Something about this voice's smug mannerisms are pissing you off, but you suppress your building rage and manage to choke out a vaguely calm sounding response through your anger. "Who... are you? What exactly do you want from me?" Your left hand hovers near your revolver's holster. As soon as you know where the man's voice is coming from, you're going to see just how well he deals with being shot.

"My name?" The voice bursts into laughter. "Why don't you ask my dear daughter? Oh... that's right! You can't!" Now the target of the voices attention has shifted to Theresia, you feel her try to cling even closer to you, whatever kind of man that her father is, you no longer care. You don't know how anyone would laugh at their own daughter's inability to speak. "But seeing as how you've been such a good sport, coming all this way for me. I'll grant you that much, before you die. My name is Johannes Gotthelf, owner of this fine institution of research, and soon to be truly immortal."

The smarmy overconfidence in the voice is nearly enough to make you lose your temper again but you keep a lid on it for now, there's no point losing it just yet, not when you can't make out your target. "Fine, so you're in charge. Great. Before I kill you, would you mind telling me what it is you're after?" A death threat flows freely towards the man. You'd normally be shocked at your own aggressiveness, but something in you knows that there's no way this won't end up in a battle to the death.

"You truly do lust after knowledge, don't you? A pity, such a personality would've been perfect for an apprentice. As for what I'm after, it's really quite simple. Two things, there are two things I wish for in this moment. The complete elimination of that organization protecting you... oh, and your soul." As he finishes his outrageous sounding claim, you wince as Theresia's warm touch vanishes from your arm, replaced with the cold sting of iron manacles restraints and chains. Your feet aren't touching the ground either! Somehow, without even noticing, you've been suspended in the air! What just happened?

You try to struggle, but it feels as if all of the energy has been drained out of you! There's a click as the man snaps his fingers, followed by a scream of pain and a thud. The room is illuminated in a pale purple light.

The source of the light is none other than Theresia herself, motionlessly laying on the floor as the part of her body where her heart would be is brightly shining like some sort of purple sun, enough that even looking at Theresia makes your eyes sting. But you do notice that she doesn't remain motionless for long. Her body trembling in agony trying to get up. As you watch, powerless to intervene or help, you see that next to her is what appears to be a human sized mannequin, or rag-doll, laying where you were standing moments ago. You can see the source of the voice now. a man with black hair and purple eyes, wearing a fine looking black suit. Around his neck is what appears to be some sort of compass, attached to a silver chain. His face is alight with an insane grin. "Isn't it fortunate, that today, I shall accomplish both?"

As much as you would like to interfere and help Theresia you can't do anything. Your body is not only restrained in chains, but your energy seems to be flowing out of you "Theresia. There's no need for you to struggle like this any longer. Don't you understand? I've finally found a way for you to die! How many decades have you had that stone in your chest now? How much suffering have you had to deal with, whenever I tried to extract it? But don't worry, my beloved daughter, while your mother may have condemned you to those dreadful lifetimes of suffering, I will finally end your pain. It's been too long, but now all of the pieces have come together. The Complete Philosopher's Stone shall be mine!"

He just revealed way too much at once for you to fully comprehend. 'Complete Philosophers Stone? Lifetimes of suffering? Decades?' You don't know what the hell this guy is talking about, but you know that you can't allow him to live any longer. Not only is he spouting insanity, but if what he's saying is actually true, how long has Theresia had to suffer at his hands?

"Now!" Johannes claps his hands "Rose. It's time for you to begin the procedure, if you would." A sad looking girl that you recognize steps out into the centre of the room from behind a bookcase, Edwin's sister? "Now, Theresia, you don't have to worry, the procedure won't take long, Rose here will help it along to ensure it goes smoothly" The faux affection in the man's voice fades completely as he turns to you, his voice becoming as cold as ice. "First though we'll need to extract that unique soul of yours, you're really quite an oddity, you know." Something inside of you seethes with hatred and seems to snap as he finishes his sentence, and you plunge into a world of darkness once more before anything else occurs.

You awaken from the darkness, to that inner world of yours once more, still bound in those chains. The shadowed man is in front of you, looking at you in an inquisitive manner, as if you were some difficult to solve problem or sum. "My word, Arthur. We simply must stop meeting like this." There's a mocking tone in the voice, before it suddenly gets serious. "Though you are in quite the predicament, this time, aren't you? Bound in magical chains and unable to escape, about to have your very soul ripped from your body! However could this have happened?"

You simply growl at the shadow, things are bad enough without him mocking you as well, and you don't want to deal with this inner world nonsense of yours right now. You just need to get yourself out of this predicament, but first you need to find a way out of here, an additional obstacle you could do without. "I don't have time for this. Let me out of here now!"

"Arthur. You might not yet have realized, but I'm only here to help you on your path, don't you see? If you find yourself in my world, then it's because you require my help." As he speaks, a shining white hand attached to a long spindly arm emerges from the floor. "Oh, they really don't waste time, do they? Well, you're very lucky I'm here, Arthur. Otherwise you really wouldn't be making it out of this alive." The white hand suddenly lunges towards you, aimed directly at your chest, poised to tear out your heart!

But before it can, the shadowed man's arm snaps forward and seizes the white arm, and with a imperceptibly fast motion, tears the arm in half! Clawed fingers inches from your chest, reaching to pierce your heart. You watch as the hand fades into motes of white light, which are quickly consumed by the darkness "Why, that was rather satisfying, cathartic, in a way." The shadow says cheerfully. "Oh, but you still have much to do, so I shan't keep you any longer. Though it won't do you much good to return like you are currently, so it seems I must aid you once again, try not to make a habit of getting into situations like this." The man strides towards you and with a single touch, causes the chains binding you to shatter and disappear. "There, now. Best of luck, Arthur." The world fades back into white before the office room once again comes into vision. Theresia is still struggling to rise to her feet, and her father is still watching with a devilish grin on his face. Rose however is in a quite different position, she's standing right in front of you, has her eyes closed and her right hand is pressed onto your chest.

Suddenly, there's a loud pained shriek as Rose's eyes jolt open. The sickly looking girl falls backwards away from you, quivering in pain. As you watch her squirm on the floor, you realise that she's not unlike Theresia now, you find it very difficult to be sympathetic towards a girl that just moments ago was just trying to tear your soul out. A quick movement of your arms causes the chains that were binding you in place so tightly to simply crumble into ashes, putting you back on solid ground and free of your restraints. "Rose!? What happened? Not like this... Not when I'm so close!" The man seems distracted by the sudden incapacitation of his accomplice. So distracted by his fallen, in fact, that he doesn't seem to have noticed that you've escaped from your bindings. You've been given a perfect opportunity to strike!

>Shoot him dead.
>Threaten him with your revolver and demand he answers your questions. (what?)
>Try to help Theresia to her feet while keeping an eye and your revolver fixed on the man.
>Write-in...

>>3976558
>Try to help Theresia to her feet while keeping an eye and your revolver fixed on the man.
I wonder if we can slow the rate of which he dies.

>>3976558
>Shoot him dead.
As much as I'd like to see if we can squeeze more benefit out of this situation, the fact is that hesitation could be fatal.

>>3976558
>>Threaten him with your revolver and demand he answers your questions. (what?)
Why do you want my soul?
What's so special about me?
Do you fear death?

>>3976558
Offer him some orange soda

>>3976553
>some sort of compass
Hang on...

>>3976558
>Try to help Theresia to her feet while keeping an eye and your revolver fixed on the man.
Going for the good end.

May not be able to update today...
Again.

God damn it!
I'll try but so far I've had literally no time to myself for the entire day.
And it doesn't look like that will be changing any time soon, who knows though.

>>3977658
Yeah.
As expected.
Sorry for this period of sudden flakiness, but people are making it impossible to find even 20 minutes to write the update in intervals.

I apologize.

As you get your bearings and look about the room, you draw the revolver, ignoring the fallen girl as you keep the pistol trained on the man staring at her with a look of belief on his face, stepping towards Theresia while keeping your finger near the trigger. If he makes a move, you'll blow him away!

You quickly reach the struggling girl on the floor and crouch downwards, intending to take her by the hand. Before you can offer her your hand though, she tightly reaches out and grabs your wrist, pulling herself to her feet using you as a support. She stops trembling the moment she touches your arm as the light shining from her chest dulls slightly. It doesn't take her long to stand with your help, and while she's still grimacing in pain, she manages to remain standing with your help

Your gun is still aimed directly at the man, who doesn't seem to have noticed, instead his face is contorted in shocked rage as he gazes at the still body of Rose. His eyes quickly dart towards you, and then the gun pointed at him.

Good, it seems that now you've got his attention "Don't move an inch, or you're dead." You mean it, after what this man just tried to do, you have no real reason to let him live any longer. Not only is he quite clearly insane, but he just tried to have your soul pulled out for his own nefarious purposes and caused Theresia a great amount of pain.

"You really think you can kill me with that pathetic thing?" The man takes a step towards you and Theresia. "Please, you don't have any idea what's even going on here, do you? Did Theresia even tell you anything, or was she... " he smirks before finishing the sentence "...unable? I don't know just what you did to break those chains, but it's no matter to me. I was so fortunate to stumble upon a Candidate like yourself in this town, and so poorly protected too, I shou-" He doesn't get to finish his ranting as you pull the trigger on the revolver and blast a hole straight through his chest, pulverizing his heart and leaving a gap in his torso that is large enough for you to see the over side of the room quite well through him. "-d really leave this for later." He glances down at the hole where his heart should be and simply sighs.

Just as you're about to take another shot at the impossibly still standing man, he vanishes! Well, it would be more accurate to say he had been 'replaced', as a ragdoll his size is standing exactly as he was before it crumples to the ground. Curious of the strange doll, you begin walking towards it, hoping to investigate just what happened... and that's when a fist hits you square in side of your face with enough force to launch you off your feet and towards one of the walls.

You slam into the stone wall hard, the terrible pain and the crunching noise telling you that something probably just broke. Groggily, you look up and see Johannes standing just behind where you just were, Theresia crumpled into a heap at his feet, unmoving. "I was hoping that things wouldn't have gotten to this point, but alas. It seems that I must be forced to get my hands dirty even in this, my moment of triumph. Congratulations, Arthur. You've managed to spoil something that would've been magnificent otherwise. Even now, you refuse to die despite there having been enough strength in that punch to tear your head clean off" A closer look shows that the hole in his body is now missing, the only evidence of the wound is that his suit is still torn from the point of impact. What on Earth is this man? "Ah well, it's not as if all is lost. It such a shame, but it seems for some reason Rose can't tear that soul of yours out while you're still alive, so I suppose I'll just have to do things in a more... traditional way" Johannes flexes his hands and cracks his knuckles as he walks towards you.

You look down at the revolver still firmly held in your hands, it seems you managed to keep ahold of it despite being sent flying. You don't know what good it will do you though.

>Fire all of the remaining shots at him when he gets close enough.
>Wait until he gets close and try to stab him with the Holy Burst Dagger, hopefully it's been long enough to charge it up.
>Use the Power of D̷es͝tru͜c̡ti̛on?
>Write-In...

This is the part where I suffer for being unable to keep a daily update schedule.

>>3979769
>>Wait until he gets close and try to stab him with the Holy Burst Dagger, hopefully it's been long enough to charge it up.
Go for the troat laddy!

>>3979769
>Use the Power of D̷es͝tru͜c̡ti̛on?
We might have to envision a sort of fast-acting necrosis or a bunch of ants or something, which would definitely take its toll.

>>3979769
>Use the Power of D̷es͝tru͜c̡ti̛on?
Goddamn puppetmaster soul. Dagger or gun will probably just see him replace himself again.

>>3979973
We could try the same thing we did with the plants.

>>3979769
>Use the Power of D̷es͝tru͜c̡ti̛on?
Glitchy text tells me this is a bad idea and therefore the correct option.
Specifically I'll support >>3979987 and go for our "HAKAI" touch. It's clear that any form of regular attack will only hit the doll and not the man, so this is probably our best bet.
Right now, my idea is to essentially send the Power of Destruction through the doll to Johannes, if that makes sense.
That might be able to harm him directly.

>>3979769
>Use the Power of D̷es͝tru͜c̡ti̛on?
Let's see if we can't give him the ol' explodey punch.

>>3979769
>>Use the Power of D̷es͝tru͜c̡ti̛on?
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Oh.
Well.
That's... interesting.

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>>3980852
You gave us the nuclear option, what did you expect?
This is basically Arthur right now.

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>>3981239

Something in your head seems to click. You've had enough.

You just want to make him disappear. You've decided now, the man walking towards you is one that no longer deserves a place amongst the living, no matter what it will cost. You stare at him in hatred as he makes his way across the room towards you. He seems to be taking his time as he walks towards you, seems he doesn't feel the need to rush things. Too bad for him.

Ignoring the screaming pain in your body, you force yourself to your feet, willing that power of yours to reveal itself in order to get rid of the eyesore walking towards you with a smug grin on his face. Though as you try to draw the power out once more, something feels wrong.

You can feel the familiar energy of the Power of Destruction, but it refuses to leave your body at all, instead remaining within your right arm and not coating it as you would have expected it to. Damn it! This won't work! If you can't project that energy outwards, what good is it? Is this power of yours really failing you now?

Johannes stands in front of you triumphantly as you stare at your arm in disbelief, at the power that refuses to obey your will. But why? Why would it abandon you now? It just doesn't make any sense! "You know, it's not really very satisfying to kill somebody if they aren't paying attention." Johannes' voice snaps you out of your stunned disbelief as he thrusts the point of his hand at your throat! It's way too fast for you to react to in time! There's no way you can get out of the way of the attack!

Just as you begin to come to terms with your impending death, something happens. His forearm is caught in the grip of a black clawed hand. Specifically, your hand. It seems that not only has the energy trapped within your arm caused it to take on a strange monstrous form, it also moved independently of your body. For the first time, there's a look of shock on your enemies face as he stares at the strangely demonic hand with his arm in a vice like grip. You decide to test your control over your arm, just to make sure you haven't truly been possessed by some malevolent entity.

The result of trying to move your arm are not quite what you expected, as trying to move bizarre appendage at all ends with it jolting wildly and clamping down on the forearm in it's grip, severing the hand and causing the now useless chunk of flesh that was about to end your life to fall to the ground with a light thud.

Unlike when he had been shot through the heart and had simply ignored the damage, this time, his reaction to the terrible wound inflicted upon him is far more standard. Johannes backs away from you, looking at the stump where his lower arm used to be connected as he does, he looks more like he can't believe what he's seeing than he does pained. You decide to take the opportunity to address the man, though you don't really have much control of your own words, overwhelmed by rage as you are "What's wrong, Johannes? You don't look too like you're doing so good. Where's that confidence gone? Is this satisfying for you?" You taunt the man as he steps back to the center of the room.

The man looks you straight in the eyes, his smile is smug, but his eyes hide an intense hatred "Well, this is a surprise. Quite the surprise indeed. You are just full of them, aren't you, Arthur? However, I have quite a few surprises of my own to share with you. I hope you like it!" And then he's gone, a different ragdoll from the one before replaces him. It looks like a sort of life sized clown doll. Looking around the room, it seems that Rose has been replaced by a ragdoll too. Did he run away with her? How disappointing. Worryingly, even though you can't feel any of the Power of Destruction flowing through your right arm, your limb is still pitch black and your hand has been replaced with one far more deadly and suited for combat. You hope you aren't stuck with it like this, as useful as it might have been against Johannes.

It's then that you notice that it's becoming harder and harder to breathe, focusing on your surroundings, you can hear a faint hissing sound. Theresia still unconscious on the floor is clearly having trouble breathing too! Damn it! Is he doing something to the air?

>Hold your breath and rush to the door. Try to open it by force.
>Quickly use the remaining bullets to shoot the door open, or at least make some air holes.
>Pick Theresia up from the floor before shoulder-barging through the door.
>Write-in...

>>3981785
>Pick Theresia up from the floor before shoulder-barging through the door.

>>3981785
>Pick Theresia up from the floor before shoulder-barging through the door.

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>>3981785
>Pick Theresia up from the floor before shoulder-barging through the door.
Specifically using the shoulder of our...
Gosh, now that I'm trying to think of a name for this claw, I realize that we haven't really named any of our moves.
This is unacceptable.

IDEA TIME
1. deleting space and matter, like what we did in the bunker or against those golems
>Reality Tear
>Extant Denial
>Spatial Rupture
2. the "goodbye lifeforce" poke
>Touch of Death
>Exanimation
3. man door black claw car door
>Hand of Ruin
>Destruction's Embrace
>Dark Form (if we could replicate this with our whole body...)
Please choose whichever ones you like or think up names of your own: This is the most important decision you will ever make in this quest.

>>3982274
>1. Master of Reality
>2. Into the Void
>3. Hand of Doom
Yes, I am an unabashedly huge Black Sabbath fan.

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By the way, QM, I hope our 'talon' looks something like this.

>>3982283
It's like a pitch black more streamlined version, but yes, I suppose it would.
>>3982274
Yes, you will need to develop attack names some time.
Arthur hasn't yet had the opportunity to properly think about cool attack names.
When you've got downtime, sure he'll name them.
Never was a fan of the whole "instantly I have a name for this brand new attack I just thought of" anime thing.
But you're a bit like Soma right now, he doesn't really have attack names either.

>>3982281
By the way, if Master of Reality and Into the Void don't work out, I'm also open to Rat Salad (for the erase tool) and Electric Funeral (for the touch of death).

...we really should've cut his throat with the holy dagger, huh?

>>3981785
>Pick Theresia up from the floor before shoulder-barging through the door.
Motherfucker! Just die already!

I hope our black arm isn't permanent, as cool as it is.

>>3982415
That may or may not have been more effective than abusing your power despite the warning signs.
But hey, I'm not heartless, you have gotten a new power out of it.

Problem for you right now is that you don't know how to shut it off, and it sort of has a mind of it's own.

I'm not quite sure how you will explain your demonic looking right arm to Shirley.

>>3982274
Interesting choices for names.
>>3982281
>>3982360
Not sure if you should be giving your techniques Stand names though...
But in the end, it's really up to you what you want to name them.
We'll hold a vote when this arc has wrapped up and you've got some down time.

I wish you did the Supercharged Dark Inferno Dual Crush with Shirley...

>>3982956
>Stand names
Ah, damn it. I knew there was something about the names I wasn't thinking of.
Honestly I just say Hand of Ruin, and that made me think of Hand of Doom, so then I thought, "why not just go for a whole Sabbath-themed power set?"

>>3982274
>Space and Matter Deletion
Abyssal Wipeout
>Death Poke
Flash Termination
>Big Bad Claw
Tyrant's Hand

Don't mind my spitballing.

>>3981785
>Pick Theresia up from the floor before shoulder-barging through the door.
Gotta get outta there ASAP. Good thing our new arm probably doubles as a battering ram.

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>>3982357

Looks like it's another no-update night.
This is the price you pay for trying to run a quest where your free time is continuously shrinking.
It ought to get better after Christmas, but for now, I'm in purgatory.
Update will be tomorrow.

>>3982274
Alright, new (non-song) ideas while we wait for QM.
1. Spatial Erasure
2. Soul Destruction
3. Hand of Doom
Yeah, I'm sticking with Hand of Doom. It's just too cool.

This is really a kind of pathetic move he's taken here, you think. It seems that he has put some countermeasures in place just in case something he was unable to deal with occurred. This enemy of yours really is quite prepared, even if this particular action is cowardly and effectively pointless, it has given him some time to recover from an unexpected situation, wherever he is.

But with the air being vented from the room or whatever is occurring, you can't think too long on his actions, your own right now are far more crucial for you to focus on. You sprint over to Theresia, who appears to be completely unconscious and scoop her up in your distinctly more human looking left arm. You don't exactly know what's going on with your right arm, but you can think about the implications later. For now, it will be of some use getting you out of this damn room, at least.

Hoisting Theresia over your shoulder, you eye the door that is slammed shut behind you. While it looks like it's weak enough for you to simply break down with a kick, you can't help but think of that as wishful thinking. If Johannes intends for this trap to work, then unless he's completely insane, he would ensure that the exit to the room was well sealed, possibly even with the same type of magic that sealed the hallway in your apartment building...

You're fast running out of time, it's all or nothing. Taking a look at your monstrous arm, you hope that it's enough to smash the door open with a shoulder barge, it seems to have some form of supernatural strength at least, judging by what it did to Johannes. You're really starting to feel the lack of air now, you've only got one shot at this, so putting all of your hopes in this strange arm that has replaced your own, you charge.

Your charge towards the door is brief, and the collision hard. There's an incredible crash as the arm makes contact with the door. The door flies off it's hinges into the previous room with such force that it explodes as it makes contact with one of the operating tables scattered around the room.

There's a gust of air that rushes into the room and nearly pushes you backwards as the door flies away, but you manage to remain standing despite the sudden burst of wind. As you step back into the prior room, you feel Theresia beginning to stir from her unconsciousness. At some point, it seems that the purple glowing stopped.

After you're sure that she'll be able to stand on her own and is truly awake, you move to allow her to get off of your shoulder, gently setting her down on the floor. She doesn't seem at all hurt as you take a quick look at her, she simply stares back at you with unblinking eyes as you make sure she isn't injured. Satisfied that the girl is fine, you turn around. As you're about to ponder your next course of action, a distant rumbling from above reverberates around you, almost like an explosion. Whatever is going on upstairs, you can't ignore it. Especially as it seems as if Johannes has completely vanished from both this room and his office, could that doll magic he seems to be using really have taken him

"Theresia, you're OK, right? Can you run? We need to get back to the lobby." You tell her, your voice soft. As you address her, life returns to her unfocused eyes which quickly become determined. She nods at you. Good enough, you suppose, hopefully she isn't just putting on a brave face.

Leaving the strange torture chamber like room, you begin to quickly climb the stairs upwards. There's thankfully nothing to obstruct you as you race to the stairs back up to the lobby at the end of the corridor. But just as you are about to ascend them towards the noisy sounds of fighting, metal clashing on metal. You notice something that causes you to pause. The door that was so securely locked shut is ajar, almost inviting you to step inside...

>Ignore it, the sounds of combat coming from upstairs might mean that Shirley needs help.
>Investigate it, Shirley is capable enough, she probably doesn't even need assistance at all.
>Write-in...

>>3985758
Oh man, this is a tough call. I want to investigate it. I know it's a bad idea, but I'm really tempted!
Even though it's probably a trap, it could be an escape route that Theresia's father is using to flee.
>Investigate it, Shirley is capable enough, she probably doesn't even need assistance at all.

>>3985758
>>Investigate it, Shirley is capable enough, she probably doesn't even need assistance at all.
Please die already, JoGo. (Close enough?)

Guess I'll have to work with two votes then, alright.

>>3986435
Finally got free time, I was gonna vote with them anyhow.

Sorry for being so sporadic over the Christmas period.
I've got no time to write at the moment.
Probably would've been wiser to call a hiatus for a few days than keep trying to write updates in 10 minute periods.

also lost my notes to a harddrive failure. But I can recall most of the important ones.

>>3987863
Do your best, QM. We'll be waiting for you.

>>3987863
don't strain yourself. we won't run away anywhere.

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As much as you should probably go help with whatever is occurring upstairs in the lobby, you can't help but be drawn towards the slightly opened door. Could Johannes have fled into it? "Theresia, We're checking out this room first, before we head back up to the lobby." The girl nods as she continues following after you.

Pushing the jar door with the intent to push it all the way open, there's a creak as it swings open, revealing the room behind it, which is by far the most modern looking room you've encountered so far. You step into the brightly lit room, which is in complete contrast to the archaic and fairly primitive looking door, the room itself is a small high-tech looking laboratory. Strange control panels and displays line the walls, you can't really make sense of them though. In the center of the room lie two huge pods, not unlike the ones that lined the sides of the hallway you just came in from. One of the tanks is completely opaque, dark glass obscuring it's contents, whilst the other tank and it's occupant are easily visible.

Behind dozens of tubes and pipes connected to her is what appears to be a girl, apparently sleeping within the tank, her eyes are tightly shut and her body is totally still. Strangely enough, her hair doesn't seem to be affected at all by it's liquid surroundings despite the air bubbles rushing to the top of the tank around her. The short unmoving burgundy hair atop her head has a seemingly metallic sheen, glinting in the bright lights of the room as you approach the tank.

Unlike the other lifeforms growing in the pods outside, this one appears fully clothed, though the clothing is quite bizarre. A strange combination between a purple corset and a suit of pink leather armor. Whoever designed this outfit must have an extraordinarily odd sense of aesthetics. The frankly confusing ensemble of clothing is made even more confusing by the large silver buttons that seem to serve no purpose for the outfit itself.

Something tells you that whatever is in this tank is not just another of the beings growing outside in their far less impressive looking tanks, something about this one is special, you can tell that much just by her appearance. You find yourself wishing that you had the information to fully understand all you've seen today. You're woefully unprepared for all of this.

As you continue your examination of the strange tank, you spot some sort of lever labelled 'EMERGENCY RELEASE' on the side, sure enough, there's an identical lever on the other tank, though you can't see through the glass on the second tank at all, it could contain just about anything! A massive shaking from upstairs causes the lights in the room to flicker momentarily. You should probably hurry up and get back up there, as interesting as investigating this room has been, the continued noises of combat from upstairs are of no minor concern.

Looking around the fairly small room one last time, just to make sure the room contains nothing of any interest other than an assortment of control panels that are meaningless to you and the tanks, you...

>Hit the release levers on one of the tanks (which one? or Both?)
>Smash the tanks and leave the room
>Just leave the room without touching anything else, you can't afford to waste any more time
>Write-in...

>>3989457
>Hit the release levers on one of the tanks (the one with the woman)

>>3989546
Thanks for sticking around, single player.

>>3989457
>Hit the release levers on one of the tanks
The girl, because she was the visible one.

>>3990047
>Realize that this is definitely a waifu quest now.
>Hit the release levers (girl)

>>3990033
No problem. You're writing a fun quest. Sorry to see votes have been sparser lately. My guess would be a combination of holiday interference and your slower updates, so voting should pick back up in January.

>>3990096
I don't know what's in the other one.

>>3989457
>Hit the release levers on one of the tanks
Girl.
I'm certain this won't backfire.
Now give me my homunculus wife.

You aren't sure just why you decide it's a good idea, but you feel obliged to release this girl from her confinement. There's something that just looks more human about her than the other life being grown in the tank, more complete. Whereas the others all seemed more artificial, even the more human-like homonculi near the end of the corridor still had those unmoving, inhuman, crimson orbs in place of true eyes. Kept open despite their artificial human owners clearly not being conscious. The girl in this tank almost appears to be asleep.

Her skin is different too. It's nothing like the translucent skin you saw on the homonculi in the other tanks, seeming to be of a more natural tone than the sickly transparent white of her kin. While you're sure that her actual age is quite different to her appearance, she looks to be a girl only in her late teens. Another loud crash from upstairs makes you quickly realize that perhaps wasting your time examining the girl occupying the tank is probably a bad idea.

You can only hope that you aren't making a mistake by pulling the release lever, there's really no telling how this girl will react, or if releasing her from this tank in such a way is even guaranteed to end in her survival. But it's not like her chances of survival are much better here, you can't imagine the people responsible for creating her have her best intentions at heart, especially not with somebody like Johannes leading them. But then there's the added problem of her potentially already being loyal to those creators and attacking you upon being released. It's a risk, but there's just something about leaving this girl to her fate that you can't abide by.

There's nothing for it then, you suppose. You take hold of the release lever with your left hand and pull it, expecting the switch to simply flick downwards with a small exertion of effort. Instead, the lever barely budges an inch despite you putting more than enough strength into the motion to have slammed it down with significant force. Another attempt at switching the lever brings about the same result, no luck.

It seems you'll have to use your right hand then, taking another glance at your pitch-black monstrous looking arm, you suppose you'll have to use it once again. It seems that ever since whatever happened to your arm back when you were fighting Johannes happened, your link to the Power of Destruction seems to have weakened. You can still feel it, but it seems to be locked to your arm, twisting it into it's current form somehow. Any attempt to manipulate the energy that is twisting your arm it into the state simply ends in the energy barely shifting. It seems that something is stopping you from manipulating it any further.

Thankfully, you're more than confident that the superhuman strength of the arm will be enough to pull the lever downwards, the clawed hand clumsily rends through some of the metal of the tank as it grips the lever tightly, while you seem to have some semblance of control over it's movements, it is still difficult for you to move it as you wish, seeming to have a mind of it's own sometimes as it seems to struggle against your will.

The lever in the grip of the black claws, you pull downwards, it gets to the point before where it was stopped, slowing for a split second before a loud sound of metal snapping sounds out from within the tank and whatever was bolting the lever into position is destroyed. With the the lever being slammed downwards, a mechanic clunk informs you of your success.

Backing away from the tank, you take a look as the liquid drains away into some out of sight reservoir, the process takes only seconds before the girl is no longer submerged at all, but she is held aloft still by wires and tubes, a few seconds pass, it seems as if the girl will remain sleeping in the tank, if she is even alive at all, you suppose there's nothing else to be done but to leave. Looking away from the tank, you see Theresia watching you as she sits on a monitor panel on the side of the room, a bored expression on her face as she yawns, it seems that she's not at all interested in the girl in the tank.

She hops off of her seat when she realizes that you've apparently finished, your examination of the girl and attempt at freeing her ending in failure, as you reach to open the door once again though, you are stopped by a rapid flickering of the lights leaving the room in darkness for brief moments. This is the first time since you entered the room that they've flickered like this. You turn back to the tank slowly, just in time to see the girls eyes snap open, blue-purple eyes stare at her surroundings in contempt as the girl in the tank begins testing her restraints, tugging at the wires and tubes suspending her in the air.

Realizing that you're going to have to do something to help the situation, you decide to try to communicate with the girl. "Hey! Wait a second and stop struggling in there!" Your voice seems to give the girl pause, her eerily glowing eyes widen in surprise and confusion at an unfamiliar voice. She seems to look around the room properly now, eyes lingering on both you and Theresia for only a moment before they quickly focus in resolve. She closes her eyes once more, and for the second time, the lights in the laboratory flicker before going out entirely. You aren't left in the darkness for long however, as moments after the lights shut off, red emergency lighting illuminates the room, though as you adjust to the light, you quickly notice that the girl within the tank is gone. There's no damage to the tank and no way she could've slipped out. She's simply gone!

Then, as if appearing from nowhere, the girl appears in front of you in a flash of blinding light, you spot a look of fear on her face before she forces you out of her way with a single quick swipe of her arm that sends you flying across the room. You smash into a control panel with enough force to bend the soft metal used in it's construction completely inwards. Sparks fly from the crushed panel as you try to get your bearings, the girl that you freed has escaped from the room completely now, while Theresia is rushing towards you.

Theresia grasps ahold of your arm with both hands and hoists you to your feet with strength that surprises you for one with as slim a frame as her. As you get to your feet, there's a crash once more, but this time, the crash isn't coming from upstairs. No. Whatever is in that opaque black tank is awake, and apparently, it isn't very happy with it's confinement.

Cracks begin to form on the black glass as another crash rings out from the tank, whatever is about to break out of that thing, you need to make a decision as to whether you want to stick around and find out.

>Flee the room and attempt to lock the door behind you. You don't have the time to be distracted any longer, you need to find out what's going on upstairs!
>Stay in the room to face whatever comes out of the second tank.
>Write-in...

>>3994448
>Flee the room and attempt to lock the door behind you. You don't have the time to be distracted any longer, you need to find out what's going on upstairs!
Alright, we've waited around long enough.

>>3994448
>Flee the room and attempt to lock the door behind you. You don't have the time to be distracted any longer, you need to find out what's going on upstairs!
I'm sure that we could deal with that later.

>>3994448
>>Flee the room and attempt to lock the door behind you. You don't have the time to be distracted any longer, you need to find out what's going on upstairs!

I wish girls would stop trying to run from us.

Whatever is about to break out of it's containment, you don't have the time to deal with it. You'll just have to come back to this room if you're that interested, hopefully with some back-up, you'll probably end up needing it, knowing your luck. The reinforced door to the room should be able to hold it at least.

Grabbing Theresia by the wrist, you quickly hurry out of the room, dragging the girl along with you. Just as you pull her clear of the door and begin to push the heavy door shut, you see a scarred white fist smash through the opaque black glass. You slam the door shut upon seeing the fist, there was no way that it belonged to a human, it was far too big. The size reminds of the giant hands of the Flesh Golem that assaulted you yesterday, but the coloration is different.

The door now shut, it seems to trigger some form of automatic locking mechanism, as it loudly clicks a few moments after it's closure. Wasting no more time checking the door, where that girl disappeared off to or pondering about what could've emerged from the other tank, you rapidly ascend the stairs to the lobby to see what has become of the fight upstairs.

Quickly reaching the entry hall once more, you quickly notice that there's no fight, there are quite obvious signs of a massive battle however, one of the walls has a long scorch mark burnt into the wall, it's a wonder the whole building didn't catch alight. For a moment you think it's Shirley's work, but the line of destruction seems far too uniform to have been caused by fire alone. Of course, the burn marks are not the only signs of the fight, there's splintered wood everywhere, some from the destroyed Wooden Golems, but a not-insignificant amount now comes from the environment of the entrance hall itself.

Standing amidst all the chaos is a single lone dull iron statue. An imposing robotic figure, decorated with menacing spikes. Another golem, you imagine. The golem's body is facing the now closed double doors with it's head facing downwards. It's upper torso is slightly bent forwards and there are countless scratches and scorch marks marring the surface of the nearly 13 foot tall golem. This must've been the enemy Shirley was fighting while you were downstairs, but if she truly defeated it, why did she not come back downstairs and meet up with you? Could something else have distracted her? Honestly, you're glad the golem seems to have already been dealt with. From what you've seen of her, Shirley isn't the type to leave a job half done.

Or perhaps she did, and you simply missed her as she was walking by that laboratory? For a moment, you're left wondering just what you should do, you don't really want to carry on without your ally. While you wonder just how you're going to find Shirley, out of the corner of your eye you could've sworn you saw the still golem twitch slightly.

>Investigate the golem, but be prepared for an attack. Though the statue seems quite damaged, there's a chance it isn't quite as defeated as it looks.
>Try looking through one of the doors to see if you can find Shirley (Which door?)
>There's only one place you haven't checked in the mansion yet. Upstairs. Perhaps something lured her up there?
>Try to find Shirley some other way (How?)
>Write-in...

>>3996542
>There's only one place you haven't checked in the mansion yet. Upstairs. Perhaps something lured her up there?

>>3996542
>Investigate the golem, but be prepared for an attack. Though the statue seems quite damaged, there's a chance it isn't quite as defeated as it looks.

>>3996542
>>Try to find Shirley some other way (How?)
Don't we have a phone?
Doesn't she have a phone?
Can't we... call her?

>>3996906
>phone
Aaaaaaaaaargh.

>>3997045
Is that a yes?

>>3997051
It isn't a no.

>>3997053
Is that a "conveniently destroyed object that was in her pocket"?

>>3997148
No spoilers.

We are technically still on a three way tie...

>>3997240
Alright, I'm going to switch from investigating the golem to calling Shirley.
Damn mobile phones, always getting in the way of narrative tension!

Of course! It had slipped your mind, being such a mundane solution, but you still have a mobile phone, and so does Shirley! Instead of wandering about aimlessly, simply calling her will save you an incredible amount of time, really, you've been so caught up in the moment you completely forgot about your mobile!

Quickly grabbing it from your inside pocket, you're relieved to see that it hasn't taken any damage as you switch it on, there's an alert on the lock screen showing quite a few missed calls and new messages. You'll just have to worry about those later, you don't have the luxury to think about worried friends and family right now, you aren't really sure you're allowed to tell them the truth anyway.

Flicking through some screens, you quickly find your contact page and begin dialing Shirley. Theresia looks at you, seemingly confused at just what it is you're doing, after a few rings, Shirley does pick up!

"Arthur?! Where are you right now? Are you safe?" She's basically yelling into the receiver, forcing you to increase the distance of the phone to your ear.

"Calm down, I'm fine." You begin to pace around the room as you respond to her panicked questions, approaching the golem. "I'm in the lobby right now. Where are you? I heard the sounds of fighting from downstairs. What's up with thi-" You're cut off before you can finish speaking

"Don't move, Arthur." Her voice is rapid. "I was forced to retreat from that golem standing in the middle of the room." Before you can ask why, she preempts your question. "It seemed to just totally be unaffected by whatever we threw at it, no matter what we tried! It didn't seem to pursue me after I retreated, so it might only have orders to attack people in it's radius." Hearing that she was unable to even damage the golem fills you with great concern. "If you see it start to get up, you need to run." She finishes informing you of the situation with a command.

Keeping a close eye on the Golem, making sure it doesn't move, you decide to get some more information "So, where did you retreat to, exactly?" Regrouping is the most important thing you could do right now, especially with some sort of invincible adversary.

There's a brief silence, and a cough directed away from the receiver. "Right now?" Another pause punctuates her response. "I'm outside the mansion. Edwin and I had no choice but to retreat that way. It was too dangerous to try going for another door, there's no guarantee it wouldn't have killed Edwin, if only he hadn't decided to slow me down..." You can hear some angry protests in the background of the call. Seems that Edwin changed his mind about accompanying your group, and what's more, he seems rather upset that he's being made light of.

"Anyway, what happened downstairs after I was sent away? Any luck finding the director?" there's a pause for a moment "Right, or that vial of liquid? It's good that you managed to deal with that other Golem after my disappearance, regardless." So that's what happened, somehow, Johannes separated her from you with some sort of teleportation magic.

"No, it was a trap. The Director, Johannes, nearly killed both Theresia and me, but before he killed me, I escaped my bindings and managed to cut off one of his arms, obviously that wasn't a part of his plan, and he disappeared somewhere with that Rose girl with him."

"Right. Well then, we should all head upstairs, right? It's the one place we've yet to look. Oh, and don't you find it odd how we've not encountered a single alchemist so far, other than you with that Director? Edwin here says that we definitely should've encountered at least a few of them, so be prepared for another ambush." Rather obvious advice at this point, the inhabitants of this mansion have all been rather underhanded, but you appreciate the warning nonetheless.

"What about you?" You can't help but ask, if that golem is as dangerous as she's making it out to be, then she might need all the help she can get.

"Don't worry about that, just search upstairs and get to the Director's Room before he decides to make his escape, I'll find a way around this heap of scrap metal." She's putting on quite the confident attitude, despite being unable to properly damage it in her own words.

>Attack the golem while it's deactivated, it might not have been able to be damaged by Shirley's weaponry, but you're confident in the sharpness of the claws of your new monstrous arm.
>Follow Shirley's plan and retreat upstairs, you have faith that she'll be able to bypass the golem and meet up with you, and you don't want to waste any time allowing Johannes to set up another trap for you. You doubt he's given up on his plan just yet.
>Write-in

>>3997686
>Follow Shirley's plan and retreat upstairs, you have faith that she'll be able to bypass the golem and meet up with you, and you don't want to waste any time allowing Johannes to set up another trap for you. You doubt he's given up on his plan just yet.
That damn metal golem only takes 1 damage from anything.

>>3997768
If only we knew Hatchet Man.

>>3997686
>>Attack the golem while it's deactivated, it might not have been able to be damaged by Shirley's weaponry, but you're confident in the sharpness of the claws of your new monstrous arm.

>>3997686
>Follow Shirley's plan and retreat upstairs, you have faith that she'll be able to bypass the golem and meet up with you, and you don't want to waste any time allowing Johannes to set up another trap for you. You doubt he's given up on his plan just yet.
Ordinarily I would go with attacking the golem since we can just use PoD to bypass its defenses, Killer Mantle style, but we're currently stuck using a demon arm with Parkinson's.

>>3997686
>Follow Shirley's plan and retreat upstairs, you have faith that she'll be able to bypass the golem and meet up with you, and you don't want to waste any time allowing Johannes to set up another trap for you. You doubt he's given up on his plan just yet.

File: IronGigafaggot.gif (50 KB, 770x1240)

50 KB GIF

>>3997686
>Follow Shirley's plan and retreat upstairs, you have faith that she'll be able to bypass the golem and meet up with you, and you don't want to waste any time allowing Johannes to set up another trap for you. You doubt he's given up on his plan just yet.
Isn't it a little early for these fuckers to show up?
We don't even have Kaiser Knuckles, Valmanway or the Terror Bear yet.
Fucking Iron Golems.
We gonna be bumrushed by Final Guards when we go upstairs?

"Understood, I'll meet you upstairs then. Good luck." You hang up and slip the phone into the interior pocket of you suit. Luckily, it doesn't seem that the Golem has noticed you just yet. Or if it has, it hasn't made a move. You move slowly back towards the stairs, which seem to have taken substantial damage during the fighting, it's a wonder that the previously extravagant looking staircase hasn't collapsed from it.

It doesn't take long to get back to Theresia, she seems on edge again, you really wish this girl could talk, how much less difficulty would you have had were she able to reveal all she knew of this place. Any knowledge she has on her father would be useful too. You aren't sure how exactly you would go about helping her. She's able to understand English, but for whatever reason can't speak it, and from having her try to do so yesterday, she doesn't seem able to write for a long time without losing consciousness entirely.

Taking Theresia by the hand, you quickly hurry upstairs, you don't want to risk being in the room for any longer than you have to with that Golem apparently ready to strike as soon as it is activated by your presence. While you might be able to damage the Golem with your new arm, you don't really feel like taking the chance that it's razor sharp claws won't just skitter off the surface of the automaton and leave you wide open to a deadly counterattack.

Thankfully, it doesn't seem to respond as you creep carefully up the heavily damaged staircase with Theresia just behind you. You manage to reach the doors at the top of the stairs without incident, glancing behind you, the Golem doesn't seem to have moved at all. Perhaps you didn't see it move after all. Whatever the case may be, all that's left now is to go through the imposing doors to the final area of the mansion.

Steeling yourself, you push open the set of doors, preparing for the worst and to defend yourself immediately against an ambush from the so far absentee alchemists.

Only to be met with nothing. A completely empty corridor, the doors to the bedrooms are firmly shut. While the hallway is rather expensive looking, there is nothing which really differentiates it from any other hallway, not like that basement corridor, lined with those tanks.

Theresia looks at one of the rooms with a complicated expression on her face, it seems she wants to go into it, but is uncertain about something.

>Go into the room with Theresia, you need to wait for Shirley to show up anyway, and whatever she wants to check out should give Shirley enough time to catch up.
>Have Theresia remain in the corridor with you, if she's really that interested, she can visit the room when Shirley is with you.
>Shirley can catch up, and whatever is in that room isn't important right now. What is important is getting to Johannes as quickly as possible. You're going to put an end to this. Take Theresia by the hand and lead her down the hall.
>Peek through the double doors, see how Shirley deals with the Golem. You might need to step in, after all.
>Write-In...

>>3999580
>Go into the room with Theresia, you need to wait for Shirley to show up anyway, and whatever she wants to check out should give Shirley enough time to catch up.

>>3999580
>Go into the room with Theresia, you need to wait for Shirley to show up anyway, and whatever she wants to check out should give Shirley enough time to catch up.
please let our homunculus waifu be behind that door

>>3999580
>Go into the room with Theresia, you need to wait for Shirley to show up anyway, and whatever she wants to check out should give Shirley enough time to catch up.
We get distracted way too easily, ah well.

>>3999580
>Go into the room with Theresia, you need to wait for Shirley to show up anyway, and whatever she wants to check out should give Shirley enough time to catch up.
Is QM kill?

>>4004878
Not kill.
Just suffering a bad case of writers block, a 7 day working week and very limited time to write.

Rest assured, as long as I am physically able, I will continue to run.

I'm trying to get the update out today, but god only knows if that's going to work for me.

"Alright, we have some time. Let's go, then Theresia." She seems startled at your sudden allowance, obviously she didn't think you'd be able to tell what she was thinking, even though it's really quite simple to tell from how she's glancing at the door that she wants to go through it.

Surprisingly, with your permission, she doesn't even wait for you to catch up before she opens the door. Theresia quickly disappears into a dimly lit room, leaving you alone in the corridor for a moment before you quickly come to the decision to follow her into the room.

As you step into the room yourself, you notice a thick layer of dust covering every surface, even the bed isn't spared, a heavy coating has given the entire room a light brown hue. Theresia is standing in the middle of the room gazing around the room absently. There's a strange look on her face as she stares at the fairly extravagant, if decayed, looking bed. This whole room would look completely out of place from the hallway even if there wasn't a thick layer of dust settled within. Aside from the bed The furnishings look as if they are in a terrible state of disrepair.

"Theresia? What is this room?" Of course, the question was pointless. You know she can't answer you, and there's not really enough time for you to start messing around with having her write her responses down, you had only intended to look into this room for a few seconds if there was nothing of immediate interest.

Unperturbed by your question, Theresia continues looking around the room. Her neutral expression faltering for a moment and nearly becoming a smile when she opens a wardrobe which looks to be full of fairly expensive looking clothing. Her brightening expression immediately sinks into a frown as the entire selection crumbles to fragments at her slightest touch, leaving the wardrobe completely barren save for some scraps of fabric.

It looks like nobody has entered this room for a very long time indeed, yet the way Theresia navigates through it shows that she's quite familiar with the room. Rifling through draws she eventually finds what it is she's looking for. Stashed away in one of the chests of drawers, hidden quite well is what appears to be a shaped lump of silver on a shining chain. The pendant seems to be completely untouched by the decay that has set in throughout the rest of the room..

She looks at the pendant for a few seconds before turning to you and smiling as she puts the necklace on. You don't really know the significance behind the piece of jewelery she's retrieved, and it's unlikely you'll find out just what it is any time soon either. A pity, but it's not like you had to go out of your way for her to get it, and she seems happy to have it, so you can't really say this was a waste of time at all, especially as you're still waiting on your truant ally to finally show up.

Finally, as you walk out into the corridor again, the double doors open again, and in walk Shirley and Edwin. The both of them look absolutely exhausted, Shirley is taking heavy breathes and Edwin looks as if he might collapse at any moment. Slamming the door shut behind her, Shirley speaks up, though she keeps pausing for breath every once in a while. "Well that was... more difficult than I thought it was going to be... seems like these alchemists are more prepared than I gave them credit for."

Looking at her, this is the first time you've ever really seen Shirley look and act properly exhausted without immediately bouncing back with some hidden reserve of energy. Whatever sort of enemy that golem was, you don't want to fight it any time soon, trying to defeat an invulnerable and tireless enemy sounds like an impossible challenge.

Shirley manages to get her breathing under control, though she's still visibly tired as she asks you for more information about the current situation. "So judging from the lack of... bodies, you've yet to encounter any humans up here either? Care to explain what's going on here Edwin?" She turns to look at the exhausted looking boy with a suspicious eye.

Edwin appears slightly unnerved by Shirley's sudden interrogative tone as he rapidly answers her "I don't know. There should've been at least a dozen people downstairs too, and there's none up here so far either? It doesn't make any sense..." His explanation fading into a contemplative silence, Edwin doesn't seem to want to offer any more explanation for the complete lack of any alchemist presence except for the Director himself.

>It doesn't matter, all that's left to do is to get to the Director's room and hopefully confront Johannes once and for all.
>Press Edwin for more information, this absence of human resistance to your infiltration has been something that's been getting at you for a while now.
>Write-In...

>>4005612
>It doesn't matter, all that's left to do is to get to the Director's room and hopefully confront Johannes once and for all.
If we push him we may get an explanation, or may get an angry "I told you, I'm as in the dark as you are!" If we confront Johannes we're almost guaranteed an explanation, as well as forward motion on our overall goal.

>>4005612
>It doesn't matter, all that's left to do is to get to the Director's room and hopefully confront Johannes once and for all.
we can just get all that from Johannes when he does another evil villain speech. I'm betting everyone else was sacrificed for whatever rituals he's planning.

>>4005612
>It doesn't matter, all that's left to do is to get to the Director's room and hopefully confront Johannes once and for all.
I'd really like to know what the hell his sister is doing, but I don't want to trigger him.

"Alright, then all that's left to do is to get to Johannes' room then, I guess. Oh, and as for that vial of liquid you're after, it might still be downstairs I suppose. he booby-trapped his office down there with at least one trap though, so if we go back down there, we'll have to be careful. He's not above using any means necessary." As you begin the long trek up to Johannes' room, you decide to warn your allies about what you know of Johannes, but before you can go any further into what you know of him, Shirley cuts you off as she finally focuses on you, her eyes narrow when she sees your arm. Her voice is emotionless and probing.

"So... what happened to your arm, Arthur? It looks kind of... unnatural." You don't like her tone, it's almost like she's calculating something as she speaks to you. You hope she doesn't come to some sort of conclusion regarding it being some form of possession, as long as you don't tell her how difficult it is to control.

"It's another aspect of this power of mine that I seem to have accidentally activated, it doesn't really seem to have much of a drain, and I did use it to tear off the Director's arm, so there's some degree of use to having it." Quickly, you change the topic away from you and to. "Speaking of the Director, I shot him right through the heart with my revolver and he didn't even seem to care. The damage was gone before I knew it too."

Thankfully, she seems more interested in hearing about your enemy than she does about your arm, which she still eyes warily. "This guy is real troublesome, huh? Between this and that teleportation ability that was used on me, I'm having trouble coming up with a strategy here. How can you defeat somebody that can just immediately split everyone up?" Looks like you've managed to get her attention off of your arm for now, but something tells you this isn't the last you've heard of the matter.

"Speaking of that, where exactly did you vanish off to?" You need all the information on the extent of Johannes' abilities as you can get. There has to be some sort of weakness to it, it seems the teleportation has something to do with those human size puppet-like dolls that he seems to be able to switch position with, but that doesn't explain why there was no ragdoll in the room when Shirley disappeared.

An angry voice interrupts Shirley before she can answer this time. "I think I'll be the one to answer that." It's Edwin, and he seems... displeased. "So, I had only just returned to my office, and was in the middle of a conversation with my sister, only for her to suddenly appear in Rose's place! I knew that bastard would try something like taking her hostage!" You don't feel inclined to correct Edwin about Rose's role in all this just yet, you don't know how he'd react to hearing that you somehow managed to hurt her. So is Johannes perhaps able to switch the positions of any two people in addition to those dolls? What an annoying ability.

"Hold on, I've got a theory about that teleportation he's using. It seems like he can only use it to switch the location of one person with another, but he's also able to switch your location with that of these odd life-size dolls." Still, even with that limitation, fighting somebody that can immediately teleport you away or to any position of his choosing sounds impossible, Shirley however has a different outlook.

"Then that makes things simple! If that's the case, all we need to do is destroy any of those dolls we see, in addition. His target is you, right, Arthur? If that's the case, there's obviously a range limitation, otherwise he would simply have transported you directly to this mansion! It's probably limited to just this mansion, which he's prepared specifically for the magic he's using!" That does make a lot of sense, but it doesn't answer the question as to why he didn't just bring you straight to him the moment you entered the mansion. But you soon realise that you're almost at your destination, as Edwin points out what should be the Directors personal quarters. But what's incredibly offputting about this is that you've been completely unopposed throughout the entire upper floor, not a single alchemist or golem has appeared to stop you.

This has to be a trap.

>Breach the door with maximum force, surprise is out the window, so maybe shock and awe might substitute. Ask Shirley if she can use her magic to blow open the doors.
>Kick the door down and go in all guns blazing.
>Calmly open the door and walk in.
>Write-in...

>>4007164
>Breach the door with maximum force, surprise is out the window, so maybe shock and awe might substitute. Ask Shirley if she can use her magic to blow open the doors.
Fun, fun, fun!

>>4007164

>"Shirley...is there any way your organization can help? Why aren't we dropping a magical bomb on this place or something?"

>>4007433
Is now really the best time to ask that?
Outside the final boss room?
Also really?
Asking that in front of the guy who's really done nothing wrong at all?

>>4007526

I mean, he's not in the building, is he

>>4007164
>Breach the door with maximum force, surprise is out the window, so maybe shock and awe might substitute. Ask Shirley if she can use her magic to blow open the doors.
A door breach is just as good as a surprise attack.
He'll never see it coming!

>>4007557
>and in walk Shirley and Edwin
Isn't he?

>>4007557
He's... right next to you.
As for magic bombs, that's not really how they operate.

Well, he almost certainly knows you're about to attack him, so the only real way you can think that would allow you to somewhat surprise him would be to do something he wouldn't expect. That being said...

"Shirley, I want you to use your magic to blast the doors to the room wide open. As quickly as you can, please. He's probably planning to spring a trap." You quickly ask for Shirley's assistance in breaching the room with maximum force. Hopefully the sudden explosion of flame will throw Johannes off guard somewhat, or at the very least distract him from using that location switching ability of his straight away.

"Understood, just a second then. You guys might want to stay back while I do this." Shirley approaches the door alone. As she begins to chant something, Edwin begins to fiddle with one of the dials on his gauntlet as he waits for Shirley to finish with whatever magic she's decided to use. You're about to ask him just what is so special about his mechanical looking set of armour, but before you get the chance to say anything, a red flash of light tells you that it's time, Shirley lets loose that fiery serpent once more, at near point blank range to the door!

The flaming beasts slams straight through the door, vaporizing the door and a good portion of the wall surrounding it in an instant as it flails wildly. Shirley leaps backwards away from the snake as it begins it's rampage in the room whilst you and Edwin race towards the room, seems he really does intend to help.

You quickly reach the entrance to the room, but strangely, the snake which you had only just seen begin it's burning rampage seems to have stopped, frozen in position in the air. Then it's gone. The flames making up the snake are all snuffed out just like a candle being blown out by a gust of wind.

You, Shirley and Edwin all rush into the room, the sight that greets you is one the pleases you somewhat. Johannes, one of his arms still missing, with his remaining arm outstretched, the forearm now a blackened skeletal limb, surrounded by all manner of puppets and ragdolls that seem to have been haphazardly scattered across the room.. No doubt he managed to stop the magic but it seems to have cost him. His face is twisted in furious rage, but before you can say anything or claim victory, the visage of rage that is his face becomes one of a smug calm.

"Did you really think I didn't expect you'd try something like this?" already, you can see the skeletal remain of his forearm begin to heal rapidly, flesh bubbling around it as it covers it once again. "I must admit, that claw of yours did take me by surprise, but what are contingency plans for?" It's been only seconds since you entered the room and already, the damage dealt to him by Shirley's attack is gone, damaged clothing being about the only evidence. A quick glance at Shirley tells you that she is looking for an opening, while Edwin clenches his gauntleted fist . "You did well, figuring out my magic. It's really quite useful. Let me show you three another use for it!" His smug smile becomes a mad grin as he snaps his fingers.

As he snaps his fingers, one of the ragdolls on the floor shimmers from a moment before immediately changing entirely. Laying in the place of the relatively harmless looking doll is the same Golem that was guarding the lobby. It quickly begins to get up from it's prone position.

Next to you, you hear Shirley's teeth grind "Arthur, you wouldn't happen to have any plans would you? When it comes to dealing with that thing, Nothing I've got seems to even damage it!"

>Test just how much use your new arm is, use it to distract the Golem while Shirley and Edwin focus on taking out Johannes.
>Attempt to outmaneuver the Golem and strike directly at Johannes.
>Retreat from the room with Shirley and Edwin, attempt to lure the Golem into the hallway.
>Try to call upon the Power of Destruction once more, you don't know what will happen with your arm already like this, but you've got to try!
>Write-in

>>4009067
>Test just how much use your new arm is, use it to distract the Golem while Shirley and Edwin focus on taking out Johannes.
We've really got to figure out a way to get the thing under control and/or dispel it. For the moment, though, testing whether its claws can breach the iron golem's armor will have to do.

>>4009067
>Test just how much use your new arm is, use it to distract the Golem while Shirley and Edwin focus on taking out Johannes.
The good news is I think he can't regenerate the damage our arm did to him.

>>4009067
>>Test just how much use your new arm is, use it to distract the Golem while Shirley and Edwin focus on taking out Johannes.
Please work, please work, please work.
Nothing would be cooler than carving up the golem Shirley couldn't even scratch with Hand of Doom.

>write the update
>finish update
>about to post it
>realise that the entire scene as written is fundamentally flawed and requires a total rewrite.

God damn it.

>>4010560
Admirable, WhatIsAQM! If I were in that situation I'd probably just post it anyway and hope people didn't notice the problem I had with it.

>>4014473
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