Super Smash Quest - Story - Chapter 433: Bumbling Atlantis Questers, Monologuing Maester
Date: June 5th & 6th, 2007.
Metal Man (GM): The Questers are warped out. Surprisingly, only a few stories up to the Big Room of the Stadium itself. Metal Man sits there, presiding at his desk over there. Jeez. The Questers flew half-way around the universe, but he never seems to have left the whole time.
Metal Man: "Well... today we have a choice of sorts." *He flips up the projector screen.* "You may battle Max the Pokemon trainer, or you can investigate a disturbance at Atlantis."
Dragoshi: *Leans against his usual spot on the Big Room wall, waiting for orders.* >_>
Metal Man: "Now, of course, you ask why I'd ask for you to fight Max."
Dragoshi: "Of course."
Wolfman was somehow warped in.
Arx: "Who's this 'Max' person?"
Metal Man: "Well, that arm of his happens to be particularly valuable, and if you beat him, you'd each get a share of the profits."
Wolfman: "I can help explain that."
Metal Man: "Max the Pokemon trainer. Uh... yes. He can."
Arx: *The young Pokémon trainer tilts his head a bit, and then his eyes light up.* "A... Pokémon trainer?!"
Alexia: "...His arm?"
Wolfman: "Max is a Pokemon trainer, someone who raises and fights with Pokemon."
Dragoshi: "..." *Chuckles around the part about the arm being valuable.*
Wolfman: "His main Pokemon, a Nidoking, has become corrupted by evil: it has been known as EvilKing to many of you."
King Demon leans against the wall and sighs.
Wolfman: "During our absence from the planet 10 years ago, he has become one of the best Pokemon trainers in existence."
Arx: "...I KNOW what a Pokémon trainer is; don't you see the flaming horse besides me?" Sparkfire snorts and shakes her head.
King Demon: "I thought we destroyed that damn thing!"
Alexia: "Wait, why is his arm so valuable?"
Wolfman: "I am unsure if he has a new Nidoking, or if the old one is back to normal."
Metal Man: "It's an integrated cloak and stealing device. The cloaking device is more powerful than any seen, and it can steal things from quite a distance."
Wolfman: "Whether you guys fight him or not, is up to you."
Arx: "What do you mean 'stealing device'?"
Metal Man: "It has a set of magnets and magical crystals which allow it to forcibly attract an object to it... no matter what it is... from up to 100 feet away. Usually, a pokeball."
King Demon: "Sounds like something I'd like to have..."
Dragoshi: "Same."
Wolfman: "...so it's similar to a Snag Machine that I've read about back in my old realm?"
Metal Man: "The people who invented it would steal it mid-air as the other trainer went to throw it to the ground as opposed to trying to catch them with their own, though."
King Demon steps forward. "What is going on in Atlantis?"
Metal Man: "Unknown. Some issues with the teleportation systems."
King Demon thinks about the choices. "I'll vote for Max."
Wolfman: "...if it helps, Questers... I recall Max saying that he could wait for however long."
Dragoshi: "...Atlantis."
Wolfman: "I don't recall anyone saying that Atlantis's problems can wait for however long."
Alexia: "Atlantis."
King Demon: "Good point, Atlantis then... And that's my final answer, Regis!"
Dragoshi: "..."
Metal Man: "Are you sure?"
Alexia nods. "Ready, sir!"
Wolfman: "I believe they have spoken, Mr. Philbin." *chuckles.*
Dragoshi: *Walks over to Demon and smacks him upside the head.* "That was horrible." *Shakes head in annoyance, and nods in response to Metal.*
King Demon: "Why not."
Metal Man: "Don't you want to ask the three dumb people? Or how about phone a fiend? Or... fifty-nine thousand?"
Dragoshi: "..."
King Demon: "No, but I'd like to be a millionaire!"
Wolfman really gets a good laugh.
Alexia: "..."
Dragoshi: "That... I can agree with, Demon."
Wolfman: "If you do a good job on the mission, you'll get more money towards being one."
King Demon: "All right!"
Dragoshi: "...If I didn't already have 2 or so million in the bank." >_>;;
King Demon: "Lucky..."
Dragoshi: "But seriously though."
Wolfman listens to Dragoshi now.
Dragoshi: "Yea. Atlantis it is, considering the votes of everyone thus far."
King Demon: "I've always wanted to see the Underwater City..."
Dragoshi: "Now set up the warp before we get tangled in a web of gameshow references."
Wolfman: .oO(...I don't recall if our Atlantis is Underwater.)
Metal Man opens a warp to Atlantis; it shimmers blue.
Wolfman: .oO(...but I LIKE Game Shows!)
King Demon grabs his swords and walks through the warp.
Dragoshi: *Moseys on along to the warp.*
Wolfman looks to the others... "...well, aren't you guys following?"
Alexia heads over to the warp and enters.
Wolfman just watches the Questers go on... .oO(...why do I have a bad feeling about this?)
Leo: *enters the portal.*
Metal Man (GM): The Questers appear at Atlantis. The area has stayed the same; the four walls, the remnants of conflict. The warp device has been behaving oddly, apparently; the English translation has gone AWOL.
Alexia: "Boy, this place never changes, huh?"
Metal Man (GM): It constantly sputters out Atlantean symbols.
King Demon: "This is... different..."
Metal Man (GM): All can see it; a computer with glass plates for keys.
Dragoshi: *Makes sure the glass plates have Atlantean letters on them.*
King Demon looks at the computer.
Alexia walks over to the computer and looks at some of the output.
Metal Man (GM): Indeed, the plates have Atlantean letters on them.
Dragoshi: *Tries to read them.*
Alexia: "...Right, I'll leave this up to you guys."
Metal Man (GM): Dragoshi don't see much... except one set of words. 'Aberrant warp error. Origination 52. Unknown. Unknown.'
Dragoshi: "...Huh."
Metal Man (GM): It repeats over and over again. Apparently, somebody is trying to warp in, but failing.
King Demon: "What is it?"
Dragoshi: *Try and check to see who's trying to warp in without, yanno, letting them in?* >_>;;
Metal Man (GM): Dragoshi determines it is "The Dark Tool of The False God." Too bad it doesn't translate exactly to English.
King Demon looks at Drag.
Dragoshi: "...Does anyone know someone called 'The Dark Tool of The False God'?"
King Demon: "That could be a number of people we've met!"
Leo: "I have no idea..."
Alexia: "...No, but I think we can all agree that he doesn't sound like someone you want in here."
Metal Man (GM): The Questers have full access to the controls... they're just in Atlantean.
Dragoshi: *Trues to translate the controls... .*
Leo: "Maybe if we start pressing buttons we could kill him..."
Metal Man (GM): Dragoshi translates them. Basically, it forms a portal to anywhere in existence, based on a seven digit code.
Dragoshi: "...Huh."
Metal Man (GM): The display shows the failed incoming code is from this galaxy.
King Demon looks around the room to see what else there is.
Metal Man (GM): One can either try to accept, deny it completely, or warp there themself.
Alexia: "So did you find anything out about it?"
Dragoshi: "Apparently, this thing forms a portal to anywhere in existence via a seven digit code."
Metal Man (GM): Demon sees nothing much. Two doors out, and four murals; one of the Solarians destroying Earth, another of the Maricians destroying the Whalleranians. The Whalleranians at Whaller, and finally the Neo-Earthians fighting the Solarians.
Dragoshi: "That, and the code that's coming from this 'Dark Tool' fellow is from within this galaxy."
Metal Man (GM): Demon notices they seem to slowly change; there must be many different setups.
Alexia: "Huh. Interesting."
Leo: "Yeah..."
Alexia: "Want to try dialing in a code?"
Dragoshi: "...No."
King Demon walks over to one of the exits.
Metal Man (GM): They lead out through the many long corridors in this recently repaired building. There isn't much here, though; the Questers have already been through the place 3-4 times.
Alexia: "Maybe we should just keep whoever's dialing in from coming here and then leave this thing alone..."
Leo: "Or we could find out who this guy REALLY is. ...Or not."
Dragoshi: "...Without letting them in?"
Alexia: "...Leo, do you really think that's a good idea?"
Leo: "...I said or not."
King Demon wonders where the portal actually is, since all that's here is a console.
Metal Man (GM): In the center of the room; but since the attempt to get in fails constantly, no actual warp portal has been opened.
King Demon shrugs as there's really nothing he can do for now and leans against a wall, waiting.
Metal Man (GM): The Questers sit there, doing nothing. However, that is exactly a bad idea. The messages start coming in faster. Soon they begin to see small warps appearing in the center. It is a matter of minutes before the warp fills in.
Dragoshi: *Would try and locate where in the galaxy specifically this 'Dark Tool' person is.*
Metal Man (GM): That time was squandered. It's a matter of accept or deny.
Alexia: "Uh, Drag, you should seriously shut this guy down..."
Leo: "...Yeah."
King Demon: "Deny him access!"
Dragoshi: *...Yea... Deny.* <_>
Metal Man (GM): Dragoshi sets it correctly. Indeed, a massive wall appears just as the portal opens up.
Alexia: "Cool."
Metal Man (GM): For a moment, it appears to have been blocked. *BLAM.*
Dragoshi: "...Okay. Next matter of business." *Is it possible to keep 'Dark Tool' locked out from the war-...nevermind.*
Metal Man (GM): A fist justs out through the shield.
Leo: "!!!"
Alexia: "YAAAH!"
Metal Man (GM): It has a black sleeve.
Dragoshi: "...Oh hell."
Metal Man (GM): *BLAM.*
Alexia takes out her gun and shoots at the fist.
Metal Man (GM): Another fist.
Alexia: "Guys, run!"
Leo: "What the hell is this thing?!"
Metal Man (GM): It... does not seem to feel Alexia's shot.
Alexia: "RUN!"
Metal Man (GM): The hand withdraws in... *BLAM* Out it goes again.
Leo: *Starts running away.*
Dragoshi: *Tries to close the warp!*
King Demon backs up a little bit.
Metal Man (GM): The shield is failing; the hardware behind it is millenia old. It isn't made to take this.
Leo: *backs up against the wall.*
Metal Man (GM): The computer is jammed; power surge.
Alexia: "DRAG, COME ON!"
Metal Man (GM): One would have to hack the computer just to recover usability. *BLAM* The field is cracking; the lights are also flickering.
Dragoshi: *Tries to hack it, then.*
Metal Man (GM): It is possible to exit the room. *BZZZ* The computer is totally locked out now.
Dragoshi: "...Typical."
Leo: *starts to inch his way to the door.*
Metal Man (GM): The way out remains open, as a foot flies through a larger part of the field.
Alexia grabs Drag by the arm and pulls him towards one of the passageways.
Dragoshi: *Exits the room.*
Metal Man (GM): The Questers exit the room, noticing some buttons by the door on their way out.
Alexia: *OUT! OUT! GO OUT!*
Metal Man (GM): They also see the entire shield explode like cheap glass.
Leo: *exits.*
Alexia glances at them, hits them, and keeps running.
Dragoshi: *Looks to see if the crystal reacts to this being's fist and foot.* >_>
Metal Man (GM): Yes. Very much so.
Dragoshi: "...Huh. The crystal's reacting to whatever that thing is."
Metal Man (GM): But Dragoshi's being dragged away, down into the deeper passages at Atlantis, currently.
King Demon runs through one of the passages... the same one as the others.
Metal Man (GM): The group is running down as the being is now out of sight. They're now deeper inside Atlantis, in an area filled with ancient runes. Several twists and turns deep, but they hear explosions in the distance.
Alexia: "We probably won't have much time before that thing catches up... we need to act fast!"
Metal Man (GM): This room is mostly an old burial ground. Several old names are listed here. It's kind of a dead end.
Alexia: "...Unfortunately, we seem to be screwed yet again."
Leo: "We could barricade ourselves down here?"
King Demon looks at the grave markers.
Metal Man (GM): Whatever it is is approaching; the Questers' chance to take another fork is running out, if they are not quick.
Leo: "I think we better go, now."
Metal Man (GM): They're glowing blue stone tributes, with holograms of really, really ancient, dead Atlanteans.
Dragoshi: *Will prolly' zoom out now.*
Metal Man (GM): The Questers hear some loud words. Another explosion.
Alexia runs out of the room and tries another path.
Leo: *runs behind Alexia.*
King Demon seeks another passage as well.
Metal Man (GM): The Questers run again. They're now running by the power core of the city; a luminescent blue crystal streaked with cracks. This area is HUGE.
King Demon stops and looks at the power core.
Metal Man (GM): Scaffolding surrounds it, and Demon's using one of about ten catwalks.
King Demon: "Uh, do you guys think it may be a good idea to shut this down?"
Metal Man (GM): The dark figure's shadow appears on a distant catwalk. It blows away a catwalk semi-near to the Questers with a bolt of black energy.
Alexia: "How about later?!"
King Demon: "Or turn it on, or whatever!? Works for me..."
Metal Man (GM): There are controls for it on the catwalk the Questers are on.
Leo: "Ummm, how about we RUN AWAY!!"
Dragoshi: "...No." *Continues running down. He continues watching the crystal's reaction.*
King Demon tries to use the controls quickly.
Metal Man (GM): The core is apparently of similar energy to the very crystal Dragoshi has.
Alexia glances around, notices Dragoshi running, and follows him.
Leo: *follows Dragoshi as well.*
King Demon can't read Atlantean, so he just keeps running.
Alexia: "Oh, man, we should have just shut the warp down in the first place..."
Leo: "Yeah, but what do we do about this guy now?"
King Demon thinks about going another way.
Metal Man (GM): The Questers run some more. A huge fireball causes an explosion so huge it chases they for several feet. But they reach a big, heavy door. Outside a small window the Questers see some boats. They could escape. It has a panel on it, though, and is locked.
King Demon: "Great, why is it never easy?"
Metal Man (GM): The shadowy being destroys the catwalk the Questers ran away from him with some more dark magic.
Leo: "Cause..."
Dragoshi: *Tries to use the panel to open up the locked door.*
King Demon: "Make it quick Drag, otherwise we're gonna need to get going! Actually, let me!"
Leo: *Checks behind everyone to see how far away the bad guy is.*
Metal Man (GM): About 30 feet. Dragoshi presses the red button. *BEEP* He pressed the lock button. Not the unlock one. No change.
Leo: "Ummm, you better hurry up with that..."
Metal Man (GM): The Questers hear something metal explode.
King Demon tries to unlock the doors.
Alexia: "Just smash the panel!"
Metal Man (GM): A piece of shrapnel lodges itself atop the door as it opens slowly.
Leo: *flinches from the explosion.*
King Demon: "..." *looks at the direction the explosion came from.*
Dragoshi: *Tries to slide under the door.* >_>
Alexia steps back a bit, then does a Mega Man-style slide under the door.
King Demon attempts to crawl under the door as well.
Dragoshi: *Does so.*
Leo: *crawls under the door.*
Metal Man (GM): The Questers get out. There's a boat right there. Unlocked, left there by some Eisnaught patrol guards. ...But the door behind the Questers is still opening. Whatever it is will get out if nothing is done to lock Atlantis.
King Demon tries to get the door to close again.
Leo: "...We gotta go back in."
Alexia: "WHAT?!"
Metal Man (GM): It shuts... a hand darts out from beneath and tries to grab at Demon's ankle, but moves back in quickly as the door shuts.
Leo: "We gonna lock him in."
King Demon: "Well, now can we get going?"
Metal Man (GM): Several explosions occur, then the figure turns around... as Trigger said, he's probably looking for another exit.
Leo: "...Or not."
Metal Man (GM): SIMBER appears, a bit staticy.
SIMBER: "Atlantis Facility has taken heavy damage. Command for Atlantis Facility?"
Dragoshi: "...We'll need to look for more exits to block."
King Demon: "Can you lock Atlantis down?"
SIMBER: "Block exits? All exits can be blocked." *BLAM* He wavers. "Yes, I must do so imm---"
Metal Man (GM): The Questers hear all of it lock and then the power goes out.
Dragoshi: *Pulls out Dex. Looks for the nearest exit from this o-Huh. What's SIMBER want?*
Leo: "...Greeeat."
King Demon: "Is this a good thing?"
Metal Man (GM): Still, even with it locked, whatever it is is blows up several things before becoming silent.
Leo: "Maybe it gave up?"
Alexia: "..."
Dragoshi: "...Okay. Now whatever that is will have to deal with that Korruptor thing." >_>
Alexia: "Uh, guys, I have a REALLY bad feeling about this..."
King Demon wonders if it isn't a good idea to get the hell to the boats and get off this damn island.
Dragoshi: *Wonders if anyone else remembers Korruptor.* <_>
Leo: .oO(Why did she have to go and say that?)
King Demon attempts to use the dex to contact... anyone, really.
Metal Man (GM): Demon winds up subconsciously picking 'Wolfman' when he thinks 'Everybody.'
Alexia takes out her Dex and tries to contact Metal.
Wolfman hears his dex beep back at HQ. "...Demon? What's going on?"
King Demon: "We have a BIG problem here at Atlantis!"
Wolfman has Metal standing close by if required.
Dragoshi: *Would try to contact... err... doesn't know who is suitable to call for this situation.* >_>;;
Wolfman: "Define BIG."
Metal Man (GM): The signal is jammed; Demon's currently talking to Wolfman. However Alexia does see Metal in the background. He seems confused.
King Demon: "Well, its bigger than I am, and it appears to be a shadow with a LOT of black magic."
Alexia leans over to KD's Dex.
King Demon: "And its kinda tearing Atlantis apart from the inside!"
Wolfman: "...where did this black magic come from exactly? A control room?"
Alexia: "WHY DO YOU CARE?!"
King Demon: "The warp, it was trapped there, and managed to get out!"
Metal Man leans in. "Did you positively ID it?"
King Demon: "Not yet, we were a little too busy trying not to get blown up!"
Dragoshi: "...Also, if it matters, my crystal made a strong reaction to it."
King Demon: "It's locked inside for now, but we don't know for how long."
Metal Man: "Odd. I thought you were the Questers. Why did you run? You've taken hits from Kuja himself."
Wolfman looks to Metal...
Metal Man: "The damage reports I got aren't so horrible that it would have killed you instantly..."
Leo: "...Cause, it freaked out Garrick..."
Metal Man: "I can freak out Garrick too. Does that mean you must run from me?"
Wolfman: "Remind me to make sure there is a scaring simulation in the Holo Room next time then."
Dragoshi: "Anyway... The power's also down as well."
Leo: "No, but I don't know about Garrick though."
Dragoshi: "Check for any signs of a being called 'Korruptor' in there as well. Just in case..." >_>;;
King Demon: "Well, I'm not sure we're equipped to handle the "Dark tool of the false God" whatever that is..."
Metal Man: "How? The power is down." *He smirks.* "You either must confront it yourself or resign yourself to mission failure. Because we can't let Atlantis be destroyed."
Dragoshi: "Heh. Good point."
Alexia: "...Fine!"
Leo: "Then we can't go home..."
Dragoshi: "Now let me just figure out how to get back in." :p
King Demon sighs.
Leo: "If we chicken out." *looks at Garrick.*
Metal Man (GM): The door isn't so tough to get in from the outside.
Wolfman: "Why are you worried about a false god anyway? If it's not a true god, it's certainly beatable."
Metal Man (GM): It just needs a power source.
Alexia turns to the door and starts Mindblasting it repeatedly.
King Demon: "All right, lets go get this damn ghost-shadow-thing."
Wolfman really wonders...
Dragoshi: "Dark Tool of a false god, Wolf."
King Demon tries to use glitch to power the door.
Dragoshi: "Sheesh." *Eyeroll.*
Wolfman: "...I hope my point was made."
Metal Man (GM): The door glitches... powers up... ...that's odd. It's locked. From the inside. But the Questers locked it on the outside.
Alexia: "...This thing is smart."
Leo: "Did it lock us out?"
Alexia gives the door a frustrated kick.
Wolfman turns to Metal. "Should we cut off communications?"
Metal Man: "I'd say so."
King Demon: "Apparently... wonder if I can unlock it from out here though..."
Metal Man (GM): The door is asking for a keycode.
Wolfman: *to Dex.* "You guys are on your own now. Call back if absolutely required." *signs off.*
Alexia: *acidly.* "Your help is appreciated. Thanks for nothing..."
King Demon: "All right, later Wolf! Oh, and by the way, good to have you back... he hung up!" *tries to hack the door.*
Alexia then takes a few long, deep breaths to calm herself down.
Dragoshi: "...Huh."
Leo: "Wow Alex, you look like you just seen a ghost..."
Metal Man (GM): Demon clicks it... but a message pops up. In English?
???: 'Sorry. You already gave me the keys. No entrance for you.'
King Demon: "!? What'd I do?"
Alexia: "..."
Metal Man (GM): The entire place lights up... ...That's not good.
King Demon: "Great, guess we need to find another way... in?"
Metal Man (GM): Whatever it is just rebooted it... ...and it's not taking any orders from the Questers anymore.
Dragoshi: "..." *Tries to carve down the door with his scythe. >_>;;*
Metal Man (GM): It's also about to fly out of the water; this may be the Questers' last chance to escape the place entirely.
Alexia: "...Alright, that's it. This thing dies."
Metal Man (GM): As the shields are down and it's going to head into outer space at this rate.
King Demon slams his sword into the keypad, trying to get it to open.
Metal Man (GM): Demon hits the door repeatedly. It's Atlantean; he's seen their weapons. Especially on the outside, it can take anything you he dish out, damage-wise.
Leo: "...This doesn't look good at all."
Metal Man (GM): Everyone will either have to think quick or bail; otherwise they're gonna fry in space.
Dragoshi: *Looks for other entrances.*
Alexia throws a boat at the door with her TK.
Metal Man (GM): All over the place! But... all locked, just as Dragoshi wanted.
Alexia: "Duck!"
Leo: *ducks.*
Metal Man (GM): The boat bounces off of the door... dented. Do that again and it won't be useable to escape.
King Demon tries to hack into the door again, to get it to open.
Metal Man (GM): The entire place is now slowly floating away from the water. Demon types in a whole lot. The door loses power the second it moves up a fraction of an inch.
King Demon: "..."
Leo: "..."
Metal Man (GM): That's enough to try to pry... but if one does so, then they put all their faith in that, as Atlantis is now 10 feet above the water and accelerating.
Alexia: "..."
King Demon tries to glitch the door again.
Metal Man (GM): The experience damages Demon. The antivirus was updated after Kuja had originally done the same thing to it.
King Demon gets fried.
Metal Man (GM): The Questers have but a few seconds to escape; it's now 30 feet up. Soon, even a Quester can't leap off it safely.
Dragoshi: "...Anyone wanna make a combined effort to try and pry this thing open?"
King Demon: "Yeah, why not?"
Metal Man (GM): It's about to go into full speed, which would take it directly into the airless exosphere.
Leo: "Let's do it." *Tries to pry the door open.*
King Demon tries to pry it open.
Dragoshi: *Assists in the prying.*
Metal Man (GM): But this is going to be insanely tough. Although it has no powered systems to aid it, it is extremely heavy and equipped with magnetic grips.
Alexia helps as much as she can. She considers using TK against it.
Metal Man (GM): The door is warded against magic and psychic energy. You can feel that just by looking at it.
Alexia: "Rats..."
Alexia just starts pulling, then.
Metal Man (GM): Between the three of them, it hardly opens at all; it's about 3 inches up, and the absolute last chance to escape presents itself. An Eisnaught ship, at the last moment, flies under Atlantis.
Leo: "Is it just me or is it getting harder to breathe now?"
Metal Man (GM): It moves up 1 more inch. That's still not enough to get in.
King Demon: "We're out of time!"
Leo: *tries again.*
King Demon tries again as well.
Metal Man (GM): Atlantis accelerates at insane speeds, pushing the Questers to the ground; they're stuck, and the air is gone. ...But they manage to pull it far enough open with a split-second to spare... however. They must crawl in with all the air inside escaping at an insane rate.
Alexia tries desperately to get into Atlantis.
Dragoshi: *Success...?*
Metal Man (GM): Dragoshi climbs in successfully, as does Trigger. Alexia, on the other hand, is flung out into the void of space. -1 life. She will reappear momentarily.
King Demon tries to get into the ship.
Metal Man (GM): He gets in at the last moment, too; however, everyone inside has a new problem: A bulkhead ahead has sealed, and the air is rapidly escaping. The Questers must now somehow close the door, and quickly, or die of suffocation.
Leo: "...Oh HELL NO!!"
Metal Man (GM): Think quickly; air levels are at 50%.
Dragoshi: *Escaping via our entrance, right?*
Leo: "Any bright ideas?!"
Metal Man (GM): Yes. 48%.
Leo: *starts looking for something to help them get in.*
King Demon looks for a way to shut the door.
Metal Man (GM): The door is heavy. The Questers pried it open; it could possibly be shut. One could attempt to power it up, too, but that'd put it in the control of whoever took over. Air quality: 46%. The Questers all take damage from lack of air.
Dragoshi: *Dragoshi tries to power the door with his Dex.* >_>
King Demon attempts to pry it shut.
Leo: *helps.*
Metal Man (GM): The Questers see Mars pass by; Dragoshi, meanwhile, pushes it down... but only a little. Trigger shoves it another tiny bit down. It's a lot harder to push down. Air quality: 42%. The Questers are using more oxygen via exertion.
Leo: "Keep pulling!!"
Metal Man (GM): The door ahead is simply a flat Atlantean material barrier with no sort of controls.
Dragoshi: *Tries to think of a way to close the door without too much exertion...*
Metal Man (GM): Alexia appears. But she, too, is in this room, with losing oxygen. In fact, it only accelerates the oxygen loss. Dragoshi thinks... thoughts... cloudy... If one could just make it shut electrically... Air Quality: 40%.
King Demon pushes it down again.
Metal Man (GM): Everyone takes damage again.
Dragoshi: "...Does anyone know how to make this thing shut down electronically...?"
Metal Man (GM): Demon pushes it... it jams. It's not going down any further. At least, not by pushing.
Leo: *starts looking for a panel that could control the door.*
Metal Man (GM): The door control panel is right there, unpowered.
Dragoshi: .oO(...Wait. Electrically? ...Indignation...)
Metal Man (GM): Air Quality: 37%.
Leo: *lightly zaps the panel with bolt.*
Dragoshi: *Tries to use a small jolt of Indignation to electrically shut the the door down...*
King Demon tries to use his dex to power the door.
Metal Man (GM): The door opens further wide. Apparently it is picky on polarity. Air Quality: 30%. The Questers take damage.
Dragoshi: *Thinks of what polarity it would need.*
Leo: "Ummm, I think I'm dying..."
Metal Man (GM): Air Quality: 35%. The door slams shut. ...But it isn't getting any more air-y in here. With all of the Questers in here, the air is only getting thinner.
Leo: "Now what?"
Metal Man (GM): The bulkhead ahead is very thick and metallic-looking.
King Demon tries to see if the bulkhead can be opened.
Metal Man (GM): There are no controls for it; of course, it wasn't there originally, so there must be a way.
Leo: "I'm too weak to try to pry that open... Need... air..."
Metal Man (GM): Air Quality: 29%.
Dragoshi: *Checks to see if there's any indication of where the bulkhead originated from...*
Metal Man (GM): The ceiling. A slot thereof; it locks into the floor.
Dragoshi: *Looks for anything else of interest from the ceiling where said bulkhead originated from.*
Metal Man (GM): Nothing there. The Atlanteans do not build in easy ways to defeat their mechanisms. Air Quality: 28%. More damage to everyone.
King Demon looks at the controls for the door, wondering if they don't also control ventilation in this room.
Leo: "Could we try to burn a hole through the door?"
Metal Man (GM): Perhaps, but they're unpowered and look like they took quite a bit of damage. Air Quality: 27%.
King Demon wonders if there's any other way to get ventilation in this room.
Metal Man (GM): It's rather cold in here; Demon notices just how shiny the bulkhead is. Also, no vents in here; the bulkhead is probably blocking it. This is a sort of docking port.
King Demon tries to heat up the bulkhead, trying to burn a hole in it.
Metal Man (GM): The station is obviously flying somewhere far away, but it's hard to think as the air becomes extremely thin. The flame eats up the oxygen greedily.
King Demon stops upon realizing this.
Metal Man (GM): Air Quality: 20%.
King Demon: "Oops, my bad."
Leo: "...Nice one."
Metal Man (GM): The door heats up... not enough; Demon either has to keep on going and forget the air, or stop and quickly try something else.
King Demon tries to cut a hole in the bulkhead, where he'd heated it a minute ago.
Dragoshi: .oO(Shiny bulkhead... Hmmm...) *Would try and Ice Tornado the heated area. >_>*
Metal Man (GM): More damage to the Questers.... the door isn't damaged anywhere near enough to break. Air Quality: 19%.
King Demon steps aside for drag to try his/her attack.
Metal Man (GM): The door suddenly breaks.. The air pressure hurls all the fragments at all of the Questers. Damage to everyone... but the air is restored. The way to the Power core room is open... ...the catwalk the Questers used in there is gone, though.
King Demon is dead, probably.
Leo: *gasps for air.* "Ahhh, sweet air..."
Metal Man (GM): The catwalk-less (mostly) power room awaits. The blue crystal is now glowing blood red, and energy is unstable. The Questers see the base flying very fast outside. In fact, they see a sort of energy tunnel around it. The only way to stop it would be to hit that energy crystal... but seemingly, the catwalk to it was destroyed.
King Demon: "This is not a good thing!"
Alexia gets up slowly. Apparently, she was the first to go when the oxygen started depleting.
Dragoshi: "Mhm."
King Demon looks to see if there's another catwalk he can fly to.
Metal Man (GM): So, the Questers are left with a wide open, square room with a very deep pit and two catwalks far off to the left-right. (Each one about 30 feet away.)
King Demon: "Great, we gotta build ANOTHER bridge!?" *sighs and looks for anything that can be used to make a bridge.*
Dragoshi: *Checks his crystal for the million billionth time* (Editor's note: Argh! How much I hate that #$%^ing crystal. How many times can one inanely check an artifact in a non-roleplaying manner?!?!)
Alexia: "Or we could maybe just wreck the power supply..."
Dragoshi: "..."
Leo: "That sounds easier."
Metal Man (GM): No reaction to the power supply from Dragoshi's crystal. Demon finds just a billion shards of that bulkhead everywhere. One could attack the power supply from here; it's 10 feet away.
King Demon wonders if there's anywhere on the power supply he can cling to or land on to attack it from.
Dragoshi: *Can only reach as far as 4 feet with his machinegun. >_>;;.*
Metal Man (GM): Demon finds no such place; that was destroyed. And touching the power crystal would likely be bad. The room, however, is full of stuff.
Dragoshi: *Searches around the room, then...*
King Demon grabs a shard and throws it at the crystal.
Metal Man (GM): Demon's throw is too short to hit it. Dragoshi sees handles going towards the ceiling from the walls right next to the entryway. The handles seem to continue going up into a dark area Dragoshi can't see; he could climb them.
Dragoshi: "...Huh." *Notices the handles.*
Leo: *Sees the handles and starts to climb them.*
Dragoshi: *Follows suit.*
Alexia looks around for something that might help her reach the crystal.
King Demon looks around the room. Then he looks for whatever Drag's looking for.
Metal Man (GM): Everyone by now would see Dragoshi climbing up the handles. Alexia see a cable which leads from here directly to a fragment of the previous catwalk with the control panel.
Alexia: "Bingo!"
King Demon: "..."
Alexia checks to make sure that the cable's not electrified or something, first.
King Demon sees drag climbing and tries to do the same!
Alexia: "...Oh, man, there's no time!" *grabs the cable and starts climbing up.*
Leo: "Hey Dragoshi, are we almost to the top yet?"
Metal Man (GM): Demon see snothing new. Alexia sees the cable is safe. Those who climb the handles would reach a small crawl-way that goes across the gap to where the Questers were earlier.
King Demon starts across the crawlway.
Alexia climbs up to the fragment of the catwalk, then checks how close she is to the crystal.
Dragoshi: *Goes across the crawl-way...*
Leo: *crawls across the crawl-walk.*
Metal Man (GM): Alexia is right next to it now. The others reach the other side. They'd see Alexia at the control panel.
Alexia charges up a Mindblast and flings it at the crystal.
Dragoshi: .oO(Now, watch as this idea backfires...)
King Demon wonders how far he is from the crystal as well.
Metal Man (GM): Alexia attacks the crystal. The attack is absorbed into it. It... is powered by the same energy.
Dragoshi: .oO(...Man. I was right.)
Metal Man (GM): In fact, standing too close to it is beginning to suck away Alexia's energy...
Dragoshi: .oO(...I think.)
Alexia: "Nrgh..."
Leo: "...How do we destroy it now?"
Alexia staggers backwards involuntarily as she feels the power draining out of her.
Dragoshi: *Would try and search for a way to get over to where Alexia is...*
King Demon does the same, in case Drag fails.
Alexia charges up a Heat Beam and fires it at the crystal, the recoil jerking her backwards a bit more.
Metal Man (GM): The same cable Alexia used would be the way to get there. The heat beam would be absorbed.
Dragoshi: *Would move across on that, then...*
King Demon does so as well.
Alexia: "No... ..."
King Demon attempts to... actually, he checks what the control panel does.
Metal Man (GM): The Questers climb over, and see the crystal still working. Its Atlantean-only control panel has many indicators on it.
Alexia tries Overloading, attempting to siphon off some of the crystal's energy.
King Demon shrugs and hits the crystal with his sword, since he can't do much with the panel.
Metal Man (GM): The sword breaks in two. The control panel's in Atlantean. Trying to siphon the crystal's energy is baaad.
Dragoshi: *Attempts to read the panel.*
Metal Man (GM): Alexia only manages to block the crystal from eating her soul wholesale. Dragoshi reads the panel now. 'Hyperdrive engaged. Power Levels Nominal. Unknown power gain detected.'
Dragoshi: "..." *And he checks what the controls do...*
Metal Man (GM): They generally turn the power up, down, or off.
King Demon: "DAAMN! NOT AGAIN!!!!"
Dragoshi: *Turns the power down...*
Metal Man (GM): Warnings pop up. 'WARNING: UNSTABLE DE-WARP MAY OCCUR IF POWER LOWERS.'
King Demon wonders what the bad part of that would be...
Leo: "Craptastic..."
Dragoshi: "...How predictable." *Switches it back to where it originally was.* "...What's an unstable de-warp anyway?"
Leo: "..." *gives Dragoshi a blank stare.*
King Demon: "Just shut it off!"
Dragoshi: "...Trust me. I might know what it is, but my memory sucks. ...Then again, I might not know. I was calling the warning thing predictable, anyway." >_>;;
Leo: "Mine would be too if I almost suffocated... Which I just did."
Dragoshi: "...My memory is usually weird. but, anyway..."
Leo: "...Oh."
Dragoshi: *Would check to see what warnings there would be for turning it off...*
Metal Man (GM): Generally, it says that turning it off would turn off life support.
Dragoshi: "...Anyone capable of living without life support?"
Metal Man (GM): Thus, to be without oxygen rather quickly, hit by several hundred G's worth of gravity, and potentially on fire.
King Demon: "Uh... what about turning it up?"
Dragoshi: *And, he looks for warnings about turning it up...*
Metal Man (GM): None, however turning it up would just provide more power to whoever's controlling the place.
Dragoshi: "...We'd be providing whoever's controlling this place more power, though."
King Demon: "Can we short out the controls?"
Leo: "Hey, what happened to that shadowy character, you think it would be trying to protect this crystal or something..."
Dragoshi: "...That would prolly' be related to cutting the life support, Demon."
King Demon: "I meant HIS controls."
Dragoshi: *Looks it his crystal and tries to think of how to do this without killing the life support.* "We don't even know where those are."
Metal Man (GM): One can turn it down, but the same issues apply; Turn it down and it'll crash out of Hyperspace.
Dragoshi: *...Or without crashing out of hyperspace.*
King Demon looks around for any other catwalks or platforms.
Dragoshi: "...Let's try and figure this out later..." *Looks for cables leading to the other catwalks aside from the one he came from.*
Metal Man (GM): No other such platforms.
Dragoshi: *Might as well head back then, but before doing so he motions for the others to follow.*
King Demon sighs and heads back, looking all along the way for another path.
Metal Man (GM):We shall pause here.
Metal Man (GM): MEANWHILE... Location: West of the Tower of Babel. Various flat X-nauts are currently looking at the base of this tower. Just nearby, is... Mr. Magellean.
Locos Docos (GM): Several weeks after the encounter with the Questers, Maester Magellean has been situated on the ground with his legs crossed. His hands are clasped together with his thumbs pointing towards his chest, and his index fingers pointing upward. His new attire is a simple brown robe. Tatooed on the center of it is a white moon and two red Ms across it. Since the rise of the Tower, his actions have come nearly a standstill.
Locos Docos (GM): The only Solarians that have been killed recently are those that try to approach the tower. Looking at him, Magellean seems to only be sitting on grass... staring into the close by tower. Approaching Magellean is the two-dimensional Grodus, leader of the flat X-Nauts. Grodus stops almost 15 meters from where MM is positioned. He raises his staff and taps on something invisible, like that of a glass barrier.
Locos Docos (GM): The invisible barrier begins to slide apart enough for the 2D being to walk through. Grodus traverses through the opening into a completely different place. The invisible wall, in reality, is the barrier between Lunar Side and a small pocket of the Ethereal Realm created by Maester Magellean. The inside of this place is a sanctum, of sorts. The atmosphere of the sanctum is a slightly dark world with purple mist.
Locos Docos (GM): The ground is adorned with grass spread about and flowers all around. The visual range for this place is 10 meters. Anything beyond that one would only see darkness. All around, pyreflies glide up and down through the air. At most, one can only see ten to fifteen at a time. The barrier's opening closes as Grodus moves close to Magellean, merely 3-4 meters between the both of them. Here, Grodus begins to speak.
Grodus: "What have you summoned me for today, my lord?"
Locos Docos (GM): A minute passes. Then, he finally responds.
Maester Magellean: "As was discussed once before to all of you, outsiders from this world must never be allowed to enter this dimension. The reasoning for these actions have only been explained to you and your fellow lieutenants. Only you three can understand that by continuing to sever ties with other universes, we are able to save ourselves from being coming involved in unwanted... incidents."
Grodus: "I am not entirely knowing; what incidents in the past guide your decisions today?"
Maester Magellean: "I am glad you asked this. Since the last time the Questers attempted to force their values here, I have been here in meditation, looking back on the past via my own memories and allowing the pyreflies to react to them."
Locos Docos (GM): The scenery all around the both of them changes to the inside of the old Stadium back in Season 2. Here, there is a coffee cup with the Eggman symbol on it. The memories recreate every sequence that happened when..'Locos Docos' drank the coffee...
Maester Magellean: "This memory is the origin point of the incident that gave rise to what is called The Magellean Military."
Grodus: "I see."
Maester Magellean: "It still pains me to see it all happen from an outside view..." *He sees images of him summoning Machine Mades to attack the Questers, his Doomship, the rocket-chair...* "Along the way, new members of this... organization of miscreants were recruited that are still around even to this day because of me."
Locos Docos (GM): The scenery fades away into the darkness... then showing the Realm of the Heavens above, where Charles meets Doopliss and his Boo army at Glower Tower. It changes again to Charles carrying a bodyless Grodus from Poshley Heights to a secret cavern to rebuild his body.
Maester Magellean: "Your corporeal counterpart and the ghost, Doopliss, were able to rise in power due to my reckless efforts."
Grodus: "Odd... that looks like me... but isn't...?"
Maester Magellean: "These were only the beginning of my mistakes..."
Grodus: "Logically, you shouldn't have trusted so many beings without proper."
Locos Docos (GM): The scenery changes to after the timeline of after Kuja's fall. It shows Valhalla Fortress rising from Zora's Domain into the Light Side.
Maester Magellean: "What you see before you was me accusing the Questers of being 'creatures of habit and darkness.' Incidentally, this is where a variation of the SIMBER system came into play... its name was TREVOR."
Grodus: "You had quite a space ship."
Maester Magellean: "The Valhalla Fortress, in reality, was the Tower of Babel of Nintendus."
Locos Docos (GM): The scenery fades away and it a person appears made of pyreflies. A man of silver hair, extremely long sword, and dark wing.
Maester Magellean: "When I had traveled to the Light of Nintendus, I had inadvertently reawakened this man. He was known by Sephiroth. I was guided by Trevor about the artifacts found in this land. It would soon lead me to this--"
Locos Docos (GM): Sephiroth dissipates back into the pyreflies, the scenery changing to when Charles was in front of Quester HQ, unleashing a device that undid the curse of the Light Side of Nintendus.
Maester Magellean: "I payed little attention to events unfolding around me. So..."
Locos Docos (GM): The scenery changes to when the mega gathering of people of the IIF, Questers, Sephiroth, Charles, and 4-LY, in reality Alys, and Alys blasts Charles with the Dark Energy Wave.
Maester Magellean: "When I became involved in this mess for good intentions, I received a horrible curse... and it continued to go downhill from here. A being that resided inside me was destroyed by a man from the Null Zone. He challenged me to enter there to prove to him I wasn't evil."
Locos Docos (GM): It changes again to the Magnetic Wastelands, where NOVA's module was destroyed by Garrick to prevent Kuja from retaking it.
Grodus: "...A lot of bad things happened... I see..."
Maester Magellean: "Here lead to the beginning of the end of my mortal life. I accidentally unleashed the virus that Gerald created to destroy the world that Kuja once ruled. Some time later, I ordered Trevor to leave Nintendus with Valhalla. From here, he manipulated the virus, the Questers... and me."
Locos Docos (GM): The scenery shows Valhalla launching... as well as five white ships. Kuja's ships.
Maester Magellean: "Trevor took after me, affected by my ambitions."
Locos Docos (GM): Scenery shows Trevor using the Kuja ships to cause the destruction of the Astral Realm.
Grodus: "What a fiend!"
Locos Docos (GM): Pyreflies now form Aetos.
Maester Magellean: "This being was a former apprentice of mine. To redeem himself, I sent him to get a certain sword for me. He retrieved it and gave it to me, almost completing the ritual, but in the final battle against Trevor, who by then caused me to snap..."
Locos Docos (GM): Scenery shows the sword being stolen by Trevor. After he was defeated, Julian grasped the sword. Charles asks for it back, but Julian refuses. Diolize announces that the sword would be held in a tournament. It fades away.
Maester Magellean: "Beyond my understanding, the Questers interfered with Lunarian customs, which back then I held in great pride with, and this caused me to commit suicide."
Grodus: "The Questers, from the history I know, interfere in everything."
Locos Docos (GM): The scene shows the destruction of the Magellean's base with him inside it.
Maester Magellean: "Whether it was the Questers, my former protege, or even the trusted AI adviser, all I could see was no one to be trusted."
Grodus: "There is one question I have, though... if I'm not mistaken... weren't you once a Quester, too?"
Maester Magellean: "Several times over. Eventually, our ways of accomplishing things lead us to part ways, fight each other..."
Grodus: "...Hmmm. Part of this appears to be meddling. But perhaps you have some unresolved internal issues as well.If they could be resolved, repelling the Questers may be easier."
Locos Docos (GM): Scenery changes to completely different events, from the entire world's energy being used against a Thirteen Gentlemen's satellite, to the destruction of the dark crystal in the Eye of Kuja, to the Sword of Order destroying The Void, the double-agency of Smithy...
Maester Magellean: "Anything I was a part of ultimately led to disaster of anyone involved."
Locos Docos (GM): Bodies of various people form one after another; the previous one dissipating before the next one forms.
Grodus: "But was it you, or the Questers, who made you do things which you didn't understand the consequences of?"
Maester Magellean: "I was the catalyst in everything you have seen so far... and I have made many enemies from both sides of the spectrum."
Grodus: "Then we simply need to take the internal struggle out of the equation." He points. "Perhaps if you attempted to fix what was broken rather than constantly giving up, you could get what you wanted. You had many a horrible employee. That doesn't mean you can't successfully complete what you wish here, though."
Maester Magellean: "I did not ask for your consul on this subject, lieutenant."
Grodus: "As you wish; Though I was stating solely a possibility." He stands forth; "Is there anything else of interest?"
Maester Magellean: "The true point of this conversation will arise soon enough. Aetos. Julian Sawyer. Ricky Koopa. The Void. Kuja Tribal. Sephiroth. Gerald and his technology. Trevor. Gruntilda. Dr. Ivo Robotnik. Many other unmentionable people... all bear great malice; dead or alive. This brings me to the most interesting aspect of our talk."
Locos Docos (GM): The image of Eggman disappears... and in his place is a man with purple hair. He wears gloves, red and blue armor, boots. He occasionally walks around, doing strange gestures... like going to cast magic.
Maester Magellean: "Lumis Dongthar."
Grodus: "Odd... I know nothing of this being."
Maester Magellean: "Dead. When he was alive, he was an eccentric man that claimed I was related to him. He was a caster of dark magic and excelled at mimicry. While meditating, I have begun to learn to harness the powers that I have, rather than rely on them."
Maester Magellean: "One of those powers is not only tapping into my own memories and project them into images here in this realm, but I have developed the ability to probe those that are deceased and have been connected to me. When probing the memories of Lumis... something very disturbing was revealed to me. When Lumis sensed I was on Nintendus, he created for himself a small palace in some dark realm."
Locos Docos (GM): The scenery changes to inside a shadowy palace with a few mirrors and a throne. At the throne is Lumis. In front of him are 12 of the 13 Gentlemen.
Maester Magellean: "When this man created the palace here, the 13 Gentlemen, after escaping the satellite from nullspace, found their way here. Lumis battled them and enslaved all but one of them. That one was banished and Lumis assumed he would never be heard from again. He was wrong. That being found his way to Nintendus and caused the greatest havoc there was in various realms. That being... was Kuja Tribal."
Locos Docos (GM): The body of Lumis fades away and it shows Kuja's body again.
Grodus: "Hm... that doesn't sound good."
Maester Magellean: "Shortly after Kuja returned, he returned the favor and killed Lumis Dongthar."
Locos Docos (GM): The body of Kuja fades away. The atmosphere is again dark and purple mist.
Maester Magellean: "In the end, it was my very presence that unleashed a chain of events that allowed Kuja to become unbound. The Magellean Military and Ricky's rise to power. The rise of Kuja Tribal and his subsequent destruction. The Fall of the Astral Realm caused by the unleashing of Gerald's virus. Global catastrophes. Personal vendettas. I was the origin point of all these events."
Grodus: "I would comment, but..." He smiles slyly. "I don't have permission."
Maester Magellean: "That realm and the dimensions parallel to the Questers' dimension... any amount of time spent there ultimately causes me suffering. I went to extraordinary lengths to cut myself from the ties of that universe. The damage cannot be undone, but future occurrences will be prevented."
Maester Magellean: "The new information I learned about the connection between me, Lumis, and Kuja makes it all the more reason why no portals there are to be allowed here. I desire peace of mind; no one will take this away from me. Speaking of..'them,' I felt a disturbance from the barrier between this realm and Earth. You have permission to inform me what caused it."
Grodus: "A Quester was trying to prevent the destruction of the Solarians from ever happening via one of Sardis Mongul's spells."
Maester Magellean: "I finally distance myself from them and still they want to become involved in my business, and yet after being warned twice to not open a way to Lunar Side, they insist of forcing their ideals in a place where they don't belong. What was the result of this 'attempt'?"
Grodus: "The Quester was hit by my magic, and thoroughly burned."
Locos Docos (GM): There is dead silence for over 100 seconds... ...The pendant around Maester's necklace begins glowing furiously. Wind begins blowing in all directions around the position of Magellean.
(All caps text or mostly-caps text here is said in Lunarian, but has been translated for your convenience.)
Maester Magellean: "ARE YOU TO SAY YOU WERE THE ONE THAT HAD TO DO IT???"
Grodus: "Had I not stopped them, you could have been erased from time itself."
Locos Docos (GM): There is great rage in the tone of his voice... or voices..
Maester Magellean: "Completely UnaCCEPTABLE! ... Grodus, hold thy tongue while I tap into 'another' of my powers..."
Metal Man (GM): He nods.
Locos Docos (GM): The circling wind dies down. Minutes of silence pass, and a rather translucent image of Ganondorf, wielder of the Master Sword, appears in front of Maester.
Maester Magellean: "Ganondorf, you and your army were given the task of stopping any portals made by the Questers from opening there to here. Why is it that Grodus had to do this in your failure?"
Ganondorf: "He wasn't a Quester, milord." He brings up a picture of Glyph. "He's some transient they brought along with them. If you wish for me to stop everyone that tries to contact this realm, though, then I shall do so."
Maester Magellean: "Inexcusable reasoning. Your task isn't restricted to Questers only. Do not make a mistake like this again."
Ganondorf: "Yes, Milord." He bows.
Locos Docos (GM): The image of Ganondorf fades away.
Maester Magellean: "Lieutenant, learn from from his mistake. I will tolerate incompetency once... and only once. You may leave now."
Grodus: "I shall make sure not to make such a mistake myself." He bows and leaves.
Metal Man (GM): End Cinema.