Berkeley's Phantasmagoria

[Serela]

>Oh hell, what if she did it? But...what if she didn't.
>Crap.
>"I suppose we could. What's your name, miss?"
>Look around the room causally, try to find some hint that she's the one behind all this. Odd magic-looking stuff and the like.

>Oh fuck. You really hope she didn't, because if she did, you're probably so dead you don't even-
>She smiles as you agree to help, and she starts to stand up. After a moment of standing, she goes over and picks up a cane leaning on a dresser, and starts collecting a few things from the room; which, now that you look at it, has lots of interesting looking doodads and such around.
>"You may call me Grannie May, dear. And your names?"

[Hello Purvis]

>Glance to Rinoa. Hope to god she isn't panicked at all.
>Let Ghosty introduce herself.

[Serela]

>Glance to Rinoa. Hope to god she isn't panicked at all.
>Let Ghosty introduce herself.

>Rinoa seems to be sizing Grannie May up. After a moment, she seems satisfied with whatever she thinks about her, and introduces herself.
>Grannie seems amused by this; "Oh, you certainly are. And you're Berkeley, right? I'm afraid I didn't really notice when you said it a minute ago, must be my age... well then, let's get on the road!"
>After this, she promptly walks out the door with the help of her cane, and starts down the stairs, with Rinoa going after her.

[Hello Purvis]

>Follow along. If Rinoa is cool with her, then it's probably okay.
>Unless they're in league. But she's had her chances.
>Wonder how Dotsy will react.

[Serela]

>Follow along. If Rinoa is cool with her, then it's probably okay.
>Unless they're in league. But she's had her chances.
>Wonder how Dotsy will react.

>You follow the two of them down the stairs, and into the living room.
>You aren't sure if Rinoa could hurt you, even if she tried. The old lady has indeed had her chances, though; and if it was a trap, they'd probably have finished you off already with a trick.
>Since you're in the living room, you don't have to wonder! The answer is... well, not much. She doesn't really seem to notice Grannie May.
>Veronica, on the other hand, does. "Oh, you're Stella's grandmother! Thank goodness you're alright...", she says, and May responds "None of us will be if we don't get out of Wintervale soon. I assume you have nothing else to attend to in this town, correct?"

[Kasu]

> "Leaving now is totally fine with me.  Any objections?"
> If there are none, head back to the village.

[Serela]

> "Leaving now is totally fine with me.  Any objections?"
> If there are none, head back to the village.

>Everyone murmurs in agreement with the exception of Dotsy, who whimpers and flies out the door. The rest of you follow her outside, and find her looking east; towards the town square.
>Rinoa frowns. "Something's in the east part of town; past the square. And I think it noticed us."
>Rinoa's words elicit a cackle from Grannie May, followed by an amused statement. "A spirit, an outsider, a mediocre witch, and a fairy... yet your combined presence still didn't wake it. It's sure noticed us now, though; that's why helpless old grannies aren't taken on dangerous trips, mm?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Uh, what is 'It?' And should this have been something we were told about beforehand?"
>"Stay close to us, Dotsy! You don't want it finding you alone!"

[Serela]

>"Uh, what is 'It?' And should this have been something we were told about beforehand?"
>"Stay close to us, Dotsy! You don't want it finding you alone!"

>The old lady thinks for a minute, before answering. "Aaah, hell if I know. I don't think it's what made everyone from the village disappear, though; more like someone sent to keep watch afterwards. Still, I don't have faith in our chances at beating it; I'm quite out of my prime, and none of you have reached yours yet, mm?"
>You remind Dotsy not to go astray. "Aaah, I won't leave you unless it's gonna catch me! It's too scary to go alone! I'm still just a young fairy, uwaa~"

[Hello Purvis]

>Leave village. Very quickly.

[Serela]

>Leave village. Very quickly.

>"Let's go. Now.", you say. Holy crap you're not a silent protagonist
>The five of you hurry to the town square. Once you get there, you could exit north towards the Ice Palace, and go around the outside of Wintervale back to the forest. Or, you could go south, back to the main entrance. The latter is a longer trip in town, but will get you to the forest much faster.
>As you reach the square, Rinoa starts to look really worried. "It's getting closer." Veronica seems to be fishing around in her pockets again as she walks.

[COPIRIGHTO]

>"How big is it?"
>Head south

[Serela]

>"How big is it?"
>Head south

>Rinoa shakes her head. "I can't tell. But it's speeding up, fast!"
>You turn and start running south, and you hear the others following you. The town entrance is in sight! Almost there, and... you think see something in the corner of your eye. You turn to look, but; no, it's not there anymore! It's in front of you now, standing in the entrance of town.
>It looks like a girl, maybe 5 feet tall. But the cat ears coming out of her black hair suggest otherwise.

[Kasu]

> "Catgirl?"
> Examine catgirl.

[Serela]

> "Catgirl?"
> Examine catgirl.

>After this, she starts glaring at you, and seems to be preparing to attack. In response to this, Veronica pulls out some kind of card, and even Grannie May seems to be completely alert. Dotsy, on the other hand, tries to hide behind Rinoa... which works about as well as you would guess.
>The catgirl is about 5 foot tall, with yellow eyes and sooty black hair reaching to her very pale elbows. She's wearing a black long-sleeved velvet dress with yellow stripes reminiscent of a tiger... just, with a bit of a different color scheme then tigers have. The dress goes down to her knees and ends in a lining of black-yellow fuzzy-poofy, and further down are matching fuzzy slippers.
               However, while her wardrobe makes her look like a girl who wandered outside in her night clothes, her facial expression is definitely one of a cold and calculating opponent.

[Hello Purvis]

>Oh man of the situation was less tense, this would be the cutest thing we've seen since Dotsy.
>We still have that orb in hand, right? Keep ready on that thing.
>"W-who are you?"

[Serela]

>Oh man of the situation was less tense, this would be the cutest thing we've seen since Dotsy.
>We still have that orb in hand, right? Keep ready on that thing.
>"W-who are you?"

>She really would be!
>Actually, you seem to have pocketed it at some point; but you take it out again now. You hear a gasp from Grannie May as she sees it.
>The catgirl continues to glare. "The only thing you need to know is I'm not supposed to let anyone come through here alive. I suppose that doesn't include her", she says, pausing and gesturing at Rinoa, "but the rest of you will have to taken care of."
>"I believe we've got a battle on our hands, Berkeley.", says Grannie May, as she backs away with a grin. "I think I'll sit out for this one, though; I don't think my old bones could take it."

[Hello Purvis]

>Wave hands. "Hold it, hold it, hold it!"
>"Okay, let's all just calm down for a bit. No need to be all hasty and angry and stuff. Um, Miss..." pause and let her fill in a name here, "why are you not supposed to let anyone through alive?"

[Serela]

>Wave hands. "Hold it, hold it, hold it!"
>"Okay, let's all just calm down for a bit. No need to be all hasty and angry and stuff. Um, Miss..." pause and let her fill in a name here, "why are you not supposed to let anyone through alive?"

>The catgirl frowns and crosses her arms, deciding to listen to what you have to say. When you pause, she says her name is Lufie.
>"I don't get to listen in on the plans. But she said that if you win, I have to answer a question from you. Of course... no outsider has ever been able to win even the first challenge, nya~" She says, grinning at the end.
           But then, she frowns again. "Of course, this is also the first time she's actually sent me instead of someone less important... so, perhaps you're special~? I'm interested to see how much of a fight you can put up. Maybe I'll go easy on you, so I'll get to see; come on, show me what'cha got!"

[Hello Purvis]

>Dag, yo.
>"Well. I suppose that's that, then. Uh, does it have to be a fight? How about Rock, Paper, Scissors or something?"

[Serela]

>Dag, yo.
>"Well. I suppose that's that, then. Uh, does it have to be a fight? How about Rock, Paper, Scissors or something?"

>As you suggest Rock Paper Scissors, she bursts out laughing. "Oooh, you've got to be kidding me!" Even Veronica seems to be giggling a bit, from that.

>You current state:Pretty embarrassed

>On the upside, at least it seems Yufie has let her guard down.

[Hello Purvis]

>Blush. Dangit.
>"It's just that I had enough fights today. I've just found this wonderful new world and learned most of my assumptions about reality are totally wrong. It's been stressful enough as it is, I just want to make some friends and get my bearings. I'm sick of fearing for my life, today. Besides, you've already pointed out how hardcore you are, if they usually use goons for this kind of thing. You know what I mean? I mean, you like a nice person, is there any real reason we have to be enemies?"

[COPIRIGHTO]

>"maybe..."
>Twirl and point to the sky
>"...a dance off?"

[Serela]

>Blush. Dangit.
>"It's just that I had enough fights today. I've just found this wonderful new world and learned most of my assumptions about reality are totally wrong. It's been stressful enough as it is, I just want to make some friends and get my bearings. I'm sick of fearing for my life, today. Besides, you've already pointed out how hardcore you are, if they usually use goons for this kind of thing. You know what I mean? I mean, you like a nice person, is there any real reason we have to be enemies?"

>Ahh... that really was embarrassing~
>You go into a big speech, and succeed in making it so I'll feel way too horrible if I just make Lufie attack you now and you see Lufie actually look a little sad. "You saw what happened to Jigen when she stood up against her, didn't you? She's made us all play a role in her game, even people who don't realize it. I don't know what "winning the game" really means for her, but she'll do whatever it takes to cut down anyone in her way."

>As she continues, she seems to be going from sadness into hysterics, saying "I'm not going to be cut down... I just won't! I'm not going to die!" You can see some tears falling off her face, now.

"And that means I've got to get rid of you!"

>At that, she jumps up into the air and lands on the roof of a nearby building, amazingly fast. You hear Veronica yell "Look out!", and notice a trail of yellow arrowhead danmaku heading towards you. Lufie hadn't just jumped; she had thrown the first attack.

[Hello Purvis]

>Try to get out of the way of those arrowheads; duck behind something if possible.
>"Well, at least you've got a reason!"
>Really. That is way better. =[
>Once safe, try to envision another laser. A tiger-seeking laser. If not safe, just try not to die.

[Serela]

>Try to get out of the way of those arrowheads; duck behind something if possible.
>"Well, at least you've got a reason!"
>Really. That is way better. =[
>Once safe, try to envision another laser. A tiger-seeking laser. If not safe, just try not to die.

>You back up a few steps, and they make small explosions as they hit the ground where you were standing. Well, that wasn't so hard~!
>You say this out loud. You hope Lufie feels a little better about attacking you now, seeing as, if the situation were different, she wouldn't want to hurt you.
>Yeah; she isn't some mindless goon or crazy murderer, that's pretty good!
>You think about a laser; about shooting one. You feel the energy flow (is this magic...?), and a laser shoots out of the Orb towards Lufie.
>She jumps out of the way, but you think about the laser tracking her; and it does. You feel that the laser has become weaker from doing so, but it follows Lufie around, not allowing her to stop moving as she races across the rooftops. She fires off some more aimed arrowhead danmaku, but she seems to be a bit busy avoiding the laser.

[Hello Purvis]

>If it feels like we can maintain another thing, try to make something like her arrow bullets, and fire them ahead of her, so she either runs into them or has to suddenly shift and get tagged by the laser.

[Serela]

>If it feels like we can maintain another thing, try to make something like her arrow bullets, and fire them ahead of her, so she either runs into them or has to suddenly shift and get tagged by the laser.

>You try to make some of the arrowhead bullets; it's like firing a little minibomb, right? You think of cramming the magic into the shape of those arrowheads; the Orb seems to take care of the rest, thankfully, and several red arrowheads fly out of the Orb.
>It turns out, you did this just in time. Lufie hadn't just been dodging the laser; she was getting in a good position to attack. As the arrowheads fly out of your Orb, she jumps off the roof of the building she's on and flies straight towards you, only to get knocked to the ground by several of your arrowhead danmaku.
>She groans in pain as she falls, but you don't think that's going to stop her for more then a moment. And unfortunately, you realize too late that you forgot about the arrowheads she had been firing while dodging your laser, and get hit by several in the legs; with a flare of pain, you fall to the ground. 

[Hello Purvis]

>"OW FUCK!"
>Oh lord that's not pleasant.
>Wait, can't stay here, she's probably plotting something.
>Roll away, get up to knees, stand or dive away if the situation demands it.
>Conjure up another seeker, don't use it yet.
>Is there a speed difference between the lasers and the tiger shots?

[Serela]

_{God dammit Chrono Cross, stop being so fun.}

>"OW FUCK!"
>Oh lord that's not pleasant.
>Wait, can't stay here, she's probably plotting something.
>Roll away, get up to knees, stand or dive away if the situation demands it.
>Conjure up another seeker, don't use it yet.
>Is there a speed difference between the lasers and the tiger shots?

>You curse loudly.
>It sure the hell isn't; you got hit in the legs by a volley of magical bombs! Thankfully, they didn't seem to be very strong; you don't think there's any lasting damage, and the pain isn't terribly bad anymore. Still hurts, though.
>You think she just hit the ground now, actually, so you should have a moment. But only a moment.
>You roll over and use the momentum to help you get on your knees and stand up. You feel a little wobbly, but that should lessen in a minute. You see Lufie starting to rise up from the ground, a fierce look on her face.
>another what Do you mean the homing laser or the aimed arrowheads? Hmm, maybe you should start deciding on names for these things so you don't get confused. You spawn one more arrowhead out of the Orb, but don't fire it.
>If by tiger shots you meablen arrowheads, then yes. The laser moves fairly fast, and of course is fully extended almost instantly. However the tracking variety seems to be thinner and predictable due to it's aimed-ness; inefficient alone, but likely effective with planning.
            The arrowheads take a second before they start moving towards their target, and then progressively speed up. The speed increases less after they reach a good velocity, but you imagine that they'd get dizzy-ingly fast if they had to travel farther. Lufie's are certainly faster then yours, but she's also probably had more practice.