>>19115266Or, Life, The Universe, and Everything>Previous Threads:http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Metahuman%20Renaissance%20QuestPREVIOUSLY, ON METAHUMAN RENAISSANCE: Dan embarks on his journey to Japan. After gathering his items, and receiving a "universal translator" from Roxy, he goes through airport security, then spends his time on planes reading things and making and/or eating sandwiches. And his time off planes hanging around with his traveling party, getting to know them all better. As the plane of the final leg of the journey begins its descent, Dan has a strange and possibly prophetic dream.
Fuck yeah
>>19115315You shake the sleep from yourself, as the plane begins its final descent into Tokyo, and you make sure you've got all your belts and tray tables in order. Roxane shoots you a side-long glance, and says "Have a nice nap?". You shrug. "Eh, I've had worse. No crazy dreamlands or mad scientist teleconferences this time." She raises an eyebrow at you. You get the impression that if most other people said that to her, she'd probably be more skeptical, but Roxane has only known you since your life was made infinitely stranger, and phrases like "dreamlands" and "mad scientist teleconferences" weren't in your vocabulary. You're not sure if you miss those days or not.Customs on the ground is kind of strange, since you have to go through all that scanning stuff on the Japanese side again. It's also the first time at customs you've ever had to declare yourself. But, while this seems to take you longer than leaving the states, the Japanese customs agents are very polite, and it manages to only be tedious, as opposed to frustrating. After all that, you collect up your bags, and you switch up some of your cash for local currency, though most places will probably take from a credit chip. Then the trio of you catch a cab, and go to your hotel. It's a decent one, and you've got a trio of rooms, suite style, with a central room, though the individual rooms are like your old dorm room, enough space to stick a bed, a place to put your clothes, and a small bathroom.
>>19115531Stow our stuff and walk the city a bit, get the lay of the land and try to find a hole in the wall noodle joint.
>>19115531we hungry again? suffering from jetlag and/or still sleepy?And what's the local time? we should get accustomed to it asap.
>>19115266>>19115315And there go my hopes of getting in bed early today.
>>19115681>>19115626You stow your bags in the room you have claimed as your own. Since you got at least a couple hours of sleep on the plane, you're not that tired, though when you ask, apparently Anna and Roxy are. Understandable, given that it was a long day. And now its the small hours of the morning local time. Given your restlessness, you decide to go for a walk. You tuck your ritual kit over one shoulder, and tuck the phrase book into it, and make sure to slip on the translator before you go out. You consider maybe finding a place for a snack, but you're not really hungry after the sandwich you made on the plane. So you walk.And walk. You just casually stroll around the city, admiring the sights, trying to wear yourself out a little, getting a feel. I some ways, it reminds you of Liberty, but it's also different in many ways. The limited number of pedestrians for the dead of night don't pay you much mind, other than maybe some sidelong glances or double takes when they realize you're not a native. You loose track of where you're walking, exactly, in fact, lost in the sights and sounds of a foreign city. You realize this when you end up walking in a place that looks much more residential, and less metropolis-like. You pause for a second, trying to recall how exactly you walked here, and how you're going to get back. (cont)
>>19115939You'd think Tokyo was crazy busy even at night. Still, gotta love those suburbs.
>>19115939(2x8 and 2x9 on Perception) While you're looking around, you catch your own shadow out of the corner of your eye, cast by a nearby streetlamp. Well, you say its *your* shadow because its cast from your standing form, but looking at it, it looks like a massive, figure. Man-shaped, but around 7-8ft tall, with appropriate dimensions, and extra bulky, with the occasional decorative spike here and there. But when you rotate your head all the way around to look at it directly, it's just your shadow. Your attention is once again distracted as you hear a woman shout out, sounding distressed. You snap around, and spy a Japanese woman running across the street, away from a trio of thug-looking young men, dressed in biking leathers, and looking unruly. Looks like some things never change. The woman ducks across the street and into an alley, with the three disreputable-looking men following her. Almost on reflex, you begin strolling casually in that direction, but pause for half a second to think. You're not in your home city anymore, where the Police and the Mayor like you. You're not even in your own country right now. The woman screams again, louder, and you see one of the rear most mooks pull out a straight razor of all things. You suspect these guys have been watching to many movies.>what do?
>>19115996I'm sure it is still busy, but this is the dead of night. Y'know, when all the interesting stuff actually happens in fiction, despite most people being sound asleep.
>>19116007How big are these guys' pompadours?Announce our presence with a loud "MATTE!" and strike a Rider pose. That'll throw them off, especially since we're a damn gaijin.Side note: whether or not Dan appears black may influence the Japanese opinion towards us.
>>19115939>how you're going to get backIt's simple. We must go up to get a birds-eye view and work out where we are. Flying would attract a lot of attention so we'll have to parkour home.>>19116007While we're here we have to respect the local customs. The local custom is to just completely ignore it and pretend we never saw anything, right?...That's not very respectable. Looks like we're getting into trouble again. I think the best option is trying to scare them off with "I'm a big scary wizard" so we don't actually have to fight them. Armour up, use the wings to levitate slightly, put a psibolt in our hand etc.
>>19116007Play the "Stupid Foreigner" card. bump into them and babble in broken english while blocking their view of the woman, giving her time to run.If they try to go around trip them up but make it look like youre just a clumsy fool.Worst comes to worse We have magic AND we can outrun them
Don't do too much that would catch attention, but yeah, go after them and try to scare them off. If that doesn't work, psibolt!
>>19116116If we're going to intimidate them, let's at least stick with something they may know, like >>19116109.
>>19116140I still like this one, but if we're going to do something overt, at least cover Dan's face with something so we dont have yakuza or something knocking down our door or chasing us in the street okay?
>>19116225They won't know a Cyrean armour suit? I would have thought that them invading earth would have made them kind of famous. They'll probably be as confused as fuck but you still don't take on a fully armoured alien psychic soldier when you're a thug with a knife.The Rider pose would confuse and probably amuse them but how is it scary? They see a kid playing superhero and it's 3 vs 1.
>>19116315Then we HENSHIN! into our armor and hit one of the thugs with a Psibolt punch while shouting RIDER PAANCH!
>>19116315Confusion is what we'd aim for. The longer they pay attention to us, the shorter they pay attention to her.
>>19116350And as soon as we actually hit one we've assaulted them and paperwork and police bother comes out of every orifice. Especially in a foreign country.
>>19116376Well, we obviously won't swing first.Also, I give you our thugs.
>>19116208>>19116140>>19116116maybe we could combine the playing stupid and the Intimidation choices? I mean, If we set up an Option behind us and maybe a Will o Wisp and just started running screaming, Theyre first thought would probably be that we were being chased by it right? if it happens to start shooting Psibolts/setting them on fire , that would make it even more distracting.Sorry, I just dont think Direct conflict is the best plan when we just got off the plane and had to declare our super powers. If these guys are connected at all where do you think theyre going to look first when some Gaijin with superpowers gets in their way?
>>19116372If they run away then she doesn't have to. Just buying time doesn't solve much, and if they get annoyed and attack then we're into a fight which is troublesome. Plus with the armour on the whole time we can't be identified so easily.>>19116437If we get into a fight it's going to be a lot of bother whether we're in the right or not.
Theres also always the option to just Psi Ram them from somewhere they wont see us or something. Stasis or freeze would probably work too.
>>19116109>>19116116>>19116225You tuck your fedora tighter on your head and whisper a spell that causes the wind to billow your coat out behind you, like the scary wizard you may or may not be. You tuck your glasses into a pocket, revealing your glowing eyes, as you stroll up to the alley opening, to find the three guys slowly stalking up to the woman, who has found herself blocked by an inevitable chain-link fence, and who is crouched against it and starting to cry. You cough quietly, adding some oomph to it which causes the lights on the street to flicker. They all turn around to you and one of them says something which translates to "The fuck do *you* want, foreigner?". You grin at him like a psycho gaijin, and whip off your coat and hat in one motion and pose as you summon your armor. It begins linking to the home system while you continue posing. (With your 2hd, 3x10 on Intimidate)All three of the men step back, and turn to face you, switchblades and straight razors gleaming in the moonlight. Whether or not their genuinely afraid of you, or just smart enough to recognize you as a threat, you're not sure, but you've got their full attention now. Which is why none of your are prepared when a tendril of blackness leaps out of the woman's shadow and impales the closest thug to her with a spray of blood. (cont)
>>19116509Goddamnit we only just solved the last crazy possessed woman problem.
>>19116509Welp, there goes that plan.
>>19116509He has enough time to look down dumbly at the fatal wound, before the tendril whips sideways, and the guy slumps over in the alley. The other two spin around and watch transfixed as a mass of squirming darkness rises up from the woman's shadow cast by the moon and street light. The woman herself seems to have lapsed into unconsciousness. A slit opens up in it, and a huge golden eye with a slip pupil opens up at the center. Another line appears, and rows of very white, big, sharp, pointy teeth appear and the weird monster grins. The next closest guy lets out a very impressive battle yell and moves to stab it right in its freakish eye, but it swats him aside with a tentacle like an insect, putting a dent in the wall of the building to the side. The last guy turns to flee, but it shoots out a limb and trips him, then flings him back across the street into the convenience store front he and his friends just came from. "Well, shit." You observe. You activate your flight for a second, and use it to dodge up and back to the opposite sidewalk as the monster strikes at you with a dozen spear-like appendages. It oozes up the alley after you, emerging out onto the street, oscillating with rage. It opens its mouth and lets out an echoing un-cry, which reminds you of some things you punched over a month ago. "I've seen enough to know where this is going..." You comment, to no one in particular. The third thug groans from a pile of glass behind you. >GO TIME, WHAT DO?
>>19116597Can we tell if this is an Outsider or someone local? How much magic is being exuded?
>>19116597Man, this sucks. we just go out for a walk and people start dying.Oh well. I vote for either Psi-Lancing, or Psi-Burning the tentacle monster. we should probably avoid hitting the girl, since she appears to be unconscious anyway. We should probably use a Medic on the thugs that are still alive.
>>19116597Use wisp to illuminate the woman, get rid of the shadow. Might work.Ask it nicely what it's problem is. It defended the woman so there's a small chance it's a nice blob monster thing and this is just a misunderstanding.
>>19116698Seems local. It doesn't exude that sense of wrongness outsiders should. Definitely magic, spookysense off the charts. If Dan wasn't in an enclosed environment, he'd say...Smells like bad spirits.
rolled 51 = 51>>19116597PSI LANCE!
We should at least try to talk to it.Other than that, make sure our barrier is up, but lets not attack for now. We don't know if the woman will be safe.
rolled 45 = 45>>19117011Support.
>>19116706>>19116788>>19116709You put up your hands. "Hey now, buddy. We don't have to fight, I think." You helmet, handily reproduces this phrase in Japanese when it speaks it from your external speaker. The creature just bellows again, louder, tentacles waggling kermit-esque with rage. This time its cry is loud enough to pop the streetlights, lowing the light level on the street for everyone except alien-enhanced superhumans and crazy shadow tentacle monsters. Oddly, you think its more pissed that you don't want to fight that it was with just not being able to murderize you. "Well friendo, if its a fight you want, you can have it!" You say, and extend a hand, blue-white light shooting forth from it in a beam of energy.(2x6 on Psi Lance)Your blast strikes true, right in the center of its maw of razor-point teeth. The beam blows right through the back of the creature with a squishy sound, and sails over a couple streets into a dumpster somewhere. The creature seems rather unmoved by this, as its insides just swirl up and close its wound, the mouth sealing down the middle to form two separate mouths, both of which begin chuckling very deep and loud, like Jabba the Hutt. This plan seems less than effective. It begins to squirm across the street toward you. And a casual backhand of one of its tendrils slices your hat in twain where it lay on the sidewalk.
>>19117129Wait, sliced our Cyrean crystal helmet?
rolled 46 = 46>>19117150Worse. Our fedora. Silent rage time. It shall know psi-bolt hell, as those who play touhou games know bullet hell.
>>19117150No, your fedora. You were wearing it, but ditched it in >>19116509 for effect. It was lying on the sidewalk.Was.
>>19117129The hat! Well now it has to die. If it regenerates, you kill it with fire - everyone knows that. And we just happened to have got a new fire power we haven't used yet.
>>19117150HATNot helmet. Hat>>19117129 We should still put a medic on those injured guys. Maybe we should drop a regular light wisp on the shadow, see how it reacts?
>>19117214You could try the Psi Flare. It's a wisp that sticks.And hurts.
>>19117239Sounds like a plan. We should aim it right at it's big creepy eye too.even if it doesn't dislike light, It wouldn't be pleasant having a very bright one stuck to your pupil
>>19117214>>19117239>>19117279(2x8 and 2x9 on Psi Flare, w/ 6d. You'll have to turn it off to use another program)You conjure then fire a Psi Flare, the little thing living up to its name, illuminating the street like an electric blue road-flare. You shoot straight for the eye. The shadow-entity lets out a surprised yelp and flings all its tentacles in front of its face, just in time. The bolt slaps into them and sizzles, an it lets out a hiss. Unfortunately, its ability to adhere causes it to drop harmlessly into the street, after dissolving away the ends of the tendrils. The creature snarls a little and scoots over to the side of it, skirting around it. Its appendages twitch and regrow. You face off, western style, then you hear from down the street, "SPIRIGUN... FIRE!" In accented English. You and the monster both turn to look at the source of the sound, and see a Japanese guy, probably high school age, judging by the uniform, wielding something that looks like a flare pistol in both hands.Then he pulls the trigger and a ball of light shoots out of the gun, which sails down the street and collides with the top half of the monster, which doesn't so much as explode, as shatter, and the creature kind of slumps down with a surprised gurgle. You look back to the kid to see him break open the gun and something pop out. Then you notice that on his belt, and under his uniform jacket, it looks like he's wearing bandoliers filled with glowing shells. (cont)
>>19117513Baller.
>>19117513>>"SPIRIGUN... FIRE!" In accented EnglishY-yusuke?
>>19117513The creature surprisingly shoots back up, squirming and wriggling like a puddle of crude oil in a rainstorm. It's mouths fuse back together, then open wide showing another eye inside, which shoots out of the mouth as the creature vomits itself at the kid, tendrils coalescing into two hand-like appendages. Your wings spring out, as you get ready to fly down the street to help the kid who is caught reloading, but you catch something in the corner of your vision. A girl, standing on the edge of a roof. She's wearing a uniform skirt and jacket over a so-dark-its-almost-black purple jumpsuit, and it looks like she has gauntlets and armored boots on, in addition to a sword strapped to her back, and some kind of pouch on her belt. As the creature passes by her, she flips sideways over the street and throws down a handful of knives from the pouch at the creature. Taken by surprise, it is momentarily pinned down, before its amorphous self squirms away from the knifes. It shoots out several spear-like tendrils again, but the girl disappears in a puff of smoke, and the creature only skewers a trash can which was suddenly in its way. The girl reappears to the side of the strike, sticks out her arm, and the glove on her wrist appears to fire out a number of shuriken, severing the tendrils. The creature howls in pain, and starts oozing back up the street, in your direction, while the girl draws her sword, and the boy loads a white glowing shell into his gun.>Next move?
>>19117632That's an I in there, not a T. Though the kid could be imitating that, even if he didn't make the gun.
>>19117634Psi Flare, also use air evocation to feed the flame and keep it burning hotter.
>>19117634The flare seemed to work well. Rapidfire more flares and wisps at him.
>>19117634I'm thinking another flare. Clearly this thing doesn't handle being burnt too well.
>>19117666It's pretty obviously a Spiral gun, probably feeding off of Spiral energy.Anyway, its backing up into us, so we have the advantage for a moment.Our Psi attacks don't seem so effective, and we don't want to damage anything, so redo the Psi flare while its distracted, and then follow up with a flame evocation, being careful not to hit the other Supers?
>>19117634Lets see, weapons seem to hurt it, light hurts it, but Lance just goes through it...How about we turn off the Flare and use Spotlight instead since it seems to avoid light and we can direct that one(it does produce actual light right?), and toss some Burn at it?Im thinking we really just need to keep it still so these guys can do their thing. They seem to know what theyre doing, which is more than I can say for Dan at the moment.
>>19117771Problem, Spotlight is psychic light, it shows the world as it would under Dan's Psi Sense. Wisp, on the other hand, does visible light.
>>19117794Thats what I feared. okay, I guess more Flare then
>>19117810>>19117736>>19117762>>19117668>>19117720(2x4 on new flare)You dismiss the first flare, the sudden absence of light causing the pair of native teenagers to finally look up the street at you. "Yo, ugly!" You shout out, summoning another Flare in your hand. The creature bonelessly rolls its eye up over the top of its form and back down to face you now. It's a vaguely nauseating sight. "Time for the second course!" You say, and lob the flare on over. This time you're aiming right for its maw, and easily pop it right in there. "Two points!" You shout out. The creature closes its mouth, makes some chewing motions, then screams out, so loud that you're glad the helmet automatically steps down any sounds that would cause you harm. It squirms in all directions, rapidly attempting to get away from the burning light, and failing. It eventually picks a direction, and starts twisting that way, when the boy pops it with another shot from his strange gun. At this much closer range, a lot more the the creature is broken off and dissolves away. The remainder of the entity slouches to the ground. The girl runs up with her sword, flips it so the blade points down, and thrusts it down into the center of mass. The creature lets out a death rattle, and the ooze evaporates, only leaving a hard center of black diamond, a 20-sided geometric figure made of solid darkness. Bright red blood, brighter than a person's, pours out of the solid shape, which then shatters and evaporates, like the rest of it, leaving only the blood. The girl flicks her sword to clean it, then sheathes it, while the kid breaks open his gun again, releasing the shell. Then the two of them look up the street about a block, at you.
>>19118081"Aww, man. That would've been a badass d20 for a Call of Cthulhu campaign..."
>>19118081Give them a thumbs up, then apologize for getting in their way.
>>19118108>That would've been a badass d20It was the size of your head.And also kind of the core to some kind of horrible evil spirit.
>>19118124EXACTLY! Can you imagine hoisting that thing up and tossing it at the table? It'd break shit, but it'd be badass.
>>19118081Hey, the names Javelin, I'm on vacation. Nice to meet you two. What was that thing and do you hunt them often?
>>19118139Isn't CoC percentile-based, though?
>>19118081Congratulations later, Healing wounded now. Priorities
>>19118165They also made a D20 version.It was not as good.
>>19118121>>19118174You offer a thumbs up to the two teens, then jog over to the convenience store with a punked-in window. You find the guy, still lying on the floor, luckily not to badly cut up as his leathers seemed to have stopped most of the glass. The shopkeeper peaks up over the counter, and you tell him "Don't worry. Stay where you are, the authorities are on their way." which the armor translates into pitch perfect synthesized Japanese. Then you use your medic ability to start patching the guy lying on the floor up. He groans, opens his eyes, sees the Gaijin Wizard Space Knight crouching over him laying on hands, and decides to go back to unconsciousness. You stand up, and notice the two teens checking out the alley. The body walks down it to pull the woman and the surviving thug out but the girl is staring at you. She, in a shockingly impolite display, points directly at you with a finger, then makes a "come over here" gesture.
>>19118454No reason not to humor the girl. We ought to take the helmet off so she can see our face, assuming we can still talk into it like a headset and have ourselves translated.
>>19118454No reason not to follow her over, yes?Keep the armour on for talking though.
>>19118491>>No reason not to humor the girl. We ought to take the helmet off so she can see our face, assuming we can still talk into it like a headset and have ourselves translated....WHY. WHY Would we do that? Theres no reason to, Especially since we put the armor on precisely so they COULDNT see our face.Leave everything on unless we have a damn good reason to take it off.
>>19118454Wander on over in a friendly manner. Keep the armor on so we can actually talk to her. If she starts talking in English we can take it off and talk normally.
>>19118566>>19118491 Why is everyone so deadset on revealing ourselves to everyone we come across? Has no one heard of keeping a low profile? Do we have no concept of not drawing undue attention to ourselves in a strange land, with people we dont know jack about?
>>19118868>>19118566If the situation warrants it, like she demands to see our face, we can show her.But we keep the helmet on until then.
>>19118891Especially since we do not speak Japanese without that helmet.
>>19118868>Cyrean armor>Psychic>Mage>Subtle
>>19118563>>19118549>>19118491>>19118566You slowly walk over to stand in the middle of the street, boots crunching on the glass, until you stand in front of the girl. In the added height from your armor, you nearly tower over her. Which isn't had since she's a 16 year old asian girl, and probably 5'3'', tops. You don't say anything but stand there patiently. "Excuse me sir, do you mind telling me who you are and what you were doing here?" She says, in perfect English. Right, you kind of threw that last taunt out in your native tongue. Leaving your running translation off, you say, "Oh, me? I'm nobody. Just a tourist passing by, see somebody in trouble then crazy tentacle monster tries and kill me. You get that a lot around here?" You accompany your story with many expressive gestures. She looks sidelong at the ground and mutters in Japanese (which the armor translates) "More than you'd think." She focuses her gaze back on you. "You have a name, and a face, tourist-san?" "Maybe." You state flatly. She smiles, falsely, and says "Perhaps you'd like to share them with me, before the police arrive, and I have to mention a suspicious person in my report?" with utmost politeness. The boy has both the surviving victims pulled out onto the sidewalk, and is checking the thug's pulse. He speaks now, his English not as good as hers. "I'll listen to her, buddy. Kazuko-san can be real scary." She glares at him over her shoulder, and barks at him in Japanese. "Nakamura! We're on patrol. Last names only." He puts up his hands, and replies, also in Japanese "Sorry, sorry. Matsuoka-san."
>>19118906I dont see what being subtle has to do with revealing ourselves.I dont remember Dan being an attention whore.And if they Demand to see our face, SO WHAT, unless they have some authority over us, just say NO
>>19118951Hand over our ID card and say, "Will this do?"Remove the helmet if she insists, but I have a sinking feeling that our prophetic dream might be referring to something about to happen here.Possibly involving someone who resembles us closely.
>>19118967>I dont remember Dan being an attention whore.No, but Dan does usually give full cooperation to authority figures.
>>19118951Let's reveal our face and name. We declared our powers at customs, it's not like they won't know it's us anyway with a bit of digging and the story from these two. The authorities should be here shortly.
>>19118967There's your justification. The police will get involved. No one said Dan is an attention whore. But he is rather affable and works well with authority, so chill the fuck out.
>>19118989This, too. We're on the public record, anyway.
>>19118987Yeah, he does. Which is why I added that part about complying if they have the authority to ask. As to the current situation, would anyone actually have a problem waiting till the police get here and just talking to them ourselves?
>>19119023We can show her our credentials before that point, I think.Tell her we'll cooperate with any official investigation, and even stay around to give a statement if need be to the police, but we'd prefer not to remove the helmet unless it's absolutely necessary.
>>19119023There wouldn't be if Matsuoka and Nakamura weren't present.Which they are.So there might be.
>>19119023Yes. It's pointlessly rude to keep our silly mask on while we wait for the police to show up. We have no reason to hide our identity from them. We aren't a super hero.
>>19119071Remember our dream about an evil dude who looked like us?Do you think there might be a benefit in avoiding the authorities confusing us with such a person, if they exist?
>>19119090I think that's far too paranoid since Dan can't remember most of that dream. Or did you forget that he couldn't really remember it when he woke up? Also, I'm almost sure that the shadow of us is symbolic and represents the dark knight dude who stole that crazy awesome sword many threads back.
>>19119071This right here. We're not Batman. We're Dan Fortesque.>>19119090We don't know when that'll come up, and it makes Dan unnecessarily paranoid. The dream could mean anything, so we'll worry about a burning bridge when we actually walk up to it.
>>19119108Wait, what dark knight dude?
>>19119137Japan's member in the Axis's league of heroes? He's still active and constantly bouncing back and forth between anti-hero and villain, lately villain.
>>19119146Oh yeah, we looked him up after visiting the museum for the first time.How many threads back was that? I'd forgotten about that one. We should hit him up for a visit.
>>19119146Oh, right. One of the last surviving members of the kinda-sorta Legion of Doom. I forgot about him.
>>19119158For what? What would we have to say to him, assuming he doesn't automatically knock our block off?"By the way, Gespenst says hi."
>>19119179Well that for starters might be interesting as a way to get his attention.Other than that, I'm honestly not sure, but he could teach us something maybe?
>>19118951"Hold on a second, I have some US ID." You say, and pat the side of your armor. Then realize your ID is in a pocket of your clothes, under the armor. Well, this is awkward. The pair of you have your attentions distracted again when the boy, Nakamura notices your jacket, and picks it up off the ground. "He-ey, nice jacket." "That's mine." You observe. He looks a little sad, then tosses it to you. You catch it, and then whirl it on in the same instant as you dismiss the armor, pulling the hood up so the top half of your face is in shadow. "Whoa," he observes. "You practice that trick a lot?" You shake your head as you fish out your wallet. "Not really, no." You hand the girl, Kazuko Matsuoka, your registry card, which she studies. "Huh." She emotes. "American cards *do* look kinda like the Japanese ones." She says, in Japanese. Which is still translated by the device in your ear. "Err, is that all, or do I have to wait for the police to show up?" You ask, taking back your card. She thinks for a second. "Well, they'll be here before you can go..." Then she looks at the boy. "Right?" He looks up, confused. "What?" She glares at him. "Nakamura! Phone it in! There are wounded, and one DOA." You find that last translation interesting, but its a sophisticated expert system you're wearing. The boy fishes out his phone and starts dialing. "Okay, so maybe they wont be here so soon." She yawns a little, but quickly covers her mouth. "Um, maybe if you just tell us what happened, and give us a way to contact you, we'll tell the police when they arrive and nobody needs to be delayed?"
>>19119197>Former Axis League member>Known to have no discernable allegiance, not even to Japan>Silent sociopath who murders the shit out of anyone who crosses him>Ask for trainingBRILLIANT idea.
>>19119179You're assuming Gespenst does say hi. >>19119197>mfw
>>19119221It's probably best for everyone involved if we stay put. These guys probably have a stronger rapport with the local keisatsu than we do, so it's best to be there in person so they can vouch for us.
>>19119264It worked with Gespenst fairly well, and he's a semi crazy necromancer who can't die. We just don't cross him.>>19119221Okay, let's give them our number a statement, starting with us seeing thugs following the girl.
rolled 76 = 76>>19119264good I like it too lets try at our earliest convenient moment
>>19119221"No, that's fine, I'm quite happy to stay and explain what happened. I wouldn't mind an answer as to what that was either."
>>19119300Well, it might be useful as a way to stop him from attacking us on sight.
>>19119307That's because Gespenst is in Ashwood custody, the family of one of his mortal enemies, plus he DOESN'T HAVE HANDS.
>>19119221I don't really have anywhere to be and I'm curious as to what that thing was.People call me Javelin, I'm on vacation saw some thugs harassing a girl, went to investigate and then a shadow monster popped out of her shadow, attacked me and the thugs and then you guys showed up. What was that anyway?
>>19119312Sarcasm is lost on the Internet.
>>19119352>People call me JavelinY'know, now that I think about it, no one we know calls us Javelin, except Johnny the anonymous reporter in the campus paper.
>>19119371Replace with "You can call me Javelin."
>>19119386>>19119371>>19119352>using your secret identity>when she speaks perfect english so you can assume she can also read it just fine, and you showed her your metahuman registry card
>>19119371We don't even call ourselves Javelin, except in the campus paper. We only did the one time at the club, then later expressed regret when 'Syrpent' called us 'Javelin.' We're not a super hero.
>>19119416Dude's got a point.>>19119427To our credit, everyone thought "Syrpent" was a dumb name too.
>>19119445Yeah, that's part of why we realized that having a super hero identity is kinda dumb. We're just Dan. Dan Fortesque. The blasian descendent of Mafiya mobsters, pulp archaeologists, and lesbians. Kitted out in alien psytech, magic, and sweet gear, helped save the world (helped, didn't save it himself). Dan's reality is way more interesting than Javelin.
>>19119304>>19119314Same guy from: >>19118868And I agree with the above guys. I am beinga little over cautious, but It's just cuz I see no reason to take an unnecessary risk for no apparent reason.If theyre fine with staying with us until the police get there I see no reason to keep up the facade, and we can show them who we are no problem. Also no reason not to tell them exactly what happened
>>19119506/tg/ can be more than blindingly genre-savvy, but it can't hurt to play dumb once in a while.
>>19119221Yeah, tell them. They're not bad guys.
>>19119497>BlasianThis is a mildly interesting point to make. Being black in Japan leads to the most interesting adventures and encounters.
>>19119635So far, Dan's race has never come up.I'm all for that trend continuing and it not coming up in the future.
>>19119647We've been over the whole "Dan's quantum race" bit. Really, it doesn't matter, true. I just thought that was a funny point to make.Where's that guy who posts pictures of Common all the time?
>>19119684I'm right here. I just lost all of my pictures when my computer shit the bed. I can grab some again, if you want.
>>19119221You shrug your shoulders. "Eh, I don't have anywhere else to be. Hey, maybe they can give me a ride back to my hotel, because I am *really* lost right about now." You glance down the street to where they killed the entity. "In more ways than one." You introduce yourself, and explain your story up until the boy, who's full name you find out is Jirou Nakamura, showed up and shot it with his crazy gun. "Well, thank you for trying, Daniel-san." Kazuko says. "Not many people, foreign or native would just step up to help someone like that. Especially after encountering the larger threat." You shrug again. "Well, the superpowers help, even if I like to think I was a good person before them." You nod at the woman. "She gonna be alright?" Kazuko nods. "Yes, just a little exhausted, hungry maybe." "What was that thing?" You ask. "Our superiors have a couple of names for them. Shadow seeds, shadows, a number of old, folklore names. They're some kind of spirit. They start as that core you saw earlier, the seed. They attach themselves to the spirit of a person, and feed on their negative emotions, until they grow strong enough to manifest in the world." Huh. Doesn't sound like a lot of spirits you know of. But you haven't really gone looking for evil spirits. (cont)
>>19119803Not really knowing where to go with that, you steer the conversation a different direction. "Superiors? No offense, but aren't you guys still in school?" With almost military precision, both of them snap to attention and salute. "Tokyo Learning Institute for Metahuman Youth, Extracurricular Activities Club, reporting!" They salute you. You jauntily salute back. "That's very impressive, and all," you say, "But raises more questions than it answers." "My apologies," Says Kazuko. "Let me explain. The Tokyo Metyo is a school for all ages up to college, where students with extranormal talents or abilities to learn among their peers, with students from all over the country. We're trained on how to responsibly use and control our talents. From there, we can enter normal society when we graduate, or we can go on to jobs more in tune with our abilities, in Law Enforcement, or Defense. The EAC is a school "club" for the more talented and responsible of us to work in the field, outside of school. The city government has a dozen of us working in pairs up and down the city since the Shadow Seeds started cropping up." Right. Leave it to Japan to send super-powered teens to handle their problems.
The "Young Christian Bale" Dan.
>>19119838And the "Blasian" Dan.
>>19119825"In other words, this is extra-credit homework to you guys. I knew the Japanese cared about their education, but damn."Since we're on the subject, what ARE your powers?"
>>19119851Blasian Dan? Don't mind if I do.
>>19119937>dem freckles>dose eyes
>>19119825You fight monsters for extra credit while wearing school clothes. Japan, you will never cease to amaze me. So what is that fancy gun you've got there and what can the two of you do?
>>19119825"Sounds sort-of like the Evokers club I'm in back in Liberty City."
>>19119825"Wow, it's like I'm really in a manga..."
>>19120037I believe you mean;>"This is just like one of my Japanese animes..."
>>19120037All we need is for the honest-to-God magical girl to show up, and Dan will flip his shit."They're real! They're fuckin' real, man! I saw 'em!"
I found some new Common pictures that fit this time around. This isn't one of them.
>>19120052Obviously the original post was a typo. Nice catch.
>>19120056"Fuckin' lace and frills and petticoats and puffy shoulders and little pink staves and everything, man!"
>>19119992 Im more interested in that gun.Im sure Dan can recognize a ninja when he sees one.He's pretty genre savy
Neither is this one. I'm getting to the new ones.
>>19120089Well, yeah, we can tell she's a ninja and that the gun is special. Maybe they have specifics we wouldn't know about otherwise.
This is the last one before the new ones.
This is the first new one that I found. I like his hat in this.
This next new one has a very Dan colour scheme to it.
>>19120127That is a very ballin' cap, I will admit.
I like the scarf in this one, and the big, floppy hat.
>>19120146I know, right? Anyway, this has a very Dan colour scheme too, and is how I picture him dressing most of the time. All of the pictures from here are ones that have already been posted in old threads (not many more pictures from here, though).
Y'all who remember the old Common Dan image dump should remember this one.
Actually, I don't remember if we posted this one before. Well, it's here now, and with a nice tie and sweater. I imagine this is how we dressed when having lunch at Ashwood's.
Last one, and one of my personal favourites, because it's long in the beard, buff in the arm, and jaunty in the grin.
>>19119937>>19120060>>19120104>>19120115>>19120127>>19120135>>19120151>>19120179>>19120188>>19120201>>19120210Thanks, Commanon. Consider them saved for future threads.
Time to balance the scales.
>>19120415>>19120428This is how I picture Johnny, actually. Almost exactly.
>>19120446You know what? Me too. I totally see Johnny as a young Christian Bale.
>>19120018>>19119992>>19119931"So, you kill monsters for extra credit." You state, rather than ask. You don't add 'This fits my understanding of Japan perfectly' aloud. The pair nods, and Kazuko stifles another yawn. "We have regular classes in the morning, too." She glares daggers at Jirou. "So, if you don't mind my asking, what exactly do you guys do that's, err, talented?" Kazuko looks down at her feet suddenly, and you think she's blushing a little. She awkwardly clasps her hands together, and quietly says, "I'm..um... the... last heir to a clan of ancient demon-slaying ninjas...". You maintain a solid stone face. She looks up. "But its not like in movies or TV, or anything." She says, hurriedly. "Ninjutsu is mostly sleight of hand and misdirection, with some fighting techniques to handle the spirits and monsters and things." "Which completely explains why your bag never runs out of kunai." Jirou says, flatly. She shakes her fist at him, which also brandishes the strange shuriken launcher she has mounted on her gauntlets. (cont)
>>19120537"What about you?" You ask Jirou, steering the conversation away from dangerous subjects. He pulls his strange gun out from a holster on the back of his belt. "This an invention of my late father. The Spirigun." You quirk an eyebrow, but nobody sees under the hood. "He was working on a special gun for our military and police to use, since our police officers can only carry and use their guns on special occasions. I named it, after some Yakuza guys killed him to try and steal it, but I'm the only one who can use it. Sadly, a lot of his notes were destroyed when they burned down our house, so it's beyond mass production, though I know how to reload it." He gestures at his bandolier of glowing, multicolored ammunition. "Does different things depending on how its loaded, but it's not lethal against people, and messes up bad spirits real good." >Any questions for the young heroes?
>>19120537"It's fine, I knew the scion to a temple of demon-slaying Chinese martial artists back in Liberty city.">>19120573"That gun is damn cool, though. Would you mind terribly if I gazed upon it with my wizard eyes?"
>>19120573"A ninja and a one-of-a-kind supergun. Go figure. Any one else part of your merry little troupe of wunderkinds?"
rolled 7 = 7>>19120573any interesting lectures or events at the school open to the public i would love to check it out
>>19120702Oh, I love it when players solve meta-textual issues for me.
>>19120702Rephrase as "Does your institute accommodate folks from out of town like me? Sounds like a hell of a place."
>>19120760I think Dan's a bit old for Japanese High School.
>>19120860Not to attend, but to visit as a fellow meta. I mean, an official Japanese metahuman academy would be quite the point of interest.
>>19120860Guest lecturer. We have a wealth of experience on how to react when suddenly given super powers and how much you can acquire with some determination and luck. Also it'd be cool to visit their local meta school
>>19120903"Hi. I'm Daniel Fortesque from Liberty City in America. You heard about that giant mess over there about an outsider called the Red Star threatening to devour the universe?"That was me. I stopped that. Kinda. Maybe."
>>19120945Not really. Dr. Moreau stopped that. We just helped.
>>19120945Alternately:"Hi. I'm Daniel Fortesque from Liberty City in America, and I got my powers by making out with mad scientist supervillainess Dr. Eve Moreau."No, seriously."
>>19121031"By which I mean she rendered me unconscious via a nanotech toxin contained in her lips then illegally experimented on me. So remember kids, never make out with supervillains. Unless you're immune to that kind of thing." A valuable lesson to straight male, lesbian and bisexual heroes everywhere.
>>19121065Honestly, it's a good lesson for straight girls and gay men too.
rolled 32 = 32>>19121065Do it. Now.
>>19121065Or, unless your into that kind of thing. Then go for it.
>>19121065No, that's a stupid lesson. Where would we be if we never kissed supervillans? A lot worse off, that's where.
>>19121116We'd still be Dan Fortesque the History major.We just wouldn't be Dan Fortesque the part-Cyrean psychic magically-talented History major.It's a very minute difference, really.
>>19121065We might even be able to pull in Anna and Roxy.Our lecture, Opportunity and Seizing it. Don't just open the door when Opportunity knocks, chloroform her and steal her purse.Roxy: Mad Science and You: Showing the people who doubted you at the University by making a better tomorrow.Anna: Making deals with Eldritch beings from other universes, Pros and Cons
>>19121065By the way, what kind of new glowy-ness did we get from those modules?
>>19121147We would still be the grandson of someone from the Russian mob who gave us a balisong as a toy as a child and the son of a globetrotting archaeologist who fought Incan mummies with wizards and *cough* Bedouin princess *cough cough*. We were going to be a gentleman adventurer no matter what. We might have even ended up meeting Blackstone via our dad and getting some magic. The alien psychic powers were just a catalyst to speed things along.
>>19121147We wouldn't have any of our powers, we'd never have met any of our friends from the Evoker's Club or Roxy or Ashwood or Blackstone or the Police woman, we wouldn't have all the money from the government or the Cyrean cache, and Anna would be dead. I'd say that from our experience, kissing supervillains is a completely fucking fantastic idea.
>>19121147>We just wouldn't be Dan Fortesque the part-Cyrean psychic magically-talented History major who has a smoking hot Irish mad scientist girlfriend and personally assisted in kicking an Outsider's ass.Fixed.>>19121165Anna's lecture doesn't exist. She's forgotten everything about the Red Star incident and is just normal martial artist Anna Ellsworth.
>>19121204Oh right, ruins that lecture bit.Mathematics, Martial Arts and Magic Swords: They go together better than you would think.
>>19121202Tell that to Red Star!Anna, who did waaaaaay more than just kiss a supervillain.
>>19121204>My memories of the times I met you are all blurry and indistinct, like looking through a red telescope that isn't adjusted right.She hasn't forgotten everything exactly. She knows what happened, just not in a lot of detail.
>>19120652>>19120702>>19120760>>19120885>>19120903"Huh, interesting. And I thought being a Psychic Space Wizard was cool." You let them digest that one for a second, then say "Don't suppose your school is open to public viewing? I mean, its kinda the sort of thing I came to Japan to see, in addition to the regular stuff." Kazuko looks thoughtful. "Well, not under normal circumstanced, but after helping us out, I'm sure at least some of the faculty will want to talk to you. Stop by after class hours tomorrow, and maybe we can get you in to speak with someone. Get a tour at least, or something. I mean, you helped us, we should repay the debt somehow." You nod slowly, and say "Thank you." You think for a minute. "Hrm only real plans I had for this trip, besides just general sight-seeing was some kind of JSDF Mecha demonstration." You look over at them. "Do you know when that is?" Jirou lights up. "Oh, yeah. First one for this week is tomorrow. Early afternoon. I know because we can't go because class and club activities. There's a second one later in the week that's after school. JSDF is always trying to recruit young people as pilots these days."
>>19121261She actually did that pre-Red Star.
>>19121265And she knows Dan "in her heart," which is as good as it'll get.
>>19121261Well obviously it's highly important not to go any further than kissing or you undo all your hard work.
>>19121267Sounds fun, you guys looking for visiting guest lecturers? I'm here with a Mad Scientist and a Martial Artist with a cool sword. I don't like to brag but I'd make a good lecturer.Wait for the police, make small talk and get a ride back to our hotel.
>>19121267Let's take Roxy and Anna along to Tokyo Metyo, then we can see the other demo.
>>19121239>>19121204Anna's still a highly educated Arcanomath. It's like Dan's ritual magic, only she does it by solving complicated mathematics equations. Theoretically if she could remember the equation, she could fire coins at significant fractions of C again.
>>19121348>3+2hd CommandYeah, he actually really would make a great lecturer. There's probably hardly anyone who meets him ever who find themselves not struck by his personality. It's his best super power, in my opinion.
>>19121350>Slow Track>Fast Track: The Plot
>>19121391Dan Fortesque, Psychic Space Wizard.Roxane Murdock, Irish Mad Genius.Anna Ellsworth, Martial Artist and Arcanomathematician.Hell of a party we've got here.>Also, I haven't seen Roxy's last name since thread 2. Jeez.
>>19121476No, Dan Fortesque, Gentleman Historian. Also has alien psychic stuff and wizard powers, but that's not important.
>>19121499I imagine this line delivered through the stem of a pipe for some reason.Hey, did I give ArchaeologistFuture!Dan a pipe? Dammit, I should have given him a pipe.
>>19121453GUEST LECTURING, and I suppose Fast Track aside from that.
>>19121499Don't forget Anna Ellsworth, mathematician, also she does martial arts with a magic sword sometimes but ignore that the first part is cooler.And Roxy, the sexy redhead who's been forbidden to drink anymore by the police (she's also a brilliant scientist).
>>19121513I meant this to indicate movement of the plot onto the "fast track".
>>19121521Anymore? They cut her off when she was diagnosed. When would she have been able to stop-->IrishOh, right. Carry on.
>>19121521You don't even remember Roxy's last name. I had to go back to the archives to look it up, it's been so long.
>>19121573I sure don't.
>>19121549Fast track it
>>19121644Oh, I don't have to, you guys are already doing it.
>>19121644That's what he's been saying. My suggestion to bring Anna and Roxy with us to the institute (assuming they're interested) is speeding things along.
Well, time for me to sleep. Y'all stay so fucking sexy (you little tarts). I'll be back in the morning to see, what anything, more got done while I slept.
>>19121267You fall silent for a moment, while you make some plans in your head. You nod to the two. "Well, I'll definitely stop by when I can. It'll be alright if I bring a couple of guests? I'm traveling with some friends and I bet they'd be interested in coming. Might even have some helpful stuff to share, too." Kazuko puts a hand on her chin, and things. "Well, I suppose. If they want to come you can see if they can come in too." "Cool." You observe.After this, the police finally show up, and the two students help the police get down your statement and get you a ride back to your hotel. Where the officers who drive you there very politely tell you that while your help was appreciated, and should you encounter any more trouble please feel free to assist the authorities in stopping it, but kindly do not encounter any more trouble, have a nice visit to Japan. you get back to your room, the other two still asleep, and then crash on your bed for pretty much the rest of the morning. METAHUMAN RENAISSANCE PART 42 END
>>19121868>kindly do not encounter any more troubleB- but the plot magnet! It's not like we can just turn it off!
>>19121868We, of course, assured the police that we in no way want to seek out trouble, but will resolve any situation if we cannot help but stumble into it. That we're honestly here for touristy stuff. That we aren't a vigilante, and aren't a hero.When's the next thread?
>>19121903Yeah, you're just talking to some beat cops. I'm sure the Tokyo equivalent of LCPD MRF would be like "Now, we can't assign you a police detail, but here are the names of some wonderful restaurants and shops that detectives and JSDF members off-duty like to go to, and here is another list of wonderful sights to see that tourists don't normally go to, so the crowds will be quite small. And here are the GPS coordinates for some warehouses and abandoned buildings, in case you think there will be collateral damage." >>19121910Thursday. again, assuming I'm not blindsided by something. And If I am, my plan for the rest of the summer is basically Tues/Thur/Sat unless something comes up or I just feel like running on an off day.
>>19121978Here's the Advice Dan template so people can maybe make some more and expand my collection. I've only got 10, and I made like half of them.
Argh, Omega, before you leave or i forget again, would it be possible to use the Program, to combine the Wisp and Flight Module, to basically attach little wings to stuff and make them levitate?
>>19122081Ooh, I like that one. Yeah, I'll add it in next time. Also, I never go anywhere. Even If I went to sleep, I'll be checking it again when I'm awake. And if the thread is gone, I will check the archives.
Time to dump some Advice Dan.
>>19122331Or, it would be if my uploads didn't keep failing.
