The Grand Battle [Game Over!]

Originally posted on MSPA by Schazer.

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SpoilerSaved from the second page! I also send, my fellow Grand-Battlers, Christmas wishes in the form of this:

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SpoilerI'm sorry that hairstyles and such are painfully incorrect on many counts; my defence is that the computer was off-limits on Christmas Day so I couldn't read up on reference materials. But hopefully you still kinda like it.

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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SpoilerI always like it when somebody draws Eximo. I've never really specified what type of vacuum it is; I generally envision it as an upright one. But I like seeing other people's impressions of it even if they don't match my own.

I believe this is the first Eximo drawing to include the skeletal arms, too. Nice work.

Originally posted on MSPA by Aryogaton.

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SpoilerThat's awesome. Though it's a bit hard to see who's who.

Originally posted on MSPA by Schazer.

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SpoilerHaha thanks guys ^^

And Aryo, considering my mediocre artistry and the fact I'd been force-fed copious amounts of white rum frui punch by my parentals, if you can figure anybody much from that mess I'm doing ok xD

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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SpoilerAre you going to post that in the MSPAFA General Chat thread? Since there's a trend going on there of posting Christmas images at the moment.

Originally posted on MSPA by Schazer.

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SpoilerWell... seeing's you suggested, evidently it's ok for general consumption xD

Originally posted on MSPA by Aryogaton.

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SpoilerI believe I can discern about half of the people in there, but if you labelled everyone, it would be much more convenient.

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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"A vacuum cleaner. Moving on its own. Building an army out of our inventory." The store's owner looked at Simmons skeptically. "And to top it off, you claim that this vacuum cleaner has skeleton arms. I mean, I might be able to believe the rest if I was really drunk, but the arms? Are you just trying to come up with the most unbelievable story ever? Next you'll be telling me it flew here on a broomstick! Or maybe it has a gun, too!"

"No, sir!" Simmons protested. "I swear, I saw it with my own eyes! I can even show you where it is, it's probably still building them!"

"You've clearly lost it, Simmons. Look, if you're afraid to look for a thief, just say so. I'll just call the police and they can investigate the door."

"I'm not lying! I really saw that... thing!"

The owner sighed, and picked up the phone.

"Hello? Police? This is Bob's Appliance Megastore. Somebody broke our front door, and they may still be in the store... Or maybe they vandalized it and ran away. Either way, I'd like to... What's all that noise in the background? It's very distracting." He paused. "Two officers claiming they were assaulted by... a vacuum cleaner with skeleton arms?" The manager's face sunk. "...And it flew away on a broomstick? Um, on second thought, can you put one of them on the line? I have an employee who might like to talk to them."

He handed the phone over to Simmons.

"Either this is some elaborate prank that both you and the police are in on, or the world's gone crazy. In either case, this is your problem now. I'm going home early."

"Er. Yes sir, Mr. Luther." Simmons talked into the phone. "Hello? Officer? Yes, I think I've seen this vacuum cleaner of yours..."

Robert "Bob" Luther walked out of his office. He had been having such a good day up until then, too. This stupid vacuum cleaner was ruining everything, just like it always did...

Where had that thought come from? He needed this break more than he thought.

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SpoilerYes, Lutherion's "clone" in this world owns the appliance store. dex, feel free to go crazy with him any time now.

And no, I'm not planning to make a habit of going twice in a row. If you have a problem with it, post more often!

Also, starting on New Year's, I plan to do the "post every day, whether or not anyone else has" thing again. Consider yourselves warned.

Originally posted on MSPA by Aryogaton.

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Damn. I was hoping to use Lutherion to my advantage... He was the only loophole I've found in this cursed game. Aeon sighed. He would have to make do with what he had now.

And "now" involved finding Nathan. To his surprise this was actually not a very difficult task--Nathan, with his new demonic appearance, was fairly plainly visible in the largest of crowds. However, the real surprise was that nobody was paying any attention to him. As Aeon watched, Nathan soaked the street with blood, while being ignored by people right in front of him. Aeon decided to give Amethyst the information, but feared that Nathan would notice him communicating. Thinking quickly, he rubbed the communicating crystal with his shirt and placed it under his tongue. It was not comfortable, but at least it allowed him to communicate somewhat while not attracting Nathan's attention.

"Hello? Amethyst? Do you have a moment?"

Aeon could not see Amethyst fumble with her crystal. "I am a bit preoccupied at the moment. I have found Eximo, and he... it is rebuilding the vacuum army." She paused for a moment. "What happened to your voice? You sound as if you are suffocating."

"Erm, try to ignore that for now. Wait, what vacuum army?"

"It is mechanizing an entire warehouse of vacuum cleaners. It did so in the second round as well; you must have not seen it."

Aeon found this unsettling, but trusted that Amethyst was able to handle a few vacuum cleaner automatons. "Uh, okay. Well, there seems to be a situation here. I've found Nathan."

"What? How did you find him without him causing public havoc?"

"That's just the thing. To me it looks like he's pouring blood onto the street from his hands, and frankly he looks very different from last time we saw him. But no one else seems to notice it. It's as if he looks perfectly normal to them."

Both of them knew that Nathan definitely has the power to create intricate illusions. What baffled them was that he did not seem to purposely cause chaos.

Aeon broke the brief silence. "It's either we are getting more resistant to his illusions, or he just wants us to notice but no one else. Probably the latter." He thought for a moment. If I try to attack or something, I'll probably be stopped by local security. The only thing I can do is let him do what he's doing.

Amethyst interrupted his thoughts. "Keep following him and keep me informed--I will be able to track your location. At the moment, however, I have my own matters to attend to."

Damn. It.

Aeon cursed to himself as he followed Nathan, his shoes half-submerged in the illusionary blood.

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A small crowd was huddled around a deceptively uninteresting patch of dirt in the middle of the village square.

"Right. So, we were able to figure out where he went by searching for the faint remnants of the teleport. It should be fairly easy to duplicate the spell and send a search party. The problem is that this spell is pretty intricate and only teleports one person, plus a very specific set of matter around the person. We'll probably be able to decrypt the spell eventually, but right now it's best to just send someone over there as soon as possible. Any volunteers?"

After a few moments a woman stepped from the crowd.

"Well, it you won't be able to find him, then no one will be. Here's what you'll need in case there are more teleports after this one. Good luck."

Originally posted on MSPA by dexexe1234.

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Spoileri Think i see Lutherion standing in the corner, scratching himself with the Writhmaw arm, talking to another person!

Originally posted on MSPA by Aryogaton.

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SpoilerAh, that is Lutherion! How could I have missed that?

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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SpoilerI'm pretty sure Lutherion is talking to Samuel, the primary villainous character of Grand Battle II.

I don't think I want to know what those two are discussing with each other.

Originally posted on MSPA by Schazer.

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SpoilerWell ok, from vaguely left-to right(ish):

Black hair, blade gauntlets: Zeke (Lankie, BR)
Clambering out of the chimney: Sunset (Archduke_Ferdinand, GBII)
Looking surprised, annoyingly generic, and dropping his adaptive tool/marshmallow skewer at spotting Santa: Aeon (Aryogaton, GBI)
Midground, looks like Aeon, greeting Eximo: Maxwell (Sruixan, GBII)
Masked shadow hiding behind ChristmasVyrm'n: Grimm (Korbz, BR)
Pile of boxes spewing ornaments everywhere: Gestalt (Sleepingorange, GBII)
Annoyed tree substitute: Vyrm'n (yours truly, GBII)
Placing star with floaty powers: Armidillo (yousodumb, GBII)
Outside, with fox mask: Xeno (yousodumb, BR)
:3 Mask, was meant to be pulling tinsel from sleeves: Cabaret (snoomanwaff, GBII)
Generic-looking kid with an imp on his back: Nathan (Oddguy, GBI)
Meant to look like a teenager bored at at a family Xmas party (sorry Draykon, I did this one worst most probably): Amethyst (Draykon, GBI)
Shaking present box and with a checked shirt for some reason: Alcarith (Fait, GBI)
Shaking Samuel's hand at the doorstep: Lutherion (dexexe1234, GBI)
Dark-haired creepy bastard: Samuel (bobthepen, GBII)
Bursting through the wall with a microphone: Dorukomets (almost_there, GBI (guest appearance on GBII :P))
Back by the fireplace, short, back view, goggles and backpack: Gadget (cyber95, BR)
Huge dozing dog/wolf: Cobra (Kiren17, BR)
Vaccum Cleaner: Eximo (Dragon Fogel, GBI)
Looking disapprovingly at Eximo, grossly incorrect hairstyle, huge shield: Emily (Pawn2D4, GBI)
Irked-looking cloaked figure with Xmas cake: Itzal (Mystify, BR)
Dozing on the left, holding Noah's skull and with the huge gun: Whit (MyifanW, BR)
Dark-haired with what was meant to be a straitjacket, psychic vectors trying to steal Whit's godgun: Mike (Drakenforge, BR)
Chillaxing spaceman on couch: Galus (Opirian, GBII)

And at the bottom is Gestalt's marionette and Whir, Gadget's companion bot.
I hope I didn't miss anyone...

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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SpoilerI guessed most correctly, couldn't figure out Maxwell or Zeke, though. And I missed the Gestalt boxes spewing ornaments, and didn't catch Mike's vectors until you mentioned them. If I had, I would have been more sure of him, though I guessed it was him anyways - I realized which one was Nathan once I saw the demon shadow, suspected Alcarith mostly because I couldn't think of who else might have wings and a tail, and was able to sort out who had which masks. I figured out Sunset Claus mostly by process of elimination.

Also - are those portraits of the Observer and Director on the wall?

Originally posted on MSPA by Aryogaton.

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SpoilerAh, the image looks much better when you explained who everyone was.

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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SpoilerThe more I look at that picture, the more hilarious it gets just imagining what the characters are all talking and/or thinking about.

Edit: I've just made it my desktop background.

Originally posted on MSPA by Draykon.

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SpoilerI probably should've said before, but I really like it! For a decent time I've been pondering what could be done with a more lighthearted sided to the Grand Battles. Samuel/Lutherion interaction, as well as Eximo/Gestalt interaction would be rather hilarious.

Though looking at it more closely, there seem to be alot of parallels between members of the two GBs. I need to get around to reading Battle Royale and seeing if it's the same. o.o

Slightly more motivation to go out and make Grand Battle: High School AU :3

"What a broken world" Midnara said aloud to no one in particular, not really even knowing herself what she was saying.
"The more you look at it, the more's missing. Contained within this broken city...
What is this some kind of cage?!"
She slammed her fist against the wall, and then she heard it.
A strange chuckle, not quite entertained, but certainly amused.
"You guessed correctly."
The lights shifted around the room, and visible in one corner, was a man.
"But don't worry" Dexter said, "It's not your cage. It's ours."

***

"It occurs to me Eximo," Amethyst said, after slipping the crystal phone back into her pocket, "Throughout this entire ordeal, you have more or less ignored the 'Guy Running the Show's' terms. Is it possible that you aren't aware of the nature of our situation?"

She paused, as Eximo finished another VC Unit, and sent it on its way.

"Eximo... you know we're supposed to be killing each other... right?"

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SpoilerIt occurs to me that I have no idea what the Gentlemen actually look like.

But yeah, I suppose if Dex wants to control Dexter a bit it's only logical, but I've kinda got this conversation planned out. I'm trying to delay it until Eximo's finished more VC units though, it's kinda hard to explain.

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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SpoilerThough looking at it more closely, there seem to be alot of parallels between members of the two GBs. I need to get around to reading Battle Royale and seeing if it's the same. o.o

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SpoilerI find Maxwell makes me think of a less confident Amethyst - both of them specialize in trying to figure out what the heck is going on. I think it would be a very enlightening experience if they played the "question exchange" game with each other. They probably wouldn't stop at three questions.

Originally posted on MSPA by Aryogaton.

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SpoilerI personally find it difficult to follow pagewall after pagewall in the other Grand Battles. [img]images/smilies/what.gif[/img]

It's probably just me.

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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Eximo did not even pause in its work. It seemed it had been expecting this question.

"This unit is aware of the conditions that the unidentified lifeform set." VC Unit 86 was finished, and Eximo took another vacuum off the shelf before continuing.

"However, the unidentified lifeform is not Konka Rar, and as such, this unit is not required to follow or otherwise acknowledge that lifeform's orders."

Amethyst smiled. "You have an interesting perspective, Eximo. I wonder... Do you have any questions for me? I've asked you several, it's only reasonable to give you a chance to return the favor."

Eximo paused briefly, before resuming work on VC Unit 87. Then it spoke up.

"This unit was considering the query 'How can this unit be returned to Konka Rar's castle?', but that query has been replaced by a new one."

Amethyst expected it to pick up a new vacuum and work on it. She was surprised when it didn't, and turned to face her; clearly it considered the question more important than its work.

"How can we be returned to our proper locations?"

It resumed work as it waited for Amethyst to respond.

Originally posted on MSPA by Draykon.

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There was a long pause, before Midnara finally spoke up,
"So it's true then! Some kind of 'divine force' playing games with my city!"
Dexter laughed again.
"Oh, it's a game alright. But I'm not sure it's your city...

No, not everyone here 'came with' the city. It would seem there are alot of 'copies' here as well..."

He grinned a little,

"You're a little strange though. I don't think you ever had anything to do with the director's games. Maybe..."

He laughed even louder this time.

***

Amethyst smiled just slightly, then began her attempt at an answer.
"It is difficult to say... I have considered many possibilities..."
She began to pace back and forth,
"Throughout this entire game I have encountered forms of magic I had never considered before. They all have different laws, different physics...
Almost like they came with different realities."

She paused for a moment.

"I have considered in fact, that this is the best definition for magic: The translation of the physics of one reality into another. But there are consistencies."

She picked up a small piece of scrap metal from the floor.

"Is this a phase of ether? A subtle blend of earth and fire? A bond of submicroscopic particles? I think the answer is all of the above, because all models allow for the same result.

And I think that's how metal gains its strength. Because it's so close to what so many different models call 'normal,' to tear it apart you have to rip at it from every model at once."

She tossed the piece aside,

"But these worlds we have been brought into are very far from 'normality.' In that sense it may be reasonable to 'overpower' it with a 'normal' model. It may require an atomic blast to the barrier, or more, or less. I honestly cannot say for scale..."

She stopped her pacing, and looked straight at Eximo.

"It's just a theory, but if the physics of these universes truly are designed from the ground up by a single man, he may have forgotten the rule to prevent us from 'ripping reality a new one.'"

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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Eximo did not respond, and resumed its work. Amethyst wondered if it had understood her.

Several minutes later, it finally broke the silence.

"This unit cannot devise any methods of 'ripping reality a new one', and this unit assumes by your silence that you cannot either."

Amethyst shook her head. "No. Or rather... I have several theories, but it is almost impossible to test them."

"Please share your theories with this unit. Perhaps this unit can assist you somehow." Eximo finished VC Unit 93 as it spoke, and proceeded to build the next one.

***

The police chief looked at Larry as if he'd gone insane.

"Do you honestly think we can spare a dozen squad cars to arrest a vacuum cleaner? You and Stan must have hit your heads too hard!" she said, frustrated.

"Look, Chief, I know it sounds crazy, but we got a phone call from somebody who saw it! And the entire construction crew saw our attempt to, uh, defuse it. I don't have a clue what that thing was, but it's clearly dangerous, and we have to at least get it off the streets before somebody gets hurt."

The chief just shook her head in disbelief. "This is some kind of elaborate prank, isn't it? Somebody paid you to tell this crazy story just to see if you could get the chief to believe it."

"Chief, I will quit the force if I'm lying to you about this. This thing is real, it's dangerous, and we know where it is. I know I'm asking for a lot of officers, but I don't want to take chances here. Please authorize this, Chief!"

She sighed, defeated. "Fine, Larry. You've been a good officer, so I'll trust your judgement on this one. But if this turns out to be a wild goose chase..."

"Got it, Chief. Don't worry, we'll take this thing down."

Larry left. Chief Alice Rieth sighed. She'd had the chance to take a vacation this month, but no, she just had to stay on the job...

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SpoilerIn case the name didn't make it obvious enough - the police chief is Alcarith.

Originally posted on MSPA by Aryogaton.

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SpoilerDarn, I was about to reintroduce Alcarith in my post. Ah well, yours is better.

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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SpoilerIn case anyone's forgotten: I'm trying the "post every day, whether or not anyone else has" thing again.

Amethyst began. "Well, one theory I had was - no, wait, that would destroy the dimension we left. Far from ideal while we're in an inhabited one... wait, unless perhaps... no, it's unlikely this world has a compatible astronomical cycle... Er, continue with your work. I should have at least one theory we can test without excessive collateral damage... I just need to remember which one it is."

Eximo continued work on the VC units as Amethyst mentally reviewed her theories. They were interrupted as the conspiracy theorist ran up to them.

"There's at least a dozen police cars out there! And what's this... thing... doing? Is it some kind of alien weapon?"

Eximo turned to the conspiracy theorist. There were some noises as it scanned him.

"Match found in database. 95% chance subject is Jerry de Lint, conspiracy theorist. Although noted as an enemy of Konka Rar, threat level is considered minimal. It is not necessary to attack at this time." Eximo returned to work.

Jerry blinked. "How does it know my name? And... who's Konka Rar? Is that the alien overlord's name or something? It sounds vaguely familiar... and why do I suddenly have this strange urge to keep a huge pile of lint in a safe place?"

Amethyst grew concerned. Aeon had mentioned a doctor who strongly resembled Emily, and now Eximo had apparently encountered someone from its own world. Yet, it seemed these copies lacked the original's memories - or rather, the memories appeared locked away. Jerry was now sputtering incoherently about strange things he suddenly remembered...

"Lint... Cheesehead... SPONGE Force... DTYRUGUD... Nopor Puss... Why do I remember this stuff? What does it all mean? And why does half of it not make any sense at all?"

Jerry's sudden breakdown was interrupted by a voice over a megaphone.

"We know the vacuum cleaner is in there! Surrender quietly!"

There was another voice. "This it, Larry?" "No, it looked different... wait, that one moves, too? My god, there's an army of them!"

Amethyst sighed. One way or another, this was going to be trouble.

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SpoilerI have a very strange character who's a conspiracy theorist in the world Eximo comes from, and thought it would be fun to work that in with the "copied characters" plot point.

Actually, I have quite a few strange characters in that world - Nopor Puss is from there, too. It's a pretty strange world overall, as you might guess.

Eximo itself was not developed in any way before GB, though. I basically took a totally undeveloped character in that bizarre world and decided to see where I could go with it. The way this round is going, I can actually draw on the world itself a bit; but I'll try not to do that too much, or it'll distract from the main story.

Originally posted on MSPA by Draykon.

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SpoilerI seriously hope that wasn't cue for me to come up with something, I'm honestly stumped.

"You see? It's really not all that complicated."
Dexter finished explaining.
A strange look passed Midnara's face. It was depressed, saddened, and yet almost laughing at the same time.
"So, that's why the city's been 'cut off.' But was it really just lifted out of some random world...?"
"Beats me. I was just told to scout for contestants. I don't know anything about the game beyond what I just told you."
"Looking back, it's all blank. Everything before today- no, not even all of today- is just... nonexistent..."
Dexter's grin finally faded,
"Who knows. Maybe you were just brought here to screw with one of the living contestants."
Midnara didn't speak,
"Actually I think there was a girl just a little younger than you. Friend of your maybe?"
She simply mouthed a name, one belonging to a strangely familiar person she'd convinced herself didn't exist.
'Amethyst...'

***

Amethyst muttered to herself. It wasn't commands, she was cursing under her breath.
"I would like not to appear a 'villain' to these humans. But if nothing else...

Sonic amplification engage"
The next words she spoke boomed throughout the store. Jerry covered his ears to avoid going deaf.
"Attention all life forms. This building will be sealed in 1 minute. If you do not wish to be trapped inside, please leave within that time."
"W-wait" Jerry said, taking his hands off his ears. "What are you doing?"
Amethyst spoke normally again, "Clearing the area for unobstructed cleansing."
It was an attempt at a joke, but Jerry probably didn't get it.