CONFRONTATION - Story - Chapter 10: Revenge of the Past

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Date: 6:06:36 PM, September 25th; 6:05:03 PM, September 29th; 4:23:18 PM, September 30th, 2012.
Illian MacGregor: *C* "I've detected some more activity on the surface. I also have found a new member to help you on your mission. He's... one of the Brawlers, but upgraded. Suited to the sort of stealth you're currently doing. When you are ready I'll send him in."
Valron: *C* "Perfect. Stealth seems to be the keyword this time around, so go for it. Unless you thing sending him into a room full of skeletons isn't the hottest idea."
Metal Man (GM): Yes. You can even talk on the comms.
Illian MacGregor: "Normally it wouldn't. But there's a disturbance occurring at Jack's HQ. They're likely to be distracted. I'll just narrow down the location so he shows up in the most stealthy spot."
Azon: *C* "Skeletons? How tough could they be? A shot to the joints should shut them down..."
Valron: *C* "Don't fight them. They'd explode all over you."
Illian MacGregor: "So far they have proven to be fairly flimsy, so that would be correct... the part where they explode is also correct..."
Azon: *C* "Bomb skeletons. Diabolic..."
Illian MacGregor: "It's kind of problematic, yes." *C* "Anyway, walk into the portal when ready, Anonyman or... Azon, is it? Seems your registration in my databank might be a bit outdated... seems you're not the same as you used to be. Probably for the better."
Azon: *C* "Yes, Azon is proper now. I've undergone... surgery." He steps into the portal and stands straight. "Port in!"
Metal Man (GM): Gibby would vanish and Azon would appear in his place.
Illian MacGregor: *C* "Hm. Seems I accidentally made it a bit too close to you... oh well. Gibby appears to be asleep anyway."
Valron: *C* "Probably for the best, then."
Illian MacGregor: *C* "Carry on wrecking the train, call back when you're done. Illian out." *Click.*
Metal Man (GM): Up ahead is the Trevor's goon skeletons. They look like fake Russian uniforms on skeletal bodies. With AK-47s. There's three of them patrolling an open flatcar, complete with rows of boxes between them.
Valron: *He nods* "Aye. Quite fortunate of us. Now, let's find a less... conspicuous spot to slip into." *He says as he goes to sneak over behind one of the rows of boxes, if possible.*
Metal Man (GM): Hm. Move silently roll/Stealth roll. The skeletons see nothin'. You're in a row of boxes, behind, out of sight of the first skeleton. The skeletons seem pretty dumb. There are no handrails on the cars. The boxes sit there, you have no clue what's inside them. They seem rather heavy. They're tall enough to completely conceal you.
Valron: *Looks over to Azon* "So... what now?"
Azon: *looks over toward his next destination, best view he can get without compromising position* "There's two more... just keep momentum, it seems."
Valron looks the boxes over, checking to see if there's a tarp covering them or if not.
Metal Man (GM): You have to get over the boxes... you could try to climb on the side of the train cars, but that's risky... There's no tarp covering them; they sit in place due to being super heavy.
Valron: "Hmm... Do you think we could manage to toss the skeletons off the cars?"
Azon: "How well can you toss an AK-47?"
Valron: "I was thinking the skeletons themselves, not the weapons."
Metal Man (GM): Yes, Gibby, unless you've seen Anonyman before.
Illian MacGregor: *C* "I managed to wake up Gibby. All it took was cooking bacon in front of him. Sending him back now that you're on a wider area."
Azon: "You'd have to disarm them to discount the weight of the gun. Point is, if you can't toss an AK-47, you can't toss an explosive skeleton with an AK-47."
Metal Man (GM): Gibby shows up next to you. He's so short even standing he's behind the boxes.
Gibby: "HEY! Where is everyone?!"
Valron: "Hey, I'm pretty strong. A skeleton with a weapon is nothing to me."
Gibby: "I don-MMPH!"
Metal Man (GM): Gibby's words come out as "HMMPHPMPH"
Gibby shuts up.
Azon: *looks back to Valron* "If I can distract them with a pellet shot, you can get behind them. Think we can do it?"
Valron: "Though the real question is... how dumb are they? Think if we just knock on the boxes they'll blindly check 'em?"
Azon: "...yes, I do."
Gibby nods in agreement.
Azon: "The other option is 'blow them up'."
Valron: "Alright. Gibby, you're helping me with skeleton-tossing duty."
Gibby gives a 'fins-up' to Valron.
Metal Man (GM): The skeletons keep marching around, absent-mindedly.
Valron glances to Azon, nodding as if to give him the go-ahead.
Azon: "Fire a pellet, or knock on the box?"
Gibby: "Mmphmph."
Valron: "Knock on the box."
Gibby: "bleh...yeah, box knocking."
Valron: *Would wait for a skeleton to get close before he actually does do his thing.*
Metal Man (GM): The skeletons look to the noise... The first one doesn't even notice it. The two further back start moving towards the noise.
Valron waits for when one of the skeletons is close enough so that he can just swiftly peek out, grab it, and pull himself back into his boxcover in one go.
Metal Man (GM): Hmmm. Roll a CMB check.
Gibby would do the same with the other skeleton, but due to his height he would creep around the box, grab the skeleton's leg and pull him down, dragging him to the back with the others.
Dragoshi: *1d20+7 Got it, coach!*
Metal Man (GM): That blows away the CMD that skeleton has. Dragging it into the boxcar then?
Valron: *Yes. Then he will proceed to toss it off the side, seeing as there's no railing for it to catch onto.*
Metal Man (GM): Gibby fails to grab a skeleton while Valron throws one off the side. The skeleton tries to shoot Gibby.
Gibby: "Dang it!" *He gets hit.*
Metal Man (GM): 5 damage.
Gibby falls. "Owie..."
Metal Man (GM): The skeleton you threw explodes a while later, causing the entire train to shake a little. You're now facing the two skeletons... roll init! BATTLE. Order: Skeleton 2, Valron, Azon, Gibby, Skeleton 3. Skeleton 2's turn. Skeleton 2 shoots at Valron. MISS.
Azon: "Those explosions aren't toys... hm."
Valron: "There's a reason I want to get into as few of these situations as possible."
Metal Man (GM): Yes, Valron, without improved grappling.
Valron: *Will chance it anyways, and attempt to slip by the attempted gunfire as he tries to grab Skeleton 2*
Metal Man (GM): He tries to shoot you... 9 damage. Continue by trying to grapple him, with a CMB roll. To add insult to insult he blocks the grab.
Azon: *if unnoticed yet, tries to sidle along the box and knock the AK-47 out of Skeleton 2's grip with the saber hilt*
Metal Man (GM): He's unnoticed, yes, so you get a chance to do that without the whole AOO. Roll CMB for that though. Yours is d20+2. The skeleton blocks the attempt easily. In a row behind the boxes which you are on the other side of.
Gibby takes out his longsword, jumps up on top of a box and attempts to slice skeleton 3's head clean off.
Metal Man (GM): You can use one, or not; up to you. 1. Ok, reroll it.
Gibby: *d20+9 second verse not the same as the first.*
Metal Man (GM): Tada! Now you know why I hate systems that behave like this. Of course TECHNICALLY skeletons are only really damageable by smashing damage, but that's mostly nonsense that annoys me. Stupid Pathfinder. You can reroll again and then once more, but you need your hero points. No, just wait until next time is my advice. Skeleton 3. Skeleton 3 decides to shoot at Azon. Hit, 6 damage. Skeleton 2. Skeleton 2 shoots at Valron. Oops! And you continue to take damage, sure, take the 9 damage instead. I am renaming these Trevor's A@#kicking skeletons because they are so very nasty. They're right next to one another. Don't forget that they explode, too.
Valron: *Attempts to shoot the AK-47 out of Skeleton 3's hand with the Borne-22, attempting to disarm it instead of straight-up kill it.* (Any special rolls I need to make, or?)
Metal Man (GM): To any damage, actually, if they're killed. This would be rolling with a -2 penalty for your called shot. It'd be another form of CMB manuever, but yes. You hit it, knocking the gun out of its hand. No damage to it though.
Valron: "Now disarm the other one!"
Metal Man (GM): CMB roll to see if you hit it, first. Mmm... barely miss. Tricky to get a handle on these things.
Azon: "At this point, it might be better to run circles around them until they fall over."
Gibby can't stand these stupid skeletons anymore! He puts his sword away, brings up his shield and bashes Skeleton two with it.
Metal Man (GM): You hit it right in the face. Not enough to kill it... just barely.
Gibby: "HA! Take THAT, you boney bastards!"
Metal Man (GM): Skeleton 3. He has no AK-47. He decides to violently explode. Reflex saves for everyone not Azon. Yes! Everyone takes 3 damage. Then Skeleton 2 explodes! Another reflex save!
Dragoshi: *1d20+5 oh Christie.*
Metal Man (GM): No, you didn't. I meant only the people who had to save. Half damage to Dragoshi, full damage to Gibby. The crates are exploded. Bits of gold are everywhere. Big, heavy gold bars.
Gibby: "Uuuhhh... owww..."
Azon: "Oh look, we're getting paid already!"
Gibby suddenly realizes that he's in a sea of gold.
Valron: "And that's why I didn't want to get into a prolonged fire fight with them..." *He coughs, drinking a potion.* (2d8, right?)
Gibby: $_$ "So... worth it..."
Valron: "Might be cursed, though, considering that this is Jack we're talking about."
Azon: *C* "Illian, come in."
Gibby: "So do not care." *He scoops up bits of gold with his hat.*
Illian MacGregor: *C* "Yes?"
Metal Man (GM): The gold glows an eerie purple color.
Azon: *C* "Status report: 3 skeletons neutralized, allies damaged to 2 explosions, minor bullet wound sustained on left arm. Also mountains of eerie purple gold bars discovered."
Valron: *C* "Pretty sure it's cursed."
Illian MacGregor: *C* "Don't carry those bars, they'll probably kill you in the long run. Instead..."
Valron: *C* "Should we shove 'em off the train, then?"
Metal Man (GM): A bar of C-4 is warped in.
Gibby is holding some bars.
Valron: "...Convenient. Thanks, boss."
Gibby: "What's that now?"
Illian MacGregor: *C* "Press the red button and get off that train car onto the next one."
Valron: "Gibby, put those down. They'll kill you."
Azon: *C* "Roger that. Thanks for the help, sir!"
Gibby: "Skeletons kill. Gold heals all wounds..."
Valron: "No, seriously. If Illian says it's a bad idea to take those, then I'd prolly' heed his advice..."
Illian MacGregor: *C* "If you want gold, do the mission right and earn it the normal way. You DO like gold coins, right?"
Gibby: "Oh yes sir, very much, sir. Love it."
Metal Man (GM): *Sound of Illian spilling hundreds of them onto the ground.*
Gibby is rubbing a gold bar against his body.
Azon: *chuckles under breath*
Illian MacGregor: *C* "Well, consider how much more portable and spendable they are than those bars."
Gibby: "Hmm..."
Illian MacGregor: *C* "You have to slow yourself down and curse yourself for gold no one is going to actually take as currency."
Valron: "In any case..." *He laughs a little, and waits for the others to be done before pressing the red button and runs off to the next train car, and motioning for the others to follow. As in he doesn't press the button just yet, but. He will when it's time.*
Illian MacGregor: *C* "Or you can just walk down a few cars and kill more undead beings and earn a pile of coins that are good."
Gibby: "Fine! I won't take cursed gold... today."
Valron: "Or sneak by them. That's also a good idea."
Illian MacGregor: *C* "I'm not Xavier, so I won't force you... just keep that in mind."
Valron: "...So, are we good to go?"
Gibby: "I vote for pile of gold."
Valron: "'cause I'm down for leaving this stuff to be exploded and moving on."
Azon: *C* "These skeletons were not run of the mill. They had the reflexes of a fox."
Valron: "I think we were just really unlucky."
Illian MacGregor: *C* "True. Jack doesn't play around with his skeletons."
Valron: "Probably what with all the cursed gold laying about."
Illian MacGregor: *C* "Be cautious, there's more ahead."
Valron: "Though... yeah, they did sting pretty badly."
Illian MacGregor: *C* "Illian out."
Azon: *click* "Alright, let's move."
Gibby: "We can take 'em! I'm almost feeling better already." *He limps.* "Onward!"
Valron: "'oy. At least drink a potion, first. You should still have all 3."
Gibby: "Huh? OH! Yeah, sure." *He drinks a potion.* "Mmm... purple."
Metal Man (GM): Up ahead is a crane. And next to it are even more of the boxes. And even more of the machinegun skeletons.
Valron presses the red button once everyone's all good and ready before heading off into the next room.
Metal Man (GM): This car is a bit different, as it appears to have a path to the crane, one skeleton guards it. Two others guard the far end of the car, which is dangerously stacked with yet more gold. Well within range of 160. The crane is too high up to leap at, but you only have one skeleton in your way as far as getting to the crane is concerned. A ladder reaches up it... unless you want to try some dangerous side-car climbing.
Valron: *To Azon and Gibby.* "Stay back for the moment. I'm gonna try and snipe that guy..."
Gibby: "Good luck."
Valron: *Goes to slip behind an inconspicuous crate before he takes aim at the skeleton guarding the crane.* (Any rolls I need to make before I get to squall-shooty?)
Metal Man (GM): No, you're cool to start shooting from here, Valron. You even have cover! The crane one, yes. The far skeletons, no.
Dragoshi: *1d20+6 Deadly Aim...*
Metal Man (GM): Your deadly aim winds up deadly flying off into the air. The skeleton looks... sees nothing... keeps walking. Azon: Best that you just shoot from cover, they can't seem to see you at all if you're in cover and far enough away. No rolls or modifiers needed because screw these evil dice odds
Gibby isn't one for sniping, so he sits on his shield and waits for the other two to finish up.
Valron takes a breath as he readjusts his aim, waiting a few moments before he tries again... That is, after Azon takes his shot at it.
Metal Man (GM): Ah. Roll the attack. It's a d20+5 for your attack roll, based on your stats. Damage occurs only if you hit.
Azon: "Hm."
Metal Man (GM): You miss entirely. Instead you hit a lever, causing the crane to malfunction and smash everything off the train car!
Azon: "I forgot to calibrate my visor."
Gibby: "!"
Metal Man (GM): You sit there, standing before the remains of the train car. No skeletons.
Gibby: "...g-good job..."
Metal Man (GM): You may proceed. And/or wonder what the heck caused that to happen.
Azon: "...that's how we do it in Kotobuki... yep!"
Valron: "...Good job."
Gibby gets around all... that... and moves on.
Valron: *Moving on!*
Metal Man (GM): You move through the wreckage, finally seeing the end of the train car. At the end of the train car, someone is controlling the engine... and the rest of the gold.
???: "What do you mean everyone exploded? What do you mean that the train car just got wiped out?"
Gibby: $_$ "There it is... gold!"
???: "What is this travesty? And now you're under attack in your headquarters?"
Gibby: ;_; "Aw, come on..."
Valron: *Just stays hidden for the moment, listening in.*
Metal Man (GM): You see the skeleton. It wears a GUN uniform. On its lapel is... Sergeant Levis. You could, Valron.
Azon: *w* "If you mess this up, they won't have gold where you're going. Just silver."
Dragoshi: *1d20+7 Let's do it to it.*
Sergeant Levis: "Well, fine, I'll just find and kill them myself, just like I did the Questers."
Gibby: "...silver is like gold, but a different color right?"
Metal Man (GM): You find a handy dandy SELF DESTRUCT switch!
Azon: *w* "Silver is the gold of losers."
Valron: *Lets out a small chuckle as he sees the self-destruct switch* *W* "I see the self-destruct switch, guys!" *He points it out.*
Gibby: "Push it push it push it push it. Push it push push it push it. Push it."
Valron looks it over, judging to see if he can try and activate it by shooting the danged thing...
Metal Man (GM): It's a lever, you pull it downwards.
Azon: "If I can shoot a lever to smash a train, you can shoot a lever to blow one up."
Gibby: "But don't hit the gold please."
Metal Man (GM): Sergeant Levis takes out a shotgun and cocks it, then goes to walk to your position.
Sergeant Levis: "I always knew the right thing to do: Walk on the train cars, shooting everything not already dead."
Metal Man (GM): He's moving right towards you, but doesn't see you yet.
Gibby: "We could take him!"
Valron: *Would try and slip by Levis when he sees the right moment, not wanting to be on the business end of his shotgun.*
Metal Man (GM): Stealth/move silently check, Valron
Dragoshi: *1d20+7 Got it, coach...?*
Metal Man (GM): Levis looks even meaner now that he's been dead a while. And yet, he does not see Valron sneak beside him. You can now throw the switch.
Valron: *AND THEN THE SELF-DESTRUCT SWITCH IS THROWN.*
Azon: *C, w* "Colonel, we found a self-destruct switch and we'll need a quick pull if we get it off. The sergeant is heading our way, doesn't notice us yet. Comrade Valron has pulled the switch. Over."
Illian MacGregor: *C* "Warping you ou--"
Metal Man (GM): *WHOOSH* You warp back onto the Eternal Dauntless in time to see the Gold Train go KABLOOIE!
Valron: "Well, that went smoothly!"
Metal Man (GM): Hooray! No more skeletons that you can never hit! Hooray! No more gold to be used for evil!
Gibby: "Wait NO!- ..."
Valron: "It's alright, Gibby. There's still coins for us."
Gibby: "It's... gone...'"
Valron: "Lots and lots of coins."
Illian MacGregor: "...And now your coins."
Gibby: *Sniff* "I was going to name them all..."
Metal Man (GM): +500 EXP and coins to Valron and Gibby; +800 coins and EXP to Azon. FYI: Yes, that is me trying to catch Azon up in EXP/coins.
Gibby accepts his gold and hugs it. "It'll have to do..."
Metal Man (GM): I'm not gonna let less active or new people get crunched by not having been here first.
Illian MacGregor: "Now... I must consider the next move. Jack has been disrupted for the moment, so we have some time to think."
Valron: "What exactly happened to him, anyways?"
Gibby: "And reflect on those we've lost..."
Illian MacGregor: "You may talk among yourselves as I plan, or just rest in general. I plan to open up a shop in the armory so you can buy more things. You'll have to ask Azon for his backstory; I have to calculate odds on different ways to destroy Jack permanently. Good work, team." *He'd salute, then march off.*
Valron: "Also, I thought we were planning on getting the crystals for that ink thing anyways, but... Regardless." *He nods, returning the salute.*
Gibby puts his gold away. A proper memorial would take place in his room later. He turns to Azon.
Illian MacGregor: *Glances over his shoulder* "Yes. That is one of the variables for me to consider."
Gibby: "So... what's your deal?"
Illian MacGregor leaves the room.
Azon: *turns his attention to Gibby* "It's quite the story, spanning many eras. Still wish to hear it?"
Valron: "Well, we have time and we're not in a train full of skeletons, so. May as well!"
Gibby: "Feel free to skip an era or two."
Azon: "Should start with this. Ever heard of NetNavis?"
Gibby: "If it's not something I can smash, I don't know much about it."
Azon: "Well, they were these sentient programs designed to be a partner for humans, and to navigate the internet. Trouble went down in my hometown. Big trouble. People trying to merge the internet with the physical world."
Valron: "That sounds a bit messy."
Gibby: "But think of all the free spam you could eat!"
Azon: "It was. After it was cleaned up... I was created. A patrol Netnavi for Kotobuki's home network."
Gibby: "Kotowhozit?"
Azon: "My home. Sort of."
Gibby: "So... are you a robot thing... or a hologram thing?"
Azon: "I'm... both."
Gibby pokes Azon.
Valron: "I'm guessing the- yeah."
Gibby: "Ooooo..."
Valron: "I was going to guess the latter, but then he became the former."
Gibby looks down at his fin and tries to shift it into a shape. He only gives himself a cramp. "Humph..."
Azon: "Anyway, may I continue?"
Valron: "Go ahead."
Gibby: "Sure."
Azon: "We had a few more scares after that. Some thing called the alpha virus. Then an asteroid. Then some... possession thing... and then some beasts. Two heroes were always on the scene. Megaman and Protoman."
Gibby: "I knew a megaman once! He was cool."
Azon: "Yes, there have been many different models of Megaman. He's quite a legend."
Valron: *Nods.* "Sounds about right..."
Azon: "As such... I wasn't really needed... until one point. They needed larger numbers. More heroes. I was told, with the group, to seek out a glitch they planted in the deepest part of the internet. Of course, we weren't told they planted it... they were testing us."
Valron: "For what?"
Azon: "Interstellar combat."
Valron: "...Against?"
Azon: "Some freak stationed himself in a far-off planet and tried to destroy everything with... his own planet. Seriously, he turned its own minerals into seeking missiles."
Valron: "Huh. A tad over-the-top, there."
Azon: "Along the way... we saw the saddest thing... explained why the internet was receiving the butt end of it, too. An entirely planet had suffered from merging with the internet."
Valron: "...Wow."
Azon: "Anyway... after that ordeal was all done and dealt with... Kotobuki was peaceful. We were just happy to be alive. We... weren't needed anymore."
Gibby finishes picking his "nose" and flicks whatever he had off his fin. "So, how did you get to be a member of our team?"
Azon: "Well, they still had all our data. They started a new project, inspired by the Kotobuki incident and that planet. Create the next generation of robots out of data. I was built first, but then the project's funding was cut when they decided energy crystals were more cost effective. They powered me up at the Stadium a couple eras ago. Sent me on a mission, came back and put me back in stasis. I was outdated."
Valron: "And you came back to join up with Illian after a couple upgrades, which brings us here, yes?"
Azon: "Light and a few others decided to touch me up based on the old reploids. Data is extremely flexible, you know. Exactly. They called me an "EXE to Z" model."
Gibby: "They can call you that, but what should I call you?"
Azon: "Azon."
Gibby: "Azon... alright then, welcome aboard!" *He offers a fin to shake.'*
Valron: "Aye. Nice to meet you."
Azon: "Thank you! It's nice to meet you both, too."
Gibby: "I say we celebrate with food! Come Azon, I have many hams to show you."
Azon: "My partner told me much about ham. I must see this."
Gibby waddles to the kitchen.
Valron: *Chuckles, following Gibby along* "And the many things you can make with them."
Gibby: "I'd tell you, but it spans many eras."
Valron: "I think we all do, really. Especially considering how Gibby and I are both pretty much one of the few remaining Nintendus Questers. Honestly? Don't remember much before, but I was once a Quester who went by the name of 'Dragoshi'. I joined up with them some time after they defeated Kuja. Suffice to say, those days were rather... chaotic. Especially once we got to Genetia. Everyone just seemed to be angry forever at that point in time and I honestly have no idea what was up with that."
Azon: "There are a lot of weird forces floating around here."
Valron: "Then some other stuff happened, like the world ending and us having to slay The Void again, and then after that whole mess we kinda... sorta... blew everything up. It's a long story and it involves the personification of that world having gone mad and getting blown to bits by a remote. I think."
Azon: "Wouldn't be surprised if it was a side-effect of that planet smasher."
Valron: "Then we just continued on, doing stuff at Alsa, though I just... sort of faded out after a while. Just didn't really like associating with the Questers at that point, at to it they just seemed a bit too... dense."
Azon: "Alsa is particularly interesting... what's its deal?"
Valron: "Honestly? I'm not the best person to ask about that. My memory never was entirely keen. Anyways, after Alsa... I just kind of continued doing my own thing, though near the end of the Questers' run, I popped in to help them deal with a few things. And kill Evil Wolfman, which in turn, required getting rid of Smash Energy for good."
Azon: "For good, huh? Hard to drive an innate force to extinction... sure you didn't just split its bases?"
Gibby is gnawing on a ham-bone.
Valron: "We had to burn it all up, just to make sure."
Azon: "Hm... I'll be convinced you just turned it into something else, until I'm given proper evidence..."
Valron: "Might be best to ask Illian about that, then,"
Azon: "When you burn a material, you end up splitting it into a few other materials, though difficult to bring back to its original state. So maybe you split Smash Energy into the ingredients that went into it... and released the actual "energy" part of it."
Valron: "Though, for what it matters... Evil Wolfman himself is still around, albeit shunted off to some far corner of reality... albeit much, much less intelligent. And stuck in a Transformer with The Void and Autumnus. Add to it Evil Wolfman feeds off of Time Energy nowadays, anyways."
Azon: "...Time Energy..."
Valron: "Yeah... stuff that's primarily used by Time Cops and the like."
Azon: "We NetNavis used some... time manipulation in combat. Very, very inconsequential stuff. Slow time, speed time, skip ahead, call back the past..."
Valron: "They can do straight-up time travel."
Azon: "On a large scale interfering with actual space-time... that is scary. Considering just calling back the past state of a weapons folder was destructive enough..."
Valron: "Mm. They're not as frightening as they sound and we're on pretty decent terms with them, especially considering how I... sort of helped to overthrow their old leader."
Azon: "That's a slight relief. Though if the devices go into the wrong hands... we'll need a counter."
Valron: "...Kind of a long story, and it involved me accidentally bringing back a few people from the recycling bin of reality."
Azon: "Sounds exactly like the weapon we used... it was banned outside of the UnderNet, anyway."
Valron: "Though, again, like I mentioned before, those people have been shunted off to some far-off corner of reality, though I do worry about the long-reaching ramifications that may bring up..."
Azon: "If we can mess up space-time, we can sort it back together."
Gibby: *Gulp* *You sure about that? Time's pretty tricky, even for an egghead like me.*
Valron: "The real problem is, like I said before, that two of those people I shunted off were The Void and Evil Wolfman. ...And Autumnus, who was the aforementioned leader."
Gibby taps on his forehead.
Azon: "Well, did the Time Cops ever look into a way to reverse-engineer time travel?"
Valron: "Oh, and The Arbiter. Though I kinda keep forgetting he exists."
Gibby: "They tried, but they just didn't have... the time!"
Valron: "To be honest, I'm not entirely sure. Maybe something you could ask Illian, though. He's generally pretty on the ball with that sort of thing."
Gibby: *Ba dum tsh!*
Azon: "It's a very chaotic reality we live in, isn't it?"
Valron: "To say the least."
Gibby: "For the moment. Reality could change again with the snap of a finger."
Valron: "It's a mess, though we're trying to make the best of it."
Azon: "We are the Order of Order, aren't we? We can sort this mess out. Just need to get Xavier to stop playing Pick Up 52 with the multiverse, first."
Gibby: "That's like asking a maid to clean up every dust bunny in the galaxy."
Valron: "First, we need to prepare. There's a lot of fearsome beings out there, and we aren't exactly entirely ready to face them."
Azon: "Especially not me. I don't even have a grapple module installed yet."
Gibby: "Well as long as they don't all come knocking at our door at once, we'll be fine." *He glances out a window.*
Valron: "Which is why we have a plan in motion... Though we're going to need to get some magic ink. Though, the place where we're going has some annoying reality-warping golems. ...Though, fortunately, we should have a device with a barrier made to nullify that ready in a couple hours."
Gibby: "It's felt like weeks!"
Azon: "...so you do have anti-warping mechanisms. Couldn't the same be applied to stop time travel, or even cause it to backfire horribly?"
Valron: "It's only been recently made. Like... we just picked up the magic needed to make that sort of device today, even."
Azon: "What's the source element of the magic?"
Gibby: "That old wizard dude could tell you."
Valron: "Not exactly something I'd be familiar with. It'd be best to ask Fizban about that, honestly, seeing as he's the one that found the spellbook containing it."
Azon: "I will have to ask him. I'm still not convinced Smash Energy is vanquished... just forced into a latent state."
Gibby: "Good luck trying to talk to him when he's not napping."
Azon: "Why's that?"
Gibby: "Other than wizard stuff, that's all he does around here! I tried to stack books on his head once. He's not very balanced."
Azon: "...perhaps you should feign interest in wizardry."
Valron: "It actually is a rather interesting subject. Not something I can entirely comprehend, but."
Gibby: "No way! I don't need spells and magic words to make me a better fighter. It's all about muscle!" *He taps on his chest.*
Valron: "Versatility is key."
Azon: "You have to treat it like science. It functions quite the same."
Valron: *He chuckles as he takes a bite out of a large and cheese hoagie.*
Gibby: "Making a bunny disappear from a hat is NOT science! It's voodoo witchcraft!"
Valron: *He chews a bit and swallows, before speaking.* "Sufficiently advanced technology and all that, right?"
Azon: "Exactly."
Valron: "In any case... I don't believe any one thing is superior over another. It's all a matter of what works best in an exact situation."
Gibby mumbles and bites his ham.
Azon: "Except... magic seems to be tapping into one's own spiritual connection to control energy."
Valron: "That's why I feel versatility is king."
Azon: "Indeed! An electric shock is no different from Lightning magic. They're just conjured differently."
Gibby: "Go on and do your hocus pocus then. But when you accidentally send yourselves into the 8th dimension I won't shed a tear!"
Azon: "We'll see... at least we'd want to, but we'd be gone forever."
Metal Man (GM): Recap The Questers went back in time with Xavier, plotting to take the Fighter Remote and regain their old mojo. Well, all two or three of them. Demon distracted Mewtwo a little TOO well and set off the alarms, but then Ederick rode Xavier like a Yoshi through the spikes. All was well until they met a non-messed up Mack, who demanded an explanation. Instead... it appeared he was going to get a beatdown. Continuation.
Mack: "You're not going to get th' Fighter Remote, ye loons!"
Metal Man (GM): BATTLE. Roll inits.
Ederick Holmes: *d20+4 , plus I think something neat.*
Metal Man (GM): Order: Mack, Ederick, Xavier.
Ederick Holmes takes the initiative to quickly draw his pistol and fire off a snapshot at Mack before anyone else can act. (Gunslinger's Initiative)
Metal Man (GM): Ouch. Roll it. He gets nailed right in the arm.
Mack: "Ach! Ye petty scoundrel!"
Metal Man (GM): He breathes in deeply, cursing you under his breath.
Mack: "You want a piece of this? See my gun then!"
Metal Man (GM): He fires his nailgun at you... he has autofire... and I forget how that works but I'm using it anyway!
Ederick Holmes can't maneuver well in the hallway and takes the shot.
Metal Man (GM): Hm. What's your AC? No prob.
Ederick Holmes gets off of Xavier and rushes up to Mack, a dagger in hand. He tries to shank the repairman.
Metal Man (GM): You shank him all right. He stumbles back.
Mack: "What are ye? You're no Questers?"
Metal Man (GM): Xavier makes a really bizarre face and then takes out a chainsaw that sets its blade on fire when activated.
Xavier Ridgecrest: "You're not in Rapland anymore, Macky Mack Mack!"
Metal Man (GM): He then brazenly flails at Mack with it. Mack is KO'd by the destruction. Xavier sets himself on fire. He takes 3 damage as he puts it out.
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Sorry for horning in on the combat there, but we don't have a lot of time here. You could have taken him, but we need that remote... and I don't think Mewtwo is going to let us stand around and fight."
Metal Man (GM): He takes out his dex.
Joel: "This is Joel. What do you need now?"
Xavier Ridgecrest: "What's going on with Mewtwo?"
Ederick Holmes reloads his pistol and pockets his weapons. "Right."
Joel: "Well, he's ejected Demon with the barrier that ejects people and that time thing happened and he seems to be missing again."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Dammit! This is as bad as Ozzie when Locos tried to warp him in!"
Joel: "Now he's headed for your position."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "All right. You get the remote, Arib--Ederick, I'll fight Mewtwo. You get the cool job, because NOBODY wants to fight Mewtwo... not even me."
Metal Man (GM): He glances to the floor.
Xavier Ridgecrest: "... Good thing the spikes were deactivated over here. Otherwise both you and Mack would have been impaled. Be careful though, there might be more." *Takes out his pistol* "Be caref--er I mean, insane. Do me proud. Or yourself. Or somebody else. I dunno. I suck at speeches." *Walks off to face Mewtwo.*
Metal Man (GM): The way ahead to the warp room is clear. But also to the lab. Both have heavy doors over them, but you'll probably just have to figure out a way around them... You hear Xavier clattering in the distance, yelling, and explosions. Won't have a ton of time to do this, but you have some, judging by the statements.
Mewtwo: "You are not Metal Man! Get out of his Stadium!"
Xavier Ridgecrest: "There is no crying in baseball!"
Mewtwo: "What kind of moron are you?"
Xavier Ridgecrest: "The kind who swings a flaming volley ball around!" *smashing noises, debris blocking the way to where he is.*
Metal Man (GM): The plan was to warp the Fighter Remote to the ship. Though you can change your mind now, the lab is clearly more heavily guarded. The warp room's door is just a locked sliding sideways door. The lab has a full bulkhead, it's the special lab too. Dr. Light's lab. Not some podunk place like Oak's where thieves walk in and out unbothered. The locked sliding door has no keypad or lock or anything. Seems it's controlled elsewhere.
Ederick Holmes inspects the warp room's door and tries giving the handle a good tug. He wonders if some quick brute force could get him in.
Metal Man (GM): You feel the door... it's kinda loose. It feels like it's been dented before.
Ederick Holmes tries to force the door open. Pulling it, shoulder bashing it, and so on.
Metal Man (GM): It rips open. You see the warp room. It's simple, or complex, really. There's a warp tile in the middle, and a control panel even Professor Oak can use. It's one of those optimistic future computers which seems to be able to take any location you tell it and warp things to it. Though it can only summon one portal. The portal in the center of the room cannot be moved. So imagine Portal with only one portal. That you control with a control panel.
Ederick Holmes jogs over to the computer and tries to fiddle with it to open a warp into the lab. It just seems like the limited controls will add another step to the plan.
Metal Man (GM): You open a warp into the lab, but you can't specify where. It opens up the portal, and you can't see it--there's just a warp tile there that supposedly goes to the lab. Annoying. You'll have to make a leap of faith, or not.
Ederick Holmes: "Well. This looks like fun." *He holds his pistol at the ready and takes a step onto the panel, ready to defend against some trap or guard.*
Metal Man (GM): You walk into the lab. In the lab is Dr. Light. He's standing before a pedestal with the fighter remote. The remote is locked. He looks at you... as if he was expecting you. He crosses his arms.
Dr. Light: "Surely you realize what you're doing here? Time Travel is a serious thing! If you take this remote it could have far-reaching consequences. I've been studying this time travel that has been going on, including Dr. Wily's own, you know! I'm wise to all of these things you have been doing. It doesn't have to be this way." *He taps his foot.* "What is it you really want?"
Ederick Holmes: "I'd kinda hope taking a super power remote would have some sort of consequence. Like givin' us super powers."
Metal Man (GM): You can also ignore him and try to run for the remote-access panel to his right. Security is bad, so if you shoved him outside of the way you could just push it...
Dr. Light: "You want power, do you? Just like Dr. Wily, do you?"
Metal Man (GM): He raises his eyebrows.
Dr. Light: "This remote won't help you! It cannot be used for such evil! I put in a device to make it stop people if they used it for evil. A virus, that will kill them if they turn evil!"
Ederick Holmes starts walking towards the remote, keeping an eye on Wily and both hands secured around his gun. "Hey, not gonna use it for evil. Just helping my boss avenge some wrongs."
Dr. Light: "You think I don't know who you are?" *He looks at you like a hawk.* "I am the only one who has traveled back and forth through time. Like I saw X and helped him in his travels, I have seen what your kind caused. Not just your future... but past your future! There are no Time Cops anymore. Nintendus of your time has left. I am the last sane man standing between total insanity!"
Editor's Note: Huh, must be the future where everything came up Xavier's way, but nobody helped him de-insane himself. (Let's just say the actual future isn't what Light says.)
Metal Man (GM): He brandishes a communicator.
Dr. Light: "I knew something would go wrong if the Maverick Hunters allowed a dimension like this to exist... I told them not to do it!"
Ederick Holmes raises an eyebrow. "Sure you ain't insane? Not from Nintendus here. Probably don't even know my name."
Dr. Light: "You give me no choice... step back or I will summon my failsafe! You're from a world created by the insane man who claims to be a Quester!" *He furrows his brow.* "You are one of his fake Questers. You have come here to make your name legitimate."
Ederick Holmes looks about the lab real quick. If the lab only has one doorway out, this could get bad fast.
Dr. Light: "Wolfman never saw it coming. Mewtwo didn't understand the importance of this device. Klumsy was too busy dealing with minor offenders. But I... what do you think I was doing this whole time? Sleeping?"
Metal Man (GM): You only have the warp out--the door out's even been sealed.
Dr. Light: "I built X to save his future. And I can prevent you from destroying your future as well! You have some goals which are not evil, but you do them in such ways as to destroy the worlds you touch. You will not destroy this one..."
Metal Man (GM): He brandishes the button on his communicator.
Dr. Light: "Get back, or I summon the Maverick Hunters to destroy you! I didn't make them through my 'Dr. Cain' alias just to let you destroy the world..."
Ederick Holmes goes to take the remote. "Think you're running on too little sleep. Little too self-righteous there, doc. If I was evil, I'd have put a bullet in you. We aren't harming anyone here who didn't wrong us first."
Dr. Light: "The Void made a mess, but in the end the people of the later timeline fixed it... but I have to protect this timeline since everyone else is gone!"
Metal Man (GM): Going to press the 'release remote' button?
Ederick Holmes goes for the button slowly before pausing. "Gonna give you one chance, doc. Answer me this."
Metal Man (GM): He waits for your question, moving his thumb off the button of the communicator to show he is humoring you.
Ederick Holmes: "Let's say you're workin' for someone who's on the run from his evil twin or something. You wanna help him out since he's done some good for you. And you want to relive the best days of the Questers. Whaddoyado?"
Dr. Light: "Take a third option." *He stares at you, the intelligence in his eyes clearly seeing through you.* "You work with him... but you don't steal the dangerous, real fighter remote, and corrupt your entire time with my ill-designed failsafe that created the likes of Evil Wolfman."
Metal Man (GM): He takes a second remote out of his pocket.
Dr. Light: "I have created a remote more suited to your task, so that you can use it but not him. So. Still going to destroy the universe just so your title can feel more real?"
Ederick Holmes: "And what's the catch with that piece?"
Dr. Light: "Only you can use it. The sane person. I visited the future. Xavier's future. Ever wondered what it's like to live inside a tornado full of magical energy ripping everything apart? Somehow... he made it happen. You on the other hand... can make it so that the remote is only used to accomplish valid goals... instead of becoming the king of the universe, or trying to make your soft drinks taste more 'awesome.' Try it yourself." *He would toss the remote near you.*
Ederick Holmes holsters his gun and walks towards the remote. "Hey, now you're making it sound like some crummy secondhand garbage."
Dr. Light: "I assure you. The original remote was my first work and had problems with it. Problems that nearly destroyed the universe. This remote was made to not leak chaos radiation everywhere. Regretfully I have to ignore that the remote they used in this time ultimately destroyed the world. But that's the cost of progress."
Ederick Holmes picks up the remote and looks it over. "If you're lyin' about this, I hope you know we'll be back."
Dr. Light: "..." *He looks down.* "In one of the realities I tried lying. That only made things worse. This is my last attempt, with a real thing, in the hope it can persuade you otherwise, since you don't take to being lied to, or even given a half-strength thing, at all. If this fails... then we all are truly doomed. So... make of it as you will. I cannot do any more than I already have done."
Ederick Holmes: "Way too melodramatic, doc. Probably your problem." *He heads towards the warp with the remote.*
Metal Man (GM): You walk into the warp. You get back, as you hear a rumbling noise. Your dex rings. (Whether or not you had it, you have it back now.)
Xavier Ridgecrest: (Dex) "Hey, you got that? I think I'm running out of ammunition, and I only managed to make Mewtwo... angrier."
Mewtwo: (Dex) "WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS? HOW COULD ANYONE RESIST MY BARRIER? WHY DO YOU KNOW WHAT I DO IN THE FUTURE? WHY WON'T YOU STOP SINGING????"
Ederick Holmes takes out the Dex. "Got the goods. Make for the warp room for a quick escape." He'd walk over to the console and reprogram it for the Wing Fortress.
Metal Man (GM): You make it, and you're good. You can walk right into it.
Ederick Holmes debates waiting for Xavier to reach the doorway for a moment before deciding to just head back to safety.
Metal Man (GM): You walk back... and Xavier catches up quick enough.
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Go, go, go! Get us out of here Joel!"
Joel: "Charging warp core..."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Oh crud. I forgot to charge the core!"
Joel: "Incoming CACs."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "...Get to the guns, Ederick! We have to shoot down those CACs!"
Wolfman: *Comms* "Questers! They're getting away with one of Dr. Light's devices! Shoot down their unknown ship... because we can't let them take it to Bowser or Ganondorf!"
Ederick Holmes rushes to the gun console. "Hey, can't be as bad as Borne, right?"
Metal Man (GM): You see three flying Arwing-like cars flying into range, wobbily and full of people who are arguing and not driving very well.
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Yeah. To be honest, they kinda suck."
Metal Man (GM): You get the first shot because the upgraded WF reacts MUCH faster than any CAC. You can basically use them as weapons with a +2 due to targeting. You have three CACs to choose from. One of them is flying so horribly it looks about to crash all on its own. Another is flying as boringly as possible. The third actually looks like a potential threat, if still under-armed. You can also try to launch the "BIG LASER" but that takes a round to charge up.
Ederick Holmes targets the only threat first and fires off a a volley at it.
Metal Man (GM): It swerves, getting scraped by some big lasers. Its fields take some damage. The CACs return fire... The wobbly one first. It fires lasers at nothing. The boring one goes for an attack! Its lasers get absorbed by some armor. The threatening one launches a Nova Bomb! Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!"
Metal Man (GM): *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM* Sparks fly everywhere and the lights shake from that one.
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Let's not have that happen again, I don't like my new ship being blown up!"
Metal Man (GM): Note: There are also some smaller sub-ships on here, if that takes your fancy. Or if you want to improvise somehow.
Ederick Holmes tries to fire off another volley at the threatening one. He's hoping, and guessing, that each ship only has one of those bombs.
Metal Man (GM): Yes.
Ederick Holmes: *2 d20+4 Rapid Shot.*
Metal Man (GM): Miss and a hit. The enemy ship begins to smoke... Er, hit and a miss, not miss and a hit.
Wolfman: *Comms* "No! You have to shoot that ship down! ...Sugar. Just try to land on it!"
Metal Man (GM): The ship that is an actual threat fails to land on it. The other two crash into its shields and are forced down by the damage.
Ruvyn: *Comms* "Let me handle this, Wolfman. You and those other imbeciles don't stand a chance."
Wolfman: *Comms* "...Whatever you say, Ruvyn!"
Xavier Ridgecrest: "One more to go! Shoot 'em down!"
Ederick Holmes: "It can't last too much longer!" *He tries one more blast of shots. 2 d20+4 Rapid Shot.*
Metal Man (GM): It gets hit repeatedly, and eventually begins to fall.
Ruvyn: *R* "You'll regret this..."
Wolfman: *C* "You... come back here!"
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Goodbye, Wolfy!" *Kicks warp core.*
Metal Man (GM): *WARP* Outer Alsan Space.
Joel: "We are now in normal space."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Good. Time to crank up some Freakish Superpowers and murder some guys."
Ederick Holmes breaths a sigh of relief and thinks about what just happened. "Hey bossman. You were already a Quester, right? Would this thing actually do anything to you?"
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Well, this guy. He was Garrick. And he hated all the Questers. And he killed me. And... then he deleted Smash power. If I had my Smash Power back, then... ... ..." *He thinks.* "...Well I'm already awesome, but then I could be double awesome. Though you need it more than me, true."
Ederick Holmes: "Wanna try it on me first then?"
Xavier Ridgecrest: "I mean. I already do lots of things, when not accidentally killing myself. Sure, I'll try it on you first."
Ederick Holmes takes out the remote and almost tosses it to Xavier before thinking better of it and simply handing it to him.
Metal Man (GM): Xavier flips the switches, being an old pro at using it. He points, and pushes the button... nothing happens. He does it a couple times, nothing happens.
Xavier Ridgecrest: "User lockout? Listen to me, dumb remote!" *Click* "Nope. What's the matter with it? I need to kidnap Garrick and ask him."
Ederick Holmes: "Huh. Guess that's what he meant. Here, lemme try." *He holds out his hand to ask for it back.*
Metal Man (GM): He hands it to you.
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Huh? What did he mean? I don't care. If anyone can use it, it's good. If you know what he meant, you try it then, whoever 'he' is."
Ederick Holmes points it at himself and tries to activate it. "This how it works?"
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Yeah."
Metal Man (GM): You feel a slight shock. Suddenly, you know... moves... but you don't know how to use them yet. Your brain feels weird.
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Hm... I guess that works. Now point it at me!"
Joel: "Your suit conducts electricity."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "So? ...Oh... oh! Gah!"
Ederick Holmes: "It, uh... I think it's broken, boss."
Metal Man (GM): He mashes his forehead.
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Hm. Did you feel a jolt?"
Ederick Holmes: "Yeah, but I don't... I mean, Questers are supposed to be all-powerful, right? Like Mad Men?"
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Well..." *He put a hand to his chin.* "Yes, but at first they started out a bit weak. Then we got all these killer powers and began smashing the universe. It took a while to rewrite our brains... ...And I was just reminded that when I used it last, it erased my memory due to my suit. I'll need to adapt it somehow to use it on myself. Phew. Just think! If I had been able to use it I couldn't have stopped myself from using it on me."
Metal Man (GM): He shrugs.
Ederick Holmes: "All worked out for the best then."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "You have the power, now it's time to do... what was it we were going to do again..."
Metal Man (GM): He digs for his list. He takes it out. Refresher: "Project I Am Bored And This Endless Fight Is Not Working: Let's--" The clipboard is a rather long, rambling list of demands, including "Extra-gold-colored carrots, Space Shopping carts with lasers, Kill ED with a rusty Spork." But near the bottom you recognize something. It's something to do with Alsa. "Crazy lunatics who don't recognize the Time Cops have invaded. Get on their side and steal all their stuff. Then steal Jack's gold because anyone having more gold than me ticks me off." It also notes his plan with the current battle--leave, and come back when "Inevitably, one side dies or wins. Pick up Demon's corpse and revive it if he is dead. He trailed off into mentioning his other OTHER plans, which were to go to Crash Bandicoot's planet and steal all the Crystals. Again. "This time I want to defeat N. Cortex with a radioactive clown wig."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Hm. I could do with some crystals. Or Jack's gold. Or to find out who the other side of that war is and steal their stuff. What do you think, Ederick? Maybe kidnap Garrick. I want a remote made for me. So I can become super again without losing my memories..."
Ederick Holmes looks over the list and debates the options.
Xavier Ridgecrest: "We should... ah right, I wanted to kill Illian too."
Ederick Holmes: "Garrick? Isn't he super powerful and want you dead?"
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Yeah. But now you're super powerful too! And I can back you up. And our ship works! We can kick his @#$! That'll teach him to kill ME!"
Metal Man (GM): He makes a pose, or tries to, then falls over on his face.
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Ooof. Up to you. I don't trust my brain anymore. It hurts to think too much about tactics. My brain was damaged permanently by the original Fighter Remote. I'd have surgery but no one qualified seems to want to get near me without a lead-lined suit, which would prevent them from actually doing it right."
Ederick Holmes: "Guess what I was gettin' at is that if he wants to kill you, he won't build remotes for you."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Sure. But maybe I can make him do it! The remote fried my brain. Maybe it can fry him too! Last time I saw him he was really, really ill... When he's ill enough, then he can see us as... anything. Anything at all! Even his old buddy, Snake and... not-Snake. ...Hmmm..." *He puts a hand to his chin.* "We could force Snake to get his help instead... Ever since I drove him out of a job, he's been at this... Space Bar somewhere..."
Ederick Holmes: "This is soundin' a bit dangerous, boss. We could try using him, but it'd be pretty hard. I think we'd have to trick him into developing a weapon we could steal."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "He insists on having the drinks injected into his neck these days, and rambles on about how..." *He leans.* "Hm. That's a good idea. Now if only I knew a good way of tricking him... We could trick... the Garrick of the past! When I was leader, he wanted to make me this super-awesome Smash Dex. I rejected it because the old one is always better, right? So what if history is altered and he instead was told to make this super-cool weapon for us? Then... when we meet the current Garrick... we can use his own technology against him... Hehehehee... Hahahahahahahahaha!" *Cough* *Hack* "...If you're up for it."
Editor's Note: The hilarity is technically it was Illian who did the whole 'vs. Garrick's dex' thing, but due to time shenanigans, who can really tell?
Ederick Holmes: "Just wondering, when is this Garrick? Was he ever on Nintendus? Is it the one that caused so much trouble for Borne? Don't know how much longer we can bother Nintendus. Got two Mewtwos mad at us now, and then some. They might start gettin' wise on us."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "This Garrick is about where I call Season 3, he was in my employ and doing my work. He was on Nintendus... he is the same one... ...yeah, three Mewtwos might be pushing it... Damn. That was going to be so easy too, because I actually ran the Stadium then. And it was me. Me-me. In fact... if they came after us... both of me and my Questers could..."
Metal Man (GM): He starts laughing again.
Xavier Ridgecrest: "I could team up with myself and the past Questers to attack Illian Macgregor! Yurie, Razor... the original Gibby... Aribar... and you and two Demons and Digi! ...Some of them might question why their orders are to kill Garrick, but, I could probably fool them. I think. Yeah! I could say he had been possessed by The Void! They did what Ivan Robotnik told them to do. I can... pretend to be Ivan Robotnik! ...We must rob old man makeup, though, to do that. ...Lots of it..."
Ederick Holmes: "Wait, you're onto something there."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Which thing, do you think? I do think my past Questers would soundly defeat all our foes." *Rubs hands* "Razor... just... Razor killing Illian Macgregor... it would be so easy... I could even put them back where I found them and erase their memories. Time is saved, but my enemies also die!"
Ederick Holmes pockets the remote and thinks for a moment. "You tossed out a ton of things there, and I think some of them are stickin' to some good points. But I don't think we want to get ahead of ourselves. Let's do the thing that Illian would least expect. Know what that is?"
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Actually, that would be my plan with attacking him with past Questers. In fact, I realized... we have a big hole in time to play with. See..."
Metal Man (GM): He shows a huge, year-shaped hole in time after the end of Season 3. He shows that all the Questers from then were also warped to some other reality by the Alsa Questers saving the world "correctly." It then shows a question mark as to where the original ones went.
Xavier Ridgecrest: "If we become this question mark, we obtain some of the most powerful Questers saving only the Season 6 ones, and they are fully free from any time-damaging baggage!"
Ederick Holmes: "No, actually if we pl..." *He looks over the timeline.* "Oh. Guess the timeline says we stole them."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Either that or they flew into a black hole and died. But they don't have to do that anymore! Or they went to a third world we've never seen before. Yes... yes. All I need to do is convince them I'm Ivan or my old self. You and them can then destroy all our enemies..."
Metal Man (GM): He types something in.
Joel: "One error detected."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "What's that?"
Joel: "The area of space they went into was intentionally roped off as much as possible. Your current ship cannot break the barrier."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Dash it all! I'll have to steal something sexier! Well... it's still possible right?"
Joel: "With utmost certainty. They were sent to another realm, your logs confirm it."
Ederick Holmes: "So that barrier's protecting nothing we care about."
Joel: "You could pick them up and they would be their own timeline. No damage detected. ...Unknown if anything else is behind the barrier other than them."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "That might be something to be careful of. Good going, Ederick. We'll need to be sneaky... Now... I need to think on what ship we need. You have any ideas? You worked for Borne, right? We don't need to have it very long... we just need something that can pierce barriers..."
Ederick Holmes: "Proudly serving the cheapskate for over a decade."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Excellent. You have any data on him? I know Borne can do freakish things with ships. He MUST have one we can steal and use to get them... we might have to hijack it, but..." *He shrugs.* "We're pros at that."
Ederick Holmes: "While that stuff wasn't straight up my alley..." *He tries to recall some specifics on Borne's air force, or anyone in his old life that would. d20 Knowledge check?*
Metal Man (GM): You remember the basics. He had a billion million Dauntless class aircraft, which he went on at length as being super-advanced Garrick-built ships. He also had a handful of stolen Time Cop ships, but they were all broken. He may have had more under development. You never got to look at them, even if you did care.
Ederick Holmes: "Well, you saw some of his most advanced stuff when we started this little journey. Long time ago when all that Time Cop stuff happened he surely scavenged some stuff."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Hm, right. So... ...would you be okay with going to his base and stealing something for me? I could come, but I have nary a stealth bone in my body. Well, for us, of course. This ship would deliver the Questers to us. And then, we could destory Illian with... the Questers! The Questers would destroy his ship, we would take out Illian."
Ederick Holmes doesn't look too happy at his prospects here. "I, ah, could try. Any access I have is pro'ly revoked by now, but it's a slim possibility. Would need to know where the stuff is at and managed to get it out of his reach. Hey, that reminds me. Where is this Illian guy at?"
Metal Man (GM): He pushes some buttons.
Xavier Ridgecrest: "His ship signature was seen near Alsa recently... If we spent some time we could find him. Got another idea? I'd go for his ship, but... well... it has him on it."
Ederick Holmes: "Only other thing I can think of would be to ransack whatever base the Time Cops have left for something to get the Questers. Dunno if that's more or less dangerous, though."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Hm. Time Cop base. Yeah. We should go look at it, if nothing else. Let's go see what's there... if it gets too ugly we can run away."
Ederick Holmes: "Worst case we run back to Alsa and try to trick Borne into defending us."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "I like your moxie."
Metal Man (GM): He goes to set the ship to fly there... and we pause as he goes to do that. +500 EXP, +500 coins Yes. The former in your case. I'll make it the latter once I make us a proper list. And also we'll have Demon do something in a session, maybe even tomorrowish. Just wanted to do something for now... now I'm gonna get ready for work.
Metal Man (GM): Last Time on SUPER SMAS--er, CONFRONTATION: Garrick distracts Jack out of his attempt to use death finger, he backs away and glows. Garrick levels his pistol at him, his dagger held in his other hand. Jack raises his fists in a clearly lame, unpracticed manner. Garrick says, "You seriously want to do this again? I barely broke a sweat last time and now you don't have a single stitch of magical gear on you." Jack says, "I don't know Jung Fu or whatever it is, but my fist can break concrete if I hit anything with it!" Garrick says, "Give it up, Jack. I fucking dropped an atom bomb on you and you still wanna go?" Jack just laughs. "The Questers did three and I still survived! What do you think you are, Three Julians?"
Metal Man (GM): Continuation. The glowing impact crater has Jack in it, facing you. He has his fists up in the air, in an almost parodical fashion, because he really sucks at hand to hand.
Jack: "You should know... you were never equal to any Mad Man. You are nothing more than a Quester... and we are superior than any Quester. Come at me, weaksauce lamer!"
Metal Man (GM): He gestures at you with the "come hither" motion and continues holding up his fists.
Garrick Fy`aar: "You know... I never know if I should take the term Quester as an insult or a compliment anymore..." *He narrows his eyes, then slowly holsters his gun, sliding his dagger away...* "Fine then... you wanna finish this like men? We'll finish it like men..."
Metal Man (GM): He smirks and his eyes glow teal.
Jack: "That's the way I like it, no freaky powers, no stupid guns. Just you and me and a radioactive hellhole."
Garrick Fy`aar slowly lowers into his CQC stance. It had been ages since he'd done any real CQC... and he didn't like the look of that glow...
Jack: "I'd forgotten what it was like to really fight someone instead of vaporizing them. Once I kill you, then maybe I can stop playing around and kill the remaining gnats that block my fun. Give me your best shot, then, Garrick Fy`Aar, Le Enfant Terrible Project spinoff."
Garrick Fy`aar scowls, then surges forward, rushing into Jack's guard and bringing his fist clean forward to smash it into his face.
Metal Man (GM): Roll 'em. You hit him once, solidly, then the second he dodges. You hear a metallic noise.
Jack: "See... there's always been something I've wanted to tell you... but the other Questers... they were too stupid to just ask me."
Metal Man (GM): He walks around you in a circle, then makes a backhand attempt at you. *Checks one thing.*
Garrick Fy`aar slips under the hand, gripping his by the wrist as he comes around, twisting with his hips and making to slam him into the ground. "Oh, and what's that? You're not human?" *He drives his heel into the guy's chest as he lands.*
Jack: "Ha, clever, but no. That's so old Digifanatic--OOF--Digifanatic would be here to tell you that one when it first was found out. It's about that whole freakish energy being... about that whole thing. Why do you think I spend so much time killing people and studying their ruins? Why do I do THIS?" *He makes a straight punch at you.*
Metal Man (GM): Hit, or still a miss?
Garrick Fy`aar twists his head at the last possible second, the punch sliding past his cheekbone. He kicks the back of his foot with his own to trip him up...
Metal Man (GM): He manages to dodge that one, rolling on the ground.
Jack: "...It was to find something... something that had been lost, since even before the Mad Men. Before I was a machine..."
Garrick Fy`aar grunts as he rolls away, stepping forward into a rolling forward kick to catch him as he goes.
Metal Man (GM): He stands up again, glowing.
Garrick Fy`aar slides backward, going into stance. "The emeralds...?"
Jack: "The Emeralds?" *He looks puzzled.* "Even I know those are irredeemably evil. They make the being that possesses me seem good." *Shakes his head* "The Lodestone, the center of the magic civilization which once controlled his entire planet. You ever wonder why the only thing Alsa wants to do to you is THIS?" *He tries to punch you again.*
Garrick Fy`aar frowns... the word Lodestone stirs something in his memory, but he can't quite--POW.
Metal Man (GM): Lethal damage, his fist is literally made of metal.
Jack: "It's because it's broken." *He smiles* "It's irreversibly broken unless the Lodestone is found. The energy of the humans breathing... it clouds my thoughts, my ability to find it. They are impure beings made by technology these days."
Garrick Fy`aar grumbles, then drops low and makes to kick Jack's legs out from under him while he talks...
Metal Man (GM): You knock him flat onto the ground with that one.
Garrick Fy`aar keeps moving as he comes back up, jumping into the air and making to drive his knee into Jack's stomach.
Jack: "Oof... you aren't a pushover, I give you that--but my point is..." *He coughs.* "I'm doing you a favor--resetting Alsa. Destroying..." *He rolls aside* "Borne. I aim to... rebuild the planet as it once was, orderly, run by a school of mages."
Garrick Fy`aar: "What, by becoming the monster itself and killing everyone?! Everyone in your land is dead!"
Jack laughs and glows even more. "My methods are not the most conventional, but they work in ways your Quester thoughts could never do!"
Metal Man (GM): He then does a running headbutt at you.
Garrick Fy`aar didn't suspect anything like that... he goes flying from that.
Metal Man (GM): More lethal damage. He stands there, looking at you. He then stops glowing.
Garrick Fy`aar skids backward, coughing twice. A small stream of blood comes from his mouth.
Jack: "So I'm going to end this meaningless battle. You hate Alsa. Alsa hates you. I hate Alsa."
Garrick Fy`aar: "I don't..."
Jack: "You like Borne? Red Text?"
Garrick Fy`aar: "I loathe Borne... Red Text, I can live with... ...but Alsa..." *He slowly pushes himself to his feet.* "Alsa is a fresh start. All I ever wanted as a Quester is to bring peace to those who deserve it. No more Quester Hunters or evil people or Voids or Kujas or Metal Men."
Jack: "Hmph! This so-called fresh start was created by mages killing my former incarnation with a spell of infinite chaos!"
Garrick Fy`aar: "NO! Balance! Balance is what is needed! People can survive with chaos and law, but not just one without the other... You... you're too damn chaotic. Borne is too damn lawful."
Jack: "Who would you replace me with, then?"
Garrick Fy`aar: "I haven't thought that far ahead, yet... all I know is that you've hurt too many people, killed more. You deserve to die."
Metal Man (GM): He laughs again, as you can see the ghosts of the prophecy statues showing up around him.
Jack: "That's what I've been trying to do They won't LET me"
Metal Man (GM): He laughs even harder as the energy continues to glow around him.
Garrick Fy`aar: "Look at yourself, Jack... You're standing in a ruin of your self built empire... you're done. I've still got a lot of fight left in me." *He looks to the ghosts of the statues... there's nothing he knows or can do about them right now...*
Metal Man (GM): They start energizing the place, as he begins raising energy from the ground.
Jack: "I cannot die even if I want to. You... must find the ritual the echidna used to bind me initially to do that. Otherwise the chaos will recreate me as its puppet, over and over again."
Garrick Fy`aar: "...I have a better idea..."
Jack: "It was promised to me... that if I restored the planet to before the spell cursed me... then I could die." *He coughs.* "So I have no choice."
Garrick Fy`aar: "You don't seem to get it... I don't care too much. I'll end you. Then I'll end Borne. Then I'll end Xavier. Then... I'll end this Entity."
Jack: "Alsa... is a circle. Your theory of lines... ending..." *He stands there.* "It is a misperception. If you seek to 'end' this cycle, then it must either be in my victory or using the Echidna spell against me. Both I and the entity in myself agree on this one point. Go and find the spell if you are so worthy."
Garrick Fy`aar: "And what, you're gonna stand here nice and safe while I go find this spell, some Echidna to cast it, and lock you away?"
Metal Man (GM): He holds up an arm. Suddenly, images of a location appear in your mind. He then laughs.
Garrick Fy`aar: "You'll sit here and twiddle your thumbs, doing jack--"
Jack: "No, I will continue destroying. But that is simply what I am made to do. As a tool of destiny."
Garrick Fy`aar: "...I will not stand by while you destroy everything."
Metal Man (GM): He holds out his hand. The fog of chaos is beginning to clear.
Garrick Fy`aar grunts as the images flood his mind... he growls at Jack, his arms shaking. There wasn't much he could do...
Jack: "...Then you can sit on the ground, charred to ash. The choice is yours. I don't ask for this... it is forced upon me. I would much rather die, but your punches will only knock me out. Your guns are more effective, but my body is not mine to let be."
Garrick Fy`aar stares his down... he had a plan, but he didn't have anything he needed to implement it... he needed time...
Metal Man (GM): The energy from the ground begins healing him.
Garrick Fy`aar: "FUCK YOU! YOU ENJOYED EVERY LAST MINUTE OF THIS! I can hear your voice, see it in your eyes!"
Jack: "Oh, I enjoyed the destruction... but not being forced to live forever. The destruction merely reminds me of what I wish to happen to myself!"
Metal Man (GM): He holds out his hands as the area around him begins to be torn about by chaos energy coming from beneath him.
Garrick Fy`aar: "I don't get a damn for circles and flawed perception. I've gone through much worse than you. I've gone through Kuja. I've gone through the Void..."
Jack: "Worthless names, made of worthless dust, by a book written by a fool's crippled hand! Earn your space and you shall kill me... fail and you shall die." *He aims the finger of death on you.* "But I tire of this--"
Metal Man (GM): *KHZT.*
Jack: "...But it won't let me kill you for some reason. Bah!"
Garrick Fy`aar: "...the planet won't let you kill me... heh... I really thought I pissed it off."
Metal Man (GM): He opens his mouth, then it takes him over one last time.
Garrick Fy`aar: "Guess there must be a shred of order in that thing's mind yet..."
Alsa: "You wish to continue the cycle. Find the spell and continue it, then."
Garrick Fy`aar: "...fine then... I'll find your damn book. But I'll only continue this until I find a way to break your damn cycle."
Alsa: "I do not care who ushers in the next cycle... but you shall pay dearly if you attempt to break it. I am watching you..."
Garrick Fy`aar: "Watch me, your fucking piece of trash. No more killing. No more insanity."
Editor's Note:
Alsa: "Your words are transparent, your motives predictable. We shall see if you can actually back any of them up, or if you are another Casino away from suicide. This area has ceased to be useful due to your tampering. Enjoy your personal crater."
Garrick Fy`aar smirks a bit, raising his hand to his ear and pressing a button.
Metal Man (GM): He then vanishes in a wave of energy.
Garrick Fy`aar: "Sloan. Get me out of here."
Sloan: "Right. Right-o. Here you go."
Metal Man (GM): A warp pops up next to you.
Garrick Fy`aar makes to walk into it, hesitating... are the ghosts still there?
Metal Man (GM): They are there for a moment, then fade out with the teal energy like the rest. All that remains is a useless crater. And a sign. "Garrick Fy`aar Crater."
Garrick Fy`aar: "...figures the first thing named after me ever is a damn hole in the ground."
Metal Man (GM): All around is nothing more than a wasteland.
Garrick Fy`aar sighs and makes to step into the warp.
Metal Man (GM): You warp out... ending the session there. +300 EXP
Metal Man (GM): All three are here. Now the Triforce of insanity is ready! INSANITY
Xavier Ridgecrest: "You stupid computer! Why aren't you working!" *Punch* *Kick.*
Joel: "You forgot to say the magic word."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Locos is a maniac!"
Joel: "No..."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Spaghetti Ostrich attack!"
Joel: "No..."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Eggman on a space plane!"
Joel: "No..."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Skyhigh is a loser!"
Joel: "Yes."
Ederick Holmes walks onto the bridge upon hearing the commotion. "Sounds like a debate for the ages is goin' on."
Metal Man (GM): Demon would warp in, suddenly, having been warped out from his encounter by Mewtwo.
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Well, I was just trying to remember the password I'd set."
Metal Man (GM): Alestorm can also show up.
Xavier Ridgecrest: "I didn't want just ANYBODY to access my top secret, powerful super info."
King Demon: "..." *Looks around* "Well, there's a change of scenery..."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "I realized that Borne has what we want. So... we're going to warp in and attack him!"
King Demon: "You forgot your password again, Metal?"
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Of course I did. Why wouldn't I? Passwords are stupid. Nobody asks me whether I want them to remember a stupid phrase before I'll ever talk to them again."
King Demon: "..." *Walks to the computer and smacks it rather hard.*
Xavier Ridgecrest: "The ultimate password is an explosion!"
Alestorm: *And in comes the long forgotten pirate of heavy metal.* "Ye be solve them computer box puzzles!?" *Alestorm... Less sober.*
Joel: "I am logged in, you know..."
King Demon: "You are?" *Looks.*
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Hm. I forgot his name. Was it Flaeyn? Or... hmmm... Traon... ...Nah, not annoying enough, maybe he's Hydro... nah... too smart..."
Alestorm: *Would sudden pull out a rather nasty looking pistol.* "Shootin' is always the answer, sez I!"
King Demon: "Skyhigh?"
Xavier Ridgecrest: "I will call you Shoo Ting from now on. So. Demon, Ederick, and Shoo Ting. We have a ship base to raid."
Alestorm: "I be not of the makers of rice wine!"
Metal Man (GM): He takes out a holo-map by gesturing at the air, and then sloppily makes a red X over an airfield.
Alestorm: "I be Alestorm, rules of the seas and yer eardrums!"
King Demon: "Only one?"
Xavier Ridgecrest: "I determined we don't need a military aircraft to go into the Quester Zone. Ale Corn there and Demon and Ederick can then go into there and steal the ships they have at this transport depot."
King Demon: *Looks to Alestorm, then back to Metal* "I think we're going to need earplugs."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Whaaaaaaat? I didn't hear you."
Metal Man smacks helmet.
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Stupid thing!"
Alestorm: "I came to seek treasure! ...And the invite be sayin' punch and pie."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "There be treasure in them thair airport! Shoot the civilians! Burn the taxicabs! Steal the airplanes!"
Ederick Holmes: "What kinda airport is this? One of Borne's?"
Alestorm: "I like yer style! Does it have to be in that order?"
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Then we can capture the original Questers and MAKE them kill Garrick and Illian."
King Demon: "Oooh, burning! ... I AM an original Quester!"
Xavier Ridgecrest: "It's in GUN territory but it isn't specifically Borne's. Well, I found another set of original Questers! So we can have two of you! And we can get Digi back too, before he became non-impressionable."
Alestorm: "Ya har! I care nothin' fer who bein' Questers or questin'!"
King Demon: "Ooooh, two of me!" *Evil smirk.*
Xavier Ridgecrest: "I can tell him I'm the Wizard of Oz and I demand he destroy Illian to get the Digidestined email to Earth working, and it'll be good."
Alestorm: "...SO yer a wizard?"
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Poor kid didn't even know that there was no such thing. I'd been reading his emails and writing funny responses to mess with him. He took the one where I suggested he act like me and use a flaming golf club a liiittle too seriously..."
Alestorm: "Back to the treasure!"
Ederick Holmes sits back and lets this craziness sink in. "It's going to get a lot more crowded in here."
King Demon: "Didn't you also make him turn evil for a little while?"
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Yeah. Treasure! You guys steal the ships, and shoot the civilians, and steal the--yes, yes I did! Now we can turn him evil again! Anyway, that should be the mission. Any questions?"
King Demon: *Shrugs* "Sounds like a blast!"
Alestorm: "Shoot the ship. Steal the civilians and steal the yes. I be readin' ya."
King Demon: "... Where'd you find Cap'n Crunch, anyway?"
Xavier Ridgecrest: "How about you, Ederick? Well, I bought one box too many of the cereal, and found him inside one of them. Or maybe I drank a bunch of phazon and went to a bar somewhere."
King Demon: "There's cereal in here?" *Goes to find it.*
Alestorm: "...Ya invited me! ya scarvs!"
Xavier Ridgecrest: "It's a bit hazy... Oh. That's right. Hey! Not my personal cereal hoard!" *Chases Demon.*
Metal Man (GM): Demon and Xavier are gone for a moment, leaving Ederick and Alestorm to talk for a moment. In the background, Demon finds a mountain of cereal boxes piled up in the "Life Support" room.
Alestorm: *Is busy looking at the computer now.*
Metal Man (GM): More cereal than any being, man, human or god, should ever have. The computer is a million little 1960's tactile switches and wires everywhere.
King Demon: "Holy... I think I've died and gone to... nah, that's not possible." *Shrugs and dives in.*
Alestorm: "...So, we meet again, lan tech."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Gah! You'll make the cereal cleaner by diving in it! I very specifically let it out of its boxes to get dusty!" *Walks into the cereal and falls over* "My suit was not made to move in cereal! Curses!"
Alestorm: "You made me a fool, but now ye be foolin' if ye think the win bein' yours."
Ederick Holmes: "Last I talked to the bossman this was supposed to be a stealth mission. Thinkin' this will be more pillaging than stealing. All the same in the end?"
King Demon: *Buried in cereal* "Hey, you got any milk anywhere... or syrup?"
Xavier Ridgecrest: "...New mission objective: steal milk from the enemy airport!"
King Demon pokes head out, his mouth full of food.
Alestorm: *Still having that pistol drawn, he seems to be on a Mexican standoff with the computer.* "Make the first move, ye gutless powerboard."
Joel: "I'm confused. I don't even have any gun to shoot you with in here. All I have are switches."
Metal Man (GM): The switches flick oddly on their own.
Joel: "You'd have to... wire one in or something."
Ederick Holmes tries to move within eyesight of the pirate. Not too close, though. "Think you got the right computer? That guy's a bit new."
Alestorm: "Jumpin' Squids on a sumo's belleh! This one talks!"
Joel: "Hey! Xavier! A pirate wants to duel me! You need to wire a gun into me for sparring practice like at the Stadium!"
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Wiring deadly weaponry meant to be fired at whoever is piloting the ship? Genius! You can live in my cereal all you want, Demon. I will be the first captain of a ship with a literal self destruct switch!"
Metal Man (GM): He runs off to the cockpit again.
King Demon: "Oooh, gunfire!" *Grabs a box of the cereal and heads back for the cockpit, eating on the way.*
Xavier Ridgecrest: "...And we should also land in that airport and steal things, you know. Now, I know it is tricky to figure out which enemy space ship to steal. So... steal this one."
Metal Man (GM): He draws a 5-year old's drawing impression of a triangular freakish thing. Ederick would recognize it as a civilian-ized Dauntless.
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Everything else is bonus points!"
King Demon: "Sweet, I love bonuses."
Alestorm would take a moment to look back at Xavier and his drawing. "The dread Triangleship of South bay Porklin!"
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Now. Ship! Fly into the airport! Maximum speed! We must obtain the triangle ship, post haste!"
Joel: "They have defenses and--"
Xavier Ridgecrest: "MOVE FASTER THAN THEY CAN SHOOT!"
Joel: "Affirmative."
Metal Man (GM): And now, a short camera pan. Sergeant Levis Memorial Airport People are walking around, behaving as normally. Then air raid sirens start going off. People point at the sky. A meteorite is headed towards the airport. People run away screaming. Anti-air things shoot at it, but it's falling too fast. The camera pans back to the ship, as the airport is coming up fast... WAY too fast. The Wing Fortress
Joel: "We are about to hit the ground at mach 2."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Hm. How good are your brakes?"
Joel: "They are jammed full of Cap'n Crunch."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "How about the emergency brakes?"
Alestorm: "Make it three! We ain't no fallin' yanks!"
Joel: "You sold them for phazon."
Xavier Ridgecrest: "Well... no worries! Let's just slow down time!"
Joel: "Warp core is behaving oddly. Proceeding."
Metal Man (GM): *WHOOOSH* The ship slows down... then stops... ...but time has messed up. The tower of the airport... has now MERGED with the bridge.
Ederick Holmes tries to find something to hold onto while weathering this all... Is he holding onto an air control tower?
Metal Man (GM): You see human citizens staring in disbelief as you warp into there, with their control tower merged and inside the bridge.
Xavier Ridgecrest: "This Bridge is now part of my ship. Defeat them! This is my... airport control tower slash bridge!"
Metal Man (GM): You can either open the doors to let them loose... or shoot 'em up. Most of them seem to be trying to run away in terror. Xavier just starts shooting up the windows with a huge pistol, laughing maniacally.
Xavier Ridgecrest: "We got ourselves a new interior decoration boys!"
Alestorm: "Lets fill it with wenches an' Swag!"
Ederick Holmes takes out his knife and gun before heading towards the door. "Guess this is as good a doorway into the base as we'll get!"
King Demon: "Especially wenches!" *Heads out and starts shooting with fire.*
Air Traffic Controller: "Borne, Borne! This is Airport 1! We've been hit by a warp destabilization! Send help! Send help!" *He then stares, realizing the cable he's on was ripped in the warp.*
Metal Man (GM): You bust into the tower and see the stairs downwards... have been comedically merged with the ship. Now you can open them, but they can't. Do you open them?
King Demon: *Looking at it * "Huh... cool?"
Metal Man (GM): Demon sets the control tower on fire, destroying countless already half-broken computers.
King Demon laughs as the area burns.
Xavier Ridgecrest: "I should open the window. It's getting smoky in here."
King Demon tosses a fireball at one.
Joel: "Venting interior smoke."
Alestorm: *The pirate man sure does. A side note, the Pirate does have an abnormal amount of tankards on him.*
Metal Man (GM): The door opens, revealing the next floor down... the waiting area. People have already run away, and your next foe... are some Airport guards. They stare at you, frightened by what happened, and take up positions in cover, and take out rifles.
Ederick Holmes heads on down the stairs, ready for some opposition to show up.
King Demon follows behind the rest.
Metal Man (GM): You can engage them directly, try to get around them, run through hem, or even charge directly at them! Your choice. If you charge, roll an Intimidate check. Well, the other two would, I'd improvise for Demon... up to you guys what you do. You can conference ICly since the guards are simply hiding in their positions, waiting for you to come. There's... 3 of them that you can see.
King Demon looks to see what type of cover they have.
Metal Man (GM): One is behind a concrete wall. The other, plastic chairs. A third is further down the way and hiding behind a store trolley loaded with chocolate candies.
Alestorm: "Ye be boarded by the mighty Alestrom! Surrender yer booty and yer miserable lives might not be on the plank of death, sez I!"
Metal Man (GM): Intimidate check.
King Demon: "They're guys, I don't think you want their booty."
Metal Man (GM): Yes.
Ederick Holmes hopes their momentum keeps up and that the appearance of some hellspawn, a pirate, and potentially a turn-coat spooks these mooks as he rushes towards the soldiers.
Metal Man (GM): Intimidate check from Ederick as well. Two of them run away screaming from Alestorm. Now to see what effect Ederick has. He runs away as well, allowing you to loot the trolley of chocolate candy. There's also a cash register on it.
King Demon looks in the register.
Alestorm: "Har harharhar! Run! Even them Vikings we- Rations!"
Metal Man (GM): Ripping it open reveals you have all gained +50 coins each.
Alestorm: *Aleshire raids the tolley.*
King Demon: "Sweet, Coinage."
Ederick Holmes joins in on the looting. "We'll need to make our way to the hangers to steal some ships after this."
Metal Man (GM): Chocolate Candy: Heals d4 health. Adds +1 morale bonus to accuracy of next attack. There's enough for 3 those for each of you.
King Demon: "Yeah... where are the hangars?"
Metal Man (GM): And the extra will ensure you can buy more in the future.
King Demon grabs candy.
Metal Man (GM): You see a map of the airport nearby. The hangars are to the right. The airstrip is dead ahead. The waiting rooms and ticket areas are to the left.
Alestorm: *Grabs the map if possible.*
Metal Man (GM): You rip the 5 foot tall steel framed built-into-the-wall map off.
Ederick Holmes grabs the candy and heads over to study the map while it's pilfered. "Looks simple enough."
Metal Man (GM): It's a bit awkward but you can carry it... or use it as a shield in your off hand for +1 to AC.
King Demon: "Well, that works too... Maybe we should go for the already ready to go ships on the strip?"
Alestorm: "Treasure and utility. I be a pirate." "Wait! ...It shouldn't be hard to find a ship that's a triangle. We be lookin' there first."
King Demon: "There's probably treasure in the ticket area, they gotta pay for the tickets somewhere."
Metal Man (GM): You have your choice. Of note, the doors to the outside have snapped shut. Anyone's guess why they don't want you out there so badly.
Alestorm: "The demon scurv might be right! ...To the booty!"
Ederick Holmes: "We need to find a way out anyways." *He jogs towards the ticket area.*
Metal Man (GM): The ticket area is deserted, except for one guy. One bug-eyed guy, holding a crazy looking shotgun.
King Demon heads that way too, looking for something else to loot on the way.
???: "They told me I was crazy when I said Questers would rob us all! They told me I was insane when I demanded a Quester-killing shotgun! The day has come and I will defend the ticket counter to the death! Die, Questers!"
Alestorm: *Now has a shield and his pistol out, then looks at the guy.* "I be a mighty pirate, quester quest is immune to be, sez I."
Metal Man (GM): He fires at all of you with his super shotgun. Threatens all. If hit...
King Demon: *Snickers* "He called you guys Que... GAH!" *Dives for cover.*
Metal Man (GM): Yes, Ederick. That's a double-barreled shotgun, by the way. Now... roll init!
???: "I don't care what world you came from! I will kill the Questers and become the next Sergeant Levis!"
Ederick Holmes takes a painful grazing shot from that shotgun before responding with a quick shot from his own firearm.
???: "No one... no one will take my tickets! Ahahahahaaaa!"
Ederick Holmes: *d20+6 initative check d20+8 Gunslinger's initative, assuming point blank shot.*
Metal Man (GM): He's wearing a bullet proof vest, too, so he takes less damage.
???: "Oogh! You're that traitor! If I kill you, I become a national hero!"
Metal Man (GM): d20+3 Demon init Order: Ederick, Demon, ???, Alestorm. Well, we can say that was your turn then! Sounds good to me, what about you? Demon: You can just... do whatever ability you normally would do, and I'll make the rolls for now. Obviously, godmodding will fail since you can't know how to magically explode everything, but tossing fireballs or using a sword or such is cool.
Alestorm: "Urgh! I'll be sendin' yeah to the bottom of the sea just like the plot to them pirate movies!"
Metal Man (GM): The guy? Nope. He's an idiot. Standing right up behind the counter. For all his preparation he appears to believe he's invincible.
King Demon: "Hmmm..." *Tries to heat up the target's (Metal) vest with some fire.*
Metal Man (GM): You burn him with some fire. His vest eats the damage, protecting him!
???: "Die Questers! Die!"
Metal Man (GM): Demon dove for cover, so this shot only effects the near-to-one-another Alestorm and Ederick. Does the 17 hit one or both of you? Garrick said something about that, hm. "This is the target number enemies need to hit you." So that hits you. Ederick? Also, while we wait, your damage is this... Of course if the confirm failed in Ederick's case he only takes 5. Alestorm takes 10 though, might want to back off and heal. Given the guy isn't moving you can easily move for cover out of range without him following. Even if KO'd, you can be revived by someone chucking a healing item at you. You only really die if you hit -10.
Ederick Holmes would roll to the side and behind some cover to avoid the blast. (Gunslinger's dodge, using one of my 2 Grit points to make my AC 18.)
Metal Man (GM): Noted. Only 5 damage then.
Alestorm: "I be dealing with ya... But I have a sweet tooth!" *The pirate uses his good mobility to find full cover, then eats one of the chocolate he found earlier.*
Metal Man (GM): You do so. Next up...
Ederick Holmes tries to find some cover to protect him from the gunfire while he reloads.
Metal Man (GM): You find a wall to hide behind.
King Demon pulls out his sword and charges at the man, trying to impale him while he's distracted by the other two.
Metal Man (GM): He gets an AOO, he shoots at you. He hits, 5 damage and... now you attack him... You barely fail to hit him and end your turn up in his face.
???: "You want a fist fight, foolish Quester?"
Alestorm: "Oh ye cocoa? Why must ye be so tast- Om nom nom!"
Metal Man (GM): He fires at Demon again, having no other targets. He misses entirely. And now he has to reload too. Auto-shotgun--nice but still limited.
Alestorm: *Now having chocolate in his beard, the pirate drops his shield and pistol and pulls out the mighty pirate Sword.* (Quickdraw) *Now the pirate comes out from cover and charges the man with the shotgun.* "Yar!"
Metal Man (GM): He ducks. Alas--woulda missed with the extra anyway.
Ederick Holmes rushes out and exposes himself to get close enough to fire off a shot into the melee--and hopes he hits the man.
Metal Man (GM): He ducks that one too.
???: "Hah! Fate is against you, Questers!"
King Demon tries to slash at an exposed part of the mans body... like his leg... or his neck.
Metal Man (GM): He deflects that one barely as well. He reloads.
Alestorm: "Now I'm mad... And thirsty!" *Alestorm drinks one of his tankards and goes into Rage mode!* "Now, feel the power of pirate an' rum!" *And the sword swings again.*
Metal Man (GM): He ducks again.
???: "You can never beat me!"
Metal Man (GM): You hear the ceiling crumbling. Seems the Wing Fortress is falling in on this part of the airport. Better run back to where you were!
Alestorm: "Wha? Gar har! Every man for their purses n' wine coolers! Run!" *AleStorm runs away!*
Metal Man (GM): Aand, I think we'll pause here for now, since I'm kinda worn out. +400 EXP to everyone--more rewards will occur in the next segment.

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