Your name is Jaune Arc, and when you built your sword, it asked you to do one thing.
{Don't let go.}
A RWBY/Transistor (read: RWBY/really just the entirety of Supergiant's catalogue in some way, shape, or form at this point) quest. I don't, really know what else to put here, I just read the Thread Header update post, saw the word 'mandatory,' and panic-made this.
Usually updates on a Sunday. Not, every Sunday, just, on a Sunday.
Your name is Jaune Arc. You're 16 years old, going on 17, and you're about to face your final test of Signal Academy.
By which I mean, you're in the waiting room just before your final test of Signal Academy. You and your entire class have been in this room, waiting for about… 3 hours now?
You've no idea, your Scroll gave up the ghost a while ago. Shame, really, you were doing so well at Glyphstory. You're fairly sure half your opponents were people in here, and some of your wins were just downright embarrassing for them. Then again, winning most of the pre-game rock-paper-scissors matches got you first choice of faction, and you always were better at playing the Grimm units. And even when you lost, bias usually gave you them anyway.
Not much love for Grimm players.
You suppose, as a Hunter in training, you should understand why that is, but still… you sigh quietly to yourself as, without really intending to, you cast your thoughts back to the first time your… Semblance, you suppose, manifested itself.
Ah, allow me to paint a picture of the root of your worry;
It was a clear evening, about, what, seven years ago? Yeah, around that, you think. good enough for the purposes of your recounting, anyway. The sun was low in the sky, slowly going from eye-searing white to orange to red, the sky turning purple above you, the moon and its remnants just barely visible elsewhere as day turned to dusk, then to darkness.
It was a cold sun, the temperature low enough to just see your breath if you weren't parched, but you and Jasmine were quite happy to be outside regardless. You were walking home from the park, chatting away to your sister about nothing and everything in particular, and then you both simultaneously, but independently, realised you had wandered down an alley you didn't know. Even for Arc children, that was a nono. It didn't take long for a couple of the less reputable elements- two guys and a girl, around high school age but obviously not too interested in their education, to come up and talk about tolls. Specifically, the toll for using this street.
100 Lien each.
Translation- 'we saw you two, the 10-year-old boy and the 8-year-old girl, and decided you would be great for mugging practice.'
Yeah. They were those kinds of asshole.
When your sister, catching on to their game faster than you, mentioned that you didn't have any Lien- which you didn't, you'd used it at a vending machine for drinks and snacks- they didn't seem to care about that too much. No, instead they just called you both shitfaced little liars and started screaming something about respect while pushing and shoving your sister about, instead of you.
You tried to help her, grab her and run, fight them off, do something, but the girl's boot came for your face-
The world shatters. A thousand paths explode forth from this exact moment.
Yggdrasil has flowered. Pick your bloom.
[] Marked. (Mark of The Outsider, Dishonored)
[] Rebirth. (Link, Legend Of Zelda) The Hero Lives On In You. As You. As He Has Before. His Mark Adorns Your Left Hand Already. [X] Start() (The Transistor, from, er, Transistor) "... Hey. Look, whatever you're thinking, do me a favour; don't let go."
[] Wraith. (Not-Celebrimbor, Shadow Of Mordor) Their Minds Will Be Forfeit.
[] North Star.(Hokuto No Ken- Shin Ken- Whatever Ken, Fist Of The North Star.) ... What? If the name doesn't give it away, I don't think I can help you here. [] Vox DeusVox DeiVerbum Dei THE WORD OF GOD FROM PREACHER I'M BAD AT LATIN OK [] Pillar. (Pillar Man, JoJo) You Have No Masters To Awaken.
[] Spiral. (Spiral Power, TTGL) Every Moment, Every Second, We Move Forward. Like A Drill.
[] aberrant (Aberration, The Zombie Knight)SOUL GLUTTON. HOW DARE YOU BLIGHT THIS WORLD WITH YOUR PRESENCE.
[] Ten Meti.(Disciple Of Meti, Kill Six Billion Demons.) Is The Violent Breath Of Life In You Not Hot? Exhale! Exult! [] 100%. (Shigeo Kageyama, "Mob," Mob Psycho 100)
Adhoc vote count started by Prok on Aug 27, 2017 at 6:27 PM, finished with 120 posts and 38 votes.
[x] Start() "... Hey. Look, whatever you're thinking, do me a favour; don't let go."
Higher-Order Calculation, in the most bare-bones terms, grants Jaune the ability to grasp mathematical concepts far beyond Remnant's current knowledge base, and from there, pretty much everything else. You are, for lack of a better comparison, a poor Tony Stark.
On top of this, it works by itself as a sort of... virtual machine. It will take in questions that Jaune doesn't even realise he's asking, and eventually give him answers, one in the form of the Transistor, the other in the form of the Process. It is reliant on the processing power at Jaune's natural disposal- namely, his brain. Overuse of Calculation causes, at best migraines, at worst, possibly fatal aneurysms. With the advent of the Transistor, this is mitigated due to the connection between the two. Once the Process was brought into existence, this part simply... shut down. It's done.
That's not to say you don't still suffer from migraines if pushed too far or disconnected from your second brain for too long. Should you ever be disconnected from the Transistor for any reason, you have maybe an hour before migraines settle in properly, and another hour after that before it becomes too much for you to function normally. That's assuming you're actually somewhere fairly quiet, mind.
Function Use is a subset of Transistor assisted-Calculation and is the act of altering the world around you through sets of code known as Functions, hence the name. On a smaller scale, this is, for the most part, a purely combat-based skill- most Functions are used to fight, kill, and destroy any enemies in the way of the user. While some Functions work purely for utility purposes, they are much rarer than those meant for battle. The main limit on Function Use is processing power- you are essentially creating and manipulating pure energy and matter through the power of code alone. Working that kind of math purely on a human brain will inevitably lead to either a fatal aneurysm or a backfire, leading to... very undesirable consequences. Hence, the use of a focus- The Transistor.
Inventory
War Gear:
Head: Nada. You are perfectly domeable.
Torso/Arms: One (1) black suit jacket, One (1) white vest, One (1) black shirt, One (1) red tie, and steel/ceramic chest plate, and One (1) Formshift armpiece. Damn sight better than that 3D printed stuff. (Overall Armour Durability: 9. Overall Armour Malus: Level 2 Harm (Kinetics)
Legs: One (1) pair of white dress trousers. {God help you if you eat anything with marinara.} Two (2) thick leather belts. No armoured pieces.
Weapon (main): The Transistor. {Hey.} (Base Attack (Melee)- 2. Traits: Heavy Attack-Exclusive, Blunt, Artillery Piece. Base Attack (Functions)- See Functions Threadmark for more information.)
Weapon (offhand(ha)): Zero Hour- A formshift gauntlet that unfolds into a kite shield with razor-sharp edges. Semi-named for the computing science concept of a Zero-Day vulnerability. (Base Attack- 2. Traits: Melee-only, Defensive, Bladed, Formshift.)
General:
DOSH: 6,400 Lien.
One (1) Scroll- The main form of digital communication in Remnant, bar the CCTS. If you could run the OS on your Transistor, you'd drop this thing in a heartbeat.
One (1) Wallet- ID, bank card, physical medical papers in case somebody doesn't take a PDF version for some reason. Don't lose this!
One (1) Æther Dust Crystal- A gift from Penny. Converted into a night lamp by your sister. Currently on top of your nightstand.
One (1) Full Set Of Medical Supplies- A well-equipped bag of general first-aid supplies, plus a can of Bleedstop and an antitoxin kit, all packed away within a hip bag roughly the same size as your head. Barely used.
Achievements
Do something stupid? That's an achievement. Do something awesome? That's an achievement. Do something so unexpected I have to start improvising storylines from whole cloth or throw others out the window? That is, in fact, an achievement. (Please do not aim for that achievement.)
This Is A One-Party Quest: Win a vote unanimously, eliminating all opposition in your way. Winner/General Secretary Of The State- DreamerGhost
Full House!: Grab a team of four people and keep them all alive until the end of the exam. Somehow, this achievement was easier for an armed combat test than it was for my final maths exam.
Almost-Superman: Don't fall below half Aura for an entire combat scene.
I- you- HOW ON EARTH-: Roll a nat 20 to an opponent's nat 1 and pull off something dumb as shit in the process.
WE'RE NUMBER FIVE! WE'RE NUMBER FIVE!: Place in the top six of Signal's final combat exam. It's joint first, but not first first.
: Grab the Process several months early by getting a crit roll after the GM gives you a bonus in the same damn update.
so functions are his semblance and the sword is like a wand from Harry potter to channel his power through any way we can train ourselves to use them without fucking ourself over.
You could, but to continue my streak of moronic similes, that would be like taking Muhammad Ali, bless his soul, tying his hands behind his back, and telling him to train until he could beat down Joe Frazier solely by headbutting him. It's stupid, it's a waste of time, and it's limiting you in the worst way possible, and by God, I'd pay good money to see it.
Your best bet? Don't let that USB drive for the soul out of your sight for a goddamned minute if you can.
The North Star option, had it won, would have given Jaune a very mild understanding of Hokuto Shinken, from Fist Of The North Star.
Hokuto Shinken in a nutshell- You hit people in certain places. People explode. Usually messily.
A martial art meant for assassination, as it turns out, when it isn't curing the blind and mute and making people forget things, because Messiah figures amirite, doesn't really have an effective non-lethal option when it comes to actual, no element of surprise combat. Which, considering you're going to a combat school, where you're not supposed to kill your fellow students yet, doesn't bode well.
Based solely on the personality I seem to have given its asides?
Bill Wurtz.
Anyway, have an update that kinda got away from me.
|||
You remember what happened next... almost too vividly, for your liking.
The foot came for your face, you flinched, and then the impact you were expecting never came.
You saw flashes of something on your eyelids, something you now realise was an accidental, and somewhat primitive, version of your Turn() Function. You remember cracking your eyes open ever so slightly and seeing the world in grey and white.
Somehow, your brain, and it was your brain, or your soul, or something, was showing you everything at such a rate that it looked like time had stopped. You remember thinking that was your Semblance, that you could somehow stop time and do whatever.
... You weren't a very smart child, in retrospect.
You remember planning exactly how to grab your sister and get out of there- dodge the boot, weave around the goth girl, grab your sister from between the guys, and run like hell. You ignored the headache just planning it out caused you, and when you finally moved...
Well, you passed out with a nosebleed and woke in hospital two days later. Turns out, Turn(), minus your lovely sword, equals your brain performing a nice impression of cauliflower soup.
{You ok?}
You glance down at the glowing blue supercomputer in question, and hum mildly in response.
"Mm-hm."
{Hey, come on. Getting wrapped up in your thoughts isn't going to help us now.}
"Class 5C?" A small woman with a vaguely Mistralian accent appeared and calls out before you can respond to the AI. The conversations die silent deaths, scrolls are put away, and everyone eventually turns to face her.
"Ah, I apologise for the wait, but we're ready for you now. If you would follow me?"
Gods yes. Making it out of this room was slowly becoming the number one priority of most of your class, and now you have your way out. It's no wonder people almost rush the poor woman. You follow her through halls and corridors until you reach a set of giant double doors made of solid wraith oak, white as Grimm plating, and twice the size of everyone here.
Shade: Eggshell White- 2 shades off Grimm White
With a tiny smile that, in immediate retrospect, you probably weren't supposed to notice, the tiny Mistralian woman places a single hand on the seam of the door and gives it a light push. The gargantuan doors shift with no hesitation, moving at Schrödinger's pace, paradoxically moving quite fast and at a snail's pace at the same time, simply because of their sheer size, but opening all the same. Behind doors one and two is a sandy area, around which you can see the very edge of sets of tiered seats. You almost begin to wonder if there isn't some kind of trickery here.
Density: 20.63 kg/m³. No Mechanical assistance detected.
Wait, really? That's all? You could probably lift that over your head.
{Great, now I feel self-conscious about my weight.}
"Woah..." You hear one of your classmates murmur, awestruck by the doors' movement.
Which, is fair, honestly, they are still very impressive to watch.
As you and the others walk through the doors, you realise that you're now in the part of the Coliseum where all the magic happens.
You remember coming here with your dad to watch a spectacle match when you were 13. The crowd shield failed and you almost got beaned in the face with a flying gauntlet. The fighter let you keep it as an apology, then choked out the other guy with his ungloved hand just to prove he didn't need it.
Best. Birthday. Ever.
You blink slightly as you realise it's... a lot bigger from down here. The walls around you are white metal, as you'd expect, but they're... tall. You look up, craning your neck to see the top of the wall, judging it to be at least-
Height: 5 metres
... Jeez. That gauntlet is even more impressive, now.
Overall, the place gave you the feel of... a Coliseum, obviously, but with the aesthetics of a medical clinic. Sand beneath your feet, but white, almost sterile-looking walls all around, and tiered seats above that. You look up and see your teachers sitting and standing about up in the middle tiers, looking out over you like emperors of bygone times.
{Heh. Look at you, waxing poetic.}
Eventually, people follow your gaze and spot them too. Once about a third of them have done that, Professor Moss leans over the side of the railing, his hair following and dropping over his shoulders like an inky waterfall- an inkfall if you will- and begins to speak.
"Ahem." He coughs, the acoustics of the building carrying the small sound to everyone else, grabbing the attention of those who haven't noticed him yet. "First, I would like to congratulate you all on making it this far- it has not been an easy 3 years, for most of you, and I wouldn't have it any other way. The life of a Hunter is not easy, and treating the training as anything less important would be a disservice to the job you intend to take."
He begins walking, still keeping one hand on the rail while the other begins gesturing as he talks.
"As some of you may know firsthand, this job is dangerous- one in five Hunters will die by the end of their first year out of Beacon, or a similar battle school. As such, we have decided to, ah, simulate that fact here."
People start to look at each other nervously. Which is fair, that was… pretty ominous, as statements go.
"I'll make this quick, I'm sure you're rather anxious to proceed- instead of one-on-one battles as you're used to, you will be partaking in a... battle royale of sorts. You will be fighting each other with everything you have, using the scroll system as per usual- however, the first…" He takes a second for a quick headcount- "twentyeighttwentyninethirty- The first six to fall, will be considered 'dead.' You will get no recommendation for Beacon, nor any other school. If you wish for such, you will take remedial classes through the summer, and, if you do exceptionally well there, we may reconsider our lack of recommendation. If you should, by some miracle, fail those as well, then you will either be repeating a year or seriously recommended a different line of work, depending on the level of failure."
His face is severe, doing his best to make it crystal clear that this is a threat he'll definitely go through on.
Murmurs break out among the rest of your classmates, ranging from anxious worrying about whether or not they could pass to the odd derisive comment about who would fall first.
"Pfft, I bet the cream puff goes down like a bitch." You hear someone behind you say. Out of the corner of your eye, you see Creme flinch a little.
Emotional response of target- hurt, self-consciousness, minor long-term damage to confidence. Overall chance of ranking 24th and below: 38%, Margin of error +/- 4.2%
{Wow. Dick.}
Alert: 56% chance target will be singled out for prompt elimination- possible assailants marked.
You bristle a little as the ass who said it in the first place and one of his equally ass-looking friends light up in your peripheral vision. You might not like Creme as a friend, you barely know her, but she made it here just as fair and square as anyone else. She's a little annoying, sure, but singling her out? Fuck that, you dislike that even more than the girl herself.
{Even less.}
Fuck grammar and the Dust train it rode in on.
Another cough to grab your collective attention and Professor Teal continues from where Moss left off. You didn't think her tiny voice could carry over from the emperor's box like it does, but it does. The small, frizzy-haired waif of a teacher started to lay out the carrot to Moss's stick.
"A-ah, however, the last six standing, will be given immediate recommendations to Beacon, or any other school of their choosing- e-essentially, a guaranteed entry. The rest of you will be ranked based on your ability and, er, rank, and recommended accordingly."
The murmuring grows to a proper conversation, now people have been shown their incentive.
"Hey, hold on-" Creme started, shaking off the insult from earlier. "If this is based purely on who comes in the last six and the first six, that means that we could go down because of a lucky shot, that seems really unfair-"
Moss cuts her off with a raised hand.
"Life is unfair, Miss Daylaw. The life of a Hunter, regardless of skill or talent or equipment, can be ended by one 'lucky' Nevermore feather to the jugular. Luck, love it or hate it, is very much a part of your life, and will continue to be. Just hope that it is on your side, or that you have the skill to overcome it if it is not. Now, don't think we didn't see you playing about on your scrolls out there to stave off boredom- plug them into the charging stations provided, and take a few minutes to prepare, make deals, and ask any questions of us you might have."
Oh, thank God. You walk to one of the newly revealed divots in the walls, a bit further away from others, and plug your scroll in, resting it in the divot proper as you do. Once the small diamond in the centre begins to glow, you turn back to the teachers just in time to hear a very interesting question, with a very interesting answer.
"Wait, what do you mean by 'make deals?'" Mini-Moss asks.
Mini-Moss, real name Salem Sini, is called Mini-Moss for two reasons. One, he's a carbon copy of the good professor, and two, he's five foot two.
Conversion: 157 centimetres
Blink. He's cool with it, though. He's cool with... pretty much anything, honestly.
The nondiminutive Moss leans over the railing again, looking down at his mirror image.
{It's one of those weird, funhouse mirror things, but it's still a mirror.}
"Exactly what it sounds like. A good Hunter does not turn down assistance. So long as you're prepared for the eventuality that you will have to fight each other, feel free to make alliances as you will."
{Well. That's... helpful. At least, it would be if it didn't involve you having to talk to people.}
You glare at your sword for a moment, before moving on, thinking on what you should do.
Current Status:
Aura: 150/150
Current Loadout: Crash(), Breach(), Jaunt(), Spiral()
11/12 MEM used.
User input required:
(Pick two.)
[] Ally()- Go find someone to help you! Alliances are allowed, and as long as it's just two or three of you, you can make it into the top six without having to turn on each other. But who? (You can pick this twice.)
-[] Creme- You... don't know much about her, but she's got a fuckoff huge hammer, axe, cannon thing, that she wields like an artisan when she focuses. Which, she doesn't do often. Besides, she's gonna get singled out by people for some reason, and that... it doesn't sit right with you.
-[] Mini-Moss- Cool with his nickname, and cool with his weapon- a cavalry saber that becomes a proper sniper rifle, alongside a backup knife/pistol combo. Simple stuff, but brutal as shit if you underestimate him.
-[] Someone Else- Go for a wander, see if anyone else catches your fancy.
[] Modify()- You want to change your loadout. It's gonna be a pain in the ass without your workshop, but you... think, you can manage it. (Field mods are possible but messy. No upgrade or passive slots- those need your proper tools.)
-[] What's going where? (Character Sheet with available Functions is now up and threadmarked! Hopefully.)
[] Enemy()- Scout out the competition. Gain insight into two other students that might be useable against them later.
Adhoc vote count started by Prok on Jun 26, 2017 at 8:02 PM, finished with 36 posts and 22 votes.
[X] Ally()- Go find someone to help you! Alliances are allowed, and as long as it's just two or three of you, you can make it into the top six without having to turn on each other. But who? (You can pick this twice.)
-[X] Creme- You... don't know much about her, but she's got a fuckoff huge hammer, axe, cannon thing, that she wields like an artisan when she focuses. Which, she doesn't do often. Besides, she's gonna get singled out by people for some reason, and that... it doesn't sit right with you.
[X] Enemy()- Scout out the competition. Gain insight into two other students that might be useable against them later.
[X] Ally()- Go find someone to help you! Alliances are allowed, and as long as it's just two or three of you, you can make it into the top six without having to turn on each other. But who? (You can pick this twice.)
-[X] Creme- You... don't know much about her, but she's got a fuckoff huge hammer, axe, cannon thing, that she wields like an artisan when she focuses. Which, she doesn't do often. Besides, she's gonna get singled out by people for some reason, and that... it doesn't sit right with you.
-[X] Mini-Moss- Cool with his nickname, and cool with his weapon- a cavalry saber that becomes a proper sniper rifle, alongside a backup knife/pistol combo. Simple stuff, but brutal as shit if you underestimate him.
1-3 would have gotten people together against you, with a 1 essentially marking you for immediate termination via lynch mob, 4-7 would have gotten you one of the class loads, the people who are to Jaune now as Jaune in canon is to everyone else, 8-12 got you one random person from the class as a whole, 13-16 would have gotten you two random people from the class as a whole, 18-19 would have guaranteed you Mini-Moss, and 20 would have gotten you pick of the litter. Full roster, created on the spot- revealed with great aplomb and a secondary vote to pick up to another two people.
No, but thank you. I rolled a d28 here to choose who you got.
And you got...
|||
In the end, your course of action is clear.
{We can't just leave her to the wolves.}
That you cannot. In a mildly uncommon moment of unity, you and your sword decide an alliance with Creme is the most important thing right now. Though you do admit, when you try and logically pick apart your reasoning for helping her, you find yourself...
Defaulting to 'out of spite,' really. Which, you're ok with, you've done worse things for less reason- wow you could have phrased that so much better- and at least this one has a decent reason to back it up!
Why are you arguing against this with yourself?!
You decide to go and talk to her before you manage to actually start fabricating reasons not to do it.
{Attaboy.}
As you look around, you realise you can't actually see her for everyone else seeking allies.
Easily fixed.
Search() Query: "Creme"
Through the throngs of people seeking solidarity, a silhouette is outlined in a shade of cyan that, were it filled out, would be a complete assault on your eyeballs. Skirting around the edges of the gatherings- largest group: 7- and make your way to the person who's hopefully going to fight by your side, rehearsing your lines as you walk. Eventually, you see enough of her that the outline fades, and you realise you're actually going to talk to someone you've never really talked to before.
... You take a second to take in what she looks like first.
{Don't you chicken out on me, man. I dunno if she'll need your help, but she'll appreciate it.}
"I know, I know. Just... gimme a sec." You mumble.
Creme is... well, you suppose she's pretty enough. Her hair's a light brown, almost sepia, about chin-length, and would probably be about shoulder-length if it wasn't as curly as it was. The rest of her outfit is done up in similar shades of brown and cream- button up shirt, vest, trousers- standard fare for the girls around here. The only thing that stands out about her, would be...
Erm...
Well...
{The doe tail.}
Yes. The doe tail. The doe tail that hangs from under her shirt down to about her mid-thigh.
You don't, really know what else you can say about it. It's, brown and white? Kinda fluffy looking but not really?
{Just move on before you stick your foot in your mouth.}
Good idea. Her weapon, on the other hand, is anything but standard fare. It's, surprisingly small, all things considered. The shaft couldn't be any more than the length of her arm, resembling a blacksmith's hammer more than anything else, the pointed end apparently having fused with an axe at some point in its lifetime. It's a small, understated thing, that just so happens to somehow pack an entire cannon in there somehow.
...
You look at your sword for a moment.
{Privacy settings are too high for that kinda thing, pal. Mark her down as an enemy, get her weapon off her, or start messing with code.}
You wince slightly as you remember the last time you lowered the privacy settings on the Transistor, and decide ignorance is bliss.
... God you hope people don't know what street food does to their insides-
{Now, are you done stalling?}
You take a deep breath and bite the bullet by walking up to her. She turns as you enter her peripheral vision, smiling as you walk closer.
"Oh, hey Jaune!" She chirps at you. "You looking for a partner?"
Oh thank God you don't have to do the asking holy shit that makes this so much easier.
"Yeah, actually. Wanna, team up?" You manage to say with some semblance of smoothness.
"Uh..." She takes a moment to look you over, in your worn jeans, recently Rebooted armour, and the supercomputer acting as a sword acting as a leaning post. "... Sure! I could... use someone to watch my back."
You feel your eyebrows knit together at that.
"So you know, then."
"I figured." She mumbles, before heaving a great sigh, looking at the ground as she does. She doesn't seem half as chirpy as before. Which... fair. That's fair.
"... Screw that." You say bluntly enough to surprise her. "I dunno why they're gunning for you, and frankly I don't care, because you don't deserve it. You got here the same as everyone else."
Creme looks at you like you've grown a second head.
And then she beams at you, and you know that you've said the right thing.
"So I can count on you, then?"
"All the way."
{Good job. You actually talked to a pretty girl without shutting down.}
Quiet, you.
"Hey!" You hear somewhere to your right, and you and Creme both turn to the source to see a tall, gangly guy with long, kinda flat, greasy-looking hair, and the beginnings of a beard unlike any other male in the class. On his hip, an unsheathed blade that looks very well made, but very... simple, as well. A blade, almost a metre long, with only a single sharpened edge, and no... mechanical doodads to it either, that you can see. It's a sword. Just a sharp piece of metal, as far as you can tell.
{Correct. If he has anything that can shift, it's not his sword.}
His name is... Lumen, you think?
{Lumen Tessaro. What is that, south… Sanusian? Sanian? Eh, one of those. Probably.}
... Ah, yeah, now you remember. You're pretty sure he slept through a lot of his classes.
"Oh, hey Lumen. What's up?" Creme asks.
"So, sounded like you two are doing the whole, making a team thing. You mind if I uh, get in on this?"
You glance at Creme, and she just shrugs with her face.
"Sure, welcome to the party."
Lumen gives you both a big, dopey grin that has your own lips tugging upwards ever so slightly. Even Creme's not spared from it, a tiny smile forming.
{It is kind of infectious.}
"Alright! So, what's the plan?" He asks.
Once again, you glance at Creme, and she nods her permission, so you fill Lumen in on the situation. As you do, his cheery demeanour slowly diminishes to nothing,
"... Wow. What a buncha dicks. You know who it is?"
"Yeah, they're somewhere... over there, I think." You say, gesturing in the direction you saw the two possible assailants last.
"You know anything about them?"
"... Not... really, no."
Your eyes, very slowly, drift down to the Transistor.
"... But I think I can fix that. Just... gimme a second."
Creme and Lumen give you looks that say they don't quite understand what you're saying, but they don't say anything.
You take a deep breath as you prepare yourself for a lot of information at once.
Holographic interfaces you know they can't see flash across your sight, and you begin to work your magic.
Inform() Query- "Possible_Assailants" tag
Searching...
2 Matches found.
Warning: Selected matches have been marked as enemies. Disengage privacy locks?
א0:\user\JauneArc> Y
Privacy locks disengaged- basic_metaphysics, weapon_detail, basic_bio values added to scan. Heuristic strategy software online- results of simulations based on previous recordings will be added to files.
NAME: Xanadu Kendricks
SPECIES: Human
WEAPON: Zweihänder/Dual Harpoon Gun Shifting Weapon, Collapsible Tower Shield on Left Gauntlet- slow to swing and reload- use Jaunt() to avoid when necessary.
SEMBLANCE: Inertia- when he moves, he does not stop moving until he's decided he's done with moving. Nothing is an obstacle.
SPECIES: Faunus- Buck variety. A, Fawnus, if you will.
FAUNUS TRAIT: Antlers, currently in velvet. Potential weak spot- blood vessels present, presence of nerves unknown- at worst, useable as handles.
WEAPON: Bo Staff/Dual Crossbow/Longbow Shifting Weapon. A, Bow Staff, if you will.
SEMBLANCE: Terrain Manipulation: Saff can raise and lower terrain within a 15mx15mx15m cubed area around him, in increments of 1 metre up or down- essentially, control over 3,375 cubes, each one cubic metre in size. However, the material the 'cubes' are made from is not in any way reinforced by his Aura beyond what's needed to keep them in place. Therefore, any structure he makes, assuming it's at least semi-stable, will be sound.
... He's a, mover and shaker, if you will. Yeah, no, that, that one was terrible.
SUGGESTED ACTIONS: Breach()-Spiral() Batch File
(Bonus to all rolls against this enemy type.)
… Oh god, that hurt. Ow. Ahh-ha-ha-howwww that stings.
"Xanadu Kendricks and Mel Saff. Sound familiar?" You grind out, blinking rapidly before you start tearing up.
Creme frowns, seeming to recognise the names. "Uh, yeah, they're... probably who it's gonna be, if anyone."
"Wait, Mel? The buck Faunus?" Lumen asks after a moment of eyeing you up after your little stunt.
"Yeah. You know him?"
"Yeah, we chill together in History. He seemed… cool. Jeez, you think you know a guy… anyway, I know he's been complaining about his antlers hurting recently." He stops to think about something for a moment. "... Think we could use it to disable him somehow?"
Creme winces slightly. "I... really wouldn't. If he's got velvet antlers, then hurting them is gonna be... horrifying. Think..." She stops for a moment, trying to think of something comparable. "Think someone cracking open one of your teeth, then really twisting it open-" She begins miming the action, and you need to look away before your imagination runs away with you.
"Ok! Ok! Antlers off limits! Message got!" Lumen cuts her off, raising his hands in surrender.
...
Nope. Looking away didn't help. Your teeth ache like shit now. As well as your brain.
Status of grey matter: perfect condition.
Prescription: quit being a baby, you're fine.
"Alright, that should have been enough time, everybody!" Professor Moss calls down from the balcony. "Please retrieve your Scrolls, the test will begin in a few minutes!"
You look at each other for a moment, before realising that your Scrolls are... on, pretty much opposite sides of the arena.
"... Meet up near the doors?" Creme suggests after a moment.
"Fine by me."
"It's a plan."
With that, you go your separate ways, and you make your way back to your Scroll quick as you can. You're almost tempted to use Jaunt(), but people are already antsy, and you don't want to kick off a mob fight before the test even starts.
That would be bad. So instead you just hoof it to your charging station, grab your scroll, and begin to move back towards the doors, quickly joined by Lumen.
"Hey, dude. Where's Creme?" He asks you with just a little bit of worry in his voice. Enough worry that you skip answering and go straight to finding.
Search() Query: "Creme"
File Found- 15 Metres to perceptional Northwest.
When you frown a little at that, a small analogue clock appears in your vision, with both hands flashing over 10.
... Oh, your ten o'clock, that's kinda cute-
You look in the direction offered, and see her jogging up to meet you with more than a little fear in her eyes. You look behind her and see some guys- four, at your count- running in the same direction.
Once Creme reaches you, the guys seem to... hesitate a little.
You look down at the Transistor- you want a report on everything those guys were doing, and why Creme started running.
{You do realise I'm not actually omniscient, right?}
"Well, looks like the doe's finally made some friends!" One of them calls out, and you watch Creme flinch at the moniker. You look at the guy properly, and the velvet antlers mark him out as Mel.
{Best bet? Either trying to trap her where they could just whale on her or just messing with her before the test. Nothing like... I dunno, whatever conclusion you jumped to.}
"Yeah, a narcoleptic and a guy with some serious compensation issues." A... wall of meat masquerading as a person in armour chimes in. Must be Xanadu. "It's like some kind of club for failures."
"Honestly, you fall asleep one time..." Lumen mumbles but doesn't, grabbing their attention. He begins moving forward, hands out in a sign of non-violence. "Now, look, guys, Mel, my dude, I understand that you have some kind of gigantic hate boner for Creme here, but... honestly? We're small potatoes, you hear?"
Silence comes over both sides of this... thing that's happening.
"We might sound tempting, at first, but then you realise- if everyone picks off the small fries first, then all you have to deal with is big fish, see? Think- if you leave us alone, and we survive-"
"Then you'll be big fish." Saff cut him off. Whatever Lumen was about to say dies in his throat, leaving Saff the floor. He walks forward, eyeing Lumen up and down as he does. He doesn't seem to give much of a damn for personal space, coming within a few inches of the gangly boy's face to speak. "Can I... tell you a secret, Lumen?" He asks very gently.
"... If this is a setup to say you're into me or some shit, I should say, uh, I am very ok with that-"
"Going after your little group here is a twofer for me. Because all I feel towards Creme doesn't compare to what I feel for you."
"... I'm still not sure if you're coming onto me or not-"
"I. Despise you." Saff almost spits in his face. "Everything about you, the way you refuse to take anything seriously, your inability to pay even the semblance of attention in class, asking questions that hold up everyone because you didn't bother listening, that devil-may-care attitude, your ability to drag others into the most meaningless prattle I've ever had the displeasure of being forced to listen to, the simple fact that you are somehow here is an insult to the profession of Huntsmanship. Every time you speak, I feel disgusted on levels that I was never able to before- even the insinuation I would be in any way attracted to you is making individual cells gag. But I'm alright with all of that because, today, I'm going to break you. And while I'm doing it, you can take solace in the fact that it'll be the first time you've ever made me genuinely happy."
Silence, again. Even Mel's companions seem kind of shocked by the sheer vitriol he holds for your teammates.
"... Bro, you got problems."
You almost expect the buck Faunus to pop a blood vessel or punch your teammate. Instead, he just lets out a wordless growl and stomps away. Two of his compatriots follow, leaving behind Xanadu. He looks you and Lumen both in the eye.
"You're gonna regret teaming up with the cream puff. That's not a threat- that's a warning." He says with her right there then walks off after the rest of his team.
{... Jaune. I don't mean to be alarmist here, but-}
"E-everybody!" Professor Teal calls out. As she does, the large screens around the stadium begin to show Aura counts and names and whatnot. "The test will begin in 10 seconds!" She finishes cheerily. The screens switch to a countdown beginning from 10.
{-Xanadu wasn't lying. Whatever the meaning behind that message was-}
9
{-He believed it completely.}
8
You look about, and see people getting weapons ready, feel Auras beginning to flare. The sound of shifting weaponry fills the air in an orchestra of metal and mechanics. You see Lumen unloop his sword from his belt, and Creme ready her hammer.
6
You almost consider asking Creme what he meant by that being a warning.
{That's a spectacularly bad idea.}
That's why you're not doing it.
5
You look over Saff et al and see them getting ready too. Xanadu's tower shield is flowing out of his gauntlet, panels slotting into place quickly as they can while Saff is loading bolts in his crossbow. The other two have their guns- a revolver and an assault rifle- ready and loaded. Everyone's looking over everyone else, and you realise that this is essentially a Vacuo standoff.
2
You shift your grip on the Transistor, bringing both hands around it.
"You ready?" You ask your teammates.
"As I'll ever be." Creme says.
Lumen stays silent.
1
Current Status:
Aura: 150/150
Current Loadout: Crash(), Breach(), Jaunt(), Spiral()
Turn() Status: Ready for use
User input required:
First!
To Turn() or not to Turn()? (Activating Turn() guarantees you hitting most enemies with your attacks. However, once you use Turn(), you cannot use it for another three rounds of combat, and all Functions but Jaunt() will be locked. During that time, aiming rolls will be used. So use it wisely.
[] To Turn()
[] To Not To Turn()
Second! Targets.
[] Nemesis()- Try and take out Saff and his cronies.
[] Other()- Go for someone else. No one, in particular, just the closest person who isn't Creme or Lumen.
Third! Create a Batch File. (Using the Functions on-hand, create a set of commands to be used in that specific order. Assuming Turn() is comprised of 12 sections, Crash() is worth 3 sections, Breach() is worth 4, Jaunt() is worth 1, and Spiral() is worth 6. You can go over this limit, but only if you have a little extra in the first place.)
[] Example()- Jaunt() into Saff's group, Crash(), Breach() Xanadu, Jaunt() out again.
[] Write-In
Fourth! Miscellaneous options. This is where you'll find things like Reboot() and Freeze() and talking to people. They generally aren't available while you're in Turn() and you really don't have time or a reason to do any of that right now, so... no miscellaneous options for you.
Adhoc vote count started by Prok on Jul 5, 2017 at 5:09 AM, finished with 195 posts and 10 votes.
[x] To Not To Turn() [x] Nemesis()- Try and take out Saff and his cronies. [x] Use Jaunt() to try and briefly stun Xanadu and be careful of Saff once you do rush in, then use Crash() once and Jaunt() out of there and back to Creme's side while sending a couple of Breach()'s his way and maybe after you come back to Creme's side. -[x] In general try to use hit and run tactics against people with Jaunt() then use either Breach() or Spiral() once you've retreated to take a few potshots at them but try to remain by Creme and Lumen's side until the end with the inevitable breakdown of the alliance. --[x] If it's too dangerous to Jaunt() in either situations just use Breach and Spiral while trying to Jaunt() around projectiles and just stick by your group's side.
[x] To Not To Turn() [x] Nemesis()- Try and take out Saff and his cronies. [X] Use Jaunt() to try and briefly stun Xanadu and be careful of Saff once you do rush in, then use Crash() once or twice and Jaunt() out of there and back to Creme's side while sending a couple of Breach()'s his way and maybe after you come back to Creme's side. -[X] In general try to use hit and run tactics against people with Jaunt() then Breach() and Spiral() once you've retreated to take a few potshots at them but try to remain by Creme and Lumen's side until the end with the inevitable breakdown of the alliance.
EDIT: Speaking of fun, blame Captain Clever for this fight's theme music.
|||
A holographic HUD fills your vision, feeding you information on key targets and your allies, keeping an eye on how many people are still up- oh, wow, one down already-, general information window, and a Function list for easy queueing.
You don't even need to think about who you're targeting first. Without a word of warning to your compatriots, you immediately queue up a Jaunt() function and space begins to warp around you. Remembering to close your eyes as you remember that viewing folded space as a purely 3-dimensional being is not a good idea, and you're suddenly in the lion's den.
Behind you, you know Xanadu is taking the shock to his system that is, exactly what you just described.
{Less chance he has to get moving, the less chance he can just bulldoze- bolt!}
You let Transistor-enhanced senses guide you out of the crossbow bolt's way, turning to face Saff as you do.
"... You know if the wind changes your face is gonna stay that way."
You're apparently not even worth a coherent response because you don't get one. No, you just, you just get another crossbow bolt going for your face.
… Rude. You dodge that one too, and, aiming as best you can for both him and Xanadu, run a Crash() instance.
Crash() primed.
You heave your sword up, blade held high, before cancelling the antigrav effect for a moment, angling it just right…
The tip drives itself into the sand, and the world in a 5 x 2 metre line fractures, the Transistor performing a deep scan of everything in its path with all the subtlety and delicacy of a hobo with a sledgehammer- you're not sure where that particular analogy came from, but it works-, tearing things apart to scan them then deliberately pasting them back together ever so slightly wrong, exacerbating any weaknesses already present and creating new ones. Armour, weaponry, Aura, people to an extent, though you deliberately limited that part as best you could for good reason...
All weakened. All analysed. Enough faults scanned and created to completely fill your vision ten thousand times over sorted into a folder attached to the objects of interest with one tag.
Crashed.
You watch them both stumble as the effect passes over them, their very atoms shuddering, and queue up a Breach() to follow up.
A hot sting hits your back, and you realise that the other half of their team has finally caught up with you, and one of the two has remembered they're holding a gun.
Aura:146/150 and dropping. Ignoring attack will result in disqualifiable Aura levels in 10 seconds. Recommend evasive action.
You cancel the Breach() and queue up Jaunt() instead, this one aiming directly behind the one shooting you. You close your eyes, spin on one heel, and suddenly you're where you want to be, facing his back as he struggles to contemplate the wonders of what amounts to being inside a wormhole without protection- wow that sounded better in your head-, leaving him wide open for a good ol' backstabbing.
"... Ah dun' feel too good." You hear him mumble in a slurring Agricultural District accent.
Cute.
Breach() primed.
You don't do cute.
{...}
Shut it.
{I'm not saying anything. Just that well, you know, I've seen your search history...}
You sigh through your nose, and instead raise your sword again, letting it charge for a second before bringing down into the sand again. A veritable wave of charged particles flows over Xanadu and the guy shooting at you-
Ok, name?
{Oliver Clair.}
Thank you. Yeah, that shithead that was shooting at you. Xanadu takes the brunt of it, lopping off 45 points of his Aura, while Oliver takes 20.
For Oliver, that's actually a decent amount of damage.
Xanadu?
... You think you just made him mad.
Queue Jaunt()?
{Queue Jaunt().}
You queue Jaunt, and again, making your way back to your allies. Creme is holding off a girl with a pair of hook swords, actually managing to deflect a fair few strikes with her hammer, but very much on the defensive. Lumen, on the other hand, is keeping a guy with what looks like a chain with weights on the ends off pretty well, his one-edged sword dancing between the weights to smack his opponent across the ribs or jab at his throat or face, always dancing away before the weights can hit hi-
Ooh.
{That's gonna bruise. That's gonna bruise hard.}
You watch him fly back and his Aura take a brutal hit. Much like his face.
You look at the guy.
The guy looks at you.
You queue a Spiral(), he starts swinging his chainweights around before one opens and THAT'S A GRENADE JAUNT() JAUNT() FOR YOUR LIFE-
For the second time in as many minutes, you cancel an attack in order to evade, something which is getting really annoying. You hear the explosion, feel the force against your frame, no doubt knocking a couple points of Aura off, but there's no heat, which is... curious.
"Hey, yo, dickweed!" You hear Lumen yelling. Mr Party Favour looks his way, distracted just long enough for you to charge a Spiral() in relative peace. "Catch!"
As you hear that, a... you think it's a crystal of some sort, Dust, maybe, hits him directly in the face.
Warning: Internal temperature of unknown substance= 5,000°C
Wait, what?!
As soon as the thought passes through your mind, the crystal explodes, sending your mutual opponent flying backwards into someone else, earning you a 'dude, what the hell?' look from their opponent, before she's dragged into another fight.
... Come to think of it, how many people are left?
{27. 3 more and you're safe.}
Fantastic.
A hot wind hits your face, and the smell of burning and charcoal travels with it. You look back at Lumen, and even from this distance, you can see his eyes are horribly dilated. It's like his pupils have expanded to the very edge of his irises, leaving nothing but a thin band of colour around them.
"... So, where'd you go?" He asks almost casually, as if he's not in the middle of a war zone. You watch with some mix of curiosity and mild horror as his pupils contract again, revealing an eye colour that... the name of doesn't come to mind right now. You put it to the side to deal with more important things.
Like, being in a warzone.
"Wanted to screw with Saff and Xanadu." You admit freely.
"That's fair." He looks over at Creme, as do you, and you find her still on the defensive, and looking even more desperate now.
"... You run distraction, I'll go in for the kill?"
He nods, and the plan is agreed upon.
{'Plan.'}
It has distinct roles and a goal, it's a plan!
Before you can argue your point any further, Lumen's rushed in, holding his sword in one hand and a... glob, of something red in his other. An obviously telegraphed attack gets the girl with the hook swords to hop back.
Which lets Lumen throw the glob at her face in an almost too perfect straight line, letting it splatter all over her mouth and nose where it seems to stick and block off her airways.
"Now!" He yells back at you, and you queue a Spiral() at her while she scratches at her mouth, trying to get rid of the sticky red substance, and only succeeding in sticking her hands to her jaw.
You heft the handle onto your shoulder, bringing the blade up to your hand like you're aiming a rifle, or a rocket launcher, more like, and at the edge, a ball of energy that to this day you are completely incapable of analysing in any decent detail, beyond the fact that it goes fast and has enough potential energy to blow the planet off its axis, were it to not act in a very specific way, and fire it at the girl.
The ball of blue-green energy zips off, the recoil almost taking you off your feet, flying straight and true to hit her right in the stomach. There's the characteristic moment of resistance, before...
Yep. There she goes. Spiralling up into the air like a firework. Fighting all over slows down a little, not stopping, but they're definitely watching the show between trying to fake-murder each other.
... Six, seven, eight...
Just long enough for her to hit the ceiling before it dissipates. You watch her begin to fall, before something flickers and suddenly she's being sat in one of the bleachers by Professors Moss and Teal, each making sure she isn't too hurt.
... You should apologise to her later.
For now, though...
Current Status:
Aura: 150/150
Current Loadout: Crash(), Breach(), Jaunt(), Spiral()
Turn() Status: Ready for use
User input required:
Turn()?
[] Turn().
[] No Turn().
Targets?
[] Ally's()- no, not actually Creme and Lumen. Just stick around with them, help them beat off whoever comes to beat them off- up, up. Freud has no power here.
[] Ain'tbroke()- Don't fix it. Saff, Xanadu, beat that drum until it bursts.
[] Anything()- This is meant to be a test of your abilities! You're not gonna do that pursuing a vendetta and sticking with people! Go out there, pick a random fuckhead, and beat the shit out of them!
[] Allies()- {This is not what I meant when I said you damaged people more when you backstab them, Jaune.}
[] Writein()
Plan?
[] Writein()
Adhoc vote count started by Prok on Jul 9, 2017 at 10:44 AM, finished with 218 posts and 13 votes.
[X] No Turn(). [x] Ally's()- no, not actually Creme and Lumen. Just stick around with them, help them beat off whoever comes to beat them off- up, up. Freud has no power here.
[x] Ally's()- no, not actually Creme and Lumen. Just stick around with them, help them beat off whoever comes to beat them off- up, up. Freud has no power here.
[x] Turn(). [x] Ally's()- no, not actually Creme and Lumen. Just stick around with them, help them beat off whoever comes to beat them off- up, up. Freud has no power here.
[x] Turn().
-[x] Find the toughest motherfucker giving you troubles
-[x] Get behind (jaunt or walking)
-[x] Crush () up to x3 (backstab)
-[x] Breach () (backstab)
-[x] jaunt () into safety
[x] Repeat it until nobody left.
[x] Rely on your allies to keep your safe during Turn() recovery.
[x] And if they screw you, than you are the one stupid enough to not recognize they can't be trusted. Learn from it.
[X] No Turn(). [x] Ally's()- no, not actually Creme and Lumen. Just stick around with them, help them beat off whoever comes to beat them off- up, up. Freud has no power here. -[X] There's three of us, find someone solo or away from their team and wreck them --[X] Jaunt(), catch target's attention, Lumen backstab, Creme flank, Crash(), beat the target until "dead", repeat.
Adhoc vote count started by Prok on Jul 10, 2017 at 2:25 PM, finished with 225 posts and 14 votes.
[X] No Turn(). [x] Ally's()- no, not actually Creme and Lumen. Just stick around with them, help them beat off whoever comes to beat them off- up, up. Freud has no power here. -[X] There's three of us, find someone solo or away from their team and wreck them --[X] Jaunt(), catch target's attention, Lumen backstab, Creme flank, Crash(),Breach(), beat the target until "dead", repeat.
[X] No Turn(). [x] Ally's()- no, not actually Creme and Lumen. Just stick around with them, help them beat off whoever comes to beat them off- up, up. Freud has no power here.
[x] Ally's()- no, not actually Creme and Lumen. Just stick around with them, help them beat off whoever comes to beat them off- up, up. Freud has no power here.
[x] Turn(). [x] Ally's()- no, not actually Creme and Lumen. Just stick around with them, help them beat off whoever comes to beat them off- up, up. Freud has no power here. -[X] There's three of us, find someone solo or away from their team and wreck them --[X] Jaunt(), catch target's attention, Lumen backstab, Creme flank, Crash(), beat the target until "dead", repeat.
[x] Turn().
-[x] Find the toughest motherfucker giving you troubles
-[x] Get behind (jaunt or walking)
-[x] Crush () up to x3 (backstab)
-[x] Breach () (backstab)
-[x] jaunt () into safety
[x] Repeat it until nobody left.
[x] Rely on your allies to keep your safe during Turn() recovery.
[x] And if they screw you, than you are the one stupid enough to not recognize they can't be trusted. Learn from it.
{Thank God, I hate being used as an actual sword.}
You ignore your not-sword for the moment, regrouping with Creme and Lumen as you take stock of the strengths and weaknesses of your little alliance.
Right now, you three are, if not the weakest of people, at least desirable targets right now. Lumen seems able to hold people off by himself, and there's that... stuff he seems to pull from nowhere, both the explosive crystals that may just be Dust, but it's not any Dust you've seen, and that, goop, but as far as you can tell he's got no defensive equipment and Creme... just, seems to be struggling in general. Her weapon's small enough that it requires her to get in behind someone's defences, which she seems to struggle with, and your attacks really do require a certain kind of buildup and cooldown time.
... Ok! Ok. You can work with this, though. Uh...
You just, need to figure out how.
{Jaunt()'s a good attention getter. A Crash()-Breach() combo would throw most people off-balance for Creme.}
A plan begins to form as more abridged information filters in from the combat sims, and you begin to relay it to your allies.
As of now, the three of you are on lone wolf duty. Anyone who's on their own, or separated from their own team is now your main target, with a long-term goal of moving onto pairs. You'll lead, distracting them with heavy attacks, Creme will approach from the side to take advantage of the distraction, then Lumen finishes them off with an attack from the back.
"... I'm ok with that, are you ok with that?" Creme asks Lumen.
"Sure, sure, as long as I get to bash Saff's head in-" He grinds out, before shaking something off. "Sorry, sorry, I just... actually yeah, this is a good time to do this. Cover me for a minute, will you?"
You and Creme both blink at the... frankly uncharacteristic display of anger from Lumen, but start looking for enemies while he focuses on something. "Et tu, Brutus?" DC 15, Roll: 1... Ouch.
Surprisingly enough, Saff and Xanadu have yet to make an appearance, which you find a little odd before you realise they're stuck dealing with Mr Party Favour. Apparently, Lumen's weird grenade thing didn't take him out of the fight, and by the looks of it, uh, whassisface, Oliver, thassisface, decided to take his chances with some good old-fashioned backstabbing. You wonder if, somewhere between that decision being made and Saff building a wall for Xanadu to put him through, he grew to regret that decision. "IGNORE ME!" DC 12, Roll: 18. Major Success!
For some reason, nobody seems too bothered with you for the moment, and you decide you can afford a look at whatever Lumen's doing.
At first, it seems as if he's just standing there, eyes doing something very weird, widening and constricting in an irregular rhythm as he looks around for, something, then you notice his left arm, and the... tendrils of colour flowing under his skin, along the back of his forearm. You note blue, green, and yellow, all flowing down towards his fingernails, flowing under his fingernails, then bursting out from them and back up to his mid-forearm, forming into a square shield with the blue material on the outside, quickly hardening into a shiny solid, green on the inside, with the yellow disappearing between the two layers and being sealed up. You watch the last of the blue flow around the edges, sealing off and giving the makeshift shield a sharp edge.
"... Ok. I'm good." He says, sounding much more relaxed than he did a moment before. "Have any trouble?"
"Nope."
"... Alright, I'm not going to complain." He says after a moment, scanning the battlefield for a target.
{Oh. Yeah. That's something we should be doing, isn't it?}
Right.
Search() Query- "Lone Wolf." Encounter Roll: 15.
Several people are highlighted in your HUD, the closest of which is- oh, God, her.
As if sensing your mental trepidation, she spots you as you realise who it is, and begins to rush you.
Emi Lye is... well, if you had to describe her, you'd say intense.
"ARC!" She screams your name as she comes for you. "I'LL HAVE YOUR GODSBEDAMNED HEAD ON A PIKE!"
{... Yeah, intense works.}
As she digs divots into the earth beneath her feet just rushing to meet you, raising her pistol-sword's blade high enough for it to try and say hello to your face, a greeting you just about miss by way of a well-timed Jaunt() directly behind her, leaving her dazed and confused-
The bullet just hits the back of your head instead.
Aura: 135/150.
... Agh that stings- you turn, raising your sword and queueing a Crash() for her troubles. The Function rushes forward, just catching her before she can move to dodge it, leaving her stumbling as her atoms cry out in agony and the Transistor logs every molecular flaw in the entirety of her being, as best as her Aura will allow. Creme takes the opportunity to wail on Emi with her hammer, aiming for limbs, throat, stomach, and finishing by flipping it over and giving her a bullet to the temple for good luck. By this point, she's stumbling hard, and you set up a Breach() Function, not releasing it just yet, simply... keeping it ticking over for the moment.
You can't do it for long, but you can hold it for long enough to let Lumen do his thing. That is, bash her over the head with his goop shield and slash her across the back several times, also aiming for naturally debilitating points on an auraless person- in his case, tendons, main arteries, and along the joints.
... Your teammates are kind of brutal, you realise.
{Jaune? Can't hold this much longer.}
"Move!" You shout, just barely managing to keep it up long enough for Lumen to move. By the time your sword's aimed toward the ground, Emi's recovered and moving to stab you again.
She doesn't seem to realise she's about to be hit with a stream of high-energy particles.
... Eh. Works for you.
You watch as her blade comes dangerously close to your eye for comfort, just as the tip of the Transistor hits the ground, leaving her to take the brunt of your Function. You watch her try to step forward through the blast, only to lose her footing and be blown back as she should have. As soon as the stream stops, an ungodly buzzer sounds, twice, and she's flitted off to the stands.
{That's 23. We're safe now.}
Phew. You were kinda worried for a moment there.
"Hey, that's 7 down! Guys, we're safe!" Creme shouts almost cheerily over the din of battle.
{Doesn't that mean people will stop being so defensive? You know, now that they're not in danger of instantly failing.}
... Shit, he has a point.
As if to prove your sword right, the ground below you begins to shake rhythmically, and a quick look around finds the source to be Xanadu, shield up, aimed straight for your entire group. Before anyone can turn and run, all around you, cubes of sand begin to form and fall immediately, trapping you up to the calves in sand. Much the same happens with Lumen and Creme, leaving you all mildly trapped in sand.
Um.
You should deal with that.
[] Turn()
[] No Turn()
And for actual actions?
[] Write-in
Adhoc vote count started by Prok on Jul 13, 2017 at 3:10 PM, finished with 244 posts and 7 votes.
[X] The screwdriver
-[X] Turn()
--[X] Jaunt() in front of Xanadu, Spiral() straight into him, Jaunt() behind him, Crash() to confuse him for less dodge chance and Breach() to make him slam into Spiral at max momentum for great damage. Total cost: 11+4
-[X] Jaunt() the fuck out of there before someone notices what just happened.
Activate Turn(), you need to use Turn(), you need Turn() RIGHT NOW-
Turn() Active.
The world fades into a dark, faded blue and white, people replaced with silhouettes that provide information whenever you look at them.
Time… has stopped.
{Well, no, you're just perceiving things so fast that it just looks like-}
Time. Has stopped.
{Alright, alright, have your moment. Freakin' drama queen...}
You're already a little more relaxed. You essentially have all the time in the world to converse with your giant supercomputer, come up with a plan, run simulations, and then you'll take it out on Xanadu as best you can.
First. The sand. How do you-
{It's ankle-deep. Whatever plan Saff had, it's already failed for you because even if you couldn't just Jaunt() out of it, you could just stomp your feet a little and then Jaunt() out.}
... Dammit, the thinking rock's got a point. Well, that's as good a start as any, you suppose. You Jaunt() out of the sand, and end up almost face to face with Xanadu.
Well, not you you, you you is still standing stock still- what you're seeing is just a simulation created by the Transistor for planning purposes. But you can see the sadistic little snarl on his face, wrinkling his nose and generally leaving him looking a little bit psychotic, all the same, so why argue semantics?
Instead, you decide to argue strategy. Xanadu is, for all intents and purposes, an unstoppable force.
What's best for stopping an unstoppable force?
{An immovable object?}
... What's best that you have on hand for stopping an unstoppable force?
{... Smart.}
You like to think so. Queue Spiral().
Spiral()queued.
... You. Could just Jaunt() back to your little sand pile now, ruin your shoes even further, but... nah. You wanna fuck with Xanadu a little.
{Crash()-Breach() to the back? Push him off balance and into the Spiral() ball?}
Ooh, you like that!
Jaunt() behind him, queue a Crash()-Breach() batch file, then-
{Ah! Time's up, boss. You're just gonna have to Jaunt() out from behind him when everything's done.}
Tch. And you were having so much fun, too. End Turn().
Everything begins to move again, but at a rate you would expect if the Coliseum had suddenly filled with syrup. Everything's moving in slow motion- you watch as Lumen struggles to bring his knees out from his sandpile, the sand shifting by the grain, eventually leading to greater avalanches appearing. He's apparently having been given... special attention by Saff. Creme's eyes are widening by fractions of millimetres as she realises who's coming towards her, and Xanadu's feet are pounding the ground at a tenth of the rate they were, the sand rippling out under his heels in waves of beige, and then you begin to move.
You watch a bullet whiz by, the brass-jacketed scorched badly enough by its exit from the barrel that you can see how it spirals, even at the snail's pace it's currently moving at.
You Jaunt() straight up to him, let off the Spiral() just in time for him to recognise there's something in front of him, Jaunt() behind him, let off a Crash() just fast enough to hit him before the Spiral does, logging an entirely new set of subatomic weaknesses, but not making Xanadu stumble- he really is almost impossible to knock over- and finish off with a final Breach(), just in time for him to impact the ball of Spiral() energy, and ok wow that bullet almost took your ear off time to Jaunt() like you've never Jaunt()ed before-
And now you're near enough Creme and Lumen that you can, technically count as being next to them.
You sit back and watch as Xanadu takes off into the sky...
... He's. Not doing that.
He's. Actually just, standing stock still. "I! AM! NOT! DONE!" DC 18, Roll: 20! Enemy Critical Success!
You watch in abject horror as the green ball of energy, enough energy to blow Remnant off axis, scratches impotently against his tower shield. You watch Xanadu almost slide back, before he lets out a roar of sheer defiance and steps forward, pushing back a ball of energy that can knock the fucking planet off axis, and then again, and again, and again and oh god why the fuck are Semblances such BULLSHIT-
The Spiral() finally dissipates, and Xanadu's left to continue on. A fevered glance at the screen above, however, leaves you with a sliver of hope to grasp onto.
He was barely out of the red. Hanging on by a thread, one decent hit would take him out of the fight, one Crash(), one Breach()...
... Two Functions you just removed your ability to use while you recovered from using Turn().
You rendered yourself impotent for an attack that should have blown him away, and it wasn't enough.
{I can't damage him. Even if you threw me as fast as I could go, I would, at best, bounce off him. At worst...}
Fuck. Fuck.
You watch numbly as Lumen raises his hands and sprays an orange liquid out on the sand, quickly thickening and hardening into something like a solid lubricant- someone unlucky enough not watch their step lost their footing on it, but Xanadu just plowed on, driving his feet through the thing that should have had him slipping and sliding around for dear life, still on the warpath to Lumen.
Welp. You're up shit creek. Whatcha gonna do about it?
[] Take the hit- Lumen will, full Aura or not, most likely be heavily injured by this. You... have a chance.
[] {I AM NOT A DAMN SHOVEL-} Use the Transistor as a very quick shovel and free hi- "NEITHER! AM! I!" DC 12, Roll: 18. Major Success!
You hear someone screaming, frustration and anger boiling to the surface, and a moment later, realise it's Creme. Just as Xanadu would have hit Lumen, she manages to free herself from her shin-high sand, and moves between the two, bringing a palm down hard on Xanadu's head.
What happens next... well, it confuses you.
On one hand, Xanadu seems to... crumple in on himself, while a completely unrelated person is blasted into the nearest wall, then flickered out of existence by Professor Moss. Xanadu's feet finally hit the ground again, the barest sliver of Aura keeping in the fight, even though he looks like his brain's just been put through a wringer, going by the stumbling and incoherent babbling. After a moment, he seems to gather enough of his psyche to be considered compos mentis and remember that he hates Creme.
With a slightly knock-drunk roar, he raises his Zweihänder up to hit her, and Creme does something you never really expected.
"SIT DOWN," she starts, raising her hammer and bringing it back down on his head, and again, this time smacking him across the jaw, "SHUT THE HELL UP," She grabs him roughly by the chin, forcing him to look up before she raises her leg high, then drops it in an absolutely brutal axe kick. "AND STOP BUGGING ME!"
Xanadu is driven through the sand up to his waist by the force, and the Transistor logs several odd phenomena of people smacking other combatants about with their weapons, only for nothing to happen, not even the tiniest movement. A moment later, Xanadu flickers out of existence, and Creme can finally say she took someone down.
She takes a deep, deep breath, before letting it out in a little huff. She looks over at you and Lumen, immediately focuses back on Lumen, before starting to help dig him out.
Ok, ok, no fakeout this time. Time to regroup.
Aura: 135/150
Ailment Gained: Turn() Sickness- a safety feature to fend off the cauliflower soup impression, all Functions bar Jaunt() are locked for 3 rounds of combat. Roll 1d20 to determine whether or not that includes this one.
[] {THIS IS SO DEMEANING-} - Use the Transistor as a shovel, help Lumen out. (Regain allies for next turn, resume defensive roles afterwards.)
[] {I SWEAR TO GOD JAUNE-} -Start swinging. Find someone, start wailing on them with your sword, either in your hands or not. (Focused damage, chance to take out at least one person, max. of 2 if you're really lucky.)
[] {DON'T YOU DARE SO HELP ME I WILL PUBLISH YOUR SEARCH HISTORY-} - Come on. You know what this option is. You know you wanna do it. You just... gotta... whistle. Or, hum. Or, stay silent. Anything works, really. (Medium-High damage to several enemies in a radius, risk of blindsiding. Jaunt() mildly weakened for duration; -1 to dodge rolls.)
[] {*ANGRY SWORD NOISES*} - (Write-in)
Adhoc vote count started by Prok on Jul 15, 2017 at 11:42 AM, finished with 265 posts and 13 votes.
[X] {THIS IS SO DEMEANING-} - Use the Transistor as a shovel, help Lumen out. (Regain allies for next turn, resume defensive roles afterwards.)
[X] {THIS IS SO DEMEANING-} - Use the Transistor as a shovel, help Lumen out. (Regain allies for next turn, resume defensive roles afterwards.) -[X] Ask Creme what's up with her semblance since she didin't use it to take out everyone out all at once and she totally could had. Transfering Kinetic energy is OP and we can rend space.
[X] {DON'T YOU DARE SO HELP ME I WILL PUBLISH YOUR SEARCH HISTORY-} - Come on. You know what this option is. You know you wanna do it. You just... gotta... whistle. Or, hum. Or, stay silent. Anything works, really. (Medium-High damage to several enemies in a radius, risk of blindsiding. Jaunt() mildly weakened for duration; -1 to dodge rolls.)
I don't think this test has too long to go, in case it's wearing out its welcome.
End of arc edit: HAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HOLY SHIT YOU DUMB BITCH
||| Turn() Sickness Roll: 17. Success! -1 round! 1 remaining!
You watch as Creme gets on her knees to scoop away another handful of sand, causing another mini-avalanche to form, and realise with a small start that you should probably help instead of gawping at her...
{Finish the sentence, Jaune, there are implications there.}
... Awesomeness, you finish after a moment, glaring at your sword.
{... What? She's cute, you're hormonal, you know your parents wouldn't have a problem with a Faunus, I wouldn't be too surprised if you were into her-}
You let go of the Transistor, not even dignifying its analysis with an answer, and walk over to the pair to help dig your friend out.
... An idea begins to form.
{... Jaune. No. I'm sorry. Really, I am, it was a stupid joke, you don't, you don't need to do this-}
"Need some help there?" You ask the pair, raising your hand to drag the Transistor up with your mind. With quick, deliberate movements, you bring it forth, raising gently as it comes towards Lumen, the red eye level with his face.
"Uh..."
{NonononoNONONONO-}
You flick your hand down. The Transistor drives itself into the sand, further, further, until its eye is about half covered.
{MMMMMMMMMM-}
You pull your hand into your chest, dragging the sword forward, taking the sand with it, granting Lumen freedom and letting him step forward.
{WHY?! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!}
It amuses you?
{I FEEL PAIN YOU ASS. WHY CAN I SIMULATE PAIN. OH GOD THIS IS WHAT GETTING SAND IN YOUR EYE FEELS LIKE, WHY HAVEN'T YOU ALL JUST GLASSED YOUR BEACHES YET-}
You join Lumen, now trying to salvage his pants.
"Ugh, how did I get sand between my toes?!"
You look at his footwear, black leather boots, and decide not to comment. Instead, you bring your sword back and begin shaking the sand off its casing. Creme stares at you, and your floating sword, and opens her mouth to say something before deciding better of it. She gets off her knees, dusting them off as she does. "IGNORE ME!" DC 17, Roll: 15. Minor Failure!
"No, even more importantly, the hell was tha-" Character Roll: 3. ... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA-
Creme is hit in the head with a bullet. She doesn't react. You look over to the source of the bullet and see- oh god, this dick.
"OI! YOU GITS AIN'T FIGHTIN'!" A boy dressed in bike leathers with honest to god spikes on them- because Aura means armour is optional apparently- shouts at you. "I GOTS TO FIX THAT!"
He raises his...
... You don't- a little help?
{Even if I wasn't really mad at you right now, I don't know. There is no logical reason for it to be held together, let alone actually be able to fire bullets. Chalk it up to a Semblance and try not to think too hard about it.}
You... no, you can't just move on from this. You find yourself staring at his weapon for a long moment, as if staring at it will make it make sense.
... It's... like, someone stuck several pieces of scrap together, slapped some wires and springs on the internals and somehow gun. That's the only way you can describe it- it's like someone made a model of a gun out of a bunch of scrap metal and springs, and then intimidated it into acting like a gun. Then again, you look at your opponent and decide that if anyone would both try and be able to intimidate inanimate objects, it would be him.
Both your allies are quick to act, Lumen bringing his shield up and charging forward, emulating Xanadu in his own way, while Creme blasts forward, sand exploding beneath her feet, the Transistor once again logging several incidents where people's weapons seem to just stop working for a moment.
Meanwhile, you queue... nothing, because you've locked up most of your sword's processing power.
... Welp, time for javelin practice!
{USE JAUNT().}
Oh. Yeah. You still have Jaunt().
Queue Jaunt().
Jaunt() queued. "Really it doesn't matter which hand you use, you're shit with both." DC 12 Roll: 11 + (Skill Penalty: - 3) = 8. Failure!
You blast past them both, raising your sword high above your head and bringing it down on your new opponent's head. Instead, however, he swings a little to the side, a wild, unpracticed move that just barely saves his ass, and he shifts his gun to a mace.
Read: He takes it by the still smoking barrel and flips it around, bringing several pointy bits that were hidden... somewhere, to the forefront, making for a very crude club. You swing again, and he dodges backwards just in time to catch you over the head with his club, and then catch one of those colourless crystals of Lumen's. In that half second of confusion, you just about remember to Jaunt() backwards and avoid most of the explosion.
Aura:115/150
You watch Leathers bounce once, twice, rolling, rolling, and, he's up and running again. He... seems to be screaming something.
As he comes closer, only seeming to get faster as he goes, club-gun raised, going for Creme.
You think it's... Aaaaagh?
Creme uses the shaft of her hammer to block it, bringing a foot up to kick him in the gut, once, twice, before taking a boot to the stomach herself.
Raaaagh?
She folds, coughing slightly, almost getting her head clubbed in like human sacrifice is the new black for her troubles, only for a spray of green and blue to cover her back and protect her like a turtle shell. The not-gun-club bounces off, and you see shards of metal come off from the abuse.
{I think it was... Waaaaagh?}
Ooh, yeah, he might be right.
Almost as quickly as the resin appeared, it disappears, leaving dust and the smell of chalk and cedar to infuse the air. Lumen creates another glob of dark red goop, this one aimed directly for Leathers' eyes. Blinded, and directly in front of a now rather angry Creme, he doesn't stand a chance.
... You think you see him embedded in the wall.
{Girl kicks like a damn mule, Semblance or not.}
... Dude.
{What?! It's a perfectly normal turn of phrase! You're the one making it racist!}
Before you get any further, you see Leathers getting up again, good god this guy just doesn't stop.
Ok. Enough is enough. You let go of the Transistor, and with a few gestures, point it directly at the fucking Goliath in human form.
{You know what, for once, I'm ok with this. I'm getting tired of this guy too.}
... Well, that's nice. You snap your fingers and send it careening off towards him.
You watch his face change from bewilderment to pain, even at this distance, as your sword slams him back into the new nook you and Creme have dug into the wall. He flickers away, and your sword is left floating a little bit further away than it was. You call it back, enjoying the slight gawp on your friends' faces as you do. The sound of your sword groaning in simulated nausea, not so much.
The buzzer sounds, prompting you to look up at the scoreboard. You know it's not a scoreboard, but... it really is.
12 people left.
{Hey... we're getting there. 9 more and we're... golden... ohgodwhycanIevensimulatenausea-}
"... As I was saying..." Lumen breaks the silence first, "what the hell was that? What even is your Semblance?" He asks, the question directed at Creme.
"Oh, like yours is any better!" She shoots back, and you decide to step in before they come to blows.
"Is now really the best time for this conversation?" You ask, gently reminding them that you're in the middle of a battle. They both look at you, and, since they don't argue any further, seem to concede the point.
Now what?
Turn() Sickness- 1 round remaining. All Functions bar Jaunt() locked- telekinetic command and inherent bludgeoning properties also available for use.
[] Write-in
Adhoc vote count started by Prok on Jul 18, 2017 at 8:57 PM, finished with 303 posts and 10 votes.
[X] Suggest the following plan to the group. Creme charges Mel, and just as she reaches him, we jaunt behind him. Lumen provides support.
@Prok Just pointing this out but shouldn't Jaune have a very high tech skill considering that he made the transistor which has been stated to have computational power higher than both Atlas and Vale combined, a sapient AI and Jaune knows how to upgrade it even further?
In terms of fixing the Transistor, it's the same idea as his Functions- he's the only one who can, so he gets a gold medal by default. But yes, the actual process of fixing or upgrading the Transistor has less in common with upgrading a computer than some kind of arcanotech ritual. He understands it... pretty much to the extent you would expect someone who built something to understand how it works. The problem is that if you tried to explain it to anyone else, you're going to get polite, but very obviously blank stares.
For more general stuff, computers, Scrolls, networks, stuff like that, he could probably grab at the very worst a college degree in a relevant subject just because he's spent almost seven years learning about them, partially out of necessity, partially out of interest, and when he actually created the Transistor, both of those only really bloomed from there.
For more mechanical things, ie, every other Hunter weapon in existence, I'd... hesitate to trust him with anything more than cleaning a gun, they're really not his forte.
Regardless, you bring up a good point. I'll put it in the Skills section of your character sheet once I'm done with the update.
Don't be afraid to pipe up, people- if you think there's anything that Jaune would feasibly know due to his background, feel free to ask about it.
|||
A plan begins to form as you look for a target. And by 'a target,' you mean Mel.
As you look around for him, you begin speaking to your teammates.
"Ok, right now, I think our main problem is Saff. If he's around, we're constantly at risk of that little sand-trap of his. We need to get rid of him."
"You know, I have no problem with that." Lumen says, another tendril of yellow appearing from under his fingernails and pasting itself over the outer face of his weird goop shield, forming a thin layer of gold over the blue, before bubbling up in the centre to form a rather vicious looking spike. "Do you have a problem with that?" He asks Creme.
{I don't get it. The more I look at him when he does stuff like that, the more I don't understand what the hell he's doing.}
"I'm cool with it. What's the plan, Jaune?"
You breathe in, ordering the plan in your mind.
"Right now, I'm really limited in what I can do. All I can really do right now is swing my sword about and use that short burst thing I've been using. So, here's the plan- Creme, you rush him, then when you reach him, I'll get behind him and go for a backstab. Lumen, those, uh, crystal things, do you have any more of them?"
In response, you watch his eyes go wide- literally, his pupils dilate until his iris is barely visible- and in his free hand, you watch as what looks like liquid glass flows into his hand, eventually crystallising into... well, a clear crystal. A dark red follows it, coating it in blood-red tar.
"I can make a few more, yeah, but they're not really stable. I can coat them, but it'll only last so long."
"Can you warn us before you throw it?"
"Yeah, just get away quick before I do."
Ok. Ok! This can work! This is going to work!
Now you just need to find that fucking weasel-
Arrow!
You duck and snap your head around to look at your assailant with his longbow and those stupid fucking antlers-
You watch him grin, and follow Creme as she rushes him.
"Oh, no, I'm not here to fight," he calls out, "I just want you to know that what happens next is your fault!"
With that, he shifts his foot as if he's drawing a line in the sand, and a cube of sand disappears out from under him, dropping him into a pit below.
Warning- Seismic activity detected; probability of Saff's involvement: 74%
You watch as sand shifts and walls begin to sprout up around you, cubes of the arena's actual foundation rising out of the ground to create a maze. Looking back, you realise the two of you left Lumen behind. Creme looks at you, and before she can say anything, a wall slams into her, separating her from you too. Above you, cubes begin to form a ceiling, eventually leaving you in almost complete darkness.
Sonar imaging active. Outer lighting deactivated.
And like that, it doesn't matter anymore. You can see them. They can't see you.
"I! HAVE! HAD IT WITH YOU THREE! NOT ONLY DO YOU, SOMEHOW, MANAGE TO NOT TAKE EACH OTHER OUT WITH YOUR OWN SPECIAL BRANDS OF DESTRUCTIVENESS- SELF AND OTHERWISE- YOU SOMEHOW MANAGED TO SURVIVE, TAKING OUT XANADU, EMI, THAT WALKING COLLECTION OF CHARACTER DEFECTS THAT MAKES LITTLE MISS HOT MESS OVER THERE LOOK WELL-AD-FUCKING-JUSTED, AND NOW I'M THE ONE PERSON LEFT TO DEAL WITH YOU WALKING DISASTER AREAS BEFORE YOU GET A FREE PASS AND END UP GETTING SOMEONE ELSE KILLED DOWN THE LINE!"
Speaking of hot messes, it seems Saff's on a mission to ruin his voice. His screaming seems to echo through the entire pseudo structure, his voice shrill and cracking, much like his sanity by the sounds of it.
{Jaune, duck!}
Not questioning it, you duck just in time to hear a rifle go off not inches behind where your head was. As soon as you turn and a pulse is sent out, you see it withdraw through the wall. Taking a few steps back, you hear a wonderful sound.
Oh, that is just music to your ears. You watch the wall as it shifts out of the way, not as a whole, no, it disintegrates out of the way, before slipping back into place to show a 5'2 boy with a sniper rifle that's shifting to become a cavalry sabre.
"... Jaune." Mini-Moss says. "Don't suppose I could convince you to just let me beat your Aura down, could I?"
"... Hey. Salem." You say, using his real name for once. "Come on, man, you don't need to do this. Why don't we work together, get out of here, take down Saff, and then do this?"
You don't wanna fight him. There's only 12- the buzzer goes- 11 people left. You, him, Lumen, Creme- that's places one through four filled! Y-you, you don't need to do this!
Even so, some traitorous part of your brain is already formulating plans- his range is limited, even with that weird Semblance of his- he's not going to pull out his rifle at close quarters, not when you're aware of him. So that's a sabre, and the knife-pistol he should still have on him.
"That's a no, then?" You listen to him sigh deeply. "Shame. I was hoping you would make this easy."
With that, the ground comes out from under him, and he disappears.
... Wh-
The bullet impacts your leg before you can even question what just happened, taking your balance from you as Salem launches out of the ground, firing at you as he launches himself through the wall of the maze, disappearing as fast as he reappeared.
Aura: 100/150
As the dull pain of Aura protecting you from a bad injury spreads through your leg, you realise that you need to make a plan, and pronto.
Battlefield analysis: Saff has created what seems to be a maze using the foundations of the arena itself, steel, concrete and rebar mostly. You're currently in a 1x6 metre long corridor, with Mini-Moss shifting through the walls like they're not there. The walls themselves are only about five metres high, with the roof about four metres above that- if you try, it should be possible for your Hunter ass to get up there and look around for the others.
[] Talk()- He seems as reluctant as you about this, despite his drawing first blood. Maybe you can talk him out of this?
-[] Backstab()- That doesn't mean you're not gonna prepare for a breakdown in peace proceedings, though. If things go well, things go well, if not... well, that's what you have Functions for.
-[] And those Functions are...?
[] Fight()- When in doubt, assume violence is the only answer these people understand.
-[] And your plan? (Write-in)
Adhoc vote count started by Prok on Jul 22, 2017 at 2:37 PM, finished with 353 posts and 8 votes.
[X] Talk()- He seems as reluctant as you about this, despite his drawing first blood. Maybe you can talk him out of this? -[X] Backstab()- That doesn't mean you're not gonna prepare for a breakdown in peace proceedings, though. If things go well, things go well, if not... well, that's what you have Functions for. -[X] Crash(), Breach, Jaunt
I'll take that. I've been told I need to get better at putting my foot down when I need to, and this... is somehow simultaneously important enough to be worth saying something on, and also unimportant enough to the story that people aren't gonna raise a fuss about it, hopefully. Baby steps.
Oh, come on, there's no need to redact that information. It's pretty dang obvious that you're talking about Processing the city, which actually answers a question that I had; whether or not we could Process things/people, or only generate instances of the Process.
Speaking of which, does Jaune know that he can create the Process? And how would we create, say... the Spine of the World?
I tried to keep up some semblance of secrecy, and that's what matters. And the answer is no, he isn't aware of the Process yet, and how he becomes aware is simply a matter of circumstance- he awoke his Semblance from being beaten up and having to protect his sister- he built the Transistor because he needed something to stop his Semblance from hurting him.
So why would he need the Process?
And for your second question, by the sounds of it, some great bass work, some snares, and Pyrrha. More seriously, you'll find out when you find out.
Unfortunately, due to technical issues, I wasn't able to write the update last night- that'll be up in the next update slot, so, Wednesday. Updates will probably be slowing down as a whole while I get used to a membrane keyboard again, but I did just write 2000 words with it, so that's a good sign. Instead, however, you're getting that interlude I promised to make up for it!
... Hopefully.
|||
"What are you, brain-dead? Dust!"
Hoh? You look around for the conversation succeeding the clattering of luggage and preceding the telltale sound of Dust leaking through a loose cap- a useful sound, your master said, for knowing when to leave an area promptly. Or, at the very least, to look around and see where the fireworks are going to happen.
'One must learn to take pleasure in the stupidity of others, for it is an endless source of hilarity if cultivated properly.'
... Ah! The girls, one in red and black, the other in white and icy blue, the snow queen lecturing the other on the various types of Dust while shaking a bottle of the substance around, spreading a thin miasma of... fire Dust, you believe? It's red, and you can see smatterings of blue and yellow among the cloud...?
... Oh, sod it, you might as well introduce yourself, no? Readying your legs, you focus on your destination, between the two girls, and...
Go.
Your feet crack the ground beneath them as you reach up, plucking the phial from the pale girl's hands as you come to a stop, shifting the cobbles beneath your feet ever so slightly, unknowingly ruining what was the result of years of aesthetic design.
"Wh- what are you doing?!" The girl asks, seeming more annoyed that you decided to intervene at all than at the act of theft you just committed. "Why are you-" She looks at her hand for the bottle, only to see her hand. The girl stares at it with the kind of intensity you would only truly stare at your hand with if on the fungi you've seen green devils partaking in while on errands for your master, or indeed, when looking for something that should be there and isn't. She looks towards you as you push the cork down, and, after an experimental shake, consider it 'safe enough.'
You look up at her. She stares at you with a mild sneer on her face as you hand her the bottle back.
"Carelessness is cause for misery." You say as she takes it back, half-quoting your master as you do. "Were these all bottled in the same facility?"
"I- yes, but-"
"You should check them all, then- the corks are loose. You've been spreading Dust around for at least as long as you've been shaking this bottle."
You watch their faces, and how they change slightly as the revelation hits them that oh gods something very bad could have happened there. More than that, unknown to you, they find your voice- dissonant with your actions, calm, quiet, almost tranquil with every word- mildly unsettling for reasons they cannot quite place.
"... I... well, at least someone understands how to handle Dust properly." The girl in white says, aiming the jab at the girl in red in some attempt to regain some of her composure.
You hold your tongue, very deliberately not saying 'and it's not you.'
"I'm really sorry!" The girl in red apologises, her embarrassment clear to you. You're... not sure what for, honestly. Did something happen before you came along? Probably, but, eh, you don't care. The girl in white pounces on her apology like a predator, launching into a tirade on the young girl's intelligence, age, asking her if she should really be here, the works.
You won't say you weren't enjoying it immensely, because you would be lying.
"Hey, I said I was sorry, princess!" Red Girl says, finally fed up with being snapped at. Good, show some fang! You're meant to be a Huntress, not one of Mottom's serving girls!
"Heiress, actually." A girl in black says, walking towards your little party. "Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest..."
You stop listening as you stare at the girl, this one in black because apparently monochrome is in nowadays, and more specifically at the bow atop her head. The bow that seems to twitch by millimetres every now and then at random, regardless of the wind that isn't blowing- not even a slight breeze.
... Curiouser and curiouser.
"Finally! Some recognition!" The girl in white, now dubbed Weiss, gives a smug smile, and you can almost feel her ego growing.
You could probably cut it with your sword.
"The same company infamous for its controversial labour forces and questionable business partners." Bow girl continues almost impassively, drawing a sputter from the heiress preem, and drawing a needle across her inflated sense of self-importance.
"Wh- how dare you- ugh!" She stammers, stomping off without so much as a goodbye.
You step forward, bowing deeply.
"Goodbye, Preem Schnee!" You cry, not... wholly sincerely. When the stomping intensifies, you find yourself smirking just a little.
"I promise I'll make this up to you!" Red Girl calls after her. She turns to you, looking somewhat grateful. "... Thanks. For the save, with the Dust, and all."
Despite yourself, you find yourself smiling at the gratitude she shows you.
'Help those who seem capable of helping you,' your mind says in lieu of Meti.
"No problem." Your mouth says, choosing not to go down the 'you owe me' route.
"I-I'm Ruby, by the way." Red Girl says after a moment, making two out of three girls whose names you know.
"Jaune Arc Ten Meti." You say, turning to her for the first time since you opened this conversation. "It's nice to meet you, Ruby."
For once, you mean that.
|||
"So... 'Arc' is your last name, and 'Ten Meti' is... what, a title?"
"Of sorts. 'Ten' roughly translates to 'student of.' Meti is my master."
Ruby makes a quiet noise of realisation. "So, since my uncle taught me how to fight, I would be... Ruby Rose Ten Qrow?"
"You were taught by ten crows?" You ask, genuine confusion in your voice.
"What? No! I was taught by my unc...le..." She fixes you with a glare, and you barely hold back laughter, resorting to biting your lip to keep it contained.
You're almost expecting your master's hand to appear out of nowhere and slap the back of your head for making such a stupid joke, even if by accident, and honestly, for once you wouldn't blame her.
"Well, you wouldn't be the first person I've heard of who was trained by animals of some sort."
As you remember that Meti has in fact happily abused her ability to Cut space and time for that exact purpose on more than one occasion, you do grow a touch more paranoid.
"... Anyway, I was taught by my uncle to use this-" She says, pulling a large red metal case from her waist, which immediately shifts and expands, becoming a giant, mechanical scythe in a matter of seconds.
A... peasant's weapon.
"A scythe." You say to be more diplomatic than your thoughts.
"It's also a customizable high-impact sniper rifle!"
Ah, now that, is... hah. You were almost happy for a second there. Such ignorance would be perfect for learning the art of Cutting, and learning is best done by teaching. She would have made a great student.
"... A gun."
She fixes you with a tiny smirk. "A gun. How about you? What do you have?"
... Well, since she's shown hers, it's only polite, you suppose. You grab the hilt of your sword, drawing its chipped, rusted blade from the scabbard of tightly but haphazardly bound straps of leather and watch the girl's face change from excitement to confusion to abject horror in a frankly impressive timeframe.
Once fully extracted, you bring its rusted tip to your palm, unafraid of injury. Even if you weren't a neonate in the principal art of Cutting, and thus more than capable of touching your own blade with no ill effect, it's so dulled that you doubt you could cut steamed carrots with it. Judging by the cracks along the bottom third, it would probably shatter if you tried.
The perfect tool for your dreams.
"Wh... wha..." Ruby seems to be at a complete loss for words, something about your blade horrifying her on a base level.
"A straight sword, five and a half kret long, the proper length, owned by my master, fought over by the two of us." You begin telling her about it. "I have cut every hair from my head with this sword- I still bear the scars from the experience. It is my sword, nobody else's, and it is all I will need to practice my arts."
"But... it-it's barely a weapon!" She cries, obviously distressed by the sight of a sword in such a state. "How could your master possibly give you something like that and, and say that's fine!? Something like that would get you killed in a fight!"
"'A blade, sharpened and shined lovingly by a blacksmith who adores his craft and his crafts, is the worst possible tool with which to learn the principle art of Cutting.'" You say, quoting your master as you are wont to.
This confuses the girl.
"... I... I don't get it."
You smile, not entirely expecting her to.
"What I mean, Ruby, is that this is a terrible weapon, as all swords are, and because of that, it is perfect for my purposes." You continue with that dissonantly tranquil voice of yours, setting off all kinds of unconscious warning signals in the girl.
"... What... what purposes?" She asks, switching between confused and unsettled as she waits. Oscillating between them, really, it's almost impressive.
You smile, unknowingly tilting your head to the side as your eyes crinkle shut, and Ruby's anxiety hits a peak. What other reason could there be for learning to strike without thought, without a blade? What better blade to learn Sword Law with than one that cannot cut?
What is a better reason to learn the principal art of Cutting?
: Grab the Process several months early by getting a crit roll after the GM gives you a bonus in the same damn update.