Shirakami - Mechanized Assault Breakaway.
When the Glasgow has undergone its ejection, killing the pilot by launching him into the wall, the Tank fox wasted little time in helping with any remaining mop-up of troops in the area, but after that was complete she did... not advance with the rest of the group.... The haul of advanced tech was too appealing for the now mercenary to pass up, and she didn't really trust the rest of the group to be left alone with what she wanted to claim.... So she stayed behind.
Where she would take her time to free the cockpit from its newly lodged position, and bungee cord it to the top of her vehicle... which with its nice flat top, was perfect for transport duties.
Architect - Soviet Mine.
Having been lost in thought on a very important topic, Architect was considering retreating to the train to continue process the very fundamental question about the universe that would not leave her mind... but then Isabelle spoke up, and something... clicked in her head, bringing her back to reality for right now, after all if it turned out her concern was false, her boss still needed metals after all.
"Are there any metals left in the mines and caverns? Because as appealing as bringing down the entire mountain sounds, it would probably be much more practical to flush them out with incendiaries. that way we can harvest what remains" Architect prime mused, as her dolls paced around her in a protective formation. "Although, the thought sure is something", she mused under her breath.
Soviet Mine
"Metals?" the woman asked Architect. "This was once a mine that the Soviets used to produce copper and uranium. They abandoned it nearly a decade ago when they ran out of the latter, but I imagine the copper deposits are still there. Why do you ask?"
Bandit Town
"Yeah sure thing buddy," the Luma gave Rico a wave and then floated off to look at the other damage around the town.
"Of course, Mister Rico, we'll certainly need to ensure that the people here are given the chance to survive now that their oppressors have been driven away." Rosalina said. "We can construct some truly wondrous robotics to assist them, and I think a few Lumas can lend them a hand as well, but even then I suspect we'll have our work more than cut out for us."
Juniper - Reiko's Crib
"Well, don't wanna impose on ya bestie! Plus, I got stuff to do. So... guess I'll be goin'!" Juniper said, giving Reiko a friendly wave goodbye after she had gotten her fill of playing with her cat. "Text me! Kay!? Byeeee!"
"Gooo!" Goodra waved goodbye as well, and the two were out of the apartment and out of Reiko's hair soon enough.
Starscream - Amusement Mile Sewers
The news of people attacking the base of Starscream's temporary leader filled the decepticon's heart with joy. If he played his cards right, he could take advantage and it would be like the disaster back at the mansion never happened. But he played it cool in front of the goon. "I may have heard of it. I assume that Joker got scared and is now attempting a last-ditch attempt with those things?"
Mikazuki Augus - Drow Battle Aftermath
"Alright. We'd be glad to have your help." After saying that, Kudelia didn't participate much in the strategy talk. She knew she wasn't skilled with military matters.
As for Mikazuki, he listened to the explanation while undertaking another task. He wasn't interested in using drowish weaponry, since none of them looked sturdy enough for Barbatos to use, but he still moved to loot the corpses. Maybe he could sell them to someone later.
"We don't serve anyone but ourselves my dear barbarian, we simply hire ourselves out to the highest bidder." Upon hearing that Wulfrik might actually have some coinage, an eyebrow was quirked even as his smirk grew all the more bigger. Bandits might actually have some goods gotten from their raids after all and blood money was still money.
"Bregan D'aerthe's numbers are a secret, though you are right in that this isn't all of us. Currently we are exploring this new world, searching the various nooks and crannies as it were. Imagine our surprise when we found out there was a teleportation circle that led to an entirely different environment, one with metal beasts."
Shrewd eyes dangled a particularly choice piece of information just to see the reaction, noting the fact that this 'Wulfrik' seemed like he didn't have any action for a while. He knew those kind of people that was addicted to the act of spilling blood and crushing bones well enough. The fact he traveled around with pikes of skulls helped peg him out as Chaotic Evil as well.
Well, they weren't jumping into hell just quite yet but there was still a sudden jump of sorts. If it wasn't for the fact she had a certain amount of training and big brass balls that would put the average man to shame, Delfina would have been shouting her head off at the sudden shift in three dimensional movement.
As it was, a vaguely alarmed crazy girl stilled her hammering heart and smoothed over the beginnings of panic on her face as to better affect the imagery of enjoying the ride as she gazed down from up high. It was actually nice having this sort of world view, unexpected surprises aside.
"I see... then this isn't simply the matter of removing the head from Ekans then. It is one where we have to perform a complete clean up then." Sighing as she thought things over, the woman then turned her head to the mystery woman. "Do you think that we will have enough time to go ask for reinforcements and hurry on back here before they complete their objectives? This seems like too much for our numbers, especially when we need to give these poor villagers safe refuge."
"Your best bet would be to seal it up if you don't want to destroy the vessel the demon is inhabiting and yanking it to this material plane. Cut off as we are from the various connected planes of mine own land, we could feasibly be able to truly kill this demon without it being able to reform in the Abyss to seek future vengeance so the choice is putting it off and keeping it under lock and guard or simply culling the potential threat as soon as possible. If you can handle that you might even be able to pick up a nice drop from its slaying if your luck roll is high enough."
Speaking his mumbo jumbo after casting an appraisal spell on the beating demon heart, the hipster drow then nodded at help being secure before producing a bird cage from under his cloak, a black parrot resting inside of the vessel. "This is my familiar, Llefwch. Should you need me for any aid, speak to him and I shall hear and respond back. In any case, I must get back to plotting from the shadows against the Matriarchy now so toodles for the moment!" Throwing a smoke bomb at his feet, the hipster would then disappear once the smoke rapidly dispersed. The guy had a flair for theatrics it seemed.
Amusement Mile, Stealth Group: It's Over, Catwoman! They Have the High Ground!
An inky black cloud climbed to the roof Catwoman had chosen as her perch. Its vantage point reached, the smoke reemerged into Wake. Rather than the brooding Caped Crusader pose their group's leader had chosen, the Campaign Adviser elected to stand on the building's ledge, hands in pockets and toes dangling in the air, like he was about to casually jump off.
It was an impressive view, he couldn't deny that. The lights of the fun house glowed like candles against the black night sky, even if he could do without all the wasted electricity. Amusement Mile wasn't a small burden on the city's grid, but Wake and his predecessors knew better than to cut power to this cancerous place—not while the Clown could respond with one of his signature "presents." He wasn't sure if laughing gas could affect him or not, but...well, better safe than sorry. Even if the gas mask on his face made it tougher to communicate, least he could hide his face if any of the Clown's goons tried to take revenge for tonight.
...though at the sight of the Koopa Kar crash-landing into Joker's HQ, the rock-throwing terribly-named supergirl, and the literal fucking dragon spewing lightning into the air, Wake decided a bird's-eye view was a luxury they shouldn't take for long.
"So we got the lay of the land." the Campaign Adviser summarized to Catwoman. "Can we get down, now? Not to be a backseat driver or anything, but if the Clown's thugs are looking for more attackers, they'd probably be looking up by now."
Siluca - Adventurer’s Guild
After a second or two, Siluca then turned and noticed Chun-Li and Pink Diamond, unsure how long they have been there.
“We could always use whatever help we can get in this investigation. How much have you two heard already?”
If they didn’t seem to be caught up on things, Siluca would try to explain the current situation to the best of her ability, or wait for one of the others to do if they wanted to explain things.
Monokuma - Some Street/Intersection in Burnley
At around this point, the four Monokumas that were still out had run out of campaign ads to place, so they began to head back to the Ultimate Despair’s headquarters. Even though it was long since past the point the demon-girl and those others should have gotten to Joker’s place, the Monokumas still kept their eyes on the road for vehicles passing by.
With Gotham in the state that it was, there likely weren’t that many vehicles driving around compared to whatever it was before. Sure, there were a few vehicles driving by, but more likely than not they belonged to Joker’s group or other minor gangs based on the individuals inside them.
During this trek, one of the Monokumas briefly stopped in its path upon seeing one car in particular. Though the bear’s small size and possible proximity to the sneak crew’s car might have made seeing everyone difficult, it was able to catch a glimpse of some of the people inside, though it had no way of recognizing Catwoman, not having acquired that information from Lady Junko just yet.
So, things were about to get exciting, huh?
Unfortunately, the Monokuma had no way of keeping up with the car. Furthermore, this Monokuma had received a text from its brethren at Hamill and M. W. Barr that it had already returned to the chemical plant to get more advertisements, so it was unlikely it would be able to intercept the car.
So, the robot, after walking for a bit, sent a text to one of the Monokumas still at Junko’s main hideout.
Junko - Ace Chemical Building
Having grown somewhat tired of the Scarecrow formula experiments for the time being, Junko was now eagerly waiting around for her lackeys to gather the items she requested.
One of her Monokumas approached, and showed the text to Junko.
Only one of the Monokumas still out in Burnley seemed to have spotted a car with some of Travers’s crew, though it was unclear whether Travers himself was with them.
Junko didn’t really ask a whole lot about how Joker’s island was set up, but Junko figured he’d just rig the place with traps. That’s what she was planning on doing anyway, but from what little data the Monokuma had collected, it didn’t look like they’d have that much firepower at their disposal, but then again these were Aki folks.
The text mentioned one woman Monokuma couldn’t identify, but considering Junko loaded her bears with almost everything she knew about people from Akihabara as well as the stuff from the one Monokuma’s encounter near City Hall, it might have been Catwoman.
These people probably weren’t going to be going for a direct assault, though the only other ways Junko could think of for getting to Amusement Mile were either possibly through the sewers or by water. Junko’s minions probably wouldn’t be able to take advantage of their numbers down in the sewers, and while Junko could send her goons by boat there was a chance they’d run into that purple dragon guy or get shot by the Joker’s own goons. Furthermore, even if Junko’s minions were able to get onto the island, they would probably set off whatever death traps Joker set up and end up clearing a path for the good guys, seeing as Junko’s group didn’t have much info on the island’s layout.
So far, there was only one vehicle, and Cody Travers’s whereabouts were still uncertain. If he was with the group attacking Joker’s hideout, then Junko could punish Bowsette for choosing to side with him, but he might have just decided to let the Akihabarans do it. Her schmucks would probably die or just be brutally crippled if they ran into Travers at this point, and that would be disappointing more than anything else.
For now, Junko figured she’d probably just have one or more of her Monokumas try to keep watch over the events on the island, and maybe send another one to keep tabs on the Koopa Kasino.
As the fashionista prepared to make a text to the Joker, she paused for a moment, wondering if the Clown Prince would really be able to use what little information Junko could give to crush the hopes of the Akihabarans, or if he and his goons would fail miserably again just like at Arkham.
Junko was starting to feel tired, and maybe just a little bit hungry. Besides, Joker probably was already preparing based on what info Junko already shared. Plus, if she called or texted now, the Ultimate Despair and her minions would probably get pulled in with certainty. Even if the Akihabarans that the Monokuma saw didn’t seem suited for open firefights, there was no telling where the others were at this moment.
Guess it was time to wait and see how things went. Sure, he had been helpful so far, but he had been kind of a klutz. Despair had to live on somehow, and maybe she could deny him help when he most needed it. Puhuhuhu…
Monokumas - Around Gotham
After Junko gave out some more instructions, a few of her goons took a car and two Monokumas, and drove out. They took a detour, toward the intersection of Snyder and the street between Strong Street and C. John’s Avenue (S13), dropping off the first Monokuma there, before moving to cross the Trigate bridge, turning to head north along the highway once in Bristol, and then dropping the other Monokuma somewhere along that highway. some of her goons drove over to Bristol and went northward along the long highway. Once it seemed there was little threat of cars coming, the car stopped, and one of the Monokumas stepped out. The bear would then climb up onto the wall or barrier that kept cars from driving up the presumably raised highway, and then look down below where it had a good view of the westward bridge to Amusement Mile. While the gas-mask-wearing goons drove away, they were instructed not to go away too far, so they could potentially retrieve the robot later.
The first Monokuma had been instructed to head to the piers overlooking the Miagi Channel and potentially getting a glimpse of the carnival itself, though the sounds of battle were fairly audible as it got close. Upon arriving at boardwalk or shore that led to the small piers, the Monokuma immediately noticed the sizable hole in the entrance to the Pandemonium Carnival. There was also a small object that resembled Bowsette’s floating teacup, and upon closer zooming and examination, it seemed like that ‘Koopa Queen’ was in it as well. Looking around a bit, it seemed that blonde rock girl that had been with Miss Edgy was also here, and even Kisara.
Boy, what the heck is with all these dragons? Is there a dragon convention here today or something? Puhuhuhu…
As it watched the scene playing out across the water, the Monokuma began to text the other Monokumas back at headquarters, though in between communications it would eat from a jar of honey it brought with, despite not really needing to eat anything.
The second Monokuma simply climbed up onto the barrier that formed the edge of the highway, and sat to observe the scene at Amusement Mile while observing the west bridge, also texting whatever it could see back to base. The gas-mask goons that had been sent out would have started driving around on the streets below, once it found a suitable exit from the highway, waiting until the second Monokuma needed pick up.
A third Monokuma began to make a long journey south towards the general area Koopa Kasino was in. Though it didn’t try to enter the Casino’s grounds itself, it would begin planting campaign posters nearby, though it would meander around the streets so it wasn’t always in sight of the casino.
Just another guy
Amusement Mile - Atop Joker Base
With Kisara's transformation into that of a dragon, the snipers had actually stopped their assault in complete awe and a 'shit, I'm screwed' expression. An expression aptly-applied when he was suddenly struck and barbecued by the lightning strike. Yeeowch, looks like he's not getting out of that!
The one who'd been shooting at Terra was faring no better himself, eating a boulder right in his face for all the trouble.
Eventually, the two attack choppers finally came, changing their target from the group in general to the big-ass dragon that suddenly popped out of nowhere because, honestly, it makes for a far bigger and more threatening target; unloading all their payloads and bullets towards it. Also 'cause holy shit, it's a fucking dragon and how metal would it be if they fought and lived to tell the tale about it?!
Amusement Mile - Stealth Group
The infiltration group meanwhile had no trouble getting themselves into position, the stragglers unfortunate enough to have seen or meet them presumably gotten taken care of by Velvet as chow snacks. True to Alan's words, although most of their attention and whatnot had been focused on the homewreckers that is Bowsette's entourage, or news of it for those not in clear sight, some had begun to wise up ; as if momentously realizing that these Outsiders could be sneaking overhead than on the ground, where the streets are *crawling* with Joker goons en-masse.
And suddenly, a very familiar jingle started to sound and out came the Joker's voice across the island's entire PA system.
"Wowie, what. An. Entrance! *ahem* Welcome, welcome all to my humble abode. Please don't mind the riff-raffs, they're just trying to make you feel at home, hehehehahaha!"
"... Although I *was* expecting more guests coming along. Yoohoo, are you guys hiding somewhere? What, suddenly decided to go Batman on me now that the caped crusader is gone? Sorry, but there can only be one Bat in my cold, empty heart..."
As if sensing something, the Joker goons looked up, stopped... before quickly donning their masks; with some running back in search of high ground.
"Welp, good thing there's more than one way one can rat out anyone hiding!" With the sound of a button being pressed, it begins.
All around Amusement Mile, multiple hissing and small-scale explosions had resounded around the island. It wasn't until a building starts leaking out noxious green fumes or the same thing happening to the sewer grates out on the street that one familiar with the Joker's modus operandi knows what he's doing.
And from there, more and more places started popping and releasing their gas, including the ones the Joker Goons had placed on the sewers beforehand. Though
Years upon years of carefully-hidden Joker Gas supply has been released, all aimed at unleashing a miasma of lethal laughing gas throughout the entire island. Though slow-acting and barely covering some of the streets right now, it's only a matter of time until they start covering more and more of the area... all with the exception of the Carnival and Funhouse area that doesn't seem to be affected as much, of which some of the goons are slowly converging towards.
Of course, it is of no concern to the well-prepared Outsiders or those immune to such effects. The same can't be said to any civilians unfortunate enough to live in the Joker's turf or to the ill-prepared goons, as laughter spread and can be heard from already infested condominiums, flats and alleyways.
... Oddly enough, the Titans seem to be doing just fine in areas filled with the thing. Probably in due to the fact that the Joker's own personal Titan Formula that he developed might have gave it some measure of resistance.
Amusement Mile - Bridge Roadblock
Should the disguised Lio be approaching the bridge the straightforward approach, he would find himself being stopped by a couple of rifle guards. Beyond them, he would find a few more men and a muscled Titan guarding behind the car roadblock.
One of them stepped forward. "Woah woah woah there, pal. You're, like, waaaaay late to the party! What gives? And where the heck is the rest of your gang, anyway?"
Judging from the voice, the man appears more curious than anything else. The other goons appeared to be raising their weapons but otherwise remained lax, either reasoning the disguised clown to either be a poor lone sod looking to join in the mayhem or an ex-Asylum convict thinking he alone is enough of a hotshit to not need a gang and take on the Outsiders.
More than half are considering to just shoot him and be done with it, either to be safe, just for funsies or a mixture of both.
Gotham Sewers
"Shit, that's the cue!" fumbling and donning on his gas mask just in time before the explosive chemical charges around the sewers started deploying its load, the masked goon looked back at Starscream.
"Dunno about scared, Mr. J looks more excited than anything. Says got some plans and more back at his Funhouse, that this whole thing is just ta get 'em Outsiders to stop lollygagging outside and head straight towards the front door."
He shrugged. "Had a feeling that he bit off more than he can chew and his luck will finally run out with all dem powerhouses coming straight at 'em, but ehh, with the Joker involved, who fucking knows. Son of a bitch have a reputation of being tricky and faking his death all the goddamn time."
Elsewhere, Killer Croc's effort to dislodge one of the many, many charges from his area into the sewer waters served him well, his section now clean from any major Joker toxin. The same... can't be said for the other sections however, with most of the sewers now being a veritable danger zone to living things unfortunate enough to breathe in its gas; the same gas which is now being transmitted outside on the streets via grates.
"A post per day keeps the GMs away!"
Gespenst - Akihabara -> Adventurer's Guild
Gespenst set his passenger down once they were safely back through the portal and waited to make sure her legs hadn't turned to jelly from the trip.
"Welcome to Akihabara, for now this is our base of operations. There are people we can trust here, so we can gather more allies for the cause once the time comes. But for now, let me show you around so you can get familiar with town. First we'll stop at the Adventurer's Guild, you can get some food there and we can check if any other mercs are for hire."
And with that Ges lead Delfina to the adventurer's guild. The black robot primarily ignored the other gathering of people already in there. Siluca, Pink diamond, Shigure (so he had already come back huh?), Chun-Li, and some others he didn't know were in the middle of discussing something and it didn't seem like anything he should concern himself with. He searched around the room, then seemed to let out a sigh.
"Damn, Mikazuki isn't here. Could have used his help for our mission."
Regardless of that though, his next stop was to visit the notice board. Looked like Mika and Shirakami were still available for hire, which was good. There were also those training options on the notice board, Juri, Chun-Li, and Adventure training from Hydaelyn. He would need to look into these later...and perhaps some training for Delfina would help her not get captured again if she had to fight.
"I'd suggest grabbing some food while we're here, it's probably gonna be some of the last civilized food you'll get to eat before we jump face first into our mission."
Vampire Hunter
Chun-Li, Adventurer's Guild, Akihabara
Rather than ask Siluca about it, Chun-Li simply went over to the Notice Board and scanned it until she found the notices she wanted.
"You need help finding out what happened to all these missing people, right?" Chun-Li stated to them as she walked back over to the table. "At the moment, I think our only options would be to ask the families of the victims and this 'Glasses' for any information."
Catwoman & Juri, Stealth Group, Amusement Isle
"Masks on," Catwoman said to the others, making sure her own gas mask was on tight. Juri did the same thing of ensuring her own gas mask was on tight as well. Afterwards, Catwoman decides to lead the others to the carnival, albeit choosing to sneak in at ground level this time as if to acknowledge Alan Wake's suggestion.
Maria, Soviet Mines
"It seems like our best bet would be to locate their base and wipe it out," Maria looked over at the woman. "By saving these people, we have disrupted this operation... It will probably take some time before they can get back to searching for Kitezh if they were forcing these people to mine for it."
Wizard Needs Food Badly
Fear me
Mokou, Drow
-Mokou looks the smoke reaching skywards before holding the heart out.-
So, should we destroy this thing now?
-Flames form around her other hand, dancing red and orange before paling to become a roaring inferno of blue and white.-
Believe me, leaving a problem for future generations to deal with is never a good idea.
P'li, Tunnel
-P'li nods at the bear and those beastmen willing to fight.-
Then let's go. Gather up what you can from your oppressors' bodies, it is only fitting that they be punished by those they enslaved.
Killer Croc, Sewers
-The echoing report of explosions prompts Killer Croc to leave the sewers quickly. Remembering the location as best he can, he heads for the closest ladder before cautiously pushing up the manhole, watchful for signs of ambush before he emerges.-
Wulfrik, Wastes
-Wulfrik lets the existence of a portal slide past his ears without emotion, for interesting as it may be, he has other goals in mind. These elves are not of this world, but not of the true world either, that is evident from their inverted coloring. And without a sorcerer to bend the Warp-currents to his will, he is still trapped here, portal or no.-
It is not your numbers I care about, but how many real fighters you have among them. Have you no swordmasters anxious to bloody their blades and increase their glory, no witches seeking vengeance over the young and beautiful, no beast tamers ready to prove their husbandry skills, no priests eager to show their devotion by slaughtering the unfaithful?
-Wulfrik sighs, once again the unfairly persecuted victim of an abominable world where cowardice is exalted and martial virtue punished.-
It is true that I have knowledge of great treasures, but it would only be of interest to conquerors and great warriors. No, a band of thieves and purse-cutters, as predators to the unwary and the weak and prey to anything that outnumbers them, would see only difficulty and slink away, exchanging riches and fame for the safety of obscure mediocrity.
Edited by Chabal2 on Oct 26th 2019 at 10:37:45 AM
Akuma Shogun
Kisara and Terra - Amusement Mile - Assault Group
More fools for the slaughter? Their mechanical flying chariots won't stop their inevitable deaths. Luckily, my scales took the brunt of the damage as I became full dragon. My claws smashed through a window as I attempted to squeeze my victim into a fine pulp.
I snarled, “For your crimes against us, you shall be sent to the Shadow Realm!”
The spell caster points out. “Jeez. What kind of afterlife is the Shadow Realm?”
I quickly replied, “It's a place where bad things happen to bad guys.”
Terra nods. “So, it's like hell?”
My scales turn pale as a sheet. “You could say that. Who taught you that language?”
Out of shame, Terra sighs, “Mr. Ducard taught me.”
After saying that, the spellcaster assisted me by sending some rocks into the strange wings of another chariot in an attempt at crippling it.
Clock King - Amusement Mile - Stealth Group
Temple quickly places a mask on and makes an “everything's okay” gesture with his hand. He follows the others down to ground level. The dragon and the rock-thrower are sure keeping these guys busy if they're forced to send helicopters in to fight these two off. At the rate they're going, they'll be at it for hours.
Pink Diamond, Adventurer's Guild
Pink looked over the mission description on the board.
"So we just need to find some missing people, right? Sounds simple enough."
Alice, Adventurer's Guild
Alice's day had been quite routine. A bit boring, even. Ever since she left Wonderland, things just weren't as exciting anymore. Perhaps she should pay it a visit once again.
Unfortunately, that just wasn't in the cards. Instead, she found herself faceplanted in the middle of some strange place she'd never seen before. To top it all off, she was huge and taking up quite a bit of space. Spontaneous activation of her power tended to happen sometimes in weird situations like this.
She lifted her head from the floor, and some big blue eyes focus on Delfina and Ges.
"Bloody hell," an English voice sighs. "This isn't Wonderland."
"I'm the only survivor. Only made it out because I played dead while everyone else was burnt to a crisp by a superpowered arsonistt." Nonchalantly taking out a stack of half melted and charred clown masks pried from the various other goons that were out of commission, Lio then tossed it on the floor to show off his bluff.
"I'm here to warn the boss about the arsonist heading his way. Especially since so much of our stuff is flammable. You might wanna let me through before things get set on fire because I couldn't get the warning in time." Crossing his arms, the Burnish's deep and manly voice lent himself a more commanding air than anyone of his particular appearance should have the right of.
"We only have one among our number with the exact... qualities that you are looking for. He's a dwarf you see and we'd rather keep him on a tight leash lest he breaks down negotiations by being... what you want. The rest of our numbers naturally work for coin so unless you have a rather good reason as to why we should be aiding in your attacking your preferred targets, that's right out of the question. Though if you prefer, we can lend you the dwarf for a trial run and see how that fares for you." The things one had to do to build up a clientele in a completely foreign locale, thought the Drow.
Snapping out of the portal induced amazement that had her constantly moving head swivel around to take in the much more bountiful and peaceful sights, the woman clicked her mouth shut before giving Ges an appreciative nod before going off and attempting to stuff down actual food down her gullet from the various street stalls.
During the gluttonous rampage, there was still enough clearheadedness to also buying rations such as hardtack, cheese, and jerky to go on the road due to knowing full well how scant creature comforts were on the long haul. Snorting at hearing the newcomer's rather Glasswegian accent that was as smooth as ground glass, Delphina shook her head at that. "No, you're definitely not in any wonderful land whatsoever."
Lucy meanwhile curiously made her way to the investigative team looking for the missing people, her face slightly contemplative as she pondered things over before letting out a sigh. "Perhaps it would help to scrounge together the remaining articles of the most recently disappeared people? The employees at BUB'S has a sharp sense of smell so they could act as a substitute for bloodhounds if the kidnapper didn't manage to take care of the lingering scents."
Amusement Mile, Stealth Group: Alfred Hitchcock Would be Proud
"Son of a bitch." Wake sighed. The Clown was on to them. Perfect.
With much of the fairgrounds starting to swirl with toxic gas, there was little hope of catching the goons completely by surprise. They knew the Madame wasn't alone, anymore—even if the assailants weren't exactly working together to take the Joker down.
Once again, the Campaign Adviser seemed to take his sweet time following the group, but at least this time he was doing something more productive than just lounging around. The rest of the stealth group might see Wake extend his right hand straight out in front of him, and snap his fingers once. In an instant, a conspiracy of twelve ravens formed from the black night and scattered across the sky above Amusement Mile. Luckily for the group, the creatures refrained from cawing till they were at least a thousand feet from the rooftop where their master created them.
The birds were far from undetectable; the Monokuma monitoring the island, the snipers on the rooftops, even the goons on the ground would likely spot them with little difficulty. Perhaps they were deployed for surveillance; airborne spies to relay enemy positions to their master. A Beastmaster with twenty-four eyes in the sky would be a dangerous problem for those defending the Fun House.
Of course, that conclusion would need to be revoked once these night-cloaked birds spotted someone on the ground or rooftops: as soon as it spotted anyone (one of Joker's snipers, a Titan, a terrified civilian...Lio?) a raven would dive bomb its target and execute the one purpose it had in life:
Peck and scratch the face.
With the flock sent merrily on its way to stir a little panic, Wake burst into smoke and reemerged on the ground behind Catwoman.
Cool as it was, that power was probably the weakest one he had. He couldn't control the ravens with any precision, and much like the Taken his only connection to the birds was his power tethering them to existence; he knew when they were destroyed, but had no idea where, how, or who destroyed them. They couldn't determine friend from foe, so the best Scratch could do was order them the fly a safe distance away and hope for the best. A strong source of light would make them burst into nothingness with a final caw, which might come back to haunt Scratch if anyone figured out he created them. Then there was the obvious problem: getting attacked by a single bird would be startling as hell and might result in a few cuts and scrapes, but it wasn't going to thin enemy numbers. At best, it might damage a goon's gas mask, and the Joker's present would take care of the rest, but that was a bit of a long shot.
No, what the stealth team got out of this diversion was an added sense of menace and unpredictability. The Clown wants to call them out as playing the Batman card? Fine. Better ramp up the horror factor to really freak these goons out.
Or, y'know, make their movements even tougher to predict so stealth take-downs wouldn't run as smoothly. There was some give and take, here. Least Scratch could say he did more than play Follow the Leader.
Landing the Koopa Clown Car atop the roof, Bowsette wrapped her arm around the small, still metal, young man that was clinging to both the cap and his phone like they were a lifeline. She leapt from the bowl with a powerful leap, crashing to the roof with a grunt and looking about. She could see the helicopters in the distance, but paid them no mind. She had more important things to do, and if the others wanted to deal with them they could.
The horned woman sought out an entrance to the building, whether through a rooftop access door or even the hole she had left behind if it came down to it. Putting the man down, she grunted, "Come on, and don't forget to record everything. And make it look good, got it."
The man just nodded nervously, looking like he was trying not to faint or be sick, as they moved into the building proper; Bowsette using her senses as she stomped quite obviously about. Seemingly unafraid of any resistance she might meet; Cracking her knuckles as she did.
Military Grade Shitposter
Bandit Town
Rico managed to get the Glasgow to wave goodbye to the Luma as it floated off to inspect the damage that had surely been dealt to this town by the liberation force. It was an unfortunate side effect of these types of things. Rico just hoped nobody innocent had been hurt in the crossfire. He was sure he hadn't hurt anyone, if nothing else.
"This town does look like a pile of junk," Rico surmised, taking a second to peer around at the scrap metal town. "And I do mean looks like. Perhaps scrap metal is all they had to work with in this strange desert, but now... it is connected to far more places than just this waste. I am sure upgrading their quality of life will make the citizenry respect you more."
He thought for a moment. "And if this Britannia still exists, perhaps defensive infrastructure may be a good idea. They were treating this place like a colony, correct? If history is any indication, they will not like it being cut off."
"Seven is here too, dressed like the concept of choosing clothes that look nice together was an arcane secret far beyond their grasp."
Alice, Adventurer's Guild
Alice pouts at Delfini's laughter. She had only just arrived, and already the denizens of this strange land were having a chuckle at her expense.
"What's so funny?" she asked. "...And where am I, anyway?"
Gespenst - Adventurer's Guild
"Adventurer's Guild, Akihabara, Another world. You might need to find a place to sleep, thankfully since this is like the central hub of the city that should be pretty easy to accomplish. There's also a few places around here where you can grab some food to eat if you're hungry."
Gespenst didn't even turn around to look at Alice as he started thinking up the plan of attack and debated posting a new job on the board....but decided against it because he wasn't sure who to trust since this would be an even more dangerous mission than facing the Fire Nation. He already knew who he'd approach, and he wasn't sure about getting some new straggler that'd stab him in the back or letting Lelouch figure out what he was doing next after what ever it was that happened back at the Bandit HQ.
"Hey Delfina, before we go on our next step there is a mission that I have to complete first. Some guy named Nightmare needs to be stopped since he's causing issues and I agreed to assist in beating him. Since I don't break my word I'll take him down first and then we'll go fight the Britannians."
Edited by Bcom on Nov 1st 2019 at 8:51:37 AM
Siluca - Adventurer’s guild
Siluca’s eyes turned to Gespenst shortly after the mech had entered the building. She would have to remind herself to ask him about the Bandit town raid later. There also seemed to be a few other new people though Siluca didn’t pay much mind to them at the moment.
Regarding Chun-Li’s statements, Siluca added, “That was something we were considering, though we have little idea of who this ‘Glasses’ might be.”
When Lucy offered her suggestion, the mage realized she hadn’t really considered the angle of smell. However, was these people’s sense of smell really as accurate as the fallen angel had claimed? Siluca personally hadn’t interacted that much with the vendors here outside of Wendy’s, so she only had Lucy’s own word to go by for now.
“That talent would be very useful in this situation. Admittedly, I haven’t had a chance to visit that place, though if you’re confident in their ability, do you think you could ask them to demonstrate it for us?”
Architect - Soviet Mine.
"No reason", Architect replied with what was obviously a non answer, although you could just feel the fact that the lack of Uranium was like a cockblock to her radiating off as she turned around to head back to to the train, since it seemed like every one else was getting the same idea to come back.
Railyard Proper
Back at the rail-yard, the people returning to it would find that parts of it had been disassembled while they were away, the place was now swarming with robots
, that were at work cutting things up, and loading them onto the flatbed cars of the train... Any thing that wasn't bolted to the floor was fair game... Hell even the things bolted to the floor were being removed by cutting them off of the floor first.
But when people started to filter in, they got the feeling they were being watched... and not by the robots running around doing said tasks, but by something else... which would be confirmed not long after as the completely unattended train blew its horn, and all the robots in the field perked back up and began to filter back to the train, carrying what they had with them, before loading into one of the cars themselfs.
It seemed things were about ready to depart once every one arrived.
Shirakami - Looting Complete.
After finishing her claim of the Glasgow cockpit, the fox climbed back into her tan and began the trip back to Akiba, arriving a little bit later at the adventures guild, to which she entered for the first time in quite a long time in her actual uniform, and not just her casual clothes... She took off the hat, and set it down, the anchor emblazoned on the front of it on display... as she went over to where coffee was to get one.
Sonia (Soviet Mine -> Railyard) - All Aboard!
Finally exiting the caverns at long last, Sonia looked up to the sky to see the sun once again, and took a deep breath, just glad to be out of the dark and into the...mostly fresh air. Feeling in a better mood already, her gaze turned to see an array of mechanical workers, well, working to get things loaded onto the vehicle they had ridden here on. Once the horn bellowed...Sonia absolutely did not jump out of surprise, and she would deny that she did most profusely if anyone were to ask.
"Servant", spoke Sonia, facing her summon, "Watch over the rescued in my stead. Alert me if anything happens." Without waiting for a reply, Sonia marched up to start boarding the train...and as she did, she missed the very slow ghost of a wicked smile appear on her familiar's face, which disappeared as quick as it came as the maid moved to trail behind the rescued animal people as they too began boarding.
Proud member of the AGOG community.
A dogged fellow, aren't we?
Yue - Adventurer's guild
While Daud spoke, Yue pulled out her pen and notepad again and went to work, copying down the list of questions she had asked the old woman in her small, neat handwriting. Once finished, she tore the page free and flicked it into the air, where it hung suspended in a purple glow. Tucking her pad and pen away again, the detective snapped her fingers, and with a faint rustling copies of the list started to peel themselves off of the original and flutter into a neat stack in Yue's outstretched hand.
"Wendy has a lot of contacts in the area, it's probably not a bad idea to ask her for help." She said to Daud, nodding in agreement. She pulled a slightly sour face as she added, "... Best to just avoid telling Naga about this at all, if we're being honest." *
The stack of copies complete, the original list crumbling into dust, Yue handed a third of the pile to Daud, a third to Siluca, and began handing the rest out to whoever had decided to volunteer. "Tell your people to be thorough, no detail is too small to note. That being said, best not to harangue our witnesses for information. Prompt them to speak, and listen to what they have to say."
"Someone with bloodhound-like abilities could be useful, but remember that this is still a city we're dealing with. There have been a lot of people coming and going to muddle the trail... still, it couldn't hurt." She glanced up at the very tall, very pink woman and tipped the brim of her hat back, her expression stony. "I hope we find these missing people alive, but it's possible - likely, even - that they are dead, and simply have not been found yet. We are looking for a murderer, most likely a sniper. Remember that, take the necessary precautions, and don't go anywhere alone."
Fear me
Wulfrik, Wastelands
A dwarf.
-From the unconcerned way the elf mentions it, the dwarf is clearly no true dwarf, obsessed with vengeance and metallurgy and would no more consort with knife-ears than shave his beard. No, it is all too likely it is one of the debased versions he had seen in the city who speak no Khazalid and have no idea of what a Skaven is.-
Yes, bring him.
-Best to get this latest disappointment out of the way. Perhaps the dwarf will prove better suited to Wulfrik's purposes than the inverted elf.-
Edited by Chabal2 on Nov 5th 2019 at 5:33:07 PM
Just another guy
Amusement Mile
Bridge Blockade(Lio)
Well now. That's some news, especially the part about how there's a burning arsonist coming their way. The goons looked at each other, nodding and shrugging as they all collectively thought 'yeah, nope. Ain't gonna be the one to break the bad news to the boss.”
"Well, fuck me sideways. That's gonna be a problem. Migh-"
No sooner had he tries that one of Scratch's ravens swoop in, doing what it does best: being an annoyance. Shots were fired and the lone Titan even went so far as to clap after the screeching pest after a one too many scratch, the scene now resembling that of a man trying to unsuccessfully and comically get rid of one very persistent fly.
"Where the hell did that ca- Oh, fuck it, just- Go! We'll take care of it from here!”
Being both convinced enough of the man's disguises and busy dealing with their fly threat, Lio now has unimpeded access to the bridge and island beyond... though depending on the raven's behavior, he may have to endure being pecked a few times along the way.
Funhouse Rooftops(Kisara, Terra)
In-between the sound of flesh squelching beneath the cockpit and a heli careening downwards after being rendered immobile by a rock user, it's safe to say that the threats on the sky were no more.
Unfortunately, all that commotion at the HQ's front door was anything but subtle, with goons from all over now converging towards it and begun firing from the ground towards them. Though there's only less than a dozen or so goons who'd already arrived and stationed so far, more and more are coming, with stronger and experienced goons coming just behind. Unless they're confident enough to tank or block a concentrated amount of gunfire barrage from many directions, they'll have to think of something fast!
The snipers had not been idle as well, making potshots here and there. Unfortunately, between Kisara's tough hide, Terra's quick earth defense and the general disturbance cause by the flock of ravens up on the sky(with one being so unlucky that he fell off the roof due to surprise and went ker-SPLAT), it looks like they're gonna have a hard time trying to get through to them
Street, just outside Pandemonium Carnival and Joker Entrance(Catwoman, Juri, Velvet, Scratch, Clock King, )
Between their successful stealth checks, Scratch's disruption with the ravens and Velvet chomping off any stragglers they encounter along the way, the group went about their sneaky way easily enough.
Soon, they would find themselves at a street just before the tackily-lit Carnival and Funhouse, where the entrance was just a sprint away. Said funhouse which also happens to have about a dozen regular goons out in its open ground before the entrance, though thankfully they all seem to be preoccupied dealing with the threat of the dragon and earth user up on the sky.
The goons defending the base are not the only ones there however, as the other Joker goons are slowly trickling in to reinforce them. From the safety of their cover, they would find elites fully decked with Freeze's weaponry and an experimental batch of heavily armored Titans smart enough to actually wield a minigun started coming out of the woodworks in response to the heavy resistance back at HQ.
From here, the group have a couple of options. They could either take a risk and make a mad dash towards the entrance while there's still only minimal defense present(that they could either deal with quickly or have the dragon/earth user distract the goons so much for them to not notice) or they could take to the fairgrounds on the side and sneak to the base from there at the risk of having the place eventually be swarmed with goons and elites.
... Which is worse news for Mr. Scratch as, unless he happens to be able to manipulate the place's lighting, he may have to worry about himself at the sheer bright lights being employed around the whole damn soon-to-be-battleground.
Elsewhere, out of sight and a few blocks away from the stealth group, Killer Croc would find himself on a mostly-intact street with little to no hostile activity around him. From there, he could see the spectacle of Kisara and Terra dealing with the Joker goons at the Funhouse, with waves of fresh goons coming over.
Beyond a Titan hurling and destroying pavements left and right to swat away at his fowl peckish adversary and a scared-shitless civilian hiding behind a mailbox(while being much less successful at swatting away his ever-scratching raven), it doesn't seem that anyone nearby notices, or at the very least pay any mind, to the man-eater.
"A post per day keeps the GMs away!"
Soviet Mine
"I like the way you think!" The gray bear looked approvingly at P'Li. "We shouldn't let these fuzzballs off easy. I'd like to get my paws on 'em....."
"Oh really?... You can take us back now? Thank you so much!" Isabelle nodded her head at Sonia and Enterprise several times in thanks. "Come on everyone, let's get out of here!" Most of the villagers moved to crowd around the group of Akihabarans who were heading back and followed them, though a handful hand lingered with P'Li and the bear.
"You'd likely have to bring down the entire mountain if you wished to close off every last cave. The tunnels run for miles and snake all around the area," the mystery woman said to Cynthia. "And I suspect even then, that would only slow them down rather than dissuade them. They've spent centuries looking for the Source, after all, they're quite used to delays."
She gave a nod at Maria.
"Indeed. There's likely far too much truth to this legend to allow such power to fall into the hands of these madmen. I've been making my way through these caves for a few days, if you need to leave to escort these creatures to safety I'll try and find their base of operations."