Your name is Elise. Elise Martins. And, to put it simply, you are not normal.What you are is a mutant— one of the many few in Konigsburg who possess strange and unnatural abilities due to the explosion of FutureLabs’ particle accelerator.You have two brothers, Matt and John, but it's only Matt who knows of your powers. John, on the other hand, is a mutant, and a powerful one at that. Bernard, too, is the heart of your team; how you’d get by without him is beyond you.Currently, you’re in Rottsville, one of your city’s more dilapidated ghettos so that you may bring more mutants to your cause: saving none other than Ernst Braun, otherwise known as Conduit.The sole bombmaker of the Crux, so fervently had Ernst taken to Pharos’ ideals, and, like all the other mutants who’d joined hands with the former Crux leader, FutureLabs had gotten their hands on him as well. Used as a bargaining chip in exchange for Eddie Braun’s technopathic abilities, Eddie had been promised by Atticus Charles that no harm would come to his brainwashed twin… or so he had thought.So you had discovered in a dream, Atticus Charles had begun treatments with Aurum Impulsum as soon as Eddie had faked his death in a bid to turn Ernst into a mindless, living mutant detector– a plot that would endanger every last mutant in Konigsburg.Now, not only have you discovered one sinister plot from FutureLabs, but beneath the streets of Konigsburg lies yet another threat: the Fraternity of the Atom– a group dedicated to the elimination of all mutant opposition.>(1/2)
>>5346371“It was only a matter of time before something like this happened.” Valjean says, not looking all-that shocked about the newest development. He seems more pensive about this whole thing than anything else. “I’m more surprised they lasted this long.”You think Valjean makes a good point. If there were any other such groups like the Fraternity of the Atom, the most you would have heard of them is a passing mention on the news. Either that, or you wouldn’t have known about them whatsoever because of how short-lived they truly were, as FutureLabs had viciously and meticulously snuffed out all forces that could possibly think to oppose them.“I think that’s the most we’re going to get out of her anyhow,” Valjean’s voice interrupts your train of thought.Boleski, on the other hand, doesn’t say anything, not quite sure what to make of this whole thing.“So what do you want to do with her?” Valjean asks, looking over to you. After she had announced the existence of her group, Jezebel had gone completely silent, but the self-righteous grin she’d been wearing for that moment is still firmly plastered across her face.What are you going to do with her indeed?>You’ll have her make reports to Boleski. Have her keep bringing you as much information as possible.>Have Valjean brainwash her into forgetting about the gang and defecting. It’s likely a small dent in their numbers, but you'll get this woman off the streets.>Have Valjean brainwash her into saving mutants– it’s a more constructive use of her time, in your opinion, and she’s certainly strong enough for it.>Throw her back on the streets. She’s a small fish in a big gang. Can’t risk these guys finding out you know about them anyhow.>Write-in>(2/2)
Welcome back, kings, to the greatest, source of mutant mayhem this board has ever seen!!!! That's right-- it's kelpin' time!!>Previous Threads:http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?searchall=mutant%21questPastebin: Kind of outdated. Needs some updating:https://pastebin.com/u/SiirenQM>QM Twitter for updates:twitter.com/QmSiren---------->Dice:>31d100 unless otherwise noted>Other:Starting school again soon, so this is the last thread before then. Other than that, LET'S FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
>>5346379>>Throw her back on the streets. She’s a small fish in a big gang. Can’t risk these guys finding out you know about them anyhow.>>5346386>>31d100We'll never finish rolling
>>5346379>Have Valjean brainwash her into saving mutants– it’s a more constructive use of her time, in your opinion, and she’s certainly strong enough for it.>>5346386Nice to see you this soon. btw you should've linked this one in the last thread>>5346421he means best of 3 1d100
>>5346379>>Have Valjean brainwash her into saving mutants– it’s a more constructive use of her time, in your opinion, and she’s certainly strong enough for it.I feel like if we let her go she'll eventually try to get even... might as well try to steer her in a more positive direction.
>>5346431I'm just ribbing
>>5346379>>Have Valjean brainwash her into saving mutants– it’s a more constructive use of her time, in your opinion, and she’s certainly strong enough for it.
>>5346379>>Throw her back on the streets. She’s a small fish in a big gang. Can’t risk these guys finding out you know about them anyhow.
>>5346431>>5346446>>5346460>Medusa redemption!>>5346469>>5346421>Get back on the streets, bee-otch!>Writing!>>5346421>>5346431Yeah no it's 31 rolls all the way, cause I make the rules-- that's why!!Kidding. Don't take that seriously plz>>5346431>link in last threadMy bad on that part-- been rushing around all day and totally slipped my mind. Bit late to do it now though.
>>5346537No worries, I already sent the link just to make sure
>>5346537“Yo, Pharos.” You address the former Crux leader, an idea forming in your head. “Can you brainwash her into wanting to save mutants?” You’re pretty sure that is definitely within his ability.“Cannibal.” He says, giving you a look that says ‘Do I look like some B-grade mutant to you?’ In other words, Valjean is more than capable of brainwashing Jezebel to do exactly what you want.At once, Jezebel’s eyes glaze over at the mental reprogramming. Smartly, he brainwashes her into forgetting this whole night (and you guys) as well. You’d rather she doesn’t remember you and seeks you out later for revenge. Worse yet, if she remembers you, she might bring along stronger reinforcements from the Fraternity of the atom, because it seems that you’ve only found one of the smaller, weaker branches of it tonight. With everything on your plate right now, you’re not quite ready to delve into that just yet. You’ll save that problem for future-Elise, or near-future-Elise to be more precise.“...you also got seriously drunk. You were so embarrassed by it that you hid in an alley for the rest of the night and fell asleep.” Valjean finishes, smiling at his handiwork. “To dobrze.” Boleski nods. “Let’s go.”Like that hamfisted Ghengis you fought earlier tonight, you leave the unconscious Jezebel in an alley, far from where your fight had transpired. With your conscience cleared, hopefully Jezebel will put her group of thugs to good use by targeting endangered mutants instead of FutureLabs’ squadrons. Those thugs seem to be able to keep themselves hidden well-enough anyhow– you think they can do it.“Hey, Boleski,” You address the winged man. “You still know where the Healer is?”“I look tonight, but find you instead,” he replies. “We look now if you want.”There are enough pharmacies and clinics in Rottsville to make the whole thing rather time-consuming, but, between you and Boleski, the two of you make decent ground within the slum.Neon signs and car headlights pass underfoot as you’re bounding in the direction of the next pharmacy, and it’s nice to have the wind in your face and hair after being in that cramped, musty building for so long, the fresh, cooling breeze telling you that the colder months are soon ahead.>(1/3)
>>5346664You’re not sure what time it is, but, casting a glance to the sky, the moon is well-overhead, telling you that it is pretty late. Despite the time, you still feel quite energized from having slept the whole afternoon, enough that you could go the whole night if you wanted.Leaping off the edge of a building, you aim yourself towards where you spot the next neon cross that denotes your next destination. Like every other building in this district, it’s as run-down and dilapidated as the rest of them, but, so far out of the way of the main part of the city, such a building is the perfect place for the Healer to conduct her business.When you land, you drop Valjean off, who opts to loiter outside the building.Passing through the door of the next pharmacy, you prepare yourself for the next reaction you get. While most of the people you came by just stared in abject shock, frozen and unsure of what to do, you already had a couple of screamers tonight, and, with your sensitive ears, you’re not looking forwards to another.“Hello Kelpie,” A nasally voice greets, the sharp, sterile smell of cleaning chemicals hitting your nostrils in full-force. “Back so soon?”It’s a nasally voice you recognize– one that’d been present at Nacht Haven.Oh. Oh shit. Sitting at the front desk is a very familiar clerk, one with a head of shaggy hair and a poorly-shaved beard. You blink a few times, just to confirm you’re not just seeing things, even though the reality is sitting right there with a frown upon his face.All-too-quickly, the air in the pharmacy becomes increasingly and unbearably awkward.For someone you’d saved so very recently, you’d think this guy would show a little more gratitude– or manners, if at all possible, but before you can say anything else a chime heralds the arrival of Boleski.>(2/3)
>>5346666“You brought him as well.” There’s no inflection in his voice, more of a statement than anything else. “You recognize him?” You ask the clerk.“Yes, I recognize him.” The clerk remarks disinterestedly. “Same guy came in with a trenchcoat and thought his wings weren’t visible. Try binding them next time.” Those words are directed to Boleski.“Now tell me your conditions.” If he weren’t a human, you’d think this was some pre-recorded spiel.“We’ll tell those to the professional,” You return, emphasizing the professional part of those words.“The Healer doesn’t see just anyone. I think we’ve been over this before.”“I saved the Healer from Mararanzano’s men.” You refute, becoming cross with this persnickety desk clerk. “Shouldn’t I, the mutant who saved the Healer, get a little leeway here?”A few seconds pass, the clerk seemingly in deep thought, before he finally says, “No,” and you feel the overwhelming urge to punt this guy straight through the roof.“Co za dupek.” Boleski frowns, green gaze narrowing at the clerk.It’s a Mexican standoff between you and Boleski and this overly-fastidious desk clerk– a desk clerk whose name you totally forgot– and, like a bowling ball through a glass window, the silence is completely broken with a frantic shout of, “Who the hell let that guy in?!”“I heard arguing.” Valjean says. “There a problem getting in?” He asks you and Boleski.“Pharos!” The clerk’s voice is vehement. “The Healer explicitly said she didn’t want to see you, or any of your ilk, in her facilities.”“Who still uses the word ‘ilk’ these days?” Valjean questions, deliberately ignoring the main point of the clerk’s words. “Last time I checked, the Crux is long-gone. You living under a rock there, pal?”Though he’s able to maintain that same, passive expression, the clerk’s face takes on a slight tinge of red.>(3/4)
>>5346667The clerk takes a deep breath, still as a statue until all signs of rage are devoid from his features.“For your information,” He draws out in a low hiss, glaring intently at the former Crux leader. “I can and will call the police if you do not leave. Same goes for you, Kelpie. You as well, you Polak.” He says, pointing to you and Boleski. “Because you are clearly affiliated with that guy.”Crap. This is going downhill fast. Before the clerk (whose name still eludes you!) loses his shit and calls the cops on you guys, you need to act– and quickly!>Rush the guy all at once– three versus one GO! >”Eh, what was your name again?” Deflect. Distract.>Keep him arguing, enough to keep him away from the phone– just make enough noise so that Healer’s bound to come out.>Eh. Screw it. Just brainwash this guy.>Write-in
That's it for the night-- gotta get going to one of my final days of wageing now!Should be able to squeeze at least one update out tomorrow if I'm not dead-tired, so see you all then!
>>5346683>Keep him arguing, enough to keep him away from the phone– just make enough noise so that Healer’s bound to come out.
>>5346683>”Eh, what was your name again?” Deflect. Distract.holy moly, was this guy such a bitch the last time or we didn't spend that much time with him while trying to save the healer ?
>>5346783+1, and ask him why he's suvh a bitchPut Valjean out to lower tensions
>>5346683>>Keep him arguing, enough to keep him away from the phone– just make enough noise so that Healer’s bound to come out.
>>5346683"Something big is about to go down, and we need to warn the healer beforehand just in case things don't go out way. She'll want to hear this, unless she wants to try making money from inside a futurelabs cell."
>>5346683>Keep him arguing, enough to keep him away from the phone– just make enough noise so that Healer’s bound to come out.bro you really gonna call the police, when you work for a mutant?
>>5346778>>5346972>>5347135>Fight, fight, fight!>>5346783>>5346878>"Sorry, you're such a bitch that I forgot your name, mister clerk teehee" :)>>5346990>Hey, Healer, the jig's (about to be) up!Gonna work some of the stuff you guys wrote in the votes cause it's pretty solid stuff-- hope that doesn't step on any toes here, but writing!>>5346783Yes, yes he was a bitch.
>>5347336Wracking your mind for what exactly you should do, your eyes are drawn to the nametag attached to the lapel on his coat, which reads ‘SHAW’ in big, bold letters.No wonder you forgot his name– you were right to block it out after he was such a douchebag the first time around– but that doesn’t matter. What does matter is something that’s painfully, hypocritically obvious about this whole operation that the clerk’s been a part of the whole time.“Are you really going to call the cops when you’re the one who’s working for a mutant?” You fire back, not willing to back down from this tête-à-tête. As soon as the words fly from your mouth, Shaw freezes, bespectacled eyes moving their focus from the telephone beside him to you.“I bet you’re making a hefty sum from all the mutants she’s treating.” You continue, putting your hands up on the desk. As you let that statement hang in the air, you notice that Shaw is a good couple of inches shorter than you.“That doesn’t matter.” Shaw refutes. “I’m human. There’s no way they can do anything to me.”“Does the name ‘Phillip Huber’ ring a bell?” It feels a little wrong to use Bernard’s dad in an argument like this, but you need to drive your point home. “One of the city’s richest billionaires is now in a jail cell for defending his own daughter– a daughter who’s not even in Konigsburg, no less.”“He knew what he was getting into. That was calculated, and you were part of it.” He points out. “So was joining up with Pharos.” “And this isn’t?” Shaw opens his mouth to say something but bites down onto his lip instead, unable to counter your statement.>(1/?)
>>5347435“You see mutants, work with them every day…” You press on, leaning in further on the counter. “Are you honestly going to tell us that you believe everything the news spits out after everything you’ve seen?” Again, Shaw is silent. The tension in the room is thick enough to cut with a knife, but you’re undeterred, your dark-eyed reflection visible in his oversized glasses."Something big is about to go down, and we need to warn the Healer beforehand just in case things don't go our way.” Your tone is foreboding, ominous even, as you direct your words at him. “She'll want to hear this, unless she wants to try making money from inside a FutureLabs cell."“I–” Shaw starts, but he doesn’t even get the chance to finish his sentence as the door behind him bursts open, revealing none-other-than the Healer.“Hey!” She seems surprised at the small gathering in the pharmacy’s lobby. “You didn’t tell me the M-Guard was here– and Boleski! Just what have you been doing to yourself?” She huffs, quickly spotting the numerous, fresh burn wounds on his person.“Pharos is here too.” Shaw makes a motion to Valjean, using his last-ditch attempt to get his daily dose of petty revenge. At this point, he’s not even trying to be subtle, hellbent on making this whole thing as difficult for you as possible.“I don’t know who that guy is, but it isn’t Pharos.” The Healer points to Valjean, who’s trying to hold back the smuggest grin known to man. Lifting her glasses to peer at the former Crux leader, she stares for a few seconds before saying, “Doesn’t look like Pharos at all.” “But–” “No, stop trying to tell me there are Crux members still around– they’re all long-gone. We haven’t seen any of them in months, so for once can you stop going on-and-on about them?!” She shouts, visibly aggravated. “Dammit, Shaw, we go through this every week.” The Healer throws a hand into the air. “And I thought I was the one who was paranoid here!” She snorts derisively.Shaw is left gobsmacked from the Healer’s outburst. Evidently at a loss for words, he is unable to do anything but stare into the blank space of his desk.>(2/3)
>>5347437“G-Go in…” He manages to grit out, not looking at any of you in the face, and no sooner does the Healer turn her back than the cockiest, most self-righteous grin spreads across Valjean’s face, like a kid at Christmastime.“I win,” Valean sing-songs under his breath, extremely pleased by the sudden turn of events. When he brainwashed the Healer into forgetting him and Julia, you didn’t expect for that to actually pay off. Now, you’re kind of grateful that he did it. Who knew that would actually work out for you guys?“Now come on,” the Healer calls from the threshold to her office. “Who’s coming first?”>Let Boleski get healed first, then you and Valjean get to your business with the Healer.>All or none– all for one and one for all!>You and Valjean first. Sinister plots first, healing business second. And, not that Shaw will do anything but you'd rather keep an eye on him as well.>Write-in>(3/3)
>>5347439>>Let Boleski get healed first, then you and Valjean get to your business with the Healer.
>>5347439>Let Boleski get healed first, then you and Valjean get to your business with the Healer.At first, I thought she was lying due to us saving her, but we indeed brainwashed the healer. Why didn't we do the same to the counter guy ?
>>5347560>>5347495>>5347473>>5347449>Pomóż naszemu przyjacielowi!Writing!>>5347495It was an option that no one went for.Ngl Shaw needed that verbal ass-whooping.
>>5347571Btw what manga/comic did you use for this one >>5347435
>>5347583Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint, senpai.Don't usually shill manga/manhwa but it's a banger.
>>5347571“Take Boleski.” You speak up, since no one else has, and, at the mention of his name, his wings scrunch up around him.“Alright, come on over,” the Healer beckons him over to her office, the older man awkwardly weaving around bits of furniture and whatnot so as not to get acid anywhere, but it’s oozing out of every feather and pore, enough that you watch some of it burn straight through the tile when he knocks right into an unsuspecting shelf.The door slams shut, but, with the Healer present, that tense, hostile atmosphere that had permeated the room is long-gone. Shaw still stares at the counter, not having moved since the Healer ripped him a new one, and it doesn’t look like he’s going anywhere anytime soon.“He okay?” You question aloud, eyeing the clerk– a clerk who seems to have entered some state of fugue.“Salty is more like it.” Valjean snarks, shooting Shaw a sidelong glance. “Not sure he’s ever gonna recover from that, but who knows? Maybe he’ll have learned his lesson and be a better person for it.” He shrugs, the whole spiel being a complete act of sarcasm.“So what kind of incentive do we have for the Healer?” Valjean asks more seriously. “Money.” You say simply. “Money,” Valjean repeats, shooting you a look that asks ‘are you serious?’“Worked last time,” You shrug, not willing to question something that undoubtedly works.>(1/3)
>>5347648Not having really much else to say on that matter, the room descends into relative silence. From behind the door, you can hear the ongoing chatter between Boleski and the Healer.“--mutant too?” The Healer’s voice is inquiring.“Tak,” Is Boleski’s response.“Your condition still can't be–”You’re not sure what they’re talking about, but, as inclined as you are to keep listening, you decide to shut out whatever else might be said because, far as you know, it’s just regular doctor-patient chit-chat that you don’t really have much business poking your nose into.You don’t know how much time has passed, but, by the time Boleski walks out, you’ve made many, tiny indents in the counter with your claws from drumming your fingers against the counter so much. His torso looks considerably less marred than before, most of the burn marks cleared from his person. You can’t imagine how awful that must be to deal with that all the time since his normal skin can’t actually handle the acid.“Next!” The Healer calls to the room.>(2/3)
>>5347651“Can I take a break?” Shaw wearily raises his hand.“Yeah, yeah, do whatever,” The Healer waves him off. Shaw takes his leave, and, before he rounds the corner, you see him pull something that suspiciously looks like a flask from his coat pocket. Weirdo.“Boleski, you wouldn’t mind manning the counter, would you?” The Healer asks Boleski. “Just flip the sign to closed and make sure no one else comes in, got that?” Boleski gives a nod and a grunt, turning on his heel to make for the door.You and Valjean, on the other hand, make a beeline for the Healer’s office, crowding into the room that’s considerably smaller than her office back in Nacht Haven. “Kelpie, I don’t think you can truly get injured, and you–” She points to Valjean. “You look more than fine, Whateveryournameis…”“So what can I do for you both?” She asks, scooting backward on her medical school.>Give her the TLDR (Conduit, danger, etc.), most importantly. Gauge her reaction before asking if she wants to work with you or not.>Skip straight to the point. You want her to work with you, and you got cash.>Ask her if she's seen any weird gangs of mutants around lately. Not the most important thing on your plate, but maybe she knows something about the Fraternity of the Atom.>Write-in>(3/3)
>>5347656>>Give her the TLDR (Conduit, danger, etc.), most importantly. Gauge her reaction before asking if she wants to work with you or not.Informed choices are the best kind.
>>5347656>>Give her the TLDR (Conduit, danger, etc.), most importantly. Gauge her reaction before asking if she wants to work with you or not.
That's it for the night-- gonna check out cause I'm kinda running on fumes here. That, and I drank for the first time in like six months. Whoof. I laugh and cringe at all of the drunkposting I did in some of the earlier threads.We continue tomorrow in the afternoon!As always, thanks for playing, and see you next time, kings!
>>5347656>Give her the TLDR (Conduit, danger, etc.), most importantly. Gauge her reaction before asking if she wants to work with you or not.>>5347674I think you never told us before about that
>>5347661>>5347671>>5347730>Informed consent FTW!Writing!>>5347730I've admitted to it several times in the /qtg/ (though I thought I'd mentioned that quite a bit in some of the earlier threads)-- I forget not everyone goes there.Mostly happened through threads 5-6 cause that was the full-swing quarantine summer. Not my most responsible move, but the quarantine was definitely getting to my head. Am still piss-poor at holding my booze apparently.
>>5348443I see. I check qtg sometimes, but it fills quickly and unless something grabs my eye, I don't read everything.
>>5348443You explain all your points with the same spiel you did to Boleski: Conduit becoming a living mutant tracker, FutureLabs drugging him into oblivion, and the like. Whatever the Healer had been expecting from you and Valjean, it certainly wasn’t what you’re telling her now.As you press on, you watch as her skin becomes increasingly pale, likely shell shocked from the whole thing.“What the hell?!” The Healer’s voice is one small step away from a shriek. “That’s impossible!”“No, it isn’t.” You shake your head. “FutureLabs has ways to completely change a mutant’s power, but whatever it does to them affects their mind as well.”“Is that what happened to–” She stops herself short, words lost on her tongue. “Is that what happened to that one girl?” Though she’d all-but forgotten her in name and face, you know that the Healer is definitely referring to Julia. “How is she doing anyways?”“She’s definitely more lively, thanks to you,” Valjean informs her. “I don’t think anyone would’ve guessed she had actual cranial damage.”“It’s definitely something you wouldn’t have been able to tell right-off-the-bat, especially if she was still recovering from amnesia and whatever else FutureLabs might’ve done to her…” She trails off.A silence overtakes the room, the Healer seeming to be contemplating something as her eyes center back on you. “Why are you telling me all of this?”“Because we need your help.” You return, gauging the woman for a reaction. “We’d like you to work with us.”>(1/3)
>>5348655“Me?!” She nearly falls off of her seat. “But I don’t have that kind of power– I don’t even have any fighting experience, for crying out loud!” Her stethoscope clatters to the ground from her flailing, but she doesn’t bother to pick it up, understandably distressed at the curveball you just threw her way. “The only job I’ve gotten that’s come close is being a security guard, for crying out loud, and even then I could barely swing a baton.”“We weren’t going to force you to fight. We just need someone who will help us if things go south.” “But they got guns, and that– that X-Force,” she argues. “I might not want to end up in a FutureLabs cell, but I certainly don’t want to die!”“Well, you’ll either die now fighting for a good cause, or you’ll die either on the run or as a test subject. Your choice.” Valjean says, to which you elbow him none-too-kindly. “Ow!” He yelps before saying to the Healer. “Forget I said that. Did you really have to do that?” Valjean grouses at you.>(2/3)
>>5348659“The Healer isn’t a fighter. We can’t reason with her the same way we do with everyone else.” You whisper. “So can we just offer her money, or do you want me to brainwash her?” Valjean crosses his arms, getting impatient with the other woman. The Healer, sitting with her head in her hands, still seems unable to process Valjean's ultimatum.>Wat do?>”If you’re scared, we’ll protect you every step of the way. You can heal yourself, can't you?”>”If you don’t want to go inside FutureLabs, how would you feel about stealing a body?”>”You're right. This isn't the safest thing, but we were planning on compensating you heavily.">Brainwash her. Not your most honest move, but the ends justify the means.>Write-in>(3/3)
>>5348677>>”If you’re scared, we’ll protect you every step of the way. You can heal yourself, can't you?”
>>5348677>>”If you don’t want to go inside FutureLabs, how would you feel about stealing a body?”
>>5348677>”If you don’t want to go inside FutureLabs, how would you feel about stealing a body?”since she's scared of fights, let's have her save Eddie while we do the thing. They'll be too focused on us to deal with the burglary.
>>5348680>We protecc>>5348685>>5348700>Body Robbers Inc.Called! Writing!
>>5348677"Blink and I went in there once already and came out in one piece, and you'll be taking more of a support role anyway. If we time this right, the X-force will be in New York fighting mafiosos, so we won't even have to worry about them."Before we leave let's tell her about the fraternity of the atom, she's bound to run into them eventually and it's better that she know ahead of time.
>>5348783The Healer’s adamance tells you that she might not fare that well if you bring her straight into the heat of the action, but maybe, just maybe, you can put her to use in some other way…”If you don’t want to go inside FutureLabs, how would you feel about stealing a body?” Your sudden change of topic makes the woman perk up in her seat, but the most important thing is that she’s listening.“We have another mutant helping us, but his physical body is in Vitello Hospital.” You take her silence as your cue to keep going. “He’s working on a way to sabotage FutureLabs’ computing systems when we go in there, so they’re going to realize it was him right-off-the-bat.”“T-They’ll kill him, won’t they?” The Healer quickly realizes what will happen to Eddie.“Yeah.” You don’t doubt that Atticus Charles will retaliate as soon as he figures out what’s going on.“Sooooo…” The Healer drawls, nervousness coating her tone. “Am I stealing a dead body here? I-I’ve never touched a dead body before in my life.”“No, he’s in the coma ward.” You clarify.“Oh! Well, that’s better than dealing with a nasty, pallid, possibly-haunted body, right?” The Healer replies. “Though we all have to die someday, don’t we?” She trails off, looking increasingly thoughtful about something else.“What are you going to do with the body once you have it?” The Healer asks, straightening up her glasses against her face. “I assume you have some way to wake him up if you’re going so far as to take him out of there.”“Yeah, we have his brain.” You affirm.“So you’re in possession of a mutant who can separate his mind from his body? How interesting!” The Healer wheels herself closer to you. “How long has he been in a coma anyhow?” “A bit over a month, maybe longer.” You shrug, but you haven’t really been keeping track of time. All you do know is that it’s been as long as you’ve had Valjean and Julia in the warehouse.>(1/2)
>>5348823“I can start writing up some PT exercises for when he’s back in his body, since his muscles have definitely atrophied.” The Healer dips back into some semblance of professionality, producing a pen and scratchpad out of thin air to jot down a couple of things. “But I’m not going to be lugging a body solo, will I? I didn’t think so, but I just want to double-check before I have to do something that’llpotentiallymaimharmorkillmeandthenI’llnevergettobuythedreamapartmentIwanted…” She blurts out all in a rush.“We’ll have someone with you.” You reassure the woman.>Anything else you want to say/do before you skedaddle?>You should warn her about the Fraternity of the Atom, if she hasn’t seen them already.>Give her a bit of the cash you were going to give her– a down payment, if you will.>Nah. Time to skedaddle.>Write-in>(2/2)
>>5348784I CAN'T BELIEVE I MISSED THIS AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
>>5348824>>You should warn her about the Fraternity of the Atom, if she hasn’t seen them already.
Oh btw, this is the first time Valjean is hearing about Eddie isn't it
>>5348824>>You should warn her about the Fraternity of the Atom, if she hasn’t seen them already.>>Give her a bit of the cash you were going to give her– a down payment, if you will.
Gonna pick this up tomorrow-- feeling a little wonky (not alcohol-induced, really!).As always, thanks for playing, and see you all next time!
>>5348824>You should warn her about the Fraternity of the Atom, if she hasn’t seen them already.>>5348825classic siren move. no biggies qm, we all lose track of something we focusing on writting.
>>5348827>>5348837>>5348910You know what? Screw wonkiness. I'm gonna call and write the last update for the night now as in now. Hoorah!Writing the last update for the night!>>5348910can't believe my defining feature as a QM is being a scatterbrain. kek.
>>5348923“By the way,” You start again, suddenly remembering something important. “Have you heard of the Fraternity of the Atom?”“Can’t say that I have.” The Healer responds amid jotting down Eddie’s new PT routine.“They’re relatively new, but they’re kind of like the Crux, except they seem more… aggressive, in a way.” The Crux, on the other hand, had been far more calculated in nature. “So far, they’ve stuck to killing cops and whatnot, but they seem to be getting bolder. So keep an eye out if you see them or any mutants who travel in packs.”“Alright.” There’s a tincture of worry in the Healer’s voice. “W-Will do!”Reaching into Valjean’s backpack, you procure the small wad of bills you brought along, holding them out to the Healer. “Consider this your down-payment.”“M-M-M-Money!” She sounds like a dog drooling over a piece of bacon, swiping it from your hands with the speed of a fox. “T-Thank you!” “No problem.” You respond. “There’s more where that came from when the job’s done.” The Healer's body language tells you that she's died and gone to heaven... well, at least mentally she's there.As well as a brand-new rehab regimen for Eddie, you get everyone’s contact information from Boleski’s to the Healer’s, both of which you assume are burner phones. As you’re walking out of the building, you see a gangly mass of lab-coat and limbs curled up in the corner, an empty flask laying at the side of it.“’Hic–’ Shee you soon, guysh!” Shaw waves, glasses lying half-crooked on his face as he laughs giddily from his spot on the floor. That’s one way to have a change-of-heart, you think, as you leave the decrepit pharmacy behind.>(1/2)
>>5348943Leaping back into the night with Valjean in tow, you take to the air, your body running on autopilot as you bound back towards your side of the city. However, with each passing second, you can feel Valjean’s prying eyes nearly boring holes into your back as there was a lot of stuff you'd left largely unanswered for the former Crux leader, mainly in regards to Eddie.You never really needed to mention the technopath so far as you had Valjean, but now that he's coming to the forefront of this operation, you know Valjean will have a lot of questions.“You never told me about another mutant.” Crap. And you'd clung onto the hope that he’d drop that for the night.“He’s a technopath. A very powerful one.” You answer. "And you've had him for as long as you've had me." Valjean hadn't missed that in your conversation with the Healer. "Yes. What about it?" You say, pushing off of a building's edge."I remember that mutant clearly, FYI, because of the way his powers didn't respond to mine at Vitello. I just didn't want to believe he was one." His words cause you stumble on the next landing, nearly tripping over your feet. "How long were you planning on keeping me in the dark about this?">”It wasn’t anything against you. It just really didn’t come up in conversations.”>”We were protecting him from FutureLabs when we rescued him, so we thought the less people knew about him the better.”>"We didn't think you'd be all-that accepting of a mutant that came from FutureLabs. It wasn't our secret to tell, but the situation's changed." >Write-in>(2/2)
Now that's really it for the night! Time to sleep and stuff for real.Happy weekend and all that, kings!
>>5348952>"Wasn't planned, Matt fed you some bullshit about him being an AI and we just kinda went along with it.">"That was back when we hated you, which hasn't changed but now you're somewhat pulling your weight so I guess there's not much point in being secretive now.">"Also he's John's best friend and John thinks you 'killed' him so, if he catches you you are probably dead. Just heads up."
>>5348952>”We were protecting him from FutureLabs when we rescued him, so we thought the less people knew about him the better.”
>>5348952>"Well, at very first we didn't tell anyone because we were trying to protect him from FutureLabs, but...gah, I could make all sorts of excuses, but I'll be honest- I kinda flat out forgot you didn't know. "
>>5348952>>5348996+1 to this, kek.
>>5348996>>5349306>We fed you some bullshit and rolled with it... also you're toast if John finds you.>>5349027>The less you know, the better...>>5349040>So I kinda just forgot... oops.Calling! Gonna start writing in a bit!
Hey-- hate to be a big blueballer, but some plans just came up! I'll be back to write later in the afternoon, so stay tuned!
>>5349373“Wasn’t planned.” You tell him, digging your feet into the roof to regain your lost balance. “Matt fed you some bullshit about him being an AI, and we just kinda went along with it.”“That bastard– I knew he wasn’t smart enough make something like that!” Valjean sounds more mad about Matt getting the one-over on him. “It was pretty funny at the time.” And it really was funny that Valjean had bought the lie in the first place.“Ha. Ha.” Valjean’s voice is bitingly sarcastic. “Well, you got me, and I am certainly laughing. What did he call himself again?”“Ermac.” You state matter-of-factly. “Also known as Eddie, Conduit’s brother. If not for him, this operation wouldn’t be possible.” In theory, you still think you could pull it off, but, without Eddie’s help, it would be significantly harder.“Damn it all.” Valjean hisses. “So let me guess, FutureLabs blackmailed him, and you didn’t think I, the big, bad Crux leader, would take too kindly to having him on our team.”“Yeah, that was back when we hated you, which hasn't changed but now you're somewhat pulling your weight so I guess there's not much point in being secretive now." And, if you told the you from a few weeks ago that Valjean had come this far, you don’t think you would’ve believed it unless you saw it for yourself.“If he was blackmailed, then he didn’t have much of a choice unless he wanted Conduit dead. There’s a big difference between having someone held over your head and working for them willingly, like those X-Force assholes.”Speaking of the X-Force, you’re reminded of another issue here, one that might come back to bite you once you cross paths with John again.“Oh. Forgot to mention he’s also John’s best friend, and John thinks you killed him. So, if he catches you, you’re pretty much dead. Just a heads up.”“Good to know.” Valjean’s voice is cordial, but you know he’s not pleased in the least to hear this tidbit of news. “Small freaking world…”>(1/2)
>>5349468You make it back to the warehouse in record time. While you’d laid out all the stuff you’d been keeping from the former Crux leader, it was something that he did need to know.It’s pleasantly surprising to find that he’d been accepting of Eddie’s situation, as opposed to jumping the gun on someone that might possibly be a ‘mutant traitor.’All the better, as everyone can now work together, and so your odds of succeeding on this mission will be ever-higher.“So when do I get to meet this Ermac?” Now that he knows of Eddie’s existence, Valjean is interested in seeing the technopath in action.“You will when we start planning,” You tell him. “Soon.”“Here. Take the book then.” Valjean tosses Boleski’s journal-thing to you, which you swipe out of midair. “See you.” He gives a salute. Then he turns on his heel, presumably off to sleep.That night went better-than-expected. You gained two allies, and Valjean wasn’t as big of a dick as you expected him to be over the Eddie-thing.Matt and Bernard arrive back the following morning, their clamor and noise as they barrel into the house cruelly prying you from your sleep.“Yo Ellie, where’s the coffee at?” Matt calls into the house. “I can still taste the gas station coffee and I need my fix of the good stuff, so get cracking!” He demands some real coffee.“Ngghhh… shut up…” You groan. Not wanting to wake up just yet, you cover your face with one of the couch pillows. “...five more minutes…”“Fish!” Bernard calls, just as loud-- if not louder-- than Matt. “We brought home some goodies!”Ever the child at heart, regardless of what they might be, the mention of goodies immediately has you up on your feet. >Where them diamond swords at?!>How was the trip?!>Yo Matt– anything happen with Jenna? :)>Goodies? Where?!>Write-inplans got bailed on. enjoy the earlier update.
>>5349471>>Goodies? Where?!
>>5349471>Goodies? Where?!Start with the important questions! Also awesome John pic there, Mystery Pencil Anon. >>5349468
>>5349471>>5349501>>5349535Time for some damn goodies!Writing!
>>5349622Springing up from the couch like a kid on Christmas morning, you make a beeline for the kitchen, very much excited at the prospect of goodies.Goodies could be anything, you think, a myriad of possibilities swirling around in your head, and, when you spot the load of bags on the table, your excitement all-but doubles, because even tearing open the bags is just as fun as getting the goodies themselves.“Ellie– paws off the bags!” Matt growls, looking a little too serious for the situation. “Coffee first.”“Come on, stick, don’t be a spoilsport.” Bernard chides, waving him off. “You’ll get your coffee when you get your coffee.”Ignoring Matt’s demands for caffeine, like a bloodhound, you attempt to sniff out what might be in the bags. Above all else, the one thing that sticks out to you is the smell of meat. Food! You mentally cheer, already licking your lips at a particularly-filled paper bag– one that looks as if there’s more than half a cow in there.“This all from Jenna?” You wonder aloud, scales blossoming across your face unbiddenly.“Aunt and Uncle too. Wouldn’t say no unless we took it home.” Bernard informs you. “Jenna says ‘hi,’ by the way.” You resolve to have that meat later when all the goodies are unbagged, of course.“Speakin’ of which,” Bernard tears you from your fantasies of a farm-fresh breakfast. “She made a little somethin’-somethin’ for our next mission–” In a single, fluid motion, Bernard grabs one of the bags and holds it out to you, and you waste no time in tearing it open.“A utility belt!” You exclaim, holding up the object in question. It’s the same color as the one that goes with your suit. However, unlike the belt which had been purely for aesthetics, this belt has all manner of compartments and pockets.“When Jenna found out about the swords, it was kinda hard to stop her from making it.” Bernard says. “Check it out!”>(1/2)
>>5349693“This is perfect!” You grin, buckling it on and inspecting it– a perfect fit, if you must say.“If you think that’s cool, just wait and see what she made me and stick!” He looks around the table until he finds what he’s looking for, holding up two of the bags.“No way–” You breathe, knowing Jenna’s knack for making supersuits.“Yes way– she’d been workin’ on em’ way before we came over to the farm.” Bernard’s voice echoes your own excitement.“Is there anything we can give her to say thanks?” You feel the need to thank the woman who’s been giving supersuits out to you guys like candy.“Eh. I think stick’s got that more-than-covered…” The blonde says flippantly, a knowing grin on his face.“Can it, you dick!” Matt makes a lunge for Bernard, to which he deftly dodges. “Just wait until he finds out how babies are made–” Bernard says in a stage whisper, avoiding Matt’s next attack with a teleport and dropping the bags on the table.>Now that you’re in the possession of some dank goodies, wat do?>Bring on the new suits, fools!>Sword time! Sword time!>Make your disgruntled brother some coffee.>Write-in>(2/2)
>>5349697>>Sword time! Sword time!I swear we are gonna stab John with these, it's gonna be the most tone breaking shit but it's hilarious
>>5349697>Make your disgruntled brother some coffee.
>>5349697>Make your disgruntled brother some coffee.He's earned it. Plus we parted on awkward terms--might help a bit.
>>5349697>>Make your disgruntled brother some coffee.
>>5349707>Diamond swords time!>>5349737>>5349716>>5349709>Sweet, delicious, caffeinated nectar...Called! Writing!
>>5349793It’s only a matter of time before Matt gets hold of Bernard for those comments about him and Jenna, and, while Bernard has the advantage of his teleportation, Matt is highly, highly tenacious.“Who wants coffee?” You blurt out, saving Bernard from possibly another broken leg.Shoveling and pressing the coffee grounds into your well-worn moka pot, you think it’s been a while since you’ve made coffee for everyone. You think Matt deserves the pick-me-up anyhow since you don’t know if he’s still mad at you for what happened back at the warehouse.Since you have a good while before the moka pot boils, you start throwing eggs, flour, milk, and butter in a bowl to get some pancakes going. You’re surprised anyone bothered to keep the fridge filled with John no longer in the house to cook, but you’re glad there was something usable in the fridge– something that wasn’t rotten or had some new species of mold growing off of it.It’s not the best cooking in the world, nor are you sure if the consistency of the batter is correct, which is why you keep throwing in more flour and milk at random.“Little more milk, Ellie.” Matt instructs. Having been too immersed in your cooking, you hadn’t noticed him behind you. “Now stop–” Setting the milk down once more, you stir it all through. You’ll take Matt’s word on how food should be over yours any day of the week. More importantly, it doesn’t seem like he’s mad at you anymore, which is a positive in your books.The frying part is way more intuitive for you, and, by the time you have two plates of pancakes, the coffee’s fully done. >(1/2)
>>5349879Matt, however, is more concerned with getting his cup of joe, the kind that doesn’t taste like tap water or comes from a gas station.“Thank you.” Matt says gratefully, voice muffled by his cup. Bernard, too, is satisfied with the pancakes– pancakes that he’s eating faster than you can make them.“So Ellie,” Bernard starts through a mouthful of food, “What’d you even do the whole time?” He’s genuinely curious.“I–” You speak, realizing you don’t actually know where to start. “It’s a long story, actually.”“Well, we’ve got plenty of time. Those swords and suits aren’t goin’ anywhere, and neither is that meat.” The blonde reassures you.>”Let’s enjoy the morning first. We can talk about it later.” Save the doomtalk for later. See those swords instead!>”So about Conduit…” You will give them the gist of the new evil plot(s). >"You guys want to start planning for the extraction later?" Not exactly a doomtalk, but you want to get planning.>”So how are the captives adjusting to the farm?” Again, save the doomtalk for when it’s *not* morning.>Write-in>(2/2)
>>5349881>>”So about Conduit…” You will give them the gist of the new evil plot(s).
>>5349881>”So about Conduit…” You will give them the gist of the new evil plot(s).
Just realized it's kinda late, and I'll need all my brain cells to write the next update. Gonna pick this up in the afternoon. As always, thanks for playing, and see you all next time!
>>5349886>>5349900>>5349906Called! Writing!
>>5350546“So about Conduit…” You start. This wasn’t the way you wanted to start your morning, but Matt and Bernard have to know.“Remember how Atticus Charles promised Eddie he wouldn’t ever harm him?” You leave the question hanging in the air. “Guess who met me in a dream?” Again, you take pause to let that sink in, Matt and Bernard collectively blanching. “Conduit’s been altered.”Silence overtakes the room, their breakfasts forgotten in lieu of a far more pressing issue.“Oh my shit, Ellie…” Matt breathes, running a hand through his hair. “Did you tell Eddie yet?” Your lack of answer is enough of an answer for the room.“Well, you kinda have to cause, you know, he’s his brother.” Bernard pipes in. “Hate to be the one to ask this, but how bad is he right now?”“Not like Julia when we first found her, but he’s getting there...” As much as it pains you to say that, it’s the truth.“We’ll just have to tell him when we’re laying down the groundwork for our plans, which isn’t a big deal, but, for as much as Eddie tries to convince himself that nothing’s happening to Conduit, he’s not stupid.” Matt says, pouring himself another cup of coffee. “He knows damn well what’s probably happening to him right now.”>(1/3)
>>5350610“Yeah, I remember I had some freaky kind of dream where I was gettin’...” Bernard trails off, face falling in realization. “Oh damn… that was Conduit, wasn’t it?”You nod, wishing that you’d realized it sooner yourself. Maybe then you could’ve urged Eddie to finish the program way faster, but there’s no use in thinking too much about the past.“So, do you guys want the bad news or worse news first?” “Eh. I’ll take the bad news,” Bernard says.“Worse news.” Matt replies.You’re not sure if finding out about the Fraternity of the Atom or Conduit’s impending transformation into a mindless husk is the worse of the two evils. Considering that Conduit’s doom is the more pressing matter, you decide to start with that first.After explaining the deal with Conduit for the third time in the past day, much like everyone else you’ve told thus yet, Matt and Bernard are left in varying states of shock.Of course, you don’t stop there, since the Fraternity of the Atom is another lurking threat. If the fight’s in the sewers, you’re confident you can win. However, with Jezebel’s gang being what you think is a small portion of the overall group, you wonder just how many mutants you’ll be facing.“Well fuck.” Matt finally says, breaking the dread-filled silence. “There goes my good morning.”“Hey, but at least Boleski and the Healer are gonna help us out.” Bernard tries to find even the smallest speck of something positive in the situation. “But man, guess you really were busy, Ellie– we were both kinda goofin’ off the whole time. I was swimmin’ in the river, stick was canoodlin’ with Jenna–”“I told you not to mention that…” Matt growls, a sudden look of fury growing on his face.“Nah stick, I’m just teasin’ you.” Bernard tells him with a pat on the back. “It’s nice what you got goin’ on– we’re seriously happy if you’re happy.” “You too, B. Ever gonna tell you-know-who that–” Matt says in a whisper, and, all-too-quickly, Bernard shoves a hand over his mouth, the rest of Matt’s words ending up muffled and unintelligible.“Gonna tell who what?” You tilt your head, a little puzzled by Bernard’s behavior.>(2/3)
>>5350613“Nothin,’ fish.” For whatever reason, you think that Bernard looks tad nervous, his face taking on a faint hint of red. “Just some guy stuff.”“Ah.” You nod, and leave it at that.“Anyways,” Matt drawls, drawing yours and Bernard’s attention. “If we’re going to start planning, we should do it soon before the X-Force starts moving again. Would tonight or tomorrow sound good?”While you’re fine with either, Eddie will be finished with his program within the next two days. >When do you want to start planning?>Tonight! >Tomorrow night!>Write-in>It's still morning, so you still have time before then... so wat do?>So where are those dank new suits?>Who wants to test those swords?!>While not a pressing matter, you still have Boleski's notebook...>Write-in>(3/3)
>>5350615>>Tonight!>Who wants to test those swords?!
>>5350615>Tonight!>>5350615>Who wants to test those swords?!
>>5350661>>5350681>Tonight or never!>DIAMOND SWOOOOORDDDSSSSSSSSSPardon the wait, kings-- got some surprise guests and couldn't get out of playing host ;-;Writing!
>>5350944“Tonight’s good,” You tell Matt because earlier is always better in your opinion.“Gotcha– tonight it is.”It’s not even the afternoon, which means you have plenty of time before then. One thing you’d been thinking about are those diamond swords you got from Ralph– swords which might as well have been pulled straight from Meinkraft.“Why don’t we give those swords a try?” You suggest to the others, and later sees you outside of the city in some empty field of Bernard’s choosing. “Why couldn’t we have done this on our beach?” You wonder why you couldn’t have just chosen the easier and closer place to do this.“One: we needed the guy who actually knows how to use a knife, the guy who also happens to be the most wanted mutant in the city–” Matt throws a hand out to Valjean. “Two: we needed a second person who wouldn’t get hurt when we beat the shit out of them with said knives.” He makes a motion to Julia.“I only came to see if they were real.” Valjean crosses his arms. “Hate to rain on your parades, but is it really a good idea to get injured before our next mission?”“We have the Healer.” Matt states. “And Ellie.”“Last time I checked, the Healer wasn’t free, midget.” Valjean objects, taking one of the diamond swords to inspect it. “And isn’t real-life diamond fundamentally brittle? It’ll shatter as soon as you hit it on something hard enough.” He points out.“It doesn’t follow real-life physics, dumbass. It follows video game logic. Video games–” Matt explains, as if it were plainly obvious. “It shouldn’t break fast at all unless you hit it on something that isn’t alive.”“Sounds fun.” A grin spreads across Valjean’s face, one that shows too many teeth to be a nice one. “Explain to me how a Meinkraft sword works again, midget. Never touched Meinkraft in my life.”“You’ve never played Meinkraft?!” Matt is appalled, but, quickly recovering from his shock, the two of them fall into a heated discussion about how to properly use the diamond swords.>(1/2)
>>5351043As for you, you’ve played your share of Meinkraft– not nearly half as much as Matt, but enough to know the game pretty much inside-and-out. Grabbing one of the swords off the ground, the bright blue weapon gleams in the noonday sun. From within the transparent crystal, you can see the innumerable facets that almost make it look rainbow as opposed to its vibrant shade of blue.It is immensely light in your grasp, barely heavier than what a twig might feel like to a normal person, and, slashing it with all of the expertise of someone who’s never used a weapon in their life (though Matt has taught you the basics of gun-shooting), you can’t help but relish in the whooshing sound it makes– because the sword is way cooler when you’re actually holding and swinging it!While you don’t really have much use for a weapon with your powerful claws and deadly fins, this isn’t an ordinary weapon that runs on normal logic. It’s why you want to test its limits and see just what kind of damage the sword can wreak...Total swords: 7 (-1 sword for merging two)Sword Enchantment List:>x1 Fire Aspect I/Sharpness I>x2 Bane of Arthropods I>x1 Unbreaking I>How will you test out the swords? >Spar with someone! (Julia will outright refuse.)>Have someone hit you/Julia/both of you with one of the enchanted swords!>Have someone spar against someone else (Write-in versus Write-in).>Test its durability at your full strength and hit it on something!>Write-inDon't forget to write in which sword(s) will be used with your option!>(2/2)
>>5351067>Fire aspect+sharpness>>Have someone hit you with one of the enchanted swords!Light me on fire!
>>5351067>Spar with someone!(Matt)
Gonna check out for the night-- got hit by the drawing bug and got into a zone, so you all know how that goes!We'll pick this up tomorrow in the afternoon, so until then!
Calling with a coin flip in a half-hour to an hour.Anyone else experience the weird 4chan blackout last night?
>>5351817same, man. it only got well at 5am (4am for ya I think)
>>5351067>>5351104+1 to this! And yea, 4chan was down last night--still kinda funky today.
>>5351068>FIRE, BABY!>>5351104>>5351845>Spar time!Looks like we're sparring with Matt (who I presume will be taking the sword with Fire aspect+sharpness)! Called and writing!
Update postponed. Power surged and router might be broken. Using hardware store wifi to write this so Rip.
>>5352052The curse strikes again. It's not an episode of those so, it could be worse!
test
Aw yeah it works! Thanks for your patience, anons! Early(er) update incoming!
>>5351899Okay, so you kind of suck with weapons, but that isn’t going to stop you from trying out a freaking sword!And who better to try a sword out with than the one guy who can probably use the sword well and won’t intentionally try to make sashimi out of you? You find Matt still with Valjean, still discussing whether or not the sword will work more like a bat or a knive, and, when you propose the idea of a spar with Matt, you get odd looks from both the guys, as if you’d said something completely outlandish.Still, you know Matt won’t refuse a spar against you because, deep down, he wants to know how strong the swords are just as much as you do.“You don’t even need a weapon.” Valjean points out the obvious.“Well, do you wanna be the guy who test-runs Fire Aspect and Sharpness I on themselves?” Matt asks to the air, and Valjean doesn’t answer. “No? Didn’t think so either.”“Spar with me after, midget. You'll get a real fight.” Valjean says before taking his leave, one of his own swords in tow.“You sure you wanna do this?” While Matt won’t be malicious, you know he won’t go easy on you whatsoever. “It’s no big deal– I’ll regenerate it all back anyways!” You wave him off. A little blood spilled on your part will hurt no one, except for you. Probably.“‘S not that. I thought hand-to-hand combat was more of your forte.” Matt says. “You're way, way better than me at it anyhow at this point, and you know how they say ‘if it’s not broken, don’t fix it?’” True as that might be, you already asked to spar. Even if you lose miserably (which is a given with your skill with weapons), you’ll at least get a good idea about how well the sword will fare against stronger mutants like yourself. Plus, there’s no way you're backing out of it now.>(1/2)
>>5352688“You really don’t mind getting the shit beaten out of you?” Matt sighs, knowing there’s no escape from your stubbornness. "This might get bloody reaaallyyyy fast..." He tries again. You shrug. Whatever Matt throws at you can’t be worse than anyone else you’ve fought against.“There is no way this can possibly go wrong…” He mutters sarcastically. “Let me run you through the basics at least.”With that, Matt explains to you the barest basics of how to swing, parry, and block a sword. While it's easy to commit the moves to memory in the same vein you learn new fighting techniques, the use of something that is not your fists or fins leaves you feeling a bit out of your element.Matt, on the other hand, moves with far more confidence where the weapon is concerned, but you chalk that up to his affinity with weapons in general.When you ask, he tells you, "Kinda just read up on it-- honestly seems like a bat with extra steps to me." The two of you then take your positions, face-to-face with each other.It's a little hot out but not oppressive, the sun gleaming down on your swords and reflecting on the grass below.Taking a fighting stance, you hold your blade out in front of you, stealing a quick glance to Matt to see just how he's holding his sword. "Ready?" He asks from across the grass, a cold, calculative calmness filling his eyes. Wordlessly, you nod, and that's all the incentive your brother needs to come slashing at you with vicious intent.>Roll 1d100+-15 to block!(-10 SWORD NOOBIE, +5 NATURAL SPEED, -10 HOLDING BACK)>(2/2)
Rolled 45 - 15 (1d100 - 15)>>5352691
Rolled 14 - 15 (1d100 - 15)>>5352691Watch THIS
Rolled 71 - 15 (1d100 - 15)>>5352691Hope we can at least learn something, might be useful down the road if we find something better than our fins or if we have to hide them.
>>5352700>>5352711>>5352798>Highest Roll: 54Writing!>>5352067Yep-- anything's better than one of *those* episodes!
>>5352858The sharp, deadly weapon swishes through the air, right towards your torso. Though awkward and amateurish, with inhuman reflexes, you bring up the sword to parry with inhuman reflexes, preparing for the onslaught of blood and pain.What you don’t expect is for a loud ‘clang’ to resound through the air, diamond meeting diamond, elation flowing through you as your block had been successful. But that elation is short-lived.Pulling his weapon out of the fray, Matt quickly recovers, again aiming a slash at your upper body. You try to block it again, and, in spite of your speed, the sword fumbles in your grip, falling downward but not completely out of your grasp, but the error is more than enough for Matt to get a hit on you, pixelated diamond slicing mercilessly through flesh.Blood spurts out from the wound, staining your clothes crimson and causing your instinct to buzz, but that isn’t the worst part.In a single, great burst, pixels in all manner of reds, oranges, and yellows nearly-explode into existence, encompassing the whole of your body.And, oh man, is it painful! The fire would be more than enough to have a normal person on their knees, and, while you can still see Matt through the pixelated flames, you ignore the pain in favor of taking a sloppy, half-blinded swing at him, the swing missing by a wide margin.Just as quickly as the flames started do they stop, as if they weren’t even there in the first place.Surprisingly, with not even the faintest hint of a singe anywhere on your person, nothing had ended up burnt. The whole thing just happened to hurt like a bitch.“How did that feel?” While his sword is still poised to fight, Matt had taken pause to watch the effects of Fire Aspect on you.>(1/2)
>>5352875“That was just a scratch,” You declare, taking a few steps away from the sword; the wound on your shoulder has already healed, and you’re more than ready for whatever else Matt will throw at you. “Just a flesh wound.” Though you could definitely power through that, it’s not something that you particularly want to deal with again. You’ll just have to play this smarter from here on out.Like a pair of dogs circling for the kill, you and Matt watch each other, waiting to see what the other will do. As the proverbial coals have already been lit, the fires of both battle and sibling rivalry burn deep within the both of you, the two of you being far too stubborn to even consider calling it quits.>Wat do?>Go offensive!>Keep on the defense!>Yield (like a little bitch)!>Write-in>(2/2)
>>5352877>>Keep on the defense!
>>535285856 aktchually>>5352877>Keep on the defense!Man, this fights reminds me of the Musashi vs Pickle fight in Baki, specially the part where pickle get's Musashi's sword.
>>5352879>>5352893>>5352911Time to defend, which also means it's ROLL TIME!Roll me 1d100+-15 for defense (-10 SWORD NOOBIE, +5 NATURAL SPEED, -10 HOLDING BACK)!!!Oh, and, if there's any strategy, move, or ploy you guys want to do, be sure to write it in! Now best of three!! GO!!>>5352911>56 aktchuallyOof-- I'm supposed to be elevendy times smarter than that ;-;>picrel
Rolled 62 - 15 (1d100 - 15)>>5352930
Rolled 59 - 15 (1d100 - 15)>>5352930Let’s go
Feel free to roll again! I’ll be back to write the results in a bit!
Rolled 17 - 15 (1d100 - 15)>>5353134Alright then
>>5353159>>5352968>>5352936>Highest Roll: 47 And I definitely, DEFINITELY did not use a calculator to make sure I wasn't going loco like on that last roll...I promise I'm not a dumbass, at least when I'm sober.Writing!
>>5353205Watchu drinking ?
>>5353227That question made me laugh, but nothing tonight, anon-- I am very much sober kekI'd be drinking Prosecco or Gewurztraminer if I did have some. That or Leffe blonde/brun. Hate the feeling of alcohol way too much to drink more than once a week if at all, but can't lie that it tastes damn good.
>>5353205It’s Matt who breaks the standoff, lunging forwards to aim his sword at your lower body.Slightly more sure of yourself after that first block, you bring your sword down to parry, but, far too focused on holding back for Matt’s sake, you end up sacrificing a good deal of your own, battle-borne dexterity.Your sword blocks his own, but he’s able to get an opening by deftly sliding his sword below and under your own.It doesn’t even have to cut you, but all it takes is a nick from the ice-blue blade for your body to burst into flames once more. “Oh come on!” You shout, holding your sword out in front of you to prevent Matt from getting anymore hits on you. “Don’t be a baby, Ellie– probably doesn’t even hurt for you.” He taunts, your body still aflame. Whatever concern Matt had for you before has all been thrown to the wayside, your brother enjoying the fight far too much for his own good.“Now get rekt!” He cries, ferocious excitement coating his voice as he strikes at you again and again. By a narrow margin, just a few of the blocks end up successful, but the majority of Matt's slashes hit their mark. While the pain from the Fire Aspect is the same as it was the first time around, it’s a little easier to bare now that you’ve felt it once.>(1/2)
>>5353318The fire, if the pixels can be considered that, is the lesser of the evils if you’re comparing it to being sliced, because getting sliced means losing blood, and losing blood means your body will want something to replenish what was lost.For now, it doesn’t seem like that secondary part of yourself will overcome you, your instinct thrumming like the low beat of a drum from the smell of blood.Obstinate as you are, you still don’t want to concede, but you refuse to lose yourself over something as stupid as a swordfight. If you want any chance of salvaging this fight, you’ll have to think of something fast!>What do?>Thrust– if you can make it past Matt’s defenses, he’ll yield! >Continue defending– hasn't worked so far, but maybe you'll get that opening!>Reluctantly yield– give your bro a confidence boost! (WARNING: He will be VERY cocky afterwards)>Write-in>(2/2)
>>5353321>>Thrust– if you can make it past Matt’s defenses, he’ll yield!fuck it, just power through
Gonna check out here for the night, folks--hoping after all this sword stuff we can move to the REAL MEAT of the thread.Crap, I miss my formatting powers.As always, thanks for playing, and see you all next time!
>>5353321>Thrust– if you can make it past Matt’s defenses, he’ll yield!Since bro is cocky and our defense is really shit, time to advance
>>5353321>>Thrust– if you can make it past Matt’s defenses, he’ll yield!Channel our inner M O T I V A T I O N!
>>5353328>>5353457>>5353536>Go big or go home!Guess what, folks?! It’s time to roll, that’s what!! Roll me 1d100+-10 for (-10 SWORD NOOBIE, +5 NATURAL SPEED, -5 SLIGHTLY HOLDING BACK)!!!If you got a strategy, move, or ploy you guys want to do here, be sure to write it in! Now best of three!! GO!!
Rolled 54 - 10 (1d100 - 10)>>5353717use uh pocket sand
Rolled 92 - 10 (1d100 - 10)>>5353717catch his sword with your teeth!
Rolled 89 - 10 (1d100 - 10)>>5353717>>5353736Nice roll, anon
>>5353730>>5353736>>5353833>Highest roll: 82!!!Writing!>>5353736We'd end up destroying the sword there-- not a good idea if you wanna lose the only good sword with decent enchantments.
>>5353911Damn, can Eli not contain her urge to bite? That's a bad sign for future Blink
>>5353916Well, if you consider normal human teeth are the strongest substance in the human body, you can imagine just how strong Elise's teeth must be. Damn, anon, you made me kek hard though.
>>5353921Though you’ve recovered from everything your brother has thrown at you thus far, if only for the fact that this is your first time sparring with a sword, Matt’s had the upper hand on you for the majority of the fight.There’s only one way to end this, and it’s not going to be you giving up, because Matt will rub it in your face for the rest of your natural-born life if you do!You can’t have that happen, not even if your life depended on it! You’re no longer holding back completely like you were throughout the fight, a little more speed in your step as you surge towards him.Matt’s getting cockier, careless even, now swinging at you as if he had his bat rather than an actual sword. Strongly, firmly, you plant your feet into the ground at the same moment he throws another slash at you, to which you just barely block. Somehow, with Matt’s sword in close reach of your face, you have the overwhelming urge to lean straight forwards and bite the sword– break it into pieces with your teeth– but you push the thought out of your mind as quickly as it came, kicking him backwards with the intent to make him fall. Using the momentum, he deftly recovers by rolling into a crouch, the look on his face even more determined to end the fight here and now.That’s why it’s either all or nothing. Gripping tighter onto the hilt, you spring forwards before he can make his next move. Just barely, does he rise to greet your forward thrust with his own sword to parry by pushing your own sword downwards, but that move ends up being Matt’s downfall.>(1/3)
>>5353984Just the slightest bit of your own strength ends up causing Matt’s sword to fall right out of his hand, the weapon going airborne and landing a good distance away.With your sword poised at his neck– an unspoken prompt for him to surrender– Matt looks around wildly, reaching to his side for a bat that doesn’t exist.“Fold!” You exclaim, a sharp-toothed grin spreading across your face, because that’s Matt’s only option. It takes a good couple of moments, but he raises his hands slowly and reluctantly before throwing them down in a huff.“Beginner’s luck!” Matt calls, scouring the overgrown fields for his sword. Evidently, he is highly salty about losing. You, on the other hand, feel just a little more competent with the sword than you had been, but you just saved yourself from a few weeks worth of smug taunts, courtesy of Matt.“And don’t try to hold that shit like a spear, cause I saw that– you were doing that the whole time!” His voice interrupts your train of thoughts. You could’ve sworn you’d been holding it correctly…But who cares?! You won! Even if you kind of fudged the ending with your strength, you can’t help but be a little proud of yourself for winning on your first try. Maybe weapons aren't all that useless if you can learn how to use them right-- never hurts to be more well-rounded, in your opinion.Wandering off to see what the others are up to, you find that Bernard and Julia had been swinging around the swords as well with all of the grace of a pair of baboons. Valjean’s motions, on the other hand, are leagues above either of the two, which is why you’re interested in seeing how the swordfight with him and Matt will go...>Roll me some 2d100s-- one for Matt and one for Valjean!! BEST OF THREE!! GO GO GO!!!>(2/2)
Rolled 35, 85 = 120 (2d100)>>5353992
Rolled 4, 50 = 54 (2d100)>>5353992
Rolled 73, 12 = 85 (2d100)>>5353992
>>5354002>>5354007>>5354021>Matt: 73>Valjean: 85Looks like V-Man’s taking home the gold! Writing!!!
>>5354100You find a log to sit on that’s positioned comfortably in the shade, taking a swig of water from some of the drinks you brought along. Also having anticipated the upcoming fight, it’s not long before Bernard and Julia join you.While Matt switches out his enchanted sword for something that will cause minimal damage to his opponent, Valjean had been long-since ready for this swordfight.“Who you think is gonna win?” Bernard asks, turning his head to you. “I’m bettin’ on stickface, hands down.”In your opinion, it’s hard to say; Matt might be skillful with all sorts of weapons, but knives are a relatively new ballgame for him. A ‘tsk–’ from beside you snaps you out of your musings.“Are you so certain?” Julia asks with a raised brow. “I wouldn’t put all your stock in him– he did just lose to Elise.” Even though you won, without your strength and speed, Matt would’ve had that fight in the bag. That spar had been the epitome of beginner’s luck. “Eh, let’s just watch and find out.” With that, Bernard leans forwards to watch the two other males take their positions in the field, squirming slightly in anticipation.“Don’t try any funny business, asshat.” Matt tells Valjean.“Me? Never?” The comment elicits a smirk from the former Crux leader. “Loser either has to drop their sword or be on the ground for more than five seconds.” “Whatever–” Matt glares. “Just shut up and put your money where your mouth is.”“If you say so.” Valjean hums, not-at-all fazed by Matt’s attitude. “On my count…” He pauses to shift into a fighting stance, Matt following suit. “Three… Two… One…” Right as that last number is said, both of the males are in motion. Diamond against diamond, the field is filled with clang after clang as Matt and Valjean descend into their deadly dance. While your terror of a brother moves with all the ferocity of a rabid pit bull, Valjean is the hallmark of calm, calculative poise– calculative poise that hides a fierce tenacity just beneath the surface.>(1/3)
>>5354175It’s hard to tell who has the upper hand, both males slashing and blocking in equal measure. You watch Valjean dodge a particularly brutal slash from Matt, one that could’ve left a nasty scar on his face if he’d been just a few inches closer. From beside you, you hear a low intake of breath from Julia, clearly worried for Valjean’s own safety despite knowing he can hold his own. But Valjean absolutely refuses to give Matt any headway, thrusting his knife through the opening left by your brother’s attack.Matt blocks in the nick of time, struggling to hold his sword against Valjean who’s pushing down against his own. With bated breath, you, Bernard, and Julia watch to see who will pull through. It’s Matt who stumbles backwards, tumbling back into the dirt and grass.Much too quickly for him to react, Valjean pins him to the dirt with his foot, the force knocking the wind right out of him. This causes Matt to loosen his grip on his sword, which Valjean spares no second in knocking it from his hand with his own sword.Five seconds pass before Valjean removes his foot from your brother, the match having ended and the winner decided.“Fuck!” Matt cries. With two losses in a day, that has to sting at his pride. Though he’d won, Valjean doesn’t look all-that-cocky like you’d expected, staring down at Matt with a contemplative look on his face.“Wasn’t terrible… for a nonmutant.” He finally says, and you’re pretty sure that’s the closest Matt will get to a compliment from Valjean. “Keep practicing.” Valjean curtly tells him, pulling Matt back to his feet.The display of good sportsmanship on Valjean’s part leaves you slightly disconcerted, and you’re left staring at the empty space where Matt and Valjean had been, wondering if you’re high on drugs.“Are my eyes playin’ tricks on me or what?” Bernard confirms you are not on any sort of drug. “Jerkface must be in a good mood today.” >(2/3)
>>5354177“Think he’d be doing the same thing if he lost?” You wonder aloud.“Probably not.” Bernard laughs. “He’d probably tell stick he got lucky or somethin,’ but let’s not go questionin’ a miracle, shall we?” The blonde has an excellent point. “Ready to get goin,’ fish?”When you get home, you end up snacking on some of that cow carcass that Jenna and her family gave to you. It satisfies the whisper of hunger that had been left from losing the amount of blood you did from the spar, so, when night rolls around, you, Matt, and Bernard are more than ready to get to business.>Who's showing up to the meeting?>Everyone– it’s way easier if everyone gets to hear the scoop when it’s being made. Call Boleski and the Healer in and tell those guys it's time!>Just Ermac. You’ll give the deets to Boleski and the Healer when you’ve actually got the plan.>Write-in>(3/3)
>>5354186>Just Ermac. You’ll give the deets to Boleski and the Healer when you’ve actually got the plan.
Gonna leave the vote open and skedaddle. Feeling kinda sloggy for no reason and don't want to force an update if my eyes are crossing.We'll pick up in the afternoon tomorrow, as per usual.See ya folks!
>>5354186>>Just Ermac. You’ll give the deets to Boleski and the Healer when you’ve actually got the plan.
>>5354249>>5354313>>5354640Looks like we're only bringing our favorite man-made-machine to the proverbial war-room! Writing!
>>5354876For now, you’ll only drag Eddie along to the warehouse, his knowledge of FutureLabs being essentially priceless. Boleski and the Healer will definitely be hearing all about it later, but your planning will be a lot more effective if you just bring the people who will get it done and get it done right.Only downside to not having either of your new recruits is that you won’t get a chance to see Matt’s and Bernard’s new suits tonight, since there’s no real reason for any of you to dress the part of hero.At the very least you won’t have to go through the rigmarole of putting on your suit, instead throwing on something more comfortable like a fresh T-shirt. Though, the number of clean, viable shirts you have in your possession is rapidly diminishing. “Pharos and Jewel.” Eddie greets Valjean and Julia. For tonight’s gathering, the technopath had made himself at home within an old burner phone, the device in Matt’s hand coming to life in a flash of light blue.“We haven’t properly met, but you might know me as Ermac.” Although Eddie has been watching the two for a long while via the security system he built, this is his first time actually meeting either of them face-to-face.“So you’re the man-made-machine?” Valjean drawls, leaning back in his seat. “That I am. As it stands, my consciousness exists as code and will continue to exist as such until I’ve returned to my body.” He informs the former Crux leader. “Jewel looks well.” Eddie points out, to which Julia starts at being addressed.“Do I…know you?” She stares curiously at the phone. “You shouldn’t, and you wouldn’t have remembered me even if we did meet.” The technopath answers.“Oh.” Julia seems to understand, eyes cast downwards. “I’d–I’d rather not remember that if I had to…”An uncomfortable silence settles over the table, Julia shuffling a bit closer to Valjean. He doesn’t seem all-too-happy that Eddie had dug up those old bones, but it’s hard to deny something that shaved away all-but the smallest fraction of her memory.>(1/?)
>>5355128“Let’s get to it, shall we?” Valjean says a little too aggressively, clearly wanting to shift the focus off of Julia. “How is this going to play out exactly?”“We’re going to time it when the X-Force isn’t in Konigsburg.” Matt speaks up. “There’s a lot of stuff on the news that implies they’re going to make a move on Maranzano soon or later. That’s all the way in New York.”“And pray tell, how do you actually know when they’ll go?” Valjean looks highly skeptical of Matt’s proposition. “There’s no way in hell they’d make that public.”“Ermac and I monitor the livestreams of the road leading out of FutureLabs.” Matt states, as if that explained everything. “There’s only one road in and out of FutureLabs, and we’ve noticed that every time the X-Force makes a move, they don’t use regular police vans. Look–” He holds out the phone, Eddie’s trademark glow being replaced with snapshots of the streetcam footage.“That’s a prisoner transport van…” Valjean whispers, eyes lighting up in recognition. How he seems to know that on instant is beyond you, but you don’t question it for now.“Yeah no shit– those guys are still property of FutureLabs at the end of the day– but usually it’s one or two vans at a time for small things. Stuff that makes them look good on television.” Matt explains. “So when they’re finally making their move on Maranzano, we’ll definitely know.”“Cause they’ll be bringin’ the whole calvary too, right?” Bernard chimes in. “Can’t imagine they wouldn’t want some normal backup as well just to set an example.”“Exactly.” Matt nods. “But that’s when we’ll make our move.”>(2/3)
>>5355130“How long do you think we have?” You ask. The more time you spend waiting, the closer Atticus Charles will get to having his living mutant detector.“I’d be surprised if it was even a week, Ellie.” Matt tells you. “Trust me when I say it won’t be long.”“Okay…” While you’re still worried for Conduit, you fully believe in Matt’s intelligence. At least everything and everyone will be more than good-to-go by then. But there’s another concern that weighs on your mind: the concern of Eddie’s body. “Hey, quick question,” You blurt out, wanting to get this settled. “Who’s going to be stealing back Eddie’s body while the rest of us are rescuing Conduit?” You ask the rest of the table. “The Healer already agreed to do it, but she’s definitely not capable of doing it alone. And they will try to kill Eddie as soon as they realize what's going on.” While it would be a waste of strength to put you or Bernard on this task, you have no shortage of people you could put on the job.>Who goes with the Healer to retrieve Eddie?>Matt– you already got a hacker in the form of Eddie. (Carjacker/hacker/first-aid/weapons)>Julia– a little excessive in terms of muscle. (Can’t carjack/hack/do first-aid)>Valjean– he will likely object/refuse this.>Boleski-- brutal/schizo/acid>Write-in>(3/3)
Pardon the long-ish wait– dog ran away and I had to chase him down. No way I’m letting him get eaten by the neighborhood pibble!!! A leashless one, in fact.Pibbles are love.Pibbles are life.
>>5355144>>Matt– you already got a hacker in the form of Eddie. (Carjacker/hacker/first-aid/weapons)Glad your dog is safe, man!
>>5355144>>Matt– you already got a hacker in the form of Eddie. (Carjacker/hacker/first-aid/weapons)
>>5355144>Matt– you already got a hacker in the form of Eddie. (Carjacker/hacker/first-aid/weapons)
>>5355146Is your dog a pit, or are you protecting yours from them?
>>5355248>>5355167>>5355165>Matt attack!Writing!>>5355310Not a pit and a heck of a lot larger, but now he's old enough that he wants to start protecting territory from other dogs. Wouldn't stand a chance with zero violent bones in his body.Also if anyone ITT has a pitty I'm sure they're very nice and friendly and raised to be super duper uber precious nanny dogs that wouldn't hurt a fly :-)
>>5355144>JuliaExcessive maybe, but we did promise to keep her safe
I just realized it's like super late in my timezone. Got half the update done and realized it's just ballooning into a monster-- four posts long, maybe five, if I had to estimate right now-- and, in my exhaustion, I don't particularly want to end up making some logic-slash-continuity error that I'll end up slamming my head against my desk for (some of the stuff I've written while exhausted can get just as bad as the boozeposts kek). I'll finish it up tomorrow so this way I can draw some nice pretty pictures to go with it (I've been kinda slacking on pics for... reasons. Reasons which you shall see later ITT).So... with that, I shall now get some snoozes. As always, thanks for playing, and see you next time, kings!
>>5355398No problem QM. Rest well.
Update incoming, lads!
>>5355320With everyone shooting each other sidewards glances, no one really wanting to volunteer, it seems that you’ll have to take the initiative, and you know the one person who’s more than perfect for the job.“We’ll have Matt get Eddie’s body.” You declare, then immediately brace yourself for the storm of complaints on hAvInG tO dO tHe sHiTtY jOb. But such complaints never come, the expression on Matt’s face remaining unchanged. “Fine by me.” “Come again?” You thought he would’ve thrown a tiff over having to go with the Healer.“The rest of you will screw it up royally.” While the rest of you guys have your own strengths, for situations that require a bit more finesse, Matt’s like a precision knife when it boils down to it.“He’s right.” Eddie’s screen flashes as if in agreement. “The highest probability of success lies with Matt. Second lies with Pharos with ten-point-five-nine-eight-five percent less of a chance.”“And where’d you get those numbers?” Valjean wonders, more curious than doubtful.“Self-created algorithms.” Eddie returns. “One of the many perks of being a technopath.”“Anyways,” Matt interrupts, scooting forwards against the table. “Let’s get back on topic here.” You don’t need to be told twice. “Alright,” He starts, clearing his throat and gathering up his thoughts. “So when you guys go in, you’ll need to get Eddie’s program in the data center, which is separate from the main building.” On the phone, a miniature display of a blueprint flashes to life, a set of red dots indicating your assumed waypoints. “It’s going to be guarded, but if you do end up getting busted, which I highly doubt if you have Valjean…” He makes a motion towards the former Crux leader. “...then you’re going to need to really haul ass back to the containment center.”“Not a problem.” Bernard dismisses that part of Matt’s concerns. “Cell three-twenty-four, right?” The blonde somehow had remembered that tidbit of information.“You’re right, but there is a possibility Conduit might not be in his cell period.”“Don’t remind me…” Eddie’s voice crackles from the phone.>(1/?)
>>5356031“Elise.” The technopath addresses. “Your brother informed me about what happened between you and Conduit.” Matt had to; Conduit’s situation was something that everyone on this plan needed to know.“I didn’t mean to keep it from you.” You say in a rush, guilt flashing through you for having hid that from him. “It just happened so soon that–”“͔͍̳͜N̤̭̙̜͍͡o̥̯͉̮–”̘̳̠̞ Eddie cuts you off, the noise startling you into silence, and, in spite of the fact that he doesn’t even need to breathe, the computerized man emits a long, weary sigh. “I’ve known this would happen for a long time, long before I gave up my physical body. Doctor Charles would’ve found a way to get his hands on my brother with or without my death.” He tells you. “I just never wanted to acknowledge it.” It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that Conduit would be in danger so long as he’s a prisoner within FutureLabs’ whitewashed walls. You think it must have really pained Eddie to make that final call in giving up his body, but, in the time he’s been separated from it, he’s done far more in helping to get Conduit back than he has when he had his physical body.“Please continue, Matt.” Eddie refuses to stew in the uncomfortable silence.“Mhmm…” Matt’s face is the pinnacle of clinical impartiality. “You have any way to get back in touch with Conduit, Ellie?”“Dreaming,” You answer simply. “But that’s a horrible idea– last time I went in Conduit’s head I got stuck there for a day and a half.” While the time in Conduit’s realm felt like the span of a few hours, you’d fallen asleep in the late evening and woke up in the middle of the afternoon. If you go to sleep in the middle of FutureLabs, you’ll be no better off than a sitting duck.“Hmmph…” Matt huffs, putting his hand to his chin. “If you can’t get to him fast enough, it’s gonna become touch-and-go real fast.” While Matt has a fair point, though you could spend a whole eternity planning for this thing, you've found that all of your fights end up becoming touch-and-go more often than not-- it's just the very nature of a battle. A strong base for this extraction is what you really need, so, when it gets to that point, it will be as painless as possible for everyone involved.“Any other ideas?” You suggest, wanting something more surefire– something you can do while you’re awake. If all else fails, you’ll use the dreaming thing as a last resort.“Plenty, actually.” Matt takes your question as a challenge. From nowhere, he pulls out a garishly-colored notebook that’s filled to the brim, all manners of papers and bookmarks spilling out from the sides.“You shouldn’t put that kind of stuff on paper.” You rebuke him, because putting anything in the physical plane is the equivalent of playing with fire.>(2/?)
>>5356033Instead of saying making some comeback, in a single, grandiose motion, Matt opens the book to shove it in front of your face. The sight that greets you is a whole jumble of letters. “Different letter, different cipher.” He grins. “Pattern is Caesar, Atbash for every odd-numbered paragraph and Atbash, Caesar, Atbash, Atbash for every even-numbered paragraph.”“Caesar-whatnow?” Bernard is lost. “Okay, okay, we get it! Can we just get on with the plan?” Valjean is getting tired of Matt’s antics. From beside him, Julia squints at the mess of letters as if mentally commanding them to make some sense.“Alright… Alright…” Matt sets the book down, looking a little miffed that no one was impressed with his tactics.“So here’s the rundown on some stuff I came up with, paranoid ciphering tactics notwithstanding…” Matt flips to a page that’s bookmarked with neon green.“First plan is to be as sneaky as possible, just grab Conduit and get out of there since you’ll all basically be ghosts in the building so long as Eddie’s program’s doing it’s thing. Minimize the amount of contact you make with the enemies, but, let’s be real, that’s easier said than done…”“Is that the best you can come up with?” Valjean’s unimpressed. “I bet a preschooler could come up with something better than that.”“Shut up, dick.” Matt growls as he flips to the next bookmark, this time in red.“Next plan was to create a distraction. Start releasing prisoners with this–” Matt throws Boleski’s keycard on the table. “Dominic Boleski.” Valjean drawls, peering down at the keycard in question.” Why am I not surprised?” With that, he leans back to kick his feet up on the table, looking to Matt in a silent prompt to continue.“Now mind you, if you want to do something even bigger than simply releasing prisoners and cause even more of a fuckfest, you have the two special agents on the bottom floor, or should I say FastBall and Blaze?”While your battles with either of them feel like an eternity ago, you remember both of those fights well. There’s also the fact that neither of them were all-that-fond of you, especially Blaze at your time in the Crux, but, if Julia’s condition is anything to go by, they likely remember nothing about you (or so you hope).Still, you can’t deny that their powers would give FutureLabs a run for their money.>(3/?)
>>5356034“So who wants to hear plan number three?” Again, Matt’s voice pries you from your thoughts. “Kinda similar to plan number two since it involves more distraction but a little bit different in application…” He stops to take pause.“Plan number three involves a whole mess of pipe bombs– my creation, of course– so my idea was to have someone, preferably Bernard or Valjean, spread them out and detonate them. Whole point is to have the agents scrambling.”Bernard looks none-too-pleased about the idea. “Hey I’m not splittin’ if I don’t have to!”“And I never agreed to sit on the sidelines…” Valjean looks none-too-pleased about getting designated such a task. “This isn’t our first rodeo. You guys can definitely pull it off.” Matt insists that it can be done.As the table devolves into an a squabbling mess about who does what between Matt, Bernard, and Valjean, Julia and Eddie watching on in silence, you think that you should be the one to break this up before it gets out-of-hand.Moreover, as you ruminate on all of the suggestions Matt thrown your way, you wonder if now's the perfect time to pick something and stick with it...>Wat do?>You’re ready to decide on a plan!>You’ll do the:>Sneaky plan– ghost run! GO! >Jailbreak plan– funnel all the FutureLabs goons into a single place and cause a shitload of confusion. You’ll be going to the containment center anyhow.>Bomberman plan– spread their forces thin and cause lots of damage to the facility. You'll have to designate at least one bomberman.>Write-in>Wait! You’re not ready to decide on a plan yet!>Tell me a little more about (Blaze/FastBall/something else)>Write-in>(4/4)
>>5356042>Jailbreak plan– funnel all the FutureLabs goons into a single place and cause a shitload of confusion. You’ll be going to the containment center anyhow.
>>5356042>Jailbreak plan– funnel all the FutureLabs goons into a single place and cause a shitload of confusion. You’ll be going to the containment center anyhow.party at Aticus' house all muties invited
>>5356042>>Jailbreak plan– funnel all the FutureLabs goons into a single place and cause a shitload of confusion. You’ll be going to the containment center anyhow.
>>5356042>>Jailbreak plan– funnel all the FutureLabs goons into a single place and cause a shitload of confusion. You’ll be going to the containment center anyhow.I'm open to the possibility of recruiting Blaze or Fastball. Things are heating up and we might need their help, assuming they're amenable. Big if there though.
>>5356044>>5356055>>5356062>>5356163>>5356164Looks like Jailbreak wins, no questions asked! Writing!
>>5356290https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFjE5A4UAJIBetween the storm of testosterone and a trio of egos that are all battling for dominance, you doubt the three guys will shut up if you try to butt in. Okay, maybe Bernard would cause he’s nice, but Matt’s stubborn as a mule. Then you have Valjean, who is… well, Valjean.Drumming your hands against the table, it’s getting tiresome to argue about who does what. You didn’t like the third plan from the start, the idea of splitting the team leaving a bad feeling in your gut, and, if you’re being frank, it’s your least favorite of all the plans.Without so much as a word, you shoot up from your seat, and, before anyone present can ask what you’re doing, you bring your hands together in a loud, ear-splitting clap.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPGcpIXeA-4You put enough strength into it that it ends up leaving your own ears ringing, but it has the intended effect, as everyone’s hands fly immediately to their ears.“Gah–” Bernard is caught off-guard.“The fuck?!” Matt howls.“My ears!” Julia shrieks, unused to such a sensation. Next to her, Valjean’s teeth are gritted in pain.When the table recovers, you have four sets of eyes leveling pissed-off glares in your direction, but, if they didn’t stop fighting, who’d make them?“Do I have your attention now?” You ask, sharp teeth filling a self-satisfied smirk. “If no one can decide on a plan, then I’ll decide on a plan.” You take a few seconds pause to leave those words hanging.“We’ll go with the second plan.” You announce to the table. “Before or after you make us all deaf?” Valjean grouses. “But you heard that just fine, didn’t you?” You return genially, and, while you know you shouldn’t be adding fuel to the fire, the whole table was basically asking for it… except Julia, of course. >(1/?)
>>5356504It takes a few seconds of Valjean stewing in his own attitude before he finally gives up on trying to out-snide you when he’d clearly been in the wrong. In spite of his aggravation, you can tell he sees the merit in the second plan as well.“Let’s do it.” He finally agrees. That’s one person on-board with the jailbreaking plan.“What about the rest of you?” You ask Matt, Bernard, and Julia, hoping that the rest will be on-board as well.“Fine by me.” Matt shrugs. Since he made the plans, you think he would’ve been fine with any of them.“Seems like the best shot we have.” Bernard says.Julia just nods, not seeming to really care all-that-much but agreeing with the general sentiment.“Cool.” Valjean is satisfied with the outcome. “Now you all can scram because I got some stuff to do.” He moves to get up from his seat.>(2/3)
>>5356510“Like what?” Bernard scratches his head. “Last time I checked, you don’t have a dayjob– at least not anymore.”“That is my business. Not yours, skeleton.” Valjean smirks. “Meeting adjourned. Now run along and play some video games or whatever kids your age do…” He makes a shooing gesture with his hand.“For your information, jackass, I’m an adult. A-DULT.” The blonde fires back.“A real dolt, that’s for sure.” Valjean laughs to himself, and now you’re starting to get pissed off with his mouth.Bernard gets up from his seat all-to-quickly. Towering over the former Crux leader by a good couple of inches, his fist is clenched as if he wants to clock Valjean in the jaw. “Leave him be, B.” Matt grabs the blonde by the jacket before the squabble further escalates. “He wants to be a weirdo, let him be a weirdo.”“Yeah, listen to him, why don’t you? Leave me alone, and let me be a–” Valjean trails off, finally realizing what Matt said. “Screw you too, shortie.”>Now that the matter of your plan’s settled, you got any more business here or are you good to go?>Yeah let’s skedaddle– V’s got his BuSiNeSS>Wait– can he tell us more about Blaze/FastBall/both?>Say something else to Valjean before you leave (Write-in)>Write-in>(3/3)
>>5356520>>Yeah let’s skedaddle– V’s got his BuSiNeSS
>>5356520>>Yeah let’s skedaddle– V’s got his BuSiNeSSAre we hitting up Healer and Acid bro to give them the plan?
>>5356535Of course we will-- I'll even work that into the next update if you're all cool with it!!
>>5356520>Wait– can he tell us more about Blaze/FastBall/both?Anything he was privy to as crux big boss that we wouldn't have known?
>>5356520>Wait– can he tell us more about both ?
I'm gonna leave the vote open for now-- some crap came up before I could call, but now we're at an impasse it seems!With that, I'll see you all in the afternoon (unless even more crap comes up), so until then!Also testing some italics down below, since it's kind of grinding my gears that I don't have it anymore :Ct e s ttestnot werkingi l i k e c h o c c y m i lk
Hey all, if you follow Siren's Twitter he's run into some net issues again. He still plans to update at least one more time tonight, but naturally it's a little funky. Per his Twitter he rolled to break the tie, so it looks like we'll be talking about the Crux girls!Thanks for being patient and feel free to follow him on Twitter for more future updates!
While Valjean wants to be left to his BuSiNeSs, whatever that might entail, you're not letting him off that easily; because you want info, specifically about FastBall and Blaze. You might have information from them from your battles, your time in the Crux, and the Epsilon Trial files, but Valjean personally knew both of them. Perhaps some insight from him could be just as valuable as the information you already have. "We're not going anywhere until you tell us what you know about FastBall and Blaze." You tell him, placing a hand on your hip. "You met them," Valjean huffs, none-too-pleased about having his alone-time infringed upon. "Couldn't you get 'him' to tell you about them?" He gestures to Bernard. "They were a couple of jerks to me is what they were, and you never did anythin' to stop them-- especially Blaze!" Bernard spits out, glaring down at the former Crux leader. That... wasn't something Bernard ever brought up, at least not outright. "You have powers, and you weren't a baby either." Valjean's lack of empathy is astounding. "But I wasn't a brute-force mutant like those lunatics!" He argues, and you're not sure what the blonde could've done against a pair of mutants who either could throw him around like a ragdoll or fry him to a crisp. Aside from his teleportation, he wasn't all that good of a fighter before you and Matt took him under his wing, so that must've made him an easy target for FastBall and Blaze. Pity for the blonde settles like sour milk in your gut. "You know I'm thinkin' they might be better off not rememberin' anythin.'" Bernard says after several long moments of deliberation. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." You tell Bernard emphatically, placing a hand on his shoulder. His muscles are taut like a coiled spring beneath your touch, fists clenched at his sides. "V, why don't you take it from here?" Like you, Matt doesn't see the point in bringing up old wounds for Bernard."Hmmph. Alright." Valjean taps his foot against the ground. "Where do I start?" >(1/5)
>>5357638"Well, we don't know that much about them other than what we got from FutureLabs." Matt tells him. "Wasn't really that much, but we know they've been altered." "What about Banshee?" Valjean asks, curious as to what had become of her. Of all four girls in the Crux's clique, Banshee had been the least outspoken of all of them. "Didn't see her in the files." Matt replies, and, when it comes to FutureLabs, that could either mean one of two things: imprisoned or dead. "Anyhow, let's hear about FastBall first." "She could accelerate the gravity of any object, including herself, but she was a good fighter outside of that. If she knew she was being brainwashed, she didn't care. Didn't have much going for her outside of MMA." "Yeah I remember she was one of the first members of the Crux." Bernard points out. "But the two of you always gave me the vibe that you knew each other way before that." "Yes." Valjean nods curtly, causing Julia's head to whip towards him fast enough to give her whiplash. All-too-quickly, you feel a highly menacing aura emanating from the other woman. "You knew her too, Julia..." Valjean, sensing the mortal danger he's in, attempts to abate her jealousy. "I thought you remembered a little bit of Nina from college. She actually taught you how to fight yourself." "It's all still bits and pieces for me, but I remember you tried to get that memory back for me." Julia admits, clearly lost about the whole thing. "How-how did you end up meeting Nina anyways?" Valjean doesn't look like that's something he really wants to delve into, but, with Julia staring up at him with her vivid blue eyes, the former Crux leader's shoulders slump. "...do we really have to talk about this now?" Julia doesn't answer, a silent cue for him to continue. Under the force of her puppy-dog eyes, Valjean has no choice but to cave to her whims. "We knew each other through the same scholarship program for kids in less-than-stellar circumstances." Valjean tells her, not-quite looking her in the face. "Happy?" "Yeah." She smiles, no longer looking ready to tear anyone's head off. >(2/5)
>>5357639"Okay. Blaze time--" Matt interrupts. "Stop giving each other googly eyes before I vomit." "As far as I know, I can do whatever I want, midget." Valjean shoots back. "Want your info or not?" "The sooner we hear about Blaze, the sooner you guys can go back to playing chess." Matt responds. "Last time I checked, we don't have a chess set." Valjean grouses. "Exactly." Matt smirks a very devious smirk, and only then does Valjean realize the connotation of your brother's words. "Dick." Valjean utters before pointedly ignoring Matt altogether. "So tell us about Blaze." You remind Valjean, who you know will answer so as to get the rest of you out of here. "Blaze..." He repeats. "Blaze was definitely effective-- intelligent and powerful as well. She was the one responsible for taking out the majority of the Maranzano family's first wave." "Yeah I remember that-- how many people you think ended up dyin?'" Bernard questions aloud. "Your guess is as good as mine." Valjean replies. "But I think the power got to her head-- made her a bitch to deal with sometimes." "Sometimes?!" Bernard exclaims, looking affronted. "Let's be real, jerkface, she was a bitch all the time." "I won't deny that, but who knows about now? She could be someone entirely different after what FutureLabs has done to her." Valjean reasons. "If not, that's what 'Les Miserables' is for..." "We'll worry about that when we get to that point." You say; because what Blaze may or may not be like isn't something worth thinking too hard about, especially with just how different Julia became afterwards. "Yep, that's basically everything I can give you, unless you'd like to stay and hear about some petty Crux drama. Let me tell you, I've got no shortage of that stuff." He grins a wry, humorless grin. "Hard pass." Matt mutters, more than ready for Bernard to teleport him out of here. You, too, would rather not stay and hear about that kind of stuff. "See ya." Matt waves, just as the three of you are enveloped in a flash of green. >(3/5)
>>5357640When you get back to your place, you don't waste time in letting Boleski and the Healer know about your new plan.Your conversation with Boleski goes quickly with you filling him in on the plan, the winged man following along with short responses in his native tongue. "Tak." "Rozumiem." "Do zobaczenia." Absently, you wonder how the native Poles are able to understand their own gibberish. The conversation with the Healer, on the other hand, lasts a tad longer. "H-Hello?" The Healer answers, nervousness coating her tone. "Healer," You greet the other woman, and, with that, you proceed to fill her in on your plan, the most important part being on how Matt will accompany her in thieving Eddie's body. "Ahahaha-- Bludgeon, right?" The Healer laughs. "Man, that kid looked like he was barely outta high school." "You've met Bludgeon before?" Matt hadn't been at Nacht Haven with you. "Uh, I saw him on TV once on-- on that Huber conference!" She stammers out all-too-quickly. "It-it was really cool seeing the whole M-Guard together. What's his power anyhow?" "Doesn't have one." You simply state. "He's n-not a mutant?! B-But he does all that stuff and--" She stops herself, disbelieving. "What the heck is he doing in the M-Guard!?" The Healer sounds positively aghast. "Bludgeon fights better than half of some mutants out there." You reply, wondering if she has some sort of bias against non-mutants. "He r-really does-- it's a-amazing!" She half-stutters, half-gushes, and that's enough to lay rest to any of your suspicions. "I-I would've thought he's a mental type if anything. Never would've guessed it myself, but who knew?!" "Don't go running around with that tidbit. We like to keep FutureLabs on their toes." To this day, FutureLabs still speculates on what type of powers Matt might have. You find it funny to watch them scramble like that--keep them paranoid over something as trivial as a nonexistent mutation. "Hehehe-- I won't." The Healer laughs, and you trust her enough that she won't go throwing around that bit of information. >(4/5)
>>5357643"So..." She draws out, and you can tell she has another question. "...when will I get paid?" You could've seen this question coming from a mile away. "S-Sorry for asking! I'm just-- I like m-mone--" She stops herself. "I-I mean that I very much enjoy the fruits of my labor..." "You'll be paid afterwards." You tell her. "Give or take a day or two." "Y-Yes please!" The Healer cheers, all manner of professionality thrown to the wind. "Thank you!" You'd think you told her Santa Claus was real with how happy she sounded, but, since the Healer seemed more-than-pleased with the arrangement (and the payout, as well) the call ends on a good note for the both of you. It's only a matter of days before the X-Force leaves to New York, and, while the group is away, you and everyone else involved will make your descent upon their facilities once more. While yo're more-than-prepared for the extraction itself, continuously training your powers and fighting skills, you wonder how you should occupy yourself beforehand. >Wat do?>A night on the town with Matt and/or Bernard, like before all this crazy stuff started popping up>Boleski had that notebook thing. Why don't you take care of that?>...Text John?>Write-inThat's it for the night, folks! Router or not, I will try to get an update or two out tomorrow. QM-cancel may try to take me down, but I shall rage, RAGE against the dying light!
>>5357644>>Boleski had that notebook thing. Why don't you take care of that?
>>5357644Text John. Try to tease out if X-force is making any big moves soon. If we can get some idea of when they're moving up north to fight the mob, we'll be that much more ready for the break in.
>>5357644>>...Text John?
>>5357644>Boleski had that notebook thing. Why don't you take care of that?Seems like Jenna has a rival now
>>5357644>...Text John?hey bro how's life as a FILTHY FUCKING MUTIE FUCK
>>5357659>>5357727>Notebook sidequest!>>5357670>>5357672>>5357870>Text scalie!bro!I am a very HUMBLE and GOOD QM. Henceforth, I shall work these two options together. No objections? Good.Writing!>>5357727Nina/FastBall's power is pretty different from Jenna's actually.Quick rundown:Jenna: Creates a gravitational field around herself. Good for making stuff float; maximum radius unknown.Nina/FastBall: Able to increase the acceleration of objects, moreso like a slingshot than a constant field. Makes stuff go FAST.Come to think of it, if Jenna *can* change the gravitational direction in a sort-of mimic of FastBall's power, but, again, there's whole radius thing to take into consideration. Gonna have to take a good ol' archive-dive to figure out what that was...
>>5358297I thought with rival he meant the Healer being a big Matt fan now
>>5358297I meant the healer due to her fangirling over Matt, but thanks for explaining the differences between her and fastball powers. It's been a while since the early threads.
>>5358297sounds like they're pretty different actuallyjenna is anti grav while fastball is railgun
At the very least, before you take a nosedive back into the bleach-white pits of despair, you resolve to get Boleski's notebook to wherever it needs to go. The worn tome will be a weight in the back of your mind otherwise. Grabbing the book where from where you left it on your desk, you flip it over to where the address reads:XXX Bard's WayLittle Pike, NJ XXXXX A quick internet search yields the location of a small suburb just a little ways from Konigsburg that, with Bernard, will make this whole thing a piece of cake. "Ohd tahtee?" Bernard reads out the words on the cover on the worn tome, green eyes squinting at the mess of consonants that litter the cover page. "What kind of book even is this?" Before you can think to stop him, the blonde undoes the strap that encloses the moleskine notebook, flipping through a few of the pages. "Huh..." He says, his rifling through the pages slowing down a tad. If anything, Bernard looks even more confused than he had before. "It's all just words and diagrams." While you wanted to respect Boleski's privacy by refusing to look inside of that book, now that the book is open, you are very much compelled to steal a peek for yourself, and peeking over Bernard's shoulder confirms his words. The more you inspect the pages, in spite of Boleski's outward condition as well as the language barrier that prevents you from reading any of it, it appears that the man had put a lot of thought into the construction of this journal. Where neat, spaced out paragraphs litter pages chock-full of anatomical diagrams and illustrations of his power in action, the book seems more akin to some sort of documentation or manual rather than a journal like you had initially suspected. "Alright, this book's actually kinda boring. Take it back--" Bernard turns around to hand the book back to you, careful not to let any of the pages fall out. Then he yawns loudly and audibly, telling you that you he probably won't deliver the book tonight (not like you'd make him anyhow). "Wanna tag along?" "Sure." You tell him, because why not? Even if your destination ends up being as dull and boring as the contents of the book, you would be lying to yourself if you said you weren't the least bit curious about where the book might take you. With that, Bernard proceeds to stretch like a cat, clearly ready to go to bed. For now, without his old mattress, he'll have to take the couch, but, the next time you hit Schonbrunn Mall, you plan to get him something way better to sleep on. "Night Ellie." He says through yet another yawn, making his way towards the couch. "Night." You return, before padding back to your own room. >(1/2)
>>5358574Along with your plans on helping Bernard play notebook-courier, you try to text John. You don't know why, but you feel the need to do so, which causes you to spend a good half-day battling your phone. Every time you think you've come up with just the right thing to say, fingers quickly jotting your words into the chat window, you delete them just as quickly, doubtful of yourself. In that time, your cell phone gets flung across whatever room you're in more times than you can count: on your bed, against the couch, and one shameful time against the floor, you're wholly surprised that your phone hasn't ended up cracked at least once. Then again, you took money out of your own, meager funds (not John's nor your parent's) to buy an especially hardy cover for that phone-- no way you're going to explain to anyone that isn't Matt or Bernard why you need a new one. Retrieving your phone, John's contact seems to mock you among the short list of your civilian contacts. At this point, however, it would be a hard stretch to think of John as a civilian. Manipulative as it may seem, you feel like you could use this as an opportunity to wheedle some information out of him in regards to the X-Force's upcoming Maranzano raid. It's a small recompense, compared to the things your reptile of an older brother has done against you in the short time he's used his powers for FutureLabs' gain. Opening John's chat log for what feels like the umpteenth time, you begin jotting down another message. Though you can't just cut to the chase (and there's a very good chance he might not answer at all), you want to write something that will give you the highest odds of John answering back, that being... >Something genial: "Hey, is everything alright?/Hey, how's it going?">Something accusatory: "Hey, nice of you to tell us you were a mutant...">Something provocative: "Hey asshole, thanks a lot for the heads-up...">Write-in >>5358306>>5358403Whoops-- guess I fully misinterpreted you guys there.10/10 Jenna would fling the Healer straight into space if she was into Matt. Then we'd have to sound the Cougar Alarm! But the Healer was more impressed about the fact that he was a non-mutant anyhow.As for why the Healer had referred to Matt as if she'd seen him before... well, I've been throwing small-ish hints for the past several threads, but we may or may not have seen her before... I'll leave you guys to guess.Word from the man himself: hoping the router will be repaired tomorrow. Fingers crossed!
>>5358576And one more post just to really piss people off: this will be the last update of the day! With luck the real Siren_QM will be back in bidness soon! Thanks for being patient!
>>5358576>Something provocative: "Hey asshole, thanks a lot for the heads-up..."
>>5358576>>Something genial: "Hey, is everything alright?/Hey, how's it going?"John's in some deep shit, head space wise. Gotta at least try to be a port in the storm.
>>5358576Genial.
>>5358576>Something genial: "Hey, is everything alright?/Hey, how's it going?"Now, about those hints, I'll have to check the other threads 'coz I don't remember jack shit from matt that might lead to him meeting her before.
>>5358576>Something accusatory: "Hey, nice of you to tell us you were a mutant..."no hypocrisy here, no sir
AW YEAH GUESS WHO HAS INTERNET?!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xda2RU_SWNYHopefully there will be no more outages unless the weather gets nasty on my end, but I'm back in business for now!Also, I would like to give a word of thanks to the esteemed anon who elected to be the Stand-in Siren, since I wouldn't have been able to post the past two days of updates without them!So... in the words of a well-known meme, please clap. Otherwise, I'll just throw in some stock footage of people clapping, which is fine as well.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBNxGZP49lsBad news for you guys is that Stand-in Siren's help qualifies as unpaid labor, and, since I forgot to use an incognito window for the whole thing, I now am fleeing the country so as to not pay various court fees that my state will rain down upon me. Picrel.All jokes aside, I will be back to tally/call the vote in a bit-- thanks a bunch for your patience!
>>5358595>"Hey, asshole...">>5358620>>5358634>>5358640>*Don't* call John an asshole...>>5358663>tfw you accuse John of the exact, same thing we've been hiding since thread #01 :-)Writing!>>5358640Can't blame anyone if they forgot when and where we might have seen the Healer since the gap between her "unconfirmed" first appearance had a whole hiatus between the two threads.Man, as much as I'd love to give the direct answer, that's not as fun for me as a QM.If you are so curious, refer to thread #08...Also here's a better-resolutioned picture of New Jersey in *this* universe so you guys can see the notes I added for them. If you thought NJ was the most densely populated state in the real universe, then the Jersey in the Mutant!universe is an absolute traffic nightmare!!
>>5359293Bruh, the first youtube link is dead
>>5359385Yea, sorry, no clue why the pics got all funky. Glad it worked on your end!>Mutant! Quest takes place in New JerseyThat explains EVERYTHING
>>5359427>dead linkOh shit senpai-- can't do anything about that since I'm still on the run for infringing those pesky labor laws :C Now peep my totally-legit timestamp in the picrel!!Jokes aside, the links work for me on mobile and regular wifi. Could it be blocked by your country/workplace/whatever/etc.?>>5359472And I just realized the entire freaking New Jersey Turnpike would have to be restructured in the mutie!verse to accompany Konigsburg AND Warrenton, since they are two major cities. Assume the turnpike is restructured in this universe.Fun fact: NJ has a population of over 8.8 million. In the mutie!verse, it'd be over 13 million-- imagine that!
>>5359385Though you're highly-tempted to shoot John some sort of nastygram just to get under his skin (because it's not like you'll suffer the consequences for doing so), it would make you a complete and utter asshole if you did something like that.Pointedly resolving not to resort to name-calling or any sort of hypocritical, guilt tripping tactics, you type out a 'Hey, how's it going?' and send the message before you can think better of it.Still, there's something about the text that feels a little insufficient, so you quickly add an 'Everything alright?' along with it.For a few moments, you stare at the screen, watching and waiting for that distinctive little bubble to pop up--the one that tells you that someone is typing.And you wait.And wait some more.But the bubble never comes, nor any indication that John's read your text for that matter. You wonder if John will even answer because it felt like he was deliberately burning bridges with you and Matt during that conference, at least until he finishes taking down the M-Guard.Moreover, does John even have his cell phone now that he's a willing prisoner of FutureLabs? You had considered that idea as you had been trying to figure out just what to write, but now you have to wonder how much freedom (or lack thereof) your older brother still has.While this is something you expected to happen deep-down, you feel a growing sense of disappointment settle into your bones, but you're better off accepting the reality of it, rather than waiting for a response that may never come at all.Pocketing the phone, you head from your room and into the kitchen, more-than-ready to help him deliver the notebook. The two of you don't even need your suits, preferring to keep a low profile for the whole thing by donning yourselves in the rattiest, nondescript sweatshirts you can find, the stuff that had basically been your jerry-rigged supersuits long before Jenna came along.>(1/?)
>>5359529 As you pass the kitchen table, you notice that the two bags containing Matt's and Bernard's supersuits have been left unattended. Skidding to a stop, your body is stock-still as your mind wages war against itself on whether or not you should steal a peek inside either of them.The mental battle lasts for all-but two seconds before you're circling the table, centering in on those bags like a shark that had found a particularly-tasty prey.Childlike glee fills you as your fingers touch the paper of one of the bags, carefully unrolling it so as to not ruin the bag, because what harm is there in simply looking at something you're going to see anyways?So absorbed in your own excitement and anticipation, you lose track of your own surroundings, and it's why you're wholly surprised when a hand grabs your own.Clasped around your wrist, the grip is gentle but firm, ultimately preventing you from opening the bag.You know the owner of the hand isn't Matt, as your younger brother would've been yelling and cursing for you to 'get your hands off of those freaking bags or else!' That, and, between your sense of smell and proprioception, it's easy to tell who's who, and the familiar scent-- one that carries notes of both your own house and the streets, along with something else that's distinctive... yet strangely invigorating-- is a dead giveaway.The mortification of getting caught has you frozen in your tracks, but, before you can even think to come up with some half-assed excuse, you're teleported all-too-quickly to the other end of the table."Ah-ah-ah." Bernard tuts, waggling a finger at you. "Stick and I made a deal not to open them until the extraction. Dunno why, but I'm guessin' he just wants us give FutureLabs the middle finger in style.""How'd you know?" You pout, wondering just how Bernard knew you'd go for the bags. Laughter shining in his green eyes, the blonde seems to find your dismay humorous for whatever reason."Cause I do. Wasn't born yesterday." He tells you. "Kinda knew those bags were in danger the second we walked through the door." Bernard has known you long enough to find that you can't seem to help yourself when it comes to your own curiosity."Let's get goin!'" He straightens up, pulling his old bandana over his face-- a bandana that's taken on a muted, yellowish color, rather than it's original green.The highway is your guide as you follow the road out of the city to wherever Boleski's notebook will take you, headlights whizzing past you under the cover of night. If anyone sees the distinctive, green flash, the two of you are gone too quickly for it to be of any consequence (and it's not like you really exist outside of Konigsburg as far as you know).>(2/3)
>>5359533The journey is a little longer with you tagging along, but you reach Little Pike in due time, the city itself situated on a lake. Little Pike had been one of the towns that had been right on the very edge of the particle accelerator's blast radius. To you, it looks like the sort of small town where everyone knows each other's names and faces-- the kind of place where nothing seems to happen.For such a quaint, happy-looking town, you'd be surprised if there were even one mutant hiding among its denizens, and it's enough that you feel completely out-of-place, you and Bernard sticking out like sore thumbs around the otherwise-vacant roads.The two of you keep to the safety of the treelines and bus-stops just for that very reason, as you'd rather not incite mass-panic on the off-chance that someone manages to spot you. A small blessing of Little Pike being such a small town is that the two of you come across Bard's Way with little trouble.Bard's Way, especially, is the epitome of an idyllic, suburban neighborhood, white picket fences lining every house within your vicinity, and the house that Boleski directed you to looks no different than the others.There's no lights on either, so you find yourself wondering if you're even at the right place, Bernard looking to you and back to the door of the house in question as he seems to have the same doubts as you.Boleski, however, doesn't seem like the kind of person to make those kinds of mistakes.>Wat do?>Walk up to the door, (You/Bernard/both) ring the bell, and wait-- make sure whoever you're giving this to is the right person.>Have Bernard drop it off inside-- in-and-out.>Ding-dong-ditch it-- wax on, wax off.>Ring the bell, hide, and see who comes out. If they look suspicious, you'll initiate contact and/or take the book back.>Write-in>(3/3)
>>5359544>>Walk up to the door, (You/Bernard/both) ring the bell, and wait-- make sure whoever you're giving this to is the right person.
>>5359544>>Walk up to the door, (You) ring the bell, and wait-- make sure whoever you're giving this to is the right person.Keep Bern on standby though.
>>5359544>>Walk up to the door, (both) ring the bell, and wait-- make sure whoever you're giving this to is the right person.
>>5359544>>Walk up to the door, (You) ring the bell, and wait-- make sure whoever you're giving this to is the right person.
>>5359544>Walk up to the door, (You) ring the bell, and wait-- make sure whoever you're giving this to is the right person.
>>5359549>>5359603Both ring the bell>>5359601>>5359635>>5359645Elise rings the bell!Called! Writing!
>>5359661Forgot trip
Test2
Your best course of action seems to be the most obvious one, that action being ringing the doorbell.While Bernard's appearance won't throw people off as much as yours, there's a small chance that the person on the other side of the door might be the kind that likes to haul around a twenty-two gauge shotgun, so the choice for who gets to ring the doorbell is pretty obvious.Pulling your hood further over your face, your ears feeling slight discomfort from the action, you walk right up to the front door to ring the doorbell, hoping that whoever's on the other end is not some shotgun-wielding nutjob.'Ding-dong!' The sound of the doorbell has you shifting from foot-to-foot, and, for a good, long while, nothing happens. Awkwardly standing at the front door, you glance behind yourself every so often so as to make sure there are no onlookers other than Bernard. You doubt things will get spotty in such a small, sleepy neighborhood, but you didn't get to where you are without being just a little overly-cautious.Finally, you hear the padding of someone's feet coming up to the door in a wary, tip-toeing sort of gait. When the door creaks open, you're met with the face of an older woman, just about in her thirties if she isn't there already.You can only see a small part of her face through the minuscule opening she left to peek through, bits of alabaster hair falling into her face. Though you can't quite ascertain whether she's a relative, friend, or lover, what tells you that this woman definitely is Boleski's recipient is the all-too-familiar look in her eyes.A pressing, ever-constant paranoia; the fear of being caught or seen, and the burden of having to hide those facets of yourself from the world, the look in her eyes is one that you recognize because you'd seen it on the face of countless mutants and even yourself in your early days of your mutation."Who are you and what do you want?" Her voice is a low, fearful whisper, the characteristic lilt from it telling you she's from Mieszko just like Boleski had been."Are you related to a guy named Boleski?" You ask, trying to sound as reassuring as possible. "Dominik Boleski?" You try again, and the woman's eyes widen at the name."Dominik is--" She swallows, stopping herself short. "He's dead.""Who told you that?" You ask, because either the woman is straight-up lying to your face, or FutureLabs told her that to make her to stop asking questions."FutureLabs did." She answers. "His mutation ended up killing him. He's been dead for a few months."When half of your city believes everything from FutureLabs like it's gospel, you can't fault the woman for being played a fool, but now the situation's become a little more complicated.So much as you'd like to rip the bandaid clean and tell her Boleski's alive, you wonder if you should. Perhaps she's moved on already, or perhaps Boleski doesn't even want her to know he's alive.Good or bad, you have no choice but to make the call here.>(1/2)
>>5359771>"Listen, I don't know how much you know, but Boleski's alive." Tell her Boleski's alive. She'll probably find out after reading the journal anyhow.>"This belonged to Boleski. He wanted you to have it." Give her the journal, but don't tell her anything else.>"Who are you to Boleski?" Inquire her relationship to Boleski before you rip the bandaid.>Write-in>(2/2)
>>5359772>>"Who are you to Boleski?" Inquire her relationship to Boleski before you rip the bandaid.
>>5359772>"This belonged to Boleski. He wanted you to have it." Give her the journal, but don't tell her anything else.maybe hint that he's alive
>>5359772>"This belonged to Boleski. He wanted you to have it." Give her the journal, but don't tell her anything else.Once again the line reminds me of a smile and this hoodie made Ellie look like the invader from the Mandela Catalogue series
>>5359799>WHO. ARE. YOU?>>5359821>>5359815>Give journal. Say nothing.Writing one more quick update for the night!>>5359821Had to google that. Gave me quite a laugh, anon. Did I mention I hate drawing Elise with her mask on? Maybe I mentioned it a few times-- or even a dozen-- for the very reason you mentioned since there's that uncanny valley and stuff. That, and I'm not quite at the skill level where I can draw convincing fabric (although masks in-and-of themselves tend to put people's faces into the uncanny valley anyways)
>>5359825No problema, we all learn by doing.
>>5359825"This belonged to Boleski. He wanted you to have it." You hold up the notebook to hand it to her.If Boleski wanted to tell this woman that he was alive, he would've delivered the notebook to her himself. Whoever she might be to him, you're sure he wouldn't want her to see him in such a state, especially with how much damage the Aurum Impulsum had caused him.Moreover, with Boleski's mind in the condition that it's in-- although he seems to have a steady supply of medication for the time being-- you're sure he sees himself as a ticking time-bomb and would fear for her safety as well.The woman struggles to reach all her fingers through the crack she left in the door, not even letting so much as the palm of her hand be seen. You wonder why she's trying so hard to hide herself when you, a very blatant mutant, stands right before her.From behind the door, you hear the stumbling of feet, followed by a yelp as the woman pitches forwards, but, before she can fall, she catches herself on the door, revealing herself to you.Now you understand why she'd been so hellbent on keeping the door shut, because the entirety of her body is covered in those same, distinctive burn scars as Boleski.Some of the scars are new while others are old. What's small enough to be covered is done so by a mess of gauze and bandages, but even those seem to be half-burnt as well. Mercifully enough, the only thing that had been spared is her face, but the presence of the burn scars on her person tells you that she must have been really close to Boleski. Extremely close, even...>(1/?)
>>5359913"I know these look bad..." Her voice snaps you from your musings. If anything, she looks even more fearful than before. "Dominik was my husband, and he couldn't quite control his powers. I don't know why these scars haven't went away..." She tells you, straightening herself up, and, while you do believe her about Boleski (as you've found that nearly all new mutants don't ever have a good grasp on their powers), it doesn't explain why the blood smells fresh.Unless..."Can I see the book?" Again, the woman interrupts your thoughts to point to the book in your hands, shutting the door enough to conceal herself from any curious onlookers."Yeah." You hand it to her, and this time she receives it without issue.She doesn't seem to have much problem reading the book, as you expected from someone who likely grew up in your city's Polish enclave. Whatever's in that book must have been enough to bring the woman to tears because it's not long before her eyes are watering, streaks of wetness glistening beneath the porch light.Her fingers slowly page through the book, seemingly lost in her own thoughts, but a high-pitched wailing makes her start. The wailing of a baby, to be more precise.You'd felt the heartbeat the whole time you were here, but it had been more of an afterthought in the back of your mind. Now, with the final piece of the puzzle, everything is glaringly obvious."Your baby's a mutant, isn't he?" The words are more of a statement, rather than an accusation. In your mind, you can easily picture what such a mutant might look like, something akin to a tiny, green-winged cherub. However, thanks to your thoughtlessness with your words, the woman's eyes are filled with terror-- not for her own sake, but for her son's."Please, he's the last I have of Dom!" Her hands are clasped together as if in prayer. "If anything were to happen to him, I'd-- I'd die!" You suppose that a mother's love knows no bounds."Ma'am," You start, voice firm sure of yourself. "We'd never do anything to put you or your son in danger. We hate what FutureLabs has done to every mutant they've gotten their hands on, Boleski included.""Call me Lilian," She tells you. Then she goes silent, dithering on something that's clearly on her mind. "Did Dominik... suffer?" Lilian seems to assume that you'd seen Boleski die."No," You shake your head. "He didn't die a painful death." And, technically-speaking, that's the truth."What a relief..." She responds, wiping at her eyes, and, in a sea of struggle and grief, this must be one of the happier consolations she's received."Lilian," You speak again, this time with more resolve. "Or would you prefer Mrs. Boleski?""Mrs. Boleski is fine." Lilian utters, not quite looking you in the eyes."We will make sure the world is a safe enough place for your son to live. For now, please hang tight." You words are promise, an oath to the scared mother standing before you.>(2/3)
>>5359914While you can't quite imagine what kind of ups-and-downs a kid might have growing up with wings-- and you'd often fantasized about things of a similar sort when you were younger--for Boleski's sake and for every other mutant that has or will be born, you will secure a safe world for them all.The crying hasn't abated, and you doubt it will until Lilian tends to her child's needs."I need to go." She says, sparing a glance in the direction of her son. "But thank you." Lilan's voice is earnest. "Thank you for everything."You leave the humble town of Little Pike with some odd mix of sadness and relief. Even if Boleski never sees her again, at the very least, you gave Lilian the closure she deserved."You keep watch the whole time?" You ask, making sure Bernard stuck to his job."Yeah, and I heard bits and pieces of that back there." Bernard tells you. "I feel bad for her, but I think she's better off not knowin' the truth-- at least for now.""No kidding." You mutter, still unsure if you did the right thing. Again, you remind yourself that Boleski's secret isn't yours to tell."You down to stop?" The blonde asks, taking you down a random exit. "Forgot to eat before we got on the road-- now I'm kinda starvin.'"You really can't argue there, as your arrival home pretty much depends on Bernard's energy levels. Plus, you'd be a huge hypocrite if you let him starve, especially with how bad you get when you're hungry."Where to?" You inquire, a road sign coming just close enough that you can make out the words of several restaurants.>Beef-Fil-A: a classic fast food joint that sells exactly what it says on the tin: beef, and lots of it!>Burger Kaiser: Kinda gross, even for Matt's and Bernard's standards, but they got those cool crowns!>The Clumsies: A bar sort-of restaurant that's more bar than restaurant-- likely has an actual menu and cooked food!>Screw it! Just go to the rest stop and grab as many things as your arms can carry. A bit overpriced, but you can pick and choose some...>Write-in>(3/3)
>>5359917>The Clumsies: A bar sort-of restaurant that's more bar than restaurant-- likely has an actual menu and cooked food!Sure, why not? Actual menus are cool!
>>5359825I think it'd help if you drew the line of the mask across the entire face instead of leaving gaps between it and the sides, which is what's making the "smile" effect. That and/or shade the mask a different color from the skin like you do with the hair.
That's it for the night-- stayed up way too late, which is bad... cause I thought I finally fixed my sleep-schedule this summer. Rip.Anyways, we continue with more mutant mayhem tomorrow in the usual time-frame. Hopefully, from this point forwards, we won't see anymore internet-related issues, so until then!>>5359924Wielen dank, artfren-- gonna do some studies on just that!
>>5359917>Beef-Fil-A: a classic fast food joint that sells exactly what it says on the tin: beef, and lots of it!
>>5359917>The Clumsies: A bar sort-of restaurant that's more bar than restaurant-- likely has an actual menu and cooked food!
>>5359917>The Clumsies: A bar sort-of restaurant that's more bar than restaurant-- likely has an actual menu and cooked food!I haven't gotten fast food in years - is burger king really considered the gross one now? worse than mcd's?
>>5359922>>5360065>>5360265>Bar-hopping time!>>5359976>Eat mor Beef!>>5360265I think McDonalds and BK are on-par with each other in terms of gross (can't stomach either. Haven't eaten them in years myself), but McDonald's is definitely the worse of the two. Again, that's just my opinion-- can't really speak for anyone else ITT if they like them-- but I'd trust my good old frying pan before I patronize either (cause it's just easier on the wallet as well).
>>5360308From all the choices offered, there's something about The Clumsies that sticks out to you, because it doesn't seem like your typical, run-of-the-mill burger joint. And it's usually those kinds of atypical restaurants that usually have the good stuff, like actual menus and hot, freshly-cooked meals."Let's try The Clumsies!" You exclaim, pointing to the image on the sign-- a simple outline of a staircase, with one of the letters askew.It takes a couple of minutes of searching before Bernard zeroes in on the restaurant-in-question, the two of you ending up on the far edge of the parking lot. Shifting out of your fish form, you attempt to brush all the dirt and leaves off your person--Bernard doing the same beside you-- because it'd do either of you no good if you were mistaken for a couple of hoodlums.When the two of you look somewhat passable for the general public, you emerge from the trees in hopes that people will just think you're just a couple of campers returning back from an outing-- unfortunate campers who didn't think to bring a change of clothes.The cool rush of an air-conditioner hits you as soon as you step through the threshold, and you're met with the sight of a clean, well-kept bar that you wouldn't have expected from such a diminutive-looking exterior; but looks can be deceiving, and The Clumsies is no exception.Sidling up to the bar counter, you can feel the eyes upon your back, which you and Bernard pointedly ignore. Either it's because the two of you are visibly younger than the general crowd, or the two of you really do look that bad.Well, at least you're less likely to get mugged if you look like shit, not that any muggers would stand a chance against either you or Bernard."You gettin' anythin,' Ellie?" Bernard asks, paging through his own menu. The two of you had picked a seat at the edge where no one else had been sitting."I'll get something and give it to you." You tell him because, even if you can't eat, you'd rather not be the odd-one-out without any food."Yeah, I getcha." Bernard understands. "Howabout the tacos with gyros? Those sound pretty neat!" He suggests, pointing to the item on the menu. No sooner do you agree than does Bernard wave down the barkeep so he can order his fare."...I'll have the doner kebab, fries, and the mac and cheese-- oh, and some taco gyros for the lady!" He makes a motion to you. Unused to being called 'the lady,' you find yourself a bit flattered at being referred to as that."Coming right up," the barkeeper responds, writing down the order on their notepad and disappearing from sight. Guess Bernard wasn't kidding when he said he was starving...>(1/?)
>>5360402The chatter of other patrons and the din of a stereo somewhere in the background fills the otherwise-silent bar as you stare into the counter."Not gonna lie, but I could go for a drink right about now." Bernard says offhandedly. It causes you to raise an eyebrow at the blonde, because there's an ice-cold glass of water sitting right next to him. "A real drink." He clarifies, sparing a glance to the innumerable bottles that line the wall."You drink?!" You sputter, stunned by Bernard's words. In the whole time you'd known him, you'd never gotten that sort of vibe from him at all. "Not really, but, when my dad had his functions, he didn't say no." Bernard quirks a grin."Aha! So you're a boozehound!" You exclaim, pointing an accusatory finger at him. At the same time, you can't help the laughter that drips into your voice."Maybe..." He drawls, eyes gleaming in mischief. "But I think the term scoundrel has a better ring to it, don't you think so, Ellie? Cause boozehounds just get drunk-- and I am a man of class!" Bernard declares in faux-haughtiness.You didn't think Matt had it in him either until you found him dead-ass drunk, but, then again, there's a lot of weird stuff Matt does that you don't really think to question. However, drinking is a pastime that's as old as history itself, so it would probably be weirder if Bernard hadn't tried alcohol at least once. You probably would too-- if you could drink it, that is."Ah, they'd probably card me anyhow, and the card's a faker..." He frowns, the last part of that being said in a whisper low enough for only you to hear. Green eyes spare another longing glance to the line of bottles.>Wat do?>"Wanna look around?" See what else The Clumsies has to offer while you're waiting for your meal.>"You really want a drink that bad?" Try to get Bernard a drink. Maybe the two of you can fudge something together... if you're devious enough, that is.>"Let's just wait for the food." You'd rather not draw further attention to yourselves. Let Bernard eat and scram.>Talk about something else and take his mind off of the booze (What?)>Write-in>(2/2)
>>5360414>>"You really want a drink that bad?" Try to get Bernard a drink. Maybe the two of you can fudge something together... if you're devious enough, that is.
>>5360414>"You really want a drink that bad?" Try to get Bernard a drink. Maybe the two of you can fudge something together... if you're devious enough, that is.
>>5360414>"You really want a drink that bad?" Try to get Bernard a drink. Maybe the two of you can fudge something together... if you're devious enough, that is.They don't have any steaks/fish fillets we can eat? That was most of the point of picking this place.
>>5360414>"Wanna look around?" See what else The Clumsies has to offer while you're waiting for your meal.
>>5360420>>5360434>>5360435>How to get your teleporter drunk...>>5360462>Explore the bar!Writing!>>5360435Uh, crap. Tbh I might've been in a rush with the revision and didn't think too hard on that since I had to run out the door like five minutes after I posted the update, but I was also writing that update under the rationale that:A) Elise snacked on part of a cow earlier in the morning. Ergo, food for herself wasn't the first thing on her mind.B) Our main goal was to fuel our friendly neighborhood teleporter, so we'd chosen the Clumsies to give him the best fuel.Hope that's a good explanation!
>>5360532"You really want a drink that bad?" You ask, and Bernard doesn't even need to answer because you can read his face like an open book."...It's really not that big of a deal." Bernard says, leaning his elbows onto the counter. His expression, however, says otherwise, and it stirs something within you-- something that fills you with the urge to rectify his lack of alcoholic beverage.Scooting closer to him, you lean down to whisper, "If you want a drink, B, we're getting you a drink." Your voice is filled with surety.While your confidence makes Bernard crack a grin, you can tell he's in still in doubt."Trust me, i's going to happen whether you like it or not." You add with a mischievous upturn of your lip.Sure, the two of you aren't even close to being of legal drinking age, but when has something as trivial as a law stop you guys from getting what you want?"Whatcha thinkin,' fish?" Bernard seems to realize that the gears in your head have already begun to turn.In no way can you claim to be a bar-hopping extraordinaire, but you've seen enough movies to know how you could get your way. On the other hand, if you somehow screw this up, you could land the both of you into some major trouble-- trouble that would have the two of you making a mad-dash straight out of The Clumsies.But again, Bernard's sobriety (or soon-to-be lack thereof!) depends on YOU!>What kind of grand plan do you suggest?>Have Bernard wave down the bartender and tell him it's a special occasion (What?!)-- something special enough to warrant free drinks, of course!>One of you strike up conversation with the bartender. Maybe he'll give you a pass if he likes you guys enough.>Maybe the bartender will be lazy since you guys aren't the first people passing through-- give that ID a try!>You know what? Screw it, it'll be easier when you can get him drinks back in Konigsburg.>Write-in
>>5360613>Write-inOkay, hear me out: Bern can order since hopefully he looks a little older than us. Elise is designated driver, so she can order water or something with a straw in it that she can use to take a sip or two. If Bern gets carded, he can make a show of leaving it at home or something since Elise offered to drive--hopefully that'll convince the bartender! If shit falls apart, we rush outside, Bern teleports us behind a bush or something until heat dies down, THEN we drive home. But before we do any of this we really oughta order some pub feed first so that the trip wasn't for naught.
>>5360631We did. Four plates, to be precise.
>>5360636Whoops, my bad! Okay, the plan still stands!
>>5360613>One of you strike up conversation with the bartender. Maybe he'll give you a pass if he likes you guys enough.
>>5360613>One of you strike up conversation with the bartender. Maybe he'll give you a pass if he likes you guys enough.If it doesn't work this option probably won't get us run out of the place.
>>5360631Play dumb!>>5360648>>5360655>>5360678>Smooth criminal talkersIt's that time, folks-- time to roll once more!! Roll me some 1d100s to see how the chit-chat goes-- best of three!!! GO!!Also feel free to type in some riveting conversation-topics for our intrepid heroes!!
Rolled 86 (1d100)>>5360681uhh, look those guys in the tv, woah it's x-force, so cool
Rolled 68 (1d100)>>5360681
Anyone who's rolled, feel free to roll again!
Rolled 1 (1d100)>>5360707
Rolled 88 (1d100)>>5360681watch THIS
>>5360684>>5360685>>5360707 (You)>Highest roll: ̶8̶ ̶6 1Damn. Looks like it finally happened.Is this the part where I make something actually *bad* happen?And here I thought you guys would get off scot free from NOT choosing the trap option, which I actually thought you all would go for.Writing!>>5360714A smidge too late, unfortunately-- here's a sticker in picrel.
>>5360751you fixed the number of my roll but you still didn't link the actual crit >>5360713good job
>>5360752https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag1o3koTLWM
>>5360713Bruh, I think that's our first nat 1 and the lowest number since that 8 from the thread we Morbed on Julia. But tbf that one only had me rolling in the end and I dunno why.
>>5360714bruh got mogged by 4 seconds
>>5360751Okay, Elise, you totally, totally got this!Because if you didn't, then you'd have one sad sap of a teleporter, and there's no way in hell you're letting him leave the bar without getting his drink.You still don't get what all the fuss is about the stuff. First off, you don't even think you could get drunk if you wanted to, and, even if you did somehow manage to drink enough alcohol, you'd vomit it straight back up. So it'd be a lose-lose situation for everyone involved.As you're mulling over the various ways you can't get drunk, along with the various ways you'll imbibe a certain teleporter, your one-stop-shop to free-drink heaven comes right on cue, a slew of hot-steaming dinner-plates in his hold.The bartender himself looks like just a normal, run-of-the-mill everyman, one that's amicable and easy to get along with, perfect for starting a conversation with.Wracking your mind for some good ice-breakers, from the weather, to baseball, and even politics (of all things!), your eyes land on the TV in the corner where you can see the garishly bright costume of Zeus, one of the X-Force's most prominent members. You realize that you're close enough to Konigsburg that that stringent media censorship still holds true, but the more important thing is that you've acquired a proper topic of conversation."Follow my lead," You whisper to Bernard, right before the bartender lays down your order."Uhh, hey, look those guys in the TV!" You blurt out, pointing to the screen. "Woah it's X-Force, so cool!" You try to squeeze as much admiration into your voice as possible."Oh my shit, really?!" Bernard exclaims, springing up in his seat. The noise the two of you make draws some strange looks, and, feeling the urge to squirm in your stool, you do your best to ignore the growing number of eyes against your back."Oh no." The bartender mutters, his expression doing a complete one-eighty from the kindly look he'd been wearing. "Not another one...""Another what?" You repeat, trying to maintain the grin you'd plastered on your face."Psychopaths who actually think those mutants exist--" He hisses, in spite of the reality being plastered on the screen behind him."Mutants? Of course they're real." Bernard says through a mouthful of food. "Dontcha see that guy behind you? Him and like five other guys admitted they were mutants on live television.""Right... that stuff's as real as that one city on the west coast they thought disappeared for good." The barkeep doesn't sound like he believes you in the least, more satisfied to play his own game of mental gymnastics than to accept the actual truth.You have to wonder what's wrong with the guy, but you don't spend long thinking it over at all because, far-too-quickly, the guy's in your face, glaring at you will all of the force of an incinerator.>(1/2)
>>5360831"Listen here. I will-- and I mean, I WILL NOT--allow you guys to spread any more FUD in my establishment. I cannot tell you the sheer amount of times a barfight started over those damned mutants, just because people thought they were real or not." The man's voice is a fierce whisper, but he doesn't even take pause in his rant, far-too-determined to make a point. "As far as everyone here knows, mutants are a psy-op FutureLabs and the city government are using to increase tourist revenue-- even the guys in costumes all got some sort of holograms or CGI or some shit like that..."It's hard to tell whether or not the barkeep actually believes the words he's spewing, and even Bernard has stopped eating to stare, gobsmacked at the formerly-friendly barkeep.So mesmerized by his rant in a terrible-yet-disgusted sort of way, you hardly noticed that the bartender had taken something that Bernard had left on the counter by mistake.'Beep-beep--' An angry sounding beep rings from the machine the barkeep had his hand next to-- an ID-card scanner to be more precise. In the barkeep's hand is the fake ID Bernard had showed off to you earlier."Giovanni Flavo." The bartender reads out, spitting the name like a bad taste. "That wasn't what your girlfriend called you.""That's cause my girlfriend's got a weird taste in pet names..." Bernard tries for an excuse. "Isn't that right, honey?" With an arm over your shoulder, he pulls you close so as to emphasize his point, but your act is all-for-naught."Card's a fake." The barkeep utters the damning words, and, in that exact moment, you feel your stomach try to rocket its way out of your body.Thinking quickly, Bernard grabs hold of your wrist and one of the taco gyros at the same time before leaping off of the seat in a sprint. His height works in his favor, allowing him ample distance before anyone can think to stop you, and the two of you zoom straight out the door.As soon as you're hit with the humid night air, you break into a sprint with the blonde, keeping pace until the two of you reach the treeline. Whoever might've pursued you will have little luck finding you, as Bernard teleports you far, far away from the scene of the crime.You can't even feel bad for dining and dashing as Bernard digs into the solitary taco gyro he took along, the two of you having taken refuge in another small copse of pine trees. It'll have to do for now, but you resolve to never step foot in The Clumsies again.>(2/3)
>>5360833"Giovanni Flavo?" You ask, bemused at the weird name on the fake ID."Couldn't think of anything better at the time." He shrugs, taking another large bite of the gyro. From off to the side, cars whiz to-and-fro, their headlights nearly melding into one, long streak of light. You're not that far from Konigsburg, but, still reeling from the aftershock of the barkeep's freakout, you think a break is sorely needed."Sorry I got us kicked out." You apologize. While you didn't expect the bartender to go apeshit on the two of you, that could've been prevented if you kept your mouth shut."Hey, it's no biggie-- guy was a total douchebag." Bernard huffs. "It was kinda funny though... we ended up runnin' for our lives, all for some glorified grape juice.""If it tastes good to you, it tastes good." You elbow him, not wanting to see him all mopey. Nothing good ever comes from being down-in-the-dumps for too long."Haha, you're right, Ellie-- there's like way better wine in Cittadina, and they're not assholes about sellin' it to you either. Why don't I bring home a bottle and share with stick?""Please no." You don't want to deal with the monster that is drunken-Matt ever again.>(3/4)
>>5360844"Aw, come on-- you gotta trust me here, Ellie. Wine always tastes better when you share it." Bernard tells you sagely. "If I give some to him, it'll only be a glass or two. No way I'm lettin' him go bonkers on us again."You're glad to see the two of you are on the same page on that matter."I'm gonna finish this up, and then we'll go." He adds, and, with that, Bernard resumes his meal.Old leaves and pine needles crunch beneath your feet as you pace around, waiting for the blonde to be done, and you continue that pacing in relative silence until your phone buzzes in your pocket.'Bzzz-bzzz-bzzz--' While you could very-much ignore the call since it's probably Matt checking up on you, by reflex, you find yourself reaching for your phone regardless. However, the name on the screen proves you dead wrong.Because it's John.>Wat do?>Answer it-- you might not get another chance like this.>Don't answer and call back later-- you don't want John to hear you're on a highway of all things!>Don't answer period. Give him a taste of his own medicine in ignoring you. >Write-in>(4/4)Pardon the piecewise-posting-- 4chan ate some of my posts.
>Declares that their sleep-schedule will be fixed>proceeds to pull another 2 AM update>tfwI kek at my own folly.Anyways, we resume tomorrow in the afternoon, as-per-usual.So, as always, thanks for playing, and see you next time, kings!
>>5360854>Answer it-- you might not get another chance like this.>>5360856I feel you, man. I've been sleeping late for a good time as well.
>>5360854>>Answer it-- you might not get another chance like this.
>>5360854>Answer it-- you might not get another chance like this.I know this probably won't end well for us, but I'd at least like to try...>>5360856Gotta get those Z's, man!
>>5360854>Answer it-- you might not get another chance like this.
>>5361077>>5360986>>5360879>>5360861>>5360859Answer, dammit!Writing! I got some plans in a bit-- hopefully I can get the update out before then, but I'll let you guys know!>>5360859>>5360879Amen to that, anons!Maybe one day I'll wake to the sunrise instead of falling asleep to it ;-;
>>5361260Sorry folks— update will be slightly delayed since my ride had to leave earlier than expected! Should be back in an hour or two to finish the update. Thanks for your patience!
>>5361260https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUpox5jGdRQYou don't know why John decided to call now of all times. By this time of night, he'd usually be asleep, but that was the old John. Perhaps the FutureLabs-imprisoned version of your brother has a much more volatile sleep schedule than the shy lab technician or even the helmeted marauder that had held back his true power against you. However, you're not going to question it, because this might be the only chance you get to talk to John before the extraction."Hello?" You start, hoping that your brother won't hear the sounds of the highway through his end of the phone."Elise." John greets, your name being said in a breathless huff. While your brother sounds downright exhausted, it feels foreign, in a way, to hear him sound so placid after your last conversation. "Everything alright?""Yeah," You draw out. Even as a prisoner, John is ever-the-mother-hen. "What about you?""Well, I'm... existing. Kind of. I'm honestly surprised you even texted." John admits, sounding slightly abashed."Why's that?" You ask, even though you know the answer. John is well-aware that you (or at least the civilian-you) are likely still mad at him for lying to you for so long."Well, after the conference, your brother pretty much called me every name in the book before blocking me." That definitely sounds like Matt, but it looks like you weren't the only one to try and make contact with John. "I'm sure he'll come around in his own time. I know finding out I was a mutant must've come as a shock to the both of you...""It was, but we wouldn't have ever known if you never told us." You return, and, suffice to say, you and Matt had been living in ignorance since the accident; because John could've hidden that forever, and the two of you would've been none-the-wiser."I was--" He says before stopping himself short. "That wasn't how I planned for either of you to find out. A lot of stuff just kind of happened, and they didn't give me much of a choice..." There's enough guilt coating his tone to tell you that John's words are genuine."Did you ever plan on telling us?" You inquire. Knowing John's penchant to hide his problems, you don't think he ever would."...Not really." He breathes. "There was never really a good time to tell you, and I... I'd never want to make you guys worry about me. About yourselves, even." John adds, his voice slightly shaking with his next words. "You guys... you didn't know just what kind of danger you were in...">(1/2)
>>5361385With John's power-control being negligible, you understand his fear, but you still think he was completely and utterly stupid to sign himself away to FutureLabs like-- like a damn dog!"Do you think Matt and I would honestly care if you were a mutant?" You reply, your voice raising a tad."What I wanna know is how you went the past year without hurting us?""Why do you think I spent so much time at work?" John returns your question with question. "Wasn't cause I particularly liked my job."Frustrated as you've been with your brother, you can't help the flash of sympathy courses through you at that because the mental aspects of his powers are all-too-similar to yours. The weight of such mental strain had always been an ever-present fear when you couldn't control your own self, and, even though you do have your instinct managed for the most part, the paranoia of hurting someone whether on accident or not still looms over you as a lingering fear in the back of your mind, buzzing, buzzing, buzzing...You should ask him something else.>Choose one/multiple:>"What's it like being a member of the X-Force?" Try to wheedle some info out by asking about his job.>"What are your powers like?" You may already know what his powers are-- and you know his power control pretty much sucks-- but it never hurts to ask how he's faring.>"Are you really okay with what you're doing?" So far as John's told you, he's never liked working for FutureLabs, post-incident. How does he feel about what he's doing now?>"What's this on the news about traffickers? What's the big deal about them?" A bit blunt and in-your-face, but you need that info!>Write-in>(2/2)
>>5361397>>"What are your powers like?" You may already know what his powers are-- and you know his power control pretty much sucks-- but it never hurts to ask how he's faring.>"Are you really okay with what you're doing?" So far as John's told you, he's never liked working for FutureLabs, post-incident. How does he feel about what he's doing now?
>>5361397>>"What are your powers like?" You may already know what his powers are-- and you know his power control pretty much sucks-- but it never hurts to ask how he's faring.>"What's this on the news about traffickers? What's the big deal about them?" A bit blunt and in-your-face, but you need that info!
>>5361397>>5361398+1 this. I can't tell if this is a setup for some future trap or something, but if it isn't then we shouldn't show our hand and hop into obvious intel-gathering just yet. It's a wonder John's even talking to us at this point.
>>5361380Classic QM
>>5361397>"What's it like being a member of the X-Force?" Try to wheedle some info out by asking about his job.
>>5361398>>5361424>Powers?>You okay, bro?>>5361419>Powers?>Traffickers?>>5361455>Super ̶v̶i̶l̶l̶a̶i̶n̶?̶ hero?Looks like powers and asking if John's okay wins out! Writing!
>>5361478"What are your powers like?" You know he's a lizard, you know he's got piss-poor control, and that's about it. For you, that is not nearly enough-- you won't be satisfied until you know a little more about the nitty-gritty details of his powers.From the other end of the line, John goes quiet, even though he probably saw that question coming from a mile away. Still, you're surprised he's even talking to you at this point."You've seen the news, Elise." He finally speaks, causing you to frown. Since when does he expect you to get the actual truth from the news?!"Yeah, but they don't really show you that much." You tell him. For all you've seen of the X-Force on the news, you haven't seen that much of John himself. "And I'd rather hear it from you.""Figures..." He mutters. "It'd look pretty bad for the X-Force if they showed me like 'that' on camera." You can tell John is referring to his own Berserker tendencies."Long story short, I can basically do everything a lizard does... I'm fast, I'm strong, I have some better senses, and I can regenerate pretty much every type of cellular tissue in my body." He explains, the words tumbling clumsily from his mouth."No kidding," You make yourself sound surprised. Though, with the way John says those words, it's almost as if this is one of the very rare times he's ever legitimately talked about his own powers outside of a clinical setting."Yeah, that's actually how they were able to make my suit with a self-healing fabric-- they synthesized it out of my DNA." John sounds a little proud of that fact."If you think about that from a scientific standpoint, that's honestly amazing..." There's a touch of wonder in your brother's voice that reminds you of the old John: the easily-excitable scientist-to-be."Little things like that are why being a mutant's kind of cool, in a way..." He slowly trails off, and no sooner does John finish saying that sentence than do you hear a sharp, shuddering intake of breath, like all the air had been stolen straight from his lungs."What was that?" Something about the way that sounded didn't sit right with you. Not one bit. "You alright?""I'm fine." John says a little too quickly, and, in the language of your older brother, those two words almost always mean the opposite. Unfortunately, calling him out on that is a luxury you can hardly afford because there's no telling when he'll hang up.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oclY9t0rRbw"Listen Elise," John starts again, voice more serious than it was a few seconds ago. "Being a mutant isn't what you think it is. It's not anything like the comics or any movie you've ever seen." 'No shit, Sherlock.' You think, because, unbeknownst to your older brother, he's basically preaching to the choir; his words make you wonder just how much worse off he'd been than you for all these months. Was he as afraid of hurting you and Matt as you were afraid of losing yourself to your hunger?>(1/2)
>>5361680 You suppose you had it far, far easier than John ever did since you had people like Matt and Bernard to support you, even for all of the times you stumbled and gave in to your secondary half.John, on the other hand, was completely and utterly alone.Eddie's death notwithstanding, John breaking-- turning himself in-- was inevitable."I wasn't lying that time on TV when I said I was dangerous. I don't think I could ever forgive myself if I hurt either of you." John's voice interrupts your thoughts. "Even now, they got me locked up in the toughest cell they could find. All these months I tried to fight it was a losing battle--" He stops, swallowing back whatever words he'd been about to say.There's a long pause, as John attempts to recollect his roiling, tumultuous thoughts. The only indication he hasn't hung up yet is the staticking of the phone like."...I'm honestly glad it was m̸͉̞̺͓͈e͕..."There's a rough, animalistic undertone to his voice that causes the hairs on your neck to stand on end, your instinct buzzing in warning."I don't even know what I'd do if you or Matt were mutants," He manages to grit out, but hearing the words 'you' and 'mutant' in the same sentence sends a jolt like lightning throughout your being, which you heartily try to ignore. "But this isn't something I'd wish on either of you.""At least the job kind of takes my mind off of things. I'm sa̸vin͟g m̢ut̡a̸nt̸s̀..." Again, your muscles tense like a coiled spring as your body wages war on whether to fight or flight. "I'm saving mutants, I mean." John repeats, this time managing to keep his voice level.Still, those lapses in control that had hardly failed to escape your notice make you wonder..."Are you really okay with what you're doing?" You ask him carefully, and there's a million-and-a-half layers to the question.However, the fact of the matter is that they all boil down to is the fact that John now plays a hand in one the thing he had been trying so desperately to avoid: the harm of other mutants. Now, by taking mutants from Maranzano and bringing them into a worse hell than the one they'd been in prior, he's as guilty as everyone else who works within those whitewashed walls. This, you're certain John knows for a fact.>(2/3)
>>5361684N̨̘̭ͨͯ͗̔̚ͅO̤̹̥̩̦̭̿͋͒̕!̻̱̼͖̱̣ͬ͆̈ " John explodes, like a vicious, flooding dam, and you nearly drop your phone as you recoil from the noise.His inhales and exhales come out as low, breathless growls as he tries to regain his bearings, the sound nearly reminding you of the vehement hiss of a crocodile. Any intent on gathering intel all-but-forgotten, you find yourself at a loss for words as there's nothing you can do but wait for him to snap out of it. It takes a few moments for some semblance of silence to settle between you and the phone, tension so thick you could slice it apart with your claws if you tried. The growling and hissing dies down, enough that you think John's managed to get a hold of himself. "You okay?" You ask him slowly, unsurely. "̀͘-̶-̨s-͜ś̀͜h̀u̸̶t ̨u̸͝p̴͠,̢̛ ̵͟͟Eli̡s͢͢e̸̵.͘.̢.̵͞"̸ John grits, the words barely sounding human on his tongue. All the same, you can't help the shock of hurt that courses through you. "I-̢I̷'̸m͠ no͝t ͜ok̶a̸y,͜ an͢d ̕I'm ̢n̨eve̵r̡ go̷ing ̶t̸o ͢be o̢ka̕y ̛w̧ith͟ ̛this,̡ ͘E͡V̛ER-- ͢I͢ ͘n͜e̷ver̴ w͞a̡n̸t͘ed͢ t͡o ͘becom̡e a̶--̧ ͍̼̠̠̰͖͡A̤͖̝͉̜̣̹̥͟A̶̝̜̥͙͈̩a̧̮̬̻̺̼̗̝̪͜a̴͇̯̝͈̕a͎̰̙͓͝A̱͢Á̸̻͍̝̰͚͜A̵̮̜̺̠A̘̘͓̳͓̩͚A͍̺͍͖̙̞̝̗͜A̷̸̪̫͇̮͕̳̣͡H̞͍̠̩͈̹͕͞H̵͔ͅH̸͍̰̜͔͞H̞̜͉̯͕͍ͅH̺͇́͝͝Ḥ̙̞͢͝ͅ-̳͖͍̫͈̗͝-̧̱-̺̘̹̺̞͠" His shout ends in a loud, bellowing roar as his human half gives way to his inner-reptile. Completely frozen from what you just heard, you don't have to see John to know he's slipping, and he's slipping quickly. Quite soon, there will be nothing left as the lizard comes to the forefront of his consciousness, well-intent on taking the driver's seat from him without a single shred of mercy.>[A] Help John, dammit!>Distract-- tell him to say the alphabet backwards or something along those lines, or tell him something utterly ridiculous!>Tell him to think of a happy place-- doesn't matter where, but anything is fine!>Tell him not to fight that... whatever's inside of him! Tell him he needs to accept his inner-lizard!>Write-in>[B] You have no choice but to let it happen. Don't give John any help. At all.>Write-in>(3/3)
That was the last update for the night. Well, at least it's better than like 02:00 or something (even though we're not that far-off).Gonna check out for the night, but, as always, thanks for playing, and see you all next time!
>>5361719>>Tell him to think of a happy place-- doesn't matter where, but anything is fine!FUCK why didn't we expect this
>>5361719>>[A] Help John, dammit!>Tell him to think of a happy place-- doesn't matter where, but anything is fine!
>>5361719>Tell him to think of a happy place-- doesn't matter where, but anything is fine!
>>5361776STAND BACK ELISE, I'M GONNA MORB!!!!
>>5361723 >>5361753 >>5361776 Time for us to roll!!! Gonna need some 1d100+-5 (-5 for SHATTERING PSYCHE) to see how well we fare in playing phone-psychiatrist!!! Best of three, as always!!Also, if you have some sort of happy place for John to think of, feel free to write it down, otherwise I’ll just whip something up— NOW ROLL, ROLL, ROLL!!!>>5361778 Indeed.
Rolled 91 - 5 (1d100 - 5)>>5361984
Rolled 5 - 5 (1d100 - 5)>>5361984
>>5361996As for the write-in, I dunno... maybe one of the times he, Elise, and Matt all had a fun, happy dinner together? JUST FIGHT IT, JOHN!
Feel free to roll again, kings!
Rolled 13 - 5 (1d100 - 5)>>5361984
>>536199686 it is, then
>>5361996>>5362020>>5362126>Highest Roll: 86!Writing!
>>5362132Giving John your own secrets on managing your Berserker Mode would be a death sentence for you and everyone else you know. On the other hand, there's an overbearing urge that makes you refuse to stand idly by and let him get overtaken because, if your roles were reversed, John would be doing anything to help you, even at the cost of his own safety.Clearly, you hadn't learned from the first time you set John off back at the river, or maybe you just didn't care at the time, but, like the last instance, all it had taken was some thoughtless question on your part to send him off the deep end.The staggering realization that it had been your fault leaves a deep, chasmic pit in your gut, which is why it falls on you to put an end to this.Wracking your brain for something (anything!) that won't possibly set of any sort of alarm bells of suspicion, it's glaringly apparent that John's own Berserker Mode differs from yours in the sense that it isn't remotely dependent on hunger."John-- I need you to think of a happy place!" You half-shout, half-stammer amid the burning of your throat. It's the most cliche tactic in the book, but, short of telling him to calm down (which would more-than-likely achieve the exact opposite of what you're trying to do), it's the only thing you can think of that might offset the raging animal that's overtaken him.The only response you get for your troubles are heavy breathing and rumbling growls. In your mind's eye, you can almost feel the sensation of scales dancing up and down your own body as you picture what must be happening on the other end of the line. Much in the same way you'd tried to fight your own self so very long ago, you can only imagine the sheer strain that must be on John's psyche as he tries to hold the transformation at bay-- that is, if he's still fighting against it"Remember that time we went for ice cream?" You try something else, hoping that at least one shred John is still in there to listen. "That was something I really enjoyed. It--It was fun talking with you about gym stuff and science, even though I didn't understand a bit of it...""N̴͢ǵ̵́̀͜g̷g̢̢͠H̴͡͠H̀͝͝͡H́͝Ḩ̛͠͝H̵̛̀͟H̷̷̴̛-̵̶̧̕͝-̡̛͞" There's just the smallest bit of humanity buried within the reptilian noise."It was nice seeing you happy for once," You continue, spurred on by your own hope and the sound of John trying to fight against the lizard. "And it really made me happy to hang out with you."Though still present, the growling audibly wanes. "Listen. I don't care what you are, mutant-lizard or not, but I want to do that again." You enunciate, slowly and clearly. "Just hang out with you-- and not worry about anything else.">(1/?)
>>5362221 You don't say anything else after that, taking pause to let those words sink in. Slowly but surely, John's pained rumbles and growls recede into something more human-like in nature, but, erring on the side of caution, you dare not allow yourself to make a single sound."...̷̸É͢͝lise..." John pants, breathing like he'd just ran a full-marathon, the smallest tincture of his reptilian nature coating your name. "Thank you...""You good?" You ask, hoping that his own secondary half won't make another guest appearance."I think so for now." John utters, his neutral tone a stark contrast from what had just happened. "Not the first time this has happened, but it proves my point about me being dangerous." He says ruefully. "That... was honestly really brave of you, Elise.""You really think I was scared? Not like I was in any danger by being on the phone." You reply. While this isn't your first rodeo battling against a secondary half-- much less someone else's-- you suppose what you did was pretty big from John's point-of-view. "It was nothing, really." You try to play it off. "I think Matt on too much coffee would give you a pretty good run for your money.""Heh..." John's laugh is the faintest semblance of one. "Fair point there. Hope you're not letting him drink too much.""By the way, Elise," Your brother speaks again, his next words nearly causing your soul to leave your body. "How'd you know what to do?">"That's like panic-attack-stopping 101-- works for me usually." Lie like a rug.>"I didn't. I was just playing it by ear." That's pretty much the truth.>"How about you tell me why that keeps happening to you instead..." Deflect.>Write-in>(2/2)
Option B wasn't there to look pretty kek...Btw I'm gonna run some errands-- hopefully it won't be that long before I come back to call the vote, but, just in case, I'm giving you all the heads-up!
>>5362246>>"I didn't. I was just playing it by ear." That's pretty much the truth.
>>5362246>"I didn't. I was just playing it by ear." That's pretty much the truth.Btw, I dunno if you said it before, but were the other animal forms John could've get and would all of them have a beserker mode ?
>>5362259I think there was a joke someone made about TMNT in that particular thread, but there were a lot of factors that played into John getting a Berserker Mode:>1: Violent mutation:Traumatic, violent, or mutations experienced near-death tend to give stronger end-results in general. It was during John's procedure that some of his inmost-slash-subconscious desires came to the forefront (stop suffering/need for revenge/etc.-- I believe those were the two most-voted for choices in that one thread). Didn't really help that he was beaten the crap out of by Elise just a short while beforehand, but, ultimately, that was the kind of strength John wanted (and that's what he got in the end, just with a twist :-) ).>2: Shattering psyche:Between sticking to his morality-guns up until thread #6/#6.5, the fuckups with Clyde/Valjean/Julia/Elise and the keycodes (which he was mostly blamed for), and nearly being placed on the panel of Level E employees (Expendable employees, or the employees FutureLabs just kills off for major lulz), and Eddie dying, it was only a matter of time before John snapped from the pressure he was under. While he rarely gave himself the luxury of snapping pre-mutation (as John felt as if he were the one everyone relied on.), post-mutation John easily loses himself to his own psyche.>3: Genetic similarity to Elise: I've already explained this enough times in a lot of threads-- yada yada siblings/family/etc. tend to follow similar or recurring themes of mutation-- unless the situation where they mutate causes their body to adapt otherwise . In such cases, mutation-similarity will only bear a vague sort of resemblance.>Other animal forms and shit:I don't think I ever fashioned up an activated mutant form for John other than the lizard one... well, at least animal-wise.Not sure if it was an alt-John I fashioned up for kicks some very long time ago (when my drawing skills sucked dog ass), or maybe it was a proto-John that existed way back when, but there was a version of John that mutated CLEANLY when the incident happened-- I think that might've actually been for an arc/alt-timeline thing that I completely and totally trashed because it did, indeed SUCCCC. And that John didn't have an animal-form nor a Berserker Mode at all. Unfortunately, that's all on my old computer. Which is filled with cringe-tier, half-drunken drawings of everything from the first six-and-a-half threads. I hope I'm at the point where I'll laugh at it when I gather up the courage to traverse my cringefest of an old laptop.Crap. This was worth a whole update of words.... kek.
>>5362251>>5362259>>5362265>>5362267>TELLIN THA TRUTH!Writing!
>>5362472Thanks for the breaktime answers OP. I asked 'coz you could've planned different forms for each of the 3 options (although considering the factors that you listed, he'd have beserker mode regardless) so a tiger or sharkboy was on the table. And now I remember the turtle anon.
>>5362477Oh shit. Oh freaking shit.Biting down on your lip hard, you try to ignore the panic rising in your throat at John's question; but if you don't answer fast enough, or if you answer too fast, John will no-doubt figure out that something's amiss.Finally, when you think it's just the right in-between moment, you reply to John, "I didn't. I was just playing it by ear."In fact, the main reason you'd been able to snap John out of his Berserker rage was your own, logical guess-- one that had been based off your previous encounter with his lizard-form. You're not sure if he would've even believed anything else you said, but, in a situation where you're put on the spot, sometimes the easiest thing to do is tell the truth (well, everything but the mutant part of it).One beat, two beats pass by as you pray that John won't ask the one question you don't want to hear come from his mouth. You thought you had been smart enough by pointedly not telling John the exact tactics you use to manage your own instincts, but John would've questioned anything you did regardless.The crunch of leaves from behind you tells you that Bernard's come to look for you, and you put a finger to your lip in the universal gesture of 'stay quiet.' While he doesn't see the aforementioned gesture, he's able to see the light of your cell phone against your ear, which is more than enough of a cue for the teleporter to stay back for the time being.But John has yet to answer, and, when you can't see his face, it's hard to tell what he's thinking.Still, so long as he hasn't said anything, you don't even dare to breathe. Not until you're sure his suspicion has abated."--Elise." John's voice breaks you from your train of thought. "You still there?""Yeah, I lost you there for a second." The lie easily falls from your tongue."Oh, I was saying I'm just amazed that you were able to think of that." John tells you, though there's something else in his tone that you can't quite make out--something that sounds slightly... disappointed? 'No.' You shake your head. If anything, he's likely disappointed that you didn't have some sort of surefire, method for him to manage his instincts. >(1/?)
>>5362737"I would've never been able to do that on my own." He confesses, and that makes you wonder what exactly might've happened had you let John get swallowed whole by his secondary-half.Would he have tried to break out of his cell? Or would he have just raged around in his cage until he ran out of steam? Either way, while you succeeded in dragging him out of the mental abyss, John still sounds downright exhausted."I'm glad I got to talk to you again." This time, when John speaks, his voice carries the weight of someone who's about to walk through the seven circles of hell and back; that, or he already is there and doesn't know what to do in the midst of the infernal flames. "I'm going to be leaving Konigsburg soon. We're all kind of waiting on the details of our next assignment, so I don't know when I will be back or when I can even call you guys again." "How long do you think you'll be?" You feel like you're playing with fire just by asking that question, but that drop of information is going to be used for every life that depends on you."Two, maybe a few days tops-- hoping they'll just keep me as a last result and not their main offense." You can only imagine what kind of damage John could wreak across one of Maranzano's compounds. "I don't want to lie and tell you I'll be able to make calls like this often, but maybe they'll let me catch a break after this mission.""Mhmm," You respond because, at this point, you don't have much left to say, but you do hope, for John's sake, that FutureLabs lets up on him. (Realistically, you doubt they will.)"Tell Matt I said hi." John adds. "Please be good, and don't let Bernard do anything he shouldn't."At those words, your hoodie suddenly feels hotter than it was before, as a small surge of indignation makes itself present. "Come on, John, have a little faith in me-- Bernard would never do anything like that.""Elise, the kid looks at you like he's never had a drop to drink, and you're a sparkling river." The heat that's made itself at home in your gut feels more and more like a wildfire, and it's not until you hear John heave a long, weary sigh that he speaks up again. "I'm sorry-- I know I talked to you about that, but I can't help but worry about you guys." "You don't have to." Is your reply to John, because you'd rather he not worry about you and Matt when he's got far more pressing matters at hand.>(2/3)
>>5362746"If I didn't, I wouldn't be a good brother otherwise." He returns, the faintest hint of a smile in his voice. "I gotta go now-- make sure you eat, drink, and take good care of yourselves." The last part is said out of force-of-habit.The two of you bid each other tonight, and, once you hang up, the weight of all of the emotions that you had pushed to the back of your mind start crashing down on you in full-force."You, uh... you good, fish?" Bernard asks tentatively, having been awkwardly kicking at the dirt the whole time he'd been standing there. Yes would be a lie. Right now, you want to be in your bed, or the ocean or anywhere you can hide and forget everything for a while, at least until the extraction."Let's go home, B." You say in lieu spilling your guts out. Tempting as it is to do so, the blonde had been close enough that he got a pretty clear picture of what had just happened.>In the final days before the extraction: your plan is to:>Feed. You will need every ounce of your energy for this extraction. (Last real feed: Approx 3-5 days ago)>Screw it. You'll be full enough for the extraction day. (Skip to extraction day.)>Write-in>(3/3)
>>5362754>Feed. You will need every ounce of your energy for this extraction.FEED THE FISH!
>>5362754>>Feed. You will need every ounce of your energy for this extraction. (Last real feed: Approx 3-5 days ago)
That's it for the night-- turns out staying up late is gucci af fr fr. Won't be when I have to start waking up at 07:30 this fall ;-;Cue old song to juxtapose my zoomer volcabulary:https://youtu.be/GB2yiIoEtXw?t=23Alright-- enough jokes about my FUBAR'd circadian rhythm! We continue tomorrow in the afternoon (unless otherwise stated, of course). As always, thanks for playing, folks, and see you all next time!>>5362472I'd have to fish in my notes (heh... fish) to see just what kind of crap I had in store for John had that one choice gone differently, but, if I recall, tiger wasn't on the list.And I think sharkman would've been too in-your-face for a good foil. I DON'T WANNA DIG IN THAT OLD COMPUTER AAAaaAAAAAAAAHHH
>>5362769>>5362494Meant to link (You) to the above post.
>>5362754>Feed. You will need every ounce of your energy for this extraction. (Last real feed: Approx 3-5 days ago)Fish needs to be fresh>>5362769alright man. anyway, have a good night.
>>5362754>Feed. You will need every ounce of your energy for this extraction.
>>5362763>>5362794>>5363056>F E E DWriting!
>>5363205You're not all-that-hungry, having filled your stomach to the brim after you raided the Miller-Ford Building, but it'd hardly do if you somehow got hungry midway through the extraction, and you got enough free time beforehand that you might as well eat. 'Better safe than sorry...' you think, resolving to feed yourself sometime before then.The night after your conversation with John sees you in the middle of the Bay of Konigsburg, right where the body of water opens up into the ocean. Already, you can sense dozens-- if not hundreds-- of tiny heartbeats from schools of fish all around you that keep their distance, instinctively sensing the predator in the midst of them. At one point in time (and for quite a while after the incident) the bay and its surrounding waters had nearly been barren, no doubt a result of the particle accelerator itself. Now, as any environment self-repairs in due time, those very same waters positively teem with life. However, you're not here for small game, because there's little joy in hunting easy prey. It's more like a feeling of knowing in your gut, rather than a sight or sensation, when the bay transitions into the vast, cavernous ocean. Of course the bay itself is fairly deep, at least by normal-person standards, but the sheer depth of the ocean, with all of its endless caves and trenches, is something you've yet to fully comprehend for yourself. Sometimes, you wonder just how far down you could swim without your body or lungs giving way beneath the ocean's pressure, but, so far as you've been a mutant, you have yet to find that limit.Traversing further into the open Atlantic waters, the smaller fish of the bay like shrimp and bluefish give way to the bluefin and striped bass that always seem to have a constant presence. By now, your instinct is already thrumming in a low drumbeat, already knowing what you're about to do. Much like lightning, your first victim-- an unfortunate striped bass-- has no chance to react or escape, your own body running on autopilot. Claws sinking into the scaly flesh like a knife to a slab of melted butter, predatory zeal erupts in your chest from the irresistible smell of blood that paints the waters around you in a smoky sort of red.Like a rock rolling at full-speed downhill, a single bite is all it takes for that zeal to become a roaring crescendo, the bass quickly becoming limp as your sharp teeth make quick work of it. Viscera falls from your mouth in chunks and ribbons once you're finished with that prey, the remainder of its corpse being lost to the sea. All the while, your mind buzzes for fOoDPrEYfOoD--You might not have been hungry before, but, now drunk on the taste of blood and flesh, your mind, moreso than your body itself, cries for more.>(1/?)
>>5363360You don't remember the exact moment you blacked out, but, like most of the other times you've gone to feed, you find yourself awake on the ocean floor. From how dark it is beneath the waves, you can't exactly tell what time it is, but, once you swim up to the surface, you find that the edge of the sky is set in an orange glow as the first flecks of sunlight cast themselves upon the horizon. It's a little disconcerting to see the sky at such an odd hour, because you'd usually be dead to the world long into the hours of the morning, but perhaps even your inner-predator knows that your stomach has a limit and decided to call it quits early.On the other end of the sky, however, you see large clouds gathering into large, whitened puffs like marshmallows-- a sure sign that a rainstorm's going to happen-- and you think Konigsburg is long-overdue for a storm of some sort after the majority of the summer had been relatively dry. You swim back home with the pleasant feeling of fullness in your gut, the sweet aftertaste of your meal lingering like echoes.--------------------Your day of reckoning comes not even a day later, the sound of rain pitter-pattering against your windowpane.Recalling John's words, you knew it was going to happen within the next few days from your conversation, but, when Matt bobs his head out of his room with a face more serious than you've seen in a while, you get the feeling that the Anti-Maranzano convoy is well-on-their-way to New York. Eddie's program had been finished a night or two before; now you have a copy of it stored on a USB that you'll carry with you. Bernard had already left to bring the Healer and Boleski to the warehouse, leaving you and Matt to get your own selves ready to go.You don't know what you were expecting from Matt's new suit, but, where his old suit was made out of a thick sort of fabric that made moving in the summer heat nigh-unbearable, Matt's new suit is far more streamlined than his old one, appearing to be far more moveable and breathable overall. It tells you that Jenna both improved in her suit-making and put a lot of thought into the new design. Quite frankly, you're really impressed, enough that you can't wait to see what she made for Bernard.>(2/3)
>>5363364"Oh wow, that's amazing!" You exclaim, unable to help yourself from vocalizing your admiration of the new suit."Same amount of storage space with half the pockets." Matt grins, evidently proud of his new digs, and, just because he can, he flexes right into the hallway mirror. Matt loads all manner of gear into his belt, including a couple of guns on a holster that you wouldn't have otherwise noticed that was built right into the belt. While it's obvious that Matt will have a far easier time retrieving Eddie's body, you know he's never one to go under-prepared, but you're pretty much left staring at the ceiling until he's done.However, the sound of Matt's voice, coupled with a very-familiar, yet-ominous aura brings you back to reality."You might want to take this with you, by the way." He says, holding up a small box, the one that contains the Aurum Impulsum, and you're not sure what to say because all that stuff has done is cause other mutants grief in its brief yet terrible existence. "If one of you gets seriously hurt, it's the best chance you have at getting everyone out alive." Matt continues, seeming to sense your apprehension. "Aurum Impulsum does way more than just alter mutations, FYI.""What about the memory loss and the mental problems?" You point out. "I don't want to make any more people like that." "Either that, or, you know..." Matt need not say the consequence. "But don't think of it as something you 'have' to use on anyone-- it's more like an insurance in case things really do go to shit. Like someone's on-the-verge-of-dying kind-of insurance.""Hmmm..." You're still not too sure about it. So far as you've seen of Aurum Impulsum, all it has served to do is bring grief to anyone who's used it. Boleski, Julia, and even the Crux girls are all prime examples of that, and they will all be marred forevermore as a result of the procedures they'd undergone. Though, if it were a choice between keeping someone alive or letting them die, for you, the choice would be a no-brainer.>You'll take one dose with you-- better not to put all your eggs in one basket.>A little excessive, in your opinion, but you'll take both doses.>You'd rather not take that stuff with you if you can help it. You can get by without it. >Ask Matt another question about the Aurum Impulsum (What?)>Write-in>(3/3)
>>5363374>>You'll take one dose with you-- better not to put all your eggs in one basket.
>>5363374>You'll take one dose with you-- better not to put all your eggs in one basket.
>>5363374>>You'll take one dose with you-- better not to put all your eggs in one basket.It's kind of what I suggested
>>5363378>>5363382>>5363396>>5363415>One doseCalled! Writing!
Yo. Update's taking way longer than expected and I can't find it in me to push it, so I'm just going to finish the post tomorrow. Take this quick apology doodle in picrel in the meantime!Thanks a bunch for your patience! Until next time!
Writing (again)!
>>5363445Looking from Matt to the box of Aurum Impulsum in his hold, that ever-present aura of wrongness emanating from its container, you want as little to do with the infernal substance as possible. In a direct contradiction to that train of thought, almost-robotically, you take it from his hold because, on the other hand, it's Aurum Impulsum that could mean the difference between life or death for your own comrades. The snapping open of the container feels like the only noise in the room, but, regardless, you take one of the vials in-between your claws as well as the syringe to put them in your utility belt. "Keep the other dose," You push the box back into his hands; you have more than enough faith in the others not to need both of them. No matter, the Aurum Impulsum feels like a lead weight among the few things you have within your belt, so you do your best to ignore it for the time being."B should be here any minute..." Matt says, rising to his feet. Just as the last word falls from his tongue, a flash of green fills the living room."Hey guys! You ready?'" Bernard has arrived to take you guys to the warehouse, but he quickly takes note of the grim atmosphere that has overtaken the living room. "What's everyone lookin' so down-in-the-dumps for?"Zeroing in on the blonde-- or, more specifically, the new suit he's wearing-- you ignore the question, getting off of the couch to take a closer look."I thought green was your favorite color..." You weren't sure what you'd expected for Bernard's new suit, but you find yourself pleasantly surprised as you look him over."It is, but Jenna thought I'd look good in red-- and she was right!" He responds with a lopsided grin. "Do I not look awesome? Fantastic even?" He strikes a heroic pose for emphasis. "Jenna sure has an eye for this stuff." You remark, grabbing one of his arms to admire her handiwork. As opposed to the green-accented scheme he had first worn, the blonde had traded that color for a dashing red. It's a good change, in your opinion, along with the boots and gloves that were added along with it. In any case, just like Matt's suit, Bernard's suit seems to be way higher quality overall."Um... fish?" Bernard questions, strained face taking on a similar shade to his suit. You don't know why at first, but it quickly dawns on you that you'd been squeezing the blonde's bicep and not his actual suit material. Though you hadn't really realized what you'd been doing for the past few moments, you have the overwhelming urge to run out of the room to escape the embarrassment that fills your chest like hot smoke."G-Great suit!" You all-but-shout, trying to play that off. Mortified, you refuse to look at either of the guys' faces, so all you can do is hope they bought that."Can we go?" Matt drones, getting slightly impatient. >(1/2)
>>5364160"Y-Yeah-- let's!" Bernard's voice, too, is a touch too loud as he grabs onto the two of you, and, with that, the three of you have arrived at the warehouse."Dzień dobry," Boleski greets the three of you with a curt wave, sitting atop one of the crates. Unlike the Healer, all Boleski is wearing are a pair of thick, military-style pants and boots, since the winged mutant doesn't get much choice in the realm of clothing variety."H-Hi! You must be Bludgeon!" The Healer greets, rushing up to the three of you. Instead of her usual medical garb, she's dressed in all-black with a form-fitting turtleneck and leggings, clutching at a baton she'd brought along, but she looks no-less prepared to steal back Eddie's body."Hi?" Matt is put-off by the Healer's over-enthusiasm, or is that nervousness? You're not really quite sure. "Name's Bludgeon." He holds out a hand for her to shake."B-B-Bludgeon! Right!" If not for Matt's own musculature, the Healer might've torn off his shoulder from the force of her handshake. "C-Call me Healer!" She tells him, once she rescinds her vice-grip on your brother."You're going to need one of these--" He tells her, reaching behind one of the crates so he can toss a sizable, grey object to her."A b-b-bullet-proof vest?!" She stammers, holding the vest up to examine it."Don't worry, lady, it's just in case since you're not a power type mutant. Even Pharos wears one." Matt makes a motion to the brainwasher-in-question."Who?" She scratches her head, the name of the former Crux leader eluding her. "I don't need one of those-- I can heal us!""Not if you're in shock, you won't..." Matt mutters, crossing his arms."Finefinefine--" The Healer acquiesces, quickly shouldering it on before considering something. "Say..." She drawls, putting a finger to her chin. "You seem to know your stuff.""That I've been told..." Matt nods. "Why don't I introduce you to Ermac and we can get going..." With that, the two of them disappear so the Healer can get acquainted with Eddie.Now it's just you, Bernard, and everyone else you managed to shanghai into this mission. Evidently, the five of you are more-than-ready to get this show on the road, suited and geared-up to-the-nines!Is there anything you want to say/do before you get moving for real?>Nah, let's just get going! A mission is always a mission, and this one's no different.>Do a quick run-over once more to make sure everyone's on-board with the plan.>Write-in>(2/2)
>>5364174>Do a quick run-over once more to make sure everyone's on-board with the plan.Got a lot of goofballs on this mission which means there's a lot of opportunities for it to go pear-shaped. Best make sure everyone knows to do and to STICK WITH IT! No second chances!
>>5364174>>Do a quick run-over once more to make sure everyone's on-board with the plan.
>>5364200>>5364187>>5364185>This is the plan and you better stick with it!! Pardon the wait-- some stuff came up and couldn't get out of it! Writing!
>>5364174Brothers we definitely have a new ship on the horizon>>5364362seems like I missed the vote, but no biggie
>>5364526Nope, not sailing that. She's too old for Matt
>>5364526>>5364538Damn right! I wouldn't sail that either, my brothers. Picrel.Healer's one hell of a social-weirdo though, as it's been seen throughout the threads, and this IS her first, actual field mission, hence the nerves.Plus the added nerves that she might be recognized from elsewhere...
>>5364362A brief refresher on the plan is definitely in order so you know that everyone's on the same page.Although you've gone through this it at least once with everybody and as much as you're itching to get this whole thing over and done with, it doesn't hurt to go through the plan once again. That way, any possible hiccups will be minimized, since everyone will have the general outline of said plan fresh in their minds."Alright, everyone, here's the rundown of the plan..." You start to grab your comrades' attention. "First, we're going to go to the data center to destroy their computing systems with this--" You hold up the USB disk containing Eddie's code. "The data center is in a separate building from the main complex, but it will definitely be guarded like the rest of FutureLabs.""Obviously..." Valjean glowers, rolling his eyes.Pointedly ignoring him, you continue. "If we get that done right, we'll have destroyed all of FutureLabs' major computing systems..." And, if what Eddie was telling you is true, the five of you will have little resistance from FutureLabs' electronic security measures. "Then we'll head to the containment center and release as many mutants as possible. We got Boleski's keycard, and I'm pretty sure more than one of us are capable of getting through those doors without it." You spare a glance to Bernard and Julia. "More is better, but the goal is to have most of FutureLabs' security scrambling while we look for Conduit.""And if he's not in his cell like you think he is?" Valjean brings up the most prominent of your concerns. "Then we're going to have to comb the building, and, from what the midget was saying, FutureLabs isn't small, not to mention Atticus Charles won't be handling us with kid-gloves either." "Last I checked, there were five of us, jackass," Bernard argues. "Kelpie and I did it, and we made it out scot-free." Well, that's partially a lie; in truth, you'd ended up with a bullet in your leg at the end of that jaunt, and, had you not had your regenerative factor, you would've been screwed. "If danger, I kill..." Boleski says, eyes glinting dangerously. The look on his face tells you he'll definitely follow through with those words if things go haywire."Now 'that's' a good attitude," Valjean grins, pointing a finger to the winged mutant. "But if Conduit is as important to their grand master plan as we think, then we'll also have to consider that they might be a bit more proactive in keeping him away from the danger once they actually realize we're not actually there just to cause a prison riot."While Valjean's been a douchebag throughout the entirety of the conversation, as much as you hate to admit it, he brings up some pretty good points. "We'll just have to be faster than them," Julia says, fully certain of herself. >(1/2)
>>5364710"So is everybody good?" You ask because, at this point, you just want to get going. A chorus of varying affirmatives is your response."No pressure if we fail. We'll just be on the run for the rest of our natural-born lives," Valjean jibes, sporting a wide, sarcastic grin. "I say we all change our names and run away to Amish country." He suggests, causing Julia's face to scrunch in silent horror. "Or Warrenton-- I hear they got a pretty nice mutant community.""Fat chance, jackass." Bernard fires back."To gówno," Boleski grunts, not sounding remotely amused at that prospect."Okay, enough fartin' around--" Bernard speaks up again, far more serious than he was a few seconds ago. "Let's get goin,' guys!With no better time than the present, the five of you gather around Bernard. In a flash of green, you're taken from the dry, somewhat-humid warehouse to the rainy outskirts of FutureLabs.... or, to be more precise, its data centerYou're just outside the gates atop one of the higher, rocky outcroppings that sit a good distance away from the place. The rain is falling much harder than before, and-- with the uneven, slippery rocks beneath your feet, had your crew not been mutated or well-trained, you're sure you'd all be taking nosedives straight into the bay."Phew--" Bernard breathes, looking like he's about to double over. "Never teleported that many people at once... well, at least big adults. Man, that was far..." He says more to himself than you."You gonna make it?" It'd be no good if he checks out before the mission even begins."Yeah!" Bernard nods. "Just don't think I can do that more than a couple of times with everyone."Reasonable, you think, considering FutureLabs is a good ways away from the warehouse, and, while it's easy for Bernard to teleport with just you and Matt, teleporting such a distance with five adults must be pushing it a bit. For now, Bernard seems okay.Below, you see the large, square building that must be the data center. Like everything else that belongs to FutureLabs, the structure is a shiny, alabaster white, the only deviation from that color being the familiar, blue logo of the place plastered on the front of it.There are few, if any, windows, but, from your vantage point, you can see an entrance on each side along with two sidewalks that you assume lead to other entrances. While you have yet to see any goons about, save for a couple some distance away from the building, you're sure there are more lurking around somewhere.How to approach this... how to approach this... You think, a hand rubbing your masked chin.>How do you want to go in?>Go through the roof>Go through the back entrance>Go through one of the sides>Go through the front>Write-in>Possessions (Yours):>x1 Dose Aurum Impulsum + Needle>x1 USB>x1 Boleski keycard (Level 3: Clearance)>X-Force Status: En-Route/Possibly at NYC>(2/2)
>>5364754>>Go through the back entrance
>>5364754>>Go through the roof
>>5364754>Go through the back entrance
>>5364761>>5364794>>5364828>Through the back!>>5364768>Through the roof!Looks like going through the back wins out! Gonna need a roll here for encounters, folks, so roll me some 1d100+15 (+5 Element of surprise, +10 Squad synergy)!!! Best of three-- you know what to do!!!
Rolled 40 + 15 (1d100 + 15)>>5364952+10 from squad synergy, I love to see it. Can we spend time training that up in our free time in the future?
Rolled 67 + 15 (1d100 + 15)>>5364952
Rolled 75 + 15 (1d100 + 15)>>5364952
>>5364962>>5364971>>5364979HIGHEST ROLL: 90!I don't think I have the time to grind out the next update-- that, and I have to go into my documents so I can brush up on my notes for this arc.With that, I'll be checking out for the night! On that note, we'll continue in the afternoon tomorrow. Might have plans then (unless my ride flakes) , but we'll see how it goes...For now, take this pic that didn't quiiittteeee make the cut (if only for the fact that I didn't have enough words to go with the pics). Thank you all for playing, and see you next time!>>5364962Sure-- usually training/stuff that builds synergy happens behind-the-scenes and/or is glossed over to keep the plot moving (and, sans Boleski, we have spent several arcs/threads fighting with the same people-- though Boleski *was* part of a team himself when he was with Maranzano), but that can surely be provided as something to focus on in the future.
>>5365015Well if it's building in the background that's fine. I appreciate not having to spend precious time on those kinds of activities. But it's nice to know that if things look tough we can do extra prep.
>>5365015Guess what, you fools?! My ride did flake :DDDDDSo I made all that hooplah over nothing. ANYWAYS, it's time to morb write!!!>>5365040Yep, and I don't think I have the attention span to go training-session-by-training-session cause, for me, that'd kind of be like pulling teeth-- we probably wouldn't have even reached the Miller-Ford Arc if I were that kind of QM.But I prefer plot, ACTION, and the cool stuff!!! Of course, as I said before, if there's some sort of specialized training that you guys want to focus on, it's always on the table... I just might not go into every excruciating detail since the next thread will likely be after Christmas and I have no clue how far we'll even get into this arc by the time I end the thread..I should probably make some sort of bonus page in the pastebin or something when I'm not being lazy, but, like I said earlier, most of the bonuses we do have ARE a result of the implicit training/stuff/etc. that I basically gloss over.
>>5365609I definitely prefer training to be a background activity. Even if we vote for specialized training I'd want it to take place off panel, so to speak.
>>5365609Muscles tensing like a lioness on the hunt, you make a motion to the others to wait for your signal. With no better of a moment than here and now, you leap down from the outcropping with the stormy wind whistling in your ear, your own departure enough of a cue for the others to follow suit.Your body's in free fall as you aim yourself towards the back end of the data center-- a nigh-perfect blindspot whose entrance points towards the bay. Rocks and pebbles fly all around you as your body makes impact with the ground, and, just around the bend, you can sense at least a couple of goons.Bernard, however, is already ahead of you, having already downed one of them, and you round the corner to find the second guard flying into the ground, courtesy of a swift punch to the jaw.Valjean and Julia aren't far behind, the latter impaling one of the security cameras with her crystalline spikes. The next one becomes a heap of greenish, metallic sludge, courtesy of Boleski's acid. When he lands, he wastes no time in relieving both of the goons of their weapons, not having any of his own."If you wanted a gun, you could've asked," Valjean says to the other man, cocking his own tranq-gun. "Nie ma sprawy," Boleski brushes him off.In a mere matter of seconds, the five of you have the back entrance cleared. Not too far off, you sense more guards, but, since they don't seem to be coming your way, you're pretty sure they didn't hear the commotion. While Eddie said this would be the easier of your two tasks, you're sure it's only a matter of time before any other security realizes what's up, and you don't have any clue what the inside of the building will be like."A retinal scanner. Nice." Valjean whistles before turning to Bernard. "Blink, can you get us all in?" He asks, well-aware of the teleporter's limits."Two feet? That's nothin.'" You don't think this should be an issue for the blonde. The real issue had been teleporting the five of you halfway across Konigsburg.No matter, all of you place a hand on Bernard, and, in a flash, the five of you end up in the narrow, whitewashed foyer that had been just beyond the double doors. With the only way being forwards, the hall opens up to a reception center with a lone receptionist who'd clearly forgotten she had a job to do, neck-deep in a tabloid magazine, but, once she notices the five of you, the expression on her face becomes one of horror, obviously not expecting a surprise visit from some of the Konigsburg's most notorious mutants.Sorely outnumbered, the woman quickly drops the magazine, rushing to the other side of her desk in a desperate scramble as she clearly tries to reach for something you can't see.It's Valjean, however, who stops the woman dead in her tracks. >(1/2)
>>5365772"Arms in the air, ma'am~" Gun pointed straight at the plexiglass, his voice is shrouded in his power. While the gun he's holding is a mere tranquilizer, the woman doesn't seem to know that, slowly and shakily raising her arms into the air."Hey--" Bernard says, his teleportation behind the desk causing the woman to jump in her seat. If only because there are four more of you in front of her, she doesn't dare to turn around. "There's a panic button over here!" The teleporter informs you."Oh really?" Stepping right up to the desk, the former Crux leader reminds you of a vulture who'd found a particularly juicy piece of carrion. "Listen, ma'am, if you know what's good for you..." He drawls, the smile on his face far too wide to be kind. "You will not touch the panic button, you will not tell anyone we were here-- or that we are here..." Valjean's voice is commanding. "But you will tell us where and how to get to the data centers.""U-Upstairs." The receptionist stammers out. "They're all upstairs.""And how much security does this building have?" He questions her."We have a security center on floor two, and-- and the BioLock..." The last part is said in a frightened whisper."BioLock?" Valjean repeats. "How does that work?""I-I-I really don't know-- I'm just a receptionist." Grey eyes bore into their victim as if daring the receptionist to lie, but, under the force of Les Misérables, such an act would be impossible."She's telling the truth." Valjean tells you after a couple of moments. "Guess it's time to put you out of your misery..." "What?!" The receptionist yelps, looking on the verge of a heart attack. "But I-I told you everything!""Did I say die?" Valjean glowers. "I mean SLEEP. Sleep, dammit..." With that, the receptionist falls to the desk like a sack of bricks, dead to the world.>(2/3)
>>5365774"Man, I hate the whiny ones..." Valjean mutters, rubbing a hand down his face, before turning to you, exThen he turns to you, and, like the rest of your group, he's obviously waiting for you to make the next call. "Where to next, cannibal?">The five of you will take out the guys in the security room all together.>The five of you will split up, some of you towards the security room and some of you towards the data rooms.>Write-in>(3/3)
>>5365781>>The five of you will take out the guys in the security room all together.Bowl them over decisively to neuter their response once we're noticed.
>>5365781>The five of you will take out the guys in the security room all together.
>>5365781>The five of you will take out the guys in the security room all together.Let's start strong, shall we?
>>5365781>The five of you will take out the guys in the security room all together.Hopefully this mystery BioLock can be a group effort
>>5365785>>5365820>>5365824>>5365876>Start stronk!Writing the last update for the night![i]TEST[/i]
Yo, folks-- sorry to blueball, but feeling kind of wonky tonight for absolutely no reason. Plus I wanna go over my notes again before proceeding further into the arc (which I usually do for my own sake to keep on the ball). That, and I found something related to the quest I have little-to-no recollection of ever writing... Picrel. We'll continue tomorrow, hopefully in the afternoon. Thanks for your patience, and see you all next time, kings!
>>5366041No problem man, get your sleep in order since you have early irl stuff. >spoilerYou have my attention, qm
Back (again!)!Writing!>>5366094Can't promise it will be finished by the time I go back to school-- kind of hope it is so I have something to tide you folks over until thread #13. But now that it's coming back to me since I've brushed through it a bit, I'm pretty sure the thing-in-question stemmed from a vote I thought would happen back in thread #10 but didn't. *cough* Simon-brain-trip *coughcough*Basically what I *think* happened is that started writing bits-and-pieces for the update for that... and I couldn't find it in me to trash it. Then it blew up. Like really, really, really blew up. (I wish I was exaggerating.)No sneeki peeki unfortunately cause I want to make sure I didn't accidentally let any of my possible future plans slip, and, while I do love spouting mutant-autism, there are some cards I'd prefer to keep close to my chest.
>>5366475Taking a few seconds to think it over, you briefly considered splitting up to cover more ground. While the idea has some appeal to it, you'd rather be certain the security floor was out for the count."Let's get rid of security first." With the five of you together, you can take down the floor in one fell swoop before they can even call for backup.Taking the lead, you come to find that the first floor is very quiet– almost too quiet, in fact, save for a few administrative rooms and a staff kitchen. Even if you don’t sense anyone, sans the receptionist Valjean just put to sleep, you still are on your toes, if only for the fact that this is still FutureLabs.“If they have all this incriminating data, shouldn’t they be protecting it a little better?” Valjean seems off-put by the lack of interference thus yet. “Then again, most data centers these days are largely automated…”With nothing but the sounds of your footsteps pounding across the halls, the atmosphere quickly descends into a tense one. Like Valjean, you, too, are surprised that you’ve met nearly zero resistance. Then again, not only is this place neck-deep in FutureLabs’ facilities, but the only way it can be accessed is either going through FutureLabs’ grounds or by sea; and, even by sea, the back of the place had been blocked off by a large, metal fence.>(1/2)
>>5366566The only change-of-pace from the too-white halls is a lone stairwell, and, while going through a space with so many blind spots is just asking for trouble for your group, it’s your only way forward.“FOREIGN BIO-SIGNAL DETECTED. PLEASE STAND BY.” An automated voice bleats out when you’re midway up the staircase, causing you and your whole team to stop in their tracks. “PLEASE DO NOT PROCEED ANY FURTHER. SECURITY WILL ARRIVE SHORTLY TO ASSIST YOU.”You don’t like the sound of that. The last thing you need is a bunch of suits coming to fill up the staircase, but the red eye looking down at you doesn’t seem to give room for argument.>Wat do?>Have Boleski melt the camera/or have Julia shoot some crystals at it. Shut it up before it draws anymore attention!>Stand by. Perhaps security will come, but all-the-better if you can draw those bastards to you.>Forget that! Keep moving towards the security rooms– nothing good ever came from staying still!>Tell the others to stay back and go ahead of them since you’re the most hardy of the bunch– see what happens if you pass through before bringing everyone else in>Write-in
>>5366569>>Forget that! Keep moving towards the security rooms– nothing good ever came from staying still!I have a gut feeling if we actively attack the camera things will change from "foreign bio-signal detected" to "enemies detected red alert"
>>5366569>Have Boleski melt the camera/or have Julia shoot some crystals at it. Shut it up before it draws anymore attention!>>5366594Wouldn’t it consider the same if we move ?
>>5366662>Wouldn’t it consider the same if we move ?Fair point, but if they have an automated system smart enough to detect foreign bio signals, it's presumably smart enough to differentiate between disobedient visitors and outright attackers.
>>5366569>Have Boleski melt the camera/or have Julia shoot some crystals at it. Shut it up before it draws anymore attention!Hahaha oh noooo, camera malfunction! Whoops!
>>5366594>Forward march!!!>>5366662>>5366816>Melt/Impale FTW!Called! Writing!
>>5366854“SECURITY WILL ARRIVE SHORTLY TO ASSIST YOU.” The robotic voice intones.SECURITY WILL ARRIVE SHORTLY TO ASSIST YOU.” It’s volume hurts your ears a tad.SECURITY WILL ARRIVE SHORTLY TO–”‘Shonk–’ An ice-blue crystal impales itself where the blinking, red light is, eliciting small sparks of electricity from the camera.“That’s really annoying,” Julia mutters, her arm crackling as new crystal takes the place of the old one. However, the loudmouthed machine is not out for the count just yet. “SEcuritywillArriVE–” If Julia’s diamonds weren’t enough, Boleski follows up with a well-aimed glob of acid, the corrosion audible for everyone in its vicinity, and you’d commend the man for doing that in such a small space– but you’ll save the commendations for later when all is said-and-done.Still, why the camera hadn’t outright designated the five of you as intruders is beyond you; perhaps, as the device was so kind to tell you, it’s a camera that relies on biological signatures, rather than faces or imaging. That also means that they don’t know you’re actual intruders just yet, which is all the better; had that not been the case, then FutureLabs’ crew would likely come down upon you with fire and fury as befitting of one of the largest R&D centers on the eastern seaboard.Not wanting to wait around and find out just who might be coming for you, heading upstairs, you find that the second floor opens into a wider, more spacious corridor that, with how it leads into even more halls, seems more like a maze rather than an actual workplace.But now you’re on alert, your proprioception senses three presences up ahead from a little ways beyond the bend. Their footsteps are a faint ‘clack-clack–’ as they make their way towards your position, but it’s only a matter of time before they come your way.>Hide. Let these guys pass. With any luck, they’ll just keep running around in circles for you guys.>It’s 5-vs-3– give them the old knuckle-sandwich treatment.>Write-inForgot pic. Whoops.
>>5367007>Hide. Let these guys pass. With any luck, they’ll just keep running around in circles for you guys.Let's not lose time with a fight for now
>>5367007>>Hide. Let these guys pass. With any luck, they’ll just keep running around in circles for you guys.We should try to maintain the element of surprise for as long as we can. Once they know we're here it's gonna be one big fight the rest of the way home!
>>5367038>>5367043>Hide and SNEEKCRAP. Guess who lost track of time?!Ergo, we'll end this vote on a roll!!GIMME SOME 1D100S STAT (+10 TEAM SYNERGY). I'll take best of three, as usual!!!!
And with that, I'll check out for the night... we should continue tomorrow in the afternoon. I might have plans then, so I hope I can get at least one update out before then.On another note, since it's like mid-thread, I hope the *slight* dip in update quality over the past week hasn't been too noticeable. Otherwise, if you guys aren't thinking that whatsoever, the only person who notices is me and I'm just too hard on myself for a hobby I find fun.And I'm just putting that out there out of courtesy, but it pretty much is just a case of summer hitting harder than usual. That... and, uh, I pretty much lost any chance of ever getting a driver's license, so it's kind of left me in a funk for very obvious reasons.In any case, thank you all for your patience, and, not sure how often I say this, but I'm pretty sure I got some of the best readers on the whole board (I certainly mean it!)! With that, I'll see you all next time, kings!
Rolled 93 + 10 (1d100 + 10)>>5367119
Rolled 29 + 10 (1d100 + 10)>>5367119
Rolled 67 + 10 (1d100 + 10)>>5367127how do you lose all hope of ever getting a driver's license without being blind or something?
>>5367173>>5367268>>5367393>HIGHEST ROLL: 103!!!!Writing!>>5367393The same reason I morb every-so-often. Plus, the DMV and crappy state kind of screwed me over on that front-- not that I'm a ticking time-bomb 24/7-- but, on the other hand, I'd really hate to be the one responsible for killing someone when it could fully be prevented.
>>5367584Ngl I'm gonna come back in a few months to reread this thread and cringe at the unironic use of morb.
>>5367584Thinking quickly, you motion your four compadres into the surrounding rooms that are thankfully vacant. Though the notion of taking down this gaggle of guards is highly tempting, once they know you’re here, it will be substantially more difficult from that point onwards. As the guards edge ever-closer to your position, you hear the sounds of some heated conversation between the three of them, which works in your favor since you wouldn’t dare peek outside of the door.“--That was kind of funny when we blasted that pigeon’s brains out.” One of the guards speaks up.“No. No, it wasn’t, George.” The second one objects. “You just wanted to make it look like we were actually busy. Either that, or you’re just downright sick in the head.”“For all we know, there could’ve been a camera on that pigeon– could’ve been some sort of spy or something, you know?” “Fat freaking chance.” That comes from number two, who doesn’t believe George’s crappy excuse for one second.Well, there’s no way in hell I’m becoming a Level E employee– do you even know what they do to those guys?” George lowers his voice to a near-whisper. “Remember what happened to Joe?”“Yeahyeahyeah… Joe, schmoe– the guy was beggin’ for it if you ask me.” Number three says.“Well now he's as good as dead.” Number two chimes in. “Wonder who reported him.”“Jill probably. She’s always been nothing but a bitch. Had it out for Joe too.” George replies.“Wouldn’t expect anything less from her…” Number three tells George. “At least Carmine had some sense of reason.” While you weren’t all-that-interested in the guards’ conversation, the name ‘Carmine’ rings a bell, mainly because that had been the last name of that stone-faced blonde woman who was at the conference and had subsequently mudslinged the shit out of you and the rest of the M-Guard. You still owe her a good slap in the face for that stunt– not today, of course, but definitely when the time comes for you to cross paths with the X-Force once more.Had the X-Force weren’t in New York right now, the alarm bells in your head would be going off like mad. Thankfully, that is not the case.>(1/2)
>>5367720“Yeah, and she didn’t look like Jagga the Hutt either. Wish they’d bring her back in.” Number three’s voice brings you back to reality as he laments the loss of Carmine, who seems to have worked at this place at some point in time. “Even if she kicks our asses from here to Conneticut, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for a piece of that sweet Carmine…” “Oho, don’t let her ever hear you say that,” Number two says warningly. “She’d never let you get away with ‘that’ kind of comment.” At that, the trio descends into a chorus of laughter.Soon enough, the sound of chatter and footsteps becomes far enough away that you deem it safe enough to remerge from your hiding spots.“That was… enlightening.” Valjean says lowly, shooting a glare in the direction the guards disappeared.“And they call us weirdos.” Bernard adds just as quietly, sticking his tongue out in distaste. “Come on.” You’d rather not dawdle if you can help it. Traversing through the maze of hallways, you and your group err on the side of caution as you're caught between avoiding guards and destroying the lone cameras that seem to be placed in the most inconvenient of spots, as doing so is only a matter of sneaking into said cameras' blind spots and having Julia or Boleski do their thing.>(2/3)
>>5367727While you’re pretty sure FutureLabs made this place a maze to deter possible intruders, the labyrinth-like layout plays in your favor because, now that you’re aware of the cameras and their existence, it’s only a matter of using the right detours to either stay out of their sights or destroy them outright.Still, you’re not sure how long you have until the guards realize that something's amiss, and you don't want to stay long enough to find out.As you follow the signs that lead to the main part of the security wing, passing by a couple of elevators, you see one that says ‘3: SERVER ROOMS’ and another that says ‘4: ADMIN.’ Mentally filing the spot away for later, you continue your trek forwards, onwards towards your destination.>Keep going straight! It'll be a straight-shot to security!>Take the by-ways! It'll be slower, but less people go through them.>Write-in>(3/3)
>>5367728>Take the by-ways! It'll be slower, but less people go through them.
>>5367720>‘Carmine’ rings a bell, mainly because that had been the last name of that stone-faced blonde womanMan, I forgot she had a name. Does her partner also have one ?>>5367728>Take the by-ways! It'll be slower, but less people go through them.
>>5367728>>Take the by-ways! It'll be slower, but less people go through them.
>>5367756>>5367767>>5367770>Take the by-ways!Called! Writing!>>5367767Yeah it's been a while since her last mention, but I got a whole page on the X-Force in the pastebin (it's the FutureLabs Mutant Staff Files); the guy who you're thinking of is Otto Sommers-- and here's the OG pic I still have of him, since I forgot where the rest are. When it comes to missions, Carmine and Sommers are usually placed together for stuff that doesn't require power of either Zeus' or John's caliber-- in other words, the small stuff/recon/etc. Pretty sure she's the only one whose powers have yet to be revealed.
>>5367885Oh, the immortal guy. Btw is him like Deadpool or straight healing factor like Wolverine ?
>>5368148Jean Grey/Phoenix would be more accurate.
>>5367885Straight ahead, you see another hall leading you towards the main wing of the security, one that’s a straight shot to your destination. However, with the way the passage has few, if any, rooms to duck into, the place would basically be no better than a bottleneck, and you can only imagine what would happen if the five of you got flanked in there.Yeah, you like everyone safe and pointedly bullet-free, thank you very much…Veering right, you pass through a vestibule that leads into yet another hallway, and, with the cold, fluorescent lights bearing down on you, this hallway looks exactly the same as the last.“Hey–” Valjean hisses through his teeth, clearly having some sort of problem. “The security wing was that way.” He jabs a thumb back in the direction of the other hallway.“That place was barely big enough to fit two people. Wasn’t a good idea.” You return, not seeing what the big deal about taking this kind of detour is.“Yeah, just can it and trust fish, will ya? She knows what she’s doin.’” Bernard defends your decision. “Didn’t take you along to complain.”“Didn’t come to get lost either…” Valjean mumbles under his breath. Too used to the former Crux leader’s behavior, you opt to tune him out in favor of paying attention to your surroundings.While the directions on the wall tell you to go back the way you came, attempting to reroute you back into that long, narrow hallway, you’re pretty sure that if you keep heading in the general direction of the main security wing you’ll eventually reach your destination, because, as the saying goes, all roads lead to Rome.The longer you spend weaving and edging through the halls, you begin to wonder if that had been the case at all. Or perhaps you weren’t reading the maps back there correctly?Several more minutes pass with little sign of that security wing. Should you try going back? You shake your head at yourself, because you’re not even sure you could retrace your footsteps properly in this place. Petty as it is, you’d also rather not let Valjean know he was right all along– you’d never hear the end of his mouth for that.>(1/2)
>>5368185Looking behind you to check how the others are faring, you note that while Julia is trying to keep a straight face she can’t seem to help the pursing of her lips as she glances around nervously. Beside her, Boleski’s wings are scrunched tightly against his back. Such behavior would be expected from either of the two, as both Boleski and Julia had been left irreversibly marred by this place. Moreover, if either of them remember their captivity (though it’s clear that Boleski remembers far more than Julia ever will), you’re sure that this place is evoking some less-than-pleasant memories for the both of them.“Psst–” Bernard steps forwards so he can whisper in your ear. “We lost?”You don’t answer, not wanting to give the answer to that question, but the teleporter knows you all-too-well, face falling at your silence.“Did you try sniffin’ for people or followin’ heartbeats or somethin?’” He asks hopefully.“Trying.” You emphasize. From where you stand, you can feel a cluster of heartbeats from afar that you have a feeling must be from the security wing, but, for every step you make to get closer, you feel like you’re taking two steps backwards as well.There’s more than one way to skin a cat though, which is why you won’t let such a small setback deter you. As you begin your trek forwards once more, the only sounds you can hear are the 'tap-tap-tap--' of everyone's footsteps and a faint, mechanical whirring...>Roll me three 1d100 for... reasons.
Rolled 49 (1d100)>>5368194Watch THIS
Rolled 24 (1d100)>>5368194Careful, now...
Rolled 62 (1d100)>>5368194Oh no
Rolled 95 (1d100)>>5368194
>>5368201>>5368232>>5368286>HIGHEST ROLL: 62!!!>>5368303SO CLOSE ;-;It's kind of late for me at the moment, so I'll write up the update tomorrow in the afternoon when I'm substantially more awake. As always, thanks for playing, and see you all next time!
WRITING!
>>5368760Though your proprioception is handy for helping you circumvent possible encounters with patrolling guards or busy employees, rounding the next corner has your group skidding to a halt, as you find that you’re not alone.Slightly taller than your ankles, a pair of small robots have taken their post at the entrance to the next corridor. While one looks like some sort of cross between a crab and spider (though wholly dissimilar to the odd, robot-like creatures you saw in Conduit’s dreamworld), it stares up at you with a pair of beady, red eyes. Rolling around on its arms, the second bot looks considerably friendlier than the first, its appearance reminding you of that VALL-E movie you watched ages and ages ago.What’s the most surprising of this whole encounter is that both of them move with a fluidity that you’ve never thought would be possible in such devices– you would’ve thought that robots like these were at least a couple of decades away, and yet here FutureLabs is proving you wrong on that front. If not for the fact that these robots were creations of FutureLabs, you’d almost find them cute in a weird sort-of way, but the suspicion that rises within your gut has you wary of both of these automatons.“Stay back,” You warn the others, motioning them to stay out of sight. Standing at the forefront of the group, both bots’ eyes are on you and you alone. Your motion has the movie-bot wheeling itself towards you, and, without one shred of warning, a beam of bright, red light is shined directly into your eyes. Your eyes feel pain for all-but a second, the light trailing its way down your form.“SCAN COMPLETE.” The robot speaks with a joviality that’s wholly unfitting of its workplace. “NON-HUMAN SIGNATURE DETECTED.”You blink, slightly offended at the unassuming robot, because last time you checked you were definitely a hu–>(1/2)
>>5368817No sooner than movie-bot says is the crab-spider skittering towards you with predatory intent, and, had it not been a robot, you’d think it was quite pleased by the sudden turn of events.You'd think that backing away would help you-- keep the bots away from your team- but the crab-bot moves with a speed that you wouldn't think possible for its small size, which is why you don't expect it to jump.Raising an arm to block it, the infernal bot latches onto your arm, its prong-like limbs digging straight into your flesh. Bits of flesh tear away like small ribbons as you shove the bot off of you, the bot skidding across the floor. As skin quickly seals itself back together, you watch as crab-bot gets right back up, more than ready for round-two."Hey fish--" Bernard whisper-yells. "We got trouble behind us!"Tuning your ears to the halls behind you, you hear even more mechanical whirring than you did before-- a sure sign that more robots are on the way.>Wat do?>Destroy these two and press forwards– you've beaten robots once before, so you can take them following you!>Run back the way you came– surely you can beat the ones in the back!>Try and get the bots to follow YOU-- since they seem to be after you at the moment-- and get the others to destroy them from behind.>Write-in>(2/2)
>>5368829>Try and get the bots to follow YOU-- since they seem to be after you at the moment-- and get the others to destroy them from behind.Boleski will have a blast
>>5368829>>Try and get the bots to follow YOU-- since they seem to be after you at the moment-- and get the others to destroy them from behind.
>>5368905>>5368973>Hey, ya lookin' for me?!Do you know what time it is?! It's roll time, of course!!!SO WITH THAT... ROLL ME SOME 1D100s-- to take out these bloodthirsty bots!!!Also if you got strategies/stuff, be sure to write them in!! Best of three, as always!! GO GO GO!!!
Rolled 17 (1d100)>>5369085
Rolled 35 (1d100)>>5369085
Rolled 88 (1d100)>>5369085
>>5369098>>5369122>>5369158>Highest roll: 88!!Writing!
>>5369197https://youtu.be/d0LtTi8wwNsScurrying towards you with lightning speed, the miniaturized demon in robot-form wastes no time trying to latch itself onto you for a second time, its companion following closely behind. If the robot had any self-preservation instincts, it would’ve realized that you were more than ready for it this time around. Leaping through the air with all the fury of a rabid badger, its trajectory is halted by the interception of your fist, and the demonoid robot is sent flying backwards, bouncing like a skipping stone upon the tile.Movie-bot, on the other hand, seems to have more wherewithal than its companion, scooting quickly out of sight before you can make it into scrap metal.The only thing that you can be grateful for is that the robots seem to think you’re some sort of animal and not a human, likely due to the animalistic nature of your mutation, and you assume that’s the only reason why they haven’t sent in the actual, normal calvary yet. You don’t want to find out what will happen if they scan the others. Doubling back, you find that all your companions are still in one piece; but the robots tailing them are the same kind as the one that attacked you, along with one of those wheely, white robots… or was that the same bot? You can’t be certain…Well, this is just your luck, but, if it’s a choice between these psycho-bots attacking you or the others, it’s a no-brainer for you.Again… the fact that the bots think you’re an animal and not a human nor a mutant gives you an idea. “Movemovemove–” You hiss, pushing past the rest of your team so you’re at the forefront of the group. “Someone help me destroy these things while I distract them.”“What are they?” Julia asks, blue eyes flicking to the small horde as she shoots them a look of mild distaste.“Pest control robots.” You state. “They think I’m an animal.” “Ah.” She nods in understanding. “Carry on then.”>(1/2)
>>5369295Belatedly, it dawns on you that Boleski, too, might be in danger if they mistake him for a bird, but you won’t allow that to happen on your watch.“Hey! Assholes!” You shout just loud enough for the robots to hear you, hopping around in place and waving around so they’ll sense you or something. It makes you feel like a complete and total idiot, slight embarrassment roiling in your chest, but it ends up working far, far better than you expected when, in perfect sync, about a dozen beady, red eyes have their focus set on you. “PEST CONTROL SEQUENCE ACTIVATED. PEST IN SECTOR B2.” Movie robot intones once again.Excellent…The chatter and low sound of multiple robots revving up tells you it’s high-time to book it, several sets of skittering limbs following suit. You’re not sure how many are chasing you, but you’re confident you and your team can definitely break them.‘Tsssss–’ The smell of molten metal rises fills your nostrils, a sure sign that Boleski’s at work.“Watch where you shoot that stuff,” Julia says as she runs past him, only to fire a volley of shards at the swarm.One of them makes their mark, impaling one of the bots, but Julia’s crystals are no match for the automan’s tenacity, the demon-bot remaining undeterred.“PEST IN SECTOR B1.” Movie-bot chants in affirmation.While you think Julia could take down the bots with a few more crystal shots, you think it will take way too long if you stick to that method.“Let’s bring them back towards Boleski.” You fire back to Julia, who’d been running right behind you and the swarm.>(2/3)
>>5369301“Affirmative.” Julia responds, and you wonder why she still feels the need to be so darn formal with you– but no more distractions! You’re dead-set on destroying these psycho robots– psycho robots who’ve started to take to the walls and ceilings in a desperate bid to get to you.Oh. Well… You frown, not quite expecting that.>GIMME THREE 2d100s-- one for your awesome acidic maneuver and another for not getting FRICKED by these bots!!!>(3/3)
Rolled 17, 3 = 20 (2d100)>>5369308Watch THIS
Rolled 91, 37 = 128 (2d100)>>5369308
Forgot to mention that was the last update... we'll continue in the afternoon, of course!!As always, thanks for playing, and see you all next time!
Rolled 57, 93 = 150 (2d100)>>5369308
>>5369310>>5369342>>5369559>HIGHEST ROLLS: 91, 93!!WRITING!
Yo-- something came up. Update will be delayed by 1.5 hours. Thank you for your patience!!
>>5359385Got some time and checked thread #08, no wonder she passed under our noses, like it was only possible to see the connection due to her headwear. Still, this thread gave me the impression that she got more nervous with Matt, but checking again I was taking the cougar joke too srious, kek
>>5369936>>5369852Far too stubborn to let yourself get psyched out by a bunch of metallic creetins, you opt to focus on the path ahead of you as well as getting back to the area where you’d left Boleski.“Boleski,” You say aloud, hoping that the man has stayed where he is. While you hadn’t had a need to use your comm up until this point, now you most definitely do. “We’re coming back– be prepared to destroy the robots.”“Okay,” Is the curt response you get. Hopefully, if you time this right, you won’t get hit yourself, but you and Julia are probably the two who are the least likely to get hurt if you manage to get caught in the acidic crossfire.A few, menacing chirps from behind you tells you the bots are losing their patience, if they even are capable of feeling such a thing. ‘Ratatatatatata–’ There are multiple, stinging pains upon your shoulders as a few of the miniaturized bots begin to unleash volleys of similarly-sized bullets, bothersome but not nearly hard enough to pierce skin. While bots themselves are one thing, you think the bullet-thing is a bit overkill. Then again, this is FutureLabs, and you really shouldn’t expect anything less.Spotting a doorway that you think will lead you back to Boleski, you take a sharp, right turn, the bots not nearly as deft on their wiry, spindly legs. Your intuition proves correct, as the vestibule takes you to yet another hallway, but this one carries the faint scent of burnt metal. ‘Score!’ You think victoriously because now it’s all a matter of following your nose, and it’s not long before you find the Pole waiting for you not too far from where you’d left him behind.“Skurwysyny…” He mutters distastefully, eyes locked on the bloodthirsty machines. His wings are bared as far as they can go in such a narrow space, but he looks no less ready to turn the group of bots into scrap.“Uważajcie!” Boleski shouts warningly, whatever he says being lost on you. Picking up the pace, the only thing you’re focused on is getting close enough to dodge. The bots, on the other hand, fail to recognize the danger that lies before them, following you towards Boleski like sheep to a slaughter.Boleski flaps his wings, sending greenish globs of acid flying all around you– acid that rapidly eats through anything it touches, burning through the walls, ceilings, and floors. >(1/?)
>>5370141Most importantly, however, it hits the robots, but you don’t stay and watch, instead shifting into a half-crouched run to get out of the way. A few drops of acid manage to hit your arms and exposed back as you make it behind Boleski in the nick of time, your flesh quickly sealing itself back over.In a matter of seconds, the once-pristine hallway is reduced to something that reminds you of a white-and-green hunk of Swiss cheese, and, once Boleski ends his onslaught, you turn around to survey the damage.Amid the acidic destruction is a survivor, the bot that Julia had been so kind to impale. Still trying to skitter towards you in a wobbly, half-drunken sort-of gait, the small bot refuses to give up. Just when it gets close enough, you put it out of its misery, relishing in the feel of metal crunching beneath your foot.Movie-bot, too, wheels around as if its brethren didn’t just get completely decimated. Innocently, it scoots up to you and Julia, looking curiously up at the crystalline woman before scanning her like it did to you. Julia raises her hands to her eyes, not expecting the onslaught of bright light; when she lowers them, the glare she gives the bot is one that could melt ice.“ERROR: NO SIGNS OF LIFE.” It beeps out, not sure what to make of Julia.“NO SIGNS OF LIFE.” It repeats, fully convinced that the crystalline woman is not alive. “NO SIGNS OF–” A well-placed shard to the head shuts it up for good.“I hate this place,” Julia says decidedly, her arm crackling as new crystal grows back in its place. “Let’s go find the others.” With that, she struts off in the direction where you thought you’d left Bernard and Valjean, not looking back to see if you and Boleski are following.“Bots are down. Coming back to you guys,” You speak into your comm.“Yeah, we’re comin’ towards you right now, or I think we are.” Is Bernard’s fizzly response. “We’re just pretty much followin’ where those freaky robots went, but you’ll probably find us first.”You find Bernard and Valjean waiting for the three of you at a four-way intersection between hallways, an especially-narrow one reminding you of the one you’d purposefully avoided.‘Oh shit. This is the end of the hallway, isn’t it?’ You realize, eyes trailing up to the next directory sign, which actually isn’t a directory at all.>(2/3)
>>5370143Instead, in big, blue letters is a sign that says ‘MAIN SECURITY WING:’ Beyond the double doors that lead into the sector, unlike every too-bright room you'd just been through, the area beyond their threshold seems to be cast into complete darkness. Conversely, you sense far more hustle-and-bustle than you did in the rest of the place-- a sure sign that this is indeed what you were looking for.“Well I’ll be damned…” Valjean says more to himself than you guys, not quite expecting to have reached the end of your twisted maze jaunt.As this place is a data center, you're not sure what the ratio of computer geeks to goons is, but you recall that all FutureLabs employees are given mandatory gun training. It's more than likely that everyone here here will be the shoot-first, ask questions later kind of people, which is justified given that you actually are trying to take them all down at the moment.The question is how you'll do so quick enough that you won't get the real bulk of the security called on you.Decisions, decisions, decisions...>Wat do?>Valjean’s already dressed like a goon (save for his mask). If he’s quick enough, he can head in and have them all down in one go with Les Misérables [Send someone in with him: Y/N]>Go in all-at-once and brute-force it. If it's dark in there, they likely won't realize what's up until it's too late for them. You'll have to be really, really fast here, since there's probably some goons inside.>Write-in>(3/3)
>1.5 hour delay>actually is three hoursAAAAAAAaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH>>5369998Yep. I was honestly banking on someone calling me out on it in thread #9 cause of that, but, as I say time and time again, it's always those between-thread gaps that make all the teeny-tiny details get muddled. At some point in that thread I think I just decided to slip in as many blatant details as possible just for my own lulz, like in picrel (check out the front of the Healer's shirt).
>>5370157Actually scratch that-- details meant squat with my drawing skills at that time. Damn, what a long way we've come folks...
>>5370152>Valjean’s already dressed like a goon (save for his mask). If he’s quick enough, he can head in and have them all down in one go with Les Misérables [Send someone in with him: Y]>>5370160indeed, it was basically the 1st thread after the 1st hiatus
>>5370152>Go in all-at-once and brute-force it. If it's dark in there, they likely won't realize what's up until it's too late for them. You'll have to be really, really fast here, since there's probably some goons inside.The Val plan might work out but also might get him shotPlus he's well known, I wouldn't be surprised if FL has mandatory hearing protection on some personnel
>>5370152>>Go in all-at-once and brute-force it. If it's dark in there, they likely won't realize what's up until it's too late for them. You'll have to be really, really fast here, since there's probably some goons inside.I'm not overly comfortable sending Valjean in alone or even with a bodyguard or 2. All in.
>>5370152>>Valjean’s already dressed like a goon (save for his mask). If he’s quick enough, he can head in and have them all down in one go with Les Misérables [Send someone in with him: Y]
>>5370175>Goon time! Goon time!>>5370185>>5370207>All for one, and one for all!It is now high-time to fuck some shit up...SO GIMME SOME 1d100+5s STAT STAT STAT!!! (+10 TEAM SYNERGY, -5 UNKNOWN DARK ROOM)!!! Best of three, as always!!! If you guys got an awesome approach to this brute-force, attack, write it the heck in!!!NOW GO, I SAY!! GOGOGO!!!
Rolled 35 + 5 (1d100 + 5)>>5370249Kick the fucking door into the nearest group of goons!
Rolled 36 (1d100)>>5370249
Rolled 36 + 5 (1d100 + 5)>>5370249
>>5370251>>5370276>>5370281>Highest Roll: 41Let's see if I can squeeze in one last, quick update for the night...
>>5370308It should be something special for 2 of those rolls being the same, and 1 off from all 3 rolls being the same.
Sorry folks-- gonna do that thing where I skedaddle. Might need a little extra brainpower to write the next few updates anyhow, so take picrel as an apology for now... since I ran out of Elise ones.>>5370329Maybe if it were a three-for-one I'd do it, but I gotta be fair here.
>>5370329something especially bad
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwSra5p8MDwKnow what time it is?Time to write-- AGAIN!!WRITING!>>5370372Anon... I like the way you think. Picrel.
>>5370684Standing in-between you and victory are a set of double doors– double doors that happen to require a keycard. However, with five powerful mutants versus one mere set of doors, its fate had been sealed the second you walked into the building.Sensing your intent, the others back up, far away from the path of bending metal and shattering glass. A vicious grin plastered on your face– one that would probably have everyone else questioning your sanity if they could see it– when your foot meets the metal doors, the barrier gives like thin strands of copper.With their backs turned to you, a couple of the goons who’d been at the other side of the door get caught under the metal and glass and are knocked to the floor, while another just barely gets out of the way.The darkened room beyond the halls is a two-floored office that, as you kind of expected, is filled to the brim with hunched-over geeks typing away at their computers. However, the resulting cacophony you caused is enough to have all forms of work grind to a staggering halt, all occupants in the data center whipping their heads straight to you. Even the guys with headsets had heard that, some of them rubbing at their glasses to make sure what they’re seeing is actually real, but nearly everyone present is too stupefied to say or do anything besides stare.While your team is waiting for your signal to charge, a familiar ‘kchk-kchk–’ noise warns you of an impending gunshot. Before the guard can even raise his weapon, you’ve already knocked him to the ground with a well-placed strike to the chin.“Oh my shit! That’s a mutant!” One geek screams the obvious.“Someone get the guards!" another shouts fearfully. That’s enough to have one particularly fearful geek springing up and out of his seat, running past cubicles to do just that. Shit.>(1/2)
>>5370774What they seem to assume, however, is that it's just you and not a whole squad of mutants and that taking you down will be a piece of cake.Like cockroaches, you see more guards slinking out of the woodwork, no doubt wanting to put a bullet into you, while some computer geeks shakily raise their own weapons at you. But you need to hurry before this really gets out of hand-- and fast!>Wat do?!>[1] Choose one:>Focus on the guards first-and-foremost since they’re the most dangerous. Take down the big guys, and the rest will easily fall.>Have you/someone else intimidate the ever-loving crap out of the guards and geeks– the geeks are already scared enough as it is, so have them so frozen in fear they won’t resist.>Take someone hostage right now! If anyone leaves the room, the hostage gets it! >Acrobatics time! Get the focus on yourself while the rest of your team takes down everyone else.>Write-in>[2] Choose one:>Go after the runner– the rest of the team can hold the line here!>Send someone else after the runner [Who?]-- stay here and help everyone else take down security!>Write-in>(2/2)
>>5370776>Focus on the guards first-and-foremost since they’re the most dangerous. Take down the big guys, and the rest will easily fall.>>5370776>Send someone else after the runner [Bernard]-- stay here and help everyone else take down security!
>>5370776>>Focus on the guards first-and-foremost since they’re the most dangerous. Take down the big guys, and the rest will easily fall.>Send someone else after the runner [Bernard]-- stay here and help everyone else take down security!
>>5370796>>5370856GREAT! WONDERFUL! Now it's that time again!!! Gonna need some 2d100s here, folks-- one for the bulk of the team and another for Bernard!!First roll gets a +5 bonus for INCOMPLETE TEAM SYNERGY (I should really make a pastebin page for the team synergy bonus)Second roll gets a +10 bonus for Bernard's speed, and need I say more there?BEST OF THREE AS ALWAYS!!And don't forget to write-in any creative strategies/whatnot for either of the rolls!
Rolled 96, 28 = 124 (2d100)>>5370892I guess you're adding the bonuses yourself then afterwards?
>>5370895
Rolled 59, 55 = 114 (2d100)>>5370892THIS WATCH
Rolled 64, 23 = 87 (2d100)>>5370892
>>5370892>HIGHEST ROLLS: 101, 65!!!Writing!
>>5370966The guards run towards you with such bold confidence that it’s almost laughable. What they don’t seem to realize is that no one in their right mind would ever come into this place alone.Did they really think it was going to be that easy? For a second, you think they probably did.That’s why, when the rest of your team bursts into the room in all of their glory, it makes the goons stop in their tracks. Meanwhile, the somewhat-braver geeks, who’d thought it was a good idea to raise their weapons at you, are now shaking in their sweater vests and pocket-protectors, but they’re not the ones you’re going after.“B, there’s a guy running for the exit!” You point in the direction the runner went. Bernard, without the help of your nightvision would struggle to find the straggler, but there’s enough light from the horde of computers to highlight the runners’ silhouette amid the confusion.“On it.” In a flash, he’s gone, leaving the guards to the rest of your team.The befuddled goons don’t get a chance to recover from their shock, as the four of you who are left over make your descent upon them. Diving forwards with calculated precision, you greet your first victim by pinning them down, far too fast for them to even react. Julia does the same, albeit slower than you in the dark, and switches between knocking guards out and firing her shards at them.Valjean and Boleski take turns shooting down guards with a mix of tranquilizers and acid, the latter having taken position in one of the rafters. You’re surprised he can even find room to fly in this office, but, if there’s anything you’ve learned about the man in the short while you’ve known him, it’s that he’s highly adaptable.You suppose all mutants have to be in their own ways, otherwise you’d all have little-to-no-chance of survival.Between the darkness and mass panic, it’s hard for any of the goons to draw a bead on any of you, and the ones who manage to shoot anything at all shoot into total darkness. Every so often, you have to check if anyone’s trying to make a break for it, but, with the fire of bullets and powers alike, it would be highly difficult for any of the civilians to make it through the room without getting caught in the crossfire.When the last goon is finally downed and the proverbial dust settles, you're left with two floors worth of computer geeks staring at you and you're group like you just walked out of some 'P. H. Lovecraft' novel.Apparently, these guys have never seen a mutant before, have they?“So what do we do with all these guys?” Julia asks, crossing her arms at the villainous Nerd Squad.“Allow me.” Valjean says, taking the pistol from his holster, and it's not the tranquilizer pistol-- it's the actual pistol.Wait what?!>(1/2)
>>5371155While you know that he’s not going to kill any of the innocent bystanders, you have to blink a few times as you wonder what he's up to, because there's a look in Valjean's eyes that gives you just the slightest hints of doubt. Coupled with the predatory grin that’s spread from ear-to-ear, it tells you that this is going to be anything but good.Your body is filled with the urge to move– the urge to intercept him– but, before you can do so, he fires a few gunshots into the air.“Here’s my ultimatum!” Valjean yells loudly, punctuating his words with another few gunshots. “You guys will listen to what I, the most wanted villain in Konigsburg, has to say, or all of you get it!” With that, he lowers his weapon to point it around the room, enough that everyone’s either paralyzed with fear or has ducked behind some table. Still, everyone’s waiting on him to see just what Valjean has to say. A few seconds more just to leave them all in suspense, then Valjean finally addresses his captive audience with the simple command. “Sleep~”With that word, each and every last computer geek in the room drops to the ground like snoozing flies. “That was the most hammy thing I’ve ever seen you do.” Julia tells him with a hand on her hip.“Then you should've seen me in my heyday. Ham was my middle name.” Valjean responds before putting his pistol back in his holster. >(2/3)
>>5371162“Yo Kelpie, got the straggler.” Bernard’s voice fizzles into your ear. While you don’t know what took him all that time for a single straggler, you’re just glad he got the job done. “Comin’ back now.”With that, he reappears back where you guys came in, yet another unconscious geek in tow. “Wow. Everyone looks dead here.” Bernard whistles, surveying the comatose crowd. “This your work, jerkface?”“That it is.” Valjean grins haughtily, as if he took down the whole room on his own. But you don’t care– he can be haughty all he wants cause he’s still going back to the warehouse later!“That reminds me…” He mutters, crouching down to one of the knocked-out goons to pick off one of their walkie-talkies. “Reporting. Yeah, it was another Code Tango alright. Affirmative…” Valjean nods. “It’s all taken care of.”“What’d you just tell them?” You wonder if he actually knows what he’s telling the other goons or if he’s just spouting random bullshit. “I said that someone went postal. Works every time” He informs you. “Happens pretty often in this place. Not really surprised, honestly.” As for why Valjean knows their codes, you reason that he picked them up from his time as Sopor.It’s then that Boleski reappears with a mess of different-colored keycards, one red, one ice-blue, and other green, holding them out for you to take. “Good thinking, Boleski,” You praise his quick-thinking, because you didn’t really consider that this building might’ve required different key cards than those of the main building, and, had you not known that, who knows what kind of problems you might’ve run into further down the line. Nonetheless, each card goes into your new utility belt in the same place where you’ve been keeping Boleski’s card this whole time.With the bulk of security down for the count, the building is basically yours, as is the innumerable wealth of data that FutureLabs has stored within it. All you have to do now is destroy it, and destroy it you will.The question is how will you proceed from here?>Wake up some random geeks and goons– see if there’s anything about the admin/server rooms you should know about!>Head to the server room– all the servers are in there!>Head to admin– that sounds the most important! You should be heading there!>Write-in>(3/3)
>>5371183>Head to the server room– all the servers are in there!we can check out admin after we kill their electronics
>>5371183>>Head to the server room– all the servers are in there!
That's it for the night-- hoping to get out of the damn server building tomorrow. Even though rushing is a thing I don't usually do, that's at least my ambition. I REALLY WANNA GET TO THE GOOD SHIT BEFORE I GO BACK TO SCHOOL AAAAAAAAAAAaaAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH *clears throat* I mean... I bid you very wonderful readers a good night :-)We continue in the afternoon. As always, thanks for playing, and see you all next time, kings!
>>5371155who's the guy who did picrel ? nice work>>5371183>Head to the server room– all the servers are in there!
>>5371205>>5371208>>5371210>>5371281>SERVERSWriting!>>5371281Most people I do art trades with are pretty much art-trading anons. I do try to give credit to the original artists when and where I can, but 90% of the stuff I have in my trade folder is pretty much anonymous work, though I have pics that I know are by the same anons just on their styles alone (like that one really good pic of John and the one of Elise with a spear, for example).That Sopor one was probably one of the first really, really good trades I ever got-- had that one for a good, long while. I think the artist drew him punching Batman cause he said he looked like a Batman villain. Made me laugh like a loon that day-- I definitely gotta make a new Pharos ref when I got time, but I'm currently working on a new one for Bernard atm while trying to teach myself how to draw good drapery. I need a better refsheet for Elise as well!
>>5371723There will be a slight delay-- got some errands to run and hopefully they won't take that long! Thanks for your patience!
>>5371723With nothing left for you to do here in the security wing, you reason that it’s best to book it to the server room ASAP, because that’s where all the data is of course!Making your departure from the ransacked security room, you wonder how much time Valjean bought for you back there and just how much longer you might have before someone realizes that something is indeed amiss.Perhaps this would have gone a whole lot faster if Eddie gave you more info on this building in the first place instead of having the five of you figure it out for yourselves. Then again, he did spend a large portion of his time as one of Atticus Charles’ unwilling lapdogs– Clyde’s as well. If that’s the case, then the technopath likely knows as much as you do.Eventually, you and the rest of your team find yourselves back at the elevators you spotted before– the ones that would take you to either admin or the server rooms– and, like everything else in this building, the elevator also requires a keycard. Looking among the three cards Boleski picked up, you’re not sure which one is the safest bet, because one wrong move could have security on your trail in the blink of an eye.As you stand there deliberating over the keycards and trying to decide which one is the least likely to get the armed cavalry sicced on you, it’s Boleski who motions for you to give him the keycards. Doing so, he takes his sweet time in examining them, holding each of them up to the light between two of his fingers.Clicking his tongue, you have to wonder if Boleski’s avian eyes see something that you don't, or could it be some FutureLabs-related knowhow that the man managed to retain? Whatever the case may be, when he swipes the blue card through the machine, nothing happens– at least not anything harmful. Instead, you find yourself pleasantly surprised that the keycard was somehow correct, the metal doors sliding open. Once you’re all packed into the smallish elevator, squeezed together like a bunch of sorry sardines, you find yourself counting the seconds until the door opens once more with another sharp ‘ding.’What lies before you is a large, open room filled with– you guessed it– servers, and nothing but. Walls and walls of servers are organized in perfect rows, filling the room with a soft, blue glow that almost reminds you of Eddie’s signature color. In fact, there are so many of them that they end up blocking out the other end of the room from your sight. >(1/2)
>>5371946The sound of humming machines and whirring fans filling the room, likely to keep all of these servers from overheating. While you're not all-that-interested in the inner-workings of computers, it's kind of impressive in a way, and you think it must be no small feat to keep these things up-and-running at every waking moment.Very soon, however, each and every last server in this room will be no better than a horde of oversized paperweights, millions (or perhaps even billions) worth of dollars worth of tech, equipment, and research data becoming worth next-to-nothing at your fingertips. And you will manifest that ambition straight into reality. With four expectant gazes pressed into your back and a presumably-limited timespan, the pressure is indeed on.>Wat do?>Try to find a central server or something around here-- if there's a whole bunch of them, there's gotta be one that's more important than the others somewhere in the mix.>Look around and try to get a better clue of what you're dealing with before you try to find anything else.>This room is BS-- get you and your team to 'ADMIN' right now.>Write-in>(2/2)Big apologies, folks-- stuff ended up kind of snowballing on my end. Hopefully no more interruptions for now!
>>5371983>>Try to find a central server or something around here-- if there's a whole bunch of them, there's gotta be one that's more important than the others somewhere in the mix.And of course destroy every other piece of equipment after destroying the central server.
>>5371983backing >>5372028
>>5372028>>5372123>CENTRAL SERVERI'm gonna need some rolls here. No questions-- JUST DO IT.Best of three, of course! Now GO!
Rolled 52 (1d100)>>53721331d100s I assume?
>>5372150Oh crap! I really must be off my game today!! But yes! 1d100 it is!
Rolled 38 (1d100)>>5372133
Come on, someone give us a third roll and save us from mediocrity.
For the sake of saving time, feel free to roll again!
Rolled 52 (1d100)>>5372133
>>5372274>>5372164>>5372150>Highest Roll: 52Writing!
>>5372150>>5372164>>5372274Was away and only got home nowish. seems like I missed the vote and we got another pair !
>>5372298The only way you’re going to crack a few eggs here is if you break some shells first, meaning that you’re going to have to actually look if you want to find something important here, and there has to be considering the sheer amount of servers present.In a way, it’s kind of like a giant, electronic beehive because, if there’s a whole mess of these servers storing, collecting, and transferring FutureLabs’ data, then there has to be a central server or something along those lines managing it all. While you kind of wish Matt was here to give you some computer-related knowhow, he’s busy with his own work. At this point, you wonder if he’s even made it to Vitello Hospital. While you technically don’t need a car for yourself, the traffic in this city can get rough even at the best of times, but you shake your head, continuing to press further into the thick of the electronic forest.—--->Meanwhile, back in the city…Your name is Matt. Matt Martins, and you sure as hell have your work cut out for you.Currently, you’re in some nondescript white van that you acquired by less-than-legal means. In other words, you freaking hotwired it, and you’re going to do the same to another, unsuspecting car in about a couple of hours, right after you steal back Eddie’s body from Vitello Hospital like the awesome bastard you are. Right now, you’re only about halfway to Vitello, even though you left a freaking hour-and-a-half ago. Fingers tightening around the steering wheel, you huff a long, deep breath out of your nostril. Resisting the urge to beep at the guy is a feat in-and-of-itself, but you gotta hold your cover for now. Sparing a glance to your current partner-in-crime, the elusive, yet loudmouthed Healer as you’ve come to find out, you wonder if you should’ve given your job to someone else instead of listening to this woman talk your ear off for the whole damn car ride.(You preferred the awkward, stuttery Healer, if you’re being frank.)“--so then I punched her straight in the face!” The Healer shouts, far-too-giddy for your liking. You weren’t really listening to the rest. “And that’s basically how I got fired from my old job as a nurse. Good times…” >(1/?)
>>5372476A much-appreciated silence settles over the van, and, soaking up the silence like a piece of metal out in the burning sun, you relish in the small mercy that is the peace and quiet.“So how’d you get into the hero biz?” The Healer asks, turning in her seat to look at you.“Didn’t have much of a choice.” You grunt out an evasive reply, even though you were the one who came up with the idea in the first place after FutureLabs’ band of suited dumbshits tried to kidnap Ellie. There was no way in hell you were going to let them get away with that!“Lady, can we not do our whole life-story thing right now? Trying to get out of this shithole, and I’m not trying to be an ass here; but I really need to focus on the road…” You say pointedly, not wanting to get into your tragic backstory with someone you only met a couple of hours ago.At your words, however, the Healer looks abashed, no better than if you just up and slapped her.“Alright, alright! I’m sorry– it’s just I like listening to what other people have to say.” She stammers out, slinking as far down into the passenger seat as she possibly can. ”I wasn’t trying to b-be a bother or a-anything!”“...no big deal.” You mutter, keeping your eyes on the road and not on the woman who looks ready to burst into tears. You really wish you were back at the farm right now. Cause farm means Jenna. That, and there's only the sweet sounds of nature to be heard.But frig. Now you feel kind of bad for blowing up at this weird, possibly-emotionally-immature woman, enough that you make the sole, biggest mistake of your life.“So how did you get into the healing business?” You ask, dread already worming its way into your gut as you brace yourself for the incoming storm that is the Healer’s chattering mouth.The Healer’s face positively lights up.—-------Your name is Elise. Elise Martins.And you really are getting tired of this stupid data center.“What are we supposed to be looking for?” Julia speaks up, crystalline gaze boring into your back.“Something important-looking.” You reply. While you don’t have a clear picture of what you’re looking for at the moment, from experience, it’s always something distinctive, convoluted, or out-of-the-ordinary. Even without Matt’s technological know-how, that train of logic’s never failed you before, and why should it now?You ended up knocking quite a few unsuspecting engineers out along the way, their safety gear doing little to protect them from fists or brainwashing.>(2/?)
>>5372479With little to no danger present, the five of you end up splitting up into groups (except for Boleski, who takes to the air to run along the tops of the servers for the search). You and Bernard decide to work together, while Valjean and Julia stick with themselves. Every once in a while, you hop atop a server to gauge just how far you are from the other end of the room. With walls separating blocks of servers, it’s kind of hard to tell just where you are. It’s a long building, and you’re not sure how much longer you have to go; but you think you’re somewhere past the middle when you find a large, open entrance, one that says ‘SERVER MAINFRAME:’“Well what do we got here?” Bernard points to the sign that says ‘SERVER MAINFRAME:’ “Think this is it?” He turns to you.“Can’t think of anything else it’d be.” The feeling in your gut is more of a screech, and that screech is telling you to get the heck in there! But first…“Guys, we found something.” You report back to the rest of your team. No use in keeping you all separated if you don’t have to be.“Tell us where you are so we can find you.” Julia demands.“What she said.” Valjean echoes.“Poczekaj dla mnie!” Boleski barks in his mother tongue.“I’ll be on top of the servers.” You tell your crew, and, as you come to find out, the servers are slightly hot beneath your feet. At long last, when you finally have the rest of your crew back together, the five of you find yourselves standing at the entrance of the server mainframe room.“Come on so we can get out of this maze from hell…” Valjean motions to the rest of you before marching forwards. “Trust me, jerk, you haven’t seen anythin’ yet.” Bernard returns, sharing a knowing look with you. Though it feels like forever ago, FutureLabs’ claustrophobic building is something you don’t think you’ll ever forget.Stepping into the room, his foot meets a whitened plate– a plate that gives slightly beneath his step. Of course, nearly everything in this building is white, but, as your eyes linger on the place where his foot had been, you can’t help but think that the plate looks just a little out-of-place among everything else here.If the server room was techish enough, the server mainframe room looks like it was ripped straight from the future, the computer systems lining the walls casting the hall aglow– or perhaps this is a small glimpse of the stuff you’ll see everywhere someday– but you’d rather not ooh and aah over this stuff when you’ve got a job to do.Picking up the pace, your mind is set on one thing and one thing alone: reaching the end of the room, and, the longer you spend in the mainframe room, the more strongly-convinced you are that the end is surely in sight.>(3/4)
>>5372480You don’t know how far you are from that end when the cool, tealish glow of the room disappears, leaving a menacing red in its place. A loud, resounding alarm blares back in the server room, the sound muffled by the walls, but the suddenness of it makes your throat tighten a bit as your steps become slightly hesitant.“INTRUDER ALERT. THERE IS AN UNAUTHORIZED PRESENCE IN THE SERVER ROOM. I REPEAT, AN UNAUTHORIZED PRESENCE IN THE SERVER ROOM.”While you don’t want to name the culprit then and there, you have a feeling of who it might have been, as there’d been something about that funny-looking white plate that hadn’t stuck quite right in your mind. Unfortunately, Valjean, for as keen as he is, likely hadn’t even realized his mistake back at the entrance, because you can tell that the former Crux leader is just as confused as the rest of you. It won’t do to cause a fight among your teammates anyhow. Recovering from the ‘oh-shit’ moment and pushing the sounds of the alarm from your mind, you fall into a dead sprint.Rounding the corner, you find that the server room stops at a dead end, meaning the five of you will be teleporting out of here once you get this done. However, it’s at that end that you see another part of the machine that has monitors built into it.Leaping towards it like it’s a fresh kill, you skid to a stop to examine the machine for anywhere that you could possibly stick the USB. “Hey fish– found a USB port!” Bernard’s voice interrupts, tearing your attention away from a vividly blue button. "Where's the USB?""Uh-I--" You stammer, stopping yourself. "You sure that's the only one? Make sure that there aren't any more." On limited time, there's no way you can screw this up. Not at all.The five of you soon find yourselves scouring the console for anything that could possibly be of use, quick as you can possibly be and meticulous as you can afford in the time you have left.However, your search turns up absolutely nothing-- just a bunch of ports that aren't USBs. All you have now are that lone USB port that everyone's practically begging for you to use and the blue button that you can't quite get out of your mind. With the pounding footsteps directly below you, FutureLabs' brigade will be here soon. Very soon indeed.It's now or never, Elise.>What do you do?>Try putting your USB in the port-- if it's right there, it has to be trustworthy!>Press the blue button! Can't be any harm in doing so!>Screw hidden stuff! Start tearing off the chassis– so long as you don't destroy anything outright, you’re sure to find a port if you dig deep enough.>Write-in>(4/4)
>>5372485>Try putting your USB in the port-- if it's right there, it has to be trustworthy!Fish is fresh and ready to end this.How’s the weekend going ?
Crap. There goes my new-school-year's resolution of actually sleeping, but this update practically wrote itself.Should specify that the thread is probably ending in less than two weeks. Maybe less. Forgot if I mentioned that already. In any case, we shall continue tomorrow in the afternoon unless I end up having plans or something. As always, thanks for playing, and see you all next time!>>5372486My weekend, you say? Pretty lazy, actually. Been fishing out pics from the old threads to revamp them, like in picrel. Trying to redraw Bernard's old school uniform for nothing but my own satisfaction of seeing something manifested into my current skill level. Quite fun, if I'm being frank. I still miss trad art like nobody's business, but I refuse to get caught like that one time again. CTRL+W > BIG CLUNKY SKETCHBOOKI still prefer the sketchbook dammit AAAAAaaAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH
>>5372498>Crap. There goes my new-school-year's resolution of actually sleepingweekends are free pass, unless you also have classes on them. Now, about the sketchbook thing I don't remember correctly, but wasn't the problem that your mom thought you were doing demonic things due to elise being a monster fish ? after that time, did you manage to talk to her that it's just a fantasy thing like myth creature or cape shit ? in case she wasn't convinced I'd tell you to draw anything but the more monsterized mutants in the sketchbook. Anyways, have a great time OP.
>>5372476>“--so then I punched her straight in the face!” The Healer shouts, far-too-giddy for your liking. You weren’t really listening to the rest. “And that’s basically how I got fired from my old job as a nurse. Good times…”"When the patient woke up, his skeleton is missing, and the Doctor was never heard from again!""Anyway, that's how I lost my medical license."
>>5372485>>Try putting your USB in the port-- if it's right there, it has to be trustworthy!
>>5372485>Try putting your USB in the port-- if it's right there, it has to be trustworthy!It always works in the movies!
>>5372485>Try putting your USB in the port-- if it's right there, it has to be trustworthy!
>>5372485>P-P-Plug it in, sempaikinda wanna press the button but if it's the power button and reboots the system we're hosed
>>5372486>>5372611>>5372668>>5372694>>5372710>USBBBBEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECalled! Writing!>>5372592kek.>>5372502Well, monster fish women aside, getting busted and trying to explain myself is not really something I'd like to go through again. Didn't really work out the last time, and it's too much trouble to explain to someone whose thinking is kind of black-and-white, and, again, I emphasize there's a stark difference between drawing mutants/monstrous things and carving certain, five-pointed symbols into your fucking floor. As for the sketchbook, it's all gestures/faceless bodies at the moment, but, still, even having *that* begs the very obvious questions, like "what are you drawing, anon?" and "what's all this for, hmmm?" But forget that! If I cared enough what other people thought, then you'd all still be getting crap-tier tegaki doodles!!!
>>5372941While there’d been some appeal to that blue button, there’s no time whatsoever to test your odds, because who knows what that blue button is actually for?Mind made, you know there’s only one option for you at this very moment, pounding boots drawing ever-nearer to your position. There’s no moment of glory as you rush to jam the USB into the slot, just your claws fumbling to get the thumb drive in there correctly, and the couple of seconds that it takes to do so feels like complete agony. A surge of triumph wells up in your chest once the thumb drive is well and truly in, but that triumph is short-lived once you pull away from the control panel, as nothing actually happens. Your claws dig into the metal, as that triumph you’d felt seconds ago becomes a permeating dread.That can’t– that can’t be it!Everyone else seems to be waiting for something to happen as well, and you don’t know whether you should pull it out and try the blue button or leave it in and do just that, because you can’t just do nothing. Your frozen indecision is broken by the sight of blue light– blue light that blossoms outwards from that USB in circuit-like patterns in all directions, sending each monitor alight in a similar color.In sync, each of them glitch and flash, innumerable lines of binary code rushing down the displays like water gushing out from a waterfall.“SYSTEM UPLOADING: ONE PERCENT…” A robotic, feminine voice beeps out, code still running all the while. “TWO PERCENT…” The voice says a few seconds later.“We don’t have time for this.” Valjean growls, cocking his gun. “Where are the guards?”Focusing your proprioception outwards, you can feel quite a few have already made it into the thick of the server room. “Server room,” You inform him. “Someone needs to stay here to watch the computer.” You’re not sure who that’ll be, but you just need someone to make sure that the upload finishes smoothly.>(1/2)
>>5372990In the back of your head, your instinct’s already buzzing, clearly anticipating the goons’ arrival. “EIGHT PERCENT…”From where you stand, you can already hear the sound of boots coming to your position. You need to get moving quickly.>[A]: Choose your fighter(s)!>Just you!>You and [WRITE-IN ONE/MULTIPLE]!>All of you– the whole shebang!>Write-in>[B]: Choose your strategy!>Meet those guards at the entrance and guard the server mainframe– there’s no telling what they’ll do to you in such a tight space!>Get above ground and atop the servers and do some hit-and-run– get the jump on them before they do you!>Stay where you are and use the tight space to your advantage! They can’t all jam themselves into such closed quarters!>Write-in>(2/2)
>>5373001>You and [WRITE-IN ONE/MULTIPLE]!>Bernard>Get above ground and atop the servers and do some hit-and-run– get the jump on them before they do you!They can't jam themselves into such closed quarters, but that's why they probably have grenades or something nasty like that.
>>5373005>+1
>>5372941Wow, your mom's a cunt. I know it all too well, because I've lived and am living through similar. If you cannot move out or kill her, then your only recourse is to endure it and manipulate the fuck out of her to eventually leave you be, with only enough understanding reaching her normalcy-obsessed brain to consider what little she knows you are doing as both socially acceptable AND positive for you as a person. Or something like that.
