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>>3028110

Dream.

Or is it a memory?

The fire is inside you, now. Just a dull red glow, roiling in the blackness. The heat is upon you, your bones blackened by it, your armor fusing, melting.

And there is that sound. The constant hammer of the Forge, spinning towards eternity, despite the conflagration that envelops it. Engines belch, real and half-real, beating their iron hearts, churning the runnels of molten metal amid fountains of sparks. The sound of the distant ocean mingles with the roar of loosed flames, the dull strike of rotating hammers, the grind of conveyers.

Smoke. Smoke is everywhere, hissing and sliding through the darkness, making it hard to see what is there and what is not. At times, it feels like there are figures - presences - gathering.

At times, none at all.

Somewhere, a place crusted with power mechanisms and energy lines. A place rising from a turbulent sea of churning blackness, mingling with the distinct, hard-edged iron of the real.

You are being disassembled, dismantled, working part from working part - Every last piece laid out for repair. Like the gears of a pocket watch, sectioned, sifted, split into the smallest of components to be remade.

Threads of heat, around a cold, black core. Blackness, cut with a sterile azoic glow.

On some level, you are aware of this - On some level, you intuit this, for it is happening to you. Despite the heat, your limbs feel leaden, as if cold liquid metal runs through your veins. Like black mercury, like quicksilver, quickened by the first touch of flame - swelling to fill the void, to trace the damage that has been done.

Your hands are burning, burning - the fire held if your palms like blisters of bright pain in the cold dark. You have to let go, have to let the fire free. You have to-

Time passes. The pain comes and goes. The crackle of flames, the steady surrusation of invisible insects, the tick of an old clock, the droning hum of distant machinery. Firelight flickers, though it might just be the heat of the Forge.

The wind howls. The sun is setting, though it never rose. There is a sense of endings, of something coming full-circle, something being completed at last.

"It's almost time," the Red Joker says. Light flickers in his visor as he sits, a stone against a stone.

The words send a buzz of pain through you, and the dream begins to melt into waking. For a moment, you feel as if you're drowning, as if you're sinking into tarry black waters - But then you become aware of your limbs, of the pistons and servos awaiting your will, of the weapons that are part of you. Your mono-optic sensor hums to life, as you look out through your armor's eyes. Through your eyes.

Between the two of you, there is a circle of stones. A fire, one that somehow contrives to remain between the two of you - Keeping him on its far side, watching you through the flames as you writhe and convulse in secret agonies.

(Continued)

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>>3028114

Was he holding your hand, before? Kneeling at your side? You might have remembered.

Above, the wind rises. Corposant crackles. Lightning writhes and fluoresces.

"Should've told you, a long time ago - Kept putting it off. All the way until the end, when it was too late."

"You done better than I did, pilgrim. You found the Maker. You have the Nihl Eye. With the two of them, you might just have a chance." He makes a sound that might be a grunt, or merely the cycle of his autoloader. "I'd tell you more, but that's the part that's gone, down into the dark."

A faint whirr of acutators, as his head turns - Staring, unseen, into the final night that's descending.

"That damn axe. Why I left it behind, I can't say, exactly. May be - It'd seen enough death in my hands, by then. May be that it was waiting for you. Now there's a thought: Always thought it was cursed. Always thought it was ten pounds of bad luck, swinging on a strap."

"Maybe you'll break it in. Or maybe it'd be the death of you."

Like a mirage, framing the stinking abyss below - Towers and spires of solidified night glimmer at the very edge of perception, over the wasteland of jet sand and blackened material. Above the scorched earth.

"Can't help but think - I could've done better. Should've done better. Lord knows I've made mistakes; When it came to the bitter end...I opened up the city below to the black water. Let it flood. Let the hard rain come down."

"No matter how awful, how terrible this place was - Maybe there was something worth preserving. A legacy, a history...A culture. And it's all gone, now. It was built on cruelty, but what isn't? But by then it was too late - We destroyed it all, and there wasn't even anything left to salvage...Because there was no-one left to do the salvaging."

"Keep tellin' myself - It was the only thing I could do. But something like that...It stays with a man. No matter how hard he tries to forget."

He stirs. He stands, the only solid point in a moving world. The wind whips his duster, the brim of his Stetson twisting in its grasp. Spurs clink, sand grinding underfoot with each slow step.

"What I have - It weren't enough. Never could have been enough. If you're going to do this..."

"You need the White Joker's power, too." His mono-optic sensor rotates, ratcheting from left to right. "Him, you'll have to kill. Of all of them, he can't be allowed to live."

(Continued)

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>>3028118

"Because he's like you, boy. Because he has a job to do, and he'll see it through to the end."

The Red Joker's stare is straight-on, level, rigidly solemn. "How you manage that...You'll find a way."

When he laughs, the sound is rasping, ghostly.

"After all, you killed me, didn't you? Do well to remember it."

He steps forward, into the flames. His armored boots scatter the stones, scatter sparks. And you-

And you feel-

The pain is gone, ebbing away like the shape of a nightmare after waking, like the memory of illness. Or perhaps it is simply all sensation that has receded, into the level numbness that is a Player's existence.

> TIER 5 WEAPONRY UNLOCKED: THE INSTRUMENT
> ???

Unbidden, the shutters of your Helix Gauntlet iris open. The Nihl Sphere glows with a renewed light, brilliant as a star, the violet radiance streaming in all directions - Before the metal closes over it again, your fingers clenching and unclenching in involuntary spasm. On your left wrist, new stones glitter in HARMONIA's interlocking segments, burning with a lesser - but still potent - cold light of their own.

You stir. You rise.

Sand sloughs from your armor, trickling across your form in rivulets. The Tempest Scrander hums at your back, with patient tics of lightning - the vents hissing, as they clear themselves, power thrumming in your sensors. It's like coming back to life, a little at a time.

> HP: 165%

You can feel it in you, now - Seeking out the old code, shaking its hand, seizing control and changing its mind. Spreading the new order, particle by microscopic particle, changing you from the inside out. Copper lightning forks and crackles around you, as fresh armor plates unfold from your frame, layering deflecting edges over myomer. It traces across you, shedding that light from within, as if your armor can barely contain your incandescence, even as it flows over itself.

> All functions / equipment has been replenished.

The Athame remains lodged within - A stake through your heart. Unchanged, as your frame fades to red and black heat. You can feel it, hear it if you listen - The irregular beat of a faltering heart.

But which one?

(Continued)

(Both combatants have FOREBODE. You move simultaneously.)

>>3028122

"Reckon we're just about done here, pilgrim. Tried to help where I could, but...Mostly just been watchin'. But there ain't no more that I can tell you."

"When I made this, I always knew he might've found this instead. And, I figured...I wasn't going to make it easy for him."

"So - Just one last thing. One last test."

"And I tell you this, boy - You better fight like hell."

> FOREBODE activ-

A flicker of premonition-

The Red Joker moves, and his draw is as fast as ever. The Beam Magnum is in his hand, jointed fingers locked around the grip as it comes free. There is the low hum of gravimetric suspensors, as his Interceptors take flight - Four sharp slivers, orbiting in slow circuits around him as three more mag-clamp to his back. Tiny emitters at his gorget turn the color of old blood-

Then fresh blood.

Then open flame.

Scarlet energy lances free, painting the world with the color of stars seen through the smoke of burning cities. The photonic mantle snaps and writhes in the moaning wind, shards of energy splintering away from the flaming banner - draped around his crimson form, like a scarf - as the emberous light streaks your vision, rippling as it drags behind him.

The Beam Magnum's shrill whine cuts the air, as charge gathers-

Your Argus sensor detects weapon pods coming to life in his wrists, internal reactors cycling to full power over the buzzing growl of activating armor. Thrusters, rigged from the high-yield Interceptors clamped to his form. The revolvers in his holsters - the heavy-bladed sword buckled at his waist, the generator at the hilt seething with humming charge-

The targeting cursor blinks gold in your HUD, as warnings flash red. Dust-devils of black sand coil and writhe in the narrow distance as the moment unspools, accelerating and slowing all at once.

High-energy reactions. Vectors of attack.

All in a single moment. Faster than your sensors can follow.

But as he moves - Like a crimson thunderbolt, like lightning, without pause or respite-

You move too.

HP: 165.0%
VITAE BOOSTER: 200%
ASSAULT SHROUD: 150%
METER: 33%
ENCROACHMENT: 12%

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>3028132
Well shit, better go all fucking out.

Activate the Aquila System, Auspex and Blutsauger. Get moving and initiate the Photonic Halo array. Have Sinistral Level 2 ready to intercept any sneaky attacks and have Omen ready for the sweet precog.

Launch some missiles at the Interceptors and let loose a few blasts from a Vitae-booster Fusion Annihilator at the Old Joker.

Let's see where how this goes.

>>3028132
Match him blow for blow. If we have interceptors, unleash all of them. Give him a target rich environment to keep him distracted while we try to get up close. If possible when we enter close combat range pull a feint on drawing Golgotha and use Tyrant Burst instead to blind him.

>>3028132
FIRE EVERYTHING. We can't outdraw him, but we can muster a lot more firepower. Shoot as many missiles as possible, and use Vitae to close the gap.

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>>3028153
>>3028176
>>3028177

The talons of your boots gouge the ground, as the bloody light of the Vitae Booster pulses molten strength through your limbs. There is a rush of boiling air, as the Tempest Scrander swoons to life - the world blurring with dizzying acceleration, threat markers flaring on your HUD. Force slams into you, your afterburners streaks of blue fire, the burning wedge of your Sinistral slicing the air-

The alien filaments of the Photonic Halo clamp down - the nerve connection flickering through the sockets in your spine - weird light strobes and crackles around your high-crested helm, jags of power leaping, flaring in crown-of-thorns lightning. As your Interceptors take flight, orbiting around you like pilot fish around a shark, you reach up-

And draw OMEN.

Rook's tachyon blade keens, as black sand - borne on the bitter wind - sweeps against that all-consuming field. Power crackles and hisses through the falchion's fierce edge, glowing a hellish green.

As your Triskelion Launchers snap open, as your missile packs prepare to fling death into the air, premonition wrenches your limbs taut.

-a flicker of warning-

Your Fusion Annihilator's chambers cycle, the condenser gathering charge-

But you have to get within range. And all the Red Joker has to do is to pull a trigger.

Except - He aims up.

A wink of light.

A lurid brilliance, like a second sun. Matter-annihilating light spews forth, as the Beam Magnum wakes and screams.

The force of the discharge travels outwards in all directions. It vaporizes the ground underfoot; Towers buckle, like trees in a hurricane. There is a vast darkness of dust, a sweeping bow-wave, a terrible noise-

Shreds of blazing matter radiate outwards, carried by the vapor ring. The dust howls, stirred by the shockwave, as the ground rips apart. The earth undulates like water, splintering into fragments - With a run of hard, sharp cracks, a fresh fissure yawns wide beneath you, amid an avalanche of tumbling stone and sliding scree. Everything goes downward, seized by a terrible gravity, a blurred underworld of collapsing earth as portions of splintered towers collapse into the yawning gulf below-

Rubble and massive fragments slide off into the abyss, in an abrupt and raging landslip. Loose rocks ping off your shoulders and helmet, one hitting hard enough to shatter into shards - the chaos of the tumult defying sound.

(Continued)

>>3028198

The Tempest Scrander flares in the endless dark that yawns open beneath you - a gravity more than merely physical. You hard-burn, twisting in the air to evade the tumbling meteors of splintered stone, wrenching yourself out of the way of a multi-tonne block of masonry as it whips past, sparks hailing from the Scrander's drives.

Where's-

A moment's warning - The falling stone seems to shudder as it descends, a circle of heat glowing on the obsidian-black surface - you brake hard, a jet of thrust flinging you away, as the terrible light of annihilation spews forth again. It shears through the superheated stone, slicing towards you as you go tumbling backwards, end-on-end before you can right yourself-

There. There.

You *see* him.

The Red Joker lofts on a fork of fire, his thrusters hurling him forward - the Beam Magnum's barrel glows white-hot, as he mag-clamps it to his back. His remorseless shadow sweeps before him, chasing along the debris field, but your Auspex cuts through the swirling damnation clouds like the all-seeing eye of God - the muzzle-flash of his revolver lighting up like a starburst.

The first shot burns past you. A superheavy round, so dense it warps the fabric of space-time, so heavy it draws in a twisting trail of shards with its gravitation. It slams into a toppled half-wall and *keeps going*, rock chips riocheting from the Sinistral's field, glancing off your cuirass - the ploughing track of destruction gouging a new path through the tumbling ruin.

Axanael. 'To twist'.

(Continued)

>>3028118
>the Maker
Does he mean the Hollow Sun?

>With the two of them, you might just have a chance.
Oh shit, this means we'll have a chance to use all of that nice gear from the Hollow Sun.

Also, now it's finally clear what we should have done from the get-go:
Murder all of the major players. I'm so glad that killing Naoya is intended by the Old Man's plan.

>>3028233
Welp, looks like he's got an equivalent of Rubicante.
Let's see how this update plays out.

Man, this scene is pretty hype. I'm glad that you finally got to use it, OP.


Also, this is a memory. More or less.
Do we have uplink to the Leucocyte?

>>3028233

He takes his time to cock the hammer, as his other arm comes up. He aims the way you would point a finger, not slow but without haste. You glimpse the twin barrels of Vulcans, levelled directly at you, tracking you relentlessly...

Your Interceptors fire, as one. Columns of scorching light sear through the intervening distance, as your Triskelion launchers vomit forth munitions. Missiles fill the void, like seed pods, like a blizzard. The Red Joker's hovering drones engage, individual force shields flaring to life, a light-absorbing fog that dims his silhouette - engulfing him in his own personal storm. The slicing rays scatter, in sprays of prismatic light - Before your missiles slam into his shields, the combined detonation sending fire and death roaring through the void. Like the time-lapse of a flower's petals opening, blooming, dying, a storm of needles punching past in a dozen places, flechettes chewing into the Red Joker's armor like raking claws-

Plasma fire whips past you, each searing bolt a tiny supernova. Some burn through your Assault Shroud's haze of afterimages, searing them away in instant twists of ash. Some slam into falling slabs of stone, excavating molten magma-sprays of actinic sparks. With OMEN in hand, you evade - Banking away from the hail of shots, as rounds fireball against your armor, blackening the finish, the chasing hail erupting in a wave of tiny explosions.

Two charges-

Your Fusion Annihilator bisects the gloom. The Red Joker's shields do not even retard the beam - Already denuded from your earlier barrage, they pop like soap bubbles - Twin explosions flaring, as you sweep the beam to detonate them both-

Gone.

He's *gone*-

OMEN pulls as your arm, and you flood power to the Tempest Scrander - A heartbeat before your sensors shriek the lock warning. The acceleration punches into you with bone-breaking force, as you roll - Twitching aside on instinct, the scattering blast of heliothermic shells burning through the space where you'd been.

The Red Joker plunges down at you like a dagger, white brilliance lancing from his thrusters - He fans the hammer, his gun thundering, as you wrench the Sinistral up-

A dull concussion, from the front-

The world explodes in a torrent of flame. The sudden, shocking detonation hurls you back as he catches you center-mass - The noise is like a thunderclap, as you slam into a mirrored wall, terrible bites torn from the surface as it comes down in a whirling cascade of razors-

You look up. Actinic light flares, at your optics.

(Continued)

>>3028283

When your Photonic Halo discharges, the electrostatic shock is so brutal, so singular, your sensors blur from the backlash. The gout of power is like a supernova, like ball-lightning - And the Red Joker's form is at the epicenter of it.

The force of it cannons him backwards. You hear him grunt, as the impact rips him away. Sharp chips of the Red Joker's mantle scatter through the air, with a sound like smashing glass - Each glowing fragment flaring for a microsecond before it evaporates. With a terrible, ponderous grace, the stark shadow of a vast pillar - fully thirty meters long - tumbles between your dueling forms, as the Red Joker's next shot smashes into it, gouging burning craters in the stone.

You get your feet beneath you, braced against whatever you've slammed into - Vast shapes, like continental landmasses, whirling overhead. Smoke wisps from your cuirass, impact-burns smoldering - But you've hit him, too, in the breathless moments of the first terrible exchange.

HP: 129.4%
VITAE BOOSTER: 157%
ASSAULT SHROUD: 113%
METER: 14%
ENCROACHMENT: 3%

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>3028291

(My apologies, I should add:

INTERCEPTORS: 4/5 )

>>3028291
Can we throw the pillar at him with the Boosted Crisis Arm? How much does it cost to use the grab?

>>3028299

(About 20% normally, but about 40% in this instance. It's an extremely large pillar, but you CAN use the zero-point field to fling it.)

>>3028291
So there's a fallen pillar between us and Red Joker breaking line of sight.

Fire away with a swarm of missiles over the pillar, then follow the missiles.

Fire a vitae-boosted chain mine over the pillar. Then use the Argus system to fire Rubicante *through* the pillar.

>>3028291
Suspect he has a countermeasure, but EXEC_DISRUPT might be an option.

That aside, advance forward while sending out more missiles and blast him with the Plasma Caster a few times. Once we get closer bust out the Axel Grips and try to remove a limb or two.

>>3028306
>Once we get closer bust out the Axel Grips and try to remove a limb or two.
He's still at full mobility. No point in premature ejaculation.

We need to remove a limb or two before we do that. Or petrify him.

Either way, remember that line of sight is broken, if I'm reading this correctly.
We could send the SWARM over the pillar to distract him.

Wait, does the halo extend over the pillar?

>>3028312
>Wait, does the halo extend over the pillar?

(No. It's a line-of-sight weapon - You have to see something to fire at it, though the primary mode has an area-of-effect.)

>>3028315

(Gentlemen, I hate to leave off so quickly - Unfortunately, it's almost 2 AM here, and my concentration is flagging. I should have tomorrow free, and I'm looking forward to see how this plays out: I'll get back to you as soon as possible.)

>>3028118
>That damn axe. Why I left it behind, I can't say, exactly.
The Golgotha was the previous Red Joker's? Wasn't expecting that. Doesn't seem to fit his aesthetic.

>>3028430
Maybe, maybe not. He might have found it just as well.
He does have forebode, so he certainly has access to Oblivion's Husk.
Which means that he could have any other of these abilities. Like Cackle, the Vulcan upgrade, the sword thing, the lightning claws or fatalism.
If he has fatalism, we'd need to avoid using targetted shots.

>>3028291
Teleport behind him using the Orthus Crest, use Blutsauger and emulation module to dual wield the crisis arms. beat the shit out of him with the arms and scylla (have them use consume too) before using the boosted crisis arms to fling him as high as possible into the air. Follow up with a barrage of missiles.

If the beat down doesn't kill him, the fall damage will. if the fall damage doesn't kill him, the missiles will. If the missiles don't kill him, he'll at least be crippled.

>>3028513
Oh, addenum. Have the assault shroud fuck him up too. Slice the motherfucker up and fire one of the spears at him while we're holding him in place with Scyalla and fisting him to death.

>>3028291
We have melee weapons, He doesn't. If we can somehow get close to him via repositioning by throwing the gigantic pillar, we could theoretically catch him off guard with a point blank Tyrant Burst.
A blind gunman is a dead gunman.

>>3028569
We don't have tyrant burst anymore and we can teleport.

Also old Red Joker has
>a light shield like a duster, similar to our nanomachine swarm
>7 interceptors which seem to be able to form shields and be his thrusters
>one sword at the hip
>2 revolvers, one which fires hyperdense shots
>The Beam Magnum which seems absolutely fucking sickenly dangerous, like the fusion annihilator

Here's what I suggest as an addition to what I already posted. Have our interceptors try to destroy his interceptors and our Swarm try to destroy his. Both scyallas should aim for his arms to paralyse them and potentially rip them off.

>>3028291
I'd say disabling his weaponry and taking a wait and see approach for now is the best, the fight just started and it's too dangerous to take any risks. Using Auspex was a good move, I suggest Sotto Voca as well, keep him at range so we can see what other weapons he has up his wrist. I'd say our mobility is better than his, we have the Tempest Scrander while his Interceptors have to pull double duty.

With that in mind EXEC_SWARM should work well, since it'll keep his interceptors busy while we fire away with Chainmines and Triskelions, wonder how our Plasma Vulcans stack up to his? Let's try a Quantity>Quality approach. If he's proving really hard to pin down even with all the attacks that focus on numbers rather than destructive power, then we can try closing in and using more directed methods like EXEC_HARROW or the Nova Cannon

>>3028513
>>3028522
>>3028620
I know how you feel buddy I think you're way underestimating Old Joker, if we get in close and try to rip and tear like that we're gonna get our ass beat by something he hasn't pulled out yet

>>3029138
I think taking a wait and see approach is a mistake, we've already hit him with a massive shot and he seems to be better at range than us. I don't think he's expecting us to teleport and even if he is, the Red Joker frame is fragile by design. At the least, we'll be able to hit him with both tentacles and the barrier before it all goes to shit but if we get his arms we can stop him using his charging elements. The guy is a gunslinger and adapted for range; even if we nail him with just the crisis arms, it will be fucking brutal.

However, if you ignore everything else I say, at least focus on his interceptors. He's using them for flying and for shielding, destroying them would be a massive benefit to us.

>>3028291
>>3028620
Good point. Since we seem to be utilizing Assault Shroud more for utility, why not have them shed "offensive decoys" of us?
Throw a swarm of decoys at him to give him a target rich environment and then Teleport to deal a crippling shot at one of his weapon systems?

Assault Shroud Decoy at him as a screen for the stealth Teleport, shoot down Interceptor, rinse, repeat.
The Spoiler is incase the old man has something that can intercept our discussion like how White Joker and Alura(?) could read our minds before we used Zalgo text to prevent them from intercepting our plans.

>>3029277
Can't we just have the shroud form a spear and shoot it at him directly. If we use teleport, swarm and spear before ripping him up I don't see him surviving.

>>3028291
just an off the cuff plan based on half memories, but here goes.

keep charging the halo, send the assault shroud as a decoy along with the interceptors and some missiles over the pillar.

Use the Argus lock to fire the longinus through the pillar. once to spray him with debris and a second time to hit. Be prepared to teleport into a different braced position when he also fires through the pillar with the beam magnum.

>>3029467
alternatively the Logos -might- be able to disrupt the medium through which the beam magnum travels, but that's a hell of a beam clash to gamble on.

>>3029277
>>3029281
Since when does the Orthrus Crest work on thin air?
IIRC we need a target that we switch places with.

...Let's switch with one of his interceptors. Use EXEC_DISRUPT at the same time. Then go all-out offensive with our melee options.


Also, guys, don't forget that our abilities consume resources. We can't just infinitely spam shit and the Sotto Voca is prohibitely expensive.

>>3029534
I'm fairly certain disrupt won't effect the beam magnum.

we should still have that seeker gun from the armory though.

could we us our interceptors in the same way he is to improve mobility?

we activate the storm shroud to tank small hits, continue to build the halo so he can't close to cqc dodge the beam magnum with omen/forebode, and fire a continuous barrage of seeker rounds to keep him busy and take out interceptors.

>>3029630
>Storm shroud
we don't have that Upgrade

Also, we cannot use interceptors like that. However, we do have the scrander and our abruption jets.

>>3028569
>>3028303

As the world lurches, as the huge pillar continues that ponderous descent, your autoreactive talons drive against the stone wall underfoot - Ripping out chunks, the Tempest Scrander's thrusters burning as you kick off. Argent's reactor seethes with renewed charge, flinging out crimson particles as fire licks the air around you-

And you spear forward into the dark, the roar of the engines surging down your spine. As you accelerate - Slamming over into a spiraling roll - target locks chime in your ears, as missiles blast from your wings. Four, eight, twelve - Corroded stone and eons-old iron vanishes in spheres of dirty light, as you empty your magazines in a flurry of jetair and rocket exhaust.

A dozen missiles roar, twisting through the sky, as the world becomes a tangled web of vapor trails.

The detonations chew through the pillar, your targeting sensors hungry for a lock. Auspex-sight cuts through the poisonous soup of the air, the forests of bright liquid flame dancing like fronds from near-misses and riochets-

A flicker of movement.

You drop straight, like a stooping hawk - Banking hard as collision alarms flare, skimming the very surface of the pillar as your Assault Shroud detaches, nanomaterial condensing and coalescing into a half-real phantom. It darts ahead, as you send your Interceptors hurtling after it, orbiting the decoy like pilot fish around a shark-

>>3029277

The moment your decoy crosses the threshold, the first shots rip through it. A heliothermic round slices past on a silent flame trail, then two more in rapid succession. One slams into the stone, and erupts in an abrupt fireball - Your Interceptors dive through the flames, as one detonates, picked off by precision shooting-

He's not using the Beam Magnum. Why isn't he using the-

> FATALISM ACTIVATED

Somehow, somehow, you hear it - the sigh-moan of the capacitors charging for a shot.

You fire the Scrander on full burn, the violent acceleration lifting you in a wide turn, up and curling back, streaking clear of the killing field. High-energy reaction, from below-

There is an oscillating scream of energy and pressure. A thick beam of blinding energy - the purest white - shears out of the fog. It slices the pillar in half, lengthwise -

(Continued)

>>3029692

Hammer blow. Blinding light. Shock-wash. Half of the great mass is sheared away, a huge trench of superheated, fused rock spontaneously excavated through it. The flash nearly blinds you, a horizontal stripe seared across your HUD like a burning track...But you know where he *is*, now.

With his mirror-shield activated, he was just a heat-gaze blur - But now, marked by the bright flare of his weapon, your Argus targeter chimes with a lock. You reach out, with the Crisis Arm, zero-point energy crackling - the field expands, as power drains from your Vitae Booster, a flickering radiance engulfing the fifteen-meter length of column that remains. You hear myomer scream, as you wheel round - rotating to gain momentum, like you're throwing the hammer-

And then you hurl it at him.

The concrete spear streaks like a missile into the debris field. It punches through the hailing rain of masonry, seized in that eternal descent - passing under the beams of some shattered hall, and skims the back of some great machine by a hand's-breadth. The huge projectile hurls others out of the way like a tidal bore, like a battering ram, crashing through the splintered husks of woe-machines and burnt-out dreadnoughts, as it slams into a mass of metal that might've been part of a suspension bridge-

The Red Joker evades. His thrusters flare, and he sideslips - Vectoring, *hard* - His Interceptors burning blue-hot, two more mag-clamped to his shoulders like pinions. He has the Beam Magnum lowered, as steam hisses from the heat-sinks, his silhouette already altered - You see ammunition belts criss-crossing his form, his photonic scarf blazing with renewed light as ragged cones of thrust breathe from his jets...

But when he's using them for speed, more speed - He can't shield himself.

>>3028513

A cluster of rockets blast from your launchers, just to give him something to think about. Your Plasma Vulcans blaze to life, the stream of cannon bolts hailing down as you close the distance, before the Beam Magnum can cycle. Your shots slam into him - Impacts shivering through his form, bolts charring his armor black. Cracks spiderweb out, a well-aimed burst turning an Interceptor into a sparking fireball, splintering against his photonic mantle, raking a burning gouge against his cuirass and greaves-

SCYLLA's eyeless serpents rip from your shoulders. Their fangs gnash the air, as you aim yourself at the Red Joker like a bullet. As missiles detonate around him, he accelerates towards you - twisting into an ascending spiral, the bulky protrusion of his Halo Device rearing up from his spinal mount-

Surreal light strobes and crackles around the Red Joker. And then it spews forth, in all the colors of nightmare. You wrench the Sinistral up-

(Continued)

>>3029693

When the astral lightning crackles around you, the kinetic slap rings out with a deafening sonic boom. You feel your myomer muscles seize up, in violent spasms - Your crimson plating scorched, your entire form smouldering as your superheat armor sears the components below. Components blow out, in your left leg - vile grey smoke wisping from the joint-

You keep coming anyway. The Emulator Module burns at the base of your spine, your Crisis Arm clenching into a mauling fist - The ghost-image sketching itself into existence, as shards of shattered plate whip past you. You've hurt him, too - as you close, you can see the cracks skittering across his armor, the fiber bundles in his left arm exposed...

But he's ready to take all the hell you have to spare.

Schematic lines sketch themselves into existence, his drones whipping towards you like hurled knives. Four of them - Didn't you destroy three? - power generators igniting, the hiltless blades leaving a slashing track as they sear across the narrow distance. The Red Joker's hands blur, as he draws his sword - A curved cavalry blade - underhand with his right, rotating the freed blade in a semi-circle, catching it full grip. His left hand moves like lightning, blurring to his hip, returning with a blunt black ingot of a gun - Each of the twin barrels the size of the circle thumb and forefinger make.

A split-second to impact-

HP: 104.8%
VITAE BOOSTER: 126%
ASSAULT SHROUD: 68%
METER: 32%
ENCROACHMENT: 10%

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>3028306
>>3029534

(Gentlemen, I assume you're going to fire EXEC_DISRUPT at the start of your next turn?)

>>3029694
Use the Abruption Jets to dodge backward to open up distance at the last moment and blast him with the Photonic Halo. Then use DISRUPT and follow it up with the Axel Grips before moving in to hit him with the Crisis Arm.
Have Scylla take a bite out of him whenever the opportunity presents itself.

>>3029695
No helping it then, since we're gonna close in with the Crisis Arm might as well use it to disable him at the last moment. Our Photonic Halo is still up, right? He's just as agile as we are, it'd be good to conserve those charges for the guaranteed hit

>>3029700
We're closing in right now so it's better to use the Abruption Jets to boost us even faster to take him by surprise

>>3029712
(After the initial payment, it's active for the duration of the combat.)

>>3029694
"I never got the chance to tell you the first time around, thank you old man."

>>3029712
I agree, dodge BACK then close again. We can sucker-punch him after his first attack fails.

>>3029724
This isn't really the time for talking, anon.

>>3029694
Use Muelta to slive up his blade arm, disrupt to distort that blade and then crush him with scyalla and the crisis arms. Tear him apart. Also, activate Blutsauger.

>>3029730
I don't really have anything to add past agreeing with the EXEC_DISRUPT plan. Plus this is probably the absolute last time we're ever going to talk to or see our predecessor, and it has to end with us killing him again.

>>3029700
>>3029712

As you close, in the very last instant before impact - the world blurring at the edges, the Red Joker's silhouette swelling to fill your HUD - thruster banks flare with static charge at your shoulders, greaves, wrists. Overstressed metal squeals in every joint as you blast down towards stall speed.

Your Photonic Halo flares at your back, corposant crackling, spitting - Blue-white light flaring around your mono-optic sensor, cohering into a ruinous blast...

And EXEC_DISRUPT lashes forth out of you, like a thunderbolt. The jagged edges of raw code erupt around the Red Joker, reality fracturing around him like shards of broken glass-

Even as the Abruption Jets wrench you back - so hard it nearly breaks you in half - the effect shatters around him, whirling like a vortex. Flash-frozen, the fragments of code flicker out of existence, winking out like points of light being snuffed.

The Red Joker's form burns with cold light. Armor panels ratchet, to reveal his Mimetic Aegis, now smoking with the captured Codeburst.

Of course. He had access to the Armory too.

And he growls-

"Not enough gun."

(Continued)

>>3029740
How about greeting him with a Vitae-boosted Plasma Caster blast before laying on the Crisis Arm smackdown.

>>3029740

His Halo Device is still gathering charge. He's too slow, as SCYLLA's maws lash out at him, fangs glowing with violet radiance-

The Red Joker's mantle *flares*-

The crimson light bleaches all else to nothing. It's like a supernova, like looking into the heart of a sun - A expanding wave of annihilating radiance that incinerates all in the way. The blast sweeps across you, into you, as the power radiates forth - Slamming out in all directions, hurling you back like a dead leaf in a hurricane. The searing energies assault you, the inchoate fury of that blast momentarily deafening you, SCYLLA's heads flung back as their very substance is flashed-burned.

And out of the tumult - Your Interceptors are firing, spitting their hissing lines of energy, shearing through the flying swords that knife towards you. They get all but one - You whip a Crisis Arm up, but it rams past your guard and into your neck. Cables part, as the tip punches into the internals below, all the way to the collar ring - The blade buzzing fiercely, shearing into you-

Until your mauling fist punches into it, shattering the thrusters and the blade drivers, seizing its function.

But he's still got the-

(Continued)

>>3029750
USE BLUTSAUGER AND THE ASSAULT SHROUD, FUCK UP HIS SWORD ARM, DO IT

>>3029750

Caught on the cusp of a premontion, you twist - mid-air - as the Red Joker rockets towards you, contrails of energy streaming from his armor. Stripped of his photonic mantle, you can see the scars and cracks your shots have gouged into his frame, his blade spearing forward in a thrust-

Your Crisis Arm swings in to meet it. It's a Meridian Blade, the power generator in the hilt sending waves of blue lightning crazing across the sword - When the fields meet, there's something like a detonation-

But this time, you're ready. This time, the Vitae Booster burns in your chest, the Blutsauger's hollow void sending twisting strands of Essence coiling from the rents and tears in the Red Joker's form. He makes a rasping sound, but he's just too ornery, too weathered to falter as his vitality is leeched away...

-As schematic lines sketch themselves into the Plasma Caster's blunt form, around your left fist. You bring the weapon up, in a single smooth motion, in line with the Red Joker's torso-

Even as his monstrous double-barreled revolver drives right at you-

As it turns out, both of you had exactly the same idea.

Your Assault Shroud flaws, the nanomaterial whirling away - Shrike Blades spitting across the distance, a hail of knives sweeping towards him. The razor-rounds catch the flames, glinting with that awful hard-edged radiance as your weapons roar as one.

Shells slam into your cuirass. They explode against your helmet. Fire swallows your sight. The impacts slam through you, the world ringing through shrill silence, your sensors blurring with threat markers and damage reading. The close-range flechette burst blows connections, damaged servoes wailing as your Photonic Halo explodes at your back, spalling raining past you-

There's a hole in your chest. A fist-sized hole, right through you-

But the muzzleflash of your Plasma Caster stabs forward, as bright and furious as a spear, and the Red Joker's left arm rips away in a single terrible motion. The edges of the blast glow molten-hot, as if a single vicious bite has been wrenched from his side, wiped away in a singular motion.

(Continued)

>>3029774
If we can, can we switch to Golgotha and abjuration close again before slicing him in half?

>>3029778
Could also pull the same trick we did on Bomberman and send him flying with a point-blank Chain Mine.

>>3029778
>>3029782
Changing to this. Punch a chainmine into his chest.

>>3029774

The blast convulses him, twists him away - But his saber wrenches back, coming across in a brutal scything zig-zag slash. The upper part of the cut slices sideways through your faceplate, the lower return rips into your arm-

And you slam the superheavy fist of the Crisis Arm into the Red Joker's head.

His helm buckles. The blunt snap of the impact shatters his visor, oil and clotted fluids showering in every direction at once. Shreds of corroded armor spin out, as your fist whips past - It mangles his Halo Device, as your industrial talons claw into it (missing his throat by milimeters) ripping out a fizzing handful of machinery, crushing it to powder-

His sword wrenches out of you. Sideways. One-armed, falling back, he turns it into a throw.

You're half-blind, your helm ruptured, ruined - But he's hurt, too. Hurt bad. You try to open up with the Plasma Caster, but all you hear is the fizz of a misfire, the stutter of blown connections-

But you wrench your arm up, anyway. The blade punches *through*, all the way to the skeletal frame beneath. A foot of Meridian steel spears out through your forearm - By some miracle, the arm still works...

The Red Joker's Interceptors arrest his fall - Brittle light crackling, as the crusher of his helmet snaps down. You glimpse the components snap into place, beneath his battered Stetson - the band of his hat blackened, but somehow spared by the furious exchange of fire-

A Carnifex.

HP: 54.3%
VITAE BOOSTER: 94%
ASSAULT SHROUD: 42%
METER: 48%
ENCROACHMENT: 0%

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>3029785
So, two ideas.

1. Golgotha, send an EXEC SWARM at him and then use the Vitae Booster to charge the tempest scrander and spear through him at max speed, killing him with one last big blow from Golgotha.

2. Alternative to the first. Fortress mode, vitae boosted chain mine in fortress mode and then Orthus Crest.

We cannot use codebursts now, he'll simply use Disrupt back. We need to end this now, we're damaged but this fucker must have no health left. He's also probably faster than us now unless we use abjuration gets and the quickening which is an alternative 3 strategy;

Abjuration Jets + Sigma Charge + Golgotha + Tempest Scrander + END IT

I think one of these three strategies is best. This is likely the last exchange. He has no melee weapon as good as Golgotha.

>>3029785
Open with the Blutsauger, then burn Vitae Booster on the Scrander for the burst of speed so we can pull off >>3029782 >>3029784 this idea.

>>3029785
>A Carnifex.
I don't care if he's a ghost, we're stealing that thing from him.

>>3029785
>carnifex
His armor will eject when it fires.
however, it is a moment in which he is vulnerable.

Fire the laser thingies, forgot their name, followed by getting our Tachyon blade to be able to keep up with his speed.

>>3029785
Goddamn, that took a lot out of us. But he got hit hard as the Carnifex should bring down his defenses even more. He should go down in maybe two more solid hits.


Switch back to Omen and then blast him with a Chain Mine. If we have any interceptors left, have it come up behind him and be ready to switch with it using Orthrus if decides to rush us. If he gets close or we catch him in a vulnerable state use the Axel Grips to cut him up.

>>3029799
Axel Grips?

>>3029802
Exactly

>>3029791
>He has no melee weapon as good as Golgotha.
Issue is that Golgotha sets our default Encroachment to 30%, so if we take a hit our current state we'll get assfucked even if our HP doesn't drop to 0.

>>3029805
Yeah that + the fact that it's just an axe that hits really hard at the moment means I'd rather not use it.

>>3029805
Good point. I think Axel Grips to his other hand/head off would be best. This is just a dream so we should have them again in the Black, right? If not, this is the time and place to use them. After that, sinistral + omen and a vitae boosted plasma vulcans will do it.

>>3029809
Could also use the Booster on the Sinistral for its new chainsaw mode.

>>3029785
Did the Photonic Halo fire or is it fucked? If it's still functional then fire off the unavoidable blast.

>>3029813
It's fucked.

>>3029810
We'll do that if he closes. He's lost an arm and there's no lachryma for him to absorb except from us so hopefully when we clip his other arm with the axel grips, he'll come close.

>>3029814
OP is he standing still? We could vitae boost dual tau guns if He is still for a moment. Or rubicante

>>3029828
He's standing still

Let's try bait a move out if him with the triskelion launcher and try to score a hit with the axel grips

>>3029809
>>3029828
Wait, why don't we use Caltropras to just freeze his legs solid and hurl a boosted chain mine at the same time? He can't use DISRUPT on both and he's frozen in place for the time being?

>>3029814
I thought our functions and ammo had been completely restored, wouldn't that mean that the Halo works now?

>>3029848
Do we even have to worry about Disrupt when we have the Mimetic Aegis too anyway?

>>3029849
Yeah but it got busted when he shot us in the head.

>>3029850
With our current level of encroachment it'd fuck us.

This is a pretty important fight let's ask OP for status and weapon functionality update. Let's make sure we have or don't have mimetic aegis first.

>>3029848
Sure, as long as it counts as an instant draw like with the vector trap.
remember, we only have this instant before he goes maximum Joker

>>3029852
Ah right, forgot that it turns cost into Encroachment. Guess we could always cast EXEC_BARRIER just to be sure.

>>3029850
>>3029855
Our only shroud module is muleta

>>3029855
We have the mimetic aegis, we have all of our equipment back.

>>3029856
I don't see why it wouldn't be but lets ask OP >>3029785 if we use catrelopras and chainmines together, will both be instantly drawn?

>>3029848
If both draws are instant I vote for this

Never been great at strategy so I'll leave that to other anons and instead offer some fight music/Old Joker Theme

https://youtu.be/RlY2_Hx2pDc

>>3029809

(Yes, your Axel Grips are available.)

>>3029813

(It's been destroyed. You ejected it to avoid the explosion. However, you can recreate it if you want for another 30% Meter.)

>>3029930
AXEL GRIPS, PHOTONIC HALO AND VITAE BOOSTER DIRECT NOW. START RUNNING AWAY AND FIRE THE VULCANS

>>3029935
This plus rest of meter into triskelion launcher to keep him grounded for axle grip

>>3029802
>>3029801
>>3029799
>>3029809

You face each other in the infinite, now. A shimmer starts in the phantom nerves of your pierced arm - Something like quicksilver sobs forth from the wound, as your fingers try to make a fist. It's still functioning, but barely - fluid seeping from the crevasse, tiny sparks jumping and sparking across the rent. Red motes gather, inhaled through your Leech Module, the Red Joker's Essence drip-fed into you to heal the hideous damage you've taken...

> HP: 81.9%

Not enough. Not nearly enough. The measure of life remaining to you.

The Red Joker hovers, on wings of jetair - He's silent, unspeaking, except for the faint crackle of static that wisps through his damaged speakers. You can feel his dead-eyed stare, waiting - as the frozen moment stretches on into perpetuality. The ragged hole - through-and-through - in your torso fights to seal itself, half-formed schematics fighting to span the gap, failing. There simply isn't enough to repair the damage you've suffered.

A moment. He's going for the Carnifex, but there's a moment where he'll be vulnerable. That's what you'll have to stake it all on. The Vector Trap's crimson lines spin, the bloody radiance of the hypercube coalescing into OMEN's form - To give you that infinitesimal edge, the moment of warning on which all else revolves.

A flicker of warning-

Something moves in the depths of the Red Joker's optics, like a lightning flash seen on a distant night horizon. The Carnifex snaps into place, the mask of interlocking bones and grinning death sinking silver filaments into his form, blurring in the fog-heavy air-

There is a bang, a brittle detonation. Rust-red metal erupts from the Red Joker in spinning scraps, as the Blutsauger wrenches itself open in your chest. It grates against the fire and the smoke, like the pupil of a great machine eye, as the void opens within you - Even at this range, tendrils of sickly light coil across the distance, ribbons of charge drawn to the disc as though draining into a hole. You can almost *taste* it, like electricity on your teeth, as the Red Joker's armor churns, reconfiguring, shedding parts of itself - His arm coming up, to spear the weapon in it at you-

A beam of purple-wreathed blackness spews forth. For an instant, the world seems to freeze - colors flipping to white, light to dark, bright brilliance to flickering shadow. It is ringed with concentric circles, like a shaft of night - the flash of unlight cutting across your vision, searing towards you.

OMEN spikes it's machine-warning through your mind, and you lurch out of the way. The thin, searing beam of anti-radiance squeals past you - The sound of its passage is a teeth-aching screech, audible even over the crackle of static, the thunderclap of layered armor splintering.

(Continued)

https://youtu.be/0Ms49WIuL-M

File: maxresdefault.jpg (70 KB, 1280x720)

70 KB JPG

>>3029952
I want his hat, scarf, carnifex and beam magnum god damn it.

>>3029952

You glimpse the impact only briefly, as your Scrander's thrusters fire, as acceleration wrenches you away. Your Abruption Jets are still cycling, fighting to cohere, coughing webs of charge. The beam is a narrow spit of light, but when it slams into distant stone-

Half of the mass vanishes, sifting away in a soundless spray.

Sand. Tonnes of stone, of layered iron, transmuted into black sand.

You jink to one side, the Vitae Booster's red heat pulsing through energy connectors, forcing the Tempest Scrander to fire again. You loft high, over the next shot - the ray stabbing past you, as you slew wide to evade the third blast. OMEN's warnings burn within you - You're moving faster than ever, the Sigma charge accelerating your limbs, leaving a searing track in your wake.

With one hand, he can't reload - He'll have to discard his weapon once he's fired it empty. But he's moving too, a flickering platform - half-real, there than gone - flashing into existence, as the Red Joker leaps. Not the way a man leaps, but propelled by a force as blunt as a grunt of pain, a single bound of ten meters.

He twists as he leaps. The motion is fluid, his arm swinging towards you. The hammer snaps forward onto the last chamber, the revolver kicking as he fires his final shot, circles of energy radiating from the barrel in the instant before the main beam ignites.

The color drains from the world. The ray vanishes, because it's about to slam into you head-on.

But you wrench the Sinistral in the way, and the hard-light wedge flares with a hard-edged radiance of it's own.

Something catastrophic happens to the Sinistral's field. The ray rips through the field - silver sand sifting into the air, energy transmuted to matter - and burns through your forearm casing. Servos and fibre bundles fire and lock, spasming like contract muscles. Sparks spring from exposed power stacks, as your forearm *greys*, like decay in fast-forward - black sand streaming away from the caress of energy, exposing the cracked endosteel bones beneath-

But as the Sinistral's brace disintegrates, as the weapon's hammer falls on an empty chamber, you have the shot.

Your arms are raised, fingers splayed. Two spears of razored light leap forth, with noises like the amplified shrieks of eagles. Each Axel Grip spits a pencil-thin beam of streaming blue radiance, flashing into infinity-

The Red Joker moves. With the Carnifex, he is faster than you could imagine - Capable of thinking the world into slow motion.

But he is not as fast as light.

The first cobalt laser streams past, when he evades. The motion is swift, utterly inhuman, a contortion of form. The second fires true, as you slash it towards him-

(Continued)

>>3029972

He tilts, and takes it in his side. It carves through what remains of his torso plating, under his right arm. If he'd tried to hunch and shield himself with his shoulder plate, the result would have cost him an arm - Instead, he throws his guard wide, and absorbs the hit in his physical core.

Superheated fluids gout from the trench wound. Something essential detonates, deep within. A full eight of his mass is carved away, like an iceberg calving from a glacier.

And then somehow, he is in front of you. Just there, suddenly.

You're not quite sure how you've been hit, but the impact rattles your electronic brain inside your skull, shoots static through your sensors. It is a titanic blow, one-handed: The second buries itself into your chest, crunching through plate, through myomer muscle, gouging into the still-gaping rent in your armor, just beneath your frame's endosteel ribs-

Some instinct fires your Scrander - The jet-wash buffets him, flings you away, a comet-trail dragging in your wake. And you can feel it, the phantom heat boiling within you as red alarms flash, a sphere of molten metal spearing outwards, your vision flashing into silent whiteness at the edges-

Reactor breach. He's torn out part of your reactor.

So fast - How can he be *this fast*-?

HP: 42.7%
VITAE BOOSTER: 127%
ASSAULT SHROUD: 21%
METER: 56%
ENCROACHMENT: 19%

YOU HAVE CONTROL

>>3029978

(Gentlemen, my apologies - It's extremely late, and I need to turn in for now. Good night, and I'll continue once I have the opportunity.

Please note that you've re-enabled the PHOTONIC HALO, which I failed to include in the text about.)

>>3029978
>>3029980
We've got to slow him down. Hit him with direct PH using the meter. His arm's still functioning, we've got to fix that; do we still have interceptors? Use Scyalla and the Interceptors to take out that arm and use the quickening to slice his face off with Omen. Do not let him escape this time, he's only got a hand left and he's missing an entire chunk of his body. Our reactor is damage but we've had worse.

Stay the course, keep him close and end it with Omen, the scyalla. The Plasma caster in the left hand, enhanced by the Vitae Booster.

If the Scyalla are nonfunctional, swap out Omen and use consume via the helix gauntlet to stab him through the head and grab before we take out his torso with the gauntlet. Do not use Blutsauger, our health is too low.

>>3029978
if we have interceptors or any unused weaponry that’s strewn about the battlefield, use them as teleport points. Abuse the Orthus Crest and use it to or advantage. fire triskellion missiles at random places and then swap places with them. same thing goes with our chain mine, launch them and then swap places with them. if the laws of physics still hold, they should keep their momentum even after the sudden teleport. The Old Man is using Carnifex and his others power generators to overcharge himself and give him a ludicrous speed buff. if he wants to play tag, lets cheat by teleporting. assault shroud decoys will work wonders with our teleport trick too if we can dwap places with them.

>>3030047
Personally if we do this I think the best thing to do would be tempest scrander straight up and then use orthus crest to kill him with fall damage. That or else prepare a VB chain mine for when he lands.

>>3029978
Let's see...

Thanks to vitae booster, our missiles can now home in on weakened targets and can be fired in massive salvos.
We need to keep OMEN up at all times to even have a chance of avoiding his attacks, so we cannot use Cagnazzo's similar effect.

We now have spent one turn on the Photonic Halo. After three turns it's impossible to evade.
Can we stall for that long?

However, from the description it sounds like VITAE boosting the photonic halo would allow us to make the attack basically impossible to evade even without the charge-up time.
This could be a good approach.

We could also unleash a Scrander Bolt, but we should keep it as a last ditch option.

Oh and we have full NIHL and Harmonia charges, so I'd suggest we use EXEC_REND defensively in this situation. Might also try EXEC_SMITE, but I see a high probability of Joker already knowing this move.

>>3030065
I would suggest we just use DIRECT with the PH. He's almost dead, it's almost impossible to avoid and if he's avoiding that he's not attacking us and we can keep firing.

Scrander Bolt is a serious mistake, he can't fly at this point and with the VB we can use it to be faster than him.

EXEC_REND isn't a bad idea but I don't see the point considering he's not attacking yet. He's missing both arms and we may still have our scyalla left while having both arms, the PH and our interceptors. He's faster but we'll fire too much at him for him to avoid anything.

>>3030074
>he's not attacking yet.
He's currently pressuring us.

>He's missing both arms and we may still have our scyalla left while having both arms
He has one arm, Scylla is dead and one of our arms just got badly damaged.

>Interceptors
Oh yeah, those would be kind of helpful right now.
What do they even do when vitae boosted?

>When powered by the VITAE BOOSTER, the rate of fire and armor-piercing capabilities of the particle beams are significantly increased. Also, the Rifle Bits now fire a sustained pulse of energy, instead of discharging their blasts in a single burst.
Sustained blasts are good for fast enemies.

>>3030089
He's standing in front, that's not attacking. We don't know if Scyalla has recovered and even if it hasn't, our arms are still functional even if one is damaged. We have more actions, interceptors and we can use the PH direct now. Slamming home a consume would be hella useful or some way to tether him to use. We need to destroy that remaining arm.

He's fast, way too fast, lets try using either the Nova Cannon or Chagan's Catoblepas to tear chunks out of him. Now's also a good time to try and mark him with Harrow since we're gonna have a harder time tracking him

I just remembered we have the familiars on our greaves. SEND THEM TO TARGET HIS LEGS WHILE WE ZAP THE CUNT WITH VB PH.

I would love to be able to use signs of the righteous on our armor to increase our speed.
but failing that. start with famikiars and interceptors. then we use the flamethrower since it's near unavoidable, then when he targets the fuel tanks we drop them and orthus crest to switch places with him.

while he reels from the explosion use quickening to stab him with the misericord.

>>3030196
>he's too fast
>let's use delayed fire weapons!
Nigger, did someone take a shit down your brain?

>>3029980
So I guess the best plan is
Activate familiar's and interceptors.
Launch a vitae boosted photonic halo attack and prepare the flame thrower for the finish and just like anon says prepare the orthus crest switch if he aims for the fuel tank.

Anons, I realized something just now. We're fighting the previous Joker, right? Except he's also got the Golgotha, Forebode, and more.

So what I think we're actually fighting isn't just the previous Joker, it's the Red Joker in its entirety. It's wearing the face of the old Joker because that's how "we" remember the Red Joker looks like. We're fighting it because we want to create, and the Red Joker wants to destroy.

I dunno if this theory actually helps us, but it's a thought. It might be why reforging ourselves is a thing: it's because we'll have transcended the Red Joker.

>>3031726
If that was true we'd have lost because he would have used cackle already.

>>3029978
OP we need a status update on what's work and what's broke. Here's my gameplan.

>>3030279
Lets adapt this. If Scyalla/interceptord still work, have them focus on his arms. Have the familiars aim for his legs while we use a vitae boosted photonic halo.

At the same time, we dual wield Omen and the Miserocorde. Omen and the Quickening will give us an evade boost. Keep a Rend ready to activate with the Nihil sphere if necessary.

The plan is simple. Distract him from the Misericord so we can plant it in his chest and end this.

>>3031729
Miserocorde only works on our joker it won't work on the marshal

>>3031805
The Misericorde is how we killed the Marshal the *first* time, and we're in a space where there can be two Red Jokers at once. What makes you think it won't work a second time?

I honestly don't like this Misericorde usage on Old Joker. He meant us to pull no punches but it just doesn't sit right with me. That, and I loathe to find out how it looks embedded within our own chest in the offchance he disarms us.

>>3031805
Same poster as >>3031729 this anon, just on a different machine. Here's the description for the MISERICORDE

"This needle-pointed knife - A stiletto, really - has a makeshift, melted look to it, with a long, narrow blade of grey steel. The crimson hilt fits your hand as if made for it, and is strangely comfortable to the touch.
While a subpar weapon, this dagger was specifically crafted to kill the Red Joker, and still remains exceedingly lethal to him.
You don't like carrying it on you - But there might be a use for it, yet."

I don't see why it wouldn't work on him, he has the designation Red Joker.

>>3031833
Pulling no punches would mean not using it but if you don't want to, I suggest we just a VB boosted plasma caster shot to the chest.

When the VITAE BOOSTER is used, the Plasma Caster's choke is narrowed further - The resulting blast has a greatly reduced spread, amplifying the resulting damage. Now, like a cutting torch, the Plasma Caster's cohered plasma burst can sever limbs and punch fist-sized holes - and massive exit wounds - *through* a target in a single shot, and possibly multiple opponents if they're tightly clustered together.
Due to the Plasma Caster's close spread, the energies released can be just as damaging as the payload. If fired at close-to-point-blank-range, the discharge can be compared to the detonation of a photonic grenade, flash-blinding and incinerating the target. In this mode, the Plasma Caster can be discharged twice in rapid succession."

The flash alone will damage and ignite him, even if we miss. If we don't, he'll collapse. I'm open to suggestions but fighting dirtier than anyone else is our shtick.

I'm also really looking forward to when we get to use Golgotha. That thing is such a beastly weapon, god fucking damn and it'll absolutely RUIN a swarm of enemies. It would have been better to use that than the Crisis Arm but, well, I had been hoping JQ would let us teleport and dual wield the Arms instead of what did happen. Golgotha is one shot, one kill after all.

>>3031841
Whipping out a weapon guaranteed to kill him at the very end of this duel would be extremely homosexual, and we all know how our QM feels about them.
Let's not.

>>3031860
>homosexual
I am ashamed that I cannot remember this reference. We don't have to, it just seems like the kind of thing OP enjoys. Cycles, repetitions, thematic and it's pulling no punches. I can understand not liking it though which is why my suggestions are.

>Familiars going for legs
>Omen and, if possibly, interceptors going for arm
>Use Meter or VB to use PH immediately.
>Use scyalla if available to grab/consume
>Use the miscericorde or a VB plasma caster to the chest
>Have the nihil sphere read to use Rend to warp out.

I honestly don't mind which we choose, I just think OP would prefer the misericorde. It seems like a natural choice.

>>3031860
I just want to guarantee the kill. He's tough and the misercorde will kill him fast so we don't have to worry about a last desperation attack to make it a draw. Of the misercorde can actually kill in this dream that is.

(Gentlemen, note that you're *extremely* close to him. To confirm, you want to fire the Photonic Halo at short range?)

>>3031883
Personally, I'm for either casting EXEC_REND to evade his next attack or switching places with an Interceptor using Orthrus. After that I say we lay it all at once, Vitae-boosted Plasma Caster, Photonic Halo, Blutsauger and maybe even Scrander Bolt if to finish him off.

This round is probably all or nothing.

>>3031883
>creating a vast detonation on impact
Oh. Well, thanks for the heads up. Let's not kill ourselves right at the last moment.

>>3031883
OP, what is the current status of our body? What's working, what's not? Interceptors, Scyalla? Would the misericorde also work on the Marshal?

While lacking the comparatively large area-of-effect of the photonic halo’s primary function, the destruction wreaked by each direct-fire blast is substantial - Having vital components transmuted, in whole or in part, to (for example) a combination of ice, rare earth minerals and glass can be instantly fatal."

Is the blast from the boosted photonic halo enough to hit us?

>>3031891
Kek an ignominious end to the ultimate survivor

File: Joker - Wireframe (EPISOD(...).pdf (299 KB, PDF)

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>>3031892

(My apologies, I've updated the wireframe with your current condition. You're pretty badly damaged, but your head and left torso are particularly badly mangled. So is your left arm, his attacks kept hitting the left side of your body.)

> Would the misericorde also work on the Marshal?

(It worked the last time.)

>>3031892

(Yes. I've been assuming that you're firing it using the secondary function, because the primary function requires you to gather charges on the turn before you fire.)

>>3031914
Oh, so the restoration process didn't fix Kura?

>>3031914
Not as bad as I thought. We have the mimetic aegis to protect us from disrupt.
Scyalla still functional too, we.have only truly lost the sinsteral and the Vulcan.

>>3031914
Okay guys. Here's the plan;

Fire the Interceptors and Familiars. Aim the Familiars at his legs, Interceptors at his arm. Use Scyalla to grab his arm and shoulder to hold him close. Quickening + Omen to be ready to parry any of his attacks and a kill shot with the Misericorde or a vitae boosted plasma caster.

Sound good to everyone? I'd say prep a Rend with the Nihil Sphere to be careful.

Also, OP, is it possible for us to fill up Harmonia using Consume?

>>3029990
>>3030047
>>3030065
>>3030074
>>3030127
>>3031687
>>3031729

Too fast-

The Quickening burns through you, but - as blood-heat pulses through your form, swells your myomer musculature with strength - it lets you strike harder, not faster. Your thought-command spears into your Interceptors, now reduced to a pair - They spiral towards the fight, firing as they come, lancing lines of searing light at the Red Joker as he rockets towards you.

Too close to use the Photonic Halo. Not without incinerating yourself in the process. The stab-slash of laser fire sears into him from behind, carving into his armor - Wisps of smoke trailing from the deep gouges, slicing into bare myomer, gnawing at endosteel bones-

But tesselated hexagons of steel slam into place around his arm, spines bristling from his shoulders, bolt-drivers and charge discs sprouting like a contagion. Exo-armor, a match to the greaves he now wears.

And your Familiar detach from your limbs, and spear towards him with hunting shrieks of their own. Their heat-blades flare, grappleclaws seething with taser charge - beaks wrenching wide to reveal the hissing glow of plasma inloads. The Red Joker's fist spreads, fingers hooked like talons - He makes a brutal sound, a teeth-grinding machine rasp, brittle thunderclaps disgorging five Interceptors that spiral around him like card sleights-

The air fills with criss-crossing ordnance - thin streaks of sizzling white light, heat beams flaring and stabbing. Interceptors and Fangs mutually annihilate - they blow out in sprays of spalling, shattered components, liquidised internals and digital shards. But amongst the chaos, you send SCYLLA's screeching maws spearing directly at the Red Joker, eyeless heads baring row after row of fangs. Static flares across your HUD, as he twitches to the side - The first consuming limb misses him by a handspan, the other swinging in for a scything bite.

Metal screeches, as the Red Joker wrenches his arm up - His *left* arm. Tarry black oil gouts from the joints of his armor, like the blood of the earth. The ink-dark lines have sketched themselves into a skeletal echo of a limb, layering power connectors and snaking cables across regrowing muscle - a sickly growth too swollen, too bloated, to be mere myomer. It is like watching a surgeon at work, skin peeled and pinned back while razors cut-

You hear a throb, like the beat of an enormous and worm-ridden heart.

The source of Lachryma is within him, as it was within him, as it is within you now.

(Continued)

>>3031929
trigger consume and draw forthe now plz

>>3031929
I am not a morning person but clearly Joker Quest is better than any coffee, because I am WIDE awake now.

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>>3031937
mfw the absolute fucking panic of him doing and regrowing his fucking arm, holy shit we need to upgrade the Athame.

2.5 Weapon Upgrade, Golgotha and then Athame say it with me now.

>>3031936
Let's bring the Scylla that missed back around to grab his "new" left arm

>>3031945
Let's hit him with the misercorde right now! He could still kill us

>>3031929

Violet light flares, the hellish illumination of EXEC_CONSUME. The industrial fangs sink deep, puncturing into the tangle of regrowing machinery, leeching power from the Red Joker's core. OMEN is in your left hand, and - a spasm of premonition - you wrench it up in time to meet his blurringly-fast fist-

A massive clang resounds, as tachyon blade and augmented fist smash together. There is a blaze of light, of terrible impacts. Shards of meridian steel scatter, spined knuckles splintering as they smash into the mowing blade-

But there is a brittle snap, and the upper half of OMEN shatters, too. A shard of blade goes spinning away, as the Red Joker slams into you - There is a squeal of tortured metal, as SCYLLA's shredding maw *pulls*, intent on ripping his freshly-formed arm off. Your half of the falchion - still seething with charge - slices across the Red Joker's back, shearing through what remains of his armor, searing into myomer muscle where only shreds of defense remain. You drive it into him, trying to wrench OMEN - the shards still seething with power - to sever his reinforced spine.

His thrusters cut out. His Interceptor controller ruptures. Now only momentum and the Tempest Scrander keeps you both aloft, the world thundering past, ever faster, ever further. The wind howls, as contrails of debris, as splinters of rust-red and crimson steel whip past - Your pauldron wrenches off, as the Red Joker's gauntlet drives deep into the cables of your throat.

You arch your back, trying to hurl him off, twisting OMEN's hilt as jags of green lightning leap across your jointed fingers - Schematics flaring across your right arm as the Plasma Caster reforms with aching slowness...

The Red Joker's killed with his hands before. His exo-armor gives him astonishing strength. But it's his implacability that's the problem for you, as if he is made of some substance far denser that mere steel. As the servoes of your neck whine beneath the crushing pressure, as acutators throttle and grind, sparks shooting from damaged components, you drive the smoking muzzle of the Plasma Caster into his side, beneath his guard, and wrench the trigger-

You hear - fzzzzzzz.

Misfire.

The Red Joker's mangled helmet smashes into yours.

(Continued)

>>3031951
>Misfire.
Oh fucking hell.

Fire the Scrander Bolt and fry the guy.

>>3031954
No we need to use the misercorde he's too close for a scrander bolt. Misercorde is a short stabbing weapon perfect.for this range

>>3031951

The impact whips his Stetson away - Your optic sensors glimpse it, the instant before your faceplate shatters, eyepieces splintering. Half the world vanishes from your field of vision, static buzzing across the ruin - Shards of liquid crystal scattering, like impact spray. Oil and coolant fluids - thick and dark as oil - run down the shattered half of your helm.

So you return the favor.

The impact makes something crack in the front of your helmet - There's a sickening snap, as something essential breaks apart, all sound strangled and distorted like the piping of hellish flutes, even as the aching throb of EXEC_CONSUME flares energy through you.

Beneath you, a swelling shadow - The end of your first and final fall...

The Red Joker's hand closes on the hilt of his sword, driven through your left arm. The power generator buzzes to life. There is a crack of armor shattering, a crunch of endosteel bones shearing. And even though you know pain is but a memory, in this form-

Agony cores up your arm like a hot wire.

The Plasma Caster's shape shreds apart, dissipating into a swirl of unraveling schematic lines and vapor. The Vector Trap's hypersphere disgorges a small shape. An ancient shape.

The oldest.

The Misericorde finds a seam in the Red Joker's armor, and plunges deep into his side.

(Continued)

>>3031966
>headbutt

OP, you never disappoint.

>>3031966
Not sure how to feel about essentially cheating our way to victory.

>>3031969
You gotta get out of this 'its a game' mindset, things are too desperate and the Marshal is too strong to hold anything back against.

Also, fighting dirty is one of our key traits as a character. Castigate, what happened to Megumi, what we did to Enfer, the mind games against Alura, the fight against that honorable knight guy who we cheapshotted. Its one of the main elements of our RJs fighting style.

>>3031969
I thought when this fight began it was going to end with the Misericorde.

Whether it works or not, It's like fate. The plunge. It has to happen.

>>3031969
From a simple weapon selection standpoint the misericorde is a short stabbing weapon. The only one of its.kimd we have in the inventory. To.use anything else would be silly, special effects not withstanding

>>3031974
>>3031976
My issue is exactly the "inevitability" of what we did.
It plays right into the idea that nothing can be changed and by using the Misericode we went ahead and proved that no matter what the cycle will continue. We just thematically perpetuated the fate that we have been trying to resist.

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>>3031966

He stiffens. He makes a sound, a sound that echoes across the past. Across the desert of black sand, and the long, long mourning that followed.

A low, rasping sound. The sound of life flowing out, and death flowing in.

The winds rip at you. His hand, around your throat. Your Tempest Scrander is still firing.

Falling. Not flying. Falling. Again.

There is sound, now. Perhaps there has always been sound. You think perhaps there has.

You can see so much, as the world blurs past. The rubble of the city's broken body. The grid of roads, become a grid of devastation. The wind tears at you, as you tumble. Windows race past.

You spear down past vast platforms ablaze from end-to-end, as they tumble and roll away in slow, decaying orbits. Spilling out trails of debris. Shorting out in great blossoms of reactor energy. Spiral patterns of soot, cycling like hurricanes. The gravity force is huge.

The Scrander burns so hard it quakes, collision alarms squealing. Too much. Too fast-

Around you, streaks of light. Interceptors, not your own. They slam into you from behind, one after another. They flare, with renewed force. With renewed thrust. The acceleration nearly breaks you in half, your armor shaking as if it is intent on shredding to pieces. You hear thrusters howling, adding their power to the Scrander's, as your falling forms flash past a vast tower of shattered glass, towards the bare rock below-

You fall with the cyclone. Cords of lightning, pulled into ropes.

You hit, and everything ends.

(Continued)

>>3031983
This is a memory. Memories always end the same anon.

Sleep well brave Marshal, you can hang your guns up up for good now.

>>3031984

Black.

A blank moment. Another. Something moves, like shadowplay. A blur of motion, in your field of vision. It whirls around you.

Meaning is water on the world's oil-slick shell.

You've fallen a long way. The longest. All the way past the city of ruin, and onto the tarry black story beyond. You glimpse...What remains. Dust coils away from you, in a rolling wall, but you only have eyes for what lies beyond.

The Red Joker's form is reamed and split, tangled cables and rent steel clenched so tightly in his armored fists that his grip has crumpled it. There is a faint hiss, as the Carnifex's death-mask retracts - It falls from him, skittering and tumbling across the stone, like a spinner in a child's game.

A crack spiders across his armor, where the Misericorde has been driven into him, all the way to the hilt. Red fire glows from beneath.

You lie there, the both of you, broken across the stone, as if waiting for the immense hush to be ended, for the world to continue turning. Black smoke drifts across the earth, from some distant fire - the distant boom of a far-away explosion rolling through the air, like the echo of someone's war.

And - at length - he stirs. At length, he stands. The cracks continue to spread.

His hand comes down to his side, his visor tilting down to look at the wound that has killed him twice.

And - in his gravel-dry voice - he says:

"Good enough."

And you find you can move, too - For the end was only a dream, and what do dreams matter?

[ ] Free

YOU HAVE CONTROL

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>>3032000
(Gentlemen, my apologies - I need to turn in for now, as it's extremely late. However, I'm looking forward to continuing once I have the opportunity.)

>>3032003
Did we get any reward from fighting him OP?

>>3032004
(Definitely. Just not at this moment.)

>>3032005
Are we still fucked up from the fight?

>>3032009
(No.)

>>3032000
"Was it? Really felt like a was out-gunned for a good part. And this time literally."

>>3032011
Awesome, sleep tight JQOP.

>>3032000
Let's go shake his hand, we couldn't give.him a proper send off last time. He's really passing us the baton now. Respect

>>3032000
"You're faster than I remember. Any last words of advice Marshal?" Stand up and approach him as we say this.

>>3032005
Neat. I'm really looking forward to what the Forge does and what we get from this. OP the time in the Black has been the best I've had in this quest, thanks a bunch.

>>3032020
Press "f" to pay respects

>>3032000
"...Were you always intending for me to use the Misericode like a key for this encounter?

Got any suggestions on how to reach your level? I just realized that I still got a lot to learn.

Either way, thank you for everything you did for me. Not so much for the things you did *to* me, though.
I will carry on your torch.

One last question, though: Was Hellebore always this much of a scheming bitch?"

>>3032000
Pick up the fucking Carnifex!

>>3032042
It's a dream.

>>3032031
I feel this is too sentimental/mushy and he's not a mushy kinda guy. I wouldn't tell him about Hellebore btw. No need to kick the guy when he's down. Just ask for advice on what to improve and what to do next. Maybe ask him if he's got some more goodies or places we can hit up for goodies.

>>3032003
OP how do we as a RJ compare to the Marshal statwise and gearwise? I'm curious, it seems like he has less variety and lower stats than us but his actual gear and his attunement with it is better.

>>3032063
>I'm curious, it seems like he has less variety and lower stats than us but his actual gear and his attunement with it is better.
He found a way to make the interceptors really useful, so there's that.

>I feel this is too sentimental/mushy and he's not a mushy kinda guy.
I would, at the very least, use the line about asking for a pointer. He is kind of our mentor after all.

>>3032000
"I'll do you proud old man. When I get back, I'll make sure to give them one for you, yeah?"

Shake his hand, and give him a nod, just a nod of respect.

>>3032073
Yeah same, that's why I mentioned advice. Honestly he has so much cool gear from the hat and muffler to the sand blaster to the interceptors, I want dat shiiiit.

>>3032078
I like this. I've always preferred Joker being kind of terse and calm. Not a man for a ton of words, either the Marshal or the RJ.

>>3032081
>I like this. I've always preferred Joker being kind of terse and calm. Not a man for a ton of words, either the Marshal or the RJ.
This makes me wonder.
Did the Marshall also spend centuries in hell?

I would love to ask about that in some way.

Let's just say "you're pretty good"
and shake his hand. Then ask for any last advice. That's premium joker

>>3032082
It's likely considering he was doing things before he joined up with us, like learning about lachryma, he already tried to kill the Black Joker, he cut its heart out after all, he was at the Forge. Maybe he even led the defense of the city; he knew how it fell after all. We should ask him where he found Golgotha originally and if there are more RJ artifacts to find.

>>3032000
"Thank you for the power to make all this right, Joker...for you, for me, for everyone that's left."

>>3032099
this is really laying it on thick lad. it reads like something wata would have written. well, not as smug.

We left our shonen hero bullshit behind when we went to the black. Jeez what do you think daegal is here for. We can't be stealing his schtick

>>3032000
"'Not enough gun' you said, Old Man.
How do I acquire your level of gun?

Also, what's the secret to leaving the Underworld? Last time you brought me back and this time my buddy and I won't have that luxury."

We may be jaded and shit, but I feel like some more old-school banter from before everything went to shit might be more appropriate when meeting our mentor.

Also, he doesn't seem to see the contradiction in us both owning the MAKER (most likely the Hollow Sun), as well as being lachryma-infused, even though the former actively purges the latter.
This is making me wonder.

>>3032141
Yeah let's definitely ask him how the fuck we get out of the black, we maybe be restored now , but we have a some mook in the trigon approaching us. Plus now we are sorted I am pretty worried about daegal we need to find a way to restore him too.

>>3032141
Banter yeah that's good. Just nothing overwrought or cheesy. Did he say 'own the maker' or met the maker?

>>3032157
>Did he say 'own the maker' or met the maker?

>>3028118
>You found the Maker.

>>3032172
Probably finding Daegal and getting him in place. We should ask him if we can get Daegal to the Hollow Sun.

>>3032000
EXEC_REAP

Everything in here is a memory, therefore we -might- be able to actually absorb part of the Old Man.

Access to a new oblivion husk, a unique subsystem, a skill we lack.

even just his memory of fighting the Thing would be useful as fuck.

I mean, we are all obviously hoping to get the Stetson... but OP would never give us something so OP.

>>3032190
We can try this after, lets not jump the gun. Try a REAP when we're leaving.

>>3032195
I'm kicking myself for not thinking of it sooner.

y know?

>>3032190
Actually, that might be brilliant.

I'll support it.

>>3032000
> “See you, Cowboy”
>finger gun gesture at him
> “bang”
>EXEC_REAP

>>3032200
Bruh I didn't think of this at all so you got me beat. So, to clarify
>Ask about what to do about Daegal to connect him to the Hollow Sun
>Ask about any artifacts of the Red Joker we can find in the Black
>Any advice about how we can fight
>Anything else he has to tell us

Then REAP the motherfucker.

"At the moment of a Player's destruction, a brief window exists between the dissipation of the Essence charge and the disintegration of the armored shell. When activated, this Codeburst allows you to glean information straight from the dying, reaping the data directly from their stored memory - By staring into their optic sensors/eyes and focusing on the subject of your inquiry.
It should be noted that all answers are relative to the Player in question: If the Player lacked the relevant knowledge, only silence will follow - And while the decaying armor lacks the capacity for deceit, there's the chance that inaccurate information might be passed on.
Generally, you can ask one question per destroyed Player, before their signal loses cohesion: Two, if you're lucky.
(i.e. This Codeburst allows you to 'speed-read' through a Player's recorded sensor data, with a focus on the subject of your inquiry.)
(COST: 80% VITAE BOOSTER)"

This may be a REAP scenario anyway I think but what the hell, why not?

>>3032246
Cheesy but I kind of like it.

>>3032253
>cheesy
cowboy bebop cheese is best cheese

>>3032253
>>3032190
What if he rejects the REAP?
I have no idea how the metaphysics would even work in this scenario.

>>3032280
You can't reject it and he won't. Dude shoved a cancer heart into us without us knowing. He knows how this works.

>>3032000
"...sorry I couldn't beat you in a fair fight, I still have a long way to go."

>>3032190
>>3032253
this isn't a "real" fight so I don't think REAP will actually work, but it's best to ask him first. After all, who knows how he constructed this thing, maybe he shoved part of his essence here

>>3032385
how is us using Misericorde considered ‘unfair’? were you expecting a better reward if we defeated him without using the anti-joker knife?

>>3032398
It's about the spirit of the duel. You can't call yourself the better fighter if you won by pressing the "I WIN" button the moment things got tough.

>>3032402
>>3032385
Stop being retarded, it wasn't a duel, it was a fight. It was a slobber knocker, fish hooking, dirty scrap. All of the fights in this quest are. The Misericorde was a fitting end to it, please stop acting like we could have done anything else; the Caster failed for fuck sake.

Also, does casting REAP make essence unavailable to use? I'm not sure he could give us anything.

>>3032253
The question remains though-

Which question do we ask? I have three thoughts on what to REAP.

1. We could ask about Lacryma.

We already know It's the Black Joker's blood, we know we have It's heart, we know about the forge and generally what it can do, that mindset plays a role In how It affects you. While It could give us good information I think It's not worth asking.

2. We could ask about the Athame.

If we knew exactly how it was constructed, what it was *made* from, knew more intuitively about It's intended function... Maybe I missed something, but I don't know what the Athame was intended for. Getting some clear answers on it might help resolve the 'pull it out or synthesize with it' question we keep skirting around.

3. Ask him 'What do you know about the Jokers.'

This is what I currently want to ask the most about. We could get some detailed information on the Jokers, maybe learn a bit about what Mikogami was like as the White Joker and more about his goals, (And thus more details on Naoya's goals) we might get to see him fight Black Joker through his eyes so we can go in to that fight knowing some of It's tricks (How useful would that be, eh) and most of all, we might get more insight into the working of the armor of the Red Joker. We know the basics, but we might get some more insight on things like 'The Instrument', and what some of the abilities locked behind level ups are, and some of them might be really nice things to have. Hell, from that wording, we might just live through the old man's entire life as the Red Joker, his entire existence neatly packaged in an upload stream.

This is speculation about what we *could* get, but we should be prepared to ask a good question if we get one.

Ask about the athame, we have to know more about it , it might be wrecking our body

>>3032404
The point is still that we failed to surpass our Mentor. It was not a fight against some evil antagonist we had no mercy or respect towards, it was a fight to prove ourselves to our predecessor.

We used the OHKO weapon that could only be used against a Red Joker and would guarantee victory at any point in the fight, invalidating the whole challenge. We did, in essence, cheat our way to victory at the last moment. How fucking autistic are you to not get why that irks some of the players?

>>3032402
Anon, I understand your point. You wanted to prove that we had 'Exceeded' the Old Joker, to earn our rightful place as his successor.

However, a few things. Old Joker himself approved based on his reaction. Furthermore, the Misericorde Is a very real weapon, It's not just a win button.

You don't have to have the Fatal Abyss, or a weakness abusing knife to stab a man in the heart. That's what we did, we beat him to shit, within an inch of his life, down to the bone and blood, and then stabbed him right in the heart. He was dead regardless of which knife it was, but the fact that it was the miseriecorde is more fitting.

Finally, we had just prior to using the misericorde put the Plasma Caster to his broken chest and pulled the trigger. It should have killed.

It *whiffed*. Misfire. Fate.

This was the most thematically fitting way to end it anon, having brought him to the brink of death, we let history repeat itself.

We won. There Is no shame.

>>3032408
I think the best thing to ask would be "How did the Finals end and how did you get into the Black?"

I don't think he lied to us about Lachryma. He probably doesn't know that much about it; he doesn't seem like a scientist, he seems like someone who improvises. Like us. The Athame would make more sense to ask about but we can do that now. I'd say the same about asking about Red Jokers.

Mikogami's goals were simple; to raise humanity to new heights and glories, promote human consciousness and resurrect Kotone. Seeing his impressions of the Black Joker would be extremely useful and also asking about the Instrument or how he stole White Joker's power would be very useful as well. He did say we needed it.

>>3032417
Because we *were* beating him for the whole fight. We were causing more damage, outmaneuvering him, out fighting him and out performing him before he used 1. the heart of the black joker itself to pump up 2. a fully attuned carnifex. Anon, you're treating this like we didn't use every trick we had in the book and at that point in the fight, any single attack would have likely killed him. We tried using the Caster instead but it failed so instead we used the other surefire attack we had. Stop acting like this was a cheaply won fight, he was tearing our throat out while we were cutting his spine in half while eating his arms; the sole reason the fucker lasted as long as he did was because he knows how to use the heart of the Black Joker to juice himself and because he can use the Carnifex properly. I think you can understand why some people are getting pissed off that you're screaming about how we 'cheated' when he TOLD us to pull no punches, when he SAID 'Good enough' when we stabbed him and when he HIMSELF held back no punches. Also, what >>3032422 said.

>>3032246
My suggestion was garbage compared to this. Seconding.

>>3032408
can we ask him how to read the lost city’s written language? we do have an untarnished book left by the library spirits waaay back then. i almost forgot about that. besides, he did imply that he was around during the black city’s golden age, and tragically its fall.

>>3032445
THIS DO THIS. God I'm so hype for more.

>>3032445
>>3032000
Supporting the request on how to read the black city language. (if you don't remember, it's that untarnished book those library spirits gave us when Joker and Deagal took shelter in the library after crash landing in the Black)

>>3032445
My guess was that signs of the righteous would have let us read that, because that's what I assumed it was for. Could be a good question, Won't vote for it but I'm not saying It's a bad idea at all. I'd just rather use this one time only chance to learn about the Jokers, specifically what he knew about what each one was capable of, I want an edge to use.

>>3032458
I want an edge. We need to hit him up for ideas and how to steal WJ's power and use BJ's core.

>>3032446
>>3032453
Actually, before we REAP him for it, let's take out the book and make sure and ask if he can even read the book first. If we REAP him assuming he can read it and he CAN'T... we're shit out of luck.

If he can though, why not.

>>3032461
I don't think we can REAP but again, always worth a check. So, for next time.

>Advice about fighting/things we could improve
>How to use the BJ's core and how to steal the WJ's powers. Info about their fight.
>Any possible RJ artifacts we could pick up/steal
>How to connect Daegal to the Hollow Sun/how to help him realise his potential
>Can he read the language and if he can't, who might be able to
>Anything else he has to tell us

>>3032463
Kou is probably golden black world gilgamesh btw. just wanted y'all to know that.

>>3032473
Sorry, accidentally replied in this thread, wrong thread, wrong board, wrong Kou, justa coincidence

>>3032479
Pretty fucking wild coincidence.

Anyway I think head vulcans sword man is actually Vovoid. He hates us, he knows us, he's good with swords.

>>3032246
Voting for this
Then for exe rend
>ask if he can read the black world boo
> ask for more info about the jokers
>ask about utilising the lacheryma core like he did
>bonus :ask about the athame

>>3032484
He has Oriculum armor, the same stuff Daegal has. He's most likely a 'Maker' as Old Joker put it, so I'd guess he's a broken soul still around from after the fall in the black.

Where would Koichi even get Oriculum armor anyway If It were him? Bishamon Is a Gaunt class player, (The elite swordsmen like Phantom Edge and Totenaz) as far as I understand there are other classes/ Is another class better suited to becoming like Daegal.

Should we show him that book we picked up in the black?

>>3032554
Yes

>>3032554
This

>>3028122
Are harmonia and the nihil sphere fully charged then?

>>3032554
it feels like we might not have enough time left for him to provide many insights. it would have been great to do this before the fight.

I agree that the book seems like it might be connected to signs of the righteous.

I'm also surprised no one wants to pick up the Beam Magnum. If Lachryma can create anything then we can surely bring it with us. recover the original and we could literally duel wield awesomeness. Then again with trigon on the move the carnifex might be more useful. Both would be best, but time is short.

and on top of all of that we aren't entirely sure what the Instrument actually does. So there's that. lots of unanswered questions.

>>3032404
>Stop being retarded, it wasn't a duel, it was a fight. It was a slobber knocker, fish hooking, dirty scrap. All of the fights in this quest are. The Misericorde was a fitting end to it, please stop acting like we could have done anything else
Dude, the point here is that the Old Man made this basically a test.
The "good enough" refers to the fact that we couldn't beat him fairly.
Remember, we are supposed to be his successor. We are his joker. And we are a *worse* fighter than him.
That's why it makes sense to apologize. This wasn't just a gating of the artefact, it was also a test of our skills compared to him.

>>3032511
>Bishamon Is a Gaunt class player, (The elite swordsmen like Phantom Edge and Totenaz) as far as I understand there are other classes/ Is another class better suited to becoming like Daegal.
This is making for an interesting thought: Everyone else who gets a template applied over their natural template gets a modified template. I.e. the Marshal and our Red Joker armor are very different, even with the same basic capabilities, which I chalk up to how Iron Cestus differed from whatever the Marshall was prior to becoming Red Joker - probably some kind of gunslinger.
But Daegal's "prior armor" was our own version of Red Joker. So he might be the purest form of Daegal possible, as he's based on an endgame class.

>>3033030
>and on top of all of that we aren't entirely sure what the Instrument actually does. So there's that. lots of unanswered questions.
That's because we technically don't have it yet.
Our armor is being reforged. It will likely look quite different once we leave the dream behind, and the Instrument will become available then.

>>3033340
your not quite correct.

this wasn't a test, it was a trap. A trap the Marshal was sure we could get through. And we did.

could we have done better? absolutely.

but that's not the takeaway here. the Old Man was fighting here in his prime. And anon matched him blow for blow and won.

the current red joker is AT LEAST the equal of his predecessor.

you May think that "good enough" is a reproach for "cheating" with the misericord. but that's not what it looks like to me. Any man who can rip the heart out of the remnant of all things at the end of time and space and shove it inside some kid wouldn't view it that way.

that's the kind of man who does whatever he has to to win.

so if he was disappointed it was probably just because we didn't gut him with the misericord the very first chance we got.

don't apologize for weakness. that's just cowardice. learn from it, find it, and choke it out of yourself.

put another way, everyone fucks up. at some point you have to let the past be and look to tomorrow. hell the Old Man had his own share of colossal fuck ups.

Op should be posting soon, of he sticks to his schedule.
So to recap what people want.
Exe rend .
Then ask about the book we have from the black and if we have additional questions ask about the joker system(white,red & black

>>3033646
Sconding. More info on Joker system would be good.

>>3033646

(My apologies, I've had an extremely late day at work - I'm still not back from the office yet. I think I might revise the Photonic Halo after this, however. The secondary fire - which you've been using - simply seems far, far more useful than the primary fire.)

>>3033651
Maybe tweak it so it can only directly target one figure at a time? It needs to lock on to one target and it's got a small range so the primary function is for multiple targets while the secondary fire is for 1 on 1?

>>3033651
No problem OP.
Just to add clarity. I think the thread wants to question the marshal first then use exec reap for anything unanswered, before our time is up.

>>3033651
No worries Op, I hope your work goes smoothly for you!

>>3033652
An addendum to this; I think the main reason we kept using the secondary fire was that old JQ was so fast and could cause so much damage.

>>3033668
Tbf it still needs to be fixed, the PH array is clearly are go to for targets with high mobility. Not all of them will be as tough as the marshal

Op please don't go to sleep, the suspense of what we get and the conclusion to this is killing me.

>>3033735
Let the man sleep, goddamn. He doesn't need to kill himself right this instant to get you more content.

We definitely have to ask if he knows anything about the Hollow Sun and Daegal´s armor and any thoughts about the players who stayed down here so long they´ve been corrupted by Lachryma

all these anon's wanting to strike up a conversation, have a bit of tea, maybe rewrite the magna Carta, etc.

he is dying in front of us. the only reason hes not already toast is pure grit and dramatic timing.

and yeah it's a damn shame that he's leaving us with toms of questions, but we simply don't have enough time anymore..

so we need to prioritize. what is most important?

for me it's REAP because here, inside the memory, it can possibly be MUCH more potent.

the book is a close second, the carnifex or beam magnum are third

what's your priority anon's?

also, how could we have fought him more efficiently?

for me I think we should have opened with HARROW. would have made the rest a lot easier

>>3033923
Anon, learn to use capital letters and paragraphs.

>>3033651
Just out of curiosity JQOP, I know you've sat on this for so very long, but-

Did you expect us to find this earlier in the story, or did you think we were never going to find the forge? I can only Imagine once the Diadem part started you might have given up hope.

>>3033651
Can we see some more of the system?

>>3036983
One day Anon, we'll get to see it one day.

>>3036976
What I wonder about is the balance of the scenario.
The first time we had the chance to go there, we were massively weaker than we are now.
I wonder whether the Old Man stayed at his powerlevel or whether OP rebalanced him to make him challenging for our current level of development.

>>3037725
Bit of both I imagine. OP probably tweaked his lachryma usage and maybe altered some of his guns so he'd be a better fit but the Beam Magnum, Carnifex and the interceptors were probably the same since the beginning. Keep in mind, the Marshal was actually struggling near the start of the match.

>>3037725
>>3037725
Well a few thoughts about that

First off as an archive fag who caught up for the past few threads, I think even though we’ve got… 17 (?) levels, i feel like we’ve gimped our own potential at this point (And I say that knowing how ludicrously strong we are). In particular I think a lot of problems could be solved by just having our weapons and armor be stronger as a whole. Joker’s frame and gear seems to scale pretty damn well, as well as starting out better than most everyone else’s, so we really should have spared 3-4 levels for FORCE and for the base armor upgrade, IMPACT REDUCTION.

Just to go on a small tangent about that in particular, IIRC this is everything we got from Impact Reduction

Improved damage reduction and reduced chance of armor penetration (Obviously)

Improved myomer muscular system (More strength with all It’s benefits, increased speed with all It’s benefits)

10% more Essence

I can only guess anons either forgot how good it is or just figured the booster was the better option, (Which has what, four levels in it now? Too bad It’s broken and we’ve got an arguably better replacement for it now. Unless JQOP does something incredibly based like have the forge merge both of our boosters together to create a superior one, I can’t help but feel like those levels are wasted, useful as they were.) even though having a stronger core would eliminate a need to *rely* on the booster as much.

But as for strolling through hell earlier on, i don’t think It would have been impossible with what we had, though maybe a bit harder, In part because we would be doing it alone, (Cybelle doesn’t count.) In part because we wouldn’t have the Crimson Joker abilities.

As for what we DID have, we still had-

105% more essence

Cybelle’s ability to regenerate Essence by using Meter and Booster as fuel (Which with the booster, is circumstantially endless)

The Hand of Midas, our invincible superarm

The Mauler, our one handed minigun (May it rest in peace)

The Carnifex, and with it MAXIMUM JOKER (Another level down the drain. We’re carving it off Naoya’s face and taking It back, fuck him.)

And lastly our armors old Lacryma immunity, for what that’s worth.

So yeah, i think we would have been fine. We probably would have gone up a level or two before getting to the old man, not that we would particularly need them for the fight. Assuming he fought exactly as he did now, we could still beat him. His advantage with the carnifex at the end would be countered by ours, although i suspect he would have had an easier time outmaneuvering us early on due to us not having Forebode in that timeline.

>>3039128
>Improved damage reduction and reduced chance of armor penetration (Obviously)
>Improved myomer muscular system (More strength with all It’s benefits, increased speed with all It’s benefits)
>10% more Essence

These all came from the Zenith Upgrade we got in 37. 3 level ups in guard, impact reinforcement and code bursts. The real gimping we faced was that we didn't invest in meter weapons enough and, far more importantly, took so long to get LIMITER ATTUMENT II. We could have gotten that around CANKER EATER. Would have made an absolutely massive difference with the Essence's we'd assimilate and being able to access FORBODE and CACKLE earlier.

Also, the Athame will always be worth it. Losing Cybele's crest was a pain but using the Athame was effectively a Zenith Upgrade of its own (integrate Scylla, Argus and Assault Shroud and boost output/efficiency). We're probably going through another Zenith upgrade rn. Make I'm looking forward to getting out of the Forge. I wonder if Daegal has killed anyone? And what's Trigon like?

>>3039128
>>3039363
I hope we'll get to use the Hollow Sun and use options like getting another Shroud upgrade now that Muleta consumes no more slots.

I do see how upgrading our core stats might be a good idea. We have been focusing very strongly on versatility.
I think the issue stems from the fact that it's impossible to gauge how many levels we'll get in the future. We gained none in the Underworld, for example, even though I would have anticipated at least one or two.
So we've been prioritizing short time gain, as well as versatility instead of a strong baseline.
As a side note, it looks like a few more levels in interceptors would have given us equivalents of the Scrander and Abruption Jets. So if we ever think about upgrading either of the two, getting into EVOL might be the better idea. The question is whether it's our separate EVOL ability or the interceptor system itself that allows the interceptors to augment our movements, though.

As for the Booster, I actually wonder whether the Vitae Booster really didn't profit from that at all. The upgrades aren't upgrading relics - they just cause our armor to attune to the relics. As booth boosters are very similar, I would be surprised if there wasn't some carry-over benefit.
Also, I hope that the repairs weren't just a dream thing. Hopefully all of our relics are whole again, including the Cobalt Booster.

>>3040999
Well I can only guess at what OP is giving us, but I imagine we're getting multiple significant things here, if we don't outright get to choose a level up in addition to whatever else we get.
You have a point about the boosters though, I never thought of it that way. I hope we get to see a return of some of the systems FROST CESTUS was using soon enough, they'd fit well with what we have as JOKER.
I agree with you that an Interceptor upgrade would be useful considering we can throw around so much meter, but I wouldn't pick them over, say, armor or main weapon systems. Or Athame Attunement for that matter, we really need to go ahead and level that since we aren't pulling it out.


>>3039363
I Agree with you, not having Limiter II hurt us more than I want to think about, if we could have 2 or 3 more levels by this point, not to mention having so many more Assimilation bonuses...
If the Forge Isn't a Terminus upgrade in Itself, we really should gun for the Hollow Sun immediately to get one. Assuming It isn't destroyed in a plot twist by Naoya, Pazuzu, or possibly Bishamon, since IIRC he is one of the players we've granted a degree of access to. Since a Terminus upgrade would give us a level in every category, (As well as revealing data in each skill tree) here's what I think we should get if we get the chance.

We should get Force 2.5, for levelling our meter weapons, Meter Accelerator because more meter from all sources is always a great thing, Impact Reduction to finally boost our armors capabilities once more, SURVIVE is tricky since we don't know what anything does, but System Integrity sounds like a good choice based on what It implies, and lastly I'd just go with the Interceptors In EVOL at this point. Hopefully we can just give them even more GUN, because at this point we just want tons of damage.

Something else i wanted to bring up, from TRIAGE BEHEMOTH we got the Over Armor ability which we have never used. If memory serves, didn’t we start neutronium mining within the Hollow Sun? If we could get a large sum of that, it would make for an extremely resilient layer of defense if we double-layered it on ourselves. We could rely on the scrander and jets and booster for relative mobility and our sensory abilities and forebode, simply fire away at the competition, and once the armor is broken through we should likely be at full health considering we can heal through damage. Give the ability an actual use. (Personally, I would love to see Naoya’s face if it stopped his sword dead in It’s tracks.)

>getting stuff from the Hollow Sun
>when we're all hopped up on Lachryma
I don't really remember that going so well.

>>3041094
True, but maybe Kazuya can go inside and get us the gear.

Also, from what I remember we cannot get a terminus upgrade. We are already at full potential. In fact, we are now twice beyond full potential.

>>3040999
I've been trying to upgrade weapons or force every time but alas.

Not long now boys bumping in anticipation of new op post

>>3041101
You can get terminus upgrades as long as you can grow.

>>3041088
I want Force > Golgotha > Emulator Module. Force for more damage and weapons, Golgotha because its a perfect melee weapon and OP keeps mentioning it, Emulator so we can start emulating individual relics, relics we aren't using in the main hand and so forth. Leech Module would be great.

>>3032020

Faster - He was always faster. Unwavering, unyielding. Invincible, in his own way.

So what does that makes you?

>>3032042

You lever yourself to your feet. Servoes and fibre-bundles hum, as if they've forgotten the damage that was so recently inflicted upon you. There is a surreal air to it all, as if the fabric of the dream is thinning.

As if you are - at last - struggling awake.

Somewhere, somewhere across a vast distance, the sounds of the Forge are dimming to nothing at last.

Your hand closes on the Carnifex, in passing. Something about the flame-light changes it - You remember that it was silver, before. In your hand, the spined knuckles and grasping skeletal fingers are black against brass. Or red iron, perhaps. Or red gold.

It crumbles away, beneath your touch. Sifting away to sand, draining between your fingers.

The Red Joker holds his Stetson in his hands, like an old friend.

"I gotta...Go on, now," he says, quietly. "Have to leave you to finish it."

He replaces it. A sigh, a rattling breath, comes from deep within. His hand closes on yours, a firm grasp - Though perhaps not as unyielding as you remember. As if the iron has gone out of it.

No. He isn't weaker. You're stronger, now.

"Look at you, pilgrim," he says. A faint light, beneath his visor. The faint whirring hum of his optics, cycling. "Hell, you're almost as tall as me, now."

The Red Joker's head dips. The next words come hard to him.

"Saw you learn to follow your heart. Learn not to quit, or duck a fight. Saw you learn to be a man - But I reckon that's what you were, all along. Just...Took me a while to see it, that's all."

The Misericorde's cracks spread, the flaws spiderwebbing through the wound in his side. They glow like lava, with a molten heat of their own. Not much longer, now.

-a flicker of azoic light, from the space between worlds-

"So much to tell you - But there ain't enough time. There never is."

(Continued)

>>3041241
>"Hell, you're almost as tall as me, now."
Welp, we're patricides now.

>>3041241
Yesssssssss OP Yesssss

>>3041241
Use EXEC_REAP and ask it how he killed the White Joker.

"You've said enough. Sit back. Take it easy. Watch. I'm going to finish what we started, a hundred years ago. Goodbye Marshal. It was an honour; our time together was short but sweet."

>>3041249
What no, that's a waste of a reap. We need to learn about the athame or the book we retrieved from the world of black

>>3041249
We know how to kill the White Joker, it's the same way we kill anything else. Seems a waste of a question.

>>3041253
Exactly we just need to prise his cold dead heart out of his chest.

>>3041253
Change that to 'how to take the White Joker's power'. That's what I meant to say. I think that might ahve been the hand of lachryma we saw him with before.

>>3032190
>>3032246
>>3032253

His hand releases yours. His gaze goes to the side.

"You see 'em out there, Joker?" he says. But there's nothing, only the gathering dark.

"Well. I guess you didn't kill them."

The Red Joker draws the revolver on his hip. He holds it out to you, grip first. When your hand closes around the black-threaded mercury, fingers firming around AXANAEL as if it was made for you-

You see them. Their serried ranks, extending onwards into infinity. Thousands, like overlapping shades, all ruined, all dead. You may have reaped your measure, but the Red Joker has stood upon a mountain of the dead. You glimpse ruined optics, rent armor, a thousand mutilations and death-wounds, riven forms flickering with the light of oblivion.

"That's what I am, boy. That's what we are."

"Do well to remember it."

Something of the weight seems to leave him, as the big iron leaves his hand - His holster empty, at long last.

"The Forge...It'll take you all the way to the very end of the world. The Nihl Eye - It'll take you beyond." Is that a smile, somewhere beneath all that armor, now scarred with final wounds atop the old? "Time was, I figured you'd need the Beam Magnum for that. Guess you've found a better way."

He exhales, and you can hear the weary longing in his voice. Even through the static, through the gravelly rasp of his speakers. "Home, pilgrim - There ain't nothing like it, in all the worlds. Wish...I could see it one last time."

Molten cracks splinter across his faceplate, now. The end is very close.

"The rest, though - It don't need saying. All that I am...It's be part of you, now."

"Remember who I was, boy. Tell them I made it all the way, never quit."

His hand comes away from his side. The Red Joker looks down into the light, at his charred and scoured gauntlet - Then up at you, as if gazing upon something infinitely precious.

"I'm just a...broke-down, wore-out old cowboy..."

His hand closes around the Misericorde, pulls it free. Light weeps forth.

"But this broke-down, wore-out cowboy wanted you ta know-"

"He's proud of you."

The blade cuts air. He pushes the knife harder, deepens the cut. It becomes a line the height of a man, drawing back like a curtain - Reality parting before it.

"Go on, now. Go on and finish it."

One step.

The light twists around you, and swallows your world.

(Continued)

>>3041261
No opportunity to reap op?

>>3041270

(You're using it right now.)

>>3041273
My man!

>>3041261

It carries you forward, as the world falls away.

-A heartbeat-

Images flash into your mind. You see the end of it, the last terrible moments. You see a city through a blizzard of fire, as blunt and broken hands scrabble upon a marble stair. You feel the icy lash of sleet, hear the screams in the distance. Thousands in agony and terror. Tens of thousands to follow. Then millions, as the earth eats itself alive. Perhaps billions, but you will never know.

You feel the lick of flame along phantom nerves, the shreds of discipline no longer entirely enough to lock the pain outside your consciousness. You feel the numb burn settling into your good leg, the fingers of your broken hand. And now you struggle forward, across the platinum altar, and try to rise. To go out on your feet.

The effort makes your gyros spool within you, gathers darkness in your eyes, and you sink back down. Your body is broken - Soon it will die. But you gouge your fingers into the ice-white platinum of the redoubt, and somehow - somehow - you find the strength to crawl.

-a distant throb-

Fuck surrender. You'll sleep when you're dead.

And there he is. The Black Cardinal. Crumpled in upon himself, the black-threaded iron of the Crux gripped in one hand. Blasted open, the faintest gleam of white - like bone - beneath the robes that shroud him, charred to ash, now.

Dead.

No. He stirs.

You raise the Beam Magnum. Squeeze the trigger. The fusion cell sputters, sparks fly from the barrel. Nothing left.

"So it's...today." That voice, calm now. Measured, almost. Somewhere beyond pain. "I always...wondered."

The faint shimmer of a shield around him...

Hell with it.

"Always was - afraid of you. Thought you could...look at anything, not let it affect you. The perfect killer. Was...wrong."

It's over. He's failed. The terrible apparitions, the fritinancy of chattering bugs - the feel of the veil thinning, disaster looming, like a storm - gone. Gone, even as a noxious smoke - the vile stink of aeons - furls out around you. Despite your armor, you can smell grave-mold. You smell rot. There is a sickening taste. A numbing dislocation. A kaleidoscope of nauseating colors.

He's done, and that's good. You reckon you're just about done yourself.

But he made you work for it. Not like a fighter - Like a man possessed.

(Continued)

>>3041308

Lachryma tracks down the White Joker's faceplate, like tears. Over the shattered remnants of his Carnifex. They pool, thick and oily.

"I, uh - I....aaaahhhh." Monotone, a speaker-drone. "Can't - can't even sit up..."

Not with his torso shredded, he won't.

> "I know. Don't try."

No words for what you feel. Perhaps there are no words.

"My daughter-" He rasps out the words, lifting the ruins of his helm to the cold, distant stars. Alien stars, now - Soon to be gone. And then you - both of you - will be gone with them.

"I'm - sorry. Can't tell you...How sorry I am. If there was...any other way."

> "Lots of people are sorry tonight."

The White Joker nods. Slowly, pensively, as though each motion of his head welds another layer of armor around his grief. Because you're a practical man, you look around, too - It'll all be over soon.

But there's no harm in making sure.

Beneath you, the Memory Tower buckles. Collapsing, or being drawn upwards? You can't tell. Something tells you, though - You'll know soon enough. Both of you will.

"All I - ever wanted - to do...See her again, that's all. Thought - I thought...If I could do that, I could do anything. I wish-"

He's done worse. He's done far worse. Yet somehow, at the end - He's impossible to hate.

> "*I* wish I could say it's been fun."
> "You got me up here on the world's biggest firecracker. *That's* an achievement."
> "Come on. Time to face the end like a man."

The Black Cardinal - Or White Joker - or whatever he is, now - turns his head to the side.

> "You can't say you don't deserve it."
> "It's not...the people who died here. Not even that you...Shot Hellebore in the face...blew her fucking *head* off - When all she was trying to do was..."
> "Was..."

Heat in your voice, now. The taste of blood-salted teeth. And here, you were trying to be civil.

You might not hate him. But you want your fist around his throat, all the same.

You know. To be sure.

Impossibly now, strength returns to your shattered limbs, and you - With a terrible effort - pull yourself upright, and climb to your feet. Balancing on your unbroken leg, though sparks shoot from the joint.

(Continued)