Super Smash Quest - Story - Chapter 497: Worse than Nothing
Date: February 8th, 2008.
Metal Man (GM): Metal Man is looking at photos of the old days while wandering in R&R. He seems to be looking for something.
Metal Man: "Hm. It seems... the remaking of the world left behind a few things... vital to us right now."
Deloth tips the remainder of a can of tuna into his mouth as he enters R&R. "Whatcha doing?"
Digifanatic slowly but casually walks into R&R, wearing a nice short-sleeved shirt. This is one of his first appearances in the R&R since returning from his much-needed absence. He looks like a lot of stress has been relieved.
Dragoshi: *Checking to see if that Shield Generator's been repaired by now...*
Aribar looks up from a book.* "Vital?"
Metal Man: "Well. We have these foes, Innotek, and no real ally to take 'em out with. They're not like Luigi or Bowser or Proctor--they don't just pop up so we can smack 'em."
Digifanatic: "Hmm...that cannon's damaged too much, correct?"
Metal Man: "Even at maximum power, the cannon cannot destroy everything they have... and it isn't always appropriate to use."
Digifanatic: "Okay. Inefficiency was going to be my second guess."
Metal Man: "What makes this more dire is the scans coming back from The Void's final resting place. For some very odd reason, he came to rest in what is known as Ivan Robotnik's lab on Mobius."
Deloth: "...Why the heck would he bite the dust there?"
Aribar shudders at the mention of Robotnik.*
Metal Man: "We have no one who knows anything about it."
Digifanatic: "Ivan, huh? That's peculiar, especially with Ivan being one of our buddies."
Metal Man: "I do not think Ivan would want him to die there. Remembering, Ivan wanted to kill him. Therefore his remains would be distasteful."
Digifanatic: "Yeah..."
Metal Man: "Of course, he didn't really leave any... that is what makes it so strange."
Deloth: "So you want us to go check it out?"
Metal Man: "I'm unsure. It's... very dangerous."
Digifanatic: "Has anybody else taken residence in Ivan's headquarters? At any point in time."
Dragoshi: *Just moves on to R&R, and sees Metal and the others* "...Hm?"
Metal Man: "The Innotek people are there, trying to get information from the 'remains.' Of course, that's the funny thing. He didn't really leave anything behind but this disc." *He holds up the purple disc* "Therefore they are looking for nothing."
Aribar: "Are you sure there's nothing left for them to find there?"
Deloth: "By the way, did you ever get a lock on the guy that got away while we were fighting the S.S. Overkill?"
Aribar: "The place has been thoroughly searched?"
Deloth grinds his teeth a bit at the thought of that battle popping up again...
Metal Man: "I can't be entirely sure, but... I'm pretty sure. Depends on what our old friend left behind there. The guy who ran away most likely ran off to another defendable location. We'll probably find him soon."
Digifanatic gets three more Mushrooms.
Deloth: "...Be right back." *slips out to the shop and comes back with a few Mushrooms*
Metal Man: "So then, if you understand, the warp is open now."
Digifanatic: "Shrooms... fish... hot sauce... we should start a restaurant. Kidding. I'll stick to the day job."
Aribar: "Ivan's lab is... Deactivated, right? No more deadly traps or Robotnik madness? He may have been on our side, but he's still a Robotnik."
Metal Man: "I cannot guarantee that, especially since The Void vanished in that location. You remember what he did to machinery."
Aribar sighs. He isn't going to like this mission. The elf gathers his things and goes to the warp room.
Dragoshi: *Moseys on along the the shop to buy three Mushrooms, then heads to the warp room.*
Digifanatic gets the rest of his usual equipment and heads for the warp.
Deloth heads on to the warp room. Adventures ahoy!
Digifanatic: "Can't do much else."
Metal Man (GM): You walk to the warp room. It rips open a circular hole in reality which leads to the front of a big blue door with Ivan's logo on it. Rusted, cracked, dirt-encrusted too. A flickering hand-scanner sits to the left.
Digifanatic walks over to the hand scanner...
Digifanatic: "Might as well, right?"
Metal Man (GM): It looks like your hand would fit on it just fine.
Deloth: *heads through the wrinkle in the space-time continuum and checks out that hand scanner*
Digifanatic shrugs and puts his hand on the scanner.
Metal Man (GM): *Scan*
Computer: "Quester Identified. Access Granted." Odd, it sounds familiar.
Metal Man (GM): The door opens up, revealing a wide-open white-tiled room with blue steel ramps leading down to the floor.
Dragoshi: *Blinks as he follows behind the others. Whee*
Digifanatic tries to see if he can recognize that voice as he moves forward.
Metal Man (GM): Two men with guns have their backs to you. They turn around.
Deloth: "...Deja vu again. What is it with my memory blips lately?"
Man1: "What the? Why did it let QUESTERS in here?"
Man2: "I don't know! Ivan was a weird person!"
Man1: "Was his name even I--"
Deloth takes out his sword and advances. "Hi, guys."
Man2: "Silence! We must stop them at all costs!"
Aribar: "Wait! You don't even know why we're here!"
Deloth: "I don't think they care!"
Man1: "Innotek will not allow you to jeopardize our main project!"
Man2: "You cannot be allowed n here, regardless of what Iv--...the doctor may have programmed wrong!"
Dragoshi: *Rolls eyes, and blasts Man 1 with his Assault Rifle, then follows up with a Rifle Strafe.*
Metal Man (GM): Hit, miss.
Digifanatic decides to go for the first man with a pair of Fire Punches.
Metal Man (GM): Miss Miss.
Aribar sighs and decides to start things off with a powerful bang. He rushes towards the first man, electricity blitzing about the elf as he runs down the ramp. He then leaps into the air and rockets into the soldier. The mage then summons up a hurricane of blades. He commands the spiraling swords to slice and dice that soldier!*
Metal Man (GM): Miss Miss. Man1 and Man 2 ready their weapons and attack Dragoshi with their pistols. 25 damage a hit.
Digifanatic goes for a physical trifecta this turn: He starts with a quick smack (normal move) before turning up the element count with an Icy Kick and then a Fire Punch.
Metal Man (GM): Hit. Miss, hit.
Aribar decides to continue focusing on the first soldier and backs up a step before launching a smashing kick in the man's direction!*
Metal Man (GM): Miss.
Digifanatic decides to keep going, but this time, he tries out his take on Beatlemania on Man1! Slowly but surely the sound builds and then... bang!
Metal Man (GM): Hit
Dragoshi: *Anyway...Dragoshi this time runs over to Man 1, and attempts to grab him with his tail so he can strangle the guy, then smash 'im into the ground. After that, he resorts to simply shooting 'im. >_>*
Metal Man (GM): Man1 doesn't look very good. Miss, hit.
Digifanatic finishes his turn there, playing it safe on his defense.
Metal Man (GM): Man2 fires in a rapid sort at Digi. Whopping 25 damage per hit. He's got a magnum.
Digifanatic: *He'll accept the 50*
Metal Man (GM): Miss hit hit. Your turn, Deloth.
Digifanatic: "I'll be fine, guys." *takes a quick exhale*
Deloth: *Aaaaand released Slam at #2.*
Metal Man (GM): Base hit.
Aribar conjures another series of weapons from the air and unleashes a long and deadly assault upon the Man!*
Metal Man (GM): Hit.
Dragoshi: *Eats a Mushroom*
Metal Man (GM): The men crumple to the ground, their weapons disintegrating from the heat of their rapid shots.
Aribar goes to check on them... trying to see if they're still alive.
Metal Man (GM): You may now proceed down deeper into the base. The men are definitely dead.
Digifanatic: *Keeps on going*
Deloth: *Onwards!*
Aribar follows Digifanatic.*
Metal Man (GM): Just down the steps, there's a series of control panels right under the platform you entered the room from, and there's a tunnel-like corridor that leads deeper into the base to choose from. There's deactivated LCD screens as well.
Digifanatic looks for power switches.
Metal Man (GM): You find them on the control panels. They seem to have power switches on them.
Digifanatic then checks out the panels and the switches...
Aribar: "I wouldn't mess with too many things..."
Digifanatic: "Hmm...yeah, unless it's absolutely necessary."
Metal Man (GM): It's an Ivan panel. You know it well, because he used his influence to sell his blueprints to the people who made panels everywhere.
Aribar: "It may alert others in this base."
Digifanatic: "Or even worse, someone could have hacked it."
Metal Man (GM): So you got your 'Activate screens' switch, your 'open comms', and what do we have here, 'Project Bay Power switch?'
Aribar: "Of course, if you can find any sort of security cameras or something..."
Metal Man (GM): There's also a general computer built-in it you can turn on.
Digifanatic: "Want to head back in here at a later time if this room becomes a last resort?"
Deloth: "That might be the best option..."
Digifanatic: "Aribar?"
Aribar: "Hrm... Yeah."
Digifanatic: "Alright." *looks for a door into a room ahead*
Metal Man (GM): The door ahead is yet another scanner door, just like the one you entered. It is also shut. But you're Questers, you know what to do.
Digifanatic: *heads over and is ready to have his hand scanned* "Any objections?"
Deloth: "Not unless there's a live wire dangling out."
Aribar: "Nope... I wonder how the others got in here, though."
Metal Man (GM): It seems intact.
Digifanatic: "Doesn't look like it..." *scan*
Dragoshi: *Stays to the side of the door, just in case...*
Metal Man (GM): The door opens half way, then jams and shoots sparks. Enough to enter... but the room inside isn't as inviting.
Aribar starts to summon his magic (Holy specifically) just in case this is a repeat of last time.*
Metal Man (GM): The men who guarded this room are dead on the floor.
Deloth: "...Oh, damn."
Metal Man (GM): The lights flicker in this room, and in the very center there is some sort of hologram projector tube.
Digifanatic: "Yeah."
Deloth steps in cautiously, examining the bodies...
Metal Man (GM): There's also various monitors on the room, tuned in to static. They look like they were electrocuted. There's a panel right next to them, too.
Digifanatic takes a look at the projector tube but keeps his distance.
Metal Man (GM): The projector tube is mostly intact, and off. There's a door straight ahead out of this room in normal condition, and one off to the left which is all busted up. You'd need to break it open or repair it.
Digifanatic: "Scan the tube, guys?"
Aribar: "I do not like this..." *Looks all about the room, trying to make sure they aren't being ambushed.*
Deloth: "I'm more interested in that broken door over there."
Digifanatic: "No problem."
Metal Man (GM): You get the feeling... ..the computer is watching you. Aribar would in specific feel such from anything the computer could ostensibly be watching from. Including all the screens, the control panel, the doors, etc.
Aribar tries to shake off a few shivers going down his spine.* "Maybe it's just my aversion to technology, but... I really don't like that computer."
Deloth walks over to the broken door and tries to see if there's a crack or something he can look through.
Aribar: "Just a bad feeling.."
Metal Man (GM): It looks like... a person was smashed into the other side of this door. Wait... ...they smashed it intentionally. You could pry it open, breaking it open. However you don't like the idea a person killed themself just to keep you from opening that door.
Deloth steps WAAAAAY back from that one...
Metal Man (GM): Especially since they probably did it to protect the other crew members... wherever they are... if they haven't all been electrocuted or something.
Digifanatic is unsure if he really should use his computer-specialized component with his Dex and scan that computer in the room or not.
Metal Man (GM): The lone control panel in the room seems safe enough.
Deloth: "Oy... our mission target might be back there, but... yow."
Aribar: "I don't think we have to worry about Innotek here. More like the security that took care of them.."
Deloth shakes himself violently to attempt to get rid of the sudden attack of shivers from that thought... ugh.
Digifanatic: "What is it, Deloth?"
Metal Man (GM): The control panel switches click all by themselves. Odd.
Digifanatic: "Oh man...this is not good."
Deloth: "That broken door over there... someone smashed it intentionally. To keep something in."
Digifanatic: "Back into the other room...if we even can?!"
Metal Man (GM): It stops spontaneously. The door ahead appears to be normal. Appears to be.
Aribar turns to the control panel.* "What's going on here?"
Digifanatic: "I have no clue...I've got to scan."
Deloth turns to the broken door... and scans it. "Can you detect anything behind that?"
Digifanatic: "I want to know about the central machine first."
Dex: "That is very interesting."
Deloth: "Interesting in a good way or a bad way?"
Digifanatic pulls the chance and uses the Dex and computer component to check this central component out.
Dex: "It is the first time I have detected such a massive concentration of electricity..."
Metal Man (GM): Digi points his dex at the computer. Unfortunately for him, that's all that's necessary to jolt it out of hibernation. The switches click again, and soon screens on the walls begin turning on.
Deloth: "From what?"
Metal Man (GM): They show eyes, as if the computer is trying to see you.
Digifanatic: "Oh this is not a joke..."
Deloth freezes as he hears the switches click again..."
???: "KRAGAGARGGG!!!! KYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!"
Aribar spins about the room, looking at all of the screens.* "By Whaller! What is going on?!"
Digifanatic: .oO(I didn't even try turning it on!)
Metal Man (GM): *BZZT* *SMASH* A screen blows up.
Dragoshi: "..."
Digifanatic sees if scanning it will shut it off.
Deloth puts his Dex back and whips out his sword in one fluid motion, glancing around the room. "Identify yourself!"
Dex: "Unable to deactivate machine. It was apparently waiting for the slightest reason to turn on."
???: "HA... KA... KAKAHAHAH."
Metal Man (GM): *BLAM* A crazed face appears on the hologram tube.
Digifanatic: *screw facepalm. More like fist meets forehead*
???: "IT IS YOU! HA HA HA HA HAH AHHAHAHAHAHA"
Aribar takes a step back and looks up at a screen.* "What?"
???: "At last..."
Deloth: "Beat yourself up later, Digi, we've got bigger problems!"
Metal Man (GM): *BOOOM* Another screen blows up.
Digifanatic: "I know..."
Deloth dashes at the computer sword-first. If he can skewer this thing...
???: "You have come... have come... to set me free!"
Digifanatic: "Unless you want to kill yourself, Deloth..." .oO(Oh no...oh no...this chain of events is just...)
Aribar: "What -are- you?"
???: "Ivan Robotnik left me here... and then a very evil man came and died here! I've been so very alone... let me hug you!" ...Uh-oh. It grows two large arms of electricity.
SECUR DAT: "I am Secur Dat! Here to protect the base for master! Ha ha ha KYAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!"
Aribar: "Ah... Electricity's a little harmful to us."
Deloth attempts to turn the computer into literal bits once he gets over to it.
Dragoshi: "..." *Facepalms*
Digifanatic: "Electricity was your specialty, Ari!"
Aribar: "Yeah, it's also deadly!"
Digifanatic: "That too."
Metal Man (GM): You try to attack the computer. But it is electrified.
Aribar: "Ah, Secur... Dat... We're the Questers! Aren't we allowed to be here?"
Deloth: "Grrrr..."
SECUR DAT: "KYAHAHAHAHAHA. Of course. I must welcome all guests!"
Digifanatic: "Deloth, do you think it'd work out better for us if you hurled your sword, kinda like a javelin?"
Metal Man (GM): It appears to be a battle. For the record, you cannot quite tell what the central intelligence for this is. That's only a panel. Even if you blew it up it could be running somewhere else. You probably want to disable it here. Your pre-scanning gets back one result.
Dex: "DING! SECUR DAT. One of Ivan's first security programs. It has a well-documented flaw of insanity from being left behind. It appears that the electricity in its arms can harm it just as much as it can harm you. Otherwise it is very difficult to harm a program."
SECUR DAT: "I shall hug you, Elf man! KYAHAHAAHZBZBZBBZZTTTTTTT"
Metal Man (GM): It moves its arms widely. In fact, it can probably reach the edges of the room.
Aribar: "Oh piffle!" *The elf quickly calls upon his mastery of electricity to divert the arms!*
Metal Man (GM): *BZZZTTTT* 50 damage to Aribar.
Aribar: "Gaah!"
SECUR DAT: "KYAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
Metal Man (GM): Of interest in the room: Broken door, control panel, working door. And the door you came in. And the televisions.
Aribar looks... Is there a single point where the electric arms are being emitted from?*
Metal Man (GM): Both arms originate from the projector tube's protecting glass, 15 feet up. They are close to the panel.
Deloth uses his turn to switch to the Fira bracelet and fire a blast at the panel. Can't hurt.
Digifanatic tries to fight technology with technology via a Hyper Beam Matrix...
Metal Man (GM): The Hyper Beam bounces off the tube. No damage. The Fira sets the electrified control panel on fire. The arms light on fire.
Digifanatic: "Oh well."
SECUR DAT: "KYAHAHAHAH!!!! I HAVE THE POWER!!!!"
Aribar decides to try and deal with the electrical arms the best way he knows how: to fire a beam of divine energy at the tube!*
Deloth: "Marginally better, I guess..."
Metal Man (GM): The tube deflects the beam.
Dragoshi: "...How are the arms being on fire better?"
Aribar: "Blast it all!"
Metal Man (GM): They're on fire AND electrified. It seems the control panel is serving a purpose in this fight... but it isn't a spot you can just shoot up.
Dex: "Continued readout on the damaged door indicates some energy reaction occurred in there which threatened to destroy the entire facility..."
Digifanatic: "Oh, if we don't stop this, the whole place could blow up!"
Aribar: "... I do believe that would be a good thing."
Deloth: "Ya THINK?!"
Digifanatic looks to see if the fire might die out on its own.
Metal Man (GM): Perhaps, except the machine somehow is drawing energy from the fire. There's no dirt in here, it's all steel... steel and tiles. If you somehow had enough stuff to cover the entire panel with, it would be useful. About 7 feet long, 5 feet tall.
Dragoshi: *Tries to search for a fire extinguisher or something, then.*
Metal Man (GM): Nope.
Dragoshi: "...Any of you have anything that could be used to put out a fire?" *Continues his futile searching attempt, then.*
Digifanatic: "No...maybe with some luck, we could find something."
Metal Man (GM): Nope.
Dragoshi: *One last try...*
Metal Man (GM): Nope.
SECUR DAT: "KYAHAHAHA... THERE IS NO FIRE EXTINGUISHER IN THIS BASE. It's been nearly twenty years! Anything you find is usefully useless!"
Dragoshi: *Any loose steel plates, then?* "Really, guys. Nice going with the fire."
Deloth: "Well, how the heck was I supposed to know?!"
Digifanatic: "I didn't contribute."
Deloth: "I mean, er... Ari did it."
Metal Man (GM): Dragoshi's luck is so bad he misses the steel plates beneath his own feet.
Dragoshi: *Eventually goes to rip out some other floor tiles.*
Metal Man (GM): Nope. It sticks to the ground pretty nicely. Perhaps... you should think more as to the things I told you earlier. SECURDAT hurls a massive electric-fire punch at Digi. *BLAM* 50 damage.
Digifanatic is hurting now (55/155 remaining)--however, he looks to see if there's a switch for a sprinkler system, if there is no fire extinguisher.
Metal Man (GM): Your luck continues to be bad, as you find nothing. Of course, all you need is right before you, but you aren't looking at that.
Digifanatic decides to follow Dragoshi's idea.
Metal Man (GM): The electric arms are incredibly destructive and seem to follow you wherever you go when they do attack...
Digifanatic: *Pulling out a steel plate*
Metal Man (GM): You go to rip one up, getting closer to ripping it up, but failing.
Digifanatic finishes by eating one of his Mushrooms.
Dragoshi: *Decides to go behind the tube thing, if possible, then fire a shot at the arms to get SECUR DAT's attention*
Metal Man (GM): You have his attention. What do you do then?
Dragoshi: *Try and get it to punch him of course! Also, take note that he's behind the tube...So, yea. >_>*
Metal Man (GM): Of course, steel plates are useless when... *SMASH*
Deloth starts helping Digi, seeing as he has a plan in mind...
SECURDAT: "TAKE THAT! KYAHA HA HA HA... huh?" The tube is smashed to bits, and the hologram fades with it. "NOOOOO!!!!"
Dragoshi: "And, that's the end of that."
Metal Man (GM): It was incapable of preventing from hitting itself. The controls turn to normal, bits of glass everywhere, but otherwise less... deadly than it was before. The control panel that was set on fire is also normal again.
Deloth: "...That works."
Aribar: "... Huh."
Deloth walks over to the broken door, wondering if the danger's gone now...
Digifanatic: "Odd."
Metal Man (GM): Whatever danger there was, will seemingly always be behind that door... you can't know with it locked up like that, though.
Deloth: "...Talk about a dilemma."
Dex: "I believe that is the place where they were studying The Void's remains."
Deloth: "If we don't open the door, then something really nasty might come back to attack us... but if we DO..."
Dex: "Or... lack of them."
Digifanatic: "Huh." *also takes a glance at the normal door as well...*
Dragoshi: "I see."
Dex: "Even though he is dead, this entire place seems to have a separate curse of its own..."
Metal Man (GM): The normal door... is normal. You can open it freely.
Digifanatic: "Want to see what's behind the other door for now?"
Aribar: "I halfway just want to turn back now, but that would be neglecting our duties.."
Deloth: "...Digi, I gotta know what's behind this broken door. I hate myself for it, but I'll hate myself even more if I don't open it."
Digifanatic: "Alright..."
Dragoshi: "That it would." *Decides to check to see what's behind the generic door of generic ice cream.* "Let's save that for later."
Deloth takes a deep breath, then leans back and Bomb Kicks the door!
Digifanatic takes a look from where he is without stepping closer yet.
Metal Man (GM): *BLAM* Smoke enters the room, then dissipates. The dead man is clearly an Innotek employee, speared by a girder. You see the main investigators here, dead around a Void-shaped burn on the floor.
Deloth: "...Oh, SHIT."
Aribar shudders...*
Metal Man (GM): The energy interference levels are high here, but, oddly... it is not from the dead mark.
Dragoshi: *Hears the BLAM, and turns around to see Del. He then glares at him* "...Okay. What the hell."
Digifanatic: "I think they're trying to revive the dang thing."
Metal Man (GM): Looking up, you would see a massive machine... clearly, somebody built it here. It is on, and, in fact, it scans all of you before activating.
???: "I was not expecting this. You should have come here... Ivan should have. It was going to be a celebration. Instead... years passed without either of you. I guess I am lucky that you came at all."
Dragoshi: "And, who are you, if I may inquire?"
Aribar shudders, not liking this either..*
Metal Man (GM): The appearance of the strangely dressed computer-man appears, with the call sign 'NOVA' underneath.
Nova: "I am that which was assumed destroyed. NOVA."
Digifanatic: .oO(Oh, geez. This again.)
Dragoshi: "...Huh."
Nova: "It is true that most of what you saw in the past was a lie. But something else went wrong which you didn't know about... because of how it happened."
Dragoshi: "Then, do tell."
Aribar looks at this face from the distant past... This ought to be interesting...
Nova: "See, when you killed The Void, it was to be a celebration like no other, right here. I had been resurrected from the clutches of the now missing Garrick and my various glitched up selves to greet you all. I got a very nice guest list... But the first person to not appear was Ivan himself... therefore nobody was told of this location. It got worse. SIMBER did not respond at all. There was hardly a trace of many others, and eventually it appeared everything had been abandoned. The Void, when he died here, told me something... I was shocked. The first time The Void looked to be in fear of something."
Dragoshi: "Well, SIMBER's with us, if that's of any good news to you. ...Or if you didn't know alrea-...Wait what"
Nova: "He said that he was unstoppable, but something worse than him killed him for good, and had taken many of my friends with it... And would sooner or later kill everyone. It was then I got a glimpse of that worse thing, but it was too blinding to behold properly."
Digifanatic: "The strange thing is that I find it almost hard to believe the Void could even make it here..."
Nova: "It burnt The Void into the ground like he was made of cheap construction paper."
Digifanatic: "I kinda thought he died on the spot."
Deloth: "...Did you get even a glimpse of it?"
Nova: "It was a man. That was all I could tell."
Aribar: "Didn't -we- kill the Void?"
Digifanatic: "Yeah... We've assumed that we did."
Nova: "Yes, but you forget The Void never followed the rules of reality."
Digifanatic: "Heh, true. You've got me there."
Nova: "I cannot know why he came here, when he knew that he would have been killed most surely. It is apparent it was an echo of what you saw when you fought him... But now that you are here... I need you to see this."
Metal Man (GM): It shows an image of Eisnaught. A man-shaped silhouette appears. A brilliant flash. All of it is gone.
Nova: "This happened as well. Whoever did all of this was doing so when the world was being reorganized. The Void's lies were destroyed... but so were some allies as well."
Digifanatic: "That town just can't stop being destroyed."
Nova: "Well, it can now. Eisnaught has been gone forever since The Void, thanks to that... thing. Ivan Robotnik's last message indicates he went to get his city back from the thing. I fear it got him too. It may have gotten Garrick as well."
Deloth lowers his head in a moment of silence...
Nova: "Wolfman... VG... it is much worse than any mere phantasm, or even The Void. It strikes silently and erases permanently. Everywhere it goes, Innotek is often involved. Ironically, you probably saved me from its terrible vengeance by killing those men."
Aribar: "If it's worse than the Void... How are we supposed to even stand up to it?"
Nova: "I... do not know. I can, however note these... Innotek people... have a strange relation to Eisnaught. And therefore, I ask you go and retrieve their information. They conveniently left an uplink in the other room. If you could pick it up?"
Deloth nods and heads to the normal door, pushing it open.
Metal Man (GM): You go and push it open, and find a transmitter. Plugged into an inactive Innotek computer. You can snatch it wholesale.
Digifanatic: *walks in*
Deloth picks that up and heads back to Nova, wondering how they always seem to end up in fights with massive, world-ending creatures...
Metal Man (GM): The Void did it! Wait, he's dead... ...maybe he did it anyway? :p You take it in.
Nova: "That should be close enough... accessing... ... ...Hm. That is odd."
Metal Man (GM): Nova brings up an image of a large Innotek building over at Saffron City.
Deloth: "Oh, MAN..."
Nova: "They apparently moved in here and have some Eisnaught information there. If you could take it from them and bring it here... We may be able to find out if Eisnaught was destroyed, or teleported."
Digifanatic: "Hmm...sounds doable. And who knows, judging by Eisnaught."
Nova: "As for... this wrecked base..." He chuckles. "You destroyed the machine which prevented me from maintaining it. It is what was once called modules, but in reality was a poor nickname for Ivan's bases. There are more. The Strider base was built atop the remains of one by the ignorant people named GUN. It appears things will get rougher now... as the Innotek people know you are trouble."
Aribar: "Great.."
Dragoshi: "Of course. :/"
Digifanatic: "Why wouldn't it be?"
Metal Man (GM): A warp to HQ appears.
Nova: "You are... free to go, then."
Digifanatic: "Thank you for your information."
Deloth nods and enters the warp silently.
Digifanatic: *to the others* "Man...just what sort of form could be worse than The Void?" *warps out*
Dragoshi: *Exits, stage left even.*
Digifanatic: "Just this strange silhouette-like guy and..."
Aribar: *Belatedly warps.*
Metal Man (GM): And... Mission complete.