Super Smash Quest - Story - Chapter 461: Final Phantasy Part II: Going nowhere Fast

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Date: August 31st & September 2nd, 8th, 12th, and 21st, 2007.

Trivia: The FF and PS groups were at the same time chronologically. It's just that, coincidentally, the PS group was first to start log-wise and the FF group got the ending cop-out more directly.

Nick Caligo (GM): Switching over to the FF GROUP! The Questers arrive on the other side of the portal right behind Cloud, who's already walking off. They don't get much time to take in their surroundings. From the look of it, they've arrived in an old, ruined playground of some kind. One would ALMOST think it's a warehouse, but if it were it'd be a warehouse with a ceiling over 500 feet above everyone's heads. It's a city, set beneath some kind of plate.

Digifanatic: "Well, interesting setting... wait up!" *follows Cloud.*

Nick Caligo (GM): Cloud doesn't show much patience. He stops for just a moment to glance over his shoulder to the Questers. "C'mon."

Trigger gets up and starts to follow Cloud.

Aaron follows on.

Nick Caligo (GM): The place is filthy. Everything's burnt out, greasy, or dirty, the air's CRAP, and one could swear that swing is looking at them funny.

John continues walking, taking in his surroundings en route.

Aaron: "Dude. That smells."

Digifanatic: .oO(Maaan... this is just. Uggh...)

Nick Caligo (GM): Cloud just abruptly starts talking. "This is Midgar. Our home."

Trigger: "What's with this place?"

Aaron: "Smells like you lot have a surplus of onions."

Nick Caligo (GM): Cloud stops, glaring at Aaron over his shoulder.

Cloud: "... I like onions."

Nick Caligo (GM): He continues.

Trigger gets a good look at Cloud. .oO("Why the hell is his sword so friggin huge? He's gotta be compensating for something...)

Cloud: "For the past several years this place has been owned and run by the Shinra corporation. A power company."

Aaron gulps when he catches a glance at the sword, then presses on.

Nick Caligo (GM): He takes the Questers down a path between a couple of fenced off areas... one side features dangerous equipment, the other side looks like either a construction zone or a demolition zone. This equipment being, ah, electrical. Power lines and circuit boxes and that sort of thing.

Cloud: "They kept everybody under their thumb for a long time. Including me. Right now, they're putting up their last struggle for this place."

Digifanatic: "Ahhh..."

Dragoshi: "...Why are they struggling for this place, anyway, if I may ask?"

Trigger: "Why would anyone fight for a dump like this anyway?"

Nick Caligo (GM): He reaches down into the dirt and scoops up a handful of it. "Mako."

John: "..Pardon?"

Nick Caligo (GM): A trace of green energy flows from the dirt and dissipates, flowing back into the ground whence it came.

Digifanatic: .oO(Huh.)

Trigger: "Freaky..."

John blinks, eying that energy.

Dragoshi: "...Hm." *Glances at it too.*

Cloud: "Mako energy was their claim to fame. Now, they are nothing. But they won't stop at anything to get their hands on as much of it as possible..." He stops, staring off into the distance at a huge, cylindrical structure at the edge of town. ".. Right from their very own city." It's marked "MAKO REACTOR SECTOR 6."

Aaron: "Did anyone bring any shades? Man, that's bright!"

Cloud: "Mako is the planet's life's blood. Every ounce of it that they take kills it a little more. But more importantly, we don't know..." He stops as the group reaches the end of the path. "... What they're gonna do with it..." He starts running now.

Aaron dashes behind him.

Dragoshi: *And Dragoshi zooms along as well. Whee.*

Trigger stops.

John: "...?" He quickly picks up the pace to keep up with Cloud, keeping his eyes peeled.

Trigger: "..." *starts running to catch up with the others.*

Nick Caligo (GM): He skids to a stop, hiding behind a rickety old shed at the end of the path. It seems everone has arrived at a town of some sort... and that there's a bit of a commotion going on.

Cloud: "Damn it!" he says under his breath.

Nick Caligo (GM): A number of odd-looking... things seem to be arresting some folks.

Aaron tries to stop in time before running into Cloud.

Nick Caligo (GM): This ain't much of a town. It's like a Hooverville.

Trigger runs into Digi while trying to skid to a halt...

John stops as well, slowly stepping up behind Cloud and whispering, "..What's going on?"

Digifanatic: *OOF!*

Dragoshi: *Are the... things those robots the guys saw an image of earlier? Also, Drago stops.*

Digifanatic turns around...

Trigger: *OOF!!*

Nick Caligo (GM): Sheds made of just anything folks can just nail together... looks like some poor old sod's living in a steam pipe off to the side. He looks up at the scene, drunk, then lays back down.

Digifanatic: "Oh, just you..."

Trigger: "...Sorry, my bad."

Digifanatic: "Nah, not a problem."

Nick Caligo (GM): Yep. It's those robots that were on the screen alright.

Dragoshi: "Those robots..."

Nick Caligo (GM): One of them prods an exceptionally well-endowed girl in the back and ushers her towards some sort of transport.

John lofts an eyebrow, and reaches back to unsling his hammer, glancing at Cloud, then the 'bots.

Nick Caligo (GM): Everyone knows Tifa.

Cloud: "They got Tifa." He puts his hand on his sword.

Nick Caligo (GM): There's one exceptionally odd fellow, though. His LEGS are robotic, but...

Digifanatic: "Well, now's probably better than later, unless you have a good motive against me."

John: "If we're to strike, say it now, before it's too late." He crouches slightly, readying to jump in.

Nick Caligo (GM): The rest of him is this green cross between a slug and a ... umm... maybe I'll just show you the picture again.

Digifanatic would have to dig about 15 years or so in his memory bank to recognize that critter... and he may not have been on that mission.

Slig: "C'mon, get 'er in there!"

Aaron: "Ready when you are."

Nick Caligo (GM): He speaks in this really annoying voice, just as grouchy and coarse as he looks. He sounds like he's been smoking for a few too many years.

Cloud: "Ready..."

Digifanatic: "I'm set."

Dragoshi: *Nods.*

Trigger readies his arm cannon. "Let's do this..."

Cloud: "Then GO!" He leaps out from his position with an overhead slash on one of the robots prodding the girl.

Nick Caligo (GM): *CRASH!* It's destroyed, broken to pieces like a tinker toy.

Trigger: 0_0 "remind me never to piss him off..."

John leaps in behind Cloud and a bit to the side, whirling around to crash the face of his hammer into the next nearest robot's face after the first goes down.

Nick Caligo (GM): *WHAM!* John puts a sizable dent in his faceplate. It staggers a little bit, struggling to process anything now that John's severely damaged its nervous system, but it's still standing.

Digifanatic takes a look at the Slig John targeted, and then tries to rip into its frame with a mighty horizontal sweeping swing of that golf club (Pop Star Hammer)

Dragoshi: *And, lo 'n behold, Dragoshi jumps out of the blue, then zooms over to the next weakest robot, and breaths out an icy mist!* (Blizzard)

Nick Caligo (GM): *CLANG!* Digi's club goes right into its stomach, whacking it off at the midsection and making its torso fall over into the dirt helplessly. Dragoshi freezes it over. It may be processing data WAY faster now in THAT deep freeze, but... unfortunately, its motor skills aren't improved a lot for it. Frozededed.

Aaron attempts a Skull Bash on a different Slig.

Nick Caligo (GM): It turns around to face Aribar, but by the time it does, Aribar's head, shoulder, elbow, fist, whatever, is already rocketing right into its chest. Aribar bowls it over.

Trigger takes aim at the bot that Aaron attacked and start to pelt him with fireballs. (Red Fireball)

Nick Caligo (GM): Trigger melts the armor offa' it. The Slig slaps his forehead. "Gah! What'd I tell you guys!? Vigilance! VIGILANCE!! Get 'em!!"

Trigger dashes at TCSS and tackles him with explosive results. (Peach Bomber)

Nick Caligo (GM): KABOOM! Trigger's chest connects with ... well... he said it, not me. Damn pun stealer. The TCSS's sent flying backwards, his back colliding with the wall at the back of the transport; he hits it like a tin can in an empty trashcan. The first robot levels his pistol with the unsuspecting Dragoshi, popping a few blazing electric caps in his bitch ass! He can't react to those, but let's see what he does...

Dragoshi: *Well, what does Dragoshi do? Simple. He glances at the robot that's on the same tick as him, and gives him a little gift. He inhales a little bit, then breaths out a gout of reddish-orange flame, attempting melt it like a snowman!* (Firebreath)

Nick Caligo (GM): Its pistol shots seem to beat back Dragoshi's flames into a stalemate. Both of them are left totally unharmed.

Digifanatic starts off his fight during full-out combat conditions by retracting his right hand, balling it up into a fist. It begins to roar with fiery energy which soon extracts out through his whole body. He winds up and lets loose, blazing (no pun) straight at Robo1, for it's time to Fire Punch today's unlucky loser! *Fire Fox with horizontal perk.*

Nick Caligo (GM): The robot's jet pack fires up, letting Digi rush right underneath it. Cloud whirls his sword around, cocking it back behind him, then rushing in and performing a tremendous upward, leaping slash engulfed in blazing red energy. Cloud's sword cuts it up the middle; the force sends it backwards, slamming into one of the walls around the little town. Its pieces go clattering down to the ground.

John eyes that Slig finally, deciding it looks like enough of a threat to take out rather quick-like. He opens up with a quick flick of a cape that wasn't there before and disappears promptly after, before then scooting right up next to him and whirling around in a rapid spin, alternatingly batting the guy around with the handle & head of his hammer. He finishes the spin by planting his feet firmly in the ground and giving one last, heavy whirl, extending his hammer out for a wide swing to the side of the head.

Nick Caligo (GM): The Slig chuckles under his breath and draws a small knife from his belt. He goes right back at John with a quick stab to the chest, then jumps up and performs a large, bucking kick with his legs before landing, grabbing his machine gun from off the floor, and picking himself back up again. John's super cape is executed a might early, and he stabs right around it. As he jumps to make his attack, John beats him senseless with your hammer and WHALLOPS him right in the face, sending him crashing through the door into the ship's control room. Outside, John's pals would see the engines beginning to fire up.

Aaron repeatedly backflips at his target, using Mario Tornado on Robo1, Robo2 and Robo3, each in turn.

Nick Caligo (GM): Incidentally, only the second missed; the robot quickly sidesteps it while the others get beaten around a bit; Robo1 and 3 are BOTH broken to pieces by the finishing SLAM of Mario Tornado.

Dragoshi: *Chuckles, and claps as Aaron guts them both.*

Nick Caligo (GM): Cloud smirks a little, watching as Aaron lands after sending the pieces of Robo1 scattering all over the place and finishes off Robo1 all in the same go. Robot 2 glares at Digifanatic through its ice blue visor. "Target acquired. Egg Bomber Engaged." A pair of long racks pop out of its back... rockets lined up in each. It spits them up into the air, raining them down two by two upon Digi. Three volleys for him to dodge. Whatcha' gonna do when THEY come for you?

JFG Cutscene: "While attacking is a good way to cause damage, you must be able to defend. However, the manner in which you defend is important. Show some style, and do things out of the ordinary. Being bland is being hit."

Nick Caligo shoots the cutscene. "No cutscening in the middle of my friggin' battle.

Digifanatic looks at the missiles heading for him... he springboards off of the ground and somersaults in midair, hoping that his direction will confuse the missiles.

Nick Caligo (GM): They aint homing missiles, dude. They're indirect mortars. They fly up, then fly down. Digi makes them SPIRAL as they crash into him. Fun. Dragoshi! Missiles raining down on Dragoshi two by two. Mortars, I'd call 'em.

Dragoshi: *Hmm... Dragoshi doesn't have much time to make a good reaction, though he tries his damned hardest by attempting to quickly sidestep to the left the first, then after doing so, he'd try to roll past the second, and when he gets to the third, he quickly gets up and tries to jump over it!*

Nick Caligo (GM): Dragoshi's blasted by the shrapnel from the second, but evades the other two.

Dragoshi: *And, so Dragoshi gets some shrapnel in his arm! But he shrugs it off, then cricks his neck.* "Wanna try again, ya hackjob?" *Mutters.* "If you survive..." *He then gets up, and zooms over to the robot, but stops short, scythe raised above his head, like some sort of freakish reptilian reaper, preparing to harvest this poor robot's nonexistent soul...* (Charging up Smash Attack)

Trigger presses some buttons on his arm cannon, then a beam sword pops out. Trigger then runs at TCSS and gives him the good ole' 1-2 slash with something extra at the end... just for him. (Final Cutter)

Nick Caligo (GM): Trigger runs into the cockpit, FLIP upwards, then land with a mighty, EMPHASIZED slash, and the shockwave... yeah. He put a HUGE gouge in the control console. Sparks rain everywhere, and the engines let out a loud POP as the ship begins to leave ground. It's left the ground already. Just what it's gonna do from THERE is a mystery.

Dragoshi: *Now, that Dragoshi's finished his charge-up, fires of hatred in his eyes included, he then lets out a ferocious roar, and attempts to strike the only robot that isn't frozen at the moment with a mighty slash in an attempt to decapitate it so he can at least have something he could use for later. >_>*

Nick Caligo (GM): *CRASH!* It careens backwards at an alarming speed, its body erupting in flames from the sheer friction and shattering into a hundred burning pieces on impact with the wall, leaving a charred mark. Its head drops to your feet, neatly separated from its body.

Trigger: "Aww, and I wanted to kill him first..."

Dragoshi: "...Well, at least I can keep the head."

Trigger: "...Heh."

Nick Caligo (GM): Cloud runs towards the craft, throwing his blade out to his side to brush aside the iced robot with a quick and well-placed slash. He leaps into the craft and rams his blade into the Slig's back. Once is all he needs to take down that robot; CRASH! It's shattered to diamond dust. It's not the Slig's lucky day. He's still reeling from the intense beating that's being administered on him. He flops over on his back, spread-eagled on the console, just in time for Cloud's TREMENDOUS sword to tear through his ribs.

Nick Caligo (GM): Electricity erupts from the console as Cloud twists the blade EVER so cruelly, sending the Slig BLASTING up through the cockpit as the ship begins to lift off, the ramp closing. Robo4's dead.

John: "..I think we'd best get outta this mess now."

Nick Caligo (GM): *THUD!* Something is heard landing on the roof. "He's not done yet," Cloud mutters, yanking his sword out.

Dragoshi: *He wonders what's on the roof.*

Aaron charges up for his next strike.

Nick Caligo (GM): The Slig hangs down from the top of the cockpit window and throws himself back inside, sending a powerful kick right to Trigger's chest.

John: "Hmph. Alright, then." He looks up at the hole in the roof of the vehicle, anticipating that Slig to rush through it at any moment and preparing to play upside-down Whack-a-Mole as soon as it does. Only instead of a whack, a Spinning Kong+hammer.

Trigger attempts to latch onto the Slig's leg to prepare for a counter-attack.

Nick Caligo (GM): John does it too early. Not only does he fly OUT the cockpit, he bashes whatever was left of the console's working parts to bits while he does it. The ship begins zooming off, leaving the rest of the battlefield far behind. John drops to the ground as it speeds overhead. All that's left in there is Cloud, Trigger, and the Slig.

John: "GYAH!"

Aaron: "Pansy!"

Nick Caligo (GM): *WHAM!* What I can only describe as two steel hoofs crash right into Trigger's chest.

Trigger: "ARGH!!" *smack.* "Damn it, I could use some help over here Cloud!!"

Nick Caligo (GM): He stands on top of Trigger, chuckling while he points his machine gun right at his face.

Trigger: "AHH!! HELP!!!"

Nick Caligo (GM): Out of the cockpit. Digi sees that ship's getting away!

Digifanatic decides to change his tactics a bit... and when he says rough it up, he's NOT lying. Going towards the flying craft, he starts up by taking a leap or two so he can even hit it or the Slig!

Digifanatic: *First jump.*

Nick Caligo (GM): Slig's INSIDE the craft.

John lands shortly. "Well, that didn't go as planned... The controls are all wrecked to hell, and that slug thing's still alive."

Digifanatic: *Second jump.*

Nick Caligo (GM): *Latch!* Whatever Digi just did reels him onto the ramp of the ship.

Digifanatic quickly hoists himself up and heads into the cockpit!

Trigger notices Digi has somehow got himself aboard the ship. "Digi... could you do something about this Slig and the gun to my face?"

Digifanatic: "I'll see..."

Aaron attempts to re-enter the battle. He leaps for all he's worth, then doubles up his jump whilst in air, then Skull Bashes toward the ship. (Charged.)

Nick Caligo (GM): The boost doesn't give him a lot of distance, but it gives him a hell of a lot of speed; he LEAPS into the air at ultra-fast speed, flips, then floats onto the on-ramp. He's on the ship along with Digi. Dragoshi and John, on the other hand, are much too late; by now the ship's passed over the rooftops and is speeding off.

John: "Dammit!"

Dragoshi: *How typical. Might as well attend to Tifa, then. :/*

Nick Caligo (GM): Cloud looks to Trigger, giving him a subtle nod, preparing his sword. Cloud pulls back his sword, cocking it behind himself again, blue energy gathering in the blade.

Dragoshi: *win-win.*

John stands up straight, and slings his hammer over his back again, looking to Tifa. "..You alright?"

Trigger knocks the gun out of his face then grabs onto him. "Welcome to Air Smash, bitch!!" Then tosses him overboard. Then he jumps after him and yells to him "HAVE A NICE TRIP" and meteor smashes him in the face. "AND SEE YA NEXT FALL!!" Then attempts to recover by jumping back to the ship.

Nick Caligo (GM): Damn.

Tifa: "Yeah. Don't worry about me, I can take care of myself. Cloud, on the other hand..." She looks at the speeding ship off in the distance.

Dragoshi: *Looks off to the ship in the distance, then sighs.* "Yeaaa... That's rather problematic."

John: "Yeah... He's got some backup in there, though. Not sure how the ship itself is gonna end up, however.." He goes to work on untying any binds that Tifa may have on her.

Nick Caligo (GM): A couple of handcuffs, that's it.

Dragoshi: *Decides to try and salvage whatever's left of the robots that can be salvaged. <_>*

John: "Hmm... Drag, any of those things have a key on 'em?"

Dragoshi: *While Drago's salvaging robot remnants... Sure, why not. Might as well check for that thar key.*

Nick Caligo (GM): Trigger catches the Slig right by its stupid-looking face tentacles. He doesn't even get a chance to try and make a comeback; as soon as he looks up, he sees Trigger's boot ramming into his face; sending him on a one-way ticket STRAIGHT downwards.

Slig: "WUAHHHHHHHHHHHH--!!" *POOM!!*

Trigger attempts to jump back to the ship.

Nick Caligo (GM): Trigger lands right back inside the cockpit.

Aaron: "Howdy."

Digifanatic: "Nice move."

Nick Caligo (GM): Except the ship is STILL careening out of control, and without controls at ALL it's starting to tilt sideways at an alarming angle.

Trigger: "HAAA!!" *lands.* "Woo, that was some asskicking ehh?"

Aaron: "Who knows how to fly this thing!?!"

Nick Caligo (GM): Cloud flips his sword back into his sheath on his back, then folds his arms over his chest. "Not like it matters, there's nothing to fly it WITH..."

Trigger: "I think I can land this shit heap."

Nick Caligo (GM): Looking at the controls, all that's left is a single joystick...

Digifanatic: "You're not looking at one who probably can right now..."

Nick Caligo (GM): All the other stuff is busted. ROYALLY busted. It'd take a miracle to land this thing in one piece at this rate.

Digifanatic looks to see just how far off the ground the craft is...

Trigger looks at the controls... "Hmmm, this is gonna take a miracle to land..."

Nick Caligo (GM): Quite far. At least ten stories up. It's practically skimming the rooftops. When I said it was lifting off the ground I wasn't kidding.

Trigger starts to move the joystick down to gain some altitude.

Digifanatic then looks to see how big some of these rooftops would be and how easy it'd be to jump off and land on one of those...

Nick Caligo (GM): Trigger successfully gains some altitude. As if it helps. It's just less close to crashing into the ground. It's rapidly approaching the city's outer walls.

Digifanatic: "I dunno about you, but those roofs look mighty inviting."

Trigger: "WHAAA!! "TURN DAMN IT TURN!!!" *starts to turn the ship away from the outer wall.*

Nick Caligo (GM): Trigger successfully gets the ship zooming in a circle around the city.

Aaron: "Can you slow this guy down so we can land back with the others?"

Nick Caligo (GM): It isn't long before he's brought it back around and can actually make out the spot it took off from!

Trigger: "Umm, can someone point out like a runway of some kind so we can land this?"

Cloud: "I know a spot."

Trigger: "Where is it?"

Digifanatic then thinks... Wait? Can he try and Digiport the four of them off the ship and back to where Drag, John and Tifa are? Heck, will the new Smash Dexes PERMIT him to do this?!

Nick Caligo (GM): He steps forward. "Sector 7... go straight past sector 6, where we were, and crash land it there; it'll be rough, but nobody lives there."

Digifanatic: *Or not.*

Cloud: "Shinra destroyed it years ago. It's nothing but rubble now."

Trigger: "Got it!" *starts to make his way to Sector 7.*

Nick Caligo (GM): Sector 7, interestingly enough, was right behind where the group teleported in; one could vaguely make out the playground below as the ship makes its descent. Cloud runs to the back and jams his sword into the side of the ship. One can feel the ship beginning to slow as it is brought down, the fuel line cut and the engines no longer roaring at full power... though at too sharp an angle. It looks like it's gonna crash.

Digifanatic: "If it looks like we'll have to bail the ship before it lands... yeah, I have an idea!"

Aaron: "Craaaaaaap!"

Digifanatic then quickly takes out his Smash Dex and looks for some sort of way to hook up his Digivice to this... anything to prevent injury!

Trigger: "...Shit!!" *Starts to pull up so they can to a emergency belly flop landing.* "HOLD ON PEOPLE, THIS IS GONNA GET ULGY!!"

Digifanatic pulls out the latter item and, if he can find a hook-up spot, he jams it in there, then setting teleportation coordinates for where Dragoshi and company are...

Digifanatic: *NOT TELEPORTING THE SHIP.*

Digifanatic: "Haven't gotten used to these new models yet..."

Aaron: "Good luck, gents." *He flips across the wing of the ship to bail, going into a somersault as he lands on the ground.*

Nick Caligo (GM): Apparently the Digivice doesn't have USB and the Smash Dex doesn't have firewire.

Digifanatic decides to pocket both of his items and then goes for a mighty leap, dittoing Aaron by curling up into a ball and trying to stick a landing as soft as he can... just don't hit anything sharp.

Digifanatic: *Jump.* *Athletics.* *Luck.*

Nick Caligo (GM): Aaron arrives not-so-safely on the ground. Neither does Digi.

Trigger insn't able to make the joystick budge so the then attempts to abandon ship.

Nick Caligo (GM): Everyone lands amidst a lot of hard rubble and debris from what USED to be a city.

Digifanatic: "Well, that was interesting. You alright?"

Aaron: "Yeah, I'm fine."

Digifanatic takes a couple of deep breaths but manages to get up without being bruised too badly.

Nick Caligo (GM): Same deal for T-R-I-double-guh-urr. No one sees Cloud bail out.

Aaron: "What the hell happened to Cloud?"

Trigger: "aaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" *th-wack!!* "Oww, I think I broke my everybone..."

Aaron: "Pansy."

Digifanatic: "I have no idea..."

Trigger: "...Did Cloud make it?"

Aaron: "Not sure."

Nick Caligo (GM): The ship pulls up, per Trigger's input on the controls; it pulls up TOO MUCH, in fact, and dives back-first into the ground.

Digifanatic: "Whoa!"

Trigger: "...Damn!!"

Aaron: *mutters.* "Showoff."

Nick Caligo (GM): The engines go up; before it can even become a certified wreck, the ship explodes in a horrific fireball.

Trigger: "...Arn't you glad we jumped?"

Digifanatic: "Cloud, I hope you pulled something out a hat..."

Cloud: "I don't wear a hat."

Digifanatic: "Metaphorically speaking."

Aaron: "Cloud? Is that you?"

Nick Caligo (GM): He steps up behind the Questers, seemingly out of nowhere.

Trigger: *looks behind him.* "BWHAAA!!??"

Digifanatic: "I don't know what you did, but it was probably nice!"

Aaron: "Only question is... how do we get back to Tifa and the others?"

Cloud: "How else?" he shrugs, "we walk."

Trigger: "Well, I think we might have to walk back... ...Yeah..."

Aaron: "Lead the way, Cloud."

Nick Caligo (GM): Welp. It's just John, Dragoshi, and Tifa, handcuffed.

Dragoshi: *He continues trying to salvage robot pieces.*

Digifanatic: "Yeah. I'll just buzz the others to let them know we're alright..."

Nick Caligo (GM): Not insinuating anything THERE.

Digifanatic pulls out his Smash Dex this time, merely trying to initiate a 2-way chat with Dragoshi...

Nick Caligo (GM): Nothing REMOTELY kinky about a Yoshi/Dragon, a man, and a woman with handcuffs on alone together with no posts for several hours.

Dragoshi: *Seriously, though. Did Drag salvage anything from the destroyed robots? Aside from a head, I mean.*

John will have spent his time trying to find ways to get those cuffs off of her. Perhaps lockpicking with robot scraps.

Aaron: *Attempts to get a hold of John and Dragoshi on his Dex.*

Nick Caligo (GM): It's possible. Too bad John doesn't have MACGUYVERISM.

Digifanatic: *did it first--no offense.*

Nick Caligo (GM): Communications are a given.

John: "..?" He opens up his Dex. "...You guys alright? Saw the ship buzz back over our heads."

Digifanatic: "We're fine."

Aaron: *into his Dex.* "Yeah we're fine. Did you get Tifa's handcuffs undone?"

John: "Workin' on that. Did that slug thing have a key?"

Digifanatic: "We all bailed out, but there's practically nothing of that ship now, boy... whoa."

Dragoshi: *Anyway, assuming the head was the only thing Dragoshi salvaged from the robots, he walks over to Tifa. He would try to lockpick the handcuffs with his claws if possible.*

Aaron: "Do you have like a laser or something to superheat the chains holding the two hands together?"

Nick Caligo (GM): Dragoshi could. But... Tifa sighs.

Aaron: "What's wrong, Tifa?"

Dragoshi: "Hm?"

Tifa: "Boys.." She shakes her head. "HNNNNNNNGH!" She wrenches her wrists apart, straining at the chains holding the cuffs together. After just a moment or two, they CRACK apart.

John: "Hmm... Well, that works."

Nick Caligo (GM): Guys: It's TIFA here. Helpless... she isn't.

Dragoshi: "And you couldn't have done that earlier, why?" *Facepalms.* *Surprised about this, by the way.*

Digifanatic: "Who knows... anyways, we'll be back in a few minutes or so."

Nick Caligo (GM): Tifa shrugs. "I was personally wondering why you bothered to try and help."

John: "'Cause you hadn't freed yourself already?"

Tifa: "Didn't Cloud tell you I could do that?"

Dragoshi: "...No. No he didn't."

John: "Nope. He didn't say much at all."

Digifanatic: "Correct."

Aaron: *to his Dex, directed at Tifa.* "Why the hell didn't you do so already!?!"

Nick Caligo (GM): She sighs again.

Tifa: "That's so typical. He always feels like he has to protect everyone."

John lofts his eyebrow as he looks down at his Dex.

Digifanatic: "Ahh..."

Aaron: "What's up, John?"

Tifa: "I wasn't about to try fighting them alone." She shakes her head. "Sorry."

John shakes his head. "Anyway, how far away are you guys?"

Dragoshi: "Ehhh..."

Digifanatic: "Hang on." *looks up at the approx distance between them and the wall.*

John decides to just look up for the inevitable trail of smoke from the wreckage to gauge how far away they are.

Digifanatic: "Oh boy... it's gonna take a while at walking speed. Probably 20 minutes or so. We should be okay. You folks hang tight and we'll be there soon enough."

Trigger: "We better start heading to the wall then."

Nick Caligo (GM): Trigger notices his shoes became untied.

Digifanatic hangs up for his part... Aaron's still got a hold if necessary.

Trigger: "Damn... I didn't know my laceless boots could do that..."

John: "What say we meet 'em halfway?"

Nick Caligo (GM): Tifa nods.

Tifa: "Good idea. Tell them to meet us at the playground... we've got a lot to talk about yet."

Aaron: *to his Dex.* "Yeah, that sounds good."

Trigger trips over his invisible laces when they start to walk.

Aaron: "How about the playground?"

Trigger: "Whoa!" *smack.* "...Oww.."

Nick Caligo (GM): Hmm. Invisible shoelaces. Maybe that's what made Klumsy so clumsy.

John nods to Tifa, then looks down to the Dex at Aaron. "You hear that?"

Aaron: *Dex.* "Yeah."

Trigger gets back up and dusts him self off.

Aaron: *Dex.* "So, the playground then?"

John: "Aye. Tell the others." He looks back up to Tifa. "Lead the way."

Trigger: "...That was a bit embarrassing. Can we leave now?"

Aaron: *to Cloud.* "Yeah... to the playground... uhh Cloud? Your lead."

Nick Caligo (GM): Cloud nods and starts walking in a seemingly random direction.

Trigger follows Cloud.

Aaron follows him as well.

John would follow Tifa as soon as she starts movin'.

Dragoshi: *As would Dragoshi. Whee.*

Digifanatic: *Okay, taking this time so that Digi and Aaron can introduce themselves to each other, cause they haven't yet. And how else would you spend the time aside from silence?*

Aaron: "How's it going, name's Aaron."

Digifanatic: "Oh, hey..." *smiles and faces Aaron while he's walking.* "You know, I was wondering when we were gonna have a chance to talk to each other!"

Aaron: "Now's as good as any, I guess."

Digifanatic: "Yeah... I'm Ian, but most around here use my nickname, Digifanatic--commonly Digi for short. Three names, take your pick, alright? I'm easy."

Aaron: "I like Ian."

Digifanatic: "Alright, that's good."

Aaron: *to Trigger.* "And you are..."

Digifanatic: *ditto.* "Ah, yes, you?"

Trigger: "I'm Trigger."

Digifanatic: "Heh, that's interesting. I knew another Quester in the past with the same name."

Trigger: "Really?"

Digifanatic: "Yeah, but those things happen."

Trigger: "That's interesting."

Aaron: "This is my first time in a group of this sort."

Digifanatic: "Not the most unusual thing that's happened to me, I'll tell you that."

Nick Caligo (GM): Eventually everyone arrives at the playground again.

Trigger: "I'm use to this kinda thing, but not in a group though..."

Digifanatic: "Right, right..." *LATER STILL!* "Ah, very good, we'll all together again."

Aaron: "Mum's related to Daisy, she says so but they never speak anymore, don't know me dad, though."

Nick Caligo (GM): One group drops down from the wall behind where they came in; the others wait. Tifa leans against a jungle gym, bored, and John seems to be riding a horsey of some kind.

Digifanatic: "Ah, I know Princess Daisy. Kinda."

Trigger: "Princess? Meh..."

Dragoshi: *And, Dragoshi was just standing around. Whee. He waves his claw to the group that just got here.* "Yo."

Digifanatic: "See, Aaron, even though this has been my main job here, we all had a bunch of time off, and I devoted part of that to sports and all that."

Nick Caligo (GM): Dragoshi's trying to slide down a slide, but failing because his dino butt is too big and too heavy and the friction's too high to really slide. So he's just kind of slowly... I dunno... REALLY slowly sliding down the thing.

Digifanatic: "Booth work and whatnot. I love that sort of thing, being able to, ya know, share views and watch matches and all--worked in the Mushroom Kingdom a lot, so I got to know many of Mario's buddies--and enemies as well.

Dragoshi: *Dragoshi then tries some ingenuity and tries to get himself to slide on his stomach of all things. <_>*

Nick Caligo (GM): That works, because Yoshis look very silly doing that.

Trigger: "You mean, there are fighting tournaments being held here? That sounds awesome!!"

Nick Caligo (GM): Dragoshi still goes slowly, but not quite so much. And it looks pretty funny.

Aaron: "I see. Mum tells me my dad's supposedly some ass-ugly green dude. I think she could tell 'cos I look like a total freak."

Digifanatic: "Oh yeah, those, too..."

"If we could save the friendship building session for later," Cloud says, "there's much we have to tell you."

Digifanatic: "Sure, Cloud. No problem."

Trigger: "...Sorry."

Aaron: *looks to Cloud.* "Sure, what's up?"

Nick Caligo (GM): Tifa sighs.

Tifa: "Always a sour puss, huh?"

Dragoshi: *Would try to 'swim' down, but.* "Sod it." *He quickly gets up, then jumps off the slide.* "Well, what is it?"

John stops rocking on the horsey and sits side-saddle to turn toward Cloud. "Alright, then."

Cloud: "You said it yourself, Tifa, it's an emergency and we need their help."

Aaron positions himself so he can face Cloud whilst keeping Tifa in his peripheral vision.

Cloud: "Right, right... you told them about this place, right. Yeah... you wanna fill them in on the rest?"

Trigger turns to listen to Tifa then blushes and looks away for a second. .oO("Man... she's hot...")

Nick Caligo (GM): Tifa nods and clears her throat.

Tifa: "Right now, Rufus Shinra's making a last-ditch effort to try and re-take the city. We figure he's after the Mako reactors and what little of the vile stuff they have left." She gestures to one of the huge tanks at the edge of the city.

Digifanatic: *He may be in his mid 20s and without a girlfriend/wife/etc. right now, but he's proper and such... After all, if you say things about Peach or Samus in a booth they WILL fire you, which fortunately, hasn't happened to him.*

Tifa: "He's hired these... weird aliens--you saw one of them--to contract the building of some weapons for him. But what's more of a problem for us is the robots you saw... those ones you saw were weaklings, but there's one in particular that's giving us a lot of problems."

Dragoshi: "And, said robot is?"

Nick Caligo (GM): A sonic boom is heard as something passes overhead at ludicrous speeds. Tifa and Cloud both flinch, covering their heads.

John: "Hmm.." He reaches for his Dex, then looks up at the boom.

Digifanatic: *scouts the explosion.*

Aaron: "What the hell was that?"

Cloud: "... That one,"

Trigger: "..."

Cloud: "It's been flying over the city constantly; we haven't been able to approach Rufus's new ship at all."

Nick Caligo (GM): *Ding!*

John: "...I didn't get a good look at it. Is it bipedal with several 'spikes' down its back?"

Nick Caligo (GM): Tifa looks to Cloud concernedly. He nods. "Mmhm."

Tifa: "You've seen it?"

Nick Caligo (GM): The Smash Dex says "Analyzing."

John: "...SHIT. Yes." He looks at his Dex.

Dex: "... ... ..."

Trigger moves over to the dex to see it for himself.

Dex: "Mecha Sonic MK III."

Aaron gets a eyeful of the Dex. "Holy hell."

John closes his eyes and turns the dex to the others. "Robotnik's most feared creation."

Dragoshi: *Almost as if he's yelling.* "...Mecha WHAT?!"

Digifanatic: *opens his Dex.* "Oooooh, yeah, that sounds about right."

Trigger: "Man... It looks incredibly tough."

Nick Caligo (GM): It does.

Aaron: "How do you suppose we take it down?"

John: "We're gonna have a rough time with this one.."

Dragoshi: "Yea... Seriously."

Trigger: *sigh.*

Nick Caligo (GM): It sports tremendous arms, powerful legs, spikes everywhere, booster jets on its legs and its back, seemingly hidden under various spikes, and surprisingly broad shoulder armor--also covering a pair of boosters. In its chest is a gem of some kind.

Aaron: *looks to Tifa and Cloud.* "Do either of you have any ideas?"

Nick Caligo (GM): Its chassis is jet black, and the visor that serves as its eyes are yellow. They both shake their head.

Tifa: "That's why we came to you."

John: "I think they were counting on us for that one, Aaron."

Digifanatic: *slightly sarcastic, but still somewhat honestly.* "Well, we'll have fun with this."

Trigger: "...Does it say what the gem is in its chest?"

Nick Caligo (GM): It doesn't. It has no data on it. Just an image.

Digifanatic: "Probably a Chaos Emerald."

John: "Don't know. Could be some sort of power core, could be purely cosmetic.

Cloud: "No."

John: "That could be it, too, unfortunately.."

Cloud: "It's a Materia."

Trigger: "...?"

Digifanatic: "Ohh..."

Aaron: "What's the difference?"

Nick Caligo (GM): He points at the gem; it's red.

Cloud:: "A Summon materia..."

John: "...Hrm. Well, hopefully not as bad as a Chaos Emerald, then.."

Digifanatic: "Summon? You may want to hold that though, Johnny..." thought.*

Dragoshi: *To self.* "Damn... If I could hack that piece of machinery, then the tides of battle would prolly' turn like-" *Silently snaps claws.* "...That."

Aaron: "How hard is the materia, how easily can we break it?"

Nick Caligo (GM): Tifa holds out a hand, offering an explanation.

Tifa: "Materia is crystallized Mako. It holds the knowledge of ancients from eons past, which grants the user the ability to cast spells."

Trigger: "Sounds nifty."

Digifanatic: "Yeah, seems like we'll have to find some way of destroying that first."

John: "Any idea what this one in particular is capable of?"

Nick Caligo (GM): Tifa shakes her head.

Tifa: "I don't know, but they probably put something big in that one, because it's too powerful for Cloud or I to face alone. Even the two of us can't bring it down!"

Digifanatic: "Well, don't worry. Some of us have been in deeper than this."

Cloud: "Probably Bahamut..." He shrugs. "I don't know if we can break it, I honestly never tried."

Dragoshi: "Though, if the thing in it's chest is stealable... Then I could help take it. I'm pretty good with theft."

Digifanatic: "I think we'll be able to help you two quite fine."

John nods to Tifa. "I'm not surprised. It's one helluva beast. It'll take everything we've got to take that thing down."

Tifa: "They put a Materia in every robot they make and use it as the power source. We've yet to see them use their materia, though."

John: "Hmm... Would they be capable of it, considering they don't have souls? If not... that would make things a bit easier for us."

Tifa: "I don't know. I'm no robot expert. You'd have to ask that HORRIBLE old man who made them... what was his name? Herold?"

John nods again, stroking his stubbly chin.

Cloud: "Gerald."

Tifa: "Right!"

John: "GERALD? Of all the..."

Dragoshi: "GERALD!?."

Aaron: "Huh?"

Digifanatic: "Of course... of course..."

Trigger: "Who?"

Dragoshi: "What the fuck..."

Digifanatic: "Aaron, Trigger, we'll see if we can get back to you two on him later in the program."

John: "Gerald-#@!#ing-Robotnik! No wonder he's causing such a mess here!"

Dragoshi: "Does he ever friggin' DIE?!"

Tifa: "... I take it Gerald is bad news."

Dragoshi: "Bad?"

Trigger: "It sounds like it."

John: "Very. For all of us. We thought we'd finally killed him ages ago. Apparently not."

Dragoshi: "That's a pretty horrid understatement, there. As bad doesn't even begin to... Ah, you get the point."

John: "Even after death, he continued to haunt us time and time again through his lasting creations... And now it turns out he's not even dead."

Dragoshi: "Yea. Just fuckin' wonderful."

Digifanatic: "There you go, you two."

Aaron: "Yeesh!"

Digifanatic: "They said all you need to know for me."

Trigger: "What is he, a zombie?"

Digifanatic: "Might as well be..."

Dragoshi: "Yea... I mean, sheesh."

Nick Caligo (GM): Cloud looks up past where the plate ends; there is a large ship looming up in the sky, which I'll describe later when I figure out what it looks like. >.>

John: "We're gonna need all the power we can get. I'm glad you called us; no doubt he'd target us again after he's done whatever he's here to do."

Cloud: "Then it looks like we can help each other out..."

Aaron: "Do you all mind if I check my Dex to see who I'm looking for?"

Digifanatic: "No, that's fine."

Trigger: "Yeah, same herr." *here.

Dragoshi: "Eh. Go ahead."

John: "Indeed.."

Nick Caligo (GM): Meanwhile... A flying saucer watches over the city of Midgar as a black streak shoots by, patrolling for would-be attackers. A man stares out one of its windows, hands in the pockets of his white trenchcoat. He slicks back his blond hair. "Are you certain this will work, Dr. Robotnik?" The shadowy figure of Gerald Robotnik steps forward. "You can trust my hypothesis, Mr. Shinra," he says in his hoarse, weak old voice. He coughs slightly, adjusting his glasses.

Shinra: "Hmph," he says, turning around and walking further back into the ship. "I thought our... procedure... cured you of all your physical ailments."

Gerald: "Science can solve many problems, Mr. Shinra, but even Mako cannot change the fact that I am very old..."

Shinra: "Ha ha ha," he laughs to himself. "So you're right, doctor."

Nick Caligo (GM): A Slig hobbles up to Shinra, saluting him. "Sir!" He turns on a heel, glaring at the miserable little creature.

Shinra: "What is it?" he asks indignantly, clearly not fond of the creature. It flinches under his glance.

Slig: "Uh... we've... received a communication. Someone's stumbled into our operation on Motavia."

Shinra: "Hmph." He sneers, walking back to the window and staring outside. "Inform the Turks."

Nick Caligo (GM): Gerald steps forward. "Mr. Shinra, with your permission I'd like to perform a... field test... of my project there."

Shinra: "That will not be necessary, Gerald," he says, holding up a hand. "Even if it IS them, we musn't play all our cards right away."

Gerald: "I disagree, Mr. Shinra."

Nick Caligo (GM): Shinra glares at him. "You're not supposed to." There's a pause. Rufus keeps glaring at him from over his shoulder; all Robotnik does is stand there, hands behind his back. "... Very well, sir." Fade back to the Questers.

Nick Caligo (GM): Dragoshi and the others are following Cloud and Tifa through a section of the city known as "Wall Market." Lots of hustle and bustle. They arrive, finally, in a small, empty alleyway.

Dragoshi: *Glances to the left and to the right, wondering why the heck they've stopped here...*

Cloud: "If I'm right, we should be able to get to the upper side of Midgar from here. At that point we have to deal with that... thing."

Digifanatic: "Yeah..."

Nick Caligo (GM): The back of the alley opens out into a wide area, marked by an enormous concrete wall smattered with graffiti. A lone cable hangs down from the wreckage and girders above.

Tifa: "Great, it's still here!"

Nick Caligo (GM): Cloud shakes his head. "Let's hope we can still climb it." He turns to you guys, putting his hands on his hips. "Alright... what's our plan? As soon as we get up high enough, that thing's going to attack us."

Digifanatic: "Hmm... well, if we can find a weak spot or two, that'll do, but, more than likely, it'll be hit hard and often."

Dragoshi: "Well, I was thinking of trying to steal it's materia, then strategically strike at it's weakspots if there are any... But, in retrospect, that's a pretty shoddy idea, considering..."

Nick Caligo (GM): Tifa volunteers a little information. "If you guys feel like preparing, Wall Market's wide open."

Digifanatic: "Ohhh... yeah, that sounds like a good idea."

Dragoshi: *Nods.*

Tifa: "You can buy pretty much anything there. Though I wouldn't expect to find anything you're used to..."

Digifanatic: "Well, we can find out!"

Dragoshi: "Quite."

Tifa: "... Well, go on, then!"

Dragoshi: *Moseys on along to the Wall Market, then. >_>*

Digifanatic: *contently.* "Alright..." *walks around, checking out some of the stuff.*

Nick Caligo (GM): The Questers step on into Wall Market; there's a wide variety of shops--all very colorful. This despite all the JUNK laying around. The weapons shop features a number of odds and ends laying in its front yard, including what appears to be a small one-man tank.

Digifanatic: *looks at the tank.* "Dragoshi, you'd love this." *Apparently he remembers all too well about those mini-mechs Drag had...*

Nick Caligo (GM): There's also a bar and restaurant--very crowded, it seems--a clothing shop, a small vending building in the middle of town right next to the bar... A mysterious curiosity shop lies at the end of town, where the shops end. "Curiosity" is spelled with a "K". But not at the beginning.

Digifanatic is more concerned, though, as to where all of the healing items and such are...

Nick Caligo (GM): There's a pharmacy, as well.

Digifanatic: *Pharmacy!*

Dragoshi: *Looks at the odds and ends of the weapon shop... he looks for interesting ranged weapons. >_>*

Nick Caligo (GM): First everyone would notice the "for sale" sign on the tank. Second they'd notice--yes--a variety of guns and ammo just lining the walls of the claustrophobic little shop. Gatling guns, machineguns... none of any make or model they'd recognize. Some of them appear to attach to something. Like... not a handle. I take it Digi is heading to the pharmacy.

Dragoshi: *Looks at the tank.* .oO(Too bad I can't take that with me. 'Cause if I could, then I'd be having some fun using it.)

Nick Caligo (GM): The pharmacy is rather like a bar; the owner lays on a cot, just sort of lounging around boredly. He's a short fellow. In fact, it's a kid.

Digifanatic: "Hello. Mind if I take a look around?"

Nick Caligo (GM): He rolls over and steps up to the counter. "*yawn.* Whaddaya want?" He gestures to some shelves behind him. "All our stuff's right here. What do you need?"

Digifanatic: "Well, let me take a look first, and if there's something that interests me, I'll let you know."

Nick Caligo (GM): Among many types of antacids and antibiotics, they have a number of items marked simply, "Potion."

Digifanatic: "Hmm..." *takes a look at the potion.* "Excuse me, I think I may have found something." a potion.*

Kid: "That'll be 10 gil."

Digifanatic: "Oh... Hang on a second."

Digifanatic takes out his Dex, flips it open, and looks for an Exchange Rate feature.

Nick Caligo (GM): Says 1 coin = 2 gil.

Digifanatic: "Alright... I'll take one of these for now, but I'm not done yet."

Dragoshi: "Hmm... Maybe..." *Decides to check with the owner of the weapons shop to see what the price on that there tank is, out of curiosity.*

Nick Caligo (GM): The old man at the counter looks up from a magazine he's reading. "That? Oh, well..." he eyes your scythe.

"How much ya got?"

Dragoshi: "Gah. I doubt whatever I have'll be enough for such an interesting piece of machinery, but..." *Checks his pockets.* "20 coins."

Old Man: "... Coins?" He stares at one of those gold coins of yours.

Dragoshi: "Yep. Coins."

Old Man: "... Well I dunno why it has a "0" on it, but it looks like each of these'd be worth about 2 gil or so... so ya got 40, eh? Well... how about that purdy-lookin' scythe of yours?"

Trigger walks in the weapons shop. "Hmmm..."

Nick Caligo (GM): Trigger would find Dragoshi dealing with the old dude at the counter.

Dragoshi: "Dude. My scythe? You're kidding, right? I've had this thing since... Well... Dammit, I can't remember, but it was prolly' a couple o' years or so."

Trigger walks over to the counter.

Old Man: "The tank's worth at least a hundred by my reckoning. I put a lotta' sweat into it."

Trigger: "Hey Dragoshi, what's up?"

Dragoshi: "Eh. Nothing much, Trig. Just getting some stuff."

Trigger then turns his attention to the old man at the counter. "Ummm, do you have anything that could make this stronger?" *shows him his arm cannon.*

Nick Caligo (GM): He eyes the cannon, rubbing his chin. "... Yeah, think so. It'd only work for a little while, but... what kinda' ammo's it run on?" He seems to totally ignore Dragoshi now.

Trigger: "Plasma."

Old Man: "I got a kit I can apply that'll pump this thing fulla' Mako; but it'll only be good for about 25 shots or so. You can still use regular shots, but the Mako shots'll blast the scales off a Midgar Zolom's hide! Or, I can replace it with another gun. That package is a lil' more pricey, though."

Trigger: "Hmmm... How much for the Mako kit?"

Old Man: "40 gil." He says. "You can refill it anywhere where you can find Mako."

Nick Caligo (GM): Tifa steps into the shop and leans over the counter. The old man smiles. "Why, miss Lockheart! How ya doin'?"

Trigger checks his stash o' coins... he's broke. "Well, I don't have the money for it now... I might be back to buy it later when I get some money."

Tifa: "I'm good, mac. Say, can I get a set of knuckles?"

Old Man: "Sure thing. 30 gil."

Trigger walks out of the store.

Nick Caligo (GM): She frowns. "It's a bit pricey..." She rests her enormous chest on the counter, folding her arms underneath it. He stares. He stares a LOT. "Well... okay, how about 20?" She smiles. "That's a bit more like it!" She hands over the dough in its... nondescript form... and he gives her a set of brass knuckles. Not surprisingly, Gil appears in the form of a broken JPEG.

Old Man: "Well, I don't have all day! You gonna buy the tank or not?" he asks Drago. "It's either 100 gil or that scythe of yours, kid. What'll it be?"

Nick Caligo (GM): Cloud walks in next. ".. Y--you!" the old guy says. "Haven't seen you in here in a while."

Cloud: "I need smoke bombs, old man," he says.

Old Man: "... Right. You know the drill. 15 gil apiece."

Nick Caligo (GM): Cloud shakes his head. Dragoshi sees the shopkeeper looks ill for some reason. Maybe he's allergic to his scales.

Old Man: "... Alright, alright. 10."

Nick Caligo (GM): Cloud smirks. "Better. Give me ten." He forks over 100 broken Jpegs and receives 10 smoke bombs, then leaves.

Dragoshi: *Tapping his foot, thinking...* .oO(Nah... That's just stupid.) *He then looks at the shopkeep, contemplatively tilting his head to the side.* "Okay. Look. I may not have much at the moment, but can I at least make a down payment with what I have at the moment? Or, if not... I could take your other offer. But... As a temporary trade of sorts." *Expecting a no either way, but meh. :/*

Old Man: "Hm... y'mean you wanna... rent the tank?" He rubs his chin, intrigued.

Dragoshi: "Aye."

Old Man: "Yeah," he says, "I think we could swing that. It'll be... oh... 30 gil per day."

Dragoshi: "Fair 'nough, I suppose." *Pulls out 15 coins...* .oO('Sides, I plan on only using it for today, anyway.)

Nick Caligo (GM): He tosses Dragoshi the keys. "It's got plenty of ammo, you'll find."

Dragoshi: *Snatches the keys after handing the guy the coins. If he already hasn't, that is.* "A-thank you." .oO(Now, to check out that there tank...) *Heads out and over to the tank so he can see what the inside looks like. >_>*

Nick Caligo (GM): The controls are pretty simple... hey, is that a PS2 gamepad? An instruction manual indicates that "X" allows one to jump and hover, which seems... odd... for a tank. I mean. Tanks that jump?

Dragoshi: *Looks at the controls.* .oO(Peculiar... Oh, well. I'll prolly' have some fun with this-Jumping tanks? Man. What'll they think of next. Flying submarines?)

Nick Caligo (GM): The four Questers are gathered at the foot of the Wall Market... uh... Wall. The partition between Sector 6 and Sector 5. Dragoshi's rental tank is revved up and ready. It sounds like the engine' in need of a bit of an overhaul, but the thing looks sturdy, at least. Cloud stands hands on his hips, surveying the skies above to make sure they're clear before giving the signal. Tifa, meanwhile, speaks with the group about the impending situation...

Tifa: "Okay... so..." she shrugs. "Any bright ideas?"

Nick Caligo (GM): Cloud chimes in.

Cloud: "There's normally many robots on the surface of the plate along with that black one.

Nick Caligo (GM): Tifa nods. "We need a plan..."

Trigger: "...We could get a cloaking device and sneak into the reactor..."

Julian: *Julian would appear from a random warp opening, hastily tugging on his right sneaker as he hops through.* "Yo, sorry I'm late.." *Julian finishes putting his shoe on and looks up.* "...When'd we get a tank?"

Cloud: "Reactor?" Cloud asks. "We're trying to get aboard Rufus's ship."

Digifanatic: "Dragoshi rented it."

Trigger: "...I knew that."

Nick Caligo (GM): As if on cue, what seems like a solar eclipse rolls in...

Julian: "...For?"

Digifanatic: "We've got ourselves a big fight coming up, and a little extra firepower never hurt."

Trigger looks at Julian then back to the questers. "Who's he?"

Nick Caligo (GM): Slowly the sky is obscured by the underside of an enormous flying saucer as it floats into place over the center of the city, a large bay opening in its center; pinpoints of blue light fall from it, then streak off in random directions. Gerald's robots, no doubt...

Julian: "...Yeah, you're gonna have to explain this to me, 'cause I wasn't HERE. What's goin' on?" *Julian thumbs at Tifa & Cloud while he's at it.* "An' who're they?"

Nick Caligo (GM): Cloud looks to Digi. "You can explain this better than I can..." he scratches the back of his head, staring up at that saucer again. "These guys are a mystery to me."

Digifanatic: "Okay, Gerald still isn't dead. He's invaded this planet with these crazy machines..."

Julian: "AGAIN?"

Digifanatic: "The guy just doesn't go down."

Trigger: "Sounds like a maniac."

Tifa: "He sounds almost as bad as that horrible professor Hojo..."

Digifanatic: "Anyways, about those two that have joined up with us: the woman's name is Tifa, and the guy's name is Cloud. I'm pretty sure they won't stay with us after this, since this is their planet, but they're going to help us out the best that they can."

Julian: "So what's the current plan of action? All I see's this tank."

Digifanatic: "We're waiting for the fight to start. But the longer we sit around, the worse this is going to get."

Nick Caligo (GM): Cloud steps in again. "We want to get from here," he says, "to there," pointing up at the independence day-like saucer looming overhead.

Julian: "So let's GO. Who's drivin'?"

Cloud: "But one of this Gerald guy's robots is an especially big pain in the ass."

Tifa: "You guys DO have a plan, don't you?"

Julian: "So we beat on it 'till it ain't a pain in the ass anymore. Where's it at?"

Trigger: "Ummm, I'm sure we do..."

Nick Caligo (GM): Cloud points up. A red streak crosses the sky in the blink of an eye; moments later you hear the sound of it wooshing through the air. Faster than sound...

Trigger: "...I don't feel so good..."

Digifanatic: "Eh, once we start concentrating on the fight, it should go away."

Cloud: "As soon as we climb to the top of this thing it's going to start bombing us--and you'd better bet those bombs carry a punch."

Trigger: "Yeah..."

Cloud: "It can hit us without ever engaging us at close range."

Julian: "...Well ain't that somethin'. We got any idea on how to shut it down wit'out engagin' it? Or is fightin' it not the objective here?"

Nick Caligo (GM): Tifa shakes her head sadly. "We haven't gotten close to the thing yet."

Cloud: "We have to take it out. I'm just not sure how. I was hoping you guys would have an idea."

Trigger: "...Hack the bot?"

Julian: "A'ight, a'ight... Do we know if this thing's bein' controlled from somewhere?"

Cloud: "Probably that saucer."

Digifanatic: "Hang on, lemme see if I can think of something."

Julian: "So we take out the saucer, an' that bot might go down. Better that nothin'."

Digifanatic: "Hmm... can't put anything on it."

Nick Caligo (GM): Digi's not sure how he intends to hack that thing without getting close to it. Cloud shakes his head again. "The idea is to get ONTO the saucer, remember? We have to take the robot out to get there." Trigger thinks ... eureka!

Trigger: "...Hmmm, you wanna still try my idea?"

Julian: "Who're you again?"

Trigger: "I just need to get close to one of them then I should be able to hack at least one of them. Oh, and I'm Trigger."

Julian: "...Wait."

Trigger: "...Hmm?"

Julian: "Which one? The priest, the journalist, or the Mega Man ripoff?"

Trigger: "Ugh, is this ever gonna end. THAT'S NOT ME!!! Almost everyone I met up with has been confusing me with the guy..."

Julian: *Shrugs.* "Sure seemed like you. Anyway, if you got an idea of how to get CLOSE to the robot so you can hack, by all means go ahead an' tell us."

Trigger: "Well, I'm sure I should be able to hack it wirelessly from my Smash Dex."

Digifanatic: "Hmm... you know something I didn't."

Julian: "...From this distance?"

Trigger: "...No."

Nick Caligo (GM): BOOM!

Trigger: "At least 30 meters I believe... Unless this manual is wrong."

Nick Caligo (GM): Cloud covers his head as debris begin to rain down from above.

Tifa: "... I think he might've seen us."

Trigger: "...Greeat."

Julian: *Shi-too much talking.* "Shit! We gotta figure out how to get you up there... A'ight, Trigger, climb in the cannon."

Trigger: "...Alright."

Julian: *Notices the Golden Shiny Wire of Hope!* "...Better idea."

Trigger: "...Well, I'm ready to go... anyone object on not climbing yet?"

Digifanatic: "Alright... fine by me, as long as we can blow something up before this planet is significantly worse for wear."

Julian: "Trigger, get yo' ass in gear an' start climbin'."

Trigger: *sigh.* .oO(...What's he in, Prick Mode?)

Nick Caligo (GM): Cloud thumbs upward. "I'll climb up first and try to buy the rest of you some time. I can at least hold off the other robots."

Trigger starts to climb the wire after Cloud.

Julian: "I'm comin' too. Been sittin' in too many meetin's today..." *Julian heads up the wire after the other two.*

Nick Caligo (GM): He hops onto the wire and climbs up for a while, then starts making bounding leaps up the framework and twisted debris above.

Digifanatic: *4th in line up the wire.*

Nick Caligo (GM): o/` Final Fantasy 7 - Bombing Run o/`. A beam of energy comes searing down from above as the Questers make it about halfway up the cable; they're already more than five stories up. It gouges a burn through the wall and begins making its way towards them.

Julian: *Shi-Julian looks to his left and right. He looks for any hand-holds or something he can jump to to avoid the energy beam of death.*

Digifanatic: *Ditto.*

Digifanatic also looks for either handholds, platforms that stick out, or something to get out the way with. He takes a look at one of the metalworks and sees if he can grab on to that...

Trigger looks to his left and notices a train car jutting out to the side and tries to jump over and latch onto one of the open window seals.

Digifanatic goes for the leap, launching off the cable and jumping for the metalwork...

Julian: *Metalworks! Those ought to be able to support his weight. Julian props both feet against the wall, still holding onto the wire, and wall-walk over to the nearest metalwork. Barring that, getting as good as a running start as one can make on a wall and make the leap.*

Nick Caligo (GM): Trigger's fingers catch onto the train car. His legs dangle over the side of it while the beam sears right through the cable, cutting it in half. Digi's fingers snatch at air; what's the plan?

Trigger then turns around to notice that the cable we were just climbing on was then snapped in two.

Julian: *oh shi-*

Trigger: *looks over.*

Digifanatic takes one more leap, trying to get a bit closer to the metalwork before resorting to a grab.

Julian: *Double-motherfucking-JUMP.

Nick Caligo (GM): Digi's able to catch onto an I-beam with a quick flip. Julian feels the tension of the cable drop as the beam sears it in half over ten feet above him.

Julian: *That's more like it.*

Nick Caligo (GM): Success! Julian plants his feet safely on a twisted I-beam; looking back, he can see the cable burn away and fall to the ground. Tifa squeals as she watches everyone scramble. "Are you alright!?"

Trigger: "I'm hanging in there!"

Digifanatic: "I'm okay as well..."

Julian: "We're fine! I think. This huge mother-fuckin' laser beam came outta nowhere and seared through the wire!" *Wait a second... Hope Cloud made it up :V*

Nick Caligo (GM): A shiny silver foot plants itself in front of Trigger's hand; he'd find an aqua blue visor glaring down at him. One of Gerald's robots. Two more float down on their jetpacks, landing on a few beams above everyone.

Trigger looks up at a robot getting ready to crush his fingers. "OH SHIT!!! I wish I had that mako kit about now..."

Julian: *Julian looks up at the sudden profanity.* "Aw HELL NO." *Julian attempts to scamble up the metalwork towards Trigger to drive away those robots! BATTEL TIEM.*

Digifanatic opens his turn by taking a quick sprint and slides in on Robo1 with a series of kicks and punches at practically blurring speed... so many launches, surely he's got to get a hit or two in there somewhere. *Rapid Fury.*

Julian: *Julian nears the Robo that's 1 step away from sending Trigger down the way, jumping up onto the same level as him and trying to knock him AWAY from Trigger with a SMASHing haymaker!*

Trigger watches as somehow Julian managed to jump to the train car he is hanging on to and managed to knock back the robo that was ablout to send him to his doom.

Trigger: "Damn, thanks man."

Nick Caligo (GM): Digi runs up the metalwork to approach the robot, leaping from beam to beam and debris to debris; they crumble beneath him, but he's quicker than the decaying structure and make it all the way up. A leaping frenzy of blows, he pummels the heck out of him. Julian succeeds. He comes to Trigger's rescue, and... ... WHAM that robot right in the can, sending him crashing into a wall opposite the railcar.

Trigger: "Ugh, can you help me up?"

Digifanatic then suddenly cuts off his fury of moves, but does so without breaking a sweatdrop or bone. Without wasting a beat, he palms out his right hand, which quickly glows a bright orangey-red once again. AND THEN, HE SHALL LOB YON FIRE(BALL) AT THINE ENEMY ROBO THAT IS NEAREST HIM! *Red Fireball.*

Julian: *Julian shoots the robot a look as it goes flying off, rubbing his fist, before bending down and pulling Trigger up while Digi goes attacking.*

Nick Caligo (GM): Some damage from being smashed into a beam; it starts to drop.

Trigger: "Thanks."

Nick Caligo (GM): While the others have begun scaling the wall, Dragoshi has been trying to get that blasted tank to work. He whacks the engine a few times with a wrench and it starts up.

Dragoshi: "THERE we go." *Now, Dragoshi finally gets that thar tank working. Hoo boy. He's gonna be drivin' that thing to it's destination. A-yep.*

Nick Caligo (GM): *Kaplook!* The fireball cops it. The robot shakes itself off, servo motors revving angrily at you. Rundown: Robot 3 is falling to its doom after Julian's haymaker, Digi's facing off against 1, 2 is still up above the group. Robot 3 flares its afterburners, rescuing itself from the long fall, and jets back upwards... ... The jets fizzle out before it can even reach any metalwork. It drops again, flailing its arms and legs; it doesn't even reach the ground... "HiYA!" Tifa throws a roundhouse kick to its body, smashing it against the wall. It explodes.

Trigger noticed the robo going after Digi, and begins to pelt it with fireballs. *Red Fireball.*

Nick Caligo (GM): Tifa looks over to Dragoshi and his tank and thumbs up. "Well, what're you waiting for? Get going! That thing's got hydraulics."

Dragoshi: *Mutters, making sure this thing hasn't stopped up again by trying to jump up into the action.*

Nick Caligo (GM): Trigger sees that Digi's well above him. The fireball drops down to the ground below.

Trigger: "...Damn depth perception..."

Julian: "You alright, man? I didn' know gettin' yo' fingers stepped on affected yo' aim THAT much."

Trigger: "Yeah, I'm okay."

Nick Caligo (GM): The robot reels its gun around to pistol whip Digi accross the face, then back again for a second blow; it follows up by firing its pistol at him, a cold laser shooting out. "Freeze, dirtbag," it says in its monotone metallic voice.

Digifanatic takes a leap over the first one, tries to duck under the second, and finishes up by bending back to avoid being grazed by the third.

Nick Caligo (GM): Digi lands just in time to get clocked in the jaw; a BURNINGLY cold sensation shoots through him as the laser beams into his chest.

Digifanatic just tenses up his body and grits it out to prevent any effects from overtaking himself.

Nick Caligo (GM): Failure; Digi's frozen in a block of ice. The robot's torso moves up and down silently, its visor flashing, as if to imitate laughter. The second robot takes aim from above, its pistol gathering charge briefly before a beam of electric energy comes blazing down on Digi from above. The block of ice is sent reeling off the beam.

Dragoshi: *Okay, anyway, Dragoshi's prolly' managed to jump up to the area where the battle's going by now... he checks out what the place looks like, anyway.*

Nick Caligo (GM): YDragoshi's at the foot of the wall he was at earlier; the others battle in the twisted metalwork above him. Julian is helping Trigger up as he dangles over the edge of a railcar suspended in the debris. Digi's frozen and is quickly plummeting downwards.

Dragoshi: *So, anyway, Dragoshi tries to get this thing up from ground floor A to Twisted metalwork B, using the tank's SUPER JUMPING POWARS.

Nick Caligo (GM): With a quick burst from the hydraulic legs the treads are mounted on and a firing of the jump jets underneath the tank's body, Dragoshi is propelled upwards at an almost alarmingly high rate. With a loud KER-CHUNK, he lands on the railroad car alongside Julian.

Dragoshi: *He checks that Robo1's on the ground of this twisted metalwork while Robo2's in the air. Then, he checks what this thing has in the way of weaponry.*

Nick Caligo (GM): Wrong.

Julian: *Good thing Julian already helped Trigger up, or Trigger'd be falling to his death right now as Julian jumps back from the MACH 5 TANK!* "What the fuck?! Why didn't anyone tell me this thing could JUMP?!"

Nick Caligo (GM): There's twisted metalwork surrounding Dragoshi on all sides; the others have been climbing on it. Both robots stand on metal beams up above him. The tank's basically got one gun, and Dragoshi sits in it with his body sticking out the top of the turret a bit.

Trigger: "The many wonders of futuristic weapons of mass destruction... Kinda freaks my out sometimes as well but you get used to it.."

Julian: "It's a goddamn TANK! Jumpin' is what it's NOT supposed to do."

Trigger: "Well... yeah."

Dragoshi: "...Well, regardless of what a tank is supposed to or not supposed to do, I'm grateful for it's ability to jump." >_>;; "Anyways..." *Dragoshi looks at one at the robots, deciding on which one to strike down first. Dragoshi shifts the gun's aim up into the air at where Robo2 is at.* "Okay, hope you enjoyed your time in the sun, 'cause you're gonna crash and burn!" *So, anyway, Dragoshi, after making sure he's properly aimed it, fires a shot at Robo2, hoping to blast it down from the sky. Or at least bring it down to earth. Either way it's potentially screwed.*

Nick Caligo (GM): *POW!* A metal slug catches it in the most of it. Smoke and dust kick up all around as the shell impacts it in the stomach, carrying it into the air for just an instant before detonating. The robot's parts rain down.

Dragoshi: "...Holy shit." *Anyways, after seeing that devastating blow in action, he blinks, then looks at Robo1, now focused on him... He'll get his, soon.*

Digifanatic: *INACTIVE.*

Nick Caligo (GM): If nobody does anything soon, Digi's as good as roadkill. Everyone watches him plummet past the railcar.

Dragoshi: *Is in a friggin' tank. He really can't do much. e_e.*

Trigger jumps from the railcar and attemps to catch Digi.

Nick Caligo (GM): Trigger leaps out and latches onto Digi's frozen body, landing on the girder opposite him and just a little lower--albeit a bit rougher than Trigger might like. More importantly, though, Digi's butt's not toast.

Trigger: "Hold on you... block of... ice?"

Digifanatic would be breathing a sigh of relief and dishing out some serious thanks if he wasn't frozen, but hey, he can cover that later!

Nick Caligo (GM): Robot 1 takes aim for Julian this time, his gun gathering charge again before he tries to snipe him with an electric bolt.

Julian: *Julian looks up, hearing the distinct sound of someone charging up a blast... and quickly tries to side-step out of harms way, or jump up if the electric bolt hits the metalwork he uses.

Nick Caligo (GM): Not even close. His shot pangs off the train and fizzles off.

Julian: *Julian uses the head-start he got with the hop to full-on jump up to the beam the Robo's on, grab onto it, and use a little bit of gymnastic flippery-dippery to swing back to gain momentem, then forward and UP over the bar, trying to knock the robot off with a well-placed double-kick!*

Julian: *POW BIATCH.*

Nick Caligo (GM): *CRACK!* Julian's foot goes right into its tin face. Its head pops off, clattering down to the ground below.

Julian: *Julian himself comes up with the flip, righting himself in mid-air above the Robot... and it's dead? He punches his fists together in mid-air, then lets loose with a FURIOUS Rapid-Fire flurry of jabs at the Robo's body, trying to add the force of him falling to the punches!*

Nick Caligo (GM): Caught offbalance by the lack of its own head, Julian's punches jerk it left and right, leaving dents in its body.

Julian: *Julian manages to land on the beam right next to it, spin it around with a good right cross to the shoulder, then crouch down and shoot back up with the Little Mac Special, trapping the robot in a rising vortex of pummeling pain as Julian excecutes the rapid-spinning uppercut, hopefully finishing it off!*

Nick Caligo (GM): Julian's fist catches it in the stomach, cracking through the metal and catapulting it upward. It doesn't even fall to the ground; it explodes in mid air, raining nuts and bolts down all over the place.

Julian: *Julian lands on the beam, right fist stretched to the sky in victory for a moment... then notices Digi's frozen ass and heads down to help.*

Dragoshi: *And, Dragoshi takes this time to straighten out his tank. Whee.*

Nick Caligo (GM): *BOOM!* The whole structure around the group starts to rumble as another bomb impacts the plate above. Everyone hears the sound of... what sounds like a building collapsing. Cloud's voice echoes down through the shaft of twisted metal, calling to the Questers. "I could use some help up here!!"

Julian: *Julian whips out a can of hairspray, shakes it up, takes out a lighter, points it at Digi, and you can put two and two together.*

Nick Caligo (GM): Digi is defrozed.

Dragoshi: *Okay, so Dragoshi tries to jump up to where Cloud is while everyone else is busy with their stuffz.*

Digifanatic: *Ker-thawed.* "And thank you very much..."

Julian: "Let's move!" *Julian begins to make the ascent again, utilizing the metalwork like some giant demented rock wall.*

Digifanatic: "Alright..."

Digifanatic follows somewhat closely behind Julian.

Nick Caligo (GM): Everyone arrives at the top; it's like a whole 'nother city up here... THIS one, though, has proper buildings. Or HAD them. Not like the slums below. But still, it's even more dilapidated.

Dragoshi: *Mutters to self.* "Sheesh... What tore this place apart?"

Nick Caligo (GM): Scorch marks, debris, crushed buildings... it's like the group is standing on the corpse of a city and the world below is where the maggots live.

Trigger: *asks Cloud.* "What is causing all this damage?"

Julian: "What do you think? All them fuckin' robots."

Digifanatic: .oO(Well, we've got something to take down... any time's a good one to start as long as it's not too late.)

Nick Caligo (GM): A robot lands at the group's feet, torn in half by Cloud's sword. Its visor blinks off; Cloud stands just meters away, taking care of what seems to be the last of a wave of the things.

Trigger: "I was thinking strategic missile strikes on the cities... But robots could cause this too..."

Nick Caligo (GM): He finishes one off with a quick swipe and turns to another one, growling lowly; he stops, startled by something. "Get down!" He dives out of the way as a blast of energy vaporizes his opponent, cinging his sleeve a bit.

Julian: *Gets down*

Trigger gets down.

Digifanatic follows Cloud's command to the best of his ability.

Dragoshi: *How can you get down in a fucking tank? 'Cause I doubt this is also a crouching tank too.*

Nick Caligo (GM): He turns his pointy-haired head up to the sky. Pinpoints of blue light flare from the jets of dozens more robots in the sky above... and then disperse, returning to the saucer's bay, which can be seen sliding shut in the distance. When the last of them has flowed inside like fireflies to some kind of bizarre metal hive, the head badass himself starts lowering to the ground, seeming to float gracefully on the air resistance beneath its outstretched arms... "Mecha Sonic" wouldn't be an accurate description of this thing. Its body is all black, with red stripes swept over the spines of its head. Its armored body is nothing like any metal sonic you've seen. It's much fuller, better filled-out, better-armored. If robots have some equivalent of muscle, this guy's been pumping up. His broad chest has a red sphere set into it, pulsating. with an ethereal energy. Its eye visor, a mere narrow slit in its face, flashes yellow as it surveys the Questers...

???: "... Chaos control!"

Nick Caligo (GM): It throws its arms outwards, clawed hands balled into fists, shouting in a voice like Shadow's but with a gruff, metallic second voice overlayed on top of it.

Julian: "...What the fu-This better not be what I think it is."

Trigger: *quietly to the others.* "What's it doing?"

Dragoshi: "...Oh shit."

Nick Caligo (GM): It disappears completely. A faint whisper is heard, like a shout in the distance. "Toki wa tomai!" Cloud's eyes grow wide. He's beaten left and right by invisible fists to his face and knocked off his feet by an invisible uppercut.

Trigger: "..."

Julian: *That's Julian's bit! Ripoff artist!*

Dragoshi: *Blinks.*

Nick Caligo (GM): The group would finally spot the machine again floating high above you, regarding the group like a giant surveying ants.

Trigger: "...What just happened?"

Nick Caligo (GM): How he got there so fast is completely beyond the group. He silently waits, arms folded over his chest, the gem in it seeming to hum with power.

Julian: "We're fucked, that's what."

Nick Caligo (GM): Cloud wipes his mouth. "You guys run for the tower!" He points towards the center of the city, where a massive office building stands.

Trigger: "...Great, just what I needed... robotic death..."

Dragoshi: "Understood." *Would proceed to drive his tank over to the massive building, full speed ahead!*

Julian: *Julian does not need to be told twice as he immediately gets to his feet and bolts for the tower while Cloud draws Mecha-Shadow's attention.* .oO(Crazy-ass muthefucka. Regular Shadow's bad enough... but this. This is somethin' else.)

Trigger follows after the others at top speed.

Digifanatic: *RUN AWAY! RUN AWAAAAAAAYYYY! to the tower, of course.*

Nick Caligo (GM): It watches the group, its head turning slowly to watch the group run for it. "Hey! Metalhead!" It moves its gaze back to Cloud, who quickly flips him off, thrusting him the bird from under his sword-arm. "Come and get it!"

Trigger: "Is he insane or something?!"

Nick Caligo (GM): There is a loud boom as it dashes after him; one can see the light flaring from its jets even facing away from it. It's like a lightning strike at point blank. Cloud cries out, apparently hit. "Ughaah!!"

Julian: "Jus' fuckin' RUN! He'll be fine!"

Trigger: "Wait, where's Tifa?"

Nick Caligo (GM): Tifa's back at the foot of that wall. She didn't come with. The sounds of the struggle trail off behind; metal clashes against metal, claw against sword... and every so often, there is the crunch of bones and the pounding of flesh against cement.

Dragoshi: *And, Dragoshi's too busy driving towards the tower at whatever this tank's full speed is to care. 'Cause, dammit, he does not want to deal with high-grade Shadow rip-offs at the moment. e_e.*

Trigger, after hearing these sounds, he shouts out..."I WANNA LIVE!!!!"...and starts running evern faster.

Nick Caligo (GM): The Questers arrive at the foot of the tower. Whatever happened to this city seems to have happened right here... the structure's massive, easily over a hundred stories tall... and the side's been totally ripped off. It almost resembles a man sitting on a throne... though with the way it's been damaged, it's like there's giant stairs leading up to the top offices.

Digifanatic: "Now that is a strange little picture."

Dragoshi: "Yep..."

Nick Caligo (GM): There's a bright flash from the distance again. If anyone turned around to look, they'd see a dome of light rising up in the distance, followed by a yellow streak launching into the air and heading straight for the group. Almost ten seconds later, the sound would reach everyone.

Dragoshi: *Hoo boy.*

Digifanatic tries to run off to the side to avoid being it by the streak.

Trigger looks to the explosion... "That isn't what I think it is... is it?"

Dragoshi: *Drives off to the side to prevent his tank from being marred by it.*

Trigger dives out of the way of it.

Nick Caligo (GM): The streak blasts over the Questers' heads; they can feel the heat of the jets cinging their clothes. The sound alone makes them want to flinch. When the smoke and dust kicked up by the sonic boom cleared, they'd see, on the first floor up on the giant staircase, the figure of Mecha Shadow standing over them... with Cloud'd battered form clutched in its fingers by the head. He releases him. Cloud drops to the ground limply like a rag doll, bouncing off a couple of concrete debris.

Dragoshi: "I... really should've seen this coming." e_e.

Trigger: "...My god."

Digifanatic: .oO(I really want to say that it's on, but that thing looks mighty deadly right about now.)

Mecha Shadow: "Pathetic," he states simply, letting his arms hang at his sides.

Digifanatic: "This is going to get crazy."

Mecha Shadow: "Targets identified as the Super Smash Questers."

Digifanatic: .oO(And that's what happens when Gerald does not die LIKE HE SHOULD HAVE TIMES BEFORE.)

Mecha Shadow: "Odds of victory calculated as 1,128,274 to 1 against. Prepare for annihilation." He raises his arm, energy beginning to crackle in the palm of his hand, forming slowly into a yellow ball of energy.

Trigger: "...I think we should run now."

Digifanatic: .oO(Where did he get that number from?)

Nick Caligo (GM): Abruptly, Cloud stands up, clutching his arm, one eye swollen shut and apparently bleeding. Everyone knows this look, it's in a trillion animes.

Dragoshi: .oO(...I am resisting the urge to make a cheap joke out of this. 'Cause, dammit this is so not the time.)

Cloud: "Regular techniques are no match for him..." He hangs his head, panting. "You need to out-maneuver him!"

Nick Caligo (GM): Mecha Shadow inexplicably continues to charge despite the fact that he's fired this same blast off instantaneously over a dozen times before.

Dragoshi: "...How the hell am I supposed to out-maneuver someone while I'm in a friggin' jumping tank, though?" >_>;;

Trigger: "...Ever thought about maybe... ditching the tank?"

Nick Caligo (GM): Mecha Shadow starts off the round by unleashing the charge he's built up in a burning sphere of yellow chaos energy, torching its way straight at Digifanatic.

Digifanatic starts to stare it down, giving a quick forward boost before zipping over to the side as if he was a football player dodging the defensive line.

Digifanatic: *And he dodges in the clutch!*

Nick Caligo (GM): SUCCESS! Digi zips around the bolt, which leaves an explosive blast behind in its wake. o/` I Am (All of Me) - Shadow the Hedgehog o/`.

Dragoshi: "Okay, I don't know how much of a chance I could have... But, dammit all, I'm gonna go down SWINGING!" *Dragoshi yells this, as he quickly aims the turret at Mecha Shadow, making sure that it's right on target, and when he's sure, he fires, sending a metal slug straight at MS' chest!*

Nick Caligo (GM): *POW!* Dragoshi catches him right in the chest. The shell blows chunks out of the building and deals damage to him. His figure's obscured by the smoke...

Digifanatic is staring down Mecha Shadow with a wide gleam over his eyes. He rockets up into the air, only to unpocket his Digivice, pressing a button while in midair, right around peak height. At the moment of descent, the emitted energy starts to spread around Digi's body. He suddenly rockets straight down at Mecha Shadow completely surrounded in the usual maroonish-white glow before colliding straight into his enemy's frame.

Dragoshi: *The tank is blown back a bit from the recoil of the mighty shot. Dragoshi straightens himself and the tank for his next assault, seeing as he can't see MS through the smoke...*

Trigger rushes towards the building and makes a leap, flipping into the air with his beam saber like a neon pinwheel; he lands with a crash, slamming it down on Mecha Shadow; then he chases after him with an explosive tackle.

Nick Caligo (GM): He sidesteps the dropping slash, but Trigger's shockwave arcs into him, stunning him in an electric discharge; it presents the PERFECT opportunity for him to have an explosive meeting with Trigger's shoulder. Trigger sends him flying back into the building, shortly before Dragoshi's slug comes screaming past and blasts the inside apart like a roman candle in a beehive.

Digifanatic is staring down Mecha Shadow with a wide gleam over his eyes. He rockets up into the air, only to unpocket his Digivice, pressing a button while in midair, right around peak height. At the moment of descent, the emitted energy starts to spread around Digi's body. He suddenly rockets straight down at Mecha Shadow completely surrounded in the usual maroonish-white glow before colliding straight into his enemy's fra.

Nick Caligo (GM): Mecha Shadow comes blasting out the top of this level of the building, his flight path arcing around towards Digifanatic. He tucks his arms in and lowers his head, going into a spinning, bladed frenzy!

Digifanatic is hit, but did he theoretically have the "Stone" perk before MShadow hit him? *DUN DUN DUN!*

Nick Caligo (GM): He screams in underneath Digi, grinding through him like a circular saw through lumber before he can finish preparing...

Digifanatic: *VOOM!*

Digifanatic is flung well from the blow, getting tossed and cartwheeling once or twice in midair before flopping down to the ground. However, he gets back up with relative ease. Seems like it'll still take more to take him down.

Nick Caligo (GM): Mecha Shadow releases himself from his ball, spinning around to face the others before he lands. He scatters an array of those yellow blasts, sending two straight towards Dragoshi and one at Trigger.

Dragoshi: *And, Dragoshi sees these yellow dewm blasts coming at him, and tries his damnedest to evade them by strafeing away from as fast as the tank could allow, even though he presumes that it's futile.*

Nick Caligo (GM): *CRASH!* *BOOM!* The tank's flipped onto its side, and then over again upright, by the bombardment. It takes no damage, myseriously. Dragoshi takes damage from each shock of yellow energy.

Dragoshi: *It's a good thing Dragoshi's had bumpy rides or else he'd feel sick. e_e Though he is disoriented.* "What the hell?! I'm not cattle, yanno!"

Nick Caligo (GM): Trigger takes it right to the chest, being blasted back into the office; his back cracks against the hard wall--and then cracks the wall. He feels like it gouged his guts clean out. Mecha Shadow releases himself from his ball, spinning around to face the others before he lands. He scatters an array of those yellow blasts, sending two straight towards Dragoshi and one at Trigger.

Dragoshi: "Gaahh..." *Dragoshi shakes his head to clear himself of disorientation.* "Okay, pal... Ya wanna know something? Anything you send at me... I can send it back TWOFOLD!!" *Dragoshi yells this as he once again aims at MS, and after making sure that he's got the right target, he fires a metal slug with great fury towards MS' head, and just because he is trying to prove his point, he fires another one, shortly thereafter, this time, presumably aimed at the guy's chest.*

Nick Caligo (GM): *POP!* *POP!* Dragoshi bashes him with one shot, then another, his accuracy flawless. Mecha Sonic begins to blitz with electricity as he sails far off; his jets halt him in mid air. The armor over his chest has cracked.

Dragoshi: "How do ya like me now, you fuckin' Shadow ripoff?!" *Dragoshi once again rights his tank, preparing for another assault, eyes glowing with the flames of a little thing called hatred.*

Trigger, after getting back up from getting blasted by M.C. then goes running at him once again at full speed and tackles it with a tremendous force.

Nick Caligo (GM): He floats to the side, eyes fixed on Dragoshi.

Trigger trips over M.C.'s foot and slams head first to the floor.

Dragoshi: *Righting his tank. Which is currently not fight.*

Digifanatic then whips a golf club out of his own little realm of malletspace. He gives it a quick fling and midair baton-esque twirl before catching it by the middle of the shaft. He grips it up more like a pool cue, easing the clubhead back as he holds it by the top of the shaft with decent tension. One can see that he is focusing a lot of concentration to this blow. *charge.*

Digifanatic finishes off the move by rocketing the club forward, headfirst, trying to dent MShadow's midsection armor with a loud clang. The sound is almost gunshot-like given the forward velocity, and the impact should be enough to sweep Mecha Shadow off its feet and send it back a distance. In fact, given the condition of the armor, even more may happen. Who knows.

Nick Caligo (GM): Digi slams him into the ground, sending him bouncing upwards; he takes more damage from that.

Metal Man (GM): Mecha Shadow stands, facing the two Questers, bedecked in the gleaming evil of Gerald's robotic armor. He clenches a fist at the two of them, remembering countless encounters with them in the past.

Mecha Shadow: "Do you realize? All this fighting is worthless. You cannot win... you never have won against me, and now is not the time for it to begin." He points at the Questers, preparing for another round of battle. "I'll show you what the true Ultimate Lifeform can do!"

Dragoshi: *Still righting his tank...* *'Cause, seriously, the recoil from two shots is sure to screw up the balance on this thing. e_e.*

Digifanatic: .oO(Just shut up, alright? We don't have time for arrogant talk.)

Metal Man (GM): He holds out his hand. The symbol for Chaos spear appears... and indeed. An orange glob of vaguely radioactive chaos energy streaks at its target's neck; that target being Digifanatic. "Your pathetic fleshy bodies cannot take much of THIS." Five of them... ouch. They look rather menacing. The first one has lethal accuracy; the others generally seem poorly aimed, while the third one is about average accuracy.

Digifanatic steps back a few times, trying to jump over the first two before hitting the ground and rolling to the side of the third. He gets up and runs to the side to stay out of the way of #4, and flips away from the last.

Metal Man (GM): Hit, miss, hit, miss, miss. Digi flies back a ways; Shadow prepares for yet another attack.

Dragoshi: *Dragoshi has finally finished righting his tank.* "Okay... Hope you had fun against my first barrage, because i'm not letting up!" *Dragoshi once again double-checked to make sure that his shots were going to hit the right target, and after such, Dragoshi fires his first shot, this time aiming at MS' legs, and shortly thereafter firing out a followup which attempts to threaten Mecha Shadow.

Metal Man (GM): Mecha Shadow leaps backwards to evade the shot. He is pegged as he flies backwards. He attempts to evade mid-air by twisting his body, from the second shot... He succeeds with gusto.

Dragoshi: *And, Dragoshi once again gets back to the daunting task of righting his tank. Whee.*

Digifanatic decides to take the near-impeccable timing of his turn to as much of an advantage as possible. He runs back up to within melee range and balls up his right hand. He begins to retract it as he prepares to leap. Upon leaving the ground, he does a quick aerial somersault before he lets his right fight loose and forward, brimming full with flames! He heads straight to Mecha Shadow's misection in hopes of cracking it even more with the imminent Fire Punch.*

Mecha Shadow: "Cease your attempts to break in. You shall fail."

Metal Man (GM): He charges up, then makes a horrendous chaos energy explosion. It's Chaos Nightmare, and it threatens everyone!

Dragoshi: *Yea, there's no way in hell Drag could evade that while he's in the tank. So, instead he gets into stance and puts up his arms in an X-guard of sorts to block.*

Metal Man (GM): The block is soundly defeated by the pervasive nature of chaos energy. However... Digi's punch and the blast hit one another; instead of taking damage, Digi's punch protects him from the energy. Still, no hit for Digi either--that was dead even.

Digifanatic: *Ooh, uber blockage.*

Metal Man (GM): Mecha Shadow uses his turn to smack Digi so hard he flies about 20 feet and through a window, KOing him for the time being... Digi's sacrifice was not in vain, however; that ate a big chunk of time. And now Julian appears on the scene.

Julian: *Well, not yet. He's off-screen charging something. Shh. :O*

Metal Man (GM): Mecha Shadow crosses his arms.

Mecha Shadow: "You could just turn around. Then you might live to see another day."

Julian: *The crackling of charing electricity can be heard off-screen... then WHOOM! Julian's flying across the screen at a billion-jillion miles per hour, white-hot glowing fist outstretched infront of him, all the power he could muster in his knuckles aiming RIGHT at Mecha-Shadow's jawline in an effort to shut his yap. Cannon Blow!*

Metal Man (GM): Mecha Sonic holds up an arm to block Julian...

Julian: *CRACKEMINDAMOUF.*

Metal Man (GM): Julian smacks it good. He falls backwards; his head shakes a bit. Something in there is glowing.

Dragoshi: *Dragoshi pops his head up out of the tank, and chuckles.* "I'll live, regardless of your silly threats. Anyway... I'll have to lay off the artillery for now. But, that doesn't mean i'm done with you!" *Suddenly, Dragoshi opens his mouth as he blasts out a chillingly painful burst of wind at MS, in attempt to freeze him! After that, regardless of success or failure, Dragoshi would then open up his mouth again,and breath out a gout of reddish-orange flames at the Shadow ripoff!* (Blizzard, followed up by Firebreath)

Metal Man (GM): He tries to leap over it... And fails. He then leaps backwards away from Dragoshi. And barely evades.

Julian: *Julian's on Mecha-Shadow the instant he hits the ground, trying to pick him up off the ground and SLAM a reverse elbow into his sternum, trying to knock him away some more with a SMASH!*

Metal Man (GM): He tries to spin out of the way quickly. And fails!

Julian: *PAIN TRAIN.*

Dragoshi: *Anyway, after that bit of a crapout... Dragoshi just ends it there before he hurts himself or something.*

Metal Man (GM): He slides backwards into the tower and into a glass wall, taking more damage. Mecha Shadow floats up and then flies back to Julian. He flicks open his wrists and then goes to see if he can riddle Julian with bullets... lots and lots of bullets. It's like a hailstorm of lead. His luck, however, is horrendous!

Julian: *Julian tries to get out of the jam by attempting to grab Shadow's shoulder and pull himself out of the way before the hail of lead can let loose!*

Metal Man (GM): Julian succeeds in evading the attack. Mecha Shadow stops and curses before facing the group again.

Mecha Shadow: "Damn!"

Metal Man (GM): He is, however, a bit more able to dodge now.

Dragoshi: "...Oh! Idea!" *Dragoshi cackles sadistically, as he then simultaneously brakes and presses and the gas at the same time, causing the tank to move in place really quickly, which in turn causes it to build up power... Lots and lots of power.* (Charging up a Super Smash)

Julian: *Julian hears the straining of the tank engine, and catches on to what Dragoshi's attempting to do. He quickly slips behind the recovering Shadow, using the momentum from his push-dodge, and attempts to lock on a Full-Nelson behind him, holdinging Mecha-Shadow in place! Grab Time!*

Metal Man (GM): He attempts to leap out of the way... faster this time. Instead he falls on his face, taking damage, and Julian hit him. Big time.

Dragoshi: "Okay... Let's see how you enjoy being bowled over!" *Regardless of Julian's success or failure in his attempted assistance, the crazy hybrid let go of the brake, which suddenly caused the tank to rush forward at insane speeds, blurring somewhat, attempting to plow into Mecha Shadow with the full force of it's metallic mass!* (Smash Attack!)

Julian: *Julian watches for a few seconds as MS facefaults... then quickly picks him back up and locks on the hold. Shadow's held in place, right in the line of fire of Dragoshi's tank attack!*

Metal Man (GM): He attempts to dodge Dragoshi's attack by rolling out of the way.

Julian: *Julian releases the hold and pushes Shadow into the charging tank and backpeddles to avoid the oncoming tank!*

Metal Man (GM): And fails. He is still hit, but Mecha Shadow also makes the attack hit Julian too!

Nick Caligo (GM): *THAK!*

Dragoshi: *Was about to laugh like a madman for smashing into Mecha Shadow like some sort of demented crash-test dummy, but instead winces when he sees Julian get hit as well.* "Fuck... Sorry, there, Julian."

Nick Caligo (GM): Mecha Shadow's body slams into the wall of the tower; it slumps down amidst the debris, armor cracked all over. Its visor flickers... then fades out.

Julian: *OHFUCK.*

Dragoshi: "...Okay. Note to self. Crashing vehicles into war machines is an effective way of ending a battle." >_>;;

???: "Come on!" Cloud's voice shouts to the group from higher up the tower. "We don't have much time! We've got to get onboard!"

Nick Caligo (GM): The saucer continues to loom overhead like an ominous steel cloud... it's close enough to the top of the tower that one could climb on from there.

Dragoshi: "...Just wait a sec." *Dragoshi would quickly zoom over the KO'd Mecha Shadow so he can take the materia from it's chest. Then, Drago would zoom back into the tank and follow the others. >_>*

Julian: *Julian groans, and pulls himself out of the wreckage of said tower.* "Never doin' that again..." *Looks up... and quickly shakes out the cobwebs and starts heading up the tower via stairs, metalwork climbing, whaveter.*

Dragoshi: *Then, *And all the rest of that sentence.

Nick Caligo (GM): When Dragoshi grasps it, it glows BURNING red... Dragoshi can HEAR his skin starting to cook. He crackles for a few moments, electric bolts arcing all over his body, then abruptly disappearing as his eyes light up a second time.

Dragoshi: "Owowow..." *Regardless of the burning pain, Dragoshi would continue (Technically, start, but still...) the ascent up the tower.*

Nick Caligo (GM): Bolts keep arcing over the Materia as its body starts to tremble. The tank can jump... but not that high. It got you up here, but this tower's another story. Or rather, another couple hundred.

Dragoshi: *Well, then I'll just have to jump outta the danged tank and do things the normal way, then. >_>*

Julian: *After a minute or two or three or however long it takes, Julian reaches the top presumeably. Yey :D. He tries to eyeball the jump to the saucer to get an estimate of the distance...*

Dragoshi: *In any case, Dragoshi would then start his ascent up the tower via jumping, climbing, what-have-you, until he, of course reaches the top or some analogue thereof this massive tower. After doing so, he would then catch his breath.*

Nick Caligo (GM): The saucer's no more than a story or two above the group by the time they reach the roof; a double, maybe a triple jump would get you onto one of the many catwalks that form a network on the underside of the saucer. No one sees Cloud anywhere; presumably he's onboard the ship already.

Julian: *Julian backs up a bit to get the best running start he can, then takes off for the edge of the building/stairs/what have you and tries to jump onto the catwalks! Air Sawyer is taking off, First Jump!*

Dragoshi: "...Phew." *Dragoshi woudl then look above at the saucer, then run forward for a little bit, after which, he attempts to, of course, jump onto one of the catwalks as well! Anyway, here's the first jump...*

Julian: *Julian reaches the top of the arc of his first jump, lands on that invisible cushion of air that all good Smashers and Questers know, and pushes off with a mighty vertical leap aided by the Power Jumper Badge! Can he make it? Second Jump!*

Dragoshi: *There's no way that'd succeed so, Dragoshi does a second jump, and...*

Nick Caligo (GM): Julian land on the catwalks, and are followed shortly thereafter by Dragoshi.

Dragoshi: *And, Dragoshi lands. Yayz.* "Okay... Now that that's done with... Where to next?" *Looks around for some sort of entrance into the danged thing.*

Julian: *Julian eyes the network of catwalks as he touches down, and not missing a beat he's up and navigating them, presumably to the entrance.*

Nick Caligo (GM): Dragoshi finds once again that his shoes are untied at a most inopportune moment. By the time anyone notices anything, a chaos spear is wizzing at their backs. Each of them.

Dragoshi: *...again? Man, somewhere along that ascent those damned things must've become untied agai-...Oh, god dammit.*

Julian: *Julian takes this time to trip over loose panel that's sticking out of the catwalk and maybe dodge! Who knows!*

Dragoshi: *Anyway, while Dragoshi notices this, ducks down to untie them, and possibly (But, prolly' not) dodge that back-attack and watch it fly over his head!*

Nick Caligo (GM): Dragoshi's sent rocketing over the edge of one of the catwalks.

Dragoshi: *And, Dragoshi quickly gets back up... And is currently rocketing over the edge. Dammit. In any case, Dragoshi tries to jump back up to there.*

Nick Caligo (GM): Dragoshi flips and rolls across another catwalk. Looking up, each of the Questers would see the battered form of Mecha Shadow hovering over them, eyes flaring bright yellow. "Destroy! Destroy!"

Dragoshi: *...huh. Anyway...* "..."

Julian: *Julian recovers from his trip, and... goddamnit.* "Why doesn't anythin' we fight ever stay DEAD?"

Dragoshi: "Okay. I really should've seen this coming."

Nick Caligo (GM): He throws his head back and his chest out, the red materia in his chest burning brightly... and then, brighter, and brighter, and brighter.

Dragoshi: *Pulls out his ridiculous shades and puts them on, so he isn't blinded. <_>*

Nick Caligo (GM): A lunatic whirlwind of energy tears through the air, enveloping him... the dark form of a pair of massive wings, long, clawed arms, and a long tail protrude from through the storm. It all disperses, giving rise to a twisted form of Mecha Shadow that the Questers think, "... Jeez, I couldn't MAKE UP something this ridiculous."

Dragoshi: "..."

Julian: *Oh for fuck's sake.* "This is bullshit." *Looks for an entrance to the UFO/Saucer/Whatever while Mecha Shadow POWERS UP!!!!111!!!1!!!!1.*

Dragoshi: "...I really should've ran over you several more times just to make sure that you were really put out of commission."

Nick Caligo (GM): His snout is longer; jagged jaws are set where a simple ninja mask-style panel once was. His ears have become longer, horn-like. His spines are now many more, sweeping back all the way down to the tip of the tail that dangles behind him. His arms and legs are clawed and much bulkier. Huge wings sweep out to the sides, like those of a giant, twisted, metal butterfly.

Dragoshi: *Decides to do the same as Julian, because sheesh.*

Nick Caligo (GM): *NEO MECHA SHADOW.*

Nick Caligo (GM): Dragoshi spots it! A green vent a ways off, towards the edge of the underside of this saucer. That light looks suspicously radioactive, but... it can't be worse than THIS, can it?

Dragoshi: "..." *Quickly Dexes that to see if the light coming from there is radioactive. He's fucked up enough as-is, and he really doesn't need anymore crap. e_e.*

Nick Caligo (GM): Not that the dex can tell anyone. *Ding!* "Shit. A bloody useless bunch of stuff that comes from other peoples' buttocks. 'Ave fun climbin' in there, mate." But seriously, it's fine.

Dragoshi: "...Uhhh... Okay. I think i'll be over there, wallowing in stuff instead of getting horribly maimed." *quickly runs over to the vent. >_>;;*

Dragoshi: *Or jumps. Whatever.*

Julian: *Julian watches Dragoshi run off... and quickly follows >_>* *Run away, run away!*

Metal Man (GM): Dragoshi make it about 10 feet closer, but not much else, nope. It's still a distance away. Mecha Shadow swings a gigantic claw in Dragoshi's way, trying to crush and block him in one fell swoop.

Dragoshi: *And, Dragoshi, in a attempt that'll prolly' fail tries to slide under the attempted assault.*

Metal Man (GM): It hits, knocking Dragoshi back to where he was before he ran.

Dragoshi: *Anyway, Dragoshi once again tries to jump back to where he once was. Or, in the least get back onto the catwalk.*

Metal Man (GM): Dragoshi doesn't jump back where he was, but he avoids flying off the catwalk.

Julian: *Run Away, RUN AWAY.*

Dragoshi: *Well, at least that's said and done. <_>*

Metal Man (GM): Julian runs about 1/3 of the total length. A lot of running.

Dragoshi: *Well, you know where this is gonna go. But, anyway. Dragoshi once again tries to run over to the vent!*

Metal Man (GM): Dragoshi runs another 10 feet or so.

Julian: *More Running :D*

Metal Man (GM): Julian's nearly to the grate! Mecha Shadow sees Julian moving towards it and powers up... ...firing a gigantic deathray out of its mouth at Julian.

Julian: *Oh fuck me. Julian tries to keep his forward momentum going by tucking and doing a forward roll, hopefully ducking under the beam and still being able to pop up and keep running!*

Julian: *BOOYAH.*

Metal Man (GM): Julian dodges it, and Mecha Shadow must recharge.

Dragoshi: *And, Dragoshi continues his mad dash for the vent, of course.*

Julian: *WRONG.*

Dragoshi: *And of course.*

Metal Man (GM): Dragoshi slips and fall, sliding a few more feet ahead.

Julian: *Julian pops up from his successful foreward roll, and makes one final dash for the vent!*

Metal Man (GM): Julian reaches the vent... ...there's a grate on it. Crud. That'll take a bit to rip off. But still, good job so far.

Julian: *Figures >:( He tries to rip it off. Grate-ripper, move that grate! He crosses-fingers. OH SNAP.*

Metal Man (GM): Julian grabs the grate... ...and then slips and hits his head on it! It's dented! So is Julian's head!

Julian: *Damnit, why did the saucer have to fly through a cloud! >:O*

Metal Man (GM): Mecha Shadow sees Julian... and brings down BOTH his claws, trying to knock him waaay off.

Julian: *Julian rolls over after wanging his head on the grate... and then keeps rolling once he sees the double-claws a comin' down!*

Metal Man (GM): Julian's knocked a bit further back.

Dragoshi: *So, anyway, instead of the usual mad dash Dragoshi's been making, he decides to instead, Wave Dash to get closer to the vent!*

Metal Man (GM): Dragoshi finally reaches the vent, where Julian also is.

Dragoshi: *Finally. Anyway, Dragoshi has now reached the vents. So, he has to try to rip them off...*

Metal Man (GM): The grate breaks off at last.

Julian: *Into the fucking VENT >:O*

Metal Man (GM): Julian leaps into the vent. He escapes the battle.

Dragoshi: *And so does Dragoshi, who follows.*

Metal Man (GM): Indeed... They both escape the battle.

Dragoshi: .oO(Fucking finally.)

(And it continues into yet another day!)

Metal Man (GM): Two days ago... The Questers were out on the giant, Final Phantasy mission. Indeed, it seemed like they were nearing something important. Julian and Dragoshi sliding down the vent, and all. Indeed. *WHOOSH!* Suddenly, all the Questers in that mission would see one another in a pure white room.

Dragoshi: *And, all to get away from an overly-powerful Mecha Shadow that Drag should've ran over several times more.* "...What the hell?"

Digifanatic: "Well, at least we're all back together."

Dragoshi: "...Apparently so."

Deloth: "...Okay, how'd THIS happen?"

Deloth looks bewilderedly around the room. He checks for any compass roses.

Dragoshi: "I don't know..."

Metal Man (GM): The compass rose appears on Deloth's dex, then begins wildly spinning out of control. A door appears in the wall and opens... it's something big... ...Snake?!?!?!?!?!?!

Dragoshi: "..."

Snake: "Hmph. Should have figured." He lifts up a small screen of the mission you were just on. "Good thing it was only a holo simulation--you'd have just gotten KILLED in real life."

Deloth: "..."

Chancé: "Hmm, I will reserve my judgement for now..."

Dragoshi: "... Same."

Deloth: *makes a mental note to find a way to get revenge on Snake later...*

Snake: "You guys should have worked together more. Really, it wasn't that hard of a mission... I just used some old stuff left on the computers."

Digifanatic: .oO(Figures Snake would set us up like that!)

Snake: "Any way. You aren't getting paid just to run down vents and get killed, so... run along." *And that would pretty much be that for the Final Phantasy mission.*

Aribar stands off to the side, listening to Snake.

Deloth: "...And WHAT benefit did we get from this?"

Chancé: "Experience, Deloth."

Digifanatic: .oO(Good mission in my opinion, but a bit anti-climactic...)

Chancé: "Tests like this, even ones that we are unaware of, are good pratice."

Deloth shoots a deathgaze at Chance... apparently he doesn't like getting tricked, just pulling off the tricks in the first place.

Digifanatic: "Good one, Chancé."

Chancé: "Thank you, Ian."

Digifanatic: "Now, if you folks don't mind... I'm just gonna hang around with the others for a few minutes, get what I need, and then talk to that Lakitu."

Snake: "Yes... expect another one in the future. Only next time..." He waves a finger. "It might not be so short."

Metal Man (GM): Dragoshi would get back any money given to -virtual- people.

Deloth: "You're gonna pay for this, Snake..."

Chancé: "Deloth, if you want to make him pay, just destroy all the cardboard boxes."

Snake: "Unlikely... from what I saw your performance was on that mission." He walks off with a wry smirk.

Dragoshi: *Regains 15 coins.* "I'm a little more offended at the lame cop-out." :/

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