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Canto II: The Unloving (Part 1) - No Plan Survives Contact With The Enemy
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    • Welcome back, Sinners, to the next stop on our Magic Hellbus ride - Canto II: The Unloving! A little longer, a little harder, and a little more story-dense than the last. It's unclear just how long it takes the bus to head to its next destination, but it's certainly not long enough for the heightened emotions of LCB's failure at District 4 to fade.

    Narration: The bus wasn't all that lively. I could hear Rodya's occasional quips, or Heathcliff starting pointless quarrels with someone - probably Don Quixote or Sinclair. And Ryoshu demanding a source of heat to light her cigarette, having run out of lighter fluid. Amidst the gripes and disorder, Gregor was pretty much the only Sinner I could rely on to willingly turn the mood around...



    Narration: But now, he was one of the quietest. He was just staring out through the window, seemingly lost in deep thought.

    Man. How fucked it must feel for Dante that All Of That Shit happened to the one guy out of the bus crew that they built a rapid rapport with. You just know things have been extra strained between them over the <Cut it now, Gregor!> incident right before Hermann and the Gang showed up too - clearly only Gregor saw those cutaway flashbacks down in the branch facility so it's not like Dante knew but it all must've been so much fresher in his mind because of it.

    Iced out of talking to Gregor, Dante instead turns their attention and ire to Vergilius. The road to the Golden Boughs has already been treacherous enough, putting them all on the brink of death (and past it, repeatedly, much to their chagrin) and yet their 'guide' offers them no sympathy. As far as Dante is concerned, the fault lies with Vergilius for so thoroughly harshing the vibes.

    Not that they can really say that to him, because he won't admit he can can't understand them, and Faust wouldn't translate that, and Vergilius would tell Dante to put the fries in the bag even if they did. But eventually Ishmael does get tired of the silent treatment and pipes up to ask if he won't at least tell us the next stop.



    This smug fuck things he got jokes.

    Rodion: "Pah, you're hurting me with your cold shoulder. Don't you know that kids falling behind need more love?"
    Vergilius: "And let me plead you not to embarrass me this time. I sure don't want to look like a teacher taking a bunch of gradeschoolers out for a picnic."

    He is quick with it, though, you gotta give him that.

    Vergilius: "I have high hopes for you in particular, Rodion. You might just make a good guide for this tour."

    Uh-oh.

    Rodion: "Huh? I know I'm a big deal, but I don't think I can be a guide for a place I don't know..."
    Vergilius: "No worries. We're heading to a location you should be more than familiar with. A Nest of hedonism where you can drown in money or be drained of everything you have."
    Vergilius: "J Corp's."



    Now it's her turn to freeze up and go quiet, much to Dante's chagrin. Perhaps the previous discussion in the Backstreets of District 4, Vergilius hustling Gregor out to meet the old soldiers, is already replaying in her mind. But what ghosts and regrets could a social butterfly like Rodion have left behind?

    Heathcliff, who you'll remember is seated multiple rows behind Rodion and so probably can't see her reaction so we'll forgive him an oblivious momento, decides that winning it big at the craps table on top of grabbing the Golden Bough sounds peak before announcing his intent to nap the rest of the way. But there shall be no napping, no snoozing, no honk shoo nor mimimimi. The bus won't be able to take them straight to the branch building this time, whatever that means, and so Vergilius tells Charon to park.

    Charon asks what parking is.


    No, really.

    Vergilius: "It means stop."
    Charon: "Stops are red. Red tastes bad to Charon."



    Canto I was about Project Moon punching you in the face with how dark it's willing to go. Canto II is about sinking the next one into your gut while your hands are still up so you laugh until you piss yourself.

    Vergilius, who of course was the only one who did not ragdoll like he tried to climb a 12-degree incline in a Rockstar game, tells everyone to get the fuck off the bus-

    Hong Lu: "Hmm... The destination still seemed rather far... Ah! Will you call a taxi for us?"
    Vergilius: "... as Ms Faust will explain in detail, this mission is going to be quite different from our last, Dante."

    -after fully sandbagging another oblivious comment from Hong Lu, because the next part's going to take some legwork. Why?

    We're robbing a casino, baby!

    The Sinners are initially more preoccupied about the fact the target destination is still inhabited at all, clearly having hoped it'd be dungeon crawls in the ass-end of nowhere every time. If District 4's was the exception, then this whole trip just got a lot more complicated.

    Vergilius: "See, it's times like this that remind me our team doesn't necessarily lack critical thinkers... It really does make me wonder how you managed to blunder your previous mission even more."
    Ishmael: "..."

    Oh you know her ass was ready to go with a quick 'kill yourself' before she remembered it's The Red Gaze she's talking to.

    Vergilius does elaborate that the Golden Boughs are potent energy sources, such that the rewards for tapping into their potential would be astronomical, and it only stands to reason that such a thing would attract wealth and people. The further afield they go, the more competing interests and aspects of the City's seedy, selfish underbelly they'll have to contend with. Robbing a casino's only going to be the beginning.


    Bro got the whole squad laughing.

    The Sinners catching a fresh stray, at least, leads to a cute scene of Dante commiserating about Vergilius' horrid vibes with Gregor and Rodion. For one, it serves to answer my unspoken question as to the state of LCB before the incident in Selva Oscura - the Sinners haven't known him much longer than Dante has.

    Rodion: "What'd he say again? Something like, 'Welcome to Limbus Company. I'm your guide, Vergilius' and all that..."


    Yoon A-young's gruff Vergilius voice is pretty funny, but it's missing the trademark 'Danteeeeh...'

    Gregor: "You got his authoritative tone down to a tee, I'll give you that. I had to hold myself back from asking if I could resign right after joining."
    Dante: <I get the feeling the rest of you thought the same.>


    Don Quixote getting hired by Limbus Company be like "bait used to be believab- HOLY SHIT IS THAT THE RED GAZE!?"

    Gregor remarks that Vergilius has a fan after all, he and Rodion sharing a chuckle. It's a sweet moment - as @Squirtodyle pointed out Rodion was fairly active back in Canto I, calling Gregor 'babe' and trying to cheer him up with bantz even if she was clearly stuck at 0 SP the way her coins kept coming up tails. His hardships are over for now, hers seem to just be beginning if Vergilius' pointed comments are any indication, and this moment almost serves as a passing of the narrative torch as much as an affirming of their bond over Being Normal.

    Vergilius: "That's more talking than necessary. I really do not wish for there to be impetus behind a third rule for this bus ride."
    Rodion: "C'mon, give the employees some room to badmouth their boss. You're being totally petty."
    Vergilius: "Next time, do it out of earshot."



    God, no I still love Vergilius. He plays the field of being a hater as a switch-hitter. He doesn't even care that they're doing it he just wants them to do it behind his back, so this Mads Mikkelsen motherfucker deadpan drawls "but i'm just a little guy, danteeeh. a little small guy. it is also my birthday, dantehh."

    Vergilius: "Right, time to get up and at it. I sure hope you come back with a Golden Bough in your hands this time."
    Heathcliff: "And if we bugger it twice?"
    Vergilius: "Who knows? Charon might suddenly forget what button to press to open the door for you."

    Cursed to vividly imagine Vergilius sitting up the front in his seat, reading a magazine (potentially with Old Man Reading Glasses on) and studiously ignoring literally a dozen people frantically banging on the door to the bus. Heathcliff is incensed by the sardonic threat because of course he is, but Ryoshu instead reiterates that "UITGAAN".



    Narration: Heathcliff glared at Ryoshu, insults welling up in his throat, only to then expel a loud sigh. He resigned uncharacteristically, as if he came to the realisation that killing her wouldn't solve anything.

    I don't know what I love more, Ryoshu's subtle shit-eating grin when providing the translation or Heathcliff being so completely fed up with her already that he truly cannot even stay angry about it. The gang debarks and makes its way into the cramped and shadowy backstreets (that may or may not be the Backstreets) of District 10, where Faust provides more details.



    Faust: "According to the information we've acquired, the casino has three entrances. One for ordinary visitors, one reserved for VIPs, and lastly a backdoor used by employees. We'll split into three groups of four Sinners to cover each entrance... Four of us will disguise as croupiers, four will pose as guests, and four will play the role of VIPs."

    Outis and Yi Sang both approve of the plan to split their unwieldy dirty dozen up into smaller groups - that is to say, Yi Sang's wording of "it is wiser to divide rather than unite" seems kinda sus but nobody wants to get into that right now so instead Faust passes out envelopes containing everyone's assignment briefings. On top of that, the Sinners botched it so disastrously in Canto I that the higher echelons of Limbus Company have started getting cold feet, and to ensure the success of this sophmore outing they're sending LCCB personnel to work with the Sinners directly. Ishmael correctly points out that the party is already big enough at 12 combatants plus Dante.



    Hong Lu instead starts looking around like he's waiting for an LCCB operative to pop out of a bin. Babygirl.

    There's a completely throwaway battle with some more Rats here (so it is the capital-B Backstreets, in fact it's safe to assume this whole Canto takes place outside of the Nest itself for reasons we'll get into much later) as the gang make their way towards their rendezvous point, a particular pawnbroker's shop.



    Pawnbroker: "Y'all prefer your luck of the draw from trumps or mahjong?"

    The moment they step inside they are accosted by the proprieter asking them if they want to play mahjong, which is of course authorises the use of deadly force, quick Heathcliff kill him now-!

    I kid, it's something much worse. You see, Vergilius handed out a pamphlet about J Corp (offscreen, in the gravitational abyss between Ishmael asking where they were going but before everyone got off the bus, due to this joke not quite panning out with the timeline) and being a Homework Girlie only Ishmael read it. They're big into fortunes here at J Corp, you see. How big? If you come here to sell your grandfather's prized pocketwatch to cover rent for the month and the cards decide you have bad vibes you'll get scammed on top of your scam and get paid a pitiful fraction of its worth.

    Hong Lu promptly makes it all about him by reminiscing that his family employed dedicated fortunetellers, who drew a "greater boon" for him shortly before he left home.

    Hong Lu:L "That must've been a sign that I would join all of you wonderful people on our journey."



    And on that day the vibes aligned, for there was someone they could both bully.

    Hong Lu: "You might be right. I didn't like to get along with my younger sibling in childhood. Always trying to cheat and grouch if things didn't go as desired."


    Hysterical, doubly so when we recall just how chummy Heathcliff was with a certain Hindley Earnshaw in his source material.

    Meanwhile the pawnbroker, clearly sensing he's losing the room, again prompts the Sinners to either draw and prove their luck or else prove they have any damn thing worth selling on them. He scans the Sinners in turn, diagnosing them with Broke one by one until his eyes at last alight on Dante. The pawnbroker observes that their clockhead might fetch a good sum, and Rodion asks how much.


    It's important to me you know that in this moment Dante reveals a new sound they can make - a fucking cash register noise.

    Faust makes an effort to redirect the conversation back toward the plans already made with Limbus company, but she's 1-4 speed and can't redirect for shit so it's time for the unherded cats to scatter and make mischief.

    The penis music cometh.



    Pawnbroker: "Oho... A dragon embroidered on silk. That's some meticulous needlework, which might net... let's see, seven million... Ahn?"
    Heathcliff: "A crummy piece of cloth is worth that much? Have your eyes rotted out, old geezer?!"
    Pawnbroker: "Wha? You don't recognise the value of this quality - Beh, now I see. You're wearing a shabby ring like it's true treasure... Tsk-tsk."
    Heathcliff: "... What did you just say."
    Rodion: "Geez, cut it out! Dante~ Please shut them up~"

    This seems on the surface to be no more than another epic 'Heathcliff becomes murderous over nothing' prank, but like Ishmael's use of 'refinement' back in Canto I he's actually getting triggered by something quite specific here. Remember the ring he wears (on his right index finger, hidden by perspective in his talksprite but sometimes visible in combat or on other IDs), it's a surprise tool that'll help us later.



    The penis music cuts out, replaced by something more tense and mysterious.



    Faust: "Certainly not. There was little I could do to alter the driver of the bus."


    Faust seems to know these two personally - take note not just of how the first announced herself to Faust by name, but how Faust is using her smiling sprite as she greets them.


    Grumpy Dante.

    Dante's words of course fall on deaf ears where non-Sinners are concerned.

    ??? (Man on the Right): "Oh, so it was you? You guys are the team that botched the Golden Bough retrieval last time? Folks had high expectations for your team, what with some of the smartest people in the City being on it."
    ??? (Woman on the Left): "No wonder... Ms Faust wasn't looking very pleased."


    Faust said, lying like a rug.

    Heathcliff: "Eym what're you standing around for? Go on now. This fellow here is also the brainy sort. Don't brush him off."
    Yi Sang: "I shall not, as that would be a hollow vaunt."
    Heathcliff: "But you were a lot more talkative down in that basement? Who are you and what did you do with Yi Sang?"
    Yi Sang: "I am and have always been whom I match in the mirror."



    I fucking lost it at this long-forgotten exchange while taking the screenshots. Heathcliff was honestly trying to be nice and gas Yi Sang up, only to get sandbagged hardcore by the man himself. Who knew Heathcliff wasn't as much of an unremitting asshole in Cantos I-III as I remembered?

    Anyway Faust follows up with "our first mission was designed with failure in mind" because they "needed an opportunity to see what potential our Sinners held", a statement so staggering that Gregor and Outis start hammering X to Doubt instantly. It seems even the two newcomers aren't buying it, as the one on the l- you know what fuck it, from left to right that's Saude and Effie, they're about to introduce themselves anyway.

    Anyway Saude asks where Vergilius is because she signed up for this mainly to meet him and Effie (correctly) assumes he was too fucking embarrassed to be seen with these losers.


    Mood, Ishmael.

    Saude and Effie at last introduce themselves properly, announcing that they're the LCCB contacts the group were waiting for. Heathcliff, still smarting over Effie's comment about Vergilius being embarrassed to be seen with them, asks if the two are waiting for a round of applause. Hong Lu nearly provides one, presumably stopped by Dante before Heathcliff stopped it for him by hitting a home run with his occipital lobe.



    Saude: "Check the documents in this envelope, and do exactly, preciiiiiiisely as the papers say."

    Effie may be active-aggressive but Saude is being passive-aggressive to the point of using 'preschool educational program host voice' and it's so obvious even Dante can tell. Gregor observes that this is less a 'joint operation' and more of a 'Saude and Effie tell us what to do' operation, to which Ishmael insists they put their foot down and-


    Heathcliff reading over Ishmael's shoulder with a distressed grimace is giving me life, did these two traumabond last Canto.

    Ishmael: "Look at this. It has routes drawn out and everything. It's been ages since I saw a plan this clear and meticulous."
    Outis: "Mhm, surely. This is certainly indicative of their knowledge in writing up proper plans of operation."
    Outis: "Ah, this isn't to say that it holds a candle to the level of forethought you display, Manager."
    Dante: <Outis I'll be honest I just hit Win Rate.>
    Outis: "And in doing so you ensure we perform what is most mathematically optimal at all times, excellent strategy Executive Manager."

    Dante opens their own copy of the instructions and takes a gander at the briefing. To put it briefly, the goal is to make it to the top floor of the casino. There they'll find a private elevator straight down into the buried L Corp branch facility where the Golden Bough lies. To reach this goal on any other day would be a tall order, but today a high-stakes game of poker will be taking place on that very top floor, held between the four major Syndicates (here meaning any kind of defined organised crime outfit operating in the Backstreets) who hold stake in the casino for the right to take the Golden Bough. Of those four the Sinners will infiltrate in the guise of the Tingtang Gang.

    Dante: <Tingtang Gang?>
    Faust: "A name doesn't necessarily reflect the nature of an organisation. That's a shallow prejudice."
    Yi Sang: "It is unideal for one to choose to see things through the tinted lens that is bias."
    Dante: <... Right.>

    This of course elides the question of how they're supposed to guarantee a win once they make it to the table, but Saude and Effie brush past that with more talk about just how good their croupier disguises are, I suppose implying that one of them intends to replace the real dealer at the high-stakes game and ensure the Sinners win. Effie even mutters an acerbic comment about the Sinners only needing a pair of functioning eyes to take the pot. The Tingtang boss, too, will be disposed of by Effie and Saude via sedatives in his food.



    Why does Yi Sang seem so troubled at the idea of drugging someone's food? Don't worry about it!

    Effie and Saude take control of the pawnbroker's with nary a whisper of resistance, having already made arrangements with him to provide the necessary pieces for the Sinners' disguises. The pawnbroker switches from snide to simping in a heartbeat, eagerly showing everyone around.

    Hong Lu: "Oh my! This is a Guppcha Designer Brooch, isn't it?"
    Pawnbroker: "Hyah~ What discerning eyes you have there, sir. This beaut is the mainstay of our shop's catalogue. Only 10 of those were ever made, so its worth is positively un-"
    Hong Lu: "My dog used to have one of these on its collar whenever we took it out for walkies. It's so nice to see something that brings back pleasant memories!"
    Pawnbroker: "..."

    The Sinners, having the collective target prioritisation ability of a hyperactive cat, naturally get sidetracked. Rodion tries to select some fine cowhide gloves for her 'disguise' before getting passive-aggressively slapped down by Saude, Don Quixote seems genuinely pressed to be stuck with the role of 'Janitor' for the infiltration, and Gregor asks how the LCCB duo plan to afford all these bits and bobs from a Backstreets bilker. Effie retorts to the latter that they are no mere low-rank hirelings, and everything comes out of the company Black Card.


    Pictured: Rodion genuinely about to start going lumberjack mode on some skulls because the A5 Wagyu she's been long-denied was within reach all along.

    Unfortunately, Mr. 'Sets Prices Based On Luck' is about to run out of his very shortly.
     
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    • Pawnbroker: "P-Please... give me one more chance. I swear I'll have the money ready."
    Rustic-sounding Tingtanger: "One more? Can't ya do basic math? Ya said the same thing last time! Boss won't like me wasting precious time reteaching you kindergarten, ya hear?"
    Pawnbroker: "I-I'm just a frail old man standing on doddery feet, there's really nothing you'll get out of shaking me down...!"

    The Pawnbroker, going rat mode, starts very loudly protesting that he's a lil guy, just a lil small guy, and also it's his birthday and he wears glasses, you wouldn't hit a guy with glasses on his birthday, fishing for the Sinners to come step in. The Tingtang man mean-mugs the party once their attention is drawn, despite the 12-to-1 odds.

    Rusting-sounding Tingtanger: "What're ya lookin' at? Ya think I'm playing?!"
    Ishmael: "Gee... that was so stereotypical, I didn't even get an urge to reply. Can't people be more creative about throwing taunts?"

    Ishmael seems content to be a hater and heckle the Tingtang man's choice of threats, while Sinclair genuinely asks whether this is something they should step in over. Saude brushes it off as part of the Backstreets' own brand of law and order, and that outsiders like them will only cause an even bigger scene by interfering. Emboldened by the Sinners staying back, the Tingtang man dials up the pressure on the Pawnbroker to pay his dues in "that".

    Dante: <... is it really okay to leave them be?>
    Outis: "Shall I settle the dispute for them so it does not bother you, Manager?"

    Get you a crony who will offer to Step In whatever the situation or reason just because it's maybe annoying you.

    But seriously, the 'that' being alluded to is yet another amusing diversion into how fractally fucked the cyberpunk of this cyberpunk dystopia is. For you see, a currency more valuable than Ahn exists in District 10 - luck. Within this part of the City was born the technology to extract 'wishpower' from the human body, literally siphoning the concept of good luck from a person, so that it can be stored and expended elsewhere for the benefit of another. And by the standards of the City this was not noteworthy enough to put J Corp on the map. Oh no. That's too pedestrian. They became a Wing because they developed the technology to stop wishpower being extracted, because the ability to metaphysically 'lock' luck within a person was easily applicable to a thousand other intangible goods in need of 'locking', and thus came their Singularity. Their equal and opposite is F Corp, whose Singularity is to 'unlock' anything.

    Heathcliff also interjects during Faust's yapping about J Corp tech to wail that he wasn't told LCB employment came with mandatory education. Yes Heathcliff, lament and despair, cast yourself from the cliffside of suffering if it means never having to read.

    Effie: "Gee-wee, Faust~ Must be tiring having to teach these dunces in ways they can get it."
    Faust: "It's fine, this was within my anticipated scenario."
    Heathcliff: "I don't like the way you say that..."

    The protection incident safely ignored, Saude orders the gang to gather up their takings and move on, waving her big binder full of their Heist Itinerary for good measure.




    Don Quixote: "Thou darest try to pilfer the valuables of others? This behaviour can only be seen as whole hearted villainy!"

    CLONK

    And with one errant spark of neurons Don has warped across the pawnshop at lightseed, her lance over the back of the Tingtang gangster's skull.


    DiscoElysiumItIsAnExpressionOfPain.jpg

    Faust: "Ah, for your information, keeping the Sinners in check is not part of my job description. That would be the job of this person here."

    Faust, being the creator of Mephistopheles and having chosen to make it run off the enkephalin found in the human body, naturally throws Dante under the bus as her first instinct. The pawnbroker thanks Don for the assist, albeit he asks if she couldn't have whacked the guy a little harder in the process.

    Don Quixote: "Vergilius advised me that while I am free to deliver justice unto villains, I must do so without unduly involving irrelevants in our mission! Thus, I showed moderation!"
    Dante: <Uh-huh. So you remembered his words and still leapt forward?>


    Me when people keep pointedly dancing around spoilers in the thread so I am compelled to race forward upon my faithful steed Rocinante and kill them with an 8ft lance.

    But it seems the Pawnbroker didn't want the man dead after all, nervously asking if he's still alive. Gregor points out that he was singing a different tune a second ago, and perhaps having freshly come down from the heat of the moment the Pawnbroker explains that he simply doesn't want the extra hassle of the Yurodiviye showing up.



    A name that means something to Rodion, not that she divulges it yet. Naturally, Don asks if they're villains as well. The Pawnbroker readily agrees that they're villains, perhaps even worse - communists.


    Meursault jumpscare.

    The Yurodiviye are wearing the old 'steal from the rich to give to the poor' hat, except it appears they've set their sights no higher than Backstreets peddlers of crap and loan sharks, even sending local muscle to do the dirty work in their place in recent times. The Pawnbroker mutters that at least the Yurodiviye were here looking for something at first, but now all they do is take-

    Rodion: "... Ah! I-I just realised, shouldn't we take our leave now? More toughies from the Tingtang Gang might be coming this way."

    Rodion blurts out a plea for everybody to get out before the unconscious man's friends show up, conspicuously cutting off the Pawnbroker before he can say more about the Yurodiviye. No prizes for guessing that she knows more about them than she lets on, and like Gregor she'd rather not talk about it while there still appears to be wiggle-room.

    Effie: "Sigh, what a hassle... You're making the problem bigger than it had to be."
    Gregor: "Hey, Muffin and Sablé, was it? Don't be so tart now. There are plenty of pawnshops around here, right? We can always find a different-"
    Saude: "It's Effie and Saude. Please don't mistake our names for confections."

    I can't convey it through text but let me assure you that the way Saude delivers "it's effie and saude" is exactly like she's correcting a toddler for butchering their names and combining this delivery with her forever-smiling sprite makes for such a uniquely rancid energy. She goes on to explain that being surrounded by extra pawnshops won't do a bit of good for them if they all start shuttering their storefronts when they see the shitstorm brewing.

    And, as if on cue, another Tingtang gangster strolls in looking for the missing first man.


    Can you fucking imagine how badly the Sinners would do at acting casual? I bet fully half of them started whistling simultaneously. Meursault is reading the back of a shampoo bottle. Don is gnawing on the tip of her lance. Yi Sang is looking at his reflection in the display case and dissociating.

    Unfortunately, the man who was on the reciving end of Donbonk chooses this exact moment to come to his senses, and the new arrival rushes to his side demanding to know who attacked him (with the rather bizarre threat of "that bean is gonna regret the day they grew stems"). The man is still shaking off the effects of getting his bell rung, but sadly still has the wherewithal to point directly at Dante in an accusatory fashion and slur out "that red timepuss".

    Pawnbroker: "Just so you don't get the wrong idea, I have nothing to do with these people or what happened here. I was just about to bring a towel to cool this poor fellow's head."
    Heathcliff: "That smarmy gaffer..."
    Ishmael: "I had no expectations for him in the first place, but that man really has a shaky reed for his backbone."

    God, I'm losing it, Heathcliff and Ishmael really went through one traumatic incident together and decided it was more fun to tag-team losers out in the wild instead of sniping at each other. That or they've simply begun sharing a braincell and they're each gonna be horrified once they finally become conscious of it.



    Effie: "What's next? You're going to wipe out the whole Syndicate?"


    Effie's AbsoluteDisgust.jpg face in the background there is killing me.

    Don Quixote: "The forces of evil must be uprooted with haste in order to raise the banner of justice high!"
    Effie: "Uh, so, is there seriously no one on your team who's in their right mind?"
    Dante: <no.>

    Hilariously Ishmael actually gets distracted trying to think of an argument proving that actually she is the one and only normal one on this team while the Tingtang Gang are actively mounting up a posse to get their asses, at least until Dante yells at everyone to get the fuck outta there. They rush out into the street, where sure enough all the local shops are battening down the hatches and making themselves scarce.



    Chest-puffing Tingtanger: "Ya think you can get away with messing with our family, tiny fave?"
    Ishmael: "What's with brutish Syndicates and their pretend families? Is that the only thing they can think of to bond with each other?"

    Ishmael knows talking is a free action and she intends to use every opportunity to be a hater. Meanwhile Effie laments that the plan is flying off the rails, clutching his head all the while. Dante thinks a catty comment about Effie needing to keep a stash of painkillers on him if this is bar for pain and discomfort (haha fake laugh hiding real pain their life is torment-)

    At this point Outis decides to 'help' again.

    Outis: "You two, you thought we were worthless scum until now, didn't you? I know you've been seeing our group as sewage full of waste!"



    Outis: "Have you not wondered why we have been charged with the momentous mission of claiming the Golden Boughs despite that?"
    Effie, genuinely taken aback by Outis' intensity: "Wh- why is... that?"
    Outis: "Although I won't disagree that the others are rubbish drenched in foul water-"
    Gregor: "No, seriously, you're the only one who says that..."
    Sinclair: "O-oh, that's what Ms. Outis had been thinking all this time..."
    Outis: "I have remained undefeated, and our manager is capable of resuscitating us, making us practically incapable of death. In fact, just the two of us should be sufficient. Though that weasel Vergilius seems to disagree..."
    Outis: "The point is, these detrites won't be scrapped even after countless battles. They will come back as the exact same piles of trash they were before death."
    Gregor: "..."
    Ishmael: "That was a very inspiring way of reaffirming that we're living, breathing garbage to you."



    Thus begins battle, and our first introduction to some new enemies!



    Our arena, a crappy backlot full of junked carbodies and other rubbish, is at least more visually interesting by virtue of the pagoda casino looming tantalisingly in the far distance, wreathed in dancing coloured floodlights. Here we have two variants of Tingtang Gang members, knife-wielding ones which inflict Bleed Count and pipe-wielding ones which inflict Bind - amusingly their skills appear totally mislabelled, as the knife-wielding type has skills named Pipe Down and Heavy Swing with a pipe on the icon, while the pipe-wielding type has a skill named Swipe belonging to the as-yet-unseen machete-wielding type with a machete clearly visible on the skill icon. One thing that is correct is that they're all mono-Lust except for a shared Gluttony skill named Wee Wish, shown on the 1-speed pipe gangster down the bottom there. Useless now but potentially deadly in later waves, as at [Combat Start] Wee Wish will guarantee every coin in the user's second action slot will come up Heads regardless of SP or probability.

    Again, this is technology too limited and pedestrian to be worthy of being known as J Corp's Singularity. It's even casually generated and maintained by the Tingtang gangsters' tattoos, as shown if you zoom in real close on the icon of Wee Wish - augment tattoos themselves being a very commonplace tech in the City, in fact according to an early keypage in Ruina the tech was once the Singularity of a fallen Wing, now in the public domain and proliferated across the districts in a hundred different variants.

    Also if you get a cheap one maybe it melts your flesh off but that's the City for ya.


    Just look at her commit atrocities.



    I should mention too that the game suddenly overhauled its entire battle animation system right after I finished Canto I while I wasn't looking. Presumably in honour of the most recent ID release as of this writing, who has the privilege of sporting a Clash-capable Counter straight outta Ruina, the rhythm of combat has completely changed with the new variance in clash animations and positioning. Rather than purely recycling attack animations until the Clash is over, now units will clash or dodge or even parry blows by mixing previously unused sprites into their repertoire, with dynamic knockback values depending on who is winning and by how much - i.e. a Sinner winning a clash may spot-dodge to hold their position, while a Sinner losing a clash may throw themself backwards out of the way of an oncoming blow, ceding ground and momentum to their foe in the process. As seen here Gregor wins a clash with his basic attack skill (it should not be rolling this high, this is Offence Level difference in action) but animates it like he just did a Sekiro parry with his bug-arm and the poor Tingtang gangster's posture bar has maxed out. There's a super satisfying SPANG sound effect for it and everything. In fact here you can see I was also lucky enough with the timing to catch another animation flair in action - if all coins on a skill are destroyed in a clash, the skill icon itself will turn into 3D elements and shatter spectacularly.


    I really like this background CG, it's got a great sense of depth and verticality, really makes the Backstreets seem dense and lived-in while still tantalising us with the ever-so-slightly closer shining lights of the casino.

    Effie: "The Tingtang Gang had tight control over this area. This is not going to be the end of-"

    Sure enough, a gaggle of Tingtang gangsters spawn in out of the aether to harass the gang further, demanding to know who sent the Sinners to mess with them.



    Effie quickly smothers Don (with a hilarious muffled performance from Kim Yea-lim) as the Sinners rush to join battle again.

    There's nothing new in this encounter save introducing the third type of Tingtang gangster, the big lad in the yellow shirt with a machete (he inflicts Rupture) so we'll skip over it and proceed.

    Heathcliff: "Dammit, they just won't stop coming! We'll all wear our lives out before we can even take a step inside the casino."
    Hong Lu: "Don't fret, Heathcliff. As long as the manager is with us, we won't die from fatigue or other things-"


    Note that Heathcliff is literally bleeped out here. Being British, I assume he dropped such virulently transphobic slurs at Hong Lu that to let them go unbleeped would have bumped the game's rating up to an AO.


    Meursault Jumpscare. He is neither transphobic nor an ally, but Ascended Grill.

    Heathcliff: "You. You're the only one speaking my tongue here."


    This specific talksprite of Heathcliff grinning is so rare I feel like I'm looking at a faceapp edit and not a real art asset.

    Don excitedly agrees that they must go take the fight to the Tingtang's leader, all the while Effie laments that he's gotten stuck with this pack of psychopaths.

    Effie: "This is the crowd you're supposed to accompany, Faust?"
    Faust: "Life is full of mysteries."
    Yi Sang: "That, perhaps, is what makes it an ideal reflection, no?"
    Effie: "Hi what the fuck does that mean?"
    Dante: <yeah idk man i just work here>

    Heathcliff rushes over to one of the fallen Tingtang gangsters to interrogate him about the whereabouts of his boss, receiving what initially appears to be word salad until Effie realises 'car pagoda' probably means the Tingtang-owned scrapyard nearby.

    Effie: "Really though, are you actually planning to take down the gang's boss? That won't be reflected in your employee performance review or anything, you know?"
    Ishmael: "He's not sharp enough to calculate such things into his actions."
    Outis: "He's waste, bearing little relation to schemes or plots. On the other hand, he flirts closely with nonsense."

    God it's relentless, free my man, he's only guilty of a little boncc.



    Saude: "Nothing to worry about, Effie. We always keep a Plan B, don't we?"
    Narration: Saude spoke with a serene face.


    We're riding the Limbus while she's stuck with the Struggle Bus.

    Saude, in a heroic effort of improvisation, decides that if Plan A is out the window they'll just dress all 12 Sinners up as Tingtang gangsters so they can move as one big group without arousing suspicion. Furthermore, they can siphon some wishpower from the goons while they're at it. The crew get a move on before more Tingtang goons can show up, and hustle into the scrapyard Effie indicated for them.



    Sinclair: "... What is all this?"
    Yi Sang: "Cars are heaped upon each other as if to form a tower."
    Meursault: "Sombre."


    Well whadda ya know, the scrapyard's on the way to the casino anyway! Makes a decent amount of sense, the Tingtang own a stake in it, why wouldn't they headquarter nearby?

    Sinclair: "Why are so many piled up like this...?"
    Don Quixote: "Oho, some have scripts upon their windshields! It must have been their families' writing!"




    Rodion: "Even if they did return from the casino, they wouldn't be in the right state to happily reunite with their loving families~"



    Outis becomes deeply pensive at the thought of long-lost loved ones being unable to reunite with their families. Gee, I wonder why?

    Effie and Saude decide to step in and "play the auxiliary role of your tour guide" - this is a monument to everything the Tingtang Gang's power is built upon. Literal used cars that they bought and sold, but it's not hard to grasp the inference that 'used people' traded hands here as well - those entrapped by gambling debts, in too deep to ever claw their way out of the whole again, reduced to selling even the possibility that they could one day find their fortunes reversed, and then spirited away to... well, who knows? If anyone does it's Rodion, so Gregor asks her.



    Wow Rodion that's really not weird or suspicious, I won't interrogate this any further.

    At this point some more Tingtang goons show up, heckling the bus crew for goofing around on their turf and asking if they're here to sell a car. Don, being Don, instantly replies that they ride a bus.


    Technically Don said "we mount an omnibus" and I truly don't know how that set him up for "we don't sell organs" but anyway canonical proof that Don's eyes just Do That.

    Bean-hating Tingtanger: "Ya pretty bold in facing a gang. Who do ya work for?"
    Don Quixote: "We serve under Limb-!"

    And then Don cuts herself off so violently it sounds like she swallowed her tongue.
     
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    I simply must emphasise that the cutscene just Stops here and battle begins so I choose to believe that Don's mental CPU overheated so badly trying to reconcile her clashing urges that she leaped straight to murder to escape the conversation.



    Not a goddamn thought behind those eyes. A frictionless vacuum in which perfectly spherical neurons float freely, occasionally striking together by pure chance and raising a single spark of consciousness as flint and steel can make fire.



    Next node brings out the Tingtang Boss himself, the biggest fuckboy of the lot going by that undercut and teardrop tattoo and those laser lines and that protruding tongue. He's also got wishpower tattoos on basically every scrap of skin from the jaw down, so he'll have luck to spare and then some. The Tingtang boss demands to know who sent the crew, generously giving them the chance to grovel for forgiveness and leave with all their limbs.



    😒🏳️‍🌈❓



    But the Tingtang don't think they've been accosted by a roving strike force of the Homo-Sexual Underground, oh no.

    Bean-hating Tingtanger: "Boss... I think they might be the... odd pods people have been talking about... y'know, rumoured to fandangle with people's odours."
    Tingtang Boss: "Greh... disgusting bunch... lemme tell ya, that's no way to live..."



    Dante: <I may be gay but I'll be damned if I'm slandered as a musky pits enjoyer. Ishmael, Tremor Burst his balls!>

    Have I mentioned this game is funny as shit? Well it is.

    Anyway, time to beat the allegations.



    I just sort of glossed over it before but not every fight in Limbus is one-and-done, really multiwaves are much more common. It's honestly a relief to get one like this, where you know you're facing off against a Lord Bosscrime but he's not coming 'til wave 3, since it gives you much-needed time to build SP and sin resources. Or at least, it would if we were on-level and these clowns posed a threat to us.



    We burn through the first two waves without anything of note, save that slower IDs like Rodion here tend to lag behind badly on SP since they're too slow to clash anything before the faster ones Stagger or kill everything. The normal consolation prize of teamwide SP upon the death of a higher-levelled foe is also off the table because... well duh. Still, I swapped Yi Sang for Rodion because this is her time in the spotlight no reason in particular, and was acutely reminded of the fact she's just kind of not very good.

    I mean it's hard to say any of the base IDs are good-good, the general trend is that their skill 1s are piss-weak useless and their skill 3s clash like old people fuck in exchange for doing decent damage unopposed, but there's a curve and Rodion slips down it. Her s3 having a measly base power of 2 is pretty hard to forgive (even if I'm not supposed to have it yet), as is the fact it has an insulting +1 base power when used below 0 SP conditional like that's really gonna make a difference compared to Simply Hitting Heads*. More damning is the fact that she's legitimately much better benched than fielded, as on the field her passive is Split Evil, giving her a 50% chance to inflict 1 Bleed Potency on hit once you have 5 Wrath stocked. This adds up to like, 1 damage here and there.

    Her support passive makes the ally with the highest HP deal 20% more damage on every heads hit. Like why the fuck would you not bench her if you have a choice?

    *I should sidebar here to be clear and say that multi-coin skills inflict compounding damage. That is to say that if Rodion were to land her s3 and flip exclusively heads she would hit four times with a power of 4, then 6, then 8, then 10 (before damage affinity multiplication). Makes the thought of her dealing 3+3+3+3 damage at -5 SP seem kinda insulting huh? That would barely even outdamage her goddamn skill 1.

    Anyhoo we move on to wave 3, and the Tingtang Boss.



    Hilariously, it seems he loves his boys and his boys love him. If the Tingtang Boss dies, everybody that's left will instantly Panic. Every time one of his mates dies, he loses a large chunk of SP. Oh, and you'll really want this guy hitting tails, because he has some deadly-ass attacks for this stage of the game. Shank is a 2+(2x4) skill which recycles both coins if the target has under 50% health, which due to the compounding damage mechanic I mentioned above makes it a genuine death sentence to anyone who triggers that conditional. Even worse is Mutilate, a 1+(3x3) Gluttony skill that you can see him prepping to use in the screenshot above. It inflicts supplemental fixed damage on heads hit, and to add insult to injury if he kills his target with it he gets to recycle the whole-ass skill on a second random target.

    Oh yeah and he has a better version of his cronies' wish skill, Glinting Wish, with the [Combat Start] effect of making all his coins flip Heads that turn. The ability to randomly Lock In and straight-up ignore the SP and RNG mechanics of the game is one that one would have to respect if tackling this on-level. Fortunately I am not, so I get to feed him his liver.

    Speaking of abilities that might have him him just Lock In and kill you were you throwing a bunch of Uptie 2 level 11 thugs at him, I'll Show You..! is a skill I think he only starts using once his goons start dying. On its own, a piddly 3+3 envy attack. But it buffs him with 1 Attack Power Up on [Combat Start], which as I stated previously will raise the Base Power of all his attacks by 1 for that turn. Oh, and since he has three action slots he can use it multiple times in a turn and the buff stacks. Oh and he has a +3 Offence Level modifier so he'll be clashing another 1 point higher than usual against most things you'd be able to throw at him at this point. He's like the posterchild of the fact that sometimes what you gotta do is stand your ground and whip out an EGO so that a motherfucker learns a Smith & Lesson.

    The scary part is it's not this guy who walled everybody on launch day, it was someone much... much sillier.



    While we're here let's talk a little about Don. She's a funny base ID because she revolves entirely around winning clashes, because her s1 gains 2 Haste next turn on [Clash Win] and her s2 gains 2 Attack Power Up next turn on [Clash Win] (which admittedly helps a lot with the clashing problem). Unique and a little quirky in that she absolutely must win clashes to reach optimal output, but her s1 and s2 are both single-coin so clashing is a total crapshoot until you reach high SP, but you gotta win clashes to reach high SP (usually). She more than any of the base IDs benefits greatly from more action slots, perfect for the solitary FIXER OF JUSTICE.



    Here we see what I mentioned earlier about Sinners sometimes just dodging during winning clashes.



    And here we see a very rare sight indeed - Don having ramped up enough to activate the speed conditional on her s3. Rest assured it is practically impossible to see this without actively working for it, because her natural speed range is 3-6 and winning a clash with her s1 only grants her 2 Haste next turn - so at minimum you must somehow get her two action slots, win two clashes in one turn, and then pray you roll max speed next turn as well as have For Justice available in the skill deck. What you get for your effort is honestly pretty silly for a base ID, as at 10 speed For Justice rolls a whopping 3+(3x5) and normally base IDs don't even get to look at a ceiling of 18 without EGO in the picture. Though even without the conditional active it still rolls 3+(3x3), which is still better than Rodion's, isn't it sad.



    Another fun fact - every entity that dies in Limbus Company just catastrophically explodes in a spray of gore, leaving behind a neat pile of clothes and sometimes red mush with their weapon sticking out of it. This gets particularly comical if the culprit was a well-maintained Bleed stack, where it's like a post-iai-strike Kurasawa film blood spray except the guy is reduced to atoms by Thanos on top of it.

    I bring this up because the Tingtang Boss does not detonate like a meat balloon at the end of combat, a minor yet appreciated detail showing why the guy is canonically still alive (but beat to shit) when the post-battle cutscene begins.

    Tingtang Boss: "Ya... tamed little roaches... Who the hell do ya work for...? 'S about time... ya told us..."





    Canto II so far feels like a TTRPG session that spiralled out of hand but the GM and the dice let the party Yes-And and fuck their way through into something approaching a victory,. It's such an intense tone shift compared to Canto I that it's like PM are doing the perfect opposite of boiling the frog, just flash-boiling and then nitrogen freezing your ass with both tonal extremes so you understand the multitudes they contain, and it's peak.




    Narration: My condolences to the poor fellow's patience.

    Normal people are consistently so fucking livid that they have to breathe the same air as the gang and it's honestly iconic.

    Rodion begins complaining about the clothes they're about to pilfer from the fallen Tingtang gangsters, repulsed by the smell of sweat and blood and other miscellaneous grime.

    Rodion: "Yuck, some hair too... This is the first time I'm jealous of Dante's missing eyes."
    Dante: <I can see, by the way.>



    Ryoshu pointing at clothes and saying "bagsy" is giving me a panic attack.



    As is the fact she immediately invades Effie's personal space intending to strip him, doubtless by force if necessary. Even funnier, Dante reads the label on Effie's outfit and announces it's <good for all girths>, which Effie can't hear but does infer by following their gaze (wait but they don't have eyes how did he-)

    Effie: "Grr... W-we wouldn't be doing any of this if you hadn't caused that ruckus in the pawnshop."
    Hong Lu: "I don't mind. I've always wanted to try on clothes like these. It's like we're filming a movie."

    Honestly it's surreal to hear Hong Lu talk about movies as in the kind of entertainment we also have in real life. Watching a movie feels too Normal for a place as fucked up as the City.

    Then again, Hollywood would fit in here just fine.




    Gregor: "Youre free to try as long as you're good with your ribs being cut apart."

    The Sinners have themselves a good laugh at the two LCCB agents, who seem completely nonplussed by just how dramatically the dynamic has shifted after the Sinners blew through the District 10 Backstreets like a murderhobo tornado. They wisely decide to stop engaging and get to work on the plan, whipping out a small box they identify as a 'wish canister'.




    Effie: "Seems the plan was to try to win the game on the top floor by scraping up others' luck... Imagine, the boss of some lowly gang was carrying one of these."

    Effie and Saude decide that Dante will be the one posing as the Tingtang gang leader, and thus the bearer of all his ill-gotten wishpower. First off - can't beat a fucking inanimate clock as far as pokerfaces go. Second, they must have been appointed manager for a reason. They've gotta be more Normal than the assholes they're wrangling, right? This gets Dante in an introspective mood, now that the excitement of the impromptu gang war is over.

    Narration: I was given the title of manager, but I never had a chance to be the charismatic leader I'd envisioned; instead of showing respect, my Sinners would constantly berate and threaten me. The only real role I could afford to play was bringing them back to life. While the Sinners were engaged in fierce battle, all I would do is cower behind them, anxiously praying that their heads and hearts were unscathed.

    Dante isn't too confident in all this, but they give Effie a nod anyway.





    Now let's pull off a heist!
     
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    [Removed due to spoilers.]
     
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    Ryoshu saying runnings for pussies and to just kill them all is one hell of a vibe and has some stagger++ levels of implications.

    Also say hi to Jessie and James folks, forma nobeldark, here to give context for how competens looks like and how it hold up to the funny mirror named LCB.
     
    I've got to say the Tingtanger's hawaiian shirts and tattoos are honestly a great combo, it's a great "gang" look, especially as the Hawaiian shirts give them a relaxed energy which really fits with their place as kind of fodder for our Sinners to rampage over as they run towards the casino.
     
    Outis: all my colleagues are trash. absolute garbage. i would burn and then throw away my shoes if i stepped on one of them. i would dance around them in joy if they were on fire. they all have personalities better found drowned in sewerage. dante you're gorgeous and so am i, let's leave these losers, just the two of us. *steeples fingers and leans forward so her eyes are shadowed* my liege. my lord.

    Everyone Else, Who Are All Right There:

    Also Effie and Saude are scientifically designed to be as punchable as possible, art-wise.
     
    One of the new clash types that I just absolutely love is that sometimes they'll just go full anime, weapons braced against each other until their skill coins finish flipping. It's surprisingly tense watching your sinner clashing against a big number and praying for each coin flip to please let them not get murdered...

    Also watching Effie and Saude go "oh no we don't know these people" to a man who's clothes they're about to steal sends me. Even the victims they're robbing blind must know that they aren't associated with this pack of idiots.
     
    Dybbukpossesed said:
    Also watching Effie and Saude go "oh no we don't know these people" to a man who's clothes they're about to steal sends me. Even the victims they're robbing blind must know that they aren't associated with this pack of idiots.
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    even funnier becuase like, that guy died, right? hes dead?
     
    GilliamYaeger said:
    Obviously they all have very good health insurance.
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    I imagine that the City's health insurance ranges from "You're only mostly dead, so we'll stick you back together and have you up by tomorrow" and "Literally just an organ harvesting ring" with no outward indications as to which is which.
     
    Lepidoptera said:
    I imagine that the City's health insurance ranges from "You're only mostly dead, so we'll stick you back together and have you up by tomorrow" and "Literally just an organ harvesting ring" with no outward indications as to which is which.
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    Spoilers excised
     
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    Fourthmatchflame said:
    [Talking about how a spoiler occurs in a separate game can be considered spoilers in and of itself.]
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    That doesn't matter though? The fact that it's just a small spoiler doesn't stop it being a spoiler. This isn't the first time in the thread that you've done this, and the immediate defense of "It doesn't matter" doesn't instill confidence that you will not continue. I've collected some of your previous spoilers in the Spoiler Box below, censoring and explaining why I consider it a spoiler.
    Fourthmatchflame said:
    [Mentioning character dynamics or pairings before they occur in the story is a spoiler.]
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    Fourthmatchflame said:
    [Mentioning details from Lobotomy Corporation, no matter how small, directly breaks thread rules, and is considered a spoiler.]
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    Fourthmatchflame said:
    [Telling that the response you made is a spoiler, ironically spoils.]
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    Fourthmatchflame said:
    [This one can´t be blamed on you, since you responded to someone else bringing it up, but mentioning MD before Zerbans post brining it up for the first time can be considered a spoiler.]
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    Fourthmatchflame said:
    [Brining undue attention to small character details may spoil that being important in the future, and sets expectations.]
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    Fourthmatchflame said:
    [Here you actively talk about future cantos and their endings. Clearcut spoiler.]
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    Fourthmatchflame said:
    [Removed due to spoilers.] [This one was particularly egregious, as the first post after an update, you just immediatey spoil something coming up afterwards as a reaction. Was censored by a mod beforehand, thankfully.]
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    Please don't mention things from other PM media, no matter how small. What information counts as relevant isn't for you to decide, as even small "irrelevant details" can impact ones enjoyment or bring up undue expectations.

    Anyways, to actually talk some about the start of Canto 2, I really, really, enjoy Effie & Saude. Their exasperation and especially Saude's forced smile sustain me. I don't get the Tingtangers obsession with beans, though.
     
    DimensionalGuy said:
    Anyways, to actually talk some about the start of Canto 2, I really, really, enjoy Effie & Saude. Their exasperation and especially Saude's forced smile sustain me. I don't get the Tingtangers obsession with beans, though.
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    i dont have any evidence but it might be a localization thing?
     
    Yeah, 'what are you and your gang of eager spree killers gonna do, kill a bunch of '''acceptable targets''' or something?' is a question that answers itself, really. Especially in a setting where human life has no value (except as food for the LimBus), like Limbus Company seems to be.

    Like, I'm pretty sure at least Ryōshū would literally not even blink at the idea of killing that many people in cold blood, Gregor would do it and hate it, you could convince Don it was the right thing to do and she'd be off like a shot, and so on.

    (Outis would want to come up with a cunning plan first, of course, but she'd have the opportunity to loom menacingly in the background over Dante's shoulder, so she'd be all for it.)
     
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