(Gentlemen, my apologies for the delay; The past few days have been busy ones. I'm just glad 4chan is working again.

As before, be aware of the new systems for the LEECH MODULE, SCYLLA, ASSAULT SHROUD and ARGUS SYSTEM.)

The room - An office, a lounge, any original purpose now eclipsed by the apocalypse - is as dark as a cave. The only light is the white shaft that spills in through the opening that used to be the door, the interior materializing as if slowly drawing substance from the haze itself.

Bodies are everywhere. Piled along the walls. Draped over the tables. Facedown on the floor in black pools.

Some are missing pieces.

All if silence and death. A whole different world from the madness outside; A darker madness, so dark you may as well be blind.

"-Anon?"

Kazuya's voice is oddly calm, his face mercifully obscured by the black smear of where his eyes should be. Half-hidden by a smashed table, he tries to raise one shaking arm - then lowers it again, seemingly exhausted by the effort. His midsection is awash with oozing blood, the sickly heat of his breath steaming in the cooling air; distant pain contorts his features, but he seems to mind it not at all.

You can't see the wound. The smear of dried blood he's left against the wall - the dark, trailing pool beneath him spreading with syrupy slowness - the odd angles of his twisted legs...They tell a story of their own.

He coughs, a small bubble of blood forming at the corner of his mouth. His left hand draws Yui's head a little closer, fingers slipping away - exposing the bloody, weeping mass at the back of her skull, the singular and miserable wound that makes all of her nothing at all.

(Continued)

>>38211506

Her face is in shadow, her eyes mercifully closed. But you can see the gaping holes in her back, through which her life drained through - and the yearning, a terrible yearning, to her shrouded features.

Her mouth is cracked and torn at the edges.

Your hand moves before Kazuya's eyes, with no reaction. The blindness is complete.

"I can't..." He has to swallow three times, before he can speak again. "-I can't *see*..." Kazuya's throat works, his Adam's apple bobbing - A hoarse, shaky laugh forced from his throat as his fingers uncurl.

"It's - the wrong kind of dark in here."

Then:

"Is Yui...?"

[ ] "Yes."
[ ] "...Yui's fine, Kazuya. Yui's safe."
[ ] "-I'm sorry."
[ ] "You're going to be all right."
[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>38211515
>[ ] "...Yui's fine, Kazuya. Yui's safe."
>[ ] "You're going to be all right."
Try to find some cloth that isn't covered in blood to cover and tie up his wounds. Maybe tear off chunks of the Assault Shroud and use them?

>>38211564

You reach out, and rip shreds from your Assault Shroud; the nanomaterial parts like wisps of smoke, bleeding motes of itself into the air. You-

You're not sure where to start.

> [X] "...Yui's fine, Kazuya. Yui's safe."

Kazuya exhales, a long, shuddering breath. His head turns to the side.

"Good," he murmurs. Blood aspirates from his mouth, dribbling down his chin. "That's...that's good."

His hand moves, weakly - Fumbling at Yui's head, fingers stroking against her silky-smooth hair. Once, twice, he comes perilously close to touching the matted, bloody mess at the back of her skull; but somehow, some sense always keeps his questing touch away. "I thought-" there's a tiny hitch to his voice, a bout of ragged coughing that racks him - Threads of gore cling to his shirtfront, dappling the fabric a myriad of colors. His teeth are flecked with blood, too, shockingly white beneath the ruin of his eyes-

> [X] "You're going to be all right."

His eyes - What remains of them squeeze shut like he's afraid that they'll burst, his mouth and chin and cheeks thick with blood.

"A-non?" Kazuya breathes, a wrenching note to his words. "Anon, I...hurt. It *hurts*, Anon."

His voice is blurred. Shaky. "-It's not...It's not too bad, y'know. The pain." Kazuya's free hand spiders against the ground, groping for-

Something. You can't be sure.

"Like a little - Little food...food poisoning...that's all. Anon?"

His wounds are deep, rending - Seeping arterial black blood. You can see the ruin of his torso, where something - A great spike - must have punched through; Glimpses of hard red muscle, the webbed bulge of gut-

It occurs to you how uniquely ill-suited Player armor is for this. There is only the vaguest sense of tactile feedback; A vague awareness as to the force you're exerting. You try - A gauntleted hand vicing down on his shoulder, preparing to move him...

(Continued)

>>38211985

-You stop. What you see - Just a moment, just a glance - tells you that you can't move him. Trying can - will - kill him.

Instead, you press the crumpled, folded shred of Assault Shroud against his stomach, applying pressure, trying to staunch the flow. Kazuya presses his own bloody hand over the makeshift bandage, his face contorting as the tangled mess of guts twitches and-

The effort burns spastic jerks through his arms and bangs his head against the wall. He makes an awful sound, a kind of anti-shriek; Awful, gagging, choked with bile. They echo hollowly through the chamber, down the corridor, the sounds of raw and unfettered agony that only a human could ever make. His fingers rake against the ground so hard, he leaves bloody furrows as he claws at the unyielding ground with his free hand - Until the racking spasm of agony subsides, his chin settling against his heaving chest as he coughs again, the sound even weaker than before.

And then-

"Natsumi...the others-?"

Blearily, now. Slipping into long-delayed shock.

[ ] "...I don't know."
[ ] "-You're the only one I've found."
[ ] "I - can't move you, Kazuya. If I tried-"
[ ] "Kazuya, you have to rest-"
[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

I'm just gonna put forward the idea we mercy kill him. He's not going to live long.

>>38212041

Jesus christ, this is hopeless. JQOP, can we use our right hand on him? Is there any way we can upload it to him?

>>38212041
>[ ] "-You're the only one I've found."
>[ ] "Kazuya, you have to rest-"

>>38212041
>Slipping into long-delayed shock.

Resting is a bad, bad suggestion.

>[ ] "-You're the only one I've found."
"I'm still looking."
>[ ] "I - can't move you, Kazuya. If I tried-"

>>38212059
>JQOP, can we use our right hand on him?
I'd find this pretty acceptable, but it's also kind of a reach.

Not to say we wouldn't be in that frame of mind, given he's our best bro, but still.

>[X] "Kazuya, you have to rest-"

"I-"

His words choke off - His body lurching forward violently, as another spasm of pain shakes him. The convulsions make his dead limbs twitch, nerves misfiring; a shattered stump of white bone protruding from one knee-

You think his spine may be severed. That may be a mercy.

"...can't *sleep*." Kazuya's voice is shaky, now - A kind of numb, formless dread creeping into it. A growing awareness of what will inevitably follow, and how what comes next is forever. "-If I sleep..."

"...I don't think I'm - I'm going to wake up-" It is a low whisper, a confession; as if afraid of being overheard. As if he dreads what might be listening. Or perhaps he simply fears the acknowledgement of the first and final truth-

>[X] "-You're the only one I've found."
>[X] "I'm still looking."

Silence. For a moment, you think he may have lapsed into unconsciousness.

And then-

"Go," Kazuya breathes, his face turning upwards - the shattered sockets of his eyes a tangled smear of bruised flesh, a rumpled crater of ruin.

His throat spasms, and he sucks in an awful, rasping breath, then coughs as if he might die. Dark blotches mottle his face; Pale liquid streams in rivulets from the hollows of his eyes, tracking through the gore. You can hear his lungs working, uneven and wheezing - the veins standing out beneath his skin, stark and alien in their branching lines.

A bloody cough. Another.

"Don't...worry about me. There are - Anon, you have to *try*...you have to try and *help* them-"

The resignation in his voice is horribly plain, as is the sudden burst of energy that strengthens it to a rough shout. His hand clutches at you, reaching for the sound - Arm already drooping, though his bleeding fingers leave threads of blood against the peerless gold of your right hand; in the gleaming reflection, Kazuya's features are distorted - the carnage wreaked upon the chamber fading into the background, as if unworthy of notice.

(Continued)

>>38212059
>>38212138

As if summoned by his words - Static flickers at the very edge of perception, a kind of unfocused radio noise. In this moment, there is an awful calculus to be performed; You are aware, acutely aware, of the seconds slipping away. There are dozens - hundreds - fighting and dying in the inverted city, in the shadow of the Diadem. Every second you wait - Every moment you stay here, with your oldest friend-

You can't leave him like this. If you walk away - You are aware, somehow, that it would extinguish you as surely as Alura would have.

Unbidden, your target cross fills your view, visor-scope cycling. It frames Kazuya's bruised, bleeding face.

All it would take is the slightest pressure, a thought-command to depress the firing trigger-

-And would that be such an awful thing?

"Anon-"

Kazuya's fingers clutch your unyielding hand. An odd sound - the chime of metal-on-metal - echoes forth, as the failing light catches a silver-and-violet gleam. There, around your wrist - a chain of interlinked segments, each one set with an amethyst gem...

-Memory stirs.

Cybele. Cybele was wearing this when she died.

(Continued)

File: jokergold (2).jpg (179 KB, 825x1062)

179 KB JPG

>>38212437

Revulsion, as much as resolve, spurs you into action. You focus - Searching for the trigger point, though you barely know how; Your vision narrowing to a point of cold concentration, centered on the phantom-limb ache of the gleaming hand that sleeves your arm in golden oriachulum, the only light on your crimson silhouette...

Light. Not blurred, this time.

Radiance, rising, in a blizzard of stars. A million faint sparks ablating into luminous mist as your limbs turn leaden, as warning sigils and code-chains scroll across your senses - It is a primal radiance, like the sun breaking over the horizon. It shines so brightly - *You* shine so brightly - that even shadows are banished from this place. It turns the pools of gore, the fallen forms, the ruin on all sides, into something luminous and transcedent, something noble, like a tableau of solemn and holy destruction.

And three words, burning in your field of vision:

HOST LOCATED

UPLOADING.

Kazuya stirs, weakly.

"What's-" he mumbles - you can barely see him, now. The light is almost too bright to look upon.

(Continued)

File: 1408810635002.jpg (64 KB, 500x400)

64 KB JPG

>>38212527
Is it happening?

File: 1354405446469.png (61 KB, 627x620)

61 KB PNG

>>38212527

File: 1401348347169.png (2.2 MB, 1440x1078)

2.2 MB PNG

>>38212527
>HOST LOCATED

>UPLOADING.
Fuck yes

File: e90dce2ed15ef62b6e0165560(...).jpg (844 KB, 1000x1000)

844 KB JPG

>>38212527
I am glad that this is actually getting to be a thing.

Man, when he gets sensors online, I'm going to feel extra bad about our little white "deathbed" lie.

Though I'm sure he already knew the truth, deep down.

File: good heavens just look at(...).jpg (71 KB, 418x455)

71 KB JPG

>>38212527
oh god it's happening

What, so is Kazuya getting the Gold, or are we?

If it's the former, I'm happy he'll be okay, but disappointed we won't be getting it.

>>38212527

inb4 it's actually Yui.

>>38212589
He is. He's our bro in the Real as in the Red now. I hope.

File: 1367824312676.jpg (25 KB, 224x257)

25 KB JPG

I'd say this is an appropriate moment to post this.

>>38212589
Ever since we've gone Organic!Joker, the Gold seems to hate us.
And I'd hate to see the Hollow Sun's weapons turned against the Joker now.

Might as well give it to someone who would actually get some use out of it.

>>38212527

And the Hand of Midas unspools from you. Filaments of light - Burning with that numinous radiance - unwind from your arm, surging across the point of contact; they leap onto him, a circuit-pattern spreading across his bruised skin. The air hums with charge, with the deep rumble of an approaching storm; the blinding light forming a crackling golden crown that leaps and forks and surges around you, grounding itself on Kazuya-

Motes of radiance. Lines of arching light.

They swallow him whole, as particles rise from your form - Kazuya's form illuminated from within, becoming a brilliant, glowing silhouette; as if he is the source of the glow. Only it's not coming from him - it's falling *into* him, the embers fading along your limbs as he brightens from the outside in. Flickers of energy flare outwards, writhing and firing as odd harmonics fill the chamber-

And then comes the triumphant thunderclap, as a new dawn ignites. A force - Effortless, unstoppable - has you in it's grasp, for the merest span of a moment...

It hurls you aside, and for a moment you see nothing at all.

Only light.

------------------------------

Your talons scrape against the tiles, as you drag yourself to your feet - Senses flickering to life, code-streamers accreting, the blaze of radiance receding like echoes. One-by-one, your systems return to full capacity...

The dark is no longer quite as total. No longer quite as complete.

Before you, at the very centre of the room-

A shape. A form, growing from the very roots of the earth. A cocoon, a Caul, gleaming golden - With the peerless light of pure oriachulum. The gilded radiance it sheds beats against you, in pulse after steady pulse; ribbons of light coiling, twining, sparks playing across your armor as you raise a hand-

-It's warm.

And you think-

(Continued)

>>38212720
Everything went better than expected.wav

>>38212720

The roar of collapsing masonry breaks your reverie. A wall, collapsing - Static fuzzes in your sensors, the bitter feedback of your detection field. High-energy readings, the ghost flutter of Essence signatures obscured by the structure around you...

-They're in the great hall.

No, you can't see them. But you can *feel* them, micro-contacts in your arms, at the base of your endosteel spine, deep down. Close, and closing.

Hunting.

You rise.

[ ] "-I'll be right back."
[ ] "When you wake up...I'll be waiting for you."
[ ] "This should only take a moment."
[ ] "I have to go now, Kazuya. There's something I need to do."
[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>38212720
... so it's really too late for Yui, huh.

That just leaves Natsumi, who can probably fight for herself and.... Asuna?

>>38212762
>"-I'll be right back."
I completely forgot about this until now, but, can we use the Vector Trap to equip our interceptors?

>>38212744
Not yet anon. Still-
>>38212762
Time for murder~
>[x]"I'll be right back, Kaz."

>>38212762
[x] "I have to go now, Kazuya. There's something I need to do."
[x] "When you wake up...I'll be waiting for you."
[x] "... I'm glad."

>>38212762
>[ ] "I have to go now, Kazuya. There's something I need to do."
>[ ] "When you wake up...I'll be waiting for you."

In that order.
This isn't goodbye. No tears. Can't even cry anymore, damn it.

>>38212762
>I'll be right back, Kazuya.
>...I'm glad you're okay.

>>38212762
"Maybe you were meant to be the hero after all."

>>38212762
>[ ] "When you wake up...I'll be waiting for you."
"A hero and a shark, huh? This place has an awful sense of humor."

>captcha: cible
No, captcha. I think you've arrived just a little bit too late.

>>38212790

(The Vector Trap simply allows you to equip weaponry as a free action. Your Arsenal Beacon should have this function, but the great shield seems to be blocking the effect.

As an aside, I'll add that you're carrying Cybele's bracelet with you. I missed it the first time, but it only makes sense that you would have retrieved it from her body.)

>>38212813
>"A hero and a shark, huh? This place has an awful sense of humor."
That's a bit unfitting for the situation, m8.

>>38212762
>[ ] "I have to go now, Kazuya. There's something I need to do."

File: joker giant2.jpg (106 KB, 442x609)

106 KB JPG

>>38212793
>>38212798
>>38212800
>>38212802
>>38212811
>>38212813

> [X] "I have to go now, Kazuya. There's something I need to do."
> [X] "When you wake up...I'll be waiting for you."

Your words echo in the fluid silence; the low hum of the Caul the only sound in the narrow space.

> "Maybe you were meant to be the hero after all."

It's a question you've asked yourself, in the long, long mourning that followed - What is a hero? What does it mean to be one?

Perhaps you might yet find your answer.

An echo, a lifetime ago:

> "We are not who we were-"
> "-We are who we are."

You turn, with a sweep of your Assault Shroud. After so long with the Hand of Midas, the sight of your right arm - No longer sleeved in gold - is unfamiliar, almost alien. But as your jointed fingers curl into a fist, the phantom-limb ache recedes, at last; the burning in your endosteel bones die away, the low hiss of your smoldering myomer-flesh fading to a whisper, then nothing.

> [X] "I'll be right back, Kaz."

Your ashen shroud flutters in your wake. It seems to ebb and pull around you, as if you are masked in folds of distortion.

The concert hall is much as you've left it; Worse for bear, now, as gritty dust fumes in the air - the far wall collapsed, open to the bleeding crimson sky. And, beyond that, the great flickering dome of the Shield - Firelight flashing against the shimmering surface...

There are five of them, outside. You see TRIACH BEHEMOTH, first - Five times the size of a normal Player, great fists tearing away a section of wall above. Too large to enter, you can see an angry cat's-eye peering in at you from beyond, a guttural grunt echoing from somewhere within the scarred steel giant as it heaves the collapsed rubble away, barbed-wire looping around joints and knuckles.

(Continued)

>>38213021
>SYNAPSE GUILLOTINE
That is a fantastic name

>>38212940

No - Six times. Seven.

He seems to swell, with each breath.

A heat-haze blur resolves into the skeletal figure of GREY JAEGER, his rifle - Almost as long as he is - cradled in his arms. Twin drones circle him; Chattering steady strings of targeting data as he perches in the upper rows like a gargoyle, his eyes burning acid-green.

"Then saith the damsel that kept the door unto Peter: Art not thou also one of this man's disciples?"

"And he saith-"

"I am not."

"I am not."

"I *am* not."

BLACK AZAZEL's voice matches the crackle of the pitch-black flames that smolder in his left hand, as he picks his way through the rubble. His armor is overlapping lines of curving metal, an intricate criss-crossing lattice stitching across his single nictating eye, which blink-clicks as it focuses upon you. Secondary mouths yawn open in his palms, and they breathe flame.

"-Grace." Synapse Guillotine's original color has been lost, beneath the violet gore that cakes him; His figure is lanky, oddly graceful, the sweep of his oddly-elongated helm lending him a bird-of-prey's cast. The pincer-blades on his arms clack open, then close in arrhythmic rhythm - As if beating time to each heavy footfall.

(Continued)

>>38213045
So, we've got a giant who eats metal to grow.

Grey Jaegaer has a sniper rifle and targeting drones.

Black Azazel has black fire in his left palm, which comes from an additional mouth, with the other hand also having such a mouth.
His armor may or may not have special properties.

Synapse Guillotine has a habit of spouting pseudo-spiritual lines and seems to be a speed-focused melee guy who removes limbs with his pincers.

Any other observations?

File: boner.gif (492 KB, 260x183)

492 KB GIF

>>38213076
>Any other observations?
I'm observing a couple of Players who are going to the Joker Experience.

>>38213076
Azazel was the one quoting the bible(I assume).
Other than that, none.

>>38213076
I'd suggest using Shrike Blades on Jaeger and EXEC_SWARM on Guillotine. Would make it much easier to deal with the other two.

The lie about Yui might have been a good thing.
I expect that Kazuya needs a positive state of mind in order to gain Daegal powers.

>>38213133
Yeah, swarm sounds like a good idea for the guy.
Also, use it on the giant. He'll give the swarm tons of mass.
Azazel is likely not immune to heat in general. So Plasma Caster or Vulcans should do good.

>>38212940
>And, beyond that, the great flickering dome of the Shield
I wonder if our satellite could destroy the shield.

>>38213147
That would probably just make things worse.

>>38213151
Well, yeah.
But let's keep the possibility in mind.

...I seriously hope that Kazuya won't get a huge-ass "INFECTED THREAT" marker on our body.
He doesn't know our avatar yet.

>>38213162
Well he recognised our voice.

>>38213162
>We get killed by Kazuya
Bad End. Not Worst End, though.

File: grandmagus.jpg (181 KB, 665x823)

181 KB JPG

>>38213045

There is something of Utopia Ruler in GRAND MAGUS; A similarity in the featureless mirror-masks of their helms. But where Utopia Ruler's mask merely reflected the world around him, GRAND MAGUS'S mask twists it into a calvacade of warped faces - When he speaks, their mouths move in chorus, as if the sound comes not from his speakers, but from a legion of screaming faces.

He hovers, in robes of poison yellow and dust-streaked grey. In one hand - With fingers that bend the wrong way, with too many joints - he holds a leash, a strand of sick light that loops around the throat of WHITE LICORICE.

She is nearly unrecognizable. Her right arm is gone, beneath the elbow - the left side of her form twisted, warped into spirals and coral spines, growing out of her in jagged lines. As she stumbles forward, she drags a twisted leg behind her, the joint sparking as a low soft sobbing issues from her visor; her remaining arm clutched to herself in a perpetual embrace-

...They've nailed your symbol - the one you granted her, as a gift - to her helm.

"I...I did w-what you *wanted*-" she stammers - And you have never heard such stark and unalloyed misery in a human voice. The filters that should leech her words of emotion cannot remove the utter despair from her voice - wavering on the edge of a collapse. "I - I *told* you he'd be *here*..."

Then:

"You said - You *promised* - t...to let me *go*-"

[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>38213223
"So how are we doing this? One by one or all at once?"

>>38213223
>WHITE LICORICE.
Oh wow. More suffering. At least she isn't a waifu, I guess.
>>38213237
Hopefully one at a time. Should be easier.
Probably will be all at once, though.

>>38213223
Assault Shroud mirage over to her, boost away and then open fire. No fancy chat, just save her and kill them al.

>>38213223
Do this.
>>38213258

>>38213223
Looks like we're skipping straight to the fight, then.
Shrike blades on Jaeger and swarm on Guillotine, as mentioned earlier.
Not sure what our next move should be. If we want some easy HP we could kill Licorice.

>>38213223
Do this >>38213133 and Double Tau Behemoth.

>>38213237
You know, we should definitely start out with this. Just in case they want to be friends. As unlikely as that is.

>>38213237
>>38213308

> "So how are we doing this? One by one or all at once?"

"Or you could surrender first, Joker." Grand Magus's voice is florid, as he gestures grandly with a yellow-gloved hand.

"You could cease your insolent resistance, and bow to the inevitable. We could promise to accept your surrender with grace, with due respect, as the beginnings of a new covenant."

He twitches the leash, and White Licorice flinches in remembered pain.

"-We could even promise you the girl's life."

Triach Behemoth levers up chunks of concrete and rebar, and shovels it into the gnashing maw of his cuirass. There are grinding gears inside, pulverizing alloy teeth that break raw matter down to fuel the furnaces within. It is a ravenous gesture, the action of a animal fuelling itself, not knowing when it may feed again.

Synapse Guillotine stirs. You hear him make a low sound, a kind of muted, derisive laughter.

"But, Joker-"

That mirror-mask tilts, until he is staring directly at you. It is not a true reflection, just a constant mosaic of screaming faces.

"-We would only be lying."

And then things begin to happen very, very quickly.

(Continued)

>>38213418
Looks like Utopia Ruler has a slightly retarded twin brother.

>>38213418
>"-We would only be lying."
>And then things begin to happen very, very quickly.
Well, I guess that means it's on.
Like that video game gorilla.

>>38213490
Lanky Kong?

>>38213497
Nah, I think it's Diddy Kong.

>>38213497
>>38213506
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcP91tQ4ZSM

File: subtle.png (847 KB, 665x823)

847 KB PNG

>>38213223
This works far too well.

>>38213533
How mysterious.

>>38213418

In the space of a few seconds - the precious span before the killing begins - you have not been idle. Your sensors prickle, as Grey Jaeger's targeter sweeps across you; the brittle light announcing itself a span before the flare of the high-energy reaction...

And you *move*.

Your own speed surprises you, pushed to the limit like this - With the Cobalt Booster burning with cold blue light at the very core of your being, the azoic radiance spiderwebbing across your armor like flaws, like cracks opening in skin; Your boots barely touching the ground as you surge across it, a spontaneous thunderclap shuddering forth as you accelerate.

Not quite as fast as the Carnifex.

But fast enough.

Your Assault Shroud unfurls. You leave flickering ghost-images in your wake - A blur of motion detaching from your speeding form, as Grey Jaeger caresses the trigger; the killer's rifle retches a sunflare-bright beam of energy, a searing column that scorches the air with the heat of it's passage. A fusion beam, absurdly high-yield, like the scream of a dying sun...

-But your Abruption Jets hurl you forward in a spasm of thrusters, and the howling beam rips past you - So close the ionized sheath fuzz your sensors with static - and incinerates your decoy in a single scything blast. It leaves a blinding after-image, like a rod of molten glass; the chattering of Grey Jaeger's drones changing pitch, becoming more frantic as he racks his bolt-action weapon, levelling it at your back...

And your Assault Shroud erupts in a hail of flechettes. A vertical hail of knives rips across the distance, spinning, whirring - Mono-molecular razors, slicing through stone, through seating, through metal bannisters, at abnormal velocities that would reduce a human to shreds.

(Continued)

>>38213418
>Triach Behemoth levers up chunks of concrete and rebar, and shovels it into the gnashing maw of his cuirass. There are grinding gears inside, pulverizing alloy teeth that break raw matter down to fuel the furnaces within. It is a ravenous gesture, the action of a animal fuelling itself, not knowing when it may feed again.
Seems like he isn't sentient.Or sapient, I forget the difference. None of them seem to be too bright, anyway.
Should make it a bit easier.

>>38213555
Non-sentient is something totally incapable of thought.
Non-sapient is something incapable of human-like though. Hence the "sapien" bit.

>>38213580
Oh, okay. Non-sapient, then.

>>38213554
>Not quite as fast as the Carnifex.
I miss it already. How can we possibly go Super Joker now?

>>38213554
>becoming more frantic as he racks his bolt-action weapon, levelling it at your back...
An absurdly high yield energy weapon... that's bolt action?
How quaint.

Then again, there's Red Joker who's so oldschool, he casts FIST and uses two handguns obviously modeled from real life.

>>38213610
>Super Joker
But Anon, we're Nelo Joker now. We can't go Super.
I do, however, endorse the option of finding White... And feeding him is own innards.

>>38213610
I prefer we get our Beam Magnum.
The dude can keep the Carnifex. We broke it, anyway.

So, Muleta is now part of our Assault Shroud.
Time for a Mentiroso upgrade?
I miss the Hollow Sun.

>>38213634
>And feeding him is own innards
Which is a metaphor for sitting down over a cup of lachryma and having a nice chat to work out our differences, right?

>>38213640
I'm pretty sure it's a euphemism for killing him brutally.
>>38213637
So I just remembered that "mentiroso" means "liar" in spanish.

>>38213640
But of course anon...
Which means we'll be eating a Corrector, and he'll be choking on innards. His own.

>>38213634
>Nelo Joker
>Nelo is "black" in another language

How apt, since we're now Red Joker with a strain of Black.
Does that make as Crimson Joker now?

>>38213674
I prefer Scarlet. Or Bordeaux, but that has less connotations.

>>38213674
It makes us Edg- didn't we have this exact chain of posts when we first used the Athame?

>>38213634
>>38213674
>>38213687
>>38213690
How about Stained Joker? Impure Joker? Bloody Joker?

>>38213690
Totes.
Nelo Joker was a joke.
Like Super Joker.
...
I may have been binging on DMC lately...
...
Ultra Violet is amazing.

>>38213690
You mean last thread? Basically, yeah.

>>38213418

And your Assault Shroud erupts in a hail of flechettes. A vertical hail of knives rips across the distance, spinning, whirring - Mono-molecular razors, slicing through stone, through seating, through metal bannisters, at abnormal velocities that would reduce a human to shreds. Player anatomy is a different thing entirely - But Grey Jaeger staggers back, jerking as he's hit, again and again; glancing impacts, but to his infinite revulsion, they denature, dissolving into tiny crawling parasites that gnaw at him with their sharp mandibles-

"Grace," Black Azazel crackles, and fills the air with fire.

The air blossoms into a holocaust of black fire, a sweeping wave of it that rolls across the seats - Your Tempest Scrander spits thrust, and you rocket above it on wings of jetair and fuming red particles; Twisting serpents of flame coil after you as you bank sharply, weaving beneath the scourging whip that lashes across the walls-

The fire he unleashes can burn stone. Tongues of sickly fire flame from the mutilated walls, columns of filthy smoke rising into the churning air - The conflagration chasing you, as he turns to track your form...

And finds himself looking down the barrel of your Nova Cannon. You fire - the tracking beam slashing across him, staggering him as it rakes a molten line across his twisted-scrap armor - but the shot goes wide, detonating the ground beneath him with a roar like a volcanic eruption; Flung from his feet, he goes skidding, tumbling, spraying indiscriminate flame-

Three rows away, Synapse Guillotine dodges - A boxer's bob-and-weave - as he's pelted by fist-sized chunks of rubble. He sprints forward in a fluid rush, the rapid clatter of his footfalls like the clashing of blades; His namesakes chewing the air hungrily, as he races forward across the crumpled rows of seating...

(Continued)

>>38213687
Scarlet is kinda feminine while Bordeaux doesn't really roll off the tongue well.

>>38213690
I... think we did. Sorry about that.

>>38213695
>Bloody Joker
But this sounds nice too.

>>38213705
>A boxer's bob-and-weave
It's almost unfortunate that we can't Crisis box him. Some of that Frost Cestus spirit.

>>38213705

The Emulator Module at the base of your spine pulses. The crimson lattice of the Vector Trap's hypersphere coalesces into the Tau Gun, the charge cycling - You level the weapon right at Triach Behemoth, your speeding passage leaving a blazing track across the tattered streamers and banners that once adorned the stage-

EXEC_DIRECT

A great blade of light carves the air. It extends from Grand Magus's hand, a line of burning radiance that slices across in an unfurling sweep - Where it slashes, matter parts. It does not cut through objects, so much as annihilate them; the blaze of light simply dissolves everything it touches, carving a grand arc of ruin through the walls, shearing sideways through columns - It meets the blazing field of your Sinistral, and...

The plosive blast that follows annihilates ghost-steel and blade alike.

You hit the stage like a rogue meteor, smoke wisping from your limbs - You smash *against* it, rather than through it, as you wrench yourself to your feet; Tau Gun clenched in a hungry fist, with no time for anything more than a snap-shot...

You fire anyway.

The antimatter round crosses the distance in a blurred linear distortion - A heartbeat later, Behemoth's shoulder explodes. His roar is atavastic, primal - He wrenches himself away from the rubble spoil that he's been gorging himself on, lumbering towards the grand hall; Too large to enter, he draws a fist back...

(Continued)

>>38213780

-And lands a blow that makes the entire building quake. It's a wrecking-ball punch, a spotlight detaching from above, smashing down - Glass windows detonating, a hail of jewelled glass raining down, each piece gleaming as it falls through the shifting light. With a final leap, Synapse Guillotine takes the stage - He lands with a screech of skidding boots, digging deep scars in the polished wood as the wavering spotlight glints dully against his gore-caked armor...

With his free hand, he beckons.

HP: 52.5% (+9.8%)
COBALT BOOSTER: 158%
ASSAULT SHROUD: 103%
METER: 55%

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>38213785
Don't take the bait. Keep shooting at him, preferably with the Tau gun.

>>38213785
Running low on HP, a bit of meter and a lot of Booster...

Oh, and kill the squishy(?) Code-wizard first while dodging the iron giant.

Maybe liberal amounts of Triskelion missiles and the Chainmine?

>>38213785
Should we engage EXEC_BARRIER?

Tau on the Behemoth. His large body makes it very effective. Possibly supplement with Chain Mine.
Swarm against either the sniper or one of the casters. Suggestions?
Missiles against Guillotine man.

Keep moving. Activate Aquila. Keep the after-images up.
Pulse the active mode of Argus to see if anyone is trying something sneaky.

>>38213807
We have Guillotine right in front of us. That's going to be a bit difficult.
>>38213785
Fuck that. Use Rubicante & Cagnazzo and EXEC_SWARM, paid via the shroud. Try and kite him using Aquila.

>>38213821
I would suggest Plasma Caster if he closes in.
Kill the close combatant with liberal application of mid-range firepower.

>>38213785
>(+9.8%)
Is this our gain for the next round?

>>38213785
EXEC_SMITE the guy he's expecting a straight-forward attack, so this will surprise him.
Argus the place, Swarm the Sniper and send a Chain Mine at Behemoth. Shoot Cagnazzo and Rubicante at Azazel.

File: Newfoundland Red Ochre.jpg (188 KB, 600x399)

188 KB JPG

>>38213674
Darkish red?

Obviously this makes us the Red Jochre.

>>38213780
>>38213785
I think our best plan for Behemoth in the long run should be to get him between us and Grand Magus and see if we can get him blown in half by a friendly-fire annihilation beam.

That, or see if we can train our killsat on the huge bastard and hope the building holds up until it fires. Even if it gets collapsed at the last moment, if we're Tachyon Disintegrating him, maybe it'll un-destroy itself? Who knows.

He's by no means our primary concern at the moment, though.

>>38213840
>SMITE
Are we shitting Booster or something?
Calculate the costs of using that attack in conjunction with everything else.

>>38213857
That was, by far, the worst one.

>>38213857
>Obviously this makes us the Red Jochre.
I like you.

>>38213857
>He's by no means our primary concern at the moment, though.
He's a great source of HP and Meter, though.

>>38213884
>"Fuck, we probably should've left the giant pinata at home."

>>38213884
True.
He's the inversion of the old mid-boss health pickup routine.
Instead of the small guys dropping health, we've got a giant pinata.

>>38213892
Actually, where are these guys from? Are they smilers?

>>38213905
Wasn't the whole "let's torture the girl and mock Joker by nailing his icon to her face" thing already enough of a tell?

>>38213911
That could be anyone, mate. For all I know, they're just renegade players who saw a source of amusement and decided to take on Joker.

>>38213920
Guillotine Man killed all the humans. That's the gore that is coating him.
Corrector gore disappears.

It's very likely that it's one of those "the ones without armor aren't worthy of being saved" things or something.

>>38213834

(Yes, at the start of the next round.)

>>38213804
>>38213807
>>38213819
>>38213821

You swing the Tau Guns up - Synapse Guillotine stiffening, his whiplash-quick limbs tensing beneath him, the splayed blades of his boots digging into the scarred stage beneath, ready to spring...

-And you lurch back as Grey Jaeger's sniper beam lances through the containment chamber of your primary weapon. In the split-second before it detonates, you fling the weapon aside; the copy flickering, stuttering in-and-out of reality as the original is lost, leaving your hands momentarily empty...

The antimatter explosion that follows is colossal. It roils upwards in a blinding spray of sharpnel and flame, as Synapse Guillotine lunges; Your fist flares into the oversized muzzle of the Plasma Caster, and the weapon erupts in a point-blank blast of annihilating energies.

He leaps. He springs impossibly high, over the thunderclap of the blast - Descending with blades extended, snicker-snacking as they slice the air. There is an astonishing speed to his motions, an astonishing control; Not the enhanced speed of Bell Zephyr or Mirage Sylpheed, but a neural acceleration that allows for lightning-quick responses - Evasions and agility you can only imagine.

His blades are meant to pincer around your neck, and shear your helm from your body. He has absolute confidence in the manuever.

Which is why he is utterly surprised when the swirling morass of EXEC_SWARM engulfs him.

Your Assault Shroud denudes even further, more than half of the nanomaterial gone - A blizzard of biting parasites, death's-head beetles, taking wing; Boiling outwards from you like a damnation swarm, a swarm that clings so thickly to his descending form that he's momentarily blinded. You hear his yowl of thwarted frustration, of rage-

And then one of Scylla's hydra-maw tendrils closes on his left arm, the other on his right leg, and rips them both off.

(Continued)

>>38213978
>And then one of Scylla's hydra-maw tendrils closes on his left arm, the other on his right leg, and rips them both off.
Looks like Scylla is a genuine parasite with its own mind.

>>38213984
Scylla is Best Parasite.

OP, do we still have EXEC_VERBATIM?
The description says that its power comes directly from Cybele.

So we lost the free priming of Hollow Sun weapons, the recoil reduction of the Talon, the cost reduction of CONSUME (unless used on Scylla) and two charging elements.

Let's see if it turns out that a lvl 1 Daegal user requires the Arsenal Beacon to get any weapons at all.

>>38214135

(You still have the Helix Gauntlet, however - And the cost reduction. You did lose free priming, the Talon and the charging elements, however.)

>>38214014

(My apologies, but you're right. You shouldn't have that Codeburst any longer; I missed that when reviewing your equipment loadout.)

>>38213978

Metal gives, with a rending shriek. Guillotine's arm rips out of his socket, sparks shooting from the amputation as gnashing alloy teeth crumple his armor like tin foil - the other eyeless maw yawns open, revealing rows of secondary teeth that ratchet shut, gouging a hideous bite from his leg; Not enough to snap the endosteel femur, but enough to sending him smashing down, clawing and convulsing as he's devoured alive-

Before you can close in to finish him - As Rubicante and Cagnazzo weave themselves into existence, in traceries of swirling light - blistering black fire engulfs you. Choking, sour-hot, it clings to your limbs; Flames burning across your form, your sensors going *insane*-

"The beast that thou sawest was, and is not-"

"And shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition; And they that dwell upon the Earth *shall wonder*-"

Fire. Fire *everywhere*. Gouting forth from Black Azazel's secondary mouths, his single eye focused inexorably on you - the edges of your armor beginning to char, to melt beneath the relentless heat, black-cored and white-edged; Your shots zip across the distance, Cagnazzo's rounds darting, weaving, curving on impossible trajectories to close on their target-

And he incinerates them with a wave of his right hand.

-Then how about this?

(Continued)

>>38214153
Important things to say:
"Shut the fuck up"

>>38214179
Alternatively, end the fight with an aptly chosen Biblical verse of our own.

>>38214193
Ashes to ashes?
An eye for an eye?

>>38214153

Rubicante's entropic blast ploughs down the aisle, the single round eroding everything in its wake; Black fire gutters out, the shroud of flames faltering - when it punches into Azazel, *through* him, his twisted-scrap armor, shredding away in rusted scales, then dust - Your next shots go wide, as he flings himself into cover next to the staircase...

-And you continue to burn.

"A good effort, Joker - Time to shoo out the clowns, I think."

Grand Magus's snide voice comes from everywhere and nowhere at once...

-And an engulfing sphere snaps into existence around you. Glassy, expanding twenty feet on all sides; It moves with you, as you leap from the stage - Grey Jaeger fires again, a heartbeat too slow, the shot just grazing the edge of the sphere...

The beam *curves*. Impossibly, against all physics. Against all sanity. It *bends*, as if refracted through a prism, and a miss turns into a lancing shot that punches through your back and shears one of Scylla's limbs from your back-

The hissing scream of outraged fury that splits the air is not from you, but from the orphaned maw that thrashes and spits bile as it writhes against the floor.

"Joker-kun!" You hear the terror in White Licorice's voice - She stumbles forward, until a jerk on the leash wrenches her form taut, almost on tiptoe. Grand Magus is doing *something*, the air around him churning with distortion; A reality-rip of some kind, each negligent pass of his hand opening another. One, two, three, *four*-

"*Heel*, dog." he says, with careless malice. "I think-"

(Continued)

(Gentlemen, my apologies; I can't cover everyone's input - But I'll attempt to address them next round. This is an extremely complicated tactical situation, and a lot of effects are going off at once.

Be aware that you are currently on fire, and are presently taking damage over time.)

>>38214206

The sound of crumbling brickwork drowns out his words. Another section of wall is torn away, as Triach Behemoth's claw reaches in after you - A monstrous howl echoing off into the bloody night.

Half of the entire upper floor collapses, in a great dusty waterfall - Grey Jaeger forced to scramble away as Behemoth's cat's-eye leers into the guts of the ruined building, hoping to find you.

HP: 40.3% (+16.4%)
COBALT BOOSTER: 116%
ASSAULT SHROUD: 57%
METER: 60%

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>38214218

(A very quick addition)

SWARM DENSITY: MODERATE

>>38214218
Can our Assault Shroud choke out the fire?
...Hopefully it needs oxygen to burn.

>>38214224
Shit, fuck yeah.
Send the swarm to Jaeger. Crab man is down for now.

OP, how are codeburst announcements heard?
Are they just words that we pick up? Do they always need to be vocalized?

I'm trying to figure out if Magus might be doing codebursts right now and if our shell is a codeburst, in order to determine if Barrier might be a smart choice.

Other than that, we need to go out of reach of the pinata. Give him a chain mine to heal up, then find the position of Black Azazel and use dual Crisis arms on him.
I'm sure that the fire will disappear if he dies.

>>38214218
The the remaining Scylla to Consume Guillotine. Shoot Cagnazzo at Magus, scan for Azazel with the Argus and shoot him with the Railgun
.
We must avoid using laser weapons against anyone outside the Sphere and take down both Azazel and Magus quickly.

>>38214268
Is Azazel really the most pressing concern, though? So long as the bubble is up we can't use any ranged weapons, and all of theirs are a guaranteed hit.
Might be wise to go for Magus, instead.

>>38214206
Grand Magus is getting the premium Joker package.

>>38214218
Cut through GM's hand and give him a face full of plasma caster or follow through with a stab, fire missiles into TB's mouth, and one or two at GJ too (that's the recommended way to deal with snipers). Not sure what to do about BA, since I can't keep track of all our weapons sometimes. Maybe some plasma Vulcans to keep him down, or choke him out, or immolator with Cobalt boost to cling?
Don't forget to keep track of enemies and dodge though.

>>38214268

(It's more like something you detect, right before the attack goes off.)

>>38214283
Azazel took heavy damage from Rubicante. He'd be an easy kill.

>>38214283
Yeah, the bubble is very dangerous depending on what exactly it does.
Worst case, it redirects ALL of our ranged attacks onto ourselves.

But Azazel is an easy kill if he's in reach.
If he isn't, we'll need to murder Magus. But I'm sure that he can use REND or something like it, so fisting him won't be easy.
But getting into melee range will prevent Jaeger from aiming at us. Especially if he's occupied with swarm.

>>38214295
Sounds like Barrier won't help us much.

Guys, would it be worth it to HARROW the crabman?

>>38214346
The crabman only has two limbs left. Might as well just kill him now.

>>38214376
Good point.
If we can do so without getting into the line of fire.
Remember, no experiments with ranged weapons.
We fisticuffs now.

>>38214389
OP described it as a prism, so I doubt it works on non-laser/beam weapons.

>>38214420
Test Vulcan fire, as well as Cagnazzo without meter effect.
A few shots should clue us in.

File: image.jpg (66 KB, 600x512)

66 KB JPG

>We can no longer go Gold

And just like that my smile and optimism is gone

>>38214464
Yeah, but we have one less dead friend.

>>38214464
Yeah, because a golden parasite is better than a living friend.

We now have Kazuya. Who, judging from his feat in killing a Corrector with a prop sword, has the right mindset to actually aid us in battle.
And he will be able to truly become a friend of us and Natsumi.

We are gold, red and chrome.

>>38214494
go go power rangers?

>>38214476
>>38214494
I know man I know but damn that was all that was keeping me moving forward

>>38214523
Nah, more like Kamen Riders.
Three childhood friends, finally united.

>>38214527
Look forward to the lachryma-based upgrades, instead.

>>38214494
Chrome needs a serious power-up, though.

>>38214555
We've got an entire fucking R&D facility.
We can get her a bunch of modules for her pre-existing relics, as well as a lvl 1 Terminus unlock.

>>38214565
We've got to find her and get there first.

>>38214494
>We are gold, red and chrome.

As much as I want us to go Gold, this might actually be one of the most promising developments in a long time. Everyone hates and fears Red Joker, but now? Fuck them. We have another person, perhaps the most powerful player (or up top with us), who will be able to understand who we really are and that we can rely on.

Kamen Rider is a go.

>>38214553
It's not the same Anon
It's not the same

>>38214598
Unless he goes mad from the revelation of what we were hiding all along, and/or being blamed as the cause of all the murder-ey atmosphere lately.

Wait, what were we hiding anyway?

>>38214565
I don't think the Hollow Sun acknowledges us now.

>>38214268
>>38214280
>>38214283
>>38214289

You leap back from the grasping hand - Your Triskelion launchers spinning up as a staggered flight of six missiles kick to life, spinning twisting white ropes of rocket-smoke down as they spiral towards Triach Behemoth's looming bulk-

The first impact-burst draws the next missile, and the next, expanding into an immense fireball fed by all six. The collar of explosions engulfs Behemoth's mono-eyed helmet in seething smoke...

-And when the winds whip them away, you see that you've barely damaged him. The thick grey plate is scarred and pockmarked by detonations, like a portcullis beneath the impact of battering rams; But while the external layers of armor have been shredded beneath the chained blasts, Behemoth is still alive-

Alive, and very, very angry.

The great hand makes a fist, and it comes crashing down like a wrecking ball. You hurl yourself to the side, the Abruption Jets flinging you from the ground - Tempest Scrander flaring, arresting your descent as Grand Magus scratches a final sigil in the burning air-

EXEC_CULL

The burning air with digital light - the anti-radiance of the space between realities. You have a moment to plant the Sinistral in the ground before you, forming the code-chains that become EXEC_BARRIER...

And Grand Magus's shadow, stark and dark beneath him, races forward across the ground. It is like a wave, a churning morass - It crashes against your code-barrier, scaling it, overlapping black pixels that resonate with an awful buzzing, buzzing, fighting to infect, to corrode-

-Held at bay.

Rubicante is in your free hand, your right hand. The Colt Python's thunderclap merges with sounds of distant warfare - the burning shot surging towards Grand Magus...

(Continued)

>>38214619
Being a murder robot.

>>38214619
Nothing, really. We offered to tell him the truth twice and he was the one who refused to find out.

>>38214631
We tried to tell him, man.
He can't blame us.

>>38214619
How exactly could we have explained something this big, though? A parallel reality, with its own dark world manifestation, where people fight and kill for no discernible reason? He might not like it, but Kazuya is reasonable. No one in their right mind would believe it unless they were doing it themselves.

He should know now what we've being so stressed and mess up about now. Trying, and failing, to stop a shitstorm of epic proportions is a pretty good reason.

>>38214668
>No one in their right mind would believe it unless they were doing it themselves.
We had Carnifex and NIHL.
We had proof.

>>38214668
>He should know now what we've being so stressed and mess up about now. Trying, and failing, to stop a shitstorm of epic proportions is a pretty good reason.


"Wait, it WASN'T about girls?"

>>38214683
Well to be fair, Mio flipping shit is part of that shitstorm.

>>38214675
>We had Carnifex and NIHL.
Neither of those is solid proof. The Nihil is just a strange glowing sphere and the Carnifex is just a creepy accessory when not used (and using it as a human would cripple anyone).

>>38214623
If the missiles don't work on Grey Jaeger, I suppose we can try to counter-snipe him. I suggested explossives because
1. They only need to hit 'close enough'.
2. Sniper duels invite the possibility that the other guy is faster and you lose. The smart thing to do is not taking the risk.

I think ours does more damage though.

>>38214683
It was part of the problem, my friend.
It was a large part of it.

No, seriously, Anon had more than a few problems related to female figures in his life.
Even Old Joker wasn't exempt from it. (See: Hellebore)

>>38214702
Worst case, we could have summoned Cybele.

No way that that could have derailed the entire quest.
Right?

>>38214691
>>38214711
And this is why I stopped pushing waifu's after Hecate. Player decisions, and OP's delicious sadism made me realize that's a mistake.

>>38214723
It's also a giant waste of charge.

>>38214711
To be fair, our bromances weren't any better. Even if they kinda failed because of girls.

Bros before hoes, I guess.

>>38214746
Wasting a few souls of people murdered by us is really not that big of a deal.

By the way, the White Joker's fiddler is still alive, most likely.
We need abilities to counter tricksters.

>>38214735
If we ever get to do a New Game+ (no relic carry overs, just future knowledge) in this quest, I'd probably stave off waifus and go straight to Argent. Then take over his domains.
But knowing /tg/, at least one waifu will be obtained.

Yui route, please.

>>38214623

-Before the entropic bullet can cross the shimmering glass of the field that engulfs you, it *bends* to the side on an impossible trajectory. Your shot punches through the ruins of the roof, chewing right through - Support beams come crashing down, as the round leaves a ragged gash in the high-vaulted ceiling; A glimpse of sky...

"Stop *playing* with your food-" There's real effort to Magus's voice, now - The tide of EXEC_CULL receding, jittering scrapcode clearing from your field of vision. You *feel* rather than see Grey Jaeger's long rifle charging; It's all you can do to swing the Sinistral in the way-

This time, you take the blast head-on. The beam is a continuous one - Your feet skid against the ground, talons ripping up the ragged carpeting underfoot as you slide back, back - Rents appearing in the Sinistral's field, beginning to fray-

And - In your peripheral vision - you glimpse Synapse Guillotine staggering to his feet, cloaked in black flame; the tiny bodies of EXEC_SWARM crisp as they fall from him, charred away. The great gash in his leg is sealing over, weaving itself shut as violet light issues from eyeslits-

Overloaded, your shield explodes. The clashing energies swat you aside, like a bullet - You hit the ground and roll and roll and *roll*, ploughing through tables and rows of seating and rubble, sparks shooting from your left arm; Red telltales warning of damage, damage, damage, the hungry flames that engulf you playing in and out of the rents. Grand Magus is doing something-

-Where's Azazel-?

And then the roof tears apart as a huge column of concrete and rebar swings down from above - A jagged mace, a club, clenched in Behemoth's oversized fists. The CRASH it makes reveals his full, hulking - Looming like a giant above a doll's house, bracing for another swing...

(Continued)

>>38214771
Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu-

I miss having a full health bar.

File: image.jpg (132 KB, 474x522)

132 KB JPG

>>38214494
It was like this Anon. Through all the pain, misery, and the suffering I had one goal.

A single shining light at the end of a long pitch black tunnel.

Through all the pain, every set back, every kick in the dick, all the suffering, I felt like i got punched in the soul one time.

I had one goal, it kept me smiling and hoping for a better future, a light that once obtained would tell me it was worth it. It gave me hope one thing I desperately needed

And it's gone now. I'm lost inside this tunnel Anon. I-I can't find my light.

>>38214801
>I-I can't find my light.
But it's right there, in a room inside of this building.
Let's hope that Kazuya hears our cries of agony and makes a dynamic entrance.

>>38214771

WHAM

The impact flips you into the air, pulverizing the tiered rows with one brutal concussion. Dust fumes, the foundations of the hall groaning - It sounds like the building is about to come down around your ears. The air is thick with chalky plumes of dust and debris, the already-crazed structure rising to thin strands of brickwork that barely seem enough to support the uppermost level-

You stagger to your feet. Your left arm is barely responding-

A swirling orb of flickering, fitful light hovers in the air overhead. You try-

Hell rains forth. Jagged, cising bolts - A storm of them, striking at random. Indiscriminate destruction, blasting apart the ground on both sides - Rotating sharpnel gashing your armor, the overlapping impacts flinging you this way and that, each short-fused burst like a miniature thunderclap...

It chews ragged bites from your armor, like a hail of needles. Your gyro whirrs as it fights to keep you upright, the smoke churning as a titanic shape descends from overhead - Magus...?

No. That mace *again*-

(Continued)

>>38214842
Shit, they're getting their act together.

We gotta kill one. Have some of the pressure off.

>>38214876
I think our health is currently a more important issue.
Especially as the crabman can apparently heal himself.

I wonder if we can use all of our speed enhancements to grab white licorice and escape into Kazuya's room.

>>38214899
I doubt we'll be able to dodge the sniper while being weighted down by Licorice.

>>38214899
We should set up some chain mines and hide them under rubble, in case any of those assholes are dumb enough to follow us.

>>38214949
Chain mines CANNOT be delay-fired.

>>38214930
Counter snipe with the Longinus Railgun. It'll make him think twice, at least.

>>38214963
Oh. Okay.
I still advocate having an ambush ready though.

>>38214971
Might have been possible with the Talon. Even then the situation would have made it hard.
Now it's basically impossible.

>>38214842

It descends like the hammer of an angry god. The churning smoke of battle parts before it, Behemoth's single green eyes glowing through the haze; Your Abruption Jets sputtering, trying to gather charge, and-

-And the blow never lands.

There is a sound, louder than anything you've heard before. Sledgehammer-anvil-howl. A *force* splits the choking air, a demolishing force - A linear distortion, like the discharge of your Nova Cannons, but without the roiling shimmer of antimatter. There is a shape to it, like a thought hammered so thoroughly into the clay of the Red that it becomes real-

Horned, taurian. A bull-auroch at full charge.

Cohered light, somehow solid - Imparting an immense kinetic impact.

Behemoth's crude mace explodes. The detonation hurls sharpnel out in every direction, riochets clanging from your armor - You hear curses from within the fog, too, as the triumphant thunderclap of the concussive blast dies away. The force does not stop - It ploughs onwards, and collides with the titan. The cataclysmic blow erupts in a plosive bang of over-stressed air pressure, becoming a blinding, surging, expanding blossom of white light-

Triach Behemoth staggers. And - very slowly - with a long, groaning, grinding rumble, he topples over.

When the noise and the shockwave hits, every remaining window blows out at once. The scouring winds that come rips the cloak of black flames from your back, and as the echoes die you peer through smoke and ash to see the source of the blast...

(Continued)

>>38215110
>Horned, taurian. A bull-auroch at full charge.
Shit, Ork Bro lives on in our current bro.

File: jokerdaegal.jpg (690 KB, 1087x2000)

690 KB JPG

>>38215110

There is a figure at the end of the hall, a gleaming figure familiar and alien at once. Iron Ogre's horned, ox-headed crest rides high on one pauldron - Eyeslits burning with the blue fires of discharged force. The other forms a lion-head, snarling defiance; unfurling into ornate high-collared half-armor that gleams like gold or hammered bronze, worked with exquisite knotwork and tooled etching on the main plates. Rich crimson fabric flutters in the spontaneous winds, with the serpentine rustle of overlapping scales...

-An Assault Shroud.

Close up, the armor's inspiration - Beneath the gilded surface, beneath the serpents that curl around the seals of the gorget, the suns, stars and moons of all phases running around the embraces and the arm-guards - becomes clear. There is a heraldic significance to the war-armor, one captured by the forges of the Hollow Sun in every mark and engraving, every inscription and device.

Your story.

There, on the right arm - Blue light fuming from the joints - is the unmistakable mark of the Helix Gauntlet. The ruby icon on his breastplate, glowing with flickering inner radiance...The fires of the Cobalt Booster, refined for a singular host's use.

The actinic green radiance that burns in the eyeslits of his helm - Stylized like an apex predator - that sweeps across you and lights up your sensors with a handshake of exchanging data, as the light of a new ally flickers into existence...The Argus Sensor.

All from you.

All *because* of you.

And a name:

DAEGAL

(Continued)

File: 263477b385de3505bc7a701fd(...).jpg (39 KB, 720x480)

39 KB JPG

>>38215319
I always wanted to be the mentor to humanity's savior.

FUCK YEAH.

File: image.jpg (64 KB, 359x363)

64 KB JPG

>>38215319
>What could've been

I need a moment

>>38215381
>What could've been
No, this is so much more than what could have been.
This is the man that we created. Our true bro. Modelled after our struggle, imbued with the power of the man that we had to kill against our will.
And he will fight at our side and unfuck this shit.

>>38215319
You know, we joked about Daegal being our child.
But it really *is* our child. It took its inspiration directly from us.
And now it will start to grow without us.

>>38215390
Don't mistake it I'm still hype just got dat underlining depression

So he's the hero this world needed and were the one it deserved?

>>38215319
It's so beautiful!

>>38215319

There is a pause. A break in the fighting. In this frozen moment, balanced between opposites, the scene unfolds with perfect clarity-

There's Grand Magus, staring with stark disbelief at Behemoth's toppled form - Even as the echoes die away, White Licorice a huddled, crumpled heap on the cracked tiles. Black Azazel, flames guttering above each palm, within the cage of his fingers; Grey Jaeger, looking down, the chatter of his drones taking on an urgent new note...

-Even Synapse Guillotine, the deep gouges in his armor scabbed over, sealed with tarry black flesh, one arm sheared away from his body...

And Daegal says-

"Get the hell away from him."

HP: 33.1 (+13.9%)
COBALT BOOSTER: 89%
ASSAULT SHROUD: 55%
METER: 56%

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>38215436
Blow Azazel to pieces
Finish the feast of Synapse

>>38215436
Toss him a Joker icon.
Transmit, so that the enemies don't hear:
"Save White Licorice. I'll take down Behemoth and Jaeger and slow Guillotine."
Chain Mine Behemoth with Cobalt Boosted mines.
Use swarm on Synapse Guillotine again, now that he won't be saved by Azazel again.

Snipe Jaeger.

>>38215436

Gotta make sure Licorice gets out of this alive. She doesn't deserve to die like this.

>>38215436
Kill Azazel first, then keep Grand Magus in between us and Grey Jaeger as we engage him.
Maybe fire something Synapse Guillotine's way too.

Gotta get my groceries.
I'll punch you through the internet if you die.

>>38215480
I thought we couldn't snipe Jaeger. At least that's what that other anon told me.

>>38215436
Use everyone's surprise to activate the Abruption Jets and smash Guillotine with the Crisis Arm before he can react.
"And I used to think that there are no heroes left in man."

>>38215538
>"And I used to think that there are no heroes left in man."

I agree that this should be said.

>>38215464
>>38215480
>>38215496
>>38215510

> "Save White Licorice. I'll take down Behemoth and Jaeger and slow Guillotine."

A fractional nod, and-

"Kill them both," Grand Magus hisses - the sound is laden with static, gloved fingers curling into claws as if to eviscerate some great beast-

Twin blurs of motion, through the smoke. Guillotine breaks into a sprint, his legs snapping like shears - A blurring, fluid rush. The wash of flame has scorched the gore from him, revealing his true armor - Once a deep cobalt blue, now cracked and charred.

"And the Lord saith - The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak - they have eyes, but do not see!"

The air smolders, as a sword of black fire grows from Azazel's trembling fist - An extension of the burning cloak that fumes around him, hungry flames licking the ground on all sides.

"-Those who make them become like them, so do *all* who trust in them-!"

It is Grey Jaeger who moves first. His rifle draws in one final exhalation of energy, before roaring down from above with a discordant shriek of unrestrained blue-white power. There is no need to rely on the glassy field that still engulfs you, gradually fading as Magus's attention wanes - The shot is perfect. A blade-beam of crisp, sun-bright force...

-Until Daegal interposes himself. His cloak unfurls - the nanomaterial expanding in a sweep, stiffening as overlapping hexagonal scales expand into a curving dome-

Fortress Mode.

The howling blast of energy strikes the Assault Shroud. Beneath the caress of the consuming ray, it glows red - then white-hot...

Even as the Longinus Railgun manifests, in a web of crimson light. Long-barreled, lethal; the cising sparks of the electromagnetic accelerators dancing with discharge, a single hyperdense round chambered-

In his last moment, Grey Jaeger's eye widens behind the scope of his prized, useless rifle.

And he says:

"Oh shi-"

(Continued)

File: image.jpg (118 KB, 300x900)

118 KB JPG

>>38215701
>Even as the Longinus Railgun manifests
>Even as the Longinus Railgun manifests
>Even as the Longinus Railgun manifests
>Even as the Longinus Railgun manifests
>Even as the Longinus Railgun manifests
>Longinus Railgun

Holy shit. It liiivvveees.

Also is that faggot talking shit about Deagal? Oh hell naw

>>38215701

A single shot. A silvery-white blur, launched at incredible velocity.

If - If it impacted centerline, it would have smashed aside every ounce of armor that protected him, through the vulnerable skeletal frame beneath. A direct hit would crack his armor and punched support struts through the shielding of his fusion reactor, enough to turn it into a cataclysmic, cascading series of system failures.

Instead, the shot punches through his scope - up through his optic sensors - and decapitates him. The sickening squeal of tortured armor, as his helmet caves in - crumpling inwards beneath the relentless force - has all of a second to register-

...Before all of him becomes nothing at all.

RED JOKER LEVEL UP

http://pastebin.com/95EBRLcm

(Continued)

>>38216127
[ ] ASSIMILATION
- [ ] IRON OGRE

Now that healing is more difficult, I really would like Joker to be more durable. Plus, I want to see how this upgrade would play with the new Crimson Joker

>>38216127
This will require some heavy thinking.

Holy shit.

>>38216127
>[ ] SURVIVE (VITALITY UP)
>- [ ] RECONSTRUCTION
I'm guessing this is a form of regen, which will be damn useful.

>>38216127
Didn't people want to go for Limiter Attunement?

>>38216127
>- [ ] RECONSTRUCTION

If you destroy the working parts what you get is a broken machine

We need to replace Cybele's functionality

>>38216127
[ ] FRAME UPGRADE
- [ ] CHARGING ELEMENTS
We're really going to need this now that we've lost the Midas Arm.

>>38216127

Too many choices, and we can pick only one, right?

I'd want to pick anyone of these:

- [ ] WEAPON TIER UNLOCK (2.5)
- [ ] PRIMARY WEAPON UNLOCK - RANGED
- [ ] WEAPON UPGRADE - NOVA CANNON
-Anything meter
-anything syntesis
-[ ] ASSIMILATION
- [ ] IRON OGRE
- [ ] CANKER EATER

And not sure about limiter attunement. What did it do again?

>>38216127
I hope we don't have to decide now.
The session is almost over.

But limiter, reconstruction or a defensive thing sounds nice. Like a further shroud upgrade.

>>38216306
I hope we get a chance to score a second Level-Up by finishing off the rest.

>>38216127
What was the Canker Eater again?

Was that the fucked up strong Chryssalid style one?

From this fight what does it look like we need?

Let's cover our needs before our wants

>>38215538
>>38215561

> "And I used to think that there are no heroes left in man."

You hurl yourself to one side - Daegal, to the other - as a single cleaving stroke from Azazel's blade shears through the weakened Shroud; It parts before him, as Synapse Guillotine surges to meet you...

The Leech Module inhales Grey Jaeger's death, greedily. A haze of fuming emerald motes coalesces - the flickering sparks of your arm, your *left* arm, fade. Red warnings given way to green indicators - Neural network reconnecting, actuators synching, as the great bulk of the Crisis Arm shimmers into existence around your fist; You hear Guillotine's pincer-blades scissor hungrily, as both of you close - Your Abruption Jets burning fiercely as you *leap* to meet him, acceleration rings gathering as your fist swings for him-

With a grunt of effort, Guillotine *dodges*. The motion is fluid and impossibly graceful, as he twists aside - His namesake vices close, shearing through your armor in a single stroke-

Snip.

The forearm sheath of your Plasma Vulcan - It shreds, beneath the brutal vice. The barrels of the weapon shear apart, the raised pinions of your Axel Grip decapitated - The crackle of feedback telling of cascading system failure, shorting out with a crackle of static as grip, trunking, liner and core are sliced apart as one. The Crisis Arm misses him by inches, the evasion whisker-close...

-He still thinks that your left arm is non-fuctional. He does not know of the Emulator Module at the base of your spine, that weaves schematic lines into the blunt and brutal crushing ram of a *second* Crisis Arm. When it collides with him, the immense force discharges with a painful, plosive bang - His form fractures beneath it, a radiating crater skittering outwards from the point of impact: Like a bullet hole in a mirror, or the ripple of a stone hitting the surface of still water.

Shock takes him away.

(Continued)

>>38216437
Our main problems were that from the start we were outnumbered 5 to 1 and had only a third of our max HP. We were doing pretty damn well until the last moment, all things considering.

File: image.jpg (64 KB, 600x337)

64 KB JPG

>>38216480
I feel like our first level should be more defensive maybe Shell or Reconstruction?

Also am I the only one who keep envisioning Scylla looking like the tentacles from The Darkness?

>>38216306
>And not sure about limiter attunement. What did it do again?
Decreases EXP necessary to level up by 1/5th per upgrade.

>>38216532
I say that Reconstruction is our best bet. More HP and armor is good, but I'd prefer if we had the ability to fix our damaged weapons mid-battle.

>>38216584
Endgame is happening right now, we can't afford to take any upgrades which will pay off 'eventually'

There won't be an eventually if we don't use our levelups to gain quick advantages.

>>38216469

There is a *bang*, like a sonic boom. He is simply removed, snatched away in an abrupt blurt of motion, flung down the ruined hall, limbs flailing-

You have a moment's warning, as the air around you prickles with ozone-

This time, when the great sweep of EXEC_DIRECT slices towards you, you're ready. Cold power surges from your Cobalt Booster - A jet of hissing thrust hurling you skyward, as Grand Magus's other hand releases a pulse of rippling force-

You wrench the Sinistral in the way, and brace-

WHAM.

This time, your ghost-steel shield holds. The impact bats you aside, and you smash a new passage through the upper balconies - Plaster dust raining down from above, servoes whirring in your legs as you wrench yourself upright-

"You *wanted* to fight us here!" Grand Magus wails, frenetic streamers of code boiling around him. "You were *waiting*, waiting for - No no *no*! You have *not* done this, Joker!"

The roar of black flames drown out his words. Daegal dodges the sweep of Black Azazel's burning sword - A split-second ahead of the gouting flames, his cloak swirling around him as he gives ground, gives ground...

Daegal - Kazuya - snatches up his plated arms to parry the blow. The ball of his fist smashes aside the blade; Black fire ripples across his armor, but finds no purchase as he bangs the sword aside, forced onto the back foot by Azazel's relentless assault.

Why isn't he-

[ ] "-I love it when a plan comes together."
[ ] "You're not quite as smart as you *think* you are, Magus."
[ ] (To Daegal) "It's not a *duel*! Take him *down*!"
[ ] (To Daegal) "...You don't have any weapons, do you?"
[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>38216619

> [ ] (To Daegal) "...You don't have any weapons, do you?"

Wait, he's UNARMED? Can we throw him the Immolator and the Condemner? Do we have any other weapons he can use?

>>38216619
[ ] "Oh shut up, you two-bit Utopia Ruler knock-off."

Just kill that asshole already before he can use more codebursts

>>38216619
>[ ] Free
And they call *me* a joker. I think that moniker fits you sorry lot better at the moment.

>[ ] (To Daegal) "...You don't have any weapons, do you?"

>>38216619
>[x] (To Daegal) "...You don't have any weapons, do you?"

Let's eat Grand Magnus.

>>38211479
You know, having the Yui scene pastebin in the OP seems incredibly morose, now.

>>38216619
Take position where Magus can't see us, use the Argus to locate Guillotine and use the Railgun to shoot him through the wall while he's dazed from the shock. Use the remaining Axel Grip if necessary.

>"Honestly Magus, you're a joke compared to Utopia Ruler or the White Joker."
Toss the Kura to Daegal.

>>38216652
Somebody called earlier that he might need the Arsenal Beacon

>>38216652
Throw him hollow sun weapons.
Start with phase sword. He's a kendo guy

>>38216652

Go with this. We don't really need them now we have Rubicante and Cagnazzo.

>>38216752
>>38216750

I thought we didn't have access to the Hollow Sun because of the shield or something.

>>38216711
>Let's eat Grand Magnus.
Good idea. Let's use EXEC_REAP to steal his codebursts.

>>38216728
It's to remind us of our failures, anon.

File: immolator boosted.jpg (13 KB, 235x155)

13 KB JPG

>>38216682

> [X] "Oh shut up, you two-bit Utopia Ruler knock-off."

The sheer derisive scorn in your voice - Cutting, dismissive - makes him bridle.

> "Honestly Magus, you're a joke compared to Utopia Ruler or the White Joker."

"JOKER-!"

A cycling buzz of crazed cicadas riochets deafeningly from the buckling walls. Curls of crackling, scourging power wreathe Magus's hands-

...Nothing you can't handle.

>>38216652
>>38216695
>>38216711

> [X] (To Daegal) "...You don't have any *weapons*, do you?"

"Weapons-?"

The golden figure pauses - Looks up at you, taken aback.

"You mean we get *weapons*-?"

...That doesn't suit you at all, Kazuya. Magnetic clamps unlock, as the lattice of the hypersphere gives way to the Immolator-

And you hurl the Relic into the air, towards him.

Daegal ducks a lateral sweep, throwing himself away from Azazel's blade, and *leaps*. Not as a man leaps to jump an obstacle, but with all the agility and power his systems can give him. A gleaming gauntlet catches the spinning handgun by the grip, as he swings around in the same swift motion to bring it to bear-

Radiant light pulses. Filaments uncoil from his wrists, golden circuit-pattern traceries webbing across the Immolator - And it *changes*. The twin barrels fuse into a single outsized muzzle, worked into the snarling mouth of a great beast. In his grasp, it becomes sleeker, ornate, menacing-

And when he pulls the trigger, a fury of something not quite fire, not quite lightning, spews forth. A white-cored beam that splits the air with its own fury, with something of a lion's roar in that terrible discharge, an eagle's high shriek -

He doesn't quite hit Azazel. But anything the ray touches explodes into howling flame.

(Continued)

>>38217267

When his fist closes around the Condemner, the containment field hisses forth as the photonic blade extends - From a humble blade to something that gleams with bronze and polished ivory, hilt and cross-guard fanning forth like outstretched wings. The rising hum of power sings in the ruin of the hall, as Daegal turns the sword in his hands...

-And the Condemner's edge ignites with sunfire of its own, as the blade thrums to life.

> "And I used to think that there are no heroes left in man."

"No heroes, Anon?"

Kazuya's voice - And it *is* his voice - carries across the distance, as he turns his head to regard you; Molten light bleeding from his helm, as he raises the Condemner in salute - then sweeps it across his chest, to guard.

"Here and now..."

Despite everything - In *spite* of everything, the red doom and crimson ruin and the fire that rains down from the heavens, the deaths of before and the death that is to follow - you can hear the shadow of a smile in his voice.

"-I see one right in front of me."

And so it begins.

JOKER QUEST

EPISODE 123

TO BE CONTINUED

>>38217300

(Gentlemen: My apologies for cutting off in the middle of the fight, but it's extremely late for me - And this looks like a good place to stop for the night.

I'll record your level-up choice when I begin the next episode. I'm afraid that the last few posts may have been a little rough, but I'm more exhausted than I initially expected.

Good night and God bless; You've been a wonderful audience, and I hope to see you again soon.)

>>38217335
Thanks for running and goodnight.
Hope you'll be well rested.

>>38217300
>"I see one right in front of me."
... This Bro.
We don't deserve this Bro.

>"-I see one right in front of me."

For all the shit we've been put through, with all the times we've messed up and made things worse when trying our best to fix things and help others - even at our own detriment - I think those words made it all worth it.

We finally have some who BELIEVES in us. And not even Natsumi could claim that.

>>38217361
We don't, but we're his friend, just as he is ours.

>>38217335
Assumption: We will have another mass combat scene.

Based on that idea, I suggest one of three upgrades:
- Limiter Attunement (Currently, we need around five kills for a level. This would lower it to around four, which would be tremendous in another mass killing scene)
- Athame upgrade (Probably works to synthesize more of our relics, which would effectively be a mass-attunement of relics)
- A survivability upgrade - I suggest something along the lines of the Shroud, Reconstruction, or Cobalt Booster

Now, keep in mind that Kazuya apparently doesn't have any integrated weapons.
This might change, but in the worst case we will need to give him a bunch of our relics.
In that case, I suggest allowing him to keep the Condemner and Immolator, considering that the two fit his combat styles.
The Sinistral would also be a valid case for giving away.

We keep the rest, though. Those three are the only ones eligible for give-away, outside of the Lucifer bits.

>>38217300
>"-I see one right in front of me."
Bro of the century.
I wonder if Daegal gave him any knowledge.

Next scene, we need something along the lines of "Just wait until Natsumi sees you".

>>38217361
You know after all the shit we've been through, after trying to damn near save the world ourselves, a burden no man should carry alone.

He's exactly why we deserved and need right now.

I wanted I be The Lord of the Sun. But this... This'll do.

>>38217477

The Lord of the Hollow Sun has NO WEAPONS. That's hilarious.

>>38217477
>- Athame upgrade (Probably works to synthesize more of our relics, which would effectively be a mass-attunement of relics)

The idea of synthesizing further with the Athame and whatever fucking parasite is there terrifies me to no end

File: image.jpg (66 KB, 640x480)

66 KB JPG

>>38217494
The Hollow Sun IS his weapon. I'm pretty sure it's going to go fucking Insane when he steps inside.

>Tfw Daegals presence doubles Resarch time
>Tfw Daegals presence removes the cap on charge
>Tfw Daegals presence give an extra 200% charge
>Tfw we can't have any of this

>>38217477
>The Sinistral would also be a valid case for giving away.
Hell no. We absolutely need the Sinistral and his armors already nigh-invulnerable.
He can have the Adamant if he wants it. I also don't mind giving him the Kura (his armor might auto-repair it).

>>38217536
>doubles

Should be halves

File: 1357177115766.png (319 KB, 700x700)

319 KB PNG

Well, Daegal's unlocked and all now....but will we still have access to the Hollow Sun?

Also I'm in favor or giving him some relics we don't use frequently.

Man I really wish we'd get a little extra hint about what these upgrades would do.

It'd make this less painful and faster

>>38217300
FUCK YES, RED AND GOLD TEAM UP TO SAVE THE DAY AT THE ELEVENTH HOUR.

>>38217494
Well, yeah.
It's the ultimate armor. We are the ultimate weapon factory.

...Guys, I hope you are aware that Kazuya is essentially our Chalice Queen.

>>38217477
Further thinking about new upgrade options:
- Oblivion's Husk is likely a Meter ability/passive bonus/whatever that we gained from Athame. It might be massively powerful.
- The defensive ability unlocks are likely activated abilities that grant us a bonus in one of three areas. Evasion, redirection and tanking. I would say that Inertia Field/Impact Reinforcements would fit our playstyle better in this case, as activated abilities are redundant with the Assault Shroud.
- Frame Integrity likely reduces our chance of system failure, while Vitality up increases our health. Reconstruction could either be a healing ability or an actual reconstruction of our frame to make it better in some regard.
- Synthesis seems to be an advanced version of Relic Attunement. So we didn't gain full attunement with the mechanics changes, but rather a level of a new kind of attunement. In this case, it might be smart to either get an Athame level (Will either give us additional synthesis as well as adding synthesis options or will *only* give us options, in which case it's less useful) or one of the Synthesis options. Imagine a synthesized Scrander.
- Assimilation likely gives us abilities based on those essence signatures. I definitely want to get one for Iron Ogre at some point.

>>38217578
I'd say the mystery is what makes it exciting. Besides, I don't think we've ever regretted an upgrade, since any choice guarantees something damn good.

>>38217553
>Kazuya with Adamant
Shit. Yes.
I definitely agree. He needs Adamant and all of the other stuff that we don't want.

But we keep the SunCrusher once we can access the Hollow Sun again.

>>38217508
I trust old Joker.

>>38217604
We regretted the interceptors all the way through.

>>38217597
>"I've heard of the legendary and infamous Red Joker. Tell me, what role do you fulfill for the hero?"
>"I'm his arms dealer."

>>38217477
I would definitely support Athame upgrade.

I really wish we had the carnifex to assimilate as well.

>>38217614
With all the stuff we're losing/giving away, we really need to reequip some other gear. Like the interceptors.

>>38217477
I genuinely don't think we need more Limiter Attunement. The difficulty has ramped up and we really need to push our power and survivability up as fast as possible.

With respect to that, I'd say that Athame Upgrade or Reconstruction are both valid avenues.

>>38217644
>Carnifex is now our face
>White Joker takes off our entire face to get his Carnifex back

>>38217662
When we get back to the Sun.

Also, I wonder if getting a Shroud module, and then synthesizing it, would add another inherent module.
We could have Mentiroso, and Muleta integrated, with Capa or Capote as an additional module.

My biggest concern really is Scylla

The fact that they can be cut off is pretty worrying.

I feel like we should either Strengthen them, reinforce them, or add more

>>38217629
Shut Up

Interceptor is Love
Interceptor is Life

Now that we got a Protomen reference, can someone link me to the appropriate song?
Because I never listened to any of the Protomen stuff.

Preferrably with written lyrics.

This is probably one of the most promising threads in a long time.

Mio? Cybele? Natsumi? All we need is our bro Kazuya to have our back.

>>38217477
>>38217597
Guys, Daegal's shtick is that he can use Hollow Sun shit to an insane degree. We have to get him there, after saving Volt and regrouping the guys.

Now. Evo, Assimilation and Survive seem to be our best choices.

The best on Evo is easily Athame; its a key part of our body now and its what caused our current change. Mutating it now is for hte best.

Assimilation wise, Canker Eater would be our best bet. He fitted us perfectly; insanely strong, fast and tough with amazing regen. Considering our armour's current state, we'd go even more Collector but the UPGRADES we'd get. We'd fully become a killing machine. Still...Slightly dubious because more corruption seems like a bad idea. Iron Ogre could be fun as well, especially if we went all psycho with [KURA]

Survive is something we've been talking about for a while. We need more health, we need to be harder to cut apart and we need to be harder to slice up. Survive does all three.

So, the choice is obvious. We should go Limiter Attunement. Last time we did, we got a free upgrade and we aren't close to the end of the story yet. We've still got 1-3 more Acts left, given how much things have changed but the end game still isn't in sight.

>>38217716
>>38217662
No, give the Interceptors to Kazu. I think we should get the Distortion Halo. Or else...Get him it instead and stick with Interceptors. But I think the Distortion Halo is the better call, personally.

>>38217644
We probably will, at some point. White Joker's around but Black Joker isn't...They'll be serious FUN when he appears.

>>38217749
This shows something:
Disregard Waifus. Acquire Bro.


As for upgrades, I think Athame would be doable, but otherwise I'm not too sure.

>>38217799
Yes... Naoya...
... Can we eat hi- No, bad idea. Scylla would get indigestion.
And Black is currently... indisposed...
... Kotone ;___;

So what's our next move?
>Implying we survive this mini war

If we do is there anything we need to Blood Raven out this place before we go?

We really need to gain new and more allies. The Silvers are going to take some heavy convincing if they went full isolationist.

Our mini faction has been scattered and separated for as long as I can remember. It'd be nice if we could finally stick together for once. As well as being more than like 20 guys and girls. Maybe The Lord of the Sun can grant access to others?

Kouchi you fucking faggot.

You know we should get onto experimenting with corrector augments before we touch the big guy back at the Sun

File: 1395794707114.png (211 KB, 500x525)

211 KB PNG

Being the Red Joker is suffering.

Trudging alone with an unforgivable sin in his heart, that he can never atone for, he tries to end the game and break the cycle. Despised and feared for what he's done, he hatches a plan to take matters into his own hands and avoid the death of countless lives, both in the Red and Real. He's had a few allies, yet most of them have died in his pursuit for his own victory, including those closest to him. In the end, not only does his plan fail, and the Shroud weaken, but he's involuntarily set up the stage for the arrival of the true savior: Daegal, with the full command of the Hollow Sun behind him.

Daegal truly is the MC, and Red Joker the MC's best friend who'll never be fully acknowledged for saving the world or accomplish happiness with his (dead) waifu.

>>38217763
>Guys, Daegal's shtick is that he can use Hollow Sun shit to an insane degree. We have to get him there, after saving Volt and regrouping the guys.
That's why I voted for the Phase Sword.
But looks like the Arsenal Beacon doesn't work.
Also, keep in mind that Condemner and Immolator ARE Hollow Sun relics. Just better ones.

I'm against assimilating a Corrector. It's below our pride and makes us just another Calamari.

Survive is only health. Generally, I would prefer more armor, which is more of a GUARD thing.

Agree on Attunement, though.

>>38217799
I'm in favor of giving him the Halo. The interceptors are part of us, even if they are a shitty part.

>>38217824
Well, we could scavenge our current victims for artifacts once they're dealt with.
Not Grey Jaeger's rifle (we shot through the scope).
Not Behemoth's mace (Kazuya destroyed it in his entrance).
What are the other possible choices...

>>38217870
That's dumb. He'd rape with Halo, sure, but he'd be able to make the Interceptors feasible. Lets go for the Halo; they're fucking sick.

>>38217820
Kotone isn't Black Joker. She's just a face of it. Really, she's nothing anymore.

>>38217847
>with his (dead) waifu.
I gave up on waifu's after Hecate.

And I don't imagine Anon would care about getting glory. I think the best ending we can hope for is one where the world resets to before we fell into the Black. All this shit never happened, the Red and Black disappear, and Anon alone is left with memories of what occurred, with an undeniable reminder that it did in fact happen.

And then he kills either himself, or hooks up with a normal Hecate or Mio (or both).

Guys, I wish we had the next stage of the Joker communication upgrade.
It would make everything much easier here.

Also, something to keep in mind.
We didn't just recruit Kazuya. We also recruited White Licorice. She can wield support weapons for us, even if she's likely a shitty combatant.

>>38217883
Relics are random drops. How they died has no effect.

File: image.jpg (12 KB, 109x316)

12 KB JPG

>>38217982
>Dat ending

>>38218029
Or it's an open-end, where we have all the powers and knowledge we have now, and the capacity to make a change for the better?

Endings aren't my forte dude. What would you recommend?

I want to give Kazuya a Joker icon.
I wonder if his armor would overcharge it somehow.

>>38218095
I like a NewGame+.
We'd give AP the Hollow Sun as soon as possible and take out Naoya IRL with an ambush.
We'd prevent Rust Kaiser from turning totally corrupted, which would help Megumi tremendously.
We'd help Hecate get away from the Smilers, together with Akira.
We'd dismantle the Hyades system somehow and let those girls rest in peace without the burden of being responsible for so much suffering.

>>38218095
Gold Joker
Best End

>>38218014
>White Licorice

Wait their frames can do things? I thought they were useless?

>>38217741
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnkbJ-H4r5k
http://lyrics.wikia.com/The_Protomen:The_Stand_(Man_Or_Machine

>>38218160
>Wait their frames can do things? I thought they were useless?
Some of the girls actually talked about their weapons when we were infiltrating that structure in the school. The Diadem?
One of the girls found out how to unlock a gun and the others wanted to know how she did it.

>>38218148
If we'd ever do a NewGame plus I'd hope it'd be as a different character at a different time. JQOP has a lot of wiggle room in his setting IMO

>>38217892
>Kotone isn't Black Joker. She's just a face of it. Really, she's nothing anymore.
I doubt Naoya would come this far just to revive something that is in no way the daughter of Mikogami. He must have a way of making her the dominant personality.

>>38217824
>Kouchi you fucking faggot.

Seconded.

>>38218161
It never really hit me how similar Red Joker is to Proto Man. Everyone is trying to hinder us, no one tries to understand, and that has made us cynical. We trust, we help, but it's hard to give a damn when no one gives a damn about us.

This is also my favourite Protomen song.

>>38217883
We need to Reap Magus and take his CodeBurst. That laser blade is awesome.

>>38218095
Honestly, I dislike reset endings. I can't help but think that they're destined to become endless timeloops (think Bastion) and it's best to learn to move on to create a better world from what small remnants remain with your own hands.

>>38218256
I can't access the paste in for some reason but doesn't REAP take the targets essence or something like that?

>>38218315
That's CONSUME. Reap activates after the essence is drained and before the armor disintegrates,

>>38218217
She's one part of much greater, much darker whole. It's kind of clear, to me anyway, that Kotone CAN'T be removed from the Black Joker. Now, all they're going to do is bring it back and give it flesh despite their best intentions.She might be the most dominant part but...It was clear in the beginning she's being hunted and we saw her get partially dissolved by it that one time.

Kotone may be a part of the Black Joker but she ain't a big one.

>>38218315
REAP allows us to ask the dieing mind a question.

>>38218423
>>38218364
Oh is there anything we'd need to ask them?

All I can think of is Force Composition and their Strike Leader.

>>38218314
Depends on the series.

Bastion specifically says that they lose their memories.

Devil Survivor 2 has the characters lose their memories and repeat unless everyone is alive and willing to fight in the endgame, in which case they lose their memories but keep the character development (which prevents the repeat part from actually happening since they proved to the mastermind that they can overcome the Akashic Record).

Shadow Hearts has the absolute best version of this, where the MC canonically gets the bad ending of the first game, chooses to die in the second game rather than lose his memories, and is sent back to the start of the first game with his memories intact so he can get the good ending properly. "Here comes that train again" indeed.

>>38218242
Thirded.

>>38218454
"How do you cast your codebursts."

"How do we access the Diadem." Because we know the Smilers want the Diadem to get off planet and taking it from them would be a big war advantage. Plus we can settle with Hellebore. Even if she's dead, the Nihl Sphere could probably what's left.

>>38218148
>We'd prevent Rust Kaiser from turning totally corrupted, which would help Megumi tremendously.
That's already happened, nothing we can do. We could kill her when we first meet her, which would end Kaiser and lose the Smilers a captain.

So, does anyone have any idea what Oblivion's Husk might do?

I imagine it could be a passively scaling ability that improves with meters gain.
Or something like the ability to shed our skin like a snake, for regeneration.
...Yeah, I have no fucking idea.

>>38218936
Maybe a damage=Meter

I don't fuggen kno

>>38217763
>We should go Limiter Attunement
Agree on this.

>>38219021
It really seems like one of those mystery awesomeness options, considering that it even has a title.

By the way, the Lucifer Bits definitely go to Kazuya. I'm not fond of the Halo, but we can just keep the ordinary bits. It's better than not having them.
The reason is that Lucifer bits are full-on Hollow Sun tech with Hellion AIs. They are very likely to gain massive boosts from Daegal.

Also, we need a controlled test of a non-Sun relic to see if Daegal affects all relics or just Sun relics.

>>38219102
He used his built in Assault Shroud better than Joker can.

>>38219149
Yeah, but that's a special case of imitation.

>>38219177
Not really.

Also you're wrong about the Lucifer Bits, the ones with the AIs are the Sword Bits.

>>38219214
I wonder if Lucifer or Sword Bits are more Hollow Sun, considering that Lucifer Bits are a higher grade of relic, while Sword is only a modification of our own systems.

Anyway, Kazuya definitely needs to get Adamant. He'll likely be able to use it even more than Adamant Aegis.

>>38219326
Calling the Sword bits "only" a modification isn't quite right since they're a unique type of Bit derived from the Hollow Sun. The difference is that they're not a stand-alone Relic.

Anyway, there's a real easy way to test if Daegal boosts all Relics. Put Cagnazzo and Rubicante in his hands. They were stored in the Sun but weren't created by it.

>>38219326
Lucifer is Hollow Sun.

>>38219149
How?

>>38219102
He made the Immolator better as well.

We'll probably get an upgrade again soon guys. Daegal is showing us just how strong the End Game is.