Description: Inside the Nenzhao Metalworking Building, Tenma Kiryuu and Zach Glenn are faced with a gauntlet of shoddy safety codes and deadly robot guards. While their friends outside face off against the mysterious Juri, the mismatched duo search frantically for the secret of Nenzhao. And then, in the structure's heart...?!
As the sounds of furious battle between the spider and the hawks die out behind you, the two of you are left with the saddling impression of heat and pulsating light. The glow of an unseeable lake of fire beneath you almost seems malevolent, mixed with light from the setting sun above filtering dimy through the stale air, chalky from below with the telltale acrid taste of burnt iron.
You stand on the iron grated catwalks which surround the exterior of the facility, tall to accomodate the massive blast furnace that dominates its center. Directly before you lays a long braced bay window, rendered dark and black with years of caked soot upon it, which is the closest entry point into the facility. However, the catwalk winds around into darker plumes of smoke curling into the air as well, inviting nothing but misery to offset the pure unknown that is the other side of that bay window.
Welcome to Nenzhao, the precipice overlooking Nirvana's hellish interior.
--------------------------<Paste from Seishirou>---------------------------
MISSION CHALLENGE!
GOAL: Navigate to the center of the facility!
INFO:
During the Navigation Period you will encounter Events in the form of attacks directed at you from the otherwise Nirvana object, which cannot be directly attacked. These are single-time events that your character must surpass to proceed further into the Navigation Area safely and represent various things such as one-time enemy attacks, difficult terrain, puzzles, or even item recovery events, each must be dealt with in their own way.
For example, you may be attacked with a Navigate - Not GFCI Protected attack. This is a low-level Navigate type Event representing an electrified path, which must be successfully dodged or blocked. If you successfully react to this event, your character either finds a way around the area without being damaged (dodged) or endures it successfully (blocked). Broadly speaking, dodging an event represents evading it, while blocking an event represents defending or otherwise deflecting it, and interrupting an event is an active attempt to disable or attack it. There are four types of events:
+ CRASH Events: A barrier stands in your way. Punch through it with a strong attack to determine your next path! (interrupt)
+ NAVIGATE Events: Your path is long and difficult. Either successfully elude the danger (dodge) or go straight through! (block).
+ ENEMY Events: You're going to have to fight your way through these ones. Outrun or trap them [Dodge,] defend against the onslaught [Block] or defeat them directly! [Interrupt!]
+ FIND Events: You found something! Just [Accept] it!
Moving on to the next room and recovering from bad positioning are considered free actions. Keep in mind, that certain responses to certain events might influence your ability to respond to future events through things such as block penalty and poison effects, so think strategically.
[READY?]
-----------------<Paste to Nenzhao Metalworking Building>------------------
Seishirou drops Nirvana - Nenzhao.
COMBATSYS: Tenma has started a fight here.
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Tenma 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Zach has joined the fight here.
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Tenma 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Zach
COMBATSYS: Zach has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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Zach 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Tenma
COMBATSYS: Tenma has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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Zach 0/-------/-------|
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Tenma 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Zach interrupts Crash - Alpha Strike Entry from Nirvana - Nenzhao with Zero Stance.
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Zach 0/-------/------=|
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Tenma 0/-------/-------|
Zach glances back toward where he had heard the fighting with a slight frown. It's gone quiet which can mean one of a couple of things, only one of which is really good... and the other two aren't catching up to Zach and Tenma from the looks of it. "Stay on task," Zach thinks to himself. Get inside, get whatever's here that the four of them were apparently here to get. He smirks as he looks at the window, then Tenma.
"Looking for a door seems pretty pointless," Zach says as he amps up his psycho power, "We've got an entry point right here, after all." Zach clenches his fist, pulling back as if to deliver a massive haymaker. He thrusts the fist forward, striking nothing but air. However, in seeming response to the action, a jagged swath of violet psycho-kinetic energy rips out of the air and slams into the window!
COMBATSYS: Tenma interrupts Crash - Alpha Strike Entry from Nirvana - Nenzhao with Dharmapala.
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Zach 0/-------/------=|
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Tenma 0/-------/------=|
On the other hand, Tenma doesn't bother looking back at the fight; he has absolute confidence, as usual, in the abilities of Hakuya Suigetsu... And he guesses Ullr, or Jiro, or whatever the hell he's going by currently can probably handle himself, too. In the meantime, it seems like the King of Blood is stuck with the diminutive psion. Seriously, dude is like half a foot shorter than Tenma, that's kind of crazy considering he's American, and an /adult/.
"Yeah, yeah," Tenma mutters, rolling his eyes a bit at Zach's take-charge attitude, because he's kind of a douche.
However, he moves almost in concert with the Psycho Power user, leaning into the strike as he whips his chi-emanating bokken down from his shoulder in a broad slash, the misty aura of blood and chi trailing behind it, forming a red afterimage in the air; a crescent of bloody chi erupts out of that afterimage, and streaks towards the window along with Zach's burst of psionic energy, attempting to shatter it with the combined force of their attacks.
The entire wall seems to ripple with the impact--it's almost like some sort of sealwork was evident here as the window is struck, first by Zach's bolt, which seems to stress it, and then with the hard crescent angle of chi thrown from Tenma's bokken, causing the entire window to explode inwards into black shards tumbling out into the abyss, the sound of the shatter lost in the churn of the massive furnace just beyond. The air ripples from the impact, but this time it isn't from some minor protection. It's from heat.
YOU HAVE ENTERED: The Maintenance Catwalks.
Extending into an almost labyrinthine pattern, the catwalks that you can jump down to from the window zig-zag around the massive iron and carbon-deposited stack, curving slowly. However, it seems as if the structure has not been upkept in the best of conditions. Bits of rock from a conveyor belt spraying ore from its stockpiles clatter on the walkways, as does bits of steam pressing out from ruptured bolts from the main furnace structure, emitting boiling how blasts of gas at various junctures. Water drips from somewhere overhead, as a bright silver pipe extends down the structure and follows the catwalk around the pipe.
But as you land, you might be displeased to see red pinpoints of laser-light tracking from the distance. And the sounds of engines starting up. Tenma might be familiar with the black streak that just attempted to run him over--single-wheeled simpleton automatons. Responding almost immediately to the intrusion, four of the devices scoot across an adjacent walk and hop off of the edge--one follows the outside wall through sheer speed--to hit Zach and Tenma nigh-immediately with pouncing attacks to spin their wheels into your flesh until they hit bone. They move fast, and the moment you make landing on the stiff steel grating, they seem to calculate your positions without even really seeing where you are in the haze.
COMBATSYS: Zach dodges Nirvana - Nenzhao's Enemy - The Street Jockeys.
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Zach 0/-------/------=|
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Tenma 0/-------/------=|
Zach dives to one side, clearing himself from the initial run-down attempt as he tries to get a bead on... whatever the heck it was. Zach frowns as he casts around for some place to go. He's thinking offices, or control rooms. The former for loot, the latter to maybe shut down or mitigate some of the hazards. Another runner bowls towards Zach, forcing the psyker to roll out of the mechanaloid's path.
Zach swears under his breath as he realizes that he /has/ no bearings to lose. Nothing for it. The catwalk has to lead SOMEWHERE. Zach picks left, and takes off at a full sprint. It's not as impressive as it sounds, what with his short legs and all. However, he just seems to continue to build momentum. His speed might get surprisingly fast if he has enough room to accelerate...
COMBATSYS: Tenma dodges Nirvana - Nenzhao's Enemy - The Street Jockeys.
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Zach 0/-------/------=|
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Tenma 0/-------/------=|
The strange rippling doesn't go unnoticed by Tenma, his keen ability to perceive the flow of chi in the world picking it out as the possible seal reacts to the incoming energies. Freakin' ninjas.
Leaping into the interior catwalks, the Kiryuu demon hunter scowls faintly at the heat; a fighter of his caliber isn't /overwhelmed/ by such trifling matters, but he really doesn't enjoy it, either, and he does really love to complain. But then... /But then/...
"Shit!" exclaims Tenma, moving by reflex out of the way of the pouncing automatons, nearly putting himself off the edge of the catwalk before he manages to catch himself. "Oh for... I fucking /hate/ robots!" the Gedo gang member continues, rather comically, before he takes off after Zach; his methodology is similar to the psion's, focusing his chi in his legs to build up his running speed, until his steps leave small dents in the catwalk surface behind him. "HEY!! Exploding Shorty!!" Tenma shouts, probably referring to Zach, who finally gets a demeaning nickname from the King of Blood, hooray! "You got a plan, or are you just gonna keep running?" Does /Tenma/ have a plan? ...Not at the moment, no.
Black automatons stampeding past, they skid and tilt in seemingly random directions as Tenma and Zach dodge to the sides and start to run for their lives. Perhaps as well they should--Tenma should be familiar with the fact that the Kurotora are effectively rolling bombs. As they skid to the sides, they blip, rotating pieces on their chassises flipping around to track after the two as they escape, two skirting the walls and the other two simply riding the railings with millimeter-perfect balance as they tear off after the two escaping youths, the weight of their passage rattling the already-dodgy railing as they pursue.
Their lasers seem to touch off low to the ground, chasing your shoes with every footstep. They seem to be attracted by sound. Moving down the curvature of the catwalk (which seems to noticeably dip downward as you move, suggesting that it might not be held all the way level), you might be able to escape them in the blast of billowing smoke by silencing your footsteps somehow. Then again, you don't seem to have much choice...
YOU HAVE ENTERED: Waste Gas Venting Region
The problem with hiding out however, is that it's a pretty dangerous thing to do when the air is full of poison. You can't really see where you're going save for that silver pipe overhead. You can't taste anything but what appears to be pure coal. And perhaps mercury or nougat. The catwalk continues, but somewhere along the way, it became readily apparent that A. gas piping has ruptured somewhere beneath you and B. you're slowly choking to death. Oh, while C. killer robots might still be stalking you. Staying here might be a bad plan.
COMBATSYS: Zach dodges Nirvana - Nenzhao's Navigate - Choking Miasma.
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Zach 0/-------/------=|
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Tenma 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Tenma blocks Nirvana - Nenzhao's Navigate - Choking Miasma.
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Zach 0/-------/------=|
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Tenma 0/-------/-----==|
Zach gestures wordlessly towards the direction they are already running. He needs the air to keep this non-psycho powered pace. The idea that the bombs may be chasing sounds eludes him; there's more than a little ambient noise. However, the low lasers /do/ get his notice. He glances around before leaping onto the railing himself, grinding down the walkway.
He doesn't notice what he can't smell, but staying in this smoke can't be good for him. He tries a stunt he's pulled once or twice before, getting his hands behind himself at about hip level before spraying psychic energy from his palms as if they were some kind of repulsor thruster. That might give him a boost to get through the gases...
Sprinting along, assisted by his family's peculiar chi techniques, Tenma watches as Zach does his best Iron Man impression in order to get through the horrible choking gas. Yeah, that's pretty neat, he /guesses/. But between the uncertain footing before, the rolling bombs behind, and the vented poison smoke in between, there don't seem to be a lot of options available for Tenma Kiryuu. It's a mistake, you know, to simply assume that Tenma is a simple idiot who can only accomplish things by overwhelming power; he's clever and devious, and knows how to exploit his abilities to best effect in many situations. But sometimes...
Sometimes, the best solution is the Gedo Way. Just bust through it.
With just a thought of 'oh, screw it', the Kiryuu demon hunter plunges into the smoke, tugging the collar of his t-shirt up over his mouth and nose as he runs in a somewhat awkward hunched position, following the overhead pipe by the lurid red light of his chi-emanating sword.
Vrreee.. *POOF*
As the psi wonder releases twin jets from his hands, the poisonous flue gasses twist around it, the energy popping and crackling off the air as if threatening to start a fire directly in the vicinity of Zach's groin. However, instead a broad path is cut through the venting gas as if a curtain parts...
... into a massive expanse of nothingness.
YOU HAVE ENTERED: Main Furnace Area
The catwalk terminates abruptly about two or three feet in front of Tenma's blind dash in an ablation of twisted, slick and angry steel--a stray piece is dislodged and tumbles for quite a ways down the structure. You never quite hear it hit ground. While you can no longer hear anything from the automatons but confused chirping in the distance, here, it seems the easy jog ends. Exposed cabling twists and sparks above from an exposed maintenance scaffold high above, forming a twisting network that fixes the lower end of the catwalk into place. Ore rocks tumble past, the current catwalk seeming to be the victim of one misplaced boulder a long time ago, ensnaring it in the electrical system. The rest of the catwalk is some ways away from this one's current suspension point, a little above but ultimately below the upper scaffolding.
There seems to be a trail of tumbled wreckage further down, extending deep into more of the hazardous smoke. The slick path seems to be coming from more severe leaks sprung in the silver pipe overhead, which extends up the tunnel structure proper up to what looks like a control house for the conveyor belt that's currently actively spewing rock into the furnace above your heads.
There is a decision to be made, but it must be made quickly--as your weight reaches towards the end of the catwalk... well, the cabling that's currently keeping it upright starts to shear. A moment later, twisted metal bites into the cable. And then the entire catwalk will light up with electric force as several of the remaining overhead lights blow.
COMBATSYS: Nirvana - Nenzhao successfully hit Zach with Navigate - Not GFCI Protected.
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Zach 0/-------/---====|
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Tenma 0/-------/-----==|
Zach is already eyeing that silver pipe as he slides down the path. He's plotting what he needs to do to clear a jump up and onto it to head towards that control room. Perhaps he should have been watching what was ahead of him, as he simply drives himself bodily into the cabling. Zach arches back, unable to scream for a lack of air in his lungs. The explosive force of the sudden shock hurls himself up and onto the pipe anyway. However, he is starting to slide back down it while his nervous system reboots from all the extra voltage.
Zach's psychic energy, however, seems to react on its own. His trademark purple aura flares up and starts to wrap around him, helping to speed up the process a little.
COMBATSYS: Zach takes no action.
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Tenma 0/-------/-----==|
COMBATSYS: Tenma dodges Nirvana - Nenzhao's Navigate - Not GFCI Protected.
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Zach 0/-------/---====|
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Tenma 0/-------/-----==|
"Ah, crap!"
Once again, Tenma barely catches himself before he falls off of the catwalk, though this time it's because he's found himself out of the smoke and running full-tilt with only three feet of space left to run in. He skids to an abrupt halt, stumbles and nearly goes right off the edge, but manages to stop before then, dark blue eyes peering down into the void.
And then, everything shifts.
"Ah, /crap/!" Tenma reiterates, more vehemently, as the now heavier catwalk bites into the supporting cables and, suddenly, becomes filled with /electric death/.
Tenma doesn't get shocked, though. He reacts quickly, stepping up /onto/ the outer wall, and forcing his chi into his foot, focusing it there, he manages to hold on long enough to take a second step up the wall beside the catwalk, each crumpling a larger dent into the surface; but he can't push it further than that. He has to do one of two things: Jump, or fall.
Seeing Zach get shocked up into the air, and feeling a distressing twinge of /human concern/ for the psion, Tenma pushes off of the wall in a prodigious upward jump, slamming heavily onto the precarious, slick path and reaching to grab Zach and keep him from falling off or anything.
"You are a /serious/ pain in the ass," Tenma grouses. "Remind me to beat some sense into you once we get out of here! Are you trying to die?!"
COMBATSYS: Tenma takes no action.
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Zach 0/-------/---====|
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Tenma 0/-------/-----==|
White faces to red, and finally the world returns, more wobbly than before, as the energy returns to nerveless hands. Below, the catwalk sags against the cables noticeably, portions of the rubber tracks from your shoes burning on the catwalk still and creating a telltale acrid stench. Finally, the last few cables holding up the catwalk finally shear against the weight and jagged edges, causing a telltale cacophony of discordant snaps and humming pops, sparks flying from the catwalk as the entire path of steel sags, then twists, then strips away. About ten to fifteen feet of the end of the path simply rips off, dropping into the abyss of glowing smoke below you.
One or the other of you is currently doing a good job clinging to the side of a two foot in diameter silver pipe. Not in itself a path so much as just a pipe, the thing runs up through the slope of the facilities, through the rafter system and splitting off further above. This close, you might notice a few things beyond the basics (it's slippery, it leaks, and you're probably about to die..) Compared to the rest of the structure, the silver pipe is relatively new. And another thing: It's insanely cold. It is in fact the only part of the forge that is not at all hot to the touch. And more importantly, it seems to be because of the arcane jutsus etched into the sides of the pipe.
Well. There's only enough room for one of you to balance on the pipe, and that only goes so far. You might as well get cracking, it's going to be a long climb up.
YOU HAVE ENTERED: Conveyor Control House.
Up here, it honestly looks like someone literally just left. When you enter, the room is suspiciously cool, partially due to the fact that the silver piping runs directly over it, and partially due to the fact that a fan has been set up and is running on a control panel that looks like it shouldn't have been set up on. It's probably leaning on a self-destruct switch or something. A rolling office chair has been knocked over, and at least 30 empty cans of "PIK EM UP ENERGY DRINK" litter the area, stacked on consoles in odd trapezoidal patterns, rotated for color. It looks like someone was trying to make a pixel rendition of PAC MAN.
An elaborate old-style samurai helmet is on the ground near the office chair, as if it fell off when it was knocked over. The chair itself is in the center of a well-used batch of consoles, reading various things such as 'Production Control' 'Flood Management' 'Conveyor Speed' 'Status and Reports' 'M0 Monitor' 'Venting Resources' 'Damage ARS' -- and slowly coalesces into several other things you can't immediately divine a use for. For example: there's a pong game coded into one of the terminals on the left. Ominous creaking comes with every step you take in here.
Odd side note. It seems the silver pipe overhead has struck a serious leak, as it drips constantly in this little shack, and the flooding has been contained (poorly) by a large bucket. But upon inspection, the bucket has been filled with some of the purest cool water one might have ever expected to see in this place.
Zach clambers into the control room behind Tenma and immediately drops to one knee, gasping for air. Getting what amounts to a massive taser to your whole body is not a fun experience. Zach glances around warily at the mess, not ready to mess with controls /quite/ yet.
Instead, he takes a moment to catch his breath. Seems like the room won't try to kill him quite yet. "Maybe we can shut some of the crazy shit off while we're up here," Zach says hopefully to Tenma.
COMBATSYS: Zach gains composure.
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Zach 0/-------/----===|
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Tenma 0/-------/-----==|
Rescuing Zach was probably more trouble than it was worth, but Tenma did it anyway. He did it because he does what he wants, when he wants. He is not beholden to anyone!
As the climb up proceeds, the Kiryuu heir studies the pipe overhead, the chill coming off of it and the symbols carved into it. Obviously there's /some/ kind of crazy shit happening in here, between the pipe - the only apparent new thing in here that isn't an explosive robot - and the the aforementioned explosive robots. After all, you don't use deadly automatons to guard an /empty/ decrepit old facility.
Tenma grunts noncommittally to Zach's remark, and while the older fighter is busy catching his breath, the Gedo swordsman instead busies himself with actually looking at the monitors, trying to figure out exactly what's going on here; what's a 'M0 Monitor', after all? That's just weird. Or Damage ARS... "The hell is that Pervert Kidnapper Ninja up to, in here...?" Tenma mutters to himself, scrubbing a hand through his dark hair as he tries to decipher the monitors.
COMBATSYS: Tenma takes no action.
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By current year standards, it's a simplistic Unix-style menu--it all seems to be in standby - monitoring mode. A preliminary examination does not reveal any obvious bombs hidden underneath control panels. An investigation of the menu system itself reveals comparitively little--there's no help files, and it's clear that the system has been subject to substantial rewrites over the years, with many menus not working or otherwise faulty. At several times, the monitors just shut off for no reason, and inexplicably boot back up.
M0 Monitor seems to be a set of monitoring cameras further on down the facility, completely beneath the clowing haze below. Down there, it doesn't look so good. Fire and pig iron have completely flooded the lower levels, leaving only scant few catwalks and pathways to traverse the lower levels, seeming like the inside of some hellish volcano. Most of the cameras down there are of poor quality, taking grainy bleached footage of ... things down there, scattered all over the catwalks. Most of them are vaguely human in form but not in reality, laying around scattered. Others seem to be limply fighting eachother with half-heartedly thrown punches in mechanical rhythm. There is another camera that seems to be taking footage of a teeming pool of iron in something called the 'LOWER POOLING DRAINAGE.' It's not clear, but it seems like there is something, or many somethings, in that pool. The screen estimates "Overall Infestation" to be about 47%.
The Damage ARS report is apparently, after some investigation, short for Damage Administrative Reporting System, and contains a log of all the damages taken to the facility and reports made about them, most of which seemed to have racked up in September 2008. Some repairs were made, albeit unsigned, but comparitively few to the laundry list of 'flood' 'shipment crash' 'explosion' and 'overproduction' reports. The new piping system is referenced here as an 'heat absorption' service.
Status and Reports: Let's be honest. You don't know what half of the incomprehensible string of numbers and terms (do you /know/ what a combined severity rate is, and what it means to have it expressed in a fraction of millions?). Ah, but you do find New Facility Layout. It looks something like this:
Zach pulls himself upright and walks over to Tenma and the newfound map. He blinks once or twice, pointing at the CON. "I'm guessing that means 'Control' or something along those lines," Zach says. "Now if we only knew where we were trying to go..."
"Uh," Tenma says, at the view through the camera system. "What the fuck?"
Whatever's going on down in the bowels of this place, it's clerly pretty deep in mad scientist territory. With a bit of a sigh, Tenma turns to the incomprehensible reports, but at least there's that diagram which is... Somewhat helpful. Better than nothing, at least. "I'm pretty sure we're trying to go 'down'," the teenager says, rather gruffly, before trying a few other things; despite his general appearance and most of his behaviour, he's long since learned the usefulness of being thorough, so he goes through the remaining menus as well. After seeing what's going on way down in the bottom, after all, he can't help but be curious as to what 'production control' is, and if maybe they can't do something helpful with 'flood management', 'conveyor speed' or 'venting resources'.
"Hey, check that water out," Tenma instructs Zach, without looking away from the MacGyvered old computer. "If they're using pure stuff, there's gotta be a reason for it."
Zach walks over to the bucket. He looks at the water. "It's clean," he says uncertainly as he dips a finger in it. "And cold." Zach pulls his fingertip out and shakes the water off of it. "Though given all the scribbling on those pipes, perhaps I shouldn't be surprised. Stuff looks like the markings all over that damn boat," he grumbles.
The water is yes, pure and cold. However, when Zach disrupts the pool of water in the bucket, the shimmering on the surface continues for quite awhile, as if the water had its own particular glow to it, and leaves a clean skinfeel as it comes away. Clearly, between the menu reports and the reaction, whatever's in the pipe is absorbing the heat away from stress areas in the facility and is poentially keeping it held together.
And the system is based off of what seems to be one leaky pipe network.
Imagine that.
The rest of the menus are mostly administrative controls over the entire system. While nothing so cool as 'stop mad science' leaps to the eyes, there are functions linked to such fun things such as actually stopping the production of fresh molten iron in the facility, stopping, slowing, or reversing the conveyor belt, stopping the flue venting process that cools the furnace. It doesn't seem to be an easy try, as most of these things are linked up to some kind of a video game-style interface that looks like it was ripped straight off a game gear, involving the connection of several colored nodes on-screen.
All of a sudden, the energy drink stacks and samurai helmet make a perverse kind of sense.
Zach glances around the both. "See if you can shut off the iron production. Might make it easier to get around," he suggests.
"Yeah, there's some ninja magic in there," Tenma says offhandedly, as if it were the most normal thing in the world. And really, the world he lives in, it totally is. As the scope of just how incredibly slapdash this place is becomes clearer, the Guardian King scrubs his face with both hands, leaving his still chi-emanating weapon propped up against the console beside him. "This freakin' place," he grouses. Of course, then Zach offers another, quite reasonable, suggestion.
Tenma looks over his shoulder and glares right at the older fighter for a second, before he looks back to the console, muttering under his breath as he does exactly that, trying to figure out the process to actually shut off the iron production. Less molten metal will probably make getting to the bottom of this better, yes.
COMBATSYS: Tenma interrupts Crash - Part the Flaming Sea from Nirvana - Nenzhao with Disable.
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It turns out the process is a little complex, but nothing too difficult. After determining the correct sequences of processes to shut down, you have to guess a certain three number code at the admin console within a certain amount of time within a certain time period. Which, luckily, was posted underneath the console on a tiny post-it, right next to a printed memo complaining about posting security codes as memos.
There is a massive shift in the facility as huge motors start. Thrumming beneath your feet, they twist shut massive gates all over the facility, sealing the furnace's production line. The M0 Monitor cameras, if you care to check them, show that some of the active ironfalls in the facility eventually slow to simple drainage. As the facility seems not to be entirely functioning, there's still a horrendous amount of flooding in the lower levels, but at least the parts that can shut down, have.
.....then you can hear a very ominous creak and groan throughout the blast furnace proper.
Zach watches through a window as things get to moving. He glances back to Tenma when things settle out somewhat. The groaning sound sets his teeth on edge. That can't be good. He hustles over to the controls, checking the cameras.
"Oooooh that can't be good," he mutters under his breath while he looks around for some kind of instruction manual.
Ha ha, success! Tenma feels a surge of pride and accomplishment - but of course he would be awesome enough to figure out how to do that, and how to follow the scattered instructions that were left behind by unwary previous operators. The, uh, the ominous noise is not exactly Kiryuu's idea of a good thing, though. "Argh, screw it!" Tenma growls in frustration, straightening up. "Listen, Short Stuff... I'm heading deeper inside. You stay here." The taller, younger fighter issues instructions with all the authority he can manage which, as a sometime gang leader, is a surprising amount. "Keep an eye on the cameras and try to make sure the place doesn't blow up while I'm inside."
Shouldering his still chi-emanating bokken, Tenma heads towards the exit of the control house, looking downwards. Then he heaves a sigh. Sadly, if one were to compile a list of the stupidest things Tenma Kiryuu has ever done, this probably wouldn't break the top ten. /Definitely/ not the top five.
"Uh," Tenma adds, not looking back. "If stuff starts to go really wrong, just scream and maybe set off some of your little fireworks so I know to get the hell out." And then, Tenma leaves the conveyor control house, intent on heading deeper into the facility.
Zach has no problem, oddly, taking orders from Tenma. Tenma seems to have been in the fighting scene longer than he has, and the scene seems to encompass an insane amount of seemingly unrelated items. He'll allow Kiryuu to take point on this. He simply nods before Tenma says something about little fireworks. He smirks at that.
"Hey," Zach finally says before Tenma leaves. "I never got the chance, but I saw what you did at that one hotel. Where you got those people out. I wish had recovered in time to help..."
Unfortunately, there is no instruction manual, as instructions are for people who don't speak l33t. In fact, the only thing you can find that's even made out of paper is the clever-looking tag wrapped around the samurai helmet on the floor. .... Well. That's not true. There is a manual. Underneath the desk.
It is a manual of 'sorts.' Neither of you are old enough to be looking at it, though.
So don't.
Zach gives it enough of a glance to know that it's the complete opposite of helpful. He mutters darkly under his breath while he goes to keep an eye on the cameras and such, perhaps hoping to clear a path for Tenma from the control booth. He wipes some sweat off his brow from the rampant heat.
His eyes go towards the bucket of water.
It sparkles when you look at it.
"Tch," Tenma says, at Zach's last remarks. "Don't worry about it. It was team business, anyway." Notoriously insular as he is, Tenma felt bad enough getting Adelheid Bernstein's help... Not to mention, he doubts that Zach would really have wanted to be a party the (apparent) murder of Marise, no matter how much the shrivelled up old Grudge had it coming.
A moment later, Tenma is heading back out of the control room, with the intent of heading further down into the heart of the facility, letting himself down where he previously went up in order to keep Zach from possibly dying from electrocution-related falling damage.
And so, there was one. Zach is left in the control room, with only a bucket of water, a samurai helmet, and a game of pong to amuse him. Well. Not only those things. But there's a time and a place for that. And 'while watching your teammate work their way through a deathtrap' is definitely not on that list.
TENMA HAS ENTERED: Collapsed Grating Region
Things are definitely a little harder this time around. For one, the catwalk that used to be there no longer is--well, unless you count a now-vertical metal grating dangling from one or two stray bolts and a length of twisted steel. Fortunately, that kind of thing, along with careful management of the cabling that electrocuted Zach, is enough to provide a pretty regular path downwards.
The problem is, you're still going down through a cloud of noxious gas.
Ominous creaking emanating from the furnace as you navigate down to the production floor, the blackish/green curling mists slowly make the air taste foul and chalky the further you go down, and eventually makes it rather difficult to breathe or even see, as the stuff stings and burns the eyes. The only thing that makes it relatively clear that it even has an end at all is the fact that the camera system shows areas in the furnace that aren't choked with this awful stuff, and somewhat less comfortingly... well, you're descending towards a massive, ominous red glow, and a whole hell of a lot of heat.
Zach looks around, trying to find controls to shut down the rest of the facility. It may take him a moment or three. A moment or three while Tenma is going through POISON GAS.
He'd better move quickly.
COMBATSYS: Tenma blocks Nirvana - Nenzhao's Navigate - Choking Miasma.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Zach 0/-------/----===|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Tenma 0/-------/------=|
Fortunately for Tenma Kiryuu, he is what experts term a 'badass'.
Between his family's training, and his rather more varied, often life-threatening and definitely exhausting experiences since he first arrived in Southtown, the young fighter's growth has been prodigious, as has his ability at manipulating his own chi to his advantage. For example, giving himself just enough of an edge to keep himself safely working his way down the cable and the vertical catwalk, although it's still a bit awkward - especially since he's got to manage his weapon on the way down, and also the part where the horrible noxious fumes are choking the life out of him.
Coughing, and swearing vigorously between coughs, working his way deeper towards the heat and the light. "Oh yeah *cough* this was an amazing idea, Tenma," the demon hunter grouses to nobody but himself as he soldiers on and down. "Dumbass. By now Hakuya and that masked idiot are probably *hack* chillin' out, relaxing somewhere cool and safe..."
If only he knew, right?
COMBATSYS: Tenma takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Zach 0/-------/----===|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Tenma 0/-------/------=|
Zach eyes the controls carefully, looking for and flipping any controls that might handle pumping air and heat outside of the building. Once he is done with that, he proceeds to shut down the security systems. Keeping Tenma from getting blown up by ninja robots might be damn useful.
A second later, he gets on the PA system, "I'm trying to shut down the security system now, Tenma. Hopefully that'll keep the drones off you."
Slowly, the ventilation systems in the facility activate. Interestingly enough, the flue venting is actually leaking, which means its continued operation is actually what's causing the flooding of the midlevel with poisonous gas. That has to be deactivated first, and then the actual air conditioning systems clicking on.
Of course, clicking air conditioning on in a place like this is a bit like waving a match at a blizzard. But it does make the air somewhat breathable, and will make the pathway out a little safer.
Interestingly, security systems do operate some of the basic add-ons made to the facility--such as the Kurotora with which you are already accustomed, and something called 'Rasenjin Throwers'. Turning these to maintenance mode is a simple matter. However, doing so causes a set of strips in the walls at either side of the room to glow and flick open, ejecting razorblade discs covered with sealwork on either side halfway. They seem to sense Zach's presence. They begin to spin ominously, hover..
...and clack uselessly against the spindles keeping them from flying around.
You get the feeling guessing the security code wrong a few times too many would not have ended well.
Meanwhile, TENMA HAS ENTERED: Production Floor
This is where most of the basic maintenance goes on concerning the blast furnace, and stairs and pathways wind around the arcane tangle of labyrinthine pipes and taps keeping the pig iron at bay. This close to the direct hot blast piping, with the piping in the condition as it is, Tenma might have been being cooked alive right now were it not already shut down. However, it's still plenty warm in here, what with all of the slag and molten pig iron that Tenma is currently travelling above.
Eventually, he approaches a scene that might seem familiar. In more than one way.
These models are scorched black in places, and their silhouettes are recognizable as the creatures that were fighting eachother on the monitors, and they're still at it, scattered automatons clubbing eachother with seared rackets without much of a care in the world. Their movements seem erratic, and oddly familiar. Tenma might recognize them as being from the previous Jinchuu tournament--automatons in the vague shape of a little girl, who now seem to be perfectly content with beating the living snot out of eachother.
There is no specific controls for disabling these. Keep in mind that the M0 Monitor seems to be for the purpose of watching them, and classifies them as an 'infestation.'
On the other hand, they don't seem to notice Tenma. If he moves really quietly, he might avoid getting a leg chewed off.
A nervous glance is flicked at the star throwers before the decision is made to allow Tenma to navigate the mechadolls on his own, Zach not being certain that he'd improve the situation with his actions. Instead, he slides over to some other controls, opening the receiving doors. Hopefully, that will drain out some of the liquid metal that is in the pools.
He also does not say anything over the PA. No need to announce Kiryuu's presence to the rampaging robots.
COMBATSYS: Tenma fails to interrupt Enemy - M0M0M0 Warranty Null from Nirvana - Nenzhao with Head Breaker.
- Power fail! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Zach 0/-------/----===|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Tenma 0/-------/----===|
The heat doesn't help Tenma's temper any... Nor, unfortunately, does it help his sense of judgement. As he works his way through the production floor, looking for something that looks like it might be the key to what's going on down here, he instead finds... Those things.
"...You have /got/ to be fucking kidding me," the leader of the Guardian Kings says as he sees the M0M0s, focused on trying to kill each other - mostly. Having not experienced the robot version before, but having had more contact than he would prefer with the real thing, the Kiryuu heir is totally in agreement with the system above that this counts as an infestation. He could try to sneak around. He could try to do /something/. But, slightly heat-addled, another idea occurs to him. An idea that seems brilliant.
With a bellow, Tenma Kiryuu drops his head and straight up tries to bullrush his way through the M0M0s, which sort of ruin's Zach's admittedly good idea of not saying anything that would alert the robots to Tenma's presence.
It also does not work as Tenma had planned.
The moment Tenma barrels through the Suiryuu-native automata, he successfully gets their attention. Luckily for him, the small infestation of M0M0 flooding the lower areas are all more or less weaklings, or else Tenma would be in a really bad way right about now. As Tenma plows through one and knocks it to pieces like LEGOS, the rest all /look/ at him. And in varying states of disrepair and ominous ratcheting noises, scores of audio recordings click on. Some are just warped beyond all recognition and make odd distended noises. Others shriek as flywheels pop out. And others still are.. just barely comprehensible.
[ ...he lo .. ]
What follows is possibly the worst robot horde beating in the history of Taizhou.
MEANWHILE.
On Zach's monitoring station, he sees pretty much most of the grim details if he can manage to fix the camera resolution any. He does manage to open the receiving doors, one of two sets of doors which seemed to be beneath the iron flow, draining out the teeming pool relatively close to Tenma. The first thing Zach might notice is a -shining light-. Bright and sitting impaled into a pedestal in the midst of that pool, its source is from a short-sword which somehow has managed to survive being submerged in molten iron all this time, and glows from the glowing-hot iron sluicing from its protective perch. It doesn't seem like it's the sort of thing that's just trash.
The second thing that Zach might notice is that--well, that pool was a load bearing one.
The frenzied activity in that pool from the camera was not from random fluctuations or an agitator in the pool. It was from a... /lot/... of automatons being suspended in it and fighting to get out. Apparently a method of controlling the infestation, the draining pool leaves a lot of the automata high and dry. Some are already deactivated from the sheer heat. Others flop around like so many broken fish. That's not the ones you worry about. You worry about the really.. really big one that just stood up.
Less of a single M0M0 and more a massive iron-fused conglomerate of M0M0, the giant, black, slag-dripping silhouette lurches from the pool the moment its pieces touch ground. With hands forged from the arcane brass skulls of little girls, it grips the walkways, its very /touch/ causing the metal to soften and warp beneath its weight as the amalgamated mutant of a M0M0 lurches for the group of automatons being fended off and beaten up mindlessly.
Zach might want to warn Tenma about that.
[ WH ARE Y U...? ]
Zach lets out a shout as he bolts to his feet. "Tenma! Heads up! There's a big one up ahead!" he yells over the PA before heading for the door himself. There's not much more he can safely do from here, so he is going for the next best thing.
He is off like a shot, heading towards the boss monsterbot. It'll take a moment to get there, and another to be fight-ready. However, he's not about to let Tenma try and solo that thing...
COMBATSYS: Nirvana - Nenzhao successfully hit Zach with Navigate - Pathway Rebellion.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Zach 1/-------/=======|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Tenma 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Tenma fails to interrupt Boss - M0M0M0M0M0M0M0M0 from Nirvana - Nenzhao with Initial Breaker.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Zach 1/-------/=======|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Tenma 0/-------/-======|
At this point, Tenma's response to the giant super M0M0 is probably exactly what one would expect. The Kiryuu demon hunter sizes the big-ass defective robot up for a moment and, vaguely aware in the back of his mind that Zach is dropping very quickly towards the production floor, he hisses out a breath and throws himself recklessly at the thing, trying to drive it back with repeated thrusts of his chi-emanating bokken. This isn't likely to go as planned, of course, given the heat and the harm he's already sustained dealing with the lesser M0M0s both providing a pretty solid distraction.
But goddamn if he's not going to /try/.
Your only greeting is: FIST. And a lot of it. Tenma's attack on the massive amalgamation goes about as one might expect from the huge monstrosity--it's a lot like poking a bear with a toothpick. A bear with claws made of people. The massive thing claws the ground savagely as she(he? it?) is poked, shrieking audibly as it just -tears- a claw across the walkway, ripping the entire thing open and--well, scattering huge amounts of automata like so many dominoes, the passage of its claws leaving molten bits of iron and heat in its wake that seem to crackle with stored power long after it is done.
Zach gambles, taking a leap to get to the pruduction floor. However, he misjudges the landing, and slams down hard in a low crouch. The shock travels up his legs, the twinge of overstressed joints sending jolts of pain up his spine. He grits his teeth before pulling himself to his feet. The M0M0 is huge, so aiming is not even an issue.
Glen pulls his hands back, collecting psycho power between his cupped palms for a moment, allowing the energy to surge for a moment before thrusting the hands forward. Zach launches a beam of violet energy directly at the center of the Monster M0M0's midsection, hoping to carve out something of importance on the beast!
Tenma's response to the overflow of horrible giant robot M0M0 fist is... Well, he /tries/ to swear, quite loudly in fact, but what comes out instead is: "FFFFLABLARLGHFBL!!"
Seriously, that was too much fist.
Landing uncomfortably, virtually bouncing off of the super M0M0's attack, the Guardian King then bounces against the production floor, doing an impromptu backflip and landing flat on his face, though his bokken remains clutched in his right hand. He only stays down there for so long.
Pushing himself back up to his feet, Tenma grits his teeth and glares right at the super M0M0 as it rips open the walkway. "I am sick!!" Tenma exclaims. "And tired!!" He starts running forward, collecting energy around the wooden blade of his practice sword. "Of all this stupid ninja--"
He leaps, and it's a prodigious and amazing leap, and his target is obvious as he tries to actually land on the iron beast's back and/or shoulders, somewhere there's enough purchase to stand. "--BULLSHIT!!" Tenma adds with a final bellow, aiming to plunge his chi-emanating weapon into the horrific automaton's head, or nearest reasonable slagged facsimile. He wants it to die.
To /die die die die/.
Fist made of wadded up robot babies--that'll do it when it comes to beating the gibberish out of would-be forge delvers.
The amalgam automaton lists dangerously backwards and topples cataclysmically when Zach's colorful blast melds with the flush of Tenma's blade straight through it's upper section. It curls angrily as Tenma lands on it, briefly looking like a dead bug, flailing ineffectually. On top of it, it's like climbing a heap of steaming iron, with random hands from partially fused automata gripping at Tenma from all angles as he clambers over the monstrosity. It would seem that that would be it.
[ ..thERE yOU Are. :) ]
What passes for limbs on the automaton seem to bend and ratchet in evil cracks and moans as it twists its limbs unnaturally. After all, it doesn't actually have so much limbs as it does collections of angry constructs, which precludes the normal array of standard humanoid physiology. The creature lifts itself off the ground, with Tenma on it or not, clambering around like a great iron and metal spider, twisting around until it orients on Zach. And well--let's face it. This thing doesn't have the dexterity or focus to really pick out targets. Tenma gets in on it too when the thing starts to spin towards Zach, electric power crackling off of it as it rips up the catwalk and threatens to dump the whole thing into the drained pool from whence it came.
It's literally made of limbs.
Which means it is made of punches.
COMBATSYS: Nirvana - Nenzhao successfully hit Zach with Boss - M0M0M0M0M0M0M0M0.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Zach 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Tenma 0/-------/-======|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Zach 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Tenma 0/-------/-======|
COMBATSYS: Tenma fails to interrupt Boss - M0M0M0M0M0M0M0M0 from Nirvana - Nenzhao with Intercepting Strike.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Zach 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|
[ \\\\\\ <
Tenma 1/-------/=======|
Zach is not so much pummeled so much as swarmed by robot... parts. When they wash over him, it reveals a shredded, bloodied, and bruised psyker that is radiating those purple fireworks he is known for. He also looks fairly upset; his ballcap is in pieces.
"That tears it!" Zach yells. "TENMA! GET CLEAR!" He doesn't wait for Kiryuu to do what he says. Glen is already sprinting up the makeshift arm, leaping when he gets halfway up. He aims for the large 'dent' he made in his previous strike, a virtual comet of violent energies that detonates with full force once he is somewhat inside the already created damage. "STORM FLARE!"
COMBATSYS: Zach takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Zach 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|
[ \\\\\\ <
Tenma 1/-------/=======|
Seems like once M0M0s get involved, Tenma Kiryuu just can't catch a break.
He tries to fight off the grappling automata, he slashes and hacks and generally does an amazing amount of work for somebody balanced precariously on the back of an iron terror, and things seem like they're gonna be... Okay. Things are gonna work out, this is going to be cool.
Then, the super M0M0 goes from 'spider crawl' to crackling with electricity and spinning around and just wrecking the whole place.
Tenma tries to take another chunk out of the M0M0; instead, he's electrocuted and flung off - painfully - with an irritated and electrified squawk.
So he's not actually there when Zach shouts at him.
"WHO SAID YOU COULD CALL ME BY MY NAME?!" Tenma demands angrily, because /that's/ important right now.
People and spare M0M0s flying all over the place, the M0M0 Pile lurches ominously as it rips most of the catwalk off of its mooring, tumbling off to the side and leaving the thing half-way collapsed back into the pool where it came from--the thing is literally so hot that it's making the metal soft where it makes footfall. The giant spider-esque thing begins to climb back up--
For the record, Tenma's blows do find purchase on the machine mass, carving and cutting bits of M0M0 out of the fuselage. It simply doesn't have the wherewithal or interest in putting up a solid defense against his attack and seems to be losing ground for it. Truly, its only response seems to be 'swipe more.' As people go flying off of it, it raises off the ground on two legs. While Tenma's out of range, it does seem to be intent on squashing more than the flashier-looking bug's cap. A hand made of 20+ smaller hands raises ominously. There is the horrifying groan of a small chorus of badly dubbed little girl giggles. And then--
COMBATSYS: Zach interrupts Boss - M0M0M0M0M0M0M0M0 from Nirvana - Nenzhao with Storm Flare.
[ \\\\\\\\\ <
Zach 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|
[ \\\\\\ <
Tenma 1/-------/=======|
Zach looks up at the big foot coming down on his head. He doesn't have time to gather himself for another leap. He does, however, have plenty of juice flowing through him right now. He spreads his feet shoulder-width apart, letting out a loud yell as he thrusts both fists upward towards the imcoming flood of parts.
More of that fantastic energy erupts from around Zach, blasting most of the 'leg' away from him. He does, however, still catch a beating from the remaining bits of clutter and super-heated trash. He's going to need a good night's sleep, at the minimum, if he wants to get over this adventure, he thinks. A beer might help too, while he's at it.
Back on his feet, Tenma scowls faintly as Zach seems to have a better time dealing with the amalgamated automaton than he did. That's... That's bound to piss him right off. "Stupid... HEY, SHORT STUFF!" Tenma bellows at Zach. "GET THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY!!"
Man, what does Tenma think he's going to do now? After the rather poor luck he's had dealing with the M0M0 Pile directly? As it happens, his current idea is to deal with it... Indirectly.
Rushing forward, trying to get close enough to pull this off but not so close that he totally screws himself over, Tenma lashes out with his bokken, the normally smoky aura around the wooden blade intensified, 'hardened', so that it looks more like a crimson sawblade than that misty blood fog. He doesn't lash out at the M0M0, either.
He lashes out at the catwalk, trying to remove the automaton's footing entirely and plunge it back down into the pool from whence it emerged.
A limb hits the ground some ways away from Zach, partially exploded into its component parts, M0M0 units writhing and grasping blindly across the ground at some perceived threat. The blast cataclysmically sheared one of the crowd's limbs right off, leaving the automata horde an asymmetrical beast, the force of the chaotic blast driving it back off the catwalk. The monstrosity grips the steel angrily as it attempts to climb back up, bending the steel with its weight alone.
It's weak, and it labors, the multitude of blasts and thrusts piercing its hide finally taking a toll--there are more inactive units in the pile than there is active ones, and when Tenma slices the entire piece of walkway free from it's supports, the creature goes with it, the catwalk tumbling down into the drained pool and finally just cutting the machine mass clear in half, leaving it's upper half stuck underneath it to grope and twitch blindly.
It does not, however, move any further than that.
YOU HAVE GAINED 62 EXPERIENCE POINTS.
Your cell phones (somehow, still operational) play small fanfare trumpets.
Zach smirks, then recalls the shiney thing that he saw before heading down. He looks up at Tenma long enough to make sure the young man is not dead, and then trots over to the... sword? Zach blinks at it once or twice; the thing should have been slag, given where it was for as long as it probably was.
He eyes the weapon uncertainly, reaching out for it to see if it is hot before trying to grab it.
Please, Tenma Kiryuu wouldn't die even if you killed him. He's too /stubborn/. He'd call death names and then walk away while it was crying.
"Ha ha ha! BOOYAH! Who's laughing now?!" Tenma shouts down after the fallen amalgamated automaton, because that combined robot giggling was creepy. He doesn't /quite/ do a triumphant little dance on the edge of the remaining catwalk, but he does point down at the savaged machine as he gloats.
Preoccupied as he is, the Guardian King scarcely notices as his phone plays a fanfare, and he certainly doesn't notice as Zach starts looting the place.
The short curved blade shines with a sparkling sheen, humming faintly as Zach approaches. It's certainly hot to the touch, but not half as hot as you'd expect it to be for being submersed in molten pig iron. Part of this has to do with the protective seals wound around the pedestal into which the blade is plunged. Those same protective seals, for the record, don't seem to immolate you instantly.
That you're aware of.
Zach reaches out to it, tentatively touching the hilt. If it does not explode, or burn his hand off, Zach fully grasps the hilt. If that doesn't outright kill him, he will cautiously collect the second sword They may come in handy.
"Hey Loud Mouth," Zach yells out to Tenma. "I've got prizes!" Zach hefts the hastily assembled bundle of weapons to display.
Loud mouth?!
Yeah that's fair.
Tenma is snapped out of his gloating, finally, by Zach's calling out. "Huh?" wonders the tall, slender teenager, bokken slanted against his shoulder as, battered and bruised, he turns to look over at where Zach is doing Zach things. "Prizes?" the Kiryuu heir wonders, because stuff like that does get his attention, /obviously/. His dark blue eyes survey Zach and notice that he has... Swords. Where the hell did he get swords?
"Man, who knows what kinda crap these weirdos are leaving lying around. Freak robots, samurai helmets, swords..."
Tenma puts his hand out expectantly, though. There's two, so he wants one.
Pronto!!
Zach grips one of the not-quite-wakazashis and turns the hilt towards Tenma. He is already looking for an exit. "I'm guessing we were here to collect these," Zach says as he hands the sword to Tenma. "Now let's get the hell out of here before Kis-" Zach stops himself. "Crazy chick and our teammates knock this building over on us."
Taking the proffered sword, Tenma regards it critically, both with his eyes and his 'other' senses, giving it a few testing swipes. "Well... Probably good craftsmanship, knowing these guys." Who else but ninjas would put a quality sword in the middle of a horrible old wreck of a metalworks full of defective M0M0s?
Zach's talk about leaving gets a dubious look from Tenma, who shakes his head. "You can take off if you want," the King of Blood says, as though he weren't rather battered and bloodied and now carrying /two/ swords, each of them slightly ridiculous. "As for me, I'm gonna keep going. Tenma Kiryuu /always/ does a thorough job, just ask any girl back in Southtown!"
At least it wasn't a 'your mom' joke.
Regardless, if there's another path, Tenma is going to take it.
"What," Zach asks sarcastically, "And leave you to have all the fun? Let me just catch my breath before we get going." Zach rests his own sword on his shoulder in an almost Tenma-like fashion. It almost suits him, even if the young man has almost no clue how to /use/ a sword properly.
He glances around. "I think Fatty Helmet mentioned something about this place. Damned if I remember what, though."
After that whole mess, it turns out climbing out of the drained pool of iron and getting to the other side of the catwalk is the easiest thing you've had to do all day; just climb on top of the downed horde of M0M0s and hop up to the ledge, clamber up and over. It's probably for the best--given that the path kind of collapsed throguh the other way, it would be a very long climb back up to where you were, and entering the street at sub-molten iron level might not be the soundest plan. Following the catwalk is, compared to the rest of this, relatively easy.
YOU HAVE ENTERED: BARRIER REGION
You stand in front of a huge energy field encompassing an entire wall. Eventually the path just stops, terminating abruptly in the massive wall. It seems to have been a stopgap measure, because part of the region is surrounded in cooling iron, as if it's been drained previously by someone else. Beyond it, a mechanical lift leads--presumably underground. But the sealwork on either side of the comprehensive energy field seems not to permit peaceful passage by any means.
Dried blood paints the ground here, as if it was the site of a savage battle..
COMBATSYS: Nirvana - Nenzhao successfully hit Zach with Find - ITEM Miraitou.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Zach 0/-------/---====|
[ \\\\\\ <
Tenma 1/-------/=======|
Zach looks around with wide eyes. There's a good deal of blood here, and all that energy is enough to get his scar itching. He looks a bit uncomfortable. He nods toward the barrier. "Any idea on how we're getting past that?" Zach asks uncertainly.
COMBATSYS: Nirvana - Nenzhao successfully hit Tenma with Find - ITEM Miraitou.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Zach 0/-------/---====|
[ \\\\\\\\\ <
Tenma 1/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Tenma interrupts Crash - Energy Field Delay from Nirvana - Nenzhao with Mirai Blade.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Zach 0/-------/---====|
[ \\\\\\\\ <
Tenma 1/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Zach fails to interrupt Crash - Energy Field Delay from Nirvana - Nenzhao with Mirai Blade.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ <
Zach 0/-------/-======|
[ \\\\\\\\ <
Tenma 1/-------/=======|
Of course, Tenma is more than happy to climb over the broken and melted corpses of M0M0s, because to hell with those things and the horrible little troll they're based off of. It's almost a disappointment once they get onto another catwalk, in fact.
The barrier, on the other hand, is another story. Tenma can feel it, like it's making his teeth itch and his skin crawl. A frown pulls at the lean teenager's mouth, and his dark blue eyes narrow faintly as he looks at it. Then he looks down at his left hand, holding the sword.
Well.
At Zach's question, Tenma snorts faintly and replies, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world: "Like /this/!" before he plunges the Red Miraitou /into/ the barrier.
Zach, on the other hand, fares worse when he mimics Tenma's example. The barrier hurls him across the room with a massive flare of clashing energies, smashing the short fighter into the far wall.
He sits there for a moment with a pained expression on his face before trying to shake it off. Looks like he moght need a moment to pull himself back together.
As the Miraitous both plunge into the energy field, they seem to react with the sealwork on the periphery. Time seems to slow down and drift to a stop as the weapon is slowly mired in the force of the barrier... and then the field just /bursts/ into translucent segments of energy, hitting the ground like so much glass before winking out of existence.
It leaves only the mantle of iron beyond it, esconcing the small tube area that seems as if it were flooded with iron only weeks ago. The lift is there, a steel and rubber industrial lift structure, hemmed off with safety fencing and deactivated warning lights.
A single button sits on the control box, mounted on a pole on the lift at about hip level.
COMBATSYS: Zach drops his guard to recover.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Zach 0/-------/-======|
[ \\\\\\\\ <
Tenma 1/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Zach drops his guard to recover.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Zach 0/-------/-======|
[ \\\\\\\\ <
Tenma 1/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Zach takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Zach 0/-------/-======|
[ \\\\\\\\ <
Tenma 1/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Tenma drops his guard to recover.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Zach 0/-------/-======|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Tenma 1/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Tenma drops his guard to recover.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Zach 0/-------/-======|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Tenma 1/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Tenma takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Zach 0/-------/-======|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Tenma 1/-------/=======|
So.. our heroes sit at the precipice of the unknown, having penetrated through to the heart of the Nenzhao Metalworking Facility and now the only thing separating them from everything is the press of a single button. What will they find at the bottom?
Find out in the next round!!
Log created on 20:23:33 05/27/2010 by Tenma, and last modified on 12:05:45 06/02/2010.