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It was inevitable

15 (42.9%)

Winners don't do drugs

6 (17.1%)

I'll be back

2 (5.7%)

Drink the Kool Aid

6 (17.1%)

Groovy

3 (8.6%)

Insane in the membrane

3 (8.6%)

Total Members Voted: 35

[Parisbre56]

<Hi D. You feeling okay? You seemed really tired yesterday.>

<I'm better than OK. I'm purrfect!> For some reason, you can't help imagining him raising his first towards the sky as he says that.
<I was just tired from the transfer yesterday. My gifts and his are kinda opposites and he didn't really give me any energy to go, so it wasn't very pleasant. But with the help you provided, with our bond so stronger now, I'm feeling great! Much better than before!>

His tone momentarily shifts to something more serious, his usually rapid speech becoming slower.
<Thanks for helping me, by the way. And for doing something so personal as to bond with me.> he says, his words accompanied by a surge of affection in your link and a warm feeling inside you.
<I mean, really, I feel like I should apologize. I usually take girls out on at least one date before we get this close.> he immediately adds with a small laugh.

[Lenglon]

<Hehe.>
it's convenient that I'm in full-fox-form right now, I don't need to hide facial expressions or anything else like that that might reveal our internal conversation.
<A bond's formative moments are always very important, and I kinda... I'm wired to care about my links. The fact that I consciously want to help you on top of that makes things easy.>
I gently rub my link to him, showing my affection back.
<Just having a link again is really nice. You have no idea how it felt to be so numb for so long.>
I pause for a bit, glancing around without bothering to actually stand up, and giving D a chance to respond.
<Your gift and River's are near opposites? does that make your gift related to my flames?>
I need to learn everything I can about Bond-Formers. There's so many Bond-Former Entities I need to investigate, on top of a bond-former being our assassination target, and with such an overwhelming powerset available to them, I need to understand how their abilities originate and what capabilities are derived from what. Anything I can use to disable, avoid, capture, kill, interrogate, blackmail, or weaponize in any way, shape, or form. Even if it just lets me supercharge allied Bond-Formers like D or River, could be critical. Every little bit, every time they explain themselves and give just one or two extra details, helps. Even if I end up asking the same question five different times in slightly different ways. It's all useful. Especially with how their Bond is similar to my links, and things that affect one of us might affect the other...
<You said before that Bond-formers could originate from anything, be it a creature or a material or a concept. In the case of conceptual or material Bond-Formers, is there any kind of standardized body or form they take? Do they even have a kill-able body?>

[Execute/Dumbo.exe]

Edit:((Ignore me, I'm just tired.))

[Harry Baldman]

Campaign, Ike!

"What a day."

Return to group. Avail myself of Alan's marshmallows, no cooking required.

"Right, I think someone marched past us in the night. Well, early morning. Shall we eat and get moving? Not sure about investigating mysterious nights or anything, since will o' the wisps are totally a thing, but we ought to start moving soon anyway."

[Parisbre56]

"Huh. Well, that's a thing."
Cautiously probe the hole and the serpent things witha mannequin limb.
Regardless of the result of the probing, fire a laser into the hole because science.

"DO NOT!"
Jump before Welroki. Try to think about how good it is to have new knowledge to click, and erase old ignorance.

Welroki tries to approach the floating serpents but John tackles him from behind while shouting a big "NOOOO!" and 'I will always love you' plays in the background. John jumping on him is enough to throw him to the floor.
"Why the hell did you do that for?"
"BECAUSE I AM INCREDIBLY HAPPY! YES! I AM INCREDIBLY HAPPY WITH MY LACK OF IGNORANCE!"
"... You're weird. And that's saying something, coming from me."

((Sorry, DG. My bad.))

Get up and jump my way across the hexagons and other anomaly things that are safe to jump on to get to solid floor. Keep an eye out for anything useful produced by the anomaly explosion.

((I assumed you'd continue trying to jump, since there isn't much else you can do. You don't even have clothes.))

You somehow manage to slip on the surface of frozen air and completely fail to jump.
You try again, this time managing to make it to an adjacent platform without losing another limb. Four platforms here form something like a crude stairway, allowing you to climb higher.
With another jump, you make it that much closer to the remains of a stone corridor, floating freely with a battered but intact door in its end. It could provide you with somewhere else to go. Or at least some safe and solid ground until someone can hopefully come and help you.

You fail to spot anything useful. In fact, you notice something alarming. Some of the oldest hexagons, the ones closest to the centre of the explosion, are starting to disintegrate, rapidly accelerating and explosively releasing their contents as they fail.

You easily make the final jump, landing on the corridor. There's only a stone floor left and not much else. Everything else seems to have been sent flying into the clouds and nothingness surrounding the house.

Team A
"I'm afraid I'm not entirely certain I can protect you. this person or thing is stronger than I had first thought. Can you tell me anything about it or its abilities before I make decisions on whether we should just leave or take it on?"
Try to strengthen the shield

You close your eyes and focus your everything on the shield. Once again you barely manage to protect your minds from the psychic energy assaulting you.
"Ugh. Are you all-right?" she asks as she puts a hand on your shoulder, sounding a bit better now. Although judging by the way she stops to breathe between words, the tone of her voice and the strength of her grip, she is still not feeling very well.
"We need to stop her. Before she runs away. Or brings others here."
She reaches for your gun and starts trying to remove it from its holster.

((Pop = automatically happen.))

That's doable. But either it can only happen as long as your brain is not thoroughly destroyed or every time you go back, you also lose your memories of what happened and can only remember that you went back, not why you did so. I think it makes sense as a drawback, since for you to remember that you activated your ability and what happened during that time, then at least part of your brain has to stay unaffected from your regeneration. So either your brain regenerates and you lose your memories or your brain does not regenerate, so going back means the brain damage stays and your brain is still mush.

Yeah, killing the brain would kill me but I'd still be thrown back.

Okay, I'll look into it and send you a PM sometime soon.

[Parisbre56]

Campaign

"HEY! Hey Nik! I think your penis size expanding magic is wearing off! Cmon out, let's have some s'mores!"

Ignore my bad nasal situation for now and summon a heat radiator to cook the marshmallows on.

I... I might be misunderstanding this, but do you mean this? Is this a case of Alan-logic or a misunderstanding? Well, uh, anyway, to save time, let's see... Whichever of the two you want, it's a small damaged-but-working version that will disappear soon.

"Mmm s'mores the breakfast of champions. I'll be right there."

The tents exit tunnel was filled by the sandstorm and I don't think shrinking the tent with everyone still inside it is a good idea. Get whoever is in here to dig our way out, help as much as I can with one good hand. Once everyone's out shrink and pack up the tent and join Alan for smores.

Comwire to River:
<Do you mind healing? My hands broken.>

The part of the hole inside the tent seems fine, so you simply remove some of the dirt inside and then try to shove your way outside, using your legs to push yourself through the hole and up through the soft dirt. And you succeed... sort of. Your head reaches the other side. But your torso becomes stuck at a narrow point in the tunnel. You try to push yourself with your legs but you can't get a good grip and your hands are trapped and unable to move. You are left there, wiggling ineffectually. Crap.

<Can it wait for a bit? I am in the middle of some thing.>

Campaign, Ike!

"What a day."

Return to group. Avail myself of Alan's marshmallows, no cooking required.

"Right, I think someone marched past us in the night. Well, early morning. Shall we eat and get moving? Not sure about investigating mysterious nights or anything, since will o' the wisps are totally a thing, but we ought to start moving soon anyway."

What a lovely day!

You return to Alan and his quantum uncertainty of a heater, where you help yourself to his marshmallows. They're not normal marshmallows, they're a bit darker colour and they smell and taste more like plants and less like sugar, but they are still pretty good. Or at least eatable.

<Hehe.>
it's convenient that I'm in full-fox-form right now, I don't need to hide facial expressions or anything else like that that might reveal our internal conversation.
<A bond's formative moments are always very important, and I kinda... I'm wired to care about my links. The fact that I consciously want to help you on top of that makes things easy.>
I gently rub my link to him, showing my affection back.
<Just having a link again is really nice. You have no idea how it felt to be so numb for so long.>
I pause for a bit, glancing around without bothering to actually stand up, and giving D a chance to respond.

<You are right. I have no idea. But I may be able to understand it. I've felt similar things. And I know it can't be pleasant. So I am happy to help! And I am happy to be helped by you. Always pleasant to have nice company.>

<Your gift and River's are near opposites? does that make your gift related to my flames?>
I need to learn everything I can about Bond-Formers. There's so many Bond-Former Entities I need to investigate, on top of a bond-former being our assassination target, and with such an overwhelming powerset available to them, I need to understand how their abilities originate and what capabilities are derived from what. Anything I can use to disable, avoid, capture, kill, interrogate, blackmail, or weaponize in any way, shape, or form. Even if it just lets me supercharge allied Bond-Formers like D or River, could be critical. Every little bit, every time they explain themselves and give just one or two extra details, helps. Even if I end up asking the same question five different times in slightly different ways. It's all useful. Especially with how their Bond is similar to my links, and things that affect one of us might affect the other...

<Eh... sort of. I like to call mine Flare and Fun (although she likes to call it Friendship), which as you can probably tell by the words used is very different from Sight and Silence.>

<And Flare is related to Fire. But also to light and energy and power and being bright and radiant and noticed and blinding and disorienting and annoying. What some like to call gifts are just simple, narrow ways to name very broad things about bond-formers, ways to easily tell others about us in a few words. In truth, they are more like the part of our nature most easily seen, the most visible part of us that helps differentiate us from others. Which is why they tend to colour everything about us. And why they tend to be hard to express with a single word. I can give you some examples, if you want.>

<You said before that Bond-formers could originate from anything, be it a creature or a material or a concept. In the case of conceptual or material Bond-Formers, is there any kind of standardized body or form they take? Do they even have a kill-able body?>

<Eehhmmm... Boy, you ask some hard questions. I'm not exactly a teacher here and not fully recovered so... Well, let's start with the hard things, because why the hell not.>

<Every bond-former starts as a seed. And every seed looks like an orb somewhat similar in size to the soulsphers you turn into when you die. Said seeds are almost always physical objects (possibly with some magical properties that might make them more desirable or likely to survive), quite resilient and related to the bond-former's nature and/or their environment. They can also change and there's a bit of a debate about why that happens or doesn't happen. And - now, how do I explain this... - that change is them becoming who they should be for their nature, like the seed maturing into something different than it was, although it doesn't always happen... And when the time comes the seed transforms into the bond-former and because the bond-former came from the seed they tend to be like the seed, although some biologicals can be different... And, uh... Gah, I bet I'm confusing you even more.>

<So, what I'm trying to say is that the bond-former didn't take something to transform it or possess it, it just became what it became... for some reason. Became something that may look completely unrelated to whatever exists in its environment. It's less them originating from something and more them having the capacity to look like something.>

<As for common things... wings are common, I guess. Or generally means of flying. Two legs vs four legs vs no legs seems to be the main choices, but not the only ones. Biologicals tend to be more numerous than non-biologicals in worlds with little magic, probably because they can survive more easily.>

<And almost all bond-formers tend to be killable via physical means, since they tend to have some physical body (more easy to attach an anchor to a physical thing, I guess, or maybe its more resilient or less sensitive). At least the non-entity ones are killable, entity ones tend to take more precautions. And I guess with enough power, persistence, luck and/or the right tools, nothing is invincible. I mean, if one of them has no physical body, they would probably be vulnerable to magic.>

<What's with all the questions? You planning on exterminating us or something? Because I've gotta warn you: It'll be a tough job. We have people everywhere!> he jokes, punctuating his statement with a mock evil laugh.

<Hey, could I access your senses? I would feel better if I could feel what's going on from your perspective. I don't feel very comfortable being blind and helpless. That way I could help you, comment on what's going on.>

<I... took the liberty of using some of the energy you provided to strengthen our link to allow that while you slept but I thought it would be best to wait until you were awake so I could ask your permission to connect it with your soul. It will let me get everything all the time, sight, sound, touch, smell, taste, not just words and images and no conscious effort required from you. And you can stop it any time, just block the link.>

((Assuming you accept:))
D's work feels very different than River's. You still feel a tiny bit uneasy but with your acceptance the feeling quickly evaporates under the warmth inside you, the only thing left being a tingling sensation on the back of your head. Your bond felt stronger before, but it was similar to when it was created. But now it's different, more complex instead of merely thicker, thin strands tapped into your being, your senses flowing from your soul to his.

D laughs as you notice Nikolai struggle ineffectually.
<Hehe. He's all exposed. Aren't you tempted to go stuff his pants with something? Or bite him?>

((Even though he's gonna instantly realise you're bluffing because the entire objective of the mission is to kill him and you would be regenerated anyway I am so glad you went for that.))

((Nah, haven't you ever seen a movie or an anime? People exposit about what they are going to do all the time. D will make sure to make a reference to such a thing when the turn comes.))

[Lenglon]

<Not exterminating, no. But whoever destroyed my home had entity-level power, and a lot of entities are bond-formers. So I want to learn all I can so I'll understand what I'm dealing with, both for River's mission and for my own.>
<You can't see? of course you can access them! Go ahead, please! Sorry I didn't give you the okay earlier. I didn't know. sorry... sorry.>
after D has finished, and we see Nikolai struggling:
<Hehe, hold on tight.>
I generate some fire and use it to shift into Hybrid form - after moving away from my clothes of course. I then attempt to shove Nikolai out the hole, followed by getting dressed and, if I was successful, going out myself.

[Hawk132]

A battlefield is no place for a little girl! Move where Nick should be, following the explosions. If thunderbird is spotted - drown it in rebar.

[Xantalos]

((Yeah, those things are toasty right? I touched one once as a kid and burninated my hand so I know they're hot.))

((That is to say, I forget if you can actually toast things with radiators, so Alan (because method acting) has also forgotten and assumed that you can.))

Attempt to toast marshmallows on radiator.

[Adragis]

((This is still still open, right?))

[Toaster]

((Yep))

[NAV]

"Ahahahaha! I am trapped. Help?"
Escape! Do my best impression of a baby turtle.

@Riveter <Take your time. What are you working on? If it's not all secret.

We are okay after yesterday, right? Not friends, but not enemies. Can work together.">

[Parisbre56]

Storm Coming

CONTINUE TO TRY TO WAKE UP.

Nope. Not much you can do without healing except hope for a miracle.

((Okay, a bit too big on this one d= ))

Yeah, let's cancel this.  Try again except more reasonably sized?  I can cancel, right?

Sure, you can.
And this time you get exactly what you want. A modern-looking, electronically controlled flak cannon, complete with a three round magazine. It'll be ready next turn.

I have an idea! Slam my fists into the ground, directing a shockwave into the dark cloud. That should hit SOMETHING!

Oh dear. Well, let's see... You try to create a shockwave towards the dark clouds but the strike is not as strong as you'd wanted. All you manage to do is just launch a giant boulder towards it.
...
And now I must appreciate the irony of the word "just" being before the sentence "launch a giant boulder".

George - Storm Coming

Okay, so I'm surrounded by darkness, the demon bird is poised to kill me, and I have no chance of escape.  Well, at least it can't get any worse.

<Code Red! We have a small, frightened girl being terrorized by a massive terrorbird! Converge on my location! If you know where that is, of course. If you don't, follow the sounds of explosions. That's not good advice in life, but right now, just do it.>

...I hate my life.

Fueled by fear and adrenaline, George quickly devised a plan.  A risky plan with a high chance of failure.  George rose to his feet and faced the beast.

<Why are you screaming, little human?>
<Don't you trust me?>

"Ah..AHA!  FOOL!  You've fallen into our trap!  My scream was a ruse!  We expected you to come after me!  It was all part of our plan!  My team have rigged this place with landmines and hidden explosives that will detonate any second now!  Flee!  Flee or die!"

Bluff.  Do my best impression of a Saturday morning cartoon villain.

<Sorry to disappoint you Nick. You triggered my trap card!>
<Huh?>
<Rocket to the face!>
You both look around, flinching and preparing to defend yourselves... but nothing happens.
A moment later, there is the sound of an explosion somewhere nearby. You look towards the dim light of the fireball coming through the clouds for a second.

You look at the giant bird and raise your shoulders.
"... Whoops?"
The bird also looks at you.
<Enough silliness human.>
Sparks fly out of the blue tendrils coming out of his face, hitting your legs. Your muscles stop obeying you, causing you to fall to the ground.
<Time to go for a ride!> he adds as he grabs you with its beak and starts moving again.
The tendrils start wrapping around your head and torso. Something large whooses past and then crashes somewhere nearby, causing the bird's head to jerk suddenly.
<Oh no! The princess is being kidnapped! And I've seen enough hentai to know where this is going.>

Fire the rocket directly at the heat source. If I can discern any qualities of the creature based on the heat source, aim for the head. The moment I fire, begin moving forward and reloading my rocket launcher. I want to get close to the creature but not too close that I put myself in immediate danger.

<Code Red! We have a small, frightened girl being terrorized by a massive terrorbird! Converge on my location! If you know where that is, of course. If you don't, follow the sounds of explosions. That's not good advice in life, but right now, just do it.>

Damn it! You are not certain about whether or not you can get in range in time. And that girl could have no time to spare!
Wait a second... Yeah, you've seen this in games! If you point the rocket launcher at your feet and then fire while jumping, you'll move really fast! Yeah, that's a very good idea! You should do that immediately!
*click* *boom*
Predictably, that doesn't work. In fact, it turns out it's a very bad idea.
However, you do manage to somehow only get seriously burnt instead of killed, blind luck making all the shrapnel miss you.

A battlefield is no place for a little girl! Move where Nick should be, following the explosions. If thunderbird is spotted - drown it in rebar.

Like any proper knight you rush to rescue a damsel in distress.
Along the way, you find a mostly singed Rune suffering a case of video game logic syndrome.
"Quick! Touch a medpack on my skin to heal me!"

Campaign

<Not exterminating, no. But whoever destroyed my home had entity-level power, and a lot of entities are bond-formers. So I want to learn all I can so I'll understand what I'm dealing with, both for River's mission and for my own.>

<I... don't feel like that's a very good thing. I feel like I should say something like "don't dwell on the past" or something, but doing that would be kinda hypocritical of me. If someone hurt her, I know there'd be few things stopping me from doing something about it.>

<So I guess what I'm saying is I understand. Just don't let revenge consume you? There are more fun things in life. When you get out of the games, I want us to have some fun, you know? Not have you waste all your time plotting some pointlessly elaborate revenge like you're Edmond Dantès.>

<You can't see? of course you can access them! Go ahead, please! Sorry I didn't give you the okay earlier. I didn't know. sorry... sorry.>

<Relax girl. It's cool. There's nothing to apologize for.>

after D has finished, and we see Nikolai struggling:
<Hehe, hold on tight.>
I generate some fire and use it to shift into Hybrid form - after moving away from my clothes of course. I then attempt to shove Nikolai out the hole, followed by getting dressed and, if I was successful, going out myself.

You summon some fire. Perhaps a bit too much fire for such a small space. But you manage to contain it.
That done, it's time change forms. Unfortunately, while you do that, you lose control over some of the fire, setting fire to the tent.
<Gah. Does it always hurt like that?>
The moment the transformation is over, you immediately try to put out the fire, but the pain caused by the transformation is a bit too much and doesn't allow you to focus fully. Still, you get most of the more threatening fire, so that's something.

That done, you focus on getting yourself, your belongings and everyone else out of here before they burn or suffocate. Your arms have almost fully healed, so it should not be very hard.

((Yeah, those things are toasty right? I touched one once as a kid and burninated my hand so I know they're hot.))

((That is to say, I forget if you can actually toast things with radiators, so Alan (because method acting) has also forgotten and assumed that you can.))

Attempt to toast marshmallows on radiator.

You attempt to roast marshmallows on the radiator. Unfortunately, that doesn't work out. It is merely very warm, not truly hot.

Luckily, it looks like one of your teammates was considerate enough to light a fire for you.

"Ahahahaha! I am trapped. Help?"
Escape! Do my best impression of a baby turtle.

@Riveter <Take your time. What are you working on? If it's not all secret.>

<We are okay after yesterday, right? Not friends, but not enemies. Can work together.">

<Hunting. Found some animals.>

<I... I am unsure. But I do not feel that I should kill you yet.>

Unfortunately, your flailing does not allow you to escape. And then the tent catches fire.
"Help! Fire! Fire!"
Luckily, Alan approaches, holding a marshmallow on a stick.
"Oh, I am so glad you came, I-"
Alan proceeds to sit down next to you and put a the marshmallow over the burning tent. Directly over the fire.
"What the hell are you doing?! I need help! I'll burn! They'll burn! The ones in the tent-"
That is a good camp-fire song.
The marshmallow catches fire.
"What? What camp-fire song you imb-"
You need a reward for such good singing! Here! Have this!
"Wait, what are you doing? Keep that away from my faaaiiighegfdblbl."
A moment after Alan shoves the burning marshmallow down your throat with his stick, you are thrown out of the hole and face first into the dirt.
Don't worry! Rescue Fox is here!

[Lenglon]

<It only hurts since the Games. My natural method was damaged when I was rescued from my home, and it's still only partly repaired. I think my abilities are giving you entities trouble replicating or fixing, like the style of design we use is really different.>
I don't need, or even want, to put out the fire, I just move it all off the tent and into the air above it. I'll hang on to the flames for later since they're here anyway. anyways, I'll continue making sure everybody is out, then I'll leave the tent myself.

EDIT for clarity: Am moving all flames off the tent, which will stop the tent from burning anymore. Am not leaving seed-flames on the tent to continue collecting. If I want to do that, I can do it after everyone and everything we want to keep is out of it first.

[NAV]

Alan very much did not shove a burning marshmallow down Nikolai's throat. He's wearing a scarf around his mouth to prevent exactly that!

"Really?"
Help everyone out of the tent then untsar it so there is less to burninate.