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Alright, let's talk about scary fire demons.

What happened with Innocentius was basically this:

>You sensed something, a creature whose very existence gave your sanity a good shaking- before you even had the slightest clue what it was. That's how mind-blowing Innocentius was for you. You literally couldn't properly comprehend how something so hot- and so fundamentally /wrong/ and unnatural- could possibly exist (especially considering it came into being in an instant!)

>You guys alerted Komoe-sensei (and, through her, Anti-Skill). I had intended for this to affect nothing- they weren't taking it seriously, and wouldn't have responded until after it was all over- but I realized that you were with Komoe at the time... meaning she'd have to go home before she could do the healing spell on Index. As it stands, I'm just gonna say that Index was smart enough to instruct Kamijou through basic first aid and sustain her long enough to visit Komoe a little bit later in the evening.

>You guys voted on write-ins to deliver JUSTICE to this VILLAIN, managing to stay awake through sheer force of will. Then, you saw terrifying a fire demon fighting some poor schmuck, and decided to 'CONSUME' it.

>You felt heat- physically- for the first time. I gave you two options: fight and flight.

>You showed Innocentius to the doorway of existence, then kicked his ass to the curb.

>Kamijou punched Stiyl in the face.

While we're here, I've something I need to confess:

I honestly forgot about Index, so I'm hand-waving Mato's not mentioning her as her being too focused on you to notice at the time, and your own failure to notice the nun being a side-effect of two things:
>#1: Innocentius is super-glowy, meaning your eyes had adjusted to see in bright light (leaving you unable to see Index, who was further back and in relative darkness).
>#2: A combination of adrenaline and sensory overload. You were feeling heat for the first time, yanno?

>>33777137
>Up just as I'm going to bed
Suffer

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Okay, dream stuff comes next!

>After you passed out, you dreamed (IIRC, that doesn't usually happen- this was a unique situation, you understand).
>Your dream was the way your mind handled the new, 'impossible' information that Innocentius had provided you with.
>Your Personal Reality was altered (rather drastically, on a subconscious level), and your reliance on scientific facts to rationalize your powers was... shaken.

>You realized, deep down, that the 'rules' don't apply, and that you were only limiting yourself by trying to make them make sense.

When you made your choice of dreams, you essentially chose a 'package', which granted you certain benefits, altered your personality in some subtle (in most cases) way, and may have had some 'drawbacks'.

>By choosing the invasion dream, you gained the ability to use your powers indefinitely- essentially, you never tire from power use, and you can use your powers in spite of any fatigue/injury you might experience/sustain. You also gained a stubborn force of will that makes you pretty much implacable. >You'll never give up.
>Ever.
>You're also somewhat more resistant to mental attacks, and it'd be nigh impossible to force you to go against your beliefs of truth and justice.

Each package also came with choices: each would lead to a new 'evolution' of one of your powers, or, in a few cases, an entirely new one.

>Taking out the mothership made your SPONTANEOUS IGNITION able to affect a far larger surface area.
>Burning the city made your FLAME PROJECTION more potent, and helped you more efficiently/effectively utilize your HEAT RAYS.

Additionally, fires you've created are now more difficult to put out, and won't burn out due to a lack of fuel like normal fire would. Setting a counter-fire won't work on a fire you've created, and you can shoot flames from your hands in a vacuum, if you ever happen to be in a vacuum and in need of some fire.

File: POWER LISTING.pdf (59 KB, PDF)

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Okay, on to powers and the way they work!

You started out with the following powers, which I shall henceforth refer to in all-caps (so as to make them more easily distinguished): SPONTANEOUS IGNITION, FLAME PROJECTION, FIREBALL, HEAT SENSE, and a general fire-telekinesis kind of thing (setting yourself on fire and snuffing out flames, as well as keeping your fireballs all compressed and whatnot- this isn't so much a 'power' that you use as it is an inherent facet of your Pyrokinesis, so it isn't named or anything, just... there).

SPONTANEOUS IGNITION allows you to agitate the surface particles of an object in order to generate heat and, in most cases, fire.
This is your most 'pure' power, from a psychokinetic standpoint, as there is no 'middle-man'.
As long as you can perceive it (and, since you're not a bat, perceive means 'see' in this case), you can make it BURN.

FLAME PROJECTION, also known as 'SHOOTING FIRE FROM YOUR HANDS', is pretty much exactly what it says on the tin.
You shoot fire from your hands, flamethrower style.
Initially, this was your 'strongest' ability.

HEAT PROJECTION, your HEAT RAY power, is an offshoot evolution of this. It's basically 'WAR OF THE WORLDS', a kinetic/thermal BEAM of STUFF that does THINGS.

FIREBALL is something straight outta D&D, really. If FLAME PROJECTION is like a flamethrower, then FIREBALL is like a grenade launcher.
You form a ball of fire that is quite hot (as fire tends to be). The heat increases the pressure of the air trapped within the sphere of fire significantly, and, once you've compressed the fiery ball down into a FIREBALL, that pressure is quite significant.
A FIREBALL is between the size of a softball and a golf ball (smaller= more compression= more power), is thrown or propelled from the hand, and detonates on impact.

HEAT SENSE... allows (ALLOWED, I suppose) you to sense heat. As long as it's a fire or REALLY hot.

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Each power has the potential to undergo what I've started calling 'evolutions'. These are drastic changes , improvements, or upgrades to a particular power. Some evolutions replace their predecessors, some become powers of their own, and some are things you can choose to apply to a power as you see fit.

Coming up with a new way to APPLY a power to a situation is NOT an evolution.
Examples:
>'Rocket-jumping' with FIREBALLS
>Using lower-powered FIREBALLS to knock enemies off balance
>Using SPONTANEOUS IGNITION to melt asphalt and trap enemies
>Heating something with SPONTANEOUS IGNITION in order to track it with HEAT SENSE
>'Holding back' with FLAME PROJECTION to non-lethally subdue enemies
>Using FLAME PROJECTION to heat the surface below an enemy to subdue him via convection


Coming up with a new way to USE a power in general IS an evolution.
Examples:
>Detonating FIREBALLS at-will, rather than on impact, thus creating DELAYED BLAST FIREBALLS (separate/derivative power)
>Learning how to shape/control the blast of your FIREBALLS (an upgrade that may be applied situationally, to any FIREBALLS you might create)
>Using SPONTANEOUS IGNITION, but in a 3D 'target zone' instead of a 2d target surface, thus creating SOURCELESS RADIATON (separate power)
>Figuring out how to use SPONTANEOUS IGNITION to cause SPONTANEOUS DETONATION (separate power) by agitating particles in a certain way
>Learning how to project HEAT instead of FLAMES, thus unlocking HEAT RAYS (separate power)
>Focusing your HEAT RAYS more 'precisely,' causing them to exert both kinetic and thermal energy (direct/permanent upgrade)


These examples are hypothetical. However, I made sure not to use powers you've locked yourself out of- these evolutions are all possible as of the beginning of Thread 5.

>If you have any questions, feel free to ask!
>I'll probably wait 10-15 minutes before picking up where we left off. (Unless you guys flood me with questions, that is- I'll try to answer as much as I can)

>>33777355
Pretty hype, give us a bit to read all that.

>>33777379
I intended to. Made sure not to finish the OP quest-post or whatever you wanna call it so I wouldn't rush this.

Also, I apologize for the visual pun on that last one, there.
I couldn't resist.

>>33777169
Them feels.

>>33777355
What's our maximum possible temperature at the moment and how thick a wall or object could be theoretically melt through if pressed?

>>33777428
Relative terms are fine btw, don't need an exact number.

>>33777355
Is there any risk of losing control at any point if we seriously overdo it?

>>33777425
On a 1-10 scale, please rate the characters encountered so far in terms of flaming homosexuality, with one being 'actively offended by the purest form of love' and ten being 'lilies and sparkles and bubbles, oh my!'

>>33777355
Is our fire now black, or a colour other than what it was?

>>33777355
I'm assuming Spontaneous Ignition just works on objects and not people based on how you phrased that? Since otherwise there's no reason to ever use any other power.

>>33777709
Well, one reason could be to not want to outright murder people.

>>33777709
Well it does require line of sight where heat rays and fireball don't, but yeah that sounds kinda OP and psychotic to boot.

>>33777355
Can we heat up several objects at once with SPONTANEOUS IGNITION ? Or does it have to be one object at a time ?

>>33777744
You can just set part of someone on fire.

It's kind of one of the most OP Esper powers, since pretty much every other Esper in the series has their power start at their body and work it's way out, they can't spontaneously create it away from their body.

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Esper Quest QM @EsperQuestQM 42s
Internet's down. I guess the dog chewed through the cable?

Twitter update
>Internet's down. I guess the dog chewed through the cable?

This is the world we live in tg. A terrible, dark place with no feeling.

>>33777798
I guess the world did not approve of info dump. Fuck this world.

>>33777355
>Using SPONTANEOUS IGNITION, but in a 3D 'target zone' instead of a 2d target surface, thus creating SOURCELESS RADIATON (separate power)
I want to do that.

>Figuring out how to use SPONTANEOUS IGNITION to cause SPONTANEOUS DETONATION (separate power) by agitating particles in a certain way
Also that.

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>>33777355
Could we make a fire hand drill and/or other weapons?

>>33777445
Really hot

>>33777602
No, but you can try to make it happen

>>33777709
The human body is an object, but that's not really a combat power. Moving targets and things breaking your concentration would interrupt

>>33777773
One at a time. Akari can't enen cross her eyes, and concentration is required

>>33779009
Maybe? More Heat Ray practice/experimentation would be your best bet

>>33777787
It starts from your optical receptors, anon
Shit's pure psycokinesis

>>33779145
Could we learn to target several at once as evolution ?
Seems like a neat trick against guns and groups of people.

>>33779183
In rapid succession, perhaps, or with some sort of augmentation, but not all at once.

Seriously, it's not good for combat. Thick clothing can potentially block it!

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>>33777428
Your maximum temperature was previously [REDACTED] , however, your current capabilities haven't been measured yet, and, though you're unaware of it, Miku's chip might have some effect on that.
>In other words, real freakin' hot, depending on the power you're using. SPONTANEOUS IGNITION is probably your best bet for heating things, given HEAT PROJECTION now has the tendency to blow things up.

>>33777481
>any
Some, yes. There's almost always a risk, I suppose, but currently your risk for losing control is minimal. I'll probably make you roll for the chip's functions if you do something absolutely insane. Not sure what you would do to bring something like that about, but, hey, that's why this is an interactive game and not storytime.

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>>33779709
Are we go?

>>33779748
We are!
I'll give it a few minutes in case any anons who had questions and left come back, then we'll get right to it!

>>33779709
>Miku's chip might have some effect on that.
Fuck Miku.

>>33779800
Miku helped us not accidently blow things up or melt the house in our sleep.

>>33779819
And knowing that we might accidentally melt the house down would probably make it more likely to happen. Scaring someone does not help with subconscious uses of power.

>>33779800
Why? She's a nice lady!

>>33779819
Yeah!

>>33779848
Also a good point.

>>33779819
Miku is a blight and she put a chip in our brain.

>>33779865
No. You don't do that. You don't have characters put brainchips in the mc's head without their knowledge and expect them to be liked. Miku is horrible.

>>33779873
A blight on the idol industry, maybe. I haven't forgotten that you haven't attended your own fucking concerts in months, Mikuuuuu. Those pretty armor ladies would be crushed if they knew!

>>33779907
As long as it doesn't stop us from lighting up criminals I don't really see the problem here, especially if it keeps us from burning our apartment down by accident.

>>33777162
>I honestly forgot about Index
Most of the fanbase did, no worries.

>>33779965
Stop arguing with him. You aren't going to change his mind and all it's going to do is make the thread a pain to read.

Hopefully we'll get an update soon.

>>33779907
I like Miku.

>>33779907
You should really get over it. Seriously, it's a minor modification by Academy City standards, improves Akari's quality of life drastically, there is no benefit to telling Akari, and Miku is still a great lady.

Hell, Akari might even get it removed later once she's adjusted to her recent power boost without even knowing it was there.

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Mato sighs. She's walking with her fingers laced together behind her head, and you're admiring her trapezoid-making skills when she suddenly stops.

“Is that... sand?”

You avert your gaze from her and refocus on the street ahead of you.

That is, in fact, sand.

You are Akari Takamichi, a Level 4 (Level 3, officially, but who am I kidding?) Pyrokineticist, and on this fine 21st of July, you're patrolling Academy City's District 10- more commonly referred to as 'The Strange'.

The pavement ahead of you is, as Mato observed, sandy.

The heck is that all about?

It starts out just a few meters ahead of you and down the street to your right (which also happens to lead deeper into The Strange), with a fine coating of sand that doesn't quite cover the asphalt, and transitions into a veritable desert- complete with small, rolling dunes- over the course of a block or so.

It makes for an interesting backdrop, you suppose; the clashing aesthetic of graffiti-tagged buildings and a FREAKING DESERT. Feels kinda like one of those weird, 'half-western, half-whatever-the-author-feels-like' settings.

Mato looks to you, perhaps for guidance, perhaps for some sort of reasonable explanation for there being a desert in the middle of Academy City. You can't help but notice that she's cute when she's confused.

You shrug. “They call it 'The Strange' for a reason, I guess.”

She hesitates, then nods. “Y-yeah, I guess...” She looks back to the desert. “Still, there's obviously something going on here.”

You, for one, agree entirely. This may well be the shiftiest thing you've seen thus far.

>>33780018
>Akari might even get it removed later
kind of impossible since she doesn't know about it.

>>33780055
But the people who put it their, have no reason to keep it in once she has gotten used to her new power.

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The question is, how will you approach the situation?
>MARCH RIGHT ON IN AND SEE WHAT'S UP
>Walk around the desert and see just how big it is/look for clues
>Call someone/Have Mato call someone
>>Anti-Skill
>>Mami-sempai
>>Other (Who?)
>Ignore it and move on.
>Other (Write-in)

>>33780078
They're not going to take it out because it's not just a chip for power control. There's no way it doesn't have microexplosives / enslavement module / any number of other nasty things.

>>33780102
>MARCH RIGHT ON IN AND SEE WHAT'S UP
We're not exactly the subtle type, let's go loud.

>>33780102
Wait, did Miku tell us about the chip?

>>33780109
It was a favor for Nee-chan, anon. That's why she thanked Miku after the chip was implanted.

>>33780102
>MARCH RIGHT ON IN AND SEE WHAT'S UP

Lets take a look.

>>33780102
>>Walk around the desert and see just how big it is/look for clues
CLUES!

>>33780102
>MARCH RIGHT ON IN AND SEE WHAT'S UP

Sure, why not?
>>33780136
Nope. Miku's number in Akari's contact list is the first she's heard of it, hilariously.

>>33779988
Kamachi did too, so it's fine.

NT 10 was hilarious in that sense. Though he wanted to take Index out of the title after the first volume, so I guess I can't blame him.

>>33780102
>Look for clues

>>33780138
I don't trust her. The players have no reason to trust her. This is exactly the type of things that QMs whip out several threads down the line and gloat in your face about how it was a trap all along.

>>33780161
Akari's sister trusts her, and Akari trusts here sister. There you go. A reason to trust her.

>>33780161
Seriously? The QM ain't done shit to inspire those shadowruns, if he says it's on the up-and-up I'm inclined to believe him for now.

>>33780102
>MARCH RIGHT ON IN AND SEE WHAT'S UP

No reason to really be subtle. Let's go take a look. If we run into any enemies we can always turn the sand into molten glass beneath them because that'd be the funniest way to kick their ass.

>>33780136
She left a message about it on your phone, and you left while she and Nee-chan were having 'grown-up time'. You won't notice it until you actually *look* at your contact list.

>>33780161
Anon, I've stated before that I'll never trap my players without giving them an option. Chill out, comrade.
The shadowruns won't come into play for awhile yet.

>>33780161
We've let AC do way worse to us, this is hardly even a thing.

>>33780201
If we were a less cheerful character I'd say that would lead to one hell of an awkward chat, but this way hilarity will likely ensue instead.

>>33780119
>>33780144
>>33780153
>>33780198
LEEEEEEEEEROOOOOYYYYYY...

>>33780148
>>33780156
Circle it!

JENKINS!

>>33780227
I expect Miku to get a scolding, provided you notice.

Anyways, WRITING!

>>33780270
If we're scolding Miku for the chip I expect nee-chan to get a scolding too, because that is too adorable not to happen.

>>33780270
Will Mato join in on the scolding too? That would be too cute.

>>33780315
I'm rather enjoying the mental image of both imoutos scolding their nee-sans.

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>>33780298
>>33780315

A scolding, a scolding!

>People jumping on the scolding train
I thought you were in agreement that Miku did nothing wrong?

>>33780510
Well yeah, but I can see Akari being sorta annoyed that Miku didn't bother to tell her about it upfront. She may or may not be right about that, but I suspect that's the view she would take.

>>33780510
I do agree, but the cuteness of Akari and Mato scolding Akane and Miku is too much.

>>33780510
doesn't mean indignant chastisement isn't appealing. just because I'm not shadowrunning doesn't mean I don't like cute.

>>33780510
Doesn't mean we can't be upset they did it without asking.

>>33780510
She did nothing that we, as players, should be particularly mad about.

But she's definitely in a position where Mato and Akari could scold her for not telling them while being utterly adorable.

>>33780559
Yes, it does, because apparently Akari would trust them.

>>33780510

It's more "You could have asked, nee-chan!" than actually having a problem with the chip itself - telling them off for being worryworts and not talking it through first than anything else.

>>33780615
She can be a little put off with people she trusts. It'd be super-weird for this to pass without comment, even if she forgives near-instantly.

All it'll take is a few stories about people losing control of their powers to placate her, if that.

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Really, there's only one thing to do in a situation like this.

You readjust your Judgment armband and straighten your skirt. “Well? What're we waiting for? We're going to find out what's going on one way or another.”

Mato nods, apparently determined by your decision, and you realize only now that she still has long hair like she did when she was Big!Mato. You suppose that, being non-living, her hair wouldn't have any reason to contract like her living bits did.

…

You like the look. Why does she cut her hair so short all the time, anyways?

“Because it grows everytime I transform, Akari-chan.”

W-what? How'd she-?

Mato rolls her eyes and offers you a hand. “You stare at things when you're thinking about them. You were staring at my hair. It's not a difficult assumption to make, y'know? I like my hair longer, too. But if I don't keep it short, then I'll end up stepping on it.”

You accept her offered hand and awkwardly begin your advance into the desert.

It's here that you realize that you really don't like sand. Your feet sink into it a little bit with every step you take, and your shoes- not made for this kind of thing- are beginning to fill with sand. It's coarse and abrasive and you don't like it, not one bit!

As you're cresting your third dune, Mato chuckles. “I'm kinda surprised you haven't set me on fire, yet, with the way you're always-”

She's interrupted mid-sentence by a strangely-dressed man wielding a strange-looking staff-thing of some sort as he bursts up from the opposite side of the dune and swings his weapon at her. Mato dodges under the blow and rolls down the sandy slope- and she pulls you along, too, via your held hand.

>>33780754
>Mato rolls her eyes and offers you a hand. “You stare at things when you're thinking about them. You were staring at my hair. It's not a difficult assumption to make, y'know? I like my hair longer, too. But if I don't keep it short, then I'll end up stepping on it.”
If she wasn't Judgment, she could pin her hair up and have absurd amounts of it.

Stupid need to be practical.

>>33780754
Always what, Mato?

>>33780754
>a strangely-dressed man wielding a strange-looking staff-thing of some sor
MOPMAN WHAT HAVE YOU DONE

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It's not until he yells https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrJUq6-HHOk that you recognize what he is (or, rather, what he's supposed to be).

A Tusken Raider?

…

More cosplayers?

Mato's back upright and in a ready stance in the blink of an eye. You're not sure what the raider intends to do next, but you doubt it's anything nice.

Knowing Mato, if you don't do anything, she'll probably beat him up. She dodged his stick-thing easily enough earlier, but you could hit him with one of your powers and not risk getting hit at all.

Or you could try to reason with him? Maybe he thought you were part of a reenactment or something?

Then again, you're reminded of that dude with the mop, and you think maybe you should attack him first... just in case.

What do you do?
>Let Mato get him
>Use the for- err, your powers!
>>(Which one?)
>Try to negotiate
>Run!
>Other (Write-in!)

>>33780908
>Use the for- err, your powers!
Turn the sand under his feet to glass, trips him up and intimidates him at the same time!

>>33780908
>Try to negotiate
We can't just burn people for living in deserts.

>>33780908
>>Use the for- err, your powers!
>>Melt his feet to the ground with SPONTANEOUS IGNITION

Something like htat.

>>33780908
Glassfeet.

>>33780961
If we turn the sand beneath his feet, he is gonna sink into the soft hot glass first and it will burn his feet.

>>33780908
>Use the for- err, your powers!
>>Melt the sand under his feet to molten glass.

>>33780986
AC has awesome doctors

>>33780986
Good. Can't stop a fight without hurting him somehow.

Except by negotiating. Boo.

>>33780986
Not if we flash-fry it fast enough! (I think, though I don't physics so I might be wrong there)

>>33780815
It grows every time she goes BRS-modo, anon. Like, significantly. From puffy pigtails to full-on twintails.

>>33780615
Trust or no, it's still pretty rude to do that without asking.
And Akari's a good girl and a STERN GOOD COP. She's also aware, however, that Nee-chan (as her legal guardian) is in charge of her medical affairs until she comes of age, so no arrest would be necessary.

>>33780968
I lol'd, but he tried to hit your future husband with a stick.

>>33780971
>melt his feet to the ground
... He's not heat resistant like you are, anon. You're going to burn him pretty badly if you try to do this. You could flamethrower him and cause less permanent harm than this would.

>>33780908
>>Use the for- err, your powers!
Shoot heats ray at his feet as a warning, then proceed to interrogation.

>>33780908
>Use the for- err, your powers!
>>Spontaneous Ignition on his STICK

>>33781052
>I lol'd, but he tried to hit your future husband with a stick.

I didn't say we shouldn't do it, I was just making aware of the consequences.

>>33781065
... Okay, whether this wins or not, roll a d10 to determine how good the cosplay is. I completely neglected to do so.

>>33781009
Magicians, ah, don't do well when AC captures them anon.

Rolled 4

>>33781065
Changing from feetmelt to this.

Rolled 7

>>33780908
>Burn the stick, its a classic maneuver.

>>33781093

Rolled 9

>>33781093

Rolled 6

>>33781093
When I started reading this quest, I was not expecting cosplay authenticity rolls to be a common things.

>>33781117
Damn, looks like it's gonna be a pretty high-quality cosplay. Maybe his stick will be a serious weapon?

>>33781137
That's what I love about this quest, I have absolutely no goddamn idea what's going to happen next at any given moment.

Rolled 1

>>33781164
That would actually be bad for him if we blow it up.

>>33781065
>Use the for- err, your powers!
>>Spontaneous Ignition on his STICK

>>33780961
>>33780990
>>33780979
Sand->glass, no power specified

>>33780971
Sand->glass, SPONTANEOUS IGNITION

>>33780968
Negotiate!

>>33781063
Warning shot with HEAT RAY, interrogate

>>33781065
>>33781112 (I'll assume you were one of the glass ones)
>>33781113
>>33781209
BURN THE STICK WITH SPONTANEOUS IGNITION


Guys, ya gotta vote right from now on, 'kay?
If it's
>Power!
>>Which one!

And you just vote
>Power!
It's not helpful at all.


If you're going to re-vote, link your previous vote and say something like "Changing [previous post] to [whatever the option you're voting for is}"


Feel free to tell what you want to do with your power below your vote, but stick with the format if at all possible. It makes my life a lot easier.

>>33781112
>>33781113
>>33781117
I'll take the 9, I think. NEAR-LEGITIMACY IS GO!


Anyways, WRITING!

You hoist yourself upright, putting a hand on Mato's shoulder to keep her from rushing forward and getting whacked (with a burning stick, no less) and focus on his stick-thing, heating it with your SPONTANEOUS IGNITION.

Smoke billows out of his gloves as the stick begins burning red-hot everywhere you can see it (fortunately for him, you can't see through hands!), and he drops it in the sand. It seems to be made out of some sort of metal.

The stick hisses as it hits the sand, and the Tusken Raider whoops once more, shaking his fists angrily at you, before turns towards the way you came and runs, vanishing around a corner before you can scramble back over the dune.

Mato pursues further, but doesn't even bother going down the road. “He's gone,” she says as she turns back to you, “we won't catch him in... this.” She gestures at the sand covering everything. She crosses over the dune once more and looks you in the eye.

“Akari... was that a Tusken Raider?”

You nod. “It sure was.”

After a moment of looking exasperated, she grins and slaps you on the back. “Try not to scare the bad guys off next time, okay?”

You nod harder. “S-sorry, Mato-chan.”

“Don't worry about it. You just didn't want to risk him getting a good whack at me with that stick-thing, right?” She gestures at where it lays in the sand. “It looks heavy. Probably would've been really painful to get hit by it.” She winks, then gestures deeper into The Strange. “Shall we keep going?”

Well? Shall you?
>Keep going.
>Retreat (Mato will call in Anti-Skill)
>Try to go down that side road anyways? It doesn't look like anything special, but it might be worth a shot. Of course, there's the road on the opposite side, which looks practically identical to its comrade.
>Do something else (Write-in)

>>33781349
Did you ever figure out a standard for which roll to take? Best of 3, best of 5, first one in, and so on? Also, do crit successes/fails take priority? Sorry if you already established that, but I can't recall if you did anywhere.

>>33781740
>Keep going.
We shall find the heart of this cosplay hell-scape.

>>33781740
>>Keep going.

Eh, it's just a desert. Nothing to get worked up about.

>>33781740
>Keep going.
But be vigilant, he'll be back soon and this time he'll bring his buddies.

>>33781740
>Keep going.

>>33781765
Best of 3 for most things, but for random encounters and certain other situations, I may pick one of the rolls (I've stuck to the first three rolls as a general rule) that I particularly like.

>>33781771
>>33781787
>>33781790
>>33781794
>Keep going

I'll wait a few more minutes and then get to writing, I suppose.

Should I start having something like a discussion period before each vote? That last one made me realize that voting and discussion don't work too well together, and it doesn't really give you guys time to ask questions or have things cleared up.

>>33781991
I think that would just stretch time between updates out, if something isn't clear, people can ask before they vote.

>>33781991
Nah, if we need clarification we've asked so far, and that would be a serious delaying of the action, which I don't think anybody wants.

>>33782035
Hmm. You might be right.

Experimentation will be necessary.


>>33781991
Looks like you're gonna keep going!
Gimme a d100 or three!

Rolled 85

>>33782118
Not sure what questions we're supposed to ask. Is it safe? The dice will determine that.

Rolled 2

>>33782118

Rolled 60

>>33782118
Go Akarin!

>>33782142
Looks like we're good!

>>33782142
For example, "Can we use [POWER] to do [THING]?"
And I could say, "Yes," or "No, but [explanation, near alternative, etc.]"

Or, "What if we melted the sand beneath his feet?"
And I could point out that that would involve lots of hotness beneath his toes, not to mention convection.

Or, "What about [X]?" "Why did she say [Y]?"

>>33782142
Why you gotta be so competent?

Writing!

Rolled 22

>>33782219
Why hasn't Mato contacted Anti-Skill about this huge fucking desert?
Shouldn't they be keeping the Twins updated or something?

>>33782219
That's not a bad idea, but I think you could present that at the same time as the vote and keep the discussion rolling during those 15 minutes or so in order to not slow down the quest too much. Just a suggestion, though.

“Yeah. Let's go!”

The two of you trek quite for quite a-ways before Mato stops you and gestures at a set of big footprints in the sand, headed down the road to your left.

She frowns as she approaches them-presumably to get a better look- and says, “There's a bunch of footprints here, but they're all in the same... well, footprints!”

You nod sagely. These guys are good. “Sand people always ride single-file, to hide their numbers.”

“So, what, there's a whole group of them here?”

That's certainly what it looks like, but it's impossible to tell. The tracks head over several dunes, which also make it impossible to see very far from the relatively flat and low-lying intersection.

“What I wanna know,” you think aloud, “is how in the world they got all of this sand here.”

Mato stops inspecting the impressions of raider-feet and big-animal-or-something-feet and looks up at you. “I hadn't really thought about it, y'know? But if I had to guess, I'd say it was an Ability of some kind.”

Right. What else could it be? There's certainly abilities that involve messing with minerals and such, after all, but... something this extensive would require multiple high-level Espers. Which probably means they're in some sort of 'Gang war' with the Skill-outs, given that Skill-outs hate espers and all.

You relay the notion to Mato, who nods and stands up. “Suddenly, this feels a lot more dangerous, huh?”

There's several courses of action available, here.
Which one do you take?
>Follow the tracks, you can handle a bunch of cosplayers, whether they're espers or not.
>Keep moving forward, deeper into The Strange.
>Call in Anti-Skill, beat feet and make a tactical retreat
>Do something else (Write-in)
[We're going to try something different with the voting this time- we'll have a few minutes for discussion, and then we'll vote]

>>33782611
>Follow the tracks, you can handle a bunch of cosplayers, whether they're espers or not.
Our job is to catch criminals, and whoever these guys are they're clearly up to no good.

>>33782611
>Follow the tracks, you can handle a bunch of cosplayers, whether they're espers or not.

>>33782611
How is our heat sense doing at the moment? I'm wondering if we can detect any heat signatures within our radius.

>>33782611
There's an important question we should ask ourselves in this situation: What Would Mami do?
Good thing we have her on speed-dial, so we can just get the answer straight from her!
>Call Mami-san.

>>33782611
>Follow the tracks, you can handle a bunch of cosplayers, whether they're espers or not.

Justice loli away!

Rolled 34

>>33782687
Yeah, I think this is best. She can call in Anti-Skill if it's warranted.

>Call Mami-san

Rolled 84

>>33782611
>>Follow the tracks, you can handle a bunch of cosplayers, whether they're espers or not.
>>Do something else (Write-in):
>>>Inform Mami of the dessert you found.

>>33782678
Between Innocentius-hugging and Miku's chip, your heat sense is entirely gone.

Not that you usually felt much from it or anything- there aren't a whole lotta people who smoke, I think, and cigarettes probably aren't hot enough for you to pick up on them, so I'd say you're only used to sensing things sporadically at most.

You're not sensing anything, and it doesn't seem particularly strange just yet.

>>33782687
>What would Mami do
That's a pretty good question, anon.

>>33782753
>dessert
B-but, anon, you haven't even had lunch yet!

>>33782678
Heat sense got destroyed by Innocentius and Miku's chip so we don't have an excuse to get involved in plot shit anymore.

I don't think we realize that in-character yet.

>>33782687
I dunno, we hardly know Mami but we do have a very determined sense of right and wrong. Do we really need validation to make the right call here?

>>33782780
Knowing right and wrong and displaying sound judgment are two different things.

File: Clever girl.jpg (49 KB, 625x468)

49 KB JPG

>>33782768
>so we don't have an excuse to get involved in plot shit anymore.
Anon knows too much.

>>33782780
Less 'right and wrong' and more 'wise and foolhardy', anon.
Looks like a bunch of you want to call Mami, and you also want to press on.
What're you calling Mami for? Advice? Or just to tell her what's going on? Or is there some other reason I'm not noticing?

>>33782883
Status update and maybe a word of advice on what to do when we find something, I think.

>>33782883
Tell her what's going on and ask for advice, yeah.

>>33782883
just give her a heads up, maybe ask her to pick some dango to celebrate their imminent capture

>>33782909
>>33782929
Alright, seems reasonable enough to me.

>>33782970
>dango
Sounds sweet?
Okay, I think I've got it now.
Writing.

File: Mato- TEXTING.jpg (23 KB, 500x281)

23 KB JPG

“Maybe we should ask Mami-sempai for advice,” you suggest, and Mato responds by whipping out her phone and tapping a few buttons, then holding it to her ear.

“Hi, uh, sempai?” “...yeah, this is Tsuruya-san...”

Mato does a very good job of telling Mami what happened, and then spends a couple of minutes going “Mhm,” and “okay,” and nodding and such, before giving a final nod. “Got it!”

She flips her phone shut and takes a deep breath.

>Roll me some d100s to see what kind of news she has!

Rolled 44

>>33783180
what a nerd

Rolled 46

>>33783180

Rolled 10

>>33783180
Oh boy, here we go

Rolled 5

k

Rolled 96

>>33783180

File: The dice gods laugh at yo(...).png (220 KB, 685x390)

220 KB PNG

>>33783205
>>33783238
>>33783240
>>33783242

... Wow.

You guys rolled not-amazingly!

>>33783285
It's too late to 'pologize

Writing!

>>33783320
The news is that our entire family was resurrected and then re-killed.

Goddamn Kiharas. Them and their rascally antics.

>>33783320
We're rolling for how good Mami's plan is? I'm not sure how to feel about the dice making Mami look incompetent.

>>33783384
No, for how good (or, in this case, moderately bad) the news Mami had was.

>>33783374
But your family isn't dead... just sick of you burning houses down and Nee-chan filling them up with smutty doujins

>>33783427
Ah, sorry, I think I got the original backstory mixed up in my head for a minute.

File: akari miniature panic attack.png (678 KB, 603x1053)

678 KB PNG

She looks worried. “Sempai said that there's apparently a huge fight between a bunch of Skill-outs and a group of Espers, and that Anti-Skill is already on its way to deal with them. They'll be apprehending anyone in this area!”

Oh. That's not good.

Well, it's not good for you and Mato, anyways, given you're in this area as of now.

“How long until they get here?”

She swallows. “Sempai said they were fifteen minutes out, tops.”

...You've been in this desert for at least a half an hour, now.

You blink twice and frown. What the hell are you supposed to do now?

Mato seems to be wondering the same thing. “What do we do now? Do we run for it?

Running for it is probably the simplest and most straightforward solution, but... there's gotta be something you can do. You're not comfortable with your chances at making your way through the sandy, somewhat hilly terrain in any sort of decent time at all.

Maybe you should just keep going? If Anti-Skill's already on the way, then this is probably really dangerous.

You consider hiding, but there's not really anywhere to do so, and burying yourself in the sand sounds like a terrible idea.

What do you do?
>Run.
>Press on, try to make it out the other side of the desert (there has to be an end somewhere, right?)
>Follow the tracks. This is irresponsible and probably very dangerous, given that they're probably the footprints of a group of espers, some of whom may be Level 4.
>Something else. You're a smart girl, Akari! You got this! (What's your plan?)

[We'll have a discussion period before tallying votes.]

>>33783689
We have Judgement armbands, I don't think Anti-Skill is going to arrest us. The main question is should we just keep going or should we specifically try to track down the esper gangsters?

Rolled 9

>>33783689
>Follow the tracks. This is irresponsible and probably very dangerous, given that they're probably the footprints of a group of espers, some of whom may be Level 4.

We were promised this quests first real fight. And I will that fight.

>>33783746
Even if they do, it'll be cleared up pretty fast.

>>33783746
I betray ignorance to how it works, but as I understood it Judgement and Anti-Skill are in a bit of a rivalry ?
I don't know if that could lead to them trying to make our job hard.

>>33783689
Sand + heat = glass. You don't need to bury yourself, you can just make a cave WITH A BOX OF SCRAPS

>>33783765
Sounds kinda dangerous, but since when has that ever stopped us?

Can we make glass and use our power to cool it down so it's safe to walk on?

Though hills of glass sounds like it might be harder to walk on than sand.

>>33783795
Just an interservice rivalry, they don't deliberately make our jobs more difficult unless their superiors put pressure on them (which admittedly happens all the time since AC is corrupt as fuck)

>>33783812
We plunged our arms into some unfathomable fire demon thing basically because it was on fire. Akarin laughs at danger.

>>33783795
No, not particularly. Some of them (like Yomikawa) don't want kids near any kind of danger, but there's no rivalry between the two groups.

>>33783746
And something will conveniently make us lose those armbands right before Anti-Skill finds us. That's how these things work.

>>33783746
For all they know, you could've beaten up a couple of Judgment officers and taken their armbands.

The whole 'desert' is basically off-limits to everyone.

>>33783765
But you might end up getting shot.
By friendlies.

Everytime I give you guys the option to fight, you SPONTANEOUS IGNITION! It's like... if this was D&D, you'd be trying to subdue people with Create Water- without drowning them.

>>33783799
How will you dig out a cave? And will that cave hold up to APCs rolling over it?

>>33783836
You could try to make it like a slide or something, maybe? You'd have to roll pretty well to pull something like that off, but I think it could work.

>>33783844
I honestly don't remember any kind of rivalry between them at all.

>>33783900
>You could try to make it like a slide or something, maybe? You'd have to roll pretty well to pull something like that off, but I think it could work.
Well, we have unlimited power, so it can't hurt to try? We don't have to do it to all the desert, just where we plan to walk.

>>33783902
I dunno, internet pop culture osmosis told me they were supposed to be "checks" on each other to prevent them from getting out of hand.

>>33783941
I mean, not really. I think the wiki made that up (which it does alot).

Anti-Skill could crush Judgement in like an hour, so if it's supposed to be a check it's not doing a very good job.

>>33783983
Really ? I thought they were all normals ?
Well, I guess normal trained police force with high-tech beats kids with superpowers, but I wouldn't have expected it to be such a huge difference.

>>33783900
Wait, seriously? I thought armband+contact info was good enough. Do we have any more serious identification we can use if the going gets tough? Regardless, I think we should keep going because I think we can help and it's the right thing for a responsible Judgement officer to do.

>>33783939
Indeed. I've no experience walking on glass, but just glassing the dunes before going down could save some time.

>>33783896
Less that and more 'you're still not supposed to be here and they aren't going to take the time to check whether or not you're actually judgment in the middle of a raid'.

>>33784018
They have armor that's resistant to most esper shenanigans, IIRC. And also armored vehicles and machineguns and such.

>>33784020
Not if you're committing a crime while you're wearing the armband.

>>33784018
Talking about AC tech has been done to death enough over in the other Raildex quest, but basically, if every Esper in the city besides Kakine and Accelerator rose up, Anti-Skill would murder the shit out of them in short order.

Of course then they'd be out of Espers, so that'd suck.

What are we planning to DO when we get there? We can't really intervene and Anti-skill is already on its way.

>Run.

>>33784076
I guess its a topic best not debated then

So I won't say how that sounds really arbitrary and silly and is a good reason for me to not actually watch or read this stuff. A shame, the basic setting seems cool

>>33784075
Well if we have to fight the cops AND the criminals to get the job done, then we'll do it, because that's what Heroes of Justice(tm) do!

>>33783689
Will you say when we are supposed to vote or something ? I'm not sure you expect this to work.

>>33784161
Yeah a lot of how AC works in depth is basically total bullshit, which sucks cause the main story is kinda cool and gets dragged down a lot by association.

So, what's the plan?

>Run away, glassing the sand as you go
>Find the fight and whup all involved parties
>something else?

Can we not fight literally everyone ever?

>>33784203
>Find the fight and whup all involved parties

We are supposed to patrol, so we patrol.

>>33784161
The basic issue is AC is just fragrantly, clearly evil, and everyone in the world realizes it later in the series. In order to explain how it's still standing, Kamachi eventually showed that their tech is so psychotically broken they can take on the entire world and probably win.

>>33784203
>Run away, glassing the sand as you go

>>33784203
>Run away, glassing the sand as you go

Sounds good. I don't expect it to win next to that fight option.

>>33784206
Well, you can fight the Skill-outs and the cosplayers, but fighting Anti-Skill will get you dead at best and arrested at worst.

>>33784180
What are talking about, you vote when theres a vote. Should be painfully obvious.

>>33784203
>Find the fight and whup all involved parties
We got a job to do, and by God we're gonna do it! Let's not attack Anti-Skill if we can help it though.

>>33784203
Can I suggest not doing this "discussion period anymore ? If there is really large change or confusion through the normal discussion, we can always do a organized revote.
This seems to eat up a lot of the actual quest time.

>>33784203
>Find the fight and whup all involved parties
Fighting Anti-Skill would be suicide, but I bet we could dodge them while handling the thugs.

>>33784203
>Run away
Going to fight is just asking for Anti-Skill to find s annd that sounds like a Bad Idea(TM)

>>33784235
>Dead at best and arrested at worst
I chuckled, thank you.

>>33784203
>Find the fight and whup all involved parties
Now THIS is Judgement work just like in the source material, fighting impossible odds and bullshit from both sides of the law. Onward I say!

>>33784203
>Run away
We're capable of making the occasional smart decision I think.

>>33784203
>Find the fight and whup all involved parties

>>33784203
>Find the fight and whup all involved parties
Obviously not our fellow authorities, but the fact we fight these guys combined with our identifications should be enough.

>>33784295
Technically this is Kuroko work.

Most of Judgement doesn't do this shit. Of course, we're better than them.

>>33784320
>Obviously not our fellow authorities
yeah well they're gonna be gunning for us, armband or not

>>33784327
And that's why she's a Main Character (well, sorta) and they aren't.

>>33784339
They'll say something like lay down with your hands on your head and we'll comply because we aren't morons.

>>33784355
>Main Character
You made me sad saying that. I guess she's better off than Himegami though.

>>33784240
>if we can help it
If Mato realizes you intend to do something that'll get her (and, more importantly, yourself) hurt, she'll knock you out and carry you away to somewhere where you can't.

>>33784246
I agree. We'll go back to normal at the next vote. I didn't think the discussion would be so... tangentially on-topic.

>>33784270
Thanks. I try. Well, sometimes, anyway.

>>33784223
>>33784240
>>33784257
>>33784295
>>33784306
>>33784320
TEST YOUR MIGHT! FIGHT!

>>33784231
>>33784234
>>33784258
>>33784298
Search your feelings, you know this to be wiser.

Well, then, give me four rolls of 2d10 apiece.
Let's see what happens.

Rolled 14, 1 = 15

>>33784381
this is a terrible idea and we're going to regret it

Rolled 7, 5 = 12

>>33784381

Rolled 5, 3 = 8

>>33784381
Oh boy, let's see where this goes!

>>33784381
dice+2d10

Rolled 4, 4 = 8

>>33784381

Rolled 2, 7 = 9

>>33784381
We got this, right?

Rolled 10, 3 = 13

>>33784381

>>33784392
How the hell did you get a 14 out of 2d10? Oh well, at least now the 1 is out of contention too.

>>33784392
d10, not 20.

Can't Akari go Akarin~ and stealth around?

>>33784392
Look on the bright side, compared to the other Raildex quest we're fucking geniuses.

Rolled 8, 9 = 17

>>33784448
get 4chanX and you can see the dice size without checking the email field
>>33784449
stupid fingers

>>33784381
>knock you out
She'd punch you, and *probably* knock you out, that is. You'd obviously get to roll to try not to get your face bopped, but she's a strong melee combatant and you're... not the greatest of warriors.

>>33784398
Skill-Outs-12

>>33784400
Cosplayers-8

>>33784420
You & Mato-8

>>33784425
Anti-Skill-9

Interesting.

You're some lucky gits, you are.

>>33784478
...Christ, you're right. That's...really sad.

>>33784494
Does this mean we're going to be late to the party?

>>33784494
The Skill-Outs did the best?!

Are these Komaba's guys? They're basically the only halfway competent Skill-Out in the city.

>>33784509
Of course, in THEIR defense I expect we'll go out in a blaze of glory - prideful and suicidal glory, but glory nonetheless, and it might even be kinda awesome too.

>>33784530
This isn't a roll you want to win, anon.

>>33784553
Is the roll for who Anti-Skill judges is the biggest threat?

>>33784537
Either that or we're going to magically wind up outside the city somehow.

I mean they know where the train is, where it's going, that we're coming, we're basically already fucked. I've got a feeling this is going to end in bullshit though.

Let's stop shitting up EsperQM's thread though.

>>33784612
If that was the case, what would Anti-Skill be rolling for, potential friendly fire?

>>33784612
More or less, yes.

Your tie with the other espers will have some interesting results, though.

>>33784644
Whether THEY can take on all comers without complications?

I don't think they can, with their roll. That'll be fun.

File: Akari's cute run.gif (775 KB, 499x278)

775 KB GIF

You look back towards the tracks, and the direction they're headed. “There's no way we're gonna make it out of here in time, so what's the point in giving up on what we were already doing?”

She looks at you curiously for a few moments, then flashes a cheeky grin. “Ya think we can deal with 'em before Anti-Skill catches up?”

“We can try.”

You make your way along the road, following the tracks. You've become slightly more used to moving on sand, it seems, and you're making pretty good time. Within two or three minutes, you come to a large, open area that you'd think was a park, were it not for the large chunks of rubble scattered all about the place and the bits of foundation left over from the destroyed buildings.

You step out into the open, and, a few flashes and bangs later, you're pinned to a particularly large and vertically-oriented piece of rubble by Mato's body. She gets off of you rather quickly, and the both of you peek around your cover.

There's a humongous crash as a boulder, formed from the sand that is present even here, smashes a bit of metal that was a car at one point in time, and a piece of cover hiding a pair of Skill-outs with handguns at another point in time.
And that last point in time was around four seconds ago.

To the left of your piece of cover, at least twenty-five Skill-outs are hiding in and around the rubble and buildings.

They're hiding from the espers to your right, who are, in turn, hiding from the Skill-outs. There aren't too many of the espers, you think, but they're all dressed as Tusken Raiders, and the only way to tell whether one's an esper or not is by watching them use their abilities.

You're fairly confident that their big banthas are fake, though.

File: mato_kuroi__black_rock_sh(...).png (532 KB, 1193x670)

532 KB PNG

For the most part, the fight seems to be more of a war of attrition than anything- the espers can't see the Skill-outs well enough to take them out (or they just don't wanna get shot), and the Skill-outs don't want to pop up to shoot at the espers because they'd rather not get smashed by boulders or whatever else the espers can throw at them.

The Tusken Raider Espers are mostly within medium range, and they seem to prefer using their robo-banthas as cover when they can- the rest of the cover available on their side of the battlefield is relatively small, after all, and several of the Skill-outs are high enough up that they'd be able to shoot right over those tiny bits of rubble.

The Skill-outs are more problematic. They're very spread out, and only half of them are within medium range.

Anti-Skill shouldn't arrive for another couple of minutes.

Mato looks at you and makes a face. It's an “I want to step out and punch them, but I also would very much like to avoid being shot,” kind of face.

So, who're you targeting?
>Fight the Tuskens
>Fight the Skill-outs
>Mato takes one, you take the other (Who takes who?)
>Something else (Write-in)

[After we determine who you'll try to fight, we'll figure out your plan.]

>>33785106
How many handguns can we target simultaneously with Spontaneous Ignition?

Rolled 5, 9 = 14

>>33785173
One, sadly.

>>33785166
>Fight the Skill-outs
I'm pretty sure the Tuskens won't kill us at least, can't say the same for the Skill-Out guys so they're probably the bigger threat at the moment.

>>33785166
>Fight the Skill-outs
>>33785173
One.

>>33785173
One.

And only externally.

And then you'd scare off the Skill-outs, leaving you alone with Anti-Skill and the tuskens.

Spontaneous Ignition is a utility thing. It's like a cantrip. It's useful and super nice to have, but when it comes to combat, you really should be casting spells.

Rolled 10, 3 = 13

>>33785166
>Fight the Skill-outs
Mato can take the Esper after we have glassed the Skill-outs.

>>33785166
>Fight the Skill-Outs
But if we see a mop of dirty blonde hair we need to give him a hug.

>>33785166
>Fight the Skill-outs

I think it's beamspam time.

>>33785260
We need a mirror ball, so we can DISCO INFERNO.

>>33785238
Are you kidding? If we run into Hamazura he would probably kick our ass with half a roll of duct tape and a pair of old dentures, dude's fucking crazy like that.

>>33785307
He doesn't turn into Batman with Guns until after he gets beat up by Touma though.

>>33785325
Ok, I guess we're safe then. Should probably avoid him just to be safe though given he's still a ruthless asshole with a gun at this point.

Rolled 1, 5 = 6

>>33785429
One asshole with a gun isn't a problem luckily.

>>33785199
>>33785211
>>33785238
>>33785260
Looks like the Skill-outs are gonna get it first.

What do you want to do to them?
Heat Rays? Do you want to target them directly, or take out their cover?

What should Mato do in the meantime?

If nothing else, there's plenty of rocks Mato could throw, though she'd be more likely to kill people than to knock them unconscious.

Are you going to do something to distract the tuskens while you shoot your highly visible heat rays at the Skill-outs?

>>33785455
Heat rays on the gangsters directly, either ignore their cover or power through it if we can, if there are enough of them in one place we can fireball. Mato goes on distraction duty, throwing rocks NEAR but not at people if possible. Also, never stop moving. Keep going, move from cover to cover, do not let ourselves get pinned down or let the tuskens draw a bead on us.

>>33785455
this >>33785509
is okay

>>33785455
>Akari uses heat ray on the skill outs cover to glass it all
>Mato throws rocks at the glass to shatter it, that both wounds and distracts them.

>>33785455
Heat Rays are probably our best option. Start by taking out their cover, which might take out a few who are hit by flying pieces of what used to be cover.

Have Mato throw some rocks at the robo-banthas to take out their cover, or at least make it immobile so they can't move on our position.

Move often, use cover, having Mato pick us up and jump us up to a good firing position might be good if they start drawing a bead on us.

>>33785509
That sounds, ah, lethal. We're Judgement man, not Anti-Skill or any of the other psychotic organizations.

>>33785551
I don't think it will kill them, just leave them a little crispy is all. If Misaka's lightning leaves people twitching, I suspect our power won't be lethal either so long as we don't go all-out.

>>33785597
It's mentioned she controls the amperage precisely I think. Ah well, as long as the temp ain't too high. Their clothes might catch on fire, but oh well.

>>33785509
The Skill-out guys are mostly too far for fireballing, but the nearer Tuskens would probably be mure susceptible. They're sticking to their robocows for cover, though, and there are several of them.

Mato could probably do some serious damage to those robo-banthas if she tossed enough rocks at them, though...

>>33785539
Their cover isn't sturdy enough to withstand your heat rays. Most of it's rubble and abandoned building chunks. Heat rays would blow them up real good.

>>33785597
Your heat rays won't directly kill unless you do so on purpose or you overestimate someone. That's kinda why I went with the force thing, to be honest, to give you a more not-so-lethal way to take people out. Besides fireball, of course.

>>33785668
Then we have Mato get big and carry Akari while she blows away the Skill-outs with Heat rays.

>>33785668
I guess we could split up, heat rays to Skill-Out and rocks to the robo-banthas, but I'm worried we'll get overwhelmed if we try to take on both groups at once.

>>33785689
Are you certain that moving from the only good cover around is a good idea? The Skill-outs can't shoot you from there, and the Tuskens are pretty focused on the Skill-outs.

>>33785717
You have the element of surprise against the Tuskens, and you're shielded from the Skill-outs. Taking out one and leaving the other unmolested is more likely to cause problems.

>>33785668
Lets get this into votes please.

>Heat rays against Skill-out
>Mato throws rocks against the bantha.

>>33785752
Alright, heat rays to Skill-Out and rocks to robo-banthas it is then. Let's do this! I still think we should be ready to move at a moment's notice though.

>>33785668
>>33785774
>>Heat rays against Skill-out
>>Mato throws rocks against the bantha.
Good point, should make it easier for QM to read.

Okay, vote for one option out of each category- vote for one option only, and vote for each category.

You'll fire heat rays at:
>The Skill-Outs themselves
>Their cover

Mato will:
>Throw rocks at the robo-banthas
>Throw rocks near as many people as she can to suppress them and keep them occupied
>Be ready to grab you and move

Will Mato transform?
>Yes
>No

>>33785879
>>The Skill-Outs themselves
>Throw rocks at the robo-banthas
>No

>>33785879
>The Skill-Outs themselves
>Mato will:
>>Throw rocks at the robo-banthas
>Will Mato transform?
>>Yes
Maximum effectiveness, minimum time.

>>33785879
>You'll fire heat rays at:
>>The Skill-Outs themselves

>Mato will:
>>Throw rocks at the robo-banthas

>Will Mato transform?

>>No

>>33785879
>Their cover
>Throw rocks at the robo-banthas
>No

>>33785902
>>33785933
>>33785963
>>33785971
>beams unto gangsters
>rocks unto fake space-cows
>shortness unto Mato

Alrighty then.

Gimme 3 tosses of a d100 for Akari, 3 tosses of a d20 for Mato, and 2d6 for reasons.

Rolled 57 + 1

>>33786038
Let's see.

Rolled 1, 3 = 4

>>33786038
>>33786048
I missed the 2d6, sorry, here it is.

>>33786048
You can only roll one type of die at a time, anon.

Rolled 25 + 1

>>33786038
You got it!

Rolled 39

>>33786038

Rolled 29

>>33786038
This is a lot of rolls.

Rolled 95

>>33786038
Ok, that didn't work, d100 first this time!

Rolled 3

>>33786038

Rolled 46

>>33786082
Ignore this one, I tried to roll all the dice at once. Rolling d20 now!

Rolled 9

>>33786038

>>33786107
Unless he counts those messed up rolls, you might have just save Akari from making a mistake.

Rolled 1

>>33786121
Fuck, I left the d100 on. I'm starting to think I'm not cut out for this whole rolling thing. Let's try that again!

>>33786107
This is a hilarious clusterfuck of dicerolling. Please point out which rolls are actually being used.

Rolled 59

>>33786038
Here's a 1d100

Rolled 2, 2 = 4

>>33786145
You can see what dice were rolled

Rolled 4, 5 = 9

>>33786142
Aaand Mato just fucked up apparently. Time for the 2d6!

>>33786142
Mato just killed somebody.

Rolled 2, 5 = 7

>>33786048
>>33786082

I assume those don't count ?

File: Mato WHAT.jpg (126 KB, 800x485)

126 KB JPG

>>33786101
>>33786103
>>33786107
>95
Why didn't I just autosucceed you?

>>33786118
>>33786134
>>33786142
>9 with a 1 kicker

>>33786068
>4

Hoo boy. I suppose there's a reason Mato doesn't play baseball, huh?
I'm only counting the properly rolled dice, by the way. I don't know what kinda weirdo crap /tg/ dice get up to when you mix them.

>>33786207
At this point I just hope she didn't kill anybody.

>>33786207
So we did great against Skill-Out. The Tuskens are probably about to fuck us though.

>>33786207
>arrive to a relatively calm standoff two minutes before antiskill arrives
>start doing THIS SHIT
We're the best Judgment member other than Kuroko.

>>33786245
Clearly they're all guilty of SOMETHING, so we needed to step in. It's a textbook solution! Plus it looks like it's gonna work pretty damn well on Skill-Out at least.

>>33786207
Well...
Atleast Akari is in top form.

>>33786301
I would say it's sad we disillusioned a bunch of Skill-Out even more, but who am I kidding, these guys are never seeing the light of day again after this.

Will there ever be a Judgment branch meetup? Having a fun time with other young justice-workers, yay.

Maybe there's a branch with a GUY in it.

>>33786342
Eh, most of Skill-Out has it coming in my book, Hamazura's the exception and even he's kind of a dick.

>>33786376
>Maybe there's a branch with a GUY in it.

Hahahahaha
You make the absurdest jests, anon.

>>33786383
To be fair, their situation is royally awful.

>Stuck at level 0
>Payment to Esper is based on level, Level 0s live below poverty line
>AC neglects to tell them most of them are never going to level
>Can't get any good jobs
>AC basically owns their ass now
>High levels have fun using you as target practice with no repercussions

I did think that Food Spire scene in NT 5 (or 6, I can't remember) was great though. It was cool seeing how the 0s had created their own little culture and community in the city.

File: mato_kuroi__black_rock_sh(...).png (983 KB, 1600x900)

983 KB PNG

A plan forms in your mind. You relay the plan to Mato, who nods and joins you in scooping up as many rocks as possible. Once you've gathered a sizable pile, you nod to one another, count down from three, and begin your assault.

You lean out from behind your rock, which you've now dubbed THE STONE OF TRUTH AND JUSTICE, and begin blasting away at the Skill-outs with your HEAT RAYS. Time and time again, the reddish-orange beams lance from your open palms and strike true, sending their targets sprawling.

Twenty-five beams streak out.

Twenty-five Skill-outs lose consciousness suddenly and violently.

[Great Success! Roll 1d100 to see if you learn anything!]

You smirk and dust off your hands, proud of your western-worthy shooting, when something... odd... happens.

More specifically, Mato throws a rock at the farthest robo-bantha, hitting it square on its nose-thing... and its eyes flash red as the stone, which seems like it was made out of barely-stuck-together gravel instead of solid concrete or rock, breaks apart on impact.

The Tuskens seem to be taken by surprise by your elimination of their adversaries, and are too stunned to react in any way other than staring at you for several moments.

The enraged robo-bantha, however, is a robot, and is entirely unable to give a rat's ass how many Skill-outs you just blasted as it charges at THE STONE OF TRUTH AND JUSTICE with murder in its huge, beady red eyes.

… What?

The robot-space-cow will be in range of FIREBALL momentarily, and is in HEAT RAY range right now. Only the cow Mato hit is charging, fortunately enough.

>What the hell do you do?

>>33786443
Yeah, it sucks, but that doesn't exactly justify roving the streets beating the shit out of anyone different from you. Hell, even the low level espers don't always have a good time, and the higher you go the worse the situation has the potential to be. Nothing against level 0s but Skill-Out always struck me as a bunch of ignorant and arrogant fucks.

Rolled 87

>>33786519
Rolling for enlightenment! Also, heat ray the cow!

Rolled 98

>>33786519

Rolled 87

>>33786519
>Melt the ground in front of the bantha, and let its massive bulk sink into the ground.

Rolled 5

>>33786519
Can we Spontaneously Ignite one of it's robo-legs into slag?

>>33786519
Heat ray it, I guess.

>>33786540
>>33786542
>>33786555
Holy shit, I think we just had a eureka moment.

>>33786557
Man, the QM keeps saying it's not a combat power. Why do people keep asking about this kind of shit?

Rolled 39

>>33786574
We killed a spaceship with it.

Yeah its a combat power. Just one that needs very specific situations.

>>33786540
Pretty good.

>>33786542
Geez, guy.

>>33786555
Another 87? And trips?
Are you a wizard?

>>33786557
I don't think so. I'm not even sure you can actually see a Bantha's legs. IIRC, they're super floofy.
It's also probably too thick.

Also,
Remember to make your votes greentext, so I can distinguish them

>>33786617
You weren't in combat with the spaceship. It was an unsuspecting victim.

Rolled 25

>>33786540
>>33786542
>>33786555

Holy hell, how do we make our Heat Rays even better ?

Rolled 24

>>33786521
Well yeah, Skill-Out are generally a bunch of dicks. I dunno, maybe I just sympathize more because basically anyone would look sympathetic if they were fighting AC.

>>33786617
That was a dream anon.

>>33786519
Let's go for a fireball for once. We haven't done enough good old fireballs.

>>33786519
I guess it pointless now but:_
>Heat ray the cow