You glance over your shoulder at you companions.

The first is Daniels. Bastard creeps the hell out of you, but he's taking over for as leader of the new base. Your just supposed to follow his orders as best you can, and hopefully not piss him off and get killed. You can't see his number(the bastard), but you know he's a breaker. Even Elizabeth fears the guy.

Which brings you to the 17 year old girl. With a little paper-wrangling, and a bit of breaking, you managed to get it so that you've adopted her. She doesn't seem to care either way, but from what you've discovered over the past month, this girl is apparently a massively good oracle-type. She's able to "see" all sorts of things, including identifying the needle you have as a sort of trap type weapon foci, and the .45 bullet you have as a Colt. She's hasn't been much use since you've been laying low and staying away from missions, but she's also kept herself to herself. She waiting on a nearby bench next to Raphael.

The man is dressed appropriately for the environment, an open front shirt, shorts and a pair of sandals. A pair of sunglasses protect his sensitive eyes from the strong sunlight, his albinism perhaps being the only thing physically wrong with him. A form type breaker, he's the most recent addition to your group in terms of combat personel, and is known to cause nightmares in people sleeping around him. Perhaps do to his recently gained form, muscle has begun to develop visibly on his form, and he's attracting quite a bit of attention from a gaggle of girls waiting around outside the airport like you. He notices your gaze and flashes you a smile, although this just sets the girls giggling, as they seem to think he's smiling at them.

Cassandra is the last of your group, hanging around not to far away, looking through a magazine she'd picked up from somewhere. She's been your most trusted companion since the beginning of all this, and you doubt you'd go anywhere without her watching your back. Most of her form, like always, is hidden under her hoodie, which even now is worn, even though she looks like she's roasting under that thing. But you still remember the curves hidden away, and your sure she'd draw the gazes of men all over the place if you could somehow get her onto the beach and into a bikini...

You still have a few minutes before your transportation gets here. Maybe you should go talk to one of your companions?

>>>Input Command

Beachfront city, whoo! We need to tweak our comms to work with short sleeves. I hope Raph and Elizabeth have those now too?

How does our relocation factor into our personal life? We ditch the apartment? Do we still have our job, or did we resign, or put in for a long vacation? Did we leave a good excuse with our family so they don't one day notice we disappeared? ...did we bring the anime? It's well hidden in the bottom of our luggage?

...we got stuck under Daniels' command? Hmm. I doubt that will be fun. Especially if we have our Oracle's confirmation that he's a prick. We're probably going to butt heads at some point.

>Trap type foci
I have no idea what that means, but it sounds wonderfully tempting, and makes me glad we killed that guy at range. We'll have to tune that later.

>Who talk to?
Let's start with Cass. You can tease her about needing to dress less heavily here. She can tease you about actually adopting the little weirdo in return.

We can started on the 'get Cass in a bikini' agenda right away!

Plop down next to her and ask "Aren't'cha hot in that?"

>>453071
I'm going with this but...
>>453072
I really want this to happen. One day we will succeed at this goal but it doesn't have to be today. It can be done in baby steps.

Personal Information!

You let go of the apartment after you adopted Elizabeth, not having any further need for it. Almost all of the stuff in it was sold off or trashed, since the hotel room had everything you needed in it already. Your parents were only informed you were moving for awhile, which they accepted, mostly because you've been on your own for years now, and don't need them checking on you constantly. As long as there is the occasional call, they could care less. Your job you can do wherever you are, so you've got your laptop with you, although you did take a weeklong vacation just in case you wanted to hit the water while you were here. The anime, regretfully, is still kept hidden away in your room back home, although you did manage to finish off a few with Cass, who's taken to watching them in her spare time, which was most of the time for the past month.

Now that you're thinking about her anyway, you stride over and plop yourself down into a chair next to her, placing a smile on her face as you get a good look as the sweat drops sliding down her nose.

"Isn't it a little warm in all that?"

"No."

"I think you're lying."

"I'm not."

"I think you need to dress a little less conservatively."

"I think I don't."

"Bad mood?" Raphael has come over, smirking a little as he flaunts the fact that he isn't roasting alive in a hoodie, like somebody that could be mentioned.

"Fuck off and die, nightmare boy."

"Testy, testy."

"No one asked you."

"You're not going to dress like that when we go to the beach, are you?"

Cass looks practically horrified, her eyes wide as she stares at you, but you just flash her a smile that comes off feeling a bit evil before you're interrupted by Daniels, who gestures to a limo waiting nearby.

"It's here. Let's go."

Twenty minutes later, you're all checked into a hotel by the water, and you all meet in Daniels room, where he's set up a computer connected to Conner's office.

"I see you all made it safely. That's good. Things here are a bit... tense, especially with another breaker group having been wiped out, but I think we'll managed. Still, I'd like you to get a base there up and running as quickly as possible. Daniels will handle that mostly. In the meantime, I've gotten in contact with another breaker group out there for you, who were willing to give you a shot at convincing them to join. Unlike our larger gangs out here, the area your in now consists mostly of small, tight-knit groups, consisting of maybe 3-4 people. The one I managed to contact said they'd wait for you at hotel a few blocks from where you are staying. Hopefully you can deal with whatever happens, as I'm afraid I can't offer any real support out there. That's all from me."

So. It's up to you and yours to deal with this. You've got little in the way of equipment, your flashbangs, some flashlights, your radios, your pistol and a new holster(Yay!). Still, you can't imagine these guys are going to be too hard to deal with, you're only talking to them. Still, you were given quite a bit of cash to help you get situated(roughly 10,000) so maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to try to find a store or something and buy anything else that might be useful.

>>>Input Command

Since we've been complaining about wasting BP lets go buy an instrument case for our rifle. Or a duffle.

(For our time skips can we start learning more about guns. Its all well and good to know them intuitively but knowing how they work, inside and out would be something I'd personally do if I was relying on it with my life.)

I think someone mentioned earlier that a guitar case might work. Seems like a legit thing to be carrying around.

When we do get to the meet, we should scope out the site with our X-Ray scope to make sure that it is only three-four people, and we aren't walking into an ambush.
Linda isn't nearly drunk enough for something like that.

We could take Cass clothes shopping while we're at the mall, or wherever you get guitar cases.

>pistol and holster
Hmmm. I wonder if we should fake a concealed carry permit for that. Probably not worth the bother though, even if it is just a single BP.

>instrument case for the rifle
I dun like this idea. It's too inconvenient and conspicuous to lug around, especially in a beachfront city (honestly, even the satchel is gonna stick out sometimes). Eventually someone will ask to here us play, too. And it would take time to get it out. We're better off just paying the BP to manifest it.

>read up on guns in the timeskip
I'd complain that this takes away some of the fun of being a completely ignorant crack shot, but trying to get all the information is an established character trait by this point.

>What buy?
Our own transport? Be nice not to have to rely on other people's limos.

Sunglasses seem a must. C'mon, gunner girl on the beach. You need some shades.

>What do?
We also need a plan of attack. Obviously, we can't bring Elizabeth in to a potential combat situation. We also can't leave her alone with Daniels, since we don't trust him. So we go in with one friend to the meeting, while the other stays with the car with Elizabeth?

And duh, we should ask our little adopted oracle if she sees anything foreboding about this meeting before we head in.

>>453089
Sounds good.

As for the instrument case it would mostly sit empty in our car. But if we're expecting multiple engagements it'd be nice to be able to put it in the case and carry it without having to bug Cass about a Normality break. saving that 2 or 3 BP would be worth it.

>>453090
So it's an option, but not our normal mode of operation? Okay, that seems reasonable.

>take Cass clothes shopping
Maybe the most diplomatic way to go about this would be to point out there are lighter ways to cover up, if that's what she wants to do. I mean, you can pick up hooded shirts in material other than sweatshirt.

Going Shopping Linda McCallahan 2012/09/09(Sun)18:28 No. 453103 ID: a407a5
File 134724053123.jpg - (23.94KB , 314x356 , T129043244564062e21410c39bd405fc4a592055856b3.jpg )

You've got money, that can mean only one thing...

TO THE MALL!

But first, convincing Cass. Like hell she's just going to go clothes shopping by getting dragged off. Still... she really likes hoodies. But there's got to be hoodies made out of something other than sweatshirt.

"Hey Cass! Come on, we're getting you better clothing than that. And before you protest, we're getting you a hoodie not made out of something so heavy. There are ways to cover up without roasting yourself alive."

Cass starts to protest still, then frowns and glances down at herself. Not roasting would probably be the words running through her head. Finally, she lets out a sight and follows along, mumbling about never being able to turn down Linda regardless of what's going on. As you make your way towards the door, you feel someone tug on your shirt, and glance down to find a hand holding somewhat feebly to your shirt. You follow the hand up to find Elizabeth staring at you.

"Angel and Warrior are doing something fun. Elizabeth is going as well."

"Whoa! Wait, you guys are going somewhere?" Raphael sticks his head into the conversation, smile broadening. "I'm coming to! Hold on, let me get my camera!"

Minutes later, you find yourself at the entrance to the mall. There are people everywhere walking around in little more than swimsuits and loose coats, exactly the kind of coat you figure Cass needs to keep cool. Raphael is getting ogled again by various people who've never seen an albino before(probably doesn't help you're in one of the sunniest cities in the world, albinos would probably avoid this place like the plague) but he seems ignorant of them. You ignore them as well, mostly focused on the most important task. Cass. You NEED to get Cass some better clothes. You've been into her room a number of times the past month, and you swear her clothing is bland as shit. First stop decided. Target acquired, let's roll!

The next hour is spent roaming the mall with your fellows, hitting up random shops in search of everything you've decided you need. A guitar case is the hardest thing to find, but with a little luck you find an out of the way music shop and get your hands on a case that'll work, you think. Next place found is a sunglasses stand, where you spend the next hour trying on shades and messing around, eventually getting a matching set of four for everybody. Damn, you look good.

Another stop is a small shop of random trinkets, mostly because Elizabeth drags you inside, and leads you right up to a small display stand before pointing at a soft, plush looking teddy bear.

"Want" is the only word that comes out of her mouth, and you figure, as her guardian, you could do to spoil the child-like 17 year old. You quickly find out that wasn't what she wanted it for. As soon as your out of sight of the shop, the girl rips the thing's head off and dumps out all of it's fluff, producing what appears to be a small ring.

"Foci." Is all she says as she hands it over, then she goes silent, drifting off into her own little world again. You stare at the ring, then not really sure what to do with it, the find yourself shrugging and putting it away. Your in the biggest resort town in the nation. You're not about to let anything get to you.

Finally, you hit a clothing shop that you think suits Cass, and you proceed to play doll with her. She protests vehemently for the first 20 minutes, then just gives up and accepts her fate of walking out of the dressing room, showing off whatever clothes she'd been forced into, and then walking back in with a new set of clothes. Eventually, you're done, and you walk out with your friend in her new clothing, looking a bit more cool than she had before, even with the noon sun beating down on her.

You suppose you could do with transportation to. You haven't actually broken into any of your 10,000 yet, mostly because YOU make quite a bit of money doing what you do. With this extra money... you might be able to get a very nice car, depending on how you work it.

But... what kind of car did you want? It needs to be able to hold 4 people, obviously, but are you buying? Renting? What? And you'll have to go to the meeting eventually...

>>>Input Command

Lets lease a car, we'll probably be staying here a while but its not permenant and it'd be a pain to ship it home. We can car shop when we get back.

That also lets us get something that would be out of our budget.

WAIT DID SHE JUST FIND A FREE FOCI FOR US? Is that what happen because holy shit.

>>453104
Sounds like a plan

We spent an hour on sunglasses? Really? Oh well, it's a worthy cause, I suppose.

>"Foci."
Oh, cool. Thanks Liz! We'll have to ask her what it does the next time XP distribution comes around. Giving it to you kind of implies she thinks you should use it, but again, we like our info before decisions, and it seem prudent to try and assign foci to the people best suited for 'em.

>car?
This town is a temporary location, right? So renting seems a better option than buying. Also when you consider the odds of the car getting destroyed in some kind of enemy action.

...probably best not to rent under your own name. (Do we have a phoney identification? Seems a good thing to have when running questionably legal ops out of your own are).

Anyways, we can't pick something super expensive, or that will stand out. Should be roomy enough in case you have to pile in with equipment. Sporty and fast enough to be maneuverable if we ever get into some kind of chase or escape. I'm not enough of a car guy to suggest specific models, though. We got any proper petrolheads in the collective tonight?

IIRC, a breaker gets 1 XP every time they get a new foci.
I can see this little one becoming unimaginably powerful, completely by accident without us noticing, if this kind of thing has been going on for the last month.

>Car.
Sunny. Convertible. They kinda go together.
Maybe in Green?

>>453108
I think the better question is "can a reality break convince a rental agency that we have already shown them a legit id?"

Sadly, I don't know cars. Some sort of suburban? Those seem pretty roomy.

Make sure Raph picks up some strong sunscreen in the routine purchases.

Do we have lodging/facilities for our new base? That seems like it should be a priority, if we're dealing with that.

>IIRC, a breaker gets 1 XP every time they get a new foci.
Yeah, but they show up for distribution at the end of a mission, not immediately. xD

Although I'm not sure who gets the XP from that one, actually.

>"can a reality break convince a rental agency that we have already shown them a legit id?"
Normalcy could, as we saw at the treatment plant. If we came prepared with a fake identity though, that would mean we wouldn't have to burn BP each time we wanted to fake someone out.

Meeting? Linda McCallahan 2012/09/09(Sun)19:24 No. 453129 ID: a407a5
File 134724388009.jpg - (88.38KB , 450x363 , blonde_dj_girl.jpg )

You find a car lot easily enough, and lease a random car that looks good enough for your purpose, which is get from point A to point B. Car chase? You have an anti-material rifle. You pity any car that tries chasing you.

You pile everyone and everything inside, then head off to your destination. The hotel looks unremarkable from the front, but you park a block down anyway, the habit ingrained into you from past experiences. You pause in the car, then turn to Elizabeth.

"Elizabeth. You feel anything?"

The girl doesn't seem to respond at first, but you notice her left eye glowing slightly, the eye actually moving as it seems to be reading something, or looking at fast moving pictures. A minute goes by, then there's a simple shake of the head as the glow fades and the eye settles. Nothing she could see.

You get out, and tell Raphael to keep an eye on Elizabeth for you, and keep his radio handy in case they need to make a break for it. He nods his agreement, finally getting serious, as Cass exit the car as well, eyes staring at the building. You can almost see the unspoken question going through her head.

Am I going to lose it again this time?

Then she seems to go back to her usual bored self, and she starts trudging off towards the building, throwing a glance over her shoulder.

"You coming, Linda?"

"Uh, yeah." You dart off after her, slowing as you come up next to her, and you both enter the lobby and glance around. You don't get very far before being approached by someone who seems to be not paying attention to where she's going at all, given the closed eyes and headphones blasting music YOU can hear. Still, everyone else seems to ignore her. As she draws close to you, she removes her headphones and opens her eyes to take a look at you.

"Well, well. Aren't you two the pair of hotties? Come to party it up in good ol Sun City, or are you here on drab business?"

Is she talking in code? Not that the little comment about you being hot didn't go unnoticed. Hell, you find yourself checking the girl out without really thinking about it, mostly because you haven't bedded anyone in awhile, unless you count being half-naked with Cass that one night. Cass, on the other hand, seems a little taken aback.

"Wha- Huh?"

>>>Input Command

I think poor Cass is just not used to women hitting on her.

Anyway despite the temptation this is business. Ignore her flirtations for now. Tell her we have a meeting here about recruitment possibilites.

"A bit of both, actually. Unfortunately it's business right now--otherwise I'd be asking for your number instead of looking for your numbers~" Flirting back, trying to convey I think she's a breaker but probably higher spirit than us.

>>453134
We never flirt so just have fun with it I guess. Don't forget to check those BP numbers

"A bit of both, actually. Unfortunately it's business right now--otherwise I'd be asking for your number instead of looking for your numbers~"

The other woman's smile never fades, but she starts bouncing lightly on her feet, making her chest do this nice little bounce, almost like she isn't wearing anything under tha- Ow! Cass just elbowed you in the ribs, giving you a raised eyebrow suggesting you weren't being quite so tactful with your leering. The other woman chuckles a little, obviously amused.

"Oh. I'm sorry. Was I flirting with an established couple?"

"Wha- Hell no!" Cass' face goes bright red, as she starts stammering objections. You feel a little hurt, but not really. It's not like she ever actually gave any signs she was interested to begin with. Besides, you've got someone to flirt with right here...

"Oh, that's good then. Wouldn't want to hurt a relationship before it got started~" The other woman wraps an arm around your shoulder, drawing you in close till your faces are almost touching. She staring into your eyes, little gems of blue that seem to grab your attention, and she that smiles seems to get a little wider on her face. She's definitely not wearing anything under that shirt.

"Still, if you want to dance in this venue, you need to prove you can hang with the rest of us. There's a little troupe of individuals, like to hang down by the beach. They've been... dancing a little too much on our floor. Maybe you'd be kind enough to show them the way out? Maybe then we can talk about dancing a tango~"

The woman slides a card into your hand before releasing you and turning away, replacing the headphones to their proper position and blowing you a kiss before she heads off, disappearing into a crowd. Shit. Usually your the one to come on to other people. Although that's usually when you're drunk.

You take a look at the card in your hand and find it has a place written on it. The Starlight Club. It opens at 10 pm, so your guess is, this is where she wants you to meet up after you deal with these... dancers? Breakers, you'd guess. Cass is just starting to calm down, but you find your mind on other things.

Namely, how to handle these breakers if they hand around on a beach?

>>>Input Command

Obviously we wear swim suits and confront them diplomatically. Our warfare will be with beach volley ball, like any rational gang.

Yeah Linda, get your flirt on!

...did we ever receive confirmation that flirty dancer there was even a breaker? You see a number, or feel anything?

Well, let's go investigate this other group, then. Hopefully they're just some easy jerks we can tell to step off. We don't have enough info to really merit beating anyone up for anyone, yet. ...and a battle on the beach in the daytime sounds like a bad idea.

>>453165
Amusing, but no, I think. Hard to conceal a pistol in a bikini, or comms, and the satchel of gear would look out of place. I agree we should start with diplomacy, though.

First things first, to Cass, "well, that wasn't what I expected of our contact." see if she can confirm that the girl was a breaker.

>>453174
Oh yeah. Good thinking. "So, think that was our contact or should we keep looking?"

Aw shit! The number! You run through your memories, but suddenly realize you didn't notice a number. In fact, you didn't notice a damn thing wrong with her at all... what the hell? You couldn't even remember having said anything that even sounded like she was a breaker, other than that thing about getting people to go away. You're left troubled by this until you make it back to the car, whereupon you find Elizabeth already wearing her swimsuit. She seems to look up at you from her position in the backseat, then nods at you once.

"Music was breaker."

You blink in surprise, then shrug. Well, doesn't really surprise you. This girl is supposed to be the scouter, right? You suddenly notice that Raphael is missing, only to have him run up, changed into his swimsuit and holding a beach ball. You stare at him in confusion.

"What? Elizabeth said we were going to the beach."

Urgh. This is... fine. You know what. FINE! They can go play on the beach, while you and Cass deal with these new people. Bastards, getting all the fun while you have to go work. Well... at least you know you'll be seeing the hot woman again... with her bouncy...

You shake yourself from that little fantasy and head off, getting searching the beach for your targets until you find them via a few numbers, hanging around under an umbrella. You park your car, letting Elizabeth and Raphael dart off onto the sands to go play(GAAAAAAAH!). You and Cass, on the other hand, move up to the group, although they notice you long before you reach them. Still, you manage to catch the numbers easily. 14, 17, 11, from left to right. You can't see anything that look like foci on them.

"Well, well? Two hot babes? Watcha say you two keep us company awhile?"

You feel Cass already tensing up, but you'd rather end this without the violence. Better think of something to say, quick.

>>>Input Command

"Funny, we were going to say about the same thing."

"Hehe, here on business, sadly, or I'd be be in a swimsuit. Would you mind getting us up to speed on local politics, as you see 'em?"

Just tell them to keep you company at whatever beach shack is near here. You can eat and do some diplomacy at the same time. While eating just tell them to back off of this territory. Hopefully eating something will let cooler heads prevail. If a fight breaks out at least you tried.

>>453203
Getting more info would be nice and we can still head out to some place to eat at the beach. When was the last time we ate anyways?

Hmm. Let's be careful about your response to flirty dancer. She kind of seemed the social type- it's possible her powers run along manipulation lines. (We don't have a Cha equivalent in this system, but she's definately got it in spades).

>you'd rather end this without the violence
We're on a public beach. In the middle of a resort town. On a beautiful day. Violence is an extraordinarily bad idea. High odds of collateral damage, secondary damage caused by panic, and local law enforcement response. I mean, normalcy can probably cover a lot of that up, but you could still do a lot of harm even so.

That, and they look of comparable power levels to your group. Wouldn't exactly be an easy or fast victory.

Reassuring hand on Cass' shoulder as you start talking, again. Don't let her work herself up. She can look intimidating all she wants though- that works to our favor.

>What say?
This diplomacy would be easier if we knew the names of any of the parties involved (we can't even say <foo> sent us). Or if we knew what the dispute was about.

>>453203
Seems a good response. Add on something like:

Because as I hear it, you've been stepping on the toes of an acquaintance of mine. I'd kind of like that to stop.

Hopefully that's enough to clue them in to the fact we're here representing their rivals, and they'll fill in some of the blanks.

"Hehe, here on business, sadly, or I'd be be in a swimsuit. Would you mind getting us up to speed on local politics, as you see 'em? Because as I hear it, you've been stepping on the toes of an acquaintance of mine. I'd kind of like that to stop."

"Oh? Oh!" The group suddenly turns noticably more hostile, but doesn't make any moves to attack. No reason to. "So you're working for those assholes. You two don't seem that tough. Still... fighting in open daylight ain't the best idea. Fine then. Why don't we settle this some other way. First we'll flip this coin, if it's heads, you pick what we have our little friendly game in, tails, we do. You win whatever game it is, we leave here peacefully and not coming back. You lose, and you two got to... help us relieve some tension..." There are leers passed around, but you don't let it bother you. You've dealt with worse in bars back home. Cass, on the other hand, is about to blow her top.

"Calm down, Cass. It'll be fine. All we gotta do is win, right?"

Cass calms herself, but her tense glare doesn't subside. She really, really wants to kill them. Instead, you both watch as the man flips the coin into the air, catches it, and places it on his wrist. Then he reveals the coin for all to see.

"Tails. Looks like we get to decide. How about... we play the insult game? It's simple. You insult me, I insult back. We'll keep doing this till one of breaks under the pressure and gets angry, visibly angry. You can even go first...

>>>Input Command

>>453224
I like it!

"You fight like a dairy farmer!"
Or
"You have the manners of a beggar."
Or
"I once owned a dog that was smarter then you."
Or
Pretty much any monkey island insults. Either they know it and respond correctly, (in which case, hey, we have common ground) or they lose. Win win here.

Cass should probably leave though.

...this game is just between Linda and her challenger, right? One on one? Because if we need Cass to keep her cool we're in deep shit.

>"You fight like a dairy farmer!"
Even better? If they don't get it and start just throwing dirty fucking words at us? We keep responding with more appropriately chosen monkey island retorts. As long as we treat this like a joke, we won't get angry. And they'll think we aren't taking them seriously- so they'll get visibly angry.

Unfortunately, we can't send Cass away. We need a judge on our side, willing to agree with us when our opponent gets visibly angry.

"You fight like a- Hey! Cass N-"

Cass, in her infinite wisdom, has decided to smash her fist into the first man's face, dropping him into lala land instantly. Her gaze immediately turns to the man to her right, eyes rigid, although you can tell she isn't about to go murder happy... you hope.

"This whole contest is bullshit. I don't need some fucking contest. I don't need to break reality. Hell, I don't even need my weapon. I'll kick your ass using my fists!"

Cass launches into motion, her leg arcing in a beautiful spin kick that the man barely manages to dodge before those two are trading blows, both keeping pace with each other. The last man turns to you, eyes losing that surprised look and straying more into the "I'm going to kill you" phase.

"Can't we talk things out? Maybe?"

The man's answer is to charge forward, right arm raised to strike. Well shit.

>>>Input Command

Use his momentum against him--help him fall forward as he punches and then pin him on the ground.

>>453261
I agree because he might have higher strength then us so we might as well put that finesse to work. But Cass you are so wacky, deciding to stop a stupid insult contest with hot blooded punches. What's next? Will she scream "WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM!?"

Only time will tell.

We win. Admittedly Cass went overboard but nothing in the rules says we can't punch one another. But look at how angry you all got over it.

>>453261
Do this (assuming he's str to your fin)

>>453266
I like this approach. Technically she even opened up with an insult! Once we've got him pinned:

So does this count as tension relief, or you getting visibly angry? *grin*

You sidestepped the incoming charge, sighing as you realize you've been dragged into another fight, then try tripping him and pinning him under your weight. The tripping part goes well, the pinning not so much, as you find yourself thrown a few feet, easily rolling back onto your feet. The man is already scrambling up, keeping himself facing you.

"So does this count as tension relief, or you getting visibly angry?" You flash him a grin, which just gets him even more angry. At least you know you've won according to their rules. He goes in for another punch, which you simply sidestep and repeat the tripping, although you still miss the pin, this time because the man kept rolling.

"God damn it! Sit still!"

"Eh... no."

To your right, you see Cass trading blows with her opponent. Neither seems able to get the upper hand, but then again, neither is even attempting to dodge. They're both literally slugging away at each other without a care in the world. A small crowd is beginning to gather, some cheering for the guys, others cheering for you.

At least you've got some supporters.

>>>Input Command

>Crowd
Uh, hopefully that keeps anyone from manifesting weapons, because that could get ugly fast. And why is anyone cheering for the guys who picked a fight with a bunch of girls? (Actually, I doubt the risk is high for real violence at this point, or Elizabeth would have sent Raph running).

Okay, you've evaded twice with the exact same maneuver. Even if you've got a decent fin advantage over him, he's probably going to be able to compensate if you try it a third time. You gotta mix up your dodges here.

Since he'll be expecting a trip, don't go for it. Dodge and use the arm he threw at you to throw him forward, or just slam an elbow into the back of his head.

Well if you can't pin him wear him out. Keep on tripping him up, make him eat sand again and again. Try to make him crash into things. Not people though his strenght could make that dangerous.

... The best thing to do would be to get him to fall into his partner. Get him bullrushing you in the right direction then step aside.

It sounds like he doesn't have much in the way of discipline or form, just rushes you trying to land a blow. Take advantage of this, intercept his arm, grab it, use his momentum to flip him. Or, if you're feeling a little more serious, turn that momentum back on him a bit more directly and break his elbow or dislocate his shoulder.

You see the man you're facing charge again, and sigh in annoyance. This is... you can easily sidestep these things. You slip by him again, grabbing his arm and twisting it in just the right fashion for everyone to hear the snap of bone. The man tumbles forward onto his back, then clutches at his arm, moaning in pain.

"Serves you right, you jerk."

Cass is stil trading blows with her opponent, only to have herself hurled onto her back by an unexpected attack. The man immediately leaps on top of her, raining blows down on her unprotected face. She just smiles, and grabs the man's arms, twisting them both so that she finds herself on top. Then it's her turn to rain blows down on him, and unlike her, he doesn't have the strength to resist for very long. A few well placed punches and the man is down for the count. Cass starts to pull back her fist for another go, but you step up and wrap your arms around her.

"Cass. Calm down. It's fine. It's over now. The fight is over now."

Cass stops, breathing heavily, then lowers her fist. She sighs a little, then stands up, glaring at her own bloodied hands.

"Shit. I cut up my knuckles. Anyone got any bandages on them?"

With that, the fight is over, and the crowds quickly disperse, although one couple comes forward to provide bandages to Cass. You're left to decide what to do with the three men. You suppose you could loot them of their foci and be done with the whole thing, but you do need recruits, and hotblooded as they are...

>>>Input Command

Loot their focii then talk to them.

Basically lay down the law to them as to whats alright with your group, ask if they are willing to follow the rules and behave. If they respond favorly toss them their focii and tell them welcome aboard, you'll drive them to the new base and show them around. If they don't let them discover you taken them. If only one or two agrees well thems the breaks.

>>453334
Well if we do it this way then at least they won't be able to use foci against us so it sounds like a great idea.

Ya its kinda common sense, you have potential enemies \ allies which could swing either way. You don't leave them with a loaded gun in their hands to shoot you with.

>>453344
Potentially literally in this case.
Each of them has more than ten BP, so they probably have back-ups in case one of them gets looted (seeing as how that was priority number one for us), so we might want to have Elizabeth check them for us real quick.

That coin he flipped might be a foci.

...looting them does kind of seem a dick move. They were willing to be semi-reasonable about things, avoiding a real fight in favor of a stupid contest (even if the penalty sucked) when we threw it. They were also willing to hold back from manifesting around civilians, which is another point in their favor.

Of course, there's the question of whether talking reasonably will have any effect now. I'd kind of like to think it would, but who knows.

I wouldn't set the bar as high as "join us or go normal". Parting peaceably seems reasonable, if we can get it.

>>453352
Fine we can add that as an option. I'm still in favor of looting though because we just kick their asses and they are gonna be pissed at us.

It was a dick move to have if we lost be 'relieving tension.`` So fair's fair. Plus there is another reason... we still are on a beach and if they chose to escalate things there are lots and lots of norms.... do you want to take that chance?

>>453355
Eh, fine, we disarm them, and then talk. See if we can recruit them, or at least get them willing to part on peaceful terms. Then we either keep their shit or let 'em go.

Obvious questions to ask: so what's actually up with you and those other guys? We didn't get a whole lot of details. Appreciate you willing to play nice in front of the normals, and sorry about the beating, but you were kind of being jerks with your penalty. Any chance I can talk you into more playing nice, or should I just keep your shit and leave?

>>453357
Hmm. Okay, not entirely sure I like how I worded the pitch there. (Yah, still me. Musical IP day).

The point we need to get across is that we're the new game in town, and we want them playing by our rules. There's worse shit than us out there, and little disorganized groups breakers aren't gonna cut it.

>>453357
Yeah, loot'em, but be willing to return the foci if they're reasonable.

You decide to loot them for now, digging through clothing to retrieve the precious foci. Nothing too special, as far as you can see. Mostly just various weapons you've seen before, a baseball bat here, a sword there. You think. You be nice as well and bandage the man's broken arm, making it so at least he won't hurt himself further.

You pile all the men together with a little help from Cass, then wait for them to wake up. When they do, the first thing they spot is you sitting on a bench nearby.

"Hey! Awake are you?"

"You bitch! We didn't even do anything and she started attacking us!"

"Yeah, well. She's like that. It's a bit late to be complaining now, anyway, we won. So... what's actually up with you and those other guys? We didn't get a whole lot of details. Appreciate you being willing to play nice in front of the normals, and sorry about the beating, but you were kind of being jerks with your penalty. Any chance I can talk you into more playing nice, or should I just keep your shit and leave?"

"Keep our shi- Ah crap!" The men start searching themselves, only to discover their foci missing. They glare daggers at you, but you just smile back. You feel a little... cruel, doing this to them, but... you'd prefer to play it safe than have them start bringing out weapons in the middle of all this.

"Fine. There is no big problem. That's how it is out here. Trust me, I come from Capital City, and out here, breakers are a lot more chill. Sure, we got a group of fixers out here to, but they aren't nearly as active as they are back east. Around here, the most a breaker group will fight over is rights to host gigs on the beaches or on street corners. Cause nighttime is where everything's at. Trust me, when night hits, you'll see. Breakers don't hide their gifts around here, just... lie a little. Make it fun. Now give those foci back, we need them for our gig tonight. Don't worry, Jake and his crew have proven their point. They got allies back them up this time. We'll let it go for now."

You let that information sink into your mind a little, eyes examining them for any traces of lying. But you can't find anything, and he really doesn't have a reason to lie.

>>>Input Command

Should we just keep the foci? I mean, they are useful. Then again, we don't want to make enemies with the locals, and these guys seem to have friends.

Toss them back their foci. We're playing nice for now, but they'll be twice as cautious around us, now that they know we've got bite behind our bark. We're here on an intel-gathering mission. If our priorities change and we decide we're into conquest, we can always come back for these chumps later, or else make them subordinate to us. More options.

taking there foci over this really does seem overly harsh. give them there foci back as long as they agree that this is the end of any hostilities between you.

Wow, less murdering on a dime, even from the fixers? Sounds like a nice place. Toss them their foci back, thank'em for the info...then go get changed into some swimwear. Cass too. It's the beeeeeaccch~!

No real point keeping the foci. It's just bats, swords, and other common weapons. Just toss them back I guess. If they start something it's nothing we can't handle anyways. We can play nice for now.

Hmm. Interesting. The competition out here isn't for recruits, but for turf. Competing bands of performers rather than conscript based militias. That changes our approach to building up a power base somewhat then. We basically have to become a kind of combination land baron and producer / management group.

>Trust?
Has Elizabeth caught up? Give a glance her way. If these doofs are planning on attacking you as soon as you return their shit, she'd know. Still, they're probably safe.

>That's how things are out here
We'll see how long they stay that way. There's new players in town, boys, and we're going big. Look us up sometime if you want to be on the winning side. *grin, toss them their foci*.

>To Cass
Well, not what I was planning, but that worked.

>>453431
I second this course of action whole-heartedly, if only because it also gets Cass to loosen up at the beach as well.

Cass Exposed Linda McCallahan 2012/09/10(Mon)19:39 No. 453462 ID: a407a5
File 134733119141.jpg - (88.73KB , 450x360 , 946455-bigthumbnail.jpg )

"Thanks for the help, here, you can have these back."

You toss over their foci, which they happily snatch up and store away, looking a lot more relaxed now that they have their lifelines back. Good for them. Hopefully they won't try hitting on random women walking up to them next time. You somehow doubt it, but it never hurt to hope.

"We'll see how long things stay the way they are. There's new players in town, boys, and we're going big. Look us up sometime if you want to be on the winning side." You flash them a smile as you head off back the way you came, already feeling the sand between your feet and the fun you'll be having. The nightclub you're supposed to go to doesn't open for awhile yet, so why not enjoy yourself in the sun awhile. Besides, you've already bought Cass a bikini, now just to get her into it...

A few minutes and a lot of arguing, holding down and stripping later, you push Cassandra out onto the beach, and watch her blush heavily, trying desperately to cover herself up with what you've left her, which is basically her light hoodie. Not going to happen. You grab her arms and part them, giving everyone around a great view of her curves.

"L-Linda! What the hell are you doing!?"

Guys, much to your amusement, stop to gawk, while a few woman who've got men glare at you both. Hell yeah. That's the way it has to be. No point going to the beach if you don't flaunt it a little. You shove Cass more out into the open, while she promptly tries to cover up herself, while you just laugh happily.

IT'S THE BEACH!

>>>Input Command
>>>Skip Beach Event?

Don't know why Cass is so embarrassed if she has the curves. Just tell her she is gorgeous and just dump complements on her to get her to relax. I know it ain't gonna work but the whole point of this is to see her (Cute) reaction or get her to relax and calm down.

Cass your a gorgeous woman and you deserve to have fun. It will do us both good to just relax and enjoy the sun.

Part of allure of going to the beach is to flaunt what you have and torture those people who will never get to do anything but look. I always thought it a shame you covered your body so lets live a little. Or are you chicken?

Now lets go find Liz and Raph.

Tell her being in the water is as close as she's gonna get to covering up on the beach, then race her to it.

Figure out where Raph and Liz are, and go thar.

Hmmm. This is gonna be interesting. If it's mostly turf skirmishes with less focus on killing each other, our philosophy will be easier to work in this town. Foci might be harder to by though. Wonder if this situation will make thing harder or easier on Cass? (less pressure to kill, or standing out more when she does).

Uh... could we stop maybe bullying Cass into exposing herself? I know we want to get her to open up and all, and it's good for her long term development, but pushing people harder and faster than they're comfortable doesn't usually help.

C'mon Cass, what are you afraid of? It's just the beach.

But yeah, let's go find the others and have some fun.

>skip beach scene?
Yeah, like that's even an option.

Did we change too? That means we either had to dismiss the pistol or leave it stashed with our clothes. Kinda hard to hide a handgun in a bikini.

...we need to acquire a water pistol, asap. There's gotta be some fun we can have with that considering our affinity and fin.

>>453472
Outside of the beach, she can cover up all she likes. With the light hoodie we got, she doesn't have to suffer in the heat while she does so!

On the beach though?

Gotta flaunt that skin, Cass.

It's da rule.

Give her butt a nice spank, then prance off and do a cartwheel.

Hell yeah, you changed! Why wouldn't you? Of course, you selected something quite a bit more conservative than Cass, since you're not really all that comfortable flaunting it quite so openly to random crowds... but hey, at least your not acting like you used to. Back then, you wouldn't have been caught dead on a beach. Maybe this breaker thing is affecting you a lot more than you thought.

"Come on, Cass. It's just the beach, what's there to be embarrassed about? Besides, you're gorgeous, and half the fun of coming to the beach is taunting all the guys. THAT'S RIGHT BOYS! YOU CAN LOOK, BUT NO TOUCHING!~"

You shout this at a pair of boys who are being particularly open about their leering. Well fuck, they can stare all they want, you got nothing to hide.... You might have slipped in a few drinks during the changing session. You can't be sure. That whole event was a little fuzzy, particularly after you got to the bit where Cass was naked. A nose bleed might have been in there somewhere as well. It's kinda hard to tell. Well, whatever.

Cass doesn't seem to loosen up at all, but you're already dragging her onto the sand before she has time to protest, quickly finding Raphael and Elizabeth near the waterfront. Raphael practically faints at the sight of the pair of you, while Elizabeth doesn't seem to react at all. Raphael eventually recovers, getting a second look at you without almost falling over this time.

"Whew~ Hot damn. Linda, we need to hit the beach more often, you're definitely worth the money. I might have to get serious about asking you on a date... Oh yeah, you look alright to, Cass."

"Fuck off and die!"

Raphael ignores the comment, preferring to actually lower his sunglasses a little and risk the sun to get a look at you without them impairing his view. He lets out another whistle before he slides his shades back into place. You hear him mumble something, but you don't care. Your busy searching for something entertaining to do. Like that water-pistol stand over there. Although, the most expensive one looks mysteriously like a cannon, and less like a pistol...

"Come on, folks! Limited Competition! Anyone of 18 and up can join! Win prizes! Have FUN! All you need to do is pick a water-weapon of your choice and stand over at the starting gate! Winner decided by who gets the least wet in an hour!"

>>>Input Command

Darn scar making us all hypocritical with swimwear~

Get a water gun as quickfiring as possible, and with as much storage as you can comfortably dodge while carrying. In it to win it!

Also, Raph is hawt, right? At least that was the impression from earlier. Maybe we should be paying him some more attention?

>more conservative
>not really all that comfortable flaunting it
Hypocrite. I forgot about the swimsuit-inconvenient scaring, though.

>Drinks and stuff
Oh gods, did we transposition to drunk Linda again already? Girl, you can have fun in the sun without getting drunk. I mean, really, there's loads to do on the beach. And really, we have negotiations tonight, and no Rodriguez! Hopefully you're well below your tolerance, because you need to be (a) sober and (b) not hung over tonight.

Seriously though, this overbearing approach is not gonna help Cass. We're supposed to build on trust, not abuse what we've earned. -_- Lighten up a little, try offering reassurance and encouragement instead of just pushing her around.

...then announce you're off to see if your magic gun prowess works on water guns and destroy some losers. *Grin*.

>Also, Raph is hawt, right? At least that was the impression from earlier. Maybe we should be paying him some more attention?
Meh, pretty much everyone we've met who could even be considered an option has at least hit on Linda. I'm not down to committing to anyone yet.

>>453487
We can still think some things are a bad idea so I think so we are safe in that department...for now. The fact we got Cass to the beach is good enough for me so we can cool it.

The last thing I need to say is this. Our time for glory has come. We must destroy these chumps in water gun dueling.

>>453495
Get some water pistols as well. You can't go water dueling without water guns.

Of course you're well below tolerance, you wouldn't get smashed right before work. Not after that time you kidnapped your hot co-worker, held him hostage in the meeting room and threatened him with violent defenestration till they gave you the day off. Which you spent sleeping off your hangover. Yeah, fun day, that.

Still, before you head off on some shenanigans you WILL remember, you pause in front of Cass and place your hand on the top of her head.

"But seriously, Cass. You need to lighten up a little. We're all here if something happens, and it's just a little skin. Not like you have my-"

Ah... that look. Cass is giving you THAT look. Raphael is to, although not quite so intensely. You know THAT look. They're wondering what you were going to say. Hell, the past month, you haven't really thought about it yourself. You can feel it suddenly, itching under your swimsuit. The scar. Your hand rubs against the spot gently. Funny, how you don't mind people seeing the scar so much, but can't stand people prying into it. You can almost feel yourself going into withdrawn mode, all your earlier self-confidence slipping...

Then you focus on something else. Anything else. Ooo! Water guns! You dash off, leaving your friends a little confused, but at this point, you just need to focus on something else. Like water guns! You pick yourself up some pistols(always wanted to try duel wielding) and line yourself up at a starting point. A few minutes later and the whistle is blown. Time for the fun to start. Seems like Raphael joined in as well, plus dozens of others.

Let's Play!

>>>Input Command
>>>Take the opportunity to experiment how far your finesse will take you, since I won't be telling you outright how good you are now. Just suggest various "maneuvers" for Linda to try out.

The point of this is to be the least wet out of everyone to win so just use your finesse to dodge, go around people to make them human shield, and if needed just see if you can jump over someone as you are about to get shot so that person gets hit instead. If you can pull that off that would be great and would make people gawk at you so you can get some easy shots.

Hmm. Okay, we can excuse the exuberance as overrating to naked Cass and compensating for her own issues, I guess.

>Maneuvers to try
Uh... shoot and dodge?

Hmm. If we're testing you limits, see how well you can land shots while moving or dodging at the same time. Or in the middle of a dive or jump. See how quickly you can alternate between multiple targets (so we can avoid fuckups like we had escaping the sewage treatment plant before). Figure out what your effective range on dodges is (well, water's slower than bullets, but...). See how accurate you are with a pistol at what range. How effectively can you dual wield? (This may become relevant if we ever tune the colt, or if it becomes possible to manifest the pistol twice at once). Can you target independently and accurately with each gun? Test how accurately you can peg specific body parts at what range (Torso, head, limbs, hands, trigger fingers, weapons).

Then most importantly? Remember to bring up these limitations as relevant in future combat analysis. Don't try to do anything you've tested and know is beyond your capacity.

Don't give Raph any special mercy. He's a target just like anyone else.

Sommersaults to dodge and then shoot when you land is one trick to try

>Can you target independently and accurately with each gun?
At the same time, if that wasn't clear.

Can you fire blind, at all? Track and acquire targets by just sound, or whip around and shoot someone behind you without looking? Can you replicate any of Maria's moves? Whatever else she was, bitch was damn effective at using a pistol in close quarters. Stealing some of her tricks isn't a bad idea.

...also, while you are in this to have fun, and gather a much intel on your limitations and capabilities as possible, remember to try and win too.

>>453518
Don't know how Linda gonna check the range/accuracy of a pistol with a water pistol but the rest of that is fine.

>>453526
Eh, I was hoping we'd be able to scale up from one to the other.

I don't think it's possible to scale from water guns to real pistols. But we could try the other stuff that you want to do.

Man, this quest is weird for me. Linda reminds me of my ex, both in terms of personality and in terms of how she indulges in silly bullshit to avoid uncomfortable thoughts. Huh.

Anyway, try one-handed cartwheels, no handed cartwheels, Matrix dives while shooting, etc. Can you do the splits and brace yourself against both walls in a corridor, then shoot unsuspecting prey from your vantage point?

You happily dart into the crowd of people firing at each other, dodging shots of water from all over. All the while, you're firing off your own shots, tagging people here and there. You spend the better part of an hour tagging people without much difficulty, even Raphael doesn't stand a chance. For the most part, against opponents of this low level, you can fire pretty quickly without missing, but cartwheeling and firing at the same time seems a little beyond you. You also can't really duel fire too well, maybe because you have almost no practice with it at all, or maybe it's because you keep trying to fire your weapons like real guns, and the water jets keeping landing lower than expected. Either way, you can't see yourself getting much out of this in terms of combat practice. You're having a blast though. Then you come into contact with another man, wielding a larger rifle looking thing. You both pause, and you both know instantly.

Rival.

Then you're both off, focusing completely on the other person, dodging left and right, using people as meat shields. You spin into a somersault, landing on Raphael's shoulders before you launch yourself into the air, using your higher position to fire off a couple of jets at the man. He grabs some poor guy and drags him in in front of your attack, blocking the water, while he throws himself to the side, firing a few shots at you.

You're land and roll behind another person, finding yourself out of water. Damn. You find a water gun dropped on the ground, and grab it, firing as you run before sliding into a table leg and flipping it with your foot, using it for cover.

You need a plan, this guy is tough.

>>>Input Command

Throw a decoy and then tag him when he goes for it

Flash him, then tag him while he's distracted. Alternatively, throw your empty gun at him and shoot him while he deals with that.

We can try to use the furniture(Table, Chairs, etc.) as a base of sorts so he has to come closer to you instead of the other way other. We could get some free shots in as well. Just remember water can curve in the air so I guess watch out for attacks coming from above. We could also try to do that as well. It's probably not gonna hit him but it might make him frustrated enough to charge at us.

You could also use a trash can lid(as a shield) to get closer to the guy while being protected. You can then shoot the guy when you have a easier shot when you are closer to him. It's cheap tactic though so I rather use that as a last resort.

>>453691
No flashing at the beach because one that is a real bad idea to do anywhere and two that just asking him to shoot us in the chest. I like the throwing the empty gun in the air idea though.

Charge him, dodge his attacks, dive and blast him to pieces at point blank, move into a roll, and clear.

Even if you fuck it up, it'll be fantastic.

>flash him
No. We aren't nearly drunk enough for that yet.

>>453684
Go with a distraction, but keep in mind we're not supposed to hurt people, so throwing the gun might break the rules... You could throw like, a tablecloth or something?

Or you could change tactics, and start stalking the dude. First step there is to get out of sight and lose his pursuit.
(Also it's dual wielding)

First things first. You toss your empty weapons up into the air, glancing over the edge of the table to see your opponent follow them with his eyes, unprepared for your charge. Too bad. You pop over the table and charge, moving with cruel(?) intent, and his eyes snap back to you just as you open up on him. His front is drenched with water, but as you drop into a roll to dodge away, the man manages to hit you as well.

You come out of your roll drenched and laughing, but the competition continues for another 10 minutes. After the event is over and winners are declared(not you, unfortunately, but eh) you find the man again and congratulate him. You didn't think he'd be able to keep up, him being a normal. You laugh and joke with him for awhile, then head off, finding Cass, Raphael and Elizabeth enjoying the air. Cass seems to have calmed considerably, but she's still wearing her light hoodie. Raphael is playing with Elizabeth, building what looks to be an overly elaborate sandcastle.

You've still got a few hours till you need to be at this club, so what else could you possibly do while slightly buzzed and a little bored?

>>>Input Command

Sex with Chainsaw!

Eh, just hang out? It's a beautiful day at the beach. You're out with your friends, and for pretty much the first time, not out on a dangerous mission, or stuck hiding in a hotel from people hunting you. Hang out in the sun! Kick back. Relax. Go for a swim. Whatever.

Enjoy the company, the buzz, the warmth, the view (human and otherwise). There's no pressure to be doing anything for once.

>>453717
Yes for once let's just relax without worrying about anything.

>>453720
>>453717
Yeah, casual beachtime merriment

>>453715
No.

For now relax, if you get bored in a while go for a swim (drag Cass along?) or play play some volleyball with the team

Prep Work Linda McCallahan 2012/09/11(Tue)18:42 No. 453731 ID: a407a5
File 134741413996.jpg - (11.26KB , 243x258 , ribytg.jpg )

You sit down next to Cass and just hang, talking about this and that when someone comes up with something to say, and generally just having a good time. Your buzz wears off after awhile, thankfully too minor to really give you any problems afterwards, and the next few hours are just having a little relaxation time. A breather before your thrust back into the world of seriousness.

Still, as night begins to fall, work beckons, and you pack your stuff up and head back to the hotel. Thankfully, Daniels isn't around, probably off doing something illegal, given the vibes he gives off. You drop off everything you don't need, and pack a bag full of the normal equipment(flashlight, flashbangs, etc.), while also changing into something more appropriate for a nightclub. Still, you find yourself sliding on a bandage over your scar. Don't want to go flashing that around until your appropriately drunk, if you ever get to that point. You notice Elizabeth is looking a bit tired as you strap on your holster and ear-piece a few minutes later. She's going to have to stay behind this time, and you definitely don't want to leave her on her own, and it's not like you need both Raphael and Cass with you for this meeting thing.

Which one of the two are you bringing with you? And is there anything else you need to bring for this thing?

>>>Input Command

rolled 2 = 2

---

Just flip a coin it's not like it matters to much.

If 1 then Cass and if two Raphael.

You've pushed Cass around a lot today, and a club seems like another place she'd be uncomfortable at. So give her a break and bring Raph along tonight [plus he has got to have better social skills than Cass--and that will stat means he's probably going to be more resistant to any manipulative shenanigans going on]

Can't really think of anything to bring except that card she gave you, in case it's some sort of passcard.

>Cass might think it's babysitting duty.
No, it was babysitting when you sent Raph of to play with her. This is different- she's not keeping the kid amused, she's keeping her safe. Cass has to know Elizabeth is important to you by this point.

Keep her safe, Cass.

(...also, Raphael isn't the best bodyguard for anyone asleep.)

>bandage
...what, we couldn't just go with something that covered our midriff?

>Daniels off doing something illegal
...says the girl involved in at least one assault and battery today who totes unlicensed firearms. Seriously, legality isn't the issue. Not that I trust Daniels though- dude is shady as hell.

>>453738
Sorry for deleting that post about babysitting. I decided it wasn't needed before you posted that. I guess I can do a small recap.

Cass might not want to stay with Elizabeth if she considers it babysitting and if we don't bring Raphael for this meeting he might feel left out because we didn't bring him for anything mission related for this trip.

>>453741
Eh, whatevs. It's cool.

Well, actually, this does kind of bring up an interesting point. How does Cass actually feel about Elizabeth? They're the only two party members we haven't seen interact yet. Raphael seems cool with her (and more than happy to play with her), but I'm kind of wonder how Cass has reacted to your adopting the space cadet.

Hitting the Club Linda McCallahan 2012/09/11(Tue)19:15 No. 453746 ID: a407a5
File 134741610408.jpg - (37.58KB , 590x350 , danceparty.jpg )

Raphael it is. Let's do this thing. You leave Cass with Elizabeth, fairly confident that Cass won't murder the girl tonight, and you head to the club, making sure to grab that card the one girl gave you on your way out. The minute you hit the streets, you're met with a dazzling light show. You blink in surprise, and stare at it a few minutes before looking for the source. Breakers? Not too strong either. Why make a light show? You don't see getting anything useful out of it. As you head to the club, you catch sight of other groups of breakers, performing various acts using their abilities. It seems a little... weird.

Still, you make it to the club without incident and enter after flashing that card to find a room filled with people, lights flashing and music blasting. To even try to talk to someone requires you to practically shout into their ear. Almost as if to demonstrate, Raphael leans down to talk to you.

"Hey! You now where we're supposed to be meeting these people!?"

"No!"

"Might as well taker a look around then! Buzz me if you find em!"

Raphael taps his ear-piece before disappearing into the crowd around you. You find yourself glancing around, looking for a group that might be in charge or something. Eventually though, you catch numbers. Two of them. One is hanging around up in what looks like a VIP lounge area, a bored looking guy by the looks of it. The other is bobbing up and down on the dance floor, but you can't really see who it is because of the constantly moving mass that is the people.

>>>Input Command

They may not let us into the VIP area so if they don't let us in and we can't convince them then just keep following the number in the dance floor like a dumb puppy. Hopefully we can talk to these people who only gave us some dumb card. To be clear I want to try the VIP lounge area first.

>fairly confident that Cass won't murder the girl tonight
Oh come on, that's not fair to Cass. Even if it turns out the girl drives her absolutely crazy, she's not about to let you down. Girl's got an insane madwoman and several feet of screaming steel between her and any danger. She'll be fine.

>Wasting BP on lights show
...you'd really thin there'd be cheaper ways to do that. Use breaking to get power, influence, and control. Leave the lights up to your electricity bill.

>Who talk?
Try the VIP.

Just walk into the VIP lounge like you own the place. That should work, right?

Meeting the Aide Linda McCallahan 2012/09/11(Tue)20:13 No. 453774 ID: a407a5
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You make your way through the crowds toward the VIP lounge area, which takes you upwards of ten minutes, thanks to the sheer number of people you have to weave your way through, but you do eventually make it to the access door, only to get stopped by some guard.

"Hey. Only the VIP's in here. An you ain't a VIP."

"Why don't you kindly step aside."

"How about no. Who the hell do you think you are? Get lost before I-"

"Oh, just let her in, Bart. She's someone we've been expecting."

The voice drifts down from upstairs, and "Bart" kindly steps aside, although he doesn't look too happy about it. You ascend to the floor above, and find what looks like a butler standing there. A number clearly floats next to him, an 18, but you're quickly distracted as he bows to you. He soon straightens himself and regards you with disinterest.

"I apologize. It is necessary to use such people to keep the rabble away from my master's sanctuary. We were informed of your coming, however. Please, give my master a few minutes to arrive. In the meantime, may I get you something to drink? To eat? Please, have seat."

You walk over to the offered chair slowly, and equally slowly sit down. The butler disappears, a few minutes later appearing again to place a tray down on the table in front of you, carrying tea and small snack foods. You eat a little, and drink, mostly to not appear rude or spiteful, until the door behind you bursts open again and you hear what sounds like the most obnoxious person you've ever met enter the room.

"YO! How's it hangin Al? You would not believe the crowds we're bringin in! Can you believe it? Ever since that Winter chick showed up, bam! We're the place to be! Greatest DJ in Sun City, you can ask half the papers! And the cash, whoo! The CASH-"

The man comes around, and his choice in clothing could only be described as unnecessarily expensive. He takes the longest possible path, going on and on about this and that, mostly things concerning himself and eventually he makes it to his chair and slides into it. He grabs something off the tray and takes a bite out of it, then turns his attention to you finally.

"Ah! Who's this?"

"The visitor we were expecting, Master."

"Oh? Oh! Yeah, I heard about you! Heard you were dealin with our uninvited guests out on the beach. How'd that go? Give you any trouble?"

You really just want to slug him in the face.

>>>Input Command

No trouble. It was novel really, resolving territory disputes without even having to draw a weapon. It seems people aren't as trigger-happy here as back east--it's nice.

Keep your cool, Linda. You can punch his face in AFTER you do the diplomacy. Also let Raph know you found 'em if you can do it discreetly.

>any trouble?
None whatsoever.

>You really just want to slug him in the face.
Welp, good thing we didn't bring Cass.

Alright, first impressions, not so great. These guys clearly look down on their normal employees, and the 'master' here appears to be a shlub (is he even a breaker? We either failed or notice his number, or he's another prick who likes to hide it). Still, we're here for diplomacy. To expand our influences. Not to necessarily make friends. This is business, Linda.

Also, we don't know that this guy is necessarily in charge of everything yet. Just that the butler works for him. Let's get him talking, see what we can find out.

I had to delete my post after I reread >>453774

I think my mind couldn't handle the fact this guy was the "Master". Anyways call Raphael

>>453790
Definitely shouldn't leave Raphael hanging, and negotiations will go better if you aren't alone. Call him over before you get into it.

Anger Rising Linda McCallahan 2012/09/12(Wed)17:19 No. 454014 ID: a407a5
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>Number
You blink in surprise, and suddenly realize that you'd forgotten the number. You check for it, eyes narrowing to try to make something out, and eventually see it. A 5. A fucking 5. This guy is weak as shit. Why the hell are we allying with this bastard?

Still, you're here for diplomacy, not kicking his ass(normal or not) and you swear you're going to make damn sure you keep to diplomacy. At least until you decide this isn't worth it, or something along those lines.

"No. No problems. A bit of a novelty really, not having to draw a weapon to resolve a conflict. It seems people are so trigger-happy around here as they are back east."

"Haha! Yeah! I've heard some of the stories. Real gruesome stuff. Almost something you never want to talk about again. Hey! We're supposed to be allying with you guys, or something, right? Joining up with you, making a base, takin stuff over, all that jazz? Much as I'd love to, I really can't stand sitting around for hours on end talking about this and that and whatever. Why don't we just skip all the talking, and get straight to the part where you and I end up in bed together naked?"

That's it. You're going to kill him. You are going to shoot him so many god-damned times that he's going to wish you'd kill hi-

"AND NOW, IT'S TIME FOR EVERYONE'S FAVORITE! OUR ONE AND ONLY, DJ WINTER!"

Everyone in the club turns their attention to the DJ's booth, and then there she is. That girl you met earlier. She's got headphones one, her hair is somehow glittering and almost white, and the minute she touches all that machinery, music pours out of the speakers like liquid joy, setting everyone off into bouncing music and shouts as the beat hits. Even you find yourself tapping your foot to the rhythm as the music fills you with this pleasant feeling, almost like that pleasant warm feeling you get when you drink alcohol. Still, as mesmerizing as the woman and her music is, you have work to do. You drag your attention away and back onto this "master" kid, but he's not paying any attention to you at all.

"And there she is! Our money maker, eh Al? Swear, wish we'd found her sooner. Still, I think she hates my guts. Won't stop me from trying every single night though. One of these days I'll bed her. Ah! Which reminds me. We were talking about letting YOU see my bedroom, yeah?"

And pleasant feeling gone.

>>>Input Command

No we aren't. The way I see it is you are nothing more then a loud mouth with lots of money. And in our .... business? Money is easy. If I'm going to talk to anyone about allying with it'd be her.

Just start laughing. "The only physical contact you'll be getting from me is a punch in the face if you suggest I sleep with you again. Go on, do it, I dare ya."

>A fucking 5. This guy is weak as shit.
...well, that or he's not and has just blown most of his load for the day. Can't be sure.

>fucking kill him
You've been hanging out with Cass too long. You can blow off a prick coming on to you without resorting to murder.

Alright, I think it's time for a change of plans here. These guys are weak sauce. The bard girl is clearly their best asset for controlling the social scene here. As leadership, this guy is pathetic (or is doing a very good job of putting up a front to make you underestimate him). We either just supplant him and take over his organization, or we just recruit her and leave them in the lurch.

Time to get hard. No more nice-nice. (But keep it professional-cruel, don't give into rage. You want to be the strong one here).

>bedroom, yeah?
(Well, we could go his bedroom, murder him for his piece of shit foci...)
No. That won't be happening.

I'm here to discuss business. Although I'm rapidly becoming disinterested in what you have to offer. You obviously stand to gain from an arrangement from us, if you don't have the muscle to keep the chumps I faced today off your turf. What I don't see is what you have to offer us (aside from leering come ons, which I can acquire just fine anywhere, thank you). Do you have a single asset worth mentioning aside from her? Because so far, I'm not impressed.

If he doesn't drop the act and reveal some competence, walk off. Find Music, and talk to her. Why the hell does she work for this loser? Maybe we can scalp her.

(...no, scalp is for tickets. What's the word for when you're stealing players?)

>>454022
Maybe "seduce" is the word we're looking for, when it comes to stealing talent away

Isn't it something like a headhunter?

So glad we didn't bring Cass, he would have died two post back. Lol

We're trying to get her to defect. There, that works. Although I still get the feeling there's a synonym I wanted to use I'm forgetting.

The "Master" Linda McCallahan 2012/09/12(Wed)19:04 No. 454051 ID: a407a5
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"No. That won't be happening.

I'm here to discuss business. Although I'm rapidly becoming disinterested in what you have to offer, since it seems to be little more than a loudmouth and a lot of money, and let's face it, money is easy to come by in our... business. You obviously stand to gain from an arrangement from us, if you don't have the muscle to keep the chumps I faced today off your turf. What I don't see is what you have to offer us (aside from leering come ons, which I can acquire just fine anywhere, thank you). Do you have a single asset worth mentioning aside from her? Because so far, I'm not impressed."

The man laughs a little to himself, then spins in his chair. "Hey, Jake, I think they figured it out. No point in continuing with this, right? So, you mind if I go an-"

The man's head suddenly explodes as the "butler" snaps his arm out, an object launching from his hand too fast for you to catch. Whatever it is, the butler catches it in his hand and slips it away again, before walking over to the chair and kicking the corpse out of the chair and onto the floor.

"Insignificant insects shouldn't pretend they have any power."

The man who you were speaking with before regains life and sits up, looking confused. Then his head explodes again, only this time you catch what it is after the other man catches it again. It looks like a rubber ball. A tiny, rubber ball.

"Insects deserve to be stamped out without mercy."

The man wakes up again, this time spinning around onto his back. "Jake. Jake, please. I... I didn't... I wouldn't... I..."

"Don't play with me, Carson. You ever use my name like that again, I WILL kill you. I will not make it quick. Do we have an understanding?"

"Yeah. Yeah!"

"Beat it."

Carson takes off, exiting the door faster than you've ever seen anyone exit a door. The butler, er, Jake, snaps his fingers as he returns to his seat, his clothing taking on a 1940's feel. Reminds you a bit of the man you met in your dreams. That man seemed bored though. This one just seems dangerous. He makes it to the now vacant seat and places himself in it, hands coming together to form a steeple as he regards you with more interest than he showed as a butler. He smiles gently, but unlike the friendly smile you get from Conner, this one just feels like he's getting ready to eat you. And like there's... someone else with him... behind him.

"I apologize for the... misdirection(I could give a fuck if you hate me right now). I can't afford to have certain... individuals... track me down(If you were an enemy, I'd have ripped out your spleen). Particularly those from back east(Especially cause you're from home). Thankfully, you seem to be legitimate(You aren't someone I dislike). Or at least, not here for my head(Try it, and I'll impale you through the ass). I doubt we have much to discuss, as you've clearly shown you're capable, and I've just shown I have no qualms matching you easterners blow for blow(Don't fuck with me, woman). Now then, shall we get to the details(You ready to get screwed over)? Or would you prefer to ask me some questions(Or are you gonna put off the inevitable)?"

... What?

>>>Input Command

Hmmm, if I'd have to guess hes got an avatar type hidden away along with that ping-pong ball. Looks like he put most of his stats into finesse \ strength instead of spirit and BP as well.

Smile at this very dangerous man and lets get down to business. Put your accountant cap on Linda its another business meeting. Work, Work Work. What does he expect from us? Tell him what you expect from those going to work with you. And lets see if we can.... compromise where the two don't mesh.

>>454057
Accounting day-job will sure come in handy here, yup. Even if you're not working with MONETARY assets, it's the same deal. You gotta assess the value of what he's offering, see what he asks for, and get your patron the best deal you can--and if this guy won't budge on a price that's more trouble than it's worth, we walk away.

We don't even strictly NEED raph here for this part, but since this guy's ALSO from the east, a gathering of muscle might improve our position. So give Raph a choice. We can be like "Dancing's over up here, so you can join us or keep dancing down there, your choice." to him.

Also we understand the caution, but to our knowledge the objective's a safe-haven, so he doesn't really NEED to demonstrate any combat skills to us--But we should get to know how he operates down here before committing to graciously allowing him to join our group.

And for the record, killing his own allies ain't gettin' him off to the best start, there.

"Um... well then... did you really need to kill that guy at all? It seemed a bit... excessive."

"Worthless people are worthless people. He'll be fine in a few hours anyway... unless he annoys me further. Then I might decide he outlived any usefulness he might have had. Next question."

"Well then... what do you have to off-"

"Do excuse my interruption(You're getting annoying). You're asking questions you already know the answers to(Shut up). Your boss, Marc Conner, contacted ME(Useless sack of shit). I may be weaker than him, but he respects me enough to deal with me as an equal(He treats me like I'll just do whatever you want). You've proven your worth to me, and while I don't relish the idea of easterners come into the city, I understand what's going on better than you do(This is MY town, you fucking bitch, and I refuse to just let you take it from me). Now then, I'll say this upfront(Stop wasting my time). You will temporarily be allowed to reside in a safe location while you conduct your business(Be grateful, insect). I will vouch for you among the rest of the breakers here, and keep the few fixers that are present out of your way(At least an excuse to kill some enemies). In exchange, you will do the occasional odd job, help me in some of my... endeavors... and keep someone of my choosing with you at all times as an observer(You'll be doing the dirty work, along with giving me the chance to get rid of someone I don't like). I believe you've already met Cally, and since she seems to have an interest in you, I'll leave her with you(Maybe the useless whore will finally get herself killed). Anything to debate(There is no room for negotiation)?"

His smile never falters the entire time, but you get the feeling that he doesn't think much of you at all. And you finally figured out something. It's like he's saying two things at once. He says one thing, then something else echoes back with words that are a lot more... harsh. You find yourself only really able to gape in astonishment as you process everything he just said.

>>>Input Command

It just means the second part of what he saying is what he is really thinking. He may not act on it but it's how he feels. This dude may become a problem later but we already knew that when he attack his own comrade/minion. No matter how annoying the guy was, that was excessive. Just accept the deal because we won't get anything better unless we are willing to throwdown right now. Of course fighting right now is a bad idea since we don't have a really idea how strong he is.

Hmmmm...How about 'Fuck no.' We're already putting up with Daniels, but there's no way in hell we're gonna work with someone like this guy. He seems to have a rather high opinion of himself, but we don't share it, and his terms are unacceptable.

Tell him it was nice meeting him, and we will certainly contemplate his terms (he can go screw himself)

Ta-ta.

check his number, he's powerful but knowing just how strong he is would be useful.

>>454078
Fine go for that as long we don't fight right now.

Hes at 18 or 17 if he summoned that rubber ball though I doubt it. Talk about an easy to conceal weapon.

I don't like him much and if possible I'd love to swipe Music out from under him. Which might be possible if he treats his employees like that.

We should get back to those guys we scared off the beach and tell them that after actually meeting the guy we decided Jake could go fornicate with himself--Apologize and say they should consider the beach open for business :B

>>454082
So he either has 18 or 17 break points but we don't know his real limit here. Let's just hope it's not too high.

>>454091
Well, our boss acted like he would do whatever we said, so I'ma guess he thought we could take him on.

ask him how dangerous the jobs he would be having us do are, we are only willing to risk our lives so much for a safe heaven.

>>454093
It's not even about how safe or dangerous jobs would be---I flat out REFUSE to acknowledge this guy as having any authority over us, including the ability to ask us to do jobs. He's scum.

>>454093
Might as well do that.

Well, I was right about the fat man being a test, at least.

This guy fits the bill for what would be the logical power structure here. The ruthless land baron with actual power backing up the fru-fru performance system. Slightly more ruthless than what I was advocating we do, but still fits the bill just fine.

The deal he's offering is pretty straightforward. We get access to his connections and local intel in exchange for odd jobs (muscle). It's what we expected, it's what Conner wanted. The only issue is we're allying ourselves with the local jerk, when we'd prefer to build a nicer power base (his philosophy is rather different- he treats his people like shit and rules by fear and power. Rather different than our own of pragmatic cooperation, survival, and protection).

Of course, the alternative is to go to war with the local jerk, which we can't afford to do right now. The best thing to do is to take his deal. We can use our discretion to blunt his cruelty on our missions, and to subvert Cally for our own purposes. Ultimately, we want to build our own power structure under or parallel to his own, and eventually break away or supplant him. 'Cause he's a jerk.

Outright refusal just makes us an enemy, traps Cally under him, and gets us in trouble with Daniels. We're better to bide our hand for now.

Your terms are acceptable- for now. I don't see we have much more to discuss.

Also he's proposing a TEMPORARY safe place in exchange for being his lackey--we aren't here on vacation, we're here to set up a base. We need to establish a PERMANENT safe zone with recruits UNDER our authority--this is simply not what we are looking for.

Basically our job here is two fold, establish a permenant base and recruit enough people to become the new power in the area.

THen take down this scumbag at our leasure.

>>454099
We do that at the same time. We use the resources and location he gives us to buy us the time and space to set up our own power structures (base, allies, connections, etc) for when we break with him.

This is a temporary arrangement. We're using him (and he's using us). And then later we're gonna run him out of business. Make this our town.

...of course, he's planning to kick us out on our ass when he's done using us as well. It's gonna be a game of who gets who first, and who plays better.

This scumbag is at our power level or a little less. Just because he ACTS like he's in charge doesn't mean he is or that we should treat him as though he is.

HE IS WASTING OUR TIME AND WE SHOULD NOT MAKE DEALS WITH HIM.

I mean really, do we plan to roll over and take it from every little shit who thinks they are worthy of ruling the world?

That's asinine and weak. There are some fights it's ABSOLUTELY worth starting.

>>454106
Who CARES at all. We could just accept the deal right now then announce THE DEAL HAS CHANGE and start wrecking his shit. Let him get cocky.

>>454107
Taking the deal without any intention of honouring it whatsoever?

More than a little underhanded, but it lets us talk with Music gal without having to actually work with this jerk or fight our way out of here.

Just be sure our buddies know it's not for srs.

Also it could hurt our rep. with other groups in the area, but oh well.

I guess I can get behind this compromise--so long as we absolutely do no jobs for him ever. EVER.

As a breaker, yes, he's only about as strong as us (maybe). But we're in his base right now, and alone with only 1 person for backup. A fight is not smart at this moment.

He currently has more allies and resources than we do in this area. But we work for him, we can make off with his connections, and recruit his allies from his 'care'. He's giving us the golden opportunity to steal his organization out from under his feet! Masterful diplomacy overthrowing a tyrant. Not everything has to come down to an automatic fight, guys.

Also, we make an enemy of him right now, and we're going to have trouble with Daniels, and the Boss. We'd be deviating from their plans. Those are battles I don't want to fight, yet.

>so long as we absolutely do no jobs for him ever. EVER.
The advantage of doing jobs for him is we don't have to do them the way he wants them done. He thinks he's getting a hit squad, but we don't have to work as one. We can subvert his missions, recruit his enemies into our own power structure when we're sent after them.

Ok, if you have intentions of ACTUALLY doing his jobs I think the better plan is still to just tell him we'll think about it and leave for now

Not actually commiting, and not picking a fight either.

Because AGREEING and GOING ALONG with this I absolutely do not think is a good idea.

And if Daniels and Boss ACTUALLY want this guy we're going to have to have words with them on it--and they can do the diplomacy themselves. :I

You can make the argument that you're trying to make for THIS guy for them, after all. We're trying to influence what ever it is they want to do in a good direction--such as NOT working with this absolute cretin.

And if we talk to them and they DO have a convincing reason to work with this specific guy instead of sniping him from a distance, THEN we can come back and think about accepting his absurd deals with the intention to steer things how we want.

This is just our first meeting with him, after all--it doesn't have to get done all at once.

The thing is he DOES have delusions of granduer, and we can use that. Making him an enemy against our bosses wishes right off the bat isn't the best idea but if we come up with a plan to steal... everything from him and bring it up with Marc and even Daniels will probably agree. Patience and cunning is always a better path then rash violence and hasty words.

>>454116
Marc claims to be the more moral idealist (if he isn't secretly super-evil), but Daniels seems to be basically an assassin. He'll probably love this plan. Fastest route to power is always to just replace the existing guy.

>>454116
Patience, cunning, and wisdom.

Like WAITING to accept a deal, perhaps by CONVINCING him you have to discuss it with /your/ higher ups, instead agreeing to something that is, frankly, AGAINST our interests AND our bosses interests.

We accept his jobs, do them our way, recruitment instead of killing them, convincing them to work for us instead of leaning on them to leave etc. etc.

>>454118
He's already been in contact with Conners, and we were explicitly sent to discuss terms with this group. We look weak, and idiotic, if we try to pretend we're just a messenger.

>>454120
Better to LOOK weak and idiotic than to actually BE weak and idiotic. Besides, I'm pretty sure he already thinks we are, quote, "insects"

There's no sense in worrying about lowering his opinion of us when a)it's already rock bottom b)we shouldn't really care what this guy thinks of us, because we don't think much of him.

But if you REALLY don't want to look weak, then put up a fight and make a damn counteroffer instead of accepting his horrible, horrible terms.

Safe zone is well and good, but we need to make it clear that we will NOT be doing jobs for him, or at least that we reserve the right to refuse them. [He's not our damn boss, you guys.] Him sending someone to observe us is fine. Things like that.

Come on, if you're going to accept some kind of deal, at least argue the terms of it.

>No jobs
...so you expect him to house and harbor an outside military force on his turf for free? That's never how it works. Even if the people involved aren't pricks.

Muscle is all we have to offer. We don't have a counteroffer to make!

This isn't a "horrible horrible" offer. It's the standard "welcome to Rome, barbarians. I expect you to fight for me", deal. (Until the barbarians get too strong of course... then Rome burns).

>>454123
It's not "for free", we're setting up camp and letting him know what we're up to--we don't OWE him anything. We might take on some jobs, but, frankly, we ain't his damn mercenary force. We /are/ a rival breaker gang and we /do/ intend to take over--we're just being nice about it. He does not intend to be nice, fine. Let him make a counter-offer. Don't just give in to his first demand.

Also I am kind of getting sick of debating this beyond saying that my first instinct is to just walk away, and I'm not going to budge from thinking accepting this offer as-is is terrible. At this point I'm sick of arguing and would rather just see what the author decides to do, but that's my opinion, and you can expect it to not change no matter how long we keep talking about the details.

I'm for sneaking this guy's people out from under him, and to do this we would have to do some jobs for him.(completed our way, but still completed) Fighting and (if we're successful) killing a man less than 5 minutes after meeting him will not look good to outsiders. The people working under him may think that the ass deserved what he got, but they won't follow us unless we can prove to be a better leader than him, and to do that we have to meet with them on equal ground and work with them on a bit of a shared goal.(the mission)

>>454123
I agree with this post. We want to establish a base here, here offers a fast and easy way to do that in exchange for work. Anything from stealing his employees to killing the whole bunch we can do later.

The only thing I think should be changed is the ambiguity of what exactly he wants us to do. There should at least be some rule like "No suicide missions" or "no mission that will royally fuck us over in the foreseeable future"

Your mind is a whirlwind of thoughts and feelings on the matter, but eventually you come down to something. The Boss and Daniels wanted to talk to this guy, wanted his help. You should at least put in some effort to doing it. But... that doesn't mean you just have to take all of it at face value. You'll do his damn jobs, maybe you won't like it, but then... he might not like the outcome either. You've never been one to kill without looking for the alternative. Well, except for spiders. Creepy little bastards.

"I'll agree, one one condition. These jobs of yours, I'm not dragging myself or my companions into a any suicide missions. Everything else is... fine."

Jake's smile widens ever so slightly, then he stand and walks over to you, hand extended. You take it with quite a bit of hesitation, and as you shake he leans forward to look you in the eye.

"Agreed(Hehe...).Welcome to the group(Meatbag). Now go hang out in the club while I get everything taken care of for your basecamp(Leave me alone, insect, I have things to do)."

Minutes later, you're back in the main area of the club, sitting with Raphael at a table and debating heavily whether or not you should get smashed. The idea quickly leaves your head, however, when you feel a pair of arms wrap around your neck and a familiar voice in your ear.

"Hey, beautiful, glad you could make it. I hear I'm dancing on your floor now, so it's a pleasure... Who's he?" Her voice, originally flirty and joyful, switches to one of dislike and vague hostility upon spotting Raphael with you. Her arms tighten around your neck a little as Raphael smiles at her and waves a little, but she just glares.

"Raphael. A friend."

"Hm. Sure... still, it would have been better if you'd brought that other hottie. But you're the one I like most. I don't think I ever caught your name... I'm Cally by the way. Cally Brooks. Winter, when I'm working, but eh... man, this guy's getting in the way. Let's say you and me go hit the dance floor, beautiful."

>>>Input Command

Introduce yourself, and sure go dance. Have a few drinks though not enough to get drunk. Might get the taste of dealing with that scum outta your mouth. Chat with her, get a feel on why she is working for a man like that one.

Looks like this one is a hardcore lesbian.

>Sitting with Raphael
I'm going to assume this means we filled him in?

>Get smashed
Generally a bad idea here. We don't really trust the guy we agreed to work with, it's a bad idea to allow ourselves that level of vulnerability in a place he controls.

>Cally
Linda. And you're better off Cass didn't come, she would not have had the patience for your friends' bullshit.

Give Raph an apologetic glance (we can talk to him later), and go with her. Dancing will be fun, and we do want to pump her for information.

>>454211
Or your bosses' bullshit.

Yeah, I'm fine with that wording if you prefer.

Besides her allies / employers, the other thing we want to find out about is her. Music based powers, huh? That's a new one. (Totally a bard).

"Linda. And you're better off Cass didn't come, she would not have had the patience for your boss' bullshit."

You let yourself get dragged off, although instead of the dance floor, you find yourself on a raised platform with a table, where a couple of guards keep people from getting up. Cally sits you down, then sits down next to you, getting a little closer than is strictly necessary for any sort of conversation. She orders you both a couple of drinks, nothing really all that strong, then rests her head in her hands in such a way as to stare at your face.

"The boss? He's alright, as long as you don't mind his constant come ons. He's mostly just annoying, but he lets me make my music, so I'm fine with him. Still, Jake really isn't my thing. I'm more into... people like you. But enough talk about work, and all that other stuffy ballroom dancing. Tell me about yourself, beautiful~"

Cally leans ever so slightly forward, giving you a good view of her rather large chest, and she lays one of her hands on your thigh suggestively. Her eyes are fixed on your face, and she smiles flirtatiously at you every time your eyes drift down just a little bit. This girl isn't shy at all, which is a little off putting, as you've become used to Cass and her stand-offish attitude, always getting embarrassed about the most random of things.

>>>Input Command

Oh thats hilarious. He doesn't just hide from us he hides from his own people. My bet is he deliberately seeks out people without break sight or spirit sight.

Tell her a bit about yourself. Before you became a breaker you were fairly boring, an accountant who doesn't get out all that much. You had a pretty wild ride in college though. In turn ask how she got into music, who pointed her in Jakes direction etc.

Wait, is she being consistent? She sounds like she's talking about Carson, but she said Jake. Either way, if two-face is using fatty as a front even among his own people, that's going to make toppling him harder. We've got no animosity or dislike to work with. Everyone tolerates the harmless shlub they think is in charge.

Although... I suppose we can still swing it? People might not have as much reason to defect if they don't know they're running from a tyrant, but they won't be afraid of abandoning the pathetic fat man they think they're working for. So I guess it's a wash? (The security people at least probably know who they really work for. Jake's got to have some of his own muscle, even if he needs more for errands). Although, I suppose using a front has the pleasant side effect that he's protected most of his own people from his own nastiness and cruelty. Kind of a point in his favor.

Well, it's nice to see someone interested in you who's actually willing to say how they feel, I suppose. (Cass dun remember, and we can't be sure about, and Raph's been dancing around asking you out without actually making a move). And who's actually worth considering (unlike Mike, Carson, the gang, etc). Might as well go along with it, have a little fun. Enjoy the flirtation.

Be aware that she may be playing you (she might know who her real boss is, or be more loyal than she lets on. Working you for information, etc.), and we plan on setting up or moving into our new HQ tonight. So actually getting into bed with her isn't such a great idea. (At least yet).

Go ahead, tell her about yourself. See what you can get her to say in return. We're interested in how this music magic thing works, if you can swing the topic that way.

Don't get drunk, of course. Feel free to lean on your high tolerance, if you want, though.

Oh wow that's kinda funny. She gonna find out anyways when we tell the team what happened here because she is observing us. I agree with >>454289

(It's a pain to type on a phone.

>>454292
Yeah, all good points.

Avoid getting drunk, spilling company secrets/personal weaknesses, trusting too much, taking her back to base--all that jazz.

You could probably still sleep with her tonight if you're so inclined, but go to her place--she's more set up than you anyway :P

You spend a little time going over some basic things about yourself, trying to be careful to avoid any sensitive topics and only sipping at your drink. Getting drunk would not be a good idea right now. Still, talking with Cally helps you relax quite a bit, and you find yourself sharing a few stories you probably wouldn't have shared with others. Mostly just drunken exploits, but still. Eventually, however, you start to maneuver the story to where you want it to be. Namely, about Cally and her crew.

"Music? Oh, my music. I don't know, I've just always been really good at making music. Call it a natural gift if you want. I love music and dancing and stuff to, so it just turned out to be a good thing. I couldn't really make a lot of money off of it at first, because I didn't have any sponsorship, but then Jake came and found me, and he's funded me and let me play here at his club. I've been pretty popular since."

"Seems like it... your music... is that your weapon to?"

"Weap- Oh! No. Got nothing really to do with music. Tell you what, three guesses as to what my weapon is. If you get it right, I'll give you a reward. Three hints. Doesn't have anything to do with music, per say. Got nothing to do with ice either, in case you were thinking that. And... well, I guess it kinda makes me look like I'm dancing when I'm fighting with it. Come then, let's hear your guesses."

>>>Input Command

Probably not something like a gun, then. A chain weapon might require some dancy moves--sword might also fit, if it's a showier sort, like a rapier.

Assuming it's a weapon weapon and not a form or avatar type, anyway. I'll guess a morning star.

Probably a dual blade or chain weapon of some sort.

Okay, so she is a weapon type then?

Damn. Went over all the reference pictures and descriptions of her, and I'm not seeing anything that helps, unless her headphones are her focus.

If she looks like she's dancing when she uses it, that probably means melee, not ranged. Also likely slants her towards finesse, rather than strength or will.

>not music per se
That means it's something sorta related to music, but she's not an outright bard.

>morning star
That's a smashy weapon, not a dexterous one!

>when I'm fighting with it
"It" is singular, so that rules out dual blades.

I'm kind of leaning towards some kind of cord/chain/wire weapon. Fighting with something like that would be a lot of dancing around. And if she's fighting with a cord or wire based thing, that could be something to do with music equipment, without it being her weapon per se.

>>454636
It's a ball on a chain, you gotta swing it.

If you can think of another example of a chain weapon off the top of your head go for it--the only other one I'm coming up with is nunchucks--which is even less dancy to use, in practice.

A fan made of blades?

...forgot those come with a chain, actually.
godsdamn perpetual morningstar / mace / flail confusion.

>If you can think of another example of a chain weapon off the top of your head go for it--the only other one I'm coming up with is nunchucks--which is even less dancy to use, in practice.
Lots of things! You're just limiting yourself to relatively short chains.

There's an actual ninja chain weapon- a several foot length of chain with a stabbing or slashing piece at one end, and a weight at the other. Or some be some kind of whip, or monofiliment based weapon. Hell, she could be fighting with just wire, or extendable headphones cords.

Problem is even if we narrow down her style (melee, dexterous, dancing), or guess the type there's still a lot of conventional weapons that would fit. And more unconventional ones, since we have breaking to consider.

>Morningstar

"Haha! No. That's not it. I don't even need a morning star is. That some sort of medieval thing, right? Well, I don't think that was really the right sort of hints... try thinking rave or techno dancing. That might help. My weapon is taken from that. Of course, that's mostly cause I like that kind of thing, nice and bouncy kinda music. Energetic... hey, let's go dancing! You got two more tries, so just keep thinking while we're dancing!"

You find yourself get dragged onto the dance floor, and spend a good thirty minutes bouncing to the music and getting rubbed up against by Cally. She barely leaves you alone, and makes sure not to loose you in the crowd of people. On the few occasions you do get separated, Cally finds you within minutes, laughing while she makes sure you're still fine.

Glow sticks? On a string maybe?

>>454713
I'm kind of thinking actual threads of light. How discrete do weapon forms have to be?

Gonna second guessing glowsticks.

>>454713
Poi? Probably not, but it came to mind with the first set of hints and the combination of "energetic"/"got nothing to do with ice" just makes me think of fire...

It is a set of tonfas?

>>454729
Doubtful, that's what the schoolboy (Kent) back at the hotel had. Seems unlikely we'd get repeat weapons between people we know so soon. Also, nothing to do with raves or techno.

>>454726
Who knows man. It could also be fire devil sticks for all we know.

My first thought was "ribbon dancing ribbon" but that seemed dubious to me

Glow sticks don't really strike me as a weapon. Hell if I know what else though.

>Glowsticks on Strings

"That's it! Sorta... well, the same idea anyway. It's... I don't know. They used to be little metal things instead of glow-sticks, kinda weak, but then I talked to some guy and he made them something else. I can't really explain it very well. He used a lot of words I don't know. Anyway, time for your reward."

Right there, in the middle of the dance floor, Cally wraps her arms around your neck and pulls you down slightly, planting her lips against yours. You go into a slight shocked state, eyes a little wide, while Cally deepens your kiss and starts shoving her tongue down your throat. You almost start to get into it yourself, right up until you suddenly feel yourself get grabbed by the arm and dragged away a little.

"Sorry to uh... to interrupt, but Chainsaw called. Said Elizabeth was going through some weird... thing. She doesn't know what to do, so we need to go. Like... now I guess."

Raphael doesn't actually look all that apologetic about interrupting you, but he does seem a little uncertain about being near Cally, who's glaring knives at him. You're pretty sure Cally would be strangling him if he wasn't a friend of yours. Still, you excuse yourself from Cally's presence and start to weave your way through the crowds, Raphael following behind, when you suddenly find Cally in your path again, grabbing hold of your arm to prevent you from leaving.

"I don't know who this Elizabeth is, but I'm sure Raphael can handle whatever is going on. Come on, stick with me for awhile longer."

>>>Input Command

No he really can't handle her at all because I'm the only one who can.

We gotta go now. We can talk to her later.

Sorry Cally, duty calls. Give her a smile and blow a kiss. Then lets go.

Foster daughter--it's kinda my responsibility to see what's up! Been nice, see ya later

>She had her weapon customized.
Heyo! Lead on the guy we're looking for. We'll have to follow up on that later.

>Stay with me!
Sorry. She's just a kid, and my responsibility. That comes before fun. We'll talk later.

>>454741
well 17 yeah old isn't a kid but she is a child-like teenager so close enough. All we really need to do is just mention we have a daughter if she tries to keep us here. Nothing kills the mood like knowing the chick you are making out with has a son/daughter.

>>454745
Aw c'mon! Kids are a total chick magnet! They dig responsibility, amirite?~

...yeah, I somehow doubt Cally gives a damn about personal responsibility. Still, I suppose she eventually had to learn we're more than just the cute new girl who either has a gun in her pocket or is happy to see her.

>Raph
Thanks for grabbing me. Let's go. (...are we gonna have an awkward conversation on the ride back, I wonder? We'll have to see if he makes an issue our of her).

"Sorry. She's my responsibility. I'll catch you later, Cally."

You blow her a kiss and disengage yourself from the other the woman, leading the way out. The car ride is mostly silent, you out of concern for Elizabeth, and Raphael because he seems to be brooding on something. The minute you get into the hotel room you find Elizabeth screaming unintelligible gibberish and Cass freaking out trying to figure out what to do. You quickly take some sort of command, going to Elizabeth yourself and hugging her while you get Raphael to calm Cass down. The minute you take hold of the girl, Elizabeth calms, her screaming subsiding into muttering, and Cass calms a few minutes later, looking worried.

"I... I don't know what happened. It only started a few minutes ago, then... I don't know!"

"Cass. Cass, you're fine. Nothing is wrong. She's fine. She was probably only having nightmares or visions or something. She'll be-"

"He's hurting the Angel... he's hurting the Angel..."

The words from Elizabeth catch everyone by surprise. Everyone stares at her in confusion, while you try to comfort her as best you can. You don't really have any idea as to what's going on, but if Elizabeth isn't liking whatever's going on, it can't be a good thing. You eventually get the girl to fall asleep, and once you've gotten her into bed, you convene with the others about everything that's happened.

"Well, I can't say I like the sound of this Jake guy. Seems like someone we don't want to be dealing with. But we do need help. I doubt even Daniels would be able to set up anything on his own out here. As for what's going on with Elizabeth... I don't know Linda. She seemed fine until a few minutes ago. Then she just started freaking out. Any idea's as to what she's talking about?"

"I have to agree with Chainsaw on this one. This Jake man doesn't seem like someone we want to hang around long. I don't like this Cally person either. She seems to eager to please... but I'll follow your judgment on her, Linda. You're the leader after all. I also need to talk to you... later... alone..."

>>>Input Command

>Jake
Yeah, I don't trust him as far as I could throw him (super-strength non-withstanding). We don't take what he throws at us at face value, and we find a way out from under his thumb as soon as we can.

...I don't know what's on with her. Maybe it's a warning, or maybe it's a sign I made the wrong choice tonight.

>Cally
...you're sure you're not just jealous? But don't worry, I didn't lose my head. I know she might just be trying to play me, or that she might not be as ignorant about who she works for as she let on. She does have a lead on the doctor we're looking for, though.

After we get Spirit four I vote we go full Finesse until 9 or so. We want to dodge that damn ball.

>>454758
Sounds great but should we add anything about the weird voices and ask Raphael what he thinks about it?
>>454760
I'm up for that

>>454760
Ooh, yeah, day's over, missions accomplished. We should get XP soon, yeah?

My immediate priorities go:
-get spirit to 4
-tune the needle or ring (after we ask Elizabeth what it does).
-finesse
-BP
-moar finesse

>>454758
If we /do/ show signs of losing our head around Cally you guys have full permission to smack us upside the head.

Also if Raph wants to confront us about lack of romance between him and us or something our answer is that he talks about it but never actually made a move!

I'd go for some extra finesse before spirit four, I think.

Try and get more details from Cass; what actually happened, did she say anything intelligible, no matter how nonsensical, that sort of thing.

>>454761
Note the echo voice weirdness, yeah.
Also note that you suspect he's going to put you up to less than savory tasks, but you don't intend to go about it in a way he'd likely desire--namely, recruiting his enemies and staying on good terms with other groups is gonna be the plan. We should start with those guys we ran off the beach--they seemed more savory to deal with than this bunch~

>>454766
So basically what we discussed in this thread and the discussion thread right? Okay sounds like a plan to me.

Also point to note: Letting yourself be seduced is totally a valid information gathering strategy, as long as you stay control of yourself and the situation.

Experience Gained: 2

"Cass. Did Elizabeth say anything during her little episode?"

"Um... I... think... she might have said something about a demon or something, but not much else."

"I see... well, I need to have a chat with Raphael outside. You mind keeping an eye on Elizabeth in case she freaks out again?"

"No. Leave it to me."

You head outside with Raphael, and after a few minutes of silence Raphael begins speaking.

"To start... I don't know what was going on out there during your meeting, but something in that club felt off. Not like the whole reality breaking off, like... dreamtime off. Not that you really know what that means, but... something felt wrong. It started a little bit after you disappeared off to that meeting.

"It happened again when Elizabeth was going nuts. Something was in the dreamtime. I don't know what, I didn't have time to change and go walking, but... whatever it was, it had me scared, Linda. I wouldn't want to fight that thing myself."

>>>Input Command

My guess is an avatar type or a form type with similiar powers as yours.

We should save these points.

Two points to finesse. Ok, we need to get some information on how dreamtime interacts with the real world. We know Raph can cause waking nightmares, but we don't know much about the place itself, or what other people might be expected to be able to do with it. 'cause someone there might have powers in a similar field of reality breaking--out bet's on the boss. Give him the details of Jake if you haven't already--how there seemed to be someone with him, how we kept hearing what sounded like some foul intentions echoing over his actual words--that kind of thing.

Just tell Raphael what exactly happen in the club with the butler being the real Jake, the weird feeling something was behind him, the nasty echo, all of it.

Have we described Jake's second self and voice to Raph? If we haven't, we should. If that wasn't an Avatar, it could be some kind of dreamtime shit (or it could be both, I suppose).

Agree with him. There's some bad shit going on here. And you're not sending him up against it alone.

Just 2 points? For a foci, fight, and mission complete? Dang. Maybe Elizabeth got the point for finding the ring.
>We should save these points.
Hmm. Yeah, I think so. Unless we when we ask Elizabeth about the ring in the morning it turns out to be absolutely fantastic. We can live without the trap focus for now, but I really want to get our unique spirit 4 power.

Even if the vote goes against saving up for spirit, we should save at least one point until we know what the ring does. On the off chance it's good enough to want immediately.

Yeah demon sounds like what was behind Jake

tune the focis

>focis
I know we've been playing fast and lose with pluralization, but this one just makes me wince. "Focus" is singular. "Foci" is plural (although you can probably get away with "focuses" if you want to ignore teh latin). "Focis" is a double plural, the equivalent of "focuseses". :p

>Level ups
Two votes for save for spirit
One vote for +2 fin
And one vote for tuning (you'll have to be more specific- we currently have 3 untuned foci- the needle, the colt magnum, and the ring).

My logic: spirit 4 nets us our first unique, character specific spirit ability. We saw how useful Maria's was. Ours is likely to be very helpful as well, and we only need to hold out a day before we have enough points to buy it. We could really use that edge.

Furthermore, points can be spent at any time, with no apparent delay. We get into a mess where we really need more finesse now? We can dump the points in on the spot. Same with the foci. It doesn't hurt us to try and wait things out a little.

>second self and voice
"...It sounds like the man can walk the dreamtime. Or at least talk through it. I've never done anything like that, my powers are... limited... but I know it's possible. A lot of people they call 'telepathic' are actually just talking through the dreamtime. I think. That's how it was described to me anyway."

>Dreamtime
"The dreamtime... it's difficult to describe if you can't see it... um... it's like peering into the dreams of someone else. Even right now, I can see a little into your subconscious. I can only see fears, spiders, if I'm not mistakes, since my powers are geared more towards fears and nightmares, but I've heard of others that can do more. It's appearance is different for different people, and almost constantly changing as well. But... uh... can't really tell you much more than that. The dreamtime isn't like reality, there are no set rules to it. I just know I can walk it... if you want, I could try showing you tonight. You know, I could just... walk into your dream. I should be able to suppress my nightmare causing for an hour or so. And I might be able to make you conscious of the dreamtime."

There's a few minutes of silence as you ponder all that, trying to organize it in your head. The dreamtime... sounds like a pretty powerful place, given the right conditions. You'll have to-

"You really like that Cally girl, huh?"

Wha- How do you jump from dreamtime to Cally?

>>>Input Command

>"You really like that Cally girl, huh?"
I think the route to go here is teasing reassurance.

...jealous? *Grin* She's fun, but it's probably more accurate to say she really likes me, at this point.

But don't worry, I didn't lose my head. I know she might just be trying to play me, or that she might not be as ignorant about who she works for as she let on. She does have a lead on the doctor we're looking for, though.

>dreamtime
Take him up on the offer. If we're potentially dealing with an opponent that works with it, understanding is worth risking a nightmare.

I'm attracted too her. Like may come when I know her a bit better. She's uninhibited, and bubbly. We'll see if it goes further but it might be a one-off. Somehow it doesn't seem like shes a girl that gets attached.

Her apparent hatred of men is pretty off putting, actually. She might be fun to party with but more than that? Nah. If she can't be friends with your friends, well, she can't be a very good friend.

>>454909
Well, she doesn't necessarily hate men. I mean, it doesn't take a genius to pick up on the fact that Raphael was competition.

"Jealous?"

"A little."

The response catches you a by surprise, freezing the smile on your face, but you recover enough to respond.

"Don't worry about it. I won't lose my head, and I'm aware she could just be playing me. Besides, it's more like I'm attracted to her than anything else. I somehow doubt she really someone to settle down anyway. But she's got a lead on this doctor we're supposed to be looking for, I think. Anyway, I'll take you up on that dream thing. Tonight work?"

"Yeah... yeah, I'll stay awake then. You get to sleep, and I'll see you in your dreams. Just... be aware I won't be able to talk to you. I'll be a horse after all. And I'll only be able to do this for maybe a half-hour before nightmares start popping up, so... yeah. Get anything you need to get done before you head to sleep, and I'll talk to you later."

Raphael heads back inside, leaving you to your thoughts, and you hang around awhile thinking about some things before you head back inside yourself. You let Cass go to sleep, then climb into Elizabeth's bed, mostly because you feel like leaving her on her own wouldn't be the best idea. You fall asleep with the girl cradled in your arms, your final thoughts about how you're supposed to tell you're in a dream.

Then suddenly, your eyes open up and you stare at a somewhat nostalgic ceiling. That's... that's the ceiling from home. HOME home. Your families home. You sit up just as you're mother walks in, smiling. Almost at the same time, you suddenly register that everything has an almost... blurred effect to it. Like you're watching it through water.

"Hey sweetie. How are you feeling? You've been asleep awhile. Breakfast is almost ready, so make sure to wash up and come down."

Your mother leaves, and you stare after her a minute, then catch something out of the corner of your eye. Is that... a horse?

"Raphael... is that you?"

The horse snorts, then trots over, bumping you slightly with it's nose. Well, at least you know you have a friend watching out for you in this place.

>>>Input Command

Wear the scarf. Be the rider.
Then ride that pony downstairs and thank your mother for the wonderful gift.

I just thought of something; Night-Mare. Is Raphael a female horse in this form?

>The response catches you a by surprise
...why? We've know he's been interested for a while now. Dropping hints about asking you out since a month ago. You've been avoiding it, and he's been dancing around it, but you should have noticed. :p

>dreamtime
Well... seems mostly normal so far. Do we go looking for something weird?

Actually, a thought. You're back home with your parents. Look down, or for a mirror. How old are you?

Ride the horsey!

>>454930
Sounds good and if your really young then you might as well check out your room and the rest of the house.
We gotta look for weird dream stuff and whatnot.
Maybe it's a perfect replica but how often does that happen in dreams?

You blink, then gently rub the top of Raphael's head as you glance down at yourself. You seem... normal. Not a child. Funny, you're fairly certain you were a child last time you were in highschool last time you were in this house. After that you left and haven't really ever gone back, except for a few times at christmas. You absentmindedly check to see if Raphael is a girl or a boy in this form, and discover rather amusingly that he is, in fact, a girl. You think. You don't actually know what a girl horse looks like. Either way, as you perform your little inspection, Raphael snorts and bumps his head against yours.

You rise and get dressed(?), then head downstairs, Raphael somehow managing to follow you through out the entire thing, until you end up in the kitchen. Or what looks sort of like the kitchen. Everything is flipped upside down, including your mother, who's humming happily as she makes food. You stare up at her, only to here your father start talking to you from the next room over. At least, it sounds like your father. He seems to be speaking japanese. You head over to the next room to discover everything, including yourself, drawn in an almost anime style, like your in some cartoon. You find yourself staring again, and your father glances up from his newspaper to give you a look of concern. You simply stare at yourself, then glance back over your shoulder to stare Raphael, who hasn't changed at all. If anything, his realistic appearance seems even more defined and jarring, in comparison to your cartoon appearance.

Still... your not quite sure what to do. You guess in dreams, it never usually occurs to you that something is wrong or out of place. What are you supposed to do?

>>>Input Command

...we sneak a peak at Raphael, and then change in front of him? Naughty.

I'm not really sure what to do at this point. You could reassure Japanese dream-dad. I mean, you must have picked up a few words from your anime-ing, right? Send him a konichiwa or something.

>What are you supposed to do?
We could always ask Raph. This is weird and interesting and all, but is there something we should be looking for?

>>454973
Too bad he can't talk as a horse. We could always ask him to lead us somewhere because we have no idea what to do.

I figured he could nod or something if we asked as yes/no question. And yeah, he can lead us somewhere if there's something to show us.

>>454994
Oh yeah he can definitely do that so just ask if there is anything important to to show us. If there is something important then ask him to lead us there and if nothing to important to show us then obviously it's time for dream hijinks. Flying up in the air, piloting giant robots, punching that dumb fixer named Maria in the face, etc.

>>455001

Of course dream shenanigans may or may not work.

Maybe we can check out memories of the club. Some researchers believe we dream to organize our minds with all the info we get. It may be all b.s. but doesn't hurt to try to check it out. I mean what happen in the club was weird so it wouldn't be unusual to dream about it. Just be prepare for nightmare mode to pop in if we go though with this.

You figure trying to ask Raphael about this stuff would probably be best, so you turn to the horse and try asking it something.

"So... is there anything in particular I need to see?"

Raphael snorts again, then turn away and starts walking. You follow, hoping he's leading you to something important. He leads you "outside" which ends up having you traverse your own apartment, your office, your first boyfriends room, your first girlfriends room, and a couple other places here and there. You eventually end up in front of a glowing... thing. Almost like a portal or a doorway. But you can't see anything beyond it. You get a feeling of fear though. A very deep fear. The horse snorts at you again. You don't really understand why he lead you here at first, until the world shifts and warps around you and you're back in that clubroom. You see the Jake guy staring at you, only...

That thing behind him is clearer now. A lot clearer. It appears like a version of the man, same clothes and everything, except the things mouth is filled with rows of teeth, it's whole body looks like it's been stretched out, long and thin, with claws ending each of its hands. It's constantly smiling with its rows of teeth, and it occasionally gives off a high-pitched giggling noise.

"(I apologize for the... misdirection)I could give a fuck if you hate me right now. (I can't afford to have certain... individuals... track me down)If you were an enemy, I'd have ripped out your spleen. (Particularly those from back east)Especially cause you're from home. (Thankfully, you seem to be legitimate)You aren't someone I dislike. (Or at least, not here for my head)Try it, and I'll impale you through the ass. (I doubt we have much to discuss, as you've clearly shown you're capable, and I've just shown I have no qualms matching you easterners blow for blow)Don't fuck with me, woman. (Now then, shall we get to the details)You ready to get screwed over? (Or would you prefer to ask me some questions)Or are you gonna put off the inevitable)?"

You seem to be at the beginning of the conversation. You can see yourself sitting in a chair as well, staring back at him, although looking a litte... disturbed. Right now, you have no idea what to do. Should you try something?

>>>Input Command

Go stand behind yourself and add subtext to your own words the way that this shadow is adding subtext to Jake's. Let him know that, if need be, you will fuck his shit up sideways. Also, be ready to defend the other you from any attacks that this shadow guy may have in store for you. It seems that Elizabeth believed you were being hurt. Let's not let that happen.

Walk up behind your disturbed past-self, put your hands on her shoulders, and offer reassurance. Give yourself strength.

Face the mouth-monster. An important thing to pay attention to is if he's just a memory, or if since he does dreamtime shit too, that he's really here.

Watch to see if he does anything to you during the conversation. Elizabeth thought someone was hurting you. She's usually (understatement) right. Maybe he did something to you on this plane where you couldn't even see?

So now we have idea what that thing behind is which is probably an avatar like the others have said. God damn avatars

I vote for this idea
>>455109

Maybe you could try poking it? Might show whether or not it actually can feel you and react to you or if it's just going to go through the conversation we already had.

If he does try anything here in the dream, you have the power. It's your dream, so you could summon your rifle and have it shoot an entire Arc-Gurran at him, or something equally as ridiculous.

Hmm... So he has a supernatural dream version of himself, but he also had what looked like a magic weapon. Did his number stay at 18 after he used the ball? If he didn't simply spend break points to emulate a weapon, that would mean that he has non-obvious avatar abilities or that he is something different from 'normal' breakers.

>>455116
Or he was just using superhuman str and fin to turn an ordinary bouncy ball into a deadly weapon. Anything can kill if it hits you hard enough, and/or in the right place.

>>455107
I like it. Maybe manifest a gun for emphasis.

>>455120
The ball would disintergrate too. I think anyway.

Oh wait poke it with a gun

>>455124
He could use a break point to make the ball harder or more resilient if he went with that path.

>>455123
I'd rather like to avoid manifesting or firing weapons while asleep. Absolute worse case scenario is they show up in the real world too. That could be bad.

>Ball would disintegrate
...well, it really depends on what kind of rubber it's made from. You can kill people with a rubber bullet to the face though, so it's least possible.

When we wake up we should just ask Raph is the tooth-doppelganger is an avatar or a separate dreamtime thing. Save ourselves arguing about it.

>>455130
This is something I can agree with.

I'm certain it's an avatar, but we can ask our buddy later, in any case.

>>455132
It probably is an avatar but we might as well ask anyways. Of course he could say he can't tell from a dream(weird stuff happens in dreams) which would make me really sad.

Even if the ball was made of some special hard rubber, remember it came straight back after piercing Carson's head. I guess it theoretically could have ricocheted at a perfect angle off the back of his skull after piercing the front and brains, but that kind of microscopically precise path through numerous irregular objects he can't even see seems a bit much even for superhuman aim.

Now that I think about it, can we rewind the dream a bit so we can see what was up with the ball?

Time to try a few things. First things first, though...

"Hey Raphael? Could we... rewind this?"

Raphael doesn't do anything, instead pretending he's ignoring you in favor of what's going on. At least, you think he's ignoring you. His eyes seem to be glowing a little bit, which is a little eerie, in and of itself, but you choose to ignore that for now. You have other things to do. Like going up behind yourself and trying to comfort yourself somehow. It doesn't seem to work. At all. Instead, your hands seem to pass right through yourself. Odd. Everything else you've been able to touch. Well, at least in the dream thing part. Maybe this is different from a normal dream?

Next step. You walk up to the other thing and try poking it. You feel your finger bounce off of it, like it should when coming into contact with a-

The things head turns to face you and its smile widens as its eyes start glowing.

"Hellooooo~"

Oh... sh-

Something passes straight through you, and for a split second you catch sight of a horse with flaming eyes slamming into the thing, whatever it is, and even the thing looks surprised. Then there's a flash of lightning and you find yourself in another room. A very dark room. And you can hear them. Hear them all over the room, crawling under your feet. The walls are covered in them. And you suddenly get the urge to glance up and you see it.

The largest god-damned eight-eyed monstrosity you've ever seen. You start screaming even as the thing descends on your body and you-

Wake up, screaming you lungs out and waking Elizabeth, who starts screaming her lungs out which causes Cass to literally kick her way into your hotel room, chainsaw drawn and ready to start tearing.

"What!? What the hell is going on!?"

You manage to calm yourself after a minute, realizing that whatever had happened hadn't actually happened, and in another few minutes you manage to calm down Elizabeth. Cass dismisses her chainsaw before normals start showing up, and even Daniels shows his face, although his face is impassive as ever.

"Linda, what the hell just happened? You feeling all right?"

>>>Input Command

Tried the dreamwalking bit, guess I ran out of time. I think Raph's still doing something, no idea how to tell right now, though.

Oh fuck if I think what I think it means then Jake just found out what happened. Well this was awful night and I don't think Linda can go back to sleep. We gotta just tell them what happened just now and the problem with Jake.

Even if Jake doesn't know we still gotta tell them what's up with this whole thing. Jake is nothing but trouble. We should probably check on Raphael and see how he is doing.

Okay, so instead of observing and trying to learn something (like if toothy did something to you in your meeting) you poked it and woke the evil psycho's dreamself. Which Raph then had to fight (which he was afraid of doing) and you got kicked out of protected memory-space into a more standard nightmare.

>what the hell just happened?
Nightmare.

Really, one word is all you need. Everyone here is familiar with his powers- they'll know what you mean in a second or two.

You need to go check on Raphael though. Make sure he's alright, and if he can tell you what the hell that was all about.

>>455162
Fine as long as we check on Raphael.

Definitely a nightmare, though we should take note of the time between the start of our test and now to help determine which kind of nightmare (Raph's powers, Jake's powers, or Raph powers unsuppressed from dealing with Jake's powers).

"I was checking something in the dream time with Raph, he got into a fight with something and then I ended up in a nightmare."

GO CHECK ON RAPH!

"Nightmare."

You leave them with that simple word, because that's all you have to say right now. Instead, you get yourself up out of bed and exit your room, heading over to Raphael's. You don't bother knocking, instead hurling your weight and strength against it to smash it down. The Boss can pay damages for all you care, you'd rather that than a friend be without help. What you discover inside is...

Nothing. Damnit, you'd forgotten. Raphael actually walks the dreamtime himself, not just with his mind. His very form is a nightmare. You angrily kick at something random, then sit yourself down on the bed trying to figure out what you could possibly do. You can't think of anything, as you can't find your way into the dreamtime on your own. You don't have that kind of power. Damnit! Your mistake probably caused all this...

"The Nightmare is hunted. Alone. Afraid."

You blink in surprise as Elizabeth's voice floats into the room. You glance up to find the girl watching you from the doorway, eyes serious and uncharacteristically focused. She cocks her head to the side, staring at you, then she moves to a spot next to you and sits down. She seems to think a moment, sorting through something, and then she turns to watch you again.

"The Nightmare needs an Angel filled with fear to lead him back to the realm of the waking."

>>>Input Command

Right back to sleep we go. We trust Cass, lets ask her to watch over us.

Ask if she has any clues on the how--if not, trying to sleep and get back into the dreamtime ourselves is probably our best bet.

Wait, I think I've got it.

We need to BREAK our way into the dreamtime.

Use dem breaks, tell Cass what you're gonna try.

Try going to sleep if it doesn't work.

>>455197
Yep.

Guys, guys, you're over-thinking this. We don't need to get back to dreamtime, we just need to scare Linda shitless, to act as a beacon.

>"The Nightmare needs an Angel filled with fear to lead him back to the realm of the waking."

...we're gonna need some spiders.

>>455222
Oh god why did it have to be spiders... well using break points to go to sleep could have ended awful anyways. You know staying asleep forever and what not. I guess I'll vote for spider idea. I don't think we could pull that off though(fear factor) so we gotta ask Cass or Daniels to get some spiders I guess.

>>455222

This sounds right. Linda should probably ask Cass to restrain her (without knocking her unconscious) so she won't just bolt away from the eight legged demons...or start shooting them. If she's worried about going overboard make sure to reassure Cass, Linda trusts her. Also, if Daniel's providing the spider expect him to go overboard.

Gotta love those cryptic oracles, and ours is not all that cryptic either!

... You are gonna hate your life for a few minutes.

"Alright... I understand. This... this is gonna suck."

"What's gonna suck?"

Cass shows up, looking tired and a little confused. You stare at her a moment, then sigh. Yeah. Definitely going to suck. Fucking spiders. Why's it have to be fear? Why couldn't be... cheer. Or joy. Or arousal! That would be a good one... Ah well.

"Cass... I need you to restrain me."

"What?"

"I need... I need to get scared. Really scared. And I can't not be scared until Raphael gets back."

"... THAT'S the plan? Seriously?"

You stare at her in complete seriousness. She sighs and moves to stand behind you, grabbing hold of your arms to keep you from moving. You test it a little, finding that you can't move, then shout at Daniels.

"Hey Daniels! Can you... uh... bring a bunch of spider in h-"

Daniels already has you covered, dragging in a few spiders and dangling them in front of your face. You stare at it a moment, then start struggling. Shit, shit, shit!

NONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONO!

Fucking NO! GETITAWAYGETITAWAYGETITAWAY

GetthatfuckingshitawayfrommyfaceifittouchesmeIswear togodI'mgonnaripthisguysfuckingdickoff-

Suddenly, there's a crack of static and then there's a horse in the room, covered in blood and wounds. The horse shifts back into Raphael, who collapses onto the floor. Cass lets you go instantly, which is probably a bad idea because you you proceed to deck Daniels with a punch to the face. Then you turn your attention to Raphael. With a little help from Cass, you manage to get Raphael onto his bed, then you start the bandaging process. You're wide awake by now, and you doubt you're going to get any sleep. You're way to wired. So, you send Cass and Elizabeth back to bed, staying behind yourself to watch over Raphael in case anything happens. You sit there for a few hours, staring at the clock as it finally hits 1 in the morning. You rub your eyes to keep yourself awake, and then Raphael wakes up.

"Wha- Argh! Bad... bad idea... shouldn't move... bad moving..."

>>>Input Command

"That was a REALLY poor decision on my part, are you ok?"

Turns out that thinking "it's just a dream, what's the worst that could happen" is not especially intelligent in that sort of situation! Apologize profusely.

Ask what happened after you got shunted out of the dream, and if Raph has a better idea what sort of nastiness we're dealing with, here.

>>455306
This.

Confirm Linda and the rest of the crew are not in danger from this entity during normal sleep. Tell Raphael that when he's feeling better you need more information on "dreamtime" - dangers, things/people you can affect from dreamtime (and how to), what things/people can affect you in dreamtime, what kind of precautions the team has set up and whether they can be improved. But since he needs to recover that conversation can wait.

...wait, how did Daniels get ahold of a bag of spiders that quick? Did he have them on hand just in case he needed to fuck with you? If so, how'd he know you were afraid of them?

>Raphael
I think the two most pertinant questions here are "Are you okay?" and "How bad did I just fuck up?".

Obviously, it would be nice if he could explain what the hell is going on too.

>>455323
Probably created it, man. Breakers.

Quick! What's his number? CAN he die in a dream?

"That was a REALLY poor decision on my part, are you ok?"

You move over to sit next to Raphael, hoping to provide him some level of comfort, and a sign that he is, in fact, in the real world. Raphael seems to look around a little, searching for something, then he nods, as if he'd found something.

"I... yeah, that was a bad idea. I didn't think it would still be lurking around though, so that's partly my fault. I should've... yeah, I should've been paying for careful attention... Sorry about the nightmare, by the way. I needed to get to him quickly though so..."

"Don't worry about it. You're alright though, right? Can you die in a dream?"

"Yeah, I'm alright, for the most part. All this blood is mostly just light wounds, I'll recover in a few days, I think. You owe me a date though, fighting that bastard hurt." Raphael flashes you a weak smile, probably to show he's joking for the most part. Although, a date would probably be the least you can do to make up for him getting the beating he got. "I can die in dreams, to answer your question. My physical body goes into the dreamtime. You can't though. Everyone else can't either. At least, not that I'm aware of. Not that it's usually like that. Most of the time, the dreamtime is is a fairly safe place, except for the occasional nightmare. Especially for the dreamer. The mind is a pretty resilient thing, after all. But... I don't really know anything, now that the creepy bastard is running around. He's controlling dreams a lot better than I am. I can only cause and affect nightmares, that bastard is... well, just take a look at me. And he was dragging me into the real world to, during our fight. I don't think that thing is limited to just dreams. But... I can't say much about the dreamtime. It's... very difficult to say anything definite about the dreamtime. I can guard the dreamtime around you all, I think, but it'll keep me tired. I won't be much help during the day... go on, Linda. Go get some rest. The faster you get us out from under this Jake guy's thumb, the sooner I'll be able to sleep soundly. I'll get to guarding you all."

Raphael starts to slide out of bed, his number decreasing by one as he starts to shift back into his nightmare form.

>>>Input Command

Well before we go to sleep again(like that's gonna happen after this thing) We gotta tell Daniel(Man is he gonna be pissed) what just happened with Jake. We can do this after we sleep if you want but we have to tell him soon because he is our kinda our temp boss right now.

You know, we have an x-ray scope and a rifle capable of shooting through walls. I say we assassinate this guy.

>>455367
Problem is we'd need to kill him 17+ times...and we still need to set up our own base, which, y'know, we decided to use this unsavory charcter's influence to help us do. Just keeping wary while we gather forces should be fine.

Woah, woah, wait, you don't look in much shape to be guarding anyone, yet. And if we're safe in our own dreams, aren't you the only one he can really hurt?

(Also, nightmare costs 5BP, not 1, according to da wiki).

>>455367
Getting off 18 shots in a row might be a problem. He'll have breaker guards who will respond (and we haven't seen enough of his employees to know how to prepare), we've seen him move crazy fast, we'll have to pause to reload, and his avatar might be able to close and attack us independently while we're trying to kill camp him. Hell, worse case, he could the same feat Maria had that lets you keep moving after fatal damage.

Wall assassination is not a good enough plan, by itself.

Also, we need Cally to bring us to the doctor she knows who modded her glow-sticks before we potentially burn that bridge by murdering her boss.

We do need to discuss the situation with Cass and Daniels though. He's the scary guy, maybe he's got ideas on how to handle this kind of situation.

>>455371
No pausing to reload, just 1 BP and we can do that immediately as we fire that last round.

>>455373
We've never actually reloaded. We don't actually know how long the delay is. It seems foolish to assume manifesting a new full clip would be instantaneous, though.

That's hardly the only problem though. We can't reliably murder him with impunity. We need a better plan, more information (guards, setup, clarification on his powers), and possibly more allies (getting Cally on the inside would be nice, or more than just Cass to deal with guards or keeping him in one spot while we shoot him).

Seems to me we should put Daniels on finding out as much as he can about this guy.

There is also the fact that our job here is to make a good impression, and assassinating someone influential as soon as possible probably isn't the best way to do that.

>>455376
We should test that out some time, take our gun to a range and fire an entire round off.