Rolled 70 (1d100)

>>1345118

>A. Roll 1d100 and see how well you can squeeze yourself into the tight-looking passage Tatsuya chucked his car keys down.

Where the hell have you been Weasel? What's with the weird OP?

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>>1345133

Busy with life, mostly. I'm just glad I have a day off to QM for once.

Also, hoping more players show up soon...

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>>1345133
>>1345152

OK then, going with Option A unless other votes come in quickly... Also, less than 5 minutes after I posted the OP weird shit starts happening with my internet when I had thought it was fixed, WTF?

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Let's try this then. Hope this post gets through cleanly; 4chan ate my last three attempts at updates.

>>1345133

"At least I'm out in the sunshine... The last few days have been all doom and gloom with rain." You silently do a couple of stretches and hear your body's cracks, aches and pains as much as you can feel them. When you're limber enough, you take a look down the well, the light not even reaching the bottom and sigh. "Guess there's no other way, huh?"

"I suppose not."

You shrug your shoulders and sigh, mumbling "The shit I put up with..." before you hop up over the stone that surrounded the dug-out hole and grab a rope, your bodyweight doing the work of sending you down as you stand on top of an old, rusty bucket. It gets perilously tight the deeper it goes, so much so your shoulders almost get stuck. Fortunately, after a couple of minutes of wriggling you manage to lift one of your arms up and that gives you more than enough free space to drop all the way down to the very bottom without any further trouble. You take a breath, oddly finding that there's quite a bit more oxygen down here than one would expect, then look up at the distant light from the surface before turning on your flashlight to take a look around.

"OK... Why is there a door at the bottom of the well? And why are these walls so... "Modern"? Like they were created to look like naturally-carved rock instead of actually being made of the stuff..." You manage to find Tatsuya's car keys quite easily and palm them into your pocket, but the intrigue of your surroundings is enough that part of you wants to take a quick look around... Something's telling you that this "Well" isn't all what it seems.

>A. Head over to what looks like a door to your right and examine it. Who knows, maybe you could try to open it?

>B. Head back up the rope to the surface; This place is creepy as hell and you shouldn't be wasting time.

>C. Head over to the left and see of there's a passage or something; Maybe even buried treasure?

>D. Write-In Vote.

>>1345231

>A. Head over to what looks like a door to your right and examine it. Who knows, maybe you could try to open it?

Follow the plot-thread.

>>1345250

Still having internet issues. Sorry for the delays.

>>1345250

You walk softly across the muddy, earthen floor towards what looks like a rock that's being disguised as a door. You carefully run your hands around the rock and feel a couple of what feel like seem lines and a gap that could be a disguise for a hidden card-key slot.

"... Why does this feel familiar?" Having grown up in... No, having THOUGHT you grew up in an underground mining town in Australia, you can tell what's natural rock and what's not. And it's clear to you that this "Door" certainly was created by somebody to hide something...

"The fuck was that?" You quickly turn around at the sound of someone (Something?) walking towards you... Except to find nothing there. Being down here, it feels like you could run into your doppleganger, or your "Dark side" down here like in all of the god-awful kung-fu flicks Tatsuya watches. And it's strange, because just a little over ten minutes or so ago you were chomping at the bit for a fight, or something interesting to happen... But now that you've got a real air of mystery down here, you want to turn tail and run? When historically speaking, The King of Fighters tournament that you're busting your ass to compete in is a thousand times worse than this?

"Huh... Wonder how deep this mud is?"

And of course, your train of thought derails going into the station... Same old Fortuna; Focused until you have to be, then your attention span turns to that of a goldfish... No wonder you haven't even gotten your black belt in Kyokugenryuu yet. Not that you know any woman that ever has, but damn it's not a nice feeling.

>A. Roll 1d100 Try to and pry the door open. Fear be damned, you want to know what's on the other side.

>B. Climb back up the rope and tell Tatsuya that you need to GTFO of here.

>C. Leave the door alone for now and head to the left; You have a strong suspicion that there's ar being pumped in here from somewhere close by...

>D. Write-In Vote.

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>>1345317

And all of my text modifiers are missing... Great...

Test
Test
Test
Test
Test

Rolled 40 (1d100)

>>1345317

>A. Roll 1d100 Try to and pry the door open. Fear be damned, you want to know what's on the other side.

Rolled 67 (1d100)

>>1345317
>A. Roll 1d100 Try to and pry the door open. Fear be damned, you want to know what's on the other side.

>>1345335
>>1345344

"... OK, no more fuckin' around." You feel the small seam line in the "Rock", then try to force your fingers in there. Curiously, you manage to get enough wriggle-room to try and move each side of the "Rock" away from the other. Slowly, carefully but with all of your strength, you manage to part the facade and catch a glimpse of some kind of metal before you have to give out and back away before your hands get crushed.

"Fuck me, this thing's bloody serious shit." You notice that the rock-facade has a bigger gap than when you first tried to move it though, so you go for it again, throwing all of your energy and strength into opening the damn door. This time, you manage to make some headway and feel the tension in the rock-doors loosening up enough that they don't feel like they'll close in on your hands if you cut yourself some slack. Eventually, you have to stop and take a breather, but smile as the "Rock" is split open to reveal a sliver of a strange, metallic surface.

"That's... What is that? Kind of looks like one of the walls in Kazahaya's underground fight club, except without the weird designs running all over it." You get as close as possible to the metallic door behind the facade and shine a light on it, only for there to not really be any kind of shiny reflection. Puzzled, you turn up the brightness setting on your flashlight to the max and cover your eyes prematurely... Except there was no need; Somehow, the door actually looks darker the more illumination it received...

"Huh... Reminds me a little of that story /x/-bror posted on FightChan."

>A. Roll 3d20 and RYUUKO RANBUU the door open.

>B. Screw it, your already tired and don't have time for this shit; You should head back up top and get out of here.

>C. Look around for a key-card slot, or maybe a hidden panel that has a punch-code or something; Brute force isn't going to work on this thing.

>D. Write-In Vote.

>>1345398
>C. Look around for a key-card slot, or maybe a hidden panel that has a punch-code or something; Brute force isn't going to work on this thing.

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>>1345398

>C. Look around for a key-card slot, or maybe a hidden panel that has a punch-code or something; Brute force isn't going to work on this thing.

Got to go after this. Posting cheesecake as thanks for running.

>>1345398
>C. Look around for a key-card slot, or maybe a hidden panel that has a punch-code or something; Brute force isn't going to work on this thing.

Had to take care of lunch and few household chores. Excuse my tardiness.

>>1345418

That's some good cake.

>>1345415
>>1345438

"Right... Plan B then."

You draw your attention over to that conspicuous-looking rock channel just off to the right of the faux-rock doors, looking for a panel or some kind of card-reader slot hidden in the increasing darkness, all of those ridiculous FightChan ">Creepypastas" swirling around in your mind. You shut off your flashlight and squat down to really get a look at the channel in the "Rock", even going so far as to block out any surrounding light around your eyes to try and get them to adjust to see anything out of the ordinary... And sure enough, you can faintly see a red light, like an old bar code reader at a supermarket check-out.

"Holy Shit! /x/-bro was fucking right about all of that conspiracy-theory shit about the NESTS laser strike!" You're heart's pumping and you can almost feel the adrenaline coursing through your body as you get back up and again feel for some kind of shut-line for an access panel, or a switch hidden in the rock or something that can get you through the other side of the blast-doors coated in such a strange metal... But to your dismay there's nothing; Looks like the card-reader was the only way to get in... Well, unless you had super-strength and could break the doors open by brute force alone.

"Bloody hell... Close as I have been to finding out if that Gabriel guy was just blowin' smoke and there's now way I can get in..." Your thoughts are interrupted by what sounds like Tatsuya calling for you, but strangely it sounds distorted, almost muffled by the time it reaches you down in the man-made cavern this "Well" was hiding.

>A. Roll 1d20 to try and fiddle with the key-card slot-thing with Tatsuya's car keys; It looks like they're thin enough to try and mess around with.

>B. Head back up the rope to the surface and tell Tatsuya that the of you need to GTFO of here ASAP.

>C. Roll 1d20 and take a look up near the top of where the seam lines of the faux-rock doors end; Maybe there's an optical scanner or something like that?

>D. Write-In Vote.

>E. Roll 3d20 and RYUUKO RANBUU the door open.

Rolled 12 (1d20)

>>1345539
>C. Roll 1d20 and take a look up near the top of where the seam lines of the faux-rock doors end; Maybe there's an optical scanner or something like that?

Rolled 1 (1d20)

>>1345539
>C. Roll 1d20 and take a look up near the top of where the seam lines of the faux-rock doors end; Maybe there's an optical scanner or something like that?

>>1345578

Ooh... Too bad Anon.

>>1345565

"Not yet mate... I've got one more idea." You ignore Tatsuya's shouts for now and take one last look at the walls on either side of the doors, hoping against hope that you'll be able to find something like a retinal scanner or something to let you in. Alas, just as you start to take a look on the left side the batteries in your flashlight ominously give out, leaving you in near-total darkness. You try not to panic, but you can feel that paranoia from just a minute or so earlier coming back; The feeling of being watched by someone, or something, that calls this place home.

That's when you again see some kind of bar-code strobe light just a little above your eye-level (This one green), but see that it's only in the crack of some kind of shut panel that you can't even come close to opening. "Fuck it, I'll try to do this another time. Sensei's getting worried." You sigh, do a couple of arm stretches as you walk back toward the rope and make a jump up onto it, slowly beginning your long climb back up to the surface. You somehow manage to get past the really tight spot that had you stuck going down without a hitch and kiss the grass in a "Praise the Sun!" kind of pose.

"How long did it take you to find them down there? Because unless they got a lucky bounce they shouldn't have gone too far away from the well..." Tatsuya starts to say, halfway chuckling as you hop back up to your feet.

"Oh what, these? Flashlight found 'em right away" you admit, then toss them underhanded back to Tatsuya. "The thing is..."

>A. Tell your sensei what you saw and see what he says.

>B. Roll 1d20 and tell him that the two of you need to leave this place. NOW.

>C. "Ah, you know how it goes: Look for something mundane and then find some Area 51 shit. No big deal."

>D. Write-In Vote.

>>1345648
>A. Tell your sensei what you saw and see what he says.

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>>1345702

And I was just about to ask "Any Voters out there?" too...

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>>1345702

You take a short breath, then calmly tell Tatsuya what you saw down in the well... And feel your heart sink when you get a blank stare back at you.

"You're looking too much weird stuff online, like Pumpkin used to."

"I know what I saw down there. And I haven't been on Fightchan since you started working with me."

"Uh-Huh... So, there was some kind of passage on the left?"

"Looked like it, yeah."

"And the "Doors" you sort-of shifted open?"

"No clue what they were made out of, but it was like they absorbed light instead of reflect it" you counter, feeling more and more at odds with what you saw down there.

Tatsuya pauses, scratches his head and then admits "I guess this wasn't the place after all.."

"... How many wells are there in Southtown?"

"A couple... None in the city, of course, but there's a few up north in the mountain towns and stuff."

"Huh... You learn something new every day" you hear yourself say, then quickly add "So... Penny for your thoughts?"

Tatsuya mulls it over, takes a look around and then turns back to you with a grin you've grown to hate over the last ten days. "Let's hit the bricks, 'Tuna. Your call."

"Well, that's nice of him... Kind of like deciding to die by electric chair, firing squad or lethal injection..." "Does it have to be right here?"

"Eh, it's up to you. If this place really is the hidden base of some two-bit syndicate, or a drug-dealers hide-out or whatever we can always just beat'em up."

"Aaaand that's my sensei for you...' "Fair enough..."

>A. Focus on Fundamentals of Kyokugen: Punches, Kicks and your 3 major special moves (The "Tiger Cannon" Uppercut, "Flying Gale Kick" and the "Tiger Gleam Fist" Ki Projectile).

>B. Go crazy on your Ki attacks and Special Moves, making your moveset your own distinct style of fighting like Yuri Sakazaki does.

>C. Practice mixing in some more throws, Judo or Otherwise, into your moveset while training to take advantage of landing them.

>D. Write-In Vote.

>E. Look at South Town through the eyes of someone else for a little bit.

(I'm going to have to go on a bit of a break for an hour, maybe two. Expect an update somewhere in there, but nothing frequent for a bit until around 6 PM PST/9 PM EST.)

>>1345818
>C. Practice mixing in some more throws, Judo or Otherwise, into your moveset while training to take advantage of landing them.
Can't let that Judo background go to waste.

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>>1345712

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>>1345889

Cute. I should've titled that pic "K-Dashed 'Tuna" though.

>>1345851

And I'm back and updates will resume for a little bit, with the next one on the way ASAP.

Also, anyone enjoying the DLC for KOF XIV? I'm kind of sad Yamazaki doesn't use his knife as much anymore, but good god the poison damage combos he has are insane.

Rock Howard is fucking insane with the Command Grab loops as well, holy shit. Not digging Vanessa's new look though; She reminds me too much of the skank from Tekken 7 (I want to say Katarina?), especially with the open-toed shoes.

>>1346341
>>1345851

It takes a bit of practical thought on your part to decide what you want to focus on. Realistically, you're not planning to do any hard training tomorrow because of travelling and are probably going to take the day after off as well because preliminaries for the KOF Supplement Tournament will begin... So, as selfish as it feels for you to say, you take a breath and reply "I think I need to go back to my roots a little Sensei. I don't want all of my background in Judo to go to waste, so I want to try and expand on it; Carve it out and make my strikes either set-up my grabs or be a confirmation to land them."

Tatsuya nods, but just as quickly replies "It's going to be hard to try and make the two halves of your martial skills into a solid whole in such a short amount of time..."

"I know."

"And to be honest, outside of the basic stuff that's the bedrock of Kyokugenryuu I'm not much for grappling..."

"Yeah, but you're a big enough bloke that if I can lift and throw you around I'm on to something, right?"

"Maybe" is all Tatsuya says, but the expression on his face tells you what you need to know.

"...He's not happy... Fu~uck, he's probably going to take it out on me right now."

Tatsuya grimly looks around, then says "Do your warm-ups while I scrounge up our equipment" before running off somewhere.

"Huh... Maybe I was wrong...?" you take a moment to fill your lungs with a deep breath, then go to work on your calisthenics and high-impat stretches in a spooky silence, the chirping of crickets and birds your only company... Until you hear what sounds like a plane about to crash and instinctively back away and then do a full-on "Jump-Back Scare" as a big cloud of dust and dirt where you were once standing.

"The fuck?!" A quick look reveals that it was a boulder about the size of your head that was either thrown or dropped from the sky, but soon you hear another one on the way and instinctively move out of the way. "Ah fuck me, it's like that one scene from "Sudden Violence" all over again..."

>Roll 1d20 to dodge the incoming barrage of boulders! (Best of the first 3 rolls will count)

Rolled 4 (1d20)

>>1346426

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>>1346426

>No Replies after over 2 Hours

Screw it, I'm calling time on this ses-

>>1346761

Bitchin'! Let's get two more in!

>>1346761

You manage to just step away from another rock being thrown at you, but you stumble around and manage to fall over, another boulder landing right on your stomach. It knocks the wind out of you, but you don't feel any great pain as you manage to shove it off as more large rocks begin to fall haphazardly around you and the water well. "I heard that Sasquatches were once a thing up in these foothills, but this is just ridiculous!"

You manage to hop up to your feet after a log roll to narrowly avoid another rock, but one of them lands right onto your left foot. You gasp in pain and start to hop around on one knee, the steel-toed boots doing an admirable job of protecting your feet but the simple sting of that rock hitting at that angle and trajectory enough to leave you to get hit by another boulder that lands square on your back. You trip forward and land chest-first on the soft, grassy earth as what feels like 100+ Lbs on your back pins you to the ground.

"Why... Do they... Sound like bombs going off... When they land?" You try to ponder what the hell is going on as the rain of natural earth subsides, craters and deep holes in the ground around you making it feel like you're left in a war zone all too yourself. That is, until you can hear Tatsuya whistling from a distance away from you.

"Whew! Who knew I could still chuck some rocks around like the old da-" You hear Tatsuya start to say with a hearty, huffing voice when he gets within earshot, but only get an "Oh" out of him as you finally manage to sit up and shoot daggers at him with a cold glare.

>A. "Well, you fucked that one up Sensei."

>B. Tell Tatsuya that you're in no condition to do anything after that last little "Training Exercise" and ask him to drive you to your "Home away from home".

>C. "Mind if you give me a hand? That shit was nasty, mate."

>D. Write-In Vote.

>E. Roll 1d20 to go "Full Bogan" on him; This is the straw that'll break the Camel's back.

>>1347026
>C. "Mind if you give me a hand? That shit was nasty, mate."

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>>1347096

Part of you wants to go nuts and yell and scream in pain at what your sensei just did, the foot that got hit starting to slowly ache a little bit as you wiggle your toes and your back hurting a great deal worse than you initially thought... But, another part of your mind just chucks all of that out the window as you ask "Mind if you give me a hand? That shit was nasty, mate."

Tatsuya nods and helps you up to your feet, that one foot really starting to shoot with pain as you try to stand on it. "Ta. I need to sit down and get my kicks off; My foot got banged hard by one of those damn rocks you were throwing at me."

"You were supposed to dodge them, or break them with punches & kicks."

You give a look at Tatsuya that tries to say "Do I LOOK strong enough to do that?" without saying anything at all, but sadly your expression goes right over his head as he helps you hobble over to a downed tree log to sit. You manage to pry your boots off, but you can feel your foot's already swollen and ask Tatsuya "Did you bring any herbal remedies or oils for aches & pains with you?"

He takes a good look at the bruised foot and replies "I'll go check the car" before wandering off, giving you some peace and quiet. You feel waves of anger washing over you, an odd energy welling up in your gut that makes you feel like you've got indigestion (Impossible, mainly because you haven't eaten enough in the last few days to really pick up any stomach bugs)... So, you try to do some "Earthing" (Basically, sitting with your bare feet on the ground and doing a form of meditation) to calm yourself down. "... Why am I having to get angry just to be motivated to do anything lately?"

Before you know it, Tatsuya's back with a couple of bottles of who-knows-what with foreign-language labels and goes to work on massaging your feet. It oddly feels like somebody rubbing sandpaper all over your skin, but eventually you start to feel the pain subside enough that you can stand on it again, even walking around a little.

"I was going to try and have you do some shot-putt drills with these rocks, but I don't know about that foot..."

"Yeah, it's gonna be a bitch to fight on in a few days..."

"You want to just do some stretches and call it for today?"

>A. Roll 1d20 and try to bluff through the pain. You just spent thre days doing fuck all stuck on a sofa; No way that' happening now.

>B. Nod, then grab your shoes and walk/hobble with Tatsuya back to his car.

>C. "Not much of a choice now, is it?"

>D. Write-In Vote.

>E. Look at South Town through the eyes of someone else for a little bit.

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>>1347226

===

>Pause Updates

Thanks to all that participated today. I'll be back tomorrow to continue this at the usual 10 AM PST/1 PM EST/5 PM GMT time to inch our story forward towards the big tournament our MC's immediate hopes and dreams rest on.

>Player Question:
Shermie, Blue Mary, or someone else as a grappler role-model? (IE "Combo-Into-Grabs", "Grab Enders/Extensions/Chains" or something else entirely for a playstyle?)

>Bonus Quest:
On a scale of "Disgusting" to "Eh", how much work does the new OP picture need?

>>1347226
>B. Nod, then grab your shoes and walk/hobble with Tatsuya back to his car.

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>>1347356

>Updates resume

"Damn it, and I really wanted to get some work in today... Ah well." You sigh and nod at Tatsuya's query, grabbing your shoes with one hand before putting your free arm around his shoulder.

"Tough break about the foot, 'Tuna."

"I know..."

"I think I've got some stuff back at my place that I used to use on Pumpkin's bandages all of the time."

"Think it'll help keep the swelling down?"

"Probably... You've got that plane ride tomorrow, right? Should be plenty of down time for the salves to do their thing."

You nod at that, thinking back to the call you got late last night from an "Anonymous Person of Interest" that explained that your plane tickets were to be delivered to "Your current residence" via courier, as well as offering instructions on how to handle yourself at the airport before the plane's departure. Of course, when you went to start to explain the voice on the other line that you weren't living at your listed address, they hung up on you... "Par for the course for KOF" was the thought that you vividly remember before going back to sleep. Your thoughts are broken up when Tatsuya props you up to rest on the roof of his glorified rust-bucket of a car, the hood showing a faded design that's supposed to mimic a famous Kyokugen Karate promotional poster and the driver's-side door showing a crude drawing of Tatsuya looking like The Incredible Hulk in an Orange Karate gi... Except of course, the faded paint and all of the dents dings make it look even more disturbing than it could've been when it was new. "Bah, he might as well be The Hulk compared to me..."

You gingerly take your time to walk around to the passenger-side door and climb in, the silence between the two of you punctuated by Tatsuya trying to get his car started. Eventually it pops and bangs into life, but just before the two of you start the long drive back towards Southttown you take a breath and ask him a question that has been on your mind since the day started:

>A. "How can I learn this art, or even learn how to fight when I feel so bloody weak all of the damn time?"

>B. "Sensei... You aren't disappointed with where I want to take the teachings you've passed on me... Are you?"

>C. "When are we finally going to eat something? You said we needed a "Cut-Day" for "Cleansing", but come on man... I'm starting to get dizzy."

>D. Write-In Vote.

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>TFW 1 Hour passes
>MFW No Replies

Well, that's encouraging...

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>TFW 2 Hours pass
>MFW STILL No Replies

Looks like this could be the end of the road after all... Well, I guess I had a run. I lasted a hell of lot longer at this than I thought I would as a QM, but I don't know... I have a feeling I'll be back sooner or later, but probably not with anything fighting-oriented and definitely not with a Fan-Fiction Quest (Too many negative connotations for the average /qst/ player IMO).

Three cheers to all of those that kept this show rolling for as long as it did. And especially to the crazy bastards that stuck through thick and thin when I ran on /tg/ and made one bone-headed mistake after the other.

Best of luck to all of y'all out there. Until we meet again...

I liked it mostly because it was a KOF quest, particularly with a unique MC that seemed to buck most trends in the roster. There were a lot of bumps in the road, and pulling a soft reboot out of nowhere didn't help matters either. It felt like you were still trying to find your feet with the story, but it seemed to meander for a while. The character drama is appreciated, even though it almost consumed the quest entirely.

It's also worth pointing out that for a quest called King of Fighters, nearly all the main quest was attached to Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting. Not once in the original or this reboot did you bust out Athena, as an example.

tl;dr - The idea was loved, but the execution seemed to hamper it. I look forward to whatever you create.

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>>1348555

You're pretty much right on the money on all points Anon. I have frequent anxiety issues in both my writing and in day-to-day life, so much so that I always felt like I needed to double and triple-check my own ideas for everything from character names, to backstories, to major plot points... And honestly, I feel like my own worst enemy a lot of the time.

Not trying to look for sympathy or whatever, just a reason why I feel this quest and my prior one never lived up the potential I saw in my mind at first.

A break from writing to think about something new to create, something different might be just what I'll need. I love SNK's library of games and series too much to abandon this kind of Quest entirely, but it would take a fresh approach and probably an all-new cast of characters before I could feel ready to do another KOF, or Fatal Fury or Art of Fighting Quest again.

>Pic Semi-Related: If you look closely, you can see the real reason why Kaja Hartkern's design was finalized early on in this background stage.