Session Start: Mon Jan 28 16:57:25 2008 Session Ident: #VCB [19:27:51] * Vice City Blues. [19:29:07] * Noah, Navi, and Tetsuko, having tired of being hunted, hiding, and on the run, have come to the decision to take the fight to the apparent master of the city - The Core. [19:30:36] * Cutting through the depressing aura of doom surrounding them, they've been shown that they're on the right track, and that there's someone on their way. [19:31:40] * The tram has been stopped cold, and there's a masked man standing in front of them, semingly unaffected by the aura of doom and despair that permeates the air, a shining weapon bared. [19:31:44] * Session Start. 06[19:34:28] * Noah stands at the front of the tram, staring down at the figure, a golden youth practically glowing with hope. 06[19:36:15] * ManInMask isn't there - he's to Noah's left, whispering deeply in his left ear, "You have a chance-" then it's coming from the right - "before I cut you" - the whsiper flows uninterupted into the left ear again - "all down." [19:36:34] So... what're the odds we gotta kill this thing, take his stuff, then use it to bust up the core who is probably some insane AI that nerve-gassed everything here in some insane experiment while some evil-stuff happene- Oh for fuck's sake. [19:36:38] Then he's back where he was, and says, plainly, "Though you won't get away." 06[19:36:57] * Tetsuko stands at Noah's side. "Diverting power from life simulation. Full combat mode activating..." [19:37:14] It's about time, let me tell you. [19:37:51] Let's see... get cut down or go home crying like some emo-kid. Look, sorry, I don't post on LJ. 06[19:39:56] * Tetsuko stops breathing. And blinking. The effect is subtle, but she looks a bit less alive. 06[19:40:29] * Tetsuko steps off the tram. 06[19:41:15] * Noah tilts his head to the side. "I am sorry I cannot save you, as well," he says in whatever direction the masked man is hovering at the moment. He follows Tetsuko off the tram, trying to look cool and calm. His hands shake just a bit, though, at his sides. 06[19:42:35] * Navi flies off and sticks near Tetsuko and Noah. "Blah blah blah." She snaps her fingers and a surge of electricity envelops her for a split second, crackling off. 06[19:44:23] * WomanInBlack steps off, quietly, merely readying the duster Tetsuko lent her. 06[19:46:03] * ManInMask just stands there, radiating power, the mask shaking voilently, still trying to get away from the face it's attached to. He cuts througthe air withthe white blade that's in place of an arm. [19:46:26] Fancy trick you got there. 06[19:49:09] * Tetsuko charges at the masked man. 06[19:50:29] * Tetsuko raises her right arm and swings her hand at the masked man in a chopping motion. 06[19:52:36] * ManInMask steps back, but not fast enough. Tetsuko's attack passes harmlessly through him, though, like he's not there. 06[19:53:21] * Tetsuko pauses. The expression on her face doesn't change. 06[19:56:27] * WomanInBlack says, softlym "That's the evolution. You're not a servant with a tool. You are the tool now." [19:57:43] Oh, -is- he, now? *grins* 06[19:59:34] * Navi claps her hands together, electricity cackling as she arcs electricity from one hand to another as she spreads them. The charge spreads as she motions her hand up as a deluge of electricity comes from above and strikes where it's standing, having no effect other than scorching the ground beneath him. "Well, that's annoying." 06[20:00:17] * ManInMask just starts laughing, long, echoy laughs that echo all about. 06[20:00:43] * Navi vanishes from sight. 06[20:00:45] * WomanInBlack refrains from attacking, merely taking a bead on him. "This is a fools assault!" 06[20:02:16] * Tetsuko stays alert of the situation and gauges the masked man's actions carefully. [20:02:53] So it seems. But what else can we do? 06[20:15:09] * Noah leaps at the guy, as if going for a grab, but then just... steps into the same space. "How about I try to see things from your perspective, masked boy?" he asks, just sort of being overlapped by the masked man's body, trying half-heartedly to look out through the mask. 06[20:18:24] * ManInMask 's echo-y laughing suddenly cuts off, as he notes Noah's presence. Then he chuckles - and dissapears. He reappears instantly, stabbing through the space where Tetsuko's torso was a hair of a breath ago. [20:20:11] ...okay, I am not sure I can do that. 06[20:20:26] * ManInMask cackles, in that mono-left-right speech, and says, "The traitor" "has it" "right. A fools" "assault if" "you refuse to" "use the" "weapons you" "brought!" 06[20:26:41] * WomanInBlack fires off a shot from the duster gun. It passes through the Masked Man, harmlessly. "If you're going to fight, FIGHT!" She sounds more than a little panicked. [20:27:22] Sorry, still not used to these. Can I teleport, Petronella? 06[20:27:53] * Tetsuko remains alert and agile.. [20:28:50] You can control the reality! You can fly! Teleport! Make the earth bend to your whim! [20:29:39] And so can he! [20:30:05] Ah. 06[20:31:07] * Noah steps into him aga--wait, no, he's not stepping all the way in, and he's holding his pocket knife. As his hand enters the rough area of the masked man's left torso, with his pocket knife open, Noah becomes REAL. 06[20:40:18] * ManInMask turns around - Noah, and his knife, stuck inside him, have no choice but to follow the turn. The surroundings suddenly jet-black, the walls swirling black and red, the ground becoming a 2-foot deep, thick, boggy, swamp, and the cieling raining snakes with the heads of human children, and spikes jabbing up from the gruond with alarming speed, forming a small maze. The tram vanishes completely. 06[20:50:57] * ManInMask casually stabs backwards, to impale the ragdoll swinging with him. The blast of lightning just barely nicks it - and is cut by the blade, splitting off left and right in two seperate crackling arcs. It's enough of a pause, though, that Noah *somehow* falls the right way to not get stabbed. [20:51:23] (the blast of lightning from Navi) 06[20:56:10] * Tetsuko becomes [real] as she steps forward, ready to fight again. An EM wave pulses from her mechanical heart, wiping away the macabre scenery and replacing it with a sterile lab environment. Paper targets and various firearms can be seen, neatly stacked against the walls. 06[20:57:12] * Tetsuko strikes at the man, landing a pair of lightning-fast blows augmented by her mechanical strength 06[20:58:09] * Tetsuko follows up with a solid kick. 06[20:59:15] * ManInMask is buffeted lightly by the series of impacts. They have an effect, but not near as much as Tetsuko's combat data is telling her they should have. 06[21:01:39] * Tetsuko "speaks". Her lips don't move, and it's not her usual voice. It's deadpan and mechanical, striaght to the point, and possibly prerecorded. "Target is armored." 06[21:03:10] * Navi calls from nowhere. "Understood, sending assistance..." She causes a brief electrical surge to shock the surrounding area and Noah and Tetsuko can suddenly feel a strong sense of power emenating from their bodies that causes the air around them to cackle with o-zone and hair to stand on-end. 06[21:03:19] * WomanInBlack stays back, lining up another shot with the duster gun, holding her fire, with Noah still attached. 06[21:07:18] * Tetsuko strikes with the edge of her hand immediately after the electrical boost. She aims fo rhte mask. 06[21:10:04] * Tetsuko strikes with the edge of her hand. Then strikes again with the palm. And a third time with a clenched fist. 06[21:11:11] * ManInMask HOWLS, as Tatsuko's expert strikes land about it's head, mask, and the chains thereof. The whole things collects the electrical sparking, racing around - and then the mask shatters. 06[21:11:43] * Noah ducks his head a bit, dodging the shrapnel as best he can. [21:12:59] There's a black empty void where a face should be - and then, instead of just one Masekd Man, there's a crowd of them. They all seem similiar, like they're imperfect copies of one another, and they're all sporting an empty void of a face, and an armo that turns into a white blade. [21:13:40] The sense of overwhelming power of one is gone, but now there's many. Roughly a dozen. [21:14:21] Okay, are you still the real one? *asked of the one Noah's clinging to* 06[21:14:49] * ManInMask 's original body is lying there, limp. [21:16:01] Craaaaaaaaaaaaaap. [21:16:42] ...never mind. Alright, let's try this. 06[21:19:17] * Noah concentrates, and the lab becomes a pristinely white hall of a sanitarium, with each of the dozen merely-real void-faces in a private padded cell. The tram may be gone, but it has been replaced by a comfy-looking golf cart big enoguh to carry the party. "Let's get to the Core. These are not the tool any longer." 06[21:20:27] * Noah scoops up the largest remnant of the chains that held the mask that he can find. [21:20:43] * There's a humming, tearing, howling sound of a dozen reality-cutting blades cutting through the cells all at once. [21:21:07] ...well, damn. I hoped those were as fake as they were. 06[21:22:03] * Navi flies after Noah. "Hurry hurry, I don't like the sound of that." 06[21:22:28] * Noah gestures, and a dozen Noahs appear, one in front of each badguy, and grab for the arms just above where they become blades. "Working on it! These can be fought with the bracers!" [21:23:55] You say they're not as real? Hahahahahaha. [21:24:58] The blades are still too real to deal with. But the -guys- are 'only' real, not super-real! 06[21:27:25] * Navi stays invisible and bitchlaughs, then stops suddenly. "I need some cake. Cake after we kill the core." All the Noahs suddenly gain that electric feel that the previous ones had. "Now punch them out!" [21:28:10] * The sudden sub-real army of Noahs wrestle with the armada of unidentical copies of what's left of the Masked Enforcer. It's short, brutal, and after a moment, there's only one Void left, the rest having been stabbed with their own weapons. [21:28:58] ...wow, I'm my own football team! 06[21:29:54] * WomanInBlack shoots the last one with the duster gun. The last void has time to shriek out an ear-wrenching death howl, before it falls over, silent and still. 06[21:30:22] * Noah carefully checks the last body, looking to see if the blade is still there. 06[21:30:35] * Navi flexes as the charge lifts and converges back to one point before vanishing in a flash. [21:30:52] * The blade of last one shimmers away, revealing a noraml (and still) arm in it's place. [21:31:12] Thanks a lot, girls. 06[21:31:33] * Tetsuko "speaks" again. "objective achieved" [21:31:38] You owe me, and I plan to take payment later, if you know what I mean. ~_^ 06[21:32:03] * Navi knocks onto Tetsuko's head. "You can snap out of it now." 06[21:32:15] * Noah blushes deep red. "I, um, think I do, yeah." 06[21:32:16] * WomanInBlack pauses. "You are beginning to understand, Noah." [21:32:40] *nod* I'm trying, at least. 06[21:32:41] * Tetsuko slowly begins breathing again. "Excellent work." 06[21:33:04] * Noah 's dopplegangers look at each other. "So, um, what do we do now?" one asks. 06[21:33:15] * WomanInBlack frowns. "It will be back. I do not know how soon." [21:33:34] Let's get to the core. You can change reality so we can get to the core faster, right? [21:34:24] Let's see! 06[21:34:46] * WomanInBlack frowns. 06[21:35:07] * Navi looks at the womaninblack. "You like to frown or is something more wrong than that?" [21:35:16] I am unsure. [21:35:33] I do not think the Core can be bested. 06[21:35:35] * Noah tries to sense the direction and distance to the Core. [21:35:47] But you have proven me wrong previously. [21:35:48] Well, it can't turn off the bracers, or it would have already. [21:36:20] * The Core is easy to sense. Just head for the source of the feeling of doom, and dread. [21:36:29] Always unsure! Kick reason to the curb and do the impossable! [21:37:43] Hmmm. [21:37:46] We also need a giant drill. 06[21:38:35] * Noah shivers. "Alright, me's, feel that sense of doom? I want you to ignore it! That goes for you girls, too, Navi, Petronella, and Tetsuko. We're going to win, and we all know it!" he says, in spite of the Core's forboding aura. The Noah clones each throw a fist in the air and cheer! [21:40:34] Hahaha, if I listened to Dr. Doom, I never woulda finished reading those comics. 06[21:40:35] * WomanInBlack grins, despite herself. [21:41:22] Also, can you feel that doom? 06[21:41:27] * Navi pokes at Tetsuko. 01[21:42:16] I feel... something. I am not used to emotion, but I could say it's unpleasant. 06[21:43:28] * Noah impulsively walks over to Tetsuko and gives her a big ol' kiss. Two of his clones flank Petronella and peck her on either cheek, and a tiny fairy-Noah in a football jersey appears next to Navi, swooping her into a kiss of her own. The remaining clones hollar incouragingly. 06[21:43:46] * Navi lets herself be wooed. 06[21:44:08] * WomanInBlack closes her eyes, and smiles softly. 06[21:44:41] * Tetsuko returns the kiss. 06[21:45:35] * Noah melts a bit before remembering himself and the business at hand. He steps back, grinning foolishly. "For luck," he says with a wink. The Noah clones are more leering than embarassed, and the fairy-Noah looks downright amused. [21:47:55] *clears throat* Alright. We ready? 06[21:47:56] * Navi grins and embraces the fairy-Noah. "Let's go!" 01[21:48:26] I am ready. 06[21:48:36] * Noah the fairy grins and holds his fairy-girl! ^_^_v [21:49:02] Alright! Here goes nothing! 06[21:52:15] * Noah holds his bracer-wearing arm up over his head, and suddenly the whole world shifts. A brief moment of what might have been sun and a cheering crowd is smothered by...whatever lies in the place to which Noah has brought everybody. [21:54:15] * A blink, you're in the firing range that Tetsuko created. A blink, you're not. Your brains tells you this is just another section of the subways... (more) [21:54:58] * ... with a huge, nebulous mass of flesh that ... whatever it is, it's alive, overhwelmingly so, and malignant. [21:56:01] * And then there's nothing but black. No sound, no light, even the sense of the air against the skin overwrote, save for faint nimbus' of light surrounding Tetsuko, Noah, Navi, and the Woman in Black, painting them against a void. 03[21:56:21] * ManInMask is now known as TheCore [21:56:46] I feel like I'm in a video game and the game designers just decided to make everything black so they don't have to program what it looks like. [21:57:05] I was -trying- for a Roman Collesium. *pouts* [21:57:31] * The light around The Woman in Black lights up, accentuating her above the others. [21:57:44] What.... [21:58:08] ... n- 06[21:58:14] * Tetsuko rushes to her side 06[21:58:28] * WomanInBlack suddenly freezes. 06[21:58:36] * Noah holds his hand out towards her, concentrating with his Bracer on keeping her...her. 06[21:58:45] * Tetsuko does the same. [21:59:21] Petronella! You're YOU, don't let it trick you. 06[22:01:29] * Navi looks carefully at Petronella. [22:02:02] * Theres a momentary battle of wills - a pair of armlets, glowing darkly black, half-mataerialize on Petronella's arm, before Noah wins out, and they fade, leaving Petronella her. 06[22:02:45] * WomanInBlack resumes breathing, eyes wide with shock, and fear. [22:03:39] ~YOU RESIST~ [22:03:49] ~BUT I SHALL RECLAIM HER~ 06[22:03:51] * Noah somehow splits into two without separating, simultaneously at the Core and looking with joy and relief at Petronella. "She is no longer yours. Release us before we destroy you." [22:04:01] ((simultaneously glaring at the Core)) 06[22:04:59] * Navi throws some sparks. "I dunno, I was thinking we'd destroy it anyways." [22:05:31] Well, yeah, but we don't -tell- it that. [22:05:33] * Points of light softly illuminate. Forming out of the darkness is a circle of red, a circle of green, and a circle of white, revealing three Enforcers - two intimately familiar, that you've faced before. [22:07:12] * They all blaze to life, with the now familiar reality-cutting blades. [22:07:17] * Session End Session Close: Tue Jan 29 00:00:01 2008