Archive: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Joker+Quest%2C+Collective+Game

Recap:

You are ANON, the RED JOKER. You pass your days in school, and - when a challenge looms - in the distorted Otherworld, battling those who would see you dead.

In our last instalment, you felt the full effects of the BLACK JOKER'S curse - A deathmark that prevents you from regenerating between battles, or levelling up. Faced with death by attrition, you've decided to visit HECATE at the PAPILLION, following up on her promise of a cure...

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The 'Papillion' - or, more accurately, the Papillion Cafe - is an upscale cosplay restaurant, just classy enough to miss 'embarassing' by a good few inches. It's an elegant-looking place, with glossy wooden furniture and discreet pink highlights ~ Lacy drapes at the frosted windows, warm light radiating from within.

...Still, you can't help but feel slightly skeevy as you enter, heralded by the cheerful chime of a silver bell - A resounding chorus of "Welcome home, Master~!" greeting you as the door swings shut in your wake.

The place must be doing fairly well, all things considered: Theres's plenty of wide-eyed, lovely waitresses in frilly maid costumes and platform heels bustling back and forth, to the decidedly distracting rustle of lace-trimmed petticoats, the softer *scrape* of silken stockings...

-Well, at least you now know where Hecate gets her dress sense from...Though you'd have to admit that her costume's *especially* daring, even by the cafe's standards.

(Continued.)

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You linger in the doorway for a moment, giving the place a once-over. While there's the occasional set of cat/rabbit ears bobbing between the well-upholstered booths (With higher-than-usual walls, for minimum social embarassment) - You can't make out a now-distinctive pair of raised horns. It'd be hard to miss Hecate...Unless she isn't here.

"...Ohayo, Master ~ Are you alone?"

You turn; A blonde maid dips her head in a little bow, favoring you with a polite but fetching smile. "-Can I help you, Master~?" she inquires, a playful lilt to her voice - Fluffy *tail*(?), switching from side-to-side, a menu clasped against her white pinafore.

[ ] "-I'm looking for Hecate."
[ ] "Can I use one of the back rooms?"
[ ] "Could I get a table, please?"
[ ] Touch fluffy tail.
[ ] Free.

YOU HAVE CONTROL.

>>19962781

Are those ears real?

> [X] Touch fluffy tail.

TOUCH IT.

YOU KNOW WE WANT TO.

>>19962781
You make it very hard to resist the fluffy tail option, but I shall not do it.

Also we don't know if she goes by Hecate in the real world.

[X] Free.

I am here to meet with an acquaintance of mine who may be here. Could you let her know that the Joker would like to see her?

If she doesn't know who we're talking about say that we met online and that if it's any help her handle was Hecate.

>>19962746

That girl has good taste, have to say.
> [X] "-I'm looking for Hecate."
looks like the obvious one to do.

>>19962781

[ ] "Could I get a table, please?"

> Play it cool, obviously hecate wanted to arrange some kind of meeting. Let her notice us.

>>19962781
Touch the fluffy tail
Is that real?

rolled 90 = 90

>>19962781

>Touch fluffy tail.

>>19962920
>>19962856
>>19962794
Damn it /tg/. You never should have been shown MGQ, it provides too large of a big red button to attract your attention.

I already voted, but I am slightly disappointed in you.

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>>19962815

> "I am here to meet with an acquaintance of mine who may be here. Could you let her know that the Joker would like to see her?"

...Is what you mean to say, at least, but your gaze is drawn downward - To the soft, fluffy tail twitching back and forth, at the very corner of your vision. It really *is* very fluffy...And so, *so* very tempting. Almost hypnotic...

>>19962794
>>19962856

> "Is that real?"

"...Master?" the maid blinks, glancing back at herself; "-Ah, you mean this?" she says, her ears twitching - "I made it myself ~ There's wires inside it, so it moves with the skirt as we walk. Like this..."

She leans forward, just a little; A slow step makes her tail curl upon itself, in a slow - And very fluffy - ripple...

> "I see. It's very impressive."

-As you reach down, and run your fingers through the glossy softness.

"Nnnngh! Fugyaaaaa~!!!"

The effect is electric - She lets out a little squeal; Loud enough to turn heads, her face going red as she switches round. "-Ah, M-master...Don't *touch* it like that! The feeling...It's *really* weird!"

...Well, you'd have to say that was worth it, just for the reaction.

[ ] "Sorry, I couldn't resist."
[ ] "-I didn't think you'd feel that."
[ ] "...You're cute when you're embarassed."
[ ] Free.

YOU HAVE CONTROL.

Sorry, I couldn't hep myself

>>19962961
[X] "Sorry, I couldn't resist."

Then

"I am here to meet with an acquaintance of mine who may be here. Could you let her know that the Joker would like to see her?"


Remember we're going out with the cute shy librarian chick, we don't need fluffy tail when we have the bespectacled girl who might hide her blushing behind a book.

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>>19962961

>"Sorry, I couldn't resist."

Ha. So worth it.

>>19962977

Let's keep our options open for now, we haven't committed to anything. Back to business for now, though.

>>19962815

gets my vote for [ ] Free

>>19962977
We have committed to nothing and only really gone out with her once which was interrupted by a splat

>>19962990
I suppose so, but so far I consider her the best option presented so far. Consider the going out thing to be nothing but personal bias on my part.

There's the childhood friend who we're setting up with our bro so that's off limits.

There's Hecate who is not really trustworthy, even though she's helping us for now she's got too many secrets and probably her own agenda. There's too much unknown for me to think of her on our side.

I say we remain cordial and polite toward her, but take what she says with a grain of salt and show no romantic interest.

>>19963052

>"Yes. Yes, it is."

>>19963052

> [X] "Sorry, I couldn't resist."

"That - That's all right." she backs away - just a little - all the same, one hand resting protectively on her tail. She's still a little red, though, cheeks flushed with heat; The bushy fox-tail almost...wagging? "-I, it was just *really* surprising..."

>>19962990
>>19962977

Her ears perk up at the mention of your title - "...Ah, Joker-kun, is it? I'm sorry, you didn't mention anything about your friend...But there *is* a reservation in your name." She glances down at the guestbook, running her finger down the pages...Keys clinking together, as she lifts one off the hook.

"-It's room A4; That's the one you booked, wasn't it?"

Well, that's the first *you've* heard of it. Some cafes have back rooms, for particularly lonely or desperate guys to play video games/board games with the staff - Or sing karaoke, if it comes to it, the soundproof walls reducing the noise to a faint, background murmur.

You've heard more...salabrious rumors, of course, but the fact remains - It's definently a private place. Good for an anoymous meeting - Or a trap.

[ ] "Yes. Yes, it is."
[ ] "...No, I don't recall booking a room."
[ ] "When was this reservation?"
[ ] "Is there anyone else inside?"
[ ] ...Come to think of it, you never got her name.
[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>19963049

We could always go for the inumimi maid.

>>19963049
See the problem with the childhood friend is Natsumi seems more interested in us than the guy who is going for her

I agree on Hecate though, she is too much of an unknown quantity so far to consider

>>19963052
[X] "Yes. Yes, it is."

Then as she leads us there [X] ...Come to think of it, you never got her name.


If Hecate wanted us dead she would just let the Black Joker brand take us down. No reason to make the maid suspect that there is anything out of the ordinary going on.

>>19963070
I suppose so, I admit some curiosity to why touching the tail has such an "effect" on her. We'll see.

>>19963066

So she booked a room in advange? That makes sense. We should go in.

> [X] "Yes. Yes, it is."

>>19963066
We never got her name

>>19963083
Well we can keep experimenting to see why it does

Let me get this straight --- this quest is basically Accel World with the serials filed off, right?

>>19963126
It seems to have some more supernatural elements, we aren't sure of the origin of the game, and it kills you if you lose. Not uninstalling the game, it kills you dead.

We also have dakka.

>>19963126
Not only that- the conflicts and encounters in Accel World all revolve around technology. Here, the nature of our battles seems more supernatural.

>>19963083
>>19963088
>>19963065

> "Yes. Yes, it is."

"-All right, then." she says, lightly - Dropping the key into your hand. "Please follow me, Master; It's right this way."

And indeed it is. She leads you down a corridor at the back, your footsteps muffled by thick red carpeting; Past a series of identical wooden doors, each one distinguished by the brass plaque on the front. "A4, Master ~ Don't be afraid to ask if you need anything."

> "[X] ...Come to think of it, you never got her name."

"Thanks, uh...?"

"-It's Tomomi. Tomomi Eri."

You nod, as you move to open the door; The key's in the lock, when you realize that she isn't *quite* gone yet. She's turned back, as if something has just occurred to her.

"...Ummm, I had to ask - 'Joker-kun' sounds kind of strange. Is that really your name?"

[ ] "It's my handle."
[ ] "It is."
[ ] "No, I'm actually Anon-kun."
[ ] "...Are you really 'Tomomi Eri'?"
[ ] "Is it important?"
[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL.

>>19963147

It's also not technological, and much more dangerous. Accel World didn't have monsters trying to derail trains, for instance.

>>19963158
[x] "It's just a handle."

Who has only one handle, anyway?

>>19963158

>"It's my handle."

Nothing wrong with stating that right?

>>19963158
[X] "...Are you really 'Tomomi Eri'?"

You don't have to answer. Everyone takes parts of their life and keeps them separate from each other, it's what people do.

>>19963158
It's just a handle, I am meeting a friend here who knows me online so I used the handle to make it easier

>>19963185
>>19963179

"Ah, I see. I think it's really cool, though." You're not sure if she's serious; For a moment, it feels like there's something in her voice...

>>19963175

Tomomi laughs, softly, and dips her head - as if conceding the point. "...Well, have fun, Joker-kun ~ Just call if you get a little lonely." She sweeps off, in a rustle of skirts ~ You wait, as her soft footfalls fade into the distance, until you're sure she's really gone.

The key turns in the lock, with a *click*, and the door open. The room beyond resembles a particularly well-appointed karaoke room - A wrap-around couch, a coffee table, and a flatscreen television at the end, with discreet shelves for three consoles (XBox 360, PS3, and...Is that a Dreamcast?).

It's also empty.

You pause, looking around. It's definitely empty - there's no-one around, and there's nowhere to hide, as you close the door behind you. It's quiet, as you cross over to the overstuffed couch; Settling down into the softness, glancing over at the screen...

-And abruptly, everything goes dark. You feel cool hands covering your eyes - A strange smell that mingles perfume and brimstone, the sudden and inexplicable presence of *someone*.

"...Guess who?" a smoky voice purrs - You can feel slender arms resting on your shoulders, warm breath in your ear; And there's something *really* soft, pressing up against you from behind.

[ ] "Hecate? Is that you?"
[ ] "...Asuna?"
[ ] "Natsumi?"
[ ] "...I didn't think Tomomi would get here first..."
[ ] Free.

YOU HAVE CONTROL.

>>19962781

Op, I have to say this: You have a knack for writing hot girls. Like, really hot.

>>19963261

>"Hecate? Is that you?"

I am tempted to say something stupid as tooth fairy, but i'll refrain from that.

>>19963261
[x] Ronald Reagan?

>>19963261

It would be fun to troll her, but we should get down to the brass tacks.

> [x][ ] "Hecate? Is that you?"

go with sometihng flattering, like "I'd recognize your voice anywhere."

>>19963261
[X] "Hecate? Is that you?"

I don't think any of the other girls smell like brimstone. Just a wild guess on my part.

Lovely to see you again Hecate. Pardon my curiosity but why did you choose here as a meeting spot?

We need to have a little talk about the curse of the Black Joker and the legacy of the Red Joker.

>>19963261
I didn't think tomomi would get here first

Ah Hecate, did you wait long?

>>19962717

What do we actually look like again? Each thread has multiple different pictures.

>>19963261

What's up with this girl? She's all kinds of weird, and seems to have powers all our opponents have lacked. The other enemies didn't look like impossibly hot women, and they certainly couldn't appear in the real world.

>>19963310
Not sure for normal mode but I guess the generic anime high school protagonist

As for in joker mode we are a sort of crimson gun knight robot from the description

>>19963320
I don't know. She is an oddity, one that seems to be interested in us for some inscrutable reason. It might be because we inherited the legacy of the Red Joker or because we're amusing to watch, but it could be entirely different or a combination of factors.

So far we have only seen her spectate games and have no clue if she participates in a combat role. She is the only person we've actually had a conversation with, aside from perhaps in combat yelling, in the other world.

We know next to nothing about her, that's one of the reasons we came to talk. As I said earlier don't trust her, don't show romantic inclination towards her and be polite.

>>19963346
She has mentioned something about the red joker containing something special.

I think she had something to do with the original red joker

Perhaps now is a bad time to bring this up, but every encounter with Hecate has ended with her expressing desire to claim us in some form. Well... what if she wants to BE the red joker, take the title from us.

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>>19963297
>>19963282

"Bingo!" she sounds honestly happy, as she lets her hands falls - Her stiletto heels making patient little tics against the floor, as she circles around to face you, easing herself onto the couch.

"...You're much better-looking like this, Joker-kun~" Hecate offers, her hands on her lap; In the warm lighting of the room, it's hard to believe that she's real. Eclectic appearance aside, it's like...She doesn't quite *fit* into the world, her colors a little too rich, her outline standing out in your field of vision. It's distracting, to say the least; Especially when she smirks at your regard, crossing her legs with a soft, supple *scrape*...

"-I'm glad we've met at last, like this."

>>19963298

Sometime flickers in her green eyes; Catlike, she straightens, adjusting her ascot tie. "...Don't worry, you'll find out soon." she catches your expression, and chuckles - "-Don't make that face, Anon-kun; It's really necessary. But..."

-And here Hecate's lips curl in a little pout, though her voice remains light.

"...You shouldn't look at other girls, you know? I don't like the cheating type..."

> We need to have a little talk about the curse of the Black Joker and the legacy of the Red Joker.

"That's right." Her tone grows serious, now: "-I don't know where Death Calibre found that Relic, but it's not something that's just *given* by the Roulette; I've never heard of a gun that could stop you from healing, before."

(Continued.)

>>19963422

Hecate taps a finger against her chin. "I've been investigating, and I think I've found something that might help; The only problem is *getting* to it."

Her gaze sharpens, as she glances at you sidelong. "...What else do you know about the game, so far? Your predecessor...What do you know about him?"

[ ] "...I've just been trying to stay alive."
[ ] "-Recently, I'm being challenged a *lot*."
[ ] "Win or die."
[ ] "-Something's going wrong, isn't it? Something's changing."
[ ] Free.

And:

[ ] "...He was the winner, wasn't he?"
[ ] "Just the rumors."
[ ] "-That he was a good man."
[ ] "That he reached the endgame."
[ ] "...It was all his fault, right?"

YOU HAVE CONTROL.

>>19963435

>[ ] "...I've just been trying to stay alive."
>[ ] "...It was all his fault, right?"

>>19963435
[ ] "...I've just been trying to stay alive."
[ ] "-Recently, I'm being challenged a *lot*."
[ ] "Win or die."
[ ] "-Something's going wrong, isn't it? Something's changing."
YES

and

[ ] "Just the rumors."

>>19963422
>"...You shouldn't look at other girls, you know? I don't like the cheating type..."

She seems to think that we're going out or that she has a claim on us.

This could be bad, very bad. As in Yandere levels of bad. I still don't trust her.

>>19963435
[X] "-Something's going wrong, isn't it? Something's changing."


We're not healing and the one we fought on the train was completely out of the normal bounds of the fight. Something is seriously weird in here.

The first one is obvious, the second one is probably because we're the Red Joker and all that it signifies, the third one is also obvious to how it works. The last one might get more info.

[X] "-That he was a good man."

I'd rather not pick saying it was his fault, I have the vague feeling she holds or held some affection for him.

>>19963435
Something's going wrong
He was the winner

>>19963456
>>19963435

Four way tie on the second option, this is kinda funny.

Swapping my vote from "That he was a good man." to [X] "Just the rumors."

> [X] "...I've just been trying to stay alive."
> [X] "-Recently, I'm being challenged a *lot*."
> [X] "Win or die."

"When you put it that way..." A sympathetic note tinges her words, and she flashes you a quick smile. "-I guess that's only to be expected. It's hard being popular." Hecate sighs, leaning back against the vinyl cushions; "...Everyone wants to *be* you, except me. Isn't that funny?"

> [X] Something's going wrong.

"Oh~? That's pretty perceptive of you, Joker-kun. I was thinking the same thing - But I don't think anyone else cares. Since you turned up...There's been odd things going on. First the monsters, then a Relic like that...Only the older players know anything, and they're not telling."

> [X] He was the winner, wasn't he?

"The winner, hmmmm?" Lost in thought, Hecate draws her knees to her chest ~ Her chin propped on them, the pleated hem of her skirt chastely smoothened down. "-I guess you could say that. Given what happened, back then...I don't think that's wrong."

Another lingering glance. "-The Red Joker *always* gets an invitation to the endgame. *Everyone* knows that - And the only way to become the Red Joker is to kill the last one."

And then, softly:

"-It must've been hard."

[ ] "...It was what he wanted."
[ ] "I didn't have much of a choice."
[ ] "He was suffering."
[ ] "It had to be done."
[ ] "-I didn't mind."

AND

[ ] "...Is that why everyone's after me?"
[ ] "-What went wrong the last time?"
[ ] "Hecate...Who are you? Who are you *really*?"
[ ] "-How do you know all this?"
[ ] "Who else knows?"
[ ] "What happens at the endgame?"
[ ] Free.

YOU HAVE CONTROL.

>>19963511

(Bah, sorry - I missed the last one, before I posted. My bad.)

>>19963531
He was suffering
It had to be done

What went wrong last time
Who are you really?

>>19963531

>[ ] "He was suffering."
>[ ] "It had to be done."

>[ ] "Hecate...Who are you? Who are you *really*?"
>[ ] "-How do you know all this?"

>>19963537
It's fine. I just wasn't sure if you were waiting for consensus or not.

>>19963531
[X] "He was suffering."

Then


[X] "-What went wrong the last time?"
and
[X] "Hecate...Who are you? Who are you *really*?"

These are the important ones. She just told us that she's the only one who doesn't want to be us. That merits investigation.

Additionally ask what her relationship with the previous Red Joker was.

[ ] "-How do you know all this?" and [ ] "Who else knows?" are important but I would place them at a lower priority than the earlier questions.

What happens at the endgame?

This sounds like something we should know if the red joker always gets an invite

>>19963531

Fuck me, this is beginning to make sense. What we know:

The red joker always gets to the 'final stage', so everyone wants to become the red joker.

We killed the last red joker, somehow, after everything went south. Which means we WERE SOME OTHER PLAYER BEFORE.

Wonder what out original appearance was like?

>>19963576
We weren't necessarily another player beforehand
We would have known more about the red joker if that had been true

I think someone hit him with a relic or he had a double KO match and we came upon him as he was suffering from it

> [X] "He was suffering."

"...I see. Maybe that's why it was you, Anon-kun...No, Joker-kun. Maybe it was all for the best." She reaches out - You feel her cool fingers against the side of your face, cupping your cheek. "Don't feel bad about it."

> [X] "-What went wrong the last time?"

"That's the question, isn't it? At the end, it was just the five of them - Phantom Edge, the Absolute Sword. Then there was Argent Prominence, the Black Cardinal, Chalice Queen...And the Red Joker, of course."

Her eyes go distant, for a moment. "-Only, it wasn't five of them...But *six*."

Hecate shakes her head, her hand falling away.

"After, well, you know what happened."

Those were bad times to remember, and worse times to live through. Like the wrath of an angry god, upon the world - You remember the cataclysm that nearly levelled the city, proud skyscrapers collapsing, the floods, the raw-meat skies, the red and sullen sun...

-It was long ago enough, that the memory has mostly faded; No-one, though, ever knew why. You were almost too young to know *exactly* what was happening, back then - You know Natsumi still has nightmares, of the time it seemed the entire world was about to end.

The new city was built on the bones of the old.

(Continued.)

>>19963641

> [X] "-How do you know all this?"
> [X] "Hecate...Who are you? Who are you *really*?"

"-I wasn't there, if that's what you were wondering," she answers, briskly. "...As for me - I'm no-one special, Joker-kun. In other words, I was just like you..."

"-Until I found this."

There's something in her hand; Tiny, glittering, like a marble or a black pearl. Through some trick of the light, it seems to swell; No, it *is* swelling.

It's a perfect globe, the size of a softball - A murky, smoky crystal, black as night. There's something moving in it, something that shifts and never quite resolves...But you know, you just *know*, what it is.

-It's an eye.

"...It's the key to all doors, Anon-kun," Hecate whispers - Her voice so very soft, now. "-With this, nothing can keep me out."

The world shifts sideways, into crimson. You're no longer seated in a comfortable lounge - But standing within a massive, high-vaulted hall, gears and rusting metal standing on dusty pedestals.

The corridor seems to stretch on forever - A wan light coming from everywhere and nowhere at once. You don't have to check, to know that you're in your armor...And somewhere far from home.

[ ] "...Where are we? What *is* this place?"
[ ] "-What did you do?"
[ ] "Are you...challenging me?"
[ ] "...How will this help me?"
[ ] "-It's not the same. It isn't a reflection."
[ ] Free.

YOU HAVE CONTROL.

>>19963695

What did you do?

>> 19963695

Man, she has a relic too? We should clearly ask her what the fuck is going on.

But nicely.

>>19963695
[X] "...Where are we? What *is* this place?"
and
[X] "-It's not the same. It isn't a reflection."

They fit together well, we're somewhere different than the normal shift, information is needed.

[X] "...How will this help me?"
Once we ascertain our location ask what the purpose of coming here is.

Also check on the Black Joker brand and how damaged we are. See if we got any repairing in.


Well, I need to get some sleep. Remember, don't trust Hecate, get all the info you can out of her.

If you end up in a fight play it tactically, don't let it become a slugfest. We can't live in a slugfest in our current state. Keep your distance, always keep shooting at the opponent with the Vulcans, use the interceptors and the Assault Shroud liberally, take any cover you can. Modify to fit the opponent, don't be afraid to burn Meter on low level stuff if the opportunity is good.

>>19963695
Where are we?
It's not the same

>>19963728
Have we ever used our second tier attack?
Pretty sure missiles and plasma caster is all we have relied upon

>>19963753
We used the FUSION ANNIHILATOR in our first fight. But that was mainly because we had 50 Meter lying around. We've never used anything higher. Some time, when we aren't unable to heal, we should try charging up to 60, I want to see the LONGINUS RAILGUN SYSTEM in action and find what's at tier 4.

It's not our fault that they're both so damn good.

>>19963715

> [X] "-It's not the same. It isn't a reflection."

That's right. Before, there was always a link - a *likeness* - that connected both locations. But this place...

As your optics adapt to the darkness, you make out the silver outlines of objects in the hall; Columns, ancient statuary, devices like giant metal insects in the gloom, probe arms raised like mantis limbs, glowering in the light of the red world.

> [X] "...Where are we? What *is* this place?"
> [X] "...How will this help me?"

"...Oh, this?" Hecate's voice echoes from the walls; The sphere hovers above her open palm, as she glances back at you. "-This is where I found the cure."

That's what you need. A quick examination reveals that you still bear the deathmark; You're in the same condition you were after the fight with Neon Striker, tiny sparks fizzing from the rents in your crimson plate. Your Assault Shroud, however, has regenerated - A small mercy, but you'll take all the help you can get.

> HP: 51%
> METER: 0%
> ASSAULT SHROUD: 100%

Her footfalls ring against the steely floor, as she paces a little closer, with an expectant air: As if waiting for you to follow. "...I don't know what this place *is*, but I think it's an armory of some kind - Though it's also a bit like a dungeon, in a MMO."

"It makes you think, doesn't it? Maybe...Maybe our world isn't the one being reflected."

She tips her head; "-Shall we go? It isn't far. I know it's strange, but...I just need you to trust me."

YOU HAVE CONTROL.

>>19963807

We've come this far, haven't we?
I totally vote for making her our girlfriend, too. I really like her.

>>19963807

This is suspicious as all hell, but we should probably

>TRUST

her. and ask her what she's expecting to find.

>>19963831

I really wish you would stop thinking with your other head. For now, go along with it. If she's on the level, it means she can be trusted. It she can't, we shoot our way out.

>>19963807
We don't really have any other choice but to trust her
Keep an eye out for any monsters that may appear and prepare to get a massive level up once we get rid of the mark

>>19963807
Go with her but keep alert and your guns out, she did just refer to this place as a dungeon so watch fro traps and shit too.

>>19963914
>and prepare to get a massive level up once we get rid of the mark

Also prepare for the possibility that the mark prevents us from gaining any xp at all.

Lets trust her for now.

>>19963920

Well that would suck.

>>19963920
No the level up thing happened like the effects but then it just kinda died off, so we are defiantly still getting exp.

>>19963920
Or that
I was thinking it is like a ticking curse that delays it instead of absorbing it since it prevents healing as well

You walk together, not quite side-by-side, padding across dusty steel and black tiles, worn smooth by age. It's hard to gauge how far you've come - The corridor widening into an immense space, like a vaulted cathedral: Every now and then, a half-heard sound breathes through the black space, like a silent whisper.

"...We're here," Hecate murmurs - Her voice a tiny thing, as if afraid to disturb the silence. Her relic - The Nihl Sphere, she called it - revolves in her hand, a violet light jagging through the shadows; It draws aside the gloom like a curtain, shining on tarnished silver - Enough for you to make out the great shapes looming before you...

-Doors. Immense doors, half a metre thick, none of the angles quite true. Their gleam is dulled by a patina of tarnish, odd symbols and glyphs concealed by the grime; There's no lock, no keyhole, but they begin to *rumble*...Swinging silently inward, air hushing out at you, smelling of cold stone.

Inside is...

-Well, you've never seen anything like it.

It's like the images of the terracotta army: Row after row after *row* of statues twice your size, standing still and silent - Except they've made of steel, not clay. Like Greek statues, flayed down to the muscle, wrapped around gleaming chrome skeleton that only accentuated the inhumanity of their ten-foot forms; Faceless heads split by the deep, bloody red of a faceplate, and eye wrapped halfway around their bisected features.

It's an army. An army of motionless steel statues, but it's not hard to imagine them in motion...

(Continued.)

There's a pathway - A cleared road - right down the middle, between the seemingly-endless forms; It's the size of a highway, as if the dimensions of the chamber are somehow in flux. Faintly, in the distance, you can make out a raised plinth; On it stands something like...A gibbet?

-Something clicks in your mind. No, it's not a gibbet; It's a frame of some kind, with restraints at the wrists and ankles. Like that famous drawing, the, the...

"...The Vitruvian Device," Hecate finishes for you - Her midnight hair caressing her slim shoulders, though you can feel the tension radiating from her. "-If I'm right...If it works...It should - reset - you. Restore you to the way you were before the Black Joker...Maybe even upgrade you."

She doesn't say 'I hope', but you can sense it all the same.

> HP: 51%
> METER: 0%
> ASSAULT SHROUD: 100%

[ ] "What are those things?"
[ ] "How do you *know* it will work?"
[ ] "Are you sure it's safe?"
[ ] "...I really don't like this place. At all."
[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>19964036
[x] "What are those things?"
[x] "How do you *know* it will work?"

>>19964036
What are those things?
How did you find this place?

> [x] "What are those things?"

She goes quiet, just for a moment. The cyclopean constructs cast long, oppressive shadows across the ground, the dim light glinting off the silver frame in the far distance.

"-I don't know," Hecate confesses, at last. "They're weapons, obviously - But I don't know what they can do, how they can be controlled, or..." she swallows, sleek throat working.

"...Or when they'll wake up."

> [x] "How do you *know* it will work?"

Another pause. "-I've...I've used one before. It wasn't the *same* thing, but it was close; This one, though...It's still active. Usually, they burn out after the first time, so..."

She bites her lip. "It should help." There's a thread of uncertanity in her voice, but she sounds earnest enough. "...The last one worked - For me, anyway."

> [X] How did you find this place?

Hecate makes a little gesture, the smoldering violet eye forming in the sphere; "-Through this. It doesn't just open doors; It finds them, too. I've never been this far *alone* though - I didn't think it was safe."

She reaches up, brushing stray tresses back from her face; "-We should hurry, either way - I...I don't think we should stay here. Not for long, anyway."

> HP: 51%
> METER: 0%
> ASSAULT SHROUD: 100%

YOU HAVE CONTROL.

>>19964117
Go for it
We don't really have anything to lose at this point and Hecate doesn't seem to be trying to betray us

>>19964117

Let's get this shit over with.

maybe we should create an illusion from the assault shroud just in case.

File: 1342789714496.jpg-(89 KB, 672x506, jokerguardian.jpg)

>>19964117

> Go for it.

You walk. It's an eerie sensation, proceeding down the pathway; The ominous shapes are on either side, each baroque construct unmoving as the not-wind flutters and moans through the place. You feel Hecate's hand on your arm - You can feel her fingers tremble, as she edges closer.

Nothing happens.

You walk in the shadow of giants, armed with crushing fists and ornate blades, visions of death in shining silver.

Nothing happens.

You're right before the plinth, now - A clear space before the raised steps - when the doors swing shut. It's sudden and awful; You hear the bone-deep *boom*, with a sound like the crack of doom - Turning just in time to make out the sliver of light narrowing to nothing, the massive chamber lit only the faint glow of Hecate's Relic, dancing off ruby faceplates on all sides...

"Oh, no," Hecate breathes, as - From somewhere far, far above - an answering light ignites. There's a buzzing, guttural hum as a ray sweeps across you; And a massive cube falls from the ceiling onto the plane before the raised podium, hard enough to make cracks skitter through the floor, dust rising in a sifting curtain.

The cube begins to unfold, in a horrid metamorphosis - Sprouting thick limbs, the massive barrels of guns and buzzing blades, missile racks opening: Even as a hard-edged violet beam sears through the gloom, issuing from an oculus nestled in the thing's pitiless head. It's a chrome spider-centaur, a scorpion - A massive form rising over a walking, six-legged chassis.

It's the size of a tank.

>>19964219

It's every step shakes the ground, as indicators wink to life on your HUD. You can feel the air blister, as the targeting beams lock on...

-The violet light goes the color of old blood.

Then fresh blood.

Then open flame.

RED JOKER

VS

ARMORY GUARDIAN

> HP: 51%
> METER: 0%
> ASSAULT SHROUD: 100%

TO BE CONTINUED.

>>19964244
Dammit OP
See you next time

>>19964244

Sorry for the long delay, gentlemen - It is, however, really late here, and I need to turn in for the night. I'll do my level best to continue tomorrow, so I can do the fight justice; It should be around 1400 - 1500 GMT + 8:00

Good night, and god bless.

>>19964244

Oh man shits going down next time.
>>19964258
see ya tomorrow op.

>>19964219

HORY.

SHITTTTTTT.

We just have to hope that we can blast it's eye out and screw with it's targeting

>>19962961

We have got to see more of this girl soon. Pure waifu material, I'm telling you.

Anyone archiving this?

File: 1342796241283.gif-(1.66 MB, 320x240, 1342546956107.gif)

Mah nigga.

>>19962746

I think we'd be visiting this place way more in the near future, if it lets us stay in touch with both hecate and the other girl.