(My apologies for the late state: I received a temporary ban for forbidden text. Not sure what's up with the word filter.)Recap: You are ANON, the RED JOKER. In our last instalment, your date with the enigmatic HECATE was interrupted by a call from your friend, KAZUYA, and an earthquake that devastated the area you'd just vacated. Upon transforming, you've found that you've walked right into a warzone - With dozens of players struggling again a seemingly endless horde of monsters...-And you're right in the thick of it.Archive: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Joker%20QuestPrevious Thread: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/19975844/Equipment FAQ:http://pastebin.com/UwxgWj6j
Around you, all you hear is screaming. The howls of the monsters swarming through the red-streaked streets; The shrieks of whirring steel biting through flesh - And, most of all, the baying of the great, tumorous beast blotting out the red sky, making the air judder with each savage exhalation.On your arm, the Plasma Caster hums to life, as you take aim. Enhanced by the Cobalt Booster, a massive concussive blast spews forth - One that slams into the hulking creature before you, with all the force of a battering ram. The wall of the building explodes outwards, and the bulk of the spined, horned beast is hurled through it, onto the open street. It flails, struggling to right itself, hooves pawing at the ground - Wisps of smoke coiling off the thing's surface.Somewhere behind you, you can hear Chrome Cypher's halberd clashing against sword-limbs; Before you, through the jagged hole you've blasted in the building - with cohered blue flame - the gristly shape before you sways to it's feet, snorting like a rumbling engine...> HP: 95%> METER: 16%> COBALT BOOSTER: 90%> ASSAULT SHROUD: 93%> INTERCEPTORS: 2/3. (1 ACTIVE.)(TIER ONE WEAPONRY HAS BEEN UNLOCKED.)YOU HAVE CONTROL.
(Previous thread:http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/20014884/The other one was the thread before, my mistake.
>>20068723Open fire on it with the Vulcans, look for any weak points and to get a mobility kill so we can get enough space to help Chrome.
>>20068723Oh man, op, was wondering when you were going to show up. > Open up on this thing with our vulcans, and finish this bastard off quickly. Our buddy is in deep shit.
>>20068763>>20068774vulcanmind.jpg
>>20068723Vulcan that thing while we look for a good opening.Make sure we keep our distance from it though, we are ranged it is melee we don't want to get anywhere near close to it.Also the word filter system can choke on flaming dicks. It has no real reason or understandable system, the only thing I know if that you can't type out our spiritual liege's name.
The slate-grey beast before you - Quadruped form packed with grosteque muscle, sharp claws digging into the ground - resembles nothing more than a living battering ram. It's heavily armored, in overlapping layers of dull black carapace, wedge-shaped head swinging from side-to-side as it draws another bead on you...-You open fire, plasma shots scorching the air. Each impact flares off the thing's shell in tiny starburst explosions, blistering the beast's carapace...You hear it growl, as it startled by the shots - flinching away from the heat and light- ...But that's all. You can make out gaps in the thing's shell, as it seems to hunker down, tensing to spring; Whatever that carapace is made of, it seems *ridiculously* resistant to your shots. And then it charges - With a ponderous, earth-shaking stride, hooves pounding the ground as the great shape barrels forward, head-down, your shots spanking off it - as unstoppable as a locomotive. > HP: 95%> METER: 22%> COBALT BOOSTER: 90%> ASSAULT SHROUD: 93%> INTERCEPTORS: 2/3. (1 ACTIVE.)YOU HAVE CONTROL.
>>20068829Switch opponents with Chrome. We aren't going to deal with this guy without burning through more special than I want.Get to Chrome's position, start blasting the living fuck out of his dance partner with our Vulcans and tell him to deal with the cross breed between a Bull and a Leman Russ Battle Tank while we take this chump.
>>20068829Great, our shots are just bouncing off. Get out of the bastard's way, first, and see if we can shoot it from behind.
>>20068829[x]oh shitDODGEif the thing is tall enough, dash in its direction, slide under it and attack the bellymaybe its weaker...
>>20068851This one sounds good. We'd have a better chance against the other guy than this one.
>>20068829Don't fire at the beast itself, fire at the ground it plans to run on. This thing's a battering ram on legs, make it stumble while piling on the heavy ordinance.
>>20068677Why you gotta edit out Perseus?
>>20068915(I didn't, it's from the CG set.)As the bestial shape powers towards you, you hurl yourself to the side; While it's large, it's also *fast*, but it's own tremendous momentum works against it - The churning bulk slams into, then *through* the nearest wall, hairline cracks skittering across the plaster...Before the half-toppled structure falls down upon itself with a roar, choking dust swirling up from the collapse. You have a moment for your Vulcans to spin down - For the charging coils to begin cooling - before the juggernaut just...shrugs off the toppled girders and support beams, snorting as it shakes off the debris. The monster's colossal impact has done *one* good thing, though; It's ploughed right through the awkward barricade of the toppled storefront, leaving only rubble in the thing's wake. You can make out Chrome Cypher battling the many-limbed horror, halberd sparking and flashing against three scything sword limbs...-Right before you open fire on it, raking his opponent with a hail of plasma bolts. Pummeled by the chattering blasts, you actually *see* it stagger; It swats him aside, reorientating on you...(Continued.)
>>20068934Your Vulcans spit flame, blasting chunks of rubble from the ground - One of the battering-ram beast's thick limbs drives into the new pothole, checking it a step as fist-sized block of debris flakes from the thing's shoulders. In that momentary hesitation, you *move*. Three long strides, a *leap* take you over the rubble; A scything sword-limb catches you, your Assault Shroud sparking beneath the impact as it shrieks down your side. > Get to Chrome's position, start blasting the living fuck out of his dance partner with our Vulcans and tell him to deal with the cross breed between a Bull and a Leman Russ Battle Tank while we take this chump.His breath rasping and distorted, Cypher nods - The gleam of his armor marred by countless scratches and scars, now, as he breaks to the side, where your former opponent is bulling through the ruin. Now you're facing down something that resembles a praying mantis in dirty ivory and bone, it's three blades slicing the air as it draws a bead on you; Maw going wide to spew another blast of noxious acid, as your remaining Interceptor loops around back towards it...> HP: 90%> METER: 27%> COBALT BOOSTER: 90%> ASSAULT SHROUD: 86%> INTERCEPTORS: 2/3. (1 ACTIVE.)YOU HAVE CONTROL.
>>20068989Ok, let's try this again. OP, can we use our chest cannon on this thing? Blind it so we have an opening?
>>20068989Open fire, keep our distance, blow his spindly legs apart so he can't claw us apart.
>>20069007(Yes, you can freely fire the Tyrant Burst system as long as you have Cobalt Booster remaining.Also, you can use it to empower your weapons, or yourself.)
>>20069007I'd prefer to keep that in reserve, the Cobalt Booster doesn't replenish and this looks like it'll be a long fight. We already have an interceptor on it and given that it's light we can probably take out its mobility while remaining at a safe distance, our new Vulcans are pretty hardcore.
>>20069042It can't hurt to use a bit of it. We should blind it or power-up our vulcans, at least. Voting for blinding it.
>>20069007Maybe its better unlocking 2nd tier before that. we can blind it to gain time for shooting the annhilator multiple times.[x] attract its attention with the interceptor, and use vulcan to build meter
>>20069073...I meant charging, not shooting.
(Crap - It looks like my internet is crapping out on me. I'm sorry for the false start, but it looks like I'm going to have to stop here for now; I'm having immense trouble posting. I'll try to continue this as promptly as possible - If not tomorrow, then Monday.)
>>20069144...shit
>>20069144That's okay. Hope your internet gets better in the meantime. See you next thread OP.
Well, i guess i will keep this thread alive till tomorrow, so we dont need to mess around with the archiving system and OP can continue in here.Bump.
>>20071958Makes sense. Bamp for ya.
Bump for Quantum Singularity Cannonz.Rambling Thoughts:The Red Joker is kind of an Ork Mekz wet dream; Fasta cuz Red, almost nuff dakka, an gets shootier da moar itz stompin'!
(Thanks for keeping it bumped, guys - I'll just pick up from where I left off.)The sword-beast moves *fast*, like a feral white blur - The slits of dead black eyes gazing out from behind a heavy nasal crest, sickle-hooked arms churning at the air. You see rivulets of steaming acid burbling over needle teeth, sword arms flicking up to strike...The Tyrant Burst system discharges in a brilliant blue *flash*, a cobalt blast that bleaches the color from your surroundings - Blindingly bright, the filters on your vision cutting in at the very last moment as you open fire. The insectile creature lets out a chittering, snapping wail of distress, flinching to the side - Right as you open fire, aiming low. Your Plasma Vulcans making a grinding noise, the spinning barrels erupting in an inferno of burning gases; Rubble on either side of the thing explodes, as your shots rips across it, blasting through chitin and carapace, drawing a gout of foul, steaming ichor from those spindly legs...-And the thing's acid jet splashes against you, steam rising from your Assault Shroud as it eats through the nanofiber in tiny splotches. It's a dispersed blast, but you hear your armor *hiss* and bubble - Even blinded, dented by your fire, the insect-creature skitters forward, motoring on its churning legs; Poised to spring, to scythe through you with all three swords. It's clearly less resistant to energy weapons than the other one - Your shots have distressed it, wounded it, but it's nowhere near dead. Not remotely, though it's living armor has splintered and buckled under the force of your blasts. > HP: 84%> METER: 34%> COBALT BOOSTER: 82%> ASSAULT SHROUD: 79%> INTERCEPTORS: 2/3. (1 ACTIVE.)TIER TWO WEAPONRY UNLOCKED> FUSION ANNHILATOR: (4%/Charge, 6 Charges possible.)
>>20079473NEXT TIER:> LONGINUS RAILGUN SYSTEM (15%/projectile.)YOU HAVE CONTROL.
>>20079548>>20079473Holy shit, how did we go from one on one duels to battling giant, acid-spewing monsters? I really need to read through the backlog.
>>20079473Keep on firing at its legs, wait for the charge and/or jump and activate the Assault Shroud after image thing for just long enough to dive to the side when it attacks before turning it back off.Never stop firing the Vulcans at this guy. Once his legs are down all we have to worry about is the acid and we can dodge that.
>>20079661Do it, it's worth reading if only for hecate.
>>20079741I'll second this.
The creature crosses the distance in a hyperactive blur. Flickering limbs lash out with hissing strokes, your stray shots vanishing amid the churning tangle as you pour fire into it. You're not sure how much damage you're doing to the speed-distorted phantom - Before it jerks up and away, in a surging *leap*, a predator's pounce to bring down prey...-But you've anticipated that, and you roll to the side, Assault Shroud's nanofiber dispersing in a hazy shimmer of afterimages. Two blades scissor through your stop-motion copies, the last slicing a deep gouge across the facing of your cuirass; But the whirring barrels of your Vulcans spew a constant storm of shots, chewing into its legs, in a spray of white paste and ivory shards. It's armored in overlapping layers of chitin, but you're shredding through it - The beast is perilously close, now, looming over you as you swing yourself to your feet, it's blade-limbs waving as they slice just overhead. You're forced to dance back, out of the reach of the slicing swords - Bare metal scratches in your crimson armor, now, still smoking from the acid spray. > HP: 80%> METER: 39%> COBALT BOOSTER: 82%> ASSAULT SHROUD: 68%> INTERCEPTORS: 2/3 (1 AVAILABLE)YOU HAVE CONTROL
>>20079917MISSILESGive him two empowered missiles, right in the fucking face. I want to know what alternate effects our weapons can have.
>>20079741Lets keep firing and when you've charged enough set loose the QUANTUM SINGULARITY CANNON
>>20079971Are we even doing that much damage to this thing? So far, we've only blown its armor off. And the ultimate weapon kind of sounds like overkill on it.
>>20079917Plasma caster when it tries to get close again, rip apart its legs. Also keep using Vulcans and backing up.
>>20080025Yes but its also Shock and Awe for the *others* in attendence
>>20080084Do you mean the guys on our side or the unflappable monsters? Either way, you're an idiot.Plasma caster its legs off.
>>20080084We don't use the Quantum Singularity on this foo. When we get to 100 we find the giant fucking cthulu beast and use that on him while boosting it with Cobalt Booster.
You dodge around the creature's bulk, stitching a line of searing shots along its scrabbling limbs; It stumbles, as your blasts scorch into the unwholesome flesh beneath, ichor clumping on the cracked street where it splashes - You sustain your fire, discharging shots as fast as your vulcans can cycle, viscous matter gouting out from it's shot-up thorax...-But this time, when it *moves*, you don't even see it. A hail of gunfire rips through a trailing limb, blasting it free - You see one of the monster's legs pinwheel away, trailing steaming gore...And then it's right in front of you. All three blades strike at once, in a lightning-fast series of chops and thrusts and ripostes - Just as you're swinging the Plasma Caster into line - Two sword-limbs bite into your left-arm Vulcans, shrieking off your forearm casings; Sparks flare, with an ugly, grinding noise as the blades slice down along their length - You jerk back, fast enough to save yourself from a de-limbing, but not before a choking *clunk-clunk-clunk* clogs the fouled barrels, thick black smoke coiling up from one rotating cannon as your arm begins to heat up...-As the Plasma Caster discharges, with a eye-searing flare. Nova-white, hot, the blast sears through the creature's bounding limbs in a cohered blast of energy; It slags both front legs to uselessness, in a single burning caress, the unbalanced monster slamming down with a *crunch* of cracking chitin, slamming down abdomen-first into the cracked street. The thing's last sword stabs right past you, sinking into the stone - You hear a squeal of chittering distress, as it *yanks* at the blade, lashing out at you with the remaining two - Momentarily stuck fast!> HP: 74%> METER: 32%> COBALT BOOSTER: 82%> ASSAULT SHROUD: 62%> INTERCEPTORS: 2/3 (1 AVAILABLE) LEFT-ARM VULCANS DAMAGED.YOU HAVE CONTROL
>>20080271Give it another shot of the plasma caster, directly in the face.I guess we'll be down a vulcan until next time we transform.
>>20080271Awww, shit. At least it can move, so just step back and finish this thing off with another shotgun blast. Preferably to the face.
>>20080416*can't. Can't move.
Out of the reach of the three slicing limb-blades, you raise the smoking barrel of the Plasma Caster, right at the monster's wedge-shaped head; It's still twitching, fidgeting as it rakes out with both free swords again and again, like a video set on loop - Tireless, mechanical, futile. Your weapon hums, as it cycles back to full charge, a green light winking on your HUD - The smell of burning metal and bitter ichor hanging in the air, as you pull the trigger. At this range, there's no time for the plasma payload to expand, to scatter - The brilliant light-flash blasts through the gloom, in a single racing column of superheated plasma, a thick column of flame that spears from the Caster's oversized muzzle. The monster's head explodes. The blast boils its eyes in its sockets, punches past the thing's mandibles, eats right through the armored skull, and into whatever it has for a brain. Almost point-blank, the Caster *kicks* hard, as sharpenel whizzes out in all directions, denuded fragment clattering off your armor - Before the thing's mass slams down for the final time, jerking and convulsive in death as the fused stump bangs solidly into the street; Motes of green light whirring forth as it begins to disintegrate, circling you like a halo of glowing pixels.(Continued.)
>>20080587The light illuminates you, for a brief, flickering instant - Before you hear the *crunch* of a spear biting deep, then the overcharged hum of an energized edge. Behind you, Chrome Cypher hacks the axe-blade of his halberd into his opponent's spine, the bludgeoning shape of the stocky creature shaking violently, then going limp - Hooves kicking once, as he wrenches the spear back out, ichor hissing and spitting on his charged sword. He turns to regard you, through his featureless visor, with an electronic blurt of static - Then flames boil from vents on his back, lifting him into the air, his spear clenched in one hand as he lofts over the debris pile, to you. He doesn't land, hovering on his jets - But he extends a gauntleted arm towards you."Grab hold," Cypher says, in that flat, electronic crackle.> HP: 74%> METER: 25%> COBALT BOOSTER: 82%> ASSAULT SHROUD: 62%> INTERCEPTORS: 2/3
>>20080687Take his hand, we're flying off into ADVENTURE. And by adventure I mean fighting horrendous monsters, but close enough.
>>20080687Guys... as much as we think this guy is our buddy, i don't think he knows that.I say we take the hand cautiously.
>>20080687He can FLY? Seems like we're not the only one with upgrades. Let's go for a ride!
>>20076338YA GROT. ALMOST NUFF DAKKA MEANS DERS A SUCH TING AS TOO MUCH DAKKA. AND DERE AIN'T NO SUCH TING AS TOO MUCH DAKKA.
>>20080687Grab hold with left hand so we can shoot at shit with our right.
You grab on, his gauntlet latching onto your wrist - There's a *jerk* as his jets flare with a coughing burst of thrust, kicking you both into the air. The turbines churn furiously as the ground falls away, your HUD chiming as it registers the change in altitude; You can hear the engines growling as you're lofted into the burning sky, towards the swirling melee above. Below, the tide is turning; The remaining players, a score or so, have cleared a path through the boiling hordes of creatures - You can see the sporadic flash and discharge of weapons, right at the foot of the rising column of tumorous flesh; The thing's heaving tentacles slam down with crushing, earth-shaking force, tiny stabs of light and heat rattling back up at it, to be ignored by the blistered flesh. There's a larger explosion, from somewhere beneath you - An expanding blast that makes the horrid, skyscraper-sized monstroity flail briefly, a screeching howl punishing your ears. Up here, it's not much better: Cypher isn't quite as agile, laboring under the weight of two, and grosteque things - Too horrid to be gargoyles - are battling flying armored figures. A screeching, bat-winged shape plunges downwards in a fireball, still grappling with something like a child's robot come to life (Jet Jaguar, you register), before both plough into the facade of a building, and explode. "Too many," Cypher growls, the emotion choked off by his voice filter. "-What can you do?"[ ] "Where are we going?"[ ] "What is that thing? What's it doing?"[ ] "-Is *that* what caused the earthquake?"[ ] "How many of you are there?"[ ] "What was the plan, before I showed up?"[ ] Free> HP: 74%> METER: 25%> COBALT BOOSTER: 82%> ASSAULT SHROUD: 62%> INTERCEPTORS: 2/3YOU HAVE CONTROL
>>20080917So many questions to ask. Let's go with > [X] What was the plan before I showed up?and "Yes, I have a Quantum Singularity cannon, but it's not charged yet."
>>20080917> [X] Free"I can kill that fucking thing once my meter is full."
>>20080917>[X ] "What is that thing? What's it doing?"Knowledge is power, after all.
> [X] What was the plan before I showed up?The howl of the burning wind makes it hard to hear him, but Cypher jerks his head in the direction of the ground battle. "Charges." He banks to the side, as another scorched form goes pinwheeling past; "Demolition charges, to unanchor it. Taking too long - Won't be enough."Somewhere on the cliff of wet, mottled flesh below, an unspeakable orifice yawns open; A seething black cloud boils out, like ravenous locusts, like flies, churning toward the sky above - Borne on a tide of fetid gases. > [X] "What is that thing? What's it doing?"A pause, the wind shrieking past: "Corrector." Then, again - "An anchor, opening the way - Finding a foothold, *here*." He glances down at you, urgency finding its way through the voice filter: "Can't be allowed. Must be stopped."> [X] "I have a Quantum Singularity Cannon."You can feel his surprise, from the way his grasp tightens - Just for a moment - a series of metallic clicks issuing from his throat, as if speaking on a private filter. "Will get you close. Stay alive."(Continued)
>>20081247The turbines of his back cycle faster, boiling vapor to wings of jetair and flame; A half-dozen dots peel away from the swirling aerial melee, resolving into the familiar shape of half-glimpsed armor - You recall them, vaguely, from faces in the audience, before and after each fight...It's odd to see them here, now, flying under their own power. You're at the point of a ragged formation, now - One that's flying directly towards the great bulk of the awful mass, crushing buildings under its weight. In the black cloud coiling up to meet you, you can register indiviual shapes - Fangs, wings, claws, talons..."Here they come," Cypher growls, his voice almost drowned out by the churning swarm, looming larger and larger...> HP: 74%> METER: 29%> COBALT BOOSTER: 82%> ASSAULT SHROUD: 62%> INTERCEPTORS: 2/3YOU HAVE CONTROL.
>>20081255I believe we should raise our Meter.Do you know what this means, gentlemen?It means we open fire.
>>20081255OPEN FIRE INTO THEM. Don't use any special weapons, just keep on firing into them and let everyone else keep them off of us, they're ablative armor now.
>>20081325>>20081316Wait, if the enemy is so closely packed, our shots will count for a lot. It's damage we do, right? Unload a fuckload of empowered missiles into them, and our gauge should skyrocket.(OP, can you confirm this?)
>>20081255Time to use the one weapon that doesn't rely on meter. Unload the Tyrant burst system at full power, and shear through the entire swarm.
>>20081358(Yes, if you're doing massive amounts of damage, you'll actually gain meter from using special weapons. It's rare, though.)
>>20081408Can we sub the Cobolt Blaster's energy for meter if so try to ready the Quantum Singularity Cannon
>>20081408>>20081450Do niether of these. We'll probably need to boost the cannon.Shoot at the mob of monsters from on top of a building.
You squeeze the firing stirrup, the distinctive thundering *roar* of your Vulcans filling your ears - The rotating barrels cycling up to full speed, the blurt of muzzleflash stabbing out in a flurry of plasma shots. They shred the air, ripping into the boiling damnation clouds; You see bat and insect-winged things pummeled apart, tumbling away to be lost amid the swarming shapes boiling up to meet you...The Tyrant Burst cannon in your torso *flares* - Like a molten core of white heat - as it lets rips. Bright spears of streaking energy lance out, in sizzling rays; It's a lethal funnel of swirling light, a torch of annhilation that ignites anything in the way - They're so closely back each direct hit sets everything else in the way on fire, the thrashing forms igniting each other in flaming agony.Burning shapes plunge out of the sky, fire blossoming in the heart of the swarm. Crisping, catching light, they fall to the earth as a hail of meteors, losing all shape as they resolve to nothing. In the instant before impact, you unleash a barrage of eight rockets, missile packs hurling death through the air; The overlapping concussions buffet you, organic debris splattering your armor - You hear Cypher's blade hacking madly, a momentary path opening up in the churning mass...(Continued)
-And then something slams into you with all the force of a freight train, with rib-breaking force, wrenching your hand from Cypher's. For one terrible moment, you're *falling*...Then your stomach lurches, as you feel great jaws - stippled with needle teeth - bite down on you, scraping against your Assault Shroud; You're in the maw of something like a winged worm, eyeless head shaking as it mauls you. The sky and ground spin madly, as the thing bites you - Fiery stabs of pain in your chest and left leg, as fangs punch through your armor...> HP: 61%> METER: 77%> COBALT BOOSTER: 23%> ASSAULT SHROUD: 36%> INTERCEPTORS: 2/3TIER THREE WEAPONRY UNLOCKED> LONGINUS RAILGUN SYSTEM (15%/Projectile)TIER FOUR> QUANTUM SINGULARITY CANNON (100%)> ???YOU HAVE CONTROL.
>>2008158848 meter in one pass? Holy shit. Don't let this thing eat us, punch it in the head and shoot it. It probably has a brain somewhere, right?
>>20081574> DEATH WORMThis is not a good position to be in. Use our interceptors, slice its head off to free ourselves. Where are all these bastards coming from?
Use railgun to shoot lengthwise along giant deathworm.Railgun is good against armor, won't splash against our leg, and at this angle will hopefully go all the way through the worm for immense damage.
Keep pounding the monster, after we blast whatever bit us to hell. Maybe use another tyrant burst if another group of them gathers up
>>20081803Seconding this.>>20081882No, we need to save what little booster we have left.
Foul breath - reeking of ammonia and battery acids - gouts out at you, as you slam your fist into the thing's skull; Your blows splintering the worm's teeth, as you deal one, two, three punches to the side of its head. With a desperate effort, your Interceptors surge forth, pinning through air on contrails of white flame - You hear them scorch into flesh, as your enemy shudders in pain response...Right before you bring your arm up, the Longinus Railgun shimmering into existence, and open fire. A single hypervelocity shot rips into the thing, and right *through* it. It punches down, through the writhing length - A Gauss streak that never slows, the accelerated round erupting forth in a massive plume of spoiled meat and gore, one that abruptly trunctuates the lower quarter of the thing. You must've hit a nerve, some sensory apparatus, because it wrenches to the side, juddering violent, twisting upon itself like a serpent- It lets go. The pain of the thing's jaws unlocking - Those jagged teeth wrenching back out - sending red agony sizzling through your vision, as it falls away; For good measure, you fire down it's throat, leaving it thrashing and vomiting flame as a last convulsion hurls you away, both of your remaining attack drones weaving in a grantic slicing dance...tumbling through the shrieking air- ...Until your fall is arrested a wrenching jolt that almost yanks your arm from its socket, Cypher's jet choking with debris; He's on a long, descending spiral now, hauling you along as his thrusters fire at fitful intervals, barely keeping you aloft. Something blows out, in his jetpack - Both of you lurch violently in the air, an electronic snarl forced from his throat. (Continued)
>>20081919You're right *above* the horrible, monster-spawning creature; It stretches out beneath you, like a plateau of reeking flesh.-And somewhere, from very, very far away, you hear a faint chiming - The rare, miraclous sound of a full Meter, supercharged at last. > HP: 53%> METER: 100%> COBALT BOOSTER: 23%> ASSAULT SHROUD: 12%> INTERCEPTORS: 1/3TIER FOUR WEAPONRY UNLOCKED> QUANTUM SINGULARITY CANNON (100%)> ???TIER FIVE> NO DATA AVAILABLEYOU HAVE CONTROL.
>>20081925Fire!
>>20081925Fire, charge it with what Boost you have left.
"Now or never," Cypher growl, from somewhere near - Below, like a dark sea lashed by a hurricane, mottled, lumpen tentacles reach out, flapping and snaking, from the gigantic mass; Up towards the distant glow of power, as if sensing a threat...The Quantum Singularity Cannon isn't like your other weapons. You're not sure if it was part of your equipment at all - When it takes shape, it assembles itself from the rest of your arsenal. There's the Plasma Caster's barrel in it, the Railgun's aiming system, the charging element of the Fusion Annhilator...All reshaped in a new configuration you've never seen before, in a shimmering schematic of neon lines.-And there's something else that goes into it, something you never knew existed - A black core that smells like the death of suns. The cannon is a massive one, built from you; As if the Red Joker's armor exists only to house it.When you pull the trigger - For a long, frozen moment- nothing happens. Not at first. (Continued)
>>20081925This is gonna be good.
>>20082076For a moment, you've wonder if the weapon has...misfired, somehow, as foul beaks of clear cartilage snap at you, on the verge of reaching - But then reality distorts, at a tiny point far, far beneath you. The disorientation expands; Opening wider and wider, pinning with distorted shreds of light. Colorless lightning flickers and seethes...The fabric of the crimson world rips open, into an accelerating cyclone of flickering power. Like a dark sun, lit from within by an anti-light, burning with fire so black the eye cannot hold it - It's growing, fuelled by itself, the maw of the vortex growing with a hungering shriek, spinning everything it touches to nothingness. You glimpse black-centered spirals opening with in the overlapping cyclone, a gravitional singularity that draws all things into the spinning hole...You know better than to look directly into the black-white rent. On the other side lies the infinite vastness of oblivion. The hole in space *pulls* at you, the hungering void wrenching hard; But it's eating the pustular shape of the thing's distintending form, the jagged gash in reality spreading and splitting, faster and wider and longer...The diminishing entity must be howling, but you can't hear it - Even sound can't escape the dread gravity of the black hole, as a cast fissure of cold anti-light opens across the city. It's pulled into it, the impossible mass *compressed* and *warped* and crushed in unspeakable ways... (Continued)
>>20082118Well. nobody is going to want to fight us ever again.
>>20082118The spinning force creates a wake, a funnel, pulling the writhing abdomination *into* itself - Away from you, as the abyss yawns opens. The titanic creature shrinks upon itself, implodes, the pinpricks of it spawn sucked away from the mottled sky - Searing red light churns overhead, darkening and twisting, casting a weird illumination on the tumult of figures below...-You glimpse the sanity-wrenching sight of the skyscraper shape being pulled away, down, down into the unseen depths. It sucks away the bodies and debris floating at the edges of it, into the center of the anti-light.With an odd, anticlimatic expiration, like the last breaths of air pushed from the a bellows, the vortex winks from the surface of the earth. Save for stray, scattered chunks of already-decaying meat, the fleshy tower is gone. The crevasse is gone.So is a half-sphere bite of the city - Leaving nothing in it's wake, as if an invisible line has been drawn across the skyline, the jagged stumps of trunctuated buildings remaining beneath it. "Holy *shit*," you hear Cypher mutter - For once, his voice blank with awe. With a whining, chugging sound, he scrawls a shaking wake in his final descent - You land hard, turbines shrieking from the effort, churning up dust. And again. "Holy shit."YOU HAVE CONTROL.
>>20082142No I'm pretty sure this is gonna make them want to be Red Joker even *more*
>>20082218Did we just wipe out half of the city in real life?Since this shit affects IRL as it seems
>>20082218Symbol.Then engage in conversation with Chrome.
>>20082218>>20082118>>20082076
>>20082231This.We must know exactly what the shit is going on.I don't think we are going to be able to pull our new Red Joker Murder Gun Version9001 every single time this shows up, so knowing our enemy is crucial.also, symbol.Just so that there can be no doubt about who is responsible.
You've been burned, blasted, slashed and almost eaten - With two Vulcans, it's a little more tricky than before, but you compensate. White-hot shots core into the ground, leaving a luridly-glowing patch of red earth; Now carved into your trademark, the laughing harlequin sketched in molten light. There's a heavy *CLUNK* as Chrome Cypher's jetpack fails at last - Though he barely seems to notice it, his attention swallowed by the tremendous absence where a district-devouring monster...-Had been. Just a bit lower, and you'd have carved a massive crater from the cyclopean city. Without the sprawling bulk of thing - You're not sure if the vortex would've been smaller, with nothing to fuel it, or if it'd have swallowed up even more.Not too far away, you can make out the survivors straggling close; Faint bursts of hurried communication shooting back and forth, the air seething with a frantic private dialogue. You can guess what they're saying - "What happened? Who did that? Why is *he* here?"Cypher is still staring, when your heavy footfalls get his attention. He turns, his spear instinctively coming up...Before he makes a crackling, staticky buzz that you recognize as laughter, grounding the blade of his halberd."My..." he begins, then shakes his head. "-My thanks."[ ] "Don't mention it."[ ] "Time for some answers, I think. What's going on here?"[ ] "-Are the others all right?"[ ] "You okay? You seem a little shaken."[ ] Free.
[ x] "Time for some answers, I think. What's going on here?"If things get violent high-tail it the best we can
>>20082330>>[ ] "You okay? You seem a little shaken."Gee, he seems shaken. I wonder why.>>[X ] "Time for some answers, I think. What's going on here?"
[x] "Don't mention it."[x] Anything else you can tell me about that thing?[x] "You okay? You seem a little shaken."Sorry for choosing three responses. I originally had four but trimmed it down.
[x] "Don't mention it."[x] "Time for some answers, I think. What's going on here?"
I vote >>20082364.
> [X] "Time for some answers, I think. What's going on here?"Tiny green dots ignite on your ragged Shroud, momentarily filling your vision with emerald light as they sweep across you - Laser sights, as a few of the nearing players take hesitant aim at you. Cypher says, very clearly: "Don't be stupid." and the dots vanish as quickly as they'd come. He reaches up, and makes a tiny motion - The metallic buzz dying away from his voice, as he exhales, very slowly. "-That thing was a Corrector," he begins - It's odd to hear him talk without the staticky reverb to his words. "They exist *here*, but they're not like us: They come from somewhere beyond, and exist only to...to lay waste."An unsteady breath, and he goes on. "I've seen a few before, but never...*never* something that large. That thing could've swallowed the entire city, if it didn't stop growing."His visor swings back towards you. "-It's our job to stop things like that. Well, it was, until..."> "Don't mention it."> [x] "You okay? You seem a little shaken." "-Yes." There's a moment of silence, as if he's still digesting what he's seen. "That was...really something. I've never even seen Prominence himself do something on that scale." A long, considering pause, as he lowers his voice: "...You may want to leave before he gets here."[ ] "Prominence...You mean Argent Prominence? *He's* your leader?"[ ] "Why do you do it?"[ ] "Is that what you were doing, last time? Fighting Correctors?"[ ] "...Are the rest of them like you, too?"[ ] Free.YOU HAVE CONTROL.
>>[x] "Prominence...You mean Argent Prominence? *He's* your leader?">>[x] "Why? does he have a grudge against me or something?"
[x] Until what?[x] Was that spiderthing a corrector?
[x] Until what?[x] "Is that what you were doing, last time? Fighting Correctors?"If four is allowed, please also do[x] "Why do you do it?"[x] "...Are the rest of them like you, too?"My personal theory is that the spider ting was made from a bunch of spiders, because we saw a bunch of dead ones as we got off the train.
That name...You've heard it before. Recently, too - From Hecate, no less. >>[x] "Prominence...You mean Argent Prominence? *He's* your leader?"Cypher nods. The other players are keeping a wide berth, though you can sense the frentic ticks of silent communication - "...All is by his design," he answer, and there's something disturbingly reverent in his voice. "-It was his plan to keep the city safe."You notice - again - how most of the armored figures picking their way through the wreckage are some shade of chrome or silver...Even in the choking dust and eerie crimson lighting.>>[x] "Why? does he have a grudge against me or something?"He doesn't quite laugh, though he shakes his head. "-Everyone wants to eliminate the competition, Joker. Especially someone with a free pass to the end of it all."A brief, significant glance; "...And when you've reached the final stage before - Why not a second time?">>[x] Was that spiderthing a corrector?>>[x] "Why do you do it?">>[x] "...Are the rest of them like you, too?"A clanking chuckle. "The very same." The second question takes a longer while for him to answer, as Cypher shoulders his halberd; "-Because someone has to," he says, finally. He tilts his head in the direction of the others; "...Fighting each other - killing each other - it can't be the only way to win. It can't be the *right* way." A faint gleam, beneath his smoked-glass visor. "I can't accept that as my answer."YOU HAVE CONTROL
>>20082691(OP here: Unfortunately, I have to leave soon - If all goes well, I should be gone for about an hour or so. Would you prefer to wait, or should we end here, and continue next time?)
>>20082721I'd be willing to wait, at least.
>>20082721I should be going to bed, so I'd prefer to wait till next time.
>>20082721I'll waitThis is too awesome not to,
>>20082721OP here: Back at last. Sorry for the delay. (Though we shouldn't have too much left to cover before we reach a natural stopping point.)
>>20082691Great, our best friend is kind of a moralfag. Is that how he's been levelling up, by grinding on monsters alone? Sounds like a lonely existence.
>>20083138Welcome back, OP.
>>20083190(Glad to be back.)>>20082691[ ] "...Seriously?"[ ] "-I never thought of it that way before."[ ] "That's a laudable goal."[ ] "But what happens now?"[ ] Free. YOU HAVE CONTROL.
>>20083223(Trip fell off, my bad.)
>>20083183Such is the way of the paladin. Go with> [X] "That's a laudable goal."> [X] "So what happens now?"
>>20083276Agreed.
>>20083223Well, let me know if you do find an acceptable answer. Free pass aside, I'm not participating for fun here.
>>20083276Seconding these
>>20083276These, but add that you never had the time and information to see things that way, since everyone was always after our hide.Noone tells the Joker anything.
>>20083292>>20083276> [X] "That's a laudable goal.""-It is. I'm still a long way from attaining it, though." Around you, the dust is finally beginning to settle; The few remaining creatures mostly dispatched by opportunistic players, executed by close-range shots or stabs. They're still keeping their distance from you: Probably the wise decision, given what you've just done. Cypher's gauntleted fingers go to the mouthpiece of his armor - When he next speaks, his voice is back to the emotionless electronic blurt. > "Free pass aside, I'm not participating for fun here."> "No-one tells the Joker anything."Hnnnnn. That may change," he remarks. Is that the shadow of the grin, behind the anoymous helmet? "-Everyone wants something; You wouldn't be here if you didn't." > [X] "So what happens now?""Now? Now, I call it in." That machine-cycle laugh. "-Now I tell my Boss the Red Joker left before we could stop him."His thrusters vent smoke, the jets giving an experimental cough; The turbines whine, as he lifts off from the ground, slowly - Around you, you make out contrails of rising smoke, as if the others are following his example. Some simply wink out, transitioning back. He has one last parting shot, before his form dwindles to a tiny speck in the air: "-Next time, Joker. We could use more like you."It seem like the raid - The defense, the hunting party, whatever it is - is over at last.The world fades out, and slips sideways.(Continued.)
>>20083416Even though the colors have changed - Even though you're no longer in crimson armor - it's a moment before you register that you *are* back. You're standing in the parking lot, before the silent Sterling Institute officer; Ostensibly keeping an eye on the silent pallets of paper cartons before you. The scene in the distance is, well...While the destruction isn't as total as it was *over there*, the earth still trembles, faintly, from the aftershock. A hazy pall of dust hangs over the further end of the city; The damage has largely been confined to the slowly-developing expansion to the commercial district, half-completed buildings downed by the quake, the slumped shapes of smaller structures left askew by the violent tremors, as sirens wail in the distance...Not too far away, you hear the fitful cough of an engine, as Kazuya's scooter - The one he isn't supposed to be riding - chugs to a stop. He dismounts, moving to unfasten the powder-blue (and rather silly) chin-strap helmet he favors."-You're all right!" he blurts out, relief writ large on his features. Then, more calmly - "Hey, thanks, Anon-kun; Glad you could get here." A glance back, at the pall hanging over the lower district - "...I can't believe *that* just happened..."[ ] "Yeah, that's a real coincidence."[ ] "-Are you all right?"[ ] "What happened? You sounded all kinds of frantic on the phone."[ ] "How did you know where I was?"[ ] Free.YOU HAVE CONTROL
>>20083497Are you all right?What happened?How did you know where I was?
>>20083497] "-Are you all right?"[ ] "What happened? You sounded all kinds of frantic on the phone."[ ] "How did you know where I was?"
>>20083497>You're standing in the parking lot, before the silent Sterling Institute officer; Ostensibly keeping an eye on the silent pallets of paper cartons before you. Hmmm, I don't suppose those cartons have any distinctive markings besides the company name on them... do they?
>>20083521These.So it looks like we've got a mutual suspicion thing here, though Kazuma might not know we know. But if he tags us as the Red Joker, we should be able to say he's Chrome Cypher and possibly surprise the shit out of him if he didn't make the connection that suspicion by proximity goes both ways that we did.
>>20083604Still isnt proven that hes Chrome Cypher. Actually it would be just conjectured on genre savvyness and some coincidences. I think we keep our cards hidden, we have more to loose in this game.>Inb4 Kazuya is Argent Prominence
>> Are you all right?"Yeah, just took a bad spill." There's new scratches marring the paint of his scooter - He's lost a mirror somewhere, a stump remaining where it's broken off. It sags on the kickstand when he steps away from it, tottering alarmingly - Enough that he has to make a desperate grab for the handlebars, when it's on the verge of falling over completely. >> What happened?"Oh, this?" Kazuya's voice is rueful, as he nods at the damage. "-I got caught in traffic, then a taxi sideswiped me; He didn't even slow down. Right after I got out of that...Well, you know what came next."He glances back, over his shoulder, and shudders. "Hell of a day, huh?" he offers, wheeling his scooter over to the curb - After a futile attempt to balance it, he settles for leaning it against the rungs of the open gate. >>How did you know where I was?He can't quite hide *something* - Like a flicker of alarm - that flits across his face...Before his expression settles back into easy nonchalance. "-Would you believe Akira told me?" he answers, dusting himself off; "He said 'Anon's on another date, downtown'. That guy, I tell you...I swear he knows *everything."
>>20083636You'll notice i said 'we'll be able to'. Also:>implying Kazuma isn't a total broAnd Argent was nowhere to be seen on the train.
>>20083696Kazuya tucks his helmet under his arm, his gaze flitting over to the empty offices as he heaves a sigh. "...Looks like the rush was for nothing, though. Guess everyone's else is gone, too..."He crosses over to the nearest pallet, looking down at the cargo. "-Thanks for keeping an eye out, by the way. At least it's all still here..."What 'it' might be - given the neatly stacked rows of corrugated cardboard, scotch-taped shut - you have no idea.[ ] "Glad I could help." [ ] "Did he say whom I was with?"[ ] "Yes, Asuna's feeling much better now." [ ] "What's in those boxes, anyway?"[ ] "Exactly what do you *do* at the office?"[ ] Free. YOU HAVE CONTROL.
>>20083696"Akira? I... Well, as long as it's you and not my teacher- I suppose that's fine."
>>20083636Wouldn't he be too young? If I read this right, shit went down about six years ago, and we only got our powers then, like hecate.
[x]Well, if it were just that, I'd believe you. But something weird is going on. You were panicked /before/ the earthquake. What's going on, Kazuma? You can trust me.
>>20083497> [X] "Yes, Asuna's feeling much better now."This one is clearly a lie, to catch him out. We were with hecate, right? Besides, how does our nosy friend know anything? Did we tell him?
>>20083709Glad i could help. Though i havent done nothing. What did you need me for?Well anyways, it was a streak of Prominence... wait... uh, i meant Providence... that you made it through 'that' with your scooter halfways intact.Lets see if he reacts if we drop the name of their leader...Afterwards ask about the boxes and what they are doing here.
>>20083764Seconding this.
>> 20083746> Well, it was a streak of Prominence - wait - uh, i meant Providence... that you made it through 'that' with your scooter halfways intact."I know, right?" he muses aloud; "-Just lucky, I guess. I'd have hated to be in that." > [x]Well, if it were just that, I'd believe you. But something weird is going on. You were panicked /before/ the earthquake. What's going on, Kazuma? You can trust me.Kazuya exhales, slowly - He pauses in his step, the idle wheel of his scooter rotating at a languid pace. "Yeah, well..." he begins, not quite meeting your gaze; A faint edge to his voice. "-Actually, I got a call from Natsumi. She needed a lift back home...That's why I was running late."At last, he looks back at you. "...You don't mind, do you?"[ ] "Of course not."[ ] "Well...Maybe a little."[ ] "...She still doesn't know, does she? You really should tell her."[ ] Free.
>>20083925YOU HAVE CONTROL.(Sorry, last past got clipped off.)
>>20083925She still doesn't know does she?
>>20083925> [X] [ ] "...She still doesn't know, does she? You really should tell her."Poor Kazuma, head-over-heels with a girl who's oblivious. Just like my Chinese cartoons.
>>20083981She isn't so much oblivious as she is looking at someone else.
[x] "Of course not."[x] "...She still doesn't know, does she? You really should tell her."I'm going to bed. Don't forget to archive this.
>>20083925"I mind quite a bit Kazuma. You are my best friend, and I absolutely cannot take this anymore. I know you're trying to be a gentleman about this, but your window of opportunity won't last forever. You've got to tell her, enough delaying the inevitable. I have the utmost faith in you Kazuma, and I know you're going to make Natsumi a very happy person. No more worrying, no more hiding- If you really want to make something happen, go for it."[X]MANLY HANDSHAKE
>>20084053FUCH YEAH!!! SECONDIN AS FUCK!
>>20084053OH SNAP IT'S MR. SMOOTHTALK
>>20084053This.>[X]MANLY HANDSHAKEfantastic.
(Sorry for the delay, rewrote it.)[X] "...She still doesn't know, does she? You really should tell her."Kazuya coughs, just once - Looking momentarily uncomfortable, as he pulls his gloves off. "Yeah, well...I'm still working up to it," he says. Just like he always does.>>20084053He starts, visibly surprised - Pausing in the act of pulling his gloves off, as you grip his hand in a MANLY HANDSHAKE. "I-" Kazuya begins - Looking like a deer in headlights, just for a moment - before your words register."-I think I'll do exactly that," he answers, a slow, complex grin - Equal parts embarrassed and proud at once - etching itself onto his face. He chuckles, shaking his head; "You know, when you put it that way...I *have* been dragging my feet, haven't I? Yeah, I'll tell her as soon as I meet her - I've always been building up to it, but..." His fist taps against yours. "...Thanks, man. I appreciate it." (Continued.)
>>20084189His crooked, embarassed-yet-pleased smile lingers, just a moment longer - Until a powered *hiss*, from close by, draws your attention. When you look back, you blink in surprise - The lights in the office are back on, the automatic doors sliding open gracefully as a man emerges; He's greying, in a slightly rumpled tie and buttoned-down shirt - Looking kindly but tired as he heads towards you. "And *that's* my boss," Kazuya clarifies, with a chuckle. "-Guess I'll take it from here, Anon...I'll have to catch you later." His white teeth flash in a brief - but heartfelt - smile, as he scratches at his cheek. "Thanks for...Well, for *everything*, buddy. I'll let you know how it turns out."[ ] "Sure, I'll head off."[ ] "-I'll hang around for a bit longer."[ ] "I'll leave the rest to you, then. I think you'll do just fine."[ ] Free. YOU HAVE CONTROL.
>>20084203[X] "I'll leave the rest to you, then. I think you'll do just fine."[X] Free. *cough* Chrome *cough*. Sorry, just have a cold.
>>20084237You know, I'm beginning to think it really isn't him. But who else was around in both instances? Maybe Akira?That's assuming he isn't lying, of course.
Leave it to him.>>20084237>cough *chrome* coughThis too
> [X] "I'll leave the rest to you, then. I think you'll do just fine."> [X] *cough* Chrome *cough*. Sorry, just have a cold.Kazuya's turning away from you, as he straightens - Stiffening in surprise? Or just trying to look smart - shooting a glance back, and a thumbs-up. "...You know what? I think it will."He gives you a hearty slap on the shoulder, a companionable smirk on his face; "Seriously, it's weird when you're not joking around..." A little shrug. "-But I could get used to *that*."That's the last you hear from him as he jogs past you - Already plastering on a smile for his boss as you head away, walking towards the gate. In the red-tinged illumination of the setting sun, your shadow is a long, wavering phantom, lit from with by a lurid glow; Drawing away from Kazuya's silhouette, the light reflecting from his half-toppled scooter...A light bright and sharp-edged at once, with the gleam of polished chrome. JOKER QUEST CHAPTER 9END.
>>20084380(OP here: Thank you for your patience: You've been a great audience. I'd love to continue, but it's late - Furthermore, this seems like a natural breakpoint. I'll run the next instalment this coming Thursday, around 2:30 - 3:00 Singaporean time.)
>>20084380Nice.Thank you for another amazing thread. You have a good one op.
>>20084398Yep, twas nice. Till next time OP, love this quest.
>>20084398I can't really point why, but this quest have really grown on me.keep up the good work op. see ya.
> In the red-tinged illumination of the setting sun, your shadow is a long, wavering phantom, lit from with by a lurid glow; Drawing away from Kazuya's silhouette, the light reflecting from his half-toppled scooter...A light bright and sharp-edged at once, with the gleam of polished chrome. SYMBOLISM.See you soon, op, thnks for the game.
>>20082118Oh man, what an episode. We went from a date to a war sequence to the bro-est chat ever. Just catching up on the backlog.
Ffffffuck, I fucked up.Sorry, I trie d to archive this and only added one tag. Totally my fault.
>>20084908Actually, I came here to complain about that, but you seem sorry enough. I'm gonna email Lord Licorice and see if he can fix it.
