Super Smash Quest - Story - Chapter 297: Philosophy of the Questers

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Date: 11:53:04 PM, July 7th; 4:23:42 PM, July 8th, 2006.

Metal Man (GM): And now... it comes... the midnight madness special!
???

Metal Man is... in the graveyard, at the darkest of night, staring at a tombstone. Star Steel and co, a line of original Questers.

The Wraith is... still in the graveyard. In his own grave site, specifically.
*Inside, under the ground surface.*

Metal Man looks at them... and holds his head again.
"...So much like the people I lost long ago... why... must they all die?"
*He looks at the tombstone of Star Steel. He raises the Star Board.
"Yes... there it was now... my prognosis."
*He holds it... almost like a piece of paper.*
*Speaks in a mechanical voice* "Greater damage to lower body. 43% chance of survival."
"...I remember... somewhere... I fell through. The portal... it did not send me through time that easily. The astral realm... sent me there. That is why I am. They came here from there... this is where I first came to this time."
*He turns... to a blank grave space, marked with a crater... a very strangely patterned one.*
"The beginning."
*He walks up to it, cupping his chin.*
"It all comes back to here eventually.
Hmmm... yes. I saved my world and destroyed it in one breath... just as it did the same to me."
*He holds up a hand.* "Heavily wounded previously... why... it was why I was there."

Metal Man (GM): *Fadeout.*

Editor's Note: Interestingly, while several things have changed about his backstory, this isn't necessarily entirely out of keeping with his present one. Though his arrival to SSQ was much simpler than bouncing out of the Astral Realm, it is true that he had cybernetics attached to him after being wounded in gladiator pits, much of his torso's innards are mechanical in nature, and the initial incident that sent him warping from place to place saved and destroyed his world in the same breath.

Charles Magellean (GM): ---> Special <---
The Quester's dexes beep.

Dragoshi pulls out his dex, and opens it up, curious.

Gibby would be resting on his bed when suddenly, his dex goes off. He hops off of the bed, grabs his dex from his desk, and opens it up.

Aetos would open up the terminal on Talon and examine the screen.

Charles Magellean (GM): According to the dexes, a warp had opened inside Charles's own room, then had closed 8 seconds later. Seems something to investigate.

Aetos: "...Maybe another entry into his mind, hm... Oh that reminds me... I still should give him that teleporter to Turion..."

Gibby scratches his head. "Huh... how strange. I better check this out." He grabs his gear and dashes out of his room. He makes his way down to Charles' room.

Dragoshi: "Hmm... Peculiar. Might as well check it out" *Dragoshi puts his Dex away and walks towards Charles' room.*

Aetos shrugs. "Maybe whatever's happening can get me out of here..." he goes as well...

Charles Magellean (GM): The door is ajar. Do you head on in?

Aetos does head in, when he arrives...

Dragoshi heads in as well when he arrives a little bit after Aetos.

Julian Sawyer: "The hell is Charles up to now..." *Julian heads in when he gets there.*

Gibby notices Aetos and Dragoshi stepping inside. "Hey guys. Did you get the same reading?" He steps inside to follow them.

Charles Magellean (GM): The three of you step inside the Lunarian's room, whilst Julian barges on in. Inside, there is no sign of Charles.

Julian Sawyer: "...This ain't gonna turn out well."

Dragoshi: "Yes, that we did, Gibby. So... Wonder what happened..."

Gibby: "Charles? You here?" *He scans the entire place for even the slightest trace of Charles. *

Charles Magellean (GM): You scan for him, but there are no traces of his belongings. The room is as empty as another guest quarters. In the middle of the room is a dex and a large piece of paper.

Dragoshi walks towards the paper and picks it up.

Julian Sawyer glances around the room for a hidden lever or something that might activate a portal... "Doubt we even gonna be able to find him. Who the hell know where that warphole led..."

Gibby walks over to Dragoshi. "A letter?"

Charles Magellean (GM): Upon observing the dex, one can see it was the same one that Magellean used. The piece of paper is, in fact, a letter.

Dragoshi: "Dunno. Lemme read it." *Dragoshi then reads the paper.*

Julian Sawyer: "You mind readin' it out loud?"

Dragoshi: "Ah, sure thing."

Charles Magellean (GM):
'Dear Questers,
By the time you have read this letter, I have left HQ to live the remainder of my life in peace. Ever since joining the Questers, the way you handle issues and the way I handle issues have come to the point where they are so different, they clash together too often, resulting in either me becoming selfish or there are heated arguments. But this is not why I leave.
I have left because of what happened in the hole where I and two others investigated what Ruvyn's intentions were. When he had left for the Dark World, one of the other Questers said to me, and I paraphrase, "...sometimes the followers can come out worse than their leaders..." It is when this was said that I had an epiphany.
When I went to undergo a subtle transformation so as to not allow compassion to hold back my desire to kill the IIF agents, Illian had knocked me out and used me as bait for the IIF, instead. Many a time, the Questers use their impulses to solve problems instead of using their mind, but I had always thought Metal wouldn't do so. I was wrong.
I cannot stay. I... I am afraid for my life. I actually FEAR what you people are actually capable of if even the leader uses his impulses instead of thinking to solve problems. I cannot stay...
Yes, no longer can I stay in the dark, with creatures that struggle even with themselves. Out of the darkness, I will stay in the light. Do not look for me as I know that many of you cannot comprehend what I am saying right now. I have been with you people enough to understand how many of you think. There are very few thinkers among the dark, so I am safe here.
Until you, the Questers, begin to contemplate what I am saying about you, do not bother to look for me. I know that there are others like me that no longer want to do with you, your enemies, or organizations such as the Alliance of Pro-Nintendus Nations and the Mages Council. I have created a community just for these people from pieces of my former empire.
Officially, I was just a mercenary in your organization as I had not signed your contract stating I am a Quester, despite that I did live by your rules. I have taken everything that is mine with me. I just want to live in peace, away from all the struggles that ensue with you people. I will miss the thinkers of the Questers. Goodbye.'

Julian Sawyer: "...Hmph. An' he didn' think to bring his 'ward' 'long wit' 'em when 'e left fo' this grand life'a peace?" *Glances at Aetos.*

Charles Magellean (GM): It ends there.

Editor's Note: Leaving forever, Take 300; it never sticks (until Season 10). There is a legitimate reason to flee from the chaotic nature of proto-Xavier + Void, but the former leader of the Magellean Military need not pretend to have clean hands.

Aetos glances back at Julian.

Gibby: "Psh... thinks he's so much better than us. What a jerk."

Dragoshi: .oO(...Oh, Martel alive. Why did I have to say that the followers can come out worse than their leaders? ...Ugh.)

Julian Sawyer: "Exactly. If he don't like the way we do things, then **** 'em. Might as well leave. One less condescendin' jerk to live with."

Gibby: "We've completed tons of missions using our wits. Sorry if we're not the kind of 'thinkers' he's looking for."

Dragoshi: "...Right. Well, if that's the case, I'll be takin' this" *Takes the dex, and pockets it. Maybe it'll come in handy, yanno, in case Drago loses his own dex.*

Julian Sawyer: "How long you think it's gonna take for some baddie to fake sincerity, go live in Charles' Peace Community, 'then take it over an' use it to attack us?"

Gibby sighs.
"Well... we better tell Metal about this."

Julian Sawyer: "'Greed."

Dragoshi: "...Yes, that we should. I'll go on ahead" *Dragoshi exits the room, holding the paper.*

Gibby follows Dragoshi.

Julian Sawyer: "An' we gotta find out what to do with Aetos now, seein' as how the guy who had guardianship over 'em left." *Heads for Metal's office.*

Aetos sighs, then sits on the floor of the room.
He rolls his eyes. "Both Aribar and Charles are gone now, there's no one else."
He pulls out the teleporter to Turion and looks it over, then sighs.

Metal Man is snoring in his office.
"Zzzz... zzz... zzz..."

Dragoshi enters Metal's office, holding the letter in hand.

Metal Man is leaned over on his desk, looking like he stayed out somewhere all night talking to himself.

Julian Sawyer: "...Mets! Wake up! We got news!"

Metal Man: "...Huh... Commander Briggs... I thought you knew of my extended sleep sched---huh? Oh." *He gets up* "...News? What kind?"
*He chuckles a bit... almost as if he knew something about it all along.*

Dragoshi hands over the letter to Metal
"This."

Metal Man: "He never fit in as a Quester, a person, a mercenary, or anything else in the first place."

Julian Sawyer: "'Parently to lead some kinda 'Peace Commu'-...What? You know somethin' bout this?"

Metal Man: "He joined after me, so he's the first Quester for me to know everything about."
*He takes out a mess of notes, first written in Wolfman's hand, then Klumsy's, then his own. He reads them outloud.*

Julian Sawyer: "So I'm guessin' you already know all about this community."

Metal Man: "Quester Charles. Shows inability to enjoy Quester mantra, follow rules, and other Questers refuse to follow him in the field. ...Huh? No, I didn't quite know of that.
I knew, however, he'd never feel at peace with us.
From the first day."

Gibby: "Yeah... he's a 'thinker'."

Julian Sawyer: "Well, he said somethin' 'bout the 'Light Side' an' how we all livin' in the 'Dark Side', and he went ova' to the 'Light Side'...mumbo-jumbo aside, he's gone, whatta we gonna do with Aetos?"

Metal Man looks up at a monitor. "That is a difficulty... Obviously, someone sentient who he doesn't hate has to guard him.
Funny. I'm the only one of the trio still here now."

Dragoshi: "...Trio?"

Metal Man: "Of course, they were the extremes and I the middle, so it makes enough sense..."
*He spins around so his back faces Dragoshi, and points at a picture with him between Aribar and Charles.*

Gibby: "The brig seems a bit... harsh."

Dragoshi looks at the picture, then nods "...Ah."

Metal Man: "You had Aribar, who was timid, me, with no emotion at all, and Charles, who'd make massive decisions without any thoughts for the repercussions."

Julian Sawyer: "He's made deals with our enemy THREE TIMES. He can't be trusted."

Metal Man turns around. "Even my backdoor seems to have vanished. I don't think he's on our planet anymore. But with this, my job becomes a little easier. Only one trouble subject... and all of me to deal with it."

Julian Sawyer: "Which ain't good. How long you think it's gonna take fo' some baddie to feign repent, join Charles' little club, an' take it over and use it against us?"

Metal Man: "Any attempt of that will be handled by the appropriate channels. He's lost too many times to reasonably try it again."

Dragoshi: "...Appropriate... Channels?"

Metal Man: "You do not fight Metal Man and the Questers."

Julian Sawyer: "I'm just sayin' this ain't good. It's gonna backfire, and it's gonna come afta' US."

Gibby: "Right... it's a big no-no."

Metal Man points to a red phone with one of his guns. "The Smashers won't let him get away with any bad deeds."

Julian Sawyer: "Also, what're we gonna do with his Dex? He left it behind."

Dragoshi: "...You two assume too much. ...Then again, I assume too LITTLE."

Metal Man shakes his head. "I've known him the longest, if it comes to a conflict, I'll kill him myself. This is my fault, not yours. I carry the burden my predecessors made when they refused to let him be himself."

Julian Sawyer: "Never hurts to be a realist. A'ight, so we got one problem taken care of. What about the other two?"

Metal Man: "He appears not to realize that the Questers have almost as many, if not more, responsibilities and rules than his own race has put forth on him. Well, uhh... name the one other than Aetos."

Gibby: "The dex thingy."

Julian Sawyer: "What he said."

Dragoshi: "Yes. What both said."

Metal Man: "...Unless there's something wrong with it, it can be deformatted and put into storage. I do remember some... unusual readings... from it, though."

Julian Sawyer: "So hand it over, Dragoshi."

Dragoshi pulls out Charles' Dex, and hands it to Metal "...Uh, here it is."

Gibby: "Unusual?"

Metal Man looks it over. "Yes... he hacked it thoroughly, then something broke it."

Dragoshi: "...Huh. Odd."

Metal Man whips out a miniature soldering pen and solders it back into working shape with some spare parts.
He turns it on, and is greeted by a bunch of swirling symbols. "...Yep.
I'll send it to the lab for further study."
*He dumps it in a chute which leads up to Oak's lab.*

Julian Sawyer: "Two down..."

Metal Man: "Aetos... sadly... cannot be fixed with soldering."

Gibby shudders at the thought.

Metal Man: "But..."

Julian Sawyer: "So what're we gonna do 'bot him?"

Dragoshi: "...?"

Gibby: "Should we give him some kind of ultimatum?"

Metal Man: "...There are some... dangerous... ancient... unknown things... which could render him unable to rebel against us electronically. You found... the outpost, right?"

Gibby nods.

Metal Man: "Such a thing was used on me, as with most soldiers in the old Neo-Earth brigades."
*He takes off his helmet and motions to a small chip embedded into the side of his neck.*

Gibby: "Ooooh... so it's like putting a leash on a dog."

Metal Man: "...Mine's inactive now, but an active one would be able to instantly kill him permanently if he disobeyed us."

Dragoshi: "...Interesting."

Julian Sawyer: "...Why can't we jus' kill him now if he won't sign the Manifesto?"

Metal Man: "He did, though... as Leon Yetch, but you can write anything for your signature."

Julian Sawyer: "...So shouldn't we have killed him BY NOW?"

Gibby: "It sounds kinda cruel to me... but if it's necessary, I'll help in retrieving such a device."

Metal Man: "The problem is that killing Questers is an expensive and questionably legal thing to do."

Julian Sawyer: "Jus' unhook him from Revive system, and pop him in the back of the head."

Metal Man: "...It's easy to kill, but expensive to erase people."

Julian Sawyer: "...Huh?"

Metal Man: "And, generally, unless we make his killing an accident, we'll be looked upon as not quite so good as we are."

Julian Sawyer: "It's justified."

Gibby: "Lets just submit killing as the last resort."

Wolfman: "And we aren't in good light with everyone yet."

Metal Man: "...Killings have trials and penalties. Erasing people generally makes them vanish from existence."

Wolfman decides to enter at this time.

Gibby looks over to Wolfman. "Hey Wolf!"

Metal Man: "I believe it would be best if we confronted him directly and forced him to make his choice now and forever."

Julian Sawyer: "...A'ight. Fair enough."

Metal Man: "...If he affirmed such choice he would have to prove his loyalty by adventuring, alone, to the outpost and submitting to the chip, which would make his choice permanent."

Julian Sawyer checks his Dex for Aetos' signature...

Wolfman: "If he is forced to be killed... what will happen to his belongings?"

Metal Man: "..." *Looks left and right* "...I happen to store such things."

Gibby: "...and if he refuses?"

Julian Sawyer: "Bury 'em with 'em?"

Wolfman: "I mean no offense to anyone, but if his bounty is to be shared, I would want some of the coins."

Metal Man: "Well, uhhh..."

Wolfman: .oO(cloaking device and flying... here I hopefully come)

Metal Man: "I guess we'd have to arrest him and send him to trial. He'd probably be tried for what he tried to do before."

Gibby nods.

Metal Man: "He'd be Ivan's problem then, and we could go on existing normally."

Gibby: "Fair enough I guess."

Metal Man: "...While the IIF is gone, their technology remains, so if he tried to escape, he wouldn't really have a chance."

Wolfman: "I'm in agreement... it sounds like the most balanced idea."

Dragoshi: "...Ah, yes. That does make perfect sense."

Metal Man: "Just in case, get ready for a fight if he plans to defy logic."

Gibby: "Last I saw, he was in Charles's room."

Julian Sawyer: "Man, I'm always ready for a fight..."

Metal Man: "Of course, if he says no and manages to peacefully be declared innocent, he's home free."

Dragoshi: "As am I, if it ever gets to that case..."

Metal Man: "Just that then he's Ivan's problem still."

Julian Sawyer: "An' he mighta moved." *Which is why Julian's checking up where Aetos' life signature is on his dex.*

Metal Man: "So... time to do some more hard things."
*He also checks to see if Aetos appears anywhere in HQ via his dex signature.*

Aetos is in Charles' room.

Metal Man: "Let's roll."

Gibby: "Right!"

Wolfman: "Understood."

Metal Man walks out and towards Charles' room, unarmed at the moment.

Gibby steps outside the room and walks down to Charles' room.

Julian Sawyer: "Let's go!" *Julian heads for Charles' room, packing his Dex away... and he's always armed.*

Wolfman walks with the others... looks like Charles' old room is the destination.

Metal Man: .oO(I wish people who didn't want to be with us would just stop coming here... it makes my life hard, and I'm getting too old for this.)

Editor's Note: Oh yeah, you're too old for this then? How about now, an eternity later? Ha ha... ha ha ha ha...

Aetos is lying on the floor, gazing at a strange mechanism in his hands.

Metal Man walks into the doorway of Charles' old room... he glances at the mechanism. "What do you have there?"

Wolfman: .oO(Questers coming, going, betraying, surviving... I'm getting too old for this.)

Aetos: "A teleporter."

Gibby steps inside after Metal and stands near the door... if worst came to worst.

Wolfman arrives, and wonders what Aetos has...

Metal Man: "...To where?"

Aetos: "Turion."

Julian Sawyer: "...An' why you got that?"

Wolfman: "...that lizard planet?"

Aetos: "Cause Charles wanted it, and so I bought it from the Businessman."

Metal Man nods. "Hmmm..." .oO(Hey, it might not be the most legal thing to do, but if all goes bad, maybe he can live there.)

Wolfman: "I mean no offense... but why would you want to go there? I wasn't exactly happy there during my time."

Aetos: "Don't ask me... although, I thought it was pretty fun there."

Metal Man: "...Not so much at my own idea but at the behest of various high-ranking Questers... I want to know whose side you're on, honestly. We're tired of trying to figure that out."

Wolfman: .oO(We obviously have different ideas on fun...)

Metal Man: "And it hurts both of us when we fight."

Julian Sawyer: "But mostly you."

Trigger walks in.
"Hello."

Aetos: "I'm afraid I don't have an answer to that... I don't see myself on any sides, yet I end up helping yours every day anyways."

Julian Sawyer: "Heh. Helpin'. You gone behind our backs 3 times to make deals with the enemy."

Wolfman: "You've been a friend and a foe... and probably both at the same time. Confusion is not a good thing for us to have."

Metal Man: "...You can't just choose not to answer, Aetos. If I don't have an answer, people beyond my control might do things behind my back, like you did. And I... will not be able to prosecute them as much as they would normally. For they could very easily do it for the good of the world."

Aetos stands up. "What exactly do you think I did?"

Metal Man: "What I saw. You sticking up for the pure essence of chaos and destruction which had poisoned my mind.."

Julian Sawyer: "I dunno, abandonin' us for The Void while we was fightin' him?"

Metal Man: "If not that... you had some plan... something to do with our mission terminal... taking it for yourself... with the help of Ivo?"

Trigger sits up against a wall and falls asleep.

Metal Man: "That would basically allow Ivo access to all our missions. You're lucky he was as busy as he was with time."

Aetos: "Alright, The Void... I'm not for the pure essence of chaos and destruction. Chaos is often affiliated with me because I value freedom."

Julian Sawyer: "An' that whole Spirit Altar deal with Bowser."

Aetos: "One at a time... I only helped The Void because of the freedom I would have gained, or I thought I would have gained."

Julian Sawyer: "Bull****. You were in it fo' power an' nothin' else."

Metal Man: "Rule... a world devoid of reason."

Dragoshi: "...Devoid of reason?"

Gibby just sighs and thinks back to simpler times with the Questers... then realizes there weren't any, and goes back to the conversation.

Trigger wakes up and tries to get in the conversation.

Julian Sawyer: "Mets, turn the Void on. He'll tell us what exactly the deal was."

Aetos crosses his arms.

Dragoshi: "...Yes. Please do."

Aetos: "I can tell you the deal, because I don't even BOTHER lying... it never works."

Trigger: "..."

Gibby: "There's a start."

Julian Sawyer: "...Leon ****in' YETCH."

Trigger: "Hmm?"

Metal Man: "Well, sure."
*He snaps his fingers.*

Metal Man (GM): The Void appears.

Aetos: "Did that WORK, Julian?"

Wolfman: *Whisper to Trigger* "We're trying to figure out whose side Aetos is on."

Trigger: "Oh."

The Void: "...The deal was simple. If I won, I would destroy all of everything, and he would have been merely one of many people torn to shreds in the ensuing destruction."

Julian Sawyer: "For a time."

The Void: "He was naive as to how I worked. All who truly worked for me got what I offered... total destruction!"

Dragoshi looks at The Void"...You must've had a crappy health plan then."

Wolfman: .oO(...I still find it strange that Metal can do this...)

Dragoshi: "...But, bad oneliners aside..."

The Void: "I was more of a disease than a being back then... but how he can act the way he is now is clearly a choice, as I have no power nor want to poison people's thoughts."

Aetos: "The main point was that he wanted me to kill you all because he claimed the Questers were the ones who brought Kuja to rule the world, and he said that as long as you were existing, it would continue. He didn't grant me any powers, except a more useless version of my wind transmutation."

The Void: "I would have betrayed my nonexistent mother to get people on my side if I could."

Julian Sawyer: "You still made a deal wit' 'em. A being of PURE ****in' Destruction who wanted us ALL dead, an' you HELPED him. Strike ONE."

Gibby nods in agreement.

Aetos: "Only because I believed it would save the universe from Kuja."

Dragoshi leans against the wall.

Julian Sawyer: "So you believed that helpin' a baddie that wanted us ALL dead would help get rid of ANOTHER baddie that wanted us ALL dead."

The Void: "There is a slippery slope between saving the world and doing anything to save it... my destruction would have saved the world at the cost of everyone's lives."

Dragoshi: "...Steep price."

Julian Sawyer: "You got one twisted sense'a logic."

Trigger: "Yeah."

Dragoshi: "...Wouldn't that be an oxymoron?"

Aetos: "You honestly thought I was going to kill people? The minute I found a way to stop you after Kuja was gone, I would have used it."

Wolfman is staying quiet at this point...

Aetos: "The hit against Aribar was only a fluke. Aribar can easily defeat me."

The Void: "Anything done in support of me would have resulted in total destruction. See how SIMBER nearly destroyed the planet... the Eggman hologram... Smithy... it never fails. All who truly supported me did their best to destroy everything."

Julian Sawyer: "Which would include YOU, punk."

Aetos: "Point."

Gibby: "Yup."

The Void: "And fighting for me when the odds were against me... is the highest kind of support. At that point, you had nothing to gain, unlike the others, who I gave weapons of mass destruction."

Aetos: "I didn't believe they could beat you so easily, so my charades continued."

The Void: "Naive, but it is pretty much confirm-able you supported me. There's no point in furthering this thread."
*He snaps his fingers, reappears as normal.*

Gibby: "Welcome back."

Garrick Fy`aar: "...the only thing I know is this. Aetos, you turned on us in our moment of need."

Julian Sawyer: "...Garrick, when'd the **** YOU get here?"

Garrick Fy`aar: "Been here. You just don't look around very often."

Gibby: "Guess not..."

Julian Sawyer: "Or maybe you a ****in' ghost."

Gibby: "No, that's John."

Metal Man: "...Anyway... there's that mission terminal."

Dragoshi: "...Or maybe he's just a ninja. With firearms"

Garrick Fy`aar: "Quite. Let's do what we do best."

Julian Sawyer: "Yeah, ont'a round 2."

Garrick Fy`aar moves over and goes to pick out a mission.

Aetos: "With Ivo?"

Julian Sawyer: "WHAT THE **** WERE YOU THINKING?!"

Metal Man: "Allowing Ivo so much as to know we had one is pretty bad already, but then asking him to hack into it was another."

Gibby rubs the side of his head. Julian sure was loud...

Metal Man: "Had he not been so busy destroying things, like, logic... time... our sanity..."

Julian Sawyer: "And why the **** Do you think he'd let you have it?"

Metal Man: "We could have had him messing up all our missions, and I'm not convinced he didn't know some things he shouldn't have. Repeatedly he 'conveniently' appeared wherever Time Stones were involved."

Dragoshi: "...Huh. Wonder why?"

Metal Man: "He's a genius, but I don't remember him possessing ESP."

Wolfman: "...that reminds me Metal. Shouldn't the Mage Council be aware of the current state of the Time Stones?" (far as I recall, they got destroyed)

Julian Sawyer: "They probly' already know."

Metal Man: "Sure... it's pretty much good for them. Another evil relic taken out of the way. ...So... can we just say you, once again, were out for selfish gain?"

Julian Sawyer: "Strike TWO."

Aetos: "That's a good point. He had c4 strapped to my back and was going to take me to some 'unknown' bounty hunter who would possibly chop me up and send me down a grinder. He asked questions, and at that point I decided I wouldn't bother lying, since, as I said, it never has once worked for me. But yeah, selfish gain.
Three?"

Metal Man: "Three... uhh... lemme think... What's up with stealing holy objects?"

Aetos: "And if it's the Bowser thing, that's just dumb... He had a deed to the temple, he didn't want the altar."

Dragoshi: "...Yeah. What in the nine hells is up with that, kid? ..."

Metal Man: "I mean, I can understand the first two things for a selfish thing, but a funky looking symbol is just weird."

Julian Sawyer: "An' I was in the right the entire time in that temple, so I believe I'm owed an apology from all y'all for abadonin' me AN' the mission."

Aetos: "I just wanted to keep it from being destroyed by him. He needed TV reception, and it blocked it. Yes, I'm sorry that the will was false."

Wolfman: "...a strange act of kindness if I ever heard of one."

Aetos: "And that we didn't believe it was."

Wolfman: "...the will was fake?"

Dragoshi: "...Don't worry about it Julian."

Metal Man: "...Does it have any possible use for you?"

Julian Sawyer: "Aetos, don't tell me you're sympathysin' with Bowser."

Gibby: "You don't need that right now."

Metal Man: "'Least, it'd be odd if you found some selfish way to use that thing, heh."

Aetos: "Bowser sympathysin'? No, I was just going by the law, or what I thought was the law at the time."

Metal Man: "...Are you willing to return it to the temple now that Bowser's been evicted?"

Julian Sawyer: "Me an' Dragoshi already took care of it."

Aetos: "Yes, they stole the holy object from me."

Wolfman: "...then where is it?"

Dragoshi: "Back at the temple."

Julian Sawyer: "Back at the temple."

Dragoshi: "Where it belongs."

Julian Sawyer: "Aetos, we was RETURNIN' somethin' YOU stole."

Metal Man: "So that's two counts of selfish evil and one count of kleptomania."

Aetos: "I didn't STEAL it knowingly."

Metal Man (GM): *Meanwhile...*
Dr. Mario: "I-a love this weird religious symbol-thingy-a!" *Has it mounted on the ceiling of the medbay.*

Metal Man: "...So... that makes your alignment Chaotic Evil, if I follow some weird man's logic."

Julian Sawyer: "Even IF you didn' 'steal' it, which you did, you NEVER ****in' take gifts from evil ****in' villains! That's jus' bad news waitin' to happen!"

Gibby: "Especially from someone like Bowser."

Metal Man: "...If you're not willing to make a choice, we have enough information to make one for you."

Aetos: "Going by those, sure, Metal, but I'd say Chaotic Neutral, if you count in all the things I've done for your people, too."

Metal Man tries to remember... Image of Julian and Aetos zapping one another Image of Aetos running away to Eggman Image of Aetos stealing magic toothbrushes Image of Aetos gaining The Void's power tattoo Image of Aetos stealing magitek.

Gibby: "Well you can't just go back and forth on us. Either you're with us or you're not."

Metal Man: "...I dunno, it's almost like a slideshow of you either betraying us or stealing things. ...Or making Julian angry. Name one good thing you've done."

Aetos: "Saved Port Destiny from total obliteration via those giant airships."

Metal Man: "...You called Kuja with a cell phone. ...You let loose 13 Gentlemen robots."

Aetos: "That was NODAL!"

Metal Man: "...Both of those, or one of them?"

Aetos: "The 13 Gentlemen Robots one."

Metal Man: "Well, then the more important point is that even if it wasn't in vain, you cancelled out a bad deed. Not... made a good one... another example?"

Aetos: "I sacrificed my life to destroy several destructive creatures on Turion."

Julian Sawyer: "So did everyone else."

Aetos: "I... literally sacrificed my life."

Metal Man: "...I have to wonder if those creatures would have sacrificed your life for you whether you wanted to or not... anything else?"

Aetos: "I don't know if I have any more individual stories. Tried stopping Skyhigh, but he literally booted us off his ship..."

Wolfman turns to Metal. "Your call."

Julian Sawyer: "He was flyin' a ship that did absolutely nothin'. You aint' got much of a case."

Metal Man: "...So far, I see occasional accidental acts of heroism surrounded by an endless amount of... selfish power-hoarding."

Aetos: "Accidental?"

Metal Man: "Well, the only thing I can do is decide for you... obviously I can't trust you to go anywhere alone, as you might phone whoever's our next enemy and ask them to help you. ...Steal precious artifacts...
...Aid beings of world destruction if it has the slightest chance of defeating one guy...
...Is there any reason not to have you go off to Turion and stay there?"

Trigger plops out of nowhere.

Aetos shrugs. "None at all."

Metal Man: "It's just too dangerous... you might touch something and summon our doom, or something. ...And not even in the Gibby way, which is... understandable."

Gibby nods.

Trigger: "Heh?"

Metal Man nods. "...He doesn't wish harm when it comes to button pressing, and he rarely pushes them to gain power."

Aetos: "Neither do I... you should stop jumping to conclusions on that one."

Metal Man: "Beh. What are we gonna do otherwise? Turion makes the most sense."

Gibby: "It's an addiction... I can stop whenever I want..." *Twitch.*

Aetos: "I push buttons to see what they do."

Dragoshi pokes Gibby "You okay?"

Wolfman: "Should we let anyone in Turion know of their new arrival then?"

Metal Man: "I mean, a life in jail isn't productive..."

Gibby: "Give me a minute."

Dragoshi: "Oh. 'Kay"

Metal Man: "And we can let him back if life away from the danger can make him drop the slippery slope."
*He points to Aetos.* "You may leave for Turion now or stay here and possibly wind up in jail.
That is a choice I can only offer for the next few minutes, because any further than that and things may get out of hand."

Aetos waves. "Bye!" he grins and starts trying to activate the teleporter in his hands.

Trigger is still a little lost on the subject at hand.

Dragoshi: "...If things do get out of hand, I'll try and make sure they won't. ...But, that might not be necessary"

Gibby: "Sounds like it's settled then."

Garrick Fy`aar: "...Aetos, don't do anything stupid in Turion. We won't hesitate to come after you."

Gibby: "Sad, but true."

Trigger: "..."

Metal Man (GM): *WARP* Aetos vanishes quickly.

Gibby watches him leave and sighs.

Metal Man looks to Julian. "Problem fixed."

Wolfman: "...do we get his stuff now?"

Gibby: "First Ari, then Charles, and Now Aetos... we're dropping like flies."

Metal Man: "...It sort of went with him into the portal."

Trigger: "How many of us are left?"

Dragoshi: "Lesse..."

Julian Sawyer: "This ain't gonna work out. I'm tellin' ya now."

Dragoshi does a head count. "...1...2...3...4...5...6. Well, 6 so far."

Gibby: "And not all of us manage to make it to all the missions, so it's even less than that at times."

Trigger: "Hmm."

Dragoshi: "..."

Wolfman: "Well... as I mentioned, we currently don't have a lot of approval and support from the current community."

Garrick Fy`aar: "Then why don't we do something then?"

Wolfman: "Even though you guys managed to stop Ivo, maybe we should focus some missions on the community and help out."

Julian Sawyer: "So?"

Gibby: "Hmm... you may have something there, Wolf."

Wolfman: "This way, if we have to go on a big mission and we're short-handed, we might be able to have extra help."

Garrick Fy`aar: "Julian, there's a phrase that goes, 'The rulers are only in power because the people believe they are in power.'"

Dragoshi: "...Hmmm... Wolf, that's brilliant"

Gibby: "Gain back their trust."

Julian Sawyer: "...So you're thinkin' we should do Public Relations?"

Wolfman: "...yes."

The Wraith: *The group's dexes would beep calmly...*

Garrick Fy`aar: "...what now?"

Wolfman: "Besides: it would help for the CAL--hang on."

Dragoshi pulls out his dex and opens it up.

Wolfman checks his dex.
"Wolfman speaking."

Gibby: "I'd be--" *His dex beeps, and he picks it up. *

Dragoshi: "Drago here."

Gibby: "What up?"

The Wraith: "We would do well to gain back some common respect, indeed..." The wraith then drifts out of a nearby wall.

Dragoshi: "Ah. Hello there."

Trigger takes out his Dex. "Hiya Wraith."

Wolfman: *Dex message* *The next time we have a group meeting, remind me to have us use a digital form the entire time*

Gibby: "Then I think it's settled. Lets do some PR work!"

Julian Sawyer: "That's the dumbest piece a **** I ever heard. We do public relations by makin' sure no one DIES. Community service is for CHUMPS."

Editor's Note: Why not do both? People with a broken down, ruined community can, in fact, die of starvation or other such ills just as much as they could be killed by the fantastically evil and magical enemies that show up in this Season.

Wolfman: "...then I have an idea for you Julian."

Gibby: -_-; "Thank you, Julian... you're too kind."

Dragoshi: "Speaking of the CAL, I need to talk to Metal 'bout settin' myself up for facing Gumbo. But, that aside, what kinda PR work should we-"

Trigger: "What kinda PR work are we gonna do, recruitment?"

Wolfman: "Since you like to fight so much, perhaps you could help open up a fighting or training school in Kakariko or some other place?"

The Wraith just raises an eyebrow at Julian, shaking its head...

Wolfman: "If not necessarily PR work, just help out with minor requests... even if its just to get pets out of trees."

Garrick Fy`aar: "...a fighting school?"

Wolfman: "But the point is not to be overzealous."

Trigger: "Hmm."

Garrick Fy`aar: "You want us to TRAIN new fighters?"

Dragoshi: "...Fun."

Gibby: "That -would- be pretty cool."

Trigger: "I guess."

Dragoshi: "Which of the lot of us should be the trainers?"

Julian Sawyer: "...Wolf, people can handle their own problems. We deal with destroyin' globe wide threats, not gettin' pets outta trees!"

Wolfman: "I suggested Julian for that."

Gibby: "Yeah, he may not be the brightest of the bunch, but he sure does know how to fight."

The Wraith strokes its chin thoughtfully. "Julian may do well to teach them the way of swift movements... I could perhaps train one in the mind..."

Wolfman: "If we work with the people of Nintendus, they would probably help us with the globe wide threats."
*Dex message* 'The two of you together? That would be interesting.'

Trigger: "I don't think Julian would be a good trainer, not good enough people skills."

Julian Sawyer: "An' while we out doin' community service, the globe-wide threats end up getti'n too strong an' killin' us all!"

Garrick Fy`aar: "Julian has a point..."

Gibby: "Well it's not like we'd be helping them 24/7...just do a few minor things until a bigger threat appears."

The Wraith: "We will deal with such threats as they arise... This is just to bide our time until such threats come around..."

Wolfman: "Remember: my idea is meant as a side activity. Of course, the world comes first."

Julian Sawyer: "There's ALWAYS a bigger threat."

Garrick Fy`aar sighs and folds his arms over his chest.

The Wraith: "Perhaps with more common support and trust, we will have fewer enemies and more allies; making it easier for us to take down the threat..."

Wolfman: "We were never meant to be on the offensive Julian."

Editor's Note: Of course! The Questers were originally a defense force, so I, too, am confused as to why the Questers must spend all their days killing potential threats. That's Minority Report-esque stuff that could easily go far beyond mere 'disaster prevention.'

Gibby: "Well not now there's isn't what with Ivo blasted off."

Garrick Fy`aar: "That is true. We're a peacekeeping force."

Wolfman: "If you want to perhaps scout for trouble, then at least report back what you see, and don't engage."

Trigger: "Well, what are we gonna do now?"

Wolfman: "...there is something I'm curious about, not related to this discussion."

Gibby: "What's that?"

Wolfman: "Are the old arena battlegrounds still available for fighting purposes?"

Trigger: "Hmm, like for the CAL?"

The Wraith: "I'm sure the holo room would easily accommodate such things, though I haven't seen for myself, and I'm not sure about the arena."

Garrick Fy`aar: "Probably so."

Julian Sawyer: "Hell if I know. Hafta ask Mets 'bout that."

Gibby: "Uhh... not sure. Ask Metal."

Wolfman: "The CAL uses just one arena... a square caged version of what I remember as Final Destination."

Garrick Fy`aar: "...a school... I dunno, we can easily train a person that could harm us."

The Wraith looks to Garrick. "Of course, we wouldn't be teaching them everything we know..."

Julian Sawyer: "Ain't there somethin' in the rules against that?"

Wolfman: "...I just wish to practice on one of the old arenas without having to resort to the CAL Cage. Julian: is there a rule against teaching one how to defend ones self?"

Trigger: "Sounds like fun, if they are still usable."

The Wraith looks to Wolf again. "The holo room would be perfect for that purpose."

Julian Sawyer: "Nah, but I'm pretty sure there's a rule again'st US teachin' 'em."

Trigger: "Holo room?"

Wolfman pulls out his Dex again, and looks up the Manifesto.

Gibby: "Why can't we teach them?"

Wolfman: "Where do you think it says so on here?"

Dragoshi does the same as Wolf.

Wolfman: "We're not creating a military empire here."

Dragoshi: "...Yep."

The Wraith doesn't even bother looking, already knowing the result.

Wolfman: "...I see where the problem can be. ...and this problem makes no sense."

Gibby: "Where?"

Wolfman: "Check under Former Smashers and Questers: Rule 5."

Gibby takes out his dex and checks it out.

The Wraith shakes its head lightly. "We won't need them to join our ranks. We will just be teaching them self defense for their own purposes."

Gibby: "Right. They won't be 'official' or anything."

The Wraith: "Or even unofficial."

Wolfman: "...what bothers me more about this... what if some of the fans want to be a Quester like some did 13 or so years ago?"

Gibby: "Just people with combat skills. These days it seems like NOBODY wants to be a Quester."

Wolfman: "In case it matters... all of this is right now ideas."

Julian Sawyer: "Then we tell 'em to **** off."

Wolfman: "No action is to be taken just yet. And Julian, save the cursing for battles only."

The Wraith: "I'm curious about the purpose of that rule to begin with; however, I suppose they'll just be... outta luck."

Gibby: "Heh... like that'll happen."

Julian Sawyer: "I'm wonderin' why you keep tellin' me to do things when you ain't had authority over nobody for 'bout 13 years or so."

The Wraith: "Julian, he is giving no commands... Just suggestions."

Wolfman: "I'm aware I'm no longer in charge... it's probably best I'm not. Not all of my ideas have been... well, great."

Julian Sawyer: "No ****in' kiddin'."

Wolfman: "...let me put it to you like this. If we do end up doing PR, I don't know how well the people would appreciate mouths that should be rinsed with anti-vocal chip soap."

Gibby: "Ugh..."

Dragoshi: "...Heh."

Gibby imagines many, MANY people like Julian... oh the horror!

Julian Sawyer: "Deal wit' it. Already told you doin' PR's a dumb idea when we got bigger fish to fry."

Wolfman: "...perhaps we should ask a former Smasher about this idea then? ...one of the ones from the original Smash Bros tournament, that is."

Gibby: "Well then YOU don't have to do it."

The Wraith ponders for a moment, picturing Julian trying to teach a class of any sort... "...Come to think of it, that might not be a very good idea, the classes... With Julian teaching, anyway..."

Trigger: "Hmm."

Gibby: "We got enough people to handle it."

Julian Sawyer: "Sounds like a plan, little man. I'll save the world while you're busy pickin' up trash."

Gibby: "HEY! I'm 'vertically challenged' thank you very much."

Wolfman: "As am I."

Dragoshi: "..."

Trigger: "...Stop hoggin' all the glory Julian."

Gibby: "That's like asking me not to push a button."
*Twitch.*

Wolfman: "You live by the fight Julian... and will die by it. You remind me of a reploid I knew before..."

Editor's Note: Heh... he wishes he could be like Panzer, but he couldn't hack it.

The Wraith sighs... "Once again, the classes will be put on the back burner whenever anything serious comes up."

Julian Sawyer: "I'm not hoggin' the glory. I'm just sayin' while you're busy gettin' a cat out of a tree, I'll be doin' somethin', y'know, WORTHWHILE."

Wolfman: "There are many values of worth. I'd rather see the community smile when we do something right."

Gibby: "You sure do have a thick skull. We'll STILL be doing all that. But we'll also do the little things as well."

Wolfman: .oO(...since when did Julian have such an attitude problem?
Maybe he should have gone to Turion with Aetos...)

Editor's Note: Damn, why didn't I listen to Wolfman? He was right!

Julian Sawyer: "They'll smile when you stop them from dyin'. What else reaction they gonna have?"

Trigger: "..."

Wolfman: "Anger and despair for ruining buildings and property."

Editor's Note: There he is again, calling out the infamous Westopolis Casino Incident before it even happened!

Gibby: "Fear, for one thing."

Wolfman: "Trust needs to be gained."

Trigger: "Yup."

Wolfman: "They don't necessarily need to know of every battle we get into."

Dragoshi nods.

Wolfman: "But it would help them knowing of what we do, and how we also wish to give back."

Gibby: "If anything, it'd freak them out even more."

Wolfman: "Besides... it might bring in extra revenue for the CAL fights."

Gibby: "You see? Everybody wins!"

Trigger: "Yay?"

Wolfman: "That is the idea Gibby. Now... does anyone know where Metal went?"

Trigger: "He left?"

Gibby: "Probably went to take another nap..."

Dragoshi: "...Is everyone a *Draconic*ing ninja these days?"

Trigger: "I thought he was being really quiet."

The Wraith: "You... underestimate his sneakiness, sirs."

Julian Sawyer: "...A'ight, point taken... But there's always gonna be more work than we can do. And people that're angry that we can't."

Trigger: "By the way, when Met turns into The Void, does he like turn into a black hole? Just wondering."

Gibby: "We just have to help them one day at a time... eventually they'll come around and appreciate us."

Trigger: "The people don't appreciate us?"

Metal Man stands near everyone. "...I dunno what you mean about Ivo... he blew up. He can't possibly rule anything."

Dragoshi: "...If they don't, then people are stubbornly hopeless. But, Gibby's prolly' right"

Wolfman: "Welcome back Metal."

Dragoshi: "Yeah. He's annihilated Temporarily AND physically.
I mean, the chances of him surviving are even lower than that of-Finish that joke, yourself.
...Oneliner."

Trigger: "Me?"

Wolfman: "I'm assuming you you've heard most of what we talked about Metal. What are your thoughts?"

Dragoshi: "...I get the words oneliner and joke mixed up too much. It's annoying, really." >_>

Trigger: "I bet."

Metal Man: "We don't really need PR... we've been here, anyone who has a problem with us can be beaten down."

Garrick Fy`aar: "Do we really have to be that physical, Metal?"

Wolfman: "Metal, I'm finding it hard to believe you are on Julian's side here."

Garrick Fy`aar: "Some battles are not always best fought with fists, guns, and blades."

Gibby: "Yeah, seriously. What's up with that?"

Wolfman: "Violence isn't always the answer."

Metal Man laughs at Wolfman.

Wolfman: "...pardon?"

Metal Man: "You were all about punishing people who disagreed with you... what made you change your mind?"

Trigger: "Hmm."

Wolfman: "I only wanted to punish Aetos because he broke the Manifesto."

Trigger: "That seems understandable."

Wolfman: "As far as the others... I don't wish to punish anymore."

Trigger: "...Good for you?"

Wolfman: "Let's just say... I'm growing up. Or... down, as it may be."

Gibby: "Come on, Metal. If people are afraid of us, then we should give them a reason not to be. We have to let them know that we're just like them, not these ultra powerful fighters that can easily manipulate them."

Metal Man: "You haven't really dealt with the people. Who gave you the idea they were afraid of us?"

Gibby: "I'll be honest, if I was one of them, I'd be scared of us."

Trigger: "Plus, the people might relate to me cause I look normal. *Looks around the room* ...Remotely normal."

Wolfman: "I remember reading up on how things were during the final part of Kuja's stand."

The Wraith: "Speaking of fear, might it be a good idea for me to... take some sort of disguised form when on such mundane missions?"

Wolfman: "Not many liked the Questers then."

Metal Man: "...Assumptions don't go much further than you can throw things... and how were people brainwashed to hate us gonna like us?"

Trigger: "Like look more Humanoid-ish?"

Dragoshi: "I have to agree with Wraith."

Metal Man: "We saved them from total enslavement... if they hate us, they can go crying to Kuja's grave."

Gibby: "See, that's just my point right there. John has to resort to disguises in order to not scare people. Do we really WANT that?"

Wolfman: "...sounds like you inherited my old punishing role."

Metal Man: "Generally we operate above and below the public level."

Trigger: "Hmm, why do the people hate us so much?"

The Wraith: "And a few do... This has been verified." He looks to Gibby. "And I bring that up simply because I'm... a haunt, not because I'm a Quester or a recognized force of fear."

Julian Sawyer: "...Gibby, how many people you seen SCARED of the Ghost?"

Metal Man: "Nobody hates us!" *He shakes his head* "You people are making this up to make my life harder!"

Dragoshi: "...Right, right."

Trigger: "Whoops."

Julian Sawyer: "...TOLD y'all."

Metal Man: "We saved the world. Polls have been decent. Ivan would tell us if it was a problem."

Wolfman: "We're trying to make things easier for us as an organization. Not harder."

Gibby: "Right."

Garrick Fy`aar: "It doesn't matter."

The Wraith shrugs. "At any rate, it wouldn't hurt to get people to love us even more. Besides, what shall we do when we don't have some disaster to take care of?"

Metal Man: "...You're making things harder by suggesting a bureaucracy which would slow down what we're doing."

Garrick Fy`aar: "Right now, what matters is that we do our job."

Metal Man: "I mean, sure, if The Wraith scared people, we should prevent that."

Gibby: "Well of course our job comes first... but if any of us had free time, then that would be nice."

Julian Sawyer: "...What did I ****in' say?"

Gibby: "Like volunteer work."

Metal Man: "But if we sit here debating the merits of our jobs all day, nothing will get done. And then they'll hate us for sure."

Dragoshi: "...Indeed. SO why the HELL are we sitting around here?"

Wolfman: "...meeting adjourned."

Metal Man: "Because you want me to make sure we don't offend people when saving them from power-hungry warlords."

Editor's Note: But that wasn't exactly what was said... it was mostly that building up a community would help prevent even more problems than solely working on deterrence alone.

Gibby: "Shut up, Julian..."

Wolfman: *Waits for Julian to get out of earshot* "...you sure we couldn't send Julian with Aetos at Turion?"

Gibby grumbles. He thought it was a great idea no matter what those two had to say.

The Wraith looks to get rather... pissed at Julian's last comment, but refrains from saying anything.

Metal Man smacks Wolf. "What would we do then, defeat our enemies with good karma?"

Dragoshi: "..."

Gibby: "As much as I'd hate to admit it, he's our best fighter. We can't risk losing him."

Metal Man: "Unless we become a buncha white mages wielding holy, we can't afford to be perfect with morality."

Wolfman: "...we'll have to work on a compromise later."

Metal Man: "...If you could stop yelling at me, maybe I could help make Julian not so angry."

Editor's Note: Hm. And here we see this version of Metal cracking under the strain and imagining yelling that wasn't there.

Wolfman rubs his nose with his left claw.
He wasn't yelling.

Gibby: "Whatever..."

Metal Man: "But for the time being, I'm being bogged down with new complaints after having handled three huge ones."

Dragoshi: "...Is that even friggin' possible, boss?"

Gibby heads to the big room with a grunt and a grumble.

Metal Man: "Well, it is. He and I seem to understand something..."

Wolfman starts going to the Big Room.

Metal Man: "Anyway, you guys are what people see, not me, so if you want good PR, then be good in the field."

Editor's Note: Wow, what a load of BS. The only way to be 'good in the field' would be benching Garrick and Julian; otherwise, their domineering nature would cause them to FORCE a bad outcome, just like how the now-exiled Aetos and Charles did. But I guess he'd rather try to please his remaining Questers with a foolish equivocation than to actually resolve the problem... this right here most likely is why mentally I figured I could take forever before logging this, since it means this promising attempt to reform the Questers gets neglected in favor of more mindless violence for a while. Damn.

Dragoshi: "...Well, if you say so, sir..."
*He exits and moves to the Big Room.*

The Wraith just shrugs and drifts into the Big Room...

Metal Man walks in, and looks at the machine. "I, err, couldn't update it properly, thanks to the train of things which ate up my time."

Gibby: "Fair enough."

Julian Sawyer's sitting in one of the chairs with his feet up when the rest arrive "So what're we gonna tackle today, hippies?"

Metal Man: "So I guess I'll have to describe them manually."

Dragoshi: "...Ah. Fair 'nough. So, what missions do we have today?"

Julian Sawyer: "Shoot."

Aribar exits the portal at Atlantis and enters the world of Nintendus once more. The half- elf starts back out of the city but then remembers a certain button on his dex. Aribar takes out his Smash Dex and presses the 'Warp' button. He would suddenly appear in the Big Room.
He looks all about. He's dressed the same way as he left, but by looking at the elf's face one can tell that the problems he has faced are gone. He waves at the others. "'allo, everyone. Sorry for taking so long, but a trip back home was needed. Did I miss anything?"

Julian Sawyer: "...Eh."

Wolfman: "...plenty."

Dragoshi: "...Meh."

Metal Man: "We got Mission 17 and 18 here, and... woah. Uhh... anyway."

Metal Man (GM): http://archive.metalman88.com/MissionMap6.PNG

Metal Man: "In addition to that, we have mission 19..."

Gibby: "ARI! Welcome back!"

Metal Man: "Which is an odd one."

The Wraith looks to Aribar, whose dex beeps.

Dragoshi: "...?"

Wolfman: "How odd are we talking?"

Metal Man: "Looong ago, Space Pirates came to terrorize us."

Garrick Fy`aar: "...heh, Ari."

Gibby had his mood lifted up right away.

Aribar opens his dex. "Well, at least some people are exited that I'm back."

Julian Sawyer: "...Space Pirates?"

Metal Man: "Well, one of their ships came in and crashed into the arctic. It came in bearing a highly radioactive payload."

Dragoshi: "...Space Pirates? You mean those hi-tech insectoid-like aliens fro-...Wait, what!?"

Metal Man: "I want you to help clean up the mess and find out why it was there."

Garrick Fy`aar: "...phazon."

Metal Man: "Then... it gets weirder."

Dragoshi: "...Wonderful! Friggin' wonderful!"

Gibby: "Weirder?"

Julian Sawyer: "Go on."

Wolfman: "That mission, or another mission?"

Metal Man: "Mission 20... we've got some sightings of Tingle attacking people with swords."

Garrick Fy`aar: "...Tingle???"

Julian Sawyer: "...That midget in the green jumpsuit?"

Wolfman: "...that fairy that ain't a fairy?"

The Wraith lofts an eyebrow...

Aribar: "Hm. It appears as if I got back just in time. Hm... Eighteen, nineteen, and... Um. To a lesser degree Tingle sound bad."

Metal Man: "He's been kicking arse in Saturn Valley."

Dragoshi: "...And 17 DOESN'T? ...Okay, maybe it's a little petty, but still."

Metal Man: "So... uhh... let's see. A scientist who can freeze time, a hacker aboard Gunicard, crashed Space Pirate payload, and Tingle attacking people. Take your pick."

Julian Sawyer: "I'm thinkin' we should take care of Gunicard first. Lord knows we don't want another nuke pointed at us."

The Wraith rubs its chin, pondering...

Dragoshi: "...Indeed. Though, I say we split up and tackle the Gunicard situation and the scientist situation."

Aribar: "Uhh... Hm. Julian's right here... And... Geeze. So many major missions. You know, maybe we should start taking the missions in the order we get them in."

Gibby: "Agreed."

Wolfman: "Back in my realm, the arctic was sort of important to the ecosystem. I'm sort of partial to the Payload... even though I no longer have my radioactive armor."

Metal Man: "The payload is highly radioactive. The damage Phazon can do is, ostensibly, worse than nuclear destruction."

Gibby: "Hmm..."

Wolfman: "...we aren't exactly equipped for that job, are we?"

Metal Man: "At least, these Chozo logs Samus gave me aren't very endearing."
*He reads one.* "The worm will corrupt everything and kill everyone." *Shudders*
"Well, you can wear freely provided suits, but they lower your evasiveness a little."

Garrick Fy`aar: "My armor should be protective enough."

Aribar: "Wait... Do you think Samus has extra time to deal with the Space Pirate? Pirates?"

Wolfman: "Perhaps Samus would like to help us out. She's familiar with most of this."

Gibby: "Yeah. She'd be a HUGE help."

Metal Man: "Samus is busy fighting them where they live. This is one of them which got away."

Dragoshi: "...Yes. That she would be. ...Ah."

Metal Man: "If she came here they'd follow her."

Dragoshi: "Well, this is quite an annoying predicament."

Aribar: "Just a bigger mess... Got'cha."

Gibby: "Ouch... yeah, bad idea."

Garrick Fy`aar: "...all of the Smashers seem to be busy these days."

Metal Man: "Thanks to them, we don't have the world going kablooie all the time."

Wolfman: "...can we get Ness to help with the Tingle situation then?"

Julian Sawyer: "Looks like we got a Split Mission on our hands."

Aribar counts heads. "Yup... Three on one, four on another."

Wolfman: "Last I recall, Gigyas has been sort of destroyed."

Dragoshi: "Yes, that we do. Been a while since we've had one."

Aribar: "Unless... One team hires you, Metal?"

Metal Man: "Ehhh... I hate those... but if you're willing to split up your forces, thus increasing the difficulty by at least two times... sure."

Gibby: "Maybe we shouldn't..."

Julian Sawyer: "We handled it well enough last time."

Dragoshi: "...Must you be a damn pessimist?"

Garrick Fy`aar: "Yes, but then Aetos went nuts."

Metal Man: "You can hire me, if you feel like it."

Garrick Fy`aar: "It's a jinx like thing. I say we do them back to back."

The Wraith: "Smaller groups move faster, and unless we run into some unexpectedly strong enemies, we won't need the extra power."

Wolfman: "Guys, form up in line according to which mission you wish to do. I'm sort of confused."

Julian Sawyer: "Look, I'm headin' the team goin' to Gunicard. Mets should go with the group checkin' out the Space Pirates. He's got built in protection."

Gibby: "Well since I'm more familiar with Gunicard, I guess I'll go to that team."

Dragoshi: "Yes. Question is though, would we have enough time to do them back to back?"

Metal Man: "...The Wraith would probably be safe from radiation... and Garrick."

The Wraith nods...

Dragoshi: "...Well... Damn. Who should I go with..."

Metal Man: "That'd leave one person to either wear a suit or be irradiated."

Wolfman: "I'll wear the suit."

Aribar: "...Aetos has been good since I, ah... exchanged him for info on a nuke, which I'm REALLY sorry for, and myself, right? ... And how's Ivo doing anyways?"

Wolfman: "I'm most likely always going to get hit anyway without the suit, so it won't hurt me much."

Julian Sawyer: "Aetos got exiled to Turion, and we blew Ivo the **** up."

Gibby chuckles after hearing that.

Metal Man: "Ivo died, and Aetos' has had such a bad record he's been exiled to Turion. Oh, yeah, and Charles left."

Julian Sawyer: "Good riddance."

Aribar: "...Oh..."

Metal Man: "I'd let you talk to him, but he sort of... left us no phone numbers."

Dragoshi: "...Nah. Let me do it, Wolf."

Wolfman: "I've been screwed out of missions to help with more HQ maintenance and grocery shopping. I don't wish to be screwed out again."

Dragoshi: "...You could always help with the Gunicard mission, y'know"

Wolfman: "Besides: I'm a very good swimmer, and the cold won't affect me much."

Julian Sawyer: "Look, I don't want Gibby on my team. Too many buttons up there."

Wolfman: "I've been in arctic conditions before."

Gibby: "Don't worry, I can handle myself."

Metal Man: "Gibby only wants to help..." :D

Aribar nods, having a bittersweet feeling at that news. "So Garrick and John are going on the Space Pirate mission, Gibby and Julian on the Gunicard one... Well, if Gibby gets out of control I could stop him. I've learned a few tricks in Whaller that would stop him from pushing buttons."

Gibby: "Yeah... a simple whack to the head will probably stop me... probably."

Julian Sawyer: "Alright, looks like I got a team of Gibby, Dragoshi, an'...Ari."

Metal Man: "So, me, Wraith, n' Garrick, and whoever else it is who's going will check out the radiation."

Wolfman: "That would be me Metal."

Julian Sawyer: "...I'm guessin' none'a y'all know anythin' about computers."

Metal Man thinks... "If Julian was on our team, we could be the all-star intergalactic killing machines."

Dragoshi: "...I know quite a bit, Jules."

Gibby: "Well I remember the place well enough... I might be able to help this time."

Wolfman: .oO(At least I won't be near Julian for a time)

Aribar: "I could power one, but... Using them? No clue."

Metal Man: "I could shoot people... Wraith could shoot people... Garrick could shoot people... hmmmm... yeah, Wolf makes more sense. He also shoots people. Okay. If anything moves, we all shoot it until it's dead."

The Wraith chuckles a bit...

Metal Man: "So, Julian, you fine with... button pressing, light sabering, Draconic cursing, lightning shooting for your team?"

Julian Sawyer: "I'd rather get Garrick to come with, seein' as how he's our Techie. But I 'spose I got enough to get by."

Metal Man: "Well... so it's decided... hmmm... Wolfman, you said something about being able to weather radiation before? It might be easier to fix that than for you to wear a suit meant for people who walk on two feet."

Wolfman: "I lost my old radiation armor. It was... removed from me when I was back at my old realm.
I'll chance the suit if I have to.
At least I can be underwater forever if I have to."

Metal Man (GM): *Shrug* "Okay then..." *Goes into a closet, dragging out with all his might a black suit with a hazmat visor.*

Metal Man: "This blocks all radiation, but makes you slower." (-3 to AC)

Wolfman: "Everyone that attacked me got through anyway; this armor won't make a difference."
*He does his best to get comfortable in there.*

Metal Man (GM): It's hot, stuffy, and inflexible.

Metal Man: "So then... let's go and check out that toxic waste."

Wolfman: "...this suit is slightly sticky, but it will have to do."

The Wraith: "By the way, Metal... What kind of price tag do you carry for something like this?"

Metal Man: "It's only worth 10,000 coins."

Julian Sawyer: "Alright, Gunicard team! Let's go find ourselves a hacker." *Julian removes his feet from the table, stands up, and heads for the elevator.*

Gibby nods and follows Julian to said elevator.

Dragoshi follows Julian as well.

Trigger follow Gibby.

Aribar follows Gibby and Julian.

Metal Man leads his group onto the elevator...

The Wraith: "Hrm... Ehh, I'm not needin' serious funds at this point anyway." It goes to the elevator as well, to wait in the warp room for the coordinates to be set to the phazon mission's.

Wolfman goes with Metal. .oO(...I could have used that 50K coins...)

Metal Man (GM): EL WARPO
Starting with... Metal and co, who appear in the middle of the Arctic.
Ahead of you is a huge crashed space ship.

Wolfman arrives, and does his best to breathe in the air.

Garrick Fy`aar: "...whoa..."

Metal Man: "Yeck... this place is a mess."

Wolfman: "...I'll say."

The Wraith eyes around at the wreckage, already sure that it'll see some rather nasty stuff...

Metal Man (GM): There's one nice hole in the side to entry with. The ship glows mildly, lights still on, alarms going off.
The rear end of the ship burns slowly.

Wolfman checks the rear of the ship...
"Whatever is going on, I don't know how much time we have. We better make this quick."

The Wraith nods a bit as shadowy tendrils start to wrap around itself, eventually forming into a thick, dark shroud of sorts...

Garrick Fy`aar: "...huh. This is a big ship to get away like that..."

Metal Man: "Its getaway wasn't very safe."
*He walks towards the entrance, a hole gouged in the side.*

Garrick Fy`aar heads afterwards...

The Wraith drifts up to that entry, checking around for Phazon at that point before passing through...

Wolfman follows along in the rear.

Metal Man (GM): No phazon yet... though this looks to be some sort of experimental lab area.
It's the hardest hit; a rather large and elaborate tank appears to have simply exploded.

Garrick Fy`aar: "...why are they still using Phazon?"

Wolfman: "Should we find out?"

Metal Man (GM): There's a door to your left, a door to your right, a bunch of computers down here, an elevator up, and an upper door to your left, and an upper door to your right.
You are in Sector C-2.

Wolfman: "I'll assume our smash dexes don't have a built in map... could we use the computers to get one?"

Metal Man (GM): ...These computers look solid dead.

Garrick Fy`aar: "...nope, these are trashed..."

Metal Man (GM): Gunfire appears to be everywhere.
Holes in stuff, explosions... all it's missing in the corpses.
Past gunfire.
Plasma gunfire.

The Wraith eyes around a bit as it drifts through the room... It looks around for any particularly concentrated areas of gunfire.

Metal Man (GM): Most of it is centered around the tank.

Wolfman gets a look around the room...

Metal Man (GM): Looks like whatever it was broke out, and they were trying to suppress it.

Wolfman: "Seems like a battle took place here."

Garrick Fy`aar: "...Mark, can you get any readings one what came OUT of that tank?"

Smash Dex: "Faint phazon readings from the tank. However, most of them appear to have been cleaned up."

Wolfman: *Dex Wraith* 'Anything in particular you've found?'

Garrick Fy`aar: "Hm."

The Wraith: .oO(Probably one of their experiments went awry... again.)

Garrick Fy`aar moves for the upper door to the right.

Metal Man follows Garrick up the small metallic staircase.

The Wraith speaks through the dex. "Nothing aside from the fact that they must have been shooting at whatever came out of that tank... One of their experiments went awry, it seems. Nothing unusual about -that-..."

Wolfman: "Come on; we better follow the others."

The Wraith sees the others moving, and nods, drifting up alongside the staircase.

Wolfman does what he suggested.

Metal Man (GM): Garrick would notice the door to be shut, but active.

Garrick Fy`aar: "...hm."

Wolfman: "What is it?"

Garrick Fy`aar tries to force it open.

The Wraith shakes its head and points a finger at the door, waiting for Garrick to move out of the way...

Garrick Fy`aar is still trying to force the door open, if possible...

Metal Man (GM): You try to force it open, but it seems stuck.

The Wraith: "...Move."

Garrick Fy`aar: "Hmm?"

Wolfman: "...the funny thing is, I almost would have thought shooting the door would work."

Garrick Fy`aar: "I suppose you have a better idea?"

The Wraith: "Yes I do."

Garrick Fy`aar: "All you needed to say."
*He steps aside...*

Wolfman was alrady aside.

The Wraith waits for Garrick to move, then just fires a small blast of energy at it through its finger.

Metal Man (GM): The door clicks, then unlocks... revealing a catwalk over a flaming inferno.

Garrick Fy`aar: "...what did you do?"

Wolfman: "...he shot it."

The Wraith just smirks and passes through... raising an eyebrow as it looks at said inferno.

Garrick Fy`aar: "With WHAT?"

The Wraith: "...Magic."

Garrick Fy`aar follows, stumped...
"...oh... well, nevermind then."

Wolfman: "I understand; don't worry."
*He gets a look at the inferno.*

Metal Man (GM): It is 'Sector C-1.'

Garrick Fy`aar makes sure that the catwalk is safe enough to walk on, then walks across.

Metal Man (GM): A computer voice can be heard.

Computer Voice: "Sector C-1 has been destroyed. Please be cautious when navigating through that area."

Metal Man (GM): It's safe, but sort of warm.

Wolfman: "Thank you computer."

The Wraith drifts across the gap, eyeing around for anything of interest, including exits and traces of critters.

Wolfman just moves slowly, not wanting to accidentally trip over his temp armor.

Metal Man (GM): Walking in, you see... dead Space Pirates everywhere, and radioactive footsteps... on the catwalk you're going through.

The Wraith: .oO(...Lovely.)

Metal Man (GM): They appear to be boot-like.

Wolfman: .oO(Well, this is just my day...)

Metal Man: "...I have to wonder if they even piloted it here."

Metal Man (GM): The door ahead, also, is shut. It has 'Sector B-3' written on it.

Wolfman: "Well, we're still close to the front of the ship... perhaps."

The Wraith eyes the footsteps. .oO(That doesn't look like anything that would belong here... Unless, say, Samus were here, but I somewhat doubt that...)

Garrick Fy`aar: "...perhaps the SA-X?"

Wolfman: "Hmm... should we go into B-3?"

Garrick Fy`aar: "Might as well."

Metal Man: "Not SA-X... that thing's dead."

Wolfman: "Then allow me."
*He fires a quick shot of Tophead Buster at the B-3 door.*

The Wraith nods a bit, simply moving on as it sees Wolfman firing...

Metal Man (GM): The door opens... and what you see is even more fun! I mean creepy.

Wolfman: *To Garrick* "Just use a projectile on the door."

Metal Man (GM): You reach a two-story energy room; all of the components have been broken open and sucked dry.

Wolfman: "It will do the rest."

Garrick Fy`aar: "...ohhhhh, that."

Metal Man (GM): Dead space pirates are everywhere. They, too, look sucked dry.

Garrick Fy`aar: "Forgot about the whole deal with the doors..."

Wolfman: .oO(...wow; my idea worked!)

Garrick Fy`aar: "...Metroids?"

Metal Man (GM): You can walk on through, mainly because the footsteps continue the way you're going.

The Wraith: "...An energy-based creature, for sure... But Metroids don't leave bootprints."

Metal Man (GM): And for some reason, everything near them has been shot, broken, or stolen.

Wolfman follows slowly, as usual.

Garrick Fy`aar keeps walking, then...

Metal Man (GM): You walk right on over to the next door.
It says 'B-2'

Wolfman enters B-2 and gets a look.

Metal Man (GM): You walk through yet another room, this one being full of computers. A few are busted, but there's even some terminals up on the catwalk you're using.
You see a single dead pirate's hand inches away from some sort of self-destruct button. Both the corpse and the button are down the stairs.

Garrick Fy`aar: "...hm."

Wolfman: "...well, looks like that pirate was too late to destroy the ship."

Garrick Fy`aar walks up to the computers, staying away from the button, and finds a working terminal, going to work.

Metal Man (GM): You find one... it seems odd.

The Wraith lofts an eyebrow as it sees said hand... "...Something obviously made them desperate enough to send this whole place up in smoke... But was quick enough to stop them before they could. Be on your toes."

Metal Man (GM): Nonetheless, you can plug your dex into it.

Wolfman: "Understood."
*He shifts his body to a sort of defensive, evasive stance.*

Garrick Fy`aar goes ahead and does that, plugging his armor into it since it's got a dex...

Metal Man (GM): You suddenly are overloaded with... images.
An unknown being walking through the decks... slaughtering Space Pirates.

Wolfman: "...I forgot; we're supposed to remove the payload, right?"

The Wraith eyes around as Garrick does his thing, switching its dex to its left hand and pulling out a grey stone in its right...

Garrick Fy`aar: "...holy..."

Metal Man (GM): They shoot at it... they stop it... it kills them all. As long as the suit is plugged in, it shows the destruction.

Garrick Fy`aar: "Mark, freeze the image."

Wolfman turns to Garrick... what is he finding out?

The Wraith: "Find something of interest...?" Eyes still wandering, keeping on guard.

Garrick Fy`aar: "Well, this thing is basically slaughtering anything and everything Space Pirate."

The Wraith: "Mm-hmm... What's it look like?"

Wolfman: "Perhaps it will spare us then."

Garrick Fy`aar: "It also seemed to be held by the pirates... Mark, can you get into their shipping logs, find something that looks like it might be this shadowy figure?"

Mark: "The logs have been replaced with nothing but this sort of destruction. All computers have been corrupted and damaged to be like this one... that's why it caught on fire."

The Wraith: "Apparently it's sentient enough to have an ego, too... All the more dangerous."

Wolfman: "So we might have to fight it?"

The Wraith: "Possibly."

Wolfman shudders...

Garrick Fy`aar: "Just gotta find it. Mark, can you trace it?"

Metal Man (GM): The door to B-1 is also closed.

Mark: "The footsteps can be followed."

Metal Man (GM): The footsteps continue into B-1.

Wolfman: "Metal: should we follow the footsteps?"

Garrick Fy`aar: "Then we go onward."

Metal Man: "Of course."

The Wraith nods, looks down at the footprints, and drifts right along with them...

Garrick Fy`aar pulls his suit out and follows.

Wolfman: "Garrick or Metal: your turn to blast down a door."

Metal Man shoots the door; it opens.

Wolfman: "Alright: Garrick has the next one."

Metal Man (GM): Before you, you see what must have been a massive Space Pirate army.
Until it was blown to smithereens.

Wolfman gets a big look... his jaw drops a little.

The Wraith: "..." *An overshield of sorts seems to appear around the already existing shroud.*

Metal Man (GM): All kinds... all dead. The bootprints walk around and inside it, on top of them, and then into a door labeled 'A'
The door itself... is destroyed.

Garrick Fy`aar follows the footsteps... heh...

Metal Man (GM): You can walk right into 'A'

Wolfman: "...am I the only one sensing a trap?"

The Wraith drifts in that direction, putting its dex away and pulling out a purple stone in its left hand... It shrugs.

Garrick Fy`aar keeps moving then, his gun drawn and ready...

Wolfman again follows slowly.

Metal Man (GM): You walk into the crashed bridge.
A single person is there... no... it isn't too much of a person... it's like a being made out of phazon. It is currently reprogramming the ship.

Wolfman: .oO(...okay, do we shoot or ask first?)
*He isn't making the first decision: that's for sure.*

Metal Man looks at it, carefully, not wanting to get its attention.

Wolfman: *To Metal, quietly* "Ideas?"

The Wraith has the same idea as Metal; gather information before acting...

Garrick Fy`aar seals his helmet good, putting the mute on his voice and commands Mark to scan.

Metal Man makes a 'shhh' symbol... he doesn't know how sensitive this thing is.

Metal Man (GM): Mark begins to scan it... discovering it to be a rather strange target.
Not only is it made mostly out of phazon, but it appears to have integrated a number of computer-like aspects to it.
It has Metroid DNA, too.
It appears someone or another experimented on it, though, making it more potent.

Wolfman: .oO(...what does it want?)

Metal Man (GM): It is programming the ship to obey its will... and it appears vaguely aware of its surroundings.

Garrick Fy`aar: "...Mark, can you tell exactly what it's trying to do? ...Metal, gotta stop it..."

Metal Man: "...How? It appears to have cleaned up the payload for us... unfortunately, that means we have to get rid of it."

Garrick Fy`aar: "...I'm not sure... Mark, can you tell what computer like aspects it has?"

Wolfman: .oO(...that thing did our job? Wow... must be a nice guy.)

Mark: "It has assimilated a computer to act as its central nervous system... the previous version, an organic one, must have been destroyed in the past, rendering it weak enough to be experimented on."

Garrick Fy`aar: "...then... its brain is a computer? Which means... we can hack into it."

Wolfman: *Quietly to Metal* "Get rid of the payload... or him?"

The Wraith: .oO(Which means its mental capabilities are limited to the same capacity as the computer... however advanced it may be.)

Mark: "...It has processing power beyond most conventional computers. That may be a fool's errand."

Garrick Fy`aar: "...how advanced is it?"

Mark: "...It has reached the limits of nanotechnology and appears to supplement it with the rather powerful brain of a Metroid."

Editor's Note: Metroids aren't stupid, but I don't think they are truly powerful of brain either.

Garrick Fy`aar: "...Metroid... could we freeze it?"

Mark: "It has a computer to back itself up if we do that. It appears to have built a defense screen against conventional weapons. That may be why it pays us no mind despite appearing to know we're here."

Wolfman: .oO(...not like I want to fight this guy.)
*Metal, quiet* "Perhaps we should thank it for helping move the payload out?"

The Wraith rubs its chin as it slowly fades out of existence... Best to gather information from all angles, whatever the odds of finding things may be.

Metal Man: "It doesn't appear friendly either."

Wolfman: *Metal, quiet* "Then I'm confused by what we should do."

Metal Man (GM): The Wraith would switch to ethereal view... and notice it to have a hearty incorporeal signature as well.

Garrick Fy`aar: "...it's phazon, though. Which means we should be able to contain it."

Metal Man (GM): Why... in fact...

The Wraith: .oO(...This is abnormal...
...Well, shit. Who let...?)
*He reappears, putting its purple stone away to take out its dex... The others' don't beep, but it signals them to check...*

Wolfman does a quick check, pointing roughly where Wraith is.

The Wraith: *A text message appears on their screens when they look:* "Looks a helluva lot like Rathos..." *The wraith then puts its dex away, re-equipping its other stone...*

Wolfman: .oO(...wasn't that the virus thing that Metal used against Shadow...?)

Garrick Fy`aar: "...if we attack it, we risk blowing ourselves and half on Nintendus to kingdom come. We need to contain it."

Metal Man (GM): You hear a click, before all the doors slam shut behind you simultaneously.

Wolfman just shrugs... he has no idea how... uh oh.

The Wraith: .oO(...Showtime.)

Metal Man (GM): The security systems come back online, putting out the fires, as droids actually clean up the mess.

Garrick Fy`aar: "...here we go..."

Wolfman: .oO(He shouldn't have said that...)

Metroid Rathos: *Turns around, facing the Questers. He speaks... with a voice which is mentally projected.* "The Space Pirates made a mistake when they attempted to intercept me and use me to improve their specimen."

Metal Man: "What... are... you?"

Wolfman does nothing yet.

Metroid Rathos: "I am Metroid Rathos... a combination of a Solarian data consciousness, the powerful mind of Metroid Prime, and both of our powers. I've changed my world outlook considerably since receiving this... unexpected present."

Metal Man (GM): It forms a Solarian shape, although you can clearly see right through it, and see the various inner nerves and computer stuff.

Wolfman: "If it matters, thanks for helping remove the payload we were hoping to find and clean up."

Metroid Rathos: "This is the only body which comes close to my original... though it is still weaker than my original. Oh, that... well... I only came back here because there isn't much Phazon left in the Tallon IV system."

Garrick Fy`aar: "...and what exactly is your plan?"

Metroid Rathos: "Do I look stupid enough to tell you? You will have to make a choice..."

Wolfman: "He wants to collect Phazon."

Metal Man (GM): It raises a hand, which suddenly turns into a cannon.

Metroid Rathos: "...Die... or allow me to assimilate your bodies."

Wolfman: .oO(...if this is 'Fight or Die', I'm going to regret it...
...okay, not quite)

Metal Man: "...What? This makes no sense! Solarians never---"

Metroid Rathos: "I am no longer a Solarian."

Metal Man: "...But still--"

Wolfman: "What would happen if we choose to be assimilated?"

Metroid Rathos: "I am METROID RATHOS, and that is all."

Garrick Fy`aar: "...heh. Then we'll try our luck. I'm not about to be assimilated..."

Metroid Rathos: "I would gain your consciousnesses... your bodies... your souls... and be able to use your bodies to help me complete my projects. Already, I have used it to control some Space Pirates."
*He licks his phazon-teeth* "Your planet is a delectable gourmet to me."

Wolfman: "...you wish to suck this planet dry of life?"

The Wraith emits some rasping noises, narrowing its eyes...

Metroid Rathos: "...That would be too easy." *He fires off a warning shot, which flies above Wolfman's head and explodes like a Phazon cannonball.*
"Hisss... you are all suited up like that Hunter... that won't do..."

Garrick Fy`aar already has his gun drawn at the sight of his own shot...

Metroid Rathos: "Even if you did agree to it, you aren't in the right... condition... to be assimilated."

Wolfman: .oO(...he wants to make things difficult...)
"Does that mean you'll have to...'convince' us to be in the right condition?"

Metroid Rathos: "A ghost cannot be assimilated... a reploid cannot be assimilated... all I could do would be coat your armor, when it comes to you humans."

Garrick Fy`aar: "...what's the call, Metal? Attack, retreat?"

Metal Man: "We have no choice. We'll have to outsmart it."

Wolfman: "Depending on some of the projects you need, perhaps we might be willing to help willingly."

Metal Man (GM): METROID RATHOS BATTLE #1

Wolfman: "...it would help if you didn't want to eat or destroy most of this planet, of course."

Metroid Rathos: "I can only trust you when you are assimilated... hisss!"

Wolfman: "Then I guess... I'm too Maverick for you."
.oO(Alright, at least we tried to be peaceful first)

Metal Man (GM): Back
Order: Metal, Metroid Rathos, Garrick, Wolfman, Wraith

Metal Man: "Let's see what yer made of."

Metal Man (GM): *Hit miss hit hit hit hit*
It takes some damage, but seems pretty tough.

Metroid Rathos: "Pathetic."

Metal Man (GM): Metroid Rathos' turn

Metroid Rathos: "Take this!" *Fires cannon.*

Metal Man (GM): A hail of phazon spikes flies at everyone.

Wolfman is definitely hit.

Metal Man (GM): 96 damage, ignores half your DR.

Garrick Fy`aar is too.

The Wraith crosses its arms as the shards fly at it, but seems to sigh a bit as they pass through...

Metroid Rathos: "I'll settle your hash next time... ghost."

Smash Dex: "...DING!"

METROID RATHOS #1
Level 120 Superhuman
HP: 30/1500
SP: 0/750
STR: 30
END: 30
AGI: 30
MNT: 30
AC: 20
DR: 10

Smash Dex: "Scan again for additional information."

Metroid Rathos: "I will relish stealing your memories."

Garrick Fy`aar frowns, holstering his M150 and reaching to his back. A hatch opens up and a long, glowing, red and blue bastard sword comes out. It's awesome looking and glows with a swirling red and blue colors...
He leaps forward and STRIKES... just once.

Metal Man (GM): *SLASH* It gets hit once.
It takes a solid hit.

Garrick Fy`aar backs up, smirking a bit as he watches it take that nice, solid damage.

Wolfman will do scan part 2

Metroid Rathos: "Your weapon is inferior to mine... it will not be needed once I finish plundering your memories."

Smash Dex: "...DING!"

Attacks:
To-hit Damage TP
Phazon Shot +18 96 2
Solar Flare DC 30 100 4 72 SP

Smash Dex: "It appears to be half Metroid Prime, half Rathos Lell, and its attacks reflect this. It keeps the power of both; its only weakness is the relatively new creation of these attacks... it will be a while before it gets somewhere with the variety thing. End of entry."

Wolfman: .oO(...I'm going to be hit no matter what, and hit hard)
*He saves 2 TP for offense next round.*

Metal Man (GM): Anything else?
Oh, right.

The Wraith eyes Rathos warily as it brings both stones forward, sending forth some tendrils before concentrating a moment and letting out a fierce barrage of magic...

Metal Man (GM): BLAM, BLAM.

Wolfman: .oO(...Wraith has our offense... perhaps I should try to protect him...)

Metal Man leaps up and uppercuts it.

Metal Man (GM): *WHIFF*
Metroid Rathos turn

Metroid Rathos: "Magical power is lacking... I should increase that."

Metal Man (GM): It holds up its right arm, which shifts subtly.
Then it launches what looks like a miniature solar flare at the Wraith.

Wolfman defends for Wraith if possible.

Metal Man (GM): Hmmm...
Wolf, AGI check.
You move fast enough to fly into it, taking 200 fire damage.
It is blocked by you burning.

Wolfman: *BOOM Boom boom boom boom...*

Metroid Rathos: "Impudent mortals!" *It brandishes its cannon and opens fire with more Phazon spikes.*

Metal Man (GM): *SPIKE* 96 damage, affects all.
Ignores half of AC.

Wolfman has lost his first life protecting Wraith... that did something at least.

Metal Man (GM): Right, DR.

Garrick Fy`aar goes flying back... but he's still alive...
"...damn, he's powerful..."

The Wraith raises an eyebrow as it sees Wolf take that hit, nodding a bit with gratitude...

Metroid Rathos: "You're only looking at my larval stage. I have yet to develop the typical telekinetic powers of a Solarian."

Garrick Fy`aar reaches his right hand into his holster and draws his M-150, his sword held in his left. He aims and fires a pair of shots at the sucker.

Metal Man: "We gotta do something to stun it... it'll shred us into coleslaw if we aren't quick."

Metal Man (GM): Hit, hit
It's shot twice, though it seems to be still standing.

The Wraith just keeps up the same pattern, sending tendrils to coil around its target and hold it still while the second assault blast da hell outta the beast...

Metal Man (GM): Hit, hit.
It's beaten up by the barrage... but remains vicious.
New Round
Wolfman is revived.

Metal Man: "Got any ideas, anyone?"

Garrick Fy`aar: "...electro-magnetic wave? Short it out?"

Wolfman: "Well, I can't be the defender for everyone, I know that. ...it might short me out, but it's worth a shot."

Garrick Fy`aar: "...grah, I keep forgetting you're a robot too, Wolf..."

Editor's Note: Welcome to Super Robot Quest!

Wolfman: "Do it anyway. I'll take one for the team... what's one more?"

Garrick Fy`aar: "...I wouldn't know how..."

Wolfman: "...?"

Garrick Fy`aar: "I was hoping Metal had something..."

Metal Man: "I don't really pack that kind of heat. Wraith, you have any ideas?" *His dex is, after all, integrated into his helmet.*

The Wraith doesn't have its dex out, so wouldn't be able to communicate any ideas it would have... It just narrows its eyes thoughtfully, slowly shaking its head...

Metal Man: "...We have to get out of here somehow, then. This guy's gonna shoot us down." *Used up his turn talking.*

Metroid Rathos: "I will ensure you burn in hell, the being formerly known as 'John.' Your mind is full of destruction of others whom I would find helpful."

Garrick Fy`aar: "...I can't remember... Phazon is blocked by something... I stored it... I USED it..."

Metal Man (GM): He fires off another Solar Flare at John... AGI check.

Wolfman ain't doing the defending this time: sorry.

Metal Man: "We've got to think of something!"

The Wraith just crosses its arms as it takes the hit... Physical fire or magical?

Metal Man (GM): *As Wraith takes magical fire 200 damage.*

The Wraith: *FWOOM!*

Metal Man (GM): You think... but remember only that phazon is blocked by things which block radioactive materials, and/or other phazon.

Garrick Fy`aar: "...lead. Mark, scan for lead."

Mark: "...Large concentration of it in Wolfman's suit, and the containment room."

Garrick Fy`aar: "...whoa. ...hold on, I'll be back!"

Wolfman: "If I have to give up this suit, I will."

Metroid Rathos: "Where do you think you're going?"

Garrick Fy`aar turns on his heel and races off...

Metal Man (GM): The door behind you was (conveniently) slammed shut at the beginning of the battle.

Wolfman has an idea of what Garrick has in mind: he'll auto cover him if required so he can escape.

Metal Man (GM): A bunch of weird gibberish is on it, then a sign which says 'DOOR SECURED'

Garrick Fy`aar: "...forgot about that."

Metal Man (GM): Anything else?
You think the same thing. Only... faster!
Good thinking can't make Phazon any less volatile.

Garrick Fy`aar: "...you've gotta get it INSIDE your suit, Wolf..."

The Wraith tilts its head to the side at that...

Metal Man: "...It's a bit dangerous, though, to take the suit off."

Wolfman: "If you mean I need to take this suit off, I'll do so."

Garrick Fy`aar: "Phazon can be blocked by radioactive blocking materials and other phazon... ...and I don't have any phazon grenades left... and the only thing I can think of is lead."

Wolfman: "Do you want me to practically cover him or something?"

Metroid Rathos: "Even if he survives my radioactivity, you would have to virtually defeat me to stick me inside that small bag of a suit."

Wolfman attempts a rather... unconventional idea. He uses the Rocket Tackle to go towards Rathos, with the hope that he can sort of... bear hug him with the lead suit. (roll as usual?)

Metal Man (GM): Yes.
You grab him... as he glows oddly.
He picks you up... using you as a shield.

Wolfman: "OOMPH!"

Metroid Rathos: "Attempt to hit me and your friend will die!"

The Wraith ...is busy reforming from being blasted to smithereens.

Metal Man (GM): NEW ROUND

Metal Man: "...Could you think of a plan faster? We need to get outta here."

Wolfman: "Do what you have to Metal."

Metal Man attempts to uppercut the thing, making it get distracted and drop Wolf.

Wolfman braces for pain
He felt it.

Metal Man (GM): *SMACK* Wolf is freed without damage; it takes 42 of its own.

Wolfman stands next to Garrick.

Metroid Rathos: "You shall burn for trying to defeat me."

Wolfman: *To Garrick* "Remember your punching move to my Rocket Tackle? Perhaps we can use it to destroy the door to get to the containment room."

Metal Man (GM): It raises its hand and fires a Solar Flare at Wolfman.
*BURNING* 200 fire damage.

Garrick Fy`aar: "Possibly... Metal, we running?"

Metal Man: "...I don't care what we do, this room isn't going to help us. We need to get out... think..."

Wolfman is burned.

Metal Man (GM): You see a variety of things in the room, including computers, doors, and controls.

Garrick Fy`aar makes for a computer, trying to get the doors open...

Metal Man (GM): Computer use check.
You jury-rig it and one of many doors opens up.
The one back from where you came, of course.

Garrick Fy`aar: "Move!"

Metal Man: *Will do... when it's his turn*
if he's alive

Wolfman: "Don't need to tell me twice!" *Runs.*

Metal Man (GM): Wolfman runs out of range.
The Wraith
The Wraith revives.

Metal Man: "Wraith. We have a way out. If you can, try to help us escape."

Metal Man (GM): Unfortunately, the door to B-2 is secured.

The Wraith nods as it finishes reforming, forming a shiny barrier around itself as it signals the others to move on ahead...

Metal Man: "I'm outta heah!" *Runs after Garrick, using his turn.*

Metal Man (GM): Metroid Rathos' turn

Metroid Rathos: "You shall die for standing before me, ghost."

Metal Man (GM): He opens fire with another Solar Flare at The Wraith. DC 30 AGI check.

The Wraith: *Reflect!*

Metal Man (GM): It bounces back at him. Being reflected... it deals 2x damage at him, so he's burnt severely. That gives you an opening to run.

Metroid Rathos: "Graaaah! You will regret that!" *Begins to pry self off of melted ship controls.*

The Wraith smirks and waves as it heads toward the door, refreshing the shattered barrier as it moves.

Metal Man (GM): You're at another door... which is also secured.

Metal Man: "We gotta open that door before it can catch up to us."

Wolfman is also at the same door obviously.

Garrick Fy`aar: "...dahhh..."
*He makes for another console, trying to jury rig it open the same way. It should be similar...*

Metal Man (GM): No consoles nearby.
Gotta think of something else.

Metal Man: "Dahhh? Dahhh doesn't open doors! Unless it's some sort of spell."

Garrick Fy`aar shrugs and blasts it once...

Metal Man turns to the locked door. "DAAAAAAHHHHH!!!! Nope... nothing."

Metal Man (GM): Two shots, or one?
It hits the door, denting it, but not breaking it open.

Metal Man: "...Faster!"

Garrick Fy`aar: "Don't yell."
*He fires again, then...*

Metal Man (GM): The door is mostly damaged, but a bit of it stays on there.

Garrick Fy`aar: "Bash through it!"

Metal Man (GM): It's gonna take a good shove to rip it open.

Wolfman can shove... and pry! quick draw claws, attempt to use the claws to pry it open (if this fails, I have a normal tackle move that's not a special I can use)

Metal Man (GM): Damage from claws alone?
...You poke the door, dealing crud-tastic damage to it,.

Metal Man: "...You could try poking it harder."

Wolfman will just use a regular tackle move then.

Metal Man (GM): You are so weak, the door is still on there, just a little bit.
The combined amount of damage lightly pushes the door over.

Garrick Fy`aar: "...move."

Metal Man: "We're far enough away to warp out. Get ready!" *Presses a button, a warp appears ahead.*

Wolfman: "I take it this is a strategic retreat..."

Metal Man: "If we tangle with it much longer, we won't be in any shape to do any other missions... we've found out the payload, and it'll probably remove itself... I don't see any reason to fight a powerful being."

Garrick Fy`aar: "...right. Let's go."

Wolfman: "I agree."
.oO(I didn't want to fight this being in the first place.)

Garrick Fy`aar leaps into the warp, then...

Metal Man leaps into the portal.

Wolfman hops in.

Metal Man (GM): Wraith: Gonna flee too?
*Flee.*

Metroid Rathos: "Assimilation is unavoidable... you won't escape my next form!" *Fires angrily at the place where the portal was.*

Metal Man (GM): Mission Complete - +10,000 coins
1500 EXP

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