Summoner Quest (Celestial Menagerie)

[zagan]

Vote Closed: Winning Vote: 100 Blade Knight + 200 Felicicrow
To no one surprise, we gained the miniature knight and the crow that generates materials out of nothing.

 

[JumpFail200]

Omake

Fate/Divide​

I was in my office on the Rig when it happened. I keep going over what everyone was doing, how this could even be possible, if I could have done anything different to prevent it from happening at all.

I had my normal choice of partners hanging around my office while I worked on my report from last night. While I try not to pry on what my partners talk about among other people, being connected mentally in the middle of a fight is a boon I'll never regret, but for social events giving them their privacy is the least I can do for them.

Elytra and Vista had come to the Rig for transport back to HQ after their patrol on the Boardwalk when Alyamon suggested they convene to the side room next to my office to talk while they waited. Of course, they agreed, while raiding the vending machines on the way here, and had a rather good time if all the squealing was anything to go by. After they left and Olky saw the mess, Alyamon offered to clean it up herself to show how responsible she is.

When she broke the couch while sweeping, just because she could lift the couch to get under it doesn't mean she should've by herself, Olky got her to compromise, and they were working together to clean it up.

That was the last I heard from them before…

I also remember Aggretsuko had stepped out to get us some more tea from the break room down the hall. She was chatting with another intern who came to see "that nice panda girl that works for Compendium" while making a fresh pot on the stovetop.

I had sent Clank in giant form and Cressidus into Princess's orb to move in my stock of materials and some more equipment to arrange for the lab. Zhuan wanted to stress test the Adams wood before we put them up as beams for the roof and having a giant robot and Cressidus stomping around would give him a better idea of its longevity under pressure.

Of my partners outside the Rig's range, Assault and Battery had asked to bring Thorne with them on their patrol today, Thorne wanted to stretch his limbs and walk around a bit, so he agreed, and both heroes were talking about new drapes on their way to the Docks.

I still can't believe what Scalpa was doing, cheating in a card game against some troopers on break and some waiting for their next shift at the HQ. He had an advantage in height over them and was using the placement of his eyes as an excuse to turn his head and was peeking at the top of the cards from the people seated next to him.

Healer was in the middle of a shift change and just waiting for the new patients to be brought in. While he doesn't really have senses like a human or my other partners do, it could still tell when someone is nearby and if they're healthy, and it could sense people being moved out of his room in the hospital.

Going over everything, over and over and over, I still can't find the answer for how I could have avoided this fate with what I knew at the time.

I was just finishing the report when my power asked me a question, one I believed was from my power at the time anyway.

"Do you answer the Call?"

It felt like a massive weight was thrown on my shoulders when I heard it, like a mountain had landed through the roof and was only stopped by my shoulders alone, only I could feel this presence and only I could be the one to answer. My minds were trying to check and see what kind of partner this could be, but nothing was coming forth, anything my skills could have given was unavailable until I either accepted this call or denied it.

"Do you answer the Call?"

It was starting to feel more demanding, like it was seconds from leaving if I didn't give an answer, and after my many experiences with my power and the many strange and mysterious things it tends to throw my way, I couldn't imagine this would've been anything different from my new normal since gaining the Celestial Menagerie.

"I accept." I said, turning Fate on its head and dooming myself for what was to come.

It started with a pulling sensation that reminded me of my visits to the panda's valley, small at first but persistent and that pull kept getting stronger. My minds still didn't have any info on what it was doing, and they were starting to worry when I felt something loosen, then the pain came.

It was as if my whole existence was stretching across a vast distance, the pain thousands of times worse than what that tinkertech teleporter had done to me and I didn't have enough of a hold on my being to pull back from it.

My partners could feel my pain, though not what was doing this to me. Olky was by my side in an instant, with Alyamon bursting through the door and Aggretsuko behind her. Olky was trying to teleport us to the Hospital, but every snap of his finger was failing to move us even an inch. Scalpa was telling those who would listen to get an ambulance to the Rig, Thorne had gotten the two heroes with him to understand him and were making their way back here to help.

Some of my minds had managed to unsummon Healer through this agony and bring him along with our other medically capable partners out in our office, but it didn't seem to be helping any.

There was a sense of wrongness then, as if this pain shouldn't be happening, and slowly I could feel whatever this being truly was pulling out something that comes from deep within the very Core of my being, then an instant sense of being cut off from my partners in my office and the mental realm.

And so, I've been stuck here, floating in weightlessness without any sense of how long it's been, recovering from what happened. Alone without any partners or other minds to talk to, while going over everything that happened in my office and what that being had done. It was when the pain finally stopped that I got the information I needed from that grade A bitch Aleyah to understand what had happened.

I had become a Heroic Spirit.

Well, I should say, I became a copy of what my Heroic Spirit could be, since I haven't really died. That was why there was no warning, since the Celestial Menagerie already accepted being connected to the Counter Force and Gaia for the purpose of saving patterns from that world, being copied by the Will of Humanity to serve in a Grail War only required me to give a yes or no answer.

That doesn't excuse the pain though, apparently Yellow's effect of ignoring the Will of the Force interfered with the connection while it was copying me, leading to the difficulties I experienced before it could finish, something that normally wouldn't even be noticed once I accepted, not that I'll ever forgive them for that.

I had been summoned as a Caster, mostly because of the Celestial Menagerie being too specialized in its function to be truly compatible in most of the other Classes. Even if I could function as all 7 standard choices, being a Caster makes the most of my abilities as a magical human and the connection to my power. While Rider was my second-best option, it's heavily focused on my partners that I can ride on or my Swarm power being modified into a Noble Phantasm representative of biblical plagues, and the less I consider my third-best class being Assassin, the better for my own sanity.

As if my sanity wasn't already in question, I'm apparently going back in time as well, to the year 2004 in Fuyuki Japan. The Grail provides a packet of information on the local language and helps me with understanding the writing while I'm there, but that doesn't help with my biggest issue.

Being summoned as a Caster means I'll be at a disadvantage with my low parameters when the war starts, and wonder of wonders, it began just the day before I was summoned. Something to be grateful for is I'm not like most Casters anyway, with my workshop in Princess's orb and most of my usual powers being covered under my Class Skills, it won't take much to turn things around for my Master.

I've been trying to ignore what being like this means for me but without anything else to occupy my time until I reach the Master who called me, I'd better get on with it. Having knowledge on psychology and the process of grieving, this really wasn't how I expected to be using it.

While I'm a Heroic Spirit, I'll never see my partners again…

I never put much thought into how being dead would work for a Keeper after having so many friends I could just talk to whenever I wanted to, even if I'm only technically so. Even my multiple minds added a pleasant background noise that I've been missing since I've been here.

I can't feel the Mental Realm here, nor can I call on my copies of our partners while I'm not fully summoned yet. My partners will return to me once I'm summoned for a Grail War but once that is over, I'll never see them again.

I might be more worried if I didn't know they were still alright, probably more than a little rattled after that panic in the office, but they're still alive and… so am I…

I'm just a copy after all, the real Alex was still in that office when we were copied, more than likely recovering in the hospital with all our… his partners doting on him.

I'll have to confront this more later; I'll be too busy with the Grail War to get closure right now and it's too soon to truly accept what's happened to me.

Shouldn't be too long now, I can see some glowing lines converging on a point above me, a light too far to reach and yet seems so close. I'm hearing some sounds from the light as well, maybe shouting considering how far it feels to me. Catching what's being said from this distance is a challenge without Shush's targeted hearing helping me.

"I'm sorry for this, if you had stayed dead, I wouldn't have to do this again." A male voice, young but definitely an adult. I can just catch the sounds of steel clashing, he must be fighting someone, though only one of them seems to be exerting themselves. I try to make this go faster; it seems like focusing on appearing is moving me along quicker.

"Then stop already! If you don't want to kill me then why are you even here?!" Another male, younger than the other guy, must be a kid, very agitated and for good reason from what I'm hearing. I'll summon my usual partners after I appear, with Contingent Summoning being unset, I can bring Howard out the moment I can see them and buy some time to try to de-escalate the situation. I'm getting close to the light now.

"You saw us fighting, my Master won't allow you to live now that you saw me." The other guy again and that's very bad. With that debrief from the Grail Summoning Ritual to consider, this guy must be one of the other Servants in this Holy Grail War, and it sounds like he's about to kill the kid. I'll be there very soon, just a bit more and I can stop them.

I focused back on their fight when I heard the sound of steel shattering. "You have no weapon now and are out of options, if you just stay still, I'll do my utmost to make it painless." I could practically taste his melancholy from here, whoever this guy is, he doesn't want to do this.

I can feel the mental realm returning, I don't have time to search through it and check on everyone, I'm almost there and I need to be ready to summon Howard.

"Screw all this, my life was spared, and so I'm not going to let myself be killed that easily. I have to live, and fulfill all my obligations, and I can't do that if I'm dead. I'm not going to be killed here for no reason. Not by a bastard like you, no matter what it costs me!"

Just in time! I can see them now, not enough time for a proper plan, I just have to focus on keeping the kid safe.

Howard is next to me in an instant and with a swing of my arm he's between them with his axe holding the other Servant at bay. I bring out Comfi and Yellow while he's busy staring at Howard, it seems that he can see him, I'll be sure to wait until he's distracted again before I bring out Harvest to be safe.

I send off the mind's I have to calm down our partners now that we can hear them again. God, I can't believe how much I missed even the Simuracs' constant bloodlust right now.

I start moving towards the kid, the sound of my shoes on the concrete in the sudden silence draws their attention to me.

"The Seventh Servant?" he calls out as he jumps back from Howard and to the entrance where moonlight is coming from, obscuring his form in the shadows, though the glowing chest doesn't help him much. Good, he's taking his time to adjust his position near the door. I take a quick look around while I get closer to the kid's prone form.

We seem to be in a shed, a little cluttered but a rather nice one if I'm being honest, spacious enough two people could hold a sword fight without tripping into the walls at least. I make sure to keep his eyes on Howard with a flex of my arm to adjust his axe and take a look at the kid now.

Looks like he's barely hanging on, the blood on his shirt is recent and severe fatigue at least, after holding out against a Servant while performing a Servant Summoning, I'm amazed he's still conscious, doing all that is no simple feat. Perhaps more than he could handle, with my partners back I also have their senses returning and what I can see is telling me he might die any minute now.

His eyes are hazy, heavy breathing, some broken ribs and fractures in 4 different places, and it looks like that blood on his shirt was from being stabbed in the heart recently, whatever is keeping him going is about to give out if I do nothing.

That's why the Servant looks ready to run, he's already done his job, just a few more minutes and this kid, my Master, would be dead.

We're back, everyone's here that should be./ We set everything back to what we had it as by the way, Fluff and Simuroc too of course./ We put the Defensive Microbots in Howards place for now, we may need his strength to handle this Servant without our Master to supply us with mana while he's injured./ Trying to handle a Heroic Servant with potentially master level martial skill and thousands of battlefields worth of experience by ourselves would be suicide./ Even with Cressidus helping and Eva's defense he could keep us both pinned and helpless to fight back./ We're not exactly the best at close combat after all, we still can't handle Zei on our own, remember?

Howard only has half a minute left before he goes on cooldown, I'll need to be quick and get this Servant away from here, giving away my various healing magics is an ace I'd like to keep hidden for now. I summon Olky's wand and toss this bastard out of here, he doesn't expect it when he starts flying through the door frame out into the yard. I call out Hooch and Scalpa to spray as much ground outside the door as they can and to keep an eye on the Servant from the doorway, with Howard dismissed for now.

He's probably one of the Knight Classes if he could still stand after a swing from Howard./ Probably not the Archer if the kids' wounds are anything to go by, so a field of slime between him and this building should keep him from running in./ After being suddenly launched through the door and our partners guarding the entrance, he should be wary enough to give us some time to get ready.

I start summoning the Djinn, using Clover once she's set to be sure the Servant didn't leave any curses on the kid, I follow up with Clank and Cressidus next while I undo Olky's weapon form and give him the Clockwork Variant, I ask them to move my new Master away from the windows and leave Olky with Healer as a wand to keep things unnoticed while he heals the kid.

I look my Master in the eyes to be sure he can hear me, while a little out of it from the pain he seems lucid enough to understand me when I say. "I think asking about Master and Servant contracts can wait until I take care of this guy first, just rest while I make sure he's gone, okay?"

He looks confused at first but once I mention the other guy, he starts getting this worried look on his face, the stubborn fool even tries to stand up, but Olky keeps a firm hand on him, and he stays down with a grimace.

"What's going on, who even are you people? Are you even people?" He asks me, like he doesn't even know what a Servant is… Does he not know what a Servant is?

I pull out the Libra just to be sure and ask, "I'm your Servant, you called me here remember?"

"No, I didn't call anyone here. Is that what you are? Is that guy one too?" He asks me, pointing to Olky while the Libra just stays quiet, as if accepting this random kid was capable of performing the Servant Summoning Ritual on accident.

I can only sigh at my luck today, at least seeing him so lively about us means Healer and Olky are helping him get better. I should get introductions over with before that Servant tries anything funny. "I was summoned here as your Servant but all that can wait, for now, just know I'm here to protect you and get that guy out of here."

He looks me in the eyes when he asks me. "But who are you?"

I look right back at him and try my best to smile while saying. "I'm Servant Caster, but you can call me Compendium. I'm a hero of justice."

Spoiler: Servant Compendium

True Name: Alex Crewser/Alias: Compendium

Species: Phantasmal Human, Wyverian

Height: 1.7m (5.5 ft)

Weight: 69 kg

Alignment: Neutral Good

Region: Earth Bet

Hidden Attribute: Human

Spoiler: Qualified Servant Classes:

Archer, Assassin, Berserker, Caster, Lancer, Rider, Saber

Current Class: Caster

Spoiler: Parameters:

Strength: D~A
Endurance: D+~A+++
Agility: C+~A+
Mana: C+~A+
Luck: C
NP: Star

Spoiler: Class Skills:

Item Construction (B++): All partners and skills involving the creation or forming of an item fall under this skill. Those include Animate object, Automatron, Bernie, Berry, Blaster, Celestial Brush Techniques, Flower of Krakoa: I, Gasha Nuts, Golemancy, Machine Spirit, Non-sapient robots, Player Pin, Armored Creature, Material Extraction, Armor, Toy, Vehicle, and Weapon summoning. Everything that falls under this skill starts at a base rank of B when used against other Servants.

Territory Creation (A~EX): All partners and skills involving the creation of an advantageous area around himself and the existence of realms beyond the bounds of the world fall under this skill. Those include Axe Legion's Shield, Beastmaster Pet Effects, Bruce's Rest Room, Calming Aura, Celestial Brush Gods, Clank Zapper, Defensive Microbots, Eva, Healer, Invocations, Lepton Daisy, the Mental Realm, Nightmare, Princess's orb, Rex, Solar, Summon Spirits, and Yellow. Everything that falls under this skill cannot be overcome by a Servant's skills or Noble Phantasm unless of a base rank of A or higher.

Spoiler: Personal Skills:

Keeper of the Celestial Menagerie (Star): His soul bound connection to the Celestial Menagerie, an omni-dimensional collection of creatures, machines, and spirits of a non-human existence, have made his own existence equivalent to the Throne of Heroes, though not to the same degree. Whenever he would use a partner against a Servant, that partner's base rank can increase by one if a part of their legend, and should he face a Servant whose True Name is revealed to him, he will know which partner would be most effective in recreating how they died. This increase still applies if the partner shares the same species as the creature in the legend.

Power of the Celestial Menagerie (Star): As compensation for his service in preserving these many lifeforms, he has been given access to a variety of abilities that can affect them in different ways and the power to bring them into true existence despite him being an ordinary human in the Modern Age. All partners summoned suffer no mana cost to appear or to maintain their existence while summoned but this does not help with partners or abilities that are meant to be summoned through his own power. Those include Beastmaster Pet Effects, Blue Magic Spells, Celestial Brush Techniques, Chakra Techniques, the Clow Cards, Magecraft, Pins, and Summoning Contracts.

Spoiler: Noble Phantasm:

Class Change (Rider) (EX): This skill allows him to reduce his Caster Class skills and gain one Rider Class skill in return. The rank reduction is split among the two skills and leaves him at D rank for both skills in return for his EX rank in Riding. Vehicle Summoning falls under the Riding skill instead of Item Creation and raises all partners to match his EX rank when summoned. Once he chooses to end the use of this NP, it will take a full day to return his Caster Class Skills to their original ranks.

Ultimate Summoning: Anti-World (Star): When used in the Universe of Fate, it being the culmination of so many creatures of as many more mythologies, nothing short of an Anti-World NP or a NP of the Star rank can match him once unleashed, though it still falls under the same limits as it does in Earth Bet and will leave him defenseless once that hour is up.

Spoiler: Author's Notes

By God did I really get into this, I rewrote this whole thing twice over because the plotlines where this could even happen were really bad shlock and I couldn't bring myself to post it as it was. After a whole day of editing and checking the word count, here it is, the Fate/stay night omake prompt for 3,000 words and I have no regrets for doing it. If any others reading this want to write a different fate prompt with the sheet, go right ahead, I already got @zagan's seal of approval on it before posting this.

And to others interested in writing a prompt, give it a try, I had a lot of fun myself while going over everything Fate for writing this, maybe you will too for what you would choose.

I already got permission to continue this prompt, I just need a breather after working on this for two weeks straight.

 

[zagan]

@JumpFail200
I'm having a hard time finding the right words. That was beautiful. When I first read it you made me cry. I was at work in the break room, alone thankfully, and I let out a tear when I read the part about Servant Alex realizing that he was a copy that would be forever separated from his main self.

You didn't go, at all, in the direction I expected when in your PM we discussed this omake. I fully expect you to start right at the moment of the summoning and that we would get to see much more in the Fate-verse.
Instead, you opt to start before that, while Alex is just doing paperwork and you manage to give such vivid images of his partners going along with their lives. I'm in awe, it's wonderful. I could see Aylamon, Vista, and Elytra talking and joking together. I could see Scalpa cheating at poker. I could see Thorne skipping along as he followed Assault and Battery.
You managed to give more life to my characters in one omake (half of one even) than I managed in 150 chapters. I'm genuinely jealous.
So from the bottom of my heart thank you very much.

I'll contact you by PM for your reward, you've more than earned it.

 

[zagan]

I didn't intend to write an interlude, it was just supposed to be a short paragraph at the beginning of the next chapter. And then it ballooned in size. Sorry. Hope you enjoy it anyway.
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Thursday, 04/21/2011 (8 AM)
Hannah:

Despite the overcast sky, I was enjoying my solo patrol on the Boardwalk. The shops were just starting to open, some people were hurrying to work or to school, some were walking their dogs, and some were jogging. My presence here was mainly a deterrent and a PR move. Yes, the remaining gangs were getting bolder but the Protectorate was still there to defend you.

I could see some improvement in the people's moods since the Empire takedown. There was far less tension visible on the face of those that were previously the target of the Empire's discrimination. Racism and homophobia still exist in the bay, it wasn't something that could be gotten rid of just by putting a few capes in prison. But without those same capes to hide behind the casual bigots were a lot more careful with their actions.

I spot a black woman flirting with a white man at a cafe table. Two young men were holding hands while window shopping. And I crossed paths with an old lady openly wearing a Star of David.

A month ago none of them would have dared.

All that could be traced back to one reserved young man with the courage to fight back. And the power to make it stick. Even today I was still in awe of the amount of power that my youngest colleague possessed. Power that continued to grow at a breakneck speed. What's more, I had little doubt that he was still holding back. Colin wouldn't have risked sending him against the Butcher if he wasn't confident in his victory.

And if that wasn't already enough, Compendium was generous in a way I had a hard time understanding. While it didn't cost him much in truth, some would have hoarded all those powers for themselves. Only sharing the bare minimum or none at all.

But no Alex was willing to give away priceless treasure with barely a thought to their value. Vista worshiped the ground he walked on for giving her a powerful Tinkertech baton after negotiating with the image department to allow it. Using provided materials, Colin made more improvements to his equipment in a month than he normally did in a year. Even when he wasn't on patrol he was sending his partners to accompany the others.

And finally, there was the elephant in the room, what he gave to me. Even now three invisible drones were flying in a triangular formation around me. Giving me a real-time three-dimensional map of my surroundings with a precision that was hard to believe considering it came from reading the air currents. A partner of my own, a boost to my power that gave me a Thinker rating of at least six. Perhaps more once I'm able to cope with a hundred at once. With that many, I could monitor half the town.

For now, I was limiting myself to three and keeping them not too far from each other. Foolishly the day after Alex gave it to me I tried to summon the full Swarm, and I nearly collapsed under the strain even though I was in a small isolated room with little air movement besides my own breathing. It took all my concentration to dismiss them all except for one.

The next day I was better prepared and I dismissed the majority of them as soon as they appeared, only keeping ten. And then I reduced their number one by one until I was comfortable with the feedback I received, stopping at five and then only three once I exit the room.

Already they were proving invaluable during patrols. I could "see" all around me in a sizable radius. I could navigate the street with my eyes closed if I wanted to. Not five minutes ago I was able to avoid a collision when a teenage boy came running from a side street without looking where he was going. Manhattan allows me to see him coming from a mile away, and plenty of time for me to sidestep him without even looking.

When I reached the pier at the edge of the boardwalk, I spent some time admiring the view of the Bay. It was far from pleasant considering the multiple wrecks along the way but it had its own rustic charm. Maybe one day Alex would gain a power allowing him to clean the bay, it wouldn't even surprise me at this point.

Shaking away those idle musings I turned around to make my way back to the Rig. As I walked past a bike vendor a man in a trenchcoat exited it. At first, I didn't pay any specific attention to him, just another civilian.

However, when Manhattan showed me that he whirled around behind me and started to change into a monstrous shape I had just enough time to evade the claw that would have knocked me to the ground.

"What the!?" I pivoted to take aim with the newly formed gun in my hand when I was deafened by a roar and my weapon disappeared. People started running and screaming as I realized that I was facing Animos.

Knowing that I couldn't face him like that I start to run, I needed to draw him away from the civilian.

"Console. Send help, Animos is after me."

As I ran I sent one Manhattan in his path, right in his mouth. Hopefully, it slows him down. If only I could evade him long enough for either my power to come back or for help to reach me. I risked a glance behind me and nodded in satisfaction when it confirmed my perception, my Stand was lodged in his throat and he was violently coughing to get rid of it. I winced when he managed to eject it and roared in anger. Now was not yet the time to rejoice.

Wordcount: 979
Excess words: 712
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As usual, no roll triggered by an interlude but we do gain points.

 

[Doccer]

And finally, there was the elephant in the room, what he gave to me. Even now three invisible drones were flying in a triangular formation around me. Giving me a real-time three-dimensional map of my surroundings with a precision that was hard to believe considering it came from reading the air currents. A partner of my own, a boost to my power that gave me a Thinker rating of at least six. Perhaps more once I'm able to cope with a hundred at once. With that many, I could monitor half the town.

Click to shrink...

Oooooo. So it's not a 'all or nothing' power? We can do less than a hundred.

 

[zagan]

Oooooo. So it's not a 'all or nothing' power? We can do less than a hundred.

Click to shrink...

Not exactly, and I mention it in the interlude here:

For now, I was limiting myself to three and keeping them not too far from each other. Foolishly the day after Alex gave it to me I tried to summon the full Swarm, and I nearly collapsed under the strain even though I was in a small isolated room with little air movement besides my own breathing. It took all my concentration to dismiss them all except for one. The next day I was better prepared and I dismissed the majority of them as soon as they appeared, only keeping ten. And then I reduced their number one by one until I was comfortable with the feedback I received, stopping at five and then only three once I exit the room.

You can only summon one or a hundred. But if you summon a hundred, nothing stops you from dismissing some of them, nothing forced you to dismiss them all at the same time.

 

[Doccer]

Not exactly, and I mention it in the interlude here:

For now, I was limiting myself to three and keeping them not too far from each other. Foolishly the day after Alex gave it to me I tried to summon the full Swarm, and I nearly collapsed under the strain even though I was in a small isolated room with little air movement besides my own breathing. It took all my concentration to dismiss them all except for one. The next day I was better prepared and I dismissed the majority of them as soon as they appeared, only keeping ten. And then I reduced their number one by one until I was comfortable with the feedback I received, stopping at five and then only three once I exit the room.

You can only summon one or a hundred. But if you summon a hundred, nothing stops you from dismissing some of them, nothing forced you to dismiss them all at the same time.

Click to shrink...

Am starting to remember something similar with the Slugs and the mobile gun platform too.

 

[FredFred99]

How much does Suicune cost? What amount of omake writing would have to be done to guarantee it?

Hannah's remark at Menagerie getting a creature to clean up the bay made me think of Suicune who can purify any water and reverse pollution

 

[Pen-Paper Toad]

How much does Suicune cost? What amount of omake writing would have to be done to guarantee it?

Hannah's remark at Menagerie getting a creature to clean up the bay made me think of Suicune who can purify any water and reverse pollution

Click to shrink...

Suicine costs 600, so I don't think you can get it through bounty board omakes, since I think the max is 500 for a high quality omake of decent length.

 

[zagan]

How much does Suicune cost? What amount of omake writing would have to be done to guarantee it?

Hannah's remark at Menagerie getting a creature to clean up the bay made me think of Suicune who can purify any water and reverse pollution

Click to shrink...

I love the enthusiasm man but while I would love to have Suicune in the quest That's pushing things a little too far. In addition, while Suicune could clean the water in the Bay, they couldn't remove the Tanker. Well not as soon as they would be gained and not without a lot of damage. It would require the move Surf at a tremendous level of power.
If you want a legendary water pokemon, you could gain Phione if you want, however. It's "only" 500 points and it can evolve into a Manaphy later. (Yes, it can't in the lore normally but I changed that for the CM.)

 

[Pen-Paper Toad]

I never thought of it before, but hopefully a Power Roll that gets Grants Traits as an option happens before the next Endbringer. I'm sure giving Miss J some of the knowledge Clank, and any other advanced intelligent creatures, has would be quite useful. Plus teaching a borrowed subject would likely speed up the rate she learns the subject herself, so it could kill two birds with one stone.

 

[GamingandReading]

I pivoted to take aim with the newly formed gun in my hand when I was deafened by a roar and my weapon disappeared.

Click to shrink...

She really needs to carry a gun on her person.

 

[Kratos1990]

She really needs to carry a gun on her person.

Click to shrink...

Yeah power nullifiers like Animos and Hatchet Face are a pain to deal with for most Parahumans if you don't have a plan B.

 

[Pen-Paper Toad]

Alex could probably get a gun from using several creatures' materials:

• Defective Turret's parts could probably be repaired and made into a gun
• Junktools gives screws, bolts, and nails, so that covers any missing from those
• Electric Fluffalo and Electric Crutter both give Static Cells, which can ....
• Automatron gives robot parts, which might include parts for attached weaponry
• Defensive Microbots can give a laser and targeting system, so that might work
• Sentry Turret outright gives machine gun parts and bullets

So, we can break it down to:

• Defective Turret and Sentry Turret for a weapon that looks normal
• Automatron for unusual weapons that require a power supply
• Defensive Microbots for a laser weapon

With Junktools for spare parts and both Electric Fluffalo and Crutter being used for power

Edit:
Unfortunately Automatron and Defensive Microbots are both in the loadout, so it's limited to a normal weapon unless they get removed for however long it takes to get the parts.

Edit 2:
It's too bad the paralysis from the shock gauntlets is likely caused by the gauntlets hitting two large enough areas, or trying to upgrade a weapon with static cells could be interesting, though whether it's possible or not without Upgrade Modules is unknown. Of course, the upgrade module might only be needed to change an existing item, so who knows.

 

[GamingandReading]

God, I was just imagining how a fight would go down between Alex and one of the two endbringers that fight with their body(from what I've seen of most fics). And then out of nowhere the saying of; "Plans don't survive contact with the enemy" hit me like a freighter train. Suddenly, the Simurgh entered the imaginative equation. Now Alex has to fight two Endbringers at the same time.

Of course, being the optimistic imaginator that I am. Alex won the fight in two ways. The Ultimate Summon and a Hard Fought Shonen Bout. Which somehow ends with him getting conquerors. I thought it was cool.

Anyway, I feel we really need a better Trump power than just handing out partners again. So, if the Dungeon comes around again. let's pick it. Cause it's cool. Doesn't mean I won't stop to try and get Clappy or my other choices. Just saying.

Edit:
Reason I say this is cause with that recent Interlude. It seems Alex has quite the weight on his shoulders.

 

[zagan]

Just for info, I added three more prompts to the Omake Bounty Board.
The first one was such a success that I hope to see more omakes soon.

 

[Doccer]

Just for info, I added three more prompts to the Omake Bounty Board.
The first one was such a success that I hope to see more omakes soon.

Click to shrink...

Will you cross out done prompts or leave them up for those who want to offer a different take? If the later might wanna leave a marker of some kind so new comers can make sure they aren't retreading old ground too much and keep their Omakes unique.

 

[zagan]

Will you cross out done prompts or leave them up for those who want to offer a different take? If the later might wanna leave a marker of some kind so new comers can make sure they aren't retreading old ground too much and keep their Omakes unique.

Click to shrink...

Cross out no. I noted if a prompt is claimed but other people are free to use it again and give their own take on it. Maybe is used multiple times, like more than 3 I might cross it out to encourage looking at the tother ones but I doubt it'll ever happen.

 

[zagan]

Spoiler: Winning Vote and Roll

[X] Alex sends out Cressidus, Koops, and Rainbow. Using Harvest units as a relay.
[X] Aegis
[X] Creature
Creature Roll: (540 points)
Category Roll D50=38 Kirby, Entry Roll D101=11
100 Blade Knight, 50 Blipper, 50 Bronto Burt
Category Roll D50=14 Monster Hunter/Dauntless, Entry Roll D361=310
200 Felicicrow, 50 Flashfly, 200 Fortune Owl
Sub-vote result: 100 Blade Knight + 200 Felicicrow
Banked: 240 points + 120 points interlude

So in addition to the result of the last roll, @JumpFail200 chose a Maneater as his reward for his fantastic omake. (if you haven't read it yet, do so right now!) There was an error on my part, it was supposed to be a Type-Moon creature but a Various creature, but I forgot to change it when I copy-pasted the text. So when I was surprised by his choice we discovered my error but he chose to keep that one. Anyway, we got a giant mutating shark that will be fun.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday, 04/21/2011 (8 AM)
Cressidus:

The feeling of manifesting in the real world was always exhilarating, it meant that my Driver needed me. Not to say that I dislike the in-between space where I'm resting, I'm not even really aware of time passing, after all, I can't get bored that way. But feeling my blood pumping in my veins, the tension in my muscles, and my ether reverberating in my link with my Driver is always glorious.

This time I appeared on top of the boss's base at the same time as Rainbow, and the new turtle guy. And of course, the Boss's Stand was there too, a dozen units keeping watch on the sea all around.

We all heard his voice resonating in our minds.

"I have an urgent mission for you guys. Miss Militia is under attack and I need you to save her. Cressidus you're in charge. Koops, you're to assist him, Rainbow you're the transport, and once there you need to keep the civilians away from the fighting. Harvest will be your relay. I can't risk leaving my post in case it's a distraction. The other heroes are not available. While I'm at it, take a few boosts. Good luck and godspeed."

Armor appeared on all of us, and I felt the effect of Defense and Speed Boost settled on Koops and me. Rainbow briefly stepped on air, proving that he could now fly.

Getting put in charge of my own mission, and an important one at that gave me mixed feelings. On the one hand, I was proud of the confidence that my Driver had in me, on the other hand, it filled me with anxiety because I didn't want to disappoint him.

I didn't waste any time directing Koops to jump on Rainbow's back and I did the same behind him. And Harvest unit number whatever jumped on the cat's head.

In a flash, we were flying above the Boardwalk.

"Okay, guys she shouldn't be far. Look for any disturbances."

The first thing I saw was people running in panic through the street. But it was Koops that spotted the villain first.

"There!" He pointed with his hand and turning my head I spotted an animalistic shape running in the middle of the road. Running away from that creature was Miss Militia, recognizable by her green army fatigue costume. She wasn't doing so well because Animos was faster than her. However, she was far from helpless, even without her parahuman power she was agile and smart, she could squeeze through openings that Animos was forced to go around like in between two parked trucks. In addition, she made excellent use of her three Manhattan Transfers by sending them into his eyes, mouth, or under his paws.

Rainbow didn't wait for my instruction to teleport above Animos. I let my teamwork instinct guide me and jump down the moment we reappeared.

I landed with a boom in my coolest heroic pose in front of the man-creature. Animos look like a cross between a Boar, with a flat snout, a Gibbon, with long prehensile arms, and a Lizard, with a thick tail. I expect him to be uglier. His body is covered in a reddish-brown hide and his head is disproportionately large compared to the rest of his body. And all that is the size of a car, smaller than Rainbow but bigger than me.

He skidded to a halt when he spotted me.

I saw Koops land not too far away to my right, and Rainbow behind Animos. Two Manhattan Transfer were hovering nearby so Miss Militia wasn't far but I didn't turn my head to look. Instead, I sent a message to Koops.

"Protect Miss Militia, I'm taking care of this clown."

------------------------------------------

Koops:

Looking around, I couldn't believe my luck. The first time the chief summoned me and already he was trusting me to fight by Cressidus's side. I would be assisting his Blade!

I watched as he did a badass entrance so I jumped to follow him. I stumbled a little but I managed to stay upright. And then Cressidus gave me an order.

There was no time to lose, I moved, so the heroine would be right behind me, ready to launch myself at the first sign that the bad guy was coming this way.

I glanced back. "Hello! I'm Koops! I'm supposed to protect you! Don't worry, Cressidus is the chief's Blade, he'll beat this guy easy!"

Before she could respond I heard the bay guys speaking. I gasped. I didn't think he could speak when like that.

"Hur, Hur, Hur!" I hope nobody saw me trembling when he laughed. "Fool! You sent projections after me! Hur, Hur, Hur!"

He looked around as if searching for something.

"Your coward of a master mustn't be far. I'll hunt him down once I finished with you. We'll see how he'll fare against me once stripped of his numerous powers. Hur, Hur, Hur."

At that, I saw red and nearly attacked the bad guy right there, he insulted the chief. Only the chief's voice in my head stopped me.

"Calm down Koops. He will be eating his words soon enough."

I took a deep breath. Of course, he would, Cressidus would be kicking his ass in just a moment and we'll see who's a fool.

The chief's Blade remained perfectly calm in the face of such vileness, dismissed his gauntlets, and crossed his arms.

The bad guy didn't seem to appreciate the implied disregard, growling angrily. He took a deep breath and roared in Cressidus's face.

Then there was a moment of silence when nothing happened. I giggled when I saw the incredulity on the bad guy's face. Ha, take that, we're the partners of Compendium, Keeper of the Celestial Menagerie, and such tricks won't work on us.

He roared again to no more effect. Seeing him take a step back Cressidus spoke up.

"Finished? Good. My turn then."

His gauntlet reappeared and without any more warning, he punched the backpedaling monster guy in the face sending him skidding along the road.

He got up and started screaming.

"No, no. It's not possible! You're just a projection. You should have disappeared! You can't hurt me!" He tried to roar but was interrupted by another punch. Cressidus wasn't even using any special move, just his raw strength.

I couldn't help it. I cheered. "Go, Cressidus!"

Behind me, I heard a voice. "Yes!" Turning around, I spotted the heroine we came to save with a fluorescent green gun in her hand, a big gun. Hu, she got her power back. I decided to contact the boss, this was important information.

"Chief! Miss Hannah got her power back."

"Excellent! Thank you for telling me, Koops. Now that she's no longer vulnerable, I want you to follow her lead."

"Yes, Chief."

I turned toward the heroine and saluted. "At your service M'am."

She kept her aim focused on the bad guy, who was currently at the receiving end of a beating.

"Thank you, hum, Koops. Keep your eyes on Animos and intercept him if he tries to run away.

I saluted again. "Yes, M'am."

------------------------------------------

Rainbow:

Pride's Leader gave orders. Little people are not to approach the hunting ground. I growled when I saw a little people trying to come closer while holding a flat stone in their front paws. And I nodded in satisfaction when little people stepped back.

"Good Job, Rainbow."

I purred when Pride's Leader complimented me. But I kept an eye on prey. The muscle one was playing with his food, I wanted to play too but I would follow pride's leader's orders.

When prey panicked and tried to run by climbing on the big stone den, I slipped through the hollow not-burrow to get above it. And I slapped it down. Prey must stay inside hunting ground.

I purred again when Pride's leader complimented me again. Maybe once the muscle one and the sheely one finished with prey, we could go play together.

------------------------------------------

Alex:

Following the action through Harvest's eyes was weird. I had become accustomed to being in the thick of things.

Just in case I activated Designated Target on Cressidus at the start of the fight so Animos wouldn't get the smart idea to take a hostage. But it didn't appear to be necessary, the Teeth's trump was unable to get away from my Blade for long. Despite being bigger he wasn't that strong.

He also seems to forget the other participants in this encounter. Koops got an occasion to use his Shell Toss when Animos turned around, shattering his right ankle.

Miss Militia didn't remain idle once she regained her power. Firing rubber bullets each time the opportunity presents itself. And Manhattan transfer got a workout too, Hannah managed to direct it right under Animos paw a few times just to make him stumble.

All in all, it wasn't a fun morning for the man.

It didn't take much longer for the fight to draw to a close. One last punch from Cressidus and Animos falls to the ground unconscious. Returning to a human shape shortly after.

"Excellent work everyone. You can stand down. For now, I just want you to keep an eye out in case more members of the Teeth show up. In the meantime, Miss Militia is in charge, she will handle securing Animos."

Now that the action was concluded, Hannah was safe, and they would be coming back soon. I took the time to look at what the Menagerie gave me, three new partners.

All three are interesting to various degrees./Let's start with the Blade Knight, a handy little guy that uses a sword. He might be able to teach us a few things about that./And Material Extraction gives good quality swords, no special quality but still nice to have./Speaking of Material Extraction our second creature is all about that. Somehow a Felicicrow improved by fifty percent the result of any attempt to gather basic materials with your own hands./It can apply to mining, fishing, farming, and so on. And it does apply to Material Extraction if the items are basic enough./We'll need to test it but I can already tell that it will work with Plorts or Orichalcum but not with Enchanted Book or Mech Salvage Part./And what about Seeds?/Heh, it should work but I don't think we can gain half a seed so we'll need to see how it works in practice.

I wasn't lacking in materials but that could still be a serious boon. And while I didn't have any plan to play lumberjack in the near future you'll never know, it could come in handy.

The last new partner was the most significant of today but for different reasons, it came in a different way than normal, what passed for normal anyway.

While Cressidus was having fun beating down Animos the voice of the Menagerie interrupted my contemplation.

{Request received from Throne of Heroes}
{Keepers mold requested for Servant conversion}
{Processing request}
{Negotiation protocol engaged}
{Proposal received}
{Proposal rejected: Counterproposal sent}
{Proposal received}
{Proposal accepted}

Then I felt like my insides were dipped in oil before the sensation dissipated. Did the Menagerie make a mold of my soul?

{Mold for Servant Conversion readied}
{Mold Sent}
{Pattern received}
{Inscribing Pattern}
{Operation Completed}
{Resuming Normal Operation}

And then I found myself with a new partner. A mutant shark that can be summoned in five different configurations plus a few more variable organs.

Yes, Maneater is really strong./In the water this girl is unmatched. Able to destroy any boat smaller than a corvette with relative ease. And even out of the water, she's not to be underestimated. With the right organ, she can move surprisingly fast and survive much longer than should be possible./Of course, with our powers the point is moot. She can breathe air and fly./I think that she will go along well with Bruce and Rex./The only real problem I can see is public perception. Despite having gained a lot of goodwill, I'm not sure that patrolling with a giant shark will go well. We'll need to test our themes to see what works.

There was a moment of silence in my head after we finished talking about our new partner.

So…anyone wants to talk about the fact that a Servant version of us may be running around somewhere in the multiverse?/No/Nope/Let's not.

With the subject shelved I return my attention to the real world. A squad of PRT troopers had reached the Boardwalk and were taking charge of Animos.

I better start preparing my report, a debriefing was inevitable.

Wordcount: 2113
Excess words: 825
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I hope that I managed to show that despite the fact she needed to be saved MM wasn't a helpless damsel in distress. It's just that without her power she couldn't face a Brute of the level of Animos. Speaking of Animos I couldn't find any description of his bestial form so I made one up.
I had a blast writing from the perspectives of Alex's partners, Rainbow was hard because I needed to find the right words but it was fun. I will certainly do it again if the situation presents itself again but not too often.

For the roll, 600 points.

[] Creature

[] Power

Voting will be closed Friday at 3 PM GMT

Note: I added yet another prompt to the Omake bounty board. This one is special because it's an omake for any partner of your choice. And you get to choose a creature from the same category as the chosen partner.

 

[Void Stalker]

Rainbow needs all the pets.

[X] Power

 

[Kratos1990]

[X] Power

 

[Inbetweenaction]

[X] Creature

 

[StrugglingMind]

[X] Power

 

[Dolly Fail Fail]

*Hears we could have finally had a TYPE-MOON creature* damn, when will we finally get ANYTHING from that category? The closest we've gotten in the slightest is Shadow who is from the Elder Scrolls category with a TYPE-MOON Adaptation. I'm pretty sure we've got something from every single other category by now.

[X] Creature


*Edit: oh my God. I was exaggerating at first but like... I think we actually do have a creature from every single non-bonus category except TYPE-MOON, which is my single favorite category. We even got a couple of the bonus categories before we got a single TYPE-MOON anything.

 

[FredFred99]

[X] Creature