He nods, and falls in next to you as you crack open the door to the arena. The boisterous crowd noise becomes much more clear as you stride through the doorway. Though partially blinded by the glaring spotlights, you can see that the makeshift colosseum is packed with far more people than were at your match against Belts. Another important thing, you note: none of them appear to be simple bystanders. Somewhere on each spectator, you notice splashes of red adornment in the form of hoodies, hats, or armbands. This is the full might of Meatgrinder’s Red Boys.

“I’m pretty great,” Blowout stage whispers over the roar of the crowd, “but I don’t think even I can take on this many guys.”

You cover a nervous gulp with glibness, “speak for yourself.”

At the centre of the room, a hulking figure is whipping the crowd into a frenzy, waving his arms, shadow boxing, and otherwise putting on a display of aggression to come. Even if his inhuman stature didn’t give it away, the dirty trenchcoat and crude red mask are unmistakeable. Meatgrinder. Leaning against the far wall next to the opposite door is Blueline, his hockey themed getup spattered lightly with what is probably blood.

When you step out of the short walkway and onto the arena floor, the crowd starts hooting and hollering even louder with words that are far from heartening. The ogre-like super villain turns to face you, and glowers at you through ragged eyeholes

“Blindside,” his voice is more gravel than man, “I’m surprised you had the guts to fight me!”

The crowd guffaws along with him, a horrible lawnmower on golfball sort of crunching noise. Your hands curl into fists; you can sense Blowout tensing up behind you.

>Surprise attack!
>>Use item.
>Engage in banter.
>Write in.

AHAHAHAH
HAPPENING

hey OP, I was thinkin' of makin' a little PHO-interlude after this thread, so tune in tomorrow morning or so, I'll slap it in here if it's still up. or whatever.

>>298564
>Engage in banter.
Might get fucked up by an unexpected attack if we run in. I'd rather focus on defense for now. Also the extra time will let us use our ability to localize weak points.

>>298578
That sounds dope, I'm excited to participate!

>>298564
>Banter
always banter, anything that draws this out is what we're going for
>"Guts, Balls, I got all the things you won't much longer"

>>298564
>>Engage in banter
Is Meatgrinder an outright Case52 or does he just that swole?

>>298564
>Engage in banter.
Use powers to see what we can see while doing so.

Welcome back! Love the quest!

>>298580
If you wanna feed me a few PHO-usernames, especially any (verified cape) or w/e to throw in, that'd be rad, rather not shit on your continuity too hard. Also, is it more-or-less-cannon time? I need to know for Xx_Void_Cowboy_xX reasons

>>298584
>Case52
Uh... you mean case53? I think case-52 was Narwhals 2nd trigger or something.
And he's probably just that swole, fuckin' BrowBeat was that swole, and he was a 16-year old C-lister

I'll give the first post a 20 minute vote period to get off the ground, then I'll shorten it to 10 minutes.

>>298588
It's canon-ish time, yeah. The Leviathan attack on Brockton Bay hasn't happened yet, but it's a pseudo-alternate timeline so it might not happen at all.

>>298564
>Surprise attack!

Banter it is! Writing.

>>298595
Also, I realize, if I'm doing PHO style, I need to <timestamp> posts, what day is this goin' down? (Cannon starts... April 9 2011?)

>>298595
If we ever meet Skitter we should pressure her into getting drunk as fuck.

Mood music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXpawZ1aHx0&index=15&list=PLyIFQr1wryPI6uj3BiTarGtcduk2ZG38N

>>298638
I don't remember exactly, I think it's mentioned at the beginning of the first thread. The actual dates won't line up, but otherwise assume that it's canon-ish.

>>298645
I don't think skitter ever makes it west of Chicago, discounting Golden Morning
And since we're never really going to be a big international threat We're like, Tinker2 I doubt we'll run into the cannon storyline. Away from it, probably, but into it?

“More than you’re gonna have by the time this is done,” you spit back, sounding markedly less clever than you wanted to. You unball your fists but keep your fingers tensed, ready to leap into action at any moment. You keep your eyes locked on Meatgrinder as you start slowly pacing right. Blowout moves to follow you, but a quick shake of your head convinces him to stay back for now, mirroring Belts’ stance at the opposite end of the room.

“Big fucking talk,” the beast growls back. You feel as though “growling” is the only sort of noise Meatgrinder can make. “You got lucky last time. This time, I’m going to drink from your skull!”

“Sounds like your throat’s a little dry, I’d try water first.” Man, you think, I’m throwing junk tonight.

You think you see confusion behind the twisted red mask, but it’s too hard to tell in the harsh lighting conditions.

“Fucking kill him boss!” a voice comes from the crowd. Needless to say, it’s met with plenty of cheers.

Throughout your “banter,” you have been concentrating on your power, trying to assess Meatgrinder for weak points. The auras aren’t fully formed, but a few vague ideas have begun to take shape. Which is fortunate, as Meatgrinder lets an animal roar tear from his throat as he charges towards you!

>Write in!

>A refresher on combat.
Just like the last few threads, we're plagiarizing a bit (a lot) from Deniable Assets. You guys give me suggestions as to moves/reactions/actions, I put them together in a list, and then you roll for each of them in descending order. Sound good?

>>298653
All I know from 1st thread is that the quest starts around 2pm on a sunday, and people are starting to "leave for the summer" which could mean, like, april - june?

I'll skim again to check, and try to throw together a ... charitable timeline for PHO shitpost glory.

>>298703
Probably April or early May, yeah.

>>298691
>Lead with a bola
>continue banter
>"Looks like you're stumbling over yourself to get started"
>"don't let me trip you up"
>"Going down on the 2nd date? you little slut"

>>298691
Hammer every beginning of an aura.

>>298691
If he is rushing, hop over him and strike at his collar bone, if we can break it, he will have less power in his strikes on that side. If we cam, strike at his back and try to break or Crack a rib.

Given that we've got like, three votes, I'll extend the voting period a little longer.

>>298691
Defensive stance, don't go in for a hit until the auras sharpen enough that we know it'll actually do something to him.

Rolled 6, 10, 1 = 17 (3d10)

>>298742
dodge to the side and try to snag his coat, climb up his back, and wrench off his mask...

>>298774
unmasking people? oh nonono, lets not play that game. Rules bro, rules. MG don't giva shit, but others do.

>>298774
Hell no. Nigga that's over the line.

>>298784
To be fair I'm sure he stands out regardless.

Sorry guys, was dealing with a small emergency.

Let's see, we've got
>Defensive stance
>Focus on finding weakness
>Throw bola
>Jump over while attacking
>Snag his coat

Does that look vaguely agreeable?

>>298784
yeah, the intent is to piss him off so hard that he looses his shit.

>>298742
in defference to >>298784 perhaps we just leap off his back and wave at Belts

>>298797
MG seems like the type that'd be more mad about being accused of the homosex than being unmasked, which is more likely to make heroes hate us, and Snakehead/Octoballs try to kill us.

>>298795
Sure

>>298795
Don't know how we're gonna snag the coat but yeah, sounds good enough. Oh, try and dodge the charge. Might be a good idea.

No one seems to be dissenting, so give me five d20 rolls!

Rolled 11, 17, 3, 8, 14 = 53 (5d20)

>>298822

Rolled 17 (1d20)

>>298822

Rolled 12, 13, 12, 9, 3 = 49 (5d20)

>>298822
Welp, it was sure nice being alive.

Rolled 2 (1d20)

>>298822

Rolled 15 (1d20)

>>298822

Rolled 5 (1d20)

And that's five!
11
17
12
2
15
Not bad, mostly. Writing!

>>298853
Kay, so, I went through the threads, I know that:
1.) it's at least spring
2.) it's not yet July.
3.) it's 2016
4.) Summer Break has started in Alberta. (Which is, like, June 28 this year I think?)

That should put the first day of the quest as Sunday, June 26.

But fuck that, I'm ignoring the summer break shit, and pushing the timeline back to Sun April 23rd making today, Thursday April 28, which means that, if cannon is more or less happening concurrently, BB should be getting a bombing spree soonish. <<ASSUMING>>

You immediately drop into a defensive stance, hands raised in front of you. You try to keep your feet light as you continue to scrutinize Meatgrinder’s weak points, even as he barrels towards you. Just as your power sharpens the vague feelings into something more concrete, your other power, your fighting reflexes, jolt to life, jerking your body to the left to get clear of the oncoming train of a man.

Too slow: a ham-sized fist connects with your flank. Thanks to your last minute efforts to dodge, most of the impact is deflected off of your armoured costume, but the force is still enough to send you reeling off to the side with the wind driven from your lungs. Ouch.

You snap your arm out like a whip, hurling Redline’s spherical gadget towards your foe. Spotlights glint off of its metallic sheen as it splits in half, sides connected by a thin cord. It whistles and spins through the air, flying true as an arrow towards its target. It connects with Meatginder’s left leg, weighted balls swinging out and around his right leg before locking together in a loose loop.

God damn it Redline, you mentally curse. The thought dies when you see the slack cord start to reel itself in: the bola starts to tighten of its own volition around Meatgrinder’s legs.

Still carried forward by the momentum of his charge, the villain stumbles on the metal wire, turning towards you as he does. For a moment, it looks like he is going to fall, the bola growing tighter and tighter around his ankles. You brace yourself to attack the second he falls, but it doesn’t come: the sheer might of the supervillain’s charge has apparently jammed the reeling mechanism, and the bola remains only loosely tangled in his feet. Still, it’s something.

Though it’s not what you had hoped for, the stumble is enough. Lightning crackles through your legs as you let your power take hold, springing up and forward in a hail mary leap over the doubled-over Meatgrinder. Avoiding his wildly grasping hands, you arc up and over him, striking down towards his head mid-air. The accuracy and speed granted by your power can’t quite make up for the alien experience of trying to fight while jumping over the equivalent of an oncoming freight truck, and your blow catches nothing but the collar of his jacket. Thinking fast, you instead grasp at the dirty tan fabric as you fall, securing a tight grip on his coat.

>OPs still have a posting cooldown time of like 45+ seconds
>on a thread dedicated to prolific OP posting
10/10

>>298924
That sounds correct enough for me!

>>298978
>>298972
flurry of blows if we have no specific targets then go after the traditionally weak points whilst singing "eyes elbows nerves and groin" to the tune of that one children's song...

I should've mentioned: Give me some more actions, senpaitachi. the fight's not done yet!

>>298972
>Leave an active flashbang in his pocket
>Get some distance

>>298996
Apparently he's going strong on the whole bull strategy. If he charges again, go for a clutch dodge into a strike to one of his weakpoints. His momentum should give a good hit some extra oomph.

On the off chance he doesn't, stay out of his range and weave in after he strikes. Hitting weak points is a priority, but shouldn't come before dodging. We can't afford to trade blows.

>>298996
Attack him with the sword, only activate electricity when he tries to grab or block it and then follow up with a heavy slash when he's stunned

>>298996
Try to avoid direct prolonged close range fighting, attempt to dodge his charges and try and jab the sword into his weakpoints, preferably those behind him for safety. We need to outlast him then take him out.

>>298996
Let him charge in, grab his arm, whichever is outstretched more, and rollalongside him as he charges. Bring our elbow into his temple or ear. Ear might stun more. Bring one leg up and jump off his hip, this puts him off balance and puts us away out of his range. Stump le might let the Bola get more of a grip on him.

Example: his right arm is forward, we grab him with our left and pull him forward and roll so that our shoulders are along his arm. As we turn our elbow goes in to his ear/temple. We are turning on our left foot, right foot comes up and we kick off his hip.

>>299045
>Stump le
I meant stumble.

>>298994
>>299009
>>299018
>>299027
>>299043
>>299045
Let's put something together with this:

>Use grip on coat to toss a strategic flashbang
>Safely get some distance
>Use the sword to to keep him at distance
>Dodge dodge dodge
>Capitalize on his weak spots

Give me some d20 rolls, yo.

Rolled 17 (1d20)

>>299057

Rolled 4 (1d20)

>>299057
ID's make life easier when people forget their trip

Rolled 14 (1d20)

>>299057
lol Jim, dat name/trip loss
>Captcha, hamburgers are not sandwiches.

Rolled 10 (1d20)

>>299057

>>299057
you're also forgetting your tripcode...

>>299057
dice+1d20

Rolled 18 (1d20)

>>299057

Rolled 4 (1d20)

>>299069

>forgot tripcode
JUST

>>299060
>>299061
>>299063
>>299064
>>299070
17
4
14
10
18
Pretty solid lineup! Writing.

You capitalize on your position behind Meatgrinder to quickly retrieve one of Redline’s flash grenades from your belt. With a flick of your wrist, you roll it in front of Meatgrinder and attempt to dart backwards out of the way. Before you can get to a safe distance, a spadelike hand flails backwards catching you hard on the right shoulder. The heavy blow drives you towards the ground, and you feel numbness flicker along your arm as you turn the downward momentum into a desperate roll. Your helmet and Meatgrinder’s wide frame block the worst of it, but your ears still ring when a brilliant, screaming flash erupts from the grenade.

Meatgrinder claws at his masked eyes, roaring in tandem with the infuriated crowd. You don’t have time to take fully observe your surroundings as you hastily leap to your feet, your power lightning in your muscles. The hilt is already in your hand, and you jam the release button. With a forceful snap, the blade unfolds to its full length in the space of a second. Your power lurches forward, and it seems like it is carrying you rather than the other way around. You thumb the second button as you lunge, electrified blade tearing towards your disoriented foe. He howls and lurches back at the pain as you ram the tip into his back, at the bulge of muscle at his right shoulder. Before he can turn, a heavy slash a bit farther down his arm, battering at his tricep. He roars louder, swinging his deadened right arm wildly as he spins to face you. The massive tree trunk of a limb slams your blade off to the side, and he follows it with a brutal slap to your head that leaves your ears ringing. You manage to quickly recover and face him once more, taking a few steps back. He advances in lurches, swinging at you recklessly. You punish each strike with a surgical riposte, and he is unable to get closer.

The two of you pant, each of you having recieved heavy blows from the other; even without your power, you know this fight can’t possibly last much longer with this kind of blow trading.

Give me some options guys, things are getting pretty cereal.

desu I'm delightfully surprised at how well things are going

>>299186
>>299194
engauge in taunts

"toro! TORO!, fight me bull!"

>>299186
>another flash grenade, get more distance
>Razzle-dazzle motherfucker

>>299186
Have we found any significant weak points yet?

>>299186
Take advantage of his paralyzed limb by keeping yourself to his right as you fight. And I guess try and hit his face ? (That's gotta be a weak point, right ?). Maybe use a Flash as a distraction to get the hit in ?

>>299194
Try to pull cape over his eyes, maybe use another bolo around his neck to keep it there

>>299186
Focus on trying to pick out any new weak points created by our attacks, then try to bring him down fast and hard by targeting those specifically. I imagine if we focus on the side with his paralyzed limb we can get closer and do a lot more damage.

>>299186
backing
>>299201

>>299216
My bad, yes you have. You can tell that continuing to hit his arms with your sword will be a definite good move, you have particularly noted that he seems to be favouring his right arm heavily already throughout the fight.

>>299244
Continual strikes at his right bicep and tricep, one after the other. Maybe make a comment about that arm being his girlfriend too.

>>299194
>Go for the legs again
Jim Motherfucking Mac is that you?

>>299201
>>299209
>>299230
>>299236
>>299253
>>299235
>>299260
Alright, from this I have:

>Taunt him into charging
>Toss a second flashbang
>Target his right arm
>Target his head
>Target his legs

Give me d20s!

Rolled 20 (1d20)

>>299268
Got a good feeling about this roll.

Rolled 10 (1d20)

>>299268
No it's not you, ya trip

>>299268
Sorry guys I'm busy shitposting on /int/ while I wait for you guys to respond and I keep forgetting my trip

Rolled 9 (1d20)

>>299268
>>299271
Double 20?

Rolled 4 (1d20)

>>299268

Rolled 5 (1d20)

>>299268

Jesus christ. If this twenty doesn't do it this is over.

>>299271
>>299277
>>299289
>>299290
>>299291
20
10
9
4
5
Haha oh dear. Let's find out what happens.

Rolled 14 (1d20)

>>299268

>>299300
>Taunt him into an attack
>Taunt him a little too well.

>>299300
CHRIST

>>299300
>itsallogre.jpg

>>299300
Here's hoping Redline gives us a pity fuck in the hospital before they pull the plug.

>>299338
Here's hoping Belt's doesn't.

>>299346
>>299338
watch, belts is the gentlest lover...

Are we ever gonna get more powers? Being pretty good at fighting is nice I guess but I wish we had something more tangible

>>299397
2nd triggering is unlikely and honestly probably not something we'd want to happen.

>>299397
Would require a second awakening I'm pretty sure. Tbh I'm pretty happy with our current suite of powers though.

>>299397
We don't need more powers. We need a Tinker BFF. It's the same thing only without the trauma of a second trigger.

>>299397
not really how it works in this universe. you don't get new powers, you just get creative with them

>>299401
>implying we won't have a second trigger after getting our shit stomped by meatgrinder

>>299411
I'd hope not, would be far too early in the story for my tastes. Assuming this is meant to be a long running quest.

>>299403
>>299404
I just feel like in practice our powers make us a better than average human fighter up against actual superhuman powers. And we dont have any of batman's plot armor.

>>299404
The Q to our Bond.
The Lucius Fox to our Batman

>>299409
Right but our powers are so straightforward that there aren't many creative applications for them

>>299423
I think you need to go re-read the upper limits of our power in the first thread then desu mate.

>>299433
I'm imagining James jumping in front of Jack Slash, smelling of bourbon screaming "SWEAR TO MEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" at the top of his lungs.

>>299423
makes for an interesting challenge.

the real trick is using powers to make us effectively better.

we can see weaknesses in powers

>>299433
arsenal to our green arrow?

>>299437
not with an attitude like that no.

>>299440
this guy has a point, punching battleships in half was on the upper limit...

you just need to find the right place and apply the right pressures...

>>299444
???????

>>299423
we have pretty good plot armor or we'd be dead already, frankly.

And keep in mind, our power sort of takes the reigns a bit in fights, this likely pushes us already beyond the bounds of what is actually humanly possible, since it could allow us to perceive/process/decide/act faster than silly little things like physics would normally allow.

>>299423
That's how most capes are in Worm though. There isn't the universal durability buff Marvel and DC hand out to everyone. Contessa is only capable of actions a normal human could perform, and she's one of the strongest in the universe.

>>299457
and we have a power that is functionally identical to her combat ability. at high levels anyway.

>>299457
>only capable of actions a normal human could perform
That's a huge understatement. She's capable of simultaneously managing a timing and degree of fine control that are both impossible to even optimal idealized humans, her power is pretty damn bullshit.

So... are we a thinker or a brawler?

>>299437
Do you know the main reason that dual wielding swords is not used? Human beings do not have the skill and co-ordination to use the two weapons together without tangling them up. Sword and dagger/offhand work since those offhands are often used in a very limited fashion - parrying or trapping device often. With a full control of our body and superlative skill we could use all sorts of weapons and undertake actions that would be literally impossible to pull off for anyone else.

With a sword, the main limitation is not strength or skill, it is ability and the application of the correct technique at the correct time. Many techniques used in fighting and combat rely on it being literally impossible for a person to be fast or skilled enough to punish - guards rely on people not being fast enough to sail past, feints rely on being unsuspected and fast enough that a person can't react. With our power, we break those rules. The expected flow of combat is completely disrupted because what is assumed to be safe is NOT safe against us.

Added to that is our understanding of weakness - combined with our superlative skill, we can sail past the guards of the fastest and strongest person because every single guard and defensive position has a weakness which can be exploited - it is just expected that a person will not know all of these weaknesses. We do. Not only do we know all of these weaknesses but we know ones that other people don't even know exist.

Sure, some people might be lightning fast and hit like a truck, but as long as we can actually hurt them, after we've taken time to train, we should be pretty much unstoppable. Of course, if they are ranged, impossibly durable or have some sort of strange ranged ability, we'd be in trouble.

>>299471
We're both

>>299471
brawler isn't actually a classification.

we're effectively a low level brute potentially a striker if we get to the punching battleships thing

>>299468
the timing was controlled by the passenger, everything she did was within human ability...

>>299471
Right now, we'd probably get a PRT Classification of Thinker < 5. exactly where depends on who does the rating at the time and what kind of mood they're in, it's pretty subjective, and, via WoG, basically is whatever the local director feels justified in assigning at the time.
If, for example, we're currently rated Thinker 2, and there's good footage out there of us beating MG around, the local PRT might bump us up to Thinker 4 or so.

If we ever start actually karate chopping battleships, (or, really, anything larger than a cinderblock) we'll probably be given some kind of Striker rating. If it only works on inorganics (as the Marvel power does) it'll be lower than if it also worked on meat.

>>299472
But we can do all that with one sword anyway.

>>299480
Her fine control is also well beyond what a human can control. Scientifically speaking, our ability to control our actions isn't really a "slider" its more like the frets on a guitar, sure, there's a *lot* of frets (usually, depending on the action) but still a finite number, Contessa does not have that limitation, it's how she can, for example, throw something not just at the right time, but the exact right angle and speed.

Your breath is hot in your mouth, tinted with copper blood. Ragged. You stand panting, roughly ten paces from Meatgrinder who appears to be in no better condition: his right arm dangles loosely at his side. Your head is full of noise; the screaming crowd, Blowout, Donald, yelling something you can’t quite make out. Harsh white spotlights give Meatgrinder’s crude mask a primal cast, your vision swims slightly with intense fatigue even while your power flashes through your every being like icewater.

“Come on!” you yell, flinging your arms out to your side in a taunt, any trace of clever banter gone in favour of raw intensity. “Come the fuck on!” You can feel that old rage swirling around behind your eyes, cloudy and garbled up with shock and fatigue.

Meatgrinder takes the bait. Like a locomotive pulling out of the station, he starts lumbering towards you, shedding his trench coat. The grenade is in your hand in a split second and gone in another, guided by your superhuman accuracy. Shit, briefly crosses your mind as you see Meatgrinder’s left arm bat the oncoming grenade away. You see it soar in a high arc to the left, but keep your eyes locked on the oncoming beast. You clutch your sword in two hands, feet planted, spirit resolute.

“Come the fuck on!”

>>299468
Ok, the actions her body performed were well within normal human capability. She wasn't lifting cars or running faster than sound or tanking nukes and she scared Eidolon. Nuff said.

Lightning flashes in your arms and the sword digs deep into Meatgrinder, like pike square receiving a charging horse. In this case, it’s more like a mammoth: he keeps barreling forward through your electrified blade to slam into you like a sack of bricks. You manage to keep your feet, hardened boots scrabbling against oil-stained concrete. Arms too heavy with numbness to swing, Meatgrinder keeps charging forward with you in a crude bear hug. Your sword trapped against his body, you batter at his head with your free hand. The red mask cracks under your assault, but the hulking villain doesn’t stop.

A deep crunch as you are slammed bodily into the wall. Hammer and anvil. Your vision wavers, but you manage to keep your senses. Somewhere else, there is a bright flash, and screams. Flashbang. That ragged red mask is a primordial demon’s visage in the harshness of the spotlight, but you’re not afraid. You thumb the second button, and Meatgrinder’s heavy carcass jolts above you with the shock. A tingle spreads from where the sword is touching you as well, but either your suit or your shock dispels the pain. A jerk, your sword hand comes free. Meatgrinder lifts you by the waist and slaps you against the wall. Like beating a rug, you think, what a silly thought. Two hand grip, reversed. You thrust the blade down into anything you can hit, twice, three times, you lose count. Meatgrinder grunts, buckles. The world is spinning, Is this what a front flip feels like?

You land on your stomach. Hard. Where’s the sword? Muscles screaming with pain and power you twist your head to look, resting it on the dirty cement. Meatgrinder is hauling himself up two meters from you, the sword is too far. Bodies running everywhere, red and red and red.

>>299513
Yeah I started to ramble and the two sword point got lost. Two swords are pretty useful though, but only really against another person with an actual edged weapon

FWOM

A deep rumble that you’ve heard before; Meatgrinder is on the ground again, farther away. Some of the bodies move too. Red Boys.

FWOM FWOOOOM
It sounds far away, like a ship’s horn on the far side of a foggy island. A hand: blue and orange. Some words that are too quiet for you to grasp. The sword is pressed into your hand

“Come on man get up!”

FWOM

You clasp the hand, spit a bit of blood as you stumble upright and the world starts making a shred of sense.

Meatgrinder has retreated, and a roomful of Red Boys are in various states of mobilization, some still reeling from Blowout’s pseudo-telekinetic attacks. You shake your head; your thoughts are like lightning bolts, penetrating through the fog of

“Thanks,” you grunt to your friend as you take up a stance beside him.

“What’s the play boss?”

Your composure falters briefly, and you nearly collapse, only propped up by adrenaline and your power. Without my power, you think, I’d be dead.

The Red Boys begin to advance.

>>299520
What were Contessa's powers again

What's the play, team? Run? fight? Pray?

>>299527
always knowing the path to victory.

thats it, in sum total.

>>299527
The ability to perceive the optimal route to accomplish a goal, and the ability to perfectly follow that route.

>>299528
Run. Use that escape we have with Redline.

>>299528
Have Blowout stun them with sound and dispatch them one by one with the shock sword. We ain't no bitch. We have to fight to git gud.

>>299526
Escape, Press the little red button

>>299532
That's stupidly overpowered

>>299527
>>299532
And being able to flawlessly execute the next step, which is huge.

Also, being a plot device, and a literal fedoralord.

>>299543
Yes.
That's why she's one of the most powerful capes in the world.
Also, she has "blind spots" where her power all goes to shit, but she has practice working around them.

>>299528
CATCH OUR BREATH

"can you keep the red boys back for a bit, don't worry about grinder"

back away slowly, we need clearance, separate from blowout, if WE get charged, dodge and do no other thing.

if HE gets charged we bola grinders legs and go for one final hail mary

>>299543
yup, in easy simple steps that are each well within human ability...

>>299528
Nade out, push the button, it's go time.

>>299538
>>299541
>>299553
Three votes for peel like a banana.
>>299539
>>299551
Two votes for stay and fight.

Five more minutes to vote!

>>299543
>>299548
>Also, she has "blind spots" where her power all goes to shit
to elaborate, trump powers(like mantellum), end-bringers, scion, Eden

>but she has practice working around them.
if you phrase the challenge correctly, yes, she does know how to do the thing

>>299548
>fedoralord
listen dude, as awful as fedoras have become she at least wears them appropriately. that is to say, that she wears them in very nice formal business wear.

if she were to wear them over a t-shirt and ragged jeans then she'd be a fedora-lord

I don't own a fedora, I have the culture equivalent for may area, a plain black Stetson. and because they are so commonly worn wrong I can never wear it except to funerals, job interviews, and some flavors of church and that bugs me...

it seems I've gotten a little ranty...

>>299570
Run.

>>299570
COME ON GUYS, WE CAN DO THIS.

REMEMBER THE PHONE-CALL WE MADE?

THAT WAS THE PIECE OF ADVICE WE NEEDED....LET THE MATCH TAKE MORE TIME.

>>299570
STAY AND FIGHT MAGGOT
Pretty sure we got told to stick it out.

Try take out some of the Red Boys, they should be easy prey and hopefully tangle Meatgrinder up

>>299582
>>299580
Fine, let's follow the shitty advice we gave our life away for. Changing >>299541
to
>>299580
>>299582

>>299526

>>299570
Keep fighting

>>299578
CHANGING MY VOTE TO FIGHT I'M SORRY

>>299580
We already won though. MG is running away and the Red Boys are covering his ass. No reason to stay when we already beat him.

it looks like we've found one of our 4 or 5 moments guys...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ok8AzVc9RuE

>>299600
if we also retreat, then its a draw. if we stand and he flees, we win.

>>299600
He's temporarily retreated, not given up

Oh man this is hurting my tiny brain to count.
Fight:
>>299539
>>299551
>>299580
>>299582
>>299590
>>299594
>>299588

Looks like we're going to try to end things for real!

Give me a battle plan, I'll take as many as ten steps this time.

>>299621
>Clear a path: Bro-out and Nades
>Trip the fucker up with the last bola
>StabStabStab
>????
>Profit?
>Prophet.

>>299621
How reliably can we see attacks coming or counter them? We should keep moving towards Meatgrinder, taking only as much time as it takes to block a punch or to disable a gun user on the way.

>>299621
Blowout stuns everyone with sound waves
We jump over everyone/run on top of them and catch meatgrinder by surprise with a precise sword strike in the back of the neck

>>299625
Not perfectly, but definitely more than anyone with your level of training aught to have.

>>299621
Attack a bunch of Red Boys
Get them tangled up
Bait Meatgrinder into fucking his own guys up to get to us
Attack him while he's amongst a sprawled heap of his own team
optimistic but it would be good if it worked

>>299621
to reiterate
>>299551
>CATCH OUR BREATH
>"can you keep the red boys back for a bit, don't worry about grinder"
>back away slowly, we need clearance, separate from blowout, if WE get charged, dodge and do no other thing.
>if HE gets charged we bola grinders legs and go for one final hail mary

his power gives us reaction time, we NEED time to react.

blowout is still fresh. if we break a charge from him or render it useless we will win, no question. but we cannot be wearing ourselves out with the red-boys so blowout holds them.

also, pass the red button to blowout

>>299631
Alright, I'll change my vote to have Blowout do the heavy lifting with the Red Boys. Afterwards we give MG our worst.

>>299623
>>299626
>>299630
>>299631
Let's see:
>Flashbang, have Blowout cover us so we can take a breath
>Have Blowout create a hole, take advantage of chaos
>Go in for the kill, targeting weaknesses

Sound good? Start rolling if so.

Rolled 6 (1d20)

>>299671
here we go

Rolled 9 (1d20)

>>299671

Rolled 19 (1d20)

>>299671

Rolled 1 (1d20)

>>299671

Rolled 7 (1d20)

>>299671

Rolled 6 (1d20)

>>299671

Rolled 12 (1d20)

>>299671
I gotta admit I didn't like this sort of dice system with DAQ and I don't like it much now either

>>299684
shid

>>299674
oh shit
>>299676
begins praying to lady luck
>>299682
experiences happyness
>>299684
ANGRY BINARY SCREETCHING
>>299691
I think we should maybe stop or our casket will be a cheap pine box...
>>299693
...with at least some reasonable dignity to the burial...

Rolled 5 (1d20)

>>299671

>>299698
It should only be the first three rolls right?

>>299674
>>299676
>>299688
>>299691
>>299706
SO MUCH SHIT
>>299693
meh
>>299682
the one good role.

Welp, it was a good 10 threads guys, guess we'll roll 1d4 to see how many limbs we have left.

>>299710
so do I pray...

>>299674
>>299676
>>299682
6
9
19

DRAMATIC ENDING TIME
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prvAdHXUvbs

>>299698
Dont just drag on the suffering man.
3 rolls or some such, stop rediculous runs like this from train wrecking.

Rolled 5 (1d5)

>>299712
If I roll 5 we have 0 limbs left.

>>299727
CLUTCH
L
U
T
C
H

guys, what art do we have of Blidside?

any drawfags out there?

>>299768
I pretty much imagine him looking similar to Red Hood from the Red Hood and the Outlaws series

“Hold ‘em,” you tell Blowout through gritted teeth as you stumble back a step, lobbing a flashbang into the crowd. You screw your eyes shut and try to take a breath: it comes in ragged gulps that taste like sweat and blood, each heaving of your lungs seeming to do more harm than good. Only now that you’ve stopped do you fully start to feel the full extent of the damage to your battered and bruised body. You grit your teeth and try to stop it from progressing any further, lest you shut down completely

FWOM FWOOOOOM

Enormous bass echoes throughout the room, vibrating your bones, mingling with the sudden shriek and whine of the grenade. You look up to see the bulk of the Red Boys reeling, hands clasping ears and eyes, semi-conscious bodies on the floor in writhing mounds; the few that remain standing brandish weapons unsteadily.

You take one step forward, and your knee nearly buckles out from under you. Another step, your hip grinds like steel on asphalt. You contain your power in your mind, forcing it into your brain, numbing it and overcoming the pain; it feels like holding a living thing in your hands, like a snake made of anger and broken glass writhing to get out. You know that if you let it go, the second you let slip that unfathomable beast, you will be lost. You take another step forward.

>>299768
There is a couple pieces floating about. Think it's just quick n dirty tier from a drawfag but it's out there, somewhere

FWOM FWOM FWOM

The sound is a mile away, the Red Boys stretching out into blackness, into infinity, blowing like leaves in a hurricane. The low rumble is cut by staccato claps under heavy blankets, pinpricks in your leg, in your arm, on your chest. The world is a streaked watercolour of red and black and light and dark and sound, and you keep trudging forward, your body a lifeless automaton, not truly yours. No, you are the lightning, the serpent, and the hand that holds it, and you command the dead thing with legs to move forward. The sword dangles in its grip loosely, dragging along the floor with each shuddering footfall. Red figures step into your vision, and you let slip a little of your spirit through your fingers, an electrical bolt down your arm; the sword flicks with inhuman precision at each invading presence.

At the end of the tunnel of bodies and blood and noise, a red-faced demon pants hungrily: you know his name, and you are here to destroy him. The lightning consumes your mind, a fiery hunger that leaves only rage and singular purpose. The legs move faster, you make them move faster, even as little wasps sting at you, even as your blade swings again and again at the red men and women that block your path. You are sprinting, the serpent is uncoiling, the body below you follows suit in its own lumbering way. Heavy footsteps, Meatgrinder’s jagged smile is unwavering as it grows closer, charging you as you charge him. Ten paces away, nine, eight, seven, your sword is in two hands. You release your grip on your power and let it explode throughout your entire being, carrying your blade in a perfect line that you can see before it is even there, a line through the red-faced demon’s soul: you are the lightning.

And then, the lightning was gone.

Thus ends Capes of Rain City, Season 1.

>>299830
golfclaps
well, it's dinner time, sometime tonight or TM morning I'll get churning out a little side (non-cannon unless blessed by jim) PHO Interlude for my fellow anons.
>Select all Pies
FUCK YOU CAPTCHA PIZZAS ARE NOT REAL PIES

Did we win?

>>299830
Holy shit that was amazing writing I love this quest

>>299830
Fucking awesome!

>>299830
Danke Jim

>>299835
It would take something truly monumentally shitty for me to not consider it canon, I look forward to reading it!

>>299836
It seems like you beat Meatgrinder, at the very least.

>>299838
thank you anon <3

>>299830
Good shit man. I wanted to see the aftermath but cliffhangers aren't all bad

>>299847
Are we ded?

>>299836
not the right question I think

the right question is did we live?

>>299847
somehow, I think your car accident gave you improved wrighting ability...

>>299835
Basic outline of what I'm thinking
>3 threads
>"Rain City Mystery hero" - a thread Jim mentioned back in thread 5(?), some initial speculation about Blindside/his powers/meme name suggestions, I'll probably show page 2 or 3 or something early
>"Meatgrinder Threat" - some side details and notes about the fight, speculation of "did he dead?" showing second to last page
>Something hero based. Not sure yet. I might make another OC here, I might expand on one of the half-dozen or so capes Jim named back in threads 1-3, who the hell knows. Probably not Decider, since Jim seems to have plans for her.

SEASON 2 WHEN?

Now, I have a pretty big announcement to make. I have loved running Capes of Rain City so far, and I love how much you guys seem to enjoy it.

However, I think for the time being, I'm going to shelve it. I fully intend to come back to it (likely sooner rather than later), but for now I feel like I've sort of gotten too far inside my own head with it. I got a bit too focused on how I wanted the story to go and how I wanted characters to develop and now I feel like I've sort of turned myself around so much I don't really know what I want anymore.

What I'm saying is, I think I need a palate cleanser, something to shake things up for me a bit, and so I've decided to start a new, less long-term obsessive quest to go probably until mid August-ish. If I decide I'm ready to pick up CoRC again before then I absolutely will, otherwise I intend to start season two towards the end of August.

I'm sorry about this guys, it especially feels tacky after coming back from a two week unexplained disappearance, but I know that if I'm not having a gas running a quest, it's not going to be as good as it should, and I don't want to soil CoRC by half assing it.

>>299898
Sounds like a plan, man. Are you going to be doing a timeskip in the quest as well, or picking up right where we left off?
Also, new quest when? New quest what?

>>299898
Do what you wanna do Jimmy. And thanks for running.

>>299898
Sounds good!

Maybe a one off Not!Scooby style mystery?

>>299909
There will be at least a short timeskip, being that our hero is probably going to be out of comission for at least a few days.

New quest wise, a total 360 moonwalk. I want to do a classic, medium fantasy adventure style thing, giving the players a lot more agency in where we go and what we do. I have a little opening blurb if you want to read it.

I was also thinking I'd give you guys, my loyal dregs, the opportunity to make some pre-quest character decisions.

>>299898
>need a break, shit's gotten twisted.
exabyte(another good quest runner) said nearly the same thing after the first dozen or so episodes of Near-future cyborg quest.

it was a good decision then, I say go for it. I'll be waiting.

>>299937
>ideas; fantasy setting
cheerful, retired, adventurer defends village from ork warband by being clever and a good teacher of tactics and dirty tricks.

>>299952
Good one. Gotta think of something with a clear ending. I haven't seen anyone do a Venture Brothers quest. maybe one where we are the O.S.I bodyguard on temporary assignment. Villain comes in and if we lose, we get "reassigned" or the Super Scientist gets bumped up in threat level and we get "replaced" by another agent

>>299967
there is a clear ending possibility. we die, or we watch several of out pupils go out to be adventurers, or we return to retired life once the orks are all killed, or some other improbably thing...

I actually did a sort of writefaggy thing like that once, a 2 page story. anybody interested?

>>299859
btw, if anyone wants to help/be immortalized forever, I need some suggestions for PHO usernames. I suck at usernames.

>>299937
>Fantasy quest ideas
Young monk is sent out of the monastery by a wizened sage to deliver vitally important documents to the capital city. Monk is told to open the package containing the documents under absolutely no circumstances, and to let none but the leader of the other temple see them.
In truth, it's all just a ruse. The sage is sending the monk out to experience the world, and the package contains only a note congratulating him on a successful journey or something.

>>300005
battleplatypus

IsexedAlexadria

HeroWorship69

power_pimple

>>299952
>>299967
Those both sound fun, but I was thinking I'd go even more carte blanche and instead do a sort of thing where the whole quest is just a series of loosely connected one/two shot side quests done by the same character, so when I inevitably return to CoRC on a whim I won't have to spend an entire thread trying to crash it.

The classic: "you are Bob Adventureson from Bumpkinville, and you have decided it's time to take on the world. Do you go easy, West, or south?" Type of deal.

>>300015
>>299937
Woops these are obvs both me, posting from mobile now.

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>>300015
Here's the opening segment I wrote the other day:

[i]The year is 1752 AEC, and the world stands on the precipice of something momentous. In Erath, the Holy See of the Graces grapples with the Arcane Lodge for political power in the wake of the Saint’s War, now thirty years concluded. To the east, the newly crowned King Leopoldo II has made aggressive moves in reunifying the squabbling city states under the banner of Valtrusal, even while his treacherous siblings flee in the wake of a failed coup. Along the south coasts, strange ships have been spotted; the angular sails of Suzhan junks becoming an increasingly regular sight in the larger ports. And as ever, soothsayers whisper of grave portents from beyond the Red River, of demons wreathed in smoke and ash.

However, our story has a much more humble beginning, and we turn west to the sleepy town of Gnarley End, where a youth is about to take the first step of their great adventure.[/i]

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>>300015
awwww......but battlegranny...

File: 1466834253003.png (374 KB, 559x900)

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...I got us some drawfaggotry, it isn't 100% but it's pretty cool

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PTO INTERLUDE
Thread the first

More to follow eventually. Probably.

Just want to blow in and say that I missed the thread because I was out partying with friends all day, but I'm really excited for it to be back!

Though I don't really engage people on twitter, just thought I should let you know that it's good you're not dead, and that I'm happy shit is working out!

>>300731
....DUDE, YES...BRING ON MORE CONTENT OHMIGAWD...

reading that was way better than writing 10 times that many words worth of Overwatch smut

>>300731
It's PHO, not PTO, but das some gud shit.

>>299524
Better a sword and a pistol in each hand. We could probably do shit like swordfighting one opponent and shooting another simultaneously.

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>>300731
Hope you like your soup anise flavored, and prepared by the husband of that guy who does your mom's pedicures, because it's PHO time!

>>300714
Oh shit that's tight

>>300731
>tfw outshone by your fans
Damn it anon, this was a great read

>>302058
>Oh shit that's tight
might be tight, but it's not accurate enough to the description for me...

we got some good drawfags in /tg/

>>302058
I mostly just dredged some nuggets up from threads 1-10, strung them together, then had a hell of a time trying to come up with usernames.

I still wanna do one more about a Hero, thinking of doing a ward since you haven't touched on any wards yet.

>>302183
Go for it! I don't know how much I'm going to actually touch on Wards so you can go nuts.

>>302737
I didn't imagine you'd do much with them, since MC is in his 20s, tweenagers being more than background noise was unlikely (and would be a bit skeevy).

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The sad thing is all the little, intricate backstories and interrelationships I've made for all the fictitious posters in these throwaways.

Anyway, this is the last photerlude, at least until CoRC returns!

By the by QM, if you want me to make more at any point, just say so, its sorta fun.

Also, since no one else did:
>Obligatory Rapes of Cane City.

Also, Also - side note - the Villain doc is locked/restricted/broken/something, It don't work. Not that it really matters for a couple months.

>>303301
This is great, I dig it!

>>303733
Naitaka was the most adorable changer cape name/concept I could come up with.

I have this whole headcannon now about the antagonistic relationship between GuestMouse and Burnababy stemming back to the two groupies competing over one of the wards.
I need to leave the house more

>>303733
OI JIM!

odd question...how many bones yah think we broke?
there is a reason...

>>300731
>>301468
>>303301
I've been trying to detect if I can recognize any characters in there, but I can't do it.

Are there any cheeky hints in there, or am I trying to deduce something from nothing?

>>312461
>Are there any cheeky hints in there, or am I trying to deduce something from nothing?
Yes.

>>312476
This is going to drive me insane.

>>312705
Sorry, answering either/or questions with a simple "yes" is something Wildbow is famous for, so I was being a referential smartass.

Well, the easy ones:

Ajax is Ajax
Naitaka is Naitaka
and
James Halvor is some PRT Schlub named James Halvor - he's actually the PRT cafeteria lunch lady

I also kinda sorta meant for
GrapeApeBerate to be Clark from Bean City
And maaaayyyybeee for
termsor to be Liam

But that isn't exactly well alluded to, in case they need to have different user names in the future of the story, for some reason.

>>300731
>>301468
The date triggers me

>>318350
what's wrong with the date(s)?