Super Smash Quest - Story - Chapter 327: Corruption of Atlantis, Ordoth, and The Pirate Mesa
Date: 2:00:21 PM, September 17th; 5:59:50 PM, September 17th; 6:19:12 PM, September 19th, 2006.
Metal Man (GM): Mission Continuation
The Questers are in the big room, as per usual; and with the mission chosen, it's that much easier to just warp over.
Metal Man: "This is a simple mission; go and check out Atlantis, which appears to have been the site of some sort of error..."
Alexia: "Error?"
Dragoshi: "...Sounds simple enough." .oO(What a waste of time...)
Scott Gibson: "I'm game."
Metal Man: "Well, something odd happened during an experiment, and, according to the distress call, is... problematic."
Scott Gibson is standing with hands in his pockets and guitar slung.
Aetos is already gone.
Scott Gibson: "Problematic?"
Dragoshi: .oO(...Maybe I'm wrong then) "What kind of problem?"
The Ninja: "It is problem we must fix!"
Dragoshi: "Aside from the bloody obvious answer, Ninja."
Metal Man: "Well, the feed was disconnected moments before the person could complete their statement. We haven't been able to get any responses out of them."
Alexia: "Sounds bad."
Digifanatic: "Doesn't it always seem to work like that?"
Alexia: "NYAAH! Geez, Digi, don't sneak up on me like that!"
Digifanatic: "Oh, sorry, Alexia."
Metal Man: "So, all you gotta do is warp there." *He points to the warp, and sits down.*
Scott Gibson jogs toward the warp, "Takin' care of business!" and jumps through.
Digifanatic decides to follow the guy...
The Ninja: "Staying behind, Metal?"
Metal Man: "As always."
Alexia heads into the warp.
The Ninja: "Alright. We'll be back with great success!"
*He leaps into the warp.*
Metal Man (GM): WARP
You appear in a new section of Atlantis; the entryway. It's a narrow hallway, leading to a larger room which has a lot of shutters on it.
There are 4 doors, 2 on either side of this hallway, and out at the end, there are two hallways, one left, one right. The alarm to this place is constantly running.
Alexia: "That can't be a good sign..."
Metal Man (GM): The floors are made of a cold granite, the walls blue stone, and the ceiling is of some sort of steel.
Scott Gibson: "Whoa, so this is Atlantis, eh? I thought it was just an ancient myth."
The Ninja: "Hmm. So which way?"
Dragoshi: "...Well, where to first?"
Metal Man (GM): All the hallway doors are sealed shut, and various ancient door panels light up blood red.
Alexia: "How about left?"
Dragoshi: "...Don't see why not."
The Ninja tries to uses his senses to see if the he can sense anything else close by or behind one of the doors.
Aetos: "I do."
Digifanatic: "Guess we'll have to plow our way through, though..."
Scott Gibson brings his guitar around and into his right hand.
Metal Man (GM): Ninja: You sense... something... strange, dead ahead. Behind those shutters.
The Ninja: "...Something behind shutters."
Alexia: "Something good or something bad?"
Dragoshi: "...So... Don't go behind those shutters then?"
Digifanatic: "But it seems like the doors are fair game..."
Scott Gibson: "Fair enough."
Metal Man (GM): The shutters themselves appear to have something oozing from them; but it isn't getting through very fast.
Aetos: "Something behind the shutters? Hrm."
Alexia: "Uh... I think the shutters are leaking."
The Ninja: "Hmm. It is something strange."
Digifanatic: "Scott, you looked like you wanted to be the first one to break em down..."
Dragoshi: "...Great. Leaking shutters."
Aetos rubs his eyes and they glow bright blue. He peers at the shutters. (Eye of Truth)
Scott Gibson: "Well... wasn't going for that but might as well. Which door goes first?"
Alexia: "Left."
Scott Gibson: "Any other requests?"
Digifanatic: "First one down or the second?"
Alexia: "First."
Metal Man (GM): Aetos: You stare at them, and see some sort of chaos, or evil magic on the shutters.
Digifanatic: "Fair enough."
Alexia tries to scan the stuff leaking out of the shutters.
The Ninja then decides to use his dex to see if he can identify the ooze from the shutters.
Dragoshi: "...So, what do you see, Aetos?"
Smash Dex: "Unknown element. Of a magical subtype."
Scott Gibson: "Ok, then left door it is."
Aetos: "What do you mean, What do I see?"
Alexia: "Oh joy..."
*She puts her Dex away.*
Scott Gibson steps over to the left door and looks for any kind of computer port, or weak spot if brawn beats brains here.
The Ninja shrugs and looks around the around the area, then goes over to the first left door.
Dragoshi: "...Oh, nevermind." *Looks at the same door Aetos looked at with the Eye of Truth.*
Metal Man (GM): There's a blaringly obvious red hand-shaped access switch besides each door.
The left door is locked shut; sealed, even.
Scott Gibson: "Close enough." *Tries to activate the switch.*
Alexia: "But Scott..."
Metal Man (GM): You press it. It flashes 'QUARANTINE IN EFFECT' then resumes being shut and red.
Scott Gibson: "Hm... So no getting in the easy way, eh?"
Dragoshi: "...No such thing as an easy way."
Alexia: "That depends on what you call the easy way."
Digifanatic: "Ah, heck with it. Lemme just give it a punch."
The Ninja tries to push his hand through the door.
Metal Man (GM): A force field blocks you.
You can try, Scott, with a STR check.
These doors seem locked up pretty tight, with all the technology Atlantis offers. The shutters up ahead seem far less protected.
Scott Gibson steps back from the door. "Damn."
Dragoshi: *Pokes Scott* "I don't think that might be a good idea..."
The Ninja: "I think we only can go ahead."
Scott Gibson: "I'm open to suggestions then."
Digifanatic: "Lemme just try one more thing."
Aetos: "The shutters, Scott?"
Digifanatic tries placing his hand on that sensor again to see what'll happen.
Alexia: "Well, if we are going to do something, we might want to hurry." *Glances back at the shutters.*
Digifanatic: "Maybe this will shut the quarantine off."
The Ninja shrugs and moves slowly towards the shutters.
Dragoshi: "...What are you, nuts?"
Metal Man (GM): The shutters are cracked, and have many joints; the goo on them seems to have partially eaten them.
Aetos nods at Ninja.
Metal Man (GM): A good kick could knock them open.
Scott Gibson: "Right... Let's give that a shot. Not like I have any better ideas."
Digifanatic: "Not yet..."
The Ninja has a bad feeling, so he turns to the group. "Someone kick shutters."
Digifanatic keeps his hand on that sensor that Scott tried earlier...
Alexia: "Are you INSANE?"
Digifanatic: "We don't even know what that goo does!"
Alexia: "Look. If that stuff is eating through a metal door, do you WANT to put a foot near it?"
Aetos: "Then go FIND OUT."
Metal Man (GM): There are hallways to the left and right. In addition to the shutters.
The Ninja: "It is magic goo."
Scott Gibson: "Dammit! Somebody come to a single fucking decision and stick to it!"
Digifanatic decides to just STR check his way through the door.
Scott Gibson: "Who says hit the shutters? Cuz I agree with Digi on the door thing."
The Ninja leaps back just in case.
Metal Man (GM): The door smashes open, revealing a floor about 20 feet below; the floor does not go down there in a quick way.
Dragoshi: "...I was gonna suggest a grenade, but whatever." *Does the same as Ninja.*
Metal Man (GM): Erm. You're on top of a sort of cliff overlooking this floor, 20 feet down... upon which a dark form stands.
Digifanatic: "Oh, this is a start."
The Ninja: "Oh. So that's what it does."
Metal Man (GM): The dark, lump of energy turns to face you all, and looks up.
Alexia: "...Uh-oh."
Aetos looks at it. "Hi."
???: "WhWhWhWhWhWhooooooooooh ddddddddddares cocococome heeeeeeeere?"
Alexia uses TK to slam the doors shut.
Scott Gibson pokes his head through the door and peeks out. "You there!"
Dragoshi: "...Weeeee ddddooooo."
Metal Man (GM): It speaks in a hissing-like voice. Alexia knocks the doors shut.
The Ninja: "...That was rude."
Metal Man (GM): You hear a jump, and then some telekinetic energy, before then an opposing telekinetic power powering up... opposed MNT checks, Alexia!
Digifanatic: "Well, now we know two parts of the problem."
Scott Gibson: "No kidding!"
???: "Yyyou cacacacacannot esescape the trtrtruuuth!"
Aetos scratches his head.
Metal Man (GM): The shutters rumble violently, as whatever it was continues trying to break through.
Alexia: "What the..." *Focuses her power and continues holding the doors shut.*
Digifanatic: "Check the hall?"
Dragoshi: "...The truth? What do you know about the truth?"
Metal Man (GM): A huge black tentacle of energy stabs through one of the doors, leaving a small hole. Then the thing attempts to enlarge the hole. Another MNT check, Alexia.
The Ninja: "Girl with mind powers has made thing mad."
Dragoshi: "Yep."
Aetos walks over 5 feet from the goo. "Hi. What's your name?"
Dragoshi: *FACEPALM.*
Metal Man (GM): The hole is ripped open, and the telekinetic thing can now be seen, floating about 5 feet from the platform. It looks down to Aetos.
The Ninja: "I don't this it is in mood for friendly talk now."
???: "I ammmmm the eeendddd of this paaaatheticcc worldddddd..."
Editor's Note: It wishes it was, but it certainly isn't.
Dragoshi: "...Yea, seriously, Ninja."
Aetos: "Well that's a bit of a dramatic name."
Scott Gibson: "Aren't you a bundle o' joy."
The Ninja: "I think I can seal it."
Dragoshi: "...Where the hell have I heard THAT before...?" *Tries to use the Eye of Truth on this... Thing.*
Metal Man (GM): It then spins around and forms the vague appearance of a human, now hovering side to side facing you.
You use the eye of truth; it appears to you... that makes no sense. You sense both The Void and Kuja's energy in this thing!
Digifanatic looks at this humanoid form...
Aetos: "Did you come from the Atlantis Portal?"
???: "Ifff you wish to livee... then you willl have to fight meeeeeee!!!!!"
Metal Man (GM): BATTLE
Dragoshi: "What the fu-I sense... Some of The Void's energy... And that of someone else's... This makes no sense!"
Metal Man (GM): SPD checks; it hovers 1 unit away from you all, over thin air.
Order: Korruptor, Aetos, Scott, Alexia, Ninja, Digi, Dragoshi.
This battle will include usage of EVD checks and such, so remember; after 1 special attack or 2 normal attacks, an EVD check is rolled.
Korruptor: "Iiii ammm KORRUPTOR... you willl pay for raising the deaaaaaaddddd..."
Alexia: "Raising the dead? The HELL?"
Dragoshi: "...Raising the dead? Zuh?"
Digifanatic: "What are you talking about?"
Aetos: "I didn't raise any dead. That was Ninja and Garrick. Leave me outta that."
The Ninja: "Does he want John?"
Aetos: "Wait... Ninja and Garrick? Or Wraith and Garrick?"
Dragoshi: "...Prolly."
Aetos: "Charles and Garrick??"
*He shakes his head.*
The Ninja: "Wait-- what? I raise no dead. I kill it!"
Metal Man (GM): He raises an arm, and then it flies at Aetos, trying to impale him like some ultimate spear.
Alexia: "Guys, perhaps we should focus on not dying right now?"
Metal Man (GM): 90 damage, Daze, knockback 1.
EVD check, if you want to see if you can counter him.
Fail; he floats over to the left and fires six balls of darkness at Alexia; they explode on contact.
EVD check to see if you can counter him after that move; 7 damage per hit.
Just barely failed.
Aetos' turn
Aetos's keyblade appears in his right hand with a flash of light, and he points it's tip at the enemy, releasing a small, thin beam of light to slam into it.
Metal Man (GM): Hit.
Aetos: *12 damage, 2 knockback.*
Metal Man (GM): He's knocked back 2 units... over thin air. Now only ranged attacks or attacks with extra reach can hit him.
Everyone can take their turn at once now; speeds things up, since he can't counter (lack of TP)
The Ninja: "Close doors! I will seal them!"
Alexia starts out by using Overload.
Metal Man (GM): Miss
Digifanatic decides to run up 2 units (1 TP) and slam the Korruptor with a Fire Punch, then retreating 2 units after.
Metal Man (GM): Miss.
Ummm... one other problem, Digi.
That second unit would have you running into outer space.
That is, after 1 unit ahead, there is no floor.
Dragoshi concentrates, and...
The Ninja: "No one listens."
Dragoshi: *A spider bites him. 7 damage. Stupid dice... He stands back, not bothering to use up his remaining 2 TP.*
Korruptor: "Thisssss is what killleeed meeee? Imposssibleeeee!!!"
Alexia: "Er, none of us even know who you are."
Aetos: "Quit speaking for everyone, please?"
Dragoshi: "...Killed you? Why do I sense the Void's energy in you, anyway...?" *Says this while swatting the spider and eating it.*
Metal Man (GM): Sooo that leaves Ninja and Scott.
The Ninja shrugs and decides to act on his own as he tries to use his sword-Staff to seal the being behind the pit.
Metal Man (GM): 
You can seal the thing off by shutting the shutters, which are on the same line between you and the pit.
They're on the edge of the raised area you're standing on; shutting them would seal the Korruptor out, assuming you fix that big hole in them.
The Ninja does so, first getting the shutters shut then tries to find something to stuff into the hole or fix it.
Metal Man (GM): -1 TP for just shutting them; search check for the latter.
I meant -1 TP as in it takes that long to shut them.
Oh. Whoops.
You find the original hunk of shutters which was blasted out; you could probably stick it back in the hole a different way than it was blasted out to make it too small for it to easily get through.
The Ninja does so, making sure the pieces are in the right place before using his sword to seal the shutters.
Metal Man (GM): The shutters are sealed; they probably won't hold it for long, though. You can go either to the left or right hallways.
Dragoshi: *And, Dragoshi heads for the left!*
Digifanatic follows him!
Aetos twiddles his thumbs.
"Interesting strategy, Ninja... but..."
*He shakes his head and goes after Digi and Dragoshi.*
The Ninja thinks about this for a bit and wonders if it's better to have the groups split so the thing has a hard time following.
Dragoshi: "I still wonder why I sensed that thing had Void's energy... Think I should call Metal about this?"
Aetos stops.
"Ninja?"
The Ninja nods, then leaps and hops his way down the right passage.
Aetos: "Hey!" *Goes after him* "Where are you going?"
Metal Man (GM): You guys run about, leaving the monster to bang against the shutters.
Digifanatic: "Dragoshi, that's a good idea, actually. No one knows better than him."
Dragoshi: "...Okay. I think I'll do so" *Tries to call Metal on the Dex.*
Metal Man (GM): The left group runs on down a hallway full of various locked doors, save for one; the right group runs down a similar hallway and finds themselves with a similar unlocked room.
(Dex) "Eh?"
Dragoshi: "Metal. We ran into this being called Korruptor. And, when I used the Eye of Truth on it, I sensed some of the Void's and someone else's energy in it. Got any idea what's up with that thing?"
The Ninja blinks as he looks around this unlocked room.
Metal Man: "It sounds like some sort of residual energy, but I can't be sure."
Dragoshi: "...Ah. Well, okay then."
Metal Man (GM): Ninja: The room (on the right side) is the huge, four-muraled room with the four sides and was the last place where The Void fought the Questers. Some sort of machines are on in it, and a weird sphere of energy is there too; it looks to be sucking something out of the walls. On the floor is a man who looks like he was toasted; alive, but toasty.
Left side: The unlocked door leads down some stairs and into a dead-end room full of books and... Gerald's old stuff.
Scott Gibson: "Whoa, spiffy."
Dragoshi: *Forward, march to the unlocked door!* "...Damn. What IS this stuff..."
The Ninja slowly makes his way over to the toasty guy and gives him a poke.
Metal Man (GM): It's all of Gerald's old logs, and includes research. It's a dead end, though; meanwhile, Ninja pokes the guy.
Digifanatic: "This is some interesting stuff."
The Ninja: "Can you speak?" *He pokes the guy again.*
Tirk Tovnic: "Urgh... uh... gah!" *He gets up all of a sudden.* "A Quester? This cannot be... my attempt to activate the Atlantean energy drainer to acquisition the ancient energy must have failed!"
Metal Man (GM): The strange man, with 'Tirk' on his coat (as well as a Mages Council badge) begins typing stuff into the computers.
Digifanatic takes a look through one of the logs...
Aetos: "...Are you sure it's safe to be here... Tirk?"
Dragoshi: *Does the same as Digi.*
Scott Gibson looks around at all of this stuff that apparently belonged to the infamous Gerald.
Tirk Tovnic: "Safe? It doesn't matter how safe it is. My experiment has gone awry, and must be stopped!"
Metal Man (GM): Meanwhile, the Gerald people find various bits and pieces of Gerald's legacy. Digi looks through a log, finding a bunch of old pictures and diagrams.
The Ninja: "You mean thing we sealed behind shutters?"
Aetos goes up to the sphere. "What's this thing?"
Tirk Tovnic: "That... was but one of many things... I was also attacked by ghosts of supersoldiers... as well as... gah! That's the place they're all warping from."
Scott Gibson: "Wonder if I could use any of this for my sound synthesizing and amplification idea."
Metal Man (GM): Scott would see a variety of patents and high-tech journals, as well as a chair.
The Ninja: "So what do we do, magic man?"
Aetos pokes it.
Scott Gibson picks through the journals to see if there's anything about "sound amplification devices".
Metal Man (GM): Aetos pokes it; he gets shocked and catches on fire.
Aetos: "GAHH!"
Tirk Tovnic: "...First, do not poke it."
The Ninja: "No touching!"
Tirk Tovnic: "It appears I cannot contain it here; the only way to stop it is to go to the core and shutdown this computer from there."
Metal Man (GM): Scott: You see a variety of diagrams for 'Interstation PA systems' which appear to be more efficient than most modern devices.
The Ninja: "Oh! Okay. Could you lead way?"
Dragoshi looks around the room to see if there's anything of interest...
Scott Gibson snatches the journal and pockets it quietly.
Tirk Tovnic: "I shall do so." *He locks the door to the room the right group is in, then unlocks one ahead; a staircase. He walks down it.* "Follow me."
Scott Gibson shrugs and nonchalantly follows.
The Ninja: "Okay! No remember, Aetos. No touching." *He the follows Tirk.*
Metal Man (GM): Meanwhile... the people in the Left room (Gerald's) hear a BLAM! as the shutters finally explode.
The Korruptor is loose, and apparently is getting close to that room.
Dragoshi: "...Dammit to hell."
Scott Gibson: "Shit!"
Metal Man (GM): This room is also a dead end; what do you do?
Scott Gibson shuffles through the rest of the stack to see if there's anything else.
Dragoshi looks for the nearest weapon in the room.
Metal Man (GM): Despite this being one of Gerald's rooms, there are no real weapons in here. Only tall lamps.
Gibson: Old memoirs and technology sketches, and journals. Not much else.
Dragoshi: "...Dammit. ...Wonder if it'd be insane to use the lamps as weapons..."
Aetos follows, wondering what being on fire is doing to him.
Scott Gibson: "Dah... Screw it." *Gets ready for probably some more fightin'.*
Metal Man (GM): Aetos: 10 damage.
Then the fire goes out.
The Korruptor eventually gets into the Left group's room... but... meanwhile!
Dragoshi: "...Oh, to HELL with it." *Pulls scythe out of carrying case then gets ready for some more fighting.*
Metal Man (GM): The right group goes down some stairs, into a dark area illuminated by only a few glowing stones of sorts.
The floor is a steel grating, and there's old runes everywhere.
Tirk Tovnic: "This will take us directly to the core... assuming we aren't attacked too much." *He walks onward.*
The Ninja: "What is odd markings?"
*He blinks upon the hearing about getting attacked, then uses his senses to see if anything else is in the area.*
Metal Man (GM): You sense... stuff coming in from behind, as Tirk walks up to a door with three squares with symbols on them.
Tirk Tovnic: "Curses. This door is locked. I'm going to have to toggle it until it works. You guys cover me."
Metal Man (GM): He begins pressing the buttons, one at a time, as you hear some sort of melodic clanking behind you.
The Ninja nods and runs forward a bit, then tries to hide to ambush whatever is coming after them.
Aetos follows suit?
Metal Man (GM): You ambush what appears to be a never-ending invasion of ghost Kuja Infantry.
Coming in rows of three, they pull out their rifles and march blindly into whatever attack/action you do.
So then, with your ambush... list your ambush-linked action.
The Ninja is plotting with Aetos.
Metal Man (GM): Better plot quickly, then; they're 2 units away from literally walking into you.
TIICK TOOCK!
Aetos waves his hands, a large flow of wind soars in and wraps around Ninja, spinning him around into the air (grabbing him) then throws him at the enemies.
The Ninja has a plan with Aetos, who is going to start out the team attack.
Metal Man (GM): Roll for da throw.
The Ninja would spin around and hit the ground like a table top as he would attempt to keep the motion to knock out a few columns of enemies... That is if the throw is good enough.
Metal Man (GM): Okay; now roll your own attack, Ninja.
The Ninja would use his sword like a spinning blade of death as he goes for the new record in team attack kills.
Metal Man (GM): Damage for throw? And damage for sword attack?
The attack kills the first row, and knocks the others back 3 TP, as Tirk gets the first symbol encoded.
Tirk Tovnic: "Keep on fighting! I've only gotten a little progress!"
The Ninja: "Ugh! Whirlybird..."
*He shakes his head and gets ready to fight again.* "Let us fight with honor!" He then twirled his blade around as he launches it at the next row of enemies.
Aetos fires a couple darts of air from his hands at more enemies.
The Ninja waits for Aetos to finish his attacking now as he is saves up the remaining TP, but shrugs and uses concealment instead.
Metal Man (GM): The next two fall down, but the first and three others all open fire with their ghostly laser rifles.
Ninja gains +3 to AC.
First at Ninja;
Next at Aetos.
10 damage per hit.
Tirk gets another symbol encoded; you may take your turns again.
1 unit for the first row, 2 units for the second; there's one guy in the first row and 3 in the second.
The Ninja strikes at the single guy in the first row.
Aetos looks bad. He holds his head as a glowing breeze flows into him from nowhere.
Metal Man (GM): The second guy is knocked down, but the other row is getting dangerously close.
Anything else?
No dice for them.
The Ninja then ties to sneak up on one of them.
Metal Man (GM): You sneak up on one of them, indeed.
The Ninja goes for the sneak attack!
Metal Man (GM): That one's also knocked over.
The remaining two of them open fire, this time entirely at the Ninja.
10 damage per hit, if any hit,.
The Ninja seems to have no trouble dodging the first three, but barely dodges the last attack.
Metal Man (GM): The phantoms vanish from existence, and the door is fully decoded.
Tirk Tovnic: "That was a close one. So many bad things were let loose."
Metal Man (GM): He marches on further down, into a far larger room.
The Ninja: "Whew. Then we better shut thing off." *He follows Tirk.*
Aetos goes with Ninja.
Metal Man (GM): You continue down... meanwhile... *Left group.*
Metal Man (GM) gets a drink first.
Metal Man (GM): Anyway, you guys in the left room hear the Korruptor come. Again; do you just prepare for battle?
Digifanatic: "Well, anybody have an idea better than to try and ward off this guy?"
Scott Gibson: "Find a way to break out and run like bloody hell?"
Dragoshi: "...Maybe..." *Tries to think up of an alternate solution* *Luck check, I presume.*
Metal Man (GM): Well, you could hide in here.
Digifanatic: "Come up with something?"
Dragoshi: "...We could hide in here, but I bet hiding is none of our strong suits... Not to mention there doesn't look like there's anything to HIDE under"
Digifanatic: "Nah, I'm not a stealthy guy either, so to say."
Scott Gibson: "No hidin' for me, man."
Dragoshi: "...I think we should follow Scott's idea and make a run for it"
Digifanatic: "Alright, then!"
Scott Gibson: "Then let's break out!"
Digifanatic gets set to make a break (and take a fake, he'd like a stinkin' achin' shake...)
Metal Man (GM): The only way to run would be the same direction the Korruptor is coming in from; all the other doors are locked.
Digifanatic tries to Fire Punch down one of the doors...
Metal Man (GM): Force field blocks it; it glows with fire, though. Since this is obviously in the hallway (no doors inside Gerald's room) the Korruptor turns and faces Digi.
Korruptor: "Yyyooou atteeempt to breaaaak them in vaaaaain. Haha-hah hah hah!"
Digifanatic: .oO(Awwwwwwwww great...)
Scott Gibson: "Fuckin' hell..."
Dragoshi runs past Digi and Korruptor, then turns around.
He trips up.
Scott Gibson: "Why can't things ever go OUR way?"
Metal Man (GM): He clothespins Dragoshi for 15 damage, not letting anyone past him.
Digifanatic feels like he's screwed right now.
Korruptor: "Iiiii willl not let you throoough!"
Dragoshi: "...Out of my way!" *Attempts to blast Korruptor with Indignation.*
Scott Gibson: "Doesn't look like there's much choice between us guys..." *Flips his guitar in hand.*
Metal Man (GM): He is hit, but he remains in the way.
Korruptor: "Iii liiike it when theyyy are feeeiiisty. Buuuut it is of noooo hehehehelp!"
Metal Man (GM): He fires 6 balls of dark energy at Dragoshi.
7 damage per hit.
Dragoshi: "...Ah, shut up!" *After getting hit by all of them, he drinks two Recov Vials He fires off six blasts of water in retaliation to Korruptor, if possible.*
Metal Man (GM): That is possible.
One... two hits.
He fights back with a spear attack.
90 damage if that hits.
Dragoshi: *OOF!*
Metal Man (GM): Meanwhile!
The others have reached the core. Tirk looks around at the area, and its computers.
The Ninja: "So. How do we turn it off?"
Tirk Tovnic: "This will be a doozy. We must somehow turn off the power to the portal room without turning off all the power--in that case, Atlantis will sink."
The Ninja: "...I touch nothing!"
Tirk Tovnic: "Let's see..." *He presses some buttons quickly.*
Metal Man (GM): More alarms come on, and the computers glow irregularly.
Tirk Tovnic: "That isn't good. It appears the disturbance has hacked into some of the computers. We need some way to disrupt it."
Aetos: "But how?"
Tirk Tovnic: "A quick EMP or something would be useful right now..."
The Ninja: "Oh. Easy." *He then looks at Aetos.* "Go for it."
Aetos raises an eyebrow. "For what?"
The Ninja: "EMP grenade."
Aetos: "Why do you think I have one?"
The Ninja: "Slotted armor?"
Tirk Tovnic: "There has to be something that can disrupt technology."
Aetos: "What are you talking about?"
The Ninja: "On fine. I use only one I have then." *He hands Aetos his Dex* "Now stand far away."
Aetos: "I don't have anything like that. What's up with you Ninja?"
*He sighs and back away.*
The Ninja pulls out the only EMP grenad he has since he bought it to play a trick on Metal. He then gives it to Tirk for him to use.
Tirk Tovnic: "Thanks! I'll be sure to repay you."
Metal Man (GM): He takes the grenade, alters it a bit, and activates it; the computer system shoots sparks and he inputs some commands. The lights turn out, then turn on, and... then everything seems back to normal.
Tirk Tovnic: "Phew. That could have done some very nasty things. Let's go back upstairs."
Aetos: "Alright."
Metal Man (GM): He walks upstairs.
Meanwhile...
The group facing Korruptor seem doomed--until the lights flash.
Dragoshi: "..." *Panting heavily.*
Korruptor: "Gaaaaahhhh!!! Systems are online... buuuuuut freedom... so... sweeee---" *ZINK* *He's suddenly absorbed into the walls.*
Metal Man (GM): The PA turns on.
Scott Gibson is huffs..."C'mon! What now?!" talking about the lights.
Dragoshi: "...Thank whatever merciful entity did THAT."
Tirk Tovnic: *PA:* "The system has been rebooted. Come to the unlocked room in the right-direction hallway for details."
Dragoshi does so, using his scythe as a walking stick.
Scott Gibson slings his guitar but is sluggish to the move..."Man..."
Metal Man (GM): You reach the room; one with the four murals about Nintendus' past.
Scott Gibson: "I'm freakin' tired... no more late night playing sessions for me."
Dragoshi: "..." *Looks at the murals.*
Metal Man (GM): The Whalleranians, magical and threatened; The Maricians, attacking with relentless killing machines...
The Solarians, invaders (and destroyers) with their white space ships...
And the Neo-Earthians, the last nation to exist, and the only one to defeat the Solarians.
A man in strange, flowing blue-and-white robes is there... a Mages Council person, with the other Questers.
Tirk Tovnic: *Ahem* "I'm sorry for what inconvenience this caused, but I accidentally deactivated a sort of... containment system. You see, when both Kuja and The Void were here, they gave off great energy... energy which absorbed into the very walls of this place."
Dragoshi: *Leans on his scythe* "I see... Well, my only question is why did I se-Ah. Well, that answers THAT."
Tirk Tovnic: "It was my interest to learn from them. But in trying to open them for me to see... instead, spectres from the past were unleashed."
Scott Gibson: "Smooth."
Dragoshi: "...Huh. Well, at least the problem was prevented before it could get out of hand. Stopped I mean."
Tirk Tovnic: "I did, however, find something of interest."
Scott Gibson: "Find what?"
Dragoshi: "...And that would be, if I may ask...?"
The Ninja: "What did you find?"
Tirk Tovnic: "There's been rumors of some sort of 'Gerald Virus' going around."
Dragoshi: "...Virus?"
Tirk Tovnic: "Gerald left many of his important documents here... including one on how such a virus would work. It's prototypical, but it may help research against such a virus."
Metal Man (GM): He takes out a book, labeled 'Prototype 0.11b--Gerald Virus'
And he hands it to Aetos.
Tirk Tovnic: "In the hands of a skilled programmer, that can be used against the real thing; I'm not sure how, but my prophesizing powers told me."
Aetos nods. "A skilled programmer..."
Metal Man (GM): Mission Completed
+10,000 coins; 2000 EXP
The warp back appears. Tirk bows for a short bit, then sits down, continuing work on the computers within.
Aetos: "Welp, try not to cause too much trouble."
The Ninja: "See you again, Tirk!" *He hops into the warp.*
Scott Gibson heads into the warp to go back HQ'ward.
Aetos: *He walks into the warp.* .oO(Short mission...)
Dragoshi: *Bows as well, then slowly enters the portal, still using the scythe as a walking stick*"Well, good luck in your future efforts, I guess."
Aetos shrugs and makes it to the storage room of HQ.
Scott Gibson heads into the R&R room after grabbing a beer to relax.
Dragoshi heads into R&R as well.
Aetos looks about the room at the contents. "I wonder if it should be left here... or go straight to Metal?"
Scott Gibson also begins to flip through the plans for the advanced PA system he stole from Gerald's room.
He suddenly hears a couple of high pitched horn honks, more like beeps, comes in muffled from outside.
*Looks up* "!?"
Dragoshi: *Blinks* "Zuh?"
Scott Gibson: "That sounded like... nah, couldn't be."
*He goes back to reading.*
Dragoshi: "...Okay, then..." *Pulls out his own book and starts reading as well...*
Scott Gibson: *A couple more beeps... louder this time Looks up* "...Huh, Drag, did you hear that?"
Dragoshi: "...What is up with the beeping?"
Scott Gibson: "That sounds just like..."
Dragoshi: "Yeesh. Can't a guy ever read in peace these days?"
Scott Gibson gets up and starts heading for a window to look out.
Dragoshi: "...Eh." *Curious, he follows Scott.*
Scott Gibson: *Stares out the window* "You've gotta be kiddin' me!"
Dragoshi: "What? What is it?"
Scott Gibson: *A red blur shoots across the window's field of view right by Scott's face.*
Dragoshi: "...?"
Scott Gibson suddenly begins fiddling with the window trying to get it open.
Dragoshi: "...Need help with that?"
Scott Gibson: "Yeah, please..."
Dragoshi helps Scott with the window.
Aegis: *The window shoots up and both stumble back.*
Dragoshi stumbles back.
Scott Gibson: "Whoa!" *Barely catches himself.*
Dragoshi: *Catches himself as well* "I guess we should go out the window now, eh?"
Scott Gibson (GM): *Suddenly in absolute cartoon-esque fashion a red scooter pushes itself through the small window opening and into the room.*
Scott Gibson: "!"
Dragoshi: o_o; "...Or not."
Scott Gibson: "I can't believe it..." *Dumbstruck.*
Dragoshi: "...Can't believe what?"
Scott Gibson: *The scooter turns to Scott and beeps once and flashes it's headlight.*
"Holy shit! Roxy!"
Dragoshi: *Blinks*
"...?
...Huh."
Scott Gibson corrects himself and stands facing Dragoshi. "Uh... yeah... so... Drag, this is Roxy. My scooter."
*It looks at Dragoshi with it's headlight then beeps twice.*
Dragoshi: "...Ah. Well... I actually can't think of anything to say." *Blinks.*
Scott Gibson: "A hello would be cool."
Dragoshi: "...Well, hello, then."
Scott Gibson: *It beeps a couple more times with it's light flashing and circles Dragoshi*
"Ah, she's an easy to get along with scooter. I'll give it that."
Dragoshi: "...?" *Looks, and turns around... Until he becomes dizzy* @_!
Scott Gibson starts walking to the stadium. "Roxy, c'mon! Drag, you'll love this."
Dragoshi regains composure then, blinks, curious. He follows.
Scott Gibson walks into the stadium with Dragoshi and the scooter behind him.
"You'll get a kick out of this." *Hops on the scooter which suddenly lifts off the ground and into the air.*
Dragoshi: "...Nice."
Scott Gibson: "Yep, Roxy and I have made many trips from one side of hyperspace to the other. Don't let her looks fool you, she's mega-fast. I could fly straight up to the space station with her."
Dragoshi: "...Nice. ...But, anyway, how does she defend herself? Evasive maneuvers only or somethin'?"
Scott Gibson: "Yeah, pretty much."
Dragoshi: "Ah."
Scott Gibson: "There's not a battleship in existence that can hit a hyperflight Vespa going flat out making maneuvers. That and it allows us to do guitar and scooter jousting matches back home."
Dragoshi: "Heh. Glad to know that."
Scott Gibson goes flying around the stadium on Roxy. Zooming this way and that..."Whoo! It's been awhile since I got to fly on her."
Dragoshi: "...Wow." *Can hardly keep his sights on them seeing as they're zooming and all.*
Scott Gibson finally lands and hops off Roxy. "Whew... Well I think we can head back to the R&R room now. I'm just glad to have her back." starts off toward the R&R room with Roxy trailing
"Heh... Metal and everybody else are going to freak when they see her... ha... ha... ha.!"
Dragoshi follows, chuckling.
Metal Man (GM): Pre-mission thingy
Valentine is at the location she warped to right at the end of the previous chapter.
That would be, again, the ruined Solarian settlement formerly known as Ordoth; at the entry area, at least.
Dead ahead would be both a pit going down to where the SuperSoldiers hid; also, bridges nearby cross over that slope that leads into the pit and into the actual settlement.
Or you could disregard that entirely and check out the ancient cryo-tubes made by Kuja to fool the Questers, off to the right.
Valentine Kilmer looks ahead, then looks right at the Cryo-tubes. She then looks to see if there's anything else in the area.
Metal Man (GM): That's the whole area, pretty much.
Valentine Kilmer decides to look at the cryo-tubes as they may come in handy if she uses them right. So she slowly hovers towards them.
Metal Man (GM): They're human-sized, and old. Cracks line them; they're plugged into massive banks of cooling equipment. Long ago they ran out of power; and the cleverly hidden Kuja insignias have been exposed by weathering (one can see that paint used to hide them)
None have any occupants, alive or dead.
Valentine Kilmer: "Paint. Simple yet not predictable."
She looks to see if there's anything useful lying or anywhere in the area. If she finds nothing, then she heads towards one of the bridges.*
Metal Man (GM): You search about, but locate nothing. It's bare as a bone.
So you reach the bridges; they're made of blue energy, and lead into the city itself.
Valentine Kilmer figures one can't find much in a place full of undead. One would think everything was taken either by the Questers or anyone else that looted the place after the defeat of Kuja. She sees no more reason to waste time and slowly hovers around, looking for a good way to apporach the pit without getting spotted.
Metal Man (GM): Nobody's visible near the pit, but you could try coming in from the side to minimize visibility.
Valentine Kilmer sees it's the best point of entry. It would be better to do this without getting spotted. She takes the side route with caution, making sure it's not just an ambush waiting to happen.
Metal Man (GM): You fly on in, and realize the room below to be empty, along with the device. There is, however, a sort of tunnel going deeper down from here, with suspicious footprints leading down it.
Besides that, it is empty down here.
Valentine Kilmer hovers on the platform for a bit before spotting the footprints. A question mark appears above her head as she hops of the platform to get a closer look at the footprint, as if analyzing them.
Metal Man (GM): They're bootprints with the Kuja insignia in them.
Valentine Kilmer thinks for a minute, then gets a closer look at the insignia.
Metal Man (GM): It's a big ol' K with a crown on it.
Big n' gaudy; must be quite a sight on the boot itself.
Valentine Kilmer gets back on her platform and decides to trail the footprints. Something doesn't smell right to her.
Metal Man (GM): You follow them deep down the tunnel; from there you reach an ancient looking chamber of some kind, with a statue of Kuja.
Nothing else is in here, and the bootprints abruptly vanish at the statue.
the statue is a plain one of stone, and not particularly grandiose. However it sports all the trademarks.
Valentine Kilmer looks over the statue carefully, and around the room as well. Something still doesn't feel right to her.
Metal Man (GM): The room is primitively made of limestone bricks; the floor is covered in gravel. The statue seems to be watching you.
Valentine Kilmer: "Hmm. Are you going to speak yet?" *She keeps on looking at the statue.*
Metal Man (GM): The statue makes no sound.
It has small imperfections in it; the rock it was made out of was clearly porous.
The room is pretty bare, like the rest; but, as you say, there's something odd in here....
Valentine Kilmer thinks to herself, then moves around the statue to see if there's anything else up with it statue.
Metal Man (GM): You move around it, seeing all its sides; they're all relatively uniform and smooth, and the only thing which follows you is the feeling of being watched.
Valentine Kilmer pauses for a moment, then tries to feel where the prying eyes or whatever is watching her is coming from.
Metal Man (GM): The statue's eyes always seem to be following you, even though they don't actually move.
Valentine Kilmer hovers up some until her face is leveled with the with the statue. She stares at it for a bit, then takes the rifle off her back and starts to tweak it.
Metal Man (GM): It stares back, in that vacant, statue-like way.
Valentine Kilmer finally uses her analysis skill on the statue, before resorting to something more drastic.
Metal Man (GM): roll it, unless there's no roll attached.
You analyze the statue. Then you have a horrible headache.
It appears normal, but has some sort of magical hexes on it, those which make it react unfavorably to attempting to use a skill against it.
It has some others which must be related to its true use.
Valentine Kilmer winces slightly, then sees the so called hexes on it. It gives her greater interest, but magic isn't fully her thing. It'll take her awhile to come up with something, so it would be better to come back to this later.
Metal Man (GM): Okay.
*PAUSE* Now for the mission. Lemme write up a few things, then the voting begins!
Okay... missions....
Here's your choices.
Mission 18: Fishy Business. Again, some weirdoes purchased a lot of stuff for deep-sea exploration from Dave in ol' Port Destiny. Investigate.
Mission 19: Arctic Mystery. Travelers have been beset by what is called 'The Abominable Snowman', which has generated concern in the worldwide community.
Mission 20: The Last Remains... | Deep to the North of most of the world, some ruins relating to Kuja were discovered. Being the most complete (even operational), they appear to contain information lost when the rest of his stuff exploded. It also has the tendency to eat researchers.
Mission 21: Whoops! Well, that there's a bit of a problem. For some reason, a bunch of demons started appearing in the Gerudo desert, and the only explanation was a note left by a well-known thief labeled 'Whoops!'. Find out why this happened and keep the demons from coming into Nintendus from here.
Voting begins... nnnow.
Two for 21, 1 for 19.
Three for 21, 1 for 19.
Okay. Nobody else voting?
Metal Man (GM): Okay, that looks to be the final vote.
Whoops!
Metal Man is in the big room, staring at a transcript.
Julian Sawyer's got his feet up, as usual "What's the word, Mets?"
Dragoshi: *Leaning against the wall, waiting.*
Metal Man: "Hmmm... this is gonna be a doozy. All sorts of odd things have suddenly begun to appear in the Gerudo desert, their only linking classifier is that they are 'demons.' You gotta kill them and stop them from continuing their invasion."
Julian Sawyer: "Sounds easy. Do we know how they comin' in?"
The Ninja: "Demons? Oh, it's like 13th birthday party all over again!"
Scott Gibson walks in with guitar slung and a red 1965 Vespa PX scooter following behind, riderless.
Metal Man: "Well, no. In fact, they shouldn't be able to manifest in our dimension."
Dragoshi: "..." *Chuckles as Ninja says that* "Demons... Interesting."
The Ninja: "No demons on loose? What is point then?"
Scott Gibson sits on the scooter and leans forward on the handle bars. "Sounds like all sorts of fun."
The Wraith: *The seldom-appearing phantom drifts in through a wall, having heard these last bits.* "Demons, you say...?"
Julian Sawyer: "Demons be ON the loose. We gotta go an' drive 'em back an' THEN-...The hell's that?"
The Ninja answers his Dex. "Hello?"
Scott Gibson: "Uh, it's a scooter."
The Ninja: "...Hello? Metal, Dex is broken again."
Julian Sawyer: "...An' it just beeped at me. Scooters don't do that regularly."
Dragoshi: "..." *Snickers, then just watches.*
Scott Gibson: "That's because it's not your normal scooter."
Roxy: *Be---ep.*
Scott Gibson: "Easy there, kiddo. He's just never seen a hyperflight series Vespa."
Metal Man: "Eh? They are seeable, and they do attack."
The Ninja: "Hello? You call, what do you want?"
Metal Man: "I'm saying they defy physics."
Julian Sawyer: "...This place gets weirder an' weirder evryday... Anythin' else Mets?"'
The Wraith: "This is unusual... Looks like there's higher forces working against us yet again."
Metal Man: "No. If I knew, this would be an easier mission."
*He activates the warp elevator.* "On the plus side, there's no mazes to get lost in."
Dragoshi: "...Good, good." *Zooms into the elevator.*
The Wraith: "Let's go, then... Keep on your toes, mates." *He drifts into the warp.*
Julian Sawyer: "Let's bounce, fellas... an' scooter." *Julian gets up and heads for the warp.*
Scott Gibson grabs the handle bars of the scooter and motors into the warp.
The Ninja: "We talk about Dex upon return, Metal." *He leaps into the warp.*
Metal Man (GM): *WARP* *WARP* Etc.
You appear in the middle of the vast Gerudo wastelands. In bad weather, you'd usually sink into the sand itself, but it's merely sunny today. All around you see... yellow sand... cacti... blue sky... and, something interesting, a mesa out in the distance. It appears to be your destination. There's also some sort of far-off wavy distortion, which you can barely see, in the same direction as the mesa.
Dragoshi: *Looks at the distortion*"Zuh?"
Julian Sawyer: "...Looks like we got a target. C'mon." *Julian starts trekking towards the distortion.*
Dragoshi does the same as Julian.
The Ninja: "Maybe that cause Dex to mess up." *He follows the group.*
The Wraith: *The spirit silently eyes around and follows behind Julian, seven colored stones slowly revolving around the larger green one as he keeps at the ready...*
Metal Man (GM): Walking towards it, you begin to hear something odd; nefarious, otherworldly cackling.
Julian Sawyer: "What dex problem you talkin' about, Ninja?"
The Ninja: "...I think we have bigger problem."
Dragoshi: "...Yep."
Julian Sawyer: "We'll get to that later."
Metal Man (GM): There's a patch of cacti immediately ahead. They appear somewhat shorter than usual, and make progressing slightly difficult--they're spaced out so that you have to slow down to walk between them.
The Wraith: *He casts his eyes down at the cacti as he drifts over the first few, taking note to not get too far ahead of the others who have to walk.*
Metal Man (GM): After passing them, you find yourself with a strange set of objects laying on the ground.
Dragoshi: "...?"
Julian Sawyer checks them out...
Metal Man (GM): There's some sort of blackened, burnt cube, a tablet with infernal symbols on it, and an even larger holy beer vessel.
Julian Sawyer: "...Drunks! Every one of 'em!"
The Wraith: *He lofts an eyebrow, a mild look of distaste on his face as he sees the vessel.* "Beer... If that's all they can handle, then we won't have too much to worry about after all."
Dragoshi: "Heh."
Metal Man (GM): The tablet, as John alone would see, would say -------
Julian Sawyer tries dexing the cube.
Smash Dex: "DING! X-zone cube. Used solely to destroy X-zone shields. This one is broken."
Scott Gibson: "Mmmm... Beer..."
Dragoshi: "...Huh. Wonder if we should take that."
Julian Sawyer: "...X-Zone Shields? Charles better not be behind this again..." *Julian picks it up.*
The Wraith: "...Oh, sweet jebus. They glorify Kuja, Zio, and 'the wretched Betrayer'."
Metal Man (GM): You pick it up; your arm feels slightly numb from touching it.
Julian Sawyer: "All the more reason to take 'em down."
Dragoshi: "...Wate, what?"
Metal Man (GM): Upon The Wraith saying that, a pentagon appears on the ground, and from it rises... a burning pirate.
Julian Sawyer: "...Jesus."
The Wraith: "...I walked right freakin' into that one..."
The Ninja shakes his head after being placed out, but managing to stay with the group. "What did I-" He stops for a minute as he looks at the pirate.
Dragoshi: "...Burning pirate. Didn't expect that one"
Julian Sawyer: "Mo' liked you talked right into that one..."
Demonic Pirate: "Arrrr!!! Ye be trespassing on the grounds of the realm of evil, ye scurvy goodlubbers! Back off before me and my swabbies give you a good swashbuckling!"
Julian Sawyer: "...Wait a sec... Someone restrain Ninja."
Demonic Pirate: "We be not afraid to use our teeth... and when ye are constantly afire, that burns! Arrrrharaarharhar!"
The Wraith: "It is you who is trespassing, swashbuckler. You'd be well advised to leave this plane."
Dragoshi: "...Hmmm... How could I put this bluntly, ya git? No. No, no, and, no."
Scott Gibson: "Whoa... freaky."
Roxy: *Engine groans slightly.*
Dragoshi: "...Now go away before I put out your fire."
The Ninja is already running at the pirate, Matek's sword in hand.
Editor's Note: Finally, the one true canon interaction!
Demonic Pirate: "Yarrrr. We pirates do not use such harrrible words. Ye be asking for a walk off the plank!"
Metal Man (GM): He turns to The Ninja.
Demonic Pirate: "Arrharharr! A battle it is!"
Metal Man (GM): Infernal Battle
Ninja vs. Demonic Pirate
Julian Sawyer: "...A'ight, forget what I say. Nevermind that Ninjas 'n Pirates be mortal enemies."
Metal Man (GM): SPD check, Ninja.
Scott Gibson: "Nothing I haven't already seen... err... I've seen weirder, Rox."
Metal Man (GM): This be a duel; apparently the pirate himself also wishes to fight, in a sort of fair way.
Order: Ninja, Pirate
Dragoshi: "..." *Leaps back.*
The Wraith: "Well, think about it. Would you want to deprive him of such a battle? Besides, should he fall, the demon still has the rest of us to reckon with."
The Ninja is already on the offense, making a grant leap at the pirate as he goes to gives his the might of the ninja strikes.
Metal Man (GM): Hit, and hit.
He be too slow to counter your blows, though I probably rolled that by mistake. Continue.
The Ninja uses the sand to help his next move out, creating a cloud of sand around him as he starts to conceal himself.
Metal Man (GM): +4 to AC for the rest of this round; but if he hits you, you lose the concealing sand, and the AC bonus.
Infernal Pirate: "Taste the wrath of me own firearm! Arrrr!!!!"
Metal Man (GM): He takes out a flaming pistol and fires a flaming shot at you.
Dragoshi: "Oh, that DAMN WELL better not be a pun!"
Metal Man (GM): Roll an EVD check whether it hits or misses; should it hit, you take 25 damage.
The Wraith: "I do believe it was..."
Dragoshi: "...KILL HIS FACE, NINJA."
The Ninja manages to gets out of the way of that attack thanks to the sand.
Metal Man (GM): You interrupt his turn!
The Ninja decides to go poof!
Metal Man (GM): He tracks you with his infernal flaming eyesockets.
The Ninja shrugs and goes for the almighty ninja flipkick to the evil pirate.
Metal Man (GM): He blocks you with his flaming hands, arrr. It burns for 5 damage, too!
Then he counters with a little bit o' pirate stabbing.
Which would deal 16 damage and 2 knockback. Roll an EVD check against it; it's special.
The Ninja acks a bit, taking some damage, but isn't too bad off at the moment.
Metal Man (GM): He continues his turn, leaping at you and swiping at you with his spiked peg leg twice!
10 damage per hit.
The Ninja goes to the left, but the second left doesn't work as he gets hit. He then decides to give the pirate a ninja punch.
Metal Man (GM): You hit, just almost missing.
Continue yer attacking, then.
The Ninja then sees grabbing the pirate as a bad idea, so he digs inside his suit for a special treat.
He pulls out a throwing star and flicks it at the pirate. "Cha!"
Metal Man (GM): Hit. He's knocked back from yer face by it.
The Ninja finishes his turn by kicking up the sand again.
Metal Man (GM): Miss!
Oh.
+6 to AC for the duration, then. Yarrr.
The Ninja: .oO(I sure wish I had those gift cards now.)
Pirate: "Arrr! You be hidin'... not forevarr!"
Metal Man (GM): He drinks a bottle of infernal rum and breathes fire in all directions, hoping to catch you unawarrr.
CRIT
50 fire damage from the inferno, which also burns off that sand.
The Wraith: "Yohoho..."
Metal Man (GM): You can attempt an EVD roll against it, but most likely it's too high to counter.
The Ninja: "Ah! It burns!" *He prances around and tries to put the fire out, he can't counter if he wants to.*
Metal Man (GM): He then takes out his pistol and shoots at you again.
Pirate: "Go down to the flamin' locker Davy Jones has! Arrrr!"
Metal Man (GM): 25 damage, not likely to hit.
Dragoshi: "...How would it be on fire if it's under the sea? ...Unless it's in hell or somethin' like that."
The Wraith: "Magic."
Pirate: "We live in a farrr worse place than that. The infernal realm would kill any of ye alive if you came there; only the most scurvy of villains, the vile Void, could successfully walk in, and even then, he'd be attacked by all sides! Yarrrr!"
The Ninja puts the last of the flame out in time only to flip around the bullet. He then decides to return the favor to the pirate. Taking out his holy moonshine, he takes a drink and blows a fireball right at the pirate.
Metal Man (GM): He can't dodge it, but he gets hit by that tharrr fireball. The holiness counters the fact he would be healed by it otherwise. Normal damage.
One quick push should be able to send him back where he came from.
The Wraith: *The spirit shakes his head as he sees this maneuver...*
Dragoshi: "..." *Facepalm.*
The Ninja takes a flying leap out the pirate, instead of yelling out his usual ninja nonsense, he yells "Die Infidel!"
Pirate: "Arrrr! Ye be the victor today, but if ye wish a true rematch, go farrr ahead inside that tharrr infernal Mesa! Arrrrrgh!!!!" *He sinks back into the firery depths he came from.*
Metal Man (GM): +1000 EXP to Ninja. The way to the very Mesa he talked of is wide open, although it don't look too inviting.
Dragoshi: "...Well, that was interesting. Move on ahead, I suppose?"
Metal Man (GM): It looks like it was scorched black and appears to be wavy, like immense heat comes off of it, or perhaps it's a disturbance of some kind.
The Ninja: "Ah-hahahaha! Once again, us ninjas show who the better ones are!"
Metal Man (GM): The doors to it, both flaming in nature, are locked shut, but there should be some way to open them. *Gets a drink before the fun begins.*
The Wraith: *He eyes these doors... A wall through the middle of the desert, or just doors standing alone?*
Metal Man (GM): Doors on the mesa itself.
Blocking the way into a cave.
The Wraith: "Hmm... Anyone got a pair of asbestos gloves?"
The Ninja idly munches on a grape to take away the burning pain and taste of moonshine.
Dragoshi: "...No. But, I can shoot water at it. Does that work?"
The Wraith: *He drifts away from the doors a bit.* "Sure..."
Dragoshi fires three blasts of water at the door.
Metal Man (GM): The door shoots steam; but you can't muster the power to put out the flames completely.
The Ninja: "Maybe secret password."
The Wraith: "Hmm... Kuja."
Metal Man (GM): The door glows redder upon the words, but doesn't open.
The Ninja: "Maybe like pirate password. Like 'swag' or 'land lover'."
Metal Man (GM): The doors to the mesa.
There's only those; no others.
The Wraith: "Or... Zio."
Metal Man (GM): It glows slightly more.
Dragoshi: "..." *Just watches.*
The Wraith: "Anyone object to saying the third name?"
Dragoshi: "...Don't see why not."
The Ninja: "If that Kuja's real name?"
The Wraith: "No, another person... No objections?"
Dragoshi: "...Nope. None. Zip, zilch, na-Oh, you get the point."
The Ninja: "How do I have no objection? I don't know person."
The Wraith: "...Betrayer."
Metal Man (GM): The door glows blood red and opens up, revealing a dark tunnel into the very heart of the Mesa.
Dragoshi: "...Well, that worked. Who leads?"
The Wraith: "Follow closely..." *He drifts on forward.*
The Ninja: "Ghost leads!"
Dragoshi does so.
The Ninja follows the spirit.
The Wraith: "And keep on your guard." *As he says that, a dark barrier appears around his form.*
Metal Man (GM): You enter, feeling the darkest evil you've ever seen. And it shows, for the first room is specifically one made to radiate evil.
Three statues; one of Kuja, one of Zio, and one with nothing more than a pedestal; one door for each, respectively, labeled 'I, II, and III.'
The Wraith: *The spirit's form shudders a bit as he feels this evil emanation, eyeing the statues and anything around them...*
Metal Man (GM): The symbols of the Quester Hunters, Kuja, and otherworldly evils label the walls, pulsating and glowing, as wretched, evil music bellows, as well as the sounds of demons.
The Ninja: "... Not this again. I hate thinking things."
Metal Man (GM): You may pick whichever door you want; they're all unlocked.
Dragoshi: "Bleh. Which door do you think we should choose?"
The Wraith: "I say we start with number one, hmm...?"
The Ninja: "One for each? Cover area faster like last time."
The Wraith: "And get lost or killed faster. We're not in Kansas anymore. This is their turf. We've got to keep strength..."
Dragoshi: "...I say we all go through door 1 first like our ghostly friend said."
The Ninja: "Pirate can't kill ninja. Ninja kill pirate."
The Wraith: "That pirate, I'm sure, is the least of our worries down here... Will you cooperate or no?"
The Ninja: "I go with. Better to have multi people killing pirate."
The Wraith: "Excellent... Let's go, then.' He drifts to door I, and, if he doesn't notice anything possibly dangerous about it, goes to open it up.'"
Scott Gibson shrugs.
Dragoshi: "...Question. How'd you damage that pirate with fire when it was on fire itself?"
Metal Man (GM): It opens up, revealing a twisty upwards cave, going up into some sort of storage room.
The Ninja: "I'm a ninja."
The Wraith: *The spirit beckons the others with one hand as it drifts on through the doorway and up into the cave...*
Scott Gibson: "Demon pirate slaying? I'm there."
Dragoshi: "...Aside from the obvious." >_>;; *Follows The Wraith.*
Metal Man (GM): Up you go, into a rather murky castle-like room, with a tbale to the right, and the left, with three vases on each. In the middle of the floor is three slots for three vases.
The Ninja uses his senses in the hallway and when they enter the room to detect anything out of place... Other that the vast amount evilness.
Metal Man (GM): The vases on the left are red, green, and blue, while the other three have a skull, a halo, and some sort of chaos emerald.
You sense... hidden things in this room.
Dragoshi: "..."
The Wraith: "Alright, then..." *He looks around some more... Doors? Colors on the skull, halo, & emerald?*
Metal Man (GM): The vases' colors on the skull, halo, and emerald are all purple.
The Wraith: *He strokes his chin...* "First thought that comes to my mind is to put one of these between the red & blue..." *He looks around, though, wanting to gather as many potentially useful facts as he can before trying to put a square peg in a round hole.*
Metal Man (GM): No others, besides an '=' sign over the three slots. Indicating all put in the slots should be equal.
The Wraith: "Hmm... Any ideas, my fine, scaled friend?"
Dragoshi: "...Nope. Sorry."
The Wraith: "Then let's try what I stated a moment ago... Let's start with the emerald. Blue, emerald, red... I'm incorporeal, so I suppose you'll have to take care of it."
Metal Man (GM): Aye. But will Dragoshi pick up the vases?
Dragoshi: "Understood." *Starts with the blue vase, then the one with an emerald on it, and then the red one.*
Metal Man (GM): You put them into the slots. They all click, and then Dragoshi's forehead burns; 20 damage, as the vases move back to where they were before.
Dragoshi: "..."."
The Wraith: "Hmm... Nope, that didn't work. Perhaps all of the purple ones?" *He gestures toward the ones on the right.*
Dragoshi: "...It damn well better work..." *Tries all the purple ones then.*
Metal Man (GM): Another burn; 20 more damage; and the vases move back to whence they came.
The Wraith: "Hmm..." *He strokes his chin thoughtfully...*
Dragoshi: "...Make sure you think it out for a while. I don't want to be burned too many times"
The Wraith: "...Another idea, though you shouldn't get burned because it doesn't 'complete' the pattern itself unless it's right." *He looks left.* "Take... the red vase, and put it in the left slot. Then," *he looks to the right,* "Put the skull in the right slot. Leave the center empty."
Dragoshi: "...Okay..." *Does so.*
Metal Man (GM): That leaves the remaining vases; nothing happens yet.
The Wraith: "...Hrm..." *He lofts an eyebrow, and drifts over to... look down in each of the vases, starting with the ones in the slots.*
Metal Man (GM): Nothing inside each.
The Wraith: *He looks at the colors, considering certain metaphors... but if those were true, his first attempt would have worked...* "Hmm... Step back a bit." *His right eye glints as his gaze starts at the floor before him, then scans up to the slots...*
Dragoshi does so, again.
The Wraith: "Hmm... Put them back. Then put the halo one in the center... Then go back and reach for another of the same vase."
Dragoshi: *Do I even need to say it?*
Metal Man (GM): You do so, but find no other halo vase.
The Wraith: "Razzin', frazzin'..." *His eye glints again as he looks where the the vase once was, then to the remaining two on the table. Eye back to normal, he continues staring in the same direction.* "...Feel free to voice your own ideas."
Dragoshi: "Still got nothin."
The Wraith: "What we need is three of the same thing..."
Dragoshi: "..." *Shrugs* .oO(Halo, blue, green maybe...? Nah. He said three of the same thing, but there isn't... Huh)
Metal Man (GM): Hint: You were one vase away from getting it right a little earlier.
The Wraith: *The eye once again lights up as he looks at the three colored vases, stroking his chin again...*
Metal Man (GM): The one with the incomplete.
The Wraith: "...Fire. Death. Chaos... Red, skull, emerald."
Metal Man assumes Dragoshi completes that.
Dragoshi: "...Maybe..." *Puts the skull vase in the left, puts the halo vase back on the table, and puts the emerald vase in place of the halo.*
Metal Man (GM): *CLICK CLICK CLICK* The room shifts... and... pause! But, for your troubles, you two get 1000 EXP.