(The discussion thread is here
)
Welcome to HGS: Another Side Another Story. It is a roleplay spinoff for the Hunger Games Simulator forum game, akin to both the RP's in the Roleplaying section as well as the ITTs in Forum Games. It tells the story of the Hunger Games in the Arena of Panem, the nominators who sent the tributes, the tributes themselves both in and out of the Arena or even other people relevant to the Games. In addition, it also tells their stories beyond the Arena.
You can jump right in with any character, like your nominator self, your tributes, etc. The structure of this RP will be open-world. Don't worry about not being skilled/experienced enough or being new to RP'ing. Finally, ASAS accepts any skill level or RP style. Other than these, there are some important rules to note, which are:
- No godmodding will be allowed or tolerated here. The offending player will be given punishment depending on the severity.
- Please communicate anything important you plan on another player with the said player first. Don't just execute it without their consent.
- Don't be rude to other players, both out and in-universe. This extends to RP offenses like railroading, guilt-tripping, coercing, or other forms of forcing them.
- This RP is related to the Hunger Games Simulation:Beyond the Possibilities forum game. Thus it will have events based from that game, including the tributes. This means if you want to RP as tributes, please nominate them officially on the thread first, with misses not being counted. This has to be done after an incident with a player who hasn't joined the game itself yet.
- Since this RP is Loose Canon in relation to the main HGS thread, the host's interpretation of events isn't necessarily 100% canon. Every player has the right to deviate from what the host says and go with their own interpretations. If multiple players have their tributes involved in the same event(s), please communicate with each other so that you're on the same page regarding how you see them.
- This RP chronicles the lives of the nominators and their tributes behind the scenes. While dark plots are acceptable, the overall tone of the RP should be light-hearted and comedic. This RP is not a Cosmic Horror Story or action story about defeating evil. It is a Slice of Life comedy with some adventure to it, first and foremost. Our previous RP, Convergence, is not representative of the intended tone, and the grimdark tone of that RP is one of the main reasons it was retooled.
- Nominators and tributes alike can transform into Pokemon whenever they enter a Pokemon Mystery Dungeon World (but they can bypass this with certain items/methods or shapeshifting) or via other means outside it such as a season event, Transformation Trinkets, or shapeshifting. The players are free to choose the Pokéforms that best suit their characters and even give them color schemes outside the standard and Shiny colors, but there is a hard rule for this. If you want your character's Pokéform to be a Legendary, Mythical, or Ultra Beast, please ask the RP mods for approval. Outside the Arena, these Pokéforms are still OP, but we want to give leeway for tributes who theoretically can have them such as deities.
- Other rules are covered in the RP guides: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13414403220A81433600&page=1#comment-1
Other guides to help you can be found below:
Here's my opening RP post:
Detective Gamechanger's Base
A sharp-dressed man in a green suit and yellow tie is standing by the entrance of the base. He is of average height and has whitish skin, though still a bit darker. He is Billy, one of the nominators and the organizer of the party.
Indeed, after the nominators' returned and settled their problems, they decide to have fun with a party. Billy also sent invites for all the other nominators out there, as well as basically anyone else, including tributes, non associated parties, interested nominators who haven't participate yet, or even those who just wants to hang out.
The place itself in the base is refurbished for party purposes. Fancy chairs and tables are set everywhere for people to relax, as well as put food and other objects for the latter. There's also various collections showcased, including those belonging to the Detective, like his classic cars. Various themes to the base are set too, including detective noir as GC would have preferred.
Billy is now awaiting for other guests to arrive. He is also ready to give them a pleasant surprise during the party pertaining to his nation.
Edited by Billy5545 on Aug 23rd 2023 at 12:18:55 AM
Léodagan, the Bloodthirsty
Hanubia
"The plan does not change. Raven Beak must still be defeated. But we will have to be quick after that." Fire Eyes said.
"Assuming they can beat him and Dark Stanford. Those idiots were already struggling against me. What makes you think they can take them on?" Blood Moon spat.
"You're married like me, you know monstrosity can take many forms."
What, me worry?
Ronny Gold's Castle
Ronny observed everyone working on their LEGO creations as he started working on some gold coins to go for his Mario escapade.Nice work, everyone. Your creations are awesome! Good improvement, Haban, Arrow! You're making the finest pipe yet. Boo, it looks just like you and Friday. Friday, Oscar would be proud of that garbage can.
Barnes led Ed and Caedia back into the LEGO room. Ronny smiled upon hearing Ed praising his comic collection. Why thank you very much! It took years and lots of money to buy all those. Countless hours on eBay and time spent in stores to get all those. But it's among some of my proudest collections. Help yourself and read what you want. And don't mind Barnes; he's just protective of the Castle. Maybe a bit too protective. Oh, Barnes, I want to let you know: Churchhill and Fairfax are in for the next season.
Why thank you, sir. Hopefully some of Britain's greatest war minds can lead us to victory in the Hunger Games.
Here's hoping. Now, put this on, Barnes! Ronny slapped a black helmet on Barnes's head. Come on. I'm about to start building some hammers. You throw them while Haban and Arrow pop out of these pipes they're working on. Sound good?
Barnes sighed in irritation and in forced compliance.
"Afraid of Needles, eh? Methinks if you told him he'd get a lollipop or dinosaur if he was a good lil baby pone about it, he'd learn there's nothing to be scared of."
Braids From S286 Not Included
Outside Dark Stanford's Lair
"Yes! YES!" shouts Peridot as the Atomozoid falls apart. "Can't wait to use these bots in the lair!"
The Science Center
Wards
The medical team searches around the hallways for the other guest doctors.
"Mrs. Madrigal and Dr. Tennelli shouldn't be far away," says Dr. Phoenix.
"But where's the Professor?" asks Ralsei.
"Hmm... haven't seen him in a while..." says Priyanka.
"I know a spell for that!" says Mari. "But I don't know if it also works on nonhumans, but he probably shouldn't be hard to find either."
Safety Shelter
Unmarked Nimona spoilers follow.
"Hey, I thought he assigned 'It's Raining Women' to Pierrette because she was stereotyped as a Butch Lesbian!" says Juan.
"But I agree you, Stacy," says 6k1. "There are straight femboys and tomboys out there!"
"But I hope he didn't mean to be bigoted there," Juan continues. "Even the most well-meaning allies make mistakes about the LGBT+ community."
"Oh yeah, I used to think that all aces hate sex!"
"While I once thought all aros hated everything associated with romance!
"But anyway, you still didn't answer my question about your shapeshifting, Stacy! I meant to ask if your Tina form only lasts until the season finale, and you automatically turn back into your default form!"
"Nimona's 'shifting does not have a time limit at all," says 6k1. "She changes forms so fast because it's fun for her! But speaking of her..." she looks down on the table, "she's not evil, just chaotic, but almost everyone believed she was a monster just because she was the only 'shifter in her world. I'm glad Ballister was able to stop her from stabbing herself on the sword of the statue of Gloreth, her Old Friend who drove her away because the other villagers taught her to fear 'monsters' like her when they found out they were friends."
"Man..." says Juan, "but what about CAC? Was he ashamed of that too, not just of his old Knight Templar beliefs?"
6k1 shrugs. "Maybe, given that it took him a long time to let people see him transform, but I assured him that there was nothing wrong with that either way!"
She actually doesn't know that he hid it for a long time because he associated it with villains and didn't want to be seen as one for it.
Underground Bunker
"I actually give him dino stickers," says Heart. "His fear won't go away so easily, but I hope it will when he's older!"
"I don't think I'll ever get over that..." says Star.
"Easy there, Starry!" says Spice. "Everyone overcomes their fears at their own pace!"
"Yeah!" says Power. "And speaking of fears, Bez, what are you afraid of?"
He darts his eyes. "Seagulls," he says. "One time, I was eating quesadillas at the beach, but a whole flock of 'em stole a slice and pecked at me and my fabulous mane!"
He waves his front hooves in the air dramatically, making Pepper sputter and giggle and Moon laugh out loud.
"I was afraid of those birds too for a while," says Power, "after one somehow threw a full-grown manA/N at me in OT S202!"
"OT S202?" asks Bezier, and then lightly taps his temple. "That must've been a long long looooong time ago, huh?"
"Yeah... that timeline is but a distant memory now, but by the time I saw seagulls at Nemo's Great Barrier Reef, I had long gotten over that fear!"
"Ah yes, I remember our trip there." Star smiles at last. "Remember that, Moony?"
"Of course, sis! I'd love to turn into a seapony again next time we go there or another beach!"
"Rarity, are you okay? We gotta get you and your friends outta here soon!"
"Seagulls? Ya live a world filled with supervillains and monsters, but you're scared of a common bird?"
Edited by IchigoMontoya on Mar 12th 2024 at 5:49:39 AM
Stacy: (To Juan) Well, yeah. I think that wasn't his intention. Anyway, Juan, I can stay in my alternate forms for as long as I want.
Not an evil Thievul
Science Center
Could ask the others where they're at, too. (Kenny says.)
(Soon enough, Georgina returns from a room further up the hallway. She spots Kenny and the others and waves.)
Oh, there you all are! (The Slowking says, heading down to meet the others.) I hope none of you needed me. This place is fascinating.
Naw, just checkin' in on things, purty much. (Heidi says.) You hangin' in there?
Oh, yes! Admittedly it's a bit hard not to get distracted by just...well...how incredible everything in here is. (Georgina says.)
Ronny Gold's Castle
Gosh, thanks! (Ed says, heading back to look for some comics that look interesting.)
(Friday doesn't realize that Ronny is referring to the Grouch named Oscar and thinks Ronny is referring to the Thievul named Oscar currently on ZDR.) Well, he wasn't much for trash, but I figure he might be impressed.
...I get the feeling he meant a different Oscar, bub. (Boo points out.)
Oh...heh heh... (Friday chuckles sheepishly.)
Hey, thanks, Ron. I didn't think I was doing that well. (Boo says.) Think I'm starting to get the appeal of this stuff.
(Haban snickers mischievously as he takes himself and Arrow into one of the pipes. After a moment, they pop out and Haban fires off a small fireball.)
(This whole time, Caedia simply looks on quietly with her arms crossed for a moment before sighing and starting to look around at the bricks.)
ZDR
Lair (Outside)
(Finally, the Atomozoid just completely crumbles down into a bunch of unmoving pieces on the ground. There’s still VL energy radiating around it, though it’s starting to fade with the Atomozoid disabled.)
That sure did it! (Ben remarks, standing down.)
Lair (Hallway)
(Behind the door Tokage opens, there is a room that strongly resembles the interior of ACME Looniversity...the same room that June and the others chose to hide in.)
Doesn't look like there's anything dangerous in here... (August says.)
(Meanwhile, the door that the FBW opened leads to a room that looks like a corrupted version of the interior of a passenger jet. The seats seem to stretch out ahead infinitely, curling around the walls and ceiling as they do.)
(But most of note through this door is a new device sitting in a gap between seats. It looks like it was just recently added and looks suspiciously like a teleportation pad, with a platform in the middle and a button to activate it.)
...Say, that sorta looks like the kind of teleporters we'd have at HQ back home. (Ball remarks.)
Hanubia
They got strength in numbers, at least. (Knox says.) And they got Joaquin and Veena, too. Least I hope they still do.
Edited by kablammin45 on Mar 13th 2024 at 12:43:40 PM
"Lucian, don’t be afraid, we’ll make it through this."
Léodagan, the Bloodthirsty
Hanubia
"You're saying that as if our ennemies can't deal with groups on their own." Blood Moon snarled.
Fire Eyes looked away from Knox, trying to hide how miserable he felt when he mentioned Joaquin. Blood Moon noticed it.
"Let me guess... The brat has really already turned into a Nightmare." Blood Moon guessed.
"..."
Dark Stanford's lair
"Yikes... Good luck walking through that place." Nick commented upon seeing the corrupted version of the passenger jet.
"I'm going in." Arthur volunteered.
Arthur opted to carefully fly toward the pad Miss Ball just spotted, going across the seats.
"I dunno if that's really one of your teleportation pads, but it sure looks like one." he exclaimed.
Meanwhile, Tokage and Alex carefully entered the ACME room.
"Thank goodness there are no monsters here either." he muttered.
"Yeah... Say, doesn't it remind you of Bugs's world?" Alex asked.
"It does remind me a bit of it, yes." Tokage admitted.
Just around them, Aaron and Lucian were still hiding in the book alongside Oscar and June. Both have been quick to shut their eye and remain still. Though he was among the first to hear his friend's voices, he didn't open his eye yet, unsure if this was Dark Stanford trying to trick them.
Eventually, he decided to open it very slightly.
"...Guys? Is that you?" he asked upon seeing the four other Pokémons.
"Aaron? Guys, did you hear Aaron's voice too?" Alex asked.
"I did... But-" Tokage said, only to finally spot the four Unowns on the book.
"Aaron? June? Is that you??" the Grovyle asked. Alex looked at the two other Unowns.
"Kiki!! Lulu!! You're here too??"
"You're married like me, you know monstrosity can take many forms."
CAC: Assuming you guys are Aaron, June, and the others, how did you do that? Is that June's illusion or you guys somehow became Unowns for real?
Dagded Dujardin
Door Problems
Bale's group were intrigued by the doors that were opened, if only because the first was something out of a cartoon, literally, and the second was just about expected from the place.
Pearl: I think I might pass out if I stare too much at this distortion.
Bale: My head hurts.
Rouki: Fascinating view.
Kirby: Are the people in there fine?
Garnet: Only one way to truly find out.
Kirby and Rouki opted to go through the warped plane path while Pearl and Garnte went through the Looniversity door, Bale decided to investigate the third door spotted.
Bale: Oookay, let's see what this got for us.
"Bingo! If two species hate each other, they will wipe each other out on their own."
What, me worry?
Ronny Gold's Castle
As Barnes walked with Ronny to get some LEGO hammers, Haban's fireball blazed right into Barne's gluteus. He screamed so loud, he nearly made himself hoarse. My bum! My bum!, Barnes shouted while running in circles in the room.Sit on it, Barnes, you can suffocate the fire that way. Barnes did as he was told and plomped down on the floor. The fire was out, though his rear was still smoking. Still singed. You okay, Barnes? Ronny asked while holding out his hand to pick him back up. I'm fine, sir. I think I put it out in time. I would hope so. Dinner is to come later, and I'm not hungry for rump roast. Very droll, sir. Now if you excuse me, I think I'll retreat to the bath. Okay, Barnes.
As Barnes left the room, Ronny stood in front of the Haban and Arrow pipes. Who dares take on these challengers? We must save the mushroom kingdom. You... Ronny said, pointing to Boo, who he gave the sombrero to earlier. Can you stop Bowser's minions and save the Princess? He nudged a bit to Caedia and whispered in her ear Do you want to be the princess? Building a life-size LEGO castle would take too long. But we need a damsel in distress for our little Mario here. He turned back to Boo. There's your chance, hero. Can you say Mama Mia and stop Bowser?
Edited by MatthewLMayfield on Mar 13th 2024 at 6:48:21 AM
Braids From S286 Not Included
Underground Bunker
"Come ooooonnn, Ich, Former Prince Solaris is afraid of chickens!" says Bezier.
"While Twilight's afraid of quesadillas, remember?" asks Power.
"Oh man, I wouldn't think of eating 'em near Dusk!" He shakes his head.
"Don't let that stop you!" She smiles. "It took me a while to get over being embarrassed to eat them near Twilight!"
The Science Center
Wards
"Excuse me, but did you leave us without asking?" Priyanka asks Georgina.
"I don't think she went that far!" says Rana.
"But we appreciate the compliment," Dr. Phoenix tells the Slowking.
"But anyway," says Ralsei, "have you seen Julieta, Ralphie's mom, or the Professor?" he asks her.
Safety Shelter
"Well, would you want to be any of them forever?" Juan asks Stacy.
"I wouldn't do that if I had your powers!" 6k1 tells her. "I'd miss being a human if I stayed a unicorn or a Mudkip forever!"
"Wait, you can actually turn into those?"
"Yes, but only if I go to Equestria or the Mystery Dungeon World, though if I don't want that, I can let my staff adjust the portal for me so it prevents me from transforming upon entry. Having magic or water powers has their advantages, but I'm happy with staying a human for almost my entire life!"
"Rarity, are you okay? We gotta get you and your friends outta here soon!"
"Celestia the ancient, all-powerful god pone... is scared of forking chickens? Why are ponies so scared of common birds? And Bezzy, you said your fabulous mane? Never took ya for The Dandy."
Stacy: No way! I like my alt forms, but not this much.
Not an evil Thievul
Science Center
I apologize again. I think I just got too caught up in just how wonderous this place is. (Georgina says.)
Aw, don't worry 'bout it, when I first got here I was fascinated by all this stuff, too. Decades ahead of our time. (Heidi says.)
Yeah, no kiddin'! (Marian says.)
Oh, follow me. Julieta and the others shouldn't be far. (Georgina says, motioning up the hallway.)
Ronny Gold's Castle
(Haban, naturally, just laughs at Barnes running around like crazy while Arrow has an apologetic expression.)
Buh-...huh? (Boo is a bit confused at first.) I guess so.
Come on, Boo, you're not saying it like he said to. (Friday chuckles.)
(Boo cringes a bit, but then springs his blobby self up off the ground a bit and exclaims:) MAMA MIA!
(Boo feels like an idiot while Friday doubles over laughing. At least he's making Friday laugh, Boo figures.)
(Caedia still feels that she's too old for games like this, nor does she feel that she's suited for the role of the damsel in distress, but she digresses. She figures she needs to get her mind off the trouble going on outside right now.) I suppose shall take part in this little game. Tell me where I must go.
ZDR
Lair (Hallways/Rooms)
(Once Arthur (or anybody else who follows him) gets to the teleporter pad, they can see a control panel that has replaced the stowable tray table on the closest airplane seat. It seems to only have one setting: "Outside".)
Looks like we have our teleporter to outside, then. (Greta says.) It looks brand new, so I guess Stanford must have put it here since we left before.
My best guess? To make it easier to get through the garbage around the lair outside. (Ball says.)
That makes sense, I suppose. (Zuma says.) With everything I saw out there, even one of the Mawkin might have trouble.
(The third room leads to another screwed-up location that looks like it might have been the lair's tribute quarters at one point. There are similar arrangements; a living area with a TV, a kitchen area, and a hallway leading to a series of doors further up.)
This place seems familiar. (Wanda remarks, peeking inside.)
Of course it does. It resembles the part of Eye-Sicle's lair that we would usually stay in. (Cleo says.)
And this place was usually where WE stayed here... (Veena says.)
Do you think anyone you were staying here with might still be here? (Sidon asks Veena.)
...I don't know. (Veena says. Even though the majority of their companions at the time were jerkasses at best, Veena finds it rather unnerving that none of the people who were here before are no longer here at all.) Once Raven Beak and the Mawkin arrived, it seems like Dark Stanford just started...
Phasing you out? (Wanda asks.)
I guess that's the best way to put it. (Veena says. She wonders where she and the rest of the 'Brijes would be right now had they never encountered Joaquin again in Sombertown.)
(July feels a little chilled knowing that this is a corrupted version of a place in a world she has visited before.)
(It doesn't take too long after entering the Looniversity room for Aaron's voice to be heard.)
Was that Aaron? (August asks, looking around.)
(She and July follow Tokage and Alex over to the book June and the others hid in, and, sure enough, there they are in Unown form.)
Guys! (June squeaks.)
OH MY GOSH MY SISTER IS THE LETTER J!! (July gasps, horrified.) Did Dark Stanford do this to you?
N-No, we took one of Phoebe's potions to escape from some of his friends, and it changed us into Unown. (Oscar explains.)
Yall gotta try it some time! Bein' an Unown's super weird but it's also super fun! (June says, playfully twirling around again.)
...I'm not sure. (July says.)
Won't lie, now I'm kinda curious what letter I'd turn into if I took that potion. (August chuckles.) I hope it's an F Unown. Or maybe a W.
Well, gonna hafta wait right now, for obvious reasons. (June says. She gestures toward the shelf where she and Aaron left the Pirate Book.) The pirate book's on th' shelf over there. I don't have my mane right now, so I reckon one of yall is gonna hafta carry it and make sure evil Stanford doesn't see it!
No problem, Juney! (August says. She goes over to the shelf and collects the book. She quickly flips it open to confirm that Dess and the others are alright. Luckily, she spots them still on the fruit grove island, looking none the worse for wear.)
Glad that Dad and everybody seems okay. (August says, stuffing the book into her mane.) Dunno where the green Dragonair came from, though.
It's a long story... (Oscar says.)
Hanubia
(Knox can tell just by the look on Fire Eyes' face that what Blood Moon just said was indeed true.)
...Son of a BITCH!! (Knox roars, angrily summoning his two swords and slamming them into the ground.) My Sonny was the LAST person I woulda expected to turn...why wasn't it me instead?
"Lucian, don’t be afraid, we’ll make it through this."
Léodagan, the Bloodthirsty
Hanubia
"I find it strange too that he, of all people, would fall before you. I guess we all overestimated him." Blood Moon said.
"I don't know either. Only you, Greta, and Veena remain. And even then... I don't know how they are doing in the lair." Fire Eyes admitted.
"Maybe they will need you, Knox. Dark Stanford is not to be trifled with either. I expect him to seek revenge on you and your gang. And let's not talk about whatever sick projects Raven Beak has in store for you..."
"Hmph... What about us then? I would gladly help, but I am not in a suitable condition. I must recover." Blood Moon admitted though he was reluctant to exact his revenge.
"I agree... And I can't risk letting you go berserk again on the others. What will happen if you cross Raven Beak again? I'll stay to guard you. We should focus on planning our move against the X. Out of all of us, you know them better than we do." Fire Eyes said.
Blood Moon grumbled, but didn't say no.
"I seem to recall Wanda still has a Power Suit. I can use her communication system to keep on with you. And I assume the others with sufficient technology can as well." he said to Knox.
Dark Stanford's lair
Nick and James struggled to follow Arthur and got near the pad as well.
"Oh, wonderful! We have found a way to bring our allies inside at long last." he said. He also looked relieved upon overhearing that Aaron and the others were safe.
"You're telling me. Imagine if this place was even more crowded with... things." Arthur said to Zuma.
"Well, nice. Let's activate it then." Nick said.
Scipion restrained himself from mocking Aaron for his Unown look and instead went into the third room with Freyja and Onox.
"Kinda makes sense, if this was the Stanford from Sixty's timeline." he remarked.
"Where do you think those guys are?" Onox asked.
"If evil Stan didn't kill them or let them be, I dunno. Maybe he atomized them somewhere?" Scipion said with a shrug.
"Fire Eyes and the 'Brijes mentioned that "Atomizer" thing. Guess we'll see, eventually." Freyja said.
"Aaron... W-What happened to you, why are you... Unowns???" Tokage asked too.
"Like June said, it's one of Phoebe's potions. We had to use it to hide." Aaron explained.
" From Dark Stanford? So he was the one to capture back in those caves..."
"He had. He... He wanted to break Lucian and Oscar by exchanging them with us. Lucian managed to attack him so that we could escape. We were worried that you wouldn't come and that Blood Moon..."
"Really, Lulu?" Alex asked. Lucian, having joined the others by now, shyly nodded.
"He was exhausted after that." Aaron said, rubbing himself against his brother to make him feel better
"Not gonna lie, Blood Moon was nuts. But it's all good now." Alex said with a smirk. The Charmeleon walked over to the four Unowns and suddenly took them into a big hug.
"Gosh, I'm so happy you're fine!!! Kiki, Lulu, I was so worried about you..."
Lucian let out some dog whine in answer, crying a bit. He was so relieved to be back with the rest of his friends.
"Thank Arceus we found you..." Tokage sighed with a smile.
"Say... How long is the potion going to last? I don't think you can properly fight in that form, Aaron."
"I don't know, honestly..." Aaron said.
Edited by Scipion3 on Mar 14th 2024 at 11:18:36 AM
"You're married like me, you know monstrosity can take many forms."
The Fourth-Placers' Revenge
ZDR, Outside Lair
Rivet, Saheeli, Krystal, and Kyte watched with satisfaction as the Atomozoid fell to pieces. However, Ashley saw the lingering Voidlands energy and frowned.
"That didn't do it," she said. "We were trying to deal with the energy, not everything else." She shook her head. "I should've known not to listen to that damn hellhound."
"I resent that," said Nought over the comms. "Hellhounds are an entirely different, less sophisticated species."
"Well, at least we got some useful data out of it," Rivet said with a shrug.
"Oh, we got far more than that," said Nought. "It would seem the energy was knocked out of its equilibrium, if not as readily as I had hoped. Perhaps I simply overestimated your team's capabilities."
Ashley scowled.
"Hey, that's hardly fair!" said Cassandra Beech's voice. "You guys did a great job! Considering how precise you had to be with lining it all up, just doing this well is incredible! And look - it's still breaking down!"
"So that did do it, then!" said Kyte.
Krystal nodded. "We've got a way to get rid of the Voidlands energy," she said. "Just not without destroying whatever's infused with it."
"One step closer, though!" said Cassandra. "We'll just have to keep trying things! And we've got a lot of things to try back here!"
"Right. And speaking of trying things..." Saheeli let the Voidlands energy fade a bit more, then tested her metalworking spells on the Atomozoid's remains once more, attempting to shape part of it into a thopter.
ZDR, Stanford's Lair
At the mention of the teleporter, Shepard headed right into the corrupted jet room, with the cat rookie following close behind. They inspected the controls carefully, Shepard giving them a few scans.
"Looks like it leads out instead of in," said the Commander. "It won't help the other team, but it should do if we need a quick exit." Shepard promptly marked the location of the room on Majel's mapping program.
The cat looked at the controls, then flipped around her Wispon in her hands before giving an inquisitive look.
"Reverse it? I don't know if we could, especially with most of our tech specialists elsewhere, but it's a thought."
Sabre, meanwhile, heard the sound of Aaron's voice and headed into the Looniversity room to investigate, with Tricky following.
"There you are!" said Tricky. "Everyone's all right! ...Well, sort of."
"I don't suppose anyone has any idea how to change them back?" asked Sabre.
Kaidan raised an eyebrow at everyone going off in different directions. "Careful not to get distracted," he said. "We've still got a job to do."
He decided to stick with Veena, and followed her into the corrupted tribute quarters.
"Nice place, except for the physics-breaking parts," he remarked.
I like cute things. You gotta deal with it.
What, me worry?
Ronny Gold's Castle
Part of Ronny was surprised how everyone was willing to play along with the Mario fantasy. Not so much Haban and Arrow, who were more than eager to play the Piranha Plant (or at least Haban). But everyone else. He typically had a hard time finding friends to play with (not helped that he's a grown man who's a kid at heart). Still, from Boo saying "Mama Mia" to Caedia being the Princess (albeit hesitantly), Ronny was getting more giddy than a monkey in a banana cage.Come with me, and put this on. Ronny put a LEGO crown on Caedia's head while taking her to a spot away from Haban and Arrow. He put on a black LEGO helmet and armed himself with LEGO hammers. He was going to be the Hammer Brother since Barnes got his tush lit up by Haban.
Now, Mario, he called to Boo, Save the princess from Bowser's minions. She won't be in another castle. She's right here. Just get past the Piranha Plant... Ronny hunkered down, shielding himself in front of Princess Caedia, and tossed some of the LEGO hammers.
Edited by MatthewLMayfield on Mar 14th 2024 at 7:13:42 AM
Braids From S286 Not Included
Underground Bunker
"Well, you were quite flamboyant on your podium last Nom Games!" says Power.
"So what?" ask Bezier. "Did you think I was a stalliony stallion before I showed up?"
"Um... not really? I never thought of ElusiveA/N or ButterscotchA/N being all muscled and tough. The fics about your Equestria mostly portrayed them as femboys like you!"
"Nothing wrong with that, Pow-Pow, but you're right on the money about 'em!"
"Remember what I told him a while ago about not believing everything in those books?" Miranda asks Power.
"I know, they're just what Earth Prime humans think what Bezier's Equestria looks like. I was just describing them to him!"
The Science Center
Wards
The medical team follows Georgina and checks the wards for the other doctors. The patients inside are all recovering well.
"Seen anyone yet?" asks Ralsei.
Safety Shelter
"Then you should be careful since you might be cursed into being stuck in one of your forms!"
"Can you call that a curse if Stacy likes them, though?" Juan asks 6k1.
"But what if she needs her other forms while stuck as another?"
"Fair point."
Edited by TroperNo9001 on Mar 14th 2024 at 8:41:54 PM
"Rarity, are you okay? We gotta get you and your friends outta here soon!"
Stacy: Yeah, fair enough.
"Hmm. Didn't really notice ya being flamboyant between all the cheeriness and, er, other things, Bez."
Not an evil Thievul
Science Center
Oh, yes, here we go, I think I saw Julieta go in here earlier, at least. (Georgina says, opening a larger door in the hallway.)
Ronny Gold's Castle
(" How curious, the strange man seems...positively ecstatic that we are entertaining this game of his." Caedia thinks to herself as she gets into position.)
(Caedia feels that in reality, she would only be kidnapped by this "Bowser" fellow if she failed to defeat him in battle (not that she feels that's possible), but nevertheless, she follows Ronny Gold and puts on the crown.)
(She then dramatically falls onto the floor, claw to her forehead, and cries out:) OH SAVE ME! SOMEONE SAVE ME!!
(Caedia can't help feeling a little disgusted with herself for begging someone to save her, but, again, she knows it's all just a game of pretend, anyway. She can pretend to actually need help.)
Sheesh, she's laying it on a bit thick there. (Boo says.)
Heh heh, sure is. (Friday laughs.) What are you waiting for, Boo? Go save her!
(Boo slides forward. He instinctively uses Protect against the LEGO Hammers, sending them bouncing away.)
Keheheh! You has to get past us now! (Haban chortles as Boo approaches.)
(Haban and (a bit reluctantly) Arrow start firing off fireballs in Boo's direction.)
HEY! EASY THERE! (Boo exclaims, springing from side to side.)
ZDR
Hanubia
Yeah, it'd shock me if nobody else besides her had anythin' to communicate with. (Knox says.) And you all are gonna be fine if I take off?
"Lucian, don’t be afraid, we’ll make it through this."
Léodagan, the Bloodthirsty
Hanubia
"Unless the X would decide to storm the lair for some reason, I do not believe they will move from here. I doubt there are other hostiles left... Not with the parasites." Blood Moon said.
"Don't worry about us. Right now, it's your friends who need help." Fire Eyes insisted.
"You're married like me, you know monstrosity can take many forms."
Braids From S286 Not Included
Underground Bunker
"O-Other things?" Bezier folds his ears a little and takes out his locket from his coat pocket. "Um... everyone? Is it okay if I tell you how my talk with Juan, Stacy, and the other refugees at the Science Center went?"
"Is this about what happened to you last Nom Games?" asks Power.
"Y-Yes, but I'll try to make it quick since I already vented all the details to them. But is it okay if I tell only you and Ichi?"
"It's alright, Bezier," says Miranda, "we all saw what happened that season."
"And I threw this party for you to cheer you up!" says Power.
"Awww, thanks!" he says. "But what's with the mishmash of Nightmare Night, Hearth's Warming, and Hearts and Hooves Day decor?"
"Oh!" She laughs nervously. "Sorry about that, we waited for you for so long, I wasn't sure what theme I should go with!"
The Science Center
Wards
Julieta waves to the team as they enter her ward. She's just set some midnight snacks on the bedside of another patient.
"Hóla! How are things going with you?"
"Everything is alright, Mrs. Madrigal!" says Dr. Phoenix.
"Good to hear!" she says.
"How about you? We are just checking in and looking for the other guest doctors. Do you want to join us?"
"Sí!" She then tells her patient, "I hope you will be alright here. Another nurse can take over for me."
He simply nods.
Safety Shelter
Rua then returns to 6k1 to tell her that both Nimona and Ballister will use VR this coming season.
"But are they worried about betraying or killing each other?"
"A little, but Nimona's still excited to do 'METAL' things the Arena! She had to beg Ballister to join her, but he rolled with it, anyway! He even assured her that he's got her back, and if anything happens to either of them, it's all just part of the game!"
"That's great! Good luck to them!"
Dark Stanford's Lair
Outside
Peridot hangs back and takes notes while observing Saheeli.
"I can only levitate metal with my powers, so I still need to manually build new gadgets out of it. Bismuth also helps me in forging larger chunks of it!"
Inside
Connie, Steven, and Bismuth follow CAC and the others into the Looniversity classroom.
"If only my school taught me how to do toony stuff... just without all the corruptions..."
"Hellooooo? June? Aaron? Are you there?"
Bismuth laughs as she sees Alex, Tokage, July, and August rush towards one of the books.
"There's your answer! Let's go!"
The trio makes their way to where the missing team members are, and Steven gasps upon seeing them turned into Unowns.
"I'm so glad you're okay! You have no idea what we went through to look for you!"
"But yeah, there's gotta a way to turn you back!" asks Bismuth.
"Maybe there's another book here somewhere with instructions on how to do that?" say Connie. "Hopefully it's not corrupted so much that it's indecipherable..."
Seeing that their AR counterparts took the first room, the other Garnet and Pearl agree to enter the jet room. Amethyst follows them inside, and they gather near the teleporter. Pearl kneels and examines it more closely.
"So this must be like a Warp Pad but with manual controls!"
"That is correct," says Garnet, "we can also use it to safely transport the prisoners out of here."
"Wish Peri were here with us right now," says Amethyst, "she'd totally nerd out on this and try to make it two-way!"
"Maybe I can try," says Pearl. "I learned how to build a robot like her when Steven held a contest between us on who can build a better one!"
Lapis opens the third door and looks around the corrupted quarters.
"You think there's a revival machine somewhere here or down that hallway?" she asks the others. "Steven asked me earlier to find one, but I didn't see any in the front hall."
"Rarity, are you okay? We gotta get you and your friends outta here soon!"
ZDR, Outside Lair
The team kept up their attacks as long as they could. However, Krystal couldn't keep her ice spell up forever and soon stopped, backing away. Kyte and Rivet followed suit, while Saheeli simply kept up her spells from a greater distance just to keep the pressure on.
Ashley stood by, using her omni-tool to take scans as the machine weakened. She tried to check the power of the Voidlands energy in particular, though being a soldier and not a scientist, she wasn't quite sure what to look for. Finally, she simply backed up and gave her communicator a tap.
"Sending the readings your way, lab," she said. "I hope you can make more sense of them than I can."
"Just a moment," said Nine-Tailed Cat. "Got something to take care of here..."
ZDR, Stanford's Lair
The cat rookie laughed and added a little bow to the binding cables as suggested. Meanwhile, the Commander gave the other team a quick call.
"Shepard to Williams: What's your status?"
"We've got a couple machines, and are still getting data on others," Ashley replied. "No convenient magic portals into the base have opened up, so we're still waiting on you for that."
"Understood. Keep us posted in the meantime."
The Red Squad followed the others upstairs, keeping their weapons ready. They appeared uneasy in the warped environment, the cat rookie in particular shuddering in fear - the glitchy surroundings reminded her a bit too much of her experiences with Infinite's virtual-reality illusions.
Seeing multiple doors being opened at once, Kaidan motioned to slow down. "Pearl's right," he said. "We don't know what's back there, and if we go too fast, we might get rushed by several bad things at once."
Shepard turned to the cat. "Rookie, does that eyepiece of yours include a scanner?"
The rookie shook her head.
"Guess we're doing this the hard way, then."
Shepard and Kaidan powered on their omni-tools to help with scans as necessary, while the others simply kept watch and waited to see what was inside.
NTC's Lab
Cassandra Beech skipped into the lab happily, carrying her usual boxes of samples as well as a set of data drives. "Got those schematics you asked for, boss!" she said.
Nought groaned and looked away from the lab's monitors. "Great. Just when we were getting to the blowing-up part, too."
"Blowing-up part?" Cassandra asked, her head tilting.
Nine-Tailed Cat waved a hand. "Just the away team doing some field research," he said. "Anyway, welcome back. Time to see if my new material assembly unit is up to the task." He motioned to the robotic cat standing nearby. "Majel, if you would?"
Majel nodded, took a couple of the drives, and plugged them into a new machine along the back wall. Her eyes flashed, and the machine whirred to life, spark flying around inside as its products took form particle by particle. After what seemed like an eternity, a small yellow robot sat inert inside.
Nought looked over the results sceptically. "Weren't there supposed to be two of them?"
"There are," said Majel, indicating a tiny disk-shaped device. "Let me just make the second one visible." She activated the device, and a holographic image of a spider-shaped nanobot appeared.
Nought scoffed. "So a warbot too scared to be a warbot and an arachnid too small to see," she said. "I'm missing the action on ZDR for this?"
"Hey, don't underestimate the small ones!" said Cassandra. "When it comes to fighting in file systems, Glitch is unmatched! And Kit pulls through when it counts, too!"
"Hmph. We'll see. They probably won't even explode as satisfyingly." With that, Nought went back to the monitor, ears flat against her head.
"Anyway, let's get them to the Arena," said Nine-Tailed Cat. "The sooner they're there, the sooner we can bring back Majel's battle platform. I look forward to seeing how they fare."
I like cute things. You gotta deal with it.