BrokenPromise

Arena Chat Thread

Pretty much what @Lith said, honestly.

I'm little more than a curious arena dabbler, but one of the things that always turned me off to arena years ago was all the drama. There were few if any matches that ended on amicable terms. Everything devolved into a flame war and nobody was ever happy regardless of who was judging. But while that kept me and new people like me from joining, I think what really killed the forum arena scene was just everything being moved to discord. I remember someone hosted some giant fighting competition and I was kind of interested in joining, but it turned out all the fights were happening on discord and I could barely keep up with the dizzying amount of discussion that was being had.

It's not dead though. I doubt the ongoing battle toyale is for everyone, but it still got players. Ultimately, I'm going to be more interested in that over the super cool battlebros from time eternal. I'm sure they were cool, but you need to think about the current era of arena RPers instead of those that have hung up their cape.

NHTD:ARPWAEHTD (Tower of Eternity)

If anyone has any questions, I can answer them. Otherwise, you can start posting as soon as you like.

Symphony on High

"Great joke! Have another!"

— Oros the Mad

Down one of Pax’s many alleyways sat one Oros the mad. Her legs were folded as if in meditation, but her eyes were cast on her blade. Who knew what she was looking at. Maybe, probably, she was catching up on all the things happening in Pax Septimus. But with so much at her disposal, she could look at anything. Even things transpiring in other realities.

One that caught her attention was a “battle toyale” in which all the participants were toys in a toy store. It seemed like some of them were not playing by the rules, but that didn’t inhibit Oros’s enjoyment of the free for all. If the contestants insisted on making friends in a free for all deathmatch, Oros figured that the patrons would naturally conspire against the cheaters, and their patron champions would position themselves into a pseudo second team. In the long run, there could only be one victor, but it was too early to tell if such a tactic would even work. If Oros was with the cheating party, she’d play them for fools and attack her own “team” in a critical moment. She wouldn’t even feel bad about it. But the real issue was that things moved so slowly. Weeks would pass by with no change in things, and it was hard to keep her attention with such slow developments. Worse was that it felt like that was starting to happen in Pax Septimus as well. It had only been a few days since the trains departed Pax or that epic fight with Binky, but Oros would swear to you it happened about three weeks ago. And she would also argue that the meeting between Asher and Maverick was still ongoing. Clearly a mad sort, that Oros character.

"Finally! Can we have round three now?" Her eyes widened. "Wait wait, something’s happened. It’s… He’s gay? Really!?" Oros sheathed her sword and placed her hands on her knees. After reflecting on this newly acquired knowledge, she began to laugh hysterically. "A coming out story on April First? now I’ve seen it all!"

“In a good mood, Oros?” Sharr approached the mad esper on foot. She was holding Faith’s hand, who was casting her eyes all over the place.

Oros cleared her throat before turning to the newly arrived. "Something like that. I expected you sooner. Where’s the mech?"

“I donated it to someone who needed it more. If you have any more questions you can look at your sword. But before you do that, how about you thank me for bringing Faith here?”

"Got a plus one huh?" Oros grinned at the adorkable woman. "What made you decide to bail with Aunt Sharr?"

She shrugged her shoulders. ”We got into the mech together to save everyone, which I thought was cool. But I realized how little I knew everyone present once it was over.“ She put a hand over her shoulder. ”I really liked everyone, but-“

"I know." Oros said with a laugh. "You liked Finn, platonically, but he didn’t care for you. You weren’t Betty or whatever object he decided to base his life around. Ashley was busy, and while Fritzi made good use of you, Binky took up all of her old responsibilities. You felt kind of useless, didn’t ya?"

Faith nodded. ”I haven’t met anyone else in the city. Maybe there’s someone else out there who feels the same way I do.“

”Doubt it. Honestly, I’m surprised they let the two of you go so easily."

“You have Binky to thank for that.” Sharr said with her typical smile. “They were all tired from the operation, and anyone who could have stopped me from leaving wasn’t in the condition to do so. it likely didn’t register that I had planned on taking the mech and all of its pilots with me. That, and you know how cagy the doctor can be. I doubt any of them fully understand how important I am.”

"Or Faith. " Oros added. "Though for different reasons." She stared off into the distance.

Faith tipped her head. ”Whatcha thinking about?”

"Other than the implication that future Finn is gay? I was just thinking about all the universes out there where it’s April first. It’s all pranks galore, but most of them suck. And then I realized that I’m sitting on the capacity to troll a god."

”A god?”

"Not really." Oros confessed. "But I figured it would be a great way to avoid ‘as you know Bob’ dialog and do a recap of some points that are going to be pretty important in a few seconds."

“But Faith doesn’t know much of what we’ve been up to anyway, so you could just explain it to her normally.”

"But that’s not cool. Hey Faith, you know how Penny is dead?"

It took Faith a moment to process what was being asked. ”The Iron Queen? She’s believed to be dead, yes. But no one knows who killed her.”

"Well you might think I did, if you’re a patron who’s been watching from the beginning. however…"

She drove Endless Eclipse into the chip.

"That’s the name of my sword, as executed here. Though you’ll notice it cuts off right here and it’s not explicitly stated that the chip was destroyed!"

Faith turned her head the other way. Likely a reaction to Oros making air quotes and “hyperlinks” with her fingers. ”Doesn’t it seem a little predictable? Nobody knows what happened to Penny, so any explanation is acceptable.”

"Huh, I guess that’s fair…" Oros groaned. "I thought you’d be easier to impress, but I’m not done yet! Check this out!"

Ah yes, Oros had made good on her promise and took her out of this world to meet a doctor that could ‘restore her old memories’ among other things.

"With further context extracted from a link that I misplaced, you’ll see that I took Sharr ‘off screen’ to meet with someone to restore her memories!"

”She needed to have her memories restored? Amnesia isn’t an uncommon plot device. I mean-”

"Hold up! I wasn’t done yet! The real magic comes later in this next part."

”Between what we were able to scrounge up from Penny, and what you plundered from Bob, I can probably start on something.” She placed a hand on the side of her head.

”Still out of it?”

”Yes, the incense our good doctor had me inhale is strong. I’ve had a mild headache, but it seems to be going away. Nothing to worry about.”

Oros leaned in towards Faith. "Is it all making sense yet? Because I found the link for that third quote and it contains the second one as well. What a deal!"

Again, Faith took her time to answer. ”...No? If you have Penny’s parts, doesn’t that mean she’s dead? But that runs counter to what you just told me?”

"Got that noodle of yours cooking good, don’t I?" Oros’s chest swelled with pride. "To be fair, you’d have to be some sort of multiversal entity to really get the implication." Oros shrugged. "But you can take this to mean we have an ally that works in incense and that Sharr has been hard at work with parts from a robot and a cyborg esper. Simple stuff." Oros stood up and dusted off her pants. "Speaking of, we finished it without you because you took too long. Wanna see the completed project?"

Faith looked to Sharr. When she nodded, Faith tightened her grip on her hand and nodded at the mad esper. Then they walked into an abandoned warehouse. Though as they followed Oros, their guide was swept off of her feet as something rushed past them. It was some sort of cyborg maid against a really ugly yellow background. She had Oros in a tight hug and was wearing the most blissful smile anyone had ever seen.

”You have returned, my love!” Penny had snatched up Oros from behind, allowing everyone to see how annoyed Oros looked while being oblivious to it herself.

"Yea? Like I was gone for ten seconds to ’read the paper.’ I even said I would be right back."

”Oh…” Her grip on Oros loosened a bit. ”I’m sorry, it’s just that we’re both wanted dead or alive, and every time you leave my sight it could be the last time I see you.”

"Truly touching stuff. You might be more gay than Finn is."

”I do not know who you speak of, but I am technically genderbent right now. So me being ‘gay’ is a matter of perspective. B-but aren’t you gay yourself?”

"Why are we talking about my sexuality?" Oros threw Penny’s arms off of herself and turned to look at her. "Will they/won’t they is the entire point of shit like this! Fuck! There are too many sexualities to keep track of and most of them are made up. I like holes! Okay, Penny? I like holes!"

”Why are you mad?”

"It’s my title! I ain’t gotta explain shit!" Oros grinned. "As funny as it is to see you act like a doting maid, I think we need to turn your confidence up and your clingyness down to its normal levels."

”Before you do that, can we make out behind some crates first?”

"If you’re offering..."

Faith bat her eyes at the spectacle that played out before her. ”...I don’t understand what just happened.”

Sharr sighed. ”Right, translating Oros speak for those with logical minds. Oros was the one to ‘slay’ Penny. Though rather than kill her, she just gravely wounded her. Penny’s esper form is that of a robot, so it was easy to render her inoperable without actually killing her. We could have melted down her parts, but I talked her out of it, which was the hardest part of this entire process. Bob, while not an esper, is a robot that was very obedient towards his creator. We scrounged up some of his parts and used them to rebuild Penny in a way that she was more, how shall we say, obedient. Also as part of the deal, some scientist used some incense sticks to bring back some of my memories from a past life, which has given me the ability to manipulate grimoires in ways no one else can.”

Faith pouted. ”Mind control sure is a popular trope around here.”

”Yes, there was that deal when Betty and Pac-A-Fist got turned into pseudo vampires, and of course the whole Binky thing. Technically, you were no different when you came down in the diver. It’s genuinely pretty difficult to take over someone’s mind, but humans make great catalysts for dark arts. Though what we’ve done to Penny isn’t quite mind control. If she wanted to, she could resist its effects. All we did was modify the reward center of her ‘brain.’ She feels better when displaying approved behaviors and worse when displaying bad ones. The ‘Bobinator’ as I call it was a necessary tool to getting the Iron Queen to negotiate with us, as she wouldn’t have given us the time of day otherwise. Oros had planned on destroying her, but it was my genius idea to make her an ally instead. Turns out having the hand run wild isn’t good for Penny either, and she more or less has the same enemies we do. That said, it's still a little unnerving to have her running around in her fully powered up body, so we needed to put some safeguards in place. I'm a little surprised she fired up the newest iteration of the Bobinator without me, but I guess she trusts my workmanship more than I do.”

”Her feelings for Oros aren't genuine?”

”Likely not.” Sharr giggled. ”I’m sure Oros tampered with the Bobinator to make her enjoy acting timid and affectionate. But she does enjoy it, so she performs them. Maybe the real her even likes it to some degree.”

”Why would Oros do something like that?”

Sharr sighed. ”The short answer is that it pleases her. Though it’s entirely possible that Penny reminds Oros of someone she’s encountered in another reality, and seeing Penny act like this is an extremely petty way of getting revenge on them.”

Faith, again, just batted her eyes like the total cinnamon bun she was. ”Oh.”

”It’s all coming together now, Faith. The hand is setting itself up to wipe out all of its enemies, as are the other factions. We’re in a rare position where we can see everyone’s hand for what it is. If everyone is going to make their move, then we should make sure we come to the table with something respectable.” Sharr turned to look at Faith. ”Was Oros right? Do you want to feel useful?”

”Oh yes! Definitely!”

”Is there something in your life that you want?”

”Yes!”

”Will you do anything to get it?”

Before blurting out an answer, Faith stopped to think. But as soon as Sharr started to turn away, she spoke up. ”Yes! As long as it doesn’t go against my beliefs.”

”Beliefs? Who do you believe in?”

”Everyone!”

”But who do you trust?” Faith was silent. ”Do you trust me?”

”Yes!”

”Then come, there is much to be done.”

NHTD:ARPWAEHTD (Tower of Eternity)

Character sheets are not nessisary, but feel free to write the contents of your character's tombstone here after they die.

NHTD:ARPWAEHTD (Tower of Eternity)

The blood witch might not have been a legitimate queen, but she looked the part.

Hair as dark as crimson tumbled down her shoulders. Her skin was as pale as snow, and lips as red as wine. A crown adorned with a ruby sat on her head, but it was mostly shrouded by the gilded cloak she wore. The cloak might have been the only thing she wore. It was parted just enough to expose her cleavage, but a silver chainat her neck kept it from opening further. Farther down her stomach the cloak was held closed with a series of brooches, and her arms and legs were totally obscured. Her body was wreathed in flames, and she was mounted on top of an infernal creature that was larger than most castles. The blood beast was what her mount was called. It had the body of an ape, but in place of hands and feet it had massive hooves that could crush a battle tank, and in place of fur and flesh was bone and blood. The queen’s saddle was a silver throne, which was held securely between two massive antlers and propped up on a massive deer skull. The ground trembled with every step, and her army walked behind her. They were merely for show. Every battle they entered was swiftly ended with a snap of the queen’s fingers. Entire armies would have their blood ripped right out of them and added to the abomination she rode around on. Their bones would join the creature not much later.

No one stood a chance against her. There was no defence against her magic, nor could a group of any size get close to her. Any archer or magus would be reduced to a pile of skin before they could do anything. There is no beating her in direct combat.

There is, however, a way to weaken her.

On the other side of the world it is nightfall, and the largest siege in Gillia’s history has commenced. The target of this siege is the modest sized Silver Myth Keep. The battlements are filled with troops, and they are firing on the sieging party. The ring of machine gun fire cuts through the night. Flashes from the mussels light up the battlements, and archers rush in to make up for the lack of machine gun nests. The rebels couldn’t get close though. There was a twenty foot wide moat that dropped straight into shark infested waters. The drawbridge was up and there was no way anyone was getting through.

“Wie!” A short man with a funny hat called from the battlements. “Your mothers are pigs, and your fathers are farmers!”

Chase was responsible for night watch. It wasn’t often that the rebels would attack Silver Myth Keep, but he relished it every time it happened. Because he always won. No one had ever gotten inside, and at this hour it was impossible to hit anything on the battlements. Even if someone had night vision goggles, the muzzle flashes from the machine gun nests would keep anyone from singling him out. He felt very powerful at times like this. He liked to point at the invaders and pretend the machine gun fire and arrows that killed them were his own divine will. His laughter, while quite loud to him, was drowned out by all the screaming and gunfire.

The guards had never seen so many people. It’s already been a minute and they already had to have killed a hundred of them. But they kept coming. It wasn’t anything to worry about, they told themselves. Morale was high, as they were doing the queen’s bidding. Even if they were expending a lot of resources in their defence, Silver Myth Keep was restocked twice daily by sea, and they knew the rebels had no power out on open waters. This siege would be over in a few minutes, and any expended supplies would be replenished before the sun greeted them tomorrow.

Only they were wrong.

If they could see beyond the treeline some hundred feet away, they would know that this wasn’t even the tip of the assaulting force. The siege would not end until every last civilian had met their end. The attacking forces went as far back as two towns from their current position, each one more eager to fight than the last.

But while near limitless, the rebellion was not limitless. They couldn’t just keep feeding themselves into this meat grinder. Something had to be done to allow them to enter the keep.

NHTD:ARPWAEHTD (Tower of Eternity)

Tower of Eternity

^{Alternate Title: Nobody has to die: an RP where almost everyone has to die}

”She might be a witch, but she’s our queen.”

That was everyone’s sentiment when the blood witch first took power. Surely she can’t be as bad as the rumors say. Surely we will still live fulfilling lives. Surely we can still be happy. Surely we can still live with ourselves.

But dictators are seldom content with their station. More and more wealth was directed away from the common people and into her coffers for greater conquests. Her power grows, as do the number of oceans and continents under her control, but life for the masses never gets better. No one is happy. Life for the common man is a cycle of work, broken only long enough to eat and sleep, and occasionally produce more civilians for the blood witch’s expanding empire. The young are fortunate if they can afford food after they pay their taxes, and the old hope their weary bodies won't give out. All crime is punishable by death, so long as it interferes with the witch queen’s ultimate design.

As you sit there with barely enough food to survive the day, you wonder out loud: “Why do we work so hard to support someone who does so little for us?”

You are overheard.

They know exactly who you are talking about.

But rather than rushing off to get you executed, they join in your pondering, and aren’t able to come up with a good answer themselves.

The Basics

NHTD:ARPWAEHTD, or Tower of Eternity (ToE) is a roleplay based around an uprising against a tyrannical witch queen. Rather than playing a small group of plucky heroes that fight her directly, you will play as the Silver Myth Rebellion. They are a nation-sized faction of rebels made up of everymen and woman. They are not particularly skilled fighters, what few magus among them only know basic incantations, but they are numerous. They would rather face certain death than spend another day serving their greedy queen.

The queen may not oppose the rebels directly, but the forces she’s left behind have been the death of any foolish enough to oppose them. And they will kill many more over the course of the RP. That said, they aren’t used to fighting such overwhelming odds. Can a nigh unlimited number of civilians overwhelm a castle keep’s fortifications? This RP attempts to answer that question.

The Plan

The blood witch queen is much too strong to be faced directly in battle. Armies stronger and bigger than yours have fallen before her spells, often while staring at her apathetic face. Instead you are attacking the source of her power, which is locked deep inside Silver Myth Keep.

The queen’s terrifying powers come from a sleeping goddess she captured. Or rather, the goddess has been locked in an eternal slumber by a curse, and the witch derives her power from the despair created by her nightmares. Said nightmares are visions of the word, which creates a feedback loop. The worse the witch makes things, the more upset the goddess gets, and the stronger her powers become.

The goal is to break into the keep and locate the goddess. An altruistic soul might try to wake her up so that the nightmare can end, but a curse this strong won’t be easy to lift. The pragmatic option would be to kill her, which would be unfortunate, but might be the only way to end the nightmares. Goddesses are surprisingly vulnerable when they are asleep, which is why this one is so well protected. Either way, her fate will be in the hands of those that find her.

The Gimmick

You may have noticed this is a jump-in RP. That’s not because this is a pseudo-free RP.

Your characters are very likely going to die on their first post.

You can make more of course, and they too are probably going to die on their first post. As is the next character you make, and the one after that, and the one after that….

Your characters are civilians. Maybe they have access to a weapon or a basic spell, but you aren’t nuthin’ compared to the royal guards who are tasked with protecting the source of their evil queen's powers. They have eaten the best food, received the best training, have been amplified with all kinds of magic, and you’re just a malnourished peasant with a death wish. They are not invincible, they can be defeated, but not with the ease that your character can be. They are dug into a fortified position and will fight tooth and nail to keep you out. They are intelligent and devious, strong and swift. But with each sacrifice, the rebellion will learn something about their enemy. And gradually, they will make their way inside the keep and towards their goal.

However, that is only the most likely scenario. very likely does not mean they will die for sure. To make things interesting, I will be rolling a dice on RPG to see if your characters survive the post rotation. They have a five out of six chance to die, which is to say they will survive if I roll a six and not a point lower. It is possible to increase (and decrease!) your character’s odds of survival through actions taken by you and other players. I will present hints as to how to do that as the RP moves on, but barring special circumstances, no character will ever have more than a fifty percent chance to survive a post rotation. Your character will likely not survive the RP, so it’s best to play with the mindset that surviving an extra round should be treated as a pleasant surprise rather than an outcome to fish for. It’s just some uncertainty to make things interesting.

The Setting

Diesel Punk meets Medieval Fantasy. Most nations have World War II level tech, but it’s expensive. City folk get around using automobiles for short distance transport and trains for long distance transport. Country folk use horses and make due with very little technology. Country folk live like medieval serfs and do lots of physical labor. City folk don’t have it much better, as they work for corporations that are run directly by the witch queen. They often have to make choices between starving or freezing come wintertime. The only upside to this is that everyone has access to really good vanity products. Everyone looks as hot, cool, or cute as they want. This is largely due to glamor magic that can make those touched by it look like whatever they want.

The nation where our story starts and ends is called Gilla. It is known for its mountain ranges, exotic monsters, and for being the birthplace of the blood witch who became an illegitimate queen. Other than it’s world renown cosmetic effects/magic, it’s also a goldmine of, well, minerals. Almost everyone has a job that pertains to mining and manufacturing, before the rebellion of course.

Tech level is WWII but the rebellion doesn’t have access to military grade equipment. Pistols and bolt-action rifles are fair game, but no automatic weapons. The serfs have made lots of weapons for the queen, and most common medieval era weaponry is available to the rebellion. Improvised weapons like molotov cocktails are also allowed. Cars, trucks, and horses are allowed, but they won’t fit in all areas of the keep.

The world has a lot of magic in it, but the really cool stuff is off limits to the rebellion. Nothing more potent than a standard D&D 5E cantrip, as listed here. Magic takes a lot of time to practice and get right, and very few have mastered anything stronger than a cantrip. If someone wishes to play a mage, they may cast a level one spell instead, with the tradeoff being that they have no weapons or at least nothing impressive.

Fantasy races do not exist in the traditional sense. With magical glamors, your characters can look like any humanoid fantasy race you can think of. But it’s purely cosmetic and doesn’t give them access to any special powers. A human, elf, oni, and lizard man are all going to function the same.

The Rules

Metagaming, godmodding, and the like are prohibited. The GM determines your success and the Dice determine your survival.

Keep OOC drama as low as possible. If you have an issue, try to settle it in PMs. Should you need me, I frequently log into discord and check my PMs daily. You’ll have a response within twenty-four hours most of the time.

If it's been a week since your last IC post without any word from you, I may take control of your character. They may not be there for you to take back if/when you return. But that’s kind of a given in this RP huh?

You get one character at a time. You can take a new one once that one dies, which shouldn’t take long.

ToE deals with dark themes, but does so tastefully and with a tongue firmly tucked in cheek. Posts are expected to follow Guild guidelines and not get overly edgy.

Kurai Majokko: Tsundere Gekido

“Me be a worstest from their everything.”

— Rei Ishiko

Rei was not the sort of boss that did more than give a few vague instructions. There would be a hunt tonight, but when and where were left open. They only knew it would be a time and place of Rei’s choosing.

Though a certain many-eyed magical girl would pick up on her appearance quickly. A floating eye tracked the one-eyed girl as she nonchalantly strode through town. It was late. The lights in the homes were out, but the street lights continued to shine. Rumor had it that the lights warded away evil spirits. But all magical girls knew miseria were attracted to the light. They wanted to snuff it out with their own slimy fingers, regardless if it lingered in a light bulb or a soul.

Just like old times, Rei used some parkour to scale up a lamp post and stand on top of it. After last time, it had to be bravery or stupidity that compelled her to do so. She had nearly been shot by a light girl, but that hadn’t bothered her it seemed. It wouldn’t be long before everyone assembled.

While the rest of the Detention club poured out of the woodwork, the ground moved. Some of the magical girls may have felt like they were standing on a boat, or were slightly drunk. But the shaking became more violent over time. Objects fell off shelves, the elderly couldn’t stand, and anyone who was asleep was awakened with a start. Who knew how much fine china this quake would claim?

The buildings would be safe, as would most of the magical girls. Rei was able to keep her balance, but was swaying side to side like she was walking down a catwalk. The lamp, and many lights elsewhere in Hibusa town, went out. Rei smirked when she looked at the dark abyss below her. Even as the quake subsided, it didn’t come back on. Seemed people were going to be without power for the time being. The earthquake had to have hit much harder outside of town.

“What are you all waiting for? Go on and feast.”

Earthquakes weren’t uncommon in Japan, but Hibusa town hadn’t felt one for a few years. This was sure to have an effect on the miseria.

It was also sure to be interesting.

"I live to feel pain! Unless it’s related to my hair!”

— Suki Oyama

What an enjoyable day of school. Ever since her lunch break, Suki felt like she was walking on clouds. It was rare for her to feel as good in her own skin as she did when she was Oros the Joyful, but here we were. Even now in her bloody bridal gown, it felt like she was riding on the high she elt earlier today. It reminded her of the first time she met Kate, or Nyxia, or Homura, or Roche, or Kiyo, or Lada, or…

But did it really last this long with any of them? Haruna felt special, and not in the way Suki usually thought about special people. All of those other girls weren’t open minded enough to accept someone like herself. But Haruna was. It was naive as her partner pointed out, but wasn’t a willingness to make oneself vulnerable the essence of love? She was perfect. Suki knew that she could make an amazing girlfriend, and she wouldn’t even need to be Oros the Joyful to do it! Finally! A relationship!

But this wasn’t Suki’s first rodeo. She understood the situation was more complicated than it first looked. If Haruna was going to join the club, then it was only a matter of time before Roach greedily swept her up into her harem. That didn’t give Suki a lot of time to work with. There was another complication with Tsubomi’s involvement. It would be easy to just start dating Haruna and guide her away from the club, but that ran counter to Tsubomi’s desires. It was rare for her only true friend to want anything, so directly interfering with something like that was off the table. Why did Tsubomi want that anyway? Would it be weird to ask? Did she want a super cutie for a girlfriend? Even though thinking about Haruna set every part of Suki on fire, maybe such feelings could transcend Tsubomi’s numbed mind and make her feel something. That was a horrible thing to get in the way of. But did that mean that she could end up losing Tsubomi and Haruna both if things continued?

Huh.

Suki didn’t feel like she was walking on clouds any more.

But that was largely because the earthquake had caused Oros to stumble forward. As the rumbling subsided, Oros extended her hands and cartwheeled onto her feet before looking back at the others. Without the street lights, there was just the pale light of the moon to illuminate the way. It would be romantic if she didn’t feel so isolated. Then Rei called everyone to action.

"You got it, Boss Baby!”

Oros’s thoughts about Rei were sometimes conflicted, but it felt good to have her back. Rei was no super cutie, but she somehow managed to be really cool yet approachable. No one had worked harder to make her feel like she was part of the club, and boy did it feel good to see her at night again.

With a hop, Suki jumped onto her blood skates and zipped over to Acid Drop’s side. She scooped her partner up and placed her feet on top of hers. This time, she wasn’t going to be separated.

"We gotta do something impressive for Boss Baby! It’s gotta be interesting or something.” The miseria were starting to bubble out of the ground. Just regular old, shapeless miseria. Even with the heightened dread of an intensity V earthquake, it didn’t seem like this was enough to cause a metamorphosis in the miseria. "Oh I got an idea, I’ll give you a toss, and you can do a thing!” After this instruction, Suki whinged Acid Drop into the air. Suki twirled a bit, dicing up a few miseria and scattering their remains on some nearby buildings. She put on a giant, open mouthed smile as she turned to catch her partner.

Battle Toyale — Christmas Rumble!

I've been wrong before.

Kurai Majokko: Tsundere Gekido

It was difficult to see what was going on inside the dining room, but Nyxia’s superb hearing could pick up on a few things. She could hear her mother conversing with a servant, followed by some prepared laughter and her stabbing some salad onto her fork. It was not long before she could pick up on her father’s footsteps, and the much heavier footsteps of the stranger.

”Hisui! Our guest would like some curry bread. Heat it up for him please, as well as the saki.” He chuckled, obviously amused at the basic palette of the stranger. ”I appreciate you being so discreet about this matter. I don’t want anyone to know we’ve been robbed.”

”I can see that.”

”Even with those shades on?” The stranger did not dignify Mister Tsukishima’s bad joke with a laugh. And if her father’s groan was anything to go by, he didn’t dignify it with any sort of reaction. ”Let’s sit here.” They were close to the windows, far away from Misus Tsukishima’s chattering or anyone else in the room. ”So you finally found something out?”

”Finally?” The irritation was evident in the stranger’s voice. ”Mister Tsukishima, you must understand that I am not one of your servants. I’m a freelancer, and when you initially requested my help I was working for other people. You are very out of the way for me, and I thought we understood it would be some time before I could arrive.”

”I also paid you a lot of money.”

”All of my clients pay me a lot of money. And I think you’re about to get your money’s worth.”

Nyxia could feel the smile spreading across Mister Tsukishima’s lips. ”Yes. You implied that the serial numbers for the yen banknotes were useful.”

”It was.” The stranger’s seat creaked when he leaned back in it. ”The stolen money was gradually deposited in a bank account belonging to ‘Strong Arms,’ which is a construction supply company. At first I thought this was an attempt to ‘wash’ the yen, but the quantities were too small and inconsistent. Building materials are very expensive in Japan, and it would not be hard to wash significantly more money using Strong Arms. I considered the possibility that funds were simply used to buy building supplies.”

”Well that’s not very helpful.” Tsukishima groaned. ”There must be lots of construction going on. Strong Arms is in the city, isn’t it?”

”True, but that’s not where the money was stolen from. While there is lots of construction in the city, Hibusa town only has its flower shop. Apparently the flower shop burned down months ago when the funds were initially stolen. Shortly afterwards, they began a gradual reconstruction effort.”

”The Takahashi…” He practically growled the name. ”The gods dealt them a bad hand, as they did with my family. They don’t have a ton of money, but their daughter, Misoka, is a real gem. If my daughter was even a quarter as focused as she was…”

”It explained everything, from the timing of the robbery to when funds started to get transferred to Strong Arms. While preserving your confidentiality, I informed the owners that I was investigating a robbery and that I thought they were going to show up here. They agreed to let me check the bank notes once a customer had paid. I didn’t even have to wait a day before Mister Takahashi showed up. He paid for the goods and left, I requested to look at the yen notes, and the serial numbers matched.”

”Ho ho! And then you came here?”

”Not quite. You were adamant that you wanted your money back as soon as possible, so I stopped by their home in Hibusa town. I told them that I believed that they had money that didn’t belong to them. They were disappointed, but very forthcoming about it. I didn’t even have to prove to them that I had the serial numbers on the notes they were spending. They claimed that they found the money and had no idea where it came from and offered to give it to me. I’m a little surprised how easily they offered it up. But I figured it would be better if you or someone you deeply trust recovered the funds. We hadn’t discussed it, and I didn’t feel it was my place to recover them without consulting you.”

”Well that’s very good news. I’ll get in contact with them shortly. It’s unfortunate that I’m going to have to also tell them I’m pressing charges against them.”

”It’s too early to do that. We have no proof that they stole anything. They were up front about finding the stolen money and couldn’t have committed the crime themselves. Misoka was preparing for a charity bake off with several friends the night of the crime. Mister Takahashi would have been at work and with the family car, and Missus Takahashi would have still been recovering. Even if she had a bike, this is a very long distance to travel with a lame leg. Then there’s getting past your security… More than likely this was an inside job.”

”Couldn’t they have hired someone, or forbid, bribed one of my servants?”

”It could also be someone working out of spite, or a genuine interest in the Takahashi’s well being. They are something of local celebrities, as you’ve already alluded to with Misoka.”

”Either way, I’m pleased we’ll have our money back. How much will it cost to find out who caused the crime?”

”Let’s discuss that later. I don’t talk price on an empty stomach.”

Nyxia’s focus broke when she heard something knock against the side of the column she was hiding behind.

A familiar face…

“Come here often?”

— Rei Ishiko

Rei allowed Nyxia to acknowledge her presence before speaking. “It’s a good day to be outside, Nyxia. But I think I saw your dinner maid heading towards your room.” She pushed herself away from the wall. “See you tonight.”

BBC code questions

I probably could have just sent a PM to @LegendBegins but I thought it might be good to get it answered out in the open.

Legend my guy, I was giving unsolicited advice to @Exit for a problem I didn't fully understand. He wanted to put a table inside another table and not have it be all bolded, but then this happened. I told him to get a hold of you, but he's made it apparent he's too shy to talk to someone about his nerdy hobby on a forum based around talking to people about nerdy hobbies. But this brought two questions to my mind.

- Is it possible to change the functionality of tables on your end? It feels like tables would be a lot more useful if they just let us decide when a block was bolded or not with bbc code. Additionally...

- You were collecting code for something a while back. Did anything come of it? I do not remember seeing an announcement or anything.