Paradigm_Shift

[u]Ouroboros[u]

"-e and flame, of the 11 methods of time travel, allows us to travel further and more precisely than any of the other methods."

Cynic gave the generic Mender in front of him a cool look that suggested, quite possibly, that Cynic thought the man was off his rocker. "Last I checked there were a gabillion different methods of time travel?" He asked the statement. "Whatever. So I can go ANYWHERE, at anytime?"

"Provided it's on Earth, and as long as you don't extend your tether too far." The mender replied, choosing to ignore the first statement.

"Good then. In that case, I'd like to request 4 portals please." Cynic requested.

"We don't really do that kind of thing..." The mender said uncomfortably, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Well look. From what I hear, standard teams of people usually go up to a max of 8." Cynic said, switching on his 'reasonable' voice. "As you can see, my group consists of my men and myself, and that is not counting my drones. Which means we need 4 portals, get it?"

The mender stared at Cynic, and then at the huge mob of Arachnos troops standing behind him, trying and failing to be discreet. "Besides, I believe your leader, Mender Missilehair, said that he asked NOTHING of the rogues or heroes in return for access to his time travel oxymoron sculptures. I say I want 4 portals, I get 4 portals."

The mender gave up. "Fine." He said wearily. "FINE. Where and when did you have in mind?"

"Ah, this lovely lass here will assist you with that with her projector mind." Cynic said, motioning for a Night Widow to step forward from the throng. "While you set everything up, I'll just be taking care of some last minute details." He turned away from the mender, and issued his final orders.

***

[u]Weaver Airfield[u]

The Sky Commander and the Draconian would find that reaching said hole in the wall was not going to be easy. 2 Ouroboros portals suddenly opened, One immediately in front of them, one immediately behind them. Arachnos troops-Bane Spiders, Night Widows and Mystics, all came pouring out, surrounding the two in an instant, those who required weapons having already raised them and had them aimed the moment they came out from the portal. Cynic himself emerged with them, minus the force bubble and the flight aura, followed by his six personal drones.

"Blah blah blah, surrender." He growled at the two, now fully encircled. They had tried to time it so that there was more than a reaching-distance between the two reptillians and themselves, but nobody was perfect. The rear group had come in too close, within easy striking distance of melee attacks.

The steroid glue aimed at Cynic's group was almost completely ignored. That just wasn't how the shielding worked. Either something registered and 'hit' or it missed completely, even things that should have normally reacted with shielding, like webbing for example, back when Cynic had been attacked in the Arachnos fort. The majority of the time, the steroid glue just hit its targets and fell off their shielding like wet crap. But it still got through on a few occasions. Three Bane Spiders and Commander Cynic all plummeted to the ground.

"Ok, fug it. I don't need to put up with this." The Commander growled. He quickly tapped on his hand gauntlet and summoned up another Ouroboros portal to replace the one that had just vanished moments before. All his drones immediately piled in as if guided by some unseen command. Then the Ultra started waving its big orange beam around, and Cynic had to shout for the Bane Spiders to get the idea and move. Cynic kicked the last one through the portal by his rear, and followed through just in time for the beam to catch his trench coat’s tail on fire.

***

Ken and the blue draconian's detention fields vanished, but whether they could still be recalled while said features were now being jammed was questionable. If they had an on-site portal though, they could still use that.

***

Cynic stamped the fire in his trench coat out. "!@#$&%+ deus ex machina monster thingie."

"What now sir?" One of the Bane Spiders asked.

"Go to Grandville and get some more reinforcements. Make sure to get a better mixing this time, not just you lousy freaks. Get some of those chicks in the purple get-ups and a few of those floating gimps."

"Sir, we don't really have enough time for that. Our targets will have likely escaped before we get back." The Bane Spider said. Commander Cynic just laughed.

"It's called [censored] time travel. If you go and get those reinforcements NOW, we can capture them almost at the same time we left. So go, and take your time. We have all of it in the world."

The Commander's plan all hinged on one thing though-That the tp jammer WORKED. It had been activated just after Tamesis had been medi-ported, and even now with the detention fields down, the two shouldn't have been able to escape using recall. Or could they?

Ans this is why America...Will be gone to the Americans. People always APPROVE of this or that but never care enough to actually contri-

*Gets nailed by the Industrial Military Complex*

"Right then, good luck." Cynic and his bots, along with his squad of Bane Spiders, flew around the Ultra, taking care to keep their distance, and flew down the corridor in pursuit of the two detention'd beings. Jake and his group fell to the ground as they left the range of the Night staff's flight aura.

***

Cynic and his group caught up with Ken and the blue scaled draconian almost instantly. "You two, halt! Surrender or be dramatically destroyed!" Cynic shouted at them.

*blink*

Now that you mention it, what IS my global name? I think it's been ages since I've actually PLAYED the game. Damn silly of me. I'll need to check.

*Rides in on carted companion cube*

Mush I say, MUSH! Oh. Hello there! Welcome to the thread Synopsis. ^.^ Let us begin on a high note.

AEIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!! *Low bow*

There was a time in the RP forum when things were bad. People were being abducted by aliens never to post again. Some peoples’ fingers fell off or had their hands amputated. New threads were always stillborns, dying while still in conception. 

AND THEN THE MAGICAL AND HOLY ORDER OF THE BWERP CAME ALONG WITH A SOLUTION TO EVERBODY’S PLIGHT!  And hence here we have tis thread.

What is the point though? How can the holy church of Bwerp save the RP forums from destruction? Well, because we are cheap bastards who still rely on faith-based tech, we can’t do it alone. We need HELPZ. Like a cow looking at an oncoming train, realization slowly dawned and we gotz the idea!

This is not an open RP thread. This is a STORY thread. Only, MULTIPLE PEOPLE WILL BE WRITING EACH STORY! Two people will get together and write a LONG sequence of events to form a scene. It can be basically about anything. Then, once they have written up their story, two other members of the RP forum team up and collaborate to form ANOTHER long scene. This scene HAS to be in the same world as the last scene, if not necessarily at the same time. You cannot go and write a section of your story off on the planet nebuslot. Everything that is written into this thread via stories can be considered official canon for the universe in this particular thread. Whether this canon passes into other RPs or your own characters’ universes is your own business. What you write doesn’t have to do anything with the previous scene, although it can if you want. The only rule is that you aren’t allowed to interact with or interfere with characters or people who don’t belong to you or the person you’re collaborating with unless you have permission to do so from the owner/s of that/those characters you want to interact with. And, of course, as things progress, writers will cycle with each other. Up until the point where there are more than just two people writing a single scene. Maybe more.

As a matter of fact, as things progress, and as these collectively written stories in the same setting progress…As an eventual goal or task for every person in every story slowly starts to form…As events become tied together and linked through unseen means…Maybe, just maybe, we can convert it into a full blown open RP. By that point, we’ll have already had a background and fully detailed story, we’ll have a plot, interest in the idea, attention, and PROFIT.

*Closes book and smashes it over head*

Pay attention. And that is the story of how the holy church of Bwerp, along with the help of everybody on the RP forums, saved the night. *Day was trademarked.*

Enjoy the first story, written by Mr. Grey and myself. ^.^

***

Read what follows AFTER having read our story in the 'Cooperative Story Project' thread.

***

After having read through the story posted, I would now like to extend several invitations. Members of the RP forum, if this thread is going to be a hit, we’ll need your help! We need to fill this thread up to the earlobe with stories! If you are interested in contributing, please send a PM to either me or Mr. Grey. Depending on how much feedback we get, we’ll help get writers together so they can work on stories to be added to the thread and the current chain of events.

And, for ease of use, this is a secondary ‘support thread’ we’ve put up for the story thread. For public declarations of your love for our work, or for your volunteering to add work and a request for a co-writer, post here. If possible, please refrain from posting in the story thread unless you are adding a story.

Peace and Leis. ^.^
-Dogma of the Bwerp

“Ah… Tender crisp…”

Levi Baker strolled calmly through the streets of Steel Canyon with a box in one hand and a half-eaten drumstick in the other. Most heroes didn’t like off time, but Psycho13 reveled in it. Especially when it was a bright, sunny day, the birds were twittering… Wait, those were just pigeons…

They wanted his chicken. Lousy, creepy scavengers…

“Scram, before I sic the cats on ya! I’ll do it, too!” he shouted at the trees, “I’ll pick them up and heave them in there… Flying cats… You’ll never know what hit ya!”

A couple pigeons fluttered off, but it didn’t stop the young man from looking like a lunatic yelling at the trees. He noticed some of the passers-by looking askance at him, but he shrugged it off. He had other business to attend to anyway.

The Exchange Bank of Paragon City was one of the banks in Blyde Square. Being just across the street from the chicken shop, it made Baker’s lunch trip all the more efficient. Solo had called him up while he was standing in line, and it only irked him slightly that he couldn’t sit down for his meal, but he could chew and walk at the same time.

Just as he reached the door he heard a peculiar sound. It was like humming. Licking his fingers, Levi looked up, expecting to see, possibly, a Rikti dropship. It would have been surprising, especially considering the fact that there hadn’t been any alerts and the War Wall shields were still up.

However, what he saw was decidedly not a Rikti Dropship. It was, in fact, much too small and box-like. From below, it appeared to be some kind of car, but it didn’t have wheels or anything, just a set of glowing domes, similar to the ones that kept the Arachnos Flyers aloft. The rest of the underside was black to a mirror finish.

Just as the off-duty hero was about to make speculations as to just what the machine was, an explosion rocked the side of the building, cascading stones and mortar down on him. He felt his shoulder crack and started rubbing the bones back into place as they started to knit together. Last thing he needed now was a bone spur, an unresponsive joint, or worse, a constantly tearing ligament. Certainly, he could regenerate the damage, but it was always best to minimize when one could.

Looking back up, he saw a group of individuals leap into the hole that now gaped in the side of the wall. A big dark blob followed them. Shortly after were the sounds of gunshots and alarms. Pulling his hood up over his head, the scrapper pulled up his communicator and broadcasted to every other hero in the city that there was trouble. The responses he got were unsettling, to say the least.

“Newb cant hndl safegurd on his own! LAWLZ!” flitted across the screen of his communicator first.

Psycho13 arched his eyebrow at that and hummed sharply. The rest of the responses weren’t much better.

“Leave the baby alone, maybe he just doesn’t know how to fight and needs help. You’re a defender-class, right, Psych?”

“No, scrapper-class…”

“HA! NEWB!”

“Are you guys really going to go on like this? There’s people getting hurt!”

They did indeed go on like that. It was disheartening enough to make the tan-hoodie-clad scrapper to chuck his lunch into the nearest waste receptacle and brace himself for what would be the fight of his life.

“I must have caught the bums rush to Siren’s Call,” he grumbled as he drew his knives and marched to the door.

A crowd of civilians exploded from the doors when the scrapper opened them. He had to grab the central frame to keep from being dragged away. Psycho13 knew better than to explain to these people that he was here to help. They’d just laugh or ask if he’s sure and that he looked like he’d get torn apart…

Their concerns were all well-founded, and indeed, sometimes had happened, but they didn’t need to know that and the young scrapper didn’t feel like going through the explanations. Once the initial push was finished, he let himself in.

Marching down the hall, he found one of his first targets. It looked like any other person in a business suit, but his movements were far too perfect, too precise… and he was currently threatening one of the tellers. He didn’t look like a Crey agent, and they weren’t in the habit of robbing banks in any case. It must have been one of those Nemesis automatons.

“Hey! Lug-nuts!” Psycho shouted as he drew his mismatched blades, “I’ve been waiting all day and I really need to make a withdrawal!”

The business-suited man turned precisely to the hero and narrowed his eyes. There was something odd about the man’s movements. They were much too perfect, even automatons had clicks or stutters, and they certainly didn’t have flesh that could bend and articulate the way this guy’s could. There was something odd about this man’s skin, too… It seemed… pale. That was a strange thing to see on someone of African descent.

“What are you?” Psycho13 breathed moments before the business suit-clad criminal leaped over the counter and drove his knee into Psycho’s ribcage.

He heard a cracking sound and felt something akin to several bones popping before he realized he was hurtling through the air and crashing into the wall behind himself. Baker had been hit by a couple vehicles and Freaks in his career, and this was similar to that. As he gasped for air, he realized he was coughing up blood. Before he could gather his wits about him, a heavy hand landed on his collar, gripped him vice-like, and lifted him into the air.

“Hero identified,” the dark man said blankly, “Psycho13. Levi Baker. Former subject of the Committee’s think-tank programs. Regenerator.”

Almost as if on cue, Psycho13’s ribcage popped back into place and the bones started knitting. Able to breathe easily again, the scrapper kicked off the wall behind himself and drove the point of his steel-toed boot into the sternum of his assailant. There was a wet crunch, but little else.

“What the Hell?”

“Threat level: negligible,” the agent finished before hurling Psycho13 into a corner.

“Augh!” the scrapper grunted as he got tangled up in the dividing ropes used by the Exchange Bank, “Dammit!”

As he got free, however, it turned out the agent hadn’t quite turned his attention away from the young hero. Staring down the barrel of a high-caliber pistol, Psycho13 gulped and licked his lips. The agent squeezed several rounds into the scrapper’s belly, chest, and forehead. They were hollow points, and he could feel his flesh being torn apart by the bullets as they split open. Stuttering, the scrapper fell to the floor and the remaining tellers screamed in terror and desperation.

“Now,” the agent turned to the man he’d been harassing earlier, “The codes for the vault, if you please.”

“There’s nothing in there, just personal effects and lock boxes!” the man replied, “Money is stored digitally now!”

“We both know that’s simply not true. Plenty enough people deposit cash. Give me the co-“

A knife point suddenly protruded from the agent’s throat and withdrew. Dropping the teller, the agent turned to his assailant, and saw the man he’d just shot repeatedly standing before him, seething. The agent’s lip quirked to the side in mock-amusement.

“Regenerator,” Psycho13 hissed, “Hero. And you just [frig]ed up my favorite hoodie! Icon doesn’t make these! I found this thing in the Salvation Army, and it’s insane trying to find a tailor tha-oof!”

The agent’s fist was now deep in Psycho13’s gut. Pulling himself away, the agent was still smirking, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying to resume a neutral posture. The hero looked up at his enemy and saw the mouth slowly pull back to normal.

“I’ve seen zombies move quicker than that,” he choked out, “and you nearly jacked up my diaphragm! What do you want me to do? Drown on air?”

“Hero is resilient,” the agent got out before the scrapper carved through his right pectoral muscle.

Baker then followed up with a series of strikes across his enemy’s torso. It was strange, but he could swear that it felt like he was carving into a Zenith Mech Man. When he finally kicked the agent back, the criminal slumped to the floor, and exploded, sending the unprepared hero careening into the corner of the wall and skidding down the hall back to the entrance.

Psycho13’s head cleared moments later. He still had work to do. The teller he helped was shaking him awake and saying something about there being more and that his knife was currently stabbed into his thigh.

“Thanks,” he muttered as he started yanking it out, “It always sucks to have to find these things later. It’s worse when you’ve looked all over only to realize it’s been stuck in your shoulder or your butt cheek…”

“Uh…” the teller rolled his eyes and backed away sheepishly, “Wait… You said you were here to make a withdrawal… You’re not here to rob us, too, are you!?”

“What!? No!” Psycho reached into his back pocket, retrieved his wallet, and revealed his identification to the teller, “See? Hero I.D. I’m here to help… I was here to make a withdrawal, but then all hell broke loose…”

“We were kind of hoping for Synapse, or at least Castle.”

The scrapper blinked glumly and frowned.

“Nobody ever wants the newbies.”

“Oh, no… We’re not ungrateful!”

“It’s fine!” Psycho13 smiled and clapped the teller on the shoulder, “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a lot more pain to endure and aching to suffer.”

“Um… Don’t you mean… Dish out?”

“That’s a great idea! I’ll try that, too!”

***

…And so the star fell through the clouds, and it ignited the heavenly skies! The garden quaked and the people knew the fear of the transcended ones once again! The abomination crept through the grand plains, wearing the flesh of the innocent and perverting truth! The high ones in their golden towers found their aim to always slip as it passed by! And then, in that single defining moment…!

…..Hmmm?

Ah, and what is this? It appears the past has silently slipped into the future. Fate and its dark eyes are all-seeing, so I must be as well. Otherwise how can I hope to survive? Those bound by Fate and its dreadful strings are doomed! And I am eternal! I must catch up now. What can I do?

I sneak into the library like a thief, and this time, it is different. They know I am here. Last time they merely sensed that something was wrong, but they have learned. I do not have the luxury of time to choose which tale I want. I cannot go into the depths, for those who are ahead know I am coming. They are prepared. What is this? Alas, I am now trapped! Or am I? I am surrounded by a multitude of tales, all of which I can use! I must throw caution to the winds, let Lady Luck and her cursed blessings reign!

What story am I in this time?

My oh my.

To think I always overlooked this sparkling gem of opportunity every time I passed by! Truly, one should never judge a book by its cover! The very air here is BRIMMING with the most ideal of conditions! Neglect! Despair! Sorrow! Fear! PAIN! Tragedy and his dark mask loom around every corner. Comedy is nowhere to be seen. This will not do, for they shall be no other Tragedy than my own. The story shall never end until I have shaped the outcome to my liking! Comedy shall bring down Tragedy, and then Tragedy shall devour everything!

So Comedy, come come, let us dance! Let us sing and let us dazzle the world! Excitement abound, joy in the sky, life in the air, heart in every sound! Let there be light, let shadows cast be only solitary! Let the flames of passion roar and cause the heavens that support the miasma of misery crumble!

Let truth temper fanaticism!
Let reason expose deception!
Let grace repel darkness!
Let law smother anarchy!
Let duty subdue instinct!
Let purity reject artifice!

LET THE MASQUERADE BEGIN!

***

Paragon City, Steel Canyon, National Bank

A shooting star raced across the sky, leaving a trail of glittering matter in its wake as it tore through the heavens. It raced from one horizon straight to the other. And was it just a trick of the eyes, or did the star appear to be arcing?

Not that anybody noticed it, because it was still the middle of the day.

***

Already I see a cry for assistance! Let it never be said that I am not benevolent! Let us see what I can stir up…

***

White Masque went in through the back door, and was disappointed to find a long series of narrow hallways. He needed to find whoever had sent out that broadcast, and quickly, before the scent went cold. There was a pair of double doors straight ahead though, so White Masque advanced and opened them…

…Only to get a haymaker smash on the head. The attack split the ground beneath the radiant figure and drove him downward a few inches. White Masque’s attacker appeared to be a black-suited businessman, with an abnormally pale face. He was leaning back for another attack with movements that were perfectly coordinated. Being hit by this man dead-on was like being hit by a truck.

“Ow.” White Masque said disdainfully. He conjured a long and nasty blade made of exothermic reactions. Something cold and chilling, a blade of ice. Before the black-clad man could withdraw his hands from the top of White Masque’s head, his left arm was skewered by the thing. It ripped through his neat suit, and through his abnormally pale skin like a hot knife through butter. *har de har har* Then it stopped.

White Masque looked closely at the wound, and instead of seeing the normal gore and spurting of blood, he saw a solid joint of reinforced polymers and ceramic that had stopped his blade dead in its tracks. Instead of blood, there was just a still and crusty-looking dull brown liquid. Before he could discern anything else, the man-or whatever the hell he was-withdrew his arms and leapt a good distance back.

“Identity not recognized. Analyzing,” The pale man said in a blank voice, looking White Masque up and down as he did so.

“That wasn’t nice.” White Masque said in a playful tone. His voice was high-flown and almost angelic in nature, “You need to learn to play with others.”

Suddenly, White Masque was upon the businessman, having moved like whitewash across stone, rearing back the arm and the blade it held for another strike, this one aimed for the heart, if he, it, had one. White Masque never found out, because the pale man CAUGHT his blade with the same arm that had previously been skewered. His right arm came around in a punch that could have knocked a wall over. It shot right through the radiance that covered up White Masque’s face, and into the unknown beyond.

*Ka-sunk*

“Not the fa-Bwerp! Too late. You’re fast, aren’t you?” White Masque swatted the fist out of his face with his free hand, wrenching his sword free as well and leaping back to put some distance between himself and the thing. He didn’t appear to have retained any damage from the blow.

“Powers identified. Invulnerability and Ice manipulation,” The man in the business suit said in his blank voice, “Threat level: Average.”

If they could have been seen, White Masque’s eyes would have been narrowed.

“I BEG your pardon? Did you seriously just say what I think you said? Oh! OH! This will NOT do!” White Masque said furiously, and understandably so, “Yes, nobody will see…Plenty of time…”

The agent cautiously advanced to deliver another blow, seeking a weakness in his opponent’s invulnerable structure. So, naturally, he never saw the blow coming from behind him, above him, and from both sides as well…

***

After finishing, White Masque carefully observed his surroundings. He was in a carpeted hallway with lavish wallpaper and a few desks with couches in the corners. Unknown to him, it was the hallway connecting the main area of the bank to the vaults. Further unknown to him was that the man he had just fought had been left behind as a guard while everyone else went to the vault. To his right was the open doorway leading to the public area of the bank, behind him being a LOOOOONG corridor leading to the vault. He thought momentarily about which way to go when he heard an explosion coming from the right. So naturally, he went that way. Emerging into an area with a wooden floor and stone walls, he found a few frightened civilians helping what looked like a torn-up homeless person with a sharp shard of stone stuck in his buttocks out of a large cracked impression in the wall. There were the fried remains of a black business suit scattered everywhere.

[ QUOTE ]
“It’s fine!” Psycho13 smiled and clapped the teller on the shoulder, “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a lot more pain to endure and aching to suffer.”

“Um… Don’t you mean… Dish out?”

“That’s a great idea! I’ll try that, too!”

[/ QUOTE ]

White Masque walked forward to confront the two then. He moved like whitewash flowing over stone. “Ah, excuse me then…” White Masque said in his lofty voice, with only a hint of anxiousness. “Would you be Psycho13? The guy who asked for help with the bank? Sorry I’m late, had to come in through the rear entrance. I’m White Masque, and if it isn’t a problem, I’d like to help defend this bank and everybody in it with you.” He leaned to the side a little, as though he was looking at something.

“And pardon me if it’s supposed to be there, but there appears to be a sharp rock sticking out of your buttocks.”

Psycho13 was very perceptive for a hero. His use as a Committee think-tank to puzzle together meta human concepts had given him a knack at recognizing the capabilities in other heroes. It came in handy when planning for major operations, and it also helped him to figure out the kinds of people he was working with. And something wasn't quite right about White Masque. For one thing, he could see straight through the radiance blocking the other man's face, and it was completely blank.

But that was just Paragon City for you, nothing too weird about that.

***

OOC:

Please refrain from posting here and see the secondary 'Support Thread' for details!

To be continued!

Cynic spat as he watched most of the blasts bounce off of the creature. It was a good thing he had that handy friendly fire feature turned off. Cynic was slightly surprised the mace blasts had been deflected. If physical blows could damage the creature, why couldn't kinetic blasts? That's what the mace blasts were, really. Just focused kinetic energy, not at all too different from long range punches with extra bite in them. Even so, the deflected blasts that were sent straight back were mostly negated by the oodleplex of shielding surrounding everyone. Cynic didn't think too hard about it though, thinking instead it would be a good idea to get some more manuverability. Cynic activated his Night staff's flight aura ability, and everyone excluding Tamesis floated up a good 10 feet off the ground. As luck would have it, the creature had just decided then to use its ground strike, which passed harmlessly below.

Cynic was about to utter new orders when he spotted his detention'd guests exiting stage right.

"Jack or whoever the hell you are, give me that teleport suppression device I ordered you to bring, and FAST. Bring down big and ugly while I make sure our prisoners don't escape, meet back up with me outside." Cynic shouted at Jake. Cynic's drones had ceased firing their weapons, and the Bane Spiders figured out their mace blasts were useless after a few more seconds and followed suit.

Returning to Hyperbole as a contact…

***

[u]The Dark Side of the Moon[u]

[u]1) Interrogate Venessa DeVore[u]

“|2063|2 +|-|@+ \/1z \X/1z. 1|\|1+1@+1|\|6 |*|20j3(+, '$(0|2(|-| +|-|3 3@|2+|-|.'...Oh, hello again. Still as punctual as ever I see. Well remember that fiasco with those carnies and everything? Well, as you may recall, it all started because somebody originally altered those masks Venessa DeVore was guarding. It couldn’t have been our possessive friend, because otherwise he wouldn’t have bothered with the portals. Which means he must have somehow hired an independent operator from my-…His side of the channel. We need to make sure all his links to your side are cut completely, so we’ll have to track down this operator and bury them deeper than my carrots. That’s pretty deep, in case you were wondering.”

[u]I’ll bet.[u]

Mission Acceptance

“Ok, since the operator obviously didn’t stick around to be caught by you after altering those masks, we can assume they didn’t care or just didn’t have the ability to personally watch over events to make sure they didn’t get [censored] up when people like you happen. But our dear gal Giovanna has some gray goo up there, she will at least have known SOMEBODY was in the place. So if you could go beat the snot out of her again and coercer her into telling you what she knows about it, that would be Bwerptasticnessicity.

1) Interrogate Venessa DeVore
a. Defeat Venessa DeVore and her crew (Indoor carnival map)

Notable NPCs:

Venessa DeVore <Carnival of Shadows> Elite Boss/Arch-villain

Notes:

Straightforward assassination, just floor Venessa to clear the mission. No catches tacked on.

Quotes:

[Venessa DeVore would have her dev-given dialogue.]

Clues: Venessa DeVore’s speculation

“Yes, now that you mention it, there was somebody else aside from me and mine here a while ago aside from you. I never saw who it was, but I always knew the general area they were in. The only thing I know was that whoever they were went to Nerva Archipelago after leaving here.”

Debriefing:

“Hmmm. Interesting. I’ll go ahead and start digging around on my end then.

[u]2) Discover the truth[u]

“Ok, I ran a search on Nerva for the time period when you fought that first illusionist. I figured that she and whoever the operator was would have probably reached Nerva within short time of each other. I have a list of targets waiting for you, you’ll need to take them all out.”

[u]Ok.[u]

Mission Acceptance

“Lucky for you, all of the targets on our little list are still in Nerva, so you can wipe them all out in one go. Most of them are almost certainly innocent-Ice Minstrel, who was doing a routine mystical scourge at the time, and Silver Meniscus. I doubt the illusionist would have fought her if they had been allies, but she was in closest proximity. The others…There was Ace McKnight, who was on a ‘top secret mission.’ I couldn’t get all the details, but it was something to do with ‘surveillance intel.’ It’s not hard to imagine he was tricked into altering those masks without destroying them, under the pretense of monitoring Giovanna. Accompanying him on the same mission was Agent X. Seriously, where the boot do the game de-do the Longbow administrators get these names? But ignore my rambling, go already!”

2) Discover the truth!
a. Defeat the operator suspects. (Nerva outdoors, city area)
i. Defeat Ace McKnight
ii. Defeat Agent X
iii. Defeat Ice Minstrel
iiii. Defeat Silver Meniscus

Notable NPCs

Ace McKnight <Longbow> Elite Boss/Hero
Agent X <Longbow> Elite Boss/Hero
Ice Minstrel <Arachnos> Elite Boss/Hero

Notes:

All three of the main NPCs spawn in the same mob randomly generated in Agincourt. The player spawns by the Ferry and can either fight their way to Agincourt or can just skip the outdoor mobs and go there. Ice Minstrel and the two Longbow agents will be shadow fighting, but will team up to defeat you. Silver Meniscus is not in this mission, which will automatically end anyway once Ace, X, and Minstrel are defeated.

Quotes:

Ace McKnight: Hold it there! Akarist was under our protection!
Agent X: You’ll pay for what you did to him!
Ice Minstrel: Why the heck were you guys guarding that worm in the first place?
(on aggro)
Ace McKnight: Woa, it’s [playername]!
Agent X: I have just the gadget to defeat him/her!
Ice Minstrel: This is my fight, stay out of it!
(defeat)
Ace McKnight: I thought you were on my-Wait, no. Wrong arc.
Agent X: The board doesn’t pay enough attention to me…Maybe it’s the name?
Ice Minstrel: I feel vague and unfulfilled. Is that because I’m a filler? This sucks!

Clues:

Ace McKnight’s report

According to these papers, Ace McKnight and Agent X’s ‘secret mission’ was to protect Akarist while he was being escorted to a more secure location. Seeing as how Hyperbole told you Ice Minstrel was on a ‘mystical scourge,’ and how you found her fighting with the two loons, she probably nabbed Akarist while he was being moved and attracted the ire of the two Longbow agents. Silver Meniscus was nowhere to be found in Nerva.

Debriefing:

“Silver Meniscus wasn’t there? And I guess with that report the other 3 are cleared. Guess it was her after all, there wasn’t anybody else is Nerva who could have pulled the mask job. I’d better get busy finding her, hang on a moment.”

3) Steal the Thorn Nexus!

Briefing:

“As much as I hate to admit it, I couldn’t locate Silver Meniscus. Damn stalkers, freaking impossible to find unless you’re within 10 feet of them. There isn’t anything that can break through that level of concealment at long range.
“I mean, except for the Thorn Tree and its ungodly perception of the world around it.”

[u]Way ahead of you.[u]

Mission Acceptance:

“Good to hear, get in there and steal the Thorn Nexus. Its power should let you locate Silver Meniscus, easy. Just be careful down there.”

3) Steal the Thorn Nexus!
a. Steal the Thorn Nexus! (Thorn Tree Oranbega cave map)
i. Defeat the villain strike force
ii. Defeat Baron Zoria
iii. Defeat the vines guarding the Thorn Tree (24)
iiii. Defeat the Thorn Tree
iiiii. Steal the Thorn Nexus

Notable NPCs

Stardusk <Rogue Isles Villains> Boss
Silent Blade <Rogue Isles Villains> Boss
Shock Treatment <Rogue Isles Villains> Boss
Savage Siren <Rogue Isles Villains> Boss
Hollow Point <Rogue Isles Villains> Boss
Fallen From Grace <Rogue Isles Villains> Boss
Critical Mass <Rogue Isles Villains> Boss
Ayame Higarashi <Rogue Isles Villains> Boss
Baron Zoria <Circle of Thorns> Elite Boss/Arch-villain
Thorn Tree <Circle of Thorns> Elite Boss/Archvillain
Thorn Tree Vine <Circle of Thorns> Minion

Notes:

Normal Thorn Tree mission, with a few important differences. The Thorn Tree will vary from elite boss to Arch-villain depending on difficulty and the size of your team. Additionally, the Rogue Isles Villains have apparently formed a Strike Force to claim the Nexus for their own, and Baron Zoria is so sick and tired of it getting stolen he’s come out into the open to defend it himself. Baron Zoria and the Rogue Isles villains always spawn shadow fighting together near the entrance of the Thorn Tree room, and members of the Rogue Isles Villains will decrease or increase depending on the difficulty and size of your team, with a minimum of 2. The Thorn Tree Vines need to be defeated before the Thorn Tree can be attacked, but they will not respawn. Getting the Thorn Tree Nexus does not grant a respec, because you are using its power to locate Silver Meniscus.

Quotes:

Baron Zoria: No ignorant fiend shall ever desecrate these sacred grounds ever again!
Silent Blade: Just watch us!
Critical Mass: The Nexus is as good as ours. Just give up, old man.
(on aggro)
Baron Zoria: MORE intruders? I’ll deal with you later, pests!
Silent Blade: Hey, we’re not letting you steal what is rightfully ours!
(defeat)
Baron Zoria: It doesn’t matter, you’ll never get through the Thorn Tree.

Clues:

The Thorn Tree Nexus

You can feel the immense power of the Nexus just by being near the thing, it should definitely allow you to find the stealthy Silver Meniscus without any problems.

Debriefing

“You ran into a strike force? And Baron Zoria? And you’re still standing? Nice. Time to see if that Nexus is as good as these files say it is.

4) Locate Silver Meniscus using the Thorn Nexus!

Briefing:

“Now that you have the Nexus, all you need to do is harness it. Piece of cake, right?”

[u]Yea. Right.[u]

Mission Acceptance

“Seriously, what could possibly go wrong? Aside from explosions…Oh god, not explosions…Err...Anyway, it should be a simple process to just take the Nexus to a scrying alter and use it to locate Silver Meniscus, I’ve already located a nearby temple in Nerva that should have one in it. Good luck.”

4) Locate Silver Meniscus using the Thorn Nexus!
a. Locate Silver Meniscus using the Thorn Nexus! (oranbega cave map)
i. Use the scying alter
ii. Defeat Blade Princes Hertuu and Tirses
iii. Defeat Lilitu

Notable NPCs

Blade Prince Hertuu <Circle of Thorns> Elite Boss/Arch-villain
Blade Prince Tirses <Circle of Thorns> Elite Boss/Arch-villain
Lilitu <Circle of Thorns> Elite Boss/Arch-villain

Notes

Blade Princes Hertuu and Tirses both spawn together by the glowie, and Lilitu will ambush you once the glowie is used. Otherwise the mission is pretty straightforward.

Quotes

Blade Prince Hertuu: We are the servants of Lilitu. We have been sent by her to defeat the thief of the Thorn Nexus.
Blade Prince Tirses: Yes, I already know. You didn’t need to tell me. Or anyone around us either. I think you need some help, my friend.
Blade Prince Hertuu: Quiet.
(on aggro)
Blade Prince Hertuu: We shall freeze your soul.
Blade Prince Tirses: Sweet, free lunch.
Blade Prince Hertuu: That’s ‘cool,’ not ‘sweet.’
Blade Prince Tirses: Oh, and I suppose we’re supposed to be having a cold TV dinner instead of lunch, eh?

(on aggro)
Lilitu: You shall not escape!
(defeat)
Lilitu: Ok, maybe you will.

Clues:

Silver Meniscus

The scrying alter showed you Silver Meniscus alright, but you have no clue where she’s standing. From what you can see, she’s standing in a run-down office building. There’s also a stupid half-life symbol poster plastered against the wall behind her.

Debriefing:

“That’s all you found? Damnit, I was so sure that would work too. Wait, did you say a half-life symbol? One moment, I have an idea.”

5) Defeat Silver Meniscus

Briefing:

“AHA, CAPITAL! I’ve found Silver Meniscus!”

[u]About time.[u]

“I’d like to see you do better, Superior Man. I’m still working with outdated faith-based crap on my end here. Give me SOME credit. Anyways, the half-life symbol was a dead giveaway. She’s hiding out in that old office building that was owned by Valve software. Remember? That place where you shut down the opened portal? This just goes even further to prove she’s the one who altered those masks! Go there and beat the hoof sludge out of her.”

5) Defeat Silver Meniscus
a. Defeat Silver Meniscus and her crew (abandoned office map)
i. Defeat all enemies in the mission

Notable NPCs

Silver Meniscus <Independent> (Dark Melee/Dark Armor stalker> Arch-villain
Sister Hecate <Knives of Artemis> Boss
Sister Destra <Knives of Artemis> Boss
Sister Sestra <Knives of Artemis> Boss
Sister Rhea <Knives of Artemis> Boss

Notes:

The same mission map as the last map of the last arc. Nostalgic, eh? The place will be swarming with Knives of Artemis. Sister Rhea spawns alone with a mob in a random room, with the rest of the bosses spawning in the final room in the same spawn as Silver Meniscus. Like last time, Meniscus will use every dirty trick in dark’s famed arsenal, including Soul Transfer. This can be especially frustrating since you’re also fighting three bosses along with her, all of whom have headsplitter. Even hitting her will be a pain since all 4 of them have tohit debuffs and OH BWERP THE FEEEEAAAAAR! Just to make things even worse, the moment you aggro them, a never-ending stream of ambushes will come and help them, with new ambushes spawning should you kill the last, and not stopping until the 4 are defeated. Silver Meniscus will teleport away after her second defeat, just like Aeon does.

Quotes:

Sister Rhea: Sister Meniscus always has been serious about revenge, hasn’t she?
Mercenary: Yes. Revenge is something worthy of appreciation.
Sister Rhea: Hmm. Sounds familiar. Something at the corner of my mind.
(on aggro)
Sister Rhea: Whoever you are, you should learn to mind your own business!
(defeat)
Sister Rhea: I’m sorry, sister…

(cut-scene)
Silver Meniscus: He isn’t here. None of his dolls either.
Sister Destra: There are signs of intense fighting recently.
Sister Hecate: And there is an abnormally large amount of psionic residue in the background.
Sister Sestra: Perhaps somebody beat us here?
Silver Meniscus: That seems likely. Especially…Be ready. We have company.
Sister Destra: What? Who would come here of all places, and why now?
Sister Hecate: It doesn’t matter. Let’s finish this quickly.
(on aggro)
Silver Meniscus: .....Where have I seen you before?
Sister Hecate: Anticipation…..
(defeat)
Sister Hecate: Can’t get back up…
Sister Destra: Losing conscious…
Sister Sestra: I’m sorry, sister…
Silver Meniscus: The Moon Rises.
(75% health)
Silver Meniscus: I remember you now. What do you have to do with all of this?
(50% health)
Silver Meniscus: You’re the one who came here before, aren’t you?
(25% health)
Silver Meniscus: If I can’t have my revenge against him…You will do.
(defeated again)
Silver Meniscus: There will be soft rains…..

Clues:

Sister Rhea’s Words

You interrogated Sister Rhea after beating her. You were slightly curious as to why Silver Meniscus was here with the Knives of Artemis. It took some work, but you broke her.

“Sister Meniscus was hired by somebody to use some kind of arcane rune on a bunch of masks belonging to the Carnival of Shadows. She was told she would be paid for her service at Nerva, but when she reached the meeting place, her employer tried to dismiss her without paying. Then somebody burst into the scene and beat both of them. After that, Sister Meniscus did lots of digging to find out about this place and her employer. She came here with us for revenge, pure and simple.”

You had expected something more complicated than that, like disks and frozen rods and stuff, but sometimes odd stories have simple explanations.

Debriefing:

“Excellent work, that clears up everything. Except for one small matter.”

6) Survive being Exterminated

Briefing

“Hey, one last thing for ya and then we should be done. Small easy job, but it needs to be done, ya know?”

[u]I know.[u]

“Good, good. Apparently, a carnie who was with one of those possessed illusionists got away from that last mission when we were dealing with the portal fiasco. It’s no big deal, really, but I need to take care of every loose end. Just go in there and smash that carnie, easy.
“Oh, and hey?
“It’s been nice working with you.”

Clues:

Coordinates

The carnie is apparently hanging out in a cave in Grandville. That’s odd. Why did this one carnie go to all the trouble of running from Nerva to Grandville?

5) Survive being Exterminated
a. Survive being Exterminated (cave map)
i. Discover the truth
ii. Defeat all enemies in the mission

Notable NPCs:

Commander Cynic <Unknown> (Robotics/Force Field mastermind> Arch-villain
Big Assault Drone for Advanced Surgical Strikes <Unknown> (Assault Bot) Boss
Special Tactical Utility Drone <Unknown> (Protector Bot) Boss
Special Tactical Utility Drone <Unknown> (Protector Bot) Boss
Standard Assault Drone <Unknown> (Battle Drone) Boss
Standard Assault Drone <Unknown> (Battle Drone) Boss
Standard Assault Drone <Unknown> (Battle Drone) Boss
Silver Meniscus <Independent> (Dark Melee/Dark Armor stalker)
[Unique Faction!]

Robotics:

Assault Bot <Robotics> Boss
Protector Bot <Robotics> Lieutenant
Battle Drone <Robotics> Minion

Notes:

The mission is completely empty and devoid of enemies when you enter, all the way to the final room, where you will find a glowie. After using it, every mob will spawn in every room except the one you are in. *The last one.* Each mob will consist of Robotics, with the size and contents of each mob varying depending on difficulty and the size of your team. Commander Cynic will spawn in a room about half-way back to the entrance, with a number of his personal drones, which increases along with the difficulty and size of your team, with a minimum of 2 drones at all times. Commander Cynic will resummon and defeated drones, but only up to the original number encountered, and only of those type. After defeating Commander Cynic, Silver Meniscus will ambush you with a small mob of Knives of Artemis behind her. Defeating her support will spawn an ambush of more, which will not stop until she is defeated a second time. After defeating her once, and getting her down to 50% health again, Commander Cynic will respawn and ambush you with more of his special drones, and they will both fight together to defeat you. Defeating both once and for all ends the mission. Both Commander Cynic and Silver Meniscus will teleport away upon their deaths.

Quotes:

(cut-scene)
Commander Cynic: Hello there, [villainname]. I’ve heard a lot about you from Hyperbole. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. Either you come back with me and live the rest of your life in solitary confinement, or you die. Here and now.
Commander Cynic: Now I know how this is supposed to go. As the maniacal backstabbing badass villain, I’m supposed to tell you to settle for solitary confinement.
Commander Cynic: But, [villainname], that’s not the way this is going to happen.
Commander Cynic: Fight for your life, [villainname]. Fight for your life.
Commander Cynic: …..And die.
(on aggro)
Commander Cynic: That’s the way, [villainname.]
(50% health)
Commander Cynic: You’re getting there.
(25% health)
Commander Cynic: So close…
(defeat)
Commander Cynic: You’d better leave now, before I come back.

Silver Meniscus: I’ve found you, [villainname]. You’ll pay the price that doll-master was supposed to pay.
(defeated)
Silver Meniscus: The Moon Rises.
(50% health)
Commander Cynic: What? You haven’t left? Wh-Oh ho! Somebody really IS in trouble! Brace yourself!
(defeat)
Commander Cynic: Ok. I give up.
(defeated again)
Silver Meniscus: There will be soft rains…..

Clues:

Commander Cynic’s Words

Right before teleporting away for the second time, Commander Cynic dispensed a little nugget of information.

“Hey, [villainname]. You might have already figured this out by yourself, but I was sent here by Hyperbole to exterminate you. Go and tell the little sleazy [censored]-wipe to go and shove those carrots of his right up his blue metallic [censored], and tell him I give him my regards while you’re at it, will ya? Thanks.”

Debriefing:

“I see…So he failed.
“…..Excuse me? WHAT did you just say to me?
“YOU LITTLE…uh…Monster! You’re lucky you already beat the crap out of Cynic, otherwise I’d send him to blow your [censored] off the face of the planet! You mark my words, [villainname], if you ever speak of these events to ANYONE, divulge ANY of what you’ve learned, and I’ll hunt you down and mutilate your [censored]! Got it?”

[u]Get in line.[u]

Souvenir: A Strand of Silver Meniscus’ Hair.

Now that you look at it, Silver Meniscus’ hair isn’t really white, it’s an extremely pale blond. You like to keep it as a reminder of the adventure you like to call:

[u]The Dark Side of the Moon[u]

Hyperbole had more work for you. He wanted you to track down whoever it was that had altered the masks that had belonged to the Carnival of Shadows. Since you didn’t have any leads, you decided to go and ask Venessa Devore for one or 2. She told you that while she didn’t know who the operator was, she had still always known their vague general location, and they had left for Nerva Archipelago before she lost track of them.

Hyperbole used this information to get together a list of targets who had been in Nerva at the same time as the first possessed illusionist from the last time you had worked with him. The targets were Ace McKnight and Agent X, who had been on a ‘secret mission’ according to Hyperbole, Ice Minstrel, who had been going on a ‘mystical scourge,’ and finally, Silver Meniscus, the mysterious female stalker you saw in Nerva fighting the first possessed illusionist. They were all still in Nerva, so you went to Agincourt where you discovered the first 3 of your targets and defeated them all, with Silver Meniscus nowhere to be found. You discovered that none of the 3 you defeated could have altered the masks because of a performance report you found on Ace McKnight. Silver Meniscus’ concealment skills were too advanced for you too find her though, so Hyperbole developed a plot that would let you find her.

Hyperbole sent you to the roots of the Thorn Tree, deep below the Earth. There, you fought off Baron Zoria, an entire strike force composed of rival villains, and finally the malevolent roots of the Thorn Tree itself to claim the Thorn Nexus.

The Thorn Nexus, although powerful, was useless to you in raw form. So Hyperbole directed you to an Oranbegan scrying alter where you could use it. The Circle of Thorns had summoned Lilitu and her servants, Hertuu and Tirses, to stop you, but they were no match for your might. After beating them, you used the Thorn Nexus and the scrying alter to locate Silver Meniscus, despite her concealment powers.

It turned out Silver Meniscus was in the office building where you had closed an open portal last time you worked for Hyperbole, apparently seeking revenge on the mysterious figure you had encountered for trying to rip her off. Discovering you had already torn through him, she decided defeating you would do instead. You disappointed her by defeating her TWICE, along with the Knives of Artemis that had accompanied her.

When you contacted Hyperbole, he told you that there was one loose end that needed to be taken care of. Last time you had worked with him, a single carnie had slipped through your carnage and escaped to a cave in Grandville. Hyperbole wanted her brought down so he could conclude everything. When you got there, you discovered it was a trap, and were ambushed by the powerful and blunt Commander Cynic. You fought through his army of drones and defeated him, only to be ambushed by an enraged Silver Meniscus. Right before you defeated her though, Commander Cynic recovered and resumed his attack, teaming up with Silver Meniscus to bring you down. Despite their best efforts, you overcame both of them. Commander Cynic told you of Hyperbole’s treachery before departing, leaving you to terminate your partnership with the sleazy voice from the old run-down surveillance post monitor.

If the creature was resistant to being repelled, it was in luck. The force bubble seemed to act a lot like a stream of jello always moving away from the Commander. It wasn't rigid, but it wasn't very flexible either. It was like corn starch and water-Perfectly balanced between being a solid and a liquid. If one was resistant to the effects of the bubble and could move through it, it wouldn't inconvenience the Commander.

This left all of the creature's soon to be meals within easy reaching distance. Now if only they'd sit still and let themselves be torn apart into easily chewed bits-

"Aim for the mouth." Cynic ordered. No such luck. His six personal drones opened up with energy bolts, photon shots, seeker drones, thermal blasts, and oblivion rays. The Bane Spiders all mimicked them and fired their mace blasts at the beast's face, trying when possible to hit the mouth. This had the general benefit that shots that were off still had the chance of hitting part of the creature's face-Eyes, nose, whatevs. The storm of firepower being focused there possibly also made it bloody hard to see anything if it left the eyes intact.

"Boyfriend, get behind that thing. I don't value your lame chances of winning in a straight-out fight. Everyone knows how underpowered DM is these days." He said to Tamesis, putting some more power into his staff to keep the detention bubbles perpetually running until further notice. It wasn't like he couldn't afford to do so, since he didn't think any of his Night staff's assault features would do ANYTHING to the creature except annoy it, even if he did aim for a weak spot. Best to just let the drones and troops do the work while he maintained the shielding and such.

1.

"Stick it where the sun shineth not." Cynic spat at Ken.

2.

Cynic tapped his gauntlet again, re-establishing connection with Jake. Far away, Jake suddenly heard Cynic's voice crackle: "Yo, whatsyerface, get down here and pack heavy. Bring something to negate teleporting and the like as well."

3, 4, 5.

Finally, he turned back to Tamesis and said, "Stop screwing around an-

6

-d get ready for combat!"

***

And so soon too. For craps sake, SOMEBODY has to take SOME damage and STAY dead long enough for grass to grow on their graves before coming back! Wakie wakie Ghost Widow. We're about to be screwed over and not in the nice way.

***

Ghost Widow awoke. She immediately knew that she was in her tower at Mercy isle, that her division had just been all but wiped out, Wretch was dead, and things had likely erupted into big steaming piles of [censored] while she had been daydreaming or the like. That wasn't like her, she was supposed to mimic the current feel and mood that was the majority of Arachnos. Right now, that mood was around 'The diversion you are ignoring is their main attack!' Whatever the hell that meant. Needless to say, she was somewhat confused, not to mention groggy.

Still, she had important work to do. She got up from the floor, *her personal quarters didn't have any bodily comforts, except for the useless crap Cry had installed that had by now doubtlessly been removed. She was a ghost, after all* and drifted over to the one piece of furniture left in the room: The central mainframe computer for the tower!

About an hour later of catching up with what she had missed the past two days, Ghost Widow stormed *or angrily drifted* out of her chambers and made for the artifact vaults. Assuming Cry hadn't been stupid enough to try and use them; most of the artifacts should have still been intact. Otherwise Cry wouldn't have ever been trouble at all; they'd only have had to wait until he tried consuming an energy field larger than his head. Lord knows though, he seemed to have a huge obsession with trying to consume objects larger then his entire body for the hell of it.

Still, what she was looking for wasn't an artifact. It was a rather simple device, truth be told. A Psionic amplifier. Heading back to her chambers with the device in hand, she recalled the tattered remains of her division to the tower with orders to guard it with their lives, as per usual. She reactivated the Arbiter drones in front of the doors, keyed them to target ANYTHING, friend or foe, that approached short of Lord Recluse, posted an extra drone outside her own chambers for good measure, and then locked the entire tower down once she had made sure everyone who was supposed to be there was inside.

Then she activated the Psionic amplifier and drifted into a vegetative state reserved for vegetables. The Psionic amplifier was an experimental version, and tests had deemed it lethal for anybody to use because of its tendency to cause terminal accelerated brain cancer. This was not a problem for the brainless *har de [censored] har* Ghost Widow.

She immediately expanded her mind and began to re-weave the Psionic and mental defenses that used to have surrounded the Rogue isles, repairing, reestablishing, and improving it, thread by thread. This would take months of work, and once that was done, a few more months of fortifying and reinforcing it, along with making it self-dependent. Until then, she was just going to have to sit there...

OOC: Mental network is back up, Ghost Widow and the remainder of the widow/fortunata/seeress/fateweaver division is down, and untouchable. Ghost Widow's tower is now off-limits until such time when the scales need to be balanced again, which, hopefully, they won't ever need to be.

BIC:

***

Well then, that was rather productive of her. Now what mischief can I get up to...?

*I'm good with whatevs. Just try to keep it on the lighter side of things.*

"Oh, don't you worry about us." Cynic responded. "It doesn't really even matter if I get through or not." As Cynic spoke, he casually tapped out a sequence on his wrist gauntlet, and the familier orange glow of an Ouroboros portal appeared.

Then he turned and smacked Tamesis on the helmet. "Oi! Boyfriend, stop drooling and get your [censored] into action. Take these here spidews and meet up with the squad I left behind at that snake-eatery place. Take good care of our pals here if I don't make it through." He raised his staff and brought it back down, creating a dull thud. Two thin white rays appeared between staff and detention fields, and both them and their occupants started moving towards the portal. Now that was interesting-Maybe the detention fields could be affected, if not their contents or by them? It would be impossible to teleport the fields along with their prisoners away unless they were physically shoved through an on-site portal, like the one belonging to Ouroboros the Commander was about to shunt them through, but perhaps the two within could take advantage of this feature?

Assuming a gadjillion bombs hadn't just gone off and ruined everything that may or may not have happened, of course.

Cynic had been in the process of picking himself up and dusting off when he heard the newcomer speak.

"Fug it." He said, pointing his staff at the robed Ken and attempted to place HIM in a detention bubble as well. And recall in any form would be impossible if they were trapped inside these detention bubbles, merely because Cynic believed firmly enough that NOTHING could affect anything inside of them, even being teleported or the likes. Faith-based tech had lots of drawbacks, but provided one believed hard enough, it had its perks as well. Cynic had no intention of letting either of the two escape. Considering one of them was already trapped within a detention bubble, he might as well have already been half successful in his goal. Provided the blue draconian didn't have means to escape the THEORETICALLY inescapable detention bubble. And if the newcomer let himself be trapped, well, the situation would be more of the same.

If your character was a contact…

***

Hyperbole, level 40-50 villain-side contact, Grandville.

Sleazy voice from an old surveillance post monitor.

Nobody really knows much about anything when it comes to Hyperbole. He communicates via the single still-working monitor in a trash-heap that used to be a surveillance post in Grandville. The only real thing you can tell about this guy, is that you really hate the sound of his damn voice.

Initial Contact

“`/0 +|-|3|23, $|_||*? – Ah, excuse me. Forgot what I was doing there. Though I don’t know why I’m bothering to tell you. I can’t work with ya unless I know you can handle really freaky stuff…Like them Carnie Illusionists and those eyeball guys from the Shadow Shard. Unless you can handle them, you don’t stand a chance with what I have on my plate at the moment. Now carper off.”

(Obtain Illusionist and Visionary badges)

Completed Requirements

[u]Stillborn Evil[u]

[u]1) Raid the Carnival![u]

“(0[)3 |*1|\||<1$|-| 6|233|\|? @\X/ |-|0|2|<...Hey, you there! Yea, you! PERFECT timing! I can see you’ve run into all kinds of crazy stuff, so you’ll do. I have a BIG problem on my hooves, and I need to get rid of it. Help me and I’ll make it worth your while! I’ll even pay for whatever pals of yours you bring along.”

[u]Sounds good.[u]

Mission Acceptance

“Great, lifesaver, social commentary here. I go by Hyperbole, and that’s all you need to know about me. All I need to know about you is that you can kick 10 kinds of [censored]. As I mentioned earlier, I have a huge problem on my line over here, which I’m having trouble dealing with. These problems stem from events that are happening over on your side of the channel, so I need you to go and put a stop to said events. First off, I need you to have a small chat with a bratty [censored] called Giovanna Scaldi, if these files are up to date. It’s still 1708 over where you are, right? No? Oh well, close enough. Anyway, you know those masks she’s so fond of using? Well, somebody went and altered their purpose while she wasn’t looking. These are special masks, you know. She puts a piece of herself in them, so it’s logical she’d also want to guard them until she gets them all hosts. In short, I need you to destroy those masks before they find owners, and I don’t think little miss drama queen is going to appreciate that, so you’ll probably have to tackle her as well. This is important, so mark my words. MAKE SURE NONE OF THOSE MASKS ARE ATTACHED TO HOSTS! Go!

Clue: Coordinates

However inaccurate Hyperbole’s files are, these coordinates are sure to be dead on the spot. You always figured Venessa DeVore hung out in Fortune’s Wheel anyway.

1)Raid the Carnival!
a. Raid the Carnival! (Indoor Carnival map)
i. Defeat Venessa DeVore
ii. Destroy the altered Carnie masks
iii. Defeat all Carnie’s wearing altered masks

Notable NPCs:

Venessa DeVore <Carnival of Shadows> Elite Boss/Arch-villain
Possessed Master Illusionist <Unknown> Boss

Notes:

Venessa DeVore will always spawn beside the glowie in this mission, so it’s pretty much impossible to get it without defeating her. The Possessed Master Illusionist is always in a different room, and has normal Master Illusionist powers.

Quotes:

[Venessa DeVore would get her dev-given dialogue.]

Possessed Master Illusionist: “This world is filled to the brim with agony and pain. I should have moved in ages ago. Now just to find a host…”
(on aggro)
“Well, they come when called here? All the better,”
(50% health)
“Excellent! Such a powerful body!”
(25% health)
“Too powerful for this mask to handle, even.”
(defeat)
“Oh dear.”

Clues: Venessa DeVore’s Words

“You are here for my lovely masks? You may have destroyed some of my beauties, but I have already found hosts for some of them! They left long ago. You arrived far too late, party pooper.”

The Odd Master Illusionist

You’ve seen some pretty weird stuff before, but this ranks pretty high on your list. First off, the voice of the Master Illusionist was masculine, and SHE was much, much tougher than normal Carnies. You already know that the masks possess the person they are placed upon by function, channeling Giovanna’s will directly. To you, it seemed like the mask, not the person wearing it, was being controlled by somebody else.

Debriefing:

“Some of those masks found hosts and had left long before you’d gotten there? Damnit, this day can’t get any worse, can it? Well, you’re just going to have to go and find each and every last one of those Carnies and destroy their masks now, won’t you? Just give me some time to track them.”

[u]2) Defeat the first Possessed Master Illusionist![u]

Briefing:

“Ok, there’s bad news and good news. Bad news is, there are a total of five Carnies that got away, and they’ve all split. The good news is, I’ve found the first one.”

[u]Well spit it out.[u]

Mission Acceptance

“Our target hasn’t even settled down yet, ‘she’ is still wandering out in the open in Nerva. Just go there and beat the crud out of her. She’ll probably have some other Carnies with her, but the most you’ll need to worry about are the locals. Good luck.”

2) Defeat the first Possessed Master Illusionist!
a. Defeat the Possessed Master Illusionist (Primeva outdoors)
i. Defeat the Possessed Master Illusionist
ii. Defeat Silver Meniscus
iii. (optional) Defeat Caleb and Baphomet

Notable NPCs:

Possessed Master Illusionist <Unknown> Boss
Silver Meniscus <Independent> (Dark Melee/Dark Armor stalker) Boss
Caleb <Circle of Thorns> Giant Monster
Baphomet <Circle of Thorns> Giant Monster

Notes:

The Possessed Master Illusionist and Silver Meniscus will spawn together, and they will be ‘shadow fighting.’ Don’t think you can just let them kill each other, they will team up to take you down. There will be a small token mob of Carnies with them as well. Silver Meniscus will start the fight unhidden, but will toggle hide and placate followed by using build-up and Assassin’s Eclipse as soon as opportunity allows. She also comes with every nasty and dirty trick DM/DA is famed for, and she will pop right back up and auto-stun you with soul transfer once she dies. She is very, VERY nasty. You have been warned.

Caleb will hang around the central ruins of Primeva, and Baphomet will skulk around on the southern shore of Thorn island.

Quotes

Possessed Master Illusionist: “Grrr, begone you pest!”
(on aggro)
Silver Meniscus: “There will be soft rains.”
Possessed Master Illusionist: “You again? Oh Bwerp…”
(defeat)
Possessed Master Illusionist: “Not again…Gives me a huge ache every time, and my vision splits…”
Silver Meniscus: “The moon rises.”
(defeated second time)
Silver Meniscus: “…..”

Clues: She remembers you

Even though that Master Illusionist had never seen you before, at least to your knowledge, she seemed to know you the moment she laid eyes on you. You get the same odd feeling about this illusionist that you had about the first.

Debriefing

“Good work there, and timely too. I’ve just found the second carnie.”

3) Defeat the second Possessed Master Illusionist

Briefing

“If you’re ready, just say so.”

[u]So.[u]

Mission Acceptance

“Right, well it looks like our second Carnie has had enough time to find a base of operations. Not your fault, it was up to me to track her down in time. No matter though, should still be fairly easy. Just go in beat the snot out of her. No pressure.”

Clues: Coordinates

Looks like the Carnie has gone and holed herself up in and old warehouse that used to belong to a company called Blizzard. They apparently went out of business for ‘sucking too much.’

3) Defeat the second Possessed Master Illusionist
a. Defeat the Possessed Master Illusionist and her guards (warehouse map)
i. Defeat the Possessed Master Illusionist and her guards
ii. Destroy the portal

Notable NPCs:

Possessed Master Illusionist <Unknown> Boss
Mystic Portal <Unknown> Large Object*Boss
Psionic Bomb <Unknown> Medium Object*Lieutenant

Notes:

Possessed Master Illusionist and Mystic Portal spawn in different rooms. Mystic Portal spawns with a mob of Carnies, with a never-ending triggered ambush spawning point that activates the moment the portal is damaged, and deactivates once it is destroyed. Until then, Carnies will continue to spawn and protect the portal.

Psionic bombs are a lot like Sonic bombs from the ‘Defeat the Radio’ mission arc, only they deal psionic instead of energy damage. There are a few sprinkled liberally throughout the mission.

Quotes

Possessed Master Illusionist: “Oh yes, things ARE coming along nicely.”
(on aggro)
Possessed Master Illusionist: “AGAIN? Just who are you?”
(50% health)
Possessed Master Illusionist: “You are too late! The portal will be fully open soon and-wait…damn.”
(defeated)
“That didn’t sting quite as much this time around.”

Clues: This one remembered you too

You’re pretty sure by now that each of the possessed illusionists you’ve defeated by now are all being controlled by one person. Presumably the same person who is giving Hyperbole so much trouble. You make a mental note to ask him exactly what the heck is going on later, but right now, time is of the essence. You need to defeat the remaining carnies before they become too dug-in.

Mystic Portal

You were surprised when you found a forming portal in the warehouse, you’re just glad it never opened.

Debriefing

“There was a portal there? Ok, scratch that, things HAVE gotten worse. There’s 0 time to lose then.”

[u]4) Defeat the third Possessed Master Illusionist[u]

Briefing

“Ok, I’m going to give you a choice now. Everything before now has been a walk through sunshine ray fields of dandy. That is, extremely easy. Everything lying ahead is going to be REALLY difficult, if you want to quit, that’s fine. Tell me now so I can cut my losses. If you want to keep going though, I’d round up some allies to help you. Things are going to get ROUGH.”

[u]Bring it on![u]

Mission Acceptance

“I’ll keep this short. We are pressed for time, you’re going to need to have to wrap this up in under 45 minutes, because chances are the next carnie has already had a portal like the one you saw before set up by now. Seal the portal, and then kill the [censored] before she can run off and make another one. GO!”

Clues: Coordinates

Looks like this one has found herself a cave here in Grandville.

4) Defeat the third Possessed Master Illusionist (00:45:00)
a. Defeat the Possessed Master Illusionist (cave map)
i. Defeat the Possessed Master Illusionist
ii. Destroy the portal
iii. (optional) Survive the ambush
iiii. (optional) Defeat Jenkins the Arachnoid

Notable NPCs

Possessed Master Illusionist <Unknown> Elite Boss/Arch-Villain
Mystic Portal <Unknown> Large Object*Boss
Psionic Bomb <Unknown> Medium Object*Lieutenant
Jenkins the Arachnoid <Arachnoids> Elite Boss/Arch-Villain

Notes

This time, everything important aside from the Psionic bombs spawn in the same room, all in the same mob. The Possessed Master Illusionist, the Mystic Portal, and Jenkins the Arachnoid, along with some carnies. The portal is useless during the fight, but the moment it takes damage, there will be a never-ending stream of carnie ambushes until the portal is destroyed. Jenkins the Arachnoid is allied with the Possessed Master Illusionist, so don’t expect any help from your old friend. After the Possessed Master Illusionist reaches 50% health, an ambush spawn of Arachnoids will home in on your position. Thankfully, you do not need to defeat them. Be very careful with how you handle the boss mob in this mission, as it is easy to be overwhelmed by the ambushes combined with fighting two EBs/AVs at once.

Quotes

Possessed Master Illusionist: “That annoying villain is still chasing me, it seems. No matter, he can’t find this place before the portal is open. And what happens if they do, my dear brainwashed pet?”
Jenkins the Arachnoid: “Iaaaaa’m noooot ssssso usssssselessssss anymooooore!”
(on aggro)
Possessed Master Illusionist: “How do you keep finding me in time? It’s simply inconceivable!”
Jenkins the Arachnoid: “LEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEROOOOOOOOY…..!”
(50% health)
Possessed Master Illusionist: “NOW my pets! Get him!”
Arachnoid Spitter: “Grwaaaaatch!”
(defeat)
Possessed Master Illusionist: “Inconceivable…”
Jenkins the Arachnoid: “The Consssspirasssscy LIVESSSSS!”

Debriefing:

“Excellent work, but the tide is still turned against us. I’ve located the fourth carnie.”

[u]5) Defeat the fourth Possessed Master Illusionist[u]

Briefing:

“This one has been where she is for a while now, you’ll probably only have 30 minutes to pull this off. Be warned, I think she may have also found a powerful ally.”

[u]Just like last time? Pah![u]

Mission Acceptance

“That’s the spirit! Well, I won’t waste your time. Here are the coordinates, GO!”

Clues: Coordinates

The fourth illusionist appears to have holed in an office building for an old company called EA Games.

5) Defeat the fourth Possessed Master Illusionist
a. Defeat the Possessed Master Illusionist and her crew (modern office map)
i. Defeat the Possessed Master Illusionist
ii. Defeat Charles Simmons
iii. Survive the ambush
iiii. Destroy the portal

Notable NPCs

Possessed Master Illusionist <Unknown> Elite Boss/Arch-Villain
Charles Simmons <Paragon Heroes> (Gravity Control/Force Fields controller) Elite Boss/Arch-Villain
Mystic Portal <Unknown> Large Object*Boss
Psionic Bomb <Unknown> Medium Object*Lieutenant

Notes

Same setup as last mission, everything that is important spawns together in the same mob. The only real difference between this fight and the last once is that you are now REQUIRED to defeat the ambush and the second EB/AV. Charles Simmons also has access to the Primal Forces APP, so be wary of power boost. As a matter of fact, walk into the fight EXTRA wary, as both your primary opponents have multiple holds. Charles will not use force bubble or any repulsion powers, so there is that. He may also decide to use detention bubble, which can give you a few moments rest. Beware though, he can also summon a singularity. Try to take him down first. If you wipe and he’s still alive, he’ll start buffing everyone with protection and insulation bubbles, making it that much harder to win next time around.

Quotes

Possessed Master Illusionist: “Thank you again so much for helping me out, darling.”
Charles Simmons: “Anything to fill that social meter.”
(on aggro)
Possessed Master Illusionist: “That’s him! That’s the villain whose been stalking me!
Charles Simmons: “You’re going down harder than the evil social bunny buddy! boolProp…”
(50% health)
Charles Simmons: “Wow, you’re tough! What’s your rank in the strength skill?”
(defeat)
Charles Simmons: “Energy bar is empty. Game over. Sorry, lady…”
Possessed Master Illusionist: “This isn’t over! There’s no way you can possibly stop me! I’ll be waiting for you, and believe me, next time will be your last!”

Debriefing

“Amazing work and all, but…Oh, there’s no point. I’ve located the last carnie, and she’s already opened a portal.”

6)Defeat the final Possessed Final Illusionist

Briefing

“I’ll be very blunt with you: You’ve just pissed off somebody with enough power to occupy Paris. There’s no running at this point unless you can flee off-world. So unless you feel like doing that, what would you say to taking up 1 more suicide mission? If you’re somehow hardcore enough to have gotten this far solo, trust me, you WILL need some help on this one.”

[u]Suicide Mission? Yea, for them.[u]

“Ok then. Here are the facts: That carnie is going to have a lot of her friends along, along with whatever has already come out of that portal. You’re going to have to kill everything in there this time around, because…Well, it would be unfortunate if more carnies were nabbed and we’d have to do this entire hunting game again, hmmm?”

Clues Coordinates

The final illusionist is also in an office building. Used to belong to a company called Valve Software.

6) Defeat the final Possessed Master Illusionist
a. Defeat the Possessed Master Illusionist (abandoned office map)
i. Defeat all enemies in mission

Notable NPCs:

Possessed Master Illusionist <Unknown> Elite Boss/Arch-Villain
Mysterious Figure <Unknown> (Empathy/Summon Lanaruu) Boss
Psionic Fallout <Lanaruu> Boss
Mystic Portal <Unknown> (Summon Lanaruu) Large Object*Boss
Psionic Bomb <Unknown> Medium Object*Lieutenant

Notes:

Kill all mission with mixed mobs of carnies and Lanaruu. Everyone important spawns together once again, and this time, they mean business. I’m not joking when I say you WILL probably need a team to finish up this mission. It’s possible to win alone, it’s just very very hard. :3

The moment you aggro the final mob, an endless stream of carnie ambushes will come to help them out until the entire mob is gone. The Mystic Portal will continually spawn Lanaruu minions and lieutenants, spawning more if you defeat them. *It may even spawn bosses on higher difficulties* The Mysterious Figure cannot attack you, but it can summon Lanaruu minions, 2 at a time, and will summon more if you defeat them. He will buff and heal the Possessed Master Illusionist and the Psionic Fallout, making it nearly impossible to kill them first, so taking him out first is the best way to go.

It should be warned that the main trouble in this mission will come from the never-ending stream of reinforcements. The moment you attack the final mob, you will not have a breather until they are all dead.

Quotes
Mysterious Figure: “Here at last! That trip was really tiring.”
Possessed Master Illusionist: “Hopefully not too tiring. We have a guest.”
Mysterious Figure: “Oh, AGAIN? …..Bwerp.”
(on aggro)
Mysterious Figure: “You really are persistent, aren’t you?”
Possessed Master Illusionist: “Get him my pets!”
(75% health)
Mysterious Figure/Possessed Master Illusionist Simultaneously: “Really, this is quite troublesome.”
(50% health)
Possessed Master Illusionist: You must be cheating! Are you using inspirations?!?!?
(25% health)
Mysterious Figure: “This isn’t the end. Don’t think you’ve won already!”
(defeat)
Mysterious Figure: “You don’t know what you’re dealing with…”
Possessed Master Illusionist: “I’ll be back!”

Clues The Possessed Illusionist’s Final Words

The Mysterious Figure’s body crumbled away into dust when you defeated him, and before you put her away, the illusionist had time to vow one last thing.

“I’ll be back!!! You mess with things you don’t understand!!!! Next time, I’ll be at full power, and not even you will be able to stop me!!!!!”

Debriefing

“You actually WON? Wow. Well, you don’t look stupid, I guess I have a hell of a lot of explaining to do. In short, that mysterious figure who came from that portal is very interested in your world. He’s a powerful guy, but it looks like we lucked out and the portal trip really weakened him there. And yes, it was him controlling all those illusionists. He was controlling the mask controlling the person, actually. You did good though, things are much cleaner here on my end now. Don’t be a stranger though, if you’re ever looking for work, stop on by.”

***

You may have all noticed that this is all impossibly hard for any 1 person to do. That is on purpose. I've always hated solo-oriented missions, they should be geared specifically for teamwork, I've always said. Which is what I did here.

"Time travel is a [censored]." Cynic replied quickly to Tamesis' comment on Cry's swift demise. "And as far as a plan goes? Either use those snake eating guys' portal to get out of here, or shoot everything that moves and THEN portal out of here. Now I guess we should capture said dragon guy to come along with us..."

The Commander was a very simple fellow, but he came to conclusions frighteningly fast. Spotting the blue scaled draconian immediately, Cynic aimed his Night Staff at him and tried to seal the creature in a detention field. Cynic's drones all turned to face the Malta, backed up against the force bubble, and opened fire. Energy bolts, swarm missiles, thermal blasts and plasma filled the space they occupied. The bane spider squad caught on quickly, adding their mace blasts to the mix.

OOC:

.....

Did he just go and MOVE my character?

OOC: Ah, so now you have control of Devious' characters? Besides which, if THEY had scattered it, they'd still be there.

And why would you need to tell us about The M.A.G.I. vaults? We don't need to know about them, we already know they are there.

"No need, arby boy." Chuckled a voice to Jake through his communicator. "Backup arriving in 3, 2, 1..."

***

Commander Cynic, accompanied by a bane spider squad and his six personal drones, suddenly popped into being around Tamesis. The tell-tale signs of an ouroboros portal fading away as they appeared.

"Heya boyfriend. Got redirected here once Cry was put down. What's the matter?" Cynic asked Tamesis this, but he didn't even turn to face him. He was busy making sure they weren't struck down anytime soon, by deploying both a dispersion field and a force bubble field using his night staff. The bane spider squad, along with all of Cynic's bots, appeared to have each been individually shielded with protection and insulation fields beforehand, and the protector bots had already applied their own unique shielding to everyone as well.

*prepares 10,000,000,000,000 bombardment Dev PMs requesting the immediate implementation of this*

Hi-Scythe Turbo. *Clang*

"Well, the best defense is a good offense. We have no means of defending ourselves AGAINST the miasma, since it can bypass most physical fortifications." White Masque spoke in his high-flown voice. "I say we go to Atlas Park and look in the M.A.G.I. vaults for a means to combat the miasma. Once we've done that, we can worry about shelter." Reaga received no response to his thought. White Masque was not a mind reader.


[ QUOTE ]
"Look, I don't like any of you and I know he doesn't like me," he thumbed toward Masque

[/ QUOTE ]

"And that wasn't necessary." He said, sounding injured.

***

Somewhere else

"\X/3'\/3 60+ +|20|_||}|3. \/13\X/3|2 #67 |=0|_||\|[) (0|0|2 6|233|\|1$|-| |*1|\||<. [)3|*|0`/ @|\| @$$@|_||+ +3@|\/|." Said a sleazy voice.

"That was hardly necessary." The radiant white figure atop the steps said scornfully to Ghost Widow as she clenched her fist, causing the bloody ruby tear to shatter, each piece turning to dust which was then blown away by unseen wind. "I had everything handled."

Ghost Widow turned to face the radiant figure, still on the stairs. The various dancers and guests had stopped dancing, and were looking over her musingly.

"I don't trust you." She said plainly. "Don't think I cannot remember what happened before."

"Ah. You absorbed him? Is absorbtion a specialty of everyone on this world? I'm getting quite tired of it." The radiant figure responded, stepping down to stand before Ghost Widow. "VERY tired of it. Too tired, as a matter of fact. I have no need of exaustion, so why don't you bear my burden for me?"

Ghost Widow gave a short gasp of surprise right before fading away.

"Sleep, Ghost Widow." The radiant figure said softly. "Sleep until I have need of you again. Dream of silent things and creeping darkness." The radiant figure said. He walked across the hall, and through the door that Cry had entered from, vanishing as he did so. Behind him, the guests all giggled and shuffled away through side-doors, until the room was empty. Remaining so for only a few seconds, the room slowly began to fade away. A minute later, there was nothing left except for the normal Arachnos hallway that had always been there.

White Masque appeared in front of Reaga once again. There was a vague sense of repressed hatred all about him. Then Reaga heard a voice speaking softly in his head. Softly, with enough menace to cover the entire world packed into it.

'Mark my words, the only reason you live is because they will it that you live. The moment you turn on them, the moment we part ways, the moment they forget about you-I will act.' But aloud, White Masque spoke in his normal high-flown angelic voice, which sounded quite plesant to the ears when one recalled it.

"Well, it seems we are to be companions for a time. I know we didn't exactly get off on the right foot, but why not let bygones be bygones?" Reaga felt very light, and felt the worries and burdens of the world fade away as White Masque's empathetic aura surrounded him.

OOC: It's unfortunate I'm seen that way, but the truth is the matter I am playing by the rules here. There is nothing I have done in here that cannot be done in the game. The NPC I am currently controlling has very distinct properties. And yes, to clarify, it is an NPC found in the game.

Plus, who said I even hit with tp foe? It's easy enough to just say I'm delusional and that you either dodged or I missed. This is just me speaking aloud, but logically it would be impossible for anyone to miss with such an ability. That's just me though, and I do admit automatically hitting you with tp foe was incredibly arrogant of me, as well as automatically hitting with confuse.

Now if you insist on saying that I am completely unstoppable, say it again. I'll listen. If I really am just going on a large power trip without noticing, tell me what I'm doing wrong and I will stop and change. Just know that what I am and have been doing so far is all currently possible under game-mechanics.

OOC: Not a god. He is a normal arch-type with normal power sets. Besides, why are you worried about HIM? He hasn't even been introduced yet. I'm all for pre-emptive enactment, but don't strike him down until he's had a chance to enter the RP.

Now that I look at it, what character are you talking about? I don't see any characters of mine within this thread as of yet.