Super Smash Quest - Story - Chapter 260: Fighting Force Fields
Date: March 24th, 2006.
Metal Man (GM): *shrug.* *Cinema.* The group, flying their newly made ship, escape Kuja's wrath and land back at base.
Garrick: "...gotta give her a name."
Metal Man (GM): The massive, swept-winged ship lands right besides HQ on the hill; there, it is landed for some repairs. Metal takes his CAC out of it and returns to the bridge. I would call it the Dauntless, myself."
Nodal: "How about the Invulnerable? Have a little fun with Kuja."
Garrick: "The Dauntless, huh?"
Digifanatic: "Nodal, I doubt Kuja would believe it."
Aetos: "Those names give it too many joke opportunities for the bad guys."
Digifanatic: "Sadly, Invulnerable would get us in deeper trouble than Dauntless."
Metal Man: "I don't care what the bad guys think."
Garrick: "...I'll go with the Dauntless. But let it be known that from now on, I will pilot this ship."
Metal Man: "No dice."
Digifanatic: "Sure."
Metal Man makes a weird hand symbol.
Garrick looks to Metal..
Metal Man: "You can't always be around to pilot it... unlike me. Island? Kuja can attack us from outer space if he wanted."
Nodal: "Couldn't he just blow us up now then?"
Garrick places the silver metal case in his room, safely under his bed and locked with his own combination and fingerprint. Yes, fingerprint. He turns and rejoins the party. "Just take the bloody ship and ram it in there."
Metal Man: "Well, I have a hypothesis. And it involves him feeling so superior over us that... well... he's waiting for us to attack him first."
Digifanatic: "I imagine so. He's probably sitting back in his palace, sipping champagne or something and laughing at us being sissies for not ambushing him..."
Nodal leaves the room and heads to his own room. He rummages a bit and comes up with his shield with he straps on with a sigh of relief. He belts on his bag and heads down to the big room with the others.
Digifanatic: "That reminds me..."
Metal Man gets the controls ready, but doesn't take off yet. "The major deal is getting through whatever he has for guards."
Garrick: "Then let's stop talking and start moving."
Nodal: "Didn't really feel complete without shiny here."
Aribar comes out of the ship looking a little sick... He heads over to the others. "Bleh... I don't wanna fly with Metal in control again..."
Nodal gets out a polishing kit and polishes his shield and weapon as he talks.
Digifanatic heads back to his room and takes everything he needs: his items, shield from before, and anything that is used with an attack...
Metal Man: "What? Space ships don't act like... cars..."
Garrick just gives Metal another look before turning to his own station and double checks everything.
Nodal: "Well if I was to pilot there would be a 50% chance of flaming death."
Garrick: "It's always that way. Can we just go now?"
Metal Man gives Garrick an equally depressing look; one could tell he felt homesick. Or at least, responsible for something.
Digifanatic: "Alright..."
Aetos nods, "I'm better suited for fighter jets... or something." he smiles.
Digifanatic: "Sooner the better, most likely. And Aetos, I believe that. Then again, it's not hard to believe that..."
Metal Man dials up the controls. "I've got it all under control. Alll aboard!"
Nodal: "I'm better suited to the gunnery."
Aetos: "Is that supposed to mean something?"
Digifanatic: "No."
Garrick returns that look with one of anger. He doesn't... couldn't understand. He shakes his head and goes back to his station, keeping whatever sensors he has open to viewing anything that would come their way.
Digifanatic: "Just me knowing enough about people." *heads onto the ship, prepared for whatever they all have to do next.*
Aetos walks in, and sits on his big black cube thing... "Hey Garrick, do you know what this thing is, anyways?"
Garrick: "How the hell should I know! Why don't you worry about something else a bit more important! Like trying to stop Kuja, HUH?!"
Metal Man: "Takeoff. 3. 2. 1. Potato Pancake."
Digifanatic: "Potato pancake?"
Aribar follows Digi, clutching his stomach and wondering if he'll survive another flight.*
Metal Man ignores Garrick; the ship takes off vertically, with minimum turbulence.
Aetos eyes Garrick, "Someone needs some counceling. I'm here if you want to talk." Aetos then rolls his eyes.
Garrick glares daggers at Aetos.
Metal Man: "This baby has a smoooth ride. Mainly because I designed it."
Nodal goes to make potato pancakes.
Garrick turns that gaze to Metal instantly.
Nodal: "Nothing breaks tension like potato pancakes."
Metal Man cranks a lever and it moves off towards Dark Aetos. I mean Dark Exor. Stupid brain.
Garrick: "You didn't design it. *I* designed it. You just built the thing."
Digifanatic: "Would you two stop being in conflict?"
Nodal begins to fry.
Digifanatic: "You can discuss that after this mission is over."
Metal Man (GM): Nodal: The kitchen seems to have all the ingredients needed.
Nodal: "Little bit of this... little bit of that..."
Metal Man: "Eh. I made some improvements. Neo-Earth technology gives a better lift."
Nodal flips pancakes. Nodal then whistles.
Metal Man (GM): The ship continues on, flying... flying... frying... I mean flying... until it stops right outside Dark Exor. Charles is on the ground, senselessly whaling on the force field.
Nodal heads out with the pancakes having cleaned up the kitchen.
Aetos: "Is... he hitting it with a stick?"
Charles is not.
Metal Man (GM): *BAM* *BAM* *HEAL* *HEAL* *HEAL* The field continually grows slightly larger with each hit.
Nodal: "No... I used a whisk..."
Aetos: "...That looks like the star rod, actually."
Metal Man (GM): Then he stops.
Digifanatic: "My goodness... what does he think he's doing?"
Garrick: "Being Locos. What else..."
Metal Man turns on the PA.
Metal Man: (PA)"Hey Locos. Mind if we beam you up?"
Nodal: "I'm tellling you! It was a whisk! No rod no sti-oh." *sweatdrops.*
Aetos eyes Metal quizically.
Charles: "...?...*he looks upward.* ...!"
Aribar: "If you give 'im a choice he'll just disagree. Or try to kill us."
Aetos snickers.
Nodal talks in the PA. "Locos! Potato Pancakes!"
Digifanatic: "Uh... yeah."
Garrick remains silent.
Charles gives some kind of salute, albeit not really visible from that high an altitude they are.
Aetos has sharp eyes ;.;
Metal Man nods and presses a button; Charles appears on the main deck immediately, where everyone else is.
Charles deactivates the power of the Star Rod; the glow in his hands disappear.
Metal Man: "Welcome aboard the Dauntless, Locos. We're about to bust into this place. Lieutenant Garrick! Open fire on the field!"
Nodal immediately tosses him a pancake. Nodal then then looks down.
Charles doesn't catch it as he is looking outside.
Aetos pokes Nodal.
Metal Man (GM): *FLOP* The pancake hits Charles in the side of the head.
Nodal watches it smack into the side of his--...
Garrick remains silent... if looks could kill, Metal would be dead several times over... but he signs and targets the force field, unloading everything he has at it.
Nodal tosses him one. "Err... sorry?"
Aetos eats it whole, without even touching it.
Metal Man (GM): The field is hit a hundred times, easily; but... it does not budge.
Metal Man: "Cease fire! Charles, what do you know about this field?"
Charles raises his right hand and uses it to remove the pancake from his right side. After cleaning up the head, he crosses his arms and leans against the side of the wall.
Nodal sets the pancakes down on a convenient space and muches one.
Aetos walks over to the comms console, and scans the radar, wondering if he should open comms with the tower.
Digifanatic: "Should us folk do something important right now, or should we just hang loose for now?"
Charles: "Grodus's Magitek Field uses some of my technology when I had the Military, amplfying it with magitek. Any damage used against it makes it contract, transfer the damage into energy, and absorb it."
Aribar: "I think we should just sit back, try not to throw up, and wait for the shields to lower..." *The elf seems to have taken a dislike to flying...*
Aetos sighs and runs back to his cube and jumps on it, jump jump jump, fall.
Charles: "I tried using healing energy to make expand so much that it couldn't keep its integrity and force itself to shut off, but I alone don't have that kind of power."
Nodal: "Oh look out elf! Turbulance! Hit the deck!"
Metal Man: "They aren't going down. Garrick? Cease fire? We don't have enough ammunition to kill it within reason."
Garrick already ceased fire a while ago.
Charles: "I wanted to amplify it with the Chaos Emerald."
Garrick: "Of course you did..."
Charles takes out his red emerald. It is cracked.
Metal Man: "...Well, there goes using that for a while."
Nodal takes out his light blue one and studies it.
Aetos: "...Are they all here?"
Charles: "A dark being said to use my anger on it. I didn't. So now the red emerald is no longer usable by me."
Metal Man (GM): None that you can see.
Aribar: "... Your emerald... Cracked?"
Charles puts it away.
Aetos takes out the clear one. "Weird."
Nodal: "...would this work?"
Metal Man (GM): Charles notice Aetos and the clear emerald. "...They can't be used singly without some sort of trigger."
Aribar: "I've used my yellow one for Chaos Control several times before."
Garrick doesn't have a Chaos Emerald, having not been able to finish the Palatnium Challange. He just sits there, curious... oh, and extremely angry, but you all known that by now.
Charles: "Regardless, I now fight with my mind and heart again, and not by pure emotion."
Metal Man: "Well... wait a minute. I think I have an idea."
Nodal: "Well if the red one uses anger the light blue one would use... sadness? Peace?"
Metal Man: "Full speed ahead!" *Sets the ship to fly into the force field.* *WHOOSH.* *SLAM.*
Aetos screams and secures himself.
Garrick: "...Metal, are you nuts?!"
Nodal: "Metal never drives again."
Aetos hugs the cube.
Nodal grabs onto Aetos.
Metal Man (GM): The ship hits the field. It flickers, and then... ALMOST dies... but goes back up again.
Aribar: "Gah!" Warn us before doing something suicidal!"
Metal Man (GM): The ship backs up from the field...
Garrick: "Metal, if you run the ship into it again, I will not hesitate to hurt you..."
Charles: "It acts as a rubber band."
Metal Man: "...Suicidal? I designed this ship to take direct hits from Magitek. This should have pierced the field..."
Nodal: "Did anyone get the number of that truck...?"
Digifanatic: "Ohh maaan..."
Aetos feels whoozy.
Metal Man: "Grrr... so close to that place. Weapons, nothing. Head-on attack, nothing. Hitting it with the Star Rod, nothing..."
Charles: "I was trying to use healing energy to make it stretch, but... well you know the rest."
Metal Man: "Hmmm... maybe we could convert the death ray into a life ray."
Aribar: "... Why would you want to heal the shield?"
Garrick: "...have you thought of not using FORCE to enter the field?"
Nodal just stares at his emerald hoping he can get some idea as to its workings.
Metal Man (GM): Nodal: It's like concentrating at a big piece o' glass.
Aetos has empathy with Nodal... he would like to know what triggers the clear emerald.
Charles: "This is why I knew I couldn't do it alone. None of the covert missions I did 30 years ago was as hard as this Solarian stronghold."
Garrick: "People are going to instantly believe that the field is meant to repel things. So, they try to break it with force. Force helps it. It grows larger. So, don't use force. Just WALK INTO IT."
Metal Man: "...But... that'd take quite a while to do. And he could be doing anything..." *He flips through a bunch of settings.*
Nodal: "...stupid useless thing."
Metal Man: "Well, I flew right into it. It didn't budge at all. Although I nearly overloaded it."
Digifanatic: "Metal has a point."
Garrick: "No, you rammed it. Force again. Just try to gently... GENTLY move into it."
Aetos is tempted to ask Grodus himself, how to get in.
Metal Man shrugs and tries to slowly fly into the force field.
Nodal scans the Emerald hoping the Dex has some information.
Dex: "...DING! Chaos Emerald. A mysterious gem, only accessible by those who know how to use chaos energy."
Metal Man (GM): The ship floats into the force field and touches it... and there it stops. The field doesn't budge.
Aetos scratches his head and walks up to the comms. console.
Metal Man: "Grrr... this is horrible. This force field doesn't seem to budge."
Aetos: "Can we just ask Grodus?"
Charles: "No matter how gentle we are, we still use some kind of force."
Metal Man: "Ask Grodus? That's crazy talk."
Charles: "Young Ward, no."
Aribar: "... I know."
Nodal: "Thats all? Can you teach me to use Chaos energy?"
Aribar: "Why go through the field at all?"
Aetos shrugs.
Aribar: "At least... In this dimension."
Garrick: "...you want to go to the Dark World."
Aribar nods.
Nodal: "Aribar we are high above the ground."
Metal Man: "Or the X-zone."
Aetos eyes Ari, then looks out the windshield to the field of energy... "X-zone... That would be... great."
Metal Man: "It's possible, but this ship... how could we send the whole thing there?"
Aribar: "I know I can transport myself into the Dark World... I'm not sure if I could transport us all there."
Digifanatic: "I'm immune to the whole Dark World thing..."
Charles: "Do we need the Dauntless itself to go into another plane of reality along with ourselves?"
Aribar: "..... Oh, right... I sort of forgot about the transformations."
Metal Man: "Well, either that, or we might appear on the other side and fall to our collective death."
Aetos sighs. "I wonder what I would be transformed into."
Digifanatic: .oO(Besides, I can never imagine myself encompassing the body of a Patamon ever again...)
Nodal: "My shadow."
Digifanatic: "Heh."
Aetos mutters.
Charles: "Garrick, have you thought of other alternatives?"
Nodal rummages in his bag and pulls out a shining orb. "Well. With this I would be fine from transformation."
Garrick: "...pierce the dimensional barrier."
Aetos's eyes suddenly flicker bright blue, and a mystic aura eminates from them, he looks out at the force field... *Truth Seer.*
Digifanatic: "Whoa... wonder what he's pulling."
Nodal is getting kind of desperate too so he attempts to hold the emerald and the orb next to each other.
Metal Man (GM): You see that the field is, in all reality, exactly what there is. In fact, it turns opaque when you look at it that way.
Aribar: "... Huh?"
Charles: "The dimensional barrier."
Garrick: "The Moon Pearl must resonate at some odd frequency in order to protect someone from transformation in the Dark World."
Metal Man: "Hey there, Nodal. Maybe I can get that emerald to do something."
Aetos: "Well, it's solid... or at least, What we see beyond, isn't exactly what we see."
Metal Man: "Let me take a look at it."
Nodal: "Be my guest." *tosses it over.*
Garrick: "If we--...whatever. Metal seems to have solved it."
Metal Man grabs it.
Nodal grabs another pancake.
Metal Man: "Solved it? Huh? I just have an emerald."
Metal Man sticks it up to his visor, making it look like he has a multifaceted eye.
Garrick: "Right..."
Digifanatic: "Let's see what happens first."
Metal Man: "Hmmm... with the red one, I could have vision like those 3-D glasses."
Aetos: "Indeed. That would be neat."
Charles takes out his red emerald and looks at it.
Nodal: "Pancakes getting cold people. Eat them now or be spatulated."
Metal Man spins it around and points it at things, but fails to make it actually do anything.
Aetos scratches his head, and holds the clear one up to his eyes, looking through it.
Aribar groans at Nodal's thought of eating.
Metal Man (GM): It's like looking through clear glass.
Charles throws it to Metal. "Catch."
Garrick: "Nodal, let me see that Moon Pearl..."
Metal Man takes the red one, catching it mid-air.
Metal Man: "Now then... let's see..."
Metal Man sticks them both to his eyes, like 3-D glasses.
Nodal smirks and dangles one in front of the elf. "I could also get some nice runny eggs..."
Metal Man: "Now all I need is a 3-D magazine."
Nodal tosses it to Garrick. Found that on Death Mountain..."
Charles: "I see this is a waste of time. Illian, return the emerald."
Nodal reminices.
Aribar holds his finger near Nodal causing a little jolt of static electricity to zap the troublesome cook.*
Metal Man: "Yessir." *Tosses it back.*
Aetos shrugs and walks back to the cube. "Are you sure NONE OF YOU know what this cube is for??"
Metal Man: "Cube? What cube?"
Charles catches it while looking in another direction.
Aribar: "Cube?"
Nodal: "Toss it here?"
Metal Man spins the blue emerald on his finger.
Aetos kicks the giant black cube laying behind everyone.
Nodal: "Oh."
Garrick takes it and takes out his Dex and goes over the Moon Pearl, doing some more in depth scans than normal..
Metal Man looks at it. "Oh, one of those. That's just a power source from Jeff Maxwell's old MTA."
Nodal grabs the emerald before Metal manages to break it.
Digifanatic: "Ah."
Aetos: "What's an MTA?"
Metal Man (GM): Garrick see the Moon Pearl is a holy object that repulses evil waves, those which come from the dark world.
Digifanatic: "A type of vehicle."
Garrick: "Hm."
Aribar: "A big robot that acted as we acted... Somethin' like that."
Metal Man: "The most advanced Quester transportation ever made..."
Aetos: "...Garrick, where did you put that cell phone I gave you? Er... um... that you found in your pocket?"
Metal Man stares at the cube.
Charles stands up and walks closer to Garrick.
Nodal: "So Garrick. What's up with my pearl." *chuckles.*
Metal Man: "We need some sort of ingenious modification to get through this field."
Garrick: "...I'm thinking... Computer!"
Nodal: "Pearls... emeralds... What next? A mystical ruby?"
Charles leans against a wall but now closer to Garrick.
Computer: "Accepting Commands."
Aribar takes out the Wand of Wonder. "Well, this thing's encrusted with rubies... "
Nodal groans.
Metal Man: "...We should pawn some of these jewels some time. We could live in a golden mansion."
Aetos shrugs. "I bet that's the last cell phone of the bunch... and he probably tossed it into the lake."
Digifanatic: "And they'll just give them to Kuja."
Garrick: "Query: Would the adaptation of the Moon Pearl to the main deflector dish on the lower area of the ship allow the ship to resonate at the proper frequency for transportation to the Dark World?"
Digifanatic: "Be serious, Metal."
Charles: "Ramming speed... emerald, gentleness, healing, damage---we've done all but travel to another realm, absorb the energy of the force field, and use X-Zone rays against it."
Computer: "That would allow the ship to neutralize the Dark World, not travel to it."
Nodal: "...be gentle with my Pearl there Garrick. Theres a lot of memories tied to that."
Metal Man: "Yeah, Charles has a point. Have something that can do that, Charles?"
Aetos quickly scans over his collection of items. "C4, a super-engine-battery-thing... That could cause a massive explosion I bet."
Metal Man: "The amount of damage we dealt with the ship alone is more than some C4. It seems to eat damage up like candy."
Digifanatic: "Was gonna say that...":
Aetos: "What if I threw a max-mushroom into it?"
Garrick: "Yes, but the Pearl must have some genetic or subatomic memory of WHAT it's supposed to defend against. Could we use the pearl to locate those things and use... what were they called..."
Nodal: "Midochlorians?"
Garrick: "..."
Computer: "The pearl is a solid sphere of a material which radiates light energy. It cannot be reverse engineered without some sort of material of darkness."
Garrick: "Hm."
Metal Man: "Material of darkness? What sort of material of darkness do we have..."
Nodal: "Everyone seems so interested in my stuff." *takes out his rock.*
Charles: "After Kuja sent us to Turion, I don't know what happened to the X-Blaster that was on the moon base with B.O.B. and FAYTH. Besides, with the presence of magitek in the field, I would not know for certain if it would have any affect, despite part of the coding in the field being of my design."
Metal Man stares at the rock. "What's the rock for, Nodal?"
Garrick glances at the cube that powered by Jeff Maxwell's MTA...
Metal Man (GM): That cube's a dark hue, and really big. It looks pretty evil to you.
Digifanatic catches a glance at that cube as well...
Charles: "I was thinking the same thing, Garrick."
Aetos slides it over to them.
Nodal: "Found it in an old Eggman mech. Its mostly a memento. Although I always wondered why he had a rock.:"
Digifanatic: "Is it me, or is that thing just standing out at us right now to say 'Pick me!'?"
Metal Man: "It appears to be doing just that. Evil talking inanimate objects."
Charles: "It wouldn't say that... but we would."
Nodal: "I'm not staring at it on purpose. Things that say pick me tend to explode at me."
Garrick: "...computer, query: Using the dark energy of that cube in the corner combined with the light energy of the Moon Pearl, could we generate a stable enough portal to transport to the Dark World?"
Computer: "...It is a possibility."
Garrick: "Hot damn."
Digifanatic: "Sounds like a good idea."
Aetos snickers.
Charles: "Dark and light energy? That would be more of a portal of chaos than darkness."
Computer: "Connect moon pearl to Dark Cube and run a current through them."
Aribar gets up and starts moving as far away from that cube as possible...* "Keep that evil object away from me... For my own good and yours."
Nodal: "Glad I'm getting more use out of my pearl." *take sout his emerald.*
Metal Man (GM): Two wires pop out of your control panel; power ones.
Garrick hefts the cube onto his shoulder.
Aetos eyes Garrick. "You're gonna get electrocuted..."
Digifanatic takes a cautious step or two back...
Nodal: "Maybe Locos is right and some of the excess power will charge my emerald. Or at least teach me to use it."
Garrick takes it over to his panel and links it up to the Pearl..
Charles: "You need someone to instruct you on how to use the power of the emerald."
Metal Man: "Well, I don't know what it'll do, but it's worth a try."
Garrick ten attaches them to the wires... then.
Nodal: "Can you?"
Metal Man (GM): *BZAP* *BZAP* *BZZZZAAAAPPP.* The two opposites hum rather loudly.
Garrick: "Computer, route to the deflector dish and activate. Metal, I'd give us some breathing room. Back up from the shield."
Metal Man (GM): The lights flicker; you notice the ship is still touching the force field.
Charles: "I've turned my back on my anger ever since the incident with Maximillian. Never again will I use the red one."
Metal Man: "I'll do so---"
Garrick: "I'm chock full of anger at the moment. I can use it."
Metal Man (GM): *FWAM* The fields freak out; the dish creates... something far different from what you planned. It shoots a beam o' X-zone into the force field. *BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM* The enemy force field begins to flicker.
Digifanatic: "Oh boy..."
Nodal: "...I just know I'm going to have to clean my pearl after this."
Metal Man (GM): *BLAM* The entire force field looks nearly dead. But then, the Dark Exor glows. Grodus's face appears on the comms.
Aribar: "Not good..."
Digifanatic: "Uh oh."
Aetos pokes it.
Nodal: "Woah. Who's the ugly?"
Aetos: "Who are you?"
Grodus: (Comms) "Fools. I have the X-zone device. I will send you into the X-zone before you can get through!"
Aetos: "...X-zone device??"
Charles: "...The one Smithy had."
Garrick: "...somebody get on the sensors... now."
Metal Man (GM): The Dark Exor fires a gigantic black... sphere... at the ship. It stops mere seconds before it'd hit the ship.
Computer: "Interdimensional hole detected. Danger. Danger. Danger."
Aetos whinces. Aetos then glares at it.
Garrick: "Metal! Pull back! Man some stations, people!"
Digifanatic: "Alright..."
Metal Man (GM): The entire ship shakes; the controls begin to become unresponsive. Metal tries to pull the ship back; it moves, jerkily.
Charles sighs.
Nodal shoots a bolt of wind energy at his pearl.
Digifanatic looks around to see what he could do...
Charles: "Once again, I am being banished into the X-Zone."
Metal Man (GM): The pearl isn't knocked free; it appears to be stuck.
Charles leans against the wall and closes his eyes.
Nodal: "Oh crud."
Metal Man (GM): The ship moves at full power back from the ever-increasing dark hole.
Charles: "I am not looking forward to seeing Dan again."
Metal Man: "It isn't working. We don't have enough power to escape the vortex."
Digifanatic: "Like a black hole?"
Metal Man: "Furthermore, our beam isn't powerful enough to neutralize it."
Aetos: "Charles, I thought the X-zone was a blast, though!"
Digifanatic: "Aetos, I'm trying to listen to Metal!"
Metal Man (GM): *BLAM* The entire field turns black; it begins to crack.
Aribar: "We should have never have tried to get rid of Grodus!"
Grodus: (Comms) "What? Curse you... my unstoppable field!"
Metal Man (GM): The field flickers, but stays on; the sphere nears hitting the ship... "What are we to do?"
Digifanatic: "Brace yourselves..."
Garrick: "...Metal! Deathray!"
Computer: "5 minutes until X-zone warp takes control."
Metal Man: "...Right. Fire! Full power!"
Digifanatic ducks...
Charles: "I have the solution."
Metal Man (GM): Charles would have a flashback.
Aetos eyes Charles.
Metal Man (GM): Of Eggman shooting all his weapons at the X-zone sphere... and them failing to hurt it. He sees Metal about to waste most of the remaining power on shooting the X-zone sphere.
Charles remembers. "Illian, belay that order."
Metal Man: "Okay then...---huh?"
Metal Man stops before pressing the button.
Aetos nods, and remains steady.
Grodus: (Comms) "What are you waiting for? Show me what you've got, cowards!"
Charles: "X-Zone shielding merely absorbs energy attacks and sends it to the X-zone."
Garrick: "...he's goading us..."
Charles: "Exactly."
Metal Man continues jamming the speed adjuster, as the ship starts to lose control.
Charles: "Garrick is the solution..."
Metal Man: "What is he supposed to do?"
Charles holds up his emerald. "...And this."
Metal Man: "...Oh."
Garrick: "...you're damned right."
Charles: "Although I can no longer use it, Garrick can."
Garrick: "Ari, take weapons."
Charles holds out his hand with the emerald in it.
Computer: "One minute, 30 seconds until full warp."
Aribar: "... I don't know how to... Okay." *The elf stumbles towards the weapon seat...*
Charles: "Take it. I shall instruct you on how to invoke its power like Shadow had taught me."
Metal Man: "You better hurry. We're falling apart here."
Garrick stands up and takes the emerald from Loc--Charles.
Digifanatic: "And Aetos, Nodal and me? Should we just hang on tight?"
Garrick: "You can take stations!"
Digifanatic: "Alright..."
Garrick: "Ship status! Sensors! Science!"
Metal Man furiously presses the buttons; he manages to get a slight increase in speed.
Charles: "Focus on yourself."
Garrick: "...right..."
Digifanatic goes over to the status area.
Charles: "Begin to think of the thoughts that have made you angry."
Aetos twiddles his fingers over his Comms. Console.
Computer: "30 seconds until warp."
Digifanatic: "Finally, I get to do something besides talk on this ship..."
Charles: "Concentrate on them and feed them into the power of the emerald. Kuja deactivating Nova."
Garrick takes a deep breath, then concentrates... he focuses on those thoughts... Metal taking his ship... the thought of never getting home... Kuja deactivating Nova... his only true friend...
Metal Man (GM): The ship begins to sink into the gigantic hole, as the ship status begins to crumble. But then the emerald lights, almost as on fire. The ship... stops... and some sort of voice is heard. An ungodly voice.
Nodal heads to the weapons area.
???: "Mwahahahahahaha! The anger! The hatred! I liiiiive!"
Charles: "Now... INVOKE THE POWER OF THE EMERALD!"
Digifanatic starts rambling through ideas in his head... being banished away from my friends and family... not knowing if he can ever return (like Garrick)...things like that.
Aetos nods...
Charles: "USE CHAOS CONTROL!"
Digifanatic: "Right!"
Garrick lets out a growing roar... but smirks as he knows the voice... "Not this time... this time... I TAKE CONTROL! CHAOS CONTROL!!"
Aribar frowns, not sure what's going on...*
Metal Man (GM): You invoke chaos control... but feel as if possessed by insanity. The sphere suddenly begins... to implode.
Grodus: (Comms) "No... no Questers could do that... it can't be!"
Metal Man (GM): The force field turns bright blue again; the ship still stuck outside, but... the darkness, the shadow, is not gone.
Grodus: (Comms) "You'll never get through--"
Metal Man (GM): *KABLAAAAAAM.*
Aetos slaps his forehead.
Metal Man (GM): The force field suddenly explodes, as if smashed from above by a gigantic fist. It floats upwards and shatters like glass; then it rains into the magma... cooling it.
Digifanatic looks downward, if he can, gazing in awe at what happened...
???: "Now... DESTROY HIM!"
Aetos snaps his fingers.
Metal Man (GM): The mysterious voice dissappears, and reality turns to normal.
Aetos opens comms. with Grodus' Tower.
Grodus: (Comms) "...You'll never get me alive. I have the doomsday device!"
Aetos: "You're going down."
Charles: "..."
Metal Man (GM): The ship begins flying towards the tower. "...I didn't even press any buttons." Garrick feels normal again... but not drained at all. If anything, he feels as if he sat there and someone else opened a can of pain on Grodus.
Charles, with his eyes open wide, glare outside... he notices something is wrong.
Garrick: "...no..."
Metal Man: "We'll be at the entrance in a few moments... but... this is not how things were planned."
Garrick: "...not again... please lord... not again..."
Nodal: "This is the way it was meant to be."
Charles shakes his head.
Garrick: "No! Your wrong! It's him..."
Charles: "No. Something is amiss."
Digifanatic: "What is, though?"
Metal Man: "...I feel like somebody tore a hole in reality."
Garrick: "...Metal... it's him."
Metal Man: "Who?"
Garrick: "It... it must be..."
Charles: "...I understand who you mean. I saw the being earlier too. The Void."
Nodal: "...you mean...?"
Aetos nods.
Charles: "He was responsible for this, wasn't he?"
Metal Man: "...In Kuja's perfect world? Unspeakable. How?"
Digifanatic: "...What?!"
Garrick: "...I did it..."
Digifanatic: "You...?"
Metal Man stares as the ship gets closer and closer; Grodus unable to stop them, seeing as his defenses were mostly blown apart.
Charles: "He needed someone to use Chaos Control one more time."
Digifanatic: "Oh boy..."
Garrick: "...all that anger... all that hatred... for Metal... for Kuja... it fueled the Chaos Control..."
Charles: "Seems we were his pawns yet again."
Metal Man: "Well, on the plus side, Grodus has no chance to win now."
Charles: "I aided in the usages of Chaos Control as well, Garrick. The blame is not on you alone. The question is... when will The Void strike against us?"
Garrick: "...but I helped... I always help... and I'm always somehow to blame..."
Metal Man: "Well, he definitely hates Grodus."
Charles looks to the Dark Exor.
Nodal: "Well I don't know who the Void is. But if you think I'm going to let you wallow in self-pity ou have another thing coming."
Metal Man: "Let's get ready for some robot-beating. As for you, Garrick... I think you did a decent job, myself. Without your work, we'd be trapped in that X-zone."
Nodal tosses him a pancake. "Eat a pancake. Get over it. I mean were Questers. Weve done the impossible before."
Digifanatic: "The Void was our many enemy for a while before all the Kuja stuff came into play."
Garrick: "I don't care anymore what you say, Metal."
Metal Man: "I think helping The Void beats helping ourselves to eternal exile and probably knocking into him again. Though I swore he died..."
Digifanatic: "It threatened to literally oblierate everything from this planet..."
Nodal: "In fact I think its in our job description."
Digifanatic: "The crazy thing was that he had multiple forms."
Charles: "The Void is another definition of impossible, Nodal."
Garrick: "You have no idea... nothing."
Charles: "I believe this time I cannot avoid fighting it."
Metal Man: "The Void corrupted time itself, Nodal. It's not something you play with."
Nodal: "Oh shut up and eat your pancake. Do you think the Void will wait while you feel sorry for yourself? Get over it. We all make mistakes."
Charles: "There's nothing we can do from up here. Let us dock and fight the dark beings that guard the door."
Garrick: "...Nodal..."
Nodal: "Help us."
Garrick: "SHUT UP!!!"
Metal Man (GM): Garrick glows reddish; the emerald does too. His voice reminds you of The Void.
Digifanatic: "Whoa."
Aetos agrees with Garrick, he glares at the squabblers, and nods at Garrick.
Metal Man stands back a bit. "...Uhh... sorry if I offended you."
Charles: "...It seems what I have done has left... residue. An unexpected side effect."
Nodal attempts to knock away the emerald again with his wind.
Metal Man (GM): The emerald won't budge.
Garrick is holding it.
Digifanatic: "This is definitely not looking good now..."
Nodal: "Damn emeralds. Nothing but trouble."
Garrick is holding it pretty damn tightly right now. "...you don't get it. None of you do."
Metal Man (GM): The ship flies on up to the Dark Exor. It's nearly there.
Digifanatic: "Get what?"
Metal Man: "Eh? How can I not get it?"
Aetos smirks.
Nodal thinks to himself. "That he is a whiny baby?"
Charles: "Enough. You are making the situation worse, you three."
Aetos: "Extremely."
Garrick leans back against the wall slightly... "...thank you... Charles... Aetos..."
Charles: "I owe you... for the curse I put on you."
Garrick: "...if I'm cursed... so be it. It's probably my turn anyway."
Aetos: "I sympathise. I've made a big mistake, just last week. The only thing we can do is go on."
Digifanatic: "Yeah... we'll just deal with whatever comes our way."
Charles: "It's strange. A a human should not be bound to an artifact like I can."
Digifanatic: "We've done it before. We can do it again."
Garrick: "I'm not human, Charles.....I'm a Quester. You should know that by now."
Aetos nods...
Charles: "Regardless, it seems that my anger is now within you."
Garrick: "Doesn't matter. Whatever comes at me... I'll deal with it."
Charles: "I will help you control it so you do not do the same mistakes as I did."
Garrick pockets the red chaos emerald..
Charles: "...Like facing Maximillian and the entire planet of its magitek power."
Metal Man (GM): The ship finally turns to the left, and docks with Dark Exor.
Nodal keeps his mouth shut as he thinks they are all acting ridiculous.
Metal Man: "Let's go kick some machines."
Garrick: "Right."
Digifanatic: "Sure."
Metal Man walks on off and to the dock on the side (a room down from here)
Charles: "I still have those damn bruises from being sent high into the sky from that."
Aetos walks out, dual-wielding his spear, and his keyblade.
Charles follows Metal.
Digifanatic follows the others.
Nodal just heads out gripping his shield and Rush knuckles white.
Garrick moves onward as well, clicking on his wrist guns... feeling slightly underpowered glancing at the stronger, better armed others. He shrugs and moves onward.
Metal Man (GM): You walk on up, and what appears to be a shadow of a man leaps out through the dock and attacks!
Shadow Man: "Aaaarrrrghhhh... turn back or become liiike meeeee..."
Nodal throws his seeds up in the air. "What the heck is that thing?!" He runs towards the thing and slashes into its body once experimentally.
Charles: "Shouldn't there be more than one dark being guarding this gate?"
Aetos snickers.
Metal Man (GM): You slash, and... your sword goes right through it.
Digifanatic: "No clue."
Aetos: "He isn't guarding anything."
Shadow Man: "AAaaaaargh..."
Nodal looks down.
Metal Man (GM): No damage.
Nodal: "Well."
Digifanatic: "If anyone needs light, I can supply it."
Nodal jumps back and gets into a defensive stance ready to spur the others into battle if need be.
Charles: "Perhaps magic is the answer..." *chants in Lunarian and thrusts both arms forward with his hands cupped together.*
Charles shoots a ball of electrical energy zigzags toward it.
Metal Man (GM): It takes half damage if it succeeds; but the magic does injure it.
Garrick can't really do anything with magic... but he does have his guns. He twitches his fists and fires a series of bursts into it..
Charles: "Perhaps I should've developed more magic spells..."
Metal Man (GM): Hit, hit, hit. The guns shoot right through it. This makes you angry.
Garrick snarls at the black shadow thing, wishing he'd actually be able to really damage something for once..
Digifanatic starts his turn by taking a quick glance at that shadowy man and prepares to launch a Light Ray, followed by an altered Fire Punch to the head that, instead, shoots out more light from his fist (Elemental Will)...he defends after all of this.
Charles: "Garrick, stay calm. You won't be able to beat it if you don't think with your mind."
Garrick: "I don't... can't... I haven't EVER used magic! All I do is punch, kick, and shoot!"
Metal Man (GM): Hit. You deal 4x damage from the light ray, and normal damage from the fire punch.
Charles: "You don't use magic, yet I've seen you go to great unorthodox lengths to find a solution."
Nodal: "Woah. Can you do that light show to my sword?"
Charles: "Digi found a second vulnerability in the shadow beast. Stay focused, Garrick."
Aetos slides the spear into a loop tied to his back.
Garrick: "Technology... I can't use technology on this thing."
Aetos eyes the dark being suspiciously, then defends.
Charles: "Feel the wrath of Lunar Quester." *thrusts out his hands again.* Ball of energy again.
Metal Man (GM): The thing gets all zapped.
Charles thrusts his arms out again. Another.
Metal Man (GM): It fails to barrier itself this time.
Charles: Full damage.
Garrick growls deeply at the thing as he rushes forward. If the blasts don't work, then he's got to try something else. The only other thing he has is his own fists and feet... so that's all he can use. He tries a Driving Punch on it..
Metal Man (GM): You barely hit, but your fist goes through it.
Garrick yells out in anger as he follows it with a Forward Boot.
Metal Man (GM): Hit... your foot goes through it.
Garrick: "Come ON!" *finishes his useless combo with a Uppercut ladden with magitek rounds..*
Metal Man (GM): You go through it some more. And some more.
Garrick: "GraAHHHHHH! Why won't you DIE?!"
Charles: "Don't allow yourself to resort to physical violence. Look around and see if there's another way to harm it."
Shadow Man: "I aaaam alreeeady ddeeeeead..."
Digifanatic: This time, he once again starts off by unleashing a Light Ray on the shadowed dude, but this time, tries to Dex it after using his attack (2 or 3 TP, Metal?).. *can say that he has thoroughly wailed on this guy... he pulls out the Dex...*
Metal Man (GM): Your light ray blasts it goo.
Digifanatic will defend after the Dexing, then.
Dex: "...DING! Shade. HP: 517/1200. SP: 38/1200. STR: 10. END: 10. AGI: 30. MNT: 30. End of entry."
Digifanatic: "Okay..." he says as he enters his defending stance...
Aetos tilts his head at the shadow man. "We're in the heat of battle already, but I still don't know if I should be fighting you." he walks up the the man. "Do you have something to say? Are you truly aligned to the darkness?"
Shadow Man: "All who passss will dieeeeeeeee!!!!"
Metal Man (GM): You... can't... tell... what he is.
Aetos ends his turn, staring at it's face, a few feet away from it.
Shadow Man: "Enter... the daaaarkness!!!"
Metal Man (GM): He fires a ray of darkness at your face.
Garrick slowly lets his rage dwindle... storing it into the emerald like Charles told him... then he suddenly realises...
Aetos flusters back, darkness steaming off his face quickly. "I think it's time for you to step into the light."
Nodal swings and a huge rush of wind flys out of Rush. He then swings twice more.
Garrick: "...worth a shot."
Metal Man (GM): Hit, hit, hit.
Charles continues to use the roulette attack.
Charles: ...You've noticed how lucky I've been? *uses it again.*
Garrick flips open his Dex... links up with the Dauntless computer... then uses a simple, easy sort of command. He instructs it to turn it's search lights onto to platform they're on and activate them full blast. The Questers have their back to the light, so it wouldn't blind them...
Metal Man (GM): The lights turn on, and the dark being is blinded by them. However, he isn't killed.
Digifanatic: "Nice, Garrick."
Charles: "See what I said? You've used your mind instead of the emerald."
Nodal: "Woah. That must have hurt."
Garrick: "...it didn't hurt it..."
Charles: "No, but you tried to do something unorthodox like you usually do."
Digifanatic: "...yeah..."
Charles: "This is a good step... perhaps you could try to intensify the lights?"
Garrick: "...they're on full blast... unless... computer, divert power from the deathray. Target with regular lasers. Fire."
Metal Man (GM): The internal defense lasers activate and reduce the dark being to dust.
Digifanatic: "Impressive."
Charles: "HA HA! See!? I told you to find alternatives, and you prevailed!"
Garrick: "...it was obvious."
Charles: "True, true. However, you found a way to harm it without using you feet or guns."
Garrick: "...hm."