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As a resident of New York, you, and pretty much anyone else who hadn't been living under a rock their whole lives, quickly accepted the fact that the definition of normalcy was constantly being redefined on a daily, and sometimes hourly basis.

Strange and terrible things could, and most likely would happen to you. And, unless you possessed superhuman abilities or were under the direct protection of such individuals, there wasn’t a damn thing you could do about it.

Sort of like Murphy’s Law, but much more immediate.

And it's things like that that allow you to casually take things in stride like the cool customer you are.

Just today, you introduced your sewer mutant friends to a rich, blind psychic and her computer hacker employee, only to receive a call from a anthropomorphic bird clone of Thomas Edison, asking you about a request you’d made to create a suit of armor using a rare space metal from a isolated African nation.

And now, you and your Russian huntress girlfriend are fighting an army of candy creatures that are being commanded by a random blonde woman who you’ve never met before.

But if you were being completely honest, this wasn’t even the weirdest thing to happen this week.

Almost immediately, you pressed your middle and ring fingers against your palms, causing web fluid to be expelled from your wrists at high speeds. The woman’s glistening eyes seemed to widen as the webbing enveloped her from the waist up. She struggled in futility for several moments, muttered a curse, and then let out an extremely muffled scream at the top of her lungs.

The police just watched in awe, and the woman’s crystal golems probably lacked the awareness to intelligently respond to your attack. You took advantage of that lapse in judgment and reeled in their leader, only to glue her to a nearby wall.

She blinked in surprise, belatedly realizing that her world had literally turned upside down…because that was the position you put her in. Her eyes grew wide and darted around in panic, until they found you again. And they screamed bloody murder.

“What? I kept it out of your hair.” you argued, glancing back at her.

And as soon as you took your eyes off of the crystal golems, they started moving towards you and the others.

Ana moved in strike at one of them with her spear, but she barely managed to make a dent in it. The other lumbered towards the cops, who were currently in the process dumping all their ammo into the seemingly invulnerable creature.

(Cont.)

What will you do?

>Tell Ana to get back so that you can melt this stupid golem.
>Test your strength and this creature’s durability by hitting it as hard as you can.
>Remove the webbing from your hostage’s mouth and ask her to dismiss her goons.
>Throw the bound woman over your shoulder and try to lure the crystal golems away from the cops and civilians.
>Write-in.

Pastebins:

Character Sheet:
https://pastebin.com/1ZihFYSV

Equipment and Gear:
https://pastebin.com/WAhveFAd

Contacts:
https://pastebin.com/WdcFXD2s

10 Commandments of the Desperados:
https://pastebin.com/Qpr2jVPE

Costumes:
https://pastebin.com/5Jie54X2

The Huntsman’s Travel Guide:
https://pastebin.com/PU6LWsip

Upcoming Events in the Maximum Universe:
https://pastebin.com/DceSEjiR

>>6110915
>Test your strength and this creature’s durability by hitting it as hard as you can.
>Write-in.
>Use the Programmable Fist Material for the hit.
Should be more effective and spare our knuckles.

>>6110915
>>6110966
Supporting. If that fails then grappling is unlikely to fail us afterward. Our feet can stick to the ground for added leverage, theirs can’t.

>>6110915
>>Test your strength and this creature’s durability by hitting it as hard as you can.

>>6110966
>>6110973
>>6111118
Roll 1d100, bo3! I'll update when I get back home from work,

Rolled 86 (1d100)

>>6111183

Rolled 94 (1d100)

>>6111183
Rollin’

Rolled 21 (1d100)

>>6111183

>>6111279
>>6111367
>>6111679
>94

Taking these! Writing...

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>94

Before the nearest crystal golem could get any closer to the cops, you pulled a device out of your belt pouch and slipped it around your fingers. They sort of looked like brass knuckles, but bulkier, and there was a button on the side.

Knowing full well what that button did, you leapt at the golem and pressed it. Within mere moments, a sleek, silvery metal materialized around your hand to form an oversized fist, not too dissimilar to those “Hulk Hand” toys.

You brought that fist down on the construct’s head, putting all your strength into that one blow. And to everyone’s surprise, including yours, the golem’s head exploded upon impact.

The candy creation staggered backwards as thick cracks spiderwebbed throughout the remainder of its body. Another solid punch from you was all it took to reduce it to rubble. But, unfortunately for you, the shards from that impact flew right back at you, slicing your flesh, and your costume, in several places.

“And that’s how the cookie crumbles.” you said, trying to ignore the stinging pain from your fresh wounds. Those shards were sharp!

More than that, though, you could tell that this thing was unusually strong for something created by a candy wizard. You haven’t had to hit something that hard since your little squabble with The Rhino!

Anything less than your best might not have been enough. And if you didn’t have Phin’s gadget handy, you damn well might’ve broken your own hand in the process of destroying it.

The cops standing behind you were just gawking at you from behind the arms they used to shield their faces from the debris.

Thankfully, they weren't hurt. But that still left the remaining golem for you to deal with. Ana didn’t look like she was in any real danger, since the thing was so damn slow compared to her, but you also didn’t think she’d be able to take care of it in a reasonable amount of time.

And then there was your little hostage.

You turned back to check on her, and was relieved to find her in the same place. But her expression was…

She was staring back and forth between you and the pile of rock that had once been her crystal golem. Shock was the only emotion that you could read from her wide, bulging eyes. Her anger from before had apparently been momentarily forgotten.

What will you do/say?

>Smash the other golem, the same way you did its twin.
>Let Ana try out the Programmable Fist Material for herself. You doubt she’s seen a weapon like it before.
>Allow Ana to handle the remaining golem by herself. You’re interested in seeing how she’ll get herself out of this.
>”I’ve already proven that I can take anything that you throw at me, so why don’t you do us both a favor and come quietly?”
>”Is that thing supposed to be made of candy too? Because it’s tough as nails. Or diamonds. If we’re gonna continue having these fights in the future, then I’m gonna need you to pick a theme and stick to it.”
>Write-in.

>>6111716
>>Smash the other golem, the same way you did its twin.

File: Maximum.gif (1.1 MB, 168x126)

1.1 MB GIF

>>6111716
>Allow Ana to handle the remaining golem by herself. You’re interested in seeing how she’ll get herself out of this.
We learned some tracking lets learn some more. Should help with our synergy in the upcoming Hunt.

>Write-in.
>Dramatically flex and strike poses for our gawking audience while she fights.
We always roll high when we hunt with Ana.

>>6111716
>”Cast Fist beats Summon Candy Crystal Golem. I haven’t even needed my other spells yet.”
>Flex per >>6112066
> Allow Ana to handle the remaining golem by herself. You’re interested in seeing how she’ll get herself out of this.

Been thinking more about what another anon said about the one hostage escaping easily. I wonder if this chick is also a candy creation and he’s the one who made her?

>>6111716
>>Let Ana try out the Programmable Fist Material for herself. You doubt she’s seen a weapon like it before.
I dreamt about this actually.

>>6112066
>>6112213
>Allow Ana to handle the remaining golem by herself. You’re interested in seeing how she’ll get herself out of this.
>Dramatically flex and strike poses for our gawking audience while she fights.

Taking these. Writing...

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You briefly considered jumping to Ana’s rescue and smashing that second golem yourself, but you stopped when you actually got a good look at her.

She was enjoying this. The thrill of the hunt. The danger of tangling with a seemingly insurmountable foe. You were sure she wouldn’t mind if you helped her take this thing down, but part of you was curious as to how she planned to handle this herself.

So, you waited on the sidelines and instead focused on giving your audience a show.

The surrounding cops and civilians stared in disbelief as you raised a gauntleted hand and flexed your bicep. The confusion in their faces was evident, but none of them were moving to interfere with Ana’s fight, so you continued flexing in various poses to give them something else to look at.

“Welcome to the gun show, boys and girls…”

Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Ana easily ducking a wild haymaker from the crystal golem. The following overhead strike was similarly unsuccessful, but it still managed to crack the asphalt with the weight of its blow.

Ana’s eyes never left her prey as she lowered her center of gravity slightly and reaffirmed her one-handed grip on her spear.

The crystal golem charged Ana without a second thought, and she took a couple of steps back until she was standing in front of a manhole cover. She stabbed her spear-tip into the gap between the cover and the surrounding asphalt and wrenched the shaft of the spear down. The manhole cover popped open a moment later and clattered to the ground with a loud thud.

The crystal golem refused to halt its charge, and Ana took a step back. Fortunately for her, her opponent wasn’t very smart.

The golem nearly doubled over as one of its feet sank below ground. Cracks began to form in its leg where it had tripped, and it struggled to drag its foot back out. At that exact moment, Ana threw out a handful of metal ball-bearings. The golem’s foot fell out from under it as it slipped on the marble, and the rest of its body fell to the ground along with it.

The cracks in its trapped leg spread deeper, then. Ana had already stepped around to stand beside the leg, her spear poised to strike. And with a series of precise, relentless thrusts, her spear-tip drove straight through the crystal golem’s leg.

It fell to one side and struggled to get up, but it was far too clumsy to manage that while Ana was there to push it over again.

Slowly, hesitantly, the cops stopped paying attention to your Gun Show and started to move in on the flailing crystal golem. They were still keeping a safe distance away, but even they could tell that it’s threat level had sharply declined with only one working leg.

You heard one of the officers call for even more backup, and decided that your welcome was about to be officially worn out. But…you couldn’t help but wonder what the point of any of this was.

(Cont.)

What will you do?

>Interrogate someone before you leave. Someone’s gotta cough up some answers. (Candy Wizard//Hostage)
>Give Julia an update on the situation. You’re pretty sure you managed to neutralize the threat, but it couldn’t help to get some confirmation from the support team.
>Slip away with Ana before backup arrives. This crime scene is about to get a lot more messy.
>Write-in.

Pastebins:

Character Sheet:
https://pastebin.com/1ZihFYSV

Equipment and Gear:
https://pastebin.com/WAhveFAd

Contacts:
https://pastebin.com/WdcFXD2s

10 Commandments of the Desperados:
https://pastebin.com/Qpr2jVPE

Costumes:
https://pastebin.com/5Jie54X2

The Huntsman’s Travel Guide:
https://pastebin.com/PU6LWsip

Upcoming Events in the Maximum Universe:
https://pastebin.com/DceSEjiR

>>6113350
>Interrogate someone before you leave. Someone’s gotta cough up some answers. (Candy Wizard)
Ana might be better interrogating the hostage. I’d trust her instinct to sniff out a wolf in sheep’s clothing, and we can tag team by hitting up the candy wizard ourselves.

>Give Julia an update on the situation. You’re pretty sure you managed to neutralize the threat, but it couldn’t help to get some confirmation from the support team.
Put her on speaker phone long enough to say hi to the candy wizard at least (and/or join the interrogation), and snap a couple pics of the hostage and the wizard to send along to Julia.

>>6113350
>>Give Julia an update on the situation. You’re pretty sure you managed to neutralize the threat, but it couldn’t help to get some confirmation from the support team.

>>6113350
>Interrogate someone before you leave. Someone’s gotta cough up some answers. (Candy Wizard//Hostage)
>Slip away with Ana before backup arrives. This crime scene is about to get a lot more messy.
>Give Julia an update on the situation. You’re pretty sure you managed to neutralize the threat, but it couldn’t help to get some confirmation from the support team.

>>6113350
>>Interrogate someone before you leave. Someone’s gotta cough up some answers. (Candy Wizard)
>"Sugar crystals not enough for you?"
>"and girl, what are you doing robbing a jewellery store when you can bring inanimate objects to life with magic? You could be at least a C-lister, but that's like... F-list. Nope, that's something else, forget I said anything."

>>6113538
>>6113682
>>6113824
>>6113915
>Interrogate someone before you leave. Someone’s gotta cough up some answers. (Candy Wizard)
>"Sugar crystals not enough for you?"
>Give Julia an update on the situation. You’re pretty sure you managed to neutralize the threat, but it couldn’t help to get some confirmation from the support team.

Taking these. Writing...

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By the time you finished flexing, Ana was already coming over to join you with a shard of crystal that she took from her golem.

“Great work. I was wondering what you'd do to take yours out.”

“It was made of rock candy. Not the sturdiest material, but it was surprisingly tough.” she said, waving around the crystal shard that she confiscated from the crime scene.

“I had a feeling it was something like that. It's a good thing I didn't try to take a bite out of them. My dental plan probably wouldn't cover something like that.” you said with a shudder.

“I've never seen you use that weapon before.” she said, staring at the oversized chrome gauntlet on your right hand.

“What, this? It's just another handy tool in my utility belt.” you said, deactivating it at the press of a button and returning it to its proper pouch in your utility belt.

“It was quite impressive. Did you build it yourself?”

You let out a brief chuckle.

“Out of my many talents, I'm afraid that building and programming nanotech isn't one of them. I bought it off an old inventor a while back.” you explained. “But he skipped town a few months ago.”

“I'm sure that a man of your ‘many talents’ is entirely capable of finding a new supplier.” Ana said with a teasing smile. “By the way, how many of the candy creatures have you slain today?”

“I dunno. I wasn't really keeping count.” you confessed with a shrug.

Ana gave you a slightly dissatisfied look.

“You should. A bit of friendly competition is necessary in a hunt.”

“Do I get extra points for punching my crystal monster into oblivion?” you asked.

Ana smiled and walked around to your left.

“You get extra points for providing me with eye candy during my fight.” Ana whispered, giving you a swift swat on the rear that nearly made you yelp in surprise. “But you really should have shown off your glutes more.”

“If you wait until we get home, I'll show you more than that.” you whispered back, confident that Ana could pick up on anything you said at this range.

“Will this be before or after we cook the steak?” she asked, circling you as if you were prey.

“I don't see a reason why we couldn't do both.”

“I can think of three.” Ana said. “Four if you count your white-haired immodestly dressed companion.”

Of course she knew about the Thief Girls. That nose of hers was going to get you in some serious trouble one of these.

“Then I guess you'll just have to settle for a private show.” you concluded. “But before we worry about that, we should gather some information from the victim and the perp. Something about this whole operation seems a little half-baked.”

Ana nodded her agreement.

(Cont.)

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“I thought so too. Where would you like to start?”

“How about you hit up the hostage, and I take the candy wizard? Make sure his story seems straight. I feel like he knows more than he lets on.”

You both shared a nod, turned around with a flap of your cloaks, and moved towards your respective interrogation targets. Yours was still hanging upside down from a web cocoon that you glued to the wall. She was struggling slightly, but seemed to relax when she noticed you coming closer.

“Sugar crystals not enough for you? You can literally create life, and you’re using it to rob jewelry stores? You’ll always be small-time if you keep thinking small.”

She gave you an agitated look and muttered something unintelligible. You thought about antagonizing her further by leaving the gag on, but you were running short on time, and couldn’t afford to stick around for very long.

You tore open the bottom of the cocoon to free her mouth, and she spat out a few stray strands of webbing.

“Ugh, what even is this?”

“You know, I’m not entirely sure myself. I’m thinking about going to see a doctor soon.”

The blonde woman opened her mouth to say something, sputtered from another stray strand of webbing entering her mouth, and then struggled to blow a web flap away from her face.

Out of the goodness of your heart, you moved them away from her face and gave her a moment to compose herself. She didn’t look “grateful” exactly, but she seemed slightly mollified by the small courtesy.

What will you say?

>”Was this really just a smash and grab, or were you after something else?”
>”Is making candy minions your only power? I saw you turn your skin to crystal before. What was that about?”
>”What were you doing in that jewelry store before? Is that hostage over there your accomplice?”
>Loop Julia into this interrogation. She might have something insightful to add.
>Write-in.

Pastebins:

Character Sheet:
https://pastebin.com/1ZihFYSV

Equipment and Gear:
https://pastebin.com/WAhveFAd

Contacts:
https://pastebin.com/WdcFXD2s

10 Commandments of the Desperados:
https://pastebin.com/Qpr2jVPE

Costumes:
https://pastebin.com/5Jie54X2

The Huntsman’s Travel Guide:
https://pastebin.com/PU6LWsip

Upcoming Events in the Maximum Universe:
https://pastebin.com/DceSEjiR

>>6114118
>”Name’s Huntsman, by the way. You were wrong place, wrong time when my girlfriend came in and we decided to look for something we could bash without worry. On a different day I could have given you my card first.”
Polite introduction.

>”What were you hoping to accomplish out here? Running solo is a risky business, even for a summoner.”
Fusion of the accomplice and “after something else” options. We’ll see if she lets slip on either of them and we can follow up from there.

If she opens up at all, I’d toss in
>”If you happen to find yourself not in jail for reasons then track me down. I know a lot of groups, and I’m sure one of them would be a good fit for you.”
Always Be Networking.

If she doesn’t,
>Loop Julia into this interrogation. She might have something insightful to add.
We can shoot her a picture to start with.

As an aside, I’m thinking of nicknaming her “Candy Queen”. Any other ideas, anons?

>>6114118
>>”Was this really just a smash and grab, or were you after something else?”

>>6114118
>>6114159
+1

>>6114159
>>6115228
>”Name’s Huntsman, by the way. You were wrong place, wrong time when my girlfriend came in and we decided to look for something we could bash without worry. On a different day I could have given you my card first.”
”What were you hoping to accomplish out here? Running solo is a risky business, even for a summoner.”
>”If you happen to find yourself not in jail for reasons then track me down. I know a lot of groups, and I’m sure one of them would be a good fit for you.”
>Loop Julia into this interrogation. She might have something insightful to add.

Taking these. Writing...

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“Name’s Huntsman, by the way. And you were in the wrong place at the wrong time when my girlfriend over there decided to look for something we could bash without worry.” you explained, all while attaching a webline to a light pole and dangling upside down from it. “On a different day, I could’ve given you my card first.”

You then whipped out your Desperado business card like a street magician and showed her both sides. She glanced between it and you.

“Charmed.” she said in a dry tone. There was no anger in it, however.

You tucked the card into a tuft of webbing near her face and patted it gently. The corners of her mouth curled into a slight frown, but it was gone as she refocused her attention on you.

“My name is Esme.” she said, sounding a bit posh.

Your eyes widened in surprise.

“I didn’t know we were on a first name basis. You’re getting awfully friendly for someone I just fought a minute ago.” you observed.

“Think nothing of it. I’m simply returning a polite gesture.” she said, squirming a bit in her web cocoon. She was clearly uncomfortable from having been suspended upside down for so long.

“Alright, Esme…” you continued. “So long as you’re being friendly, I’m hoping that you can answer a few questions for me. Like, what were you hoping to accomplish out there? Running solo is risky business, even for a summoner.”

She gave you a wry grin.

“On the contrary. Doing this alone reduced the amount of risk involved. And I accomplished exactly what I set out to do.”

“Kickstarting the Candy Revolution?” you asked.

“‘Finding someone capable of destroying my crystal golems’.” she claimed.

“Was it…really that impressive? Weren't they just made of rock candy?” you asked, rubbing the back of your neck.

Her brows drew together in what you thought was her fiercest scowl yet.

“They were! But they were also made to mimic the crystalline structure of diamonds as closely as possible. And you just shattered them as if they were made of glass.”

“And…you needed the shop owner for this little plan of yours?”

“He was helping me by providing his expertise on the matter.”

“Aha. So he was your accomplice.”

“Unwittingly, yes.” she admitted. “I manipulated him into doing my bidding.”

“How?”

Esme squinted, and a white, grain-like substance materialized before you. After several seconds, the grains reshaped themselves into something solid and recognizable.

It was a sugar cookie!

You stared in awe as it fell to the ground and broke into several pieces.

“Anyone who eats what I make is susceptible to my influence. They simply can't help themselves.” she said with some level of satisfaction.

Holy shit. Thank GOD you didn't eat that Gingerbread Man earlier!

(Cont.)

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“So, let me get this straight.” you cut in. “You got a guy to help you make your crystal golems, and then caused a panic to attract someone powerful enough to defeat them?”

“Quite right.”

“Why?”

Esme's eyes started glowing bright blue once again, and something red and round formed between her teeth. It looked like a gumball.

“Hake Dhis.” she muttered, leaning her head towards you.

You hesitantly accepted the gumball from her mouth and held it up to your eye.

“If you pop that in your mouth, you'll understand everything.” she explained.

“Didn't you just say that you could mind control anyone who ate your baking nightmares?”

She nodded.

“They can also be used to share memories. My powers are more particular than that of other telepaths, but mine give me more range if my sugar crystals find the right target.”

“See, when you use words like ‘target’, it just makes you sound more evil.”

“There are people far more wicked than you or I.” she said, a shadow passing over her face for only a moment. “You don’t have to eat it now, but it can explain things better than I can in the short amount of time we have left.”

She cast a meaningful glance over at a group of police officers. A few of them looked to be coming your way.

You nodded your understanding and pocketed the gumball for later. Hopefully it wouldn't get any hair or lint on it.

“If you happen to find yourself outside of a prison cell in the nearby future for reasons unknown, feel free to track me down. I know a lot of groups, and I'm sure one of them would be a good fit for you.” you said, releasing your grip on the webline and flipping right-side up.

Esme blinked in surprise, before barking out a brief chuckle.

“Quite the enterprising fellow, aren't you? Perhaps this meeting will turn out to be more fortuitous than I expected.”

She even spoke like a bad guy.

“Let’s hope you still feel that way after you spend a night in the slammer.”

As you started to walk away, you called up Julia and got a response almost immediately.

“Alright, Benji. Gimme the deets. Did you take pictures? God, I hope you took pictures.”

“No pictures, but I’ve got a chatty prisoner telling me that she only committed the crime because she wanted a moment of my time.”

“Seriously? Is she a secret admirer or something?”

“Well, she did just ask me to take a mind-altering drug." you said, remembering the gumball. "But...I think she wants my help with something."

"Did she tell you what it was?" Julia asked.

"She said that there wasn't enough time. And, in her defense, I'm not sure if it'd be a good idea for me to stick around much longer."

(Cont.)

You glanced back at Ana, who was currently looming over the Jewish store owner from before. The poor guy looked like he might wet himself. But as he shrank back, the cops in the surrounding area were growing increasingly agitated and territorial.

"So," Julia continued. "What're you gonna do?"

>Try to subtly help Esme escape. With a bit of trickery and some psychically enhanced candy, you think you can find a way to help her slip away.
>Pop the gumball in your mouth and wait for something to happen. Hopefully Esme didn't just lie to your face.
>Keep the gumball and wait for Esme to contact you in the future. She didn't seem terribly worried about the prospect of breaking out of prison.
>Toss away the gumball and forget the whole thing. You're not sure if you want to get involved in whatever the hell this is.
>Write-in.

>>6115433
>Keep the gumball and wait for Esme to contact you in the future. She didn't seem terribly worried about the prospect of breaking out of prison.
She said her mind-control gum balls can also be used to share memories. She did not say they could be used to mind control OR to share memories. An important distinction, and one I’d rather not test now.

But she was polite and that matters in our business. It’s enough to keep her in mind, and maybe surprise an opponent who isn’t expecting a mind-meld piece of candy to be shoved in their mouth.

Though if others want to help her slip away then I’m willing to spitball some ideas.

>>6115433
>>Keep the gumball and wait for Esme to contact you in the future. She didn't seem terribly worried about the prospect of breaking out of prison.

>>6115439
>>6115459
>Keep the gumball and wait for Esme to contact you in the future. She didn't seem terribly worried about the prospect of breaking out of prison.

Taking these. Writing...

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“I’m gonna wait for her to contact me. I’ve got a feeling that this won’t be the last we see of her.”

“Won’t that be a little hard to do from the inside of a prison cell? You really think she’s gonna use her one call on you?” Julia asked.

“Something tells me she won’t be staying there for very long.”

“Ooookay? Are you ever gonna actually explain these mysterious ‘feelings’ you’ve been having?”

“I’m just listening to my gut, Jules.”

Julia made a frustrated sound.

“I swear, you and Webb with your ‘hunches’...” she mumbled. “Can you at least tell me about the crazy candy lady’s plan? How exactly was she going to ‘destroy the economy’?”

“My guess? It might have something to do with the synthetic diamonds she’s been popping out. I’m sure the police will take care of everything from here.”

“Only time will tell.” Julia said in a nonchalant manner. “Thanks for handling that, by the way. Things could’ve gotten messy if we left her alone.”

“Things are already looking pretty messy from where I’m standing.” you said, raising your leg to brush wet cookie crumbs from your foot.

“Oh, come on. I bet you were having the time of your life out there. I can only imagine how many food-related jokes you threw out.”

“Not as many as I would've liked, but I take your meaning.”

“What’re you gonna do now? Are you and your ‘partner’ coming back to the mansion, or are you staying out on patrol?” she asked.

What will you say?

>”I’m already out here, so I might as well check and see what else is going on in the area. Picking up on anything interesting?”
>”I’ll give Sable a call and see if we can’t have that interview later today when she isn’t busy. Can you let the Morlocks know to meet us at her base?”
>”I need to see a guy about a vibranium shipment. It’ll probably turn into a whole big thing where I end up calling in the rest of my team. You know how it is.”
>”Nah, we’re turning in early. If someone asks, I’m not home.”
>Write-in.

Pastebins:

Character Sheet:
https://pastebin.com/1ZihFYSV

Equipment and Gear:
https://pastebin.com/WAhveFAd

Contacts:
https://pastebin.com/WdcFXD2s

10 Commandments of the Desperados:
https://pastebin.com/Qpr2jVPE

Costumes:
https://pastebin.com/5Jie54X2

The Huntsman’s Travel Guide:
https://pastebin.com/PU6LWsip

Upcoming Events in the Maximum Universe:
https://pastebin.com/DceSEjiR

>>6116109
>>”I’m already out here, so I might as well check and see what else is going on in the area. Picking up on anything interesting?”

>>6116109
>”I’m already out here, so I might as well check and see what else is going on in the area. Picking up on anything interesting?”
Sure, let’s see what else is going on.

>>6116334
>>6116825
>”I’m already out here, so I might as well check and see what else is going on in the area. Picking up on anything interesting?”

Taking these. Writing...

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“I’m already out here, so I might as well check and see what else is going on in the area. Picking up on anything interesting?”

“Um, let’s see…” Julia drawled, typing furiously on her keyboard. “There’s a self-proclaimed ‘gentleman thief’ giving the cops the run-around on the west end. I hear he goes by the name ‘Jackpot’. So far, he hasn’t been caught yet.”

“That’s not too far from here.” you noted. “What else have you got?”

“There’s been a notable uptick in gang activity.”

“What else is new?” you said with a sigh.

“This is different. Police reports have used the words ‘mangled’ and ‘maimed’ multiple times in these past few weeks alone. I know, because my algorithm picks up on it everytime a new one gets entered into their database.”

“And what makes them think that gangs are involved? I don’t know any off the top of my head that turns people into paste.”

“Well…after an exhausting amount of lab work, the authorities have positively ID’d a few of them, and all of them have gang affiliations, one way or another. This might be a case of vigilantism, but I’ve got a feeling that whoever’s doing this has a personal grudge against their victims.”

“Would you call that a…’hunch’?”

“Don’t you start with me, Benjamin Parker.” she warned.

“I was just kidding.” you said, barely able to suppress a laugh. “Anything else?”

“Uhhhh…I’m getting reports of a…big, vicious dog getting loose in Brooklyn.”

“Is it anywhere near BVA?” you asked, almost reflexively.

“It’s not that close, I don’t think. But I'll make sure that the school's staff stays informed and alert.”

“Thanks. Is there anything else?”

“Not at the moment, no.”

“Wow, really? No alien invasions or demonic uprisings?”

“Things are a lot slower during the day. Call me when the sun goes down and this city’ll really light up.”

You supposed that was fair. And, seeing as how you were looking for something to keep you busy, you couldn't exactly afford to be picky.

What will you do?

>Go after the gentleman thief. You're about to ruin his perfect record.
>Investigate the murder case. If someone's going after gang-affiliated criminals, then they might become a problem for you and Silvermane later on.
>Chase down that big dog and put a leash on it! You've gotta make sure that your kid's school is as safe as possible.
>Check in with Spidey. Julia said that Abe was running an errand for her. Maybe you can help him finish it faster.
>Write-in.

>>6117393
>>Chase down that big dog and put a leash on it! You've gotta make sure that your kid's school is as safe as possible.

>>6117393
>>Go after the gentleman thief. You're about to ruin his perfect record.

>>6117393
>Chase down that big dog and put a leash on it! You've gotta make sure that your kid's school is as safe as possible.
It’d be a little amusing to show up near the school in costume and sign some autographs for Cindy’s non-hero friends.

>>6117643
>>6117858
>Chase down that big dog and put a leash on it! You've gotta make sure that your kid's school is as safe as possible.

Taking these. Writing...

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“Are you already finished with your interrogation?” Ana asked, suddenly coming up behind you without making any noise whatsoever.

“Yeah. I think she wants to hire me or something.”

Ana raised an eyebrow at that.

“Surely there are easier ways to get a hold of you.”

“Apparently not.” you said with a shrug, sparing a glance for Esme. The cops were currently struggling with trying to pry her off of the wall and cut her out of that web cocoon. You almost wanted to help them, but the more time they spent trying to apprehend her, the less time they would have to go after you.

“I’ve actually got another report about an emergency over in Brooklyn.” you continued, leaning in closer and lowering your pitch to a whisper. “There’s a wild dog loose in one of the neighborhoods close to my kid’s school. I’ll tell you more about it on the way.”

“And I’ll feed you more info as the situation develops.” Julia promised.

“I would have thought your little one was capable of handling something as small as a ‘rabid dog’ on her own.” Ana put in.

“She might. But I don’t want to risk her, or any of those other students getting bit. Plus, she’s still recovering from her injuries.” you reasoned.

Ana nodded her understanding.

“Very well. You make a good point. Let us track down and cage this wild animal.”

“I bet it’ll be a breeze for you.” you said, wrapping your arm around her waist and firing a webline at a nearby building.

She gave you a smug grin.

“Mere child’s play.”

You were starting to think that it wouldn’t be a terrible idea to invest in a super-sniffer as your next power upgrade. Maybe then you could start tracking things as well as Ana and Callisto.

—---------

Whose perspective would you like to experience this scene from?

>Ben
>Cindy
>Write-in. (Within reason, of course)

>>6118694
>>Cindy
I was actually meaning to suggest that.
Quest has kinda dipped in personal interest.
protag change to Cindy through maybe half of the gangwar arc could certainly freshen things up a little.

>>6118715
That's very possible if the other players are okay with it! I've got a nice Cindy-centric arc coming up soon, and there's enough content prepared to play things from her perspective if that's something you're interested in.

I also plan on spicing things up with some new destinations to travel to within the city.

>>6118694
>Cindy

>>6118694
>Cindy
We can be on the receiving end of The Huntsman and his quips? That sounds interesting.

>>6118715
>>6118720
I’d be okay with some more party-centric mechanics where we switch from Ben to others he’s involved with in certain scenarios.

>>6118694
>>Cindy

>>6118715
>>6118849
>>6118818
>>6118995
>Cindy

It's unanimous! Writing...

>>6118849
I'll keep that in mind as a potential mechanic going forward! It would be fun to write from different perspectives.

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-----------------

Right about now, you'd normally be in Classic Lit taking notes. Thankfully, Miles agreed to take those notes for you, because you were currently killing time in the nurse’s office after being caught talking about vibranium and energy whips in the girls’ bathroom stall. You managed to play it off by saying that you weren't feeling well, but you couldn't help but wonder how this would contribute to the “Cindy Moon rumor mill”.

After getting into a fight on the first day of school, skipping classes to go fight bad guys, and getting caught sneaking in and out of your dorm, you were quickly developing a reputation for being a delinquent.

That honestly didn't bother you too much…

Well…it didn't bother you most of the time. Andre and Saya both seemed to be under the assumption that you were some sort of rule-breaking, karate-kicking badass. Carolyn probably thought of you as an artistically inclined harpy whose sole mission in life was to sweep Miles off of his feet. And Miles…

Well…he was just ‘Miles’. Dorky, creative, funny, and a decent listener. And…you were lying to him. You were lying to all of your friends here, aside from Wanda. And while that particular relationship had only changed recently due to a mistake on your part, you couldn't help but feel relieved to have someone else to share your secrets with.

Because living a double life was hard. Harder than you or your parents ever gave it credit for. The lies, the stress, the guilt. The constant unexplained tardiness.

You didn't know how you were supposed to spend the rest of your high school career lying to your friends and flaking on them all the time.

“You have been distracted.”

The voice was deep and familiar. Reassuring and foreboding, all at the same time. It resonated with your very soul, and sent a chill down your spine.

You glanced over at a skeletal bird standing atop a wooden platform on the nurse’s desk. You were pretty sure that hadn’t been there before, but it wasn't exactly unusual for your God to appear in strange forms.

“I'm not. I just need to do the bare minimum and try to at least appear to be a normal person.” you said, carefully undoing the straps of your boot and removing it from your foot.

You then set it aside and gingerly pressed both thumbs into several points on your foot.

You were expecting it to be swollen, or at least a little tender. But to your surprise, and delight, you didn’t feel any pain from putting pressure on it!

“Ha! ‘Six to eight weeks’ my foot.” you said in a triumphant voice.

The Night Nurse had clearly underestimated the rate at which you could heal. And, if you were being honest with yourself…so had you.

Lately, you've been healing faster than ever. And it's been a bit harder to moderate your strength.

(Cont.)

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Just the other day, you nearly tore your locker door off of its hinges! This, of course, hadn't gone unnoticed by your fellow classmates. By the time fifth period rolled around, there were already jokes and rumors flying around about “The Karate Kid Hulking Out”.

You somehow managed to convince people that the locker was just old, but the whole thing was still a major pain to deal with.

Miles seemed to be under the impression that all the attention you were getting meant that you were “popular”, but you were convinced that everyone was just watching and waiting for you to do something weird. Like a circus attraction.

That particularly troubling line of thought was mercifully interrupted by more words of wisdom from Khonshu.

“A ‘secret identity’ is not necessary to your mission.”

“Why not? Your ‘Fist’ has like, five of them.” you replied, flexing and wiggling your toes.

Despite the skeletal bird having no eyes, you got the sense that it was glaring in your direction.

Ah, yep. That bird skull was definitely facing your way. Against your better judgment, you held his unseeing gaze.

“A fair point...” he conceded.

You smiled at him and reached over to grab a sock from your bag. You'd had a feeling that this boot was coming off soon, and you were glad to be rid of it. You were pretty sure the cast on your arm could come off soon too.

Just then, a sudden commotion reached your ears from a nearby open window. You shoved your newly healed foot back into its shoe and stomped on the floor a few times, just to make sure you were good to walk on it.

“What's going on?”

“Your adoptive father and his flame have both arrived in full costume, and they are currently wrangling a black dog and signing autographs.” Khonshu explained, his skeletal bird form now perched atop the window sill.

His ‘flame’?

“Do you mean ‘Anastasia’? She's back in town?” you asked, running over to the window that Khonshu was staring out of.

Sure enough, Ben and Ana were standing at the school gate, greeting a crowd of curious students. The blonde huntress was tightly gripping the collar of a skinny, shaggy black dog that looked unlikely to bolt, even if she let go.

Ben, on the other hand, was behaving like a Hollywood movie star stepping foot on the red carpet. People were taking pictures, shouting questions at him, and asking for autographs. You were pretty sure they all thought he was Spider-Man, though. It was honestly an easy mistake to make.

“Are they wearing matching costumes? That’s kinda cute.” you said, observing the chaos from above.

Were there always this many Spider-Man fans attending this school?

“I’m more concerned about why they are here in the first place.” Khonshu voiced.

You shrugged.

“Dunno. Maybe it’s got something to do with that dog.” you said, before drawing in a sharp breath. “Oh my god! You don’t think they got me a dog, do you!?”

(Cont.)

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Khonshu turned his boney bird head to stare up at you.

After a slightly awkward pause, you cleared your throat and straightened your back under his scrutinizing gaze.

“Right. I’m more of a cat person, anyway.”

Khonshu nodded as if you’d uttered some sort of ancient truth.

“Felines are indeed majestic creatures. If you would ever seek to care for one, be certain that you are up to the task.”

You gave him a surprised look.

Was…Khonshu giving you permission to adopt a cat?

“Is…this a test?”

“No. You have had far too many of those of late.” Khonshu said with a shake of his head.

“Ugh. Say less.” you agreed with a roll of your eyes.

“I will not be silenced.” he defiantly proclaimed.

“No, I’m not telling you to-”

“There is something wrong with that dog.”

His serious tone stopped you short, and you followed his gaze to the tired black dog. And immediately, your mind switched into business mode.

“What’re we looking at here? Hellhound? Vampire Lord? Victim of an alien werewolf curse?”

It was a bit hard to stay serious when you could clearly see your foster father flexing in costume, in front of the entire student body.

“I think you should go and find out.” Khonshu calmly replied. “And do remember to bring a change of clothes.”

You tried to flex your injured hand, and frowned at the sharp pain that shot through your arm. When you looked back at Khonshu, he was staring back at you, his head rotated at an awkward angle while his body remained facing forwards.

“I’m fine.” you said reflexively.

“Yes…but you could be better.”

The bird skull began to glow, and the fabric wrapped around your arm began to shift. The signatures that had once decorated it were changing shape, quickly becoming unrecognizable to the point that you wondered whether or not this was a known language.

“Whaaaat…?”

The cast tightened around your hand until they resembled silk bandages, perfectly outlining the arm underneath. You flexed it a couple of times, and then blinked in surprise!

“It doesn’t hurt…!”

“Think of this as a crutch, and a tool, until you recover properly.” Khonshu advised.

“This is incredible! If Wanda were here, she’d totally call it a ‘magic mummy hand’, or something.”

“Then let us be grateful that she is not here.” he put in. “And you should take care not to miss your window of opportunity.”

You gave him a blank look.

“I believe the bell is about to ring?” he offered.

“Huh? Ohhhh! Right! Thanks for the reminder!” you shouted, running towards the door. “And the magic mummy hand!”

(Cont.)

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You didn’t stay long enough to hear your god’s disapproval. There was a marked change in your dynamic ever since you got your voice back. You weren't sure if he appreciated the new, chattier version of you, but you weren't sure that you cared either. Did that count as sacrilege?

That was another thing you'd have to meditate on. Later.

Right now, you had to get to your locker and pick up that spare suit that Matt lent you. Security wouldn’t let you go back to the dorms without a good explanation for why you were there instead of in class, so you had to act fast before these hallways filled up.

You removed your shoes and socks once more, before breaking into a full sprint. You focused on making sure that the front of your foot made contact with the floor first, so as to reduce noise, and then pushed off of the ground to propel yourself forward. Had you not been wearing a skirt and a blazer, you could have easily moved through these halls without making so much as a peep. But, as things stood, your skirt was flapping in the wind about as much as your hair was.

You cursed yourself for not switching to your gym pants beforehand, and flung yourself towards a nearby staircase. Hopefully there wouldn’t be anyone staring up from below.

You hooked your hand around a rail, swung yourself down and around, slid off of the descending rail with your bare feet, kicked off a nearby wall, caught the top of a metal door frame and flipped into another hallway a few floors below the nurse’s office. From there, you ran to where your locker was, slid to a near-screeching halt, quickly entered your combo and carefully opened the metal door to avoid any unwanted squeaking from the hinges. Despite the fact that it was supposedly “new”, you were already putting it through its paces.

As quietly as you could manage, you removed a black vacuum sealed plastic bag from the back of your locker and carefully shoved it into your bag.

Now all you had to do was make it to the front gate without-

“Well what do we have here?”

You flinched at the sound of a familiar, grating voice, and slowly turned to face the man. He had probably once had a muscular frame in his youth, but a bad diet and his dwindling youth had already had a clear effect on his physique. Despite this, however, he had a full head of gelled, shiny black hair and a fuzzy caterpillar of a mustache that was threatening to consume his mouth entirely.

“Aren’t you supposed to be in class right about now, Moon?” Mr. Gutierrez asked, looking as if he’d just caught a child with their hand in the cookie jar.

This guy was the absolute worst person for you to run into right now! After you ditched him the first time he caught you sneaking out, he’s had it out for you ever since!

You put on your most innocent, saccharine smile and slowly closed your locker door before he could get a better look at what was inside.

(Cont.)

“I was, but I had to go to the nurse because I wasn’t feeling well, and my next class is kinda far, so I thought I’d beat traffic by heading there a little early.”

“Oh yeah? What’s your next class?” he asked, his hairy arms folded over his chest.

“Uhhh, I think it was-”

In the wrong school building. Dammit!

“And why aren’t you wearing any shoes?”

You paused and stared down at your bare feet.

“Oh, right. Well-”

“Look, I don’t know how they do things back where you’re from…”

“Washington Heights.” you offered through clenched teeth, your smile slipping a bit.

“But around here, we wear shoes indoors.”

Mr. Gutierrez was about to become the first BVA security guard to get slapped by a magic mummy hand if he kept this up. Where had he even come from?

“Actually, weren’t you wearing a boot earlier? I thought you hurt your foot.” he said, suspicion creeping back into his voice.

WHAT, DOES HE SUBSCRIBE TO THE CINDY MOON NEWSLETTER, OR SOMETHING!?

You were going to have to cook up a reasonable excuse to get this guy off your back. And fast.

What will you say?

>"The boot was giving me a rash so I took it off and tried to limp back to my dorm room for some ointment."
>"I'm seeing this new doctor that offered me an 'experimental treat', and its working wonders so far! She did mention some 'worrying' side effects, though..."
>"Actually, I think that dog outside is mine. He misses me ever since I moved away from home, and I think he came looking for me."
>Stall him until the bell rings, and then disappear among your fellow classmates.
>Write-in.

>>6119460
>>"Actually, I think that dog outside is mine. He misses me ever since I moved away from home, and I think he came looking for me."

>>6119460
>"The boot was giving me a rash so I took it off and tried to limp back to my dorm room for some ointment."

>>6119460
>"I'm seeing this new doctor that offered me an 'experimental treat', and its working wonders so far! She did mention some 'worrying' side effects, though..."
Delirium and hallucinations. The most interesting ones today were a skeletal raven in the nurses office and Spiderman out front with a big black dog. Pretty sure those aren’t real, but at least it’s temporary!

The black dog thing could be seen as an excuse to see a hero, while the ointment excuse contradicts our initial one of beating the crowd a bit.

I can see another BS excuse that we didn’t find the boot ointment and can’t afford another trip to the nurse’s office so we left it behind and we’re hoofing it. If we get a three-way tie I’ll break for the boot vote on that basis.

>>6119460
>>"The boot was giving me a rash so I took it off and tried to limp back to my dorm room for some ointment."

>>6119531
>>6119578
>>6119665
>"The boot was giving me a rash so I took it off and tried to limp back to my dorm room for some ointment."

Taking these. Writing...

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“The boot was giving me a rash, so I took it off and tried to limp back to my dorm room for some ointment.” you said, a note of genuine embarrassment in your voice.

The security guard glanced down at your foot, and you moved it behind your other leg to hide it.

“Well…why didn't you just ask someone else to get it for you?” he argued, sounding a bit flustered.

You shook your head frantically.

“No way! Do you have any idea how embarrassing that would be?”

You gave the man a pleading look. If he somehow hated you more than you thought he did, then he might just escort you to the counselor’s office to be spiteful.

“You wouldn’t have made it like that before the bell rang.” he said, his eyes softening a bit.

“I might have if you hadn’t stopped me.” you thought, but didn’t dare say out loud.

He let out a sigh and shook his head. You prepared for the worst.

“Do you need me to help you to your room? Or call someone?”

You blinked in surprise.

“Thanks, but…I'll manage on my own.”

The man guffawed.

“With only one good foot?”

“I might still be able to make it if you let me go~.” you said in an optimistic tone.

He waved a hand at you.

“Don't worry about it. Just tell your teacher to come see me later.”

You gave him a grateful smile and bowed your head.

“Thank you so much. I’ll be sure to get the, um–ointment and-”

“And get someone to help you to your dorm.” he reminded you.

You slowly backed away, faking a limp to the best of your ability.

“If someone's available, sure.” you lied.

“I'm serious, Moon. You can't do it all alone. I don't care how much karate you know.”

You suppressed an eye roll, but you didn’t wanna ruin this moment. This was the most civil conversation you've ever had with this man. It was almost enough for you to forget that he was basically your arch-nemesis.

But, good things couldn't last forever. You knew that more than most. So as soon as he turned his head, you dove out of a nearby window without hesitation.

—----

After picking twigs and leaves out of your hair and slipping your shoes back on, you ran over to the gathering crowd of students and pushed your way towards the front.

“Excuse me! Sorry! Coming through. Move…out of the…way!”

You had to dodge a few elbows and shove some people out of your way. But after a few seconds, people started to notice you, and a susurration ran through the crowd far faster than you could have moved.

You picked up the words “Karate Kid” more than once. And you might’ve gotten a little annoyed if it wasn't working in your favor.

People started moving out of your way as if you were the neighborhood bully showing up at a playground.

Ben must’ve noticed the disturbance, because he was already looking in your direction by the time you reached him.

(Cont.)

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You decided to wait until he was done signing his latest autograph, though. Just so you didn’t seem overeager.

“There you go. ‘Spider’…’Man’…”

You recognized the fan as a fellow first-year student. He looked at the composition notebook that had just been autographed with a mix of awe and…slight disappointment.

“You, uh…forgot the hyphen.” he said.

Contrary to everyone else's expectations, Ben looked pleased by this interruption.

“I was just testing you. And you passed! Here you go.”

He then used the marker to add a hyphen between “Spider” and “Man”, and added a webshot on the notebook’s cover.

The guy nearly fainted, and there were more than a few people trying to get a look at that signed and webbed notebook of his.

You shook your head and laughed. Ana just rolled her eyes.

When had Spider-Man gotten this popular? Maybe this was another social media thing. You'd have to ask Wanda later.

You took a step forward, and the old dog in Ana’s grasp shifted its gaze up to stare at you. There was…intelligence in those eyes. Like he was assessing you.

“And what would you like me to autograph, little lady?” Ben asked, twirling the marker between his fingers. “I'll even throw in a webshot and a selfie. I'm feeling generous today.”

“I hope you're not charging for these.”

“Come on, I'm not that evil.” he said with a wave of his hand, before leaning in to whisper. “Why? How much do you think I could get?”

“Huntsman-”

“I don't know who this ‘Huntsman’ guy is, but he sounds a lot more handsome and a lot less evil than me.”

You gave him a wry grin and extended your arm.

“Sign my magic mummy hand?”

“Don't know what that means, but I'm just gonna make it out to ‘Karate Kid’. That cool?”

You chuckled as he wrote your school nickname on the bandaged arm, only for the ink to disappear a moment later.

You both exchanged a glance, and you rolled your sleeve back down to hide it from everyone else. It was clear that neither of you had expected that to happen, but now definitely wasn’t the right time to talk about it.

“Thanks.” you said, turning your attention to the shaggy black dog. “Cute dog.”

Ben shrugged.

“Sure, I guess. If you squint really hard and stand really far away.”

You knelt down and reached over to pet him. The dog let you do it, but his tail didn't budge an inch, and he didn't break eye contact the entire time. It was more than a little unsettling.

“He is a mangy little thing. But terribly well behaved.” Ana said. “I wonder who trained him.”

You smiled up at Ana and wordlessly mouthed a greeting. She returned the smile and mouthed a greeting of her own.

“Does he have a tag?” you asked out loud, reaching under his neck to check.

(Cont.)

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Your hand found multiple tags, some of them made of wood, stone and silver. None of them had any names on them, but–

Wait. Were these…charms?

“Where did you come from?”

“It is an honor to meet you, Cindy Moon.”

You locked eyes with the dog, watching as he opened his mouth to utter words that should have been impossible for him to articulate. His jaws simply opened and closed.

You glanced up at Ana, but she didn’t look like she had heard anything strange.

“I was sent by your grandmother to retrieve you, and bring you to the Monster Metropolis.”

You gave him a confused look.

“That’s impossible. My grandma died when I was little.” you whispered back, earning you a curious look from Ana.

“I understand your confusion, but I can assure you that she is alive and well. And now, she has requested your presence.”

Your mind raced as you considered the implications of this dog's words. Your grandma was still alive? Why would she send a dog? Was she in trouble, or was this some kind of elaborate trap?

And what the hell was a “Monster Metropolis”?

What will you say/do?

>”What the hell is Monster Metropolis? Where is it, and why is my grandmother suddenly alive and living there?”
>”What's your name? I see a lot of stuff on this collar, but no name-tag.”
>”Is she in danger? What's the emergency?”
>”Whatever you are, you sound smart. Couldn't you have found a better way to contact me?”
>"I'm gonna need some proof before I ditch school to follow a random talking dog."
>"We shouldn't talk about this here. Maybe you could like, run off, and I could chase after you?"
>Write-in.

Pastebins:

Character Sheet:
https://pastebin.com/1ZihFYSV

Equipment and Gear:
https://pastebin.com/WAhveFAd

Contacts:
https://pastebin.com/WdcFXD2s

10 Commandments of the Desperados:
https://pastebin.com/Qpr2jVPE

Costumes:
https://pastebin.com/5Jie54X2

The Huntsman’s Travel Guide:
https://pastebin.com/PU6LWsip

Upcoming Events in the Maximum Universe:
https://pastebin.com/DceSEjiR

>>6119898
>>"I'm gonna need some proof before I ditch school to follow a random talking dog."

>>6119898
>”What's your name? I see a lot of stuff on this collar, but no name-tag.”
Better than calling him “dog” all the time. If he says he doesn’t have a name then I say it’s now Shaggy. Thoughts from others?

>"I'm gonna need some proof before I ditch school to follow a random talking dog."
We may not have any enemies who would want to trap us in a way this convoluted, but Khonshu might, and a missing family connection is obvious bait. Makes sense to press a little harder.

>”If this isn’t an emergency then my grandmother will need to wait until my current guardian is available to accompany me.”
If this is going to be a meet-and-greet with family then our current family should be with us. He has that right.

I’m a little soured on this whole thing even if it’s legit. A once-thought-dead grandma “requesting our presence” like we’re being invited to a ball? If she wants us to drop what we’re doing to make time for a family summons then what’s her excuse for failing to notice her kid died and left an orphaned granddaughter until now? She has more responsibility towards us than Ben did, yet there’s no acknowledgement of that by inviting him?

I may have words for grandma later depending on her excuses.

>>6119898
>"We shouldn't talk about this here. Maybe you could like, run off, and I could chase after you?"
Uhhh, we are already known as the 'Karate Kid' against our will. Better not be seen having full conversations with a dog.

>>6119898
>>6120285
Know what, I’ll support this first. Could also have the dog steal something from us.

Not like everything else I voted for can’t be said later.

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Sorry for the delay! It was my birthday yesterday!

>>6120285
>>6120293
>"We shouldn't talk about this here. Maybe you could like, run off, and I could chase after you?"

Taking these, first. Writing...

>>6120946
Happy birthday, Scorekeeper!

>Pic
The child in the back is clearly an alternate universe Cindy who is tired of Ben skimping on real performers by hiring himself for all her parties.

>>6120955
Thanks! I love that headcanon!

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“We shouldn't talk about this here.” you said, glancing between Ana and the dog. “Maybe you could run off, and I could chase after you?”

“On a broken foot?” Ana asked, staring down at your uninjured foot.

It was around then that Ben noticed you weren't wearing your boot. He didn't say anything out loud, though.

“If your foot is meant to be broken, then I'm afraid that won't do.” the dog said, his voice sounding a bit old and haggard. He also had an accent that you wanted to call…’Northern English’? You weren't too sure. And, now that you were this close, you noticed that this dog had seen better days. You could feel scar tissue and stiches in certain places as you continued petting him. It was as if he'd gone through multiple wars and somehow lived to tell the tale.

By now, both Ana and Ben were starting to pick up on the fact that you were having a conversation that they weren't a part of.

“Got any better ideas?” you whispered, still faking a smile for your audience.

“I do, in fact. But it all hinges on whether your friends here are any good at improvisation.” the dog said.

You peeked over your shoulder at Ben before turning back to give the dog a flat look.

“I think they can handle it.”

The dog bobbed its head marginally, and after a moment, you interpreted it as a nod.

“Very well. Do I have permission to bite?”

“Bite?” you hissed.

Now Ana definitely looked alarmed.

“Do I have your permission to bite you?” he asked, polite as could be. “If I might be allowed to do so, then these two here can pretend to escort you to safety.”

You frowned at him, but you couldn't think of any better ideas. It looked like you were going home early today.

“Mm. Okay, fine! But make sure you bite this one!” you whispered, offering him your bandaged arm.

The dog sniffed at it, and his eyes widened slightly.

“That's a powerful enchantment, Miss. I'd expect nothing less from the ‘Hunter's Moon’.”

“Just get on with it, already!” you hissed through clenched teeth.

Ana was giving you a searching look by this point, but you didn’t have time for her right now. Instead, you looked to the only person who would understand you in this situation.

You locked eyes with Ben and signed a few words repeatedly.

“Play along, please. Get me out. Friendly dog.”

You did this over and over again until you thought it registered. Then, you gave the dog a private thumbs up and stared up at Ana.

“Let go.” you whispered, as quietly as possible. “Trust me, and don’t hurt him.”

She still looked bewildered, but she did as you said.

(Cont.)

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Immediately afterwards, the black dog’s features curled into a vicious snarl, and he lunged at you, breaking free from Ana’s grasp! Had you not been prepared for it, you might’ve grabbed his throat reflexively. But that would’ve defeated the purpose of the entire ruse. So, you fell back on your butt and let out a pained cry as the dog's jaws locked onto the bandaged part of your arm.

You feigned an attempt to shake yourself free, and he pretended to shake you around a little as Ana pulled him off of you and wrestled him under control.

“Are you alright!?” Ben asked, sounding genuinely worried. Even after you warned him beforehand. He was a sweetheart like that.

“I...I think I'm bleeding!” you said, clutching your arm. And, sure enough, blood began to flow from your bandages. Too much, in fact!

The crowd of onlookers gasped. Ben looked downright horrified.

“But not that much!” you amended, and the steady flow of blood slowed to a barely noticeable trickle.

“No, she is not ‘alright’.” Ana put in, easily restraining the black dog. “This dog is sick.”

“Wait…are you saying that this little girl was just bitten by a…demonically possessed dog!?” Ben exclaimed in an overdramatic fashion. “That would explain the blood loss.”

You glared at him. He didn’t need to add the “little” part.

Murmurs and gasps circulated through the crowd at that explanation. No one was quite sure what to believe. Some looked like they wanted to come to your aid, but they were all hesitant in the face of the snarling dog. No one was going to take any chances after it “slipped” out of her grasp once already.

“That…may be so.” Ana offered, not even sounding like she believed it herself.

“Then we don’t have any time to waste! We’ve got to get her to a doctor that specializes in this type of thing. Luckily…”

Ben walked over and scooped you up in his arms.

“I know a guy!”

A moment later, Ben was swinging through the air with you clinging to his neck. You could just barely make out the worried faces of your fellow students as he rounded a corner and shot out another webline. You almost forgot how fun it was to swing through the city like this. You couldn’t believe that Ben, Abe and Joy got to do this all the time. And without a grappling hook!

It was seriously unfair...

“Hey! You okay?” he asked, looking you up and down. “That was, uh…a lot of blood. Was that fake?”

“No...that blood was definitely real. But it wasn’t mine.”

“That’s creepy. How’d you pull it off?”

“Khonshu placed a boon on my cast, and now I think it’s magic. I’m still not sure exactly what it does, though.” you explained.

“It erases permanent ink and spills buckets of blood, apparently.” he said with a dry chuckle. “Don’t ever do that again. I thought you were seriously hurt for a second there. Again.”

(Cont.)

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You smiled at him.

“You worry too much.”

“I worry the perfect amount for someone who just watched his kid bleed enough to fill a bathtub.”

His kid. He really did think of you as family. It wasn’t just lip service. And, in your most private of thoughts, you sort of thought of him as…

No. There was no “sort of”. Ben was your hero. You felt safe with him. Protected, even. He went above and beyond for you when no one else would. You would never forget that.

“You’re not the one who has to wash it out of her uniform!” you shot back, still grinning.

“I’ll order you a new one.”

“Thanks…” you said, your smile faltering as your thoughts drifted back to what the shaggy black dog had said earlier. Your grandmother was still alive!

Or…maybe she wasn’t, and this was all a trap. You couldn't know for sure, but you at least wanted to investigate further before you made any snap decisions.

“Hey.”

You looked over at Ben.

“Hm?”

“Were you talking to that dog earlier?”

—--------

Several minutes later, you and Ben met Ana in a mostly empty parking lot. You’d changed out of your bloody uniform, cleaned yourself off, and changed into your temporary costume. It was just a generic white ninja outfit, but it would have to do for now.

“That was a neat trick, with the blood.” said the dog. He was sitting obediently by Ana’s side. The woman had a firm, vice-like grip around his neck this time.

“Thanks. It surprised me too.” you said, not at all amused.

And neither was Ben. After you told him a bit about what happened, his demeanor changed almost immediately. You could tell from his body language. He was angry.

Not at the black dog, but at your supposedly living grandmother. You were still too shocked and confused to be angry. You were sure that it would hit you eventually.

“Do you have a name?” you asked.

“I have gone by many names in the past.” he offered, unhelpfully.

You nodded.

“I’m gonna call you ‘Shaggy’ for now. Cool?”

He stared at you for a moment, before letting out a non-committal grunt.

“Do as you will.”

Ana and Ben exchanged a glance. They still couldn’t understand him, but they were willing to wait for you to communicate it to them.

“Cool. Now, do you have any actual proof that anything you’re saying is actually true?”

“Nothing concrete. But…she told me to tell you that your mother’s cookbooks double as spellbooks. You just have to know how to use the correct alchemical reagent to reveal the hidden text.”

You gaped at him.

“Wait…seriously!? Those have been spellbooks this entire time?” you asked, giving him a suspicious look. “How’d you know about my mom’s cookbooks?”

Shaggy scratched at his neck with one of his back feet.

(Cont.)

“Family tradition, I suppose. Your grandmother does roughly the same thing. Although, I’m guessing that your mother was waiting to tell you until you reached an appropriate age.”

You squinted at him.

“Alright. Say I do believe you…” you went on. “Why’re you-”

Your next question was interrupted by the sound of Ben’s phone ringing. Everyone glanced at him.

“It’s your school. I should take this.” he said, still sounding like he was in a sour mood.

You nodded your understanding and he stepped away for a moment. After a moment, you returned your attention to Shaggy.

What will you say?

>”What the hell is Monster Metropolis? Where is it, and why is my grandmother suddenly alive and living there?”
>”Is my grandmother in danger? What's the emergency?”
>"Why did my grandmother wait this long to contact me? Why haven't I heard from her until now?"
>What are you actually supposed to be? Like, what species?"
>"If I'm going anywhere with you, Ben's coming with me. And Ana too."
>Write-in.

Pastebins:

Character Sheet:
https://pastebin.com/1ZihFYSV

Equipment and Gear:
https://pastebin.com/WAhveFAd

Contacts:
https://pastebin.com/WdcFXD2s

10 Commandments of the Desperados:
https://pastebin.com/Qpr2jVPE

Costumes:
https://pastebin.com/5Jie54X2

The Huntsman’s Travel Guide:
https://pastebin.com/PU6LWsip

Upcoming Events in the Maximum Universe:
https://pastebin.com/DceSEjiR

>>6121034
If you have many names yet don’t give one, an additional one will be assigned. Shaggy brought it on himself.

>”What the hell is Monster Metropolis? Where is it, and why is my grandmother suddenly alive and living there?”
>"Why did my grandmother wait this long to contact me? Why haven't I heard from her until now?"
>”If I go there without Ben then he’ll probably ground me for the rest of my life. And find a way to do it in the afterlife. Will you be joining, Ana?”
>“…Past tense, not present. You two already know. How long?”

Probably for the better Ben is on a call so he can avoid hearing the last question.

>>6121034
>”What the hell is Monster Metropolis? Where is it, and why is my grandmother suddenly alive and living there?”
>”Is my grandmother in danger? What's the emergency?”
>"What are you actually supposed to be? Like, what species?"
>"If I'm going anywhere with you, Ben's coming with me. And Ana too."

>Write-in.
>"Who are you to my grandmother, what is your relation? Servant, lieutenant, employee, bodyguard, carrier pigeon, familiar?"

I actually don't want to hear the excuses about no contact second hand. We can hear them directly I think, maybe there was a good reason but I doubt it.

>>6121080
+1

>>6121080
Fair, I had been thinking that earlier and voted against my own thought process. I’ll drop my own vote for it.

I’d still like advance warning on how long they’ve known since it might be a gut punch in itself, and asking that now gives us time to get over any kneejerk reaction if it sounds bad.

I’d also wondered if Ben knowing now would be better or worse. He’s already upset, it could harden him too much in the initial meeting. Cindy is more level-headed right now, whereas she might be more upset later. I ended up voting to hear it without him and we can mention it if it’s not long from their perspective. Having him calm down would be good if we can find reasons for it.

If there’s timey-wimey shit involved then I’d clarify it as their time, not ours.

>>6121034
>>6121046
+1 to the other write-in, -1 to the “why wait so long” vote.

>>6121046
>>6121080
>>6121225
>>6121451
>”What the hell is Monster Metropolis? Where is it, and why is my grandmother suddenly alive and living there?”
>”Is my grandmother in danger? What's the emergency?”
>"What are you actually supposed to be? Like, what species?"
>"Who are you to my grandmother, what is your relation? Servant, lieutenant, employee, bodyguard, carrier pigeon, familiar?"
>”If I go there without Ben then he’ll probably ground me for the rest of my life. And find a way to do it in the afterlife. Will you be joining, Ana?”
>“…Past tense, not present. You two already know. How long?”

Taking these. Writing...

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“What the hell is ‘Monster Metropolis’, and why is my grandmother suddenly alive and living there?”

Ana’s gaze sharpened at the mention of such a place, but she remained silent.

“It's exactly what it sounds like. A safe haven for creatures of all kinds. It also acts as a hub for trade and a shortcut between other realms. It exists on a plane parallel to that of your own, underneath this very city that you call home.” Shaggy explained.

Your eyes went wide. A place like that really exists!? Why weren't you told about it?

“And my grandmother's been living there all this time?”

Shaggy nodded.

“For as long as I've known her. She helps keep the peace between its denizens, as is the tradition of women in her family. In your family.” he corrected. “As such, she feels an obligation to the place.”

What about an obligation to family? She could’ve written a letter or sent a postcard, or something…

“So…what are you supposed to be, anyway? Like, what species?” you asked, as polite as possible.

“My little princess was bitten by a WHAT!?” Ben shouted.

You both turned to look at him, and Shaggy snorted.

“Three-legged dog. ‘Samjogku’.”

Your eyes lit up as you turned back to face him.

“Demon shapeshifter. Korean folklore.” you said, recognizing the name. “You guys always looked bigger in the picture books.”

Shaggy bared his teeth in what you assumed was a grin. Ana gave the dog a dubious look before reaffirming her grip.

“You're well informed. Your mother taught you well.”

You had to fight to keep yourself from scowling at him.

“And where was security during all this!?” Ben shouted.

That helped you to calm down a little. Ben’s little performance back there was distracting you so much that you found yourself paying attention to both sides of the conversation.

You squinted at Shaggy, tilted your head to the side and stared at his hind legs.

“I count four legs. Did you get a transplant or something?”

“The back left leg is fake. A wooden replica with an enchantment that allows me to fool most people.” he explained.

“I thought Samjogku were capable of shifting into human form. Why didn't you just pretend to be human when you delivered the message?”

“My ability to shift into human form has been stripped from me long before you were born, girl. I just followed a trail until I found you.”

Well, he probably could've shifted into something a little more inconspicuous, but you decided not to mention that out loud.

“This is unacceptable! I expect you to protect my child while she's under your care!” Ben exclaimed.

Shaggy sniffed the air and pointed his nose at you.

“What about you?”

“Me?” you asked, pointing at yourself.

“What are you, exactly?”

He tilted his head in a way that made him seem more dog-like.

(Cont.)

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“I'm human.” you stated simply.

He didn't look convinced.

“No…not completely. You don't smell like any human I've ever met before. It's vaguely familiar, though. Perhaps you have a mixed heritage.”

You folded your arms over your chest and huffed at him.

“I might not be on the PTA yet, but I plan to be! And you'd better believe in bringing this up at the next, next meeting.” Ben declared.

Now he just sounded like he was venting his frustrations over the phone.

“Why don’t you ask your boss?” you suggested. “Who are you to my grandmother, anyway? A servant? Lieutenant, employee, bodyguard, carrier pigeon, familiar?”

Shaggy smacked his lips and raised his nose to the air.

“Mm…I suppose you could say…all of the above.”

You rolled your eyes at the frustratingly vague answer.

The black dog seemed to take some pleasure in that.

“I have been in your family's service for some time now,” he continued. “With your grandmother's death, I would have been placed in your mother's service. And in her absence…”

Your shoulders drooped.

“You would be placed in my service…”

He bobbed his head. A pit formed in your stomach.

“Before, you said that my mom was waiting to tell me about the spellbooks. You used past tense, not present.”

Shaggy shifted uncomfortably in Ana’s grip. It was about the only time you’ve seen him lose his composure.

“How long have you known?” you asked, unconsciously balling your hands into fists.

Shaggy lowered his head. That told you everything you needed to know.

“Not long after it happened, word reached your grandmother. That’s another part of the reason why she has sent for you.”

All this time!? She’s known this entire time, and she waited until now to reach out to you!? She’d better have a damn good explanation for all of this, or you were going to join Ben in telling her off.

“And what’s the other reason? Is my grandmother in danger? What's the emergency?”

“The balance of power is shifting in the Undercity. An outsider…a cursed, gods-forsaken wretch of a man known as ‘Skul the Slayer’ is threatening to upend everything we've built. An army of monsters has rallied behind him, and we fear that his ambitions may continue to rise until they reach the surface. Your realm.”

“And what does she want me to do about it?” you asked, unable to hide the incredulity in your voice as you placed a hand on your chest.

“She needs your help to deal with Skul, without killing him and turning him into a martyr.” Shaggy answered, his gaze intent on you.

You groaned.

“She couldn't even come to deliver the message herself? I haven't seen her since I was like 3.”

“It would have been too dangerous. Your grandmother has enemies up here as well as down there.” he explained.

(Cont.)

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“Oh, I'll sue! Believe me, I've got money to spare.” Ben declared.

You glanced over at him and shook your head. He was overselling it.

“If I go there without Ben, then he’ll probably ground me for the rest of my life. And find a way to do it in the afterlife.” you added.

Shaggy’s eyes drifted over to the man ranting and raving over the phone.

“This is the man who’s been taking care of you? I have no problems with him accompanying you, then.” he easily agreed.

You nodded, glad that he didn’t try to fight you on the matter.

“Will you be coming too, Ana?”

The Huntress’ eyes focused on you once more.

“To this ‘Monster Metropolis’, you mean? I would very much like to see it for myself, yes.”

“Good. Because I could use the backup.”

The two of you exchanged a brief smile.

“This one seems dangerous, though. She’s got the smell of a predator.” Shaggy remarked.

“Why am I the only one who can understand you?” you said.

“I’m using a charm to make our conversation private. I'll stop using it as soon as we find the Mask Maker.”

You gave him a blank look.

“The…’Mask Maker’?”

“She and another monster accompanied me on this trip, but both have gone missing. It is my duty to find them and bring them back, but I fear that I'm going to need your help.”

What will you say?

>”Why didn't you just lead with that? If a monster is loose in the city, then I think that kinda takes priority over delivering a message from my grandma.”
>”What kind of monsters are they?”
>”How’d you lose track of them if you came here together?”
>”I think we might need some more backup.” (Invite someone else to come along.)
>”Fine. Let's just get this over with.”
>Write-in.

Pastebins:

Character Sheet:
https://pastebin.com/1ZihFYSV

Equipment and Gear:
https://pastebin.com/WAhveFAd

Contacts:
https://pastebin.com/WdcFXD2s

10 Commandments of the Desperados:
https://pastebin.com/Qpr2jVPE

Costumes:
https://pastebin.com/5Jie54X2

The Huntsman’s Travel Guide:
https://pastebin.com/PU6LWsip

Upcoming Events in the Maximum Universe:
https://pastebin.com/DceSEjiR

>>6122155
Oof. Not good news, unfortunately. With everything else we’ve heard I’m sure the excuse is going to be that reaching out to us would put us in danger of grandma’s “topside” enemies since they’d know a connection exists, and the Monster Metropolis is too dangerous for her to be brought into it. Except when grandma needs help, of course.

>Ana smells like a predator
Well, yeah. There’s a chance she’s even an archetype related to it. Just don’t be prey and you’ll be fine!

>”What kind of monsters are they?”
>”How well-behaved are they? If they might hurt people without supervision then you should have led with that.”
General info. I’m not going to assume that just because they’re “monsters” that they’ll be causing havoc… but I could be wrong.

>”How’d you lose track of them if you came here together?”
Teleportation shenanigans?

>”Fine. What’s the best ways to track them?”
Move on afterward.

Do we bring in our sidekick? If she helps us track down the monsters then she’ll want to join us in the trip to the MM. Orchestrating a coup of a political faction seems a tad bit more dangerous than the beating street thugs, but having Ben and Ana along reduces the risk while giving her a better idea of the real shit heroes can get up to.

I don’t think Cindy knows anyone else who would be good for this stuff. Maybe Black Cat? There’d be interesting stuff to steal, and if we can’t kill Skul then infiltration and theft could be more important. Maybe Ben would reach to the Morlocks since it involves us, too.

>>6122155
>>”What kind of monsters are they?”
>>”How’d you lose track of them if you came here together?”

Hey guys, I just wanted to let you know that I'll be out of town for the rest of this week. I'm visiting my loved ones, so I won't be able to update as often, or with the proper formatting. But I'll still try my best to update whenever I get a moment to get some writing done!

>>6122954
No worries, Scorekeeper! Hope you enjoy the trip up to family.

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>>6123744
Thanks! I'm gonna post the update in a moment. Just wanted to make absolutely sure that the format won't work here.

[red]Testing[/red]

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“What kind of monsters are they?”

“The Mask Maker is a Limbo demon and a skilled practitioner of black magic, despite her young age. And the other is a Tulpa—a personal creation of the Kaiju King. He is an energy being that thrives on electricity.”

A Limbo demon and a Tulpa? That's not something you see everyday. And what's this about a “Kaiju King”? Kaiju is just Japanese for “giant monster”, right? Just how big is this Tulpa, then?

“Are they the type to cause trouble?”

“Not on purpose.” Shaggy admitted.

That didn't exactly fill you with confidence.

“How'd you lose track of them if you came here together?”

“As soon as we arrived, the Mask Maker caught wind of a monster that escaped captivity and fled to your realm. She and the Tulpa gave chase, while I went to fetch you.”

“What kind of monster was it?” you asked.

“An old alien named Gorgolla. He's a silicon-based lifeform with skin hard as stone. A bad match-up for Hi-Vo.”

“Who?”

“The Tulpa.”

“Right. The energy-based one. Ana can help us track them down.”

“What's going on?” Ana asked.

“We've got three monsters on the loose, and Shaggy here needs our help to find them.” you explained.

“Can he take us to the last place he saw them?”

Shaggy nodded to her, and a moment later, a webline attached itself to his collar.

“If we're going on a walk, you're gonna have to start wearing a leash.” Ben said, finally rejoining the conversation. “Can't have the neighbors complaining.”

Shaggy's ears drooped and he shot you a sideways glance, but he didn't give voice to the protests that he undoubtedly held.

“We just have to make sure that we avoid passing BVA.” you said.

You could only imagine the kind of rumors that were forming from this little incident. You were starting to think that you were pretty bad at keeping a low profile.

—--------

About an hour later, you and Ben were following Shaggy and Ana’s lead in tracking down those monsters. You got a few weird looks for being in full costume in broad daylight, but you ignored them and kept facing forward.

“Hey,”

You glanced over at Ben. He'd been oddly quiet up until this point.

“You okay?”

You nodded weakly.

“Yeah. I've just been thinking…”

“What about?”

It was honestly hard to narrow it down.

>”I'm trying to figure out what I should say to my grandma when I see her. I don't know if I should yell at her or have a touching family reunion.”
>”Shaggy said that I didn’t smell completely human. What if I've been a ‘monster’ all this time?”
>”Why don’t we talk about how you're doing? You seemed pretty upset earlier.”
>”My grandmother knows about what happened to my parents. To her own daughter. And she's acting like she doesn't care!”
>"It's nothing. I'll tell you later."
>Write-in.

>>6124781
>”Shaggy said that I didn’t smell completely human. What if I've been a ‘monster’ all this time?”
Not the biggest real issue, but maybe the one we can dig into the most now. It might explain our ability to sometimes command creatures.

I’d also accept
>”Why didn’t my parents live in this Metropolis? Was it by choice? Did my dad know? Did my any of them hate the other side? Is that why she never reached out and my mother never taught me about this? I’ll get to hear my grandmother’s side, but not my parents.”
We’ll get answers to a lot of other questions, but it may be biased. We don’t have anything available to un-bias it though. Not unless Khonshu can phone a friend to get some answers from mom and dad.

>>6124781
>”Shaggy said that I didn’t smell completely human. What if I've been a ‘monster’ all this time?”
We told the Silvertongue to return her voice 'as is' but who knows if it actually did. The 'disney princess' effect might be from that.

>”My grandmother knows about what happened to my parents. To her own daughter. And she's acting like she doesn't care!”
Switch to sign language for this. Who knows what Shaggy might be reporting back.

Finally back from my vacation! Sorry for the wait!

>>6125235
>>6125403
>”Shaggy said that I didn’t smell completely human. What if I've been a ‘monster’ all this time?”

Taking these. Writing...

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“Shaggy said that I didn’t smell ‘completely human’. What if I’ve been a ‘monster’ all this time, without even knowing it?”

Ben gave you an odd look.

“Do you have any idea how hardcore you are? I watched you fight an enraged spider-lizard mutant thing right after your throat had been slit.”

You shrugged at him.

“You did most of the work in that fight. I couldn’t have done that by myself.”

“That’s besides the point.” he shot back. “It’s honestly not a big deal if you’re ‘half-monster’ or whatever. If anything, it makes a lot of sense.”

You frowned at him, and Ben made a motion with a head that told you he was rolling his eyes under that mask.

“After all the crazy things I’ve seen you do, I’m seriously supposed to believe that all of that is coming from ‘the power of prayer’?”

“...Yes?”

Ben shook his head.

“As far as I’m concerned, whether you’re 100% human or not doesn’t change anything.”

You’ve got an entire book on changeling psychology that says otherwise.

“If you’re that worried, we can look into it after this.” Ben promised.

You gave him a grateful nod. Ben was usually pretty good at keeping his promises.

“We’re getting close.” Shaggy offered, forcing you to push your worries to the back of your mind for the time being.

But, right at that very moment, a small, fuzzy shape dropped down onto a nearby mailbox. You, Ben and Ana took combat-ready poses, but Shaggy barely budged. If anything, he looked a little relieved.

You gave the fuzzy little creature a closer look…and realized that it wasn’t the rabid mutant wolverine that you thought it was. The fur was obviously fake, the eyes were crossed and glassy, and there were distinct traces of sloppy stitching that stood out in discolored patches.

“Trick-or-treaters are getting aggressive this year…” Ben remarked.

“Eri. Where have you been?” Shaggy asked, seemingly familiar with the fuzzy creature.

“Smokey! Hi-Vo needs our help!”

The owner of the voice sounded female, so you thought it safe to assume that this was the “Mask Maker” you were told about. You weren’t too keen on Limbo demon physiology, but this creature seemed pretty young. She was about as tall as a small child–maybe a little bigger than Peter.

“I know. And I brought help.” Shaggy declared, using his front paw to gesture at your group. “You’re dressed up as a werewolf, right? How good is your nose?”

The Limbo demon tapped her nose with a clawed glove.

“It’s a certified super-sniffer. I’ve got both of their scents.”

“Good. Lead the way.”

The Mask Maker bobbed her head up and down, and you saw a fake tongue flop out of the mouth of her costume. She then leapt from the mailbox and started sprinting down the street on all fours.

“What’s going on?” Ana asked.

(Cont.)

“We’re following her now.” you confirmed.

“Do we know if she’s had all of her shots?” Ben chimed in.

“She most certainly has not.” Shaggy huffed.

—------------

Due to traffic, police questioning, and the questionable accuracy of the Limbo demon’s “super-sniffer”, you ended up wasting more time than you would’ve liked.

Turns out, a demon child dressed like a dog, a big mangy real dog, and three random people wearing costumes tend to draw a lot of attention in broad daylight.

Somehow, though, you managed to track the missing monsters down to an active construction site.

You weren't sure what they were building here, but it was already seven stories tall, and it looked like they wanted to keep adding to it.

“They’re close! I can smell it.” Eri said, for the tenth time.

“Hey! You can't be here!” shouted a construction worker over the steady rhythm of a jackhammer.

Eri whimpered and covered her fake ears.

“WHAT!?” Ben shouted back.

“I SAID YOU CAN'T-”

A blinding flash of light and the crackling of thunder cut off whatever the man was about to say. Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and turned to stare at the phenomenon.

Shaggy muttered a curse.

“Those idiots! They’ve pierced the veil.”

“Isn't that a band or something?” you asked.

Shaggy shook his head.

“The veil prevents them from interacting with your world, and it's the only thing that prevents them from being discovered when they cross over.”

“But how does-”

Panicked screams drew your attention to an airborne excavator. Ben was already in motion by the time you were starting to react. He swung in and grabbed a few of the construction workers, moving them out of the way before the excavator slammed into the dirt.

“Everyone out! Evacuate the area!” Ana demanded.

No one argued with her or waited around to see what was going on. They moved as fast as they could without trampling over each other. Ben was focused on evacuating people on the upper floors, and Ana was checking to make sure that everyone had gotten the message.

You glanced over at Shaggy…and found him digging a hole?

“Now's not the time to go digging up bones in the backyard!”

“I'm digging us a way out of here!” he snapped back. “I need you to find a way to get those two to stop fighting. One way or another.”

“Try not to hurt Hi-Vo!” Eri pleaded, showing glimpses of her crimson skin through the gap in her mask.

You frowned and returned your attention to the cloud of debris where the bright light had come from.

What will you do?

>Grab a sledgehammer and teach that stone creature a lesson.
>Get in between both monsters and try to talk them down. There's no reason you can't settle things peacefully.
Have the Mask Maker hijack some heavy machinery to help you in your fight.
>Help Ben and Ana evacuate the site before anyone gets hurt.
>Write-in.

>>6127598
>Get in between both monsters and try to talk them down. There's no reason you can't settle things peacefully.
Welcome back! I’m not actually convinced we can “talk” them down, but shouting at them like they’re bad dogs may work given our sometimes-funny voice.

Is there a missing section describing the monsters? All we see is the debris so far.

>>6127606
There's no missing section. The monsters are somewhat obscured by the debris, as well as this "Veil". You'll get a better look at the action once you get a little closer.

>>6127606
+1
But also keep make sure not to get caught in the crossfire if they won't cooperate. We are injured after all.


I think these are the new characters:

>Dog:
Shaggy -> Samjogku - Three-legged dog - Shapeshifter

>Minions:
Mask Maker -> Limbo Demon - Black Magic
Hi-Vo -> Tulpa - Electricity Being

>Alien:
Gorgolla -> Silicon-based lifeform - Stoneskin

>>6127606
>>6128175
>Get in between both monsters and try to talk them down. There's no reason you can't settle things peacefully.

Taking these. Writing...

>>6128175
That's right!

File: 5760906-hi-vo.jpg (46 KB, 283x423)

46 KB JPG

Without most of your usual gadgets, you felt woefully underprepared for an encounter of this magnitude. You might be able to squeak out a win with Ben and Ana's help, but…

You glanced back at the Limbo demon, her mask's fake eyes staring pleadingly back at you.

Maybe you wouldn’t need to resort to violence this time. Marc did say that you were in a unique position to reason with the creatures of the night, rather than punch their lights out and drive a stake through their heart.

“I'll try.” you promised, placing a hand on the fake werewolf's shoulder.

Then, you dove into the fray, jumping over the heads of the fleeing civilians and towards the growing cloud of debris. As soon as you got closer, though, both monsters sprang into view–as if they'd been there all along and you just weren't looking from the right angle.

On the left, there was a large black creature with sharp spines and ridges trailing down its back and lining the outside of its muscular forearms. Segmented blue lines flowed from his neck, down to the rest of his body, and its eyes and mouth glowed with a similar light. It looked to be about 25 feet tall, with a narrow face, a thick neck and a hunched posture. The creature that you assumed to be “Hi-Vo” seemed to be the source of all that light and noise earlier.

On the right, you saw a giant, 30 foot gargoyle. There wasn't any other way to describe it.

“I'm guessing you're Gorgolla.”

Both monsters turned to stare at you in shock. And because he looked away, Hi-Vo got smacked in the face by Gorgolla's tail.

The big guy fell over with a thud. You winced and gave him an apologetic wave.

“Sorry. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Didn't even feel it.” Hi-Vo said hastily, his resounding voice humming with power as he scrambled to his feet.

“Get out my way, human. This doesn't concern you.” Gorgolla demanded, his voice the sound of grinding gravel.

“I hate to agree with ‘big ugly’ here but-”

Hi-Vo paused, and his glowing eyes widened as he leaned in to get a better look at you.

“Wait a minute. You're the old bag's grandkid, aren't you?” he asked, pointing a dark, sharp claw at your chest.

“Uhh...yeah, I guess I am.” you said with a shrug.

Hi-Vo chuckled.

“Heh, yeah. I wouldn't be too thrilled about it either.”

A deep rumble shook you to your very core, then. A moment later, you recognized it as the sound of Gorgolla's growling.

“Then she sent you here to help this weakling banish me.” he said, leveling an accusatory glare at you.

“Yeah? Well this weakling's been cleaning your clock for the past hour.” Hi-Vo said, pointing a thumb back at himself.

“That would be an overly generous interpretation of your performance thus far.” Gorgolla observed.

“That's not what your mom said last night.” he shot back.

(Cont.)

File: 4513768-monster 01.jpg (884 KB, 1602x1235)

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“Oh, we made it work. Long distance relationships are pretty manageable these days.”

Your head moved back and forth between the hulking behemoths. It was like watching an oversized middle schooler squabble with a statue.

“Alright, that's enough!” you shouted.

Both of them finally remembered that you were still there, and turned to stare down at you.

“I didn’t come here to banish you, Gorgolla. I just need the two of you to break it up before somebody gets hurt.”

Hi-Vo opened his mouth, and you cut him off before he got a chance to say something stupid.

“Someone who isn't 50 feet tall!”

He closed his mouth. You nodded approvingly and turned to look up at the gargoyle.

“Gorgolla, what exactly did you do to warrant ‘banishment'?”

“He tried to take over the world! Multiple times!” Hi-Vo cut in.

You were about to tell the energy creature that you weren't talking to him, when Gorgolla spoke.

“That was a long time ago by human standards.” he reasoned.

“That doesn't make it any better!” Hi-Vo exclaimed.

These two were starting to give you a headache. Maybe you weren't cut out for this “mediation” stuff.

What will you say?

>”Did you seriously try to take over the world? Are you like an alien invader, or something?”
>”If it was that long ago, then there’s a chance that he’s changed. We can’t just banish people for all eternity for some stuff they did in the past. No matter how terrible.”
>”Isn’t there some sort of ‘Monster Judge Judy’ we can take him to? Don’t they have courts down there in Monster Metropolis?”
>”What exactly happens to someone when they get banished?”
>Write-in.

Pastebins:

Character Sheet:
https://pastebin.com/1ZihFYSV

Equipment and Gear:
https://pastebin.com/WAhveFAd

Contacts:
https://pastebin.com/WdcFXD2s

10 Commandments of the Desperados:
https://pastebin.com/Qpr2jVPE

Costumes:
https://pastebin.com/5Jie54X2

The Huntsman’s Travel Guide:
https://pastebin.com/PU6LWsip

Upcoming Events in the Maximum Universe:
https://pastebin.com/DceSEjiR

>>6127786
Ah, I had thought the veil was fully shattered earlier, not partially. I’m tracking now.

>>6128175
This also helped! Mostly because I’d forgotten the individual monster types. It was later overshadowed by the changeling joke, which got a chuckle out of me.

>>6128305
>”Alright, if you make a decent case with me then I’ll try to vouch for you later. After someone explains more about how I’m part of all this, I guess.”
If he’s reformed then I’d hope he’s able to sit down long enough to explain his situation to his sudden overworked(?) public (??) case worker(???) that’s now present.

>”Did you seriously try to take over the world? Are you like an alien invader, or something?”
I’m more curious about the “how” and “when” myself.

>”Isn’t there some sort of ‘Monster Judge Judy’ we can take him to? Don’t they have courts down there in Monster Metropolis?”
Is her grandmom the sole court of appeal or something.

>”What exactly happens to someone when they get banished?”

Part of the joke is missing, something like “You haven’t met my mother, you’ve been in a cell for 200 years!”

>>6128305
>”What exactly happens to someone when they get banished?”
>”Did you seriously try to take over the world? Are you like an alien invader, or something?”

No one accidentally tries to take over the world multiple times. And if it was long ago by human standards but not his own then has he learned his lesson? Doesn't really 'seem' repentant.

>>6128330
>>6128750
>”What exactly happens to someone when they get banished?”
>”Did you seriously try to take over the world? Are you like an alien invader, or something?”

Taking these. Writing...

>>6128330
Damn, you're right!

Here's the whole bit:

||

“Yeah? Well this weakling's been cleaning your clock for the past hour.” Hi-Vo said, pointing a thumb back at himself.

“That would be an overly generous interpretation of your performance thus far.” Gorgolla observed.

“That's not what your mom said last night.” he shot back.

"I haven't seen my mother in several hundred years. I somehow doubt that she would come all the way from Stonus V to see a pathetic creature such as yourself." Gorgolla replied, his hands clenched into fists.

“Oh, we made it work. Long distance relationships are pretty manageable these days.”

Your head moved back and forth between the hulking behemoths. It was like watching an oversized middle schooler squabble with a statue.

“Alright, that's enough!” you shouted.

||

File: 189147-119434-gorgolla.jpg (32 KB, 269x400)

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“What exactly happens to someone when they get banished?”

“I've never gone there myself, but I hear it's supposed to be a barren wasteland in an alternate dimension where we exile frenzied monsters that make trouble.” Hi-Vo answered.

“Banishment is often permanent, as no other creature has ever returned through their own influence.” Gorgolla added, his heavy stone wings wrapping around his body.

That sounds pretty serious. But, so is his crime.

“Did you really try to take over the world? Are you like an alien invader, or something?”

“That's exactly what he is. He led the damn invasion.” Hi-Vo agreed.

Gorgolla let out a rumble expressing his displeasure.

“I…will admit,” he began. “I originally arrived on your planet several centuries ago with the intention of claiming it for my people. We didn't expect much resistance from what we assumed were a…particularly aggressive species of upright monkey.”

Wow? Species-ist much?

“Told you.” Hi-Vo said in a self-satisfied tone as he folded his arms over his broad chest.

Gorgolla's scowl deepened, and you motioned for him to continue.

“But…over time, I have observed the ways of your people during my occupation here. I have watched you grow as a species, watched you make rapid advancement in multiple fields of study, and have come to the conclusion that it would be a waste to interfere in your progress. I no longer wish to conquer your race, and I do not possess the means to do so.”

“Did you come to that conclusion before, or after you got your ass kicked by your little army of slave soldiers?” Hi-Vo put in.

“You owned slaves?” you asked, unable to hide the incredulity in your voice.

“It was a perfectly normal part of our society.” he shot back. “They were considered a lesser race.”

Hi-Vo broke into a sudden coughing fit that sounded suspiciously like “Bad Guy”.

“I am no longer a slave owner.” Gorgolla grumbled.

“That is an absolutely wild thing to hear from a giant alien gargoyle.” you observed.

“The only reason you don't own any slaves is because they jumped your cold stony butt.” Hi-Vo pointed out.

Gorgolla's next words were ground out through clenched teeth.

“I. HAVE. CHOSEN. NOT to practice slavery.” he declared, his booming voice never raising to a shout, despite his clear frustration.

“Why’s that? Couldn’t make it to nationals?” Ben said, swinging over to check on the situation. “You could’ve at least aimed for the Olympics. It’d have to be a pretty specific category, but I’d like to think that we’re a pretty inclusive society.”

Both monsters tensed when they saw him coming, but you signaled for them to stand down, and, for some reason, they actually listened. Maybe you weren’t completely terrible at being a monster mediator.

(Cont.)

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“You look like you’ve got this under control.” Ben signed.

“Somehow, yeah.” you signed back. “I wouldn’t mind a bit of backup.”

“Uh…are they playing charades, or something…?” Hi-Vo asked, leaning over to whisper at the gargoyle.

“It is American Sign Language. They are attempting to have a private conversation.” Gorgolla explained.

Both you and Ben gave the alien gargoyle a surprised look.

“You sign?” you asked in ASL.

“I am fluent, yes.” he signed back.

“Wow, that was pretty good!” you said, genuinely impressed by the fluid movement of his stone fingers.

Ben shook his head.

“Okay, you’re gonna have to catch me up here.”

You intended to do just that, but before you got a chance, a giant star-shaped hole opened above the unfinished building!

You and everyone else looked up to see what it was. It looked like some sort of portal, with increasingly smaller stars layered throughout its depths, seemingly to infinity. Sort of like a visual feedback loop.

Your eyes widened even further when multiple dropships emerged from the portal, quickly moving to surround the area and cut off your escape routes.

“Friends of yours?” Ben asked, glancing between the two monsters and the approaching ships.

Hi-Vo just shrugged, and Gorgolla stared around warily.

That wasn’t very reassuring.

You squinted at one of the ships that was swinging around to come up beside you, and you thought you could make out an emblem of a woman with a gentle smile swaddling a globe in white cloth.

The door on that particular ship slid open a moment later, and a boy wearing yellow goggles and white and blue spandex flew out of it. His mask left the lower half of his face exposed, and you could see that his jaw was set in a determined grimace.

“Sorry about this.” he said, pointing a hand towards you.

And then your body lifted off of the ground! It was as if you’d suddenly become weightless, or something!

“Whoa!”

Your arms flailed, and you struggled to find something to grab onto. Your stomach was turning, and you could feel a slight pressure building in your ears. If only you had your grappling hook on-hand…!

Thankfully, Ben wasted no time in tethering you to him with a webline. That at least kept from floating into the sky. That was, until, an arrow came sailing past, severing the connection.

You both traced its trajectory back to another drop-ship, this one housing a girl with long black hair tied back into a ponytail. She wore purple and black spandex, with an assortment of straps and pouches wrapping across her chest, right leg and waist. But the one part of her wardrobe that was drawing your immediate attention were the bow and arrow she had aimed in your direction.

(Cont.)

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Her eyes were hidden behind a pair of purple shades, but you were certain she was looking straight at you. You prepared yourself to catch whatever she shot at you, but the projectile never came. Not towards you, at least.

The archer girl instead swiveled to fire a shot at Ana without breaking eye contact with you. The huntress easily snatched the arrow out of the air, and threw it aside almost immediately. A thick plume of green gas began spewing from the arrow tip before it even hit the ground, and you could just barely make out Ana covering her face with her cloak and retreating from the growing cloud. The Mask Maker was doing likewise.

“Ana!” Ben shouted, struggling between keeping you from floating away and running to his girlfriend’s aid.

Like a magician whipping out a card, you instantly brandished a moon dart and flicked it at the archer girl. It only traveled half its distance before she spotted it and sniped it out of the air, though.

You muttered a curse, and did a rundown of your available options.

>Float helplessly.
or
>Scream your head off and flail around wildly.

Not great options, all things considered.

Hi-Vo aimed his hand at the dropship in front of you and released an arc of electricity. The guy in white and blue spandex just barely managed to spin out of its path, weakening his grasp on you. The ship had fared far worse, and was only barely managing to avoid spinning out of control.

The flying boy brought out his other hand, using his power to stabilize the vehicle he’d just come out of. Ben took that opportunity to turn the tables on him.

He ran up to the boy, sprang into the air, snagged his underwear through a gap in his costume with a webline, and yanked it over his head in what you could only describe as the world’s worst atomic wedgie!

“A little advice, kid! Girls don’t like grabby guys!” Ben said, blinding the boy with his own underwear and encasing him in a near complete web cocoon.

The boy had no choice but to leave the ship to its fate, as he had his hands full preventing himself from falling full speed towards the ground. You felt a pang of sympathy for the guy. Or maybe you were just cringing from how brutal that wedgie was.

You were absolutely certain, however, that you could feel your sense of balance returning to you as your assailant lost control of whatever power he was using on you. You landed back on your feet and went into an immediate crouch, narrowly avoiding a blunt-tipped arrow to the side of your head.

Another volley followed, and you prepared to dodge again, but an oppressive shadow washed over you and blocked your vision, as well as the arrows!

You looked up to find Gorgolla’s outstretched wing being placed in front of you. He stared down at you with an impassive look on his stony face. You were grateful that he’d tried to protect you, but you could also see that he hadn’t fully committed to the fight. No one was trying to provoke him, either.

(Cont.)

File: Spoiler Image (84 KB, 415x631)

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Then…you heard cawing.

It started off small—barely noticeable amidst the chaos. But then it grew louder—to the point where you were unable to ignore it. It swelled to a great cacophony of bird cries as a black mass spiraled down from the open star portal. There were enough birds there to blot out the sky from where you were standing. And they might have plunged the construction site into artificial night…if it weren’t for her.

There was just one girl floating amidst the storm. One girl with long, braided purple pigtails, and outerwear that was unmistakably Nordic in design.

She raised what looked like a staff, and all those arcs of electricity that Hi-Vo had been firing drastically altered course, and flowed into it.

Your heart sank, then. You didn’t know what you were going to do about something like that!

And the worst part? It was the cawing. It drowned out everything, filling the sky and your ears with…laughter.

The birds were laughing. It was a maniacal cackle that bordered on obnoxious, and you wanted nothing more than for all of them to just shut up! They were so damned loud! You couldn't even hear Ben's quips over this racket!

You clutched your ears and opened your mouth to let out a scream!

“SHUT! UP!”

The words flew out of your mouth…and every bird went dead silent. Your words had cracked like a whip, and they were barely recognizable to your own ears, but they were undoubtedly your own.

Suddenly, everyone turned to stare at you, waiting to see what you would do next. You were wondering that as well.

What will you say/do?

>(Turn to Gorgolla) “Help us get out of here, and I’ll see about getting that banishment lifted.”
>Shout something else. Maybe it’ll work again. (Write-in.)
>Utter a short prayer to Khonshu, and clutch your magic mummy hand. You’re not sure what it does, but you’ll take buckets of blood over a useless bandage.
>Make a b-line for the archer girl’s ship. She’s pretty much controlling the battlefield from up there.
>Have Ben cover you while you search for Ana, the Mask Maker and Shaggy. They’re probably fighting their own battle right about now.
>Write-in.

>>6128844
>Utter a short prayer to Khonshu, and clutch your magic mummy hand. You’re not sure what it does, but you’ll take buckets of blood over a useless bandage.
Cast Fist. Or Khonshu's Hand. Throw out a mummy wrapped hand that grasp things remotely, should suffice as a grappling hook since we are missing one.

>Make a b-line for the archer girl’s ship. She’s pretty much controlling the battlefield from up there.

>>6128844
Unrelated to the vote, I looked up Khonshu again noticed this time that he’s invoked for protection against wild animals and to bless friendly ones. Our “charm” powers may be an extension of Khonshu and our own lineage. So that’s neat.

More related, them not being recognized by anyone is pretty weird. Mercs that our grandmother’s enemy has hired out maybe?

>(Turn to Gorgolla) “Help us get out of here, and I’ll see about getting that banishment lifted.”
If we lose, he can switch sides again. Better to get out legit than to bust loose though.

>Utter a short prayer to Khonshu, and clutch your magic mummy hand. You’re not sure what it does, but you’ll take buckets of blood over a useless bandage.
Grappling hook? Shame Amumu probably doesn’t exist yet, skill shot stuns could also be up her alley.
>Make a b-line for the archer girl’s ship. She’s pretty much controlling the battlefield from up there.

If the birds harass us, I’d yell
>Fly away!
to see if they’ll scatter. I assume Nordic girl would keep them from attacking an ally.

>>6128858
>>6129187
>Utter a short prayer to Khonshu, and clutch your magic mummy hand. You’re not sure what it does, but you’ll take buckets of blood over a useless bandage.
>Make a b-line for the archer girl’s ship. She’s pretty much controlling the battlefield from up there.

Taking these. Writing...

>>6129187
Nice observation!

File: khonshu-concept-art-by-ma(...).jpg (177 KB, 1125x1428)

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Despite all the attention on you–despite all the sudden arrivals and everything around you exploding, you found yourself reflecting on your mother's words of wisdom.

“There is always time for prayer. You just had to make it.”

You closed your eyes, and time seemed to slow. A sad smile formed under your mask, and your attention turned inward.

“Oh, Father. I need your help. Your Hunter's Moon…needs your help.” you pleaded.

“I am always with you, my child.” Khonshu answered, his bony hand resting on your shoulder from a place unseen.

“Khonshu–who is the Defender. The Embracer. The Traveler. The Pathfinder. My guiding light on the darkest of nights.” you continued.

“What is it that you would ask of me, my child?”

“Show me how to use your gift. Guide me to victory against the archer.” you requested.

“It shall be done, my child. If you only ask to see the path to victory, then all you must do is open your eyes to it.”

You slowly opened your eyes, and saw an illuminated path running between you and the archer that hadn’t been there before. Time began to flow at a normal speed once more, and you could tell that Khonshu’s attention was no longer fixated solely on you.

However, you swore that you could still feel a firm, reassuring pressure on your shoulder. Your god was always with you. He walks with you, guiding your steps, both in and out of combat.

You took a step and calmly observed as a cluster of three arrows with electrified tips hurtled towards you. Your mummy hand twitched, eager to act on your behalf. You relaxed your arm, and allowed it to do as it pleased.

With sharp, rigid motions, your arm deftly blocked each and every one. The arrowheads sank into your arm with a dull sound of punctured cloth. You heard Ben shouting behind you, but you remained calm as you watched the arrows sink deeper and deeper into your arm, until the bandages swallowed them completely. You felt no pain, and barely any discomfort from that attack.

You continued walking as sound flooded back into the battlefield, flexing your hand a few times, just to make sure that it was still in working condition. You still had no idea what this thing did, but you decided that it was okay not to know everything. If Khonshu made it for you, then you could trust it.

You broke into a dead sprint, tucking your head to the side to avoid another arrow. More ships were swinging around to intercept you, various weapons emerging from hidden compartments to aim at you. They appeared to be non-lethal–-bola launchers and energy nets. Whoever these people were, they were going through great lengths to capture you alive.

You wouldn’t give them the chance, and neither would Ben.

(Cont.)

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Almost on cue, Ben slammed into one of the dropships and ripped one of their cannons straight out of its socket. You gave him an appreciative nod and continued running. More projectiles came flying from all sides. You expertly wove, dove and slid through them, closely following the path that Khonshu had laid out for you. And every few seconds or so, your hand would shoot out to snatch a projectile out of the air of its own volition.

The archer scowled and blew a bubble as she refocused her aim. She’d apparently been chewing gum this entire time. Talk about relaxed…

She fired a volley of arrows in rapid succession, and you could tell that their grouping was too tight for you to dodge them easily. You raised your hand, preparing to intercept them, when a large, spectral mummified hand formed directly in front of you!

The hand blocked the arrows, and continued to do so for the next few shots, before crumbling to dust and dropping the arrows at your feet. Feeling instinct take over, you kept your hand raised, clenched your fist and pointed it at the archer. Three arrow tips emerged from between your knuckles like Wolverine’s claws, and the mummy hand fired them directly at her.

The archer’s bubble popped, and she dove out of the way just in time to avoid being skewered, giving you enough time to close the distance and-

The mummy hand extended a web of bandages towards the ship, wrapping around it and pulling you closer to the cabin. This must be how Ben feels when he’s swinging through the city!

You landed directly in front of the archer, and she scrambled to her feet. She swung her bow at your head, and you easily caught it, causing her to freeze up.

“Aw shit-”

You yanked the bow out of her hands and grabbed her by the collar with your mummy hand. You slammed her from one wall to the next, then up into the ceiling, and finally, down to the floor with a loud thud. The girl let out a pitiful moan, and stopped moving shortly after.

Once you were sure that she wasn’t going to be getting up anytime soon, you relieved her of her quiver, several darts and daggers, a utility belt outfitted with tools and lockpicks, and…

Your eyes found the discarded bow in the corner of the cabin, and you knelt to retrieve it. And that’s when you saw the beautiful longsword lying in the corner. It must have belonged to the archer, and you were lucky that she didn’t try to use it against you. This thing looked sharp!

And now, it was yours.

You took a minute or two to equip your stolen gear, and started testing the bow to get a feel for it.

“Oh yeah. This’ll do nicely…”

Your moment of glory was short-lived, however, as multiple armed men and women began dropping from the other ships to surround your friends. Unfortunately for them, though, Ana and the Mask Maker chose that time to reveal themselves.

The huntress and the Limbo demon pounced on them, and began tearing through their ranks with a kind of feral brutality.

(Cont.)

What will you do?

>Use the bow to take out the ships’ engines.
>Try to shoot the crow girl out of the sky with Ben’s help.
>Snipe the soldiers from your vantage point with the archer’s trick arrows. You’re not entirely sure what they do, but you’re a fast learner.
>Unsheathe your new sword and descend upon the unsuspecting soldiers.
>Use your sword to break into the cockpit and take the pilot hostage.
>Write-in.

>>6130378
>Secure the archer. You’d like some answers when this is all done, and you don’t want someone snatching her away.
>Try to shoot the crow girl out of the sky with Ben’s help.
If we can bind her in mummy wrap, we can get Ben to web her to the ground so she can’t be picked up and carried away easily. The double wrapping will make it hard for her to escape on her own as well. If we can’t detach our wrapping in full then having Ben web her is the best option.

Getting his help makes it natural to start coordinating with him on a new capture target right afterward.

>>6130378
>Try to shoot the crow girl out of the sky with Ben’s help.
>Snipe the soldiers from your vantage point with the archer’s trick arrows. You’re not entirely sure what they do, but you’re a fast learner.
Better use these arrows up. Don't want the archer to pull some remote detonator out of her boot.

>>6130628
Ah. Good call, I’ll back using the trick arrows as well then. Better to have them in or by the enemy than us.

>>6130628
>>6130876
>Try to shoot the crow girl out of the sky with Ben’s help.
>Snipe the soldiers from your vantage point with the archer’s trick arrows. You’re not entirely sure what they do, but you’re a fast learn

Taking these. Writing...

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You grabbed an arrow, drew back the bowstring, aimed at one of the masked mercenaries and loosed. The flat tip of the arrow landed just below his shoulder-blades, and a sheet of ice began spreading from the tip to encase his entire body. The man was frozen solid within only a handful of seconds!

You fired a second one, and this one unfolded into a bolas that wrapped around the midsection of your second target. He fell over and struggled to get back up as the Mask Maker mauled his friends. She seemed to have the speed and strength of a real werewolf, but you were certain that she was only a demon in disguise.

Maybe Shaggy hadn’t been lying when he said that she was a practitioner of black magic.

Your next arrow contained a rapidly expanding foam that mostly enveloped your target. And the one after that released a powerful pulse of electricity that took out multiple people. You’d assumed as much from the color of the ring around the flat arrowhead. A direct hit might’ve killed the man.

A few of them tried to turn and return fire, but they either missed, or they were taken down by the other two after getting distracted. Even now, they were being careful not to use lethal force.

You were preparing for your next shot when you noticed something else. The people that you’d downed earlier…weren’t there anymore. Your eyes darted around the battlefield, and you spotted an unconscious woman that Ana had just pulverized. You watched them carefully for about half a minute, until…

A green portal formed directly beneath them, and they sank into it a moment later.

These guys were being portalled out! Even the one you froze solid a little while ago was gone!

You considered firing an arrow through one of them, but you weren’t sure what would happen if you used an arrow that you weren’t familiar with on a strange portal that you’ve never seen before.

Instead, you focused on using your remaining arrows on the people that were still active. You wouldn’t put it past the archer to have a way to track her arrows and quiver, so you thought it best to use them all up as fast as possible.

With this in mind, you started spamming arrows in rapid succession, but only the ones you’d previously identified. Soldiers were quickly frozen, electrified, and ensnared, just as you’d intended. The other two wasted no time in capitalizing on the advantage you’d given them.

Much like Eri, Ana was taking people out with her bare hands. Having abandoned the reach that her spear offered her, she utilized her impressive speed and agility to weave between targets and avoid their fire. Ben joined them a little while later, helping them mop up the remaining mercs with what looked like dual morning-stars made entirely of webbing. It was a new ability he’d gained from his trip to Vegas after he stole some alien bracelets, or something. You weren’t entirely sure what they were, even after he’d tried to explain it to you. You weren’t sure if he knew.

(Cont.)

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Ben then proceeded to crouch down and crawl across the battlefield like an actual spider! Your eyes tracked him closely as he clambered over to a panicking mercenary and pounced on him.

“Oh shit…!” you muttered. You've never seen him use THAT move.

He moved inhumanely fast, even while crawling. It was giving you flashbacks to that one movie about the girl that crawls out of the tv. The one with the cursed video tape.

The Ring! That was the movie you were thinking of. And the girl’s name was…Samara, right? You thought that was it.

An image of Ben and Samara crawling beside each other flashed through your mind, and you had to suppress a snort. If you started laughing now, it’d throw off your aim.

You took stock of your remaining arrows, and noticed that you were all out of the ones you’d previously identified. You could waste the rest on these guys, but with Ben and Ana both there, you doubted that they’d last much longer. You might as well toss out a few more, just to see what they did.

The next arrow you fired created a smokescreen that seemed to hinder both sides.

“Whoops. Sorry!” you called out.

Smokescreen arrow. Got it.

You were about to reach for another one when you noticed your bandages stretching into the quiver.

“Wha–get out of there!” you hissed.

The bandages pulled out a cluster of identical arrows. All of them seemed to be of the smokescreen variety. The cloth coiled around their shafts, and an inscription had started to appear on each one. All of them said the same thing.

“Smokescreen.”

You blinked at them, and then at your arm.

Did it just…label your arrows for you?

“Thanks.” you said, unsure of whether it could understand you or not.

Your hand gave you a thumbs up, and your breath caught. Was this thing sentient, or was it acting through Khonshu’s will? Either way, it was being helpful, and that was all you could ask for at the moment.

The next arrow you fired seemed to be a weaker version of the first electrified arrow, and the next just stuck itself to someone’s forehead and stayed stuck there.

“That one’s a bit underwhelming.” you admitted.

Feeling a bit fed up with this process of elimination, you grabbed a handful and fired them all at once.

A cloud of pepper spray, an outpouring of needles, and a burst of blinding light and sound erupted all at once. There may have been one or two effects that were lost in there somewhere.

“Pepper spray, needles, flashbang…” you listed, narrowing your eyes at the ones you’d hit. “Sonic arrow? I think?”

Your mummy hand labeled all of them dutifully. There were a LOT of arrows in here!

“It’ll take me forever to burn through these.” you whined.

Ben shook his fist at you and shouted something that you couldn’t quite hear. Your eyes widened as a mercenary emerged from a green portal that opened up right behind him, and you fired a random arrow at the newly arrived target without checking.

(Cont.)

The arrow buried itself in the guy’s shoulder, and the force of it spun him around until he fell on his back. Nothing else happened.

“‘Arrow’ arrow.”

Ben glanced back at him, and then back at you. He gave you a thumbs up. You returned it with a wink.

You got lucky there. If you kept messing around with these things, you might seriously hurt someone.

You quickly fired another sharp arrow at a target adjacent to Ana.

“Someone that you actually care about” you mentally corrected.

So, in order to avoid friendly fire…you should aim at someone who isn’t near any of your friends.

You directed your gaze to the skies. The bird girl was still trading blows with Hi-Vo at a distance. She’d successfully managed to lock him by absorbing his energy output, and her birds were doing a decent job of harassing him by swooping down and pecking at his eyes.

You scanned the area for Gorgolla…and saw him fleeing the scene, not even looking back. You were a bit disappointed, but not very surprised. He saw a way out and he took it. You would have ttime to worry about him later.

With that out of your mind, you refocused your attention on bird girl. Out of everyone, she was the biggest danger right now.

Which arrow will you use on her?

>Green capsule arrow
>Bulbous-tip arrow
>Criss-crossing line arrow
>Glowing blue-tipped arrow
>Flashbang arrow
>Sonic arrow
>Seemingly mundane arrow
>Pepper Spray arrow
>Random arrow
>Let the mummy hand choose.
>Fire a handful. (Which ones?)
>Fire all of them!

Pastebins:

Character Sheet:
https://pastebin.com/1ZihFYSV

Equipment and Gear:
https://pastebin.com/WAhveFAd

Contacts:
https://pastebin.com/WdcFXD2s

10 Commandments of the Desperados:
https://pastebin.com/Qpr2jVPE

Costumes:
https://pastebin.com/5Jie54X2

The Huntsman’s Travel Guide:
https://pastebin.com/PU6LWsip

Upcoming Events in the Maximum Universe:
https://pastebin.com/DceSEjiR

>>6131773
>Fire a handful. (Which ones?)
Sonic followed by flashbang followed by bulbous arrow. First two to disrupt the flock and the fighter, last one since it seems like it’ll either explode or engulf her.

Green capsule makes me think of the green portal they’re taking back home, and I’d prefer a capture instead of sending her away. Glowing blue tip seems like another electrical-like one and she’s tanking that just fine. Criss-crossing line might be another bola-like one? I’m okay with adding that to the mix if wanted.

>>6131773
Heeeeey, we are on a Cindy Arc now? Been a while.
>>6131777
+1

>>6131777
>>6132962
>Fire a handful. (Which ones?)
>Sonic arrow
>Flashbang arrow
>Bulbous arrow

Taking these. Writing...

>>6132962
We are! And welcome back!

There will be key moments where you'll be presented with the option of swapping between Ben and Cindy in order to experience the arc from their perspective.

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You grabbed a sonic arrow, a flashbang arrow, and…whatever this bulbous thing was, and took aim. You forced your heart rate and breathing to slow so that your arm wouldn’t waver as much. You lined your dominant eye up with the bow’s scope, adjusted slightly using the rangefinder, and closely observed the flight patterns of the ravens circling the purple-haired girl.

What was a group of ravens called again? A ‘conspiracy’? Yup, that sounded right You were pretty sure you read it in a book once.

One after another, you loosed your arrows in a specific order, each of them aimed at the gaps in the conspiracy’s flock. The arrows sailed through the air, their trajectory being altered slightly by the wind speed, altitude and distance required to hit its target. But you'd be damned if you couldn't make a shot like this under these conditions. This was nothing compared to the hell your mom put you through when she gave you those archery lessons.

The first arrow slipped past the wall of overly noisy ravens and impacted some kind of energy barrier that her staff was emitting. Regardless of its ability to directly impact her, however, the arrow served its intended purpose. Even through the roar of your current ship's thrusters, you could hear the high pitched ringing sound that the sonic arrow emitted upon being struck by lightning.

This was immediately followed by a bright flash as the second arrow hit its target. You could see the girl flailing and panicking from where she hovered in the air, and in that brief period where both her eyes and ears were being directly assaulted, the third arrow hit her directly in the head.

Nothing special happened, as far as you could tell. It just smacked her on the side of her head. The girl quickly started losing altitude after being hit by that combo, and her birds dove to catch her. A decent amount of them started flying in your direction, and you were preparing to offload the rest of your arrows on them when you caught a green flash out of the corner of your eye.

You swung your bow around and fired the arrow with the glowing tip at the chest of the approaching masked merc. The arrow exploded–the blast sending him back through the portal and you flying into the cabin’s–door!?

The door was closed! When had that happened?

Your hands searched desperately for a handle or button, but your attention was soon drawn to another portal opening beside you. You swung your stolen bow at the new target, but they somehow managed to grab it after you hit them across the face with it.

You released the bow and kicked them in the stomach, sending them stumbling back towards the portal. Another one opened to your right, and you gave that guy a kick to the jaw that snapped his head to the side.

Another green glow. Your head whipped around to see the unconscious archer girl sinking into a portal on the floor. You muttered a curse and turned to punch a newly spawned enemy in the throat, nearly crushing his windpipe in the process.

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You drew the sword you'd looted from the archer girl and prepared to defend yourself, when the entire shuttle shuddered.

A rainbow light enveloped the vehicle, and you desperately searched for an opportunity to escape!

A glance out the window showed you a glimpse of Ben's silhouette. He appeared to be struggling with something. Was he...trying to drag the entire ship to the ground by himself?

You didn’t have much time to meditate on this, however. The cabin was flooding with enemies, and you had far too little space to fight them off. You swung your sword, beheading three people at once, and dismembering five more with your following swings, before you were smothered by the next wave.

You could barely swing this sword in this cramped space. It was too long, and you were eventually forced to drop it when they rushed past your weapon and swarmed you all at once! The press of bodies forced you up against the wall, and you had to struggle for every breath!

The ship shuddered violently once more as Ben redoubled his efforts. You took one last look at him, before the rainbow light's intensity made it impossible to make out anything outside of this cabin.

Your heart started racing, and a desperate panic flooded your mind. Primal instincts took over as you punched, kicked, bit and clawed in every direction, fighting for even an inch of breathing room!

Your nails slashed straight through a woman’s body armor to the delicate flesh underneath, and you sank your fangs into the neck of a man who was struggling to restrain you. With a sharp tug, you tore out his jugular and spit it into the eyes of an adjacent target.

Survive. You just had to survive...

The spectral mummy hand reformed itself once more and swept away an entire group of soldiers, giving you room to work. Your limbs blurred as you unleashed a violent flurry that broke bones, ruptured organs and dealt permanent, sometimes fatal injuries to anyone and anything that got in your way.

You didn’t give yourself time to worry about what was happening outside or where you were going. You'd just keep fighting until they ran out of people to throw at you.

-----------

You're not sure exactly how much longer this went on, but eventually, the ship did stop.

Although, it was more accurate to say that it stopped with a lurch. The rainbow light faded at the same time, and even without looking out the window, now painted red with the blood of your enemies, you could tell that you were no longer on the construction site. For one, the light filtering through the window was fluorescent, not natural, so you were definitely somewhere indoors.

Meanwhile, your enemies had suspiciously stopped spawning by this point, and you were able to clean up the rest with relative ease, despite the literal pile of bodies filling the cabin.

(Cont.)

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You took a moment to catch your breath after it became clear that no new portals were opening around you. Your heart was hammering in your ears, and you spat out a mouthful of blood through the torn portion of your mask. You unconsciously ran your tongue along your teeth...and paused when you realized your canines were far sharper than they had any right to be.

Come to think of it…

You stared down at your hands, and found that your nails had grown in both length and thickness. “Claws” would be a more accurate description!

Your hands glistened with slick blood, and you didn’t have to look in a mirror to know that the rest of your temporary costume had been dyed the same shade of red. A literal bloodbath had taken place here, and your brain was still too wired for you to feel bad about it.

First things first, you had to find another weapon, find a way out of this cabin, and then figure out a way to contact Ben. You were just about to start rooting through the bodies on the floor when the door suddenly swung open!

A short, green-skinned muscular girl with orange hair met your eyes and stopped dead when she saw the nightmarish scene inside. For a moment, the two of you just stared at each other with wide eyes. She wore a sleeveless purple hoodie that put her muscular arms on full display, as well as a pair of black yoga pants.

You were the first to recover as you threw yourself at her. She attempted to back up, and you managed to throw her off balance and force her to the ground. You were about to slice her throat open with your newly acquired claws when she bucked you off simply by pivoting her hips to the side.

The girl had a lot of strength packed into that tiny little frame of hers!

You rolled away and landed back on your feet in no time, turning to run in the opposite direction. You started running on all fours, unsure of why you would do such a thing, and eventually transitioning to running on two legs like a sane person.

An army of faceless soldiers identical to the ones that had attacked you turned to stare as you raced past them. They had weapons on their person, but none of them were drawn.

Instead, they were simply standing in an assembly line on either side of you with their hands folded behind their backs, both lines stretching from one end of the massive hangar bay, to the other.

You were immediately wary of them, but you were also willing to ignore them if they didn’t move to harm or hinder you. As you ran, it started to dawn on you how absolutely massive this place was! You were running at full speed, and you felt like you barely made any progress in reaching the end of the room. The ceiling was similarly high, likely so there would be room for all these ships to come in and out as they pleased. It seemed like you were trapped in some sort of underground military facility, filled with weapons and vehicles similar to the one you had just been in.

(Cont.)

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Another star-shaped portal opened up at the far end of the hangar, and you watched as another cluster of ships emerged from it and landed safely on the ground. Some of them you recognized as having been damaged during your earlier fight.

“Hold on! We’re not here to hurt you!” shouted a voice from above.

Several moments later, a girl with tan skin and long red hair landed in front of you, a pair of cybernetic wings apparently granting her the ability to fly. She was sporting a simple blue and gray costume with a star emblem on her chest, and a domino half mask covering a small portion of her face. You skidded to a halt and reflexively unsheathed your claws.

She boldly took a step forward, her hands help up in a placating gesture.

“It’s okay. We’re here to help.”

Help? HELP!?

She must’ve noticed your anger, because she gave you an apologetic shake of her head.

“I don’t know what your circumstances were, but I hear they weren’t good when our guys got there. Thank goodness Hellrune managed to get you out in time.”

You felt a snarl curling your lips, and the winged woman wisely took a step back.

“I didn’t NEED rescuing!” someone said.

It…took you a moment to realize that the words had come from your own mouth. But they sounded so unfamiliar.

“I felt the same when CRADLE first came for me.” the young woman said in an annoyingly calm voice, placing a hand over the star emblem on her chest. “You can call me ‘Liberty’. And the girl you just tackled is ‘Hulkette’.”

You risked a glance behind you to see the green girl approaching you at a slow, measured pace. She seemed annoyed by what had just happened, but she was demonstrating an impressive amount of patience for someone called “Hulkette”.

Liberty raised a hand, and Hulkette stopped moving closer. You scowled at them and flexed your hands, feeling your bones pop as you prepared for the fight that would most likely follow this conversation.

Hulkette must’ve been of the same opinion, because she spoke up next.

“You’re wasting your time, Liberty. This one’s just itching for a fight.”

As if to confirm this fact, you made a rumble in your throat that sounded alien to your ears. Animalistic, even.

A bolt of crimson cloth flickered past your vision, and you almost wrote it off as the corners of your vision turning red. But after it appeared again, you traced the fabric back to…you.

You somehow hadn’t noticed before, but the bandages that had once covered only your fractured hand, were now beginning to envelop your entire body! It should have alarmed you, but it felt as natural as a second skin, even if it was technically soaked with the blood of your enemies.

(Cont.)

Your fingers were long and slender now, and they ended in sharp points. The same popping sensation that you had sensed in your hands was occurring in your arms and legs, and you saw that they were noticeably stretching–making you appear larger than you truly were!

Several of these bandages were snaking out in multiple directions, undulating through the air as if to threaten anyone who got too close. It was as if they were alive!

“We don’t need to fight! You’re safe here.” Liberty urged, clearly alarmed by your developing transformation.

The green girl behind you cracked her knuckles loudly. Despite her earlier statement, Hulkette seemed to be the one itching for a fight.

What will you do?

>”It’s not my safety you should be worried about…” (Allow the bandages to fully envelop you.)
>Try to command the bandages to retract back into your arm. It wouldn’t be a good idea to start a fight in the middle of what could be enemy territory. Plus...this is pretty freaky.
>”I didn’t need saving! You’re the ones who put me in danger! You don’t just jump someone in broad daylight, kidnap them, and then say that you’re trying to help them!”
>”What is this place? Why’d you bring me here? Is ‘Cradle’ the name of your organization?”
>”Whatever pitch you were planning on making, I’m not interested. Either you step aside, or I’m fighting my way out.”
>”I want my phone call.”
>Write-in.

>>6133085
>>Try to command the bandages to retract back into your arm. It wouldn’t be a good idea to start a fight in the middle of what could be enemy territory. Plus...this is pretty freaky.
>”What is this place? Why’d you bring me here? Is ‘Cradle’ the name of your organization?”
We just massacred most of their mooks, i kinda pity them

>>6133085
So, rainbow light hits and we go feral. Going the rest of the way through the veil maybe? Maybe this is why we were never taken “home”.

>Reflect back on the people you… beheaded?
How many people has Cindy killed like that? I assume literally no one, so that ought to cool her down. Either it’ll make her sick, or it won’t and she’ll have to admit that’s deeply weird and wrong.
>”I didn’t need saving! You’re the ones who put me in danger! You don’t just jump someone in broad daylight, kidnap them, and then say that you’re trying to help them!”
>”If you left the spider and the huntress behind then you’re on a time limit. I can fight, but they can go to war. Get on my good side quickly so I can stop it.”
More in line with what Saya might think/say, but we’re being looked after by a mob enforcer and we’re now a werewolf. Being a bit of a bitch makes sense.

>>6133085
>”I didn’t need saving! You’re the ones who put me in danger! You don’t just jump someone in broad daylight, kidnap them, and then say that you’re trying to help them!”
>”What is this place? Why’d you bring me here? Is ‘Cradle’ the name of your organization?”
>”Whatever pitch you were planning on making, I’m not interested.”
>”I want my phone call.”
Only thing I care about less than mooks is mook kidnappers. It's their fault we didn't break free an stay with the rest of the group. Probably clones anyway.

>>6133085
>>6133121
+1

>>6133090
>>6133102
>>6133121
>>6133456
>”I didn’t need saving! You’re the ones who put me in danger! You don’t just jump someone in broad daylight, kidnap them, and then say that you’re trying to help them!”
>”What is this place? Why’d you bring me here? Is ‘Cradle’ the name of your organization?”
>”Whatever pitch you were planning on making, I’m not interested.”
>”I want my phone call.”

Taking these. Writing...

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“I didn’t need saving! You're the ones who put me in danger!” you shouted in that unfamiliar voice, now aware of the bandages creeping up your face. “You don’t just jump someone in broad daylight, kidnap them, and then say that you're trying to help them!”

Liberty shrank back, clearly startled by the intensity in your voice. Maybe she’d somehow forgotten that you were currently wearing the blood of her comrades. The people that you just…killed?

Now that you had a moment to catch your breath, your mind was finally starting to catch up with the rest of your body. That was the most brutal fight you’ve ever been in. You were kind of expecting to be more…freaked out? But your head was clear, even now, surrounded by potential enemies on all sides.

The clumsy footsteps approaching you from behind snapped you out of your brief period of self-reflection.

“Hey! Back o-”

You turned and roared at Hulkette. Literally. Roared.

You've never made a sound like that in your whole life.

The short green girl found herself taking an involuntary step back as you loomed over her, which only angered her even more. You were almost hoping that she'd take a swing at you. You were already planning how you'd take her apart when Liberty spoke up.

“No…she's right.” she admitted. “We should've tried to explain things from the start. We're sorry for the way we went about picking you up.”

You narrowed your eyes at her and leaned away from Hulkette. Was it just your imagination, or had these girls gotten shorter?

“What is this place? Why'd you bring me here? Is ‘Cradle’ the name of your organization?” you asked.

Liberty seemed to perk up a bit at that. She placed one hand on her hip, and used the other to gesture around at the hangar.

“That’s right. This is only the first level of our facility, where we store our vehicles and other types of large equipment. Here at Cradle, we try to locate and gather young vigilantes, sidekicks and criminals so that they can receive proper training, better equipment, and clear direction for how they should proceed going forward.”

So…a superhero training program? Was that really all this was? If you weren’t surrounded by armed men and women, you might’ve felt a little stupid for getting all worked up over what you were now realizing was an unusually aggressive recruitment drive.

You held a hand up to stop her, and you noticed that your arms were starting to return to their original length. The claws were still there, though. What the actual hell was going on with your body today? And why were you still so calm about this?

“Whatever pitch you were planning on making, I’m not interested.” you declared, cutting her presentation short with a voice that was starting to take on a deeper, more tremulous tone.

If you wanted to go to hero school, then you would’ve applied to Avengers Academy when Ben gave you the option to do so.

(Cont.)

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“I want my phone call. You guys do have a phone here, right?” you said, storming past Liberty.

Clearly flustered by your behavior, she raced to get ahead of you once more.

“We–-we do, but…the Headmasters here are really big on discretion, and-”

She stammered when you didn’t slow your pace to let her catch up at all. Your eyes scanned your surroundings as you walked, searching for an exit or, or at least a means of contacting the outside world. Maybe you could hijack a ship and wait for them to reopen that star-shaped portal?

No…they wouldn’t be that sloppy after they risked so much to abduct you.

Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Hulkette trailing behind and scowling at the back of your head.

Naturally, your eyes drifted upwards after a while, and you caught three figures standing on an elevated platform and staring down at you. The one furthest to the left was a young woman with short black hair styled in a pixie cut. She wore a black domino mask and spandex suit that was primarily white, like an upside down wishbone starting from her chest, then trailing down her thighs. The fabric around her arms and right before the cutoff point of her white boots were black appearance.

The girl’s look was one of clear, smug condescension. Like she was trying to decide whether it was worth her time to stay and watch. The tall man standing beside her was far more intimidating in comparison, but it was mostly due to the creepy skull mask. The black spandex around his chest put his impressive musculature on full display. It was the type of build that was only made possible through rigorous training and intense exercise. The white trunks, and slightly oversized cuffs and boots sort of undercut his initially intimidating appearance, but that design choice seemed to be vastly overshadowed by the various weapons he carried on his person. A bow, a shield and a sword were all that you could see from here, but you were sure that he had more stashed away somewhere on his person.

From his high perch, he stared down at you from under his white cloak, his eyes appearing to be nothing more than two tiny pinpricks of light shining out of the dark, empty pits of his mask.

And standing beside him was yet another visually distinct figure. Only, this one was wearing a colorful set of ceremonial robes, and her face was obscured by a mask made of sleek jet black glass. From the way they carried themselves, you guessed that this person had to be in charge. They even had their hands tucked in their sleeves like those noble people did in those K period dramas.

There was a brief exchange between skull mask and black mask, before the former stepped forward to address you.

“Hey, newbie! The Headmaster wants to speak with you!” he called out, his voice somewhat modulated.

Was he talking to you?

"Privately." he added.

(Cont.)

Liberty and Hulkette stopped dead in their tracks. All at once, all the soldiers that had once been standing stock still turned to face this ‘Headmaster’. The sound and shock from all of their boots slapping the ground simultaneously sent a shiver up your spine. These guys were seriously starting to creep you out…

Liberty took this moment to fly ahead of you, and The Headmaster gestured for you to follow your designated tour guide.

What will you do/say?”

>”That’s okay! I can hear you from right here!”
>”I don’t need your help. My teachers would wipe the floor with you guys, and one of them can’t even see.”
>”Are you guys seriously okay with being kidnapped and forced into this program? No one here thinks this is weird?”
>”There’d better be a phone where we’re going.” (Follow Liberty deeper into the facility.)
>Stay right where you are and stubbornly wait for the Headmaster to make a move.
>Write-in.

>>6134351
>>”There’d better be a phone where we’re going.” (Follow Liberty deeper into the facility.)
We comply for their safety. Also, gives more time for Ben to crash through here.

>>6134351
>Write-in.
>"Looks like I'm getting that sales pitch after all. You guys need to work on your hospitality. The last cult I was brainwashed in was much better with that."

>”There’d better be a phone where we’re going.” (Follow Liberty deeper into the facility.)

>>6134351
>>6134408
Supporting, along with
>”Full points for the clone army discipline though. That was creepy.”

Oh, and I had another thought about what I said in >>6129187.

Khonshu pacifies and protects from wild animals. Are WE the wild animal in this case?

May want to see if our connection to Khonshu has been weakened here. If so, we know his influence has been suppressing our werewolf side this whole damn time.

>>6134353
>>6134408
>>6135101
>"Looks like I'm getting that sales pitch after all. You guys need to work on your hospitality. The last cult I was brainwashed in was much better with that."
>”There’d better be a phone where we’re going.” (Follow Liberty deeper into the facility.)
>”Full points for the clone army discipline though. That was creepy.”

Taking these. Writing...

>>6135138
All will be revealed very soon!

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You rolled your eyes and begrudgingly followed Liberty.

“Looks like I'm getting that sales pitch after all. You guys need to work on your hospitality. The last cult that I was brainwashed in was much better with that type of stuff.”

The Headmaster paused mid-step, and then tilted their head to the side. For some reason, that statement had provoked a reaction from them. And that fact hadn't been lost on your little tour guides.

Both Hulkette and Liberty were shooting odd glances your way, as well as communicating between each other through a series of not-so-subtle looks.

They were both likely wondering how you‘d managed to grab the attention of their boss so quickly. You were honestly wondering the same. It might’ve had something to do with the wholesale slaughter of their forces by your hand, but that was just your personal opinion.

Although, you were starting to see why Ben liked riling people up as much as he did. It was an oddly satisfying social probing tool.

“Full points for the clone army discipline, though. That was pretty creepy.” you said, glancing around at them.

“They're not 'clones'.” Hulkette casually mentioned.

Your blood went cold, and you nearly missed a step as your mind reached the eventual conclusion that Hulkette was leading you towards.

Did that mean…?

“They're sort of like zombies?” Liberty offered, regaining some of her previous energy as she spun around in mid-air to look you in the eye. “They all signed contracts saying that we're legally allowed to use their bodies after they pass on. So none of them really have souls.”

You blinked at her. Zombies? Did they have a necromancer on staff?

“You're right about them being creepy, though…” she said with a shudder.

Hulkette nodded her agreement, her eyes still facing forward.

A complicated mix of emotions ran through you, at that moment. You felt a flood of relief upon being absolved of any bloodshed.

Not in the literal sense, but real, meaningful bloodshed. You'd still managed to repaint the inside of that cabin and dye what little remained of your costume with the stuff. You were practically wearing it.

But you also couldn't shake the feeling that you shouldn't have been so quick to deal lethal damage to an opponent you knew nothing about. More than that, you'd been so quick to shrug off your guilt.

You were feeling guilty about not feeling guilty, even though Khonshu didn't admonish his followers for spilling blood in his name. Frankly, he encouraged it when it was the blood of the unrighteous. It was considered a form of worship by his warrior priests.

Marc had no qualms about killing people who he thought deserved it, and you always told yourself that you wouldn't either.

(Cont.)

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But saying that you believed something and actually believing it were two completely different things. Ben, at the very least, wanted you to live a life where killing was entirely unnecessary, which you appreciated. The Fist of Khonshu himself even said that he no longer thought that it was right to kill your enemies indiscriminately, and he was meant to be the embodiment of Khonshu's will and wrath.

And seeing as how he hadn't been stripped of his title, Khonshu must not mind a level of independent thinking when on the job. At least, that was the way you justified your recent behavior towards your god.

But an unsettling feeling was beginning to creep into your bones. You knew that Khonshu was still with you, but you could no longer feel his reassuring grip on your shoulder. Was his influence somehow weaker here? And if so, was it the Headmaster's doing.

You spared a subtle glance for their mysterious leader.

The Headmaster must’ve been satisfied with your current level of compliance, because they immediately started heading towards a nearby door with a quick swish of their robes.

“There had better be a phone where we're going…”

“What're you in such a rush for?” Hulkette sneered.

You let out a deep sigh, and glanced down at the muscle-brained girl. She was only a little taller than Pei.

“Family drama and monster politics…” you muttered, unable to decide which of the two would be more stressful.

Liberty and Hulkette glanced at one another, and then shrugged. They hadn't been ruffled by that last remark, so you had to assume that they've more or less gotten used to the idea of fighting weird monsters.

The two of them led you through several interconnected rooms leading to an elevator. Along the way, you spotted other young trainees that Cradle had either abducted or indoctrinated.

Not all of them were in costume, but you could tell from the way that they were being treated by Cradle's faculty that they were more or less recognized as “exceptional individuals”.

Their appearances varied, from skin tone, to skin texture, to costume color and design, to obvious differences in the anatomical structure of a regular human, each one of them stood out in some way.

You traded glances with more than a few of them. Which wasn't surprising, considering the flashy entrance you just made, and the fact that you were currently trailing blood through their halls.

You thought you saw some of them attempting to approach you, but Hulkette waved them off. It looked like the two were unwilling to allow you any distractions after being summoned by their boss. So, everyone else had to settle for murmuring amongst themselves and sizing you up from afar.

Almost all of these young vigilantes seemed to be around the same age as you, if not a little older. Why had they decided to stay on board with this crazy program? Didn't they have families to go back to, or mentors to train under?

(Cont.)

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It started to dawn on you that not everyone here was as lucky as you were. Not everyone had a friend, foster parent and personal hero that would do anything for them. That made you feel a bit guilty, but you quickly pushed the feeling down and refocused on the task at hand.

You couldn't afford to feel bad for these people. Not yet, at least. If their bosses ordered it, they might just jump you all at once. You were only going along with this to buy yourself some time for Ben and Ana to track you down.

But they didn't need to know that. So long as you didn’t offend their precious “Headmaster”, you would hopefully be safe from harm.

When you finally made it to the elevator without being attacked from behind, you allowed your muscles to relax a hit. And from the way you didn’t have to duck to avoid bonking your head on the door's frame, your body had returned to its original height at some point during your travels.

Both girls seemed curious about your sudden physical transformation, but neither brought it up in conversation. Liberty punched some sort of code into the elevator panel's console, and you committed it to memory while pretending not to pay attention.

You'd be surprised if these guys didn't regularly scramble their access codes, but it never hurt to check.

As the elevator started to ascend, you took some time to perform a physical inspection.

You unraveled the bandages around your hands and pressed your thumb and forefinger into several pressure points in your hands. The sharp, red claws that tipped your fingers flexed slightly from the pressure, and the sensation left you feeling mildly uncomfortable. They were short and relatively thin, kind of like cat claws.

These things really had grown out your fingers. That could mean a lot of things.

You were pretty sure you weren't a vampire. Dhampir Daywalker are extremely rare, and considering your lack of literal bloodthirst, you thought you could safely check that off the list.

You probably weren't a werewolf, either. Your transformation had occurred during the daytime, and not on a full moon. And if memory served, you weren't exhibiting any of the usual symptoms for someone afflicted with Lycanthropy.

Now, that didn't mean that you were completely in the clear. There were all sorts of were-creatures out there. You might just belong to a painfully specific variant species with a different set of problems. The size alteration was a bit of an unexpected symptom, though.

If you found out that you secretly had troll, ogre or giant blood, you were going to throw a fit. You thought “Cat Shifter” or “Hyena Shifter” was a safe enough bet,

The point was, plenty of creatures had teeth and claws. It was just going to take you a while to figure out exactly what you were. After you were out of here, you'd have to perform a closer inspection.

(Cont.)

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You used one of your claws to scrape the dead flesh and blood from the others. To your mild surprise, you found that your claws were brighter, and more opaque than they'd normally be on most shifters.

This further reinforced your Cat Shifter theory.

You felt Hulkette's eyes on you halfway through the cleaning process. She was eying your claws, but she met your eyes when you returned her stare.

“So…what’s your power?” she asked.

You shrugged.

“I'm still figuring that part out.” you admitted. “I've gotten by on just training and prayer until about a few weeks ago.”

“Oh! You're catholic?” Liberty cut in, sounding a little more enthusiastic this time.

You shook your head at them.

“Wrong god.”

“Oh…” she replied, clearly a bit deflated by your denial. “I just thought it’d be good to have another Christian girl staying here.”

You're not sure when you gave this girl the impression that you were at all interested in staying here, but here you were.

“Which god is it then? Is it an evil one? I bet it's evil.” Hulkette inquired, losing some of her snarl as she expressed excitement at the idea of you worshiping an evil god.

“No they're not evil.” you said, putting particular stress on that last word to make her feel stupid.

“Then which one is it then?” she asked, a bit annoyed.

“That information is classified until I talk to your Headmaster.” you replied, loosening the bandages around your face in preparation so that you could breathe easier.

Hulkette clicked her tongue.

“You're no fun.”

“I'm in a bit of a bad mood from getting kidnapped.” you said, folding your arms.

“Yeah, I guess that's fair.” the green girl groused, returning her eyes forward.

The rest of the trip was spent in silence. When you finally arrived at the Headmaster's parlor, both girls turned back and diplomatically gestured for you to get out first.

Feeling a little peeved, you stepped out first, your muscles tensing in anticipation of an ambush.

Thankfully, nothing happened after you stepped past both girls and out of the elevator.

But you only got a few steps further before you stopped dead in your tracks.

You were suddenly home. Before the attack. Before mom and dad…

Your heart skipped a beat, and you were caught between blessed nostalgia and wild panic.

And the Headmaster…was staring at a picture frame in the middle of the front hall. The picture portrayed a younger version of you and your parents. The first vacation you ever took, which was a pretty big deal for a sheltered kid like you.

They were simpler times. Happier times.

This had to be an illusion, or a hologram or something. But why had the Headmaster created it? Was this their way of telling you that they knew your secret identity? Was this meant to taunt you?

(Cont.)

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As if on instinct, you retract your claws and clenched your hands into fists. Hulkette noticed this and moved to interpose herself between you and the Headmaster, but the masked figure raised a hand to stop her.

“It is alright, child. I wish to speak with this one in private.” the Headmaster said, their voice being heavily processed so as to conceal their identity.

Liberty and Hulkette were clearly troubled by this command, and they looked like they were about to object, until the Headmaster turned to face them.

Even without being able to see their face, you could tell that the Headmaster was getting impatient with them.

The girls seemed to sense this, and stepped back into the elevator.

“Of course. Let us know if you need us for anything else.” Liberty offered.

The Headmaster nodded, and waited for the door to close before they returned their attention to you. The two of you stood in silence for an entire minute, just staring at each other.

You were about to say something, when the Headmaster turned around and walked into the dining room. You followed her cautiously. This really was your old house. The same small furniture with a severe lack of throw-pillows. The same rice paper screens that you got in trouble for poking holes in. The same house plants that mom watered religiously.

It had been recreated with painstaking accuracy. Whoever this Headmaster was, they had to have been inside your house before. But who-

“You’ve gotten taller.” the Headmaster said, reaching up to remove their helmet with their back turned to you. It came off with a hiss, revealing the slender neck of a woman. She had dark hair held in place by countless golden pins.

“You should’ve seen me a minute ago. I was twice as tall.” you said, watching her as she slowly removed each pin, letting her shoulder length hair fall back into place.

“I saw. I assume that was a gift from Khonshu?”

That voice. It sounded like…but there was no way that-

The Headmaster turned to face you, and you nearly fell over out of shock. The woman smiled at you, and it was a smile that you missed every single day, with all your heart...

“Hello, Cindy. It's good to see you again.” your mother said.

You took a shaky step forward, your hands reaching up to pull the bandages away from your face. You felt like you couldn’t breathe.

“Mom…?”

You’ve dreamed of moments like this, imagined scenarios in which your parents miraculously survived the attack on your home. But even you knew those dreams were too good to be true.

You took a step back.

“This has got to be some sort of trick. What are you, a Skinwalker? A Doppelganger? A Fetch? A Kitsune?”

The thing that looked like your mother chuckled, the skin around her eyes wrinkling with genuine delight.

“I'm your mother. This is no trick. You can run me through whatever tests you need to, I'm the real deal.” she declared, spreading her arms wide.

(Cont.)

You searched her eyes for any sign of duplicity, but she was as unreadable as ever.

Your vision grew blurry as your eyes filled with tears, and you dove into the waiting arms of the woman who raised you. She didn't hesitate to wrap her hands around you for a second, even though you were drenched in the blood of the undead, ruining her beautiful robes.

It started as a small sniffle, but you quickly found yourself unable to hold back the tears as you felt your mother's warm embrace on your skin.

You cried like a baby and squeezed her tight, afraid that she might disappear at a moment's notice. And even with the blood, sweat and tears staining her expensive looking clothes, your mother stroked your hair and kissed your forehead with tears running down her own face.

“Shh, shh…it's okay. I'm here now. Everything's going to be alright.” she said in a soothing tone that made you wanna melt into her arms even further.

You started babbling, your hard sobs making it impossible to speak clearly. But somehow, your mom got the message, loud and clear.

“I missed you too, monkey.”

—------

Within the past few hours, you’ve been subjected to several world-shattering revelations. First, you were told by a shapeshifting demon dog that your grandmother was alive, and she’s been keeping the peace in a realm of monsters that existed under the city. Then, you found out that you were half-monster, and got kidnapped by a group of indoctrinated super-kids that wanted you to join their little hero club. And now, only a handful of minutes later, you found out that your mother is not only alive and well, but she’s somehow a crucial part of this whole operation!

Your head felt like it was spinning, and you placed a hand on the shower wall to brace yourself. Even your old bathroom was the same. She even remembered which shampoo and conditioner you liked to use.

You rinsed the soap and blood out of your hair, running your fingers through it as the water trailed down your head, neck, shoulders and back. There were so many things you wanted to say to her. You had so many questions!

Your mom was alive! Actually alive! You could feel her warmth through those fancy robes. Just thinking about it made you want to laugh and cry all over again.

You would have to organize your thoughts before you faced her.

What will you say after you get out of the shower?

>”Oh my god, I have so much to tell you!” (Recount your adventures and stories about school to your mother)
>”I can’t believe you’re alive! How did you survive that night?”
>”If you made it out, does that mean dad did too? Is he around here somewhere?”
>”Mom, tell me the truth. Am I a Cat Shifter, or something?”
>”What’re you doing here? They told me you guys were taking kids and making them work for you.”
>Write-in.

>>6136416
>”What’re you doing here? They told me you guys were taking kids and making them work for you.”
>”If you made it out, does that mean dad did too? Is he around here somewhere?”
>”Mom, tell me the truth. Am I a Cat Shifter, or something?”
>”So what’s going on with grandma? I only just learned she’s alive too.”
>”I can’t believe you’re alive! How did you survive that night?”
In that order, as time permits.

Even more weirded out that she couldn’t reach out until now. Phoning up Khonshu doesn’t seem like it’d be impossible for her, and he could have told her where we were. I’ll keep our adventures and school stuff close to the chest for now. It would hurt that she wasn’t there to see any of it herself.

>>6136416
>>”I can’t believe you’re alive! How did you survive that night?”
This is a whole lotta comicbook nonsense. And they got Taskmaster on a paycheck with Kate Bishop and the New Champions, what the fuck is this lineup

>>6136416
>”I can’t believe you’re alive! How did you survive that night?”
>”If you made it out, does that mean dad did too? Is he around here somewhere?”
>”What’re you doing here? They told me you guys were taking kids and making them work for you.”

>Write-in.
>Pray to Khonshu
For guidance, to possibly clue us in to our actual location, whether this is all an illusion and, even if we cannot connect, to discipline our mind.

>>6136416
>”Oh my god, I have so much to tell you!” (Recount your adventures and stories about school to your mother)
>”I can’t believe you’re alive! How did you survive that night?”

And about the claws, is it only Cindy's bandaged hand or both? I personally think Konshu might of given us a Klyntar