Super Smash Quest - Story - Chapter 109: Heartless Die A Lot
Date: December 12th, 13th, and 20th 2004.
Editor's Note: This is another mission that never really 100% 'happened.' However it was a rather... interesting one... so here you go anyway.
Metal Man (GM): The Void was merciless. He refused to allow the world to simply go on in peace. Desperate to drive people insane, he picked up the hastily discarded Heartless.
The Void: Now I have them! I just use my favorite tool, the Holo Room, and then destroy them with the Heartless! Throw in some random Questers no one has ever seen before and it should be perfect!
Metal Man (GM): And so, another mission that seemed to defy placing in time and space occurred...
Aribar (GM): All of the Questers are in the holo room for yet another of Aribar's holo missions... The dull room melts away to a plane of darkness. The ground beneath the Quester's feet is now grayish dirt.
Razor cracks his knuckles. "This'd better be a good one, Ar..."
Garrick cracks his neck sharply, tightening his driver's gloves as he does so. "I hope this one is more of a challenge than the regular stuff in the computer..."
Spyke checks his pistol before holstering it. "I'm ready. Let's see what happens."
Yurie leans against the wall of the room quietly, remaining silent for the moment...
Aribar (GM): As the Questers look about their surroundings they see that they are on one of many islands in this world of darkness... In front of them is a black and forbidden-looking castle surrounded by walls at least thrice as tall as Metal.
Xaos's eyes glow with electric energy as he smiles.
Metal Man: "This place is certainly scary." *takes out good ole' Bashy.*
Aribar (GM): It looks as if the place has just suffered a siege; the walls are in disrepair and the wooden gates are rotten.
Razor: "You call this scary? You should've seen the bathroom after Gibby made Enchiladas..."
Spyke: "How... comforting... I get the chills from this place."
Yurie: "Um... guys? I have a bad feeling about this place..."
Metal Man: "...It is a good thing I can erase imagined ideas..."
Razor: "Hehehe..."
Garrick just glances around a bit before moving forward. "Come on, let's get this over with..."
Aribar (GM): Right now the only way to go is forward into the castle since the land the Questers are on juts out from the rest of the castle. http://www.vgmusic.com/music/console/sony/ps2/HollowBastion.mid
Metal Man heads towards the castle.
Yurie sighs, walking towards the castle, her sword drawn as she walks quietly, looking around and keeping a careful eye out..
Xaos scans the darkness, and follows Metal cautiously.
Aribar (GM): Those who head through the gates emerge into a decayed courtyard.
Razor cracks his back with his fists before he unfurls his wings and takes flight, hovering just over the group.
Spyke draws his pistol, and follows quickly behind the group.
Garrick: "Looks like whoever resided here took quite a beating..."
Aribar (GM): Bloodied weapons of war are scattered along the ground and dead trees border the walkways.
Yurie: "Sheesh... it looks like no-one's been here for the past few centuries... I wonder what happened here."
Xaos examines a sword, "Looks like the blood is still fresh."
Razor: "...I think that much is obvious..."
Aribar (GM): In front of the Questers is the massive castle. To the right and left lays more destruction.
Metal Man: "What did this?"
Yurie: "...by the way, when did shinyscales there come aboard?"
Spyke: "I am glad I didn't see what caused all this..."
Garrick pulls back his jacket sleeve and scans some of the weapons "Dex. Identify possible DNA traces."
Xaos: "Garrick, can you tell what kind of creature caused this?"
Razor: "Shinywho? Oh... I don't pay attention much anymore..." His wings fold up and he drops right into a walk beside Yurie. "...I bet this place looked really nice before..."
Dex: "Used by humans in a great war in the past. Exact data unknown."
Garrick: "JUST humans?"
Xaos: "Devastation on this scale doesn't seem like something a couple of armies could do..."
Spyke: "Well trained armies, mayhaps?"
Metal Man: "Or a weapon of mass destruction."
Dex: "Scanning... Scanning... Scanning... No other DNA found."
Metal Man: "Like a robot." *heads towards the castle.*
Garrick: "Metal might have an idea. Come on." *follows Metal, heading toward the castle as well.*
Aribar (GM): This place is lit by an unnatural reddish sun in the sky... The shadows it creates seem to move and shift as if they possess a will of their own.
Xaos flanks Metal and Garrick as they proceed.
Spyke follows, holstering his pistol, but keeping his hand near it.
Aribar (GM): As the Questers begin to head towards the castle many of them hear something following their group... Its footsteps make a sound similar to a 'plip plop, plip plop'...
Razor holds no weapon... but lightly taps the stone on his chestplate. "Keep moving..."
Spyke: "Right..."
Metal Man: "Who built this place?" *He continues, looking for signs of recent intelligent life.*
Xaos: "Spyke, safeties off."
Aribar (GM): All of the Questers begin to hear more plip-plopping footsteps...
Razor slowly glances behind him, trying not to make it noticeable.
Garrick: "...watch for flanks..."
Xaos: "Webbed feet perhaps?"
Aribar (GM): Razor notices some... Hrm... They appear at first glance to be little black globs.
Metal Man: "That obviously isn't me..."
Razor: "I was right... we're being followed... get ready."
Aribar (GM): Then about twenty of these globs take the shape of ant-like creatures.
Razor: "Hrm... I remember seeing one of those before..."
Metal Man: "What's following us?" *continues looking forward, hoping they aren't surrounded.*
Aribar (GM): About half of them meld into the ground and scurry to surround the Questers! Prepare for battle! Questers Versus 20 Shadows!
Garrick: "I was afraid of this..."
Razor: "...it's been a while since I've seen one... it's one of those little black things that infested the holochamber during a previous mission... remember? Not long before Ganondorf... hrm. Looks like they think they can take us..."
Xaos falls into a circle formation with the others.
Metal Man presses a red button. His baton blitzes with electricity.
Spyke quick draws his pistol and holds it in both hands, pointed up.
Yurie: "I think we should show them how wrong they are..."
Metal Man: "...Wait... that must be bad... Ganondorf was controlling them, last time I checked."
Razor steps back into a fighting position. "...I couldn't agree with you more, Yurie."
Aribar (GM): Man, there are a ton of them!
Garrick: "Doesn't matter, just drop them!"
Metal Man: "And I thought he went into hiding... This can't be good..."
Yurie: "Razor, gimme a scan..."
Razor scans up one of the little black midgets.
Aribar (GM): http://www.vgmusic.com/music/console/sony/ps2/KHSDC.mid.
Dex: *Ding!* "Shadow. HP: 0/30%. AC: 12. Defense: 1|2. STR: 15. SPD: 15. INT: None."
Metal Man: "Alright! We should be able to take them down quickly."
Dex: "Weapon: Shadow Claws (7% damage, +6 roll modifier) Attacks: Hide (Shadow melds into the ground and becomes unattackable.) Heart Drain (Shadow drains the heart from its victim to restore some of its own energy. Only used in emergencies) EXP: 1. End of Entry."
Xaos: "More numbers just means more fun to go around."
Razor darts right at one of the Shadows, moving deftly and blazing fast before delivering a quick left jab to its face, followed by a right hook.
Aribar (GM): Two hits!
Razor the forms Chaoverge from his palm and slices at it.
Aribar (GM): 'nother hit. It's dead!
Razor keeps the blade held behind him as he zips by another, slashing it as he runs by.
Aribar (GM): It dies!
Yurie leaps up and over Razor, flinging a Starlight Rondo at one of the shadows. CRIT!
Aribar (GM): Ouch! The Shadow takes the hit but shakes it off... These things aren't weak against Light attacks.
Yurie continues, driving her sword into the shadow she blasted.
Aribar (GM): The Shadow quickly dodges out of the way because its Defense just made its AC 14.
Spyke snaps off a quick shot with his pistol at the Shadow that Yurie just attacked.
Aribar (GM): Hits!
Spyke follows up with a second shot, this one with more kick and an added burst of wind around the shot. "Air Splitter!"
Aribar (GM): Miss!
Garrick moves in as it dodges Spyke's attack, dropping his heel into the little thing's head.
Aribar (GM): Muahahahahahah! I mean... Miss.
Xaos glows as he fires a series of missles at Spyke's shadow.
Aribar (GM): Hit. Xaos kills his first enemy!
Xaos unfurls his wings and launches himself into the air to attack the next shadow.
Aribar (GM): 1/6 of its life gone.
Xaos bounces off the shadow, runs around it and flies at it again.
Aribar (GM): Unfortunately, due to its Defense that misses. Time for some Shadow-madness! The first five (Which includes the only damaged one at the moment) sink into the ground and scurry about the field. They're Hidden and cannot be successfully attacked.
Spyke: "Let's see what these little guys can do. Hey... they are running like scared cowards."
Aribar (GM): Shadows 9-14 all try and gang up on Spyke.
Xaos: "I wouldn't be too sure about that, haven't you noticed they haven't run into each other at all?"
Aribar (GM): Crit! Five hits and one crit. 15-19 attack Yurie with their claws now.
Spyke: "Gah! Shoot!" He is sent onto his back from the attacks.
Metal Man watches them attack Spyke, and Yurie, preparing to attack the Heartless.
Aribar (GM): The last Heartless attacks Xaos. Hits.
Metal Man: "Alright. Super-Slicing-DVD-ATTAAAACK!"
Xaos grins as he wipes the blood off his cheek.
Metal Man points his wand at the heartless that attacked Spyke, and fires off two DVDs.
Spyke gets to one knee, arm resting at his side. "Damn those things..." Sizable gashes are visible on his arm.
Metal Man then attacks the damaged heartless with a really fast kick. "Hi-YAAAAAAAAAH!"
Aribar (GM): Shadow 9 takes damage... And then is booted into the air!
Metal Man tries to finish it off with a bap from the baton while it's in the air. "FOOOOOOOREEEEE!!!!"
Aribar (GM): It's taken just enough damage to disappear in a puff of darkness. It's dead.
Metal Man turns to another Heartless. "DRYER DOOM!" He hefts a Dryer, seemingly outta nowhere, and hurls it at the tiny thing. *KABOOOOM*
Spyke: "Where... does Metal pull these things from? ..."
Metal Man: "I convert static electricity from the air to summon a miniature wormhole which summons these objects. That's why my armor is entirely made out of metal."
Aribar (GM): ..... Shadow goes BOOM!
Nick Caligo (GM): XD
Razor dashes at one of the undamaged Shadows and rams his blade forward to impale it. *CRIT OF OVERKILL!*
Aribar (GM): Eeeyup. Overkill...
Metal Man: "Killing these things is fun."
Razor goes right through that one and into another, this time releasing a pulse of energy through the wraithblade that would blow the Heartless apart from the inside. "...I like the funny squeaking noise they make when they pop."
Aribar (GM): Curse your overkilliness!
Spyke grunts as he stands up, stumbling as he fires his pistol at a Shadow.
Aribar (GM): Damage to Shadow number 13.
Spyke balances himself as he holsters his pistol and starts to collect a mixture of ice and electric energy. He launches it at S 13.
Aribar (GM): Hiiiiiiiii--miss.
Garrick follows up on the shadow that Spyke damaged, leaping into the air and sending a drill style kick into it's noggin.
Aribar (GM): That's a hit.
Garrick continues by sending out a series of rapid fire kicks at it... And then a quick jab to finish it off nicely..
Aribar (GM): The shadow stumbles back with that drill kick and then is sent sprawling onto the ground with the rapid kicks. Unfortunately, its Defense prevents Garrick from finishing the job.
Xaos hovers up to a good vantage point and releases a torrent of energy missles at Garrick's shadow.
Aribar (GM): Bah. Well, it's a hit and a kill.
Xaos follows up with the next shadow by firing a Hadoken.
Aribar (GM): It matches the Shadow's AC so it misses. Those hidden shadows pop up behind Razor and all try to claw 'im to death. One hit. Five more try and scratch Metal's armor. Crit! Three hits total. The last two go after Garrick. One hit to him.
Metal Man whips out an electric comb and stabs a Shadow.
Aribar (GM): Hit!
Metal Man (GM): *STAB* *BZZZT* *Then he bashes it on the head with the baton.* *SMACK* *Then he attempts to finish it off with another electric comb.* *STAB*
Aribar (GM): The Shadow stumbles back and forth slowly... And meets death by an electric comb.
Metal Man then throws a Dryer at another Shadow. He accidentally drops it behind him instead of instakilling anything.
Aribar (GM): The Shadow watches the purdy explosion.
Metal Man: "Whoops! I guess that one wasn't put together right... Okay... we've almost killed most of them... Too bad nobody has a move that hits multiple targets."
Yurie rushes at one shadow and leaps over him, slashing as she flips over his head. Then she lands and drives her sword into its back. Hit! She then fires off a Starlight Rondo at it. Hit.
Aribar (GM): It's dead!
Yurie then turns and bum-rushes another shadow and Slice-and-Dices it. SLICESLICESLICE!
Aribar (GM): Death!
Metal Man: "It's amazing. These things are pathetically weak, but they still manage to hit us enough to do damage..."
Razor dashes at another Shadow, zipping past and slashing it as he go.
Aribar (GM): ... Hit. ... Death!
Razor whips around and slashes at another.
Aribar (GM): The Shadow walks INTO the slash.
Razor then steps back and snaps his wings forward, sending a blast of air at it that would tear at its wounds like a vacuum.
Yurie grrs and opens fire with another Starlight Rondo. Hit. She continues with a powerful sword slash. CRIT!
Aribar (GM): The damaged shadow Yurie attack dies, and the next one is almost dead.
Yurie follows up with another slash. Hit!
Aribar (GM): Also dead!
Garrick goes after a fresh one, sending a rather powerful yellow glowing fist it's way...
Aribar (GM): Heh. Miss.
Xaos slips behind the current shadow and locks it in a Dragon Sleeper.
Aribar (GM): Yay! Time for the shadows to kill the Questers! I mean... the shadow Xaos tried to kill extends his hand towards the Quester... Xaos would begin to feel weakened as his heart is attempted to be drained from him!
Xaos pantomimes a dramatic faint.
Aribar (GM): The other five leap and form a dogpile on Metal.
Metal Man (GM): One hit.
Metal Man throws a Dryer at the heartless who attacked and hit him. *BLAMMO*
Aribar (GM): Heartless go BOOM!
Metal Man then throws two DVDs at the heartless who barely missed him. *CRIT*
Aribar (GM): Both hit! Ouch.
Metal Man finishes that monster off with a bonk to the head from the baton. *SMACK!!!* Horrible death.
Aribar (GM): Four left.
Metal Man: "Let's finish them off!"
Razor: "Roger that!" He bolts past one of the remaining Shadows, slashing at it as he does so.
Aribar (GM): Razor's target dissipates into darkness and dies! Three left.
Razor then turns around towards another and seems to be engulfed in flames as he floats off the ground. Time for the ubercheapcrazyoverkillattackofdooooooom! "Meteor... Revolution!" He swoops down at one of the poor poor little heartless, leaving a trail of flames behind him as he swipes at it, only to turn around and do it again in the other direction! *CRIT HIT!* o.O
Aribar (GM): ... UBER-OVERKILL!!!
Xaos tries to avoid the splatter.
Aribar (GM): Finish off the rest of this rabble!
Yurie charges one of the shadows and slashes it. Crit! *slashes again.* Miss.
Aribar (GM): Shadow 19 is down but not out...
Garrick immediately jumps on the situation and sends a bone shattering punch at the stupid little thing.
Aribar (GM): Garrick kills one of them... Just one left!
Garrick drills into the last one with a drilling style attack. Then he flies at it with a soaring kick... miss.
Xaos shakes off the remnant of the shadow on him and lets loose a barrage of energy missiles at the last shadow. Then he flies into the air and soars straight at the bugger.
Aribar (GM): ^_^
Xaos hits the floor with a sickening thud...
Aribar (GM): It melds into the ground just as Xaos lands on it...
Yurie: "Owch..."
Aribar (GM): It is Hidden... So nothing can attack it.
Xaos relocates his arm.
Metal Man puts up a barrier with his electric punch.
Razor charges up his blade... if this thing lives until his next turn, it ain't gonna be happy.
Garrick just gives his neck another crack as he waits.
Aribar (GM): The Shadow shuffles behind Garrick and tries a Heart Drain on him! ..... Ummm... Roll likes being anticlimactic.
Metal Man: "Hey! You! Stop trying to eat the pavement!"
Garrick just turns and... SMASH!!!
Xaos: "Thanks for covering me, Garrick."
Aribar (GM): It go boom! *Questers win!*
Razor releases the charge.
Garrick: "God, that just felt... RIGHT..."
Aribar (GM): *They gain 20 EXP points!* *They gain 10 Happiness points!*
Metal Man now has an omnipresent shield on his right hand, made out of electricity.
Yurie: "Whew..."
Aribar (GM): *They gain 777 gravy points!* *They gain... Errm.*
Metal Man (GM): *Garrick gains 5 weirdness points!*
Xaos: "But, I don't like gravy..."
Garrick: *Aribar gains a stick!*
Razor: "That was... too easy."
Metal Man: "That took too long, though."
Aribar (GM): Just like in some video game after the Questers defeat all of the enemies... The doors to the palace open. http://www.vgmusic.com/music/console/sony/ps2/HollowBastion.mid resumes playing.
Xaos: "It was probably just a test, to gauge our strength and weaken us up a bit."
Yurie: "Guys, can we go walk through the big scary doors now?"
Razor: "Yeah... let's go in..."
Garrick: "Right..."
Yurie turns and walks through said doors.
Garrick turns on his heel and walks onward.
Metal Man nods and enters through the doors.
Razor moves up right beside Yurie.
Xaos slips into the shadows of the palace.
Aribar (GM): Once inside the Questers see that they're in a worn hallway... The entire place is made out of a black stone and somehow the reddish light cast by the sun outside reaching inside the room lightning it up. A rotted red carpet extends down the hallway and also down the left branching hallway and the right passage at the far end of the room.
Metal Man looks around, aided by the light of his shield.
Xaos feels the stone, checking for vibrations to indicate movements.
Razor just moves on ahead, keeping Chaoverge at the ready.
Aribar (GM): Xaos doesn't feel any vibrations.
Yurie: "...so... where to first guys?"
Razor: "...let's go left..."
Metal Man: "Left it is."
Xaos: "Agreed."
Garrick just moves left.
Aribar (GM): No more heartless come up... The Questers come to a corner in the hallway. It continues to the left and on the right is a green door.
Xaos searches for a keyhole.
Metal Man goes to the green door and tries to open it.
Aribar (GM): Xaos finds a keyhole and Metal finds a locked door...
Xaos looks through the hole, trying to see the contents of the room.
Metal Man: "Let's kick down this door."
Aribar (GM): Hrm...
Garrick: "Good way to get your eye poked out, that."
Razor: "Huh... maybe we should look for a key, then?"
Yurie sighs and shakes her head. "Let's do that..."
Xaos runs away from the door, sensing a dryer coming fast...
Yurie continues following the hallway.
Garrick continues onward as well.
Metal Man throws a Dryer at the door, of course! "Smashy smashy!"
Aribar (GM): *BOOM!*
Razor: "...ugh... idiot..." He goes with Yurie.
Aribar (GM): Well, would you look at that... After the dust clears the door is... It is... It is...
Xaos: "Thanks for waiting till I was out of the way..."
Aribar (GM): FOURTY-TWO!
Metal Man: "You're welcome."
Aribar (GM): ... I mean still standing.
Xaos hovers slowly along the hallway.
Aribar (GM): For those that continue down the hallway they find an unlocked door on their right and a blue locked door on their left.
Metal Man punches the door and then runs to follow everyone. "Why do they make such tough doors?"
Garrick: "...why am I reminded of Doom 3?"
Xaos: "It's probably magically protected."
Yurie tries the unlocked door...
Metal Man: "You mean that horribly outdated, slow, and pixelated game? Doom 15 is MUCH better."
Garrick: "Yeah, that one."
Aribar (GM): Yurie finds an undecorated room with a large set of stairs leading up and outside on the north side of the room.
Xaos looks for tripwires on the stairs.
Razor shakes his head slowly.
Aribar (GM): Xaos trips on the steps... Well, there are no wires but plenty of trips...
Xaos: "Note to self - Have Razor perform all checks for traps..."
Aribar (GM): Well, now what will the guys and gal do? Backtrack or go up the steps and outside?
Razor: "...well... let's go up... what do you think, Yurie?"
Yurie sighs and starts to climb up the stairs.
Metal Man follows.
Razor moves up behind Yurie if they are narrow, two across if they are wide enough.
Xaos follows several stairs behind Yurie.
Aribar (GM): Once done climbing the stairs the Questers realize that they are on one side of the roof (The roof being divided up into two parts due to the second floor of the castle). In the middle of the roof top is a green key.
Xaos: "Razor, you mind going to get that?"
Metal Man: "I shall get the key." *dashes to the key.*
Razor sighs and shakes his head.
Garrick: "...stupid."
Aribar (GM): When Metal goes to get the key eight more heartless appear... Three of them are in armor while five of them are in the air.
Metal Man: "Stupid? No. I'm sparing you from the trap. You could at least thank me."
Xaos: "But you're the slowest, and probably the heaviest. Need I remind you we're on a roof?"
Razor: "...looks more like an ambush."
Metal Man: "I dish out plenty of damage and can block most attacks."
Razor flaps his wings and lifts off the roof. "Everyone ready yourselves!"
Aribar (GM): http://www.vgmusic.com/music/console/sony/ps2/KHSDC.mid
Xaos: "But not if you go crashing through a weak spot. We need you active in battles." *He unfurls his wings and assumes a fighting stance.*
Metal Man: "Well, don't worry. I'm not leader of the Questers for nothing!"
Razor performs a quick scan of the Air Soldiers.
Dex: *Ding!* "Air Soldier. HP: 0/50%. AC: 14. Defense: 2|2. STR: 14. SPD: 20. INT: None. EXP: 5. Attacks: Sprial cut (Three normal attacks) Sprial cut (Three normal attacks that ignore speed to AC)* Heart drain (Drains enemy HP) Weapon: Shadow Claws (7% damage, +6 roll modifier). End of entry."
Razor: "I don't like the sound of them... time to bring them down!" He zips forward and rams his wraithblade into one of them.
Aribar (GM): Good way to start off the battle!
Razor: *TEH DEAD!!!* *doesn't even wait for the thing's corpse to come off his sword as he zips past another, slicing it across the middle.* *MORE DEAD! CRITICAL HIT = VERY YES!*
Aribar (GM): Roll, you're scaring me.
Yurie leaps upwards, her blade humming as she executes a Slice and Dice on one of the air soldiers. SLICESLICESLICE! Then she follows with another sword slice. Hit!
Aribar (GM): I'd say he's dead.
Yurie lands and fires a Starlight Rondo at another soldier. HIT! Then she follows that by leaping up and slashing again. HIT! Then she strikes again.
Air Soldier: *Chuckles in a high-pitched voice at its fallen comrades.*
Yurie: Hit! *slashes AGAIN.* Hit! DED.
Aribar (GM): Yurie can stop the rampage of death now. That Air Soldier looks maaaaaaad! It rushes up to Yurie and uses a Spiral Cut on her! Yurie gets hit twice.
Yurie growls, then counters with a SLICE AND DICE. *DEATH!*
Aribar (GM): Sadly, it hits...
Yurie then hits it with a point-blank Starlight Rondo. Hit!
Aribar (GM): It dies!
Garrick triple kicks one of the Air Soldiers.
Aribar (GM): Garrick kicks the air above the Soldier and misses by... Not even an inch!
Xaos lets loose a torrent of energy at the first soldier.
Aribar (GM): Yup. That's a hit.
Xaos slips behind the soldier, locking it into a Dragon Sleeper.
Aribar (GM): *slips Roll a few twenties.* "Make their rolls worse!"
Xaos lets loose a point blank flood of energy into the soldier's face. Then he jumps back and fires of a Hadoken.
Aribar (GM): The Soldier ducks under the blast of doom! It then decides to get some payback by Rushing (Capitalization intended) Xaos! It then sucks energy from Xaos's heart... The last two soldiers Rush Garrick and Metal respectively. Both of them then try to normally attack Garrick and Metal respectively. Bah... Well, Metal is missed... Garrick takes more damage than Metal.
Metal Man launches DVDs at the guy who hit him.
Aribar (GM): Well... That Soldier is smart enough to dodge the attacks instead of just looking at them like the Shadows... He Rushes Metal! It continues by slashing Metal.
Metal Man (GM): *Miss.*
Aribar (GM): Yay missed.
Razor swoops down and rams Chaoverge into one of the undamaged ones, releasing a pulse of energy on impact.
Aribar (GM): Ouch... That should hurt.
Razor: GRABBED. *whirls about, tearing it from the inside with a slash.*
Aribar (GM): Poor Soldier! Razor killed him!
Razor pulls up before swooping at the next unhurt one. Not running, must kill Heartless! He zips by and slashes at it on the move. Then he just Meteor Revolutions it to make sure it's dead. There... it's dead.
Aribar (GM): Yeah... It's dead.
Yurie sighs, then rushes up to the soldier and slashes. Hit. *follows with a Slice And Dice.*
Aribar (GM): Since this is the damaged one... It is dead. And even if it was the undamaged one it would be dead...
Xaos walks over to the key. "Mind if I do the honors?"
Aribar (GM): A winner is you! *Cough.*
Metal Man: "Sure."
Xaos picks up the key, fingers it, then holds it firmly.
Aribar (GM): And I think we should pause so Razor gets no EXP... Just kidding. Xaos acquired Holo-Item: Green Key! http://www.vgmusic.com/music/console/sony/ps2/HollowBastion.mid plays as the battle ends again... Well, now where to? The Questers have the key and they've explored this battlement.
Xaos: "So should try the green door, or you wanna go back down the right or forward hallways."
The Void: No, no, no! This is entirely too easy for them! Why aren't they dying? Bah! I'll just fast forward to the final boss!
Metal Man (GM): A while later...
Aribar (GM): After that the Questers got a blue key, Xaos triggered traps, they went back and to the right wing, went over to a dead end and nearly fell down a hole, and now they're in a fight for a golden key. Well, someone was able to kill three things in a turn because of the new modules. *BATTLE CONTINUE!* When we last left off the Questers were battling many Heartless for a golden key... Eight Shadows are flat against the ground and unattackable while four Soldiers remain guarding the key. Both Locos/Charles and Digifanatic appear in a flash of light for the battle.
Charles looks around to see where he has... appeared. Upon looking, he sees some old familiar... buddies. Not wasting any time, or words, he makes a jumpstart, then runs at the second Soldier, whilst unwielding the Frozen Hatred and gives a good ol' smack.
Aribar (GM): It easily evades Locos's attack... Three of them then gang up and slash Locos!
Charles becomes slashed by the other arm and the chest. He makes a movement to the side to avoid the third.
Aribar (GM): Two continue their assault on Locos! They go for one final pass on Locos. More damage!
Aribar|School: The last Soldier attacks Metal. Hit!
Digifanatic runs towards Soldier 1 and uses Fire Punch.
Aribar (GM): Those eight Shadows remain hidden in the ground. Well, that was over fast...
Digifanatic braces for the counter.
Metal Man throws a dryer at the soldier who attacked him.
Aribar (GM): Miss!
Razor dashes up and thrusts his blade into the Soldier.
Aribar (GM): ...Hit!
Razor then gives the thing a nice double punch to the face with his other hand.
Aribar (GM): One of those hit. All of the Shadow Heartless spring up! The first four attack Digi and the last four Metal.
Digifanatic: *All but the one hit.* "Argh... those dang things..." *gets back to his senses, tries to attack Soldier 1 (again), but this time from far with Thunderstorm.*
Aribar (GM): It vanishes in a puff of black smoke as the lightning strikes it.
Digifanatic sees the lightning and wind strike the soldier squarely... "Well, there's something I never did in a while..." *heads towards Soldier 2, and leaps into it with Super Mario Punch.*
Aribar (GM): Another hit!
Digifanatic heads back, surprised, and runs back to the same Soldier this time withj the Karate Double Whammy.*
Aribar (GM): Miss!
Digifanatic misses wildly this time..."Eh, at least I helped." *He walks back to the rest of the party.*
Aribar (GM): The Soldier that Digi injured Rushes towards the Quester to bowl him down. Hit.
Digifanatic: "WAHH!"
Aribar (GM): The last two try to slap Razor around a bit.
Razor: *Misses.*
Metal Man throws a dryer at Soldier 3. *KABLAMMO.*
Aribar (GM): Soldier go boooooom. Soldier go deeeeeead.
Metal Man continues his attacks of terror by throwing his baton at the head of Soldier 4. Hit. That soldier is also dazed. Then Metal throws a dryer at that soldier in an attempt to finish it off. *CRIT OF DOOM.*
Aribar (GM): ... A nuclear explosion from the dryer totally destroys the Soldier.
Metal Man laughs maniacally at the small mushroom cloud.
Razor rushes past the last remaining Soldier, slashing as he goes by.
Aribar (GM): Razor knocks it onto the ground but it isn't dead yet.
Razor plants his foot on its chest and thrusts his blade into it, releasing a pulse of energy to finish it off.
Aribar (GM): Hit. It is dead.
Razor then quickly steps over towards the mass of Shadows and swings his blade in a wide arc to cleave through two of them. Then he spins around and gives his blade a light charge before slicing through one of them and leaping back.
Aribar (GM): The Shadow just looks at its doom in awe... The thing admires the pretty lights coming towards it... In fact, it even steps towards the incoming slash of doom.
Aribar (GM): Seven Shadows left. One of them is near death.
Spyke quickdraws his pistol, steadies it for a brief moment before firing a concentrated shot with a burst of added wind. He fires at the weakened shadow.
Aribar (GM): Well, there is now more splattered, dead Heartless goo on the floor for the janitor to clean up.
Spyke shifts his aim to another Shadow and fires a regular shot.
Aribar (GM): The Shadow melds into the ground to dodge the attack before coming back up and, with the help of four others, thwapping Spyke.
Aribar (GM): Hit. The last one hopelessly tries to finish Metal off.
Metal Man laughs as it bounces off of his armor.
Aribar (GM): And fails...
Metal Man: "Take this, you pathetic hunk of goo!"
Spyke is currently at 46 percent. He lands on his back, grunting, and rolling onto his side and standing back up.
Metal Man flings DVDs at the shadow how missed him. *BLAM BLAM* He then flies at it with a super-fast kick. He continues his combo by bashing it on the head with his baton.
Razor runs in and rams his blade through the injured one.
Aribar (GM): It's dead.
Razor then sidesteps, pulling his blade sideways out of that one to slice through two more. He then moves to finish off one of them with a Blitz attack.
Aribar (GM): It's dead. Four shadows left. One of them is injured.
Spyke runs up to the injured one, hauling of and punching at its head.
Aribar (GM): The punch weakens... It looks like it's hanging onto life by a thread.
Spyke follows up with a side kick.
Aribar (GM): Spyke can't finish it off.... The Shadow Spyke almost beat attempts to regain its health by using Heart Drain on Spyke! It successfully drains HP from Spyke. The last three try to claw up Razor... And most definitely fails.
Razor dodges all three nimbly. "Ha! Not a chance!" He hops back before lunging in with a cleaving slash.
Aribar (GM): The Shadow falls under Razor's blade.
Razor whirls around and continues with a second slice, however...
Aribar (GM): Two are wounded and the last Shadow has taken no damage.
Metal Man throws two DVDs at one of the wounded. He then tries to finish the Shadow that sucked energy from Spyke with a dryer. *BAMMO.*
Aribar (GM): The first two Lord of the Rings movies destroy the first Shadow and a nuclear dryer blows up the second. One Shadow left.
Razor crouches down before bursting forward, slicing the thing as he leaps by and lands in a crouch on the other side of it. *CRIT = VERY YES!*
Aribar (GM): The Shadow just stands there looking unphased for a couple seconds... *PHOOM!* It then dissipates into darkness. Questers win! The only thing left on the rooftop is that block with the golden key on it.
Yurie: "...so... who wants to take the key?"
Razor: "I've got it..." He walks over and snatches the spoils.
Aribar (GM): Dun dun dun! *Cough...* Razor gains holo item: Golden Key. Well, now where to? The Questers have explored most of that castle and its grounds...
Razor: "...let's go back down and find where to use this."
Metal Man: "Yeah."
Aribar (GM): The Questers head back down into the Barracks... After crossing through the room and going back out to the hallway they see that huge dark blob of darkness that was previously covering half the room shrink back from Razor...
Razor smirks. "...heh... that's right..."
Yurie blinks, then glances at Razor. "...try going further into the blob over there Razor..."
Razor: "...you think?"
Metal Man: "...Just open the door."
Aribar (GM): All of the Questers do see some grand door about half-revealed... The cowering blob of evil still blocks some of it.
Razor: "Hrm... alright... out of the way..." He slowly makes his way towards the blob.
Aribar (GM): It shrinks farther back into the southwestern corner of the room... The door is now revealed. It has a large keyhole in it.
Metal Man: "Looks like something evil is hiding in there."
Yurie: "...guys, what do big doors with big keyholes usually hold?"
Metal Man prepares for... yet MORE... fighting.
Razor pulls out his shiny key. "...either lots of treasure... big baddies... or both."
Metal Man: "Big ugly bosses of doom. Link told me all about it."
Razor stebs forward and puts the key in the hole.
Aribar (GM): The key is way too small for the hole (It is the size of a car key really), but sticking it in the keyhole makes the entire door begin to glow.
Razor: "...huh..."
Aribar (GM): The door, and the key, disappear after a moment. On the other side is a room that seems perfectly preserved from the taint that poisoned the rest of this palace. A red carpet runs about halfway through the room up to a grand staircase that narrows until it could fit only one person on it and begins spiraling up towards the room. The dark blob now seems uncertain what to do... That 'evil key of light' is gone... Or is it?
Yurie: "...anyone other than me think this is a bit off?" *walks into the room...*
Razor heads in beside Yurie, remaining watchful of the blob. "...yeah..."
Aribar (GM): Lurching forward, the blob starts trying to block the way through the door!
Metal Man follows.
Yurie frowns, her blade lifting and glowing as she prepares for a Swallow Swing... "Back off..."
Metal Man backs off.
Razor turns around pointing his sword at the blob.
Aribar (GM): The blob picks up speed and tries to ram towards the group after they all reach the untainted room... A thin glimmer of light appears in the area where that grand door once way. At least for now the Questers are safe.
Yurie: "...whew..." *turns, then resumes walking along the carpet...*
Razor: "..." He turns and heads that way as well.
Aribar (GM): Anyone looking at the steps would now notice two animated dog heads staring at them..... Upon closer inspection they would see they're attached to a shield. The dog-shields begin growling but they don't attack...
Razor preps Chaoverge behind her. "..."
Yurie: "The heck are those things?" *brings her sword out and stands at ready...*
Spyke: "What... the..."
Aribar (GM): Two armored warriors then appear behind the shields and take hold of their canine-weapons. SUB-BOSS BATTLE! QUESTERS VERSES DEFENDERS!
Metal Man: "I guess this is a war of attrition."
Aribar (GM): http://www.vgmusic.com/music/console/sony/ps2/KHSDC.mid
Yurie: "Not really. Just need to get behind them."
Aribar (GM): The Heartless ready for any attacks.
Razor holds his sword up behind him, gripping his right wrist with his left hand as he begins to charge it up!
Yurie quickly rushes towards the Defenders, then leaps up and over them. As she does, she turns a flip, swinging her sword and sending a pair of light-rings down at ones head.
Aribar (GM): Both hit!
Yurie lands behind one defender, then thrusts her sword in, traces of light slashing out as she goes for a slice-and-dice. She follows with a sword slash. Then goes for another Slice and Dice.*
Aribar (GM): The Defender raises its shield to block the slash!
Yurie: *CLANG!*
Spyke runs at Defender one, planting his right foot, and dealing out two swift kicks.
Aribar (GM): Spyke manages to kick the Defender. He stumbles back a bit, surprised you got through his growling shield.
Spyke de-holsters his pistol, steadies his arm, and fires a blast of air, along with the bullet.
Aribar (GM): *Special Attack Activated!* The dog-shield lunges forward to gnaw on Spyke! 0_o Mmmm... Spyke-bones... Spyke takes damage!
Spyke takes a knee, blood spilling from his nose and mouth. His Close Call badge is now active.
Charles wakes up from his trance. He moves in a grace that is comparable to a ficus plant and lays down the law on the first Defender with two punches; a regular and a heavy-hitta.
Aribar (GM): Locos punches the growling dog-shield of the Defender. FINALLY the Defenders get to kill--take their turns.
Charles: "I like to thank all those who would allow me to be eaten by alive inanimate objects that take on growling sounds."
Aribar (GM): The first Defender's shield glows an icy blue before a HUGE wave of ice encases the entire party!
Spyke is now highly damaged.
Metal Man (GM): *MISS.*
Charles: "WHOO! I never felt this good in a long time!"
Aribar (GM): The second one follows up by trying to smack Yurie with the dog-shield. Spyke dies and the Defender misses, drawing a counter from Yurie.
Metal Man scans one of the Defenders.
Dex: *DING!* "Defender. HP: 72/150%, 0/150%. AC: 18."
Yurie counters with a Slice and Dice. *Hit.*
Dex: "Defense: 1|3. STR: 25. SPD: 16. INT: 16. Weapon: Defender (15% damage, +7 mod) Attacks: Fire: A shot of fire (10% Fire damage, +10 modifier) Blizzard: An icy wave (10% Ice to all, +5 modifier) Heart Drain: Drains HP (10% drain, +7 modifier) Lunge: Counter-attack on a natural 1 (20% damage, +10 modifier, Ultra-fast) These are advanced Heartless that guard something... Perhaps the way out? End of entry."
Metal Man: "Alright... take this!" *bops one of them on the head with his new and improved Baton Smash.*
Aribar (GM): Metal smashes that poor doggie shield... And forfeits his turn!
Razor lets out a cry as he lunges towards the unwounded Defender, his blade blitzing with energy and releasing a flash of light as he thrusts it at the Heartless. *DEEEAAAAD! UBERCHARGECRIT!*
Aribar (GM): 0_o It is DECIMATED! Well, now only an unwounded Defender exists. Razor wastes his attack! Just kidding... Razor kills the lesser damaged Defender.
Yurie shrugs, then Slice and Dices the other one.
Razor swipes his blade back and charges up again to end the combo that would've come... not that it matters.
Yurie nails it with another sword strike.
Aribar (GM): It blocks the strike. YAY! I mean... *Spyke's brought back on a revival platform for his turn.*
Spyke jumps down and fires a crystalline orb of ice with a crunchy electrical core.
Aribar (GM): The Defender blocks with its shield.
Charles warms up from the icy cooler he was in, and goes for a good ol' run to the remaining defender and a boot to the head.
Aribar (GM): Hit!
Charles follows up with a bash from his mauler then a grab.
Aribar (GM): Miss! Finally. It tries to drain some health from Locos and succeeds. The Defender then follows by blasting Metal with a fireball! *Cough...*
Metal Man avoids the fireball, countering with a new, improved Dryer of doom!
Metal Man (GM): Miss.
Metal Man tries again.
Metal Man (GM): *BLAMOO* Two Defenders are hit at once, er, just one.
Metal Man continues with DVD launching death.
Aribar (GM): The Defender is at 144/150... Hurry up, I've got homework to do...
Razor lashes out with another charged Obliterate attack!
Aribar (GM): *NUKEY, NUKEY!*
Charles: and a fraction of it... since I didn't fully participate?
Aribar (GM): If you participated in at LEAST one round you get all of the EXP.
Charles: ... :( great... leveling up. level three.
Razor leaps away from the asploding Heartless and lands in his Samus-esque three-point crouch.
Wolfman finds himself warped to... somewhere. .oO(Just my luck... I recover from my rest from that freaky badge, and now I'm back in the thick of things...)
Aribar (GM): Okay... Battle order is set up. *inserts a memory card into Slot One and puts Super Smash RPG into the disk slot... I mean... Mission continue!* The Questers have conquered this palace of darkness. They've fought countless Heartless in this tainted castle of |)00|/|...
Wolfman somehow gets warped in. "What the... what happened, and where am I?" He looks around.
Aribar (GM): Eventually the Questers found an untouched room... Perfectly preserved, but also guarded by two Defenders.
Wolfman follows the others into a room which had two creatures inside.
Aribar (GM): The Questers bested these guards after a hard fight and now are faced with a decision: Either quit since the way back is blocked, or head up a spiraling staircase to the roof of the castle. *Mission Start.*
Razor: "...let's head on up..."
Wolfman gets warped in after recovering from his badge nap. "Umm... what's going on?"
Yurie: "I agr... wha??"
Metal Man: "Huh?"
Wolfman looks around the area he just got warped in.
Yurie steps aside as the warp blast shoots down from the sky... "...the heck? Who are you?"
Wolfman (GM): Yurie would see a metallic wolf.
Razor: "...say wha?" He turns around and blinks a few times. "...it's you!"
Wolfman: "With the only problem being that 'me' is not supposed to be here... but since I'm here, someone lead the way here."
Metal Man: "It's Wolfman again."
Wolfman nods in Metal's direction.
Yurie: "Wolfman? Isn't he the nutcase we say the other day..?"
Razor: "Eh... he's sane now..."
Wolfman cringes a little.
Razor: "...let's just move along, alright?"
Digifanatic: "Yeah."
Wolfman: "Lead on."
Yurie: "Who died and made you leader?" *walks up the stairs.*
Wolfman still doesn't quite know where he is, though...
Metal Man: "Uhhhh... it was kind of the other way around."
Charles: "Say certain words and the smile of a reploid, which I have no idea what one is, turns into chomping te--hey! Wait for this one!"
Aribar (GM): This mission is in a castle which is... Basically in a void of nothingness.
Razor moves the group along.
Wolfman follows the rest.
Charles walks along the group... closely behind Metal, while stepping on the creaking steps along the way on accident.
Digifanatic follows.
Metal Man does the thing called following.
Aribar (GM): On the roof of the castle there is almost nothing... Just the black abyss and red sun that has surrounded the castle the entire time... And on the other side of this broken roof that looks like it should cave in under the Questers' combined weight they see a door... It is the door out of the holoroom!
Wolfman gets a look at the door... and starts pondering...
Razor: "That's the end of the mission? Seems too easy."
Wolfman: .oO(Alright, how did I get transported to the Holo Rooms?) "Nothing ever is... hang on."
Razor unfurls his wings and floats above the surface of the worn roof, gliding gently forward.
Wolfman gets his Howl Buster out and starts to charge it up.
Digifanatic: "There's gotta be some sorta thing guarding the door somewhere..."
Aribar (GM): An unreal howl sends shivers down all of the Questers' spines. From the courtyard a huge beast leaps up onto the roof separating the Questers from the door. This beast looks somewhat like a dog. A two-headed dog that likes Quester-bones to be exact. The beast is mainly black with a purple-ish tinge... On its back are many spiked barbs with glowing ends. Both heads bare their teeth and growl at the Questers.
Razor quickly darts back. "Geez!"
Yurie: "...How did I know that was going to happen..."
Metal Man: "Let's blast it!"
Yurie pulls out her Dex and scans the thing...
Razor: "...because it was horribly obvious?"
Wolfman: "Is it a friend or a foe though?"
Aribar (GM): -=BOSS BATTLE! Questers Verses Fenrir=-
Charles: "...Oh my."
Yurie: "It's big, it's ugly, and it looks like it wants to eat us, so yes, it's bad."
Wolfman: "Fair enough."
Aribar (GM): http://www.planetnintendo.com/secretofmana/mp3/som41_-_meridian_dance.mp3
Charles: "That is a... very... large... poodle."
Wolfman: "I don't think that poodles grow two heads though... everyone get ready."
Aribar (GM): One of the heads opens its mouth and... Awww! How cute! It shoots a HUGE ball of fire at Metal! Err... Make that huge ball of Ice... My mistake.
Dex: *Ding!* "Fenrir. HP: 0/300%. AC: 17. Defense: 1|3. STR: 30. SPD: 25. INT: 16. Weapons: Claw slash (20% damage, +10 roll modifier) Dual-Bite (15% damage, +7 roll modifier, two attacks) Moves: Fire Breath: 20% Fire damage to three targets. +7 roll modifier. Ice Shot: 30% Ice damage to one target. +10 roll modifier. Antipode: A burning wave of fire followed by a freezing wave of ice. 50% damage to all. +5 roll modifier. Summon Heartless: Summons various Heartless already fought in this castle. End of entry."
Yurie: "...okaaaaay..."
Razor: "...sounds pleasant..."
Metal Man (GM): Hit.
Aribar (GM): It follows up by leaping towards the metallic icicle and slashing at it with its claws. Don't you just love Combos?
Metal Man easily avoids it despite being froze.
Razor steps up to the plate, forming his blade before rushing forward and lashing out with Chaoverge. He rams it right towards Fenrir's chest, releasing a pulse of energy upon impact.
Aribar (GM): The beast howls in pain.
Razor (GM): Paralyzed! Grabbed!
Razor follows up with a Blitz attack! Two quick punches to the chest! He whirls around, slicing at its middle. Then rushes forward underneath it to deliver a slice down its body.
Aribar (GM): Hits...
Yurie sighs, then draws her sword and leaps at the monster, her blade glowing green... *the slash connects, an atomic pattern made of green light ripping about from the strike.* She then leaps upwards, then slashes again. CRIT!
Aribar (GM): The boss is already halfway dead...
Yurie then leaps backwards and swings her sword, a pair of ovals of light slicing out and slashing into the thing.
Digifanatic: "Wow... if I could do that sorta stuff half the time..."
Aribar (GM): Only that first one hits. The beast blocks the second oval with its claw.
Digifanatic: "Nice job you two..."
Wolfman runs to the boss and starts off the fight with a quick right punch in the head area. He was too quick in acting and not enough on aiming.
Aribar (GM): The one head rears back to avoid the punch.
Wolfman: .oO(should have used the Wolf Crush on this...)
Digifanatic looks at the boss and gets set to use a Fire Punch.
Aribar mumbles, "Hit."
Digifanatic somehow does hit...
Aribar (GM): 182/300%...
Digifanatic: *Needing a boost by utilizing a Ranged Move, Digi walks back and uses Thunderstorm.*
Aribar (GM): 'nother hit.
Digifanatic continues with the Super Mario Punch.
Aribar (GM): That hit probably set it above 200%. Yup.
Digifanatic: *Amazed by his luck, he goes for it once again with another Fire Punch.*
Aribar (GM): You're on a roll, but--Melee attacks... Arrg... I really hate this system sometimes. Okay. That misses due to the fact that its a melee move. The last one probably should have missed as well.
Digifanatic walks back, with a faint smile...
Metal Man gets a nasty smirk on his face and hurls a dryer at the beast. *Miss.*
Aribar (GM): The Fenrir lets out an unholy howl... Six Shadows and two Soldiers appear.
Wolfman: "Slag! Foot soldiers!"
Yurie: "Not for long..."
Digifanatic: "The good ol' dryer..."
Metal Man: "...Should take care of them."
Wolfman: "And how so? I thought you missed with that thing!"
Metal Man: "Sometimes you're lucky, sometimes you're not."
Aribar (GM): The Fenrir then attempts to shoot an Ice Shot at Digi.
Metal Man: "I'm as sharp as a knife, and twice as deadly, after all."
Aribar (GM): Miss...
Razor rushes forward, swiping his blade in a wide arc to take in two Soldiers and a Shadow. He hits and lunges forward to swipe at one of the soldiers.
Aribar (GM): It is as good as dead.
Razor then cleaves the two injured ones and one more.
Aribar (GM): The Soldier is dead.
Razor: CRIT.
Aribar (GM): Four things killed in a single turn.
Yurie grrs and continues her assault on the wolf. Hit! She then leaps away and swings another pair of Swallow Swings at the thing. CRIT! Light. *then drops down with a Divider attack..*
Digifanatic: "Come on..." *claps.*
Yurie then unleashes No Moment. Her sword flashes in, followed by another phantom blade attack. Double hit!
Aribar (GM): It dies. Four Shadows remain.
Digifanatic raises a fist at Yurie. "Well done."
Yurie lands and sheaths her sword. The phantom blade cuts true, light flaring from the wound... She then crouches and RUSHES a shadow, blazing past it and leaving a blue-white trail behind her. She then turns and releases a Swallow Swing, the two ovals seeking out different targets.
Aribar (GM): One dead, another wounded.
Wolfman is very angry at himself that he couldn't even land a hit... he feels like he wants to blow up the place. He curls inward... then expands his arms and legs apart and a big howl, as a huge rush of energy comes down and rains upon the last of the enemies... hopefully.
Wolfman: *WOLF CRUSH!*
Aribar (GM): Three enemies. One of them is damaged. Yay. The Questers win. Mission over. My GMing career is officially over for good. Yes. Because I suck at it. l.
Digifanatic sees the Crush slay the other Shadows. "Short but very sweet..."
Metal Man (GM): The Void cursed and blew away another monitor. His plan to consume the Questers in darkness had instead become a mockery of a battle. Not only had he failed, but he had actually made his foes STRONGER!
The Void: Curse these super-powered heroes! I'll have to do something... something WORSE to destroy them! Gahhhhhhhhh!!!