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>What is this quest?

Alchemical Blade Prequel Quest, a quest set in the Modern version of Creation from the Exalted setting, focusing on how the robotic Alchemical Exalted came to be within the setting. If you love hints of Cyberpunk and high action quests, then you may enjoy this quest.

>Who are we?

The quest is mainly going to be played out in flashbacks, in which during the flashbacks we take control of the Moonsilver caste Alchemical Exalted Junpaku Hibiki, while in the current time you play as “Anonymous”. The game will take place within the city of Versino within the central continent of Creation Meruvia. Labelled as a dangerous and murderous science experiment gone rogue, you need to evade forces of the mightiest army within Creation sprinkled with the powerful Elemental supersoldiers known as the Dragonblooded, trying to find out who is responsible for what you’ve become and how to escape their clutches once and for all.

>Alchemical? Moonsilver? I don’t know anything about Exalted, much less Modern Exalted...

I’ve made this quest to be as friendly to newbies as possible, and I also see it as an introductory guide to the World of Modern Exalted. You can google “1d4chan Exalted” for information on the general vanilla setting, but what I’ll be using is the Modern Version of Exalted as shown in “Shards of the Exalted Dream” book, in where its Alchemicals are quite different than those of Vanilla Exalted. Feel free to ask any question about Exalted in the thread and I will do my best to answer it.

>Archive?

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Alchemical+Blade+Quest

>System?

Dicepool system. When performing an action, everyone rolls a number of d10’s based on what the action is (I will list the pools for most actions, but if you want to have a roll for an action, ask and I’ll make the dicepool for it). The first roll is the one that’ll be used, but if someone makes another roll for a different action and more people vote for that, I’ll be using that one instead.

>This seems hella complicated, is there any way you can boil things down for me?

http://pastebin.com/NexXpPC1

>XP?

Favored Attributes cost 4 XP per dot to increase (Underlined on stat sheet when released) while non-favored ones cost 5 XP. Abilities themselves cost 3 XP per dot to increase naturally. All charms cost 6 XP per purchase with Dedicated slots costing 4 XP each and General ones costing 6 XP each. At the end of every “mission” (In game objectives set by either me or some goal the audience desires) you will be presented with a possible acquisition list of charms. Experience can also be gained by developing the character, learning about the world, or just in general things people find interesting.

>Twitter?

@Sandact6

>Where can I yell at you and your players?

https://discord.gg/wuGZxyN

>>937498
>- Talk to Mochire, he knows about the occult so maybe he can shed some light on just what the hell John Doe is.

Out of everyone in that encounter, Mochire seems to be the only one who actually understands the occult in your group, well at least currently with Osvald out of commission. Peeling yourself up off the ground, you head back down into the hotel to see where you can find Mochire.

After spending several minutes looking for him, you manage to find him on one of the middle floors of the hotel, where upon stepping into the room is like walking into the laboratory of a mad scientist or sorcerer. Telsa coils in the corners of the room arch electricity while Mochire remains in the center of the room, listening to ancient music on an old fashioned boom box while twirling a pencil around in one hand, holding an leather bound tome in the other hand.

“...I have no idea where to even begin asking.” you comment in bewilderment as you walk into the room.

Mochire places down the book in his hand and begins spinning around in the room. “Those coils are for my sorcerous experiments, this book is what I got from Tempesta, the radio I found in an abandoned antique store, Father Marcellius helped me with the desks, and I’m on this floor as right now I want to be as far away from Wendy as possible right now.”

“Yea no kidding...” you mutter to yourself.

Mochire stops spinning around in his chair for a second, turning to look towards you. “What about you? How are you holding up? Ever since you came back from that operation you appear to be rather distant. Wendy hasn’t been giving you shit since then has she?”

“No, if anything we stayed far away from each other.” you reply.

“Then what’s the problem? Are you upset about that thing she did to accuse your sister?” Mochire asks.

- “Honestly Mochire I’m not even sure what makes sense anymore.”

- “Wendy is good at rooting out snakes I admit, but it can’t be Shouko. We have no ties to the Meruvian government.”

- Other

>>938665
>- “Honestly Mochire I’m not even sure what makes sense anymore.”

[1/2]

You give a small sigh as you sit down on his desk. “Honestly Mochire I’m not even sure what makes sense anymore.”

“I know what you mean. If the same thing happened to my own family I wouldn’t even know where to begin either. Sorry, I ain’t exactly the best kind of moral support for this kind of thing.” Mochire replies.

You shake your head. “No I didn’t come to you for about that. I came to you to ask about John Doe.”

Mochire makes a small click with his tongue, lost in thought before he reaches over to turn down the stereo. “I’ve been trying to make theories of what he is.”

“Any leads?” you ask.

“I’ve asked Tempesta for advice and he gave me some of it at least. Things like John Doe ain’t exactly human, like any other supernal they’re capable of amazing feats with trivial ease, but they’re also capable of various kinds of reality manipulation.” Mochire tells you.

“So you’re telling me they’re a God in the Immaculate sense? Omnipotent?” you ask.

Mochire snorts and waves his hand. “Perish the thought! No, they have limits to their reality manipulation. At the lowest end they’re capable of nudging luck to make things easier for them, while on the high end they’re known for wide scale astrological curses that cover entire nations.”

You decide to let the pesudo-science slide for now. Honestly you’ve seen enough to make you a believer. “OK, so where does John Doe fall in this range of power?”

“I’m not sure. It depends on his rank, usually the higher ranking ones have more potent tools to bend reality with. As you noticed back in Sub Basement 8 when we encountered him, he switched places with another body just as you were about to hit him.” Mochire replies.

“So Body Snatching?” you ask.

“Not quite... Do you know the theory about alternative realities based on the choices we make?” Mochire asks.

[2/2]

“Yea, a new reality branches off every time we make a choice. What about it?” you ask.

“That’s what happened with him back in Sub Basement 8. His power let him look for alternate dimensions, one where Bell still died but yet he was away from the scene at the time. Afterwards he simply overlaid that reality with our current one, rewriting it.” Mochire explains. “If we had security feeds to hack into, we’d see that it was that soldier you cut in two who shot and killed Bell instead, and anyone who looked at the event would also be fooled into believing that the soldier was the one who killed Bell, not John Doe.”

You remember what John Doe said the other day, "I supposed it looks like that from your point of view" in regards to body snatching. So its true in this sense that he's not actually capable of hijacking a person's body, he just makes them into a puppet.

“That’s insane, are you saying they can use that to get away with murder?” you ask.

“Pretty much yes. If they desired John Doe could go out in the middle of the street, shoot someone in broad daylight, and then make a switch so someone else shot that person instead.” Mochire replies.

- “I still remember that Bell was shot by John Doe, as do you and Father Mochire. Why do we remember?”

- “Is there any way we can try to shut down that power of his? Even if he can control reality he must have some weakness we can exploit.”

- "What about the person who he switched with? Surely they must know something is off when the switch happens."

- Other

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>>938860

“I still remember that Bell was shot by John Doe, as do you and Father Mochire. Why do we remember?”

"their has to be limits however.... or a price.... i would think causality would frown apron such blatant violations."

" maybe if i figure out how he does it i could incorporate it into a martial arts style."

[1/2]

“I still remember that Bell was shot by John Doe, as do you and Father Marcellius. Why do we remember?” you ask.

“That’s a question I’m trying to figure out myself, but until then I’d rather not look a gift horse in the mouth.” Mochire says leaning back in this chair.

“Such power has to have some sort of limit on it, or at least some sort of price. Wouldn’t causality frown upon such blatant violations of the natural law?” you ask.

“If you go by modern science standards then yes. I think they’re using something more akin to sorcery, something that uses the old laws of ‘physics’ in Creation and through some method they’re capable of using it today.” Mochire explains.

“Old laws of physics?” you ask. “I assume you don’t just mean just some sort of new scientific theory.”

“No, you see way back thousands of years ago, Creation had very different physical laws than what we have now. While things such as one plus one equals two and things that went up must come down were true, many things were different. Interaction between objects relied on tiny gods within each and every item, even grains of sand. The periodic table you use today would’ve been worthless back them, as when you make steel. It wasn’t just iron alloyed with Carbon, it was actually more of negotiation between the two gods so that they would become one within the sword, and when water cools as sword it isn’t just the principle of hot running to cold, but rather the water spirit within the water calming the angry gods that reside within the sword.” Mochire explains.

This is really farfetched even for you. “You’re sounding like someone who wears a tinfoil hat.”

“I know it's crazy, but it's the truth. Go beyond into the edge of Creation and into the Wyld and you’ll see some of this in action. It also explains how people were able to make artifacts back in ancient times, whereas now the rest of Creation is only recently relearning how to make the bloody things.” Mochire replies leaning further back in this chair.

“Well if he’s able to do the impossible, or rather use the old laws in order to fuel his tricks, maybe that would explain how he’s able to assume two martial arts forms at once?” you ask Mochire.

[2/2]

Mochire shrugs as he hears that. “Martial arts is your speciality, not mine. I know of generalities of how things were back then, but archeology and ancient history is a hobby of mine rather than my full time occupation.”

“Maybe if I figure it out I could learn how to make it into a martial arts style.” you comment.

“If you learn that be sure to tell me. Tempesta would give you a mountain of riches if you could figure out how to use his fighting style. Even what I have is just a guess and nothing more.” Mochire replies.

“Got to start somewhere.” you reply.

- “Did Tempesta tell how else to beat these guys? If the gods have been fighting these guys for thousands of years, they must have something.”

- “Is there any way we can try to shut down that power of his? Even if he can control reality he must have some weakness we can exploit.”

- Other

>>939026
>- “Is there any way we can try to shut down that power of his? Even if he can control reality he must have some weakness we can exploit.”
- “Did Tempesta tell how else to beat them? If the gods have been fighting them for thousands of years, they must have something.”

>>939026
>-Do you have a way to detect them, at least? Using that kind of power must leave some sort of trace...

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>>939026

"So why is it now their is a new sett of rules to reality? do they supersede or is it merely an addition to the old rules? "

>>939124
Anon, the QM already stated this in a previous post. These supernals use the old rules of reality to remake what reality is now into something else..

>>939129

Na its good, I can go more in depth with it.

>>939129

I was probing the exact nature of the change. Is that guy using a parallel rules that coexists with the current rules or just tossed the existing rules out the window entirely and used the old rules.

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[1/3]

“Why is it there’s now a new set of rules to reality? Do the supercede the ‘old rules’ of reality or are they merely an addition?” you ask.

“That kind of knowledge you only learn once you get high up in the elemental ranks, so if anyone a-”

“Right right I didn’t hear it from you.” you wave off.

“The secret society that controlled the world made the new laws in order to weaken the gods. The powers that be wanted a god free world, so they attempted to alter the laws of reality in order to make it so the ways gods could approach things was limited. Modern technology is actually an accidental by product of these alterations. If you head to the elemental poles for example, which must use the Old Laws of reality in order to keep the Wyld at bay, technology stops working not because of magic or jamming devices, but because your devices operate off of different physical laws than those that exist at the poles. If you brought a modern PDA back two thousands years ago, it wouldn’t even start.” Mochire replies. “To answer your question though, the old laws are still mainly in place, unless they’re superseded by the new laws.”

“W-Wait what?” you say as you try to comprehend this, massaging your forehead. “A secret society casually changing the laws of the universe in order to spite gods?”

“Not casually no. The gods say the last major change happened a few centuries ago, and was one of the reasons why radio waves were ‘discovered’ during the first industrial era. Such changes would have to be carefully crafted and probably took years if not decades to complete each one.” Mochire explains. “Secondly sorcery is all about altering local rules or using energy from the cosmos to create changes. In theory it’s possible to do such a thing, but I have utterly no idea how they do it. It’s on par with comic book hero pseudoscience nonsense. Is it technically possible? Yes, but the degree of finesse required, let alone the materials required makes me a practical skeptic of this, even if you had all the resources in the world at your disposal. Then again we exist, a near perfect blend of old world laws combined with new age technology, or is it new age technology finally finding a loophole in old world laws? That’s something I’m working on developing in the long run.”

Trying to even comprehend such things is beyond your knowledge. Understanding such things seems to require a different paradigm of thought altogether. You decide to move to another topic before you overthink this any more. “Is there any way we can try to shut down that power of his? Even if he can control reality he must have some weakness we can exploit. Actually did Tempesta tell you how to beat them in the first place? If the gods have been fighting them for thousands of years, you must know something.”

“Running and then screaming for a godly champion to save you.” Mochire replies.

[2/3]

“That’s it?” you ask.

“Listen I got told that advice in the off chance I actually met one, and apparently meeting one of these guys is of a rarity on par with getting struck by lightning.” Mochire replies, holding up one finger then the other. “Secondly, if John Doe kicked not only your ass, but also Dexter and statistics lord, then what good would a mortal be in a fight against someone like that?”

“I’m getting struck by lightning pretty frequently then.” you reply.

“Look it makes sense someone like that would be involved with a project like this. It still may be with the rarity of a lightning strike, but now we’re basically lightning rods to him.” Mochire putting his feet up on the desk.

“Do you have *anything* about them though?” you ask.

“I did ask about that quantum probability thing that John Doe had. As far as I know John Doe can only do replacements like he did back in Sub Basement 8 so long as someone hasn’t noticed him for too long. The longer someone notices him in an area, the harder it becomes for him to do that trick. Secondly when he does it, he still has to be in an area where he can feasibly be in. After killing Bell he probably didn’t go far away, probably to the lobby elevator before all the Alchemicals broke through. Tempesta said this is one reason why we often attempt bombings over large areas.” Mochire replies.

“So even if they try to be somewhere else, every area is a bad area.” you reply.

“Exactly, and Tempesta said that this would be one of the only feasible ways to actually kill one of these bastards, and even then it doesn’t work all the time.” Mochire.

“How does it not work all the time?” you ask.

“If you collapse a building, they may be in the single spot in the rubble where they didn’t get crushed. They can manipulate luck, so something like that isn’t out of the question.” Mochire replies.

This is insane. Not even a Dragonblooded can pull off such a feat. Only the mightiest of spirits and demon lords can survive a building collapsing on top of them. Come to think of it actually, you’re now in that rank as well with your new forcefield charm if the readout of it is right. Getting a little more durability after what happened last battle isn’t a bad idea.

“They can detect us, so is there some way we can detect them?” you ask.

“That’s the problem. When I looked at him back in Sub Basement 8, he appeared mortal to me. He must be having some serious magic going on in order to block my eyes.” Mochire says pointing to his eyes which glow a light purple. “But I do know that certain spirits are able to see through such a thing.”

“They can!?” you explain.

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[3/3]

“Certain spirits can loosely sense what a creature is, but how each spirit does so is different. Demons, Gods, Elementals, doesn’t matter what kind so long as they have the proper sense capabilities. Such spirits can also tell if some has soul destroying magic, which is something spirits fear greatly as it's one of the only things that can truly kill a spirit.” Mochire explains.

“That’s one piece of good news at least.” you reply.

“Let me put it this way to you Hibiki, the only way you’re going to win against John Doe is by fighting him with a stacked deck. If John Doe walked in the front door of this hotel by himself then the only realistic way I see of winning is if we all attack him at once, but he won’t be alone. People like him don’t make many mistakes.” Mochire tells you.

“He controls the entire military from the shadows.” you reply to Mochire.

Mochire gives a small chuckle as he holds out his hand, a beer floating from the ice bucket nearby to his hand. “I didn’t tell you it’d be easy.”

“Hibiki, you there?” Dexter radios you.

“What is it?” you ask.

“There’s any area I’ve yet to scout for gremlin or military activity, but something’s come up. Could you head there for me and take a look?” Dexter asks. “There’s no rush, just make sure it's done by the end of the day.”

“Got it, I’ll have it done soon.” you reply back to Dexter.

“Who was that?” Mochire asks.

“Dexter, wants me to scout a nearby area.” you reply to Mochire.

“Awesome! Look if you find some good beer, go and pick it up for me. Wendy’s been putting her super cyborg liver to work and after drinking her favorite hard liquors she’s been taking all the beers.” Mochire says twisting the top off his beer and taking a quick swing. “She hits the bottle herself nearly every morning and night yet yells at me for having a few, double standard bitch.”

- Ask Mochire something else before leaving (Fill in)

- Leave to investigate

- Other

>>939187
>- Leave to investigate

Oh shit didn't even realize the time.

We'll continue bright and early tomorrow! Actually on time even!

[1/2]

“I’m going to head out and do that scouting that Dexter wanted.” you say as you sit up off Mochire’s desk, mask snapping shut around your face.

“Good luck.” Mochire says with a half hearted wave, the spell tome floating to just in front of his face as he continues to read it.

******

Heading to the coordinates that Dexter gave you, you discover that the location itself is a mall that was nearby Heptagram University, but still far away enough that the military doesn’t seem to be actively patrolling this area. As you walk through the parking lot, the evident signs of battle can be seen as trampled shopping bags and consumer goods line the parking lot in row with the burnt out husks of cars, them either having exploded or melted by something akin to plasma fire.

“Oh yea, I came here to get some new pants before heading to the Heptagram.” you comment as you walking through the parking lot. Just as you hear something crash down in a nearby gas station in the parking lot.

You blade immediately snaps to your hand, crouching down as you slowly advance towards the gas station, somehow still left intact despite the large scale battle that took place in the parking lot.

The heavy sound of footsteps up ahead makes it sound like a dead giveaway that someone with exceedingly heavy armour is inside. But who could it be? If it were a dragonblooded there would be others nearby. Maybe another Alchemical? A robotic scout of some sort.

As you peer in over the windowsill, you can see Marina in her blue power armour putting a stand full of chips back upright, individually putting bags back as well.

“Ooohhh! This armour is so bulky and I keep knocking things over!” Marina comments to herself as she puts the chips back on the rack. “I mean first the ice cream cooler only has melted ice cream and now this!”

Odd, why would Marina be here? She’s a combat unit, she isn’t stealthy in the slightest.

“Dexter, Marina’s here as well.” you say over the radio.

“Oh yea I know, I sent her there.” Dexter replies.

“What? Why? Marina sticks out like a giant blue thumb.” you reply. “She’s hardly the best person for scouting.”

“That bit of information isn’t lost on me young Hibiki, but I’ve already scouted that area myself last night. The entire place is clean of both gremlins, military, and even people.” Dexter replies.

“What!? Why are you wasting my time like this!?” you demand.

“Not all is lost! Thanks to your oh so generous comrade, you now have an entire shopping mall to yourself and the girl that you have a crush on.” Dexter says slyly on the other end.

[2/2]

You can feel yourself blush as he says that. “W-What!? Dexter what in the name of Creation are you talking about!?”

“What? Hi-Bztt*ki, you’re *bztt* breaking u*bztt*” Dexter says to you, making fake buzzing sounds.

“We’re on a secure line dumbass! We can’t be breaking up on this line!” you yell at him.

“I’ll ha*bzz* to conta*Krr* you la*bbzzzzzzttttt*” Dexter says before he closes the communication line.

You give a small sigh as you shake your head. Great, this entire thing was just a set up by Dexter to hook you up. Not that you don’t appreciate it, but now i-

“Hibiki? Is that you?” Marina asks behind you.

“Uwa!” you say jumping up in fright, your cloak briefly showing your form due to quick movement before resuming once more.

“Oh so it is you! I thought I heard you out here! You know you’re not very stealthy when you yell on the other end of the communications line!” Marina scolds you, but her face a wide smile all the while.

God damn you Dexter! He’s making a fool out of you!

“What brings you here Hibiki? Are you looking for homeless people too?” Marina asks. “Father Marcellius sent me here asking to see if I could find anyone, but this entire area seems to be a ghost town...”

Dexter got Father Marcellius on this too!?

- “Uuuhhhh yes! I mean no! I-I mean I was talking to Dexter just now but our communications just got cut, I think there might be a jamming device in this area. Want to look?”

- “Dexter went through this area already, there’s nothing or no one here.”

- Other

>>940644
>>- “Uuuhhhh yes! I mean no! I-I mean I was talking to Dexter just now but our communications just got cut, I think there might be a jamming device in this area. Want to look?”
>
>

[1/2]

“Uuuhhhh yes! I mean no!” you stammer to yourself before you shake your head to clear out your throughts. “I mean I was talking to Dexter just now but our communications just got cut, I think there might be a jamming device in this area. Want to look?”

“W-What!? Really!?” Marina says before her own helmet closes up. You can see symbols going across her visor as she tries to establish communications with others in the group before her mouthguard opens up once again. “Hey you’re right! I can’t get into contact with the others!”

“It shouldn’t be that big of a deal, just a jamming station nearby. We’ll have it torn apart and then we can get back to doing... whatever we were doing.” you say as drop your cloak. “By the way, what are you doing?”

“Oh! I-I was... l-looking for food to give to people!” Marina says holding the bags of chips up in her arms.

“In the flavors I see in bags scattered around in your room?” you ask raising an eyebrow, even though Marina won't likely see it through your mask.

“Don’t give anything to someone you wouldn’t eat yourself as I always say!” Marina says throwing the chips back into the gas station. “But come on! Let’s see if we can go and find that communications jammer!”

For the better part of the next hour, you and Marina head inside of the Wayward mall and begin searching for the non-existent communications jammer. Searching through the mall you find out that it’s not nearly as damaged on the inside as compared to the parking lot. Sure a few cars can be seen crashed through the ceiling while the floors themselves are littered with shopping bags and the occasional rat, but very little if anything appears to be looted from the stores directly.

“Are you sure it’s here?” Marina says lifting up a couch.

“Positive.” you say walking under a bridge in a water fountain pretending to look.

“Really? Because I haven’t found anything yet.” Marina says putting the couch display back down. “I mean if Osvald was here he’d comment on how unlikely it is that we haven’t found it yet.”

“No kidding.” you say with a sigh, somewhat sick of this charade yourself. “Come on, we don’t have much left to search.

<DiamondBoy> Did you do something interesting with her yet?

Dexter’s text flashes across your screen.

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[2/2]

<Shinobi> Of course.
<DiamondBoy> I don’t believe you.
<DiamondBoy> Why are you dragging your feet?
<Shinobi> Everyone moves at their own pace alright!?
<DiamondBoy> And at the rate things keep going your own pace is going to be the next decade.
<DiamondBoy> Don’t be afraid to take the first step. Why don’t you invite her to do some girly things? Like shopping?
<Shinobi> I didn’t shop that much.
<DiamondBoy> You’re a billionaire and you don’t shop
<DiamondBoy> That’s criminal.
<Shinobi> I don’t want to be one of those Meruvian airheads you see on TV.
<DiamondBoy> Then just spend some time with her! Use that wad of cash you have to your advantage!
<DiamondBoy> Buy her some clothes! Get a meal together! See a movie!
<DiamondBoy> Something! Anything!
<Shinobi> OK I will I will!
<DiamondBoy> If you don’t then I’m going to start flooding you text screen!
<Shinobi> God damnit Wizzkid have better not told you how to access my sensory feed!

“Hibiki? You OK?” Marina asks you.

“Hm?” you say turning towards her.

“You’ve been looking at that potted plant for several seconds, are y-” Marina’s eyes then dart over to the clothing store next to you, eyes lightning up as she heads over to the display. “Oh it's on special now! I was hoping to get this the outdoor swimming pools closed for the season! Oh that top is pretty cute too!”

- Marina in a swimming suit would be nice... “Do you want to try them on?”

- “I think the fridges in some of the areas here are still active, we can see what resturants still have something in them.”

- “Since there’s no one else here, to catch a movie?”

- Other

>>940899
>- Marina in a swimming suit would be nice... “Do you want to try them on?”
>- Once Marina is changing, ask a clerk if there are any decent restaurants in the area that are still open, refrigeration or not.

[1/2]

“Do you want to try them on?” you ask Marina.

“Eh!? But we’re in the middle of a mission!” Marina exclaims to you.

“We’ve been trying to look for the jammer for little over an hour, and besides we might as well try to make whatever positive experience we can out of the apocalypse.” you say as you walk into the store.

“Uh... OK?” Marina says in a confused tone of voice, seemingly perplexed by this sudden and drastic shift in priorities.

Despite how confused Marina seems to be by this, it doesn’t take long for her to switch back into airhead mode once clothing she wants is directly in front of her. Skipping to the clothing itself and not event noticing the small dents and cracks she makes in the tiles on the floor.

“Alright so let’s try... This... This... Oh this one is nice!” Marina says as she flips through the swimwear section. “...Don’t like green, oh but blue Tiger stripes is really good!”

“Blue Tiger stripes? Really?” you ask as your facemask opens up, heading to look at it.

“Yea look and it's in your size too! You should try it on!” Marina says as she holds up a Blue Tiger bikini that seems it’ll fit you.

“I-I’m not the bi-”

“Oh this’ll look cute on you as well! Oh this seems to match your personality perfectly!” Marina says ignoring your comments as she begins to pass you article after article of clothing.

After gathering a large amount of clothing for both you and Marina, both of you enter a nearby changing stall.

“You said you live in Versino right Marina?” you ask putting the swimwear on the walls, panels opening up in the sides of your body to disassemble and pull your Ghoststalker armour inside.

“Born and raised! Which makes me a bit sad that all this stuff is happening outside right now...” Marina says with a small sigh as you hear clittering and clanging sounds in her stall as she likely does the same for her armour.

“Do you know any decent restaurants in the area that are still open?” you ask.

“A few, but they won’t do us any good Hibiki. We don’t have the disguise prowess that Dexter has, so the only thing that’d happen if we went inside of one is that people would run away screaming.” Marina says with a small sigh.

“...Yes, that’s technically true.” you say as you put on the Blue Tiger bikini. “Do you want to grab something at the mall then?”

“What? At the food court?” Marina asks. “But the gas station outside had no power.”

[2/2]

“Malls have emergency power generators. Its why the appliances here still work even though there’s no one here.” you reply.

“Awesome! It's a date then!” Marina says gleefully.

You know Marina didn’t mean it like that, but her saying that makes you can’t help but heavily blush. You’re technically not going out, I mean you didn’t even confess yet, so this wouldn’t be a date as much as would just be a going out with a fr-

“You coming out Hibiki?” Marina asks you.

“H-Hai! I mean yes!” You studder as you quickly open the door and step outside, the first thing in your sight being Marina’s own white bikini. It appears to be rather plain, but the sides of the panties and the tops of the bra are being held with gold rings. The white material of the bikini seems to heavily stand out from behind her blue skin, and judging from how she isn’t trying to hide her body anymore it seems that she’s gotten use to what she is now at least.

“Oh wow! Your swimsuit looks much better on you than my own!” Marina says as she looks over your figure. “Your skin colour of a pale whitish silver goes green with the black and neon blue!” Marina says looking over your body.

You feel the blush quickly rush up to the top of your head. “T-Thanks. It’s a... nice design you picked out for me.”

“At least you’re easier to shop for than myself.” Marina says as she pinches a bit of her blue skin on her forearm. “My skin behind a bright blue makes it harder than I thought to shop for clothing that matches. I mean white goes with everything but I find it a lazy way to do things myself... Oh well, how do you think I look!?”

Marina gives a small smile as she spins around in her swimsuit, her hair appears to be a bit longer as she gives a small spin around.

- “Uh... Marina... W-What do you think of me?” (Confess)

- “White really does suit you!” (Wait for the right moment)

- Other

>>941219
>- “White really does suit you!” (Wait for the right moment)

Can't we just order via telephone to a takeout place, drop money, then grab the bags and leave?

>>941219
>- “White really does suit you!” (Wait for the right moment)
We shouldn't route-lock ourselves when Big Eazy is around.

>>941246

That is also a possibility

>>941338
Probably the same price for far better food. And we can eat it anywhere.

“White really does suit you!” you say, deciding to put off the confession until a better time at least.

Marina’s own face lights up from the compliment. “Thanks! Now I only hope that black works just as well. Blue skin is a bit problematic, but at least I don’t have green skin like some other Alchemicals. Ugh!”

After spending some time trying on various articles of clothing for the better part of nearly an hour, both you and Marina are both exhausted at the end.

“Well that was fun! I only wish we could buy them!” Marina says coming out of the change room. This time she’s actually dressed in civilian clothing instead of her huge armour, but metallic yellow and black striped gloves of her primary weapon remain on her hands.

“Marina there’s no one here, we could just take them.” you reply to Marina.

“What!? But that’s shoplifting! We can’t do that!” Marina protests.

You can rather easily actually, there is literally no one to stop you, but that hardly matters as you have a huge wad of cash on you.

“Fine, I’ll pay using my credstick.” you say taking Hibiki’s bags and heading to the checkout.

“Eh!? All this!?” Marina says in bewilderment.

“Marina, we have nearly three million dollars.” you comment as you break out your multitool and begin to hack the register so it can check you through.

“Y-Yea but... I-I don’t know... It’s so much...” Marina says looking a bit worried at all the clothes laid out in front.

“Consider it a gift for being the team bullet magnet.” you reply as you begin to check the items in.

Marina has an angry face, but it quickly melts away as she comes to a realization. “...I guess that’s actually pretty true come to think of it...”

“Consider it done then.” you say as you place your credstick on the scanner, deducting the amount from your account.

“Oh thank you so much Hibiki! I’ve never gotten so many clothes before!” Marina says with a beaming face. “At least not since that time I had the camping accident with dad!”

“Good, it means we can move onto the next activity.” you say putting the clothing back into the bag.

- Watch a movie (A Scary movie or a comedy movie)

- Order/Make food

- Other

>>941440
- Watch a movie (A Scary movie or a comedy movie)
Lets look for a comedy movie but accidentaly enter the adult cinema

>>941440
>- Watch a movie (a comedy movie)

“Do you want to go and watch a movie together?” you then ask.

“Do you know how to work a movie projector?” Marina asks.

“Can’t can be too hard.” you reply as you turn to leave. “Got anything you’d like to watch?”

“Oh! I’d like to see John and Alison’s Vaction!” Marina exclaims.

Ugh... Romcom’s... The literal bottom of the comedy barrel, right next to the tasteless dead baby jokes. Still this isn’t so much as doing things you like, but rather using this time to get closer to Marina.

“Perfect, let’s go have a look then.” you say as you head out to the theatre.

Marina stays in the lobby of the theatre while you head up to the projector rooms. Thankfully the projection systems are virtually idiot proof once you hack into the computer controlling them. A quick instruction to the screen and you’re good to go. Marina brings you a popcorn and a drink, while Marina brought nearly one of everything at the concessions stand, even going back for another round before the movie started.

The movie is about as bland as you’d expect, a married couple having marriage problems decides to reunite their love by going on a beachfront vacation to the Great Forks in the U.E.S. for beaches, french cuisine, and relaxation. Only to get into issues with drugs early on followed by several mishaps with creatures. Marina seems to be laughing her head off the entire movie, while give a few inward groans of displeasure with a few forced chuckles.

After an agonizing hour and thirty minutes, both you and Marina leave the theatre.

“Oh man! That movie was great!” Marina says as she walks out of the movie theatre. “That part where he turns around to kiss Alison, only for her to have that stinging jellyfish on her head was priceless!”

“Yea... yea it was...” you say forcing yourself to say that, despite your soul crying at how you’ve betrayed it.

“So, did you have anything else planned for the day?” Marina asks, turning around to see you in the movie theater lobby, dressed in a light yellow dress with a pair of jean shorts sticking out underneath.

- “S-So um... Marina. D-Do you know what you t-think of me?” (Confess)

- “After what happened yesterday, I was going to see my sister about certain things...” (Truth)

- “I was going to see my sister to discuss some matters.” (Leave out the reason)

- “Nothing much really.” (Lie)

- Other

>>941658
>- “After what happened yesterday, I was going to see my sister about certain things...” (Truth)
>- “S-So um... Marina. D-Do you know what you t-think of me?” (Confess)

“After what happened yesterday, I was going to see my sister about certain things.” you reply to Marina with a deep sigh.

Marina looks at you with a smile, but as she becomes to the realization of what you mean her smile quickly dies down. “Oh... W-Well don’t worry about what Wendy was talking about! There are many other ways the plan could’ve been leaked! I-I mean not to say that the plan going sour was in any way your fault or anything bu-”

“I-I know what you mean Marina, don’t worry.” you say with a heavy sigh. Admitting that was far easier compared to what’s about to come next however.

“S-So um... Marina. D-Do you know what you t-think of me?” you ask her.

“What do I think of you?” Marina asks lifting an eyebrow before going deep into thought for a few seconds. “I think you’re stubborn at times, but you’re always true to yourself. You’re the kind of person who always takes pride in what they do no matter what they do, and honestly I find it so cool that you’re able to learn martial arts just be looking at them!”

Your blush deepens in response to the compliments. “T-Thanks, that means a lot to me. But I uh... W-Wanted to know w-what you t-thought of me in a-another way...”

“Another way? You mean as an Alchemical? I’m just as new as you are as an Alchemical, so I d-” Marina stops speaking once she realizes what she means, her own blush deepening as she now realizes what you mean. “O-Oh! Y-You mean!”

You don’t reply to Marina, instead shifting your gaze to the side as she fumbles about on her own words.

“W-Well I... um... I never had a girl confess to me before... I-In fact I never really put much thought into the possibility...” Marina says stuttering over her own words.

“Soka...” you mutter softly to yourself as Marina says that. Yea you were an idiot for even thinking that she’d be int-

“B-But I’m not going to rule it out or anything!” Marina says interrupting your chain of thoughts. “J-Just because I never considered it doesn’t mean I never ruled it out! A-And I certainly don’t mind giving it a chance...”

Your heart seems to swell up with hope as you hear those words. “T-Then!?”

“I... Just give me a bit of time is all! I want to think about it! I-I mean there’s a good chance I’ll probably say yes as one of the good things about same sex couples is that you can wear the same cloth- oh wait we’re not the same size. I-I mean... Ah!” Marina seems to panic a bit as she looks all around the hallway, eyes snapping to various movie posters and displays before finally coming back to you. “Let’s see if we can tackle one thing at a time though first right!? Why don’t we go and meet your sister first then?”

Good idea actually. You can bring Marina to meet Shouko and hopefully air out this nonsense about yesterday.

- Go with Marina

- Contact the others, inform them you’re going to see your sister

- Other

>>941784
>- Go with Marina
>-Send a message to the others, tell them you're going to visit your sister, for safety's sake.

>>941784
>- Go with Marina
>- Contact the others, inform them you’re going to see your sister

[1/3]

“Right... We’ll go and see her right away. Go get yourself ready, I’ll need a minute to myself.” you tell Marina.

Marina gives a small nod, her face full of conviction. “Take all the time you need.”

As Marina heads off to the restroom, you yourself head on over to the area in the theatre with seats, staring off in the distance as you toss your empty big gulp soda pop into the garbage nearby.

“Shadow, this is Shinobi, do you copy?” you ask in other end of the microphone.

“Solid copy.” Wendy replies on the other end.

“How’s Osvald doing?” you ask.

“Still out like a light. I managed to get in touch with another Alchemical doctor and they’re currently treating him for a ‘small’ fee. Your money is a godsend in more than one way.” Wendy replies.

“Good. I’m at the mall with Marina, but I’m going to be heading out to see my sister in a bit.” you say on the other end.

“No you’re not.” Wendy immediately says on the other end of the line.

“I wasn’t asking.” you immediately reply in turn. “After what happened yesterday I’m needing answers.”

“Hibiki no! As much as you don’t want to hear it your sister is a suspect! After our operation your sister must’ve increased the security around herself by at least twofold! Worse scenario you’d be walking directly into a trap!” Wendy exclaims.

“I’d rather put my life in danger to know the truth than remain ignorant.” you reply.

“And put Marina’s life in danger as well!? Forget it! Come back here this instant! We can have Osvald and Dexter conduct their own investigations t-”

“If I need help Wendy, I’ll call for it. But I’ll be fine, trust me.” you tell her.

“Hibiki d-” Wendy says as you hang up on her.

Marina’s armour can be heard clunking on behind you. “Ready?”

“Ready.” you say as your visor snaps shut around your face.

******

Heading to the J&P Banking building downtown, you give your sister some notice before to arrive in order for her to make the mercenaries on the upper floors disappear for a little bit. Once you get the OK you get Hibiki to give you a lift up to the top of the building itself with Marina’s own flight thrusters, using the clouds as cover before you both land directly on the rooftop of the J&P Office building, Shouko already on top watching you come down.

“Onee-san!” Shouko calls out to you as she runs over to you.

[2/3]

(“Yes Shouko, I’m fine.”) you say in your native language as you give her a large hug. (“It was definitely a close call, but I managed to pull through.”)

(“Ooohhh... I hope we can end this fighting and leave soon...”) Shouko says as she releases herself from the hug and looks at Marina, her eyes suddenly going wide. “Sugoi... Is this Father Marcellius?”

Marina gives a nervous laugh as her visor turns transparent and the faceplate opens up. “Actually I’m Marina, Marina Solonik.”

Shouko makes a gasp of shock. “O-Oh I’m sorry! I didn’t mean t-”

“No no it's fine!” Marina says with a small laugh. “I’m used to people mistaking me for a man while I’m in this suit anywho.”

“Well it's a pleasure to meet you Ms. Solonik!” Shouko says offering her hand for a quick handshake, Marina’s gauntleted hand nearly engulfing all of Shouko’s own hand. “Please come inside! We can’t remain too long out here until a drone comes on by.”

Heading down into the office building, both you and Marina head into the branch head’s office on the top floor. By some stroke of luck the branch head was outside of Versino when the quarantine happened, but you’re somewhat expecting that he’s in no rush to get back to his office either with everything that’s been going on.

The main branch owner’s office is designed to be as flashy as possible, tall marble pillars seem to hold the ceiling up while display cases of samurai armour can be seen in between the pillars. In the rear of the office a single jet black desk can be seen with a single monitor placed on top of it, various bits of paperwork on top of it that are currently shuffled to the side.

“Oh wow! Are these actual armours!?” Marina says gaping at the armours themselves.

“Replicas, but they look pretty close to the real thing uh?” Shouko asks with a smug smile.

“You’re not kidding!” Marina says as she continues to look over them.

(“You were right about her being an airhead.”) Shouko says to you in Coralese.

(“I won’t deny that she doesn’t have her moments.”) you reply.

(“Please tell me it isn’t just for the body.”) Shouko asks you with narrowed eyes.

(“What!? No! Never!”) you immediately reply.

File: Charactersheet1.png (33 KB, 787x759)

33 KB PNG

[3/3]

“What are you two talking about?” Marina asks you.

“Nothing.” Both you and Shouko immediately reply in unison.

“O... Kay...” Marina replies, sounding a bit skeptical. “But yes it’s an honour to meet you Shouko! Hibiki has said many good things about you!”

Shouko gives a small laugh as she hears Marina speak. “All good things I hope.”

“Oh definitely! I’m a single child myself so I’m a bit jealous that Hibiki has someone like you!” Marina says to Shouko.

You take a small breath before interrupting the conversation between the two of them. “In fact, talking about you is one of the reasons I came here today Sh-”

As the words leave your mouth, the doors of the head office bursting open, Wendy with an expression that’s more sour than usual on her face.

“Oh no.” you immediately mutter to yourself.

“Excuse me but who are you!?” Shouko immediately demands.

“Someone who doesn’t like to be fed bullshit.” Wendy says stomping towards Shouko, pointing a finger at her. “You may be able to feed it to your sister more easily, but I’m rather allergic to it.”

This is bad. You’ve often heard the confessional screams Wendy collects from those she wants information from, not all of them good.

Hibiki regained willpower from playing at the mall!

- “Wendy please! What happened with innocent until proven guilty!? She’s my sister not a criminal!” (Be gentle)

- “No! I’m not having you rough up my sister! If you’re going to do that to her then you’re going to do it to me instead!” (Be rough)

- Other

>>942009
>- Intuition

Use WP on it and any social check we may have to make to snap Wendy out of it.

>>942024

Intuition?

Do you mean you want to read motivations on what Wendy is saying or convince her to stand down?

>>942028
Yes, read motivations, sorry.

[1/2]

(Hibiki uses Read Motivation on Wendy and succeeds with 6 successes!)

You’ve seen this stance on Wendy before, she seems to know damn well that Shouko’s already guilty. Nothing solid yes, but the hunch she’s developed after decades on the force is leading her towards a future conviction, and judging from her stance she appears to be quite intent on beating it out of her.

“W-Wendy please! You don’t need to be so aggressive!” Marina seems to plead with her.

“If I don’t aggressive then people like her are never going to learn!” Wendy says as the panel on the side of her leg opens up, showing the deadly revolver underneath.

“Wendy no!” You say as you try to jump in front of your sister, blocking Wendy’s line of sight.

Even through you place yourself directly in front of Shouko, Wendy’s aim does not falter. Rather Wendy’s blade shades immediately form on her face. “I checked all of our other leads. The only other person who knew of this plan was you Shouko. Tell me, why did you try and sell us out?”

“W-What!? Sell out!? How dare you!” Shouko immediately barks back behind you. “Why would I place my own sister in danger by making an already bad situation even worse!?”

“I figured you’d try again after failing to kill your sister the first time, that’s why.” Wendy immediately retorts.

“WHAT!?” you loudly exclaim.

“Makes perfect sense. Hibiki is going to be the one to inherit J&P Bank, not you. With Hibiki out of the way you’d be the next in line and have all the power and influence money can afford to give you.” Wendy exclaims. “For a millionaire you came up with a really shitty plan.”

Your own voice and fear begins to rise in anger, clenching your teeth as you hear these accusations. “Wendy I am not listening to this farce any longer! My sister loves me dearly, she would never attempt to kill me!”

“So how’d you do it? Did you bribe the mechanic to cut the breaks, or did you hire a hacker to hijack the vehicle while it was on the road?” Wendy says ignoring you and continuing to focus on Shouko. “The car might’ve been totaled but I’ve seen more than my fair share of ‘accidents’ to know how these things go.”

“I never did any such things! You have absolutely no proof for any of these accusations!” Shouko immediately yells out.

“You two really are sisters, both of you have twitching eyebrows whenever one of you lies.” Wendy tells Shouko.

“W-Wa!?” Marina herself takes a step back after hearing this, seemingly blown away by this revelation.

“No! Stop it!” you roar at Wendy, the evidence quickly mounting up against Shouko. You don’t want this to be true, in the name of every ancestor you have you hope that what she says isn’t true, but Wendy’s detective work is top notch and incredibly hard to refute. Tears run down your own eyes as your mind tears itself apart with the inner crisis that you’re currently experiencing.

[2/2]

“...Onee-san? Y-You don’t believe her? Do you?” Shouko asks.

You can’t take it anymore, all of this uncertainty building up, the multiple shrouds of secretaries and conspiracies...

“You told me that you’d rather know the truth than to live in ignorance Hibiki. This is you choice. Do you want to live in blissful ignorance or know the truth behind what’s really going on here?” Wendy tells you.

Slowly turning your head towards Shouko, your tear filled eyes gazing into her own as if pleading with her to lie, you speak out the words, “Shouko... Were you involved in the car accident?”

Shouko’s own face goes wide with shock, before her own brow furrows and she gazes back at you. A split second later you’re sent flying through the air, slammed out of the head office along with Marina and Wendy, crashing through the door as you land on the other end of the door.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcaBW1NU3XE

“You’re nearly as much of a pain as my sister is, only you know how to really get into people’s heads. Well played.” Shouko says walks towards you, holding her hand out in front of her, a green wind seeming to blow up into her hands before finally solidifying into a sword with a black scabbard with glimmering silver etchings. As she pulls the weapon out, it emits a brilliant silver shimmer.

“T-The Tsuki no Hansha!?” you exclaim in shock. The Tsuki no Hansha is your family’s sword! An heirloom that has been passed down for countless generations and only passed onto the next head of the Junpaku family!

- “Shouko! No Shouko please not you too!”

- “Shouko! Why do you have our family’s sword!?”

- “Why!? Why are you doing this!?”

- Other

>>942097
>- "So she was right. Neptune was right. Did you ever care?"
>- Join battle with full charm-use.

Send via secure transmition: -Wendy, get EVERYONE out of the bank, it's the only way.-

>>942105
Oh, and turn on the lie-detection charm.

>>942097
>- “Shouko! No Shouko please not you too!”
>- “Shouko! Why do you have our family’s sword!?”
>- “Why!? Why are you doing this!?”
also turn on lie detection.

(Sorry I'm late! This christmas holiday is going as south just as fast as National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation)

[1/2]

The torrent of feeling overwhelming you shakes you to your very core, your legs turning to jelly as your mind is unable to move them as you try to process this entire situation. “No! Shouko! Not you as well! Please! Why!? Why are you doing this!? Why do you have our family’s sword!?”

“Why? Because I’m tired of being in your shadow. Every day, every single day when I was growing up I was constantly being compared to little miss perfect. No matter what I tried to do, you always seemed to do it better. When someone offered me a deal in exchange for killing you? It was hardly a deal at all. As for the sword?” Shouko asks as she moves the blade around in her hand, carefully watching it as she watches it wave around in her hand. “It belongs to the head of the family, so I took it after your first car crash. However you have an annoying habit of crawling out of whatever I throw at you just like a cockroach.”

“So she was right... Neptune was right...” you mutter to yourself despair.

“I’ve had enough of this!” Wendy says getting up, taking aim at Shouko with her twin revolver and firing.

Shouko knocks aside the bullet as if she batted aside a lazy fly, her blade appearing to be a shimmering silver streak in the air. Just as she does this, several clouds of red and white mist gather behind Shouko, eventually taking shape into seven foot tall apelike creatures with large fangs and living clouds with various weapons coming out of them. The display cases shatter, the armour quickly forming together to form a single large bull headed demon with two large blades in each of his hands, eyes red with bloodlust as he eyes all of you.

“The one in the middle is mine, don’t interfere. Keep the other two busy.” Shouko orders the demons without breaking sight on you.

“Oh no!” Marina immediately whimpers just before the large bull headed demon roars, pointing his sword to the others causing them to advance towards Marina and Wendy.

“S-Shouko... D-Did you ever care at all?” you ask Shouko, half hoping to wake up from this horrible nightmare you were experiencing.

“I wish I could say that this is something beyond us sister, but honestly right now I’m happy with putting you in your place.” Shouko says as she slightly hunches down, green electric sparks flying off of her skin before before she pulls back her head and roars, a burst of green electricity forming around her before it dies just as fast.

[2/2]

Standing in Shouko’s place now is what only appears to be a demon. Pure white chitin surrounding her body like clothing but pitch black in the areas where her ‘flesh’ would be such as a bit of her midriff and joints. White hair seems to race off the back of her head which appears as some sort of living mask of a horrendous beast as her own eyes burn with powerful purple flames, pure white lightning seeming to crackle off her body and towards the floor and walls.

Your eyes narrow down to her own form, the world seeming to not even exist outside of this tunnel vision you see towards your sister.

“Shouko...” is all you can mutter at the sheer unbelievable reality of the scene in front of you.

“Take out your blade.” Shouko says as she assumes the stance of the single point. “I’m going to prove just how much better I am than you now...”

TURN ORDER
Shouko: 17i
Hibiki: 14i
Shouko’s Sword: 8i

- Pow: With (Single Point Form, Liquid Steel Flow, Kaarashi, add up to +7 dice for 7m, 16m 1WP, 18d10) “She’s a hundred years too early for me still! Assume your own stance and show her what you’re really made of!”

Pow: Gam (Add up to +7 dice for 7m, 14d10) “I think we need to hug in order to make up for the current tensions between us!”

Eff: Wither (Tiger style form, 10m) “I’ve learned other things since we’ve last met sister! Let me show you how!”

Other

(Current stat sheet is in >>942009 )

>>943018

- Pow: With (Single Point Form, Liquid Steel Flow, Kaarashi, add up to +7 dice for 7m, 16m 1WP, 18d10) “She’s a hundred years too early for me still! Assume your own stance and show her what you’re really made of!”

>>943018
>- Pow: Gam (7m, 21d10) “Sister, I didn't even want to control the company. I think we need to hug in order to make up for the current tensions between us!”

>>943018
Can we also try to use Pheromone Regulation Systems with my post >>943087 to try to power up the attack?

Rolled 10, 6, 1, 2, 2, 5, 10, 7, 6, 5, 8, 7, 8, 2, 9, 9, 3, 4, 6, 3, 1 = 114 (21d10)

>>943087

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>943104

If you want to use a way to make it like that, sure thing.

Rolling to see which order to go for. 1 for >>943071 and 2 for >>943087

>>943123
Ah well, I guess we don't get to abuse grapples for now.

Rolled 7, 9, 9, 4, 9, 4, 9, 3, 6, 2, 4, 9, 5, 10, 4, 8, 9, 10 = 121 (18d10)

Rolling for >>943071

File: Charactersheet1.png (33 KB, 787x759)

33 KB PNG

You get up slowly, the twin Hono no Tatsumaki blades coming out the thigh compartments, wiping your eyes from the tears that currently stain them.

“Too slow!” Shouko says, her voice sounding as if it's going through an echo, shimmering sigals of strange characters appear above her head before they explode in beams of pure white energy that race towards your location!

You quickly leap into action, just barely dodging the blasts of energy that fly at you as they impact the wall behind you, matter disappearing in the wall behind you as if dug out perfectly cube by cube.

(Shouko rolls 7 successes with her blaster rays! Hibiki manages to avoid the attack!)

“You’re still still a hundred years too early in order to fight me!” you immediately cry out to Shouko, immediately making a flaming uppercut with both of your swords towards her.

Your attack however is stopped dead in its tracks by Shouko putting her sword directly in the mid point of your swing, the tip of the blade just barely an inch from your face. “That’s where you’re wrong sister. I’ve mastered father’s art to a degree that you can only hope to dream about!”

(Shouko’s Sword attacks Hibiki for 8 withering damage!)

As Shouko pulls her blade out from in between yours, her body and blade appear to be as once as twin silver flashes merge into one, a single silver streaking heading towards your head.

Your own reaction is just as swift and fierce, putting everything you have into the single moment as power flows into your limbs, your own body and afterimages becoming a streak of lightning as you blades hit home, impacting Shouko’s own body before sliding off in a shower of metallic sparks and electricity.

(Hibiki’s sword CLASHES Shouko successfully! Shouko takes 5 levels of lethal damage! Shouko pays 5i to reduce the lethal damage to 0!)

“What!?” Shouko cries out in a panic.

As you stand where Shouko once stood, you slowly pick yourself up and flick your blade, not surprised in the slightest that not a single drop of blood can be seen upon it. “That’s where you wrong Shouko. It may’ve came easily to me, but I poured my heart and soul into everything I do! Someone who takes shortcuts will never have the edge over me!”

TURN ORDER
Shouko’s Sword: 17i
Shouko: 12i
Hibiki: 6i (9i for turn purposes)
Hibiki’s Sword: 3i (6i for turn purposes)

- Pow: With (Liquid Steel Flow, Kaarashi, add up to +7 dice for 7m, 6m 1WP, 18d10) “You greed has blinded you! I never wanted the company, I never wanted any of this! All I wanted was my own life back! THE ONE THAT YOU TOOK AWAY FROM ME!”

- Eff: With (Liquid Steel Flow, Kaarashi, 6m 1WP, 18d10) “Someone like you who took a shortcut for their power will never understand the hardships that people need to take to actually become stronger!”

- Other

Rolled 10, 6, 8, 3, 7, 4, 5, 10, 7, 8, 3, 4, 9, 5, 10, 5, 5, 3, 6, 5, 6, 7, 8, 8, 9 = 161 (25d10)

>>943290
>- Pow: With (Liquid Steel Flow, Kaarashi, 13m 1WP, 25d10) “You greed has blinded you! I never wanted the company, I never wanted any of this! All I wanted was my own life back! THE ONE THAT YOU TOOK AWAY FROM ME!”

File: 1372558210624.jpg (146 KB, 600x750)

146 KB JPG

>>943290

“You greed has blinded you! I never wanted the company, I never wanted any of this! Worst of all they poisoned your mind and took you from me!!!!"

“Shortcuts!? You dare call a shortcut!?” Shouko yells out as seems to teleport directly in front of your face, batting aside your lightning quick counterattack before coming down on you with her sword itself, your armour quickly reacting by having the attack glide off you in a shower of sparks, the force of the entire blow causing your damage mitigation systems to shut down.

(Shouko’s sword attacks Hibiki and does 8 withering damage! Crashing Hibiki!)

You stumble back a step, from the recoil of the blow, barely having time to hold your blade up in defense as Shouko seems to teleport in a silver streak directly in front of you. “You’re one to talk!? I’ve been in this form for nearly a year! I had time to learn its ins and outs! You’ve barely been that abomination for a month and you think you can beat me as I am now!?” Shouko roars as her sheath makes a feint while her blade comes from the opposite side, barely reacting in time in time to block the real attack with both of your blades. “I wanted something! Anything to call my own without you already taking it from me!”

(Shouko attacks Hibiki and does 4 withering damage!)

“You greed has blinded you!” you say gritting your teeth, turning the flaming sword to its flat and sliding it out of the sword lock you have with Shouko, bringing it down upon her head, Shouko barely sliding it off to the side with her own scabbard as she takes a step back.

(Hibiki’s sword does 7 withering damage to Shouko!)

“I never wanted the company, I never wanted any of this!” you cry out as you advance upon Shouko, each and every blow you make upon her causing her to stagger back a step. “All I wanted was my own life back!”

Shouko’s face is that of fear for one split moment as you take your blades and raise above your head, abandoning finesse for raw power as your entire suit glows a dull red as you focus everything you have into this next attack. “THE LIFE THAT YOU TOOK AWAY FROM ME!”

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[2/2]

Shouko quickly takes her own blade, turning its flat up towards your fiery wrath. The impact rings out across the room with a deafening crack of lightning shattering all of the glass in the room and making a large impact crater directly underneath Shouko as she struggles to parry your blow.

(Hibiki attacks Shouko and deals 12 initiative damage! Crashing her! Hibiki has activated initiative shift gaining a bonus action!)

COMBAT TUTORIAL: Initiative Shift

Initiative Shift is a very rare phenomenon in battle, only achieved by crashing an opponent who crashed you while still being in initiative crash yourself. Complicated, but when pulled off correctly you not only reset to base initiative, but immediately roll join battle once again AND gain an additional bonus action!

“RRRRRAAAAAAGGGHHHHHH!” you roar as the flames intermix with the storm coming from the blades, Shouko’s blade glowing red hot as you press her into the ground even further.

TURN ORDER
Shouko’s Sword: 30i
Hibiki: 21i (24i for turn purposes, may act twice this turn)
Hibiki’s Sword: 11i (14i for turn purposes)
Shouko: -2i

- Pow: Des (Fatal Stroke Flash, +7m to add +7 dice, 8m 1WP, 15d10) “Apologize to our ancestors in the afterlife, as I will not be forgiving you! GOODBYE SHOUKO!”

- Pow: Gam (Disarm gambit, +7m to add up to +7 dice, 15d10) “That blade is a family heirloom, one that you do not ever deserve!”

- Eff: With (Kaarashi, 1m, 18d10) “I TRUSTED YOU! I TRUSTED YOU WITH MY LIFE AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY ME!?”

- Other

Rolled 4, 10, 5, 2, 2, 6, 5, 1, 9, 10, 4, 1, 1, 6, 5, 6, 10, 3, 4, 1 = 95 (20d10)

>>943552
>- Pow: Gam (Disarm gambit, 5m, 20d10) “I TRUSTED YOU! I TRUSTED YOU WITH MY LIFE AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY ME!? That blade is a family heirloom, one that you do not ever deserve!”

>>943564
Can I WP that?

>>943569

Sure thing

Sorry for the delay, but this update is a bit more intense than I originally thought. Almost done though!

[1/4]

With a loud roar of her own Shouko gives you a kick to your stomach that your left exposed, you react by quickly digging your twin blades in the ground, quickly skidding to a halt before lunging yourself back at Shouko with unbridled fury.

“I TRUSTED YOU!” you roar as your vision becomes hazy from both anger and fear. “I TRUSTED YOU WITH MY LIFE AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY ME!?”

As Shouko goes to defend herself with sword, you immediately react by locking her own blade in a cross shaped pattern with your own. “YOU MAKE A MOCKERY OUT OF EVERYTHING THIS SWORD STANDS FOR!” you roar as you rip your blades apart, sending Shouko’s sword sailing directly into the ceiling.

(Hibiki uses a disarm gambit on Shouko’s sword, sending it out to short range!)

“I WOULD’VE DONE ANYTHING FOR YOU! ANYTHING!” you continue to cry as raise your swords high in the air, using the momentum from the disarm to make room for a devastating dual strike on Shouko herself.

For a split second you see Shouko’s expression of fear turn into a twisted smile on her demonic face, the Tsuki no Hansha flies directly in the path of the blow itself, crashing against your sword, but you grit your teeth as you throw everything you have into the attack, the sword bending in midair as the attack continues on towards Shouko, cutting directly into her white carapace, red blood gushing from the wound that opens up across her body.

(Shouko uses a charm to clash Hibiki’s attack! Hibiki wins the clash and deals 10 lethal levels of damage!)

“YOU MAKE UP FOR YOUR LACK OF SKILL WITH PARLOUR TRICKS!” you cry out as you attempt to fling the blade aside again, only for the blade to swing back around and strike you directly across the back as it flies overhead, pain ripping through your back as you feel the wound deepen.

(Shouko uses a charm to clash Hibiki’s attack! Shouko wins the clash! Hibiki uses Undying Predator’s Roar to reduce the damage of the attack! Hibiki takes 12 level levels of damage!)

“A single lost battle does not make a war!” Shouko says as the blade floats back into her hand, seemingly ignoring the massive scar across the front of her body. “In a battle of durability I’m always going to come out on top! Let’s put that to the test right now shall we!?”

“RRRRAAAGGGHHHH!” you roar as you lunge directly at Shouko again, vents opening up on the sides of your body, headless of the warning symbols blaring on your hud as you charge into the fray.

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[2/4]

The glass shards falling down around you both seem to slow down like feathers as both you and Shouko throw everything you’ve got in the intense exchange of attacks between your both. Lightning and fire meet streaks of silver as you both exchange blows at a speed which mortals cannot possibly comprehend. Red splatters of Shouko’s blood landing on the ground and pillars nearby just as often as your black blood splatters on behind you. The exchange continuing for what seems like minutes before Shouko parries you strike, letting go of her blade and having it continue to attack at you from impossible angles as you’re pushes back even more, you strike it back as you get down on your knee, your body bleeding all over from various cuts and slices. Your armour badly damaged enough so that half your facial visor and your mouthpiece have now been knocked off in the assault.

(Shouko attacks Hibiki, dealing 6 withering damage!)

“I can... I can still fight!” you cry out as you slowly try to stand back on your two legs once again.

“Stand? You can barely walk.” Shouko says as she looks down at you, a towering green flaming now coming off her body as what appears to be a circle of flame can be seen on her brow. Despite the cuts and wounds all over her body, she still seems to be holding up far better than you are. “The mercenaries down below are on their way up and the military is already on their way. You’re a dead woman walking sister, I just want the satisfaction myself.”

“NOT IF I KILL YOU FIRST!” you cry out, lunging at Shouko once again, forcing your wounded body to continue towards Shouko, only to have your electrified blade flung out of your hand into Shouko’s own hand.

The recoil of the strike sends you sailing back a few steps, landing on the floor again as blood drips from your body and onto the floor.

Shouko takes the electric sword into her hand, casually looking over it as she turns her back towards you. You know what this means, one of a warrior’s greatest insults they can personally face is to have the opponent turn their back away from you.

The rage, the stress, the anger, all of it builds up inside of you at once as you let go of your fire blade, the Kaze No Ken snapping out of your hip compartment as reach to draw your blade.

[3/5]

Shouko then turns around towards you, her body seeming to explode into a streak of lightning as she takes the weapon and rams it directly through your body and into the ground behind you. Blood pours from your mouth as feel the electricity of the blade rip into your body, your entire vision rapidly becoming filled with snow.

(Hibiki attacks Shouko! Shouko CLASHES Hibiki! Shouko wins and does 3 lethal damage to Hibiki, KO’ing her!)

You grit your teeth as you try to raise up your hand towards Shouko, electricity crackling around you as you use every ounce every iota of willpower you have to remain conscious.

Shouko stands above your body, slowly raising her blade up in two hands as she stands above you. “Goodbye ‘dear sister’.”

“NNNNNNOOOOOOOOO!” Marina screams out next to you. In what seems like a flash your entire body is encased in ice with a heartbeat later the entire floor you’re on collapsing. The only things you can see at the current moment are dust, muffled sounds of shouting, and more gunfire as the static slowly fills your vision before turning off like a TV screen.

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[4/5]

[5/5]

Your body stirs slightly as the embers of consciousness quickly grow to a flame within your mind. Your blurry vision slowly coming back to normal as you try to sit up, literally every part of your body aching as you try to sit back up.

“Woah woah woah easy there! You just went through a lot!” a familiar voice calls out to you. “HEY EVERYONE! HIBIKI’S AWAKE!”

As you look around where you’re at, you notice how you’re back at the hotel, only this time you’re hooked up to all sorts of monitors and machines that weren’t there before managing your body layout and other such details. Your face turns back to the man currently pressing you back down against the bed.

“...Dr. Rosenberg?” you ask. “You’re the one that helped... with the escape.”

Doctor Rosenberg smiles as he pats your shoulder. “I’m repaying the favor you did by saving us.”

The thunderous roar of a cascade of footprints is met with everyone rushing into the room after you, all of the gang appears to be back to normal, even Osvald despite several bandages still covering his body in several areas.

“Ayaya Hibiki! I thought we had lost you to the Underworld!” Father Marcellius says with ecstatic joy on his face.

“Hibiki! I’m so glad you’re safe!” Marina says immediately kneeling down next to your bed, the floorboards making a crack below her as she grabs your hand. “I thought I was too late to help you!”

“It was close. If Marina had not frozen you then you might’ve died on the way here.” Osvald comments out loud.

- “...Ice? You mean what happened with Shouko wasn’t a dream?”

- “What happened after I was knocked out?”

- “How long have I been out?”

- "Why is Doctor Rosenberg here?

- Other

>>943870
>- "Why is Doctor Rosenberg here?
>- “What happened after I was knocked out?”
>- “How long have I been out?”

[1/2]

“So what happened wasn’t a dream...” you mutter to yourself as lay back down in bed. “Why is Doctor Rosenberg here.”

“I asked him to come.” Osvald replies.

“What did I tell you about explaining things.” you warn Osvald.

“I’m here now as the group wanted my expertise in order to bring you back up to full health once again.” Doctor Rosenberg replies. “Granted I’m not a medical doctor, but I cleared out some of the garbage code in your system, so it should run a bit more efficiently at least. In my spare time I’ve been trying to look at the code Doctor Trine put in you or the tracking devices you all have, but it's no good. I’m going to need a cradle with deep scan technology, it's the only way I’ll be able to bypass the normal security protocols.”

“Cradle? You mean those spiked chairs we sat in back in Sub Basement 8?” Mochire asks.

“Exactly those.” Doctor Rosenberg replies pointing at Mochire. “I’ve been putting together a kitbashed one in my current place, but progress has been pretty slow as I’m being forced to rewrite the entire code from scratch.”

“Inquiry: Is there any way to speed up construction.” Osvald asks.

“The military has two that I know of.” Doctor Rosenberg replies.

“Yea not happening.” Wendy says immediately shutting that idea down.

“How long have I been out?” you ask, trying to look for some sort of timekeeping device.

“42 hours, 38 minutes and 17 seconds since your contact with me.” Osvald replies. “I would’ve been able to heal you by now, but with that blade just barely missing your reactor core Doctor Rosenberg suggested I wait until you at least come to by yourself.”

“What happened after I was knocked out?” you ask.

[2/2]

“All hell breaking loose that’s what.” Wendy replies. “After your sister put that blade through your chest, Marina reacted by freezing the entire floor then breaking the entire floor, sending us down nearly several stories. Shouko took some damage from the fall, but as much as she tried to put on a tough act that fight really took it out of her. The military was quick to arrive after, Father Marcellius and Mochire arrived shortly after. Marina and I kept the military busy while Father Marcellius distracted Shouko long enough so that Mochire could take you away.”

“Mochire had to go down in the sewers due to your anima vents, and it was down there I needed to perform the operation in order to save your life. Shouko missed your reactor core by 3.7 millimeters.” Osvald replies.

“You’re lucky to be alive Hibiki!” Marina says with tears in her eyes. “I was so worried that you would’ve died!”

- “Why WHY!? Why isn’t this a dream! I don’t want my sister to have attacked me, so why did this happen!?”

- “...Leave me alone... I need some time after what just happened...”

- Other

>>943996
>- "Thank you, Wendy. I wish I'd had more back-up and a plan..."
>- "Could I have a bit of privacy?"

“Thank you Wendy, I just wish I had more of a back up plan...” you mutter to yourself in the bed.

“I never expected what happened back there to happen within a thousand years Hibiki. For what it's worth I’m sorry I was right, but I didn’t want you to get hurt.” Wendy herself says with a deep sigh. “I’m sorry I failed in that regard.”

“No no, I thank you for saving my life.” you reply to Wendy. “But if you don’t mind, could I have a bit of privacy. I have a lot of think about.”

Everyone in the room gives each other a small nod before preparing to leave the room, each and every one of them walking outside except for Marina which remains at the side of your bed, head hung as she remains clutching your hand.

“Marina?” you ask her.

Without a word Marina removes her helmet, placing it on the nightstand next to you as she looks at you deep in the eyes, a slight green glow visible from her eyes in the dim room. “Hibiki! I’ve decided! I’ll be your girlfriend!”

“Wa!?” you gasp in shock.

“Since the time you were knocked out I put a lot of thought into it, and I decided I’m willing to give you a shot if you’ll accept me!” Marina says holding onto your hand once more.

No... No your heart can’t take the added stress of thinking anymore after all that just happened. Is Marina doing this because she actually likes you? Or is she doing this simply out of pity for what happened back with your sister? Do you even care at this point?

- “Marina... I... Y-Yes...” (Accept [Intimacy of Marina moves to up major, goes from crush to Love])

- “Marina I don’t want your pity...” (Refuse)

- Other

>>944065
>- Other: Read Marina's motivation
>- Other: If this is purely based on pity, say that we don't want a relationship based on that, otherwise, if she at least has some interest, say yes.

>>944082

(Hibiki rolls 3 successes on a read motivation action on Marina!)

It is based somewhat on pity yes. Marina also seems a bit unsure/confused how a female x female relationship would work, but given the developing friendship she feels towards Hibiki, Marina thinks its only natural for such a relationship to develop and is willing to give it a shot.

>>944065
>>944100
>- "Marina, ignore everything that's just happened. Yes, my life is a ragged open wound. It'll heal. Do you want a relationship with me?"

You turn to look at Marina in the eyes "Marina, ignore everything that's just happened. My life is a ragged open wound, metaphorically and physically. It'll heal. Do you want a relationship with me?"

“Yes! I do!” Marina says moving closer to you.

“You... You promise you won’t regret it?” you ask, your voice becoming more and more timid as Marina moves in closer to you. “Y-You’re not just going out with me because I’m rich?”

“No! I want to be with you because you’re cool! If you were I guy I would’ve said yes in a heartbeat, but I thought about it and just because you’re a girl doesn’t mean I should refuse you just because of that, because it's the person I like!” Marina says as her face hovers above yours.

“M-Marina... I-”

“Ssshhh...” Marina’s breath whispers onto your face as it hovers above your own, both of you staring at each other in the eyes before she slowly moves her face down. Her plush lips pressing against your own in an awkward fashion.

Unable to resist any more, you kiss Marina back a bit more aggressively, trying to sit up however much your wounded body can currently allow you, the slight bitter taste of clay from Marina’s own flesh tasting like the sweetest nectar. Marina become even more aggressive herself as she presses her lips harder against your own, her own feelings quickly filling the void currently within your heart.

(Hibiki’s intimacy of Marina has advanced into a major intimacy and one of love! Relationship with Marina has increased by a stage!)

******

**AN HOUR LATER, IN THE HOTEL**

Mochire yawns as fiddles with the TV in the living room, flicking through channel after channel of static. “God damn these military bastards! I’m missing Time of Tumult because of them!”

“I thought the Elemental Courts dismissed such things as propganda.” Wendy says skeptically as she works on a crossword puzzle.

“What they don’t know won’t hurt them.” Mochire sighs as he tosses the remote on the couch before tilting his head up, noticing a new sound. “...Wait, is tha-”

“Yup.” Wendy replies.

“...Isn’t Hibiki a bit too injured for that?” Mochire asks.

“Apparently not.” Wendy says as she writes something down on her puzzle.

“Ah young love! To bounce forth with new romance after such personal tragedy!” Dexter says doing a fake swoon. “It almost reminds me of the relationship we had going on, isn’t that right Rosenberg?”

“Fool me once, shame on me! Fool me twice, shame on you!” Rosenberg says pointing to Dexter.

******

MISSION 12 FAILED!

+10 Normal XP gained!

+10 Alchemical XP gained!

+1 AXP for learning the truth about Shouko!

+1 AXP for increasing your relationship with Marina!

+1 AXP for falling in love with Marina as a large point of character development!

Your current Normal XP values are:

Available/spent/Total = 10 / 140 / 150

Your current Alchemical XP values are:

Available/spent/Total = 13 / 163 / 176

Vote for a new mission to start next thread!

1) Become the Door (STORY) - Dr. Rosenberg thinks he can identify what the tracking program is! Gr- Oh wait he already screwed up. (Reward: Bonus XP + More Story missions) TIME LIMIT: 2 threads remaining

2) Meet the Family! (Wendy Companion Mission) - Wendy, most people tend to drown themselves in alcohol for their problems... (Reward: Sub-Tank/E-Tank, Wendy relationship up)

3) Bachlorette Party from Hell (Dexter Companion Mission) - Dexter, I think there are other ways to handle ex co-workers besides doing THAT. (Reward: 2x Sub-Tank)

4) I Smell a Rat... - John Doe has now outsourced people trying to kill you, quality and efficiency in one low murderous package price! (Reward: New Martial Art Style)

5) You’re a Badass Demon What? - I don’t think we’re in Meruvia anymore... (??? + ??? + New move: Rekkoha, will take entire thread, *does not* count towards time limit)

6) Other - Want to do something else or in addition to the above? Drop a line and we’ll see what we can do!

ADA recommendations:
Recommended Normal XP Purchases

- Optical Shroud Submodule “Dynamic Cloaking Module”: Able to move at much faster speeds while cloaked, extending the range one can move while cloaked (Slow speed -> Normal Movement -> Running speed -> Any distance), in addition each additional purchase lowers the penalty of moving while cloaked by 1 (3 XP each)

- Optical Enhancement “Recording Systems”: Record and store up to (Essence days) of things you see and hear. Can download what you see to external storage devices of stream it via Uplink Node. (1 XP)

- Optical Enhancement “Diagnostic Overlay”: Tell the health of a subject with just a few seconds scanning them, listing all health problems and issues. Can also tell the exact health levels of all opponents. (6 XP)

- Optical Enhancement “Thermal Vision”: See in Infrared spectrum, allowing you to see heat of the target. (6 XP)

- Advanced Stalker Protocols “Maximized Damage Processor”: When making an attack from stealth, up to [Appearance] threshold successes on the roll are doubled while on a decisive attack a likewise amount of threshold successes are added to the damage. That’s right, the prettier you are the harder you hit. (6 XP)

- NEW Impenetrable Repulsor Field “Directional Field Focus”: When Celerity Enabling Module is active, the cost of Impenetrable Repulsor Field is reduced to 1i per health level, literally doubling the efficiency.

- Charm “Impact Dispersion Module”: Gain (Essence or 3, whichever is higher) additional soak against withering attack or four hardness against decisive attacks. Basically you gain a small toughness boost. (10 XP with slot)

- Charm “Omnisituational Evasion Equation”: A trans-phase energy on Hibiki allows her to partially phase out of local reality, allowing her to avoid attacks that would otherwise hit her, represented as a surge of temporary health levels. Later upgrades allows the ability to walk through walls. (10 XP with slot)

Recommended Alchemical XP Purchases

- Strength Up (5 XP per dot, maximum 5) [Suggested for Tiger Style]

- Wits Up (4 XP per dot, maximum 5)

- Athletics (3 XP per dot, maximum 5)

- Steel Devil Style “Seconds Between Strife” (8 XP): When making a rush towards an enemy, may convert charge into automatic successes on the rush attempt. If the Rush is successful, the charge spent on the Rush is refunded. Meaning it makes you really fast.

- Steel Devil Style “Sonic Slash” (8 XP):If the automatic move action happens due to a rush action you make activate this charm to make an immediate decisive attack in a line out to medium range with a base damage equal to your current charge. This does not reset you to base initiative. Meaning this lets you fire out wind blasts from your swords from running fast (Must know Seconds Between Strife)

- Steel Devil Style “Twin Blade Defense” (8 XP): By spending charge, Hibiki is able to boost her defense on a 1:1 basis with it, allowing her to knock away attacks that would otherwise hit.

- Air Dragon Style “Breath Seizing Technique” (8 XP): Steal the very breath of life from the opponent themselves. If an attack does a certain amount of damage than the opponent is faced with a penalty to all actions which can be stacked. If this penalty is higher than the opponents stamina then they begin to suffocate until they pass out. Alchemical opponents are immune to suffocation, but the penalty still remains with them.

- Air Dragon Style “Air Dragon Form” (8 XP): Surround yourself with a small personal tempest, providing small boosts to your speed and dodge. All attacks are wreathed in electricity slightly increasing damage, unarmed attacks can be made out to short range while any attacks using Chakram’s turn all aim dice into automatic successes. [Requires Breath Seizing Technique]

- Tiger Style “Iron Claw Grip” (8 XP): Pounce on an enemy and to grapple them, gaining a possible increase to the amount of turns a target can remain grappled. Targets who are grappled cannot defend against your attacks.

- Tiger Style “Raging Tiger Pounce” (8 XP): A fierce attack knocks the opponent prone, forcing them pay resources in order to actually stand up and forcing an action to do so. Attacking an opponent knocked prone by this style results in a small damage boost.

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Sorry for asking this but what is a clash as i am confused what happens mechanically.

my vote is number 5 for the next mission btw

>>944166
It seems like none of these can be combined, so...
>5) You’re a Badass Demon What? - I don’t think we’re in Meruvia anymore... (??? + ??? + New move: Rekkoha, will take entire thread, *does not* count towards time limit)

>>944169
>- Charm “Omnisituational Evasion Equation” (10 - 10, 0)
Apparently our other charm doesn't work while crashed, so hopefully this one WILL work while crashed.

>>944171
>Wits 4 -> 5 (13 - 4, 9)
>- Tiger Style “Raging Tiger Pounce” (8 XP) (9-8, 1)

>>944183

wondering did i misremember hibiki's powers I thought we had a power that converts lethal damage into initiative damage.

>>944183
Alright, so, here's what I understand it as. You can delay your action if you're higher than your opponent, and instead of comparing defenses, you each roll attacks vs. eachother and the winner wins, getting to attack, loser loses, failing.

Some martial arts, charms, and evocations seem to allow it. John Doe, for example, could apparently reflexively clash, so he'd in-effect gain the possibility of two attacks per round.

It's one of the reasons that I wanted to grapple, as it makes it so that your enemy doesn't have a defensive score against you, and they have to spend their action trying to escape. Probably should have just used the Shining Point Capstone, though, instead of trying to disarm.

>>944183

If you have any mechanics questions never feel afraid to ask. Just because I'm OCD on the rules doesn't mean I expect everyone else to be. I try to make options that sound the coolest to do at the time, and with no real 'wrong' options its more about picking what you think is cool at the time.

Normally when an attack is rolled the successes (that is, any d10 that appears as a 7 or higher) exceeds defense (Parry or Dodge), then the target is hit. Clashes work differently as they force both attacker and defender to roll their attack rolls at once. Defense is irrelevant, whoever has the higher attack roll wins and hits the opponent.

Normally this can only be done on the EXACT same second you and the opponent act (Initiative counts are the same), but since Shouko has a skill that lets her clash any attack received against her reflexively, it means she could in theory clash your attack, damage you once, then attack you again immediately after. The exact skill is Horizon-Swallowed Star Flash in >>940899, since both Hibiki and Shouko know the same style of Single Point Shining in the Void.

Such a skill however does take a lot of resources. I'm not kidding when I say Shouko herself barely had anything else after that encounter as well.

If you have any more questions, or if I wasn't clear, feel free to ask again.

>>944197

We do. Just that after the clashes, Shouko forced Hibiki to reply in kind with another decisive clash attack. After a decisive attack your initiative goes down to 3, meaning after making two decisive attacks on Shouko, Hibiki's initiative was like 3i, so there at most she could only absorb a single level of damage.

Granted I probably should've allowed a vote into the next turn, but IRL I'm facing some personal problems so it might've been a bit rushed in hindsight. I deeply, DEEPLY apologize if this left a bad taste in everyone's mouths.

>>944207

That also said, some other people have come to me, suggesting that I head to Anonkun for greener pastures.

I am a bit leery of this, as I feel if I make the jump to anonkun and it doesn't work out it'll be harder to come back, but everyone else is fine with it I don't mind trying to do the quest there either.

Oh yes, also no quest next week due to Christmas and all that.

>>944200

sigh... so it looks like we now have 2 foes that reflexively clash. how common is this? as i feel this may be very common

is their a way to gain a bonus if your a target of a clash or just flip over the table?

>>944207
>Granted I probably should've allowed a vote into the next turn, but IRL I'm facing some personal problems so it might've been a bit rushed in hindsight.
Then consider either re-running from that point in the future or remove the habit of doing so and make sure player choice is always an option.

If anything left a bad taste it was that the Capstone wasn't described as an option when we were doing Decisive attacks and that I didn't really get a sense of where our allies were at the time, especially since this seemed like a boss fight.

>>944215
We've maxed Dexterity, we've maxed Martial arts, we have a specialty, and that's about all I can think of for dice beyond just spending motes.

I'm not really sure if this is just an issue with lacking dice, bad luck with dice, or the character being stealth-based, so we're facing others on un-even ground (we do damage, but they ping off our initiative from other attacks, so we end up losing even though we hit big).

I guess we should look at the charms listed >>939180 and >>939187 , maybe set up what we'd do in certain situations?

>>944193
>>944171
On second thought, lets get
> Str 3 -> 4
instead of
> Wits 4 -> 5

>>944221

wondering if we decide to not even defend ourselves. would that trigger a reflexive clash when we attack?

>>944223
Nah, either using the Horizon-Swallowed Star-Finish move or just attacking at the same initiative, that's it.

>>944215

It's actually really uncommon.

Out of all the martial arts styles, the only ones that can do it so far are Hibiki/Shouko and John Doe (The latter can't damage people with it, but can poison/paralyze with it).

Other opponents won't be near as bullshit. Honestly outside of the final boss, Shouko and John Doe are probably the strongest ones. Everyone else is more or less on par-ish with Hibiki.

>>944217

Yea I apologize for the capstone bit. On hindsight that would've been a good move and I feel like kicking myself for leaving it out. As for the allies, I was trying to make a dynamic dual between the twins but I didn't want it to leave a sour taste in anyone's mouths. Basically Marina and Wendy were busy fighting the demons.

>>944221

It didn't help that Shouko got insanely lucky on some of her rolls. She has an ability that lets her reroll all 1s that appear on an attack roll and add a single automatic success, so by using this her attacks went from things like 8 successes to 11 successes.

I was trying to avoid optmization talk as I wanted to avoid One True Path issues, but Tiger style + Stealth attacks is disgusting. If combined with Maximized Damage Processor Hibiki can do absurd damage on stealth attacks. If combined with the martial art leared from "I Smell a Rat..." then Hibiki can do insane damage on stealth attacks, utterly vivisecting the majority of people.

Getting Twin Blade Defense would also boost Hibiki's defense into the gross territory, and when combined with the defensive form of Steel Devil Style I think that almost no enemy in the game can hit her aside from other Alchemicals/John Doe/Shouko and only when they throw EVERYTHING into an attack. That or enemies getting *insanely* lucky on attack rolls.

>>944223

No Shouko's ability only activates on an attack, meaning you must attack her for it to trigger.

Hibiki can actually do the same thing to other opponents, clashing them to potentially rob them of an action.

>>944231

Not to say the entire quest isn't scripted to the point where the final boss is set in stone. I have several ideas for it, but the main thing they all have in common is that they're going to be overall level of difficulty.

>>944231

hum if we force a clash they can't clash that can they?

also how does forcing an opponent to do a desisive attack work?

>>944231
>As for the allies...Basically Marina and Wendy were busy fighting the demons.
Well, I don't think things were that chaotic that we shouldn't have caught a snippet of what was going on.

>Yea I apologize for the capstone bit.
Well, figure out whether this is a fuck-up that needs revisiting or something to move on from. I didn't remember it either, so there's that.

>>944232
Also, QM, when are you going to continue this?

>>944237

27th hopefully, fingers crossed. My Christmas is quickly turning into something out of National Lampoon Christmas Vacation. If not then, then definitely into the new year on the 3rd.

>>944234

>hum if we force a clash they can't clash that can they?

Yea you can't clash other clash attacks. You can activate charms that help it, but not charms to clash other clash attacks.

>also how does forcing an opponent to do a desisive attack work?

...Wait a minute.

*Checks the book*

OK, this is half the fuck up involving me, and half the fuck up involving the rules of the book. It doesn't also even explain what happens in this sense, and actually pisses me off a bit that such a thing wasn't clarified, especially when I thought I was right in the first place.

Again, I apologize for this profusely. The last thing I want to do is piss off my playerbase, or really piss off any of my players.

From now one when someone replies with a clash attack, the person who is being clashed can decide whenever to use a decisive or a withering attack if they win. If people REALLY want to I can go back and see about resolving the last bits of the fight up until the choice at >>943552 next week on the 20th/21st, hopefully I'll be able to do that one day. If not then we can continue.

Its the least I can do after fucking up like this, like for someone who tries to make sure the rules are as clear as he can possibly write them this makes me want to grab drink for how I could've possibly overlooked this.

>>944209

Oh and also please read this as its important regarding the future of this quest.

>>944209
If possible, ask for advice in the general thread here. Maybe use twitter and get in contact with other QMs, see if they use it or know of the ups and downs of the place.

>>944248
If this is a vote, I'd say that we should rewind. Secondly, I'm going to try to hunt through the threads and toss all of the Tutorials into one pastebin so that learning combat is simple.

>>944249
IMO Anonkun is where good QMs go to die.

>>944317
corollary: unless you're gonna write smut, AK is great for smutquests

>>944317
>>944318

I don't plan to write smut no. The reason why I suggested it is because a few people said I may get more exposure there.

Granted I have no issues staying here either.

>>944717
You should write smut
In any case, I vote we should move there anyways. Not every quest has to be porn to be successful.

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>>944717

what happened happened i am fine with that. just seemed like random mechanic wonky out of no where. usually systems that use similar interrupts have big drawbacks as they are a gambit not a fighting strategy.

Frankly i don't want to move would only go their for this quest.

with quests i feel it relay depends on people interest with the initial premise. also their may be a bit of overlap with other quests.

>>947472

Shouko was bleeding resources like crazy to keep up with Hibiki.

>>947472

ah did not seem so original

>>944717
Would rather stay here, don't want to have to open that site up just for this quest