OctarineShrike
Avatar of Mandos
We may also be able to make money off the cubes via distributed computing projects, though we would need somebody to inform us in character that such things exist first.
Like via here: EFF Cooperative Computing Awards
Or here: Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search - PrimeNet, GIMPS Legalese - PrimeNet
Like via here: EFF Cooperative Computing Awards
Or here: Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search - PrimeNet, GIMPS Legalese - PrimeNet
- Location
- a place
Went ahead and dropped the shopping part of Busy day since it's like we're going to get paid much for the Cubes on the same day and we blew all the money we had immediately on us for the Black Knight Armor.
Figure it'll improve the effectiveness of everything else, esp since visiting Shen, martial arts practicing, and help spike+brick train has obvious synergies.
@OctarineShrike @Aabcehmu pinging u 2 in case u want to switch votes.
Figure it'll improve the effectiveness of everything else, esp since visiting Shen, martial arts practicing, and help spike+brick train has obvious synergies.
@OctarineShrike @Aabcehmu pinging u 2 in case u want to switch votes.
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Olivebirdy
mook.
[X] Talk to Helene Schuster (Persephone) about her connection to her card, and what sort of card she'd be willing to trade it for.
Does our brawler trait regenerate on its own at the start of the next arc,should we use it now?
Can we ask for a small designated healing area for us for training and after missions, Given that we are frontline figthers?
Can Constantine bless the same area, with the only positive effect being faster comprehension? Even a minor boost would be great.and wouldnt help any enemies.
The idea is to make a shonen training field by stacking everything we can.
[X]plan shonen training go!
[X]ask shen for a place to train
[X]ask for a Sanctification of Constantine that blesses either comprehension or muscle memory or if that doesnt work stamina for the training Place
[X]ask for a zone of life essence that can heal your muscles for faster gains for the training Place
Can we ask for a small designated healing area for us for training and after missions, Given that we are frontline figthers?
Can Constantine bless the same area, with the only positive effect being faster comprehension? Even a minor boost would be great.and wouldnt help any enemies.
The idea is to make a shonen training field by stacking everything we can.
[X]plan shonen training go!
[X]ask shen for a place to train
[X]ask for a Sanctification of Constantine that blesses either comprehension or muscle memory or if that doesnt work stamina for the training Place
[X]ask for a zone of life essence that can heal your muscles for faster gains for the training Place
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Birdsie
Sharp Talons Cleave The Worthy
- Location
- Poland
That's a clerical error. It's Athena. I wrote that part of the update rather late at night.
OctarineShrike
Avatar of Mandos
I'm going to repost some discord spitballing in the thread.
Hunting for Mersenne primes and various cooperative computing projects has some degree of potential as a moneymaking venture.
www.eff.org
There's also Mersenne Primes here.
www.mersenne.org
Like, we may be able to discover a couple and make some money off the cubes that way, though not as much as via Spike's contacts unless we go big with that EFF award without using GIMPS's software.
Hopefully I'm not overestimating the cubes but a 2 Terahertz equivalent massively parallel processor is apparently a big deal. Even the most extreme overclockers haven't broken 10 Ghz yet.
According to wikipedia the Teraflops for GIMPS is like 1,583.990. Which is significant if I'm understanding how the cubes work correctly and how many flops they might have.
Extrapolating from this old how stuff works article that proposes a cubic centimeter filled with DNA might have 10 terabytes of data and be able to perform 10 trillion calculations at a time, and how a cube has 400 Terabytes of data, a cube has 40 cubic centimeters of computing material. That means 400 trillion calculations simultaneously, if we presume them to be floating point calculations, and treat a cube as having a single 2 terahertz processor, then 2 trillion cycles per second times 400 trillion calculations per cycle gets 8 times 10^26 flops. For reference, a Yottaflop is 1 times 10^24 flops. If we were to hook both of them together and somehow 800 trillion calculations per cycle, we get 1.6 times 10^27 flops. We haven't broken the Zettaflop barrier yet to my knowledge(1 times 10^21 flops)
computer.howstuffworks.com
en.wikipedia.org
But after some digging around, even with potential yottaflops of computing power, the best thing to do is probably sell the cubes to the highest bidder, they can't like... brute force AES-256 or something in a reasonable timeframe and we aren't scientists. Or high frequency stock traders. A terahertz speed trading bot might allow for massive arbitrage opportunities. We'd have to get the cubes connected to the stock exchange though. Dunno if Mephistopheles or the Macnessas could pull that off, but if they could they could probably wreak a lot of havoc, as opposed to more public spirited things like turning the cubes to science.
Hunting for Mersenne primes and various cooperative computing projects has some degree of potential as a moneymaking venture.
EFF Cooperative Computing Awards
Thinking about claiming this award? You MUST read this entire page first! The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the first civil liberties group dedicated to protecting the health and growth of the Internet, is sponsoring cooperative computing awards, with over half a million dollars in prize...
There's also Mersenne Primes here.
GIMPS Legalese - PrimeNet
The Primenet/GIMPS rules, conditions, and terms, including information on the prizes/awards.
Like, we may be able to discover a couple and make some money off the cubes that way, though not as much as via Spike's contacts unless we go big with that EFF award without using GIMPS's software.
Hopefully I'm not overestimating the cubes but a 2 Terahertz equivalent massively parallel processor is apparently a big deal. Even the most extreme overclockers haven't broken 10 Ghz yet.
According to wikipedia the Teraflops for GIMPS is like 1,583.990. Which is significant if I'm understanding how the cubes work correctly and how many flops they might have.
Extrapolating from this old how stuff works article that proposes a cubic centimeter filled with DNA might have 10 terabytes of data and be able to perform 10 trillion calculations at a time, and how a cube has 400 Terabytes of data, a cube has 40 cubic centimeters of computing material. That means 400 trillion calculations simultaneously, if we presume them to be floating point calculations, and treat a cube as having a single 2 terahertz processor, then 2 trillion cycles per second times 400 trillion calculations per cycle gets 8 times 10^26 flops. For reference, a Yottaflop is 1 times 10^24 flops. If we were to hook both of them together and somehow 800 trillion calculations per cycle, we get 1.6 times 10^27 flops. We haven't broken the Zettaflop barrier yet to my knowledge(1 times 10^21 flops)
How DNA Computers Will Work
In your body is more computing power than in any manmade supercomputer. The future of computing bypasses silicon in favor of the far-more-powerful DNA strand, and the possibilities are endless. Learn how DNA could replace the silicon microprocessor.
computer.howstuffworks.com
FLOPS - Wikipedia
But after some digging around, even with potential yottaflops of computing power, the best thing to do is probably sell the cubes to the highest bidder, they can't like... brute force AES-256 or something in a reasonable timeframe and we aren't scientists. Or high frequency stock traders. A terahertz speed trading bot might allow for massive arbitrage opportunities. We'd have to get the cubes connected to the stock exchange though. Dunno if Mephistopheles or the Macnessas could pull that off, but if they could they could probably wreak a lot of havoc, as opposed to more public spirited things like turning the cubes to science.
Chapter 19 - Mourning Aflame
Birdsie
Sharp Talons Cleave The Worthy
- Location
- Poland
Mourning Aflame
Surtr moves from the south
with the scathe of branches:
there shines from his sword
the sun of Gods of the Slain.
---
As with most cases of waking up in the morning, the sixteenth of November was unfun.
After rising in the morning as he usually did and groggily repeating his daily mantra of half-forgotten gardening advice, Zane Li Black walked downstairs to his uncle's restaurant, had breakfast, and then invited his friends and uncle to the dojo so they could practice together.
As with most cases of noon's approach, the sixteenth of November was busy and unfun.
After their collective training session was over and Spike had learned a few more katas and basic attacks with the sword, the boys went to take a fast shower and then went off to school, in order to learn more things none of them were sure would ever prove useful in life. And triply so for Zane Li Black, who simply turned off his thoughts and looked outside the classroom window, reading patterns in the clouds and looking for meaning in the zenith sunlight. Around him, the other students of Midwood sat, attentive and concentrated, blissfully unaware that magicians, gods, and demons in human form walked among their midst, on the streets of New York.
As with most afternoons, the sixteenth of November was exceedingly dull.
After lunch, his classes for the day ended early - at 13:30 - and Zane decided to wait for the others to finish up, a scant forty-five minutes later. All three of them went to the bus stop and returned, and then participated in further trials of martial arts. Or, rather, Brick and Zane sparred against one another while Zane educated him in order to plug up a few holes in his style, while Shen taught Spike how to employ a swift counter-sixte in sword-to-sword combat, whatever that was. Some kind of disarming move. And so, the afternoon passed calmly, crumpled-up water bottles of plastic entering the garbage bin at the edge of the room as they practiced.
"Up. Up. Up. Good! Now - go low. Break the rhythm. One, two, one, three."
Brick huffed with exertion as he practiced basic footwork. It was a woeful mismanagement of the boy's skillset; he could punch alright, and take a few hits without dying or going down, but his footwork had been atrocious. It was the same for most people, honestly.
"When are you actually going to teach me Jeet Kune Do?" Bullets of sweat poured down Brick's forehead.
"Never," Zane said resolutely. "Jeet Kune Do isn't a style. It's a philosophy - a method of combat. It's something you learn for yourself, once your experience of martial arts is broad and deep enough to handle the weight of such an exalted mode of thinking. And lower your damn hips."
He could hear Shen scoffing in amusement from across the room.
As with most evenings recently in Zane's life, something unexpected had to happen.
After an hour, they collectively decided to take a break. Moving back into the restaurant for a quick bite, all four of them were surprised to find that it was devoid of patrons and kitchen staff - a most unusual occurrence, given that Shen's Famous Foods was usually bustling with customers.
"Yo," waved Mephistopheles, sitting near the serving counter.
There was a half-empty bottle of sake next to him on the counter, as well as a shot glass. Another empty bottle was lying down on the floor next to him, clearly having been recently emptied. It was one of the sake brands that Shen's restaurant served to its customers, so it was clear the man had either ordered or demanded alcohol.
Across the room from him, standing with his back against the underlit fish tank, arms folded and glaring, stood the Firestarter: a tall, bulky man dressed in an armored suit of dark obsidian shards, sprouting from one another like a great volcanic design. There was a subtle aura of fire about him, the effect of his Godcard at lower intensity, small spurts and bursts of flame coming into existence like phantasmal heatwaves, singing the wooden floorboards and bubbling the waters of the fish tank, killing its inhabitants. He looked on the brink of berserk rage, simply awaiting the command to go crazy.
It was Spike who reacted immediately, summoning his armor, shield, and sword in a confluence of violet lights. Mephistopheles shivered at the sight of the former and looked away, before laughing frantically, like it was the funniest shit he'd seen.
"Coming here? An interesting way to commit suicide," Spike remarked.
"Threatening me?" Mephistopheles coyly replied, still laughing under his breath. "An interesting way to commit suicide." He snapped his fingers without looking.
As if a black hole appearing from nowhere, in a sudden pop, there was a distortion of rich brown and reddish color in the middle of the dining hall; ruddy streaks coming together to form a vertical vortex the color of parchment cast in sepia, with deep metallic tint and silver-steel outlines cast at its depth. From that nimbus of mature and dark shades, like someone casually stepping through a door and simultaneously fading into existence, came out the man in bronze armor, bearing a khopesh sword. It was the same one they'd seen back at the Conference of Cards. He raised his sword casually, uncombatively, while the odd portal sealed itself behind him.
"If you do not leave, I will call the police," threatened Shen, voice stern despite the circumstances.
"By all means," said Mephistopheles, waving a hand as if giving him permission.
Uncle Shen reached into his pocket, and when he saw the gang leader didn't care, he stopped. "You..."
A dry chuckle came from Mephistopheles who leaned back and turned to address the four of them. "I want to know. Did you suddenly go insane with power? Kicking me in the face, taking down my subordinates, bringing down the police on us... I was completely willing to tolerate that, you know?"
All of his lackeys wore armor and had deadly options for close-range combat, so dashing at them and punching them in the face was, for once, not a good option. How fucking ironic. As Zane regarded the room, he realized they had another card to play here.
"We have the protection of the Wardens," Zane said, hoping that'd put a stop to it.
Instead, Mephistopheles kept talking, as if Zane hadn't said anything, "And then you went and destroyed my warehouse. My goldmine. My precious little place. You had gone far beyond irritating me. You took my fucking kindness and spat it out, shredded into bits. And now the McNessas will fuck everyone. You don't even know how much work you ruined. You arrogant pieces of shit have no idea how far you've swam upriver, against the progress of mankind. Do you know what you are? All three of you - you and that old man? Pests. Parasites. Insects. You are something to be exterminated with extreme, absolute prejudice - or else you will spoil the food supply for everyone else."
His speech concluded, he reached out and grabbed the sake bottle, movement a little wavery. He was drunk, clearly - or at least working his way up there.
As Mephistopheles moved up his mask so he could chug properly, he muttered something, and then loudly declared, to his subordinates as much as to the trio, "It ends here. Start with the old man, I want to watch Black suffer."
The Bronze Warrior leaped forward, sword moved back to be swung freely. Around him, the very air and world bent to the color of his armor, bronze and ruddy streaks radiating out into the air and doing something which, almost, seemed to alter how time worked; he moved fast, like a blur, with maneuverability so extreme it couldn't have been simply enhanced agility. Hesitant but willing, Brick ripped off a wooden coat rack from its wall and then ran to meet him, engaging in melee combat.
The first swing of the khopesh severed Brick's impromptu weapon, and its second follow-up nearly bisected him; it would have been fatal had Brick not kicked back to evade right on time, applying the footwork that Zane had drilled into him only a few minutes prior. It wasn't enough; the Bronze Warrior pushed, and Brick had no option except to apply evasive maneuvers and hope for salvation to come, unable to strike due to lesser reach, but also not letting the Warrior properly disengage thanks to his own speed.
At the same time, the Firestarter didn't bother approaching Spike to fight him in melee, perhaps understanding it was a fool's process. Instead, he surrounded himself in a blazing corona of unnatural flame, the floorboards steadily blackening, the fishtank glass behind him warping as steam came out in pouring waves. As his aura developed and expanded, consuming a good fourth of the room at its center in a wide radius, swallowing up tables, he finally moved; cleaving motions of an ephemeral blade of battered dark flame, which sent forth waves of fire in their direction. Spike absorbed those with his shield as much as he could, but heat washed over Zane's face anyhow.
Soon after, moments or breaths after the combat's beginning, Mephistopheles finished up his flask of sake and slapped down a few dollars on the counter. Swaying drunkenly, he walked over in Zane and Shen's direction with hostile intent and impressive swagger.
"Let's fight, Black," he slurred, to Zane's incomprehension. "You're always so eager to do that, aren't you?"
"Fuck it then. Let's-" Before he could finish, Mephistopheles had closed the distance in a sudden dash and punched him in the face, powerfully enough that Zane was forced to stumble back, cheek blazing with sudden pain. Around him, the world blurred into dim awareness. He could feel his back hitting the wall, his knees flexing forcefully to keep him standing upright, but it was hard to think - the punch was so strong and precise it had discombobulated him. It wasn't a wholly unfamiliar sensation.
At that moment, Shen took over the fight, stepping in, but as he started to unleash a wild barrage of punches, Mephistopheles stepped back, neatly dodging each one, before finally catching Shen's wrists in his hands, putting down his foot on the old man's to lock off his ability to kick, and then squeezing down.
There was a series of pops, as Shen's wrists shattered. His uncle didn't scream or cry out, but his face scrunched up in liquid agony.
Mephistopheles let him go, put down his palm on Shen's chest, and pushed him into the wall, right next to Zane. Right as Zane recovered, even, and stepped back in to fight.
"You can't fight me, Black. I've been in this business much longer than you."
Mephistopheles was unpredictable. Aside from being partially drunk, Zane didn't even recognize his fighting style - it seemed almost like an eclectic combination of fighting styles, picked apart for their greatest values and smashed together into a cohesive thing. Almost like Jeet Kune Do, but not quite. And it was intermixed with clear displays of superhuman might and speed; Zane was clueless as to how Mephistopheles might have acquired that kind of power.
Maybe it was a recent development, from after the full moon?
After testing his opponent's reach and footwork - and finding both immaculate, perfect; on par with a world-class martial artist with decades of expertise and instinctive prodigious mastery of every art - Zane was forced to retreat, launching a couple of furtive blows to deter him. Soon, they found themselves in the kitchen, fighting. It was like Zane's brawl against Spike. The difference here was that Mephistopheles wasn't holding back his full strength and he was far more skilled. And he was also playing around, toying with Zane, like a cat playing with a mouse.
"I should have killed you sooner," Mephistopheles said, kicking Zane in the groin. It was so powerful that, even stepping back in a manner that mitigated the force, Zane almost doubled over. "It'd have been better for everyone." He kicked again, and Zane landed on his knees. He attempted to shield himself, but it was too late.
Mephistopheles raised a hand, pressed his palm flat, and then struck at the collarbone cleft, a blow so precise it caused liquefied, nervous electricity to run down Zane's entire arm, numbing it so utterly that it sagged and dropped before he could raise it properly.
Zane opened his mouth to the ceiling; a silent cry of pain, too choked to utter it properly.
"Look at you. Working so hard to inconvenience me."
Uncle Shen wasn't in any state to fight. He'd been disabled and was sitting in the corner, breathing heavily and observing the events with wide eyes. There was fear in him.
Mephistopheles rested his hands on Zane's shoulders, like a father might have done with a son going off for college; and he slowly almost caressingly brought them up. He closed them both around Zane's neck, hatred and malice causing his arms to shake. His fingers pressed down like iron bars, with unlimited strength. "I will savor this-"
All of a sudden, a length of chain snapped out from the storefront, past the dark smoke of the Firestarter, and closed around Mephistopheles' throat. Choking, resisting, he was forced to let go of Zane's throat and move back. He soon found the chain didn't feed through the busted-open kitchen door, but the counter. There wasn't enough space or leverage for Mephistopheles to properly pry himself loose, or to keep moving back to whoever launched the chain at him.
Suddenly, he disappeared, chain clattering with a loud noise. At the same time, Zane laughed, seized, wracked, coughed, wracked, and laughed again.
And then, he could hear a familiar voice, "Some-"
The doors of the restaurant were kicked open, as Johnny Buddha stepped in.
"-body once told me, the world is gonna roll me!"
Before passing out from the moderate asphyxiation via strangling, as well as the profuse amounts of smoke embedded in the air, the last thing that Zane witnessed with his blurry eyes, was Johnny Buddha picking up his length of chain and using it as a whip to smack the Firestarter in the face.
---
Absolutely ridiculous. After acquiring maybe as much as a hundred thousand dollars (maybe way, way more,) from the upcoming sale of the Osteotronic Cubes, all of it will now be gone on hospital bills for oxygen and a plastic mask... Woe is you! Currently, you have 12.7 Ambrosia. This chapter is the second-last of this Arc (or maybe the last, depending on what you pick.)
It would have probably been rather more prudent to expect this occurrence. It's fortunate that you had the infallible Johnny Buddha on your side - a guy who apparently uses an iron chain as his go-to weapon.
After Zane fell unconscious, what happened?
[ ] Why Must We Fall [+14 Ambrosia]
As a result of his asphyxiation (partially caused by the Firestarter's supernatural smoke), Zane enters a comatose state in which not even the magic of the Wardens can properly heal. After a week has passed, Persephone makes sufficient progress in suffusing his body with life essence that slowly, groggily, he comes back to life. Narrowly.
Mephistopheles applies steady pressure on Shen's business, the insurance companies denying any payment for the damages. As a result, Shen's livelihood and passion are slightly damaged, although not 'in shambles.' His wrists are healed.
At the same time, Spike and Brick moderately progress in combat skill and integrate more with the Wardens.
*The next story Arc is a hospital recovery side-Arc. It won't be particularly long (expectation: less than 5 chapters.)
*Damn, that's a lot of 'brosia.
[ ] The World Ends With You
There is no recovery Arc because there is no time for such nonsensical bullshit. After getting patched up and healed with Persephone's life imbuement, Zane awakens, stands up like a man, and life continues as normal - if slightly more chaotic, given the development of recent events across the city.
*Enter the next Arc as normal, aside from a minor case of persistent migraines.
*Mephistopheles wants you deader than a rat, he's willing to pursue this thread of action to a point almost beyond logic, and you don't even have a Godcard of your own to use. Uh... Good luck?
[ ] Eternal Garden Truth
You are more than a mere God. You are Human.
And the ultimate expressive principle of human emotion, at its negative valence axis, is spite. It's spite alone. And what is spite, if not calamitous hatred married to noble determination, in a union of eternal darkness and infinite light; beauty and fervor, ugly and spineless?
A mystery lies in the world beyond and future, ready to be seized, its fruits waiting to be plucked, its grasses prepared to be harvested into oats of wisdom and power. All of its glory in your fist concentrated, shall bloom into a vigorous blow that shatters the foundations of these lesser faiths. And in the ashes of that conflagration, the blooming hunger and spite of your human spirit, only the basic truth of the universe will remain.
*Have you ever made a deal with the devil? With the entity whom many call the Adversary? If you pick this option, you shall.
*Grants a power of broad remit, beyond the scope of the Godcards, or this world.
*It's possible you may have to sacrifice something essential in the process. It might be something you care about. And you'll know the truth of your sacrifice - sleeping awake, and moving still for eons after, you will find that its haunting memory is where the power comes from. There is no victory in mere "strength."
*Radically alters the Quest and its progression/future plot.
*Also radically increases the difficulty. I'll be completely honest: if you pick this, you are likely - even expected, maybe - to die or perish or lose in some manner. It's inevitable.
*But if you win? Holy shit.
[ ] Death
You die.
*Ends the Quest.
*Pretty simple.
*Recommended for new players.
Surtr moves from the south
with the scathe of branches:
there shines from his sword
the sun of Gods of the Slain.
---
As with most cases of waking up in the morning, the sixteenth of November was unfun.
After rising in the morning as he usually did and groggily repeating his daily mantra of half-forgotten gardening advice, Zane Li Black walked downstairs to his uncle's restaurant, had breakfast, and then invited his friends and uncle to the dojo so they could practice together.
As with most cases of noon's approach, the sixteenth of November was busy and unfun.
After their collective training session was over and Spike had learned a few more katas and basic attacks with the sword, the boys went to take a fast shower and then went off to school, in order to learn more things none of them were sure would ever prove useful in life. And triply so for Zane Li Black, who simply turned off his thoughts and looked outside the classroom window, reading patterns in the clouds and looking for meaning in the zenith sunlight. Around him, the other students of Midwood sat, attentive and concentrated, blissfully unaware that magicians, gods, and demons in human form walked among their midst, on the streets of New York.
As with most afternoons, the sixteenth of November was exceedingly dull.
After lunch, his classes for the day ended early - at 13:30 - and Zane decided to wait for the others to finish up, a scant forty-five minutes later. All three of them went to the bus stop and returned, and then participated in further trials of martial arts. Or, rather, Brick and Zane sparred against one another while Zane educated him in order to plug up a few holes in his style, while Shen taught Spike how to employ a swift counter-sixte in sword-to-sword combat, whatever that was. Some kind of disarming move. And so, the afternoon passed calmly, crumpled-up water bottles of plastic entering the garbage bin at the edge of the room as they practiced.
"Up. Up. Up. Good! Now - go low. Break the rhythm. One, two, one, three."
Brick huffed with exertion as he practiced basic footwork. It was a woeful mismanagement of the boy's skillset; he could punch alright, and take a few hits without dying or going down, but his footwork had been atrocious. It was the same for most people, honestly.
"When are you actually going to teach me Jeet Kune Do?" Bullets of sweat poured down Brick's forehead.
"Never," Zane said resolutely. "Jeet Kune Do isn't a style. It's a philosophy - a method of combat. It's something you learn for yourself, once your experience of martial arts is broad and deep enough to handle the weight of such an exalted mode of thinking. And lower your damn hips."
He could hear Shen scoffing in amusement from across the room.
As with most evenings recently in Zane's life, something unexpected had to happen.
After an hour, they collectively decided to take a break. Moving back into the restaurant for a quick bite, all four of them were surprised to find that it was devoid of patrons and kitchen staff - a most unusual occurrence, given that Shen's Famous Foods was usually bustling with customers.
"Yo," waved Mephistopheles, sitting near the serving counter.
There was a half-empty bottle of sake next to him on the counter, as well as a shot glass. Another empty bottle was lying down on the floor next to him, clearly having been recently emptied. It was one of the sake brands that Shen's restaurant served to its customers, so it was clear the man had either ordered or demanded alcohol.
Across the room from him, standing with his back against the underlit fish tank, arms folded and glaring, stood the Firestarter: a tall, bulky man dressed in an armored suit of dark obsidian shards, sprouting from one another like a great volcanic design. There was a subtle aura of fire about him, the effect of his Godcard at lower intensity, small spurts and bursts of flame coming into existence like phantasmal heatwaves, singing the wooden floorboards and bubbling the waters of the fish tank, killing its inhabitants. He looked on the brink of berserk rage, simply awaiting the command to go crazy.
It was Spike who reacted immediately, summoning his armor, shield, and sword in a confluence of violet lights. Mephistopheles shivered at the sight of the former and looked away, before laughing frantically, like it was the funniest shit he'd seen.
"Coming here? An interesting way to commit suicide," Spike remarked.
"Threatening me?" Mephistopheles coyly replied, still laughing under his breath. "An interesting way to commit suicide." He snapped his fingers without looking.
As if a black hole appearing from nowhere, in a sudden pop, there was a distortion of rich brown and reddish color in the middle of the dining hall; ruddy streaks coming together to form a vertical vortex the color of parchment cast in sepia, with deep metallic tint and silver-steel outlines cast at its depth. From that nimbus of mature and dark shades, like someone casually stepping through a door and simultaneously fading into existence, came out the man in bronze armor, bearing a khopesh sword. It was the same one they'd seen back at the Conference of Cards. He raised his sword casually, uncombatively, while the odd portal sealed itself behind him.
"If you do not leave, I will call the police," threatened Shen, voice stern despite the circumstances.
"By all means," said Mephistopheles, waving a hand as if giving him permission.
Uncle Shen reached into his pocket, and when he saw the gang leader didn't care, he stopped. "You..."
A dry chuckle came from Mephistopheles who leaned back and turned to address the four of them. "I want to know. Did you suddenly go insane with power? Kicking me in the face, taking down my subordinates, bringing down the police on us... I was completely willing to tolerate that, you know?"
All of his lackeys wore armor and had deadly options for close-range combat, so dashing at them and punching them in the face was, for once, not a good option. How fucking ironic. As Zane regarded the room, he realized they had another card to play here.
"We have the protection of the Wardens," Zane said, hoping that'd put a stop to it.
Instead, Mephistopheles kept talking, as if Zane hadn't said anything, "And then you went and destroyed my warehouse. My goldmine. My precious little place. You had gone far beyond irritating me. You took my fucking kindness and spat it out, shredded into bits. And now the McNessas will fuck everyone. You don't even know how much work you ruined. You arrogant pieces of shit have no idea how far you've swam upriver, against the progress of mankind. Do you know what you are? All three of you - you and that old man? Pests. Parasites. Insects. You are something to be exterminated with extreme, absolute prejudice - or else you will spoil the food supply for everyone else."
His speech concluded, he reached out and grabbed the sake bottle, movement a little wavery. He was drunk, clearly - or at least working his way up there.
As Mephistopheles moved up his mask so he could chug properly, he muttered something, and then loudly declared, to his subordinates as much as to the trio, "It ends here. Start with the old man, I want to watch Black suffer."
The Bronze Warrior leaped forward, sword moved back to be swung freely. Around him, the very air and world bent to the color of his armor, bronze and ruddy streaks radiating out into the air and doing something which, almost, seemed to alter how time worked; he moved fast, like a blur, with maneuverability so extreme it couldn't have been simply enhanced agility. Hesitant but willing, Brick ripped off a wooden coat rack from its wall and then ran to meet him, engaging in melee combat.
The first swing of the khopesh severed Brick's impromptu weapon, and its second follow-up nearly bisected him; it would have been fatal had Brick not kicked back to evade right on time, applying the footwork that Zane had drilled into him only a few minutes prior. It wasn't enough; the Bronze Warrior pushed, and Brick had no option except to apply evasive maneuvers and hope for salvation to come, unable to strike due to lesser reach, but also not letting the Warrior properly disengage thanks to his own speed.
At the same time, the Firestarter didn't bother approaching Spike to fight him in melee, perhaps understanding it was a fool's process. Instead, he surrounded himself in a blazing corona of unnatural flame, the floorboards steadily blackening, the fishtank glass behind him warping as steam came out in pouring waves. As his aura developed and expanded, consuming a good fourth of the room at its center in a wide radius, swallowing up tables, he finally moved; cleaving motions of an ephemeral blade of battered dark flame, which sent forth waves of fire in their direction. Spike absorbed those with his shield as much as he could, but heat washed over Zane's face anyhow.
Soon after, moments or breaths after the combat's beginning, Mephistopheles finished up his flask of sake and slapped down a few dollars on the counter. Swaying drunkenly, he walked over in Zane and Shen's direction with hostile intent and impressive swagger.
"Let's fight, Black," he slurred, to Zane's incomprehension. "You're always so eager to do that, aren't you?"
"Fuck it then. Let's-" Before he could finish, Mephistopheles had closed the distance in a sudden dash and punched him in the face, powerfully enough that Zane was forced to stumble back, cheek blazing with sudden pain. Around him, the world blurred into dim awareness. He could feel his back hitting the wall, his knees flexing forcefully to keep him standing upright, but it was hard to think - the punch was so strong and precise it had discombobulated him. It wasn't a wholly unfamiliar sensation.
At that moment, Shen took over the fight, stepping in, but as he started to unleash a wild barrage of punches, Mephistopheles stepped back, neatly dodging each one, before finally catching Shen's wrists in his hands, putting down his foot on the old man's to lock off his ability to kick, and then squeezing down.
There was a series of pops, as Shen's wrists shattered. His uncle didn't scream or cry out, but his face scrunched up in liquid agony.
Mephistopheles let him go, put down his palm on Shen's chest, and pushed him into the wall, right next to Zane. Right as Zane recovered, even, and stepped back in to fight.
"You can't fight me, Black. I've been in this business much longer than you."
Mephistopheles was unpredictable. Aside from being partially drunk, Zane didn't even recognize his fighting style - it seemed almost like an eclectic combination of fighting styles, picked apart for their greatest values and smashed together into a cohesive thing. Almost like Jeet Kune Do, but not quite. And it was intermixed with clear displays of superhuman might and speed; Zane was clueless as to how Mephistopheles might have acquired that kind of power.
Maybe it was a recent development, from after the full moon?
After testing his opponent's reach and footwork - and finding both immaculate, perfect; on par with a world-class martial artist with decades of expertise and instinctive prodigious mastery of every art - Zane was forced to retreat, launching a couple of furtive blows to deter him. Soon, they found themselves in the kitchen, fighting. It was like Zane's brawl against Spike. The difference here was that Mephistopheles wasn't holding back his full strength and he was far more skilled. And he was also playing around, toying with Zane, like a cat playing with a mouse.
"I should have killed you sooner," Mephistopheles said, kicking Zane in the groin. It was so powerful that, even stepping back in a manner that mitigated the force, Zane almost doubled over. "It'd have been better for everyone." He kicked again, and Zane landed on his knees. He attempted to shield himself, but it was too late.
Mephistopheles raised a hand, pressed his palm flat, and then struck at the collarbone cleft, a blow so precise it caused liquefied, nervous electricity to run down Zane's entire arm, numbing it so utterly that it sagged and dropped before he could raise it properly.
Zane opened his mouth to the ceiling; a silent cry of pain, too choked to utter it properly.
"Look at you. Working so hard to inconvenience me."
Uncle Shen wasn't in any state to fight. He'd been disabled and was sitting in the corner, breathing heavily and observing the events with wide eyes. There was fear in him.
Mephistopheles rested his hands on Zane's shoulders, like a father might have done with a son going off for college; and he slowly almost caressingly brought them up. He closed them both around Zane's neck, hatred and malice causing his arms to shake. His fingers pressed down like iron bars, with unlimited strength. "I will savor this-"
All of a sudden, a length of chain snapped out from the storefront, past the dark smoke of the Firestarter, and closed around Mephistopheles' throat. Choking, resisting, he was forced to let go of Zane's throat and move back. He soon found the chain didn't feed through the busted-open kitchen door, but the counter. There wasn't enough space or leverage for Mephistopheles to properly pry himself loose, or to keep moving back to whoever launched the chain at him.
Suddenly, he disappeared, chain clattering with a loud noise. At the same time, Zane laughed, seized, wracked, coughed, wracked, and laughed again.
And then, he could hear a familiar voice, "Some-"
The doors of the restaurant were kicked open, as Johnny Buddha stepped in.
"-body once told me, the world is gonna roll me!"
Before passing out from the moderate asphyxiation via strangling, as well as the profuse amounts of smoke embedded in the air, the last thing that Zane witnessed with his blurry eyes, was Johnny Buddha picking up his length of chain and using it as a whip to smack the Firestarter in the face.
---
Absolutely ridiculous. After acquiring maybe as much as a hundred thousand dollars (maybe way, way more,) from the upcoming sale of the Osteotronic Cubes, all of it will now be gone on hospital bills for oxygen and a plastic mask... Woe is you! Currently, you have 12.7 Ambrosia. This chapter is the second-last of this Arc (or maybe the last, depending on what you pick.)
It would have probably been rather more prudent to expect this occurrence. It's fortunate that you had the infallible Johnny Buddha on your side - a guy who apparently uses an iron chain as his go-to weapon.
After Zane fell unconscious, what happened?
[ ] Why Must We Fall [+14 Ambrosia]
As a result of his asphyxiation (partially caused by the Firestarter's supernatural smoke), Zane enters a comatose state in which not even the magic of the Wardens can properly heal. After a week has passed, Persephone makes sufficient progress in suffusing his body with life essence that slowly, groggily, he comes back to life. Narrowly.
Mephistopheles applies steady pressure on Shen's business, the insurance companies denying any payment for the damages. As a result, Shen's livelihood and passion are slightly damaged, although not 'in shambles.' His wrists are healed.
At the same time, Spike and Brick moderately progress in combat skill and integrate more with the Wardens.
*The next story Arc is a hospital recovery side-Arc. It won't be particularly long (expectation: less than 5 chapters.)
*Damn, that's a lot of 'brosia.
[ ] The World Ends With You
There is no recovery Arc because there is no time for such nonsensical bullshit. After getting patched up and healed with Persephone's life imbuement, Zane awakens, stands up like a man, and life continues as normal - if slightly more chaotic, given the development of recent events across the city.
*Enter the next Arc as normal, aside from a minor case of persistent migraines.
*Mephistopheles wants you deader than a rat, he's willing to pursue this thread of action to a point almost beyond logic, and you don't even have a Godcard of your own to use. Uh... Good luck?
[ ] Eternal Garden Truth
You are more than a mere God. You are Human.
And the ultimate expressive principle of human emotion, at its negative valence axis, is spite. It's spite alone. And what is spite, if not calamitous hatred married to noble determination, in a union of eternal darkness and infinite light; beauty and fervor, ugly and spineless?
A mystery lies in the world beyond and future, ready to be seized, its fruits waiting to be plucked, its grasses prepared to be harvested into oats of wisdom and power. All of its glory in your fist concentrated, shall bloom into a vigorous blow that shatters the foundations of these lesser faiths. And in the ashes of that conflagration, the blooming hunger and spite of your human spirit, only the basic truth of the universe will remain.
*Have you ever made a deal with the devil? With the entity whom many call the Adversary? If you pick this option, you shall.
*Grants a power of broad remit, beyond the scope of the Godcards, or this world.
*It's possible you may have to sacrifice something essential in the process. It might be something you care about. And you'll know the truth of your sacrifice - sleeping awake, and moving still for eons after, you will find that its haunting memory is where the power comes from. There is no victory in mere "strength."
*Radically alters the Quest and its progression/future plot.
*Also radically increases the difficulty. I'll be completely honest: if you pick this, you are likely - even expected, maybe - to die or perish or lose in some manner. It's inevitable.
*But if you win? Holy shit.
[ ] Death
You die.
*Ends the Quest.
*Pretty simple.
*Recommended for new players.
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Oh ho ho, don't think you're getting off that easy Birdsie. Just because I've been pre-occupied with alot of school things and haven't had time to read doesn't mean you'll be pulling a sly one over ole' Duckie here.
OctarineShrike
Avatar of Mandos
Well. I can't believe none of us thought about personal security/defensibility against counter attacks beyond Johnny Buddha, myself included. Also that none of us considered the possibility Mephistopheles might actually have had sensible goals. Let's hope he was talking out his you know what.
On another note, if we can get a suitably close connection to the stock exchange for high frequency trading with the Cubes, and commission Hephaestus to write a High frequency trading bot... we'd have the financial equivalent to the Death Star in the cubes. The government might even have to step in and ban high frequency trading.
It might be a bit late for that though given our injuries/the impending cube sale. Also we'd need somebody to explain the concept of High Frequency Trading to us.
On another note, if we can get a suitably close connection to the stock exchange for high frequency trading with the Cubes, and commission Hephaestus to write a High frequency trading bot... we'd have the financial equivalent to the Death Star in the cubes. The government might even have to step in and ban high frequency trading.
It might be a bit late for that though given our injuries/the impending cube sale. Also we'd need somebody to explain the concept of High Frequency Trading to us.
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So, I'll just ask since this probably shouldn't be spoilers-
@Birdsie is the Eternal Garden Truth option the reward you mentioned for staying cardless? Or is it something else to be offered in the future/mutually exclusive with this option?
I still think that option is really interesting though.
@Birdsie is the Eternal Garden Truth option the reward you mentioned for staying cardless? Or is it something else to be offered in the future/mutually exclusive with this option?
I still think that option is really interesting though.
Birdsie
Sharp Talons Cleave The Worthy
- Location
- Poland
It's not the reward. The reward shall come of its own source, if you do remain Cardless.
- Location
- Ostren
[X] Why Must We Fall
OctarineShrike
Avatar of Mandos
[X] Why Must We Fall
- Location
- a place
[X] Eternal Garden Truth
Pursing the truth in mask was a really extremely great story, and I'm getting similar vibes with this. Plus, we've already seem the power of being human in the last one, haven't we?
Pursing the truth in mask was a really extremely great story, and I'm getting similar vibes with this. Plus, we've already seem the power of being human in the last one, haven't we?
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OctarineShrike
Avatar of Mandos
Indecisiveness
[x]The World Ends with You
[x]The World Ends with You
- Location
- Abu Dhabi or Manila depending on the time of year
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Eternal Garden Truth
ThatGuyWithIdeas
Treize died for our sins
- Location
- Romania
[X] Death
Aabcehmu
Confusion as a Natural State of Being
- Location
- Aurora, CO
- Pronouns
- Any/All
[X] Eternal Garden Truth
Sara provided a compelling argument for why this option is likely to be receiving the power of Reine Magd from the Lotus Maiden, who is broadly aligned with good, and who I'm definitely down for making a deal with.
Sara provided a compelling argument for why this option is likely to be receiving the power of Reine Magd from the Lotus Maiden, who is broadly aligned with good, and who I'm definitely down for making a deal with.
