Nue Quest 9 - Ascension: A Z-Machine Adventure

[Hello Purvis]

>Well, that's just too bad. You go free if I want you to go free, remember? And guess what I really don't want right about now?

>It does not seem to care about your bravado.
>There is definitely a reddish glow to the oppressive air now.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Calm ourselves. Think of Byakuren. Remember the times we have shared. How she took us into her fold and offered us everything she had after we introduced ourselves to the Myouren group with that UFO prank. How she has made us feel good, and how we have made her feel good. The times we worked together, the times we laughed together. How she is an invaluably close friend, and really, the closest thing to a mother we've ever had.

[Hello Purvis]

> Calm ourselves. Think of Byakuren. Remember the times we have shared. How she took us into her fold and offered us everything she had after we introduced ourselves to the Myouren group with that UFO prank. How she has made us feel good, and how we have made her feel good. The times we worked together, the times we laughed together. How she is an invaluably close friend, and really, the closest thing to a mother we've ever had.

>You calm yourself and think of Byakuren, and how she accepted you and became practically another foster mother toward you. It is somewhat reassuring, but it does little to calm the oppressiveness of the air around you.
>The air seems to ripple for a moment, like the air above a fire, then suddenly it's coming for you! Huge and red and coming right for you!

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> How wide is it?
> In which direction is it primarily coming?

[Hello Purvis]

> How wide is it?
> In which direction is it primarily coming?

>It is wide, and it is coming directly at you! You would have to take a moment to orient yourself as far as the compass is concerned.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Is it coming at us parallel to the ground, or at an angle from above?

[Hello Purvis]

> Is it coming at us parallel to the ground, or at an angle from above?

>It seems to be parallel to the ground.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Take flight and zip straight up into the air as fast as we can!

[Hello Purvis]

> Take flight and zip straight up into the air as fast as we can!

>You take flight, going upward as quickly as you can!
>You see it and you feel it pass directly under you. The air is so hard to breathe, you heart is pounding. The force of its passing is enough to knock you from the air a little. No, enough to knock you out of the air completely! The ground is coming right at you!

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Come on, Nue! Get the lead out! We need to conquer this to see all our friends again!
> Resume our flight upward! Get away from this sword's nonsense!

[Hello Purvis]

> Come on, Nue! Get the lead out! We need to conquer this to see all our friends again!
> Resume our flight upward! Get away from this sword's nonsense!

>You try to resume your flight upward, but you are too busy falling to really do this. Instead, you just manage to break your fall and hit the ground manageably rather than hitting it hard and hurt yourself.
>You try to rally yourself, as you look up, and you see it. It it is immense and red, as though the setting sun had fallen from the sky. Its body seems to be at once solid flesh and dancing flames. It stands on four powerful legs, ending in steely hooves. As it turns around, you can see it's enormous head, eyes burning like molten steal and twin horns curling down from its temples. It seems to fill the entire sky, looming over you. You can't breath. You can hardly think, looking at it. It is going to kill you! It will drive you into the dirt, it will impaling you on its horns! It will trample you and break every bone in your body. It's hard to hold back sobs as the gigantic, horrible thing's eyes fall on you, full of animal rage and loathing.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Is it standing on the ground or in the sky?

[Hello Purvis]

> Is it standing on the ground or in the sky?

>It seems to be on the ground.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> No. We are Nue Houjuu. We are the unknown terror of Heiankyou. We are not afraid of this, no matter how menacing it may seem. We ourselves instill fear in others, fear of the unknown. For us to be afraid of another unknown is preposterous. Buck up. We can handle this. We will handle this. Because we always do. We are the best. We are the best in the world. And we have a world without Rinnosuke's reality-warping insanity to return to. We have a world of friends to return to.
> This thing is on four legs and is so huge as to tower over us? We should be able to hide underneath its stomach and assault it from there. Keep this in mind at all times. It cannot reach underneath itself.
> Pick ourselves up off the ground and take a defensive standing position, if we haven't already.
> Have we happened to see Rinnosuke or our umbrella anywhere in this mess recently?

[Hello Purvis]

> No. We are Nue Houjuu. We are the unknown terror of Heiankyou. We are not afraid of this, no matter how menacing it may seem. We ourselves instill fear in others, fear of the unknown. For us to be afraid of another unknown is preposterous. Buck up. We can handle this. We will handle this. Because we always do. We are the best. We are the best in the world. And we have a world without Rinnosuke's reality-warping insanity to return to. We have a world of friends to return to.
> This thing is on four legs and is so huge as to tower over us? We should be able to hide underneath its stomach and assault it from there. Keep this in mind at all times. It cannot reach underneath itself.
> Pick ourselves up off the ground and take a defensive standing position, if we haven't already.
> Have we happened to see Rinnosuke or our umbrella anywhere in this mess recently?

>You try to reassure yourself. You try to tell yourself that you are the fear of the unknown, that you have so much to fight for.  You pick yourself up off the ground, but you cannot deny the terror that fills your stomach like a lead weight. The beast turns to face you again, its eyes boring into you. It is going to destroy you if you make even one little mistake. It will chase you to the ends of the world. It will tear you to pieces.
>Rinnosuke is a short distance to your left. You're not sure where the umbrella is. But there is a very good chance that Rinnosuke may  well get trampled by this monstrosity by accident.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Then we'll just have to keep it away from him.
> We are still actually holding the sword, aren't we?
> Start floating to our right.
> "I will not lose to you. Not to one that embodies oppression."
> Give a small smirk.
> "Besides, Byakuren still hasn't seen how truly amazing I am yet, and that's just not acceptable."

[Hello Purvis]

> Then we'll just have to keep it away from him.
> We are still actually holding the sword, aren't we?
> Start floating to our right.
> "I will not lose to you. Not to one that embodies oppression."
> Give a small smirk.
> "Besides, Byakuren still hasn't seen how truly amazing I am yet, and that's just not acceptable."

>You are still holding the sword.
>You try to reassure yourself, and float to your right. Then you taunt the horrible thing as best you can, taking practically all of your will power to keep your voice steady in the face of it. It's still difficult to breath, your heart is hammering in your chest. 
>It does not react to your words, it merely charges at you, covering yards in an eye blink and sending your heart into your throat!

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Zip horizontally to our right!
> While we're flying, use our free non-sword hand to fire some amulets in the general direction from which the beast is coming.

[Kilgamayan]

Out for the night. I find myself wondering if trying to slice this thing with the sword would hurt it, or it would just knock the sword out of our hands from the momentum.

I'm not convinced we'll still be able to see it if we're not holding on to the sword, but I suppose it's possible.

[Hello Purvis]

> Zip horizontally to our right!
> While we're flying, use our free non-sword hand to fire some amulets in the general direction from which the beast is coming.

>You zip toward the right, and fire off some amulets. They make contact with the beast, seeming to strike and sink into it's muscular and fiery form without any sort of obvious effect. It does not slow, nor does it show any kind of pain as it charges inexorably forward. It veers rightward, its horns lowered and its eyes still on you, closing the distance between you and it rapidly!

>_

[GuyYouMetOnline]

I'd say the sword's likely the best bet.

[Kilgamayan]

> This thing can cut on a dime? Wonderful.
> Zip straight upward, holding the sword as below us as we can manage without making flight too awkward with a very tight grip, tip pointed straight down and blade edge pointed toward the beast.

[Hello Purvis]

> This thing can cut on a dime? Wonderful.
> Zip straight upward, holding the sword as below us as we can manage without making flight too awkward with a very tight grip, tip pointed straight down and blade edge pointed toward the beast.

>You try to be blase' about its control, but it is rather difficult, given the circumstances and your own feelings!
>You fly straight upward, trying to hold the weapon below you. The fiery monstrosity charges, and for a moment, you are not certain if you'll be able to make it in time. Then you manage to just crest over it's head! The feeling of relief is quickly quelled you catch some motion out of the bottom of your eye, and suddenly an immense horn is curving through the air toward you!

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Did it detach from the beast somehow?

[Hello Purvis]

> Did it detach from the beast somehow?

>You are not certain. You could check, but you imagine that it would not be a good idea given the situation.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> If we still have upward momentum from flight, conserve it and bank as tight an arc to the left as we can at our current top speed, where 'left' runs to our left and perpendicular to the horn's current path.
> If we stopped and no longer have flight momentum, then bolt left using the same orientation of 'left' as described above.
> Assuming we get out of the horn's way, chop at it vertically with the sword, as if we were trying to slice the tip off.

[Hello Purvis]

> If we still have upward momentum from flight, conserve it and bank as tight an arc to the left as we can at our current top speed, where 'left' runs to our left and perpendicular to the horn's current path.
> If we stopped and no longer have flight momentum, then bolt left using the same orientation of 'left' as described above.
> Assuming we get out of the horn's way, chop at it vertically with the sword, as if we were trying to slice the tip off.

>You arc leftward! The horn passes perilous close to your back, you can almost feel it touch!
>You try to whirl around and chop at it with the sword, but you find yourself tossed about in the air, buffeted by powerful winds, as the immense thing passes directly under you, losing all semblance of control before you see the ground rushing toward you again.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Pull up like the first time. We'll probably hit the ground, but it is what it is. Best to reduce the impact.

[Hello Purvis]

> Pull up like the first time. We'll probably hit the ground, but it is what it is. Best to reduce the impact.

>You work to recover your flight, and manage to land gently enough on your knees. It is more impressive that you did not cut yourself with the sword while being buffeted about.
>Already, the immense beast is turning to charge again, you can see the huge swaths of grass that have been torn out in the wake of its charge.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Pick ourselves up off the ground and shoot ourselves straight up into the air.