File: 938.png (102 KB, 512x512)

102 KB PNG

>>2820017

Oh god, that was a lie! School is mind-numblingly boring! You are having an easier time understanding everything with your increased knowledge despite skipping all those days, but the boredom still doesn’t end! The only highlight of the day is Scarlet and her friend getting reprimanded in front of everyone…

“Ando, didn’t you hear? You need to get to the principal’s office!” Mr. Rodenhall moves his mouth back and forth, giving you an annoyed look. Did he always have a tic like that?
“…Sorry, I was spacing out.” You stand up and leave the classroom with your backpack. Both Scarlet and Terry look at you and Mr. Rodenhall in obvious confusion. What is going on here…?

Outside of your classroom, Nina is waiting for you. She motions you to follow her without saying a word. You silently follow her order and arrive at an empty classroom. Nina closes the door and covers the little window on the door! So secretive! Ehm… You were too busy looking at her ass to notice her slight annoyance…

She creates one of her silent zones inside the room, then sighs.
“We don’t have much time, so answer me quickly: Johnny, why are you here? Do you really feel okay? Weren’t you supposed to be recovering at your apartment?” Nina seems genuinely worried for your well-being. “I really couldn’t believe Matilda when she told me you were here.”
“Wait… When did she?”
She holds a hand up. “Don’t dodge the question. Also sit down, I don’t want you to get tired.”
She goes for a chair, but you motion her to stop.
“Sorry, I was kind of worried about my attendance record.” You give her a smile.

The joke and the smile go right past her! “Johnny, I told you not to worry about that. I changed the records beforehand. I mentioned it in one of my texts, remember? Do you even read my texts…?” Nina’s gloominess grows. You quickly check your phone and… see absolutely nothing, just stuff from almost everyone else.
“I… Didn’t receive them…?” What the hell? You look back up at Nina. “You sure you sent them?”
“Of course I did! You think I’m stu—?!” She checks her phone and immediately shuts her mouth. “Oh… I-I’m sorry. I-It seems I ma-made a mistake… Hehe…” Her anger transforms into shame.

“Haha!” You genuinely laugh, feeling relieved that this wasn’t anything remotely serious.
“You sure you’re feeling okay?” She changes topics to avoid feeling worse.
“Yep, don’t worry.”
“You didn’t look too good yesterday and I was getting a little worried...” You appreciate that she cares, but she didn’t need to go this far…

>>2820021

“So that’s it?” If there’s no other problems, then you might as well get back to class.
“N-no, I need to inform you that training starts at 7 PM instead of after classes. Neither Henry and I can make it on time, so I asked Matilda to reschedule.”
“Why not text me this?”
“…Because I wanted to see you.” She blushes furiously. Oh jeez, that was super cute.

“...” You are out of words, even though you know exactly what you want to say in an empty room like this. Maybe it’s her acting needy that caught you off-guard…?
Her blushing stops as she glares at you. “Don’t stare at me like that! Get back to classes! I’ll do the same! I’ll see you later!” She storms out of the room, taking the magic zone with her.

Classes went normally from that point on…

In the first break Matilda appeared out of nowhere and demanded lunch. You gave her one of your lunchboxes – this time you came prepared to feed her! She says she requested it early because she was going to be busy later. Training prep?

It’s lunch break! Your bad feeling is still present, but this time with added hunger! Maybe you could spend this meal time with someone?

What do you do?

>Terry wanted to chat, and you want to hear what his deal is. Maybe the bad feeling has something to do with him?
>Read Scalet’s texts, then spend lunchtime with her. Maybe the bad feeling has something to do with her?
>Search for Henry! You need to develop that team bonding with him! And maybe the bad feeling has something to do with him?
>Find Matilda! You could help her with training prep or whatever! Maybe the bad feeling has something to do with her?
>Wander the school by yourself! Try to listen in on conversations between students and the other teachers, see what’s going on.
>Write In.

>>2820027

Information:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/QM91m
Discord: https://discord.gg/AmjbaTR
Archives: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?searchall=do+your+best+quest (Rough Grammar ‘till half of the 9th Thread)
Complete Guide: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-nIx_dvaNCPQ7zLg2BK_ucCyGNM741kAANxqXj7hdDs/edit?usp=sharing


Votes:

Votes are counted until 20 minutes have passed. This rule doesn't apply to the last reply of the day.
Votes that require a dice roll are counted until 10 minutes have passed.

Dice Mechanic

Under Construction! (We will use the old rules if necessary!)

Starting early because I could, but next post might take a while

>>2820027
>Terry wanted to chat, and you want to hear what his deal is. Maybe the bad feeling has something to do with him?
Time to hang with chad

>>2820027
>Read Scalet’s texts, then spend lunchtime with her. Maybe the bad feeling has something to do with her?

This seems important!
Johnny's neglectful attitudes are biting him in the ass, let's try to reconcile that.

Scarlet is important too!

>>2820027
>>Read Scalet’s texts, then spend lunchtime with her. Maybe the bad feeling has something to do with her?

>>2820027
>Read Scalet’s texts, then spend lunchtime with her. Maybe the bad feeling has something to do with her?

is it just me or does there seem to be something up with nina?

>>2820027
Read texts while eating luynch. Terry might show up, or he might not.

>>2820027
>Read Scalet’s texts, then spend lunchtime with her. Maybe the bad feeling has something to do with her?

File: 939.png (69 KB, 512x512)

69 KB PNG

Perhaps you should talk with Scarlet now! She’s usually one of the sources of your perpetual discomfort and facing her should make the feelings of unease go away, right? Besides, she seemed happy to see you. You do like when people are happy to see you, even if sometimes you’re not entirely sure why. But before you do, she mentioned some texts, right? You guess should check on them. It would be more trouble than it’s worth to ignore them since she seemed really intent on your response.

There is a grand mixture of wildly different themes in these texts here; you’re speed reading them so perhaps some information will be lost on you – but the point is that you read them, right? Here is what your digging results are:

-She’s sending you many pics of her posing with different outfits, asking you your opinion about them – she’s not doing a great job showing the outfits honestly, it’s like she’s posing for the sake of it and trying to look nice. She’s always smiling though, you’re not really sure why.

-She also has been showing many pics of dogs from the local shelter, asking which one is the nicer one. Oh right, you almost forgot she wanted to adopt a new one – better not remember about what happened to her first one…

-She’s also asking you what you do in your free time. This is a dangerous topic, but from the way she phrased it in the morning this isn’t what she wanted to talk about.

-She’s asking you out to go see a movie one of these days. If she only knew in what danger the city will be in. Perhaps this is what she wants to talk about? You haven’t been to a theater in awhile.

Welp, that’s all the information you gathered – time to approach your friend, wherever she is. Oh wait, she’s in the classroom and about to leave. You signal her to wait, and she stops mid step, foot hovering over the ground. You take your lunchbox with you and walk over to her

“Are you free now? Want to eat lunch together?” You ask the dog lover.
“Ah?! Really?! You are asking me?” She nearly falls over before remembering to put her other foot down. Scarlet stumbles in front of you, a sudden flurry of nervous motion.
“I guess that’s a no.” Woman, who else could you be asking? She was the one who asked you to talk this morning, anyway. Yeesh. You’re a little offended, if you’re going to be honest with yourself.
“Wa-wa-wait! Of course I’m free!” She’s looking bubbly. Oh, you guess she did want to see you. Huh. Wonder why she’s acting so weird...

File: 940.png (78 KB, 512x512)

78 KB PNG

>>2820542

“Scarlet, are you coming or what?” It’s her friend Nia.
“Sammy! I…! Do you mind if Johnny goes too?”
“Uh… No? Just move.” Sammy quickly scans her eyes over you then sighs. What, you’re looking just fine! Your shirt’s even clean today! The judging look digs under your skin, not like you aren’t used to it from people in your school by now. It just sets you further on edge than you already were. Better call her Sammy than Nia, ‘cause this girl is nothing like your Nina - she never looked down on you, right? Anyway, what an annoying looking twat.
“And you?” Scarlet asks you. She’s practically bouncing where she stands, hopeful eyes looking directly at you.

You shrug. You already said you wanted to go, you don’t get why she asked you again.
“Yay~!” Scarlet excitedly leaps, fist pointed towards the ceiling. “Let’s go!” She grabs your arm and pulls it into her chest before dragging you along. You catch sight of Sammy rolling her eyes before following behind, the bitch. What, it’s not like you’re paying attention to the soft pressure on your arm, or the way they moved when Scarlet jumped!

Somehow you find yourself sitting in the school cafeteria with a bunch of bitchy looking girls. Scarlet introduced you and all, but they don’t seem to care all that much, the feelings is mutual though. Their sidelong stares and giggling whispers are like a fork being dragged along a chalkboard to your ears. They’re just like all the other assholes in this school, and you never gave a fuck about what they had to say about you. You’re doing your best, dammit, trying to save the world and figure out what your bad feeling is about. These girls don’t know you, and you’re glad to ignore the table and focus on your lunch. And Scarlet keeps staring at you, not even touching her food. Does she want something?

She has a small smile, the same one she had in all the pictures of her in cute clothes. The only thing that kept you from leaving the table is her positively glowing face. She really does seem happy to see you.

Eventually the other group abruptly stands to go their way, crossing the room towards a bunch of assface jocks and leaving you with Scarlet and Sammy. That was awkward.

“’We need to spend time with our boyfriends’, what annoying bunch of assfaces.” Sammy is rude. Why didn’t they bring them with them? You look up at her, confused. At least the atmosphere is better, you can actually talk now.
“Hehe… Please ignore her, she’s not having a good week...” Scarlet smiles at you, apologetically you think? It’s not her fault her friend is whining.
“Yeah, I’m cranky… My bad…” Sammy flicks a fork in her hand, a few pellets of rice scattering over the table. She doesn’t react to the mess she’s made, instead she looks somewhere across the cafeteria. How weird.

>>2820546

“So you read my texts, right?” Scarlet broaches the conversation that’s been looming between the two of you. You can’t say you’ve really been thinking about it, but you guess you did actually spend time reading all her texts a couple minutes ago.

What do you respond?

>“Yeah, about those dogs, right?”
>“Yeah, nice outfits, I guess…”
>“Yeah, you want to go to the movies, right?”
>“No, I didn’t. What do you want to show me?”
>Write In.

>>2820551
>“Yeah, nice outfits, I guess…”
>“Yeah, you want to go to the movies, right?”

These flow into each other pretty well, I think. We really haven't seen Scarlet in awhile, huh?

>>2820551
>“Yeah, about those dogs, right?”

>>2820546
I suggest we let her know we have a girl friend.
In a way that doesn't seem like we're shits.

>>2820551
>“Yeah, nice outfits”
>“Yeah, you want to go to the movies, right?”

>>2820551
>“Yeah, nice outfits”
>“Yeah, you want to go to the movies, right?”

Nina was being really weird earlier, so having a normal relaxing hangout could actually do Johnny a lot of good

>>2820600
Maybe we can ask Nia for help letting her know this.

>>2820551
>“Yeah, nice outfits”
>“Yeah, you want to go to the movies, right?”

>>2820600
>>2820616
Please, for the love of god this. I'm tired of us leading this poor girl on.

File: 941.png (101 KB, 512x512)

101 KB PNG

“Yeah, nice outfits.” You give her a thumbs up.
“Tha-tha-thanks!” Scarlet is beyond red.
“Daaaamn, this girl is thirsty!” Sammy smirks as she talks to herself, knowing full well you can hear her. You decide to ignore her comment since Scarlet doesn’t seem to have heard it.

“Whi-which one was your favorite? Now that I think of it, ma-maybe we could go shopping together like that one time! Y-you could pick me an outfit for me too.” She’s nervous enough to revert back to her lisp.
“I thought you wanted to go to the movies.”
“Ye-yeah!” Scarlet nods. Sammy can’t take it anymore and grabs Scarlet’s arm. She looks deep into her eyes.

“Calm down. You got this…” Sammy whispers, but you can still hear her no problem. Is this intentional?!
Scarlet nods to her friend then takes a deep breath, turns, and continues talking to you as if nothing happened. That was not subtle at all!

“Do you want to see a movie together?” Scarlet asks with no stutter whatsoever. Props to her for calming herself down after that. She’s definitely gotten better since the ice cream incident.
“I can’t. I’m busy after classes.”
Scarlet’s tone gets a little less hopeful. “Maybe we can go this weekend…?”
“Busy too.” You shake your head. This sucks, but your schedule is what it is.

Scarlet bolts right up in her seat. “W-wait, I know a theater that closes late! You’ll have to take care of me though. Who knows what dangers we could come across?” Scarlet winks and boldly grabs your arm. She’s acting playful; good for her!
“Hold on. Is it one of those theaters…?” Sammy looks at Scarlet with open disgust. The naïve girl doesn’t seem to understand. Neither do you.
“No, this is an indie one. They have a bunch of weird flicks and horror movies and other cool ones!” Scarlet explains. Sammy turns to you and gives you a stern, knowing glance.

“You know what I mean right? If it is one of those, get my girl out of there...” Hey, she can be worried about someone else than herself. What a twist! Maybe she knows by experience? She certainly looks like the type.
“Right, don’t worry.” You nod assertively. You’re good at this ‘protecting people’ thing everybody relies on you for. You’re not exactly sure what sort of theater she’s talking about, but you’ll know it when you see it! Hopefully…
“If you accept anyway, I mean.” Nia shrugs and goes back to people watching. Weird.

File: 942.png (71 KB, 512x512)

71 KB PNG

>>2820827

“Yeah, let me think this through…”
“Y-You don’t need to make a decision now. B-But keep it in mind!” Scarlet desperately doesn’t want to hear a no. “Text me later! Also, tell me which outfit you like! Oh, a-and don’t forget about Terry!”
“What, are you leaving?”
“Yes, we are. I need her with me for... uh… something…” Nia grabs Scarlet and the two of them leave quickly, giggling and chatting with each other, looking way happier than before. Strange, lunchtime is almost over. Where could they be going? Oh well, you’ll probably find out later.

After lunch, classes pass by way faster than usual – you wish it was always like this. Anyway, it’s time for you to go, even though you have two and a half hours to kill before training…

Suddenly, while you’re still in your classroom packing up your stuff, Terry materializes out of nowhere! “Are you sure we can’t talk right now? I saw you talking with Scarlet earlier. You two and Nia looked like you were having a good time, so I didn’t want to interrupt. It’s not all that important, but…” He trails off, vague as fuck. Maybe it’s that thing related to Scarlet?

How do you respond?

>“Sorry, I’m busy. We’ll talk tomorrow though. I should be free enough then.”
>“Yeah, but let’s keep it brief. I don’t have much time right now.”
>“Yeah sure. I’m not as busy as I thought I was going to be.”
>Write In.

>>2820835
>“Yeah, but let’s keep it brief. I don’t have much time right now.”
> Set a time to go to the movies with Scarlet and text it to her - you can spare a couple hours before shit gets real, and hey it might actually be fun.

>>2820835
>“Yeah sure. I’m not as busy as I thought I was going to be.”

>>2820835
>>“Yeah, but let’s keep it brief. I don’t have much time right now.”
Also
>"Can you try to be a little nicer to scarlet?"?

>>2820835
>“Yeah, but let’s keep it brief. I don’t have much time right now.”

>>2820909
Supporting

File: 943.png (75 KB, 512x512)

75 KB PNG

“Yeah, but let’s keep it brief. I don’t have much time right now.”
“Oh, that’s great; I don’t want to waste your time. Let’s go to the cafeteria, I need to buy a drink.”
“Sure…” Isn’t that exactly what time wasting is? You follow him anyway.

Usually the cafeteria stays open until the clubs’ activities cease, so some people stay here chatting after classes. Plenty of empty tables and chairs makes it a good gathering place. Terry buys the cheapest juice box on the menu, you two sit at a table a good distance out of earshot of any other students or leftover teachers, and start talking…

“This juice is pretty good.” Terry says as he slowly takes a sip.
“Looks like piss with water to me though.” You reply bluntly, making Terry do a spit-take and laugh – thankfully in another direction and not anywhere close to you.
“I wasn’t expecting that, haha!” He takes a napkin from his pocket and cleans the mess. “Sorry about that.”

“So what did you want to talk about? Scarlet? It’s usually about her. Also, can you try to be a little nicer to her? You’re kind of an ass where she’s concerned.”
He gives you a look you can’t quite figure out. “If I was any nicer to her, I’d probably be her slave. But in all seriousness, I’m trying. I wasn’t all that interested in talking about her today, but since you’re the one who brought it up – I want to thank you.”
Wait what? “Thank me? For what?”

He leans back in his chair and tips his juice box, motioning to you. “You’re making her happy again. She’s in such a good mood she's treating me like a human being again. She even bought me a new bike.”
“A bike?” Right, his old one was a piece of junk with wheels.
“Yeah, maybe all the money she took from me amassed to pay for that. She’s reminding me more and more about how she used to be, but better.” He raises his juice box into the air, toasting you.

“Why did you even think I’m responsible for that? She did it all on her own, didn’t she?” He’s giving you too much credit, come on!
“It’s obvious to me, dude. You’ve been a positive influence on her. It’s even reaching her friend too. But…”
Oh boy. You were expecting something like this. “But…?”

“I think you are in grave danger. You know her, you’ve seen how she gets sometimes – and if you ever need help, call me.” His voice becomes grave and serious. Almost like how he was back when he told you his ‘tragic backstory’, though it was more tragic for Scarlet than for him.

“You always talk about her like she’s some type of demon.” The irony of you having a real demon entity thing as a close ally is not lost on you as you say this.
“In a way, she’s both a demon and an angel…”
You scoff at him. “That sounds corny as hell.”
“That’s something I need to work on.” He seems deep in thought.

>>2821051

What do you say now?

>“Is she… really in love with me? Or am I just being paranoid?”
>“Any tips on how to break a hard truth to her gently?”
>“Do you like her? Don’t give me vague nonanswers or stuff. Yes or no.”
>“So what else do you want to talk about? I still have some time.”
>Write In.

>>2821057
>“So what else do you want to talk about? I still have some time.”

Let's not pull a despicable Osgood move guys. We gotta talk to Scarlet ourselves, and actually come to understand where she's coming from.

>>2821057
>“Do you like her? Don’t give me vague nonanswers or stuff. Yes or no.”
>“So what else do you want to talk about? I still have some time.”
Basically what >>2821060 said

>>2821057
>>Write In.
She apparently has a crush on me, do you have any idea how to let her down gently?
>>2821064
This too

>>2821057
>>“So what else do you want to talk about? I still have some time.”

File: 944.png (89 KB, 512x512)

89 KB PNG

“Do you like her? Don’t give me vague non-answers or stuff. Yes or no.”
“Can’t I at least justify my answer…?” He seems uncomfortable.
“First respond: yes or no.”
He shoots you a glare. “It should be obvious enough that I don’t like her.” Oh snap! You expected something different!

“Oh…”
“Yeah. I mean she had a great figure, though not anymore. And yes I find her face pretty, and she has a really nice ass I can’t deny, but I still can’t see her as anything but like my little sister.” He sounds as if he’s trying to stay nonchalant about it, like he once liked her. Maybe he still does deep down…? Either way, it’s his issue, not yours. “Why are you asking?” He suddenly pushes his chair back away from you and the table, and his eyes widen disturbingly quick. “Oh god, don’t tell me…?!”
“I was just curious since you were always worried about her.” You say in a truthful deadpan.

He visibly relaxes and moves his chair back to the table. “Oh. Okay. I see. We do have a strange relationship, yeah…” He’s back to his usual self!
You just blink at this. “Oh right, what else did you want to talk about? I still have some time.”
He breathes in, all business. “Right, I still need to punish Scarlet – and I need your help. Not in the way you think though! You see, Scarlet and I agreed that whatever punishment would be dealt, you should approve it first. She really trusts you, you know?”

“I don’t like where this is going.” So he only accepted because that would put the blame on you and not him.
Fan-fucking-tastic.


He gives you a carefree smile. “Don’t worry, because I do! I know you were kind of against the idea of her posing nude, but I came up with a good list of ideas now.”
“Li-list?” You stutter a little, caught off-guard.
“Mhm. I’ll send them by text later tonight, I want you to think this over. Only delete the ones you don’t approve of, alright?”
“I feel like you two are giving me way too much responsibility about something petty like a bet…” You shake your head, but spot someone walking up to your table in the process!

“Heyo, boss!” It’s Henry! And he’s interrupting your conversation. You don’t know whether to be relieved or annoyed.
“We’re finally here. What do you need help for?” It’s… a small man with a topknot? Wait, he looks awfully familiar…
Terry gets up and gives the guy a big smile. “Soh! You didn’t need to search for me, I was just about to find you guys.” He turns to you. “Johnny, we can continue this conversation later, yeah?”
“What were you two talking about?” Soh seems curious. His name feels like you’ve heard it before…

“Girls, of course.” Terry has no chill.
Henry starts grinning widely. “I’m interested.”
“Hey you two, we aren’t here for that.” Soh stops everyone in their tracks.

>>2821224

“Chill, we can do both.” Henry tells the small man, then he looks back at you again. “Right boss?”

What do you do?

>Leave. You don’t have the time to hang out with them!
>“Sure, why not? What were you going to do anyway?”
>Write In.

>>2821227
>In 10 words or less, tell me what you want.

>>2821227
>>In 10 words or less, tell me what you want

>>2821227
... I'm finding Terry very, uh. Discomforting. REALLY on this "punish Scarlet" train.

Some capacity of
> Leave
please

>>2821279
Meh, he just wants good on his bet.

>>2821227
>In 10 words or less, tell me what you want.

>>2821288
A dedicated, original list of punishments is a bit far honestly. I guess we'll just have to wait and see, this is a lifetime of petty build up bitterness. Plus, betraying Scarlet's trust like, /massively/.

Osgood was at least a coward who unintentionally hurt the girls around him. This... this feels malicious in intent. Kinda niggles my skin.

File: 945.png (104 KB, 512x512)

104 KB PNG

You don’t have time to play 20 Questions! “In 10 words or less, tell me exactly what you want.”
“Help clean up the art club’s room.” Terry says very quickly, matching your expectations. Good.
“We gotta what?!” Henry yells out in dismay, drawing glances from the nearby tables.

“Wait, aren’t you that guy from a week back? Johnny, was it? You look so different!” Soh interrupts the moment.
“Hey, nice seeing you too!” Now you remember! He’s the guy from the student council who gave you the lead on Trent after Blake died! He was also part of Henry’s story, getting his shit smacked by that PE Teacher! And he’s also friends with Matilda!
“Thank goodness! I thought you died like the rest!” How can anyone forget the Megane Killer Saga?
“Wait, the others died?!” Holy shit! Your fellow glasses-wearing brothers actually died?!

“I mean, they got beat up by Trent… Which might as well feel like dying, you know?”
“A terrible fate, yeah.” You know full well what that feels like. Rest in peace, you beautiful bastards.

“Wait, what happened?” Now Terry is confused.
“It’s a long story.” You shrug. It really is a long story, and one you don’t have the time to tell.
“Is it?” Now Terry is concerned.
Gee, everybody around you is confused and concerned lately, aren’t they?

“Doesn’t matter! Weren’t we going to talk about girls?” Henry sits next to you and elbows you, recovered from his shock.
“No. We’re going to clean up the art club’s room. Remember you’re only here because they changed your detention to this - and I'm responsible for you.” Soh stops Henry, folding his arms and looking sternly down at him.
“I thought we were friends!” Henry lives betrayal yet again!
“I am trying to help you, Henry…” Soh facepalms. "You know this is less time-consuming and more useful than sitting idle for hours."

“You up for it or not, Johnny? It’s just moving some things and throwing out some trash.” Terry says. He pauses for a good few seconds, then sighs. “…And yes, we’re going to talk about girls too.”

Are you up for it?

>Yes.
>No.
>Write In.

>>2821392
>Yes.

>>2821392
>No.
We have so much other things to do. They have like three people working on this, they don't need us to be a fourth.

>>2821392
>>No.
>>Write In.
I have a previous engagement

File: 946.png (59 KB, 512x512)

59 KB PNG

“Uh… I’ll pass. I have a previous engagement.” You shrug. There is no malice in your statement. Just the facts.
Terry nods. “Yeah, you did say you were busy. Guess we’ll leave the girl talk for another time.”
“Boss, you’re always busy…” Henry is understandably disappointed.
“Cheer up, man. Those boxes are waiting for us.” Soh makes fun of Henry, who glares back.

“I’ll see you tomorrow Johnny.” Terry waves off and the other two follow behind.
“See ya later!” Henry says goodbye with optimism on his face for some reason. Soh just looks back at you, then keeps going with the others.

These relaxing exchanges make you wonder if you forgot something important that should be happening… Time will tell, you suppose.

Now you need to make a decision on what to do. Training time is coming close, maybe you should head back home to prepare. You do have some stuff here to do if you want to spend some more time here…

What do you do? (Pick two that don’t conflict.)


>Go back home and fully prepare! The suffering awaits you, but so do the GAINS!
>Search for Nina! She was acting weird before. Maybe she’s still around here?
>Determine the best day to take Scarlet to the movies and inform her through text!
>Walk around the school until time is up. A nice walk could do you some good!
>Just go to the ex-abandoned house and wait for the others. You have the key, remember?
>Go buy a Sparks of Luck booster pack! You know a store that sells those near here.
>Write In.

>>2821487
>Go buy a Sparks of Luck booster pack! You know a store that sells those near here.
>Determine the best day to take Scarlet to the movies and inform her through text!

>>2821487
>Determine the best day to take Scarlet to the movies and inform her through text!
>Walk around the school until time is up. A nice walk could do you some good!

Random encounter maybe? Yes please

>>2821487
>Determine the best day to take Scarlet to the movies and inform her through text!
>Walk around the school until time is up. A nice walk could do you some good!

>>2821487
>Determine the best day to take Scarlet to the movies and inform her through text!
>Go back home and fully prepare! The suffering awaits you, but so do the GAINS!

File: 947.png (148 KB, 512x512)

148 KB PNG

Well you have some time free, not enough to do anything special – but enough to plan the week out. Maybe you could determine the best day to take Scarlet to the movies. You look through the pictures that Scarlet sent you once more (your phone screen was already there from when you were reading her messages), thinking...Hmm… She talked about a movie theater that closes late, maybe you should look it up. You've never heard of one and she was who talked about the place anyway, so you send her a text.

Woah, she answered immediately, a bit too quick! She wrote she’s searching the place’s name. Well there it is, ‘Westend Theater’! Seems like it’s pretty close to home, you just need to take a bus near the park. That neighborhood is pretty dull if you recall correctly. It should be safe. Like it matters, you have Philonune with you…

Anyway, it could be any day since you are planning to go after training, but Scarlet is the type of girl who likes to look pretty, so she needs some time to prepare. It can’t be today, but tomorrow should be plausible.

You inform her immediately, you can feel her enthusiasm through the text… Reminding you of the bubbly attitude Nariko had when you invite her to the museum. You two arranged everything for tomorrow’s meeting: Everything is set now!

Hey… You got some messages from Nina, maybe she forgot to say something before? She was acting kind of weird. You give them a quick glance:

Her texts at the start ask you how you are feeling yet again, before slowly turning into questions about young people relationships. It’s like one big text that keeps developing its own train of thought. It seems like she read somewhere about how common it is for couples to send sexy pics to each other and wondered if you were into that.

The last one was sent before lunch… You respond to her that you aren’t all that interested and if she’s okay. Unlike with Scarlet, no response, weird...

File: 948.png (90 KB, 512x512)

90 KB PNG

>>2821765

Honestly, you are not used to texting at all. For years nobody even bothered to contact you that way, usually people just call you. Perhaps you should inform her of that…? I mean, you are busy just paying attention to any call or text from Amelia anyway, Nina would understand when you explain it to her.

Without thinking it, you were walking around the school while texting. Perhaps you’re aching for a random encounter of sorts. And in some way your efforts are rewarded…

“You…” A strange kid you've never seen before says. “I knew you eventually were going to get rid of me…” The creepy looking kid points at you. He seems somewhat familiar.
“Who are you again?”
“I-I-It’s me!”
“Hi, it’s me, I’m Johnny.”

“Fuck you! You really don't remember me...?! So this is a weird coincidence. I’m leaving…” The man baby leaves. Wait, you know him! He is seven-w-one-five-seven: TWIST! Wait no, Twist had a hat! This is Howie Dewitt…!

What do you do?

>Make Philonune trip him before leaving.
>Leave.
>Leave and call Nina.
>Confront him.
>Write In.


(Sorry for the big delay! Last reply of the day, we continue tomorrow and thanks for playing!)

>>2821767
>Make Philonune trip him before leaving.

>>2821767
>Confront him

YOU!

.. I don't remember who you are or anything, but I KNOW you're up to no good! Right?

>>2821767
>>Confront him.

>>2821767
>Confront him

>>2821767
>Leave

Anything involving this guy ends up biting us in the ass. Screw dealing with him.

>>2821767
>Confront
>YOU! I remember now! You owe me twenty bucks you shit!- wait no he died in that arcade explosion. Man now I feel bad, he was a decent guy.........who are you again?

File: 949.png (89 KB, 512x512)

89 KB PNG

“YOU! I remember now! …You owe me twenty bucks you little shit!”
No, wait. You have the wrong guy. The one who owed you was a lot more smug and a lot less edgy than whoever this guy is.
“Wait, no, that guy died in that arcade explosion. Man, now I feel bad, he was an okay guy… Kind of an asshole, but okay.” Rest in peace, Wilvy.
Enough reminiscing! You have to focus on what’s in front of you. “…I don’t even remember who you are or anything, but I just know you’re up to no good!”

Howie’s eyelid twitches, face contorted in a cringe. “…What are you even babbling about at this point?! And why the hell should I tell ya?”
You point right at him! “That only makes you more suspicious! Now spill the beans, or else…” You take a few slow steps towards him. He takes a few steps back, but it doesn’t seem like he’s gonna run.
He suddenly gives you an annoying smirk. “O-Or else what? You don’t have the guts…” What?! You’re level 4 courage! Of course you can beat this wimp!

You simply glare at him.
“LOOK! I can see that brown gyaru girl’s panties from here! Red and green, really?! Have some better taste!” He points behind you.
“…That won’t work on me, moron.” You adjust your glasses. You have a girlfriend that's way better than any of the dull girls in this school! She definitely has better underwear than them too!

“HEY! Wh-Who said th-that?! And the fuck’s a gyaru?!” An embarrassed girl yells from somewhere a ways behind you! Sounds like Sammy…

Howie had no other option but to turn and run! He’s faster than you expected, but then again he is a skilled coward. You can catch up to him no problem – but perhaps you should just follow him to his hideout? You have enough of an athletic base that this chase would be a non-issue. The only problem would be tailing him through the afternoon crowds of people.

What do you do?! Think fast!

>Leave him be.
>Follow him at a distance.
>Just catch him!
>Write In.

>>2822981
>Have Phil throw Ando towards literal who

>>2822981
Backing >>2823001, but making it look like we just did a running jump at him would be better for any onlookers.

>>2822981
>>Leave him be.

>>2822981
>>Leave him be.

>>2822981
>Leave him be.

No real reason to fuck with him

File: 950.png (102 KB, 512x512)

102 KB PNG

“That guy did.” You turn to respond to the girl yelling behind you, pointing at Howie’s back. You’re not going to bother with going after him now. Oh it was Sammy, and she’s with some friends.
“Somebody stop him! He’s a pervert!” Sammy and company start chasing the edgy kid, and some white knights start chasing him too. Poor bastard.

Sammy didn’t even notice you were the one to reveal this information. One of the few good perks of being mildly forgettable. You should leave this place and get ready for training…

And so you eventually arrived a little late to training, by just a few minutes though. Kind of excusable. The renovations on the old abandoned house are done, and the place no longer looks like a giant safety hazard! You wouldn’t mind living in a place like this if your apartment wasn’t enough for you. Matilda, Amelia and Osgood are already here.

“Sorry for being late.” You apologize as you enter.
Matilda cracks her knuckles. “Good, you’re finally here. Time for your special training.” Wasn’t it optional?! “Osgood will supervise the others while I work with you.” You can feel Matilda’s stoic excitement behind her mask of professional indifference!

“Johnny!” Amelia gets closer as her smile starts to shine. She hugs you tight and you hug her back.
You take this opportunity to whisper to her. “Did something happen with you-know-who?”
“Seems his special meeting ended up needing a sleepover at the office for the whole week…” She whispers back excitedly. You have a bad feeling about this, perhaps you should go on the offensive and see him yourself – at least before it gets dangerous?

“You two stop being secretive! It’s not the time for that!” Matilda yells at you both.
Osgood waves at you from his spot on the wall. “Bradford’s not coming today by the way. It was way worse than we thought: he ended up with a broken toe on his foot. Fatso probably never ran a mile before in his life.” This earns him something close to a pout from Matilda. You barely hear her grumbling. “…I wanted to say that…”

“Maybe your training is a little… extreme?” Amelia comments like she’s having a PTSD episode.
Matilda looks down for a brief moment, then shakes her head at Amelia resolutely. “Perhaps, but his injury had nothing to do with it. We were doing a morning jog. This is his ineptitude at fault, not my standards.”
“Who cares? It's better he injured himself now than later, when it matters.” Osgood tries to be more positive. You’re not sure if it’s helping or not.

File: 951.png (84 KB, 512x512)

84 KB PNG

>>2823368

“Come with me Johnny, we’re going to have some fun…” Matilda gives you an almost longing look you don’t want to understand. She waves at Osgood without looking away from you. “Osgood, remember the instructions I gave you.”
“Yeah yeah…” Osgood feels somewhat pressured.

You, Matilda and Amelia start jogging around the back garden while Osgood watches from the door. It’s not so bad though. Out of nowhere, Henry walks in.

“My bad guys…” Henry apologizes as he joins the group, watching you guys do your laps.
Matilda grits her teeth. “You are more than half an hour late. What’s your excuse?”
“I-I was helping the student council with some random shit…” Henry starts looking around. “Is Ms. Uccelli not here? I didn’t find her at school.”

“That lazy excuse for a teacher…” Matilda is getting angrier by the second.
“Maybe she’s really busy doing something!” Amelia backs your girlfriend for some reason.
“…Or maybe something happened to her. I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t have any messages from her.” Osgood takes his phone out to check. Everyone does the same, but nothing.

“Wait, I got something!” Amelia yells at the group, still doing her laps. “She said she’s busy… It’s in the team chat!” Why are you checking your phone in the middle of running, Ame?!
Matilda sighs. “Well, there is no issue then. Let’s continue with our training.”
“I don’t know, I’m a little worried.” You’re super worried! What do you mean ‘a little’?!
You feel Matilda suddenly grab your arm tight and start dragging you inside the house. “Check on her after training. I told you I don’t tolerate insubordination.”

What do you do?

>Train first then call your girlfriend! You need to train for the sake of the world! But mostly yourself!
>Ignore Matilda and check on your girlfriend. A quick call isn’t the end of the world! (That comes later!)
>Ignore this altogether and leave to Nina’s apartment. She probably won’t do anything drastic or stupid, but…
>Write In.

>>2823375
>Train first then call your girlfriend! You need to train for the sake of the world! But mostly yourself!
She's probably just doing some more research on how teenagers date or something, no need to blow off training and GAINZ when a call afterwards will suffice.

>>2823375
>Train first then call your girlfriend! You need to train for the sake of the world! But mostly yourself!

>>2823375
>Ignore Matilda and check on your girlfriend. A quick call isn’t the end of the world! (That comes later!)
We had a bad feeling earlier!

>>2823375
>Train first then call your girlfriend! You need to train for the sake of the world! But mostly yourself!

>>2822981
>“YOU! I remember now! …You owe me twenty bucks you little shit!”
>No, wait. You have the wrong guy. The one who owed you was a lot more smug and a lot less edgy than whoever this guy is.
>“Wait, no, that guy died in that arcade explosion. Man, now I feel bad, he was an okay guy… Kind of an asshole, but okay.” Rest in peace, Wilvy.
>my write in made it in
nice

>>2823375
>Train first then call your girlfriend! You need to train for the sake of the world! But mostly yourself!

File: 952.png (145 KB, 512x512)

145 KB PNG

“Right, sorry. I lost focus.” You apologize. Nina’s issues can wait, you hope.
Matilda gives you a little smirk as she continues to drag you inside.
“Wait, where are we going…?”
“The weight room, of course. We need some equipment! You’re going to show me what your body is capable of!” There she goes with her innuendoes… There’s no way this isn’t intentional anymore, right?

---

Oh god, this is worse than you thought it would be! The human body is not capable of such feats! There must be some type of mistake, or the Spice way of training should have died with her grandfather! This is designed to destroy the human body more than develop it! It’s almost like crossfit – but actually useful and less dumb…! The pain train rages on as you start to reconsider all your life choices…

Somehow, you survive. That nets you 5 Athletic Points, getting you close to leveling up.

“Hmm…?” Matilda is taking a good look at you. Her eyes are shining.
“Damn… This…” You hold onto the wall next to you.
“You’re still standing up…”
“So what…?” Your legs are trembling, but you refuse to fall!

You can feel and see Matilda containing her smile, a genuine one – one you have never seen before and probably never will, since she keeps hiding it. “Hehe… I’m hopeful for the future.”
“So… I did… good…?”
“I would say I’m proud, but let’s not exaggerate. This is merely the beginning. For someone who’s going to beat Flint in the near future, you still need to do better. Perhaps you have a quarter of the talent I have, and I’ll have you know that’s a generous estimate.” She talks like an accountant giving you financial advice!

“W-whatever… That’s it, isn’t it?” You slowly walk towards the door as you question her. Every step gives you more momentum to continue walking further, ignoring the pain.
“You’re walking too! Fascinating.” Matilda is lost in her enthusiasm.

You shuffle out of the room with a spellbound Matilda, and go back to the back garden.

“So it wasn’t as bad as you thought?” Osgood is checking his timer as the other two keep exercising.
“It was… worse…” You respond between your breaths.
Osgood pokes you in the shoulder. “…You think I could call in sick when it’s my turn?” He sniggers while the bones in your arm cry out for mercy.
“Didn’t you learn your lesson yesterday, Osgood?” Matilda appears behind Osgood and grabs his shoulder, leaning in. You feel a menacing aura from her, but that could just be your almost-broken body giving you mixed signals.

File: 953.png (76 KB, 512x512)

76 KB PNG

>>2823909

“E-e-ehem… Time’s up, guys! That’s all for today!” Osgood yells out to the running duo.
“Uff… That wasn’t bad at all!” Henry is all smiles and high spirits. He’s drenched in sweat but his breathing is still good, unlike yours.
“Bring me to Johnny… I want to see my dear brother… one last time…” Amelia is dying. Again.

“A bit late to say, but you all should have had a medical checkup before getting into this. I don’t think what is happening to Amelia is normal.” Matilda tells everyone in a bland voice.
You start walking over to your melodramatic sister. “She’s just exaggerating…” You easily pick her up, ignoring the aching all over you. You leave her inside.

“Let me guess, we’re going to leave you guys’ story for tomorrow?” Henry grumbles as everyone is inside the house now. You turn your head to him, your neck bones creaking in the process. “I mean, we can’t do it without Nina. The whole point is to build trust.”
“It’s her responsibility to come here. We shouldn’t bend over backwards for people who aren’t interested.” Matilda is stone cold.

“Bradford ain’t here either. Tomorrow I’ll drag him up here and we can continue the sadness session if you want.” Osgood chimes in.
“I’m sorry…” Amelia apologizes, but it feels more like she’s talking to someone else – maybe a hallucination.
Osgood taps his foot and folds his arms. “Alright fine. Can we just get a move on?” He beckons everyone over to the front door.

“Hold on man. I know it’s late and shit, but let us catch a break first…” Henry calms the supposedly handsome guy.
Osgood blinks a few times. “…Right, sorry.”
“You should join them next time, so you understand their pain.” Matilda teases.
“I-I’m fine… I think I know a thing or two about breaking some bones for you guys.” He raises the arm that he broke back in Lise’s house, in a cheerful thumbs-up.

You head to the front door passing by Osgood, then turn around. “While you guys rest, I’ll make a call. I want to check on Uccelli.”
“Go ahead…” Osgood pats you on the other shoulder and saunters over to the house’s kitchen. You grit your teeth with your mouth closed so no one sees.

You open the door and head out to the streetside to give your girlfriend a call. Nobody should be able to hear you from here except random passerby, but it doesn’t hurt to be careful. It took you three attempts for her to pick up.

“Hello…?” It’s Nina’s voice! She probably didn’t read you were the one calling.
“Hey it’s me. How are you doing?”
“Johnny? What’s wrong?” Nina is concerned. Again. Probably hearing how ragged your voice is after the hell Matilda put you through. “I’m kind of busy right now…”

>>2823922

How do you respond?

>“When can I call you? We need to talk, and I’d rather not put it off to too much later.”
>“Are you really busy, or you just don’t want to talk? You know I’m here for you, right?”
>“This won’t take much time! Just tell me if you’re okay or not. I’m worried for you.”
>“What’s up with the messages? You’ve been acting kinda weird lately. Is something wrong?”
>Write In.

+5 Athletic Points.

>>2823923
>“This won’t take much time! Just tell me if you’re okay or not.
"We weren't sure if something came up with you or not, y'know?"

>>2823923
>“What’s up with the messages? You’ve been acting kinda weird lately. Is something wrong?”

>>2823922
>>Write in
You *wheeze* missed *cough* one hell *gasp* of a workout.

>>2823923
>“What’s up with the messages? You’ve been acting kinda weird lately. Is something wrong?”
and >>2823939

File: 954.png (55 KB, 512x512)

55 KB PNG

“You… missed… one hell… of a workout…” The words somehow escape your mouth, only exhaled by your willpower.
“Take it easy! Oh darn, oh darn. Are the others not with you? What are they doing?” She really needs to stop being so worried. “No, I’m sorry I’m not there for you… I know things have been underwhelming for you lately, b-but I’m trying, you know? Besides, today is the only day I…”
She abruptly stops talking.

You take it as a cue to start talking yourself. “Don’t worry about me… I just wanted to know what’s up with the messages. You’ve been acting kinda weird lately, Nina. Is something wrong?”
You hear her sigh on the other side. “Yeah. I mean no… It’s just… It’s just all my fault… I’m just stupid… No. I shouldn’t say this on the phone. Are you busy right now? Can you come over here…”
Another abrupt stop.

“…What I’m saying? You must be going through all kinds of pain. Maybe you – W-wait! Wait!”
Nina appears to be talking to someone else right now. Maybe Carmella? Her words are too faint to make out, but she picks up the phone again after a moment. “I’ll go to your apartment if you don’t mind!”
“I—”
“Wait, I’m an idiot. You’re busy, right? I think we all are…”

How do you respond to your unnecessarily stressed-out girlfriend?

>“You can come over, I don’t mind!”
>“I’ll go to your apartment. Maybe Osgood can do me a solid.”
>“What if we met here at the house… dojo… thing…? You get me?”
>“Aren’t you supposed to be busy? What are you doing?”
>“What are you even talking about…? I’m pretty confused here Nina.”
>“Let’s leave it to another day then. I think I need to go lay down for a bit…”
>Write In.

>>2824135
>“I’ll go to your apartment. Maybe Osgood can do me a solid.”

>>2824135
>“I’ll go to your apartment. Maybe Osgood can do me a solid.”
The hell is going on here, woman?

>>2824135
>>“I’ll go to your apartment. Maybe Osgood can do me a solid.”

>>2824135
>>“I’ll go to your apartment. Maybe Osgood can do me a solid.”

File: 955.png (69 KB, 512x512)

69 KB PNG

“I’ll go to your apartment. Maybe Osgood can do me a solid. Please calm down; I’ll be there in a moment.” Oh god, what happened to her now? She’s been looking very stressed lately, but this is coming too out of the blue for you to not think she’s exaggerating somehow.
“S-sorry! I’ll be waiting for you! I love you!”
“Love ya, bye.” You hang up.

That was especially weird and unsettling. From the bottom of your heart you hope she’s okay. Now you must speed things up so you can get there as fast as humanly possible! And you know just the man for the job!
You open the door and tell Osgood to come outside… Once he does, you both start whispering loudly.

“What’s up?”
“Can you do me a solid and leave me at Uccelli’s apartment? I think something’s wrong with her, but she didn’t want to talk about it on the phone…”
He turns and looks over his shoulder back at the house, then back at you. “You alone? Don’t you need any help? I’m not going to lie, this shit is giving weird vibes.” Oh yeah, Osgood has experience with troubled women. For all the wrong reasons.

“She has a hard time opening up to people, so I think it’ll help if I go in person. Besides, and more importantly, she’s our friend and needs our help.”
“This doesn’t make it any less strange.” He shrugs and nods. “But I guess you know her better than I do, and pretty much everyone here is suicidal.” Osgood rubs his knee remembering his bad memories. “Do you want to keep this a secret to the others or what?”
“I think she will be more comfortable with that, yeah.” Nina gets too embarrassed for you to safely consider letting the others in on this.

“Amelia mentioned she’s living with you now. How are you going to deal with her? I can take everyone home then go for you again, but that isn’t going to make it any less suspicious to your sister.”
He’s right, but there’s an easy way out of that. “I don’t know… She doesn’t need to know it’s about Nina. I’ll just tell her a friend needs some help and I need to go.”
“One; you don’t think she’s going to connect the dots? And two; since when did you call Uccelli by her name?”

“We’re friends!” You adjust your glasses. “ …And it’s for Nina’s sake. I don’t really care if Amelia finds out – it will be on Nina to know how to deal with her, not me.”
“Alright… Okay. Do I wait for you in the car or go with you? I prefer if I go with you. I want to help too, you know?”

>>2824353

What will you decide?

>“Just leave me at her apartment. I know a friend who lives nearby and I can crash there. Don’t worry.” Lie. Lie your ass off for Nina’s sake!
>“I’d prefer if you wait for me in your van. I don’t know how she’ll react to you being there. She doesn’t like when people see her losing her composure.” Understatement, but still true.
>“Yeah, I think it’s fair. But I’ll trust you not to fuck it up.” It’s on Osgood if things go wrong, not on you!
>“You know now that I think about it, I should leave this for another day…” Maybe you can take a bus there…
>Write In.

(Last reply of the day! We continue tomorrow!)

>>2824357
>“You know now that I think about it, I should leave this for another day…” Maybe you can take a bus there…
Sneak in alone! No need to worry the crew

>>2824357
>“Yeah, I think it’s fair. But I’ll trust you not to fuck it up.” It’s on Osgood if things go wrong, not on you!

>>2824357
>>“Just leave me at her apartment. I know a friend who lives nearby and I can crash there. Don’t worry.” Lie. Lie your ass off for Nina’s sake!

>>2824357
>“Just leave me at her apartment. I know a friend who lives nearby and I can crash there. Don’t worry.” Lie. Lie your ass off for Nina’s sake!

>>2824357
>“Just leave me at her apartment. I know a friend who lives nearby and I can crash there. Don’t worry.” Lie. Lie your ass off for Nina’s sake!

File: 956.png (97 KB, 512x512)

97 KB PNG

“Just leave me at her apartment. I know a friend who lives nearby and I can crash there. Don’t worry.” Lying to Osgood is leaving a bad taste in your mouth. Wait no, that’s still the pain.
“It’s your friend named Nina?” Osgood raises an eyebrow while looking smug as all hell.
“No, his name is Terry.” You don’t know why you named him of all people, but you need to continue with this lie.

“Right, let’s wrap things up with the others and get moving.”

And so you went with Osgood’s ideas to not raise suspicion. He left everyone home and then came back for you. You took a shower in the meantime, and told Amelia to take care of dinner for the girls and stuff. Of course none of the girls remained idle (sans Nariko), and asked you a lot of questions about what’s going on – but without going into specifics you told them you needed to help a friend. They begrudgingly accepted your excuse, but you can tell they didn’t buy it…

You’re waiting outside the apartment complex with your trusty bag and some essential stuff just in case. Osgood should get here any moment now.

There he is with his hunk of junk! “C’mon, get in.” Osgood opens the van’s door.
“Thanks…” You go inside. “Sorry for making you do this…”
He starts moving out already. “It’s nothing, really. How did things go with Amelia? Did she believe you?”

“I don’t think so...” Nobody does anymore, really.
“Even if you are a good liar, at some point people will catch you out. Not like you’re doing anything bad, but I’m just saying.” He has experience…
You sigh out. “Duly noted.”

Osgood drives in silence for a minute or two. “…Can I ask you something? Since we’re talking about telling the truth and all…”
“What is it?”
“You’re into her, right? And by her, I mean Uccelli.”
“Of course I am! She’s super cute, not to mention… other things.” You adjust your glasses.

Osgood tries to keep a straight face, but fails. “That explains why you want to go alone.” He can’t hide his smile. “I’m not trying to be mean, but she seems desperate and thirsty enough that I can see a world where something between you two might happen.” You are living in that world right now, Osgood!
You weren’t expecting this much support from Osgood. “I thought you were going to lecture me or something stupid.” If everyone else knew, they might try to talk you out of it. But you won’t. You’re too committed to do otherwise.

File: 957.png (121 KB, 512x512)

121 KB PNG

>>2826523

He takes a few turns before he continues talking. “Not my style. I do think you’re dumb for trying, but I always wanted a friend bold enough to score with his teacher… Now this isn’t the best time to get romantic, with everything we have to deal with soon. Keep that in mind and don’t go overboard.”
“You ran away chasing your fiancée before one of our meetings. You’re telling me not to get romantic?”

Osgood brakes the car for a moment, then continues driving like nothing happened. “Fiancée?! You’re moving faster than her with this crap, goddamn!” You almost gave Osgood a heart attack, and he almost gave you one back by braking so hard in the middle of afternoon traffic. “Also you encouraged me to do it!”
“Are you really placing the blame on me?” You hold your hands out in a shrug. “Besides, didn’t you get to fuck her afterward? You should be thanking me instead of trying to call me out.”
Osgood coughs profusely at this. His face is getting red for obvious reasons. ”Ehm… Yeah. Guess I should, huh?” That’s the spirit!

Oh hey, you’re at Uccelli’s neighborhood already. He’s pretty good with this metal deathtrap on wheels! “Well, we’re here. You know where she lives?”
“No, but she sent me her apartment’s number.” You show him your phone.
“Call me if anything goes wrong. I’ll be in the area dealing with some stuff Dirty Rob needed help with. That’s a story for another time! Just get moving already.” You get out of his car before Osgood says one last thing. “Oh, and tell her to relax.” He gives you a thumbs up.

You two went your separate ways as you walk up to Uccelli’s apartment building.

The lights are on inside, but the curtains are closed. Perhaps you should let her know you’re here? Even if all the signs show you she’s here, maybe she stepped out? The phone call was cryptic enough to give you doubts…

Strangely, you’re feeling extra nervous now – something akin to the bad feeling you had back at school. Something can go seriously wrong if you don’t deal with this appropriately.

How will you go about this?

>Knock on her door like a sensible human being, you animal.
>Call her and let her know you’re here. Watch her curtains too.
>Just take a few minutes outside, looking at the stars… How are they even visible in a city with so much light?! It’s something to marvel about.
>Write In.

>>2826530
>>Call her and let her know you’re here. Watch her curtains too.

>>2826530
>Call her and let her know you’re here. Watch her curtains too.

>>2826530
>Call her and let her know you’re here. Watch her curtains too.

>>2826530
>Knock on her door like a sensible human being, you animal.
Why would we call

File: 958.png (67 KB, 512x512)

67 KB PNG

You decided to call her while paying close attention to her curtains, just in case she peeks out to check if you really are there…

“Johnny…?”
“I’m outside!” You feign enthusiasm.
“R-right!” She hangs up.

She opens the curtains to check outside. You are staring directly at her and she hasn’t noticed you yet. Her hair looks a bit messy and her face a little red, though only her head is showing. You have no idea what she’s wearing. Or if she’s even wearing anything at all.

Nina finally spots you and gets surprised by the fact you are paying close attention to what she’s doing, making her trip and fall down. Whoops…

Eventually she unlocks the front door and opens it enough for you to see her, but not what’s inside. She’s wearing a pajama robe and some slippers, like she just woke up – or like someone having an existential crisis… Couldn’t she wear something better? She knew you were coming. At least it’s making you relax seeing her messy.

“Hi…” Why does she sound so ashamed?
“Are you okay? Was the fall too nasty?”
“Ye-yeah, I’m fine… I’m just being a big idiot… Sorry for making you come here at this hour.” She looks you over. You probably look like shit even after that shower you took. “How are you feeling? You don’t look too good… Training must have been really taxing, knowing Ms. Spice…”

“Yeah, ditto. And I’m good.” The moment you say ‘ditto’, she touches her face… then her hair… then she finally realizes she looks like crap! Her eyes go wide and she spins around in place, but the sudden movement makes her trip again, making one of her slippers fly out the door! You catch it before it reaches the street.

File: 959.png (76 KB, 512x512)

76 KB PNG

>>2826685

“Ouch, ouch, ouch…” She exclaims after eating dust.
The fall pushes the door open wide, letting you see what’s inside.

What.
What the hell…?!

The problem is not what’s inside, but what’s not. The whole place is absolutely barren, with her awful couch, a couple lamps, and a few other things being the sole exceptions! A box is being used as a table with only an empty plate, a newspaper, and a glass of water on it… There are some family photos still hanging on the walls too, but the residence is devoid of any significant furniture. Anything from that one time you were here after being beaten up by Trent is nowhere to be seen…

That’s not the only disturbing thing. Her flame is looking way bigger and unstable than before…
What is going on?!

You help her stand up and kick the door behind you to close it. She quickly moves in for a kiss, but you stop her before she does, as you are trying to grasp the situation.

Nina gives you a desperate look, wringing her hands in distress. “I screwed up…” Her voice breaks a little. Her forehead looks red, probably from tripping twice in a row.

What the fuck is going on?!

>“Were you robbed? Who did this to you?”
>“Are you okay? Let me see your ankle…”
>“Is this why you wanted me to come…?”
>Write In.

>>2826688
>>“Are you okay? Let me see your ankle…”
Have her explain as we examine possible injuries.

>>2826688
Backing >>2826692

>>2826688
Just hug her and ask her to explain what's wrong

>>2826688
>“Are you okay? Let me see your ankle…”

I hope to god you aren't going where I think your going.

>>2826688
>>“Are you okay? Let me see your ankle…”

File: 960.png (93 KB, 512x512)

93 KB PNG

“Are you okay? Let me see your ankle…” You carry her bridal style to her shitty couch. “Explain to me what happened. You have a first aid kit anywhere?”
“No… Not anymore…” She looks guilty, and her ankle looks a little swollen.

“You’re in luck, ‘cause I brought one with me.” With so many random life-threatening fights you get into, Yu Yan suggested at one point for everyone to carry one. So your sister gave you one just in case.
“Y-you know what you are doing?”
“Kinda? I need to compress it, don’t I…?” First aid really isn’t your forte. If you want to avoid dying of blood-loss or other anticlimactic stupid ways, it would be useful to research how this works later.

“Yeah, but you’re not doing a very good job. Give me…” Nina’s trembling hands take the bandages away from you and she does it herself. “See? That’s how you do it. I need some ice now… Could you please?”
“Yeah, one sec.” It seems helping Nina with her injury is helping her calm down a little, as her flame is not going as nuts as it was before.

You go to the kitchen. To your dismay there aren’t a lot of things in here anymore. At least the fridge is here, and you found some ice cubes still inside it alongside one frozen meal… You take the ice cubes and put them in a plastic bag you found around.

You put the ice on her injury as you sit next to her.

“Ouch, ouch, ouch…” Nina can’t contain her pain. She hasn’t gone through the hell training you have.
“Now… can you please explain to me what’s going on?”
“Could you hug me first, please?” She’s already aching for it. You have no other option but to oblige. She’s trembling a little, it’s weird. You start patting the back of her head hoping to relax her. She starts kissing you on the neck and slowly gets lower… but you put a stop to it.

“Nina, what’s going on? You’re really worrying me.” You gently move her away so you can stare in her eyes, without losing bodily contact. You can’t have fun after seeing her like this. Seeing her suffer like this.
“… I screwed up.”
“Yeah, I get that. But you need to elaborate.” You’re not exactly losing your patience, but you need a change in approach. Her flame starts getting bigger and bigger… “No… Calm down… Calm down…” You start patting her head, soothing the flame on her hand.

Suddenly she drops on you! You can feel the weight of her magumbos on you. Oh god, she’s not wearing anything but her underwear under that robe - this is a christian board gosh darn it! You can’t show that! Or maybe your perverted teenage mind is causing you to imagine things! Fuck!

“Kiss me… I just want you to kiss me...” It’s more like she’s begging for it, rather than trying to be sexy...

What do you do?

>Write In.

>>2826848
>Punch her flame with Phil.

>>2826853
This
But what if she switched places with the flame?
Oh well.

>>2826848
>just do her you fag
I think she needs to get her mind off whatever is going on. We can just ask her in the afterglow when she's feeling better.

>>2826848
> "I'm sorry, but, Nina, no."

This is getting.. disturbing.

>>2826848
>Punch her flame with Phil.
Something's going on here.

>>2826848
Hug her close and this>>2826853
If all is well
>>2826860
then we fuck her brains out and cuddle her. You better have some lewd ready if this isn't a trap.

>>2826848
It's beginning to look a lot like NTR

I better be wrong.

>>2827047
Okay, what? That's retarded, its obvious she rented a lot of her shit and the repo men came and collected it.

>>2827047
Seems like she's just getting kicked out or some shit.

>>2827047
Or this>>2827070
Live in girlfriend soon?

File: 961.png (132 KB, 512x512)

132 KB PNG

She’s not acting like herself. Nina would never force herself on you, not after something traumatic like a potential robbery. Wait… her flame! It’s flickering too wildly, too randomly for anything to be okay! Is Icioba controlling her?! They were okay with you getting together with Uccelli, weren’t they? Why would he turn on her like this?
Maybe if you attack the flame with Philonune, you could interrupt whatever is being done to her… Risky, but it’s all you got!

You move her aside as gently as possible, and invoke your partner in a swift motion. The invocation takes her so much by surprise she ends up falling out of the couch, leaving her exposed.

“W-w-what?!” Nina doesn’t understand the danger she’s in! Her flame is going out of control! “W-wait, you think I’m dangerous…?!”
“Nina, calm down! You’ll be fine, I swear!”
“W-what am I doing…?” She puts her hands on her shoulders, clinging to herself. Her voice comes out in a whisper of pure despair. “The only person that loves me… is afraid of me…?”

You feel a horrible churning in your stomach for even considering doing what you’re about to do. Even so, this is for her own good. If you’re right and her entity is fucking with her thoughts and feelings, then you can’t just stand by and let it happen! “Philo, quick! Attack her flame!”
“Aye!” Philonune throws his new weird katana-like spear towards the raging flame on Nina’s hand!

Of course this accomplishes nothing as the weapon passes through it, and ends up carving a hole through the floor like a hot knife through butter. Whoops!

“I’m sorry… Please don’t hurt me… I made a mistake again… I love you, Johnny… please…!” She’s afraid and begging for her life in front of you. Hearing her like this aches your heart beyond any training or beatdown. Her flame is intensifying to a disturbing degree, something akin to what happened to Yukika at the dog meeting…
“No, you idiot! It’s not you! It’s your flame!” You hate hearing her constantly self-deprecate and make herself feel bad for no reason! But it’s not even about that now!

“My… flame…?” She blinks a few times, and finally considers the idea of looking at herself again. The flame is raging and swelling uncontrollably. It has passed Uccelli’s head height already. “Johnny?! What is going on?! Johnny?!”
“Calm down! Calm down!” Because yelling calm down to anyone has worked out so well before, hasn’t it?

File: Spoiler Image (248 KB, 600x512)

248 KB PNG

>>2827150

Suddenly you hear a harsh voice coming from the giant black flickering on Nina’s hand!
“HEHHehhEHHAhhahHAHa…! Finally, her mind is unstable enough for me to assume direct control! Thanks for your help, glass-eyes! Humanity has always been a great ally of mine, and you have done the most out of any!” It’s her partner: Icioba! By the way, who explains all that shit when transforming?!

Uh-oh…

“JOOOHnnyyy—!” Nina cries out one final time as the flame overwhelms the rest of her, to the point you cannot see her through the dense blackness anymore.

She’s transforming the same way Yukika did, but even worse. Icioba engulfs Nina’s body, leaving her unconscious head sticking out of him, hanging limp. He’s absolutely huge, reaching the ceiling easily. In a small apartment like Nina’s, Icioba takes up the whole living room except for a small part you’re in. You can only imagine how larger he’ll get outside of here.

Icioba grins at you. His teeth are far sharper than you remembered them being, and he has a lot more of them than you remembered him having! “You need not fear me for long. I’m actually grateful to you, young one. I’ve been longing to subsume this pathetic vessel for quite some time.” He strokes the cheek of the woman you love with one of his mantis scythe-arms, and the light of one of the lamps shines off the razor-sharp edge inches away from her eyes. “Constant belittling, unrestrained self-loathing, and willingly discarding her drive for survival! A miserable excuse for a parasite!”

“Enabling her infatuation for you was the perfect path to exposing her emotions - leaving her open to ME!!! You honestly thought she would EVER adore someone like you, without MY doing?!”

He starts laughing, and you start feeling a stabbing pain in the back of your head. If nails on a chalkboard were combined with loud bug noises and high-pitched screeching, that would be the closest to what you are hearing right now. It’s a physical relief when he finally stops.
“But enough of this idle chatter. If you do not interfere, human, I’ll ensure you remain unharmed. Now where was that Crystal…? Ah yes, there we go. That black tower…”

In a somewhat comedic fashion, the gigantic bat-mantis-demon monstrosity somehow fits through the front door right past you with a cheerful ”Farewell, human!”, and leaves the apartment without damaging anything! Better than what you did with Philonune, that’s for sure!

>>2827154


Wait, you need to save Nina!

“We need to stop it!” Philonune’s voice sounds both afraid and excited at the same time.
You rush right outside as fast as you can, and see Icioba’s absolutely huge form crawling through the street towards downtown. Towards Ka-Shing Corp. HQ…

Sadly this is all we have for this week’s thread! Thanks for playing!

>>2827157
MOTHER FUCKING BUGS IN MY MOTHERFUCKING GIRLFRIEND! We are tearing that bastard out AND FUCKING EATING HIM!

>>2827167
Fucking this.

>>2827157
>>2827167
Actually, now that I think about it, calling Kashing and telling him our girlfriends flame took over her body and is moving for his building might be useful, trade in our assistance to guard the place and getting THE FUCKING BUG, and this could end well. Considering how that bastard has a bunch of Flames going towards his place he should have some means of getting it out of her, which means he might have a Judge with him.

File: Incoherent-rage.jpg (47 KB, 690x388)

47 KB JPG

>>2827157

>>2827192
Good idea.

>>2827157
All I want to know is: at what point did "attack the ally that is panicking" sound like a good idea to calm them down?

>>2827333
This is the second time that people have decided to be completely retarded for no reason.

>>2827341
I've noticed. I wish I could vote in stuff but my schedule changed and doesn't allow me to post at times when voting would be meaningful, so I just have to sit and watch this mess happen. Fucking christ.

>>2827333
>>2827341
We were attacking the obviously weird flame bullshit going on with reasonable assumptions that its fucking with how she acts, don't compare this to the retardation that was assaulting the shut in. We weren't even attacking Nina, and we told her so, and the assumption of flame bullshit was correct, we had no way to know how it would play out.

>>2827438
Because in the past we totally didn't notice that peoples' flames burn hotter when they get flustered or emotionally unstable, right? Like with the girl in the dog park? Because that happened when we confronted her about shit she didn't want to be publicly discovered.

>>2827460
We know the flame she has is a tricky bastard, on top of her odd behavior, there was likely no way for us to get any information from her on whatever problem she has. Besides the one we have now, and with that thing clawing through her head would easily misconstrue anything we would have said, and MOST IMPORTANTLY got us stuck together mid fuck. Flustered and slightly unstable is NIna's normal, which I will remind you we have been around her and NEVER saw anything like this, so stop being pissy about the vote when that FUCKING BUG was in the process of taking over her mind. As the smarmy little shit so eloquently explained, it was using us as a way into her mind, and now she is unconscious riding inside a giant shadow bug. Bad shit we can predict can happen, but there wasn't really any way for this to go down except be possibly even worse.

>>2827463
This wasn't "slightly unstable." There's also a sliding scale of comforting between "attacking someone" and "fucking them" so don't play it off like we only had 2 options when we were in control of how we would handle it since it was entirely a write-in option. This isn't a Bioware RPG.

Making the best of a bad situation though, you're right: this isn't the worst time something like this could happen. That doesn't make the vote not completely socially inept, but at least now the dense-as-lead Johnny can easily put 2 and 2 together so we don't unknowingly let something like this happen again, or we can manipulate situations to trigger this if we're in such a position.

>>2827157
Man you've been running this for a while
Got an ending planned or what?

>>2827466
>This wasn't "slightly unstable."
No shit, the flame was going ballistic before we even got there, and with no way to tell that it wasn't responsible for her odd behavior we had to act on our knowledge with previous flames that acted like it. The fact we could get her to talk to us meant nothing when we know flames could take control, not trying to do something to it would have been irresponsible on Jonny's part.
If we didn't attack and the FUCKING BUG caught us, or god forbid sense it uses hosts, try to implant a parasite into us while we're fucking. Would you bitch about it then? Stop trying to compare a justified response like this to the two fuckwits that attacked a Shut in.

>>2827558
>we didn't attack and the FUCKING BUG caught us, or god forbid sense it uses hosts, try to implant a parasite into us while we're fucking. Would you bitch about it then? Stop trying to compare a justified response like this to the two fuckwits that attacked a Shut in.
Are on a crack? It's a magical spirit shaped like a bug not a parasitic that can implant it's offspring in you and the flame was going ballistic because nina was mentally unstable and you made it worse by attacking her, which is what gave her flame the opening it needed to take over. You didn't stop shit you made the situation way worse. None of this was justified you just couldnt connect the dots and just reacted to the situation like an idiot. Don't get me wrong, we all make bad choices at times and that's fine, we're not all perfect geniuses that can never be wrong about anything. It's just the fact that you're still defending the actions taken like they were responsible that's annoying. You can't even argue this was an "in hinsight" type situation because we all already should have known enough about flames to get what was going on.

File: 1454446529875.gif (1.99 MB, 300x225)

1.99 MB GIF

>>2827333
>>2827344
>>2827460
>>2827466
>>2827613
>being this utterly buttblasted that we're getting interesting interactions that get people invested into the quest AND make it more exciting
>wanting everything to be absolutely perfect and for nothing to go wrong with anything we do, making the quest absolutely boring
I bet you like to read mind control hypnosis smut """""quests""""" on akun too, you fucking pleb.

>>2827632
deliberately choosing retarded options like "attack mentally unstable teammate" doesn't make for interesting interactions.

>>2827632
What's akun, and where can I read these lewd quests?

File: yes i do.png (195 KB, 512x1536)

195 KB PNG

>>2827469
Yes, yes I do...