comment on it!     "Why don't you open the gifts first? I'm curious what people got you!" Toph suggests. "And I spent a whole hour on your gift!" she is quick to add. She used some of her precious weekend time just for you! 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Yuna winces just a little as she sees Yuuki crying, although given the lack of other negative reactions, she supposes they *could* be happy tears. Either way, she makes her way over to offer Yuuki a hug as well. Assuming she'll accept it, that is; if Yuuki doesn't want a lot of hugging, Yuna will back off in good humor. Twilight's mention of the potluck makes Yuna wince, though; she was so focused on a birthday present that she didn't even try to bring any kind of food ... she might have to order something for express delivery. Yuna's attention migrates towards Siune, and if she can catch the other girl's eye, Yuna mouths the word, 'Potluck?' 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe listens to toph with Toph mening how long she worked on it? Sure it's just an hour but given Toph's a Metal and Earth Bender? She's not going to sell whatever Toph did short, nope and she also sees Yuuki crying. However she seems to be more happy than anything and she smiles a her friend one of the few ALO players she'll admit to being better than she is. She grins to her friend once more and then looks over to the refreshment table and starts moving up on Staren to say hi. "Hey Staren.... good to see you." 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:'''     Well, Cirra is glad she didn't take Suine's tag now, it would have been a super awkward moment in an already awkward moment.     Instead she stands by quietly. It's possible Yuuki will figure out who she by that alone. "Happy Birthday." she does manage to say however. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki would've never expected Toph here, of all people, but even half-blind by tears she can see the Earthbender. Hurriedly, buoyed by the supportive mood, she wipes at the tears. Yuuki's an emotional girl, obviously enough. If she hadn't already admitted her state to most of the people in the room, she'd probably have fled already. People being this nice to her when she's got very little time left to live is something that could only cause her grief as she considers what will happen after she's gone. But she's not dying, not now. She's not living either, but the doctors don't know what to expect any more. No recovery, not currently, but the Damocles Sword doesn't loom from quite so frail a thread any more.     Yuuki can hope to survive, which means she no longer has to fear getting close to people. She's still uncomfortable about her situation, but it's no longer quite pressing her to flee. Yes, it's happy tears that she's shedding. Siune lets her go though keeps her arm. It's not quite needed to keep Yuuki from fleeing, but Siune doesn't want her to feel abandoned either. Not that that'd be possible in this group, but she's always been the group's mother.     She looks over at Nori, fixing her with a glare. A rather weak glare considering her grin, but she at least tries to show displeasure. It's only mock-displeasure, of course. "You! You could have WARNED me!" Yuuki attempts to scowl. She clearly knows who set this up as a surprise. No one else in the group has such a playfully malicious streak. Nori's unapologetic, shrugging, and releasing Kirito as she does so. She's a bit disappointed in him not jumping up and shrieking from her behavior, but Yuuki's reaction makes up for it somewhat.     After a bit, the tears cease... though Yuuki's still sniffling. Faced with an impossible choice, food or presents, she shakes her head. Food seems like a good idea but she's not sure she can eat just yet. "I-if you went to the trouble of getting me something, I suppose I'll have to open it." she says, not to any one person in particular. "You really shouldn't have. I'm just happy enough seeing you all here. After everything else you've done for me and my friends...." She will, however, open gifts. And other stuff. Eventually she'll also be filled in on the backstab game and be presented with the coveted #1 tag... but only AFTER everyone's had their chance to give the birthday girl a hug if they're so inclined. She's not about to turn them down! 

:'''{{#var:411|Twilight Sparkle (411)}} has posed:'''      Twilight Sparkle nods in agreement. "It is required! You must open all the gifts." she says, then makes her way toward the table. Her horn glows, and the gifts hidden under the table are levitated out. Twilight isn't sure who all got what, she just knows that she has a gift in there wrapped simply on a cinched up saddlebag with a print of her QT-mark on the side.      Not one to push for attention, Twilight simply arranges the gifts on the table, then smiles to Yuuki. "These are all yours!" 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren... doesn't /think/ that way, as he consider's Yuuki's condition something that WILL be cured. So all he can gather is that she must be very lonely indeed, if anyone but the Sleeping Knights showing up to a party makes her this overcome with emotion. It's a sad thought, but accompanied with the happy thought that obviously things are getting better for Yuuki now!     Since he's already at the table, he pulls the small pile of gifts out from under it so Yuuki can see where they are. 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:''' "Isn't it fine, Yuuki? The only people here are friends." Kirito states in simple reassurance.... only to glance eeeedgily Nori's way the next moment. He's got an EYE out for shenanigans. Very very focused on her...     Man. She's dangerous. He'd better watch out!     He isn't terribly huggy though, that's just not how things swing for guys. But he does the next best thing, giving her the warmest, friendliest look of approval he possibly can from the couch when she looks his way! 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     "Hey, no obligations from me! We just met the other week," Toph points out as she raises her hands. It's a bit strange, now knowing that Yuuki is sick. Well, that kinda explains /why/ she's playing ALO all the time. If she's too sick to get out of bed... then the game is certainly a way to live her life to its fullest. If she were in the same situation, then she would probably do the same...     And Yuuki doesn't get a hug from Toph, instead she offers a classic punch to the arm in greeting. "You gotta try the dumplings later, they're totally awesome. And Goldie is going to be so jealous I didn't bring him any!" 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Once her turn comes up, Yuna totally hugs the birthday girl, saying again, "Happy birthday!" - along with going so far, in the heat of the moment, to give Yuuki a light smooch on the forehead. Don't ask what brought that on; Yuna isn't entirely sure of it herself. It's just a chaste little thing, though, And assuming Yuna can get away with not having brought anything, she's content to get some food, then sit back and watch while Yuuki unwraps presents. (If she's allowed to bury her back - and the number tag attached to it - against the cushions of a sofa or something, she is totally taking unfair advantage of that opportunity.) 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe is just happy enough to bother staren it seems she looks over at him for a moment as he gets to the table, she'll let him place it tan dthen her arm snakes out going for the number on Staren's back if she fails no big it's all part of the game right? Also if Yuuki takes note during the party? Sheena is wearing the necklase she was given some time ago. 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:'''     "I couldn't think of anything to get you, so I baked cinnamon cakes." Cirra only interjects when she hears an opening.     Speaking of openings, as Suine walks by after escorting Yuuki, Cirra's hand moves up, fingers scissoring close on her number tag and held gently, trying to let the other woman's own force from walking carefully remove the tag. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki accepts hugs, smiles and punches with a dazed sort of equal-opportunity. Only the punch gets an actual reaction as she reaches up to rub the arm. She doesn't seem upset, just a bit surprised. She's usually the physical one in any gathering, and few enough people seem to think 'let's hit the sick girl' is a good idea even when she's in the avatar of a near-unkillable dark fairy. She also smiles to Cirra. "I'll have to try one later, Palmira!" she says. Clearly she recognizes Cirra's voice even if her face is unfamiliar. And yes, Yuuki will eat some of everything. Food enjoyment is one of those things definitely not denied her.     Still in a bit of a daze, Yuuki moves to open presents. They bring joy to her, clearly, and probably a few tears as well. That's just her way. If someone were to try to steal her number, they'd have an easy-enough time of it except that she's trying to face everyone at once, to try to see them all. Difficult when she's on-stage opening presents, but trivial when she's surrounded.     Siune gives Yuna a slight nod and a wave towards the food, not quite shrugging off her 'failure'. Food is not required, and no one here is going to account someone stingy over such a trivial matter. Gifts aren't required either, only kindness and warmth; and Yuna has those in plenty. She's also fairly easily relieved of her number badge by Cirra. She's the only one of the Knights who doesn't engage in fights, so she lacks most of their awareness. Tecchi sees the attempt, and almost seems like he's going to call out a warning. No telling if he's protective of the woman who's apparently closest to his age in the group, or if he wanted her nametag for himself. Either way the opportunity passes him by, and Cirra has her reward. 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     Toph's present is a simple box, with no tags or anything. Yet it should be evident just who the gift is from when it's opened. Inside a simple wooden box is a cuff bracelet made of what looks like silver, polished to a neat shine. It's not just flat metal, instead it looks like the silver is flowing like fluid, with spaces between the metal that gives it a less hard look, and more feminine. The edges are neat, with no sharpness or anything that would injure the wearer.     Image: http://www.gearxs.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/thumbnail/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/6/4/649-012-b.jpg     "Cinnamon cakes sounds nice," Toph asides to Cirra. She's hungry, but the respectful thing is to let Yuuki open her presents first. "So... are we going to play some party games later that I can actually play?" Whoever thought of it didn't exactly take Toph's lack of eyesight into consideration, though she doesn't seem upset by it at all, as always it's a gentle teasing. 

:'''{{#var:411|Twilight Sparkle (411)}} has posed:'''      Twilight Sparkle's gift is, naturally, a book! One called 'Oh, The Places You'll Go'. She thought it had a good message about looking forward to the future and never giving up. And it's cute! And Yuuki can keep the bag if she'd like. Twilight makes her way back over to Staren as Yuuki unwraps presents. The pony gives Staren a little nuzzle, then takes a seat on her haunches to watch Yuuki with a happy smile. She's glad she could share this moment with her friend! 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     With all the surprises and the wonderful warmth of the party, Yuuki comes to a realization. Confronted by her fears and by this as the answer to them, she has little choice. Friendship can only be answered with friendship, warmth with warmth.     "Thank you, my friends." she says, meaning the words, sniffling a little. "I never expected this. No really... I truly didn't!" she claims. "Not just the party, not you all being here. I mean... I never even expected I'd be HAVING a sixteenth birthday."     She had been given a warning by the doctors. She might live through the winter, but no longer. Her body was failing, not just due to her immune system collapsing but from the wasting of her body and the strain of the treatments. That was before the Sleeping Knights were saved, and before she herself was given time to seek out a new answer. It's hard to admit this, but she's among friends. Most of them know already. Those few who don't know... well, she doesn't mind them learning. She doesn't want to be the one to tell them, doesn't want to see their faces when she does, but this is the only way she can pay them back. She can give freely of her heart and soul, and not count the cost.     "It feels like the only thing I can try to do is to live." she declares, deciding this. She's never NOT lived. Every moment, she's lived her life to the fullest. She's chased dreams, explored, challenged everything she could, and never questioned the point of it all. She would never surrender. If death came, it would come only after she'd lived, for however long she could. "So I'm promising you all. I won't stop fighting. I won't ever stop living. I'm not afraid to risk death, and I won't let myself become something I'm not just to... to hang on. But I'm not going to give up, and I'm not going to lose hope!" she declares, raising a fist into the air.     It should come as no surprise, not to anyone who knows Yuuki. This isn't something new, not really. The only new thing is that she's actually willing to SAY it. Nothing new, no... and when she finishes, Yuuki begins crying again. Not out of fear or loss, but in bittersweet release. 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:'''     Cirra lowers her hands from taking Suine's tag, and looks at Tecchi as he looks at her. She folds the tag and slips it neatly away.     When Yuuki figures out who she is though, Cirra smiles at her genuinly.     Then the speach. Cirra pauses to listen - close to a wall with her back to it. Her face goes a little dark - this makes it sound like yuuki is in dire situation. And only then does the obvious kick Cirra in the frontal lobe - this is Yuuki's Avatar. Not a costume exploiting physical similarity.     Looking down at the floor slightly, she wonders if Galandian Magitech could do anything... but if she's been around people from the Union this long... no. Galandia's medical abilities are surpassed by the Union and Confederacy both. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren doesn't even notice Sheena taking the number. He is getting girlfriend nuzzles! He puts an arm around Twi's withers and leans over for a gentle hug in return.     He may feel slightly silly later at missing a perfect time to take his own targets' numbers.     His expression darkens, briefly, when Yuuki mentions she didn't expect a sixteenth birthday. They'll beat this...     Staren nods at her speech. He grabs a can of soda and holds it up as if in a toast. 
}}

4124/Imp and Impish

2016-05-19T02:32:04Z

MoreBeer: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2016/05/18 |Location=Alfheim Online <ALO> |Synopsis=The greatest Earthbender meets the greatest VR duellist. |Cast of Characters=20, 874 |pretty=ye..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/05/18
|Location=Alfheim Online <ALO>
|Synopsis=The greatest Earthbender meets the greatest VR duellist.
|Cast of Characters=20, 874
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     It wasn't something she had counted on doing today, really. But the blind girl had decided to log into ALO after a less than stellar morning in the field. A mission that nearly went wrong. And with the report being done in a somewhat rushed manner, she had headed home and gotten cleaned up before she rested. Though honestly, she found herself restless. So restless that she had opted to log into the game in order to put her mind on something else.     Still sticking to the Gnome starting area, Toph is still hesitant in leaving the place before she's finished up the starting quests. And since Tony isn't with her today, she's instead opted to work on her skills some more, something she can do without Tony and without having to use her eyes too much. So for now the earthbender turned Gnome is busy by some training dummies, working on hitting them with her bare hands to train her martial arts skill. Plus it's easier and comes more natural than swords fighting, especially when she's keeping her eyes closed. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     While Yuuki rarely goes to any home-city other than that of the Imps, it's not unheard-of. She's not exactly afraid to travel. Anyone who attacks her, thinking she's an easy victim, will shortly learn otherwise. Any group that tries it, well, she's relatively sure to be able to run away faster than they can pursue. One of her guildmates is a Gnome however, making this one of the cities she actually has reason to visit. Tecchi invited her, offering her an introduction to a mining guild he knows. Introducing friends to other friends, as a matter of fact. Also helping with what the Knights are plotting against Yuuki. They're taking turns distracting her, so she has no chance to discover what they're plotting in a few short days, and if possible so she has no time to even think about it.     Yuuki's naturally curious however, and even after business is done she has reason to poke her pointy nose in at the steady sound of THWACKing. Maybe not good reason, but enough reason for her. She likes to move, likes to fight, and hasn't seen many Gnome fighters since her challenge several months back.     Among the Gnomes, most being massive and bulky and with earth-tone outfits, Yuuki stands out head and shoulders below everyone else. It's not just a racial difference, but also her boldly-colored outfit that makes her distinct. Still, Toph's not a very visual person and might not immediately notice Yuuki while busy with the target.     "That's an amazing tribute." Yuuki says when Toph finally pauses in her one-girl assault on the targets. She's genuine saying so, apparently without a trace of mockery. "Totally looks like her, and of course it's a Gnome! It's great!" 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     Most Gnomes are on the larger side, but the Avatar that's punching the training dummies is just a little over five feet tall. Her gear is obviously pretty much starter gear with the exception of a few items that's gotten from a starter quest, and well... the way she fights might suggest she's not a pro by far. Yet, her punches do have some other underlying elegance and control to them, albeit slightly clumsy in the way they're performed.     The concentration the girl was having is interrupted when Yuuki speaks up, and the Gnome girl turns her head towards the source of the sound, unable to ignore it. "Huh? Tribute to what?" the girl asks in a familiar voice that Yuuki might have heard on the radio a few times. "Wait, /your/ voice is familiar..." she mumbles, her eyes fluttering open slightly, though it doesn't seem like she's able to focus on the Imp girl just yet. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki does recognize the voice of course. Or at least, Toph sounds familiar. It's not like Yuuki's a voice expert, so she can't say for sure if the voice belongs to Toph or it just sounds like her. It's a young, slightly squeaky voice. There must be millions of people with similar voices. But... well, it makes sense that a tribute would also sound like Toph Beifong, right?     Yuuki studies the gnome girl. They're pretty close in height, though Toph's a little shorter and stockier. "Tribute." she repeats. "You customized the character to look almost exactly like her! That must've taken hours and cost a small fortune!" she grins mischeviously. "I'm kinda a fan too, but I've never done any cosplay or anything. Being myself's enough for me. But hey, I'm just saying I love the look!" she says, still smiling but with somewhat less mischief. 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     It doesn't look like the Gnome girl is clear on what's going on at first, standing there with a confused look on her face. Her eyes are unfocused as she peers at Yuuki, blinking her brilliant green eyes and squinting a bit as if trying to make out what the other person looks like.     Then suddenly it seems to hit her, and Toph arches her eyebrows. "Oh... you think I'm /pretending/ to be me?" she asks, pointing at herself. "But yeah, it cost a small fortune. Good thing I'm rich then. Well, my dad's rich. Scanning only took a minute, and preloading the scan didn't take long either. I gotta agree, why be anybody but me?"     Then suddenly Toph snaps her fingers. "Oh right! You're that Zekken girl, aren't you? I recognise your voice! From the radio channels."     For now the training dummy gets a little break as the Gnome girl turns her full focus to Yuuki. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki blinks, surprised at Toph's assertion. Then she laughs, freely and delightedly. "You almost convinced me!" she says, once able to control herself. "But Alfheim Online starts from random characters, not preloaded. Not unless you transferred from somewhere else!" she insists. It's not that she's taking pleasure in contradicting Toph's claim. She's delighted at the cleverness, but is making it clear she's not fooled.     "Besides. The Blind Bandit is blind. She couldn't play a game like this!" Yuuki claims. Not unless she had special gear at least. It wouldn't take a Medicuboid, though Yuuki's sure such a device would work even for the blind. But it'd take more than just an Amusphere... wouldn't it? If there were blind people suddenly able to see because of off-the-shelf hardware, wouldn't she have heard about it? Well... no, not necessarily. And of course there are different kinds of blindness. But Yuuki's sticking to her original guess here! As long as it's not completely contradicted.     She offers a slight bow when her name's stated. Not cluing in that if she'd been heard on channels, this girl before her suddenly has a lot more legitimacy than she'd had before. "Look, it's okay. I won't tell anyone you're not the real one. I think your tribute's really awesome! But ... I mean really. Why would she come into this game for real? And how? I mean, it's not like she could fight here like she's used to right?" 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     The laugh, that makes Toph arch an eyebrow. What does she mean, she almost convinced her? A huff leaves Toph, and she pouts. "That's why we did some advanced scanning before we entered the registration setup, dunderhead," the Gnome girl points out. "And so what, you know one of my nick names. Big freaking whoop. It's not like my bending transfers into this silly game either, and well... joke's on you, Princess, because it pretty much looks like I'm playing, doesn't it? I can't really tell just yet, it takes several minutes before it stops being fuzzy.     Man, this girl doesn't seem to believe that it's really her, does she? Toph refuses to refer to herself in third person in a serious manner anyway, that just sounds way too pretentious. "Why do you think I'm practicing on these training dummies anyway?" Duuuuh. "Anyway, Kirito mentioned on the Union channel that you're awesome at fighting. Since I'm obviously not good enough at this game yet, then how about we meet up in real life and do some sparring in the Ring at Njorun? I might not be super quick, but there are few people who manage to get past my defenses!" she offers with a bit grin. Why wouldn't she grab a chance for a fun spar when she 'sees' one? 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki's expression goes from amused enjoyment to confusion, and then to dismay. At some point in Toph's assertions, Yuuki begins to believe. After she mentions Kirito, the Imp is sure. And Kirito said she's awesome at fighting? Really? Well okay, Yuuki has little false modesty. She IS awesome at fighting. "I'm undefeated in Alfheim Online." she agrees. "Kirito couldn't beat me. And Asuna... well, we chose not to complete the match. Also I'm the Northern Deva." Yuuki admits. "If you want to challenge me, I wouldn't refuse. But if you just want a fun duel... I wouldn't refuse that either!" the purple-haired girl grins. "It wouldn't be fair in-game either. I mean, even if I took off my armor and used a beginner sword I've built up a lot of stats. Soo... hm."     After a moment, Yuuki's expression returns to dismay. "Uh... can you pretend you didn't hear me say I'm a big fan?" the Imp pleads. "It's kind of embarassing. I mean, saying that right to you like you're an idol or something...." 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     Even as Yuuki speaks, Toph carefully leans closer, squinting up at her a bit. What's with those expressions? Ugh, so weird and something that will take some serious time getting used to.     "Yeah, he said that. And that you had more time in VR than even the beta players or whoever those are. And Kirito is supposed to be really good, so that means that you have some serious skill in this game. You can take our avatar out of the game, right?" Or is she just as skilled at fighting in real life?     As for whether she wants a real challenge or real fun, Toph shrugs. "I'm not out for blood, not my style. I just love fighting," she responds. "And I just started this game, Goldie and I want to try some of that PvP stuff later and troll people. I can't play this game for long periods of time though, it messes with my head. Not used to all of the stuff this game feeds it." And damaging her brain would be a big nono.     Oh, this is rich. When Yuuki shows dismay, Toph... shows amusement, leaning in even closer. There, Yuuki's face is less fuzzy now. "Ah, it's okay. I have tons of fans from before, and you're not like those silly paparazzis in Malibu. I /am/ the greatest earthbender of all time, and as Goldie loves to say," she adds with an eyeroll, "I'm a Stark now, I should be used to being a celebrity or something." 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki's fairly expressive, and her voice matches her expressions. She should be good practice for Toph to learn to associate expression with emotion. Like right now, for example. Mention of Yuuki's extended time in VR has her showing worry, even dismay, which only fades once Toph mentions fighting and challenges.     She nods. "I can leave the game, yes." she agrees. "I'm even attending classes like this now!" she grins impishly. "And yes, fighting's fun! Though I wish you wouldn't make a big deal out of it like that. I don't care about your earthbending, you know. It's too much like magic to me, and I prefer really getting moving and fighting! I mean sure, you're really good at fighting. It's just..." she pauses, shrugs. "I don't automatically prefer someone just because they're skilled. But when I *do* like someone, chances are good they're good fighters too..." she says. She seems a bit confused, like she hasn't quite thought this through to the final argument. It seems right to her, but there's more to it. 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     She's attending classes with her avatar...? Weird. What catches Toph's attention more is what Yuuki says next, however. "Wait... making a big deal of it? I'm just teasing. There's nothing more magical about my earthbending than you using a sword if you ask me," Toph says with a shrug. "And it's fun meeting other people who fight, getting to spar and have fun like that while you hone your skills." Trust Toph to think about it in a practical way.     "Anyway," the Gnome girl continues and gesturing to the training dummy. "I was working on levelling up my martial arts skill a bit, I'm not gonna run off just yet and do other quests since I'm kinda playing along with Goldie. Got any tips for levelling and such?" Hey, might as well ask her, right? She's skilled in the game, and she should probably know it better than most considering how much she's been playing it. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki's easy enough to tease, and so long as it doesn't touch on a sensitive topic she takes it with good grace. Witness the return of her grin. So she embarrassed herself. So what? She nods. "Well, no point being ashamed about being myself! If I'm a fan then I'm PROUD to be a fan, because it's what I am!" she says emphatically, holding her arm up with fingers spread in a V. Weird girl.     She puts the hand down, considering Toph's question. "I know a bunch of people just starting out here." she says. "Really, I'm not sure. When I started out I was garbage. Hadn't fought a day in my life! It took a long time before I got any good. A bunch of you have a lot of advantages, having learned to fight before you got involved in the game. So.... um, I don't really have any low-level tips! By the time I came here, I was way beyond the low-level stuff and my guild and I leveled up really quick!" 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     Well, it appears that Yuuki is a positive person! It's better than a negative person, and well... after her day today she could use some positivity. Toph finds herself grinning where she stands, resting her hands on her hips, though she closes her eyes again at this point for some reason as Yuuki talks.     It's a bit weird to hear that the other girl hadn't fought before she began playing the game, and she nods her head a bit to show that yes, she's paying attention. "So... you just really played the game intensely and learned how to fight? Huh. And yeah, I guess you have a point. It's just a bit hard for me, I'm not used to being without my bending, and well... having to shout out words to move the earth with Earth magic, well... it's not as easy nor as effective as bending, if you ask me!" There is something though... "Wait," Toph begins, holding up a hand, "What do you mean, 'by the time you came here' you were already beyond low-level stuff?" 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     "Not THIS game." Yuuki clarifies. "I've played just about everything that came out after SAO closed down. And a few things started before that! Before VR worlds were used as multiplayer games!" she grins. "You could say VR gaming's been my only real life for years!" she claims brightly.     Yuuki's brightness, however, is a brittle mask. Toph, with her eyes closed, might well hear it in her voice. Hear that she's making a joke, but she's aware of something very not-funny behind it. She doesn't dwell on that though, moving on quickly. "I mostly learned to fight in a samurai VR game. Katana and hand to hand. But I've fought in a lot of different games. When I came to this game ... what was it, about nine months ago? Well, we came here because we agreed Alfheim Online was the best game. The prettiest. The one most worth making an eternal mark in. Eventually we managed it. The seven of us are on the Monument of Heroes." she smiles in pride and playful delight. Though of course, the Monument of Heroes is in Aincrad, far above the beginner lands of Alfheim. Nothing Toph would have reason to know or care about, no matter how proud Yuuki seems. 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     It's a bit weird... the words Yuuki says are cheerful, but the way she says them... Perhaps Yuuki can see it on Toph's face, maybe not. Even if her hearing isn't as sharp in this game as it is in real life, she can still pick up nuances due to many years of experience listening to people's voices.     Instead she listens some more. Because when you're not entirely sure, then listening is the best choice of action, waiting for the right time to respond. "So you played in other VR games and got better through them, then you and your friends began playing here," she concludes. Though she looks confused at something, arching a questioning eyebrow. "Monument of Heroes? Did you do something heroic?" It sounds big by the name, but also by the way Yuuki speaks of it. Obviously it means a great deal to her for some reason. And hey, maybe she can learn something more about the game while also asking. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki's cheer turns a bit more genuine at that. She grins cheesily, flashing another victory pose. "We were the first to beat the 27th floor." she boasts. "The Sleeping Knights and Asuna together." she claims.     After a moment, Yuuki blinks, seeming to realize. "Mmm, it's not really 'heroic'. We're not really heroes. We're more champions. People like Kirito and Asuna are the real-life heroes. But you can face a floor boss with 49 players at once. We did it with seven." she shrugs. "There's only seven spots on the monument for each floor. For each party leader. Fighting with just seven players was the only way we could be sure to leave our mark!" she grins triumphantly. 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     It's a good thing that Yuuki elaborates further for the poor little n00b. And as Yuuki does explain just why it's such a big deal, Toph... actually looks impressed where she stands. "So you and six others did something that usually requires nearly 50 people. Each doing the job of seven people... Huh! Not bad!" she grins. "You got some serious guts there! Kirito said that some of those bosses can be big and tough."     It does help when you have somebody whom Kirito seems to think of as the best fighter in the whole game though, and well... Yuuki seems like a real nice person, doesn't she? Even if she spends so much time in a video game. "Don't you get tired from playing so much though?" Toph finally asks, looking honestly curious. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     "Since then, I've met a few people that could've done the same thing." Yuuki claims magnanimously. Karian, Kirito and Tomoe could've substituted for any of them, and many others have the skill in real life as well. But that doesn't discount what they did. "But yes. AND we did it before anyone else could!" she adds, "Though a guild tried to beat it by spying on us and learning all the boss's patterns the easy way. AGAIN." she says, halfway between pissed off and amused. Pissed off they were almost successful, and amused because they were only almost successful.     She seems confused by Toph's question though. Quite confused. Then abruptly she laughs. "Oh! I sleep when I'm tired." she explains. "I mean, outside the game I'm nothing special. Just a relatively normal girl." she says. Of course when Yuuki sleeps she doesn't actually leave VR. The Medicuboid is always on, because it only blocks her ceaseless pain when it's on. She sleeps in VR just like a player of Sword Art Online slept. She's just done it for far longer than even the most avid Sword Art Online gamer. That's not exactly something she'd boast about, though Kirito's inferred as much. 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     "Eh, there are always dunderheads who try to cheat instead of working for themselves," Toph snorts, crossing her arms in front of her chest where she stands. "At least you managed to beat the boss first and get your names on the monument for bragging rights!" Ah, if only she knew...     So... Yuuki sleeps, then logs back into ALO when she wakes up? Huh, that sounds a bit excessive, but if that's what she wants, who's she to judge? "Ah, gotcha. Speaking of getting tired, I should log off now before I get a killer headache. I don't wanna worry Goldie and Pepper too much. Anyway, I'll catch you around on the Union channels. Let's get to do that sparring soon!" Toph grins, then moves to sit down before she opens the menu. And Yuuki might notice that she's still got her eyes closed, and well... she's moving her fingers a bit weirdly, as if tracing the letters on her menu with her fingers. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki nods agreeably, but then shakes her head. "Aaah, I'm not actually in the Union." she says. Not even unofficially. "You can get me on the Gatecrashers frequency though, any time I'm awake!" she offers. And of course, in the meantime, someone from the Sleeping Knights might just contact Toph and offer her a secret mission. If she chooses to accept it. And then the mysterious offerer would disavow all knowledge... 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     "Oh, right. Kinda assumed since Kirito's in the Union, but yeah, I'll catch you on that frequency," Toph grins, then opens her eyes briefly as she looks up at Yuuki, offering a brief salute. "Catch you later, I'm gonna go to bed in not too long. Sleep well when you do!" And then, the earthbender logs off. 
}}

4109/Black Descent (CCO)

2016-05-15T04:01:44Z

MoreBeer: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2016/05/14 |Location=Alfheim Online <ALO> |Synopsis=The players witness a scene of terror, where a top-tier pirate vessel is wiped out by a rogue e..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/05/14
|Location=Alfheim Online <ALO>
|Synopsis=The players witness a scene of terror, where a top-tier pirate vessel is wiped out by a rogue encounter
|Cast of Characters=1, 6, 42, 162, 215, 451, 631, 675, 707, 874
|Tinyplot=CCO
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     The Windstar has set out into deadly waters in pursuit of rumor. This is nowhere near safe harbors... the ship will have to be well-manned. It's a small vessel as these things go, able to run from most pirates if running at full capacity. Or fight, of course. With cannons manned by those of steady aim, even a small ship can steal an advantage over a heavily-armed pirate corsair.     The shipmates are well-trained by now, if not quite endgame rogues who have sailed the virtual waves for a year or more. With their unique gifts and skills though, the ones brought into the game rather than earned within it, they should be holding their own even against those endgamers. Perhaps not entire clans, but probably against entire ships. The group is in these waters by rights, not by undue boldness. Regardless, this is both the place to be to advance, and the place to be to discover more about the rogue AI. These are the waters the encounter's been spotted in. These ships, the ones who ply these waters, are the ones who have been the Black Ship's victims. Whether the group has gathered to raid or to seek information, the first step is to enter these deadly seas.     Yuuki is at her accustomed spot manning sails and rigging. She doesn't look like much of a rigging veteran given her size, but she handles the ropes with the effortless skill those who know her would expect from her. She's also wearing new gear, having attired herself in burgundy and black trimmed with crimson and gold. The outfit isn't quite the same as her Alfheim Online gear considering she's wearing trousers rather than armor, but the color scheme's reminiscent. If her cutlass is yet nothing legendary, it rides comfortably on her hip, and she no longer looks like a newbie in either beginner gear or the mismatched set often worn by those still gearing-up. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     "Boatswain, trim sails for cruising." comes Auralia's firm tone, spurring the NPC crewmen to furl the sails half way, keeping the ship moving, but not putting undue stress on the frame while they're in between fights and ports. "SOmeone in the crows nest, I want eyes on a swivel. These are Spite Lather waters... they're a nasty group of cutthroats, but they've lost three ships to the Unbeatable Ship so far, so they're the best source for information." 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Do what you want because a pirate is free right? So here we are with Eisen the Red Rose haning out on the windstar they were heading out again. Up she scrambles to the crows net and pulls out a spy glass to see just what's out there, maybe they will finally find what they have been hunting. "Aye, aye!" is the short red headed woman's reply from up top. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     At the moment, Staren is in the crow's nest -- not because of a highly trained Perception skill or anything, but just to see and enjoy the wind in his hair. His avatar is a blend of one of the rogueishly handsome default male faces with hints of his own features, most clearly his real eye color (blue) and brownish hair that's still a bit wilder and unkempt than he keeps it in real life. His clothes are a blend of fantasy and historic, as befitting the setting -- a realistic yellowish buff coat with a red sash around the waist and an an unrealistically-clean white cloak for warmth on the cold seas. Two shoulder belts cross over his chest, with pouches for holding things and sheathed pistol-daggers. Blue trousers bloused into high leather boots can be seen under the coat. (A dark-colored hat with a feather plume that seems to be somewhere between a cavalier hat and a tricorner hat is, for the moment, resting by his feet so as not to get blown away.)     When Aurelia calls for someone in the crow's nest, he shouts down 'Already on it, cap'n!' And then Eisen comes up with a spyglass and probably an actual perception skill and he mutters, 'Oh, that's what she meant.' 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:''' Singing some kind of Pirate-sounding song, albeit tinged with bits about bounty hunting and the being known as Zeiram, Iria is seen looking out over the port side of the ship, keeping an eye out for any potential threats. She runs a hand through her bushy hair, made to loosely resemble her real life hair, as she does so. She's getting the hang of talking like a pirate, but at times she still messes up. Perhaps that's why she's singing a unique pirate's song? 

:'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''     Karian paces along the deck, hand on the railing. Even back on Fenris, he was an antsy sailor. He knew that they would likely get into a messy fight, and made another look over his gear. Pistols were loaded, musket was loaded, and his swords sharp. "You think they'll take that kind of risk? Attacking another ship?" He calls to the captain. 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:'''     Palmira (in keeping with Cirra's online identity) is a purple haired woman in a brown long coat and a red and black corset-vest over a white blouse and long boots over trousers. Make her player write a real desc.     She's been practicing on the rigging more since they left the island, as it's become apparent that backup skills will be needed, and without them she doesn't contribute to the ship's advancement while they're sailing. She hasn't achieved Yuuki's natural grace though.     "You really learn fast." she comments as Yuuki swings by as Palmira hangs from the underside of the rigging, fixing a broken section. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     "They're Pirates, Mister Karian. Of course they'll attack other ships." replies Auralia, turning the wheel to adjust course a bit. "We've been making quite the name for ourselves though. A motley crew, aboard a Brigantine refitted with more cannon than she aught, taking on Islands far beyond the skill of a green crew... lets hope we attract some attention, perhaps we can Parley."     She doesn't seem very confident of that, but that's the life of a Merchanter captain. The Windstar isn't the biggest, nor the fastest ship on the ocean, but she can hold her own well enough, especially with the extra gun-deck that replaced a quarter of the cargo space of the stock vessel.     A look up to Yuuki and Palmira, the woman smiles. "Keep up the good work! Those sails haven't looked better since I bought her." 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' Sunshower doesn't have any reasons not to be here, although she hasn't been getting as much skill-grinding time in on CCO as she would normally like to. Still, her brewing skills are coming along nicely, she's getting better and better with those knives she carries - both throwing and in melee - and she's been training with a staff as well. It turns out that a mixing staff that was used to prepare a brew can carry a residual status effect into the next battle, so Sunshower was prepping a cask of something on the way here. As the good ship Windstar nears the encounter zone, Sunshower comes abovedeck, looking about. "Any sign of our quarry yet, Cap'n?" she inquires. "Or do you need another pair of eyes perched up in the rigging?" 

:'''{{#var:631|Reker (631)}} has posed:''' "Bah, parley." Reker is, at present, sitting on a railing dangerously close to going overboard, a musket in his hands as he cleans the weapon. A bottle of rum sits nearby, almost as good as the real stuff. "At the rate we've been going we could take on anybody we come across, pirate or not. No sense in talking our way out of situations we can just shoot our way out of. Dead men don't rightly care about lost posessions." 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:''' Since their mission is largely SEARCHING, Kirito - with his relevant skill MASTERED being transfered over - has decided to hang with Staren and Tomoe in the crow's nest, looking around with a spyglass! "Aaaaye aye!" He gets out in a heavily accented voice, but he's in a pretty good mood. Not much more you can ask for than being with friends and doing good work!     Of course, sooner or later he swivels when Tomoe swivels, except he swivels too far and gets a view of her eye right in GIANT MAGNIFICATED PROPORTIONS.     The Black Swordsman yelps like a kid and topples to his bottom, tripping over a rope. Well. That was embarassing. When he looks up and sees what he saw he just shakes his head and gets back up, dusting himself off.     "What's their flag look like?" 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     There are definitely hunting ships in these waters. They aren't all threats. If your ship looks dangerous enough or fast enough, many pirates will simply give it the old one-eye. There's little profit chasing ships that aren't loaded down with cargo, and even less profit for those who fire cannons fruitlessly or end up getting their own hull holed. These aren't the sorts of waters that merchanters usually run after all, considering the danger. This region belongs to raiders, rogues and privateers. Those who spend their time in end-game pursuits, not those looking for a quick score. Potential enemy vessels pass occasionally but not constantly, and any two ships will typically give each other a cautious passage. A heavily-armed vessel is just as likely to be hunting bounties in these waters as to be a pirate, and caution is rewarded.     Thus, when things start to happen, they happen with a vessel in sight. Well outside firing range, giving the Windstar careful courtesy. At any moment the vessel could choose to come to bear and attempt to reach firing range... but no, that's not what happens. Not this time.     This time, the air goes suddenly clammy. The skies darken. Not like night falling. It's like the seasons abruptly change. Instead of balmy summer with brilliant sunshine, the light goes flatter, dimmer, like winter arrived without notice. Fog begins to roll in, though not around the Windstar. The fog comes in from the port side, somewhat off from the potential enemy vessel. And heading straight for the vessel, rolling in with all the speed and menace of a typhoon rather than simple low-lying sea clouds. Visibility's still good around the Windstar, and it's good around the nearby player vessel, but only for a few minutes if the speed of that storming fog bank is any indication. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren shouts down to Karian, "That's just it! They've been wiped by these 'rogue AI' ships multiple times? They're gonna be hurtin' for supplies, and might take us for an opponent they can beat..." He chuckles at Kirito's pirate accent. "Uhh, what's that fog mean?" 

:'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''     Karian looks up to Staren and nods. Then the fog rolls in. He grabs for a pistol and a sword and keeps both at the ready, just in case. "I thought ghost stories were fake....We either wandered into an event, or we found a strange AI bug." 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     "Good!" Yuuki states cheerfully, thrusting a fist into the air. "That's what we're here for! An event that's like some strange AI bug!" 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     "Ready stations!" calls Auralia as that vessel comes into view. "She's not approaching..." she then pulls out her spyglass, and looks at the pennant. "That's a World Raider's ship... I think she's the Northern Princess."     Then the fog start rolling in. "Uh oh... Battlestations. Man the guns! We're coming about to approach." she calls, hauling the wheel over to bring course in to close on intercept with the other ship, into the encroaching fog. 

:'''{{#var:631|Reker (631)}} has posed:''' "Alright, time for action!" Reker is up to his feet quickly when the call to battlestations goes live. He grabs his rifle and slings it, moving towards the position he's been manning in their previous fights. Really what he's waiting for is a chance to cross over onto the enemy ship where he knows he'll be a much better combatant. Ship to ship is fun, but he prefers boarding action, "Just get me in range, I'll do the rest!" He calls out as he prepares to engage when they're in range. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' That kind of weather does NOT come out of nowhere, even in a video game - unless somebody skimped massively on 'warning signs' programming, and given that this game is mostly about sailing, foul weather coming out of basically nowhere is terribly foul play in Sunshower's book - or that of her player, at least. "Yeah, this is likely the event we were looking for," she remarks, setting a cask down in front of the mainmast. She's been studying out how a brew can buff the entire ship, and short of going around and handing a cup to every member of the crew (PC and NPC alike) ... Well, this isn't quite that effective. It's basically where anyone can get it and benefit from it - but enemies who board the ship and reach the cask can ALSO benefit from it. Once the cask is down, Sunshower climbs up some of the rigging, fishing a (fairly cheap) spyglass out of her vest and taking a gander through it, just in case anything can be seen that's worthy of note. She's ready to return to the deck in a jiffy, of course - and will do just that if her brief surveillance doesn't turn up anything that warrants continued watching. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe looks over to Staren whose also in the cows nest and she seems to be in an amused look but she's not getting down, she looks ove to Staren. "Pretty much, I got some left overs from skill grinding if you want to make a spy glass for when you get the skill to use it." She now has the glas opened up and is panning the horizon with her spy glass. "I think we'll know it when we see it... and we got Fog rolling in! Kirito can you see anything in this mess?" 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:'''     Palmira watches as the fog rolls in around the other ship, trying to take in the event unfolding before her as she tries to think of the proper response. Aurelia however has her own decision, and Palmira simply goes along with it. She is used to command authority.     The purple haired woman flips backwards off the rigging from her upside down position and moves over to a cannon, ensuring that it is loaded with dry powder and the longer ranged type cannon ball.     "Guns one to Five loading longshot!" She doesn't get pirate parlarance, she's from shiva, not Leviathan. 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:''' Sword in its sheath and revolver ready to go, Iria smirks a little. "Arr, they be regrettin' messin' with us, ya!" She says in her pirate's voice, still a little out of it because of how out of practice she is with her voice. Namely because she'd rather be fighting and doing things in the game instead of speaking like a pirate. "They be scurvy dogs, we'll keel-haul 'em!" 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     The pirate vessel, which flies the flag of the Spite Lather, comes about hard as the fog rolls in. They turn to flee before the wind. Either they know what the fog portends, or they're scared enough by the phenomenon to not want to risk the encounter.     It's futile however. As fast as the corsair is, the fog rolls in even faster than the blowing wind. Clearly it's not something natural, not of this world at least. The stern chase will last some brief time, but it makes it perfectly clear that whatever's causing the fogstorm is aggressively pursuing the pirate vessel. They might have had time to head for shore and ground their ship, but it would have meant smashing the vessel into land. There'd be no possible way for them to outrun the fog long enough to come in for a gentle beaching.     Yuuki moves into action, her actions on the rigging and sails helping guide the Windstar around on a closing course towards the fog and the pirate vessel. This is exciting! She's not sure whether they're going to engage the pirates, whatever's pursuing them, or just getting close enough to watch the fight. Either way she's happy to be here with friends! This is, after all, only a game. It might lead to something truly important, but since she has no real idea how to bring that about it's enough that they do whatever seems best at the time. She doesn't really have a long-term goal.     The pirate vessel is engulfed by the fog, but it's not long before the fog slows and steadies. At that point the Windstar can easily speed into the halted phenomenon. Immediately, the bright day becomes gloomy and grim. The light isn't much stronger now than a full moon at night would be. There are signs ahead however. Shapes in the fog, not distinct but not difficult to see. Two ships. The sounds of battle are muffled but unmistakeable. The boom of thunderous cannons rolling out nearly continuously, the crack of splintering wood, and the cries of men.     There are two vessels ahead in the fog, and it's difficult to tell which is which. Presumably the distant one is the pirate vessel, but both ships appear heavily damaged. Sails are no longer intact, and masts and hulls seem badly damaged as the Windstar comes closer and allows the group to see some of the battle. No doubt the ship sails being so damaged is the reason the flight ended, and the Windstar was so easily able to close.     The vessels aren't completely crippled, though it's hard to make out their motion given the fog cutting off all landmarks. The pirate ship seems to still be fleeing however, and the other vessel pursuing, closing faster than its target can escape. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren shrugs at Tomoe, "I dunno if I actually want to take time to invest the skill, I was just enjoying the view." Then he looks back at the other ship and the fog. "Jeeze, are they gonna try to fight us in this? Nope, nope, they're runnin'... What /is/ this stuff? We're not gonna pick on 'em while this crazy thing is after them, are we?"     And then there's two ships in the fog, but he can barely see them! "Okay perception monkeys, which one of those /isn't/ the pirate ship and what-- or who the hell is crewing it?" 

:'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''     Karian remains quiet as he watches what unfolds. While he had no real ability to help at the moment, he could stand ready to get a jump on the pirates and taking the aggro, so to speak. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     "Stow those sails... Hold fire, we stand to gather more from watching than intervening..." comes Auralia's voice, muffled like the rest in this damnable fog. "Lookouts, what can you see?" she calls up to the Crows Nest. They have the better vantage, and the bonus associated with the position at the top of the missen mast, the tallest point on the ship. "Be ready, everyone... once it's finished with the Pirate, we might be next." 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:''' So wildly different, this environment. Kirito's not sure what's a threat and what isn't, but on the high seas... every ship's interesting as it gets. All the different designs and their apparent pros and cons, he can't help but imagine what fighting on the decks might be like. This is a way more enthusing topic than GUN NUMBERS were.     What does caliber mean again?     And now there's this mess of weather. It gets Kirito grimacing. HE CANNOT SEE THE INTERESTING THINGS, how frustrating! "No!" he calls back. "We need to be closer to whatever this is! This fog is like soup...."     And in towards it they go. He grits his teeth. "That might be our mystery ship....!" 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     As the Windstar closes in, the crows-nest people can most easily see what's going on. Everyone can now see that the vessels are both damaged, both still fighting, but those with the observation bonus can see the truth.     The shots from the pursuing vessel are blasting into the target. They're trashing sails, blasting cannons, and tearing up the hull. The return fire... really isn't nearly as effective. Shots are on-target, but they do little damage. The attacking vessel is splintery and damaged, its sails shredded, but the shots add little to these conditions. Cannon balls glance off the hull, only occasionally passing through it with dully muted explosions. Chain shot rakes the sails, but the sails just billow and flap. They don't bell fully in the wind however, and the attacking ship seems not to need its sails to continue to close on the pirate ship.     Finally, the Spite Lather vessel is dead in the water, its limping flight ended, its cannons silenced. The attacker stops firing but continues to close on the pirate vessel. It would be easy enough to sink the ship, but that seems not to be the goal. Instead, the attacker moves in apparently to board.     As for the attackers themselves, well, the Windstar can close easily enough to get a look at them. They're indistinct, unreal, and the effect isn't entirely due to the fog. In close like this, the fog isn't much of a factor and yet the attackers waver, apparently unreal. Ethereal. Ghostly. The undead, staring across the diminishing sea at their quarry, the living.     It's no wonder the Spite Lather can't kill its enemy. What is dead can never die. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe Says "Your call on that." She pauses for a moment as she tries to get a view of the pirate ship, but its' not for long the fog is making it hard and they seem to be fleeing? Ot is it baiting them? he's not sure at this she hears the order to hold fire and will remain in the crows nest for the moment they might have need of her yet and she's trying to ge a good read on the other ship. She does get a good look at the other ships. "The attackers are the walking dead I think this is why no one can kill them they are already dead!" 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:''' "The walkin' dead?" Iria asks, still trying to do her true pirate's accent. "Shiver me timbers, they be needin' t'be sent back to their graves!" She draws her cutlass and scowls. "We'll deal with them if need be! We'll send 'em back, yes we will!" She points her cutlass at the ship. "Fer now, though, I say we wait an' see what happens, yar!" 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:'''     Palmira watches as they approach closer, eyes widening slightly as she sees shambling dead walking across the mystery ship. But this is virtual, she reminds herself. Theses aren't zomebies on Galandia, that would mean Vampires, or the crawling Chaos.     "IS undead a normal enemy type in this game?" 

:'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''     "How is that possible?" Karian calls out as he see's undead on the boat. He was of a mind to leap over and get into it, but that had to be the reason they couldn't be killed. "So....anyone have any good ideas?" 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' "Come back with a hold full of holy water and blessed salt," is Sunshower's first reply to Karian. "And maybe hire on a priest or three." She should probably sound properly terrified, but ... undead? Seriously? Xiaomu fights worse than ghosts in her *day job*. It's kind of hard to be properly freaked out by the undead in a video game when you face nightmares for a living in the real world. "I could probably research some brews that'd help as well," the Brewmaster adds after a moment's thought, "but I reckon our best shots are going to be on the far end of some side-questin'. "Meanwhile, anything we can do for the ship that just got victimized by those restless souls? Layin' them to a proper rest may be the best option - but it's an option we should think on; tales tell of some undead that add their victims to their own number ..." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "Seriously?" Staren replies when Tomoe IDs the walking dead. "Hax! Well... shall we board their ship and see if /we/ can take 'em? Ooh, imagine if we captured the ghost ship!" He looks at the distant fighting. "Worst that happens is we die and respawn, right?" 

:'''{{#var:631|Reker (631)}} has posed:'''     "I don't suppose it's too late to swap my rifle out for a proton pack." Reker says, as he looks across at the ghostly figures on the enemy ship, "Well I'm open to suggestions. I don't know if musket balls and swords will hurt them."     He turns his head to look back at the rest of the crew for a second, "I don't think anything we've got will damage them if those guys couldn't either." 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:''' Kirito would flatly DISAGREE with Xiaomu about digital monsters being less than terrifying when you face them in reality a lot. Upon realizing he's looking at GHOST WARRIORS and they are depited so realistically a chill goes down his spine.     And he's reminded of the moans and shrieks and howls of shambling zombies, the ravenous infected braindead zombies that he'd had to cut through to save a few survivors. Kirito shivers as horrible bloodied faces and other images flash in his memory.     Before he knows it he's leaping out of the crow's nest and doing this crazy manuever of sliding along a sail. he bounces free of it and rolls along the deck with his sword drawn in a panic!     It takes him a good twenty seconds to compose himself properly again.     "I think we've found the unbeatable ship!" 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     "Ghost ship?" Yuuki squeaks. "This is awesome!"     She's much like Sunshower in her reaction, for much the same reason. Sure, this is obviously an incredibly high level encounter, but they already knew that from the fact that no one's beat it. These creatures being undead is no more menacing than if they were lizardmen, orcs, or simply mortal men. In fact being undead gives them an identity, and gives the heroes a clue how they can be dealt with. Far from being a menace, this is just a game. And a game can, with skill and preparation, be beat.     That said, no, undead aren't a normal part of this game. At least, not ship-based. There are undead such as shambling zombies or skeletons, but nothing with the intelligence to crew a ship. This is still potentially a rogue AI element, one that doesn't belong in this world. And the ghost ship, while practically unkillable, does seem to have sustained at least some damage in the firefight.     The ghost ship closes with the pirate vessel, closing together with it. Undead pirates swarm across to the vessel of the living. The living pirates stand ready to fight, but the battle is somewhat predictable. As skilled at the players are, as powerful as their gear is, they're merely 'mortal' in the game. Their well-aimed strikes pass through their targets, releasing a spray of gooey ectoplasm, but fail to land mortal blows. The undead can be hurt, but they don't care about the damage. They wade into the battle, willingly trading blows. Though their attacks are turned aside by skilled parries, dodged or often absorbed by armor, enough attacks land to make the outcome of the battle inevitable. These aren't slow shambling undead either. They're agile, skillful, and utterly fearless. The living pirates will surely have the significant word 'living' removed from their description in little time... though at least there seems to be little worry about the players joining the ranks of the undead. These attacks have been going on for some time now, and players respawn as normal. Whether or not copies of them are added to the undead force though, that is unknown. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe Says "So we're living a ghost story?! Great..." Tomoe does not seem to happy about this given if it's a glitch there's no way she and the others cna win. She looks to Staren for a momens ays nothing and is scrambling down from the crowsnest at this point. If Tomoe knew what Xiaomu was thinkihng she's give the fox girl an earful but thankfully she does not as she gets her weapons reay it's time for a fight. Tomoe herself is looking about as shaken up as Kirito s by this... 

:'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''     KArian nods as he spots the ectoplasm fly. He grits his teeth and waits to get close enough. Once in range, his pistol roars out and he would move to swing or otherwise board the ship. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren shouts down, "Well, don't just stand there! C'mon, let's get closer and attack 'em now! The longer we wait, the fewer pirates there will be to help us fight the undead!" 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:''' Right now, Iria's patience has just sunk to a bit of a low. "All right, if these things want to take us on, then I'll oblige 'em!" She says, her pirate accent not showing anymore. "I'm ready to take 'em all out! The more the merrier!" She swings her cutlass. "I'll send 'em back to the afterlife!" 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:'''     "This is a recon mission. Not an assault or defense." Palmira says as she watches the fight as best she can. The enemy seems to releases goo when struck. Ectoplasm perhaps?     "The enemy doesn't seem to care about being struck, but they're also agile." Palmira commecnts as she eyes the action critically. She leans back to look at Aurelia. "If we loaded the cannons with grape Shot, we might be able to eliminate the undead crew." 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' Sunshower was actually serious about the 'come back' part - for all that she has trouble being scared of undead, and to be fair, this is also at a distance, she's sure the group is NOT ready to tangle with an actual ghost ship. They really do need to go away, prepare more thoroughly, and come back when they know what they're dealing with and how to deal with it ... and she was equally serious about the chance of sidequests that would give them some much-needed advantages. For now, though, she's watching as closely as she can - maybe too closely for comfort, given the spyglass she's peering through at the battle beign waged. She doesn't look like a happy camper, in any case. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     "Load port side cannons with grape shot. Boatswain, unfurl the sails and make ready to sail. I think we've seen enough to formulate some strategies, so lets get one last piece of information before we leave. Fire port broadside when ready!" says Auralia, as she returns to her post at the ships wheel. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki begins working on the sails. While she's eager to fight, this is like that first boss battle with Asuna leading the Sleeping Knights. It's not a fight they need to win. Instead, they're here to learn so that their next engagement is a decisive victory. She nods, grinning. "Aye aye, Captain!" For all she knows she might not be the boatswain. She probably isn't, but she's been sticking to the sails. She doesn't use guns or any ranged attack. If she can't fight using her own body, she'll do her best to be agile somehow. Sails, in this case, suit her just fine.     The Windstar comes about, presenting a broadside to the pirate vessel. Grapeshot loaded and ready. If there's any corporeal presence to these ghosts whatsoever, the grapeshot ought to be effective. It's like firing a very large shotgun. It does some damage to planking and sails, but it's meant to ruin a pirate's day. At this range, it'd be hard to miss. And sure, some still-living pirates might also get hit... but they're pirate-flagged. The Windstar doesn't have to go rogue to fire upon them. They're a bounty, not a friendly bystander.     The cannonfire ripples out; many shots fired by NPC crewmembers, but any NPC will stand aside for a PC gunner. And it IS effective. Not perhaps as effective as hoped, but the shot tears great holes in the ghostly forms of the AI attackers. It obviously does significant damage, and in a few cases it discorporates the undead body, but there are more who survive unharmed or only moderately wounded.     This, however, has one rather significant effect. The air, so far just unpleasant, becomes chilled. The chill of the grave itself sweeps the Windstar. Undead on the pirate vessel move, manning the nearest broadside. Their symbols are no longer the yellow of a targetable mob... no, now they wear the red diamond of a hostile foe above their heads.     On the Spite Lather vessel, the surviving ghosts mop up the remaining pirates. Anyone still observing from the crow's nest will see something a bit odd. The ghosts begin to search the ship. It's not apparent what they're looking for; survivors perhaps, or loot, or something else entirely. They don't simply kill all resistance and then leave however, nor are they abandoning the ship to sink it. They're looking for SOMETHING, that's the only possible conclusion. And they're ignoring a hostile vessel to do so.     The Windstar is not a combat vessel. Not on the level of the pirate corsair at least, and not to the point of being able to outgun the ghost ship. With ghosts manning cannon and readying to fire, ship-based battle is looking at this point like a bad option. Then again... is flight any better? 

:'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''     Karian watches this, pondering. In his heard, he knew flight was the best option here. But as the discussion continued, he couldn't help but want to get one last shot in on the undead. So, he made his way across and up to the cannons. "Decades of long-range combat should let me get a good shot in...when the time comes. "He muses to himself. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     "All Hands, Brace for incoming fire!" calls Auralia as she hauls hard starboard on the wheel, wheeling the Windstar about and getting her sails into the wind, what there is to be had of it. "Get those sails unfurled! The foremast is still locked tight!" she adds, giving a Speed buff to anyone in the rigging to go get the sails sorted out. "Lookouts, tell me if that thing starts coming after us... we may have to unleash the Ship Cracker." 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:'''     As the cannons fire and some of the ghosts are struck, Palmira nods once as her concept is confirmed. Ship cannons are powerfull enough to do massive damage to the ghosts, but the ship itself is probably an order of magnitude tougher.     However, some of the ghosts have gone down below the pirate ship's deck, making her wonder just what for. Tch. Fight through them dosn't seem like a good idea. Not if anyone expects to not go through respawn.     Cirra boots open the ship's locker and deposits her extra gear, but keeps some healing items.     The purple haired woman scales up the ships rigging and grabs hold of a rope. She looks out at the stranded pirate ship and judges the distance as she wraps the rope around one arm. Just as the Windstar pulls it's turn to escape, Palmira releases her hold on the riggingg, swinging across through the open air over the ocean!     Palmira releases her grip on the rope and hits the pirate ships deck in a roll, springing back up to her feet. She knows engage the ghosts is no use, so she simply sprints across the deck, attempting to catch up with the seaarching ghosts. 

:'''{{#var:631|Reker (631)}} has posed:'''     There's so much stuff all going down at once, it's hard for Reker to follow the action. When the icons on the ghosts change, however, he raises an eyebrow. Are these really in fact NPCs? Or something more dastardly?     He moves to one of the cannons the NPC giving way for him to take over, working to rapidly load and fire the weapon, though when the call to brace for impact comes in, he pushes himself against the back of the cannon, figuring the iron will do a better job of protecting him than the wood around it.     Once the fire has cleared, he'll resume his duties, getting the cannon ready to unleash another blast. He's aiming the cannon ball for one of the ghosts directly, instead of the ship itself. The grape shot did good, but taking a full on cannon ball shot should prove diasterous for whoever it hits 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' If the Ship Cracker cannon is that 14-pounder Auralia mentioned, then Sunshower is going to need priority on it - but given the nature of her plan, 'if the enemy starts to pursue' is a condition wh's not going to argue about. The crew might even need to unload some standard shots with it before she lines up her trump card. At least, she's hoping it'll be a trump card. She's hoping more than THAT that she won't have to actually put it into play, because it's a crazy, desperate idea that might or might not work. Either way, Sunshower has a distinct chill down her spine that's only partly because of the eldritch fog that's now hanging over the Windstar; she stashes her spyglass and clambers back down to the main deck, then pops open her inventory. The downside to playing a Brewmaster is that you REALLY have to plan ahead; it takes long enough to concoct a batch of anything that if you don't have it ready before you set foot on an island, you're not going to have time to do more than wish you HAD made it. But among the drinks that Sunshower's brewed supplies of, there's a portable cask of a fairly potent healing grog. The ingredients were expensive as hell even before she lost a batch to a failed crafting, and the quantity she made was only enough for a backpack-sized keg rather than a proper stationary barrel .... but on the flip side, that little keg should fit in a big enough cannon. It won't hold together very well when the cannon fires, mind you - but if she waits to touch off the powder load until the ghost ship is trying to secure itself alongside for boarding the Windstar, 'holding together' won't even matter. It would be like a cross between a shotgun and a water balloon, and the grog would splatter all over the undead enemy crew, at least those who were close enough to get splattered. And if Sunshower's hopes are correct, 'splatter' would be as close to the operative word as one could hope ... 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren grins as he sees the grapeshot working so well... but... there are just too many ghosts! "Rrgh..." he frowns, "We waited too long! We need to go... if we can. This boss cheats, just like the one in GGO... we'll have to find a way to abuse physics or something to beat them!" 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe is looking to get the heck out of here but she will do what she can to help with the ship the undead ship. As the crew fires shots she's keeping an eye on the vessel. She's keeping an eye on what they are doing and she pauses while it's ted they are not attacking that gets her attention ad she's going to tyr to figure out about what's going on here? They seem to be looking for osmething.... 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:''' Kirito peers more closely... sees that cannons are able to kill the ghosts more easily than swords... and narrows his vision more fiercely. "AIs don't die like monsters..." He murmurs to himself, no longer sure WHAT they're facing. This whole thing's completely unknown...     Which is getting him EXCITED.... as a gamer, he wants to explore this, figure out what's going on, learn everything he can and overcome it!     To what end, though?     "What I wouldn't give for Spriggan wings about now! I'd love to fly over to that ship and question them. They might even have things to say!" 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Fortunately for Palmera, she hasn't engaged the ghosts. The Windstar crew, in fact, hasn't engaged them at all. The Windstar is flagged hostile, but for whatever reason her crew aren't. They're, seemingly, not part of the ghosts' mission. Palmira will discover, to possibly immense relief, that the ghosts are yellow-flagged to her. Targetable, yes. Enemies perhaps. But they're not actively hostile. tIn fact Palmira's in a unique situation here. While the ghost ship has attacked a number of pirates over the last few months, they've always operated exactly the same way. Shell the ship into immobility, kill the living crew, then carry out the rest of their mission. No one has ever survived to see what they do when they finish killing the crew. She is, in fact, in a unique position. No one's ever been where she is now, and nothing nearby seems to object to her presence.     Aboard the Windstar, Auralia and Sunshower ready the Ship Cracker. The massive cannon can hold a keg in its barrel, yes. And a cannon can fire pretty much anything that can fit smoothly down its bore. Cannons have fired chains, grapeshot, humans, explosives, sometimes even rocks. They may not fire it WELL, but they can project just about anything at least a short distance before it comes apart. A cannon, held in reserve until something readies to board, is likely to be potent no matter what it's loaded with.     In the meantime though, the Windstar begins to pull away. Booms from the ghost vessel announce incoming fire, and cannon balls begin to rain down in a steel rain. Some hit the water, missing cleanly. Some tear through rigging and sails relatively ineffectively. Chain shot is deadly against rigging and sails, but solid cannonballs aren't. Cannonballs are meant to destroy hull, decks, cannons. They wreck ships, not slow them down. The pirate ship isn't looking to stop the Windstar from fleeing, it's stopping the ship from being able to fight. The rain of cannonballs will hammer the Windstar, striking weapons, decks, hull, pretty much getting a piece of everything as the brigantine desperately flees. Possibly even hitting some of the Windstar's crew themselves, depending on how lucky they are. Cover would be advised, though cover might not last long under withering cannon fire. Retreat is even more advised. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' Retreat sounds really, really good to Sunshower, and she's mentioned as much. She'd love to see just how her possible trump card DOES work against a ghost ship ... but, well. If it doesn't get tested this time out, so much the better - she really ought to stock up on ingredients (and easily-portable little casks like that) and try again. Just making the recipe does wonders for her Brewing skill tally, anyway; there are worse ways to level up a skill than making a large supply of something that promises to be genuinely useful. And if she fills up too much of her inventory, these things fetch a good price among other players for obvious reasons. She's still going to take some kind of cover (behind the cannon, ideally) when cannonballs start flying from the ghost ship. Much as she'd like to watch what's happening, it's nto worth her (virtual or otherwise) life to spectate. 

:'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''     The cannonball fire gets a curse from Karian. "Damn...Get that cannon Loaded!!" He barks to the NPCs. He was ready to take that ship down, or wound it enough so they could life to fight another day. 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:'''     Noticing the ghosts are still tagged yellow, Palmira slows down her mad dash sos he doesn't accidently trip their detection. She move more steadily to the stairs down below, taking the steps one at a time as she walks sideways to avoid the ghosts, looking in to each room as she goes, what are they after? Are they just following some kind of script? Is that why they didn't attack her? Or is because she isn't a pirate?     Too many mysteries, not enough information.     She pauses and looks to either side, activating her tracking skill to find the highest concentration of ghosts. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     There's no obvious reason Palmira's safe from the ghosts, not for certain. The game code makes it clear the ghosts won't preemptively attack, but gives no clues to why. Sure, it could be because she's not flagged as a PVP-enabled pirate. It could just as easily be a weird quirk in their mission. Perhaps they simply never expected that, after executing the mission stage 'kill everyone', there could possibly be a remaining threat.     On the Windstar, the rain of cannonballs begins to weaken. Not the rate of fire, but as the ship gets farther away the shots are less accurate and land on the Windstar less often. If the ghost ship had attempted to cripple the sails first the Windstar probably wouldn't get away. That wasn't what happened though, and the heroes should slip out of the fog before long. Since the ghost ship isn't pursuing, the Windstar should be able to get away safely. Damaged, sure, but mostly intact.     Palmira's bravery will be rewarded, it seems. The ghost crew abruptly surges back abovedecks towards their ship. What they came for ought to be fairly obvious. It's by far the most colorful thing about them, or about anything in this dreary realm of supernatural fog. It's a skull made out of a blood-colored crystal, faceted and almost gleaming despite the lack of light. It's not entirely clear whether the skull is a wearable talisman, but likely it's a 'loot' item. Or perhaps a magical focus, suitable for making into an enchantment. Valuable, no doubt. Everything about it almost screams value... but you know what they say. You can't take it with you. Only, these undead seem to think otherwise. 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:'''     As she activates her tracking skill shows the ghosts surging towards her, Palmira dives into an alcove out of their way, watching them stream past with the Crystal Skull in tow. Palmira steps out as the last of them runs past. She eyes the yellow tag over their heads, she stops as the last living person on the ship and says plainly to their back of the group.     "What is your purpose here?" she asks, "What is your mission?" she stops at the plank to the enemy ship.     "What is the Crystal Skull?" 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe is not really in the best spot right now to help with the fith all she can really do is get information. She's pretty sure no crew has ever seen what they do once they finish off the crew of another ship. For now though she keeps her seld ready for boarders. The cannon balls keep coming and Tomoe is forced to hunker down and be ready for a hell of a fall if the mast takes a hit. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     At first, Palmira gets no answers from the ghosts. They seem to notice her, but their programming doesn't give them a reason to act against her. She's not part of their mission one way or the other, and they're incapable of initiating hostile action.     Responding to her words though, that's another matter. It takes a few moments, as if the answer comes from far away. It echoes throughout the pirate ship, ghostly and hollow. "We. Will. Take. What. Is. Ours. You. Will. Get. What. Is. Yours." says the voice, coming from everywhere and nowhere.     The Windstar breaks out of the fog into sunshine. It's still weak and wintery, but it's bright comparet to the gloom within the fog. The rain of cannonballs also slackens, then falls away.     And then the ghosts leave Palmira alone, returning to their own vessel, casting off. Moments later, the ghost ship fires, sending the Spite Lather ship down to the bottom. They aren't trying to kill Palmira, but neither do they have the slightest shred of mercy for her.     In the distance, the malevolent bank of fog begins to stream away. The ghost ship, if it's in there, is heading away at what must be undiminished speed. In very little time, the skies will be clear and summer will return to the pirate seas. No sign of pirate vessel or ghost vessel remains. As for Palmira... dare you risk returning to see if she survived? 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:'''     Pausing as she's addressed by...something, Palmira stares at the ghost ship as it moves back. "Yours, ours? Wait-!" but it's too late, the cannon fires and the hull of the ship gets a new hole in it, enough that it starts taking on water. "Damnit!"     Palmira goes to the far end of the boat. She knew this could happen. It isn't really death, but it could be an...inconvience to the group. She takes a rope and wraps it around her wrist as she examines the captain's station. She's sure the boat is barely functional, but if she could turn it towards the Windstar, shave a minute off their time...     Or heaven help her, a life boat that wasn't trashed. That'd be great too. 
}}

4060/A three hour tour, an uncharted isle

2016-05-01T04:19:00Z

MoreBeer: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2016/04/30 |Location=Alfheim Online <ALO> |Synopsis=Monsters give loot. They also hurt people... a lot. |Cast of Characters=1, 6, 162, 215, 451, 63..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/04/30
|Location=Alfheim Online <ALO>
|Synopsis=Monsters give loot. They also hurt people... a lot.
|Cast of Characters=1, 6, 162, 215, 451, 631, 675, 707, 874, 922, 960
|Tinyplot=CCO
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     While sailing on the digital seas of a virtual Carribean paradise, the heroes of the Windstar (or possibly privateers - the line is narrow) were faced with a bit of a dilemma. While they handily defeated a crew of a few player characters that outleveled them, the battle wasn't easy. Skill counts hugely in virtual battles but gear can't be discounted. While the heroes were limited to aiming for weak points in an opponent's defense, the opponents had no such limitations. They could strike wherever they pleased, making their attacks considerably easier to land with deadly effect. No disparagement to our heroes' skills, but even they have to acknowledge the game's rules when seeking out high-difficulty encounters.     The dilemma is that, while they can win against a handful, they would be much harder pressed against an entire clan. And that, it seems, it what might be in store for them. The people who witnessed the rogue AI have been hard to identify among the beginner zones. As the heroes advanced through zones, they began to hear more rumors. Now they have some idea of at least one rogue who has reputedly survived the encounter. Well, perhaps survived is the wrong word. He endured the encounter. There were no survivors, but death in this game isn't permanent.     Genryu, a captain of the Salty Dogs clan, lives on an island with his hearties. That they were able to claim and hold land should be a clear indication of how formidable the clan is. It's not likely to be a handful of enemies in midrange gear... it's likely to be dozens in high-end gear. Even with gear upgrades from fighting the pirates the last time the group gathered, they'll stand little chance in a toe-to-toe fight with an entire raid-level clan. They'll have to upgrade. It's not enough to have just a weapon in the mid-level range. The group needs high-level weapons, or full sets of protective armor. Not heavy plate like Alfheim Online might have of course. Such doesn't work too well at sea... no, vests and charms are the primary armor here. Vests to protect the vitals, charms to provide an overall defense.     The clan who calls the Windstar their ship have set the time to gather and take on an expedition to equip themselves further. Their goal is one of dozens of uncharted islands in the navalscape. A locale offering mid-to-high PVE content, with suitable rewards and experience. Those who just now sign into CCO will find themselves where they'd last logged out, either on the deck of the Windstar or in an open port. If the latter, they can easily join the crew by means of a teleport summon. Either way, those who didn't join the Windstar at the start of today's sailing will be able to appear on-deck. Probably a good idea for at least a few people to have sailed with Auralia. These aren't safe seas, and the crew could use the speed boost of a couple of good players manning the stations. 

:'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''     It seemed Karian was also lurking about in CCO, but in a look no one would have expected. Gone was his heavy armor and big, boastful style. Instead was a quiet man, middle aged in appearence. A tell-tale eyepatch on his right eye as well. He wore light clothing, so he could maneuver better. He figured that in a game like this, his tanky nature wouldn't really help. As for his armament? Karian opted to bring a longsword at his hip. Along his chest sat the holsters for 4 flintlocks, and on his back was a lone musket. He joined not long ago, but spent much time working to get on-par with everyone else.     Today, he found himself invited onto the ship 'Windstar'. "Fancy meeting all of you here." He says, voice gruffed and totally in character. 

:'''{{#var:960|Kain (960)}} has posed:'''     Popping the helmet back on after a quick dinner, along with the satisfaction of it being the weekend, Kain smiled, used his foot to close the door before saying that old line again: "Link Start!"     The first thing Kain sees when he logs back in is a rather beat-up crew... Kain just blinks, looking around a bit and wondering just what was going on... he missed a battle just as he was headed to dinner... that was upsetting. "Aww, come on! I missed a battle? Seriously?" He groans. "Darnit... but it was worth it~! Tacooooos..." Kain definitely wasn't in-character right now...     After hearing what exactly happened from crewmember NPCs, Kain went up to where the rest of the group was, finding a new member among the ranks. He looks to Karian and smiles. "Oh. Hi." He then looked to Auralia specifically. "So... a random thought. Maybe we're not exactly strong enough for PvP. Maybe we should be looking into taking over our own island in some good ol' fashioned PvE. It'll give us some much needed gear that'll help battles like that go much smoother." 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:''' Iria's also hanging around in CCO, namely to get in some practice on being a true pirate, both in terms of speaking and her skills. She's getting the hang of speaking pirate, although her voice still sounds a bit more like a young teenaged girl, so it's kind of a mixed bag. Nevertheless, the more you practice the better you get. So Iria's starting to get better at this overall. And when she arrives onboard the Windstar, she sounds a little more natural when she talks. "I be gettin' the hang o'this, ya!" She says, trying to put a little raspiness into her voice. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Auralia stands at the helm of her ship. "Boatswain, tack sails for landing approach. Prepare the boat for landfall. Ready to drop anchor." she calls in Command. The NPC crewmen shift their behavior patterns and start preparing the ship to make landfall. It comes up to a fair distance from an island that just screams 'dangerous'. A small rowing boat is slowly lowered into the water, and a rope-net is dropped to allow people to get on board from the deck. "Be careful over there. I will remain here to keep the ship prepared to weigh anchor once you return." she offers to the others. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' Sunshower's been making good use of her share of the loot from the fight against the enemy pirate ship - specifically that Brewmeister Vat. She still needs to work up her gathering and crafting levels, but she's been able to start making brews decent enough to trade, and she's sharing some of the coin she earns from those sales with the Windstar's accounts, rather than hoarding all the cash for herself. She's also been training with her knives; it's not so much trying to raise her coded skill level as just getting used to how the knives handle in-game, and learning how to trigger whatever assisted attack skills CCO lets her make use of. It's basically a form muscle memory, just like the command combos in any non-VR game, and *that* is where she can use the practice. She's definitely been on board for the voyage to the island - even if she can't do *that* much, she can craft some simple brews and work her way through a surfeit of ingredients she's collected. Depending on how much space the Vat requires, she might do a fair amount of that belowdeck so she's not in other people's way on the Windstar's main deck. With the announcement that they're approaching the island, though, she finishes her last concotion, puts her equipment and supplies away in her inventory, and makes her way around to offer a waterskin - or rather, a wineskin (meadskin? ... whatever) to the other PCs. "Little better than th' healing grog I brought to our last party," Sunshower explains, "but drink as ye need to!" ... did she get another knife or two since last time? They aren't clanking together or anything as she moves, but she might look a little more armed than before. 

:'''{{#var:631|Reker (631)}} has posed:'''     It's hard to jump back and forth between this game and GGO. Having automatic weapons and explosives is so much easier to kill people than single shot flint locks and swords. Still, Reker does like the setting, so he's once again abord the Windstar.     He has taken his position at the crow's nest again, looking out over the water towards the island they are rapidly approaching. He's been putting points into shooting skills, reloading skills and the like. Primarily the combat skills he can level up.     At the moment he's looking through a scope, trying to spot any defenders on the beach. Someone who may have already spotted them and alerted their boss. He has a musket up in the crow's nest with him, just in case someone tries to run to warn the others. 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:'''     Why on Galanadia is Cirra in CCO?     'Rogue AIs' is enough reason to get her to switch games for a night. She does however maintain her ALO avatar as transfered. Purple hair in a ponytail folded up back with a hairpin. A long overcoat with embroidary and pair of long brown boots over a pair of pants.     The one deviation is that she's wearing a black and red corset style top over a white blouse with red embroidary. She doesn't seem to mind, virtual clothing can't be uncomfortable.     In this world, she's decided to carry a narrow light sword, like a short estoc, or perhaps wide rapier? She's also forgone pistols for throwing knives kept inside her long coat.     PErhaps counter intuitively, she's bought equipment just slightly above her current skill level. One or two levels at most, with the intent to 'level into it' while just dealing with the penalities. Sure it seems like gamble, she'll just have to poke a lot of things with her pig sticker. 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:''' Kirito's been spending an extraordinary amount of time logged into CCO thus far. Although he's not spoken much about why, it's not hard to peg it as for Yuuki's sake. Time he has plenty of.     And by now his 'wooo, new game' zeal's starting to give way to a more business-like approach to considering his build and gear. He's spent lots of time shadow fencing and the like on deck, getting used to the feel of his weapons. He's tromped every inch of the boat and tested the limits of his acrobatics and climbing skills. Even without enemies to fight there are things he can do to train and prepare. All with a strange focus few players would show.     The focus of someone who's used to their life depending on complete mastery of every relevant facet of every relevant force in their survival.     Of course, if any STRANGE SEA MONSTERS or other oddities flopped up onto deck he was right there to deal with it!     "You knwo we can always just challenge them and shake things up. Duels or a tournament. Any player worth their salt won't turn down a duel, especially if they're confident in a win. Smaller numbers, I've got no problems there. Could really use some better gear though. This stuff's holding us all back."     Which is why they're headed for an island. For ADVENTURE.     Which is why Kirito's now standing near the edge of the bow, weapon sheathed and arms folded over his chest, a goofy and eager smile all over his face.     ADVENTURE TIME!     He turns about to see who's logging in... "Ohoo..." Kain. Kain's here this time!     He didn't expect that. 

:'''{{#var:922|Weiss Schnee (922)}} has posed:'''     Snowflake the craftsprincess, reporting for duty! She's mostly been spending the off-time training her crafting ability and getting good at the minigame, and bolstering the Windstar's hull. She even constructed the landing boat the party's using to board the island (too bad that she hasn't unlocked the ability to add a harpoon gun or any fun stuff like that).     She -still- refuses to get into piratespeak, though she does seem to be enjoying herself otherwise (which, depending on if your name is evocative of one of three colors or not, is somewhat of a rare sight). Sliding down the rope-net majestically, she brandishes her shiny new rapier (which looks even shinier than when she first got it on her last adventure) in the direction of the island. "Onwards, towards adventure!" 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe has been once more in her pirate form she was enjoying the outfit and while the others had been away? Tomoe had got some crazy tribale tatoos on her limbs and possibly more and there was very much a story behing tht she was in good spirits though as she caught up a little bit late with everyone else. "HEy Kirito! Kain! Check out this! I stumbled into an event nd got these unlocked." She turns abotu showing off a little bit and was the most bouncy she'd been in a /while/. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Auralia chuckles a bit at Tomoe. "I know that event, it's a weekly repeatable. Knew a guy that did it for six months solid. Completely covered in 'em. Hard-ass bastard to damage now though. Those Tattoos have a stat bonus to Defense. It's not as much as a proper Vest, but it's all-over, not just vitals." 

:'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''     Karian looks towards Kain and offers a nod. "Sounds like a good plan." He says. He then walks over and starts to check on his pistols, making sure they were loaded. "How long did you have to hunt for the money for the ship?" He asks of Auralia as they all head for the island. 

:'''{{#var:960|Kain (960)}} has posed:'''     Kain thinks about it for a bit. "Hmm... I might try that event later. Nice going there, by the way." He gives Tomoe a thumbs up, that trademark smile of his. He then looks out towards the island they were approaching. Once stopped and the boat setting up to hit water, he looked to Kirito and gestured outward. "After you." 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Auralia leans over the railing as Karian asks her that question. "Huh... Well I personally got /really/ lucky, hooked up with a Privateer that went out looking for Pirates and Outlaws with big bounties on their heads. We nailed SaltJack Steven, one of the most notorious captains in the mid-level zones. My payoff for helping out netted me a little Sloop all my own... and it just, grew from there to what you see now. She's not the biggest, but she's definitely mine." 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Perhaps surprisingly, Yuuki hasn't geared up much at all. She's got the most reason to take CCO seriously among everyone. The rogue AI issue, after all, may lead to the means to save her life. Paradoxically, she's too busy living to commit much time to saving herself. She's been attending classes at Beacon, meeting with friends, and seeing as much of the Multiverse and meeting as many interesting people as she can.     She's been here for a while though. When the group decided to meet, she was one of the first to enter. Grinding on her own would be 'playing', and she's got other things to do than play. Meeting her friends however, that's vital. And besides, she IS committed to seeking out a solution to her problem. She's just committed to doing so with friends rather than solo.     "That's a good idea!" she says to Kirito's suggestion. "I mean, we're not here to take this guy's clan over or anything right? We just want to talk to him." she grins. "Of course he might lie. Arrr, I think they call them 'sea stories'. Or is that fish tales? We need the real story, and to ask questions. For that, we need to get his attention, or we'll just get the same exaggerated tales they tell in the taverns!"     He's right, too, that they need better gear. If not to take on a pirate clan, then to take on a seemingly-unbeatable encounter. Tomoe seems to have the right idea. "Heeeey, looking nice!" she calls out to her friend and Beacon teammate. There's no reason people can't log in and play the game a little if they want to play, or to take it more seriously instead if that's their goal.     The island doesn't have any guards. What it does have is a heavy jungle-like growth of trees past the coastline. There's a fair-sized beach suitable for landing boats, if not for docking entire merchant vessels. The beach seems the most approachable spot by far. The rest of the island is girded in cliffs, jagged rocks, and other inhospitable zones. This is a PVE area after all. The equivalent of another VR game's group dungeon run. It's not surprising for it to have an obvious start zone, though experienced players have been known to approach from one of the less-hospitable sides to get a jump on in to the more dangerous and lucrative interior regions.     Within the island, considering it's a PVE zone, there's likely to be a number of ferocious beasts scaled to dungeon-level content. Occasionally this sort of zone has NPC outlaws. Occasionally as well, one might encounter a PC party, also here to train and loot. 

:'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''     Karian nods at that and boards the boat to the island. He scans it over and makes a few notes. "Looks like a good spot. How do you want to handle this?" he asks. He takes in everyone's gear, and was already thinking on how best to work together. "Can someone inform me about the group you ran into? Is there any chance they can attack this ship while we're on the island?" He asks. 

:'''{{#var:960|Kain (960)}} has posed:'''     As the boat lowers down, Kain is still on the ship itself. He calls down to Karian "Of course there's a chance. But then, that's the pirate's life for ye!" He then just jumps off the ship and lands like a leaf in the rowboat to the island, hardly rocking it at all just as it touches water. He looked ahead to the beach area they were approaching. "Well. Guess this is just another Dungeon. Wonder how many times we'll die..." He snickered a bit. Then looked at the others. "Oh, that's something I don't know yet. Game wasn't clear, and it hasn't happened to me yet. What happens in-game when you die? Do you respawn back on your associated ship? Or back on the beach? Or back in the last Free Port you visited?" 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:'''     Cirra's rigging skill isn't high, but being fairly nimble outside the game she manages to get down into the boat without emberassment. Except when her boot heel catches on the rigging and she has to pull it off. A built in 'penalty' to not being skilled in climbing.     "Being covert would benefit us. There's no reason to tell an possibly hostile group of players where we are..." 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:''' Once the boat lowers, Iria waits to make sure that it's safe before she jumps into the rowboat. "Arr, let us see what kinda loot we can plunder, yar?" She says to nobody in particular. Obviously, while she's into this game, she's still got a bit of practice before she masters being a pirate. 

:'''{{#var:922|Weiss Schnee (922)}} has posed:'''     Weiss briefly breaks her heroic pose to take a look at Tomoe. "Magic tattoos, huh? Not really my style. Is there a skill somewhere in the craftsman tree for elemental weapon enchanting, though?" She might not be able to use her own Myrtenaster, but she can try to get close. "Maybe I should make my guns use ice shots, then combine my guns with my sword..." She begins leafing through her skillsheet, digging for anything of the sort that she might unlock later. 

:'''{{#var:631|Reker (631)}} has posed:'''     Whistling a bit to himself as he moves down onto the deck, and then further into the longboat, Reker hopes the gear he's bringing doesn't weigh down the boat too much. After all, with all the pistols and two muskets, as well as hatchet and knives, he's got a lot of steel strapped to his body.     "So this place, these guys set up a base here even though it's a dungeon? Why did I never think of that.." 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' "Probably gotta run up against enemies who use that before we can learn it, lass," Sunshower remarks to Weiss with a grin. "Still, magic tattoos ... huh. If ye want to ink your skin up, could be useful. Not really for me, though." She shrugs gamely, content to get from the ship to the shore in as quick an order as feasible - possibly helping to get there, if there's anything she can do to help with oars (or sails). Upon *reaching* the island, she pauses on the beach, inhaling deeply through her nose, as if hoping the scent of the sea or the jungle will tell her something about what to expect. (She doesn't really expect to get much that way, though - humans don't depend on their noses THAT much, and this is a human-designed game ...) 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe grins at Kain for a moment. "Yup the going native question is fun and it's a boot to rep gains with islanders it's pretty read and these tattos are nice." That and sh didn't need to feel the pain of actual ones either way she's in good spirits. She grins for a moment at the compliment she gets. "So this is where we're heading huh a jungle islkand." She doesn't seem to be ready she pops a buff item which has the form of a orange whic she devours with a grin on her face. "You got a good point, Cirra." While she looks over to Weiss for a moment with a grin. "Fair enough but I can't fault the bonuses it gives, I don't think we have many people going ice sounds like an idea but always keep something off elemental. The Devs like to throw mono element immunes sometimes." 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:''' "Uweh... good point there." Kirito's shoulders comically sag for a moment. He's AAAAALMOST forgotten how crazy the higher-ranking players can be about things that might even be REMOTELY seen as competition...     Been a while since he had to deal with it personally.     INto the boat he goes! Down with the others to row to shore....     So here he speaks up. "I'm not letting that happen." The boy in black points out, rather emphatically, like a promise to himself as much as anyone else. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     There are definitely skills available to PCs for weapon upgrading. Most upgrades come in the form of elemental gems, embedded in a weapon's hilt grip or stock as appropriate. The jeweler skill covers that sort of upgrade, and the gems... come from island adventures, happily enough. Charms are another matter entirely, and require their own skill. It works much like the jeweler skill, only it applies to armor.     "I wonder if I should get a tattoo..." Yuuki muses to herself, arching her neck and twisting her arm up apparently trying to get a clear look at the site. She emits a mischevious giggle. Tattoos, in her culture, really aren't the sort of thing a good girl wears! Or a good guy for that matter."I bet you'd look good with a tattoo, W-Snowflake!" Yuuki adds, her mischevious grin mostly vanishing in mortification as she almost calls her friend by her RL name. It's only a mortifying thing for a true gamer... casuals probably don't care too much. But Yuuki does!     "We're not at a player-owned island." Yuuki notes to Reker. "Though that WOULD be a great idea! Build a base somewhere no one dares go because the monsters are too strong! It'd be like, having your home on level 91 or something!" she says obscurely.     Once on the island, the PCs will discover that, well, it's teeming with life. Hunters and cooks may have plenty to do and find. Brewmasters also might find certain plants useful for their brews. Most of the good stuff is further inland however. The beach is mostly safe, and the lizards and turtles seem harmless. Further inland though, one can hear the coughing roar of a hunting cat, which silences the otherwise teeming sounds of birds and other beasts. 

:'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''     Karian hears the roar and smirks softly. "Well, I hear my target." He says. Though he hears the bits about the gems and also ponders. "Do we have any jewellers?" He asks. The idea of his pistols each being gemmed differently intruiges him immensely. He also began to give thoughts to tattoo's himself. Granted, it wasn't much of a big thing amongst space wolves. "I have to agree. Be great for gear farming too." He admits. But he slowly begins to make his way inland. 

:'''{{#var:960|Kain (960)}} has posed:'''     Kain just smiles. "Yeah, that'd be pretty neat! Hey, what if we fully clear this place and take it over for ourselves? Wonder what kind of awesome things could be done with this island..." He's silently pondering on the boat ride over.     Finally, the boat makes land and Kain hops out, drawing out his Rapier and readying for what may lie ahead. "Alrighty. Let's see what kind of ingredients we can get while we're here too. I said so before, but my cooking need leveling as well." He hmms a small bit. "Wonder how well tiger meat would cook... or the equivalent of whatever big cat that was up ahead." 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe has her pistol out in one hand and in the other she's got a cutlass and she's moving in with the rest of the group as she seems to be in alert mode. "Getting the ones here don't hurt and it's doesn't hurt here." She calls in with Kain and she looks over to Weiss as well. "So how about the three of us push inland and see what we can find?" 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' And *that* is why Sunshower was so busy 'cooking' on the trip to the island: she needed to clear up inventory space for the ingredients she expected to harvest here. She even picked up a second pouch for storing ingredients in, and as she surveys the beach and the fringes of the jungle for resources she can collect, she knows that was money well spent. "I think we'd have too many newbies on our lawn to enjoy it," she answers Kain with a grin. Then she goes to work, She's trying not to get TOO far separated from her shipmates, though, and she's happy to help take out random mobs if needed - she kind of expects to find brewable ingredient drops from some of them, too. 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:''' Meanwhile, Iria isn't straying too far from her group either. She's polishing her swordplay with some mobs and trying to improve on her techniques, but other than that she hasn't really done too much notable. She's kind of new to the area and getting lost when she's on her own is one of her biggest gripes. If she can avoid getting lost, she'll do that. 

:'''{{#var:922|Weiss Schnee (922)}} has posed:'''     Weiss grins eagerly as she finds the jeweler skill, just thinking of the possibilities. "As soon as I get my hands on one of those gems, you can bet I'm training that skill. My weapons will be the most finely-crafted across the seven seas!" she proclaims, doing a majestic somersault onto the beach and hoisting her sword into the sky. Looking back and forth between Tomoe and Kain, she nods in concurrence. "Sounds like a plan to me." 

:'''{{#var:960|Kain (960)}} has posed:'''     Kain looks to Tomoe with a smile and a nod. "Seems a good idea to me. Let's do it!" Rapier out and at the ready, he'd head out with both Tomoe and Weiss. "This is so exciting... hunting in a brand new environment... I wonder how big the animals get here... gotta be pretty big to have a growling sound that loud..." After that, he was quiet so as not to alert the enemies to his presence. 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:'''     Cirra's approach to upgrading and crafting skills is 'let someone else do it' She needs those skill slots for immediate battlefield usage.     She climbs out of the boat and wades the short distance to shore. "If you do-" she regards snowflake, "I'd like you to enhance mine as well."     She unseathes the estoc and takes a few steps...     Stabbing the sword into the sand. Skewering a crab.     She slings the creatures towards Sunshower as it's a valid ingrediant. She took the Tracking skill to make finding mobs for grinding easier, but it also finds the 'resources' creatures as well. 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:''' "The only problem with that is getting NEAR your home isn't so easy for YOU either." Kirito comments idly, kind of lost in thought while they come ashore. Once they do land though he hops out too, drawing his saber. He's not too impressed with the weapon and is looking to equip himself with something with more WEIGHT to it as soon as possible.     On the other hand, weapons that are TOO heavy don't work well for fighting on deck... there's not that much ROOM for the kinds of swings he likes to use!     A fact that has him gritting his teeth in dismay. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki's not a crafter. She's also not a gunner, and not a whole lot of other things. She's only got a narrow skillset, but she's top of her game in that narrow set. And that's the way she likes it... even if this isn't quite her game.     "Let's get you LOTS of gems then!" Yuuki says agreeably, violating Weiss' personal space utterly thoughtlessly, attempting to drop a hand in comeradely fashion on her shoulder. It's nothing particularly personal; she's like that with most people, so long as she likes them. But Weiss is pretty notorious for being standoffish...     The group, or at least some of the group, proceeds off into the trees. There are paths leading through the trees, broad enough for several people to walk alongside. Only rarely do the paths narrow to single-file. There's also trees of course, broad and thick. Quite possible to climb them, though of course climbing's one of those skills that has everything to do with personal ability rather than stats. The path winds through trees, up and down hills, even through unpleasant standing water at the base of some minor valleys. The trail is littered with leaves, broken branches, roots and stones. The footing isn't awesome, but it's not exactly treacherous.     Unless, of course, you step on something you shouldn't. Tomoe went clear past the hazard, missing it or stepping over it perhaps. Karian, big-footed and heavy, treads right on something he thought was a root. It wasn't.     With a roar, the root thrashes. Well, the root doesn't roar. Something a good twenty feet away from Karian, well within the undergrowth, roars. Not the roar of a hunting cat either. This is the sort of roar you'd expect from a dinosaur. The tail - yes it's a tail - thrashes, an attack on Karian, Tomoe, and anyone in melee range of the two of them. The thing attached to the other end of the tail whirls around, ripping a sizeable tree clear out of the soft ground as it swings around. Yep, the beast is big and strong enough to uproot a tree just by thrashing and whirling. It's... well, probably it's the biggest damn alligator anyone here has ever seen. At least 20 feet long, massing a couple of tons, with teeth the size of daggers and scales dense as heavy armor. This isn't going to be an easy creature to wound, not on its scaled back and sides at least! 

:'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''     The tail totally blindsided Karian and sent him careening into the nearest tree. He was stunned for a moment, but shook it off. He pulled two of his pistols and fired a pair of shots at the gator's eyes. "Damn...looks like a tank..Has to be a weak point!" He calls out to his allies. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe says "I can't wait to see wht you can do. You got some skills on top of knowing the game, right?" After all knowing how to use an actual weapon is a huge edge in a lot games like this one, GGO or ALO. She seems to be in good spirits as the trio seem to head off and she smirks. "It is. Is it any wonder so many games like this exist? People want to build worlds and now they can do so." She muses as they move a head. She got lucky but well there's something else ocming she sees the thing and fires her pistol without blinking but that's when she's force to start move but she's moves too late and gets smacked by the tail and goes flying into a tree, ow! 

:'''{{#var:960|Kain (960)}} has posed:'''     Kain is likewise flung into a tree by the surprise tail! Hitting it with a hollow thud, he groans in pain as he rights himself and prepares for combat with the beast! "Give me an opening, and I can get some good hits in!" 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' Sunshower catches the crab, grinning back at Cira. "Thank you!" She adds the dead crab to her inventory, and continues along with the others - not wanting to get so far separated that she can't assist them, or vice versa, if something happens. This turns out to be a really good idea, because something does indeed happen, in the form of an oversized alligator taking exception to getting its tail stepped on. Not that Sunshower can blame it; tails are sensitive, especially when mauled, and she has a better appreciation of that fact than most people do. Fortunately, she's far enough back that the tail-thrashing misses her, and she's able to drop flat so that the passing tree doesn't slam into her either. She's back on her feet as quickly as though she literally bounced, and has a knife in each hand as she sizes up the monster. "Weak points, huh?" she replies to Karian. She's not sure how much good his bullets will do, but the eyes *are* an obvious weak point; one of her knives goes flying for the more convenient of the uber-gator's eyes when she thinks she has a good angle. She doesn't trust the other knife to throwing, though; she actually bolts closer to the gator, and instead of going for the eye, tries to jam her knife up the thing's nostril and stab as deep as she can. It might not be a devastatingly effective attack, but noses are sensitive and they generally DON'T close as readily as eyes do. 

:'''{{#var:960|Kain (960)}} has posed:'''     Kain ignores his need for an actual defense, preferring to just get in and deal the damage... Stepping on the thrashing tail, he uses it as a springboard to push himself upwards and towards the creature. As he was coming down, his Rapier started glowing Red and he lashed out at the monster with a rapid barrage of attacks! 4 hits in total! It would have been 5 damage per hit in total... but the speed at which he was moving caused his aim to go off-kilter and hit a defended spot, which made the 4th hit glance off and deal little damage to it. "Shit!" 

:'''{{#var:922|Weiss Schnee (922)}} has posed:'''     Weiss nods towards Cirra, sheathing her sword. "Of course, I'd be willing to help out anyone that needed it. But of course, you'll have to find your own gems. Or pay me for 'em. I might give you a crewmate discount," she snarks with a snicker.     A grin still on her face, she simply dodges Yuuki's arm with a "Nope!" and a perfectly-timed duck. "Yang has given me pleeeenty of practice with that. No touchies." She begins to forge onwards when the tip of a giant tail -smacks her square across the face-. She takes a moment to recover before unsheathing her sword and looking up to the giant reptile with a snarl. "What did I say about no touchies, buddy?" Dashing forwards, she aims to leap onto the creature's tail, climb up its back, and... she'll figure it out from there. 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:''' Alligators? Here? Why couldn't it be crocodiles instead? Then Iria could do the crocodile rock with them. As it stands, Iria's not exactly up for leatherskinning right now, but she knows that thing could easily be dangerous either way. So she draws one of her pistols and fires at it. "Hey, you big lizard! Pick on someone your own size!" 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:'''     When the beast roars, Cirra's character looks up. Tomoe and Karian were too far ahead for her tracking skill to detect the monster. "Tsk."     Cirra did however make sure her character was fast. Taking off at a run up the beach and along the path, the Estoc is already drawn as she sees the tree fall to the ground and the giant crocodile expose it's head. "Weakpoints?" she whispers.     Palmira slides to a stop, Estoc raised high to stabb in at the side of the lizard's neck, trying to skewer it through the jugular. 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:''' When KARIAN's avatar goes flying, Kirito pauses in his advance. "what...?!" The roar leaves him stuck tot he ground for one brief moment, eyes going wide. He's fought dragons and stranger things alone before, but... here, he's weaker than he'd like to be. Much, much weaker.     Of course... he wasn't expecting a HUUUUUUGE not-dragon to be making THAT noise.     "When they're that big... might as well be a dragon!" He carefully adopts a battle stance, analyzing the creature's general movement and speed for only a few seconds. He's not going to wait TOO long and let others take a beating without risking himself, but these first few seconds are CRITICAL for seeing what kind of behavior the monster has!     And as soon as he's watched for a bit... Kirito DASHES in with a thrusting strike towards the gator's underside, coming in from the side. He's decided it's better to contend with the feet than the tail or jaws! 

:'''{{#var:631|Reker (631)}} has posed:'''     Having been trailing behind most of the group, Reker was in a good position to strike at the huge gator when it shows it's face. He jumps backwards when it appears, "Ho crap!" He has one of those flintlock rifles at the ready, and pulls the weapon up to his shoulder.     He sights down the weapon's sights and then gives the trigger a squeeze, sending off a massive plume of smoke as he fires the lead ball at the gator's head. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki grins as Weiss avoids her handpat, not taking offense. "We're going to have to duel sometime, sword sister." she says in an entirely friendly way to Snowflake, before turning to head after the others.     Yuuki follows along with the main body of the group, cheerfully letting Tomoe and Karian take the roles of tanks. That puts her a few paces behind them, giving her time to react. Not much time, but she doesn't need much time. She's faster in reactions than anyone she's met, at least in the gameverses.     Unfortunately for her, leaping back from the thrashing tail isn't entirely a safe move, as the head of the alligator comes around at her. "Wuaaah!" she cries out involuntarily, seeing her friends thrashed. This will be bad for them. The alligator is tank-like. It's quick only in thrashing bursts rather than in something like dodging. It's not just pure armor though. The thing has the strength to casually uproot trees after all. Its tail isn't a bonecrushing club at least so the damage won't be critical, but it can do serious damage. Not pain though. Pain sensitivity in this game, like in ALO and GGO, is dialed down so you notice it but it doesn't actually debilitate. Health bars are going to take a beating though. Yuuki sees the jaws coming for her, and her rapier flashes out. "Hey you overgrown lizard!" she shouts out. "Stop picking on my friends!" she cries, drawing that blade repeatedly across the crocodile's snout. The resulting red lines aren't bright, but it's enough to get the beast's attention at least at start as she tries to taunt aggro off the de-feated.     Karian's shots are dead on-target. The beast closes its eyes in reflex, protecting itself from blindness but roaring in pain. Sunshower's thrown blade glances off a brow ridge, but her thrusting knife finds sensitive flesh. Not a crippling wound by any sense, but definitely painful to the beast. Reker shows his long-barrel experience, firing a musket ball squarely into the alligator's jaw. He damages both outside and inside the mouth, making the beast reflexively snap its jaws closed just before it reaches Sunshower and Karian. Instead of a chomp attack which could potentially kill with a single hit, it attacks with jaws barely parted, slashing with dagger-like teeth. Those jaws are still clearly killer weapons, but with good timing Reker saves the pair from facing the true horror the beast could inflict.     Iria's shots, like Tomoe's, are accurate but they drill into heavy armor rather than any vulnerable points. They're only moderately effective, drilling a couple of dull red points into the armored hide.     "Look out!" Yuuki cries as the alligator turns from her. She doesn't have her usual aggro skills here, relying instead only on pure damage and presence to attract a monster's wrath. While she can put out a fair bit of damage with her blade, the monsters don't purely respond based on threat. They also react to vulnerability. Kain, remaining relatively stationary to deliver an effective power combo, is vulnerable. The paleolithic alligator makes him the primary target, trying to barrel into him as it thrashes its tooth-filled jaws at Sunshower and Karian. Where they only have to dodge the snapping jaws, Kain will have to defend against the main mass of the beast charging him.     The beast completely ignores Snowflake, at least for now. She can run gracefully up its spine, but then what? It's back is its best-armored point. She's safe enough for now, but she'll have to leave that place of safety if she wants to do any major damage to the future handbag.     Kirito has the right idea, but by the time he dashes the beast's already in motion. The vulnerable underbelly flashes exposed, but Kirito's strike lands on the armored flank as the underbelly remains mostly tight to the ground. He'll have to contend with the tail as the massive creature barrels past him, hunting for something to sink its teeth into. 

:'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''     Karian braces for pain, but is saved by Reker. "Good shot!" He calls to Reker, only to get slashed up by the teeth. He falls back a bit, but watches on. He spots the underbelly, and realizes that it has to be a weakpoint. He takes the last two pistols he had and takes aim. He tried to use a skill and amplify his bullets as he sends them out. "Come on, you ugly lizard...time to be a handbag." 

:'''{{#var:960|Kain (960)}} has posed:'''     The beast charged... this was not good... he had to think of something! Jumping at the last minute and using the snapping jaws to quickly bypass the huge brunt of the damage... that was his goal here! The gator didn't get to chomp him... but avoiding damage wasn't on the menu, as the force of the Gator's rush was strong enough still that it sent him flying away and headlong into a nearby tree... about as fast as if he'd flown into it from ALO... ouch... slowly sliding down the tree, Kain groaned out in pain... the pain absorbers might have been set high, but he STILL felt that one... while his HP wasn't down, he was for sure out of this fight. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Palmira's attack, cutting at the neck, is somewhat effective. The blade skitters along armored scales, cutting a pixelled red line. There's no great spray of blood, sadly. Judging by the intensity of the damage line it wasn't a critical hit. As a result though, as the creature lumbers past Palmira, one of its flailing feet comes down at her, either aiming to knock her aside in passing or possibly to tread heavily on her in payback for Karian's initial step on its tail. Only much, much heavier. 

:'''{{#var:631|Reker (631)}} has posed:'''     Showing off his fancy footwork, Reker moves back out of range of the beast, and then drops to a knee, starting to reload the musket. He's put points into reloading, and he's fired muzzle loaders in the real world before.     That doesn't mean he's going to be able to fire again too quickly, since the weapon will take at least a few seconds to finish loading up a second shot. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' Admittedly, Sunshower *was* starting to wonder about the practicality of diving into the monster's mouth, scooting down its throat before its teeth can close on anything, and trying to cut the monster up from the inside ... but that's rarely a practical approach, in games or in reality. If nothing else, very few monsters big enough to eat you whole have a throat with enough room to start wounding them on the way down, and by the time you're in their stomaches, you have to deal with ongoing corrosion damage all around you. So yeah, that's out. What she *can* do, on the other hand, is try to slide underneath the beast's jaw - and then to reverse-speedcrawl further down, trying to slice at its neck and upper belly. She's in extreme danger of getting squashed, either via the beast stomping in her general direction or just dropping its full weight on top of her, so *staying* underneath the gator is not remotely an option. So once she's had the chance to slash a few times, she'll be on her way out from under the gator, trying to come out in between its legs on one side or the other. She might try and climb up on its back, if she has the opportunity. 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:''' Iria would fire at the alligator again, but this time she finds that her gun has jammed. "Of all the times!" She yells, trying to get it unjammed. Unfortunately, these flintlock pistols aren't easy to get unjammed. It takes her a few moments... 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:'''     A foot. A large foot.     he sweeping apendage nearly takes Palmira to task for someone else's mistake. Instead the purple haired woman ducks backwards as she bends her knees, letting the claw slice just over her head. She's starting to udnerstand the difference between VR's player skill and equipment stats better since she started in ALO.     /She/ can choose to move. But eqiupment can make a shot that should hit, miss, or reduce the damage.     But with the disparity from ear outside her skill range, she can't rdepend on it. she has to -focus- on not getting hit.     Palmira swings one foot back and steps away from the giant lizard, her Estoc up in a gaurd with one hand as she watches. Neck attack worked. Eye attacks look like they'll work, but they close as soon as they're attacked.. It's maw is open...     It's mouth is open.     Palmira reaches into her jacket and grasps three throwing knives, throwing them one at a time as she runs forward.     Right eye, left eye, right eye.     Then lunges to jab the point of her Estoc into the back of the monster's throat through it's open mouth. 

:'''{{#var:922|Weiss Schnee (922)}} has posed:'''     Welp, now what?     Weiss has grappled onto the back of this huge gator and is only climbing up further from there. It takes all of her strength simply to stay on, what with the battle raging around her and stuff. She keeps sidling up this thing's neck until she reaches its head, deciding against stabbing its neck here and there, as that would probably be counter-productive. Reaching the top, she braces herself for lauch with a winning smirk, then rockets up into the air. Doing a majestic flip at the apex of her jump, she lets out a warrior battle cry as she brandishes her sword straight downwards, aiming to spear the gator's head! 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:''' Awwww crap. Kirito arrives but not quite with the angle he desired. Though he tries to abort, all that happens is he scores a glancing blow, suffers nasty rebound off the thick hide... and... "AUGHgph!"     The sweeping, thrashing tail!     Though he attempts to leap over it he's not QUITE fast enough and it snags him by the feet. As a result?     Well, he isn't flung into a TREE, but he is knocked a dozen feet away head-first into the ground with a THUMP, his healthbar careening down badly. But he rises to his feet...     "Its weakpoint is probably the underbelly! And the eyes! Strike at those - carefully!"     Of course, REACHING the Underbelly isn't so easy... but he dives in with the same lunging tactic as before, this time adjusting for the creature's movements better. He's going to skewer a blow in if anyone can! 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe Is not having the best of days right now but it could be a hell of a lot worse. She could actually be here and she's far from being along thanks to Weiss Kain and the rest of the pary she's got a chance to get back on her feet and recover and she now get her sword ready the gun will take too long to reload so she's moving in trying to get into close combat again and put her blade to use as she activates an sword art of a sort and launches into a barrage of sweeping strikes. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Karian tries to hit the vulnerable underbelly, but it's a damn tricky shot to make. The creature all but slithers along the ground, making opportunities to attack the belly few and far between. Without some way to set up a moment where it's vulnerable, to have the shot already aimed and ready, what follows is inevitable. The creature's side-to-side gallumphing movement causes the shot to glance off a leg instead, and the leg's as heavy as a tree trunk.     Palmira's plan seems to pay off, though perhaps not quite the way she'd intended. The knife throws to the eye temporarily blind the gator as it blinks. The third blade strikes as it reopens that eye, gouging a red streak off a brow ridge, making the beast roar. Palmira follows the throws with that Estoc lunge, penetrating the vulnerable tissues of the mouth, and is rewarded with a spray of crimson pixels.     Weiss takes the opposite approach to Karian and Palmira, disdaining the vulnerable areas; coming at the beast with all her force and all her mass balanced on the point of a blade. Damage isn't all equipment, after all. Speed of an attack, along with power, does make a difference. Snowflake's attack impacts on the armored skull casing, but much of it penetrates. The strike from above makes a brilliant red pixel grid right on the top of the gator's head, and the wound releases a burst of pixellated crimson.     Sunshower's approach, while it does provide a possible opportunity at a vulnerable area, does put her in range of being stomped on. A knife isn't the best weapon for killing an armored megalithic beast, but if you've got to use it, use it from close range. The beast stomps, thrashes, and then rears up and away from the thing tearing into its soft underside.     This provides the opening some are waiting for. Yuuki moves with her usual blinding speed, lunging with her entire body behind her extended blade. Beside her, Kirito also lunges. Their speed is equal, and while neither have tremendous gear both have the skill and experience to make their strikes count in the beast's critically-vulnerable underbelly. Tomoe follows them in, carving into the underbelly with a sweeping series of blows.     Their attacks certainly add to the damage done, but the killing blow is likely to be the narrow sword in the alligator's brainpan. Snowflake, having set up her attack and then delivered it with typical Schnee precision, no doubt expects nothing less. Should she be able to hang on while the beast thrashes out its death throes, the party will be rewarded by the sight of the monstrous reptile bursting into a shower of glowing red pixels. Shared party loot: Scales (These can be used to make an armor vest, or a jewel crafter can polish them as ornaments) Fangs (Can be crafted into lucky talismans, or used as thrusting daggers) Victim's Blade (left embedded between two scales, this cutlass is the only remnant of the beast's last opponent) Various body parts and organs too grisly to actually mention (to be sold to collectors, i.e. this is how you get your doubloons from the big monsters) 

:'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''     Karian winces as his rounds bounce off the leg harmlessly. "Damn....need to find armor piercing.." He mutters. He planned to go in with his longsword, only to see the gator fall. He gives a cheer and then he spots the shared loot. "THAT is a good improvement." He muses. He doesn't grab anything yet, instead opting to look later. "Who'se up for more?" He asks, running to the group and reloading his pistols. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' Getting stepped on wasn't enough to kill her, although Sunshower definitely feels the stomp-dent, even with the pain sensation dialed as far down as it is in CCO. And another step or two might have zeroed her HP anyway. Good enough. She puts in for a quantity of the scales, and maybe a fang; she'll be willing to relinquish some of the cash to balance things out if necessary - but she'll still want SOME money to show for things (and if necessary, will pay for the surgeon's services out of said doubloons). Hopefully that's the high point in the island adventures for today; boredom sounds kinda refreshing right about now. 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:''' Once everyone else has gotten their loot, Iria takes her share. She's not so much after the loot and things like that as she is more interested in getting more practice in at being a pirate. "Nabad day today, arr!" She says in a somewhat mocking pirate voice, before adopting her normal voice again. "I hate talking like that sometimes..." 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe is still getting into the thiick of things but now they downed the creature and they got osme really nice blade. She looks over the loot list, she wonders for a moment. She laughs "That was fun! She seems to be in good spirits now. "That was a hell of a fight!" 

:'''{{#var:675|Cirra Constantine (675)}} has posed:'''     Palmira exhales as the UberCrocken disapaits into pixels. She's glad to hear over the party chat that her approach to higher level gear wasn't wrong. She was worried the dispairity would hamper her more then she expected. "I'll go back to the ship and prepare to take watch so other players can't attack it. If anyone wants to join me." 

:'''{{#var:922|Weiss Schnee (922)}} has posed:'''     Weiss holds on to the creature as it flounders, keeping her sword embedded with red pixels flying everywhere. Once it finally collapses and dies, she removes her weapon, sheathes it with a flourish, and snags some scales and fangs for her upcoming forays into the field of jewel-based witchcraft. "Hey Yuuki, what happens to the monster's corpses when they die?" She shrugs, a smirk on her face. "Ah well. I guess the answer's still /up in the air/." Sunglasses, epic leap, explosions, freeze-frame. "Never gets old." 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' Sunshower looks askance at Snowflake, "Really? That was the best you could come up with?" It's a good-natured askance, though, and her tone while chiding is equally friendly. "I was going to say we tipped the scales pretty hard." 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:''' Now it's Iria's time to get in on the whole pun thing. "Really? I'd think if we had some music we could really play the scales!" She laughs at that a little. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki grins painfully at the puns, groaning theatrically but encouragingly. "I don't know leather or not we should be fighting this sort of thing." she says, then tilts her head. Yes? No? It was a pretty bad pun, but Yuuki's not exactly the punning sort. 
}}

3995/Set Sail for Adventure!

2016-04-09T05:46:11Z

MoreBeer: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2016/04/08 |Location=Alfheim Online <ALO> |Synopsis=Our adventurers learn more of the game when they run into pirates! The pirates learn the differ..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/04/08
|Location=Alfheim Online <ALO>
|Synopsis=Our adventurers learn more of the game when they run into pirates! The pirates learn the difference between stats and skill.
|Cast of Characters=1, 6, 42, 162, 215, 437, 631, 707, 874, 922, 960
|Tinyplot=CCO
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     While some people spent time shopping and hunting rumors in the local alehouses, the group needed even more time to prepare to be sea-worthy. And by the time everyone managed to do what they needed to, by the time people were able to get together again, some had other things they needed to do. It's a common enough problem in any online game... you can't just do everything all at once. Sometimes you have to wait for the next gaming session.     By now, those who want extra time training in VR can get it. Those who spent time learning ship-based skills have them, at least at beginner levels. Those who were buying something better than starter gear can have it, having been given doubloons by Auralia. Those who sought to explore the fight mechanics can have a better understanding there, too. It's similar to Alfheim Online in that player-based skill is the key, not just experience points and Sword Skills. There are fewer of those skills here as well, with a corresponding increase in CCO's own special brand of abilities: Swashbuckler Moves. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Auralia has been a patient teacher for those that wanted instruction on how to use the various Swashbuckler Skills. Showing how one can be used to quickly ascend the rigging, then linked into using a second to swing from a rope back down to the deck, while being ready to fight. She's also shown some of the Trick Shot Skills with her pistols, special 'Sword Skill'-like abilities that add a bit of dynamic to the ranged combat that games such as GGO don't go into due to realism factors.     She also goes into minor detail about Captain Commands. Special abilities that the Captain of a ship can use to 'Buff' the crew. Similar to Party Buff spells in ALO.     "As we stand now, I say we'd do well to get some experience at sea. Tide's comin' in, so we can set sail within th'hour." she looks around, "Unless ye have other things ye wish to do here first?" 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Eisen the Pirate was having a hell of a lot of fun with one the pirate outfit, and two speaking in a way no actual pirate likely actually spoke. She loved the long boots, teh shorts the banadas and it was honestly just fun to escape certain 'norms' for fashion playing this game. She Seeme dto be ready to go again and was more than happy to let someone else captain she'd been focusing on how do what she often does /tank/ becauyse theya re likely going to need it. "Nay Capt, I think that's a fine idea there." 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:''' Commander Kirito? Eh, maybe, but probably not. As before the Black Swordsman is dressed to kill. Black officer's outfit with black buttons, a sleek tricorne hat, black leather boots and black pants, cutlass sheathed at his side. There's no mistaking who this is! He's been spending some time with Zephyr, who knows the ropes already. Kirito's proven an adept learner. He's even appeared impressed with the idea of the Trick Shot Skills, but nothing's getting him to give up relying on a single sword.     He's not even sure who the Captain of any ship is going to be.     Everyone knows who it would be if it was the usual crew though, whether he likes it or not.     "Finally time for an adventure on the high seas now?" 

:'''{{#var:960|Kain (960)}} has posed:'''     Sporting a brand new outfit as he rejoined the group an hour later, Kain had a Rapier on one side and he opted to get a Flintlock as well just in case. He wasn't proficient in it, but surely he didn't need other skills at the moment... once he was back, he did do a quick check of his skills and moved things around a small bit. He removed Sprinting because being on a ship meant he wasn't traversing long enough for Sprint to matter much. But other than that, all the Skills he had were still useful. Now he had low skill in Flintlocks, but just using them would help.     Anyway, he didn't just get new weapons. He also acquired a set of armor akin to what he wore in SAO. But more attuned to CCO. At the very least, those who were in SAO would definitely recognize him much more easily.     His skills set, his armor and weapons sufficient enough for him, he looked at the others that were there now with a smile. "Well! Let's get on with our pirating adventures, shall we?" 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren has come to the world of Cannons and Cutlasses Online! His avatar is a blend of one of the rogueishly handsome default male faces with hints of his own features, most clearly his real eye color and brownish hair that's still a bit wilder and unkempt than he keeps it in real life. His clothes are a blend of fantasy and historic, as befitting the setting -- a dark-colored hat with a feather plume that seems to be somewhere between a cavalier hat and a tricorner hat, a realistic buff coat with a red sash around the waist and an an unrealistically-clean white cloak for warmth on the cold seas. Two shoulder belts cross over his chest, with pouches for holding things and sheathed pistol-daggers. Blue trousers bloused into high leather boots can be seen under the coat.     "Arr, mateys!" Staren strides up to the group. "So, um, what are we investigating here? Or is it just pleasure today?" He smiles and rubs the back of his head. "Can't say I wouldn't be up for just some fun! I haven't had as much time to study this game as I'd like, so I don't know about the sailing system and stuff..." 

:'''{{#var:922|Weiss Schnee (922)}} has posed:'''     While Weiss may not be willing to act the part, she's certainly gotten into the fashion around here - she's wearing a white shirt with a laced-up black leather vest over it, as well as a red 'combat skirt'. And of course, being the prim and proper princess she is, she's spent some time at the port's local tavern, trying to find some information on the alleged 'ghost ship'. What she hears is rather interesting - Unbeatable attacks? A crew that can only be defeated hand-to-hand? Always razing the victims' ship and leaving, without looting anything? Protecting something...?     Eventually, she decides she's learned all she needs to know, and heads back to rejoin Auralia and the group. She decided to stick with her starter weapons for now - she's good enough with a sword, and she'd prefer to earn her gear the fun way! Of course, she relays everything she discovered to the group before turning to the captain. "And that's all I found. Sounds like we've got our work cut out for us, hm?" She crosses her arms and grins. "Either way, I'm ready to go whenever you are." 

:'''{{#var:631|Reker (631)}} has posed:'''     As soon as he heard there was an MMO where he could be a pirate, Reker basically vanished from GGO. After all, now he can be a PIRATE. How freaking cool is that? Reker's based his pirate costume off of the totally historically accurate documentary Devils of the Caribbean.     He has decided to join with the rest of the group after finding out they were in game. He may have missed their initial adventures, but that's okay because he's here now, and he'll be able to assist them as best he can with his vast knowledge of piratey lore, "Oi, good to see you all!" He calls out in his best fake British accent that he can manage. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Rumors from the taverns abound, though there were none from anyone who actually claimed to have been there when the 'unbeatable' attacks happened. Probably significant, since this is the beginner zone. To find higher-end players, one must go further into the game's higher-end zones.     The rumors, for the tales lack anything substantial enough to be anything close to facts, suggest the following. An apparently unsinkable ship appears, attacks, and cripples a vessel. It then boards, and monsters attack the crew, killing everyone. The vessel is then sunk, all goods lost, nothing actually taken by the attackers. No one knows for sure why they board a ship if they're just going to sink it without taking anything, but rumors abound. The attackers can only be defeated hand to hand, some assume, and this is a sporting chance sort of thing. The monsters are protecting a particular region of sea, or perhaps protecting something beyond their own mysterious ship. The monsters... well, no one really seems to know much about them, partly because they always seem to attack surrounded by a dense fog.     Yuuki's present, recognizable in hair and face though she wears a piratey blouse and trousers rather than her usual ALO garb. She still wears a flaring skirt however, in the form of a buttcape. "We're here to have fun!" she insists with reckless cheer. "Also MAAAYBE we might find..." she pauses, looks around at the group significantly. Also a little guiltily. "I mean, we're looking for the cause of this mutated AI thingy. You know I have an interest in what might be behind that." she finishes. She's not at all good at hiding her intent however, so it should be remarkably easy for anyone to realize she's hiding something. 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:''' Silverbloom, still the musician, has been joining Kirito as he learned some things. She's dressed with a similar blue-green-turquoise color scheme, but in more of an islander style of dress with a sash. (Think Marin from Zelda: Link's Awakening.) "I hope so," she says as Kirito suggests an adventure. "I'm ready to get out there and explore!" 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Auralia looks across the group, adjusting her jacket before she grabs a rope and swings herself up onto the aftcastle, and the pilot's wheel. "Right then!" she chirps, before her voice resonates, much akin to the Aggro-boosting skills in ALO. "Hoist the Mainsail, make ready to leave port! Boatswain, weigh anchor!"     Snowflake gets a nod. "Aye, I've heard as much meself, tis only rumours an' hearsay, but once we get further to sea, an' closer to the area, we'll like as not find more solid information." her 'accent' is slipping a bit, probably because, fun as it is, talking like a pirate all the time is /hard/. "Everyone, set your skills for Sea, and head to where you're suited best. Gun skills to the gundeck, carpentry and crafting to the cargo hold, Rigging stay on deck and the best Spotting up in the Crows Nest."     She also makes sure everyone has a Crew Invite, and once everyone's accepted, speaks again. "So you all know, the Ship can take damage just like any of us. She's a part of the Party as much as we are." she gestures to the right side of her field of view, about opposite where the rest of the party names appear. "Her hull strength and 'systems' icons appear about here. If the Sails, Rudder, Hull or Cannon icon are flashing red, they need repairs. Flooding is a problem too, if a water droplet appears, find the leak and plug it, fast." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren listens to the explanation. "Hmm, that does sound interesting... well, I guess at least if we investigate it as newbies, we have less to lose. Suppose I'll practice my leathercrafting until you need a boarder... although, it might be nice to try my hand at the canons, too..." he heads below deck to explore the ship. 

:'''{{#var:960|Kain (960)}} has posed:'''     Kain accepts the Crew Invite, and his name does appear in the list as just 'Kain.' He looks to Auralia and nods. "Alright, then. Guess my skills are more based around combat and cooking. Unless anyone else has Cooking, which they'll likely have a higher skill than me." He grumps a small bit. "Either way, I don't really have any other ship-based skills useful here. I mean, I took the Pistol skill so I could use this." He taps the Flintlock at his side. "But other than that..." 

:'''{{#var:631|Reker (631)}} has posed:'''     Getting the Crew Invite, Reker's name pops up as the same name from GGO. He hops abord the ship with the others, "I'll have you know I have been practicing my sword combat and pistol combat. Hard to hit targets effectivelly with these, aye." He points at his leather vest, which has two pistols on it, and two more behind his back, "So you just cary more!" 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe has heard plenty of rumors as well herself she ot the gist of the rumor but she seemd ready to sale she looks to Yuuki for a moment nodding. "Found some old files about another VR game where the Ai went down right glitched and crazy things like unkillable monsters happened. Could be something like that with how the Cardinal system is, right?" She pauses looking t Yuuki for a moment and her eye narrow slightly at her friend just what is /she/ up to? She's got to wonder about this but she doesn't sya anyhting else as Eisen looks t STaren for a moment as she meanwhile remains on deck to get a good look at the digital sea. "Tell me if you find anything neat down below, Staren." She lookss over to Yuuki with a bit of a smile. "So another adventure but this time on the high seas, right?" 

:'''{{#var:922|Weiss Schnee (922)}} has posed:'''     Weiss raises an eyebrow at Yuuki as she clearly lets something slip. That's something worth making a mental note of... but not worth pursuing right now. Probably, she decides. She then pulls up her skillsheet, looking over her various stats and accepting the invite while she's at it. Most of them seem to be at their base level, as she -did- just join - save for her existing combat knowledge and the various skills she attained with her choice of class, the craftsman. "Aye aye, captain," she tries. The ensuing cringe does seem to be a bit smaller, at least. "I'll get to work on training my crafting skills, then. When I'm done, there won't be a finer ship afloat in this whole game, if I've got any say in it!" she calls behind her as she follows Staren down to the hold. 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:''' Silverbloom triumphantly pushes the accept button. "And now we're a crew," she says. "Are we going straight out to look for the ghost ship then, or are we going to get prepared first?" Preparing seemed like it would probably be the best thing...but the longer they waited, the more the ghost ship could cause trouble! Quite a dilemma. "I still have my music skill from Alfheim... This time I have a mandolin!" 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Like the others who transfered their characters and skills, Yuuki's name remains Yuuki. Maybe her next character will be Zekken, but she's not really all that inspired to make a host of alts. It'd still be awfully funny for Yuuki to be a master swashbuckler, while Zekken is a craftswoman or merchant.     "Adventure on the high seas!" Yuuki says, jumping up and pounding one fist into the air with a battle cry of "Yaarrrr!". It's quite different from that guilty look she cast at the rest of the crew a moment before. One that, in particular, seemed to be aimed at the non-Gatecrasher she dragged into all of this. She may not be historically accurate, and she's definitely not good at hiding her feelings, but Yuuki surely is enthusiastic.     She takes station on-deck, manning the rigging. Cannons and guns don't really appeal, but she's been keeping an eye on those swashbuckling skills. Being able to climb quickly and swing down is a fine option for 'ranged' combat in her books.     There are, of course, many options for characters to occupy their time. Practice stations exist for carpentry. There's a sailing minigame. Chanter-types can sing, and NPCs (and PCs too, possibly) will join in for the chorus if the singer sings something well-known. For those not all that interested in gaming activites there's the option to browse unlocked tales through your game menu and even full nautical-themed books once you've unlocked them. Some people, after all, only hang out for the combat and don't like spending long hours at sea doing nothing. Not that you typically have to sail for hours anyways. This is an action MMO, and travel times are remarkably short when there are no flagged ships in sight. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     The Windstar isn't a massive vessel... only about five decks, with one solitary deck seemingly put aside for the cannonade. Twelve guns, six a side. The cargo hold is at the bottom of the ship on the lowest deck, and is packed with trade goods purchased from the local vendors. Perserved food, semi-valuable items such as quality wood for ship building, crates of screws and other metal fixings, salted meat and fish, even a few scant bolts of cloth. It's not the /best/ haul, but there it is.     Something Staren may note, is that one 'deck' seems to be missing, there's a small 'landing' area between the main gundeck and the fourth deck, but it's all boxed off with solid looking wooden panels... what could be going on here?     The ship begins to move as the NPC Boatswain raises the anchor and the ship is let free, turning out of the port and into open water as the sails are set, and angled into the wind. "All Hands, At Ease." Commands Auralia, as she mans the pilot station. The NPCs shift their behavior patterns, going about the normal activities of a shipboard crew. The Boatswain salutes to Auralia. "All stations ready captain! We're away!" 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:''' "Sounds like an unmarked quest? Or some kind of event? ... or maybe a glitch... or something else entirely." Is Kirito's answer to all of the strange things going on. He's got a hand resting on the hilt of his cutlass though, as though itching to use it!     He probably is. The open ocean, digital or not, is pretty exciting.     So he drops onto the ship and draws the weapon, pointing dramatically at the horizon! "Away we go!" 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe looks over at Weiss who would get a very big grin from her. She seems very amused to seem very amused with something about her, right? She looks to them for a moment. "I look forward to see what you can do with that. I'm going to be set to tanking." She now just chills out, she's not transfered her account persay but seems to know what she's doing for the moment she's going to deal with singing and why not it's fun for abit othewise she's going to be working or rolling the bones. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren does notice the closed-off deck, and sends a message about it after confirming that sections of the above and below decks aren't double-floored -- <<What's with this closed-off area? If it's open for expansion, shouldn't it just be... empty?>> And then he finds... books! Staren should've invited Twilight. He flips through one, copying it for external reproduction. 

:'''{{#var:922|Weiss Schnee (922)}} has posed:'''     Weiss crosses her arms at Yuuki and raises an eyebrow, an amused smile on her face. "Maybe you'll get that out of me someday," she says with a chuckle as she heads to the lowest deck. Poking her head in each floor as she comes to it, she takes note of the blocked off level on her way down, but decides not to pry in other people's business once again. Her menu's open as she reaches the cargo hold, looking for somewhere to write down all these curiosities with the other players for later investigation. Swiping it away, she turns to Staren, then to the piles of supplies. "Hm. Didn't Yuuki say something about crafting minigames?" She looks to a nearby crafting station and interacts with it, perusing her options - so far, not many, due to her rather low skill. May as well practice, then! 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' Equipment and skill upgrades are always useful, and as a Brewmaster, Sunshower wanted to make sure she had some higher-quality equipment and ingredients to work with ... plus, y'know. Grinding her brewing skills in town, making simple drinks and potions for other newbs who didn't know what they were missing out on. What *isn't* useful (ever) is when RL keeps you from logging in to meet up with your crew, and while Sunshower wasn't entirely hiding her identity, she wasn't sharing it all THAT openly either. So the blonde Brewmaster ... .... missed the ship's casting off. Oops. Fortunately, whoever designed CCO was aware that sometimes RL just gets in the way, and a 'party-invite request' message comes to Auralia - or more specifically, a request to join the ship even though it's no longer in port. If the request is accepted, Sunshower will appear - still bent over, hands on her knees, chest heaving as she catches her breath. "Stupid ... freaking ... god ... ****ed ... foxes," she complains between gasps. Or maybe that was meant to EXplain rather than simply COMplain? 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:''' Another party-invite request arrives as well, and this one is for Iria as well. She quickly showed up alongside Sunshower, having been delayed by real life matters (involving you-know-who!) and feeling a bit on the frustrated side. But thanks to the magic of this game, Iria arrives not long after Sunshower does, only this time Iria's got her hand on her shoulder, but still gasping for air. "Fuji...kurow... I'll... make... you... pay!" She runs a hand through her hair before straightening up and looking at the others.     "Right, so here I am," Iria says, only to remember Sunshower and she shakes her head. "OK, here WE are. I'm ready if everyone else is." 

:'''{{#var:631|Reker (631)}} has posed:'''     For the time being Reker is having fun wandering around on deck, then he gets an idea. He hops up onto the railing and swings around onto the cargo net, hauling himself up the length of it towards the crow's nest.     There's most likely an NPC manning it for the time being, but Reker relieves him of duty for the time being and takes the spyglass, scanning the horizon for hostile hsips, "Hey guys, are we pirates or privateers? It makes ahuge difference!" 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki peers dubiously up from her 'sail' station at Xaiomu, mouthing the word 'foxes' curiously. She doesn't get to ask further however. Time abruptly seems to slow, which is bound to be an odd feeling for anyone not used to such things. It doesn't, not really, but it feels like it.     The game system, when a ship sets out to sail, gradually accelerates the ship so long as only friendly vessels are in sight. Everything feels normal since the ship itself is the true reference point. The virtual wind feels no faster and the sensation of speed is like that of being on an airplane. Past the initial acceleration, you hardly feel any motion at all.     That all changes, however, when a non-friendly ship closes in. The sensation is deliberately eerie, to ensure everyone notices. Nearby, a ship flying the jolly roger is visible. The pirate vessel, judging this merchanter's speed, decides it has a lot of cargo or a newbie crew, or both. They decide it's an easy kill, and turn to intercept.     For those who have the game soundtrack enabled - which plays only when someone's not actually singing shanties live - the soundtrack switches to a faster-paced adrenaline track.     Yuuki looks up and around, trying to figure out what's going on. "Er, I don't think we're pirates or privateers." she says. "But I think we might meet some soon! Where are they?" she calls out eagerly, bounding up and down to try to see better. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     "Merchanters." replies Auralia to Reker, levelly.     Staren's inquiery is pointedly not responded to, save for a simple. <You'll see, sooner or later.>     The two late arrivals are given the same explanaion as the others about the ship, the status showing up in their HUDs along with the rest of the 'Crew'. The other PCs are in the normal place for a Party, on the left. The Ship is on the right, with various icons underneath it.     That slowdown gets Auralia on edge, and she instinctively calls out. "ALL HANDS. BATTLESTATIONS! BATTEN DOWN THE HATCHES AND PREPARE FOR BOARDERS. BOATSWAIN, TIME TO SHOW OUR TEETH!"     To Staren, she sends a message. <Sooner than later, it seems.>     The NPCs shift patterns and quickly file into position, manning the guns and trimming the sails for combat maneuvering. The Boatswain and three other NPCs go below the gundeck... and quickly dismantle the boardings, revealing a full twenty extra cannon hidden within, primed and ready with shot. They knock open the outer panelling too, pushing the guns out into position. "This is a Q-ship. We have some... hidden extra teeth to fend off wouldbe raiders. It cuts into my cargo capacity and speed, but it's so satisfying to send a Pirate down to Davy Jones' Locker." The Captain says with a Cheshire-cat grin. 

:'''{{#var:631|Reker (631)}} has posed:''' "Hostile ship off the starboard bow!" Reker calls out from the crow's nest, pointing in the direction of the incoming ship.     "About eight hundred meters out, closing fast!" Boy what he would give for his sniper rifle right now. Too bad the best he could get is a musket that would barely be accurate out to 50 feet.     He hops off the crow's nest and grabs hold of a rope, sliding down the length of it rope to the deck, "They'll be on us fast. I'd say maybe two minutes at their speed." 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' Sunshower straightens up, blinking a few times, as Auralia calls for battlestations. "And what do those scurvilious scallawags think *we've* got that's worth their trouble? Plunder? More like *blunder*; my best brew's barely aged ..." And on that note, the Brewmaster flicks open her inventory window, followed by slamming a large barrel down in front of the mast. It's a supply of healing grog, albeit very low-grade - maybe healing dozens of HP per tick rather than hundreds. Could still be useful, though. "In case of emergencies!" Sunshower calls out by way of explanation, rolling her shoulders and making sure she's got easy access to her supply of knives. "Where d'ye need me, Cap'n?" 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:''' Iria scowls a little, but then goes for her sword and makes sure it's still sharp and shiny. "Well, looks like we've got us some intruders!" She says, not exactly up with the pirate talk yet. "I'll take 'em out! Just tell me where I need to go!" She grins a little. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Pirates! Staren rushes to a porthole, then abovedecks, where he tries to fly for a better view. After a second he realizes he can't. He follows Zephyr's explanation, but asks, "Well, why do you even need to hide it from your /crew/?" still, he rushes to man one of the cannons, looking for an opportunity to target and fire!     "They might not think anything," he comments to Xiaomu, "if they're just NPC pirates." 

:'''{{#var:922|Weiss Schnee (922)}} has posed:'''     Weiss passes the time trying to perfect the crafting minigame - it turns out that she's not half bad at it. She manages to make some decent progress on upping her related skills before she notices the change in atmosphere. "Well, that can't be good," she notes to herself, backing out of the minigame's menu. Ascending back up the stairs, she's surprised to see the new deck, armed to the brim with cannons! "Oh, this should be fun." She gets behind one and peeks out at the pirate ship in question, then realizes that she has no idea how hard it can be to operate a cannon. She doesn't worry about that, though - again, how hard can it be? 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     "So uh... they want to board us, right?" Yuuki asks. It's a reasonable question. The whole point of piracy is to steal the cargo, which they can't do while distant. If they sink the ship, they don't get very much cargo. If the ship runs away, they get even less. A pirate ship uses cannons against warships and against targets, in both cases more to slow them down than anything else. Most fights devolve to a boarding action.     "Um... captain?" Yuuki says tentatively. "Do we have any skilled gunners? Because we've actually got some really skilled close-range fighters. We might want to LET them catch us. Or ram them or something!" she suggests. "I'll take on a dozen fighters any day, but I don't think I'll be parrying cannonballs!"     In the meantime, the pirates begin firing their own cannons on the Windstar. Shots come in high; paired cannonballs with links of chain connecting them, aiming to tear great swathes through sails and rigging. "HEY!" Yuuki protests as her sail station begins taking damage. "Are they allowed to do that?!" she demands, scowling. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Auralia is already turning broadside onto the approaching pirate. "Boatswain, Gunners Mates, load grapple shot." she calls as the Chain-shot comes spinning in, shredding sails. "It's how they slow their prey down. Ready for boarders... if they want a fight they'll get one." she replies. The guns on the primary deck, the smaller number, fire their shots. They're linked to heavy chains and have a barbed hook-like spear instead of a cannonball. The pirates weren't expecting /that/ from a Merchanter, and as the chains are pulled tight and the pirate dragged in closer... well, they're kinda shitting bricks... this is more than they bargained for. "We'll get a good bounty for bringing this crew down."     The Windstar is a sturdy ship, and the NPCs stick to their cannons, firing shot into the hull of the pirate ship, trying to break some of their 'stations', or cause flooding.     "ALL HANDS. PREPARE FOR BOARDING ACTION!" she shouts, then, once the ships are deadlocked together, leaps down from the aft castle, and swings on over to the Pirate ship, drawing her little hand-axe-punch-blade left handed. 

:'''{{#var:631|Reker (631)}} has posed:''' "I'm one of the best gunners you've ever seen." Reker says to Yuuki, though as the cannons go off from the enemy ship, "Everybody hit the deck!" He yells out. Chain shot, trying to stop them in their tracks and keep them from escaping. These guys are expecting them to run.     Firing grapple lines to assault them first catches Reker off guard, but hey he's not going to complain about taking the fight to them. He runs up to one of the grapple lines, and takes hold, swinging across full speed. 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:''' Since Kirito's been paying most of his attention to the open ocean... he's quick to spot the ship on the horizon not long before the soundtrack changes. "Hoooh." His blood BOILS with anticipation. A fight's coming. And he's itching to see just what this is like in CCO!     The ring of scraping steel accompanies the cannons being whipped out... a feat that has Kirito GRINNING. "That's so neat that it's almost cheating."     Yet he stands on deck, eyes on the closing ship with his cutlass drawn and a daring look on his face that says to those coming...     'Yeah, just try and board us.' 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' Too bad that healing grog doesn't do anything for the ship's structural integrity, but hey, Brewmasters can't help with everything. Sunshower specifically doesn't know enough to help man the cannons, but the NPCs seem to have that covered well enough. Sunshower does spare a glance at Yuuki. "All's fair in love an' war, lass, an' pirates don't care even for those loose rules!" she calls out, then grins as Auralia's leadership sets the tables to turning. "AVAST AND ALACK, YOUR FATES LIE DEEP BELOW!!" she shouts by way of a battlecry, and rather than trying to swing across by a rope, she actually charges straight across, throwing a knife or two ahead of her - and then JUMPS from Auralia's ship to the pirates' deck, followed by grabbing for one of the pirates she just put a knife into. Her first priority is to get her knife back; they're technically replaceable but they're not free. The next thing she attempts is to simply chuck the unfortunate ne'er-do-well straight over the railing and into the drink. 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:''' Silverbloom's been plucking away at her mandolin, but sits up and takes notice when the enemies near. "Uh-oh," she says. "Here they come." She missed being able to use her Puca magic, which would have allowed her to do more support from behind. Here, though, while her music might have provided a bit of a boost, it seemed likely she'd have to join in the fight against the enemy boarding party. She drew her saber and pistol, ready for action. Somewhere within her, a long-suppressed memory started to bubble to the surface... 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:''' Iria's a bit of an acrobat here, so she is able to leap from her ship to the pirates' ship. "Arrr," She yells, now imitating a pirate dialect. "Ya be pickin' the wrong ones to mess with! I'll make ya walk the plank and feed ya to the sharks!" She attempts to go after the nearest pirate with her rapier, attempting to make her point known. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe nods to Yuuki for a moment and nods for a moment as she turns back to her gabling until well? They have company from the looks of it. She'll get to one of the cnaons and she'll start to load and fire. She's had the sense to train the skill and not be using the weapon without such for the moment. She hefts the balls in, prims and then fire the massive weapon. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren's manning one of the cannons, so he participates with and directs the gunner NPCs, trying to disable the pirate ship without sinking it. As the call comes to prepare for boarding though, he drops what he's doing and runs above deck with a smile on his face, quickly copying what the others are doing, climbing up to grapple lines and swinging across! "Yo ho, me scurvy dogs! Yer treasure be our plunder!" Since his chosen weapon is pistol-daggers, he has more versatility -- for the moment, he plays more cautiously while he gets the hang of things, using them as daggers and holding the pistol shots in reserve in case it looks like he's going to be overwhelmed. 

:'''{{#var:922|Weiss Schnee (922)}} has posed:'''     Weiss gazes down the cannon's barrel, then leaves her post and sprints up to the top deck. It's best that she leaves this one to the NPCs. Drawing her rapier, she gives a huge grin and brandishes the sword as she emerges from the ship's depths. "Pirate filet, coming right up!" she shouts as she charges towards the edge of the ship. She almost forgets that she doesn't have access to her Semblance here, and it almost sends her overboard - but she manages to grab a rope before she goes too far and swings aboard the aggressor, challenging the nearest enemy she sees. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     All the damage done to the pirate vessel helps. Cannonballs fired by PCs disrupt the pirate ability to fight, knocking crew around and keeping them from turning away. Chain shot makes it difficult to maneuver. Grapple shot, little different from ballistae that would have been used over a thousand years ago, turns the attacking ship into a little puling victim. The Windstar's little bitch, in fact.     The rope swing is probably the best CCO skill ever, Yuuki figures, as she grabs hold of a boarding rope and the system takes over. "Wheeeee!" she squeals out, releasing the rope and drawing her blade as she plummets to the enemy deck. "I mean YAAAARRR! Get 'em, me hearties!"     The enemy fighters are, no surprise, not that great as opponents. They're well-geared and can fight with some degree of smarts, but they're absolutely no match for the sheer butchery that can be put out by fighters of the caliber of the Windstar's crew. The main crew though, the PCs, that's another matter entirely. The pirate crew have deadly rapiers, cutlasses, boarding hooks and similar weapons. The PCs know how to use them, and are quite a lot better-geared than the crew of the Windstar. They can afford to take hits from the relatively weak weapons of our heroes, and their own weapons would deal out terrible wounds at this level. So our heroes will have to make up for that liability with considerable skill, and with hitting their targets many times for each attack they take in turn.     Yuuki herself could put on a clinic in this regard. She doesn't attack once and then wait to defend. Her method is to cut rapidly, to be elsewhere when the enemy swing comes near, and to keep on slicing while she moves faster than a mongoose.     Auralia, Reker, Iria, Sunshower, Staren and Snowflake will find opponents. Several opponents in fact. NPCs from the Windstar don't advance over the boarding lines like the PCs do, so for now they're going to be swarmed, three to five opponents trying to get at them each. Silverbloom, standing back a ways, will only have two opponents charging for her. Those back on the Windstar have no direct opponents and can fire freely.     Yuuki's clearly enjoying things, diving through enemy lines without waiting for them to come to her. At one point, rather than sword a PC, she bounds clear over him and kicks him in the back, thrusting him towards Auralia with a gleeful cry of "Switch!" She hasn't downed any of her opponents yet, but she's left a series of pixellated red lines across a swath of them. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Auralia is dancing amongst the NPC crew, turning aside and avoiding their weapons, much like Yuuki is. Her own gear is better than the other PCs on her own ship, but she's still a couple tiers down from the PC crew of the Pirates. As one of the NPCs lunges at her with a boarding hook, she pirouettes aside, drawing a pistol from her bandolier, and shoots him right in the back of the head at point blank, causing him to shatter into green and blue pixels. "Invictus Maneo."     Then Yuuki's kicking someone her way with that familiar shout. "Heh, knew she'd be the first." she murmurs to herself, then gathers herself down into a Sword Skill stance.     With an 'Azai Slash' to start, she hacks across the guy's chest, stepping forwards as he's knocked back from the force, into a second diagonal slash. A spin around and a horizontal slash, another spin into a raising upward slash before a hop and a downward hack.     For good measure, she fires her flintlock /again/ at point blank, the system having taken over and 'automagically' reloaded the 'single shot' weapon.     The NPC crew still aboard the Windstar reload the cannons, but hold fire now their boarding party is on the target. They're ready to reopen engagement should the boarding party evacuate, or die though. 

:'''{{#var:631|Reker (631)}} has posed:'''     Reker, he's not really a sword fighter. He's gotten some practice in ALO, and in this game, but he's a gunfighter, plain and simple. He's going to save his guns for the PCs. He doesn't wield a normal sword, no. He wields a weapon he's much more comfortable with, a machette. He drives the blade down into the skull of the first NPC he comes across, scanning for any players. They tend to stand out more than the NPCs do.     Reker slams the machette down onto the NPC a few more times until he's sure the target is dead, and then quickly rushes towards one of the PCs, "Hey!" He yells out at the player, as he pulls one of the pistols from his chest rig and fires a shot at his opponent, before moving in to try to strike with the blade 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' One dagger retrieved, and one pirate bleeding into the ocean; Sunshower's comfortably certain that was an NPC. More importantly, that dagger is in her hand when her other starting victim comes at her with his cutlass; she's able to block the descending blade, but the differences in weapon weight and wielder strength work against her. What makes up the difference is skill: a combination of real-world battle experience and knowing her way around a broad range of games. So she's able to leverage the cutlass aside, effectively getting herself out from under it; she follows up with a series of slashes, about half of which are from the OTHER dagger she opened the fight by throwing. The pirate NPC's HP aren't dropping fast enough, but going for a few critical strikes - slashing at his throat, for instance - help on that front. Now if only she could make sure the pirates' HP drop faster than her *own* health bar. Sunshower may need to retreat to the Windstar's deck and make use of her own healing grog at this rate, because while she's focusing on one enemy, she's getting ganged up on by the pirate crew and she can't fend off ALL of them at once ... at least, not without gear closer to her real-world loadout. 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:''' Iria's sword fighting tactics from real life help out a lot here. She is able to parry at least one enemy's attack easily and then finish them off with a swift stab. Unfortunately, this leaves her vulnerable for another enemy comes at her, but she comes around just in time to counterattack. The attack is blocked, but it keeps Iria focused as she spins to the side and attempts to continue her fencing duel with her opponent. "Yarr, ye be swimmin' with the fishies today!" She says before using a feint to kick the NPC in the stomach and then drive the blade through the body of her opponent. At the same time, she tries to help out Sunshower by attempting to lure the attention of some of the other NPCs towards her. It may not work, but it's worth a try! 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren notices the names over the first opponent he runs into that fights intelligently and doesn't drop quickly. "Oh, you're PCs?? Sorry about this... But we can't really back out now, can we? Show me what you got!" and then he stops talking to focus on the fight. His knife-fighting skill rating is quite high, and he's had a lot of practice in ALO, allowing him to easily use one blade to parry his opponent's cutlass while striking with the other. What he's /not/ ready for is guns. A pistol's drawn on him and he tries to use his wings for a speedboost as he twists out of the way, but it's not fast enough, and his armor's no good against guns. There goes a chunk of his HP! "Nngh!" And then he's swarmed by NPCs as the PC reloads and laughs!     BLA-BLAM! Staren uses the guns now, shooting and stabbing two of the NPCs and dropping them, then leaping up to stab the shocked PC in the arm and shoulder where he's less armored. The PC's expression of shock is priceless, but he's not incompetent, and bashes Staren with the hilt hard to knock him away.     The catboy-turned pirate stumbles to the side, then narrowly dodges a followup thrust from the cutlass. The PC advances, making Staren back up towards the side as he tries to parry the PC's attacks while dodging and stabbing the NPCs intermittently. It's not looking good...     But Staren is an experienced fighter up against NPCs and some gamer. He body checks an NPC and sends them reeling with one of his daggers in their chest as their saber strikes his coat for mere chip damage, then as the PC and remaining NPC lunge for him... he hops back, grabs the NPC while stabbing them, and pulls them in front of the PC, letting the NPC take the PC's lunging stab. He grabs the surprised PC's wrist and squeezes as he bites their hand, causing them to release their weapon in shock and pain. He sends them stumbling back with an elbow strike, then pulls their cutlass out of their dying NPC and RUNS THEM THROUGH with it. "HYAAAAAH!"     Their stunned expression as they break into polygons would be priceless, but Staren's not really paying attention. He swings the now-free cutlass to riposte and stab the last NPC just as it charges him again, then grabs the dagger still in their chest and twists it.     The NPC disappears into polygons as Staren takes his dagger back and retrieves his other one from the deck, looking around for any allies that need help. 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:''' Silverbloom might look innocent, but that just serves to lure the opponents in as she proceeds to fight them off capably, even taking a shot at one who's aiming for one of the other crew members. "That was a close one!" she says... before suddenly being jumped by one of the smarter opponents. "W-whoa! Too close!" Suddenly she's in the middle of a sword fight, flailing about for a bit before finding a rhythm. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe is doing her best to keep the fire going but these are no modern weapon systems, they can't fire as fast as modern naval canons, still they are doing pretty good. She's done what she can to do a lot of damage. She watches Yuuki use the roope to get over and with them no longer firing off the canons? It's time for he r to get in on it. She gets on a rope and slwings on over yelling as she does so and she'll land on the othe ships's deck and she'll be getting into the fight as soon as she can. "AVAST! Your end comes at the hands of the Cirmson Lily!" 

:'''{{#var:922|Weiss Schnee (922)}} has posed:'''     Finally, some bloodshed! Weiss has been waiting for this moment since she began playing - so now she stands on the deck of the enemy ship, dueling NPCs left and right. She lunges towards one of them, faking the pirate out at the last moment by sliding under his legs to slice at his ankles, followed by spearing him right through the chest. Another comes right behind the first - and she goes down just as easily, too, crumpling under a sword hilt and a flintlock to the face. "Level up!" she shouts, not really caring if she actually got any stronger by defeating the nameless mooks.     Spinning around immediately, she finds herself staring down an enemy PC. Waggling her eyebrows tauntingly, she takes the first strike, her outstanding fighting skill more than compensating for the level gap. The two lock swords Star Wars-style, a determined grin on the princess' face, before Weiss feints to the side and takes a swipe at the opponent's side. He stumbles and grabs at the wound, but he isn't going down yet, pulling a pistol on Weiss! He fires before she can react, and she takes the hit right in the arm. Letting out an involuntary yelp, it only serves to spur her onwards, stringing together rapid flurries of stabs followed by a dodge to the side through the opposing player's guard and the occasional shot from her flintlocks to keep things interesting. One hit throws him off guard - time for a little showboating. She throws her rapier up in the air and draws both her pistols, ending the PC with two simultaneous shots to the head. "You may be fast, but you still excel at wasting time," she quips as she sheathes the pistols and catches the falling sword gracefully. 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:''' Although he's definitely under-geared, Kirito's transferred his character from Alfheim Online for this endeavor, inheriting all of the insane Skill ratings that have carried him through SO much in the Multiverse.     UNFORTUNATELY he's not had much time to familiarize himself with CCO's combat style, or even most of its features and conventions, so he's operating at a severe handicap.     The NPCs pose little challenge to him! He ducks, weaves, parries and counters attacks pretty casually. The ring of steel against steel doesn't just echo as he advances through the waves, it's a BARRAGE OF noise. NPC crew members... well, if they use ALO's logic, there's going to be LOTS of NPCs bursting into pixels in the Black Swordsman's wake.     Which leaves him whirling around to face the PCs. He twirls the cutlass about in his hands, rests it over his shoulders... and offers the more insanely confident grin he can.     So much Swordsman's Spirit burns in him, deeper than anything one would expect from a simple player, that any decent warrior might feel a CHILL from that gaze, friendly and confident as it is.     "So... it's just you left!"     The GUNS are the problems, but believe it or not, when someone raises a pistol he raises the cutlass MIDCHARGE and angles it JUST SO. The bullet spangs off the blade - in reality, it would break a sword, but in this case the sword just loses durability! - and Kirito uses the opportunity to activate a Swashbackler Skill and execute a barrage of slashes! 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Some fighters find it easy to deal with the NPCs despite gear differences, some have more trouble. It depends perhaps more on familiarity than on differences in ability, and on whether a given fighter values speed, power, or a mix of both. With Kirito and Tomoe joining the fray, the battle should become little more than a formality. The pirate crew of some 20 NPCs are already more or less fully engaged, and PCs are accounted for by Staren, Kirito, Snowflake, and the combo of Yuuki and Auralia.     Yuuki continues cutting a swath through opponents, not particularly finishing any of them off but striking them freely and drawing aggro so her friends can get breathers or strike a NPC who's turning away.     There are fifteen NPCs remaining. The PCs are accounted for, and several of the NPCs are badly injured by the combined newbie elites. The fight won't end until they're fully defeated. Once they are though, a decision needs to be made. Loot the pirate ship (and then release it), or sink it without looting. The former pays a small bounty and offers up some potential loot, but falls under the rules of a surrendered opponent - they get to sail away. The latter pays a larger bounty, but almost nothing will be retrieved from the ship. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     As her opponent falls, Auralia looks to Yuuki, then at the others all fending off their own opponents... Unmolested for the moment, the Captain opens her menu and starts rifling through her inventory... good she did renew her Letter of Marque. She grins, then jumps back into the battle, hacking at the backs of NPCs and PCs alike, trying to draw aggro off of the weaker fighters, or just outright murdersandwich them.     As the last one falls, she puts her axe away and declares. "Loot and Release." as a hanging banner appears in the air over the pirate vessel. It tallys up the XP and Dubloons earned, and lists out acquired materiel and items. A few good cutlasses and flintlocks from the PCs, and a new Brewmeister Vat! Probably something they got from a previous mark that couldn't fend them off. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' With thanks to her allies, Sunshower finds her stride in the fight, helping to subdue the pirates; it's pretty clear that she isn't geared for a close-combat stand-up fight, which is something she'll have to work on. But hey, it counts as character development, story growth instead of just stat growth, so it's all good. "Loot and release sounds good to me too," she chimes in - especially when she sees that vat. She can *USE* that. ... are her eyes actually sparkling? 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:''' Iria smiles at the others and nods. "Pretty good if I say so myself," She says, ditching the pirate accent. She lets the others go first before having a turn at the loot. It's just a game, after all, and it's about working together as a team. 

:'''{{#var:922|Weiss Schnee (922)}} has posed:'''     Weiss sheathes her rapier, satisfied with her work as the body of the probably-pretty-salty player fades away into polygons, and looks up at the banner. "Huh. Loot." She checks her skillsheet again - she's sure to have gone up a few levels at this point, right? "If there's a sweet rapier or crafting stuff in there, I so call dibs," she proclaims. 

:'''{{#var:631|Reker (631)}} has posed:''' "Hey I need a better gun or four, if we can find any in all their stuff." Reker says, as he begins to do the usual MMO thing of picking through the still fresh corpses of those they had just hobo murdered. It was an age old tradition, after all. Admittedly there weren't actually corpses left, just pixels, but the idea was the same. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki sheathes her cutlass. She doesn't mind the sword, but she'd prefer a nice straight-blade instead. She's used rapiers for a while now, and katanas before that. The cutlass is a fine defensive weapon but... well, she has other options she'd prefer.     "Loot and release? Huh!" she grins. "I guess that makes sense. Got to be fair to other players right? If everyone went around sinking all the ships all the time, players wouldn't want to take risks and stuff." she grins. She's not always up on the specifics of a game, about the crafting systems and damage ratings and stuff, but she's been doing MMOs for a while now and is pretty perceptive about people considering her young age. "Now, if they were scum who jumped our claim, I'd say SINK THEM! But hey, better luck next time boys!" she says, apparently to the ghosts of the PCs. "Better luck choosing targets that is!" she grins happily with only the slightest hint of smugness. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren quickly helps clean up the last few NPCs. When the PVP system is explained to him, he casts his vote. "These guys had better gear than us. We might not have won if not for our overwhelming skill transferred from other games. I vote we take their stuff -- We're just going to need to buy better gear anyway, so if this system is at all balanced, we'll get more total value of stuff if we take some of what they already have. Otherwise there'd be no point in offering the choice, right?"     At Yuuki's comments he turns and waves to the player ghosts. "So, how do we do this?" 

:'''{{#var:631|Reker (631)}} has posed:''' "There's no way they would have hesitated to take all of our stuff if they'd been given the chance," Reker notes, "I know these types of players. We're better off taking their shit to try to teach them a lesson." He has run into many players like them in GGO who would rather prey on newbies than actually git gud. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe is just going wild now with her cutlass and pistol, she fires a few shotsk but well those weapons were slow to reload after all. SO she doesn't bother after she puts one to us. She's getting into it spamming her taunts and generally keeping the NPCs tied up as she laughs. THough soon the fight is over as she mops up the last NPCs she looks to Yuuki calling out. "Loot and Release, no need to sink the ship now is there?" Sides doing that might cause a grudge which would issues later. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki grins. "We don't get to take all their stuff, and they don't get to take all ours if they win either." she says. She knows all this from other games. "Of course they would've looted us if they won. That's part of playing the game! If we really want to hurt them, we choose to sink them for the bounty." she explains. That seems likely enough to her. "Cost them the ship, rather than some of their spare inventory. If you really want to punish them, do it. But this is a PVP game. They're playing the game, not being jerks. I want some nice loot, don't you? And maybe I also want to make a run on some islands or something later for some PVE too!" she smiles. She also nods at Staren. "We can buy stuff but I always find it more fun to loot stuff, don't you?" 

:'''{{#var:922|Weiss Schnee (922)}} has posed:'''     Weiss leafs through the available loot and finds something shiny and to her liking. "As much as I wanted to, how do you say... send them to Davy Jones' locker for messing with us? It's probably more benefical to loot their gear. Yuuki has a point," she confirms. "Plundering is far more fun than shopping - though I am going to need to head back to port for some things." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren turns back to Yuuki. "That's what I'm sayin'. We'll probably get more bang for our buck by taking the loot option here, since if we took the money we'd have to spend it on gear anyway." He runs his hand through his hair, knocking his hat off, and squats down to pick it up. "Besides... as you say, they were just playin' the game. No reason not to be nice to them. Not like lives are at stake here." He puts his hat back on. 
}}

3979/Cutlasses 'n Cannons Online

2016-04-04T03:58:34Z

MoreBeer: CCO cast meet, get piratey, and gear up for adventure on the high seas!

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/04/03
|Location=Alfheim Online <ALO>
|Synopsis=A group of VR players enter a new MMO to track down some interesting rumors.
|Cast of Characters=1, 6, 162, 215, 437, 707, 874, 922, 960
|Tinyplot=CCO
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Weird happenings and changing AI patterns. That's what Yuuki had been told to watch for. Ironically enough, she's one of the Gatecrashers who have never met Kayaba Akihiko, the creator of Sword Art Online. She knows little about what he's done beyond the basics, and has only other people's word on how he'd apparently died and been uploaded into the system as a living AI. Even more ironically, she's the only one with a personal stake in hunting this person down. Medicine has saved her, but it can't give her life. It would take something like Kayaba Akihiko's techniques to allow Yuuki to freely live on her own terms.     She's not really sure how rogue AIs are a sign of Akihiko. She supposes in his current state, he probably has GM powers over all Seed-based VRMMOs. He's also known for meddling, for making the games more realistic and interesting. Good enough reason to check out this MMO, she supposes. Besides, who doesn't like playing as pirates? She'd presented the AI angle to the Gatecrashers, suggesting they come check it out. She mentioned the game to her non-Gatecrasher friends too, perhaps even mentioning the weird AI thing that's worth investigating, though she still hasn't told non-Gatecrashers about her life-threatening illness. They'll probably figure SOMETHING out once they realize Yuuki's actually a VR avatar, once they have CCO characters to compare her to... but that's all right.     Entering CCO is easy for those with access to Amuspheres or similar devices, which of course the Gatecrashers already have. Not difficult for others either, for that matter. Once the player link-starts they're confronted by the character creation screen. CCO has no races or classes, not as such. It offers complete newbies a skill package, giving them base levels of skills for certain playstyles: merchant, brewmaster, craftsman, rifleman, swashbuckler, townie, and perhaps a few others. For people who enter from other VR worlds, the option to clone their character exists. Physical and utility Skills will convert over; gear and money and magic will not.     For all characters however, there is a character customization screen. You can do most any look that's at all reasonably period. Yuuki herself has opted for a buccaneer's outfit, somewhat threadbare as befits newbie gear, giving her blouse and trousers, a curved sword, an eyepatch and a flaring buttcape. Her appearance is otherwise fairly similar to Zekken, and still recognizable as such right down to the long violet hair.     The newbie arrival zone is a huge portside city, one that's safe from PVP. Think 17th or 18th century Carribean. Sea, sand, lots of wooden construction, lots of people of various stripes and colors. And ships, of course. The start zone, up on a hill, has a good view of the sea and a fairly large legion of ships both docked to the port and sailing the seas. The sun is bright, the air warm and humid, the air cool and smelling of salt and faintly of fish. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr has been playing this game for about a month already, swapping between it and ALO, but keeping her involvement secret from the Gatecrashers. Having said that, she /did/ hear about the group coming over to investigate the weird goings on, and so she weighed anchor and set sail from her homeport a few islands over, to the starting island, bringing her ship into the dock and getting the NPC crew to moor up and wait for their arrival.     Her avatar is a fairly tall, auburn-haired woman in a white blouse, brown vest top and a loose skirt that billows in the wind. Stockings and knee-high boots. (Something like this. http://www.anycostume.co.uk/image/cache/data/ebay/pirate0wench-500x500.jpg )     At her hip sits a hatchet, the blade long and curved wickedly, the haft short, so the weapon is more akin to a punch-blade than a true axe, while a brace of pistols sit on a bandolier around her torso. Auralia is her handle-tag, and she's classified as a Merchanter, 'openly hiring', as her NPC crew unload cargo and make the ship ready for sea again. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe has come and used Eisen as a base for her avatar here, though she's mised it up she's wearing shorts high high boots, a bandana, which her long red hair is tied up at the base, said bandan has a skull and crossbone on it. Her sword arm has the long flowery tattoos she's known to sport in SAO and on the other is a beleeding rose an the rose form the shape of a skull. She's gone pretty full on anime for her. She's got a fairly nice cutlass and a pair of pistols storefd in her belt for the moment. "Yar and aast yet swaps let say all the things no true pirate said YARR!" She's certainly having fun already. 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:''' Another game to play, meaning more entertainment for Iria when she's not hunting bounties or working for the Union. She, too, had been trying out CCO, since it looked like fun. And she, too, had been getting in on the whole pirate attire thing. Wearing a simple white top along with a brown vest, with blue trousers and brown boots, Iria has her cutlass and a pistol both holstered but ready to be used at any time. Her hairstyle very closely resembles her real life one, just without the hair ornaments. Without a bandana or anything like that, her hair blows freely in the wind when it blows.     "Just glad Fujikuro's not here," Iria says to no one in particular. "He'd be mocking me about talking like a pirate and making me walk the plank." She squeezes one eye shut and goes, "YARR! I'll shove ya overboard, ya scallywag!" Before returning to her normal facial expression. "If I gotta do that, I'll do it, but right now I ain't interested." She takes out her pistol and twirls it briefly before smirking. "So it's time to have a little fun!" 

:'''{{#var:960|Kain (960)}} has posed:'''     A new adventure... a new location... a new... world. Such as it is. Even though it was built by Kayaba-dono, it's certainly something new and exciting. Because come on! What kid didn't want to be a pirate? The only issue... now he had a choice. Did he want to start over with new skills... or did he want to keep his? Blegh. He'd decided on keeping his skills.     Now... for configuration of looks. He sighed as he started, starting to go for what his ALO character looks... but he stopped. This wasn't his ALO character wanting to be a pirate... this was HIM wanting to be a pirate... he looked in the configuration options for a way to do what happened in SAO... using his old Nervegear because poor and no money to buy the new Amusphere... not finding it, he just sighed and built HIMSELF as best he could approximate.     What came out was rather very well done and looked quite like himself as he was now. Which... wasn't too different from how he looked in SAO anyway. Maybe more would recognize him here! Maybe Sasha was here... she didn't die in SAO... so maybe... just maybe... either way, once he was finished, he finally set himself into the game's server! Launching was quick and easy, of course. All the Cardinal games were easy to load into because all of them shared the same basic image cache. But he loaded in, and was quick to look around where he started to see what was up, as well as see his starting gear... very minimal. But at least he had a blade. It was a little thicker than a Rapier, but he did start with a Longsword anyway in SAO. He had SOME skill with it. He was then quick to look around him to see if there were anyone he'd recognize at all...     Sadly, noone he knew. There was a few others here logging in at the same time... can only assume they were with the Gatecrashers. So it was at least safe to speak with them. He went up to the first person he saw, which just happened to be the boisterous one acting like a non-pirate right off the bat. "Yarr, matey! We but be humble pirates in search of booty!" He made a gesture as if to smack the lady upon the ass, but stops himself, combing his hand through his short silver hair as a fakeout. 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:''' As much as Kirito loves his VRMMOs, a world of pirates and ships and cutlasses and guns is... not exactly his style. Thankfully it's MORE his style than Gun Gale Online is, and with Yuuki of all people requesting he check it out...     Well, he's a lot more willing to port over. After dumping all of his gear and money off with Agil, saving his appearance to the AmuSphere's flash memory, and getting the client installed... he connects with his SAO account. Makes some clothing choices...     When he joins the group, it's pretty obvious who he is. Kirito's appearance... hasn't really changed. But... he HAS acquired a billowy black admiral's coat with golden lining and buttons, worn over a black undercoat. Black pants... and one of those black triangular hats of the period for good measure. A naval cutlass is sheathed at his side, rather than over his back.     "You sure found a weird one, Yuuki!" Kirito exclaims to Zekken, who he has no trouble at all recognizing.     And of course, Tomoe in full pirate regalia has him boggling at her for just a moment.     "Well, we're all dressed up for the occasion! ... but now what?"     A bit of fumbling with gestures and Kirito brings up his menu again, thumbing through options while waiting for the rest of the group to assemble...     He's got a critical eye on whatever he's seeing in it. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' To clone or not to clone? Either option would have its benefits; Xiaomu is sort of tempted to clone her ALO avatar, and Kanokon would at least be readily recognizable to her friends from ALO (and GGO). But there's still something to be said for a fresh start ... So Sunshower the Brewmaster has been created, a weathered young woman who looks like she'd crumple under the weight of a keg of grog, but her wiry, willowy figure belies the strength (or more accurately, the skill) with which she can toss rowdies and drunkards about. A red sash about her waist supports several sheathed daggers, billowing purple pantaloons gathered at her ankles, and a black sleeveless top covers the essentials while leaving her belly visible; a gray leather vest hanging about her shoulders provides a vague semblance of protection, against the elements - or possibly against people's weapons. (The vest could also hide a brace of flintlocks, if it came to that ... but, her daggers look like they could be serviceably thrown, not merely used up close and personal. Sunshower is making her way along the boardwalk again, circling back around to the meeting place; her virtual coin purse is considerably lighter than it was when she finished chargen, but if she's going to play a Brewmaster, she really SHOULD have the skills and supplies befitting the part, right? 

:'''{{#var:922|Weiss Schnee (922)}} has posed:'''     Even heiress huntresses need a break from fighting monsters out to destroy all of civilization, right? At least, that's what Yuuki has managed to convince her of. That's why Weiss, naming her avatar Snowflake, is here fighting... other people! Yay! She's opted to keep her own face, white hair, and huge, irregular ponytail as well as she could, though the rest of her outfit is more appropriate for the setting. She wears a white top with a black vest over it, laced up in the front. Underneath that is a red skirt with some black stripes here and there for good measure. Hanging at her side is a holstered rapier, and two small flintlock pistols are holstered on either side of her chest. "Yarr, mateys," she says half-heartedly as she tries to find what looks like Yuuki's avatar. "...I am not saying that again." 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:''' Hearing that the others were checking out this new world, Annie thought she might as well try it out herself. Carrying over Silverbloom's stats was a good way to get a head start of some kind. She wasn't really sure what sort of outfit would work best for a musician in this sort of setting, but ended up with something that looked nice anyway- a light-blue dress, with a turquoise sash and sandals. For her instrument, she's gotten herself a mandolin. And once again, as she'd done in ALO, she's aged herself up a bit to her early teens. She tags along a bit with Sunshower, figuring music and drinks usually go together in places like these, don't they? Drink up, me hearties, yo ho, and all that. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki's busy examining the scenery, but she turns when Kirito addresses her. "Weird? This isn't weird. That INSECT one was weird!" she insists good-naturedly, grinning fiercely. "This is pretty. Not as pretty as Alfheim Online though, and it's a lot less... well, personal." she muses. Even with all the cutlasses, the whole cannons and ships aspect makes it a bit less her style. A bit more geared to soloing than she'd prefer.     Yuuki recognizes Kirito, Eisen of course, and Weiss. The latter gets a special grin. "You'll love it, I promise!" she claims giddily, spinning about with her arms wide as if to indicate the entire game world. She gives a look to the others. Iria, Kain, and Auralia, Sunshower and Silverbloom too if they're around. A curious look, not a dubious or suspicious one.     She finally addresses Kirito's question. "What now? Hmmm... good question!" she says brightly. "I'm really not good at investigating. I guess tradition suggests going to the bar and looking for rumors, but maybe we should just get ourselves hired or rent a ship and go out and play, see things for ourselves? Or... you know, maybe sneak onto a ship and forget about hiring and paying...?" she adds, grinning with a playful malevolence. Then she coughs. "Arr. I mean, if we be about to do scurrilous things like that for fun... well... I be up for it!" she says, breaking into a terrible piratey accent. It's important to remember that they're here to look into a rogue event that's killing ships on the high seas, but... well, honestly she doesn't mind just playing either. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Auralia can instantly tell who Yuuki is, just from the unlimited energy the former-Imp expresses. She's stood up on the forecastle of her little Brigantine, it's a fairly large ship, but not the largest in the game. A step or two up from the starter ship one could purchase for their own.     She grabs a line of rigging, and swings down to join the group, landing with a thud of boots and a curtsey and grin. "Well met, me hearties. I couldn't help but overhear ye talkin' about hirin' onto a ship?" she asks, straightening up and gesturing to the moored vessel. It's nameplate is something Kirito may recognize. <Windstar> "I be the captain o'this fine vessel. Not the biggest girl in th'sea, nor the fastest, but she'll get ye to wherever ye want to go... if ye have th'coin, or the skill at rig or cannon." 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:''' Being surrounded by everyone getting all goofy and into the spirit has Kirito blinking a bit, wide-eyed, when he has a moment to look off towards the sky.     He's gonna have to put on a show later or people'll think he's some kind of stiffy, huh...     But for the moment he puts both hands in his pockets, adopts a slightly chagrined smile (keeping his composure instead of joining in with the goofy is quite difficult) and sticks both hands in his coat pockets.     "To the nearest bar, then! ... Failing that, a market place. Best place to hunt down rumors is around lots of players." Which is... actually kind of terrifying for him.     Is he gonna have to go around asking questions of everyone? Oh god. The awkward teen in him does not want to do that AT ALL.     "All for getting into the adventure part! It'll be hard to accomplish ANYTHING without being used to this game. What kind of combat setup are we looking at?" He again thumbs through his menu... 

:'''{{#var:922|Weiss Schnee (922)}} has posed:'''     Weiss takes a look around at the landscape, rolls her eyes, and crosses her arms. "Okay, you might have convinced me to log onto this ridiculous game, and you might have convinced me to actually try to have a good time here - but no mater how much like a pirate I look, I will NOT be convinced to speak like one." She says it rather calmly, stressing the 'not' part. "Anyways, you did say there was something fishy going on, right? Who says we can't do a little pillaging on the way?" she says with a smirk. Her attention's then drawn to the captain of the ship ahead. "Well, that takes care of that, doesn't it?" 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe grins at Kirito widly. "If we got to get in on it we need to look the part, right?" She strikes a pose as she is in good spirit even with the serious issue they are dealing with. She knows some newbies to VRMMORPGs ar here and she looks over to Snowflake with a bit of a grin at her. "Don't worry I won't press you to say it." She'll look at Kain's avatr for a moment as she She looks over to him with a grin on her face for a moment and waves him over. "Well you founf some prime booty here, Seadog, don't be dallying too long!" She's totally having way too much fun with this and the word play she's attempting. She's not sure for a moment Who Kain is but she does know he's with them from the looks of things but she seems to move to deek out of the way. "you bes tbe careful you might have to walk the plank if you get too roudwy Now lets get focused on task at hand. "Heh, it's not even historially accurate it's just how people see them now, I blame the media." She looks over to Weiss for a moment. "Then again cutting lose for a bit won't kill you." She now pauses to bring up the help files and a FAQ from GAMEFAQs. 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:''' Iria folds her arms at the others for a moment, shaking her head and scoffing briefly. Then she looks to Tomoe and says, "This is just a game, you know. It's just for fun." Unlike the others who are feeling a bit on the goofy side and trying to act like pirates, Iria is not in a pirate's mood right now. She looks around to the others and shrugs a little. "But if you want to do that, go for it. I suppose I'll just have to look like an outsider for now." She runs a hand through her hair 

:'''{{#var:960|Kain (960)}} has posed:'''     Kain just chuckles. "Prime booty, indeed!" Alright, that was done. "Okay, I'm done trying to force pirate-talk... geez..." He looks at Weiss for a moment, regarding them curiously. "Okay... how'd you get the Rapier? I didn't see the option for it in character creation... unless transferring stats and skills over doesn't let you pick a weapon or something... which that seems a bit iffy."     He then looked at Kirito finally with a smile, definitely recognizing him and offering that trademark recognizable smile. "It doesn't matter what the combat system is. It's just like... that other game! Swing a sword, use Sword Skills, get awesome loot! And kick the snot outta bullies along the way. This game seems like it'd be rife with PKers. Kind of the name of the game when it comes to pirates." 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:''' "I don't really know a whole lot about pirates myself," Silverbloom admits. "I was hoping they'd let me be a mermaid, but... not that kind of game I guess!" She shrugs. "So I guess I'm just a musician here. It's something to make money with at least!" 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     "Well we DO have to make ourselves targets." Yuuki says suggestively to Weiss. If something's wrecking ships on the sea, the best way to find out what it is is to become a target, or so she assumes. Besides, she likes fights seeking her out rather than the other way around. It's faster, and she has no qualms with having to react rather than being proactive. "And besides, isn't it better to have a little fun once in a while?" she adds half-seriously. Not teasing Weiss so much as stating an undeniable fact.     The byplay between Kain and Eisen amuses her more than anything. She has no reason to defend Eisen's honor since Eisen's perfectly capable of defending her own booty. She's a partner, not just a friend. Besides Kain didn't actually do anything bad.     With that, she turns to Auralia speculatively. "Merchant huh?" she asks, eyeing the woman's axe and pistols. Then she laughs. "Nope. We're complete newbies!" she says with undue cheer. Then immediately she steps around Auralia with a casual effortlessness borne of years of VRMMO playing. Not using speed exactly, but using grace and a confidence that dismisses both personal space and personal weaponry as unimportant things. She does this to get a better look at the ship. Now, Yuuki doesn't know ships beyond the ones she learned from history, but they seem important in this game.     She glances back as Kain asks Weiss about her weapon. "Did you transfer here?" she asks Kain. "If so, the game probably just gave you whatever weapon was closest to what you're used to. Snowflake would've got more configuration than us, I guess." she grins, having had more than a few character transfers in the past. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' "Minstrels gotta keep their ears open for every legend that drifts 'pon the waves, lass," Sunshower smiles as she walks over to catch up with Silverbloom and the others. "If any man or woman's learned to not just sail over the sea, but delve into the mysteries resting 'neath the waves, it'll be legend tells ye of the where an' the how." She looks around and waves at the rest of the group; those who've heard Xiaomu's voice before have a pretty good chance at recognizing her (of course) despite the accent she's putting on. "Hail an' well met, be ye boon companions or bitter foes, or yet to know which is which! I be Sunshower, budding brewmaster; need ye a drink to lift your spirits or a stock of grog for the voyage 'head, why I be the one t' ask!" 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Auralia turns with a practiced ease, keeping Yuuki in her line of sight during that quick little pirouette. "Anyroad, lassie, if ye wantin' te be a target, then a ship be what ye need."     To the others. Snowflake, Eisen, Kain, Sunshower. "I have room enough for everyone, if ye be interested." 

:'''{{#var:922|Weiss Schnee (922)}} has posed:'''     Weiss waves a hand in response to Yuuki, putting the other on her hip. "Please. I can have plenty of fun without making even more of a fool of myself." She draws her rapier and jabs at the air in one smooth, practiced motion. "Drawing some attention shouldn't be too hard, right? Especially now that we seem to have a ship."     She holds out the sword as if to examine it in the sunlight. "This thing?" She chuckles and sheathes it again. "Who knows?" she responds with a mysterious smirk. "Maybe the game just recognized my true calling and cut straight to the chase." She turns back to Zephyr and nods. "I do think we'll be needing a ship. I'm not half bad with a cannon, and perhaps I can patch up some holes if we take any fire." 

:'''{{#var:960|Kain (960)}} has posed:'''     Kain just smiles to Auralia and nods. "Yeah, sure. As long as you don't mind newbs learning the ropes of a new game... other than that, it'd be good to at least get a start somewhere. Pretty sure the starting Gold we'd get here wouldn't be enough to cover costs for our own boats... so either we take you up on your offer, or we would probably all pool our gold together to get a very ugly starting ship or something... I like starting out running, so I'll definitely take you up." He gives a bow to Auralia. "Just call me Kain. Because my Legacy speaks for itself."     He looks incredulously at Weiss just... dumbfounded. "Okay, I'm getting a Rapier before we leave port. No way in hell I'm going without one." He looks at Kirito. "So looks like the Marketplace first, then... rumours abound, as well as gear acquiry." 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:''' "I already came prepared," Iria comments to Kain. "I got myself a sword and a gun. Always helps to have a variety of things to fight with. Namely since sometimes you gotta fight near and sometimes from afar." She does a brief trick with her sword before putting it back. "Don't try this at home, kiddies! I'm a professional idiot!" Then she looks to Auralia and says, "I'll go with you if you want." 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:''' Gotta admit it, Kirito's way more interested in the ships than anything else right now. HOW do you do sailing ships on FullDive? Water physics have been a troubling thing for the Seed since Sword Art Online. he'd have to imagine that the ocean itself is highly abstracted, but the ships... that's interesting alright.     "Yeah, no arguing there. A VRMMO about insects?" Kirito just sounds exasperated at the idea. How does it work? No, he doesn't wanna know!     A random image goes through his mind of Asuna with ladybug antennae. It's quickly dismissed after he makes a weird face.     "Haah. It's never that simple. But I bet we'll manage pretty well. Most of us did fine dealing with Gun Gale Online." ... Though that is NOT an experience he wants to repeat.     Blocking bullets with a laser sword's INSANELY draining.     Either way his response to Kain comes along with a confident smile of his own! Oh Kirito's eager alright!     "... I don't know the first thing about wooden ships. Except they have sails." 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:''' "I suppose I'll come along," Silverbloom says. "Most of us are friends already. So we'd make a good crew, right?" Besides, if something important is happening, she wants to be there to help. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' Sunshower gives Kirito a withering look, "An' if ye get tossed in the drink, do ye even know how *not* to sink like an anchor?" Still, she nods enthusiastically to Auralia. "I've got some supplies already, but if ye anything specific be in your mind for the voyage, best to say now - mayhap I can get the makings ready afore we cast off for our first voyage together." 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe looks to Iria for a moment and shurgs a little bit. "Make a lot of noise and draw out whoever or what ever this is, right?" She smirks for a moment more and leands back for a moment. She's always recalled to dump her stuff on an alt account, but honestly she's going to push for an account storage bank, for trafers so you can just leave your gear. It's stilly how it is right now in ALO. She looks to XIaomu for a moment. "So would you be a seafox today?" She also take note to Aualia and then she looks to Kain. "Some of us just are born to it matey. Did you not know about the Western internet's talk like a Pirate day?!" She gets serious for a moment debating something. "I think we really should look into some formal weapon training at some point." She's then back to task at hand causing noise to get attention. 

:'''{{#var:960|Kain (960)}} has posed:'''     Kain just looks at Kirito and Iria. "I just don't feel right without a Rapier at my hip... haven't since... well..." He stopped himself there... before saying anything more. Likely Kirito would definitely know what Kain was getting at there... but for the sake of what he was taught to not speak of it, he kept his trap shut. He coughs to clear his throat. "So if any of you happen to have a spare Rapier on hand, even if it's low-quality and low-level. Then I can just adjust my skills to work properly here instead of using a Longsword, which I haven't used the skill in forever..."     Imitating Kirito from earlier, he started figuring out the hand gestures to pull up the menu and check out his skills, making sure all of his stuff was still there. He looked at one of his Skills... and smiles a bit. "Well, in any major case of needing a job on the ship, I'm pretty sure I can cook whatever we catch or kill... kinda glad I got to keep my Cooking skill..." Aaaaand that betrayed his 'newb' status... oh well. He wasn't gonna keep that up for very long anyway. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki's not sure why someone would recruit a bunch of admitted newbies as crew, but she's not one to overthink things. Maybe she'll remember that at a later time, but for now she just smiles. "Looks like you've got a crew then!" she says, turning to face Auralia. "I'm afraid I don't know anything but the sword." she claims to the merchant and Iria both, resting her offhand casually on the pommel of her blade. "But I'm willing to learn! And besides, we might get boarded by pirates!" she says enthusiastically. She's not much good with guns or anything of the like, and has been known to bring a sword to a gunfight. And win the gunfight. Her and Kirito both.     She looks over the crew. She doesn't recognize Xiaomu's voice since she's never met her in any form. Silverbloom's obvious though, and the avatar gets a fond smile. Bards are the best! Kain seems eager enough, though she has no idea who he is. "Hm. If you want to get a rapier..." she muses. "Maybe we split up, meet back here in an hour? Some of us can go drinking and hearing rumors at the bar, some of us shopping, and some can learn the ..." she pauses, glancing back at the ship. "Learn the ropes?" she finishes, giggling. "I'm up for learning about boats!" she claims. "Or weapons-training!" 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Auralia grins a little, and throws her head back in a hearty, full diaphram laugh, which gets some passing players to stop and look for a moment before moving on. "AHAHAHAHAH! I be one of those who can see potential, lass." she says to Yuuki. "Anyroad, aye. I believe those be good ideas. Me ship'll be moored until high tide, which won't be 'til morn'." she offers. "Chance be we will find some rumours of pirates or buried treasure."     She flourishes and turns to take in the whole group now. "If coin ye need, I can lend it ye, a trade run I just finished paided out handsomely, and as luck would have it, led me right to ye all." she beams brightly then, leaning forward a bit with her hands on her hips. "Fates be praised, aye? I be needin' a crew, an' ye be needin' transportation." 

:'''{{#var:922|Weiss Schnee (922)}} has posed:'''     Weiss gives Kain a cocky shrug. "If it'll make you feel better, go ahead and find one. I find the one I've got right here to be much more than sufficient for myself." Funny of her to talk so highly of a low-level starter's weapon! "And of course, it couldn't hurt to have a backup plan as well," she says, motioning to the guns at her sides. She might be bluffing a bit about having experience with cannons, or really guns in general, but it's always seemed kind of enticing to her to fire one. And hey, she did put a few skill points into repairing stuff! She attempts to mimic everyone else checking their skill sheets and whatnot - it does look somewhat barren, since she's just begun, but that's nothing she can't fix! 

:'''{{#var:960|Kain (960)}} has posed:'''     Kain nods. "So we're agreed. Split up, gather info, meet back here in an hour. Sounds like a good time! Maybe there'll be some quests we can pick up for some easy gold or something. Maybe something to learn how combat works here. Either way, I'm off." He waves to the others. "See you all in an hour. Or immediately, if anyone wants to join me for gear-hunting." With that, he'd head off towards the stores in hopes of finding gear he could use. 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:''' Annie decides to group up with Kirito for now. He seemed to have a good plan, and was more experienced in things like this than she was. She was excited to see what they'd find! 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' Sunshower grins to Auralia, "Sounds like we have a deal, then. How many barrels should I bring for our first voyage together?" She flicks her menu open, double-checking a couple of crafting recipes, then her stock of supplies ... she really *is* low on funds if she needs to do any more shopping before the group sets sail, and she skimped a bit on her 'armor'. (Tomoe's joke about her being a 'seafox' didn't draw any particular response, either; she was too busy verbally facepalming at Kirito.) 

:'''{{#var:922|Weiss Schnee (922)}} has posed:'''     Weiss looks to Yuuki and nods, looking around the port town for the nearest pub. "I think I'll stop by the tavern, pick up on some gossip, grab a drink, perhaps. Maybe we can find some side jobs to help us attract some attention?" She shrugs and starts off that way, twirling a flintlock on one finger with a general disregard for safety. "Maybe we can scrounge up some trouble right here!" 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe also gets the idea of bringin a few newbies along might hide the fact many in the group are SAO surivors or Sleeping Knights who are horrors to deal with regarless of level. Hopefully it will help. She's just spent a day or so looking up on how to play and she's having fun with this even if it's a job. "I got the weapon trianing down it's the boats I need to worry about. The Sea and me we have some issues. I love it, it does not love me." Splash Padd Mcquak syndrome? Who knows but the redhead pirate is s looking to Auralia for a moment "The loan would be welcome still." 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Auralia, for those that want it, opens trade windows and deposits a modest amount of Dubloons for each person. It'd be enough to get a decent weapon, better than the one the character spawns with at least, some new armour and maybe some consumable items.     As for those that decide to remain behind, the Captain swings herself back up onto her ship with an easy shimmy up the rigging rope, an NPC grabbing her hand and hauling her the rest of the way up. "Make ready to weigh anchor! We leave at dawn! Gather supplies for a journey to the next island over!" Her voice holds that keening little undertone of Command. It'd be similar to the Aggro-boosting Shout skills from ALO. Order Skills. The NPCs give off stock NPC confirmations, such as "Aye Cap'n" and "Yes Ma'am." before busying themselves with the tasks. "If ye don't want to be land lubbers, get yer asses up here, an' I'll..." pause to chuckle. "Show ye the ropes." 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     It's fairly easy to get startup gear around here. Being the first actual safe zone, plenty of merchants and craftspeople set up here, though there's no permanent player stores present. High level gear and other items, clearly, have to come from player-controlled islands. Still it's not too tough to find gear that improves on the starter gear, and none of it will burden Aurelia's resources greatly. Merchanting, if you're good and lucky, pays ridiculously well.     There's tales about, for those with an ear to hear. The tavern is of course a traditional place to share information and tall tales. Any of these surrounding the new incidence of 'unbeatable' attacks however, are of the variety 'I know a guy who knows a guy who was there!' Still, some things are easy enough to confirm through a few stories. An apparently unsinkable ship appears, attacks, and cripples a vessel. It then boards, and monsters attack the crew, killing everyone. The vessel is then sunk, all goods lost, nothing actually taken by the attackers. No one knows for sure why they board a ship if they're just going to sink it without taking anything, but rumors abound. The attackers can only be defeated hand to hand, some assume, and this is a sporting chance sort of thing. The monsters are protecting a particular region of sea, or perhaps protecting something beyond their own mysterious ship. The monsters... well, no one really seems to know much about them, partly because they always seem to attack surrounded by a dense fog. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     In the market, among the NPC newbie shops, are a couple of streetside sellers. They can't display their wares, but they yell what they have to sell in the classic tradition of main square marketers from any MMO that hasn't implemented spammer auto-bans.     Among these sellers, two stand out in particular. One selling, for an entirely not-cheap price, a charm that's supposed to keep ships safe from what he claims to be the 'ghost ship'. Another is selling weapon oil, supposedly to enchant weapons to harm enemies that can't be hurt by naked steel. This is somewhat more affordable, but still not exactly cheap. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki for her part doesn't accept any gold in trade. She's been in the VRMMO game long enough to believe that there's little point buying gear. That looting it is a far better proposition. Admittedly there's a large number of sword-fighters among this group, but the loot system's probably random anyways based on the standard Seed system.     Yuuki's definitely appreciative of Aurelia's offer however, even if she's still a bit curious why the woman would offer such things to a group of newbies. A fine eye for talent is one thing, but loaning out doubloons? That's rare. "Aye aye, captain!" she cries out, saluting with more enthusiasm than historical accuracy. She's off to learn how to sail! And probably pump the bilge, or swab the decks, or whatever other nasty job keeps the ship ship-shape. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' Sunshower isn't buying gear, really; the Brewmaster starter build isn't really meant for getting up close and personal, but she DOES have her knives and the initial skills for wielding them. What she's shopping for at this point is added supplies - casks, ingredients, other materials or tools that she'll need to keep the crew (PC and NPC alike) at their best through the voyage(s) ahead. That doesn't stop her from stopping and listening to the possible quest hints. A charm to keep ghost ships away? Meh, let 'em come, no game's so badly balanced as to let you run into something that you can't do ANYTHING about. The anti-ghost weapon oil .... ehhhh. Supplies are more important, but - she sends an in-game message to Aurelia to see if she thinks it's worth the investment for a flask or two. If there's some truth behind the need for it, they can always look into stocking up on the stuff, right? 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' IT's time to go shopping so away she's go well tht's the plan anyhow. She's abke to get some gear but she pauses at some charm about the ghost ship that gets an eyebrow rised though the wepon oil does get her attention however she's going to take a moment to check online to see if this oil is legit or not. 
}}

3357/Getting Stuff

2015-11-13T02:51:38Z

MoreBeer: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/11/08 |Location=The Foothills |Synopsis=The Stuffgetter has a mission to drop off supplies for a frozen village. There, old friends and new fr..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/11/08
|Location=The Foothills
|Synopsis=The Stuffgetter has a mission to drop off supplies for a frozen village. There, old friends and new friends meet.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=319, 451, 874, 906
|Tinyplot=
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     When offered the chance to meet 'ojiisan' for real, Yuuki leapt at the chance. One of these days she'd like to get her other friends, the Sleeping Knights, out and about the Multiverse, but she can't easily do so. They don't have quite the virtual world binding she does, and not quite the same freedoms either. It's hard for them to get together other than to play, and there's a long-unspoken agreement among them that they don't bring up the 'real world' more than is absolutely necessary while playing together. They save such things for downtime.     She's heard Karian now a few times on the radio, and is at least somewhat aware he's not who he appears in-game. He's apparently OLD for one thing. Really old. That's okay though. It'll be fun coming to see him! But of course, Yuuki doesn't show any difference within the game or outside it. While she looks somewhat different IRL, she's not about to show up to a meeting in the flesh, as it were. She's here as her bubbly, small, winged, and above all purple self. Also, she's probably not particularly affected by the cold. That's one big advantage of being a game avatar. She's no more bothered by tundra weather than she is in-game... which is to say, no Alfheim Online avatar needs to bundle up. 

:'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''     Karian waits in the tundras for Yuuki to arrive, set in his full gear. Despite not being like his avatar, he sure was armored like him. Though unlike the Salamanders of ALO, real world Karian had a pet, a /MASSIVE/ wolf the size of a small tank. The old wolf wondered how his friend would take in such a creature, and he was interested to see this. Of course, he was also waiting for a third member, a certain getter of things. 

:'''{{#var:319|Fayt Ravus (319)}} has posed:'''     While this area of the foot hills, getting close to the Tundra area of the multiverse is can be a bit ruggid, it's not compleatly devoid of civilization, a few towns still dot the area, last stops for people heading into the tundra to the various research stations and military outposts that dot hte area. A place like this would still need supplies, and someone to bring them there.     up above, it appears.     A ship suddenly pops into view. A freighter, the kind you find floating out in the void. nothing too interesting, a giant metal box with engines strapped to it. Though it has an interesting logo painted on it's side. an image of a black dragon, curled around a shipping crate.     The ship slowly moves towards the ground, heading for a clearing not too far from where Yuuki and Karian are. 

:'''{{#var:906|Yang Xiao Long (906)}} has posed:'''     Yang is out and about in the Multiverse! Between classes, she looked at what was available to /do/, and picked up an 'Escort Cargo' mission from some place or other.     The blonde is sat on the bridge of the freighter, looking eminently bored. "Are we there yet?" 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki's reaction to Karian and the wolf may well be rather obvious. "Wow! Huge!" she cries out cheerfully. If anything, Karian's even larger and more heavily armored in the real world than he is in game. That shouldn't be too much of a surprise perhaps. His fighting ability in the game is clearly a matter of experience, as contrasted to Yuuki's unearthly reaction speed being a product of her immersion in the game.     "Will he bite?" Yuuki asks as she wings into range of Karian. Yep. Fairly typical young girl here. It's all about the horse-sized animal. Well, larger than horse-sized. Actually big enough for her entire guild to ride at once while fully armored. She's about to stick her hand out, not particularly caring if the answer is 'no', when the freighter pops into local space. She glances up, then darts upwards to circle Karian a few times, peering up at the ship. "Some kind of a dark dragon thing there around a box. Dark... bad... dragon? I dunno." she says, shrugging, the motion sending her spinning in a way that doesn't look like an accident so much as like an opportunity to show off her aerobatics. "More friends of yours, ojiisan?" she asks, grinning (how else) impishly. 

:'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''     Karian nods softly. "You can say that. The Black Dragons there are a cargo transportation company. I helped the guy in charge out a while back. And sinse you asked, Ygdril only bites if I tell him to, or if he smells evil on someone. He's gotten very good at the latter." He says. Speaking of Ygdril, the wolf trots over and gives Yuuki a quick sniff over. Once satisfied she was ok, he began to give her a playful nudge, to test her aerobatics. He was a very smart wolf, after all. 

:'''{{#var:319|Fayt Ravus (319)}} has posed:'''     The ship makes a landing in the clearing, there's a loud hiss as the landing gear settles into place and the engines die down. momments later, the back ramp drops open, as several men begin to move crates off the ship. "We're here."     amongst hte people walking down the ramp, one stands out. A short, scrawny, pale kid with pale blue hair, carrying an odd staff on his back and what appears to be a clipboard under one arm. He stands at the end of the ramp, slowilw looking. over his sorroundings. "Hmmm." 

:'''{{#var:906|Yang Xiao Long (906)}} has posed:'''     Yang huhs, then stands and joins the guys helping drag stuff out of the ship. As in, she literally helps by hoisting a crate three times her size on one shoulder, carting it down the ramp. "Where do ya want this?" she asks, waiting to be directed before setting it down. Carefully. WHUD.     Once that's done, she turns to look at the REALLY BIG WOLF, and EQUALLY BIG GUY IN ARMOUR, alongside a CUTE LITTLE GIRL. "Uh, Hey!" she offers, lifting an arm to wave. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     "Oh, BLACK dragon!" Yuuki remarks. Ygdril is kind of a monster, and in-game she'd probably fight something like him for huge rewards, but she doesn't go around killing her friends' pets. That's just rude.     Yuuki flits over to see the people descending from the transport. Friends of Karian, or at least people who he's helped. That makes them okay, at least in her eyes so far.     Yuuki descends to the tundra, peering first at Yang who makes one heck of an impression. Monstrously strong, and definitely impressive, and kind of epic hair too. She lights delicately on the ground near to Yang but not directly in her path. No sense getting swatted! She bows gracefully, grinning. "You must be the one in charge!" she grins.     As for Fayt, well, he's not unnoticed. "And that guy looks JUST like Talken! Just dye his hair green and give him glasses." she observes cheerily. 

:'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''     Karian and Ygdril both head over towards Fayt. As they draw closer, the wolf tilts his head softly towards Yuuki, puzzled why she though that Yang was in charge. "Fayt. Good to see you again." 

:'''{{#var:906|Yang Xiao Long (906)}} has posed:'''     "Huh? Nah, I'm just here to help out. Scare off bandits or whatever if they get too close." replies Yang to the girl. "Name's Yang, Nice to meet you!" she offers, then turns to watch the big guy and his wolf approach. She's a /little/ on edge. Ygdril could pass for a small Ursa, or a /very/ large Beowolf, though he doesn't have the trademark mask of a Grimm. "Yo... that's a... big dog." she offers awkwardly, folding her arms over her chest, the two gold bracelets on her wrists clinking lightly. 

:'''{{#var:319|Fayt Ravus (319)}} has posed:'''     Fayt looks over at Yang, utterly dumbstruck as she lifts that crate over her head "Um... over there with the other please?" He points to a spot where his emploies have stacked several other large crates. He then looks over to Yuuki. "Um... Who's talken?" He's distracted when Karian speak up. "Oh, Hey Karian, what brings you out here? You need anything?" 

:'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''     "I came to help out with delivery." Karian replies simply. Ygdril looks over to yang and trots towards her. "Oh him? Aye..but he's average sized. There are thunderwolves larger then him, but few as smart." He explains, praising his companions intelligence. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki dismisses her wings, remaining ground-bound among other ground folk. The effect is obviously magical, or at least technomagic, but then the black-and-stars faerie wings were pretty obviously not natural in the first place. She laughs when Yang explains, obviously finding the explanation hilarious. "Sorry if I upset anyone!" she says, her tone making it clear she doesn't expect anyone to be offended, wouldn't care much if they did, but doesn't want to be rude and fail to apologize. It's a bit of an odd reaction for someone of her culture, for those who know what it's like.     Yuuki bounds over to peer at Fayt, not content to merely walk. Once there she gives him a careful going-over. "Not QUITE the same, but you really do look like him! He's a good friend of mine. Guildmate. Always looking like he's scared someone's going to grab him or say boo." she grins. 

:'''{{#var:906|Yang Xiao Long (906)}} has posed:'''     Yang watches Ygdril trot over, holding out a hand for him to sniff at. "Dad says that about Zwei, too." she remarks offhandedly, not going to touch the wolf until he gives the okay. "He might be small, but good things come in little packages." 

:'''{{#var:319|Fayt Ravus (319)}} has posed:'''     Fayt, in true Fayt fashion, leans about as far away from Yuuki as she might lean in towards him, giving her a somewhat awkward look. "I see... Can I help you with something? Clearly, the tiniy timid trader doesn't like people getting too close to him. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Fortunately for Fayt, Yuuki doesn't have a mean bone in her body. Else she might GRAB him just to see what happens when she does. "Relax!" she insists, then she grabs her own cheeks to make an outrageously exaggerated 'horrible face'. "Boo." she says, not at all scarily, before wheeling off and running back to Karian, Yang and Ygdril, laughing.     She skids to a stop before Ygdril, seeing Yang trying to introduce herself to the huge wolfen. She nods, and does likewise. When she actually holds still for a time, she seems to gather a certain dignity about her, or at least a calmness. It doesn't always show. She doesn't have much interest in being slow... but it IS there. 

:'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''     Ygdril sniffs Yang and yuki's hand, and nods his approval. He flattens his ears, showing he was calm and acceptive of pettings. Karian, meanwhile, simply laughed. "Your too shy, Fayt. A few pints of Fenrisian ale would loosen you up." He jokes, of course knowing one sip could be the demise of the poor trader, but it would be something funny to watch. 

:'''{{#var:906|Yang Xiao Long (906)}} has posed:'''     Yang smiles, and moves to gently stroke along the wolf's shoulder. "So, what's his name?" she asks over towards Karian. "And yours, for that matter." She grins a bit, then looks over at Fayt. "She's right, y'know. Relax a bit." 

:'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''     "His name's Ygdril. It means 'wisend hunter' in my native language. My name is Karian Icefang, of the Space Wolves. I hold the rank of Wolf Lord. We're a military organization." He explains. Ygdril leans into the hand stroking down his shoulder, enjoying the attention from his admirers. He looked up and offered what amounted to a wolfish smile to Yang, and playfully whuffed at her. 

:'''{{#var:319|Fayt Ravus (319)}} has posed:'''     "no thank you in the ale, me an alcahol don't mix." Fayt says, giving Yuuki's scary face a blank look. As she runs off, the tiny trader straightes up again. "I'm fine, really. anyway, is there anything I can do for the two of you?" Fayt's doing his best to sound professional, despite Yuuki's... being Yuuki. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki can't really reach up to the massive wolf, but she takes advantage of his lowered head if he wants pettings. She's not particularly gentle either. She's not trying to hurt the big guy of course. She doesn't think she COULD hurt him, not without drawing a weapon. She doesn't claw into him or anything, but does dig her fingers deeply into his ruff, giving him a good enthusiastic skritching.     "I'm called Yuuki." the girl says, not neglecting the giant wolf. "I don't really hold any ranks. Some people've been calling me Zekken." she explains. The Absolute Sword. It's almost embarrassing... almost. It'd BE embarrassing if she hadn't earned the title. "And... hm. Do for us?" Yuuki asks, a bit puzzled. "Not really. I'm just trying to see everything. Unless you want to give me a ride somewhere!" she adds enthusiastically. 

:'''{{#var:906|Yang Xiao Long (906)}} has posed:'''     "Yang Xiao Long." replies the blonde, then stretches out a bit as Yuuki goes full rufflefuzzle on Ygdril. "It's a fitting name, I'm sure he's a /really/ good hunter." she says to Karian. "I don't have any titles, but Dad tells me my name would means something like: Little Dragon of the Sun, or something like that." 

:'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''     "Aye, he is. I've seen him take down a frost troll alone." Karian says, a smirk emerging along his face as he remembers that hunt. "I think the name fits you, Yang. Your as strong as any dragon I've seen. Granted I haven't seen many...at least uncorrupted." But then he looks to Fayt. "Actually, Fayt...there is something I'd like you to get for me, if you can. I'd like a supply of fresh adamantium." 

:'''{{#var:319|Fayt Ravus (319)}} has posed:'''     "I work as a trader, namely I run Black Dragon Shipping, if there's something you need. We cna get hold of it for a price." He replies to Yuuki, then frowns. "I'm Sorry, but we're not allowed to transport people." He thne looks to Karian. "Adamantium? That we can get hold of, yes." 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     "Not sure what my name means." Yuuki says, easing up a little, and possibly looking slightly troubled or at least thoughtful. "Depends how it's spelled, I suppose. Mostly though, I like to act like it means 'courage'!" she grins. It IS an appropriate translation of the name, but by no means the only one. It could also mean 'gentle hope', or possibly 'leisurely life', or even 'superior radiance'. Some of those really don't bear thinking on.     She's a bit disappointed to learn that she can't go flying in the spaceship. THAT would be something for sure! But then, she's also done that in a MMO... and would really rather be moving herself than sitting and letting something else move her. So she shrugs offhandedly. "Hmmm. That's a thought." she muses. "Maybe later I'll have something I need. Most of what I want's virtual, but I also want to see if I can have a really amazing sword made. So I might need really good sword metal." she muses thoughtfully. It might not work, but is there anything else she could possibly want in the real world? Aside from a new body of course, and she doubts that's the sort of thing she can order. 

:'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''     "Ahh, speaking of yukihana, eh? She actually has a weapon in the works for me. She told me it would take her up to 3 days, so you may have to wait. She's making it out of adamantium. I used the last of the fang's suppy for her." Karian says with a smirk. But he then moves over to ruffle Yuuki's hair. Ygdril....is content to get his ruffles and scritches. 

:'''{{#var:319|Fayt Ravus (319)}} has posed:'''     "I see." Fayt replies. "Well, if you send in an order, we cna get ap rice for it sent your way. Shouldn't take too long." he then looks over to Yuuki. "We can send a list of the metals we can get hold of, if you'd like." 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki nods, then considers. She has quite a lot of money for someone her age. Her care is provided, since her illness is a result of tainted blood. She's also in an experimental program, so the costs are heavily borne by research. On top of that, she has a reasonably substantial inheritance, though much of it is locked away in a trust fund she'll never live to collect. She has no real expenses beyond a game subscription or three, and no needs not taken care of already. Still... adamantium? Other exotic metals? She doesn't exactly have a whole lot of money to be spent on something so ... frivolous.     "Well... hm. I might not be able to afford a sword. I mean, it sounds like it'd be a lot of fun but..." there's a certain look in her eyes. She smiles when Karian ruffles her hair, but even that smile doesn't quite erase her wry thoughts. "Still, guess it doesn't hurt to get prices? Who knows?" she grins. It's a bit fake, but she doesn't really want anyone to worry either. "Send it to Iron Wolf here." she says. "Or Asuna Yuuki, if you know her. Or anyone in that group. I'm online there more often than I'm doing anything else!" she insists. She does not, however, leave anyone a personal contact. The only one who has THAT is Asuna or the other Sleeping Knights. 

:'''{{#var:906|Yang Xiao Long (906)}} has posed:'''     Yang knows that tone. Even if it's hidden underneath layers upon layers of other things, trying to mask it. She's had that same tone herself, more than once. Yang is no mind reader, but she knows /something/ is wrong, and so, moves around to place a hand on Yuuki's shoulder.     It's a strong, supportive grip, and she says nothing, just offering the contact without explanation or clear /reason/. 

:'''{{#var:319|Fayt Ravus (319)}} has posed:'''     Fayt slowly tilts his head from side to side, before nodding slowly. "I see... Well I'll get some prices and information sent over, see what we can do." If Fayt has any sense that something's wrong, he's not showing it, maybe he's just trying to be nice and not cause a scene? 

}}

3239/Killstealing Jerks!

2015-11-13T02:50:00Z

MoreBeer: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/10/20 |Location=Alfheim Online <ALO> |Synopsis=The Sleeping Knights are ready to take on their third boss battle. Twice before, a guild raidgr..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/10/20
|Location=Alfheim Online <ALO>
|Synopsis=The Sleeping Knights are ready to take on their third boss battle. Twice before, a guild raidgroup got there and finished the boss before the Knights could do so. The guild's about to do it again unless someone's willing to teach them a lesson... or at least stop them.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=1, 6, 162, 385, 437, 451, 874
|Tinyplot=
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     The Sleeping Knights had been doing great on their boss raid attempt, or so they'd thought. They followed Asuna-sensei's advice, deferring to her years of experience leading such boss battles. A simple fight, not using expensive potions and items, to learn the boss's patterns and to assess what would be needed for the return trip. They'd done quite well, ripping their way through the boss's health, but falling to one particular massive AOE attack that, should they figure out its timing or trigger, would mean they'd almost certainly prevail.     In truth Asuna's advice had been invaluable right from the start. The Knights are certainly strong, but strength isn't everything. She'd been the one, after all, to advise them to hold back their first attempt so they could be ready to retry after respawning at Lonbal's save point nearby. She'd been the one to sense the invisible players hiding at the entrance of the boss's room, and to reveal them with a spell. She'd talked them down, forcing them to step aside from the boss room to let the Knights have their attempt. And of course, Asuna had been the one to spot their familiar hiding in the room, observing the battle using the 'peeping' darkness spell, so the guild spies hidden outside the room could view the entire fight.     That was, of course, the plan of that guild all along. Many groups fail to defeat bosses their first run through. The difficulty of New Aincrad is quite a bit higher than the original, and raids are more about learning and repetition. Harder, yes, but without the 'do it right the first time or die' incentive of the original tower from Sword Art Online. This guild let smaller groups make attempts, spend vast amounts of Yrd on consumables, and would spy on them. When they knew enough of a boss's moves to be confident, they'd gather a full raid and take out the boss. They've done it before... at least twice. At least both times the Sleeping Knights had made an attempt on a floor boss.     Back in Londbal, the Knights commiserated on the strength of the two-headed four-armed boss. On its huge defense, its powerful attacks, its special guard move. They'd done so well, gotten so close... but were a bit down that even with their new sensei they couldn't win the fight. Not the first time through, at least. That was when Asuna told them they had other things to worry about. She told them about the boss-killer guild, about the peeping spell, about the familiar observing the battle. Yuuki was shocked, almost unwilling to accept the reason why the bosses of floors 25 and 26 fell so soon after their own attempts. Dismayed and appalled at how they'd been used, and were being used again... and at the realization that this guild would do it now for the third time.     Asuna smiled though, clapping a hand on Yuuki's shoulder. "Not necessarily." she'd said. "It's early in the afternoon. Some of their players will be working, some at school. Even a large guild will have trouble getting enough people together on short notice. I think it'd take an hour, minimum. And besides I might have an idea..." 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr's not been doing much with the Gatecrashers. Only a couple of things with the recent GGO debacle. So when the call went out to help in ALO, the wounded mage was more than eager to do /something/ other than sit at a desk and sort through reports. She logs in, calls the others that respond, and waits for them at the entrance to the dungeon. She's checking her equipment when they arrive.     It's probably a quick run, though Mistral is a bit underleveled, she's got the Gatecrashers to back her up, and a few lucky weapon drops have her nearly on par, for the area at least. She'll be near the back of the group, counting her crossbow bolt stock and making sure she's topped off on HP before engaging the Killstealers. 

:'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''     Karian, or Iron Wolf, made his way through the dungeon and to the rest of the group. He offered a smile and nod towards all of the gathered members. "I heard you could use some assistance. Just point me where you need a hole opened." 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:'''      After lots of practice and training, and a bit of help from others, Annie- aka Silverbloom- has finally made it to the highest tiers. She's switched out her flute for a lyre, obtained a nice staff, and learned some more advanced magic. She's even attracted a bit more interest in her performing troupe idea (though not from anyone that anyone here would know.) And now it seemed like the time had come for a true test of her skills. This was really the first time she was going to be going up against other players in such a serious battle, and she seemed a bit nervous about it. Of course, she wasn't planning on getting into the thick of it, as her job was mainly support, but she knew that, as small as she was, she was still going to be a big target.     "I'm here," Silverbloom said as she arrived. "This time... I'm not just going to watch!" She grinned, realizing that she just sounded kind of cool there. 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:'''     Floating Castle Aincrad. Once the setting of death game 'Sword Art Online,' and now reduced... or perhaps UPGRADED... to hardcore expansion content in the skies of Alfheim.     A hundred floors stacked one atop the other. Each floor a world unto itself with fantastic environments, enormous cities, countless square kilometers of adventure to be had. The ceiling of each floor mystically resembles the sky, but this does not disguise the fact that it's 'indoors' because of one thing.     ENORMOUS PILLARS of some smooth stone-like material. The pillars that support the castle above also host the Labyrinth. Yes, each Labyrinth is built into one of the pillars.     With one entrance point. Typically a big and dramatic, impossibly expansive bridge, sometimes a tunnel, maybe a linking cave.     Kirito's seen it all before, but nostalgia will have to wait. He's at the head of the group that's cutting through monsters, and anyone who knows him well can bet he's thinking hard on lots of things... more than the immediate issues, certainly.     He's fought giant slime creatures, winged Lizard soldiers in centurion gear, and giant frog monsters.... but in the end, the 'boss corridor' is a long tunnel leading towards a MASSIVE ornately carved black door... and the Spriggan smiles in triumph. "That was some haul... but here we are..."     But is anything amiss? 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki is here, having met up with everyone at the entrance to the dungeon. She'd been hot-tempered and impatient, her desires split between wanting to rush in and kill the boss before the killstealers could gather, and wanting to rush in to kill all the jerks who had stolen their chances at achieving the dream of the Sleeping Knights. Cooler heads, somehow, prevailed. Mostly this is thanks to Asuna, who had alternately cajoled and reasoned with the hot-tempered Imp girl, telling her to wait for others before charging off into the dungeon.     Backing Yuuki up, there's five others who are probably unfamiliar to the people here. A tall Gnome with a heavy mace and shield. A surprisingly tiny and boyish Salamander with a greatsword strapped across his back. A wispy Undine caster. A dusky-skinned Spriggan girl wielding a long warhammer like a polearm, and a glasses-wearing Leprechaun using a spear more like a walking stick. She introduces them in turn. Tecchi, Jun, Siune, Nori and Talken. Some of the group radiate youth, particularly Talken, Jun and Yuuki herself. Siune, Nori and Tecchi seem older, or at least somewhat more mature. It's of course difficult to tell player age behind a virtual avatar, but body language and attitude tell a lot. The Knights are all friendly, all open to some degree, and all a little hyped and tense, eager for the upcoming battles.     "Maaaan, you guys are great." Yuuki says, eyes gleaming. Especially Asuna, at least in her eyes, for pulling this off. "There can't be many of them there. Maybe nobody! Maybe they're all waiting outside the dungeon for their buddies, and we get to beat up those three creepy spies for a warm-up..."     At that point, the group rounds the final corridor before the boss door. Not many there, no. Not a full raid at least. Only perhaps half of a full raid group, all races and specs represented, milling about before the boss door in a casual order. They're still distant for now, but a few of them are looking the way of the Gatecrashers. Waiting for their fellow guildmates no doubt, for the final few groups to arrive before they make their boss attempt. And of course, nearly 30 elite players are nothing to scoff at. They're all armed and armored with endgame equipment, and no doubt they have plenty of experience fighting as a group. Their tanks and melee fighters are ready to block anyone who tries to move in, their casters and archers prepared to tear apart anyone from a distance, their healers ready to preserve and protect their front-liners in turn.     "That... that's a lot of people." moans Talken in a low tone. "M-maybe we should just... ask them to leave?" he asks. Nori slaps him on the back, pushing him forward. "Oh sure! They'll just get out of our way because we got here first!" she says with a fierce teasing grin.     Tecchi looks to the Gatecrashers thoughtfully. "We've got no business dragging you into our fight." he says. Jun steps up. "There shouldn't have been this many. This isn't going to be easy." he says, though with a hint of eagerness. "We ... haven't done any PvP in Alfheim Online." adds Siune, looking both nervous and rather eager. "Except for Yuuki." she adds.     The eyes of the rest of the Knights fall on Yuuki, appearing to trust her to speak for them in this. Yuuki flashes a grin, then turns to the Gatecrashers present. Particularly those of them she's seen and fought before. She knows their strength and their worth. She doesn't know everyone present, but she knows enough. "Doesn't seem really fair, does it?" she says. "Not enough for everyone to fight and have any fun!" she claims. Behind her, several of the Sleeping Knights break into grins or nervous giggles. "We're going to fight the boss... so maybe we need to let you fight these guys without us so you haven't completely wasted the trip!" 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe had known this boss well enough or knew of it but it been changed and she'd had nothing to do with it so pressing into the castle had been a thing. Sure the bosses were able to be summoned agian yet? Only the first team to clear them would get names on the monument it been a matter of pride for some of the boss takedowns here, she also damn well wanted to get back to her home on the 50th floor to. So the sooner these bosses were knocked out? The happier she'd be, seriously she missed her house. However that wasn't quite why. Still this was a heck of a change from doing things to help Pris and she honestly /needed/ a change very badly in her life alsio she was keen to help out Kirito was not the only one thinking ab out this place as she was moving through the monsters as well. "It's strange isn't it playing this without the gun to one's head?" A slip perhaps but she's been very pressued lately. "Oh lets just say I don't like their way of doing things, it's cheap really. They need to learn a lesson people will call them on doing things like that so don't worry about it, got it?" 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Mistral watches the group of enemy players. That's high level gear, even she can tell that. Her kit is only just good enough for this floor. She'll do her best, of course, but she's likely the weakest link here. The archers likely outrange her crossbow, the casters will get her if she stands back if the archesr don't, and her melee gear likely won't scratch the tanks. She may have to do something crazy, using the other Gatecrashers as a distraction to get around to the backline, where the gear disparity won't be so bad against weaker armour.     Mistral asides to the others. "I'm gonna try somethin'. If you can distract 'em long enough, I might be able to take out their backline and make an openin' for ya." 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Kagura hasn't been as active in Alfheim Online as she used to be, but it's still fun to log in and help explore a dungeon or take down a field boss. She hasn't joined in to battle against any of the floor bosses in New Aincrad ... at least, not until now. But she *has* spent enough time in New Aincrad that she looks and feels reasonably comfortable in a dungeon. She wears an enameled light breastplate over her tunic, with reinforced gauntlets and boots; the color scheme might bring her Light Suit to mind, for those who've seen Yuna in battle outside of the game-world. (And the custom color scheme cost her some well-spent Yrd, to be sure.) The case which holds her harp is more visible than her buckler, and the short sword she uses is sheathed across her back when not in use - harp or buckler would be easier to grab if not for considerable practice. Kagura looks over the crowd of other players, pursing her lips briefly. "Well, I've gone for the musical-distraction route before," she says with a mischievous smile, remembering the concert that kept a group of hostile players preoccupied while the other Gatecrashers were raiding a dungeon for one of the racial seals back during the main Alfheim quest. "If they don't recognize me, I could pose as a wandering bard, regale them with a few songs ... I doubt I'd get away with throwing debuffs into my music though." Her expression turns serious. "Are we sure we can't just ask them to back off for a while, let the SK do their thing?" 

:'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''     Karian looks over to Kagura and shrugs. "I can always duel them...We win, you leave." He suggests. The smile on his face hints that he was hoping for that route. 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:'''      "I guess it would be nice if we could get them to leave peacefully," Silverbloom says. "But... it kind of sounds like these aren't the kinds of people who'd listen to our kinds of reasons." They were the more competitive types who wanted to beat everyone else. They wouldn't let anyone's friendship get in the way of their conquest. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to try, though." 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:'''     "hoooh?" Kirito cants his head slightly, seemingly disappointed by the sight that awaits them. Disappointed, and maybe a little irritated. This is trouble, his gut tells him. The boy-in-black is better at reading between the lines sometimes than he lets on and... yeah, he is pretty sure this is trouble.     "Looks like those rumors I was hearing had something to them after all." He murmurs to himself, shaking his head. Oi vey... 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki glances back at her team, taking a moment to gauge their reactions. There's some relief at calls for debate, and more relief when people indicate they're willing to fight. Some surprise too at Yuuki herself seemingly callously calling to let their new allies fight it out with these scumbag killstealers. There's method to her madness, of course. Pragmatically speaking, if they avoid taking damage and using consumables, they can enter the room and fight the boss fresh. If they take damage or are forced to start using healing items just to engage in a little light PvP, they risk losing their real goal. And if they don't get in there NOW, they'll have to try again on another level. That's not a terrible thing, since they're forewarned and forearmed this time, but ... well, it'd mean LOSING to these jerks. Again. And that would SUCK!     Yuuki turns back to Karian, favoring him with a smile. "Ojiisan, if they could be convinced by a duel I'd be happy, but we both know they won't give up their advantage of numbers to fight someone as fierce as you!" she says cheerfully. She glances at the two Pucas, nodding. "It would have to be quite a distraction!" she says, implying rather good-naturedly that she doesn't think it'd work, but that she isn't going to doubt or fault them. "But hey, if we can get to the door and get inside, we can keep them out easily and shut the door. Once the door's shut they can't interfere. It'll be our fight to win or lose, and if we lose they deserve their shot!" she says. She nods to Mistral. "A distraction, forcing them to wheel to protect their casters... maybe!" Yuuki nods enthusiastically. It could work, possibly.     Finally Yuuki turns to Mistral. Someone she doesn't know, but she certainly appreciates the sentiment. "I want to punch them all in thir stupid faces." she confides. "But Asuna convinced me we need to focus on the real goal here. So I hate to do this, but I might have to ask all of you to punch them for us!" she grins fiercely. "Because yeah, maybe they WILL listen to reason, but I really doubt it. Sometimes fighting's the only way to show someone how serious you are!" she claims, and turns to regard the foe.     Four groups. 28 endgame raiders, prepared to take on the hardest boss uncovered in Aincrad so far. Against them, not quite two full groups, one group of which can't afford to engage in prolonged battle. She touches her sword hilt, a look of concentration firming her expression into a frown. "Again... this is your fight. But any time you want us to cut through the middle of them, I'm game. So if this is what you want... CHARGE!" she shouts, sweeping her sword out of its sheath in a ringing martial salute. 

:'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''     Karian smirks towards Yuuki and nods. He draws his own greatsword and then spots the salamander amongst the sleeping knights. "You know how to use that sword?" He asks him. It wasn't much of anything, at least the iron wolf thought. But hey, maybe he could try to teach him some stuff. He sets the tip of the blade on the ground and waits to see what the group decided. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:''' Mistral cracks her neck, and settles into a stance. She's ready to charge in, maybe even use the Sylph's wallrun to bypass the front-liners and get behind to the casters and healers. She'll wait for an opening, when Iron Wolf and the other frontliners engage, maybe, hoping they think she's not a threat. She's not sporting any super-high level gear, after all.     Given an opening, she darts forward, mounting up a wall and leaping over the killstealer front line, attempting to drop down atop a caster while they're distracted with a spell, two handaxes flashing out as she chops down into them. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Kagura nods, then looks at Silverbloom. "How much have you learned about performing for effects?" she inquires of her fellow Puca. "I've gotten some good practice in, against mobs and against other players - more the former than the latter," she admits. There isn't exactly a whole lot of time to discuss strategy, though; every minute the Gatecrashers and Sleeping Knights spend on strategizing is a minute in which the other raid groups could finish their preparations and charge in to attack the boss. So Kagura keeps her ears open (and half an 'eye' on the chat window) as she unslings her harp and strolls over to the raiders - just as Mistral goes on the attack. This apparently isn't going to prompt much of a change of approach on Kagura's part, though; she just looks resigned, and starts strumming her harp's strings with the hand that isn't supporting the instrument's weight. Her attention flicks over the targets of Mistral's wrath, and she murmurs a few syllables of the Alfheim casting-tongue to help focus the effect she's weaving into her music ... but it's the music itself that carries the effect: a defense-weakening debuff, to slow her targets' reactions by JUST a little bit. Just enough, hopefully. 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:'''      Annie also approaches Yuuki, holding out a corked bottle. "So... um, Miss Zekken, when you get to the boss you should use this. I've been working on it for a while. It might help... it might just be cool! Or if you don't want the help you could just use it when you're done." It was, of course, a bottled Puca song. And since it now counted as an item, it wouldn't count as Silverbloom casting a spell against the boss herself, so it wouldn't interfere with the plan. That particular song was actually a bit of a custom performance, weaving an established buff tune into what could only be described as a Zekken theme song (or even a theme song for all the Sleeping Knights, depending on what Annie had learned about them by then), with bombastic lyrics worthy of superheroes... but still played on a lyre.      Giving a thumbs-up to Kagura, Silverbloom joins her side, playing her own lyre and singing the magical lyrics softly. There was actually a bit of harmony going on all of a sudden- Silverbloom's spell, complimenting Kagura's, would improve her allies' agility. 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:'''     Well, Kirito's not about to just randomly ATTACK people for no reason. He doesn't really subscribe to this sort of behavior. So instead of just going on the attack for what he thinks is inevitable, Kirito instead starts a strolling towards the group - though he halts his approach when the others just... OPEN FIRE. He blinks a bit.     Oh... well. MMORPGs are just kinda crazy sometimes like this! "Not even trying to negotiate first won't look good later..." Not that he cares what sort of rep he has, but it still makes him wince thinking about it.     But both hands come up to deftly grasp his twin swords, and wrench them free with the comforting scraping sound of metal on metal. Vox Unitas in one hand, Divination in the other, with practiced ease Kirito leaps forward and twirls the weapons threateningly. "You guys better make way... 'cuz if not, the death penalty awaits!"     Skill growth loss, at the highest levels, REALLY sucks.     Man, if people had just waited, he could have maybe tried to intimidate them or maybe negotiate. Oh well. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki grins down at Silverbloom, reaching out to accept the bottled buff and ruffling the girl's hair. "Thanks! That ought to be great!" she beams, tickled that someone created an anthem for her. Silverbloom's absolutely right, of course. A bottled spell is an item, not anything that would be invalidated by the boss battle.     Jun sizes the Iron Wolf up. And up. And up. The boy grins. "I don't have a lot of time to learn." he says. "But Yuuki says you're good. Really good. I'll keep an eye on you, maybe pick up a thing or two!" he adds cheerfully. He joins the front line, along with stoic Tecchi. Yuuki, Nori and Talken also step up, fanning out just behind the front line, clearly intending to at least engage in the initial rush.     The guild of killstealers recognize at least some of the group charging in, but seem a bit nonplussed by being charged by a force half their size. A bulky gnome directs them, standing forth as a front-liner, arranging the other heavy tank types to take the brunt of the charge, spacing out the melee fighters, protecting the casters and archers and healers.     Mistral easily evades the front lines, though she draws a few quick shots and spells from the back lines. The spells are rushed, the archer aim a bit uncertain due to Mistral's speed and unusual angle. These aren't PvPers so much as dedicated Raiders, so they're unused to certain tactics. And once Mistral's in close, the casters and archers begin to crumple. Not completely though. A couple pull out melee weapons, or turn their staves on Mistral. They're not super-damaging weapons, nor do the casters have the experience to be particularly deadly in melee, but she's not going to carve into their ranks entirely free of opposition.     Karian, leading the front line, will find himself up against a gnome that can match him in size and probably beat him in armor, but won't have nearly the same strength or speed. The gnome is assisted by other gnomes and salamanders though. Tecchi steps forward, swinging his mace into the shield wall, trying to break the formation itself rather than do any particular damage to any one person. And when he's swung at, Tecchi just.. isn't there. He steps back, blocking with his shield, breaking the formation alternately and giving way, letting individuals come through to be struck hard by the other Sleeping Knights. They're a force of whirlwind destruction, lashing out with blades and blunt weapons, painting their foes with red lines and simply vanishing from any return swings. They're all fast, all skilled, and all trained by many boss battles to NOT stand in the way of oncoming attacks. Besides, they're also under the effects of Silverbloom's buff while Kagura's debuff reduces the opposing team's agility. An enemy puca bard begins a countermelody, but he's nowhere near as effective as the two Gatecrasher pucas in tandem.     As for Kirito, well, a lone swordsman making a threat in the middle of an open PvP battle, it doesn't really have a whole lot of impact. The swordsmen aren't about to charge forward and engage him past the front-liners of the Gatecrashers and Sleeping Knights after all. Still, a few casters chant. Kirito's island of relative calm, back from the front ranks where there's no threat of friendly fire, draws their attention. A series of magical bolts, blue red and green spells, arch up from the casters not being butchered by Mistral. They rain down at Kirito, at Siune, at Silverbloom and Kagura who are hanging back in a relatively small group of apparent casters. 

:'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''     Karian grins down at the gnome, laughing loudly. "About time someone could match me! I guess I don't need to hold back!" He roars. Yuuki would know exactly what he meant by that. Gripping his greatsword in both hands, the Iron Wolf lets it fly with all the strength and control an age-old warrior could. Aiming to clear a cone in front of him, and if he was really lucky, make more room for the others. "Show me what you've got!" 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe Was doing well enough and she looked over to Kirito for a moment and she shrugs at Annie's answer this is a game with a PVP element she expects there to be a fiught it's just how it is after all. She seems ready though that Yuuki and her friends seem to be ready to go and she tilts hr head a little bit. "Numbers won't mean squat honestly, they are out classed by us." She's got a wide almost toothy grin on her face. She's ready for a brawl and she look at the groups s they are coming in and she smirks a little bit for a moment. "Ih this is what you want to do? You really want to fight us? All right I'll make some nice Yrd off selling your drops." With that she's got Dawn Breaker out and the Mourning wall ready as she dives into the raiders rants and she's also taken the time to charge her sword with light elemental power. Tomoe's also looking like she's having far too much fun. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Mistral steps back as a caster swings their staff at her. She parries the staff aside, then draws both axe blades back behind her, their blades glowing green as she charges up a Sword Skill. "Wind Dance." Her body switches to autopilot, cleaving into the poor caster with a series of sweeping chops, she carries on into the next guy, an archer, then another caster, before a second archer manages to parry the final hit, knocking the Sylph off balance.     Mistral turns, parries the return attack, and tries to repress her advantage, before a magic bolt slams into her back. She's in the middle of an angry group of players, she might not last long, but she's going down fighting. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Whatever cheer Kagura may derive from seeing the effects of her debuffs, the sight of incoming spell-bolts reminds her that this battle is NOT one-sided; the other players will be doing everything they can to squash the interlopers who got in the way of their run at the floor boss. It actually makes her feel a little guilty to think how she overlooked that ... and then the spells start landing. She lets out a brief yelp, her performance interrupted; after the first hit she takes, she's actually more free to try and dodge the others than while she was in the middle of weaving a magic tune against the opponents. So she dodges to the best of her ability, and if she can find a couple of seconds and a spot where she's not being 'shot' at, she tries another spell of her own - this time trying to debuff the opponents' accuracy. She might have to join combat directly at this rate. 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:'''     When spells start flying, Kirito steps forward TOWARDS them, one of his sword arms relaxing slack in favor of Vox Unitas.     It's a crazy thing to do.     In a narrow corridor, there's no way to dodge. Not enough time, and not enough room. If those strike, Kirito's definitely toast. But he steps into their path, seemingly to protect the Sleeping Knights.     Seemingly at the last moment his trusted blade shines crimson - and then, with a challenged smirk on his face Kirito vanishes in a serise of explosions and flashy special effects of the sort you only see on an MMORPG. Fire, wind, ice, all consume him in massive plumes.     The whistling sound of a swung blade cleaves through the cacaphony, scattering the smoke and sizzling elemental power... revealing Kirito, the last hints of a Sword Skill's glow fading from Vox Unitas, and one hell of a fearless smile aimed at the offending mages.     "Hmmmmmmm.... they're just too slow, those spells. Even the fastest ones don't hold a candle to an anti-material rifle's bullet."     He... cut the magic?     That should be impossible. A sword blade can't stop a spell. It takes magic to stop magic. Which means he HAD to have used a Sword Skill with elemental properties.     Not only that, but 'center' of a spell, the coded center of its effect, is not immediately visible, and must be deduced. With that in mind, stopping one spell in a controlled situation MIGHT be possible.     But it's a well-known thing. Sword Skills, once launched, cannot really be controlled. Slight shifts to path, with great difficulty... that's all anyone can manage. To cut not one, but a whole party's worth of coordinated bombardment, on the fly....?!     What the hell was that?     Such a thing has never, EVER been seen in Alfheim Online before.     The waves of sheer confidence rolling of Kirito might be enough to cow the mages. He's certainly hoping so, and that it will give his allies a complete and total opening!     Becuse he's not ditching the Sleeping Knights he's protecting just yet, while mages can still open fire! 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:'''      Silverbloom also has to maneuver through a rain of spells. If anyone tries to get close to her, they'll probably end up facing a sonic scream or a staff to the face. In any case, she thinks her next move should probably be to boost her defense against the enemy magic. Holding them off was the whole point, it seemed. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     "Knights!" Yuuki calls out, raising her sword high for a moment. An enemy DPS sees this, thinks to take advantage of it, and sweeps his blade at her. She snaps up her foot, meeting his arm with her heel and kicking the blade flying into the air. Her own blade never wavers, until she deliberately brings it down to point at Mistral.     The other Knights understand, and pull back from the line of battle to form up around Yuuki. Tecchi and Jun to either side, forming a wedge. Nori and Talken flanking, Siune well-protected in the middle. Then as one they leap forward.     The Iron wolf knocks the guild leader sprawling, that one hit shaving off half his health and flooring him at the same time. Other tanks stumble from the force of the blow. Even with Kagura's debuff gone, their line is unsteady and ripe for a good pounding.     A number of casters and some melee fighters stare in stunned disbelief as Kirito ruins their magic. It's impossible. It's well-known to be impossible. Even if you had the right sort of elemental magic, even if you had the skills necessary, even if you had the speed to analyze the spell and determine its physical point... no one has the speed to do it all. No one.     The shock and surprise of Kirito's impossible act - which no doubt he was counting on, and acted that way for extra shock and awe - gives a moment of respite. The front line is paused, whether to start in amazement or because they sense the faltering of their allies and naturally hesitate as well. The casters pause as well, giving Silverbloom, Kagura and Mistral a moment to recover.     At that point, the Sleeping Knights charge. They lance through the weakened front line, led by the violet streak of Zekken, the gap hammered wide open by the broad shoulders of Jun and Tecchi. Spear and warhammer strike in passing, skewering and tripping and smashing those opponents who try to recover. NONE of the Knights are trying to kill, just to break through, to keep anything from forming up and closing ranks against them. In passing, and not unintentionally, they rip through at least a third of Mistral's opposition, giving her an opening to flee or strike before cutting their way through the healers as well.     They don't stop, in fact, until they hit the boss door. Striking it, pushing against it, until it slooooowly begins to creak open. Now their formation reverses, Talken and Nori using their long weapons, spinning them and darting quickly, keeping anyone from closing in on their group. Yuuki steps between them, her blade ready to pierce anyone foolish enough to try to rush her friends. And the boss door... opens. 

:'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''     Karian grins as he see's the guild leader go flying back. He lets a howl erupt from his avatar as he moves to keep him down. In a familiar display, he unloads his own sword skill, Moon breaker. Aiming to send the guild leader flying up into the sky, and then help him down with the blade edge of his sword. "Anyone else?!" 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' The momentary respite is much appreciated by Kagura, and with a grin, she puts it to the best use she can think of - trying to lay down a Haste effect on her allies, and as many of the Sleeping Knights as she can still include in the effect. She's not sure how well any buffs from outside their number will hold once the Knights engage the floor boss, but one of the oldest pieces of gamer wisdom is 'any advantage is useful' - especially when you ARE going into a major boss fight. She just hopes it helps, rather than leaving them off-balance at a bad moment. Once her buff is off, Kagura spares a moment to swap from her harp to her sword and shield. "I'm sorry about cutting you all off at the pass," she says to the other guild - and she actually IS sorry that it had to be done so rudely - "but you can't compose a song to the bravery and power of a guild if they don't get to show it off!" And with that, she enters the fray ... at least, if there's still an actual fray to BE entered. The other guild might still try to interrupt the Sleeping Knights, given a chance; Kagura's not about to let that happen. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Mind out, coming through, make way for the Knight Train.     Mistral grins at her archer opponent, then hops back, letting him get mown down by the passing Sleeping Knights. She raises one axe, issuing a challenge to the wavering enemies. "You wanna go after them? You go through me first." she issues forth, moving to block the path to the boss door so the Knights can get through. "Come at me, if you dare." she goads, her axe blades flickering green. 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:'''     Success. Hints of triumph flicker across Kirito's face the moment the enemy's too distracted to notice he can't quite keep up that badass expression charade much longer.     Even though, well, he WAS full of that much smug satisfaction at victory... in truth, that was a gamble.     He's never tried cutting seven spells simultaneously before, after all.     But since the mages stop firing, he raises his own weapons and begins to chant. Normally he doesn't bother with magic much, but today, 'shock and awe' is most effective, given they're outnumbered.     That, and other matters.     Norse glyphs whirl around him, locking in to the worlds of a spell that most people would call... pretty useless.     It's one of the two or three that he's actually memorized. Because Kirito really, really hates how spells work in Alfheim Online. Karian might like it though, maybe.     "�e�r hr��a n�tt d�pt renn helvegr!"     Translated: 'Frighten them, depth of the night, and chase them along the roads of hell.'     One of the basic Illusion magics. But Kirito's body is engulfed again in flames, this time ones of his own making. But what emerges from those flames...     A HUGE creature, big enough to reach the distant ceiling. A greater demon of the Gleam Eyes family - thin red fur, glowing eyes, fancily curling goat horns, a toothy maw big enough to bite a fairy in half... and a long, tapering, muscular tail... impatiently thumping the ground.     Kirito SNORTS at them, small plumes of smoke from its nostrils showing just how demonic this creature really is. 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:'''      Silverbloom gets excited watching the Sleeping Knights charge through. She has to be sure they'll make it through the door and none of the interlopers ruin it. But, it looks like they're going to make it! Just as Kagura draws her sword, Silverbloom also switches to her staff, keeping the opponents at bay with it. And then... Kirito does his thing. "You know, Mr. Kirito... You should really join our troupe," she suggests. "If you're going to put on a show like that!" 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe is having a grand old time of it as she fights the raider and she's laughing ond and off as she battles the variosu rank and file. She banishes her weapons rapidly opening her inventory and swapping weapons gone is the sword board and in thier place is a Naginata and she gets a bit of grin on her face she starts rapidly flipping up into the air and chanting while she's airborne she has the runs fly about her and the weapon blazes with white fire before hse comes in for a landing. She does not stop she launches into a combo of strikes there's no sword skill being used here this is all her she does several wide blows and then several impales nd makes use of her agility and reach. "LUNAR REQUEM!" Her attacks contiune for longer but it's a lite to say they havne't been hurting her but she's a tank and a very powerful one. "Is this the best you can do?! Come on how do you expect to beat the ghost of the death game?!" 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     You really only need two people to open a boss door. As large and massive as they are, the do move at a push. Slowly, reluctantly, but they move. The key is they're designed so someone can't open them while fighting... but two can open them just fine while everyone else fights.     No doubt the remaining guild members would love to charge in, to try to get inside with the Sleeping Knights. Not to kill them, most likely. They have little chance of that now. Still, they need to do something to spoil the run. The last thing they want is to lose a fight like this AND the boss battle. Losing drops is bad enough, but it's even worse when you lose the chance at floor boss loot that this guild lives and fights for.     Of course it's only a game, and this time the raider guild is playing against impossible odds. The group who can nearly defeat a floor boss alone. Other fighters with strength that top the charts and reflexes that make it clear that a lot more than mere game stats give them that strength. A black-clad swordsman who can do something flat-out IMPOSSIBLE.     Sure it's just a game, but this game's rigged. The worst part is the guild groups have lost their cohesion. Some fighters turn to Mistral and the back-rank Sleeping Knights, trying to preserve their original goal. Others turn to face the Iron Wolf and Iron Lily, trying to earn a PvP victory. Others, seeing the terror that is Kirito's Crimson Gleam Eyes, try to run. If they don't wipe, then at least there's no loss of loot. Any one of these three paths may have provided some hope... but acting on all three at once only spells certain defeat.     Another few moments and the boss doors begin to slowly close. There's been no chance for any of the raiders to slip in, either to attack or to attempt to break up the single-party victory. A familiar may have gotten in... but so what? Let them watch. If anyone survives to use the familiar spell to spy, they can see the Knights and Asuna in their prime, buffed and ready, pumped with adrenaline and taking on the boss with every expectation of meeting their goal, of making their mark upon this in the ultimate challenge.     It may not be much of a legend in the end, but it's THEIR legend. It's what they've set their sights on. And perhaps, if their luck and skill holds out, there will be TWO impossible things achieved here today. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' If Kagura doesn't have to join in the direct fighting, she's happy not to - but she's not going to leave her allies while there are still hostiles on the field, and she's especially not going to leave a chance for the other guild to go after the Sleeping Knights while the Knights are focused on getting into the boss room. "You fine people have a choice," she says with a cheerful smile. "I'd *much* rather stick to the harp than get my sword dirty, so if you want to stand down, I can play a few more songs for you to enjoy ..." Including a couple of spell-disrupting tunes she's been trying to piece together. "... but if you insist on keeping this violent, then I suppose I'll have to stand my ground with blade in hand until you've had your fill. So, what's your choice?" 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:'''      Silverbloom grins as she shakes her staff, letting the chimes on its end jingle. "I vote for the songs!" she says. 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:'''     A classic one-two punch for shock and awe this is, and that's just from Kirito's efforts. This many people opening up with everything out of nowhere on a Guild that wasn't expecting a serious PVP confrontation?     Yeah, that's a foregone conclusion. Even if you're geared for a raid, fighting experience means SO much more in PVP.     This group - well, most people in it - have that in spades.     With the Sleeping Knights plowing through, Kirito loses much of his spirit to keep fighting.     It's not like lives are at stake after all.     But when people start turning, he can't help it. He chases and does some halfhearted swipes at them, roaring to get them running FASTER!     The Spriggan does love his mischief. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe is not showing the raider guild any real mercy either she has a plan she will move to finish off downed parts of the raid. After all she darn well knows the dirty pool they are playing and them losing some of their gear and items is a wonderful lesson also it would set the guild back. If there was one thing that would mess them up good would be to bring down their tnake but right now she's being a whirlwind of doom. She'll even attempt to behead one and as the fight gets thicker she speaks up. "Is that all you got?" She now pulls back and starts to chant as she launches a barrage of light rays trying to hit as much of the enemy raid as she can. 

}}

3255/Not Just a Game

2015-11-13T02:49:03Z

MoreBeer: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/10/22 |Location=Alfheim Online <ALO> |Synopsis=Asuna can't find Yuuki anywhere in the virtual world, so tracks her down in real life, determin..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/10/22
|Location=Alfheim Online <ALO>
|Synopsis=Asuna can't find Yuuki anywhere in the virtual world, so tracks her down in real life, determined to learn the truth.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=9, 874
|Tinyplot=
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     After disconnecting in tears, Yuuki hasn't reconnected. Messages sent to her, whether online or offline, haven't been returned. There's been quite literally no sign. As to the other Sleeping Knights who were all there when Yuuki disconnected, they showed dismay but no serious concern. They know what's going on, of course. They know Yuuki's reasons, or at least some of them. They know what none of them can discuss. And while they all remain contactable, and no doubt all are in Asuna's friends list, none will admit to what's going on. They at most will offer to try to get hold of Yuuki, but to no avail. She's not answering *any* messages... something which saddens but doesn't surprise her guildmates.     If Asuna's going to reach out to Yuuki, it'd have to be from a different world... which is of course impossible, as Yuuki has deliberately not shared any RL information. Her age is obvious enough, and it's reasonable enough to assume her name is Yuuki IRL, but then so's Asuna's. It's not a rare name, and there would have to be thousands of 15 year old Yuukis in the nation. 

:'''{{#var:9|Asuna (9)}} has posed:''' Somehow, she had gotten the information. The how, the why, everything else didn't matter, but Asuna now stood in the hospital, her long chestnut hair cascading down her back as she approached the desk. A name, she had a name... the Yuuki Yuuki jokes float through her head for a moment, before she approaches and asks, politely, "I'm looking for a Yuuki-san?" Asuna, you're in for a world of surprise. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     The hospital staff, professional and somewhat used to distraught friends and relatives coming in, greet Asuna with calm openness. "Ah... do you have any more information? I'm afraid just a single name isn't enough." she says apologetically. Not even Yuuki's age, normally, would be enough.     The magic key that unlocks this door, however, would be the mention of the Medicuboid. With the right department, and Asuna's name given, a call can be made. Asuna will be told to wait, but the wait won't be long. Soon, a relatively young doctor comes forward. "I'm sorry for the wait." he says. "Aaah then, you are Yuuki Asuna-san?" he asks. "I'm Kurahashi. Konno Yuuki-san's doctor." 

:'''{{#var:9|Asuna (9)}} has posed:''' "Konno Yuuki..." Asuna lets the name roll around in her mouth for a few moments, before she nodded. "Yes, I am Yuuki Asuna. It is a honor to meet you, Kurahashi-sensei. Yuuki-san is here, as a patient, with... the Medicuboid?" It's somewhat a question, but also a clarification of what information she has. Asuna looks briefly sad for a moment, but there are some things that are coming together in her brain as the wheels and gears turn, before she gives him a smile. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     The doctor leads Asuna off. This will, of course, be a long conversation. Not something to have in the waiting room. While he seems open and friendly enough, and definitely curious about the girl come to see his patient, he takes his time actually getting to the point, refusing to answer anything of consequence beyond simple acknowledgment of her question until they're both seated in a private lounge, with a coffee before each.     "I'm amazed you found this place." he finally says, sipping at his drink. "Yuuki-kun said someone named Asuna-san might come to see her, and that if you did I could tell you... well, everything. But she said she didn't tell you about the hospital, so I told her there was no way you'd find us. But... when the front desk called me, I was surprised." he says, sounding both pleased and amused to be wrong. 

:'''{{#var:9|Asuna (9)}} has posed:''' "I have a very clever group of friends, and... Yuuki-san is... a friend. So we were all concerned for her, that is why there was ... so much time and effort put into finding her. It's true, though, there are a lot of Yuukis, but... there were clues." "I... suppose I should be forward. I was one of the survivors of Sword Art Online. It may or may not change how you explain or view things, but I thought you should know." She's pretty sure Yuuki knows by now, after all. It's one of those sorts of things. "What... what is wrong with her, sensei?" 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     The doctor gets a look on his face when Sword Art Online is mentioned. It does explain things, a little. In some ways it makes things easier, and in others what Asuna says can only make things harder.     Yuuki did say he could tell her everything, however. So he smiles, a remarkably sympathetic smile for one in his position. "All she does is talk about you, you know." he says wryly. "And then when she's done, well, she would cry." he confesses. Asuna has to be told... has to know what she's getting into. And also, he has to somehow make her understand that Yuuki didn't hide from her out of some childish whim. "She never complains about her own situation, and she did desperately want to see you, but she couldn't." he explains. "I suppose I ... should begin by telling you about the Medicuboid." the doctor says.     And so Kurahashi-sensei explains about the device. An offshoot of Sword Art Online's NervGear, one not trusted because of what had happened in SAO itself. He explains what it does, some of how it works, and even gushes a little over the potential it has for treating patients without the use of drugs. He also explains how no one would be willing to risk the trial, because no one knew what kind of damage such strong electromagnetic pulses being sent directly into the brain could cause.     "But of course..." the doctor says, removing his glasses, giving himself a somewhat melancholy look. "... the Medicuboid does nothing to treat the underlying illness." he explains. "It can only provide relief. And so, it's hoped that it will have the most impact on patients in terminal care." 

:'''{{#var:9|Asuna (9)}} has posed:''' The look is graciously not commented on. Asuna pauses from commenting when he goes on, and on, especially details about the Medicuboid. She feels like she should be taking notes for Kirito, except Kirito might as well be developing the darned thing, for all she knows. Instead, she inhales and exhales quietly as she registers his very last statement of words. She does.. flinch the smallest bit. "Yuuki-san has a terminal disease?" 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     "You may wish, later, I hadn't said anything." confesses the doctor, polishing his glasses absently with a cloth pulled from a pocket. "But I can see you didn't come all this way to be put off." He puts his glasses back on, beckoning wordlessly to Asuna to follow him.     He leads her to a nearby department, explaining her situation. Her birth, the c-section, the trauma, the transfusion with tainted blood. That the entire family had become infected even before the virus was detected.     He stops beside a rather solid-looking door, one without windows. "Here we are." he says gravely. The door slides open when he presses his ID to a panel. Inside is another small waiting room, with nothing but a few benchlike chairs and a large opaque window in one wall. An observation room. "The room beyond this is a clean room, so you can't go in. Please understand." he says, not quite apologetic. Then he turns to a control panel.     A few taps, and lights come on in the other room, making it possible to see through the windows. Inside, a device that could only be the Medicuboid sits. Lying on the bed, head almost completely enclosed by the medicuboid, with wires and tubes attached to her, is a small girl, her body utterly wasted well beyond that of any of the SAO Survivors. 

:'''{{#var:9|Asuna (9)}} has posed:''' Dread and fear builds in Asunas' heart. The story just makes it over ridden by something close to guilt, and grief, and when they're finally in the room and she can see the body of Zekken, her friend, her sister, does Asuna let out anything close to a inappropriate noise, and that noise is a startled, pained gaps, before she places her hands over her mouth, one hand flicking up to turn her radio off. "Oh... Yuuki..." Her breath comes out slow and careful... "Sensei... what exactly is Yuuki's condition?" 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Within the Medicuboid, Yuuki watches all this unfold. Not with her eyes of course. Her body is completely motionless save only for the shallowest of breaths, probably not visible from the other side of the glass. No, she's watching from the cameras. Asuna's reaction threatens to break her heart, but still she says nothing. This is important. Asuna sought her out relentlessly, and found her. Yuuki couldn't prevent that, even had she really wanted to. But still, the rest of it needs to come out. Asuna has to hear and see the worst. Sheltering her, distracting her at this point, could only do harm.     "AIDS." the doctor explains, speaking of the disease. How it's usually treatable, but that this was a resistant strain. Explaining what the family went through, particularly what happens when a child has to take such medication on a regular basis, and some hint of the side effects.     It's not all grim, of course. The family faced despair and depression, but they all in the end chose to fight, each in their own way. He explains how Yuuki suffered from prejudice, and how her immune system failed when she was in the fourth grade, and how she's been in the hospital ever since, though she never stopped smiling. How she volunteered for the Medicuboid trial upon his suggestion, a little over three years ago. "I still don't know if it was a good suggestion or not. She and her parents both worried over it. But her longing for the unknown of a virtual world was probably the deciding factor." he says, appearing to be weighted down by the burden of the decision. "She's been in this room for over three years now." he says, not quite sighing. "And ever since then, she's lived in the Medicuboid. She almost never returns to the real world, not sleeping or waking." 

:'''{{#var:9|Asuna (9)}} has posed:''' Asuna stares at the figure that lies there on the bed. Her hand, finally, comes up to the window, pressing her palm against it as she considers the doctors words, everything he's told her, phrases she's heard Kirito say, the way that Yuuki acted in the virtual world... yes, it made sense. Up until now, Asuna would've thought she and the other survivors - especially the three hundred that got stuck - would be the ones that were in virtual world the longest. But here... here was a real swordsman. "Is there... any hope for her?" She asks, finally blinking rapidly as warmth and tears stung, threatening at her eyes. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     This is probably the question a terminal-care doctor fears the most. The answer, quite clearly, is no. "Even in a clean room, we can't remove the bacteria and viruses from her body." he says heavily, but without any attempt to dissemble. Even if they could cleanse her temporarily, the strain of her body's wasting on her heart alone would eventually be fatal. "Yuuki-kun's condition is terminal. She may survive a few months, but there is no way she can be cured." He pauses, sympathetic but also rather relentless. His patient IS Yuuki, after all. He doesn't know Asuna and while he sympathises with her, he's serving his patient in telling this sad tale. "You can probably understand why she tried to disappear." he finishes. 

:'''{{#var:9|Asuna (9)}} has posed:''' Asuna blinks away the wet, heavy feeling of tears streaking down her cheeks, her hand still pressed against the glass. "Yuuki-san..." The complex arrangement of feelings were running through her now, and Asuna was mostly felt with a quiet, steadfast determination, that this absolute swordsman, her friend, the one who helped Asuna brighten back up to life, would not... waste away. She would try to help her friend. Medicine was coming along every day, and this was the multiverse... Asuna drifted away in her thoughts. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki frowns, her own tears threatening to spill. Not the real-life body of flesh of course, but her true self within the machine. She hates this, hates seeing Asuna so upset. But then... she also loves it. Not seeing her dear friend upset, of course, but seeing how much she clearly cares.     She takes a deep breath, clenching her teeth. Courage. Asuna's shown so much... surely she can show just a little, can't she? "Don't cry, Asuna!" she abruptly cries out. Her voice comes into the observation room, sounding from speakers, while a 'talking' message flashes on the panel of the Medicuboid.     Once she finally decides to speak, it becomes easier to continue. Her voice relaxes slightly, no longer quite so frantic. "Sugoi... you really do look just the same as on the other side." she says warmly, almost conversationally. "Thanks for coming to see me."     What more she has to say... well, she's not comfortable like this, unable to express herself, her body immobile. She hopes she's blocked at least some of Asuna's pain. But... what more she has to say, she wants to do it face to face. "Sensei, please let her use the room next door." Yuuki asks, sounding calm and in control.     "It's okay." the doctor replies, smiling and clearly pleased that Yuuki's done running away. "I have an Amusphere I use to talk with her." he says, turning towards the panel and opening up a doorway into another adjoining room.     Yuuki's voice comes over the speakers. "ALO is on the startup list. When you log in, come to the tree where we first met." she requests. 

:'''{{#var:9|Asuna (9)}} has posed:''' "Y-yuuki?!" Asuna's head jerks around when she hears her friend, although when she realizes where it's coming from, she pauses to take a few deep breaths, wiping at her face. "R-right, I'll meet you there!" She bows swiftly to the doctor before she rapidly walks past him into the room, settling herself in comfortably before she boots up and logs into ALfheim Online. Asuna breaks a few speed records, she figures, because before she's even had time to adjust being a fairy with wings, she's thrown herself out of the window with flight, bolting towards the main city. In her hurried rush, she pushes through the crowd, gets transported, then flies her way over to the tree... to the special meeting place she shares. "Yuuki-san?" 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     The place they first met was the place they first fought, of course. It might be an odd sort of meeting place, but then Yuuki's an odd girl. Besides, at this time it's deserted. Other places special to them - the monument, the boss room - they're likely to be crowded or inaccessible.     The little island is shrouded in fog, and the sky is dark. Not so completely dark as to be impossible to see, but still difficult. Tough to tell if Yuuki is there yet or not. She had to be fairly distant, having last logged in on the first floor. She couldn't have beaten Asuna there... could she? Well, not unless she had a special teleport to near this point, which might explain why she'd chosen it as the stage for all her duelling.     As the light of dawn begins to break over the island, as the fog begins to part, it reveals Zekken, her back turned, staring out at the misty sunrise. She doesn't turn, not immediately, instead speaking softly, warmly. "I don't know why, but I had a feeling you'd find me in the real world. Even if I knew it was impossible." she says wistfully. She turns to look at Asuna, that wistful half-smile on her face. "And somehow you came." she says, not quite chuckling. "It's... pretty rare for my feelings to come true. I was happy... really happy." 

:'''{{#var:9|Asuna (9)}} has posed:''' "Of course I'd try to find you. You're my friend." Asuna says, instanteously. She doesn't even think about the words escaping her lips twice, because she means them strongly, and more importantly, /definitely means them/. Asuna is strong willed. Except in regards to her mother. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     That blurted confession brings a smile to Yuuki, but only for a moment. She's pleased, but she's not sure she deserves a friend like this. "Asuna... I'm sorry I ran away. That I couldn't tell you the truth." she says with obvious sincere regret. "I couldn't even tell you the truth about the Sleeping Knights." she says. Even now, she's not entirely sure she should tell Asuna... but she's promised herself no more lies, no evasions. Asuna has earned the truth, and she knows the hearts of her fellow Knights. They'll accept what she's decided, and no doubt they'll agree with her decision. "The reason we're disbanding... well, it's because two of us have been told we have only a few months to live."     Emotion floods through Yuuki's eyes, making them shimmer, but no tears fall. Not this time. "We wanted to have one last memory together from this wonderful world. To leave proof that we were here on that huge monument." she says, and at this she sounds excited. Sad, but there's still plenty of that vivaciousness of the girl who *lives* in virtual reality. "One last incredible adventure that we could brag about to my sister and the rest." 

:'''{{#var:9|Asuna (9)}} has posed:''' Asuna stares at her, before her head tilted to the side, tears glimmering in this world as well as the real one. "I see... I am... glad I could help you, be your friend. Even knowing what I know now, I can't, I won't, regret this experience!" "I'd still like to join the Sleeping Knights, too..." Asuna, please. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki smiles softly, warmly, and slowly approaches Asuna. Words... they aren't really enough. She's never been much of a talker. Yuuki's always been someone who *does* things.     Without regret, or at least without many regrets, she leans forward and falls into Asuna, wrapping the older girl into a tight hug. "Yeah." Yuuki says, beginning to weep again. An acknowledgment rather than agreement, but not refusal either. "I'm really happy I could come here and meet you." she says, her voice faltering. "Even more than that fight, even more than anything. What you just said is enough. It's enough for me." she says... sounding like she's also saying goodbye. "Whatever happens... I'm satisfied with everything." 

:'''{{#var:9|Asuna (9)}} has posed:''' Asuna returns the hug, her grip the tightest she can make it without it actually being punishing. She holds the purple haired girl again, starting to cry again, matching her real world, as it tends to happen for her. "I want to be your friend, Yuuki-san. Is there anything you can think of that you want, outside of exploring these virtual worlds?" 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     It does her good, hearing that. Yuuki smiles, her tears drying. She's cried a lot, but only because she's free with her feelings. The tears don't last long, because Yuuki can usually find something to make her smile again.     "You smell like Aiko-neesan." she says, for no reason in particular. "Your hair smells like the sun." Maybe she's trying to cheer Asuna up too, or maybe she's quite serious. Doesn't matter which, really.     "I... I don't think I really can do anything, other than be in these virtual worlds." she says, not regretfully, just explaining. "I really wanted my last big adventure to be the one we shared. It's okay, there doesn't have to be anything else. I'm happy just with this." 

:'''{{#var:9|Asuna (9)}} has posed:''' "Well... okay. If you're sure." Asuna says, warmly. She really doesn't let go of the hug. Nope. Not letting go anytime soon. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki nods, stroking Asuna's hair. "It's okay, really. But I ... I suppose I should say something to your friends too. And... mmm. I'd like to be with you when we can. Nothing big or anything. Just, you know..." she says, smiling. 

}}

Of the Inexpressable Future (Yuuki)

2015-10-22T00:02:34Z

MoreBeer:

{{Cutscene Header
|Date of Scene=2015/10/21
|Location=Alfheim Online - Floating Castle Aincrad
|Synopsis=In celebration, the Sleeping Knights and Asuna journey to see the proof of their victory. What's revealed there however makes it clear... this was never just about a video game fight.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=9, 874
|Tinyplot=
}}
Is it really possible for a single group to kill a floor boss? Yuuki and the Sleeping Knights would have never reached this moment if it weren't for the help given by the Gatecrashers. She owes them quite a lot for the way they handled that raider guild, cutting through them to give the Sleeping Knights a chance to reach the boss room. Iron Wolf and Iron Lily for holding and then breaking the line. Kirito for breaking their spirit. Mistral for charging in and stopping their casters, and Silverbloom and Kagura for the song magic and buffs that gave the edge to all of them.

Most of all though, they owe Asuna. Asuna who discovered the guild spies, Asuna who called her friends. She guided them, taught them, shared her experience with taking on powerful bosses, and in the end spotted the tricks to both the boss's ultimate defense and weak point. Yuuki may have scored the killing blow, she might have technically been the leader of the Knights, but she's only the heart of the team. This day, Asuna led them to the victory.

It's been a year now since the Sleeping Knights had someone they could rely on to guide them, not simply to lead them. Yuuki's acted as the leader, but she knows she lacks the patience and thoughtful kindness of their previous leader, Aiko. Not that Asuna could lead them in truth, but she's the guide they've missed ever since Aiko left. And Yuuki, more than any other of the Sleeping Knights, has desperately missed being with Aiko. No real surprise Yuuki chose Asuna to join their group, to help them achieve their dream. Aiko's dream. In so many ways, Asuna resembles Aiko.

"Leave it to me, neechan!" Yuuki had insisted. It's common enough for Japanese girls to politely address older girls as oneesan, or big sister. In the heat of battle however, Yuuki had inadvertently spoken as if to her real sister. A tiny slip, but the closeness implied by the endearment is even more intimate than when she'd tacklehugged Asuna to the ground in celebration of their victory.

The victory party had been nice, just the seven of them, but even that had its bittersweet moments. Asuna had asked to join the Sleeping Knights, only to learn that the guild would be disbanded, probably before spring. They'd decided this would be their last big thing, one triumphal moment to remember before life forced them to separate. Even then Asuna suspected she'd pressed too closely on something that was obviously a sore topic, retreating from that discussion with careful apologies. Rather than dwell on the awkwardness, she offered to bring the group to see what they'd fought so hard for. To see the Monument of Heroes where their names would all be etched as the champions of the 27th floor.

The offer brought Yuuki out of her brooding silence, bringing an actual smile to her as well. That would be nice, yes. Proof of a major victory, of a goal achieved. Even Jun's suggestion of pictures was welcome. Yuuki hardly needed to be dragged by the hand, but she allowed herself to be dragged regardless.

----

Standing in front of the monument, staring up at it for the first time since their victory, Yuuki finally felt it to be truth. "We really did it." she states in awe, unshed tears glimmering in her eyes. Not sorrow but a complex blend of joy and melancholy as she finally allowes herself to accept it. "There they are. Our names..." she says, almost in disbelief. Jun took the memorial picture to an assortment of smiles, cheesy grins, and victorious finger-salutes.

Then Yuuki turned back to the monument, returning to her hidden thoughts. "We did it, didn't we Yuuki?" asked Asuna, sharing the moment but not the thoughts running nonstop through the younger girl's head. Yuuki nodded, then speaks. "I finally did it, neechan." she says, looking up at the monument. The term brings a smile to Asuna. "You're saying it again." she says, clearly not upset at the affectionate term. Yuuki looks over in startled surprise. She hasn't realized it. Really, she hadn't been speaking to anyone actually present, except perhaps in spirit. She'd been speaking to herself, or perhaps more literally to her sister.

Clapping hands to her mouth, Yuuki's struck speechless. How could she explain? Aiko, her life... all of it? She couldn't even tell Asuna the truth, that she'd been speaking to Aiko. If that came out, then so would everything. Aiko, the secret of the Sleeping Knights, and what's likely to happen as spring comes. It's all... it's all too much.

Asuna's unaware of course, even as she explains that it makes her happy that Yuuki would call her a big sister. She only realizes when she looks, seeing tears running freely down Yuuki's cheeks, hands clasped firmly over her mouth to hold in the words that would devastate them both. Even as Asuna moves to comfort the younger girl, Yuuki backs away, then turns and opens the game menu. Without an explanation, without even a word, Yuuki logs out of the game, vanishing from sight.

Of the Inexpressable Future (Yuuki)

2015-10-21T23:59:45Z

MoreBeer: Created page with "{{Cutscene Header |Date of Scene=2015/10/21 |Location=Alfheim Online - Floating Castle Aincrad |Synopsis=In celebration, the Sleeping Knights and Asuna journey to see the proo..."

{{Cutscene Header
|Date of Scene=2015/10/21
|Location=Alfheim Online - Floating Castle Aincrad
|Synopsis=In celebration, the Sleeping Knights and Asuna journey to see the proof of their victory. What's revealed there however makes it clear... this was never just about a video game fight.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=
|Tinyplot=
}}
Is it really possible for a single group to kill a floor boss? Yuuki and the Sleeping Knights would have never reached this moment if it weren't for the help given by the Gatecrashers. She owes them quite a lot for the way they handled that raider guild, cutting through them to give the Sleeping Knights a chance to reach the boss room. Iron Wolf and Iron Lily for holding and then breaking the line. Kirito for breaking their spirit. Mistral for charging in and stopping their casters, and Silverbloom and Kagura for the song magic and buffs that gave the edge to all of them.

Most of all though, they owe Asuna. Asuna who discovered the guild spies, Asuna who called her friends. She guided them, taught them, shared her experience with taking on powerful bosses, and in the end spotted the tricks to both the boss's ultimate defense and weak point. Yuuki may have scored the killing blow, she might have technically been the leader of the Knights, but she's only the heart of the team. This day, Asuna led them to the victory.

It's been a year now since the Sleeping Knights had someone they could rely on to guide them, not simply to lead them. Yuuki's acted as the leader, but she knows she lacks the patience and thoughtful kindness of their previous leader, Aiko. Not that Asuna could lead them in truth, but she's the guide they've missed ever since Aiko left. And Yuuki, more than any other of the Sleeping Knights, has desperately missed being with Aiko. No real surprise Yuuki chose Asuna to join their group, to help them achieve their dream. Aiko's dream. In so many ways, Asuna resembles Aiko.

"Leave it to me, neechan!" Yuuki had insisted. It's common enough for Japanese girls to politely address older girls as oneesan, or big sister. In the heat of battle however, Yuuki had inadvertently spoken as if to her real sister. A tiny slip, but the closeness implied by the endearment is even more intimate than when she'd tacklehugged Asuna to the ground in celebration of their victory.

The victory party had been nice, just the seven of them, but even that had its bittersweet moments. Asuna had asked to join the Sleeping Knights, only to learn that the guild would be disbanded, probably before spring. They'd decided this would be their last big thing, one triumphal moment to remember before life forced them to separate. Even then Asuna suspected she'd pressed too closely on something that was obviously a sore topic, retreating from that discussion with careful apologies. Rather than dwell on the awkwardness, she offered to bring the group to see what they'd fought so hard for. To see the Monument of Heroes where their names would all be etched as the champions of the 27th floor.

The offer brought Yuuki out of her brooding silence, bringing an actual smile to her as well. That would be nice, yes. Proof of a major victory, of a goal achieved. Even Jun's suggestion of pictures was welcome. Yuuki hardly needed to be dragged by the hand, but she allowed herself to be dragged regardless.

----

Standing in front of the monument, staring up at it for the first time since their victory, Yuuki finally felt it to be truth. "We really did it." she states in awe, unshed tears glimmering in her eyes. Not sorrow but a complex blend of joy and melancholy as she finally allowes herself to accept it. "There they are. Our names..." she says, almost in disbelief. Jun took the memorial picture to an assortment of smiles, cheesy grins, and victorious finger-salutes.

Then Yuuki turned back to the monument, returning to her hidden thoughts. "We did it, didn't we Yuuki?" asked Asuna, sharing the moment but not the thoughts running nonstop through the younger girl's head. Yuuki nodded, then speaks. "I finally did it, neechan." she says, looking up at the monument. The term brings a smile to Asuna. "You're saying it again." she says, clearly not upset at the affectionate term. Yuuki looks over in startled surprise. She hasn't realized it. Really, she hadn't been speaking to anyone actually present, except perhaps in spirit. She'd been speaking to herself, or perhaps more literally to her sister.

Clapping hands to her mouth, Yuuki's struck speechless. How could she explain? Aiko, her life... all of it? She couldn't even tell Asuna the truth, that she'd been speaking to Aiko. If that came out, then so would everything. Aiko, the secret of the Sleeping Knights, and what's likely to happen as spring comes. It's all... it's all too much.

Asuna's unaware of course, even as she explains that it makes her happy that Yuuki would call her a big sister. She only realizes when she looks, seeing tears running freely down Yuuki's cheeks, hands clasped firmly over her mouth to hold in the words that would devastate them both. Even as Asuna moves to comfort the younger girl, Yuuki backs away, then turns and opens the game menu. Without an explanation, without even a word, Yuuki logs out of the game, vanishing from sight.

To Attempt the Impossible (Yuuki Konno)

2015-10-03T15:57:28Z

MoreBeer: Created page with "{{Cutscene Header |Date of Scene=2015/10/02 |Location=Alfheim Online - Floating Castle Aincrad |Synopsis=The Sleeping Knights have a goal in mind, and for this they need one p..."

{{Cutscene Header
|Date of Scene=2015/10/02
|Location=Alfheim Online - Floating Castle Aincrad
|Synopsis=The Sleeping Knights have a goal in mind, and for this they need one particular person. A warrior of great strength, skill and resolve. One person who completes the team.
|Thanks=Karian, Kirito, Tomoe, Annie Sandberg
|Cast of Characters=9, 874
|Tinyplot=
}}
Within Alfheim Online, floor 24 of Aincrad Tower, at the duelling grounds outside of town:

"I was looking for someone who seemed just right, and I finally found them!" said the duellist who has cut her way through the ranks of the top fighters in Alfheim Online. The 'just right' warrior in question was confused, but their duel had reawakened her pride, her fighting spirit. It had reaffirmed, in some way, who she wanted to be. In light of that, confusion wasn't such a big deal.

Both warriors are covered in red woundmarks. The duel hasn't technically ended, but both are content with the outcome. They clasp hands. Two girls, both apparently young, both skilled with the one-handed duelling blade style. They share a certain similarity in appearance, though an even larger one in spirit. In that moment, they're mirrors of one another.

The moment ends however. Yuuki draws Asuna up into the air, tugging her along, away from her friends. Confused but interested, Asuna allows this and flies up with the smaller girl, out of earshot and out of sight of the friends she'd arrived with. The two warriors' wounds fade as they fly, leaving the confines of the duel. Their outward badges of injury and pride may have vanished, but what's inside remains. Asuna readies herself, beginning to be concerned about how far they might travel, showing the first hint of reluctance...

Yuuki seems to sense this, and decides they've gone far enough. She stops, releasing Asuna's hand, turning to face the older girl. The two are alone now, floating in the air on wings of faerie magic. Suddenly serious, showing an expression of concern entirely different from her normally cheerful demeanour, Yuuki bows with eyes are lowered. In this, the two aren't equal. A bow between two warriors would normally mean meeting eyes; in this case, Yuuki is the supplicant, not an equal. "I beg of you. Please, help us!" she pleads fervently.

...

Floor 26 of Aincrad Tower, in a private dining room:

The group introduces themselves. Energetic Jun, shy Talken, teasing Nori, gentle Siune, and stoic Tecchi. Each of them bears a smile, trusting Yuuki's choice and eager to learn more about one that Yuuki would choose without needing to consult them. It was Yuuki's choice all along, as the literal heart of their team. Even though Yuuki had consulted with them about the others, she hadn't been SURE. Now she's sure.

".. And I'm Yuuki, the guild leader!" says the violet-tinged Imp directly to Asuna's face, with no apparent regard for her personal space as she clasps Asuna's hands between her own. Asuna seems a bit overwhelmed by it all, and of course she STILL hasn't been told what this guild, these Sleeping Knights, need her help for. She just knows it's big, and that these six apparently consider it the most important thing they've ever attempted... and possibly that they'll ever do.

"Asuna-san, listen..." Yuuki pleads, looking up at Asuna with big puppy-dog eyes and a solemn frown. "We want to defeat this floor's boss monster."

Not an impossible request, of course. This is the 27th floor of the new Aincrad tower. 26 floor bosses have been defeated already. Asuna herself has been on several of the raids. They're tough, but no problem for a skilled collection of players able to learn the patterns and willing to continue trying until they succeed.

"... With just these members!" she adds, breaking into a broad smile. Asuna seems confused, then she realizes. Six players plus herself. One full party. Then, "Haaaaaah?" she cries, utterly perplexed. Just these members? One party against a floor boss, when a raid is a group of seven full parties? Impossible! Or... or is it? Asuna peers around at the smiling group, then stares at Yuuki in disbelief, willing her to say she's joking. Yuuki just breaks into a huge teeth-gleaming grin, hands on hips, nodding.

3135/White Flash vs. Zekken

2015-10-03T14:22:00Z

MoreBeer: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/10/02 |Location=Alfheim Online <ALO> |Synopsis=Yuuki vs. Yuuki! After many duels, Zekken finds the ideal warrior she's been seeking. |Thanks= ..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/10/02
|Location=Alfheim Online <ALO>
|Synopsis=Yuuki vs. Yuuki! After many duels, Zekken finds the ideal warrior she's been seeking.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=1, 6, 9, 437, 874
|Tinyplot=
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     The daily crowds of people gathered to fight Zekken, and those just there to watch, have begun to dwindle. Not a lot of people still believe they have a chance, and most people aren't going to return day after day to watch a 'sure thing'. Some do of course. Zekken is a spectacle to watch, and people always wonder 'but what if I don't go and someone finally beats her?' There's still some crowds, and even some newcomers who have never seen Zekken duel, but things have definitely slowed down a bit.     That's not to say no one shows up. Even now, a Salamander duellist is darting through the branches of the tree. A mixed lance-and-spell duellist, he was apparently counting on blinding her with fire magic and then taking advantage of the tree branches to keep her from fleeing long enough to strike a decisive blow. A clever plan to be sure, and one that might have worked had Yuuki not been fast enough to make his attempts to aim and to hit her with the spell futile. Spells can be dodged after all, and you have to properly hit your target... and of course the cover of tree branches, leaves and trunk work two ways.     The Salamander soldier hasn't been fighting long at all, and really the fight hasn't been much for the audience to see. Some darting shapes, some sudden illumination from spellcasting. Finally, not long after the start of the fight, a single figure plummeting from the tree, hitting the ground awkwardly, his health already in the red. "I give up! Resign!" he shouts as he scrambles upright, his arms in the air. It was a clever attempt, but he was the 67th to fall.     A purple-clad figure floats down after him, diving towards the ground headfirst in a slow, controlled spiral. She flips, touching down lightly on her toes, before her black starry wings vanish. She bows to the audience, drawing another round of enthused cheering from them. They might not have seen much of the fight, but Yuuki's enthusiasm, good nature and infectious cheer earns a response even if the fight itself wasn't something they could see.     Yuuki spins around then, raising two fingers in a 'victory' pose, grinning with obvious delight. 

:'''{{#var:9|Asuna (9)}} has posed:''' Asuna had been told of Zekken, of the strange person who could defeat her own Kirito. As such, Asuna had waited til she heard about another fight that would be going down, and she joins the crowd on the outside of the ring to watch the fight go down. When it does end, Asuna is suitably impressed - she has her own memories of the fights Kirito has been through, and she's participated in herself, like the original fight between him and Heathcliff in Sword Art Online. "Sugoi..." The undine breathes. Or, she thinks, a bit one sided like the Kuradeel and Kirito duel... but... That's neither here nor there - and Kirito had kind of cheated in that. She does clap though. 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:'''     One more victory for the purple whirlwind. Kirito's been watching. He's come out since Asuna has. He's not of a mind to challenge Yuuki again - he very much doubts that, even going utterly all out with dual wielding, he could overcome her defenses.     And, on the off chance he somehow did, he'd really rather not do it in front of a crowd...     Despite his reservations and suspicions, Asuna showing a willingness to fight has gotten him to come along and hang out at the edges, arms folded across his chest. The Spriggan's mind is goina mile a minute.     Who is Yuuki, why is she here? It must have gotten boring after DAYS of duels and she's already fought, to his knowledge practically every top-tier fighter in Alfheim...     Except maybe Asuna. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki looks around, spinning in a slow circle, hands cupped around her mouth as if to make her words carry, though she's speaking in a voice that's conversational and far from a shout. "Well then... anyone wanna go next?" she asks. Those around also look about, no one seeming willing to take up the challenge. She's seen Kirito of course, and even recognized the black-clad Spriggan warrior. She doesn't expect him to fight her though. He's good, and he might win, depending. But... well, it depends on what he's after. If he desperately wants her sword-skill, he might. If he wants a challenge, he might. So she ends up facing him and his friends expectantly. She doesn't mind if he challenges her again, of course. She'll likely never use him in a group with the Knights, but fighting him was simply great. 

:'''{{#var:9|Asuna (9)}} has posed:''' Asuna shies back towards Kirito for a brief moment, looking somewhat uncertain. It's been so long since she was just out and wanted to be a ... well, to be a warrior. She hasn't been a warrior in so long... not since /that/ world. So she just stares for a few moments, before she finally steps forward, her bright blue hair flowing behind you. "I'll accept the challenge!" Her voice is slightly uncertain, but she's doing this. She's making it happen. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     There's a moment where Yuuki simply stares at Asuna in openmouthed surprise. Asuna... reminds her of Ran-neechan. It's a somewhat superficial resemblance, but it's also unmistakeable. The surprise she shows could easily be dismissed as surprise that it's not Kirito stepping forward, but an unknown companion instead. Or possibly that this challenger seems uncertain about this whole challenge thing.     The surprise lasts mere moments before Yuuki breaks into a grin. "Oneesan, you want to fight?" she asks. She snaps her fingers. "Okay!" she agrees, beckoning Asuna to come closer.     Yuuki's grin fades somewhat as the pre-fight intensity begins to kick in. "Use magic and items if you want." she offers, resting a hand on her sword. "I'm just using this." she adds casually. 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:'''     Annie has returned to Zekken's dueling ground, once again adding some musical accompaniment to the action. She still hasn't had much luck in recruiting for her performer's troupe, but she's not about to give up. Maybe once she gets to the top levels of skill, she might be able to make more of a name for herself. But at the same time, those at the lower levels need help and friendship too. There were a lot of ways she could make this work!     Because it's so hard to see the action, Annie can't really pay much attention to the fight, but she still plays some lively music. The next challenger, however, gets her to lower her flute in some surprise. "Oh, it's Miss Asuna!" Another person she recognized from her first-ever Alfheim quest. Asuna was an Undine, by the looks of her- they were known for healing. What kind of battle skills would she bring to play? ...Now that she comes to think of it, that was another good reason to watch these fights- she was learning a lot about the battle capabilities of the different types of fairy. Of course, since it was one-on-one, she wasn't getting to see much of the support magic. How many Pucas had taken this challenge, she wondered. 

:'''{{#var:9|Asuna (9)}} has posed:''' Asuna considers her words, although she starts a little. Did she just get called oneesan? However, that may have just been a slip up. You never know what Undines look like around here. She may have a twin! (How strange that thought is, though--) She unsheathes her own blade as she steps into the arena proper, giving the other girl a glance. "Then I won't either." That declaration is probably a surprise to the group of friends that Asuna was with, but... well, it is Asuna. She is a warrior, and this is what she does. Even if she is technically a healer in Alfheim Online, rather than a warrior. "To first hit, or all the way?" 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki takes that declaration in stride. She doesn't know Asuna's talents as a healer after all, only reacting to her as a fellow duellist. It's a fairly standard answer, though she's never resented any of her opponents trying to use items or magic. The duel is, after all, mostly an excuse to get to know the type of person they are. What advantages they try to use, or refuse to use, is a part of their personality.     "Your choice." Yuuki says, then grins just a little. "But it'd be a shame if the fight was over that quickly, wouldn't it? Half health or all the way, I think." she says, not willing to insist. Again, it's about learning what she can. "And if you want to fly that's okay, but if you prefer a ground duel than no flying, only jumping." she adds, sweeping her left hand to bring up her menu. The challenge is sent. On Asuna's own menu, 'Do you accept the duel? Opponent: Yuuki. Type: 1 vs 1.' and the accept button.     Yuuki just stands there, one hand on her hip, an easygoing smile on her lips, watching. Apparently completely at easy, and enjoying even the lead-up to the fight. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe had come to watch she'd have to watch this, it's been so long since she's seen Asua really got at it like this. the purple haired Salamander looked out as Yuuki was about to take on Asuna she was curious to see how it goes and she calls out. "This should be a hell of a fight! Zekken vs the Flash!" 

:'''{{#var:9|Asuna (9)}} has posed:''' "Acceptable to me." Asuna glances at the screen pop up, before hitting accept. She shifts her weight back and forth, before she settles down into a starting position, her blade lifted, held lightly in her grip. She stares at the smaller opponent in front of her for a few moments, before Asuna darts in, blade swinging to make the first move. She can do this- she must do it! 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki doesn't shift about, instead simply drawing her blade and holding it upright, angling her profile slightly as she drops into a ready stance. She waits for the countdown. Asuna's charge at the buzzer isn't expected, but it doesn't catch her flat-footed. She backs up as that first swing extends at her, her blade chiming lightly against Asuna's as a check rather than a full parry. She doesn't immediately strike back, instead remaining defensive, interested in seeing where this aggressive attack might lead. She's prepared to spin, to slip a thrust with a sidestep, to jump, whatever it takes to weather a storm. Only if she absolutely must, to avoid a strike that is otherwise unavoidable, does she intend to parry or to move completely out of range. 

:'''{{#var:9|Asuna (9)}} has posed:''' Asuna is not being too aggressive - she mostly just wants to gauge the other girls reactions to the most basic combination of attacks, before she even thinks about trying anything else, or even possibly starts to consider thinking about a sword skill. Asuna is not quite such a slow goer normally, but she has only ever seen her fight once... and that was just now! She slides past her afterwards, skidding to a stop to whirl around and face her. She's impressed by her speed already, and gives her a nod, pausing to see what happens next. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki would be content to defend, but there's a certain rhythm to these things. To continue to defend while Asuna yields the attack, that would violate the rhythm of the fight.     Yuuki nods back, tilting her head to one side and grinning in reply. Finally, she goes on the offensive, sending a few flickering fast attacks Asuna's way. Not hard blows swung with her entire body behind them, mostly sweeping cuts swung from the shoulder, with only the last inch or so of blade likely to make contact. The swings are powerful though, swung with a strength that's shocking coming from such an unassuming form. Not as powerful as Kirito surely, but someone who's sunk a lot of points into strength as a complement to that astounding agility. The whole time, she maintains that slight smile of enjoyment. 

:'''{{#var:9|Asuna (9)}} has posed:''' Asuna /is/ startled by the strength. At the end, Asuna manages to parry a good amount, aside from a single sweep that cuts her open neatly, causing Asuina to dart backwards, landing backflips before she reaches up, wiping at her mouth with the back of one hand as her HP bar drops. It's still green - they're not that far along yet. She stops to breathe, her arms trembling slightly. She hasn't been in a proper fight in ages, and she's both startled, and worried, and full of turmoil for the longest time, before she inhales sharply, letting out in a long, smooth breath, before she steps into position, raising the blade. She stares down it at Zekken. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki continues that simple smile, waiting for Asuna to recover. She shows no particular glee at landing a hit, just pleasure at the fight in general. Asuna's fast, possibly the fastest she's ever fought. At least as quick as Kirito, and possibly even faster. She's also skilled. No, there's no need to hurry this fight. She's enjoying it too much.     That smile fades however, when Asuna stares down the blade at her. It stays only for a moment, until Yuuki sees Asuna's eyes. The Absolute Sword starts is surprise, then frowns in concentration. This fight is ON, and Yuuki doesn't fail to take Asuna seriously.     A pause, measuring each other with their gazes, concentrating. Abruptly Yuuki breaks into a full run, charging in, swinging her blade in earnest this time with a powerful vertical strike. 

:'''{{#var:9|Asuna (9)}} has posed:''' Zekken charges in, and Asuna smiles the smallest bit. She meets the charge, her blade coming up in a parry, the steel striking with what might be a loud ringing noise if Asuna wasn't focused on the fight and not everything else around them. She shifts her weight, utilizing her speed and agility to start circling around the purple haired fighter at speed, blade flashing out in swift DPS rather than pure strength strokes. No sword skills yet, just pure actual skill. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     The impact from the powerful sword-on-sword sends out a thunderous chime. Some of the audience covers their ears, some cringe back from the flying dust and debris caused by the shockwave. Some handle it just fine, possibly too distracted by the display before them.     Yuuki's eyes go wide when her blow is parried with such conviction. She quickly refocuses, darting in, matching Asuna move for move. She counter-circles, or moves alongside Asuna, not letting the fight devolve into one of firm stances. She counters with fast parries, relying on speed rather than strength, and returns her own slashes in kind. Finally, spinning around and slashing backhand, her strike completely falls short, her blade coming to rest well past Asuna behind her.     At least, it LOOKED like a miss. Yuuki's blade came to a halt in position to activate a sword skill. The activation is quick. Yuuki cries out, dashing forward. Her sword glows purple, charging with dark energy as she spins. Once, twice, all that speed and power unleashed into a serious horizontal strike at Asuna's torso. It also releases an explosion of power whether the blow lands or not, no doubt obscuring the fight from many of the observers. 

:'''{{#var:9|Asuna (9)}} has posed:''' The two twirl around. This isn't a fight - it's a dance. A deadly one. Asuna matches her quite nearly speed for speed - she is the flash, and Zekken is just as much of one she is, if not faster, Asuna finds herself thinking slightly, and she slides forward into the attack so it goes past her- And then the other blade starts glowing purple. Asuna's own blade glows blue as she twirls around to meet the horizontal strike, her own sword skill also guaranting an explosion of power, the blue and purple clouds sparking into life at the ferocity of the two girls' attacks. Inside of the cloud, Asuna's blade snaps forward - she isn't holding back. She was a wariror! she IS! a warrior, and it shows in all of her actions and her attacks towards Yuuki-Zekken. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Could Yuuki respond with anything less than her full speed and power? Not if she wants to remain Zekken she can't. Not the title Zekken, given to her by others in admiration and envy, but the true fighting spirit of the girl who loves this freedom and exileration as fiercely as she loves life itself.     The smile doesn't return to Yuuki's face. She's focussing too hard, intent on the fight itself. She's flat-out running now, and yes she's dancing. She spins, ducks, slashes from seemingly every possible angle when she isn't parrying Asuna's own attacks. She doesn't parry every blow, losing herself in the fight itself. Sometimes it's Asuna's skill that drives a thrust or a slash through Yuuki's guard, though her armor reduces the severity of those blows to mere red-hatched scratches. Sometimes it's Yuuki herself trading blows instead of defending herself. The pain of the FullDive system is minor compared to a true swordfight, but the hits are a small price to pay. A notification of a good fight more than anything, and a red badge of honor. Nothing to be feared, just something to be minimized. 

:'''{{#var:9|Asuna (9)}} has posed:''' Asuna shifts her weight, before her blade glows blue again. She knows what is coming - Quadruple Pain. It's a high level super speed sword skill, and as far as Asuna knows, it's one of the ones that is nigh unblockable, and thus deadly to use in duels and absolutely important to use in boss fights. "nnn-" Asuna lets out a cry as her blade flashes towards Zekken. Whoop. She's feeling it. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Knocked back by Asuna's previous attack, Yuuki has no way to counter her set-up into a Sword Skill initiation. It's really a perfect transition, timing the set-up off the earlier blow to prevent Yuuki striking in the moment of vulnerability. Even if Yuuki had seen it coming, there was nothing she could do. She'll have to suffer the Original Sword Skill, and it's obvious from Asuna's expression that it's intended to be a deadly one.     Yuuki doesn't react until the moment Asuna commits to the activation. Her eyes open fully, blazing in intensity. There's a weakness all Original Sword skills have in common, she knows. They're all scripted in advance and they have to be FAST. That means the strikes are planned without any way to predict the opponent's movement, relying on either pre-planning or requiring insane reflexes to change the angles mid-attack. Yuuki has those reflexes, and Asuna /might/, but in most cases the attacks will always rely on overwhelming an opponent's ability to defend.     The chime of sword on sword, impossibly, rings four times. The chimes sound nearly running together, so fast is both attack and defense. The explosion from Asuna's elemental-enhanced sword skill makes it unclear exactly what happened, at least to the audience. It's clear enough, however, that somehow Zekken defeated what's quite possibly the fastest attack they've ever seen.     As the cloud clears, Yuuki's own sword is revealed, glowing from an Original Sword Skill setup. She's never used this technique in actual combat, but why not use it now? She doesn't need to draw out the fight any more and she doesn't need to save the technique for another opponent. She's already made up her mind. Asuna will be the one she chooses.     So far as most of the audience can see, the attack is a single slash diagonally upwards, from Yuuki's left to her right, as she cries out a long drawn-out 'Haaaaaaaaaaaaa!' To those with the eyes to see the unseeable, it's five darting thrusts. Then another apparent slash; five more thrusts crossing the first, drawing an X over Asuna's virtual heart.     Zekken's blade comes back at the last, still glowing, Yuuki's eyes locked on Asuna's. Five hits plus five more, and the final thrust makes eleven. Hit or miss, that final thrust gives off a huge explosion covering nearly the entire island, the sort of power that makes it impossible to see what the outcome is... for a few moments at least. But Yuuki isn't striking to end the duel. She lowers the last strike slightly, not charging in as hard as she can. The last strike isn't meant to kill, just to complete the technique. 

:'''{{#var:9|Asuna (9)}} has posed:''' A single thought runs through Asuna's mind- She can see through Quadruple Pain?! Astonishment runs through her. She knows Zekken was not in Sword Art Online, but where did a creature, a woman, of such great skill as herself and her husband come from? She desired to know more, and also acknowledged, inwardly, that losing to Zekken, well - this is what it is to be a warrior. She will gladly have lost to Zekken. To think, the last time she died to someone's blade... oh, Heathcliff. Did you realize what love did? When the area clears, Asuna's hp bar is barely holding on- But Asuna herself, is smiling. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Had that last thrust hit home the duel would have no doubt ended, considering how much explosion effect the ALO system designated to the final attack. Yuuki never intended to finish the fight in such a way though. She comes up out of the lunge slowly, at least in comparison to her fighting movements, letting the sword hang free in her right hand.     Finally smiling once again, Yuuki steps forward right into Asuna's space. Her body language isn't indicating a threat however, and she beams as she reaches out to put her free hand on Asuna's shoulder. Eyes crinkling in glee, she hums tunelessly. "Hnnnnn~ That was great." she says, and her words show no less delight than her expression. "Oneesan, I pick you!" she says, verbalizing her earlier decision without the slightest hesitation or regret. 

:'''{{#var:9|Asuna (9)}} has posed:''' "Uuu? Pick ... pick me for what?" Poor Asuna, she hasn't been this confused since she first stumbled into the Multiverse and she and Kirito shared their first kiss. "I mean, I'm glad to help, but uh-- what?" Help. 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:'''      Annie watches open-mouthed as the fight, apparently, concludes. "...Um, what? Is Miss Zekken giving up or something? She was about to win!" It definitely wasn't the ending she was expecting. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     The little Imp, covered in little red woundmarks, still grins. "I was looking for someone who seemed just right, and I finally found them!" she gushes, enthusiastic to a level that almost seems to dwarf her cheer during the battle. She carefully sheathes her sword, not caring that Asuna's confused and still holding her own weapon. Then she straightens, holding out her right hand to the taller elfin girl. 

:'''{{#var:9|Asuna (9)}} has posed:''' "... Hm." Asuna sheathes her sword, then takes the proffered hand. There's not much else to say. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki clasps hands, offering congratulations and heartfelt appreciation, both for the fight and for Asuna's agreement. Not that Yuuki intends to hold her to it, not until she's had a chance to fully explain. Well... not FULLY, just as fully as she can.     Yuuki's grip tightens after a few seconds. Not enough to be painful, just to be firm. Her wings appear as she gently leaps into the air, pulling Asuna up with her more through the use of ingame Flight Assist than brute force. She's gentle but insistent, drawing Asuna well out of hearing from those below... and well out of sight as well. What she has to say, what she has to beg, it's no one's business but hers and Asuna's. 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:'''     Silverbloom claps her hands excitedly. She has no idea what Zekken is planning, and it seems pretty clear that she wanted to keep it secret. So as much as she'd like to know what sort of adventure they were going to have (if that was what it was), she wasn't going to ask. ...Not right this second anyway. She'll definitely want to know about it when it's done though. It might be the stuff of an epic ballad! 

}}

3085/Who Wants to Sword

2015-10-03T14:19:43Z

MoreBeer: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/09/23 |Location=Alfheim Online <ALO> |Synopsis=Two challengers, two very different challenges. Zekken faces two SAO legends; Kirito and Tomoe...."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/09/23
|Location=Alfheim Online <ALO>
|Synopsis=Two challengers, two very different challenges. Zekken faces two SAO legends; Kirito and Tomoe.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=1, 6, 437, 874
|Tinyplot=
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     The legend of Zekken, brief though it's been, has begun to grow rather hugely. She defeated thirty challengers or so that first day. Since then the challengers, having learned to take her more seriously, have steadily improved in skill even as they decrease in number. In large part that's because each fight is taking significantly longer than they did that first day... no one's simply getting blown away in a single rush. Also, there's not so many people eager to show up and put the noob in her place. Fighters tend to be a lot more worried that they'll show up and have their weapons fed to them by someone clearly not the noob they'd first expected to face.     Some of the top duellists, in fact, have shown up so far. And lost. Leafa's not even the most notorious of these. Even one of the heroes who'd defeated the Main Quest has fallen to the Absolute Blade. Now, there's more people showing up to see who might actually be able to beat Zekken than to challenge her themselves... 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:'''     You cannot became a famous swordsman in Alfheim Online without the other famous characters hearing about it. Kirito was delayed more than he wanted to be - the moment news hit him, he'd hoped to show up immediately.     But then he swooped around, saw the crowds, and decided to wait a little while.     But this time the Spriggan and black has come and not found a sprawl of noobs getting their asses handed to them. He comes in for a smooth landing a respectable distance away from... well, the purple whirlwind who's been curbstomping so many people.     Kirito has made a name for himself among the OSS circles and a few big guilds, the legend of the 'black swordsman' taking on a different tint in fairy land.     And if even Karian lost, then he's all the more fired up to have his try.     So the mischevious-faced Spriggan waits his turn, standing on the island with his arms folded and an exuberant gleam in his eyes. SOON! 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki's a bit disappointed that no one's shown quite the same level of awesome as that Iron Wolf guy. A few have come close, certainly. There have been other fighters on the same level as the Salamander tank or of the Sleeping Knights in general, but none of them had the same exuberant glee in the fight as he did.     She'd had a talk with her friends about him, the same day after the fight. They don't want another tank, though. Well, that's not quite true. They don't MIND another tank, but are willing to wait a little while for someone that complements the team a little better. Tecchi and Jun are both great tanks already, and the group simply doesn't have enough healing talent to support a third damage sponge. What they really need, they agree, is either a strong DPS, a strong healer, or an absolute legend of a tank.     Not that any of this shows on Zekken's face now. Even when facing a disappointing fighter, one who isn't particularly close to what they need, she remains cheerful and appreciative of them simply for stepping up and putting their skills and pride on the line. Yuuki's goal is important, but the Sleeping Knights have months to complete their final goal. They can spend a few weeks finding the right group member... and in the meantime Yuuki's having a huge amount of fun doing her thing before the rest of her team gets online to join her. Even now, she seems absolutely enthused as she cuts her Sylph opponent out of the sky. As graceful as she is on the ground, she's just as graceful in the sky and she was able to figuratively run rings around the Sylph despite her opponent's racial bonus in the air. Zekken seems utterly at home in the air, seeming to utterly ignore such things as momentum and gravity, spending almost as much time upside-down in the air striking down as she does upright striking face-to-face.     With the duel finished, the 'WINNER' notification posted, she descends to the ground with the lightest of taps, dismissing her wings as she touches down. She looks around at those assembled, seeking to meet the gaze of someone intent on challenging her rather than simply here for free entertainment. Not that she minds people watching of course. Some are probably here to learn her style and weak points... but she really has neither. Her only real style is godlike speed, owing nothing to any training in any earthly martial art. She has little to fear from people needing to study her to try to learn her weaknesses. 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:'''     "Salamander, Imp- yeah! Sylph and Leprechaun- let's go! Cait Sith, Spriggan, Gnome and Undine, all together now! Puca, singing their songs, join in harmony. With nine powers combined, it's a magic jamboree! We're the flying fairies, shu-shu-shu! The Alfheim Fairies! Magical folk, in the sky!"     Silverbloom was singing happily as she returned to Aincrad, hoping to post more of her notices up here. She'd definitely need some assistance from the higher-level players to get her troupe off the ground, and this would be a good place to find them. And hey, from the looks of things, Zekken was going another round. So, while she found good places to put up her posters, Silverbloom would glance over to see what was happening. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe is still fairly well known her self she's been pushing the content in the floating castle for one with several major guilds. She's also fairly well known in the PVP arena as well for her fighting.. She's arriving a bit later than Kirito and sees a duel end with another one biting the dust. She looks at how fast she is and an eyebrow goes up. Tomoe does not expect to see speed like that very often and generally only from one group of people who are not the most common thing in in ALO, SAO survivors so this is really making her wonder here as she settles in. The Salamander Woman is hard to miss at being over six feet before you factor in the heels on her boots. Also her armour set of stands out a bit due to the custom work she had done on it's appearance. "Well this should be interesting." 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:'''     The moment it's time for another challenger to step up to the plate, Kirito vaults forward at god-like speed, landing in a crouch and scuffing up a little dust. But he rises quickly, still aiming that smile - full of mischevious confidence - at the now-legendary duelist.     "I'll go for a round."     At this, of course, some of the onlookers fall silent. Those that recognize him, anyways. Kirito's name has come up a few times on the MONUMENT OF SWORDSMEN, and he's been with many of the big floor boss raids.     Notably, only one of his weapons are visible. Vox Unitas remains sheathed across his back. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     No doubt Yuuki would have heard of Kirito if she'd been in the game long. She's been all over the VRMMO map however, not just ALO, and seems not to recognize the Black Swordsman. She simply smiles at his eagerness to challenge. THIS is the sort of person she's been looking for. She meets his mischevious confidence with a smile of her own, touching her sword hilt with her right hand, summoning the menu in the air before her with her left.     With Kirito's weapon in his hand, she doesn't see the need to ask what sort of restrictions to put on the duel. This fight won't be one of artificial limitations. "You move pretty fast, oniisan!" she grins. Now, so long as he can fight half as good as he seems... he MIGHT be the one they're looking for. Particularly if the buzz from the audience can be believed. She's drawn the one who may well be considered the top duellist of the server. The one who defeated Eugene in a fight. The Aincrad boss-murderer. This ought to be FUN!     The duel challenge is sent. Kirito's menu pings. 'YUUKI has challenged you to a duel. Accept?' Across from him, Yuuki eases her sword, readies it in one hand, grinning fiercely across at her opponent with her blade held low before her, tip pointing at his face. 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:'''      Okay- this, Annie had to watch. She'd remembered Iron Wolf from the Midsummer Night's Dream event, but Kirito she was a bit more familiar with. Mostly because of Yui, who she felt was pretty much a kindred spirit, even though they hadn't really gotten to know each other very well. And now, Yui's dad was going into battle. This time, Annie was hoping for him to win- but from what she'd seen so far, it'd be a tough fight for him no matter how good he was. 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:'''     It's a hell of a thing, pushing himself to 'perform' in front of everyone. Having so many eyes on him always fills Kirito with anxiety, but he's come a LONG way from those days in Aincrad.     He shows NONE of that nervousness, no matter how much it's built up. Kirito smoothly presses the accept button... then draws his blade in one smooth motion. In that same instant he drops down into a fighting stance.     "I can go faster." He retorts in challenge.     The timer comes up and starts ticking down...     KIRITO vs YUUKI! 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     "Really?" Yuuki grins. She's not sure if it's just pre-fight boasting or if he's serious. Probably serious, if the talk of the crowd is to be believed. He's got to be good, that much is obvious. The question is, is he a speedster like her? Or if he's not, what accounts for the skill he apparently has? Yuuki's looking forward to finding out. "Let's see, shall we?" she says, flexing her knees. The moment the timer ticks down to the start, she dashes with enough speed and force to fling up a cloud of dust behind her.     It's a feint of course. She stops the charge, using the light frame of her imp body to skid to a stop just outside striking range. As the dust blows into where Kirito stands, she bops upright, grins, then spins around and to the side, angling a cut at his legs. 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:'''     As it immediately turns out, Kirito is INDEED capable of moving faster than that. His reaction the instant Yuuki moves is almost faster than the eye can see. Tiny fluctuations in his muscles, reflexes firing into full action. The boy's dark eyes zigzag up and down Yuuki in the span of a heartbeat, reading her intent through instinct learned throughout years of life or death battles.     Kirito is a Spriggan. Heavier than Yuuki's Imp form, and a bit slower - he focuses more on power. So he immediately hunkers upon picking up Yuuki's plan... and brings his blade around. Metal impacts with metal, sparks flying as Vox Unitas clashes with Yuuki's blade!     When the dust clears, Kirito's expertly parried the blow... ALMOST. It grazed his leg, startling him!     He knew she looked fast from AFAR. It's quite something else seeing it up close!     That amazement lasts only an instant though. Kirito transitions the parry into a series of thrusts and slashes, hoping to drive Yuuki off and give him something breathing room to think again! 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe wtches the pair as they strt fighitng she's clearly watching how they fight this should be good She's never seen anyone faster than Kirito, after all right? He had insane response times even for someone from SAO after all. She tilted her head a bit. "Faster? This is something I have to see." She's been watching with a good deal of intrest. She watches the hit tht connected and stares for a moment. "You getting lazy Kirito?!" She's just teasing him but damn this other fighter? Is hella fast, like on the level of a SAO vet. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki's a little surprised by Kirito's speed. In all her time, save only her sister and a few opponents in her earliest days in VRMMOs, she's never fought someone her own speed. For that matter she's never fought anyone all that close to it, not in the past year at least. She's faster than Kirito now, or at least it seems so at the moment, but he's faster than anyone she's ever faced.     That doesn't stop her from blocking some of his strikes at least. The chime of sword on sword rings out several times, as does the meatier sound of blades cutting home. She doesn't parry every blow and she certainly doesn't stand toe to toe. Instead she's constantly ducking, jumping, whirling. The only time she remains even marginally steady is when she judges Kirito's attacks aren't sufficiently-lethal to be worth defending against, and so she stands her ground to deliver a more-accurate thrust. Pain is nothing after all, and she can usually count on ending a fight long before an opponent's strikes can add up to something that'll finish her. Someone who's not a boss monster at least. A one-hand blade just isn't going to do enough damage through her armor to scare her, even if Kirito's stronger than she is.     Several fresh lines of red on her armor, several slivers of life shaved off her health bar, she dances out of combat range. "Pretty good, oniisan!" she says, eyes gleaming. "And it sounds like you've got some fans! But I've got a bard cheering for me, right Silverbloom?" she calls out, grinning and gesturing with her off-hand to the little Puca. 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:'''      Silverbloom waves back to Yuuki. She wasn't actually rooting for her... but she wasn't rooting against her all that much either. It's one of those things where she wishes they could both win. And... since they're having fun, it seems like they are both winning, in a sense. At least that's how it looks to her. 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:'''     GETTING LAZY?!     Kirito grimaces, both at that call and Yuuki's insane skill... no, her insane SPEED! There's a very solid difference between their styles. While Yuuki fights freely, with little in the way of stances, Kirito's relying on some very fanciful and practiced footwork, relying heavily on his sword to parry counter thrusts. Very little ducking and weaving except when his sword is unable to reach...     A few of Yuuki's blows pierce his guard just barely, landing grazing blows on his arms or shoulders. However, Battle Healing is working in his favor there. The boy's hit points refill fast enough that it's visible on the duel window!     That might pose a problem. few people are able to push that one up to over 900, because of how difficult it is to operate safely while in the red and not just keep DYING.     "Your speed's unreal! Are you even human?" Yep, he's surprised alright.     He disengages at the same time with a leap backwards of his own. Not as acrobatic, but it's definitely dramatic. The boy's longcoat flutters in the wind... then he grinds to a halt... takes a breath... and rises again.     His whole BODY tensing.     Yuuki is faster. He has an advantage in power, but for that to matter he'll have to catch her when her guard is down. Either last long enough for her to expose herself... exhaust her... or break her guard.     All of which seem unlikely, given the fact that she's been dueling opponent after opponent and shown no sign of tiring or making mistakes.     His questioning her humanity might be a litle more serious than just a random exclamation.     Regardless, he extends Vox Unitas again and twirls the sword around once, leaving it out behind him after the motion. His stance deepens and one hand is extended, for whatever good it will do him. The goofy expression he wore prior is gone, exchanged quickly for a fiercer, serious gaze.     The stance is unusual to say the least, but perfect for launching Sword Skills. Is that his intent--     WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!!!     Nope!     Turns out his intent was to close in for another melee! he charges straight for Yuuki, expecting her to do as before - use her insane speed to try and sideswipe him. But Vox Unitas is whipped out into action quickly enough and manuevered expertly into another barrage of gale-like slashes! "UUuuuuuuuAAAAAAAHHH!" 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki has no reason to associate her state with anything inhuman, or for that matter her ability with anything inhuman either. She tosses her hair and giggles girlishly at the question. "Don't be silly. I'm as human as you are!" she laughs.     The fight's going to be another matter entirely. She's done more damage than him, but he's actually regenerating. Not as fast as she can dish out the damage, sure, but if the fight draws out too long it might actually play a role. She's confident in her skill, in her speed, but she's not entirely confident in the outcome of the match. Well, if he DOES beat her, he's more than earned Mother's Rosario. And if he can out-DPS her, she'll absolutely HAVE to recruit him for the next boss rush! Either way, win or lose, she wins.     Yuuki's eyes widen when Kirito's expression goes serious. She angles her body, readying herself. A sword skill? One she's never seen? That would be awesome! But no he charges in at her, delivering a perfectly mundane series of blows. Fierce, fast blows, but still entirely mundane. She predictably dodges to the side, but somehow she doesn't completely fall to the trap. Several blows later, several exchanges of hits and parries, she binds up his blade. As the dust of their furious exchange fades, onlookers will see her health bar - rather significantly depleted - and the marks of a number of smallish wounds criss-crossing her armor. Not the worst she's ever been, but probably the most damage she's ever taken with her opponent this fresh. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe Was mostly joking at least until she saw what wa going on now with this mysterious Imp. She's fast, she darn fast, she's having trouble tracking him and the look on her face gets serious as she watches. She hears the comment and it's a legit one given SAO vets are stupid fast, and Kirito is the fastest of them all. This woman he's fighting is /faster than that/ she half wonder if Cardnial is playing now as a part of the world as /well/. No that can't be it? She calls out. "That was a legit question! Given some of the people in our guild!" 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:'''      "Nope, she's a fairy!" Silverbloom calls out with a big smile as the subject of Yuuki's humanity comes up. For all she knew, there could be actual fairies playing... though she wonders why they'd want to when they could just do this stuff in real life. In any case, she watches the health bars intently. "Wow... it's really close this time. I think he can actually do it!" 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:'''     It's rare, RARE indeed that Kirito ends up blade-locked with an opponent and forced to use his free hand in any capacity. But Yuuki's not just fast, but strong! ... Strong enough that even his heavy strength build is pushed into using both hands. "ghhhh--!"     Being blade-locked is not to his taste at all. It binds up his movement!     What's worse, in that flurry of exchanges, a bunch of Zekken's blows have gotten THROUGH his guard. Their hit points are pretty close to equal... but favoring Yuuki by 15#505     Provided his regen doesn't screw that up...     Can Kirito win this?!     But something funny's going on. Yuuki has a clear view of his brow furrowing, as if something's bothering him. It's over in a FLASH though.     In that same flash... Kirito deploys his WINGS for even further leverage. "Well I guess in this world, we're not!"     The black limbs vibrate to full power even before they're fully formed, and he uses the leverage rather weirdly. He SPINS AROUND, bringing a foot up for a kick in an attempt to break the bind..     Which might or might not involve catching Yuuki in the gut with a sky-rending spin kick!     Kirito DOES have Martial Arts mastered!     But he DOESN'T follow up on it, instead switching to defense. For an instant his free hand hovers out in the air, as if he's pondering bringing up his menu mid-fight... but perhaps he thinks better of it and instead focuses on Yuuki!     "Ghhh..."     There is something pretty OFF about Kirito's focus here... 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki laughs. "I suppose they have a point!" she grins. "But do I really seem so inhuman?" she asks, slightly offput. She has no clue what's wrong with Kirito, but clearly something is.     She's a bit surprised by Kirito suddenly manifesting wings, but of course she hadn't specified otherwise. It doesn't bother her. She's been flying only a short time, but mastery of the air came to her almost as naturally as if she were born in this virtual body. Like just about every other aspect of VR, it's not even something she really has to think about.     She's knocked backwards by Kirito's forceful kick, but she absorbs the blow easily enough, breaking away at about the same time as he lashes out. She's no stranger to martial arts, having journeyed for a time in a Samurai-based MMO where it was a reasonably major aspect. The kick does no significant damage and while she goes flying, she literally goes flying. Her own wings appear while she's in midair, and she practically looks like she intentionally launched herself just to counter Kirito's own calling of the wings.     Black, star-speckled wings flutter, and Yuuki drops to the ground once again. "You okay, oniisan?" she asks, looking concerned. "Hey, if you have to go, that's fine. I'll be here tomorrow, same time. We can duel again then!" she offers pleasantly if not cheerfully. With him this distracted, she's not particularly happy. If he's not fighting his best, it's not nearly as fun! 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:'''     "..." Kirito frowns. It's a very torn look indeed. But it hardens. "I'd lose the right to call myself a swordsman if I didn't take this challenge seriously...!" He all but mentally KICKS himself there.     But yeah, something is bothering him. despite this, Yuuki's landing is met with him again readying his weapon. "Sorry. You definitely..."     Whirl-whirl-whirl-WHOOOSH! Kirito spins his weapon around and lays it across his back. "...Deserve my full attention!"     Tomoe might recognize this posture. Vox Unitas glows brightly! It's a Sword Skill... but not just any.     "HUAP!"     It takes no time at all for Kirito to close the distance. He lunges forwards with a spinning strike at blinding speeds... but it's a double spin. The shining sword than flips around and the boy goes into a flip slash that ends with him driving forward into a ferocious assault of frenzied slashes! Seven strikes in total! 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     "That's the spirit, oniisan!" Yuuki cheers, setting herself up and dismissing the wings. Kirito hasn't left the ground yet, meaning he's probably a lot more comfortable on the ground than in the air. A number of the top duellists like to fly, preferring that unique game advantage. Those who remain on the ground are often PVE-focussed, since most big battles are fought in dungeons where only the Imps can fly. A ground-based fight allows Yuuki the best chance to consider her adversary in an anti-boss role, though she's already fairly sure. This person would be an excellent addition to her group! He's got the skills, he's got the attitude. Assuming he doesn't flake out entirely, he's almost certainly the one she's looking for!     She has an intent look on her face as Kirito comes charging in, blade lain across his back. This is definitely a sword skill... she can see the blade glowing! Of course she's never seen this attack before, but that's okay. She knows plenty about the OSS system, having made use of it herself to craft an original skill. You have to make certain assumptions about your opponent, given that there's limited opportunities to divert attacks mid-technique. The sword skill is fast, deadly, uninterruptible... but it's also predictable. Besides, Yuuki's perception and reflexes are quite literally second to none.     Only two possibilities here. To retreat or to block. If she retreats, she just prolongs the charging attack. No, she has to let him start. If he's smart, if he crafted a good skill, she ought to get no good opportunity to sidestep or duck. She owes it to him to see this technique to the end. To be SURE that he's as good as she thinks. Besides... what'd be the point of dodging? She couldn't call herself a swordsman if she ran away from this challenge!     As fast as Kirito is, Yuuki's faster. Her blade comes up, and she beats into his strikes. Not opposing strength to strength, she uses the center of mass of her own blade to deflect Kirito's blade's tip. Seven times she wards him away, not attempting to stop his strikes, just slowing them enough to feel where they're going, and to put her own body out of harm's way.     After the seventh strike, once she realizes Kirito's done, Yuuki doubles up and smashes her sword down. A fast but predictable strike, powerful enough and fast enough that Kirito won't be able to dismiss it... though he can easily enough resist it with his superior strength and weapon. With them this close, Yuuki shakes her head. "Oniisan, that was an amazing attack!" she gushes enthusiastically. "Did you create it?" she fangirls. 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:'''      It's a full parry! It's madness! ...wait, wrong game. But in any case, Silverbloom is stunned by Yuuki's expert blocking. She feels like that'd be tough to do for her, and she's an android! (Though, the extra processing used in her particular interface to let her emulate human brain patterns, as well as her general interest in fairness, does result in her being at a generally human skill level in the game.) 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:'''     'You have to be kidding me' is the expression Yuuki's insane evasion elicits from Kirito. She's deflecting and dodging a 7-strike Sword Skill she's NEVER SEEN BEFORE!     It's far too ridiculous. Simply impossible. Even he couldn't do that with a lesser one... he's pretty sure he couldn't get through a situation like that unscathed! Come close? Maybe? But not THIS good.     The barest of gasps, perhaps a realization, escapes Kirito's lips. And his body unfreezes just in time. Vox Unitas once again clashes with the Imp's speedier strikes, leaving Kirito in a disadvantaged blade lock and an awkward position with less leverage! "Ghhuh... to think someone would just plow through my best Original Sword Skill... Seven Sins..." Again she's bested him.     But he has a few words to say. Instead of the loud banter that everyone can hear though, this is little more than a whisper. For Yuuki's ears alone. "In another world, you would have been a hero. You weren't there... but you've come to live even more deeply in this world than me, haven't you?" There's a faint hint of sorrow and uncertainty in his tone that's highly inappropriate against Yuuki's intense cheer. A note of seriousness so deep it shouldn't ever come up in just a game, period.     Kirito gathers his strength and springs backwards in another disengaging leap, going skidding across the ground... 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe was expecting a fight but not to see Kirito on the ropes like this, not like this at all. She watche as Kirito is just about to unload she wonders about this woman? Who is she she's so fast she's pushing Kirito to stop screwing about and use that attack? She watches intently she tracks the movements and she is now watching Yuuki intently now. She's also got FRAPs going at this pint she'll take this apart frame by frame if she has to. She's now almost excited she's run into some good people but nothing quite like this and then Kiurito has been beat she stares seemingly shocked. She now moves to step in and looks at Kirito then to the lady who beat him. "I never seen anyone that fast, how ... are you like that?! I do not know many people who have more timed logged into a world like this than myself, Kirito and a few others." She's honestly shocked here and is leaving a hint to Yuuki just who Kirito and Tomoe really are. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki grins at Kirito's reaction. It's nothing really. Okay, not nothing, but it's not all THAT incredible. She's got to be quick, but all OSS attacks have a glaring weakness. You've got to set them up in advance, and to use them means committing to an attack without any hope of variance. Clumsy techniques that attack across a broad area, varying greatly in their strikes, simply don't qualify in the execution category. A skill has to be fast, it has to be a suitable combo... and tellingly it has to have a tight focus. In other words, by its very nature even the best OSS is somewhat predicatable.     It takes Yuuki a moment to process what Kirito's saying though. The whispered words are weird enough, obscure enough, that their meaning escapes her. The expression on his face though, that clues her in somewhat. He must... he must know. Somehow he knows. She lives in this world... not in the real one.     It doesn't help when Tomoe adds her own question and consideration. More time logged in to a world like this. Well, that's true enough. No one's ever had more time logged in than her, considering she lives in VR. Her smile broadens. It's not like this is anything to be ashamed of or to feel sorry about. She doesn't answer in words though. Without a moment's thought, she charges in, her feet making the ground around her practically explode. The attacks she sends out are completely unyielding too. It's as if she's become serious for the first time. She strikes with deep thrusts, with almost delicate cuts, tearing at Kirito with almost no regard for defense, just wanting to finish the duel. The unfortunate thing though... if he figures it out... well, he'll never be a team member. She couldn't fight alongside someone who showed so much sorrow but didn't actually share in her fate. 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:'''     So he was right. She WAS holding back.     But despite all of his realizations, mostly private though they're kept, his pride as a swordsman won't allow him to just QUIT. Kirito summons up every erg of his skill and speed can at a moment's notice... and faces the purple whirlwind with an equal sense of finality. This will decide it!     He charges INTO her flurries, and dust EXPLODES from their impact. Sparks fly from it again and again as blow meets blow and blades dance in a vicious duet that far exceeds the previous exchanges in every way. Desperation has now been added to the mix, where before there had just been the urge to compete...     Now, Kirito wants to see just how far he can go against this opponent...     Even if he can't win.     And that seems to make a WORLD OF DIFFERENCE in its own way. Reinvigorated, he stands strong against the assault, managing to barely deflect most of the first wave of strikes away from his vitals... but the thrusts still pierce his limbs and shoulders. So ferocious is Yuuki's assault that he can't manage any serious counterattack! Kirito's pressed back, losing more and more ground and HP after the first ten seconds of exchanges... until he's reduced to twenty percent HP and in the red.     "RESIGN!" He shouts with a likely unexpected finality, pushed down to his knees and breathing hard. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     It's not that Yuuki was holding back, but that her entire being wasn't wholly in the fight from the start. She used every ounce of her skill, but her intent was to *duel*, not to *win*. Only at the last did she fully commit, having learned everything from her opponent that she wanted to.     As the 'RESIGN' message flashes in the air, Yuuki stops, stooped over. She straightens, and seems to draw herself together, her eyes cooling from the heated intensity of the fight.     She can't afford to show frailty or weakness. Yuuki smiles, turns aside, and bows to the audience who break into wild cheers. She then bows to Kirito. "Mmmmm!" she hums in pleasure through a broad grin. She's not even breathing hard. Then again why should she? Do you really think that's air you're breathing, and all that? "You're really good, oniisan!" she grins, her eyes closing in a rather feline expression of pleasure. Her eyes open again, and there's no hint of her fears or her earlier explosion of fury. "Thanks so much for the duel!" she says cheerfully. 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:'''      Silverbloom looked a bit disappointed for a moment at the outcome, but still waved her hands and let her bells jingle as the resignation is accepted. "That was really close! Great job to both of you!" she exclaimed. 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:'''     Kirito ambles to his feet in no time at all. With the duel over he again gives Zekken one of those mischevious, albeit-now-pleased smiles. "And I've been bested. You're something else, Yuuki! Nn! Thanks for the match!"     It's hard to shake the feelin that something's haunting him though, despite all of that. No matter how much he enjoyed that.     So he vaults backwards, aided by his wings, and takes a place among the spectators again.. well, really, he lands next to Tomoe. "Going to try?" 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe grins happily she has no idea what the truth is about what's going on "Maybe Psalm's right." Zekken could just be flat out better than them. That actually excites the salamander and she looks to Kirito nodding with a big grin on her face. "Yes, yes I am. It's been a very long time since I had a challenge agianstsomeone new." She gives her friend a look then looks to Zekken and bows slightly. "So you want to have a go of it? Been a long time as I said since I had a challenge on the level of this. This should be fun!" 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Of course Yuuki has no clue who Psalm is, or what she said for that matter. All she really knows is someone else is challenging her. She beams, looking her new opponent up and down. Another massive Salamander, heavily-armored, apparently wielding a sword. Kind of a lot like the Iron Wolf really, and that's fine with her!     She bows in return, though she's not really solemn enough to make the gesture a typical one. She's certainly respectful enough, but that's tinged with a bit too much giddiness to be properly formal. "Let's have a good fight, okay oneesan?" she grins.     She's not sure this woman would be a good match for the Knights. The problems with the Iron Wolf are still in her mind, and much of the same things count against this salamander as well. Still, she doesn't care. Even if this is nothing more than a fun duel... well, it'll be a fun duel! And besides who knows? If the woman's overwhelmingly strong, or if she's not statted out quite the way she appears, she might still be a good match! If, that is, she doesn't share her companion's expressive sorrow at least... 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe is looking the smaller fighter over for a moment, she bows back in return. "That's the plan and the name's Tomoe. It's good to run into someone so skilled." She seems to be making ready with her sword and she summons a shield from her inventory and she makes ready to face off against Zekken. She waits for for a moment, she keeps her stance ready and she is made ready. She's thinking over the movements, she does wonder how long Zekken could keep up her attacks and could she endure it? It would be hard to tell, yet she'll find out one way to another now. She is tanky yes but there are some little things about her that might not be as commonly known as others. She is not going to use magic as this is a sword duel after all. She then brings up her menu s she's ready and does the duel invite. It's time to get this started. "Whatever happens this is going to be fun." 

:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:'''     Kirito's silent, but standing tall with his arms folded and eyes FIXED on the following. He's got plenty of hunches about Zekken and, despite that little exchange, is rather interested in what's about to happen! Tomoe is one of the best of the frontliners, a true veteran of SAO and definitely in the same league as he. Maybe her build will stand a better chance...     But he'll just have to see. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki examines the duel request, pausing a hand over her menu. "You can use whatever you want. I'll stick with my sword." she grins. It's not entirely a benevolent offer, of course. Spells are powerful, but against a sufficiently-fast opponent they're an open invitation to be face-stabbed. Spells are really only good when you're hiding behind a tank, not when you're duelling.     Yuuki punches the 'accept' button, her HP refilling from the previous duel as she readies for battle. She certainly seems confident, and not at all worn out from her furious battle with Kirito. She reaches up, slaps her face, then draws her sword. 3. 2. 1. FIGHT! 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:'''      Annie is interested in how this next battle will go. Would Yuuki be worn out- at least mentally- from the tough fight with Kirito? Right now she didn't look that way at all. They'd just have to see! Meanwhile, she headed over toward Kirito. She was about to hand him one of her posters, hoping he might be willing to help out with her new endeavor- but she stopped when she noticed how closely he was watching the fight. This would have to wait. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe nods and says "I might have a surprise or two for you." Kirito might know what Tomoe is talking about as maybe Annie if she's seen footage of Tomoe fighting in the /union archives. Tomoe sizes up Zekken again she's a bit more cautious? No she's looking for the tell tale signs of movement what is just starting. Tomoe doesn't waste time knowing how swift that Zekken is. She moves in quicker than one might expect. She makes good use of her shield to giver herself some cover as she attempts to do a few probing strikes with her long sword against Zekken, nothing fancy, just yet. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki rather good-naturedly fences with Tomoe's blade, staying somewhat defensive at first. The shield is something she has to solve. Not that she's never faced shields before or anything. They're a good defense but hardly perfect. No one can strike without exposing at least a part of themselves, and they have to expose some of themselves to see as well.     It doesn't take Zekken long to make her move. At one point when Tomoe does a probing strike, she beats hard at the sword, trying to fling it wide and create an opening. She draws her sword back again insanely quickly, trying to find a point that shield doesn't defend once it moves, then darting in to carve into any possible opening. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe is clearly aware both her and Zekken are feeling eachother out but she seems to also be aware it's not perfect. She's very aware of this after all but she seems to be having fun, Zeeken makes her move and react quickly and does score a hit on Tomoe but the opening was very brief and very short. Anyone slower than Zekken or Kirito likely would not be able to react in time. Tomoe does shift and make a strike trying to fend off Yuuki. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     The sword flashes in on Yuuki, closing in almost as if in slow motion. Her own movements too are slow-motion, as the strike gets closer and closer, all but inevitable. Yuuki's own blade finally strikes upwards, chiming off Tomoe's sword into just missing vulnerable skin. Close, so very close, but with Yuuki's defensive speed it'll take a lot more than just a single strike to get to her.     As Tomoe's blade goes high, Yuuki spins low in the opposite direction, sweeping out with her blade at the Salamander's ankles. Not that there's disabling blows in ALO or anything, but it's pretty far away from that shield at least! 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe takes the hit a lot better than one might expect the damage is still scored. She's now attemping to counter it, she seems to have an idea of what's going on for Tomoe leaps and fliping into the air spinning evading the strike at the cost of getting off a counter attack, she lands a bit awys and grins a bit. "Clever!" She seems to be making ready again for another move but Zekken is going to have some time to react. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki shakes her head, laughing. "You're really quick, oneesan!" she says with delight. Not as quick as her. Not as quick as Kirito either... but surprisingly quick for a heavy-armor spec and agile too. And that heavy armor! It's really hard for Yuuki to score any kind of significant strike with all the defense Tomoe can bring to bear. She glances up, only for a moment, to gauge what she's doing offensively. Not much, looks like. She'll have to step things up a notch if she's going to break through that defense.     Super tank indeed, at least perhaps. She COULD use someone like that, someone with a good enough defense to get in a boss's face and keep everyone else from taking damage so as to not tax Siune's mana. But... in order to see the truth of that, Yuuki will have to pour on more pressure. See how Tomoe can take it, and if she has any offense worth considering. Narrowing her eyes, Yuuki dives in, sending a lightning series of slashes at any and all points that could even remotely be considered unprotected. Not a sword skill, just plain speed. Speed fast enough to seem almost everywhere at once, though Tomoe should be one of the few with the perception to at least keep up with her visually. Around the shield, darting to the side, ducking low, cutting a high overhand blow... and then, she tries one more trick. Shoulder-charging that shield, Yuuki rolls clear over it as if it were flat ground and she a child doing a somersault, all to get at Tomoe's exposed back and attempt to jab her blade in somewhere vulnerable. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe says "Thank you, and your actually pushing me!" She seems to be having fun after all this is a duel, this is not dealing with the remains of laughing coffin or something akin to it. So far as she knows? Zekken is just a hella skilled player, Psalm was likely right. There's always a bigger fish out there, and this has to be it. Tomoe's also getting an idea of how agile the Imp swordy is, which is to say very much so. She sees the barrage coming in, she gets how fast Zekken is, there's no sword tells of a sword skill going on here, she can tell. The strikes come in and she starts actively parrying them, she's not using the assist from the looks o it parry, block but even the force of the hits are doing some chip damage to her but she's keeping up with the barrage. It's just the start if the combo of attacks upon her but she's keeping up. "No sword skill there? Impressive." Tomoe's stance is a bit odd from a lot of people in ALO, its like she played another game, and learned a lot of what cemented her style there. The overhand blow meets the shield but that's what Zekken wants she rolls up the shield and flips over Tomoe. The strike comes in and catches her but Tomoe is actually twisting to respond, she's hit there's damage but it wasn't the full out pure back stab it could have been. "You really are a swordswoman!" Tomoe is now pulling back the blade comes free leaving the red damage of a brutal strike on her, she managed mitigate the damage. It does. It seems to be a mix of a stats and a pretty good battle healing rating. It's not on the level of Kirito but she's clearly someone whose been knocked the heck about a lot. That's when Tomoe springs away again trying to get some distance, she has her red wings flare up as she jets up rapidly and is chanting as she reaches the apex of her flight, she knows she won't have long, the runes swirl about her and her blade bursts into white flames then she starts to drop again. It seems she's got a plan and has been setting up to start going on the attack, a she does so? She'll launches the now fiery blade into a series of strikes that will do a good deal of additional damage if they connect. Also it's not base fire, it's a bright white fire that would be classed as light element in the combat logs. Tomoe like Zekken has yet to unload and sword arts just yet. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     "Sword skills here are pretty amazing!" Yuuki grins, falling back a bit to get some room to move. "But if you can create one, the only advantage to USING one is elemental damage!" she claims. And she's looking to fight, not to dish out damage. When she needs to use an elemental skill just to win a duel, there's really no reason to continue the fight.     She grins when Tomoe flares wings and flies away. Flight seems to be a way to tell true veterans in this game. Some people can do it, others can't... or are stuck in assist mode. Happily, Yuuki makes her own wings burst out and takes off up the tree after Tomoe. Not TOO fast, but staying relatively close to keep tabs on the Salamander.     Yuuki emits peals of delighted laughter at the game as she darts among tree branches, staying mobile to keep from being a good target for spellcasting. She doesn't fear magic, not in this game. She has respect for it, but it's fairly easy for her to avoid as long as it's not the area-blasting spells of a major floor boss. "Huh! Blade enchantment?!" she remarks. That's a pretty good move! A spell that has a strong upside with no real downside as long as you can get room to cast it.     Yuuki spirals into Tomoe, paying little attention to conventional fighting matters such as which way down actually is. Making darting passes, she challenges that flaming blade. It's a good move indeed. Now those near-misses and grazing hits are a lot more serious, and Yuuki has to be careful. But... far better to be carefree! She darts and lunges, taking a few grazing hits and finally starting to lose noticeable health, but at the same time dealing out some impressive strikes of her own. In particular she's trying to use momentum against the larger Salamander, to time her sword swings to spin Tomoe in the air... unless of course she's an expert flier who can counter the imparted spin and keep fighting. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe says "An interesting way to look at it I admit!" Tomoe is attacked now she's moving she sees Zekken take flight and comments. "You got it." Tomoe has spells she does use but those tend to be for pulling packs of mobs and gaining first threat on them. Not really a thing for a duel. She sees Yuuki coming in and the attacks come. Tomoe's own health bar is going down, she's tanking pretty good for now but her foe has a lot of tricks she can bring up against her. She doe snot know everything Yuuki can do after all. She's fairly quick and seems pretty use to flying, what is clear Tomoe is not /using/ an assist controller to fly she can do it on her own as she does take the hit and spins back she's however very quick to recover and keeps from crashing into the ground. "So looking to make this a bit of a dog fight now?!" Tomoe's Japanese is very good but there's always been a faint accent to it, if one is paying attention. She charges in again launching into a combo of sword blows and even making use of her shield to try the yield shield bash but this fight is getting intense its clear Yuuki has been pushing the Salamander, on the other hand? Tomoe's not crumpled yet to Yuuki either. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     "Flying's fun!" Yuuki says cheerfully. Almost as much fun as fighting! And while flight can be a considerable advantage against an opponent who's grounded or unable to use voluntary flight, Tomoe's good enough that Yuuki doesn't need to fear taking advantage of any lack of skill. She grins as she forcefully parries the attacks, trading strikes and occasionally lashing out with her own dangerous attacks whenever she sees an opening.     Yuuki's pretty good at stopping the deadly sword-strikes, but her eyes widen in shock when Tomoe shield-bashes her. It's not that it hurts, not really. It doesn't do a whole lot of damage either, since shields aren't exactly a weapon class and don't have damage values. It just catches Yuuki off guard, and she goes spinning away, having to struggle to recover.     She narrows her eyes and frowns at Tomoe. Not angry at the truck, just concentrating hard. She abruptly darts in, laying about with a furious yell and series of slashes, trying to tear her way through the near-perfect defense. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe couldn't agree more about flying, it was one of the best parts of ALO, and well with Wander Mode? The local conspiracy blogs sometimes got posts about an angel being spotted over the city. She really doesn't mean to cause issues like that, though Kirito no doubt has not let her hear the end of it. She's aware it has no damage it's a old hold over habit from a game her and her dad played when she was young but it also catches people off guard in a fight too which can make an opening to strike. Yuuki however has speed, more speed than Tomoe and she will start finding her way past her star scoring hits her and there cutting her HP bar down which is now edging into the red at this point. She does attempt anotehr counter attack but Yuuki is really starting to show how good she is. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Of course Yuuki doesn't know about wander mode. If she did, if she somehow managed to be able to take advantage of that... oh, she would love that so much. Possibly for the best. The Multiverse simply can't handle the adorably-purple Imp girl.... yet.     Right now though, she's focussed on the duel. Tomoe's good, she has to admit. Not as deadly in her offense as Kirito or the Iron Wolf, but better on defense than either of them. Quite a nice change of pace from the other epic fights she's had recently! She's going to have to really do something good to cut through that defense. She supposes their relative health and damage is still in her favor with Tomoe edging into red while she's still yellow, but she doesn't want to prolong the fight as some kind of war of attrition. She wants to solve this fighter. To understand her, yes, not just for the purposes of winning a duel but for its own sake as well.     Yuuki brings up her sword, striking Tomoe's blade in a ringing chime that makes some of the audience bring hands to ears in wincing protest. She begins using all the power that's in her tiny frame, twisting and lashing out in repeated sweeping blows. Finesse is usually her best advantage, but perhaps against such a strong defense she's better-off switching to an all-out assault! 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe willl likely end up telling her somedya or one of the other GU will, for now she's tyring to not go down. She's very good at enduring her damage isn't terrible but it's clear she's. She knows just how fast Zekken is. She knows the move she used on Kirito to finish him off. She's also trying to get a feel for what sort of fighter She is too. She has some idea or thinks she does. She does seem to be getting into the fight. Their blades lock for a moment, but th attacks keep coming, Tomoe is unable to parry everything, some slip past her guarrd scoring ints slicin into her avatar and causing her hp to drop more. She has to be able to hit Zekken and that's a lot of the problem, the lady is very good at avoiding that.. "You love this sort of thing don't you? A fight like this...you can learn a lot from it." She's still trying to press her own attack but Yuuki is fast, and pressing her hard. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Words aren't really necessary. Yuuki just beams in response to Tomoe's question. She almost quite literally LIVES for this kind of fighting. And yes she can learn a lot from fights like this. It's the point of the duels, at least the pount she makes with the other Knights. They don't have the same kind of online time she does, though they all have considerably more online time than just about anyone who has work or school to deal with. She's using some of that extra time to fight these duels, to gain that final team member the Sleeping Knights need to achieve these goals.     While Yuuki presses her attack so hard, several of Tomoe's attacks will actually hit. Yuuki evades, turning hard slashes into grazing hits, but she's still getting hit and her health is beginning to deplete rapidly. Not every attack gets through. Some attacks she dodges completely, some she parries forcefully, but she's more focussed on attacking with power than on evading every hit. Yuuki's gritting her teeth, disregarding the streaks of red that begin to pile up on her arms, her legs, her torso, even her face. Victory is in sight! She can DO this! 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe has just accepted at this point, Psalm was right, they have run into someone whose just flat out better. Maybe Tomoe now understand she'd got complacent about things? That could be it, yet now she's got a challenge before her, and someone to make her stronger. Tomoe's HP bar is dropping now she's not going to last much longer and she knows it. Her battle Healing is being long over powered and her defences stats can only stave off the end not stop it. She's still fighting hard and doesn't seem to be planning to quit. Her bar's well into the red, she's not quitting, this might be the point someone might yield but there's something else. She seems intent to fight to the last on this, she launches into an attack it's clearly a desperation move, her strikes are coming in quick and Tomoe seems to have an innate use of her body that's not from her stats. There's very little wasted movement here as she makes her play but it's a last ditch effort to bring yuuki down. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki can sense that desperation. Not in a mystical way, but she sees the health bad and knows what it means to focus everything on the fight rather than surrendering. She herself is below half health, her HP dropping quickly. Tomoe's not got her as near to death as Kirito would have if he hadn't surrendered, but she's done more than any other fighter.     Yuuki continues to dance and parry, relying heavily on her ludicrous speed to keep Tomoe's blade from landing a critical hit. She brings her sword up, slamming a stroke down at the Salamander woman's head, trying to bring up that shield to block Tomoe's eyes. With the shield in the way, she ducks low, folding her body in half, dashing underneath the defense and spinning, cutting, trying to land that final strike clean... 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe style is also odd, there's many way people in ALO fight some of her manoeuvres more harken back to an actual melee fighter trying to protect vitals. She does bring the shield up she's got little choice if she wants to protect her head from the strike. She does but well she's let her self open as Zekken slips in and scores enough of a hit to drop her. Given the Duel wasn't to the death thankfully, but it's over at this point. Tomoe's HP is basically done and the final strike leaves her staggering and dropping to one knee as the game announces. Victory Zekken! "Well fought ... Zekken, very well fought." There's a small smile on her face as she tries to get up. "It's been a long time since I fought someone who was better than me outside of Kirito... a very long time. Heck of a fight you do seem to have enjoyed yourself from the looks I saw on your face and I'll be honest. I loved it, you were the first true challenge I had in a very long time and I thank you for that." 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:'''      Silverbloom cheers again at another entertaining battle. "How many wins is that, Miss Zekken?" she asks. "It's got to be a new record or something!" She hadn't been around for all the fights so she didn't know. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Tekken's final strike finishes with her facing away from Tomoe, and she very dramatically doesn't turn around to view the result. The 'WINNER' chime means she really doesn't have to. Besides with her outfit flowing around her like a samurai's kimono, it's impossible not to have a little flare when you run past a foe to defeat them.     Once Tomoe begins to speak however, Yuuki sheathes her sword in a slow, deliberate manner. She finally turns around, her serious expression abruptly replaced by a fierce grin. She hops up and down. "Oneesan, that was GREAT!" she burbles. Yes she loved it. There's no doubt she enjoyed the fight very much, and is glad Tomoe's happy.     Rushing over, Yuuki claps a hand on Tomoe's shoulder. She hasn't made a decision, not yet, but Tomoe's GOOD. And she didn't get the same sense of sadness from her that she got from Kirito. She's willing to consider the swordswoman, though she thinks the decision might be the same as with Iron Wolf. Wait and see, that is. See if there might be a better fit. Wait another week or so if necessary. Still, there's a chance right? She hops back a step, still bouncy-enthusiastic, and opens up her game menu. A few taps, and Tomoe gets a friend request from Yuuki... which is nice and all, but she didn't give Kirito a friend request. Huh. Someone doesn't want to join his fan club, perhaps? Poor Kirito. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki blinks, looking down at Silverbloom. "Ah... you know, I really don't know!" she says, grinning a bit foolishly. "I haven't been counting!"     "That's sixty four." one audience member says helpfully. Yep, Zekken fan club. "I don't know that there are records like that. No one's ever challenged the entire server like this... so anyone can have like a hundred wins in a row if they never fight anyone really good!" 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe is in good spirits as she pops a potion to start her HP bar to fill back up. She grins at Zekken as she looks down to her for a moment and talks. 5R "I guess I asked a silly question didn't I?" She accepts the friend invite and also make sure to tag a note on the name so she doesn't forget. She now will raise after a moment, and she pauses. "Hey a question? You ever been to Dicey's by any chance and damn 64 duels?! Impressive." She looks to the watcher with a bit of a smirk. "There is no denying her skill no." She turns back to Zekken and stretches a bit. "If your going to keep fighitng I'm going to have to watch for a bit myself!" 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki shrugs, glancing at her menu. "Afraid I don't have any more time for duels today!" she claims. She has friends to meet, and they have a lot of fighting to do. And discussions, probably. "And hmmm... never heard of Dicey's. Sorry!" she grins apologetically. "So... thanks for the match! And your friend too!" she adds, grinning impishly at Kirito. Nope, it's not like she snubbed him that friend request out of any personal distaste! "I've gotta fly!" she claims.     Suiting actions to words, she doesn't wait before launching herself into the air. Woosh! 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe says "No worries and I'll tell you about it. I'm friends with the owner, it's a cafe that exists across several VRMMORPGs, it's a good place to hang out and you can watch streams from other games if tyour curious. Take care Zekken, I'll see you around." She looks to Kirito and Annie for a moment with a grin on her face. "Well speaking of Dicey's shall we head there and bug Angil, he's going to want to see the FRAPs from these two fights." She'l turn and waves to Yuuki as she becomes a spec in the sky. 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:'''      "So..." Silverbloom says, turning to Kirito and holding out a poster. "I'm working on a performing group, would you like to help? Or do you know someone else who'd like to? I'm sure a Spriggan could make some great special effects!" She gives a big grin toward him. 

}}

3077/The Absolute Blade, Zekken arrives!

2015-09-22T03:15:49Z

MoreBeer: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/09/21 |Location=Alfheim Online <ALO> |Synopsis=Zekken takes on the Iron Wolf, stronger and tougher than anyone she's ever faced before. It's a..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/09/21
|Location=Alfheim Online <ALO>
|Synopsis=Zekken takes on the Iron Wolf, stronger and tougher than anyone she's ever faced before. It's a battle of power vs. speed!
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=437, 451, 707, 874
|Tinyplot=
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Floor 24 of Aincrad, north of town.     The meeting place isn't hard to find. The time and place was announced well in advance. Ah hour a day, 3 PM to 4 PM server-time on an island just north of the town on the 24th level of Aincrad. Not that it looks like a level, really. The world stretches without walls to the visible limits in all directions. This close to the town there are no monsters. There's just a smallish island, a few hundred feet across at most, reached either by flight or by crossing a simple wooden bridge. The island's most notable feature is a huge spreading oak tree... and beneath that tree, a duel is being fought.     There are a good number of fairy races here of all varieties, either here to watch or here to fight. The combatants they are currently watching move in a blur, dust exploding around them as they fight. Abruptly it's over... one final pass of the swords and one opponent is struck down, his health bar depleting to red and then beginning to flash. A buzzer sounds. The other combatant, a small imp with a purple theme, smiles in delight. Her own health bar is still green, well over 75, and she bears only a few small digital scars.     As the 'WINNER' display lights up and duel stats reset, the imp reaches down to her opponent. "Thanks!" she grins, without any apparent condescention or insincerity. "I have a little while here still... anyone else want to compete?" she announces cheerfully.     The audience seems to have expected the outcome, and most of the fighters seem only mildly disappointed at the victory. They've come to see the newcomer defeated... but they're beginning to expect otherwise and the duels are entertaining even if this Zekken is completely dominating the opposition. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' There's certainly a non-participating audience; a blonde Sylph girl with a staff has been looking on, and even making friendly side bets here and there. Granted, Zekken's winning streak is such that it's less a matter of 'who wins' and 'how much does Zekken win by', but it's still all in good fun, and she cheers enthusiastically every time a duel concludes - cheering the winner as well as the loser. So why hasn't she stepped up yet? Only Kanokon knows that. 

:'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''     "Aye!" shouts out from the crowd. If anyone looked in the direction of the voice, they would see a wall of heavy armor that could only belong to a Salamander. A grin is firmly painted on the lips of the brave soul as he offers a nod to Zekken. "I've heard alot about you, Zekken. Your an impressive fighter." He says. Of course, his hand was resting on the bastard sword sheathed on his back. "Name is Iron Wolf. A pleasure." He says, apparently having paid for a name change, it seemed. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Zekken looks Iron Wolf up and down, then up again, her grin widening in pleasure. "Man, you really rolled good on the size stat!" she says, bouncing slightly on her toes. "How do you want to do this? Flight? No flight? Magic?" she asks. She reaches her left hand to her sword's pommel. "I'm just using this, but the rest is up to you! I'll fight under any rules you want." she says with a cheerful smile.     Among the crowd, an excited buzz comes first from one area, quickly spreading. "One of the Gatecrashers! He's cleared the game!" This is, of course, a big deal. Some of the veteran players of the game consider the Gatecrashers Guild to be a bunch of big fat Beaters, but for the fight fans the guild has a somewhat better reputation. Admiration, respect, maybe even a little awe. Even with the name change, when someone shows up with a serious set of endgame heavy plate they're likely to be recognized by appearance rather than by name. 

:'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''     Iron Wolf looks over to the crowd as he hears the recognition and simply nods. "Sword to sword. Never did get on with magic." He says. He then stretches his neck a bit, loosening up. "I'm curious to see how your speed matches up to my strength. Either way, let's give our fans here a good show." He says, sending over the duel request. Once accepted, he'd draw out his weapon of choice. The size alone seemed like it would need at least 3 hands to lift, yet he holds it aloft in one. 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:'''     The little Puca, Silverbloom, jingles the bells on her bracelets energetically as the battle ends. Her gear isn't up to the standard needed to actually do much up here, but she was curious about this famous fighter- and indeed she seemed to be living up to the hype so far. She was the kind of heroine one could write a song about, she thought, giggling to herself. She really was starting to get comfortable with Puca life.     As someone else stepped forward to challenge the swordswoman, Silverbloom fluttered upwards a bit to get a better look at him. He certainly looked strong, but... strength wasn't everything. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' "Thirty yrd on Iron Wolf taking off a third of Zekken's HP!" Kanokon calls out good-naturedly. Let the betting commence! And yes, she HAS seen how fast Zekken is; she's putting that much of a bet in Iron Wolf's favor anyway. Someone's bound to take her up on it. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     The smile dries up, not out of any lack of enjoyment but in acknowledgment of the serious tone of the impending duel. That's only appropriate after all. One can enjoy a fight, but one should never take it lightly. "Sword to sword then. Jumping is fine, but summoning wings counts as a loss." she claims. All parameters that could be entered into the duel, but that matters little. She'll accept whether the parameters are set or not. What matters, when true fighters meet, isn't the rules imposed on them... what matters is what they agree upon.     A message is directed to Karian's menu. YUUKI has accepted the duel. She brings her right hand over to cover her own blade's hilt, then vaults backwards in a somersault that leaves her practically floating. No wings though, just a leap that all but defies physics. She lands in a slight crouch, drawing her blade with a steely ring and holding it one-handed, a mirror to Karian's own stance. A very tiny mirror, all considered. Her health bar shimmers silver, her health resetting under the duel conditions. The smile is entirely gone now, Yuuki staring at Karian with unblinking focus, waiting for the merest twitch of a virtual muscle to show his intent. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Kanokon's offer gets a few snickers but some interest. "More than 30 fighters took her on, the first day." someone says. "NONE of them broke 70 percent." he adds, pushing spectacles up the bridge of his nose. Zekken's got a stat fan here. Of course none of those on the first day were fighters willing to take the challenge entirely seriously, and none of them had cleared the game.     One spectator shrugs. "Thirty sounds fine." she says. Thirty is barely worth grinding for. "If he does that good, it'll be worth that just to watch the fight!" 

:'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''     Karian nods to the terms. His own health bar resets and he likewise locks his avatar's good eye onto Yuuki. A second that may seem like an eternity would pass before he would make the first move. The more knowledgible in the crowd would know this was his style...to go one handed till he got motivated to stop playing. But for the moment, he swings that bastard sword straight at Yuuki's mid-section. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Zekken knows the power that must be behind such a massive blade. She knows that speed is her only real ally, that if she attempts to oppose force with force, she'll be beaten in no time. Speed is her forte however. She waits with the poise of a samurai, though it's more her outfit that's reminiscent of that ancient art than her actual fighting style. Her style, as it were, has little to do with anything recognizable.     Perhaps predictably, Zekken's move is to go on the attack. Not waiting for the blade to complete its fall, she launches into a charge trying to get inside the reach of the big blade. Her own point leads, with a glancing blow aimed at Karian's side in passing. Nothing that will do serious damage, not through his armor. She'll need to strike true and straight to do such a thing, even with her obsidian blade. 

:'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''     Karian nods to himself mentally. She was fast enough to dance circles around him before he could strike. But he knew this, and would move to counter. He would angle to bring the blade down into the ground and side-step, hopefully utilizing the impact of the glance to set up Zekken for the edge of his greatsword. 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:'''      Not having much else to do, Silverbloom continues jingling her bracelets rhythmically. Drums would probably be a more appropriate backdrop to such a fight, but all she had for instruments at the moment was her trusty flute. She didn't really have any vested interest in the outcome of the fight either. Rooting for the underdog and wanting Zekken to keep her streak alive were both good ideas. So she'd just root for both of them! "Go! Go!" she yelled as her bracelets continued to chime out. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' Well, she mostly offered the bet to help spread some hype around; Kanokon gives the nay-saying statmaster a wry grin and goes back to cheering for the Iron Wolf. She's keeping it SOMEWHAT subdued, though - she doesn't want to distract Karian at a critical moment or anything. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Great strength has a speed of its own. When a heavy object moves with sufficient speed and can still have its path altered by its wielder, it's hard to avoid. Yuuki bats at the sword, using a point on her blade near the hilt to deflect the tip of Karian's greatsword. That in itself wouldn't be enough, but she ducks under the blade. She'd deflected it enough, somehow, to get under it, but she doesn't strike again immediately. She backs off, straightening and bringing her sword back up.     "That's not just game strength, ojiisan!" she calls out, impressed. "Someone that just has the stats to use a heavy sword couldn't maneuver it that quickly. Your blade's hard to predict!" she claims. Strength versus speed indeed.     Yuuki taps her free hand to her breastplate once, in a kind of salute. Then, grinning, she dives in to the attack. This time, she's not measuring Karian's skill. She's got a measure for that. Now, she's trying to see what happens when she presses him.     "She's going all out!" someone cries from the audience. Wrongly, actually. Yuuki's serious, but nowhere near all-out. She's still measuring, but feels no need to hold back while doing so. 

:'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''     Karian laughs as his blade is blocked and ducked under. "Aye..I've had experience with blades like this for a long time, pup." He says. He bangs a fist against his armor as a salute as well, and watches the dive. He quickly brings the blade up to block the dive, and waits to push back. If he was successful, he'd immidiately follow that up with a slash. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki rides that push, not having anywhere near the strength to fight it. No sooner is she past arms-length though than she's back inside again, cutting and slashing with a series of eye-blurringly fast blows. She hits pretty hard too, though that's more a function of game stats than actual physical strength. Her speed's something that couldn't possibly come from stats, but both her blade and armor are of a level equivalent to Karian's own endgame gear.     It would take someone with keen eyesight indeed to see Karian's own blow land. Likely none of the fight fans would have seen it, not past the blurring movement and explosion of dust. Still, as Yuuki begins raining down blows, the sliver removed from her health bar is unmistakeable, as is the red damage marker high up on her side. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' "C'MON IRON WOLF!!" Kanokon calls out enthusiastically. "Old age and treachery will always overcome youth and vigor, teach her to respect her elders!" ... is she taking this a little more seriously than she's letting on? 

:'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''     Karian's grin grows on his face. "Not bad at all....Time for me to get serious." He says, revealing that he had been holding back. Of course, this meant that now his second hand was on the hilt of his sword. He brings it up and launches into his own attacks, slashing wide and even throwing a feined overhead slash for a vertical. Of course, while these were a bit faster then the one handed strikes, they were still being done with a heavy weapon. Despite seeing his health dropping, Karian suppressed his competative side in favor of sheer enjoyment of meeting an equal in a true duel. 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:'''      Along with some of the other spectators, Silverbloom looks surprised to see Zekken take a hit- but it didn't seem to be the kind that would even slow her down. Indeed, she seemed to be striking back even more, and definitely had the advantage. She looks toward Kanokon with a smile before calling out in reply, "I don't think so! You got this, Zekken!" Looks like the other player picked Silverbloom's side for her. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     As opposed to Karian's strong and steady battle style, Yuuki is all over him. In some cases, literally so. She ducks under his blade, spinning to deliver a minimally-effective slash. Her blade is more a thusting weapon, with no good slashing edge. While she can cut vulnerable points with the edge of her blade, it's nothing that could cut through the Iron Wolf's heavy armor.     That's not to say she doesn't thrust, just that she spends more time moving than attacking effectively. If she stills, if she stands toe to toe, she'll be cleaved by that weapon. Not that she isn't struck, but her speed is enough to keep her from suffering more than glancing blows. They're adding up though, those glancing blows. 90. 85% 80... Especially once Karian doubles up on his weapon, bringing extra power and leverage to his strikes.     Yuuki's own strikes come in from all angles. She vaults over him at one point, pommeling over him with one hand while stabbing downward with her blade. Strikes come in from all angles, her blade seeming more like four weapons than one. And yet, following that blade all around the duel, comes laughter. Not mockery, merely pure lighthearted pleasure. The delight of having someone to fight that presses her this hard. 

:'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''     Karian was likewise laughing, joy taking hold in his heart. "I've not had such a good duel in ages!" He complements, even after being bashed by the pommel of the thrusting blade. He too was getting his health bar whittled down effectively. But at the moment, he felt like giving a show. He had been working on a sword skill of his own, and figured now was as good a time to let it loose. He'd run towards Yuuki and use all the might he could summon up to hit and send her skyward. He then swings his sword backwards and aimed to slam it down on top of Yuuki. "I call that one the 'Moon Breaker'." He says, wether he hits it or not. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki jumps up and is then lofted upwards by the beginning of Karian's Sword Skill. The damage is lessened somewhat due to her motion, but it's still the single most damaging hit of the fight so far. Her eyes widen as she finds herself flying without wings, and coming down fast right where the Iron Wolf is readying a strike to slam down as she hits the ground.     What follows isn't easy to see. In fact it's likely no one sees it. Sound is really the only way to describe it... a continuous ringing like someone shaking a sleigh bell. At least four distinct hits, each one hitting almost before the previous one ends, as Zekken's sword strikes Karian's repeatedly, pushing both the blade and the girl aside so she comes down safely without that heavy blade cleaving her virtual skull. She dances to the side, silvery peals of laughter chiming out. "That's an awesome skill, ojisan!" she cries out. "I only have the one original move, and I don't feel like using it yet... but how about this?" she calls.     Yuuki's blade moves in a series of slashes. Down and across, up and back, down and back, across and forward. The tip of the sword leaves a faint glowing afterimage, carving out the infamous but not entirely rare Vertical Square attack against Karian, one of Kirito's own favorite moves. 

:'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''     Karian laughs as he reels a bit from both the blocking action as well as the impressive sword skill. "Not bad....you've almost won this. But I'm not going to give up easy." He says. A quicky glance would reveal he was actually below 50. Though that doesn't stop him from launching at Yuuki again. This time though, he strikes were more methodical, as if he was trying to bait her to block some over others. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' Kanokon doesn't expect Karian to pull off an upset win; she's seen enough of Zekken's duels to know better than to that, and she would've been laughed clear off the floor if she'd bet on the Iron Wolf to triumph. But she bet for him to carve away at least a full third of her HP bar, and THAT is where her attention is staying in between cheers. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Kanokon's already won her bet. Yuuki's health bar sits at 70, possibly even as low as 2/3. Not yellow yet, but as low as anyone's gotten her so far with only one exception. And he's still fighting, still strong, his health bar not yet in the red.     Yuuki seems to be hitting a rhythm now, her attacks coming fast and furious. She doesn't always block Karian's sword strikes. Often she dodges, relying on speed. When he takes short, fast cuts, she doesn't bother parrying or dodging more than a little. His greatsword relies on mass to do its damage, and she's content to have her life shaved slowly away if it allows her to stay on target and slam home a proper thrust or tip-slash. His bigger swings, she won't parry at all, but she easily skips away, dodging past, under, or within the swing's arc. Every time he takes one of those big swings, she gets away clean but usually without being able to deliver anything significant in return. But when he unloads an uncommitted medium swing, those are the worst for him. Those she bats contemptuously aside before striking, using the whole of her sword to move the tip of Karian's, probably lightly wounding him in the process 

:'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''     Karian takes all of this in mind, and sure enough his health drops into the red. "It takes bravery to walk into a duel you can't win...but it takes more to admit when you've been defeated." He says. The reason he says this is because he take's a knee, blade pointed down. "You've won, Zekkan. But I'm happy with the performance I've given." He says, letting their duel end. But once the duel ended, he would offer his hand to the victor in a show of sportsmanship and chivalry. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' Technically Kanokon's bet was contingent on actually bringing Zekken all the way down to 66 percent, not just to 70; she's looking *really* intently at the young swordswoman's HP bar as Karian concedes. Then again, it's only 30 yrd, and you can get more than that off monsters on this floor without breaking even a virtual sweat. The bet was more a token than anything, really. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Zekken's health is actually slightly below 50% by the time she can push Karian's health to critical, and this itself is absolutely unique. An excited buzz goes up from the crowd. In their eyes, that's practically a win against the one they're dubbing the Absolute Blade. Certainly better than anyone who's fought her yet.     "Thanks, ojisan!" Yuuki beams, quick to sheathe her sword the moment he surrenders. The duel is technically not officially over, not won unless one or the other ends it through 'death' or through their menu, but she's done nonetheless. She's not bloodthirsty, and has absolutely no interest in her official ALO win/loss score.     She does have to consider though. Iron Wolf is good. He's really good. Probably the equal of Jun, she has to admit at least privately. But is he suitable for the group? She's not sure. He definitely enjoys fighting, and he has the right attitude. He's got the skills... he MIGHT work. She'll probably have to discuss it with the rest of the Sleeping Knights. She's not convinced, but she's at least considering it.     Yuuki waves out with her left hand, tapping her menu rapidly. Karian's own menu pings. Friend request. "I hope you don't mind?" she asks.     This too is unprecedented. Completely so. 

:'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''     Karian accepts the friend request and while in the menu ends the duel. He sheaths his sword and then grins. "Your skills are considerable, for a young person. You pushed me and I've got a century of training." He says. Was he role-playing, or perhaps telling the truth? His sly grin didn't really hint to either. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki laughs, seeming to accept Karian's boast as a joke, or as a roleplayed thing. "I'll have to start calling you ojiisan then!" she claims. Again still polite, but the sort of thing a girl would call an ancient man rather than a middle-aged one. 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:'''     Silverbloom claps for the competitors, cheering as Iron Wolf graciously concedes, before breaking into a celebratory tune on her flute. As she does so, she moves a bit closer to the two who had been fighting, dancing around them happily. After she finishes, she smiles up at them. "That was really great," she says. "I hope I'll be just as good with music as you are with swords someday!" Though, she's not sure how exactly one would measure that. Numerical skill levels were one thing, but it seemed like, in both music and fighting, genuine talent was important along with mechanical stats here. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki peers down at little Silverbloom. While it's easy enough to tell that most players are older than her, it's just as easy to tell Silverbloom's a child rather than an adult playing with the sliders scaled low. Unless, of course, it's just a really good RPer with the sliders set to small.     "Hey, no telling right?" she says. She doesn't do the patronizing thing, doesn't claim 'maybe you will if you work hard.' Yuuki shrugs. "Keep playing!" she says with a grin, raising her hand, fingers splayed in an exuberant V. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' "If our skills from reality carried over here," Kanokon remarks wryly, "I'd give you a shot myself .. you're pretty incredible," she says to Yuuki. 

:'''{{#var:874|Yuuki Konno (874)}} has posed:'''     Yuuki's eyes widen at that comment, though she quickly blinks and the startled expression vanishes. "I'm glad it's just a game!" she says with somewhat hearty cheer. "I'm nothing special IRL." she claims, covering up her surprise.     Aaand cue a rapid shift of conversation! "I can probably manage another fight or two if anyone's up for it! Come on, give it a try, someone!" Zekken calls out, bouncing enthusiastically. 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:'''     Silverbloom gives the V right back at Zekken. "I... guess there's a lot I'll have to do to do that, huh? I've got to learn a bunch of songs, get some better clothes, do lots of practice... and maybe even get a backup band!" It'd be a lot of work to do, but... somehow, she feels like she'd be more capable of doing such things as Silverbloom than she would as Annie. Sure, she likes singing in real life, but here, she's a magical music fairy- it definitely makes her feel more confident in her abilities. "I'll have to ask around the Carnival..." 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' Kanokon shakes her head, grinning as she raises her hands. "After the Iron Wolf, I'd just disappoint everybody, from the audience to myself to you. He put up a better fight than I could, and I got a little money off the deal." 

}}

Yuuki Konno

2015-09-22T03:12:46Z

MoreBeer: Created page with "{{CharacterNew |NameOnMUSH=Yuuki Konno |Color=#0099FF |Char_id=874 |Img= |FullName=Yuuki Konno |Gender=Female |Species=Imp |Theme=Sword Art Online-1 |Chartype=FC |Function=Abs..."

{{CharacterNew
|NameOnMUSH=Yuuki Konno
|Color=#0099FF
|Char_id=874
|Img=
|FullName=Yuuki Konno
|Gender=Female
|Species=Imp
|Theme=Sword Art Online-1
|Chartype=FC
|Function=Absolute Blade
|Faction=Unaffiliated
|Rank=N/A
|Ranktype=Unaffiliated
|Groups=Gatecrashers
|Quote=There are some things you can only share with someone by fighting. For instance, how serious you are.
|PAge=15
|AAge=15
|Aging=Yes
|Height=
|Weight=
|Hair=Purple
|Eyes=Red
|Voice=
|Song=
|Profile=Yuuki is known as Zekken, the seemingly unbeatable Absolute Blade who came out of nowhere in Alfheim Online to challenge and defeat many of the game's top duellists. Speed is her strongest asset; the kind of speed that only comes from someone who essentially lives within the VR world. Essentially that's the literal truth. For years now, Konno Yuuki has lived within a prototype medical device. While she undergoes treatment to preserve her life, her consciousness roams a limitless number of VR worlds. She's free to glory in the movement and the freedom the VR worlds give her; the freedom her own flesh and blood body is denied. Never one to dwell on bleak fate, she remains bubbly and cheerful as long as she possibly can, being both warm and honest in everything but her real-life situation, determined only to have her and her friends leave their mark upon the virtual worlds in some unmistakable way.

|Powers=Theme Powers: Yuuki is an Imp in Alfheim Online, and has the powers listed for that race in +themelist Sword Art Online-1. Namely she has the ability to fly, and she has exceptional night vision. Yuuki can theoretically learn magic, but has not learned any of the game's spells.
Walk-out Mode: Yuuki has essentially lived within VR for years, with a very tenuous connection to her own living flesh. Her character is more herself than her flesh is, which would give her the ability to survive leaving the VR game should she be able to find a portal out.
1-UP: Since most of her interactions with others involve her virtual character, Yuuki has little reason to fear death. Reducing her health to zero means her character disintegrates into pixels and a Remain Light, which will shortly vanish and return her character to her most recent spawn point - a safe zone within Alfheim Online. A death outside the VR world is sufficiently traumatic to her to make it difficult for her to return to the 'real' world after suffering a character death. She can return after a scene - typically it takes half an hour to respawn - but she'll still have somewhat-slowed reactions and hypersensitivity. Simply put, she has a heal time just like anyone else. If she returns before sufficient healtime has passed, she will still be 'wounded'.
Bullet Cutter: Yuuki has the perception and the speed to dodge or even cut bullets, so long as she can see them coming. This can also apply to magic or other similar attacks, if the magic is sufficiently-physical to be deflectable.
|Skills=Agility: As one of the light races of Alfheim Online, Yuuki can wall-run and is extremely quick in combat. Combined with near-perfect control of her avatar form gained through years of experience, this gives her an incredible degree of speed, precision and control. She also has excellent control over voluntary flight, able to easily turn loops and flips in the air and to set down delicately and precisely.
Zekken: Yuuki's signature ability is the one-handed blade resembling a rapier. Zekken means 'Absolute Blade', and the title was given to her by those who believe there's no one out there who can match her with a sword. She is a spectacular duellist, and can both strike at speeds faster than the normal eye can follow and can potentially parry strikes that are likewise faster than a normal eye can follow.

|Assets=
|NPCs=Sleeping Knights: Six skilled VRMMO players who have teamed together for years across many VRMMOs. The team consists of Siune the Undine healer, Jun the Salamander tank (heavy armor and great sword), Tecchi the Gnome tank (mace and shield), Nori the Spriggan DPS (light armor and warhammer), and Talken the Leprechaun DPS (spear). They have powers as listed for their races in +themelist Sword Art Online-1. Any of these NPCs are PL 30-31 individually. Collectively with Yuuki, the Sleeping Knights are PL 34.
|Disadvantages=The Flesh Is Weak: Yuuki has an incurable disease which has destroyed her immune system. She has spent over three years in a medicuboid, a device which can radiate signals directly into her nervous system to override the pain of her disease without medication. It also allows her to access her world's VRMMOs as an alternative therapy, since she can't leave a sterile room without lethal consequences. She has no effective way of interacting without using a VR avatar.
No Game No Life: Yuuki's never had a chance to complete grade school let alone high school, and has never had any significant life experience due to spending the last few years in hospitals. Though she's done some self-study on typical school subjects, she has little experience in dealing with anything that can't be beaten with a sword or that otherwise exists outside the sort of solutions found in RPGs.
Distant: While Yuuki has come to terms with her pending death and with the deaths of others close to her, she doesn't like letting others know about her condition. She has a great deal of trouble dealing with how others might react, and pity is one thing that can break through her acceptance of her fate. She finds it easier to face death than to face the pity of others.
Swordmarm: While Yuuki has played dozens of VRMMOs, she's a sword wielder above all else. She has no experience with magic and no desire to spend time or effort learning the skill, instead glorying in movement in all her fighting abilities. While her wings and speed make up for quite a bit, when it comes right down to it she has no options for dealing with anything outside of lunge or charge range.
}}

2980/Bad Deal Interrupted

2015-09-20T12:20:16Z

MoreBeer: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/09/07 |Location=Slum Urbania |Synopsis=Yari Takane meets some gangsters for a deal in slum urbania. It attracts attention from a recently resc..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/09/07
|Location=Slum Urbania
|Synopsis=Yari Takane meets some gangsters for a deal in slum urbania. It attracts attention from a recently rescued Union elite, Eve!
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=385, 691, 857
|Tinyplot=
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:691|Yari Takane (691)}} has posed:''' It's a rainy day on the edge of Slum Urbania and the more technologically advanced areas. Cyberware and rusty laser pistols are as common as shivs and swords here, with just enough organized crime that it's not completely lawless, and the occasional techno-urbanian going slumming for cheap thrills is hardly uncommon. And it's a hotspot for clandestine meetings, and those who prey upon them. A local mob boss has gotten a little too big for their position, and has managed to get their hands on an expensive piece of advanced weaponry. The Confederacy's information network picked up on the impending sale, and rather than actually buy it, has sent one of its operatives in. In a slightly ruffled suit typical of several mafioso in the area, Yari Takane pulls her raincoat over her clothes and ducks into one of the many dingy alleyways. Three men meet her, one with a suitcase matching Yari's own. The other two have long coats and barely concealed sub machine guns. Eyes meet, and words are quietly exchanged. "Got the goods, Sista'?" Yari offers over the case of money, it's checked. The other is handed to her. She opens it, and then makes a gesture with her magitek armlet. A fake. A clever one, but a fake. "Thank you, gentlemen." Offers Yari quietly, before pulling a red and black pistol. In the alleyways, two shots ring out, and screams fill the air. Close enough that anyone nearby can hear them. But who would be intrepid enough to actually investigate!? 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     This isn't Sapidor. Actually, the rather gritty urban streets are quite different from the generally-clean and aesthetic streets of the city she grew up in. Not that she actually saw much of that city really. Most of the time she remained inside the manor, completely unaware of the greater world outside. She's making an effort to rectify the situation however, making a point of getting out and learning as much about everything as she possibly can.     A small, apparently helpless girl really shouldn't be out in such slums alone, but then it's unclear whether Eve realizes that or not. Arguably she could be inviting trouble just so she could smack someone down for attacking the helpless, setting herself up as bait. What she's doing out here however ends up being mostly irrelevant. Hearing shots ring out, she immediately goes into action.     Of course what she intends to do about the situation is another question. Eve's completely unarmed, at least to all appearances, save for her silvery umbrella. She skids into the alley, and she's completely out of place. Just a small skinny girl, perhaps 11 or 12 years old, dressed slightly fancy in a seifuku-type outfit. "Wh-what is going on here!" she demands, wide eyes darting around to try to take in all details at once. 

:'''{{#var:691|Yari Takane (691)}} has posed:''' As Eve dashes in, it's a grisly scene: the two big mobster guards are slumped over, weapons fallen near them with clean holes in their foreheads. Small calibre weapon, likely the one that the somewhat short suited figure is currently pointing at the remaining gangster. Yari stands atop him, the far scrawnier mafioso shivering in the rain with a booted foot to the back of his neck. A case of money lays open, fallen in the sudden violence, with the other case not far away. "..less you want to join your soldiers, I'd come clean. As your kind are fond of saying, this is 'just business', and we do not tolerate being cheated. Do not swindle an opportunity. I'd rather this not devolve into further unpleasantries." Comes the Au'ra, voice even and almost bored. Then Eve speaks up. Yari pivots, points her weapon, and looks over the intruder. She actually lets out a tiny little gasp. A /child/. And one that's fairly well-to-do. Her jaw sets, and she's silent a moment. A better operative would just kill the witness. Yari likes sleeping at night. "Nothing you want to be involved in, little one. This isn't a safe place for you. Run along. You'll find nothing but very dangerous people here. Run away, and I'll forget I saw you." Her voice is sharp and quick, trying to shove enough authority into it to get the girl to run off. 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     Eve's jaw firms at the words sent her way. That and at the weapon aimed in her direction. Sure she's scared. Terrified might be a better word. She's had to fight and kill in the past, but never by her own choice and never against someone who might fight back.     "Maybe it's not safe." Eve agrees, lowering the umbrella and holding it like it's a shield. A pathetic shield against firearms, surely. Only... it begins to change. The silvery surface retracts, thickens, hardens. Within moments, a crude metal shield is covering most of the girl's vulnerable center of mass. The rain comes down, beginning to soak her hair and clothes, but this seems more important than that. She could have just as easily armored her skin instead, but she figures that in this case an overt declaration of threat might be better than a subtle effect. Well, not threat exactly. It's just a shield. Quite the opposite of threat really... but it's an obvious declaration of Eve's intent. "But you're wrong when you say it's nothing I want to be involved in. I don't want to see anyone killed." she claims boldly. Which probably begs the question why she charged into a scene filled with gunfire... but oh well. 

:'''{{#var:691|Yari Takane (691)}} has posed:''' Yari is once again silent, her almost casual display of intended violence shifting into focus and readiness asthe girl causes her umbrella to turn to metal. A small frown creases her face. Questions run through her mind. Is this girl an Elite? Is she merely holding onto a piece of magitek? Or is something else afoot. The bawling mafioso isn't forgotten, but Eve has gotten Yari's attention. She's an unknown, and that alone makes her dangerous. "...You're certain? You do know you're risking your life right now, little one?" For all of her callousness towards the mafioso, seems Eve's appearance is proving an advantage. A rain-slicked tail runs through her hair. "I really am soft. Still, you're too late. I don't miss at this range. And it doesn't have to end with this guy dead too, if he just plays nice." She digs her heel in this time. "...Where's the prototype, Mister Joseph? I'm getting impatient, and as you can hear, we're not alone anymore." "Gah...just kill me...not gonna betray the boss..." Yari shrugs. "I'll just tear through your little gang of thugs then. So that's how it is." Her attention turns back to Eve. "Five seconds to decide. Are you going to do something about this, or do the smart thing and run away? Trust me, this man's continued ability to breathe and that of his friends makes the multiverse a worse place." A breath, and she counts. "5...4..." She stands straight, pistol still aimed at the girl as the tension in the air only rises, the rain falls, and the mafioso begs for his life. 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     The smart thing? Eve's not sure what's smart. She does know though, that if she runs away... she might as well have never been freed. She shakes her head, moving towards the gang of thugs in a sideways shuffle, not taking her eyes off Yari for more than a moment.     "This... this isn't something I can just run away from." Eve says shakily. It's not like she actually WANTS to be here, but now that she is she has to take a stand. "Do you really want to do this? If... if you kill someone, it's not something you can ever make up for or undo." she claims. Not that Yari has any shortage of kills under her belt... but Eve's speaking up for herself as much as for the Confederate soldier. 

:'''{{#var:691|Yari Takane (691)}} has posed:''' Yari stops her counting. The little, young girl, impossibly brave, refuses to back down. A smile blossoms on her face. She almost laughs. What would Hydaelyn be like, with kids like this, grown to lead? "No. No I don't. I'd rather be home, with the people I care about, in a peaceful world where bullheaded little kids don't charge into alleyways in the slums. But words and feelings don't make peace. Brilliant leaders, and scum like me who do the dirty work to clean up garbage like this make real, lasting peace." She nods, slowly, in agreement. "Only a psychopath forgets lives they've taken. Their memories, the sacrifices and pain of enemies and allies alike are only worth it if you have something in the end. That's why I'm finishing this mission. Sorry you had to get tangled up in it. Goodbye." She aims for Eve, and pulls the trigger until the clip empties! Right at the girl's umbrella-shield. Her accuracy is keen, and she's used to quick targets. But it's all a feint. That tail of hers, even as she fires, slips into her boots. A duo of shuriken are silently tossed towards the girl! Right at her ankles! Not enough to cut a vital artery, but enough to sting. And should she be vulnerable by the paralytic poisons on their edges should they hit, she may well feel her legs going numb. 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     Eve has taken shots from a powerful pistol before, and not had the bullets break her skin. Granted she'd layered her skin with nanometal armor, but even so the attack was a lot more deadly than some concealable little popgun. It also had considerably more muzzle velocity than this gun has, and her dermal armor was nowhere near as thick as her current shield. The bullets pancake into the shield or ricochet off. It's quite clearly made from a tough metal, not some quicksilver alloy. Eve's balance is knocked about a bit. She's tiny after all, and masses little. Still she bears down, holding her defense steady even as she continues to edge towards the 'victims' defensively. It's an advantage of being tiny, really. The only parts of her that show past the edges of that shield are small and potentially fast-moving. Not at all good targets for gunshots.     She's caught completely unaware by the shuriken nicking her ankles. She was just about ready to congratulate herself on having weathered the storm of bullets when she feels the stinging pain. Pain itself doesn't really bother the girl. She's not exactly a stranger to such things, though most of her pain has been emotional rather than physical. Still it's enough to make her gasp and glance down. She sees what happened, realizes what Yari must somehow have done... and there's steel in her eyes as she looks back up.     Eve takes one hand away from her shield, holding it out to the side where her hand quite visibly and obviously extends another long thin metal pole... a lot like the shaft of a second umbrella perhaps. No shield blossoms out from it however. She's used much of her available mass of nanomachines to produce the shield that already exists, and she hardly wants to weaken it just to extend another shield that provides little additional protection. No, the spike of metal becomes tipped with its own spike of pointy gleaming silver. An obvious weapon, and an obvious attempt at a threat.     "I don't understand what you mean by forgetting. I couldn't ever forget such a thing." Eve says, with perfect sincerity. She has blood on her hands. There's a certainty to her, a truth in her voice, that makes those words unmistakeable in their implication. But she doesn't have murder in her eyes, only an implacable resolve.     Abruptly her legs wobble, the paralytic beginning to take effect. Eve trembles, fights for balance, then collapses. Used to her body being a perfectly reliable instrument, doing everything she wants without her even thinking about it, she doesn't know how to deal with it when it's not behaving. A terror crosses her face, one that has nothing to do with the woman looming over her with a weapon. A terror of something, somehow, being fundamentally /wrong/.     She masters it quickly, brings it under control, though it's still there in her eyes. It overshadows the resolve that was there moments before. She raises her arms, shield in one hand, sharpened silver rod in the other, ready for whatever's to come. Even if she can't move, she'll stay her course and continue to struggle...     and then she reverses the short spear, jabbing it backwards into the thigh of the man she's defending. "Come ON you moron." she hisses. It's possible her strike could draw blood, but the rod isn't all that sharp. She's distracted and she's not really trying to cause harm, just pain. "Whatever it is she wants to know, she's going to KILL you! That's it, no more life! No chance to make up for anything! Just give her what she's after, then make up for it with your boss, whoever he is." she says, gritting her teeth and scowling, not looking at the man. She's relying on her memory and precision to deal with him, keeping her eyes carefully on Yari. SHE is the threat here, and Eve instinctively knows she dares not look away. 

:'''{{#var:691|Yari Takane (691)}} has posed:''' The underpowered bullets plink away, but they serve their purpose as Yari notes the fear across the girl's face when the poison starts to sink in. And yet, her words, that odd extended spike of metal from her very body, and how her resolve so quickly forms in those eyes of hers? It all sends a chill down Yari's spine. This is no normal girl. Teeth grit. There's no way this little girl hasn't killed before. The gun slips from her hand into a pocket as her hand clenches in frustration. Another youth, soiled by the multiverse and its many worlds. It's infuriating to the core. A breath, and she calms. "Someone as young as you shouldn't know that. But I believe you. Still, you don't have the eyes of a killer. What happened to you?" Another breath, and she holds up a hand. "Don't. Sorry, I get sentimental on jobs. It's a bad habit." Then the girl whacks the guy in the thigh with her spear-point, drawing just the tiniest bit of blood and a scream from the mafioso. He sits up, spits on the ground, and glares pure venom at the pair. "Idiot! Don't you think I know that!? Look in her eyes! She's the real deal, a real hitwoman! She'll just kill me after I tell her! I'm not stupid, either way, I'm gonna die! So I'll take her to hell wtih me! I'm no traitor!" It draws an actual smile to her face, for the second time in the night. "Oh? Loyalty in a mafia soldier? How rare. I don't think you're lieing either." As the mafioso tries to reach towards one of the soldier's fallen guns, Yari shrugs, and lets another larger gun fall from her belongings. She kicks it over towards the mafioso. "Child. Get out of the way. Let this man die a warrior's death instead of what his superiors will give him. Otherwise, I really will have to cut through you to ensure his honor is maintained." She reaches behind her, and pulls a concealed katana from her suit, and sets the sheath in a belt loop. The mafia man reaches out, leaping towards Eve from behind as that gun slides towards his hand. The one-armed Au'Ra makes several handseals, and her entire body goes tense as veins pulse. Her already top-notch reflexes swell with aether right in the veins, and then she leaps towards the alley walls. She moves like a spider, utterly defying physics as she runs along the wall in a wide arc, hand on the hilt of her sheathed sword. Her gaze never leaves Eve even as she pauses, and then leaps towards the mafioso! Her sword flashes, aiming to take the man's head in one clean blow! 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     If Eve weren't partially paralyzed, she might have been able to at least try to stop Yari. It doesn't matter to her that he's probably doomed, or that he's no doubt killed before. Her actions, in trying to save him, are slightly more selfish than they seem. It's not him she's trying to save... it's herself.     Eve's quicker than anyone her build has any right to be. She's tougher, stronger. But in the end, she's not inhuman. She has nanomachines that make her unique and effective, but they don't quite violate the laws of physics. Realistically, her ankles paralyzed and her legs all but useless, there's absolutely nothing she can do to stop someone as fast and as skilled as this woman.     That doesn't mean she isn't going to TRY, of course.     With a cry, half of anger and half of frustration, Eve thrusts out one arm at the last possible moment. Obeying her will, the spike of metal in her hand juts out another meter. The metal spear consumes the edges of her shield, but her will in this matter is absolute. The spear lances out, and its tip goes precisely where she aims it despite the weakness in her legs.     She's not, however, aiming for Yari. No, the spear moves into the arc of the sword. Futilely, of course. Even if it were strong enough to parry that blade without being cut clean through, it's extended well beyond the point where the tip can exert any leverage. Doubtless it won't even slow the katana as Yari swings and knocks it clear out of the path of her strike. 

:'''{{#var:691|Yari Takane (691)}} has posed:''' The act that the brave little girl works towards bears fruit, though perhaps not what she was going for. Yari lands, blade whistling towards the man's neck! Nanomachine-minted metal grinds against that of a weapon meant more for stealth than durability. It's just a few moments, but the clash of weapons gives the gangster time to turn and aim with the gun Yari tossed him. Three things happen in the space of a few breaths. The mafioso howls as he pulls the trigger, Eve's spear of metal is roughly shoved aside as Yari pivots in her landing, putting her hips into the strike with enough force to break through the party and sever the man's head. Just in time, for as the mafioso falls dead, the concealed sword's blade shatters. Yari stumbles back, dropping the now broken blade as her suit goes red. Her tail wraps around the case carrying the money for the deal. She breaths hard. The bullet wound is clean enough, and not instantly fatal, but she'll need to get patched up. Her eyes are on Eve, and she chuckles weakly. "You're a bit green, but you have talent. Let me guess. Are you a reformed killer? Good luck. Still, even if that's the case, you'll probably get killed or worse in these slums if you just lay there. Do you have any friends? Here." She rolls a small vial towards the girl. "That's the antidote to the poison I used. It'll take half an hour or so. Give me a name, child. Stubborn little girls like you do not deserve to die here, especially when they actually show some bravery." She's smiling again, real respect in her eyes. Yes, this girl has talent, and more than that, heart. But will she learn conviction? She taps her radio, awaiting a name from Eve. "Hurry up. I cannot afford to just bleed out right here. Even my mercy has limits." 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     Eve watches in horrified dismay as her interference leads to Yari being shot. she hadn't wanted the man's death, but neither did she want him to shoot his attacker. There's actually relief in her eyes when she sees that the shot didn't do too much damage. She's not upset over the blade, but the wound is another matter.     The relief fades somewhat when she realizes her efforts meant little. The man lies decapitated, his killer... injured, but not fatally. She's not sure if what she knows about human anatomy counts here, but the place where Yari was shot is not a place she was taught to target.     Eve allows the spear to collapse, and it shimmers into a thousand crystalline shards. The shards glow with a faint blue light before they too vanish. Unless Yari can see subcellular details, she won't be able to see the motes of microscopic dust returning in a gentle aerial dance to Eve.     Eve doesn't answer that first question, once she's realized she's not to be attacked for her temerity. She isn't sure how to tell that story, or if it's something she SHOULD tell. Regardless, the truth is probably fairly obvious. She winces and shakes her head. She looks down at the antidote, not sure if she should take it. Then again... if this woman wants her dead, what chance does she have against that level of speed and power, with her own legs useless?     One hand, the one without the shield, reaches out to close around the antidote. "Eve." she finally says. "No, it's okay. I'll do it." she says, reaching up to shake loose a little pendant on a chain about her neck. A multiversal radio, it seems. "If you're here when they come, I... I'm sorry." she says. Not apologizing for interfering so much as for getting the au'ra woman hurt. Or perhaps she doesn't care about the injury, and is only apologizing for getting in the way in such a futile manner. 

:'''{{#var:691|Yari Takane (691)}} has posed:''' From the bleeding alone, the anatomy might not be too far off. There's also a relatively nice suit being ruined. Not her best of weeks for clothing being torn to shreds, is Yari's. Despite the wound, she stands tall, having drawn her smaller calibre gun as her tail keeps her upright. Blood slowly drips, the woman making her way back towards the shadows. Sweet, comforting darkness that she all but fades into as if she were some kind of ghost. She's no master, but Yari Takane is no stranger to hiding. "Don't worry about that. I've been in situations like this before. Eve. Call me Yari. I'll look forward to seeing what a reformed killer looks like, if you actually manage to walk that path. Let me give you some advice: killer or not, a person is nothing without convictions. Find your way of life, struggle, and defend those you love no matter what's in the way. All morals and high-minded things aside, to live is to fight for something you love." She actually smirks, and tosses a little wave. She settles, lurking, watching in the dark, but not attacking Eve as she awaits for the girl's backup. 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     Eve would argue about being a reformed killer, since she never chose to be a killer in the first place. She was a weapon, that's all. An instrument of death. When she finally learned she could choose, she chose to not kill. That choice is beginning to solidify for her, but she can't really put it into words yet. It's easy to say she refuses to kill, but harder to express why. So long as she never chooses to kill, she can still claim some innocence for the deaths on her hands. More than that though, her path is becoming something of a repenetance for whatever guilt she might harbor over the use she was put to.     Eve sits, looking quite bedraggled in the rain, with her legs pulled up and tucked under her. She's treated the injuries, minor though they are, and would probably be just fine if there wasn't a strong paralytic numbing her legs. She has a lot to think about, not the least of which being Yari's words. Something in her agrees with them. She'd feel much the same way really. Her choices mean little without convictions. Choice is important, yes, but so is finding one's path in life and clinging to it, even when things get difficult. To live is, indeed, to fight for what you love. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' If Yuna had known it was raining in Slum Urbania, she most likely would have grabbed an umbrella or a raincoat or something. As it is, though, her sundress gets soaked within a minute of emerging from the warpgate, and the best she can do is have Elner activate her Light Suit. So while she's still in relatively form-fitting attire, at least it's MEANT to be form-fitting and will be somewhat less likely to give her a cold from running around soaking wet. Elner is actually leading the way, too, since the robo-faerie can match up coordinates with reality better than Yuna can. Once they're close enough, Yuna can see Eve, and she just pours on the speed. "Eve!! Are you - what happened?!" She comes to a halt next to Eve, crouching beside the younger blonde and checking her injuries before turning her attention to the rest of the scene. A corpse nearby, and the lady over there in the shadows (more 'visible' to Elner than to Yuna, really) who presumably was the one to call for help on Eve's behalf. She's visibly more worried about the little girl than the crime scene, though. 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     Eve's injuries really aren't that bad. Shallow little slices near her ankles, delivered by shuriken to in turn deliver a paralytic poison. She's wet and bedraggled, but she's at least out of the rain by virtue of having made herself a nanometal umbrella to keep the worst of the wet off. She had been fighting without rain protection though, not to mention she'd sprawled out unintentionally on the wet alleyway when her legs gave out. So even though she's out of the rain now, she's cold and wet and shivering.     She puts on a brave face though, clearly happy to see Yuna even if she's a bit embarrassed at her helplessness. "I'm okay." she insists. "I just need some help walking. And..." she looks around. She can't see Yari, but there's just something. "... Be careful." she warns. "I smell blood."     This warning may be a bit silly, given there is one decapitated corpse and two more with gunshot wounds in their heads. Even with the rain, the smell of blood is likely more of a stench. "She didn't want me to be left here. Helpless, she said." Eve explains, scowling at that. It's not like Eve's helpless, she just can't feel her legs or reliably move them, that's all. 

:'''{{#var:691|Yari Takane (691)}} has posed:''' Unfortunately for Yuna, Yari isn't one to give away tactical information. She'd make a horrible weatherwoman, really. The lizard ninja has fallen silent, except for perhaps the faintest of occasional gulps of pain. Yari's well trained, but she still lacks in the experience of other stealth operatives, and staying still while wounded for this long is taxing. In addition to her heat signature amidst the darkness for Elner, there's a growing pool of blood from where she's been hiding. But with first the robo-fairy, then Yuna's arrival and such concern from the woman? Yari's pain evaporates in an instant. She gives little consideration for the dead men, but seeing genuine from Yuna puts her at ease. There's no lie in the Paladin's eyes as she sweeps over her hiding spot. The opportunity is taken, however, Yari's no fool. The suitcase is quietly picked up, and she 'rounds the corner with as much stealth as she can muster in her condition. Another handseal, and she leaps towards the rooftops with ninja-aether, a trail of blood easily followed by anyone willing to pursue. She's opened her wound, even as she ducks down two alleyways away, and barges into a seedy nightclub. A quick, silent bribe, and she's amongst the dancing throngs, already working towards a safe exit to the Confederate Citadel. She'll have to 'clean up' later. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' "You're a mess," Yuna remarks under her breath; again, Elner notices Yari's departure, but does not pursue. Yuna doesn't seem to even care - Yari called in help for Eve, that's the important part. And speaking of help for Eve - well, she doesn't have anything to bandage Eve's ankles with. She should have Elner start carrying a first-aid kit in her 'inventory' for emergencies like this ... she DOES have one on the Mike-maru-go, but that's not a lot of help. Yuna settles for trying to physically pick Eve up, princess-carry style. Eve's roughly small enough that even the fairly petite Yuna can probably lift her, with some effort (and the Light Suit's modest strength boost). "Let's get you back to Njorun. Elner, teleport us back to the warpgate?" If Yuna CAN'T lift Eve, teleportation will still work. 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     Eve's a tiny slip of a girl, though a bit heavier than she looks due to the mass of nanometal within her. Still not enough weight to really burden Yuna, not over short distances at least. She clings to Yuna, as much out of a desire for comfort as to be carried. "I heard guns. Tried to stop her from killing that third man... failed." Eve explains. "My legs won't move, but Yari said this would make my legs better soon." she says, half-opening her hand to reveal a small vial. An antidote, it would seem.     Without a doubt, Eve's angry and upset. The anger's not for Yari though, but for herself. Her failure. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' "You did what you could," Yuna reassures Eve. "We ..." And there's the sorrow and the pain that Eve would remember from their chatting over hot dogs, coming back full force. "We can't always save everybody ... but that's never an excuse to do less than our utmost to protect those whom we *can* save." And with that, she passes through the warpgate, back to Njorun Station so Eve's injuries can be treated. 

}}

3033/WMAT C1 Beelzebumon vs The Magician

2015-09-17T11:26:28Z

MoreBeer:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/09/16
|Location=WMAT Arena - Devil's Hand
|Synopsis=WMAT 2015 Division C battle between two combat junkies.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=7, 132, 799
|Tinyplot=WMAT 2015
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:132|Beelzebumon (132)}} has posed:'''      /FINALLY/!      Waiting for over a week for all the jokers in the loser's bracket to finally figure out who was going to get a second change was pure torture for Beelzebumon, and he was actually starting to regret winning his match against Sagat solely because of the wait... but that would have ment throwing the match to him, so fuck that noise! Hopefully the wait will be worth it though.      Eager to get things started, Beelzebumon has already arrived, seated upon the chassis of his hellish bike Behemoth, with the distinctive 'V for Victory' shaped mountain range to his back with the sun just peeking up through the gap between the 'fingers' of the mountain.      Now Beelzebumon isn't the sort of person who believes in omens or that sort of shit, so don't go thinking he's doing that to somehow bring him good luck and victory. In reality, he did it solely because it looks bitchin' cool, and where's the fun in being in a tournament if you don't Ham It Up a little bit? After all, people want exciting matches filled with close calls and an ever changing tide of battle! They don't poay to watch squash matches! 

:'''{{#var:799|Hisoka (799)}} has posed:'''     Some might think, looking at Hisoka's flamboyant outfits, hairstyle and facial makeup, that he likes making a spectacle of himself. That he's into drama and playing to the crowd and all that sort of thing. The crowd does interest him, it's true, but only because of what he might achieve with fame or reputation. In general he's not at all interested in showing off... not to the crowd at least.     Still, he's undeniably flamboyant. Hisoka looks, to put it bluntly, like a freak. He advances into the battlegrounds casually, sauntering towards the mountains and Beelzebumon. He wears a faintly amused grin, which covers his anxiousness. Like Beelzebumon, he's eager to fight. Like his opponent, he doesn't much like the gap in the battles he 'earned' by winning. He's a little twitchy now, and it makes his gait somewhat erratic as he approaches.     Once approaching the fight, he looks on his rather tall opponen with interest. "They say you like to fight." he says, as an opening gambit. They also say this opponent is strong. This... ought to be fun! It's just such a pain that this isn't a battle with lives on the line... 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa is here once again, not only is Kotone a sponsor of the tournament? She's also an announcer too. "Good evening! Ladies, Gentlemen and all self aware beings to another WMAT match! I'm your announcer Kotone Yamakawa! We're here at the hellish Devil's Hand with Beelzebumon this digital biker had been a long time denizen of the multiverse and has seriously seem some crazy things in this time here! Today we have his foe the Magician! This wandering magical unknown has fought their way through the tournament! 

:'''{{#var:132|Beelzebumon (132)}} has posed:'''      "They're right," Beelz replies with as he straightens up on the seat of his bike, "Name's Beelzebumon, Digital Demon Lord of Gluttony and total combat junkie."      He takes a moment to crack his neck, followed by his knuckles, then glances over to where the tournament official is raising his flag, "But enough introductions..." Beelzebumon places his hands upon the handlebar of his machine and guns the engine, while holding a firm grip on the brakes as he gets ready...      And then the official drops his flag and begins the match.      "LET'S ROCK!" Beelzebumon announces as he takes his hand off the brakes and pops a wheelie, before tearing across the battlefield with his arm outstretched in a lariat. 

:'''{{#var:799|Hisoka (799)}} has posed:'''     Combat junkie. Well, Hisoka can appreciate that. Hisoka feeds on adrenaline himself, though it's not adrenaline itself that gets him going. The lethal thrill is what sets combat apart from anything else, at least as long as death is in the cards... so to speak.     Despite his title as "The Magician", Hisoka is a very physical fighter. His eyes narrow and gleam as Beelzebumon calls him out, and he stands his ground. Time to take the measure of his foe. With the oncoming bike, there will be considerable momentum and power behind any attakc thrown. He could dodge, but why? Instead he throws his own arm out at the last moment, striking Beelzebumon's arm at a cross-angle. His arm might give, though he's pretty seriously strong. Beelzebumon's arm might give. Or they could both be knocked around. He doesn't much care... challenges as open as this one should probably be met head-on. 

:'''{{#var:132|Beelzebumon (132)}} has posed:'''      Most sane people try to get out of the way of a charging maniac on a bike, so Beelz is a bit surprised when Hisoka instead chooses to tank the hit rather than avoid it in order to counter attack, and ends up swept from the seat of his machine and skipping across the ground.      Strangely enough, despite being riderless, the motorcycle doesn';t immediately crash... in fact, it goes into a fish hook turn and skids to a stop, just as Beelzebumon manages to dig is claws into the earth and skid to a stop right next to it.      As he stands up from his tumble, Beelz takes a moment to wipe the corner of his mouth, "Heh, ballsy move. I respect that." Then he turns his head to Behemoth and nods ever so slightly.      And in response, Behemoth charges forward once more, sans rider on a beeline course right for Hisoka.      At the last moment though, the ccle swerves hard, throwing up a hail of dirt and golfball sized rocks both to disorient and pelt the Magician with-- and a moment later, Beelzebumon leaps from the cloud of concealing dust and debris with a jumping straight punch to the face! 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa Says "There goes the digital demon lord and don't let his name fool you! There ain't no flies on this guy Loo at him go he's going in witgh blazing speed and getting up in the Magican's face but the Magician isn't without a power as they counter attack! They are not weak uo close like one would have thought." 

:'''{{#var:799|Hisoka (799)}} has posed:'''     Hisoka's grin broadens. Power is a two-way thing. "If you choose to make your own body a weapon, be careful what you hit." he says with a smirk. He was hurt as well, his arm taking the hit equally as strong as Beelzebumon, but he didn't take the harm the Digimon took from being knocked off the bike. He eyes the bike, his grin fading somewhat. "Manipulation?" he asks, then shrugs. When the bike charges him, he has more to worry about than the nature of an obscure multiversal power. He dodges the flying rock, head bobbing and body weaving oddly yet effectively in a seemingly perfect defense. Perfect, that is, until Beelzebumon himself charges through the dust cloud and strikes him square in the face with that flying punch.     The punch spins Hisoka halfway around in a circle, the Magician's cheek deforming under the powerful blow. He stays standing however, straightening and turning to face Beelzebumon once again while the Digimon recovers from his flying punch. Hisoka brings up a hand to wipe his face, but it does nothing to his smile. If anything, he seems HAPPY at being hit so effectively.     "Goood~" Hisoka croons, and advances on his opponent. The moment he gets into range his body blurs as he sidesteps, then strikes with his own punch from the new position. Not as powerful a blow as it would have been had he put momentum behind the strike, but still a straightforward answer. For the tricksy Hisoka, who's shown a rather high degree of cleverness and creativeness all tournament... is he for some reason choosing to fight this match on sheer brawn? 

:'''{{#var:132|Beelzebumon (132)}} has posed:'''      Beelzebumon grins in return as he straightens up and gives his hand a good shake, "Nah, Behemoth just likes to fight just as much as I do. Two peas in a pod and all that."      Behemoth rumbles with almost a purr like quality in response.      Despite how loose Beelzebumon's stance might seem, his eyes are quite keen, and the instance Hisoka bluurs, Beelzebumon weaves sideways on sheer instinct as the punch grazes by his cheek. Likewise on sheer impulse, Beelzebumon's own arm snaps up to seize the outstretched arm before Hisoka can pull it back, then twists around and heaves the Magician over his shoulder and tosses him through the air. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa says "Now the biker demon is getting to be poersonal with some very old, fighting tricks. Might not be the most honrable but it's workedx since the days of just having pointy sticks! He follows it up with a punch but it looks like The Magician seems to have plans of their own but I'm starting to wonder if they might be some sort of punch wizard given the blows they are throwing!" 

:'''{{#var:799|Hisoka (799)}} has posed:'''     The wrenching at Hisoka's arm seems to do more damage than the throw itself. With his weird agility, Hisoka being thrown any real difference will land on his feet. Getting his shoulder wrenched by a fighter on his own level though, that will reduce his effectiveness in a hurry.     He lands, and immediately wrenches his own arm to set it. Only the slightest wince crosses his face as he does so, and he begins to pinwheel that arm, to test how damaged it is, how well it still responds. Adequately, it has to be assumed, but he seems to have lost some slight freedom of motion. "Fast." he comments, once again still pleased at the outcome. "And strong. You seem to be a grappler of sorts. I would have to be a fool to stay close to you." the Magician states.     Might as well call him a fool though, as he steps forward into an attack. Several rapid-fire jabs, snapped out with blurring speed with no actual intent to strike, just to make his opponent flinch or tense or cover. His attack, when it comes, is an elbow thrown low at Beelzebumon's ribs. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa says "Looks like they are both having fun alreayd given how they are fighting here Beelzebumon is able to keep up with the Magican's blurring speed and is tossing him like the salad I had for lunch today! What's our punching magic user going to do now?! Oh he's going for the ELBOW! It's like I'm watching some of the legendary fighters my uncle loved to watch! Cause I can smell what the Magician is cooken!" 

:'''{{#var:132|Beelzebumon (132)}} has posed:'''      There is a distinct popping sound from Beelzebumon's ribcage as the elbow lands solidly and sends him skidding back several feet, with a pained look on his face and a hand clutching at his side... but even with the cracked rib, he can't help but crack a smile.      "I know my way around a brawl..."      And then he kicks up a leg with enough force that the shotgun located there leaps out of it's holster into his waiting hand and snaps off a shot without any sort of warning. A moment later, he twists around as he takes a step back and draws the second of his shotguns and unloads another round of fire from his weapons, "But I also know my way around a shooting range!" 

:'''{{#var:799|Hisoka (799)}} has posed:'''     Hisoka would consider a shotgun in a brawl to be cheating if he didn't wholly approve of taking every possible advantage. Placing limits on yourself can do wonders for your focus and power, but arbitrarily holding limits imposed by others' opinions is the key only to being weak.     Hisoka's aura flares as the shotgun comes up. This might be invisible to some, but those with the right senses will see it as a tightly-focussed flare, intense but covering him only out to a few millimeters. To all appearances, Hisoka's own skin is what turns aside a good portion of the shot attack.     Not all of it, however. He does take some damage, red beginning to soak through his shirt and vest. He begins to move, that aura flickering and moving as he shifts to offense. "Then you won't mind what I've got up MY sleeve." he says, flicking his wrist to reveal a deck of cards from nowhere. He then flicks one finger on the other hand at the top card, sending it rocketing at Beelzebumon. A razor-edged card moving as if Hisoka too were firing guns. 

:'''{{#var:132|Beelzebumon (132)}} has posed:'''      The card sails straight and true and Beelzebumon's entire head snaps back as it flies directly into his face, causing him to stagger back a step... yet he doesn't fall.      Instead, he simply steps forward again and lowers his head to reveal that he caught the card /in his teeth/.      After taking a moment to turn his head to the side and spit the razor sharp card out of his mouth, Beelzebumon then holsters one of his shotguns and lower his stance, before suddenly diving forward and planting his hand firmly into the ground to /vault/ himself into the air!      And then in mid leap, he flips around and comes down with a wicked axekick as he lands. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa is on the edge of her seat as she watches the fight go on. "This brawl is heating up now as it's going into gun play with a sudden shotgun blast from Beelzebumon! Can the Magician endure this?! It's hard to tell but it looks like the deck has been stacked against him! s Beezelbumon has proven to be too much for it! Still these two fighters are flashy and it's not just for show!" 

:'''{{#var:799|Hisoka (799)}} has posed:'''     Hisoka's eyes widen as Beelzebumon reveals his own card trick. Not in surprise so much as at the sheer showmanship of the move. It's ADMIRATION the Magician expresses, not shock. Enough so that he stands, paralyzed, as the Demon Lord vaults into a sweeping powerkick.     He moves only at the last moment, the strike barely grazing his damaged arm as he skips lightly out of the way. Fruit Salad Hisoka may be, but his reaction speed is nothing to scoff at. Hisoka's smirk is in full force as he fans his deck of cards, slashing with them at Beelzebumon as he comes down from his attack. He'll carve a line up that leg if he can, or if the Digimon's torso becomes exposed enough he'll shift it to there. Either way, he'll test the edge of his nen-enhanced card array against the Digimon's suit armor. 

:'''{{#var:132|Beelzebumon (132)}} has posed:'''      Aw man, and that would have been so sweet if it had hit too! Instead, Beelzebumon has nothing to show for it except a bunch of cards now lodged in his outer thigh.      Also, /OW FUCK/ @_x      As Beelzebumon dances away for distance, he seems to be favoring his wounded leg, limping quite noticably as he plucks a few of the cards out and tosses them to the dirt.      Thankfully, Beelzebumon has support, as he lets out a loud whistle and leaps into the air, only to land in the saddle of his partner Behemoth.      Now mounted, the Demon Lord tears off, circling wide as he twirls his Berenjena Shotgun in his hand, before snapping up and firing a single shot as he tears across the battlefield.      The shot at first seems poorly aimed as it wizzes by Hisoka's cheek without so much as grazing him, but the slug ricochets off a pair of rocks behind him and comes around, aiming to drill right into his back. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa says "Beelzebumon is trying to counter attack agian with a flying axekick but it's about getting as much luck as the cards just did agains thimn but our magic slinger on the other hands seems to have worked out a brutal counter attack as it looks like the deck wasn't so stacked against our magician as I thought! Still him catching the card with his teeth will be hitting the highlight reels this year!" 

:'''{{#var:799|Hisoka (799)}} has posed:'''     Hisoka doesn't even flinch as the shot rings out. He knows guns even if he has no personal interest in them, and it's clear the shot will narrowly miss. This only adds to his surprise as a shot hits him cleanly in his unprotected back.     Fortunately for Hisoka, he's not wholly unprotected. No fighter of The Magician's caliber will leave any part of his body completely defenseless, or he invites just this sort of attack. Also fortunately the slug loses some of its power rebounding off the rock. The combination is enough to keep the slug from tearing Hisoka's lung out between his ribs, but he still takes a devastating hit and is flung to the ground, coughing up blood.     Fine. It's time to get serious. Hisoka hasn't been taking it easy on his opponent of course, but neither has he used his most effective maneuvers. He's been setting up the fight psychologically, establishing himself as a close-range battler. Now it's time to hopefully throw his opponent into some confusion. Hisoka twitches a finger, from where he huddles around his private pain on the ground. Just a twitch, nothing more. That tiny motion though makes bungee gum contract. A strand of bungee gum he'd earlier attached to Beelzebumon's chest while smashing an elbow into him. The strand, anchored to Beelzebumon and to the ground, contracts with speed and plenty of force. With luck and timing, it should hurtle the Demon Lord off his hellbike and onto the ground himself. 

:'''{{#var:132|Beelzebumon (132)}} has posed:'''      The strand contracts and indeed Beelzebumon is yanked clean off his bike and sent hurtling through the air... but Beelzebumon has always been an instinctive sort of fighter, so he reacts to this unexpected turn of events without even thinking about it.      In this case, he dives forward, tucks into a ball, and goes into a roll as he hits the ground... and then using the momentum provided by his flight, he rolls to his feet, launches himself into the air, and delivers a diving kick with both feet as he slingshots across the battlefield. 

:'''{{#var:799|Hisoka (799)}} has posed:'''     Hisoka, still crouched low to the ground, can't easily dodge the dropkick. He moves with it enough to keep it from doing critical damage, and is knocked head over heels with a splash of bright blood before he and his blood get lost in the cloud of dust that follows his long and no-doubt painful tumble.     Perhaps ten meters away, a shadowy form is revealed as the cloud of dust begins to settle. A *standing* form. Seems Hisoka didn't just hit the ground and flail helplessly. A high-pitched, somewhat deranged laugh begins to peal out. "I've been WAITING for this fight!" he cries out, whipping his arm back and out. Cards fly out in a spread shotgun pattern, aimed at Beelzebumon and all around him. One card, the Demon Lord could catch in his teeth. A dozen cards... well... 

:'''{{#var:132|Beelzebumon (132)}} has posed:'''      Unfortunately for Beelzebumon, that strand of.. whatever is still pulling on him, so eventually he gets slingshotted back and has to brace himself as he skids to a stop. Too much time thus is wasted on him just trying not to fall on his ass, so instead of trying to avoid the barrage of cards, he tucks in his head and throws up his arms as the bladed weapons slice into his body.      But this entire time, Behemoth has not been idle. In fact, the possessed bike wants in on the action too, and as Beelzebumon is getting sliced up, the hellish cycle comes roaring in from behind Hisoka with every intention of making him into a speedbump. 

:'''{{#var:799|Hisoka (799)}} has posed:'''     The Magician is focussed on the attack, and his defense is more than a little compromised right now by the damage he's taken. At an earlier point in the fight, a charge by a hellcycle would be easy to avoid. Now though, he's struck squarely and once again thrown to skid along the ground in another cloud of dust, and his remaining cards go flying from his grasp.     Not that Hisoka doesn't have more cards, up his sleeves as it were. But dozens of cards have now spilled. Enough to let him pull one of his better magic tricks.     Hisoka's voice comes out of the dust cloud. "Tell me, Beelzebumon." the Magician says, his voice harsh and strained. "Do you like to dance? Because now I want to introduce you to the dance.... of death."     Two cards come up from the ground, snapping towards Beelzebumon through the use of Hisoka's power. As they move, two more snap up and fire at the Digimon. Then two more, and two more after that. They're coming from all around him, and even should he avoid some there's more coming from a different direction. Left shoulder and arm, right thigh and calf, right forearm and upper arm, left thigh and hamstring. The final two come in, aimed for stomach and back respectively. Each attack should make Beelzebumon dodge in a different direction, each hit twitching his body a different way. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa says "This duel has been quite the show! The Biker demon is now calling in his own chopper for a bit of road rage and that has got to look painful to be on the business end of. Being a speedbump is is not a good job! I been there myself and it looks like he's dealing our demon biker get a shotgun blast of cards for his trouble it might just end up being true the house always wins!" 

:'''{{#var:132|Beelzebumon (132)}} has posed:'''      Alright, the levetating cards trick sure is a bit of a surprise... alright, a HELL of a surprise. No wonder they call him 'The Magician'. he always seems to have a trick up his sleeve.      Unsurprisinging, with his leg messed up as it is, Beelzebumon is having a bit of an issue with evading. Not to mention that the cards come from every angle, striking him again and again and leaving him looking like he was tossed in a blender.      And yet, he remains standing in the wake of the attack.      "... Nice trick. Unfortunately... I don't die so easy..."      He grits his teeth as he plucks the cards out, then tenses... this is gonna be MURDER on his bad leg, but he isn't going to let an injury keep him down.      After taking a deep breath, Beelzebumon grits his teeth... and then suddenly /surges/ forward like greased lightning to deliver a brutal knee to the gut, followed by an open palm strike to the face.      Not content to leave it at that, he whips out his other hand and grabs Hisoka by the collar, then with a mighty heave /throws/ him straight up into the air, before drawing forth both Berenjenas from their holsters and unloading a barrage of slugs towards the airborne target.      Finally, he tenses once more and leaps up at the still airborne Magician, before launching him back to the ground with a front flip kick, snaps both guns down, charging them with dark energy.      "DOUBLE IMPACT!"      And with a kickback that's strong enough to launch him back, he unloads all four barrels at the grounded Hisoka. 

:'''{{#var:799|Hisoka (799)}} has posed:'''     Hisoka doesn't evade the knee attack, and is an easy victim to Beelzebumon's throw. Hitting his gut is a little like kneeing a tree. Even without his nen aura, Hisoka's body is layered in dense muscle that simply doesn't show beneath his blousy shirt and vest. With the damage earlier both from the shotgun in the back and the one to his gut though, that's bound to hurt.     Somehow though, the Magician isn't incapacitated. As he's flung into the air, he begins to twist and writhe, apparently defying gravity (or at least momentum) with the contortions he puts his body through. The shots cleanly miss him, though only by inches. He blocks the flip kick, but is launched to the ground by the force of the blow, impacting only to have nowhere to go when the Double Impact blasts into him.     It is, however, an energy attack. Hisoka's own aura is a fair defense, and he's not finished by the demonic energy. He staggers, then suddenly snaps in the Digimon's direction. Yanked by his own bungee gum, in fact. He beats Beelzebumon to the spot, sighting up on the falling foe, and lines up a monster kick in an attempt to catch his opponent while still in the air. 

:'''{{#var:132|Beelzebumon (132)}} has posed:'''      Damn, this guy is bloody resilient!      Even as he falls, Beelzebumon can see what's going to happen next, and has no way of avoiding it. All he can do is brace for the kick as he lands and throws aside his twin shotguns as he does so. Then he throws both his hands out in front of him.      The impact is bonejarring as the monster of a kick slams into his outstretched palms, but he grits his teeth, ignores the pain /screaming/ from his leg, and stands his ground.      And then he smiles.      Turning that block into a grab, Beelzebumon yanks Hisoka clean off his feet, then whips him around up onto the Demon Lord's shoulders, holding the Magician across his back facing away, so that he's pulled taut across his shoulders , with one hand gripping his leg and the other holding his neck.      And then Beelzebumon leaps into the air and comes down.      WIth a heavy impact, he lands upon the ground and lets the force of his landing travel up through his body, and uses that force to bend Hisoka backwards across his back. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa says "This looks like it's i our card slinging magic man is up to something, big now as he's making Beezelbumon dance of death and he just barely endures the tenpo that hs been set and now it's time for him to be the dejay with a combo of a melee attack and giving him borh barrels!! Yet our fighters are not yet done yet his aura is raging and the the Magician has now got down to the business of air juggling! This is too close to tell both are on their last legs, I think it's only thier fighting spirit tht's keeping either of them in the fight as Beelzeumon comes in trying to finish thing once and for all and break the back of the Magician's assault but is it enough?!" 

:'''{{#var:799|Hisoka (799)}} has posed:'''     Bloody AND resilient, yes. Hisoka's impressive, but he's also impressed by the willingness of Beelzebumon to go on, to push this fight to the limit. It's not a death battle, sadly. That's all this lacks for Hisoka to take this as an ultimately-enjoyable fight, but it's still the most fun he's had since killing one of the strongest capes in that entirely-delicious little world out there somewhere.     Finally, as Beelzebumon picks him up across his shoulders, Hisoka replies to the earlier statement. "Kill?" he grins. "Who said anything about me trying to kill you?" he taunts. He's SLAMMED by the impact, his body arching across Beelzebumon's back. If he weren't so strong, that impact might have broken him in half. Even so it's a near thing, nearly an incapacitating blow. But he grabs hold of the Digimon's arm, wrapping his arms and legs around each, riding the impact and managing to keep himself from breaking completely. His words, if any, are torn away by a gout of blood... but he wastes no time in trying to turn the battle once again.     Adjusting his grip, crawling across Beelzebumon's back like some uncanny monkey, Hisoka wraps himself around the Demon Lord's head and reaches for bungee gum once more. Before Beelzebumon can straighten from the impact, he pulls himself down to the ground back-first. Twisting, pulling, wrenching with legs and arms, he tries to spin so that Beelzebumon is dragged with him into smashing his own head into the ground. It'd be a wrestling move, if only pro wrestlers had magic gravity-defying aura that could change their movements in midair. 

:'''{{#var:132|Beelzebumon (132)}} has posed:'''      Wrestling can always be made better by telling Physics to go fuck itself!      That said, getting one's head piledrived into the ground is not a pleasent experience as Beelzebumon impacts hard enough to literally bounce from the impact before collapsing like a ragdoll facedown on the ground.      KO! 

:'''{{#var:799|Hisoka (799)}} has posed:'''     It actually appears, at least at first, like a double-KO. Hisoka took quite an impact to his back while delivering that blow. With all the trauma he's suffered, that pretty nearly took his last reserves. Hisoka's arm stirs and lifts however, and he makes a signal to the judges who might be officiating that no, he's not unconscious. He's just enjoying the view from the ground. He doesn't need to be helped up from the ground though. He does that himself though, from sheer willpower if nothing else. The only way to exit the battle arena is on your own legs... else what's to tell the winner from the loser? The fight's not to the death, after all. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa is on her feet now holdin the old style mic which honestly more for show at this poing she's manging to not chew on it . "The wandering slinging magic man is delaing his final hand from the looks of it. The Demon biker wans't able to break his abiliuty to fight it looks like. Uhoh looks like he's going o repay the favour as he grabs Beelzebumon and is going to just unleash the dreaded DDT ON HI and it looks like it's over! BEELZEBUMON IS DOWN!" 
}}

3033/WMAT C1 Beelzebumon vs The Magician

2015-09-17T11:23:29Z

MoreBeer: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/09/16 |Location=WMAT Arena - Devil's Hand |Synopsis=WMAT 2015 Division C battle between two combat junkies. |Thanks= |Cast of Characters=7, 13..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/09/16
|Location=WMAT Arena - Devil's Hand
|Synopsis=WMAT 2015 Division C battle between two combat junkies.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=7, 132, 799
|Tinyplot=
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:132|Beelzebumon (132)}} has posed:'''      /FINALLY/!      Waiting for over a week for all the jokers in the loser's bracket to finally figure out who was going to get a second change was pure torture for Beelzebumon, and he was actually starting to regret winning his match against Sagat solely because of the wait... but that would have ment throwing the match to him, so fuck that noise! Hopefully the wait will be worth it though.      Eager to get things started, Beelzebumon has already arrived, seated upon the chassis of his hellish bike Behemoth, with the distinctive 'V for Victory' shaped mountain range to his back with the sun just peeking up through the gap between the 'fingers' of the mountain.      Now Beelzebumon isn't the sort of person who believes in omens or that sort of shit, so don't go thinking he's doing that to somehow bring him good luck and victory. In reality, he did it solely because it looks bitchin' cool, and where's the fun in being in a tournament if you don't Ham It Up a little bit? After all, people want exciting matches filled with close calls and an ever changing tide of battle! They don't poay to watch squash matches! 

:'''{{#var:799|Hisoka (799)}} has posed:'''     Some might think, looking at Hisoka's flamboyant outfits, hairstyle and facial makeup, that he likes making a spectacle of himself. That he's into drama and playing to the crowd and all that sort of thing. The crowd does interest him, it's true, but only because of what he might achieve with fame or reputation. In general he's not at all interested in showing off... not to the crowd at least.     Still, he's undeniably flamboyant. Hisoka looks, to put it bluntly, like a freak. He advances into the battlegrounds casually, sauntering towards the mountains and Beelzebumon. He wears a faintly amused grin, which covers his anxiousness. Like Beelzebumon, he's eager to fight. Like his opponent, he doesn't much like the gap in the battles he 'earned' by winning. He's a little twitchy now, and it makes his gait somewhat erratic as he approaches.     Once approaching the fight, he looks on his rather tall opponen with interest. "They say you like to fight." he says, as an opening gambit. They also say this opponent is strong. This... ought to be fun! It's just such a pain that this isn't a battle with lives on the line... 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa is here once again, not only is Kotone a sponsor of the tournament? She's also an announcer too. "Good evening! Ladies, Gentlemen and all self aware beings to another WMAT match! I'm your announcer Kotone Yamakawa! We're here at the hellish Devil's Hand with Beelzebumon this digital biker had been a long time denizen of the multiverse and has seriously seem some crazy things in this time here! Today we have his foe the Magician! This wandering magical unknown has fought their way through the tournament! 

:'''{{#var:132|Beelzebumon (132)}} has posed:'''      "They're right," Beelz replies with as he straightens up on the seat of his bike, "Name's Beelzebumon, Digital Demon Lord of Gluttony and total combat junkie."      He takes a moment to crack his neck, followed by his knuckles, then glances over to where the tournament official is raising his flag, "But enough introductions..." Beelzebumon places his hands upon the handlebar of his machine and guns the engine, while holding a firm grip on the brakes as he gets ready...      And then the official drops his flag and begins the match.      "LET'S ROCK!" Beelzebumon announces as he takes his hand off the brakes and pops a wheelie, before tearing across the battlefield with his arm outstretched in a lariat. 

:'''{{#var:799|Hisoka (799)}} has posed:'''     Combat junkie. Well, Hisoka can appreciate that. Hisoka feeds on adrenaline himself, though it's not adrenaline itself that gets him going. The lethal thrill is what sets combat apart from anything else, at least as long as death is in the cards... so to speak.     Despite his title as "The Magician", Hisoka is a very physical fighter. His eyes narrow and gleam as Beelzebumon calls him out, and he stands his ground. Time to take the measure of his foe. With the oncoming bike, there will be considerable momentum and power behind any attakc thrown. He could dodge, but why? Instead he throws his own arm out at the last moment, striking Beelzebumon's arm at a cross-angle. His arm might give, though he's pretty seriously strong. Beelzebumon's arm might give. Or they could both be knocked around. He doesn't much care... challenges as open as this one should probably be met head-on. 

:'''{{#var:132|Beelzebumon (132)}} has posed:'''      Most sane people try to get out of the way of a charging maniac on a bike, so Beelz is a bit surprised when Hisoka instead chooses to tank the hit rather than avoid it in order to counter attack, and ends up swept from the seat of his machine and skipping across the ground.      Strangely enough, despite being riderless, the motorcycle doesn';t immediately crash... in fact, it goes into a fish hook turn and skids to a stop, just as Beelzebumon manages to dig is claws into the earth and skid to a stop right next to it.      As he stands up from his tumble, Beelz takes a moment to wipe the corner of his mouth, "Heh, ballsy move. I respect that." Then he turns his head to Behemoth and nods ever so slightly.      And in response, Behemoth charges forward once more, sans rider on a beeline course right for Hisoka.      At the last moment though, the ccle swerves hard, throwing up a hail of dirt and golfball sized rocks both to disorient and pelt the Magician with-- and a moment later, Beelzebumon leaps from the cloud of concealing dust and debris with a jumping straight punch to the face! 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa Says "There goes the digital demon lord and don't let his name fool you! There ain't no flies on this guy Loo at him go he's going in witgh blazing speed and getting up in the Magican's face but the Magician isn't without a power as they counter attack! They are not weak uo close like one would have thought." 

:'''{{#var:799|Hisoka (799)}} has posed:'''     Hisoka's grin broadens. Power is a two-way thing. "If you choose to make your own body a weapon, be careful what you hit." he says with a smirk. He was hurt as well, his arm taking the hit equally as strong as Beelzebumon, but he didn't take the harm the Digimon took from being knocked off the bike. He eyes the bike, his grin fading somewhat. "Manipulation?" he asks, then shrugs. When the bike charges him, he has more to worry about than the nature of an obscure multiversal power. He dodges the flying rock, head bobbing and body weaving oddly yet effectively in a seemingly perfect defense. Perfect, that is, until Beelzebumon himself charges through the dust cloud and strikes him square in the face with that flying punch.     The punch spins Hisoka halfway around in a circle, the Magician's cheek deforming under the powerful blow. He stays standing however, straightening and turning to face Beelzebumon once again while the Digimon recovers from his flying punch. Hisoka brings up a hand to wipe his face, but it does nothing to his smile. If anything, he seems HAPPY at being hit so effectively.     "Goood~" Hisoka croons, and advances on his opponent. The moment he gets into range his body blurs as he sidesteps, then strikes with his own punch from the new position. Not as powerful a blow as it would have been had he put momentum behind the strike, but still a straightforward answer. For the tricksy Hisoka, who's shown a rather high degree of cleverness and creativeness all tournament... is he for some reason choosing to fight this match on sheer brawn? 

:'''{{#var:132|Beelzebumon (132)}} has posed:'''      Beelzebumon grins in return as he straightens up and gives his hand a good shake, "Nah, Behemoth just likes to fight just as much as I do. Two peas in a pod and all that."      Behemoth rumbles with almost a purr like quality in response.      Despite how loose Beelzebumon's stance might seem, his eyes are quite keen, and the instance Hisoka bluurs, Beelzebumon weaves sideways on sheer instinct as the punch grazes by his cheek. Likewise on sheer impulse, Beelzebumon's own arm snaps up to seize the outstretched arm before Hisoka can pull it back, then twists around and heaves the Magician over his shoulder and tosses him through the air. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa says "Now the biker demon is getting to be poersonal with some very old, fighting tricks. Might not be the most honrable but it's workedx since the days of just having pointy sticks! He follows it up with a punch but it looks like The Magician seems to have plans of their own but I'm starting to wonder if they might be some sort of punch wizard given the blows they are throwing!" 

:'''{{#var:799|Hisoka (799)}} has posed:'''     The wrenching at Hisoka's arm seems to do more damage than the throw itself. With his weird agility, Hisoka being thrown any real difference will land on his feet. Getting his shoulder wrenched by a fighter on his own level though, that will reduce his effectiveness in a hurry.     He lands, and immediately wrenches his own arm to set it. Only the slightest wince crosses his face as he does so, and he begins to pinwheel that arm, to test how damaged it is, how well it still responds. Adequately, it has to be assumed, but he seems to have lost some slight freedom of motion. "Fast." he comments, once again still pleased at the outcome. "And strong. You seem to be a grappler of sorts. I would have to be a fool to stay close to you." the Magician states.     Might as well call him a fool though, as he steps forward into an attack. Several rapid-fire jabs, snapped out with blurring speed with no actual intent to strike, just to make his opponent flinch or tense or cover. His attack, when it comes, is an elbow thrown low at Beelzebumon's ribs. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa says "Looks like they are both having fun alreayd given how they are fighting here Beelzebumon is able to keep up with the Magican's blurring speed and is tossing him like the salad I had for lunch today! What's our punching magic user going to do now?! Oh he's going for the ELBOW! It's like I'm watching some of the legendary fighters my uncle loved to watch! Cause I can smell what the Magician is cooken!" 

:'''{{#var:132|Beelzebumon (132)}} has posed:'''      There is a distinct popping sound from Beelzebumon's ribcage as the elbow lands solidly and sends him skidding back several feet, with a pained look on his face and a hand clutching at his side... but even with the cracked rib, he can't help but crack a smile.      "I know my way around a brawl..."      And then he kicks up a leg with enough force that the shotgun located there leaps out of it's holster into his waiting hand and snaps off a shot without any sort of warning. A moment later, he twists around as he takes a step back and draws the second of his shotguns and unloads another round of fire from his weapons, "But I also know my way around a shooting range!" 

:'''{{#var:799|Hisoka (799)}} has posed:'''     Hisoka would consider a shotgun in a brawl to be cheating if he didn't wholly approve of taking every possible advantage. Placing limits on yourself can do wonders for your focus and power, but arbitrarily holding limits imposed by others' opinions is the key only to being weak.     Hisoka's aura flares as the shotgun comes up. This might be invisible to some, but those with the right senses will see it as a tightly-focussed flare, intense but covering him only out to a few millimeters. To all appearances, Hisoka's own skin is what turns aside a good portion of the shot attack.     Not all of it, however. He does take some damage, red beginning to soak through his shirt and vest. He begins to move, that aura flickering and moving as he shifts to offense. "Then you won't mind what I've got up MY sleeve." he says, flicking his wrist to reveal a deck of cards from nowhere. He then flicks one finger on the other hand at the top card, sending it rocketing at Beelzebumon. A razor-edged card moving as if Hisoka too were firing guns. 

:'''{{#var:132|Beelzebumon (132)}} has posed:'''      The card sails straight and true and Beelzebumon's entire head snaps back as it flies directly into his face, causing him to stagger back a step... yet he doesn't fall.      Instead, he simply steps forward again and lowers his head to reveal that he caught the card /in his teeth/.      After taking a moment to turn his head to the side and spit the razor sharp card out of his mouth, Beelzebumon then holsters one of his shotguns and lower his stance, before suddenly diving forward and planting his hand firmly into the ground to /vault/ himself into the air!      And then in mid leap, he flips around and comes down with a wicked axekick as he lands. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa is on the edge of her seat as she watches the fight go on. "This brawl is heating up now as it's going into gun play with a sudden shotgun blast from Beelzebumon! Can the Magician endure this?! It's hard to tell but it looks like the deck has been stacked against him! s Beezelbumon has proven to be too much for it! Still these two fighters are flashy and it's not just for show!" 

:'''{{#var:799|Hisoka (799)}} has posed:'''     Hisoka's eyes widen as Beelzebumon reveals his own card trick. Not in surprise so much as at the sheer showmanship of the move. It's ADMIRATION the Magician expresses, not shock. Enough so that he stands, paralyzed, as the Demon Lord vaults into a sweeping powerkick.     He moves only at the last moment, the strike barely grazing his damaged arm as he skips lightly out of the way. Fruit Salad Hisoka may be, but his reaction speed is nothing to scoff at. Hisoka's smirk is in full force as he fans his deck of cards, slashing with them at Beelzebumon as he comes down from his attack. He'll carve a line up that leg if he can, or if the Digimon's torso becomes exposed enough he'll shift it to there. Either way, he'll test the edge of his nen-enhanced card array against the Digimon's suit armor. 

:'''{{#var:132|Beelzebumon (132)}} has posed:'''      Aw man, and that would have been so sweet if it had hit too! Instead, Beelzebumon has nothing to show for it except a bunch of cards now lodged in his outer thigh.      Also, /OW FUCK/ @_x      As Beelzebumon dances away for distance, he seems to be favoring his wounded leg, limping quite noticably as he plucks a few of the cards out and tosses them to the dirt.      Thankfully, Beelzebumon has support, as he lets out a loud whistle and leaps into the air, only to land in the saddle of his partner Behemoth.      Now mounted, the Demon Lord tears off, circling wide as he twirls his Berenjena Shotgun in his hand, before snapping up and firing a single shot as he tears across the battlefield.      The shot at first seems poorly aimed as it wizzes by Hisoka's cheek without so much as grazing him, but the slug ricochets off a pair of rocks behind him and comes around, aiming to drill right into his back. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa says "Beelzebumon is trying to counter attack agian with a flying axekick but it's about getting as much luck as the cards just did agains thimn but our magic slinger on the other hands seems to have worked out a brutal counter attack as it looks like the deck wasn't so stacked against our magician as I thought! Still him catching the card with his teeth will be hitting the highlight reels this year!" 

:'''{{#var:799|Hisoka (799)}} has posed:'''     Hisoka doesn't even flinch as the shot rings out. He knows guns even if he has no personal interest in them, and it's clear the shot will narrowly miss. This only adds to his surprise as a shot hits him cleanly in his unprotected back.     Fortunately for Hisoka, he's not wholly unprotected. No fighter of The Magician's caliber will leave any part of his body completely defenseless, or he invites just this sort of attack. Also fortunately the slug loses some of its power rebounding off the rock. The combination is enough to keep the slug from tearing Hisoka's lung out between his ribs, but he still takes a devastating hit and is flung to the ground, coughing up blood.     Fine. It's time to get serious. Hisoka hasn't been taking it easy on his opponent of course, but neither has he used his most effective maneuvers. He's been setting up the fight psychologically, establishing himself as a close-range battler. Now it's time to hopefully throw his opponent into some confusion. Hisoka twitches a finger, from where he huddles around his private pain on the ground. Just a twitch, nothing more. That tiny motion though makes bungee gum contract. A strand of bungee gum he'd earlier attached to Beelzebumon's chest while smashing an elbow into him. The strand, anchored to Beelzebumon and to the ground, contracts with speed and plenty of force. With luck and timing, it should hurtle the Demon Lord off his hellbike and onto the ground himself. 

:'''{{#var:132|Beelzebumon (132)}} has posed:'''      The strand contracts and indeed Beelzebumon is yanked clean off his bike and sent hurtling through the air... but Beelzebumon has always been an instinctive sort of fighter, so he reacts to this unexpected turn of events without even thinking about it.      In this case, he dives forward, tucks into a ball, and goes into a roll as he hits the ground... and then using the momentum provided by his flight, he rolls to his feet, launches himself into the air, and delivers a diving kick with both feet as he slingshots across the battlefield. 

:'''{{#var:799|Hisoka (799)}} has posed:'''     Hisoka, still crouched low to the ground, can't easily dodge the dropkick. He moves with it enough to keep it from doing critical damage, and is knocked head over heels with a splash of bright blood before he and his blood get lost in the cloud of dust that follows his long and no-doubt painful tumble.     Perhaps ten meters away, a shadowy form is revealed as the cloud of dust begins to settle. A *standing* form. Seems Hisoka didn't just hit the ground and flail helplessly. A high-pitched, somewhat deranged laugh begins to peal out. "I've been WAITING for this fight!" he cries out, whipping his arm back and out. Cards fly out in a spread shotgun pattern, aimed at Beelzebumon and all around him. One card, the Demon Lord could catch in his teeth. A dozen cards... well... 

:'''{{#var:132|Beelzebumon (132)}} has posed:'''      Unfortunately for Beelzebumon, that strand of.. whatever is still pulling on him, so eventually he gets slingshotted back and has to brace himself as he skids to a stop. Too much time thus is wasted on him just trying not to fall on his ass, so instead of trying to avoid the barrage of cards, he tucks in his head and throws up his arms as the bladed weapons slice into his body.      But this entire time, Behemoth has not been idle. In fact, the possessed bike wants in on the action too, and as Beelzebumon is getting sliced up, the hellish cycle comes roaring in from behind Hisoka with every intention of making him into a speedbump. 

:'''{{#var:799|Hisoka (799)}} has posed:'''     The Magician is focussed on the attack, and his defense is more than a little compromised right now by the damage he's taken. At an earlier point in the fight, a charge by a hellcycle would be easy to avoid. Now though, he's struck squarely and once again thrown to skid along the ground in another cloud of dust, and his remaining cards go flying from his grasp.     Not that Hisoka doesn't have more cards, up his sleeves as it were. But dozens of cards have now spilled. Enough to let him pull one of his better magic tricks.     Hisoka's voice comes out of the dust cloud. "Tell me, Beelzebumon." the Magician says, his voice harsh and strained. "Do you like to dance? Because now I want to introduce you to the dance.... of death."     Two cards come up from the ground, snapping towards Beelzebumon through the use of Hisoka's power. As they move, two more snap up and fire at the Digimon. Then two more, and two more after that. They're coming from all around him, and even should he avoid some there's more coming from a different direction. Left shoulder and arm, right thigh and calf, right forearm and upper arm, left thigh and hamstring. The final two come in, aimed for stomach and back respectively. Each attack should make Beelzebumon dodge in a different direction, each hit twitching his body a different way. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa says "This duel has been quite the show! The Biker demon is now calling in his own chopper for a bit of road rage and that has got to look painful to be on the business end of. Being a speedbump is is not a good job! I been there myself and it looks like he's dealing our demon biker get a shotgun blast of cards for his trouble it might just end up being true the house always wins!" 

:'''{{#var:132|Beelzebumon (132)}} has posed:'''      Alright, the levetating cards trick sure is a bit of a surprise... alright, a HELL of a surprise. No wonder they call him 'The Magician'. he always seems to have a trick up his sleeve.      Unsurprisinging, with his leg messed up as it is, Beelzebumon is having a bit of an issue with evading. Not to mention that the cards come from every angle, striking him again and again and leaving him looking like he was tossed in a blender.      And yet, he remains standing in the wake of the attack.      "... Nice trick. Unfortunately... I don't die so easy..."      He grits his teeth as he plucks the cards out, then tenses... this is gonna be MURDER on his bad leg, but he isn't going to let an injury keep him down.      After taking a deep breath, Beelzebumon grits his teeth... and then suddenly /surges/ forward like greased lightning to deliver a brutal knee to the gut, followed by an open palm strike to the face.      Not content to leave it at that, he whips out his other hand and grabs Hisoka by the collar, then with a mighty heave /throws/ him straight up into the air, before drawing forth both Berenjenas from their holsters and unloading a barrage of slugs towards the airborne target.      Finally, he tenses once more and leaps up at the still airborne Magician, before launching him back to the ground with a front flip kick, snaps both guns down, charging them with dark energy.      "DOUBLE IMPACT!"      And with a kickback that's strong enough to launch him back, he unloads all four barrels at the grounded Hisoka. 

:'''{{#var:799|Hisoka (799)}} has posed:'''     Hisoka doesn't evade the knee attack, and is an easy victim to Beelzebumon's throw. Hitting his gut is a little like kneeing a tree. Even without his nen aura, Hisoka's body is layered in dense muscle that simply doesn't show beneath his blousy shirt and vest. With the damage earlier both from the shotgun in the back and the one to his gut though, that's bound to hurt.     Somehow though, the Magician isn't incapacitated. As he's flung into the air, he begins to twist and writhe, apparently defying gravity (or at least momentum) with the contortions he puts his body through. The shots cleanly miss him, though only by inches. He blocks the flip kick, but is launched to the ground by the force of the blow, impacting only to have nowhere to go when the Double Impact blasts into him.     It is, however, an energy attack. Hisoka's own aura is a fair defense, and he's not finished by the demonic energy. He staggers, then suddenly snaps in the Digimon's direction. Yanked by his own bungee gum, in fact. He beats Beelzebumon to the spot, sighting up on the falling foe, and lines up a monster kick in an attempt to catch his opponent while still in the air. 

:'''{{#var:132|Beelzebumon (132)}} has posed:'''      Damn, this guy is bloody resilient!      Even as he falls, Beelzebumon can see what's going to happen next, and has no way of avoiding it. All he can do is brace for the kick as he lands and throws aside his twin shotguns as he does so. Then he throws both his hands out in front of him.      The impact is bonejarring as the monster of a kick slams into his outstretched palms, but he grits his teeth, ignores the pain /screaming/ from his leg, and stands his ground.      And then he smiles.      Turning that block into a grab, Beelzebumon yanks Hisoka clean off his feet, then whips him around up onto the Demon Lord's shoulders, holding the Magician across his back facing away, so that he's pulled taut across his shoulders , with one hand gripping his leg and the other holding his neck.      And then Beelzebumon leaps into the air and comes down.      WIth a heavy impact, he lands upon the ground and lets the force of his landing travel up through his body, and uses that force to bend Hisoka backwards across his back. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa says "This looks like it's i our card slinging magic man is up to something, big now as he's making Beezelbumon dance of death and he just barely endures the tenpo that hs been set and now it's time for him to be the dejay with a combo of a melee attack and giving him borh barrels!! Yet our fighters are not yet done yet his aura is raging and the the Magician has now got down to the business of air juggling! This is too close to tell both are on their last legs, I think it's only thier fighting spirit tht's keeping either of them in the fight as Beelzeumon comes in trying to finish thing once and for all and break the back of the Magician's assault but is it enough?!" 

:'''{{#var:799|Hisoka (799)}} has posed:'''     Bloody AND resilient, yes. Hisoka's impressive, but he's also impressed by the willingness of Beelzebumon to go on, to push this fight to the limit. It's not a death battle, sadly. That's all this lacks for Hisoka to take this as an ultimately-enjoyable fight, but it's still the most fun he's had since killing one of the strongest capes in that entirely-delicious little world out there somewhere.     Finally, as Beelzebumon picks him up across his shoulders, Hisoka replies to the earlier statement. "Kill?" he grins. "Who said anything about me trying to kill you?" he taunts. He's SLAMMED by the impact, his body arching across Beelzebumon's back. If he weren't so strong, that impact might have broken him in half. Even so it's a near thing, nearly an incapacitating blow. But he grabs hold of the Digimon's arm, wrapping his arms and legs around each, riding the impact and managing to keep himself from breaking completely. His words, if any, are torn away by a gout of blood... but he wastes no time in trying to turn the battle once again.     Adjusting his grip, crawling across Beelzebumon's back like some uncanny monkey, Hisoka wraps himself around the Demon Lord's head and reaches for bungee gum once more. Before Beelzebumon can straighten from the impact, he pulls himself down to the ground back-first. Twisting, pulling, wrenching with legs and arms, he tries to spin so that Beelzebumon is dragged with him into smashing his own head into the ground. It'd be a wrestling move, if only pro wrestlers had magic gravity-defying aura that could change their movements in midair. 

:'''{{#var:132|Beelzebumon (132)}} has posed:'''      Wrestling can always be made better by telling Physics to go fuck itself!      That said, getting one's head piledrived into the ground is not a pleasent experience as Beelzebumon impacts hard enough to literally bounce from the impact before collapsing like a ragdoll facedown on the ground.      KO! 

:'''{{#var:799|Hisoka (799)}} has posed:'''     It actually appears, at least at first, like a double-KO. Hisoka took quite an impact to his back while delivering that blow. With all the trauma he's suffered, that pretty nearly took his last reserves. Hisoka's arm stirs and lifts however, and he makes a signal to the judges who might be officiating that no, he's not unconscious. He's just enjoying the view from the ground. He doesn't need to be helped up from the ground though. He does that himself though, from sheer willpower if nothing else. The only way to exit the battle arena is on your own legs... else what's to tell the winner from the loser? The fight's not to the death, after all. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa is on her feet now holdin the old style mic which honestly more for show at this poing she's manging to not chew on it . "The wandering slinging magic man is delaing his final hand from the looks of it. The Demon biker wans't able to break his abiliuty to fight it looks like. Uhoh looks like he's going o repay the favour as he grabs Beelzebumon and is going to just unleash the dreaded DDT ON HI and it looks like it's over! BEELZEBUMON IS DOWN!" 

}}

2958/Return to Sapidor

2015-09-04T04:01:53Z

MoreBeer: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/09/03 |Location=Sapidor Republic <SR> |Synopsis=Union soldiers were unable to trap and arrest Sapidor's infamous arms dealer, but only because..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/09/03
|Location=Sapidor Republic <SR>
|Synopsis=Union soldiers were unable to trap and arrest Sapidor's infamous arms dealer, but only because their attempt was interfered with. The original plan still stands, and this time they have even more reason to succeed. They're no longer trying to stop some jerk from using a new superweapon... they're trying to stop him from using a child.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=7, 162, 215, 385, 575, 857
|Tinyplot=
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     Interpol is really not very happy. Apparently that's the word from your contact. It's not really a problem, however. He accepts that it's not your fault enemies crashed the party. Besides, after hearing what happened, he has a new plan.     Originally, the idea was to lure Rudman outside and pick him up when he could be easily taken in on the authority of Interpol. Interpol lacks authority to raid his villa, not without having to deal with the corruption of the local police forces. If the Union itself were to arrest him, or were to break into his villa, the political turf war would hurt the relations between this world and the Union. Not permanently perhaps, and not badly, but a small world has its pride and wishes to be respected. The less troubles caused the better!     Things have changed however. Before, Rudman's crimes weren't so severe that he could be hauled offworld and tried in a Union court. He keeps his hands clean after all, with no evidence tying him to the dirtiest of deeds. That may just have changed however. By the reports, it MAY be possible that Torneo Rudman is violating slavery laws. THAT is one of the Union's big no-nos. It may give the Union enough cause to make a direct move.     Interpol is willing to leave the decision to the Union agents on the field. Continue the initial plan to lure Rudman out and have him jailed for his local crimes such as tax evasion, or go in after him in the hopes that the big charges will stick and justify direct Union intervention. This isn't Interpol's call to make... only the Union representatives know which risks they can take most safely. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' By Yuna's judgment, it's not a question of whether Rudman 'may' be violating slavery laws - the fact of the matter is, that's exactly what he's doing. Eve may have been conditioned to the point where she doesn't have 'wants' to speak of, but the tears in her eyes after stabbing Yuna were evidence enough. Eve is a little girl with a heart and soul of her own - a heart and soul which Rudman is trampling on to make her into his weapon. The only reason Yuna isn't personally kicking the doors in is because she'd rather not beat up the guards to get in, either. If the group has to, she'll help, but she'd rather at least try to talk our way in. 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:'''     Iria might be a swift and strong bounty hunter who loves to rush in and kick the ass of the bounty she's hunting, but she also knows that discretion is the better part of valor sometimes, and that sometimes it's better to hold back. So like Yuna, Iria's holding back as well for the time being.     "Might as well just give himself up," Iria mutters to herself, a hint of annoyance in her voice. "It's obvious we're gonna get him and kick his ass, so why doesn't he just show himself so we can do that?!" Even though she has the ability to utilize stealth and discretion, that doesn't stop Iria from being impatient. 

:'''{{#var:575|Ayako Hasekawa (575)}} has posed:'''     Ayako is here! That is, she's sitting side-saddle on her flying broomstick, high above Rudman's villa. Her amber eyes stare downwards as she thinks to herself... "Hmm... what would be the best way to go about this?" A pointer finger taps her cheek as she considers. "I'm not really the blasty-type so..."     One might wonder why a witch-dressed Water Spirit is here. Well, Ayako has a bit of a thing for people who are being used as weapons-it's not that she dislikes the users or anything. It's more of a personal thing from her past. And of course, she is a bit curious. Not to mention in search of a friend! 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr lays a hand on Yuna's shoulder as she walks beside the Idol Singer. "We got this. And besides, you've got me here. If we have to 'Go Loud' I can use Binding spells to neutralize the guards without hurting them."     The Mage remembers that stone face. Those eyes. Then she remembers the report. That crushing sadness... She's going to save that girl even if it kills her. 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     The villa itself has suffered some significant damage thanks to MORDRED the other day, but the damaged sections have been covered over. More difficult to deal with is the lack of guards. Several were wounded or killed during the attack. Rudman's personal bodyguards weren't involved in the fight, but the standard guards are probably depleted. Still, a basic security guard force isn't that hard to come by... especially if all you really need are dressed-up thugs. Doubtless Rudman is reasonably well protected inside his own home surrounded by his own people. 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     Indeed, security in the villa is directed the way you'd expect for a conventional invasion or assault. Cameras, in general, point DOWN. Not very good for a multiversal defense, but then this world only recently unified. 

:'''{{#var:575|Ayako Hasekawa (575)}} has posed:'''     Ayako flies down quietly towards the group, taking the long, curving, sweeping way down. She floats to a stop a foot above the ground by everyone. "I don't think they're watching above. The cameras are all pointing down!" She grins cheerfully and pats the empty spot behind her on her broomstick, just in front of the brush. "I can carry people nice and quiet onto the building or past the gate."     Ayako sighs softly and glances downwards. "Beyond that, though... I have no idea what's next." 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa had taken the job again given wha thappened. She gets they are not happy and it can effect the reputation of someone like herself. Also she doesn't want the guy to get off. Given the apprent slavery that's going on. SO here she is with the other's she's once more suited up again. Also the memory of the girl much like one of the exsurgant infected of Rory's world plays through her mind. She's still on edge who knows what else might be here. She's gong to go with the union's call on what to do with this. "Look we should deal with whatever way we can actually put him away for any period of time." 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Sneaking in is the smart thing, and Yuna knows it. It may not be the easiest approach, and it certainly lacks some of the punch of physically kicking the door down (whether with feet or with high-firepower spells or what-have-you), but ... what Rudman is doing and/or has done to Eve goes against EVERYTHING Yuna stands for, not just as a girl who means well, but - as far as she can tell - as the Savior of Light as well. Elner is, as before, flying above the group and helping monitor the situation from above; the robo-faerie is also ready to trigger Yuna's transformation as soon as she needs it - and the back of Yuna's mind is already going 'suit up and take the minions of Darkness directly'. "Ayako," she says quietly, "let's do it like you suggested - put us on one of the inner rooftops. Let them wonder how we got past the perimeter." Yuna stops suppressing that urge, and a swirl of wind and light rises around her, replacing civilian clothes with the sleekly armored Light Suit. "Once we're inside, I'll call out our challenge, then we start disabling guards." She looks around at her allies before adding, "Non-lethally, but fast and hard. Everyone okay with that?" 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr transforms along side Yuna. Her Barrier Jacket forming and the long handled battleax of Windshear form appearing in her left hand. "Sounds good to me. Take 'em down, don't give 'em a chance to react." 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:'''     Iria doesn't have anything to transform into. Then again, her suit of armor is more than enough to act as her standard form for bounty hunting, so it works out evenly in the end. Not to mention, her grappling hook and her acrobatics can help assist in a situation like this too. "Right, we'll take them out quickly but leave 'em alive!" Iria replies to Yuna. 

:'''{{#var:575|Ayako Hasekawa (575)}} has posed:'''     Ayako nods her head once and then claps her hands softly. "Oh oh... now that sounds like a plan. So! Who's gonna come up on the rooftop and confuse the guards like crazy?" She inclines her head to the side gently. "Or should I just do it?"     She shakes her head quickly. "But anyway... first... just in case." Ayako's hand sweep outwards, "Water Bubble!" And a bubble of water surrounds each person for a moment-and then fades away. Water Bubble isn't much of a barrier, but it's needed for Ayako's stronger barriers! And anyway, while it does almost nothing against Elites, it might help much more against the common guards. 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     Nonlethal is the way Interpol prefers it as well, though in this case they were willing to leave that call up to the Union. Not that they have a problem with criminals dying, but it's certainly preferable to show that the force of law took down the criminals... not a battle between rival syndicates.     There ARE cameras on the roof however. Recent temporary installations aimed at the repair site, presumably to catch anyone trying to use the broken rooftop as a convenient break-and-enter point. It's easy enough to reach the roof without crossing the path of a camera, but entering might be another matter. 

:'''{{#var:575|Ayako Hasekawa (575)}} has posed:'''     Ayako quickly, yet carefully begins ferrying people one by one from outside towards the villa. Have to be careful! We're not ready to be spotted. At least not yet. However, she can't quite bring people onto the roof. Not yet! Those cameras on the roof have to be dealt with, after all! 

:'''{{#var:575|Ayako Hasekawa (575)}} has posed:'''     She just is going to have to settle for dropping everyone off just out of sight of the cameras! Ayako isn't the sneaky sort, though, so she has no idea what to do next! 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa says "All right just let me know where you want me and I have some ways to be non leathal means." She's cloaking already ana making ready to get to as Yuna and the others had planned. 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     It's easy enough for people to get to the rooftops undetected. People, particularly those fearing this world's police and equivalent of the Colombian mob, really don't think about heights and there aren't enough people within to competently man the security systems 24/7. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr can fly, and offers to ferry anyone that needs it up onto the roof. Divine Wind works with Elner to run a loop on the video feeds to cover their approach, until Yuna gives the call to 'Go Loud' and break in. 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:'''     Iria doesn't need to fly. She can utilize her grappling hook to get her from one spot to another in terms of the rooftops. It makes her look like a futuristic ninja in some ways, what with the way she somersaults through the air and lands swiftly and stealthily. One has to wonder just how heavy that armor really is. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Once everyone has gathered on the roof, Yuna takes a moment to look around. Elner does another aerial surveillance scan, confirming where the guards are - and for that matter, where all of the life-signs are on-site that AREN'T obvious guards - and 'echoes' that data to Zephyr's Device for good measure. Then Yuna takes a deep breath. "TORNEO RUDMAN!!! On behalf of the Union, you are hereby under arrest for the willfully-committed crime of enslaving another sentient being! Show yourself and surrender!" The Matrix Divider materializes in Yuna's hands as she finishes calling Rudman out, although she doesn't expect the guards will be TOO much of a threat if they're all at ground level. Truth be told, she's not sure what other surprises Rudman might be hiding in his estate ... 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr does the one other thing TSAB Mages are good for. She spikes her Device into the roof tiles and pours some magic into the AI unit. <SORCEROUS PRISON> The sky darkens, and takes on an odd distorted colour, trapping everyone in the estate in a little pocket dimension. A Barrier Field!     "This should help mitigate any further structural damage... I'll get to work on the guards in the corridors, you guys take the ones out here." says Zephyr, before she dives into the hole in the roof, landing with a resounding thud in a crouch, for emphasis to any guards that may or may not be in line of sight. 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     The what now? Rudman and his guards are surprised by Yuna's demand, but are quick to act. Orders blaze out on the shortwave radios. Guards run around, setting up defenses around the perimeter. They don't, however, come to the roof. Why should they? What reason would they have to believe anyone is THAT close without being detected?     Within the villa, Rudman himself begins preparations. "The Union. Well, they're not getting my prize! I've spent billions of dollars on this and if I can't have her no one will!" he says to his aide. "Get the NS Serum." "But sir! That could..." "I don't CARE what it does to her. If we have to use it, we'd lose her anyways. Besides, don't you want to SEE that thing at full power? Get the serum, and bring Eve here. If they want a confrontation, they'll GET a confrontation!"     When Zephyr rolls on in, nearby guards begin to open fire. Small caliber bullets still ... seems they haven't upgraded their gear since MORDRED crashed the party. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr is the big loud distraction. As bullets come streaking in, flickers of purple energy deflect and disintegrate them. A hand flies out as she slowly stands. "You're annoying." <RIBBON BIND!>. Lashes of purple energy whip out, attempting to tie up the guards nearby and immobilize them. 

:'''{{#var:575|Ayako Hasekawa (575)}} has posed:'''     Ayako hops off of her broom and swiftly grabs it as she lands lightly on her feet. Amber eyes glance about quickly-and then blink. Gunshots? She looks over to the hole that Zephyr jumped into. That was quick! They're already reacting!     Being unable to fight, she hides behind those that can. And watches carefully. Never know when a barrier might come in handy! 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:'''     Iria doesn't need a barricade or anything like that when she's got agility at her disposal. She uses her acrobatic skills to try to avoid the guards as best as she can, using her hands and feet to knock out anyone who gets too close. "You don't know who you're dealing with!" Iria exclaims as she takes out one random guard. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' With Zephyr drawing the guards' attention inside, Yuna glances over the roof's edge, gauging the distance to the ground and counting guards. Then she jumps. It's only a couple of stories up, she can handle a drop that far while transformed. And as soon as she's on the ground, she starts blasting guards into unconsciousness with bolts of concussive light from the Matrix Divider. If any of the guards get too close to shoot, she'll shift to melee and smack them - all except for one. The unlucky winner gets the muzzle of the Matrix Divider nudging against his (probably overpriced) necktie, the weapon's business end glowing as Yuna focuses a charge into it. "Take me to Torneo Rudman," she instructs him, "or meet the same fate as your buddies. You can't stop us. You can't even *hurt* us. And by the Queen of Light, I am not leaving so long as Rudman has even one innocent under his control ..." It's only a slight bluff, but between local mook guards and trained Union Elites, it's a pretty safe bet that Yuna and her friends will be walking out of here relatively unscathed. Also, the guards she's either shot or smitten are only stunned - she WAS holding back, but she didn't want it to particularly look like it. She doesn't intend to kill the guard she's intimidating, either ... but she's happy to let him think otherwise for the moment. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa has been keeping stealthy the guards act quickly and she's kepeing cloaked for the moment. She does have something with her an arc thrower which she's going to use the sun the nearst of the guards. She's going to be exposed as being there but it would give them one less problem to worry about, so that's what she's going to do. She's forced to enaged in combat after the cloak giving out and she's got now a blaster pistol in hand which has also been set to stun and she's opening fire taking two more out of the fight but she's going to be on the defence for now. 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     The guards are no real match for the assembled Union forces. A couple of shots go off, but they're easily handled by speed, armor, or the 'best defense' being a good offense. Yuna's captive stares, wide-eyed, at the weapon to his throat. Trying hard not to swallow, he nods his head carefully upward in agreement, careful not to press too far down on the return motion. The outside group is led inside, where they can meet up with Zephyr and proceed to where Rudman is, ready and waiting for them.     Inside the partially-damaged grand hall, Rudman and several bodyguards wait. Also present is the little girl Eve. Rudman has a meaty hand completely engulfing her frail-seeming shoulder. "I'd invite you in, but you already broke in." he says, gloating in an unseemly manner. "Leave now, and I might be persuaded to ignore what you've done this night. You have no legal grounds to come here. This..." he says, shaking Eve slightly. "Is not human. Slavery laws don't apply." he claims.     "In fact, I'm well within my rights to have you all executed." Rudman insists. "Eve. Continue the game."     The little blonde girl looks at the people assembled before her. She blinks only once when she sees Yuna. As far as reactions of surprise go, it's subtle, but it's the only thing that breaks her otherwise-emotionless countenance. She focuses on Zephyr. Continue the game. The game was supposed to be over when she killed Yuna... but she didn't kill Yuna. That's really strange... but she's glad she didn't kill the blonde woman who was nice to her. She doesn't want to kill anyone, but she has to continue the game.     The game. The game was to chase intruders. She was chasing the other one before. That would continue the game, yes. Eve turns to Zephyr, taking note of her axe. She extends one hand, and the air before her fingers begins to shimmer as her fingers extend metallically. The process is slow, deliberate. Much slower than it was when Eve attacked Yuna; this gesture seems more to be one of intimidation, or possibly delay. When the blade is finally finished growing it's about four feet long and quite thick through the width and base. Like a to-scale Buster Sword. As a sword, it's about as close to an axe as someone's likely to find. It may not be a match for Divine Wind, but it's a serious claimant at the least.     Guards ready their weapons, but they don't open fire. They've been given their instructions, and are at least to wait to see if the invaders can be 'persuaded' to leave. One holds a rather huge syringe rather than a pistol, though he hardly looks like a qualified doctor-type. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr and Divine Wind lock eyes with Eve. Both the Mage and her Device seem eager to fight... and that intimidation measure only serves to stoke that little fire. "C'mon then, catch me if y'can!" she goads the girl, then turns and runs off down one of the hallways. Lets hope Eve decides to follow! GOtta get the girl away from Rudman. 

:'''{{#var:575|Ayako Hasekawa (575)}} has posed:'''     Ayako walks after the group, amber eyes darting about quickly, as if trying to take everything in. So this is Rudman, huh? Oh, and this must be the girl-Eve, huh? She pointedly ignores Rudman and waves hello cheerfully to Eve with a bright smile as well.     She ignores even harder when Rudman states that slavery laws don't apply. Since when do slavery laws only apply to humans, after all? Ayako would definitley have words about that, but she's ignoring Rudman right now. Trying to anyway. She curiously watches Eve change the shape of her hand.     She isn't really worried about Zephyr or Yuna! Those two can easily take care of themselves. Ayako does eye the guards carefully. Especially the one with the huge syringe. She might not be the brightest, but... she knows when one of these things is not like the other! 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' The Matrix Divider disappears as Yuna looks at Rudman, then at Eve. Her expression softens noticeably as her gaze rests on the little blonde girl. "Eve, if you're going after Zephyr, I need to tell you one thing first." "Even an oni has a heart. And whatever Rudman's done to you to make you follow his orders, he *can't* control your heart. I believed that from the beginning ... but when you stabbed me -" She gently rubs the side of her belly, where Eve stuck that thin blade through her last time. "- I knew beyond all doubt that your heart is still your own. If you defy Rudman and come with us, you can be free - free to choose your own path in life, to become what *you* desire to be." Her attention shifts back to Rudman, her gaze hardening once again. "As for you ... It doesn't matter whether Eve is technically, officially, human or not. The Union laws forbidding slavery apply to any sentient being, organic or mechanical or otherwise. She could be a demon summoned from the darkest of hells and she would *still* be protected against slavery under Union law. If she chooses to come with us, you can do *nothing* to prevent it except by killing us all - and not you nor all your guards will be able to take our lives." 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa is happy to take down the guards and she's moving in she looks to him her face is locked in a mute expression for a moment. "You presume too much." She recalls the game, oh she does but she sees that the girl doesn't seem to be. She takes a moment. "Do you want to leave here and never have to play this game again?" She calls out but she's going to get on the move. "He's lying to you, the anti slavery laws apply to self aware beings." 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     Rudman's face slowly turns red as Yuna speaks. Eve listens too, and even as her legs carry her in Zephyr's direction she seems to be listening. Whether the words sink in or not is unclear, but she at least seems to listen.     As the plans seem to fall down around Rudman, he counters in the way he best knows. "No!" he roars, pointing a thick-fingered hand at Yuna. "Kill that one first!" he insists.     Eve turns to Yuna, but once again hesitates. She looks back at Rudman, showing obvious uncertainty. "You are MINE! Do as I say!" he yells. She flinches, turning to look at Yuna again. "I ... can be free?" she asks.     "No!" roars Rudman again. "You are a weapon! A weapon has no use for freedom. Kill her!" The roar, and the words, make Eve flinch again. Make her hesitate. Slowly she turns back to Yuna. "I can... decide for myself?" she asks. "I... don't have to kill anyone?"     At those words, Rudman sees he's lost his weapon. "You leave me no choice. A weapon does not NEED free will!" he says, making eye contact with the guy with the syringe and nodding. The thug advances on Eve, who remains paralyzed, waiting for an answer. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr, noting no chase, turns back and comes in around another way. "Dee? Situation?" a quick scan of the room gives Zephyr all she needs. <MISTRAL STORM. STRIKE MODE! MISTRAL TEMPEST CUTTER!> A wall just gives up being solid, caving in and revealing the mage surging through with a divine fury.     Her target?     The guard with the syringe. "KIAI!" She aims the full force of her strike into him, like a giant hammer to swat him away. "Come with us Eve. We'll make sure noone uses you like this again." she says after landing, interposing herself between Eve and Rudman. "You're lost, Rudman. Give up and I won't have to flatten you like your guard there." 

:'''{{#var:575|Ayako Hasekawa (575)}} has posed:'''     While Ayako is definitely ignoring Rudman, she definitely isn't ignoring Yuna! "Yuna's right, Eve! If there's one thing you always have, it's that you have a choice! There are some..." Her amber eyes glance over to Rudman, although just for a moment! She's ignoring him, after all. "Things that may try to control you, or try to limit what you can choose, but you always have it! You just have to grasp it yourself!" She gives a cheerful smile to Eve!     Of course, she still is watching that guard with the syringe carefully-and the very moment he moves she steps in front of Eve and points the brush of her broom at the guard. She might not be able to attack but... does the guard know that? She is all witchy right now, after all!     And then Zephyr comes in like a breeze! 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:'''     Meanwhile, Iria has found her way into where Yuna and the others are. She stops suddenly as she sees the guy with the syringe. "Oh damn it, now what do I do?" Iria thinks to herself as she feels like she's gone a bit too far this time. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' "Yes, Eve," Yuna says. "You can be free, you can decide for yourself what to do with your abilities." Suddenly, Zephyr comes through the wall and goes after the guard with the syringe. Yuna smiles in relief, and continues addressing the blonde girl, nodding in agreement with Ayako. "You can protect instead of being a killer, if that's what you decide. I can't promise that there'll be no limit on your choices, but your decisions will be *yours*, and nobody else's, so long as I - or any of us - have a say in the matter." 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     A giant hammer of wind flattens the bodyguard who was planning on injecting Eve with some nasty-sounding thing that would likely be absolutely not good for her health. With the guard taken down, he won't be injecting her any time soon. That threat, it seems, has been blown away.     This leaves several people in the room moving and acting at once. Eve herself doesn't hesitate. That murderous-looking blade on her arm shimmers and shatters, turning into dust which vanishes into glowing motes of golden light that themselves then vanish. She throws herself headlong towards Yuna and the others, knowing she's taking a chance, quite clearly desperate to take it.     Others take the sudden assault less than optimally. Guns raise, and the room itself becomes a deadly crossfire. As bullets fly, Eve's eyes widen. She turns, facing the guards, eyes widening. "No!" she shouts, her voice sounding more alive, more fearful, than anyone here has ever heard... Rudman included. "You can't!" she cries, flinging her arms wide, her body between the guns and the person she so recently 'tried' to kill.     The body of the tiny girl folds as if gut-punched, sent flying like a rag doll into Yuna by the momentum of the striking bullet. The other guards fire at other Union targets, and Rudman himself draws a high-caliber magnum. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr throws up a barrier, deflecting bullets, though the screen was hastily erected and begins to crack quickly. "I'm just about DONE WITH YOUR BULLSHIT!" she roars over the gunfire. <MISTRAL STORM. AREA MODE.> "THIS IS MY WORLD NOW! YOU ARE /NOT/ WELCOME HERE!"     Along with whatever else the others throw at Rudman and his flunkies? The air itself seems to come alive, knocking bullets out of the air with vicious slaps, 'punching' the guards with compression waves and generally being an unpleasant place to be. For everyone except Eve and the other Unionites. They're helped by the wind, their attacks being guided into their targets if they're physical, and their bodies being lifted by the flowing winds.     Zephyr stands at the center of this strange storm, hair and skirt fluttering gently. "Get her out of here Yuna. We'll cover for you. GO!" 

:'''{{#var:575|Ayako Hasekawa (575)}} has posed:'''     When the bullets start to fly, Ayako swiftly shoves the brush of her broomstick downwards. "Bullet Maelstrom!" And a sudden torrent of water swirls about herself as she quickly moves to position herself in the way of the bullets aimed at the group. The swirlling water of Bullet Maelstrom is made to deflect bullets away! And assists Zephyr's own Mistral Storm!     Ayako makes her way over to Eve quickly and checks her over swiftly. She's a healer first and foremost, after all! 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     There is, strangely, no spray of blood. Just as obvious and probably just as strange, there's no exit wound. The bullet undeniably struck Eve, and the girl was clearly knocked sprawling, but...     Those with sensors for such thing will note the girl's not badly hurt. The bullet wound is about as superficial as is possible, shredding cloth but not penetrating. The way the bullet flung her back is another clue for that. When a bullet passes through something, it delivers much less kinetic energy than if it's stopped by, say, ballistic cloth. Or by steel.     After a moment Eve's eyes flutter open and she reaches out to catch Yuna by the arm of her light suit. The girl draws her lips into a pained smile. "I'm okay." she says, a bit weakly. She reaches for the bullet wound, pushing aside some cloth to show the gleam of bright metal. Could this girl, so human-seeming, REALLY be a construct of metal?     Ayako's efforts quickly stifle the gunfire, leaving Zephyr able to concentrate on taking out the guards. Others are also freed of the need for defense and can act offensively or can aid Eve as best fits their abilities. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' A bullet hits Eve, and Eve's body hits Yuna; both blonde girls go down in a heap as Yuna cries out Eve's name, holding her as if in after-the-fact protectiveness. There are flickers of energy across Yuna's greaves and vambraces - but her full power doesn't have time to build up before the fact that Eve isn't anywhere near 'dead' becomes clear, as much from Elner scanning the girl and verifying it as from Eve trying to reassure Yuna. Yuna lets out a deep sigh of relief, and just *hugs* Eve for a moment, mostly letting her allies deal with the gangsters. Then she works on getting up, and after a call of, "Shugoseiheki!" to materialize her shield, she helps Eve up as well - using the shield to protect Eve; it's big enough that the smaller girl could hide behind it almost completely. Between Zephyr, Iria, and Kotone, it's not like Yuna needs to do much on the subject of offense. She'd like to make sure Rudman gets dragged along to face whatever charges are deemed appropriate, but getting Eve out without further injury *is* more important now. 

:'''{{#var:575|Ayako Hasekawa (575)}} has posed:'''     Ayako blinks her eyes quickly at the gleam of bright metal and thinks to herself. "Hmm... what kind of healing water would work best here? Well! Let's try the standard first!" Her hands cup together and purple healing water fills them. "Healing Water!" And her hands fling the water at where the bullet hit Eve.     Purple healing water is meant for organic beings and heals their wounds quickly! 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     Organic-healing waters are probably best. The wounds to Eve's 'metal' aren't significant, only the damage caused by an impact powerful enough to send the girl flying. Eve reaches to the wound, tugging at fabric until with a small 'plink', a badly-deformed bullet falls to the ground. Underneath the metal she'll have injuries, but those are easily healed by Ayako.     The metallic skin also fades back into normal flesh tones. Normal for the too-pale girl at least. "When the bullet hit, I turned my stomach to steel." she explains quietly, the words intended for Yuna. Or possibly, the words are intended for Eve herself and Yuna only happens to overhear. "This is the first time I used my power by my own choice." she adds, smiling weakly. "It was *my* choice." she repeats with emphasis. "It was good, right?" she asks. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Yuna laughs softly, hugging Eve close with her right arm (the one that isn't holding her kite shield). "Yeah, you did great!" Although Yuna didn't really need the protection ... but she's not going to tell Eve that at this point. Eve *chose* to protect her when she'd been ordered to kill, and Yuna is just as happy for the demonstration that despite everything Rudman did, Eve's free will is working as God intended. And speaking of Rudman, Yuna glances around to see if the crime boss/arms dealer/scum of this particular earth is down for the count yet. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa looks now as Eve as ever thing pans out she sees Eva move and she now makes ready to move but then she's hit and she oes flying into YUna. The others open fire on her and she starts to not hold back she moves with inhuman speed and agility and lobs a flash bag into the enemy's ranks. 

:'''{{#var:575|Ayako Hasekawa (575)}} has posed:'''     Ayako quietly watches Eve and sighs with relief. Purple was the right call! She curiously watches as the metallic skin fades back into normal flesh and then claps her hands softly when Eve explains what she did. "Well, I think it was a good first choice!" She nods her head once with her eyes closed. Un, un.     "And so! You have another choice coming up, Eve! What do do you want to do?" Ayako smiles brightly at her and then gazes significantly at what's left of the guards... and of course Rudman. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     The guards are rather pathetic, really. Even for non-elites. Zephyr keeps her maelstrom of ow up right until Kotone releases that flash-bang. A cover of eyes, then a flicker of superhuman speed. Zephyr would give a Saiyan a run for their money in sheer speed. She's near the Unionites one moment, the next she's right in Rudman's face. <MACH PUNCH!> Zephyr says nothing, but the almost too cheerful chime from her Device is all that's needed.     Zephyr swings her right fist forward, sheathed in a boiling coating of wind magic. She slams that into Rudman's face, likely flooring him immediately and leaving a broken nose and a lovely impact mark he won't be forgetting soon. (Un)luckily, her magic is non-lethal, so that's the full extent of it... though imagine what that would have done with the 'safety' off. 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     Blinded and deafened, the bodyguards are really not going to be much of a threat. Rudman is no trained soldier. Even though he IS a named character, somewhat harder to finish than a bunch of nameless mooks, he's still not a warrior that can stand up to the mighty wind mage. The punch smashes him to the ground, down for the count and pretty much out cold, face smashed into near-unrecognizability. He'll live though. He'll live long enough to face trial for slavery and possibly many other crimes.     Eve would probably be slightly disappointed to learn that she didn't NEED to act to save Yuna, but in the end it was the choice she made that's what counts, not whether or not those actions were needed.     Eve glances over at Rudman, seeming not at all upset to see him dealt with so ruthlessly. She may be new to the whole idea of free will, but she knows enough to understand what he wanted to do to her. She may be sheltered from some of the details, but she knows who has treated her well and who hasn't. She blinks and looks back to Ayako, pursing her lips thoughtfully. It IS a tricky thing, and she's not exactly experienced in matters of having choices. The question 'what do you want' is still one that's difficult for her to answer, but at least she finally knows she CAN answer it. "Can... can I come with you?" she asks hesitantly. She has no idea what that'll mean. Her only experience with any place outside the villa was brief, and she was lost and hungry. Still, whatever she's likely to face out there, surely it's better than staying here? 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' "Of course you can, Eve!" Yuna says happily. "If you want to join the Union, I'm sure we'd be happy to have you with us. You'll have to follow the Union's rules and such, but they're pretty forgiving for Allies ... most of the time, anyway." It doesn't occur to her that Eve could be anything other than a regular Ally, apparently .... 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     "Falka Bi'tralth Lok'ra." spits Zephyr, purposefully overriding the translation effect to spare Eve from understanding what she just said to the KO'd Rudman. She casts a Binding spell on him, just to be sure, then starts unceremoniously dragging him over towards Eve and the others. "I'll put in a good word for ya, Eve." she offers, giving a cocky, lopsided grin. "Hell, if /I/ can keep my nose clean, I'm sure you can." she reaches down to lightly ruffle that blonde hair... then carries on draggin Rudman out to face charges... and /maybe/ get some medical treatment.     Maybe. 

:'''{{#var:575|Ayako Hasekawa (575)}} has posed:'''     Ayako smiles cheerfully and says, "Of course you can, Eve!"-at the exact same time as Yuna even. Although she lets Yuna continue on. She isn't the type to talk over someone else! "Hmm... well, I'm sure the Union will figure something about!" 

}}

2915/The Rumble in the Jungle

2015-09-02T00:31:34Z

MoreBeer:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/08/28
|Location=Sapidor Republic <SR>
|Synopsis=The Union responds to a newly-unified world, seeking to arrest a notorious arms dealer. The Confederacy also responds, seeking to claim his new "superweapon" for themselves.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=7, 162, 290, 385, 530, 583, 736, 737, 754, 804, 857
|Tinyplot=
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     Is there anything, anything at all, worse than politics for making a situation more complicated?     Take this situation. It's extremely simple. A certain man is a known arms dealer. He's wanted by Interpol. The police can simply raid his villa and haul him off, right? Wrong. He's heavily involved in local politics. He owns any number of local police. Interpol doesn't have the strength to take him down with uncertain allies, and they can't invade the villa without the cooperation of the local cops. If they did, the political uproar may well be enough to let the arms dealer go free. They probably have enough evidence to make charges stick if things are done by the book, but politics makes that a foolhardy venture. A simple situation made complex.     Can anything make a complex situation even worse? Well, yes. Just add people. It seemed a good plan. If the locals don't have the force to arrest Rudman in public and lack the political will to assault his home in the face of politics, simply find others willing to do the job. The world is still new to the Multiverse. They have no idea what a can of worms they're opening up. A simple request to the Union for assistance may well lead to so much more.     The plan is simple, as all good plans are. Rudman has committed 'local' crimes, enough to warrant his arrest but not enough to be tried as a Multiversal criminal. Invasion of the villa could cause a political incident, but if Rudman is lured out of his home then he's fair game. The Union steps in, deals with the troublesome arms dealer and any bodyguards, and then turns him over to Interpol. Neat, elegant, and completely legal. Also it completely avoids any bought local police getting involved. As long as no local laws are violated, such as breaking into his villa or killing anyone, no politics in this world can save Torneo Rudman from his justly-deserved fate. The only trick is to somehow lure him out of his casa; a sprawling mansion with surveillance cameras, wrought-iron gates, high walls, and armed guards. 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     Foolish, foolish Interpol.     While they are after Rudman, other elements are after something much more important. Rudman's fortune, and the rumored superweapon he has announced to the black market arms buyers and dealers. This may be a world new to the Multiverse, but it's old enough to the idea that information is power. Various wealthy elements know that Rudman has a closely-guarded superweapon he's invested years in, not to mention a sizeable fortune. The prototype alone is likely worth millions, while the plans are probably worth billions.     Also known is that Interpol wants to shut Rudman down. No doubt Interpol's desperate plan to call in Union Elites is based on Rudman's own plans to unveil his weapon. They want him out of action before this weapon gets unleashed on the public. Well that's fine... besides, with the Union coming to town, there's opportunity for some subtlety.     A call goes out to the Syndicate, offering a small fortune to those willing to steal the plans to a superweapon. The place is indicated, the reward is significant. The weapon is a big unknown however. Fortunately, the weapon isn't what's requested. All the Syndicate has been asked for is to raid the villa's information store. Copy any and all plans, and deliver them up. Piece of cake, right?     Of course not even this plan is all that simple. Anything the Syndicate knows, the Confederacy is likely to know. And why would they want to steal plans or a superweapon and just give it up to a bunch of locals when they can keep everything for themselves? It's not like they're worried about the locals or about local laws. 

:'''{{#var:736|GoGo Tomago (736)}} has posed:''' GoGo Tomago is there as both Muscle and a distraction. She's fast and heroic, and tends to be a good one to have on your side in a fight. She's Riding, running, rolling, or otherwise arriving with some of the other Union's, humming to herself. "So what's the plan?" she asks. "How the hell do we lure him out? I could rig something with his security network." the young woman says, stretching. Her outfit today is... different. It looks like she's rather infatuated with IRON MAAAAAAAAN, her outfit patterend in the same red and gold as the classic Iron Man suit. 

:'''{{#var:804|Project MORDRED (804)}} has posed:''' MORDRED drops out of orbit at a pre-planned time, that is right now, right over Rudman's mansion. Heat shields are not yet done cooling down from re-entry heat as the amplifiers magnify his voice to be very loud, and very clear. He's not here to be subtle. "Mister Rudman, I am Sir MORDRED. Know that you have been considered unworthy of the possession of superweapons. Surrender your superweapons peacefully or I will be forced to take drastic measures to confiscate them. This is your only warning." To emphasize the warning, the fifteen foot tall suit of Armour draws a long, slender weapon. Its tucked under Glare-NT's arm and aimed at Rudman's garden, somewhere it won't do any harm. A quick blast of superheated plasma should glass what it hits. "You have ten seconds to confirm your decision to surrender your superweapon before I escalate." 

:'''{{#var:736|GoGo Tomago (736)}} has posed:''' GoGo Tomago stares up at MORDRED as he drops out of the sky. "FINALLY, someone who gets it!" she says, stomping her feet to activate her discs. "Hey you!" she yells up to MORDRED, "Think you'll want a hand?" 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' If it weren't for the fact of local police corruption, Yuna thinks, she'd love to visit this city for a longer period - maybe to play tourist, maybe to do a concert or three. But she has to keep those wishful thoughts off to the side for now. She can at least pretend to be a tourist, though; outfitted in a light but reasonably modest sundress, she's exploring the city - and just happens to be doing so around the walls of Torneo Rudman's villa. Her tiny companion, Elner, seems not to be in evidence; you'd have to look up to stand any chance at all of spotting the robo-faerie, and Elner is too high up to be noticed unless you have extremely good vision and are looking in EXACTLY the right place at the right moment. Of course, while Yuna looks entirely like an innocent civilian, Elner's there for reasons other than aerial surveillance; it's Elner who has to trigger Yuna's transformation if she needs her Light Suit. So if push comes to shove, Yuna will be able to make herself useful -- And then somebody drops out of the sky straight into Rudman's villa, violently enough to make the blonde idol jump hard. "Kyaaa - !! Elner, what WAS that?!" /Trouble,/ Elner replies telepathically. /Not a known Unionite, either./ Yuna sighs, closing her eyes tightly for a moment, and heads for the villa's main gate at a run. "Hey, why are you inviting giant robots from space in without warning your neighbors?" she calls out to the guards. "I'm going to file an official complaint, would you ask Mr. Rudman to step outside so he can *maybe* clarify what's going on before I actually do that?" ... well, at least she's trying to stick to the original plan. 

:'''{{#var:530|Garen (530)}} has posed:'''     Slipping into somewhere unseen was something that Imperial Intelligence always trained their agents for. It was part of what made them so deadly efficient. So, when it was made known that there were plans in need of being grabbed, they sent in Garen, or as he's known in the field, Cipher Nine. Today, he had taken up the guise a local thug that found his way into Rudman's employ. He knew all about the plans, and figured in his disguise, he was primed to assist. 

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:'''     Police corruption. Rebecca Chambers is no stranger to that in any way, shape, or form. Namely because the chief of the police department she worked for was being bribed by the Umbrella Corporation to keep their misdeeds a secret. In addition, he suspended the remaining S.T.A.R.S. members while blaming them for the incident at the mansion in order to keep them from getting any further information easily. It was only a matter of time until the corruption resulted in the demise of Raccoon City.     Hence the reason Rebecca's uneasy about coming dressed as a civilian. She may be with S.T.A.R.S., but even with a badge, the police may be corrupt enough to find a reason to bust her. Hence the reason she's kept her handgun carefully hidden as she walks down the street. She appears to be acting casual, looking around and not seeming to pay attention to anything or anyone at the time.     That is, until something drops in rather loudly, and that draws Rebecca's attention. "What was that?" She thinks to herself out loud. She then breaks into a run towards the villa as well, her hi-tops giving her extra traction as she runs. "Don't like this, gonna find out what it is!" She thinks to herself. 

:'''{{#var:583|Mantigora (583)}} has posed:''' Arms dealing is one of the tried and true, time honored professions of waging war. To the point it did not take long for Rudman's announcements to reach ears not of the earlier world. Or current times for that matter. A superweapon not of their universe could be very useful in eliminating the Exile pestilence still infesting Nexus; simply because they would not be familiar with it like they are many of the Dominion's known weapons of mass destruction. Even if it was just the plans -- reverse engineering is what DRED exists for, after all. But knowing a military operation would cause too much commotion, instead the head of the empire's black ops division sent a special mission to a certain bounty huntress she knew would have little qualms about an operation of questionable intentions or morals. Stalkers were aptly named, because stalking is what they do best. Beneath the cover of elaborate cloaking and optical camoflague technologies Mantigora was already slinking her way about the grounds of the villa. But like a proper covert operation she was casing it out, noting the security measures present, and biding her time. A hunter waiting for the right oppritunity to get closer to her intended prey. Or waiting for the so-called good guys to show up and make some noise with their alturistic nonsense. Same thing as far as she cares. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr's here, milling around after GoGo and whoever else in her TSAB Ground Forces uniform. At a glance she could be considered an Army cadet off duty or something. And... then everything starts to tank. "Sir Mordred?!" she calls out at the voice from the giant robot. "This, isn't good." she asides to GoGo and Yuna. "I'm all for sticking to the plan... but I'll be keeping Divine Wind on Ready Standby..." she keeps her voice low, but lets the more charismatic members of the party do the actual talking. 

:'''{{#var:737|Vivio Takamachi (737)}} has posed:'''     Politics? What's that? Sounds like a bunch of people just arguing and getting nothing done.     Vivio had heard about the request to the Union. To arrest a certain bad person. She's starting to learn that requests like this tend to turn out a lot wackier than expected! So Vivio decided she'd come out to see if her help was needed for anything. Missions like this seem to present a good opportunity to encounter some strong people. And putting a bad person in jail while doing so is just icing on the delicious, delicious cake!     Right now, Vivio has found herself a place to watch the events unfold. That just happens to be the roof of a building, which just happens to be not too far from the so-called bad guy's home. The young girl sits on the edge of the roof, legs dangling as she watches. She glances at the plush bunny floating in the air beside her and asks, "That's like, what, seven now?" The bunny waves his hand a bit. Vivio turns back, then ahhhs and nods, "You're right." She leans forward a bit, beginning to swing her legs as she watches everything unfold, "Seems like a big mess down there..." She wonders if she should actually get involved or not... Like maybe she might do more harm then good. "Hmmm... Maybe wait and see what happens..." 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa did not have a lot of direct power but when it came to cyberwarfare or stealth? She proved to be pretty good at it and was at least able to handle herself in a firefight. So here she was to back up the union on dealing with this prototype weapon. She'd brought a load out which should work including non lethal options. She was current flat in a form fitting suit of light armour that was also fitted with a stealth system. Yuna would find something moving along side her. Kotone is currently in stealth mode for the moment as she waits on the original plan. <<Union forces, Interpol hired me to lend a hand here, just a heads up I'm with you.>> Kotone's already feeling for any local wireless networks if there are any so she can get to work upon those as best she can to help out the rest of the team if things go badly. 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     Rudman is more a politician than a warrior, and more a merchant than a politician. If he wants something done he gets someone else to do it... usually by paying them.     In any event he's not about to come out with guns blazing. Radios on the various guards light up however. "Perimiter breach." comes the words of the guard leader over the local band. "Protect the home! The moment someone tries to enter the building, kill them." The guards are going to be somewhat passive, but there's no sign anyone is intending to give in to the demands. What's the point, after all, of having a superweapon if you're just going to give it up without a fight to the first thug who shows up? 

:'''{{#var:754|HK-47 (754)}} has posed:'''     This brought back memories for HK-47. It had been a very long time since he had enacted what one would call a "smash and grab" mission. The last time he'd done so was during the rescue of his master - and in doing so, he'd inadvertently collapsed the Exchange crime syndicate and delightfully caused a power-vaccume in Hutt Space that resulted in chaos for weeks on end.     Hopefully, chaos and destruction wouldn't be a mere side-effect of his presence today.     As usual when in worlds where his presence would draw attention, the droid has obscured his body with a large hooded cloak, baggy clothes, gloves, wrappings around his metal feet and a fabric mask, patterned to the color of the surrounding landscape. He looks more like a camouflaged hunter then a droid - exactly what he wants. After all, if they mistake him as being a simple, frail meatbag, they will not expect to instead be skillfully dismembered by a peerless Assassin Droid.     Of course, the first matter of business when facing the enemy - blind their spotters. And as a droid, he could see visual spectrums a normal human could not... and his visual acuity was far, far better then any meatbag could be.     But he also sees a target much more enticing to him - one that he has a higher chance to hit... and expose. HK has never forgotten a face - and the face of the human girl he saw during his time with the Black Fox is still imprinted in his memory banks. The scouting drone in the air is an issue... but no amount of intelligence will help if there is no-one around to use it. Therefore he will simply mark the drone for extermination by another.     For now, he has an standing grudge to fulfill.     Taking aim with his sniper rifle, he lines up a shot with Rebecca, focused on her head.     If she's keeping full-alert, she can probably make out the glint of a spotting laser as it narrows down on the point between her eyes. She only has a split-second to move - the trigger is now pulled and the first shot is now fired, disintegrating whatever is unfortunate enough to get hit by it. 

:'''{{#var:530|Garen (530)}} has posed:'''     Garen hears the call there and decides to make a shift. While yes he was on the outer perimeter, he moved close to where mantigora was making her way in. He gives a wink in her direction, letting her know who he was without dropping the guise. Still, he made all efforts to look ready to go. 

:'''{{#var:583|Mantigora (583)}} has posed:''' The wink is noticed, and Mantigora returns a brief nod of acknowledgement before going on her way, continuing to keep out of easy sight. Knowing there is at least one person on the inside on her side is reassuring, but she knows better than to exploit that too soon. She will find her own way in as she intended. Preferrably when everyone else comes running out to deal with the chaos already starting to unfold... 

:'''{{#var:804|Project MORDRED (804)}} has posed:''' Not even a fraction of a millisecond after the ten seconds have passed, MORDRED's thrusters reverse direction. Instead of keeping him afloat above the mansion, they're now set to make him crash right through the villa's roof. A little collateral damage is normal in fights that involve these kinds of warmachines, and warnings were given. Whether or not he manages to crash through, he returns his XTE Lancepack to his Armour's back, and draws a razor-thin, six-foot long broadsword made out of some kind of superdense alloy. His voice broadcasts another message. "You can still surrender, the sooner you surrender the less damage I will inflict while looking for where you hid the superweapon." 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Well, it certainly doesn't look like Rudman's going to come out to address a neighborly complaint about excessive noise in the neighborhood at this rate; Yuna's been around enough security types to recognize 'closing ranks' when somebody calls an alert. "I guess this means the hard way, then ..." She bows briefly to the guards. "I'm really sorry for what's about to happen, but we really need to get in there, for *your* sakes and for your boss's as well as for our own reasons." A swirl of wind and light rises around Yuna, replacing her sandals and sundress with the armored boots, leotard, and gauntlets of her Light Suit, outfitting her for battle. Rather than charging in headlong, though, she's waiting for GoGo to make good on her offer to try and clear the way in; she steps back to the edge of the sidewalk and murmurs, "Shugoseiheki," causing a large kite shield - decorated to match the colors of her armor, blue and white with some gold highlights - to materialize on her left arm. 

:'''{{#var:736|GoGo Tomago (736)}} has posed:''' GoGo Tomago gears up for a major assault. She rushes the gate. Up to the top, she looks around quickly, trying to... "Fuck. Tracking bullets is hard." she says, and simply PICKS a direction. Luckily, she picks the RIGHT direction, and starts to roll in a circle. The wind picks up around her as she whips it into a frenzy and sends a dust-devil off in the direction of HK. Then she kicks up a huge dust cloud, obscuring the battlefield. 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     MORDRED's actions definitely trigger the guards' orders to defend the home. While they may not be happy about attacking an armored unit that just dropped in out of nowhere, that's their job. They're not paid to die, but they ARE paid to fight. From cover in and around the home, pistol shots crack and bullets seek the armored unit.     Elsewhere, safe within a more robust part of the villa...     "We have visitors, Eve." says the bulky man. "They've come to play the game of the Oni. You know what to do when you find them. You're It."     The girl, looking up at Rudman, nods almost apathetically. She turns to leave the well-defended room, heading out first into the rest of the house, looking for 'players'. Should any of them happen to spot her... well, she looks just like an innocent bystander. A small girl of perhaps 11 years of age, frail, dressed in a fancy dress like one would expect of a resident of such a mansion as this. The child of the owner, or perhaps the child of one of the higher servants. Out wandering alone in the middle of a firefight, possibly lost and confused, possibly dazed by the shocking violence. 

:'''{{#var:530|Garen (530)}} has posed:'''     Garen gives a quick look over to Mantigora and grins. "That's our cue." He says. He quickly turns as the other guards move to fire at MORDRED and heads into the villa itself. He aimed to go and find the plans...and take out anyone who got in his path. 

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:'''     There are times where doing things the nice way just won't cut it. They've tried being diplomatic about this, but it seems Mr. Rudman just doesn't want to come out peacefully. And his cronies are going to see that he stays in there as well. Unfortunate that Rebecca has to remove the cheap jacket she brought with her to reveal it was disguising her S.T.A.R.S. vest and equipment belt. Then again, who else wears green pants with matching high-tops?     Unfortunately, taking out the goons turns into a moot point. Because someone has just fired upon Rebecca, and Rebecca can only look just in the nick of time to dive out of the way, rolling out of the way of the incoming fire and landing not too far away. It's then that she spots the charred results on the ground (as well as whoever might have been unfortunate to get caught by the shot) and it's only then that she realizes who she's up against.     "Not him again!"     Rebecca immediately looks in the direction the shot came from, and the cloaked figure immediately draws her attention. Faces aren't forgotten by that droid, and not by Rebecca either... if one can call that a face. She immediately draws her MP5K, scope and laser sighting on, and aims it at HK-47. "You want to sneak a shot at me like that? Well here, have one in return!" She says as she fires a semi-automatic burst of gunfire at the droid. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa is keeping a lower profile than the more heavy combat elites do theirt thing she's going to keep looking to see if this place has a wireless network and if she does not find such she's going to start keeping an eye out for hardlines, that she might be able to access directly. She's keeping calm for the most part even with there being feds here on site. She does keep up with Yuna however and is also keeping an eye on Gogo should either need some more support on things. Given the bullets are flying she does not want to draw attention to herself. 

:'''{{#var:583|Mantigora (583)}} has posed:''' Mantigora doesn't have anything to say (because that might give her away) but it's not necessary as Garen already knows the Draken is at least nearby. She's primed to take advantage of the fact that she's less likely to be seen than one of the guards patrolling the interior of the villa. 

:'''{{#var:804|Project MORDRED (804)}} has posed:''' The firearms are poorly suited for piercing armour designed to resist anti-armour weaponry. The guards would be better off firing an RPG, but regardless, one of the guns gets a lucky, or highly skilled, shot off inside one of the shoulder joints, causing some initial damage to the joint before automated systems can push it out. It gives them some time before the big warmachine can properly aproach, maneuvering thrusters blazing to close the distance, before swinging the monofilament approach. MORDRED repeats, "You can still surrender, the sooner you surrender the less damage I will inflict while looking for where you hid the superweapon." 

:'''{{#var:754|HK-47 (754)}} has posed:'''     Well, it thankfully did not take long for chaos to ensue - as was common when an immense combat mechanoid initiated an orbital-drop in the middle of a populated villa courtyard. Already, multiple targets were filing into his sights, and he had more then enough to pick from.      However, HK once again finds that meatbags are all too annoyingly unpredictable as the female human barely manages to avoid her shot, resulting in it instead blowing a meter-sized hole in the ground. He personally blamed the interruption on the annoying dust-cloud kicked up by the meatbag coated in red-and-gold armor, but he also could not deny that his opposition was obviously used to escaping assured death.     The moment the human is upright again, she begins shooting holes in his cloak with her weapons - while it can't penetrate his armor, it does put multiple tears in his covering and exposes small glints of reddish armor through the gaps, revealing him to all as a non-organic. The droid himself rolls out of the line of fire and decides to imitate a prior tactic that worked on her to great effect - grenades.     Priming his incendiary grenade, he lobs the device out into the villa - collateral damage and unwarranted casualties mean nothing to the droid, and with no less then three enemies in the courtyards, the trade-off in accuracy for area-of-effect destruction is more then welcome. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' This was already an awful mess from the moment MORDRED dropped in, and it's only getting worse. Yuna is fortunate to avoid getting toasted by the incendiary grenade's initial detonation - a little voice from on high MIGHT have helped her steer clear of it - but that doesn't stop it from happening, and there's probably the beginnings of a fire as a result. Yuna keeps her shield between herself and the flames at first, just as a precaution, and considers where she can go. Somebody is going to have to fight MORDRED; that much is already kind of obvious. The mechanical(?) Confederate is basically on a rampage already, killing whoever gets in his sights, and there's a sniper or somebody who's already trying to ruin Rebecca's day ... and Yuna trusted Elner's judgment when Elner said not to bring her partners - although to be fair, neither flight nor a two-meter-tall exo-frame would be much of an asset in close quarters, and there was no indication of enough water that Marine Form might be even remotely useful. "Elner," she murmurs, looking for side corridors or paths, "try and map out where people are in the villa who *aren't* already fighting. With the fire going, we should probably try evacuating everyone - criminals or not." Elner quickly provides her with a basic layout of the compound, although actually locating individual life signs is going to take more effort and time. Yuna picks a direction and starts making her way along the inside of the compound wall, keeping her right hand visible and empty while her left arm supports the weight of her kite shield. 

:'''{{#var:736|GoGo Tomago (736)}} has posed:''' Gogo isn't one to let her compadres get assaulted without retaliation. Given that MORDRED is closer, she elects to go after him. Zooming up the side of a building, she shoves off. A crimson and gold speck hurtles towards the hole MORDRED made... And sails right past him as she lands nearby. Of course, her discs get launched shortly after. The razor sharp discs are spinning at dangerously high speeds as they bounce off the scenery, tearing holes in the side of a marble pillar before bouncing up. One goes for his right shoulder and the other goes for the midsection. Puny discs, what could they do? Well, a whole lot of damage. "Hello!" she says as she zips past him, leaping into the air and grabbing her discs. She's moving at blinding speeds as she pings around like a shapely pinball, occasionally tossing a disc at him. "Mind if I ask what kind of." another disc bounces off the floor and towards his back. "Joints you have?" 

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:'''     First lasers, now fire? The incendiary grenade comes out quickly, and Rebecca's running away quickly, diving for cover as the flames explode. A few lick at her exposed shin, causing her to yelp, but a few blisters is nothing compared to what that could've been. Yet, Rebecca has no idea what she's truly up against here. She doesn't realize that HK-47 is a droid, something different from a human... or a Bio-Organic Weapon for that matter. All she can do is try to keep her cool as she steadies on the sniper.     "Why don't you actually come down here and fight like a man?" Rebecca calls out, though it's more out of frustration than an actual taunt. She's not used to fighting from long distances. In fact, she wishes Forest Speyer were still alive so he could teach her some things about being a sniper. Sadly, Forest met his demise at the hands of mutated crows in the Arklay Mansion. All Rebecca can do is fire a single shot this time, hoping the less bullets fired means more accuracy. 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     Guards are really not so great at dealing with giant robots, but massed firepower has a charm of its own. A shame they're basically popcorn however. They can't do a huge amount of damage, lacking military-grade weaponry, but they can slow MORDRED down. If nothing else, them being scattered about the place and in cover means he can take out only so many at a time. He'll have to cut down one guard, lethally or otherwise, then turn and chase down the next. And then the next. Often his only signal there's another one is when they put a bullet into his armored suit. Nothing terribly effective, but probably enough to make his job tedious. Unless, of course, he loves his job. The guards don't fire at GoGo, despite being ordered to kill anyone who invades. There's a difference between someone coming at them with a blade, and someone - however improbably - who seems to be coming to their rescue.     With Mordred drawing fire, Galen and Mantigora have a free run of the house. Since there's an open running firefight no one's watching for other infiltrators being sneaky. There's a fair amount of electronics in the mansion, though most of it remains out of casual sight. Points of possible interest include the security rooms, Rudman's living suite, and the underground basement and shelter area.     Elner's able to provide a basic layout, though there are areas that are somewhat shielded from easy scan. As for the people moving around in the house, there's a number in the rooms near MORDRED engaged in a running battle. There's also, presumably, Mantigora and Galen being sneaky, which should stand out just on its own. Also, there's Eve. One solitary figure, not sneaking, not running. Just ... strolling. 

:'''{{#var:530|Garen (530)}} has posed:'''     Garen ponders a moment. Of the three options, the living suite sounded the most ideal to hide a secret plan. "I'll check the suite. Your call on the other two. Keep in touch." He says to his stealthy partner. With that, he takes off. As he bounds towards the suite, he quickly reasserts his local accept and opens the door, prepared to bluff his way in if need be. 

:'''{{#var:583|Mantigora (583)}} has posed:''' The technology present was centuries old by her standards, but if there was one thing the Multiverse had taught Mantigora was to not underestimate something just because it was 'retro'. With Garen heading for the living suite, which would be more practical for a guard disguise to try and access, Mantigora breaks off and heads for the lower levels of the manor. Even if not the 'superweapon' or it's plans, who knows what else a successful arms dealer could be hiding in a shielded bunkers. 

:'''{{#var:754|HK-47 (754)}} has posed:'''     HK takes note of the chaos around him - a perfect smokescreen. One massive obfuscation to ensure that allied units can obtain what they came here. The Union's intent had been not to attract attention, and the mechinoid - while still rather blunt for the droid's tastes given the circumstances - did an adequate job of ruining that intent.     If only his own attempts were going as well. An empowered organic, he could understand. A well-eqquped one, he could tolerate. But the fact that a single meatbag equipped with only primitive slugthrower weapons was taking up his focus like this was almost insulting to the droid - he wasn't sure if his assassination protocols needed upgrading or if the female was simply that skilled. What possible survival situations could she have endured to make her this adept at surviving against such overwhelming odds?     Whatever the cause, she seemed to work best under pressure, as the shot she fires grazes his facial plate and tears off part of the fabric mask, exposing the edge of his plate - and one of his baleful red eye-lenses.     For that, the droid decides to toy with the woman a bit. Moving back through the woods, he speaks loudly enough for her to hear...     However... he speaks in /Rebecca's/ voice, distorted and rippling as if filtered through a sound-mixer. If Rebecca has seen horror movies, the scene would be a dead ringer for 'Predator.'      "W-why don't you act-t-ually come do-dooowwwn here and-d fight like a m-man?"     That's all the warning the droid gives before he hurls another grenade - this time it's a fragmentation grenade, aimed for the center of the yard. The droid is effectively trying to destroy any cover his opponent has, all while taunting her out. 

:'''{{#var:804|Project MORDRED (804)}} has posed:''' When GoGo Tamago arrives, MORDRED stops going after the guards, he doesn't like fighting the weaker as a general rule, not when there are opponents more worthy of his attention. "I don't mind being asked." He says, only now moving into full speed, the thrusters making the large armour incredibly mobile, and sensors make attacks from behind less effective. Even so, the disk aimed at Glare-NT's midsection digs in, not quite piercing through fully, but causing enough damage to be worrisome, some coolant starts leaking out until the self-repair systems close the gap. "But I'm afraid I can't answer. I can tell you my name, Sir MORDRED. Who might you be?" Of course he's not going to wait for an introduction to retaliate, and he rushes towards GoGo, razor-thin but massive in multiple ways blade swing for Gogo's disc tossing hand. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr, somehow, managed to get through the melee without drawing attention. She's taking a route away from the running battle, searching the corridors for anything suspicious... and seeking out servants or what not that might be cowering in wome corner or other. She's not weaponed up, but does have military fatigues on. 

:'''{{#var:736|GoGo Tomago (736)}} has posed:''' Only, Gogo's hand isn't there anymore. As fast as MORDRED is, Gogo has what she hopes is the advantage in turning and maneuverability. "Gogo Tomago. I'm from San Fransokyo." she says. "I wonder if you're like most robots. Most of them can't handle a direct electrical charge. Disrupts their systems something awful. Here, try one!" And with that, she races right for MORDRED! Throwing herself over him at the last second, her lithe, supple body twists in midair, hopefully avoiding most of his retaliation. Her hands move like lightning, scattering multiple little discs around and onto MORDRED. Contrary to what she was saying, they don't deliver an electrical charge... Instead, the discs hum and set up a powerful electromagnetic pulse at irregular intervals and strengths. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' There's enough activity on the ground to persuade Elner to shed some altitude; the tiny robo-faerie drifting lower to try and wring better resolution out of its scans of the situation on the ground. Yuna already has a fair amount to work with, though - while the map doesn't come up for her in a form she can simply look at, Elner conveys the information indirectly and Yuna is able to get the gist of it. There are some non-combatants around, and Yuna makes them her first priority - particularly those whose movements suggest that they have no idea what's going on, even with the sounds of combat all too audible (for Yuna anyway). A moment's consultation with Elner lets Yuna sort out her route; as luck would have it, Rudman's private rooms are one of the first waypoints Elner picks out. And given what Yuna's trying to do, and the fact that she SHOULD be away from the fighting, she dismisses her shield. The Light Suit has its own protective properties, so if she unexpectedly comes under fire, she'll be okay long enough to re-summon it. Hopefully. 

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:'''     Making a mockery of Rebecca's voice? That's something she can accept. Usually. But the fact that this thing has revealed that it's not a human at all makes her a little more creeped out. Although the feeling is only brief, since she's seen far worse things in her lifetime, but the overall sensation doesn't sit well with her at all. And the fact he's pulling back into the woods makes this more like a wildlife hunt in a sense. Except each hunter is hunting each other. So Rebecca takes this with a grain of salt.     Knowing that her shield would be no match for HK-47's shots, Rebecca uses the trees in the woods to take cover behind as she moves in after HK-47. "It's no use running!" She calls out. 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     Away from the fighting, there's a few interesting things to discover. The bunker area is difficult to access, naturally. While the security is hardly state-of-the-art for Mantigora, there's something to be said for heavy bunker doors that tend to slow an invader down. Got to be SOMETHING worthwhile down there though, or else why all the heavy defense? There's enough electronic signature to be sensed to suggest a number of primitive - by her standards - computers down there. Which might be the jackpot. Hopefully she's got something capable of reading the machines' data.     The living suite is fairly centralized in the house, and not terribly far from the open firefight. Garen and Yuna both make their way there.... Garen to see what's worth seeing, Yuna to see if this person moving alone about the house needs evacuation before she moves on to other figures.     Also near the living suite - it's a quite large part of the mansion - is Zephyr Windstar. As she passes by or into a room, a door opens. Across the room from her, a small blonde child steps out, red eyes locking on her. "You're here...." the girl says, her voice flat and somewhat eerie. "... to play?" It sounds like a rhetorical question, but it's a question nonetheless. The girl steps forward towards Zephyr, moving unthreateningly but steadily closer. 

:'''{{#var:530|Garen (530)}} has posed:'''     Garen was unaware he was being trailed by Yuna. Even so, he makes his way to the room and kicks in the door. He had one of his blasters in hand, just in case. IF he saw no one, he would immidiately begin to rummage the room, hunting for plans, documents, computers, anything. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa is able to find something this world isn't like her or some base line earths of this level. She finds they have some sensible security set ups for one the data? Seems to not be on the network hinting it's either in hard copy? Or on a stand alone machine. Clever, but she does get into the cameras, she's now checking the feeds and is starting to track those inside the building. She sends this information to the union personnel who can get such thing. She brings up the feds and anyone else in the building Eva is tagged as ??? likely part of the house hold. <<Got Confederates already inside. Couple of unknowns likely part of the house hold>> Kotone keeps going now with Yuna moving in and soon she'll find out just what's up with the girl as she comes to a halt and she does something perhaps foolish, she uncloaks. "To play?" She pauses now and gets very uneasy a she looks to Yuna and then Zephyr. She knows Garen, he's a fed but he has some standards of behaviour which makes him the sort she will take certain jobs from him. Mantigora she's not as well versed with and she's wary of this whole situation. "What do you want to play?" She asks this could just be an innocent thing right? 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr is just about to turn around into the corridor again... when a voice rings out. She turns, and freezes solid. Mismatched eyes locked onto the red eyed, blonde haired girl before her. "F-Fate...? What're you doing here?" she asks... wait, that can't be Fate, can it? "I'm trying to get people out of here so they don't get caught in the crossfire... can't you hear it?"     Left hand drifts toward her right forearm, the glint of purple metal hinted under the camouflage sleeve. "We don't have time to play right now... maybe when we get out of here... okay?" 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Kicking in a door ... is NOT the behavior of somebody who knows the mansion's on fire. Either that, or he knows and is trying to loot the place and get out. Either way, Yuna quickens her pace to the door of Rudman's quarters. "Hey," she calls out, "do you even know the manor's on fire? You need to get out of here, not dig around for valuables! Your life is more important than jewelry or anything else - you only have *one* and it can't be replaced!" No, she hasn't got any idea Garen is anything other than a random guard - but he's dressed the same way as the other guards she saw coming in, so she's PRETTY sure that's what he does here. He certainly isn't the mob boss who needs to be lured outside and arrested. 

:'''{{#var:530|Garen (530)}} has posed:'''     Garen quickly looks over and spots yuna. He knew she was a union operative and cursed his bad luck. Still, he thought he could bluff this one out. "I didn't know...But I'm not after jewelry. I'm a undercover agent for the local pd. They sent me in to recover any computers or documents on rudman. I need to grab all the documents I can before they burn up. Please help!" He shouts, the fake urgency in his voice likely only detectable by a pro like him. 

:'''{{#var:754|HK-47 (754)}} has posed:'''     And so his query follows him into the woods, giving chase away from her allies. For this is HK's forte - single target elimination.     Isolate. Entrap. Exterminate. And it had been such a long time since he got to properly toy with his quarry.     As soon as they're far enough into the woods - away from any back-up she could get - the droid activates his flamethrower and shoots out in a wide arc. However, he's not aiming for Rebecca, but rather /behind/ her, as within seconds there is a wall of fire separating her from the villa grounds.     She's cut off from immediate help now. All alone... with him. % "I-it's no use running" the droid parrots her words, but it returns them with a hint of malevolent smugness to them - and this time keeps speaking, no longer just mimicking but now outright stealing her voice - "A-annnd now... you're all alone... meatbag."     And with that, finally grants her prior request and steps forward a bit more so that he is effectively in the open before her, pinning her between the wall of fire and his own presence. The flames themselves begin to rage and consume the surrounding woods, making the chaos worse and sending smoke into the air - though the droid has no issue with it. He does not need to breathe... and the chaos will ruin any chance the Union had to make this a subtle arrest.     As he stands before Rebecca, the gaps her prior shots had put in his cloak and coverings shows traces of metal, the light of the flame reflecting off the rust-red armor that makes up his body. The tear in his cloth mask beneath the hood shows a single red eye-lense glow vibrantly beneath the cowl of the hood with an eagerness that should not be possible for an artificial creation.     Once again, he speaks in her voice - "Statement - Here I am, as you requested..." then, he shifts to his own, drawing his vibroblade in anticipation of an all-too-close encounter - "and now, I have a request of my own for you. Die." 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     Eve keeps her eyes focussed on Zephyr's mismatched ones, only flickering away for a moment when Kotone appears out of nowhere. The child seems utterly unphased by the woman's sudden appearance, intent as she is upon Zephyr who she'd spotted first.     There's no hint of recognition in Eve's eyes as she approaches Zephyr. "Play tag." she replies. "You run, I catch you." she adds in explanation, possibly replying to Kotone. She doesn't sound like she's playing though. She doesn't sound like she's having fun at all, quite in contrast to her claims that this is a game.     It's even less likely she intends to be having 'fun' when her right hand blurs slightly and extends, lengthening into a long curved blade. The movement is not stealthy, but neither is it aggressive. It's an obvious threat, but there doesn't seem to be any actual malevolence behind it. It's also *not* magical despite appearances, for those with the senses to note that, and neither does the blade actually extend through flesh. It's like she's one of those flowmetal robots from that movie about an assassination bot sent from the future, with her actual skin extending and becoming metal. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Yuna blinks at Garen. "Nobody told us about raiding the house for evidence, our contact said to lure Rudman out WITHOUT breaking the law ... Either way, you need to *go*, I don't know how fast that fire's going to spread! I don't think a crime boss considers that kind of thing 'light bedtime reading,' though ... you know the fastest way out of here, right?" She's starting to regret not bringing her partners in; Yuna could really benefit from being able to be more than one place at a time at this rate. Even though her 'doubles' aren't exactly made for that ... but she sets that thought aside. "Just get out of here as soon as you can, the fire started in the courtyard. Where are the other exits? There has to be more than one way out in an emergency." 

:'''{{#var:583|Mantigora (583)}} has posed:''' Like the previous narrative said, primitive didn't mean it was ineffective. Bunkers were made to keep unwanted people out, and heavy slabs of metal, be they classic steel and rebar or futuristic alien alloys, tended to be effective at doing so. To degrees. Would it be worth the time to actually get through? The signals her tactical sensors are picking up from computing hardware would suggest so. But we will get to that soon enough. Unneeded for the moment Mantigora disengages her cloaking tech, either unaware or more likely uncaring that there are certainly security cameras on the bunker door. She's far away from the main source of the fighting, after all. "Looks like I'll need a lockpick." She pulls a device out of the depths of her longcoat. Even if he wasn't allowed on 'stealth' missions Skuzzler had made sure his partner was well equipped for the various potential needs of her mission. Mantigora sticks the device to the door, makes a few setting adjustments, and then darts back the opposite direction. There's a few tick tick ticks and the device detonates, though the explosion is relatively small as instead of just a bomb it is discharging a hightly volatile chemical that reacts with most metals to burn and melt through the protective layers to make an opening. A lot of the noise it did make might be drowned out by the chaos going off in other parts of the villa, or so she's hoping. 

:'''{{#var:530|Garen (530)}} has posed:'''     Garen frowns. "I've been here for months.....I bet my bosses forgot all about me. It happens. But yeah, I know a quick way out. As for other ways...there's probably one downstairs." He says. He still was looking through stuff though. OF course, he kept a ready trigger finger on his blaster, should yuna not buy his story. 

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:'''     Rebecca finds herself caught personally in those quarters and she's not liking it one bit. Unfortunately, the vibroblade doesn't exactly sit well with her either. Namely since she's not in the mood to die today. But Rebecca's got a surprise of her own right now. Even with the flames around her and the fact that droid is in close quarters with her, she's got her stun baton, and who knows what a small dosage of electricity might do to a droid?     Checking quickly, Rebecca makes sure the baton is switched on before she attempts to strike HK-47 with it. "I'm sorry but I'm not about to die today... or anytime soon for that matter!" She's hoping that this will give her enough time to break away and get some space between her and HK-47. 

:'''{{#var:804|Project MORDRED (804)}} has posed:''' Fortunately Glare-NT isn't a simple robot, and can handle an electric magnetic pulse without too much trouble. Basic precautions. Still, the one stuck in the chest does cause some disruptions to his self-repair systems, mild but not to be disregarded. Those systems are essentially offline until they can automatically sort out proper countermeasures to the EMP. MORDRED is however quite mobile, and not at all afraid of playing the speed and mobility game. Most of the disks pass by him, or merely grace. Some get stuck, but right now nowhere critical beyond the first. The massive blade is swing for Gogo's head, at full velocity and from fairly close range. Intended to guide Gogo in a specific direction, right where the Armour's knee is going. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr blinks, then takes a step back when that hand turns into a weapon. DEFINITELY not Fate. "Tag, huh... using a sword's cheating though." she remarks, but shifts her grip on her right forearm, pulling something from there. With a burst of light, she's in her Barrier Jacket, holding a small handax with a flitting pair of Bits orbitting her. "But if y'wanna play... catch me if you can." With a burst of wind, a hole has opened in the roof overhead, and the Mage is gone. 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     The firefight around Mordred and GoGo has died down somewhat, given Mordred's almost free reign earlier. No one really wants to stick around against a foe that's obviously superior. The two of them can freely go at it. Not, that is, that they're entirely alone even now. The guards will still pop around corners, take a shot or two, then run away. A few shots will be aimed for Mordred. One or two might even be aimed for GoGo. This might be an accident, making her the victim of Stormtrooper Syndrome. Then again, it could just as easily be that they're clueless, and don't realize she's not their enemy. Or possibly they're clueful and realize the enemy of their enemy is not automatically their friend. Either way, she has to worry about gunfire too, though not as much as Mordred does. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Given the amounts of corruption reportedly in play among the local cops, even if Garen really *is* a local officer, Yuna is none too certain that actually makes her trustworthy. Foor all she knows, Garen's 'bosses' might have sent him in to steal evidence so it CAN'T be used against Rudman ... But like Yuna herself implicated, there probably aren't any valuable files or the like in Rudman's bedroom or parlor or other personal areas. "Don't die, okay?" she says to the 'undercover officer,' then heads off to check out the next meandering life sign Elner picked up. Wasn't that in the rough area where Zephyr was investigating ... ? 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa listens to Eve and she shows no reaction but there's a chill feeling in body parts she really doesn't have anymore. She looks at them for a moment and she's not sure about this as she looks her over she's trying to get an idea about it. Then she sees what's could be some high tech nanotech or something else as the blade takes shape. She pauses and takes a step back, she also brings up her network security levels to their highest level. She's very uneasy on this, she sees the blade and takers a step back. "I think your idea of play and mine are two very different things..." However if they are going to play tag? She might have to go along with this death tag and she bounds after Zeph, not wnating to be left alone here. "Look who are you? Is this what you really want to do?!" 

:'''{{#var:736|GoGo Tomago (736)}} has posed:''' Gogo is a silly meatbag, and doesn't react as expected. Instead of going towards the knee, she instead stomps down ONTO the blade, running up it and grabbing the wrist and monkey climbing up to the shoulder. Once there, one of her discs spins up to a red-hot glow. "It's not nice to hit ladies. I hope you can fix this. I hate hate hate damaging wonderful machinery like you." she says as she shoves the disc into his armpit. A bullet thunks into her arm. It's blunted by the armor, but it still lays open her arm to the bone. 

:'''{{#var:530|Garen (530)}} has posed:'''     Garen smirks as Yuna leaves, and nods. "I will. You be safe!" He shouts out, rummaging again with more urgency....burning buildings do that to people. 

:'''{{#var:754|HK-47 (754)}} has posed:'''     The shock-baton strikes his frame, sending arcs of electricity coursing through his body and arching off his metal frame. His cloak singes and burns, parts of it catching fire... but the droid himself doesn't fall. Instead, he grabs the stun-baton with one hand and snaps half of it off like a tree-branch, the sparking head of the device igniting his gloved hand and the cloth covering his arm.      "Smug Assertion - I beg to differ."     The droid's other arm suddenly comes up, the vibroknife slicing the air fast enough for it to be audible as it slashes at the human's flank. With his cloak burning he looks almost demonic, wreathed in flame with rust-red 'skin' and glowing red 'eyes' - however, the burning cloak also causes the fabric to melt and stick to the surface of his body and get caught in his joints, partially hindering his movements as he swipes at Rebecca. 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     Most of Torneo Rudman's security is the old-fashioned kind. Guards with guns. The bunker is designed to protect from simple gunmen long enough for police or paid security forces to arrive, not to hold off Multiversal Elites. Mantigora should have little trouble making use of her 'lockpick'.     Once inside, Mantigora will find a remarkably sophisticated computer lab. Well, sophisticated for this day and age. Hopelessly primitive compared to hers. Plans... glorious plans. Hers for the taking. The only question is how long it'll take her to interface with these devices. Or, possibly, what it'll take for her to take the computers themselves to sort out at a later time. 

:'''{{#var:804|Project MORDRED (804)}} has posed:''' With Gogo up there, suddenly Glare-NT's chest opens, and MORDRED jumps out, quickly jumping on top of the chest plate that opened and drawing a sword and aiming to put it to gently poke at Gogo's back, right where a good shove would push it through her back. "It's not honourable to attack noncombatants, it's perfectly acceptable to attack combatants. Gender doesn't come into it, unless you're some kind of sexist." The tall, traditionally handsome man is dressed in a white, tight-fitting outfit covered in all kinds of straps. Presumably well-suited for piloting something like his Armour. "Thank you for the compliments to Glare-NT, I quite like that armour." 

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:'''     Rebecca watches as her baton is grabbed and then snapped like a twig. This girl has definitely underestimated what HK-47 is capable of, and the shock of what she's seeing causes her to swear quite loudly and sourly. She's about to go for her weapon when she sees the blade coming at her again, only this time it's too close for comfort. She yells out as the blade sears through her kevlar vest, just somehow barely missing her flesh. But the immense heat still can be felt on her skin and she cries out, trying to pull back quickly.     Rebecca doesn't say anything, just tries to back away as fast as she can, keeping an eye on HK-47 to make sure he doesn't try anything new against her. After how badly things went for her vest, she doesn't want to see what could happen to her flesh. All the while she's going for her submachine gun again. 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     Eve seems a bit surprised when Zephyr blasts into the air. She blinks, staring up. Then Kotone follows. This also puzzles Eve. Not that she's surprised they run. EVERYBODY runs. That's the whole point of the game. They run, she catches them. There's only one outcome when an Oni catches a human in the game of tag. No, what's confusing is that they're doing something no player has ever done. They're running UP.     If Eve had a concept of the term 'unfair', this would definitely be unfair.     She's also somewhat confused by what's been said. "... Want...?" she asks no one in particular, speaking to the air. A curious question. What does she want? She's been given her instructions. She's an oni, and she's playing the Oni's Game. What does her wants have to do with anything?     After a moment, the sounds of heavy furniture toppling comes from the room Zephyr and Kotone just vacated. After a minute, Eve pokes her head out of the broken roof and pulls herself up, her blade nowhere in sight. They may be able to move unfairly, but she's not done 'playing'. She just has no idea where the two people went, that's all. 

:'''{{#var:736|GoGo Tomago (736)}} has posed:''' Oh man... Oh man oh man oh man. Gogo is even more impressed, if it weren't for the gaping wound in her arm. Her suit is mostly okay though, and that's what's important. And she's no slouch in hand to hand. Twisting out of the way of the sword, she rolls to her feet. "Please tell me you made this yourself." she says, looking it over as she holds up her discs in a defensive stance. "Look, I'm willing to call this a draw if you are. Want to lay off the fighting and get a bite of dinner later? We could talk tech." 

:'''{{#var:754|HK-47 (754)}} has posed:'''     At this point, HK is taking far more enjoyment out of toying with his prey then he probably should. However, it has been so long since he could properly cut loose and just take his time /disassembling/ a meatbag to their base, mostly-fluidic components. So much so that he actually almost missed the feel of their internal lubricants soaking in-between his fingers, tedious as it was to clean from his joints.     This time, he decided that he would return an eye for an eye, so to speak. Raising his arm, a compartment on his forearm opens up to reveal his neural-scrambler stun ray - effectively a very powerful taser-beam meant to stun and disable meatbags for captivity... or 'analysis.'      "Placation - You needn't worry - this shall only hurt for a moment and numb you to most pain. However, I cannot guarantee it will numb you enough so that you do not feel your entrails being systemically removed, but feel flattered that I am giving you the chance."     In that instant, the bolt of compressed electrical taser-energy discharges at Rebecca - if she gets caught in it, she's down. If it grazes her, whatever limb it hits will go numb for at least ten minutes. 

:'''{{#var:583|Mantigora (583)}} has posed:''' Mantigora ducks through the resulting opening after it's coold off a little, and a soft whistle escapes her scaly lips at the sight on the other side. Old or not, gathering that much processing power in one place is an impressive feat. And unlike the bunkers she's familiar with, no obnoxiously psychotic Caretaker AI to complicate things. A tap to the side of her head activates the external holo-lens over one eye from her nano-bionics to give the room a quick sweep over. Hmm. While she certainly has the technology to hack such archaic (to her) datastorage, there's the question of time. She can't count on the conflict happening somewhere overhead on the grounds going on forever. Time to defer to an expert. A different command activates her datacron comm and rings up Skuzzler back on wherever their ship is hidden away. There's some back and forth, a relaying of scans, and on the Engineer's advice Mantigora goes to what appears to be the largest collection of drives dedicated to memory storage... and simply rips the units free, shoving them away into her subspacial inventory storage. Getting to pick apart some old fashioned computers for useful data will at least make Skuzzler less cranky about not being able to come along. With 'loot' stored away Mantigora slips back out of the bunker, and starts making her way back towards the villa yard so she can get out of here. The fighting is still going on it seems, so she forgoes her stealth for the sake of speed. 

:'''{{#var:804|Project MORDRED (804)}} has posed:''' "Considering that regardless of victory in this battle, tactical analysis suggests achieving my personal objective is unlikely. Why not, miss." MORDRED responds to the latter suggestion first, smiling as he lowers his weapon. "As for Glare-NT, I started from a basis, but I improved upon it." Technically accurate, but perhaps somewhat deceptive. "I am Sir MORDRED, Knight Errant. Who am I treating to dinner?" 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Yuna grimaces a bit as she hears the situation breaking down further, and changes course. Her allies who chose to dive into the fight are getting into a lot of trouble, and while Zephyr's in a position to help retrieve one of them, she can't get both GoGo *and* Rebecca. A bit of consultation leads to a division of labor: Zephyr's fetching GoGo. That leaves Rebecca's rescue up to Yuna; she coordinates briefly with Elner, checking relative locations ... And very shortly thereafter, a window is busted open from the inside - not by gunshots in any form, but by a blue-and-white kite shield with some yellow highlights, followed by a blonde-haired young woman whose armor corresponds with the shield's design ... or vice versa. "HYAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Yuna shouts as she lets gravity pull her downwards, adjusting the path of her fall just a little so that she'll land between Rebecca and her assailant. The taser-beam should hit Shugoseiheki, the Wall of the Guardian Star, rather than striking Rebecca herself - and with Yuna dropping fast enough to drive the shield's bottom point into the ground, the electrical charge should be grounded out rather than being conducted through her arm. 

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:'''     Rebecca feels like the mission is going downhill fast. She quickly fires off a couple of shots, aiming at the 'face' while she tries to pull back more. But she's starting to lose strength, as the blade may have cut into her flesh slightly, and the blood is seeping through her uniform. "This is bad, how could I let myself get so careless?" Rebecca wonders aloud.     Just then, Yuna comes down and shields her. "Yuna!" She calls out happily. "Thank you so much, I owe you one!" She's glad that she has a savior like this, and will be more than sure to repay the favor somehow. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa is not able to fly but she's got some pretty darn good moblity and she's able to do some doublt jumpting. T "Want, yes do you want to live like this?!" Kotone made the right call to bolt she'd be cut apart and she knows it. She keeps moving along the roof as she has a bloody terminator after her. She wonders what John and his companions would think of this? She's too busy trying to keep out of harms way. "So is this how they taught you to play? You don't seem to like this! Do you want to stop playing tag like this?!" 

:'''{{#var:736|GoGo Tomago (736)}} has posed:''' GoGo Tomago grins as she cautiously disarms. Or at least, she puts her weapons up. She's still ready to bolt at a moment's notice. "Name's Gogo Tomago. Professional Speed Demon and student at the San FranSokyo Institute of Technology. Yeah, I'm not sure WHO won here." the young woman says as she looks around. There's chaos. Chaos ALL OVER. "Know any good places to eat, Sir Mordred? I have to say, never met a knight who used power armor." 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     While GoGo and MORDRED 'converse', a couple of guards take a moment to recover. They aren't *completely* inappropriate in their judgment and timing. They seem quite willing to let the two converse, so long as no more guards are murdered.     Still, they DO have their orders. And orders being orders, they're supposed to defend the place. A shot rings out, sounding almost apologetic in the fight's aftermath. The bullet comes nowhere near GoGo or MORDRED. It whines into a plastered wall. Possibly it was meant as a warning shot, or maybe one guard had their finger slip on a trigger while their safety was off. However... well, it's a reminder. They ARE armed and perhaps a little dangerous? No shots ring out as a follow-up, at least not for now... 

:'''{{#var:754|HK-47 (754)}} has posed:''' It is here that HK rather vibrantly curses his lack of expedience in trying to deal with the meatbag, having forgotten the two cardinal rules when dealing with them.     The first was that when you underestimated them, they always struck back /harshly/ - and HK dealt with this in full force, letting out a metallic shriek of pain and fury as one of the human's shots, after several others impacting his face, grazes his left eyelens, causing fractures to appear across the left hemisphere of his field of vision as the photoreceptor's lens cracks under the impact. The droid equivalent of pain shoots through his receptors as shorted-out electrical impulses backfire from the broken connectors to his damaged eye, igniting what his emotional construct matrix can only refer to as rage.     Then the second cardinal rule came into effect that HK had forgotten in this encounter - meatbags /multiply/ if you leave them alive for too long. Right before his stun-blast can hit the human, /another/ one lands directly in it's path, grounding the charge by slamming her shield into the ground.     At this point, the droid is thoroughly aggravated. Raising his arm, the droid cycles around to his most powerful anti-armor wrist-mounted weapon - the multi-spectral energy emitter. Effectively a bolt of /lightsaber energy/, designed to burn through even starship armor.     He was damaged, he was covered in burnt and burning fabric... and he was no longer playing games. If they wished to team up against HK, he would terminate with extreme prejudice. As such, he doesn't even bother waiting before firing the deadly bolt at the shield, intent on piercing straight through it. 

:'''{{#var:804|Project MORDRED (804)}} has posed:''' MORDRED watches the guards and slips back inside Glare-NT, "Hold on tight, we're leaving." He tells GoGo, and without delay thrusters activate to take off. "Nowhere nearby, but elsewhere in the multiverse? Yes, I do." He's gently flying, nothing that would be too hard to hold onto, and one of the Armour's hands even moves to help GoGo stay on, if she's not jumping off. "Armour like this is commonly used by Knights in my homeworld, though the models vary a lot based on origin. This is an Earth-based design, though I've always liked Martian designs." 

:'''{{#var:736|GoGo Tomago (736)}} has posed:''' GoGo Tomago hold on tightly. These magnets aren't 'disruptions' so much as 'hold on tight'. The young woman grins. "Really? You'll have to tell me more. I'm no robotics expert, but I am a technological genius by my world's standards, and I designed this suit mostly on my own." 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' It's a very, very sturdy shield, and while it originated as a gift, Yuna got some help integrating Shugoseiheki into her powers and equipment, including some reinforcement with even sturdier metal than the shield was made of to start with. However, the fact that it *IS* integrated into Yuna's powers and the associated equipment has a drawback - the same aura that her Light Suit generates to protect her is also in play around the shield, and a violent enough impact - such as, say, a collimated beam of highly destructive plasma - takes its toll on her defensive reserves. "Let's go, Becky!" Yuna calls out, reaching out blindly behind her to try and help Rebecca back to her feet. Once the medic is standing, Yuna will continue covering her as they withdraw from the compound. 

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:'''     HK-47 is blinded, while Rebecca is being protected by Yuna, who most likely was lucky to survive that herself. She's helped up by her ally and she knows that it's high time to retreat. "I'm for that, Yuna!" Rebecca exclaims as she begins to run away, placing a hand over the spot where she was slightly cut. She knows she was lucky this time, that could've left her badly wounded or worse. In fact, it seemed worse than an encounter by an Ma121 (better known as a Hunter.)     "We've got to get out of here!" She calls out to no one in particular. "Do we have an evacuation plan?" She knows the mission didn't go as well as planned, but that's just one of the unfortunate realities for all elite combat units; Even S.T.A.R.S. members themselves have to deal with it too. 

:'''{{#var:754|HK-47 (754)}} has posed:'''     HK-47's processors are /burning/ with what must certainly be anger at having been damaged and at the sight of his query moving to escape. Indignant rage pours through him - he let his guard down and they slipped through his grasp! He readies his rifle, ready to pursue them to the ends of this world-     But then, suddenly, the sounds of sirens in the distance hits the droid's audio-receptors, and he realizes, much to his frustration, that they have all overstayed their welcome. Enraging as it was... he would have to give up the hunt. For now.      However, if there was one consolation, it's that this wasn't a total loss. He could have sworn he picked up a familiar cloaking signature leaving the estate - one that he remembered seeing during his one-time mission with Soundwave, though with his damaged lenses, he couldn't be sure if it was the same being he worked with. If it was though, then it was a safe bet to say that the plans for the prototype were in Confederate hands... though whether Matigora, if it was in fact her, would share them was another thing entirely. He would have to wait and see.     For now, though, the droid reluctantly shouldered his rifle, his one undamaged eye glaring hatefully at the fleeing female meatbags as they pulled away from the smoldering site of the battle. He also noted one of the Union forces - the female in armor bearing Stark Enterprises colors - leaving with one of their own. An alliance, perhaps? Something else that bore watching - he filed it away beside the faces of the two females who had escaped them.     He would meet at least one of them again - of that, he was sure... and when he did, he would make sure he excised their legs /before/ he took his time dismantling their squishy frames piece by peace - though he would leave them their arms. After all, it was never any fun if they didn't put up some form of challenge before their inevitable deaths.     With that in mind, the droid pulls away, slinking into the woods and out of sight as emergency response vehicles approached, already thinking on what his next mission would be. 
}}

2922/Who's Really It

2015-09-02T00:29:55Z

MoreBeer: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/08/30 |Location=Sapidor Republic <SR> |Synopsis=Yuna goes searching for Eve and finds a surprise as well. |Thanks= |Cast of Characters=385, 85..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/08/30
|Location=Sapidor Republic <SR>
|Synopsis=Yuna goes searching for Eve and finds a surprise as well.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=385, 857
|Tinyplot=
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' A couple of Union Elites made visual contact with a suspected 'superweapon' during the fight at Torneo Rudman's mansion last night. Yuna was not one of them. And supposedly, that little girl who can turn her hand into a sword is running around in the city. "So," Yuna muses as she strolls along a sidewalk, "if I were a little girl who'd just busted out of a mansion, and the people I'd been chasing after disappeared, where would I go ... ?" She's actually starting from approximately where the 'scary little girl with a sword-hand' was when the Union withdrew last night, and moving away from the villa. Elner is still trying not to get noticed by the locals, so the little robo-faerie is a good ways up, scanning ahead of and around Yuna's position for possible clues or hints of what direction to go in. Yuna's putting her eyes to work as well, of course - although she doesn't know what the girl looks like other than the aforementioned sword. 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     The battle was chaotic, and unprecedented in that this is the first time Eve was told to play tag with people who could actually get away. She didn't know what to expect, and for that matter Rudman had no clue either. He'd just ordered his weapon to act, without realizing the consequences. Eve for her part simply followed her targets as best she could - admittedly, not very well. The outside world is a huge mystery to her, and much MUCH larger than she had any way of knowing about. She's seen more people than she's ever seen in her life, but none of them were her target. None of them were playing tag. She's just following the rules... but she's not exactly very good at playing tag. In fact right now she's tired, hungry and lonely. Also lost. She's playing the game the way she's been taught, but the rules seem to have changed unexpectedly.     There might be a clue as to Eve's identity, when Yuna DOES come across her. She's not dressed like the locals, and she's clearly too young to be out alone. Unfortunately for Yuna, Eve's blade-hand is nowhere in sight. She looks just like any other small red-eyed blonde child alone in the middle of a city inhabited mostly by swarthy South Americans. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' At least blonde hair stands out, and Elner can spot THAT from the sky easily enough. The red eyes? That's an unknown, most likely, unless Zephyr's Device happened to get a look at Eve's face. Of course, even if Zephyr *did* it doesn't mean Yuna thought to take that close of a look at any relayed images, either. Still, between the blonde hair and the distinctively elegant simplicity of that black dress, Yuna homes in on the little girl - not running, just walking casually, but offering the young girl a bright, warm, friendly smile. "Hello!" 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     Eve's tired and she really should be going home. If she knew where home was, that is. If she were willing to lose the game and face the consequences. Those consequences are terrible... worse by far than being tired and hungry.     She's travelling on automatic by now anyways, just ambling along hoping to stumble across someone who plays. Well, less hoping to, more hoping the game could be just ended, but her wants don't mean anything. That too, she's been told more than once. But she's startled by Yuna's unexpected greeting. Adults don't, as a rule, greet people like her unless introduced to her.     Eve blinks, surprised but making no defensive or hostile moves. "H-hello." she replies with only a slight hitch to her voice. She's been trained, too, to the appropriate station of a young lady of means. Torneo wants her to be able to get close to targets after all.     Eve doesn't smile back at Yuna however, even though she replies. She seems rather neutral, lips tight in something that might be concentration if not a frown. And as far as returning the conversational gambit... well, that's not exactly her strong point. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' "My name's Yuna," the blonde young woman introduces herself with a smile and a slight bow. Probably she should curtsey - this is a Western setting, after all, not a version of Japan or China - but she's not sure if her sundress's skirt is adequate to that purpose. "I was just wandering around, exploring the area a bit ... it's good to meet you!" And she means it. Even if this is the girl who sent Zephyr and Kotone running the other night, Yuna looks at her and sees a little girl who seems lost and maybe unhappy - someone in need of a friend who can cheer her up - rather than any kind of secret weapon. 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     It's not likely Zephyr or Kotone were scared of Eve exactly. They just weren't in a good position to fight, and probably reluctant to start a battle that could draw the attention of the entire mansion. Besides, decent people probably don't want to kill children who don't exactly sound like they've got their hearts invested in Murder Inc.     In Eve's experience, people don't really talk to her. The servants aren't permitted to. She's talked to for important lessons, but not socially. Even the 'social' training is fake, and there's never really been anyone who seemed to mean the words 'good to meet you'. The only other person who talks to her is Torneo Rudman, and the less said of those conversations the better.     "Eve." the girl says simply, once again speaking the absolute minimum necessary, as if rationing her words. Behind the relatively empty word is an empty stomach however, which speaks for her in unmistakeable fashion. The grumble of hunger is loud and insistent, and Eve doesn't exactly look the sort of girl who is particularly overfed in the first place. When it comes right down to it, with her almost pure white skin and scrawny frame, she's almost the sort you'd expect to see through. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' "Sounds like you're hungry," Yuna observes with a faint wince. Fortunately, she has some local cash - not enough for a full-course meal in an upscale restaurant, but she can certainly afford to grab something to keep hunger pangs at bay. She debates asking what Eve's favorite food is ... then spots a hot dog vendor working out of a cart in a nearby park. A few moments later, Yuna has procured a pair of hot dogs (with mustard and a little bit of relish) and a bench that she and Eve can sit on. One hot dog has been offered to Eve; Yuna is munching decorously on the other one. "So are you from around here, Eve?" Yuna asks between bites, mostly just to make conversation. 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     Once again, Eve's 'training' provides an easy response. Had Yuna asked what she wanted to eat, Eve would only be confused. She's used to eating whatever's served to her, and Yuna just handed her some food. She's a bit confused at food that doesn't come with a plate or with cutlery though. She stares at the hot dog until she sees Yuna eating, then copies her with obvious trepidation. Then, once the initial concern is out of the way... with obvious haste and hunger. Decorum isn't exactly the term one might use with Eve right now. Sure, she has a certain grace to her... but she also has a bit of relish on her nose and a glop of mustard on her hand that she seems to either have no clue about or no idea what to do about them.     At the question, Eve looks around, puzzled. Around here? She shakes her head. After a moment, she adds an uncertain "No." 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Yuna has to fight not to giggle out loud, and offers Eve a couple of paper napkins to deal with the stray condiments. "Where are you from, then? You're really young to be wandering around a city like this by yourself. Did you get separated from your parents or something?" Elner - currently lurking out of sight among the branches of a nearby tree - experiences a moment of *intense* exasperation. Either Yuna is playing this up way too hard or she's actually forgotten that the girl is presumed to be a weapon. In actuality ... well, if the napkins confuse Eve, Yuna is prepared to help wipe the stray relish off Eve's nose. The mustard could be licked up - it's not like they're at a formal dinner party or anything - but wiping it off is probably still smart, and straight mustard can be pretty spicy if you're not used to it. 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     While Eve may not be familiar with the intricacies of hand-eaten food, not to mention the problems inherent in rushing a messy meal, she's fortunately familiar with napkins. She even blushes when the mess is pointed out... seems our little weapon has feelings after all. She's quick to mop up and make things right, and by the time she's done the blush has faded as well. Mostly. She's still got a faint bit of color in those otherwise albino-pale cheeks.     It takes Eve some time to decide how to answer that odd question. Not a lot of time, but it's a question she really has no good answer for. She shakes her head. Then she nods. Two questions, two answers. And yet she seems to realize she's contradicting herself. "I don't know where home is." she says. "I was playing tag." she adds in explanation. Such a simple answer, delivered without a hint of playfulness or subterfuge. There is, however, the faintest hint of something there. Worry, or perhaps regret. Not enough emotion shows past her carefully-blanked mask to be sure of what it is, just that there's something underneath that calm almost inhuman delivery. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' "You got lost playing tag?" Yuna grimaces sadly. "That's ... well, some friends of mine said they ran into a little girl kind of like you." Okay, so she didn't TOTALLY forget what she's doing here. "There's a thing I don't get, though. They were looking for some mob boss's supposed superweapon, and you don't look like a weapon to me, Eve. You look like a cute little girl - one who could probably use a friendly face in her life," she adds, smiling. "Or several of them." 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     Again that lightning-fast calculation. Her instructions are clear... anyone who came to her home is playing tag. What she does while playing tag is unarguable. Anyone she catches, she kills. That's the way of the oni. "I... I am oni." she claims. It's not just because she's thinking it... in part it's refuting Yuna's kind words. An oni, not a little girl. And of course Yuna, with her background, ought to be able to see precisely the intended meaning of oni, particularly in relation to the game of tag.     She doesn't attack though, despite those intense pink eyes - not red, not really - focussing sharply. She doesn't know if Yuna was in the house. If she knew Yuna was there, she'd have to play tag. And if they were to play tag, with Eve so close.... well, she doesn't think of that. There's a part of her who doesn't ever want to think of things like that again. But then, since when do the wants of a weapon matter?     Eve very definitely does not return Yuna's smile... but she's also not manifesting a weapon, not lashing out. Curious. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' "An oni?" Yuna raises her eyebrows. "You don't look like a monster to me," she says, her voice still kind, but also serious. "But even so ... well." She finishes her hot dog, wipes her hands off with another napkin, then sits back on the bench. "Let's say for the moment that you're an oni, rather than a human. That doesn't mean you can't also be a little girl with friends and hobbies, favorite foods, favorite places. I've got so many friends that *aren't* human in the usual sense: androids, cyborgs, ponies, dragons, unicorns, robots, ghosts, plant people, insect people ... and yes, there are some demons who've been allied with the Union. I'm even friends with some people in the Confederacy, and that faction is mostly 'bad guys'." A sad look crosses her face, interrupting her smile like a cloud passing over the sun. "That's ... the Confederacy's been making things a lot worse lately. Some of them attacked Rudman's mansion the other night too - they're the reason things turned violent so abruptly, as far as I know ..." Yuna lets out a breath, then looks over at Eve again, her smile somewhat wan but back nonetheless. "Anyway. Human, oni, or whatever ... that doesn't mean we can't be friends, and a cute girl like you shouldn't have to be a killer. Not unless you *really* want to be that man's weapon ... and if he's the one who made you a weapon," her smile ebbs again, "then next time we visit, I'm going to *have* to have some words with him. Probably loud ones." 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     Of course Eve knows nothing about Union, Confederacy, or even any of the nonhumans Yuna mentions. It all goes well over her head, but she seems fascinated by the words even if she doesn't understand them.     For that matter, Eve doesn't even know what Yuna means by the word 'friends'. She really understands only two things Yuna says. That she knows who was at Rudman's home, and that she intends to visit again.     As much as she might want to learn more of the baffling things Yuna's saying, she's been trained not to ask questions. Not, that is, unless they have something to do with her mission. "If you come to father's home, we might play together." Eve states. Statements aren't really encouraged either, but Eve's trying to give Yuna a warning. It's a broken warning, but it's a warning nonetheless. "Do you know where the people I'm playing tag with are?" she asks finally. If she can continue hunting, or if she returns home... well that's proper, right? 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Yuna hesitates briefly at that. "I do ... but, does your idea of playing 'tag' mean trying to stab or cut people? Because if that's what you want to do to Zephyr or Kotone, then I'm not going to help you find them." She reaches over, trying to affectionately tousle Eve's hair. "Is this what you want to do, Eve? Do you want to be a killer for a criminal like Torneo Rudman? Or does he have such a tight hold on you that you can't make a decision for yourself?" 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     When Yuna reaches out, Eve flinches from the contact. She doesn't move though. Whether she's scared or just nervous, she remains seated. It's not like she's used to people reaching out to touch her affectionately after all.     She's confused though. Once again, it's all about asking what she wants. Her wants aren't important. A weapon doesn't have wants. She's a weapon, an oni. Oni kill when they catch their target.     It would be easy to simply say she doesn't want to kill. They're very easy words, but they don't come out. She's had a lifetime's conditioning, and such things simply aren't something one can set aside simply for words. When it really counts... then maybe. But not for this.     Eve's eyes shimmer slightly, but tears don't fall. Instead she shakes her head. "Then I need to go home." she says. If Yuna refuses to help find the other players, then Eve has no choice and no way to continue playing. She never even thinks to try to threaten the information out of Yuna. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Yuna winces, another look of sadness intruding on her usual friendly smile. Eve didn't even try to answer her question, although it seemed to tug on a nerve or something as it went past. "I'll walk you home, then," she offers. "Not all the way to the door, but into sight of it, at least ... If this is what you want," she stresses that word a bit, "then I can at least help you with that much." She gets to her feet, offering a hand to Eve ... And deliberately ignoring Elner. The robo-faerie is quite upset now - Yuna KNOWS Eve is the 'superweapon' from Rudman's mansion, and yet she's willingly going to take Eve back there? Then again, that's kind of Yuna's track record ... and Yuna was very serious about needing to have words with Rudman. Eve's reaction is just reinforcing her determination to pencil that discussion into their next encounter. 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     Eve nods, ignoring that odd phrase again. What you want. What she wants isn't important; she needs to go home. Still, it gets a little start from her. Not much of a reaction, but still obvious enough to someone watching for it.     She takes the hand, apparently without hesitation or mistrust. She doesn't know where she's going, but it seems Yuna does and Eve is used to being led. She's quiet during the walk... but at the same time she stays close. Perhaps even a little closer than she needs to; close enough that were either her or Yuna to be less than attentive they'd risk bumping each other in the many little shifts of walking along city streets.     As they get closer to the estate, a long black car with mirror-tinted windows pulls up with a faint screech of tires. Doors open, and two men come out. Men with suits that really don't match their scruffy hair, loose ties, and sunglasses. If Elner's senses aren't enough to spot that they're armed, well, the loose fit of the suits make it clear enough.     "Mr. Rudman has been worried about you." One of them says, his voice rough and not at all sympathetic. "Get in the car." he adds, looking from Eve to the woman with her, frowning. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Yuna squeezes Eve's hand gently, looking at the men. And even if Elner wasn't warning her that they're carrying weapons, or if she didn't suspect them to be armed due to their general appearance, she would still *expect* them to be armed if they work for Rudman. "I promised that I would walk her home," she says politely to the two men. "If one of you wants to walk along and confirm that I'm not going to run off with her, I'd rather keep my promise than abandon her here." By contrast to the guards, Yuna is COMPLETELY unarmed and couldn't possibly be hiding a weapon anywhere she can get it. ... Except maybe down the collar of her dress, but that isn't really enough room for anything useful. (She could transform and have the weapons which come with her Light Suit, but that would still let the gangsters shoot first.) 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     The guard nods to Yuna with a passing semblance of politeness. It's nothing personal, and he has no need to be hostile with her. He's a professional after all, if a particularly loose sense of that word. He turns back to the car, leaning towards one window which cracks open only the tiniest bit. "She says she promised to walk the girl home." he says, softly enough that it probably won't easily carry.     The window glides down some more and a loud, deep voice calls out from inside. "Eve." the voice says. "She was in our house last night. Finish the game. It's time to go home."     The words shoot through Eve, and she stiffens. Slowly, not letting go of Yuna's hand, Eve looks up into her eyes. Eve's own eyes are dull and empty... completely unlike when they had been speaking earlier. The little girl looks down again, then throws herself into Yuna with surprising speed and completely unnatural strength for such a tiny girl.     She's not throwing her arms around Yuna though, much as it might look that way. She's striking, focussing all her intent on one tiny target. As her hand comes around, the blade extends. Not the curved blade from the other night but one with a needle point and a narrow, straight blade leading out from her extended fingers. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' That's probably Rudman's voice, isn't -- The noise Yuna makes when Eve suddenly stabs her is more of surprise than of pain or terror. It certainly hurts, and getting stabbed in her untransformed state is DEFINITELY frightening, but ... Yuna is still more taken by surprise, and possibly disappointment. But she saw the look in Eve's eyes just before the stab: somebody who just had to switch off her own emotions in order to do something awful, something heartbreaking. It's a look Yuna has seen in the mirror a few times, usually AFTER she was forced to deliver death upon somebody whose survival could no longer be permitted. "Eve ..." Yuna whispers, then gives the little girl a wry look. She really has *GOT* to teach Eve how to play games that don't involve sharp things. Maybe after a little nap. That stab wound hurts a lot for such a little hole all the way through her. 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     Eve continues holding Yuna's hand, even after striking that blade into her. There's no sign where the weapon came from either. It simply seemed to form, nearly instantly, out of her own skin. She keeps her head lowered too, after that first soulless look. Eve's face remains pressed in against one of Yuna's arms.     As Yuna whispers her name, the girl looks up. This time there's not just a simple shimmer in her eyes. Tears spill. Even shutting off her own feelings to do this, even so... this might have hurt Eve almost as much as it did Yuna. She abruptly releases Yuna's hand, spins away, and carefully doesn't let the bodyguard see her face as she allows him to lead her back to the car. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Only after Eve lets go and pulls away does Yuna's body crumple to the pavement. And even then, Elner forces itself to wait until the car is gone - completely out of sight - before Yuna's body vanishes in a flicker of light; Elner vanishes the same way, relocating both itself and Yuna to the local warpgate. They'll be picked up from there so Yuna can get medical attention. 

}}

2915/The Rumble in the Jungle

2015-08-29T22:02:22Z

MoreBeer: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/08/28 |Location=Brasilia-13 <BC13> |Synopsis=The Union responds to a newly-unified world, seeking to arrest a notorious arms dealer. The Confe..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/08/28
|Location=Brasilia-13 <BC13>
|Synopsis=The Union responds to a newly-unified world, seeking to arrest a notorious arms dealer. The Confederacy also responds, seeking to claim his new "superweapon" for themselves.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=7, 162, 290, 385, 530, 583, 736, 737, 754, 804, 857
|Tinyplot=
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     Is there anything, anything at all, worse than politics for making a situation more complicated?     Take this situation. It's extremely simple. A certain man is a known arms dealer. He's wanted by Interpol. The police can simply raid his villa and haul him off, right? Wrong. He's heavily involved in local politics. He owns any number of local police. Interpol doesn't have the strength to take him down with uncertain allies, and they can't invade the villa without the cooperation of the local cops. If they did, the political uproar may well be enough to let the arms dealer go free. They probably have enough evidence to make charges stick if things are done by the book, but politics makes that a foolhardy venture. A simple situation made complex.     Can anything make a complex situation even worse? Well, yes. Just add people. It seemed a good plan. If the locals don't have the force to arrest Rudman in public and lack the political will to assault his home in the face of politics, simply find others willing to do the job. The world is still new to the Multiverse. They have no idea what a can of worms they're opening up. A simple request to the Union for assistance may well lead to so much more.     The plan is simple, as all good plans are. Rudman has committed 'local' crimes, enough to warrant his arrest but not enough to be tried as a Multiversal criminal. Invasion of the villa could cause a political incident, but if Rudman is lured out of his home then he's fair game. The Union steps in, deals with the troublesome arms dealer and any bodyguards, and then turns him over to Interpol. Neat, elegant, and completely legal. Also it completely avoids any bought local police getting involved. As long as no local laws are violated, such as breaking into his villa or killing anyone, no politics in this world can save Torneo Rudman from his justly-deserved fate. The only trick is to somehow lure him out of his casa; a sprawling mansion with surveillance cameras, wrought-iron gates, high walls, and armed guards. 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     Foolish, foolish Interpol.     While they are after Rudman, other elements are after something much more important. Rudman's fortune, and the rumored superweapon he has announced to the black market arms buyers and dealers. This may be a world new to the Multiverse, but it's old enough to the idea that information is power. Various wealthy elements know that Rudman has a closely-guarded superweapon he's invested years in, not to mention a sizeable fortune. The prototype alone is likely worth millions, while the plans are probably worth billions.     Also known is that Interpol wants to shut Rudman down. No doubt Interpol's desperate plan to call in Union Elites is based on Rudman's own plans to unveil his weapon. They want him out of action before this weapon gets unleashed on the public. Well that's fine... besides, with the Union coming to town, there's opportunity for some subtlety.     A call goes out to the Syndicate, offering a small fortune to those willing to steal the plans to a superweapon. The place is indicated, the reward is significant. The weapon is a big unknown however. Fortunately, the weapon isn't what's requested. All the Syndicate has been asked for is to raid the villa's information store. Copy any and all plans, and deliver them up. Piece of cake, right?     Of course not even this plan is all that simple. Anything the Syndicate knows, the Confederacy is likely to know. And why would they want to steal plans or a superweapon and just give it up to a bunch of locals when they can keep everything for themselves? It's not like they're worried about the locals or about local laws. 

:'''{{#var:736|GoGo Tomago (736)}} has posed:''' GoGo Tomago is there as both Muscle and a distraction. She's fast and heroic, and tends to be a good one to have on your side in a fight. She's Riding, running, rolling, or otherwise arriving with some of the other Union's, humming to herself. "So what's the plan?" she asks. "How the hell do we lure him out? I could rig something with his security network." the young woman says, stretching. Her outfit today is... different. It looks like she's rather infatuated with IRON MAAAAAAAAN, her outfit patterend in the same red and gold as the classic Iron Man suit. 

:'''{{#var:804|Project MORDRED (804)}} has posed:''' MORDRED drops out of orbit at a pre-planned time, that is right now, right over Rudman's mansion. Heat shields are not yet done cooling down from re-entry heat as the amplifiers magnify his voice to be very loud, and very clear. He's not here to be subtle. "Mister Rudman, I am Sir MORDRED. Know that you have been considered unworthy of the possession of superweapons. Surrender your superweapons peacefully or I will be forced to take drastic measures to confiscate them. This is your only warning." To emphasize the warning, the fifteen foot tall suit of Armour draws a long, slender weapon. Its tucked under Glare-NT's arm and aimed at Rudman's garden, somewhere it won't do any harm. A quick blast of superheated plasma should glass what it hits. "You have ten seconds to confirm your decision to surrender your superweapon before I escalate." 

:'''{{#var:736|GoGo Tomago (736)}} has posed:''' GoGo Tomago stares up at MORDRED as he drops out of the sky. "FINALLY, someone who gets it!" she says, stomping her feet to activate her discs. "Hey you!" she yells up to MORDRED, "Think you'll want a hand?" 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' If it weren't for the fact of local police corruption, Yuna thinks, she'd love to visit this city for a longer period - maybe to play tourist, maybe to do a concert or three. But she has to keep those wishful thoughts off to the side for now. She can at least pretend to be a tourist, though; outfitted in a light but reasonably modest sundress, she's exploring the city - and just happens to be doing so around the walls of Torneo Rudman's villa. Her tiny companion, Elner, seems not to be in evidence; you'd have to look up to stand any chance at all of spotting the robo-faerie, and Elner is too high up to be noticed unless you have extremely good vision and are looking in EXACTLY the right place at the right moment. Of course, while Yuna looks entirely like an innocent civilian, Elner's there for reasons other than aerial surveillance; it's Elner who has to trigger Yuna's transformation if she needs her Light Suit. So if push comes to shove, Yuna will be able to make herself useful -- And then somebody drops out of the sky straight into Rudman's villa, violently enough to make the blonde idol jump hard. "Kyaaa - !! Elner, what WAS that?!" /Trouble,/ Elner replies telepathically. /Not a known Unionite, either./ Yuna sighs, closing her eyes tightly for a moment, and heads for the villa's main gate at a run. "Hey, why are you inviting giant robots from space in without warning your neighbors?" she calls out to the guards. "I'm going to file an official complaint, would you ask Mr. Rudman to step outside so he can *maybe* clarify what's going on before I actually do that?" ... well, at least she's trying to stick to the original plan. 

:'''{{#var:530|Garen (530)}} has posed:'''     Slipping into somewhere unseen was something that Imperial Intelligence always trained their agents for. It was part of what made them so deadly efficient. So, when it was made known that there were plans in need of being grabbed, they sent in Garen, or as he's known in the field, Cipher Nine. Today, he had taken up the guise a local thug that found his way into Rudman's employ. He knew all about the plans, and figured in his disguise, he was primed to assist. 

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:'''     Police corruption. Rebecca Chambers is no stranger to that in any way, shape, or form. Namely because the chief of the police department she worked for was being bribed by the Umbrella Corporation to keep their misdeeds a secret. In addition, he suspended the remaining S.T.A.R.S. members while blaming them for the incident at the mansion in order to keep them from getting any further information easily. It was only a matter of time until the corruption resulted in the demise of Raccoon City.     Hence the reason Rebecca's uneasy about coming dressed as a civilian. She may be with S.T.A.R.S., but even with a badge, the police may be corrupt enough to find a reason to bust her. Hence the reason she's kept her handgun carefully hidden as she walks down the street. She appears to be acting casual, looking around and not seeming to pay attention to anything or anyone at the time.     That is, until something drops in rather loudly, and that draws Rebecca's attention. "What was that?" She thinks to herself out loud. She then breaks into a run towards the villa as well, her hi-tops giving her extra traction as she runs. "Don't like this, gonna find out what it is!" She thinks to herself. 

:'''{{#var:583|Mantigora (583)}} has posed:''' Arms dealing is one of the tried and true, time honored professions of waging war. To the point it did not take long for Rudman's announcements to reach ears not of the earlier world. Or current times for that matter. A superweapon not of their universe could be very useful in eliminating the Exile pestilence still infesting Nexus; simply because they would not be familiar with it like they are many of the Dominion's known weapons of mass destruction. Even if it was just the plans -- reverse engineering is what DRED exists for, after all. But knowing a military operation would cause too much commotion, instead the head of the empire's black ops division sent a special mission to a certain bounty huntress she knew would have little qualms about an operation of questionable intentions or morals. Stalkers were aptly named, because stalking is what they do best. Beneath the cover of elaborate cloaking and optical camoflague technologies Mantigora was already slinking her way about the grounds of the villa. But like a proper covert operation she was casing it out, noting the security measures present, and biding her time. A hunter waiting for the right oppritunity to get closer to her intended prey. Or waiting for the so-called good guys to show up and make some noise with their alturistic nonsense. Same thing as far as she cares. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr's here, milling around after GoGo and whoever else in her TSAB Ground Forces uniform. At a glance she could be considered an Army cadet off duty or something. And... then everything starts to tank. "Sir Mordred?!" she calls out at the voice from the giant robot. "This, isn't good." she asides to GoGo and Yuna. "I'm all for sticking to the plan... but I'll be keeping Divine Wind on Ready Standby..." she keeps her voice low, but lets the more charismatic members of the party do the actual talking. 

:'''{{#var:737|Vivio Takamachi (737)}} has posed:'''     Politics? What's that? Sounds like a bunch of people just arguing and getting nothing done.     Vivio had heard about the request to the Union. To arrest a certain bad person. She's starting to learn that requests like this tend to turn out a lot wackier than expected! So Vivio decided she'd come out to see if her help was needed for anything. Missions like this seem to present a good opportunity to encounter some strong people. And putting a bad person in jail while doing so is just icing on the delicious, delicious cake!     Right now, Vivio has found herself a place to watch the events unfold. That just happens to be the roof of a building, which just happens to be not too far from the so-called bad guy's home. The young girl sits on the edge of the roof, legs dangling as she watches. She glances at the plush bunny floating in the air beside her and asks, "That's like, what, seven now?" The bunny waves his hand a bit. Vivio turns back, then ahhhs and nods, "You're right." She leans forward a bit, beginning to swing her legs as she watches everything unfold, "Seems like a big mess down there..." She wonders if she should actually get involved or not... Like maybe she might do more harm then good. "Hmmm... Maybe wait and see what happens..." 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa did not have a lot of direct power but when it came to cyberwarfare or stealth? She proved to be pretty good at it and was at least able to handle herself in a firefight. So here she was to back up the union on dealing with this prototype weapon. She'd brought a load out which should work including non lethal options. She was current flat in a form fitting suit of light armour that was also fitted with a stealth system. Yuna would find something moving along side her. Kotone is currently in stealth mode for the moment as she waits on the original plan. <<Union forces, Interpol hired me to lend a hand here, just a heads up I'm with you.>> Kotone's already feeling for any local wireless networks if there are any so she can get to work upon those as best she can to help out the rest of the team if things go badly. 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     Rudman is more a politician than a warrior, and more a merchant than a politician. If he wants something done he gets someone else to do it... usually by paying them.     In any event he's not about to come out with guns blazing. Radios on the various guards light up however. "Perimiter breach." comes the words of the guard leader over the local band. "Protect the home! The moment someone tries to enter the building, kill them." The guards are going to be somewhat passive, but there's no sign anyone is intending to give in to the demands. What's the point, after all, of having a superweapon if you're just going to give it up without a fight to the first thug who shows up? 

:'''{{#var:754|HK-47 (754)}} has posed:'''     This brought back memories for HK-47. It had been a very long time since he had enacted what one would call a "smash and grab" mission. The last time he'd done so was during the rescue of his master - and in doing so, he'd inadvertently collapsed the Exchange crime syndicate and delightfully caused a power-vaccume in Hutt Space that resulted in chaos for weeks on end.     Hopefully, chaos and destruction wouldn't be a mere side-effect of his presence today.     As usual when in worlds where his presence would draw attention, the droid has obscured his body with a large hooded cloak, baggy clothes, gloves, wrappings around his metal feet and a fabric mask, patterned to the color of the surrounding landscape. He looks more like a camouflaged hunter then a droid - exactly what he wants. After all, if they mistake him as being a simple, frail meatbag, they will not expect to instead be skillfully dismembered by a peerless Assassin Droid.     Of course, the first matter of business when facing the enemy - blind their spotters. And as a droid, he could see visual spectrums a normal human could not... and his visual acuity was far, far better then any meatbag could be.     But he also sees a target much more enticing to him - one that he has a higher chance to hit... and expose. HK has never forgotten a face - and the face of the human girl he saw during his time with the Black Fox is still imprinted in his memory banks. The scouting drone in the air is an issue... but no amount of intelligence will help if there is no-one around to use it. Therefore he will simply mark the drone for extermination by another.     For now, he has an standing grudge to fulfill.     Taking aim with his sniper rifle, he lines up a shot with Rebecca, focused on her head.     If she's keeping full-alert, she can probably make out the glint of a spotting laser as it narrows down on the point between her eyes. She only has a split-second to move - the trigger is now pulled and the first shot is now fired, disintegrating whatever is unfortunate enough to get hit by it. 

:'''{{#var:530|Garen (530)}} has posed:'''     Garen hears the call there and decides to make a shift. While yes he was on the outer perimeter, he moved close to where mantigora was making her way in. He gives a wink in her direction, letting her know who he was without dropping the guise. Still, he made all efforts to look ready to go. 

:'''{{#var:583|Mantigora (583)}} has posed:''' The wink is noticed, and Mantigora returns a brief nod of acknowledgement before going on her way, continuing to keep out of easy sight. Knowing there is at least one person on the inside on her side is reassuring, but she knows better than to exploit that too soon. She will find her own way in as she intended. Preferrably when everyone else comes running out to deal with the chaos already starting to unfold... 

:'''{{#var:804|Project MORDRED (804)}} has posed:''' Not even a fraction of a millisecond after the ten seconds have passed, MORDRED's thrusters reverse direction. Instead of keeping him afloat above the mansion, they're now set to make him crash right through the villa's roof. A little collateral damage is normal in fights that involve these kinds of warmachines, and warnings were given. Whether or not he manages to crash through, he returns his XTE Lancepack to his Armour's back, and draws a razor-thin, six-foot long broadsword made out of some kind of superdense alloy. His voice broadcasts another message. "You can still surrender, the sooner you surrender the less damage I will inflict while looking for where you hid the superweapon." 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Well, it certainly doesn't look like Rudman's going to come out to address a neighborly complaint about excessive noise in the neighborhood at this rate; Yuna's been around enough security types to recognize 'closing ranks' when somebody calls an alert. "I guess this means the hard way, then ..." She bows briefly to the guards. "I'm really sorry for what's about to happen, but we really need to get in there, for *your* sakes and for your boss's as well as for our own reasons." A swirl of wind and light rises around Yuna, replacing her sandals and sundress with the armored boots, leotard, and gauntlets of her Light Suit, outfitting her for battle. Rather than charging in headlong, though, she's waiting for GoGo to make good on her offer to try and clear the way in; she steps back to the edge of the sidewalk and murmurs, "Shugoseiheki," causing a large kite shield - decorated to match the colors of her armor, blue and white with some gold highlights - to materialize on her left arm. 

:'''{{#var:736|GoGo Tomago (736)}} has posed:''' GoGo Tomago gears up for a major assault. She rushes the gate. Up to the top, she looks around quickly, trying to... "Fuck. Tracking bullets is hard." she says, and simply PICKS a direction. Luckily, she picks the RIGHT direction, and starts to roll in a circle. The wind picks up around her as she whips it into a frenzy and sends a dust-devil off in the direction of HK. Then she kicks up a huge dust cloud, obscuring the battlefield. 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     MORDRED's actions definitely trigger the guards' orders to defend the home. While they may not be happy about attacking an armored unit that just dropped in out of nowhere, that's their job. They're not paid to die, but they ARE paid to fight. From cover in and around the home, pistol shots crack and bullets seek the armored unit.     Elsewhere, safe within a more robust part of the villa...     "We have visitors, Eve." says the bulky man. "They've come to play the game of the Oni. You know what to do when you find them. You're It."     The girl, looking up at Rudman, nods almost apathetically. She turns to leave the well-defended room, heading out first into the rest of the house, looking for 'players'. Should any of them happen to spot her... well, she looks just like an innocent bystander. A small girl of perhaps 11 years of age, frail, dressed in a fancy dress like one would expect of a resident of such a mansion as this. The child of the owner, or perhaps the child of one of the higher servants. Out wandering alone in the middle of a firefight, possibly lost and confused, possibly dazed by the shocking violence. 

:'''{{#var:530|Garen (530)}} has posed:'''     Garen gives a quick look over to Mantigora and grins. "That's our cue." He says. He quickly turns as the other guards move to fire at MORDRED and heads into the villa itself. He aimed to go and find the plans...and take out anyone who got in his path. 

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:'''     There are times where doing things the nice way just won't cut it. They've tried being diplomatic about this, but it seems Mr. Rudman just doesn't want to come out peacefully. And his cronies are going to see that he stays in there as well. Unfortunate that Rebecca has to remove the cheap jacket she brought with her to reveal it was disguising her S.T.A.R.S. vest and equipment belt. Then again, who else wears green pants with matching high-tops?     Unfortunately, taking out the goons turns into a moot point. Because someone has just fired upon Rebecca, and Rebecca can only look just in the nick of time to dive out of the way, rolling out of the way of the incoming fire and landing not too far away. It's then that she spots the charred results on the ground (as well as whoever might have been unfortunate to get caught by the shot) and it's only then that she realizes who she's up against.     "Not him again!"     Rebecca immediately looks in the direction the shot came from, and the cloaked figure immediately draws her attention. Faces aren't forgotten by that droid, and not by Rebecca either... if one can call that a face. She immediately draws her MP5K, scope and laser sighting on, and aims it at HK-47. "You want to sneak a shot at me like that? Well here, have one in return!" She says as she fires a semi-automatic burst of gunfire at the droid. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa is keeping a lower profile than the more heavy combat elites do theirt thing she's going to keep looking to see if this place has a wireless network and if she does not find such she's going to start keeping an eye out for hardlines, that she might be able to access directly. She's keeping calm for the most part even with there being feds here on site. She does keep up with Yuna however and is also keeping an eye on Gogo should either need some more support on things. Given the bullets are flying she does not want to draw attention to herself. 

:'''{{#var:583|Mantigora (583)}} has posed:''' Mantigora doesn't have anything to say (because that might give her away) but it's not necessary as Garen already knows the Draken is at least nearby. She's primed to take advantage of the fact that she's less likely to be seen than one of the guards patrolling the interior of the villa. 

:'''{{#var:804|Project MORDRED (804)}} has posed:''' The firearms are poorly suited for piercing armour designed to resist anti-armour weaponry. The guards would be better off firing an RPG, but regardless, one of the guns gets a lucky, or highly skilled, shot off inside one of the shoulder joints, causing some initial damage to the joint before automated systems can push it out. It gives them some time before the big warmachine can properly aproach, maneuvering thrusters blazing to close the distance, before swinging the monofilament approach. MORDRED repeats, "You can still surrender, the sooner you surrender the less damage I will inflict while looking for where you hid the superweapon." 

:'''{{#var:754|HK-47 (754)}} has posed:'''     Well, it thankfully did not take long for chaos to ensue - as was common when an immense combat mechanoid initiated an orbital-drop in the middle of a populated villa courtyard. Already, multiple targets were filing into his sights, and he had more then enough to pick from.      However, HK once again finds that meatbags are all too annoyingly unpredictable as the female human barely manages to avoid her shot, resulting in it instead blowing a meter-sized hole in the ground. He personally blamed the interruption on the annoying dust-cloud kicked up by the meatbag coated in red-and-gold armor, but he also could not deny that his opposition was obviously used to escaping assured death.     The moment the human is upright again, she begins shooting holes in his cloak with her weapons - while it can't penetrate his armor, it does put multiple tears in his covering and exposes small glints of reddish armor through the gaps, revealing him to all as a non-organic. The droid himself rolls out of the line of fire and decides to imitate a prior tactic that worked on her to great effect - grenades.     Priming his incendiary grenade, he lobs the device out into the villa - collateral damage and unwarranted casualties mean nothing to the droid, and with no less then three enemies in the courtyards, the trade-off in accuracy for area-of-effect destruction is more then welcome. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' This was already an awful mess from the moment MORDRED dropped in, and it's only getting worse. Yuna is fortunate to avoid getting toasted by the incendiary grenade's initial detonation - a little voice from on high MIGHT have helped her steer clear of it - but that doesn't stop it from happening, and there's probably the beginnings of a fire as a result. Yuna keeps her shield between herself and the flames at first, just as a precaution, and considers where she can go. Somebody is going to have to fight MORDRED; that much is already kind of obvious. The mechanical(?) Confederate is basically on a rampage already, killing whoever gets in his sights, and there's a sniper or somebody who's already trying to ruin Rebecca's day ... and Yuna trusted Elner's judgment when Elner said not to bring her partners - although to be fair, neither flight nor a two-meter-tall exo-frame would be much of an asset in close quarters, and there was no indication of enough water that Marine Form might be even remotely useful. "Elner," she murmurs, looking for side corridors or paths, "try and map out where people are in the villa who *aren't* already fighting. With the fire going, we should probably try evacuating everyone - criminals or not." Elner quickly provides her with a basic layout of the compound, although actually locating individual life signs is going to take more effort and time. Yuna picks a direction and starts making her way along the inside of the compound wall, keeping her right hand visible and empty while her left arm supports the weight of her kite shield. 

:'''{{#var:736|GoGo Tomago (736)}} has posed:''' Gogo isn't one to let her compadres get assaulted without retaliation. Given that MORDRED is closer, she elects to go after him. Zooming up the side of a building, she shoves off. A crimson and gold speck hurtles towards the hole MORDRED made... And sails right past him as she lands nearby. Of course, her discs get launched shortly after. The razor sharp discs are spinning at dangerously high speeds as they bounce off the scenery, tearing holes in the side of a marble pillar before bouncing up. One goes for his right shoulder and the other goes for the midsection. Puny discs, what could they do? Well, a whole lot of damage. "Hello!" she says as she zips past him, leaping into the air and grabbing her discs. She's moving at blinding speeds as she pings around like a shapely pinball, occasionally tossing a disc at him. "Mind if I ask what kind of." another disc bounces off the floor and towards his back. "Joints you have?" 

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:'''     First lasers, now fire? The incendiary grenade comes out quickly, and Rebecca's running away quickly, diving for cover as the flames explode. A few lick at her exposed shin, causing her to yelp, but a few blisters is nothing compared to what that could've been. Yet, Rebecca has no idea what she's truly up against here. She doesn't realize that HK-47 is a droid, something different from a human... or a Bio-Organic Weapon for that matter. All she can do is try to keep her cool as she steadies on the sniper.     "Why don't you actually come down here and fight like a man?" Rebecca calls out, though it's more out of frustration than an actual taunt. She's not used to fighting from long distances. In fact, she wishes Forest Speyer were still alive so he could teach her some things about being a sniper. Sadly, Forest met his demise at the hands of mutated crows in the Arklay Mansion. All Rebecca can do is fire a single shot this time, hoping the less bullets fired means more accuracy. 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     Guards are really not so great at dealing with giant robots, but massed firepower has a charm of its own. A shame they're basically popcorn however. They can't do a huge amount of damage, lacking military-grade weaponry, but they can slow MORDRED down. If nothing else, them being scattered about the place and in cover means he can take out only so many at a time. He'll have to cut down one guard, lethally or otherwise, then turn and chase down the next. And then the next. Often his only signal there's another one is when they put a bullet into his armored suit. Nothing terribly effective, but probably enough to make his job tedious. Unless, of course, he loves his job. The guards don't fire at GoGo, despite being ordered to kill anyone who invades. There's a difference between someone coming at them with a blade, and someone - however improbably - who seems to be coming to their rescue.     With Mordred drawing fire, Galen and Mantigora have a free run of the house. Since there's an open running firefight no one's watching for other infiltrators being sneaky. There's a fair amount of electronics in the mansion, though most of it remains out of casual sight. Points of possible interest include the security rooms, Rudman's living suite, and the underground basement and shelter area.     Elner's able to provide a basic layout, though there are areas that are somewhat shielded from easy scan. As for the people moving around in the house, there's a number in the rooms near MORDRED engaged in a running battle. There's also, presumably, Mantigora and Galen being sneaky, which should stand out just on its own. Also, there's Eve. One solitary figure, not sneaking, not running. Just ... strolling. 

:'''{{#var:530|Garen (530)}} has posed:'''     Garen ponders a moment. Of the three options, the living suite sounded the most ideal to hide a secret plan. "I'll check the suite. Your call on the other two. Keep in touch." He says to his stealthy partner. With that, he takes off. As he bounds towards the suite, he quickly reasserts his local accept and opens the door, prepared to bluff his way in if need be. 

:'''{{#var:583|Mantigora (583)}} has posed:''' The technology present was centuries old by her standards, but if there was one thing the Multiverse had taught Mantigora was to not underestimate something just because it was 'retro'. With Garen heading for the living suite, which would be more practical for a guard disguise to try and access, Mantigora breaks off and heads for the lower levels of the manor. Even if not the 'superweapon' or it's plans, who knows what else a successful arms dealer could be hiding in a shielded bunkers. 

:'''{{#var:754|HK-47 (754)}} has posed:'''     HK takes note of the chaos around him - a perfect smokescreen. One massive obfuscation to ensure that allied units can obtain what they came here. The Union's intent had been not to attract attention, and the mechinoid - while still rather blunt for the droid's tastes given the circumstances - did an adequate job of ruining that intent.     If only his own attempts were going as well. An empowered organic, he could understand. A well-eqquped one, he could tolerate. But the fact that a single meatbag equipped with only primitive slugthrower weapons was taking up his focus like this was almost insulting to the droid - he wasn't sure if his assassination protocols needed upgrading or if the female was simply that skilled. What possible survival situations could she have endured to make her this adept at surviving against such overwhelming odds?     Whatever the cause, she seemed to work best under pressure, as the shot she fires grazes his facial plate and tears off part of the fabric mask, exposing the edge of his plate - and one of his baleful red eye-lenses.     For that, the droid decides to toy with the woman a bit. Moving back through the woods, he speaks loudly enough for her to hear...     However... he speaks in /Rebecca's/ voice, distorted and rippling as if filtered through a sound-mixer. If Rebecca has seen horror movies, the scene would be a dead ringer for 'Predator.'      "W-why don't you act-t-ually come do-dooowwwn here and-d fight like a m-man?"     That's all the warning the droid gives before he hurls another grenade - this time it's a fragmentation grenade, aimed for the center of the yard. The droid is effectively trying to destroy any cover his opponent has, all while taunting her out. 

:'''{{#var:804|Project MORDRED (804)}} has posed:''' When GoGo Tamago arrives, MORDRED stops going after the guards, he doesn't like fighting the weaker as a general rule, not when there are opponents more worthy of his attention. "I don't mind being asked." He says, only now moving into full speed, the thrusters making the large armour incredibly mobile, and sensors make attacks from behind less effective. Even so, the disk aimed at Glare-NT's midsection digs in, not quite piercing through fully, but causing enough damage to be worrisome, some coolant starts leaking out until the self-repair systems close the gap. "But I'm afraid I can't answer. I can tell you my name, Sir MORDRED. Who might you be?" Of course he's not going to wait for an introduction to retaliate, and he rushes towards GoGo, razor-thin but massive in multiple ways blade swing for Gogo's disc tossing hand. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr, somehow, managed to get through the melee without drawing attention. She's taking a route away from the running battle, searching the corridors for anything suspicious... and seeking out servants or what not that might be cowering in wome corner or other. She's not weaponed up, but does have military fatigues on. 

:'''{{#var:736|GoGo Tomago (736)}} has posed:''' Only, Gogo's hand isn't there anymore. As fast as MORDRED is, Gogo has what she hopes is the advantage in turning and maneuverability. "Gogo Tomago. I'm from San Fransokyo." she says. "I wonder if you're like most robots. Most of them can't handle a direct electrical charge. Disrupts their systems something awful. Here, try one!" And with that, she races right for MORDRED! Throwing herself over him at the last second, her lithe, supple body twists in midair, hopefully avoiding most of his retaliation. Her hands move like lightning, scattering multiple little discs around and onto MORDRED. Contrary to what she was saying, they don't deliver an electrical charge... Instead, the discs hum and set up a powerful electromagnetic pulse at irregular intervals and strengths. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' There's enough activity on the ground to persuade Elner to shed some altitude; the tiny robo-faerie drifting lower to try and wring better resolution out of its scans of the situation on the ground. Yuna already has a fair amount to work with, though - while the map doesn't come up for her in a form she can simply look at, Elner conveys the information indirectly and Yuna is able to get the gist of it. There are some non-combatants around, and Yuna makes them her first priority - particularly those whose movements suggest that they have no idea what's going on, even with the sounds of combat all too audible (for Yuna anyway). A moment's consultation with Elner lets Yuna sort out her route; as luck would have it, Rudman's private rooms are one of the first waypoints Elner picks out. And given what Yuna's trying to do, and the fact that she SHOULD be away from the fighting, she dismisses her shield. The Light Suit has its own protective properties, so if she unexpectedly comes under fire, she'll be okay long enough to re-summon it. Hopefully. 

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:'''     Making a mockery of Rebecca's voice? That's something she can accept. Usually. But the fact that this thing has revealed that it's not a human at all makes her a little more creeped out. Although the feeling is only brief, since she's seen far worse things in her lifetime, but the overall sensation doesn't sit well with her at all. And the fact he's pulling back into the woods makes this more like a wildlife hunt in a sense. Except each hunter is hunting each other. So Rebecca takes this with a grain of salt.     Knowing that her shield would be no match for HK-47's shots, Rebecca uses the trees in the woods to take cover behind as she moves in after HK-47. "It's no use running!" She calls out. 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     Away from the fighting, there's a few interesting things to discover. The bunker area is difficult to access, naturally. While the security is hardly state-of-the-art for Mantigora, there's something to be said for heavy bunker doors that tend to slow an invader down. Got to be SOMETHING worthwhile down there though, or else why all the heavy defense? There's enough electronic signature to be sensed to suggest a number of primitive - by her standards - computers down there. Which might be the jackpot. Hopefully she's got something capable of reading the machines' data.     The living suite is fairly centralized in the house, and not terribly far from the open firefight. Garen and Yuna both make their way there.... Garen to see what's worth seeing, Yuna to see if this person moving alone about the house needs evacuation before she moves on to other figures.     Also near the living suite - it's a quite large part of the mansion - is Zephyr Windstar. As she passes by or into a room, a door opens. Across the room from her, a small blonde child steps out, red eyes locking on her. "You're here...." the girl says, her voice flat and somewhat eerie. "... to play?" It sounds like a rhetorical question, but it's a question nonetheless. The girl steps forward towards Zephyr, moving unthreateningly but steadily closer. 

:'''{{#var:530|Garen (530)}} has posed:'''     Garen was unaware he was being trailed by Yuna. Even so, he makes his way to the room and kicks in the door. He had one of his blasters in hand, just in case. IF he saw no one, he would immidiately begin to rummage the room, hunting for plans, documents, computers, anything. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa is able to find something this world isn't like her or some base line earths of this level. She finds they have some sensible security set ups for one the data? Seems to not be on the network hinting it's either in hard copy? Or on a stand alone machine. Clever, but she does get into the cameras, she's now checking the feeds and is starting to track those inside the building. She sends this information to the union personnel who can get such thing. She brings up the feds and anyone else in the building Eva is tagged as ??? likely part of the house hold. <<Got Confederates already inside. Couple of unknowns likely part of the house hold>> Kotone keeps going now with Yuna moving in and soon she'll find out just what's up with the girl as she comes to a halt and she does something perhaps foolish, she uncloaks. "To play?" She pauses now and gets very uneasy a she looks to Yuna and then Zephyr. She knows Garen, he's a fed but he has some standards of behaviour which makes him the sort she will take certain jobs from him. Mantigora she's not as well versed with and she's wary of this whole situation. "What do you want to play?" She asks this could just be an innocent thing right? 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr is just about to turn around into the corridor again... when a voice rings out. She turns, and freezes solid. Mismatched eyes locked onto the red eyed, blonde haired girl before her. "F-Fate...? What're you doing here?" she asks... wait, that can't be Fate, can it? "I'm trying to get people out of here so they don't get caught in the crossfire... can't you hear it?"     Left hand drifts toward her right forearm, the glint of purple metal hinted under the camouflage sleeve. "We don't have time to play right now... maybe when we get out of here... okay?" 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Kicking in a door ... is NOT the behavior of somebody who knows the mansion's on fire. Either that, or he knows and is trying to loot the place and get out. Either way, Yuna quickens her pace to the door of Rudman's quarters. "Hey," she calls out, "do you even know the manor's on fire? You need to get out of here, not dig around for valuables! Your life is more important than jewelry or anything else - you only have *one* and it can't be replaced!" No, she hasn't got any idea Garen is anything other than a random guard - but he's dressed the same way as the other guards she saw coming in, so she's PRETTY sure that's what he does here. He certainly isn't the mob boss who needs to be lured outside and arrested. 

:'''{{#var:530|Garen (530)}} has posed:'''     Garen quickly looks over and spots yuna. He knew she was a union operative and cursed his bad luck. Still, he thought he could bluff this one out. "I didn't know...But I'm not after jewelry. I'm a undercover agent for the local pd. They sent me in to recover any computers or documents on rudman. I need to grab all the documents I can before they burn up. Please help!" He shouts, the fake urgency in his voice likely only detectable by a pro like him. 

:'''{{#var:754|HK-47 (754)}} has posed:'''     And so his query follows him into the woods, giving chase away from her allies. For this is HK's forte - single target elimination.     Isolate. Entrap. Exterminate. And it had been such a long time since he got to properly toy with his quarry.     As soon as they're far enough into the woods - away from any back-up she could get - the droid activates his flamethrower and shoots out in a wide arc. However, he's not aiming for Rebecca, but rather /behind/ her, as within seconds there is a wall of fire separating her from the villa grounds.     She's cut off from immediate help now. All alone... with him. % "I-it's no use running" the droid parrots her words, but it returns them with a hint of malevolent smugness to them - and this time keeps speaking, no longer just mimicking but now outright stealing her voice - "A-annnd now... you're all alone... meatbag."     And with that, finally grants her prior request and steps forward a bit more so that he is effectively in the open before her, pinning her between the wall of fire and his own presence. The flames themselves begin to rage and consume the surrounding woods, making the chaos worse and sending smoke into the air - though the droid has no issue with it. He does not need to breathe... and the chaos will ruin any chance the Union had to make this a subtle arrest.     As he stands before Rebecca, the gaps her prior shots had put in his cloak and coverings shows traces of metal, the light of the flame reflecting off the rust-red armor that makes up his body. The tear in his cloth mask beneath the hood shows a single red eye-lense glow vibrantly beneath the cowl of the hood with an eagerness that should not be possible for an artificial creation.     Once again, he speaks in her voice - "Statement - Here I am, as you requested..." then, he shifts to his own, drawing his vibroblade in anticipation of an all-too-close encounter - "and now, I have a request of my own for you. Die." 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     Eve keeps her eyes focussed on Zephyr's mismatched ones, only flickering away for a moment when Kotone appears out of nowhere. The child seems utterly unphased by the woman's sudden appearance, intent as she is upon Zephyr who she'd spotted first.     There's no hint of recognition in Eve's eyes as she approaches Zephyr. "Play tag." she replies. "You run, I catch you." she adds in explanation, possibly replying to Kotone. She doesn't sound like she's playing though. She doesn't sound like she's having fun at all, quite in contrast to her claims that this is a game.     It's even less likely she intends to be having 'fun' when her right hand blurs slightly and extends, lengthening into a long curved blade. The movement is not stealthy, but neither is it aggressive. It's an obvious threat, but there doesn't seem to be any actual malevolence behind it. It's also *not* magical despite appearances, for those with the senses to note that, and neither does the blade actually extend through flesh. It's like she's one of those flowmetal robots from that movie about an assassination bot sent from the future, with her actual skin extending and becoming metal. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Yuna blinks at Garen. "Nobody told us about raiding the house for evidence, our contact said to lure Rudman out WITHOUT breaking the law ... Either way, you need to *go*, I don't know how fast that fire's going to spread! I don't think a crime boss considers that kind of thing 'light bedtime reading,' though ... you know the fastest way out of here, right?" She's starting to regret not bringing her partners in; Yuna could really benefit from being able to be more than one place at a time at this rate. Even though her 'doubles' aren't exactly made for that ... but she sets that thought aside. "Just get out of here as soon as you can, the fire started in the courtyard. Where are the other exits? There has to be more than one way out in an emergency." 

:'''{{#var:583|Mantigora (583)}} has posed:''' Like the previous narrative said, primitive didn't mean it was ineffective. Bunkers were made to keep unwanted people out, and heavy slabs of metal, be they classic steel and rebar or futuristic alien alloys, tended to be effective at doing so. To degrees. Would it be worth the time to actually get through? The signals her tactical sensors are picking up from computing hardware would suggest so. But we will get to that soon enough. Unneeded for the moment Mantigora disengages her cloaking tech, either unaware or more likely uncaring that there are certainly security cameras on the bunker door. She's far away from the main source of the fighting, after all. "Looks like I'll need a lockpick." She pulls a device out of the depths of her longcoat. Even if he wasn't allowed on 'stealth' missions Skuzzler had made sure his partner was well equipped for the various potential needs of her mission. Mantigora sticks the device to the door, makes a few setting adjustments, and then darts back the opposite direction. There's a few tick tick ticks and the device detonates, though the explosion is relatively small as instead of just a bomb it is discharging a hightly volatile chemical that reacts with most metals to burn and melt through the protective layers to make an opening. A lot of the noise it did make might be drowned out by the chaos going off in other parts of the villa, or so she's hoping. 

:'''{{#var:530|Garen (530)}} has posed:'''     Garen frowns. "I've been here for months.....I bet my bosses forgot all about me. It happens. But yeah, I know a quick way out. As for other ways...there's probably one downstairs." He says. He still was looking through stuff though. OF course, he kept a ready trigger finger on his blaster, should yuna not buy his story. 

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:'''     Rebecca finds herself caught personally in those quarters and she's not liking it one bit. Unfortunately, the vibroblade doesn't exactly sit well with her either. Namely since she's not in the mood to die today. But Rebecca's got a surprise of her own right now. Even with the flames around her and the fact that droid is in close quarters with her, she's got her stun baton, and who knows what a small dosage of electricity might do to a droid?     Checking quickly, Rebecca makes sure the baton is switched on before she attempts to strike HK-47 with it. "I'm sorry but I'm not about to die today... or anytime soon for that matter!" She's hoping that this will give her enough time to break away and get some space between her and HK-47. 

:'''{{#var:804|Project MORDRED (804)}} has posed:''' Fortunately Glare-NT isn't a simple robot, and can handle an electric magnetic pulse without too much trouble. Basic precautions. Still, the one stuck in the chest does cause some disruptions to his self-repair systems, mild but not to be disregarded. Those systems are essentially offline until they can automatically sort out proper countermeasures to the EMP. MORDRED is however quite mobile, and not at all afraid of playing the speed and mobility game. Most of the disks pass by him, or merely grace. Some get stuck, but right now nowhere critical beyond the first. The massive blade is swing for Gogo's head, at full velocity and from fairly close range. Intended to guide Gogo in a specific direction, right where the Armour's knee is going. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr blinks, then takes a step back when that hand turns into a weapon. DEFINITELY not Fate. "Tag, huh... using a sword's cheating though." she remarks, but shifts her grip on her right forearm, pulling something from there. With a burst of light, she's in her Barrier Jacket, holding a small handax with a flitting pair of Bits orbitting her. "But if y'wanna play... catch me if you can." With a burst of wind, a hole has opened in the roof overhead, and the Mage is gone. 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     The firefight around Mordred and GoGo has died down somewhat, given Mordred's almost free reign earlier. No one really wants to stick around against a foe that's obviously superior. The two of them can freely go at it. Not, that is, that they're entirely alone even now. The guards will still pop around corners, take a shot or two, then run away. A few shots will be aimed for Mordred. One or two might even be aimed for GoGo. This might be an accident, making her the victim of Stormtrooper Syndrome. Then again, it could just as easily be that they're clueless, and don't realize she's not their enemy. Or possibly they're clueful and realize the enemy of their enemy is not automatically their friend. Either way, she has to worry about gunfire too, though not as much as Mordred does. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Given the amounts of corruption reportedly in play among the local cops, even if Garen really *is* a local officer, Yuna is none too certain that actually makes her trustworthy. Foor all she knows, Garen's 'bosses' might have sent him in to steal evidence so it CAN'T be used against Rudman ... But like Yuna herself implicated, there probably aren't any valuable files or the like in Rudman's bedroom or parlor or other personal areas. "Don't die, okay?" she says to the 'undercover officer,' then heads off to check out the next meandering life sign Elner picked up. Wasn't that in the rough area where Zephyr was investigating ... ? 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa listens to Eve and she shows no reaction but there's a chill feeling in body parts she really doesn't have anymore. She looks at them for a moment and she's not sure about this as she looks her over she's trying to get an idea about it. Then she sees what's could be some high tech nanotech or something else as the blade takes shape. She pauses and takes a step back, she also brings up her network security levels to their highest level. She's very uneasy on this, she sees the blade and takers a step back. "I think your idea of play and mine are two very different things..." However if they are going to play tag? She might have to go along with this death tag and she bounds after Zeph, not wnating to be left alone here. "Look who are you? Is this what you really want to do?!" 

:'''{{#var:736|GoGo Tomago (736)}} has posed:''' Gogo is a silly meatbag, and doesn't react as expected. Instead of going towards the knee, she instead stomps down ONTO the blade, running up it and grabbing the wrist and monkey climbing up to the shoulder. Once there, one of her discs spins up to a red-hot glow. "It's not nice to hit ladies. I hope you can fix this. I hate hate hate damaging wonderful machinery like you." she says as she shoves the disc into his armpit. A bullet thunks into her arm. It's blunted by the armor, but it still lays open her arm to the bone. 

:'''{{#var:530|Garen (530)}} has posed:'''     Garen smirks as Yuna leaves, and nods. "I will. You be safe!" He shouts out, rummaging again with more urgency....burning buildings do that to people. 

:'''{{#var:754|HK-47 (754)}} has posed:'''     The shock-baton strikes his frame, sending arcs of electricity coursing through his body and arching off his metal frame. His cloak singes and burns, parts of it catching fire... but the droid himself doesn't fall. Instead, he grabs the stun-baton with one hand and snaps half of it off like a tree-branch, the sparking head of the device igniting his gloved hand and the cloth covering his arm.      "Smug Assertion - I beg to differ."     The droid's other arm suddenly comes up, the vibroknife slicing the air fast enough for it to be audible as it slashes at the human's flank. With his cloak burning he looks almost demonic, wreathed in flame with rust-red 'skin' and glowing red 'eyes' - however, the burning cloak also causes the fabric to melt and stick to the surface of his body and get caught in his joints, partially hindering his movements as he swipes at Rebecca. 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     Most of Torneo Rudman's security is the old-fashioned kind. Guards with guns. The bunker is designed to protect from simple gunmen long enough for police or paid security forces to arrive, not to hold off Multiversal Elites. Mantigora should have little trouble making use of her 'lockpick'.     Once inside, Mantigora will find a remarkably sophisticated computer lab. Well, sophisticated for this day and age. Hopelessly primitive compared to hers. Plans... glorious plans. Hers for the taking. The only question is how long it'll take her to interface with these devices. Or, possibly, what it'll take for her to take the computers themselves to sort out at a later time. 

:'''{{#var:804|Project MORDRED (804)}} has posed:''' With Gogo up there, suddenly Glare-NT's chest opens, and MORDRED jumps out, quickly jumping on top of the chest plate that opened and drawing a sword and aiming to put it to gently poke at Gogo's back, right where a good shove would push it through her back. "It's not honourable to attack noncombatants, it's perfectly acceptable to attack combatants. Gender doesn't come into it, unless you're some kind of sexist." The tall, traditionally handsome man is dressed in a white, tight-fitting outfit covered in all kinds of straps. Presumably well-suited for piloting something like his Armour. "Thank you for the compliments to Glare-NT, I quite like that armour." 

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:'''     Rebecca watches as her baton is grabbed and then snapped like a twig. This girl has definitely underestimated what HK-47 is capable of, and the shock of what she's seeing causes her to swear quite loudly and sourly. She's about to go for her weapon when she sees the blade coming at her again, only this time it's too close for comfort. She yells out as the blade sears through her kevlar vest, just somehow barely missing her flesh. But the immense heat still can be felt on her skin and she cries out, trying to pull back quickly.     Rebecca doesn't say anything, just tries to back away as fast as she can, keeping an eye on HK-47 to make sure he doesn't try anything new against her. After how badly things went for her vest, she doesn't want to see what could happen to her flesh. All the while she's going for her submachine gun again. 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     Eve seems a bit surprised when Zephyr blasts into the air. She blinks, staring up. Then Kotone follows. This also puzzles Eve. Not that she's surprised they run. EVERYBODY runs. That's the whole point of the game. They run, she catches them. There's only one outcome when an Oni catches a human in the game of tag. No, what's confusing is that they're doing something no player has ever done. They're running UP.     If Eve had a concept of the term 'unfair', this would definitely be unfair.     She's also somewhat confused by what's been said. "... Want...?" she asks no one in particular, speaking to the air. A curious question. What does she want? She's been given her instructions. She's an oni, and she's playing the Oni's Game. What does her wants have to do with anything?     After a moment, the sounds of heavy furniture toppling comes from the room Zephyr and Kotone just vacated. After a minute, Eve pokes her head out of the broken roof and pulls herself up, her blade nowhere in sight. They may be able to move unfairly, but she's not done 'playing'. She just has no idea where the two people went, that's all. 

:'''{{#var:736|GoGo Tomago (736)}} has posed:''' Oh man... Oh man oh man oh man. Gogo is even more impressed, if it weren't for the gaping wound in her arm. Her suit is mostly okay though, and that's what's important. And she's no slouch in hand to hand. Twisting out of the way of the sword, she rolls to her feet. "Please tell me you made this yourself." she says, looking it over as she holds up her discs in a defensive stance. "Look, I'm willing to call this a draw if you are. Want to lay off the fighting and get a bite of dinner later? We could talk tech." 

:'''{{#var:754|HK-47 (754)}} has posed:'''     At this point, HK is taking far more enjoyment out of toying with his prey then he probably should. However, it has been so long since he could properly cut loose and just take his time /disassembling/ a meatbag to their base, mostly-fluidic components. So much so that he actually almost missed the feel of their internal lubricants soaking in-between his fingers, tedious as it was to clean from his joints.     This time, he decided that he would return an eye for an eye, so to speak. Raising his arm, a compartment on his forearm opens up to reveal his neural-scrambler stun ray - effectively a very powerful taser-beam meant to stun and disable meatbags for captivity... or 'analysis.'      "Placation - You needn't worry - this shall only hurt for a moment and numb you to most pain. However, I cannot guarantee it will numb you enough so that you do not feel your entrails being systemically removed, but feel flattered that I am giving you the chance."     In that instant, the bolt of compressed electrical taser-energy discharges at Rebecca - if she gets caught in it, she's down. If it grazes her, whatever limb it hits will go numb for at least ten minutes. 

:'''{{#var:583|Mantigora (583)}} has posed:''' Mantigora ducks through the resulting opening after it's coold off a little, and a soft whistle escapes her scaly lips at the sight on the other side. Old or not, gathering that much processing power in one place is an impressive feat. And unlike the bunkers she's familiar with, no obnoxiously psychotic Caretaker AI to complicate things. A tap to the side of her head activates the external holo-lens over one eye from her nano-bionics to give the room a quick sweep over. Hmm. While she certainly has the technology to hack such archaic (to her) datastorage, there's the question of time. She can't count on the conflict happening somewhere overhead on the grounds going on forever. Time to defer to an expert. A different command activates her datacron comm and rings up Skuzzler back on wherever their ship is hidden away. There's some back and forth, a relaying of scans, and on the Engineer's advice Mantigora goes to what appears to be the largest collection of drives dedicated to memory storage... and simply rips the units free, shoving them away into her subspacial inventory storage. Getting to pick apart some old fashioned computers for useful data will at least make Skuzzler less cranky about not being able to come along. With 'loot' stored away Mantigora slips back out of the bunker, and starts making her way back towards the villa yard so she can get out of here. The fighting is still going on it seems, so she forgoes her stealth for the sake of speed. 

:'''{{#var:804|Project MORDRED (804)}} has posed:''' "Considering that regardless of victory in this battle, tactical analysis suggests achieving my personal objective is unlikely. Why not, miss." MORDRED responds to the latter suggestion first, smiling as he lowers his weapon. "As for Glare-NT, I started from a basis, but I improved upon it." Technically accurate, but perhaps somewhat deceptive. "I am Sir MORDRED, Knight Errant. Who am I treating to dinner?" 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Yuna grimaces a bit as she hears the situation breaking down further, and changes course. Her allies who chose to dive into the fight are getting into a lot of trouble, and while Zephyr's in a position to help retrieve one of them, she can't get both GoGo *and* Rebecca. A bit of consultation leads to a division of labor: Zephyr's fetching GoGo. That leaves Rebecca's rescue up to Yuna; she coordinates briefly with Elner, checking relative locations ... And very shortly thereafter, a window is busted open from the inside - not by gunshots in any form, but by a blue-and-white kite shield with some yellow highlights, followed by a blonde-haired young woman whose armor corresponds with the shield's design ... or vice versa. "HYAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Yuna shouts as she lets gravity pull her downwards, adjusting the path of her fall just a little so that she'll land between Rebecca and her assailant. The taser-beam should hit Shugoseiheki, the Wall of the Guardian Star, rather than striking Rebecca herself - and with Yuna dropping fast enough to drive the shield's bottom point into the ground, the electrical charge should be grounded out rather than being conducted through her arm. 

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:'''     Rebecca feels like the mission is going downhill fast. She quickly fires off a couple of shots, aiming at the 'face' while she tries to pull back more. But she's starting to lose strength, as the blade may have cut into her flesh slightly, and the blood is seeping through her uniform. "This is bad, how could I let myself get so careless?" Rebecca wonders aloud.     Just then, Yuna comes down and shields her. "Yuna!" She calls out happily. "Thank you so much, I owe you one!" She's glad that she has a savior like this, and will be more than sure to repay the favor somehow. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa is not able to fly but she's got some pretty darn good moblity and she's able to do some doublt jumpting. T "Want, yes do you want to live like this?!" Kotone made the right call to bolt she'd be cut apart and she knows it. She keeps moving along the roof as she has a bloody terminator after her. She wonders what John and his companions would think of this? She's too busy trying to keep out of harms way. "So is this how they taught you to play? You don't seem to like this! Do you want to stop playing tag like this?!" 

:'''{{#var:736|GoGo Tomago (736)}} has posed:''' GoGo Tomago grins as she cautiously disarms. Or at least, she puts her weapons up. She's still ready to bolt at a moment's notice. "Name's Gogo Tomago. Professional Speed Demon and student at the San FranSokyo Institute of Technology. Yeah, I'm not sure WHO won here." the young woman says as she looks around. There's chaos. Chaos ALL OVER. "Know any good places to eat, Sir Mordred? I have to say, never met a knight who used power armor." 

:'''{{#var:857|Eve (857)}} has posed:'''     While GoGo and MORDRED 'converse', a couple of guards take a moment to recover. They aren't *completely* inappropriate in their judgment and timing. They seem quite willing to let the two converse, so long as no more guards are murdered.     Still, they DO have their orders. And orders being orders, they're supposed to defend the place. A shot rings out, sounding almost apologetic in the fight's aftermath. The bullet comes nowhere near GoGo or MORDRED. It whines into a plastered wall. Possibly it was meant as a warning shot, or maybe one guard had their finger slip on a trigger while their safety was off. However... well, it's a reminder. They ARE armed and perhaps a little dangerous? No shots ring out as a follow-up, at least not for now... 

:'''{{#var:754|HK-47 (754)}} has posed:''' It is here that HK rather vibrantly curses his lack of expedience in trying to deal with the meatbag, having forgotten the two cardinal rules when dealing with them.     The first was that when you underestimated them, they always struck back /harshly/ - and HK dealt with this in full force, letting out a metallic shriek of pain and fury as one of the human's shots, after several others impacting his face, grazes his left eyelens, causing fractures to appear across the left hemisphere of his field of vision as the photoreceptor's lens cracks under the impact. The droid equivalent of pain shoots through his receptors as shorted-out electrical impulses backfire from the broken connectors to his damaged eye, igniting what his emotional construct matrix can only refer to as rage.     Then the second cardinal rule came into effect that HK had forgotten in this encounter - meatbags /multiply/ if you leave them alive for too long. Right before his stun-blast can hit the human, /another/ one lands directly in it's path, grounding the charge by slamming her shield into the ground.     At this point, the droid is thoroughly aggravated. Raising his arm, the droid cycles around to his most powerful anti-armor wrist-mounted weapon - the multi-spectral energy emitter. Effectively a bolt of /lightsaber energy/, designed to burn through even starship armor.     He was damaged, he was covered in burnt and burning fabric... and he was no longer playing games. If they wished to team up against HK, he would terminate with extreme prejudice. As such, he doesn't even bother waiting before firing the deadly bolt at the shield, intent on piercing straight through it. 

:'''{{#var:804|Project MORDRED (804)}} has posed:''' MORDRED watches the guards and slips back inside Glare-NT, "Hold on tight, we're leaving." He tells GoGo, and without delay thrusters activate to take off. "Nowhere nearby, but elsewhere in the multiverse? Yes, I do." He's gently flying, nothing that would be too hard to hold onto, and one of the Armour's hands even moves to help GoGo stay on, if she's not jumping off. "Armour like this is commonly used by Knights in my homeworld, though the models vary a lot based on origin. This is an Earth-based design, though I've always liked Martian designs." 

:'''{{#var:736|GoGo Tomago (736)}} has posed:''' GoGo Tomago hold on tightly. These magnets aren't 'disruptions' so much as 'hold on tight'. The young woman grins. "Really? You'll have to tell me more. I'm no robotics expert, but I am a technological genius by my world's standards, and I designed this suit mostly on my own." 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' It's a very, very sturdy shield, and while it originated as a gift, Yuna got some help integrating Shugoseiheki into her powers and equipment, including some reinforcement with even sturdier metal than the shield was made of to start with. However, the fact that it *IS* integrated into Yuna's powers and the associated equipment has a drawback - the same aura that her Light Suit generates to protect her is also in play around the shield, and a violent enough impact - such as, say, a collimated beam of highly destructive plasma - takes its toll on her defensive reserves. "Let's go, Becky!" Yuna calls out, reaching out blindly behind her to try and help Rebecca back to her feet. Once the medic is standing, Yuna will continue covering her as they withdraw from the compound. 

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:'''     HK-47 is blinded, while Rebecca is being protected by Yuna, who most likely was lucky to survive that herself. She's helped up by her ally and she knows that it's high time to retreat. "I'm for that, Yuna!" Rebecca exclaims as she begins to run away, placing a hand over the spot where she was slightly cut. She knows she was lucky this time, that could've left her badly wounded or worse. In fact, it seemed worse than an encounter by an Ma121 (better known as a Hunter.)     "We've got to get out of here!" She calls out to no one in particular. "Do we have an evacuation plan?" She knows the mission didn't go as well as planned, but that's just one of the unfortunate realities for all elite combat units; Even S.T.A.R.S. members themselves have to deal with it too. 

:'''{{#var:754|HK-47 (754)}} has posed:'''     HK-47's processors are /burning/ with what must certainly be anger at having been damaged and at the sight of his query moving to escape. Indignant rage pours through him - he let his guard down and they slipped through his grasp! He readies his rifle, ready to pursue them to the ends of this world-     But then, suddenly, the sounds of sirens in the distance hits the droid's audio-receptors, and he realizes, much to his frustration, that they have all overstayed their welcome. Enraging as it was... he would have to give up the hunt. For now.      However, if there was one consolation, it's that this wasn't a total loss. He could have sworn he picked up a familiar cloaking signature leaving the estate - one that he remembered seeing during his one-time mission with Soundwave, though with his damaged lenses, he couldn't be sure if it was the same being he worked with. If it was though, then it was a safe bet to say that the plans for the prototype were in Confederate hands... though whether Matigora, if it was in fact her, would share them was another thing entirely. He would have to wait and see.     For now, though, the droid reluctantly shouldered his rifle, his one undamaged eye glaring hatefully at the fleeing female meatbags as they pulled away from the smoldering site of the battle. He also noted one of the Union forces - the female in armor bearing Stark Enterprises colors - leaving with one of their own. An alliance, perhaps? Something else that bore watching - he filed it away beside the faces of the two females who had escaped them.     He would meet at least one of them again - of that, he was sure... and when he did, he would make sure he excised their legs /before/ he took his time dismantling their squishy frames piece by peace - though he would leave them their arms. After all, it was never any fun if they didn't put up some form of challenge before their inevitable deaths.     With that in mind, the droid pulls away, slinking into the woods and out of sight as emergency response vehicles approached, already thinking on what his next mission would be. 

}}

Confed Crisis Report

2015-05-19T14:17:54Z

MoreBeer: /* Introduction */

==Introduction==
This is a way for players to keep the crisis report up to date themselves at a static location. Don't add stuff that isn't an actual on-going plot you intend to run stuff for, whether it's a TP or not. If you were in a TP which doesn't have an entry yet you can ask the TP runner if you can add it for them if they haven't done so themselves (especially if you're in charge of the reports, since that puts you in a good position to do this). If you aren't sure whether something fits on this page or not, you can typically ask your respective fachead. If you're looking for events sponsored by the Union or those more welcoming to selfless/heroic action, try the [[Union Crisis Report]] page.

'''This method of doing things requires YOUR participation to keep up to date! If a new TP starts or if you are involved in a TP (especially as the report writer) you are encouraged to help keep this page up to date!'''
===Example Entry===
'''Main Contacts''': Player1, Player2, Player3 (please note if a main contact is not part of the faction) 
'''Themelist/World''': A Good Theme-1, Earth-12345 
'''TP Page''': If relevant, otherwise you can ignore this section. 
'''Summary''': There is a thing happening and things need to be done. This section should contain key elements without being overly big. Include if possible factional information (is the other faction involved? is there a truce in place? do people have free agency to do whatever they want?) and if there is one the common goal that should be worked towards. Include links to other wiki pages if needed, like the TP page or character pages. Etc.

==Current Crises==
A list of things currently going on that need player involvement.

===Dragon's Bane===
'''Main Contacts''': [[Gaius Van Baelsar]] 
'''Themelist/World''': [[Final Fantasy XIV-1]] 
'''TP Page''': [[Dragon's Bane]] 
'''Summary''': An old enemy of Eorzea and former Garlean Legatus, Nael Dues Darnus, has reappeared, wielding powers on-par with a Primal. At the same time, a horde of Dravanian dragons has appeared, suspected to be under his command. Union and Confederate members alike are asked to help destroy him and this army of dragons before they can do anything that cannot be undone.

===Priscilla's Hunt===
'''Main Contacts''': [[Priscilla]] (UNION) 
'''Themelist/World''': [[Dark Souls-1]] 
'''Summary''': PLEASE INSERT.

===Terra Majora===
'''Main Contacts''': [[Elliana Fairchild]] 
'''Themelist/World''': [[Immaculate Visions-1]] 
'''TP Page''': [[New Blood]] 
'''Summary''': Elliana Fairchild seeks a way to contain or eliminate the dark beings known as Shajem that occupy her world. In the process, she has uncovered a massive amount of conspiracy and danger from the humans of her world. The current state is in the final stage: track down these Shajem and contain them, or find a way to safely eliminate them. This is a joint operation with the Union... mostly.

===The Shivan Confederacy===
'''Main Contacts''': [[Souji Murasame]] 
'''Themelist/World''': [[Final Fantasy: Act: Class-1]] 
'''Summary''': Souji is using multiversal mercenaries through proxies in order to cause a political upheaval in his world to undermine the ruling party. The plot is intended to focus around the creation and progress of the newly-formed Shivan Confederacy, based on nationalist, self-defense, and anti-multiversal platforms, and their conflicts with more moderate and pro-multiverse factions in Galianda. Confederates will be able to intervene in various points as well as to help deal with the coverup. The plot is somewhat political but there will be plenty of room for those not interested in politics to get involved.

===The Homeworld/Abstractum===
'''Main Contacts''': [[Abstractum.Net]] 
'''Themelist/World''': The Homeworld 
'''TP Page''': [[When They Return]] 
'''Summary''': Abstractum, sapient objects, part of the Abstractum Network, are waging a war against Them, an unknown, conceptual force attempting to end all of reality. Keep an eye out for Pures (their champions and vanguards) such as [[Samael]] surfacing, volunteer to obtain an Abstractum and help it grow powerful by using it, create a Node in the Homeworld wherein you can complete a story to strike a blow to Them, or find your own ways to assist in this matter. There is a truce between the Union and Confederacy in order to fight Them, but the truce does not prevent either side from targeting Abstractums and their Users.

==Former Crises==
A list of crises that were resolved or faded away. Don't start adding stuff from years ago, only use this to move things from the current crises list to this one, it's better than complete deletion.

===Caster's Cores===
'''Main Contacts''': [[Caster]], [[Psalm]] 
'''Themelist/World''': [[Fate/Stay Night-4]], Various locations 
'''TP Page''': N/A 
'''Summary''': Caster is seeking the reagents she needs to employ one of her Noble Phantasms. It takes a month of preparations in addition to the reagents themselves, and obtaining those reagents isn't easy. Other Confederates willing to help out in acquiring the reagents or warding off Union and other menaces are desired. A reward has been promised to anyone who assists, and all of the Confederate Elite Forces are welcome to partake of the results of this project once it has been successfully completed. One reagent has already been obtained, and the Union is likely to interfere in the rest of the acquisitions as they attempted for the first one. There are planned to be four primary reagent scenes, and at least one optional objective (with the possibility of two) that can be sabotaged or interfered with by outside parties. Decide how easy or hard it is to succeed by helping out!

===Lute's Unown===
'''Main Contacts''': [[Lute]] 
'''Themelist/World''': [[Pokemon-2]] 
'''Summary''': Lute's illness due to his link with the Shadow Registeel reached a critical level until a swarm of Unowns claiming to be his' appeared and seemingly healed him, giving him what seems to be the knowledge and experience of an alternate version of himself in the process. They slowly lead him towards an unknown goal, and Confederate Elites are asked to assist and prevent Union Elites from interfering and stopping Lute, while keeping an eye on him for suspicious behavior or side-effects.

===Serori's Dragon Ball Hunt/The Neo-Saiyans===
'''Main Contacts''': [[Serori]], [[Genghis Rex]] 
'''Themelist/World''': [[Dragon Ball Z-3]], [[Dinosaucers-1]] 
'''TP Page''': [[A Wish for the Future]] 
'''Summary''': The planet Reptilon was saved from total destruction by an expenditure of Serori's Dragon Ball wishes. Kakarot, the instigator of the assault of Genghis Rex's homeworld, has been eliminated. Son Gohan has inherited the Neo Saiyans as his own army.

Union Crisis Report

2015-05-19T14:15:23Z

MoreBeer: Created page with "==Introduction== This is a way for players to track ongoing incidents themselves at a static location. Don't add stuff that isn't an actual on-going plot you intend to run stu..."

==Introduction==
This is a way for players to track ongoing incidents themselves at a static location. Don't add stuff that isn't an actual on-going plot you intend to run stuff for, whether it's a TP or not. If you were in a TP which doesn't have an entry yet you can ask the TP runner if you can add it for them if they haven't done so themselves (especially if you're in charge of the reports, since that puts you in a good position to do this). If you aren't sure whether something fits on this page or not, you can typically ask your respective fachead. 
This page is geared towards Union activities, and some unaffiliated plots where the goal is to help with a major incident not directly related to the faction war. If you are looking for events sponsored by the Confederacy, try the [[Confed Crisis Report]].

'''This method of doing things requires YOUR participation to keep up to date! If a new TP starts or if you are involved in a TP (especially as the report writer) you are encouraged to help keep this page up to date!'''
===Example Entry===
'''Main Contacts''': Player1, Player2, Player3 (please note if a main contact is not part of the faction) 
'''Themelist/World''': A Good Theme-1, Earth-12345 
'''TP Page''': If relevant, otherwise you can ignore this section. 
'''Summary''': There is a thing happening and things need to be done. This section should contain key elements without being overly big. Include if possible factional information (is the other faction involved? is there a truce in place? do people have free agency to do whatever they want?) and if there is one the common goal that should be worked towards. Include links to other wiki pages if needed, like the TP page or character pages. Etc.

==Current Crises==
A list of things currently going on that need player involvement.

===Priscilla's Hunt===
'''Main Contacts''': [[Priscilla]] 
'''Themelist/World''': [[Dark Souls-1]] 
'''Summary''': PLEASE INSERT.

===The Homeworld/Abstractum===
'''Main Contacts''': [[Abstractum.Net]] 
'''Themelist/World''': The Homeworld 
'''TP Page''': [[When They Return]] 
'''Summary''': Abstractum, sapient objects, part of the Abstractum Network, are waging a war against Them, an unknown, conceptual force attempting to end all of reality. Keep an eye out for Pures (their champions and vanguards) such as [[Samael]] surfacing, volunteer to obtain an Abstractum and help it grow powerful by using it, create a Node in the Homeworld wherein you can complete a story to strike a blow to Them, or find your own ways to assist in this matter. There is a truce between the Union and Confederacy in order to fight Them, but the truce does not prevent either side from targeting Abstractums and their Users.

==Former Crises==
A list of crises that were resolved or faded away. Don't start adding stuff from years ago, only use this to move things from the current crises list to this one, it's better than complete deletion.

675/Chasing the Dream

2014-09-26T05:22:30Z

MoreBeer: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2014/09/25 |Location=Flying Island |Synopsis=Having learned the Doctor is looking for malevolent red flowers to turn Mimiga into his personal weapo..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2014/09/25
|Location=Flying Island
|Synopsis=Having learned the Doctor is looking for malevolent red flowers to turn Mimiga into his personal weapons of death, our heroes rush to the sand zone hoping to get there first and put an end to his evil scheme.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=8, 42, 151, 154, 403, 541, 577
|Tinyplot=Cave Story
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Earlier..."Do you understand what this means? It's not just Sue that's in danger now."     "He's going after the flowers. He *knows* where they are. They're in the Sand Zone."     "He's going to use you. As weapons of death."     "I'm not going to let that happen!"     "... Activated. This pad's now linked to the Sand Zone."     Preparations have been made, but haste is required. Perhaps no more than an hour ago, the Doctor learned where to find what he had been seeking. A store of Red Flowers, large enough to permit him to turn all the island's Mimiga into his own personal army. A brutal horde of monsters that feel no pain, no fear, only anger. An army under his complete control, one all but immune to bullets, lasers, and any other of the weapons of this world. Not an invincible army, certainly, but one that could cause great mayhem and death.... particularly among the innocent. Even if that army never set foot upon the soil of the surface world, innocents would die. Innocents used to create the army itself.     A quick call goes out. This is no longer about rescuing a single girl, or even a group of scientists. There's little time though. Those who can go, those who are ready and willing, those are the ones who must act.     Those stepping through the teleporter will go from the comfortable light and atmosphere of Arthur's cozy home to the harshest environment in the Flying Island. The Sand Zone is bright and dry, though not incredibly hot. There's really only one place to go, at least at first. A short distance away from the teleporter, the cave opens into the bottom of a chasm leading upwards. The climb doesn't look too difficult, even for those lacking special equipment.     As the group proceeds one by one through the teleporter, a figure appears at the bottom of the chasm, peering down the short caveway at the gathering group. It's a girl. A human woman, apparently. Blonde, wearing red cargo pants and a midriff-revealing tank top. She's only there for a few seconds however. Without acknowledging anyone, she turns and abruptly heads back where she came from, presumably up the nearly-sheer wall of the chasm. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley is prepared for a fight. She brought her longsword and she's got some basic leather armor on to at least protect her from scratches and cuts along the way. The lizard girl looks tired, though, with a perpetual frown on her face. When she goes through the teleporter, her body crackles with electricity as if it had interacted oddly with her magic, or she just has an excess of electrical energy in her right now.     It's the stress weighing on her, though no one would really know that.     A desert-themed cavern environment. She seems to regain some pep in her step, marching forward. She stops when she sees the strange silent figure, and lets out a "W-wait...!" as she runs off like that. Ainsley breaks into a run ahead, and then looks up the cliffs, realizing she'd never catch whoever that was easily.     She begins flying, full vertical. Not quickly, though, fully prepared to get attacked by some manner of wildlife, especially in a zone that reminds her so much of where she used to live. 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' "What in the hell?" Marrik coughed while fumbling through his coat pockets for the mask he'd worn when he was selling at Brockton. Once his face was covered he breathed deep. Sparks quickly went back to the teleporter since she would be no good with all this grit in the air, and having eyes on the village seemed like a good idea. He patted himself over and made a slow turn around to see what he could see. That is when he spotted the human woman and let out a short whistle before pointing. "We've got- damn, gone." A length of spidersilk rope and a grapple were brought out and slung over his shoulder. Sure he didn't need yet, but he would. Yet he waited for Quote's lead before moving. He was not familiar with this terrain or what was ahead, and it cost him nothing to wait a few moments before following someone else's lead. 

:'''{{#var:154|Leyanne Mace (154)}} has posed:''' Leyanne Mace steps through the portal crouched, with a fairly generic solid-shot assault rifle in her hand. She's not wearing a helmet, but she does have a filter-mask over her nose and mouth. She ducks behind a rock as she sees movement, though she holds her fire. "Movement!" She calls out, her voice rendered flat and monotone. "Multiple bats, plus one human-sized unknown, blonde hair." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     The past hour or so has been very educational. At least, Staren learned a lot about the story of what's up on the island -- that the mysterious Doctor was one of the scientists sent here, how Sue and Kazuma and Booster got away and Sue got transformed, how a Mimiga was turned into that monster they fought in the Egg Corridor... and what the Doctor may be trying to do. Also, apparently Staren's girlfriend is afraid of bats. So, she'll be staying behind to watch the village, it seems. They can talk about this later, if she wants to, but right now, there is a bad guy who urgently needs stopping! Staren bids Twilight goodbye with a long hug and then heads through the teleporter.     Upon seeing the woman, he waves. "Hey! You there! Hey! Heeeeeeey!" But, she's gone. "Did she somehow not see us...?" Staren heads on through the cavern. Desert, huh? Hopefully he won't be around the sand long enough for it to mess up his armor. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel has been making ready to day she's got the basic idea of what's up, the monsters have proven disturbing. She knew of things in her world but they were made that way. Organics should have some level of surival drive and these thigns don't. Either way she's ready as she's ever going to be really. The bit about the flowers and what they do, or so far as she's got the idea from listening. She's looking pretty serious but then comes someone else she pauses for a moment and bolts after her like Anisley trying to keep up with her and find out whom this new person is. "Halt!" Okay that came out bad but it's a old force of habit for her really. 

:'''{{#var:577|Chika (577)}} has posed:'''     There is a cat here.     Not just any cat, either. It's big for a house cat, though not much different in appearance, and it's wearing a leather hat shaped to fit over its ears. Some kind of bag is belted around its cream-colored belly -- white canvas, decorated with a red paw print, and obviously stuffed -- and in its paws, it's gripping the end of what looks like a plain wooden stick carved kind of into a flat blade shape. Red cloth wraps the end of the stick to improve the cat's grip.     It -- or she, if the sound of her voice is anything to go by, though really, she sounds like a cat so it's anybody's guess -- she isn't taking any nonsense from those bats! "Hya! Nyaaa! MRAH! You think you're tough!" The stupid wooden sword she's got is surprisingly not useless! She's giving it her all to thin the flock's number!     But, she's only a cat, so she's kind of short? Like, less than half Ainsley's height, that's for sure. She can't reach these things so well. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     The bugs in the chasm, large as they are, aren't particularly aggressive. Unlike much of the wildlife in the caves so far, they don't charge headlong at those who invade their territory, and they don't pursue. It's possible that whatever has stirred creatures in the other zones might not have stirred things up here... or perhaps these are just a mellow brand of giant bug compared to the uptight ones in the Egg corridor.     Of course that's assuming you're not a catling standing right in the middle of their nesting grounds, swatting at them with a wooden sword and quite possibly attracting them with food packed away somewhere. They seem to be paying plenty of attention to Chika, and much less attention to Ainsley and the others should they decide to leave good enough alone.     At the top of the chasm, the cavern extends in two directions. The shorter of the two paths dead-ends at a Mimiga-styled burrow-home, one that looks well-maintained. The longer path heads a ways away, the stony ground full of lumps and ramps, before being blocked by a wall of what appears at cursory examination to be sand. 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' "Strange even by my standards." Marrik shrugged at the stuffed cat and used his magic to swat away bats that got in his way. 'Bat away' being more 'drained the life from these beetle critters' really. He wasn't being flashy, or hitting anything that wasn't directly in his way, partially because they were possibly being watched an wanted whoever to think he had far less range than he really did, and because he wanted to see if the rest would get the point and leave. At the crossroads Marrik frowned. "So who here thinks the overgrown path goes where we want?" He stood at the fork and hrmed, seemingly reluctant to pick a path as he sent his magic out. His motions were smooth and resembled a person doing a kata in place. Why was he being fancy now? The whole point was to probe the wall to see if he could decay it down and out of the way without any tunnel collapsing on them. It was a big wall so him getting rid of it in total would be tricky at best. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren wants to chase the mysterious woman, but there's a catgirl besieged by beetles! "Hey! WHo are you? Hang on..." Staren pulls out a grenade and throws it at some of the beetles, hoping to take out some of them and scare the rest away. If that deals with the problem, he asks: "Who are you and what are you doing here?" 

:'''{{#var:577|Chika (577)}} has posed:'''     Chika takes one more wild swing right before Staren throws his grenade and she's forced to duck back. As the grenade pops, she pulls her hat lower and hunkers toward the ground, her tail bristling up in startled reaction.     Smoke and beetle parts clearing the air, Chika stands back up and almost primly dusts off her knees and straightens out her whiskers. "Mrrr...the /name/ is Chika! As to why I'm here, I...oh! What are /you/ doing here? What's /your/ name?" She blinks her big blue eyes in curious inspection of Staren, then seems to smile. "Well, I guess it doesn't matter. You know how to use a grenade, and that's good enough to deal with those beetle bats! Say, can I return the favor? Help you out?" 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley pauses to look at Chika, who appears to be accosted by bug creatures. She carefully examines the situation, not sure how to handle it... and then she shrugs her shoulders, and continues ascending through the chasm, not really interested in helping Chika if she thinks she can handle the bug creatures. She doesn't anticipate anyone having trouble with these beetle things.     "Weird," she says aloud. She can't say she's seen anything quite like that. The sound of the grenade going off behind her makes the lizard girl's feathers bristle, glancing back to make sure no one got hurt before continuing. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Quote has no particular need to take the lead here. Taking the lead made sense in the Bushlands since he'd been there before, but he doesn't know anything about this zone that the others don't.     The robot bounds up the chasm wall, leaping up to a ledge, then leaping up and inwards and using his weird floating ability to return to a higher ledge. The ascent's pretty easy for him, it seems, and he sees no reason he can't go all the way up and join Ainsley.     No reason but one, anyways. He stops about a dozen feet above Chika, pulls out the Polar Star, and shoots a beetle that was trying to buzz him. "Just got to keep moving." he advises, reaching out a hand towards the feline and beckoning. "Like Ainsley did. Don't fight on a ledge if you can help it. Wait for the flat ground above if you need to." he suggests. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel is moving along and taking note ofg hte bugs, she's not going to pick a fight with them, she's going to leave them be for the most part. She's very much intending to leave these things alone. She's going to press on and that's going to be that. There's so many other creatures like the bats she's not about to piss off the bugs. Several bats get slammed by her staff as she keeps going. "...looks like we do got company." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren blinks at Chika. "...Sure. If you can fight, you can come along, but otherwise you should go back through that teleporter." He points back the way they came. "Long story short, a bad man called The Doctor is going to use magic flowers to turn the mimigas into monsters under his control. So we're going to take the flowers first. They're somewhere in this area."     That explained, Staren starts to head for the wall to climb, then hesitates. He pulls a potion vial from his bag and hands it to Chika. "If we come under attack, drink this. It will protect you." And then he manifests his wings and flies up to the top.     Staren looks back and forth. "Where are the flowers kept? There are two dead ends!"     He tries to raise Kazuma or Booster or someone on the radio. 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' After a minutevor two of probing Marrik drew up to n upright stance and, with several quick motions to direct his magic, decayed the wall down. Really it was far easier than he thought, like it had been a nest. Maybe it was an ancient termite mound? All he wanted was to burrow a person sized hole through. Shouldn't be hard right? OK fine make the hole a little bigger for Leyanne. He looked back and grunted at the missing mouse, maybe she went back to help defend the village? Smart. Hole made, He made his way through, using magic to sap the life out of bugs or anything else that didn't want to act friendly. 

:'''{{#var:577|Chika (577)}} has posed:'''     "Whoa!" That's Chika sounding impressed about Quote and the shot he made. "What a gun you've got! So, keep moving, huh? Felynes are good movers! And shakers."     Before she can follow the robot's instructions, she's given a potion by Staren. Chika ends up juggling the vial and her weapon between her paws, nearly dropping 'em both, before she manages to get the bottle crammed into her almost-overflowing bag. The bottle chinks against the side of a horn punched full of holes in a specific pattern. Some kind of musical instrument, maybe? Whatever it is, it vanishes from sight as the cat fights to pull her bag's flap shut.     Settled, she nods at Staren once all swift and serious. "You've got it! I can fight, but I'm better off supporting those who are made for it! I'll support you in your search for the red flowers. I know everything there is to know about monsters, and nobody nice should ever be turned into monsters! Nya!"     Chika grips her weapon between her teeth. Then, sprouting claws from all four paws, she quickly scrabbles up the stone wall. Not such a tough climb for a cat! At the top, she looks around, paying close attention to the ground, like maybe she's searching for something -- and she is! She's looking for any signs of tracks or activity. Maybe one of the trails isn't really a dead end?     "Hmm, hmm..." 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley lets out a sigh, looking toward the Mimiga-styled house for a second or two. She's not anticipating finding anything, so instead she heads for the door and tries to push it open and head inside. "Hello?" she calls, carefully. Her voice is tentative. After all, if the Doctor has been here... She doesn't want to think about it.     "My name is Ainsley," she tries, as she steps inside. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     The beetles dealt with, it's easy enough for people to reach the top. From there they have a choice of two paths. The path that dead-ends in the Mimiga home, and the path where Marrik has observed that the sand-like wall isn't particularly sturdy, where he manages to open a path beyond. Beyond it is a relatively small chamber and then another sand-stone wall. Beyond that, presumably, is yet another. Before long though, that path will open up into an area that branches out into the Sand Zone's larger caverns... though of course no one knows that quite yet.     Quote continues his leaps to the top, his senses making it relatively safe for him to just hop on past what few beetles remain. Once at the top he looks around. The wall Marrik knocked down is fairly obvious, and the house is intriguing. Perhaps occupied. "That girl couldn't have gone through the wall there." he says, gesturing towards Marrik's path. "Or she'd have had to go through the wall. So she's probably in the house now. So she's in hiding, or that house is our goal. If it was our goal though, I think we'd see Balrog or Misery... " he says. But he IS curious, and when Ainsley enters he decides to follow her. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren is faced with two dead-ends. Marrik makes one not a dead end anymore, but then it's pointed out that the mysterious woman is probably in the mimiga-style house. Staren considers... but, well, talking to people isn't his thing, and he already lost time stopping for Chika. So he flies along after Marrik for now. 

:'''{{#var:577|Chika (577)}} has posed:'''     Looks like Chika probably found...everyone else's footprints. Nothing points to red flowers, or where those flowers might be. Spinning around and un-crouching, Chika picks up her head, closes her eyes, and sniffs at the air. Does anything /smell/ like flowers? Oh, probably not. It doesn't hurt to try, huh?     Surrounded by strangers, Chika should feel lost and alone, but she's feeling the opposite. Felyne are made to adventure! Curious as can be, she considers her party and her options. She could choose to follow Staren, but isn't Ainsley kind of a curious creature? And so tall! Those remarkable feathers are quite fascinating, too. Chika takes a few steps in Ainsley's direction, forming something of a rearguard as the lizard lady proceeds into the Mimiga household.     If Ainsley stops to look at Chika, Chika just smiles and waves a paw. It's what she'd always do in a situation like this. 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' Marrik looked around to see if anyone was actually following then frowned when he saw himself alone. Except he saw Staren behind him. "You realize I have no idea what I'm doing right?" He grumbled and tried to make his next path use less mana by trying to carve a hole instead of knock wall down. Then again he tried that before and the whole thing fell down.         He breathed deep and continued to see what was beyond, but it was slow going. Maybe that woman was in the house, but maybe she could teleport. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel is able to get up with the beetles handled and she's looking about trying to track where the new girl has gone she also takes a look at Chika and she nods. "Good to have some more help. I'm Deelel." She keeps going as they contiune on thier way. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     At the house...     Inside the house, there is indeed a certain blonde girl. She looks uncannily like Quote, actually, up close. Same skin tone with the same not-quite-metallic texture. Same style of clothing, more or less. And most telling, same ear-based antennae. Around her are four Mimiga children, hiding more or less behind the robot girl.     "Aaaah! We have VISITORS!" the robot girl cries out, smiling cheerfully. "I know what it is you're looking for!" she claims. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:''' Down the path...     A few sandstone walls go by, and no creatures present at all. It's almost disturbing. At one point though, the sandstone shows up in the ground instead. Below it comes the faint thumping of distant and rather heavy treads. Someone the size of Balrog moving around in a hurry, or multiple someones in lockstep. To get to the source of the noise will take going through two levels of sandstone blocks. When it's done though, the footsteps are revealed to be... giant moving skeletons. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     "We're looking for a man called the Doctor so we can punch him in the throat," Ainsley tells Curly, quite abruptly and a bit with an irritated edge, "What do /you/ think we're looking for? As you so cheerfully stated you do in a way I cannot help but take as aggressively happy sarcasm." She crosses her arms and looks at Curly with quite an uncertain impatience, because being greeted with a very rude and loud and happy voice like that is not fun for her.     Ainsley is in a very bad mood these last few days. It's showing.     She looks at the children, and then to Curly, quirking a brow. "You clearly are not one of his soldiers," she says, relaxing some. 

:'''{{#var:577|Chika (577)}} has posed:'''     Clutching her wooden sword, Chika bobs her head in greeting to Deelel. A cheerful meow rises up in her voice: "I'm Chika!"     The same energy is displayed to the blonde shiny girl and the children gathered around her legs. Chika lowers herself slightly and cocks her head to the left, then the right, her wide blue eyes fixed curiously on the kids. "Hello?" Another greeting is attempted in the form of a waved paw.     The Felyne is pretty much the opposite of Ainsley's Bad Mood.     Any kind of threat or politics is disregarded in the way she treats the children, and Curly, too. "Hello there, my name is Chika! Do you know where we can find some red flowers?" 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren hovers after Marrik. When they hear footsteps... "Balrog must already be here!" He prepares for a fight as Marrik breaks down the wall...     Only to be confronted by GIANT WALKING SKELETONS     "AAAH!" Staren just blasts them with the armor's forearm particle cannons and ducks behind the stone. "WHY? What is this island, made of nightmares?!"     He takes a deep breath, trying to calm down. First bats scaring Twilight, and now this. It has to be a coincidence, doesn't it?     Something Marrik says trickles through fear to his brain. "...Constructs? ...Can you dispel the magic?" The shock wearing off, he's starting to think of strategies to fight them already. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     "Wake up!" Curly says, her voice indeed aggressively happy sarcasm. "They're not soldiers, they're harmless!" she claims. "Too bad for you I'm NOT! And I'm on THEIR side!" she cries. So saying, she whips out a gun. It's not a huge gun... she holds the thing casually one-handed. But then, if she's like Quote, she's stronger than she'd look. But the gun's pretty bulky, and the muzzle has an ominous set of vent-holes like a machinegun would have.     Quote manages a whole "Wha?" as the gun comes out and levels at the group. "Look out!" he cries, leaping into the air in an effort to divide the girl's fire. The gun whirrs, building up power, and then spits out a rapid stream of shots! 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' Marrik dropped subtle at the feel of footfalls and as soon as the final wall crumpled he stared. Just. STARED. Then he started cursing the fact he didn't have any spirits to call on. OK. Deep breathing. Marrik reached out with his magic to the last one in line. He did not like doing it this way because he would have to try directing it manually instead of give orders. Starens words sink in and he tries feeling to see what magic is there, or failing that feel for spots that feel weak. "I might not be able to get all of them. Cover me if they start shooting." His voice sounded absentminded, because he was occupied with figuring out how to cleanly turn the construct off. "I am going after the last one in line, NOW." Marrik started moving, flowing arm and hand motions to direct his magic first to try dispelling the magic animating the gholem, and then if he can manage that he would try controlling it directly, but only if he could disable it. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     "WOAH!!"     Ainsley stumbles away from the gunfire, her eyes wide, "WOAH WOAH WOAH!! STOP!" she shouts at Curly, and then she /flies/ up to the ceiling and tries desperately to avoid getting filled with bullets, getting grazed a couple times in the process. And then she just growls, and points at Curly, releasing a spray of lightning bolts at the woman, mostly aiming to try to disable her so she stops coming at them. "Stop that!" 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     The golems stomp around their little region, completely ignoring the figures standing well above them. Like more familiar types of golems, their 'programming' is extremely limited. They make up for it by being untiring, tough as hell, and utterly dedicated to their guardianship.     Marrik's attempt to switch them off meets no success. The golems were animated by someone with more power than him, or by a ritual that's much harder to disrupt than a simple summoning would be, or both. The good news though? They don't shoot, and they don't even beeline towards Marrik and Staren. They just continue clomping along their endless route. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren nods to Marrik, getting out his laser rifle and firing at the other golems while Marrik tries to disable one of them. Yes, they're scary-looking, but this is a combat situation, and getting overrun and killed by them would be /worse/, so he's going to destroy them.     So focused on destroying them he is, that only after firing several bursts does he realize that they're not attacking back. Staren stop shooting. "...Uh? They''re not attacking... do they even have weapons?" 

:'''{{#var:577|Chika (577)}} has posed:'''     That's different.     Chika throws her paws up in the air and begins to run back and forth as fast as she can. The air whistles and the ground sparks, pops and pings going off whenever the bullets strike something solid -- like the door jamb, or Chika's sword! Though only made of wood, what looks like the most simplistic weapon proves to be much more resilient than its appearance suggests it should be. Chika flails it around as she runs, using it as an inexact but nevertheless effective barrier.     Of course, there's only so much one Felyne can do, given this kind of danger! Without cover, she's guaranteed to be hit -- and she is! Chika's left arm is struck, prompting her to yowl like an alley cat in a brawl. She toppples backwards, her hat goes sailing away, and she hits the ground hard, making dizzy, distressed noises as she tries to understand what the heck just happened.     "O-oooh..." Chika sits up slowly, then gives her head a good, hard shake, ears flopping. "So, that's the kind of person you are?!"     A dangerous gleam enters Chika's eye. She thrusts her good paw into her canvas bag, and...it comes out bristling with bombs. Three, to be exact, which is more than she should physically be able to grasp.     Chika throws the bombs into the lightning storm cast by Ainsley. 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' "Holy mother above," Marrik breathed. "Whoever raised these is good. Damned good." He breathed deep. "That removes subtle." Deep breathing, this time from the exertion. Was he sweating? From somewhere up his sleeves a pair of elemental rods, one fire and the other lightning. "You know? I dunno." The runes on each forearm length of wood glowed as he started gathering power. "Am kinda wondering what they're guarding. Power gathered at the end of each rod as he aimed both foreward. Fire and lightning shot forward, coiling and twining til it combined into a plasma aimed at the bone creations. He was too annoyed to be scared at punching someone bigger than him magically speaking. He was too sick of it always being some creep going after people who can't fight back. So he probably was being reckless about things. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Curly Brace of course has no intention of stopping. Bad guys are always dismayed when heroes fight back, right? And they're eager to tell the hero to stop firing. The only thing that stops Curly's gun is when she's out of bullets. This is, fortunately for Ainsley, quick to occur.     The robot girl moves, getting caught by a one of the sprayed bolts and momentarily staggered by it. She quickly recovers though, dashing across the room to take up another firing position. The Mimiga children scatter and bounce madly about the room. Should they hit someone they're not likely to do any serious damage, but they add a whole lot to the mayhem.     Quote pulls his Bubbline, after a moment's consideration. The bubble gun will be a whole lot less destructive than the Fireball, and the electrical bubbles seem to be good both defensively and offensively. He'll not risk Ainsley given her position up high in the room, but he'll have to be careful the electrical burst given off by the bubbles doesn't threaten their newest ally Chika.     Bombs don't seem to affect Curly Brace at all, strangely. They send the Mimiga children flying, but the explosions don't seem to penetrate a bubble fitting close around her body. It's a subtle defense, useless against most weapons, but rather effective against pressure-based attack.     The machine gun charges up again. Begging the question HOW did she reload it? She certainly made no motion towards a magazine... and for that matter there doesn't appear to BE a magazine. But the gun charges up again and this time Curly aims upwards, trying to pin Ainsley down. Or possibly up. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Staren blasts a golem. It takes a couple of shots, but the golem breaks apart and disanimates. Likewise, Marrik's plasma bolt shatters one, clearing the way. They're tough, but they're not THAT tough. They can't take hits from the big guns.     Beyond the two golems, another sandstone layer leads downwards and towards more thumping footsteps of more bone minions. There's also a home carved into the side of the chasm. It might almost be missed, but there's a cheerful looking ornamental sign by the door claiming this is 'Jenka's house'. Who or what a Jenka is... well, that's not entirely clear. 

:'''{{#var:577|Chika (577)}} has posed:'''     By now, Chika's scampered through the doorway and out the other side, but she's not abandoned the battle -- she's just taking cover. "What's a Mimigaaa!" Chika wails from the other side, her voice threading between the gunfire, both in person and over the radio.     A moment later, another bomb is lobbed into the fray. Instead of exploding, it bursts into a gas cloud -- the kind of gas cloud that, when inhaled, could put anybody to sleep! Even monsters. Big monsters. Or little monsters, if that's what the shiny blonde lady turns out to be. "Do Mimiga SLEEP?!" she wonders out loud, right before she ducks back out of sight behind the door. It's a good thing Curly's focused on Ainsley... 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Well...okay. The bone golems are easily and systematically dealt with. They're scary to look at, sure, but... not really that fearsome in action. Staren pauses as he reads the sign. Is there any reason to stop here?     After a moment's thought, he says: "Now that I think about it, locals might know where the flowers are. If the Doctor's already on his way here... information is our best chance at beating him." Staren heads into the house. "Hey! Anybody home?" 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley is aimed at by Curly. Oh no. The bullets fly across the room, and Ainsley tries to flit out of the way of the shot! But she can't completely avoid it, and it's only by virtue of her leather armor that she isn't immediately perforated by the gunfire, as well as an effort to project a magnetic field to slow them down. Otherwise, she'd be a very dead lizard after getting hit like that! She bleeds on herself, and makes a few choking noises as she continues to avoid the line of fire.     Then she emits a constant beam of electricity at Curly. "WE ARE NOT HERE FOR THE MIMIGAS!!" she shouts at Curly, over the sound of the lightning, hoping the woman will just stop. Ainsley isn't really going to assume she will, though. 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' Marrik grunted as the gholems fell, and huffed when he approached. Big fellas, which got poked at with one of his blasting rods. Headshake before he moved on. If he had time, maybe he could reassemble one. Basic concept wasn't too dissimilar from what his cult used for servators, but there was no time. Oh well. Another hole in wall made and more gholems shattered Marrik blinked at the sign and hrmed before poking his head through the door. "We're not with the doctor or anything and don't want trouble. Just passing through." Then a thought hit. "We have food to trade." 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel grins a little at Chika but it fades as they run into trouble. She looks at Curly for a moment She stres at her as she ppens fire and Deelel is diving for cover now. She bring sup her staff it morph, then a bitchen techo song starts playing that might just be Derezzed and the shots are coming in time to the beat as she attempts to peg this woman whose just opened up on them. "This is all Glitched up." 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     It turns out that yes, Mimiga sleep. When the gas cloud disperses, four little Mimiga children will be sprawled out adorably. The robot girl, predictably, isn't affected.     Quote charges up a cloud of bubbles, swirling and diving around him thanks to the electrostatic field of the weird little bubblegun. Abruptly he releases the field, popping the bubbles, sending a swarm of little electrical bolts Curly's way. The bolts go right through her defensive field just like Ainsley's lightning did, momentarily stunning the female robot. She whirls and charges up her gun for a third time, sending a spray of bullets at Quote who barely manages to avoid the stream of fire.     Deleel's musical bolts slam into Curly Brace, staggering the robot girl. She can probably appreciate techno, but not quite in this way! Ainsley's blast of electricity, however, decides the fight. The powerful beam strikes Curly, staggering her, then making her collapse. Sparks fly across her surface, and she tries to rise, then collapses once again. "Y-you win... I can't fight any more." she says, morose in defeat. "I suppose you're going to kill all the Mimiga, just like all the other invaders?" 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Within the home indicated by the sign saying Jenka's House is an old woman who is presumably Jenka. Small and wrinkled, with white hair and huge spectacles, she doesn't look like she's in good shape. In addition to being obviously ancient, she lies sprawled on the ground surrounded by fiercely-yapping little white dogs.     "Ooooh my idiot son-in-law." she complains, probably more annoyed than actually injured. Still, she moves with the careful caution of someone who's either suffered harm or fears it might be so. "You're not with him are you." More of a statement than a question. 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' Marrik shook his head, "No ma'am." Marrik reached down to let the little dogs sniff at him. "We're passing through to try keep somebody from taking some red flowers that would be very bad for a few folk that live back where we came from." As much of a hurry as they were in he was not going to be short with this woman. "Are you alright?" 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren shakes his head. "We don't know anyone from here but the mimigas. We're here to stop the Doctor from hurting them." Staren nods to Marrik. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley finally lands and sits down near the stunned and beaten robot girl. She looks at her quite seriously, frowning at her.     "Like I would have said before you started shooting at us," she says, "No, we are not. We are here to fight the Doctor. The very person you would want to fight. We are on the same damn side!" She throws her arms up in the air in an emphatic way, and then winces.     "Ow..." 

:'''{{#var:577|Chika (577)}} has posed:'''     Chika leans back and lets out a relieved sigh. Looks like the violence has passed, huh? "Mrrah...oh, this smarts." Looking down at her wounded arm, she winces, looks momentarily very, very sad, with her ears all lowered -- oh! But then, she remembers Staren's given her some kind of potion? Potions are always good for injuries, right?     Without a thought, Chika retrieves and drinks the potion Staren gave her way back when she first met him, so long ago. 

:'''{{#var:577|Chika (577)}} has posed:'''     ...that's not as useful as Chika expected it to be. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     "Good." says Jenka, in a no-nonsense tone of voice that suggests she might have had more than words with the newcomers if they WERE with her son in law. Whoever that is. She also doesn't actually appear injured, just knocked about a bit. "Well, what are you waiting for? You have to stop him! He stole the key to the warehouse. You know, the warehouse?" she says, gazing at Marrik and Staren with an eye that seems to see entirely too much. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     "We're with the Mimigas." says Quote, moving to assist Curly Brace. For some reason he doesn't think she's a threat. He never thought she was really a threat, not even when she was shooting at him. A hazard, yes, but not an enemy.     "You're a friend of the Mimigas?" Curly asks, startled. She knows nothing about the Doctor, but this much sinks in. "I'm Curly Brace. Er... sorry about ..." she frowns, almost pouting. "About the misunderstanding." she concludes. "I've been with these children ever since I woke up. I don't have memories before then." She frowns even more deeply, an impressive feat. "Before I got amnesia, I was ... probably a Mimiga-butcher just like all the other robots from that invasion." she claims sorrowfully. "Robots make me think what it must have been like, back during that time..."     Curly goes to check on the Mimiga, but they all appear to be breathing smoothly, fast asleep. 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' Marrik bowed slightly to the elderly woman. "I would love to but I don't know where we need to go." If Jenka were keeping am eye on the metaphysics of him she could tell he basically had far more energy than he should naturally be able to create. "Without knowing where we waste even more time running blind." Deep breath. "Please point the way and I'll see what I can do." He set both blasting rods down and nodded. "In case they come back this way." From somewhere up his sleeve he pulled out a rune covered staff. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren's eyebrows raise behind his visor. Someone helpful! This almost seems like too much to hope for. "Warehouse? Where is it? Our only chance to stop him is to get there before he does!" Staren replies. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel seein she's staggering as she now gives up on fighting Deelel lowers her weapon at this point and it morphs back into a stagg. No that is not our attempt we have been attempting to help them since we arrived. If we had been here to kill them why would we have disabled them." She looks to her and sighs for a moment she listens humming at this. "...don't think about that Quote my past is about the same one day I woke up and I still don't know ... where I came from but what's imporant is what I did afterwards." 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Jenka peers at Staren and Marrik in turn. "Down." she says. "End of the cavern. You can't miss it." she claims bluntly. "Watch out for the guardians." she croaks. "Though if you have to break them, do so. They don't have much purpose if those flowers are stolen. You be sure to get there and burn them all, you hear? If you leave any for that idiot Balrog, I'll be very cross. Now go, hurry!" 

:'''{{#var:577|Chika (577)}} has posed:'''     Let Ainsley and Quote deal with Curly Brace; Chika's just along for the ride! Besides, she's got more pressing matters to think about -- or /not/ think about, as Quote's advised. Reaching into her red-stamped bag a second time, Chika tucks away her empty force field vial, and pulls out one of those curved horns someone might have glimpsed earlier. Remember, when she was fighting so many awful bats?     Er...beetles?     Chika puts the horn to her mouth, and blows for all she's worth!     Surprisingly, it doesn't honk; instead, it plays a sweet melody guided by her nimble kitty toes. Anyone who can hear it will feel at least a little invigorated, but the melody sinks into Chika herself, providing magical strength and healing whenever it's needed most. The blood staining her fur fades away. The bullet she took pops out and drops onto the ground, all mushed up.     Once her song ends, she comes bounding into the house, good as new! "Oh, look! The sleep bomb did the trick. Hi, I'm Chika! You didn't forget my name already, did you?" The question aimed at Curly Brace. 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' Marrik nodded again, "Yes Macam. Others might come through. Lizard woman, Pale faced robot with Antenna, couple others. They're with us." Before leaving he fished out a pouch from his coat and sat it down. "Be well." And then he was gone. Down she said? He can do that. He's starting to get a little worried on how his magic will hold out, but he can do this. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Quote is thinking about it, of course. It doesn't take a genius to realize, like Curly Brace has, that if robots were here as Mimiga-butchers, and if he's a robot, he might well have been here for that purpose before he too lost his memory. But Deleel's right... it's not what you did in the past, it's what you do that defines you.     "We'd better get going. We have to stop Mimiga-killers." Quote says carefully. He assesses Curly's damage, running it through as if it were his own damage to consider. They seem similar after all. Then he nods. Fixable, but she won't be sprinting for a little while. He holds out a hand, abruptly holding a collection of wire and metal that he simply wasn't holding before. "We can talk later. Now we have to go." he says.     "Right!" Curly Brace agrees. "Um, nice to meet you all! Er, good luck!" she says, waving. She might have come with, but her damage is enough to slow her. Besides, she's got unconscious Mimiga pups to worry about here. They need protection too! She takes the collection of wire and scrap with a grin, making it vanish in much the same way Quote produced it, as if by magic. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley gets up to a stand, looking at the Mimiga. She frowns down at her wounds, not having caught any bullets that were stuck in her thanks to the way she defended herself, but she's got a lot of scrapes and burns and bruises from the shots that hurt like hell. She heads for the door, nodding at Curly. She keeps going, frowning with determination now. They know where the flowers are, and once this Curly Brace is healed, they may have another ally here to count on. A native to the world is always best.     Ainsley takes flight to catch up with the rest of them. She doesn't switch to Blood Magic mode, because that would mean being unable to fly in a dangerous place. Healing really isn't something she's very good at, anyways. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren nods to Jenka. "Thanks." He waits a moment to consult with friends over the radio... but well, it looks like they're on their own for now. Staren pulls his magitech staff out of his bag and casts speed up on himself and Marrik -- Then he runs outside, blasts through the sandstone with his weapons, activates his wings, and just makes a beeline right in the offered direction. Ignoring monsters when he can, especially the bone golems that stick to the ground. Staff in his left hand, rifle in his right. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Staren and Marrik make their way to the bottom of the chasm, ending up really not at all far from where they entered Sand Zone in the first place. The zone really opens up here, most of the zone's sand having settled in this lowest cavern. Sand dunes are numerous, and a series of suspended stone platforms hang not far above the sand, making a second route for fliers and long-jumpers.     The obstacles in the Sand Zone however are rather ... ominous. There's more of those stomping bone golems rolling along the dunes. Worse than that though, there's giant crow-like birds who carry their own golem heads. And THESE heads spit bones at anyone who comes near, the pair acting like flying sentry turrets. Pretty much EXACTLY like mobile sentry turrets. If the golem gets destroyed, the giant crow will dive to the attack. If the crow is destroyed, the golem drops to the sand below and begins stomping around. Both have to be destroyed to keep the peace.     Also on the sands are giant armordillos. These creatures, about a meter high and two meters long, are even tougher than the golems. Still, they're slower too and they completely lack ranged attacks, making them pretty easy to go around or over. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Spitting bones?! Staren doesn't expect that the first time, but once he's aware of it... well, he can fly. Dodging's not /that/ hard.     Birds look squishier than bones, so he shoots the birds. Things on the ground aren't a problem. Everyone can fly, right? 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' Marrik waited at the edge of the defensive line and frowned. "You know, assuming she's up to it I'll want to talk to Miss Jenka when this mess clears." He scratched his chin thoughfully as he waited. His magic was getting low and he needed to conserve for what he felt was an inevitable confrontation. So here was Mister Big Bad Necromancer pulling out an utterly mundane pistol loaded with normal bullets. Eyes rolled when Staten started blowing birds apart. "You idiot I can't flipping' fly!" He screamed before taking aim. Sure the gun and bullets were mundane, but as each round was fired it was wrapped in kinetic energy to make it hit about as hard as an anti-tank shell. Now that he knew these things weren't insanely tough dial back, shepherd his magic since there seemed to be little obliging life for him to leech off of. Well other than the crows that was. He only had a limited amount of bullets and wanted to play conservative. So he was just aiming at obvious and immediate threats. No shields of 'everything dies', no multi-arcing lines of death. Just kinetomancey and bullets. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Quote takes the platforming route, midway between 'sky' and sand. It's the natural path for his agility. Trusting Staren and Ainsley to cover the air, he pulls out his ground-effect weapon. The orange Fireball. One of his more damaging guns, it has an odd limitation. The shots nosedive out of the gun's barrel after a few feet, hit the ground, and bounce. Charged plasma in an electrostatic shell that discharges when it hits anything conductive... like flesh, metal or bone. It takes several fireballs to down a golem, but at the speed Quote runs he tends to bunch up several fireballs all bouncing together in a narrow space, and they all tend to smash the same target. He doesn't hit all the golems of course. Gaps in the platforms are what he can shoot through, and there's plenty of threat for others to deal with. He'll just thin the herd ahead of Marrik a little, that's all. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel is chekcing out the other hostiles as they move she looks to her companions for a moment. "...why is animal often so hostile like this. I been wondering about this since I ended up in your world." Deelel now is taking in all the new hostiles and tpauses for a moment. "It's almost like they are biological analogs to ... a defence system..." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren hesitates when it turns out everyone does not, in fact, have ways to fly. Should he stay behind, or press on?     The group settles on 'rush ahead so you can slow down the Doctor if he gets there before they do'.     Staren nods, waves, and speeds off down the tunnel again, shooting birds and mostly ignoring ground hazards. Still, if he can get enemies positioned in a cluster or a line, he might zap a lightning bolt or shoot a fireball to take out a group, on the ground or in the air.     But his primary objective is reaching the warehouse first. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley desperately avoids the various beasties that fill the Sand Zone by flying around... which eliminates almost all of the threat of the zone. She can freely strafe through the air, flinging-- woah, she's forming /solid/ lightning in her hands and throwing it like spears now, by instinct by the looks of it. Like she's Zeus or something. She does this to speed ahead, ignoring anything not explicitly in her way.     Her teeth grind, as the pain of her wounds pulses in her head. Why did she have to get into a fight for absolutely no reason? Now she's genuinely mad, and severely stressed. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     In the air, flocks of giant crows slow down the fliers... or try to at least. They're really not tough, and are a little too linear to avoid being blown past or blown away by Staren and Ainsley. They're deadly enough to those trying to hop from crumbling pillar to crumbling pillar, but no real threat to true fliers. Staren and Ainsley will see little threat that can touch them, and will soon see the fortress of stone rising from the sands at the end of the cavern. They're not there yet, but they can see the warehouse up ahead once they get past the birds and obstacles. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     On the ground, the threat's a little different. Golems are a hassle, but they only damage those they smash through... and the party has plenty of ranged firepower. Likewise with Armordillos. Since there are no more birds to worry about, the attacks are straightforward and rather easy to deal with.     They run into their first real obstacle at the end of the sand stretch. There's a vertical wall of stone, some five meters high. Easy enough to defeat with a grappling hook, most likely. Beyond the stone wall lies a series of ruins filled with sentry golems on patrol. The biggest obstacle they're likely to face are going to be the crumbling pillars. No birds to deal with fortunately, but some of the ground under the crumbling pillars is covered by red crystal spikes. The gap between successive pillars is over three meters, making it something a normal human could do only with a good running start... and since the pillar's only about a meter across, a running start is exactly what the heroes unable to fly WON'T have. 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' Marrik nodded at the consensus from the radio. Staten and Ainsley would fly ahead while he Quite, and Deelel tried to play catchup. Yet he was holding back because caution. What if he got there and had nothing? As he fired he watched the slog seem to stretch on for miles, and never mind the distance. Something quote said tumbled in his head though as he saw the obstacles past the stone wall. He was glad he'd made it policy to carry climbing gear, but this was nutty even for him. So he took a series of deep breaths and let magic fly to try carving a path through. He would lag further behind as a result, but maybe he could thin things out enough Quote and Deelel wouldn't be nearly as exhausted when they got there. So he stood at the stone platform half dancing and half shadow fighting as threads of mana twisted and curved through. He couldn't get everything, but maybe enough. He hoped so, because this next part was gonna suck. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley is sure as heck not slowing down for any reason. The birds in her path meet a variety of sword slashes and zaps with lightning as she cleaves through and heads toward the warehouse. She hisses from the aches in her body as she slows to a stop when she sees the warehouse they're supposed to enter. She then goes right up to the door, expecting to just bust her way into the warehouse and make sure these flowers get torched. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     The target's in sight! Staren speeds on to the warehouse with Ainsley. Further action depends on what he finds when he gets there. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     The warehouse is within the broken-down fortress at the end of the Sand Zone. It's massive doorway is gaping open. As Staren and Ainsley reach the door they can see Balrog rocketing away, trailing sparks and smoke as well as jet exhaust. From within the warehouse, a sudden flare of blue light bursts out. From outside the room the flare's bright, and the THUMP to the air can be felt even from a distance. It's unimaginable what it must have been like up close.     Once the doorway is reached and entered, the sight within is grim. King lies by the door, bleeding and broken, unmoving. Across the room stands a tall figure wearing a metal crown with a huge glowing red eye on its front. The Doctor, presumably. Halfway between King and the Doctor lies another Mimiga, huddled and quivering.     "Oooh. You're those persistent meddlers." The Doctor smirks. "You have perfect timing." he gloats, rising into the air and hovering there. "I leave this one to you. No need to thank me." he says, still grinning. The Mimiga figure rises, howls in anguish, and begins to swell rapidly into a hulking monster. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "DAMMIT!" Staren speeds on, firing up at Balrog, missile launchers rotating into position when... a light?! What's going on in the warehouse? Well, Balrog's tunnel doesn't exactly look hard to follow from here, so he flies to the warehouse door and peers in.     A man in a crown. He talks, about how Staren expected him to talk.     Perfect timing indeed. Right after the Doctor says those words, all of Staren's missiles lock onto him and head straight for him. Twelve little smoke trails through the air -- half of them, the smaller ones, are programmed to ram the target and explode inside, while the other half, the larger ones, produce wide fireballs by superheating the nearby air to plasma, and are programmed to airburst around the Doctor from every angle.     Talking is something you do when you're not trying to stop a bunch of innocents from being turned into brainwashed monsters. ] 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley rushes into the room, and she's greeted with the sight of the Doctor, a sight that burns into the back of her mind as he speaks. He floats up and she can almost feel the power rolling off of him. Her head turns to look down at...     "N...no."     She looks at Toroko, and turns to look at King, the bleeding heap. She looks between the two of them, and tears run down her face. Instead of leaping to strike Toroko before she can properly transform, she clenches her teeth and throws her longsword to the side, running over to slide to a stop near King. A surge of red light appears around her as she changes her mana for healing.     And she tries to pour as much life energy into King as she can to keep him alive.     Because the alternative is trying to put down an innocent caught in the crossfire, something she can't stomach at all right now. 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' Marrik wasn't there yet. He didn't naturally have Quote's speed, so he had to cheat by giving himself magical shoves with every bound to make these jumps. He still had magic, but when he felt and saw something up ahead he had doubts on if it was going to be enough. What was it he heard said once? Kick doubt and fear aside and break through? If only it were that easy to not feel like they were already too late. Yet as he raced ahead as fast as his body and magic would let him. He saw Ainsley's magic and started screaming as he ran, a wordless howl as he tried closing the distaince. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     The ground crew, after hopping some pillars, find themselves approaching the final fortress, the area of the cave where their destination lies. They can see Staren and Ainsley well ahead of them, entering the warehouse. They can probably hear the explosions. Just a short ways to go though. Another pillar, that's it. They're almost able to join in... 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel is playing catchup, Deelel is very agile all things considered as she goes bounding along as she goes trying to keep on her way as she lashes out with her staff's powered end even s the techno starts up again. She's hearing the explosions as they get near. "Come on keep moving, they might need our help!" 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Talking is exactly what you do, at least if you're a megalomaniacal villain whose plans are all succeeding. Taunting the heroes, particularly when they arrive too late, is a tradition... and it seems the Doctor has read his classics. He smiles, shimmering and vanishing from sight as Staren's missiles rip through the space he'd occupied, smashing into the back wall of the warehouse and exploding in a shower of debris.     King is still alive, barely, but he's definitely dying. There's a spark of life however, a spark of hope. Ainsley's magic takes hold and begins to kick in... but can it be enough? The damage King took, flying well over ten meters and smashing into a wall, would be astounding even if he hadn't also been struck by Misery's lightning. The Mimiga is powerful but he's not tough, not compared to others. Tougher perhaps than an ordinary Mimiga, but not tough enough for this. Ainsley's power is strong, but will it be strong enough?     Toroko, now hugely swollen and monstrous, looks a little like Igor now. Great gleaming carnivorous teeth, massive muscles... and a malevolent grin. She spies Staren, shudders in what seems to be a malicious giggle, then bends down to rip a huge stone block from the ground and fling it at him. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "NO!" Staren shouts, when the Doctor disappears after he launches the missiles. The armor-piercing ones blow chunks out of the wall, and then the plasma missiles just glass the surface.     Now he's got Toroko to deal with. Cutting the stone block in two would be great, but physics doesn't work that way. It's an incredibly telegraphed attack, though, so he dodges. And then he makes a beeline for her. His weapons are held nearby telekinetically, as he draws his beam sabers and slashes at her belly.     Igor sustained massive damage every which way. Toroko... maybe, MAYBE, he hopes, if he can cut the flower petals out of her, the trauma won't /kill/ her immediately and then with magic and advanced technology maybe they can actually heal her. It's not the best plan, but it's better than nothing!     Of course, he doesn't expect a single slash will be enough to do this. No, it's gonna take work. he just hopes her hide gives out before his armor does... 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley rests one hand on the dying Mimiga. Tears stream down her face as she feels him fading under her touch. She tries to fight past the idea that she isn't going to be able to do it, and instead she tries everything she can, and more. She thinks on how her magic works... she needs to heal him, but a balance must be struck. And so she brings up her other hand and /bites/ it. A surge of red light appears around her and her eyes turn from blue to red, for the span of time that she's doing this.     She drains her own life directly to push it into King and try to reverse the damage done to him. She puts great risk to her own physical well-being doing this, weakening her and probably making her very vulnerable should someone try to attack her after she's done this.     Because she has to be able to do /something/.     "Damn it, King! I know you're strong! You have people to fight for! You aren't allowed to die!" As much a plea as an angry shout at the very idea that he's dying. "You haven't done enough for them yet!" 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' They failed. It was that simple. As Marrik took that last magic fueled jump he knew what happened to Igor had happened again. Igor was. Igor was an innocent. Someone that had been hurt, had been aware but couldn't stop, and it was happening again. He was far from at top form at this point. Yet as he felt Ainsley's magic work his hand automatically went to the potion Jenki gave him and shoved it at her, at least til a hand seemingly made of nothing and appearing as a heat shimmer cradled it and lowered it to the healer. Meanwhile Marrik looked at the monster Toroko had become. Maybe he could save her, but that was a huge maybe and he needed her still, or at least confined to a sealing circle. Evidence pointed at purifying a mimiga of the red flower was impossible, but he didn't care. That was a kid. Somebody's little girl this sick freak Did Things to because he wanted what all megalomaniac freaks wanted. More Power. "HEY!" Marrik shouted as he charged forward. "Toroko, over here! Nice squishy mage Right Here!" He hoped the rage state she was in would keep Toroko's movements easy to spot as the hand he had conjured pulled a line from his pocket to try making a circle around her that included as much of the surroundings as he could. Long shot, and he needed more than just a rope circle to work with, but he needed a starting point. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Toroko is much, much nimbler than Igor. This may well be due to her impressive mobility and jumping strength even when not under the influence of Red Flower corruption. Now, with her strength multiplied many times over, she can leap even higher and farther.     Perhaps also because of the influence of her previous self, she doesn't stick around to trade blows with Staren in melee. He cuts her, but the damage barely seems to scratch her powerful frame. Though she probably could stand and smash him hard in melee, she leaps away to launch another chunk of stone at him. It might be a bit overwhelming for just one person to fight.     Fortunately Staren's not alone for long. Quote runs in, no doubt with Marrik and Deleel as well. Three on one may not be fair, but this isn't a duel is it? Toroko, in her current state, is quite willing to spread the pain. Rocks, rock chucking for everyone! In her current state, and with a massive amount of rubble littering the stone from all the explosions, there's no shortage of ammunition at hand. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren is persistant. Toroko leaps away, and then another terribly choreographed throw that he can dodge... After that, his two swords become one and he dives in again. This time, trying to grab hold of her fur and hold on, while trying to just burn a hole into her.     You know things are bad when violent amateur surgery is the /best/ plan you can think of. 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' In theory it was just another fight. Marrik has been in plenty of bar-room scraps and more than a couple duels plus wrestling and boxing, so the idea of fighting wasn't new to him. The fact he was fighting someone that could throw boulders as big as him put a new wrinkle on it. He was focusing purely on being a distraction. Something else the rage induced Toroko had to focus on. Instead his invisible hand pulled another rope to try adding a second circle inside the first. Then he got clipped by a rock. It wasn't even a full hit but it sent him to the ground and caused the rope to go slack for several moments. He grunted in pain as he rolled away, mentally told his body to get with the program, and tried to keep moving. He was this girl's hope. Not Staren. Not Quote. Not Deelel. Him. Ainsley would likely be able to help, but even if that potion worked she had to have used a lot of magic. So he tried something else to keep Toroko busy. Necromancy had taught him many diseases, and thankfully more than a few of the non-lethal ones induced vomiting. So his magic sent out to try forcing Toroko to get the flower out of her system, or at least spend time emptying her stomach so he could focus on building his wards. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Quote holds out his old standby, the Polar Star. The Fireball, while good for going after feet and legs, is a bit too random a weapon to use in this crowded area. Besides, Staren has the right idea. With the way that Frenzied Toroko is leaping about, lifting up rocks and flinging them at the height of her jump, they're easy to dodge. Toroko doesn't have a whole lot of fighting experience, which is a small blessing at this point, really. He steadies his laser gun, firing off bolt after bolt into the monstrous form's legs. The weapon's kind of pathetic really, and doesn't do a whole lot of damage, but every little bit helps.     Focussing so hard on his firing, Quote doesn't even realize it when Toroko breaks pattern. Instead of leaping she stands her ground, tossing a chunk of stone in a flat trajectory right at him. He gets his hands up, but takes the massive stone nearly head-on. There's a crunch of metal. Still, he's tough. After all the repairs he's been doing, this damage isn't enough to cripple him. It rips panels, exposes hydraulics and wires, but nothing that'll stop him outright.     King reaches one hand up, feeling stronger from Ainsley's magic but still at death's door. Grimly, his bloodied paw closes around her arm. "Save... Toroko." he pleads weakly, his grip relaxing. Seems that's all the strength he could muster, at least right this moment.     Toroko continues her bouncing barrage, taking several hits from Staren and Quote but seeming to madly laugh off the damage. Hit by Marrik's disease spell, she weakens slightly and subtly, her health deteriorating, but in her current state it's not fully debilitating nor does it make her vomit. Then again, even if she did, her eyes are already fully red. The corruption isn't in her belly, it's everywhere. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel is going to have to paly keep away her she not got hte heavy fire power thats all she can do, that's all she can o now so she's tyring ti get in there get it's attention and just plain bonking for where it's neede but there's not quite enough here. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     It's still the only strategy Staren can think of. He clings to Toroko's fur desperately as she jumps around, still focused on burning a hole in her belly.     He's focused on his task. His allies can handle themselves, right? 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' When Quote took a brick to the everywhere Marrik couldn't help but wince, which caused him to stop just long enough to also notice the second rope was done. Instead of relying on his magic hand he pulled a dufflebag out of his coat. Then he opened the bag and upended it's contents onto the ground. It was a solid quartz crystal. It was also chiseled into the the shape of a coffin and covered in runes. It was something he had been working on for the phoenix's own corrupted home, but here was more immediate need and so it was deposited onto the ground and the duffel tossed aside alongside Marrik's coat and shirt revealing sun tanned skin contrasted with the pale white vertical scar at the center of his chest. Finally a pendant of twisted metal and purple stone was pulled off hastily and tossed aside. Was throwing his protection aside needed? Yes. Yes it was. He sprinted ahead, screaming wordlessly while using a burst of magic to leap high go try grabbing Toroko from behind. Anyone watching would have noticed his hands growing first ash, and then black. If he could latch on he could use his body as a conduit. This was not the corruption of his world. Would it work? Mimiga were not human. It did not matter. Nor did it matter Marrik was digging deep, possibly too deep. He had no choice. No more children. No more innocents. No! It ends! Not this one! Not today! 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Staren and Deelel continue to strike and dodge, slowly wearing down the immense strength of Rabid Toroko. Quote does his part too, though the damage he took has rendered the Polar Star less effective. He keeps using it, despite the beam being only about half-strength. The rocket launcher's far too lethal, the other weapons too imprecise. He's not much able to affect the outcome of the fight, but he also stays agile and avoids getting ripped into by another such rock.     Toroko continues her rock flinging, slowing but not stopping. She's still going strong when Marrik leaps on her, triggering his corruption drain. THAT finally affects her. Power, monstrous crimson power, leaks from her to him in a torrent. Toroko screams, a deep bellowing roar that shakes the warehouse. The shriek gets higher and higher in pitch as Toroko begins to shrink, weakening as the monstrous power is drained from her. Struggling, but the struggles weaken as Toroko does. The question is, how much corruption can Marrik's power drain? And how much can his crystal hold? 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' Vile and sweetness and above all else POWER whispered to Marrik as the corruption flowed through him. Strength enough to level mountains. Marrik let out a giggle as he held onto Toroko. It was not a healthy giggle either, and it was followed by laughter, howling insane laughter as his body channeled the stuff the red flower had been packed with. Why did he fight so? Did he not go to the coven for Power?Power enough that he could go home and beat anyone and anything into shape that stood between him and anything he wanted, Power enough to stop the political bickering holding everything back! That is what he had wanted wasn't it? power!- What about the girl? His mind faltered. She hadn't chosen that path. It had been /FORCED/. No. Wrong. Unclean! His mind fought back the tidal wave of corruption, wrangling it to the coffen that was rapidly growing darker and darker even as a faint pulsing red light glowed from somewhere inside. "TOROKO!" Marrik didn't know if he shouted or if it was in his mind. "I'm here to help! We can do this, but only if we work together!" His magic extended deeper into the monster Toroko had been consumed by to try reaching the girl that was. Was it enough though? He felt alive and free and he was doing what was right, but did he have enough left? After everything getting here and the grasslands before, did he have enough or would he it come down to fingertips touching before she fell? 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Toroko's struggles continue to weaken as crimson madness floods out of her, her unnatural strength fading fast. Marrik has to reach deep within himself, drawing on all his reserves. The evil infesting the Red Flowers, the madness and rage infesting the entire island, is quite literally unstoppable It has raged unchecked for a thousand years without weakening in the slightest. The flower itself shares only the smallest part of that power, but its corruption is a horrendous force to try to overcome.     The decision, however, is taken out of Marrik's hands. Toroko still hasn't returned to her normal size, though at this point she's no stronger than a burly human. Her struggles fade faster than her might however. She goes passive, going weak and collapsing to the ground. The strain of the Red Flowers tore at her muscles, her heart. The strain of sustaining life in such a massive body is not easily overcome, not by magic whose source is destructive. Mimiga all know... to eat the red flower is death. It doesn't matter if death comes at the hands of the enemy or if the enemy lies vanquished. Death will still surely come. To lie down and rest at the end of a battle involving the red flower, typically, is to rest forever.     Toroko's passing is almost peaceful. In the end, her gentle heart just couldn't take what she'd been forced to do.     Nearby however, King is getting stronger. If the healing used on him had been used on Toroko instead... but no. King's wounds were just that, wounds. Earned in battle, they could be treated. Toroko's death came from the crimson rage, not from battle wounds. If Ainsley had tried to heal Toroko instead of trying to save King, there would have been two Mimiga dead in this place instead of one. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel closes her eyes, deelel can not shead tears she does not have tear ducts after all. She moves to set a hand on Staren's shoulder and looks him. She's a creature born of science but it's an odd thing that might come out of her mouth. "I know... staren. Her sufferings over and she's somewhere better now. We ... need to focus on seeing she's the last." 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' Marrik was exausted. So much so that just looking beyond the mortal world was an effort, and even then all he could see were faint echos. "I'm sorry." He reached with shakey fingers to close Toroko's eyes. "Rest now. We'll finish what Arthur started." When he stood for a moment he looked decades older, tired and beaten. The moment passed however and when he shrugged his shirt and coat back on he still looked tired, but it was simple weariness from exertion rather than the weight of failure. "Staren." His voice was a bare whisper. "Carry her, we're not leaving her here." 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Quote, like the others here, hadn't really known Toroko. That doesn't matter though. The loss is bitter, particularly since it's clear how much the other Mimiga cared for the girl. He bears the shame of being one of the slower people, and of choosing to investigate the house rather than going full-speed down the other path. They couldn't have known, of course. There was no way to know in advance what the right path would be, or how much delay would be too much. It's only chooser's guilt affecting him now.     The Doctor has the seeds now, and Toroko's dead. King's alive however, barely so. He goes over to the Mimiga leader and to Ainsley, offering to help them back. A small blessing at least, though he's not sure King would agree. Still, it's not a total loss. Besides, this doesn't mean they can't try other means to stop the Doctor. All this does is fire Quote's determination to see this ended, one way or another. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren turns his blade aside but doesn't shut it off yet, clinging to Toroko as the corruption is pulled from her. And then she collapses...     His armor's sensors determine that it is too late. There is no breath, no heartbeat. "No!" He deactivates the blade, holsters it, and then teleports away with Toroko.     A couple of hours later, Staren walks back through the warpgate into the mimiga village, Toroko's body in his arms. He shakes his head at any who give questioning looks -- further pressing recieves a reply of "She's gone." His voice tinged with anger and sadness. He brings the body to King, handing her off or laying her to rest wherever he is asked. 

}}

Crimson Flower (Quote)

2014-09-26T02:58:39Z

MoreBeer:

{{Cutscene Header
|Date of Scene=2014/09/25
|Location=Sand Zone - Flying Island
|Synopsis=The Doctor finds what he is looking for, bare minutes ahead of the heroes trying to stop him. He decides to test out his new-found source of power.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=
|Tinyplot=Cave Story
}}
"Great Doctor." says the witch Misery, her eyes lowered humbly. "All the red flower seeds have been harvested."

The Doctor, towering over the witch, chortles malevolently. He's almost a comic figure, what with the discord of his lab coat, glasses and tie combined with the huge red eye on the towering demon crown. The only thing saving him from cartoon supervillainy is the undeniable aura of power and malevolence he radiates. "Good." he says. "By the way... the flowers still blooming over there. Are they the same demon flowers? Such an innocent-seeming thing to be so ominous."

"My Great Doctor..." Misery replies, the very picture of humility and meek servitude. "Would you like to eat one?" she asks, only allowing the barest hint of eagerness to show in her tone. She'd squash even that, but some things are beyond even her power.

"... No, that won't be necessary." replies the Doctor, amused at both the offer and at Misery's show of humility. To control even one so willful, so powerful, THAT is true power. "Why don't we sample it by using a Mimiga instead?"

This seems to cheer Misery up immensely. The witch's mouth opens up into a broad, manic smile. "Yes, I agree!" she says eagerly, waving her staff. A bubble appears, pops, and Toroko is revealed within it. Weak, possibly ill, Toroko moans helplessly. Then she lifts her head, looking around in puzzled confusion. "Huh? Here? Waaaaah!" she cries out, abruptly taking off in a run.

It's Toroko's greatest ability. She can evade King. She can avoid almost anyone when she gets up to speed. Any Mimiga can run, but Toroko takes it to the level of art. The door of the warehouse looms ahead, and there's nothing between her and freedom. She looks back, trying to judge any pursuit, but there's none. The Doctor and his loyal minion just stand there... not surprised, not distressed, just amused.

Suddenly Toroko runs into something that wasn't there a moment ago. "Hey! Where are you going?" cries Balrog, grinning fiercely. Toroko bounces off his armored flank, the sudden appearance of the massive robot denying her the bid for freedom. His smile's matched only by Misery's, still grinning cruelly. "Balrog. Make her eat a red flower." she says in a grim voice, entirely different from that manic grin.

Toroko's desperate struggle counts for little more than her protests. Balrog is just too overwhelming for the likes of the little Mimiga. "You got it!" he says, grabbing the little creature and dragging her towards the blooms. "Eat it! EAT IT!!!" he insists. Toroko has no chance, not against this, not against these enemies...

"Stop now!!" calls a single voice, harsh and furious. Seemingly out of nowhere, King leaps at Balrog's back, sword raised high. The blade comes down in a flash. It's almost comical. The Mimiga leader strikes a dramatic pose, robes flying, sword blurring, but that little blade's nowhere near as thick as Balrog's armor. King shouldn't stand a chance.... and yet he does. Metal shrieks and tears, shearing open the broad armor plating, exposing Balrog's vulnerable interior. In a panic, Balrog rockets off in a hasty retreat. One down.

King glares at the other two enemies, but takes a moment first. "Toroko, are you all right?" he asks, holding the little sword ready. "K... King...?" comes Toroko's weak voice. She's ... she's all right, isn't she? She's speaking...

Toroko turns her eyes up to look at King, desperate and terrified. Red eyes. The deep crimson color of the red flowers, of full corruption. Not her normal color of course. Not even the orange of King's own eyes which would show a potentially-survivable dose. Red, the color of hate and of blood. "Ooooh... my head..."

"No!!" King cries in denial. He knows what this means, of course. He doesn't want to believe it, but he knows. He was too late. All his efforts, slipping through the Sand Zone, trying desperately to intercept the enemy, only to miss his chance by moment. Yet the knowledge doesn't send him into despair. It only rouses his anger. Narrowing his eyes to the point where they almost shine red themselves, he glares upwards. He barely even sees Misery in the depths of rage and hate. "You're that Doctor!"

The Doctor seems amused, and not at all threatened by the Mimiga who just carved through an all but indestructible minion. "Indeed. I am the Doctor." he replies, making a mocking bow. "And your new leader. I should say it's a pleasure to finally meet you. Tell me, is there something you'd like to do with that sword of yours?"

"I'm going to kill you!!!" cries King, leaping to attack with all the power at his command, leading with that sword, focussed solely on his nemesis. Only to be caught by a blast of lightning striking down from clear air. Flying in the opposite direction, King hits a distant wall and crumples into a heap.

"Are they really so fragile without the crimson rage?" smirks the Doctor, unaffected by Misery's nearby lightning strike. Misery herself is nowhere to be seen, now, having risen into the air as she made her strike. She couldn't have allowed the attack to succeed. Obedient as she must be, she had no difficulty in striking down the Mimiga leader... nor any qualms in doing so. King was nothing to her. There are others... others with more possibility, others far more interesting and potentially useful.

King, lying broken by the warehouse entrance, hears a loud pounding noise. His heart? No... not that. Footsteps. Running footsteps. Too late once again, it seems. Just a few moments too late. Is it time now? Time... to finally rest? He did what he could. He defeated one of the enemies, and another's nowhere to be seen. All he can do now is to hope the outsiders can finish what he began, to avenge him and save his people.

Crimson Flower (Quote)

2014-09-26T02:57:32Z

MoreBeer: Created page with "{{Cutscene Header |Date of Scene=2014/09/25 |Location=Flying Island |Synopsis=The Doctor finds what he is looking for, bare minutes ahead of the heroes trying to stop him. He ..."

{{Cutscene Header
|Date of Scene=2014/09/25
|Location=Flying Island
|Synopsis=The Doctor finds what he is looking for, bare minutes ahead of the heroes trying to stop him. He decides to test out his new-found source of power.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=
|Tinyplot=Cave Story
}}
"Great Doctor." says the witch Misery, her eyes lowered humbly. "All the red flower seeds have been harvested."

The Doctor, towering over the witch, chortles malevolently. He's almost a comic figure, what with the discord of his lab coat, glasses and tie combined with the huge red eye on the towering demon crown. The only thing saving him from cartoon supervillainy is the undeniable aura of power and malevolence he radiates. "Good." he says. "By the way... the flowers still blooming over there. Are they the same demon flowers? Such an innocent-seeming thing to be so ominous."

"My Great Doctor..." Misery replies, the very picture of humility and meek servitude. "Would you like to eat one?" she asks, only allowing the barest hint of eagerness to show in her tone. She'd squash even that, but some things are beyond even her power.

"... No, that won't be necessary." replies the Doctor, amused at both the offer and at Misery's show of humility. To control even one so willful, so powerful, THAT is true power. "Why don't we sample it by using a Mimiga instead?"

This seems to cheer Misery up immensely. The witch's mouth opens up into a broad, manic smile. "Yes, I agree!" she says eagerly, waving her staff. A bubble appears, pops, and Toroko is revealed within it. Weak, possibly ill, Toroko moans helplessly. Then she lifts her head, looking around in puzzled confusion. "Huh? Here? Waaaaah!" she cries out, abruptly taking off in a run.

It's Toroko's greatest ability. She can evade King. She can avoid almost anyone when she gets up to speed. Any Mimiga can run, but Toroko takes it to the level of art. The door of the warehouse looms ahead, and there's nothing between her and freedom. She looks back, trying to judge any pursuit, but there's none. The Doctor and his loyal minion just stand there... not surprised, not distressed, just amused.

Suddenly Toroko runs into something that wasn't there a moment ago. "Hey! Where are you going?" cries Balrog, grinning fiercely. Toroko bounces off his armored flank, the sudden appearance of the massive robot denying her the bid for freedom. His smile's matched only by Misery's, still grinning cruelly. "Balrog. Make her eat a red flower." she says in a grim voice, entirely different from that manic grin.

Toroko's desperate struggle counts for little more than her protests. Balrog is just too overwhelming for the likes of the little Mimiga. "You got it!" he says, grabbing the little creature and dragging her towards the blooms. "Eat it! EAT IT!!!" he insists. Toroko has no chance, not against this, not against these enemies...

"Stop now!!" calls a single voice, harsh and furious. Seemingly out of nowhere, King leaps at Balrog's back, sword raised high. The blade comes down in a flash. It's almost comical. The Mimiga leader strikes a dramatic pose, robes flying, sword blurring, but that little blade's nowhere near as thick as Balrog's armor. King shouldn't stand a chance.... and yet he does. Metal shrieks and tears, shearing open the broad armor plating, exposing Balrog's vulnerable interior. In a panic, Balrog rockets off in a hasty retreat. One down.

King glares at the other two enemies, but takes a moment first. "Toroko, are you all right?" he asks, holding the little sword ready. "K... King...?" comes Toroko's weak voice. She's ... she's all right, isn't she? She's speaking...

Toroko turns her eyes up to look at King, desperate and terrified. Red eyes. The deep crimson color of the red flowers, of full corruption. Not her normal color of course. Not even the orange of King's own eyes which would show a potentially-survivable dose. Red, the color of hate and of blood. "Ooooh... my head..."

"No!!" King cries in denial. He knows what this means, of course. He doesn't want to believe it, but he knows. He was too late. All his efforts, slipping through the Sand Zone, trying desperately to intercept the enemy, only to miss his chance by moment. Yet the knowledge doesn't send him into despair. It only rouses his anger. Narrowing his eyes to the point where they almost shine red themselves, he glares upwards. He barely even sees Misery in the depths of rage and hate. "You're that Doctor!"

The Doctor seems amused, and not at all threatened by the Mimiga who just carved through an all but indestructible minion. "Indeed. I am the Doctor." he replies, making a mocking bow. "And your new leader. I should say it's a pleasure to finally meet you. Tell me, is there something you'd like to do with that sword of yours?"

"I'm going to kill you!!!" cries King, leaping to attack with all the power at his command, leading with that sword, focussed solely on his nemesis. Only to be caught by a blast of lightning striking down from clear air. Flying in the opposite direction, King hits a distant wall and crumples into a heap.

"Are they really so fragile without the crimson rage?" smirks the Doctor, unaffected by Misery's nearby lightning strike. Misery herself is nowhere to be seen, now, having risen into the air as she made her strike. She couldn't have allowed the attack to succeed. Obedient as she must be, she had no difficulty in striking down the Mimiga leader... nor any qualms in doing so. King was nothing to her. There are others... others with more possibility, others far more interesting and potentially useful.

King, lying broken by the warehouse entrance, hears a loud pounding noise. His heart? No... not that. Footsteps. Running footsteps. Too late once again, it seems. Just a few moments too late. Is it time now? Time... to finally rest? He did what he could. He defeated one of the enemies, and another's nowhere to be seen. All he can do now is to hope the outsiders can finish what he began, to avenge him and save his people.

525/Cave Story 2: Seeking Sue

2014-09-25T00:34:04Z

MoreBeer: Undo revision 5365 by AncientGorilla (talk)

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2014/09/01
|Location=Flying Island
|Synopsis=Our adventurers learn where Sue Sakamoto might have gone, and advance into the unknown in search of her.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=3, 8, 42, 151, 234, 279, 304, 403, 437, 512, 525, 541
|Tinyplot=Cave Story
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:''' "Welcome, friends." the robot says, smiling. Again, the smile seems genuine but it's not clear whether that's because he's cleverly programmed to appear genuine or whether he's actually showing emotion. "I know you've been... sent to find that girl, Sue Sakamoto. I checked with all the Mimiga and she hasn't been seen in days. Not since before the Doctor and his minions attacked." he explains. "She was staying with Toroko and Arthur, and with Toroko ... gone, no one could get inside the house. Well, I found a key up by Arthur's grave. Maybe Toroko dropped it at some point. Well, I came in, found some messages on the computer, and decided to follow the teleporter to see if Sue was on the other side."     He leads people into Arthur's house, then to the transporter. "Follow me." he encourages, before hopping up onto the pad and shimmering into nonexistence.     The teleport pad shimmers, taking everyone in turn into the Egg Corridor. As the portal distortion fades, a new set of caverns can be seen. Unlike Mimiga Village, this chamber seems quite artificial. Where Mimiga Village was hewn from what appears to be a natural cave, this cavern appears to be deliberately and mechanically constructed.     Behind and below the portal pad, an opening leads downward into a close, confining dark tunnel. There is a hint of movement below, a certain rush of feet moving quite a bit faster than any normal person or creature is likely to run. Ominous, but then there seems to be plenty of life within this cavern. In the distance, hoppers twitch and bounce along the rooftop runway down the cavern. Huge creatures, looking like boar the size of elephants, placidly wallow and graze. They will, however, charge anyone who comes near their grazing areas. Hoppers will attack by bouncing whenever anyone comes close to them, aiming to bounce into targets or smash someone flat. Occasional giant beetles fly, particularly in the narrower well-protected sections of the cavern, angrily defending their nesting grounds. Even above the teleport pad there's movement, a vague flash of green that might resemble a human.     Quote gestures around. "As you can see, it looks a little dangerous. Something seems to have enraged the creatures here. I can't imagine a human child going through this place alone with all this..." he waves a hand vaguely, gesturing at the creatures about. "Not unless she was quite capable at least. And if she is, there's probably no rush. But if we can find her, you can offer her a way out. I thought you'd be interested in joining me, exploring." he suggests. 

:'''{{#var:234|Lu-Mey (234)}} has posed:'''     Of course the Union would be present, coming to the aid of others for their altruistic reasons, but not everyone here is so giving in nature. A reward was promised, and frankly as is ever the case with giant floating islands, they're probably rife with who knows what kinds of grand magic and technology to acquire and... Re-allocate.     Thusly, the current and only Confederate envoy to the floating island arrives, sidling right in through the teleporter and sauntering along like she owns the place, Lu-Mey suddenly just drapes herself over Quote's shoulders like she owns him, too, a complete and blatant disregard for anything even CLOSE to personal space.     "Ooooh you found the key~? Well isn't that proactive of you~." 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' The details of events leading up to this were fuzzy to Marrik. For him all that mattered was there was a missing child and at the mention of caves he packed what he thought was appropriate for the situation. Instead he found himself confronted not with a natural cave harness and line was intended for, but instead artificial and� Apparently populated. "So something has the critters stirred up," He didn't know what 'normal' was for here so shots in the dark. "Human girl?" A frown formed on his face as he reached out with his senses to see if any human spirits were in the cavern. Unlike when he called the dead in the two battles he had to in Invalice this was a whisper rather than command. Him seeing if anyone was home. Also unlike those times before he was hoping to not hear anything. A 'nobody was home' would tell him the girl was still alive. Metaphorical crickets chirped at his call and Marrik smiled as he pulled his hand back. "I do not know where she is, but if she's here she's alive." This to nobody in particular and seemingly intended for anyone else that had joined in the search. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     This time, Staren is armored up. Some people are probably used to seeing that by now... Just how long is he going to stay a mighty robot? Well, noone's asked.     Staren leads Inga through the warpgate, looking around briefly to see that nothing much has changed. He nods and listens to Quote's retelling, and then... Um, okay, he's a bit lost as to why Sue would go to this place, but okay...     The artificiality strikes him. This doesn't look like the work of the Mimigas, nor the mysterious mage. "Who /built/ this?" Then he remembers that the Doctor's other minion appeared mechanical. "The 'Doctor'?"     Staren looks down the corridor, taking it all in and scratching his head. 'Well,' he says softly, 'I don't see a body...'     Staren thinks for a moment. "She can't have made it by those monsters. We should check for hiding places nearby." First, he makes his way up to the mysterious green figure. "Hey! I mean, um... Hello! Did you see someone come through here before us? ...And who are you?" 

:'''{{#var:525|Inga (525)}} has posed:''' Inga would rather forget the way she clung to Staren's arm as they went through the teleporter, her eyes wide with terror, her mouth set in a thin line as she struggled to cling to her dignity. She does manage not to scream, though she does grumble about the whole business once they are through. "Almost makes me prefer those cars...why does all transportation have to be so terrifying?" she sighs, smoothing the fabric of her embroidered wool dress. The long sleeves of her underdress have been cut short out of necessity--they'd been to bloodstained to save. A missing girl. Even in a strange land, a missing little girl is something she will help with. Her skills might actually prove usefull. Inga eyes the beasts, nodding at the warning. She clutches her wooden staff in hand, leaning on it slightly, eyes narrowing slightly toward the way ahead. Inga looks toward the one who seems to be leading this mission. Inga clears her throat; "Is there any object that was the girl's perhaps? I could possibly use it to help find her," she asks. A women appears then, and throws herself at the Quote. Inga merely raises an eyebrow. She then looks toward Marrik, lips pursing thoughtfully, wondering just how he knew the girl was alive. Obviously, Inga hopes as much. 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' Interesting little info dump, thinks Black Arachnia as she listens to the more human-looking robot summarizing the situation. If only more briefings were that short, sweet, and to the point. Admittedly, there's also a lot of information that Quote *didn't* cover with that brief precis, but you can't have everything. "I don't suppose you kept copies of those files for other cybernetics to review?" she asks Quote once we're in the Egg Corridor ... and as she takes in the surroundings, she makes a decision. "Beast mode." And with that, the initially(?)-humanoid robot reconfigures herself into the form of a very large cybernetic-looking spider. She may not be able to get all of her traversing done this way, but being a giant spider might be more conducive to sneaking along without picking fights than staying in humanoid configuration. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     This particular crisis is something Ainsley is new to. The robot's welcome gets a look of mild surprise from her, and more when he explains what they're all here for. She nods at him once as everyone heads inside of the house... briefly she contemplates what magic affinity she should focus on, frowning. A frown that grows in size when Lu-Mey's presence is recognized, and she starts acting creepy toward Quote.     She stares at Lu-Mey for a while but she's not quite sure why. Instinct just makes her feel oddly hostile toward the oni woman. She brushes that off as a simple dislike of people being clingy with people they don't know very well.     "I will check up ahead," she tells the others, once everyone has arrived. She spares a glance at Lu-Mey and then Black Arachnia, as if distracted. She nods at Quote once, and then begins marching forward at something of a careful pace. She's got a reasonable handle on the path ahead, thanks to her visual abilities, so it's unlikely she'll get caught by surprise. She just tries to hop over any gaps and obstacles along the way, climbing and bouncing. If no one goes with her, she might just disappear into the tunnel ahead.     She's avoiding using her flight in here because it might cause arcing and that would zap any nearby electronics, of which she is certain are present in a place that looks so artificially built. 

:'''{{#var:3|Roll (3)}} has posed:'''     Roll's used to teleporting, but not quite like this. Following along, and finding herself in a vast artificial cavern, the Robot Master blinks a few times. She's not yet armed herself, though, being fairly unwilling to bring violence around towards anything without a really good reason. And since all the things out there are living creatures right now? She's pretty hesitant to bring out any weapons!     So instead, she's sticking near Quote. "Me neither. It's like a zoo without cages! All these beasts...? But if she didn't get past them, we'd... we'd find evidence, right? Blood? Clothes? ... Something...?" She's squicked and a little horrified at the thought, but proof that NOTHING got her means that she made it through. Probably.     She's sticking close to Quote at the moment, standing behind him and looking around. "Have you remembered anything yet? Your name, maybe?" 

:'''{{#var:512|Kanade Tachibana (512)}} has posed:'''     Kanade is here, despite being completely absent from the preceding radio conversation. It's not that she doesn't see the value in communicating, she just... rarely has much to say, and showing up is probably the most clear way of saying 'I'm here to help' anyway. The other members of the group might magically start to notice her shortly before they are met by the robot, but she promptly fades back out of existence to listen to some exposition. There's no real need for greetings here -- she doesn't know anybody. And it's probably best kept that way.     But still, she's here for those 'altruistic reasons', and she wants to help people, so she is judiciously attentive to all of the information delivered by the mechanical envoy. Dangerous creatures, they say? She mumbles the call words for the summoning of her blade as, in a soft but bright glint of shimmering magic not unlike that of the teleporter, a blade comes to rest on the back of her hand. She's ready for these 'dangerous creatures'.     ... and she has no intention of letting any cute bunny people get abducted today. The last visit already had enough heartbreak for her. And on that note, she sees fit to waste no more time while someone is lost. She heads out from the group and walks along the lifeless, metallic pathway, doing her best to avoid the 'nesting places' of the various organisms about. She might come dangerously close to them a few times, but fortunately, she notices this proximity and draws out her wings so that she may get more distance from them in the sky. Whether or not she had already riled them beforehand remains to be seen, though. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel has returned once more looking more or less the same as she did before. She's following after Arthur light staff in hand as she goes. She's not talking much and more taking in the other people whom arrived as they head down below her staff's kept unpowerd for the moment however she's getting the idea this is going to be quite the run. 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:'''      It seemed like a girl was missing. And there were some cute bunny creatures involved. And robots. And her mother wanted to come. So, Annie decided it would be a good idea to join the others on this expedition. From the looks of things, the only things currently in their way are mindless-looking creatures. If she had to get in a fight, then, this would be the kind of place where she might not mind so much. She's sticking close to Maxine, however, hoping they can keep each other safe and out of trouble. 

:'''{{#var:279|Maxine Sandberg (279)}} has posed:''' Maxine's not bothered about going through the the teleporter. Still, she might not be the best person for this she isn't exactly the athletic type. She wants to help regardless though and is curious about the technology of this place. It would likely be best for her to keep close to everyone else. Especially Annie. Thought her daughter was likely better suited for this place. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Quote flinches away from Lu-Mey, looking quite uncomfortable indeed. Who'd have thought a robot would have a sense of personal space? Still, he doesn't know the first thing about the Multiversal War. Lu-Mey is as much his friend as Staren, Roll and the others. He assumes, with good reason, that she's here for the same reasons as the rest. Of course, that's mostly because he's only a few days old. It's pretty easy to be gullible when you have absolutely no perspective.     Instead of responding to the too-forward actions of the oni, he tries to focus on Black Arachnia. Her transformation is a bit disturbing, but not enough to make him upset. "Ah... I really don't know?" he shrugs, possibly trying to use the motion to get clear of Lu-Mey. "I don't remember anything past a few days ago. My memory appears to be corrupted, so I wouldn't suggest trying to interface. The records are on the computer though, in the house we passed through?" Arachnia can download files if she wants. As for actual video of the scenes... perhaps Staren has them. "I still don't really know what my name is." he says to Roll. "Quote or Curly Brace, I suppose." he shrugs.     Above the party, Staren confronts a greenish goblinoid. The creature blinks huge white eyes at him. "Looking for someone? There's things passing by all the time. Such as the Basil below. Don't go near it, if you know what's good for you. It's quite deadly." the oddly-misnamed Cthulhu says in a squeaky voice. It's entirely friendly, if a bit weird. "No one's been through here today that I know of, sorry."     Those who go off into the cavern, things get a bit hairy quickly. Flying giant beetles are a menace, and are quite aggressive to anything that isn't part of their natural ecosystem. Closer to the ground, the hoppers are just plain aggressive to anything not the size of an elephant. And as for the elephant-like things, they're prone to aggressively charge anything that gets near them as a matter of course. This is NOT a friendly place! 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren listens to this. Cthulhu seems a tad cryptic. There are plenty of questions, but Staren focuses on the most urgent one: "Well has anyone come through in the last week? Human or Mimiga?" 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' Giant cybernetic spiders tend not to be part of any 'natural' ecosystem ... unless it's Cybertron or a similarly 'natural machine life-forms' world. On the plus side, Black Arachnia isn't really in the beetles' airspace - but those who look like they have hostile designs on the Maximal will find out that she has a simple, three-point plan for dealing with them: 1) Launch her mandible grapnel at the attacker 2) Whip the attacker into the nearest halfway convenient rock face, reeling them in to help with the whipping 3) Leech some nutrients from the body and let it fall. (Preferably right on Lu-Mey's head, but she won't go out of her way for it.) Sure, she has lasers, but they're not really positioned for convenient use in her spider mode ... and she doesn't feel like switching back to robot mode just to shoot it out with the local fauna. On the other hand, if enough beetles start homing in on her simultaneously that her mandible-whip trick isn't going to keep up, she may not have a choice. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     The Cthulhu responds to Staren. "Well, yes. A Mimiga came through, a short time before everything got exciting. Oh my... you don't suppose she DID something, do you?" 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley quickly encounters a problem. She is being attacked by pretty much everything in the tunnel at once, which would be a great deal more hazardous if she did not have the level of visibility that she does. She casts little crackling bolts of lightning at the beetles that fly at her, zapping them out of the air with a loud POP of their chitin and a cloud of dust. The hoppers get a similar treatment, with various zaps and at least one just gets punched in the face as it hops at her, sending it slamming into the floor.     However, she is largely avoiding trying to take all of them. There's no reason to fight all of the wildlife in this place, so she ducks under any hoppers that she doesn't have to hurt in order to advance. It's only the stray beetle here and there that really interrupts her.     The elephant things she avoids by hopping over them with a burst of her flight aura, keenly avoiding any direct conflict they might represent. 

:'''{{#var:525|Inga (525)}} has posed:''' Inga is about to say something to Ainsley, but then the woman starts moving forward on her own. Inga lets out a sigh. This is apparently something she does. Inga will attempt to catch up to her if she can, after Quote answers her question anyway. If she had something that belonged to the girl, she could perhaps gain insight. A vision might be had. If not, she can still cast the runes and see what they tell her. Suddenly, one of the peoeple is no longer a person--but a giant spider creature. Inga practically trips over herself trying to get back, eyes widening as she curses under her breath. She reaches for the knife at her belt. It would seem however, that the creature is with them, as no one is attacking. Alright, well. There are all manner of things in the world...suppose this isn't any worse than anything else she's seen. Inga spots a coupld of familiar figues and waves to Maxine and Annie, smiling slightly as she moves toward the two. "Good to see you both again...perhaps we should stick together?" she asks. Staren has gone...somewhere, and Ainsley took off without even waiting for her to cast a ward. Though she supposes Ains is capable of making her own. "I can help to protect you from the things in here. Don't be alarmed," she says, pulling her knife from her belt. Without a moment's hesitation she takes the knife to her opposite arm and slices deep. Blood wells immediately, then is flicked from the blade toward Maxine and Annie, forming into a fine crimson mist that surrounds them both, envigorating and protecting them from at least some of the potential damage from incoming attacks. As no one seems to have anything from the missing girl, Inga sheaths her knife then reaches for one of the pouches at her waist. She reaches in and pulls out several bone-white object carved with futhark runes. She opens her palm to see if the runes have any insight into the situation. 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' Oh hey GIANT SPIDER WITH BIG GIANT FANGS! Marrik shrugged at the big spider before looking around. Occupational hazard when living in a troll market full of creepy things and living near the largest deepest hole in the multiverse. "OK, I came in expecting a more natural cave." His attention was drawn to Igna and he nodded once. "Still, anyone need anything before we-" Frown as Ainsley disappeared up ahead. He said nothing because he's seen just how well she could take care of herself and instead shrugged before focusing on the radio chatter via his pixie casting appropriate magics to keep him patched in. Sure something like the Union's common channels needed more complex magics, but here seemed just fine to patch into. It also proved educational on the mindsets of his fellow searchers. When he saw Black Arachnia climbing up the walls he grinned, "Good thinking! Just Uh I don't think giant spiders are kid friendly." He grunted and started forward, just as the local critters got stirred up. His staff was pulled from apparently up his sleeve and green runes glowed along its length just in time to smack a beetle that tried divebombing him. As soon as the beetle touched the staff it withered and decayed enough that its momentum caused the now dessicated corpse to crumble to dust against the wood. He spun to do the same to a hopper and saw Inga slice her arm open. Blood magic? Not a route he considered, but noteworthy. Trouble is the bugs kept his attention too much to be bothered with more than a vague sense he'd want to talk to this woman later 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren was expecting the guy to say no, noone had come through. A human-turned-mimiga kid /can't/ have made it through all this... right? Unless she's an elite... but then, perhaps the animals were peaceful before. "And how long ago did things get 'exciting'?"     Whatever the goblin's reply, Staren's wings are out and he drops by anyone still on the starting platform only long enough to say, "A mimiga came through here!" before he's off like a shot, flying down the corridor. He draws a federation phaser from his bag, and a little silvery wire snakes out of his wrist and plugs into it to provide power.     Staren speeds after Ainsley. He can fly over the elephant things and the hoppers, so any beetles that get past Ainsley get faces full of stun shots.     Could Sue still be here? If so, he hopes they can find her before some particularly inquisitive animal does... somehow, he wouldn't be surprised if there's just another teleporter at the end of all this, though 

:'''{{#var:234|Lu-Mey (234)}} has posed:'''     "Aaaaaaaaaa[[User:MoreBeer|MoreBeer]] ([[User talk:MoreBeer|talk]])<3"     That sudden, shrill, excited, and delighted squeal comes from Lu-Mey. She seems to entirely forget Quote when Black Arachnia takes on her mechanical arachnid form. Machine or not, the design seems to be one that sets the Oni off. And not in the way most people normally are when they see that mode.     Ah, but she only vaguely pays attention to Cthulhu. No one's been this way lately is still no means to not meander along, and she follows with the others, up until she suddenly... Sidesteps the corpse dropped on her. It's the NEXT beetle that she leaps up with a giggle and GRABS at it, hugging it to her chest and just blatantly ignoring the fact that it bites her throat clean open. Despite the horrible red mist of arterial spray, she squeezes it to her chest. "Oh gods they're so cute though. I'll name this one Ranchiki!" She squeals while slinging it under her arm and just holding it despite all the fight it puts up and how badly it starts mauling her. Most people would be dead by now.     "Ranchiki, you stop that!" She chides, stabbing the insect with a paralytic toxin and just... Not minding the fact that she is now bathed in her own blood, wounds slowly re-knitting themselves with the wiggle of white worms squirming inside the grievous lacerations and chomp-marks until she is back to being entirely, and perfectly fine.     And then she looks RIGHT AT AINSLEY. Two fingers point to her eyes. Then one to Ainsley. 

:'''{{#var:279|Maxine Sandberg (279)}} has posed:''' Fighting their way through likely wouldn't be the best idea if they can avoid. Maxine always prefer a non-violent solution but trying to reason with the animals and insects was likely impossible. She's not going to argue with Inga's offer of protection but she looks a bit concerned when the woman cuts herself. She takes advantage of the mist and starts running passing the odd creatures doing her best to try and not draw too much attention to herself. She shields herself as she does so, researching some kind of forcefield technology might not be a bad idea in the future. 

:'''{{#var:3|Roll (3)}} has posed:'''     "Well... I'll call you Quote then! Curly anything doesn't sound too guy-like!" Roll has clearly never seen the Three Stooges, but oh well. She beams up at Quote... only to ALSO flinch away upon realizing Lu-Mey's just RIGHT UP THERE with them both. She skitters away, without quite being sure why the Oni makes her so nervous.     Even more nervous with all these creatures around now than before, Roll just... sticks close to quote, while looking around for anything out of place. She's MUCH, much happier when Lu-Mey goes skittering off. It's like a pressure valve just got released! Her shoulders slump. "Whew... what's her problem...?" 

:'''{{#var:512|Kanade Tachibana (512)}} has posed:'''     Once she's airborne, Kanade stares back down at the ground to make sure one of those fury elephants isn't following her. But of course, one of them is... at least with its eyes. the hoppers can jump, but not exactly fly, and where she is right now she's probably at a safe range. So with little more than a short staring contest between the two, the hopper leaves Kanade be, likely focusing instead on one of the immediate threats to its life. The girl emits a small breath. She's just glad that she didn't have to kill it, really.     But unfortunately, those turquoise cows aren't the only trouble she has to contend with. No, no -- as soon as she turns around, she's assailed by a swarm of three beetles. Much to her surprise, they just come careening at her! She has to strafe out of the way, narrowly avoiding being hit by the one leading the charge. By the time they swoop in for another attempt, though, Kanade is ready for them. She has summoned another hand sonic blade on to her other arm, and is holding them both in front of herself now, making a sort of X-shaped shield. When they come close, Kanade uses the blunt sides to whack two of the insipid insectoids as they collide with the third and fall collectively as a heap to the ground. But even then, they don't die; they're just incapacitated.     Kanade Tachibana: Wouldn't even hurt a fly. Well, wouldn't -kill- a fly, anyway.     And the coast is clear afterwards, for a spell, so she alights on a steel outcropping looking over another artificial valley. She gives Lu-Mey a passing glance... before herself letting her eyes wander back to the small bug-heap that she left in her wake. 'Cute?'. She tilts her head. Maybe a little.     ... she meanders over to pet one. You know, because she can. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel is looking to Quote and then to Lu-Mey she not sure she should sterp in there. However she does wonder about it either way she listen to Quote and drowns a bit. "I agree it would be bad to go about your head without your spechs it could be fatal to be honest." She looks bck to see the monsters ahead she looks at it for a moment as the thing warnds them. "Thanks for the heads up." She heads intro the cavern and is putting her staff to use to gun down the hostile creatures. 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:''' Annie continues to stay close to Maxine, also looking fairly unnerved by the ward. But it doesn't seem to be causing any problems for her systems, and it does make it easier to keep the creatures from pursuing too closely as she runs. She does occasionally have to veer out of the way of a beetle, and occasionally even swats one forcefully away like, well, a bug. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Quote advances into the cave, following Ainsley, Staren, Arachnia and Kanade. His little beam-gun is drawn, and he's quick enough to deal with the few threats that make it past them without getting stunned or fried. Except for the boar-elephants that is. Those he just jumps over. They're absolutely no threat to anyone who can jump or fly, and he sees no reason to pew pew something just because it's defending its nest, or lair, or whatever. And no, he's surely not advancing just to get away from Lu-Mey now that she's distracted! Surely not! He's a brave scout robot, and charging into danger is entirely his thing. Perhaps even charging into battle on the back of a giant boar-elephant. If, that is, he could figure out a way to make it turn. Sigh, badass as that'd be, it's probably impractical. He continues on, shaking his head at some of the things he's picking up. He's glad he invited these people along... this would be a lot harder alone. But it might also be kind of less troubling.     The Cthulhu shrugs. "We don't get many visitors here. I'd say it's been... a day? Two? Hard to tell the passing of time. I slept through most of it." it says apologetically. "Er... good luck?" it offers, as Staren flies off.     The cave is long and fairly simple to navigate, at least at the start. From the building marked with a 16, the group advances fairly easily. 15, 14, 13, 12...     Ahead, out of sight behind some pipes, a voice cries out. A young piping voice "There you are, you monster! You don't scare me!" There's a hint of motion, but nothing really can be seen of the 'monster' or the one who's shouting. A voice calls out though, deeper, powerful... LOUD. "GRAAAWR!" the voice bellows, a sound that seems to shake the entire cavern. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "A day or two? How can she only be this far?" Staren wonders. In response to the voice... he makes a beeline for it! He needs to see this situation and sort out what's going on. Maybe Sue is an elite capable of taking care of herself, who knows? Maybe this isn't even Sue... 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     The squabbling between Sue and whatever she is confronting reaches Ainsley's ears, and the lizard girl immediately understands that there isn't much time to sit and think about what to do next. She begins hopping with a certain urgency from spot to spot, blithely overlooking most threats in her way at the time. It's only the ones that are, again, right up in her grill that she bothers dealing with.     At this point she is just using her bare hands to zap anything in her way. Zzzzap!     She tries to reach Sue with all the speed she can muster. She forgets about whatever reasoning she had for not flying, and uses her flight to advance. She does not want the girl to get eaten or killed, if she can do anything to stop it! 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' Marrik gave an exasperated sigh at Lu-May's antics between bouts of going forward and sucking the life out of anything that came within staff range. Sure these didn't have a lot of life, but every little bit added to his power. Plus all they had to do was die for him to get to use it. Never mind everyone else did more killing, he still benefited. Anyone sensitive to the flow of life would be able to feel the flow from everything that died go towards the thin red headed staff wielder. The squeaky voice and cave shaking that followed prompted Marrik to start running. things that tried attacking him died. No staff or hand slapping away. They just died. He was mentally readying a web of forces as his right hand made a series of gestures. The girl was close and she was being attacked. He wasn't able to attack whatever it was because he couldn't see it, but he had power enough now to cast a spell ahead and at the roof of the cavern. It was no attack, and it was made to help his gardening. Sunlight started to impossibly shine down from on high seemingly with no source. It was as if someone managed to cut the roof of the cave off, dump daylight in, and close the cave without making the sunshine go away. It wasn't much, but it might be a distraction to whatever's up ahead. Combine that with a low rumble preceding his now amplified voice, "YOU WILL LEAVE THIS PLACE IMMEDIATELY. I GIVE THIS ONE CHANCE. WALK AWAY. NOW." 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' That's not a terribly good set of sounds to hear when you're on a rescue mission, is it? Black Arachnia launches her mandible grapnel again, trying to latch onto a stalactite or other outcropping from the ceiling, and swings down, along, and back up - and twists around to repeat the process as well as she can. She may not be the first person in the group to reach the confrontation in progress, but she sure doesn't plan to be the *last* one ... and once she's got a sense of the situation, she can intervene better than she'd be able to out of ignorance. 

:'''{{#var:512|Kanade Tachibana (512)}} has posed:'''     Lu-Mey is pretty loud, so it shouldn't come as any surprise that her voice is what gets Kanade to look away from the buggy that she's petting, and to glance at her. But for once? She doesn't give a headtilt. This lady is obviously calling attention to something only true appreciators of the adorable can understand. And so, the infinite combustion engines of time and space churn to signify the creation of an invisible and abundantly significant social link. Because this is totally not superficial, and totally not something both of them will forget ever happened within minutes. To express this kinship, Kanade responds with the most deep and heartfelt gesture that her stoic demeanor can allow for: A thumbsup. Bugsbugsbugs.     Her affection for the almost complete stranger duly communicated, Kanade continues on, deftly avoiding any other threats along her path. The numbers on the buildings descend almost as swiftly -- actually, exactly as swiftly -- as she travels before finally, she hears a not-quite-distant cry. Words! Though she can't see whatever is happening, Kanade quickens her pace yet more, attempting to come to the aid of the one fighting off the 'monster'. If she is able to arrive in time, she would place herself in-between the attacked and the attacker, brandishing her blades in warning. If she doesn't... well. In that contingency, she'll figure things out depending on what said evil creature does next. 

:'''{{#var:279|Maxine Sandberg (279)}} has posed:''' Maxine's concerned as she hears that but she's not the type to rush blindly into danger. She lets the others stay ahead of her figuring they can handle this better than she can. Plus everyone charging in at once could lead to trouble. She stops a moment to catch her breath before continuing on. Going into combat while winded wasn't the best idea either. 

:'''{{#var:234|Lu-Mey (234)}} has posed:'''     There is no joke in saying that Lu-Mey has the attention span of a concussed gnat. The truth is she doesn't even seem to notice that Quote is trying to get away from her as fast as sanely possible- which is a perfectly normal reaction when in her presence.     And then she flashes thumb up and a -huge- toothy grin at Kanade.     Unfortunately she hugs Ranchiki a little too hard and cracks its carapice causing it to go SQUISH in a very nasty manner. "A-AH! RANCHIKI! NOOOOOOOOOO!" 

:'''{{#var:3|Roll (3)}} has posed:'''     Roll's been following Quote, but upon hearing all that noise... "That sounds like..." A person?! Is it Sue?! ... has she been in here for maybe a day? Who knows anymore... Roll's not gonna worry about it. Breaking away from Quote, she goes into a mad dash forwards! "You're not alone down here!" She calls out at top volume! 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel is also in the cave here keeping with Quote and evceryone else. She's making fast work of the monsters. She's can jmp pretty darn well too from the looks of things as she goes. She sees a sshe gets past the monster and soon she hears something ahead. Oh this does not sound good /at/ all here. She moirphs her staff into gun mode and gets ready to fight. "...here we go..." 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:''' "Sounds like... something big," Annie comments at the sound of the roar. She pauses beside Maxine, taking her hand to comfort her mother. "It looks like the others are going in to fight. We should get that person who's in trouble to safety!" With that, she lets go and rushes in to see what she might be able to do to help. 

:'''{{#var:525|Inga (525)}} has posed:''' Inga moves forward as quickly as she can, but running is just not something that is possible for the woman. Her uneven gait quickens some, but she's still likely to be one of the last to arrive on scene. The girl's scream sets a fire in her though. Everyone who has rushed ahead is ready and able to take out the threat and protect the girl she is sure, but can any of them treat injuries? This she doesn't know, but she hopes she gets there in time if those particular skills are needed. "If anyone is injured, I can help!" she calls, just to establish this. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     No one is immediately within sight of what happens next, as it follows immediately after the bellow. Still, a description of the events because some things need to be seen, even if only cutscened...     The monster in question looks sort of like a Mimiga with vivid red eyes and pointy fangs. Also it's huge, its head about the size of the adolescent Mimiga. Incongruously it wears green pants with the legs torn and tattered, and a green tie though it lacks a shirt. Were one particularly genre-savvy, one might imagine it looks a lot like the Hulk after sudden massive enlargement. The little Mimiga looks... well, it's a Mimiga. A small bunny-like creature wearing a blue pull-over. The difference in size would almost be comic if it weren't ominous.     Following the monster's bellow, the frail-seeming Mimiga roars right back. "WHAT! You want some of this?!?" she says, raising fists and smirking cockily. "Take your best shot! Even my big brother has never beaten me!"     The monster seems to understand, and advances on the Mimiga, lashing out with one immense paw. The Mimiga staggers with a squeak. "Ouch! Y-you got me!" The monster isn't finished however, punching again. By this point the little Mimiga is sobbing in pain. "Sorry! I'M SORRY!" No reply though, except another punch that knocks the little one sprawling. She IS tough however, surprisingly so. Despite devastating hits from a creature that could probably knock down a building, the Mimiga is merely moaning and cowering. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Igor doesn't respond to what's happened so far, not to the light, not to the shouts, not to the charging people. He has eyes only for the little helpless mimiga who apparently thought she could take him. 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' The Maximal spider doesn't shed any more speed than she absolutely has to - particularly when the situation goes from 'one girl against one monster' to 'one monster beating up a helpless body'. Black Arachnia may not consider herself particularly heroic, but she's not really a huge fan of letting the weak be trampled by the strong. She takes advantage of her momentum from swinging her way here, calculates the arc coming out of her last swing and flip, and twists around on the way down to try and land hard on Igor's back - And immediately attempts to sink her palps into the giant's neck or upper back, and inject a broad-spectrum tranquilizer version of her cybervenom. .... which is when she realizes the flaw in her cunning plan: *getting off of the thing's back*. Oops. Well, she has the 'stupid' part of 'heroic' down, she thinks sardonically as she clings to her unintended mount and hopes not to get in the way of her allies' attacks. This monster's pretty big, there should be plenty for them to shoot that she won't block. Right? 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     The sound of squeaking impacts is something Ainsley immediately understands. Someone is getting their butt kicked by a great big beast. She flies as fast as she can, and only gets there after Igor has struck Sue several times. She spares a glance at the sprawled Mimiga, and then at Igor, and then Sue again--     She doesn't even think. She swoops in and tries to land, staggering. She runs to try to get to the tiny rabbit girl, hoping that she can provide a bit of healing magic to her in case she got anything broken from the beatdown she just received. The swap in mana affinity makes it impossible for Ainsley to fly anymore, though, dispersing some static electricity into the ground harmlessly. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren flies down towards the two of them. "Sue! Sue, is that you?" Once he comes in view of Igor's face, he says, "Alright, you, prepare to--" He stops and stares. "...A Mimiga? What... who are you? What are you doing?" Briefly, he's surprised into not dashing immediately for Sue. 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' When Marrik managed to get in sight of Sue, a giant red eyed mimigas stood a ways off and Sue was down. The whole sunshine thing had been an attempt at getting it's attention and failed. So what? He couldn't get between girl and monster in time so he instead focused his power into a single projected instance of kenetic force aimed at the creature's chest. it would feel something like a ham sized fist hitting if Marrik's aim was true. Trouble is he's rarely done this at range, instead usually preferring to use his fist or staff as focus. Projecting the magic itself without a physical focus was hard, and anyone looking at Marrik would see him making a single forward punch with one foot sliding at the same time as his fist. If it killed the beast so be it, but he hoped to simply knock it out. Why not aim at it's head? It's surprisingly easy to break someone's neck if they get hi the wrong way. except Black Arachnia had gotten on the creature's back. Maybe he should have aimed for it's legs? Too late now! 

:'''{{#var:3|Roll (3)}} has posed:'''     Roll can only wince. Horribly. At what she sees. The Mimiga seem tougher than most humans, and deserve some credit for that. But against THAT thing? "No, no chance...!" But Sue charges in anyways, and takes a whalloping.     Roll acts immediately. Without summoning up her armor, she extends a hand... and it transforms quickly into the Mega Buster - but colored grey?     *GWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOPP!!* Huge glops of concrete launch from it after a preliminary spin-up. Super quick-drying concrete suitable for the heaviest-duty industrial construction Dr. Light could ever imagine - and that is quite industrial, knowing him.     Most of it's aimed at Igor's legs. Hopefully, he'll get stuck in place. Or maybe trip. Roll's just trying to foul up his movement, not eviscerate him! 

:'''{{#var:512|Kanade Tachibana (512)}} has posed:'''     Despite her best efforts, Kanade still arrives a bit later than some, and much later than Black Arachnia who is already on Igor's back by the time she gets there. So instead of charging as she did the last time something like this happened, she trusts in the strength of the others, and goes instead to Sue and Ainsley. She glances back at the lizard girl -- a nod and a look that says 'I'll be here', nothing more. And there she stays, keeping her hand-blades crossed over her chest as she had with the bugs before. Just in case Igor is able to break through the group and get to Sue, she'll be right in his way.     ... but something does catch her eye. Like the others have said, it looks a lot like a mimiga itself. Just... bigger.     And sort of unhealthy. 

:'''{{#var:279|Maxine Sandberg (279)}} has posed:''' The rabbit girl certainly is cute, but it looks like she could use some help. "Stay away from her!" Maxine's motherly instincts kick in as she gets closer to the fight. Still, it would be better to restrain the attacking monster then hurt it. She's well equipped for such matters as she removes a bomb from her lab coat and arms it. She then promptly tosses it at Igor and a few seconds later it explodes in a mess of sticky goo. 

:'''{{#var:525|Inga (525)}} has posed:''' Inga arrives behind the others, trying to quickly take in the scene. Her eyes widen at the giant creature, the small...girl...? Rabbit girl. Still, a child. Can she reach her? Inga begins to move forward, a plan quickly forming in her mind. She reaches into one of the pouches at her waist and pulls out what appears to be finger bones. Leaning her staff in the crook of her arm, Inga then pulls out her knife and slices a new wound in her arm. She touches the finger bones to her blood one by one, her lips moving as she casts her spell. She throws one then, toward the giant mimiga, but not quite AT it. More between it and the girl. The bones have been charged with warding magic, as Inga tries to set up a barrier between the giant thing and the little girl it is trying to harm. 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:''' As the others attempt to restrain the monster, Annie tries to get to Sue. She might be putting herself directly in harm's way, but... better her than a cute fluffy thing! In any case, Inga's ward should help protect her from whatever beating the creature might attempt on her. But, will she even be able to get there? Will the restraints even work? That remains to be seen. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel is uncertain as she sees the monger, she looks at the huge thing she brings up the staff which is in combat mode. She readies her stff and has tbe business end pointd at the monster. She now gets redy to move as she does so music starts up, due to this being a legacy of the session she was inolved in. It fires shots in time to the music before she breaks into run and calls out. "Hey ugly get GLTICHED!" 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     The Mimiga looks up, seeing people rushing in. "Who are you?" she asks, struggling to get to her feet. The answer will have to wait as Igor smashes Inga's bone ward and slams the Mimiga one last time. This hit seems too much, finally, and the monster scoops up its helpless 'opponent' with one massive arm. It turns to lumber away, only to be assaulted by a series of attacks. This is where a lack of coordination might end up causing some trouble.     Black Arachnia, ahead by the simple virtue of being out of the way and able to move cleanly around obstacles and critters, leaps on Igor and sinks her fangs into him. The giant Mimiga-like form howls and thrashes, trying to flee with its prize. It's too big to be stopped entirely by her paralysis attack. Its thrashing does, however, put Arachnia in the path of Marrik's kinetic bolt, effectively shielding it and quite probably knocking her sprawling. Deleel's blaster shots singe it (possibly further threatening Black Arachnia as well), but the creature doesn't even notice the damage.     But wait, there's more! Insta-dry cement and a glue bomb! Igor howls once, yanking a foot free and leaving fur behind. It does the same again with its other foot. The thing is BRUTALLY strong and tough, and has little difficulty pulling free.     Roaring, and appearing to laugh at the attempts to stop it, the creature turns and runs, ducking into a somewhat-narrow passage leading deeper into the chamber. This part of the cave, it seems, is much tighter and twisty, with obstacles in the way. But first things first... people are going to have to figure out a way to get past a figurative ton of glue and cement before they can begin pursuit. 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' Black Arachnia, upon realizing that (1) she's no longer on Igor's back, and (2) she's no longer spinning around because she's no longer on the monster that WAS spinning around, starts trying to get her feet back under her. This may take a while, she's got eight of the things in this form and they don't all seem to be responding quite according to protocol. But she's intact. Pretty much. "So. Did we win?" she asks dryly, trying to turn to face the group - but she keeps overcompensating, moving rather like she's drunk enough to get pulled over on any public road. 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' Well that sucked. Black Arachnia took the brunt of Marrik's hit, monster had the girl, and there was this figurative hardened goop in the way. He sighed and walked up to it and took a slow breath before reaching out and spreading his fingers. The cement and glue creaked and cracked. Slowly his hand lowered and the cracks multiplied until chunks started breaking off. The rubble was subjected to millinia of aging in the span of moments and what was once an obstruction was rendered little more than a thick layer of dust on the floor. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren is getting ready to blast the debris pile when he's asked to check on the Cybertronian, so he lands by Arachnia. "Hey... you okay?" He looks up and down. "Centipede's dilemma? Maybe you should switch forms?" Then... Marrik ages the debris away. "/That's/ a neat trick!" He dashes up to the tunnel. Huh, narrower space. No problem! He can just turn into a cat!     ...Nothing happens. Oh right, he's still a robot. He sighs and gives chase, making his way through but no longer able to just fly full speed. 

:'''{{#var:525|Inga (525)}} has posed:''' Inga looks over toward Black Arachnia, frowning slightly. There isn't much she can do to go after the beast, apparently her ward was not enough. Cursing, she moves closer to the giant spider. With a few flicks of her knife it is bloodied again, the blood misting outward toward the spider, attempting to cast a spell that both will heal her over time and help protect her from incoming damage--the same spell she'd given Annie and Maxine. "I hope this helps," she says, then stands back, waiting until she's usefull. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel is keeoing moving but she's not so lucky with how things are going down. She stops shooting as the guy takes a hostage, she flips the staff up and it compacts and she keeps running in, she pulls the disc off her back and it's edge lights up humming with power. She moves to strike at Igor that goes no where given what's happen. he pauses figurting out how to get past this wall. "I should have brought light charges with me..." 

:'''{{#var:512|Kanade Tachibana (512)}} has posed:'''     But try as she might, Kanade can't get to Sue in time to help her. And for the second time, someone is abducted right in front of her before she has any chance to help. She continues after Igor as he's pelted on all sides by the nearby elites, probably taking some friendly fire damage herself before she finally stops, watching helplessly as he shambles away. Her eyelids shut tightly, and she's still for several moments.     And then Marrik clears the way. Her eyes open back up, and she wastes absolutely no time talking, or healing, or anything; she's determined to catch up to Igor now, and that's the only thing on her mind. She starts through the narrow passage, retracting her wings for now to provide her with more mobility. 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:''' "No..." Annie says, looking on in shock as the monster defeats all the restraints that had been placed on it. "NO!" she cries again as it runs off. As she rushes forward, her appearance suddenly changes- her hair, eyes, and clothes. She wields what looks like a toy scythe, and rushes at the obstacle formed by the concrete and glue, charging up what looks like a small black hole. She aims it straight for the obstacle... only for Marrik to make it disappear before her eyes. Disappointedly, she re-aims the black hole and sucks up the dust from the ground. "...I guess that works too," she says. "Let's keep chasing that thing!" 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley staggers to a stop, and gapes as the mutant mimiga just... completely disregards the power of cement and glue and kidnaps Sue right off the floor. She huffs and looks at the mess before her when Igor is finally gone, and the party goes about fixing the mess they cause. Once the path is clear, she begins running forward again, jogging ahead and preparing to pursue Igor through the rest of the Egg Corridor. She looks very unhappy, and all the more determined. 

:'''{{#var:3|Roll (3)}} has posed:'''     Off the Igor goes, with Sue in tow. Roll makes a face. "...He just... plowed through it all without even blinking!" What a monster! She's gawking! ".... Does he work for the doctor too or...?" 

:'''{{#var:279|Maxine Sandberg (279)}} has posed:''' Once the debris, Maxine continues onwards. Of course she's not quite sure how to stop Igor yet. She doesn't want to put Sue any more in any more danger, and she's sure he can put up quite a few. Though maybe they could wear him down as a group. Still catching him up to him might be difficult. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Quote joins in, having been a bit slower than the front liners. His little gun's still out, and he looks in confusion at the mass of goop blocking the way. His eyes dart about. Fortunately before he can suggest shooting the mass free, others have better ideas.     Marrik and Annie do their thing, getting rid of the mass of goop. Igor and Sue are long gone however. Igor, as tough as he is, doesn't even bother worrying about the critters and can jump over pretty much any obstacles. He'll be hard to catch, but the monster could've finished the Mimiga off and didn't. Its own purposes might be opposed to the heroes', but if her actual life were in danger she'd already be dead.     Beyond what was once an obstacle and is now residing somewhere in a black hole, the cave continues. The buildings are much the same as before, but the cave itself is rougher. There's signs of damage beyond. Old damage, not fresh. Some of the incubation buildings seem damaged, but mostly it's tunnels and pipes that suffer. There's going to be more giant beetles now, including a few really huge ones that spit acid rather than buzz intruders. Nothing terribly more troubling than before though... except the obstacles. Tumbled-down crates, rock, broken pipes. Nothing that can't be climbed or jumped, but the going isn't nearly so smooth as before.     Of note, there's a building up ahead that's not one of the incubation chambers, situated between the fourth and third. It has a visible entrance, even. Past the building though, the terrain gets even more wrecked. At this point, climbing and jumping might not be enough. People will have to be more reliant on supernormal abilities and gear when they proceed. Still, it seems like Igor went this way. There's signs of his passage... namely a couple of crushed beetles and one flattened hopper. Ew. 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' Anna's enthusiasm was catching. Sparks wriggled out of Martin's coat pocket and shot forward into the cave tunnels. She was small, maybe as big as a shinki or a barbie doll with dragonfly wings. As Marrik showed indescission she showed decisiveness. "Come in! What're you hits waiting on? It's getting away!" Her dragonfly wings buzzed as she darted forward, exploring in quick flitting motions, trying to use her small size to slip where people couldn't and maybe find a shortcut to find where the monstrous mimigas was headed. For his part Marrik slogged after more cautiously, not wanting to exasperate the problem of lots of people in a narrow space. Still, sparks could only really find the beast, and lead everyone else to it. Marrik frowned as he progressed, not liking what he's seeing. Still not much he can do other than keep going. Yet come time for entering the oddball structure he didn't seem bothered by it being out of human reach. He had rope, a grapple, and magic to guide the hook to a secure spot to hold his weight. Bugs? Hoppers? As before, if any approached him a flick of his fingers or twitch of his wrist and they died, and their deaths gave him power. 

:'''{{#var:525|Inga (525)}} has posed:''' Inga follows behind Marrik as it would happen, keeping to the back, cautious, considering the girl and her guessed at transformation and what she would do about it. "Troubling..." she comments. 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' Marrik nodded to Inga before offering her his rope. "Nice bon ward, well made... would've stopped something smaller." Hey it was a bad time for talk but seeing your best get completely no sold sucks, especially when it really was good work. 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:''' Annie continues alongside the others. In this form, however, she seems to be more inclined to be towards the front of the group, and fires her miniature black holes at some of the beetles that get in her way, rather than taking too much time trying to avoid confrontations; on the other hand, she also doesn't spend too much time seeking them out either. Speed seems to be of the essence here. 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' Rather than taking to the walls or ceiling again just yet, Black Arachnia is trotting along at 'ground' level, abetted by grapnel usage when there's a gap that needs to be jumped over or otherwise traversed. She's still not above using her grapnel-slam-and-suck technique on any of the bettles that get too close to her, though ... And she may be making some use of any nutrients she can derive from the bugs she's killing as she goes. It's hard to say from just watching her. What *is* clear is that thanks to Inga's spell, her internal gyroscopes have sorted themselves back out and she can navigate in straight lines more or less reliably. She may still be recovering, though - which could explain her sticking to the same surface(s) as her allies. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel thinks for a moment trying to get how to dela with it however Annie and Marrik got the problem well in hand. She moves to follow the other through the hole they just made. IT's time to get going the enmies are a biot harder here. She opens fire when needed and is trying to keep out of harms way. She doe stake note of all the damage to the places here and tries to figure out what might have caused it. She does not the enemies re getting a bit harder. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Once through the tunnel, Staren sees... more difficult cave. Great. He continues abusing flight to bypass the elephant-boars, but now he has to fly lower and has less opportunity to avoid beetles and hoppers. He's pretty quick with the phaser, but his aim's not perfect and sometimes he gets buffeted now. That doesn't really damage his armor, though, and monsters that get /that/ close are sent flying with a punch or kick.     Acid-spitting beetles are a concern. He tries a quick stun shot, but it isn't enough -- he flies around it, dodging acid and firing several stun shots to bring it down.     The next big beetle he encounters, he just flies towards it as fast as he can, jet-boots assisting his wings, and dodges around acid to just punch it in the face, HARD, hopefully stunning it. Or maybe taking its head off. Kinda hard to gauge it right.     The building, he stops by only briefly to peer inside. "Sue? Monster rabbit thing?" When there's no reply, he races on! 

:'''{{#var:525|Inga (525)}} has posed:''' Inga smiles slightly, nodding. "Thank you. Tch, if I'd have a bit more time to construct something better...it would have," she comments. "You're a..." she struggles with the word here, as she's fairly sure he's not godi and certainly not spakona, "A wizard?" she asks. Inga looks to the rope, then begins to laugh. "Oh no, that is certainly not happening," she informs him, looking forward. She motions to her staff. Its not just for show. She needs the darn thing to walk. "...a rope bridge? Honestly? Oh gods watch me..." she says, and despite her complaints begins to move foward. Very cautiously, and grumbling; "I cannot believe I am doing this..." 

:'''{{#var:512|Kanade Tachibana (512)}} has posed:'''     Kanade continues on at a brisk pace, taking out her wings again to support her leaps across platforms as the tunnel's spacing permits. This time, she moves on largely without regard to the beetles, where she can. When she can't, she mumbles another word: 'Distortion'. This invocation causes a small ripple around her being, giving the air a more lasting sheen. But more importantly, it causes any approaching acid wads to go -right through her-, rather than colliding with her. Otherwise, she bashes away the bugs as needed, but for the most part just sprints onward as fast as is feasible.     As the terrain becomes more and more choppy, she begins to rely on her wings for locomotion more completely. She catches sight of an unusual looking building out of the corner of her eye, and makes a beeline for it. With Igor so far ahead of them, that's really her only visible clue. 

:'''{{#var:3|Roll (3)}} has posed:'''     "ewww... I don't like this place. Not one bit!" Roll exclaims. "Who went and left a mess THIS BIG?!" She's making one of those dangerous Berserker Cleanathon Angry faces that send the Light family into their bunkers at all the ruins, big beetles and the like be damned! 

:'''{{#var:279|Maxine Sandberg (279)}} has posed:''' Maxine's having trouble getting through the rough terrain. Physically, she's not much more capable than a normal human. The beetles aren't help any either. Maybe she haven't come, she's not really suited for this sort of thing. "Ugh..." She's getting a bit frustrated. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Quote follows along with the others, moving as quickly as he can. He doesn't bother stopping for monsters or minor obstacles, having no difficulty leaping ten or even fifteen feet in the air in an arc that almost completely ignores such niceties as gravity and momentum. When a beetle gets particularly close he shoots it without even breaking stride, but for the most part he doesn't even have to worry about hostile critters. Others are much more efficient, have greater range, and are quite probably faster than him too. He's got good mobility, but his weapon of choice is decidedly weaker than the sorts of things the others have here.     Still, when the Basu gives Staren trouble, Quote fires a quick barrage of shots at it. His fire is remarkably precise and doesn't threaten his fellow robot, but it does a pretty good job of pulverising the creature he was trying to stun. He has no qualms about killing beasts, even if he has certain feelings about murdering mimigas or other nice creatures.     As the group advances past a particularly impressive tumble of metal crates, they can see a passage ahead. The last egg chamber, chamber 01, lies below. Past a rather wide gap, they can see a flat plane of smooth stone. There's no rubble or anything beyond the gap. A stark wall separates the smooth unblemished section from the area of damage, and there's a doorway through the wall. From the doorway, which seems to have no physical door, a few wisps of smoke and a few sparks arise. Nothing threatening, but it looks like something electronic met a very sudden, very recent demise.     The gap will have to be navigated, but this is likely to be of little difficulty to this group. Just one more obstacle, no more and no less difficult than those already overcome. Below the gap, that little speedy white flash tears back and forth. Falling in at this point would be pretty bad, but it's unlikely anyone's going to do that, right?     Beyond the gap, our giant friend Igor awaits! "GRAWR." says the rather expressive monster that resembles a hulked-out Mimiga. "Doctor's very important test eggs... Very important!"     It can TALK? That's almost creepy.     It doesn't really have an interest in banter however. Holding up fists the size of warhammers, Igor advances. It's slow, ponderously so. It charges forward in a lumbering rush, which isn't that threatening except for how wide the creature is. Its stubby arms are battering rams though, and the group's already had a good sense of how hard it can hit. Poor Sue. Speaking of whom, Sue's not in sight. There's a pair of buildings behind Igor however... 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' Black Arachnia leaves another pair of nice sturdy Energon lines to help her allies across the last gap, and after securing the second one, climbs fully up to the platform where the lumbering bulk of a minion awaits ... and she seems manifestly unimpressed by Igor's mastery of verbal communication. She really has only three words, and they're hardly for *him*. "Black Arachnia, maximize!" With the verbal command, the spider's body rearranges itself back into robot mode, configuring herself for actual combat; her combat claws snap out into place, a pair branching from the back of each hand - and her spider legs remain fanned out from her back, the tips opening to reveal laser emitters. It's the lasers that she leads off with, 'sniping' at Igor with thin, burning beams, trying to slow the behemoth down as she otherwise focuses on staying out of his way. 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' All things considered Marrik was late to the party, at least he had to have been if he missed the banter, threats, and things had gotten to the smashing things stage. Yet he remembered last time and hung back to see who was doing what. Plus the time spent watching was time he could use to work a spell. He looked to Inga. "Can you try making a bone ward? I'll try strengthening it. Try walling that thing in, or at least make it have to waste time smashing it down." 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' They make good time she keep sn eye on Quote and everyone else. Inga and Marrik do get some notice from the living program. She now has her staff back in melee mode as she moves in at the huge thing. Igor mad and big this is a bad idea. She looks at the creature for a moment. She's not very happy, no she's not happy at all about this. She mocing in afgter him as everyone gets ready to fight she seems intent to dart aroun and try to get him with power staff strikes and she's very much planning to not sit still. 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:''' As Annie notices Maxine having some trouble, she approaches her mother with a smile. She returns to her normal form and takes Maxine's hand once again. "I think we're almost there," she says. "We need to keep going!" She follows Black Arachnia's lines toward the site of the battle, but hangs back for a bit, alongside Marrik, trying to find an opening to get past Igor to the doors behind him. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren quirks a brow at Quote's quick and decisive beetle-killing, but doesn't comment.     Flying across the gap is easy. And then... Igor. Staren's /slightly/ surprised he can tlak, but... that does seem to confirm he might be a mimiga of some sort. "...That sounds like reason enough to smash them." He flies away from the rush. "Are you a mimiga? The Doctor is hunting your kind! Why do you help him?" And then, Staren gets an idea, as he glances at the egg chambers. "If you've got any brain cells in that big head of yours... LISTEN. Look at all the people we have here. While some of us fight you, the rest of us can easily destroy the eggs!" He points at Igor. "If you want to keep the eggs safe... then TALK!" 

:'''{{#var:279|Maxine Sandberg (279)}} has posed:''' She should have sent Maxi down here, but she's not sure if she would bave been able to have kept linked with her. Still, she's not going to give up especially when a child is in trouble. She takes Annie's hand but stays back a bit as well as Staren tries to reason with Igor. 

:'''{{#var:3|Roll (3)}} has posed:'''     Remembering how little consideration Igor shows for talk, Roll glowers at the monstrosity. Her armor appears in a flash - light just streams across her body, and dissipates to reveal the armor instead of her dress. But she's still frowning heavily!     "I don't want to fight, but you're not gonna listen if I just ask you to calm down, are you?" The prospect of fighting a living thing, no matter how enraged or brutal, is not sitting well with her. Especially if it can talk. Even if it has few qualms attacking all the others gathered.     But she'll have to, and she can, because it's so likely to hurt everyone else. So Roll steps forward. "Looks like I don't have a choice!"     Still, she doesn't want to kill him, heck no. So, for the moment, she changes gear. Or rather, weapons. Super Arm activates, shifting her color scheme to brown and white, and she hurries along to try and get into the front lines! 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Igor seems not at all interested in talking. It's not clear whether the monster Mimiga lacks the wit to converse, or whether it has enough free will to respond with anything other than punches. Either way it completely ignores Staren's attempts at diplomacy. And for that matter, the rest of him too. Like Maxine and Marrik, Staren is making no obvious attempt to attack, so avoids the beast's wrath as others draw the aggro.     Black Arachnia should have little trouble staying out of Igor's reach. He appears slow, but his lumbering charge is faster than a normal person could run thanks to massive Mimiga legs. Fortunately for her, she's not a normal person and he's not really able to jump as high as she is. Her lasers burn into it, doing damage, and enraging the beast but doing little to slow it down.     Quote adds his own laser fire to Black Arachnia's. His weapon may be a different colour, but the effects are much the same. That is to say they do damage, but not a whole lot. He finds himself having to stay close though, since his weapon has such a short-range focus. When it swipes at him, he leaps up. That leap clears the rabbit-monster's height easily, and Igor leaps up and tries to swat Quote out of the air, barely missing. Okay, he's behind Igor. Now what? He takes aim but holds his fire, not certain his little pew pewing can do much, and not sure if others have something else in mind for him to do now that he's past the thing's bulk. %tDeleel, if she intends to fight in melee, will have to be equally quick and agile. It's going to be flailing those massive fists at her even as she smashes it with her power staff. She's doing a great job tanking its attention however, assuming she can handle the results of the aggro. Roll, charging in with her Super Arm, will likewise have to share the aggro and the punches.     Frustrated at being unable to catch the fast-moving and annoying heroes, Igor bellows in pain and rage. The roar is, quite literally, earth-shaking. It's a sonic attack in its own right, shredding the air before it into tatters as bolts of not-quite-tangible energy shoot out. A chi-type attack more than science-based energy would account for, but no less painful to anyone hit by the cone of sound. The tanky ones should have no trouble getting out of the way, given they're right by the narrowest part of the cone. Everyone else though is going to have to deal with a shotgun-blast of sound. 

:'''{{#var:525|Inga (525)}} has posed:''' Inga nods, reaching into her pouch. "Someone will have to cover me, I will not take a hit from that thing," she says. She would not be getting up from that. Not here anyway, or perhaps it would just take a long time? Inga isn't sure, she hasn't actually DIED yet! "I don't have too many bones on me, I will use what I can..." she says, then kneels down, using the floor to sort through her things and begin to draw runes and staves upon the bones she keeps in her pouch. She has quite a few, far more bones than an average person would carry around (so, none?) but it will hardly be a fence. The ward should hold however, if she can manage to get it up. 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' Marrik held himself upright, but only just in the face of the earth shaking. Kinetic force straight on would just hit allies. So he was more subtle and stepped away from Inga. His held power traced out in arching threads as he moved in sweeping motions. Anyone looking might mistaken his movements for stretches, or a kata, or possibly bending as a darkened haze formed around him and the lines of magic he sent out. Each was aimed at sapping life away from Igor, to take that life amd then feed it into Inga's ward to keep it strong. In effect his goal was to weaken their opponent while further strengthening its prison. Of course it's a chaotic battlefield. sadly not everything cooperates in a nice and neat manner. 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:'''      Annie makes a run for the buildings, hoping to find the Mimiga inside- but she finds herself knocked to the ground by the enemy's roar. She does her best to try to get back up and to one of the buildings without being noticed- unfortunately, Quote is close by as well, actually fighting the thing. So it might be tough to avoid Igor's notice. 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' Tanky? Black Arachnia? You must be thinking of another Maximal; the sheer sonic force of Igor's roar practically bowls her off her feet - and if it weren't for the wards, she probably WOULD be knocked down by it. Painfully. As it is, most of what the thunderous bellowing does is tick her off, and she tries to take advantage of her allies' drawing Igor's direct aggro to get around to one side and ... *IF* she can get a clear shot, which is the tricky part ... use her lasers to attempt to give Igor a long-range tracheotomy. If she CAN'T get that shot, she'll go for the hamstrings instead - just cripple the giant white rage monster rather than removing his ability to keep making sounds. 

:'''{{#var:3|Roll (3)}} has posed:'''     Roll takes a few blows to the everything, because she's so tiny compared to Igor. Sparks fly from her joints and her servos whine in protest, but she eventually manages to grab Igor's offending fists with her own and then... WHAAAAMPF! Forces him back. or tries to, anyways. The prodigious strength of GUTS MAN flows through her frame and servos! Though the ground she's standing on might crack before her target's own strength does... 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel is being able to not die but she's not making much progress in the way of damage here she is however keeping his attention and that's the imporant thing. It's like being back in the pit fighting she was forced into so long ago. Dodge or die, and that's what she's seeming to do right now a she keeps moing keeps tyring to keep Igor busy on her. Oh thats not goo she moves rapidly to avoid the attack and her staff stsarts playing some rapid speed techno as she keeps tyring to get Igor's attention. "Hey Ugly! I hear the Doctor's considering you a failed experiment and is going to dispose of you!!" 

:'''{{#var:279|Maxine Sandberg (279)}} has posed:''' Maxine figures her firepower won't do much and tries to get close to the building where Sue is being held as well. She's knocked over by the roar as well. She pulls herself onto her feet as well, but it looks they're going to need a distraction if they're going to pass Igor. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     As opposed to getting into the fray and having all of her bones broken for her trouble, Ainsley is at the back, watching the fight as it happens. Her face scrunches at the awful roar that the giant beast thing makes, momentarily pained by that. But she's out of the way of the fight enough that she's unlikely to get hit in the crossfire.     Seems she's lost a lot of her appetite for direct combat in recent months, as if she would prefer to focus on her healing abilities and not any other.     She tries emitting a wave of red light upon anyone who is getting harmed by Igor's retaliations, but she's not particularly good at aiming.     Figuring the party is going to be keeping Igor occupied, she tries to get around Igor and to the buildings at the end of the tunnel, so she can get to Sue and give her the healing she intended to give before Igor ran off with her. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren frowns. He hoped that would work... Oh, well. Time to put his armory to use! He prepares to attack -- only to be blasted by sound! A forcefield appears around him, cracking slightly, and he tumbles through the air before righting himself. "Alright... you asked for it!" He pulls the laser sniper rifle off his back, switches it to burst mode, and starts spamming attacks at Igor every few seconds, as fast as it can cool down. Lasers have no recoil! There's no sound, and no visible beam -- just an immense amount of light concentrated on a tiny, tiny point, aiming to superheat it into plasma and make it explode for massive damage, with three pulses per burst. /This/ robotic soldier from the surface is armed with one of the most powerful handheld energy weapons of the 24th century -- two of bursts could easily blow a hole in the side of a tank! He's not messing around anymore. Igor wants a fight, he's got one.     Staren's so gonna bring the corpse to Dr. Vahlen and ask if she can figure out what was done to it, though.     If this results in monster soldier bunnies fighting aliens later, would anyone really argue that that /wouldn't/ be awesome? 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Quote continues to hold his fire, assessing probabilities and making strategies. His beam does little against the thing's thick hide, but a precision shot might still make a difference. Being called upon to run though, to save Sue so they can all get clear, makes a lot of sense. It appeals on an emotional level too, though he doesn't recognize the emotions. That's the thing though. You don't need to analyze an emotion, it just happens.     Black Arachnia's beams narrow in, and the focussed weapons seem to be more effective than just plastering Igor with bolts. The bellows of rage falter and die as the massive creature is effectively silenced. The lasers do some damage too. When Staren joins in, adding his laser rifle to her damage output, the result is impressive. Smoke begins to rise. No doubt blood would spurt if the weapons weren't self-cauterizing. The damage to Igor is starting to mount up, but at this point it seems that on the flight or fight scale, Igor's still well locked into fight mode.     The killer bunny turns as Annie makes her move, preparing to turn her into a robotic splat mark. At that instant Quote makes his move. Firing off a stream of energy bolts, he aims for Igor's face as the giant beast turns. It's not enough to blind the creature entirely or even to hurt him compared to what Staren and Arachnia are doing, but the flare and burn should be enough to let Annie get past it and into the building beyond. It should also give Maxine a chance to make her own move. Quote waits just a moment, then follows whoever enters. He's as much there to guard them as he is looking to recover Sue.     Igor, meanwhile, is about to turn on Quote and Annie when Roll grabs him. That arm is strong! It might even be a match for Igor's massive bulk. Certainly it's enough to turn the monster's attention back to her. Deelel taunts away, and while Igor wants to respond it's kind of got to deal with Roll first. Well, it has more than strength alone at least. The giant bunny picks Roll up entirely off the ground by her Super Arm, simply lifting its own arms up until she's dangling, intending to use her as a battering ram or a flail against Dee.     The bone ward is more than powerful enough, at this point, to protect anyone staying behind it. It might even be strong enough to stop a few of Igor's blows directly, but that's something fortunately not yet put to the test. It should provide quite effective shelter, and should also help secure the retreat should people feel the need to leave once Sue's recovered.     And speaking of Sue, yes. She's right there, unconscious within the building directly behind Igor. There's also a few other things. There's a computer, lit up and displaying something no one's likely to bother reading at this point. Oh yes, and there's also a monstrously huge egg, illuminated by floodlights that radiate enough heat to be felt from the doorway. It's REALLY big. Like, probably 10 feet high on its side and 20 feet long at the longest axis. It's also labeled, quite clearly with foot-high lettering apparently painted on, 'No00'. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley sees the room, and turns her attention to-- the giant egg. She stares at it for a second, baffled by the size of it. What comes to mind is 'dragon' but she's not sure how accurate that would be. And then she begins advancing toward Sue. She stops near the unconscious Mimiga, and kneels nearby. Both hands reach out, one on Sue's back, the other atop her head.     She tries to use healing magic to repair any damage in the human-turned-Mimiga. "Sue...?" she wonders at the Mimiga, in a gentle voice. 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:''' Annie nods her thanks to Quote for saving her from the monster.as she enters the building where Sue is lying. She joins Ainsley at Sue's side, but can't help looking up at the egg more than down at Sue. "If that's the egg... how big's the full-grown thing that comes from it?" she wonders. 

:'''{{#var:525|Inga (525)}} has posed:''' Inga continues to power the bone fence with anima, adding more of her blood to keep the wards fresh. She didn't have time to make them more permanent, so she'd need to keep feeding them. Luckily, she has help. "I don't believe I got your name," she calls to Marrik. "Goodness BE QUIET!" she yells toward Igor. So /noisy!/ 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' Igor's rage and attacks put Marrik in a far less forgiving mind than he might have been. So he pressed his attack, directly sucking Igor's life away to strengthen its prison. He could do nothing else without risking taking a fist to the everything which would nicely end his ability to make magic. Still, if Igor couldn't shake the tendrils of magic sucking his life away eventually the monstrous mimigas would fall, and the voice telling him that he shouldn't murder was getting harder to pay attention to. Meanwhile Sparks darted into the chamber and frowned at this 00 what's it, and more so at the computer terminal thing alongside it. "Sue?" The pixie called out as she darted this way and that. Not like an unconscious girl could answer, but who knew? The little pixie might spot something. "Marrik," His voice was soft and there was a tension as he continued to use his body to direct the flows of magic to both siphon from Igor and strengthen the bone ward. Fall you ruddy stupid thing. FALL! 

:'''{{#var:279|Maxine Sandberg (279)}} has posed:''' The computer does get Maxine's attention a bit, but getting Sue out of here is more important. She watches Ainsley attends to her. "That's a good question." Maxine agrees with Annie, what could lay an egg so large. They would have to look into it later. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     They've got Sue, Staren hears! But they still have to get Sue /past/ this thing. And so far, noone's figured out any way to pacify or subdue it. Staren cocks his head at the reply, then shakes his head as he watches Igor turn from one for to another. If it were smart enough co concentrate all those attacks on one person... Well, it's not.     Time to finish this.     Staren just keeps firing lasers. They seem to be pretty effective, after all! 

:'''{{#var:3|Roll (3)}} has posed:'''     "Aaaaaaahhhhh!!" The situation sure turned around. Roll's grip is tight, but her body is light compared to Igor's. He easily manages to hoist her up and swing her right at Deelel. "W-watch out!" Is all she can do. because if she lets go, she might go flying into someone ELSE! 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' Black Arachnia nods approvingly at the silencing of Igor ... and as much as she's inclined to just trot over and join the others in the building, she has one more thing she wants to attend to. Specifically, getting around behind Igor and severing his hamstrings with her lasers. Immobilize him in addition to silencing - and this has the side benefit of not putting her aim points anywhere near Roll the Impromptu Bludgeon. In fact, if she severs Igor's hamstrings as planned, it should put a very satisfactory (if somewhat jarring) halt to his flailing about with the robot girl. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley's magic touches Sue, and the Mimiga girl rouses somewhat. "Uuggh." she moans, not fully recovered. Then she opens her eyes. "Oouuuuch." she complains. Then she immediately bounds to her feet, bouncing about like a not-entirely plausible pantomime of a pro boxer. "Whoa there, I haven't lost yet! I'm gonna take this fight seriously this time!" she cries. Then she blinks, stopping her float-like-a-butterfly imitation. "Huh? That monster beat ME? Did... did you save me?" she asks, looking between the lizard woman, Annie and her mother, and Quote. Obviously they're not from around here. But Sue doesn't have a clue what's going on.     Outside, Staren continues firing his laser. Black Arachnia neatly hamstrings the monster. Between that and the bone ward, the creature's going to become fairly immobile. It's really only a threat now to those in arms' reach like Deelel. Or those still clinging to it, like Roll. It's also fairly nearly dead, both from laser bolts and from the draining of Marrik. Still strong though. Whatever fuels this thing's rage, it's not life energy or mere muscle. 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:'''      "You're awake!" Annie says happily. "I'm so happy! ...But we need to get out of here, since that thing is after you," she says. "A lot of people are fighting to keep it away, so you can escape." She looks back outside. "Let's get going!" 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' Marrik slid from his kata-esque motions to stand in front of the bone ward. A hand was pressed against it as he focused his magic into a single pulse. If friends were not there he would try commanding the bone ward to collapse inward and impale Igor in the everywhere. As it stood though he focused his magic from the ward into Igor's body, seeking to wrap his magic around it's heart and lungs and squeeze til it stopped moving. He hated killing, but in a contest between this thing and the people it was hurting there was no contest. He was no innocent to killing, and not just commanding the dead. He has killed before with his bare hands. 

:'''{{#var:279|Maxine Sandberg (279)}} has posed:''' "Yes, this would be a good time to leave." Maxine nods in agreement. There's no telling what else might show up if they stick around. That and Sue might need further medical attention. 

:'''{{#var:525|Inga (525)}} has posed:''' There's been no real direct answer on if the thing is to remain alive or not. Marrik has decided it needs to die, but should she help put it down? Yes, this seems wise. Inga sighs, putting her knife to her skin again, drawing a long, deep line along the vein that gushes with blood--blood that is floating upward to solidify into spears of sharp crimson. She can still hold the ward and perform this, and if it does go down she will not have to hold the ward any longer. She'd been afraid she was going to have to stay here holding it while the others fled--find out what death was like for one of the chosen of the Buzzing first hand. But really, this works too. Inga motions forward and the spears of blood go hurling toward Igor. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley looks at Sue with some measure of surprise. She's not intimidated, just baffled at how quickly the mimiga girl recovered from the injuries inflicted... unless Igor really wasn't trying to hurt her. The lizard woman looks at her with a gentle uncertainty, considering how to respond to that. "Yes," she replies, gently, "We were here looking for you. Our allies are outside fighting the creature that assaulted you, and it'll be defeated soon."     She stands up slowly, regarding the rabbit person with a gentle gaze. She looks up at the egg, after a second, "Are you here for this?" She gestures at it with one hand. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Well. The monster is no longer a threat... /for now/. Still, if they can't capture it, leaving it alive will only mean having to fight it later.     Staren lands a short ways out of the thing's reach, shouldering his rifle. Then he lifts his empty hands in front of him, crossing his arms and turning his hands back to face him. There's the whine of charging electricity, and then his arms are covered in arcing electricity and begin to glow. "Time to finish this!" He dashes forward with a sudden burst of speed, perhaps having supercharged the robot body somehow -- his left arm goes for quick jab, making sure the fist can connect and then there's the buzz of a downed power line and the light of a lightning bolt, making it hard to see what's going on as he follows up with a spinning power PUNCH from the other arm, again delivering all that focused electricity into the thing as well as just hitting as hard as he can... and then when the light fades, he's lept back, standing with his arms down. Steam, or perhaps smoke, rising off his body, and panting for a moment before he remembers he doesn't have to breathe and stops.     That should do it. Plus, there might be some chance that the shock attack stuns it instead of killing it. Then the next problem will be figuring out how to transport and restrain the thing, but that bridge can be crossed when they come to it. 

:'''{{#var:3|Roll (3)}} has posed:'''     Once again, Roll's getting furious. This time for different reasons. Furious, and worried. Igor looks like he's about to DIE if this keeps up! "Ooooh... alright, it's time out for you!!"     She doesn't want anyone here getting hurt... and doesn't want to see even this brute die meaninglessly! So she calls upon her stored Weapon Data, and switches to Arc Thrower. Roll's somewhat damaged armor turns twin shades of grey, and.... she plants the buster right against Igor's arm.     *ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRCH!!*     The charge is tuned for human-like nervous systems, no telling what it will mean to him, but it probably won't kill him. The Arc Thrower is meant to incapacitate through electrocution! 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel is playing a dangeorus game of keep awauy still and Deelel tuants him. She hopefully is doing enougt to keep them off balance she's not getitng too many good hits in as honestly she's more a distract any anything ans she knows it. 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:''' "Wait..." Annie says, putting up a hand at Ainsley's words. "...I thought I heard we were looking for a human, named Sue." she says, looking confused. "But you don't look like a human..." she notes, peering at Sue curiously. 

}}

525/Cave Story 2: Seeking Sue

2014-09-25T00:33:30Z

MoreBeer: Undo revision 5626 by MoreBeer (talk)

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2014/09/01
|Location=Flying Island
|Synopsis=Quote puts out a call for people to help find a little lost girl named Sue. Lots of people show up to help.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=3, 8, 42, 151, 234, 279, 304, 403, 437, 512, 525, 541
|Tinyplot=
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:''' "Welcome, friends." the robot says, smiling. Again, the smile seems genuine but it's not clear whether that's because he's cleverly programmed to appear genuine or whether he's actually showing emotion. "I know you've been... sent to find that girl, Sue Sakamoto. I checked with all the Mimiga and she hasn't been seen in days. Not since before the Doctor and his minions attacked." he explains. "She was staying with Toroko and Arthur, and with Toroko ... gone, no one could get inside the house. Well, I found a key up by Arthur's grave. Maybe Toroko dropped it at some point. Well, I came in, found some messages on the computer, and decided to follow the teleporter to see if Sue was on the other side."     He leads people into Arthur's house, then to the transporter. "Follow me." he encourages, before hopping up onto the pad and shimmering into nonexistence.     The teleport pad shimmers, taking everyone in turn into the Egg Corridor. As the portal distortion fades, a new set of caverns can be seen. Unlike Mimiga Village, this chamber seems quite artificial. Where Mimiga Village was hewn from what appears to be a natural cave, this cavern appears to be deliberately and mechanically constructed.     Behind and below the portal pad, an opening leads downward into a close, confining dark tunnel. There is a hint of movement below, a certain rush of feet moving quite a bit faster than any normal person or creature is likely to run. Ominous, but then there seems to be plenty of life within this cavern. In the distance, hoppers twitch and bounce along the rooftop runway down the cavern. Huge creatures, looking like boar the size of elephants, placidly wallow and graze. They will, however, charge anyone who comes near their grazing areas. Hoppers will attack by bouncing whenever anyone comes close to them, aiming to bounce into targets or smash someone flat. Occasional giant beetles fly, particularly in the narrower well-protected sections of the cavern, angrily defending their nesting grounds. Even above the teleport pad there's movement, a vague flash of green that might resemble a human.     Quote gestures around. "As you can see, it looks a little dangerous. Something seems to have enraged the creatures here. I can't imagine a human child going through this place alone with all this..." he waves a hand vaguely, gesturing at the creatures about. "Not unless she was quite capable at least. And if she is, there's probably no rush. But if we can find her, you can offer her a way out. I thought you'd be interested in joining me, exploring." he suggests. 

:'''{{#var:234|Lu-Mey (234)}} has posed:'''     Of course the Union would be present, coming to the aid of others for their altruistic reasons, but not everyone here is so giving in nature. A reward was promised, and frankly as is ever the case with giant floating islands, they're probably rife with who knows what kinds of grand magic and technology to acquire and... Re-allocate.     Thusly, the current and only Confederate envoy to the floating island arrives, sidling right in through the teleporter and sauntering along like she owns the place, Lu-Mey suddenly just drapes herself over Quote's shoulders like she owns him, too, a complete and blatant disregard for anything even CLOSE to personal space.     "Ooooh you found the key~? Well isn't that proactive of you~." 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' The details of events leading up to this were fuzzy to Marrik. For him all that mattered was there was a missing child and at the mention of caves he packed what he thought was appropriate for the situation. Instead he found himself confronted not with a natural cave harness and line was intended for, but instead artificial and� Apparently populated. "So something has the critters stirred up," He didn't know what 'normal' was for here so shots in the dark. "Human girl?" A frown formed on his face as he reached out with his senses to see if any human spirits were in the cavern. Unlike when he called the dead in the two battles he had to in Invalice this was a whisper rather than command. Him seeing if anyone was home. Also unlike those times before he was hoping to not hear anything. A 'nobody was home' would tell him the girl was still alive. Metaphorical crickets chirped at his call and Marrik smiled as he pulled his hand back. "I do not know where she is, but if she's here she's alive." This to nobody in particular and seemingly intended for anyone else that had joined in the search. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     This time, Staren is armored up. Some people are probably used to seeing that by now... Just how long is he going to stay a mighty robot? Well, noone's asked.     Staren leads Inga through the warpgate, looking around briefly to see that nothing much has changed. He nods and listens to Quote's retelling, and then... Um, okay, he's a bit lost as to why Sue would go to this place, but okay...     The artificiality strikes him. This doesn't look like the work of the Mimigas, nor the mysterious mage. "Who /built/ this?" Then he remembers that the Doctor's other minion appeared mechanical. "The 'Doctor'?"     Staren looks down the corridor, taking it all in and scratching his head. 'Well,' he says softly, 'I don't see a body...'     Staren thinks for a moment. "She can't have made it by those monsters. We should check for hiding places nearby." First, he makes his way up to the mysterious green figure. "Hey! I mean, um... Hello! Did you see someone come through here before us? ...And who are you?" 

:'''{{#var:525|Inga (525)}} has posed:''' Inga would rather forget the way she clung to Staren's arm as they went through the teleporter, her eyes wide with terror, her mouth set in a thin line as she struggled to cling to her dignity. She does manage not to scream, though she does grumble about the whole business once they are through. "Almost makes me prefer those cars...why does all transportation have to be so terrifying?" she sighs, smoothing the fabric of her embroidered wool dress. The long sleeves of her underdress have been cut short out of necessity--they'd been to bloodstained to save. A missing girl. Even in a strange land, a missing little girl is something she will help with. Her skills might actually prove usefull. Inga eyes the beasts, nodding at the warning. She clutches her wooden staff in hand, leaning on it slightly, eyes narrowing slightly toward the way ahead. Inga looks toward the one who seems to be leading this mission. Inga clears her throat; "Is there any object that was the girl's perhaps? I could possibly use it to help find her," she asks. A women appears then, and throws herself at the Quote. Inga merely raises an eyebrow. She then looks toward Marrik, lips pursing thoughtfully, wondering just how he knew the girl was alive. Obviously, Inga hopes as much. 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' Interesting little info dump, thinks Black Arachnia as she listens to the more human-looking robot summarizing the situation. If only more briefings were that short, sweet, and to the point. Admittedly, there's also a lot of information that Quote *didn't* cover with that brief precis, but you can't have everything. "I don't suppose you kept copies of those files for other cybernetics to review?" she asks Quote once we're in the Egg Corridor ... and as she takes in the surroundings, she makes a decision. "Beast mode." And with that, the initially(?)-humanoid robot reconfigures herself into the form of a very large cybernetic-looking spider. She may not be able to get all of her traversing done this way, but being a giant spider might be more conducive to sneaking along without picking fights than staying in humanoid configuration. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     This particular crisis is something Ainsley is new to. The robot's welcome gets a look of mild surprise from her, and more when he explains what they're all here for. She nods at him once as everyone heads inside of the house... briefly she contemplates what magic affinity she should focus on, frowning. A frown that grows in size when Lu-Mey's presence is recognized, and she starts acting creepy toward Quote.     She stares at Lu-Mey for a while but she's not quite sure why. Instinct just makes her feel oddly hostile toward the oni woman. She brushes that off as a simple dislike of people being clingy with people they don't know very well.     "I will check up ahead," she tells the others, once everyone has arrived. She spares a glance at Lu-Mey and then Black Arachnia, as if distracted. She nods at Quote once, and then begins marching forward at something of a careful pace. She's got a reasonable handle on the path ahead, thanks to her visual abilities, so it's unlikely she'll get caught by surprise. She just tries to hop over any gaps and obstacles along the way, climbing and bouncing. If no one goes with her, she might just disappear into the tunnel ahead.     She's avoiding using her flight in here because it might cause arcing and that would zap any nearby electronics, of which she is certain are present in a place that looks so artificially built. 

:'''{{#var:3|Roll (3)}} has posed:'''     Roll's used to teleporting, but not quite like this. Following along, and finding herself in a vast artificial cavern, the Robot Master blinks a few times. She's not yet armed herself, though, being fairly unwilling to bring violence around towards anything without a really good reason. And since all the things out there are living creatures right now? She's pretty hesitant to bring out any weapons!     So instead, she's sticking near Quote. "Me neither. It's like a zoo without cages! All these beasts...? But if she didn't get past them, we'd... we'd find evidence, right? Blood? Clothes? ... Something...?" She's squicked and a little horrified at the thought, but proof that NOTHING got her means that she made it through. Probably.     She's sticking close to Quote at the moment, standing behind him and looking around. "Have you remembered anything yet? Your name, maybe?" 

:'''{{#var:512|Kanade Tachibana (512)}} has posed:'''     Kanade is here, despite being completely absent from the preceding radio conversation. It's not that she doesn't see the value in communicating, she just... rarely has much to say, and showing up is probably the most clear way of saying 'I'm here to help' anyway. The other members of the group might magically start to notice her shortly before they are met by the robot, but she promptly fades back out of existence to listen to some exposition. There's no real need for greetings here -- she doesn't know anybody. And it's probably best kept that way.     But still, she's here for those 'altruistic reasons', and she wants to help people, so she is judiciously attentive to all of the information delivered by the mechanical envoy. Dangerous creatures, they say? She mumbles the call words for the summoning of her blade as, in a soft but bright glint of shimmering magic not unlike that of the teleporter, a blade comes to rest on the back of her hand. She's ready for these 'dangerous creatures'.     ... and she has no intention of letting any cute bunny people get abducted today. The last visit already had enough heartbreak for her. And on that note, she sees fit to waste no more time while someone is lost. She heads out from the group and walks along the lifeless, metallic pathway, doing her best to avoid the 'nesting places' of the various organisms about. She might come dangerously close to them a few times, but fortunately, she notices this proximity and draws out her wings so that she may get more distance from them in the sky. Whether or not she had already riled them beforehand remains to be seen, though. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel has returned once more looking more or less the same as she did before. She's following after Arthur light staff in hand as she goes. She's not talking much and more taking in the other people whom arrived as they head down below her staff's kept unpowerd for the moment however she's getting the idea this is going to be quite the run. 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:'''      It seemed like a girl was missing. And there were some cute bunny creatures involved. And robots. And her mother wanted to come. So, Annie decided it would be a good idea to join the others on this expedition. From the looks of things, the only things currently in their way are mindless-looking creatures. If she had to get in a fight, then, this would be the kind of place where she might not mind so much. She's sticking close to Maxine, however, hoping they can keep each other safe and out of trouble. 

:'''{{#var:279|Maxine Sandberg (279)}} has posed:''' Maxine's not bothered about going through the the teleporter. Still, she might not be the best person for this she isn't exactly the athletic type. She wants to help regardless though and is curious about the technology of this place. It would likely be best for her to keep close to everyone else. Especially Annie. Thought her daughter was likely better suited for this place. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Quote flinches away from Lu-Mey, looking quite uncomfortable indeed. Who'd have thought a robot would have a sense of personal space? Still, he doesn't know the first thing about the Multiversal War. Lu-Mey is as much his friend as Staren, Roll and the others. He assumes, with good reason, that she's here for the same reasons as the rest. Of course, that's mostly because he's only a few days old. It's pretty easy to be gullible when you have absolutely no perspective.     Instead of responding to the too-forward actions of the oni, he tries to focus on Black Arachnia. Her transformation is a bit disturbing, but not enough to make him upset. "Ah... I really don't know?" he shrugs, possibly trying to use the motion to get clear of Lu-Mey. "I don't remember anything past a few days ago. My memory appears to be corrupted, so I wouldn't suggest trying to interface. The records are on the computer though, in the house we passed through?" Arachnia can download files if she wants. As for actual video of the scenes... perhaps Staren has them. "I still don't really know what my name is." he says to Roll. "Quote or Curly Brace, I suppose." he shrugs.     Above the party, Staren confronts a greenish goblinoid. The creature blinks huge white eyes at him. "Looking for someone? There's things passing by all the time. Such as the Basil below. Don't go near it, if you know what's good for you. It's quite deadly." the oddly-misnamed Cthulhu says in a squeaky voice. It's entirely friendly, if a bit weird. "No one's been through here today that I know of, sorry."     Those who go off into the cavern, things get a bit hairy quickly. Flying giant beetles are a menace, and are quite aggressive to anything that isn't part of their natural ecosystem. Closer to the ground, the hoppers are just plain aggressive to anything not the size of an elephant. And as for the elephant-like things, they're prone to aggressively charge anything that gets near them as a matter of course. This is NOT a friendly place! 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren listens to this. Cthulhu seems a tad cryptic. There are plenty of questions, but Staren focuses on the most urgent one: "Well has anyone come through in the last week? Human or Mimiga?" 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' Giant cybernetic spiders tend not to be part of any 'natural' ecosystem ... unless it's Cybertron or a similarly 'natural machine life-forms' world. On the plus side, Black Arachnia isn't really in the beetles' airspace - but those who look like they have hostile designs on the Maximal will find out that she has a simple, three-point plan for dealing with them: 1) Launch her mandible grapnel at the attacker 2) Whip the attacker into the nearest halfway convenient rock face, reeling them in to help with the whipping 3) Leech some nutrients from the body and let it fall. (Preferably right on Lu-Mey's head, but she won't go out of her way for it.) Sure, she has lasers, but they're not really positioned for convenient use in her spider mode ... and she doesn't feel like switching back to robot mode just to shoot it out with the local fauna. On the other hand, if enough beetles start homing in on her simultaneously that her mandible-whip trick isn't going to keep up, she may not have a choice. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     The Cthulhu responds to Staren. "Well, yes. A Mimiga came through, a short time before everything got exciting. Oh my... you don't suppose she DID something, do you?" 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley quickly encounters a problem. She is being attacked by pretty much everything in the tunnel at once, which would be a great deal more hazardous if she did not have the level of visibility that she does. She casts little crackling bolts of lightning at the beetles that fly at her, zapping them out of the air with a loud POP of their chitin and a cloud of dust. The hoppers get a similar treatment, with various zaps and at least one just gets punched in the face as it hops at her, sending it slamming into the floor.     However, she is largely avoiding trying to take all of them. There's no reason to fight all of the wildlife in this place, so she ducks under any hoppers that she doesn't have to hurt in order to advance. It's only the stray beetle here and there that really interrupts her.     The elephant things she avoids by hopping over them with a burst of her flight aura, keenly avoiding any direct conflict they might represent. 

:'''{{#var:525|Inga (525)}} has posed:''' Inga is about to say something to Ainsley, but then the woman starts moving forward on her own. Inga lets out a sigh. This is apparently something she does. Inga will attempt to catch up to her if she can, after Quote answers her question anyway. If she had something that belonged to the girl, she could perhaps gain insight. A vision might be had. If not, she can still cast the runes and see what they tell her. Suddenly, one of the peoeple is no longer a person--but a giant spider creature. Inga practically trips over herself trying to get back, eyes widening as she curses under her breath. She reaches for the knife at her belt. It would seem however, that the creature is with them, as no one is attacking. Alright, well. There are all manner of things in the world...suppose this isn't any worse than anything else she's seen. Inga spots a coupld of familiar figues and waves to Maxine and Annie, smiling slightly as she moves toward the two. "Good to see you both again...perhaps we should stick together?" she asks. Staren has gone...somewhere, and Ainsley took off without even waiting for her to cast a ward. Though she supposes Ains is capable of making her own. "I can help to protect you from the things in here. Don't be alarmed," she says, pulling her knife from her belt. Without a moment's hesitation she takes the knife to her opposite arm and slices deep. Blood wells immediately, then is flicked from the blade toward Maxine and Annie, forming into a fine crimson mist that surrounds them both, envigorating and protecting them from at least some of the potential damage from incoming attacks. As no one seems to have anything from the missing girl, Inga sheaths her knife then reaches for one of the pouches at her waist. She reaches in and pulls out several bone-white object carved with futhark runes. She opens her palm to see if the runes have any insight into the situation. 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' Oh hey GIANT SPIDER WITH BIG GIANT FANGS! Marrik shrugged at the big spider before looking around. Occupational hazard when living in a troll market full of creepy things and living near the largest deepest hole in the multiverse. "OK, I came in expecting a more natural cave." His attention was drawn to Igna and he nodded once. "Still, anyone need anything before we-" Frown as Ainsley disappeared up ahead. He said nothing because he's seen just how well she could take care of herself and instead shrugged before focusing on the radio chatter via his pixie casting appropriate magics to keep him patched in. Sure something like the Union's common channels needed more complex magics, but here seemed just fine to patch into. It� Also proved educational on the mindsets of his fellow searchers. When he saw Black Arachnia climbing up the walls he grinned, "Good thinking! Just� Uh I don't think giant spiders are kid friendly." He grunted and started forward, just as the local critters got stirred up. His staff was pulled from apparently up his sleeve and green runes glowed along its length just in time to smack a beetle that tried divebombing him. As soon as the beetle touched the staff it withered and decayed enough that its momentum caused the now dessicated corpse to crumble to dust against the wood. He spun to do the same to a hopper and saw Inga slice her arm open. Blood magic? Not a route he considered, but noteworthy. Trouble is the bugs kept his attention too much to be bothered with more than a vague sense he'd want to talk to this woman later 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren was expecting the guy to say no, noone had come through. A human-turned-mimiga kid /can't/ have made it through all this... right? Unless she's an elite... but then, perhaps the animals were peaceful before. "And how long ago did things get 'exciting'?"     Whatever the goblin's reply, Staren's wings are out and he drops by anyone still on the starting platform only long enough to say, "A mimiga came through here!" before he's off like a shot, flying down the corridor. He draws a federation phaser from his bag, and a little silvery wire snakes out of his wrist and plugs into it to provide power.     Staren speeds after Ainsley. He can fly over the elephant things and the hoppers, so any beetles that get past Ainsley get faces full of stun shots.     Could Sue still be here? If so, he hopes they can find her before some particularly inquisitive animal does... somehow, he wouldn't be surprised if there's just another teleporter at the end of all this, though :| 

:'''{{#var:234|Lu-Mey (234)}} has posed:'''     "Aaaaaaaaaa[[User:AncientGorilla|AncientGorilla]] ([[User talk:AncientGorilla|talk]])<3"     That sudden, shrill, excited, and delighted squeal comes from Lu-Mey. She seems to entirely forget Quote when Black Arachnia takes on her mechanical arachnid form. Machine or not, the design seems to be one that sets the Oni off. And not in the way most people normally are when they see that mode.     Ah, but she only vaguely pays attention to Cthulhu. No one's been this way lately is still no means to not meander along, and she follows with the others, up until she suddenly... Sidesteps the corpse dropped on her. It's the NEXT beetle that she leaps up with a giggle and GRABS at it, hugging it to her chest and just blatantly ignoring the fact that it bites her throat clean open. Despite the horrible red mist of arterial spray, she squeezes it to her chest. "Oh gods they're so cute though. I'll name this one Ranchiki!" She squeals while slinging it under her arm and just holding it despite all the fight it puts up and how badly it starts mauling her. Most people would be dead by now.     "Ranchiki, you stop that!" She chides, stabbing the insect with a paralytic toxin and just... Not minding the fact that she is now bathed in her own blood, wounds slowly re-knitting themselves with the wiggle of white worms squirming inside the grievous lacerations and chomp-marks until she is back to being entirely, and perfectly fine.     And then she looks RIGHT AT AINSLEY. Two fingers point to her eyes. Then one to Ainsley. 

:'''{{#var:279|Maxine Sandberg (279)}} has posed:''' Fighting their way through likely wouldn't be the best idea if they can avoid. Maxine always prefer a non-violent solution but trying to reason with the animals and insects was likely impossible. She's not going to argue with Inga's offer of protection but she looks a bit concerned when the woman cuts herself. She takes advantage of the mist and starts running passing the odd creatures doing her best to try and not draw too much attention to herself. She shields herself as she does so, researching some kind of forcefield technology might not be a bad idea in the future. 

:'''{{#var:3|Roll (3)}} has posed:'''     "Well... I'll call you Quote then! Curly anything doesn't sound too guy-like!" Roll has clearly never seen the Three Stooges, but oh well. She beams up at Quote... only to ALSO flinch away upon realizing Lu-Mey's just RIGHT UP THERE with them both. She skitters away, without quite being sure why the Oni makes her so nervous.     Even more nervous with all these creatures around now than before, Roll just... sticks close to quote, while looking around for anything out of place. She's MUCH, much happier when Lu-Mey goes skittering off. It's like a pressure valve just got released! Her shoulders slump. "Whew... what's her problem...?" 

:'''{{#var:512|Kanade Tachibana (512)}} has posed:'''     Once she's airborne, Kanade stares back down at the ground to make sure one of those fury elephants isn't following her. But of course, one of them is... at least with its eyes. the hoppers can jump, but not exactly fly, and where she is right now she's probably at a safe range. So with little more than a short staring contest between the two, the hopper leaves Kanade be, likely focusing instead on one of the immediate threats to its life. The girl emits a small breath. She's just glad that she didn't have to kill it, really.     But unfortunately, those turquoise cows aren't the only trouble she has to contend with. No, no -- as soon as she turns around, she's assailed by a swarm of three beetles. Much to her surprise, they just come careening at her! She has to strafe out of the way, narrowly avoiding being hit by the one leading the charge. By the time they swoop in for another attempt, though, Kanade is ready for them. She has summoned another hand sonic blade on to her other arm, and is holding them both in front of herself now, making a sort of X-shaped shield. When they come close, Kanade uses the blunt sides to whack two of the insipid insectoids as they collide with the third and fall collectively as a heap to the ground. But even then, they don't die; they're just incapacitated.     Kanade Tachibana: Wouldn't even hurt a fly. Well, wouldn't -kill- a fly, anyway.     And the coast is clear afterwards, for a spell, so she alights on a steel outcropping looking over another artificial valley. She gives Lu-Mey a passing glance... before herself letting her eyes wander back to the small bug-heap that she left in her wake. 'Cute?'. She tilts her head. Maybe a little.     ... she meanders over to pet one. You know, because she can. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel is looking to Quote and then to Lu-Mey she not sure she should sterp in there. However she does wonder about it either way she listen to Quote and drowns a bit. "I agree it would be bad to go about your head without your spechs it could be fatal to be honest." She looks bck to see the monsters ahead she looks at it for a moment as the thing warnds them. "Thanks for the heads up." She heads intro the cavern and is putting her staff to use to gun down the hostile creatures. 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:''' Annie continues to stay close to Maxine, also looking fairly unnerved by the ward. But it doesn't seem to be causing any problems for her systems, and it does make it easier to keep the creatures from pursuing too closely as she runs. She does occasionally have to veer out of the way of a beetle, and occasionally even swats one forcefully away like, well, a bug. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Quote advances into the cave, following Ainsley, Staren, Arachnia and Kanade. His little beam-gun is drawn, and he's quick enough to deal with the few threats that make it past them without getting stunned or fried. Except for the boar-elephants that is. Those he just jumps over. They're absolutely no threat to anyone who can jump or fly, and he sees no reason to pew pew something just because it's defending its nest, or lair, or whatever. And no, he's surely not advancing just to get away from Lu-Mey now that she's distracted! Surely not! He's a brave scout robot, and charging into danger is entirely his thing. Perhaps even charging into battle on the back of a giant boar-elephant. If, that is, he could figure out a way to make it turn. Sigh, badass as that'd be, it's probably impractical. He continues on, shaking his head at some of the things he's picking up. He's glad he invited these people along... this would be a lot harder alone. But it might also be kind of less troubling.     The Cthulhu shrugs. "We don't get many visitors here. I'd say it's been... a day? Two? Hard to tell the passing of time. I slept through most of it." it says apologetically. "Er... good luck?" it offers, as Staren flies off.     The cave is long and fairly simple to navigate, at least at the start. From the building marked with a 16, the group advances fairly easily. 15, 14, 13, 12...     Ahead, out of sight behind some pipes, a voice cries out. A young piping voice "There you are, you monster! You don't scare me!" There's a hint of motion, but nothing really can be seen of the 'monster' or the one who's shouting. A voice calls out though, deeper, powerful... LOUD. "GRAAAWR!" the voice bellows, a sound that seems to shake the entire cavern. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "A day or two? How can she only be this far?" Staren wonders. In response to the voice... he makes a beeline for it! He needs to see this situation and sort out what's going on. Maybe Sue is an elite capable of taking care of herself, who knows? Maybe this isn't even Sue... 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     The squabbling between Sue and whatever she is confronting reaches Ainsley's ears, and the lizard girl immediately understands that there isn't much time to sit and think about what to do next. She begins hopping with a certain urgency from spot to spot, blithely overlooking most threats in her way at the time. It's only the ones that are, again, right up in her grill that she bothers dealing with.     At this point she is just using her bare hands to zap anything in her way. Zzzzap!     She tries to reach Sue with all the speed she can muster. She forgets about whatever reasoning she had for not flying, and uses her flight to advance. She does not want the girl to get eaten or killed, if she can do anything to stop it! 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' Marrik gave an exasperated sigh at Lu-May's antics between bouts of going forward and sucking the life out of anything that came within staff range. Sure these didn't have a lot of life, but every little bit added to his power. Plus all they had to do was die for him to get to use it. Never mind everyone else did more killing, he still benefited. Anyone sensitive to the flow of life would be able to feel the flow from everything that died go towards the thin red headed staff wielder. The squeaky voice and cave shaking that followed prompted Marrik to start running. things that tried attacking him died. No staff or hand slapping away. They just died. He was mentally readying a web of forces as his right hand made a series of gestures. The girl was close and she was being attacked. He wasn't able to attack whatever it was because he couldn't see it, but he had power enough now to cast a spell ahead and at the roof of the cavern. It was no attack, and it was made to help his gardening. Sunlight started to impossibly shine down from on high seemingly with no source. It was as if someone managed to cut the roof of the cave off, dump daylight in, and close the cave without making the sunshine go away. It wasn't much, but it might be a distraction to whatever's up ahead. Combine that with a low rumble preceding his now amplified voice, "YOU WILL LEAVE THIS PLACE IMMEDIATELY. I GIVE THIS ONE CHANCE. WALK AWAY. NOW." 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' That's not a terribly good set of sounds to hear when you're on a rescue mission, is it? Black Arachnia launches her mandible grapnel again, trying to latch onto a stalactite or other outcropping from the ceiling, and swings down, along, and back up - and twists around to repeat the process as well as she can. She may not be the first person in the group to reach the confrontation in progress, but she sure doesn't plan to be the *last* one ... and once she's got a sense of the situation, she can intervene better than she'd be able to out of ignorance. 

:'''{{#var:512|Kanade Tachibana (512)}} has posed:'''     Lu-Mey is pretty loud, so it shouldn't come as any surprise that her voice is what gets Kanade to look away from the buggy that she's petting, and to glance at her. But for once? She doesn't give a headtilt. This lady is obviously calling attention to something only true appreciators of the adorable can understand. And so, the infinite combustion engines of time and space churn to signify the creation of an invisible and abundantly significant social link. Because this is totally not superficial, and totally not something both of them will forget ever happened within minutes. To express this kinship, Kanade responds with the most deep and heartfelt gesture that her stoic demeanor can allow for: A thumbsup. Bugsbugsbugs.     Her affection for the almost complete stranger duly communicated, Kanade continues on, deftly avoiding any other threats along her path. The numbers on the buildings descend almost as swiftly -- actually, exactly as swiftly -- as she travels before finally, she hears a not-quite-distant cry. Words! Though she can't see whatever is happening, Kanade quickens her pace yet more, attempting to come to the aid of the one fighting off the 'monster'. If she is able to arrive in time, she would place herself in-between the attacked and the attacker, brandishing her blades in warning. If she doesn't... well. In that contingency, she'll figure things out depending on what said evil creature does next. 

:'''{{#var:279|Maxine Sandberg (279)}} has posed:''' Maxine's concerned as she hears that but she's not the type to rush blindly into danger. She lets the others stay ahead of her figuring they can handle this better than she can. Plus everyone charging in at once could lead to trouble. She stops a moment to catch her breath before continuing on. Going into combat while winded wasn't the best idea either. 

:'''{{#var:234|Lu-Mey (234)}} has posed:'''     There is no joke in saying that Lu-Mey has the attention span of a concussed gnat. The truth is she doesn't even seem to notice that Quote is trying to get away from her as fast as sanely possible- which is a perfectly normal reaction when in her presence.     And then she flashes thumb up and a -huge- toothy grin at Kanade.     Unfortunately she hugs Ranchiki a little too hard and cracks its carapice causing it to go SQUISH in a very nasty manner. "A-AH! RANCHIKI! NOOOOOOOOOO!" 

:'''{{#var:3|Roll (3)}} has posed:'''     Roll's been following Quote, but upon hearing all that noise... "That sounds like..." A person?! Is it Sue?! ... has she been in here for maybe a day? Who knows anymore... Roll's not gonna worry about it. Breaking away from Quote, she goes into a mad dash forwards! "You're not alone down here!" She calls out at top volume! 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel is also in the cave here keeping with Quote and evceryone else. She's making fast work of the monsters. She's can jmp pretty darn well too from the looks of things as she goes. She sees a sshe gets past the monster and soon she hears something ahead. Oh this does not sound good /at/ all here. She moirphs her staff into gun mode and gets ready to fight. "...here we go..." 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:''' "Sounds like... something big," Annie comments at the sound of the roar. She pauses beside Maxine, taking her hand to comfort her mother. "It looks like the others are going in to fight. We should get that person who's in trouble to safety!" With that, she lets go and rushes in to see what she might be able to do to help. 

:'''{{#var:525|Inga (525)}} has posed:''' Inga moves forward as quickly as she can, but running is just not something that is possible for the woman. Her uneven gait quickens some, but she's still likely to be one of the last to arrive on scene. The girl's scream sets a fire in her though. Everyone who has rushed ahead is ready and able to take out the threat and protect the girl she is sure, but can any of them treat injuries? This she doesn't know, but she hopes she gets there in time if those particular skills are needed. "If anyone is injured, I can help!" she calls, just to establish this. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     No one is immediately within sight of what happens next, as it follows immediately after the bellow. Still, a description of the events because some things need to be seen, even if only cutscened...     The monster in question looks sort of like a Mimiga with vivid red eyes and pointy fangs. Also it's huge, its head about the size of the adolescent Mimiga. Incongruously it wears green pants with the legs torn and tattered, and a green tie though it lacks a shirt. Were one particularly genre-savvy, one might imagine it looks a lot like the Hulk after sudden massive enlargement. The little Mimiga looks... well, it's a Mimiga. A small bunny-like creature wearing a blue pull-over. The difference in size would almost be comic if it weren't ominous.     Following the monster's bellow, the frail-seeming Mimiga roars right back. "WHAT! You want some of this?!?" she says, raising fists and smirking cockily. "Take your best shot! Even my big brother has never beaten me!"     The monster seems to understand, and advances on the Mimiga, lashing out with one immense paw. The Mimiga staggers with a squeak. "Ouch! Y-you got me!" The monster isn't finished however, punching again. By this point the little Mimiga is sobbing in pain. "Sorry! I'M SORRY!" No reply though, except another punch that knocks the little one sprawling. She IS tough however, surprisingly so. Despite devastating hits from a creature that could probably knock down a building, the Mimiga is merely moaning and cowering. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Igor doesn't respond to what's happened so far, not to the light, not to the shouts, not to the charging people. He has eyes only for the little helpless mimiga who apparently thought she could take him. 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' The Maximal spider doesn't shed any more speed than she absolutely has to - particularly when the situation goes from 'one girl against one monster' to 'one monster beating up a helpless body'. Black Arachnia may not consider herself particularly heroic, but she's not really a huge fan of letting the weak be trampled by the strong. She takes advantage of her momentum from swinging her way here, calculates the arc coming out of her last swing and flip, and twists around on the way down to try and land hard on Igor's back - And immediately attempts to sink her palps into the giant's neck or upper back, and inject a broad-spectrum tranquilizer version of her cybervenom. .... which is when she realizes the flaw in her cunning plan: *getting off of the thing's back*. Oops. Well, she has the 'stupid' part of 'heroic' down, she thinks sardonically as she clings to her unintended mount and hopes not to get in the way of her allies' attacks. This monster's pretty big, there should be plenty for them to shoot that she won't block. Right? 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     The sound of squeaking impacts is something Ainsley immediately understands. Someone is getting their butt kicked by a great big beast. She flies as fast as she can, and only gets there after Igor has struck Sue several times. She spares a glance at the sprawled Mimiga, and then at Igor, and then Sue again--     She doesn't even think. She swoops in and tries to land, staggering. She runs to try to get to the tiny rabbit girl, hoping that she can provide a bit of healing magic to her in case she got anything broken from the beatdown she just received. The swap in mana affinity makes it impossible for Ainsley to fly anymore, though, dispersing some static electricity into the ground harmlessly. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren flies down towards the two of them. "Sue! Sue, is that you?" Once he comes in view of Igor's face, he says, "Alright, you, prepare to--" He stops and stares. "...A Mimiga? What... who are you? What are you doing?" Briefly, he's surprised into not dashing immediately for Sue. 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' When Marrik managed to get in sight of Sue, a giant red eyed mimigas stood a ways off and Sue was down. The whole sunshine thing had been an attempt at getting it's attention and failed. So what? He couldn't get between girl and monster in time so he instead focused his power into a single projected instance of kenetic force aimed at the creature's chest. it would feel something like a ham sized fist hitting if Marrik's aim was true. Trouble is he's rarely done this at range, instead usually preferring to use his fist or staff as focus. Projecting the magic itself without a physical focus was hard, and anyone looking at Marrik would see him making a single forward punch with one foot sliding at the same time as his fist. If it killed the beast so be it, but he hoped to simply knock it out. Why not aim at it's head? It's surprisingly easy to break someone's neck if they get hi the wrong way. except Black Arachnia had gotten on the creature's back. Maybe he should have aimed for it's legs? Too late now! 

:'''{{#var:3|Roll (3)}} has posed:'''     Roll can only wince. Horribly. At what she sees. The Mimiga seem tougher than most humans, and deserve some credit for that. But against THAT thing? "No, no chance...!" But Sue charges in anyways, and takes a whalloping.     Roll acts immediately. Without summoning up her armor, she extends a hand... and it transforms quickly into the Mega Buster - but colored grey?     *GWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOPP!!* Huge glops of concrete launch from it after a preliminary spin-up. Super quick-drying concrete suitable for the heaviest-duty industrial construction Dr. Light could ever imagine - and that is quite industrial, knowing him.     Most of it's aimed at Igor's legs. Hopefully, he'll get stuck in place. Or maybe trip. Roll's just trying to foul up his movement, not eviscerate him! 

:'''{{#var:512|Kanade Tachibana (512)}} has posed:'''     Despite her best efforts, Kanade still arrives a bit later than some, and much later than Black Arachnia who is already on Igor's back by the time she gets there. So instead of charging as she did the last time something like this happened, she trusts in the strength of the others, and goes instead to Sue and Ainsley. She glances back at the lizard girl -- a nod and a look that says 'I'll be here', nothing more. And there she stays, keeping her hand-blades crossed over her chest as she had with the bugs before. Just in case Igor is able to break through the group and get to Sue, she'll be right in his way.     ... but something does catch her eye. Like the others have said, it looks a lot like a mimiga itself. Just... bigger.     And sort of unhealthy. 

:'''{{#var:279|Maxine Sandberg (279)}} has posed:''' The rabbit girl certainly is cute, but it looks like she could use some help. "Stay away from her!" Maxine's motherly instincts kick in as she gets closer to the fight. Still, it would be better to restrain the attacking monster then hurt it. She's well equipped for such matters as she removes a bomb from her lab coat and arms it. She then promptly tosses it at Igor and a few seconds later it explodes in a mess of sticky goo. 

:'''{{#var:525|Inga (525)}} has posed:''' Inga arrives behind the others, trying to quickly take in the scene. Her eyes widen at the giant creature, the small...girl...? Rabbit girl. Still, a child. Can she reach her? Inga begins to move forward, a plan quickly forming in her mind. She reaches into one of the pouches at her waist and pulls out what appears to be finger bones. Leaning her staff in the crook of her arm, Inga then pulls out her knife and slices a new wound in her arm. She touches the finger bones to her blood one by one, her lips moving as she casts her spell. She throws one then, toward the giant mimiga, but not quite AT it. More between it and the girl. The bones have been charged with warding magic, as Inga tries to set up a barrier between the giant thing and the little girl it is trying to harm. 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:''' As the others attempt to restrain the monster, Annie tries to get to Sue. She might be putting herself directly in harm's way, but... better her than a cute fluffy thing! In any case, Inga's ward should help protect her from whatever beating the creature might attempt on her. But, will she even be able to get there? Will the restraints even work? That remains to be seen. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel is uncertain as she sees the monger, she looks at the huge thing she brings up the staff which is in combat mode. She readies her stff and has tbe business end pointd at the monster. She now gets redy to move as she does so music starts up, due to this being a legacy of the session she was inolved in. It fires shots in time to the music before she breaks into run and calls out. "Hey ugly get GLTICHED!" 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     The Mimiga looks up, seeing people rushing in. "Who are you?" she asks, struggling to get to her feet. The answer will have to wait as Igor smashes Inga's bone ward and slams the Mimiga one last time. This hit seems too much, finally, and the monster scoops up its helpless 'opponent' with one massive arm. It turns to lumber away, only to be assaulted by a series of attacks. This is where a lack of coordination might end up causing some trouble.     Black Arachnia, ahead by the simple virtue of being out of the way and able to move cleanly around obstacles and critters, leaps on Igor and sinks her fangs into him. The giant Mimiga-like form howls and thrashes, trying to flee with its prize. It's too big to be stopped entirely by her paralysis attack. Its thrashing does, however, put Arachnia in the path of Marrik's kinetic bolt, effectively shielding it and quite probably knocking her sprawling. Deleel's blaster shots singe it (possibly further threatening Black Arachnia as well), but the creature doesn't even notice the damage.     But wait, there's more! Insta-dry cement and a glue bomb! Igor howls once, yanking a foot free and leaving fur behind. It does the same again with its other foot. The thing is BRUTALLY strong and tough, and has little difficulty pulling free.     Roaring, and appearing to laugh at the attempts to stop it, the creature turns and runs, ducking into a somewhat-narrow passage leading deeper into the chamber. This part of the cave, it seems, is much tighter and twisty, with obstacles in the way. But first things first... people are going to have to figure out a way to get past a figurative ton of glue and cement before they can begin pursuit. 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' Black Arachnia, upon realizing that (1) she's no longer on Igor's back, and (2) she's no longer spinning around because she's no longer on the monster that WAS spinning around, starts trying to get her feet back under her. This may take a while, she's got eight of the things in this form and they don't all seem to be responding quite according to protocol. But she's intact. Pretty much. "So. Did we win?" she asks dryly, trying to turn to face the group - but she keeps overcompensating, moving rather like she's drunk enough to get pulled over on any public road. 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' Well that sucked. Black Arachnia took the brunt of Marrik's hit, monster had the girl, and there was this figurative hardened goop in the way. He sighed and walked up to it and took a slow breath before reaching out and spreading his fingers. The cement and glue creaked and cracked. Slowly his hand lowered and the cracks multiplied until chunks started breaking off. The rubble was subjected to millinia of aging in the span of moments and what was once an obstruction was rendered little more than a thick layer of dust on the floor. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren is getting ready to blast the debris pile when he's asked to check on the Cybertronian, so he lands by Arachnia. "Hey... you okay?" He looks up and down. "Centipede's dilemma? Maybe you should switch forms?" Then... Marrik ages the debris away. "/That's/ a neat trick!" He dashes up to the tunnel. Huh, narrower space. No problem! He can just turn into a cat!     ...Nothing happens. Oh right, he's still a robot. He sighs and gives chase, making his way through but no longer able to just fly full speed. 

:'''{{#var:525|Inga (525)}} has posed:''' Inga looks over toward Black Arachnia, frowning slightly. There isn't much she can do to go after the beast, apparently her ward was not enough. Cursing, she moves closer to the giant spider. With a few flicks of her knife it is bloodied again, the blood misting outward toward the spider, attempting to cast a spell that both will heal her over time and help protect her from incoming damage--the same spell she'd given Annie and Maxine. "I hope this helps," she says, then stands back, waiting until she's usefull. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel is keeoing moving but she's not so lucky with how things are going down. She stops shooting as the guy takes a hostage, she flips the staff up and it compacts and she keeps running in, she pulls the disc off her back and it's edge lights up humming with power. She moves to strike at Igor that goes no where given what's happen. he pauses figurting out how to get past this wall. "I should have brought light charges with me..." 

:'''{{#var:512|Kanade Tachibana (512)}} has posed:'''     But try as she might, Kanade can't get to Sue in time to help her. And for the second time, someone is abducted right in front of her before she has any chance to help. She continues after Igor as he's pelted on all sides by the nearby elites, probably taking some friendly fire damage herself before she finally stops, watching helplessly as he shambles away. Her eyelids shut tightly, and she's still for several moments.     And then Marrik clears the way. Her eyes open back up, and she wastes absolutely no time talking, or healing, or anything; she's determined to catch up to Igor now, and that's the only thing on her mind. She starts through the narrow passage, retracting her wings for now to provide her with more mobility. 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:''' "No..." Annie says, looking on in shock as the monster defeats all the restraints that had been placed on it. "NO!" she cries again as it runs off. As she rushes forward, her appearance suddenly changes- her hair, eyes, and clothes. She wields what looks like a toy scythe, and rushes at the obstacle formed by the concrete and glue, charging up what looks like a small black hole. She aims it straight for the obstacle... only for Marrik to make it disappear before her eyes. Disappointedly, she re-aims the black hole and sucks up the dust from the ground. "...I guess that works too," she says. "Let's keep chasing that thing!" 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley staggers to a stop, and gapes as the mutant mimiga just... completely disregards the power of cement and glue and kidnaps Sue right off the floor. She huffs and looks at the mess before her when Igor is finally gone, and the party goes about fixing the mess they cause. Once the path is clear, she begins running forward again, jogging ahead and preparing to pursue Igor through the rest of the Egg Corridor. She looks very unhappy, and all the more determined. 

:'''{{#var:3|Roll (3)}} has posed:'''     Off the Igor goes, with Sue in tow. Roll makes a face. "...He just... plowed through it all without even blinking!" What a monster! She's gawking! ".... Does he work for the doctor too or...?" 

:'''{{#var:279|Maxine Sandberg (279)}} has posed:''' Once the debris, Maxine continues onwards. Of course she's not quite sure how to stop Igor yet. She doesn't want to put Sue any more in any more danger, and she's sure he can put up quite a few. Though maybe they could wear him down as a group. Still catching him up to him might be difficult. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Quote joins in, having been a bit slower than the front liners. His little gun's still out, and he looks in confusion at the mass of goop blocking the way. His eyes dart about. Fortunately before he can suggest shooting the mass free, others have better ideas.     Marrik and Annie do their thing, getting rid of the mass of goop. Igor and Sue are long gone however. Igor, as tough as he is, doesn't even bother worrying about the critters and can jump over pretty much any obstacles. He'll be hard to catch, but the monster could've finished the Mimiga off and didn't. Its own purposes might be opposed to the heroes', but if her actual life were in danger she'd already be dead.     Beyond what was once an obstacle and is now residing somewhere in a black hole, the cave continues. The buildings are much the same as before, but the cave itself is rougher. There's signs of damage beyond. Old damage, not fresh. Some of the incubation buildings seem damaged, but mostly it's tunnels and pipes that suffer. There's going to be more giant beetles now, including a few really huge ones that spit acid rather than buzz intruders. Nothing terribly more troubling than before though... except the obstacles. Tumbled-down crates, rock, broken pipes. Nothing that can't be climbed or jumped, but the going isn't nearly so smooth as before.     Of note, there's a building up ahead that's not one of the incubation chambers, situated between the fourth and third. It has a visible entrance, even. Past the building though, the terrain gets even more wrecked. At this point, climbing and jumping might not be enough. People will have to be more reliant on supernormal abilities and gear when they proceed. Still, it seems like Igor went this way. There's signs of his passage... namely a couple of crushed beetles and one flattened hopper. Ew. 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' Anna's enthusiasm was catching. Sparks wriggled out of Martin's coat pocket and shot forward into the cave tunnels. She was small, maybe as big as a shinki or a barbie doll with dragonfly wings. As Marrik showed indescission she showed decisiveness. "Come in! What're you hits waiting on? It's getting away!" Her dragonfly wings buzzed as she darted forward, exploring in quick flitting motions, trying to use her small size to slip where people couldn't and maybe find a shortcut to find where the monstrous mimigas was headed. For his part Marrik slogged after more cautiously, not wanting to exasperate the problem of lots of people in a narrow space. Still, sparks could only really find the beast, and lead everyone else to it. Marrik frowned as he progressed, not liking what he's seeing. Still not much he can do other than keep going. Yet come time for entering the oddball structure he didn't seem bothered by it being out of human reach. He had rope, a grapple, and magic to guide the hook to a secure spot to hold his weight. Bugs? Hoppers? As before, if any approached him a flick of his fingers or twitch of his wrist and they died, and their deaths gave him power. 

:'''{{#var:525|Inga (525)}} has posed:''' Inga follows behind Marrik as it would happen, keeping to the back, cautious, considering the girl and her guessed at transformation and what she would do about it. "Troubling..." she comments. 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' Marrik nodded to Inga before offering her his rope. "Nice bon ward, well made... would've stopped something smaller." Hey it was a bad time for talk but seeing your best get completely no sold sucks, especially when it really was good work. 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:''' Annie continues alongside the others. In this form, however, she seems to be more inclined to be towards the front of the group, and fires her miniature black holes at some of the beetles that get in her way, rather than taking too much time trying to avoid confrontations; on the other hand, she also doesn't spend too much time seeking them out either. Speed seems to be of the essence here. 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' Rather than taking to the walls or ceiling again just yet, Black Arachnia is trotting along at 'ground' level, abetted by grapnel usage when there's a gap that needs to be jumped over or otherwise traversed. She's still not above using her grapnel-slam-and-suck technique on any of the bettles that get too close to her, though ... And she may be making some use of any nutrients she can derive from the bugs she's killing as she goes. It's hard to say from just watching her. What *is* clear is that thanks to Inga's spell, her internal gyroscopes have sorted themselves back out and she can navigate in straight lines more or less reliably. She may still be recovering, though - which could explain her sticking to the same surface(s) as her allies. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel thinks for a moment trying to get how to dela with it however Annie and Marrik got the problem well in hand. She moves to follow the other through the hole they just made. IT's time to get going the enmies are a biot harder here. She opens fire when needed and is trying to keep out of harms way. She doe stake note of all the damage to the places here and tries to figure out what might have caused it. She does not the enemies re getting a bit harder. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Once through the tunnel, Staren sees... more difficult cave. Great. He continues abusing flight to bypass the elephant-boars, but now he has to fly lower and has less opportunity to avoid beetles and hoppers. He's pretty quick with the phaser, but his aim's not perfect and sometimes he gets buffeted now. That doesn't really damage his armor, though, and monsters that get /that/ close are sent flying with a punch or kick.     Acid-spitting beetles are a concern. He tries a quick stun shot, but it isn't enough -- he flies around it, dodging acid and firing several stun shots to bring it down.     The next big beetle he encounters, he just flies towards it as fast as he can, jet-boots assisting his wings, and dodges around acid to just punch it in the face, HARD, hopefully stunning it. Or maybe taking its head off. Kinda hard to gauge it right.     The building, he stops by only briefly to peer inside. "Sue? Monster rabbit thing?" When there's no reply, he races on! 

:'''{{#var:525|Inga (525)}} has posed:''' Inga smiles slightly, nodding. "Thank you. Tch, if I'd have a bit more time to construct something better...it would have," she comments. "You're a..." she struggles with the word here, as she's fairly sure he's not godi and certainly not spakona, "A wizard?" she asks. Inga looks to the rope, then begins to laugh. "Oh no, that is certainly not happening," she informs him, looking forward. She motions to her staff. Its not just for show. She needs the darn thing to walk. "...a rope bridge? Honestly? Oh gods watch me..." she says, and despite her complaints begins to move foward. Very cautiously, and grumbling; "I cannot believe I am doing this..." 

:'''{{#var:512|Kanade Tachibana (512)}} has posed:'''     Kanade continues on at a brisk pace, taking out her wings again to support her leaps across platforms as the tunnel's spacing permits. This time, she moves on largely without regard to the beetles, where she can. When she can't, she mumbles another word: 'Distortion'. This invocation causes a small ripple around her being, giving the air a more lasting sheen. But more importantly, it causes any approaching acid wads to go -right through her-, rather than colliding with her. Otherwise, she bashes away the bugs as needed, but for the most part just sprints onward as fast as is feasible.     As the terrain becomes more and more choppy, she begins to rely on her wings for locomotion more completely. She catches sight of an unusual looking building out of the corner of her eye, and makes a beeline for it. With Igor so far ahead of them, that's really her only visible clue. 

:'''{{#var:3|Roll (3)}} has posed:'''     "ewww... I don't like this place. Not one bit!" Roll exclaims. "Who went and left a mess THIS BIG?!" She's making one of those dangerous Berserker Cleanathon Angry faces that send the Light family into their bunkers at all the ruins, big beetles and the like be damned! 

:'''{{#var:279|Maxine Sandberg (279)}} has posed:''' Maxine's having trouble getting through the rough terrain. Physically, she's not much more capable than a normal human. The beetles aren't help any either. Maybe she haven't come, she's not really suited for this sort of thing. "Ugh..." She's getting a bit frustrated. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Quote follows along with the others, moving as quickly as he can. He doesn't bother stopping for monsters or minor obstacles, having no difficulty leaping ten or even fifteen feet in the air in an arc that almost completely ignores such niceties as gravity and momentum. When a beetle gets particularly close he shoots it without even breaking stride, but for the most part he doesn't even have to worry about hostile critters. Others are much more efficient, have greater range, and are quite probably faster than him too. He's got good mobility, but his weapon of choice is decidedly weaker than the sorts of things the others have here.     Still, when the Basu gives Staren trouble, Quote fires a quick barrage of shots at it. His fire is remarkably precise and doesn't threaten his fellow robot, but it does a pretty good job of pulverising the creature he was trying to stun. He has no qualms about killing beasts, even if he has certain feelings about murdering mimigas or other nice creatures.     As the group advances past a particularly impressive tumble of metal crates, they can see a passage ahead. The last egg chamber, chamber 01, lies below. Past a rather wide gap, they can see a flat plane of smooth stone. There's no rubble or anything beyond the gap. A stark wall separates the smooth unblemished section from the area of damage, and there's a doorway through the wall. From the doorway, which seems to have no physical door, a few wisps of smoke and a few sparks arise. Nothing threatening, but it looks like something electronic met a very sudden, very recent demise.     The gap will have to be navigated, but this is likely to be of little difficulty to this group. Just one more obstacle, no more and no less difficult than those already overcome. Below the gap, that little speedy white flash tears back and forth. Falling in at this point would be pretty bad, but it's unlikely anyone's going to do that, right?     Beyond the gap, our giant friend Igor awaits! "GRAWR." says the rather expressive monster that resembles a hulked-out Mimiga. "Doctor's very important test eggs... Very important!"     It can TALK? That's almost creepy.     It doesn't really have an interest in banter however. Holding up fists the size of warhammers, Igor advances. It's slow, ponderously so. It charges forward in a lumbering rush, which isn't that threatening except for how wide the creature is. Its stubby arms are battering rams though, and the group's already had a good sense of how hard it can hit. Poor Sue. Speaking of whom, Sue's not in sight. There's a pair of buildings behind Igor however... 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' Black Arachnia leaves another pair of nice sturdy Energon lines to help her allies across the last gap, and after securing the second one, climbs fully up to the platform where the lumbering bulk of a minion awaits ... and she seems manifestly unimpressed by Igor's mastery of verbal communication. She really has only three words, and they're hardly for *him*. "Black Arachnia, maximize!" With the verbal command, the spider's body rearranges itself back into robot mode, configuring herself for actual combat; her combat claws snap out into place, a pair branching from the back of each hand - and her spider legs remain fanned out from her back, the tips opening to reveal laser emitters. It's the lasers that she leads off with, 'sniping' at Igor with thin, burning beams, trying to slow the behemoth down as she otherwise focuses on staying out of his way. 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' All things considered Marrik was late to the party, at least he had to have been if he missed the banter, threats, and things had gotten to the smashing things stage. Yet he remembered last time and hung back to see who was doing what. Plus the time spent watching was time he could use to work a spell. He looked to Inga. "Can you try making a bone ward? I'll try strengthening it. Try walling that thing in, or at least make it have to waste time smashing it down." 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' They make good time she keep sn eye on Quote and everyone else. Inga and Marrik do get some notice from the living program. She now has her staff back in melee mode as she moves in at the huge thing. Igor mad and big this is a bad idea. She looks at the creature for a moment. She's not very happy, no she's not happy at all about this. She mocing in afgter him as everyone gets ready to fight she seems intent to dart aroun and try to get him with power staff strikes and she's very much planning to not sit still. 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:''' As Annie notices Maxine having some trouble, she approaches her mother with a smile. She returns to her normal form and takes Maxine's hand once again. "I think we're almost there," she says. "We need to keep going!" She follows Black Arachnia's lines toward the site of the battle, but hangs back for a bit, alongside Marrik, trying to find an opening to get past Igor to the doors behind him. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren quirks a brow at Quote's quick and decisive beetle-killing, but doesn't comment.     Flying across the gap is easy. And then... Igor. Staren's /slightly/ surprised he can tlak, but... that does seem to confirm he might be a mimiga of some sort. "...That sounds like reason enough to smash them." He flies away from the rush. "Are you a mimiga? The Doctor is hunting your kind! Why do you help him?" And then, Staren gets an idea, as he glances at the egg chambers. "If you've got any brain cells in that big head of yours... LISTEN. Look at all the people we have here. While some of us fight you, the rest of us can easily destroy the eggs!" He points at Igor. "If you want to keep the eggs safe... then TALK!" 

:'''{{#var:279|Maxine Sandberg (279)}} has posed:''' She should have sent Maxi down here, but she's not sure if she would bave been able to have kept linked with her. Still, she's not going to give up especially when a child is in trouble. She takes Annie's hand but stays back a bit as well as Staren tries to reason with Igor. 

:'''{{#var:3|Roll (3)}} has posed:'''     Remembering how little consideration Igor shows for talk, Roll glowers at the monstrosity. Her armor appears in a flash - light just streams across her body, and dissipates to reveal the armor instead of her dress. But she's still frowning heavily!     "I don't want to fight, but you're not gonna listen if I just ask you to calm down, are you?" The prospect of fighting a living thing, no matter how enraged or brutal, is not sitting well with her. Especially if it can talk. Even if it has few qualms attacking all the others gathered.     But she'll have to, and she can, because it's so likely to hurt everyone else. So Roll steps forward. "Looks like I don't have a choice!"     Still, she doesn't want to kill him, heck no. So, for the moment, she changes gear. Or rather, weapons. Super Arm activates, shifting her color scheme to brown and white, and she hurries along to try and get into the front lines! 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Igor seems not at all interested in talking. It's not clear whether the monster Mimiga lacks the wit to converse, or whether it has enough free will to respond with anything other than punches. Either way it completely ignores Staren's attempts at diplomacy. And for that matter, the rest of him too. Like Maxine and Marrik, Staren is making no obvious attempt to attack, so avoids the beast's wrath as others draw the aggro.     Black Arachnia should have little trouble staying out of Igor's reach. He appears slow, but his lumbering charge is faster than a normal person could run thanks to massive Mimiga legs. Fortunately for her, she's not a normal person and he's not really able to jump as high as she is. Her lasers burn into it, doing damage, and enraging the beast but doing little to slow it down.     Quote adds his own laser fire to Black Arachnia's. His weapon may be a different colour, but the effects are much the same. That is to say they do damage, but not a whole lot. He finds himself having to stay close though, since his weapon has such a short-range focus. When it swipes at him, he leaps up. That leap clears the rabbit-monster's height easily, and Igor leaps up and tries to swat Quote out of the air, barely missing. Okay, he's behind Igor. Now what? He takes aim but holds his fire, not certain his little pew pewing can do much, and not sure if others have something else in mind for him to do now that he's past the thing's bulk. %tDeleel, if she intends to fight in melee, will have to be equally quick and agile. It's going to be flailing those massive fists at her even as she smashes it with her power staff. She's doing a great job tanking its attention however, assuming she can handle the results of the aggro. Roll, charging in with her Super Arm, will likewise have to share the aggro and the punches.     Frustrated at being unable to catch the fast-moving and annoying heroes, Igor bellows in pain and rage. The roar is, quite literally, earth-shaking. It's a sonic attack in its own right, shredding the air before it into tatters as bolts of not-quite-tangible energy shoot out. A chi-type attack more than science-based energy would account for, but no less painful to anyone hit by the cone of sound. The tanky ones should have no trouble getting out of the way, given they're right by the narrowest part of the cone. Everyone else though is going to have to deal with a shotgun-blast of sound. 

:'''{{#var:525|Inga (525)}} has posed:''' Inga nods, reaching into her pouch. "Someone will have to cover me, I will not take a hit from that thing," she says. She would not be getting up from that. Not here anyway, or perhaps it would just take a long time? Inga isn't sure, she hasn't actually DIED yet! "I don't have too many bones on me, I will use what I can..." she says, then kneels down, using the floor to sort through her things and begin to draw runes and staves upon the bones she keeps in her pouch. She has quite a few, far more bones than an average person would carry around (so, none?) but it will hardly be a fence. The ward should hold however, if she can manage to get it up. 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' Marrik held himself upright, but only just in the face of the earth shaking. Kinetic force straight on would just hit allies. So he was more subtle and stepped away from Inga. His held power traced out in arching threads as he moved in sweeping motions. Anyone looking might mistaken his movements for stretches, or a kata, or possibly bending as a darkened haze formed around him and the lines of magic he sent out. Each was aimed at sapping life away from Igor, to take that life amd then feed it into Inga's ward to keep it strong. In effect his goal was to weaken their opponent while further strengthening its prison. Of course it's a chaotic battlefield. sadly not everything cooperates in a nice and neat manner. 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:'''      Annie makes a run for the buildings, hoping to find the Mimiga inside- but she finds herself knocked to the ground by the enemy's roar. She does her best to try to get back up and to one of the buildings without being noticed- unfortunately, Quote is close by as well, actually fighting the thing. So it might be tough to avoid Igor's notice. 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' Tanky? Black Arachnia? You must be thinking of another Maximal; the sheer sonic force of Igor's roar practically bowls her off her feet - and if it weren't for the wards, she probably WOULD be knocked down by it. Painfully. As it is, most of what the thunderous bellowing does is tick her off, and she tries to take advantage of her allies' drawing Igor's direct aggro to get around to one side and ... *IF* she can get a clear shot, which is the tricky part ... use her lasers to attempt to give Igor a long-range tracheotomy. If she CAN'T get that shot, she'll go for the hamstrings instead - just cripple the giant white rage monster rather than removing his ability to keep making sounds. 

:'''{{#var:3|Roll (3)}} has posed:'''     Roll takes a few blows to the everything, because she's so tiny compared to Igor. Sparks fly from her joints and her servos whine in protest, but she eventually manages to grab Igor's offending fists with her own and then... WHAAAAMPF! Forces him back. or tries to, anyways. The prodigious strength of GUTS MAN flows through her frame and servos! Though the ground she's standing on might crack before her target's own strength does... 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel is being able to not die but she's not making much progress in the way of damage here she is however keeping his attention and that's the imporant thing. It's like being back in the pit fighting she was forced into so long ago. Dodge or die, and that's what she's seeming to do right now a she keeps moing keeps tyring to keep Igor busy on her. Oh thats not goo she moves rapidly to avoid the attack and her staff stsarts playing some rapid speed techno as she keeps tyring to get Igor's attention. "Hey Ugly! I hear the Doctor's considering you a failed experiment and is going to dispose of you!!" 

:'''{{#var:279|Maxine Sandberg (279)}} has posed:''' Maxine figures her firepower won't do much and tries to get close to the building where Sue is being held as well. She's knocked over by the roar as well. She pulls herself onto her feet as well, but it looks they're going to need a distraction if they're going to pass Igor. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     As opposed to getting into the fray and having all of her bones broken for her trouble, Ainsley is at the back, watching the fight as it happens. Her face scrunches at the awful roar that the giant beast thing makes, momentarily pained by that. But she's out of the way of the fight enough that she's unlikely to get hit in the crossfire.     Seems she's lost a lot of her appetite for direct combat in recent months, as if she would prefer to focus on her healing abilities and not any other.     She tries emitting a wave of red light upon anyone who is getting harmed by Igor's retaliations, but she's not particularly good at aiming.     Figuring the party is going to be keeping Igor occupied, she tries to get around Igor and to the buildings at the end of the tunnel, so she can get to Sue and give her the healing she intended to give before Igor ran off with her. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren frowns. He hoped that would work... Oh, well. Time to put his armory to use! He prepares to attack -- only to be blasted by sound! A forcefield appears around him, cracking slightly, and he tumbles through the air before righting himself. "Alright... you asked for it!" He pulls the laser sniper rifle off his back, switches it to burst mode, and starts spamming attacks at Igor every few seconds, as fast as it can cool down. Lasers have no recoil! There's no sound, and no visible beam -- just an immense amount of light concentrated on a tiny, tiny point, aiming to superheat it into plasma and make it explode for massive damage, with three pulses per burst. /This/ robotic soldier from the surface is armed with one of the most powerful handheld energy weapons of the 24th century -- two of bursts could easily blow a hole in the side of a tank! He's not messing around anymore. Igor wants a fight, he's got one.     Staren's so gonna bring the corpse to Dr. Vahlen and ask if she can figure out what was done to it, though.     If this results in monster soldier bunnies fighting aliens later, would anyone really argue that that /wouldn't/ be awesome? 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Quote continues to hold his fire, assessing probabilities and making strategies. His beam does little against the thing's thick hide, but a precision shot might still make a difference. Being called upon to run though, to save Sue so they can all get clear, makes a lot of sense. It appeals on an emotional level too, though he doesn't recognize the emotions. That's the thing though. You don't need to analyze an emotion, it just happens.     Black Arachnia's beams narrow in, and the focussed weapons seem to be more effective than just plastering Igor with bolts. The bellows of rage falter and die as the massive creature is effectively silenced. The lasers do some damage too. When Staren joins in, adding his laser rifle to her damage output, the result is impressive. Smoke begins to rise. No doubt blood would spurt if the weapons weren't self-cauterizing. The damage to Igor is starting to mount up, but at this point it seems that on the flight or fight scale, Igor's still well locked into fight mode.     The killer bunny turns as Annie makes her move, preparing to turn her into a robotic splat mark. At that instant Quote makes his move. Firing off a stream of energy bolts, he aims for Igor's face as the giant beast turns. It's not enough to blind the creature entirely or even to hurt him compared to what Staren and Arachnia are doing, but the flare and burn should be enough to let Annie get past it and into the building beyond. It should also give Maxine a chance to make her own move. Quote waits just a moment, then follows whoever enters. He's as much there to guard them as he is looking to recover Sue.     Igor, meanwhile, is about to turn on Quote and Annie when Roll grabs him. That arm is strong! It might even be a match for Igor's massive bulk. Certainly it's enough to turn the monster's attention back to her. Deelel taunts away, and while Igor wants to respond it's kind of got to deal with Roll first. Well, it has more than strength alone at least. The giant bunny picks Roll up entirely off the ground by her Super Arm, simply lifting its own arms up until she's dangling, intending to use her as a battering ram or a flail against Dee.     The bone ward is more than powerful enough, at this point, to protect anyone staying behind it. It might even be strong enough to stop a few of Igor's blows directly, but that's something fortunately not yet put to the test. It should provide quite effective shelter, and should also help secure the retreat should people feel the need to leave once Sue's recovered.     And speaking of Sue, yes. She's right there, unconscious within the building directly behind Igor. There's also a few other things. There's a computer, lit up and displaying something no one's likely to bother reading at this point. Oh yes, and there's also a monstrously huge egg, illuminated by floodlights that radiate enough heat to be felt from the doorway. It's REALLY big. Like, probably 10 feet high on its side and 20 feet long at the longest axis. It's also labeled, quite clearly with foot-high lettering apparently painted on, 'No00'. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley sees the room, and turns her attention to-- the giant egg. She stares at it for a second, baffled by the size of it. What comes to mind is 'dragon' but she's not sure how accurate that would be. And then she begins advancing toward Sue. She stops near the unconscious Mimiga, and kneels nearby. Both hands reach out, one on Sue's back, the other atop her head.     She tries to use healing magic to repair any damage in the human-turned-Mimiga. "Sue...?" she wonders at the Mimiga, in a gentle voice. 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:''' Annie nods her thanks to Quote for saving her from the monster.as she enters the building where Sue is lying. She joins Ainsley at Sue's side, but can't help looking up at the egg more than down at Sue. "If that's the egg... how big's the full-grown thing that comes from it?" she wonders. 

:'''{{#var:525|Inga (525)}} has posed:''' Inga continues to power the bone fence with anima, adding more of her blood to keep the wards fresh. She didn't have time to make them more permanent, so she'd need to keep feeding them. Luckily, she has help. "I don't believe I got your name," she calls to Marrik. "Goodness BE QUIET!" she yells toward Igor. So /noisy!/ 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' Igor's rage and attacks put Marrik in a far less forgiving mind than he might have been. So he pressed his attack, directly sucking Igor's life away to strengthen its prison. He could do nothing else without risking taking a fist to the everything which would nicely end his ability to make magic. Still, if Igor couldn't shake the tendrils of magic sucking his life away eventually the monstrous mimigas would fall, and the voice telling him that he shouldn't murder was getting harder to pay attention to. Meanwhile Sparks darted into the chamber and frowned at this 00 what's it, and more so at the computer terminal thing alongside it. "Sue?" The pixie called out as she darted this way and that. Not like an unconscious girl could answer, but who knew? The little pixie might spot something. "Marrik," His voice was soft and there was a tension as he continued to use his body to direct the flows of magic to both siphon from Igor and strengthen the bone ward. Fall you ruddy stupid thing. FALL! 

:'''{{#var:279|Maxine Sandberg (279)}} has posed:''' The computer does get Maxine's attention a bit, but getting Sue out of here is more important. She watches Ainsley attends to her. "That's a good question." Maxine agrees with Annie, what could lay an egg so large. They would have to look into it later. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     They've got Sue, Staren hears! But they still have to get Sue /past/ this thing. And so far, noone's figured out any way to pacify or subdue it. Staren cocks his head at the reply, then shakes his head as he watches Igor turn from one for to another. If it were smart enough co concentrate all those attacks on one person... Well, it's not.     Time to finish this.     Staren just keeps firing lasers. They seem to be pretty effective, after all! 

:'''{{#var:3|Roll (3)}} has posed:'''     "Aaaaaaahhhhh!!" The situation sure turned around. Roll's grip is tight, but her body is light compared to Igor's. He easily manages to hoist her up and swing her right at Deelel. "W-watch out!" Is all she can do. because if she lets go, she might go flying into someone ELSE! 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' Black Arachnia nods approvingly at the silencing of Igor ... and as much as she's inclined to just trot over and join the others in the building, she has one more thing she wants to attend to. Specifically, getting around behind Igor and severing his hamstrings with her lasers. Immobilize him in addition to silencing - and this has the side benefit of not putting her aim points anywhere near Roll the Impromptu Bludgeon. In fact, if she severs Igor's hamstrings as planned, it should put a very satisfactory (if somewhat jarring) halt to his flailing about with the robot girl. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley's magic touches Sue, and the Mimiga girl rouses somewhat. "Uuggh." she moans, not fully recovered. Then she opens her eyes. "Oouuuuch." she complains. Then she immediately bounds to her feet, bouncing about like a not-entirely plausible pantomime of a pro boxer. "Whoa there, I haven't lost yet! I'm gonna take this fight seriously this time!" she cries. Then she blinks, stopping her float-like-a-butterfly imitation. "Huh? That monster beat ME? Did... did you save me?" she asks, looking between the lizard woman, Annie and her mother, and Quote. Obviously they're not from around here. But Sue doesn't have a clue what's going on.     Outside, Staren continues firing his laser. Black Arachnia neatly hamstrings the monster. Between that and the bone ward, the creature's going to become fairly immobile. It's really only a threat now to those in arms' reach like Deelel. Or those still clinging to it, like Roll. It's also fairly nearly dead, both from laser bolts and from the draining of Marrik. Still strong though. Whatever fuels this thing's rage, it's not life energy or mere muscle. 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:'''      "You're awake!" Annie says happily. "I'm so happy! ...But we need to get out of here, since that thing is after you," she says. "A lot of people are fighting to keep it away, so you can escape." She looks back outside. "Let's get going!" 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' Marrik slid from his kata-esque motions to stand in front of the bone ward. A hand was pressed against it as he focused his magic into a single pulse. If friends were not there he would try commanding the bone ward to collapse inward and impale Igor in the everywhere. As it stood though he focused his magic from the ward into Igor's body, seeking to wrap his magic around it's heart and lungs and squeeze til it stopped moving. He hated killing, but in a contest between this thing and the people it was hurting there was no contest. He was no innocent to killing, and not just commanding the dead. He has killed before with his bare hands. 

:'''{{#var:279|Maxine Sandberg (279)}} has posed:''' "Yes, this would be a good time to leave." Maxine nods in agreement. There's no telling what else might show up if they stick around. That and Sue might need further medical attention. 

:'''{{#var:525|Inga (525)}} has posed:''' There's been no real direct answer on if the thing is to remain alive or not. Marrik has decided it needs to die, but should she help put it down? Yes, this seems wise. Inga sighs, putting her knife to her skin again, drawing a long, deep line along the vein that gushes with blood--blood that is floating upward to solidify into spears of sharp crimson. She can still hold the ward and perform this, and if it does go down she will not have to hold the ward any longer. She'd been afraid she was going to have to stay here holding it while the others fled--find out what death was like for one of the chosen of the Buzzing first hand. But really, this works too. Inga motions forward and the spears of blood go hurling toward Igor. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley looks at Sue with some measure of surprise. She's not intimidated, just baffled at how quickly the mimiga girl recovered from the injuries inflicted... unless Igor really wasn't trying to hurt her. The lizard woman looks at her with a gentle uncertainty, considering how to respond to that. "Yes," she replies, gently, "We were here looking for you. Our allies are outside fighting the creature that assaulted you, and it'll be defeated soon."     She stands up slowly, regarding the rabbit person with a gentle gaze. She looks up at the egg, after a second, "Are you here for this?" She gestures at it with one hand. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Well. The monster is no longer a threat... /for now/. Still, if they can't capture it, leaving it alive will only mean having to fight it later.     Staren lands a short ways out of the thing's reach, shouldering his rifle. Then he lifts his empty hands in front of him, crossing his arms and turning his hands back to face him. There's the whine of charging electricity, and then his arms are covered in arcing electricity and begin to glow. "Time to finish this!" He dashes forward with a sudden burst of speed, perhaps having supercharged the robot body somehow -- his left arm goes for quick jab, making sure the fist can connect and then there's the buzz of a downed power line and the light of a lightning bolt, making it hard to see what's going on as he follows up with a spinning power PUNCH from the other arm, again delivering all that focused electricity into the thing as well as just hitting as hard as he can... and then when the light fades, he's lept back, standing with his arms down. Steam, or perhaps smoke, rising off his body, and panting for a moment before he remembers he doesn't have to breathe and stops.     That should do it. Plus, there might be some chance that the shock attack stuns it instead of killing it. Then the next problem will be figuring out how to transport and restrain the thing, but that bridge can be crossed when they come to it. 

:'''{{#var:3|Roll (3)}} has posed:'''     Once again, Roll's getting furious. This time for different reasons. Furious, and worried. Igor looks like he's about to DIE if this keeps up! "Ooooh... alright, it's time out for you!!"     She doesn't want anyone here getting hurt... and doesn't want to see even this brute die meaninglessly! So she calls upon her stored Weapon Data, and switches to Arc Thrower. Roll's somewhat damaged armor turns twin shades of grey, and.... she plants the buster right against Igor's arm.     *ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRCH!!*     The charge is tuned for human-like nervous systems, no telling what it will mean to him, but it probably won't kill him. The Arc Thrower is meant to incapacitate through electrocution! 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel is playing a dangeorus game of keep awauy still and Deelel tuants him. She hopefully is doing enougt to keep them off balance she's not getitng too many good hits in as honestly she's more a distract any anything ans she knows it. 

:'''{{#var:437|Annie Sandberg (437)}} has posed:''' "Wait..." Annie says, putting up a hand at Ainsley's words. "...I thought I heard we were looking for a human, named Sue." she says, looking confused. "But you don't look like a human..." she notes, peering at Sue curiously. 

}}

525/Cave Story 2: Seeking Sue

2014-09-25T00:29:07Z

MoreBeer:

663/CS3. A Walk in the Park

2014-09-24T04:36:10Z

MoreBeer:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2014/09/23
|Location=Flying Island
|Synopsis=Our adventurers convince King to release Sue, then find Kazuma within the Bushlands. As they learn more about the Mimiga and what has happened in recent history, they begin to realize that there's a lot more involved than just a missing research team.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=8, 42, 151, 332, 403, 411, 541
|Tinyplot=Cave Story
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     The mimigas have done /what/? Oh dear.     Staren shows up in his usual armor of course, though he's not actually brandishing any weapons. "What are they /thinking/? If the Doctor wants mimigas, he's not going to trade one away... all they're doing is /giving/ Sue to him! What moron thought this was a good idea?" As soon as he sees the cage, he begins approaching it. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     In previous weeks after her rescue at the hands of our heroes, Sue has been hiding out inside Arthur's house. Hunted by the Mimiga and the Doctor alike, she's been keeping her head down. The sturdy home of Mimiga Village's greatest hero is a good haven, and it's protected by more than a simple lock. It's protected by the respect the Mimiga show for the one who died protecting them all from a recent invasion. All of the Mimiga would have died if it weren't for Arthur. Toroko's kidnapping was almost gentle compared to the earlier slaughter... but then, the Mimiga didn't have a powerful group of outsiders opposing the Doctor's minions when they'd fought off the invaders. All they'd had was a hero willing to give his life to protect his people.     Sue has been patient however, spending her time in research and working on the computer systems in the hopes of hacking into some sort of data or video network. Sadly, her hacking skills are on par with her fighting skills. Not bad really, but she's only 12, and she's up against a system much bigger and tougher than she can handle.     All that effort finally paid off however. Or rather, her constant returns to the computer paid off. Kazuma had sent an IM. At long last, he'd somehow managed to get enough freedom to get to a computer and send a message! Not just a message, but a code as well. One that Sue quickly entered into the local teleporter, opening up a passage to Grasstown within the Bushlands. She'd gone through, then realized this was also a Mimiga home and returned. Instead of exposing herself to discovery she snuck out, found Quote, and sent him to 'help her investigate'.     The robot had no problem with this, of course. He's been exploring the caves for a while now, doing what little he can. His repairs are progressing well now, and he shows no particular signs of damage. Though the caves are dangerous, they're not too dangerous for him if he's careful. He went through, investigated Grasstown, and even managed to help one of the inhabitants out of a rather tricky spot.     While not yet able to reach Kazuma, Quote had nonetheless been able to get through some of the Bushlands. He'd just been returning to check out an idea he'd had, when he learned that Sue had been captured. Quote's fault, if anyone's. Sue had been hiding for a while, but one of the Mimiga had noticed the activity at Arthur's house. By the time Quote returned from his investigations, she had been put in a cell.     Not sure whether to try to free the girl or to carry out her request to free Kazuma, Quote quickly decided it was time for reinforcements. He could do things slowly, but now was not the time for caution. Now was the time for haste, and so he made the call. When heroes arrive, Quote will be there to meet them. He looks a little different now. Not fundamentally so, just ... different. Less beat-up, more armed. He's actually got several weapons now. In addition to the little blue lasergun he had previously, he's got another pair of bulky pistols, an orange one strapped to his waist opposite the Polar Star,a long-barreled lime green one in a shoulder holster. Slung over his back is a bright yellow rocket launcher. Yep, he's totally been busy.     Also meeting them is a small and somewhat bookish Mimiga. This one wears green like Toroko, but also wears a cap and goggles that make his eyes look absolutely huge. He also looks rather flustered and out-of-breath, having run to get to the room with the warpgate before anyone could arrive. Quote, despite having all these new weapons, seems calm and unthreatening. Jack, the goggle-wearing Mimiga, seems nonetheless worried. Quote has been a friend to the Mimiga for weeks now, and has gotten to know several of them. The newcomers however seem much more dangerous, much more threatening. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     "I-it's not what you think!" Jack, the glasses-wearing Mimiga, says defensively. "The Doctor wants her. Dozens of us have been killed by him coming here looking for her!" he explains. "Toroko's one of us, and she got kidnapped because they thought she was Sue. So next time they come, King's going to offer Sue in exchange for Toroko. We don't have a choice!" he claims, sounding wretched and very defensive. 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' "And," Marrik's voice chimed in as he heard Jack detail the hostage exchange, "Do you think a man willing to murder for one girl is going to stop when he gets her?" He used a rune covered staff to help pick his way through as he approached. On his shoulder rode a doll sized winged woman wearing biker leathers who merely scowled at Jack. "I am sorry for the loss of your people, and will do what I can to keep more from being lost, but giving a man like this... Doctor," the word was said as if he had doubts the man deserved the title, "what he wants. Do that and he'll know he can get anything from you." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren is stopped by Jack and looks down at the mimiga. "...So he really /does/ particularly want her? Even so. You think his two minions can't just take her by force, like this?" He gestures at the cage. "Even if he wants Sue, what makes you think he'll give Toroko /back/? We need to stage a proper rescue. Do you really think, even if Toroko were returned, that you'll have safe lives as long as the Doctor's around?" He shakes his head.     "We need to find him and fight him. But that gives me an idea... What if we came up with some kind of bait for him? A fake Mimiga? Then we could find out where he takes them..." Staren hmms, stroking his chin. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Jack nervously wrings his paws, not disagreeing with the sentiments. "L-look, I... WE just want Toroko back. I didn't make the call. Take it up with King... he's the one who decides!" he says, gesturing upwards towards the center of the village. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley arrived with pretty much everyone else, and found herself watching a panicked Jack as he tried to explain their reasoning for imprisoning Sue. Her eyes lid in such a way to suggest a mild impatience with what he's saying, not convinced in the slightest. But she doesn't make a lot of aggressive motions. When she speaks up at him, she speaks in a soft tone of voice, though with a pressing importance in her tone:     "You are wasting your time."     And then she'd approach the cage, not really heeding any warning or fussing from Jack. She wants to ask Sue, "Where is your brother?" Because she doesn't have time for this drama right now. 

:'''{{#var:332|Dex Alruin (332)}} has posed:'''     It takes Dex a little longer than most to get to this place, but when he arrives and hears about what's going on, it's clear the cogs in his head are turning rapidly. He's armed with a simple metal bow and quiver of arrows, but anyone who knows Dex knows that this is pretty standard. What isn't standard, however, is the shortsword on his hip. Opposite a requestioned pistol. Both are marked with the telltale Union symbol, showing he has borrowed these armaments. Still trying to expand past his bow, though he immediately goes for it as a reflex. As everyone else speaks, Dex closes his eyes.     "So if someone is coming to collect her, doesn't that mean we need to guard everyone remaining here?" he asks. "Dex Alruin, by the way," he adds after a moment, "Heard the call, thought maybe it'd be possible for me to help. I don't really understand everything that's going on, but it sounds bad." 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' Marrik merely leaned on his staff as he let Ainsley talk. Mostly this was due to the fact he was fighting down impulses to magic the cage into scrap. Instead he focused his attention on Quote. "I found a few things out from Igor before letting him go. Nice guy really but something, he couldn't articulate, made him. Pushed him. Knew about the corridor but... Look I'm sorry but I let him go so he could have his peace. Poor guy was a/mess, and hurting from what he'd done. A gentle soul made to do thins it never wanted." 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel has remained interested in what was going onw ith Quote and well here she is again. So she ws here to join the meeting and was quirt for once like she was milling over something really. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Outside the home appropriated for the warpgate lies Mimiga Village. High up in the middle of the chamber, a decent climb for anyone, sits the town's jail... a cage. Within the cage sits Sue, and just outside it stands King. The Mimiga leader seems unperturbed, though he too has had to rush to react to what must seem to the Mimiga to be another crisis. What's the difference, after all, between outsiders? With the power shown by the Doctor and by these others, what chance do the Mimiga have when it comes to battle? Caught in the middle, wanting nothing more than to be left alone, King knows his people have little chance of that. But nonetheless, here he decides to make his stand.     "Let me out of here NOW!!!" cries Sue, leaping up and dramatically shaking the bars of her cage. King isn't distressed, though he's rather annoyed. "Shuddup! Toroko was kidnapped because of you! One way or another, I'm handing you over, and nothing you can say will change that." he says. That is, if the outsiders leave him that much choice in things.     "I hate you!" cries the little girl turned Mimiga. King just shakes his head, glowering. "If Toroko isn't safe, I'll tear you apart myself." he threatens. Then he reconsiders. "No. Alive, you're still something we can use to bargain with the Doctor. You're no good to anyone dead."     It's about then that he notices the new arrivals approaching him. His hand drifts to his sword hilt, hesitates, then he frowns and rests it on his hip instead, waiting for them to make the climb. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren frowns at Jack. He heads up with Ainsley, confronting King and the cage. He frowns. "You think you can bargain with him? You're a fool, then." His argument was already made. He tries to step around King, then frowns as the mimiga stays in his way. "If you actually care about Toroko, then work with us to stage a rescue. Otherwise... stay out of our way. Now stand aside." He already tried diplomacy with Jack. His patience has run out, like Ainsley's. 

:'''{{#var:332|Dex Alruin (332)}} has posed:'''     Dex follows the rest of the group to the cage, drawing his bow as he does. This King character seems like he could be dangerous, but since he doesn't draw the blade he carries, Dex relaxes and lets his bow dip. "There's some flaws in your planning there, guy," he says, stepping forward. "If this 'Doctor' wants her, and he has any measure of power, what makes you think he's going to bargain with you? If I know anything about evil beings with power, it's that they'll take what they want and they're not going to ask or give you anything in return. Hell, you'll be lucky he doesn't kill you for daring to ask!" He slings his bow back across his shoulder. "Besides, do you know this Toroko is still safe?" He fixes King with a gaze. "You're in a strategically weak position if the answer is no." 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley floated up and made her way to the cage, disregarding such obstacles as 'climbing' or 'jumping.'     "King." Ainsley greets him with that neutral voice. "Tell me: Do you think this plan will actually get Toroko back to you? Because it is a very large risk to take for no guarantees. Did the Doctor happen to send any messages or promises that he would give you Sue back?" She does not seem interested in his answer, really, because she doesn't expect he has anything at all.     "This just seems like you're using someone as a bargaining chip who doesn't deserve it." She points up at where the cage is. "We will deal with the Doctor. I promise." 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' Marrik frowned at King and raised his staff as if it were a spear pointed at him. "This path is stupid. You are acting stupid." And in a single decisive motion brought his staff down, using whispers of magic to decay to allow the staff to sink into the ground enough so he could leave it free standing. his left foot slid out and his arms moved in a series of quick gestures as if jabbing at the air while threads of magic sought to decay several of the cage's bars. His eyes flashed red briefly as more threads, life instead of death this time, wrapped around Sue to heal any hurts she had. "Try the bars again kid." With luck they'd simply fall away at a touch. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     King glowers at the group, but doesn't reach for his blade. He may be willing to fight if there's no alternative, but he's not so foolish as to start something when it might not be necessary. "This is for the good of the village. You think she's not done anything to deserve it? She's done nothing but harm since she came here, leading the Doctor to us, getting so many of us killed or kidnapped!" he explains gruffly. "I'd let you have her and good riddance, but then where does that leave us the next time the Doctor shows up?" he says.     King doesn't sound terribly confident however. It's true he's in a weak position. He doesn't know if Toroko's safe, he doesn't know if he can bargain for her... he doesn't know if there's anything he can do whatsoever. He has to do SOMETHING though, else he might as well give up. Even a weak option, a slim chance, is better than nothing.     From inside the cage, sensing that things are going from bad to worse, Sue speaks up. "Toroko's the only one who treated me nice when I was getting used to being here. I... I feel bad she got taken. I didn't want that. But I don't want to be captured by the Doctor either!" she insists. "And what do you think you're doing?" she yells angrily at Marrik. "You want to get me out by force? So then I have to go with you? What about my FAMILY? I'm not just going to run away and abandon them!" she declares. "There's no point in me going anywhere, at least until Kazuma's safe. Say, I've got an idea! Why don't you all go save him in my place, THEN come back here and get me out? That's got to be better than getting in a fight here, right?"     King glares at Sue, but he doesn't refute her suggestion. He seems to be thoughtful, actually. Still, he has other things to worry about. "We're caught between powerful outsiders." he says, trying to speak calmly. "You and this Doctor. If I do what you want, how is that different from letting the Doctor have whatever he wants? No, he doesn't know she's here right now, but he'll be back sometime... and when he is, he can do whatever he wants to us. Just like you can. Who will protect us? You?" he scoffs. "Not even rescuing Toroko will keep us safe. I'd kill this Doctor if I could, and anyone else who'd threaten us. That's the only thing that will protect this village." he says, orange eyes blazing with intensity. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "Whether she deserves it is irrelevant. This won't get Toroko back." Staren folds his arms as Sue explains her plan. "I don't want to leave you in a cage... but we're rescuing everyone we can and taking this 'Doctor' /down/. Taking you and leaving forever isn't on the table and never was."     Staren looks down at King. "Now you're talking." He smiles a bit. "Let's figure out how to kill this 'Doctor'. First, we need to /find/ him. We need to find out where his hideout is..." Staren looks over to Sue. "...If Kazuma's in immediate danger though, we'll rescue him first. Then, can we all work together?" 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' "We'll do what we can," Marrik's voice had a hard edge to it as a heat shimmer in the shape of a hand grabbed his staff and brought it to him. "King." He looked at the sword wielding Mimigas and signed, "I understand your duty is to your people, but this blind reaction plays right into this Doctor's hands. Igor was peaceful then turned to a mindless brute. That is what you are seen as to this monster, fodder. I will help how I can, but you must show more brains than this. We will go get Toroko back. It is a tall order, but is there any way you can make this place easier to defend?" 

:'''{{#var:332|Dex Alruin (332)}} has posed:'''     Dex crosses his arms. "Let us help you. That's what I want to do at least, and I'm guessing the others as well. I'm not the greatest of warriors, but I can at least try to help." He steps closer to King, uncrossing his arms as he does. "It's not a sign of weakness to look for help outside of your comfort zone. And, while I can understand your hesitation, it's not a good idea to seal off a better possibility for getting Toroko back." He stops in front of the Mimiga, then turns to the rest of the group, glancing up at Sue as she speaks up. "It seems we have a mission, then," he says, "but what if the Doctor shows up while we're off saving Kazuma?" 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     There's a beat of pause from Ainsley as she considers King, and the points made by everyone else. She looks over at Dex as he speaks about the Doctor showing up. Her brow furrows. "We need to post someone here for King to direct," she points out, "Guards of some kind. This town is virtually defenseless without it." She holds up a hand in gentle urging toward King, "You are an excellent leader, but one soldier does not a defense make. Consider asking for some help. Maybe you can go with us, for some of this searching?" She shrugs her shoulders.     "Regardless..." she pauses. "Sue! Where's your brother?" she shouts over toward the cage. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     King considers, folding his arms across his chest. "I can't come with you." he says. Not if he doesn't know where the Doctor is anyways. "That would be leaving my people defenseless. But yes, there are things we can do here. We can hide. If we're found, I can fight. I may even have a surprise in store if there's no other choice." he says, voice rough with menace.     King unfolds his arms to reach into his robe. He withdraws a key. "Not like keeping her had much chance." he mutters. Still, he's quick enough to admit when he's been wrong, and fast to agree to a possibility, however slim, that offers real hope.     "I can guide you partway to where Kazuma is." Quote suggests, from where he'd been silently observing. "I've been through to Bushlands, after Sue found me. I haven't found a way past this one area. I would've tried again, but..." he looks at Sue, shrugs. He came back, and then all this happened.     King unlocks the door of the cage, which promptly falls off its hinges. He stares at the cage, stupefied. Jack, bounding up to the ledge now that things seem somewhat less likely to become violent, stares in fascination. "Wow. You've gotten really strong, King. Since--" he pauses, shrinking back from the leader's baleful glare. "Er... o-okay. So that's it then? We're letting Sue go?" he asks. Sue looks properly grateful, and more than a little subdued. "I could help you defend the village?" she offers in a soft voice. "After Toroko... well, it's kind of the least I could do..." she says. Besides, the idea of charging headlong into the Bushlands, even with these heroes to help her, is a bit scary.     Quote gestures towards Arthur's house, down in the lower section of the village. "The teleport pad's active and locked in to the Bushlands now. Anyone coming to find Kazuma, there's no time to waste!" King nods. "Don't worry about us, outsiders. If all else fails... we'll manage, that's all." he says, looking grim. They HAVE a defense. It's not a great option. It's certain to mean death... but better he dies than that everyone dies. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren nods. Glad to see King seeing reason. "Thanks. We'll get the Doc, eventually. ...I'll have some help brought here, just in case." He heads through the teleporter.     A few minutes later, an android in a simple black dress walks out of the warpgate accompanied by a dozen of Staren's unicorn golems. Really, in this environment? They won't be much help. Their job is to make the enemy /think/ they're a threat and attract some hits to buy time. The android unpacks a couple of saddlebags from one of the golems, offering laser pistols and missile launchers to the mimigas. It's something, hopefully.     Plus, the golems have cameras and radios built in. Staren will know the moment something goes down. 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' Marrik looked over at Sparks and nodded. The pixie nodded back and flew off then... vanished. It would take a keen eye to spot her and that's even if one knew where to look. "Look," He took his coat off and motioned for king to come over to him. "Look I don't keep many weapons on me, but I have supplies, tools, things that might help." And with that he reached into a pocket up to his elbow before pulling a small bag out, then after letting it drop another, then another, and finally after a dozen or so are deposited at King's feet he put his coat back on. "I've left a way for us to know if you need backup. Won't even know she's here, promise."     That done he walked to Arthur's house and it's teleporter. Briefly he considered staying, acting as defense himself, but then disregarded. He also put down the idea of summoning the dead. Even if things weren't strained that meant leaving zombies unattended. That was never a good idea.     Then he pulled out a soviet era pistol and several clips to lay at King's feet. "Both hands, pull trigger. Sparks can give you directions and help coordinate. Worst case she might be able to distract enough for your people to make for the warp gate."     Then he shrugged his coat on and went through the teleporter. 

:'''{{#var:332|Dex Alruin (332)}} has posed:'''     Dex smiles softly. "I'm glad that you are the leader that the Mimiga need right now," he says, "You can figure out what is necessary and are able to make the tough calls." He draws his bow, pulling an arrow from his quiver. "I don't know what lies in the Bushlands, but I feel like I might be better utilized here. Besides, I'd like to be filled in on the situation in relative calm. Would you accept me staying here to help you, King?"     He offers a small smile, looking around the village. "Besides, I think I would just slow you all down. Here, if we're attacked, I might be able to use my mind to make things a bit easier." 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley looks at King in a sad way, as someone who is wholly familiar of historical events where a smaller force is vastly overwhelmed by a far superior enemy. She smiles at him, or at least tries to, but she can't help but worry about him. He's obviously the leader, the confident one, even if he's a little surly. "Good luck, then," she says to him, softly, and then she turns to leave with Quote.     Ainsley goes to Bushland with the others. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel is here and listneing she's been oddly quite for the last bit she's clealry taken note of things. She will try to respect what the locals want after all. She hummms at King's words and the commnets abotu protecting the villiage eithe rewya that's going to have to wait she's got some ideas that might help a bit. However they need to head out right? "King take care." She follows Quote Ainsley and the rest. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     There's not much King can do to protect his people, but whatever is necessary, he's willing to do. He nods solemnly to those saying he's made the right decision, accepts Marrik's weapon dubiously then passes it on to Jack, who all but fumbles the weapon. Then he nods to Dex. "There's no need. If this Kazuma is in Bushlands, and if there's a fast route there, we won't be without you long. You can go with your... your friends. But if you would rather stay here, your aid is most welcome."     Meanwhile, as the group goes through the transport to Bushlands...     The teleport pad leads to a dark narrow cave, a path leading sharply upwards towards what almost appears to be the outdoors. Bushlands is, as the name suggests, a very green place. The light is bright, almost as good as sunlight. A couple of Mimiga burrows line the area around the transporter cave. This, then, is Grasstown.     Quote shrugs. "Most of the Mimiga have left. Or... well, you know." he says, a bit awkwardly. The Doctor may well have come through, capturing or killing Mimiga around this area. "Only one still lives here. His name's Santa, and he said the wildlife is over-excited recently." The robot gestures beyond the buildings, out into a section of rolling green hills. The terrain is somewhat rough, but nowhere near as difficult to traverse as the leaps and climbs of Mimiga Village or the partially-collapsed sections of the Egg Chamber. The rolling hills conceal movement however. Wind might account for the movement of the grasses, but there's no wind to be felt.     Within the grasses, critters lie in wait. They're like the familiar hoppers but with a small but significant difference. They still bounce into the air and try to squish intruders, but their small wings allow them to hover a few seconds and guide their falls more accurately than the simpler hoppers. Somewhat further down the cave there are also giant critters, almost as bulky as Balrog, who can nonetheless hover and fly for quite some distance before dropping to the ground with an earthshaking thud.     If that's not enough, there are also bats. Bats are rather pathetic menaces, but these are fairly large and hostile. When approached, they'll swoop and bite if possible. There's not many of them, but the bats tend to swarm and swoop in large numbers. And if THAT'S not freaky enough, there's giant floating jellyfish. Well okay, not really jellyfish, but that's what they look like. They don't move very fast, but anyone who happens to run into them when climbing or flying is in for a world of stinging hurt. Yes, everything in the zone seems to fly or float, even if some of them remain grounded until it's time to attack. 

:'''{{#var:411|Twilight Sparkle (411)}} has posed:'''      Twilight was following after the others as well. She wasn't sure about going into some kind of deep cave, but she could see that the people here needed help, and she wasn't about to turn her back on such people. So, the purple pony trots along, staying close to Staren and looking around a bit fearfully. She seems more or less okay until...bats. Bats? BATS!!      Thanks to her fear of such things, Twilight cries out and starts galloping around in a panic when the bats start swarming around them. No doubt provoking attacks from the giant bug things, which only panics the pony more. It's like all the things she doesn't like rolled into one cave! "W-why did it have to be bats?!?!" 

:'''{{#var:332|Dex Alruin (332)}} has posed:'''     Dex opts to stay behind, taking up arms with Jack and King. He lets his bow relax, but only slightly as his eyes scan the area. "I don't mean to seem insensitive," he starts, "but exactly... how many Mimigas have been lost because of the Doctor?" His combat armor, a red fedora and red leather duster snap into existence with a small noise. "Why did this happen? And... just how strong is this Doctor? What is capable of?" He rattles off the question, noting the relative silence of the village. "It... reminds me of a similar struggle I'm facing. That's why I ask. That, and I want to see this place saved. No one should have to face the death of their friends and family..." 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' "Twilight Wait!" marrik shouted before moving. Each motion was quick, decisive, and flowed from the previous as he sent hair fine threads of magic to yank the life from the creatures attacking. With any luck they would get the point that getting near would mean dying. As he continued forward, trying to cover Twilight's panicked gallop he looked around casting a net out. "<Hello, is anyone there?> Soft voice, and the magic intended merely to get any of the slain to come out of hiding. <We're not with the Doctor. King sent us to try rescuing Toroko, but we need help.> It was relatively simple, but he was doing double duty between covering fire and trying to see if the locals were in a helpful mood plus make it so any ghosts that did show would be visible to everyone else. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Twilight gets a hug when she arrives, and Staren... tries to focus on less-lethal methods for the moment. He uses a phaser on stun setting to try and keep critters and jellyfish and bats from getting close, and tries to stun or throw them with the power armor's unarmed strength. Although, the giant critters are more of a problem... hopefully they can be avoided, for now.     And then Twilight turns out to be afraid of bats. "Twilight!" he activates wings and dashes after her, trying to grab her and hold her still instead of running around wildly. "Stop! W-what's wrong with bats?" 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     King gestures Dex to follow him, bounding over a gap to a nearby ledge and over to the cemetery. Sue follows, apparently thinking nothing of bounding over the gap herself. Once there, he gestures over it wordlessly. The fresh graves are fairly obvious, and there's several of them. "Many more kidnapped." he says. "We don't know why. It all happened within the last few weeks." he notes. "Not the first time we were attacked by Outsiders, just the first time this Doctor person came. Before that, the last time was a generation ago."     King sighs, shrugging. "I don't know how strong he is. But he commands Balrog and Misery, and they're figures out of legend. He's not so strong he can't be hurt. Arthur drove him off, nearly killed him, but he's got more power than we can deal with. Powers we don't understand." 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     The lizard girl named Ainsley spares a smile to Twilight Sparkle, but she seems to be all business once everyone is in Bushland proper. She doesn't stop to go to Santa's house -- she ignores the name, figuring it just a quirk of Mimiga naming conventions -- and instead decides to follow Quote further into the cavern. As the group starts to encounter small creatures again trying to murder them in their faces, Ainsley falls into the rhythm. She floats along, hovering gently off the ground... and as critters flutter up into her personal space, she whips around and gives them taser punches right in their adorable faces.     She carefully avoids any 'jellyfish' by staying out of the throng. The larger critters? She just avoids those completely, moving over or under them as appropriate. They aren't very fast, and won't present much of a threat if she keeps moving.     If a bat comes at her, she just tries to swat it out of her face, not really interested in killing it. Like the other area, she isn't really here to disrupt the wildlife any more than it already is. If she's attacked, she defends herself, but that's about all she does. 

:'''{{#var:332|Dex Alruin (332)}} has posed:'''     Dex watches as King and Sue head across a gap, then leaps with all of his might across it as well. He follows them into the graveyard, and the freshness of some of the grave causes a choke to rise from his throat. As King explains the situation, a sort of heat seems to radiate from the Undefined Champion. His arrow flashes with silver, holy light, and his eyes seem full of fervor. "I will make sure he pays for these lives," he says, his voice steady. "No one has any reason to initiate genocide. It's not right, and it's not something I want to see happen." The fact that the Doctor can be hurt, was nearly killed, gives Dex a little bit of hope. "Arthur... is he still around, or is he... in one of those graves?" he asks. He would guess anyone willing to stand up to the Doctor would be present already, but he needs to ask to sate his curiousity.     His mind kicks into overdrive. 'The Realm War really is only one of many terrible things. I've been so selfish,' he thinks. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Quote's response to the various critters is to pull out one of his new weapons. The electric-green pistol fires... bubbles. A horde of large bubbles. Each bubble carries an electric charge. He doesn't much care about the lives of bats, jellyfish, or the other monstrosities of the cave... but fitting in is part of his code. Others are using mostly nonlethal weaponry, and he has no particular qualms following suit. As a plus, the bubbline puts out a massive cloud of such bubbles overhead, effectively shielding him from bat attack and anyone else who sticks close. It wouldn't stop the descent of a monstrous critter perhaps, but others can handle those beasts.     As the Bushlands roll on farther away from Grasstown, Quote gestures ahead to a region of high thick grass. "There's a pit there." he warns. "And the bottom of the pit is filled with spikes. Red crystal of some kind. I've seen a sign warning about it, and I've been scratched by some of the smaller crystals. It's really dangerous stuff... best to not even touch it." he says.     This might cause a problem however. The pit is fairly wide. Maybe not olympic long jump level, but still something most people would think twice before hurling themselves over. And of course there's bats. There's ALWAYS bats. In this case the bats are hanging out above the pit, just waiting to ruin someone's day if they are trying to fly or even jump really high above the chasm. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     King gestures upwards within the cemetery. Elevation means little to a Mimiga, and the higher ledge is just a place with a better view rather than an inconvenience. Up there stands a full-size tombstone, not just a set of crossed sticks, marking a single fresh grave. "Arthur was the strongest of us. The best of us." King admits. "He would not have even considered turning someone over to the Doctor. He died saving us." the Mimiga leader says solemnly. 

:'''{{#var:411|Twilight Sparkle (411)}} has posed:'''      Twilight yelps as she is caught by Staren, and thrashes a bit before collecting herself enough to not run away thanks to Staren's grip. "I-I-I-they..they are bats! They are creepy and scary and...and did you see those bug creatures?! I..I can't do this! I'll just slow you guys down!" She tries to return Ainsley's smile, but it doesn't come off as a smile so much as a scared expression before she falls to all four of her knees, shivering. Marrik's help is completely unnoticed in her current state. The poor purple pony is barely holding herself together enough to keep from stampeding. 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' Marrik never stopped moving even when faced with the jump. In fact he sped into a run as his magic wrapped around to form a shell that would turn anything it touched into dust. Add to that the small shove of kinetic force he added to his jump so what would normally be a flailing mad grab for the ledge would turn into him rolling shoulder first forward and into a low crouch as he scanned for threats. As for these red crystals? A series of gestures sent threads of power onto one to see what would happen if he nudged it with the same sort of decay he used on the critters. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel is going to do what she can she really is hopefully more useful out here she move through the cave and into the green place known as Bushland she seems content for the moment and she keeps moving at the warning of wildlife she nods and summon her staff to make ready for things. The alien life does make Deelel stare but organic life tends to do that to her really, she morphs her stff into her fire mode and she take shots at the creatures that are hostile and getitng to close to her. She however does not stop moving. "Thank you for the warning Quote." She keeps moving and eyes the pit for a moment hter'es no real way she could use a light jet fown here she does have a grapple but that might not be an good idea either. "hummm." 

:'''{{#var:332|Dex Alruin (332)}} has posed:'''     Dex steps back and looks up, seeing the tombstone and nodding solemnly. "A hero's grave for one who died a hero's death. Truly, I can see you all honored and respected him." Dex brushes his eye, then settles back on the task at hand. "We need to be ready for an attack. The others will be back with Kazuma soon I'll bet. In the meantime, you mentioned that the Doctor has two subordinates from legend. Balrog and Misery?" He raises his bow, putting the weapon away. "If they're legends, you must know a bit more about their powers, right? Is it one of them who will show up next, do you think?" 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley stops at the spike pits, looking down at them. She frowns at the sight for a few beats, and looks at the others. She crosses her arms, floating there... and she floats to hover over one of the pits. She swats at a bat that flutters at her, frowning at the cutesy creature as it flaps away in pain from her strike.     "I can carry people across," she overs, holding out her hands, "One at a time." She'll take anyone who accepts her offer, happy to help anyone who needs it. And Twilight being all panicked gets a gentle smile from her. "Twilight... You will be fine. You have friends here. Okay? No one will let you get hurt." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren is... well, surprised! Twilight is a hero, whose fought far worse enemies... But fear isn't logical, is it? Those skeletons...     Staren hugs her around the neck and holds her close. "It's alright. It's alright." He's quiet for a moment as he tries to figure out how to approach this. Usually, Twilight's the one helping him with his problems.     But he's not alone for helping Twilight. The others are here too. "Okay... we can't just leave you here... I can stay with you, if you want. Or you can come with us. We can stun the bats and try to keep them away, maybe... Just... tell me what we need to do for you to feel safe." 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Quote simply leaps the chasm, floating over it with plenty of room to spare. A bat, buzzing him, flies into the smallish cloud of bubbles released by the bubbline, falling towards the pit, only to be swatted to one side by the robot's hand. It lands hard, quite possibly mangling itself, but nothing deserves impalement on those poisonous red crystal spikes.     Once past the crystal-filled chasm, Quote gestures. "This is as far as I've been." he says. Ahead, a home lies carved into a rock wall, which seems to be the end of a cavern. A long ways up however, smoke drifts upwards from the top of the home. A chimney, it seems. And past the chimney, the cavern continues.     There's also a pool out front of the Mimiga home, though it's hardly difficult to spot. There's aerial jellyfish hovering above the water, and a small set of bats by the cozy-looking home. "Chaco lives there." informs Quote. "She seems awfully lonely, and... well, we could keep her company if we weren't busy." he says, sounding a little sorrowed. Both for Chaco and for the urgency of their mission. "I can't get past this part of the cave alone. Thought about climbing inside the chimney, but I don't think we have time to let it cool. The rock's too high and overhangs too far for me to jump up... but I suppose it won't be much of a problem?" he asks, looking around at the capable adventurers present, smiling slightly.     A keen observer might notice one more thing around here. A large circular fan, presumably for airflow, lies beneath a grate cunningly worked into the bare stone beside the pool of water. This is the first bare stone of the Grasslands, it seems, flat and smooth with no free soil to hold the everpresent growth. The fan isn't running though, and there's no sign it's run in a very long time.     As for the overhang of rock? It's about thirty feet up and goes almost horizontally backwards. Flight could manage it easily enough, but jumping and climbing's right out unless ropes and similar gear are involved. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     King looks at Dex, shrugs slightly under his robes. "Being legends, I don't know what to tell you about their power. How much of it is myth, how much real." he says. "Balrog is a brute. I don't think he has any power, but he's supposed to be immortal." he says. "Legends have him in a different form than he's in now, so perhaps he's a shapeshifter. Like Sue." he says, not quite grinning at the little Mimiga.     "Misery is the dangerous one. She can do anything, according to legend. What I've seen myself is bad enough. Flight, teleportation, calling thunder and lightning. Not to mention those shielding bubbles." he explains. "Of them all, the one I most fear is Misery. Enemies like the Doctor come and go, but Misery serves every one of them... according to the legends." 

:'''{{#var:411|Twilight Sparkle (411)}} has posed:'''      Twilight shakes her head vigorously when asked how she can be persuaded to proceed. "I...I don't know..." she says, then takes a few deep breaths to try and calm herself. "I...I..." She looks up at Staren, then sighs. "I'll just have to push through...just make sure I don't run into any pits or ravines or anything." she says. She takes a few more deep breaths, then gets back to her hooves and looks toward where the others have already run ahead. "...and stay close." she adds to Staren before smiling weakly to Ainsley.      Twilight starts toward the pit after that, flinching whenever a bat flies nearby or a hopper lands somewhere. She has to pause every now and then to gather herself. But, when she finally reaches the pit, a simple twinkling of magic on her horn brings her to the other side in a flash of purple-white light. She makes it over to where Quote is, then looks up at the ledge. "I could teleport up, then lower a rope or something down." the pony says in a shaky tone. 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' When the thread of magic latched on Marrik instantly tried to pull away and let out a startled yelp. A curse later and he was hastily chalking a circle around him while fumbling for a fist sized chunk of quartz he pulled from his coat. He never noticed Twilight's panic or Staren's hug therapy because he was chanting softly while making a series of motions with his free hand. The corruption he had been exposed to flowed from his body into the quartz causing it to turn first dull grey then black. As he stood the quartz was put into a black bag, presumably to keep its tainted nature from contaminating anything else. Housekeeping done he rejoined Quote and frowned, first looking at the fan then the ledge before walking over to see if there was anything he could find on the other side. A headshake and frown later had him instead looking up while pulling a long line of rope from his coat along with a grapple before holding it for Twilight to see. Spidersilk rope and a five hook grappling end. "Should be long enough if you're up to trying." 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel Says "I see so beyond here is unmapped terratory I see." She listens as Quote talks about thier friend. She looks at the whole mess and ties to see what might be useful. Wait what's that. "Humm I have a grapple but my light jet's too big to use here." 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     "Wow." blinks Quote, impressed by Twilight's ability. That's a very convenient power. When she suggests a solution to the overhang, he shrugs and nods. Marrik's hook and rope should be more than enough to assist him, with Twilight's setting the hook somewhere secure up above the ledge. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren is concerned, and hopes he's correctly coming across as supportive rather than patronizing. "You don't /have/ to do this..." he reminds, but stands up with her, sticking close by and trying to stun the beasts and keep them away. He nods at the suggestion of teleporting. "Sounds like a plan." He pulls a bundle of synthetic rope from his bag. 

:'''{{#var:332|Dex Alruin (332)}} has posed:'''     "So Misery is the more dangerous of the pair, and perhaps moreso than even the Doctor, huh?" Dex asks in response. "Brute strength is one thing, but Misery's abilities sound... yeah, terrifying. I kind of hope it won't be her to show up, but if she does, at least I have an idea of what to watch for." He fingers his other armaments lightly, glancing toward Sue. "You said your name is Sue, right? And that you have a last name? Do all Mimiga have last names?" 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     King nods, then shakes his head, ears flopping slightly. "It's hard to say. The Doctor isn't in our legends at all. He's a human, come from the human world only recently. He has the power to command Misery, apparently, which means he's probably stronger than her." he explains. "We just don't know anything about his power beyond that he can order them around."     Sue glowers at Dex. "I'm a HUMAN!" she glowers. "Misery captured my family and the others. I ... I ran away. She laughed, and said if I was going to run like a rabbit then..." she shrugs. "Then I was like this." she finishes sheepishly. "I got away, but I'm a Mimiga now." 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Once the group makes it up past the overhanging ledge, the cavern rolls on again gently downward. Beyond Chaco's home, there's more of the mechanical fans and a couple of wide chasms with the deadly red crystal spikes at the bottom. It's not exactly clear whether the spikes grew within the chasms, or if perhaps the crystals are somehow the cause of the tears in the caverns. These pits are even wider than the previous one, though a small blessing of that is they're too broad to suffer concealing overgrowth. The gaps are wide enough to require gear, flight, or superhuman leaps. And yes, of course there's bats. Lots of bats. They might be the weakest of the cave denizens, but a swarm of them in the wrong place is a nightmare... and this probably counts as the wrong place. In addition there's also mold-ghosts. They're stationary things, fungi that vaguely resemble ghosts or perhaps tombstones, and they react to the slightest touch with a blast of toxic spores.     Shortly past Chaco's home, past a number of inactive fans and innumerable bats, there stands a huge warehouse. From within, a male voice calls out weakly for help. Not a panicked shriek, but pleading nonetheless. It's a hoarse voice, probably from someone who's been shouting for a while. Or perhaps someone desperately thirsty who just heard the commotion caused by the passing of a small horde of adventurers. Oh, and the door is stuck. Not just locked, rusted shut. It'll take a wrecking ball to get in there past that barrier. Or a bomb. Or maybe just an annoyed elite. 

:'''{{#var:332|Dex Alruin (332)}} has posed:'''     Dex nods. "Then they're all just really dangerous. Alright. That makes it a little less of a surprise should they turn up at all." At Sue's outburst, Dex recoils as though he had been struck. "Whoa, I'm sorry. I didn't know that," he says softly, "I... huh. I guess we can add transformation magic to Misery's arsenal, then." He paces back and forth, his muscles tense. "That could make things bad. She can turn humans into Mimiga. I wonder if that's the extent, or if she can turn anything into any other thing..." He shakes his head.     "So we need to add getting Sue back to normal to our list of things to be done. Defeating the trio of evil, saving the Mimigas, and returning everything and everyone back to normal. Those seem to be the overarcing goals here." He nods slightly. "Did any of the Mimiga know that you are a human transformed?" he asks, looking between King, Jack, and Sue? 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' Marrik grunted as he saw the gauntlet, "Staren you want me to clear a way through so everyone else can go see who's up there and how bad they're hurt?" Even as Marrik spoke he started flinging magic about to wither the fungus, attempt to kill off any bats that were in the likely lane of traffic. If twilight were watching she'd see scraps of energy flowing from each creature Marrik's magic strick flowing back to rest in his hands before slowly spreading through the rest of his body. Deep breaths as he worked. "I'll cover everyone." 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     As the group reaches the warehouse, Ainsley briefly considers the door. She had been only a token help to Twilight -- she cannot grant much comfort to someone besides a sense of confidence she doesn't really have -- so she keeps an eye out for more bats and other nonsense in the way. She can't really hold a conversation, seeming awkward and quiet along the way. The warehouse, though, is something she /understands/. A practical problem.     "Hmm." She holds out her hand to touch at the rusted door, tracing along the frame in order to seek out where the rust might be jamming it. "I think I can get this open. It'll take a minute, though, and don't count on me being energetic enough to fight anything scary afterwards."     She then applies a thorough electrical spell as a sort of welding torch to /burn/ through the rust, and steps back... pointing her hand to emit a huge blast of wind at the door, hoping to jar it open with the force of the spell. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     King has no clue what to add to Misery's arsenal. Shapeshifting magic is part of the legend, but that's just a confirmation and says nothing about her further powers. He remains silent about that, stoic as always.     Sue frowns, looking sheepish. "Er... it kind of didn't come up?" she claims, scuffing her foot. "The Doctor knows, and of course Misery knows since she did it. But only Toroko knew I wasn't always..." she frowns, trying not to cry over the mention of her friend. She's only 12 after all, and this has been a wrenching day. First she found her brother, sort of. Then she was captured, imprisoned, freed... And now she's finding out that King's not a total asshole after all. That he's probably almost as scared as she is. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     And if King should happen to look at Sue in a slightly new light? To understand a bit about why she's been so hateful and hostile to everyone? Well... that would be between him and Sue, really. 

:'''{{#var:411|Twilight Sparkle (411)}} has posed:'''      Twilight appreciates Ainsley's help, nonetheless, and when the unicorn finally makes it to the warehouse, shivering with fright and adrenaline. "D-don't worry...Ainsley..." she pants. "...you can do it..." she says, smiling shakily and practically clinging to Staren. She blinks when she sees Marrik's magic sapping the strength from the creatures. She can't tell just what kind of magic is being used, but she is impressed by the multi-vector nature of the magic. It must take a lot of energy and concentration to attack so many at once. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren smiles a bit once they've finally got Twilight through to what he presumes is Kazuma. Twilight gets an extra hug before Staren turns to deal with this. "Hey in there. Stay back from the door, okay? ...Are you hurt?" When Ainsley starts burning through magic to improvise an arc welder, he gently places a hand on her shoulder to get her attention, holds out his beam saber, and activates it. *FWOOMMMM* He loosens his grip, allowing her to take it if she wishes. 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' Yea ok several jumps. Can do this. Marrik had a running start, His magic turned from activly hurting things again to shell around himself as he did the mario thing. After he got to the other end he frowned at the door and just waited. He could rust his way through but that'd take ages, and Staren seemed to have a faster idea in mind. So he stood there, watching the ceiling in case anything new decided to drop in. Deep breaths. Calm. Let his mind drift. 

:'''{{#var:332|Dex Alruin (332)}} has posed:'''     Dex isn't sure how to react to Sue. He can't imagine being transformed into a whole new species. She sounds young, too. "Misery is cruel. Perhaps sadistic. This is another good piece of information. It tells us about her character, and how we might be able to exploit it. Thanks, Sue." He offers her a small smile. "Thanks for filling me in on what's going on around here, King, Sue. I understand there's a bit of a gulf between you because of prior actions, but I think right now you both, and we as well, have the same goals in mind. If a gulf must remain, let's not let it keep us from focusing on what's important. At least, that's what I'd like to think." He stretches out a bit. "I'd imagine this village was quite lively before all this. When we're done, I'd like to come back and see if it is again." 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel sees other have ideas and she's going hang back today seems to be her day to just be musel and that' fin with her. She does however keep with the group moving to keep up with them. She's keeping an eye on the fans and also taking shots at the various bats. she's glad to be past that little problme but it seems there's something else with the door. Humm she keeps back now to watch just what the others have planned, she's going to need to bring photon charges next time she comes she thinks. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     From within the warehouse, Kazuma's voice calls out. There's a small crack in one of the walls, and he presses an eye to it, trying to see what's going on. "I'm dyiiiing." he complains. "Of starvation. Please hurry!" he says. Nope, doesn't sound like he's hurt, and while he's at the crack he's probably in no danger from anything done to the door. Anything reasonable, that is. And the door indeed falls quickly to the combination of Ainsley's energy and Staren's beam saber. Wind wasn't enough to free up the rust and damage, but the combined efforts open it easily.     Kazuma looks a lot like Sue. Oh, not the Mimiga girl... the one from Pixel's data files. He's got the same green hair, the same skin, and from the looks of things the same tendency towards facial injury. Might have something to do with the way he's always squinting, though that could have something to do with the darkness of the room he'd been trapped in versus the brightness of the caves outside it.     He also seems different. Mellower, certainly. Older as well. Easily five years older, perhaps ten or more. He seems to suit the lab coat he's wearing. His enthusiasm, such as it is, is quite muted. "You did well." he says. "I knew you could do it! Um... my name is Kazuma Sakamoto. Please call me Kazuma." he adds. Then he gestures around him. A computer, a teleporter pad... a huge empty warehouse. "Luckily I was able to escape from the Doctor, but then... I came here. It felt like I was about to die of total starvation. Before you came along, I was almost ready to eat cockroaches! You... you saved my life!"     This, he says with an almost cool detachment, with only the hint of personal involvement. Quite the contrast to Sue's boisterous rage. "By the way." he adds. "Have you heard of a place called Mimiga Village?" 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' Marrik merely hung back to keep an eye out for anything outside. Let someone else handle the kid while he just kinda hung out by the door. It's almost like he expected trouble. Paranoia? 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     After Ainsley lets Kazuma speak, she smiles at him.     "Yes. We just came from Mimiga Village, in fact. Sue is there, and she's the one who sent us." She gestures to the doorway, "We should be headed back there, now that we've found you. I'm sure your sister will be happy to see you're okay." She looks over toward the teleport pad for a second, a little surprised. "Huh." She rubs her chin a few times. "So you got here by teleportation, but you couldn't get out, then?"     She puffs a sigh. "Alright... time to slog through the wildlife on the way back," she complains, not really super bothered by it, and in fact relieved that something is going right without some big monster falling on their heads. It's surprisingly common to encounter spontaneous monster attacks, in her experience. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren smiles. Not only have they rescued a guy, it's a guy wearing a labcoat!     If Twilight is still clinging, he puts an arm around her. He nods as Ainsley explains. "Yeah... actually... how did you get here? What all happened... if you feel up to explaining." He offers a bottle of water from his bag. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Cruel and sadistic, yes. That seems to be Misery all right. Murderous... perhaps not. But definitely sadistic. Sue's eyes are downcast at Dex's words, but she can't help but agree. Reluctantly, but she agrees. She nods, and without looking offers a small paw in King's direction.     King doesn't notice at first, what with the quiet body language of Sue. He's also looking at Dex. "Like I could stop you from coming." he says gruffly. Then he shakes his head. "No, that's not fair. If there is a Mimiga Village when this is over, you will be most welcome. It may well be that we'll owe our village to you." he admits gruffly.     Looking away, he notices Sue's outstretched hand. Startled, he freezes, trying to decide what to do about it. It's almost as if she's holding out a weapon rather than a hand. Finally though, he takes Sue's hand and shakes it. "... Right. That's in the past. Let's look to the future instead." he says, almost gently. 

:'''{{#var:411|Twilight Sparkle (411)}} has posed:'''      Twilight was starting to relax. But, Ainsley mentioning the coming journey back through the trecherous landscape and scary creatures brings a heavy groan from the pony. "...I...don't suppose you could carry me...?" she asks Staren in embarrassment. She is looking a bit pale, even through her fur. 

:'''{{#var:332|Dex Alruin (332)}} has posed:'''     Peace across such a divide. It's certainly a heartwarming moment, and Dex smiles brightly at them. "That's what I'm talking about. We'll succeed together. And, I mean, if you really would rather outsiders don't visit after this, King, I can respect that. You are the Mimiga's leader, after all. If that's your call, I'll honor it." He offers another smile, then runs his hand along the hilt of the sword at his waist. "I hope the others didn't run into too much trouble where they were headed. And hopefully they've found Kazuma." He stretches again. "Oh, right. I have one more question." Always one more question. "How many Mimiga does the Doctor have captured?" 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     "You know Sue?!" Finally, Ainsley seems to get a reaction from Kazuma with this news. He smiles. "I see. I know she'd be here if she could. Come on then, we'd best go back to her."     No sooner does he say this than the teleport pad lights up, shimmering with a blue light. Kazuma turns around, puzzled and concerned. The air shimmers, and a small older man pops out. White-haired and wrinkled, wearing red-tinted spectacles and a labcoat similar to Kazuma's, the figure hardly seems any kind of threat. "Is that you, Kazuma?!" "Professor Booster! You're safe!"     "Yes, somehow. I saw you'd gone missing, and I finally managed to convince our guards that I was you and belonged in your cell." the old man says. The two look nothing alike, of course, but this doesn't seem to matter. "We all look alike to them, I suppose. Anyways I found your passage and came through the teleporter. Hello, introduce me to your friends..."     "Sue's in Mimiga village. These fine people came from there, and ... well, I suppose they can get us both there." replies Kazuma, looking to his rescuers. "Well, unless you have food with you? I'll go anywhere if it means getting fed!" he says, not quite grinning. "We should save introductions and such for now. Come on, let's find Sue, and then we need to all discuss this. I promise, I'll answer all of your questions when we get there." 

:'''{{#var:332|Dex Alruin (332)}} has posed:'''     Dex taps his ear, smiling and nodding as he hears the recovery effort has succeeded. "Good news!" he says, "They've found Kazuma. Also someone named Professor Booster. Do you know him, Sue?" he asks, beaming. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren hugs Twilight and pats the back of her neck. "I think with the armor I can, but how to get Kazuma and Booster over all those pits?" That's when he notices the hoverbike. "Hey, do you think that still works?" He squeezes Twilight gently, then lets go, pulling a tablet out of his bag and handing it to Kazuma. "Here. Quote shouldn't be the only one of you guys with a radio, and maybe you want to talk to Sue?" Indeed, the pad displays a camera feed from inside Mimiga Village, centered on Sue. Two-way voice communication is possible.     Inside the Mimiga Village, the nearest unicorn golem turns towards Sue and approaches. There is a speaker inside it, so...     Staren, meanwhile, strides over to the bike to inspect its condition. 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' "Anything I need to worry about in there?" Marrik briefly poked his head inside the warehouse and quirked an eyebrow at not one but two people new to the party. Nothing threatening looking so he shrugged and started sending feelers out. Maybe he could try getting a feel for the island, or at least maybe figure out what the deal was with those red things. Something about that felt important, Well it felt Bad Wrong mostly, but it was important. He was just a farmboy, let the eggheads talk to eachother and maybe find answers faster that way. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     "Gr... Professor Booster?!" Sue says, excited. Kazuma's recovery is great news, but 'grandpa' is an entirely unexpected bonus. Not that they're really related, but she's known the old rocket scientist all her life. He's close enough to family to count.     Sue eagerly accepts the radio, beginning to chatter with Kazuma. The older Sakamoto replies cheerfully, inviting his little sister to be sure to have food waiting. Booster stares at Quote, meanwhile, studying him with a rude sort of intensity. Quote doesn't really know how to handle it, shuffling back half a step involuntarily. Booster shakes his head. "No. I don't know you." he mutters. "We just met. Right..." he says, and turns to head outside and investigate the hoverbike. It's rusted and somewhat decrepit, but it appears to be charged and functional. Before long, Booster and Kazuma are ready to head off. The only thing is... well, "How do you controooooool this thiiiiiiiing?!!?"     The two of them go rocketing off towards the transport to Mimiga Village, the hoverbike hurtling along too fast to be threatened by any of the critters. That's the good news. The not-so-good news is that it might well go too fast to stop in any sort of reasonably safe manner. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "...Oh, shoot. Somebody check on them!" Staren runs to Twilight's side, hugs, and teleports with her back to the entrance to the Bushlands. Where there is probably a crashed hoverbike by the time he finishes teleporting.. "Are you two okay?!" 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel is now following uit to get a look in the warehouse once they can get in. She gets over and pauses seeing the bike and looking about for nyhing of use. She has been oddly quite for most of the trip today. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Kazuma and Booster are nowhere to be seen at the site of the hoverbike crash. Well, at least there's no blood or mangled corpses either. A little looking around finds them tumbled into the cave entrance leading to the transporter, sprawled in a pile. Kazuma waves weakly, while Booster fumbles around for his glasses. Looks like they're alive.     Quote comes bounding through not long after Staren. He's not superfast, but he's pretty quick and the path back involved no obstacles that stopped or even slowed him. Pits were easy to leap across. The 30 foot rope climb descent, well, he just jumped clear over that, letting anti-grav slow his fall. And the critters... they know better now, having been stunned or killed or just convinced to stay the hell out of the way for their own sakes. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     'There, we're safe now.' Staren whispers. 'We're past the bats.' He turns to Kazuma, keeping an arm around Twilight. "So, what's going on here? I mean... We were sent here to find out what happened to the local human expedition to this place... we ran into Misery, and the Mimigas told us their side of what happened, but... what happened to you guys?" 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "Also, Twilight..." Staren suddenly thinks of something to get her mind off bats, "Do you think you might be able to transform Sue back into a human?" 

:'''{{#var:411|Twilight Sparkle (411)}} has posed:'''      Twilight relaxes considerably when they are safely in a cave away from the bats. It dons on her that being inside a cave to get -away- from bats is ironic, and she can't help but chuckle a bit. She blinks at the question, then hmms. "I...suppose I could, but...my transformations are not usually permanent. It would be quite hard to permanently alter someone's form, especially if they were already under the effects of another spell. Even if my spell does work, without knowing how she was changed in the first place it is hard to know if it would stick." 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:''' As things settle down, Kazuma starts answering. "Well, let's see." he says, calmly folding his fingers. "We came here to investigate the island. My mother, Professor Booster, Itoh, and Sue. Itoh's worked with us for a while now, and the Professor's been with us forever. Doctor Date though, he must've pulled strings. Our research trip was only allowed if he could come with us and do his own research." He shrugs delicately. "I really don't know him. None of us do. But he got assigned to our group. And when he got here, the first thing he did was wander off on his own." Kazuma explains. "No idea what he wanted, or why."     "I know a bit more now." Professor Booster interjects. "I still don't know how or why, but he showed up with that crown and with Misery and Balrog in tow. He was only gone a few hours, and then that happened." he explains.     Kazuma shrugs. "Yes, well, it seems obvious he was up to something in hindsight. When we first came here though, it just seemed the usual. Funding, politics... you know." he says. "Nothing we haven't seen before. But he captured us. My mother's working for him now. Itoh... I don't know. I think he ran away. The Professor and I were thrown in prison." he says. Sue frowns but remains silent for now. "After a while, I don't know how many days, I found an escape tunnel. It let to a teleport pad. I was able to get through, but I couldn't get back. Without the far side's code, there's no chance... and no point either, not unless you want to teleport to a locked cell! I could have gone back there and avoided starving if I had the code I suppose, or if I cracked the computer to allow it, but... that would have probably meant my death. So it's all best that I was trapped, right?" he grins.     "And I managed to get put in your cell, and followed you." says Booster. "That's really all our story. But as for what the Doctor wants, he's after the Red Flowers."     "What?" Kazuma asks. "Would they work on Sue, do you think? Just like the others?"     "Kazuma. He's kidnapping Mimigas. Do you understand what this means? It's not just Sue that's in danger now." says Booster, frowning. Somehow, it doesn't sound like he's meaning the six remaining Mimiga of the village. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren listens to Kazuma's story. Frowning when it's explained that The Doctor came with them. And more when the red flowers are mentioned. "Red flowers?" He asks, then holds up a hand and shakes his head. "Hang on. We're gonna go to the Mimiga village and compare notes. One more question before we do: Are you saying that with a little computer hacking, that teleporter could get us into the Doctor's base?"     Once that question's adressed, he leads the rescuees back to Arthur's house, seeking out King and Sue. "Alright. Now that we can compare notes with the Mimigas, tell me about 'that crown' and the Red Flowers." 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     "Not his base." Kazuma replies. "He only went there occasionally, to work on a prisoner." he explains. Booster nods. "That's how we know what the flowers do. They do terrible things to Mimigas." he says.     King glowers, but doesn't refute the statement. It's clear he knows much the same. "They make us strong. And fill us with uncontrollable rage. And whoever eats the red flower dies." he says bluntly. "It's been our last defense for ... well, since time of legend. Every child knows never to touch the red flowers, to destroy them on sight. But still, every fighter knows where some petals are kept. Just in case. But I don't understand. Why would he be after the flowers? Why would he want to make us strong, or to kill us? He can kill us any time he tries... what good would strengthening us do?"     "Because..." Sue says, answering. "Because he's going to use you. As weapons of death." she says, frowning sadly. Booster nods, and even Kazuma seems to agree. "He's probably going to use the red flower on all of you and turn you against the humans of the surface."     "Why would he do that?" asks Jack, appalled. "Because he's the devil." answers Sue, annoyed and opinionated.     "You mean... if he finds the red flowers, he's going to feed them to Toroko?" asks Jack, somewhat left-behind in the conversation and a little one-track besides. "Probably." answers Kazuma. "But he hasn't found them yet. Not enough of them. We have to stop him before he finds more."     "I won't let that happen." says King, hand on his blade's hilt, glowering.     "You don't understand." says Booster, breaking in. "He's going after the flowers. He *knows* where they are." he growls. "I heard this just before I got free. They're in the Sand Zone." he says. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "He may have some way to control mimigas." Staren plays the video of Igor for them at that point.     Then:     "The Sand Zone? Where is it? How do we get there?!" 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Kazuma stirs, and goes into action. He moves almost leisurely over to the computer, but there's nothing leisurely about his fingers as they fly across the keys. "Let's see..." he says. "Transport network. Yes, hacked this before. This computer's on the same network. It's..." taptaptaptaptap. "Ah yes. Here it is. Code... there. Serial comms..." a few more taps, a pause, then a few more keystrokes. Kazuma may be a bit of an idiot about a lot of things, but he clearly knows his way around computers.     The teleport pad goes out, then immediately lights up again. "Activated. This pad's now linked to the Sand Zone." he says. 
}}

663/CS3. A Walk in the Park

2014-09-24T04:35:15Z

MoreBeer: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2014/09/23 |Location=Flying Island |Synopsis=Our adventurers convince King to release Sue, then find Kazuma within the Bushlands. As they learn mor..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2014/09/23
|Location=Flying Island
|Synopsis=Our adventurers convince King to release Sue, then find Kazuma within the Bushlands. As they learn more about the Mimiga and what has happened in recent history, they begin to realize that there's a lot more involved than just a missing research team.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=8, 42, 151, 332, 403, 411, 541
|Tinyplot=
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     The mimigas have done /what/? Oh dear.     Staren shows up in his usual armor of course, though he's not actually brandishing any weapons. "What are they /thinking/? If the Doctor wants mimigas, he's not going to trade one away... all they're doing is /giving/ Sue to him! What moron thought this was a good idea?" As soon as he sees the cage, he begins approaching it. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     In previous weeks after her rescue at the hands of our heroes, Sue has been hiding out inside Arthur's house. Hunted by the Mimiga and the Doctor alike, she's been keeping her head down. The sturdy home of Mimiga Village's greatest hero is a good haven, and it's protected by more than a simple lock. It's protected by the respect the Mimiga show for the one who died protecting them all from a recent invasion. All of the Mimiga would have died if it weren't for Arthur. Toroko's kidnapping was almost gentle compared to the earlier slaughter... but then, the Mimiga didn't have a powerful group of outsiders opposing the Doctor's minions when they'd fought off the invaders. All they'd had was a hero willing to give his life to protect his people.     Sue has been patient however, spending her time in research and working on the computer systems in the hopes of hacking into some sort of data or video network. Sadly, her hacking skills are on par with her fighting skills. Not bad really, but she's only 12, and she's up against a system much bigger and tougher than she can handle.     All that effort finally paid off however. Or rather, her constant returns to the computer paid off. Kazuma had sent an IM. At long last, he'd somehow managed to get enough freedom to get to a computer and send a message! Not just a message, but a code as well. One that Sue quickly entered into the local teleporter, opening up a passage to Grasstown within the Bushlands. She'd gone through, then realized this was also a Mimiga home and returned. Instead of exposing herself to discovery she snuck out, found Quote, and sent him to 'help her investigate'.     The robot had no problem with this, of course. He's been exploring the caves for a while now, doing what little he can. His repairs are progressing well now, and he shows no particular signs of damage. Though the caves are dangerous, they're not too dangerous for him if he's careful. He went through, investigated Grasstown, and even managed to help one of the inhabitants out of a rather tricky spot.     While not yet able to reach Kazuma, Quote had nonetheless been able to get through some of the Bushlands. He'd just been returning to check out an idea he'd had, when he learned that Sue had been captured. Quote's fault, if anyone's. Sue had been hiding for a while, but one of the Mimiga had noticed the activity at Arthur's house. By the time Quote returned from his investigations, she had been put in a cell.     Not sure whether to try to free the girl or to carry out her request to free Kazuma, Quote quickly decided it was time for reinforcements. He could do things slowly, but now was not the time for caution. Now was the time for haste, and so he made the call. When heroes arrive, Quote will be there to meet them. He looks a little different now. Not fundamentally so, just ... different. Less beat-up, more armed. He's actually got several weapons now. In addition to the little blue lasergun he had previously, he's got another pair of bulky pistols, an orange one strapped to his waist opposite the Polar Star,a long-barreled lime green one in a shoulder holster. Slung over his back is a bright yellow rocket launcher. Yep, he's totally been busy.     Also meeting them is a small and somewhat bookish Mimiga. This one wears green like Toroko, but also wears a cap and goggles that make his eyes look absolutely huge. He also looks rather flustered and out-of-breath, having run to get to the room with the warpgate before anyone could arrive. Quote, despite having all these new weapons, seems calm and unthreatening. Jack, the goggle-wearing Mimiga, seems nonetheless worried. Quote has been a friend to the Mimiga for weeks now, and has gotten to know several of them. The newcomers however seem much more dangerous, much more threatening. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     "I-it's not what you think!" Jack, the glasses-wearing Mimiga, says defensively. "The Doctor wants her. Dozens of us have been killed by him coming here looking for her!" he explains. "Toroko's one of us, and she got kidnapped because they thought she was Sue. So next time they come, King's going to offer Sue in exchange for Toroko. We don't have a choice!" he claims, sounding wretched and very defensive. 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' "And," Marrik's voice chimed in as he heard Jack detail the hostage exchange, "Do you think a man willing to murder for one girl is going to stop when he gets her?" He used a rune covered staff to help pick his way through as he approached. On his shoulder rode a doll sized winged woman wearing biker leathers who merely scowled at Jack. "I am sorry for the loss of your people, and will do what I can to keep more from being lost, but giving a man like this... Doctor," the word was said as if he had doubts the man deserved the title, "what he wants. Do that and he'll know he can get anything from you." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren is stopped by Jack and looks down at the mimiga. "...So he really /does/ particularly want her? Even so. You think his two minions can't just take her by force, like this?" He gestures at the cage. "Even if he wants Sue, what makes you think he'll give Toroko /back/? We need to stage a proper rescue. Do you really think, even if Toroko were returned, that you'll have safe lives as long as the Doctor's around?" He shakes his head.     "We need to find him and fight him. But that gives me an idea... What if we came up with some kind of bait for him? A fake Mimiga? Then we could find out where he takes them..." Staren hmms, stroking his chin. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Jack nervously wrings his paws, not disagreeing with the sentiments. "L-look, I... WE just want Toroko back. I didn't make the call. Take it up with King... he's the one who decides!" he says, gesturing upwards towards the center of the village. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley arrived with pretty much everyone else, and found herself watching a panicked Jack as he tried to explain their reasoning for imprisoning Sue. Her eyes lid in such a way to suggest a mild impatience with what he's saying, not convinced in the slightest. But she doesn't make a lot of aggressive motions. When she speaks up at him, she speaks in a soft tone of voice, though with a pressing importance in her tone:     "You are wasting your time."     And then she'd approach the cage, not really heeding any warning or fussing from Jack. She wants to ask Sue, "Where is your brother?" Because she doesn't have time for this drama right now. 

:'''{{#var:332|Dex Alruin (332)}} has posed:'''     It takes Dex a little longer than most to get to this place, but when he arrives and hears about what's going on, it's clear the cogs in his head are turning rapidly. He's armed with a simple metal bow and quiver of arrows, but anyone who knows Dex knows that this is pretty standard. What isn't standard, however, is the shortsword on his hip. Opposite a requestioned pistol. Both are marked with the telltale Union symbol, showing he has borrowed these armaments. Still trying to expand past his bow, though he immediately goes for it as a reflex. As everyone else speaks, Dex closes his eyes.     "So if someone is coming to collect her, doesn't that mean we need to guard everyone remaining here?" he asks. "Dex Alruin, by the way," he adds after a moment, "Heard the call, thought maybe it'd be possible for me to help. I don't really understand everything that's going on, but it sounds bad." 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' Marrik merely leaned on his staff as he let Ainsley talk. Mostly this was due to the fact he was fighting down impulses to magic the cage into scrap. Instead he focused his attention on Quote. "I found a few things out from Igor before letting him go. Nice guy really but something, he couldn't articulate, made him. Pushed him. Knew about the corridor but... Look I'm sorry but I let him go so he could have his peace. Poor guy was a/mess, and hurting from what he'd done. A gentle soul made to do thins it never wanted." 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel has remained interested in what was going onw ith Quote and well here she is again. So she ws here to join the meeting and was quirt for once like she was milling over something really. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Outside the home appropriated for the warpgate lies Mimiga Village. High up in the middle of the chamber, a decent climb for anyone, sits the town's jail... a cage. Within the cage sits Sue, and just outside it stands King. The Mimiga leader seems unperturbed, though he too has had to rush to react to what must seem to the Mimiga to be another crisis. What's the difference, after all, between outsiders? With the power shown by the Doctor and by these others, what chance do the Mimiga have when it comes to battle? Caught in the middle, wanting nothing more than to be left alone, King knows his people have little chance of that. But nonetheless, here he decides to make his stand.     "Let me out of here NOW!!!" cries Sue, leaping up and dramatically shaking the bars of her cage. King isn't distressed, though he's rather annoyed. "Shuddup! Toroko was kidnapped because of you! One way or another, I'm handing you over, and nothing you can say will change that." he says. That is, if the outsiders leave him that much choice in things.     "I hate you!" cries the little girl turned Mimiga. King just shakes his head, glowering. "If Toroko isn't safe, I'll tear you apart myself." he threatens. Then he reconsiders. "No. Alive, you're still something we can use to bargain with the Doctor. You're no good to anyone dead."     It's about then that he notices the new arrivals approaching him. His hand drifts to his sword hilt, hesitates, then he frowns and rests it on his hip instead, waiting for them to make the climb. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren frowns at Jack. He heads up with Ainsley, confronting King and the cage. He frowns. "You think you can bargain with him? You're a fool, then." His argument was already made. He tries to step around King, then frowns as the mimiga stays in his way. "If you actually care about Toroko, then work with us to stage a rescue. Otherwise... stay out of our way. Now stand aside." He already tried diplomacy with Jack. His patience has run out, like Ainsley's. 

:'''{{#var:332|Dex Alruin (332)}} has posed:'''     Dex follows the rest of the group to the cage, drawing his bow as he does. This King character seems like he could be dangerous, but since he doesn't draw the blade he carries, Dex relaxes and lets his bow dip. "There's some flaws in your planning there, guy," he says, stepping forward. "If this 'Doctor' wants her, and he has any measure of power, what makes you think he's going to bargain with you? If I know anything about evil beings with power, it's that they'll take what they want and they're not going to ask or give you anything in return. Hell, you'll be lucky he doesn't kill you for daring to ask!" He slings his bow back across his shoulder. "Besides, do you know this Toroko is still safe?" He fixes King with a gaze. "You're in a strategically weak position if the answer is no." 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley floated up and made her way to the cage, disregarding such obstacles as 'climbing' or 'jumping.'     "King." Ainsley greets him with that neutral voice. "Tell me: Do you think this plan will actually get Toroko back to you? Because it is a very large risk to take for no guarantees. Did the Doctor happen to send any messages or promises that he would give you Sue back?" She does not seem interested in his answer, really, because she doesn't expect he has anything at all.     "This just seems like you're using someone as a bargaining chip who doesn't deserve it." She points up at where the cage is. "We will deal with the Doctor. I promise." 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' Marrik frowned at King and raised his staff as if it were a spear pointed at him. "This path is stupid. You are acting stupid." And in a single decisive motion brought his staff down, using whispers of magic to decay to allow the staff to sink into the ground enough so he could leave it free standing. his left foot slid out and his arms moved in a series of quick gestures as if jabbing at the air while threads of magic sought to decay several of the cage's bars. His eyes flashed red briefly as more threads, life instead of death this time, wrapped around Sue to heal any hurts she had. "Try the bars again kid." With luck they'd simply fall away at a touch. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     King glowers at the group, but doesn't reach for his blade. He may be willing to fight if there's no alternative, but he's not so foolish as to start something when it might not be necessary. "This is for the good of the village. You think she's not done anything to deserve it? She's done nothing but harm since she came here, leading the Doctor to us, getting so many of us killed or kidnapped!" he explains gruffly. "I'd let you have her and good riddance, but then where does that leave us the next time the Doctor shows up?" he says.     King doesn't sound terribly confident however. It's true he's in a weak position. He doesn't know if Toroko's safe, he doesn't know if he can bargain for her... he doesn't know if there's anything he can do whatsoever. He has to do SOMETHING though, else he might as well give up. Even a weak option, a slim chance, is better than nothing.     From inside the cage, sensing that things are going from bad to worse, Sue speaks up. "Toroko's the only one who treated me nice when I was getting used to being here. I... I feel bad she got taken. I didn't want that. But I don't want to be captured by the Doctor either!" she insists. "And what do you think you're doing?" she yells angrily at Marrik. "You want to get me out by force? So then I have to go with you? What about my FAMILY? I'm not just going to run away and abandon them!" she declares. "There's no point in me going anywhere, at least until Kazuma's safe. Say, I've got an idea! Why don't you all go save him in my place, THEN come back here and get me out? That's got to be better than getting in a fight here, right?"     King glares at Sue, but he doesn't refute her suggestion. He seems to be thoughtful, actually. Still, he has other things to worry about. "We're caught between powerful outsiders." he says, trying to speak calmly. "You and this Doctor. If I do what you want, how is that different from letting the Doctor have whatever he wants? No, he doesn't know she's here right now, but he'll be back sometime... and when he is, he can do whatever he wants to us. Just like you can. Who will protect us? You?" he scoffs. "Not even rescuing Toroko will keep us safe. I'd kill this Doctor if I could, and anyone else who'd threaten us. That's the only thing that will protect this village." he says, orange eyes blazing with intensity. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "Whether she deserves it is irrelevant. This won't get Toroko back." Staren folds his arms as Sue explains her plan. "I don't want to leave you in a cage... but we're rescuing everyone we can and taking this 'Doctor' /down/. Taking you and leaving forever isn't on the table and never was."     Staren looks down at King. "Now you're talking." He smiles a bit. "Let's figure out how to kill this 'Doctor'. First, we need to /find/ him. We need to find out where his hideout is..." Staren looks over to Sue. "...If Kazuma's in immediate danger though, we'll rescue him first. Then, can we all work together?" 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' "We'll do what we can," Marrik's voice had a hard edge to it as a heat shimmer in the shape of a hand grabbed his staff and brought it to him. "King." He looked at the sword wielding Mimigas and signed, "I understand your duty is to your people, but this blind reaction plays right into this Doctor's hands. Igor was peaceful then turned to a mindless brute. That is what you are seen as to this monster, fodder. I will help how I can, but you must show more brains than this. We will go get Toroko back. It is a tall order, but is there any way you can make this place easier to defend?" 

:'''{{#var:332|Dex Alruin (332)}} has posed:'''     Dex crosses his arms. "Let us help you. That's what I want to do at least, and I'm guessing the others as well. I'm not the greatest of warriors, but I can at least try to help." He steps closer to King, uncrossing his arms as he does. "It's not a sign of weakness to look for help outside of your comfort zone. And, while I can understand your hesitation, it's not a good idea to seal off a better possibility for getting Toroko back." He stops in front of the Mimiga, then turns to the rest of the group, glancing up at Sue as she speaks up. "It seems we have a mission, then," he says, "but what if the Doctor shows up while we're off saving Kazuma?" 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     There's a beat of pause from Ainsley as she considers King, and the points made by everyone else. She looks over at Dex as he speaks about the Doctor showing up. Her brow furrows. "We need to post someone here for King to direct," she points out, "Guards of some kind. This town is virtually defenseless without it." She holds up a hand in gentle urging toward King, "You are an excellent leader, but one soldier does not a defense make. Consider asking for some help. Maybe you can go with us, for some of this searching?" She shrugs her shoulders.     "Regardless..." she pauses. "Sue! Where's your brother?" she shouts over toward the cage. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     King considers, folding his arms across his chest. "I can't come with you." he says. Not if he doesn't know where the Doctor is anyways. "That would be leaving my people defenseless. But yes, there are things we can do here. We can hide. If we're found, I can fight. I may even have a surprise in store if there's no other choice." he says, voice rough with menace.     King unfolds his arms to reach into his robe. He withdraws a key. "Not like keeping her had much chance." he mutters. Still, he's quick enough to admit when he's been wrong, and fast to agree to a possibility, however slim, that offers real hope.     "I can guide you partway to where Kazuma is." Quote suggests, from where he'd been silently observing. "I've been through to Bushlands, after Sue found me. I haven't found a way past this one area. I would've tried again, but..." he looks at Sue, shrugs. He came back, and then all this happened.     King unlocks the door of the cage, which promptly falls off its hinges. He stares at the cage, stupefied. Jack, bounding up to the ledge now that things seem somewhat less likely to become violent, stares in fascination. "Wow. You've gotten really strong, King. Since--" he pauses, shrinking back from the leader's baleful glare. "Er... o-okay. So that's it then? We're letting Sue go?" he asks. Sue looks properly grateful, and more than a little subdued. "I could help you defend the village?" she offers in a soft voice. "After Toroko... well, it's kind of the least I could do..." she says. Besides, the idea of charging headlong into the Bushlands, even with these heroes to help her, is a bit scary.     Quote gestures towards Arthur's house, down in the lower section of the village. "The teleport pad's active and locked in to the Bushlands now. Anyone coming to find Kazuma, there's no time to waste!" King nods. "Don't worry about us, outsiders. If all else fails... we'll manage, that's all." he says, looking grim. They HAVE a defense. It's not a great option. It's certain to mean death... but better he dies than that everyone dies. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren nods. Glad to see King seeing reason. "Thanks. We'll get the Doc, eventually. ...I'll have some help brought here, just in case." He heads through the teleporter.     A few minutes later, an android in a simple black dress walks out of the warpgate accompanied by a dozen of Staren's unicorn golems. Really, in this environment? They won't be much help. Their job is to make the enemy /think/ they're a threat and attract some hits to buy time. The android unpacks a couple of saddlebags from one of the golems, offering laser pistols and missile launchers to the mimigas. It's something, hopefully.     Plus, the golems have cameras and radios built in. Staren will know the moment something goes down. 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' Marrik looked over at Sparks and nodded. The pixie nodded back and flew off then... vanished. It would take a keen eye to spot her and that's even if one knew where to look. "Look," He took his coat off and motioned for king to come over to him. "Look I don't keep many weapons on me, but I have supplies, tools, things that might help." And with that he reached into a pocket up to his elbow before pulling a small bag out, then after letting it drop another, then another, and finally after a dozen or so are deposited at King's feet he put his coat back on. "I've left a way for us to know if you need backup. Won't even know she's here, promise."     That done he walked to Arthur's house and it's teleporter. Briefly he considered staying, acting as defense himself, but then disregarded. He also put down the idea of summoning the dead. Even if things weren't strained that meant leaving zombies unattended. That was never a good idea.     Then he pulled out a soviet era pistol and several clips to lay at King's feet. "Both hands, pull trigger. Sparks can give you directions and help coordinate. Worst case she might be able to distract enough for your people to make for the warp gate."     Then he shrugged his coat on and went through the teleporter. 

:'''{{#var:332|Dex Alruin (332)}} has posed:'''     Dex smiles softly. "I'm glad that you are the leader that the Mimiga need right now," he says, "You can figure out what is necessary and are able to make the tough calls." He draws his bow, pulling an arrow from his quiver. "I don't know what lies in the Bushlands, but I feel like I might be better utilized here. Besides, I'd like to be filled in on the situation in relative calm. Would you accept me staying here to help you, King?"     He offers a small smile, looking around the village. "Besides, I think I would just slow you all down. Here, if we're attacked, I might be able to use my mind to make things a bit easier." 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley looks at King in a sad way, as someone who is wholly familiar of historical events where a smaller force is vastly overwhelmed by a far superior enemy. She smiles at him, or at least tries to, but she can't help but worry about him. He's obviously the leader, the confident one, even if he's a little surly. "Good luck, then," she says to him, softly, and then she turns to leave with Quote.     Ainsley goes to Bushland with the others. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel is here and listneing she's been oddly quite for the last bit she's clealry taken note of things. She will try to respect what the locals want after all. She hummms at King's words and the commnets abotu protecting the villiage eithe rewya that's going to have to wait she's got some ideas that might help a bit. However they need to head out right? "King take care." She follows Quote Ainsley and the rest. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     There's not much King can do to protect his people, but whatever is necessary, he's willing to do. He nods solemnly to those saying he's made the right decision, accepts Marrik's weapon dubiously then passes it on to Jack, who all but fumbles the weapon. Then he nods to Dex. "There's no need. If this Kazuma is in Bushlands, and if there's a fast route there, we won't be without you long. You can go with your... your friends. But if you would rather stay here, your aid is most welcome."     Meanwhile, as the group goes through the transport to Bushlands...     The teleport pad leads to a dark narrow cave, a path leading sharply upwards towards what almost appears to be the outdoors. Bushlands is, as the name suggests, a very green place. The light is bright, almost as good as sunlight. A couple of Mimiga burrows line the area around the transporter cave. This, then, is Grasstown.     Quote shrugs. "Most of the Mimiga have left. Or... well, you know." he says, a bit awkwardly. The Doctor may well have come through, capturing or killing Mimiga around this area. "Only one still lives here. His name's Santa, and he said the wildlife is over-excited recently." The robot gestures beyond the buildings, out into a section of rolling green hills. The terrain is somewhat rough, but nowhere near as difficult to traverse as the leaps and climbs of Mimiga Village or the partially-collapsed sections of the Egg Chamber. The rolling hills conceal movement however. Wind might account for the movement of the grasses, but there's no wind to be felt.     Within the grasses, critters lie in wait. They're like the familiar hoppers but with a small but significant difference. They still bounce into the air and try to squish intruders, but their small wings allow them to hover a few seconds and guide their falls more accurately than the simpler hoppers. Somewhat further down the cave there are also giant critters, almost as bulky as Balrog, who can nonetheless hover and fly for quite some distance before dropping to the ground with an earthshaking thud.     If that's not enough, there are also bats. Bats are rather pathetic menaces, but these are fairly large and hostile. When approached, they'll swoop and bite if possible. There's not many of them, but the bats tend to swarm and swoop in large numbers. And if THAT'S not freaky enough, there's giant floating jellyfish. Well okay, not really jellyfish, but that's what they look like. They don't move very fast, but anyone who happens to run into them when climbing or flying is in for a world of stinging hurt. Yes, everything in the zone seems to fly or float, even if some of them remain grounded until it's time to attack. 

:'''{{#var:411|Twilight Sparkle (411)}} has posed:'''      Twilight was following after the others as well. She wasn't sure about going into some kind of deep cave, but she could see that the people here needed help, and she wasn't about to turn her back on such people. So, the purple pony trots along, staying close to Staren and looking around a bit fearfully. She seems more or less okay until...bats. Bats? BATS!!      Thanks to her fear of such things, Twilight cries out and starts galloping around in a panic when the bats start swarming around them. No doubt provoking attacks from the giant bug things, which only panics the pony more. It's like all the things she doesn't like rolled into one cave! "W-why did it have to be bats?!?!" 

:'''{{#var:332|Dex Alruin (332)}} has posed:'''     Dex opts to stay behind, taking up arms with Jack and King. He lets his bow relax, but only slightly as his eyes scan the area. "I don't mean to seem insensitive," he starts, "but exactly... how many Mimigas have been lost because of the Doctor?" His combat armor, a red fedora and red leather duster snap into existence with a small noise. "Why did this happen? And... just how strong is this Doctor? What is capable of?" He rattles off the question, noting the relative silence of the village. "It... reminds me of a similar struggle I'm facing. That's why I ask. That, and I want to see this place saved. No one should have to face the death of their friends and family..." 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' "Twilight Wait!" marrik shouted before moving. Each motion was quick, decisive, and flowed from the previous as he sent hair fine threads of magic to yank the life from the creatures attacking. With any luck they would get the point that getting near would mean dying. As he continued forward, trying to cover Twilight's panicked gallop he looked around casting a net out. "<Hello, is anyone there?> Soft voice, and the magic intended merely to get any of the slain to come out of hiding. <We're not with the Doctor. King sent us to try rescuing Toroko, but we need help.> It was relatively simple, but he was doing double duty between covering fire and trying to see if the locals were in a helpful mood plus make it so any ghosts that did show would be visible to everyone else. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Twilight gets a hug when she arrives, and Staren... tries to focus on less-lethal methods for the moment. He uses a phaser on stun setting to try and keep critters and jellyfish and bats from getting close, and tries to stun or throw them with the power armor's unarmed strength. Although, the giant critters are more of a problem... hopefully they can be avoided, for now.     And then Twilight turns out to be afraid of bats. "Twilight!" he activates wings and dashes after her, trying to grab her and hold her still instead of running around wildly. "Stop! W-what's wrong with bats?" 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     King gestures Dex to follow him, bounding over a gap to a nearby ledge and over to the cemetery. Sue follows, apparently thinking nothing of bounding over the gap herself. Once there, he gestures over it wordlessly. The fresh graves are fairly obvious, and there's several of them. "Many more kidnapped." he says. "We don't know why. It all happened within the last few weeks." he notes. "Not the first time we were attacked by Outsiders, just the first time this Doctor person came. Before that, the last time was a generation ago."     King sighs, shrugging. "I don't know how strong he is. But he commands Balrog and Misery, and they're figures out of legend. He's not so strong he can't be hurt. Arthur drove him off, nearly killed him, but he's got more power than we can deal with. Powers we don't understand." 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     The lizard girl named Ainsley spares a smile to Twilight Sparkle, but she seems to be all business once everyone is in Bushland proper. She doesn't stop to go to Santa's house -- she ignores the name, figuring it just a quirk of Mimiga naming conventions -- and instead decides to follow Quote further into the cavern. As the group starts to encounter small creatures again trying to murder them in their faces, Ainsley falls into the rhythm. She floats along, hovering gently off the ground... and as critters flutter up into her personal space, she whips around and gives them taser punches right in their adorable faces.     She carefully avoids any 'jellyfish' by staying out of the throng. The larger critters? She just avoids those completely, moving over or under them as appropriate. They aren't very fast, and won't present much of a threat if she keeps moving.     If a bat comes at her, she just tries to swat it out of her face, not really interested in killing it. Like the other area, she isn't really here to disrupt the wildlife any more than it already is. If she's attacked, she defends herself, but that's about all she does. 

:'''{{#var:332|Dex Alruin (332)}} has posed:'''     Dex watches as King and Sue head across a gap, then leaps with all of his might across it as well. He follows them into the graveyard, and the freshness of some of the grave causes a choke to rise from his throat. As King explains the situation, a sort of heat seems to radiate from the Undefined Champion. His arrow flashes with silver, holy light, and his eyes seem full of fervor. "I will make sure he pays for these lives," he says, his voice steady. "No one has any reason to initiate genocide. It's not right, and it's not something I want to see happen." The fact that the Doctor can be hurt, was nearly killed, gives Dex a little bit of hope. "Arthur... is he still around, or is he... in one of those graves?" he asks. He would guess anyone willing to stand up to the Doctor would be present already, but he needs to ask to sate his curiousity.     His mind kicks into overdrive. 'The Realm War really is only one of many terrible things. I've been so selfish,' he thinks. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Quote's response to the various critters is to pull out one of his new weapons. The electric-green pistol fires... bubbles. A horde of large bubbles. Each bubble carries an electric charge. He doesn't much care about the lives of bats, jellyfish, or the other monstrosities of the cave... but fitting in is part of his code. Others are using mostly nonlethal weaponry, and he has no particular qualms following suit. As a plus, the bubbline puts out a massive cloud of such bubbles overhead, effectively shielding him from bat attack and anyone else who sticks close. It wouldn't stop the descent of a monstrous critter perhaps, but others can handle those beasts.     As the Bushlands roll on farther away from Grasstown, Quote gestures ahead to a region of high thick grass. "There's a pit there." he warns. "And the bottom of the pit is filled with spikes. Red crystal of some kind. I've seen a sign warning about it, and I've been scratched by some of the smaller crystals. It's really dangerous stuff... best to not even touch it." he says.     This might cause a problem however. The pit is fairly wide. Maybe not olympic long jump level, but still something most people would think twice before hurling themselves over. And of course there's bats. There's ALWAYS bats. In this case the bats are hanging out above the pit, just waiting to ruin someone's day if they are trying to fly or even jump really high above the chasm. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     King gestures upwards within the cemetery. Elevation means little to a Mimiga, and the higher ledge is just a place with a better view rather than an inconvenience. Up there stands a full-size tombstone, not just a set of crossed sticks, marking a single fresh grave. "Arthur was the strongest of us. The best of us." King admits. "He would not have even considered turning someone over to the Doctor. He died saving us." the Mimiga leader says solemnly. 

:'''{{#var:411|Twilight Sparkle (411)}} has posed:'''      Twilight yelps as she is caught by Staren, and thrashes a bit before collecting herself enough to not run away thanks to Staren's grip. "I-I-I-they..they are bats! They are creepy and scary and...and did you see those bug creatures?! I..I can't do this! I'll just slow you guys down!" She tries to return Ainsley's smile, but it doesn't come off as a smile so much as a scared expression before she falls to all four of her knees, shivering. Marrik's help is completely unnoticed in her current state. The poor purple pony is barely holding herself together enough to keep from stampeding. 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' Marrik never stopped moving even when faced with the jump. In fact he sped into a run as his magic wrapped around to form a shell that would turn anything it touched into dust. Add to that the small shove of kinetic force he added to his jump so what would normally be a flailing mad grab for the ledge would turn into him rolling shoulder first forward and into a low crouch as he scanned for threats. As for these red crystals? A series of gestures sent threads of power onto one to see what would happen if he nudged it with the same sort of decay he used on the critters. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel is going to do what she can she really is hopefully more useful out here she move through the cave and into the green place known as Bushland she seems content for the moment and she keeps moving at the warning of wildlife she nods and summon her staff to make ready for things. The alien life does make Deelel stare but organic life tends to do that to her really, she morphs her stff into her fire mode and she take shots at the creatures that are hostile and getitng to close to her. She however does not stop moving. "Thank you for the warning Quote." She keeps moving and eyes the pit for a moment hter'es no real way she could use a light jet fown here she does have a grapple but that might not be an good idea either. "hummm." 

:'''{{#var:332|Dex Alruin (332)}} has posed:'''     Dex steps back and looks up, seeing the tombstone and nodding solemnly. "A hero's grave for one who died a hero's death. Truly, I can see you all honored and respected him." Dex brushes his eye, then settles back on the task at hand. "We need to be ready for an attack. The others will be back with Kazuma soon I'll bet. In the meantime, you mentioned that the Doctor has two subordinates from legend. Balrog and Misery?" He raises his bow, putting the weapon away. "If they're legends, you must know a bit more about their powers, right? Is it one of them who will show up next, do you think?" 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley stops at the spike pits, looking down at them. She frowns at the sight for a few beats, and looks at the others. She crosses her arms, floating there... and she floats to hover over one of the pits. She swats at a bat that flutters at her, frowning at the cutesy creature as it flaps away in pain from her strike.     "I can carry people across," she overs, holding out her hands, "One at a time." She'll take anyone who accepts her offer, happy to help anyone who needs it. And Twilight being all panicked gets a gentle smile from her. "Twilight... You will be fine. You have friends here. Okay? No one will let you get hurt." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren is... well, surprised! Twilight is a hero, whose fought far worse enemies... But fear isn't logical, is it? Those skeletons...     Staren hugs her around the neck and holds her close. "It's alright. It's alright." He's quiet for a moment as he tries to figure out how to approach this. Usually, Twilight's the one helping him with his problems.     But he's not alone for helping Twilight. The others are here too. "Okay... we can't just leave you here... I can stay with you, if you want. Or you can come with us. We can stun the bats and try to keep them away, maybe... Just... tell me what we need to do for you to feel safe." 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Quote simply leaps the chasm, floating over it with plenty of room to spare. A bat, buzzing him, flies into the smallish cloud of bubbles released by the bubbline, falling towards the pit, only to be swatted to one side by the robot's hand. It lands hard, quite possibly mangling itself, but nothing deserves impalement on those poisonous red crystal spikes.     Once past the crystal-filled chasm, Quote gestures. "This is as far as I've been." he says. Ahead, a home lies carved into a rock wall, which seems to be the end of a cavern. A long ways up however, smoke drifts upwards from the top of the home. A chimney, it seems. And past the chimney, the cavern continues.     There's also a pool out front of the Mimiga home, though it's hardly difficult to spot. There's aerial jellyfish hovering above the water, and a small set of bats by the cozy-looking home. "Chaco lives there." informs Quote. "She seems awfully lonely, and... well, we could keep her company if we weren't busy." he says, sounding a little sorrowed. Both for Chaco and for the urgency of their mission. "I can't get past this part of the cave alone. Thought about climbing inside the chimney, but I don't think we have time to let it cool. The rock's too high and overhangs too far for me to jump up... but I suppose it won't be much of a problem?" he asks, looking around at the capable adventurers present, smiling slightly.     A keen observer might notice one more thing around here. A large circular fan, presumably for airflow, lies beneath a grate cunningly worked into the bare stone beside the pool of water. This is the first bare stone of the Grasslands, it seems, flat and smooth with no free soil to hold the everpresent growth. The fan isn't running though, and there's no sign it's run in a very long time.     As for the overhang of rock? It's about thirty feet up and goes almost horizontally backwards. Flight could manage it easily enough, but jumping and climbing's right out unless ropes and similar gear are involved. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     King looks at Dex, shrugs slightly under his robes. "Being legends, I don't know what to tell you about their power. How much of it is myth, how much real." he says. "Balrog is a brute. I don't think he has any power, but he's supposed to be immortal." he says. "Legends have him in a different form than he's in now, so perhaps he's a shapeshifter. Like Sue." he says, not quite grinning at the little Mimiga.     "Misery is the dangerous one. She can do anything, according to legend. What I've seen myself is bad enough. Flight, teleportation, calling thunder and lightning. Not to mention those shielding bubbles." he explains. "Of them all, the one I most fear is Misery. Enemies like the Doctor come and go, but Misery serves every one of them... according to the legends." 

:'''{{#var:411|Twilight Sparkle (411)}} has posed:'''      Twilight shakes her head vigorously when asked how she can be persuaded to proceed. "I...I don't know..." she says, then takes a few deep breaths to try and calm herself. "I...I..." She looks up at Staren, then sighs. "I'll just have to push through...just make sure I don't run into any pits or ravines or anything." she says. She takes a few more deep breaths, then gets back to her hooves and looks toward where the others have already run ahead. "...and stay close." she adds to Staren before smiling weakly to Ainsley.      Twilight starts toward the pit after that, flinching whenever a bat flies nearby or a hopper lands somewhere. She has to pause every now and then to gather herself. But, when she finally reaches the pit, a simple twinkling of magic on her horn brings her to the other side in a flash of purple-white light. She makes it over to where Quote is, then looks up at the ledge. "I could teleport up, then lower a rope or something down." the pony says in a shaky tone. 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' When the thread of magic latched on Marrik instantly tried to pull away and let out a startled yelp. A curse later and he was hastily chalking a circle around him while fumbling for a fist sized chunk of quartz he pulled from his coat. He never noticed Twilight's panic or Staren's hug therapy because he was chanting softly while making a series of motions with his free hand. The corruption he had been exposed to flowed from his body into the quartz causing it to turn first dull grey then black. As he stood the quartz was put into a black bag, presumably to keep its tainted nature from contaminating anything else. Housekeeping done he rejoined Quote and frowned, first looking at the fan then the ledge before walking over to see if there was anything he could find on the other side. A headshake and frown later had him instead looking up while pulling a long line of rope from his coat along with a grapple before holding it for Twilight to see. Spidersilk rope and a five hook grappling end. "Should be long enough if you're up to trying." 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel Says "I see so beyond here is unmapped terratory I see." She listens as Quote talks about thier friend. She looks at the whole mess and ties to see what might be useful. Wait what's that. "Humm I have a grapple but my light jet's too big to use here." 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     "Wow." blinks Quote, impressed by Twilight's ability. That's a very convenient power. When she suggests a solution to the overhang, he shrugs and nods. Marrik's hook and rope should be more than enough to assist him, with Twilight's setting the hook somewhere secure up above the ledge. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren is concerned, and hopes he's correctly coming across as supportive rather than patronizing. "You don't /have/ to do this..." he reminds, but stands up with her, sticking close by and trying to stun the beasts and keep them away. He nods at the suggestion of teleporting. "Sounds like a plan." He pulls a bundle of synthetic rope from his bag. 

:'''{{#var:332|Dex Alruin (332)}} has posed:'''     "So Misery is the more dangerous of the pair, and perhaps moreso than even the Doctor, huh?" Dex asks in response. "Brute strength is one thing, but Misery's abilities sound... yeah, terrifying. I kind of hope it won't be her to show up, but if she does, at least I have an idea of what to watch for." He fingers his other armaments lightly, glancing toward Sue. "You said your name is Sue, right? And that you have a last name? Do all Mimiga have last names?" 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     King nods, then shakes his head, ears flopping slightly. "It's hard to say. The Doctor isn't in our legends at all. He's a human, come from the human world only recently. He has the power to command Misery, apparently, which means he's probably stronger than her." he explains. "We just don't know anything about his power beyond that he can order them around."     Sue glowers at Dex. "I'm a HUMAN!" she glowers. "Misery captured my family and the others. I ... I ran away. She laughed, and said if I was going to run like a rabbit then..." she shrugs. "Then I was like this." she finishes sheepishly. "I got away, but I'm a Mimiga now." 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Once the group makes it up past the overhanging ledge, the cavern rolls on again gently downward. Beyond Chaco's home, there's more of the mechanical fans and a couple of wide chasms with the deadly red crystal spikes at the bottom. It's not exactly clear whether the spikes grew within the chasms, or if perhaps the crystals are somehow the cause of the tears in the caverns. These pits are even wider than the previous one, though a small blessing of that is they're too broad to suffer concealing overgrowth. The gaps are wide enough to require gear, flight, or superhuman leaps. And yes, of course there's bats. Lots of bats. They might be the weakest of the cave denizens, but a swarm of them in the wrong place is a nightmare... and this probably counts as the wrong place. In addition there's also mold-ghosts. They're stationary things, fungi that vaguely resemble ghosts or perhaps tombstones, and they react to the slightest touch with a blast of toxic spores.     Shortly past Chaco's home, past a number of inactive fans and innumerable bats, there stands a huge warehouse. From within, a male voice calls out weakly for help. Not a panicked shriek, but pleading nonetheless. It's a hoarse voice, probably from someone who's been shouting for a while. Or perhaps someone desperately thirsty who just heard the commotion caused by the passing of a small horde of adventurers. Oh, and the door is stuck. Not just locked, rusted shut. It'll take a wrecking ball to get in there past that barrier. Or a bomb. Or maybe just an annoyed elite. 

:'''{{#var:332|Dex Alruin (332)}} has posed:'''     Dex nods. "Then they're all just really dangerous. Alright. That makes it a little less of a surprise should they turn up at all." At Sue's outburst, Dex recoils as though he had been struck. "Whoa, I'm sorry. I didn't know that," he says softly, "I... huh. I guess we can add transformation magic to Misery's arsenal, then." He paces back and forth, his muscles tense. "That could make things bad. She can turn humans into Mimiga. I wonder if that's the extent, or if she can turn anything into any other thing..." He shakes his head.     "So we need to add getting Sue back to normal to our list of things to be done. Defeating the trio of evil, saving the Mimigas, and returning everything and everyone back to normal. Those seem to be the overarcing goals here." He nods slightly. "Did any of the Mimiga know that you are a human transformed?" he asks, looking between King, Jack, and Sue? 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' Marrik grunted as he saw the gauntlet, "Staren you want me to clear a way through so everyone else can go see who's up there and how bad they're hurt?" Even as Marrik spoke he started flinging magic about to wither the fungus, attempt to kill off any bats that were in the likely lane of traffic. If twilight were watching she'd see scraps of energy flowing from each creature Marrik's magic strick flowing back to rest in his hands before slowly spreading through the rest of his body. Deep breaths as he worked. "I'll cover everyone." 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     As the group reaches the warehouse, Ainsley briefly considers the door. She had been only a token help to Twilight -- she cannot grant much comfort to someone besides a sense of confidence she doesn't really have -- so she keeps an eye out for more bats and other nonsense in the way. She can't really hold a conversation, seeming awkward and quiet along the way. The warehouse, though, is something she /understands/. A practical problem.     "Hmm." She holds out her hand to touch at the rusted door, tracing along the frame in order to seek out where the rust might be jamming it. "I think I can get this open. It'll take a minute, though, and don't count on me being energetic enough to fight anything scary afterwards."     She then applies a thorough electrical spell as a sort of welding torch to /burn/ through the rust, and steps back... pointing her hand to emit a huge blast of wind at the door, hoping to jar it open with the force of the spell. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     King has no clue what to add to Misery's arsenal. Shapeshifting magic is part of the legend, but that's just a confirmation and says nothing about her further powers. He remains silent about that, stoic as always.     Sue frowns, looking sheepish. "Er... it kind of didn't come up?" she claims, scuffing her foot. "The Doctor knows, and of course Misery knows since she did it. But only Toroko knew I wasn't always..." she frowns, trying not to cry over the mention of her friend. She's only 12 after all, and this has been a wrenching day. First she found her brother, sort of. Then she was captured, imprisoned, freed... And now she's finding out that King's not a total asshole after all. That he's probably almost as scared as she is. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     And if King should happen to look at Sue in a slightly new light? To understand a bit about why she's been so hateful and hostile to everyone? Well... that would be between him and Sue, really. 

:'''{{#var:411|Twilight Sparkle (411)}} has posed:'''      Twilight appreciates Ainsley's help, nonetheless, and when the unicorn finally makes it to the warehouse, shivering with fright and adrenaline. "D-don't worry...Ainsley..." she pants. "...you can do it..." she says, smiling shakily and practically clinging to Staren. She blinks when she sees Marrik's magic sapping the strength from the creatures. She can't tell just what kind of magic is being used, but she is impressed by the multi-vector nature of the magic. It must take a lot of energy and concentration to attack so many at once. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren smiles a bit once they've finally got Twilight through to what he presumes is Kazuma. Twilight gets an extra hug before Staren turns to deal with this. "Hey in there. Stay back from the door, okay? ...Are you hurt?" When Ainsley starts burning through magic to improvise an arc welder, he gently places a hand on her shoulder to get her attention, holds out his beam saber, and activates it. *FWOOMMMM* He loosens his grip, allowing her to take it if she wishes. 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' Yea ok several jumps. Can do this. Marrik had a running start, His magic turned from activly hurting things again to shell around himself as he did the mario thing. After he got to the other end he frowned at the door and just waited. He could rust his way through but that'd take ages, and Staren seemed to have a faster idea in mind. So he stood there, watching the ceiling in case anything new decided to drop in. Deep breaths. Calm. Let his mind drift. 

:'''{{#var:332|Dex Alruin (332)}} has posed:'''     Dex isn't sure how to react to Sue. He can't imagine being transformed into a whole new species. She sounds young, too. "Misery is cruel. Perhaps sadistic. This is another good piece of information. It tells us about her character, and how we might be able to exploit it. Thanks, Sue." He offers her a small smile. "Thanks for filling me in on what's going on around here, King, Sue. I understand there's a bit of a gulf between you because of prior actions, but I think right now you both, and we as well, have the same goals in mind. If a gulf must remain, let's not let it keep us from focusing on what's important. At least, that's what I'd like to think." He stretches out a bit. "I'd imagine this village was quite lively before all this. When we're done, I'd like to come back and see if it is again." 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel sees other have ideas and she's going hang back today seems to be her day to just be musel and that' fin with her. She does however keep with the group moving to keep up with them. She's keeping an eye on the fans and also taking shots at the various bats. she's glad to be past that little problme but it seems there's something else with the door. Humm she keeps back now to watch just what the others have planned, she's going to need to bring photon charges next time she comes she thinks. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     From within the warehouse, Kazuma's voice calls out. There's a small crack in one of the walls, and he presses an eye to it, trying to see what's going on. "I'm dyiiiing." he complains. "Of starvation. Please hurry!" he says. Nope, doesn't sound like he's hurt, and while he's at the crack he's probably in no danger from anything done to the door. Anything reasonable, that is. And the door indeed falls quickly to the combination of Ainsley's energy and Staren's beam saber. Wind wasn't enough to free up the rust and damage, but the combined efforts open it easily.     Kazuma looks a lot like Sue. Oh, not the Mimiga girl... the one from Pixel's data files. He's got the same green hair, the same skin, and from the looks of things the same tendency towards facial injury. Might have something to do with the way he's always squinting, though that could have something to do with the darkness of the room he'd been trapped in versus the brightness of the caves outside it.     He also seems different. Mellower, certainly. Older as well. Easily five years older, perhaps ten or more. He seems to suit the lab coat he's wearing. His enthusiasm, such as it is, is quite muted. "You did well." he says. "I knew you could do it! Um... my name is Kazuma Sakamoto. Please call me Kazuma." he adds. Then he gestures around him. A computer, a teleporter pad... a huge empty warehouse. "Luckily I was able to escape from the Doctor, but then... I came here. It felt like I was about to die of total starvation. Before you came along, I was almost ready to eat cockroaches! You... you saved my life!"     This, he says with an almost cool detachment, with only the hint of personal involvement. Quite the contrast to Sue's boisterous rage. "By the way." he adds. "Have you heard of a place called Mimiga Village?" 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' Marrik merely hung back to keep an eye out for anything outside. Let someone else handle the kid while he just kinda hung out by the door. It's almost like he expected trouble. Paranoia? 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     After Ainsley lets Kazuma speak, she smiles at him.     "Yes. We just came from Mimiga Village, in fact. Sue is there, and she's the one who sent us." She gestures to the doorway, "We should be headed back there, now that we've found you. I'm sure your sister will be happy to see you're okay." She looks over toward the teleport pad for a second, a little surprised. "Huh." She rubs her chin a few times. "So you got here by teleportation, but you couldn't get out, then?"     She puffs a sigh. "Alright... time to slog through the wildlife on the way back," she complains, not really super bothered by it, and in fact relieved that something is going right without some big monster falling on their heads. It's surprisingly common to encounter spontaneous monster attacks, in her experience. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren smiles. Not only have they rescued a guy, it's a guy wearing a labcoat!     If Twilight is still clinging, he puts an arm around her. He nods as Ainsley explains. "Yeah... actually... how did you get here? What all happened... if you feel up to explaining." He offers a bottle of water from his bag. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Cruel and sadistic, yes. That seems to be Misery all right. Murderous... perhaps not. But definitely sadistic. Sue's eyes are downcast at Dex's words, but she can't help but agree. Reluctantly, but she agrees. She nods, and without looking offers a small paw in King's direction.     King doesn't notice at first, what with the quiet body language of Sue. He's also looking at Dex. "Like I could stop you from coming." he says gruffly. Then he shakes his head. "No, that's not fair. If there is a Mimiga Village when this is over, you will be most welcome. It may well be that we'll owe our village to you." he admits gruffly.     Looking away, he notices Sue's outstretched hand. Startled, he freezes, trying to decide what to do about it. It's almost as if she's holding out a weapon rather than a hand. Finally though, he takes Sue's hand and shakes it. "... Right. That's in the past. Let's look to the future instead." he says, almost gently. 

:'''{{#var:411|Twilight Sparkle (411)}} has posed:'''      Twilight was starting to relax. But, Ainsley mentioning the coming journey back through the trecherous landscape and scary creatures brings a heavy groan from the pony. "...I...don't suppose you could carry me...?" she asks Staren in embarrassment. She is looking a bit pale, even through her fur. 

:'''{{#var:332|Dex Alruin (332)}} has posed:'''     Peace across such a divide. It's certainly a heartwarming moment, and Dex smiles brightly at them. "That's what I'm talking about. We'll succeed together. And, I mean, if you really would rather outsiders don't visit after this, King, I can respect that. You are the Mimiga's leader, after all. If that's your call, I'll honor it." He offers another smile, then runs his hand along the hilt of the sword at his waist. "I hope the others didn't run into too much trouble where they were headed. And hopefully they've found Kazuma." He stretches again. "Oh, right. I have one more question." Always one more question. "How many Mimiga does the Doctor have captured?" 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     "You know Sue?!" Finally, Ainsley seems to get a reaction from Kazuma with this news. He smiles. "I see. I know she'd be here if she could. Come on then, we'd best go back to her."     No sooner does he say this than the teleport pad lights up, shimmering with a blue light. Kazuma turns around, puzzled and concerned. The air shimmers, and a small older man pops out. White-haired and wrinkled, wearing red-tinted spectacles and a labcoat similar to Kazuma's, the figure hardly seems any kind of threat. "Is that you, Kazuma?!" "Professor Booster! You're safe!"     "Yes, somehow. I saw you'd gone missing, and I finally managed to convince our guards that I was you and belonged in your cell." the old man says. The two look nothing alike, of course, but this doesn't seem to matter. "We all look alike to them, I suppose. Anyways I found your passage and came through the teleporter. Hello, introduce me to your friends..."     "Sue's in Mimiga village. These fine people came from there, and ... well, I suppose they can get us both there." replies Kazuma, looking to his rescuers. "Well, unless you have food with you? I'll go anywhere if it means getting fed!" he says, not quite grinning. "We should save introductions and such for now. Come on, let's find Sue, and then we need to all discuss this. I promise, I'll answer all of your questions when we get there." 

:'''{{#var:332|Dex Alruin (332)}} has posed:'''     Dex taps his ear, smiling and nodding as he hears the recovery effort has succeeded. "Good news!" he says, "They've found Kazuma. Also someone named Professor Booster. Do you know him, Sue?" he asks, beaming. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren hugs Twilight and pats the back of her neck. "I think with the armor I can, but how to get Kazuma and Booster over all those pits?" That's when he notices the hoverbike. "Hey, do you think that still works?" He squeezes Twilight gently, then lets go, pulling a tablet out of his bag and handing it to Kazuma. "Here. Quote shouldn't be the only one of you guys with a radio, and maybe you want to talk to Sue?" Indeed, the pad displays a camera feed from inside Mimiga Village, centered on Sue. Two-way voice communication is possible.     Inside the Mimiga Village, the nearest unicorn golem turns towards Sue and approaches. There is a speaker inside it, so...     Staren, meanwhile, strides over to the bike to inspect its condition. 

:'''{{#var:541|Marrik (541)}} has posed:''' "Anything I need to worry about in there?" Marrik briefly poked his head inside the warehouse and quirked an eyebrow at not one but two people new to the party. Nothing threatening looking so he shrugged and started sending feelers out. Maybe he could try getting a feel for the island, or at least maybe figure out what the deal was with those red things. Something about that felt important, Well it felt Bad Wrong mostly, but it was important. He was just a farmboy, let the eggheads talk to eachother and maybe find answers faster that way. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     "Gr... Professor Booster?!" Sue says, excited. Kazuma's recovery is great news, but 'grandpa' is an entirely unexpected bonus. Not that they're really related, but she's known the old rocket scientist all her life. He's close enough to family to count.     Sue eagerly accepts the radio, beginning to chatter with Kazuma. The older Sakamoto replies cheerfully, inviting his little sister to be sure to have food waiting. Booster stares at Quote, meanwhile, studying him with a rude sort of intensity. Quote doesn't really know how to handle it, shuffling back half a step involuntarily. Booster shakes his head. "No. I don't know you." he mutters. "We just met. Right..." he says, and turns to head outside and investigate the hoverbike. It's rusted and somewhat decrepit, but it appears to be charged and functional. Before long, Booster and Kazuma are ready to head off. The only thing is... well, "How do you controooooool this thiiiiiiiing?!!?"     The two of them go rocketing off towards the transport to Mimiga Village, the hoverbike hurtling along too fast to be threatened by any of the critters. That's the good news. The not-so-good news is that it might well go too fast to stop in any sort of reasonably safe manner. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "...Oh, shoot. Somebody check on them!" Staren runs to Twilight's side, hugs, and teleports with her back to the entrance to the Bushlands. Where there is probably a crashed hoverbike by the time he finishes teleporting.. "Are you two okay?!" 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel is now following uit to get a look in the warehouse once they can get in. She gets over and pauses seeing the bike and looking about for nyhing of use. She has been oddly quite for most of the trip today. 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Kazuma and Booster are nowhere to be seen at the site of the hoverbike crash. Well, at least there's no blood or mangled corpses either. A little looking around finds them tumbled into the cave entrance leading to the transporter, sprawled in a pile. Kazuma waves weakly, while Booster fumbles around for his glasses. Looks like they're alive.     Quote comes bounding through not long after Staren. He's not superfast, but he's pretty quick and the path back involved no obstacles that stopped or even slowed him. Pits were easy to leap across. The 30 foot rope climb descent, well, he just jumped clear over that, letting anti-grav slow his fall. And the critters... they know better now, having been stunned or killed or just convinced to stay the hell out of the way for their own sakes. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     'There, we're safe now.' Staren whispers. 'We're past the bats.' He turns to Kazuma, keeping an arm around Twilight. "So, what's going on here? I mean... We were sent here to find out what happened to the local human expedition to this place... we ran into Misery, and the Mimigas told us their side of what happened, but... what happened to you guys?" 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "Also, Twilight..." Staren suddenly thinks of something to get her mind off bats, "Do you think you might be able to transform Sue back into a human?" 

:'''{{#var:411|Twilight Sparkle (411)}} has posed:'''      Twilight relaxes considerably when they are safely in a cave away from the bats. It dons on her that being inside a cave to get -away- from bats is ironic, and she can't help but chuckle a bit. She blinks at the question, then hmms. "I...suppose I could, but...my transformations are not usually permanent. It would be quite hard to permanently alter someone's form, especially if they were already under the effects of another spell. Even if my spell does work, without knowing how she was changed in the first place it is hard to know if it would stick." 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:''' As things settle down, Kazuma starts answering. "Well, let's see." he says, calmly folding his fingers. "We came here to investigate the island. My mother, Professor Booster, Itoh, and Sue. Itoh's worked with us for a while now, and the Professor's been with us forever. Doctor Date though, he must've pulled strings. Our research trip was only allowed if he could come with us and do his own research." He shrugs delicately. "I really don't know him. None of us do. But he got assigned to our group. And when he got here, the first thing he did was wander off on his own." Kazuma explains. "No idea what he wanted, or why."     "I know a bit more now." Professor Booster interjects. "I still don't know how or why, but he showed up with that crown and with Misery and Balrog in tow. He was only gone a few hours, and then that happened." he explains.     Kazuma shrugs. "Yes, well, it seems obvious he was up to something in hindsight. When we first came here though, it just seemed the usual. Funding, politics... you know." he says. "Nothing we haven't seen before. But he captured us. My mother's working for him now. Itoh... I don't know. I think he ran away. The Professor and I were thrown in prison." he says. Sue frowns but remains silent for now. "After a while, I don't know how many days, I found an escape tunnel. It let to a teleport pad. I was able to get through, but I couldn't get back. Without the far side's code, there's no chance... and no point either, not unless you want to teleport to a locked cell! I could have gone back there and avoided starving if I had the code I suppose, or if I cracked the computer to allow it, but... that would have probably meant my death. So it's all best that I was trapped, right?" he grins.     "And I managed to get put in your cell, and followed you." says Booster. "That's really all our story. But as for what the Doctor wants, he's after the Red Flowers."     "What?" Kazuma asks. "Would they work on Sue, do you think? Just like the others?"     "Kazuma. He's kidnapping Mimigas. Do you understand what this means? It's not just Sue that's in danger now." says Booster, frowning. Somehow, it doesn't sound like he's meaning the six remaining Mimiga of the village. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren listens to Kazuma's story. Frowning when it's explained that The Doctor came with them. And more when the red flowers are mentioned. "Red flowers?" He asks, then holds up a hand and shakes his head. "Hang on. We're gonna go to the Mimiga village and compare notes. One more question before we do: Are you saying that with a little computer hacking, that teleporter could get us into the Doctor's base?"     Once that question's adressed, he leads the rescuees back to Arthur's house, seeking out King and Sue. "Alright. Now that we can compare notes with the Mimigas, tell me about 'that crown' and the Red Flowers." 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     "Not his base." Kazuma replies. "He only went there occasionally, to work on a prisoner." he explains. Booster nods. "That's how we know what the flowers do. They do terrible things to Mimigas." he says.     King glowers, but doesn't refute the statement. It's clear he knows much the same. "They make us strong. And fill us with uncontrollable rage. And whoever eats the red flower dies." he says bluntly. "It's been our last defense for ... well, since time of legend. Every child knows never to touch the red flowers, to destroy them on sight. But still, every fighter knows where some petals are kept. Just in case. But I don't understand. Why would he be after the flowers? Why would he want to make us strong, or to kill us? He can kill us any time he tries... what good would strengthening us do?"     "Because..." Sue says, answering. "Because he's going to use you. As weapons of death." she says, frowning sadly. Booster nods, and even Kazuma seems to agree. "He's probably going to use the red flower on all of you and turn you against the humans of the surface."     "Why would he do that?" asks Jack, appalled. "Because he's the devil." answers Sue, annoyed and opinionated.     "You mean... if he finds the red flowers, he's going to feed them to Toroko?" asks Jack, somewhat left-behind in the conversation and a little one-track besides. "Probably." answers Kazuma. "But he hasn't found them yet. Not enough of them. We have to stop him before he finds more."     "I won't let that happen." says King, hand on his blade's hilt, glowering.     "You don't understand." says Booster, breaking in. "He's going after the flowers. He *knows* where they are." he growls. "I heard this just before I got free. They're in the Sand Zone." he says. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "He may have some way to control mimigas." Staren plays the video of Igor for them at that point.     Then:     "The Sand Zone? Where is it? How do we get there?!" 

:'''{{#var:403|Quote (403)}} has posed:'''     Kazuma stirs, and goes into action. He moves almost leisurely over to the computer, but there's nothing leisurely about his fingers as they fly across the keys. "Let's see..." he says. "Transport network. Yes, hacked this before. This computer's on the same network. It's..." taptaptaptaptap. "Ah yes. Here it is. Code... there. Serial comms..." a few more taps, a pause, then a few more keystrokes. Kazuma may be a bit of an idiot about a lot of things, but he clearly knows his way around computers.     The teleport pad goes out, then immediately lights up again. "Activated. This pad's now linked to the Sand Zone." he says. 

}}

Cave Story

2014-09-24T04:31:48Z

MoreBeer:

{{TPPage
|Summary=The world of Pixel is one of science and technology, a world containing robots wielding laser weaponry. Nonetheless it has one ancient remnant of ancient magic: a flying island. The surface world requests the aid of a group of heroes, seeking to learn the fate of a team of scientists researching the island's mysteries. Before they find the answers, the heroes will have to delve deep into the mysteries of the island; deep into the Cave Story.
|Scale=Minor
|Plot_id=-1
|Runner=403
|Contacts=
|Theme=Cave Story-1
|Audience=Open, primarily for heroes and adventurers/mercenaries
|Genre=Mixed
|Events=Responding to Sue's distress, our heroes confronted the Mimiga leader, King. Tensions were high but cooler heads prevailed, and the heroes convinced King to free Sue Sakamoto.

They then rushed into the Bushlands, rescuing Kazuma Sakamoto from his own dire situation, only to find a third member of the research team as well. Professor Booster had just escaped from the Doctor, and came bearing dire news.

It seems the Doctor has known all along that there was something to find in these caves, and had more than research in mind. He's looking to enslave the Mimiga and turn them into weapons of death. Our heroes now turn to the Sand Zone, hoping to stop his plans.
|Info=Contrast and juxtaposition. The story is about caves that are high in the air. The theme is modern science amidst ancient magic. NPCs are comedic and in many cases cute, but their fates and prospects are grim.

We're looking for a few good men, women, and other. The plot will continue for several sessions and there will be opportunity for players to switch in and out based on real life needs and conflicting scenes. While I'd love to see a recurring core group, I'll try to allow for as many participants as are interested - if not in the first scenes, then as the scenes continue.

There is an IC radio set up to cover the Caves. It is frequency 442.2
|State=Current
}}

Cave Story

2014-09-24T04:31:21Z

MoreBeer:

{{TPPage
|Summary=The world of Pixel is one of science and technology, a world containing robots wielding laser weaponry. Nonetheless it has one ancient remnant of ancient magic: a flying island. The surface world requests the aid of a group of heroes, seeking to learn the fate of a team of scientists researching the island's mysteries. Before they find the answers, the heroes will have to delve deep into the mysteries of the island; deep into the Cave Story.
|Scale=Minor
|Plot_id=-1
|Runner=403
|Contacts=
|Theme=Cave Story-1
|Audience=Open, primarily for heroes and adventurers/mercenaries
|Genre=Mixed
|Events=Responding to Sue's distress, our heroes confronted the Mimiga leader, King. Tensions were high but cooler heads prevailed, and the heroes convinced King to free Sue Sakamoto.
They then rushed into the Bushlands, rescuing Kazuma Sakamoto from his own dire situation, only to find a third member of the research team as well. Professor Booster had just escaped from the Doctor, and came bearing dire news.
It seems the Doctor has known all along that there was something to find in these caves, and had more than research in mind. He's looking to enslave the Mimiga and turn them into weapons of death. Our heroes now turn to the Sand Zone, hoping to stop his plans.
|Info=Contrast and juxtaposition. The story is about caves that are high in the air. The theme is modern science amidst ancient magic. NPCs are comedic and in many cases cute, but their fates and prospects are grim.

We're looking for a few good men, women, and other. The plot will continue for several sessions and there will be opportunity for players to switch in and out based on real life needs and conflicting scenes. While I'd love to see a recurring core group, I'll try to allow for as many participants as are interested - if not in the first scenes, then as the scenes continue.

There is an IC radio set up to cover the Caves. It is frequency 442.2
|State=Current
}}

Cave Story

2014-09-21T21:07:52Z

MoreBeer:

{{TPPage
|Summary=The world of Pixel is one of science and technology, a world containing robots wielding laser weaponry. Nonetheless it has one ancient remnant of ancient magic: a flying island. The surface world requests the aid of a group of heroes, seeking to learn the fate of a team of scientists researching the island's mysteries. Before they find the answers, the heroes will have to delve deep into the mysteries of the island; deep into the Cave Story.
|Scale=Minor
|Plot_id=-1
|Runner=403
|Contacts=
|Theme=Cave Story-1
|Audience=Open, primarily for heroes and adventurers/mercenaries
|Genre=Mixed
|Events=Our heroes have rescued Sue Sakamoto from Igor, a former Mimiga turned into a monster by unknown powers. Sue is now transformed into the form of a Mimiga herself, thanks to the power of Misery, as she escaped the Doctor's clutches.
Sue has been hiding out within Toroko's house, though Toroko has been kidnapped by Misery and Balrog. She's been searching out clues as to where her family have been hidden. It's taken some time, but finally she receives a message from Kazuma. A message, and a code for a new teleport pad.
|Info=Contrast and juxtaposition. The story is about caves that are high in the air. The theme is modern science amidst ancient magic. NPCs are comedic and in many cases cute, but their fates and prospects are grim.

We're looking for a few good men, women, and other. The plot will continue for several sessions and there will be opportunity for players to switch in and out based on real life needs and conflicting scenes. While I'd love to see a recurring core group, I'll try to allow for as many participants as are interested - if not in the first scenes, then as the scenes continue.

There is an IC radio set up to cover the Caves. It is frequency 442.2
|State=Current
}}

Of Death... and of Birth (Quote)

2014-09-14T23:34:35Z

MoreBeer: Created page with "{{Cutscene Header |Date of Scene=2014/09/01 |Location=Egg Chamber - Flying Island |Synopsis=After defeating Igor and rescuing Sue, our adventurers find things aren't exactly a..."

{{Cutscene Header
|Date of Scene=2014/09/01
|Location=Egg Chamber - Flying Island
|Synopsis=After defeating Igor and rescuing Sue, our adventurers find things aren't exactly as they'd expected.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=
|Tinyplot=Cave Story
}}
There's no good way to deal with the monstrous threat of Igor. Even crippled by attacks, he's still a menace. Controlled as he is, a deathblow may well be a thing of mercy. It's uncertain what finally ends the monstrous Mimiga's life. It could be Staren's lightning fist, Roll's arc thrower, Inga's blood spears, or Marrik's life drain. Either way, the great beast shudders, twitches, and slowly goes still.

Upon falling, a transformation overcomes the creature. No sooner does it go still than the body begins to shudder and shrink. Within seconds, the monster is replaced by the limp form of a Mimiga. The figure, a white rabbit-being wearing a tie and partially-shredded pants, looks more pathetic than terrible now. The damage inflicted by the many attacks is still present, but diminished. The corpse is somehow almost peaceful now, though no less dead even if there's no obvious sign what wound if any was responsible for the kill.

Within chamber 00, a different confrontation is going on. Sue, healed somewhat from her injuries, regards the women who have come to rescue her. "Of course I'm a human!" the Mimiga girl claims indignantly. Then, no doubt following the gaze of her rescuers, she looks down at herself and flushes in embarrassment. "Well I WAS anyways. Not my fault I got changed into a Mimiga!" she splutters.

"I ..." she pauses, looking around, glowering. "I hate this place. I hate everyone on this stupid island!" she says sullenly. It sounds like the grumbling of a 12 year old. Not literal hatred, just immaturity and resentment. "That's why I was here." she says, looking up at the massive dragon egg. "I can hatch it, and get out of here."

She seems to realize just where she is, and looks over to the nearby control terminal. Brightening up, she scurries over and begins tapping away at computer keys. Disappointment sets in though. "It needs a password to begin hatching." she mutters. "If my brother was here, I bet he could get it working. Right, I guess I'll have to find my brother Kazuma. I suppose I can let you help?" she says, uncertainty making that not quite a statement.

Either way, there's not much that can be done from here. It's time to return to Mimiga Village, to see if anyone knows anything about Kazuma or the other Sakamotos. Perhaps soon, the hunt can begin for them and they can begin to worry about getting off the island. One thing's for sure however. Even if she says she hates everyone, Sue has no intention of fleeing the island without her family. Not yet, at least.