[color=6ecff6]BubblegumcAndi[/color] → [color=f26522]Fire Lord[/color]: Sure thing on the equipment. Will do asap. She doesn’t answer his group message about having the first kill. It feels…sort of wrong to think about, when she thinks too much about it. [i]They are just imps. Created by your imagination. They aren’t…even real, necessarily.[/i] Andi hears the sounds of things being moved, and turns back towards the computer room, seeing new equipment has appeared near the sculpting tables. The next message from Sthitis appears and she pauses to read the group message and then her individual one. She smiles as she sees that this time he has done the hard task of summarizing the most recent update to make sure that they have all they need. Now she doesn’t have to feel like the mother of the group. He explains that they each need two pieces of equipment to move on, and communication was key. In the individual message, he says that he has already deposited the Designix, which she had noticed a few moments before. She opens up the message again from the game about how much Grist she needs for the Grist Torrent, but the 100 doesn’t mean a lot since she doesn’t know how much she earned from her earlier kills. Getting an idea, however, she goes over to the computer and looks at the James’ Grist cache. He has enough for the Designix, and he has enough for the Torrent CD as well. Only one of them needs the Grist Torrent CD, and she doesn’t think he will mind using some of his Grist on it. Looking around his dorm room, she doesn’t see a lot of space for the Designix. She considers revising the room, making it bigger, but she realizes that will take build grist to do, and she doesn’t want to waste it. She quickly gets the Designix situated in his gigantic closet (which might actually be the size of her old apartment), and then purchases the Torrent CD as well. [color=6ecff6]BubblegumcAndi[/color] → [color=f26522]Fire Lord[/color]: Got your Designix in the closet and you had enough for the Torrent CD, so now we can all share Grist. Keep it up! [color=6ecff6]BubblegumcAndi[/color] → [color=ed1c24]Stithis[/color]: Got Fire Lord the CD, so we can focus on other things. Thanks for the Designix. Hearing another noise outside of the room, Andi looks up from her computer and sighs. More imps have gotten in the studio. She glances over to Georgesprite, but he doesn’t seem to be too much help at the moment. Perhaps she needs to do a bit more with it—like Fire Lord. Since she needs her equipment in the studio for that, Andi grabs her can and opens the door to the lab, seeing one of the imps crawling on the painting table. This time, they are a bit spread out, with three over there and two a bit closer by the entrance to the molding room. She uses the fire on the pair of them, and then grabs the crowbar nearby as she turns to see one of the imps rushing towards her. She smacks it in the head, but the thing is way too close for comfort when it pops. The other two seem to be hesitating, which makes Andi a bit relieved—hoping that they will simply leave--but as she touches the Grist, the other two imps come at her again. She throws the crowbar, which missed—unsurprisingly. She turns to grab her makeshift flamethrower, but it smashes to the ground and breaks, eliciting a rather loud curse. Jumping over the table, Andi looks around for another weapon, and then as the first imp enters, she pushes her dragon-head mold off of the table and crushes it. She is pretty sure that her mold is ruined, but the imp is most certainly destroyed. And that leaves just one. Andi looks around quickly, seeing a variety of things that [i]might[/i] work, but before she can grab at anything, the mold that she had just dropped lifts up in the air and crushes the last imp. Andi breathes a sigh of relief and thanks Stithis, even though he can’t hear her. After assuring that she is clear of imps for now, Andi pulls out her phone and sends a quick message. [color=6ecff6]BubblegumcAndi[/color] → [color=ed1c24]Stithis[/color]: Thanks. She spends a few minutes fixing up her flamethrower, vowing to store it in the card instead of letting it fall to the floor and shatter in the future, and then clears her studio once more of imps. She goes upstairs, killing four more who had been wandering about, and then grabs a few more things she might want to consider for weapons, bringing them back down to the studio. Remembering a costume idea she had tried a few months before, Andi goes into the accessories room and grabs a handful of items, dragging them back to the computer room, where she can keep an eye on Fire Lord and hopefully get some helpful tools. Before she settles down, though, she gets a tin can of beads and places it by the door. Next time it opens and imps come in, she will know right away. _+_+_+_+_+_ [color=0054a6]Baker[/color]: “Okay… So this Punch Designix and...this Grist Torrent.” Tim had sat down reading through the manual. There were a few pings, indicating he got messages, but he didn’t check them. There had been nothing in there about easy escapes of anything. They just had to go about getting these things listed in the manual. One by one. “Wonderful…” The sprite hovered a little closer as if to get his attention. So, Tim looked up and gave a questioning look. Somehow, through the silent communication, he managed to figure out the sprite wanted him to check his messages. “Okay...updates from the group. I need to get you a prototype.” But what could he use to mix with the cat? “What else…” He merely sighed towards Skip’s vulgarities, and continued reading along. “Okay. Our new ‘team leader’.” Tim spoke out loud to himself in order to make mental notes of it, like when he mumbled names of orders from the bakery as he made them. Stithis’ personal message came last and Tim frowned a bit. “Suck it up he says. Gee, I’m sorry for not being trained in the art of killing things.” Instead of saying that, he responded, [color=0054a6]Baker[/color] → [color=ed1c24]Stithis[/color]: Got it. Just let me know when you’ll need it. I’ll, yeah I’ll figure something out. “Alright Zorro,” As he was going to keep calling the sprite. “we need to find you something to-” A loud noise downstairs made him jump up. The sound of dishes crashing made him rush to the door. “What on earth!?” Rushing downstairs, Tim reached for the nearest weapon, however just by a thought, the metal rolling pin appeared in his hand. To his surprise, imps littered his bakery. They were aimlessly ruining things. “Hey! Get out of here! You don’t know how hard I work to maintain this place!” There were six of them, all who turned their attention on the baker and sprite. “Ohhh, no.” He planned to turn around, but the sprite seemed to block his path. It wanted him to fight too? With a groan, Tim swiveled around. Almost instantly, one leapt at him- and instinctively, Tim swung the rolling pin like a bat with as much force as he could. The imp went flying across the room and into the brick wall. The other three rushed at him and Tim panickly fought back- mostly just trying not to die- along with keeping them from going into his kitchen or up the stairs. “It is off limits, go away!” Hitting the last one, Tim collected the gems that had fallen in the imps’ places. “...Well, that’s one thing. Um, again, back to this prototyping. Maybe you’ll be more useful if you can talk?” Going into the kitchen, Tim started to look around. However, before he did, he sent out a quick message. [color=0054a6]Baker[/color] → [color=92278f]Skip[/color]: When you can, or I guess when I have the right items do you mind sending me my Punch Designix? I need it. Thanks! He’d offer his assistance, but there was little he thought he could do for his host. He remembered the one called FireLord used weapons to prototype his sprite. Tim supposed that’d be useful, so he decided to find something suitable for the sprite. In one of the drawers there was a gun shaped decorating mechanism. Icing was supposed to be filled into it, however he replaced it with cleaning fluids. It may not have killed, but it would definitely slow the enemy down. (And if they drank it then they’d probably get sick. “Okay buddy, now for the actual prototyping part. Well,” He looked at the cat. "You'll need to be able to hold this first..." _+_+_+_+_+_ [color=f26522]Fire Lord[/color]: Shoving his phone back into it's holster at his hip James makes his way into the first room at the end of the hall nearest the huge opening. He feels tempted to explore the world a little more, but after reading the update he's far more eager to begin playing with the alchemy mechanic. [i]'And for that, I need grist! And in order to get grist. . .'[/i] He grins as he finds a lone imp in the room, playing with some model planes. He takes it out before it spots him and he begins looking through the belongings of the once inhabitant trying to find anything useful to use when Alchemizing. Looking down as his phone pings he pulls it up and looks at the message with a smile. [i]'She really is proving to be quite useful, and dare I say, competent?'[/i] Chuckling to himself he puts the phone away and begins digging under the bed. There seems to be a lot of things packed under there and he hopes at least one of them will be useful. Halfway through his digging however he gets another message. Peeking at it he flops back against the bed and types up a reply. [color=f26522]Fire Lord[/color] → [color=6ecff6]BubblegumcAndi[/color]: My sincerest thanks. I will see about installing the disc as soon as I am able. James isn't thrilled at the idea of having to share his hard earned grist, but he figures if he refuses he could turn all of them against him, and he'd rather avoid that if at all possible. [i]'If they all prove to be incompetent fools however, I will not hesitate to remove them. . .'[/i] His automated voice, the one he's grown used to listening to over the years of conditioning, rears it's ugly head again but he doesn't even really notice as a couple imps decide to stop by and hassle him. Nintorisprite takes one out without him having to lift a finger and he takes the other out swiftly before closing and locking to door to dissuade any more 'Visitors'. With a self satisfied nod he goes back to digging for goodies. _+_+_+_+_+_ [color=ed1c24]Stithis[/color]: The shop seems to be filled with little black buggers, the mix of animal parts and oddly human looking hair on some have him a little unnerved, but as he draws back his weapon the gamer in Marcus flares to life and he lets out a battle cry. In any other situation, he would feel foolish doing this, but as it is, it seems the right thing to do. [i]'And I'm partially right'[/i] he muses, watching as the imps all look around at him with startled expressions. He takes down three before they recover, their little black bodies exploding into the colorful “grist” gems. Stomping on a pile to pick them up he whirls on the spot and takes out the fourth. It's a real rush for him, being able to act out the “game” like this. Never really into LARPing, this is the first time he's ever been able to fight in real life without getting sent to detention. Taking down the last one which had decided that it would rather hide in a corner than fight he chuckles to himself at the thought of all those LARPers in the part, throwing balled up paper and using foam swords to bop one another. Hearing his phone ping he hops up on to the counter and takes a seat, putting his weapon away so it's not sitting around awkwardly. Reading the message he nods happily. “Well that's good.” he murmurs, pulling up the SBURB window on his phone and seeking Bubbles out. It takes a moment, but when he finds her and he spots her fighting, he decides to just watch her for a little bit. [i]'It's good to get to know your teammates, right?'[/i] he reasons, watching her whip a crowbar across the room. A moment later however he begins worrying as her weapon falls to the ground and breaks apart. “C'mon Bubbles, you can do it!” He knows she can't hear him, but he cheers for her none the less. Finally he can't take it however and whipping his finger across the screen he picks up the heavy thing she'd used on one imp and taking careful aim, he drops it atop the little black beast charging at her. Quickly rotating about the room he doesn't spot any more imps. He lets out a sigh of relief just as his Pesterchum pings and with a grin he centers on her before opening the chat. Reading the one word message he chuckles. [color=ed1c24]Stithis[/color] → [color=6ecff6]BubblegumcAndi[/color]: Anytime Chika. Message sent, he hops down off the counter and pulls out his weapon once more. [i]'Even with the torrent, we'll need to build up the reserves, and fast. I've got the feeling that this slow beginning is building up to a rather quick advance system. . .not sure why I think that, but I trust my gamer instincts. . . .'[/i] Nodding to himself he takes out a few more waves if imps while prowling the shelves looking for something to proto-type his sprite a second time. Baker's message comes in the middle of the slaughter and he finishes off the batch before grabbing his phone and checking it. [i]'Really need a better system for this. . . Maybe I can make those computer shades I saw in the guide some time. . .'[/i] It's a few minutes before he can reply as a group of imps decide to tip over one of the displays at the very moment he finishes reading. When he has a second he gets off his reply he does so before heading for the stairs to his apartment. [color=ed1c24]Stithis[/color] → [color=0054a6]Baker[/color]: I should be able to afford the Designix now. Just put it in the living room or something. Thanks man, and hang in there! _+_+_+_+_+_ [color=92278f]Skip[/color]: The light fades and Laurra looks over at the image of her brother still floating in the ball of light. She wants to reach out, to touch it, but after a few seconds the ball flashes and pulsates. She watches with cool eyes as the ball becomes three balls, one disappearing through the ceiling while the other smashes it's way out through the window. A cool breeze drift into the room through the new hole but she doesn't even notice as the ball left behind morphs into what looks unmistakably like a cartoon ghost. She looks it over, wondering what to make of it, then pauses as once more she catches those eyes, now violet when they were once a pure, clear blue in life. Reaching out she touches the sprite, a faint flicker of a smile crossing her lips as she finds she's actually able to touch it. Looking at him she murmurs softly, “Alexi?” Her heart skips a beat as the ghost thing nods. “Can, can you speak? Are you. . .” It shakes it's head and her heart falls. Then she recalls that he'll need a second proto-typeing. Looking at him sharply she asks, “If I put something else into you, will you be able to speak?” She gives an honest smile as he nods once more and with a sigh she finally lets her hand drop and looks at her surroundings. [i]'I know I need something else to put into him, but it can't be just [b]anything[/b]. He's my brother. . .My dear little brother. . . .No, it must be just the right thing. . . '[/i] The words 'Land of Stars and Ice' flash across her eyes as she looks towards the window and she snorts. “Such a pretty name. . . .I wonder it it's to make up for all the death the game just caused. . .” e phone pings along with the computer and with a growl she sits down to read all the BS she missed while trying to save her hide. She reads it all, taking down each word into her mental notebook before extracting what's important and giving them a little response for no particular reason. [color=92278f]Skip[/color] → [color=fff79a]Group[/color]: 'Land of Stars and Ice'. Thanks for the tips. See you when I see you. Pulling up the window for her player she plans on closing it after making sure he's alive however her gaze lingers as she watches him fighting. Lacing her fingers together she settles her head upon them as she watches the show, interested in how the wuss she managed to torment with a book will survive the assault of a pack of the little creepy black things. She starts when she realizes that something about the imps are familiar. Looking over her shoulder her eyes trail down Alexi's hair for a moment before she looks back and confirms her suspicion. “Some of these buggers have your hair Alexi. Funny huh?” He drifts closer, laughing silently as he nods. Her heart warms as she spots the laughing motion out of the corner of her eye. The fight is over rather quickly and she lets out a bored sigh, ready to close the window and begin hunting for suitable items. However as her cursor lands on the close button a message pops up from her player. Reading it over she checks his stores quickly before heading to his apartment and dumping the requested item in his bathroom. Not really caring about his convenience she figures he'll just have to make due until she has time to actually play with his house. [color=92278f]Skip[/color] → [color=0054a6]Baker[/color]: Things in the bathroom. Way to take those suckers down. Keep it up and maybe one day I will stop thinking about you like one of those little dogs that always look about to piss themselves. . .Chihuahua, that's it. See if you can graduate from a chihuahua. Message sent she stands once more and on impulse reaches out to touch her brother's shoulder. “Let's find you something good, huh Alexi?” He nods and smiles, and she can swear he has the same hero worshiping look in his eyes as he moves to follow her through the hotel room. Pulling out Hussie just in case any of those little black shits show up she opens the door to the parent's room and begins moving around it slowly, opening drawers and dragging out luggage so she can go through them after she's sure that there aren't any enemies around. _+_+_+_+_+_ [color=0054a6]Baker[/color]: “Says I have to put something into you. But you can’t use a weapon when you don’t have arms. That’s ridiculous.” Then again, what about this game wasn’t ridiculous at the moment? He was still hoping that this was some terrible dream and he’d wake up late to open the bakery. “What do I have with hands…” He worked his way to his bedroom and looked around. Spotting the Pusheen cat plush on the top of his closet, he first wondered where he got it. “Oh right, secret santas that one year.” The fat cat had a little baker hat on, and stubby arms. “I don’t think these arms will work.” He pulled up a desk chair and looked around the higher shelves. “Why don’t I have anything- oh!” He pulled out the Charmander plush further to the side. “Man, the memories of this…” He remembered not being busy all the time at one point in his life. “This should work!” He hopped off the chair and grabbed the makeshift gun off the bed. “Let’s see. . .Put them together and-” He put the objects into the sprite and squinted as it flashed a bit. Instead of the floating ghost, the sprite looked more like a charmander with one eye and cat ears. That was interesting. It also charmander arms with kitty clawed fingers, and a row of little blue flames running down his bac which made the sprite look even cooler. Tim had used a broken lanyard to tie the plush and the gun together, so now it was strapped to the sprite's side. “Oh, I'm glad I used that to for the prototype. Now that that’s done…” The ping of his phone made him check his messages. Stithis needed his Designix so, he dragged it around. He didn’t want one room to get too crowded, so he placed in in Stithis’ bedroom. [color=0054a6]Baker[/color] → [color=ed1c24]Stithis[/color]: It’s in your room and thanks! Reading the message made Tim audibly go “Huh?” She could probably see the confusion on his face. “Skip is. . .interesting to say the least.” [color=0054a6]Baker[/color] → [color=92278f]Skip[/color]: Odd place to put it, but thanks. And uhh. . .Thanks I think? He wasn’t really sure how to react to some random person calling him a chihuahua. Grant it, he was a little insulted, but there was no time for that. Now he had to get the Grist Torrent, however to do that required him to fight more imps to get the jewels. Tim shuddered at the idea, but walked back down the steps. “I for one, still think it’s a terrible idea- all this fighting. What do you think?” He glanced over at the sprite still hovering about as he made his way back to his bakery. "Geez, I wonder if anyone else has to go through this much going up and down steps." _+_+_+_+_+_ [color=0072bc]Charrosprite[/color] → [color=0054a6]Baker[/color]: You're a nice guy, and I want to see you survive this, so I think that fighting is a great idea. Then maybe we can have some nibbles. . .I'm hungry. _+_+_+_+_+_ GM → [color=0054a6]Baker[/color]: Your phone pings. It's not someone you recognize, nor are they a part of your team. _+_+_+_+_+_ UnyieldingAmore → [color=0054a6]Baker[/color]: Hey cutie! How you doing? You look a little ruffled. . .You should get that sprite of yours to give you a massage! He looks like he's got good hands for it, though those claws look like it could be more than a little rough. . . _+_+_+_+_+_ [color=0054a6]Baker[/color]: Tim paused and looked over at the sprite. “Did you just-” The baker shook his head. “Right, right. Once they’re prototyped they can- you can talk.” Really, he was going to have to stop being so surprised by these things. He was in some game for heaven’s sake! “You wouldn’t happen to know what Land of Rain and Thought means, sprite?” Before Charro could answer, his messages pinged. “Oh, hold on. I think someone needs something.” Confusion crossed his face as he read the name. The message only helped to further confuse him too. “UnyieldingAmore? Never saw that name before. . .” [color=0054a6]Baker[/color] → UnyieldingAmore: Thank you for the concern, but who are you? Sorry, I’ve never seen your name pop up before. Tim looked over at Charro as if the sprite would know, but decided to wait for a message in return. Realizing he was called ‘cutie’, he gazed around the room, wondering if this random stranger could see him too- just like how Skip could see him. _+_+_+_+_+_ UnyieldingAmore → [color=0054a6]Baker[/color]: Well of course you've never seen my name before. This is the first time that we've spoken! I've watched you though, and I thought you were just the cutest little thing, and I can relate to your unwillingness to fight. *Sighs* See, I'm a lover, not a fighter, but [b]I[/b] had to learn to fight too. It was a real drag. _+_+_+_+_+_ [color=0054a6]Baker[/color]: Well that didn’t help much. It only made him paranoid actually. How many people were watching him!? [color=0054a6]Baker[/color] → UnyieldingAmore: Watching me?? You’re not my host though. And that didn’t exactly answer the who of my question. Are you another player? Or are you some part of the game too? _+_+_+_+_+_ UnyieldingAmore → [color=0054a6]Baker[/color]: Oh, sorry, sorry, my name's Cakal, and no, I'm not a player. Well, not anymore anyways. I played a while back. It's been a sweep or so since I played. Me and some of the others decided to check you guys out. Kinda relive old times through watching you guys play. Got one here who's really interested in your player. . .But enough about that. You asked about me watching you. Yeah, one of my teammates set up this program on our chat system which lets us watch you guys. It's neat. You still look tense. You should really get that sprite to do some work on you. Mine was exceptionally good at massages. _+_+_+_+_+_ [color=0054a6]Baker[/color]: “Why would anyone want to come back to this game?” Wait, did this person say them and ‘the guys’? Meaning there were more people stalking the group they made? “Just when you think there couldn’t be anything else to surprise you. Then there’s spectators. Spectators not worried about the-” He quickly typed out his next message. [color=0054a6]Baker[/color] → UnyieldingAmore: Wait a minute, you said you finished the game a while ago? So that means this game can be beaten? Does that mean that our actual world is fine? We’re not in threat of actual death are we?? ...And I’m sure you’re probably not going to spoil the ending of this game, but since you’ve been watching do you think you can tell me what I should do next? Waiting for the next message, Tim leaned against the nearest wall. “. . .What’s with the massages?” He watched as Charro did a grabby motion with its clawed fingers. “Uh, no thank you.” _+_+_+_+_+_ UnyieldingAmore → [color=0054a6]Baker[/color]: Yeah, it what a little while ago, and yeah, the game can be “beaten” though I'm not sure that's the right word. As for your world. . . .No, sorry, it's toast. . .More like cheese actually, The holey kind, but instead of holes, it's full of craters. And please, believe me when I say that yes, this game is about life and death. Alternia was decimated the same as your world, and you guys need to keep moving forward if you want to survive. You're right I can't give up the ending but I can say th- _+_+_+_+_+_ GM → [color=0054a6]Baker[/color]: UnyieldingAmore seems to be offline. _+_+_+_+_+_ [color=0072bc]Charrosprite[/color]: “He's right you know.” Charro lets out a soft mew and lick his paws before using them to clean his face. “Gotta keep moving.” He tilts his head this way and that. “I think the first step is more grist, then perhaps you should upgrade your weapon before you get stronger and more fierce beasts show up.” _+_+_+_+_+_ [color=0054a6]Baker[/color]: Tim eagerly opened the message. His face was crestfallen when he was told that not only his world had been destroyed, but he still had quite a high chance of death if he didn’t continue. That meant he was going to have to stop trying to find the easy way out of the game. He was going to have to get over his own morals and overall dislike for fighting if he wanted to survive. He had other questions! Like what was Alternia? But the message cut off. Tim frowned a bit when Amore was disconnected. “Figures…” He sighed and put his phone away. If there were more of Amore’s friends in the system, he was sure his group would be receiving messages from them at some point. There was no need to bother them while they were busy. “I suppose you’re right. More of those jewels to get more items on the list.” He once again pulled his phone out to skim the manual. Once he was done, he headed back down the steps and opened the door of his bakery. The first thing he could see was the endless wall, next was just open space and various imps wandering about. “I suppose my kitchen- or the bakery kitchen would be best for a weapons upgrade…” The metal rolling pin appeared in his hand after he thought of it and with much regret Tim took a deep breath and yelled. “Come and get me you freaks of nature!” Well, it didn’t take long for them to notice him, nor did it take long for them to start towards his bakery. “Alright Charro. The goal is to keep them downstairs and also out of the workspace.” As they came closer, he looked over at Charro. “Then when we finish, we’ll find you food.” Fortunately, only three came first so Tim didn't have to struggle with a crowd. _+_+_+_+_+_ [color=ed1c24]Stithis[/color]: Reaching his apartment Stithis locks the door behind him, prowling about until he's sure there are no imps. [i]'Good. Locking doors actually accomplishes something. . . .'[/i] Letting out a sigh he hears his phone ping. Pulling it up he looks at the message and nods gratefully. [color=ed1c24]Stithis[/color] → [color=0054a6]Baker[/color]: Thanks man. Let me know if there's anything I can help you with. I'm always here to talk to y'know. Putting his phone away after checking on Bubbles again he goes into his bedroom to check out the Designix. It's a fairly simply machine, two buttons, a keyboard with all the letters and numbers they will need, and of course a slot for the cards along with instructions on how to insert the card properly. “Like a the check-out counter for using credit cards. . .” he murmurs, chuckling softly. This game really seems to make things as simple as possible when it comes to it's machines. Letting out a sigh he heads to the bathroom to relive himself before finally addressing the matter of his sprite. Walking around the thing a few times, it's empty eyes sockets following him as he does so, he wonders what exactly would actually make it more dangerous. “I mean, you already look like death, except for the whole busted antler thing. . . .What could I add to make you even more awesome?” Walking around his apartment he hears the imps downstairs getting rowdy, but he ignores them. This is something very important, and he must give it long, hard thought, taking into account all the factors an- . . . .His gaze lands on one of his figurines and his eyes go wide. “Nooooo. . . . .” he hisses. “I couldn't. . . . .” Stalking over he picks up the figurine and simply stares at it for a long moment before turning around and looking at his sprite. He can feel his fingers itching to just toss it in, but then a thought occurs to him and he smiles. Chapaloging the figurine he quickly grabs the card it's on and flips it over. [i]'I may want to use this in the future, for. . .Other things. . .'[/i] Smiling to himself he quickly writes down the code before calling the item back out and before he can question himself any further he tosses the figurine into the sprite. Figurine - http://img03.deviantart.net/2c7c/i/2008/128/7/c/sephiroth_custom_figure_by_felifan.jpg The sprite flashes and pulsates, and moments later Marcus is staring up into a familiar face. His grin could not be wider. Where the skull had once been there is now the familiar face of Sephiroth, the antlers coming out from his hair – one still broken obviously – and the epic coat now hanging from his rather humanoid torso area. Marcus actually giggle happily at the sight of the six foot lone Masamune resting against it's side, and the single wing stretched out past his right shoulder is the icing on the cake. Looking closely he nodes the only other remnants of the deer that can be seen are the empty eyes and the hole in the forehead right at the bottom point of those radical bangs. “Sweet. . . .” he murmurs softly, earning a smirk from his sprite. [color=9e0b0f]Sephillsprite[/color]: Looking himself over the sprite checks his blade before smiling down at Marcus. “I concur.” [color=ed1c24]Stithis[/color]: He has to suppress a fanboy squeal and simply nods, racing over to his computer to tell everyone about what he's done. [color=ed1c24]Stithis[/color] → [color=fff79a]Group[/color]: THIS IS AWESOME! I just made the sweetest sprite ever! I just made a friggan Sephiroth sprite! One winged angel style, you know, the one with the single black wing, not the blue one, though of course he's all red, but who cares! WHOOP! He even likes the way he looks, which is just too sweet! What are you guys using? Hey, we should share pics! Taking out his phone he snaps a shot of Sephillsprite and shares it in the chat before forcing himself to calm down and take a breath. [color=ed1c24]Stithis[/color] → [color=fff79a]Group[/color]: Sorry guys, I just got over excited. I'm a huuuuge Sephiroth fan, and that six foot katana is legendary. I took down the figurine's card number so I can use stuff off of it some time later, so if you guys want anything off of him let me know and I'll send you the code. I got the feeling that you could actually make a REAL Masamune in this game if you worked it just right. With a big grin on his face he looks over at his sprite and nods. “Ready for some action Sephi?” The sprite simply nods in response, drawing his sword with a smirk on his lips and once more Marcus has to stop himself from squealing. Pulling his own weapon he makes his way over to the door, determined to clear the shop a few more times before attempting to do any alchemizing. _+_+_+_+_+_ [color=92278f]Skip[/color]: Laurra doesn't bother responding to Baker's thanks, and instead hunts with all her might through everything in both rooms for anything that would be even slightly worthy of combining with her brother. However, after a good ten minutes she finds nothing should would even consider getting without a hundred miles of him. It's around the time she contemplates chucking the nearest chair out the window in frustration that another message comes through and she feels a faint flicker of hope. “Maybe I can. . . . .” she murmurs, quickly typing a message. [color=92278f]Skip[/color] → [color=fff79a]Group[/color]: Hey, is anyone here into artistic things? I need something specific for my sprite. Nothing around here even resembles something useful or even functional. . . . I need someone to draw or sculpt something. . . . She bites her lip, knowing that cursing them out may have earned her some negative brownie points, but she hopes that at lease one of them is artistically inclined and doesn't already thing she's a douche. From behind she hears the sound of what she thinks are wind chimes, the small metal kind, and in an instant she's pulled her pistol and has it leveled at the sound. Before she can take aim however the figure is gone, leaving behind what looks like a punched card on the parent's bed. She approaches it with caution, staring at it for a long moment before picking it up gingerly. It's hard t see with the holes punched in it but aster staring at it for a long moment she recognizes the picture on it. [i]'It's that Punch Designix thing. . .'[/i] Glancing past the card she spots a small slip of notebook paper and curiously picks it up. [i]Thought you might need this, Shenanigans[/i] She stares at the name, recalling that the one, Sandro, had called them “Team Shenanigans”, and for a few seconds she wonders if this has anything to do with that. “Well, shenanigans or not, it seems we may have a little fairy looking over our shoulders. . .” Flipping the sheet over she notices a post script. [i]P.S. I was warned that you'd likely shoot me when I showed up, so I didn't stick around. Sorry for not hanging around to chat![/i] Smirking she nods. “Yeah, I was ready to shoot anything that moved. . .” she chuckles, putting Hussie away. With her shiny new card she heads back into the kids room, moving over to the lathe and carving up a totem for the Designix, then chapalogs both items to keep them safe. Pulling out Hussie once more she smirks at Alexisprite. “Now we just need to do a a little hunting, right?” Alexisprite nods and her smirk widens. With that, she heads for the door that leads to the hall, the sounds coming from behind it indicating some sort of life lay beyond it. [i]'Get some of that grist crap, then we can come back and make that thing. . .'[/i] She knows she will need the Designix to actually make the thing she needs for Alexi if anyone actually agrees to help her out since it seems they can share items by sharing codes. _+_+_+_+_+_ [color=f26522]Fire Lord[/color]: With an armload of neat little things James returns to his own room, dumping them on the pile along with the things he's chapaloged for easy carrying. Letting out a sigh he goes back and locks his door before plopping down in front of his computer and letting out a sigh. Absentmindedly he puts the Grist Torrent CD into his computer's disc tray and after a few seconds the program is downloaded. He goes to pull the disc out only to find that it's vanished. “Oh good, a self cleaning disc. . . .” he mutters, looking over at the two discs for the game proper. Not sure what else to do with then he puts them back into the case they came in and puts them into his desk drawer. Though things had become a lot easier, he's starting to feel the strain of the constant activity - taking break in his item hunting to fight more imps – and he wonders how sleeping works. [i]'I would rather it not be a necessity, but as I am beginning to tire, I think it may very well be about time for a kip'[/i] Letting out a sigh he looks at his computer as both it and his phone pings and groans softly. “So needy, these people. . .” Pulling up the messages he feels a wave of jealousy as Stithis speaks of having a sprite with the famous and historic Masamune blade, and without hesitation he types a message to the group. [color=f26522]Fire Lord[/color] → [color=fff79a]Group[/color]: I have always had an avid fascination with Japan and it's history. Would you mind sending me the code for the figurine? I would very much like to try out making that sword. . .My own is nice, but I would still like to try. Sitting back he reads the other messages and smiles. [color=f26522]Fire Lord[/color] → [color=fff79a]Group[/color]: BubblegumcAndi is an artist. I have seen her work, It is fantastic. Maybe you should ask her? James is satisfied with his own sprite, the ninja hummingbird awesome in it's own way, she he doesn't feel too crestfallen that he didn't think of asking BubblegumcAndi to do something special for him too, though he does mentally pout a bit. Sitting back in his chair he lets out a long yawn, gazing longingly at his bed, wondering if he should take a quick nap before “taking his Alchemiter out for a test drive” as they say. _+_+_+_+_+_ [color=0072bc]Charrosprite[/color] → [color=0054a6]Baker[/color]: The sprite joins the fray, taking out a decent amount of imps all on his own, assisting Tim when and where he needs it. His claws slice clean through the black carapace that comprises the imp's skin and his fire breath makes them explode one after another. He stays a bit away from Tim, wanting to give his partner a chance to fight, but not far enough that he can't darn in and help when needed. Every now and again he shouts out something supportive to his partner, adding in a thumbs up whenever Tim can see him. Eventually all the imps go down and Charro floats over to Tim and smiles cutely. “It will be a little while before more spawn. We have food now?” The tip of it's ghosty tail curls this way and that, much like the tail of a curious feline.