>>700544
I think that we may need to let them eke out a victory and get the tablet so that they can get a "translation" listing the other objects we'll go after.

Hey folks, trying my best.

You’ve been sitting there eating oatmeal for about a half hour now. You’re still not certain how it’s all getting in, but you’re trying not to think of that as you plan for your next encounter with the Shining Hearts Squadron. You know you're going to meet them after stealing the stone tablet, but the question is how to not only convince them that they need to consider themselves a team, but how to have such a realization lead to success on their part. You're aware that there is a significant risk of them either getting too frustrated to focus, or calling in reinforcements, which wouldn't be good as it would run the risk of teaching the wrong lesson.

You have to find a way to how to convince them that being considerate of each other is important, and should they figure that out, maaaybe allow them some sort of partial victory…?

>You don't really need the tablet. Maybe allow them to take it from you? That would likely give them a morale boost, and would likely put them on the right track to stopping you. You can't help but be worried that they might consider last time a fluke however, and start slacking again...
>Maybe if you let them get a portion of it… it might galvanise them to get their act together faster. Or it just might cause more tension since they came so close…
>Don’t let them get the tablet at all. They need to learn these lessons as thoroughly as possible. Only by utilizing them all together and they stay in tune, can they stand a chance.
>Other

>>700731
>Maybe if you let them get a portion of it… it might galvanise them to get their act together faster. Or it just might cause more tension since they came so close…

>>700731
> let them get a portion of it
Hopefully hold off on that until they do something good.

>>700731
>>Maybe if you let them get a portion of it… it might galvanise them to get their act together faster. Or it just might cause more tension since they came so close…

>>700731
>Maybe if you let them get a portion of it… it might galvanise them to get their act together faster. Or it just might cause more tension since they came so close…

>>700731
>Maybe if you let them get a portion of it… it might galvanise them to get their act together faster. Or it just might cause more tension since they came so close…

Just a piece, then. Writing.

What if we let them get the tablet... but embarrass them at the same time? It's also a move we can make against the possibility of them asking for backup, no one wants to admit that the meathead idiot beat them, or the alien stole all their pants, or that the enemy would exclusively hit them in alphabetical order while singing a song.

>>700731
Hm. All things considered, letting them get a decent portion of the tablet may be for the best. As long as it’s not a tiny piece, they may end up trying to decipher it- since the language is apparently illegible, that might cause them consternation- but if they go to Lorraine...hm.

You end up calling her, and she responds with a curious “Hello? Do you need something?”

“Do you have access to translators?” you ask. Before she can confirm or deny, you explain yourself. “I intend to allow them a broken piece of the Stone Tablet should they demonstrate sufficient coherency. They may try to decipher it. Your assistance may be called on.”

“I...what? Translating the Stone Table is impossible- it’s in no known language or grammatical style, as far as most research has shown. Are you trying to fake it?” she asks.

“That is the intention. Awarding them some chance at stopping me in should provide sufficient motivation.” you confirm.

“Hm...alright, then. I...think I can make that work, so long as you tell me what you’re looking for in advance.” She doesn’t sound very confident, but you’ll take what you can get. “They tend to visit in the evening, so if you want to wait until then again, I might have time to give some last-minute advice. Might make things go smoother. That, or you could just go sooner, and you can tell me how things went before they show up so that when they come to tell me about how things went, I could better suggest things to them to improve.”

>I'll wait until the evening then. They could use some extra advice.
>I'll go during the day then. Better to have regular feedback.
>Other

>>701117
Fight ASAP.

>Translating the Stone Table is impossible- it’s in no known language or grammatical style, as far as most research has shown.

How does our translation effect work?

>>701117
>I'll go during the day then. Better to have regular feedback.

>>701117
>>I'll go during the day then. Better to have regular feedback.
From what it sounds like, they'll stick to their normal schedules and routines, so long as they don't feel like they've been jerked around too much or are getting desperate.

>>701117
> I'll go during the day
We only have a week, no time to waste! Plus if we get this done fast maybe anons will let us have FUN for once.

>>701138
nb4 it's a space shopping list

>>701117
>I'll go during the day then. Better to have regular feedback.

This will insure they get the best amount of help, and they'll need it.

>>701167
>nb4 it's a space shopping list

I would pay good money just to see Crystalline's face if she ever found that out.

>>701117
>I'll go during the day then. Better to have regular feedback.
Be sure to let her know that the part the kids will get should lead them to the items we'll target and the way they should be used to pierce our defenses.

>>701170
So we got the eggs

Our next targets will be
MILK AND BUTTER

During the day, then. No time to waste!

>>701138
Babelfish Effect/Intersection Osmosis. It all sounds/looks the same to you, with very mild accents, and your hands just sort of know how to move to write in the local language.

>>701295
So we can read the tablet, then.

>>701117
“I'll go during the day. They might be better for the feedback,” you decide. “Be prepared for them.”

“Will do,” she promises. You hang up, and brace yourself for the day's events. Hopefully today will go better than yesterday.

About an hour or so later, your back overlooking the museum. It's from a different angle this time, since apparently the eyewitnesses from last time informed the police about your entrance. There are guards all around the perimeter in general, which prevents you from just walking in like last time. Well, not exactly preventing you, but it would be more annoying. You're not one hundred percent certain where the Stone Tablet is; although you think you recall seeing an ancient history exhibit, that's the extent of your knowledge of the area.

As far as you can tell, you could activate your Great Barrier and walk in- you'd be under a time limit, however, and you'd have to deactivate it to grab the Tablet. Not great if there’s a ton of guards waiting; but maybe if you're fast enough…

Then again, you still had those potions that Geegee made. You still aren't sure if they work, but if they do, you'd be able to slip in and get out before anyone notices, and dictate how things progress from there, similar to last time.

Another option is to simply cause a ruckus, while keeping things non-metal. Maybe your Flux Wave could come in handy here…

>Try the potions.
>Use Great Barrier.
>Use Flux Wave.
>Other

>>701983
>>Use Flux Wave.

>>701983
> other
Cut a hole in the roof and drop in. Or in the back wall out something.

>>701983
>Try the potions.
May as well test these for future reference while it's still safe to. Otherwise they'll just be burning holes in our pockets.

>>701983
>Try the potions.
Might as well give it a shot.

>non-metal

Miranda likes Jazz and big band music apparently.

Autocorrect a strange beast.

That's supposed to be non-lethal.

>>701983
>Try the potions.

Why waste a potion, it's not as if they're unlimited. We've got like, three.

>>702126
Wasn't there invisibleisng prism on our shopping list? Maybe we can forget to return that.

>>701983
>Try the potions.

Down the hatch.

Writing.

>>701983
Well, might as well see if those potions were still viable. You’re not sure if they’d be effective in this world- but then, most consumables tended to have some shelf life to them- and it hasn’t been THAT long…

You quickly uncork one of them and down it, deciding to save the vial for later just in case. You look down at yourself- the last time you did this, you felt a tingle and a strange fuzz at the edge of your- ah, there it is. There wasn’t nearly as much ‘feedback’ as there was back then- you’re not sure if that’s due to the potion’s quality, or due to removing the potion from its home world. Still, as you hide in the alleyway, you take a look at yourself no longer present. How these potions manage to hide everything on you and not just your body is always an interesting thought- if not one that you like to entertain for too long. Headaches, dontcha know.

At any rate, high time to get this going. You slip out of the alleyway and, careful of your steps, slip into the building via one, two long jumps- landing square in front of the receptionist desk. She’s off today, but there are a variety of cops- and as you leap to the second story, you can see down the hall that they’re largely hanging around the scene of your last crime. Lovely.

Fortunately, the ancient history exhibits are down a hall perpendicular to where the space ones were. It doesn’t take you very long to find the room where a myriad of bones, pottery, and other such objects lie. And the Stone Tablet in a corner, roped off, but sitting on a podium. It’s actually a decently sized slab- you’ll have to carry it carefully- which means you’ll have to play more defense than offense to keep hold of it. That shouldn’t be too much of a problem- might even help considering the task at hand. As for getting out of here with it, it seems that the other rooms don’t have nearly as much guard presence as the space exhibits. One seems to be patrolling the entire hallway.

It’s only a few moments’ wait- you hold position until he’s gone nearly to the end of the hall- not the best position for you to be in- he’s blocking the way to a rear exit, and going back the other way means going through a hail of guards. The upper level has long windows, at least...yeah, that’ll work.

*CRASH*

And there’s the alarms…

*CRASH AGAIN*

And there’s the windows gone. Beware the haunted floating tablet! At least until you put it under your cloak- hopefully that masks it. You’re on a rooftop right next door to the Museum, now. You went East last time. Where are you going now?

>North
>South
>East
>Other

>>702844
where would have the most water? might as well see what aquatica can do in her element, plus how much their leader freaks out due to aquaphobia.

>>702844
>South

>>702844
Ya I'm cool with popping over to the southern treatment plant for water based shenanigans.

Also keen to show them our magic this time. Like we are sitting on the roof puzzling over the tablet, the land and make demands at is, we casually blast them all away while keeping reading.

>>679661
Here be da shiddy map.

File: Valour City Recolor.png (15 KB, 800x600)

15 KB PNG

Iiiii knew I forgot something.

I tried to make it better. Slightly.

>>702952
>>702974
south to the water treatment plant it is then. well for my vote anyway.

>>702844
>>702974

Either North or South then. Let's see if having the field advantage via Water Treatment plants gives them the edge they need to improve their Group Coherency.

Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink. Well, no, you could, but it'd look weird.

Writing!

>>702844
Hm. Last night’s little trip is still fresh in your head. Might as well follow your first instinct- and besides, it might give Aquatica a bit of deja vu when they find you at the treatment plant. You have to admit that you’re kinda wondering what’s going to happen now that you’re invisible- they might see you heading off in a particular direction, so...hm. Actually, it might be for the best if you take the table back out. Let them see where it’s going. Hopefully, they’ll make the connection sooner than later.

You just have to wait for them.

-------

Considering you’re not really trying to hide yourself that well, you find yourself at the plant in a matter of minutes. The invisibility should wear off soon- but in the meantime you’ll have to ignore the surprised stares and shouts of the workers outside. There’s a open, center platform on each of the water basis for observational purposes- that’ll be a nice sit-down spot, you suppose. There’s five in a pentagon shape with the sixth in the middle. That middle one looks nice. Fortunately, there’s no one on it- there are people on the surrounding ones, however, and they look with incredulity at a stone table flying out of nowhere and coming to rest casually on the platform. They probably had no clue what was going on.

Ah- that reminds you. You’re kind of curious as to what the tablet actually says- if anything. You didn’t really pay attention earlier when you stole it, but now’s as good a time as any. Lesse…

’Ah, but to resist my dearest, was something I could not stand.’
We embraced, in all ways,
And her loving touch I did greatly savor,
For each moment in that we were,
We grew greater and greater still,
Despite the savages surrounding us, with grotesque heads and little fur,
We were given to each other in the flames of passion,
And yet when our transport arrives and we are freed from this primitive place,
The depths of my want for her will-

No. Done here. Don’t even want to read the rest.

You’ll just wait patiently.

cont.

>>703419
Surprisingly, it’s not that long before they show up again- this time through the doors of one of the main buildings. Dunno why they took the normal way around, but whatever.

As you expected, Crystalline looks FEROCIOUS. She’s already armored up, and she looks like she’s itching to fight as she looks around, presumably for you. Shygirl looks curious about the situation, slowly scanning the area, and Aquatica looks immensely distressed- you suppose considering the possible close proximity of her parents. Ribbit is looking around sharply as well, but you can tell she’s more guarded, like she’s expecting you to pop out any time now. Ruby’s got a determined look on her face, but you notice she’s trying to stay in front of Crystalline, who isn’t objecting, surprisingly.

“Alright, if she’s here...she’s probably got a trap waiting for us,” you can hear Ruby say. “Be caref-.” Ribbit then taps her, causing Ruby to refocus her attention on her, and then she points towards you- or the tablet, perhaps. “...careful. Very careful,” Ruby finishes.

>Say something; if only to show that you’re right there.
>Blast them now- shake them up a bit.
>Let them get closer, if they dare. You’ll repel them easily.
>Other.

>>703426
>Say something; if only to show that you’re right there.
we didn't engage first last time, might as well keep that up.

>"One might wonder if it will be enough." Whisper it in her ear.

>"If that sorry show you put on the last time you tried to impede me was the best your 'team' has, one wonders whether it is courage or naivete that brings you before me once more."

>>703426
> Let then get closer
don't say shit, unless it's "what's a monster got to do around here to get some peace and quiet to read some ten cent smut, reeeee!"

>>703426
>>Mutter "interesting" while looking at the tablet.

Wrapping it up for tonight, will attempt to resume tomorrow. Or at the very least write the resolution to whatever is chosen. Night.

>>703426
>>Say something; if only to show that you’re right there.

Wait until they're close enough to touch it before scaring the shit out of them.

>>703426
>Say something; if only to show that you’re right there.
ehehehehehheh

>>703426
Dick around.

When we talk to lorraine next we totally have to tell her that tablet is disgusting and she should be ashamed to have children looking at it.

>>703426
Hm. Well, the invisibility’s bound to wear off shortly. Might as well make your presence known on your terms rather than the potion’s. Besides...it’d just be plain funny spookin’ them. They seem to look at each other for a bit, silently asking a question. Ruby takes a deep breath, and motions to go forward- then Aquatica puts a hand on her shoulder. You can see Ruby shiver a bit, and turn to Aquatica, who has a shaky smile on her face. Ribbit comes up as well, and nods to her in support.

Ruby gulps, and puts a foot on the bridge-

Right there. “Interesting.”

“BWAH!” Ruby instantly jumps back, the entire lot of them getting into battle poses as they search out the source of the noise. “Where are you?!” Ruby yells, fists blazing with pink energy. “You gonna come out, or are you just gonna be a coward?”

“Cowardice would be...inadvisable for my purposes,” you state, as they finally realize that you’re, in a manner, right in front of them. “It may perhaps be more efficient for yourselves to take that course of action.” Ah, the potion’s wearing off. You can see their eyes focus on your location now in surprise and astonishment as you rise from your sitting position, still looking at the tablet, although your eyes flick up to see their reactions- Shygirl in particular seems to be vacillating between being shocked at your appearance and being..insulted? That’s certainly a frown on her face. Huh. Didn’t take her for the sort.

Crystalline’s just frustrated, and snorts at your words in a very unladylike manner. “Like hell!” She raises an arm to fire; guess it’s time to-

“WAIT!” Oh? Ribbit’s got her hand outstretched, blocking Crystalline’s aim, and she’s staring at you hard, like she’s trying to see past your mask.

For a few terse seconds, no one moves. You simply tilt your head in curiosity, but say nothing.

Ribbit takes a deep breath, and steps forward. “You don’t match any bad guy or bad girl we’ve heard of before. You don’t stick around to gloat, you haven’t even so much as threatened a civilian, and this is twice now. Normally new villains are big, flashy, try to make a name for themselves, but you just...steal and leave.” She’s looking at you like mathematician looks at a equation they need to figure out. “And judging from what Shygirl said from what she saw the other day, you could’ve been long gone, but you were just out in the open waiting for us...and if you can turn invisible like her, you could’ve vanished without a trace, or snuck attacked us like, ten times over. But you haven’t. At first I thought it was just a fluke, but now I’m thinking not...” She’s still in a battle stance, as are the others, but it seems they’re all just now coming to her conclusions as she explains it. “Just who ARE you? What’s your plan, here?!”

Inquisitive one.

> “I am nothing and no one. And my plans are my own.”
> “Someone who was lost, and I seek to find myself again.”
> Other (Name and plan)

>>704799
> “Someone who was lost, and I seek to find myself again.”

>>704799
>> “Someone who was lost, and I seek to find myself again.”

>>704799
>“Someone who was lost, and I seek to find myself again.”

>>704799

> “Someone who was lost, and I seek to find myself again.”

This could give us options and an easy way to give us the end to the story ("we find X and leave")

But I'm not sure about where this leads with us dealing with the girls.

It paints us too much in a not-a-bad-guy light, which I'm not the biggest fan of. However, it allows us to have new avenues to train them. Mainly that it appears like we're only dealing with them because it helps us somehow (or we're bored) which means we could get the ability to actually give them advice, maybe.

Don't really like either option, but I can't think of a better write-in.

>>704799
>Don't answer, just start laughing your ass off in a creepy way. Then mock them for not understanding.

>>704799
>Other
"I have no patience or desire to explain to those who cannot understand. Do not be obstacles, and there will be no pain."

>>704852
Reasoning: Nothing is scarier than the unknown, and if they get offended it's easy to lead that into a fight.

>>704840
If they see us as a tragic figure and want to "save" us, that can still work. They'd need to beat us in a fight first anyway.

>>704922
>If they see us as a tragic figure and want to "save" us, that can still work. They'd need to beat us in a fight first anyway.
Oooh that creates a nice narrative of us only gaining 'pieces' of our self back by hard won fights and now we are summoning something horrible and powerful enough to completely return all of our pieces in one fight. Meaning that the girls have to improve their teamwork enough to present us a challenge so that we wont summon the monster instead.

File: Nanoha.jpg (63 KB, 1280x800)

63 KB JPG

>>704944
>gaining 'pieces' of our self back by hard won fights
Nah, I mean that's just how befriending works.

>>704984
So we want them to pierce us with their Large Pink Lances of Blasting?

>>704944
I can dig it.

So our end goal: Summon Lorelei to ask her what the fuck happened the night we went drinking.


You know, with her ghost limbs ability, she could be pretty terrifying if she stacked intimidation.

Searching for myself.

Writing.

>>704799
Might be worthwhile to at least give them a little something about you. “Someone who was lost, and I seek to find myself again.” There. That sounded suitably mysterious, and vaguely ominous.

The girls take a step back, all except for Ribbit, who merely cocks an eyebrow in curiosity and confusion. “And you plan to do that how?” She presses. You see her glance down at the tablet, but she says nothing. You don't give her a reaction as she tries to figure you out.

“Ugh, can we just lay into her, already?!” Crystalline grouses. “I'm no one's club, and you're going to learn that real quick, you Phantom of the Opera wannabe!” The others in reflect fighting positions, but Ruby’s sweating you notice, and Aquatica’s sticking out her tongue, as if she's focusing very hard while she's staring at you…

No, not at you. Over your shoulder. Ohhhhhh, clever. If perhaps unapproved by the leader.

>Goad Crystalline into breaking ranks. “You were quite sufficient for the task.”
>Throw Aquatica off. “Interfering with your father's work? Cruel.”
>Play to Ruby’s aquaphobia. “You seem most uncomfortable, young one. Do you need a drink? There is much around here.”
>Play to tradition. Look behind you, and brace for impact.
>Prepare to dodge and engage combat.
>Other

>>705231
>The others return to fighting positions.

I wonder if I can train my phone's voice to text or something...

>>705231
>>Goad Crystalline into breaking ranks. “You were quite sufficient for the task.”
>>Try to get her hit with her allies attack

>>705231
>Play to tradition. Look behind you, and brace for impact.
We have to let them think that they've almost got it, just with a little more work they could beat us. Otherwise they'll just ask for help from one of the stronger hero teams.

>>705231
>Goad Crystalline into breaking ranks. “You were quite sufficient for the task.”
Would you like a permanent position as my club?

>>705231
>Play to tradition. Look behind you, and brace for impact.
and
>>705327
>Goad Crystalline into breaking ranks. “You were quite sufficient for the task.”
Would you like a permanent position as my club?

>>705351
Wait, you want to taunt then get hit? Just trying to parse those two together.

>>705231
> other
Just blast aquatica, she is telegraphing her sneak attack and needs to learn not to.

>>705392
Seconding, hell we can even give a lil lesson by just calling her out on being obvious

>>705384
yeah.

>>705231
>Goad Crystalline into breaking ranks. “You were quite sufficient for the task.”
>Prepare to dodge and engage combat.
They'll be more motivated if we show no weakness.

"I shall taunt you now. Ahem..."

Writing.

>>705409
adding to this, they wouldn't be so stupid as to attack us while we have a fragile old as shit object, right? right?

>>705231
Well, whatever happens, you’ll deal with it. You still have the stone tablet, and they’ll likely take care to not break it, whatever they’re doing. At least, you sincerely hope they won’t. However, maybe you could render that little issue null anyways. “You were quite sufficient for the task, tall one. You weight would serve well as my permanent club.”

“OH, YOU’RE DEAD!” Crystalline throws Ruby’s arm aside and charges you, headless of everyone’s yells, footsteps clanking across the walkway with authority. You soon hear a ‘now, NOW!’ and you’re reminded of the threat behind you as you duck to the side- and several jets of water tendrils miss you, and seem to wrap around Crystalline for a second before they quickly slough off like normal water. Crystalline for her part doesn’t seem to notice or care- she’s seeing red and is trying to best to smash your face in- despite your holding of the stone tablet in one hand. Is she really that...

"Come HERE, will you!" Crystalline yells. No, she's not really trying to punch you unless she thinks she's got a clear shot. Her palms are open the rest of the time- is she trying to grab you?

She’s surprisingly quick in melee, but still not enough to catch you as her impacts dent the steel railings- she doesn’t seem to be firing off any crystal shards, however. She seems to at least recognize the error of what she did last time.

You spare a glance over to where the others are as you avoid an attempt at grabbing you- Shygirl’s vanished yet again, Ruby’s looking like she wants desperately to help, but is hesitant, Ribbit’s saying something to her, and Aquatica’s trying to keep her eyes locked on your movements, with both hands up like she’s trying to control something yet again. Great.

Another swipe goes over your head- this little arena is starting to feel a bit cramped. You need to:

>Slip past her and take the fight to land.
>Launch a punch straight to the gut with the intention of cracking her armor.
>Keep them split, wreck the walkway.
>Fire off a potshot at the three just standing around.
>Other

>>705592
>>Launch a punch straight to the gut with the intention of cracking her armor.
punishment for losing her cool, also makes it completely clear that using her as a club/shield wasn't why she cracked.

>>705592
>>use crystaline as a weapon again. maybe this time they have a way to free her.

>>705592
>Fire off a potshot at the three just standing around.

>>705592
>Slip past her and take the fight to land.
We will infuriate them so much they commit everything into finding a way to defeat us.

Then, after everything, they will realize they could have just talked everything out.

>>705592
>>Fire off a potshot at the three just standing around.

>>705592

Slip past her to land seems like the best option, it'll have crystal charging her allies, it'll screw over all their plans

BUT crystal needs to be punished for her outburst.


>Launch a punch straight to the gut with the intention of cracking her armor.

Just crack it like an egg, one good punch to crack the armor, then take advantage of the weakness to rip it all straight off.
If that doesn't skin her of course, that would be bad.

>>705592
>Form a barrier around her and pen her in, let the others have a turn fighting you.

Don't forget to say something snarky.

>>705592
> punch crystal in the gut
> Take the fight to land
Specifically to the destructible building nearby, before ruby blows up the water tower.

Seems like the majority is 'gutshot, try to get to land'.

Writing.

>>705592
Slipping past, you wind up a stronger punch. This girl DEFINITELY has temper problems, and to be quite frank…

*CRACK*

Everyone goes quiet at the sound of your fist embedded in the crystal- even Crystalline freezes in shock. She looks down with wide eyes at the impact area, then back up at you in incredulity. You’re kinda shocked everyone else is. It was very hard material, yes, but you can imagine a couple things stronger than crystal. Still, the lesson to be learned here?

“You should watch your anger.” And you bury your fist in deeper, touching flesh, only to shove her away without further damage- she stumbles back in bewilderment, clutching the hole in her armor where her stomach is now revealed. She seems to be unsure what to do with you now, looking between her damage and you with now fearful eyes. You meet them for all of a second, and without a word you tense your legs, and jum- wait, what just grabbed you- FUCK

You feel a phantom pressure on your legs as you jump, a massive blast of water hits you upside the head just as you take off, and you have all of three seconds to remember that Shygirl hadn’t been accounted for -again- as you careen in a shallow, awkward, tumbling parabola and crash land into one of the outer water filters- and they’re still working, meaning that too low is a ton of gross wastewater. There’s a cacophony of sounds; splashing, yells from above, struggle- you’re not sure which way is up and there’s pressures all around you, but they soon dissipate, and you quickly manage to orient yourself upright. That didn’t go how you wanted. You need to leave.

Surfacing, you look around, and realize that you’re at the edge of one of the outer basins- and then you realize that you’re hanging onto the edge with both hands, and THAT makes you realize that you lost the tablet. Aquatica is panicking, calling out Shygirl’s name for some reason. Crystalline is still trying to get back from the center, and Ribbit is nowhere to be seen. Ruby is running off somewhere- ah! There’s the tablet. And Ruby’s making a beeline for it.

>Yeah, this didn’t quite go as expected, but that’s fine. Kinda what you wanted, really. Time to get out of here.
>Nope. You’re not done here by a long shot. Time to turn things up a bit- try and blast Ruby away from the tablet.
>They may have the tablet, but high time they checked how strong their friendships are. Get one of them as a hostage, and trade the tablet for the girl in question.
>Other

>>706088
Erase that 'you need to leave' in the third paragraph. That was from an earlier version and I just kinda forgot the sentence was there.

>>706088
>>Nope. You’re not done here by a long shot. Time to turn things up a bit- try and blast Ruby away from the tablet.
They need to earn it for one thing, and for another, we need to see how well the rest of them work together.

Might want to miss her a couple of times, for dramatic reasons, though.

>>706088
>>They may have the tablet, but high time they checked how strong their friendships are. Get one of them as a hostage, and trade the tablet for the girl in question.

>>706088
>Nope. You’re not done here by a long shot. Time to turn things up a bit- try and blast Ruby away from the tablet.
They need to learn to cover their friends going for the objective.

>>706141
This. Play up the desperation. Make it seem like we really dont want them to have it.

Then, overplay our hand. Manufacture the situation so they end up getting the tablet.

>>706088

>Nope. You’re not done here by a long shot. Time to turn things up a bit- try and blast Ruby away from the tablet.

We barely started with them. There hasn't really been much teamwork outside of shygirl being the only competent person here.

We have to force them to actually try to work together.

Going hostage really ain't gonna help with that.

>>706088
>Nope. You’re not done here by a long shot. Time to turn things up a bit- try and blast Ruby away from the tablet.

we have to make them struggle more if they really want that tablet.

>>706088
Yay, they landed a blow on us, go team! But... friendly fire again?
> Blast ruby.

>>706088
>Nope. You’re not done here by a long shot. Time to turn things up a bit- try and blast Ruby away from the tablet.

Time to get a bit more serious.

Writing.

guys, i think we shouldn't escalate higher than this for a few days. i'm getting the vibe that they will think we're way more outta their league than they expected and will call for help.

>>706088
So Shygirl fell in as well.

Ideally we end in some sort of stand-off where Ruby threatens to break the tablet, and we decide to leave.

>>706389
that would be a really bad idea for them. i mean, would you hire a bodyguard that threatens to shoot you every time someone points a gun at you?

>>706358
We haven't really done much though. Hell we aren't even really threatening them as we just showed we aren't really gonna hurt them.

90% of what has gone wrong here has been their fault.

>>706415
What?

>>706451
basically destroying the tablet is a very bad idea for them, because they would be seen as inefficient, clumsy and a unable to protect the stuff they are supposed to keep safe.

>>706088
Alright, score one for them. But now it’s time to step things up, and make them realize that you’ve got a bit more under the hood than speed and strength. You stretch out your arms and fire a trio of blasts from your half-submerged position.

She never sees them coming. The first one impacts right behind her, much to her surprise. The second one is barely dodged, causing her to stumble as she continues moving forward, and the third impacts flush, throwing her off her feet and sending her skidding into the wall of a building nearby.

To everyone's credit, it doesn't distract then from their tasks, although you notice Crystalline running faster. With a quick, strong tug, you pull yourself out of the water and into the air, flipping over and landing in front of the tablet- before you can pick it up however, you're forced to dodge out of the way thanks to a hail of crystal bits courtesy of Crystalline’s long-range intervention. The evasive actions allow Ruby enough time to get back to her feet, and as she charges forward for the tablet, you hear a loud splash as Ribbit rockets out of the water with a soaked Shygirl in tow. As soon as Aquatica sees that she's safe, she quickly throws her hands up, conjuring three more tendrils of water from the basin nearby. She slings them forward, causing you to jump over them; Crystalline has you in her sights, but she's trying to keep you away from the tablet more than actually hit, despite the rage on her face. A couple of blasts are sent her way in retaliation, but they impact shoulders, and she does a game job to taking the shots with little flinching. This means Ruby's got a clean line to the tablet; you're not so fortunate.

You take a few crystals shots to the torso getting to the tablet; they sting a little bit, but they're nothing too bad. However, you wind up getting to it a half-second after Ruby, and you and her are singing locked into a deadly dance, where neither of you willing to let go of the tablet, and rubies trying to get you within Crystalline’s sights, and you're trying to stay out of them.

>Relinquish the tablet.
>Take your half and get out of here, at risk.
>They weren't good enough just yet. Flash and get out, hopefully.
>Other

>>706905
>Take your half and get out of here, at risk.

>>706905
>Relinquish the tablet.
They're actually working as a team. First lesson learned.

>>706905
>>Relinquish the tablet.
But only after a particularly good hit, preferably one to the mask, cracking it a bit and showing a bit of our true form, for spooky mysteriousness.

oooooOOOOOOOooooo...

>>706905
>Take your half and get out of here, at risk.

They didn't earn much, but we can give them a bite.

Plus if we take some fire leaving, then we can shed the disguise so they can take a glimpse of our inhuman visage before leaving.

>>706905
>Take your half and get out of here, at risk.

>>706953
I like this plan, maybe even deliberatley take a glancing hit if we need to.

>>706905
>>Relinquish the tablet.
after they do something powerful enough to make you retreat.

>>706905
>Relinquish the tablet.
once they manage to damage the mask a bit.

>>706905
> Take your half of the tablet
If we can make them curious about what's under our mask, thats cool.

>>706940
I haven't seen much teamwork. Hopefully next time crystal won't charge ahead and they will have the chance to work on a set piece together.

>>706905
>Relinquish the tablet.
They've done pretty good, let them have it after a good solid hit to the mask. Crystalline's learning to cool her head, so I think they should get something out of this.

guys, lets not break the tablet. we took it in one piece, we return it in one piece.

>>707057
Wasn't the idea originally that they would get a part of it?

>>707017
Aside from Crystal breaking formation, they've been pretty good about keeping an eye on their team, and not fucking up as bad. We can't expect them to be in our league after one fight.

>>707057
It is a shitty ass love poem though, it won't be missed.

And only aqua lady and shy girl have really done good. Even then aqua did some real nasty friendly fire. Improvement, yes. But nowhere near enough to deserve the whole thing.

>>707082
The owners don't know that. Are you planning on going to them and telling them "Yo, your tablet is just a dude writing about how he boned some chick he dug."? Because I wouldn't. They think it's valuable, why decrease it's value?

Even split at the moment.

>>707100
This guy has a point.

>>707100
Just tell it to our boss maybe? Why would we annouce that we need a tablet about that trash?

>>707100
Because we are EVIL. At the moment we have done some theft and defended itself. That is totally not good enough. Maybe we should find some babies to eat. Oh, how about we go to a graveyard and grab some bones to decorate our HQ with?

>>707100
But telling Lorraine what it said would actually be worth more than the tablet.

Hell it was on a list of things we were allowed to fuck with. She was already told that we might break it. Breaking it is 100% okay.

>>706905
>Take your half and get out of here, at risk

Okay I think I know a way to make sure everyone is happy

We cut the tablet in half lengthwise, so they get the front half with the shitty love poem.
We get the back half that is just blank stone, and thus arguably better than the front half.

That way everyone here gets what they want.

>>707168
but why break it when its not needed? lets make this a win for the MG team, but not without making them fight for it a bit longer.

>>707193
is that possible though? i'm not sure we can do that in the middle of the battle.

>>706905
>Relinquish the tablet.
I'm not going to risk partial payment.

Rolled 2 (1d2)

Gonna flip. 1 give it whole
2 breaks it in two.

>>707248
The dice gods want this.

>>706905
You struggle with Ruby for a few moments; she's doing her level best to both punch you and keep you between her and Crystalline so that the latter can drill you full of shiny stones. You're stronger than her, but her grip helps, and she's cognizant enough that you can't simply flail her around like you did Crystalline, as she tries to take a sucker punch at you every time, and she's actually pretty good with reorienting her body in mid air.

Suddenly she growls; and rears her head back- wait she's gonna headbutt you?

Yes. Yes she is. Well...points for willing to use whatever she has, you suppose. You can let that one slide.

It doesn't really do much on impact, but you snap your head back anyway, letting yourself flow with the motion; you feel a lighter tug on the tablet; and you see her rearing back for a haymaker. It connects flush, and that's all the excuse you need to crack the tablet it two as you throw your body back as if it got a major impact. To be fair, that DID sting a bit; kid’s got some muscle for being so young, and her energy helps out well.

You quickly turn around, feeling your mask. It's cracked a bit, but…

Actually, that might be good. You quickly chip off a bit where the crack is, and turn in their direction while looking down at the half of the tablet you have. It's the bottom half. Well, that just means you have less to read. Thank goodness. “This compromise will have to be acceptable,” you must have just loud enough for them to you, as they stare at you in shock as they gather around Ruby. Ribbit in particular seems to have zeroed in onto the exposed portion of your face, around the left cheek. Without a further word you turn and then leaving away from them, and as expected you hear shouts of dismay and commands to halt as you zig zag away from Crystalline’s attempts at gunning you down.

On the whole, you'd say that this altercation went better for them than the last. That's still a lot of work for them to do… but maybe they can learn.

>>707535
well, lets be sure that no one is following us and then head back to our hideout.

Done for now. Today felt a lot better than yesterday. Thanks everyone for playing so far! You're all amazing.

I don't know if anyone is up for Q&A, but I'd say I am tonight.

>>707567
Thanks for running!

>>707567
Thanks for running MG, no particular questions right now.

>>707567
i have a question though

when will you run next time?

>>707877
Uggghhhh, I wish I could tell you positively. All I can say is that 'tomorrow looks likely'. When tomorrow, I'm uncertain. If work leaves me alone for a day, then it'll likely be around 1 PM CST. If not...touch and go.

>>707535
They did a lot better than last time, it looks like they're smart enough to learn as long as they are given the proper situations and feedback.

You take it carefully for a while as you sneak your way back to your hideout/headquarters; it’s just getting into evening, now, so there’s not just a lot of people out, there’s more than usual due to rush hour traffic. That combined with your recent excursion means that there’s likely to be a lot of people out and about looking for you in one way or another. You wind up having to take a lot of back alleys and places with ‘no entry permitted’ signs- sewers would’ve been thematically appropriate and a lot more secretive, but nope, not big enough. Could’ve at least had the stereotypical getaway.

At any rate, it’s about a half hour before you get back- and you find you have a missed call on your cell phone. Really? Lorraine called you? Hm. Wonder why…

“Oh, good, you’re back,” is the first thing you hear when you dial her. Her voice is whispered. “Look, I’m in my room at the moment, but I’m not sure what just happened. All they told me was that apparently they nearly got you this time, and said you were after the tablet. Seems like you guessed right about them wanting my help to figure out what their part of it says. I told them it might take some time, but I’d contact the best professors I could. As for the girls themselves... Crystalline’s not in the best spot, I don’t think. She was shivering when she came in, and they were crowding around her last I saw. Some of the others seemed shaken, too. I haven’t heard from them just yet; it seemed like they needed some time alone. They’re still in the reading room. What happened? And how do you think they came out of it? It sounds like things could’ve gotten bad for them...”

> General prognosis?

>>710889
"Crystalline still requires more self-control. She was easily goaded into engaging me in single combat. I penetrated her armor to show her that she depends on it far too much.
"Their teamwork has improved, and Ribbit shows promise by attempting to analyze my motives.
"As they had improved, I increased my response to their attacks. There was only the illusion of danger to them."

>>710923
Also, they saw a bit of our face, probably should mention that.

Getting better, but still some issues.

Writing.

>>711039
Getting better but they have this terrible habit of friendly fire, they almost accidentally drowned shygirl

>>710889

"Crystalline still requires more self-control.” That’s the first thing that comes to mind. “She showed residual anger over the previous encounter, and due to it, was easily goaded into engaging me in single combat.”

“Oh, no…” Seems like Lorraine can guess from there. “I’m guessing the end results were what shocked her?”

“Correct. I penetrated her armor to show her that she depends on it far too much,” you confirm.

“Wait, what?!” Lorraine nearly shouts at this. “You penetrated it? How? With what?”

“Yes, with only moderate difficulty, and with my fist, in that order,” you answer. You’d thought it be somewhat obvious- but then again, you DID have that rapier. Haven’t seen a need to use it just yet, though. Maybe in the next fight- give them something else to worry about as you escalate the threat.

“...no wonder she was so shaken up,” you hear softly “You didn’t hurt her too badly, right? You said you were going to be careful about that.” She sounds nervous, and you guess that’s understandable.

“No. The bypassing of her armor proved to cause mental distress on her part, and I elected to disengage. There were complications with that course of action,” you say. “To my detrement and their boon.”

“Oh? So they caught you off-guard a bit?” You can sense some curiosity in her tone- and maybe a bit of smugness?

"Their teamwork has improved, although friendly fire remains a concern- Aquatica and Shygirl will be able to better elaborate. Ribbit shows promise by attempting to analyze my motives- and she may have noticed a portion of my visage, due to damage to the mask.” you hear a slight gasp, but you continue. “She may be one to keep an eye on,” you suggest, "but I deemed them to have improved overall. Thus, I increased my response to their attacks. You need not worry,” you preempt her, “there was only the illusion of danger to them. I inflicted no damages that could not be easily healed."

“A lot to take in,” she notes. “But I’ll do my best to remember it. Now, what are you going for next? I might be able to say that some top men looked over it and came up with a very rough approximation. Hopefully it’ll point them in the right direction.”

>Remaining List:

>Antique experimental tesla mini-engine.
>Weather Warper machine (formerly ‘Forecast’s’, can change weather in a localized area)
>Vesper Emerald (very large emerald)
>Crystal Egg (recently found in mountains, said to be of a lost civilization)
>Rainbowmaker’s Prism (can recolor objects, or render them invisible)
>Electrolyzer’s Gauntlets (low-level electricity generation)
>Ancient Clay ‘Grey Mouth’ Statue (Said to be depiction of alien)

>>711243
>Rainbowmaker’s Prism (can recolor objects, or render them invisible)

>>711243
>>Rainbowmaker’s Prism (can recolor objects, or render them invisible)
Or the egg, but I'd like to save the egg for last.

>>711243
>Rainbowmaker's prism

THAT shit sounds useful. We should see about keeping it after the job us over.

>>711243
> rainbow makers prism
And tell her that the tablet was only a cheap romance novel. Why it was carved in rock though...

>>711243
>Antique experimental tesla mini-engine.
What we're doing needs a power source.
If they do well, then they can get it, forcing us to "find an alternative source of power".

>>711342
Maybe if we can't get the engine, we will pretend to have to power it ourselves on the last day.
We can use a full shield with a weakness they need to figure out, to force us to fight them. Such as a single small hole in the shield that Aquatica can force water into.

THE COLORS, DUKE! THE COLORS!

Writing.

>>711243
“The Rainbowmaker’s Prism will be my next acquisition,” you decide. “It has potential, and would likely keep well with the theme of these thefts.”

“Then I’ll get to calling a few people, maybe tell them that one of the lines amounts to ‘something that changes the color of things’ or something like that,” she says. “But thinking about it, I don’t know if the museum still even HAS the prism or not…several of those items were deemed too dangerous to risk being left out, and were given to various facilities around the city.” Well, that might not be good. That is, you don’t mind going somewhere new, but still. “Don’t worry, I’ll get back to you by tomorrow morning about it.”

“This is acceptable,” you decide. “I will resume conversation with you then.” And so you hang up. Lorraine's been good about things so far. You trust she'll have confirmation by the time she wakes up.

You’re kinda wondering what’s going on with them now. Crystalline’s been clearly shaken, and you’re wondering what all of the others might be thinking right now. Also, considering the fact that the prism might not be in the museum...although you suppose that would be for the best right now. Back-to-back break-ins? They’re going to have that place locked down in every respect for a while.

>Head to bed, prepare for the next day.
>Head outside, do some more late night scouting. (Where?)
>Other

>>711892
>Head to bed, prepare for the next day.

I really don't see what else we could do at the moment.

Too much is out of our hands at the moment. Might as well just rest abd prepare for shit to go wrong.

Wait fuck, we didn't tell lorraine what we said to the kids. We need her to know so the narrative the doesn't experience any hiccups.

Plus if I was shy girl I'd be keeping clobed about now to try and see us when we go out to try and understand what is going on, so actually going out could be somewhat detrimental to our training plans if we accidentally give her any leads as to what is really going on.

>>711892
>>Other

Check the news and any other information media. we need to make sure we aren't riling up anybody else but the girls.

>>711892
Kinda wondering why highwing and knockout are on the map.

Going to the school and using flux wave to make everyone nauseous would be fun. But grinch anons would vote against so unless you have any exposition to dump on us via the computer
> Timeskip until next theft time

>>711996

Will explain later.

And so the third day comes...

Writing.

>>711892
I'd like to check in on the girls to see how they are doing, especially Crystalline, but it would be a bit messy to figure out how to listen in.

>Head to bed, prepare for the next day.

We can start hunting down THE COLORS tomorrow.

Wait, are we doing 3 thefts in 3 days?

I don't see how they're gonna get anything from that last one without a lil bit of time to recuperate and talk, since it wasn't as much of a humbling experience this time.

Wont we kind of burn them down?

>>712268
You can call it off, if you like. The curriculum is up to you.

I feel I should mention I AM open to 'interrupts' (such as the one last time) in terms of entries so long as a majority agrees on it and doesn't mind the adjustment. You only get the one per writing entry, though- can't keep doing it over and over.

>>712268
we could cut down the number of objects we'll steal. maybe give them tomorrow free while we see the whereabouts of the prism stone(and see how easy it will be to take it away)

>>712305
yeah, today be a mix of recon on both our pupils and the stone like people want.

We could get info on the stone, find what's up with crystalline, shygirl, and the likes.

Just prep so we are prepared to give our next lesson.

>>712346
sounds like a good plan, supposing the other anons want to go with it.

>>712346
yeah this sounds good.

>>712346
In favor of this.

Interrupt permitted- this day will be a recon day.

Rewriting.

Random tidbit: Lorelei's magic hands were inspired by Shun'ei from King of Fighters 14. I'm not the biggest fan of the character, but I like his shtick.

>>712346
I'm against checking on the girls ourselves. Let Lorraine handle that.
And she's going to tell us where the Prism is going to be anyway.

No, better to check the news and make sure that other hero teams aren't taking notice, and plan our next fight better.

Today, as you wake up, you have to admit you’re feeling rather rested. You wonder if the girls are as rested...actually, that does put a bit of a concern in your head. Although you haven’t messed them up TOO badly, you have given them several bumps and bruises, and more than a couple of things to chew on mentally. Perhaps today might be a good day for a breather, let them rest and recuperate.

After you mull on it a bit, you decide that yeah, that’s the best course of action, you think. While getting breakfast, you make to call Lorraine before she can say anything out of order towards the girls. It’s not long before she answers, and she sounds like she’s been up for a bit. “Oh, good morning- uh, something wrong?”

“I have decided to revise my curriculum slightly.” you state.

“Oh? R-really? Are you sure, because, well, the contract did state you were only here for the week- I mean, I can’t really say against it- I think you’ve been doing well so far, so I can’t really blame you if you think things need to slow down, but I’m just concerned, I mean, I’ve thought about extending it, sure, but if you weren’t then I’m-” she’s rambling.

“Cease.” She stops instantly. “I will utilize this day for reconnaissance and further tactical planning. They will utilize it for rest and recuperation. This is acceptable?” You phrase it as a not-a-question.

“Y-yes it is acceptable, yeah, yes!” she answers quickly. “Er, did you still want information on the prism’s wereabouts?” You quickly confirm so, and she continues. “It’s not at the museum, like I thought. Apparently the North Water Treatment Plant wanted it for a bit- wanted to run some experiments on the thing, I’m not sure why. They requisitioned it earlier in the week- slipped my mind, though. It’ll be returned in two days.” Huh. Well, that worked out fine. “As it happens, I took another look at a few requisitions, and it seems like the museum’s loaned out a few of those objects along with some others as of yesterday. I guess they don’t see the museum as safe anymore, or maybe it was just good timing, or something.”

“Locations?” you ask.

“Ah, right.” There’s some rustling of papers. “Uhh...the weather machine is being held by Highwing Aeronautics, the Vesper Emerald was purchased by some rich man, the Grey Mouth statue is being borrowed by Valour High School, and Electrolyzer’s gauntlets are being used by the Steelworks. As for the Crystal Egg...they, uhh...it’s currently in my possession.” She sounds embarrassed by that last bit. “Apparently, I’m to keep it in a secure area since I’m used to taking care of fine art. I put it in a hardened safe.”

“Noted. This will factor into my planning,” you state.

“Aha, r-right...anything else you need right now?” she asks.

>Ask if she knows’ the girls’ daily routines besides their afternoon/evening visits.
>Ask if she can set things up so that the Crystal Egg is easy/harder to get to.
>Nothing else.
>Other

>>712626
>Ask if she knows’ the girls’ daily routines besides their afternoon/evening visits.

>>712626

>Ask if she knows’ the girls’ daily routines besides their afternoon/evening visits.

I imagine doing recon would be part of recon day.

>>712626
>Ask if she knows’ the girls’ daily routines besides their afternoon/evening visits.

All I'm seeing is that this is megaman now.

Who we going after?
Clonewoman?
Diamondette?

>>712680
...damn, you're right. Ha.


Also I'll admit that sometimes I have trouble coming up with good prompts. I need to get better at this.

>>712626
>>Ask if she knows’ the girls’ daily routines besides their afternoon/evening visits.

Crystalline needs the most work and has the most room to grow!

>>712626
>Ask if she knows’ the girls’ daily routines besides their afternoon/evening visits.

Schedules. Writing!

>>712626
>Apparently the North Water Treatment Plant wanted it for a bit- wanted to run some experiments on the thing, I’m not sure why.

Wait a second- isn't that near the place where we discovered Jackknife's crew planning something?

>Instantly suspicious

>>712689
We did kind of just send the next segment of the quest straight off the rails, so a bumpy ride is to be expected.

>>712833
suspicious, but not our problem, unless they have the prism, then its our problem.

>>712914
if they have it well...
perfect chance to show off a super move.

>>712914
Or if they try to steal the prism from us. I mean, yeah, it's unlikely that they'd get very far, but still, you don't have to be powerful to get lucky, or even just early.

>>712626

“Their schedules,” you say. “Are you aware of what they do beyond your daily visits?”

“Oh, uh…” she seems to take a bit to think. “I can’t really say, sorry. They’re in school until the afternoon, barring an emergency situation, so after then...hm...well, I know Ribbit enjoys reading and nature, I know she’s mentioned going to the library a few times, and she likes going to the city park a lot. Swimming, too. Aquatica’s gone with her a couple of times to take pictures; she used to show me a few. Crystalline likes shopping and...well, being a popular powered person- try and say that five times fast. Ruby’s mentioned acting in plays, and I know she does have practice, but I don’t think that’s an all the time thing. No clue on Shygirl, either, I just know that her and Aquatica are close.”

Well, it’s not a ton, but it might work. Gives you a couple of options at the very least. “That is sufficient.”

---------

The remainder of the morning is spent idly checking something things on the bedroom television; the daily news is mostly about your thefts of the past two days. They’re calling you the ‘Ghost Thief’, for lack of any specific identification on your part, and apparently you’re considered potentially dangerous, but surprisingly non-confrontational. As the news would frame it, your thefts are currently seen as more of a kleptomaniac spree than anything truly sinister, and you’re already being considered the latest of the city’s rogues. Well. That’s...something.

Enough of that. You check the time- it’s a bit past noon. You’re not entirely certain when their school lets out, so it’s probably better for you to get a move on now. Your plan for the moment, should they split up, is to try to tail:

>Ruby
>Aquatica
>Shygirl
>Crystalline
>Ribbit

And see what they do in their off-time, possibly learn something about them that may be a source of either weakness or strength that you can utilize.

Oh, that's supposed to be a 'pick one' option, sorry.

>>713255
Sure shygirl is the competent one that with some work could be a real gem, and sure it's a 2 for 1 stalking since she's probaby with aquaria, and sure it has the possibility for neat things to happen because she is actively suspicious of us,

But crystalline is the real problem child that needs the most work.
>Crystalline

>>713255
>>Crystalline

>>713255
>>Ribbit
She strikes me as the real gem in this crowd. A little extra pressure on her might result in something amazing

>>713331
How is following her supposed to help her though?

>>713255
>Ribbit

>>713255
>Crystalline

>>713255
>Shygirl

Our interest seems to be a real gem of the new crop of heroines, Crystalline!

>>713255
>Crystalline
yup. I want to maker sure how she's feeling after what happened.

>>713255
As usual, it takes a bit of time to sneak around the city- most villains tend to do their dirty work brazenly or at night. You, not so much.

Eventually, though, you do arrive at the school- or near it, rather. You’re currently sequestered away in a half-complete building nearby- you’re not sure if it’s an add-on to the school or what, but it’s stable, and there’s no one in it or even nearby at the moment, which is pretty much exactly what you need. Valour City High School is a big place- three stories, with various buildings around the area for a myriad of educationally related reasons. There’s a blue and gold color scheme as well.

It’s about an hour or so before you hear the bell ring, and the throng of students spill forth from the entryway. You have little trouble picking out your quarry from the mass- she’s actually a bit taller than the average number of students- and so it’s easy to see her face. She’s walking with the other Shining Hearts- and there seems to be a bit of a circle of people around them? Well well. Popular indeed. Crystalline- or Layla right now- turns to Ruby- Jody- and gives her a bit of a pat on the shoulder. She says something quickly, grins, winks, and Ruby and the rest nod as they split off from each other for now- Ruby’s going one way, Shygirl and Aquatica are going another, Ribbit’s going a third, and Crystalline’s by her lonesome as well. You do notice that as soon as she turns away from them, her face drops into a deep frown.

You eventually see her walk into a very fancy car- she’s got her own chauffeur, it seems.

Time to go.

cont.

>>714180
She winds up at the mall- you half expected that. You’re unsure how you’ll follow her into there, however, as it’s an indoor mall.

Fine. You can stake out. You’re on the roof of a nearby building, and have a decent view of the entryway.

Much to your surprise, however, it’s only about a half-hour before she comes back out- you’re honestly surprised the trip was so quick. And moreover, she doesn’t have much- just two bags. You were expecting something else.

She continues on her way, and winds up at the residential district up north, as you do your best to follow her along rooftops and alleyways- you nearly lose her once or twice, but eventually you see the car pull into a rather large house- it’s no mansion like Lorraine’s, but it’s certainly in a similar vein. You can even see what appears to be an officer nearby. Is this really hers? You’re currently situated on a high tree near the mansion. You’re not sure what kind of security, if any, it has, should you try to get closer.

Strangely, when she gets out of the car, she looks...contrite? Scared? Embarrassed, even, perhaps. She knocks(?) at the door, and the person who answers looks straight out of a fifty’s film- large glasses, fur shawl, long cocktail dress, impressive hat- and her arms seem to be solid diamond. You’re SURE that’s not any kind of arm covering or anything.

Crystalline has her head down as she sullenly gives over both bags to the lady- whom you can see has a deep frown on her face. She takes a look inside the bags and nods, then points inside. She glumly walks in, the driver following. You can see the lady’s head follow Crystalline’s slow walk. She barks something at the girl, who flinches and walks faster. After the driver is in as well, you see her sigh, put her hand to her forehead as if she has a headache, and shake her head- in what you presume is disappointment or frustration. She follows them in, and closes the door.

>Try to get closer- see if you can look through one of the windows.
>Stay here, use your hearing boost to see if you can listen in on things.
>Do both.
>Other

>>714192
> hearing boost
If that don't work
> get closer
Fucking washed up heroes ragging in the younger ones to make themselves feel better.

>hearing boost

If we cant, get closer, vut look out for security systems.

>>714192
>Stay here, use your hearing boost to see if you can listen in on things.
as much as I want to do both they probably have security. don't want to risk it, unless we can use threat detection to close in?

>>714192
>Stay here, use your hearing boost to see if you can listen in on things.

>>714192
>Stay here, use your hearing boost to see if you can listen in on things.

>>714192
Hearing boost.

She may act popular at school, but she's really a lonely girl with troubles at home?

I'm actually most interested in Shygirl, she seems to be the Sailor Mercury of the group, without the confidence.

>>714260
Oh, she's going to lie of the old gems for help. She went shopping to get her a gift.

>>714192
>use the hearing boost

>>714192
>Stay here, use your hearing boost to see if you can listen in on things.

>>714233
This is Crystalline's teacher and the one that taught her the entire crystal armor schtick. She's got a right to be frustrated when her student got overconfident because she's been beating up on level 0 mooks and suddenly has trouble dealing with a boss fight.

Better than trying to plant a bug somewhere. Also probably the last one for the night.

Writing!

>>714274
I don't remember much of Sailor Moon. Wazzat mean?

>>714353
The blue haired intellectual of the group. Acted mature.

>>714413
Shy and quiet and smart.

>>714192
Might as well try and see if you can hear things from here. You’re unsure how how much security a superhero- or possibly ex-superheroine in this case- might have. Sure there’s only the one guy, but for all you know that’s just a decoy or someone to convince would-be thieves that there’s not much security, when there might be a complicated security system around the premises. Best not to risk it. Fortunately, you don’t have to.

You activate your boosted hearing quickly, and do your best to listen in- fortunately, the house’s outer walls don’t seem to be soundproofed or anything- you have to admit that was a concern of yours. You can hear them somewhat clearly...made easier because the lady seems to have something of a naturally loud voice.

“...and so what did you do?” you hear the lady ask.

You can hear Crystalline haltingly speak. “I...sorta…lost my...tem-”

“-you lost your temper, yes,” the lady interrupts. “And when I released you from my apprenticeship, when I gave you my blessings, what were the VERY LAST words of advice I gave you?”

“You said...to never let anyone ruin my face.” She responds.

“And I trusted that you knew what I meant by that. It certainly wasn’t referring to your aesthetics,” the lady quips. “DID you understand what I meant? Come, tell me if you did.”

“You...meant ‘never let anyone frustrate me’,” the girl answers back sadly. “I’m sorry, it’s just she was-”

“It doesn’t MATTER,” the lady says sharply. “You’ve been goaded and made a fool of twice now because somehow you got it in your little head that just because I said you’d learned enough to START being a hero you’re suddenly a big deal!” The lady’s voice is sharp, and strong, but you’d be hard pressed to call it overly vindictive or vicious. “And one random, silver tongued thief comes along- and yes, I’ve seen the news reports- and suddenly you’re risking your friends’ necks in random bullish charges! It’s disgraceful!”

There’s silence for a brief period of time, then she resumes.

“...but you’re at least wise enough to come asking for help. I’ve known some wannabes that refused to even do that.”

“I...don’t want what happened the other day to happen again, Ms. Shimmer. She...she could’ve killed me if she wanted to.” Well, she’s not wrong.

cont.

>>714770
“And yet you’re still here,” Shimmer says, and her voice is clearly more gentle. “So let’s make sure she doesn’t get the chance to change her mind next time. You’ve a great deal of potential, Layla. You just need to get OVER yourself and realize it. I’m absolutely fabulous, but you know as well as I do that I was never one to fight on the front lines; I supported my teammates as best I could. You can take a bit more of a punch, that’s true. But in situations like this- and there WILL be more of them in the future- you need to stop relying on these... and start relying more on this.” You’re not sure what’s happening, but you can get a pretty good idea. “I know I’ve told you this before.” She finishes.

“Y-yeah...I remember. I just...I guess she’s just so much TOUGHER than what we’ve been used to. I-I’m sorry.” You wonder if she’ll change her tune or not later on.

Shimmer chuckles. “It’ll be fine. Remember, chin up, show that dazzling smile, and remember that pretty is as pretty does. ‘Pretty on the inside and pretty on the outside-’ ”

“-means ALL the guys stop and stare!” they both finish, and laugh together. Egh. You’re not really that sort. And then they suddenly get quiet, and you can just head a phone ringing. “Hello?” Crystalline answers.

There’s nothing from inside for a few more seconds- but suddenly the door slams open, and both Shimmer and Crystalline race out, the chauffeur quickly getting them into the car and racing off. Huh. Wonder what that was- and now you’re phone’s ringing. Dollars to donuts that’s not a coincidence.

“Hello?!” Yup, it’s Lorraine. “Uhh..." And suddenly you hear a LOUD screeching- and that wasn't over the phone. You turn back towards the center of the city. "We have a problem.”

Of course you do.

Aaaand done for tonight. Miracle of miracles, work didn't call me in on an off day. Sorry about the boringness, though.

>>714781
Hmmm, the monster maker guy made some new monsters? Not our problem lady.

>>714798
Thanks for running. I wasn't bored. I do think we overused the word "sufficient" though, I laughed when she referred to us as silver tongued.

>>714781
>And suddenly you hear a LOUD screeching- and that wasn't over the phone. You turn back towards the center of the city

Side-pay ho?
Time for the girls to really team up?
Time to be the hero the city needs, but doesn't deserve?

Thanks for running Handler

>>714850

I was going for 'sufficient' to be the 'gimmick' word for her.

>>714850
>Not our problem
unless she decides to pay us. then we'll gladly take it as our problem.

>>714781
oh hoh hoh, things are getting interesting.
too bad it had to be a cliffhanger though.

Is anyone still thinking about pulling off a kidnapping? I just had an idea we could use to justify it, and our staged battles. We grab crystalline because "the crystal in her armour is a potent reagent perfect for our purposes." And we found out about this from fragments we took when we punched the hole. The wording can be better but the gist is that it if something they have, something we cannot steal, so we steal the person instead.
She will have to keep her cool to oppose and prevent us from making her transform and the rest of the team needs to come up with a solid plan and execute it to save her.

>On an entirely different planet in an entirely different dimension...

>Another three bugs fell to pieces as she shook the ichor off, and sheathed her blade. Another room cleared, with minimal fuss. Really, as scary as the four legged crawlers could be to some, she'd faced far worse. She wasn't sure how many that made now, but the number was surely immense- she'd have a story to tell Miranda when she made it back...although knowing her she'd just ask if she got paid worth the time.

>She'd say she did, if the grateful smiles of the soldiers and the civilians planetside meant anything when she'd first arrived. It was only the one city being accosted, and the one nest, but it WAS a big nest. And the military hadn't the spare resources, but the way these things bred...not too surprised they were willing to shell out for specialized help.

>She was better than that, though. A couple of days clearing out a swarm topside, and couple of days in a bug nest to finish them off was nothing.

>"Izumi! Status!" Ah. That's Capston. Or Agent Redbow, to anyone who'd ask.

>"West end clear!" Her new allies were capable, too- even if they weren't quite what she was used to. They may not have been as...energetic as she'd liked, but she couldn't deny their efficiency and skill. Maybe Miranda wasn't entirely off the mark...

>"Get back over here, we're moving ahead!" Shame they weren't much for banter, though. Maybe they missed their sick friend. When this was over she'd have to see what she could do for them...

>"Roger! On my way!" But, that was later. Right now, there was a job to finish up.


And now I'm going to try and sleep again.

>>715641
is it necessary though

>>715696
dammit she's too kind

>>715641
That doesn't really help though
She needs to keep her cool and get a victory off it to really learn her lesson. If we just continually treat her like a toy and deny any feeling of victory, all we'll do is break her spirit.

>>714781
SHE has a problem.
We have an opportunity to make more money.
I think it is time we discuss the extended service package. For only 8 more motes we are willing to beat the absolute stuffing/life out whoever is causing this ruckus. We will even throw in a nice package of "we will not destroy the entire city while doing so"

I hope she pays us to do this, we haven't actually gotten to really let loose since ever. Even against the iron golem the closest we got was countering that special attack.
I wanna crush this guy like a bug.
Though it would have the side effect of if the girls see that then they might call in the big guns or something, because they'd see how horrifically outgunned they are.

Maybe we could squash him like a bug very, very quickly?

>>714781
>"Pretty on the inside and pretty on the outside means ALL the guys stop and stare!" They both finish, and laugh together.

Not gonna lie, that's pretty endearing.


I'm happy taking on the job, at least for recon purposes. If they get injured in this fight they won't be able to take us on properly for a while. We can make up some shit about using the monsters corpse as a reagent for our purposes if it looks like they'll get hurt so we can "save" them, while also playing up the villainous confidence "you're all so far beneath me I don't care if I help you" thing. Maybe. It's just an idea.

>>715908
> "you're all so far beneath me I don't care if I help you"
That is the most Tsundere line i have ever seen.

>>715917
in practice it'd be more of a "I want to kill this thing, you want to kill this thing, but you're taking too long to do it and I want it's corpse."

It's really hard not to do the "villain helping the heroes" thing without seeming tsundere, but I am proud of how tsun that line is... it kinda makes me wanna actually use it.

>"You're all so far beneath me I don't care if I end up helping you."
>"Holy shit Crystal she's exactly like you!"

>>715917
My mind meltingly terrifying eldritch being can't be this cute?

This could be the perfect time to shed our disguise as well, if we facetank the junkman's monster monstertruck (like small kaiju, but made scrapped cars)

It'd also be a great way to transition into the 'things get real' 2nd half of hell training week.

>>715920
Think about it
both use brute force
both have colorful, shiny bodies
We're like twins!

>>715920
"Its existence runs counter to my objectives. You were not ending it with sufficient speed."

And then they ask us why we didn't hit them with an equally massive energy blast, to which we simply reply:
"Why should I engage children with my full power?"

>>715920
Ooh, good point. We could steal it's heart for alchemy

So

> "you're all so far beneath me I don't care if I help you"
> "I'm just doing this to further my plans, you don't factor in at all."
> "I hold myself back because you're not worth hurting/using my full power on"

And we deliver it all 100% deadpan, because it Tsundere isn't something that would really click with Miranda.

All the while the girls are just staring as they watch their animes play out before them.
And Sal records it all with our PDA for use in getting more deals and better prices in animu worlds.
I can see it now "I need you to do exactly what you did in the last world, but with your hair styled into drills, they're willing to pay 15 extra motes for this"

>>715961
>"And that's the story of how i went from magical mercenary to interplanar superstar".

Honestly we need to come up with a better narrative for why we're always holding back.
Since we need to let the girls have a victory or two to keep them motivated, holding back because we need to conserve power in case we have to power the Device ourselves is more believable.

>>716034
Maybe we can pretend we need them for something? If they prevent us from getting one of the devices we can kidnap one of them as a replacement for the devices power.
Maybe they remind us of our friends that we miss?

>>716034
I was thinking we go along the lines of what one anon said back we were trying to find ourself via conflict, and that we were gathering everything to summon something powerful enough to get all our memories back/yadda yadda.

That way we'd be going low power to make the fights help us as well.

Problem is that we we need an excuse for why we didn't just straight up grind them into dust as we've proven with cystalline that we could utterly annihilate them even when holding back immensely. Or with the invisibility that we could've taken them out for free any number of times.

Our excuse has to not just be why we're holding back powerwise, but why we aren't trying to hurt them but are still picking fights with them.

Our excuse has to cover
1: Why the lower power
2: Why we are so soft against them
3: Why we keep picking fights with them

>>716086
Couldn't the solution to all of that just be we were part of a squad like theirs once, we don't quite remember it, but continued fighting/contact is revealing very scattered memories about it?

Bonus points if the group was actually a criminal/evil thing, so us reviving our old companions would be 100% can't happen, but we would still present something of a moral challenge as well, and underline the importance of teamwork and friendship, make the girls closer as they realize they're lucky to have what they do.

And maybe we'll get paid more for the compelling narrative, which is the important part in all this.

>>716122
I like it, especially the getting paid extra part.


Then a year or so after the fact Izumi, Lorelei, and Miranda do some cross-dimensional bar hopping and stop by here for a little bit, causing a massive panic as the gang has finally been reassembled.

>>716134
>Spoiler
And now you've convinced me.

>>714781
You’re already on the way to there as she’s explaining the situation- apparently it’s some giant mechanical...tiger truck... thing. That screeching had been kind of metallic, you recall- but as for what’s going on, it’s apparently causing wanton destruction, at a surprisingly rapid pace.

“I can’t believe something like this slipped past- it’s too large to just miss!” Lorraine’s yelling as you head over to get a decent look. “And to think Jackknife suddenly got this many resources! He’s usually just a small-time gang leader, but with this…” Soon you hear a wild cackling as several smaller vehicles right out of a post-apocalypse movie roar past. “Ugh, nevermind! He’s going to cause untold mayhem with this mechanical monster!” She says this as you land on a nearby building, and finally get a decent look at the thing.

It’s like a monster truck with additions gone wrong. The whole thing looks like a giant lion on wheels, and is painted russet gold, with a mane made of sharpened steel. The front of it is a open, roaring mouth with giant headlight eyes, sharp teeth, and you can see some sort of nozzle in its depths. There’s even a tail addition with was looks to be several buzzsaws on the tip- overall, the whole thing reminds you of a heavy metal album cover...which was probably the entire intention. The whole thing is giant, easily reaching above several small buildings, and it’s indeed causing chaos as it rumbles down the street, crushing cars without care and smashing aside various small objects like guardrails and streetsigns.

“The girls are on their way, but I don’t know how they’ll hold up to this! The Lovely Hearts are...I don’t like the idea of them getting involved as old as they are so...do you think you can find it in you to help? I did say I’d be willing to pay you earlier!” She sounds in a rush.

> “...One for free.” They’d ruin your contract if the girls got too hurt, and a freebie might endear her to you a bit.
> “Payment will be rendered immediately after the threat is ended.” Time to get to work.
> “That cost will be…” You might be able to squeeze some extra out of her, depending on how much you haggle.
> Other

>>716893
>> “Payment will be rendered immediately after the threat is ended.” Time to get to work.

>>716893
>“Payment will be rendered immediately after the threat is ended.” Time to get to work.
We're not a charity worker here, and i'm sure she can afford it.

>>716893
>> “Payment will be rendered immediately after the threat is ended.” Time to get to work.

>>716893
>> “Payment will be rendered immediately after the threat is ended.” Time to get to work.

We ain't no charity. If we're trying to keep the shining hearts out of Harm's way, shouldn't we incapacitate them? Or (question for handler) would it be possible to finish off the tank before they got there?

I guess I wouldn't be against doing the side job for free, but I can't possibly see any upside to that

>>716893
> “Payment will be rendered immediately after the threat is ended.” Time to get to work.

>>716927
Theoretically possible.

That so? Shame.

>>716893
>Other
"Since this technically affects whether the primary contract objective can be completed, I'm willing to discuss a discount on this secondary objective. 15% reduction of my normal fee for such a thing."
And we charge a Primary Objective fee for this, not a Secondary Objective fee.

>>716893

> “Payment will be rendered immediately after the threat is ended.” Time to get to work.

I think it's time to utterly destroy something.

So wait, where is this occuring on the map?
Are we nearby acceptably destroyable buildings?
Basically are we allowed to just go ham and utterly annihilate him or would it be better be more targeted with our annihilation.

>>716893
>> “Payment will be rendered immediately after the threat is ended.” Time to get to work.
maybe we could keep that rainbow prism thing as payment, that is if it gives us a consistent invisibility effect

>>716969
If we fight without limiters, then how will we explain why we go so easy on the kids? One of the stipulations of the contract was that the kids don't find out that this is essentially a training day for them.

>>716971
It's magic, it'll depend on the world we go to whether it'll work or not.

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>>716969

Level of destruction of the target is up to you. Minimal Collateral Damage rider is still in effect. Current target does not qualify as 'collateral'. But you'll have to deal with the end result of whatever you do, of course.

>>716995
If we pretend that using our power like that drains us more than it actually does, we can probably still get away with it. We just need to imply that they weren't threatening enough to drain our mana pool like this. We might be able to work this into our defeat narrative as well.

That check better be ready.

Writing!

>>716995
That's already a problem, and while "it's alreayd a problem, so making it worse isn't an issue" isn't a good answer, but eh.

Couple things
1: They aren't here yet, so we could possibly finish this before they arrive Yeah I don't really believe it either
2: Lorraine doesn't want them involved, fact is this is a captial D Dangerous situation, which if they were to get involved in, they would likely get seriously hurt. That would fuck up our job. We want this dealt with ASAP because of that, as if they get hurt then the job will probably be cancelled and we probably won't get full payment cause unfinished job.
3: We have never gotten to go ham and this is a prime opportunity to do so.


>>717034
However looking at the map that's a bit too close to Lorraine's mansion for comfort if we go all out. I think she would be unhappy if we damaged it.

>>717052
>I think she would be unhappy if we damaged it.
She could invoke the Minimal Collateral Damage rider and we'd be exposed to punitive damages.

>>716893
Hm. Well. It WASN’T your problem, but if she’s paying, then yeah, sure, you’ll make it your problem. “Payment will be rendered immediately after the threat is ended. Is this understood?”

“Agreed!” she says quickly, and you can hear some sort of rumble on the other line- just as you hear it in real life. Wow, that engine is LOUD- so it’s time to silence it.

It’s a few streets over, which doesn’t take very long to cross- and you can’t see who’s driving the thing, but you can certainly HEAR a loud whooping holler from inside the craft. Seems like there’s a speaker of some sort installed. “YEEEAAAAAAHHH, BABY! TOO MUCH! IT’S JUST TOO MUCH!” Geez, the guy sounds like a real piece of work. “COME ON, BOYS, WE’RE JUST GETTIN’ STARTED! OOOH...ACTUALLY. IT’S PRETTY HOT OUT, AM I RIGHT? I’M THINKIN’ ‘BOUT A NICE FROSTY TREAT!” ...Yeah, he’s crazy. His followers seem to get the idea, though, as three cars immediately veer off in their smaller cars down the street. You’re near the thing, just behind and to the right of it as it revs on towards downtown- and it starts blasting heavy metal. Ugh. It's not even halfway good, either- it's the screamo crap.

>Try to get its attention before you attack; draw it away from Lorraine’s Mansion so you can have a bit more destructive leeway.
>Sneak attack it- it hasn't noticed you. (How?)
>Eliminate the smaller ones from a distance as a show of force. If he's smart, he'll give up. If not...oh well.
>Other

If other anon's in the thread are willing to hear me out, since we haven't actually gotten paid yet I think it might be worth it to consider giving the job for free to Lorraine anyways.

Since we haven't been following Miranda for more that long so far, it might be worth it to consider continued business in the long run; being popular with clients will probably lead to them becoming "regulars" of our service. We currently don't have a good grasp on where Miranda stands in the power hierarchy of Outgoers as a whole, so marketing her as an overwhelming powerhouse might not be as fruitful as impressing upon potential customers that we're worth it for our thoroughness and amicability when it comes to compensation.

I also just like the idea of getting jobs in the same setting, and I don't think being ultimate powerlady is the best way of doing so

>>717135
>sneak attack it

Just get this shit done as fast as possible, nebula blast the fuck into oblivion (aim it upwards from underneath to avoid destroying the city).

>>717135
>Sneak attack it- it hasn't noticed you. (How?)
can we just fry it with a nebula buster?

>>717145
also yeah, crotch shotting it with nebular buster from below seems best.

>>717145
also for the sake of not demoralizing the fuck out of the shining hearts, act like it drains the everloving shit out of us to do so.

>>717137

...Now I'm struggling with whether to just tell you or not what her standing is since I feel that information is one of those 'the character knows this well already, there's no reason to save the information' deals, but being on the other end of it...hm.

>>717135
>>>Sneak attack it- it hasn't noticed you. (How?)

NEBURA BUSTAAAAAAAAH

If it's far enough away that we don't accidentally trash anything of importance with it, or aim it like >>717145 said if possible.

Hell Miranda might even be able to get away with shouting the technique name due to the screamo music.


Seeing as Sal seems to market us as someone who goes and fixes things but doesn't really seem to say we are godly powerful, just really freaking strong, I've assumed that Miranda falls a fair bit stronger than your average mg in terms of destructive capabilities, but is nowhere near the highend.

Like we'd be in the top 30% or something in terms of power.

>>717135
>Sneak attack it- it hasn't noticed you. (How?)
Jump on top of it, and Nebula Buster at 3/4 power straight down through the driver's cabin.
No explosion, just a straight beam down.

>>717161
we don't even have to act, it takes 4000 of our 9999 mana, being winded afterward is expected.

also it's ok for us to come off as super powerful as the plan was for them to figure out a weakness of ours as part of the narrative, so we can be strong now, then act like superman exposed to kryptonite at the end of the narrative where they "beat" us.

>>717175
Bad idea, lots of city infrastructure below ground.

That can easily kill sewers, power, water mains, lots of important stuff that can really count as collateral damage that we could get penalized for.

>>717137
I'll go with this if we somehow knock this thing out in around two or three turns and beat the shit out of Jackknife on the fourth.

Also I just realized that with Nebula Buster, we are doing a kill shot here.

I do not really see Jacknife surviving a point blank Nebula Buster.

I don't personally have a problem with this, especially since this shit he's doing can easily/will kill people. A mad max style villain in a crowded city really is something that should be stopped, permanently.

But just putting it out there that if we successfully get this shot off, he is probably dead or at least horrifically wounded.

>>717219
well, were playing villain aren't we... I think we can make it fit the narrative and I'm pretty sure Miranda's killed people before.

>>717219
I made the suggestion under the assumption that Jacknife would in fact get merc'd, keeping the shinig hearts from conflict.(switched to phoneposting so my tag changed)

The Nebula Blaster might be a bit excessive for the situation. Why don't we just blast or cut out the back of Truckzilla's legs or something?

oh, if we're going with the Nebular buster from below... should we angle it so any debris from the truck thing gets tossed outside the city limits via the blast?
cause if we shoot straight up the debris is likely to just land all over the area.

>>717272
because the point of this as a side job was to keep our charges from entering the fight, so finishing it as fast as possible makes sure the hearts won't fight regardless of when they show up.

>>717273
This.