Super Smash Quest - Story - Chapter 256: Requiem for a Denon
Date: February 19th & 23rd, 2006.
Metal Man (GM): Last time, the Questers broke into the heavily defended complex of Denon's headquarters. There, they killed several supersoldiers and got lost in a huge maze which was all of the first floor. *cinema.* Various Questers are lost in the maze. Others run on in and also get lost. Meanwhile, Denon is at the bridge of the Archelago II, flipping switches.
Denon: "It's about time I stopped playing with those idiots. They've suffered enough."
Metal Man (GM): Two specially marked Super Soldiers, Denon's bodyguards, stand attention next to him. One salutes, then begins speaking.
Bodyguard1: "Sir! If you deactivate the maze, they'll have direct access to floor 2! They could do ANYTHING there!"
Denon: "I know."
Metal Man (GM): Denon begins laughing maniacally as he flips various red levers. The front window of the Archelago II fills with text, which scrolls up, checking off various things as "Done" or "Affirmative." The sound of the engines warming up is heard. Meanwhile, in floor II, what appears to be a control room obviously stolen from NASA's moon landing designs, hordes of scientists and mission control-esque people turn off their stations and walk aboard the Archelago, through conveniently extended hatches on the bottom of the massive ship. In the fray, a mysterious, almost shadowy person enters a different door labeled "DANGER -- HIGH VOLTAGE". The screen in the control room lights up, saying "BASE CONTROLS DISABLED. ARCHELAGO II SWITCHED TO INDEPENDENT MODE. READY FOR LAUNCH." Back at the control room of the Archelago II, Denon looks out the front window, seeing a vast, desolate valley full of wreckage... and, a blip on the horizon... the Stadium.
Denon: "Launch preparations complete. Take off!"
Metal Man (GM): *End Cinema.* Back down on floor 1, everyone there would hear a loud rumbling. The walls, traps, and the like would suddenly sink into the floor; any remaining infantry vanishing out of thin air. All that would remain in the large, bare room would be stairs leading to the second floor.
Julian: *appears out of a generic blue warp portal, yawning.* "Man that was a good nap... What'd I miss?"
Digifanatic: "A lot, Julian."
PA: "Archelago II has been prematurely launched. DANGER: Building damage is possible."
Digifanatic: "Including a very crazy fight with a buncha soldiers... real deadly ones."
Metal Man (GM): Alarms are going off, and it seems almost as if the whole building is going to explode.
Nodal: "All in all a good day."
Digifanatic is still hanging onto that shield he obtained from the first fight...
Metal Man (GM): The stairs seem to be the only way to proceed; a thankful thing, as anyone who was there earlier would remember well the maze and the annoyance it caused.
Julian: "...That ain't good. Up the stairs!" *Julian heads on up the stairs that lead up. To the upper floor. Of 2.*
Metal Man (GM): Julian walks up the stairs, dissappearing from sight from everyone else on the first floor.
Digifanatic: "Yup..."
Digifanatic starts to follow Julian up the stairs...
Metal Man (GM): Digi also disappears from sight as he goes upstairs.
Nodal follows.
Metal Man (GM): You all reach the second floor, partially wondering what the rest of the Questers are doing. The second floor, is, indeed, a mission control-esque area.
Digifanatic: *looks back behind him.* "Huh... why are they all just standing there? Oh well."
Julian: *Psh.* "C'mon man, we can take care o' this ourselves."
Metal Man (GM): There's 5 rows of computer terminals here, and a large screen.
Digifanatic: "Okay... computer room. This should be fun."
Metal Man (GM): The ceiling appears to be dropping tiles left and right; a few holes show a ship flying away above you.
Digifanatic looks around and heads for one of the computers.
Nodal follows and looks over Digi's shoulder. "What are you going to do?"
Digifanatic: "Lessee here... see if we can figure out something."
Metal Man (GM): It's off. All of them were turned off.
Digifanatic just can't seem to find anything yet... "Have anything, Nodal?"
Metal Man (GM): Digi feels lost. Nodal feels like the corner might be a good place to look.
Nodal: "Wait a second..."
Digifanatic: "Alright..."
Nodal searches over near the corner. "Over here. Cmon."
Digifanatic follows him over.
Metal Man (GM): Nodal discovers a hatch, with a lever. It says "EMERGENCY" on it.
Digifanatic: "Emergency hatch. I knew it."
Nodal: "Is this an emergency?" *pulls the lever near the hatch hoping it will open.*
Digifanatic: "I don't think it's an emergency yet... we aren't in any dire situations right now."
Metal Man (GM): It explodes open. Then a vortex of wind threatens to suck you out.
Digifanatic: "I just wonder where Julian went off to. Hey, shut it now! And if I have a bad feeling about this, there will be alarms going off in this wing of the ship."
Nodal: "Where the heck are we?"
Metal Man (GM): Nodal and Digi are nearly sucked out, but both grab a ladder.
Digifanatic: "All it says is the third floor. The question is, third of how many?"
Nodal: "...a ladder?"
Metal Man (GM): They would see the ship approaching Quester HQ from this side-- the ladder goes to a hatch on floor 4. You're on the outside now. Its like a fire ladder. In fact, it probably is one.
Nodal: "Cmon. lets just get back inside." *climbs the ladder and opens the hatch to floor 4.*
Digifanatic follows him in.
Metal Man (GM): Problem: The hatch has no mechanism to be opened from the outside with. You claw at the smooth surface and find it to be pretty tough.
Digifanatic: "Oh, we are screwed... unless we can pop through it or something. I wish one of us had a nice strong sword right now... And I do mean a real nice one..."
Nodal: "...I have a nice strong scimitar."
Digifanatic: "Good enough. Give it a shot." *backs off a few steps.*
Nodal attempts to pry the hatch open.
Metal Man (GM): You find your sword slightly lacking; it only opens a crack.
Nodal: "Do you think you can open it the rest of the way?"
Digifanatic: "Sure..."
Nodal climbs down a few steps. Nodal then hands his scimitar to Digi.
Digifanatic bends down and tries to continue lifting it up if at all possible. Digifanatic then takes that instead..."
Metal Man (GM): Digi gets his finger stuck in it.
Digifanatic: "Oh man..."
Nodal: "I guess there a reason you don't use swords." *grabs his scimitar back.*
Digifanatic: "Eh, I live in a modern society as it is."
Metal Man (GM): You see the Stadium down below, wreathed in a rainbow glow.
Nodal: "With a nice tool capable of sending people to firing ranges."
Metal Man (GM): Lasers from various laser guns fly up and hit the shield to this ship.
Digifanatic: "Heh..."
Nodal attempts to wrench the thing open.
Digifanatic: "Whoa!"
Metal Man (GM): The ship fires back; you guys are rocked around in the process.
Nodal: "We have to stop this!" *feels a bit sick.* "Ugh... get me the number of that truck..."
Digifanatic: "Not now, dude... once we get back in, it should be better..."
Metal Man (GM): Keep note that time passes while this goes on.
Digifanatic: "Man, we gotta get back in there!"
Metal Man (GM): You barely open it up a little more; it is peeled open like a can. Digi is free. You can see inside; its a narrow hallway, with a ton of computer monitors on either side.
Nodal: "I'm trying!"
Digifanatic: *yoink.* "Better..."
Nodal slides his scimitar in to the hilt and wrenches. "Oh."
Metal Man (GM): You waste time tearing the hatch off the ship and hurling it off.
Nodal jumps inside.
Digifanatic starts to climb down...
Metal Man (GM): Digi begins climbing back down to the third floor.
Digifanatic: "Let's get outta this wing."
Metal Man (GM): Meanwhile, Nodal walks into the Fourth Floor's narrow computer hallway.
Digifanatic: "Nodal? Dang, I lost him."
Nodal looks around. "Theres gotta be something in here."
Digifanatic climbs back up to where Nodal is...
Metal Man (GM): Nodal sees an elevator with the doors ajar, Digi entering the hallway, and the computers, silently computing behind force fields.
Nodal looks around for any clue to the rooms purpose. (Beyond random comp room.)
Metal Man (GM): Everywhere there is signs labeled "MAGITEK POWER COMPUTER."
Digifanatic: "Force fields... Magitek..."
Metal Man (GM): Some computers turn off as power is reduced. You hear the weapons powering down some.
Nodal: "Well if these computers were important I'm sure there would be guards." *heads to the elevator that is partly open.*
Digifanatic heads on in as well...
Metal Man (GM): You get on in. You're both now going on up to the 10th floor. The elevators rise up to the 10th floor... the Bridge of the Archelago. They both open; and the occupants (including Digi) see none other than Denon standing over the controls, alone. His back is turned. The large, 180 degree vision windshield reveals a vivid landscape of the Archelago shooting lasers at the Stadium. The battle is deadlocked; neither side can penetrate the other's shields. The control panels blink and seem almost... to be controlling themselves.
Julian: "Sir! I'd like to request access to the Warhead Storage Center, to guard it 'n stuff! Incase the Questers somehow sneak in and do somethin'!"
Metal Man (GM): Also; Digi et Nodal: You see what appears to be Skyhigh to your left... but he has Julian's voice.
Nodal doesn't want to say anything.
Digifanatic: "That's weird, Nodal... Sky sounds exactly like Julian..."
Denon: "Skyhigh... do you not see the intruders? If you kill them... the Questers won't be able to do anything."
Metal Man (GM): His voice is gruff, and dark; hearing it makes you want to shiver.
Digifanatic: "Crap."
Nodal kicks Digi a bit.
Metal Man (GM): His back remains turned.
Digifanatic: "I know, I just realized that..."
Julian: "Sir, my neck appears to be locked in place. I can't see any Questers."
Denon: "Oh... does your neck also happen to be... 2 sizes too large to fit that suit?"
Metal Man (GM): He still hasn't turned around. In fact, he's staring out the window almost longingly.
Julian: "...Apparently not."
Digifanatic looks to see if there are any spare uniforms or anything that they might be able to blend in with.
Nodal notes that that is probably too late.
Metal Man (GM): Denon suddenly turns around. His eyes are cold blue. Like crystal. He wears a black-and-steel uniform; the steel being on the edges and seams. His face looks like a very generic commander, save for those sunken in eyes.
Digifanatic: (very quietly) "Well, Nodal... do you feel lucky?"
Metal Man (GM): A strange blue aura is around him; his shoulder-length, frayed black hair seems to sway by itself.
Digifanatic: .oO(He sure is one ominous-looking guy.)
Julian: .oO(...This ain't good.)
Metal Man (GM): He wears pitch black pilot's gloves, and his boots clank with the sound of a thousand men, chained.
Nodal: "Not very."
Metal Man (GM): He walks towards you a bit, just enough to face both of you. He bends his head sideways a bit; the sound of cracking is heard. Then he bends it the other way.
Denon: "You shall not take my ship, stowaways."
Metal Man (GM): He then raises both his fists and makes a tremendous yell; he glows a furious blue color. COMMANDER BATTLE. Questers vs. General Denon, Commander of Infantry.
Denon: "Let me tear your souls into a million pieces."
Metal Man (GM): He raises his right hand; control panels rip out of the walls and fly at Julian at high speeds. Five of them.
Julian: "...Fu-" *CRUNCHSMACKPOW.*
Denon: "That is but a sample of the pain you have caused me..."
Digifanatic: .oO(It's about this time I wish everyone else was here...)
Julian gets up after being blindsided by machinery, and getting 1/3rd of his health knocked off right off the bat.* "I already beat you down once, I can do it again!" *Julian rips off SkyHigh's helmet, drops it, and grabs his fedora, which he launches at Denon for a Hat Trick!*
Metal Man (GM): He's hit once, then he phases into another plane of existence before the others can hit him. He emerges where he was last standing.
Denon: "You cannot knock down a man already on his knees."
Julian: "...Aw man, not that trick again... Digi, New Guy, keep him busy! Scan him or somethin'!"
Nodal throws his seeds in the air to sprinkle down on the team. "We need every advantage we can get." He then busts out his Smash Dex and scans Denon. "New guy? I was around when the person you are disguised as was new."
Metal Man (GM): Nodal raises his dex and presses the button; he is frozen in time.
Julian: "Whatever, I never got your name at the tomb."
Metal Man (GM): Denon pulls out a wicked looking harpoon made out of pure darkness and hurls it at Nodal. Nodal is unfrozen after being savagely impaled on the harpoon, which then rips itself out of him and returns to Denon, who catches it and puts it back.
Nodal is harpooned wondering how he got the speed to do that.
Julian: "...Man, this is not lookin' good..."
Denon: "That is for relying on a device to replace your instincts."
Nodal is so shocked that all he has time to do is defend hurriedly.
Digifanatic starts the fight off trying to connect a Fire Punch to Denon's gut. After that attack is done with, he retreats a step back and goes for a Forward Slam to his body. He then walks back to the group and defends.
Metal Man (GM): He phases into a different plane and evades both your attacks. He returns, the same scowl on his face.
Denon: "Now you shall die."
Digifanatic is shocked at both of those fiascoed attempts.
Metal Man (GM): He powers up, and splits into three clones of himself. They surround Julian.
Denon: "Triad THUNDER!"
Metal Man (GM): Julian is surrounded by three rapidly closing in walls of lightning.
Julian: "Not this again..."
Metal Man (GM): Then, reality itself explodes like a mirror... It rewinds a little bit, the Denons and Julian frozen. Denon reappears where he was, and splits into six versions of himself, 3 of which surround Digi, the other three Nodal. The mirror effect happens again, and then somehow 9 Denons unleash Triad Thunder on everyone simultaneously...
Julian: *Deftly avoids the thunderbarrage by moving to the side.*
Digifanatic is struck...
Metal Man (GM): Digi takes damage, as does Nodal. Electric.
Nodal is smacked.
Metal Man (GM): He returns to one whole self, who then walks right up to Julian and makes a reaching motion.
Julian: *D'oh.*
Metal Man (GM): Julian is lifted up into the air.
Denon: "This pain... it is what happens when all your friends are dead."
Metal Man (GM): Julian is then smashed into a wall, then the ceiling, then through a row of control panels, and finally thrown at Nodal and Digi like a rocket.
Julian: *PSHFOWWHAMWHOA!* *Everyone Dies!*
Metal Man (GM): Denon faces all three of you, his right hand once again glowing with energy. His eyes appear to have frozen over with intensity.
Julian: *crashlands in a heap along with Digi and Nodal, then shakily pulls himself back up.* "How'd he get so strong..."
Digifanatic: "You don't want to know, and I don't want to know."
Nodal: "I want to know."
Digifanatic: "Julian, just get him."
Julian: "...Wait... how'd we defeat him last time... The Emeralds!" *Julian reaches into his back pocket, and pulls out... the purple Emerald? How'd that get in there?*
Denon: "You cannot grab darkness."
Digifanatic: "I hope you have two spare ones on you, Jules..."
Julian: "Now... how do you make 'em work... Nah man, I just swiped one before I came here."
Denon: "There is no chaos which can drown my sadness. Do not tempt fate."
Julian: "You shut your goddamned mouth. I said I already beat you once, and I can do it again! Just gotta figure out how to get this thing to do it's stuff, then you'll be goin' down!"
Metal Man (GM): He continues powering up. You better find some way to activate it; you can almost hear the flying control panels.
Denon: "I have become tired of your standing."
Julian: "C'mon... I'm Julian Sawyer, I stole a lightsaber off The Void, I punched out Grodus, I beat *CENSORED* out of SkyHigh, AND I finished off that *censored* Kales! Now *CENSORED* WORK!' *shakes the emerald in an effort to get it do something... It starts glowing!* "...About mutha.*censored* time! Now then, to take out the mutha.*censored* trash!" *Julian holds it out in front of him, all stylish like.*
Denon: "And you told ME to shut up..."
Julian: *As time goes all Swirly-like, Julian rushes forward, fist that ISN"T holding the Emerald reared back with a ball of energy surrounding it. Upon reaching Denon, he flies it forward and tries to connect with a Fully Charged KO Punch."
Nick Caligo (GM): Assuming Julian's not too busy pulling his fist back and getting a dramatic bullet-time affect. Which... I see he is.
Denon: "I am unlike the others."
Metal Man (GM): His right fist glows, and he attacks you right back, punching your punch with unimaginable power. *CRIT.* His punch shatters yours, probably breaking some bones in your hands, knocking you out of chaos control, and embedding you in a wall.
Julian: "...Man what the HELL?! That worked for Charles!"
Denon: "You killed all the idiots. Now finish the job and kill yourself."
Metal Man (GM): He dusts his hands off... though a lone control panel beeps behind him.
Nodal notes the beep. He races towards Denon probably while spouting some witty phrase. He then leaps to the side at the last minute and dives towards the panel. He looks quickly as he goes to see what he can on it.
Metal Man (GM): Denon watches you and just stares; he doesn't even think you're worth attacking, despite provoking several AoOs.
Nodal doesn't really care what Denon thinks.
Metal Man (GM): You get to the panel, and realize something... there's a beam which can beam up people. And... you're over Quester HQ...
Digifanatic: "Dude, what is that?"
Nodal smacks the button to control the beam. He aims it at the HQ and is ready to bring up anybody there who can even remotely help.
Metal Man (GM): You press the button. Alarms go off; the intruder alert.
Denon: "Thank you, Nodal, for moving a single pawn while the others did nothing but drool on the chess board."
Nodal: "I never was good at chess..."
Julian: "You shut your mouth! If it hadn't have been for that counter you'd be picking glass out the back of your head!"
Metal Man (GM): The beam makes a nice ring in the floor. Metal and Aetos appear in it.
Digifanatic: "Hey guys."
Metal Man: "Huh? What am I doing here?"
Julian: "Helping beat down this cheatin' mutha.*censored*." *Julian at this point has begun prying himself from the wall.*
Azure: "Maybe I can help shed some light on the situation."
Digifanatic: "Julian! Oh man... I have something. hang on." He walks over to Julian and gives him a shot of Healing Spray, then deciding to return on the offensive... he rears back his fist like the standard Fire Punch, but when he strikes, it is actually a fierce burst of light energy that is being directed at him instead of flames (Elemental Will-ized). After this, without missing a beat, he attempts to launch one quick Light Ray on him.
Metal Man (GM): Denon phases out of the way without missing a beat. He stares at the beam of light with special anger.
Digifanatic: "I heard you before... I get it."
Denon: "Come one. Come all. To watch your destruction."
Metal Man (GM): Spyke is also beamed up.
Azure: "Destruction's overrated." he raises his hands in the air as a massive cluster of spirit charms appears above him. He then aims hands downward the ball and pointed it forward. The massive ball slamed forward toward denon more and more spirit charms appearing along the way. Azure casts spirit charm revolution.
Nodal would like to note he was half-way through his not good at chess speach.
Metal Man (GM): He attempts to leap out of the way. He flies out of the way, with unearthly speed.
Aetos: "Huh, so you're Denon? I've never come face-to-face with you till now, thanks for the lift, Nodal." he takes out his spear and runs up to Denon with his spear outward, in a moment he thrusts it at Denon to impale him.
Metal Man (GM): Denon holds out one of his hands just in time; the spear stops in mid air and drops to the ground.
Denon: "And you call that a throw?"
Julian: "Did anyone ELSE bring an emerald? "
Metal Man: "Well, I did, but what use would it be for against him?"
Aetos mutters and backtalks Denon.
Julian: "...Well, that's what we used LAST TIME to beat him!"
Aetos: "I brought MINE... that would be... 3?..."
Nodal: "Did anyone think kind enough to bring mine?"
Denon: "I am not a fool. Use raw power against me and you will burn yourselves... especially since they cannot be used effectively against me."
Spyke grips his saber, his knuckles cracking slightly... "...Denon, huh?... I'll give it my all!" He dashes forward, his saber lashing wildly at Denon three times, in a simple asterick pattern.
Metal Man (GM): Denon does the whole teleport thing again, pantomiming Spyke the whole way.
Julian: "I ALMOST hit you last time, Man! Next time you won't be so lucky!" *at this point has finished prying himself from the wall.*
Denon: "Now... I shall..."
Metal Man (GM): Denon looks behind him; only a few control panels remain.
Denon: "..."
Spyke thinks to himself... oO( Such speed... I'm useless here... again... )
Metal Man (GM): Mercifully, he doesn't do anything, except flick a switch on a control panel.
Spyke blinks...
Julian: "Alright, let's try something new..." *Julian reaches into his back pocket and pulls out an OMNI Cube, sets it to LIGHT, and tries smashing Denon in the face with it.*
Metal Man: "I think we need to disable his ability to teleport before we can really hit h---" *TSEER* *BAM.*
Aetos: "What were you saying?"
Metal Man (GM): It flies into his face at high speeds. A sizzling noise is heard, as it leaves a cube-shaped burn in his face.
Digifanatic: "Oh that is beautiful..."
Metal Man: "...Well, save for a limited supply of cubes, nothing seems capable to hit him."
Spyke: "Ouch..."
Julian: "Bam, sucka! Try another! *Julian whips another Light OMNI cube at him."
Metal Man (GM): You hit him again. Considerable burns are made from those tiny cubes... he stands firm, although he appears frenzied now.
Denon: "I will make sure you don't do that again."
Julian: "How you like that, punk?!"
Metal Man: "Hm. It's a long shot, but I may be able to hit him."
Metal Man gets into charge stance and runs at Denon, at full speed, of course. Metal just barely misses him; he bounces off a wall. He tries again.
Metal Man hits Denon from behind; the weird nature of his attack making it hard to dodge.
Denon: "I have already lost. What will you prove by killing me?"
Julian: "That I'm better than you are, once and for all!"
Spyke: "I... don't know?"
Metal Man: "It was the guy who pressed the switch's idea."
Aetos: "Julian does, apparently."
Nodal runs up to Denon. He slices into his body twice before executing a flip over him and slicing both his shoulders. He then backflips back over and stab's Denon's head before he lands in a defensive posture.
Metal Man (GM): He sits there and teleports away from your attacks, except... for the crit, which barely crits his left shoulder. A small gash is made in his uniform.
Digifanatic starts the turn by looking around for the controls to this ship, wondering if he can get it away from the Stadium...
Metal Man (GM): The controls are in a million pieces, thrown everywhere; those that remain control lasers, that weird teleporting beam, and the radio.
Digifanatic: "Oh, man... hang on a second... Nah, X-Zone won't work..."
Azure: .oO(He's too fast... I need to devise a plan...)
Digifanatic: "Or perhaps... hmm..." *tries figuring out how to control the teleportation beam, hoping he can figure some controls and such for it.*
Metal Man (GM): You try to press it, and then your hand hits a wall of telekinetic energy.
Digifanatic: *ZAP* "Ouch!" *then tries listening in on the radio...*
Denon: "I won't let you touch those. They're so precious, I won't even hurl them at you."
Digifanatic: "I imagine as much."
Metal Man (GM): You stand there, using more time listening to static.
Digifanatic: "I wonder... Perhaps I can."
Azure: .oO(We need... a plan of attack. Surely there is some way threw his defense...)
Metal Man watches Digi, preparing another bland but effective charge attack.
Digifanatic gets an evil grin on his face, trying to perform something he hasn't done in a while... yes, he's going to try and digitally seal Denon up.
Metal Man (GM): You press the button, and it glows. Denon laughs and hurls his harpoon at you.
Digifanatic: "Uh oh..." *He takes two hits off of that one, the shield deflecting a third stab... Digifanatic then tries to pay attention to that static, maybe trying to fool around with the frequency to see if it changes anything.*
Metal Man (GM): You try to touch it and find that wall again. Apparently he can generate it as long as he can concentrate.
Digifanatic: "Someone try to screw around with his mind or something while I figure things out in a bit...
Azure: "This is greatly against my nature... for such a tainted being..." Azure tries to mimic one of the dark Denon's abilities.
Metal Man (GM): You gain: Soul Punch.
Azure: .oO( I wish this could help me more but its the same as any other punch I could possibly throw. There's... almost nothing I can do.) Azure goes into an evasive posture for now ending his actions. Noting the battle situation.
Aetos: "I need to get some spare time!..." he simply defends.
Spyke growls, being the persistent one, and leaps at Denon, trying to grab him.
Metal Man (GM): He just barely fails.
Spyke ifts Denon over his head and slashes at his chest, sending him flying back a bit and then follows through with a trio of saber slashes.*
Metal Man (GM): Okay. The first throw attack hits, then he dodges the rest. Denon powers up to full. He points squarely... at Metal.
Denon: "Get off of my ship."
Metal Man: "...?"
Aetos: "Don't blow up the HQ and we might..?"
Metal Man (GM): Before anything else can be said, Denon fires an extremely powerful ray of energy which blasts Metal through a wall and off the ship.
Spyke: "!!"
Aetos: "Metal!?!?!"
Metal Man (GM): A big flaming hole is left where the wall used to be.
Azure: "..."
Metal Man (GM): You can't tell where Metal went; but Denon, meanwhile, is appearing drained.
Julian: "...*CENSORED*"
Digifanatic is still somewhat looking at the controls--he looks back and sees Metal gone. "What the...?"
Denon: "Now... I shall finish the job."
Metal Man (GM): He gets up, and turns to you guys.
Julian: "...Oh, NOW you're in for it!" *Julian launches two more OMNI Light Cubes at Denon's noggin.*
Metal Man (GM): Both hit, burning him as usual.
Digifanatic: "Looking good, Julian..."
Julian then reaches up, grabs his fedora, and LAUNCHES it, trying for another Hat Trick!*
Metal Man (GM): He is hit once, then you miss him. Not because he's really dodging either.
Denon: "You throw hats like Kuja."
Julian catches his hat on the rebound and puts it back on his head.* "You just wait..."
Nodal attempts to keep Denon occupied. "Only a really lucky hit will work... so..." Nodal races over to Denon and puts as much force into his blows as possible. He trusts to luck to deliver some actual harm as he stabs each limb and then Denon's throat. He then jumps back and gets into a defensive stance.
Metal Man (GM): Even without his teleportation, he evades all but one of those attacks.
Denon: "Did you expect me to stop moving entirely?"
Digifanatic jumps away from the control panels for a moment, taking the op to try and drill Denon with another Fire Punch. He also attempts to pull off a Microwave on him as well... Digifanatic then retreats back to the group.. .oO(You are starting to irritate me...)
Metal Man (GM): ...Amazingly, you continue to miss him even though he can't teleport out of the way.
Julian: "Thanks man." *flexes his right fist to make sure everything's back to normal in there.*
Aetos raises his fist into Denon'sface, as it soars wind energy trails off, the fist takes the form of an eagle head made of wind.
Metal Man (GM): You manage to miss somehow. Spyke.
Spyke dashes at Denon, noticing the sudden lack of enthusiasm of him to just warp away from everything. He plants his feet, sending a shower of pretty, but useless sparks in front of him in the process, before suddenly rocketing upward in a spiraling jump slash, his green beam saber crackling with blue whisps of lightning. *seems to float above Denon as his body whirls wildly around, his saber extended out from his spiraling body, lashing at Denon three times with his wind-charged saber.*
Metal Man (GM): Hit hit hit. He seems much slower.
Spyke: *lands sharply, his saber now glowing an intense blue, the air frosting over behind the weapon as he slashes thrice at Denon with the icy weapon.*
Metal Man (GM): He still manages to dodge that. The Freeze, that is.
Spyke: *pulls back his weapon, his muscles bunching up as he collects a large amount of power into the weapon. he thrusts forward with a tri-elemental edge, a small oxplosion eminating from the tip! "Nature's Fury!"* *takes a few tired steps back.*
Metal Man (GM): Denon stands before you, wounded and weakened. He stands up and brushes himself off, admiring the hole and straightening out his outfit.
Denon: "This is only the beginning. I will make sure you suffer before you die."
Spyke: "You can only cause suffering to those that have anything to lose..."
Julian: "WhatEVER. You're still goin' down, punk!" *preps his final OMNI Cube...*
Metal Man (GM): He grips his fist, and reality bends; the terminals seem to fix themselves. After having done that, he re-tears them out of the wall, and sends them at Julian, Spyke, Nodal, and Aetos respectively.
Julian: *WHAMMO.*
Metal Man (GM): Denon looks smug now. He points at all of you, and the smashed terminals.
Denon: "In trying to destroy me, you only create more suffering."
Julian gets up from getting slammed back by the terminal, and launches that final OMNI Cube right into Denon's smug face.*
Spyke winces as he takes damage from a single hit.
Metal Man (GM): He's hit insanely quickly. He sizzles a bit, wiping the light energy away like it's acid.
Denon: "Gurk... your bewitched tools will not stop me."
Julian: "You're lucky that's the last one." *A tiny shattering sound is heard as Julian stores up some energy...*
Nodal throws his seeds up in the air. He then takes a stance against the enemy. "It's just Denon! We can do it people! He yells out with a cry that seems to imbue everyone with confidence.
Denon: "You can't stop me with your fancy magic."
Julian: *Already had confidence, but thanks for the pick-me-up!*
Digifanatic preps up one more Light Punch and then unleashes another Running Charge on Denon's midsection.
Metal Man (GM): Denon stands and snickers as you trip up long before you can hit him.
Denon: "You need more training."
Digifanatic: "I don't need training. I just happen to be having a bad day."
Azure heals Julian once again. He then defends, unable to even touch this being with an attack.
Aetos swaps out his spear for the mystical keyblade, the dark wing keychain tosses around on the end. Aetos holds it straight out in front of him, at Denon, 3 orbs consecutively shimmer at the tip of the key, wind swirls arounds from the bottom around and up to the orb of light, the 3 orbs suddenly burst through the air and right at Denon.
Denon: "You shall not hit me."
Metal Man (GM): He warps left and right, and then somewhat belatedly away from you. Wait a minute. Light, eh? Subtract 5 from each. The last one hits. He tries to warp, but the light seeks him out like an unquenchable flame. He still manages to dodge the first two.
Azure: .oO(Interesting...)
Metal Man (GM): He's a little scorched by it, himself.
Spyke leaps at Denon, his palm open, whispy strands of blue electricity beginning to form... They seem unstable as the combine...
Denon: "I am above angels."
Spyke suddenly stretches out his other palm, the ball of energy forming sucessfully, and then splitting in two, one in each hand. He slams them both into Denon.
Metal Man (GM): Not even a light attack could hit him like that.
Spyke slashes once with his beam saber, and ends his turn.
Metal Man (GM): Denon dodges once more, and then stands perfectly still. The room becomes entirely silent, at least for a moment. Then... everything begins to shake. Windows start getting spider-web like cracks in them.
Nodal: "What is going on?"
Metal Man (GM): Electronics explode. You could almost feel like there's a wind here.
Digifanatic: "Dude, I have no idea..."
Metal Man (GM): Denon glows heavily, and his eyes illuminate.
Digifanatic: "But I think that he's looking to finish us..."
Metal Man (GM): He floats off of the ground, as runes surround him in rings. And... accompanying that... gravity seems to lose its power. You guys begin floating.
Digifanatic: "Whoa..."
Denon: "This... is... IT! I will prove my worth... I will avenge my people... I will gain reputation beyond Kuja... by killing the unkillable! RRRRrrraaaaaarrrrrrrghhhhhhh HAAAAAAAA!!!!"
Azure: .oO(What is this a spell) his eyes narrow at denon.
Metal Man (GM): He becomes fully illuminated, and then trillions of arrows of darkness fly out in all directions, shredding everything without willpower they touch.
Denon: "REIDZ!"
Metal Man (GM): Also, say what you do to oppose the dark energy. As it can't just be resisted by raw power. It's effected by your thoughts. As for the Archelago II, whatever the arrows touch there are perforated in enough ways that they collapse into dust, save for heavily armored portions of the ship.
Nodal attempts to focus on a light as he has learned in his travels. However his recent boost to the others is affecting his concentration.
Azure quickly senseing the dark force manuvers his hands around his spirit charm orbs come to his aid floating around him. They form a unique pattern of symbols directly in front of him as the flowing dark energy heads toward him. The unique pattern stood for the words cleansing light. He focused his mind on this letting it be his light within the approaching darkness.
Aetos closes his eyes and focuses on his spirit, the one he became fused with before he met the Questers, the one that gives him the power he has, and he holds onto it with his mind.
Digifanatic tries to oppose the darkness by thinking that he knows that he's been in more difficult odds and more dire situations (AKA The Void and such) than this... crazy lights and such start flying around, as well as a sort of digital aura surrounding him as well...
Metal Man (GM): Nodal fails, the light of his travels being no match for the images which flood his mind. Aetos uses his spirit, but it is not the light. The darkness, and its madness, consumes him. Azure uses his raw knowledge of light and how it works to protect himself. Digi's pure innocence protects him. Those who saved; You would see those who didn't become consumed by darkness, which would attempt to further rip them to shreds. Aetos and Nodal's minds are flooded by images of hatred, pain. Denon and the Solarians of old, coming here after the destruction of their world... hibernating... then returning, only to be slaughtered by the Questers. Denon, killed and revived twice, the pain of his death terrible. And finally, Kuja laughing, mocking Denon and enslaving what was left to his own empire.
Digifanatic takes a quick glance at the ailing Nodal, who seems to be in a lot of agony, just hoping that he can escape it...
Metal Man (GM): Nodal takes damage. Aetos, damage. Denon himself takes a ton of damage from the attack. Regardless of who else saves and who doesn't, he falls to the ground, in pain.
Denon: "Why... are you not dead? Even those who failed to resist the darkness... I made that spell m y s e l f..."
Metal Man (GM): He stands up, near death.
Nodal gets up and stumbles to the floor. Shaking he then gets up again.
Aetos appears pinned down by the darkness, his body smushed against the floor even. "Grrorblyou1jak!"
Denon: "If I cannot kill you... I don't deserve to live."
Aetos pushes himself up with strain and then in a flash of light, he fails to break the darkness off of him.
Nodal: "Denon..."
Nodal is too shaken by the things he has seen to do anything. He defends against Denon.
Digifanatic fights through the darkness and attempts to keep hounding Denon... he tries a Celestial Fury, hoping that some sort of Light-enhanced move like that will finally land...
Metal Man (GM): Spyke manages to evade the darkness; he is not hated enough by Denon. Meanwhile, Digi crit hits into Denon. Denon stands there, his eyes agape as he is nearly killed outright by Digi sends him flying off to the side, onto the control panels. +2000 EXP.
Aetos: "Digi, good job..."
Digifanatic finally nails a hit into Denon and it couldn't be any sweeter, or perhaps, brighter... he launches off of him and stands up in awe. "Thanks, man... It was about time."
Metal Man (GM): Denon leans on the control panel, still burning.
Denon: "No... it is all over... I--"
Nodal: "Good... job."
Spyke: "Geeze... Digi, you might have... overdone it..."
Sky High: (PA) "Hello... Denon."
Digifanatic: "Nah. He got what he deserved."
Denon: "...??!?!? Sky! It's you! Save me..."
Azure: Denon if you let me. I can pray for your souls safe passage. his attention switches to the PA.
Digifanatic: "Azure, what was that for?"
Spyke looks around. "What now?"
Sky High: "Save you? I wouldn't do so to save my own life, you fool."
Metal Man (GM): You see Sky's image on the main screen, ala Star Fox 64.
Aetos listens intently to Sky High... he starts forming a psychotic grin.
Julian: "...You!"
Denon: "But... you shared my sympathies... you... didn't want to be Kuja's slave either..."
Azure: "I'm bound to my duty. If I can possibly bring some light from the darkness then I only need try. But... I can only pray that chance... comes..."
Sky High: "For different reasons. Since you insisted upon your own insane plan and ignored my own, you are expendable."
Denon: "..."
Metal Man (GM): You hear a charging up... far off. The ship's alarms go off.
Julian: "...The hell is that..."
Spyke: "... Usually not something good..."
Computer: "All personnell. Abandon ship. All personnell. Abandon ship."
Denon: "...It can't be..."
Metal Man (GM): Denon stands up, leaning on his harpoon.
Julian: "...Did he just do... what I think he did?"
Denon: "He's fired my laser cannon... directly at us!"
Metal Man (GM): You hear Skyhigh's voice echoing on the PA.
Julian: "...Why the HELL would you make it possible for your laser cannons to fire in on themselves?!"
Sky High: "Yes... it will kill the Questers and clean up your flying piece of garbage."
Nodal: "Don't you have any common sense!"
Denon: "No, no... there's a laser cannon on my base."
Julian: *Also, survived the darkness because he's good like that. Yeah.* "Oh..."
Denon: "One I built to destroy your headquarters in case this failed."
Aetos pulls out his spear and stabs at the screen violantly.
Denon: "Unfortunately, I and my ship are in the way of the blast..."
Azure: "It's time we go. Denon if you truly don't want to be under Kuja, join us in a fight to end this madness."
Spyke: "... Well, then what are we waiting for? Let's clear out... Someone grab Denon."
Metal Man (GM): The ship begins shaking. Denon falls over.
Denon: "It is too late for me. Leave the ship... take the elevator down."
Digifanatic: "Alright then..."
Metal Man (GM): Denon hurls a key-card to Julian.
Julian: *draws Vendetta and ignites it, incase they need to carve open a door... and catches the key-card.*
Denon: "That is mine... take whatever ships you want."
Sky High: "What do we have here? A traitor in our midst? Rest assured... I will make escape impossible."
Julian: "Why should I trust you? Maybe this card does nothing, or blows up those ships."
Aetos: .. "Is that small ship, Sky High piloted, on board?..."
Spyke: "...Denon..." He gazes at the wreck of a commander, feeling pity for some unknown reason...
Sky High: "Good bye. Hahahahahaaa!"
Metal Man (GM): The screen turns off, as the ship begins rocking.
Denon: "He has begun triggering the explosives. If you do not leave now, you will be killed."
Julian: "...Which floor is the hanger?"
Aetos: "Bah!" he leaves.
Nodal: "Well I'm afraid it isn't your choice anymore."
Azure attempts to grab Denon despite his actions and assist him in standing."Then I guess we should be going."
Denon: "The tenth floor..."
Nodal grabs Denon with Azure. "Let's go."
Julian: *nods, then heads for the elevator.*
Metal Man (GM): You head to the elevators. They don't respond.
Azure: "Thanks Nodal." he begins heading for the elevator.
Aetos stands there already... "Stairs?"
Nodal follows with Azure.
Metal Man (GM): Instead, you hear Skyhigh's voice when you try to open them.
Julian: "...Come *CENSORED* on!" *tries the keycard, if there's a place to use it.*
Sky High: "Like I'd let you off that easy?"
Metal Man (GM): The keycard doesn't work.
Spyke aides Azure if he sees that the guy needs it... And if it's impossible, he'd follow the rest... As far as they can go. "Darn doors!"
Metal Man (GM): The only way out is a door to open a hallway.
Julian: *What floor are we on again?*
Digifanatic follows as well...
Nodal: "Sky you crazy moron..."
Metal Man (GM): Denon is grabbed, but he doesn't seem very alive anymore.
Aetos walks into the open door.
Denon: "Leave me... the captain goes down with his ship. I will be dead before you can help me."
Julian: *Checks what floor they're on currently*
Metal Man (GM): Floor 1, top floor.
Nodal: "I can help you now."
Spyke: "Azure... I know how you feel, but we don't have a choice..." He slowly lets go of Denon, so that Denon won't hit the deck too hard... Before following Aetos.
Denon: "Light energy only harms me."
Aetos growls... walking back through the door. "Time... to GO!!" he walks through the door again.
Nodal: "Tis good it isn't Light then."
Julian activates his Rocket Boots and heads streaming for the door and up.*
Azure: "Is this you request Denon." his eyes become overshadowed by his hood.
Julian: *yells back.* "What the *censored* are you guys doing?! I don't wanna die here, let's get moving!"
Nodal concentrates fiercely as he walks along before energy flows along his arms in a wave of healing water energy into Denon.
Aetos feels tempted to kill Denon right there, but he keeps trekking up the thing in the doorway..
Digifanatic is still following them up the stairs...
Metal Man (GM): Denon is burned by the energy rather than healed.
Denon: "I cannot be healed by light magic..." *cough.*
Digifanatic: "Nodal, just come on..."
Metal Man (GM): Meanwhile, the others run into the study. Books fall out, and stuff begins falling over.
Nodal follows along.
Julian: *Door?*
Spyke tries to pick up a few books as he's running by... Unles they are huge. @_@
Azure *his grip lessons leaning denon body against a wall he takes his left arm and begins moving his hand back and forth across him before standing* "Let the elements bring whats left of your soul to true peace." he turns following everyone.
Metal Man (GM): You leave him behind; there are no stairs. Rather, yes, you encounter a locked door. Spyke picks up interesting books about Denon's past. The door which blocks the way has a keycard slot.
Julian: *Carves it open with Vende-Or the keycard could work.*
Nodal looks for anything related to the X-Zone or Kuja.
Metal Man (GM): Nodal find an unmarked book with a page jammed into it. The door opens on up.
Nodal grabs the book and hurries after.
Julian: "C'mon!" *heads in.*
Digifanatic follows Julian in.
Metal Man (GM): A large room can be seen; its the one the original fight took place in. All the computer terminals are shooting sparks. You just have to walk down some stairs, which are now in the center of the room. The other doors are blocked by debris.
Julian: *Stairs! OMG!* *But the hangar is on floor 10... WHAT.*
Metal Man (GM): The steps go down. It seems weird, but floors go in reverse order. Floor 10 is the bottom floor.
Julian: *Madness! Goes down.*
Metal Man (GM): You're on the top, so down there is floor 2...
Digifanatic just keeps following Julian...
Nodal puts the book in his bag with the note about the X-Zone. He then heads on down.
Digifanatic: "Come on. It's probably another one of those Sardis pages... we'll look at it at the Stadium."
Metal Man (GM): You walk on down.
Spyke is happy with the books he found, since he needs to learn more about who he just fought, and possibly the whole situation... and continues to follow.
Metal Man (GM): You're now in another hallway.
Julian: *I'ma flying.*
Metal Man (GM): This hallway has a dead-end, and its a tight squeeze; you can't go back. You have a door on the left and another on the right.
Julian: *Always go right...*
Spyke: "I'd say flip a coin, but do we have any?"
Aetos pulls out a coin.
Aetos: "Left. "
Julian: *has gone right.*
Aetos examines the left door.
Digifanatic follows Aetos this time for now...
Metal Man (GM): Julian walks right and encounters a room which is a dead end. Debris falls on his way out, too. Gonna need to blast it away.
Julian: *quickly backtracks and flies toward the left room. * *carves a path through with Vendetta.*
Metal Man (GM): Digi opens the left door and finds it safe; however a huge security door blocks the way ahead there.
Nodal always follows the clone.
Julian: *It's like the movies :D!*
Spyke is ready to move left when the others do so.
Digifanatic: "Do you want to turn back, or do you think we can smash through that?"
Aetos pulls out a ring, a door opener 3000... he activates it. "I'm running out of these fast, but we need to leave, fast."
Digifanatic: "Don't worry, I have a lot of money, I'll be willing to pay you one later."
Metal Man (GM): Aetos opens up the door with it, his luck helping him, as Julian catches up.
Julian: *flies past the group and continues on.*
Azure: Begins to dash also now silent.
Aetos glares at Julian and continues through the door.
Metal Man (GM): You reach a room with a big hole in the middle. You're going to have to leap down to the third floor, without landing on flaming debris.
Nodal is racing through the door.
Aetos jumps down, but keep in mind he has 3 jumps, and a glide.
Digifanatic tries to jump his way down...
Julian: *carefully crosses the chasm with his Rocket Boots, careful not to touch any debris.
Metal Man (GM): Digi and Aetos leap on down with no trouble.
Spyke climbs down carefully...
Metal Man (GM): It's a small space. Spyke leaps onto flaming debris and takes damage.
Nodal jumps carefully.
Metal Man (GM): Julian nicks himself on some fire, taking damage. Nodal leaps on down.
Spyke takes muuuuch more than that. >.< His armor glows red, and his artificial fur seemes extrmely susceptible...
Metal Man (GM): Azure does the best jumping possible. He gets down with ease. An elevator is dead ahead, its buttons flickering.
Julian: *heads for it, and checks the buttons.*
Aetos: "I don't trust that."
Digifanatic starts to rush into the elevator...
Spyke jogs slowly over to it... Is the elevator open?
Aetos stands before it with everyone, his arms crossed. "It could be a trap..."
Metal Man (GM): Julian feels the buttons. They seem rather loose. The elevator is currently closed, though you can open it by pressing the buttons.
Spyke: "...A trapped elevator..."
Aetos attempts to rip the doors open.
Spyke: "You think it could be?"
Digifanatic: "I'm not sure..."
Metal Man (GM): You try to rip it open and fail. The buttons look like they could work.
Julian: *hits the button for floor 10.*
Metal Man (GM): Well, you mean the down button, since you're on the outside. The door begins opening... and stops. It shoots sparks. Its a bit too narrow to fit in for now.
Julian: "..."
Metal Man (GM): That is, fit through the door.
Julian: *tries pulling the rest of it open.*
Metal Man (GM): The buttons still flicker, though.
Nodal: "...Julian?"
Metal Man (GM): Julian uses his immense strength to open the doors. The doors, however, try to open themselves too.
Digifanatic: "Nice job."
Metal Man (GM): Sparks fly as it is fully opened.
Julian: "I AM getting out of here alive, goddammit!" *steps into the elevator.*
Metal Man (GM): It dings erratically.
Digifanatic takes his chances and heads on in...
Nodal: "Oh what the heck...:"
Digifanatic: "I'm not concerned."
Nodal heads on in.
Julian: *Floor 10!*
Metal Man (GM): You press the button. The doors go to close, but get stuck again. The elevator goes down a little and then stops.
Nodal: "Great."
Metal Man (GM): An explosion is heard. Skyhigh's voice is heard again.
Sky High: (PA) "You'll never get out alive."
Digifanatic just stands still, and then *BOOM* "Oh maaaaaaaaan..."
Nodal: "Oh shut up traitor."
Computer: "T-minus five minutes until fatal impact."
Julian: *looks to see if he can get ontop of the elevator cab... and failing that, he cuts his way out of the top.*
Nodal: "Julian! Get us out of here!"
Metal Man (GM): You can, via a cleverly placed hatch.
Julian: *opens it, and climbs out.*
Metal Man (GM): You climb out, and notice the precarious nature of the elevator.
Nodal notes his escape and jumps out on top as well.
Digifanatic follows him outta there...
Metal Man (GM): You're atop it now, but the shaft is too narrow to climb down. The car blocks the way.
Julian then tries another thing he's pretty sure he saw in the movies: Handstand ontop of the elevator, then ratchet his Rocket Boots up to full blast to try and get it moving again.*
Metal Man (GM): The elevator begins falling at a speed constant with Julian's boots, which is somewhat fast.
Azure: *climbs up last.*
Metal Man (GM): Everyone else stands there and watches in awe.
Julian: "You guys shoulda stayed in the cab..." *keeps going until they reach floor 10.*
Nodal: "Julian? How are you going to stop this?"
Digifanatic: "I just hope you can control the speed of this thing."
Julian: "10 is the bottom floor, and I hope this thing doesn't empty out into the air..."
Digifanatic: "Well, hope someone has a makeshift parachute."
Julian: "Or you can jump..."
Digifanatic: "Yeah."
Aetos merely stands there in the cab... "Anytime now..."
Nodal: "If worst comes to worst we can use the windy one."
Metal Man (GM): You reach the 10th floor at last. The door dings erratically, as before.
Digifanatic heads back into the hatch and to the doors.
Julian: "Good. Just as I thought." *drops back into the cab, and exits to the 10th floor.*
Digifanatic: "Just get out of here and land on something soft."
Nodal jumps down into the elevator. He then exits through the door after Julian.
Aetos has been moving with the group...
Digifanatic: "Okay, now to find an exit."
Metal Man (GM): You exit, entering the massive hangar area. The doors are open, and various tube-shaped ships await you.
Julian: "He said something about ships... And this is what he was talking about." *Quickly surveys the craft.*
Metal Man (GM): Many of them are gone. They're all generic fighter craft, used for escape normally. All have keycard slots.
Julian: "There!" *Julian boosts over to them, swipes the keycard for all of them, then jumps in one and starts it up.*
Digifanatic: "Well, take one, everyone, and let's get out of here."
Metal Man (GM): They unlock, and activate. However, things aren't too rosy.
Digifanatic finds one for himself and hops in...
Computer: "T-minus one minute until fatal impact. All systems shutting down."
Nodal hops into a small one.
Aetos hops in one too...
Digifanatic: "Oh man!"
Julian: "Hurry up!"
Metal Man (GM): They're all the same size. However... you guys taking one each?
Julian: *Duh.*
Digifanatic: *nvm, he hops into the one Julian's in...*
Nodal boots his up and gets ready to take off.
Aetos goes into Nodal's.
Digifanatic: "Two and two. Perfect."
Nodal: "C'mon clone. Lets roll." But... "I think you should drive."
Julian, after starting his aircraft up, directs it towards the hangar doors, which are hopefully open... right?*
Metal Man (GM): Yup.
Nodal hops into a side seat.
Julian: *Blastoff!*
Aetos takes the pilot's chair.
Aetos: *Blastoff!x2.*
Julian: *But first... Buckle up for safety!*
Digifanatic looks to see what important controls are on his side of the cockpit.
Nodal is already buckled. Nodal then also checks to see if there is anything his side can do.
Metal Man (GM): All the ships take off, with you all buckled up. Which is good. They take off at high speeds; anyone who didn't buckle up would be thrown to the back of the ship. *CINEMA.*
Julian: *CUE STAR FOX 64 END THEME.*
Metal Man (GM): You get in your ships, and you fly on out. You look behind you a moment as a HUGE multicolored laser destroys the Archelago II. Off in the distance, another explosion is seen. You all get an incoming message from a charred Metal.
Nodal: "Adios... Denon... the Lunarian."
Metal Man (GM): (PA) "It appears you survived. Good work." *cough cough.*
Digifanatic: "Thanks..."
Metal Man (GM): (PA) "Denon's base and his ships are finally destroyed. This section of Nintendus is free."
Nodal: "Seems you did as well. Have a fun landing?"
Azure: *sighs putting his hood back over his head it having fallen of from the running rush.*
Julian: "Hell yeah! I said I'd get us off the ship alive or something to that effect! So now what, Mets?"
Metal Man (GM): (PA) "No, I just happened to break my fall on a big tree."
Julian: "Good to hear."
Metal Man (GM): (PA) "You must destroy Grodus and his land of magitek, off to the East."
Aetos: "...Where is Locos anyways?"
Digifanatic: "Oh man..."
Metal Man (GM): (PA) "Your new transportation will come in handy. You are cleared to land. Ivan's men will help you if you need any."
Julian: "Good thing we swiped these ships then..."
Metal Man (GM): (PA) "It was Denon's last wish that you have them."
Digifanatic: "He's one crazy guy..."
Julian: "One DEAD crazy guy..."
Metal Man (GM): (PA) "At least, that's what some transmission he sent us said."
Digifanatic: "He wants to kill us yet he wants us to get out of here and have his ships. Weird."
Metal Man (GM): (PA) "Now then. Come ahead and land. I'll be waiting."
Nodal: "He's already died twice before this. Don't be too sure Julian."
Julian: "Why you speakin' in present tense?"
Digifanatic: "You know what I meant."
Julian: "Roger." *Julian veers towards the Stadium and comes in for a landing.*
Digifanatic flashes a quick grin at him as he sets his sites back to HQ.
Azure: takes on last look at what use to be. Hopeing a soul could finally find some peace. He then turns and follows the others.
Aetos sighs and flies in toward base...
Metal Man (GM): *MISSION COMPLETE.* You land on the small hill that is Quester HQ.
Digifanatic: "Phew... somehow, we all made it."
Julian: "I am THE MAN."
Metal Man (GM): The camera turns towards Death Mountain, off onto the East, away from everyone. Unseen by everyone, a shadowy figure stares from atop the peak of the mountain.
???: "So... I guess Metal is as durable as his name says. Just like me. A shame Denon had to die... he would have been so helpful."
Metal Man (GM): The shadowy figure turns, facing the interior of Death Mountain.
???: "Soon enough... my plan will succeed... and all of Nintendus will be completed... Ha ha ha... ha ha ha haaaaaa!"
Metal Man (GM): He laughs as the scene fades out. MISSION END.
Digifanatic: After buying a load of items (about 30K+ coins' worth), he quietly goes to his still-tarnished room for a while.
Aetos shares the grey/white/clear one with Digi and Azure...
Digifanatic: Without time to restore what is left of his place since returning to Nintendus after the defeat of Kales, he sits on whatever of a bed he has, lays his obtained shield off to the side, and gets a real serious look on his face. "They don't know what's happened to me... I don't know if they're still alive..."
Aetos walks in Digi's door.
Digifanatic: "Hey. Come on in."
Aetos: "They aren't..."
Digifanatic: "You don't know who I'm talking about."
Julian's currently using what's left of the Gym to work out. Chin-Ups are the agenda right now...*
Aetos: "I don't?..."
Digifanatic: "Bunch of friends and family of mine back on Earth."
Aetos: "Exactly. They aren't still alive... Earth was destroyed."
Digifanatic: "I'm a young man... started here young and still one of the younger ones. Well, true, but... with my sort of 'abilities', so to say, time can change all around me, man."
Aetos: "... You think so?"
Digifanatic: "I first came here, it was almost the 21st Century AD when I decided to do this."
Aetos: "Can you take us back then?"
Digifanatic: "I dunno what year that would translate to here..."
Aetos: "Earth was a lot less... depressing... then this place, eh?"
Digifanatic: "But you know that this is all nuts when you have a guy from my time and then someone like Metal who's supposed to be thousands of years ahead of me... Well, it wasn't bad before we were exiled to Turion."
Aetos: "Really?.. I wouldn't know..."
Digifanatic: "Lot better than now. When you have all of us converging into one single year here in Nintendus, the space-time continuum works in odd ways."
Aetos nods, then somehow... fades away.
Digifanatic: "Alright, see ya whenever, man..." *goes back to staring at the ceiling, with nothing to do except wait for the next session... almost no entertainment in his room, since he's had no time, nobody who comes by here to say hi to because they all worship Kuja... it's just not the same.* .oO(Eventually, once all is said and done... they'll be talking to us again... We'll be meeting and greeting and signing autographs and putting on fights for these guys... it just takes time.) *walks over to Metal's room for a quick chat.* *knock.* *just patiently waits for a bit...*
Nodal nods to Digi and then goes searching for his old room.
Digifanatic: "Wait, Nodal..."
Nodal: "I know it was near the kitchen... Yes?"
Digifanatic: "You may be able to answer the question if I can't get to Metal."
Nodal: "Well?"
Digifanatic: "A lot of us come from different eras in time, so to say, right?"
Nodal: "Sure."
Digifanatic: "Okay..."
Nodal: "Well? Whats the problem?"
Digifanatic: "Well, considering that, we all converged on this place at one time. Theoretically, after we defeat Kuja, wouldn't we be able to diverge back to when we return to wherever?"
Nodal: "I guess its possible..." *scratches his head.* "I really always thought about it as a one-way trip."
Digifanatic: "I was talking to Aetos and he somewhat overheard the fact that I have a lot of people from Earth, you know, friends, family, whatever, and he said that Earth was demolished and everything. That's when I pointed that whole thing out because Metal's like, millennia ahead of me normally, yet we're living together here on the same date."
Nodal: "Isn't Metal from Earth?"
Digifanatic: "Yeah."
Editor's Note: Hooray, completely incorrect information that past me made for Metal's backstory! ("Metal", aka Illian, is actually from... Erastia.)
Nodal: "And he's from ahead of you?"
Digifanatic: "Yeah. But normally, I'd be dead for thousands of year before he was born. So, obviously, when the two of us decided to enter this, it's only common sense telling you that we converged within the same time of each other here."
Julian: *And Julian's happening to walk by, and he picks up the conversation.* "Yo, I though Metal came from something called Neo-Earth... Like, almost everything on Earth died, and the remaining people made a whole bunch of new stuff."
Nodal: "So if you go back to your time it cant be demolished."
Digifanatic: "Right. Maybe a couple years ahead of when I last communicated, but mostly the same."
Metal Man walks in, wiping soot off his face. He looks mostly clean, but dented up.
Nodal: "Besides Kuja isn't dead yet. So why worry?"
Digifanatic: "Right. It was just curiosity."
Metal Man: "All that has been said is mostly true. The insane Solarians were the masterminds behind it all."
Nodal: "You're all confusing me. And me without a bed to go home to."
Julian: "Yeah man, I don't really resent being sent here. It's better than my old life..."
Digifanatic: "I know, it's nuts, but let's listen to Metal for a mement."
Metal Man: "The truth is, most of what you know of Earth is very precious. Someone, or something, has been working very hard to obscure the facts."
Editor's Note: Not sure if I should specifically spoil it here, but let's just say the person talking is an unreliable narrator. Heh heh heh....
Metal Man: "I don't know who, but everything from trying to seal off portals to causing just... the right... coincidences... I can't tell the whole truth, but it comes down to this. The Solarians made the ultimate WMD and set it off, killing themselves off and losing the Three Powers war. We built from the ruins of it all, and... well. Tridus caused the destruction of Earth."
Nodal: "They do not sound like a very smart bunch."
Metal Man: "They were too smart... but not cautious."
Nodal: "Metal where the heck is my room!"
Digifanatic: "I see..."
Nodal: "It used to be near the pantry I can remember that much."
Julian: "...Yeah... I was WAY before that. 1990's and early 2000's and stuff... I'm guessing Digi comes after me, 'cause of all the fancy technology... I dunno where Garrick fits into all of this... and Metal goes last."
Digifanatic: "Actually, Julian, I'm somewhat from that time."
Nodal: "You know what? Forget it."
Digifanatic: "Late 90s, early 2000s..."
Spyke walks up and listens in for a short whole, hoping to learn something about those he works with and the world that surrounds him..
Nodal walks over to Aetos's room and locks the door with him inside.
Julian: "I dunno, I never saw nothin' like the Digivice or whatever..."
Nodal: "My room now."
Digifanatic: "It's a long story."
Aetos: "...Hi?"
Digifanatic: "Hey."
Julian: "Where you live? Japan? Yo."
Digifanatic: "No. American. But it started in Japan."
Julian: "Huh..."
Nodal: "Aetos can you show me that thing where you turn into wind again?"
Julian: "Well, I never saw nuthin' like it..."
Aetos: "Why?"
Digifanatic: "Not too many have."
Nodal: "I want to know how it defeated me."
Metal Man: "There is no real way to tell if Digi's digivice comes from the same reality... there are variations on the same theme."
Aetos: "It defeated you because you ended up passing right through me. " ^.^
Nodal: "But how does it work?"
Julian: "...Yeah... Yeah Digi, you could come from some alternate dimension or somethin'."
Digifanatic: "No, I'm seriously Earthling."
Spyke: "Alternate dimensions?... Well, that would explain why you're all so weird..."
Metal Man: "From one dimension or another, yes."
Julian: "Alternate DIMENSION Earthling."
Aetos: "Well... my spirit... it's special... hard to explain, but it's what gives me the power to do these things."
Metal Man: "Not very different... just that you have that device."
Digifanatic: *chuckle.* "Oh, be quiet... Right."
Nodal: "If its hard to explain then show me. We can test it."
Metal Man looks at a half-burnt computer.
Aetos: "Right now?..."
Nodal: "Why not? With me unable to find a bed..."
Julian: "Look, I'm just sayin'...Nothin' like that came from my time."
Aetos nods and closes his eyes..
Metal Man: "There is a logic that holds this all together... I just know it. Just let, errr... Sardis or somebody find it. I think Ivan has a theory too."
Julian: "So you either gotta be from an alternate dimension, tha future... or there's somthin' I didn't know about goin' on."
Digifanatic: "That would be the something you didn't know about."
Spyke remains quiet, still listening..
Metal Man: "I think we're all related more than our pasts would make it seem."
Julian: "Whateva... Where'd you live anyway? California or somethin'? Silicon Valley?"
Digifanatic: "No, other side of the country. New England."
Aetos begins focusing his mind on this... mysterious entity inside himself... he holds his hands out and they egin melding into air... it seems like some poison, lurking it's way up his body, the wind consumes everything now, he becomes a being of pure wind... you can still see him, he's just non-corporeal.
Nodal turns on a fan and blows him under the door crack. He then seals it up with a blanket and falls asleep on the bed."
Julian: "Ah... I lived in NYC, so that might explain it. Or not. I dunno."
Aetos: ..
Digifanatic: "I'd love to go to California, sometime..."
Aetos returns to his solid state and opens the door with his key.
Aetos steps in. "You suck."
Julian: "Yeah, I hear it's pretty nice out there."
Aetos sleeps on the floor.
Nodal throws a pillow at him.
Digifanatic: "Heh..."
Nodal: "C'mon. Lets find my room."
Metal Man: "You know, if it wasn't for my luck, I'd think the world was out to kill me."
Nodal heads out into the hallway.,.
Metal Man munches a Snickers bar through the shattered visor of his suit.
Julian: "Isn't everyone out to kill us?And where'd you get that Snickers?"
Digifanatic: "But Metal, do you think what I think is possible that if we all converged here at the same time, we'd be able to return to our normal times wherever after all this is done?"
Metal Man: "I found it stuck in Digi's old locker. It's at least 13 years old."
Julian walks outside and notes it right next door.
Metal Man turns to Digi.
Spyke: "...Is it even healthy to consume?"
Digifanatic: *rolls eyes.* "I don't even eat Snickers..."
Julian: "...*CENSORED*"
Metal Man: "I... don't... know... to either question."
Aetos shoves Nodal into the room next to him.
Julian opens it up and goes to sleep. "...You crazy, Metal."
Metal Man: "Well, when the going gets tough, the tough eat Snickers." *Snickers.*
Wolfman: *rimshot.*
Digifanatic: "Alright, but just keep in mind that it may be possible. After all, every action must have an equal and opposite reaction..."
Julian: "...Did they even HAVE Snickers in your time?"
Digifanatic: "Yes, they did."
Julian: "Talkin' to Metal."
Metal Man: "Only in museums. I got lucky and found one that Digi brought by accident... I always wanted to taste one."
Digifanatic: "Oh, sorry."
Nodal walks outside and throws a pillow at them. "Go to sleep or take it elsewhere!"
Metal Man: "In my time, they had been replaced by this disgusting blue goo called Mindblaster."
Digifanatic: .oO(What have I started?)
Julian: *catches the pillow and launches it back at Nodal.*
Metal Man is hit by a pillow. He shakes his snickers bar at Nodal. "I'm trying to eat ancient candy here!"
Nodal gets smacked and falls back into his room.
Digifanatic: .oO(I bring up converging and diverging timelines and now we're talking about Snickers bars...)
Nodal: "Butterfingers were the money candy!"
Digifanatic: "Ah, at least I like those..."
Nodal throws one at Metal. "Here. Take one of mine. I ended up finding a way to clone them anyway."
Julian: "...HOW? We're in the middle of a barren wasteland."
Nodal: "With my handy dandy... Thinking-ma-bob."
Julian: "...You're fulla *censored* ."
Digifanatic: "One more annoying preschooler show reference and you'll be tasting Fire Punch tonight."
Nodal: "You just wish you had thought ahead."
Digifanatic: "Just playing, man..."
Aetos sneaks into Nodal's bag..
Nodal uses his wind slice to knock him away.
Digifanatic: "Okay, stop it, you two..."
Nodal: "Green made me that bag. No touchey."
Digifanatic: "We're supposed to be taking it easy for a bit..."
Aetos stands there and absorbs it. "Where... did those pages go?"
Julian: "Who?"
Digifanatic: "Old Quester."
Nodal: "Tis a sad day when you people forget the people who came before you." *starts grumbling.* "Youngins with no respect."
Digifanatic: "When I was still the evil stupid Yellow Submarine brat everyone loved to hate."
Julian: "Shut your mouth and go back to sleep, Pops. I'll read about him in the library... if we ever get it back>"
Nodal: "Oh Digi I forgot to thank you for that." *throws some Beatles CDs like Shruikens at Digi.*
Nodal then finally slams the door and goes to sleep.
Digifanatic: "Um... alright..."
Julian: "...The hell?"
Metal Man (GM): *Eats the bar.* "...This tastes like a couch."
Digifanatic: "If only I had a CD player that wasn't demolished by Kuja..."
Julian: "Play 'em on the dex."
Metal Man: "Did you coat couch insulation in dirt?"
Digifanatic: "We're lucky to have rooms and beds, after all--huh, I never knew they could hold discs..."
Nodal: "I heard that! It tastes like peanut-buttery goodness!"
Metal Man: "How long ago did you make it?"
Julian: "Nah, I think they scan 'em 'n stuff... Then they translate 'em into MP3's.....'least mine does. Dunno about yours."
Digifanatic: "Well... I think I'll be heading away for now... I need to relax for a bit after the past couple of stints."
Julian: "Yeah... I'm gonna go take a nap..." *heads off to the former R&R.*
Digifanatic: "Julian, if we ever have some free time I'll explain everything about me, but not now. Alright?"
Julian: "Sounds good..." *waves as he walks away.*
Digifanatic walks back into his room, but not before he slides his Do Not Disturb tag on his doorknob... "Well, that was a very interesting talk..."
Julian: "Hey Couch...'sup?"