Board 8 > Labyrinth of Ishiene, Topic 2 [CYOA/Forum Game] [ITD8]

(+) Yeah! (+)

Fool came upon an epiphany [17]: Fool was bored because Fool had no purpose. Now Fool had a purpose, complete the quest that Knight Jefferson had started and this Mara plans to finish.

Fool will follow Sylvester and assist him if there is any danger.
---

Gl'thaggga will assist Carwen in dealing with the orange liquid. He has a tower shield that can probably block anything threatening. Maybe the sight of something like him using a tower shield will drive the orange liquid to briefly question their sanity. Maybe it would just be orange liquid. What was the deal with this place anyway?
---

John will assist Stunt in opening the green sliding doors, dusty broom ready if any conflict arrives.
---

IG-59's programming will direct him to assist Carwen and Sylvester in exploring the maintenance shaft after determining that the odds of survival are greater in groups and that the primary objective of this expedition is further in the dungeon.
---

Remulel, seeing that all paths are thoroughly covered, decides to instead attempt to initiate conversation with Mara.
---

(Why does IG think it's Carwen and Sylvester when it's Fool and Sylvester)
---

As IG-59 travels with the group an error screen will flash across his ocular receptors, apparently a member of the current party had been incorrectly labeled as 'Carwen'. Further analysis indicates that the being in question was indeed another robot like himself designated 'Fool'.

IG-59 disregarded the message, he didn't think it was imperative to be notified of every minor error that occurred within his programming.
---

Carwen goes to examine the strange machine.
There seems to be some kind of tank filled with biological matter.
The materials are swirling about in a disgusting orange fluid.

"This is nothing like the lab up above..." Carwen remarks out loud, to herself.
Short will come up beside Carwen, joining her.
"I don't think this is related to the Demon Souls at all."
"What the hell was that Cockroach doing down here...?"

Carwen goes to the very complicated looking device which the tank is mounted on.
She touches the control panel, running her hand on it, but doesn't press anything.
To her surprise... the panel reacts.
Merely swiping her hand across the surface causes some symbols to light up.

"This looks like it must have come from Satellite,"
Short says, in a voice of wonder.
"It's been a long time since I saw anything like this."

Satellite? Just where the hell was that?
Carwen had never heard of it.
It definitely was not on any map.
Maybe it was from before the world split in two?

Carwen let out a sigh. "What do you think is going on here?"

Short put his hand on the tank.
A moment later there was a BUMPing sound.
Something inside of the tank... pressed its hand against his.
Then its face drifts close to the glass.
It has gray flesh and bright orange eyes.
It stares at the Demon with an open mouthed grin.
"I think whatever is inside of this tank is pretty dangerous."
Short begins chewing on his fingernail.
He looks away from the tank with a distracted expression.
"So it wasn't a coincidence..." he mutters.

Joe goes over to the large door and investigates the bulbs there.
All three bulbs have not been turned on yet.
You get the feeling that the bulbs need to be activated in order to access this door.
There's an Orange Bulb, a Green Bulb, and a Red Bulb.
"Hmm..."
Joe looks around the room.
"Color coding. That is convenient."

Quovadis goes to the room with the glass wall which faces the Lift.
Y follows behind him, holding his Gold Plated Knife at the ready.
Together, they approach the side door which allows entry into this space.
Quovadis touches the handle and tries to slide the door open.
It sticks.
Clunk! Clunk clunk!
It seems to be on some kind of sliding track.
But something it stopping it from sliding.
Soft laughter comes from the other side of the door.
"Igi... gi gi gi...gigi...."
Y looks at Quovadis and shrugs.
Then, Y, without hesitation, will knock on the door.
"Sorry for the intrusion," he says in a totally deadpan voice.

"Get lost you scum. Intruders. Gi gigi."
You hear some noise inside of the room. It sounds like clattering of things being knocked over.
"If you try to enter this room I'll... gigi... I'll... I don't even know what I'll do!"

Quo and Y share a look.
Then, at once, they act together.
Quo grabs the handle in both hands and then jerks his body to the side.
With this amount of momentum he's able to pull the door off the track and slide it open quickly.
"Heavy-" he mutters through gritted teeth.
Some kind of mechanism seems to be trying to catch the door on the track again and pull it back shut.

Y dives through the open door with his knife pointed forward.
He rolls and then springs back to his feet.
Going in face first he was able to get a look around the room before fully comitting to his actions.
He saw the great cockroach standing behind a knocked over table with some kind of Ray Gun pointed right at him.
---

Quo runs through the door, parallel to the line of fire.
Y drops to his knees and slides forward, slamming into the table on the opposite side.

The enemy opens fire on Quo, who is strafing away from the barrel of the gun.
As such, it's impossible for him to hit Quo.
Of course, this is to be expected. Quo is an experienced Gunslinger.
Being able to fight another gunman at range like this was his area of expertise.
And, furthermore, the cockroach didn't even seem all that skilled at aiming or firing [3].

Meanwhile, Y will use this chance to roll over the table and drive his blade right into the thorax of the opponent [3].

"Gigi.. GACK!"

Blood and white pus begin to leak out of the opponent.
Then, he slumps down and goes limp.

The creature is wearing a badge that says "Assistant #1: Monitor Duty."

You look around the lab.
In here you see a Ray Gun.
You also find a Work Bench with some materials laid out on it.
Although the work bench is more like a cart since it can be rolled around the room as needed.
As predicted, the glass here is one sided.
You can actually look at the others who are outside of this room from in here.
The door has slid shut on its own again.
However, Quo finds a button on the inside which, when pressed, causes the door to slide open and remain open.

Y, before exiting the room, will also note a Strange Headset.
It's attached to the wall and ceiling, and it points outwards into the Lift Room.
Maybe if you put it on and look through it you can discover something?

Stunt attemps to open the Sliding Door.
John goes with the Droid in order to assist it.
Meeting Stunt was no coincidence, after all.
They'd have to work together to make any progress here.
"I've fought side by side with many Droids during the rebellion," John remarks.
"I think Fate must have brought us together in that Negative Zone."
Stunt says nothing and rolls over to the door quietly.
He was starting to think that this guy must be some kind of robo pervert.

Stunt extends his Application Probe and thinks about accessing the control panel.
With this he should be able to open the Sliding Door from this side.
However, that was a grave mistake. If he attempted it- [1].

"Hold on!" John reaches out a hand, stopping Stunt and holding him back [3].
"There's probably some kind of trap installed as a safeguard against tampering."
"The stuff in this SECRET LAB looks pretty advanced. I would be more surprised if there wasn't a trap."

Well, Stunt couldn't argue with that.
But he still found this guy annoying.

"We'll find another way in," John says.
For some reason he didn't feel so sad since coming here.
After all... this dimension was still full of life.
Purgatory might mean something like 'the place between life and death.'
But for John, who had been in a dead dimension for so long...

... even Purgatory felt like a Paradise.

Sylvester proceeds into the Maintanence Shaft.
Fool climbs down the shaft after Sylvester.
That guy looked pretty big. It was probably a good idea to stay near the big guy.
IG-59, rather than staying with John, decides to go with these guys instead.
Climbing down the maintanence shaft is difficult for him but not impossible.
Once at the bottom they begin exploring the maintanence area.

The hallways below have a strange kind of unfamiliar metal built into the walls.
There are also wide pipes with bolts deeply embedded into them.
Oddly, every so often, a bit of strange moisture will be released from the creases in the pipes.
'hiss'
---

Sylvester checks down the passages and finds that it's going to get a lot more complicated up ahead.
"It breaks. Multiple ways forward." He keeps it short and simple.

Gil floats over to where Carwen and Short are standing.
They seem to be discussing serious matters.
He bumps the tank with his Tower Shield.
At first, nothing happens.
Then...
There's a BUMP sound.
The orange-eyed creature floats over to where Gil is and starts tapping on the tank from the inside.
"L-e-t-m-e-o-u-t-" he seems to be saying with his eyes.

Remulel quietly watches the rest of the group disperse.
He stays near the entryway and waits for something of note to happen.
At that time, he notices that Mara Raiev hasn't really gone anywhere either.
He lets out a sigh.
Well it was either talk to her or make small talk with the Merchant.

"Mara," Rem will ask, "I guess I don't have much room to talk, but..."
"Some people would probably wonder why you remained hiding for so long."
"Don't you think you could have made a difference by joining the fight?"

Mara looks around at those who have already begun exploring.
Only her and Remulel decided to hang back and do things their own way.
In fact, it was because they were like this that they could even have the conversation.
"If I thought I could have helped I would have jumped in."
"You could say I was waiting for the right moment, but I just got unlucky."

"Unlucky?" Remulel inquires. "Most people would say 'the opportunity never presented itself.'"

Mara chuckles.
"Well, I was watching quietly from the shadows at that time..."
Mara thinks back.
"When the Gold Plated Bastard Sword arrived in the Compass Room."
"It looked like it was fishing around in every single nook and cranny."
"I think he was... probably searching for me, somehow."
"Like he thought if he attacked every possible angle there would be nowhere for me to hide."
"But I've fought Red Wizards before and I was able to see through this tactic."

Mara will continue her story,
"At that time, the Affixed Demons were killed. Short was mortally wounded."
"Do you know what I was thinking at that time? Do you know what I was doing?"
Mara gives Remulel a look.
He does not respond, because it was a rhetorical question.
She'll go on.
"I was standing on the tips of my toes, waiting to spring into action."
"Without a doubt that person would have come along to finish off Short."
"And while he was killing Short, I would have used this chance to kill him."

Mara shakes her head. "In that sense, I got unlucky."
"You see, someone came along and found Short first."
"They brought him to the Healing Pool to nurse him back to life."
"So I had to abandon my plan..."
"And then I got to thinking..."

"Mara..." Remulel said.

Mara just smiled about it though.
"I fully realized that I'm a terrible person."
"The natural thing to do would have been to try and save Short's life."
"Even a weird guy from another dimension with a glowing head could figure that out."
"But I only saw it as an opportunity to ambush the enemy."
---

Remulel hesitates.
"I don't know what to say to make you feel better, but,"
"There may come a time when we wish that you had killed that guy back then."
"Because we may not get another chance like that again."
"And the next time we meet him, we-..."
Remulel trailed off. He didn't even want to say it.
The next time they 'met' this guy they might not even meet him at all.
They might already be dead and not even know it yet.





[Player List]

Remulel, Lvl 15 Fighter [Crystal Cloak, Seeker's Sword]
Carwen, Lvl 15 Savant [Healing Wand (2)]
Gl'thaggga, Lvl 9 Oddity [Tower Shield]
Joe, Lvl 10 Young Man [Fire Chain Whip]
Quovadis, Lvl 11 Gunslinger [Grandma Sweater]
Y, Lvl 11 Neonite [Gold Knife]
John, Lvl 11 Rebel [Dusty Broom]
Stunt, Lvl 9 Junkbot [Neural Inhibitor, Bottled Djinn]
Sylvester, Lvl 9 Sea-Clops [Pick Axe]
Fool, Lvl 9 Tarot [Ice Hammer]
IG-59, Lvl 9 SPAM [Bubble (1)]

Mara Raiev: Decided to take charge of the Quest after all of the Knights died.
Short: A Demon who collected a fellow Demon's Soul to bring back home. Has the power of Combustion.
Cloaked Man: A Merchant who is inexplicably still alive even after all of this.

DEATH LIST (3):



Clarine has found a Ribbon Dress.
Ah, trying on a new Costume is always nice!
---

Stunt will give up on trying to open the sliding door, and instead investigate the coincidence.

After all, once is an accident.
Twice is a coincidence.
Three times is enemy action.

And two is distressingly close to three.
---

man Stunt's thoughts are distressingly close to exactly what Short is thinking right now
---

"Satellite eh? That's from before my time. Can you tell me a bit more about it Short?"

//There's a lot of investigation to be done! Fun times until something comes to ruin my fun.

//As a side note, I'm fully aware that from a metagaming standpoint, investigation is not the best set of moves for me. I'm high leveled and have healing, I'd be better off trying things that would level me up. However, I like investigating, and that's been Carwen's priority two from the very start. Priority one of course being to assist people when a battle breaks out. Well, most of the time at least.
---

Joe looks at the Strange Headset.
---

Quovadis inspects the work bench, which is no doubt laden with SECRET TECH.
---

Sylvester keeps it simple.

He sees passage L and investigates.
---

Gl'thaggga will help a person do a thing.
---

IG-59 will accompany Sylvester in exploring passage L.
---

Fool will continue following Sylvester, Fool decided to let fate determine how this will go. [12] Fool will defend these 2 if the hiss within the walls is hostile.
---

John, not wanting to to go into the secret lab alone, decides to assist IG-59 and Sylvester in exploring passage L.
---

Remulel, feeling Mara needs to distract herself from these negative thoughts, implores her to join him in exploring passage W.
---

@SovietOmega

since Rem is presumably getting assist for W want to have Gil assist Y in exploring the remaining passage (V)?
---

Sure
---

With knife at the ready, Y will pocket the Assistant Badge and head off to explore Passage V (assisting Gil)

tfw Clarine is still doing stuff and dat list
---

:Note:
I moved the Short conversations to the end of the update for dramatic effect,
but I still processed what happens in them at the start (it didn't affect anything anyway)
:Note:

Joe will step away from the main door and go to the observation room.
There was lots of stuff to investigate in here.
One of the things he notices is the strange headset mounted on the wall.
"Hm... cool."
He'll lean forward and press his face against it.
When he looks through the headset he sees a light green readout.
Oddly enough, looking through the glass pane, he can see details about the room on the other side.
It seems this door was sealed for MAXIMUM PRIVACY.
The "Head Researcher" is not to be disturbed unless the following conditions are met:

1. The orange pilot light activates. This indicates that the Proto-Fiend has finished development phase.
2. The green pilot light activates. This indicates that a full inventory of the Cold Storage has been completed by the lazy assistants.
3. The red pilot light activates. This indicates that the power reset in the underground generator has been activated.

It seems as if the red pilot light is more of a security measure than an objective.
To put it blunty, the Head Researcher only wants the door to be opened by one of his assistants.
For that reason he put an additional pilot light which requires a known objective to be cleared in order to open the door.
"Proto-Fiend?" Joe examines the orange tank.
He sees a Progress COMPLETE indicator. However, the pilot light still has not come online yet.
It seems that you need to access the control panel in order to let the processing unit know that the project is complete.
It won't complete on its own until someone tells it to complete.

While Joe is investigating that, Quo will go to the Work Bench.
Quovadis examines the tools which have been left here.
It seems this is a good place for designing and manufacturing items.
Someone who uses the Work Bench could probably create 1 Unique Item of a particular descriptor of their choosing.
There are enough materials here to create two items.
Quovadis, if he chooses, will always use the work bench before anyone else.
After that it's simply first come first serve.

Sylvester explores passage L
IG-59 joined Sylvester in exploring
Fool joined Sylvester in exploring
John joined Sylvester in exploring

As the group explores they notice there are tubes which are implanted in the walls.
They seem to form a network of smaller passages which run through this area.
Those will intersect the main passages at multiple places.
But the reality is that it's too small for any person here to fit in.
Certainly not Sylvester.
"Let us keep moving forward," the Sea-Clops beckons.

'hiss'

"I couldn't agree more," John will say in a simple manner.

'hiss'

IG-59 beeps nervously.
"What's wrong?" John asks.

'hiss'

WOOSH!

There's a burst of energy and gas from one of the side tubes, and the hall is flooded.
A corrosive mist erupts into the corridor.
Sylvester [3] manages to protect IG-59 [1] from danger at the last moment.
He throws his large body in front of the droid and protects it from all angles.
Fool, meanwhile, is in danger [1],
But John manages to wave the gas away with his dusty broom [3].
---

"I... don't think that was a coincidence," Fool notes.
John looks around. "No. A trap?"
"I do not believe it was a trap," Sylvester says.
He examines their surroundings again but it has grown silent.
However, if it was a trap, there did not seem to be any trigger.
A trap wouldn't simply go off on its own.
Rather, it was more like something had tried to kill them.

At the end of the passage they find a quiet respite.
This is a small warehouse where materials were unpacked and distributed.
There doesn't seem to be anything of particular value here.
Rather, it seems to be a place where the research assistant's would come to take breaks.

Sylvester happens to find a Racy Romance Novel that was left behind by one of the assistants.
It must have been sitting here for several years.

Gil looks for a person to assist, but that's a vague command
Remember that characters can execute a single, specific action every turn

Remulel will attempt to convince Mara to explore passage W with him
"... I'm not really into group projects," Mara will politely decline.
Instead, Mara goes to the observation room and checks the fallen enemy.
She finds the Ray Gun on the dead research assistant.
Since no one else bothered to take it, Mara will begin practicing with the gun.
An energy weapon would prove very valuable in certain circumstances.
She'll aim it at odd knick knacks assembled on the shelves and walls, attempting to blast them to bits.
Her accuracy could use some work but ... she was getting better quickly.

Meanwhile, Remulel will have no choice but ot go off and explore W on his own.
On the way there he is ambushed and assaulted by some corrosive mists.
The best he can manage to do is drop and cover himself with the Crystal Cloak,
but the adornment ends up being melted off of him in the process.
It would be fair to complain that the damn cloak was 'useless' for being destroyed so easily.
But, rather, he's thinking that it saved his life.
And he's beginning to wonder what could melt through even a magical cloak so easily...?

Either way, Remulel will go and find a sleeping area.
It does not seem like a dorm, but rather a place where one person might go to rest while working a long shift.
Checking around the room there are some odds and ends here,
But he is probably most curious as to what might be under the bed.

Y offers to explore passage Y with Gil
Gil accepts the offer and goes off to explore passage Y

Y will loot the Assistant's Badge
Y wants to go and explore passage Y, but he can only perform one action per turn
Remember that characters can execute a single, specific action every turn

As such, Gil will go off to explore Passage Y on his own.
Gil's extradimensional instinct flare up and he suddenly turns around to defend himself.
At that time, Ammon, a Primal Elemental, appears in the passage behind him.
The enemy floods the area with corrosive gas and attempts to vaporize him.
Gil is able to raise the Tower Shield and block the incoming attack while retreating.
However, by the end of the assault, he has been backed into a corner and his Tower Shield has completely melted [1]!

Gil realizes that he is in a dead end passageway.
To be more precise, he's at the end of a hallway that leads to a specific door.
This door seems to require a keycard.

"I have no choice but to begin my counter assault," Gil is thinking.
He wonders if he would be any match for this kind of enemy.
However, before he can even think about attacking, the enemy abandons its corporeal form.
It turns into a mist and vanishes into the network of vents that intersect the main passages.
---

Stunt rolls over to the place where Short and Carwen were talking.
Short seems to be mumbling to himself.
For that reason, Stunt eavesdrops.

"That guy up above said something about how he was designed to destroy the human race."
"I thought maybe he was just insane. But it seems like that really was their goal."
"It can't be a coincidence that a Proto-Fiend was brought here from Satellite..."
"When those things were responsible for-"

"Um, Short," Carwen will interrupt. "You mentioned something about Satellite."
"I haven't seen that on any map before. Could you tell me about it?"

"Oh yeah, you wouldn't see it on a map," Short tells her.
He snaps out of his trance and goes back to his normal way of talking.
"Satellite isn't on Pangaia."

"You mean it's on a different continent?" Carwen asks. "Like one we didn't know about?"
Of course that would have been before Pangaia split into Esland and Arland.
But obviously that would mean there was a third continent called-

"No, no." Short looks somewhat exasperated. "Satellite wasn't on this planet."
"It was a place the Humans used to go to. A long time ago."

"Y-You're kidding me."
Carwen stares at him in disbelief.
"You're saying that Humans went into space?"

"Sure, they used to go all the time," Short told her.
"But they never brought any Demons up there with them."
"After a while something happened on Satellite."
"You know how our world is populated by monsters and stuff like that?"

Carwen nods.

Short nods in return. "Those Fiends were created on Satellite."
"It seems like they destroyed that place,"
"Then came to Pangaia and wiped out human civilization."
"That time was known as-"

"The Age of Fiends," Carwen quickly covers.

Short seems to agree with her.
"Human society has never really fully recovered since then."
"Fiends ruled the planet for a long time. Then Demons."
"Then there was the first war against the Cosmics,"
"The world being split in half,"
"Wars between Arland and Esland,"
"And now the Fairies have invaded."

"It's basically been constant strife ever since that time."

Carwen looks at the gray creature swimming around in the tank.
It looks very eager to be let out.
It starts bumping into the tank with a powerful tackle.
"Almost like Humans from Satellite were being punished."
"But should we really suffer for the sins they commited so long ago?"
"Should we-"

Short doesn't seem too interested in the conversation Carwen is having.
"Interesting. Heh heh... Wow. I never thought I'd see one of these again."
His eyes seem to be almost sparkling somewhat.
His hand, though shaking with anticipation, extends toward the control panel.
"This is super fucking interesting. Hahahah."

Short touches the panel.
There's a loud beep.

A Proto Fiend has been released

"SHORT! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" Mara yells from inside of the observation room.
She comes running out with the Ray Gun ready.

Short looks at Mara.
"Isn't it obvious?"
"I'm releasing what is known as 'ultimate weapon.'"

Mara points the Ray Gun at Short.
"Turn it off. Now."
---

Short shakes his head. "You know it's too late for that."
He'll back away from the tank as the lid peels back.

Slowly, from out of the orange fluid, a creature rises.
This thing was built by Humans in order to be a slave to Humans.
And, in the end, this kind of slave was capable of overthrowing Human society.
Maybe he was alone now...
Maybe the Age of Fiends had passed long ago...

But... For some reason... He couldn't help but smile.
This Proto Fiend felt like he could at least do something spectacular.
It was time to stretch his legs.
Time again to feel the cool air on his skin.
Red lights begin to flicker from beneath the pores on his arms and shoulders.
His eyes hold a gentle glow, but it does not match his true nature.
At that time he was thinking of exactly one thing;
Tear. Destroy. Break.
Find the thing directly in front of him.
And erase it from existence.

The orange pilot light turns on.





[Player List]

Carwen, Lvl 15 Savant [Healing Wand (2)]
Joe, Lvl 10 Young Man [Fire Chain Whip]
Quovadis, Lvl 11 Gunslinger [Grandma Sweater]
Y, Lvl 11 Neonite [Gold Knife, Assistant Badge]
Stunt, Lvl 10 Junkbot [Neural Inhibitor, Bottled Djinn]

Remulel, Lvl 15 Fighter [Seeker's Sword]
Gl'thaggga, Lvl 9 Oddity
John, Lvl 12 Rebel [Dusty Broom]
Sylvester, Lvl 10 Sea-Clops [Pick Axe, Racy Romance Novel]
Fool, Lvl 9 Tarot [Ice Hammer]
IG-59, Lvl 9 SPAM [Bubble (1)]

Mara Raiev: Decided to take charge of the Quest after all of the Knights died.
Short: A Demon who collected a fellow Demon's Soul to bring back home. Has the power of Combustion.
Cloaked Man: A Merchant who is inexplicably still alive even after all of this.

DEATH LIST (3):



Note: Moving through the Maintanence Shaft area will subject you to suprise attacks from Ammon.
Be sure to factor this into your decisions while planning your next moves.
---

Sylvester will leaf through the racy romance novels for any illustration of sexy sea clops babes..
---

Think now might be a good time to use that Neural Inhibitor on the monster thing?

As for Ammon anyone think that the Bubble might be able to trap em while they are in gas mode?
---

Remulel, hoping to find something of use, checks under the bed.
---

This dimension is too weird for Gl'thaggga. He opens a portal and returns home.
---

[6] Fool realizes that the pipes that Fool saw within the walls were spraying this gas and Fool knew of a foolish way to prevent the gas. Fool swings Fool's ice hammer at the pipe in the lounge room from the side of it in an attempt to freeze the entire pipe line.
---

Joe fights the Proto-Fiend if need be.
---

does Joe use his weapon?
---

if need be

obv
---

Joe uses his weapon.
---

Carwen will have to finish her conversation with Short another time. Carwen will assist Joe in defeating the Proto-Fiend
---

Pirateking2000 posted...

Think now might be a good time to use that Neural Inhibitor on the monster thing?

This was my first thought as well.


Stunt will use the Neural Inhibitor in hopes of subduing the Proto-Fiend with it.
---

Joe wishes to act after Stunt.
---

Y, Stunt, Short, Carwen, Quo, (Proto Fiend), Mara Raiev, Joe

(upstairs group)
---

I can picture Carwen standing in front of a classroom now, haha.

Secretly, the only reason Carwen came here was to gather data for her thesis.
---

Figuring the monster won't make it easy,

Y will assist Stunt against the Proto Fiend
---

John will find and take cover against any adverse affects Fool smashing the pipe might have.
---

IG-59, expecting the primal elemental to come through the pipe once Fool busts it, will prepare to attack the elemental if it shows up.
---

Quovadis hears a loud beep. He looks outside and sees the Proto Fiend.

He looks down at the work bench and sees all kinds of sweet gun-making materials.

Quovadis will assist in fighting the Proto Fiend...by making himself a really sweet gun to use against the Proto Fiend.
---

THUMP

Joe felt his heart beat against the inside of his chest.

THUMP

He closed his eyes for just a moment, and he was home again.

He could tell that when he opened them time was going to move forward.
That's because he had been blinking.
He had just been blinking and he stopped.
Or it felt more like time stopped.
And once his eyelids opened... the brief period of peace would be over.

Growing up underground was not easy. It was never easy.
Not for anyone. But...
Things had been okay. For Joe, he felt, he was able to enjoy his life.
Even if it had been that kind of life it was better than being dead.
Maybe being born into such a shitty world had forced him to appreciate what little he had.
Amazingly, there was some fertile soil in the ceilings of some of the low caverns.
They were able to shine Mana Lights on these and feed water from the deep reservoirs.
That was enough to grow vegetables underground.
Apparently it was odd to see sprouts growing from the ceiling above them,
Rather than from the ground below.
But Joe had never walked in that world from before.
He'd never stood out there beneath the sun,
Felt the dirt beneath his feet,
and looked up at the trees.

Would he get to see it now?
If he opened his eyes would he get to see it now...?

THUMP

An arm smashed into the one-sided glass, cracking it.
Bone and blood jutted out and splattered along the surface.
Staining it forever with that memory of broken limbs.
The Proto Fiend had vaulted, in an instant, out of the tank and to the far side of the room.
He was near the bolted frame in the floor, just by the lift.
His arm was extended and his fist clenched. Extended outward.
Carwen was knocked into the ceiling.
Her spine snapped in half.
She bounced into the ground.
Her neck broke.
The concussive force sent her reeling and soaring into the air again.
She struck the wall on the opposite side of where the lift was,
And then finally slid down the wall, coming to rest, leaving a trail of blood in her wake [4-2].

It was like watching a slug climb down the side of the tree.

Joe wished he hadn't opened his eyes.

"Fast!" Mara cried out. Half in marvel, half in terror.
The damn monster had acted before they even had time to do anything!
Was it going to strike again?
How soon...?
No -- How often?
That was an even more frightening question.

Meanwhile, down in the maintenance area, there were some members who were having a more relaxing time.
Sylvester took the Racy Romance Novel and sat down to begin reading it.

"... Hey." Fool piped in. "Don't you think you should be more worried?"
"There's something dangerous out there," Fool reminded him.

Sylvester looked up from the pages for a moment.
He had a deep, thoughtful expression on his face.
His single eye blinked.
Then, at once, he imparted some wisdom upon the Fool;
"It's out there. Not in here."
He went back to reading his novel.

Remulel begins searching the sleeping area more thoroughly.
Underneath the bed he finds a few things of note.
One of them is a pack of breath mints.
Thinking that his breath might stink after exploring a dungeon for a while, he decides to take one.
Secondly, he finds the second Assistant's Badge.
There is a Key Card attached which can probably be used to open the security door in the Maintenance Area.

Gil is worried about trying to move through these dangerous passageways again.
Deciding it's better to flee than to fight, he attempts to phase into another Dimension.
Gil phases through the Dimensional planes.
He's unable to access the space between Dimensions, which is reserved for Devils.
---

--

But that doesn't matter.
With his shifting powers he is still able to find his way back home [3].
The fact that beings in that other world had opened an odd gate had drawn his attention.
But honestly, that place was way too dangerous.
Better to return home, where it was safe, at least for a while.

Gil has arrived in Est.
Here, his phase changes, and he's able to restructure his body.
It's a more suitable place for his kind anyway.
He can move more freely without the need for a solid body.
Gil finds a moisture trail and drifts through it, cleaning himself of all contaminants that he picked up while traveling.
There are also some other cute dimensional hoppers bathing here.
It's not considered odd for mixed bathing to occur, but,
being honest, Gil always felt like he was checking girls out whenever he came to this place.
That probably wasn't normal for his kind.

Ah, no. He'd always been different from others after all.
Seeing the configuration of their molecules while they uninhibited themselves really got his... his what?
He wanted to say it got his blood pumping, but he didn't have any blood in this form.
Gil was starting to miss that other Dimension already.
Est was nice and all but he really didn't belong here.

Gil takes some time to gather energy and infuse himself with magic so that he'll be able to fight.
It seemed there was at least some types of magic which worked in that other dimension.
He'll go to visit his master, Quorlllll'omham, and spend a few decades learning new cantrips and such.
Luckily, the flow of time between dimensions is asychronous.
By the time he returns barely any time has passed at all in Purgatory!

Since the Maintenance Shaft was dangerous, Gil decides to return to the Lift Room.

A Portal to Est has been established in the Lift Room

Emerging, however, Gil finds... there is another deadly battle taking place up here.
"Oh my... well, I suppose this is passion and danger. Those are things I would never experience back home."

Gil's class has changed to Traveler

Energy begins to crackle inside of Gil.
Perhaps it was time to use what he had learned...?

Fool readies his Ice Hammer.
He was getting exasperated with the antics of that Sea-Clops.
If someone here was going to do something about that Elemental it would have to be him.
"I should be able to phase shift the opponent if I can lower the temperature enough..."
Fool seems to be speculating some things to himself.
But, ultimately, practice is more effective than theory.

In the end he simply steps forth and swings his weapon!

!Crackle Crackle!

The hammer knocks against the pipe, and then ice magic is infused into the metal lining.
Extreme cold begins to run through the entire network, flash freezing it!
Ammon is just able to outrace the incoming elemental attack and free himself from a different pipe.
He emerges into the corridor, not damaged from the attack [2].
However, now he won't be able to retreat into the walls or surprise attack the party anymore.
This could be the time to face him head on!

Short turned his head to the side, glancing over his shoulder.
"No way... he just..."
Even the Demon's eyes had gone completely wide.
It had been thousands of years.
Maybe he had just forgotten how strong these things were.
Because-... that Carwen-.... she had just... been killed... in an instant....
Short felt a weird pain in his chest.
He never cared about Humans before.
But he felt sort of guilty now.
Maybe he shouldn't have done that?

Joe peeks out from the doorway behind the one way glass.
He's watching quietly from here.
He wants to help but he's so scared he can't move.
His body is completely frozen.
---

However, there is one here who can act!
Stunt, a Robot, is incapable of feeling fear.
The Robot plunges ahead, charging at the enemy, and prepares the Neural Inhibitor.
If he can get close enough to attack the Proto Fiend with this he may be able to slow it down!

Y, never one to run away from a fight, dashes out into the Lift Room.
Stunt would have a better chance if someone helped him out.
For that reason he'll dive across the room and try to tackle the Proto Fiend.
All he could think to do was hold it in place... even if it meant putting himself at risk!

THUMP

A single blink was all it took.

THUMP

There was a loud crash as machine parts were bursted to bits.
The lower half of the junk bot snapped off, and his frame clattered over.
It rolled across the ground and smashed into the opposite wall.
Joe hadn't even seen what kind of attack had been used to fell the robot,
but there was no doubt that Stunt had just been TRASHED [1]!

[Note: Stunt will not be able to do anything until someone spends an action repairing him.]

The Proto Fiend, apparently having cleared the tackle with a jump, thrusts his foot downward.
His heel smashes into Y's neck and pushes the neonite's face into the ground.
CRUNCH!
Y's face breaks against the floor and he lets out a pathetic whine.

Proto Fiend raises his arm and prepares to deliver the killing blow [1].

There's a CRACKING sound as the fire chain whip strikes!
Joe, having run out to help, attacks the opponent.
The coiled chain wraps around the arm of the enemy.
Each fragmented section of metal begins to burn RED HOT.
With this much power... with this much... surely he'd be able to-!!!

THUMP!

The Proto Fiend steps back and tugs roughly on the Fire Chain Whip with a single jerking motion.
Joe, who was holding onto the whip, is tossed into the air.
Joe slams into the wall and goes limp [1].

Y and Joe are currently in CRITICAL condition.
They will die on the following turn if:
1. Proto Fiend is still alive at the end of the turn
2. They attempt a dangerous action and roll any result other than a 3

The CRITICAL condition may, however, be mitigated with healing

Mara knew there was no running or hiding from this thing.
The very next step she took would be her last.
In the blink of an eye it could reach her, it could rip off her head, it could delete her from existence.
This Proto Fiend was not to be taken lightly.
She had already raised the Ray Gun and pointed it at Short.
And it felt like that asshole still needed to be punished.
But her instinct as a living creature was crying out now.
There was something far more dangerous in the room.
First her eyes slid to the side.
Then, one of them closed.
Then her arm followed. Steady and straight. It swung that way.
With a snapping motion she pulled the trigger.
She couldn't hesitate. Couldn't even take the time to aim.
All she could rely on was her instinct.
If she delayed even for a moment she was dead.
If she missed she was dead.
She was dead.
She was just dead.
No matter what happened she was dead.
That was the entire story.

"EEEAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

Mara screamed, emptying everything from her lungs.

All of her anxiety, all of her anger, all of the fear and sorrow.
The walls seemed to absorb her negative energy, welcoming it, vibrating.
Or maybe that was just her head. It was pounding now.
With pain and distortion.
The world seemed so different and so unfair now.
---