CYOA: Mugen + Endorsi + Belial + Lan Xichen

[snowmods]

Comments

[raws]

[ : ) Cool. ]

. . .

[ For once Belial is so taken aback he's not even sure how to make this sexual. ]

... Shall we hold hands?

[ He's ready. ]

[fisherwoman]

[She was confused but with this until the last image, which she's squinting at as the others speak, looking exhausted.]

So we have to... be merry and enjoy each other's company?

[She's going to die.]

[infinit]

... What.

[ were the potatoes from the cold box bad. is he high. what the fuck was that explanation. the humbugs are evil and... have guns? or swords? i mean, i guess beating up humming bugs with swords is a merry thought...

also: ]

Nah. Not gonna happen. Don't touch me or you're losing a hand. [ specifically to belial. ]

[snowmods]

You don't have much time. . . synchronize your Yule Energy.

[The four screens turn once again to the image of four people holding hands, but it also appears now that there's a door underneath all of them. The outline of the doors (like cabinets that slide out beneath the screens) glow bright red, as though lit from within. On one door, the outline of a drum appears. On another, a star. On another, a tree. And on another, a bell. But the doors do not open, no matter what they may try.

The sound of plinks of ice begins again. There's plinking all around them, like something is closing in. And then there's a loud banging sound at the door that closed behind them. The door doesn't budge, but it begins to frost over with a layer of ice.]

There's no more time. Synchronize, and you'll be able to access the Yule Tide Weapons I have stored for each of you. I have to leave you now. . . my power. . . has run out.

Goodbye. . .

[The Professor's hologram bows his head, and flickers out. Rest in peace. You're alone, as the hammering at the door and the chill in the room grows stronger.]

[dynasty]

[ alright, well. if their options are "do not hold hands and die" or "hold hands, get weapons, and survive", then there aren't many other options. xichen lets out a long breath, steps forward, and grabs belial's and mugen's hands. ]

We do not have other options at the moment, unless any of you are particularly interested in dying.

[ tries to think merry thoughts and not worrying about surviving thoughts i guess?! ]

[raws]

I don't mind being a little rough.

[ Belial should probably make this easier for them all considering their impending deaths, but instead he continues to be gross. At least he doesn't use the sudden darkness as an excuse to grab anyone's ass.

Instead, he very pointedly grabs Endorsi's hand before taking hold of Xichen's in his other. ]

If you'd prefer death, then I can think of plenty of other fun activities to spend our last moments on.

[ wink ]

[fisherwoman]

[She lets Belial take her hand because it’s better than dying, she guesses, even if she looks Unhappy about it.]

Now we’re... supposed to think of things that make us happy?

[infinit]

[ he makes a spluttering sort of noise at his hand being taken, but like. he doesn't pull away or anything because he's not interested in dying. it's the door being covered in ice that convinces him. he closes his eyes.

sorry xichen, his hand's pretty grimy. also, burnt to shit.

he doesn't say anything, just thinks of... merry thoughts? which for him is like, big boobed girls serving him food, i'm sorry. ]

[snowmods]

[The drawers begin to glow and the computer simulations show red and green waves coming off. An alarm rings out - ]

Merry Output at 50%!

[Get merrier!]

[dynasty]

[ it's okay mugen, xichen's hand is also burnt to shit. they can suffer together.

but more merry thoughts, huh? he tries to remember back to when he was a kid spending time with his mom and little brother then, when things were much less complicated ]

[raws]

[ Thinks of Lucilius for strength...

But also, he thinks of the movies that had been playing back at the lodge, the ones that resembled the images on the monitors. ]

You know, it's usually better for me when I can hear my partners' voices.

[ He starts off by humming, thinking of his dear Lucilius dressed up in red and white, dancing along to: ] Jingly balls, jingly balls...

[fisherwoman]

[She shoots Belial a glare before she remembers she's supposed to be merry. Awful. Anyways, she sighs and tries to ignore him, thinking about her foster parents instead.]

[infinit]

[ unfortunately, mugen finds the jingly balls song funny. he snortlaughs under his breath.

he continues to think of bahongas and booze but also... fuu, and jin, and the way a campfire feels when you put your hands up against it, listening to your companions chatter about stupid shit. ]

[snowmods]

[The Merry Output counter ticks every steadily upwards, until Belial starts singing Jingle Balls. . . at which point it rockets to 100%!]

Merry Output at 100%. . . Synchronization Achieved.

[The doors slide open, revealing the weapons within. At each door's opening, a voice reads a description of the item.

The first door, the door with the star, reveals a blinding white morning star. A voice speaks: ]

Ultimate Advent Battle Star

This powerful morning star can convert into a wide ranging flail.

Special Move: God and Sinners Reconcile

[The second door, the door with the tree, reveals a cross bow, decked with pine boughs and holy, with bauble tipped arrows.]

O Tannenbomber

This crossbow shoots rounds of explosive ornaments.

Special Move: Tidings of Discomfort and Pain

[The third door, the one with the drum, opens to reveal a large golden two handed sword.]

Big Drummer Boy

This sword emits a powerful sonic blast with every strike.

Special Move: Finishing PaRumPaPumPum

[The fourth door, the one with the bell, opens to reveal a shoulder mounted rocket launcher.]

Jingle Bell Rocket Launcher

This weapon fires cold-seeking jingle bell missiles at foes.

Special Move: Feliz Navidead.

[The door, now covered in ice, begins to crackle and crumble. The plink of many, many ice creatures grows closer.

Choose your weapons, friends.]

[dynasty]

[ thank you belial

xichen's eyes go wide at the sight of the weapons, and well, there are two he definitely knows how to use. and since two others are proficient in swords, he'll happily reach for the crossbow. ]

O Tannenbomer huh? Alright then. [ it looks a little weird, but it has a good weight to it. should be useful. ]

[raws]

[ Looks like the floating head really was a friend and not a foe. And as much as Belial would enjoy continuing to torture Endorsi with hand holding, he hurries over to the open doors instead.

With the doors crackling open behind them, there isn't a lot of time to be discerning, but he's happy to pick up the rocket launcher. ]

Ooh, a big boy.

[ He runs his hands over the weapon, and as soon as the door crumbles just enough for their friends to peek on through, he gets it ready on his shoulder. And the only warning the others get is a delighted cackle before he's pulling the trigger, firing a missile toward the opening—

Felix Navidead assholes!! ]

[fisherwoman]

[She looks over the remaining two carefully, but when she hears the ice creatures begin to come closer... She grabs the weapon that's closest, smiling as her hands grip the morning star. She drops the needle for now so she can hold this new weapon with both hands. Her smile grows when Belial shoots towards the door.]

Everybody ready, then?

[infinit]

[ mugen practically catapults himself into the sword, give him!! give!! he picks it up with a sort of maniacal grin on his face. ]

Oh hell yeah. Let's do this.

[ he shifts the sword in his hand, and does a stupid flashy twirl with it. also, belial shoots the door and mugen like, whoops. ]

[snowmods]

[When Xichen says 'O Tannenbomber' the title definitely appears behind him.

The door shatters, and swarms of ice bugs crawl in - all various types of insects, all enormous and rendered in glass. At the front, an enormous beetle opens its mouth to spray everyone with a thick fog of frost. But as it does so, one of the jingling missiles shoots directly into its maw and explodes. The beetle explodes as well, firing glass shards around the room - if you aren't careful, you may be cut by these shards!]

[dynasty]

[ alright. xichen is a man who likes simple things. clean sheets. plain rice. following rules.

but even he can't deny that the title text is really, really cool.

at the sound of the explosion xichen moves toward the side of the room to avoid the spray of ice shards and loads up an arrow to shoot at one of the icesects (humbugs?) running at them dead in the face. ]

[raws]

[ This is pretty cool. After feeling helpless in the days since arriving in this place, standing here now with a weapon in hand is liberating.

It's still dangerous—a couple of shards ricochet in Belial's direction, ripping through his pants and sexily exposing his thigh. But it's not enough of a deterrent, and he sneaks past the door when Xichen charges to have more manoeuvrability in the open space when he fires off another missile, swinging the launcher around to smash at any insect getting too close. ]

[fisherwoman]

[She makes a soft 'ooo' noise at the title text, before turning her attention to the insects crawling in. Her grin is sharp, and even when a few of those shards graze one of her bare arms, her eyes are opened wider in excitement. She's immediately moving forward to use the morning star to try and knock one of their heads clean off.]

[infinit]

[ mugen has absolutely no reservations about zooming in, so he does. he click-clacks his way across the room and straight into a mass of them. unfortunately a shard slices his cheek and he ignores it, cackling as he brings his sword down onto one of the bug heads.

sonic boooooom - he's hoping that it'll explode other ones, too. ]

[snowmods]

[The arrow Xichen fires has what looks like a bright red bauble at the end of it, decorated with a snowflake. When it hits a snow spider, it explodes, sending all eight spider legs flying around the room like spears. Try not to get stabbed!

The missile Belial fires jingles as it shoots towards the mass of insects near the door - and then it turns around, circles around him, and slams into an ice scorpion that was sneaking up behind him, taking it out. Two other ice scorpions are advancing on him. He will be able to bash them away, but their tails are dangerous, and they try to slam their tails into him.

The morning star whips around - when Endorsi swings it, the star at the end comes off, attached with a chain, and becomes a flail, knocking the head off of another ice beetle. However, the beetle seems able to continue to move even with its head knocked off. It continues to crawl towards Endorsi.

Mugen slices an ice beetle in two, and a sonic blast knocks a group of ice ants back against the wall, where they crash and shatter, with a loud sound like a drum beat. But there's an answering sound from down the hall - a low thrum in the air. More insects are pouring in even as they kill them.]

[dynasty]

[ he manages to dodge the flying shards of bugs from doing any serious damage, but they do rip through part of his flowing robes and his cut off a bit of hair there. xichen takes stock of the situation - they're underground, in a tunnel, and their enemies seem to all be coming at them from an undetermined point while they're in here. even with this new weapons, this won't last long, especially for how they explode. ]

Everyone, we have to make our way back out of here to the surface! [ xichen shoots for the wall on the other side of the door, hoping to cut off the rush with a tannenbomber explosion so they can make a break for it. ]