The aftermath of a disaster is a strange thing. For one thing, it's oddly quiet - Quiet, and dark. An instant ago, you saw - heard - the titanic violence of the car's bludgeoning mass driving through the front window and into the building beyond; The fuming stench of exhaust and fuel, the restaurant's facade exploding inwards in a shower of glass sharpnel...

-And then the table upended, chairs smashed to flinders, and you left the ground in the arms of the shockwave. Too much, too fast - Your ears are ringing, your thoughts still scrambled by the tremendous CRASH (Like the end of the world) and the great, soundless impact that followed.

There's blood on your face, the glittering fragments of glass shards stippling your coat. They scratch you each time you move, but while you're dazed and bruised and stunned...You can *move*. You're not hurt, not seriously - Though that might just be the adrenaline talking.

You've fetched up beneath a table somewhere - Half-tangled in the shredded tablecloth, the hard rungs of the nearby chairs jammed unmercifully into your back. There are faint screams - oddly muted - the groan as something else collapses into ruin, but...All things considered, you're lucky. *Very* lucky.

[ ] Free.

YOU HAVE CONTROL.

>>20872988

Fuck, and we didn't event get to eat lunch.

> [X] Free
> Look around, see if Fumito is all right.

He has two of our best relics!

>>20872988
Okay find Fumito, see if he's alright. Get him somewhere safe. The guy has our coat and jetpack, we can't let him die.

Back on your feet, then. You grab the edge of the table, hauling yourself up - Dark spots swimming in your vision, until you blink them away. You really wish that your ears would stop ringing...

-Up here, things aren't looking much better. The entire front window is gone; The great metal bulk of a car, front wheels still spinning, driven right through like a battering ram. The first flickers of flame lick along the floor, little puddles of blue-hot fire. The place is still emptying out - Those impeccably-suited men and well-dressed women getting *away* from this place as soon as possible...There's an older man sprawled on the ground, blank-eyed and rigid as his lips slowly turn blue...

In all the still-unfolding chaos, no-one pays you any mind. You hear the artifical downpour of the sprinkler system, soaking the floor, making it even more slick and treacherous amid the shards of glass and wood.

"Anon." It isn't very loud, but it carries over the room, all the same - You turn, to see Mr. Fumito half-sprawled against the wall, sitting very still: He's been cut, several times, by the flying glass - His left leg bent at an odd angle, lined face pale with pain. You stumble over to him, the world still wavering around you - You don't kneel at his side, because you don't think you could stand up again.

He jerks his head in the direction of the shattered window, his voice clear but full of immense strain. "-Don't let him get away."

[ ] "What happened?"
[ ] "I'm getting you somewhere safe."
[ ] "Will you be all right?"
[ ] "Did you see who it was?"
[ ] Transform.
[ ] Head outside.
[ ] Free.

YOU HAVE CONTROL.

>>20873220
[X] "Will you be all right?"

And then [X] Transform.

>>20873220

> [ ] "Did you see who it was?"
> [ ] "I'm getting you somewhere safe."

You're not going to die until you can give us our relics back, fucko. More seriously, let's keep the uber-powerful player safe.

> [X] "Will you be all right?"

The flesh around his eyes crinkle, and he gives a sharp, pained bark of laughter. "-I think my leg's broken," Ebara spits out - He pushes against the floor, and his teeth grind together at the effort - before he slumps back. "...That's bone. Yes, definently broken."

> [X] "I'm getting you somewhere safe."

"Don't move me." He waves off your assistance, face still locked in the thousand-yard stare of focus: "-called an ambulance, I'll be fine."

> [X] Transform.

You're about to make the transition - To sidestep from this world to the crimson one - when Argent Prominence's hand grips your arm, and squeezes down with surprising force, fingers digging like claws into your flesh. "It's not a *Player*," Mr. Fumito grits out - "...A Player would never...have beaten me."

There's a bright, feverish heat in his eyes, as he gives you a weak push. "Black coat...Didn't see his face...*Chase* him down - You're wasting *time*-"

[ ] Examine the car.
[ ] Go out the window.
[ ] Free.

YOU HAVE CONTROL.

>>20873381

> "It's not a *Player*," Mr. Fumito grits out - "...A Player would never...have beaten me."

So he didn't lose a match, under our very nose? Damn, that's not good.

> [ ] Go out, look around to see what's going on.

>>20873381
"Gotcha."

Head out the window, pick up something usable as an improvised weapon on the way if we aren't armed already, scan the area.

> Head out the window, pick up something usable as an improvised weapon on the way if we aren't armed already, scan the area.

An improvised weapon - You look around; There are plenty of glass shards and flinders of wood scattered all around you, but nothing that looks particularly deadly...

-Until you see the gleam of steel, and your foot kicks against an ebony-handled carving knife; Recently divorced from an abandoned roast, potatoes and mushrooms now strewn across the floor. You have every confidence it'll go *into* someone just as easily.

You secure the knife away, as you clamber out through the shattered window. The car's wheels are slowing their spin at last, as the engine's ticking winds down; It's an average automobile, the driver's-side door thrown wide, and...

-You see the way the compartment has been prised open, the wires within knotted and tangled around each other. No key in the ignition - It's been hotwired. No driver, either...He's clearly absconded.

There's a small crowd gathering across the road - Gawkers and onlookers, the babble of their hushed voices like white noise. You can hear the discreet whir and bright flash of handphone cameras as you stumble out into the open, to the side...

Wait.

You can just barely make out a form on the other side - Heading in the opposite direction from everyone else, the hood of the figure's black raincoat jacket pulled up over his head. He turns back, with a furtive glance - Enough for you to make out a flash of...Yellow?

He's wearing a mask. A mask, like a crude plastic smiley face - An additional slash drawn in, to turn the smile into a scream. In that fleeting moment of contact, the figure keeps walking away, head down - hands in pockets - away from the ruined restaurant.

[ ] Push through the crowd.
[ ] Circle around the crowd.
[ ] Wait a moment, and watch the crowd.
[ ] Free.

YOU HAVE CONTROL.

>>20873617
[X] Circle around the crowd.

The crowd will just slow us down and we can't see through them. We go around we can keep an eye on him and he won't be able to give us the slip.

>>20873617

> [ ] Push through the crowd.

Go right after the bastard.

>>20873668

No, >>20873627 has it right. Go with:

> Circle around the crowd.

Rolled 19

(don't mind me, just checking something.)

>>20873768
He rolled a d100, be scared. Be scared for our life and the lives our loved ones.

> [X] Circle around the crowd.

It's a small mercy, but you're not alone as you stagger, blinking, into daylight; There's been an exodus of dazed diners from the restaurant, enough that one more goes unnoticed. You take a moment to right yourself, before you do your best to circle around the crowd, where it thins at the edges...While it's a slightly more circuitous route, you get through with a minimum of shoving - Reorientating yourself to get a better look...

He hasn't gone far. It's not hard to make out the figure, once you've locked eyes on him - He's hunched over slightly, tension writ taut in the lines of his body...As if resisting the urge to look back, not wanting to stand out as more concerned citizens/gawkers are drawn to the front of La Tombola, like iron filings to a magnet.

You can't imagine what you must look like. You know that you've brushed most of the flakes of glass from your clothing, your hands stinging from the tiny cuts you've taken - Like a dozen papercuts. The ebony hilt of your newly-acquired knife is hard against your ribs, as you close the distance...

You're less than ten meters away, when he looks back.

You were right: It *is* a mask. A full-faced smiley, one that the figure was apparently on the verge of removing - His hands still lifted to where they're secured, when he sees you...And stops, dead. It's a symbol you've seen once before, in Nara Dreamland - Where it was smeared, in rouge and greasepaint, on the armor of attacking Players...

It's a moment of frozen realization, as he takes you in, and thinks, quite clearly:

> "Oh, *shit.*"

[ ] Free.

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>20873857

'Oh shit' is right, fucker.

Go for his throat.

>>20873857
He's going to run, just a gut feeling. I doubt he's going to stick around.

Tackle the fucker, knock him to the ground or against a wall and place the knife against his throat, we need answers.

>>20873857
I wonder if he's a player who was ordered to act outside the game?

No matter, we need him alive so even if he is we can't take this Red. Tackle him then hold him at knifepoint. Don't stab him unless absolutely necessary.

You go for him. Your legs uncoil, as you cross the distance in a sprint, then a *lunge*, driving towards him as hard as you can - But he has a head start. He flinches back, a stutter-step motion as your arm lashes out, faster than you've ever moved - Your clawing fingers grasping only a handful of fabric, which slips between them before you can find a hold...

You can hear harsh, panicked breathing as the figure wrenches away from you. Your sudden movement must have galvanized him, because he's running full out, running like *hell*, in the brief instant before you can recover, as you light up after him...

And then both of you are running too hard to think about anything else. Your jacket flaps in the cold air, the pavement pounding underfoot - You're only dimly aware of how *empty* the streets are, with only the occasional pedestrian turning his head at the odd sight - The chase in deadly earnest.

Full-out, he's slightly faster, propelled by the fear that gives men wings; The gap widening slightly, as he sprints across the road, a car swerving to the side to avoid him - You can hear the horn blaring as it carooms past you, a thin skim of water splashing against your churning legs...

-You have to pull up short, momentarily, as a trunk hurtles right past you, without slowing. Through the visual baffle, you hear the rattle of a chain-link fence - See the smiley-masked figure duck down an alley...

[ ] Sprint after him.
[ ] Go around, cut him off at the opposite end.
[ ] Scope out the alley, it might be a trap.
[ ] Free.

YOU HAVE CONTROL.

>>20874059
[X] Go around, cut him off at the opposite end.

>>20874059

He shouldn't have had much time to get any further, so sprint right after him.

> [X] SPRINT AFTER HIM, DAMNIT.

>>20874059
We lost momentum thanks to that truck.

Sprint after him but take a slightly wider arc into the alley so there's no danger of getting clotheslined as we round a corner. It's only been seconds so we should be able to see him running, if we don't THEN we should scope the alley

>>20874059
Sprint after him. We are powered by rage, hate and justice! He stands no chance. If it looks like he'll escape change. He is definately a player the fact that he used a different method of attack just means he's also a bitch.

>>20874135
>>20874155

The alley is shadowy, dank - The air is clammy and stale from the pounding rain of previous days, just wide enough to sprint through. You sprint after him, cautious for a sneak attack...But no, it looks like the smiler is entirely focused on getting away.

There's a chain-link fence at the end of the alley - topped with coils of wire - and he's scaling it, hand-over-hand; You can hear it rattle, but he's going up all the same, making harsh gasps of effort - A gloved hand claws another handhole, one foot thumping against the surface...

-And all that time, you're drawing *nearer*. By the time he's halfway up, you're within reach at last - Right at the base of the fence, now.

[ ] Free.

YOU HAVE CONTROL.

>>20874059
Bit of an early start, innit? This time I know it isn't Thursday in any part of the world.

Okay, here's what we do: get visual sight on him and challenge him to a Red World match. Other Players do it to us all the time, we ought to be able to issue challenges ourselves.

When he's dead we make the debris from the accident that kills him look like our Joker mark and leave a message: The price will be paid by all those who dared crush the dream.

>>20874251
Annnnd there's my luck again. How does a Player go about issuing challenges? It's time to do one, this guy almost *has* to be a Player, if only because I can't see the Cardinal using mundane catspaws.

>>20874251
CAn't we just transform and blow up the nearby area where he's located?

>>20874271

Argent Prominence said that he wasn't, which was how they managed to pull off the attack.

>>20874251

Stab him in the leg. Even if we can't reach him, drive the knife into his leg, and try to pull him down.

>>20874251
Stab him in the leg, or slash one of the open, hamstring him. That ought to get him to let go.

>>20874251
Not so sure how high the fence is from your description

Grab his leg and pull him of the fence? Actually, if we can, I suggest jumping up delivering a shallow stab wound to the lower part of his leg. That should stop him from climbing. If he's too high for that then I suggest throwing the knife into his ass. That should also stop him from climbing provided it hits right.

File: 1348641034946.png-(19 KB, 148x145, JOKER.png)

>>20874300
I took that to mean the guy just rammed the restaurant with a car. They can't take him in the Red World so they take him on this side. No way to tell if it's a Player or not.

Pic related, anyone else think that this joker looks a little bit like JOKER from the way he's described?

>>20874254
>>20874271
We need him alive. Can't interrogate a dead man. Just think about it, how the hell did they know AP was having lunch with us there?

I mean if he was a player we might be able to torture him for information in the Red, but it would probably be better to see what methods AP has to deal with things like this.

>>20874284

(From what you know, it's not always clear how damage in the red world affects reality. You've caused massive property damage in your fights, and they've never 'translated' to similar destruction in reality. Some zones don't have an otherworld analog either, making the connection an uncertain one.)

>>20874254

(Apologies, but tomorrow's my birthday - I'd probably be busy for most of the day, so I thought I'd run this session early.)

You jump, and grab hold - Your fingers clutching at a trouser leg, to a startled cry from above; A shoe slams down against your shoulder, hard enough to dislodge you, but that's entirely fine - The carving knife is in your other hand, and you *stab* up...

The blade is *very* sharp, and it gouges deep into the flesh of the smiler's leg - You hear a frantic, oddly high-pitched scream of pain, as rivulets of blood well up around the blade; The thrashing figure shakes your hand off, the knife twisting in the wound as it wrenches free.

The hood falls back, to reveal...

-long brown hair, pinned back in twin ponytails...The open back of the mask giving way to a slender neck and smooth skin. You hear the agonized sound again, and this time, there's no mistake...

A girl?

(Continued.)

Are you actually apologizing for running early? It doesn't come across through text, but I was taking a jab at my own inability to remember schedules and to reckon timezone differences.

Oh, and happy birthday. Wish I had something to gift you.

>>20874428
>the knife twisting in the wound as it wrenches free.

No way she's running with that wound. Heck if she still manages to get over the fence the impact from dropping to the ground will be excruciating.

File: 1348642278465.jpg-(148 KB, 850x664, jokersepid.jpg)

>>20874428

-And you barely have time for that to register, before something slams you in the chest between the ribs, a sudden, burning impact as hard as giant's fist. It drives the breath from you, sends you lurching backwards...

...When you hit the ground, you hear the faint *screech* of crimson armor scraping against the floor, drawing sparks from the iron underfoot.

STAGE: DIS.

The alley vanishes, swallowed up by red. You're between the hollow, burned-out ruins of two slouching buildings, smoke rising from your cuirass where...whatever-it-was...hit you; Before you stands...

It's a great black figure - Large enough to fill the space, with grossly oversized arms like an ape's, bulked up with artifical muscle. A head - studded with sensory ganglia - angles towards you, as the shape looms...Taking a slow step forward, that makes the ground tremble slightly, long blades extruding from the back of its arms.

> "Hands off my girl, Joker."

His voice is a deep bass-growl. A snaking nest of cables runs from the back of its head: An open palm extended towards you, wisps of smoke rising from the charging coils set within it.

The name reads:

DIV-E SEPID

> HP: 122%
> METER: 8%
> COBALT BOOSTER: 100%

YOU HAVE CONTROL.

>>20874428

Oh, shit, we stabbed a girl. Funny, I was totally amped for cutting the pig's throat, but this just makes me uncomfortable.

>>20874510
Gender is irrelevant. She drove an exploding fucking car through the window of where we were eating. Tits or no tits that sort of shit don't fly.

>>20874501
Ready the vulcans, get distance if possible. He looks melee focused.

"Hello there White Demon. Mind telling me what your girl was doing driving a car into the restaurant where I was enjoying a lovely repast? Mind telling me what you smiley faced fuckers are up to?"

>>20874501
"Sure you've got time to play with me? She won't be walking with that injury, and once I'm done with you she's going to answer some questions, mine and the cops. And that's if Pazuzu doesn't kill her for surviving."

And oh, charging coils on the arm? Not anymore. Tyrant Burst to make him blink, then cut out those cables.

>>20874501

That is a fucking badass suit of armor.

>>20874501
Lousy time to lack the assault shroud.

>>20874537
Cut them a cobalt boosted blade an we might take the arm off.

File: 1348643367948.jpg-(54 KB, 640x480, jokerspotlight.jpg)

The Adjudicator - Your autoreactive shield - locks in place as your forearm sheaths pop open, as your Vulcans deploy, seeking a target lock. You can feel the Tyrant Burst's charging coil warm up, ready to fire; Sepid must have some kind of radar masking, because you're picking up plenty of ghost images, your HUD pinging with a dozen false returns...

> "Mind telling me what you smiley faced fuckers are up to?"

He snorts, his arm still levelled at your head. "We're here for the old man, not his running dog. If you'd just fucked right off..."

> "Sure you've got time to play with me?"

Div-E seems to stiffen; You've struck a nerve, but your computer still can't find a lock. Then -

"All the time in the world, Joker."

Your targeting computer goes berserk. It's not that he's jamming you, somehow - It's that he's not alone. He's brought help...A *lot* of help.

You read: ALEPHIST, aiming down from his perch on a walkway. VOLT MARAUDER and SAND BOMBER, unfolding from behind Sepid like an awful conjuror's trick. BUSTER PILE and CADMIUM DRAKE, drawing in from either side.

More.

The only approach that hasn't been covered is the one you just came from - You count six players, eight, ten, *twelve*...How many of them are there?

And every one of them - EVERY ONE - has that distinctive symbol, the smile turned to a scream, somewhere on them...Like a badge of alliance.

"Wrong place, wrong time, Joker." Div-E vocalizes; Seeming to enjoy the awful reveal. "-Only a dumb fucker works *alone*."

> HP: 122%
> METER: 8%
> COBALT BOOSTER: 100%

>>20874636

> HP: 122%
> METER: 8%
> COBALT BOOSTER: 100%

YOU HAVE CONTROL.

>>20874636
Oh, yeah. I really miss our relics right now.

Are they all ahead of us? If so then we don't need to aim. Tyrant Burst 4 Rip up everything.

>>20874636

It's a TRAP!

Tyarnt Burst, as bright as you can make it. Then we run like hell.

>>20874636
"No matter how many rats you gather together you are still just rats, scum, filth, PAWNS. Too scared and weak to stand on your own.

I pity you."

Get out all our interceptors, put them on defense.

Tyrant Burst 4, we can't miss.

>>20874636
"Hahahaha. Ahahahahaha. Hahahahahahahahaha! Okay, let me explain how bad you fucked up. You guys are cannon fodder and you know it, otherwise you wouldn't have come en masse like this. But do you have any IDEA how many guys your skill level and stronger I killed at the park? Pazuzu himself needed backup to stand up to me. Twice, no, three times! Do you clowns have any practice working together in close quarters? Because I can cut loose on you without giving half a damn while you guys have to spread out to keep from hitting each other. Unless you're so taken with Pazuzu that you're all willing to throw yourselves at me. In which case I'll just wait until my meter maxes out and atomize every last one of you. Don't think I can? Anyone care to guess how I killed that godzilla sized Corrector the other week? IN ONE SHOT, that's how.

"So, we can do this the hard way or you guys can become my next half level. What's it going to be?"

>>20874636
"You say backup. I say Target Rich Environment."

>>20874691
Whoops, forgot the last word there. "What's it going to be, speedbumps?"

>>20874636
No way they left an exit as an accident. We need to delay them.

I miss the shroud and scrander SO much right now. Hope they don't realize the Tyrant Burst isn't related to our meter.

>>20874665
>>20874670
>>20874685
>>20874691
>>20874701
>>20874723
Have to go with the rest. Shock and Awe and punch straight through

Wait, are we supposed to specify the number of salvos when we us TB4?

>>20874778
Maybe. If so I believe we should use LOTS of them.

Leave 30 or so, if not more for other purposes.

There's about eight of them clustered together at the passage - Inching tentatively closer, with the kind of sideways motion that comes from uncertainty...Enough for you to hear quick snatches of conversation flitting between the pack.

> "...that the old man?"
> "Hey, no - I thought he'd be *bigger*..."

Someone at the back snickers - "...don't know how many points he's worth, but who gives a shit? This is the *Red Joker*; How cool are we?"

>>20874685
>>20874691

There's an instant's hesitation, as your words ring off the iron walls - Or maybe it's just that they're not sure who should be on first. You know that gauntleted fingers are inching towards triggers, gripping the hilts of powered blades...But they *know* that it's not going to be easy.

Sensing the moment slipping away, Div-E says: "Just *shoot* him alr-" right as your Tyrant Burst system lets rip.

You trigger it *twice*. The first one is an apocalyptic supernova of light - One so brilliant that all colors are flash-burned to nothing, a chorus of protesting howls ringing in your ears. But that's only the precusor to your *real* attack; Ice-white beams stabbing out from you in a shearing, spiralling blast, fanning out in crazed, refracting rays - It scorches armor and slags limbs, blinding and searing anyone unfortunate enough to be in the way.

SAND BLASTER takes three of them through the torso, and wails as he ignites, great construction-machinery paws slamming GRAN BELLION into the nearest wall - It's a moment of utter confusion as the fighters are momentary balked by the sudden barrage...

(Continued.)

-But then there's a staticky crackle, and you get your shield in the way just in time, as VOLT MARAUDER's rifle spits out a crackling fork of lightning, momentary fuzzing your senses with static. Low-gauge linear rounds from ALEPHIST's paired Caster's rattle off the front of your armor - You can hear weapons going life, locking on-

"JOKEEERRRRRRRR!!!" It's a roar, as Div-E surges forward, lumbering down the passage - He's still blind, but he's firing all the same. The air ripples as an invisible blast whistles past your shoulder; Behind you, a half-collapsed structure explodes in gritty iron dust. The next shot is at your feet, pelting you with rotating sharpenel that clatters off your interposed shield - But he's closing in, swearing loud enough to turn the air blue, as the other Players in the ambush unfuck themselves.

From above, you can hear a shrill whistle, make out darting shapes - It looks like he's brought air support, too...

> HP: 109%
> METER: 26%
> COBALT BOOSTER: 44%

TIER ONE WEAPONRY UNLOCKED.

YOU HAVE CONTROL.

>>20874787
>>20874778
What the 50% onwards mean? We can only use it if we have above 50% left in the booster.

>>20874804
Oh look a human shield! Cut his cables and start dancing, using him to soak their attacks. Use the other arm to shoot the rest of the moron in front of us while deploying interceptors to do their namesake with the sky borne fodder.

I really need some more images, anyone have a good Berserker 01? Maybe the one from 2.22?

>>20874804
Not as much meter as I was hoping for, oh well, I guess rats don't give that much.

Never stop moving, keep enemy players between us and Div-E, let him do the work.

Deploy Interceptors, put them on defense, slice open anyone who gets anywhere near us.

Open fire on this ugly rabble, we can't miss. Focus on weak spots, finishing off wounded targets.

>>20874823

No, he looks like he's monstrously strong. And since the alley is the ambush site, we need to fall back. Launch a full barrage of missiles to keep them distracted, and shoot at them as we fall back.

>>20874804
But not one kill, shit.

Triskalion, 5 rocket into the guys who are most tightly packed. Then Boost our shield and go low and right/left at Div cut him in half with a horizontal diagonal slash starting at his armpit.

>>20874838
The cables on him aren't just for show. For all we know they're coolant systems! It's like in a Zelda game, when getting a new weapon the boss fight always has a perfect opportunity to use it. If nothing else it's an interesting experiment in what binds the apostates together and how strong their ties are. Are they willing to kill each other for a shot at the target? I think yes, so let the kill each other and mock them for it.

>>20874867
Shit, I wrote that badly. I meant bisect using an ascending diagonal cut starting at his armpit and ending above his shoulder on the opposite side of his body.

Wait, I take it back, there's a much more elegant way to deal with this fool: Feed him to the Nihl Sphere. He's blind, and one touch ought to do for him.

>>20874898
>>20874867
I don't think we can do that against Div. It doesn't seem like he was hit by the beams (inaccurate as they are) so I don't think he's taken enough damage to allow a move like that.

>>20874905
Oh, I like that idea. And we can take cover using his body while it drains him. But I think we'll need to make a hole first. A quick Boosted cut with the shield should open him up

>>20874636
I think we should cut Div, and also use the rockets as a distraction. But afterwards we need to get out of this alley and into another one, there is too much firepower concentrated here. But, you know, even if we are starting to loose, we can just use the Nihl Sphere to get the fuck out, so i am not too worried.

File: 1348646442601.jpg-(22 KB, 340x400, orobos.jpg)

Your Interceptors uncouple from their shoulder eyries - Beginning their frantic, slashing dance around you, as they orbit you like tame fireflies. Div-E is making deadly, feral noises as he claws his way towards you; Your shield takes the brunt of a lucky shot, but holds - The blast kicks you from your feet, sending you skidding out into the open street, but not before no less than six missiles lift off from your Triskelion launchers, spiralling outwards on thick contrails of smoke.

In this target-rich environment, it's nearly impossible to miss; ALEPHIST is blown right off his perch, falling gracelessly down, down and out of sight to a *crunch* at the end - Three more plough into the pack, in a trio of expanding explosions...You actually see an *arm* being tossed up and over the blast as you scramble to your feet-

Rapid-fire laser bolts stitch across your armor, as green motes spiral out of the alley and into you, making you glow briefly...You must've taken down at least one of them. The barrage detonates your last two missiles, en route to their target: "Here! HE'S OVER *HERE*!" PANDORA - Like a robotic crimson wasp, hovering on vibrating wings - shrills from above, as QOPHLITE swoops in from above...A slender grey Player now reconfigured into a delta-wing flyer, underslung cannon spitting out a hail of searing shots.

Div-E charges forward, and *swings* at you - His vision is clearing, but he's still clumsy, the air making a solid *whoof* as his giant fist misses. Your left-arm Vulcans cut out, just for a moment, as the Adjudicator's cutting field engages...Then *flares*, with actinic blue light.

(Continued.)

You bring the energized blades around in a mighty *sweep*, that begins at Div-E's left arm, cutting down across him - It's not quite enough to cut him in half, but you open a great gash across his torso armor...A gash that ignites with blue fire an instant later, writhing cables snapping like snakes as they burn. He claws at himself as he reels back, trying to stop the flames...

-And a sword clangs off your back armor, etching more scars into the battered red plate. You make out OROBAS - An ivory-plated centaur, complete with sword and shield - taking another swing at you, bashing at you with his spiked buckler; His words coming out in an incomprehensible bray.

NEAREST PLAYERS:

PANDORA (Flying, firing.)
QOPHLITE (Flying, firing.)
OROBAS (Attacking.)
DIV-E (Recovering.)
BUSTER PILE (Closing.)

> HP: 97%
> METER: 19%
> COBALT BOOSTER: 31%

YOU HAVE CONTROL

(Apologies for the delay, mass combat is hard to keep track of.)

>>20874972

Slash at the horse bastard, and send all our drones to attack the flyers.

>>20874973
Understandable, lots to keep track of.


Div-E is recovering, he's useful as a shield currently. Slide under him, firing behind us at Orobas and the rest with one vulcan while carving up his legs with our shield. Put Div-E between us and his friends.

Have our Interceptors attack the fliers, stop them from being able to keep a straight path in fear of getting sliced open.

>>20874973
Melee isn't Joker's style. Drop the Nihl Sphere into DIV's new hole, then get to work on the flyers. More missiles at them and both vulcans on the furry. I mean centaur.

I find it interesting that the player base is so dead-set on killing these guys. Just four threads ago and there would have been some amount of appeals to inner decency and/or mercy. It's interesting the effect that waifu slaying has.

>>20875000
These guys are scum. Their ilk were slaughterers at Nara Dreamland. They deserve nothing except death.

>>20875000
It's not JUST Hecate. It's all of Nara Dreamland. She was FAR from the only person who died.

>>20875005
I don't deny that. But they might have done that off screen and it wouldn't have been so... personal.

There's the rub, of course.

>>20875000
>appeals to inner decency and/or mercy

Pffft, yeah, maybe if some of the attackers were obviously female. We've never hesitated to kill guys.

It's a frenzy - They're doing their best to swam over you and overwhelm you. After the initial shock of your blinding barrages, most of the enemy Players have disentangled themselves from the chokepoint; Green, blue, red, metal...A wave of armor and articulated limbs, disgorged from the confines.

>> 20875000

The Nihl sphere remains dead - Just cracked crystal - at your side; Why isn't it activating? Maybe they're not powerful enough to draw its hunger, to make it *respond*...Or the right moment simply hasn't come. As the blue cutting field fades, you slash at Orobas, following up with a burst of Plasma Vulcan fire from your other hand - For such a ridiculous-looking Player, he's surprisingly agile; Dancing back and out of the way, whinnying in distress as stray shots scorch into him, though most are soaked up by his shield.

In the moment's breathing space you have, you curl the fingers of your free hand into a claw - The thought-command for your Interceptors to streak skywards, shearing through the air in elliptical arcs. QOLPHITE is coming in for another attack run, when two of your drones punch through him - One through his swept-back wings, the other right *through*, in a plume of smoke and gouting flame. He shudders into a pinwheeling crash; Coming apart as he hits the ground, long fan-trails of debris whirling in all directions as green motes precipitate from his shattered form...

(Continued.)

We're just too close to everything.

Shove the Nihl shpere into Div's chest with one hand while giving orobas as Boosted blast from the Plasma caster (armor penetrating ought to fuck him up) then turn a vulcan on Buster. Send the drones to harass the flyers who are firing on us now.

>>20875076
Damn it I was too late.

"No-" Pandora has time to gasp out, narrowly dodging your last Interceptor; But then all three zip after her, leaving her frantically dodging, blasting at them with what looks like paired, sickle-bladed pistols.

Orobas's sword CLANGS against your shield again - Even as the ground trembles nearby, with a weighty *grunt*...

A massive slab of corroded iron goes pinwheeling past you, the artifical muscles in Sepid's torso and arms straining - Hurled like a meteor, it catches you with a glancing blow as it crashes to the ground, scraping unmercifully at your crimson plate. You hurl yourself into a slide, his thick fingers snatching at you - You don't manage to slash at his legs, so you settle for the next best thing. The blades of the Adjudicator go through his hand, armored fingers dropping away and crisping in the slicing field.

His howls are deafening, as he snatches his arm back - The follow-up blow driving into the ground as you turn your slide into a roll, Plasma tracers churning forth as you snatch off shots at anyone close by...

"-kill you dead, Joker-"

You barely get your shield up in time, as a great steel spike *slams* into it, hard enough to punch a hole right through - You make out BUSTER PILE's looming shape as his namesake weapon retracts, leaving a gouge in your cuirass...You've fetched up right in the midst of no less than four Players, though Pile was the first one to act. ALEPHISTO's olive-green gauntlets curl around the haft of a double-handed axe, the crescent curve of his jagged horns spiking towards the sky as he winds up-

PULSAR BLACK levels his seething pulsefire carbine at your prone form-

"-out of the way-" APOLLYON booms - Like a great, stationary castle, the ramparts of his armor opening up to reveal dozens of beam emitters, like solitary eyes...

> HP: 86%
> METER: 36%
> COBALT BOOSTER: 31%

TIER TWO WEAPONRY UNLOCKED

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>20875118
Fall back fast, and try to get as many as possible in a maxed fusion blaster shot, boosted if possible. we need to clear those masses out or we are in serious trouble. Use the Interceptors to distract enemies close to us.

>>20875118
Tyrant Burst, level 1, blind the fuck out of all of them.

Use that delay to put as much distance, enemy players and cover as we can between us and the kill zone.

Once we're out of there and IF we're safe for a bit queue up a 6 charge, Cobalt Boosted, Fusion Annihilator.

>>20875118
>"-out of the way-"
"Sounds like good advice"

Lunge and grab on to the haft of Alephisto's axe or maybe his arm and push/spin him into the path of Pulsar's carbine.

(not sure if possible)
Have our drones sweep back to us with cutting fields deactivated so we can grab onto and be pushed by them quickly out of the path of Apollyon's alphastrike

>>20875166
>>20875139

I think we can combine those.

>>20875166
Seconded

>>20875139
>>20875176
Couldn't we just have one of the interceptors slam into Apolyon's canon to disrupt his re-direct his attack away from us?

>>20875189
Supposed to be disrupt OR re-direct

>>20875189
Apolyon's like made of barrels dude. We could try and knock Pulsar's Carbine into shooting him though.

>>20875200
Oh yeah. Actually I'm not really clear on where Apollyon is in relation to us anyway.

On your back, the Adjudicator splintered and holed by countless blows, you focus: The charging coils of the Tyrant Burst system igniting once more, in a blinding *flash* - They may have been aware of the possibility that another burst was coming, but the effects are satisfying, all the same.

Alephisto lets out a muffled, startled yell as his axe slams down - But the blow meant to take your head glanced off your shield, the wedge-shaped blade biting into your shoulder instead. You can hear the winding mechanisms of Pile's trademark weapon, as he struggles to reload; It still *hurts*, but you grab Alephisto's arm with your free hand, giving him a hard *pull* as Pulsar Black opens fire...

-The shots explode against Alephisto's armored spine, the heat palpable even through his sprawling bulk; He twitches as he soaks up the damage - Your right arm expands into the barrel of the Fusion Annhilator, the charge mounting slowly - One, then two...

You see the Apollyon's beam emitters beginning to glow - Their focusing mechanisms like the iris of dark eyes, seething with sullen lightnings. You don't have a bead on him; And it's harder to push Alephisto's limp bulk away than you expected-

(Continued.)

You hear Buster Pile curse, as he scrambles away - Pulsar Black snapping off a few more shots, one of which fireballs against your helmet. Like a castle portcullis, Apollyon orientates towards you; They're desperate to get out of the way, as the focusing lasers home in...

There's a sound like 'chhhhkkkk'.

-The hulking shape (Like a chess rook) stiffens, as something protrudes from its front; A splinter of silver, pooling and oozing like molten glass.

Then it cuts him in two.

The two pieces drop to either side, revealing a tall, powerful figure - Muscled like a classical statue, fox-head crests marked in gold on broad shoulders. His placid face frozen forever in an expression of eternal calm.

"It's..."

"That's..."

Argent Prominence's form isn't solid silver, as you expected; It *ripples*, like a stream meeting rocks, as the steepled extrusion retracts, forming back into a hand.

He does not look happy.

(Continued.)

>>20875272
OH YEAH, the Cavalry is incoming.

Because he can freely hover, there's no need for him to walk - But you can see how he's slightly off-center in the air, favoring one leg over the other. An instant later, you see blobs of mercury churning the air before him - Shaping themselves into razor whips that seize Buster Pile and cut in a surgical, detached way...

-As it stabs and slices from impossible angles, one of them licks out, lightning quick...And half of Alephisto's armored bulk falls away from you, the rest sliding off as you give it a hard push.

There's...a momentary silence. Maybe a dozen pair of eyes are staring at him - Looking away from you, at last. There are...murmurings.

Metal cords lash out, forming a square around you - Expanding upwards, in four tall, thin silver walls, like the ramparts of an instant castle; Folding back upon itself in a cube, sealing you and Argent Prominence within a temporary sanctuary...Momentary lit by green light, as the motes of Alephisto's death are drawn into you.

"-On your feet, Anon," he says, not unkindly - There's still an incredible strain in his voice. "-I'm afraid I'm not at my best today, and this will only hold them for so long."

As if to mark his words, you hear the discharging hiss of energy bolts - The *crump* of impacts on the outside of the cube, before the liquid silver ripples back into shape.

"You've done marvellously - Can you still fight?"

> HP: 82%
> METER: 24%
> COBALT BOOSTER: 31%

PLASMA ANNHILATOR: 3/6 CHARGES.

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>20875328

(My apologies, it should be FUSION ANNHILATOR: 3/6.)

>>20875328
"Of course, despite their numbers this group hasn't been all that impressive. Though if you happen to still have my Relics with you I'd appreciate having them back until we're done with this."

>>20875328
Laugh for a second or two.

"Of course I can fight. These are not opponents in the true sense of the word, they are scum, vermin, unable to stand alone.

Just give me (x) seconds to finish charging this up would you? It'd be appreciated."

Finish charging up the fully charged, Cobalt Boosted, Plasma Annihilator so that when he drops the walls we turn a solid chunk of them into nothing but slag.

>>20875328

Fuck yeah.

Tell him to keep the shield up until the Fusion Annhilator is charged, then LET THEM HAVE IT.

>>20875354

Let him hold on to them for now, let's polish off these fuckers first. Put everything we have left into the Plasma Annhilator.

>>20875328

> "I'm glad for the help, but how are you here? Why now?"

>>20875357
I don't think it's been cobalt boosted.

>>20875354
Add:"The Adjudicator has preformed wonderfully by the way."

Also ask him if he can detect the groupings of enemies outside teh cube so we can direct our Fusion beam to where it will kill the most player's.

"I can still fight. Open up and go get some rest, old man."
Finish charging the Fusion Annihilator, Boost it, and use the thin, sustained setting to Death Lotus anyone and everyone we can see that isn't a massive bro.

>>20875384
Then we should Cobalt boost it if we still can. Because given the nature of the weapon and the fight we're in having it boosted means that it will utterly shred the enemy.

I'm very very glad we're not fighting this guy.

>>20875370
Heck, if he's not doing so well maybe he should wear the Assault Shroud temporarily to better ensure his safety.

>>20875370
I don't know, if we had the scrander we could fly straight up and carve a moat around the cube

>>20875354
>>20875357

"-Gladly, but there may not be the time for that, I'm afraid." His voice is still cultured, but becoming increasingly drawn. "I don't know how long I have before the medical staff put me under; The pain is...quite distracting."

The quicksilver constructs aren't coming from nothing - You can see infinitely thin threads spiderwebbing out from him, thickening into cords that feed the rippling shield around yourself; It wavers with his attention, sloping inwards from a square to a triangle to a rough (and shrinking) half-sphere.

Four charges.

Argent Prominence lets out a pained gasp, his fingers curling, and the shield drops. There's still about...ten, maybe?...players in the vicnity, some of whom were still hammering on the mercury walls with Pile Drivers and swords and fists...They look unpleasantly surprised by the revelation.

"Oh, shi-"

A kabuki-masked swordsman clears almost twenty feet in a single jump, and continues descending when his head falls to earth first, severed by serrated, lashing whips of sentient silver. Another tendril grabs his blade, loops around it, and hurls it - elongating at it flies, imparting momentum the same way a sling or atlal might.

It hits Pandora, fleeing your remaining Interceptor, and she explodes in an expanding ball of flame and green motes.

Five charges.

"You know, young people these days..." Argent Prominence manages - And three more Players sink, screaming, into a quicksilver morass, formed into hungry mouths and clutching hands to drag them down. Mercury flattens into a dome-shaped umbrella, as automatic cannons rotate to train on you-

"...No sense of courtesy."

Six charges.

(Continued.)

1.summon fusion annhilator
2.summon plasma caster inside fusion annihilator
3.????
5.PLASMA ANNHILATOR

>>20875448
that doesn't look lke a 4.
...shit

>>20875439
"Yeez, even when you are wounded you are ridiculously strong. I hope i never have to fight you."

The Players who were watching Argent Prominence quickly realize that they should have been watching *you* instead, as you step out to the side; Your Fusion Annhilator glowing nova-hot, like the heart of a star.

You swing the weapon into position - Aiming down the street - and pull the trigger.

A thin line of white light extends down between the buildings on both sides; A tracer beam, the prelude for what's to come. A blue-white corona drinks greedily of the surrounding air, expanding, flaring out in a single monstrous rush of energy...

-The blinding azure of the fires of creation.

It makes a scream like the death of a sun, as you unleash all that power in a single blast - You see Players riling in the surge of all-annhilating light, defenseless against an apocalyptic ray of this magnitude. They melt like wax candles in a furnace, their silhouettes becoming drawn and diminished, until...

When sound comes back to you, there's a thunderclap as air rushes in to fill the superheated void. The leaning buildings are even more precariously sited, now - Some of them are missing great chunks of their superstructure, molten bites cored through their sides. One crumples into rubble, as you look on...Only belatedly realizing that the scorched forms flattened into the iron ground are the rare few Players still intact.

Intact...But in no real condition to fight, stirring weakly.

YOU HAVE CONTROL.

>>20875439

This old guy is BAD ASS. Guess he didn't get the title for nothing.

>>20875471
Go to the next one, poke him with the Adjucator (turned of of course) and ask him where Pazuzu and his inner Circle are.

>>20875471
Finish the slaughter, let them know the fear of being hunted, let them feel every iota of pain that those they killed at Nara Dreamland felt, leave their corpses and proof that the Red Joker pays his debts.

Open up with our Vulcans, systematically eliminate them.

SMILE.

>>20875499

Whoah, that's a bit psychotic. What we need is a prisoner. Go and check the nearest one, see what they can tell us.

>>20875498

This.

Rolled 2, 5 = 7

>>20875471
Let's leave those goons at their destiny. we need to search for Div-hamhands.

"Lay down your weapons and you can live. This isn't the fight that should have happened. The Correctors are your enemy, not us. Every time they show up, disaster happens. Are you all really so far gone as to not care what might happen to your friends, families, and loved ones if they continue to rampage? Think about that, and the life you can continue to live."

Walk off, don't let them respond.

>>20875471
Alright you sorry losers, at this point I've lost track of how many of you I personally have killed. And you haven't even managed to take my health below 80%. It's kind of pathetic, so I'm going to offer you a choice. You can stay and die. Or you can run and die a little later. I'll give you to the count of ten to decide. 1, 2, ten!"

Then start shooting again, starting with the ones that will die quickly.

>>20875528
And let them live and recover? Now with a even greater hate for us due to killing their comrades? That won't bite us in the ass at all. It's not like they're willing to drive exploding cars at people in the real world.

We finish them, we may ask questions first but we do not let them live so they can fight us again.

>>20875537
>>20875528

I prefer >>20875537 of the two, but i think we should question one first.

Also thank Argent Prominence and tell him to get well soon. He's a bro.

>>20875548
If they still want to kill us after this, I salute their stubbornness and stupidity.

You feel Argent Prominence's hand on your shoulder, just for a moment - His words slow and drawn-out, like from the bottom of a deep, dark hole. "It had to be done," he says. "It...hhhhhhhaadddd...needddd..."

Abruptly, the floating silver figure's grasp slackens, as his arm falls to his side. The red light in his eyes dim, and he seems to...curl in upon himself, loosely, in an almost fetal position - Which compresses itself further, to a pinpoint of light, then...

-He's gone.

Nearby, you hear a dull *scraping* noise, which you stalk towards: And what do you know? It's Div-E Sepid; Missing both legs and one arm, scorched so black it's impossible to differentiate his armor from the charred smog caking it...

But he's still alive. Alive, and crawling - Remaining hand dragging his torso forward, cables writhing weakly at his back.

>>20875528
>>20875537

You're not sure if anyone's listening - But the survivors probably heard you.

The Adjudicator's tip nudges into Sepid's back, the silent threat enough to make him stop.

> Ask him where Pazuzu and his inner Circle are.

"Get fucked," he spits out hoarsely, with a mouthful of thick, bitter black oil-blood. "I'll be seeing you soon, Joker; You and your god damn running dog." For a Player who's missing most of his body, he sounds strangely confident, uncowed...

And then you realize - You can see *through* his form. His bulk is becoming translucent, ghosting out - It's a slow process, but one that should be impossible. A quick glance up tells you...

-The other Players are doing the exact same thing, as if they're being erased from the landscape. That's not like any transition, any death, you've seen before...What's happening to them?

YOU HAVE CONTROL.

>>20875563
No matter, kill him with the Pile Bunker and then shoot the others, unleash rockets and interceptors if possible. I bet it is a power of Pazuzu, he seems to be able to summon people with his cards. Dont let them get away or we will have to fight them again.

>>20875563
Somebody is taking them home. You don't get to take our prey away from us, that is not acceptable.

First, VERY quickly check the Nihl stone.

Kill as many as we can before they go home, launch missiles at farther ones, stab the Pile Bunker through Sepid's face, Vulcan medium distance ones, Caster closer ones, have the Interceptors get the ones we can't get in time.

>>20875563
Focus on the Nihl sphere and focus on Sepid (Maybe touch Sepid with the sphere), and PULL. don't let him evac.

>>20875563
Whether or not they get away, we'll need to search the area for relics and carve our trademark symbol int the ground.

> "No, you won't."

Something in your tone makes him start. There's fear - Real fear - in his sudden attempt to bolt upright; "YOU THINK YOU'RE D-" Sepid howls, which are pretty poor last words - As the Pile Bunker spike drives into him. *Through* him, punching a fist-sized hole through the back of his skull. It hits him so hard his head jars up, bouncing off the ground - Before it slams back down, the cables spasming feebly one final time.

You don't have time to waste - You turn, bringing your Vulcans up: The barrels spitting cohered flame.

"AAAAAAHHHH-"
"AAAAIIIEEEEEIIIIGHHHH!!!"
"YOU DIRTY SON OF A BI - NO!"

Like shooting fish in a barrel, you think.

Their screams are drowned out in the *whoosh* of rockets launching - You see two Players buck and judder as they're ripped to shreds by concentrated Plasma fire, another one erupting in flame beneath a missile barrage; Your armored boot comes down on another's chest, and you discharge the Caster point-blank into his face...

You don't know how many you've taken out. Six, maybe - eight at most, by the time they fade away...But wherever they're going, they're going home with the ragged remnants of their number.

As if sensing that the titanic battle has been concluded, the world begins to waver around you...

-One more thing.

You take aim at the ground below, searing bolts marking your symbol, with scorchmarks for the eyes, the great burning furrow of your Fusion Annhilator for the grin - The Red Joker's symbol, writ large...At once similar and utterly alien, compared to the smiles they've worn.

(Cotinued.)

>>20875656

> Like shooting fish in a barrel, you think.

Wow, this game is getting fucking dark.

>>20875691
Like it wasn't already?

>>20875691
Hey, before their crap the game had rules of a sort. But if they want to make it more like gang warfare they're going to learn the cost of failure the hard way.

>>20875691
Yepp. I would rather not havekilled them,but its not like they gave us a choice... It leaves a bitter aftertaste, but this is war...

>>20875656

The harlequin is still grinning his molten smile, as you come back to yourself...

You're over the chain-link fence; You don't know *how* you managed that - Though your hands are scabbed with minor but stinging cuts, your coat sporting new rips and rents.

You haven't been gone long. Dragging her wounded leg behind her, half-slumped against the wall, the girl's at the very end of the alley; Limping out into the open street, the road beyond. Every inch of her is writ large with terror, as you force yourself into a run-

...She turns back. Her mask has slipped away, to reveal an expressive face contorted in fear, with large brown eyes to match her hair, gasping breath sawing from her throat as she stumbles towards the road...

She shouldn't have looked back.

You've managed four more steps forward when a speeding car - red, something sporty and powerful - slams into her. She seems to crumple beneath it, vanishing beneath the grinding wheels; You *hear* it roll over her and...

-And just keep going.

Of all the things you've seen today, this somehow manages to be one of the worst. Your foot kicks something that slides away; A soft leather square, fastened with metal clasps...

Her wallet?

As the first exclamations come from the street - No-one looking in your direction - you kneel down to pick it up. It doesn't hold much...A Seisin High student ID card, small change, a star-boarded photo of herself hugging a slight young man...

-They both look happy.

It's the photo sticker, and the last item that catches your eye: A stiff plastic card, embossed with the pastel image of a simply grotesque-looking clown.

SHEOL STAR CARNIVAL! it says, utterly without irony. And then, on the back - FAMILY ARCADE!

(Continued.)

>>20875691
They made it this way.

Before Nara's Dreamland we were willing to follow the rules, take on the challengers that came, play nice. But then we lost our love and saw a gang, a horde of filth, of vermin slaughter players while working alongside abominations.

They changed the game and now they pay the price.

>>20875732
>a star-boarded photo of herself hugging a slight young man...

>They both look happy.

Argh, thats a kick in the feels.

>>20875749
We never even got the chance o take a photo with Hecate.

>>20875732

A rebel urge cries out to you to look for the knife - But a quick glance before you changes your mind.

No-one pays you a second look, as you step out into the street. You're walking casually, your fingers numb with cold, your back ramroad straight -

Above you, as afternoon shades to an early evening, the sun hangs low and red in a bloody sky, a red that dapples your dark coat crimson.

And so you walk onwards, leaving only ruin in your wake; Ever onward, and away - Forwards, without looking back.

JOKER QUEST

EPISODE 21.5

TO BE CONTINUED

>>20875732
Guess she was a player after all. I wonder how many murder we just got away with.

>>20875764

(Apologies for the abrupt ending, gentlemen - But this looks like a natural break-point, and it's been a long day. Thank you very much, once again; You've been a great audience.

I'll run the next instalment this Sunday, at the usual time. Good night, and god bless.)

>>20875732
Keep the photo. Remember that we killed these people. Even if they were horrible scum, they were people.

>>20875770
Let's be honest here. We've been getting away with murder all quest, for all the threads up until now. It's just we've only starting doing people in more than one at a time now.

>>20875773
Happy Birthday OP. Enjoy it.

>>20875770
I am not sure. Maybe she was a player. Maybe Pazuzu is just very good at tying up loose ends. Anyways, we probably just killed more people than in all our other battles put together.

>>20875780

I'm just saying, man. This is getting messed up.

>>20875780
I think the main difference is that we killed in self defense up to now. This time it was nothing but an execution of those that could no longer fight. A tactical, cold decision to prevent them from fighting another day.

Well, this is war, and war is always messed up.

>>20875732

Oh, so her boyfriend looked like a wuss. Surprising that his Player form was so big and badass.

>>20875776
Well there's that, but also I'm suspicious as hell of this Carnival. Creepy clown in the background, and organization known for creepy jester masks and smiley faces.

>>20875790
Wait, its messed up now that you feel responsible? Look It's one thing to feel bad for people who deserve it but these guys are knowingly commiting the equivelent of war crimes here.

Also thanks OP this was awesome.

Reading this quest has become one of the best moments in my week. happy b-day OP.

>http://pastebin.com/ewx8mG3L
Baphomet VS Neon Striker.
who wins?

>>20875938
Depends on the environment. If Baphomet has enough room to stretch his wings, keep his distance I think he could take Neon Striker. But in a close up cage match Neon would turn Baphomet into pulp.

>>20875949

It seems that a lot of players are highly specialized. I do think that one of the best all-round Players is Abyss, who can do a bit of everything.

Argent is just broken, though. Like, utterly and completely broken as a character. That shit ain't balanced.

>>20876394
He's already lived through one war and is working on his second, of course he's dangerous as hell.

>>20876417

Y'know, in most shows, the guy would go that violence is bad. Not here; I think he single-handedly accounted for at least ten players in as many seconds.

>>20876394

Life's not fair. Hecate, for instance, seems to be weakest player all-round. Cerebus needs prep time to be able to pull his crazy things off, and the Skull Thief doesn't use any of his own abilities.

>>20876394
ALL high level character are 'broken' compared to low level ones.

Missed the game again, oh well. Was fun, OP.
And happy birthday, man.

>>20876484

Even us. We're so high level, wiping out a shitload of players isn't enough for us to level up. AND we get to manifest as many guns as we like, to hideously destructive effect.

No wonder everyone wants the armor.

>>20876468
I still miss her and I always will. Her death has made us harsh and unforgiving.

>>20876484
Pretty much. Argent could fuck with Pazuzu and win, the only reason he didn't just eat these punks alive is because he just got hit by a car and was being put on serious pain meds.

If we're a half-dozen tiers above the chumps who we just slagged I think that Argent has somewhere around 3 tiers on us. We can't take him, at least not right now.

>>20876559
but Pazuzu is cooler...

>>20876559
He wasn't just on meds, he was being put on general anesthetic.
Which adds credence to my idea that the Red World and the 'Real' World are connected, and 'players' somehow become bound to a character in the Red World.

>>20877042

That's a very good question. We know we exist in two worlds at once, but the overlap is strange.

>>20876559

> Her death has made us harsh and unforgiving.

You'd think. This is beginning to resemble a minor war.

>>20875732

She's from the same school as kotone and Mio. We need to visit that sometime, as long as it doesn't involve cross-dressing. Because a girl's academy sounds like an awesome place for SHENIGANS.

Sheol is the name of a Jewish hell, isn't it? That's a pretty messed up name for an arcade.

>>20877089
Something tells me that we'll see Pazuzu soon.

>>20877089

The mythology references are interesting. DIV-E SEPID is the name of a white demon with tremendous strength. Hecate is the name of the goddess of witches, and quite a few of the antagonists have the names of minor demons.

Then there are the card motifs, with two Jokers in every card deck. Chalice Queen is a reference to the suit of hearts, and phantom edge is a suit of spades.

Then there's nara dreamland, which repeatedly makes reference to the sandman.

>>20877071
The strangest part is how transferring seems to be bound to the norms of the world.
In the Real World, the players body stays and sometimes does things to seem 'normal'
In the Red World, the player just disappears, which prevents them from being killed.

>>20877222
I had no idea that was a real mythologic name...

>>20877233

What I'm wondering is where all the players we just killed are. They weren't nearby, and their bodies certainly weren't present, or they'd have been dead on the spot.

>>20877233
But if the player just disappears, how is possible that Argent was put under painkillers while being in the red world?

>>20877295
nevermind, I misread your post. time to sleep I guess.

>>20877272
If that girl we were chasing really was a player we beat, then it seems it isn't "you die the moment you lose".
It seems losing works like having your name writen in a deathnote.
And we've confirmed you can travel all you want in the Red World without moving at all in the Real World.

>>20877323

They never died immediately after losing in the red world. Remember that band guy? It took a few seconds but shortly after losing in the red world, the podium collapsed on the guy, killing him in the process. It isn't instant.

>>20877646
Its like if somebody corrects reality according to what happens in the red world.
...correctors?

>>20877646
I thought we came to and the guy was already crushed.
And Death Caliber fell out the sky IMMEDIATELY after our battle.
Text doesn't give a good sense of short passages of time, I guess.