Four hours after finding out about an interesting condition that Dejiko had developed, you are all gathered up by one of Xivilai's serants; a man who was thin, drawn, and pale, and like everyone else here but Ada, very tall. In this four hours, you were pretty much allowed to do whatever you wanted, be it eat, sleep, or whatever else there was to do in the dark lair of a sorceress. After the servant finds you, he brings you one by one to the room with many windows, where Xivilai stands in one 'corner' consulting with someone else. [SESSION START] * Marguerite has changed out of her punk clothes back into her familar jumpsuit. Her hair is back in a French braid, and she has a pair of sunglasses on. * Togo stands, his perpetual scowl having returned. Shades are back too. * Rina runs a hand through her (now purple) hair as she watches Xivilai. * Yoji has his original blond hair back, too. Still short, though. He looks faintly pleased. * Robert has redressed in his familiar trenchcoat and tactical armor, with some new clothing, including a strange looking segmented belt with lots of pockets. * Jacqueline looks much like she did before, but with a new cloak now. Xivilai continues to speak thoughtfully with a man taller than her (in fact, most people here seem taller than her). She doesn't seem to notice that you've all arrived yet. * Sayuri is standing silently, rocking back and forth on her feet, looking at Xivilai. * Rina fidgets, pushing up one of her sleeves and peering at a bracer underneath. * Marguerite is idly staring at a bizarre piece of machinery. * Sayuri mutters and taps her foot. * Robert waits, standing at attention. Xivilai finally finishes talking to the man, and approaches the bunch of you. "I believe we have found her aproximate location. If you are ready, you can go search for her now." *** Atom has quit IRC (Read error: Connection reset by peer ) I'm as ready as I'll ever be. * Marguerite stuffs the device in a pocket. "Ready when you are." Okay. Where are we going? I'm no ghostbuster, but I'll do my best. * Togo nods. * Jacqueline grins. "Finally." Okay! Xivilai nods. "This way," she says, leading you to a window through which can be seen a road of light dirt leading into a darkish forest. * Rina blinks at the window. The man she was talking to stands to one side, nodding to you in general. * Marguerite slings her satchel over her shoulder and approaches the window. "Where's this, then?" * Sayuri follows slowly, as she mutters. "I can only hope this doesn't take too long..." Looks inviting. "I do not know what the inhabitants of the realm call it. In fact, I can't seem to discern wheather it has inhabitants or not." * Yoji follows with his hands in his pockets, humming faintly. * Marguerite frowns. "Wonderful." * Togo eyes Sayuri. "Lord forbid we take a while rescuing the woman who saved most of our lives in one way or another." Ah, it's a forrest. Those stages are always easy. * Rina giggles. (Don't you mean a forest? Or are we going to run into Tom Hanks there?) "But Dejiko is within three miles of the place pictured here; that's as close as we can get to a concrete location, really." ( Blargh :P ) ( ^_^ ) * Sayuri looks back over at Togo, and rolls her eyes. "I was more referring to Dejiko's lack of soul being a dire situation. Thanks for confirming that you think I'm heartless, though." Not a hard conclusion to reach, that. * Togo bows, then turns back towards the window. Can we save this for after we find Dejiko? * Marguerite whips out Bubba, and starts the warming sequence. "Less talking, more moving." Hey, leave her alone. Xivilai clears her throat. "Yes, well. Simply walk through the window, and you will be in the area pictured here." * Robert reaches into his coat, but does not bring out Reason. Wow! It's like a stage select... except with only one stage. * Sayuri doesn't bother responding, and walks forward through the window instead. * Marguerite nods, then strides through calmly. * Togo walks. * Rina nods and steps into the window. That's all? Cool. * Yoji steps through the window. * Robert jumps through. * Jacqueline folds her arms behind her head and walks in, grinning. Once you've stepped through the window, you see yourself about twenty feet away from a forest that is obviously working very hard to be dark and forboding. In fact, in the spot where the road you find yourselves on leads into the forest, there is a wooden sign labeled 'Ye Olde Darke Foreste'. * Yoji blinks at the sign. That solves the inhabitants question. * Rina blinks a couple times. "O-kay." The rest of the world around you, by comparison, seems rendered in pastel shades. A bright blue sky with puffy white clouds, bright green grass, bright flowers scattered around in what is almost a random fashion. Nice place. *** Demota has quit IRC (Ping timeout ) * Robert peers into the forest. * Marguerite nods. "Pretty, if you're into that sort of thing." The forest is dark, which makes it difficult to see into. Wanna bet she's in there? ( Gee, is that a hint? =P ) Think they're trying for contrast? No bet. * Jacqueline nods. "Must be an RPG. The only time the weather changes is when you go somewhere signifigant." The whole affair looks like it was pulled from some generic storybook. * Sayuri frowns at everything in general. Not that surprising. * Marguerite rubs her chin. "We could split up, or we could go with instinct. Which'll it be, folks? Splitting up is almost always a bad idea. *** Demota has joined #ChibiRPG Stay together, I'd say. Only in horror films. But for now, I agree with you. * Robert reaches into his belt and pulls out his own pair of goggles, which are black with red highlights. * Sayuri quirks an eyebrow, and shrugs. No time to waste. ... all I see are some rats. 2 feet long or so. Mm. Good eatin'. * Rina pulls a pair of goggles out of her pocket and twirls them around one finger. "Let's go already." Let's get moving. * Robert starts for the forest, strapping on his goggles as he goes. * Togo goes. * Rina walks after Robert, idly pondering how to put on the goggles without looking stupid. * Yoji follows Robert. Are these new york rats, or Rodents of Unusual Size? * Sayuri walks, shaking her head sadly. * Marguerite walks towards the forest, pulling her goggles out of a pocket. She's trimmed them with camouflage strips. * Jacqueline follows the others. * Yoji puts his goggles on. * Rina shrugs and puts the goggles on. * Jacqueline decides to join the crowd, and wears the goggles. * Marguerite then lights up a cigarette, and grins. "Mm. Reminds me of the jungles." Once inside the forest, all is dark. Go figure. The goggles don't make it too much easier to see the trees, but the road is fairly clear and has just enough sunlight coming throgh the trees to be visible. Off to the sides of the roads, you can see nothing but the rats, which keep up with you on either side of the road. ( And these rats are how large? ) ( I already said, foo'. =P ) ( They're new york rats, but not rodents of unusual size. ) ( Oh, wait. Thought you didn't say, since Robert asked after that. ^^;; ) * Rina glances at the rats. "Weird. This a no-crossing area or something?" Maybe they're scared because we're a much higher level than they are. ... that'd make them smarter than most RPG enemies. Strange. * Yoji eyes the rats curiously. I'm almost tempted to shoot a few, but that's borrowing trouble. * Sayuri walks ungoggled, and runs her hands through her hair once or twice. * Rina moves the goggles half off her eyes, blinks as she realizes it's not that different, then removes them altogether. Eventually you reach a small clearing. Off to the left of the road is a strange-looking cottage that appears to be made out of ginerbread and decorated with candy. ...no. Just... no. Ooh. *_* * Yoji blinks at Rina, then removes his goggles as well. * Marguerite smacks her forehead. "Aw, Jesus Christ." She rips the goggles off disgustedly. If I were a lost soul, I would be there. * Rina points at the house. "Definitely." * Jacqueline looks at the others, shrugs, and takes off the goggles. ... a house made of candy. Riiiiight. * Robert moves his own goggles up off his eyes onto his forehead. Someone want to knock? I'll do it! * Yoji looks at the cottage. "Looks tasty." * Rina runs over and knocks. Yosh. * Sayuri chuckles. "Fool." She then peers at the house suspiciously. * Robert walks up behind Rina. Rina, in her enthusiasm, knocks the liccorice door off it's swee-tart hinges. * Yoji looks at Sayuri. "Who's a fool?" * Rina blinks. "Oops." * Rina peeks in the house and calls, "Hello? Anybody home?" An old, hunched-over lady with green skin and a large wart on her nose comes stomping over to the door. "Eh? What's all this racket, then?" * Jacqueline ponders. "Who would be able to live in a place like this without being tempted to eat it?" * Togo shakes his head, chuckling lightly. "Well, knocking down the door *is* our usual idiom..." * Yoji turns to Jacqueline. "Somebody with no teeth?" * Rina smiles at the lady, the green skin apparently not fazing her a bit. "Hi! We're looking for a friend of ours." The old lady looks at you all. "Eh? A friend?" Of course! Just like in King's Quest. * Yoji watches Rina and the old lady. Yeah. Black hair and... um... actually, she might not look like what we remember her to look like, so... have you seen anyone around here recently? Like, out of the ordinary? * Yoji blinks. "King's Quest? That's another game, right?" * Sayuri just blinks a few times and stands there, looking around. "Christ, this could be harder." * Jacqueline nods. "Yeah. Supposedly a very old one. They released a collection nine years back. I was lucky to find a copy." * Marguerite tosses her cigarette over her shoulder, and lights a new one. She rolls her eyes. ( I wish I found the collection. I've been searching for it for years now. @_@ ) ( ... Just wait another 30 years or so, Dem. ) The lady thinks about that. "Well, there was an odd knight what came through here recently. First time I'd seen a woman tromping around as a knight. Instead of a helmet she had this funny little hat, and she had a sword with no blade. Don't know why she was carrying it around." She chuckles. "But oh, did she do a number on that troll at the bridge down the road." ( King's Quest... 5? 6? ) ( Hm. Alright. I suppose Sierra will eventually put out a DVD- ROM set with all their old adventure games. ) * Rina blinks. "Beat up a troll?" "There was also a man coming through trying to sell pastries. Dunno where he got off trying to sell anything in this forest, tho." ( One. WAY back in one. ) Hm. Sounds like a hit... ... that'd be her. Yeah. That's gotta be Dejiko. Which way did she go? The old lady points down the way you were going. "Thataway. Normally I'd give you some token warning about avoiding the troll at the bridge, but that's not much of a problem anymore." She cackles to herself. * Rina smiles at the lady. "Thanks! And, um, sorry about your door." * Marguerite hefts Bubba and starts down that way. "Thanks." Thank you! The lady waves dismissively. "Yeah, yeah. Don't worry, candy homes are easy to repair. Now scram." * Togo follows. * Rina runs after the group. * Yoji walks after everyone else. * Sayuri chuckles, and follows. "Cranky old witch." She was pretty friendly, for a cranky old witch. * Robert follows along. Curiouser and curiouser. * Jacqueline follows. Eh. Wonder why Dejiko's doing the wandering hero thing... ... I really hope you don't end up in a skirt like last time, Robert. Maybe she doesn't know she's not actually in her body. If I end up in another skirt I swear to Christ I'm taking all of you down. The forest closes back around you, and the rats take up their march alongside you. They seem very intent on figuring out what you're doing. I refuse to end up in a skirt before Marguerite and Sayuri. ...Robert in a skirt? Last time? * Yoji sweatdrops. * Sayuri laughs softly. "Oh, c'mon. I'll wear one if you will." * Jacqueline tries to picture that, and laughs. Training exercise gone horribly awry. Only if yours is pink, Sayuri. With lots of bows and ribbons. * Rina eyes the rats. "Um... are they making you nervous, too?" * Sayuri hmphs. "You get the same, then." Only mildly, Rina. Rats are rats, you know? Yeah, but they're creepy rats. I wouldn't have it any other way. If something is worth doing, it's worth doing well. * Sayuri huhms, and scans the road ahead. "I'll have to keep that in mind." * Yoji looks at the rats. "Not really...they're just following us." We'll have to get Togo in the tux again, though. Unless we can get him in a skirt and Rina in a tux. Eventually you see a bridge up ahead. It's made out of stonework and has a wooden signpost marked "Ye Olde Toll Bridge". There is a sign marked "Ye Olde Castle of the Dragonne Kinge ~ 1mi, exit FM324." directly underneath it. ... tux maybe. Skirt no. * Yoji snickers at that. Aw, and here I thought you were loosening up. I do *not* have the legs to pull off a skirt. You could be sailor angst. Hoohah, Dragon King. Sounds like fun. * Rina grins. "But I wanna be in the tux. C'mon, Togo." * Jacqueline peers at the sign. "How come everything's so old?" * Yoji reads the sign. No way. Grim badass union rules forbid crossdressing unless it's to get close enough to someone to shoot, maim, or otherwise inflict grevious badily harm on someone. * Sayuri shakes her head. "Crossdressing adventures of the GCI rebels. How odd." There have been stranger. * Rina considers, then smiles nastily. "Sounds like a loophole, Togo." She points down the road. "She's probably at the castle." Much, much stranger. You come to the bridge, and see a toll gate. The gate is left open, and there is a bloodstain on one side. The presence of a bloodstain seems out of place here, for some reason. It'd do us good to pay a little more attention. Especially those of us who claim to be ready for any situation. * Yoji looks at the stain. "Must be from the troll." I knew it. Lost souls are never found in forests. They're always found in towers or castles, or sometimes caves. ... let's see, massive blood stain... gotta be Dejiko's work. Probably. Not definitely, but probably. * Rina blinks at Jackie. You found lost souls before? * Jacqueline nods. "Yup! 14 and counting. It's a pretty cliche thing these days." * Sayuri continues walking. "Time, time..." * Marguerite eyes the stain carefully. "Hmm." She stands and continues to lead the way down the path. * Rina laughs as she keeps walking. * Jacqueline follows. * Yoji follows. Once you're on the bridge itself, you can see the body of what must be the troll in the river below. One of it's legs has become stuck between a pair of rocks, which explains why it hasn't washed away yet. Some of the rocks around it are stained red, and there's a thin trail of cloudy red stain flowing from where the troll probably used to keep it's head. * Rina looks down. "Wow. Vicious." * Marguerite looks down. "Like something out of the Brothers Grimm." She keeps walking, a little faster now. This moderately grim sight also seems out of place here. ... yup, definately Dejiko. * Yoji blinks. * Rina goes back to crossing the bridge. Looks that way. I don't want to know how she used a sword with no blade to remove the head from a troll. ( She killed an NPC that should be impossible to fight in the first place! ) Mind checks with any bonuses for hearing or heightened awareness. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Yoji (2d6) and gets 9. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Robert (2d6) and gets 8. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Marguerite (2d6) and gets 7. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Sayuri (2d6) and gets 9. 2d6 2d6-4 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Jacqueline (2d6) and gets 7. * Dicesuke throws the bones for Rina (2d6-4) and gets 1. ( Got it. ) 2d6-4 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Togo (2d6-4) and gets 2. (Ditto.) Jacqueline, Togo, and Rina hear a faint skittering sound behind them. * Togo spins around. Huh? What're you doing? * Jacqueline turns about. * Togo holds a finger to his lips. * Rina whirls around. The rats, where were following you along the bridge, stop in their tracks when Togo spins to face them. They sit there, eyeing the bunch of you. * Robert turns around and eyes the rats. * Rina mutters, "See, I *told* you they're creepy." * Yoji turns to see what everyone is looking at. * Marguerite turns, as she hears everybody else. Uh... * Sayuri looks behind her, and peers at the rats. "Either we're the biggest meal they've ever seen, or they like us." Yes. ... ooo-kay. Let's keep walking. I'll walk backwards, see if they keep following. I can see where this is going. * Robert drifts towards the back of the group, next to Togo. * Rina coughs. "Rats merge, boss fight, right? Let's keep going." *kalwkalwkalw* * Marguerite frowns, and notices she's chewed the butt of her cigarette to pieces. She spits it out, and lights another. * Rina blinks. * Marguerite keeps going, glancing back once in a while. Ooooh crap. * Jacqueline nods and keeps walking. "Probably. Or just a fight against massive numbers." She glances back from time to time. ( I remember the fight with the horde of rats! ) ( Romancing SaGa 3. ) * Yoji follows everyone else, continuing to look over his shoulder frequently. * Rina keeps glancing behind her. "Guys, I think they *are* merging." ...what? As you enter the forest again, the rats continue to follow you on the sides. I don't want to know how rats are merging together. I'm serious. They're bigger. And there's not as many. ( Are they still behind too? ) * Jacqueline nods. "Yup. Gonna be one giant rat-boss in a minute." * Marguerite frowns. "Like something out of a Hitchcock movie." Another sign crops up, reading "Dragonne Castle ~ 1/2 mi." * Rina looks at the sign. Soon as we get to the castle, right Jackie? I think we should pick up the pace. Probably just before. * Rina shrugs. "Close enough." Monsters don't usually leave their assigned dungeons. 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Sayuri (2d6-2) and gets 6. ... Robert, perhaps now might be a good time to start getting Reason ready. My thoughts exactly. * Robert reaches into his coat, hauls out Reason, and starts the barrels spinning with their dull whine. * Togo nods, and skalw faster. ( sklaw, even ) (*snerk*) * Robert shivers a bit. * Marguerite growls, and walks a little bit faster. Whaddaya know, it works. Who did that? * Rina keeps going. * Sayuri blinks, and continues walking along. "I am getting a worse and worse feeling about this..." Huh? Somebody just made use of some highly advanced technology. * Yoji increases his pace a bit too. Huh? A large rat dashes from one side of the road to the other ahead of you. I betcha mean magic, and we're probably in a place full of i- whoa! * Marguerite stops dead. No, I mean someone just made _active_ use of it. * Jacqueline stops, drawing her sword. "Looks like it's about that time." * Rina stops and nods. And oh my, that's a big rat. How can you tell, Robert? * Marguerite notes she's chewed this cigarette to pieces, too. "Times like this I wish I chewed cigars." * Togo snaps his head around, then back to the rear. (s/chewed/smoked) Another nifty gadget, Yoji. I didn't think the merchant was telling the truth, but whaddaya know, he was. Oh, so you've got a magic detector. Cool. * Marguerite lights another cigarette. "Does it really matter too much at this point, Robert? We've got lots to do." * Robert shudders. Keep moving, people... we're better off if we can get to a clearing. * Robert keeps moving, dammit. * Marguerite starts walking again. I guess so. * Rina goes back to walking. * Yoji continues walking. ... 'cause that is one big nasty rat. There is a rustling off to your left, and then a rat-man walks out in front of you. It carries an odd spear with feathers tied to it, wears a purple cloak with silver trim, and it appears to be grinning. "Well. Since one of you seems to want a conversation, I may as well give it to you." Gah. * Sayuri mutters, and starts looking around nervously as she walks. "I'm really liking this less and less-- Aah!" * Jacqueline walks along. "If there are any clearings." * Marguerite stops dead, and brings up Bubba. Well hello there. * Rina blinks at the rat-man-thing. Ypu * Yoji stops. * Rina stops. * Jacqueline halts. (ack) You're damn lucky I'm full of nicotene, or you'd be char right now. "Out of curiosity, which one of you was it that was wishing me to go away, hm?" * Togo half-turns. "... hello." Wishing for you to go away? Huh? * Yoji looks confused. * Sayuri runs her hands through her hair, and shrugs. "Probably just someone's fear or something." * Rina glances at Sayuri. You saying you can tell if someone's wishing you'd go away? * Jacqueline shrugs. "Wasn't me." "Yes. ...Ah, I see. Well, then. On to my next question; how do you intend to save your friend, the lady knight? Or do you wish to save the other one, the little girl that travels with her?" * Rina blinks. * Marguerite frowns. "Little girl?" Little girl? Huh? There's another one? * Togo frowns. What little girl? * Robert blinkblinks. * Sayuri chuckles. "That's what we get for working on low information." hell, we should be used to that by now. Wel *always* work on low info. * Yoji scratches his head. "Ada's still at the castle, so..." I made a good mascot, 'cause we were always flying blind. That was bad, Togo. Speaking from the perspective of the person often filling in those gaps, that doesn't make it any easier. But that's besides the point. The rat-man leans on his spead nonchalantly. He seems amused by what you all are saying. * Marguerite turns to the rat-man. "So. There are two, hm? Can you describe them?" I hope this doesn't turn out like Wild Arms 6... * Togo shrugs. "Well, you recognized it as a joke. That's progress." The rat gazes into Marguerite's eyes and smiles an eerie smile. "Oh, you know one, and the other is the same, although they have never met." * Jacqueline sighs, and her shoulders slump. "It did. Damn." * Rina frowns, trying to put the riddle together. Don't get all mystic on me. * Robert grins. So...it's Dejiko travelling with a child Dejiko? I've dealt with Georgian mages who smelled worse than you did, and certainly snorted a lot more coke. * Jacqueline nods. That's what it sounds like. ... yeah, that'd fit. Something... must've happened, 'cause she forgot all about that one guy we fought back before everybody got teleported. The rat looks at Yoji. "No, but you are closer than some of the others." Fortunately, it sounds like we only have to get the two of them, instead of travelling across the entire world looking for eight. Stupid Wild Arms 6... The rat then notices Rina's statment and grins again. "Yes, indeed, something did happen. I wonder if you know what?" * Yoji blinks at Jackie. "What ARE you talking about?" * Marguerite drops Bubba and rubs her temples. "So. She's... fragmented, for lack of a better word? Probably some sort of split personality disorder. * Rina tugs on a lock of her hair. "Um... something happened. Dejiko... she recognized Xivilai. Maybe she had something to do with it." Nasty stuff, that. I'm no shrink *** DemoSleep has joined #ChibiRPG Pre- and post-trauma. Innocent and... whatever. Um... In Wild Arms six, Joey- That gunner fellow with the staff- gets his soul destroyed, and you have to travel around the entire world looking for all 8 parts. It's the most annoying part of the game. Great big can of whoopass? ... deja vu. *chuckles* There could very well be more than two, Togo. At the moment, I think finding them is kinda important first. * Rina nods. *** Demota has quit IRC (Ping timeout ) The rat grins at Togo. "Well, it seems that someone has some idea, perhaps. Maybe this will not go so badly for her after all." ... I have a bit of experience in the area. * Marguerite looks at the rat man again. "So are you going to continue tagging along, or was this just a one-time thing?" The rat chuckles and shakes his head emphatically. "Oh, I have no desire to go where you are going, for the Dragon King loathes me and I could not stand long against him. But you must go, I think." (Don't leave without the pink tail!) Sounds like a plan to me. Okay. Thanks, Mr. Rat. Sorry I said you were creepy. (*snerk*) * Togo nods. "Seems so. Thanks." * Marguerite rereadies Bubba and starts walking. "Your help is appreciated. Ignore any screams." The rat snickers. "I get it all the time, little girl. Don't worry." He dissapears into the forest. Weird. * Rina blinks, then hurries after Marguerite. * Yoji gets back to walking. * Sayuri follows, and mutters, "I wish I knew how much time we had..." * Jacqueline watches the rat leave, and puts away her weapon. "Huh. I was sure we were going to have to... oh well." She hurries after the others. * Robert catches up in a hurry after stowing Reason away. ( "Dragonslaying, and me without my lance." ) *walkwalk* I think this is called "roleplaying your way out of a combat," Jackie. Bah. They never allow for that. Sure they do. Before long, a the road branches off to your right. Another signpost reads "Exit FM324. Castle of the Dragonne Kinge, Castle of the Burger Kinge." ... We're gonna have to fight something, or do some sort of mini-game. Mark my words. Burger King. I can think of... at least one game and one series of games that allowed for it. * Yoji reads this sign and sweatdrops. They're really old ones, though. Another sign below reads "Ye Olde Last Gas For 34 Miles." I meant the more modern ones. This...is a very strange place. Someone had an odd sense of humor, for sure. "Fucking wonderful." She sighs. "This looks likely." This place is unnerving. ( "I AM the Pumpki- er, Dragon King!" ) Well, at least the Burger King isn't old like everything else. Yup. * Rina follows the branch to the castle. * Marguerite takes the branch. (Banana king?) * Sayuri mutters, "Then again, neither is the Dragon." * Jacqueline follows the others. Just relax and go with the flow. * Yoji just follows everyone. Hopefully, we can get outta this without a fight. If not... well, people killed dragons before there were guns... As you start off down the side road, you see a great gout of flame cross the road a good perhaps a hundred yards ahead of you, accompanied by a high-pitched scream. O_O * Marguerite breaks into a dead run. That's gotta b- oh, who cares who it is! * Rina runs. ... well, so much for a peaceful solution. *Draws guns, runs* * Robert takes off at a much higher speed than he's used to. * Yoji runs after them. Well, shit. * Jacqueline runs, drawing her sword. "Damn, I hope I'm wrong this time." * Sayuri twists her bookbag around, and pulls around a pair of black bracers, slipping them on. "Dammned things." ( ^_^ ) * Yoji checks to make sure his bracers are still on. Rina arrives first at a clearing surrounding a large, dark castle. She sees what appears to be Dejiko in shimmering silver armor fighting a greenish dragon that is perhaps eighty feet from head to tail. (Mind roll with heightened awareness, Rina.) 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Rina (2d6) and gets 4. Rina notices a young girl off to the right of the road, curled up in a ball and weeping. * Rina looks from Dejiko to the girl and back, then runs to the girl. (Everyone with a level of speed arrives right about now.) * Robert runs up and skids to a hasty stop. (A level of speed? @_@) ... there's Dejiko... and *damn* that's a big bastard. ( Boots of speed. =P ) That is one _big_ lizard. The dragon breathes another gout of flame at Dejiko, which she narrowly avoids. ... up for a bit of dragonslaying, my good man? Let's rock. * Robert pulls Reason out. * Togo readies his guns. Everyone else catches up, now. ^_^ I think this thing will listen to Reason. Dont you? * Rina reaches the girl and crouches down, touching her lightly on the shoulder. "Hey, are you okay?" Cavalry has arrived, motherfuckers. Let's rock. ... baaaaaaaad pun. * Robert levels Reason at the mega-lizard and opens fire. * Jacqueline draws her sword. "Told you there'd be a fight." Shut up, Jackie. The girl looks up at Rina with big wet eyes and just stares at her. Everyone who wants to fight Mr. Dragon, roll initiative. 2d6-7 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Marguerite (2d6-7) and gets -2. * Sayuri comes up, and stops, looking over at Rina, and then running towards her. d6+6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Yoji (d6+6) and gets 9. d6+8 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Togo (d6+8) and gets 13. d6+7 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Robert (d6+7) and gets 13. (Damn. Bad roll.) d6+7 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Marguerite (d6+7) and gets 13. d6+8 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Jacqueline (d6+8) and gets 12. ( This dragon is in trouble. ) (I'm not rolling. Maybe later. :P) (Indeed.) (Same here. ;P) Order: Margie, Robert, Togo, Jackie, DragonKing, Sir Dejiko. ( What about me? ;_; ) (Urk.) Order: Margie, Robert, Togo, Jackie, DragonKing, Sir Dejiko, Yoji. Sorry. ^^; * Rina smiles at the girl, checking her for injuries. "Hi. I'm Rina." * Marguerite drops to one knee and shoots a burst of plasma at the Fearsome Dragon. ('Bout how old is she, Yu?) 2d6-5 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Marguerite (2d6-5) and gets 2. ( -5? Daaaaaaamn. ) Rina> She looks to be in her young teens. She's short, kind of mousy, and has brown hair nd eyes. (Have I made it to Rina yet? ^^;) (Maggie is very good at shooting things with plasma.) (... *nearly dies*) Sayuri> Yes. ( SNRK. ) ( Oh boy. ) ( /me h-parses... badly. ) (I don't see it. ^_^; ( ...I don't either, but I don't want to. ) ( Creative use of the word 'it', Cham. ^_^; ) * Sayuri gasps for air. "Damn... hate... running..." She looks at the girl. Sayuri> Yes, you've made it to Rina and the girl. (..oh. Told you I was out of it.) * Rina glances up at Sayuri. "And this's Sayuri. We're both here to help out." Margie's blast o' plasma slams into the side of the dragon, which roars angrily. That seems to get Dejiko's attention, too. Woo! I've always wanted to slay something righteously! Robert's turn. * Robert sends a stream of happy bullets at the dragon, and the area around the dragon, and the area above the dragon, too. 2d6-5 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Robert (2d6-5) and gets 1. ( 6 under, wai! ) *** DemoSleep is now known as Demota * Sayuri says something softly, and looks at the child nervously. The bullets make all sorts of interesting ricochet noises against the scaly hide of the dragon. After the smoke from Margie's blast clears, you can see... a patch of pristine green scales that appear to have never been touched. Aw, shit. holy shit. Togo's turn. Sweet Jesus on a pogo stick. I don't think we can take this, Robert... * Rina nods thoughtfully and murmurs something back. * Togo circles right, pops in some AP rounds, and fires. 2d6-3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Togo (2d6-3) and gets 0. 2d6-3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Togo (2d6-3) and gets 6. We haven't played all our cards yet, Margie. Call it a hunch. * Sayuri frowns and looks over at Sir Dejiko, and back. Meanwhile, the girl begins whimpering polite requests to make the monster go 'way. Togo's bullets mke more interesting ricochet sounds against the dragon's hide. Jackie's turn. * Rina turns her attention back to the girl. "Our friends are doing their best to help." * Sayuri says a few things, and nods towards Sir Dejiko. * Rina glances at Dejiko and responds to Sayuri. ... why do those never work? * Jacqueline moves off to the side a little, hopefully out the radius of one of those gouts of flames. (that's it) If it's any comfort, Reason didn't work either. Or Bubba. Which I'm mildly upset about. The girl whimpers "Can't... can't beat the dragon. Nobody can. Been tryin' to beat the dragon. Fightin' for days. Won't stop. Won't stop." Yeah, but these are AP rounds... they're supposed to, y'know, PIERCE ARMOR. * Rina frowns. ( Don't be silly! Dragons don't wear clothing! ) * Marguerite shrugs. "Bubba's supposed to be able to eat through titanium." * Sayuri talks some more with Rina. I'm not even gonna start on what Reason's operating specs are. * Rina watches the dragon worriedly as she replies. * Rina blinks, then turns to the girl. "Wait, for *days*?" If AP rounds aren't scratching it, I doubt anything in my arsenal can touch it. The Dragon King turns towards Togo, Margie, and Robert, and inhales deeply. After a moment, he spouts a great pillar of flame that slams into the grounf not far from the three, knocking them off their feet and through the air, and stinging their skin with waves of heat. They land without managing to hurt themselves. SWEET FUCKING BUDDHA! Christ on a crutch! ... ow. * Robert eats a mouthfull of turf. * Robert spits it out. Ack. Stupid dragon. * Marguerite lifts herself up by one arm. "Oh, god DAMN. I swallowed my fucking cigarette." * Togo sits up, pats under his glasses, and exhales deeply. "Small favors..." * Marguerite coughs a few times, then turns back to the dragon. "We need strategy, people..." Dejiko's turn. * Sayuri talks some more, with Rina, and looks very worried. Aim for soft spots? * Rina looks at the dragon, then Miya, then back again. Y'think its mouth isn't as touch? The eyes, maybe? * Rina turns to the girl. "Can you get Dejiko's attention? Or whatever you call her?" Mouth, eyes, maybe feet... Dejiko breaks off her engagement and charges over to Togo, Margie and Robert. She manages to avoid a few attacks made by the dragon, and soon is within shouting distance; once there, she starts shouting. 2d6-3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Marguerite (2d6-3) and gets 6. * Marguerite shakes her head. "I can't see a weakness. There's nothing. It can toss us around like so many shell casings." Dejiko shouts "Ignore the dragon! Take care of the girl!" She seems pretty emphatic about the matter. The dragon continues to pursue her. And that sounds like good advice to me. * Sayuri says a few things, and gestures towards the girl. * Rina nods at Sayuri once, then looks to Dejiko. "You'd better run, too!" She picks the girl up and dashes away. (Which way she dashin'?) Everybody get out of here! (The way she came in.) * Marguerite jumps back, and starts running after Rina, taking a quick drink from her decanter as she does so. * Togo frowns, then nods, and breaks after Rina. * Sayuri runs by Dejiko, huffing and pufing. "C'mon, the... dragon's... not worth it... we've got to get YOU out of here." * Jacqueline turns about and runs after the others. Rina takes off down the road like a purple-haired girl. Which is what she is. The dragon bellows in rage. (It's gotta be the hair.) Dejiko shakes her head at Sayuri. "No. I have to hold it off. I have to protect her." Go! I'll give it something to think about. Now that you're closer to her, you can see that Dejiko's face is grimy and seared in spots. She looks exhausted. * Sayuri slows. "Yes, we're protecting the girl. We need to get you OUT OF HERE NOW, Dejiko." "No... have to hold it... holdiddoff...." * Jacqueline skids to a halt outside and looks back when she realizes the others haven't left yet. Go, people! If you're not out of range when this goes off, I'm not responsible for the consequences. They can do that, c'mon! You can't survive like this. Dejiko collapses, her armor going 'clank'. There is something you didn't notice before there; a massive rent in the back of her armor, trailing red blood down the silver sheen of the metal. ... dammit! ... shit. * Rina keeps running. She's long gone by now. * Marguerite notes Dejiko falling, and dashes back. * Togo runs back, and tries lifting Dejiko up. "Urg. Gimme a hand here!" * Marguerite grabs a side of Dejiko. Let's MOVE! * Robert takes a squat, steady stance, legs far apart, pointing Reason toward the dragon. The dragon continues storming your way. It flaps it's wings once, kicking up a strong wind. Robert, do whatever you're doing, then follow after us! * Sayuri starts running as well, cursing, "Hate... hate... hate... running...." Count of three, Togo! One, two, THREE! Let's go, Mad Dog! *lifts* Togo, Margie> body rolls. * Marguerite lifts, and starts with the running again. As fast as one can run when hefting a person in plate mail. 2d6 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Togo (2d6) and gets 5. * Dicesuke throws the bones for Marguerite (2d6) and gets 11. * Yoji looks, sees that there's nothing much he can do, and runs down the path. * Sayuri looks back to see if they're following. (>_<) MArgie's grip slips on the blood-slicked metal of Dejiko's armor. Fucking shit! Shit. (Reroll for another grab?) * Sayuri pauses, and runs back, grabbing a piece o'Dejiko. "Dammit... people... let's MOVE." * Robert switches quickly presses another set of keys. (Sure.) 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Marguerite (2d6) and gets 6. MArgie gets a good grip this time. Sayuri helps, and between the three of you you're carrying Dejiko with ease. * Robert opens fire literally, hosing down the dragon with a stream of flames. Let's go! Robert, hurry the fuck up! * Jacqueline waits outside for Deji, Togo, and the others to pass. * Robert follows up by pressing a different set of keys, and a pair of doors slide open, one on the front of Reason, the other on the back, revealing a small missile. CLEAR! The dragon brushes aside the flames with a gesture and glares evil death at Robert. It opens it's mouth and begins sucking in a deep breath. * Robert fires. (Roll attack with the -2 bonus, Robert.) 2d6-6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Robert (2d6-6) and gets 3. (-2..?) ( The dragon has Awkward Size. I'm adlibbing. gimme a break.) (Just curious. ^^;) ( Oh, that's a separate bonus. Subtract two moref rom that roll. ^_^; ) The missile slams into the dragon's face, producing a massive explosion. The dragon bellows in rage and is hidden by the smoke of the explosion. * Robert RUNS! * Robert puts away Reason as he runs, so he can run faster. * Jacqueline sees that everyone is finally retreating, and does so herself. Rina finds herself back at the bridge with the quivering, crying lump of girl in her hands. There is a shower of sparks and Xivilai steps into the world through a window. "Do you have... HER?!?" There's two of them! Sayuri said- * Rina skids to a halt in front of Xivilai. The others are coming with Dejiko. The older one. I hope. Xivilai shakes her head. "This makes a mess of things nicely." She considers the girl in Rina's arms for a moment. "Get her through the window. Hurry!" * Rina nods and runs through the window. Yoji manages to catch up with Rina at about that moment. They're coming! * Sayuri is breathing very heavily... "Why... does... so heavy... stupid... armor..." * Rina reaches through the window and yanks Yoji in. :P * Yoji is pulled. :P There is another gutteral roar from the dragon, followed by another pillar of flame slamming into the forest to the left of those carrying Dejiko. This in turn is followed by the sound of flapping wings. 'cause... it'd be... too easy... otherwise. FuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckFUCKFUCKFUCK_FUCK_SHITASSthis is heavy! ...eloquent... Togo, Margie, Sayuri and Robert soom come into view of the bridge. Another gout of flame slams into the forest, sending trees into the air. The shadow of the dragon flies overhead. ( What about me? ;_; ) Jackie too. ^_^ What a waste of a good missile! ;_; I bet he doesn't even appreciate it! * Rina runs back through the window. "Sorry Xivilai this is faster gotta go!" She runs to the others. * Sayuri screams, "Xiv!... Stop... the... Dragon!" * Rina grabs Dejiko as soon as she catches up and runs back for the window. * Marguerite keeps running right through the window, not slowing down. * Togo runs for the window. * Sayuri runs as best she can, and collapses nice and tired on the other side, if she makes it that far. @_@ The dragons circles around the window once, and sends another gout of flame towards it. The flame is blocked at the last moment by a shimmering blue mass of air, and Xivilai takes to the sky, drawing a sword and throwing something black and crackling at the dragon. -s * Robert runs like crazy, straight through the window. * Rina whews on the other side of the mirror, and sets Dejiko down next to the crying girl. * Jacqueline runs for the window. :P * Togo whips out his medkit, and brings it over to the injured Dejiko. "Shit shit shit..." Robert, Jackie, Margie, Sayuri, and Togo make it through the window just as the world starts tearing itself apart. The girl and Dejiko flicker and fizzle a bit, like an image on a television with bad reception. * Marguerite falls over on her face. After a moment, she rolls over, and lights a cigarette. "Was it good for you, too?" Oh no. We're not out of time, are we? I'm fairly sure the earth moved, yah. (*SNERK*) ... wait. Soul. Medkit won't work. (*twitch*) ( ^_^ ) Through the window, a chunk of the sky falls off, reveling a nebulous, confusing mass of something that hurts to look at behind it. * Sayuri lays on the floor deadish. "... christ... lame... as hell.... Margie...." ... eh, that wasn't so bad. What was it, a mile run with 300 pounds of gear? You're not carrying an NRA showcase in your satchel, Togo. Xivilai comes through the window, extinguishing a spot of her cloak that caught fire. The window continues to show the demise of the world on the other side. * Marguerite sits up and looks at Dejiko. * Yoji looks at Dejiko and the girl. * Robert sits down against a convenient wall. * Rina looks up at Xivilai. "They're fizzling." So uh, what do we do now? * Marguerite takes the cigarette out, but only to down a nice healthy gulp from her decanter. She then resumes smoking. "Attend to the younger one!" barks Dejiko to someone you didn't notice there before, someone tall and thin and wasted and dressed all in grey. * Robert reaches down to his belt and removes his own decanter, full of clear liquid. * Robert drinks deeply. (Dejiko -> Xivilai?) (Er, yeah. Duh.) The other person, a woman, nods and stands over the girl, waving her hands and saying something in a painful-sounding language. Xivilai does something similar, standing over the rapidly de-rezzing form of Dejiko. * Marguerite holds out the pack of Camel Unfiltereds to Robert. "Smoke?" ...thanks, but no. * Rina stands back, watching with a panicked look on her face. * Togo watches intently. "C'mon, c'mon..." * Yoji watches, worried. * Sayuri slowly sits up, and checks her backpack to make sure it survived. "Jesus christ..." "Suit yourself." She watches the proceedings carefully. The girl and Dejiko both dissapear. Join the marines, see the multiverse! * Rina blinks. "Are- are they... um..." Aw fuck. I hope that's a good sign. ...Was that supposed to happen? Please tell me you meant to do that.. * Sayuri looks at Xivilai expectantly. Xivilai lets out a long sigh. "My attempt was successful." She turns to the other woman and says "I will not insult you by asking if yours was." * Marguerite flops backwards, still smoking. "Wonderful. You got a masseuse, Xiv?" * Rina sighs with relief. Whew. The woman in grey smiles serenely and produces a small gem, which she hands to Xivilai. Xivilai thanks her, and she dissapears. * Robert sighs. * Togo sighs, tucks away his glasses, and leans against a wall. Okay, that sucked most heartily. What the hell was that thing. And don't tell me a dragon king, 'cause that's fairly obvious. * Rina smiles and shakes her head at Robert. "Did not. We won." An Invincible Dragon. Shame there wasn't a Raging Tiger to go with it. I _knew_ I should have packed more explosives into that missile. It wasn't powerful enough. * Sayuri stands, and shakes her head. "Christ... I'll never get how you people can carry all that crap." So...was that girl also Dejiko? * Rina blinks at Sayuri, then laughs. "I don't get how they do it, either." It wouldn't have mattered, Robert. It was one of those cheesey boss fights you can't win. "That", says Xivilai, "Was, to be concice, death. When it found a few unattended souls lying around somewhere it went to claim them." ... ...eep. me busts out laughing. (Dammit.) * Marguerite busts out laughing. ... wow. I'm 2-0 now. BWAHAHAHAHA! A few...? * Rina giggles. * Sayuri shivers. After all these years, I've finally seen the Reaper. ( o/" Don't fear the Reaper... o/" ) I intend to live forever. Xivilai frowns and shrugs. "Yes, well, congratulations. Fortunately he wasn't so keenly focused on you." ...or die trying, anyway. Yeah, that's why I figured we survived. I dunno how you guys can react like that. That's scary! O_O Relax, Yoji. Just remember, death is temporary. Only failure is forever. * Sayuri says softly, "So, Xivilai... what happens now?" * Rina sighs and ponders looking for a chair. She decides it's not worth the effort, and sits heavily on the floor. * Marguerite finally stops laughing, and grinds out her cigarette on her leg. "Ooooh boy. The boys back at the Wench's Tits are NEVER gonna believe THIS story." I dunno about that. _I'd_ belive it. * Yoji looks at Xivilai. "So...was Togo right? Was that girl some other part of Dejiko?" After all, it doesn't make enough sense to be made up. Sure it does. You're right, I'm probably giving them too much credit. I've seen it done in RPGs a hundred times. Xivilai chuckles. "It will be interesting to learn how Dejiko managed to hold it off for so long." She clears her throat and says "at any rate, I will need some time to see which of these belongs to Dejiko, and to distribute it properly. That may take quite a while, but now that I have the souls contained, I have quite a while to work with." They're both Dejiko. ... knowing Dejiko, she held it off with sheer stubbornness. I think she's got some sort of split personality thing going. * Rina thinks. "The Dejiko-Knight was awfully stubborn." Xivilai begins to walk out the door, and then turns and says thoughtfully, "Oh, and it may interest you to know that your world has been conquered. I learned this as I was.. eh?" This last is directed to Robert. ...it WHAT?! Doesn't matter a damn to me.... but THAT does. Conquered by whom, and how many of them do I have to shoot ? The rat guy, he said that they were both Dejiko. At least, we think. One pre-trauma, one post-trauma. Innocent and... well, world- weary, I suppose. * Rina begins to look dizzy. "One topic at a time, please?" ... and crap. Crap crap crap. My best guess is that it's a sort of multiple personality thing. Xivilai frowns and shrugs. "I shall take that into account, then. It might make the repair a bit more difficult, but I'm sure I can do it anyway." Mmm. It explains her missing memories, that it does. Now, what was this about our world being conquered? * Sayuri mutters, "Yeah, all those memories you didn't manage to do anything about examining. Wannabe know-it-all." "As for your world, it was conquered by the mage I fought in that underground palace. He took control of half the world with extortion and political manipulations, and the other half with a combined force of extra-planar creatures and those strange metal contraptions your world had developed." By him, not I13? Well, that sucks. * Marguerite sighs. "Fucking Illuminati." She stands. "I think I need to use the little girl's room." Goddamn Illumaniti. Didn't trust the fucker one bit, especially with the Dowd mansion thing. * Rina blinks. She opens her mouth, then closes her mouth. (iti, ati, same thing!) "He is solidifying his hold as we speak, and building an army as well, probably to invade other worlds next. ...I assume you will wish o do someting about this." 'course. Yes. Naturally. OH hell yes. Yup. But I can't do a thing until I manage to dislodge my cigarette from my throat, and take a nap. I didn't get new eyes to see the world go down the toilet, after all. Well, yeah. I'm sure KITT will enjoy showing up those overgrown tin cans that call themselves military hardware. You may all rest here first, if you wish. But you may want to get back to your homeworld, intead. * Sayuri shivers again, and dry-washes her hands. I think we should probably rest here, first. I don't wanna go back until Dejiko's better. I'd rather go back now. A night or three of real rest, in real beds, before the real work starts. * Sayuri mms. "What's a day here to a day there, Dejiko?" (Xivilai, even. Damn, that's confusing. @_@) I need a bath and a table. I've got some stuff to look over still. If we're taking on an army, I damn well want Dejiko fighting with us. *grin* Xivilai shakes her head. "Dejiko will not be 'better' for some time. Weeks, perhaps, and every hour here is two in your world. Do you think she would wish you to stand around here while your world is put to heel by some lunatic wizard?" No. That's why I want to go now! ... Weeks? ... weeks. Okay, that's different. Weeks. Do you imagine it is easy to recover from having your soul torn from you? But...how are we supposed to take this guy down? With guns. Lots of guns. We hit him 'till he falls. The fun way. I guess... we'd have to start small, Yoji. But we've gotta do what we can. And we won't know what we can do 'till we go back. * Robert pulls his radio out of his coat. "KITT, get ready to leave for home. We've got some ass to kick." * Marguerite cracks her neck. Find out where he is. Take out his defenses. Weaken his infrastructure. Then take him out. I could really do with a day of rest. I'm as gung ho as the rest of you, but pushing this is going to hurt us more than him. Xivilai smiles. "I am willing to teleport you to your transportation if you wish." Jackie, you're about the only person who wants to go immediately. * Togo nods. "Give us time to plan." ... One day, Jackie. Jesus fuck, there aren't save points in real life. * Yoji looks at the ground. Then why don't I? You can pick me up later. And Margie, I know that. That's why you don't screw up the first time. Christ, we have no information. No support. No power, hell the guy almost destroyed us all ALREADY. 'cause by yourself, you get killed. Exactly. As a team, maybe we got a shot. It's not like I'm charging off to attack him head on. Enough, Jackie. I just want to look around. One day. Then we move, and figure out how the hell we're gonna pull this off. * Rina thinks. If you go now, and we wait one day, that's two days you're alone, with no backup. No dice. * Jacqueline turns to Xiv. "You can send me back, can't you?" ...this guys probably got people looking for all of us. Wouldn't be safe to go like that. Xivilai nods. "Yes, I can." No, I think... Jacqueline. Unless you've got something you're not sharing, you can't survive on your own. ... c'mon, Jacky? What always happens when a RPG hero runs off by themself? You told me this... they get captured or killed. C'mon, Jacqueline...wait for us, please? * Jacqueline sighs. "...Fine." * Jacqueline heads off down some random corridor. * Rina blinks at Jacqueline, then hops to her feet and walks after her. * Robert holds up the radio again. "Okay, KITT. Stand down, there's a change of plans. We're leaving tomorrow." Great. That's settled. Now where do you keep the baths? Xivilai shakes her head. "I will send Jereila along. She will show you to the dining room, or to guest quarters, should you wish to sleep immediately." I could definitely use a bath. * Togo sighs, and mutters under his breath. "Kids..." Bath, then eat. * Sayuri walks up to Xivilai, and says softly, "I need to ask you some things." Xivilai nods. "She can direct you to one of those, as well. Now, excuse me, please. She departs the room, heading down the hall towards Jacqueline, oddly enough. * Marguerite picks up her satchel and waits for this Jereila. * Yoji sighs and stares off into space. * Sayuri blinks, and follows Xivilai, muttering. (Rina, Jackie, Sayuri, into #hallway) * Robert departs for the baths as soon as possible. Soon a tall woman dressed in robes of white and green arrives, and offers to take you to whatever you'd like. I'd really hoped...that after we got Dejiko back we'd be able to have a break for once... No rest for the wicked, Yoji. We get a break after we save the world. [SESSION END, I THINK.]