Date: 6:09:04 PM, November 5th; 5:17:16 PM, November 12th, 2017.
Metal Man (GM): Recap
The Questers were trying to kill off the Erastian Central Authority, the leader of the Erastian Central Authority. But He proved to be a tough foe, refusing to die and surviving an entire floor smashing on him.
Valron is in the ceiling and Demon is trying to rip out the floor as the Erastian Central Authority continues to fight on.
Order: Erastian Central Authority, Valron, Louisoix, Xavier, Demon
Thusly I shall roll in Nonna, since she is joining in. Kumiko, feel up to joining in, or just watching for now?
Louisoix: "Dunno how long this little heal war is going to last. Hopefully one of those does the job."
Gelato: *A wildly shivery Gelato comes running up, ice crystals crusted around him. *
King Demon: "Do I hear frozen yogurt talking?" *Yeah, he's underneath the floor somehow.*
Nonna: *Coughs and gets back up, radiation poisoning be damned.* "Lou. Valron. There's something I'd like for you to do. Something appears to be empowering this thing. We'll hold it back while you construct something to forcefully stop that flow. If you need to, offload some of the calculations to Borne and Illian."
Metal Man (GM): Order: Erastian Central Authority, Valron, Louisoix, Nonna, Xavier, Demon, Gelato
Turn Order: Erastian Central Authority, Valron, Louisoix, Nonna, Xavier, Demon, Gelato
Louisoix: "...true, he said he had a backup." *Though could he have the time to both do that and keep people up?*
Metal Man (GM): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiiUhcNo0aQ
Demon just finished his turn and we ended the previous round, so we start with the Erastian Central Authority
Nonna: "Pick on someone else for a change, you stupid construct."
Metal Man (GM): Yes, Demon's currently trying to rip the floor open further to see what's beneath this room.
Erastian Central Authority: "Xavier obtained teh unobtainable Goose Egg. Plann Eaeac23 is being run. You are a fool to interfere in Erastian matters. It took me a while but I recall now. You were the ones who stole what is rightfully ours, and are trying to revive the Erastian Xavier who ruined it all. This fake that commands you now is nothing compared to him. But all the same, such information always belonged to us. Give it back and maybe I won't destroy you all."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "We did a pretty good chunk of damage to you, I think we'll just rip you to pieces and find out exactly what your plan was later, you wannabe me!"
Erastian Central Authority: "You wish to die? That is fine. None of you can survive my full power."
Nonna: "No, it's your time to die. Like all old junk, it's your fate."
Valron keeps to the ceiling, keeping any remarks to himself for the moment while the others talk.
Erastian Central Authority: "Then survive this and tell me that again, fledgling human."
Metal Man (GM): The Erastian Central Authority powers up and fires its wall of destructive lasers, bullets and radioactive fallout at Nonna.
Dodge, block, or parry, Nonna?
Kumiko: *Damn she spaced out like mad.*
Nonna: *She tries to parry.*
Metal Man (GM): Nonna gets blasted in the face with the lasers and explosions, taking 165 damage from the destruction.
Erastian Central Authority: "They always tell me I'm going to die. Then I blow them to bits."
Metal Man (GM): Yeah, I'd say so.
Nonna: *Still standing* "Is... that all you've got?"
Erastian Central Authority: "No."
Metal Man (GM): It holds up a fist, charging up its Time Wave.
Nonna: "Well then, bring it."
Erastian Central Authority: "Time wave, initiate!"
Metal Man (GM): It powers up and fires a Time Wave beam at Nonna.
You disabled it, but it re-enabled this turn, taking an extra AGI to heal itself.
After a round it can potentially re-enable it, hence the re-initializing of it.
As noted before, it regenerates its willpower at high rates; until it's at a high enough damage threshold, it's prone to recovering.
You can try to parry it, yes.
Only 39 damage, but the hit also causes some time screwery, as Nonna is frozen in time for a round. Not hittable, but also unable to do anything.
However, this uses up the Time Generator for this round.
Erastian Central Authority: "Divide and conquer."
Louisoix: *He'd attempt to make an EMP like earlier, in an attempt that if it hits Erastian Central Authority it might do something to this supposed power supply of his.*
Metal Man (GM): You create an EMP, taking 2 AGI. Launching it at the Erastian Central Authority?
Louisoix throws it at his feet.
Metal Man (GM): Erastian Central Authority attempts to parry the throw with his laser.
It blows it up in the air, also using up its AGI in doing so.
Erastian Central Authority: "Enemy munition neutralized."
Metal Man (GM): The throw took 1 AGI there. Anything else?
is skipped due to being frozen in time.
Xavier activates aerial attack mode and...
Quickly strafe attacks with...
His steel fists.
Since the Erastian Central Authority's AGI was used up he can't dodge. For the purpose of multi-hit though, I will roll with a 5 as the base defense of 'stationary object'
Only one hit as a result of that rather low roll, 18 damage.
Then he...
Attacks with a sideways ram attack with...
his Epic Megaphone.
His bad roll ensures none of the side effects occur, just 10 damage.
Then he...
Does another divebomb with...
the Sword of Light again, and it burns extra hot as he flies to stab the Erastian Central Authority with it again.
As such, the immobile object puts up a good fight against Xavier, who uses 1 flux to ensure that actually hits.
77 damage from the holy thing burning the Erastian Central Authority horribly.
King Demon: *Is still in the floor, pausing for a second, trying to see what's underneath where he is now, if he can.*
Metal Man (GM): It appears to be a really long drop and then something glowing really far down in there.
You can seemingly rip out the supports further and cause the Erastian Central Authority to fall down there if you so desire.
King Demon: "Hmmmm?" *He wonders briefly if he can glide down there, suddenly curious as to what that actually IS.*
Metal Man (GM): You can get down there, using 2 AGI.
King Demon: *And he does so, hoping like hell it's actually SAFE when he does.*
Metal Man (GM): What you see there doesn't give you much confidence.
It's a gigantic nuclear reactor, relatively poorly shielded, and putting out enough energy you taste metal in the air just as you get near it.
King Demon looks for a spot that he can stop before getting radiated.
Metal Man (GM): The good (bad?) news is you can use another 2 AGI to leave as fast as you came--it's putting out enough warm energy to float you back up. A safe spot? ...This is mostly an unsafe place, the bottom of a deep shaft without much else to go other than beneath the reactor, where a bunch of water that is probably also radioactive sits.
King Demon: *He does actually take a second to search, before deciding whether to head back up.*
Metal Man (GM): The area doesn't seem to be one where any living beings are expected to be. There are no terminals, just a lot of wires that are heavily shielded and fortified that go into the walls and connect to the pumps and energy regulators keeping the giant reactor alive.
King Demon: *And thus he flies back up to the floor... he sighs and gets back to work on his next turn.*
Louisoix: "Been keeping Valron from getting knocked on his ass, hard to get everyone little guy."
Nonna: "This one really packs a wallop."
Gelato: *Right, AGI-burning time! All 4 AGI is being used on two Curagas, giving the entire party 100 HP!*
Nonna: "Thanks, Gelato!"
Kumiko: *She finally stops spacing out for good, and grips onto Blodsabel* "Urgh... I must have had another episode..."
Metal Man (GM): With that, next turn is...
EC--
Ah, right.
Valron's held turn
Valron: *First off, he goes to attempt to hack the Erastian Central Authority and re-disable the Time Wave. Silent Fury should start kicking in now, too.*
Metal Man (GM): The stationary object dodg--just kidding, it re-disables the Time Wave again.
It'll take into next turn to finish it, but, noted, it begins.
Nonna: "Give it up, Erastian Central Loser!"
Erastian Central Authority: "Nothing can make me give up. That would be against my programming and the spirit of Erastia!"
Kumiko: "What you are doing is meaningless. Not that I'm surprised..."
Nonna: "Erastia's moved on already. Without you. Who are you to defy their will?"
Erastian Central Authority: "I am Erastia. Those who run on the planet's surface are parasites that must be put to work for the good of me, the true center of Erastia."
Nonna: "Then what about those who existed before you? Did Erastia not exist until you did?"
Erastian Central Authority: "Those who came before existed to eventually build me. Once I was built, their existence was complete. The primitive prototype that is Xavier was nothing more than a failure, for he betrayed the true Erastia. Since you are so ignorant of it, though, I shall gladly educate you."
Kumiko: "Eventually we all reach our finality. Trying to claim you're omnipotent is a foolish thing to do."
Metal Man (GM): Ancient 80's holograms show up behind the Erastian Central Authority.
Nonna: "Nobody tell him that every Erastian Central Authority was built to think the same thing."
Metal Man (GM): There's Dr. Deathryl, then there's Illian, and then there's... Lyx? And... there's some others as well, as he plays the Erastian Fascist National Anthem in the background, and their flag flies as well. It's all a bit of overkill, and wastes 2 of his AGI.
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Wait, you really think Illian wasn't there to trick you?"
Kumiko: *She takes her hair ties off and lets her hair down, and switches her stance a bit... looking ready to assist the group.*
Erastian Central Authority: "You betrayed Illian and Dr. Deathryl, and with them the hopes of your countrymen. You do not deserve to exist!"
Metal Man (GM): In a fervor of patriotic fury, he attacks Xavier with the huge clusterfuck of explosions and radiation.
Xavier gets into artillery mode and attempts to counter it.
The Erastian Central Authority's furious attack is parried and he is hit by...
King Demon: "I'm kinda glad I'm not seeing whatever's going on up there, it sounds horrible!"
Metal Man (GM): The Epic Laser Disco Ball, which brutally smacks him in the face.
It is very undignified.
Glass shards and lasers fly everywhere.
So 47% and if I invert that...
About two hits then, dealing 44 damage total.
Valron goes to finish bringing the ceiling down on the Erastian Central Authority.
Metal Man (GM): The ceiling drops again. The Erastian Central Authority goes to try and defeat the ceiling.
You marvel as he is now holding the ceiling.
Granted, this means he can't do anything with his hands.
Is it really worth it to avoid taking damage??? It's not like he can move. Then again, he seems like he has plans for this ceiling he is now holding.
Erastian Central Authority: "Perhaps you fooled me once, but you cannot do it twice!"
Kumiko: "..."
Metal Man (GM): It took you 2 AGI to finish dropping the ceiling, so you can probably cast a magnet Ele.
Valron: *While that's going on, Valron goes to cast a magnet Ele so the Erastian Central Authority can't really get rid of the ceiling that's now in its hands.*
Metal Man (GM): You go to magnet Ele him.
A funny thing happens: you can't seem to actually get him to bend, but because of that, you start pushing his feet through the floor instead. He also takes 56 damage in the process.
King Demon: "Hey, feet!"
Metal Man (GM): Demon has returned from being under the floor, more or less, and yes, he can see the feet through the floor.
Louisoix: "Demon, what's under there, anyway?"
King Demon: "Oh, nothing much, just a giant nuclear reactor..."
Louisoix: "...alright. Keep him busy, though... seems you're doing that." *He'd find whatever hole Demon made and would use it to get to the bottom.*
King Demon: *Yep, full sarcasm mode in that answer, too.*
Metal Man (GM): 2 AGI to get to the reactor. You'd climb down and see the reactor. It's so radioactive that even as a robot, it's kinda hard to focus with all the radiation.
Louisoix: "Well, better than someone alive anyway..." *He'd attempt to get down to where he could possibly hack into something with kinesis.*
Metal Man (GM): With Kinesis, you can potentially rip some cables out. But if you don't know which one you're ripping, you could start a nuclear meltdown.
Louisoix attempts to find a place to hack into the system. If not, takes this type to see if he can't figure out what does what by tapping into the cables.
Metal Man (GM): There's no obvious way to connect to it down there, but you can attempt to poke a hole in a cable to tap into it.
You tap into it. There's a ton of information in it.
You see controls to it, primarily to turn it on or off. Not much else, because the slightest changes could cause an atomic meltdown.
The only real changes you can make is to turn it on or off.
Louisoix: *He'd attempt to hack it to turn off the reactor.*
Metal Man (GM): The reactor goes to begin to turn off. The Erastian Central Authority cannot stop you. However, the Erastian Central Authority seems strangely unperturbed.
Erastian Central Authority: "You can turn that off all you want. But as we speak, I am regaining control of this situation!"
Louisoix: *R* "I've turned off the reactor, but it'll take a while I think."
Nonna: "No, that's our line!" *She casts Ward on herself, followed by an Inguz and then a drill-like wind ele on Erastian Central Authority.*
Metal Man (GM): The Erastian Central Authority would go to shoot that out of the air, but he's still holding that floor.
300 damage later, his heavily damaged body begins to explode. However, in spite of it all, he keeps playing the Erastian anthem, and his eyes glow psychotically.
Erastian Central Authority: "You have destroyed only a shell. You have only turned off one of many reactors we possess. I have recovered access to the mothership. You will be seeing me again. Farewell, traitors."
Metal Man (GM): No giant self destruct happens; no fancy super mode, nothing.
It glows really brightly and then in a controlled demolition, all traces of whatever supertech was powering it are burnt to a crisp and then flattened by the held floor, which smashes it flat as a pancake.
The entire place rumbles, and a radio signal can be heard.
Nova: *R* "The Erastian ships have turned and are flying towards the Wing Fortress!"
*R* "The place you're on... ...well it's dead in the water."
Louisoix: *R* "Looks like we got its attention. Lets get out of here."
Nova: *R* "It appears they abandoned it after whatever you did."
King Demon: "I think that's our cue to exit... how the hell do we get out of here, anyway?"
Nova: *R* "Autumnus has apparently offered to send the place you disabled back to Erastia if you want. I am opening a warp now that the defenses of that flying city are deactivated."
Metal Man (GM): A warp back to the Wing Fortress appears in the room.
Nonna: *Now feeling the effects of her wounds and poisoning, she stumbles her way into the warp.*
Louisoix: *Uses Kinesis to get back up, seeing the aftermath* "Geez. Well, lets to the ship. I imagine it'll be some space combat at this point..."
Valron: *R* "I mean, hell, why not? Could still be something useful to be gleaned from what's left, at least." *He goes to fly down into the warp. Fortunately, he wasn't too badly irradiated, though he did get rather messed up by the explosions.*
Xavier Ridgecrest: *Smashes his head through the floor* "Hey Louisoix! That all seems like it worked! Better come up here and warp back to HQ then!" *Notices Louisoix is back* "Ah... you're here now."
Louisoix: "...did that hurt?"
King Demon: "Damn, and I wanted to see what would happen if I dumped him INTO the reactor... oh well." *Climbs up and goes through the warp.*
Xavier Ridgecrest: "I'm wearing a helmet. The helmet, if it had feeling, probably would hurt."
Louisoix: "Well, always good to wear protection."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "It would also tell us tales of woe. I have smashed it so many times."
*He walks into the warp.*
King Demon: "Yeah, I'm shocked you haven't broken it at least once or twenty times by now."
Louisoix enters warp.
Metal Man (GM): The group warps in to the Wing Fortress.
XRCS Wing Fortress
Rather than give a really long debriefing, Nova points out the window.
There, the entire Automated Erastian fleet can be seen bearing down on the Wing Fortress.
The radio area shows at least 500 different robotic angry messages proclaiming "THE TRAITOR MUST DIE" and "YOU WILL BE DESTROYED."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "I'm guessing we should fly away really fast right now."
Metal Man (GM): Oh, and in the corner, is a lone comms message from Autumnus.
Autumnus: *R* "I really am in your debt. You somehow enraged all of them into wanting you dead. I'll give you that giant flying city you turned off possibly irreversibly for free if you just lead them far away from here by leaving."
Louisoix: "Though how to deal with them is another matter..."
King Demon: "Yep, time to go!"
Valron: "That'd be the best course of action, yes."
Autumnus: *R* "I mean, sometimes I had second thoughts about the peace thing, but it seems you are really serious about it. I'll leave you alone since you have bigger fish to destroy with hammers made out of unobtanium. Oh. Right. I'm the only one that has those. Bye." *Click.*
Xavier Ridgecrest: "I don't like making Autumnus happy, but even if I wanted to stay here, it wouldn't be a long fight for us. Full power ahead!"
Nonna: *From the Med Bay* "Jackass."
Nova: "...Where should we go with this fleet following us? If we go to Erastia there is every chance they could try to bombard it, or even try to conquer it.
We can choose to go to less inhabited space to try to shake them off first..."
Metal Man (GM): A gigantic nuclear laser flies by, nearly missing the window.
Kumiko: "Tch. They're persistent little twits..."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "We should figure that out on our way away from here."
Louisoix: "Certain- holy hell..." *He'd gain his composure* "Yes, lets do that. The only nutjob idea I have is to somehow trick them into going into the X-Zone."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "My god... it makes perfect sense... the X-Zone is usually where mysterious fleets of death come from! This time we can lure them right in! Of course, it could also lead to something horrifying, but... ...it seems like the only answer to me."
Metal Man (GM): The ship continues flying away as lasers follow it.
Illian walks over and peeks out the window.
Illian MacGregor: "Hmmm..."
King Demon: "Oh, joy, the X-Zone again?"
Illian MacGregor: "This might be a good place for the Solarians to fight these things. The Solarians have always hated the Erastians, especially these ones."
King Demon: "Ok, so let's get the Solarians to help us... how do you intend to do THAT?"
Valron: "Ugh. After I this is over and I get my radiation problem dealt with, I'm just going straight to bed."
King Demon: "Don't melt the sheets."
Illian MacGregor: "Actually you did most of the hard work about that a while ago. Maybe not you personally, but, Valron and Nonna and so forth. Granted, even they don't have all the ships needed to kill these."
Valron: "Yeah, we got most of that handled."
Illian MacGregor: "I'm impressed. Half of these ships were built after they left Erastia, based on the construction of them. They must be on the verge of becoming powerful enough to kill the Time Cops, and we managed to distract them.
What was it you did again to make them mad in the first place?"
Valron: "...Hrm. I wonder if those ships on Alsa are still in any condition to be worth salvaging..."
Nonna: *R* "Let's hope that we can be rid of this nightmare soon."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Stole prototype guns that could destroy nuclear and time energy."
Illian MacGregor: "You're completely out of your mind, you maniac! They will obviously stop at nothing to get those back, as those were meant to destroy the Time Cops!"
Valron: "He kinda figured it out from you, apparently."
Illian MacGregor: "I... what? Damn you, past me!"
Valron: "Yeah, that seems to be kind of a recurring thing."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Let's be logical here. If the robots kill the Time Cops, they'll become so powerful even we can't kill them. That's the entire reason we only let them distract Autumnus until we had time to destroy them."
Illian MacGregor: "Who even was responsible for these things? I don't recall telling the Erastians to create a robotic nightmare scenario."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "There was a video. It involved post-apocalyptic Erastians reasoning it was their only hope."
Illian MacGregor: "...I knew I shouldn't have decided to let them fry and save only myself."
King Demon: "Aww, I missed the flashback?"
Xavier Ridgecrest: "We have it on DVD so you can replay it later." *Hands DVD to Demon.*
Valron: "Either way, hell of a mess we've got ourselves in."
Metal Man (GM): Borne walks in and shrugs.
King Demon: "Oh, cool."
Commander Borne: "They're robots. I'm a robot. We can think on this as we're flying away but in my opinion, you bring me to the center of their operations and have me take over control over all of them.
I can reverse engineer their powers and then just turn them all off. Or just turn them around and attack Autumnus with them."
King Demon: "Uh... well, considering we just fried what WAS controlling them..."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "I'm not certain they would be controllable for long. They keep regenerating their free will."
Commander Borne: "What, really? Why didn't Molly put that in the Mad Man program?"
Illian MacGregor: "She was saner than Erastians. I mean, imagine if there was no way to shut down Mad Men at all."
Valron: "Yeah... something tells me things would be a bit different."
Illian MacGregor: "And that they reproduced themselves faster than humans and at insane rates that meant they could double their fleet in two months."
Commander Borne: "I... ...how did Erastians even live as long as to the present day?"
Illian MacGregor: "Most of them didn't."
King Demon: "It's odd, though, I was under the impression that robots were INCAPABLE of having free will; they're slaves to their programming! Granted they can evolve their programming, but still..."
Valron: "Hell, the original idea I had was to try and properly shut them down and maybe convert them over to our side, but... I'm not even sure if that's possible, given this whole mess."
Illian MacGregor: "The Erastians appear to have used the randomness of radioactivity as their RNG, giving them a will that is generated by an almost indestructible form of randomness."
Louisoix: "Well that's true of just about any entity. Though if you copy the mind of a living creature that has so-called free will, its basically the same."
Illian MacGregor: "Except for the fact that Xavier stole their anti-radiation concept, which could render them unable to think at all."
Gelato: *He leans over, looking out the window again.*
Valron: "How does that even..."
Illian MacGregor: "It doesn't. It doesn't make any sense."
Valron: "I figured."
Illian MacGregor: "I don't know how it works, but it's not meant to make sense. It's literal Cthulu-type tech that doesn't belong in reality."
King Demon: "Then again, this is Xavier and Erastia, when does ANYTHING associated with them make sense?"
Illian MacGregor: "It's like... like that golf club that gets stronger when it's on fire. You blew up one of them, and then presumably they have more of them, because they are like... sentient radiation.
So I would guess, you have to turn off the central-most hub or turn all the radiation off at once."
King Demon: "Wait... we're fighting Phazon?"
Illian MacGregor: "I wish. Phazon had a biological component and only one central component."
Valron: "Yeah, Phazon would actually be easier to deal with."
Kumiko: "Welp, we've opened a new can of worms here."
Illian MacGregor: "These ones are more like a hydra. They'll keep multiplying unless you deactivate them all."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "This is why Phazon never could control me, I guess. My systems were designed as a prototype of this very idea, or at least it kept telling me that as an insult."
King Demon: "Great... well, let's get to deactivating then."
Valron: "Seems like if we're gonna need to do anything, we'll want to find the central power source and take it out in a single, decisive strike."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "That's the problem, we need to distract the fleet."
Metal Man (GM): Gelato watches more lasers fly by as the ship is escaping at max speed.
Louisoix: "The only other stupid idea is to have Alternative Nonna deal with it, since she and likely a few others with her would be similar to us, so they might think they're us."
Valron: "Because knowing how this stupid thing works, it'll probably just up and leave if we don't."
Illian MacGregor: "Yes, if you don't want to involve the X-Zone or Solarians, you could fly it to where Alt-Nonna lives. But then again, we don't even know what she's capable of, or whether she could fool them."
Nonna: *R* "Do it."
King Demon: "At the risk of making a bad situation worse, any chance we could sic them on Mad Molly and kill two birds with one stone?"
Illian MacGregor: "Mad Molly is in Autumnus' Time Cop prison, so we can't do that without undoing the goodwill we earned by getting them out of the Time Cop world. On the other hand, there is no such worry about, well, Alt-Nonna."
King Demon: "Alt-Nonna it is then. Though... how do we find her? Search for Nonna?"
Nova: "Coordinates of the outside of Time Cop space area where her satellite exists are still stored. We could fly out there immediately."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "I'm still wondering what would happen if we led them into the X-Zone... but we'd need a bigger portal to do that."
King Demon: "To quote a legendary captain, Make it so!"
Louisoix: "Worst case scenario, we can do that."
Kumiko: "Number one?"
Valron: "For now, we can see how Alt-Nonna reacts to illogical radiation-powered fascist abominations at her doorstep."
King Demon: "Well, it ain't number two."
Nova: "Full speed to Alt-Nonna's location."
Metal Man (GM): The ship shifts course, and you begin flying towards the very edges of space.
Several warnings note the area is not under Time Cop jurisdiction. Only to get another message from Autumnus.
Autumnus: *R* "Ah, you really are taking them away. Good... I don't want them in our space."
King Demon: "Oh... I got the feeling this isn't going to end pleasantly..." *Gets his ass in a seat and straps in.*
Metal Man (GM): Things start getting odd as in this barren, dangerous space, you have brought dangerous, radioactive freak robots.
For one, a number of cloaked vessels which you hadn't even been able to see decide to uncloak and run away.
A few messages in foreign tongues appear. Nova translates them as some of the denizens here warning eachother about "Suicidal Time-Cop-Spacers bringing PsychoBots."
King Demon: "Well... there goes the welcoming committee..."
Metal Man (GM): It seems these people are not entirely unaccustomed to world ending threats flying in from nowhere, and have no interest in being victimized. Of course, Alt-Nonna's satellite is still there.
You're now closing in on it, as some hilariously incorrect assumptions fly around.
Erastian Central Authority: *R* "Aha! I see it now! This is your headquarters!"
*R* "I will blow it to bits!"
Valron: "...I'd ponder getting some popcorn, but something tells me I might not have time to enjoy it."
Metal Man (GM): Giant lasers are shot at the space station. It explodes almost anticlimactically.
Kumiko: "You act like a pyromancer dressed up like Ronald McDonald with the Japanese personality."
Metal Man (GM): Then time warps and it returns moments after.
Kumiko: "Or something like that... hahaha."
Erastian Central Authority: *R* "What? What did you just do?"
Metal Man (GM): They blow it up again.
It returns. Again.
A mysterious voice is heard from the station.
King Demon: *Watches the station blow up and reappear* "Damn, I shoulda brought some popcorn!"
???: *R* "Strange lost insane robots. Please go away. This is a silly place."
Erastian Central Authority: *R* "You can't fool me! You are taunting us! LAUNCH THE NUCLEAR BOMBS!"
Kumiko: "How unoriginal."
Metal Man (GM): The space station puts up a force field. It is then hit with ten nuclear bombs.
The explosion momentarily knocks out all of the electronics on the Wing Fortress and pushes it back a bit.
King Demon: "Uh... Mets, are we safe from the radiation from those bombs?"
Louisoix: "I'd eat popcorn but I didn't order any."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "The Valhalla field protects us from radiation but the electr--" *Stutters for a moment* "Don't love the EMP ve-ve-very much."
Metal Man (GM): The explosion finishes, and the field around the space station is blown apart.
Kumiko: "If I remembered where an airship I know of is at, I could use the Antimatter Phase Cannon on them."
???: *R* "This is your last chance, foolish space cretins."
Erastian Central Authority: *R* "Those are my lines!"
Kumiko: "Then again maybe that's why its not around..."
Metal Man (GM): Eventually, a bunch of ships materialize out of thin air.
King Demon: "Be right back." *Heads to the kitchen, coming back a few seconds later, popping a large bag of microwave popcorn in his hand... with the rest of the box in his other* "Anyone else?"
Metal Man (GM): It appears to be a bunch of Solarian ships, but for whatever reason, they are gold.
???: *R* "So. As I was saying. Do you really want to be destroyed that badly? I mean. It seems you hate the Questers. We hate the Questers too. It'd be wasteful to blow you to bits over a misunderstanding. Although those nukes really did a number on our force field. You'll be paying us back for that at the least."
Erastian Central Authority: *R* "You think your shiny ships can destroy ours? You will be another victim for our empire!"
Metal Man (GM): The entity seems to cringe before it reveals itself.
Louisoix: "...the fact that this is a potential stalemate makes me wonder about how much power Alt Nonna has amassed..."
Illian Macgregor?: *R* "I am Illian from another dimension where I killed the Questers! Do you think I really want you to die pointlessly fighting me when the Questers are RIGHT THERE?"
Erastian Central Authority: *R* "You can't be him. He doesn't work with Solarians. He told us he killed them all."
King Demon: *Looks to Illian* "Nice trick."
Illian Macgregor?: *R* "Wha... wha... how stupid ARE you?"
Illian MacGregor: "That's... ...actually me from another dimension, Demon. I'm pretty certain, anyway. I didn't have such long, flowing hair. And is that a golden crown on his head?"
Louisoix: "There was yet another Illian? Working with Alt Nonna even. No wonder."
King Demon: "How many of you ARE there?!?!?!?"
Valron: "...Well, that's massively fucked."
Illian MacGregor: "As many of there are of any of us."
Grand Illian: *R* "I am the Grand Illian, ruler of the Universe! I rule the Solarians now!" *He takes out... a trident???*
Valron: "And I'm guessing there's a few that just can't leave well enough al... one."
Grand Illian: *R* "Let me demonstrate my power!"
Illian MacGregor: "Let me demonstrate my opinion that trident is STUPID."
Kumiko: "Is this the part where shit becomes a Michael Bay film?"
Valron: "...I'm questioning if we should stick around any longer."
Kumiko: "Exactly my thought!"
Valron: "At least we know about another threat, though."
King Demon: "Aww, just when the fun's getting good?"
Grand Illian: "I am the Grand Illian! You will kneel before me!"
Metal Man (GM): He slams his trident and the ships begin firing... miniature stars.
Erastian Central Authority: *R* "...Foolish Solarian. You will die!"
Metal Man (GM): As if this is some sort of weird one-upmanship game, the Erastian Central Authority's main ship turns into a massive version of the thing you just fought.
It actually picks up one of the suns before it can detonate and slam dunks it into the Space Station.
King Demon: *Looks to Illian again* "Ok, he's even more full of himself than YOU are!"
Illian MacGregor: "Yes. That's how you can tell us apart."
Grand Illian: "IMPUDENCE!!!!"
Kumiko: "What is this, some kind of angsting bit where one tries to argue their wang is bigger than the other? ...dear god I can't believe I just said this."
Metal Man (GM): A giant supernova occurs from that. The stupid grandstanding both blows up that transmogrified ship, and also damages the space station.
King Demon: "Yes, though, in this case, they are capable of destroying planets with their argument..."
Valron: "...Well, that was monumentally stupid. What's next?"
Nonna: *R* "What the hell's happening over there?"
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Well, a giant ship-sized version of the Erastian Central Authority slammed a star into a space station, causing a giant supernova that wiped out several of both side's ships. Now they are shooting at eachother and the radiation in the area is increasing rather dramatically."
Metal Man (GM): A weird note appears in Nonna's hands.
Louisoix: "Think they're distracted enough to make an escape?"
Kumiko: "OK... look. I may have helped pilot a ship with nuclear weapons called the Plutonium, but I don't think radiation's a good thing. May wanna get outta here..."
Metal Man (GM): 'It was cute of you to try and kill us with a bunch of overdriven toasters, but you'll have to try harder than that. -Nonna'
Valron: "If the radiation's ramping up that much, I think we should just... leave."
Erastian Central Authority: *R* "Destroy the false Illian in the name of the real Illian!"
King Demon: "Probably... is it sad I'm not sure whether to be amused by this or frightened by it?"
Valron: "Let them have their slapfight of the damned."
Metal Man (GM): Several Solarian ships are blown up by nukes. Several Erastian ships are blown up by fusion bomb-solar supernovas.
Louisoix: "Was amusing at first, but it, well... certainly tells us what we're up against."
Nova moves the ship as far away as possible.
Metal Man (GM): Even from far away, the explosions are highly visible.
Kumiko: "Yeaaah... let's move. Soon one of them will find a mightier weapon. Then it'll get worse."
Metal Man (GM): It's uncertain for who will win, but it is clear: that part of the universe is fucked.
Nova: "...We are now safely inside Time Cop space."
King Demon: *Sighs* "Where's a damn black hole cannon when you need one?"
Nova: "The area we just left has become too radioactive for non-superpowered or super-shielded entities. Distant echoes of that Illian and the Erastian Central Authority threatening eachother can be heard in between the radiation interfering with radio waves."
Kumiko: "Plutonium had one. Called it a Black Hole Clusterbomb. But you needed time and space magic gunners to do it..."
Nova: "Although it has become less frequent as time goes on. Presumably one or both are starting to have second thoughts due to the battlefield becoming too radioactive."
Valron: "...So, how long do you think they'll continue to go at it?"
Louisoix: "So... our enemy has the power to regenerate not only people, but entire buildings, and they have Illian as an ally."
Nova: "Due to the power of their munitions, it seems rather soon. Er, that they'll stop."
King Demon: "Guys... if those two ever pull their heads out of their respective asses and team up..."
Louisoix: "Indeed."
Illian MacGregor: "Ironically, I can be certain they won't. If only because they decided that Illian was fake. Remember, they wish to serve the 'true' Illian."
King Demon: "Yeah... won't they think YOU are too?"
Illian MacGregor: "Well, this obviously won't be a permanent solution. ...It would actually be a very good time to hunt down the Alt-Nonna.
Her companions are now distracted, methinks.
The fake Illian is fighting the doombots. Kales is trapped in a black hole."
Louisoix: "...not a bad idea, yes. Its been a long time coming, and one of her big guns has been distracted."
Illian MacGregor: "Autumnus is off our backs."
King Demon: "Better hope she's not on that damn station."
Valron: "Seems like things are lining up nicely, yes."
Illian MacGregor: "Without her leading the show, maybe we can convince my worse copy to just leave the universe."
Louisoix: "Unlikely. If she was, she'd eventually die to radiation."
Illian MacGregor: "And leave Kales in a black hole forever because that thing is evil."
Louisoix: "Those nukes knocked their shields out."
Illian MacGregor: "Whatever was on that station is probably either super powered and insane like the Grand Illian or otherwise not radiation prone. That said, where IS Alt-Nonna?"
Nonna: *R* "I should be done treatment soon."
Nova: "I will scan."
Metal Man (GM): It pops up... ...detecting 'Nonna' on... Rendar?
Nova: "According to this, she is on... Rendar... ...that probably isn't good."
Kumiko: *Redoes her twintails* "Let me guess... we're close to there."
Nonna: "She's probably there to see my Grandfather."
Valron: "Yeah, doubt that's a good sign of anything..."
King Demon: "If that's the case, no, that's DEFINITELY not good."
Louisoix: "We should move, then."
Nova: "The ship has been scrubbed of radiation. Heading to Rendar immediately."
Metal Man (GM): The ship goes into the normal lane it usually uses to do these things, flying to Rendar at top speed.
Rendar, Main Administration Area
It lands in the shipyards. The guards there seem a bit confused as the ramp down opens.
Rendar Guard: "Hmmm... didn't expect you on such notice... you're cleared to go in, of course."
Nova: "I'll give you coordinates to where the other Nonna is." *Lights up the location on a map visible on the dex/radio info screen so as to be able to walk towards it.*
Nonna: "I wonder if she's here to talk, or to fight."
King Demon: "Now that we're here?"
Valron: "Could be either one. Mind, for all we know, it could also just be a really tedious trap."
Metal Man (GM): Walking down in, the place suggested by the coordinates is, indeed, Anthon's office. However, it's not the normal office. It's a 'historical' office that was long ago shut down due to a switching of buildings.
The historical district, again.
Nonna: *Quietly examining the area, expecting anything to happen.*
Metal Man (GM): The area is still under construction thanks to what Kales did.
There's even signs warning people to report any recurrence of Kales.
There's far more guards here.
Some of them nod to you as you approach.
Rendarian Guard 2: "Ah, good. In these times of chaos, it's nice to have friendly faces visiting to make sure all is OK."
Louisoix: "Certainly."
Valron: "I can imagine, yes. Especially considering someone like Kales is not something I'd want to see unleashed on... most anyone, for that matter."
Rendarian Guard 2: "Anthon has noted that it is to be expected that attackers come from everywhere, so be vigilant."
Metal Man (GM): The office is just down the way, in a rather old looking building.
Xavier Ridgecrest: "I've always found it a bit unusual that this place showed up so quickly after that Alsan conflict and all that... that was hardly the amount of time for Anthon to become an old man and all of that..."
Rendarian Guard 2: "Well, this is usually a secret, but yes, this place was founded back in time compared to the normal timeline. Mostly so it could be safe from certain people. We expected the attacks would increase once we rejoined with the present day."
Valron: "Makes sense."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "I wish I'd thought of hiding Erastia in another time myself..."
Nova: *R* "The location is dead ahead."
Xavier Ridgecrest: *R* "Roger. We'll be on our way then, maybe talk later... gotta investigate something."
Rendarian Guard 2: "If you need anything, just holler. You saved us from that psychotic lizard thing."
King Demon nods to the guard and follows Xavier and Nonna and Valron.
Gelato: *He nods, following Demon.*
Valron: *Also nods, before continuing onwards.*
Metal Man (GM): Carrying on to the building, the door is locked with a nice big padlock and a chain, and a sign is hung on it. 'Due to the sensitivity of what is inside to national security, all access is forbidden.'
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Hmmm. I mean we could break this, but do we want to..."
Metal Man (GM): Xavier pokes the lock. It's a quality Rendarian Lock.
Xavier Ridgecrest: "True. My fingers are a bit too stubby for that though. Or should I say, they seem mostly good for punching robots."
Valron: "I mean, as long as we leave everything as it was afterwards, I'm not seeing much wrong with that."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Yeah. Just need somebody who can pick locks. It sure isn't me."
Valron: "I'm sure I could manage without all that much trouble."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Well then, I guess, go ahead."
Metal Man (GM): You go to pick it and see the lock doesn't have a logo of Anthon Tark on it for nothin'.
Granted, there is that guard over there, if you want to ask him about it.
Valron: "Yep. Certainly don't cheap out on these. Think I should just ask the guard if we can get the OK to investigate it instead of just sneaking in and possibly looking suspicious, or...?"
Xavier Ridgecrest: "We probably can ask him, though he might give us the guided tour rather than the unauthorized, touch everything we want tour we could have otherwise."
Metal Man (GM): On that note, though, now I think I'll pause for now.
PAUSE
Metal Man (GM): Recap
The Questers lured the Erastian Central Authority out to the Outlier's place, where they fought with 'Grand Illian', a powerful Illian who won in his home world by... "Being too much of a blowhard to realize the insanity of controlling reality."
However, the Erastian Central Authority, being a psychotic AI who lived off of radiation, was not impressed by that.
The entire area around the Outlier base was heavily irradiated by nuclear explosions, and ultimately neither seem to 'win'
The Questers had bigger problems: Alt-Nonna had been detected at Rendar, and clearly up to something.
So they went to try and encounter her before she encountered Anthon.
They went down to the same old Historical District and found a locked door.
And that was around where we paused. *Looks it up*
Yup, they were stuck at a heavily padlocked door to the old office Anthon once was in that was locked down fairly heavily, and Alt-Nonna was suggested to be there.
Nonna: "Anything could be waiting for us in there."
Metal Man (GM): Continuation
One final note: Kit Redgrave manages to join the group, most likely catching up after noticing the ship landed somewhere new.
King Demon: "Yeah, well, how do you want to get in there without pissing off the guards?" *Pauses* "Wait, this is YOUR place, can't you get us in without too much fuss?"
Valron: "...I mean, it wouldn't hurt to see if she could do that, yes."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Normally I punch doors and they break but this door looks really expensive and is owned by people I don't hate."
Kumiko: "Great. I have no idea what kind of situation we may be in."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "It just so happens I don't have a screwdriver that fits my chunky metal hands either."
King Demon: "Ok, are you feeling well, Mets?"
Nonna unlocks the door.
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Well I don't want to hurt the door a friend has made."
King Demon: "Since when?"
Metal Man (GM): Nonna: you stick what key you have in the door. You discover this door for whatever reason doesn't fit that key.
Strange. A door even you don't have the key for?
What is this madness?
Nonna creates an ice key that fits the hole.
Metal Man (GM): Let's go for that magic roll... higher chance of success than the previous thing tried on it, at least
The key fills the lock body, but, this lock is made to better tolerances, so your attempt to sorta brute force pick it doesn't work. The door shakes a bit as you try to turn it.
Xavier Ridgecrest: "In the old days we'd attach C-4 to it, but... ... ..." *Sits there, thinking.*
King Demon: *Notices the door shake* "Uh...?"
Kumiko: "Hmmm?"
Nonna: "...Hold on." *She calls up Anthon.*
KitRedgrave: "Um... yeah. Aren't these things kinda engineered so you can't just fill the thing up and turn it?"
King Demon looks to see how solid the door (and lock) actually IS.
KitRedgrave: "Think I read that in a book or something once."
Anthon Tark: *R* "Hello... I noticed you landing on the planet... what's up?"
Xavier Ridgecrest: "It is true, a lock that you can just stick anything into isn't a very good lock."
Nonna: *R* "A dangerous individual is on this planet. We detect her to be holing up in the hold Historical District. I don't have a key for the lock on the building. Is there some place where the key is, or shall we force our way in?"
Anthon Tark: *R* "Which building is this?"
Nonna: *R* "The old office you worked in before."
Anthon Tark: *R* "Ohhh... that building is condemned, but I figure you should be able to handle yourselves. I kept the key separate after guardsmen kept wandering in and marveling at what was inside. Look under the floor mat in front of the door."
Nonna does so.
King Demon: "... Really?"
Metal Man (GM): There is a different, old school looking key that has a pretty nasty bitting on it. You would have probably taken a long time trying to open it without breaking it.
Valron: "...Probably because people would generally consider that a bit too obvious to be there."
Nonna shrugs and inserts the key in carefully.
Anthon Tark: *R* "The guardsmen near it generally keep anyone who isn't Rendarian from snooping around."
Metal Man (GM): It locks and the padlock casually opens, and the door can now be opened.
Anthon Tark: *R* "I'd be careful inside, it's... well... treacherous in there. Also radio signals don't work so well, due to... ...you'll see."
King Demon: "That's comforting..."
Nonna: *R* "Grandpa, the intruder is me from another dimension. Just in case, let's have a secret passphrase so you know who you're talking to."
Anthon Tark: *R* "All right, the passphrase can be, 'Beware the towering unknown beyond our reality.'"
Nonna: *R* "Understood. We're heading in now. Okay everyone, this is it. Who knows what she has in store for us. What game she's playing."
Metal Man (GM): The door awaits.
Louisoix: "Indeed."
King Demon: "I hope it's checkers, I'm better at that than chess."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Well, we should be ready, hopefully. Get that Book ready, Kit. We can probably do a dual magic attack and maybe I can get lucky and hit her with the Sword of Light."
KitRedgrave: "Roger."
Nonna opens the door.
Metal Man (GM): Inside is... a large, open hallway. However, it appears the flow of time and possibly gravity is disjoint; there's pieces of paper floating off of the ground, and though it's dark in there, weird, moonlight-like light can be seen shining in from holes in reality.
Valron: "I was honestly hoping we'd get a break before we face another thing that has catastrophic amounts of power, but... Well. Guess that wasn't in the cards." *Shrugs, before looking in at the general screwiness*
"...Well, then."
Metal Man (GM): The floor is a black and white checkerboarded tile. It seems clear to walk inside, but whatever radio signals are replaced with weird echoing noises.
There's doors to the left and right, but... the two on the left are buried in debris, as are the ones to the right.
Nonna turns off her radio and steps inside.
Metal Man (GM): Xavier walks in and looks around, warily.
The light reflects eerily off of his armor.
Valron: *And in he goes.*
King Demon: *Wanders in* "I'm not sure it'd be a good idea to try flying around in here..."
Metal Man (GM): There's some floating paperwork off to the left, and some stairs that lead to two open doors that go to the 'main office'
King Demon looks at one of the papers.
Metal Man (GM): It's actually rather relevant to Demon, and possibly others, it says:
'GUN administration details for dealing with extra-dimensional criminals (e.g., 'Questers')
In the world where these entities, such as Panzer, the Alsan Questers, and others plague our world, there is but one way to deal with them: out-technology-ing them.
To this end, obtaining a Time Device is paramount. Using Time Device technology, they can be destroyed.
Anthon Tark has gone on a secret mission to obtain the Time Device, so as to ensure the likes of them can never attempt to kidnap him again.'
It then goes on and on about specifics, which involve Anthon hunting around the ruins of Ael's bases and other Time Cop hotspots on Alsa.
Towards the end it notes '...the mission was a success, the Time Device is far more powerful than we ever knew. Mission report: Complete.'
King Demon: "Uh... guys?"
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Hm?"
King Demon: "Nonna, did you know Anthon had a Time Device?"
Valron: "Pretty sure that's a thing we knew about for a while, now."
Nonna: "He was involved in so much underhandedness in the past that even if I didn't know, I wouldn't be surprised he did."
King Demon hands the paper over to the others.
"Odds are, it's here somewhere." *Looks around* "And I'm assuming active."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "I recall seeing him doing some unbelievable things in the past without knowing how or why. But this makes sense."
Metal Man (GM): The room ahead... there's some weird noises of things floating around in it.
There's a desk, for one, at the very end of it, floating off the floor and spinning.
The roof is completely filled with floating portals that look like mirrors.
King Demon heads that way.
Metal Man (GM): As is bits of the floor.
The signal of Alt-Nonna gets stronger near the desk.
Valron: "...Well, that's a tad disconcerting."
Metal Man (GM): However in the way is a bunch of electrical wiring, which is also floating around and shooting sparks in the middle of the room.
King Demon: "Huh?!?" *He pauses as he approaches the wiring between them and the desk.*
Metal Man (GM): The wiring is weird. Almost as if it was twisted into a fence.
There's even some monitors on it, showing information on various bits of Rendar.
Some of the monitors even play video of you walking towards this room.
King Demon: *He looks to see if there's a way to get through the wires without trying to cut them and likely electrocuting himself... again.*
Metal Man (GM): You could fly over them, but that risks contact with the mirror portals in the ceiling.
King Demon looks at the portals, wondering somewhat where they lead.
*Or WHEN.*
Metal Man (GM): They look like mirrors of this room.
Staring at them, it looks like they're different time periods.
Nonna: "Be careful. We could get taken somewhere unkind to us."
Metal Man (GM): One appears to be before this place was even built--the outside.
The next one is when the place was being built.
The second one shows Anthon at his desk, dealing with things.
Er, the third one.
The fourth one shows a bunch of static like something crazy happened.
The fifth one is actually just a reflection of the current way it looks right now.
Valron: "Interesting..."
King Demon: "Well, THAT could be a fun trip..."
Nonna: "Maybe those wires can be moved out of the way harmlessly via kinesis?"
King Demon: "Worth a try, I'm not looking forward to trying to cut them."
Metal Man (GM): It does seem like something non-conductive could interact with the wires.
Louisoix: *Would attempt that.*
King Demon: "And I don't see an off switch." *He does look for one, though...*
Metal Man (GM): Moving them seems to work. An off switch? ...There does appear to be a fuse box on the left wall, actually.
King Demon: *Would they be able to reach it from this side of the wires?*
Metal Man (GM): Yes, actually.
Just walk over, open it up, and turn it off... at the fusebox.
There's only one fuse for this room anyway, and a switch that controls the master power.
King Demon: *Would do that.*
Metal Man (GM): The wires are untangled and the power turned off.
Now there are just the portals and the floating desk.
The desk simply lands after you turn the power off and clear the way.
???: "Heheh. It's always so fun watching you waste your time with those easily dealt with traps."
Valron: "...You need better hobbies."
???: "Well, turnabout is fair play. You wasted our time all the same."
Nonna: "So you show your face."
King Demon: *M* "Guess there was an off switch..." *Shrugs and looks to the desk.*
???: "Do you know how privileged you are? Wielding such magic... for you, death is a walk in the park. It's a wonder anybody ever stays dead in this universe."
Nonna: "Get to the point."
Valron: "...I will agree with you on that point, though. It can get a bit ridiculous, sometimes."
Metal Man (GM): The still invisible entity takes a deep breath, then simply pulls all the portals to surround it.
???: "This realm shouldn't be yours, you don't deserve it. Surrender and we shall merely switch places. Oppose me and you will be defeated."
Kumiko: "Show yourself."
KitRedgrave: "You couldn't handle this universe, to be honest. If you *Knew* the trouble we've been in."
Kumiko: "I've seen better hide in the shadow acts in an abridged series, to be frank."
Nonna: "That won't fix anything or make anyone happy. And you know it."
???: "Why show myself to people who would use that? Who knows where I am, really?" *The voice continues to echo around the room.* "Oh... that trouble... I have a solution for all the trouble in this universe. It's what you're too weak to do yourselves."
King Demon: "I'm pretty sure what she means is that she's too weak to conquer her universe and wants to conquer ours instead, but she can't with us still here."
Kumiko: "Oh goodie. Welp, its official. They suck."
???: "Your grandfather bought the peace of this universe at a terrible cost. I am balancing the scales."
King Demon: "Peace isn't free. Never has been."
Nonna: "And it is our cost to bear."
Valron: "Hrm. That alone tells me it's probably a massively stupid idea. Whenever people say something like that, it generally doesn't imply good things."
King Demon: "Nothing is."
KitRedgrave: "Yeah, um, no. I'm gonna go with 'no'."
Nonna: "You have no place here. To run away and hide here is to deny your own experiences and self. How could such a quitter and coward possibly succeed in a universe where such things only ever result in tragedy and loss?"
Kumiko: "Everything has a consequence tied to it. Tell me, coward: How long do you intend to live a lie? My blade craves blood..."
Metal Man (GM): The Alt-Nonna materializes, holding a glowing, dark spear. She wears an outfit like Nonna's, but with viking-style armor. But instead of pointing the spear at you, she stacks the portals and points the spear at all of them.
KitRedgrave: "I know pretty much nothing of what's happened for a while but genre savviness tells me this is another ridiculous thing."
Alt Nonna: "I can throw one spear and destroy the timeline, you know."
King Demon: "You could, but you won't, you'd be destroyed along with it."
Alt Nonna: "The Time Cops are practically blind thanks to you. You destroyed the one who could see me... a perfect move."
Valron: "Oh, good. A chlidish timeline-ruining hissyfit. Y'know.
Because we clearly haven't had enough of hose."
Kumiko: *She grips onto her sword* "Then we'll form another."
Alt Nonna: "Me? Oh... but you were entirely correct. I'm not of this realm, so what happens to it doesn't harm me."
Nonna: "And yet, the memories of it will still exist within you. Your failures and cowardice will haunt your mind and soul forever, no matter who and what you erase! Burning the scene of the crime down doesn't erase the crime."
Alt Nonna: "Grandfather died because of Questers. This fake one only survived by becoming a mockery of what my true one was."
KitRedgrave would surreptitiously consult the Book while everyone's busy bickering and see what can be done about that.
Metal Man (GM): The Book makes a symbol much akin to pages ripping. It being a book, perhaps somebody could heal it if that were to happen.
Kumiko: "You remind me of someone else I killed who toyed with time. They lasted two minutes."
"I don't intend to start a conflict, but you're pushing it."
Nonna: "I'm sorry about your pain and loss. But nothing you do here can change what happened. Your Grandpa will always be gone. Don't make my Grandpa suffer for it."
King Demon: "Yaknow, I've been back and forth along the timestream and stuck in time loops so often I'm not even sure if I'm still in the one where I started! Who's to say if you destroy THIS timeline we won't just revert to where we began?"
Alt Nonna: "It's not my problem what happens to you. I simply need to ensure nobody is in my way."
King Demon: "No, you just want ot make us as miserable as you are."
Alt Nonna: "What you think can be erased so easily. The only reason I speak is to see if you would see reason."
Valron: "For a given definition of 'reason'."
KitRedgrave would look up... what the heck that even means, and if anything could be done with those portals.
Valron: "Which in this case isn't really that good of one."
Alt Nonna: "Autumnus and the Time Cops must all die. Everyone who wishes to get in the way of my goals must also die. Then I can reconstruct the timeline to my universe using this one as raw material. That is what must happen. In the process all your problems will go away as well."
Valron: "Ah, yes, because it's really that simple."
Nonna: "To be honest, I don't really have these 'problems' you speak of."
Metal Man (GM): She grins, holding the spear aloft.
Kumiko: *She just dons a magical girl outfit and takes off her hair ties, all while tightening her grip to Blodsabel. She grins back.*
King Demon: "Wait, you rendered your own timeline FUBAR so you want to destroy OURS in response?!?"
Metal Man (GM): Meanwhile, Kit can see that apparently, those portals were caused by somebody warping through time.
The Book notes rather simply, 'Only magic of the Time Cops or similar could Reconstruct these holes.'
Nonna: "The galaxy is at peace. Our current crises are typical politics."
King Demon pauses, then pulls out his Dex, looking to see if there's a map or information on where the time device Anthon had is located.
KitRedgrave would then quietly cast Reconstruction while all this happens, and mend the timeline.
Alt-Nonna: "Your opinion is noted, but sadly I have no need to hear it anymore." *She goes to throw the spear, only to see the portals vanish.*
Alt Nonna: "...Heh... I would be mad, but to be honest. If there is another tool that can do my bidding. What should I care that my original plan fell through? What was that you did there... healing damage to reality... I need that even more than I need your stupid realm."
Metal Man (GM): She spins the spear and points it at Kit, and Nonna, and Valron, and so on, glowing up as she prepares for a potential fight.
King Demon: "Really? Then perhaps we can talk about this."
Metal Man (GM): The Smash Dex notes that Anthon's device is... actually safely in Anthon's HQ, rather than here.
KitRedgrave: "Oh, um. If you, like, *Need* it, I can probably copy it somewhere for you. 'Cuz I have as much of an interest as you do in actually fixing reality."
Alt Nonna: "You want to know the cruel joke? I was ready to kill all the Time Cops for the device they used to manipulate reality... and discovered it was missing. I looked for Omnus' corpse... and it was also missing."
King Demon: "Obviously, it'd be best for EVERYONE to avoid conflict. If we can repair your timeline without destroying this one..."
Nonna: "It doesn't have to end this way."
Alt Nonna: "You wouldn't happen to know about that, would you?"
Valron: "...Didn't we kinda send Omnus' corpse hurtling into a star?"
KitRedgrave: "Very much so. Fuck that guy."
Valron: "So that'd probably explain a thing or two."
KitRedgrave: "Total proof that too much magic can also be a terrible thing."
Alt Nonna: "It is such a pity. I needed that magic. But clearly, you have the means to reconstruct reality... including that which you destroyed. Your magic is even more than I imagined!"
Metal Man (GM): She flicks reality with her spear, causing a small tear with it.
Alt Nonna: "But I guess it makes sense. I can destroy it, after all."
Valron: "Well, that's... certainly pleasant."
Nonna: "Don't you get it? A convenient fix-everything button won't bring you happiness either."
King Demon: "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand I'm being ignored again..." *Sighs and looks around for something that might be useful in this situation.*
Metal Man (GM): Demon: Not so much, although it appears some of the ceiling tiles are rather loose.
Kumiko: *She shrugs and just draws Blodsabel, while trying to assist Demon.*
Alt Nonna: "I'm flattered you think I should be your friend, but this isn't about that." *She points the spear at the ground.* "If I can't just destroy the timeline, I can just destroy this planet to get my way. Oh... please do keep talking, I need time to charge."
Kumiko: "Are those your final words?"
Nonna: "It's no different from giving someone a love potion. It isn't genuine, and can you really be satisfied with the manufactured feelings they express for you?"
Alt Nonna: "You don't have the strength to kill people who need to die... and that includes me."
KitRedgrave: "Okay, um... what is this even about? Is your universe broken somehow?"
Valron: "You know, if I may say something?"
KitRedgrave: "I have literally zero idea what is even going on here, you just were going to destroy the universe."
Alt Nonna: "The Questers killed grandfather! The Time Cops killed everyone else! But in this realm, the magic exists to make it better. So I will make it better... once I get rid of you and your meddlesome illusions of there being some 'nice' solution."
Kumiko: "Your stupidity with your reality erasing bit has annoyed me so much, it has suppressed my bloodlusty sword all by itself. That takes a lot."
Valron: "Mistaking the belief that someone doesn't want to go through with killing someone by assuming that means they actually can't is, well..."
KitRedgrave: "You know, literally our entire means to success so far has been finding 'nice' solutions."
Valron: "How do I put it? Not especially bright."
Alt Nonna: "I come from a universe where it goes the other way, clearly. I'm not going to find peace by pretending to be you. Which of you dares to kill me first, hmmm?"
Metal Man (GM): She charges up a powerful dark energy attack, pointing it at the ground.
The entire place begins to rumble.
Valron: "And, frankly, the sooner that people learn mercy doesn't inherently learn weakness, the better, because this is just patently asinine."
Alt Nonna: "No matter what sarcastic putdowns you throw at me, when you're blown to a million pieces, it won't matter!"
Kumiko: "If you can't listen to the reason from my comrades, then I guess I already know how this is going to end."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "I don't want to interrupt but it seems like she's starting to pull something especially dangerous with that. Or at least I can taste the inside of my teeth resonating from all that darkness."
KitRedgrave: "Um. Okay. No. You're not going to do that." *She then would start casting Energia into Disjunction to shut this foolishness down.*
Metal Man (GM): The ground cracks in places. Alt Nonna seems to be not doing anything other than charging, leaving her open to whatever you wish to do.
Valron: *And Valron, being the sort that he is, casts Inguz on Kit before she gets that off, so as to add that extra touch of completely unnecessary insurance.*
Nonna: *She uses Inguz too.*
King Demon: "Can I ask a question? Did WE destroy your world? Because, no offense, but as far as I know, I've never met you or been to your timeline."
Metal Man (GM): An immensely huge energy reaction occurs, throwing Alt-Nonna into the wall.
KitRedgrave then starts smoking a little bit and looks singed.
Alt Nonna: "Hmf. So YOU have the things Omnus had as well..."
King Demon: "Well, I guess we did THAT..." *Sighs and pulls his sword.*
Kumiko: "Allow me to repeat myself: Are those your final words?"
Valron: "Well, what did I just say?"
Alt Nonna: "That was just your second strike."
Metal Man (GM): She traces out a circle with her spear.
Alt Nonna: "Remind me, why did you fear this gentleman so much you trapped him in a black hole?"
Nonna: "Throwing a tantrum isn't going to get you anything here."
Metal Man (GM): Kales falls out of the hole and onto the ground, coughing a bit and spasming from having been trapped in a black hole.
Valron: "Honestly, if we were somewhere less cramped and- Are you serious."
Metal Man (GM): The black hole also rips at the room until Nonna shoves the desk into the hole, blocking it but not closing the portal.
KitRedgrave: "Oh. My god."
Alt Nonna: "What, did you think I recruited him just so you could get rid of him?"
Valron: "..."
KitRedgrave: "Why."
Alt Nonna: "We will defeat you... no matter what."
Kumiko: *She just grips onto Blodsabel and gives Alt-Nonna a really cold glare.*
Metal Man (GM): Kales gets up, not knowing where the hell he is.
Valron: "I... ugh."
Kales Brando: "...What kind of sorcery is this?"
Nonna: "Nonna. Wake up."
Louisoix: "Wait so you left your friend in a black hole rift for... how long ago WAS that?"
Nonna: "Threatening us with violence isn't going to get you anywhere."
Alt Nonna: "Kales! The Questers who threw you into a black hole are here! Kill them! Kill them all!"
KitRedgrave: "...First of all, I've only seen you in a holodeck thing."
Valron: "...Yeah, he kinda has a point there."
KitRedgrave: "Second of all, she was *Going to destroy the universe with you in it*."
Kales Brando: "...Nobody who cares about me rescues me from a black hole and then tells me to kill without even asking how I feel."
Valron: "Seriously, what the hell?"
Kales Brando: "I am no one's tool... except that of the God of Death."
Metal Man (GM): Alt Nonna brandishes Gungnir at Kales.
Valron: "I mean, I get that you're super-powerful edgy 'I WILL BREAK REALITY IN THE NAME OF MY IDEAL WORLD' and all that, but..."
Kales Brando: "That does not belong to the God of Death!"
Kumiko: *She just waits for the opportunity to present itself, moving next to Demon as she does.*
Valron: "C'mon. This is so stupid."
Alt Nonna: "It will work. He will destroy you all. After all, he is another person who has been harmed by Questers!"
Kales Brando: "...You must prove your worth, foolish girl. You kill them first."
Alt Nonna: "What?"
Kumiko: "My Munchlax is faster to reason than you."
Nonna: "Nonna! Get your head out of your ass and listen for a change!"
Kales Brando: "I wish to become the ultimate warrior, but I do not become that by serving someone who is possibly weaker than the people they ask me to kill."
Valron: *Is very clearly trying to keep his cool right now. The situation is actually kinda getting to him.*
Kales Brando: "If you fail, foolish girl, I will kill YOU instead."
King Demon: *Looks to Kumiko* "You have a Munchlax?"
Kales Brando: "My honor is not to be blemished by somebody who rescues me only to use me."
Kumiko: "Ehhh... somewhere. Not here."
KitRedgrave: "Or we could just talk this out. Crazy idea, I know."
King Demon: "Damn."
Valron: "Yeah, we've mentioned that before. Too bad we're dealing with someone who's clearly not going to ever listen!" *Throws his hands hands up in exasperation.*
Kumiko: "I unfortunately can't get any better ideas."
Alt Nonna: "It all makes sense now."
Metal Man (GM): Alt Nonna casually takes Schnelltott out of Kales' hand. Weirder yet, he lets her.
Kales Brando: "You wish to borrow it? That I will allow."
Nonna: "You're only going to continue the cycle of hatred and suffering if you keep going on this train of thought about destroying things to save yourself. You wreck someone else's timeline, and sooner or later someone else is going to come to your world and threaten to destroy it to save their own.
Starting everything over again!"
Valron: *In the meanwhile, he attempts to get a good look at Schnelltott and put his brain-boxing capabilities to work, while this all goes on. At least to have something to take his mind off of this rubbish* (Mad Man Powers, go...?)
Alt Nonna: "You're right--I only need to take what I need. Death is what that primitive lizardman worships. It is victory I need, nothing less. If you are so pure, then, when you defeat me, you can lecture me about your 'better way.' But if I win, I'm doing what I planned--because strength is all the universe cares about. Killing you isn't required, however. Your fancy toys will do."
Metal Man (GM): She casually flicks her wrist and Kales is sucked into the black hole portal again.
Alt Nonna: "He's useless to me anyway."
King Demon: "Well, that was a short alliance."
Kumiko: "Yawn."
Alt Nonna: "He doesn't really have a choice, if he wants out of that portal, he'll do what I say next time. Now let's deal with you."
Metal Man (GM): BATTLE
Questers vs. Alt-Nonna
Of note: You only need 'defeat' her, rather than kill her.
Since that is the path you wish to take.
King Demon: "This'll be interesting, at least..."
Metal Man (GM): Kit is the fastest Kitsune alive (TM)
Order: Kit Redgrave, Alt Nonna, Louisoix, Xavier, Nonna, Kumiko, Valron, Demon
Alt Nonna: "I'll spare you further words in favor of giving you a demonstration of what I'm capable of."
Metal Man (GM): Gungnir? Certainly can try for that. Using... hmmm...
Ok. Alt-Nonna uses her Parry.
She knocks your attack away and counters by point-blank attacking with Gungnir, dealing 156 damage to Kit.
KitRedgrave immediately regrets trying to do that
She then, like, backs up, has an Eggman Sandwich that she somehow still has, and...
Metal Man (GM): Takes 1 AGI for item use, so you have 4 AGI remaining. Remembering to keep some for your defense later on. (Especially since you have all parry and nothing else.)
Each spell has a casting time. That is how much AGI it costs.
KitRedgrave would then cast Ward on herself and end turn there, probably not going to try that one again.
Metal Man (GM): Alt Nonna grumbles to herself, something about '...was more cooperative last time...' before she goes to attack Nonna with Gungnir.
What defense do you use, Nonna?
Nonna: *Parry~*
Metal Man (GM): The characteristic explosion that hit Kit with the parry blasts Nonna as well, dealing 156 damage.
Note that health regenerated between this session and the last, so.
However strong she is, however, that's all the AGI she can realistically use. She backs off, seemingly deep in thought.
Louisoix casts Berkano on Alt. Nonna.
Metal Man (GM): She just lets it hit her.
Louisoix casts ward on himself, then Kit.
Metal Man (GM): Can stack even ward...
Ward doesn't stack in this case, it's the classic 'highest powered version takes precedence'
Kit's high magic is higher than Louisoix's so it'd have been wasted on her if Louisoix had done that on her, so... to Nonna it goes.
That is all of Louisoix's AGI, thus...
Xavier Ridgecrest: "An evil spear eh... let's see if it ends up encountering The Sword of Light."
Metal Man (GM): Xavier leaps on the Star Board, then he...
Attacks with a strafing attack using...
The Legendary DVD Launcher.
Alt Nonna goes to try and parry this.
She discovers what it's like to be hit by The Avatar's Live-Action Adaptation.
26 damage.
Xavier then...
Goes for the Jumpslam with...
The Legendary Dryer of Doom.
Alt Nonna beholds Xavier flying at her from the side holding a dryer that is on fire.
Alt Nonna: "...What?"
Nonna: "...Clearly you haven't done enough homework if this surprises you."
Metal Man (GM): The dryer smashes into her for 45 damage.
Valron shakes his head, a hint of amusement on his face.
Nonna: *She uses Inguz on herself, followed by a Wind Ele punch to the face. Because she deserves one.*
Metal Man (GM): GRONK
One can use 10 Flux to make that hit, but if it misses, well, Alt-Nonna is merely dodging.
Just like in the Matrix, Alt-Nonna swerves out of the way but then Nonna swerves to make the punch hit, smacking her with the increased force of that Inguz.
She is brutally smashed backwards by that damage, but still stands up, heavily beaten up looking, leaning on the staff. The staff appears to be glowing fiercely as you damage her.
Nonna: "I'll keep smacking you until you see reason!"
Metal Man (GM): A voice from the spear chuckles.
Spear: "Much obliged."
Valron raises a brow as he hears the spear chuckle.
Alt Nonna: "Don't mind that thing, it's... ...haunted by demons, but it's not like they have anything to do with this. I will triumph."
Metal Man (GM): The spear chuckles some more.
Anything else, Nonna?
Nonna: *Done.*
Valron narrows his eyes. The spear speaking up seems to have gotten his attention, it seems.
Kumiko: *Draws Blodsabel and enters her opening stance* "I'll say only this to you. I'm allowing my sword to fully control me against you for a reason."
Spear: "Don't worry. I'm going to fully control her against you for a reason too."
Metal Man (GM): Dark energy increases from the spear, though it doesn't LOOK like anything is different...
Kumiko: "Then I guess we're both going to die. So be it. Harmonie..." *She causes her saber to glow red and strikes Alt-Nonna.*
Metal Man (GM): You barely hit, dealing 44 damage and healing back would-be 22.
Kumiko: *Goes for another strike.*
Metal Man (GM): At this point Alt-Nonna by all means should be KO'd, but she stands up again, and now her stance is different.
One of her eyes seems to have gone dark as well.
You hit her, but she moves faster than before, and for some reason makes no reaction other than taking damage from that hit.
44 damage, would-be 22 stolen health... but for another strange factor.
The energy you steal is dark, and it fills your cloud with thoughts of destruction.
Spear: "Drop that puny blade you have... let me control you too. I can show you enough destructive power to kill everyone."
Kumiko: "Oh hell no."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Well that's a lot different than what I was expecting."
Louisoix: "I imagine she was betting on that."
Valron: *He swings his guitar in response. Not really to attack, but more as a way of just telling the spear to piss off.*
Metal Man (GM): Anything else, Kumiko?
Kumiko: "Welp. Blodsabel and these thoughts don't mix particularly well." (How much AGI do I have left?)
Metal Man (GM): Hmmm... one sec
You have 3 AGI remaining.
3, yeah.
Kumiko: *She sighs* "Look. I get it. You want me to destroy everything. I also have bad memories of an enemy of mine doing just that. You're barking up the wrong tree." *She sheaths Blodsabel and steps back a bit, forming a flame bow and hurling a Flare Arrow at Alt-Nonna instead.*
Metal Man (GM): The weirdness continues. You miss because she doesn't move normally anymore.
The spear pulls her out of the way like a puppet.
Spear: "Not everything..."
Kumiko: "Not everything? Riiight. You remind me of Omicron."
"Once we find a way to null your evil energy, you're finished."
Valron: *Levels his guitar at Gungnir, seeming to motion for the others to strike at it. While he makes that motion, he stares down the spear, thoughts rattling around as he starts brain-boxing.* (Gonna put my Mad Man Powers to use and see what I can glean from this cursed piece 'o garb.)
Kumiko: *Looks at Valron quietly, in an "I may not show it, but I'm gonna need your help" kind of way.*
Metal Man (GM): Mad Man powers on the spear tell you an interesting story.
It is an enchanted weapon, the equivalent of Valhalla (the shield Nonna has, not the invincible BS force field, otherwise you'd be screwed) from Alt-Nonna's realm.
Its enchantment is way different though.
It's decent damage dealing but it doesn't do anything until you're knocked out. After that point, it appears to tap into something otherworldly and all bets are off as to what's actually going on. Thankfully, even without Mad Man powers, you can see it's rather important whoever is being possessed still holds it.
What with the fact that similarly Kit Redgrave could see about a billion magical rune lines running between that spear and Alt-Nonna.
KitRedgrave has to look away for a bit from how bright and chilling cold that is, and winces some.
Metal Man (GM): You could guess the powerful attacks she used against Omnus back when were even a result of something as insane as intentionally knocking herself out and letting the spear do it.
As presumably this thing, like Valhalla, is tied to some God's will, and thus, it was more like a God was smacking Omnus back then.
Valron: *Gives a brief glance over at Kumiko, seeming to understand. He then goes back to staring down the spear, wary of what it can do.*
Metal Man (GM): That said, for whatever reason, it doesn't seem as hellbent on your destruction, at least, your memory of that past event compared to this seems to suggest it isn't whipping out the kill death at the moment.
Presumably like anything else with a mind of its own, it isn't going to just destroy anybody for no reason.
King Demon: *Well, he's not going to attack Nonna or the spear directly, rather, he uses his beamsword to try to disarm her by flicking it out of her hands with a slash.*
Spear: "I'm a bit sad you have a literal demonic entity here. There's no way he would do anything I told him to do. He already has an evil master."
Kumiko: "Don't badmouth him like that..."
Metal Man (GM): Ah, some classic sword fighting. A good choice against it, especially as it was getting that high dodge based on people attacking what it was controlling.
It has a harder time dodging because it has to contort Nonna's body to try and move the spear away from your beam sword.
It wiggles Alt-Nonna's arms away so you miss your first attempt.
Of course that only took 1 AGI to do.
King Demon tries it again, cuz he can't do any worse the second time.
Metal Man (GM): You hit it and a loud noise is made. One of the bright rune thingies Kit sees winks out of existence. There remain 9 more of them.
King Demon: "Huh... well, that's interesting." (2 AGI left, fireball uses 1 or 2?)
Kumiko: "Interesting. Unfortunately Blodsabel is tainted for right now..." *She... reluctantly cracks her knuckles.*
Metal Man (GM): Fireball uses 2.
King Demon: *He shrugs and slashes at the spear two more times, he apparently really wants to knock that damn thing out of her hands, or at least its control out of her.*
Metal Man (GM): Two more of the 9 bands are destroyed, leaving 7.
King Demon: *Then drops back into a defensive posture, ready to dodge as needed.*
Metal Man (GM): Kit can see that Demon's disarming attacks had a decent effect on the spear.
Kumiko: "Demon, do me a favor. Forget I'm even cracking my knuckles right now."
Spear: "Finally, a worthy adversary... ...not you, that book you are foolish to not let possess you."
KitRedgrave would just try to Disjunction the spear's enchantments apart.
Metal Man (GM): It manages to hold together... for now.
KitRedgrave can do that another 2 times and then Ward to end her turn. :P.
Spear: "Brute force... ...you cannot just disintegrate me so easily. Hmmmm...
You know, Alt Nonna really made a mess of this. I was hoping to just erase you before you could say those things at her, but then she began talking too much. Again.
Let me just clear the air. The entire reason all of you and your realm have to be destroyed to help the other Outliers is that their realms lack the magic to heal themselves, while yours can repair all of their ills.
It's actually nothing personal. You're just a bunch of rich people we're robbing.
If you win, well. I personally am just amusing myself playing with you mortals, so, if you win, you win.
Now let's see how you deal with this..."
King Demon: "But therein lies the question: It's not possible to repair them WITHOUT Harming this one?"
Spear: "Well if that were so easy to do, I wouldn't have bothered with this scheme in the first place. That Book though... it certainly would go a long way towards fixing that... but in MY hands..."
Kumiko: *She just starts laughing evilly. Nope, its not due to Blodsabel or the evil energy it absorbed. It's just her being... well, her.*
KitRedgrave: "Or... maybe... I could just help you fix your worlds, leave in peace, and you wouldn't have to do any of this stuff?"
Metal Man (GM): Alt-Nonna now resembles something you would recall from that previous battle with Omnus, as she powers up with dark energy. Or is it just her casting Inguz?
King Demon: "Uh... you have hands?"
Spear: "We trusted a fox like you once before. They destroyed a large portion of our universe."
KitRedgrave: "...Huh. Really. Alternate universe me, I presume?"
Spear: "Grand Illian had to deal with them. He tried to talk sense into them, but, well... it wasn't so easy."
King Demon: "Wow, I'm starting to dislike our alternate selves... haven't met mine though, yet."
Spear: "Can't say I know what became of them, but... I like not being destroyed by thousands of rifts in reality. You're not evil like them, so, if I lose to you, I can always have second thoughts. Let's see if your magic is as powerful as you look..."
Metal Man (GM): They Inguz up a Dark Ele and fire it at Kit Redgrave, first.
KitRedgrave would parry it with a Light Ele, and that'd be pretty much it for the leftover AGI.
Metal Man (GM): The Light Ele works especially well, dealing double damage.
2 more of the bands holding the spear to Alt-Nonna fray out of existence.
Yup.
Spear: "I do not like how persistent you are... but then again. Why did I have her steal this if I was going to sit here, slowly losing..."
Metal Man (GM): Alt-Nonna mindlessly fastens Schnelltott to the Spear.
King Demon: *M* "Knew I shoulda stolen that damn thing when I had the chance..."
Spear: "Let's see... hmmmm... yes, you, the Death God that made this. Why are you just sitting there not killing these Questers. You're telling me they defeat so many people they also please you? Ridiculous."
Kumiko: .oO(How the shit do I even deal with that?) *She just looks a bit frightened.*
Spear: "Here, I'll give you a better deal, Death God, I destroy them as a tribute to you and you'll let me give you the destruction of wide swathes of everything, I just need that stupid book they use to keep stealing dead people from you. ...You really are stubborn. Whatever, I can still use this blade to injure people while that God figures out what it really wants."
Metal Man (GM): Alt-Nonna spins the blade around and then goes to shishkabob attack Nonna with Schnelltott + the Spear all at once.
Nonna: *Parry!*
Valron rolls his eyes, tapping his foot as he listens to this rather odd conversation. He just wants to mess that spear up.
Kumiko: *She finally redraws Blodsabel, just in deep thought...*
Metal Man (GM): The spear moves at inhumanly high speeds. It appears it has tapped into the unholy powers of Schnelltott. However, since Kales' inhuman muscles were half of that team, it isn't as unstoppably fast as it COULD be.
It hits for... the same 156 damage, though.
Spear: "C'mon, why won't you let me insta-kill her? Oh. You're telling me you're mad about how I treated your #1 servant. Well screw you, he wasn't delivering."
Valron cracks a smile, looking rather amused by how poor a sport the spear is being.
Metal Man (GM): The Alt-Nonna then shakes her head and goes to stab Kumiko with the blade next.
Nonna: "...That's it?"
Kumiko: *Knowing she hasn't a choice now, she uses her saber to block the attack.*
Spear: "Your alternate counterpart is weakened by her hatred of you, Nonna. I'd just rather win."
Metal Man (GM): *STAB* 156 damage again.
Kumiko: "You may have tainted my blade... but you're not tainting my heart."
"You shall pay dearly."
Spear: "We shall see. But first... that guy who was snickering at me."
Metal Man (GM): Alt Nonna goes to stab Valron next.
Kumiko: *She smirks* "No, talking spear. I don't think you realized just how much you fucked up."
Metal Man (GM): The simplicity of 156 damage hits Valron as well, as the spear returns Alt Nonna to her place, and yawns a bit.
Spear: "I'm getting tired from having to do all of this work."
Valron: *It's clear he really felt that one, but he grits his teeth, not letting a single pained noise escape his mouth.*
Louisoix attempts to use Ability Drain on Alt Nonna.
Metal Man (GM): Louisoix obtains the ability to stab people with a spear that has Schnelltott on the end of it for a limited time.
It has an additional +25 accuracy and deals 156 damage even if that's not normally an amount Louisoix can do, and takes 1 AGI.
It is functionally similar to the explosion, just faster.
Spear: "What is with this world? You can just copy anything? ...I need to figure out how to do that myself."
Metal Man (GM): You can use it.
You basically project a magitek copy of what you just copied to do the attack.
Louisoix uses it.
Metal Man (GM): It turns out Schnelltott is great at severing bands of mind control and destroys two of them.
Indeed, swinging it, it becomes clear it shouldn't exist because you swear it's also slicing the molecules in a way that's making the air kinda burn from it moving through it.
Louisoix: "Odd weapon. Sorry I had to steal it. There isn't a copyright, right?"
Valron shrugs.
Louisoix shrugs and uses it again.
King Demon: "Hope not, I kinda like it!"
Kumiko: "Screw the rules, I have copies."
Spear: "Hey! Why are you letting him... ...you're telling me this is exactly what it feels like to have someone misuse your power? Bah!"
Metal Man (GM): Another nice hit, now only one band remains.
King Demon: "Yeah, pretty much."
Louisoix: *And attempts to go for the finisher.*
Metal Man (GM): Juuust barely miss. No flux either.
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Well hey, let's see about dealing with this then."
Metal Man (GM): Xavier takes out his TT-33 Tokarev and shoots at the spear with abandon.
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Look at this, stupid spear! A perfectly mundane weapon! Oh the ignominy!"
Spear: "Nice try."
Metal Man (GM): Xavier responds by hurling a dryer at it.
Xavier Ridgecrest: "A household implement it is!"
Metal Man (GM): The dryer wedges between Nonna and the Spear, causing it to be blasted free of her and making a mockery of the whole thing.
King Demon: "Huh... I'm guessing that one was set to permanent press?"
Spear: "This is... ...this is terrible. Gods do not have to put up with this. Some sort of futuristic household implement?"
Metal Man (GM): Alt-Nonna is out cold. However, another portal opens, and a man with pale skin steps out.
Valron: *He doesn't relax just yet, though he does crack a rather... insufferable grin at the spear, as if mocking it.*
Kumiko: "Gods don't exist. Only hopes and dreams... and those who corrupt them."
???: "...Don't mind this foolish one. She did not understand what she was getting in to."
Valron: *...At least, until the portal thing happens, then he just glances over at the pale guy, looking rather wary.*
King Demon looks to the newcomer, getting into a defensive stance.
Louisoix: "...eh?"
Spear: "Hey! Kill them! They made fun of me!"
Kumiko: "Petulant child."
KitRedgrave just kind of stares.
???: "Our goals have come too far to require directly interacting with you."
Metal Man (GM): The pale man is even stranger, in that he looks to be some sort of alien being.
King Demon: "Huh... what are you, some sort of Watcher or something?"
Metal Man (GM): He places a hand to his head and the spear casually levitates to him. However, he detaches Schnelltott from it and tosses it to the ground in front of the Questers.
???: "Take this. It is nothing we need. Consider it a reward for your troubles."
Valron: *Guitar away, and... he picks up Schnelltott, albeit warily.*
???: "Who am I?"
King Demon moves to pick up the discarded sword.
Metal Man (GM): He makes a sardonic grin.
???: "...You'd definitely kill me if you knew."
Valron: *He raises a brow. Well, that's certainly piqued his curiosity.*
Louisoix: "Bob Newhart?"
???: "Worse."
Kumiko: *Relieved to have her sync with Blodsabel back to usual, she sheaths it.*
Louisoix: "Worse, huh."
King Demon: "Well, you're definitely not my dad, you look nothing like him!"
Metal Man (GM): He vanishes into thin air as fast as he came, with Alt Nonna and the spear, closing the portal Nonna couldn't close.
KitRedgrave: "Well. I guess we have even more mysteries."
Metal Man (GM): You hear nothing else but the sound of a ressikan flute in the background for a moment.
Louisoix: "You know, isn't it strange they always say that, but in reality we never really shoot to kill?"
Valron: *Though, seeing as the situation seems to have been resolved, he speaks up* "Well, then. That was... certainly a rather interesting situation."
Louisoix: "I mean, it a cool line anyway."
King Demon: *Looks to Kumiko* "You ok?"
Kumiko: "At this point, not sure if I have damns to give or not."
"Nope. Pissed."
Metal Man (GM): Schnelltott is very interesting, now that you can actually hold it.
King Demon: "You're fine, then." *Smirks.*
Metal Man (GM): Kit would see weird leylines on it that link to some distant entity.
Louisoix: "I imagine, then, that Darth Nonna was more of a lackey than anything."
Metal Man (GM): Valron has it, yes.
Valron: "Apologies for not exactly being stellar with nonverbal communication. I really should figure a work-around for that..." *He says, while analyzing Schnelltott. Seems like he's using the opportunity to do more brainboxing, now that it's in his hands.*
Xavier Ridgecrest: "It appears unlike our Nonna, the Alt-one was more of a follower."
Valron: "If this thing has the power of the death god, which, if I recall correctly, is also tied to my own innate abilities, then maybe... Hrm..."
Metal Man (GM): Schnelltott has the weirdest signature, in that it appears to be... impossible. How could it be made out of the same thing Mad Man magic is?
Indeed.
Valron: "Yep. It's definitely got the same kind of Mad Man power I have. How absolutely fascinating."
Metal Man (GM): Its ability to dismantle things is basically a more literal interpretation.
It reverse engineers whatever it slices, when wielded appropriately.
Valron: "It's more... literal in dismantling things, though."
Metal Man (GM): Just that in this case, it reverse engineers into destruction.
Kumiko: "Seriously Demon, I was five minutes away from throwing punches and I'm not good at hand to hand..."
Metal Man (GM): Hence why it can slice magic, air, and probably abstract concepts to bits.
Valron: "Seems like a perfect fit, even."
Metal Man (GM): Unfortunately it doesn't make you as strong as Kales. He must, like, bench-press space ships or something.
Louisoix uses the copied ability to slice the concept of Bob Newhart.
Metal Man (GM): It just adds +20 to accuracy and has the ability to enable you to cut through anything.
Valron: "Though I will definitely need to run more comparisons."
Metal Man (GM): Also it's basically not destructible.
KitRedgrave: "Hmm... there's definitely *Something* connected to it."
Metal Man (GM): It basically ignores any attempt to block it, goes through Wards, barriers, force fields, etc.
You still have to be the one delivering the damage.
Otherwise, say, on a 0 damage attack, you get the absurd visual of it harmlessly poking through someone as if it's a ghost blade.
King Demon: "We're going to have to train you in unarmed combat, huh?"
Metal Man (GM): Another thing was dropped by Alt Nonna. It appears to be a map of Rendar.
King Demon picks THAT up.
Metal Man (GM): The first place Kales showed up is listed as '1'
The place she showed up here is '2'
The next place is '3' and appears to be... Anthon's office.
Nonna: "Curious."
Metal Man (GM): The one he's actually in now.
Kumiko: "S-shut up. Unarmed combat is not my thing..."
Metal Man (GM): There's also a '4' which appears to be a random place outside of civilization in a forest.
King Demon: "Perhaps you just need experience and training."
Valron: "...Well, then."
Metal Man (GM): And on the flip side is... a map of her own homeworld.
Louisoix: "I wonder if that was the plan before we beat her or..."
Metal Man (GM): "Rander."
King Demon: "Uh... why is Anthon listed as 3? and what's here?" *He points to 4*
Metal Man (GM): The points are mirrored, so point 4 on Rendar leads to its equivalent of Point 1 on Rander.
King Demon flips it over and looks at it for comparison to the other half.
Metal Man (GM): And same for Point 3 and Point 2.
Nonna: "Portals."
Metal Man (GM): Thus this abandoned office is not abandoned, or so it'd claim, on her planet.
And similarly Kales' mysterious Vhallan visit on this planet would be just an empty field on hers.
King Demon: "Port... wait, why is there a portal out there? And a portal to WHAT?"
Nonna: "Points of entry from there to here, presumably."
Valron: "So... odds of them possibly popping in at either of the latter points?"
Metal Man (GM): Ultimate Schnelltott: +20 to accuracy, pierces any barriers, wards, etc (IN BATTLE mind you, out of battle... well you can stick it through but it won't cut unless you can deal enough damage). Presumably if you can master the stance Kales used it can also begin dealing WTFOMG damage, but that may be impossible as Kales is rumored to be able to push starships.
King Demon: "Inevitable, I'd guess, Valron."
Louisoix: "I think it's just a rule of thumb of traveling, considering the numbers on the back. So whatever rift was here went to Anthon's office."
Valron: "...Either way, I'm definitely going to need to practice with this thing. Might not be able to get to the same level as Kales, but..."
Metal Man (GM): Besides all that, this place remains somewhat creepy and zero-g-ish, portals and electricity being gone and all.
Valron: "Maybe if I push myself hard enough, I can at least manage something substantial. At the very least, I can sure as hell freak people out with this."
Metal Man (GM): The desk continues to float about the room, in fact, now that it's free of the portal.
Valron: "So... anything else, or should we just head out and inform Anthon of what happened? I'd imagine it wouldn't hurt to tell him the strangeness we saw, at least."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "It looks like we're done here."
King Demon: "Yeah, and warn him that he may be getting company."
Nonna: "I think informing Grandpa about this would be in everyone's best interest."
Valron: "Agreed,"
Louisoix: "Lets do that, then."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "It definitely is of importance that he know."
Metal Man (GM): I think we can pause on that note.
Session Complete
Next session: Informing Anthon what happened, wondering who the heck that was that bailed out Alt-Nonna, and wondering about Rander.