DracoLunaris

the Alliance of Liberty City

it's been enough time for you to make a new post with her doing so, or so I'd think

the Alliance of Liberty City

Stalker

Inside the bank, Stalker found herself in a bit of a predicament, namely that there was currently a fire-arm pointed at her head.

Things had been going so well too up until this point. Well. At least as well as could be hoped given the situation.

The Tirmin ship’s Scavengers had broken into some sort of waste water transportation system first as they dug towards the surface, then found smaller tubes containing a seemingly infinite supply of drinking water to tap into, solving the most urgent crisis that had been facing them. Then they'd found a way up to the surface and found it teaming with local life, which surely meant that there must be an overwhelming amount of food available to feed them all.

Stalker's task them was simply to infiltrate the local's society and figure out how to get herself access to their distribution network.

To this end, she began observing the local population, walking among them without much issue baring 3 incidents with the high speed machines that seemed to dominate the travel arteries of this settlement.

They didn’t seem very safe, and she had decided she did not like them nor their toxic stink.

She also didn’t appreciate being screeched at by all the locals either, be it after the vehicle incidents, when she’d emerged from the wastewater system access hatch, or when she’d attempted to acquire an edible pink flesh tube in a processed cereal grain container for sustenance.

This latter incident she had at least worked out why she’d gotten screeched at, as it seemed that the locals did something with metal disks, fabric slips, and/or plastic rectangles after the food was handed over, and that the distributor had not taken kindly to her not partaking in this act, resulting in her losing most of the food during the third vehicle incident when she'd made her escape. In an-attempt to prevent this occurring again she’d attempted to interact with wall mounted machines which others got the slips from, but to no avail. The local symbology was as entirely meaningless to her as their screeching and salt smell method of communication.

Refusing to get disheartened, she’d tracked down another source of the objects needed to acquire local food. It was a large building in which some locals screeched at other locals who sat behind glass booths, and began observing to see if she could figure out how to get some of those paper slips.

Unfortunately, she’d done so in a way that the locals did not seem to like, and had been in the middle of being screeched at by one strong looking one when said one’s cloth garments burst into flames.

As he rolled around on the ground screeching and ripping the garments off, she beheld the source of the flame. It was hard to miss, given that it consisted of a local who’s eyes, hair, and one arm were engulfed in it, and yet despite this did not seem to be suffering harm at all.

The burning being pointed one of its fiery arms at her as it approached, and here, at least, the signal was clear. If she moved, she was going to suffer the same fate as the local who had just been harassing her.

What followed was incredibly confusing to the disguised alien, but not to people who kept up with the local cape scene. The notorious PyroJack, serial superpowered arsonist, had subdued the small bank’s guards via severe burns (they had been rushed to hospital), and then taken a young woman who’d been distracting the guards (perhaps intentionally, or so some of the rumors went) in a headlock. With a threatening fist of flame pointed at her head, he had then induced the people in the bank to build him a bonfire of all the loose bills in the building, entirely for his own pyromaniac amusement, the smoke billowing out of a shattered skylight.

The police had made a cordon and brought in a hostage negotiator, but given the ongoing riot, it was heavily undermanned and was mostly preventing people going in the front door. The windows and smoke filled skylight meanwhile where wide open.

What was unusual about the incident was the fact that every single camera pointed at it displayed static at best, or simply crashed at worst, which was making getting a clear picture of what was going on incredibly difficult. Rumor and hearsay where abound, some of it tying back to a string of strange incidents in the area supposedly involving the hostage in question, and claims that the she did not looked scared for her life, but instead merely increasingly annoyed by the situation.

the Alliance of Liberty City

Took a little longer than intended, but have seen the episode. Good stuff. Will be giving some thoughts to a setup for the bank holdup over the next few days assuming it is in my hands.

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Videogame Crossover)

wordcount: 888 (+2)
Amaterasu: level 8 EXP: ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (14/80)
Location: Dead Zone Hinterlands - Curien Mansion

The divine had a lovely sail across the lake on her wind swept lilypad, which gave her plenty of time to be amused by the other’s antics, at least after the first time Harry fell in. Once it was clear that he was not going to drown, she got to enjoy his suffering for a little bit. Then after a bit she started to get a bit sad at how often it kept happening, if not a little impressed at how he kept picking himself up regardless, and started using ink bullets to poking logs closer together so his jumps would be easier.

Band’s trip across was 100% entertaining meanwhile. Or 90% entertaining. The sight of the man sonically propelling himself through the sky was a marvel to behold, but she didn’t get the reference he made before doing it, giving him a confused head tilt till for his attempt at humor as he flew away.

After that, on the far shore, she had some catching up to do, but following in Heismay’s fleesteps was hardly a problem for her, the wolf leaping and double jumping her way after the man-bat with relative ease. As she got closer, her ears picked up the tail end of him and Big Band’s conversation, or rather Heismay’s spiel about monsters with hearts of gold vs monsters hiding behind masks.

The divine in wolf’s clothing could relate. She’d not be here, helping out, had the three humans rejected her presence like the townsfolk had after all. Of course, part of this was the result of her difficulty in communicating, but she did her best to share her comradery with Heismay’s circumstances by padding over and settling down next to him as they watched the others try and climb up.

She also gave Harry a bit of a breeze of his own to try and help dry him off, cold as that might be, once he finally reached the other side of the lake.

Once all back together they headed for a dark cave, in which Amatarasu’s pupils widened as far as they could in order to drink in the light. Even then she could see only slightly better than the others, making her pad forward carefully just in case there was something lurking in the dark. If it was spooky for them to come this way, she could only worry about how scared it would make a child, even if the fact about them being taken here for their safety was true.

Fortunately, there was light at the end of the tunnel, light which revealed a collection of haphazard homes decorated with artwork that likely belonged to the children they were seeking.

Amatarasu kept her ears perked and her senses sharp, just in case there was some incredibly elaborate trap going on here, but given that Heismay could have simply left them wandering around the haunted mansion for who knew how long if he’d wanted, it seemed unlikely that they were in danger. The sounds of childish voices coming from one of the doors certainly seemed to agree with that, and the sight of them after it was opened up confirmed it.

A moment later they were inside, and the divine was being pet all over her sleek white coat by a whole host of grubby little hands. Had it been anyone or anything other than children, she might have snapped at them, or at least backed off, but she was willing to suffer through this indignity for their sake.

Though she was rather overwhelmed by the petting, the chattering and scents of many strangers crowding around her, she did her best to take in the room to see if she could pick up any clues about this very large ‘Molly’ person.

Though she could hear nor see anything unusual, even with her sharper senses, there was the distinct scent of spiders in the room, which was odd, given it was as neat and tidy as a palace housing this many kids could be. Certainly no cobwebs in sight, or at least anywhere near enough to produce this distinctive a smell. Having learned from her prior mistake in tracking the bat smelling rather than human smelling Heismay however, she now had a guess that this scent belonged to a spider-y person.

While the Original Amatarasu might have drawn a connection between this guess, combined with Molly’s supposed size, and had the Spider Queen she had once slain come to mind, for this one the Chaos Witch Quelaag was instead her touchstone for the concept of giant spider woman.

Neither of these were particularly nice beings to be compared too.

The lack of any kind of demonic scent prevented any jumping to conclusions for this, but the divine did wonder how exactly such a large spider woman, assuming that was what she was, was doing all the things she was supposedly doing. Between feeding herself and all these children, getting them all the things toys, paints and such, and breaking into town to kidnap/rescue them in the first place, she certainly had her work cut out for her, and she had to wonder how anyone could have missed her doing these things.

She could have run around and tried to find out on her own but, well.

Being pet was actually kinda nice.

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Videogame Crossover)

wordcount: 1944 (+3 exp +1 rapport) (+3 exp for Koopa kids) (+40 Jr, +30 Rika)
Bowser Jr: Level 14 EXP: ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////(343/140)
Rika: Level 10 EXP: ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////(249/100)
Lvl 14 Geralt (140/140) -> (143/140)
Lvl 10 Roxas (36/100) -> (39/100)

The gang who’d been off getting rocks and fruits while the others scavenged for guns had their own hand-in to do, but while they weren't getting paid for it, it would still be worth the effort.

The doors to the shared engine room and RnD lab popped open, allowing Jr to scamper on into the room, followed closely by his sister who was never far from his side.

”Hey Prof! We got the stuff”

“Wonderful!” Professor Koa responded with a warm smile, “Just hand it on over to Dr. Yu and she’ll be able to help you do the rest.”

”Scamp evolved while we were out there.” Roxas reported, letting the professor see the new Pokedex entry for Boltund. ”And we found two New Life Pokemon, too. Revavroom and Shieldon. Uh… Geralt has the Shieldon with him, but the Revavroom is with me.”

“Oh?” Professor Koa blinked with surprise, “Congratulations on Scamp’s evolution Roxas, that’s great to hear! May I see the Revavroom you caught by any chance?”

”Sure.” Roxas said, ”She’s not exactly a small Pokemon, so make sure you’ve got room for her in your research area.” With that he released Turbo from her Poke Ball.

“Ah, so that’s a Revavroom? Fascinating!” Koa said, this being his first time seeing a Pokemon of this particular species. He began to use some of his own handheld scanning equipment to scan Turbo for any additional information not provided by the standard Pokedex App.

As Koa was scanning the Pokemon, Geralt entered the lab, giving the gathered trainers a nod. “Here I am.” He announced, unclipping Tirn's great ball from his belt and releasing the Shieldon from its storage. “And here is Tirn.”

“Ah, very good.” Koa said, “Just let me perform some initial scans before you go and I should have enough to research for the time being.”

Meanwhile the kids who’d not captured any new pokemon headed over to Dr. Yu. The sector hybrid, her complealty skin covering outfit a mix of labwear and colorful cloth, carefully put away the book she’d been reading and gestured to an empty spot on her section of the lab’s benches.

“Here please”

”Coming up” Jr replied, as he hurried over, hopping up onto a stool, and then started searching an called up armory controle circle to find the needed resources. It was a process that had the Dr leaning in to examine with curiosity, commenting that “Ah, so this is the power that has had Sagi running around ragged”

”Mmm hmm” Rika hummed in confirmation, before asking ”Why, can’t you use it?”

“Hypothetically, but the line between magic and psychic powers is a lot thinner than practitioners of either would have you believe” she replied, which didn’t really explain why this being the case would cause an issue. Before the girl could ask, her brother found their haul in the system, and summoned it onto the lab bench.

They all, including the doctor’s Audino assistant, then had to make a grab for and catch several apricorns that therented to roll off the edge of it

Once the offending fruits were suitably piled up in an improvised cordon, the hybrid doctor took a look at it all, her assistant handing her various tools to confirm that these were not some lookalikes and were indeed the real deal. This process was particularly focused on the tumblestones, the sky blue and black ones being unknown to her, and warenting investigation.

The end result was several beakers with light shavings of the stones in them, some bubbling away, from which the Dr drew the conclusion that “These are indeed of a similar mineral composition, but with some variation that makes them either much lighter or much heavier than what I need to now describe as a ‘typical’ tumblestone. The results of using these should be quite interesting”

This was the point at which Roxas caught up to the Koopa siblings, Koa having now finished his initial scans of Turbo and was now performing one of Tirn for Geralt in his research area. ”So what’s the verdict?” He asked when he entered Dr. Yu’s sector. ”Did we get the right stuff? Geralt should be here in just a minute once the Professor’s done scanning Tirn.”

“Indeed you did” Dr. Yu confirmed as her assistant put her tools away, before warning that “I can’t quite guarantee the effects of the new types of stone however. It will certainly change the throwing trajectory certainly, but beyond that it is possible they may induce more radical effects”

Once Koa finished up with Tirn, Geralt joined the younger Seekers with Dr. Yu, who Geralt was only properly meeting for the first time. Part of him was drawn to the Sectoid, though not in the way Dandelion or Triss might joke about. He blinked the sensation away, removing a great ball from one of his many pouches and presenting it. “Kids mentioned you might want a look at this. And what was that you mentioned about psychic powers…?”

The woman blinked her pitch black eyes, and stopped herself taking a step away from the witcher. It took a moment longer before she moved a gloved hand forwards and took the great ball with a claw like pluck.

“I’ll take a look” she said, before turning away and beginning to dismantle the great ball. Only then did she explain her circumstances.

“I have the capacity for psychic powers as a consequence of having a hybrid of human, sectoid and typhon dna. Most of it comes from the latter, however, and they are a species who feed on the consciousness of others, which means that to use my powers I would need to do the same”

The greatball was popped open by a screwdriver wielded as a lever, giving her access to its guts

“The act and sensation of either consuming or using the resulting powers are deeply repulsive to me, so I do not. It is a repulsion that extends to related things such as magic despite the lack of need to feed to do so. Yet it is still is a repulsion I have no interest in overcoming”

A brief sound of chilling interrupted her explanation as she took a sample of the material composition of the ball

“This is because, unlike the Typhon from whom I draw this power, I have a capacity for empathy. Not merely a mundane one, but the psionic abilities of an empath”

It was only here where she turned back to them, the dissected machine in hand. Her pitch black gaze meeting Geralt’s bright blue eyes, as she explained her initial reaction to him with “Quite simply, I can feel what you feel”

Throughout the conversation, Geralt’s focus began to tunnel on Dr. Yu. More specifically, her head. Unbeknownst to him, Karen Travers’ Brain Eater Psionic ability was urging him to copy her own powers, but Geralt took a deep breath and suppressed the unknown feeling he was getting. “I see. Sounds like a curse.” He instead replied, taking a step back.

“It can be. But it can also be enjoyable. If others are happy, for example, then so am I. It can also allow me to help process the emotions of others” her eyes, almost imperceptibly, flicked to the koopa kids for a moment before returning to Geralt. She took a breath, and explained “What you just experienced is a hunger quite similar to mine. I recommend against feeding it”

“Don’t exactly plan to.” Geralt retorted, sighing. “First time I’ve even felt it. Explains how Travers had so much power, though. Whoreson stole it from others.” A large part of his motivation for fusing with the Major General had been to return to being male and to temper the Orphan’s rage, but at this point he wondered if it wouldn’t be better to remove the Spirit and crush it.

Dr Yu shuddered at the thought, and then nodded in agreement, before holding up the dismantled great ball and saying “in happier news, i can conclude that there is little difference between the mechanics of this ‘great’ ball and a standard pokeball, it is merely reinforced with iron, presumably to make it more durable”

“Should you be able to acquire a supply” she began to say, only for jr to hold up a claw and generate a lump of raw iron in his hand, giving her pause before she concluded that “yes, well, that might do” before plucking the metal from the prince’s palm and setting about doing some quick metallurgical analysis to ensure that it was indeed simply mundane metal.

Roxas, who had politely kept quiet during the discussion, finally spoke now. ”It’s that simple?” He asked in surprise about the Great Ball recipe. ”Hmm, come to think of it…” Roxas pondered aloud, ”...I met a trainer back in Port Meridian who used another type of Poke Ball. It was black and yellow, and he used it to capture a dangerous Dragon Pokemon that was battling us. I wish I’d asked him what kind of Poke Ball that was.”

“There are numerous special types, as far as I am aware, but the professor would be the one to ask on any specifics” the Dr replied, as she set the ball down and pulled a tablet over to herself upon which she began to sketchup blueprints, saying “Hypothetically stronger materials might produce more durable balls, but it is hard to guarantee just how much more that would help, or if they’d have unwanted reactions with the other ingredients” while doing so.

Geralt hummed, nodding towards Junior. “You have to show me that armory trick. Not sure I got the memo on that.”

”Sure. All you do is this and this aaaaand thiiiis” Jr said, flicking out a series of gestures to demonstrate. Geralt watched closely, committing the action to memory.

”Is there a process for how we use our materials to make more balls?” Roxas asked the doctor.

“Leave them with me” She replied, glancing up from her blueprinting work, before informing them “I’ll do some work to get some prototyping work done and then get engineering to use the rest for mass production once I’m satisfied. Assuming all goes well, the results will be in the armory some time tomorrow”

As she explained this, her Audino assistant ambled off to put on a tea kettle by plugging it directly into a port in the ship’s reactor that had been looming over them this entire time.

”Sounds great.” Roxas said, ”Thanks for the help, Dr. Yu - It’s appreciated.” Then he looked between Geralt and the siblings and asked, ”When’s the meeting supposed to start again? We’re not running late are we?”

”Five minutes” Rika informed them from behind the portable game’s console she had been tapping away at during most of the poke-related talk.

“Then we better get going.” Geralt replied, gesturing to the door. “Thanks for the help.” He added, directed at Dr. Yu and Professor Koa.

“Any time”

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Videogame Crossover)

Q&A

Feat: Roland, Sectonia, Juri, Rika, Jr
Words: 2808 (+3 exp)

”It's a shame we have so little intelligence. We get more and more, but it feels like we get more questions than answers.” Sectonia said, thinking of the situation as a whole.

”You know, perhaps we should get some information from that person who says he knows a lot. He trades that information for spirits does he not? While I doubt he knows where this ‘source’ is, maybe we can get good information from him regardless.” Roland said.

”Ah yes, Ganondorf asked him a question if I recall. Although I was unable to claim any spirits in our last excursion.” Sectonia said, making a note of that for the future, although she didn’t know what to expect.

”I have some extras thanks to my books being unable to expire. I can give you one or two for your own questions if you want.” Roland said, helping more because he had no reason not to and so far he hadn’t seen anything that made him dislike Sectonia. Granted he was totally fine with authority unlike many of the others so her aura of authority didn’t bother him at all. She was already way better than the Head in the short time he knew her. Although Roland would say the same thing about Ganondorf if asked.

While not one to vocally give thanks to such a small gesture, Sectonia did nod in acceptance and acknowledgement. Roland handed her two books of Bugsnax, Sectonia having a bit of a perplexed look on her face as she saw the picture on the cover of the book. ”You met these food creatures recently?” Sectonia said, opening up a book to read about it and finding very little information in it.

”Yeah. They turned people into themselves by feeding their babies to them or something. Is that something that all the food looking things with eyeballs do?” Roland questioned. ”I don’t know. But that sounds horrible.” Sectonia said, with Roland nodding with her.

”Ew” Jr agreed, really grossed out about this treacherous food, before recovering to ask the question he’d thought of, which was ”Do you think we could find out how to smash those clocks from that guy?”

”Probably. But once we learn that, smashing them will be pretty quick. But first I’ve gotta see how this all works.” Roland said, a book in his arm.

And with that, everyone made their way to gather some information from their spirits. Having never used him, Roland and Sectonia had no idea what they were in for.

Luckily, the merchant in question happened to be in this evening. The squad of seekers found Vulgrim in his corner of the otherwise highly technological Spirit Chamber, surrounded by the lavish decor and occult objects one might associate with a soothsayer. The demon himself lay half-immersed in the Serpent Hole he used to travel in and out of the Avenger, reclining on a fine velvet cushion as he read the book How Wars Profit Nopon with the aid of a tiny pair of spectacles. The moment he spotted a group of solicitors, the volume and spectacles disappeared, and he tented his claws with his teeth bared in a typical snakelike smile. His rings and baubles gleamed almost as brightly as his emerald-green eyes. “Well well well, to what do I owe the pleasure? Not just here for a courteous social call, I take it?”

”I hear you're an information broker.” Roland said, having an idea about this guy just a moment ago. ”You give information for spirits. We just so happen to have a few spirits to trade for that information.” Sectonia would say more, but Roland said it all for her so she just nodded. Neither side balked at him being a demon. ”So how does this work?” Both presented the books that Roland had given them.

Handing over a book of Bugsnax, Sectonia asked her question. “How do you extend the 10 year time limit of a person here without finding the source or becoming a Consul or Nobody.” This was the most pressing question on her mind, and considering how important it was, she wanted it answered.

“The secret of immortality, bought with a blueberry? Hah! I wouldn’t tell you even if I knew.” Vulgrim took a bite out of the book, munched for a second, then set it aside. He did not look particularly thrilled. “Why don’t you ask that little nopon instead, hm?”

Well, this is how he worked. Welp, He made a point and while Sectonia wasn’t sure what to expect, having been denied so quickly was a bit embarrassing overall. Well, a better spirit hm? But even a denial gave information… information that wasn’t much to her liking if it was true.

Roland then offered his book of Wendigo and asked. ”How do you infiltrate the City that Never Was and bypass its aura that seems to make that impossible.” Having seen the city from his tenure at Merdi-at-han, it was this crazy looking place.

The wendigo spirit proved to be appreciably spicy, so it wasn’t entirely worthless, though it still tasted like paper. Vulgrim mulled over the question. “The Transmission is a sound. A frequency. If you don’t want to hear it, why not cloak yourself in a frequency of your own?”

Hearing that, Roland was very interested. His gloves canceled out noise so he would be one of the few who could actually deal with that city. But with how it sounded, it seemed like the blue reverberation would be there… or it would be something he made or something related. ”Of course that lunatic would be involved…” Roland said with a huff.

Roland then gave his book of Bugsnax and asked ”Will the organization of Nobodies obstruct the seeker’s mission like the Consuls do?” Roland was sure he knew this answer already, but wanted to verify it.

Vulgrim didn’t even bother with either the spirit or the question. He waved them away dismissively. “You seem to labor under the delusion that I am omniscient. On the contrary, all I offer is hearsay, and nobody is more elusive than Organization XIII. It’s rare that they’re even sighted.”

This was information that was interesting. Good to know he was nice enough to inform them on stuff he didn’t know. Even so, Roland took back his offered book.

Finally, Sectonia asked her question, giving her last book of Bugsnax. “In the region of the Highlands, where is a powerful item that would help us.” She thought about saying Spirit, but they were already hunting a Guardian.

“Now that is the sort of information I peddle. But for a single kiwi? Hmm…” He thought as he chewed. “I’ve heard tell of a corrupted sword recovered by treasure hunters on Mount Dragonspine, which seethes with the power of an ancient dragon. Perhaps that would offer the strength you seek, if you’re able to wield it.”

”Well, not the first time I've dealt with an information broker, but probably the first time I’ve seen him just eat what we bring him. I’ll be on the look out for better things. Anything that you prefer or do you just want it to be a surprise?” Roland asked, knowing full well that giving someone the proper information or even bait was essential to get useful things, and he’d rather do things properly next time.

“No more books, for one,” Vulgrim remarked. “If a spirit tastes like food, a book tastes like paper dipped in food puree.” He shook his head, his fingers tented. “As for what I would like…the bigger and rarer, the better. Oh, younger spirits too. There’s no substitute for…heheh, freshness.” The demon snickered.

Now that was something Roland understood. Not liked, but understood. This guy was like someone from District 23. Roland wasn’t much one for these unsavory types, but that's just how things went sometimes. ”Hm… Not much I can do about the whole ‘no books’ thing. Whatever I’m involved with turns into books that contain the spirits.” Roland then took the untaken book of Bugsnax and lit it on fire to see if what was released was what Vulgrim was interested in. Instead, its unspecified destruction resulted in a random food item. An item that, when it wasn’t taken, Roland scooped up. He then shrug and left, Sectonia having dipped out a bit earlier to save herself from being embarrassed.

Overall Sectonia, having never used this guy before, came out a bit embarrassed. If Roland was trying to make fun of her, he didn’t show it as even he was put off a bit with how little preparation he made. She’d remember this, but would let it slide if it came out this was an honest mistake from the Fixer.

Juri had tagged along, watching the encounter from the back. When Sectonia and Roland withdrew, she stepped towards them. ”That’s it?” She asked them. ”Do you got anymore of those you haven’t used? Gimme one if you do. Somethin’ he’ll like. I’ll owe ya one.” She said. She’d been dropping plenty of bodies but hadn’t thought to scoop up any spirits she wasn’t interested in merging with.

”That's all I could gather that I didn’t destroy myself. Honestly, I wasn't sure what to expect. But a foodie, even if he does have the personality of someone from district 23, I can understand.” Roland said, shrugging.

”I don’t know about you two, but I could go for a drink.” he then said, trying to change the subject and get people's minds off of things. Seemed he’d need to be involved with getting more spirits if he wanted more information. Although with how things went, the information that Vulgrim gave seemed to be less about overarching things, and more about ‘locations or how to get to locations, or items or how to get items.’ instead of more esoteric stuff such as enemy intelligence. So he was more like a traditional broker than something like he was at the Library.

”Damn it.” Juri gritted her teeth. Roland as he passed by gave Juri the food item he had gotten from burning the book of Bugsnax, a banana float sundae.

Juri blinked at the food item she had in her hand. ”What the hell am I supposed to do with this?!” She asked as Roland walked by. ”Feed the ‘war boss’, he likes food.” Roland said sarcastically as he made his way to the bar.

Seeing as he was with Sectonia, one of the royals, and both were heading roughly the same way at the moment, Roland offered a drink and a chat to the Queen. Sectonia contemplated it.

Pointedly, Juri started eating the banana float sundae herself. Where could she get some spirits? Edward? That line of thinking led her to remember those monster spirits Edward took that she could reasonably have claim over. Monster spirits, live monster spirits. The weirdo must like that, right? She raced to the spirit archive and procured an armful of locust spirits and the Rompopolo spirit. ”Hey!” She called out. ”Hey, Vulgrim. Sorry it’s not a freshly orphaned victorian child, but this should be enough to get me a good answer, right?” She asked, approaching him.

She offered him everything, having no other use for the couple of locust spirits and the Rompopolo. ”I’m looking for a guy named M. Bison. D’you know where he is? Are these spirits enough to get the answer?” She asked, her usual agitation accompanied by an unusual anxiousness.

Vulgrim looked over the offerings and selected the Rompopolo spirit to slurp down. “Hmm… oily. A tinge of poison…intoxicating.” He ran his claws along his chin as he gave Juri a knowing look. “Bison, you say? That name gets around. As it happens, you’re on the right track. You’ll find four kings in the Tiered City, and Bison is one of them.”

She nodded with a lick of her lips, her eyes flashing with a toxic resolve. No doubt, she knew where she was going. Before it was just a guess, but it was good to know for sure. And the tidbit about the Four Kings was useful, too. ”I knew it. Of course he’s sticking with that corny Four Kings crap. Wonder if he’s trying to restart Shadaloo…I’ll be back, when I get better spirits. ” Juri said, collecting the rest of them and hurrying away, grinding her jaw. She didn’t know where to, but she just had to walk.

While Juri had run off to pilfer the armory, Rika and Jr had been mulling over what they could get for their one Tonglegrop. Probably not, they guessed the way to break the clocks, that was for sure. So they went for something simpler that could help them be stronger.

”So we’ve got these cassette tapes that let us turn into other monsters, right” Jr started, showing the demon the of Undyne, ”and we even managed to fuse two of them together one time to make one mega monster. So do you know, like, anyone in or around the Forbidden Kingdom who works with these and’d know how to get better at fusion? Like a teacher, or some kind of cassette tech-nerd or something”

Somehow, the Tonglegrop spirit made Vulgrim’s skeletal face scrunch up slightly, as if he’d just sucked on a piece of sour candy. “Cassettes? Hm. They’re rather popular in Shinjuku, if I recall correctly. They say you can find anything there, after all, so maybe it has an organization for you.”

”That's it?” Jr complained, while Rika shrugged and pointed out ”It’s something. Probably wouldn’t have gone over there if we didn’t check this” before asking Vulgrim ”So how do spirits taste anyway? Like, that one seemed like it was sour, but there’s gotta be more to it, right?” very curious about the forbidden snacks they had all been feeding him.

“Now, now. You know how this works,” Vulgrim smirked. “ If you want me to feed your curiosity, you’ll need to feed me first.”

”Awww” Rika moaned in complaint, before recovering quickly from her disappointment, shrugging saying ”Oh well. Guess I’ll try and save you something you like best for next time then”

”Ehhhh. Given what he likes most is probably us, probably not” Jr replied, not sold on this whole thing given the vague answers, only to look horrified when Rika suggested ”Ohhh, you could unfuse and we could feed him Omori. He was young”

Vulgrim turned a questioning glance on Junior, wondering if he’d really perform such a callous act for such an insignificant factoid. If he had no qualms, of course, neither would Vulgrim.

Jr would not, but had difficulty explaining them to his sister who made several good points in favor of, well, maybe not the ethics of feeding a child’s ‘soul’ to a demon, but at least against staying fused with the spirit.

”Why not? It's not like he’s doing much in there. Pretty sure he’s why you got really scared under the water that one time too”

”Yeah, I mean. Sure. But I still wanna keep him anyway. I don’t like that he died”

”Didn’t you not like him?”

”It’s complicated” Jr replied, once again struggling with his emotions, before crossing his arms, raising his snout, and taking a hard stance that was quite simply ”I just don’t wanna”

There was a tiny moment of silence between the two, and then Rika simply shrugged and replied with an entirely accepting ”Ok”

Vulgrim reclined onto his cushions. “If you’re quite finished, I’ll take my leave for now.”

”Sure thing. See you next time” Rika replied, to which Jr added ”If your tip’s good!” before they both headed off to go get dinner.

the Alliance of Liberty City

<Snipped quote by DracoLunaris>

Sorry, not to keep layering you with "applying physics to sci-fantasy", but how would Stalker 'appear' under sonar/echolocation?

@Stern Algorithm

For simplicity, it works same as sight. After all, both tactically involve bouncing waves off of things. So living things experience what they think is there, and unliving machines freek out.

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Videogame Crossover)

wordcount: 1,567 (+3) (+ 4,2,4,3,5 (+18) (+15))
Edward Portsmith: Level 5 (14 cells) (1 level up benefit stored) ///////////////////////////////////////////////////// (50/50)
Location The Avenger

After a bunch of increasingly annoying negotiations with Juri over their spoils, Edward came away with 29,000 zenny and the damaged weapon crate for his troubles. He cracked it open, but was, due to his now inc increasing levels of fatigue caused by having to haul his oversized body around with his rapidly deteriorating physique, in little condition to do anything but send the contents to storage.

items

Ice Breaker (Damaged)
A shotgun with a three-round magazine and low recoil. Its first two shots are icy spread shots that do minor damage but each build up a lot of freeze; landing both shots is practically guaranteed to Freeze the target. The third shot is a piercing shell that explodes if it hits a frozen target, purging the Freeze to deal extra damage. Accepts universal, shotgun, and long gun ammo
Brick Breaker
A gun that fires green shells that slide along the ground, damaging enemies they pass through and bouncing repeatedly off walls. Ineffective against flying enemies, but very effective in close quarters. Each one deals solid impact damage. It has low recoil. Accepts universal, secondary, and handgun ammo
Mag Launcher
A grenade launcher with a two-shot burst fire mode. Its grenades magnetize to sufficiently large metallic objects before exploding to deal high damage. Accepts universal and power/explosive ammo

By the time the convoy rolled back to the Avenger, Edward had to summon a pair of bronze golems to physically help haul him out of their transports. Fortunately, however, news of his condition had reached the ears of Deadman, who’d prepared a reprieve from his condition. A shaking hand reached forwards, touched salvation and was smothered in a flash of light.

”Thank you for relieving me of my self inflicted torment” Edward, returned to fully human as the spirits cascaded around him, said to Deadman before admitting that ”Field testing that was not my wisest decision. I was aware there where drawbacks but that… was far more than I had anticipated”

Deadman put on a thin smile as he began to push the portable fission device back up the Avenger's ramp. For a portly fellow getting on in years, it wasn't the easiest task. "Yes, well, spirit fusion is quite the fascinating process. Similar spirits seem to enhance one another, while disparate spirits repel one another." He paused in order to push the cart over the upper edge with a grunt. "Oof! So...as tempting as power can be, I recommend prioritizing ones that are more physically compatible."

”Here, let these” Edward said, as he directed the bronze golems that had been helping him walk to go and assist the man with the machine.

As for his advice, Edward said ”I shall consider it”, but in his heart he knew he’d have to keep taking risks with this process. Despite the pain, despite the regretted actions, there was no question that Midna’s turn of phrase still held true. Power was power, and he needed it.

He’d just need to be more cautious this time.

Skill was power too after all, and the nature of acquiring it seemed to be less impactful overall.

As such, first thing’s first, the man strode to the Fusion chamber to do it all over again. He did at least take part of the man’s wisdom to heart. While the advanced technology fascinated him, it was not his ballpark, and so despite the physical similarities, it was not the NC troops who remained a part of him, but the forces of the heavens and the hells. Just with an adjustment to the latter

Edward rebuild and level up

Removed: Nc Max Suit, Nc infiltrator

Reabsorbed with no modifications: Feather-Shield, Feather-bow

Reabsorbed as a skill: Malphas : This spirit confers the skill Hellishly Sorcerous, increasing the damage, duration, and detrimental effects of dark magic arts. Additionally, evasive dashes are automatically replaced by a short-distance teleport, making the host intangible for a brief moment. This spirit confers the weakness Holy Bane, increasing the damage received by miracles/incantations/light elemental attacks

Reworked description due to fusion chamber equipment:
Edward is a middle aged human with a chiseled complexion that is all angles.

After fusing with both a Feathershield and a Featherbow he is a little bit shorter than average and sports a somewhat slender, if still athletic, build. His hair is straight, neck length, and is a sandy blonde with Lustreous Obsidian streaks. He's received a silver mask to be worn over the eyes, embellished with wing decorations who's feathers curve and sharpen to seem almost claw-like at their tips. Fusing Malphas into his head has left him with glowing light purple eyes shining behind that mask, and ethereally pale skin.

His armored plate mail is smoky silver, and sports epaulet adored shoulder pads and a royal blue sash. A Fauld of red cloth sits below his cuirass, beneath that a pair of dark red pantaloons, while his feet are protected by the feather bow's knee high brown leather boots. Angelic wings sprout from his back, though the feathers are a sooty, black-speckled gray rather than the traditional white.

Edward stretched his wings once again, feathers restored, and then gave them a flap, only for the armor he had started wearing to keep him firmly affixed to the floor.

”I suppose this will have to go as well” he said to himself, before adding in his thoughts that that was probably for the best. It was hardly diplomatic attire.

Still, stripping away the armor showed that he’d not quite been spared physical changes from the refusion with the demon, his eyes glowing with an inner power. His angelic physique somewhat reduced the evilness of the resulting aesthetic, but an urge to tell others to ‘be not afraid’ wasn’t exactly the greatest improvement.

Still, it meant he was back to his older more mobile setup. Or even more mobile, as the man’s second test flap gave him a teasing sense of resonant magic, that he then discovered by flapping his wings to perform a backwards leap, which caused him to briefly vanish from reality, go straight through the wall behind him, and end up in the corridor outside.

A marked downgrade from the absurd portal power, and yet also incredibly useful nonetheless. And that was without him tapping into its other aspect yet.

After that, the things that were left were the two nc troopers, and one idea he’d had for one of the spirits they’d acquired.

striker gained

Reaver:A large flying creature that can either hover or crawl. It has a three-minute cooldown, and can be summoned either to perform a series of independent attacks by ramming (airborne) or using its tentacles (on the ground), or to be ridden on for up to 30 seconds

Flying mounts were incredibly useful, and always having one at hand even more so, especially one that simply floated steadily rather than flapping any wings (like, for example, himself). It would make for an excellent aerial firing platform.

items gained

NCMI Scattercannon A large, heavy semi-automatic shotgun of futuristic make that cannot be wielded by hand. It must be integrated with another electronic system and triggered that way. Once successfully mounted, however, it puts out withering damage at short to mid range with a high rate of fire

MGR-M1 Bishop A semi-auto marksman rifle of futuristic make. It uses signature ammunition coupled with advanced charge coils to pierce through multiple targets in a single shot. In addition, its heavy damage and controllability make it ideal for long-range engagements. Lacks the pure power of a traditional sniper rifle, but has a similarly long reload

Ironically, or perhaps entirely expectedly, the striker gave him a weapon which it had been giving him natural talent with, and which he now had little idea of how to use. One look at its bizarre ammunition and he knew it was entirely beyond his repertoire. Same went for the oversized cannon that would likely best be attached to one of the armory’s vehicles (that he also did not know how to use).

Still, someone might find value in them, and so into storage they went.

The mag launcher meanwhile had far more intuitive operation, to the extent that its grenade based ammo was sitting right there in the open on the side of the weapon. He could probably feed grenades straight into it himself even with just a little modification, which he just so happened to have a spell to produce.

Speaking of spells, that simply had to be the way the gun made of bricks of some sort operated, and he was certainly interested in test firing that when the time came around. There’d be no such experimentation with the Ice Breaker however, as it was too damaged to be fired safely in his assessment. A shame.

Now needing to be armed again, the man had several ideas for different setups based on all the equipment they’d acquired, as well as a notion to use them for parts to make his own more specialised gear. For now however, he summoned and slid his magelock pistol into its holster, and strapped the munitions pouch to his waist for later use.

His sidearm, and a surplus of grenades, would have to do if anything disastrous happened before he got round to fully kitting up. An unlikely prospect, but it always did to be prepared, even if it was just a meeting he was going to.

the Alliance of Liberty City

<Snipped quote by DracoLunaris>

Sorry, I hit post before I was done. So I hope this doesn't come off sounding like I am intentionally having my character "counter" your character in some way, but because I assume illusion magic exists in this world, my character's mask was going to allow her to see with her eyes as well as provide her with a camera feed of what she's looking at in an attempt to circumvent potential illusions (Eileen is a super genius and is full of potential contingencies). That said, I think corrupted data not only makes slightly more sense, it also gives my character a hint without fully revealing your character's secret. This would also answer the question of what if a machine intelligence or robot was looking at Stalker.

Also, I am in no way trying to force it one way or the other and will RP in such a way as would respect Stalker's mysteriousness and general unknowability.

@Stern Algorithm

I was kinda out of it y day so sorry bout the delay. I think you might be overestimating how cool-ly I can portray a character, but I'll do my best to live up to the hype. Data corruption works, it adds a layer of alienness and has as many downsides, if not more, than upsides imo

the Alliance of Liberty City

@DracoLunaris How does stalker show up on cameras?

@Stern Algorithm

excellent question. uhhh

Either she shows up exactly like how she does in person, as in it is based on perception (and we hand wave or even lean into how that makes no sense), or the footage gets corrupted because human tech just can't handle Tirmin tech. Either way things get even more eldritch this way which is fun.

Given that your the one who's char is going to see her through em first, what do you think would be more interesting? I'm also generally up for cool ideas here if anyone has em

I HIGHLY recommend that episode. Literally stuck with me all of these years after seeing it. I can't remember what the bug creature did to make everyone see it as human, but it was wild. Here's the wiki write-up link....

@Omega Man

I have acquired it and will give it a watch tomorrow I think