First off, she has an X in her PSI stat, not a zero. Given that Porky does not, and the abundance of Ki adepts in River City, it likely means she's PSI
Actually, Kyoko isn't capable of PSI at all. I forgot to edit Porky's sheet. I feel X is a better indicator then 0 because 0 is still a number and X is nothing. Sorry for the confusion!
Thank you all so much!
I worked really hard on this. I made a few errors since I rushed a little because I felt I was taking to much time, but those can be fixed with minor edits.
Seeing all your reactions made it clear that my time was well spent however!
I will be working on the the next turn now, but I'm going to take some time to attend to Omake stuff. So if any of you have any omakes, now's the time to get to them~ I should have the next Omake rewards up in a week or so.
Actually, Kyoko isn't capable of PSI at all. I forgot to edit Porky's sheet. I feel X is a better indicator then 0 because 0 is still a number and X is nothing. Sorry for the confusion!
I can't say too much since exploring the specifics of how something like this works will be actual research in game. However I will say mind control isn't immediate in most cases. So it's not really practical for most enemies to do in a fight, outside of a bit of a debuff. There are things that can be done~
Didn't say this yesterday, but the section of Latin Medusa uses outright says "the stars incline, but they do not bind", which makes me think it's more suggestion than straight up mind control. You can warp someone into acting in a way they wouldn't, but you can't outright force them to.
Whic is probably why it isn't immediate as that kind of suggestibility takes time.
OOCL The a side chapter focusing on Brimstone the totally not Basil reference from my last omake and how he's dealing with things. This is more of a sort of joke chapter compared to other ones so I hope you don't mind the ton shift. Consider it out of continuity with the rest unless the GM would rather I put it in.
Fire and Brimstone
"CD...." Buzz Buzz followed his best friend as she walked into Brimstones yard. "Does this place seem... off compared to last time?"
"Brimstone's home is right on the edge of slug territory." Cassie said flatly as she tightened her hands around her bat. "That's why where here, to make sure Brimstone is ok and not some hollowed out husk of a mind slave."
".... Right." Buzz Buzz continued looking around. "Well either way you should be on your guard who knows what kind of tr-"
Before he could finish his statement a rope tightened itself around CD's leg pulling her upward until she was hanging upside down.
"Ha! Your time is up you slug loving motherfu-" Brimstone had jumped from his hiding place brandishing a trowel in one hand and a what CD suspected was some form of improvised explosive in the other. "Oh no! CD I'm so sorry!"
It took CD a little while to calm down Brimstone after he cut her down, he always did have a habit of apologizing for faaaaaar too long when he felt he screwed up.
"No really it's ok Brimstone, if anything I'm happy to see fire the fires of the underworld burning in your eyes again." CD smiled at her friend. "But.... if I might as ask why all the booby traps."
"It's been horrible CD. The people around here have gone nuts!" Brimstone shook his head. "And to make matters worse these creepy slugs keep trying to infest the place.... They do weird things...... ruin my garden.....I hate them so much. So much."
"..... I see." CD looked at her friend. "Well I was actually coming to make sure you hadn't come down with... well the same thing thats been hitting everyone else around here."
"Oh no its just my temper acting up." Brimstone smiled. "Like I said I just hate those slugs so much, and its not just because I know they're going to go aft-"
CRASH!
The two were interrupted by sound of something crashing nearby.
"Oh boy! !t looks like the pit has reached max capacity."
"The Pit?"
"Follow me! I'll show you."
XXXXX
"Thats.... a lot of slugs." CD said taking a gulp as she looked down at the teeming mass of attack slugs squirming about inside the 20ft deep pit, thankfully they seemed unable to crawl out. "How did this happen."
"Oh a lot of my smaller traps lead to this giant pit is all. I whipped up a slippery concoction to keep them from escaping and ruining my garden." A small smile graced Brimstone's lips as he lit up a match, the fire of the match finding a new metaphorical equal in his own eyes. "And its about time to clean it."
He threw the match into the pit causing the entire thing to ignite quickly melting the slugs within in an inferno that from Cassies point of view would make short work of anything unlucky enough to be stuck inside it.
"Aaaaaaaaah." Brimstone's smile widdened as the fire died out.... but the borderline demonic flames in his eyes remained lit. "That's a weight off of my shoulder for now.... can I get you anything while your here? I've done most of my gardening today so beyond re-greasing the Pit I don't have any big commitments to worry about.
XXXXX
"Well your friend definitly isn't under Giyga's control." Buzz Buzz said as the two walked home. "But now he scares me more than your other one."
"Brimestone always did have a thing with fire." CD shrugged as she took a quick look back. "It's probably how he copes with living in the city.... honestly I'm glad that part of him is back.... that part of him fell off when Stormy became a shut in..... he just feels so much more alive now than he has for a while that I can't help but be happy for him."
C.D's hair whipped about as the air curtain of Onett's local drugstore blasted her with a waterfall of cold wind the moment she stepped in. By the time it was done blowing any opportunistic insects to the four corners of Princeps Dominare, her vision had been reduced to a tangled mess of pink strands.
Clearing away the mop, she stormed towards the aisles, making sure to spare a glare for the nerdy-looking cashier. The man flinched, ducking his head a little as if he was one wrong move away from taking cover behind the register. She held the glare until the sight of his cowering frame was replaced by a rack of bracelets.
Ugh, great. Now she was pissed. Four-eyes should've been thankful she was here on behalf of her siblings; otherwise, she might not have been so willing to let that up-jumped hair dryer go unpunished.
Complaining wouldn't make her errand go any faster, though. So C.D did her best to stamp out the flames of her temper, and set her focus on finding a good set of pencils and a suitable pair of notebooks.
Thankfully, it seemed she'd managed to time her visit perfectly. The shelves were stocked with fresh product, and with her years of prior experience taking care of Kart and Floppy's school supplies, it wasn't long before she had everything she needed.
C.D tried not to think about the growing hole in the family savings that would be getting a little wider today.
Searching for something different to occupy her brain, her eyes drifted towards the baseball section. She already had everything related to the sport that she could ever need, of course, but sometimes it was calming to look at all the minty-fresh bats and fantasize about smacking the stitches out of some unfortunate balls. Or more recently, knocking the teeth out of an annoying Shark.
She was just about to continue heading to the counter when something strange caught her eye. Glancing back toward the section, she felt her feet slowly begin to carry her over, bringing the object into full view.
It was… well.
It was obviously a bat, that much she could tell. But it looked like it had more in common with a piece of corpo-tech than a big stick.
The head was made out of some kind of black material, with bright yellow lines that almost seemed to glow, that drew a set of ovals ringing what could only be the bat's sweet spot on opposite sides. The grip sported wrappings of a reddish-pinkish color (was maroon the right word? Or was she getting her colors mixed up again?) and the handle was outright golden. It even had a little extension on the end with some sort of symbol—a solid circle broken up by an off-center cross.
It took her nearly dropping the pair of notebooks to realize that she'd been staring at the thing for an embarrassingly long time.
C.D tore her gaze away, unwilling to trust herself to not fall into another daze, and settled on the view of the cashier.
"Hey," she called, prompting the guy to jump an inch. "What the hell's this thing?"
"Huh-?" He took a moment to readjust his skewed square glasses. "O-oh, yeah. That. Uh…"
His hand came up to scratch his head, and she felt her eyes flatten, already having an idea of what he would say.
"I have no clue, honestly. It didn't come packaged with the usual stock of baseball stuff, and the box was unmarked." He shrugged. "I thought it was some kinda mistake, but my manager told me to put it up with the rest of the bats, so I figured it was above my pay grade and decided not to ask."
"Really…" She glanced at the incongruous whacking rod again. "Where d'you think it's from?"
His hands came up in a helpless gesture. "Beats me. It looks megacorpy enough, but the color scheme doesn't bring any one brand to mind, and whatever that thing attached to the handle is supposed to be, I've never seen it." A quick push set his square lenses back up his nose. "Could be WilyCorp, or RoboDyne, could be one of the hundred other bit-players in the City, could be a prototype from one of the brainiacs up in Winters. Heck, for all I know, it could've been made in a shack by some guy with too much free time and he decided to ship it here for a laugh."
Yeah, that was about what she'd figured.
On a whim, she checked the price tag.
…oof. Right, novelty was worth a lot in a place like Onnet. She should probably count herself lucky that none of the kids with deeper pockets had swung by yet, or else she never would've gotten to see this thing. Whatever it was.
Still, she did have just enough on hand…
But no. She wasn't here for her own sake. What she should be doing was striding up to the cashier, paying for the stuff her siblings needed to have the best futures they could get in this crapsack world, and going home. Not gawking at a retro space-age-looking bat like she was six years old again. The thing probably wasn't even any different from all the other bats hanging from the hooks in terms of function anyhow.
She turned away, towards the counter.
"Well, what do you want to do when you grow up?"
She stopped.
"Why don't you join it now?"
She shut her eyes.
"It doesn't mean you can't learn!"
She heaved an exasperated sigh.
"God… damn it."
She turned back around. After so many years of abstinence, many of C.D's memories of her golden baseball days had faded into a morass of wooden cracks,metal prangs,grass, and dirt.
One thing she did clearly remember, however, was that breaking in a new bat was a particularly special occasion.
Nobody knew how or why it started, or if it was an old Earth thing that had carried over, or a new City tradition. But every kid in Onnet that owned a mitt, a helmet, and a ball-basher knew that when you retired an old bat and picked up a new one, you couldn't just kick things off with any regular old swing. You had to make it worth it. Show the bat the respect it deserved, let it know that its time with you would be worth treasuring, stuff like that.
…and maybe show off to the other kids that you were gonna wreck some face with your shiny new toy, but that was beside the point.
C.D's inaugural swing with Ol' Reliable—not that she actually called it that, but the recently-refurbished bat could probably be the poster child for the phrase—had involved a blisteringly fast line drive to center field that shot right through the wickets of the pitcher's legs, bounced clean over the second baseman's head, and nearly knocked the center fielder clean off his feet. By the time he'd recovered, she was already halfway to third base.
It wasn't quite a home run, but it had been a damn good swing, and the numbing vibration she'd felt through her hands in the moment her bat connected with the ball had been oh so satisfying.
The fact that some of the town boys started avoiding her after that day was a bit of a sobering thought, but it wasn't nearly enough to tarnish the memory.
And now, hopefully, she would get to recapture it in a new form.
C.D took a gander at the yellow-striped black monster, slung over her shoulder, and couldn't resist letting the beginnings of an excited smile begin to quirk up the tips of her lips.
"Ready, my friend?" Buzz-Buzz asked from her side.
Just like that, the smile stretched wide. "Let's see what this baby can do."
It took barely any time at all for them to find what they were looking for.
"Well, would you look at that?" She was showing teeth now. "We've got us a volunteer."
One of those damned CROWS had flown out from a bush, and it made no secret of its intentions.
The bat came off her shoulder, and into both hands.
Okay. She wanted this to be special. That meant she had to focus. Be patient. Capitalize on the opening as hard as she possibly can.
She had a pretty good read on these jackasses by now. She just needed to wait for the right moment, when it would attempt to dive…
There.
And she had to step aside, plant her feet, wind up like so, step, and-
Red and black sparks lashed across her vision, all other colors ceasing to exist as matter split from antimatter and re-collided into a mind-bendingly massive release of pure energy. She could feel it all through her arms and her hands as they simultaneously went sore and numb; the utterly impossible kinetic buildup the bat was somehow unleashing all at once, in the blink of an eye. The sound was indescribable, mixing with the sweet music of every last bone in the crow's body being powderized all at once.
Then the moment passed. She followed through on the swing, twisting and bringing the bat up to her other shoulder as full color returned to the world.
The crow was nowhere in sight. All that could be seen was… a trail of smoke?
…oh. There was the crow.
The fireball trailed up, up, becoming a tiny bright speck that seemed to scrape the clouds, then came down, down, down, and fell past the horizon.
C.D slowly blinked.
"Holy shit."
Ohhh, yeah.
Wait. That wasn't her voice.
Her head slowly swiveled to side-eye the listing form of Buzz-Buzz.
It took half a minute for him to come back to himself. "O-oh. Uh… ahem."
She let him stew a bit more before she began to giggle. It wasn't long before she escalated up to outright laughter, raising her bat towards the sky in glorious victory.
"HOME RUN, BITCHES!"
So I just finished reading everything currently available, got a brainworm that wouldn't stop shouting "what if a critical on the shop roll gave us a Home Run Bat?", and banged this out in about three to four hours.
I ended up using the Smash 4/Ultimate design of the bat, because it honestly looks like a cyberpunkish overdesigned baseball bat that a sufficiently mad scientist would produce on a lark.
For the moment of impact, I made sure to throw in visual references to the 'finishing blow' screens from Ultimate in particular, 'cause they're badass.
I know there's no way we'd actually be able to get something this absurdly powerful at such an early point, but I can dream. Just as much as I can dream of shocking Buzz-Buzz into swearing.
And I tried my best with the color. Wasn't able to extract much from the existing threadmark test, so I gave it my best approximations for established characters.
Oh I noticed all that already, I was just a bit slow noticing the continuation of the pattern and was wondering if it was a real name or something made up.
Also, does CD by any chance have a grandparent by the name of "Gramma Fhone" or something similar? Because she really should I think
Bro, can't believe Pyramid Head took one look at the Invaders, said "Fuck this" and just moved his whole ass town to Princeps Dominare, knowing damn well those aliens ain't repenting for shit. Is it like how Dracula up and moved his whole ass Castle too?
I forgot to address this before. There's two ways you can handle the arrival of Dracula and Castlevania to the City.
The castle was one of the many Earth landmarks transported to the City with the colony fleets. When Dracula reawakened from his torpor, he turned the entire ship population into his undead army.
The entire castle was destroyed with the Crash, but Dracula's hatred for mankind remains. Castlevania appeared in the Outlands under a full moon, and Dracula has been marshalling his forces for his conquest.
I lean towards the latter, because the second one implies for a minute Dracula was on his balcony wondering why the sun was out early before the Invaders blew up the planet.
I forgot to address this before. There's two ways you can handle the arrival of Dracula and Castlevania to the City.
The castle was one of the many Earth landmarks transported to the City with the colony fleets. When Dracula reawakened from his torpor, he turned the entire ship population into his undead army.
The entire castle was destroyed with the Crash, but Dracula's hatred for mankind remains. Castlevania appeared in the Outlands under a full moon, and Dracula has been marshalling his forces for his conquest.
I lean towards the latter, because the second one implies for a minute Dracula was on his balcony wondering why the sun was out early before the Invaders blew up the planet.
Dracula pulling a Kratos and just ignoring his death due to anger/hate seems legit.
Though the first method would also be pretty funny. Considering that last time (chronologically) Dracula woke up was in 1914 during WWI. Meaning one minute he's seeing machine guns, cars, air planes, and radios; then he gets killed and wakes ups the next minute with his castle sitting in some hanger bay. On top of this, he's seeing a bunch of genetically modified animals running around with robots (maybe sometimes seeing them shoved into the robots), sees aliens that seem to scare the human crew more than his army of darkness, and the cherry on top is learning Earth was blown up by a random group of aliens who fucked off not long after.
And you have Dracula sitting there taking this all with no clue what's going on.
(But yeah, it could be the latter option for Silent Hill, but more like the Cult's shenanigans/SH God recreating the town on PD, or maybe someone from the town rebuilt it in PD and brought back the spooky shit with it).
Does Julius Belmont exist in this setting? I know some GBA games are included, so I'm wondering if the Dracula's Castle War of '99 is a valid campaign you could run in the setting.
Edit to avoid double-posting: I have apparently repeatedly forgotten to ask this since I caught up with the quest, but during character creation, since there was the option to replace Paula with someone else, I have to ask: does that mean that it's possible to defeat Gygas without the Pray command, or is it just that whoever replaced her would have been given Pray?
The area in which Pete prowled was known by many names. Some called it The Wasteland, others Filgaia, others the Great Desert.
It was a cruel and brutal land, where law and order was given out at the end of a gun barrel. Advanced technology was rare and difficult to find, instead most people used and maintained pre-war guns.
To Half-Fast Pete, it was the New Wild West. And it was his hunting grounds.
The town he was in right now… well Pete didn't care to remember its name. It was just another little slice of life taken over by outlaws he would be paid a pretty penny to take out.
With a name like Half-Fast Pete, you would expect that Pete was an awful bounty hunter, abysmal even. After all, quickdraw was the most important skill for a gunman, wasn't it?
Well, it was an important skill. But there's something more important than the draw.
Accuracy.
Pete could shoot a coin out of the air from dozens of feet away. Hitting someone in the head was easy even if he was a hundred feet away. At that distance, most outlaws would miss every shot.
Sure his rival, the legendary Billy the Kid, could empty a revolver in the two seconds. But Pete was the one who would land every shot, every time.
Which is why his current partner's attitude annoyed him.
"What the fresh hell was that Mad Dog?" Half-Fast Pete demanded, stepping out from cover now that every visible outlaw was down and out
"Texas Jitterbug. Why do you ask?" Mad Dog started reloading, even as a thin trail of smoke blew from the barrel.
"I hope I can find more outlaws from Texas then, apparently they can't shoot for shit!" Pete waved his arm towards the many, many bullet holes in random pieces of terrain.
"If you hadn't gotten lucky that outlaw would have punched you fulla holes!"
"Luck had nothing to do with it 'partner.' I can hit someone just fine." Mad Dog retorted.
"Yeah. After emptying your gun in their direction."
"Are you gonna keep whining old timer? Or are you going to help me clear out the saloon?"
Pete sighed and followed Mad Dog.
He really didn't know what to think of the younger man. On one hand, he was a good gunslinger, a decent blend of quickdraw skills and accuracy. His pre-invasion gun was well-maintained and powerful.
On the other hand, his suit was clearly tailored, he was clean-shaven and visibly young, and his general attitude was dry but not aggressive.
Mad Dog didn't seem tough enough to make the cut. Pete didn't even know why he was called "Mad Dog" when the man seemed cool as a cucumber half the time.
Before long they reached the saloon, the beating heart of any Wild West town. When the world around you was this dry and desert-like, a good watering hole was required for survival.
"I reckon we should poke our heads through the window, no reason to present a target just yet," Pete said, standing beside one of the windows.
Mad Dog didn't respond, just staring through the window like he saw something that shook him to his core.
Without warning Mad Dog kicked the door in, the wooden gate nearly flying off its hinges as he stomped into the room. Pete had to bite back a shout, as his ally walked in like he owned the place.
The eyes of every thug and roughneck turned to Mad Dog, watching this well-dressed stranger enter the room. But no one attacked, not yet.
"Well if it ain't The Sundown Kid! Fancy meeting you here." Everyone could hear the grin in Mad Dog's voice as he approached the rough older man sitting at the bar.
Sundown didn't look like a 'kid.' He had a short but rough brown beard, sideburns, and a full head of hair half hidden by his wide-brimmed cowboy hat. His body was hidden by the worn poncho he was wearing, but there was no mistaking the shine of metal on his belt.
The Sundown 'kid' (He looked like he was in his late thirties at least), simply grunted at him, not bothering to go for his gun or stand up.
"You and I got some business to attend to, partner! Last time we dueled you got me good, but this time you won't be so lucky!"
"Now give me 10 paces, or I'll shoot you right now!" The threat was said with absolute confidence, a mad gleam in the gunman's eye.
"... 5 paces." Sundown retorted, slowly rising from his seat.
Mad Dog chuckled, walking to the center of the saloon to face Sundown. "Deal."
All Pete could do was watch with bated breath as the two gunmen began to pace, turning away from each other and taking one step at a time, counting down to the draw.
"One… two…"
"That stupid bastard!" Pete muttered under his breath, aiming at Sundown. But the glint of metal made him reconsider.
"Three…"
Various members of the crowd were taking aim, waiting for the duelists to walk past them before they drew their guns. Even if Sundown missed, the outlaws in the audience wouldn't
"Four…"
Pete made a snap decision.
"Five!"
It was pandemonium.
Mad Dog and Sundown both turned and fired, but instead of aiming at each other, their bullets struck members of the audience behind them. A man with a long revolver fell behind Sundown while someone raising a machete did the same behind Mad Dog.
The glass window in front of Half-Fast Pete shattered as his bullet drilled a hole through a man on the second floor, tumbling over the railing as a rifle dropped from his stiff hands.
For a few moments, the world felt like it was nothing but gunshots, an endless stream of bullets flying in every direction.
As suddenly as it began it was over.
Pete let out a sigh of relief, reflexively reloading his revolver as he took stock of the situation. Despite the many, many bodies crowding the two duelists, neither one seemed wounded in the slightest.
"Now that that rabble is good and done with…" Mad Dog turned on his heel, aiming directly for Sundown's forehead as the fellow gunslinger did the same.
*Click*
"... Looks like it's the end of the road for me." He lowers his gun, closes his eyes, and waits for death
"... hmm." Sundown holsters his gun and starts walking away. It took Mad Dog several seconds to realize he was being ignored
"The fuck are you doing? Finish me off!" Mad Dog demanded, sprinting to the front of the Saloon and blocking the door with his body
"This is our grand duel, the capstone to our rivalry! It only ends when one of us is on the ground! Now finish me off goddamn it!" He stood at the doorway, eyes full of fire and brimstone.
Sundown cracked him over the head with the butt of his pistol.
Mad Dog hit the ground, groaning and dazed. Without missing a step Sundown stepped over him, and exited the saloon.
With no time to waste he immediately walked to the stable, getting ready to mount his horse as soon as he was able.
*Click*
"You're an interesting Outlaw Sundown. Why didn't you kill Mad Dog? He's a bounty hunter after all, and he's hunting you specifically."
"... I didn't feel like it." Sundown drawled, completely still and calm despite the gun at his back.
"Hmm. And those outlaws in the saloon. You're a better shot than all of them, if they recruited you or you recruited them you could have your own little gang. Instead, you gunned them down. Why?"
"... I felt like it." Sundown responded.
For a moment Pete held the gun to the back of Sundown's head before he huffed and lowered it. "Take your leave if you want. I've got to clean up this mess, but I get the feeling Mad Dog will take off after you as soon as he's able."
"You're going to have to come up with a conclusion Sundown. One way, or the other."
The man didn't respond. Instead, he spurred his horse onwards.
Pete watched emotionlessly as the cowboy rode out of town, headed to the next weary frontier town.
The town called Success.
Wasn't that a hell of a misnomer?
Normally I'd put the story in the spoilers and the notes out and about but... meh. I'm experimenting a bit here.
Sundown and Mad Dog are interesting to me because neither one is really a bad person, or at least not as bad as the actively murderous Crazy Bunch. But they are still wandering cowboys with grudges, and depending on how taking out the Crazy Bunch goes it's possible for them to collectively kill over a dozen people.
It's implied that Mad Dog and Sundown have a long history together, but it's never explained exactly what that history is. He puts his grudge match against Sundown on hold in the Western chapter of Live a Live to deal with the Crazy Bunch, but the instant it's done he demands a duel It's clear to see there's some bad blood there, but what is it?
Also, Half Fast Pete is a suggestion from a friend when I realized I had no damn idea what other western/cowboy characters I could use for this Omake. The names for the region, specifically the Wasteland, and Filagia, are references to Fallout and Wild Arms respectively. Fallout may be a computer game instead of a console game, but it technically fits the era.
Y'know.
I get that Texas Jitterbug having 15 hits is probably more of a gameplay abstraction than anything else…
But c'mon. Even if he packs a backup in his arm slot, that's only 12 shots maximum. Where the hell does he pull the other three out from? Is he carrying a wacky tri-barreled Derringer somewhere under his coat, or what?
Also
Mad Dog: "Ain't nuthin' or no-body out there who can beat the Jitterbug! No way, no how!"
Sundown, resisting the urge to commit Hurricane: "…sure."
Y'know.
I get that Texas Jitterbug having 15 hits is probably more of a gameplay abstraction than anything else…
But c'mon. Even if he packs a backup in his arm slot, that's only 12 shots maximum. Where the hell does he pull the other three out from? Is he carrying a wacky tri-barreled Derringer somewhere under his coat, or what?
Also
Mad Dog: "Ain't nuthin' or no-body out there who can beat the Jitterbug! No way, no how!"
Sundown, resisting the urge to commit Hurricane: "…sure."
The "Jitterbug" part is based on a dance. Maybe some of the hits are kicks? Who knows.
Also as much as I love Mad Dog, there's no way he can beat Sundown. I mean, if you just stand there and let him shoot Sundown, you'll still win because Sundown's counter is more than good enough to take Mad Dog down.
Edit: also if you're keeping track all I have left is prehistory and China, then I will have done an Omake for every chapter of LAL. I have ideas for continuing to explore Masaru and Akira's chapters, but the rest are probably one and done.
CD had seen a lot of creepy things in the night…. Especially now with the whole invasion thing going on.
But what she hadn't expected to see.
Was Stormy walking around casually in the dead of night.
…. Ok she didn't expect it so soon after she got him to start leaving his house again, Stormy always was a bit prone to sleeping during the day and waking up at night when they were younger. It made him look perpetually tired at nearly all times.
And than he stopped… so he could sit on a bench and start petting a stray cat.
Yep that fits Stormy all right.
Creepy as many people find him, Cass knew that he loved animals more than anything.
Honestly CD figured it'd be better if sh-
It was too late Stormy was looking directly at her, complete with his sunken, worn, and almost perpetually saddened eyes.
Eyes that seemed both as if they had just awakened from a long sleep yet at the same time like they have not known true rest in ages.
Shoot… she really hoped that he didn't think she was stalking him or anything like that.
The two of them looked at each for a few moments before Stormy raised his hand… and gave a friendly wave to his recently reconnected friend, patting a space next to him on the bench with his other hand.
Well that looked like an invitation if CD had ever seen one.
She walked over and sat down next to Stormy as the stray bluish gray haired cat he had been petting jumped up onto his lap.
"You are armed right?" CD asked mostly as an ice breaker, she was confident that Stormy was smart enough to bring some form of protection if he was wandering around at this time of night. "The city is a pretty bad place, especially at night."
"I have my knives and pepper spray." Stormy said simply, by now the cat sitting on his lap had started purring. "I always make sure to have them on hand when wandering in the shadows of the street at night…. Thank you for your concern."
"You ever wonder if it was weird…" Cassie began as she looked down the darkened streets. "Ya know, that so many of us never really had much contact with our parents."
"No." Stormy looked down the street. "Our friends… or at least the ones we both had ,were all the people I knew so I thought parents never really being around was normal….. I thought a lot of things about my parents were normal when they weren't."
Right…. CD had forgotten Stormy's parents had outright abandoned him after he had his meltdown back in the day…… And a lot of the friends the two of them shared had parental issues of their own.
"CD." Stormy turned to look at his friend directly…. And then CD saw it.
Blood.
Streams of it running down Stormy's face from his eyes.
"Stormy!?" CD gasped as her eyes widened. "You're bleeding from both eyeballs!"
"I am?".... For his part Stormy didn't seem very perturbed by it, merely wiping some of the blood from his face and rubbing it together with his finders. "Huh."
"Why are you so calm about this?!" CD looked at her old friend like he'd gone slightly mad. "Doesn't that hurt you!?"
"Only a little." Her friend replied as he calmly pulled out a napkin and wiped the blood off of his face. "It's part of a condition I developed after our friend group scattered, don't worry about it, I have it under control."
Hmmmmm that didn't seem to trip any of Cass's bullshit sensors…. She'd give it a pass for now.
By this point the cat had fallen asleep in Stormy's lap.
Stormy looked down at the cat and let a small smile grow up on his face.
He believed in Cass…. That she was if nothing else a good person when all was said and done.
If only he'd had the strength needed to stand by her.
Taking in a deep breath he looked up at the moon in the sky.
And at the darkness that constantly surrounded it.
This city..She was like a woman in that…Hm. Coming up with an interesting internal monologue always felt like the hardest part of this job. This was more Flint's thing then his.
The large brown dog uplift known as Sam sighed and went back to focusing on the matter at hand: Namely, seeing if he could spot his partner before….
"DEATH FROM ABOVE!"
Sam dodged at just the right moment, and shot his Super Scope, barely missing Max, his partner and rabbit uplift(?) who landed on the floor in a heap before dusting himself off.
"Missed me again, chowderhead!"
"Ah, dang it! Hey, Sam. When are we gonna get another case? I feel like it's been ages since our particular brand of justice has made itself known to the criminal element."
"Patience, little buddy. Justice is a fickle mistress, like the temperature of a Burgertime Quarter Pounder or a…."
The old-school rotary phone on the nearby desk burst out in ringing.
"I got it!" Max cried out before getting chokeslammed to the ground by Sam as he grabbed it instead.
"Hello? Commissioner! Yes, yes, NO, yes, yes? Yes! Holy Prussian bluebirds sitting in a mosque filled with copper, we're on our way!"
"Who was that, Sam? Did Willy get my request for a giant battle robot?
"No, it was the Commissioner."
"Did HE get my request?"
"Also no, and he suggested you stop writing memos in the artfully arranged corpses of suspects. We've got an artistic cult to thwart, little buddy!"
"I don't see what's wrong with having a small but devoted following."
"Artistic cult, idiot. A village over in the Eagle Quarter has been taken over by blue-obsessed smiling reprobates. There's evidence of mind control."
"That's my second-least-favorite kind!"
"We gotta get out there, see what's going on, and destroy happiness!"
"I've always dreamed of this day."
"You crack me up little buddy, let's go!"
Yep, another omake, this one based on one of my favorite pairs of Adventure game protags. It's probably not as good as my last one. Sam and Max dialog is hard to get right, but I hope I got it down. These two sociopaths fit right in in the City, and given both their source material's Americana-on-drugs aesthetic and Max's possible psychic powers, I headcanon their zone is at least near the Eagle Quarter And a cult obsessed with making things blue seems right up their bizzare little alley.
WANTED:
BRAVE MERCENARIES
EXPERIENCED SELL SWORDS
HIRED GUNS AND ADVENTURERS
THE FREE PEOPLES OF THE TEN TOWNS CALL FOR AID! THE 'LEGION OF THE CHIMERA', A MUTINOUS HORDE OF MUTANTS, UPLIFTS AND THUGS, THREATENS OUR FAIR COMMUNITIES
FAIR PAY, RIGHT OF PLUNDER, GLORY AND FAME ARE ALL YOURS IF YOU HELP DEFEND THE SETTLERS OF ICEWIND DALE AGAINST THIS THREAT.
ALL INTERESTED PARTIES ARE TO MEET AT BRYN SHANDAR FOR APPROVAL BEFORE TAKING A SHIP TO TARGOS
200,000 CROWN SIGN ON BONUS
JOIN NOW FOR A CHANCE AT ADVENTURE AND HEROISM
The port of Targos shuddered as great mortar shells slammed into its outer palisades, kicking up great plumes of smoke and dust. The screams of men dying filled the air, filtering down from the front lines and onto the docks. Hard eyed men and women shifted uncomfortably on the ships pulling into port, well aware that one of those great scrap shells could easily sink their rickety transports to the bottom of the freezing cold lake. They had seen one ship go down already, a frigate carrying a unit of Doman ronin smashed apart like it had been hit by the first of an angry god. The screams of drowning men, those who hadn't instantly gone stiff and sunk from the shock of the freezing water, had carried over to the remaining ships. None had stopped to save those dipping below Maer Duladon's waters.
This was not the hottest landing Leo Kelly, Colonel if you wanted to kiss his ass, had seen. The initial fighting in Zanzibar Land had been worse, the crash of metal between Metal Gear and Slug had scarred those beaches forever. Leo had nearly lost a leg there, crushed underneath a tank as fire had rained down on the beach from above. It'd taken a few long hours of frantically struggling with his combat knife to cut himself free. A.I.M. had paid for his surgery, though he still had the jagged scars to remember that whole shit show by.
He'd probably get a few from this current shitshow, if this initial landing was anything to go by. Leo pulled the thick coat he was wearing tighter around his body as the ship rocked from a shell landing mere feet away. Icewind Dale was near the poles of PD, north of the New Kingdoms and one of the newest regions to be colonized to any major extent. Its frigid climate was utterly different from the arid deserts that covered the interior, meaning most of the mercs streaming north were unprepared for the bitter cold. Leo had fought in Poland and the Baltic before the Crash and thus knew what frostbite and hypothermia could do to a man. He'd spent most of his sign on bonus on proper winter clothes and supplies, the rest saved for beds and whores to fill them. He planned on staying warm during this campaign.
The hired guns and swords on board breathed a sigh of relief as the ship finally pulled into dock. Here, at least, if it was hit you'd probably be pulled from the icy waters by the dockworkers. Tense men and women started to shuffle off the ship, clutching weapons to their bodies as they were herded out onto the one stretch of dockyard. Targos wasn't a large settlement by any means, even for the hard-scrabble Ten Towns. A modest dock yard, a tattered collection of shore side hovels and warehouses, then up the cliffs to the wealthier parts of town. Some of the houses up there even had glass windows and more than one story. Then the fortifications, a network of trenches and earth works and palisades that had quickly overgrown the settlement's initial defenses. It was here at Targos and Bremen, farther north across the Shaengarne River, that the settlers of Icewind Dale were making their stand.
"Good to be off the ship, at least." A tall Mutant near Leo said, a hint of hesitation carried in his voice. Kruskrak Fairhair was an ugly mutant, part of the breed the Outlanders called 'orc's. Tall, greenish-grey skinned with mouth tusks and bad attitudes, orcs had a bad reputation from Vector to Neverwinter. Kruskrak gave the town a worried look, fingers nervously rubbing against the wood of his staff; some sort of esper focus or some shit. "I hope the shells haven't been falling on too many homes. This poor town will take years to recover." He was, in Leo's expert opinion, a soft hearted dumbass. The sort of wide eyed greenhorn you saw who thought they were fighting for anything besides themselves. Strange to see him up here, Leo had thought most of those types had joined Big Boss.
"Worry about yourself, dumbass." The short woman next to Leo growled. On the other hand, Cloberella was alright. Not her real name, of course, but asking about another merc's past was in bad taste. He knew she came from Eagleland, he knew that she was probably also an esper and he knew that he had seen her punch through a man back in Bryn Shandar. So long as it didn't seem like you were coming onto her you'd be fine. Leo was fairly used to people threatening his genitals at this point in his career.
"Stop gawking and get walking, mutie." Leo pushes Kruskrak forwards, making the orc stumble a bit before moving down the gangplank. "We aren't getting paid to talk shop on this rickety piece of shit." Slowly the mercenaries file off of the transport, a riot of companies and species and nationalities blending together. City-born gangsters rubbed shoulders with Regular Army deserters. A dog Uplift growled at a Tri-Op cyborg that had gotten in its way. Koopas armed with hammers and scatter guns compared scars with monkey Uplifts carrying bolt action rifles. A small group of lithe, pointed eared...mutants(?) stood apart from the rest, fingers running nervously over slim blades that glimmered in the sun.
A hastily erected wooden stage had been placed in the center of the disembarking mercs, on it stood a fat man guarded by three thin looking soldiers wearing metal armor and holding pikes and muskets. Dressed in furs that looked warm despite the hint of ragged wear at their edges, the man seemed to be an official of some kind. Leo watched him with his arms folded, rifle slung over his shoulder. "[purple]Jeez, lookit the size of the welcoming committee." Cloberella muttered under her breath, quite unimpressed.
"I wish to welcome you all to our fair town of Targos, though I wish it were under better circumstances." The man started, reading from a piece of paper. "Your arrival here as the second wave of brave men and women willing to stand against the barbarous threat is greatly appreciated. Let you all rest assured that glory and riches shall be yours!"
He paused, looking over the sea of impassive faces. With a bit more nerves the man continued. "I am Ulbrec Dinnesmore, lord of this town and your current employer. I am the one who will be handing out your pay, including the 5000 gold you will be receiving once the current attack is defeated." The crowd brightened up, money talk rarely failed to gladden the soldier of fortune. Buoyed by this, Ulbrec continued. "Beyond the walls is the Legion of the Chimera, a monstrous horde of mutants, uplifts, the mad and various thugs. They have grown in power in the north and now seek the sweep the Ten Towns from the region. We will be rewarding a bounty of 1000 gold per officer head, with increasing rewards for those higher up the Legion's chain of command. They are armed with a great variety of scrap guns, swords and vehicles. This fight will be hard, but you will prevail!"
"As if it is a crime for a mutant to demand respect." Kruskrak muttered under his breath, looking clearly displeased.
"Know something about them, Tusks?" Leo asked, curiosity getting the better of him.
Kruskrak flushed and looked around, realizing he had spoken out loud. "Ah, not too much." He paused, Leo sighing and motioning for the mutant to continue. "It started as a mutant and uplift advocacy group on the Outskirts of the City. Two mutant twins, abandoned by their parents, started to organize their fellows to demand equal rights." Kruskrak frowned. "They were driven off by ZEED legbreakers. First into the Pipeworks, then the Outlands and then even further beyond." His frown deepend. "I met one of their recruiters in Vector once. It was a mix of genuinely revolutionary sentiment and cult nonsense. Dreamlands claptrap, psudeo-occult babble."
Leo was about to comment on how that was rich coming from a guy who clearly thought he was a fucking wizard before Cloberella cut in. "Yeah yeah, sob story and all that shit. The City eats groups like that up and spits them out as monsters by the dozen." She narrowed her eyes. "You know anything actually useful."
Kruskrak took a moment to think. "I've heard they're attracted to old Hylian ruins. Any major complexes are probably a good pick for where their main base is." He grimaced. "Not that anyone would be able to do something about that with the constant attacks against Targos and Bremen. We can't leave the towns undefended."
"Bet my ass they've picked a spot further up the river." Leo said, mind beginning to work. "They need to transport their heavy material somehow, and the roads up here are too shit for them to do it over land." Leo started to chew the inside of his cheek, a habit he did whenever he was thinking hard. "Probably set up a few supply stations too. Burn those and even if we couldn't destroy the main outpost in one go we'd at force them to pause for a few days."
"Shit to think about later, after we survive the battle." Cloberella pointed over her shoulder with a jerky thumb. The mass of mercs was starting to ascend the cliffs, making their way towards the frontlines. "Sides, you'd have to convince a good amount of folks to follow you out."
"I can handle that." Leo muttered, mentally scanning the crowd for A.I.M. members. "Meet with me later tonight at that tavern over there. You as well, Tusks." He said, turning to a confused looking Kruskrak. "Having someone who can speak mutie might be useful."
Leo paid no mind to Kurskrak's complaints. A plan was starting to form in his mind, along with a sinking feeling in his stomach. He was dangerously close to actually giving a shit about this war.
Little Omake I was inspired to write about things going on else where in the world of 8BD. I've always thought that old DnD cRPGs could be made to fit into the world of 8BD with a little bit of work and I wanted to express that here. Not sure how relevant any of this is to CD's story, but hey, who knows.
Quick question: I've been noticing that a lot of Omakes are getting added to the "Sidestory" thread. Does that mean that we will soon see an "Analysis + EXP Distribution" post?
(Read: the post where the QM tell us if they liked the omake and if it gets Canonized)
I'd like to apologize up front that I missed this Omake originally.
This is probably my favorite of what you've made thus far. The setup is very clever, re-writing the Oda-period of LiveALive to be in the outlands works beautifully. Ryoma being an ancestor to the original fits super well with the themes of Castlevania, considering the Belmont legacy.
Ryoma and Carrie were written perfectly. With Ryoma being positive, cunning, and somewhat playful while having a clear sense of timing. The line from Carrie about the guards being men not monsters, and wanting to give them the chance to repent, read seamlessly coming from her.
Carrie going to the WRONG evil castle under the assumption Dracula was there is both as humorous as it is understandable. Ryoma and Carrie honestly make such a cool duo that it just nails what makes 8-Bit Dystopia so much fun.
If anyone sees this, please give this Omake another read. I feel a lot of people slept on it, myself included.
For your first Omake this was rather nice, don't be hard on yourself! It was a fun, brief romp with a nice setup. I have fond memories of those witches from Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. Imagining them camping out in the same area where Gruntilda and Banjo live is oddly fitting.
The concept of the witches in the Isle O' Hags hoarding/monopolizing the local food supply and polluting the environment with their magics, leading to all the weird stuff we see in the games is really cool! I think you managed to justify the bizarre things we see in Banjo & Kazooie very well! Excellent work
This was a really creative Omake. Dense, detailed, and exploring an angle I genuinely hadn't considered. If Kart or Floppy ever did catch wind of any of the things CD has , and will, talk about she'd likely come off completely CRACKED. You sold the concern, confusion, and utter helplessness of a poor child dealing with what they're convinced is a mentally unwell sibling. The bit at the end where they just fold up on the couch and silently cry as CD rants in the background is a powerful image. Excellent job!
"A pirate is a scoundrel who takes, and a privateer is a mercenary that delivers."
Holy goddamn shit that is a good line. Reading this whole Omake was wonderful. You nailed the atmosphere and the genuine dread that Wolf instilled, despite never raising his voice. Pigma, Leon, and ESPECIALLY Wolf was written in character. I liked how you worked in reports of the UFOs into the omake and sprinkled in references to the Starfox games, F-Zero, and even Monkey Island of Lechuck booze is anything to go off.
You captured the dangerous, draconian nature of Starwolf masterfully and it was a treat to read this.
This was a nice, humorous little setup! It's amusing to see a gardener's reaction to the slugs be so intensely violent. Having a big burning murder pit for the attack slugs contrasting their gentle demeanor. I also liked your descriptions, especially the match-stick one!
This was an unexpected but very well written Omake. The setup with CD finding a strange bat and thinking back to the conversation her siblings had with her felt very in character. CD smashing a crow into space and stunning Buzz Buzz into cursing was pretty funny. You also got the color-text pretty spot on (I should PROBABLY get around to putting proper hex-codes down for the characters colors at some point).
Overall this was a very fun Omake with a surprising amount of depth and meat to it for an otherwise amusing premise. Excellent job!
…If this is a "Town with No Name" reference then that's impressively subtle. If not, now I have to live with the realization that would actually *fit* into the Outlands.
Anyway, this was a VERY cool Omake! I have to say I love your dedication to doing the LiveALive series in 8-Bit Dystopia. Working with a theme and playing with an already great game gives your Omakes a lot of charm.
I recognize Half-Fast Pete from some Atari game. Pairing him up with Maddog and having their contrasting personalities, and fight styles, honestly makes them a great duo. You did a great job characterizing Pete, who otherwise doesn't have an established personality.
A short, but rather emotional and ominous Omake. I appreciate the tone you've set and the appropriate night time 'feel' of the whole thing. Touching on the running theme of parental neglect/issues feels appropriate. I particularly like the ending. Also, it has a cat in it, and everything is better with a cat!
Writing Sam and Max dialogue is hard, but this was pretty on point! I genuinely laughed at several points and was smiling the whole time reading it. These two nutballs would fit right into the city. The Happy-Happiests are pretty spot on for something they'd encounter in one of their zanny murders, Americana and all. Also, I like the "rabbit uplift(?)" line. As if the setting itself isn't totally sure what the hell Max is.
This was a very dense, satisfying Omake. I'm not particularly familiar with the D&D cRPGs, but I do recognize references to Jagged Alliance, Metal Slug, Metal Gear, and a lot more. All fit connected rather seamlessly. I think you did a good job justifying orcs, etc from the cRPGs in the setting of 8-Bit dystopia. It all works pretty well in the outlands.
Though since D&D is connected to a larger non-video game 'franchise' in a sense, I feel it disqualifies it from really working in 8-Bit Dystopia. Similar to how there's a lot of anime and movie games from the same time period that don't work for similar reasons. However you certainly managed to capture the proper D&D feel, cRPG or not, with your omake!
NEW EXP SPENDING OPTION
I've been thinking of new ways you can all spend EXP, and I came up with what I feel is a satisifying one!
For 1000 EXP, you can request me to draw something. It has to be related to the quest, characters, or at the very least the setting of 8-Bit Dystopia.
I have the right to refuse, or to make stipulations (please don't try to make me draw a mosaic of hands or something torturous like that), but I feel this might be something fun for you to spend your points on at some point~
I'm done with all that now. Expect the next turn in a few days. I'm going to sleep now, someone remind me to update the EXP tracker with all this when I wake up.
