SCond.ChanSE 2.0: STRIFE! (IC)

[stuffedAnimal]

Ventus sees a lack of maps. The lack is so painfully apparent as to be approaching and reaching non-existance where maps are concerned.
"Huh...well THAT'S a bit of a let down. You'd think they'd at least leave something to help us find our way."
"I zhought you vere certain zhere vas a map."
"Well apparently I was mistaken, which means one thing. AAAAAAAAAADVENTURE TIIIIIIME! That and maybe a nearby store has something that can help. Who knows!"
"Sounds zhe most likely. Lead zhe vay, I doubt you vill be able to trust mein judgement for zhe next couple of hours."

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"Well hey, I warned you about drinking bro." Ventus then heads out to the street and towards a nearby shop. Niklas follows. "I know full vell vhat I am doing to myself und I velcome it."
This shop seems to be an all-purpose grocery store. What is mainly in it is food from your homelands. Though there is an outdoor section. . .
"Huh...sweet. I've been wanting some IBC."
"..Gott in Heimel, zhey have actual tea here! Und Nutella!"
Ventus goes straight to the soda section. Apparently some Alternian things are not all that different from earth things. Niklas almost immediately starts shoving his arms and sylladex full of various foreign-looking food items. Ventus grabs several six pack box holders of IBC Root Beer, as well as a couple of other brands such as mug and A&W for Variety sake before moving onto the food section. The cart that he toatally grabbed on the way is about half full of nothing but soda right now. NIKLAS GAINED : Bag of FRITOS, bag of TEA BAGS, bag of PLASTIC BAGS, bag of NUTELLA JARS OR WHATEVER THEY SERVE IT IN. Ventus gets some various frozen shrimp items as well as various foods that won't spoil easy but are still tasty nonetheless. Ventus then walks over to wherever the hell Niklas is.
"Ready to cash out?"
"I have everyzhing zhat seemed vaguely appealing. Zhough I am unsure as to vhether or not zhe number after zhe "Calories per serving" box on zhis food information guide is a misprint. Not sure how Americans can stomach some of zhese zhings, to be honest."
"Don't let it worry you. You only live twice, and you're going to burn the extra junk off anyway. by the way... What are Americans? Is that another species from your world?"
Niklas laughs. "Close. Zhey are residents of zhe United States of America, a vorld superpower. Most of mein fruends came from zhere, actually. Turns out some Americans are not complete dummkopfs as I zhought zhey vere."
"So...this United States of America is what leads your world?"
"Vun of zhe leaders, not ZHE leader. But zhey sure acted like it, sticking zheir noses in ozher vurld affairs."
"So basically making everyone's business their own whether it is wanted or not, and telling everyone what they need to do and have to do."
"More or less."
"Sounds like a typical royal blood to me."
Ventus sure is one to tallk though, seeing as he IS a Royal Blood. <.<
"I'm not even going to bozher asking vhat you mean by "royal blood"."
"Well, you at least know of me now, right?"
"Ja wohl. Gray humanoid vizh fins und horns."
"They are all sea dwellers like me, and aside from the rare exception, they are all meddling assholes, although they tend to do it from afar. They let the Indigo Bloods do most of the leg work for them, and it continues on down until the second lowest Caste on the Hemospectrum. Now are we going to pay for this stuff and head out or not?"
"Fine, fine."
Ventus heads to a register, apparently with a somewhat drunken Niklas in tow.
There is no one manning the register.
"..Uhm. Do ve just.. valk out?"
"Pretty sure it's automated."
"Oh, self-service."
Ventus Looks for some means of monetary input.
There is a slot in the register that looks just perfect for your boondollars.
Niklas promptly shoves several boondollars into the slot after locating it, not even bothering to count it out or check how much all the items cost.
Ventus basically does the same at a separate nearby register.
The register chirps "Have a nice day!" at both of you.
"......Huh."
"I guess zhat is zhat, zhen!"
"I could have sworn it would at least have given some change."
Ventus shrugs and walks out, everything stashed safely away in his sylladex.
"I should switch my Modus."
The doors start beeping behind Ventus.
"Hm? What?"
The doors continue to beep.
Ventus turns to the sound of the beeping.
"What the hell is this? I PAID for all of my stuff."
"Maybe you did not pay enough? Here, let me try."
Ventus rolls his eyes and steps back inside.
The beeping stops.
Niklas walks through the door, noticeably a bit off-balance.
The beeping starts again, then stops again as Niklas swaggers through the door. It seems that the detectors can't read through alcohol!
Ventus tries following after Niklas, walking all the way through the doors.
The beeping starts again as soon as Ventus walks out.
"DAMMIT! I PAID FOR THIS DAMMIT! FUCK OFF!"
Ventus Irritably continues walking away.
The beeping continues, and something lands on the roof, aggravated at the sound.
Ventus turns at the sound of the thud to see...
There's a lich on the roof!
"......What is that?"
It hisses at you and jumps down.
Niklas jams the items he's carrying into his sylladex, then looks up oh mother of fuck a monster. "Ein Lich!"
Option: ENTER STRIFE, WAIT FOR MONSTER TO BEGIN STRIFE.
Ventus sighs and pulls out his Helixian Drill Staff. Time to fight!
Option: STRIFE!!!
May as well ENTER STRIFE! Niklas is too inebriated to even hold his ridiculous sword with any degree of accuracy, so FISTKIND it is for the time being!
The lich turns and swipes at the doors. The beeping stops, and you are allowed one FREE ATTACK each.
Ventus equips his gauntlets and merges his drillstaff with his gloves and attacks the monster from behind. "Burst Spinning PUNCH!"
Alcohol and deperession fueling his system, Niklas moves in for a punch to the creature's jaw.
The LICH screeches and turns back to the battle.
TURN ORDER: LICH, VENTUS, NIKLAS.
NIKLAS receives DEBUFF: ALCOHOL slows your MOVEMENT to a FIVE and makes your PUNCHES LESS EFFECTIVE.
LICH receives DEBUFF: RAGE: Your attacks are wild and uncontrollable. They do less DAMAGE.
The LICH swipes at VENTUS, its HEALTH VIAL regenerating a bit.
Ventus ducks and starts firing mini drill shaped energy from his finger tips.
The LICH's HEALTH VIAL drops a bit.
Niklas reflexively tries to use his power of UMBRAGE.
To everyone's surprise but the LICH's, the SHADOWS jump a little at NIKLAS's call. What would you like to form them into?
Niklas grins. It actually worked! Form that shit into a GIANT FIST above the LICH'S HEAD and bring it down. Piece of cake.
The SHADOWS form into a SMALL FIST above the LICH's head and come down, doing a CONSIDERABLE amount of DAMAGE. The LICH is now at around THREE QUARTERS HEALTH.
The LICH swipes at NIKLAS. The LICH gains BUFF: RAGE speeds your MOVEMENTS, allowing you one extra attack per TURN. It swipes at VENTUS.
Wingbeats are heard above.
Too drunk to get out of the way! NIKLAS takes a hit, bringing his health vial down a bit.
Ventus is knocked back, taking some damage. He aims a finger at the Lich and begins firing a thin laser that, while not very strong on its own, is able to pierce through things at its current narrow width. At the same time, his other hand is clenched into a fist and starts glowing green, charging energy for a more powerful attack.
The LICH stumbles back. The wingbeats grow louder.
Punch LICH in snout to assert NON-SOBRIETY.
Done. The LICH is now slightly TIPSY!
The LICH starts to swipe at NIKLAS, but is INTERRUPTED by a HORRENDOUS CLAW scything down through the air. The LICH explodes into a shower of grist.
Omega's head peeks over the rooftop.
"Oh...hello. We could have finished the Lich on our own, you know."
"I know, I just figured that since you were in our territory, it was best to get it killed before it brought others with it."
Niklas collects about half of the grist dropped, then looks up. " 'Ello!"
"You're kidding. More Grist for us, right? But eh...whatever."
Ventus collects the rest of the Grist.
"Liches are fueled by Rage. They're the warleaders. If one was here, there are other enemies close by." And with that Omega takes off again.
Ventus raises an eyebrow and shrugs, then proceeds to start heading behind the store, since that is possibly where the Lich came from.
Behind the store, in the alleyway, there is a sheet of metal, which was ripped apart by (you presume) the LICH as it came through.
Through the sheet of metal there is not wall, as one would assume. There is another alleyway.
Niklas looks around once he figures out Ventus left, then goes behind the store and through the alleyway, figuring that's where he went.
Ventus smashes throught the sheet metal and continues onwards, charging energy into his left fist now as well.
Niklas hops through the hole Ventus made.
The alleyway continues onwards to a town square.
Ventus proceeds to said town square.
On one side of the SQUARE is a bridge to what you presume to be the GIANT, blocking the path on that side entirely. On the opposite side is a dark MUSEUM. The side of the SQUARE opposite you is filled by buildings.
A GREY IMP leaps out of its hiding place and ATTACKS! STRIFE!
TURN ORDER: VENTUS, IMP, NIKLAS.
Ventus smashes his fist into the imps face. He isn't exactly gentle about it either.
The IMP is taken down to HALF HEALTH. It CLAWS at VENTUS's LEG.
Ventus takes a small amount of damage. It isn't much though.
UMBRAGE! Swing a shadow-based blade at the IMP's general facial area.
The SHADOW KNIFE gives the IMP a SHAVE AND A HAIRCUT, leaving it with exactly one HIT POINT remaining.
Ventus walks up and kicks the imp. That finished, he begins collecting Grist.
Niklas picks up one or two grist before Ventus takes the rest.
There is a DARTING MOVEMENT inside the MUSEUM which NIKLAS MAY OR MAY NOT make out.
Well, Niklas is drunk but not stupid! He certainly notices it and turns to face whatever the hell just passed by.
Whatever it is is behind the DOOR to the MUSEUM.
Gotcha'! Niklas staggers on over to the MUSEUM.
Ventus follows after Niklas.
The MUSEUM boasts a GLASS WALL with a DOOR cut into it. Unfortunately, it is TOO DARK in there to make out anything but the EXHIBITS, which are LIT SEPARATELY.
Well, Niklas controls shadows but can't magically brighten up a room. He'll just walk on over to one of the exhibits to check it out.
There is a DOOR in the way!
Let's see what's behind door # 1! Open that up.
Behind the DOOR is DARKNESS. >ENTER MUSEUM?
Sure. Darkness is your element after all. Worst thing that can be there is tentacle-creatures.
NIKLAS ENTERS the MUSEUM. He can now access the EXHIBITS.
Ventus is still with Niklas, obviously.
VENTUS ENTERS the MUSEUM. He can now access the EXHIBITS.
NOW let's go to the exhibits. Without colliding into anymore doors.
The first EXHIBIT that catches your eye is one that displays a huge runed SWORD.
Swords are nice. Let's check that one out.
You can't make out what it says, but the HANDLE seems mostly ORNAMENTAL. The BLADE, though, ISN'T, despite the RUNES on it. The LANGUAGE seems VAGUELY FAMILIAR to BOTH of you. The SWORD lies in the MIDDLE of the LOBBY, behind a GLASS CASE.
Ventus hangs back a bit, sure that there will be more imps jumping out.
Niklas, meanwhile, is all up in that rune-blade's business and practically has his face against the glass to get a better look at it.
The SWORD is quite impressive. The BLADE glints dully, the RUNES resembling that of an ancient MAYAN, or INCA, or AZTEC, or GREEK civilization. The HILT resembles nothing so much as a SERAPH- six WINGS spread stop a hypothetical HAND from going up the blade, though the HAND must be practically IMPERVIOUS to grip the HILT, considering the sharp-looking LEGS extending from it.
Droooooooooooool. You're not sure about making a grab for it, though. Might get some bad news all up in your grill.
Especially considering the GLASS around it.
Ventus has seen better and is not impressed all that much.
The narrator points out that one might be more impressed by the blade should they be able to read the runes.
Niklas focuses to keep his eyes from crossing long enough to at least give an attempt to read the runes. Who knows, some wizard might make you able to read it!
The RUNES look like complete and total GIBBERISH to you. Maybe you're reading it the WRONG WAY UP.
Niklas tilts his head turnways to give it yet another shot. Second time's the charm.
The RUNES. . . nope, they still look like gibberish, but you think that that might be an alpha symbol on the very tip.
Well, he tried. Niklas goes to the next exhibit.
The next EXHIBIT contains a rather large SCYTHE with RUNES going down the HILT instead of the BLADE, which has a GEM set in it.
Still nice, but not as nice as that winged sword he saw a moment or two ago. Scythes just aren't his thing. Next!
Next is a duo of crossed KATANAS. They seem to be symmetrical, though three WINGS spread from each HILT.
Cool. Too thin and light for his tastes, though, he prefers something with a shit-ton of heft to it. Hefty hefty hef-ty, not wimpy wimpy wim-py. "Vhat do you zhink of zhese veapons, Ventus?"
"Meh."
You hear a light rustling in the darkness.
Ventus turns towards the rustling sound, ready to fight again.
Niklas turns towards the noise.
Nothing presents itself.
Shrug! Must've been his imagination. Next exhibit, please, Mr. Narrator!
Ventus is not convinced that the space where there wqas the rustling earlier is completely empty, and thus fires a thin laser at it in a left to right strafing motion low enough to hit an imp.
The laser hits nothing except the floor.
The next exhibit includes a large MACE and a HILT.
Pff, maces. Ladies' weapons. SKYLAR's kind of weapon! Big swords, that's where it's at.
Ventus shrugs and turns to walk back to wherever the hell Niklas is at, which is apparently maces. Lame. He walks to the next exhibit.
The next EXHIBIT, and apparently the LAST in this room, has only a CLAW-GAUNTLET in it, RUNING covering it.
Looks like some Saturday-morning cartoon villain's kind of weapon.
Ventus actually shows some interest in this one. Runes eh? He attempts to read the runes.
The RUNES are similar to those on the SWORD, though not the SAME. There appears to be a recurring theme running through it though.
Ventus concentrates harder, attempting to use his Arcane Science (magic) abilities to translate the runes. It is going to be difficult to manage without something to channel the power though.
The only thing that VENTUS gets out of that is one word. It is the RECURRING WORD, four characters OVER AND OVER. The word is simply OMNI.
Ventus frowns in disgust. Really? If he had to guess, this belonged to one of the Seraph...wait, did that mean that they were humanoid at one point? What the hell!
The narrator points out that Epsilon's telekinesis was not restricted to only her.
A screen lights up in the darkness, illuminating something seemingly leading up to the CEILING.
A screen? Better walk over to it to see if it says anything of importance. Screens don't just turn on out of nowhere for no reason, you know!
Ventus also walks over to the screen, seeing if there is anything that it actually does.
There is something laying in front of the screen, but you can make out a map of the MUSEUM on it.
Well, what's laying in front of it? This requires investigation!!!!
It feels like bone, but you're not entirely sure. Remember, it's still dark. One more small light isn't going to change that.
He's staying away from that, then! Bone's never a good sign. Look up to see what's leading up to the ceiling.
Ventus reaches over to toss the whatever the hell the thing is aside.
Ventus scoffs. "Wimp."
Ventus has better sight due to being a nocturnal creature, and so should be able to make out what the thing is well enough.
The bone seemingly leads up to the ceiling. You think there may be vertebrae in front of the screen, though they are quite large vertebrae.
What Ventus sees is a large, inhuman SKULL on the KEYBOARD in front of the SCREEN.
"....... Niklas."
"Was? Vhat is it?"
Ventus makes to grab the skull and throw it aside. "Either this place has a very weird taste in decoration...or we may very well be inside the belly of the beast."
""Belly of zhe-" Vhat on earth are you talking about?"
"Vertabrae collumns."
The skull flies off the keyboard, bringing its wired-on jaw with it. The vertebrae jerk to the side as the skull falls.
"..Ew."
Ventus chooses not to respond to that and instead peruses the map.
The map shows a large network of ROOMS going off from the LOBBY. One rather gargantuan ROOM is just across from the way you entered, apparently between the EXHIBITS.
Ventus turns to head to the gargantuan room.
Niklas ogles the sword for a short while longer, then eventually follows the troll.
Ventus trips over something.
Though 'trip' may be the wrong word, given the size of the thing.
Ventus falls facefirst to the floor and gets back up again.
"All right, who put that thing in my way."
Ventus looks over said thing to see what it is.
It appears to be a large STRETCHER-SHAPED object with another SCREEN on it. This one is not obscured.
"Check that shit out."
Ventus does so.
The SCREEN on the STRETCHER SHAPED OBJECT activates. "This is a save point!" If you've been paying any attention at all to HAMISH's exploits in the THREAD, you should know what it says.
>Ventus: Push the button.
That is a thing that happens.
Let's wait and see what happens when Ventus pushes it before we go all willy-nilly on any buttons ourselves.
>The PROGRESS is SAVED.
Ventus searches the machine to see if there is some sort of healing function on it.
Nope. Your HEALTH VIAL resets after each fight.
>Niklas: Push the button yourself. Maybe something different will happen!
>The PROGRESS is SAVED.
Two symbols appear on the SCREEN.
One is VENTUS's SYMBOL. The other is NIKLAS's.
Ventus shrugs and continues to the large room.
Niklas tries to figure out which symbol is his before giving up and following VENTUS into the next room.
The only thing you can see is darkness, darkness, and more darkness and oh hey is that a LIGHT SWITCH?
Holy shit it is! >Niklas: Flip it >Niklas: Flip it >Niklas: Flip it
>Ventus: Swat Niklas.
"Stop playing with the lights."
"Ow! Vhat vas zhat for?"
"What are you, a wiggler?"
"Vhat is a viggler?"
While you were BICKERING, the large IMP HORDE has noticed you.
Ventus turns to imp horde.
"Oh."
Ventus raises a fist and lets off a blast of energy that should be capable of engulfing an entire swath of the horde. That's a lot of energy that was stored up.
>IMP HORDE: DODGE. AGRESS. Okay, only a few of your MEMBERS were able to DODGE that, but that's enough.
>Ventus: Proceed to collect sweet loot. Also called Grist.
>IMPS: AGRESS.
STRIFE!
TURN ORDER: VENTUS, IMP, IMP, IMP, WOUNDED IMP, WOUNDED IMP, IMP, IMP, IMP, IMP, NIKLAS.
So many imps.
There's ten of them left.
Still a lot! Oh well, Niklas can wait.
Ventus holds his hands up. The fingers extend. The fingers are attached and held in place by blade like machinations. The fingers have now become a two edged sword. Ventus holds an arm over to the opposite side, and then swings it, unleashing the energy that had been charging at several of the imps that are closest to each other. "Espirahotoh!"
IMP, IMP, and WOUNDED IMP die in the blast.
IMP, WOUNDED IMP, IMP, IMP, IMP, and IMP scratch at VENTUS's LEG. One of them aims a little bit higher.
Niklas braces for whatever F-sharp scream is about to penetrate the viscinity after seeing one of the imps go for a sensitive area.
Naw that was a joke. Umbrage time! Shadow-fist meet imp-face.
WOUNDED IMP stumbles and falls back, acquiring a new TARGET. It has only a small bit of its HEALTH VIAL left.
"Oh HELL NO!"
Ventus reflexively smashes his fist into the head of the imp trying to go for his jewels.
"NOBODY! TOUCHES! THE BONE BULGE! Sick freak."
IMP falls.
IMP, IMP, IMP, and IMP keep scratching VENTUS's LEG. WOUNDED IMP and IMP go after NIKLAS.
That's four IMPS on VENTUS and two on NIKLAS, for handy reference.
Alright, swing a punch at the wounded imp.
WOUNDED IMP explodes into GRIST. It is now VENTUS's TURN.
Ventus jumps back a small distance and swips the now gauntlet blade horizontally, aiming to cleave through the four imps and end them.
IMP and IMP meet their gory demise, but IMP and IMP don't. The blade slows with every IMP it goes through and finally lodges in IMP's SIDE.
IMP and IMP claw at the exposed ARM.
Oh, and IMP claws at NIKLAS.
Ow. Alright, shadow-blade that last imp in the throat. Little bugger's starting to make you mad.
DECAPITATION! IMP explodes into GRIST. There are now two IMPS on VENTUS.
Ventus forgoes the blade mode of the gauntlet in favor of attacking with two fingers. One for each imp.Each finger extends suddenly at each imp, gaining a very sharp point at the end.
Ventus is aiming for the heads, by the way.
IMP and IMP meet their demise. End STRIFE.
Grist, grist everywhere.
Ventus immediately starts running around gathering as much Grist as he can before Niklas.
Ventus did most of the work after all, so he feels he should get most of the Grist.
Well, Niklas still gets the grist his two imps dropped. And a grist fragment Ventus missed through his clean-out of the grist-pile.
>Notice EXHIBITS?
Notice away.
Ventus keeps a wary eye out in case of more imps, but otherwise gives a brief glimpse to each exhibit.
The first thing you notice is the hugeness. It's like someone took random dinosaurs and multiplied them by blue whale. The actual animals that line the walls are too varied to describe, but the majority of them have between four and ten legs.
"..Gott in Heimel."
"Snore. Can we kill the boss now? Where even IS it anyway?"
Oh, you'll see.
Thanks for reminding me, by the way.
(That was in character you dolt. =_= )
You hear a faint rustling coming from a room ahead.
As of cloth on cloth. . .
Ventus immediately heads for the room, energy charging into his gauntlets again.
You see. . . rock.
OH MY GOD A GIANT ROCK!
Niklas heads into the room after Ventus and oh sweet mother of Jesus it's a ROCK
Rocks on pedestals, rocks on the walls, rocks hanging from the ceiling.
"....... That's a lot of rocks. Let me guess. Gott in Heimel?"
Each rock is of a different type, and has a little card hanging from it.
"Seriously though, cards? Waaaaat."
Ventus walks up to the nearest rock and has a gander at the card hanging from it.
"Nicht, zhis does not deserve a "Gott in Heimel"."
Ventus just chuckles.
The card displays a name. After a moment, it changes to your language. "Igneous rock," it reads, "formed in volcanoes."
Ventus tilts his head to the side questioningly.
"And exhibit on rocks? Laaaaaame."
Niklas saunters on over to a different rock and looks at its card.
"Heavy rock. Does not float."
"..Gott in Heimel, German! Zhis is written in German!"
Ventus just sighs and looks around while energy continues to charge in his gauntlets.
"Huh? Watchu talkin bout Nikky? This is clearly written in Alternian."
There is a curve to one wall, with a railing splitting a passageway.
Ventus notices the curve and railing and walks on over.
"Nicht, nicht, look over here! Deutsch! Honest to Gott Deutsch- Vait, vhere are you going? Don't leave vizhout me!"
Ventus just rolls his eyes. Niklas seriously has a wiggler streak in him, you swear.
You manage to get a glimpse of movement just out of sight. The side the rail is guarding goes up a little to a small platform with a table on it. The table has tiny versions of the animals you just saw, made of plastic.
It seems as though something was in the middle of playing with the animals. They're scattered about.
Ventus runs to where he saw the movement, ready to engage another horde of enemies.
You see. . . darkness again.
Niklas doesn't notice the movement at all and investigates the toys for a second or two, then picks up two of them, bangs them together in a crude fashion a couple of times, and laughs.
Ventus sighs in irritation. He suddenly feels like punching a whole in something.
Ventus turns around.
Ventus goes to walk over to Niklas and...Gibbs Slap!
Ventus comes face to skull with something huge. It has long tusks and horns, and at least four eyes.
Niklsa could have sworn that one of the toys went all Indian in the Cupboard (sans cupboard) on him before the shorter troll walks over to him and slaps him. "Ow! Was, I cannot have fun?"
Ventus takes a step back and instinctively brings back a fist to blast whatever this thing is.
The thing doesn't move. It's an EXHIBIT, dunkass.
Ventus lowers his fist.
"That.......was sudden. Was that thing even here before?"
It was hidden behind the bend.
Of course, it may not have been so in-your-face a moment ago. . .
"........"
Ventus searches the board until he finds a similar piece to the one that suddenly got all up in his face and starts to ever so slowly move it back.
The EXHIBIT leans back onto its haunches.
Niklas went back to banging the dinosaurs together and giggling.
Ventus stops moving the piece and and looks at Nik- oh for crying out loud. GIBBS SLAP!
"Stop it you idiot! Honestly, you are acting like SUCH a wiggler. Also, not sure if you noticed, but those pieces you are banging together. Guess what."
Ventus points up.
Ventus picks up the piece that he was moving around before and moves it around to hopefully get the exhibit right over Niklas's head.
Niklas complains after getting hit again, then puts down the toys and looks up.
"..Wow."
The EXHIBIT moves, though its feet stay anchored.
It bangs into walls.
"Yeah...I would say that this definitely deserves one of your Gott in Heimel's. Can you say giant chess board?"
"Zhe pieces I vas banging togezher vere doing zhe same zhing up here, veren't zhey."
Ventus shrugs, then points at Niklas.
"Stop touching things."
There is a clatter from the LOBBY.
Ventus heads back to the lobby to see what the raising of such a clatter is.
Niklas ignores Ventus outright, running off to the lobby.
Remember that SKULL and the VERTEBRAE? It's now accompanied by a SKELETON WING, all hanging down.
>Look up.
There is a gigantic EXHIBIT on the CEILING. It seems that the WING somehow got unhooked while you were BANGING AROUND.
"And this is why I say not to touch things. Especially with your judgement clouded by that poison."
There is a loud noise from the room with the LARGE ANIMAL EXHIBITS.
>Ventus: Investigate loud noises.
All of the EXHIBITS have fallen off their PEDESTALS, cluttering the FLOOR.
"......."
"..Zhat vas not me. I have not touched zhem."
Ventus reaches up once more and.......you guessed it, GIBBS SLAP! OF COURSE!
"You messed with the smaller.........wait, you only messed with two of them? I think...... Oh for crying out loud."
Ventus sets out to find the mischievous impish idiots that caused this mess.
>NIKLAS: Look around.
You see a vaguely humanoid figure with a mask and raven hair giggling into its hands. It turns and absconds into the STORE on the RIGHT side of the LOBBY.
Ventus thinks that he hears giggling and turns around to see...Niklas. Huh.
Alright, that's it, drunk or not you don't like suspicious figures. You run after it regardless of whatever Ventus is doing.
Ventus sighs and follows. Might as well see what the drunkard is chasing.
End part one.

((spoilered for size.))

[Archaeopteryx]

"Ah! I did not see what happened, but I heard... it sounded very powerful." You glance up at the sky. "I do not know what sort of thing could destroy a house like that. It is... quite frightening. Am I mistaken in believing that was part of the point?"

[stuffedAnimal]

"Nay, that is correct. The power involved was quite considerable, especially for you silly bipeds. As for what could annihilate a house like that. . . well, that's us. I would advise you to not try to cheat." You preen ever-so-slightly.

[Archaeopteryx]

"Cheat?" You blink. The thought had honestly not occurred to you. "I do not think any of the players I've met would be so foolish--especially not after that."

Although speaking of them... Only one player gets a 'second chance', unless you're mistaken. And to be honest, you really want that chance. But... You like Hamish. You like Ventus. You want them to have second chances also, but that can't happen if you play by the rules... except that rulebreaking has never been among your tendencies, and you don't want to start now.

You'll need to think more about this later. For the moment, try not to show your confusion. (You really hope the Seraphim can't read minds.)

[stuffedAnimal]

"Good! And I take it that you would not be that foolish either, hmm?" You try a smile, but the silly biped can't see it behind your MASK. (You can't read minds, but even if you could, you wouldn't because silly bipeds are primarily silly.)

[ParadoxicalInquirer]

> Lyra: Hop fence

Hell yeah!! Like a true Californian, you screw the lock and start climbing up the fence. There's what looks like an umbrella over in the rubble there...

> Mickey: Be the Moirail

You have no idea what a moirail is, but you gasp at your chum's current shenanigan.

"Lyra!! Don't go in there! It is clearly locked, and we likely aren't welcome. And besides that, this is a dump. For goodness' sake, Lyra, there is likely nothing of interest for us in there, and the large majority of it is trash and dirt and just--" You shudder, and look up at her, a disgusted expression on your face quickly being eaten up by your practiced puppy dog eyes. "Lyra, it is unsanitary and gross. May we please just continue along our way?"

>Lyra: Jump fence anyway

No way! Not cool. Your bro is asking you to stay out, so you'll stay out. No worries. If you really want to you can come back later, yo. You jump down and smile. "Kaykay, let's get going then." You say, fixing your tunic skirt thing. Micks smiles at you and you smile back, grabbing his hand and swinging it back and forth as you walk further down the street.

[Xartarin]

((Okay so the pictures didn't turn out too well, and I've been busy for the past few days. Here's the log, and there's a post in the OOC about timeskips.))
((Also, since Ventus and Niklas recently explored an area East of the currently explored block, I'll be working on a more expansive map of the Small that will include much more area.))

Hamish: Fight Imps

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About ten or so Imps are now heading towards Hamish. And by "ten or so", I mean EXACTLY TEN. Three of them are ahead of the crowd, and will get to you first. WHAT DO YOU DO?

> Hamish: Use your LIFEY THING to weaken them as much as possible before kicking some imp butt.
Your echeladder rise after fighting those previous imps has strengthened your LIFEY THING! The Imps are still running, but their arms lag and one of them drops their mirror. They look like they haven't had their coffee. The first imp reaches you, the other two lagging behind just a tad!

> Hamish: Club the nearest imp over the head.
The approaching imp takes a good cane drubbing to the noggin! It falls over backwards, dropping his mirror. However, the attack knocks it out of its stupor! The other two imps approach lazily, a bit like zombies.

> Hamish: Club the nearest imp over the head.
You dive for one, and attack him in an identical fashion. However, he saw what happened earlier, and blocks the attack with his mirror. The other imp grabs you by the shoulders, and the imp you knocked over earlier has gotten up and kicks you in the shin.

> Hamish: Resist the urge to cry like a girl.
> Hamish: Drain life to heal self.
You drain more life from your enemies, weakening them! The imp behind you releases his grip. Now's your chance to strike!
> Hamish: Attempt to make the killing blow on the weakened imp(s)!
You strike at the imp in front of you, breaking their mirror and then bashing them on the skull. As they burst into grist, you quickly clobber the other two. The rest of the seven imps approaches.

> Hamish: Do a very quick victory dance, and take a victory chug of coffee.
You chug your coffee, until an imp slaps the mug out of your hand with its mirror.

> Hamish: Oh that is IT! You don't have to take that!
> Hamish: Fly into a rage and destroy them.
That was a waste of perfectly good coffee! THE ULTIMATE CRIME! They slash at you with claws and smack you with mirrors, but you swing and bite and claw your way through the crowd.
You have defeated all 7 imps. However, your face and legs have a few cuts and your suit is FRUMPLED. Four imps from the second floor are heading your way now.

> Hamish: Take off your jacket, it's ruined now anyway.
> Hamish: Drain more life. Focus on one imp, see if you can kill it with the lifey thing.
It falls over, but doesn't die. It's incapacitated for now, but while you do that the other imps rush you, and attempt to knock you over.

> Hamish: Fight back with all your might!
Not just some of your might, but ALL of it? Land sake's alive, we're cooking with petrol now! You successfully brace against their attack. Luckily, one of the imps had tripped over their skirt in the attack. You bat them both off with your cane, and then pummel them both into oblivion! You give the imp that tripped a taste of the floor as you deliver a boot into the back of their head, and then finally you exterminate the sleeping Imp. XartarinYou can either progress forward on this floor, or head to the next floor and then go to the next area.

> Hamish: Collect the goodies, save your progress, and continue along this floor.
Good thinking! You save your progress and continue on. There are four stores around this area, and a small "island" of trees and shrubberies in the middle, surrounded by benches. There is on ogre guarding the entrance to the next area. However, you spot an upgraded ALCHEMITER in one of the shops. There are imps hiding in the shops, but they are pretty timid and probably won't attack you.

> Hamish: Investigate alchemiter.
You head over to the alchemiter. There are imps peering out of the ransacked shop's broken window, staring at the ogre. They don't seem to mind you. Apparently, this shop used to be a FRAYMOTIF shop, a long time ago. The alchemiter is fairly decked out. There's no resizer like there was in the Hotel, but it does have a HOLOPAD.
(Something to note: If you use your Zilly grist, you can alchemize the "Nehebkau Was Here" cane)

> Hamish: Then see is there is anything of use in the shops.
> Hamish: Do it. Upgrade your weapon.
You use 10 of your 12 Zilly Grist to alchemize the awesome NEHEBKAU WAS HERE. It's a cane of sturdy petrified wood, with two snakeheads branching out from the end. Your magic fairy hat fills you in on what the cane does. "When you hit someone with the snakeheads, you can poison them, doing extra damage. More importantly, you can use this cane to CHANNEL THE POWERS OF THE DISTANT DEAD. Namely, players from your old session!"

"Channeling the power of PEYTON CONBOY temporarily transforms the cane into ENDTIMES, a scythe that grants you the ability to hover and fly through the air!"

"Channeling the power of CLARE MARGO temporarily transforms the cane into FISTS LIKE PISTONS, a pair of mechanical sleeves that allow you to lift things many times your own size! Oh, and you can beat people up with them too."

"Channeling the power of COLE MANNINI temporarily transforms the cane into the MINDSCREW, a screwdriver that allows you to perform stunning feats of intellect!"

"Channeling the power of NAOMI YOUNG temporarily transforms the cane into the SUGAR RAVE, a glowstick staff that makes you flash-steppingly-fast! In addition, you can break out of almost any restraint. Nothing can hold you!"

You proceed to look around the shop. It's fairly thoroughly wrecked aside from a bunch of garbage on the ground, although you do find 33 boondollars in the cash register.
(To explain the name: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nehebkau http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Was)

Hamish: Fight the Ogre

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> Hamish: Marvel at the glory of your new weapon, then use it and your lifey thing to try and kill that ogre!
You marvel the hell out of that thing. It's so awesome. You head out of the shop and approach the ogre, who sees you approaching and readies his RESILIANCE MIRRORSTAFF. What do you do?

> Hamish: Switch to SUGAR RAVE, and use your superior speed and your life powers against the ogre.
You grip your GLOWSTICK STAFF and become FASTER THAN FAST. You speed around the ogre, but notice that the glowstick staff has basically zero attack power! Your life powers don't seem to affect it much either, as it's far too strong an entity. The ogre extends one of its legs out and.... whoops. You trip, and slide across the ground on your face.

> Hamish: Try to restore your dignity by draining life from an imp to heal yourself, and switching to ENDTIMES and attacking from the air.
You restore some life and fly at the ogre to attack him. However, your hovering is actually fairly slow! Not any faster than you can run, actually. The ogre slaps you out of the air with its giant RESILIANCE MIRROR with ease.

> Hamish: Drain more life, and attempt to knock the RESILIENCE MIRROR from his hands. It is clearly giving him an advantage.
How are you trying to knock the mirror out from his hands? With what weapon, what strategy? Be more specific!
((And then we started talking on a different day, so the format changes. Things I said are in black, things Hamish said are in seagreen. I talk in second person, he talks in 3rd, blah blah.))

The ogre remains standing guard in front of the entrance to the next area, staring you down. Like the imps, he apparently won't go on the offensive. What do you do? Using the scythe of endtimes, Hamish puts all his strength into an attack to attempt to cut the ogre's staff in half. Unfortunately, you're still too slow! The ogre blocks your attack with its mirror, and reaches for you with its other hand! Watch out!

Hamish quickly switches to the...glowstick (? The weapon that made him faster) and tries to dodge out of the way. You switch to your glowstickstaff, the SUGAR RAVE! Even in mid-air, you're able to easily outpace your enemy!

The fairy hat speaks: "PROTIP! Your scythe isn't sharp enough to cut through such a hefty enemy, the mecha sleeves are too slow, and sugar rave is too weak of an attack! Perhaps if you were to use them in combination...." Hamish decides to get creative. He dashes back, takes a running leap, and mid-air switches the sugar rave back to Nehebkau Was Here, in the hopes that he'll simultaneously clobber and poison his foe. With the extra momentum, he swings his cane downwards with as much strength as he has.

Your super speed manages to easily evade the Ogre's defenses, and you get an attack in! As your cane slams into the ogre at full speed, you hear a creaking sound and fear that it'll break. However, it manages to hold, and the ogre is knocked back. You fall to the ground, and see that you've successfully poisoned your enemy! Hamish attempts exactly the same attack, this time switching to the mecha sleeves instead. You attack again, smashing into the ogre with hyperactive force! Raw fury surges through you fly through the air and land a two-fisted blow on the ogre superman-style, blasting right through his gut! You slide on the ground dramatic-style as the ogre explodes into grist. You don't look back.

Hamish: Fight the FEY LICH.

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> Hamish: Collect the goodies, then proceed.
You grab your fuckton of grist, and look forward at the next chamber. It's the last one. To your right is a large clothing department. It's been raided, but it's so huge there's probably still some clothes there. To your right is a furniture department. Similar situation. Directly in front of you, on a throne of garbage, is the boss. Say hello to the FEY LICH.

> Hamish: Fondly consider raiding the clothing after you're done.
> Hamish: Nervously say hello.
The FEY LICH waves hello and stands up. It begins walking towards you. Hamish immediately swaps to the sugar rave and runs behind the lich, intending to attack it from behind. He's planning to switch back to the cane, to poison it.

You strike at the lich's back with your cane in a sneak attack, and make a direct hit! However, you fail to poison it. Liches are skeletons, dummy! "Fuck." The lich stumbles forward, and turn around. It raises its POSITIVE MIRROSTAFF, which starts to cast an eerie glow... You can't move! Hamish tries to switch back to the sugar rave, remembering that it could be used to escape anything.

You do so! And true as the hat said, NOTHING CAN HOLD YOU. You break free of the Lich's binds and run to the side, just as it unleashes its attack! A glowing BEAM OF ENERGY blasts out of the mirrostaff, annihalating the garbage throne, revealing a door with a huge skull-shaped lock on it. Using the sugar rave, Hamish runs circles around the lich attempting to confuse it, before attacking it from behind again, this time with the mecha sleeves.

You spin around the Lich and attempt to slam it from behind, but unfortunately Liches are smarter than Ogres! It blocks your attack with the mirrorstaff, strong as your punch was. The wooden staff is unnaturally sturdy, but cracks a little under the force of the blow. Lich's turn. The Lich fires an anime laser beam at you, from point blank! Since it's too close to dodge, Hamish attempts to use the lifey thing creatively on the lich, connecting their life-forces and trying to make the lich take some of the damage. You take the full force of the anime blast, knocking you across the room! However, a lot of the damage is superficial, and you'll live. You managed to drain some of the Lich's life in the process, but not much. Unfortunately, you have no time to rest, as the Lich takes a second to ready an attack and then fires again! Since he's further away now, Hamish switches to the sugar rave again and tries to dodge. You dodge successfully! However, the Lich isn't giving up, and is firing away at every opportunity!

Running around in circles to dodge, Hamish wills Navi's Fedora to tell him something useful. Or failing that, he simply tries to get close to the lich, as safely as he can. "Liches are frightening and powerful monsters!" It says. Awesome. Hamish makes a mental note to thow his hat down in disgust when this is over.

You start circling around the Lich, getting closer and closer. However, you notice something: The glow of the SUGAR RAVE staff is fading. Your time using this power is almost out, and you'll be forced to switch! The lich stops firing for a brief pause, apparently also having issues with its weapon's power reserves. Hamish takes this opportunity to use the last of the sugar rave's power, take a running leap, and switch to the mecha sleeves. Hamish aims for the face. You leap at the Lich, who raises its staff to block your attack! You buckle under the impact with the staff, but the staff snaps in two and the Lich loses its footing! You both tumble across the floor, ending up in a pile across the room.

Acting quickly, the Lich grabs you by the arms, picks you up, and attempts to BOOYEAH you into the floor! Hamish does the lifey thing to try and drain some of his strength. You waste your time doing it, and the Lich gives you a taste of linoleum. Blood trickles down your face, and you notice that you dropped your staff! It's by the Lich's feet, but it hasn't noticed it yet.

Hamish tries to drain more life from any nearby imps, and gives the lich a taste of the first thing he can lay his hands on: A cup of extra-hot coffee. There are no imps in this room! They were too scared of the Lich and left long ago. The coffee doesn't faze the Lich, who I remind you is skeletal!

Oh dang, in that case he'll try and drain some from the lich?
The Lich walks slowly towards you, fists clenched, and socks you in the face, sending you sprawling on the floor. You try and drain life from the Lich, which helps you feel better, but doesn't seem to faze the Lich. The cut on your forehead closes. Hamish draws his snakehead cane! A downgrade, but he's running out of options. He unscrews it in the middle, and leaps at the lich, trying to clobber him with both halves.

The Lich grabs you by the neck in mid-air, choking the life out of you. Ha! The irony is killing you! Oh, no, wait, that's the Lich.

Hamish tries not to panic, and using both halves of his snakehead cane to club the lich in the face. The Lich takes a few blows to the face, but his grip is still strong! Hamish changes tactics and aims for the arms instead, trying to break his grip just enough to wriggle out. You bash the arms, and one of his arms loses grip! You drop to the ground, but the Lich is ready to attack again! Think fast!

Hamish tries to roll out of the way, in the direction of the other cane he dropped earlier. You do so, narrowly avoiding the Lich's fist, which makes a sizeable impact on the ground! You're now within reaching range of your magic staff. Hamish grabs the staff, switching to the mecha sleeves again and aiming a punch directly at the lich's head. The Lich has turned around by now, and dodges you attack. It steps back.

Hamish switches back to his double-headed cane, a slightly faster weapon, and leaps at the lich once more. You manage to catch the Lich off-guard, and strike it in the shoulder! It's stunned, attack again! Score! He goes for the mecha sleeves this time, trying to take advantage of the lich's surprise.

Pick a location to punch?

Umm. The chest, since that should be a bit harder for it to dodge.

You aim for the Lich's center of gravity, a direct hit! The lich is knocked back, severely damaged.

> Hamish: PRESS THE ADVANTAGE!
Hamish runs and takes a flying punch at the lich's face, hoping to finish it off before the mecha sleeves run out of power. HAMISH PUNCH! You smash the Lich in the jaw, and its bony skull crumbles from your awesome might! The headless Lich stumbles back a few steps before exploding into a shower of grist. It also drops a PASSIVE SHARD and a BOSS KEY.

Aww yeah! After a quick victory dance, Hamish collects all the loot.
> Hamish: Examine passive shard, see if hat has anything to say about it.
It looks like part of a mirror shard that glows faintly red. "Passive shards are rumored to channel powerful positive energy! However, just a shard of it is useless."

Noted.
> Hamish: Use boss key on boss lock.
Like a boss. The door opens effortlessly, and the boss key CRUMBLES FOR SOME REASON. The lock falls to the ground. You have opened a janitor's closet. FULL OF GRIST AND BOONDOLLARS

> HAMISH: EAT IT ALL.
Well no. But Hamish collects as much as he can.
Which happens to be all of it! Excellent!

2:35

[Archaeopteryx]

You laugh, a little bit nervously. "Of course not! I am not even certain how one would go about such a thing, and even if I was--well, as I said, it would be decidedly foolish."

[stuffedAnimal]

You nod sagely. After a moment, you say "I'm certainly not going to give you any hints. You seem a bit smarter than the rest of you Players. Perhaps that streak shall continue in the Challenges."

[ZombieHam]

> Hamish: Look for more clothes.

Your suit is unsurprisingly ruined after those fights. You take a quick look around the shops, but they're all ruined and you see nothing of use. You'll get a new outfit later.

> Hamish: More alchemizing. Do it.

You head to the alchemiter and decide to use the holopad to see what you'd get if you combined NEHEBKAU WAS HERE with the PASSIVE SHARD. You then do the same with the shard and your SNAKEHEAD CANE, and with the shard and your BACKUP HAT, just in case.

[ParadoxicalInquirer]

> Derps: Come to a crossroads

Well, Lyra's more the derp of your pair, but you suppose you'll ignore the comment. You have both made it to yet another crossroads. You attempt to go left, but Lyra pulls you the other way as you begin walking. You figure you really don't mind. Eventually you both happen upon what looks to be a train stop. It's a concrete floor thingy with a wooden roof over it. There's a small gray machine standing next to it that has some switches and a small screen on it that says "TRAIN: DISABLED". Lyra let's go of your hand to run up and look at the machine, playing around with it. You glance at your surroundings, wondering where the train might be.

> Lyra: Button Bash Again

You can't!! There aren't any buttons!!
It's a very simple old school machine, with lots of slider-thingies. You forget what they're called. I mean, do they even have a name? You decide you don't really care, and start playing around with them carefully, since they could affect a train and trains are dangerous screaming metal death traps that luckily only run on very specific routes.

[Xartarin]

Hamish: Alchemize

NeheBkau Was Here || Passive Shard = Mirror of the Guarding Dead
Cost: 200 Build, 100 Stasis, 100 Mirror, 50 Judgement, 50 Element, 20 Sea

Snakehead Cane && Passive Shard = Energy Nunchuks
Cost: 20 Build, 20 Wild, 10 Diamond, 10 Star

Backup Hat && Passive Shard = Reflector Helmet
Cost: 30 Build, 20 Stasis, 15 Element

Lyra: Hit those switches

They do nothing. The train is disabled, dummy! Nothing's going anywhere.

Brathe: Wake up

You wake up in the RESURRECTION OFFICE.




The container by the mysterious machine can be pryed open pretty easily with someone's fingers, and contains:

100 Boonbucks
30 Build Grist
30 Stasis Grist
15 Wild Grist
10 Corn Grist
10 Acid Grist
10 Alkaline Grist
1 Rare Candy
1 Ear of Hellacious Blue Corn

[ZombieHam]

> Hamish: Make something!

You decide to spend some of your gist on the REFLECTOR HELMET, figuring that you can spare that much and you're curious about what this does. You immediately put the helmet on.

> Hamish: Rest.

You're a bit sleepy after the battle. You head back and plan to nap on the couch for a bit, baring any unexpected encounters on the way.