Sports Drink with Electrolytes 2017/01/18(Wed)19:41 No. 773202 ID: 683cf1
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"wow!" he exclaims, "what a hot bhabhi!"

Sports Drink with Electrolytes 2017/01/18(Wed)19:42 No. 773203 ID: 683cf1
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he gets back up and continues imposing, "I like a woman who knows how to throw a haymaker."

"I know a lot more than that." Ysmir warns.

"groovy!" he beams, "you and I should try out some wrestling moves naked back at my place, whaddya say, hairy mama?"

Ysmir growls lowly and turns, "I know Miss Ritz told me to retrieve you but this is a waste of time!"

"wait wait!" Ash follows, "you said this uh... Ritz... needs my help? was that the babe you were walking with earlier?"

"yeah." Ysmir replies, "she's being hunted by your bounty."

"well I can't just leave a damsel in distress, can I?" he grins with machismo, "and you said she was shacked up at the top of the hill with all those spicy Guadian chicks... say no more! let's get rolling!"

>>773203
Okay. Time for a bike ride.

Only if he agrees to say no more either. Just... ugh.

i'm not jealous i'm not jealous

>let's get rolling!
If that's another sex thing I'm going to hit you again.

Ok, we got him for all the good that does us. Hopefully he proves to be somewhat useful but either way I have a feeling we're going to be hitting this guy a lot.

Sports Drink with Electrolytes 2017/03/17(Fri)09:59 No. 788132 ID: 5e2c69
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"if that's innuendo I'm gonna hit you again." Ysmir huffs.

"anything is innuendo if you're DTF." he retorts.

"well I'm not whatever that means!" Ysmir barks.

he mounts the bike, and then pats the seat, which Ysmir sits down on. he gets really serious.

"hands around my waist." he orders, "and hold on tight, safety first."

Ysmir complies, and in a moment, the beast roars to life. in this moment Ysmir realizes she is scared of Lucifer.

Sports Drink with Electrolytes 2017/03/17(Fri)10:01 No. 788133 ID: 5e2c69
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elsewhere, Ritz catches her breath hard, laying on the floor.

"what do you think, Ruby?" Opal wipes her brow.

"I'm impressed." she nods.

"really?" Ritz looks up hopefully.

"yeah." she crosses her arms, "you're the clumsiest Zenling I've ever seen. it's remarkable."

Ritz blows a raspberry at the Crawler while Opal stiffles a laugh.

"it's ok, Scarlet." Opal gives her a hand up, "you're doing just fine."

"these knives are too heavy." Ritz makes an excuse, "I need lighter weapons, I think."

"you need more muscles." Ruby counters, "bluesteel is barely heavier than iron."

"well, we could get you more reasonable weapons if you need them." Opal reasons.

"and a bib and bonnet, as well." Ruby scoffs, "those daggers are worth more than a house, if you can't fight with those, then you're hopeless."

"she's just not used to them." Opal sighs, "in time she can-"

"in time she'll be in Armistice rattling a cup against her cell's bars." Ruby interrupts.

Ritz sits against the wall, panting. Ruby stretches and leans on the wall next to her.

"I gave you the deal already." she states, "you pay me, and the Grifter dies."

"I don't have enough money." Ritz protests.

"I can get the payment later." she replies, "I owe Opal a favor, anyway."

"I don't know." Ritz shakes her head, "putting out a hit on someone doesn't feel right."

she relents. "the offer's on the table."

>Bluesteel daggers are too heavy
You could always try connecting them to chains and throw them around. Classic, right?

>Order a hit?
No. Too dangerous, you don't want Ruby to die because she underestimated an immortal.

If we're gonna try to kill the Grifter then it should be with a group of experienced hunters. Ruby can help and be paid for it eventually, but she shouldn't do so alone. Opal trusts Ruby so it doesn't sound like a bad thing to be in her debt.

It seems like Ritz isn't gonna be much help in the fight, though.

probably should go over all our options first then chose a plan of action. You know since we're probably going up against an immortal it's probably better to actually think this one through then rush in head first and just hope for the best.

>weapons are heavy and you're not used to them
Well, yeah. You're a newbie. You need practice and/or training.

>>788306
>probably should go over all our options first then chose a plan of action
That seems reasonable.

We can fight, with or without Ruby's help. (Does she really think she can take the grifter? These aren't minor things, after all).

We could run. All we have to do is stay ahead of it, and not leave a trail, right?

We could attempt to talk our way out. Prooooobably not a good idea to bet on.

We could burn the card. A bad idea. If we ever tap him, we want to know exactly what we're bargaining for, and we can't afford to negotiate from a position of weakness.

We could hand ourselves in and face the music. How bad would that be?

Sports Drink with Electrolytes 2017/07/06(Thu)20:42 No. 813505 ID: 5e2c69
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"I don't want you to get hurt because of me." Ritz says, "this Grifter could be an immortal."

"I've killed immortals before." Ruby replies shortly.

"she could be more than you can handle." Ritz reasons

"doubt it."

"well... well Sakura and Ysmir can still help! three against one would be better than going in alone."

"I work better alone." she replies, "but if you're so adamant, I can let the other two tag along."

Sports Drink with Electrolytes 2017/07/06(Thu)20:43 No. 813506 ID: 5e2c69
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"I'd hate to slow you down." Sakura enters, "I can just take Ysmir and hit the tavern while you go get scythed or whatever."

she glances at Opal and scoffs, "nice get up. real intimidating, ma'am."

Opal laughs nervously and excuses herself.

"Sakura, I'm glad you're here!" Ritz sighs, "this is ruby and she is going to-"

"-get slaughtered, I caught that part of the plan."

Ruby narrows her eye at the scrub, "this is your ace in the hole, Rosequartz? she looks like a fetishist hockey goalie."

"yeah and you look like you caught bird shit at a bad angle." Sakura quips, "anyway, Ysmir says you got an Armada problem. I sent her to fetch the Snipe."

"that gives us four, then." Ritz nods.

"five." Sakura counters, "I'm not getting into a brawl with an Armada for my health, you're going to help."

"I'm no good at fighting, though." Ritz argues, "I'd just get in the way."

"only one way to get good, princess."

Sports Drink with Electrolytes 2017/07/06(Thu)20:44 No. 813507 ID: 5e2c69
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"miss Ritz, I brought the snipe!" Ysmir exclaims from the doorway, "I did good!"

"that's right." Ash enters behind Ysmir, "no one panic, Ash Rathwracked is here to save the day."

"thank you so much for helping me out!" Ritz says as she approaches the Fury.

Sports Drink with Electrolytes 2017/07/06(Thu)20:44 No. 813508 ID: 5e2c69
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Ash takes her in his arms, "no problem, little mama, no thanks are necessary."

"I- ah! t-there m-must be some way to repay you!" Ritz swoons.

"well come to think of it I-"

"say Ritz when are you turning 16?" Sakura interjects.

Sports Drink with Electrolytes 2017/07/06(Thu)20:45 No. 813509 ID: 5e2c69
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"I UH THINK WE CAN WORK OUT A PAYMENT PLAN."

So the snipe takes point, right? And by point I mean he gets to serve as the distraction. The rest of the group will attack first, to do what they can before Ruby steps in. Probably not for very long.

>>813509
Pffff HAHAHAHAHA!!!!! XD

He may be a perv, but it looks like he at least knows when someone's too young, they're off limits, so that's some good news at least!

One immortal-butchering strategy with extra lesbians, hold the sitcom!

>>813509
"Ow. No fair, I'm getting hurt before we even start the fight."

Ysmir: seethe.

Sports Drink with Electrolytes 2017/07/09(Sun)05:40 No. 814177 ID: 5e2c69
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"speaking of plans," Sakura says, picking Ritz up from the floor, "we don't have one."

"I was thinking we could just... I don't know, beat the Grifter up?" Ritz replies.

"brilliant." Sakura scoffs, "let's go do it right now. the planning phase is over, right? we're more than ready, you suppose?"

Ritz sticks her tongue out at the Scrub, "what's your plan?"

"get the Grifter following you down an alley, we flank them and gut them. standard pincer maneuver."

"Miss Kusanagi." Ysmir leans in, "she might be one of the Immortals. I don't know if getting close would be a good idea."

Sakura shrugs, "well I doubt an Immortal would care much about a few shuriken and a crossbow bolt, so unless we have a couple spellflingers in present company, I think meelee combat is our only option at this point."

"excuse me," Ash butts in, "but uh, Pyromancer extraordinaire over here."

"you're a mage?" Sakura sneers.

"sure am!" he grins, "what did you expect?"

"I don't know man, you got the whole body by zeus thing going on I expected more of a direct kind of combat from you."

"no way. these babies here," he flexes to emphasize, "are for the girls back home."

"...and for the girls on the road. and for the girls in town. these are for every girl."

"how generous." Sakura replies.

"go ahead, little mama, give 'em a feel. they're like steel anvils."

"I ain't gonna feel your fucking buttcheeks." Sakura winces, "but if we got a spellcaster, that definitely swings things in our favor. if we tweak things a bit... Ysmir and I could try the pincer and keep the Grifter busy, and while they're distracted, loverboy can plug her with some hellfire."

Sports Drink with Electrolytes 2017/07/09(Sun)05:41 No. 814178 ID: 5e2c69
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"alternate plan." Ruby stands and presides over the group, "I take the Grifter out. if it's a mortal, I can do it in one hit. if it's Immortal, maybe three."

"you sound pretty confident, cyclops." Sakura chides.

"I've been in this line of work longer than any of you have been alive."

"and I've seen plenty of veteran Crawlers with their guts hanging out of their bellies," Sakura says, "I've cut open a couple of them, come to think of it."

"well, if I die, you won't have to pay me," Ruby smirks, "and then you can try your little..."

"Pincer maneuver." Sakura growls.

"yeah, that."

"alright, Ritz, what's the plan?" Sakura says, turning toward the Zenling.

"w-what? I have to decide?!"

"yeah." Sakura nods, "it's your problem, you gotta fix it."

Question: Does your plan rely on the element of surprise, Ruby?
If not, go with plan Sakura at first.

Okay, for the noobs in the party: what's the big difference between an Immortal Grifter and a non-Immortal Grifter?

>what do
Is there some reason Ruby's plan isn't compatible with a pincer maneuver?

Tactically, I'd lean more towards a plan that leverages numbers and puts the enemy at a disadvantage (ambushed, hemmed in, and surrounded) than one that relies on perfect performance by just one person. I mean yeah, maybe Ruby is that good, but we don't know how good the enemy is, so why not stack what we have?

Sports Drink with Electrolytes 2017/07/10(Mon)18:31 No. 814675 ID: 5e2c69
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"can someone explain what an Immortal Armada is?" Ritz asks.

"think of it like this." Sakura explains, "if I were to try to kill you, how would I do it?"

"uh?"

"exactly. I got a lot of options." she replies, "I could cut your gut open, nick an artery, strangle, poison, so on. can't do that to an Immortal. only way to kill an Immortal is to destroy the heart or the brain. same goes with Daemons and Liches. remember the Cobalt from the forest? you shot him in the head and he was still kicking until Pyre lit him up."

"on top of that, Immortal Armada are usually nobles." Ruby cuts in, "meaning they have a lot of combat training. whatever fiend your group took care of in the forest last night may have been as hardy as this Immortal, but I doubt it had much skill with whatever power it was wielding."

"ok, so you're certain you could go head to head with one alone?" Ritz asks Ruby.

"I've done it before." she replies.

"that's not reassuring."

she shrugs.

"if we did Sakura's flanking maneuver, that would make it a lot safer for you to get in, wouldn't it?" Ritz reasons.

"at the cost of your own safety, yes." she replies.

"I would feel better if we all took a bit of risk instead of you trying to do it yourself."

"very well. you're the one paying me." Ruby stretches and yawns, "so if we're doing this tonight, we need to get moving soon. sun will be setting soon. otherwise, I'll be waiting for your orders in the morning."

[i] should the party hurry to battle tonight? are there any last minute changes to the plan? or should the group get their rest and go after the Grifter in the morning?

Strike while the iron is hot. Surprise is valuable.

Let's hurry and get it done tonight.

>>814675
Whatever we do, Ritz is gonna have to be extra careful not to be held hostage. That's just about the only thing that would stop Ruby, I reckon.

Sports Drink with Electrolytes 2017/07/20(Thu)09:33 No. 817127 ID: 5e2c69
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"no time like the present... I guess."

the party sets out quickly after gathering their equipment. they walk down the path to town as the last rays of light give way to a dim moonshine. after a while, Ruby taps Ash on the shoulder.

"you and me, we're flanking. let's go." she says shortly.

"hey slow down there, Wonder Woman." Sakura crosses her arms, "since when was this your plan?"

"you want this plan to work?" Ruby smirks, "you put the power players behind the enemy. you and Ysmir can distract the Grifter. unless you're incapable?"

"what the FUCK did you say?"

Sports Drink with Electrolytes 2017/07/20(Thu)09:34 No. 817128 ID: 5e2c69
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Ysmir hugs Sakura from behind firmly, "Miss Sakura, we can keep a better eye on Ritz- er... Miss Rits, and the Grifter that way."

"...fine." she mutters, "Ritz, we'll be waiting near the tavern, just get the Grifter on your tail and duck between it and the apothecary, got it?"

Sports Drink with Electrolytes 2017/07/20(Thu)09:34 No. 817129 ID: 5e2c69
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"yeah. of course." Ritz nods. the two groups move away from her into town. the moon is high now, and the lights of lanterns and candles in the windows of homes begin to dim.

"guess it's time to go hunting..." Ritz says. it sounded pretty badass in her head, but her cracking whispering voice turned it into something almost comical.

>>817129
Here's to (hopefully) not getting killed!

Buck up. You've got a group of otherwise seemingly competent adventuring types interested in sticking their necks out on your behalf- they must see something in you.

Sports Drink with Electrolytes 2017/07/21(Fri)09:38 No. 817288 ID: 5e2c69
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>You've got a group of otherwise seemingly competent adventuring types interested in sticking their necks out on your behalf- they must see something in you.
hopefully Ritz will start seeing it in herself...

"alright... just got to find the Grifter... and not get arrested, or killed." Ritz sighs, "I can do this. this will be easy. piece of cake. no problemo."

she walks through the darkened city streets, jumping at every sound and skittering rat that she comes across.

Sports Drink with Electrolytes 2017/07/21(Fri)09:38 No. 817289 ID: 5e2c69
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after some time wandering around, she spots the Grifter. she's sat by the fountain in the center of town... doing...

what the hell is she doing? she's bent over something, fiddling with it, and her weapon is out of her reach!

what should Ritz do?

be cool, act nonchalant

>>817289
Don't fall for it! That's obviously a trap to try and trick you into thinking that you can sneak attack them!

There's a very good chance that they already know you're behind them, so keep an eye on them and walk around them. Start making your way over to the ambush spot between the tavern and the apothecary.

>>817289
Yeah this is a trap. She either has a second weapon concealed there or she's still plenty dangerous unarmed. Stick with the plan and move towards the ambush point. She will probably start following you.

If this is a trap, then your best bet is to snipe from a distance. Shooting an immortal with years to master parrying bolts with a knife wouldn't be very effective, but I doubt her scythe has that kind of training, let alone intelligence.

Shoot the Scythe, get it out of her reach! If she can't use her crowd control main, that makes your ambush entire levels easier!

>>817322
Like you said, she's an immortal that's had years to master whatever skills she needs for her job. Which means she has a counter to what you want to do. So let's not do that.

>her weapon is out of her reach!
It's also glowing.

Don't trust that she's really unarmed. The appearance of vulnerability in an open space is probably to draw you out.

>what do
Gasp in surprise and fear- you don't even have to wholly fake that. Then start backing towards the ally and start to run as soon as she moves.

The idea is to try and act like someone who didn't want to encounter her, starts trying to move away quietly, then panics. If she thinks you're incompetent or careless, she's more likely to pursue than if you're obvious about it.

>>817360
Well if we're doing that, then shooting the crossbow at her would also help.

Sports Drink with Electrolytes 2017/08/29(Tue)09:34 No. 825879 ID: 5e2c69
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Ritz slowly lowers herself down and grabs a pebble from the street. the Grifter is still turned around... messing with something... Ritz begins to hear her muttering under her breath. no, not muttering. humming? a small yellow glow emanates from in front of the Grifter. is she casting a spell?

Sports Drink with Electrolytes 2017/08/29(Tue)09:36 No. 825880 ID: 5e2c69
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Ritz hurls the pebble. the Grifter stops and raises her head as the rock collides with the stone fountain.

"is someone there?" she says, turning to face Ritz. her face is hidden under the hefty red hood. she gasps lightly when she sees Ritz in the dim light of the moon.

"ah... Rose Quartz?" she rises slowly, "I need to talk to you. it's about your parents. we're friends... sort of. and-and... ah, they're very worried about you... they just want to see you..."

she starts to move toward Ritz, and Ritz sees what the Grifter was fiddling with. long streaks of blood run down her arm from some wound. Ritz backs away, and the Grifter show her palms to her.

"unarmed, see?" she says, "I just want to talk."

In what universe does unarmed constitute harmless? Not one with magic, that's for sure.
Insult her while backpedaling. How dare she spit on your parents' name or somesuch, you bet those cuts came from shaving her beard this morning, etc.

>is she casting a spell?
Probably. One advantage of immortality is a lot of time to learn things.

>long streaks of blood run down her arm from some wound
Well, I guess if she's really immortal, that wouldn't hinder her. I wonder if someone really got a hit in on her and she hasn't bothered to deal with it, or if she did that herself and it's supposed to unsettle you, or make you underestimate her (or try to help her).

>"unarmed, see?" she says, "I just want to talk."
"Then talk from over there, stay back."

Keep your distance, as soon as she starts to close again, or says or does something else to spook you, run and lead her into the trap.

>I need to talk to you. it's about your parents. we're friends... sort of. and-and... ah, they're very worried about you... they just want to see you...
Almost certainly lying. Although I would be very darkly amused if we ended up murdering an actual messenger over bad or incomplete intel.

>>825880
Tell her to not get any closer if she just wants to talk.
If she moves one more step, run for it.

>>825884
>Although I would be very darkly amused if we ended up murdering an actual messenger over bad or incomplete intel.
We know that's not true because of the end of the last thread. She's here because of the sins of the father etc.

"... Why are you ripping your arm off?"

>>825890
For that matter, she can talk while sitting down on the ground, or laying on her back. If this message is so important, she ought to be willing to endure a momentary inconvenience to make the recipient more comfortable and willing to listen, right?