Date: 5:42:47 PM, November 23rd to 7:55:16 PM, November 23rd;
10:55:34 PM, December 21st to 11:59:03 PM, December 21st, 2012.
Metal Man (GM): Illianification
Illian is at the bridge, which has been rebuilt following the "Lamborghini Incident."
He had heard Valron's telling of what happened. And naturally he remembers what Garrick said as well.
Valron: "And that's what happened. Went decently smooth, all things considered."
Illian MacGregor: "Yes." *He would lean on the bridge.*
"I have heard what I need to hear."
"I heard from Garrick, as well."
Valron: "I see. What conclusion have you come to?"
Illian MacGregor: "That Xavier supposedly is acting on the idea that Garrick wants the entire other Stadium dead. And Garrick will probably attempt to avoid this entire issue. Forgetting that my reputation was thrown through the mud, and that the Questers are still a threat."
"But it doesn't matter."
Valron: "...It could potentially give you a direct line to dealing with Xavier, in any case."
Illian MacGregor: "Alsa remains in contact with me. You shall become the next Mad Man. And we shall work together to make Xavier pay. His Questers aren't my problem, he is."
"Those Questers are ignorant of what happened--it happened after their time. The few future holdouts are so corrupted that they could never pose a true threat."
"Garrick will get out of the way by removing that mistake. Once the Questers are assured that this doesn't involve him wanting them dead, I will throw their minds askew by explaining the situation."
"They may blindly serve Xavier, but if I challenge him to an honorable duel, they will have no way to stop me. They could, but that wouldn't be Xavier's style."
Valron: "It'd be nice to not have to go through a pointless war to get our actual goal. ...And yes, the 'honor duel' route could work out quite well, all things considered."
Illian MacGregor: "Yes, I agree. I want to deal with Xavier. His pawns are meaningless to me. I do not want to destroy innocent people who are just in my way. I have my target, and it is not old Questers who don't know better. It is him. I must prove to the world I am the real Metal Man and he stole my name. Then depending on whether he can be made not to destroy entire dimensions, he may live or die. But it is between the two of us and no one else."
"You, being a connecting link, can help make it possible without the useless war."
Valron: *Nods* "And if anyone tries to get in the way of that, then I shall make sure they are dealt with."
Illian MacGregor: "But there is a problem." *He would lean on a different console.* "This is not just an easy task. You cannot just become the next Mad Man. Otherwise Sloan would be one."
Valron: "Well, yeah. And then we'd be in way more trouble than anyone would ever want to be in."
Illian MacGregor: "The problem is that Marley assigned the Mad Men through the statues initially. The statues used to be pliable to me. Now they will tell me everyone who talks to them, but not listen to me directly."
"I have identified the location of a statue, the one which was talking to Garrick. It is right in the area we liberated."
"Convince it to test you, then succeed at whatever test it may give you. If it allows backup, then call for it. But if it doesn't, then you must try it alone."
"Do not worry about failing." *Illian leans back.* "I might attempt to become one myself instead."
Valron: "Noted."
Illian MacGregor: "Of course, then I would have more control rather than you. You have earned my trust. So you may try to get the shiny power first."
Valron: "...Also, on another note. Have we gotten around to reviving those people that have been dead for the past age and a half?"
Illian MacGregor: "...No." *He looks discerningly at the machines.* "While you test, I will work on that."
Valron: "Good. I'd rather not leave an entire chunk of a region in the dust. It just... doesn't feel right."
Illian MacGregor: "What you say is correct. I just was too busy to begin."
"But now we have time."
Valron: "Right. You handle that and I'll see if I can't deal with this whole 'test' thing."
Illian MacGregor: "Yes. Let us hope we both succeed at our separate goals." *He would salute, then summon a warp.* "Dismissed." *He'd then walk away.*
Valron nods, making his way into the warp.
Metal Man (GM): You walk into the warp, to the rebuilding Port Royal.
Civilians walk the streets and normalcy has come to dominate the area.
Except for that one super-tall metallic angel sitting all statue like in a ruined area.
Valron takes a slight breath as he looks at all the normalcy before... noticing the statue. Which he would promptly approach.
Statue: "I know why you are here." *It pauses.* "You are a Quester. For you to become a Symbol of the Planet is impossible." *It pauses.* "Well, you renounced your past allegiance, but it left marks on your soul that make the process harder than you would have otherwise."
Valron: *Stretches out a little* "Mmph... It's always something, huh? So... what exactly do you mean by 'marks'? And for that matter, how much more difficult will it be than the norm?"
Statue: "You cannot be so easily made to suit Alsa's control. Another world, another planet still calls to you. You can change your name, but the Quester Energy does not remove itself naturally. Worse, there is another in the challenges, and they will do their best to stop you."
"The challenges no longer are intact, they have been utterly destroyed by this being."
Valron: "...Another?"
Statue: "We hold them back only because their heart is broken. But their soul is too strong, so they remain, smashing at the gates to the final challenge even though they do not open."
Valron: "...Egh. Sounds like quite the mess."
Statue: "The door is open, but... be wary."
Metal Man (GM): It gestures and a door opens into thin air.
Statue: "It's not very nice in there..."
Metal Man (GM): The doors lead to a ruined marble hallway filled with destruction. Do you enter?
Valron: "I'd imagine. Guess I'm going this alone, seeing that's, well. Generally how these sorts of tests work?" *He kicks a leg out, taking a slight breath. He's got a bad feelin' about this and it's going to be one long day...*
Statue: "Yes."
Metal Man (GM): You would walk, and notice the entryway behind you become a flat slate wall.
Ahead is a door... but...
The door was exploded.
The robotic guardians are smashed to pieces.
It's like the incredible hulk was here before you.
Valron: "...Whoever did this must be a force of nature..." *He readies Phantom's Machinegun as he goes near the entrance to the exploded door, peeking in to see if anyone's there before entering.*
Metal Man (GM): A spiral staircase... er... ramp... leads downwards.
There's a few flickering old timey lamps, all in pieces.
The smashing destroyed all the stairs and made it a ramp.
Huge, jagged clawmarks mark the way.
Valron: "..." *Shudders a little as he goes to carefully descend the ramp, making sure not to go hurtling ass over teakettle like a fool.*
Metal Man (GM): The footsteps seem to have also made deep impressions. You'd walk down, and notice the darkness increasing, slowly.
You hear smashing in the distance.
Up ahead, at the bottom and beyond, WAS a huge series of bridges, pulleys and machines.
The roof has been mercilessly melted and the molten rock turned into a giant bridge made of stair pieces and the roof.
Dead robots and robotic bats are thrown everywhere, impaled into walls... and also look like some of them were artificially aged to death.
Valron: *Hears the muffled smashing... and notices the 'bridge'* "...Dear lord." *He sighs trying to use the cover of darkness to just slip across the bridge. He is really not liking any of this.*
Metal Man (GM): You walk, and then... you see your final destination.
A thing stands there, glowing ominously. It's person-shaped.
And it appears to not notice you.
It holds up a hand and generates a hideous beam of time to blast a door. The door disintegrates, but a field blocks it.
The thing growls and attacks again, to no avail.
Valron tries to discern what kind of person it even is, without trying to, you know. get its' attention.
Metal Man (GM): Whatever it is, it has such mass that it can crumble concrete by pushing it too hard.
Valron: *And for that matter he looks around for any sort of cover because Christ.*
Metal Man (GM): But you don't recall anyone like that who also happens to be glowing malevolently.
Purple and orange, to boot.
It sits there, thinking.
Valron: *Is still just sorta looking around for something to hide behind because he really doesn't want to be noticed by this... whatever it is.*
???: "Hm... this is not it... Yes it is! Kill it! Kill it!"
"You don't understand. The lock on this was made by the creator. I can't just remove it."
"We just need somebody ELSE'S heart!"
"I know, there's a being here, but his heart is a Quester one. It's worthless."
"Bah! I don't give a f@#$! Take it anyway!"
"Now now. WE didn't do this just for you to fail again."
"I resent that! You could have left without me! You just broke reality!"
"Nonsense. My original function demanded it, and the world yielded."
"Well what good does it do you now?"
Valron: "...Well. I don't think it's fair to attempt corpsin' a guy without telling 'im who you are."
???: "You don't know who I am?"
Valron: "You don't look all that familiar."
Metal Man (GM): It turns around to you... hmmm... something tells you Two-face is gonna sue this guy...
Valron: "Maybe if you weren't a glowing mass of color it'd be easier to tell. ...Or you could do that, yes."
EviL Autumnus: "Isn't it obvious?"
Valron: "...Seriously?"
Metal Man (GM): He puts on the Kamina glasses.
EviL Autumnus: "You should know by now that going beyond stupidity and into total insanity is how I work, stupid Quester!"
Valron: "...This leaves one thing unresolved though. If you two are some sort of copy-paste failure from hell, then..."
"Where's The Void?"
EviL Autumnus: "That fool told me that he had found somebody else to pick him up."
Valron: "Huh. So he had his own arrangements. Noted."
EviL Autumnus: "He did not know our plan. We did not tell him. That's why I don't give a f@#$! We can just devour this Quester's heart and move on!"
"No, we can't. It's a test."
Valron: "Now, now. Your better half said I was worthless. It just wouldn't come up to anything of value."
EviL Autumnus: "The test has turned itself against us, too. It wants this person to fight us."
"All right! I'll kill him in the first microsecond, b@#$%!"
Valron: "It wants me to pit myself against impossible odds. That's... adorable."
"If not incredibly stupid."
EviL Autumnus: "I can read the cliches in the air. These odds are not impossible anymore. Now THAT is stupid! I want to kill him in one giant explosion!"
"The challenge rewrites itself and the reality inside it at will. By staying here when you entered, I have become merely another pawn."
Metal Man (GM): The challenge fixes all the damage like nothing happened.
EviL Autumnus: "This is a battle of wills, not a battle of power. Only the one with the strongest will shall win."
Valron: "I don't know. I mean, come on. Two of the most powerful beings two have ever existed, cut and paste together like some sort of horrib-... Oh. Well, then."
EviL Autumnus: "Pft! I still beat him! I willed myself from NOTHING! Cockiness is what killed the Questers, Evil Wolfman."
"So what. It's how I KILLED many of them!"
Valron: "Yes. And nothing has changed."
EviL Autumnus: *Sighs* "Let's not waste any more time. You go ahead and attack me, and eventually win because my other half is a moron."
Valron: "I'm just another stupid Quester in a different skin after all."
EviL Autumnus: "What? Fine! I'll show you! I'll let Autumnus deal with this!"
Metal Man (GM): The Evil Wolfman side vanishes.
Autumnus: "Hmph. Even he can see my logic. That annoying topping has been discarded. Now come at me. The chess game is here."
Metal Man (GM): He stands there and crosses his arms.
Valron: "Right. Here comes the painful part of the matter."
Metal Man (GM): Note: We'll use freeform for this. Even if I used dice... freeform feels better for this battle.
Autumnus stands there, perfectly still.
Valron examines Autumnus, looking for any sort of... well. Cracks. Fractures of any sort. A spot to slowly chip away at as he sways back and forth ever-so-slightly...
Metal Man (GM): His wrinkled face, his ancient clothes, they betray an aura of inevitability. But there is the slightest pockmark on his face.
Most likely from that last event that managed to shove him into Also.
Valron takes note of the pockmark, quickly leveling Phantom's Machinegun as he decides to fire a two-round burst into it as his way to get this trainwreck off to its' inevitable crash.
Metal Man (GM): He stands there. 99.95% of the bullet bounces off his face. The other part causes a slight bleeding from the crack in his face.
Autumnus: "Impressive. You have a few brain cells."
Metal Man (GM): He holds up a hand, and portals fill the walls behind him.
An endless cloud of flying, exploding vehicles, debris, dead people and planes violently rip out of them and fly towards you and all over the room, constantly exploding.
Autumnus: "Equal power, perhaps, but if I spread it across every part of your body, then you simply won't be alive to stop me anymore."
Metal Man (GM): Naturally I leave it up to you to describe how you try to deal with the endless cloud of wreckage.
The challenge equalizes the energy. Your shots grow in size and violently explode, causing the blasts to be neutralized.
You take a few dings as you haven't had this kind of power before, but it does protect you mostly.
Autumnus: "We are evenly matched. But that was only the first round."
Metal Man (GM): He idly puts a hand in front of his one weak spot.
Autumnus: "Now try to hit me again."
Valron hisses a little as he gets dinged up a bit, before spinning around to come face to face with Autumnus, not even saying a word as he goes to... examine him again, this time looking for any flaws in his little handguard tactic. Or his hands.
Metal Man (GM): You will have to figure out how to get something to hit him. It's not a perfect block, but it'd have to be pretty quick. Up to you to figure this one out though.
Valron takes note of the flaws in the handblock, before aiming his machinegun at what he feels to be the right angle, holding down on the trigger, this time letting loose a much larger, rapidfire hail of gunfire as he tries to use the recoil to his advantage in an attempt to strike the pockmark at the odd angle he's firing at.
Metal Man (GM): Time slows down as you do so. He tries to speed it up, but ultimately recoils bullets into his own face.
More cracks appear in his face as he backs away, bleeding more.
Autumnus: "Annoying. I can't just get rid of you, can I?"
Valron: "That's just what I am. Annoying." *He chuckles a little, a small smile on his face.*
Metal Man (GM): He shrugs, then he decides to amp up the heat.
He fires a gigantic beam into the ground, causing all the marble to become molten, then gravity beams cause random chunks of the ceiling to fall down and try to crush you.
Better be diligent about dodging this one! Keep in mind the altered powers here...
Valron: *Flies up, snapping a claw as he creates a large tornado of pure ice to create a cool spot amidst the molten marble for him to safely land on, before creating a cyclone above himself to cause the chunks of ceiling that may hit him to be tossed around elsewhere, some of it possibly going in Autumnus' general direction.* (Well, you did say 'altered powers', so... Hello)
Metal Man (GM): Autumnus shields his face as the destruction shreds the room and batters him.
He begins to get angry.
Autumnus: "You would dare use those powers against me? You merely tempt Evil Wolfman to consume you! Fool."
Metal Man (GM): He stands there, shaking his head and sealing the crack in his face with molten steel.
Autumnus: "No more easy tasks for you."
Valron: "Tch. He tried and failed. Besides, it's only fair if you're hurling around this sort of death and destruction."
Autumnus: "You should know your place, as a weakling afraid of your own powers."
Valron: "...Though, I do suppose old tricks are a tad boring, so... Let's try a mix of the old and the new, shall we?"
Autumnus: "Garrick has made it clear. You are not to do anything powerful, or else it will automatically corrode you! You are weak of soul, weak of mind. Your hearts are too easy to turn..."
Valron: *Suddenly takes a deep breath, before suddenly letting out a massive stream of green fire at Autumnus, attempting to consume him in a fierce wave of highly corrosive flame!*
"Oh, shut up. If I wanted to hear the standard 'you're weak' speech crap, I'd have asked you."
Metal Man (GM): He burns horribly, all color destroyed from his flesh.
He then reverts it, though noticeably winded.
Valron: "I've got a lot more where that's coming from!"
Autumnus: "Abomination... you shall not combine your heinous abuse of power with this planet."
Valron: "Then maybe you should've kept your mouth shut."
Metal Man (GM): Noriyuki Kamikura - Desperado (Final Boss) / Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu Black Label
Valron gets into stance, waiting for Autumnus next torrent of destruction...
Autumnus: "Ael attempted to destroy Xavier with this, but he did not have the power. He tried to use a move that Evil Wolfman used. But it wasn't Evil Wolfman's power either."
Metal Man (GM): His eyes turn full blue as a view of the entire universe fades in.
Valron: "Just shows you can't rely on that idiot for anything."
Autumnus: "THIS IS MY TRUE POWER, MORTAL. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Metal Man (GM): You see... all the planets, all the galaxies.
They're all flying inwards at you, AND a gigantic black hole has formed all around you, trying to keep you in place.
It's hard to tell whether this is the real universe, or a horrifying magical simulation.
Whatever it is, the world has given you an equal amount of power to save yourself from the multiverse imploding into YOUR FACE--but he appears unlikely to just let you do that easily, so this one might be a bit of a back and forth struggle...
Your turn.
Autumnus: "You are strong, but strength becomes meaningless in the face of infinity. You do not know, because you are limited. You have dared step in a God's domain! You will reach the edge of your knowledge and burn to nothing as a higher power rubs you out like all unruly mortals before you! You wish to control the heavens? Hahahahahahahahahaha!" *He pushes back with an immense force, as he glows violently blue, causing the energy to begin to push back at Dragoshi. All the destruction has built up in a massive continua-splosion--if it so much as nicks Dragoshi, it would be game over, but he has time to react still. Heck... wonder what would happen if it pushed back and hit Autumnus.*
Metal Man (GM): Autumnus lifts a hand to control the energy. He controls it well. However, he is so focused on controlling the universe that he forgets about you switching places with him. He is warped directly into the epicenter of it, and violently, insanely explodes. The explosions continue for quite some time, before a still exploding, half-skeletal Autumnus walks nonchalantly out of the explosions.
Autumnus: "Not bad."
Metal Man (GM): He holds up his non-destroyed arm.
Valron: *He lets out a surprisingly... boisterous laugh as he sees the heavily-exploded Autumnus* "Thank you!"
Autumnus: "But I was just getting started." *He powers up, the sheer force pushing you back....*
Valron: "Still keeping this up, huh...?"
Metal Man (GM): ...Then the door opens up behind you, and he inadvertently pushes you to the next part of the challenge, and the door slams behind you!
Autumnus: "..." *He would lower his arm, realizing what just happened.* "...Clever, clever trick, Alsa. But this will not be our last duel."
Valron: "...Thanks, buddy." *He would just kinda wave to the slammed door, before turning around to look at the next part of his challenge.*
Metal Man (GM): You hear him say that, then calmly walk out of the challenge area.
The last challenge is clearly the heart of the planet itself. A gigantic core much like that that powers the Gravity Egg sits there. It is last but probably also the least of the challenges, given that instead of a powerful abomination trying to erase you with his mind, it's just two gauntlets and some sort of observation platform you can move into the middle of the sphere.
Ancient hieroglyphs and drawings show that the means of this device is to infuse whoever enters with the power to control Alsan energy, hence the "Mad Men." Oddly though, the glyphs translate themselves for you. There is no mention of "Mad Men" so much as "Protector of Alsa."
It's clear that Illian had intended his Protectors much, much earlier than expected...
...And that those Mad Men may have been his beta test.
Valron: *He... doesn't do anything just yet, instead opting to take a deep breath while laughing a bit.* "Whew! I have no idea what I'd have done if that whole 'warp the crazy superbeing into the center of his own horrendous wave of annihilation' trick didn't work, jeeze. Aside from die horribly. Maybe. Iiiin any case, enough enjoying the fact that I'm in one piece somehow."
*He stretches out a bit, taking his time to become... not stupidly tense, before taking note of the glyphs and whatnot, looking them over as he makes his way to the gauntlets.*
Metal Man (GM): You'd see a simple task. Put on the gauntlets, and switch the switch to enter the energy and gain the power you seek.
Valron takes a slight breath, before going to slip the gauntlets on, then flip that switch as he continues his trek on the road to power acquisition.
Metal Man (GM): You'd walk over, and bump into someone... invisible...
The cloak would turn off.
Sloan: "Oh, what do we have here?"
Metal Man (GM): ...It's Sloan... wearing ancient looking rocket boots and outsized hulk-hand like gauntlets.. ..And a mask that looks like Deloth's old Cubi face.
Valron: "Oh, so someone else is here to ruin everything. Cute."
Sloan: "Why yes. You see, there's different levels of ruiner. Evil Wolfman and Autumnus are low tier."
"I am far higher tier than them."
Valron: *Ignore Sloan, do originally intended thing. Don't care.*
Sloan: "Using this stolen bit of soul I borrowed from an idiot who pretended to be Julian, I decided to make me way into here."
Metal Man (GM): He stands there as you take the gauntlets and it begins moving towards the energy with the both of you on it.
Sloan: "You know, I never did actually consider whether or not it would work if both of us are on here. Or combine us into some sort of freakish abomination."
"Maybe you are onto something."
Valron: "Maybe I am! It's been one of those days."
Sloan: "I can just sit here if you don't care. I'm only here for the energy. Unlike the other two I don't really care for grudges, I'm just grocery shopping."
Valron: "Huh. Funny thing. I'm here for the energy as well."
Sloan: "I drank a bunch of Smash Power, stole a freakish sex demon mask, and then I went back in time and obtained some of Julian's fancy toys. How about you?"
Metal Man (GM): He leans on the railing as the platform nears the energy, with his back turned to the energy.
Valron: "I half-skeletonized Autumnus."
Sloan: "It doesn't summon tentacles though, that's unfortunate. I wanted to use those to do all the work lifting groceries for me. I see. Well, that old bastard isn't very smart, so good work. He was going to annoy me until I told him I was the evil Julian and my heart had been corrupted by elves."
"He was certain the energy would kill me."
"Good thing I'm not Julian!"
Valron: "Huh. You think he'd actually be smarter than Evil Wolfman and not just seem more intelligent."
Metal Man (GM): The energy begins to lance out on the platform. Hm. Slowly moving inside a miniature sun is weird.
Sloan: "He has intelligence, but it belongs in books. The unexpected is simply too much for him."
Valron: "I'm surprised he actually didn't expect that."
Sloan: "He'll calculate everything to a billion decimals, then forget a single person with a gun can screw it all up. In any case, we're clearly breaking Illian's machine, because there's no way it was meant for two at once."
Valron: "It seemed kinda obvious. 'If brute force fails, then just warp your foe into the core of his own ludicrous annihilation'. ...Yeah. Huh."
Sloan: "Ah. That's a Time Cop genre weakness. They tend to not realize their attacks backfire."
Valron shrugs, going to take the Alsan energy for his own odds and ends. You know, that good stuff...
Sloan: "Ael vanished himself, the Arbiter forgot he has high recharge time, and Autumnus doesn't understand other people can warp too."
Metal Man (GM): You go to do so. The energy courses through you. Then... also through Sloan.
Things start to get weird as the entire chamber begins to shake.
Valron: "...In any case, we should probably leave."
Sloan: "You know, I'd have done this earlier, but it wouldn't turn on for me."
Metal Man (GM): He'd laugh as the energy glowed, giving him some strange mark on his arm.
Sloan: "But you helped me by ignoring me, so I can't complain!"
Metal Man (GM): You, too, are infused with the energy.
Valron: "In retrospect, not the smartest move, but honestly? I'm just glad to be alive today."
Metal Man (GM): Then the sun and temple violently shake and break, and the platform starts falling.
Sloan: "Well, of course! You would have died had you fought me anyway."
"Unlike those posers, I went in and broke all the rules."
Metal Man (GM): He turns on his rocket boots and flies into the air.
Valron: "Yeah, see. I don't have any pretensions of thinking I'm smart enough for that, soo..." *He proceeds to fly off as well, flapping his wings.*
Sloan: "Have a nice trip down there. I guess it'll figure out how to send you back. I'd kill you, but you gave me this energy. So I can't complain. See ya."
Metal Man (GM): He puts an arm up, then flies up with such ludicrous force it blasts a tunnel to the surface.
Smash Energy, indeed.
Valron: "...Illian is going to kill me."
Metal Man (GM): You have a path up to the surface as well, however.
Thanks to his destruction.
Valron: *He shrugs, making his way up to the surface as well.*
Metal Man (GM): It takes you a while, but you eventually exit by a pile of ruins on a certain island... ah, yes. The Marble Garden Zone ruins.
Which now all dramatically sink into the earth and are destroyed by what just happened.
You get a comms as the insanity eats the most overused part of Alsa for breakfast.
Illian MacGregor: "...Did you get the energy? I'm reading bizarre energy readings."
Valron: "Yeah, I got it."
Illian MacGregor: "Also, something that resembles a man flying at near-lightspeed."
Valron: "...yeah we're in for a doozy there."
Illian MacGregor: "He was spotted warping to a burger shop, and buying a burger at mach 12. The shockwave broke windows 10 miles away."
Valron: "...Good for him, then."
Illian MacGregor: "There was also an incident where he accidentally destroyed a bridge, then... saved everyone from the destruction he created... ...Do you know what happened?"
"Nobody can really see the man, it's just one huge pink-yellow streak."
"Even Sonic was reported to be baffled as to how anyone could move that fast."
Valron: "...Sloan's hopped up on a cocktail of Smash Energy and Alsan Power and stole Julian's rocket shoes."
Illian MacGregor: "...So that is why people noted he morphed into different forms and idly picked up small buildings..."
Valron: "I wish I was making that second part up for the record."
Illian MacGregor: "...But... I don't get it. I thought he wanted to destroy me... ...There is no destruction. No intentional destruction."
"Only weirdness."
"Garrick isn't going to like this."
Valron: "Eh. He generally has his own variety of plans. Can't be too careful around him, in any case."
Illian MacGregor: "I'll watch him... as best I can..."
Valron: "...My apologies in advance for whatever mess that causes, but, I have had a long day."
Illian MacGregor: "...I'm not sure you could have beaten him anyway."
Valron: "Long story short, I got in a huge battle of wills against Autumnus and only made him into half a skeleton."
Illian MacGregor: "Before the Alsa energy is added, he basically had enough power to use 'Call the Ambulance' to destroy one half of your body... in the time it takes most of us to twitch one finger. ...I see."
"He must have taken an alternate route as I haven't seen him anywhere."
Valron: "Also, he made a horrible cut-and-paste abomination cluster with Evil Wolfman but he kinda disengaged that when I fought him. Also, The Void seems to have left the two of them. ...Somehow."
Illian MacGregor: "..." *Sighs* "Also's containment must have been breached. Luckily, no trace of Kuja escaping."
"That's the last thing we'd need."
Valron: "Did you forget the fact that Ael escaped along with Evil Wolfman and The Void as Avul and we had to go through this whole production to trap the latter two in a Transformer."
Illian MacGregor: "..." *He pauses more.* "Yes, I did. That makes it even more frightening and Sloan-related."
Valron: "Which resulted in Autumnus being shunted off to some far-end of the universe and... well. I don't know how he did it, but here we are."
Illian MacGregor: "...Or was it Xavier... ...It had to be Xavier."
"What did you hear of The Void?"
"Xavier claimed The Void as being a part of him. The data I got from Sloan earlier suggests that he was tempted to retrieve The Void."
Valron: "Let me think... I'm still trying to shake off the whole 'having survived a ludicrous battle where the other party threw a universe at me' feeling."
Illian MacGregor: "...Good thing it was an illusory universe then."
Valron: "Autumnus said The Void told him that had he found someone else to pick him up. That's... all he really said about that matter."
Illian MacGregor: "..."
Metal Man (GM): He screams "XAVIER!" really loud. For... like... 3 minutes.
Illian MacGregor: "... ... We will have to correct this madness using your new powers."
"You did get them, right?"
Valron: "Egh! I need to be able to hear, thanks. Yeah, I got them."
Illian MacGregor: "The temple destructed. So you are officially a Mad Man. The Metal Body part was just made for the GUN people. You have the other powers however."
"You will have to learn to master them."
"The Energy lets your mind reshape reality while near Alsa."
Valron checks his arm to see if there's any sort of marking on it.
Illian MacGregor: "And protects you from Smash Energy."
Valron: "Noted."
Metal Man (GM): You'd see on the right arm, you'd have the symbol of Alsa there ..Sloan had his on the left arm.
Illian MacGregor: "Unfortunately, you are not as powerful as you could have been, as Sloan took some of the energy... ...but the readings indicate you would have died horribly trying to fight him. The only reason he isn't attacking us seems to be his mysterious plans."
"The data he gave us suggested that he doesn't want to kill us directly, but indirectly."
Valron: "Sounds about right. Also, if there's any way to take back that power, I'm all ears."
Illian MacGregor: "As such, he may have these powers, but he's only using them to... be a weirdo. Kill Sloan."
"...Easier said than done."
Valron: "...So I can't just lop off his left arm?"
Illian MacGregor: "Hm. Is that where his tattoo is?"
Valron: "Yeah."
Illian MacGregor: "If you cut it off and attached it to yourself, its power would be yours. Horrifying, but... ...it'd work."
"...Now to figure out how to get his arm off."
Valron: "...I can just reshape his arm to my own after I'm done, right? If we can even pull off this ridiculousness."
Illian MacGregor: "Eventually, yes, once you assimilate it. The extra power will help you with that."
"...Just protect your own arm."
Valron: "Noted. I'll be sure to get some serious armor for it or something."
Illian MacGregor: "...And I've heard things about arms possessing people, so be careful."
Valron: "...Actually I just want better armor all around."
Illian MacGregor: "We don't want Sloalron. That can be the next goal."
Valron: "...The reverse could be possible. But yeah. Anyways! How goes reviving that dead region?"
Illian MacGregor: "Work is slow but we have begun reviving the people with our best magic. The most important leftovers have begun aiding us with the leftover reviving magic they have. In three weeks there should be a basic minimal level of civilization keeping it self-sufficient. While you look for armor, you should be able to aid in that task as well."
"Your powers can help manipulate the world and rebuild."
Valron: *Nods* "Got it. Maybe I should go about restoring control points for an easier time as well. Maybe."
Illian MacGregor: "I'd open the warp for you, but... you can do that yourself now."
Metal Man (GM): You'd find that you can just generate warps with your mind now.
So you can just summon one before you.
Valron nods, summoning a warp back to Illian's ship... Which he enters. He will of course close it behind him once he's done.
Metal Man (GM): You do so... and we pause there.
Next session: Xavier's WAAAACKY VOID ADVENTURE
+OMGz WHY DO I TAKE SO LONG TO MAKE A NEW SYSTEM EXP
Metal Man (GM): Intro for this session
In review: Garrick tried to change the world, discovered that Borne's people trust him mostly because he gets results. He tried to fix things in Continia... and kinda-sorta succeeded, although Alex Fender, Illian and Valron ended up getting all the credit.
Now he's on his way to Kanto to simply not go insane and destroy himself after discovering that Alsa is inhospitable to traditional heroes.
He'd be on a ship, a mini-Dauntless as it were, flying towards Kanto itself. No distractions, no news reports, not even a radio--all of that was taken out so as to avoid the outside world dragging him back in.
The bizarre, Pi-shaped landmass of Kanto would sit ahead... and not in the best of shape, since clearly somebody had a field day exploding part of it a long time ago.
Garrick Fy`aar frowns as he flies in. He doesn't land RIGHT away... first taking the time to do a few things.
"Computer... scan the landmass. Is anything amiss in terms of just things out of the ordinary? Dimensional ruptures, high levels of technology that shouldn't be there, so forth?"
Computer: "No. It was damaged a while ago. That is all. It was a very long time ago--over 5 years ago."
Garrick Fy`aar hrms and nods. With that, he stands and walks into the equipment locker of the ship... and proceeds to take off all his equipment. Armor, weapons, technology... the only thing he keeps is his wrist computer which has a direct connection with the ship.
"If I'm gonna do this, I do it right."
*He returns to the pilot seat and brings the ship into landing in the outskirts of Pallet Town.*
Metal Man (GM): You'd land there. Almost immediately, you would see someone outside the ship. It's a rather pale looking Professor Oak.
The Pallet town you might have known from Nintendus is not this one--it feels... older. A slightly larger, but emptier town.
Garrick Fy`aar would head outside.
Metal Man (GM): The wind slowly blows through the trees as the rather pale looking Oak has his hand at his belt, though he drops it when he sees you.
Professor Oak: "Oh... thank Arceus. You weren't the monster who destroyed Viridian City. It's been so long since we've seen ships like that one there... it seemed like they had come back to finish us off."
Garrick Fy`aar: "No, Professor. No monsters. Just me."
Professor Oak: "... ...Just what is your name anyway, odd fellow?"
Metal Man (GM): *CHOOSE YOUR NAME SCREEN HERE.*
Garrick Fy`aar keys a few commands into his wrist computer... the ship would seal up, take off, and fly away to land somewhere safe and out of site.
He sighs for a bit. He remembered the professor somewhat fondly from his time on Nintendus... his knowledge about matter/energy transference was somewhat astounding...
"Garrick. You can call me Garrick."
Professor Oak: "Ah. So, Garrick. What brings you to Kanto?"
Garrick Fy`aar: "Well... erm..."
Professor Oak: "Clearly you are not here to blow everyone up, so that is an improvement."
Garrick Fy`aar rubs the back of his head.
"...I know I'm a bit old for it, but..."
"...I'd like to start my Pokemon journey."
Professor Oak: "Ah." *He would put a hand to his chin.* "But see, you are not from around here, so your culture probably did not have pokemon, so it is understandable. Come inside with me, I have some pokemon you might want to start with. You clearly know of how things are here, so I won't need to bore you with endless descriptions..." *He goes to walk into his lab. It clearly has grown in size over the years.*
Garrick Fy`aar does walk inside, casting a wary but curious eye around the place. Again, Oak knew his shit. He wanted to see what he'd been cooking up.
Metal Man (GM): You see... data on pokemon, everywhere, and a small exhibit showing an image of what is unmistakably Panzer, a tank, and the destruction of Viridian City.
Garrick Fy`aar: "...ahhh... yeah, okay."
Professor Oak: "I have a lot of baubles around here, but, to be honest, the most important work is still with this." *He takes out his pokedex... which is now a highly sophisticated tablet device.*
Garrick Fy`aar whistles, looking at it closely.
Professor Oak: "Pokemon are continually changing, so despite our pre-recorded data, we still need more information on them. Our devices are much more precise than they used to be."
Garrick Fy`aar: "I like the look of that... though I imagine mine won't be anywhere near as complex.'"
Metal Man (GM): It's a tablet, you could run whatever you wanted on it, but most important is an array of measurement devices on the back.
Professor Oak: "Actually, this is what the average one is like, and I'm giving it to you. No need to have extra ones cluttering my office, especially when I'm busy working on an even more effective one--come back after you've seen enough pokemon and I'll give it to you."
Metal Man (GM): He would hand you the device.
Professor Oak: "Just keep in mind it only works on Pokemon--it doesn't quite handle anything else. Gives a 'missing number' complaint. That's normal."
Garrick Fy`aar takes it, looking it over with a interested eye. He would slip it into the inside of his jacket.
"The thing I'm wondering about is my starter Pokemon... do you still use the original trio?"
Professor Oak: "Well... er..." *He pauses.* "No. I gave them out many years ago, and their trainers became pokemon masters. Thanks to conservation efforts, all three pokemon now occur naturally in the wild, however. It took us a while to figure out where they live, but if you proceed far enough on this land, you will find all of them."
"Currently, I give out either Eevee, Staryu, or Spearow. We determined handing out obviously competing types only created rivalries of a destructive kind."
"Luckily I do not think you have any rival here. However, there are other trainers, so you may encounter one elsewhere."
Garrick Fy`aar: "...so, wait. In order for me to catch pokemon, I need one."
"And the ones you have to give me are Eevee, Staryu, and Spearow..."
Professor Oak: "Yes. I have one of each with me, currently. You may pick any one of those three. As for pokeballs... I will simply give you some, because the shop in Viridian was destroyed."
Garrick Fy`aar ponders that for a moment. That... wasn't entirely what he was hoping for, but still...
"...give me Eevee."
Metal Man (GM): He hands you the Eevee pokeball--it has a blue top and white bottom.
He then hands you the pokeballs--5 other ones to be specific.
Professor Oak: "Now, you can get more, but you have to go to the next town over. Viridian is more of a memorial than a town now."
Garrick Fy`aar bounces the small ball in his hand before taking the others and placing them in his pocket.
Professor Oak: "You can come here to heal your pokemon as well, and buy potions."
Garrick Fy`aar: "Yeah, of course... is everything else still around? The gyms, the Elite Four, the Pokemon Centers?"
Professor Oak: "Yes, although Vermilion has a new gym leader due to... well, more destruction from the same person who took out Viridian."
Garrick Fy`aar: "...and what about Team Rocket?"
Professor Oak: "Ah... them... You would do well not to interfere in the affairs of Rocket Boss James. He and Jesse run the syndicate in a new town built off to the side of the ruined Viridian City."
"After Viridian was destroyed, Giovanni mysteriously vanished... or was it before? I forget... in any case, you would best be careful about going to the left of Viridian. The Elite Four moved after they found it too troublesome to get rid of them."
Garrick Fy`aar: "I won't mess with them if they don't mess with me..."
Professor Oak: "Generally they keep to their own area. If you can believe it, the stress and work of building their own town has mostly distracted them from petty crime. In enough years, they may simply become another town. Though there are rumbles of Giovanni trying to take back his syndicate... ...I'd just stay out of it."
Garrick Fy`aar frowns for a moment... he doesn't like the sound of it, but he figures he'll leave well enough alone unless things get... hectic.
"Well... that's all I can think of. Anything else you think I should know?"
Professor Oak: "If you see Bill, hand him this." *He hands you a highly technical treatise on pokemon energy.* "I think we may be able to trade pokemon across time and space... it was just a rumor back when Red began, but now that 5 years have passed, I feel confident it can be done."
Garrick Fy`aar: "Yikes... fair enough."
*He pockets that as well. *
"Anything else?"
Professor Oak: "No, that will be all. Perhaps you can help increase our data on pokemon... just do be careful. It's a bit dangerous out there."
Garrick Fy`aar is about to leave, but stops...
"...one other thing."
"Is Red out there?"
Professor Oak: "He still wanders the most dangerous edges of this realm. If you ever do meet him, just be careful. I fear his years of study have caused him to lose contact with society."
Garrick Fy`aar: "I suppose we'll see."
Professor Oak: "He seems only interested in victory now... and he's run out of opponents."
Garrick Fy`aar: "Thanks for the help, Professor."
Professor Oak: "Certainly. Come any time. I need things to do between my work, anyway..." *He sighs.* "There's never an end to the fascinating discoveries... and the task of writing them all down."
Garrick Fy`aar would make to leave with that. As he'd walk, he'd glance over to where Red's house was... he had been here once before, a long time ago. He wondered idly if Red's mom still lived there and what she thought of her son now. He'd sigh, reaching into his pocket and pulling out that blue and white ball before looking it over... then chucking it at the ground.
Metal Man (GM): *PHWOOSH* The Eevee comes out of the pokeball and says its name, as all pokemon do. Then it looks up at you, wondering what your instructions are. Like all Pokemon, or dogs, or other pets, it seems very much interested in following you around. Simple enough.
Garrick Fy`aar: "...so, uh. ...you're mine now, I guess."
"...wanna go tackle some stuff?"
Eevee: "Eevee!" *It nods, as if it understands your question and is definitely ready to do something.*
Garrick Fy`aar: "Okay, good. Let's go find something for you to tackle."
*He would, with that, head out into the tall grass. He is now, literally, on the road to Viridian City.*
Metal Man (GM): You'd walk a way, the Eevee eagerly romping through the grass. The grass is a little taller than the sort you'd normally associate here, but you discover the reason why--the path, while used, is mostly a park now... and... yes. We shall stop here, for now, though I'll be up to continue soon enough.