[Nexus] The Town

[Rebonack]

Where am I?

Here, of course.

What is this place?

Everywhere and everywhen.

How did I get here? I didn't look for it.

But it was looking for you.

****

Horizon to horizon it stretches, a vast jumble of streets and alleys. Of stalls and shops. Of great gleaming steel and glass spires. Of Gothic cathedrals and sprawling fields. Dank sewers and forgotten slums. Crumbling cemeteries and verdant parks. Rivers banked with hewn stone, slithering through the city as silver serpents. Temples both profane and sacred.

A winding spire that stretches into the heavens.

A mammoth tree whose roots reach to the very foundations of the world.

Caverns teeming with forgotten things.

Mountains that drift among the clouds, tethered to the earth far below with gilded chains.

Medieval hamlets. Hissing steam of brass and wooden mechanations. Gritty urban decay. The dull glow of neon and the whir of technology. The clanking of horse-drawn carts...

All these things and more can be found in this strange place, the crossroads between reality and dream. Between the concrete and what only the imagination can conjure.

Search long and hard, good traveler, for you will never find an end of wonders in this place. A place that is everywhere and everywhen. A place known only as The Town.

So what have we here?

Well... This is Town. Town is a meta-location. And a meta-setting at that. Not so much a place as all possible places. The only limit on what can be found here is one's own imagination.

Due to the present nature of FFRP it has become necessary to consolidate all the various smaller Town related threads into a single topic since having an individual thread for The Beach and The Streets and Bob's Doughnut Hut just won't work any longer as it once did.

Players from any setting are quite welcome here, such is the very concept behind Town. General rules on godmodding and so forth apply. And try to avoid ruining the fun of others since being nice is rather nice!

When posting in this thread it's best to have a [Location] tag at the top of your post so others know where you are. Because there are certainly lots of places to be around here. As the thread expands a running list of various [Locations] will be added to the opening post.

Town can be reached quite easily by simply wandering along the byways. Your feet will lead you there. Though one had best know where one is going when leaving Town, otherwise there's no telling where you'll end up!

So jump in! Get involved. And watch the world unfold.

[Eternal Drifter]

A kobold that appears sopping wet limps down the streets.

"Never. Again," he says. "On a quest to find cash, I wound up facing ten traps, two rivers, twenty swarms of angry bugs, and undead. I'm glad that Drifter person took me on as an assistant. Now, where's a good place for that Library of his..."

[Terumitsu]

Some Dank and Dark Allyway

Crouched down near a rather ugly refuse bin was a person. They had not been there long but they certainly had not walked into the allyway a moment or two ago. No, this was a case of suddenly being drawn from one choherent reality to the next as was common for Town and the Nexus as a whole... But the persons involved likely are not aware of this untill after the fact. This often was the case of the general disorientation for the first few minutes, hours, or even days that one normally experences when comming to Town.

As for the person, well, she did not seem to be pleased about her sudden relocation. True, she had been about to die but this felt like she had been cheated out of a just reward. Of course, looking at it another way, at least her reputation as 'The Invincible Ghoul' would stay intact... For whatever that was worth. Really, it was less a matter of not dying as it was a matter of trickery and deceit... And being able to take a good hit or two. Having top of the line gear to do some truly insane stunts also helped.

Ghoul rolled her neck a bit as she stood up, cracking it a bit as she did so. She'd heard that it was a terrible habit but she really didn't care. If anything, it added to her 'soulless headhunter' rep, which was just fine for her. Of course, the bald head, wiry figure and gold-yellow eyes helped quite a bit in that reguard. She had even considered filing her teeth to points but that would be too much work for such a little thing.

She slung a pistol-gripped shotgun into a sideholster hanging at her back and attempted a node linkup. What came back was odd. Either the systems were too archaic to handle a link or too strange to recognise. She raised an eyebrow to noone at that. The construction around here wasn't familiar either... Maybe one of the deep industrial districts? She couldn't tell. At best, all Ghoul could do was to set this ally as a waypoint and try to make a small map off that.

As she walked out to the streets, she openly cursed her choice to not grab a few hack progs in case she had gotten seperated from her team. Jillian had been a pretty good tech-head and it was a shame to lose her in such a stupid firefight. Ah well, what happend, happened, Ghoul thought as she blinked in the light of a natural sun.

Mayhaps this odd character may run into some ill-fated person? It would definitely be better than for her to go looking for trouble...

[Bergett]

[Somewhere important]

Kowalski the mayor of Town stands upon a balcony from his office looking upon his city.
He had first came thinking it was a small hamlet in the middle of nowhere.
He was half right.
It is in the middle of nowhere.
It is? A hamlet... Best not to mix meta with not meta.
It is more, than that, it is a crossroads, the banished, the exiled, the loved, the lost, the exalted (not THAT exalted) all find their way here, and find a place.
He sighs a bit.
This Town isn't what it used to be,
Is the difference good or bad?
There's no real way of predicting that.
He'll just have to wait and see.

[Rebonack]

[The Streets]

Odd things happening around Town is fairly normal. Which really begs the question 'why call it normal if it's strange?' But around here people don't ask about that sort of thing since it usually results in them being turned into a duck.

And very very few people like being a duck.

Odd happening of the hour?

What appear to be rather sizable and gaudily colored balls are slowly drifting toward the streets of Town far below. More than a few have gotten hung up atop Mount Improbable... or maybe hung up on the bottom. They seem to be trying to work out which direction they're supposed to fall when in the presence of the floating mountain's inverted gravity field.

It'll probably only be a matter of time before a few begin to land in Town proper...


[Dank Alley]

He really isn't sure how he managed to stumble out of that tavern more or less intact. But he had managed it all the same. Probably a good thing since it was getting pretty crazy in there.

Of course... Running away isn't terribly heroic. And Floyd's side-kick is more than happy to remind him of this particular fact.

"You should have stayed to help save the day!" the little floating grape-fruit sized metal egg thingy complains as it bounces about in the air next the young man's head. "You know how to use your super powers and stuff now!"

"I sort of figured out how to use my super powers and stuff," Floyd shoots back. "I wasn't about to go toe to toe with some psychotic with a bared bat. I haven't fought anyone since I took judo when I was a kid and I would rather not be killed horribly."

Most people try to avoid that.

"Well! At least we get to see more of the city! Isn't it neat?" the floating orb burbles.

"Yeah... Neat. So far I've run into a talking dog, an elf. An astronaut from Mars that speaks with a French accent and I nearly got run over by a land speeder filled with mystical space samurai wizards. 'Neat' doesn't begin to describe-"

And then he walks around a corner and may quite literally run into Ghoul.

[Terumitsu]

[Dank Alley]

Ghoul didn't take kindly to the sudden obstruction. She made it rather clear she didn't take kindly by giving Floyd a rather nasty, yellow-eyed glare. That was usually enough to send the more chickenhearted running. She used to get a kick out of it but not so much now what with it becoming commonplace.

If Floyd decided to stick around, or if his feet decided to turn to rubber and prohibit any movement at all, Ghoul would follow up with a small sneer and a question. "What District is this?" she would ask, likely still thinking that she was simply in a very strange area of home.

[Eternal Drifter]

The Kobold manages to enter a large, important looking building.

"Excuse me?" he asks an important person (unbenoenst to him, the mayor), "I am here on behalf of one man who calls himself Drifter. He'd like to start a library here in Town, if that's all right with you."

[Rebonack]

[Dank Alley]

Floyd fortunately doesn't get any jelly legs. Though he does 'ulp' a bit and take a step back. Y'know, just in case the strange woman goes for his jugular or something.

The young man is dressed in a rather snazzy jacket 'n a pair of brown pants. His nice loafers have gotten gummed up with various types of glorious sludge that populates the streets of Town. Hopefully none of its is alive.

His hair is a rather peculiar snow-white color, though it wasn't when he arrived here. There's an odd device about his wrist that looks like some cross between a bracelet and a watch.

Oh!

And his side-kick is still floating around his head. Looks to be some kind of strange little robotic drone.

"District...?" Floyd replies rather uncertainly as he glances around his surroundings. "Eerr... I dunno? I guess this part has a sort of sci-fi industrial grunge theme to it..."

Nearby one of those odd, giant rubber balls lands in the middle of the street, several suitably futuristic looking cars swerving to avoid it. More than a few people inform the object of their discontent with it's choice of landing spot.

[Terumitsu]

[Dank Alley]

Ghoul probably could rip out a jugular if she felt like it. But normally that was too much work for the bloody mess it made. There wasn't much of a need to do it in any case as that tended to scare off clients. One had to be on that fine line of effective yet without too many moral hangups without going overboard.

"The hell you talking about? You from the Junk or something?" she asked, her emphasis on the word Junk being that it likely wasn't a good place to hail from. Somehow, it also had a mild 'insult to intellegence' ring to it. "If you don't know what district, do you know the address of the local Gov node?" She asked with a snap to her tone. Her voice sounded rather strained as if it was somewhat worn out from a lifetime of shouting... Though she couldn't be much older than her mid twenties if one had to guess at appearance.

((Gone till 11pm-ish Central))

[Rebonack]

[Dank Alley]

Insults to one's intelligence are never very nice. Oh no, not in the least.

Floyd hasn't the faintest clue what the 'Junk' is. Aside form somewhere that probably isn't know for its breathtaking scenery. Nor does he know what a Gov-Node is. He had talked to someone briefly about government around here and was informed that there's a mayor. Though whether the mayor actually controls this crazy place is up to interpretation.

Doesn't sound like much of a Gov-node sort of place.

"Look, I think you're probably lost more or less like I am right now. If what the locals have told me this place isn't so much a place as it is some kind of crazy cross-over universe filled with-GAH!"

The 'GAH!' is the result of that gigantic rubber ball in the middle of the street suddenly ripping open. Or rather, the GAH! is the result of what happens after the ball is ripped open.

Namely a car being hoisted into the air and hurled in their general direction.

Floyd dives for cover behind a mess of massive pipes with steam hissing from between the seams. Where the pipes go and what they do isn't clear. Though they do provide nice cover from shattered glass.

And what about the thing that threw the car?

Well...

It's a robot. About eight feet tall. Looks to be made out of glossy white and pastel yellow plastic. More like a Fischer Price toy than a death machine. Rounded features. Yellow jointed noodly arms ending in Crane Game hands. Big thick feet. And a big LCD screen more or less where its hunchbacked face should be.

On said screen are a pair of little dots and an arc between them. Looks like a happy-face that had been scrawled on by a four year old.

[Bergett]

[Mayor's office]

Kowalski is informed of the recent giant robot.
Well I suppose we can't do much but dispatch the police.
Are you sure this isn't just a prank?
He shakes his head and makes the order I guess.
There's only so much they'll do...

The police will be there.... Eventually.
Probably when the PC's no longer care or something.
Give a chance to get things developed.
((For now I'll control the police but I would love to get a police chief so I don't have to, and so I don't control everything.
That'd be nice.))

[Another dank ally]

Meanwhile!
Stalking along the alley ways near the commotion comes a large man.
The currently shadowed figure keeps walking along.
You wouldn't be able to see his face but you can tell he is wearing a large trenchcoat and is armed, it's easy to tell one's armed when their sword is on their back.
Besides that there isn't anything too distinguishing.
Oh, did I mention he has glowing red eyes?
Pretty creepy.

[Earl of Purple]

Residential Area - House For Sale

A tiefling arrives. He's currently wearing loose, brown trousers and a white t-shirt with a black two-tailed scorpion design emblazoned upon the front. Around his neck is a silver amulet on a silver chain, and the amulet depicts another two-tailed scorpion. His red skin is augmented by the stubby horns sticking out of his black hair on top of his head; at the bottom of his head is a small, pointy goatee. He is carrying a staff, and at his waist is a bag of stones and a sling. He looks around for the houses currently for sale with an estate agent, and eventually picks one house that looks exactly like any other. After a short period of haggling, the tiefling shakes hands with the estate agent, and they take down the 'For Sale' sign.

From the outside, the house the demon-blooded man has just bought is exactly the same as any other. Over the next few days, however, much change occurs. The door is replaced with a door of heavy oak with an ornate knocker, a knocker which is shaped like a scorpion's tail. The new curtains go up in front of the windows, curtains of dark red velvet which are never opened. One of the back windows is kept open at all times, and strange creatures are occasionally seen to fly in and out. All these changes are topped by the sign which is put up outside, a sign which simply says:
Healing, Theosophy and Blessings Available Here

The Demon Cult of Dalachrech has set up a new temple, and it's ready for business.

[Je dit Viola]

Near the DFI

Chas, who is not my character, and a vampire slayer who is wearing a black leather jacket, has tall brown boots with spurs, and is holding a (borrowed) black pistol with pink hearts painted on it, leave the Dancing Fox Inn.

"So, West would be...that way." He points west, apparently.

Meanwhile, on the West side of town...

There's not one, but two vampires who have gone feral. One's a woman, and one's a man. Using some sort of teamwork, they drag a poor defenceless NPC teenage girl into an abandoned waterwheel house, on a river, and start tearing her apart and lapping up the blood.

[Chas the mage]

"Shall we take my car, a cab, or walk?" He asks.

[Je dit Viola]

Near DFI

"I"m actually partial to cars," says him, so walking is out of the question. He prefers motorcycles, but cars are good enough, so long as they can go fast.

"Better take your car rather than a cab, though, in case we have to chase them down."

[Chas the mage]

He walks over to a dark-red Mini-Cooper, and hops in the driver seat. The back has a guitar, and amp, and a mess of cords and pedals.

[Je dit Viola]

Near DFI

The vampire slayer glides his way into the passenger seat. He doesn't care much for music (:smallyuk:). He is sponateously holding a Walkie Talkie in his hand. As they get closer, the vampire back in the DFI will tell them which way they have to go to find the feral vampires.

[Chas the mage]

He begins to drive west ward down Main street. If there isn't one, he drives down whatever equivalent there is, but he does this in a westward direction until told otherwise.

[Je dit Viola]

Driving Westward

Eventually, they get close enough that the Walkie-Talkie speaks. "Turn left here," says the distorted voice.

And so on, until they get near the Old dipalated building with a dead teenage girl and a waterwheel, next to the river. "Stop there. The vampire's inside."

The vampire hunter makes sure there's ammo in the pistol, until they stop.

[Chas the mage]

Chas stops, and steps out. He attaches a flashlight, and a laser pointer to his pistol. He inserts a clip full of shotgun shells that extend out of the bottom of the grip of his pistol.

[Je dit Viola]

Outside the Waterwheel Building

The man also gets out, with the pistol in his right hand. His left hand, however, is reaching into his jacket, holding onto a sword which has a long chain on it, ready to take it out at any moment. "So how should we go about this?" he whispers, so that the vampire(s) inside can't be alerted of their presence.
(Although, how they missed the car, I don't know.)

((Unfortunately, I have to deadtime right now. Bye!))

[Chas the mage]

"There's only two of use so we cant go all Shock and awe on em'..." He pauses "Wait... what if we convinced them there was more...?"
((As do I))

[Je dit Viola]

Outside the Waterwheel Building

"Well, they are rather stupid, so it might work," says the vampire hunter. Then, playing the devil's advocate, he responds to himself by saying, "On the other hand, they might be too animalistic and stupid to care. Maybe a stealthy approach will work?"

Except, vampires have a keen sense of smell and hearing.

[Terumitsu]

((Pardon the interruption... Life happend, as usual.))

[Dank Alley-Streets]

Well this was just lovely, Ghoul thought. She had decided that Floyd was going to be a generaly poor source of information rught up till he said something about a 'cross-over universe.' That just made no sense at all. Though, he did say something about locals so she could probably follow him for a bit till she found someone who actually knew something.

Of course, this was all on the back burner of her mind while her main focus was drawn to the oversized children's toy. Or rather, the car that had been thrown by the oversized children's toy. It was the natural response to dive away, of course, and Goul wound up right next to Floyd behind the tangle of pipes. "This happen often?" she shouted over the noise of wrecked glass and metal tumbling across the pavement. Her shotgun was already drawn and she had a hand in the top-left pocket of her tactical vest. Out of it came a small, disk-like device with an arm strap. One might draw a likeness to one of those Mp3 player arm-strap-holders that a runner would use. If Floyd managed to be particularly observant, though it wouldn't count against him if he wasn't due to the situation, he might notice that Ghoul was wearing one of similar design. It looked to be a defined hexagon rather than a disk though... Perhaps a different make of.. Whatever it was.

"Take this. Wear it. You'll live longer." Ghoul said. It might seem like she was acting nice but it was more of a tactical desicion. Floyd at least had some knowladge of the place, however scant it was, which left her at a disadvantage. She would prefer him to be alive at the end of this. It would make things that much easier.

As for what the thing actually did? T'was a small barrier generator. Seems like it could absorb at least some measure of impact or ballistics or even a small quantity of energy should the owner find themselves on the wrong end of such things. Generally a good thing to have when one expects to be shot at.

[Lord Fullbladder, Master of Goblins]

[Streets]

The mouth of a dead-end alley crackled. For a moment, the wind seemed to pick up, blowing a few errant papers about. Perhaps a couple of azure lightning bolts dance along nothing just around the alley corner. There is a brief flash of light.

And then a hand raises a lit match to a cheap cigarette, and a bald head swivels to let amber eyes take in the scene.

"Well," says the Fullbladder, exhaling a puff of smoke. "Damn."

The goblin adjusts his coat, and steps out of a slightly singed circle. He wanders in a random direction along the streets.

[ApeofLight]

[Also streets]

A dwarf in full plate armor is wandering about, going this way and that. He seems to be looking for something or at least lost in his own thoughts as he wanders down the streets.

[happyturtle]

A little girl with white hair and devil horns jumps out of a portal.

"Fullbladder!"

She glomps the goblin hard, kisses him on the cheek, hands him a lollipop, and dives through another portal and out of the thread. All in one post as her player isn't feeling well tonight sadly. :smallsigh:

[Rebonack]

[Dank Alley]

It turns out that the hulking childish robot isn't doing much shooting. Or at least it isn't just yet. Right now it seems mostly concerned with plowing one of its cute little pastel yellow fists into a passing vehicle, smashing in the front end of the thing in a rather spectacular shower of glass and rending metal.

Makes something of a dull crunch noise.

"Hey! That robot is smashing cars!" Floyd's side-kick comments, ever observant as always.

"Yeah, I can see that. I would rather avoid getting smashed myself, thanks," the young man replies as he peeks out at the thing from behind his nice steamy cover. The hexagon thing is eyed suspiciously. "What is it?"

Though the question may not be answered since there's another Super-Happy Sunshine Death-Machine tromping up the alley behind them. Just smashed a hobo into a sticky red paste with that dumpster it's wielding. Looks like it might have spotted them...

The robot out in the street has been noted by various denizens of The Town who have beset upon it with a rainbow display of high-tech energy weapons and small arms fire. The lasers are mostly blasting bubbly black pock-marks into its plastic armor while the bullets are proving to be slightly more effective.

[Streets Elsewhere]

Those wandering about The Town may note a variety of garishly colored robots tromping around the city. Various sizes and colors and makes. And all of them with a distinctly baby's toy like appearance. They also seem rather intent on causing as much havoc as possible.

[Eternal Drifter]

The Kobold dives behind a couple of people.

"I'm not built for this kind of stuff!" he yelps. "I'm just a kobold trying to make an honest living!"

He leaps out of the way of one of the robots, and then the building behind him collapses.

[ApeofLight]

Kadogurraq stops as he sees one of the robots in his way. " Wha' in tha world?... " He says as he sees the rampaging robot.

[Rebonack]

[Industrial Streets]

It is worth noting that the largest robots are roughly twelve feet tall. Not giant robots by any means. But certainly quite sizable. And possibly lovable if you don't mind your spine being ripped out.

The dwarf will find himself staring down a six foot tall bright pink and white robot that's presently taking advantage of the retractable blades on its forearms to gut pedestrians. Its plastic armor has already been riddled with bullet holes and scorch marks, but that doesn't seem to be slowing it down at all.

At the moment it's locked in fierce combat with a well protected orc wielding a pair of lightning-wreathed power axes. The pair seem to be quite evenly matched!

The kobold, meanwhile, hasn't been noticed just yet by the hulking white and yellow machine nearby. The thing seems to be quite a bit more busy ripping lamp posts out of the ground and hurling them through windows.

[Lord Fullbladder, Master of Goblins]

[Streets, Anywhere]

The Fullbladder freezes up into a wide-eyed, hunched position of suprise for a while after Decker accosts him and flees. He drops his cigarette.

"That's something I'll have to get used to again," he says to the baby toy robot causing destruction nearby.

And then he completely ignores it, staring directly ahead with a clouded expression for a while.

[Chas the mage]

Outside the Waterwheel Building

"Well, they are rather stupid, so it might work," says the vampire hunter. Then, playing the devil's advocate, he responds to himself by saying, "On the other hand, they might be too animalistic and stupid to care. Maybe a stealthy approach will work?"

Except, vampires have a keen sense of smell and hearing.

"I'm rather adept in that sort of skulduggery," Chas replies.

[Terumitsu]

[Streets, Industrial Sector]

"Defensive measure. Put it on." Ghoul said in very succinct terms. "Gonna go and see what this thing can do." she said, holding up her shotgun. Her outline seemed to be growing oddly vauge as her form began to rather quickly turn transparant."If you want to help, fine. Just don't be stupi-" It seems like this ability or technology also cuts off sound... Pretty handy for sneaking. Actually, it was good at blocking thermal signatures as well. The only ways one could tell she was there would be if someone had sonar equipment, mass detection equipment, or ran into her.

Of course, there were always drawbacks...

Hopefully undetected, Ghoul made her way closer to the oversized toy-thing. Specifically it's legs. Joints were always a weak point. Damage those and any target was that much less mobile. Cutting mobility usually made them less dangerous. So, Ghoul pulled out a wide cylindrical object from a belt bag and primed it, attempting to stick it to the ankle or knee of the thing.

What the thing was happened to be a shaped thermite charge. Shaped charges are designed to direct their blast through armor or barriers and thermite burns hot enough to cut through metal.... And burn underwater. If all goes as planned, the super-robot-toy would be in for a very bad day....

Of course, while placing the charge, Ghoul's invisibility ability or tech would leave her somewhat exposed to sight and sensors. Apparently, getting that close to something would make the 'phasing effect' or whatever one wants to call it break down somewhat. Apparently sudden changes of mass within a certain proximity caused the effect to attempt to 'phase' the newly introduced item or party. Good for picking up small objects and not make it look as if they were floating in air. It was likely that a similar effect would come about when she uses a firearm due to the sudden release of energy and mass at high velocity.

Weather she succeeds or fails, Ghoul would become totally visible within a few seconds anyway. Apparently there is a limit for how long the ability lasts.

[Je dit Viola]

"I'm rather adept in that sort of skulduggery," Chas replies.

Near the Waterwheel Building, West side of Town.

"Perfect," says the vampire hunter.

"I'll lead in." He quietly sneaks over to the river, and walks up along the bank, arriving at the underside of the building, where he (obviously) peels off some rotting boards to climb up into the basement of the building which has two feral vampires in it.

[Quinsar]

Streets outside DFI.
Tears and Neiz walk into the streets holding hands.

[Beans]

So, where is this theater?

[Quinsar]

Streets
Just down the street a couple blocks!
She walks in that direction.

[Beans]

[Streets]
Neiz follows, eyes bright.

[Quinsar]

Streets
Tears whistles as they approach the theater. It's a huge multiplex, the now playing sign advertises several horror, action, and comedy movies.
Whatya wanna see?

[Beans]

That horror one maybe?

[Quinsar]

Okay.
Tears gulps. She was a scaredy cat. But she'd go because Neiz wanted to.

[Beans]

Don't worry, you've always got me to keep you safe from the lame CGI.
She leads her into the theater!

[Quinsar]

She follows!
http://public5.tektek.org/img/av/1006/d06/1739/3761375.png
Tears.

[Beans]

... So awesome.
Movie, yay! Horror! OOOOH!

[Quinsar]

Thanks.
Theater.
Tears screams like a girl at the scary parts. She leans into Neiz.

[Beans]

Thanks.
Theater.
Tears screams like a girl at the scary parts. She leans into Neiz.
Neiz huggles her and comforts her and makes flirty distractions to make her less scared.

[Quinsar]

Tears giggles, and by the end is very much enjoying the movie.

[Beans]

[Theater]
When it ends, Neiz giggles.
See, wasn't that fun?

[Quinsar]

Yuhuh! That was a lot of fun!

[Beans]

And you thought you would be scared. Sillyhead.

[Quinsar]

Theater
She giggles.
What do you want to do now?

[Beans]

Absolutely no idea.

[Quinsar]

How 'bout we go for a walk down by the harbor?

[Beans]

[Theater]
Neiz nodnods.

[Quinsar]

She'll lead her out and toward the docks.

[Beans]

She'll lead her out and toward the docks.
She follows her friend.

[Quinsar]

As they walk through the docks she stares attje shops in awe.

[Beans]

Cool, huh?

[Quinsar]

HArbor
Yeah, I wanna captain one when I'm an adult...
Then I'll sail the seas doing what I want, going where I want, and I won't take **** from anybody.

[Beans]

HArbor
Yeah, I wanna captain one when I'm an adult...
Then I'll sail the seas doing what I want, going where I want, and I won't take **** from anybody.

Mad scientist pirate?
... That is awesome.

[Quinsar]

Harbor
Thanks.
She blushes a bit.
You could be my first mate.

[Beans]

[Harbor]
Sounds fun... She grins; the raven feathers in her hatband glint.
Would I be sharing the captain's cabin with you?

[Quinsar]

Harbor
She blushes more.
If you wanted to...

[Beans]

[Harbor]
Awesome.
Whatcha wanna do now, Captain Kickass?

[Quinsar]

I dunno, you pick this time.

[Beans]

Wanna meet the rest of that group I'm starting?

[Quinsar]

Harbor
Okay, sure! You lead.
She offers her hand.

[Beans]

[Harbor]
She takes the hand, leading her to an abandoned office building.

[Building]
When they get there, a bunch of other Echoes are gathered around a table. They all look sort of... sceney.
Hey, hey, kids, look who I brought.

[Quinsar]

Building
Hi, I'm Tears...
Food deadtime.

[Chas the mage]

Near the Waterwheel Building, West side of Town.

"Perfect," says the vampire hunter.

"I'll lead in." He quietly sneaks over to the river, and walks up along the bank, arriving at the underside of the building, where he (obviously) peels off some rotting boards to climb up into the basement of the building which has two feral vampires in it.

He puts a silencer on his pistol and follows.

[Beans]

[Building]
They introduce themselves.
Tears is my friend and she'll be joining our little group.

[Quinsar]

Building
It's nice to meet you all.

[Beans]

[Building]
The emo kids, jeans skintight, white belts worn sideways, and eyeliner overdone... they are in quiet awe of this snazzy pirate-punk-something chick before them.
And why are we here, kids?
"To get what we're owed!"
Yes.
That, and we're here right now to... er... come up with a name.

[Quinsar]

Building
A name...?
How about...
The casualties?

[Beans]

[Building]
... I love it. Neiz grins.
The kids like it too!

[Quinsar]

Really? Is it good?
She stole the name from her favorite band.

[Beans]

[Building]
I was about to suggest The Spooky Kids, but her idea was better.
Hell yeah! Neiz puts an arm around her.

[Quinsar]

She smiles happily.
So, first course of action?

[Beans]

[Building]
Well, we show society that, if we want, we can be good little boys and girls.
I.e. kick the asses of anyone dumb enough to screw with Town.

[Quinsar]

Sounds great!
We should get a ship...
She giggles.

[Beans]

Good idea... especially given that most idiots screw around by the docks anyway...

[Quinsar]

We'll need to raise moe somehow. Or build it ourselves.

[Beans]

I'm sure there's somebody with a ship we can get cheaply enough... and remember, I used to be an archgoth. I have strings to pull.

[Quinsar]

She nods.
There happens to be a man selling a large, gailleon style airship nearby.

[Beans]

[Convenient!]
Neiz heads thataway!

[Quinsar]

It's a huge ship, the man is outside, polishing it.

[Beans]

Hello there. Fine-looking vessel you've got there.

[Quinsar]

"Thanks, selling it, though..."

[Beans]

How much? She blinks.

[Quinsar]

"Couple thousand gold."

[Beans]

How would an Eye of Cain do?
She pulls out a small box containing an oddly-colored gem with a sort of eye-like appearance; they're hard to come by and worth a few thousand gold---Neiz has been keeping this in reserve for a while.

[Quinsar]

"Okay... Spounds good."
He holds out a deed to the boat.

[Beans]

She takes it and gives him the Eye. Yay, commerce.

[Quinsar]

He nods and walks off.
Neiz might find herself getting tackle hugged by Tears.
Hard.

[Beans]

Neiz hugs back, giggling.
Glad to see you too, Captain Kickass.

[Quinsar]

She opens her mouth to say something, but is at a loss of words...
She squeals happily.

[Beans]

Neiz gives her a peck on the cheek and hauls them both up.
First Mate Neiz ready for orders, cap'n.

[Quinsar]

Let's inspect da ship!

[Beans]

Neiz boards le ship to check it out.

[Quinsar]

It's a big airship. To props, and then about twenty quarters, including one huge captain's chamber. It has a big viewing window and is at the front of the ship. It has canons on the side, and a harpoon gun on deck. THere's a full kitchen and cafeteria. Tears is sooooooooooo happy.
Short deadtime.

[Beans]

Neiz grins at Tears.
Like it?

[KerfuffleMach2]

[Streets]

A young woman walks slowly down the streets. She wears boots, cargo pants, and a hoodie, with the hood up. A little bit of red hair can be seen sticking out from under the hood.

As she walks, she glances around often. Like she was worried that somebody might see her.

[Quinsar]

Neiz grins at Tears.
Like it?

Its great!...
How can I ever reapy you for this?

[Beans]

[Le Ship]

Its great!...
How can I ever reapy you for this?
Ah, no problem. She hugs her friend.

[Streets]
Emo-looking Echo kids notice this gal and look at her strangely.

[Quinsar]

Tease hugs back.
Wanna take off before we go to bed...?
Then cuddle...?
She giggles.

[KerfuffleMach2]

[Streets]

The woman glances at them for a moment, then turns away and keeps walking.

They may have noticed that one of her eyes seemed to be glowing green. Maybe. Kinda hard to tell.

[Beans]

Tease hugs back.
Wanna take off before we go to bed...?
Then cuddle...?
She giggles.
Okay! She grins.
Then her phone rings.
Sorry...

Yes?
Thal? Yeah, I'm with Tears on an airship we got.
It's an emo pirate glam punk sleepover now.
... Yeah. Tell her mom she's fine, 'kay?
Bye. Phone closes.

[Streets]
One tentatively follows her.

[Quinsar]

Who was that?

[KerfuffleMach2]

[Streets]

At first, she doesn't seem to notice.

She glances back and sees she's being followed.

She speeds up a little.

[Beans]

[Ship]
My big sister. She shrugs.

[Streets]
The person looks more curious than anything.
They follow for now.

[KerfuffleMach2]

[Streets]

She suddenly takes a turn down an alley.

She'll press herself against the wall and wait to see if the guy passes by.

[Quinsar]

Cool!
She goes t start the ship!

[Beans]

[Streets]

She suddenly takes a turn down an alley.

She'll press herself against the wall and wait to see if the guy passes by.
The person walks by; unless stopped, he'll shrug and turn back the way he came.
---
Neiz goes with her!

[Quinsar]

Ship
The ship takes off.
She looks strong, and proud captaining the ship.

[KerfuffleMach2]

[Streets]

Once he's seemingly gone, she lets out a sigh of relief.

Can't be too careful. Not sure how far out they got people.

[Beans]

Ship
The ship takes off.
She looks strong, and proud captaining the ship.
Neiz smiles and reaches for her hand, not noticing as I retcon her outfit.
http://public5.tektek.org/img/av/1006/d06/2205/d777857.png
---
[Streets]
The person is gone now, yay safe.

[Quinsar]

Ship
She takes the hand.
Like the pirate gear! That hat is almost as cool as mine.

[Beans]

[Ship]
Thanks, Captain Kickass.
She giggles.
Wanna get the crew aboard, or is this a two-gal ship for tonight?

[KerfuffleMach2]

[Streets]

The woman looks around the corner, making sure. The she resumes her previous path.

[Quinsar]

Up to you, first mate.
She giggles at saying that.

[Beans]

[Ship]
Eh... wouldn't wanna bother them, would we?
To the captain's cabin!

[Quinsar]

Ship
She giggles, nods, and heads to the captains cabin, letting the ship drift slowly through the sky.

[Beans]

Ship
She giggles, nods, and heads to the captains cabin, letting the ship drift slowly through the sky.
Neiz sees if she can have the ship stay in a small, safe area, then follows!

[Quinsar]

It does that!
She's switched to her PJs tonight.
She's wearing boy shorts and a tube top.

[Beans]

[Ship]
Neiz's PJs are a black tank top and purple boxers.

[Quinsar]

She giggles and hops onto the queen sized bed.

[Beans]

Neiz hops on after her after putting her awesome hat on a hatstand.

[Quinsar]

Tears is weairng her giant puffy hat.

[Beans]

Neiz giggles.
That hat is so awesome.

[Quinsar]

Thanks.
Sister got it for me.

[Beans]

Good thinking on her part, then.

[Quinsar]

Yeah...
You're a great first mate,

[Beans]

D'awww. Thanks, you're a great captain.

[Quinsar]

She tries to wrap an arm around her.
Tomorrow we'll go exploring.

[Beans]

She scoots in and is armwrap'd.
Awesome! Catchphrase.

[Quinsar]

I'm gonna try to sleep tonight.
She starts to sleep....

[Beans]

Neiz "mmm"s in agreement, snuggling a little and sleeping. Her quiet, slow breathing might lull Tears to slumberland.

[Quinsar]

[Ship]
Tears sleeps peacefully through the night.

[Beans]

[Ship]
Tears sleeps peacefully through the night.
Yay!

((I just had the oddest thought. I remembered the bit in The Dark Knight where the Joker says to Batman, "You... complete... me..." and then I thought of Vo, dressed as the Joker, saying it to Rico at their Batman wedding.
... It would fit... I guess...))

[Quinsar]

EPic.



Tears wakes in the morning, mumbling about her sister's tiger.

[Beans]

... Five more minutes, dear... nngh... Neiz is dreaming she's in some sort of lesbian pirate family sitcom.
... Wait, did I just say... what?!

[Quinsar]

But the tiger would be a good pirate pet...

[Beans]

Gh... I swaggered too hard...

[Quinsar]

She gives her a squeeze then opens her eyes and yawns.
Good morning.

[Beans]

Neiz's eyes flutter open.
Morning...
And I deadtime because ugh and tired because basement and brain is please insert more quarters.

[ApeofLight]

[Industrial Streets]

It is worth noting that the largest robots are roughly twelve feet tall. Not giant robots by any means. But certainly quite sizable. And possibly lovable if you don't mind your spine being ripped out.

The dwarf will find himself staring down a six foot tall bright pink and white robot that's presently taking advantage of the retractable blades on its forearms to gut pedestrians. Its plastic armor has already been riddled with bullet holes and scorch marks, but that doesn't seem to be slowing it down at all.

At the moment it's locked in fierce combat with a well protected orc wielding a pair of lightning-wreathed power axes. The pair seem to be quite evenly matched!



And as they seem to be well matched it seems just like the right time for some (war)hammer time! Right into the robots leg to hopefully cripple it or at least do some damage.

So that's what the dwarf does, unhooks his hammer and swings it with a mighty force at the robots leg.

[Je dit Viola]

He puts a silencer on his pistol and follows.

In the Old, Dilapidated Building on the Riverside

Once through the floorboards and into the basement, the smell of stale blood coupled with fresher blood fills the noses of the two. The lighting is rather bad, and there might be a trail of blood to the left, which leads up the stairs. It's some of the fresher blood.

It also smells like vampires. However they smell like.

The man with the heart-covered gun looks at Chas, as if asking him which way to go.

[Durp]

S.P.I.R.E hospital
Chris and Thy are tucked in the same hospital bed, Chris squeezing Thy so hard it would break a lesser woman's ribs. He appears to be asleep.

[Beans]

[Hospire]
Thryza squeezes back, eyes red-rimmed and wet.
I'll make it right I'll make it all okay I have to I must I WILL.

[Durp]

It his sleep, his teeth are gritted together, a small amount of blood trickling between them. Tears are dried on his face. He shudders. This is a normal occurrence.

[Beans]

It his sleep, his teeth are gritted together, a small amount of blood trickling between them. Tears are dried on his face. He shudders. This is a normal occurrence.
She strokes his head.
Don't worry Chris I'll make it right I promise I'll do anything I can to make it all work out I swear I will even if it kills me I promise.

[Durp]

His eyes snap open.
It won't work. It never works...
He sobs, a small spurt of blood coming out of the corner of his mouth.

[Beans]

I WILL MAKE IT WORK FOR YOU.
She wipes his mouth.
And anyone in my way will find themselves added to the soul quota.

[Rebonack]

[Dank Alley]

Cloak with a built in sound dampener? That seems pretty nifty. Though as Ghoul sneaks closer the not at all tiny tot toy hefts that dumpster it's wielding up in the air in a bid to smash her like a bug. Probably a good idea to avoid that. Getting smashed isn't ever much fun.

Floyd, meanwhile, frowns at the device that he's been handed before moving to put it on. Only to find that the weird bracelet thing he's already got on seems a bit... jealous.

Every time Floyd tries to fit the shield onto himself a brief flare of azure light repulses it. Guess that isn't going to be happening any time soon...

The hulking machine out in the street itself has by now drawn sufficient fire to melt through a goodly portion of its armor, exposing the synthetic muscle fiber below. A few shots to that and it seems to be slowing down quite a bit.

[Industrial Streets]

Hammer time indeed!

The blow sends the machine staggering and the orc seems more than happy to take full advantage of the opening that's just been made for him. With a tremendous swing the axe is buried in the robot's LCD screen 'face', sending it toppling over backwards. It drops to the ground with a dull thud, twitching spasmodically as electric goop oozes from the ruined screen.

The orc snorts in derision at its smitten foe.

And then spits on it.

"I could'a tak'n it mahself," he comments to the dwarf. Just for the sake of his pride and all.

[Quinsar]

The Casualties' private pirate destroyer air ship's master bedroom

Tears is doing her hair, still in he Pajamas. The grand pirate hat is on the pole of her bed.

[Beans]

The Casualties' private pirate destroyer air ship's master bedroom

Tears is doing her hair, still in he Pajamas. The grand pirate hat is on the pole of her bed.
Neiz is getting dressed.

[Quinsar]

The Casualties' private pirate destroyer air ship's master bedroom
Neiz, what do you think?
Pony tail?
She pulls her hair back into a ponytail.
Or down?
She lets go of the pony tail.

[Beans]

Let's go with down.

[Quinsar]

Okay.
I'm gonna go change.
She brushes her hair, then steps into the bathroom.

[Beans]

Neiz finishes dressing and waits.

[Quinsar]

She comes out, and pops her hat on.
How do I look?
She does a spin.
http://public5.tektek.org/img/av/1006/d07/1727/c2c3557.png

[Beans]

Neiz whistles.
Wow...

[Quinsar]

Thanks, should we go get the gang, first amte?

[Beans]

Yep!
They'll be at that building, so we could pick 'em up from the roof.

[Quinsar]

She nods, and heads on deck.
Wonder where the ships gotten to.

[Beans]

I set it to stay in one place, mostly...
Ugh, brief dedtiem.

[Chas the mage]

In the Old, Dilapidated Building on the Riverside

Once through the floorboards and into the basement, the smell of stale blood coupled with fresher blood fills the noses of the two. The lighting is rather bad, and there might be a trail of blood to the left, which leads up the stairs. It's some of the fresher blood.

It also smells like vampires. However they smell like.

The man with the heart-covered gun looks at Chas, as if asking him which way to go.

Chas makes his way up the bloody trail, with his pistol at the ready. He doesn't make a sound as he moves.

[Quinsar]

Okay...
Hey! We're over the DFI!
We should pop in and say hi!:smallbiggrin:
SHe giggles.
She has a pet tiger! That'd be an awesome pirate pet!
We should ask if he could come...

[Beans]

Okay...
Hey! We're over the DFI!
We should pop in and say hi!:smallbiggrin:
SHe giggles.
She has a pet tiger! That'd be an awesome pirate pet!
We should ask if he could come...

Neiz nodnodnods.

[Quinsar]

She activates something.
A magical anchor tethers them and pulls them towards the bilding.
MOM!

[Terumitsu]

[Dank Alley]

Ghoul would agree to the sentiment that being smashed is never fun. Especially when one is speaking from experiance. Having been spotted, Ghoul backs away, the apparently unused charge still in her hand... Or perhaps it was planted and waiting to go off.. Dratted multiversal timeline instability. In either case, Ghoul would dive out of the way and retaliate with a blast from her shotgun at the super-toy's elbow joints. Again, this was an attempt to reduce mobility. It should be noted that the shotgun already fired four-gauge rounds before all the nasty upgrades took place. That was enough to turn just about any normal person into chunky salsa and the kickback was enormous. Apparently, though, Ghoul's body absorbed quite a bit of the shock automatically. It seems like that cloaking system isn't the only upgrade she has.

All the while, Ghoul was watching how the thing reacted to her movement. She was doing so in an attempt to find it's main sensors so that she could disable those as well.

[Quinsar]

Ship
The anchor lets go and it takes off!

[Beans]

[Ship]
Neiz steers them toward the Casualties' office-building hangout, grinning.

[Quinsar]

Hey Neiz, do you have a boyfriend...?

[Beans]

[Ship]
The rope ladder is dropped; the kids ascend.

Nope!

[Quinsar]

... A girlfriend...?

[Beans]

[Ship]
Mm-mm.
I've never had a girlfriend before, now that I think about it...

[Quinsar]

Neither have I...
I think I'm straight.
She waves at the girls.

[Beans]

I'unno.
I know cuddling is fun.

The guys and gals board the ship, looking impressed and confused.

[Quinsar]

Yeah, lotsa fun...
She clears her throat and stands high.
[COLOR="DarkSlateBlue"]Hello Casualties! i am your captain! This is our pirate airship!
Tonight, we;'ll have a party to christen it! Then, tomorrow, we'll [get down to business!
Sound good?/COLOR]

[Rebonack]

[Dank Alley]

The charge never managed to get close enough to be set due to the machine's decision to try smashing Ghoul as soon as she got within about eight feet of the thing. Though on the other hand that shotgun seems to work well enough.

One earth shattering kaboom later a sizable chunk of the strange machine's plastic armor has been sheered off, exposing synthetic muscle and hardened alloy bone below. Another blast like that probably won't be good for the not-so-tiny tot.

The robot hefts its dumpster out of the crater it had just created with the improvised weapon, aiming once again to clobber Ghoul when...

A massive metallic hand nearly the size of the robot's torso comes zipping forward and grips the weapon, straining against the strength of the terrible toy.

Floyd has his gloved hand extended in the same general gesture as the robotic limb. Looks like he's straining too. "Take your shot!"

[Beans]

[Ship]
"Y---wait... er...

AYE AYE CAPTAIN!"

Who lives in a pirate ship up in the sky?
Tears M'Quaxi!
Who captains this galleon, says where it shall fly?
Tears M'Quaxi!

(To the Spongebob tune.)

[Quinsar]

Ship


She begins to play music over a sterepo. It's a mix of punk and goth music.

[Beans]

[Ship]
And everybody's dancing, yay!
Eyeliner'd faces and skinny-jeans'd legs and sneaker'd shoes everywhere!

[Quinsar]

Yay! There's snacks and stuff too!
Later in the night, Neiz might feel someone tap her on the shoulder.

[Beans]

[Ship]
She turns to see who it is.

[Quinsar]

Tears, she's smiling.
Care to dance?

[Beans]

[Ship]
Neiz blinks for about a half second, then giggles.
Who should take the guy's position, (i.e. hands at the other's waist; girl's position is usually hands at the other's shoulders unless I'm some sort of space train who can't dance) Captain Kickass?

[Quinsar]

I'll take the lead.
And they dance!

[Beans]

[Ship]
Yay!
Neiz dances all closey-uppy, eyes glinting in the light.
Somebody has set up dancey lighting for the situation because dance.

[Quinsar]

Tears dances decently.
She won't do anything on her own, just dance.

[Beans]

[Ship]
Which is taller? Neiz is about 5'10" in her boots.

She grins at the other girl.
This is great.

[Quinsar]

Neiz would.
Tears is about 5'8".
Yeah.
Really great.

[Beans]

Neiz would.
Tears is about 5'8".
Yeah.
Really great.

Never danced with a girl before... I think I like it.

[Quinsar]

I haven't either...
Except my sister, but she doesn't count...
I like it too...:smallredface:

[Beans]

I haven't either...
Except my sister, but she doesn't count...
I like it too...:smallredface:
Neiz giggles.
We make such a badass duo, huh?

[Quinsar]

Yeah.
Best friends ever...

[Beans]

[Ship]
Best friends with the sexiest hats ever.

[Quinsar]

She nods, then yawns.

[Beans]

[Ship]
Aww, sleepy?
I'll get you to bed, and I'll go to sleep after the crew goes down for lights-out.

[Quinsar]

Okay.
Thanks first mate.

[Beans]

[Ship]
She helps her cap'n to bed; about an hour later, she returns with quiet step and a grin.

[Quinsar]

She is sleeping lightly.

[Beans]

She gets into jammies and quietly slips into bed next to Tears, not wanting to wake her.

[Quinsar]

She seems to not be sleeping very well.
Bad dreams.

[Beans]

Neiz tries applying cuddles ans soothing whispers to remedy the situation.

[Quinsar]

She whimpers.
She has a bit of a cold sweat.

[Beans]

Shhhhhh, it's okay, Neiz is here, Neiz's got you...

[Quinsar]

Neiz...?
I's scared...

[Beans]

Shhhh, it's gonna be okay. You're Captain Kickass, remember?

[Quinsar]

Yeah...
But I 'unnow what to think about things...

[Beans]

Neiz tries moar cuddles, hoping to comfort her friend.
Like what?
Don't worry...

[Quinsar]

About you and this and my boyfwen and everting.

[Beans]

Neiz just tries to comfort her.
Hey, you've got me to help you, okay?

[Quinsar]

She nods and moves closer, frowning.
I dunnow wha I am... Everything weird now and I don't undastand...

[Beans]

You're Captain Kickass, my best friend.

[Quinsar]

I really like you. A lot.

[Beans]

Thanks... you too...
Half-asleep, Neiz is still being comforting.

[Quinsar]

Can we be girlfriends?
Sleeping Tears is talking in her sleep.

[Beans]

...
Y...
Yeah, okay.

[Quinsar]

Okay...
Thanks.
She turns to try to give her a tiny kiss.

[Beans]

[Ship]
Sleepy Neiz makes a happy, sleepy sound and snuggles against Captain Kickass McGirlfriend.

[Quinsar]

She snuggles.
Skip to tommorow?

[Beans]

[Ship]
Yes.

Morning arrives; Neiz sits up and yawns.

[Quinsar]

Tears is already up, doing her hair.

[Beans]

Morning!
Neiz gets up to do her own hair.

[Quinsar]

Hey Neiz, how are you?

[Beans]

She gets dressed.
Great! You?

[Quinsar]

Good. I slept well.
She gets dressed.

[Beans]

Me too...
My memory's not so good, but it sounded like you were having a bad dream for a little bit. I guess I made you feel better?

[Quinsar]

Yup, made me feel great.
She tries to give her a peck on the cheek.

[Beans]

Neiz is peck'd and blushes a bit, giggling.
D'aww, thanks.

[Quinsar]

We're gonna be the best girlfriend pirates ever.

[Beans]

[Ship]
... We're girlfriends? Neiz's morning brainfog causes her to blink, then... Holy crap, we are!
Awesome!

[Quinsar]

Just rembered?
She giggles, and tries to hug her.

[Beans]

Neiz grins and hug!
We're gonna kick so much ass.

[Quinsar]

Hey!
I'm a magical incarnation of sadness, I wonder if I have cool powers.

[Beans]

Well, as a Misery Echo...
A poison spur comes out of her right thumb; she shows it to Tears and shrugs.
I's got this.
And weird blood.

[Quinsar]

Cool.
I wonder what I have.
She giggles.
Wanna go on deck?

[Beans]

[Ship]
Okay!
She reaches for Tears's hand.

[Quinsar]

It is taken!
She giggles.

[Beans]

[Ship]
Up to the deck!
The crew have come up!

[Quinsar]

Tears waves to the crew, smiling.

[Beans]

They all look excited!
Neiz grins!

[Quinsar]

What should we do today?:smallbiggrin:

[Beans]

Kick some ass?

[Quinsar]

Okay! Where should we look?

[Beans]

THERE!
She points dramatically; down there, a small gang can be seen!

[Quinsar]

Tears nods and anchors.