>>46908531
>>Nod solemnly
Afternoon QM

>>46908531
>>Nod solemnly.
Hiya! Just saw the post!

>>46908688
>>46908869

You nod, knowing you deserve this fate. Your father, in all the kindness he can muster, grants you one final night in the household until you're cast unto the streets of Tekkosho, effectively doomed. No money, no food, and no prospect for education or career.

You walked out into the streets the following morning, a duffel bag over your shoulders. The best shelter you found that night was a dirty refrigerator box, breaking it apart into a makeshift roof for that night's rain. As the cold grip of the elements touched you, you could only grit your teeth, telling yourself one thing.

"I'll get stronger."

You immediately made yourself useful the day a pickpocket stole the purse of a woman walking by you. Swift as your training made you you tackled him to the ground, twisting the ruffian's arm behind his back and handing the stolen goods back. That earned you a hot meal for the day--but it wasn't enough, and it wasn't permanent.

You had to try harder.

Shou Oshiro wasn't going to die a no-namer on the streets.

You took on any odd jobs you could. Cleaning, cooking after hours, shoe shining. Anything that could afford you scraps of credits to feed yourself was acceptable work, no matter how humiliating. Pride had no place in survival, in your eyes.

At night, whispers came to you from someone you didn't know. A voice promising you the greatest things if you never stopped moving.

>cont.

>>46908981

The final day of winter coming into spring was March 22nd, that fateful year.

You sat huddled, as freak storms of ice ravaged the city, blowing in from the town just across the bay. Panicking citizens thought a sudden Ice Age had come in, as they ran from their apartments to their cars. You could only huddle up with all the scraps of cloths you stitched together into a blanket, as the voice came to you again.

"You have the destiny of greatness dangling before you, Shou. Accept that destiny, and I will bless you and save you from this storm. But it will require more than your father ever asked of you--more than living on your own has asked of you either."

Your eyes, going dry from the frost, struggled to blink as you envisioned the loose figure of a tiger before you. It took all of your sapping strength to mouth your answer, praying the figure could hear you.

>"...Y...es..."

>"N...o..."

>Write-in.

>>46909072
>>"...Y...es..."

>>46909072
>>"...Y...es..."
OH BOY HE ABOUT TO DO IT

>>46909072
>>"...Y...es..."
>>46909123
HE GON DO IT

>>46909123
>>46909089

As soon as the word left your lips, threatened to be whisked away by the unnatural winds, something flowed back into you, feeling like daybreak after the hardest spring rains. You closed and open your hands, the frostbite no longer restraining you.

You struggled to your feet, discarding the rags away as you stumbled to your feet, looking up to the sky to see a figure fleeing from the next town over.

The source of the sudden winter.

Unlike others, who would stand here and curse the name of that person, whoever they were, your lips turned upwards into an ever-confident smile, the first you had since being disowned.

"Thanks."

Years went by, as the figure, calling itself Progress, showed you the way and guided you like the father your biological one never was.

You broke your hands demolishing brick, and the next day you lifted makeshift weights while the knuckles healed. As your legs ached from marathons you self-imposed, you studied your mind at local libraries on all known forms of martial arts. If there was one thing that Progress burned into your mind like a brand, it was that you could never, ever stop moving.

It was eight years until you got the call about your father. Despite his harshness, some part of you feels like it was for the best that it happened--otherwise you would not have met progress.

Do you care to listen to the voicemail?

>Yes.
>No.

>>46909310
>>Yes.

>>46909310
>>Yes.
As much as I wanna say no, it seems more in character to say listen.

>>46909310
>>Yes.
Wow. I'm late.

>>46909310
>>Yes.

>>46909443
You and me both, I was off by whole 35 minutes.

>>46909361
>>46909382
>>46909443
>>46909495

"Ah, Oshiro-san. Very glad to have reached you. Your father, it would seem, has fallen ill. I'm calling you as his executor of state that you'll probably want to visit with him soon. If he does pass, well...you will have regretted not talking to him when you did, no?"

"Of course." You say, squeezing your palms closed at the mere mention of your father.

Taking the bus down to the dojo that was once your home isn't a bittersweet reunion, or a melancholy trip down memory lane. It's something you left behind and must regrettably return to. Stepping out from the door of the bus and walking up the many steps of the dojo, your mind tries to find the first words most appropriate to address your father, before you realize there are none.

His wish came true, you figure as you find him wheezing and coughing in his room. His body's been emaciated over what must have been months of this disease, an IV weakly dripping into his arm and antiquated medical monitors are hooked into his body. You wager he has less than two weeks.

His eyes flutter open, and widen upon seeing you, a portrait--nay, a masterpiece of his son who once was merely a blank canvas.

"Shou..." He finds the strength to say. "So you did survive all these hard years..."

You stay silent, running a hand over his heart monitor.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

"I realize now I was a fool starving for a legacy, when I could've settled my pride and been the father you deserved. These may--" He pauses to cough, ending up hacking uncontrollably before settling, "--may be final days on this earth, and so I wish to make peace before I finally pass."

That catches your attention. You glance over, one of your yellow eyes wandering over to him

"Can you find it in your heart to forgive all I've done? I...know that is a monumental thing to ask of you."

>"Of course, father."
>"No, father." (Leave it at that.)
>Stay silent.
>Put him out of his misery.

>>46909750
>>Stay silent.

>>46909750
>>Stay silent.
Damn, this is a tough call.

>>46909750
>>Put him out of his misery
Always be moving. Reject the weaknesses of the past. also, fuck him and his abuse

>>46909750
>>"Of course, father."
Forgiveness will set both souls free

>>46909762
>>46909853

You don't say a word. Some part of you relishes in putting him on the spot like this. Turning the tables, in a way.

"I...I see. You need time to think. I won't try to sway you, then. It is not my duty to make up your mind for you." He pauses, coughing again, and you simply stare down at him, expressionless.

On the one hand, this man can hardly be called your father. Barely a child and he threw you to the streets to fend for yourself, all in the name of this dojo that you no longer care to inherit. You've surpassed any student that could come here, no matter the training.

Yet there was something admirable in his desire for you to get better, and it was the way in which you met Progress. Truly a tough call...

'He is old.' It speaks.

'He is of the past. The useless past. Gazing to the past only means stagnating, and sentimentality has no place in our plans for the world. Do you want to have this fool impede you like he has before?'

You look up at the sky, not realizing you must have been waiting here for quite some time.

There's a full moon in the sky, through the window by his bedside.

>Forgive him and walk away. (Defy Progress)

>No loose ends. (Please Progress)

>Write-in.

>>46910254
>>No loose ends. (Please Progress)

>>46910254
>>No loose ends. (Please Progress)

>>46910254
>>No loose ends. (Please Progress)

>>46910611
>>46910370
>>46910272

Your mind rings out that there can be no loose ends. In the name of progress, your father had to go.

Your old identity had to go. You put on two of the disposable medical gloves by his bedside and grabbed your father by the throat, quickly choking the life out of him, granting him the most merciful death you could. In the reflection of his eyes, you saw your own expression. It seemed so...hateful, demonic even.

But you felt none of that. You only felt pure zen. Your eyes glanced up as the life faded from his face, choking out screams for help before they ever escaped.

All you could focus on was the ivory moon in the sky above you.

---

You left Tekkosho that night and never looked back, heading instead for Arcadia--the source of the man who caused that blizzard the night you gained your powers. You knew a man that strong could be the next person you had to strive to surpass. The first was your father, and that was now in the past.

Donning your silvery body armor and adorning the golden crescent moon for a headpiece, you strode silently in the night to find your target.

That is, you would be, if a shadow nearly twice your height hadn't descended behind you. A humble southern drawl from the shadow greeted you.

"Heya, newcomer." said the man you'd come to learn was called Paragon Supreme.

You turned your head, and then upwards, in sheer awe of his size and stature.

"Forgive me for assuming--but I really want to make sure you aren't goin' to be causing any trouble for our fair citizens of Arcadia."

>"I come only for a journey of self-enlightenment."
>"I'm looking for someone."
>"Just who are you?"
>Write-in.

>>46910827
>>"I come only for a journey of self-enlightenment."
>>"Just who are you?"

>>46910827
>>"I come for a journey of self-enlightenment."
and
>>"I'm looking for someone."

>>46910827
>>"I come only for a journey of self-enlightenment."
>"Just who are you?"

>>46910859
>>46911124

"I'm only here fora journey of self-enlightenment. Who are you?" You ask, curt as you scan him over.

"Oh, you really are fresh into town, arent'cha...Paragon Supreme! Founder and leader of the Peacekeeper's Union, er, not to brag, but a lotta folks think I'm the greatest hero there is. I guess I...understand? But I sure as heck don't think I'm the best."

You scoff to yourself. Humility gets a man nowhere. This man must be some weak idol that the people here worship because they don't have the strength to surpass him and prefer to stagnate.

"I'm here trying to find someone--someone who years ago caused a blizzard. It blew over into my home of Tekkosho--"

Paragon's expression darkens immediately as you bring that up.

"March 22nd, that's what you're gonna say, isn't it?" he stops you. "...you best just head on back to your town, that person ain't here anymore."

You take a step forward, not caring about your stature in comparison to this 'Paragon'. "Somehow I think that's not true. Now, step aside, so I can find this person and simultaneously thank them, and soundly defeat them in bat--"

You don't even get to finish your sentence as he backhands you through the nearest building, with you crashing into the alley between it and the next.

Struggling to stand after such a blow, you wobble to your feet.

What the hell was that!? you ask Progress.

'I...I couldn't think anyone who's not an Avatar would possess such strength.' It says, genuinely stunned.

"And that was me holdin' back." Paragon says, descending from the sky and touching the ground lightly.

"What the hell was that!?"

>cont.

>>46911219
"I told you--me holdin' back. Can you please drop the subject and get outta' my city now?" he says, not seeming to want to repeat himself.

As you move to throw a futile punch at him, he grabs you by the throat and lifts you up, his hand so large it easily closes all the way around the width of your neck.

You struggle to get out, feeling the pangs of cold reaching you, as kick your legs beneath you.

"W-What the hell..." You say, wheezing.

"I told you--the man behind that incident is /dead/."

He said he wasn't here anymore, actually--there's more to the story.

Realization hits your brain, and you grin beneath your cracking helmet.

"You must be the man I'm looking for. What, regret what happened?"

"I'm gonna kindly ask you to shut up."

>Shut up.
>Don't shut up like the smug ass we are.
>Write-in.

>>46911314
>>Don't shut up like the smug ass we are.

>>46911314
>>Don't shut up like the smug ass we are
Oooo-who-who-whoooo, what happened? Get a little frisky? Get a little loose one day? See one bad guy too many run off? Let me see it, let me see what you can do!

>>46911314
>>Don't shut up like the smug ass we are.
This is how we died

>>46911380
>there's TWO IVORY MOONS AAAAAA

>>46911314
>>Don't shut up like the smug ass we are.

>>46911472
>VENOM MOON!

>>46911603
>>46911380
>>46911375
>>46911344

"So how many people must've died here from that?"

"Shut up."

"I know quite a few almost died in Tekkosho, a lot even did!"

"I said to shut up."

"It's a miracle I didn't--"

An icy fist crashes into the wall beside you. Glancing up, you see pure shadow and frosty air surrounding the area of his face where his eyes once were.

"/STOP GETTING INVOLVED IN THINGS YOU CAN'T UNDERSTAND./" He says, echoing and bestial in tone. You hardly know if you're talking to the same person anymore.

You for once, stop talking.

"/I KNOW YOU'RE AN AVATAR. AND WHEN THE CURSED SOLSTICE COMES, I'M GOING TO END THE FOLLY OF AVATARS SO THAT THIS WORLD CAN FINALLY BE SAFE OF OUR CURSE. AND WHEN THAT DAY COMES AND WE FIGHT, I WILL NOT SPARE YOU./"

He drops you to the ground and walks away, frosted footprints leaving in his wake as he shoots off into the sky, a flurry of snow blustering all around the alley.

Suddenly, you mind is overwhelmed, whipping images of a phoenix, a tortoise, Progress, and a dragon. Your mind floods with information, and you can feel your mind expand with that very information.

Your mind can now only focus on one thing, as you glance at the waxing moon in the sky.

Progress WILL win the Solstice.

EPISODE: IVORY MOON: END.

--

real henshin/discussion/what the fuck hours is go

>>46912004
I always knew Paragon was a prick. Thanks for confirming that.

>>46912004
So Paragon is the pissy teenager of the group who cant deal with the awesome powers

Didn't someone call it that Paragon was gonna be one of the avatars?

>>46912049
He's actually the only one who wants to end the cycle of the Avatars besides it's essentially just one big cosmic circlejerk with a lot of innocents in the crossfire.

>>46912081
Is he one of the four? could he be some fifth being, banished or on a longer rotation?

>>46912081
I think Angry or was it me who called it, I been waaay to busy with DaS3 PVP to recall

>>46912103
So he's the neutral one. my SMT powers intensifies

>>46912163
>neutral
Does that mean if he wins, we reset everything and the cycle continues?

>>46912163
Yeah. Typically the Tortoise takes the role of Law in the SMT-verse in the Cycles, being the oppressive, but safe option. The phoenix is Chaos, and any other Aspect essentially fills the niche routes.

Paragon is a wild card as he sees far beyond the current Cycle, and compounded with his guilt, he wants all of the pain to just end.

>>46912249
So Truth is just really the bad guy?

>>46912283
Nah, just conflicting ideologies. That's all the Solstice competitions really are.

Truth isn't the totally-right, but he's also not totally-wrong.

>>46912203
The opposite. If he wins, it flat out ends

>>46912330
Oh boy, it's gonna end up where we kill all our friends or something like that isn't it?

>>46912377
As much as I kinda-sorta enjoyed SMT IV, I wont be that cruel.

This (hopefully) won't go all Evangelion and everyone in the world getting Tang'd.

>>46912377
Sounds just like an SMT game, AmericanDubs.

>>46912377
Best way to close a Quest right?

>>46912418
That was actually a reference to SMT1. Because that's exactly what you do in SMT 1. And it's the canon ending too.

>>46912459
So I recall--but SMTIV has all your friends dead except in the Neutral Ending.

>>46912480
In IV, ALMOST all your friends are dead. The only one I believe still alive is Isebaeu (or however you spell her name). Walter and Johnathan are gone. Though I'm not entirely considering what I've seen of Final/Apocalypse. That being said, is it possible for us to end up teaming up with Paragon to end all this if we end up at that juncture? Better yet, if Paragon is an Avatar, what does the one backing him think?

>>46912543
It could be the case--again, to some degree the choice is yours in this quest. The only degree it's not is that I do need some structure and planning on my end--totally throwing it to you guys would be (no offense) chaos.

>>46912766
What would be the "Worst" ending we can get?

>>46912794
Yukari gets dumped. Oh, and the world ends.

>>46912794
Makoto leaves you for getting fat.

>>46912794
Everyone dies. Makoto dies slowly and we have to watch.

>>46912847
So what is the best ending

>>46912961
Yukari gets her harem. Oh, and the world is saved.

>>46912980
And she's also not fat.

>>46913157
>Implying Masked won't make her magical realm be the waifu's realm after a certain time

>>46913190
i make this quest for you guys and you bully me incessantly like this

>>46913190
>Implying that Masked already got us in her magical realm

>>46913226
It's all in love, Masked. <3

>>46913233
>Implying we're not in her realm already

>>46913226
We love you so much
>>46913248
Better then all the other times I been dragged into one

Thread's up on the archives.

>Denying your father one last solace before he dies and instead choking him out
This isn't justice

>>46913835
>its not about justice
>its about being better