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Black August
Sep 28, 2003

You were processed as Item of Interest Dark #21 after the Sunsplit, with a limited intake by Water Agent Crocell and Researcher Yan’Tyr. You’ve also ran into Ice Agent Vincent, Fire Agent Cassandra, and of course Psychic Agent Deimos, plus President Amey. Carter almost saw you once. Outside a double identity as the Ulthar Ambassador, the character does not know any more of their current standing with MC&D.

EDIT: The unofficial rating given by Yan’Tyr using an older classification system was ‘Euclid Red’.

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taiyoko
Jan 10, 2008


I don't think we've heard the name Sadalfas before...and the way Aitvaras thinks about them sounds kind of similar to how he might think of the sort-of "Holy End" version of our character? or at least that we dream/have visions of? The one who was adopted into Clan Ignatz.

Dr_Gee
Apr 26, 2008
Re: MC&D: my read is that we're just sub-"personal attention". Like, if it weren't for the fact that the Big Agents we've encountered recently aren't especially thrilled with the org I suspect we'd've crossed the threshold of interest with their report

Black August
Sep 28, 2003



BigFactory
Sep 17, 2002
Badass

taiyoko
Jan 10, 2008


Makes me wonder what the player of the Holy End game is thinking, when the worlds seem to touch enough for our character to be there (like in this coming scene)....

Also, i hope our character doesn't end up heartbroken if Holy End Burner doesn't recognize them as her Moonlight, her Camp Champ... :ohdear:

Black August
Sep 28, 2003

[Thank God. Oh, thank God. It was clean. The truth of Burner's Megalith is that there is no easy entry: either you walk the long tedious resource-eating grind of the Summer Dead Miles, or you dared the suburbs' brief dangerous riches... and then walked the lazy-smile challenge of the Three Mile Green. Loneliest place in all Burner's Land, it was the second of three hateful strikes that came for onerunners who took this route. It's utterly clean and lifeless, brimmed to choking black sickness with unique death-plants which thrived exclusively off of extreme radiation and soil toxicity. Crossing the Green was an utter promise of corruption-inducing radiance, with a hefty chance of poisoning events. So, of course, it wasn't a simple matter of just being able to set travel to Reckless and cut through with minimal loss. The Three Mile Green is so dense and radiant that getting lost happens constantly, especially without benefits like the Absolute Direction perk or items such as the Three-Pointed Compass. What it came down to was sheer luck to see how many times you got lost and how bad the penalties stacked up.]

[This run of the Green? Panic immaculate. Got lost multiple times, but every event was one of the many variants of the Peace In Green event. Sated thirst before entering meant the character didn't drink irradiated waters. None of the roots bled. There were no lustrous little-fat berries. No fractals formed. The Solar Elementalist and her greenhouse temple weren't spawned. Just an utterly clean and weary passage, with the price of peace made evident- the Zolty Zuit. It's near-pure ultraviolet with only a few little patches of orange left. It must be near its limit. But it tanked the entire Green, which leaves what nuclears happen next up to the mercy of Lady Luck. The Green is just the entry price for the last denial of Megalith- Hell's Fence. Mass Fence, but every onerunner called it Hell's Fence. May as well be a superdungeon unto itself. Almost feels like it should be a Doubler location, but its Sunburner allegiance is obvious in its structure. Supermass of dry wood, just begging to explode into flames? Which it does pretty much every run that makes it there. But its size is what makes it so sinister - if a fire begins, it's a race against time through a giant maze. Though, a fire starting was almost always a result of the Fence's actual threat: an extremely high Sunburner spawn rate. Even if none manage to spawn for a period of time, there's still the constant threat of the Fence-unique event where, upon passing through any open area, there's an increasing chance of "Sunburners throw heated rocks from the shadows of the high fences!" happening. It could be 2 rocks and 1 damage. It could be 80 rocks and 200 damage.]

[Moot point. Something else is going down; psychic powers are acting up. For some reason, the message log shows 'The mushrooms prepare to spore [x999]' over five times, showcasing the safety measure against message overflows. In this case, was it because of a glitch? It seems to have stopped, and nothing is happening or changed in the diagnostics. Not sure what to make of it. A successful PSI scan reveals more oddities- the character is close to Burner, who isn't far. There's a number of powerful hostiles also nearby. For some reason, it lists Cayver Cauvay, Omelio, and Ivar as being immediately present next to the character, despite that not being true at all. But, it's not just them being fibbed about. It scans 11 other entities too, scattered around. Nowhere to be seen.]

Randalor
Sep 4, 2011



Oh no. Not a giant structure of wood that will burst into flame. How ever will we survive fire. It sure would be a shame if the structure burst into flame.

:v:

Dr_Gee
Apr 26, 2008

Randalor posted:

Oh no. Not a giant structure of wood that will burst into flame. How ever will we survive fire. It sure would be a shame if the structure burst into flame.

:v:

This is fine

taiyoko
Jan 10, 2008


Yeah, but the wanderers don't share our immunity to fire, and it probably wouldn't be great for our character's psyche for them to go up in flame, even if they're not necessarily friends. (Not that they ever have a lot of actual interaction with the wanderers, more like the barrier between their worlds thins enough for them to be aware of each other's presence briefly.)

Aabcehmu
Apr 27, 2013

Confusion As a Natural State of Being
Hm. I wonder if some Rain would be useful here...

Black August
Sep 28, 2003



The Silver Mind posted:

The Psychic was drinking coffee, unsure of what day it is anymore. Was anymore? He's looking with his third eye at a black star hanging apex of the silver, and he's listening to breathing. He looks over and he sees worn wood and Wanderers walking.

The end of the deathly greens begins to make itself known as they approach the base of the dryad's barrier. First it was wooden planks by their feet, jutting from the irradiated grasses. Then it was piles of charred wood strewn in heaps about the trails. Once the greens finally gave way to the wall, they saw its intimidating structure spanning the canyon miles of space between the two mountain crests was a superstructure of latticework; an endless of wood planks, fences, beams, slats, boards, arches, stairs, climbs, pits, walkways, boxes, all a collapse of perfect self-destructive geometry, grown from sacrificed bark and given to wood's worship of structure among pyroclastic conditions. Candles starfield the countless windows they could see, lighting up the dead of the Lorded Land's everdark. Levity smiles. "That's creepy." There was no apparent main entrance, only a central point of branch with hundreds of choices for squeeze-in entry. The hot nuclear winds play melodies through the lattice, leaving Cassandra wary. "I'll try to talk to a candle and see what it thinks." Everyone was quiet as they let Burner take point, and guide them into the darkness of the honeycomb passages. Rienne remarks, "It's like the Fae Ball we went to, when we met Sauber." Levity gets encouraged by the memory.

The inside of the fence proved more hostile than anticipated. Cassandra found out fast that the candles had all taken a vow of silence like the Sunburners, something very contrary to a flame's nature. There was soon a need to climb and navigate more complex passages going up and through the structure, with Burner doing her best to speed everyone as a group along the narrows and rises- those who couldn't make such ridiculous climbs were carried. A few hours later found the Wanderers at the higher levels of the lattice, where there were walkways and a more open passage through the miles of travel still needed; to each side rose a three story barrier of dense fencing that boxed them in; it was here that they were first struck. The walkway was closed when a surge of light coalesced into the Solar Flare Matriarch blocking the way. Rienne simply jogged and leapt alongside the wall, not stopping her momentum. The Solar Flare vanished back into light to pursue, while the Thundering King soared down to smash apart the supporting wall, sealing off the others from advancing. Bolts of light seared through dark airs. The Matriarchs ambushed, leaping to and fro in hunting dance. The rest of Home's Army held back to conceal Burner, taking the underpasses to keep ahead of the collapsing structure. Cassandra was infuriated that there was no fire she could convince to help them, leaving only her sword and lights as a means of help. Ahead, Levity and Lumes were taking the angle on the Solar Flare, while Rienne prepared a running tackle of the Thundering King. The royal oak dryad didn't see this coming, since she had backed Gandiva into a corner by a window, and was smashing the floor out with her lightning rod to send him to doom. The Archer slid his feet and planted them, assuming the nature of a mountain.

(Gandiva - Immovable Stance) 14 [6]+[6]+[6] = 18 - DARK INTERVENTION.

His feet planted on the cracking floor, effortlessly.
Rienne smashed into the Thundering King with the speed of Heaven.
That sent them both like kinetic trains directly into the 8th Lord, who could not roll with the blow because of his immaculately planted feet.
Instead, he is sent out the window along with the detached chunk of floor, immovable.

A lot happens at once after that.

The Silver Mind posted:

But the Psychic was too distracted looking the other way, tilting his head to angle the black star's light on his overloaded psionics. See that? There. You.

You. Coughing up something weird from your bubbling lungs. Shivering madly, as if you just avoided something that was sure to kill you with the slowest of radiant love. You spit and growl as you claw as your disgusting suit, each nail-rake making the purple plastic shoot sparks of unlight, crunching and staining your skin painfully. You exhale and press your face to the warm wood, drying off the deep soak of the confusing greens. You feel horrible.

HP: [ -8 / 30 ]
FP: [ 10 / 15.▒ ]
ANXIETY: [ X ][ X ][ X ][ X ][ X ][60%] [Disquiet]


You climb with weakened limbs, only knowing that you've arrived where Red begged you appear. You follow the gravity that clouds your third eye.

(ST - Climb) 30(-6) [1]+[3]+[2] = 6 - Great Success!

Like you're in a dream. Just swim up the currents of gravity where they microcline the weakest. Slither the splinters. Haut to the sky above as you slowly come out of your radiant stupor of sadness, back into a heatless gloom of worry. Red? Your voice is weak. You can't shake off the loam that was poured over your brain. You see black windows, splintering wood, pale candles. Do you hear shouts somewhere above? You're climbing the mile-high with eyes barely open. Red! Red? Top floors. A drop back down into a sprawl. Running mad through a gravity-prison of black pitfalls and warm wood halls. RED! Your voice is still a blood-tinged whisper, so heavy with loss of sense and self that you'd suffocate if not for the bubbling of your lungs. You keep trying. Warm your mighty vocals. Chase the dark miles. You must. You try to scream and nothing but dead air comes out as you collapse, gagging and gasping as you realize that sheer panic has gripped your throat. You can't. You're overwhelmed. You reached the goal with nothing to show for it, lost in a mass of darkness with your sight failing and voice weak with fear. How are you going to find Red in all of this?! What do you do next? Where is the 5th Lord? You just needed one extra day of rest but you can't stop! You curl up on the dark wood, the ashen sky roaring far overhead. You feel it. You feel the most terrible need. There's only ever been one way to survive past this animal mania. Only one road that can be walked alone with the promise of overcome. You roll on your back and let the gravity wash over you in baptism, eyes burning hot and wide as you allow yourself to see the infinite black waterfall that comes down from the endless empty of Heaven above. Look at it. The fall of forever. Nothing lives without being scarce away from the last freefall into Hell.

(It's Time I Walk Again - Tyrant Manifest) 20(-6) [4]+[4]+[2] = 10 - Success.

OST: [TYRANT]









I stand back up. I'm so close to the end of this walk. I must finish it. There is no rest and no choice. Just the kill. I exhale and kneel, holding my gun close to my molten heart. Shut up. Stop crying. Think. Stop being so disgustingly helpless, and make the gravity MINE. I can see it so clearly, water dripping over every shape of mass, no matter how tiny. Red. Her gravity. I clench my fist and don't care how bad it hurts.

(!Darkness - Gravity Sense) 20 [4]+[2]+[5] = 11 - Success.
[-1 HP]

HP: [ -9 / 30 ]
FP: [ 10 / 15.▒ ]
TYRANNY: [ X ][ X ][ X ][ X ][ X ][60%] [Disquiet]


There... wait. No!



I feel it! Bodies moving inside the gravity. Four... five. No- more! Four more after that. Three more after those! More even, seven bodies more! All clustering, crossing, crissing- I need to hurry!! I know one of those bodies must be Red, surely in war! I HAVE TO! They're not far! I take off, at long last with a scream ripping way from my raw throat, a terrible sound that shakes the thousand beams of the mass fence. I just need to-

The Silver Mind posted:

Shake the terrible weight out, but the Psychic can't seem to do it. He's seeing double now, all three eyes burning as they exchange hard focuses in too many directions. Look there! To the left, and then to the right! Who is that, falling in the night?

The 8th Lord is falling. But the Valkyrie is there at the window, watching as the Thundering King tumbles in follow. The Solar Flare steps hard, slipping light to catch the dryad and fall them to safety below. But the 8th Lord was not so lucky, until Levity tried her cast at runes. She traced them with the danger of airy quickfire, risking their mistrace. But for once, panic was a fine spice for the nerves. Motion. Air. One more, to triplicate its strength in her panic.

(Levity - Sovereign Rune) 14 [1]+[1]+[2] = 4 - Critical Success!!

Where there was soft wooden sound, there came hurricane roar.

The Silver Mind posted:

Who is that, screaming in fright?

I slash with my gun, wild mad as a flash of light deposits two Sunburners in front of me, both of them bright with hostility. But they're gone before they even see me, my arm snapping at thin air. I spin and look up as something careens down towards me, my senses now roaring forefront with reflexive kill. I bend and aim up, readying my sorcerous control to cast the gravity of this falling object aside. But then I'm tore up to Heaven, airs blasting through the structure with geyser-strength. I fly up shouting and spinning, taken by surprise. Don't panic! I keep my eyes closed and allow gravity to speak to my psychic senses, the Silver Mind now pitch black as my gravity raids its great open space. See? I know where Down is at all times. I can hold onto that as I spin and fly, and orient to fall towards a high point. Where points of gravity are gathering! I have to ace it- CATCH IT!

(DX - Ledge Catch!) 11 [5]+[1]+[5] = 11 - Success.

YES! My fingers dig into the bleeding sharp wood, and I scream a growl as I climb and tear my eyes open with bloodshot mad. Gun pulled, sword gripped- I pierce veil through the watery black gravity and see.



It's... her. Standing right in front of me.


The Silver Mind posted:

The Psychic realizes it's like one of those weird eye-trick images. You have to allow your vision to split. Cross them, let there be two phantoms that overlay into one.

Since Red is standing here.
And Burner is standing here.
Both in the exact same spot.

The Silver Mind posted:

The 5th Lord knows what they're going to do, and why they're going to do it.

But first, Red has to survive this with her #1 camper.
And Burner has to keep the heat off of Home while they escape.
So they agree to do what makes sense in parting again.

The Silver Mind posted:

Red collapses to hold her light wound, playing it up to be more than it is, the twofold reason known only to her,
and to her, Burner, as she runs off hiding the wound, seeking escape while the Matriarchs close in.

Me? What do I see? Something that cements the density of my heart's midnight. I see Red, sitting with a wound in her side. I see... some Sunburner in retreat, vanished to shadow before I can even blink. Wait! That wasn't a Matriarch. Was that- was that Burner?!
No time! It must have been her- look, look here! Crawling up the platform now with their traitor-ending intentions! I see you, I see who Burner sent to make the kill! Tattered robes of violet royal, metal-dusted drapes of black, solar-warmed silks of ashy white, searing gas-stained fabrics of neon orange!
I SEE YOU! DO YOU SEE ME?!




I stand over Red as she looks at me, and the four dryads all finish their individual ascents. They see me, oh, and I know with the darkness of my psychic sight that they are struck by revelation. Look there! See the Thundering King? So tall and sure of herself. She sees Red and clenches her electrical-tape fist... but then she sees me, and the hand limps! It opens! It points at me. It gestures. It demands. It clenches once more with disbelief and rage! I scream and smash my sword in a whipping frenzy that sends up wood scraps, snarling that yes, YES! I was in league all along! Idiot dryad! Failure to your Lord! The Thundering King sees, and her wrath spreads wildfire. The Solar Flare- of course! The horrible shadow skulking the night; it was me, fool! The Metal Fire, suddenly understanding why I seemed to Red-like as she sent me away; you had a chance and dropped it like an idiot! The Gasoline God... oh, does it matter, you drugged-up shambling brute? So soaked in gasoline you barely recognize me. I CRUSHED you! Red keeps to her feet with her sword and shield out as the four circle us, and the high of my tyrannical fear sees me screaming with laughter and taunt. I tell them that they're DEAD. That I could have killed them one by one SO easy, but I didn't so I could see this moment come! To see them all humiliated for not even realizing I was on walk, that Red was under MY protection! And now, all gathered here: they're going to die. There's no doubt. Red is with me! I tell them that I can take ALL of them on at once with my Counselor at my side! The Camp would have eaten you all up and made you spider-poo poo! I'M READY! READY TO KILL.

That they don't understand what I'm screaming doesn't matter. They know I'm their enemy. They know to be afraid. All I can do is believe in my own murderous intent, and fight for Red's life and my own. I forget about the other shapes gathering not far from where we stand, their gravity a little stronger with every flicker.

Red is reluctant to strike first... so she blesses with a spell.

Black August
Sep 28, 2003

Randalor
Sep 4, 2011



So both Ends are actually live in a server, just that Hell End is supposed to be the equivilant of a single player game and unable to see or interact with other players, except we're glitching an entire server and affecting their games?

Neat!

Black August
Sep 28, 2003

The Silver Mind Gone Dark posted:

You understand what hopeless is, don't you? The greatest of Burner's cult are arrayed against you in their rarest of formations: fourscore union of destroying intent. With thunders, with fires, with light and explosion. Hell demands a miracle for the survive of this fourfold sacrifice.

I have a bad feeling about this...

[Passive] The gravity-lit Silver Mind's reflection reveals powerful foresight.

- - - - -



Thundering King - 'Towering with the proof of her hardy lineage. Draped with royal violet silks. Dazzled with a hundred electrical wires dangling colorful witch charms of physic intent. Gold circuitry graven into silk and skin. Wrapped with electrical tape burned black. What witchmight does she yield? A lightning rod, bent and blasted, ready to swipe off a head or conduct its fry with an electrical surge to rival the might of Hider's cult. She wears a crown of dragon gold and begs the come of the final storm.'

* She's a Dryad [Royal Oak].
* She has Giant ST, Lightning DX, Smart IQ, Titanic HT, Disciplined WL, Alert PE.
* Her Defense is Uncanny.
* Her DR is 12.
* She's Immune [x0] to Fire and Thunder.
* She's Weak [x2] to Psychic.
* Techniques: [Island Thunder Magics] - [Crashing Boom Bang Attack] - [Thundercrack] - [Punishment]

Weapon: Thundercrack + ???
Armor: Sundark Robe
Relic: Dragonflower Crown

- - - - -



Metal Fire - 'Always bent by the weight of her namesake's dense love. Draped in thickened welding robes all glittering with metallic dusts, and clung-to with too many chemical bricks to count the killing power of. She fancies herself a swordian, slinging a monstrous sharpened slab of raw magnesium that she can conduit her mastery of metal through. Prays for the End In Fire, wielding magnificent colored flames that all sing the praise of that ultimate ultraviolet fire.'

* She's a Dryad [Burnt Ebony].
* She has Mighty ST, Athletic DX, Bright IQ, Tough HT, Assertive WL, Average PE.
* Her Defense is Elusive.
* Her DR is 0.
* She's Immune [x0] to Fire and Metal.
* She's Weak [x2] to Acid.
* Techniques: [Metal Elementalism] - [Magnesium Fire] - [Metalcutter] - [Adamant Brand]

Weapon: Magnumesium + ???
Armor: Metaldirt Robe
Relic: White Chain

- - - - -



Solar Flare - 'Lively little flower fierce. She's every grace you imagine when you think of a single blossom facing the Sun in an empty grass field. She installed the cleanest machines a plant can adore- black glass solars and warm golden circuits, biologically gentle ultratech that gives her the ultimate gilded glide over the secrets of the solar choir. She moves and moves with light so fast you won't even realize that your switch was flicked to off.'

* She's a Dryad [Poison Amboyna].
* She has Average ST, Supersonic DX, Genius IQ, Tough HT, Confident WL, Wise PE.
* Her Defense is Illusory.
* Her DR is 0.
* She Reflects Light.
* She's Immune [x0] to Fire and Psychic.
* She's Weak [x2] to Dark.
* Techniques: [Solar Sorcery] - [Splitting Light] - [All-Seeing] - [Lighteater]

Weapon: Noon Buster + ???
Armor: Black Glass Dress
Relic: Solar Cell

- - - - -



Gasoline God - 'What else is there to be said, inbetween the long soft sips of spiced gasoline? She could outthink a tank while returning fire, she could recite poetry to a nuclear bomb. But she's too hot on the combustible abuse of nature, always looking for a new way to tear half her body clean off in a glory of blast-burst. She's ready with chrome, able to cast chemical fires of any liquid you've ever dared allow pour down a porcelain sink.'

* She's a Dryad [Dark Ash].
* She has Heroic ST, Average DX, Muse/Dull IQ, Planetary HT, Average WL, Ignorant PE.
* Her Defense is Slow.
* Her DR is 20.
* She Absorbs Acid.
* She's Immune [x0] to Water and Fire.
* She's Weak [x2] to Ice.
* Techniques: [GASOLINA] - [BIG SIP] - [TOOL TIME] - [NITRO]
* Tool Time: [Nail Rail] - [Last Alarm] - [Biosquirt] - [Lumen-9999] - [Circle Slash] - [Tank Defoiler] - [Sky Anchor]

Weapon: 7 Tools + ???
Armor: NCB Customs
Relic: Power Pack

- - - - -

XkyRauh
Feb 15, 2005

Commander Keen is my hero.
That Crashing Boom Bang Attack may work in our favor, if it's anything like the one I'm thinking of...!

Black August
Sep 28, 2003

VOTING CLOSED - A Lord's Chance In Hell

Red cast Reactor Shielding! - 8
Red cast Blowback! - 2
Red cast Dirty Flame Brand! - 2
Red cast Atomic Strength! - 4
Red cast Speedburn! - 6


LOADING...

...LOADING

taiyoko
Jan 10, 2008


Solar Flare is probably the biggest danger to us because of our weakness to light. On top of that, her high speed means she's probably going to go before us. So if we can't find a peaceful resolution fast, we've gotta hit her fast and hard.

E: I'm not sure we even can use Tourmaline Rain as the Tyrant Manifest. A little surprised but also :kimchi: that the Tyrant is all protective of Red, though whether it's actual sentimentality or just possessiveness, i have no idea.

taiyoko fucked around with this message at 04:19 on Nov 18, 2023

Arcanuse
Mar 15, 2019

hm. Only seven island magics? I wonder what the mystery eighth has, then.

Black August
Sep 28, 2003



Sword slung. GUN UNDONE. Every art of war, every measure of the kill, all in my ready arms! READY TO END! I press near Red as she reaches out with a silent shiver of life force burning itself out of her strained body. I don't notice anything until I feel and see the liquid nuclear shielding billow up around me with a hurricane flow. Concrete magics ready to save my life from the impossible before us. Don't be scared, Red! #1 Camper- LORDSLAYER! I'm going to keep her safe, take her to be with me when we end Burner! SO COME ON THEN!

Nuclear Witch Magics posted:

Red sacrifices power and life to cast one of the most powerful defensive spells in all the Nuclear College of magic:



- REACTOR SHIELDING -
The target (you) gains a dense dark liquid shield that whorls around the body in guard. This shield is equivalent to 5 feet of reinforced nuclear-reactor concrete, which provides 700 ablative DR, which is essentially 700 addition HP before actual damage is taken.
It provides a massive reduction to all Nuclear-Element damage and radiant effects.
It has a chance to resist attacks which bypass DR.
The shield lasts until its DR is depleted, or enough time since combat ended has passed.

Every motion counts. Every micron of star-streak is necessary math. Red traces it from her weary kneel, knowing the massive armor should be enough to buy... what, three seconds? Maybe more? The assault is starting, and she can see its shape forming. Look.

The Thundering King is holding back, metal bar gripped, sizing up the situation.
The Metal Fire is shifting the weight of her murderous magnesium, realizing who she wants to kill first.
The Solar Flare is preparing to react, already finding an angle of light to step.
The Gasoline God is choosing a tool, fumbling slow, realizing how bad she hosed up.

But what about you, Moonlight?

Marluxia
May 8, 2008


Voted cheeseburger, because come on, how the gently caress is that gonna help?

taiyoko
Jan 10, 2008


Marluxia posted:

Voted cheeseburger, because come on, how the gently caress is that gonna help?

Heh, that does make sense in a "if you can't beat em with superior firepower, dazzle em with bullshit" way...

Randalor
Sep 4, 2011



Marluxia posted:

Voted cheeseburger, because come on, how the gently caress is that gonna help?

... confuse them by offering them all delicious, delicious grease-soaked charcoal meat patties between two golden buns?

taiyoko
Jan 10, 2008


What if it summons that grill boss we ran into before? Let them fight each other...

Dr_Gee
Apr 26, 2008

taiyoko posted:

What if it summons that grill boss we ran into before? Let them fight each other...

I voted before reading this, but now that you mention it this would be fantastic

I mean they're all immune to fire and it hates us, but it would be metal as hell (which one of them is also immune to)

Black August
Sep 28, 2003

VOTING CLOSED - Four Elites

METAL FIRE
Go for the score of the sword. [Check 14(-2)] - 5
No- wait. Let the sword ignite with white fire. - 14
Bolster the others first. Invoke the Adamant Brand. - 5


SOLAR FLARE
Turn up your head. Drink the spectrum. Sense their weakness. [All-Seeing] - 12
Go to Hell you freak shade. [Noon Buster Check 12(-2)] - 7
Overkill!!! [Splitting Light Check 14] - 4


GASOLINE GOD
Nail Rail! Uzi Nail Gun, with hours of tedious prep! - 0
Last Alarm! Who cares about the side effects, CRANK IT - 6
Biosquirt! Hose the little cheater down!! - 2
Lumen-9999! The laser-beam flashlight that'll blind them dead! - 0
Circle Slash! Sharpest circular saw you ever did see. - 1
Tank Defoiler! A drill to get through the toughest metals! - 1
Sky Anchor! Oh, it never works. - 13


You.
Attempt to sever Gasoline God's head. - 4
Cast Cheeseburger Magics and invoke its Fire sympathy. - 7
Throw forth the Dark Wave. - 0
Throw forth the Dark Wave, but empower it with Molten Gold. - 3
Use !Darkness to choke the light out of the Solar Flare's solar cybernetics. - 13


LOADING...

...LOADING

Marluxia
May 8, 2008


Y'all. If something is noted as "oh it never works", that means it's going to be particularly super effective on us. You need to be more genre savvy :argh:

Nea
Feb 28, 2014

Funny Little Guy Aficionado.

Marluxia posted:

Y'all. If something is noted as "oh it never works", that means it's going to be particularly super effective on us. You need to be more genre savvy :argh:

That's why i voted for it. I love it when bad things happen to us.

habituallyred
Feb 6, 2015
As long as we grab Red on our way out getting Fulton'd is all upside. Even if no retrieval is planned.

Randalor
Sep 4, 2011



Marluxia posted:

Y'all. If something is noted as "oh it never works", that means it's going to be particularly super effective on us. You need to be more genre savvy :argh:

Oh, I want it to work. I want her to unload the full might of her Sky Anchor right into our head. Let the full might of her blow strike into our crown and be reduced to 1 damage

Karma Guard
Jun 21, 2006
Just one spray keeps bad karma away!

habituallyred posted:

As long as we grab Red on our way out getting Fulton'd is all upside. Even if no retrieval is planned.

Sky Anchor is a reference to FF6, where the tool-using guy has it as the 'ultimate' tool you can grab. It afflicts a single enemy with a weird instant death; "Causes an enemy to self-destruct upon moving."

Dr_Gee
Apr 26, 2008
Jokes on them we already self-destruct by choice

Randalor
Sep 4, 2011



Unless it's a nuclear explosion, we can't be outright killed by it thanks to our corrupted blood.

Wait, we have boss-immunity to insta-kill moves? Hans... are we the baddies?

Black August
Sep 28, 2003

Boss Fight Log posted:

OST: STRESS-STRESS-STRESS-STRESS-STRESS

TURN ORDER: Red - Solar Flare - Thundering King - Metal Fire - Gasoline God - You

They all stare at me, and before the deathdealing can begin, an argument breaks out. I'm not aware of this; too tensed with murder and sorcery ready. Oh but they're speaking in flowers, wild gestures and mask shaking under hoods. What's the commotion? Only Red knows, because she's center of it. The Thundering King, staring with furious reticence. The Gasoline God, ignoring Metal Fire's rebuke- if she hadn't cut off contact in her gas-tanked stupor, she would have known that she should have killed it instead of racing it! But then, the huge dryad asks right back; why didn't YOU kill it when you saw it? Let it walk right by to go see a movie! The Solar Flare, her circuitry shimmering with the ready of action, refusing to mention that she realizes who exactly snuck by her tower. It's the King who ends it, smashing her lightning rod down to crack the wooden floor. No. It's her fault. Because she knows now that she should have ignored the Backup that first time, and smashed me into a fine paste. That's the clarity they all share now. Of course. Of course. Red wasn't Bleeder's killer. She's just a co-conspirator, a traitor. It was me. Thief in the night. Assassin. A tool of use. Red has nothing to say. She leans on her shield and sword, heaving, and then the world passes back down into chaos.



The Solar Flare courts the photons of the burning fences, and whispers them to slide over your skin to fib on you.
She reveals the ugly details-

All-Seeing Reveals posted:

You're already near death! Don't stop pushing!
You're nearing wear-out. Won't take much to exhaust you after that.
Terribly strong... durable... overwhelming in presence...
A horrible Trinity of powers magical, psychic, and divine.
Non-contact gases won't work on them!
Bullets are useless!
Fire is useless!
There's something that might interfere with Nuclear.
There's something that might interfere with Thunder.
Acid, Ice, and Unholy won't finish the job.
Explosions won't finish the job.
Light will hurt them badly!

My fist begins to clench to bleeding as I bare my teeth, gravity-sight distorted from the sheer waterfall of photons swirling orbit about me. I swipe them away, just in time to notice the subtle currents of the King.
She moves, but she doesn't act. She's looking at Red.
The Metal Fire rears her heavy sword, and yanks the striker, forcing it to burst into searing-white blindfire! Fool doesn't realize I'm not using my eyes to see.
The Gasoline God looks at me strangely. She reaches into her huge toolbox, finds something, yanks it out, and clicks it. I seize up, seeing a thinnest stream of photons barely bending under gravity. A... laser sight?

DEATH ART - SKY ANCHOR」- You move and you're dead!

Huh? I don't get it. Red swipes Ashtheft to intercept the beam, but it's too late. I ignore it in favor of doing something horrible to the dryad who peeked me with her dirty light magics. My fist, CLENCHED. READY!

(!Darkness - You ever see a quasar?) 20 [2]+[1]+[2] = 5 - Great Success.
[-10 HP]

READY TO KILL. I twist my hand with a growl of blood, opening it with a commanding motion. Give it up. Now. ALL OF IT. OUT!
The Solar Flare weaves her photons in... but then she collapses, her back hunching with agony as her cybernetics suddenly flash bright and go dim- there's a tremendous streak of raw light shooting out into the sky. I gnash as I think of light being spun-fired from a singularity.
The Solar Flare drops to 1 FP! All Light-Element abilities are now unreliable! Stunned for one turn!

HP: [ -19 / 30 ]
FP: [ 10 / 15.▒ ]

TYRANNY: [ X ][ X ][ X ][ X ][ X ][60%] [Disquiet]

I spit and know who's going to die first. But before I can resteady myself, I notice a huge shift in gravity somewhere high above me. Hnh? I look up just in time to sense what managed to triangulate me when I got laser-sighted. What the hell is th-



*WHAM*
Too fast. I kneel to avoid the strike, but it never hits. Instead, the massive hook-thing simply surrounds me with its pincers like a cage. I go to slip out, but then it clamps down on me. I gasp but still feel no harm, and can even move my arms and legs. I almost mock the race-losing Gasoline God, but then I hear it.
*WINCH*
The cable, tethered to some unseen orbital far above, begins to tighten. I feel force starting to apply. I have about one second before it pulls me into the sky. I look at Red with my bewilderment of anger.
Red tries to act, but is still overwhelmed from casting her spell! She stumbles.

The Thundering King goes on the defensive over the Solar Flare.
The Metal Fire waves her sword to splash white fire about to (ineffectually) blind me.
The Gasoline God flashes the laser sight on the hook's glass eye. The Sky Anchor activates!

I feel my body jerk a little. I slam my sword into the wood and hold onto a railing, muscles grinding raw. I heave with tension in my lean, hearing the cable sing with re-taut.
There's no need to test my might. It's going to win if I try to resist, unless I beg an enormity of strength from my parasite that I know I can't afford without the witches ending me.
I could try to cut the cable; no. Could empower the red of my right hand with molten gold and melt it; no. The mighty burn of my blood for the pull of gravity; no.
They're all too uncertain or too costly to win it. No way. No surviving. Ash clouds parting with the cableshine. My body creaking with the force. I see Red fighting mad to make her muscles work to help me.
That's when I suddenly think of something ridiculous; a little dead minskin cat, utterly limp and in defiance of the nine lives. I think about it too clearly, and go equally limp in the claw.

9 Lives

The claw snaps shut and retracts with so much sudden force that the air nearly splits with sonic crack. It sails into the sky, whipping and winding, sure to utterly pulverize whatever is held inside of it by the insane forces of physics.
I look at the sky with mild disdain, Red pushing me to my feet with her oily shield as I slump against it. Going dead-weight saved me, having drooped in such a particular way that the anchoring claw simply slipped me as it snapped to the sky.
The four Matriarchs stare at me, and then rage back into action, now certain that my murder will have to happen the elder way.

[-1 Life!]
[7 Chances Left]


Red remains half-fallen from having to push me up, keeping defensive.
The Solar Flare remains equally fallen, but manages to barely slide her slender solar arm-cannon to aim my way, trying her luck.

(Solar Flare - Noonbuster) 10(-2) [5]+[6]+[3] = 14 - Failure!

I feel her solar engine rev, and then fall dead as my dark curse bleeds the light to a useless flashbloom. I rip my sword from the wood, and face the Metal Fire as she advances.



(Metal Fire - Sword Art, 'Metalcutter') 14 [4]+[6]+[6] = 16 - Failure!

Oh, well isn't that a scary art! A single swing splitting into many like a blossom. I let gravity wash over my blind eyes, moving through the brilliant contrasts of lights, and divine the attack. One swipe. Two. Three. Four. Five!
Each is woven and weaved, the dryad too angry to arc the sharp slab correctly. It sends me dodging right towards the Gasoline God, who takes her failure out on me by trying to repeat history.

(Gasoline God - All-Out Attack - PUNCH THE JAW) 10(-2)(+6) [4]+[4]+[1] = 9 - Success!
[Took 13 damage! 687 DR left.]

The gasoline-gauntlet crashes into my face, easily caught by the liquid concrete flow. I stare at it, then to her chrome mask. Somehow, I know this has to do with that slap that got me before; she could have easily used something worse on me.
I suddenly jerk to motion, and reflex-think on the favor to return. Not the hulking dryad, no. You, the metal-dirtied one; metal may not kiss your bark, but the stone of my blackened blade can.
Fall.

(!Tyranny - Rapid Strike #1) 18(-6) - [5]+[1]+[1] = 7 - Success.
[All-Out Attack - Rapid Strike] - [†Blade Majestueux] [-1 FP]
[24 Damage!]


(!Tyranny - Rapid Strike #2) 18(-6) - [6]+[1]+[5] = 12 - Success.
[All-Out Attack - Rapid Strike] - [†Blade Majestueux] [-1 FP]
[31 Damage!]


(!Tyranny - Quickling Brand) 18(-6) - [1]+[4]+[6] = 11 - Success.
[All-Out Attack - Rapid Strike] - [†Blade Majestueux] [-1 FP]
[23 Damage!]


Metal Fire suffers 78 damage!!

(Metal Fire - Pass-Out Risk) 14 - [2]+[3]+[4] = 9 - Success.
(Metal Fire - Death Check) 14 - [6]+[2]+[3] = 11 - Success.
(Metal Fire - Death Check) 14 - [2]+[6]+[1] = 9 - Success.
(Metal Fire - Death Check) 14 - [6]+[4]+[3] = 13 - Success.

One. Cut high, a spray of sapped bark. Two, downward cleave, deep into the shoulder. Three, spin-wrench and throw her down like a rotted sapling.
Look at her writhe with complete disbelief. Idiot. Didn't kill me when she had the chance. Didn't pay attention to her blinding fire not working.
I look up just in time to have my gloat made fool of; the Thundering King. She waited to act.
She slams something down and kicks them viciously with a little electrical wave, activating their locks. It... it's those weird cases they were carrying when I spied on them at the head of the Rivergreen! What is she-



The Thundering King unseals the「Flower of Ruin

The destroying shotgun 'Thus Spak Demogorgon' is unsealed.
The killing light mirror 'Eye of the Sun' is unsealed.
The howling slamblade 'Dragoncrusher' is unsealed.
The veined growths of flame 'Fire Root' is unsealed.
The paired nuclear gasblades 'Her Love & Her Hate' unsealed.
The turbine-beam 'Jet Blade' unsealed.

A stare-off as the mass of Burner's greatest weapons scatter to the burning wood ground. Why do they have them?! Don't wonder- ACT! NOW! TAKE ONE! Metal Fire and Solar Flare are down, but the other two will grab one of their own!

GO FOR IT!
[Voting ends by the start of noon tomorrow!]

taiyoko
Jan 10, 2008


Wonder if the Moloch Buster would have ended up here had the quest not glitched out? And while i initially voted for the swords, being something we have proficiency in, i wonder if i should have gone for the mirror as a denial of the light-based attack to the others....

habituallyred
Feb 6, 2015
I don't think the ones still standing have light based attacks... if we get the mirror first.

Randalor
Sep 4, 2011



So just to clarify, these are all Burner's cult, not Backup? So we don't break any promises if they die?

And is the implication of them having 6 of the 7 weapons that Burner would have no choice but to show up to them when she started reclaiming her weapons, and falling right into whatever trap they had laid to catch her?

Marluxia
May 8, 2008


I voted anyway, but don't we have a handful of information on the weapons here from the blue book bits? I couldn't resist the shotgun.

Arcanuse
Mar 15, 2019

I imagine Dancer would prefer they lived on principle, but no I don't think their deaths would break the promise.

Went shotty, because that's the only one I remember reading about earlier. I don't remember what it said, but I read it. :v:

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Dr_Gee
Apr 26, 2008

taiyoko posted:

Wonder if the Moloch Buster would have ended up here had the quest not glitched out? And while i initially voted for the swords, being something we have proficiency in, i wonder if i should have gone for the mirror as a denial of the light-based attack to the others....

Voted stick b/c we've already got a hella dope sword and do our best violence strengthily. but the point about the mirror is persuasive enough I'd probably have voted that way

Re: violence: we didn't seek this fight (I mean *a* fight, sorta, but not *this* fight). Iirc none of these sunburners are also backup (I think there're one or two who are), they started it, they're after *Red*, Bleeder was doing his best with an awful job but was kinda a prick so w/e why are they all up in arms anyways, and *they're going after Red*. gently caress 'em.

Edit: that said if any of them are Backup we should do our best (like, legit best) to keep alive while keeping them alive. But. At the end of the day, it's okay to defend ourselves and our friends

Dr_Gee fucked around with this message at 14:22 on Nov 27, 2023

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