...“You know what I'm here for!” Effie’s words rang out as Ernie watched on at the unexpected turn of events. “The funny thing is I really don’t know.” Ernie stood there and took in the scene. Was this the first time he had seen this type of outburst in the District? Ernie tried to recall, but now wasn’t really the time to reminisce on bad memories. Something was afoot. Something about Ugo threatening them that was for sure. But if Ugo wanted somebody to fight him this would never be his plan of attack. “Would you care to enlighten me then, I wouldn’t mind this either way!” Ernie shouted back, his tone was neutral, the tension of the situation only increased, but he didn’t see a need to fight back even now. “They sent us here, because they wanted us to steal your notebook!” Ernie heard the voice of Jenny behind a tree. Things started to make sense to Ernie, the hiding, why it wasn’t Odin’s people doing this, and that outburst. “And what do you two intend to do?” Ernie moved his backpack from his back to carrying it on one arm. “Well if you help us, you could send them a fake notebook! It’s not like we like those fuckers anyways!” Jenny replied beyond the trees. Well that wasn’t so difficult was it, it only took one or maybe both of their ire to get to this arrangement. Ernie weighed this against the prospect that they were lying to him, but if it came down to it it would just be either a fight now or a fight later. “Alright I’ll help you! I’ll be in my cabin manuscripting! You two wait outside, this will take less than an hour!” Ernie shouted back over as he started to walk back to his cabin. “Your funeral..wait what?!” Effie flipped as Jenny clapped an arm on her, “We did it, we can get out of this shitty situation.” Effie looked around, The Murder receded back into herself. “Did that really just happen?” She held out the hope that it really would be that easy, she wanted to believe it but she felt a slight pang of confusion, guilt maybe? Jenny continued on, “We just have to make sure that he does his end of the deal and we’ll be out of here in no time.” Jenny looked at Effie’s face as she noticed the change in expression, “You okay there? You let out a bunch just now and if you wanted to talk about it.” “No I’m ok, come on we have to still keep an eye on him.” Effie brushed Jenny’s arm off and made her way closer into the clearing with Jenny following. Well, that was somewhat anticlimactic. If you were hoping for a match with some more carnage in it, how about checking out a race out of a monster-filled urn and voting on it? Scenario: Sound’s Garden Eastern Strip - Heartache Casino VIP Room “So kind of you all to come again,” a man dressed garishly in gold spoke to a roomful of wealthy highrollers, a lounge area with a wall taken up by a screen large enough to make the place double as something of a particularly cozy home theater, a setup which had typically been reserved for two things: watching games organized by Heartache Casino’s owner on the closed-circuits of buildings he owned, and being rented out for private parties and banquets. “This is pretty unconventional,” a dark-haired sniper remarked between drinks, staring at the screen as it showed, largely, several shots of a building in Downtown Los Fortuna, which seemed to have rapidly grown occupied by a small group of Stand Users, some of whom familiar to the district’s regulars after some close shaves in the subways both occupied, “but it’s brilliant… Just needed to get your tech guy to get cameras in there, now you have a huge show for free.” “Should you be drinking, Seido?” The gold-clad owner asked, raising an eyebrow, “I mean, if something comes up…” “If something comes up, I’m off-duty, I’m just a guest right now, and I can shoot well enough sloshed to get myself out of a bind. If you wanted me as security, you should’ve hired me for that… Though really, I’d have rather been down there raising some hell if I was gonna shoot things.” Tigran sighed, finding that fair enough, he supposed… He wasn’t going to hire this man when he was buzzed, and he wouldn’t do guard detail for free either. Apparently, the man literally came to the city walking out of a bar into the flag unveiling, so he shouldn’t have been surprised. Still, though, even with moods high here, nobody seeming to mind the way anonymous characters like Oh No and Conqueror Worm mingled among them. Sure, they were kind of a low-priority target right now, with protests in the Business district, the hell-on-earth about to be unleashed Downtown keeping their worst nightmares busy, and the usual BS in places like the Waterfront and Industrial, but the man once noted for his supremely smarmy overconfidence had been feeling more anxious lately, probably because the Entertainment District’s criminal underground had taken some losses recently. Things were riding high with several successful games, and the arrival of Conqueror Worm, revitalizing everything that they had thought they’d known and opening up whole new possibilities of what games might be possible to organize from a place of safety, all while not asking for a penny of payment. He was a weird guy, but a valuable asset, and all that was understood to be asked in return was that they pretend not to know exactly who it was underneath that big fleshy suit. And then, the next time they had an in-person event, a bunch of them died in a fire, and on the way to… Well, who knew why he was there, but something happened that got a formerly active manager and ‘game’ organizer murdered blocks away from the site of the flames. Was it a sign, then, that the old ways really were dying, that they needed to change with the times or lose this subculture of theirs entirely? Maybe, and maybe some would leave it like that, but Tigran “Golden” Sins knew another source of common ground with every one of their games to go wrong, to go awry, to risk the future and safety of all that they were, all that they had. Everything (besides that time he got punched in the face) that had gone wrong, from Thutmose leaving them, to events that were supposed to be disastrous bloodbaths going well for the ‘players’ and ruining bets, could trace back somewhere. And she was sitting there looking very disinterested, nursing a sparkling juice in a very expensive evening dress and earrings, recently bought by the only man in the world he believed to be above himself. “Having a good time, Metra?” Fox asked the star known to much of the city as TD/MD, smiling smoothly and paying her more attention than the event itself, where he was significantly more public than before. He’d spent how many thousands on her in a few days? “Sure, yeah,” she answered, with a clear disinterest and foul mood. “I understand if you’re not… we’re all sorry to have lost Thutmose. Most likely by where he was, whoever killed him would have done the same to us had he not interfered. So he would want you to have a good time, right?” “Alright, everyone, last calls!” Conqueror Worm called out, many eyes looking all over. After getting back from camera work, he’d volunteered to handle bets, on account of his utter disinterest in profiting from his work there. Damn shame, honestly; Tigran loved that weird golden Stand-hurting sword he’d always been swinging around, and something belonging to a regional founder would be a hell of a get to wear around. “We know all the key players in that little downtown scuffle, so let’s hear it! Who’s biting it? Who’s comin’ out? Who’s gonna have the highest bodycount? Is anyone even gonna get IN?” That Oh No guy, from the Institute, spoke up through that voice changer he almost always had on in his coverings. “I think that… Three people will manage to find their way inside. Nobody on this betting board.” “Ooh, bold words from our boldest regular!” Worm leaned in close, asking, “how much’re you puttin’ on that?” “Nothing,” No responded, “I just want to see what comes of it… I’m almost disappointed you needed to ask.” Peas in a pod, those two. Tigran sighed, figuring he might need to drink through these proceedings, only to glance at Metra, suddenly, seeming to smirk, ears twitching as if that special pitch of hers had picked something up. “What? What’s so fun now, that-” The heavily reinforced, hidden doorway to the VIP room burst open, bisecting the hollow yet burly door guard as sand and rocks spilled out of its hollow crevasse, the only herald within seconds of a quintet of Stand Users barreling in, led by a trio on two motorbikes as two others, curious but energetic, followed. “All that you’ve done ends here, Fox!” Around the same time, Heartache Casino Public Floors “Uh… Glitch? I think… it might be good if we… go?” William Eyelash was not liking it here very much. His hyperactive coworker and teammate had practically dragged him here after what was otherwise a simple delivery performed in place of Zebra, who had been busy enough delivering food to the other side of the city. William was the one supposed to carry it out, but Glitch had practically jumped at the opportunity to do so. Glitch herself, meanwhile, seemed to be very content eating some fries which she (very regrettably) had to actually buy instead of simply snatching it away from a poor, unaware bystander, and had already ordered another plate because they were just that good. Security was too tight, somewhat on edge - the moment she got close to someone or something, they immediately turned their attention to her. Still, she didn’t want to deprive herself of one of the many pleasures of life like that, so she didn’t mind paying too much. “Mmrgh..? Why sho?” “W- well… you know… uh...” William wasn’t sure how to say it - he was scared enough of Glitch’s erratic mannerisms most days, and that was while he tried to steer clear of her. Were he to directly oppose her, he’d have no way of knowing what she’d do! On top of that, he couldn’t help but notice that she seemed slightly… on edge. She was usually hyperactive, but she seemed to be even more eager to jump from one thing to another recently, and to ignore anything that even slightly stressed her out. Considering everything that happened to the staff at the Elephant Bones recently, it made sense for her to be stressed, even if she didn’t really show it usually. “... um, you know the rumors about this place… right? ” Glitch turned to look at William, tilting her head “Hm? What rumors?”. “Uh... well… about the ED… and the fighting rings… I saw an article about it on the Hermod, and… i- it could be dangerous to be here for too long...” hearing William say that, Glitch seemed to recede for a bit, thinking to herself. “Mmm... well, it hasn’t been a problem yet! Right? Besides, the other chips haven’t arrived yet!” Glitch didn’t want to think much about it - so long as these fighting rings were away from her, she could just ignore them and go on with her life, but if it really was here, then maybe it would be good to avoid this place… but the fries were so good... Glitch took another look at the table she was sitting at and at the plate of fries she’d ordered. She grabbed a handful and ate them. “Mmm… after the second order of chips comes! Then we leave! But only after then!” “Alright...” William didn’t like this very much, and he couldn’t help but shoot nervous glances around as Glitch finished up. Just about every staff member here was on edge and uncomfortable - he knew how to notice these things, and it would make sense if this place really was connected to the underground. Ugh… Why did he come along with Glitch? He’d just have to hope that the second order would come soon, and then they’d be able leave just as quickly as they came in. Naturally, as if fate itself had conspired to screw him over, he couldn’t help but pick up on ‘something’. Guards around the floor peered nervously into their phones, and most of them began rushing towards the stairwell. Glitch had noticed as well, her ears picking up on the nervous murmurings of the guards and their hasty footsteps. “Uhh… G- Glitch, something’s happening, we should-” “Pleh! Can’t you wait just a second! The chips aren’t here yet! This isn’t-” Before Glitch could finish her sentence, something flew into the room - the body of a security officer, clearly tossed away by some stand, flew from the entrance to the second floor, and landed right in the middle of a group of more security officers. “Oh god oh god it’s happening oh no oh no oh no oh-” William was, as expected, positively freaking out by now. Meanwhile, Glitch was keeping her ears peeled out, having picked up on something… interesting. The voice of two people she vaguely recognized from “Taste of Fortuna” a month or so back. “Hey! That’s Agnes! And that other chef whose food is good! Even better than the chips!! What are they doing here, fighting?!” Soon enough, Agnes and Arpeggi really did pop into the room, their stands summoned as they staved off some guards with them. Much to William’s chagrin, Glitch grabbed onto his hand and summoned [Vida Loca], before hopping onto it, the massive feline hoisting him onto it as well, before running right towards the source of the commotion… And right into the footpath of a terrifying giant who seemed to suddenly fall from the ceiling, several eyes along its body looking to them as its head rotated 180 degrees. “Well, wouldn’t you like to know?” Several minutes earlier, A Few Stories Lower - Sound’s Garden Abandoned Subway “Are you sure this is the place? Seems pretty fucking trashy to me, honestly…” “That’s what makes it a secret passage, Agnes… They’re not exactly rolling out the red carpet to tell you how to get there.” “Ugh, Astronomia wasn’t built for this shit. You’re paying if something gets stuck somewhere.” “You’ve crashed it how many times this month alone?” Arpeggi Osso Buco sat in the sidecar of a motorbike driven by one Ananas “Agnes” Bayley, through the abandoned subways of the Eastern strip. He’d meant to take this trip alone, like he had before, but of course, this fucking guy had to be the first on the team to learn that he was a Stand User, an active vigilante, and not only in part responsible for a certain cult’s influence plummeting to nothing in Los Fortuna, but had dedicated himself to making an enemy of the blight of the Entertainment District. “Fuck it, I’m down.” “You’re… What?” “I’m down. Fuck those guys. I don’t even need to ask any more questions, they’re an absolute disgrace to be shown up by a real villain, and if you’re hunting their boss down, I’m with you.” “You are the last person I would want watching my back in a-” “Or I can tell Gabanna what you’re doing so soon after getting SHOT last time you tried your luck with these guys.” “…bastard. Okay, just don’t get in the way.” Minus a near-scare with RCR’s nightmarish train nearly running them down without noticing, and Arpeggi having to explain at some point that it was both private information from a set of informants and news now publicly printed in multiple sources about the higher-ups of this organization, it had mostly gone smoothly since then. As they drove closer to the underside of Heartache, Arpeggi signaled for Agnes to stop, noting a destroyed set of hollowed-out mannequins of sorts, smoking and smelling like gunpowder. “Hell is that?” Agnes asked, looking down, but Arpeggi, in turn, didn’t quite seem surprised. Before he could explain, however, another, distorted voice cut through. “You’re late.” The revving of a second motorcycle, a sport bike, had quietly synced with Astronomia, and the pair looked up to see a figure clad in orange and black, winglike scarf drooping upside-down, its rider atop the ceiling of the tunnel. “You.” Agnes spoke with contempt, despite having never seen the Black Angel in person before, only for them and their bike to drop down right in front of them, flipping in midair to land gracefully. “You didn’t tell me you were bringing a friend, let alone… Him.” The Angel sounded dubious about Agnes’ presence, adding, “since you took time picking him up, I’ve had to start picking off these weird… hollow doll-guards myself. They almost noticed me in time to signal the boss. I really don’t have the time for this today.” “Sorry about that, he insisted,” Arpeggi wrote off, not wanting to explain the somewhat unsurprising (“ran into one another while doing their vigilante rounds, got to talking about the ED mainly”) story how he and the Angel met, “and he’s here right now… Say what you like about him, you saw that Being So Normal, I assume. He’ll be an asset.” “I’ll kick your ass-et,” Agnes grumbled, “fighting them alone my ass. Ugh, teaming up with masked hero types like this… Pisses me off. We should be kicking each other’s asses, Angel.” “Deal with it,” the Angel wrote off, before adding, “our contacts in there… They said basically everyone we might have any reason to get is on that floor with them, watching Downtown.” “Right, some madman is acting out there,” Arpeggi noted, folding his arms and looking Westward, “I take it that’s why you’re in a hurry? You want to deal with them quickly and head out there next?” “You got it,” they answered, “and admittedly, there’s a reason I had to come here first… Something I’m going to prioritize the highest, and if we take too long, I’ll have to leave having only done that.” “You’ve got a grudge, is that it?” Agnes asked, “you wanna punt some fucker before moving on?” “That’s… not why I’m targeting him,” The Angel noted, before adding, “that sword the Conqueror Worm always has on him… The ‘Sword of Sir Aurel…’ The future of the city might depend on me getting that Downtown. The contacts say he still has it with him, just like on that stream.” “You’re pissing me off, pretending you don’t care about just one-upping that bastard,” Agnes chided, adding, “act like you’re ‘heroes of justice’ all you want… I’m doing this because these guys piss me the hell off, and seeing them fall will make me laugh. Do all of us a favor, cut the bullshit, and admit you’re gonna enjoy this, yeah?” The others didn’t say too much more of note, then, beyond the Angel briefly examining Astronomia, putting something all over it that they claimed would ‘make it maneuver better,’ which Arpeggi had to calm Agnes into accepting, especially considering it meant they could ride up stairs with relative ease. “Alright, from this secret passage, it’s a straight shot up a few flights of stairs to the VIP room… We should be able to burst it down without ever disrupting all the public patrons and fortifications up on 1F. Hold on tight, you got that?” The motorbikes revved, then, and the Angel’s led Agnes in seeming to leap into the air, driving up and along the walls of the stairwell, before a long-haired figure emerged from the Angel, aiming something at a metal reinforced door, firing into it a few times, and it shifted in place as Pork Soda rushed towards it, placing a tab on the material before ripping it away, liquid metal blasting in the opposite direction the door would fly and swing at rapid speed, swinging like a deadly projectile and cutting more powerful puppet guards away as the three burst in. Arpeggi called out, “All that you’ve done ends here, Fox!” Not long after Arpeggi called that out, Fox himself, of course, was quick to stand, as were a few bold-looking members of the crowd, hurrying towards the fighters with his own accompanying doll-guard, small enough to hold in two hands and, with his large frame, swing like a hammer-thrower, lobbing up towards them and bursting open into a mess of pointed rocks as he drew closer, repelling Arpeggi’s immediate attempts to approach. The swinging door, embedded with odd screws and still gushing metal soda, began to fly towards him, only for the sound of a rifle to fill the room, a single warping bullet putting out every one of the odd screws and careening it to strike Arpeggi back, sending him flying down the stairwell before either the Angel or Agnes could react. Seido, sitting at his edge of the bar, finished downing his drink, holding his weapon in one hand and grinning a bit, slurring slightly, “thas’ goin’ on your tab, boss…” Fox smirked, then, rocks and sand swirling around him and beating back the remaining attackers’ efforts to burst forward. “Let’s not fight up here, gentlemen… I’ve set this place up nice for a very special guest. Take it downstairs. Seido, consider yourself on the clock now.” Worm, then, seemed to realize the Angel was staring at his movements, diving down into the floor below to the terror of the 1F patrons, and the rider hurriedly cut away from the clash, leaving Agnes to fend for himself against the rocky onslaught of Fox, all while Oh No watched and Seido, quickly, lined up another shot. Even on this upgraded bike, he knew the only response to make there. “Fffuck this!” Pork Soda reached for Astronomia, a tab appearing on its wheel which, as the Stand weathered rocky blows, it pulled, blasting Agnes back into the stairwell, where he hit the wall with an, “oof!” before hopping off of his ride, which crashed and plummeted down as he abandoned it to slide down the railing, doing a cool combat roll to cover Arpeggi and the Angel as they rolled into the first floor, clearly concerned about what Conqueror Worm being there would mean for the patrons. Fox and others were shortly behind, with a certain exception. Though nobody could hear it, by Metra Doria’s choice, as soon as Seido had spoken that aloud, she’d kicked up the chair she’d been sulking in all ‘party’ long, a pair of headphones appearing along her neck as a blast of sonic energy kicked it directly into the head of the hitman. Her heart skipped a beat, then, and she muttered under her breath, “shit, that actually worked… I got lucky, huh?” “Entirely,” Oh No agreed, stepping forth himself and stretching, producing a very large, intimidating revolver from his cloak and beginning, idly, to load it, “but don’t treat that as a failing, TD/MD… You saw a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and you had the instincts to take it.” No closed the chamber, starting leisurely towards the stairs after the rest. “This is getting tiresome, isn’t it? You see it too, how dull this has gotten… What potential they’re wasting here. What do you say we speed along what’s been a long, long time coming?” “Well, wouldn’t you like to know?” A golden, shining sword appeared out of the giant’s gross hand, and his presence alone made Glitch want to wretch, the smell of the Conqueror Worm fell, and vibes even more rancid. “We got two more troublemakers here, eh?” Worm asked her and William with an amused tone, “Hell just broke loose here, and you’re tryin’ to run headlong into it! I like that! I like that drive! So what do ya say? Attacka them!” Glitch didn’t know this guy, but something about his gleeful nature, the way that William murmured to himself in alarm when he spoke those distorted words, made her hairs stand on end, made her want to hiss and immediately turn her attention to him, and it seemed, then, that Worm could sense this. “Another one who ain’t a fan, huh?” He shook his head. “Disappointing, but typical.” At that, he ducked into the floor, before attempting to burst out from underneath and drive his blade up into Vida Loca, barely being scraped before hopping away from the rising attack and meeting it with a sharp, harsh claw, beating back his raw strength with her Stand’s own. “I don’t know who you are, but you’re really not the kind of bad news that’s any fun!” Glitch called out from atop her mount, pulling off in time to avoid the ambush of a hollowed-out guard and note two others bothering William. “That guy looks underage… He ain’t allowed to be on a casino floor without ID!” Worm declared with amusement, fully expecting what came next as several of the doll-guards attempted to strong-arm him. “G-get away… Get away from me!” William was freaking out, then, and fairly fearing for his life, allowed Ocean Eyes to manifest, swinging and spraying acid all around, which bounced uselessly off of Worm’s hide, didn’t so much as drop near Glitch or Vida Loca, and melted away the threats in an instant. The casino floor was pandemonium then, several high rollers, some random patrons, and of course, every named member fighting, Stands flying. Arpeggi expertly caught rocks tossed by Fox, only for him to still control them even as they were made to burn by NEXT LEVEL 2, though this eroded away much of the sands of his barrier, backed up by Agnes as he very competently kept a rocky barrier up regardless, Metra standing close by, shifting her eyes. The Black Angel tried to drive headlong into Worm, continuing his mess of a situation, while Glitch, mostly, managed to sneak off on her own, trying to find a way to support William and calm him out of whatever this was. “Don’t move,” a modulated voice behind her said, and she heard something click behind her. “Mrr?” She turned, then, facing the barrel of Oh No’s revolver head-on. “This might be a bit loud… But it’s about time this ended.” Before Glitch could react, No had pulled the trigger twice. Neither shot so much as grazed her, but seemed to hit tables, cameras, walls, ricocheting about in apparent chaos, before finally… “I… What did…” Blood ran down the organizational ringleader’s outfit, bleeding both from a massive wound to the back of his knee and opening a massive hole in his shoulder, as the rocks he had been flinging around dropped like… Rocks. Tigran’s voice was the next thing to ring out through the casino, now mostly abandoned bar the combatants. “TOBY!!!” Fox hadn’t even heard the shots fired, thanks to Metra, let alone noticed their angles; after all, the only one he knew of who could make a shot like that was knocked out and drunk upstairs, not to mention loyal to Tigran’s paychecks. No twirled his gun around, holstering it and patting the bewildered Glitch on the shoulder. “Thanks for holding still… Didn’t want to hit you and ruin it all, after all. Hmmhmmhmahaha!" “You… You motherfuckers!” Tigran wanted to cry then, especially as the others drew closer, seeing everyone who had fought against an ally of his here as little more than an enemy. Still, though, facing them off, he had to calm himself. “Stand down,” Arpeggi demanded, “you’re outnumbered, completely.” Tigran, rather than giving up, began to speak again. “You know, as the owner of this casino, I know the power of ‘games’. You see, if you call it a ‘gamble’, that sounds so… negative, no? So you call it nothing more than a simple ‘game’. That’s what draws people in. Getting people to play ‘roulette’ is harder, but if you call it a ‘roulette game’ and mask it correctly, it’s so, so, easy… However, the moment the ball is launched, it doesn’t matter, does it? No difference between a ‘gamble’ and a ‘game’... the ‘contract’ is the same - you abandon your money for ‘entertainment’ and for a slim ‘hope’ that you’ll succeed this time and make bank… It’s all thanks to these ‘games’... All of you lot, don’t you think so? Aren’t ‘games’ great? Hell, I’ve got an idea for one we can play right now…” “Wh- what the hell are you talking about!” Arpeggi shouted out in anger. “I’m not putting up with this shit! You want a ‘game’?! Sure, fine! Here, how about this one - I go up to you, and have fun beating the shit out of you!” rushing towards Tigran, Arpeggi readied a punch and swung towards him - only for his fist to stop in midair, hitting against some kind of invisible barrier. He reeled back from the impact, stumbling backwards, feeling… weak. A look behind him revealed that Agnes, Glitch, William, and even Metra, the Angel, and No seemed to be feeling the same, struggling to remain upright. “Y- you ‘agreed’... heh…” Tigran’s previously panicked expression quickly faded, replaced by a wide grin. “You agreed to it! You agreed to the ‘game’!” By now, Tigran broke out into uproarious laughter. “Always! They always fall for it, tempted by ‘games’! You… you idiot! I put the answer right in front of you, and you still missed it! ‘Games’, by their very nature, are tricks! Illusions! And my [The Grid] has the power to facilitate that! By agreeing to the game, my [The Grid] forces you to participate! There’s no escape now - you’re trapped in this ‘game’ of mine!” As he realized he had screwed them all right at the last moment, Arpeggi’s vision began fading, and he fell onto the ground with a thud, blacking out. ???, an hour later, Heartache Casino VIP room “Alright! Seems like our contestants for the first impromptu match of the day are waking up!” “Plrrr..?” Out of nowhere, Glitch found herself standing straight, awake, somewhere unfamiliar. She tried to listen to see what was going on, only hearing the groans of William, Agnes, and Arpeggi, indicating that they were in a similar position to her. Of course, there was also that voice - she was… a ‘contestant’. It wasn’t hard to roughly figure out what exactly she was a ‘contestant’ of. She, and... “...William!” Behind her was a whimpering noise, evidently William, and the sound of droplets of some kind of liquid splashing onto the ground, clearly [Ocean Eyes]’s acid. Ahead of her were Agnes and Arpeggi, talking between themselves about what the hell happened. Arpeggi sounded mad. Agnes… she wasn’t sure how he sounded. But she gathered enough from their conversation to understand that somehow, they were currently inside of a roulette wheel. Or rather, she, and everyone else, was shrunk, and placed into a roulette wheel. “Now, this match is simple - a deathmatch to see who manages to survive! However, since we’re at the heartache casino… there’s an appropriate twist involved! See, our combatants for today are fighting on a roulette table, and meanwhile, our spectators for today are placing ‘bets’ to see which colors win out! Representing ‘red’, we’ve got our very own ‘Fox’! On black, meanwhile, we’ve got ‘Tigran Sins’, who set this match up!” She summoned [Vida Loca] besides her, taking a look through the stand’s eyes and seeing the environment for herself. She was dwarfed by the room, trapped inside of this small roulette wheel. There was nowhere to run. William’s whimpers had escalated into sobbing, as [Ocean Eyes] hugged him from behind. Arpeggi and Agnes were arguing by now, shouting at each other. She took a deep breath. “Now… I won’t keep you waiting any longer, since I just know everyone here’s excited to see what happens! So...” First, Glitch got tossed into Los Fortuna and found a new home there, with the rest of the staff at the Elephant Bones. Then, they started getting into fights with other stand users - Shelldrake, Effie, Byte, William. She hadn’t been in one yet, but she knew very well the effects of them. Her friends had gotten hurt, some such as Father Blue even dying. Then the situation in the slums got worse, her home becoming less and less safe by the minute, her friends getting extorted and forced to work for ODIN, and now she and William were trapped here. “Three… Two… One...” She needed to get out. She needed to fight. She needed to win. She could overhear Agnes and Arpeggi bickering on the other side of the wheel, but knew that they were going to try and fight her and William as well. They had to. They’d been trapped by that man’s stand, and none of them knew what could be done against it, if anything. [Vida Loca] stood behind her, a constant vibration coming out of it and creating a loud hissing noise that was soon mimicked by [Ocean Eyes], drowning out William’s sobs. She knew full well that, even if he was her friend, William was also a dangerous killer, meek though he might have acted. As hard as that whole situation was to grasp, she understood something else - that the more she stayed near [Ocean Eyes], working alongside it, the safer she was. She and William had to get out of this. And if they wanted to get out of this... They would have to fight for their lives. OPEN THE GAME! (credit to magistelles for the image, both the censored and uncensored version!(CW: trypophobia)) Location: A roulette wheel in Heartache Casino, upon which players have been forcibly placed. The map here is roughly similar to the image of the roulette wheel above. The outer brown layer represents the rim, the yellow layer being the wooden slopes down towards the center, the black layer being the numbers, the red layer being the pockets, the next layer being sloped wood up towards the center, and the center being a metal tower. The map is 30 by 30 meters relative to the players, with the dotted tile being 5 by 5 meters. The diamonds are the metal bumpers, about half a meter tall, and the blue circle is a weighted metal roulette ball which is a meter tall, both heights relative to the players. The metal tower in the center is 8 meters tall relative to the players and the outside walls are 5 meters relative to the players. Players can not go past the rim of the roulette wheel. Goal: RETIRE your opponents! Additional Information: There is an invisible barrier keeping the players and their Stands inside the roulette wheel. Everything else will pass through as normal, but the players and their attacks will be blocked by this barrier. The barrier is cylindrical around the entire roulette wheel. The roulette system is currently automatic, 5 seconds after the ball falls into a pocket or stops moving entirely, it will start rolling again at top speed clockwise. The max speed of the ball is equivalent to B SPD and the ball is A DUR. You can expect it to make around 8 revolutions around the wheel before losing most of its speed if it is unimpeded by the players. If the ball is destroyed or unable to roll, a new one will be thrown in from outside.
“W-Well, I'll be going now...” You’re being forced to fight, and you don’t want anything to do with this! During the match, try to stay on the backlines as much as possible, assisting from there!
"Nowadays, 30,000 yen is gone after you make one or two trips... So all that's left is to make more money, or go flat broke." You are being forced to fight here, and you hate it, so you might as well do something to cause the casino to lose money! Do whatever you can to constantly rig the roulette in favor of odds!
"Does that alien not know what 'holding back' means?" You were tricked by that asshole, and now you’ve got to fight these two bystanders?! Fuck, this makes you irritated. Destroy as much of the area as possible over the course of your strategy!
"I did say this seemed fun, but I wasn't talking about Cee-lo. I meant that it'd be fun taking your 30,000 yen from you." That girl over there is trying to rig the game, so play the agent of chaos and rig it towards the other end! Do whatever you can to constantly rig the roulette in favor of evens!
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Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 After a flight to Zurich, an arranged car that would drive us to the Casino Zurich greeted us. Immunda and I stepped out, our mysterious benefactor had taken care of the bill. The building was the opposite of what I’d expect of a Casino. The beauty of the Monaco Casinos spoiled me. Elegant architecture to hint the opulence and sin that was waiting within. A monument to greed and desire, both expressed in the building's content and in the domes and spires outside. In stark contrast to Monaco, this was a four or five-story building, rectangular, with a sign on the front which read “Casino”. They lined the outside in lights and lit brightly, but the outside what wholly unremarkable. It almost looked like a bank or apartment building repurposed to a Casino. It was the definition of Swiss architecture: Function over Form, and that was dull. It spoke nothing of what was inside, with lavish furnishings, intricate decorations and rows and rows of card tables. Through the bustle of the lobby, tourists and gamblers abound, Immunda and I finally tracked down the front desk. One reason I enjoyed Switzerland because I could speak Italian with a fair chance that the other person also knows Italian, or at least enough to direct me where to go. I explained, “My companion, and I were meeting someone? An American woman, Samantha Waldroop?” She smiled, “Allow me, Ms. Waldroop is in the VIP Lounge, she said she would expect you.” She picked up a desk phone calling someone. She smiled brightly after her conversation in what I would only describe as a sweeter version of German, “someone will be with you shortly.” A waiter came to greet us and motioned for us to follow him. As we departed the front desk, the hostess called out, “Es het mi gfröit!” I just waved back as they led us through a maze of slot machines, card tables, and televisions. The odd bar and restaurant sprinkled here and there. Ultimately, we arrived at an area that was far less crowded and secured by a velvet rope and a guard. The guard immediately undid the rope, and moved across the entrance, allowing us to pass. Finally, after passing many an empty table in a red and dimly lit room, we were let to a single booth that had a maroon curtain around it. Our escort opened the curtain and bowed slightly, his arm motioning for us to enter the private booth. That’s when I saw the raven-haired American girl. She wore a black dress with a Bateau neckline with a black sequined trim; it reached down to her mid-thigh. Over the dress, she wore a one button coat by the same designer, as the colors matched flawlessly. With a pair of expensive Louboutin black high-heels, I was immediately envious of. Say what you will of the French, but fashion was their strong suit, and Samantha wore that French fashion well. A pair of dark sunglasses completed her look, despite the dimly lit room. She turned to us, motioning for us to sit, she had an earpiece in of some sort, on the phone with someone. “Yes, Derik,” she motioned to the escort, and made two motions with her hand, gesturing to us, and the escort vanished in a flash. “No, Derik, I’m in Zurich. Yes. Because at this point I’ve got to ensure our assets are secure. Given the current economic climate, someone has to. No, I want anything liquid transferred to euros,” she growled, “Yes I said everything liquid, I did not stutter!” she threw the earpiece to the table, turning to us. “Sorry, not everyone shares my vision of prosperity, apparently.” I sat down in the small booth next to her, and despite Immunda being further away, her nose curled at Immunda’s musky scent. Something I was growing increasingly used to, which I considered bothersome. She didn’t bother shaking our hands, but immediately began to speak, “Time, I’m told, is of the essence.” She heaved a sigh, “or at least I’m told this is by my Master. To be honest? I don’t feel the need to rush for him.” “Aren’t you in direct service of a demon?” I asked her, smiling, “wouldn’t that be disobeying?” Samantha removed her sunglasses, revealing eyes which were nothing but a pair of black orbs, “yes, unwilling and willing all at the same time.” her dark globes looked me up and down, “Seems to be something you desire.” I nodded, reveling in the abyss of her eyes. She placed her sunglasses back on, “My journey is rather different from yours. I never sought the darkness, it found me.” “How so?” I asked. “My idiot brother bartered a deal with a demon, he demanded wealth, insane wealth,” she sipped bubbling champagne from a thin flute-glass, “of course, the demon gave the money to my parents,” she took another sip, “who died… then he died… all in exchange for my soul.” Immunda scoffed, “another can not give a soul that isn’t their own without-” “Consent, I’m well aware,” she took another sip, “which I gave.” I smiled, “so you gained great wealth?” “Among other obligations,” she said swirling the champagne around the glass, “demons, my dear Bella, don’t see us as much more than stepping stones. And the king of all demons? Lucifer? He despises our mere existence.” “Those who don’t serve-” Immunda tried to interject. “He hates us all,” Samantha clarified, she then turned to me, “... but your desire, Bella, is in line with his, isn’t it? You hate your fellow man, almost as much as he does. I’ve never seen such hatred in a mortal before. Dare I ask what brought it on?” My smile fell, “I led my life for God, instructed by my mother. She was dutiful and pious. My father? Much less so.” “What did he do that was so terrible?” Samantha asked. “He gambled away everything we had, then died leaving us on the streets,” I heaved a sigh, “two nice girls on the street don’t stay there long. Soon enough, traffickers abducted us, they raped my mother to death before my eyes.” Samantha placed her glass down, removing her glasses, her onyx spheres had a white glint in them. She reached into a large woven crocodile bag, pulling out a pair of small envelopes. “You’ll be in the mood for a change, then.” “Change?” I reached into the envelope. Inside was a black American Express card with my name on it. In addition, there was a German and Japanese Passport, all in my name. Last, was a bundle of Euros, there had to be at least five or ten thousand in there, of varying denominations. Finally, was a set of SIM cards and a new phone. The phone was pricy, I could tell for certain, trimmed in gold and had an odd mark on the back, was a high-end Samsung phone. I turned it over to see some gold inlay under the glass of the back. “What’s this?” I asked. “Tools,” Samantha explained, “Don’t worry about any finances, charge the card, there is nothing in the world you can buy that this won’t buy you, call wherever you want, find out anything you need from the contacts in those phones,” she sipped from her glass again, “while on your mission, live your best life, because Lord knows, when it’s all over, none of us will have a pleasant time.” Immunda looked into his own envelope, and grinned, “Excellent, you’ve been most helpful,” and he left with that. I moved to leave before Samantha grabbed me. “Not so fast,” she advised. I frowned, “what-” “I can see your true desire, Bella.” Her black eyes locked on to mine, “Do you truly think it’s possible?” I smiled smugly to her, holding my hand up, a small flame appearing within. “I already have power given by them, why wouldn’t they oblige my deepest desire for my loyalty?” “Your desire to become a demon, while I understand it, is lofty.” Samantha warned, “if you fail…” “I lose everything,” I explained, “I’m aware. You may also be aware: I have nothing. So what do I have to lose?” Samantha was silent for a moment or two, “they really took everything from you, didn’t they?” “I returned the favor,” I glared at her, “as you did.” “It’s that obvious?” “Yes,” I pointed out, “The way you explained his death,” I grinned, “Your parents, your brother, you killed them.” Samantha nodded, “Yes, I did. My parents weren’t something I meant to do, my Master acted through me. I learned quickly, as my father and mother’s hearts stopped in front of me, that someone without a soul is at the mercy of their Master’s will.” I nodded, “It’s the only reason I haven’t offered my free will.” “Needless to say,” Samantha said as she took a sip of champagne, “I took my time with my brother. I was free after my parents died, and we were to inherit the fortune he sold my soul for equally.” “And I’m sure you weren’t in the sharing mood at the time?” I suggested. “No, I wasn’t,” she finished her champagne, “nor have I been since.” “You and I aren’t so different you know,” I pointed out. Samantha was silent for a moment or two before she faced me again, her black eyes scanning me, “It isn’t entirely too late. You’re young, there is a path to forgiveness, but if you walk this path now, there isn’t any going back for you.” “You think I want to go to God?” I asked, offended. “Want? No. But your goals are too lofty. You hope to become a demon, with what? Favors? Demons are not the generous sort to share their power with a mere human woman,” Samantha warned. I shook my head, “It’s about proving loyalty, and showing them how vicious I can be. That I’m willing to do anything, to suffer any sin, and push past any moral barrier in their service.” I grinned, “Then, someday, I’ll be the one offering deals and bargains with desperate mortals.” Samantha sighed, “Maybe you will reach your ultimate desire. You’d be a terrifying demon.” I smiled, “Thank you.” “But, if you don’t mind me asking,” she began, placing her sunglasses back on, “why do you travel with that want-to-be summoner?” “He’s my decoy,” I explained, “as long as I’m with him, everyone will focus on him.” Samantha sneered, “then get him clothed in something proper, and get him not smelling like a damp cellar.” I nodded, and stood up, heading after him. Once I had done so, Immunda turned to me, “We have tickets, according to these,” he pointed to his phone, showing a flight that left in about five hours to Boston, in the US, of all places. The phone that Samantha gave me soon buzzed, and a message appeared on the screen: “Live your best life.” On it was an appointment at a store, the name displayed on my phone was: “GAITO.” … I walked into a very pricey looking store; the racks had dresses from high-end designers, and shoes to match. They lined the racks with high-end brands, Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, Carolina Herrera, Akris, Valentino, Prada, I was in paradise! Prices were nowhere on the products, as this was not the average clothing store. An assistant walked out quickly, heading from the back as soon as I walked in. “May I help you?” he asked. He was a thin man and wore a very well fitted three piece suit. The fabric shimmered in the light as he moved. “Yes, I was told to come here,” I explained. “By whom?” he asked, looking down his nose at me, something I was used to. “Samantha Waldroop,” I informed. His expression immediately shifted, “ah, you must be Bella!” He extended his hand, “A pleasure. I was told to spare no expense for your attire. Please, follow me.” I followed, and he brought me behind a curtain, bringing out a tailor’s tape. “Sizing?” I asked, smiling. He nods, taking my measurements, “Ms. Waldroop has already selected a wardrobe for you. I’m told to send it to your new apartment in Boston.” I smiled, “Oh?” “Yes,” he chuckled, “she’s very discerning.” “I would say so,” I grinned to him. “I have one dress I’ll size for you right away, it should not take long. In the meantime, while you wait, I’ll give you a voucher for the closest salon and spa,” he finished jotting down my measurements, and fixed me with a sly grin, “I must say, Bella, you live up to your name. I truly cannot wait to see what a lovely gem like you will look like with some proper polish.” “You flirt,” I laughed. He smiled at me, “Perhaps the next time I’m in Boston, we can get together.” “Certainly,” I lied as he handed me a voucher and his business card. ... A few hours later I was sauntering into the airport wearing a dress that costs more than most people’s houses and a pair of heels that likely cost the same as some poor bastard’s car. I was grinning ear to ear. After the salon, even Immunda cleaned up well. We had to go to the airport soon, but I needed supplies. I turned to Immunda, “I’ll need some regents,” I explained. “More shopping?“ Immunda grumbled, “You have that feather, isn’t it enough?” I rolled my eyes, “I’m feeling too naked since the damn priest captured me.” “Naked?” he frowned, “I’m not sure what you mean.” “Just wait here,” I stopped by a pet shop, “I need to get a few things.” I popped inside and purchased a set of feeding mice. Feeding mice are interesting little creatures. If you think they don’t know their fate, you don’t know body language. They know exactly what their destiny is. I walked over to Immunda, “I’ll need a minute or two,” I then slipped behind an alleyway. Immunda just shrugged and waited. He just leaned against the wall In his suit. An expensive one and while he refused to have his beard cut, it was at least now looking manageable. The stench was, lesser, masked by a cologne. Regardless the alleyway was a welcome break from his stench. I set the box of mice down and opened it up. The mice clustered together in the corner, fearful, worried a snake’s belly would soon be their fate. A weak fire wrapped around my hand, flashing over the little creatures, “I was like you once,” I explained to them. As I spoke, my intentions flowed from my spirit into theirs, and they stopped their cowering. “They preyed upon me, like you. I now call on you to be a predator, with me. Give up your bodies, lend me your spirits, allow me to empower you.” One brave little mouse snuck towards me. I grinned and grabbed him with my flaming hand. The mouse squeaked at first, its fur turning from bright white to black, and its body withered in my hand. Soon the flame turned black, and the mouse’s mouth opened. A black spirit slid out, and coiled sweetly around my hand, coiling up to my arm. “So much better than being fed to a snake, yes?” I asked it. The spirit, which now appeared more snake-like than mouse-like, nuzzled it self against my shoulder. I looked down to the other four or five mice, “Who’s next?” I had emerged now with a series of little corrupted spirits coiled about my person. Some around my waist, others around my wrists and one felt rather comfortable around my throat. I would use these spirits to empower my spells. Creatures that know their end is near have little qualms about becoming something more. Even these corrupted spirits would live on as something far more powerful than had they merely returned to the earth. Now they were far more than they ever could have hoped to be and loyal to me for it. Immunda grumbled, “Are you quite finished?” I nodded, “Yes. Thoughts?” I said, running my finger along the spirit that coiled sweetly around my neck. Immunda shrugged, “You look the same as you did before.” The idiot can’t even see the spirits? I thought. How has he gotten this far? ... When we finally arrived at the gate, I displayed my ticket, first-class, the first time I had ever flown in such a style. The woman at the gate looked over my ticket and beamed happily to us, “Oh welcome! You've got the best seats on the plane!” she assured. I was unsure why Boston was the destination, but I didn’t concern myself with where we were going. I assumed Samantha’s master has pointed us in the proper direction, so with my fate cast forth, I relished the experience. I had spent so much time stealing, seducing, and scraping my life together, it was a thrill to be privy to the royal treatment “Oh, Miss DelAvana, you’re just in time for priority seating,” the woman at the gate said, as she ushered Immunda and I passed the gate and through the jet-way. Soon I sat in a luxurious leather seat, Immunda sat at the window. A stewardess walked over to me, “Miss, would you like something to drink we take off?” “Absolutely,” I smiled, “whatever is your finest liquor.” She beamed, “right away,” she turned to Immunda, “You sir?” Immunda was nervous, looking out the window, he waved her off, “no, that’s fine.” The stewardess, to her credit, asked “would you like something to help you sleep, sir? If you’re nervous about flying.” Immunda nodded, “Yes. Thank you.” A moment or two later, I had my drink, and Immunda had some water and pills to take. I leaned back, watching as people passed my seats by. Lesser people, I had always felt this, but now it felt even more contrasted. None could know the power I had, not just the money recently given to me by Samantha, but the authority that it brought with it. A deep and contented sigh filled me with elation as I enjoyed the luxury of everything around me. Even the little darkened spirits snuggled closer to me, pleased at my contentment. Then they began to react, not in fear, dark spirits have little to fear. They reacted as if something tasty was nearby. “Shush pretties,” I whispered, but as I looked up, I spotted him. He was wearing a rather simple and drab outfit, almost dirty and unkempt blonde hair. He had tanned skin and vibrant green eyes. Frozen in place, he appeared as a deer stuck in headlights. He was a short man, maybe a hair over 165cm, but not unattractive. My beauty and expensive clothing didn’t stun him. Rather, I could tell he wasn’t the average person. His eyes were green, so was his aura. Like me, he had companion spirits, but his spirits were all little earthen spirits. They cowered before the dark spirits which surrounded me. I smiled, “Oh my,” I gave him a sly grin, “what do we have here?” He gathered himself up and attempted to push past me. With a quick motion, I grabbed him with my free hand, “not so fast there,” I gazed at him, the spirit around my neck caressed my lips as I spoke, “what’s your hurry?” “Get away from me, witch,” the short man insulted. His little outburst barely phased me, “What was it you called me?” I said as I concentrated on burning one of his little earth spirits off his shoulder. The spirit around my neck readied itself to leap out and attack on my whim. “Release me,” he threatened, his earth spirits now rallying around him, how brave! “Or I’ll turn the silver and gold in your dress into needles.” It was nice to know the gold and silver trim in my dress was real, real enough for the earth mage before me to know and even consider manipulating it. Granted his little magics would need to get past my own darkened servants to do anything. Unlikely, all things considered. But I did not know this mage, he could do so if he had enough report with them. The imagery of my skin being pierced, and me burning the boy to cinders before everyone on the plane played back in my mind. If I did that, I wouldn’t be able to get to Boston as I was being directed. “Playful,” I teased, “I like that,” I tried to think of an insult to befit him, after him calling me a witch, “flower boy.” Before we could finish our conversation, the first-class stewardess was there to interrupt us. “Excuse me, Madam, is this man bothering you?” she gave the mage a stern glare. I grinned, amused by someone pushed away from me as if they weren’t worth my time. Better yet, she did so without my request; the world assumed that he was lesser than me, just by our clothing. “S-sorry,” he squeaked as they ushered him past me. I called back to him before he vanished into the coach section, “Be careful in the air young man,” I taunted, “we’re a long way from your terra firma.” I glimpsed something strange as he departed. A powerful earth spirit was being carted behind him, and I glared at what could contain such a thing. Behind him was a rather large rose in a glass case and a flower pot. The rose wasn’t a normal flower, pulsing within it was a powerful life force! Some kind of empowered earth spirit with incredible potential. A smile grew over my lips, I wondered: I could corrupt a spirit that powerful? Did it have a will of its own? What could I do with a spirit that strong? He was in the same plane we were in, so all I had to do was spot him come out. Catching the little thing shouldn’t be hard. I put it out of my mind, for now, considering how I’d take that rose from him, and see about corrupting it for my own purposes. … I still recall waiting for him to come off the plane at the terminal, Immunda impatiently waiting behind me. “We should pursue my demon, she must be here,” Immunda grumbled. I did my best to stop myself from slapping the shit out of him for referring to her as his demon again, “We’ll get to tracking her soon enough. I want to grab that Mage’s little flower.” “Tracking her, right,” Immunda trailed off. I snapped to him, “Master,” I began, “you can track her yes? You’ve had enough rest?” Immunda turned to me, “She’s cloaked,” he explained. “Cloaked?” Immunda nods, “Yes. I cannot sense her. I felt her power briefly but the little minx is likely posing as a human and doing so very well.” I could feel my blood pressure rise and I considered burning Immunda on the spot. Suddenly I heard a familiar voice scream, “Allahu Akbar!” at the top of her lungs. The entire terminal turned into an absolute mad-house! People panicked, some dove to the floor, others scurried out of emergency exits where they could. I spotted a woman in black robes being tackled by several officers, and recognized her from the Vatican, “That’s the nun!” I shouted. Immunda nodded, “she must be-oof!” he coughed as someone knocked him to the ground. I looked around, frantic to find her, but in a sea of faces, I saw no one familiar. My search wasn’t in vain, however, as I spotted the mage rushing out a side emergency exit. I pushed my way past a few people and forced my way out the same exit, hoping I could find the little bastard. This proved difficult in my stylish heels, and I tumbled to the side a few times as I struggled through the crowd. What I came across wasn’t something I expected to see from the boy. A police officer of some sort had tried to stop him, why I wasn’t sure. But wrapped around the officer’s shoulders were roots jutting out of the ground. I tucked myself behind a pillar and peeked from behind the wall to spy on what was happening. The officer screamed in pain as the roots dislocated his arms, pulling him down into the ground. But beneath the officer wasn’t soft ground, but hard concrete! I flinched as I watched the man’s knee-caps burst and his legs folded at an unnatural angle. Despite the spectacle of blood and gore before me, however, I was more interested with the plant the mage has. The rose that accompanied the Mage was conscious! It moved inside of the glass as if it were an animal, and I swear I could make out a face at the base of its flower! How powerful a mage was he? More screaming from his victim brought my attention back to the man who was now being dragged into the earth below him. I could see the roots empowered by incredible spiritual energy, flowing from the Mage directly into them. They swelled in strength and force, and ripped the man’s flesh down beneath the ground, his screams stopping only as he slipped under the soil. The mage appeared shocked, though I was less surprised. Earth spirits, as with most spirits outside of holy and dark, are neutral. They don’t care about the life of the man, to them his flesh hasn’t changed state whether he’s alive or dead. An earth spirit might find a dead corpse a better place to grow a fruitful plant. As if on cue, a sapling sprouted from the ground where the guard once stood. It appeared to be an oak tree, and as it grew, I heard a snapping noise I was rather familiar with. The sound of a jaw as it dislocated. As the snap occurred, The Mage removed a ring from his finger, and its power was clear. The spirits calmed almost immediately, but I could sense power pulsing from the ring. That power vanished as he placed it into some kind of bag. What was that ring? Some kind of philosopher stone? Something that could empower magic so drastically, I had to have it! This mage was someone I needed to exploit to the fullest, that was clear to me. I pressed my back to the wall, and I looked down at my dress. The threat of turning the borders of my dress into needles wasn’t just idle chatter. Was the Mage caught off-guard by my presence? Did he spare me merely because there were others around us? Should I be following him instead of Immunda? “Oh my God,” the Mage’s voice said in despair. His reaction added doubt to whether he’d be keen on making me into potting soil as he did the guard he had just mulched. He didn’t know his own strength, that was certain, yet he knew enough to be wary of me. I heard a muffled scream, and glanced upwards to see the mage running off with his potted plant, “damn it!” I growled. But the muffled scream continued. It was coming from the small sapling. I approached the tree tentatively and watched as the leaves shook slightly. The muffled screams came from the soil below, and as I looked down, I saw the horrified eyes of the police officer that the Mage had cast his magic on. “Oh dear,” I bent over, looking into his eyes, “you’re in a bit of a spot, aren’t you?” He blinked, his eyes, now more bloodshot, darting back and forth. I flicked the small trunk of the sapling, eliciting a groan from the soil. A thought came to me, and I snapped one of the smaller branches of the tree. Blood dripped from the small broken branch and the man screamed in pain. “My my, seems you and this little tree are one,” I looked down at him, a devious grin coming over me, “I doubt you wish to be down there forever… unable to die, unable to move, yes?” His eyes blinked a few times. “Blink twice for yes and once for no,” I smiled, pacing around him, “understand?” His eyes darted back and forth and blinked twice. “Good,” I smirked, getting down onto my haunches over him, “now… how’s about you allow my dark magic inside of you? I might get you walking again.” His eyes narrowed, and he blinked once. I shrugged, standing, “I wasn’t offering out of benevolence,” I began to walk away, ignoring his fading cries, “I’ll ‘leaf’ you alone then.” I grinned wide, I wondered if I came back to him in a few days, if he’d be more agreeable? Part 5
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 After a flight to Zurich, an arranged car that would drive us to the Casino Zurich greeted us. Immunda and I stepped out, our mysterious benefactor had taken care of the bill. The building was the opposite of what I’d expect of a Casino. The beauty of the Monaco Casinos spoiled me. Elegant architecture to hint the opulence and sin that was waiting within. A monument to greed and desire, both expressed in the building's content and in the domes and spires outside. In stark contrast to Monaco, this was a four or five-story building, rectangular, with a sign on the front which read “Casino”. They lined the outside in lights and lit brightly, but the outside what wholly unremarkable. It almost looked like a bank or apartment building repurposed to a Casino. It was the definition of Swiss architecture: Function over Form, and that was dull. It spoke nothing of what was inside, with lavish furnishings, intricate decorations and rows and rows of card tables. Through the bustle of the lobby, tourists and gamblers abound, Immunda and I finally tracked down the front desk. One reason I enjoyed Switzerland because I could speak Italian with a fair chance that the other person also knows Italian, or at least enough to direct me where to go. I explained, “My companion, and I were meeting someone? An American woman, Samantha Waldroop?” She smiled, “Allow me, Ms. Waldroop is in the VIP Lounge, she said she would expect you.” She picked up a desk phone calling someone. She smiled brightly after her conversation in what I would only describe as a sweeter version of German, “someone will be with you shortly.” A waiter came to greet us and motioned for us to follow him. As we departed the front desk, the hostess called out, “Es het mi gfröit!” I just waved back as they led us through a maze of slot machines, card tables, and televisions. The odd bar and restaurant sprinkled here and there. Ultimately, we arrived at an area that was far less crowded and secured by a velvet rope and a guard. The guard immediately undid the rope, and moved across the entrance, allowing us to pass. Finally, after passing many an empty table in a red and dimly lit room, we were let to a single booth that had a maroon curtain around it. Our escort opened the curtain and bowed slightly, his arm motioning for us to enter the private booth. That’s when I saw the raven-haired American girl. She wore a black dress with a Bateau neckline with black sequined trim; it reached down to her mid-thigh. Over the dress, she wore a one button coat by the same designer, as the colors matched flawlessly. With a pair of expensive Louboutin black high-heels, I was immediately envious of. Say what you will of the French, but fashion was their strong suit, and Samantha wore that French fashion well. A pair of dark sunglasses completed her look, despite the dimly lit room. She turned to us, motioning for us to sit, she had an earpiece in of some sort, on the phone with someone. “Yes, Derik,” she motioned to the escort, and made two motions with her hand, gesturing to us, and the escort vanished in a flash. “No, Derik, I’m in Zurich. Yes. Because at this point I’ve got to ensure our assets are secure. Given the current economic climate, someone has to. No, I want anything liquid transferred to euros,” she growled, “Yes I said everything liquid, I did not stutter!” she threw the earpiece to the table, turning to us. “Sorry, not everyone shares my vision of prosperity, apparently.” I sat down in the small booth next to her, and despite Immunda being further away, her nose curled at Immunda’s musky scent. Something I was growing increasingly used to, which I considered bothersome. She didn’t bother shaking our hands, but immediately began to speak, “Time, I’m told, is of the essence.” She heaved a sigh, “or at least I’m told this is by my Master. To be honest? I don’t feel the need to rush for him.” “Aren’t you in direct service of a demon?” I asked her, smiling, “wouldn’t that be disobeying?” Samantha removed her sunglasses, revealing eyes which were nothing but a pair of black orbs, “yes, unwilling and willing all at the same time.” her dark globes looked me up and down, “Seems to be something you desire.” I nodded, reveling in the abyss of her eyes. She placed her sunglasses back on, “My journey is rather different from yours. I never sought the darkness, it found me.” “How so?” I asked. “My idiot brother bartered a deal with a demon, he demanded wealth, insane wealth,” she sipped bubbling champagne from a thin flute-glass, “of course, the demon gave the money to my parents,” she took another sip, “who died… then he died… all in exchange for my soul.” Immunda scoffed, “another can not give a soul that isn’t their own without-” “Consent, I’m well aware,” she took another sip, “which I gave.” I smiled, “so you gained great wealth?” “Among other obligations,” she said swirling the champagne around the glass, “demons, my dear Bella, don’t see us as much more than stepping stones. And the king of all demons? Lucifer? He despises our mere existence.” “Those who don’t serve-” Immunda tried to interject. “He hates us all,” Samantha clarified, she then turned to me, “... but your desire, Bella, is in line with his, isn’t it? You hate your fellow man, almost as much as he does. I’ve never seen such hatred in a mortal before. Dare I ask what brought it on?” My smile fell, “I led my life for God, instructed by my mother. She was dutiful and pious. My father? Much less so.” “What did he do that was so terrible?” Samantha asked. “He gambled away everything we had, then died leaving us on the streets,” I heaved a sigh, “two nice girls on the street don’t stay there long. Soon enough, traffickers abducted us, they raped my mother to death before my eyes.” Samantha placed her glass down, removing her glasses, her onyx spheres had a white glint in them. She reached into a large woven crocodile bag, pulling out a pair of small envelopes. “You’ll be in the mood for a change, then.” “Change?” I reached into the envelope. Inside was a black American Express card with my name on it. In addition, there was a German and Japanese Passport, all in my name. Last, was a bundle of Euros, there had to be at least five or ten thousand in there, of varying denominations. Finally, was a set of SIM cards and a new phone. The phone was pricy, I could tell for certain, trimmed in gold and had an odd mark on the back, was a high-end Samsung phone. I turned it over to see some gold inlay under the glass of the back. “What’s this?” I asked. “Tools,” Samantha explained, “Don’t worry about any finances, charge the card, there is nothing in the world you can buy that this won’t buy you, call wherever you want, find out anything you need from the contacts in those phones,” she sipped from her glass again, “while on your mission, live your best life, because Lord knows, when it’s all over, none of us will have a pleasant time.” Immunda looked into his own envelope, and grinned, “Excellent, you’ve been most helpful,” and he left with that. I moved to leave before Samantha grabbed me. “Not so fast,” she advised. I frowned, “what-” “I can see your true desire, Bella.” Her black eyes locked on to mine, “Do you truly think it’s possible?” I smiled smugly to her, holding my hand up, a small flame appearing within. “I already have power given by them, why wouldn’t they oblige my deepest desire for my loyalty?” “Your desire to become a demon, while I understand it, is lofty.” Samantha warned, “if you fail…” “I lose everything,” I explained, “I’m aware. You may also be aware: I have nothing. So what do I have to lose?” Samantha was silent for a moment or two, “they really took everything from you, didn’t they?” “I returned the favor,” I glared at her, “as you did.” “It’s that obvious?” “Yes,” I pointed out, “The way you explained his death,” I grinned, “Your parents, your brother, you killed them.” Samantha nodded, “Yes, I did. My parents weren’t something I meant to do, my Master acted through me. I learned quickly, as my father and mother’s hearts stopped in front of me, that someone without a soul is at the mercy of their Master’s will.” I nodded, “It’s the only reason I haven’t offered my free will.” “Needless to say,” Samantha said as she took a sip of champagne, “I took my time with my brother. I was free after my parents died, and we were to inherit the fortune he sold my soul for equally.” “And I’m sure you weren’t in the sharing mood at the time?” I suggested. “No, I wasn’t,” she finished her champagne, “nor have I been since.” “You and I aren’t so different you know,” I pointed out. Samantha was silent for a moment or two before she faced me again, her black eyes scanning me, “It isn’t entirely too late. You’re young, there is a path to forgiveness, but if you walk this path now, there isn’t any going back for you.” “You think I want to go to God?” I asked, offended. “Want? No. But your goals are too lofty. You hope to become a demon, with what? Favors? Demons are not the generous sort to share their power with a mere human woman,” Samantha warned. I shook my head, “It’s about proving loyalty, and showing them how vicious I can be. That I’m willing to do anything, to suffer any sin, and push past any moral barrier in their service.” I grinned, “Then, someday, I’ll be the one offering deals and bargains with desperate mortals.” Samantha sighed, “Maybe you will reach your ultimate desire. You’d be a terrifying demon.” I smiled, “Thank you.” “But, if you don’t mind me asking,” she began, placing her sunglasses back on, “why do you travel with that want-to-be summoner?” “He’s my decoy,” I explained, “as long as I’m with him, everyone will focus on him.” Samantha sneered, “then get him clothed in something proper, and get him not smelling like a damp cellar.” I nodded, and stood up, heading after him. Once I had done so, Immunda turned to me, “We have tickets, according to these,” he pointed to his phone, showing a flight that left in about five hours to Boston, in the US, of all places. The phone that Samantha gave me soon buzzed and a message appeared on the screen: “Live your best life.” On it was an appointment at a store, the name displayed on my phone was: “GAITO.” … I walked into a very pricey looking store; the racks had dresses from high-end designers, and shoes to match. They lined the racks with high-end brands, Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, Carolina Herrera, Akris, Valentino, Prada, I was in paradise! Prices were nowhere on the products, as this was not the average clothing store. An assistant walked out quickly, heading from the back as soon as I walked in. “May I help you?” he asked. He was a thin man and wore a very well fitted three-piece suit. The fabric shimmered in the light as he moved. “Yes, I was told to come here,” I explained. “By whom?” he asked, looking down his nose at me, something I was used to. “Samantha Waldroop,” I informed. His expression immediately shifted, “ah, you must be Bella!” He extended his hand, “A pleasure. I was told to spare no expense for your attire. Please, follow me.” I followed, and he brought me behind a curtain, bringing out a tailor’s tape. “Sizing?” I asked, smiling. He nods, taking my measurements, “Ms. Waldroop has already selected a wardrobe for you. I’m told to send it to your new apartment in Boston.” I smiled, “Oh?” “Yes,” he chuckled, “she’s very discerning.” “I would say so,” I grinned to him. “I have one dress I’ll size for you right away, it should not take long. In the meantime, while you wait, I’ll give you a voucher for the closest salon and spa,” he finished jotting down my measurements, and fixed me with a sly grin, “I must say, Bella, you live up to your name. I truly cannot wait to see what a lovely gem like you will look like with some proper polish.” “You flirt,” I laughed. He smiled at me, “Perhaps the next time I’m in Boston, we can get together.” “Certainly,” I lied as he handed me a voucher and his business card. ... A few hours later I was sauntering into the airport wearing a dress that costs more than most people’s houses and a pair of heels that likely cost the same as some poor bastard’s car. I was grinning ear to ear. After the salon, even Immunda cleaned up well. We had to go to the airport soon, but I needed supplies. I turned to Immunda, “I’ll need some regents,” I explained. “More shopping?“ Immunda grumbled, “You have that feather, isn’t it enough?” I rolled my eyes, “I’m feeling too naked since the damn priest captured me.” “Naked?” he frowned, “I’m not sure what you mean.” “Just wait here,” I stopped by a pet shop, “I need to get a few things.” I popped inside and purchased a set of feeding mice. Feeding mice are interesting little creatures. If you think they don’t know their fate, you don’t know body language. They know exactly what their destiny is. I walked over to Immunda, “I’ll need a minute or two,” I then slipped behind an alleyway. Immunda just shrugged and waited. He just leaned against the wall In his suit. An expensive one and while he refused to have his beard cut, it was at least now looking manageable. The stench was, lesser, masked by a cologne. Regardless the alleyway was a welcome break from his stench. I set the box of mice down and opened it up. The mice clustered together in the corner, fearful, worried a snake’s belly would soon be their fate. A weak fire wrapped around my hand, flashing over the little creatures, “I was like you once,” I explained to them. As I spoke, my intentions flowed from my spirit into theirs, and they stopped their cowering. “They preyed upon me, like you. I now call on you to be a predator, with me. Give up your bodies, lend me your spirits, allow me to empower you.” One brave little mouse snuck towards me. I grinned and grabbed him with my flaming hand. The mouse squeaked at first, its fur turning from bright white to black, and its body withered in my hand. Soon the flame turned black, and the mouse’s mouth opened. A black spirit slid out, and coiled sweetly around my hand, coiling up to my arm. “So much better than being fed to a snake, yes?” I asked it. The spirit, which now appeared more snake-like than mouse-like, nuzzled itself against my shoulder. I looked down to the other four or five mice, “Who’s next?” I had emerged now with a series of little corrupted spirits coiled about my person. Some around my waist, others around my wrists and one felt rather comfortable around my throat. I would use these spirits to empower my spells. Creatures that know their end is near have little qualms about becoming something more. Even these corrupted spirits would live on as something far more powerful than had they merely returned to the earth. Now they were far more than they ever could have hoped to be and loyal to me for it. Immunda grumbled, “Are you quite finished?” I nodded, “Yes. Thoughts?” I said, running my finger along with the spirit that coiled sweetly around my neck. Immunda shrugged, “You look the same as you did before.” The idiot can’t even see the spirits? I thought. How has he gotten this far? ... When we finally arrived at the gate, I displayed my ticket, first-class, the first time I had ever flown in such a style. The woman at the gate looked over my ticket and beamed happily to us, “Oh welcome! You've got the best seats on the plane!” she assured. I was unsure why Boston was the destination, but I didn’t concern myself with where we were going. I assumed Samantha’s master has pointed us in the proper direction, so with my fate cast forth, I relished the experience. I had spent so much time stealing, seducing, and scraping my life together, it was a thrill to be privy to the royal treatment “Oh, Miss DelAvana, you’re just in time for priority seating,” the woman at the gate said, as she ushered Immunda and I passed the gate and through the jet-way. Soon I sat in a luxurious leather seat, Immunda sat at the window. A stewardess walked over to me, “Miss, would you like something to drink we take off?” “Absolutely,” I smiled, “whatever is your finest liquor.” She beamed, “right away,” she turned to Immunda, “You sir?” Immunda was nervous, looking out the window, he waved her off, “no, that’s fine.” The stewardess, to her credit, asked “would you like something to help you sleep, sir? If you’re nervous about flying.” Immunda nodded, “Yes. Thank you.” A moment or two later, I had my drink, and Immunda had some water and pills to take. I leaned back, watching as people passed my seats by. Lesser people, I had always felt this, but now it felt even more contrasted. None could know the power I had, not just the money recently given to me by Samantha, but the authority that it brought with it. A deep and contented sigh filled me with elation as I enjoyed the luxury of everything around me. Even the little darkened spirits snuggled closer to me, pleased at my contentment. Then they began to react, not in fear, dark spirits have little to fear. They reacted as if something tasty was nearby. “Shush pretties,” I whispered, but as I looked up, I spotted him. He was wearing a rather simple and drab outfit, almost dirty and unkempt blonde hair. He had tanned skin and vibrant green eyes. Frozen in place, he appeared as a deer stuck in headlights. He was a short man, maybe a hair over 165cm, but not unattractive. My beauty and expensive clothing didn’t stun him. Rather, I could tell he wasn’t the average person. His eyes were green, so was his aura. Like me, he had companion spirits, but his spirits were all little earthen spirits. They cowered before the dark spirits which surrounded me. I smiled, “Oh my,” I gave him a sly grin, “what do we have here?” He gathered himself up and attempted to push past me. With a quick motion, I grabbed him with my free hand, “not so fast there,” I gazed at him, the spirit around my neck caressed my lips as I spoke, “what’s your hurry?” “Get away from me, witch,” the short man insulted. His little outburst barely phased me, “What was it you called me?” I said as I concentrated on burning one of his little earth spirits off his shoulder. The spirit around my neck readied itself to leap out and attack on my whim. “Release me,” he threatened, his earth spirits now rallying around him, how brave! “Or I’ll turn the silver and gold in your dress into needles.” It was nice to know the gold and silver trim in my dress was real, real enough for the earth mage before me to know and even consider manipulating it. Granted his little magics would need to get past my own darkened servants to do anything. Unlikely, all things considered. But I did not know this mage, he could do so if he had enough report with them. The imagery of my skin being pierced, and me burning the boy to cinders before everyone on the plane played back in my mind. If I did that, I wouldn’t be able to get to Boston as I was being directed. “Playful,” I teased, “I like that,” I tried to think of an insult to befit him, after him calling me a witch, “flower boy.” Before we could finish our conversation, the first-class stewardess was there to interrupt us. “Excuse me, Madam, is this man bothering you?” she gave the mage a stern glare. I grinned, amused by someone pushed away from me as if they weren’t worth my time. Better yet, she did so without my request; the world assumed that he was lesser than me, just by our clothing. “S-sorry,” he squeaked as they ushered him past me. I called back to him before he vanished into the coach section, “Be careful in the air young man,” I taunted, “we’re a long way from your terra firma.” I glimpsed something strange as he departed. A powerful earth spirit was being carted behind him, and I glared at what could contain such a thing. Behind him was a rather large rose in a glass case and a flower pot. The rose wasn’t a normal flower, pulsing within it was a powerful life force! Some kind of empowered earth spirit with incredible potential. A smile grew over my lips, I wondered: I could corrupt a spirit that powerful? Did it have a will of its own? What could I do with a spirit that strong? He was on the same plane we were in, so all I had to do was spot him come out. Catching the little thing shouldn’t be hard. I put it out of my mind, for now, considering how I’d take that rose from him, and see about corrupting it for my own purposes. … I still recall waiting for him to come off the plane at the terminal, Immunda impatiently waiting behind me. “We should pursue my demon, she must be here,” Immunda grumbled. I did my best to stop myself from slapping the shit out of him for referring to her as his demon again, “We’ll get to tracking her soon enough. I want to grab that Mage’s little flower.” “Tracking her, right,” Immunda trailed off. I snapped to him, “Master,” I began, “you can track her yes? You’ve had enough rest?” Immunda turned to me, “She’s cloaked,” he explained. “Cloaked?” Immunda nods, “Yes. I cannot sense her. I felt her power briefly but the little minx is likely posing as a human and doing so very well.” I could feel my blood pressure rise and I considered burning Immunda on the spot. Suddenly I heard a familiar voice scream, “Allahu Akbar!” at the top of her lungs. The entire terminal turned into an absolute mad-house! People panicked, some dove to the floor, others scurried out of emergency exits where they could. I spotted a woman in black robes being tackled by several officers, and recognized her from the Vatican, “That’s the nun!” I shouted. Immunda nodded, “she must be-oof!” he coughed as someone knocked him to the ground. I looked around, frantic to find her, but in a sea of faces, I saw no one familiar. My search wasn’t in vain, however, as I spotted the mage rushing out a side emergency exit. I pushed my way past a few people and forced my way out the same exit, hoping I could find the little bastard. This proved difficult in my stylish heels, and I tumbled to the side a few times as I struggled through the crowd. What I came across wasn’t something I expected to see from the boy. A police officer of some sort had tried to stop him, why I wasn’t sure. But wrapped around the officer’s shoulders were roots jutting out of the ground. I tucked myself behind a pillar and peeked from behind the wall to spy on what was happening. The officer screamed in pain as the roots dislocated his arms, pulling him down into the ground. But beneath the officer wasn’t soft ground, but hard concrete! I flinched as I watched the man’s knee-caps burst and his legs folded at an unnatural angle. Despite the spectacle of blood and gore before me, however, I was more interested with the plant the mage has. The rose that accompanied the Mage was conscious! It moved inside of the glass as if it were an animal, and I swear I could make out a face at the base of its flower! How powerful a mage was he? More screaming from his victim brought my attention back to the man who was now being dragged into the earth below him. I could see the roots empowered by incredible spiritual energy, flowing from the Mage directly into them. They swelled in strength and force, and ripped the man’s flesh down beneath the ground, his screams stopping only as he slipped under the soil. The mage appeared shocked, though I was less surprised. Earth spirits, as with most spirits outside of holy and dark, are neutral. They don’t care about the life of the man, to them his flesh hasn’t changed state whether he’s alive or dead. An earth spirit might find a dead corpse a better place to grow a fruitful plant. As if on cue, a sapling sprouted from the ground where the guard once stood. It appeared to be an oak tree, and as it grew, I heard a snapping noise I was rather familiar with. The sound of a jaw as it dislocated. As the snap occurred, The Mage removed a ring from his finger, and its power was clear. The spirits calmed almost immediately, but I could sense power pulsing from the ring. That power vanished as he placed it into some kind of bag. What was that ring? Some kind of philosopher stone? Something that could empower magic so drastically, I had to have it! This mage was someone I needed to exploit to the fullest, that was clear to me. I pressed my back to the wall, and I looked down at my dress. The threat of turning the borders of my dress into needles wasn’t just idle chatter. Was the Mage caught off-guard by my presence? Did he spare me merely because there were others around us? Should I be following him instead of Immunda? “Oh my God,” the Mage’s voice said in despair. His reaction added doubt to whether he’d be keen on making me into potting soil as he did the guard he had just mulched. He didn’t know his own strength, that was certain, yet he knew enough to be wary of me. I heard a muffled scream, and glanced upwards to see the mage running off with his potted plant, “damn it!” I growled. But the muffled scream continued. It was coming from the small sapling. I approached the tree tentatively and watched as the leaves shook slightly. The muffled screams came from the soil below, and as I looked down, I saw the horrified eyes of the police officer that the Mage had cast his magic on. “Oh dear,” I bent over, looking into his eyes, “you’re in a bit of a spot, aren’t you?” He blinked, his eyes, now more bloodshot, darting back and forth. I flicked the small trunk of the sapling, eliciting a groan from the soil. A thought came to me, and I snapped one of the smaller branches of the tree. Blood dripped from the small broken branch and the man screamed in pain. “My my, seems you and this little tree are one,” I looked down at him, a devious grin coming over me, “I doubt you wish to be down there forever… unable to die, unable to move, yes?” His eyes blinked a few times. “Blink twice for yes and once for no,” I smiled, pacing around him, “understand?” His eyes darted back and forth and blinked twice. “Good,” I smirked, getting down onto my haunches over him, “now… how’s about you allow my dark magic inside of you? I might get you walking again.” His eyes narrowed, and he blinked once. I shrugged, standing, “I wasn’t offering out of benevolence,” I began to walk away, ignoring his fading cries, “I’ll ‘leaf’ you alone then.” I grinned wide, I wondered if I came back to him in a few days, if he’d be moreagreeable? Part 5
Hey everyone, it's lemmingllama. I just wanted to make a small guide on all the different acronyms in Idle Heroes for new players. Whenever you are joining the game, it can be intimidating to go onto the Discord channels or Reddit threads and seeing all this nonsense that means nothing to you. So sit back, relax, and use your browser’s search function or scroll through this alphabetical list of acronyms. I'm also typing in the words abbreviations and glossary here so Reddit's search engine can locate this more easily. If you happen to know of any acronyms that aren’t on here that deserve to exist, just comment below or message me on Reddit at lemmingllama or on Discord at lemmingllama#9071. I’ll happily include your acronyms as long as it makes sense and is actually usable.
Acronyms
Acronym
Meaning
AB
Armor Break, the stat that allows you to reduce the effects of enemy armor
Active
Active skill, the special attack that each hero can use when their energy bar is full. Sometimes called ult
Amu
Amuvor, the Dark assassin hero
Antlers
Antlers Cane, the artifact that increases Precision, Attack, and Skill Damage
Asmo
Asmodel, the Light warrior hero
Aspen
The Aspen Dungeon, a building where you can fight against increasingly strong enemies for rewards. Also Aspen, the Dark warrior hero
Baade
A being of true terror and unlimited memes, who is more "powerful" than any other existence in Idle Heroes
Basics
Basic summoning scrolls, a resource that can be used to unlock 1-5 star heroes
BB
Bloodblade, the Shadow assassin hero
Bel
Belrain, the Light priest hero
Bell
Demon Bell, the artifact that increases Attack, HP, and starting energy
Blacksmith Event
Grey Dwarf’s Blessing, an event where you can spend gems to upgrade your equipment
BoD
Barrier of Destiny, the Fortress faction exclusive artifact that increases Damage Reduction and HP
Branches
Prophet’s Blessing, a resource that can be spent to replace heroes in the Prophet Tree
BS
Broken Spaces, a monthly event where you can attack bosses for resources. Also what everyone will say when the newest hero is released
BT
Brave Trials, a building where you can fight against other player’s arena teams for Dragon Scales and other resources
Candy Cane
Lucky Candy Bar, the artifact that increases Attack, HP, and Stun Immunity
Casino
The Wishing Fountain, a building where you can spend Wishing Coins and Super Wishing Coins to receive rewards.
CC
Crowd control, a form of stopping a hero from working effectively such as Stun, Freeze, Petrify, Silence, and Horrify
CCL
Crystal Crown League, an arena event where you fight against players using one lineup. Typically just referred to as arena
CD
Corpsedemon, the Shadow warrior hero
Cheese
A team composition that focuses around abusing a mechanic to have it perform much stronger than it should. This typically centers on heroes like Mihm and Aidan who benefit from their allies deaths.
Chips
Wishing Coins, a resource that can be exchanged at the Wishing Fountain for rewards
CI
Celestial Island, a building where you can defeat islands for resources and build structures to give you resources
Crit
Critical Chance, the percentage chance of your hero landing a critical hit and dealing bonus critical damage
CNY
Chinese New Year, one of the large events and a time when the developers take a break
DA
Dark Arthinodal, the Dark mage hero
Dant
Dantalion, the Abyss warrior hero
Deer
A monster that boosts Armor and Block
DH
Demon Hunter, the Forest ranger hero. Also Droid Hang, the game company that makes Idle Heroes
Dildo
Staff: Punisher of Immortal, the artifact that increases Attack, Critical Chance, and Critical Damage
DM
Das Moge, the Dark ranger hero
Dodge
An old hero bonus that has been replaced by Block
Dom
Dominator, the Shadow warrior hero
DoT
Damage over time, an effect that will deal damage each round for a set number of rounds
DPS
Damage per second, typically referring to a hero who has the primary purpose of dealing as much damage as possible
DR
Damage Reduction, a stat that reduces the amount of damage your hero will take
Dragon
A monster that boosts Critical Chance and Critical Damage
DS
Dragon Slayer, the Forest warrior hero
Dust
Magic Dust, the resource used to improve hero stones
E3
Enable 3, where a 10 star hero has been enabled three times and can use all the enabling changes
Elite Shards
A resource that can be used to receive a copy of a hero from a drop pool of stronger heroes (you are less likely to get a fodder hero)
Energy
How close your hero is to using their active skill. When their energy bar is full, their next attack will use their active skill
F2P
Free to play, a player who has not spent any money on the game
FA
Fearless Armor, the artifact that increases Damage Reduction and HP
FB
Faith Blade, the Light assassin hero
Feathers
Glorious Relics, a resource that can be exchanged for specific heroes, skins, or artifacts
FM
Fat Mu, the Abyss ranger hero
Fodder
Heroes who are not considered strong, and thus should be used to improve other heroes
Fox
A monster that boosts Skill Damage and Precision
FS
Flamestrike, the Fortress mage hero
FTA
Free Team-up Arena, an arena event where you work with two other players to defeat players
Fusion
An event where you fuse stronger heroes to receive rewards
GC
Guild coins, the resource that allows you to upgrade your Guild Tech and purchase from the Guild Store (don’t purchase from the guild store please, it’s a bad idea)
GE
The Grey-Eyed, the 4 star Forest assassin hero
Gem Box
The Mysterious Chest event, where you can purchase resources and heroes for gems
The Senior Privilege Card, a card that gives many diamonds each day for 30 days
MS
Magic Source, the artifact that increases starting energy and skill damage
MSS
Magic Stone Sword, the artifact that increases Attack, Damage Reduction, and Control Immunity
NM
Nightmare, one of the levels of Aspen Dungeon
OD
OD-01, the Fortress mage hero
Obe
Oberon, the Forest mage hero
P2W
Pay to win, a player who has spent a lot of money on the game. Can also refer to things that require money in order to unlock
Pets
Monsters, the creatures that power up your heroes and activate when enough rounds have passed or Active Skills have been used in a fight.
PFF
Pray for Fire, a location in your guild where you can receive guild coins and fight guild bosses. Pray for Fire only opens after your guild has defeated the 60th guild raid
Phoenix
A monster that boosts Critical Damage and Holy Damage
PIH
Playidleheroes, a website with a lot of guides and content
PO
Prophet Orb, a resource you can exchange at the Prophet Tree to get hero shards and Prophet’s Blessings
Pokeball
Augustus Magic Ball, the artifact that increases Attack, Speed, and Block. Also called 8ball or augustus
Purple orbs
Hero Promotion Stones, a resource required to increase the tiers of your heroes
PVE
Player versus environment, any content that is not directly opposing other players. This typically refers to things like marauders, Guild raids, Pray for Fire, the campaign, etc where the combat uses different mechanics than the typical PvP combat
PVP
Player versus player, any content that is directly opposing other players. This typically refers to things like the Arena, friend battles, Brave Trials, and things that mimic PvP combat like the Tower of Oblivion and Sealed Land
Rainbow
The Color-Mixing aura given by having one hero from each faction in your team
Ramen
Amen-ra, the Dark priest hero
Redemption
The Redemption aura given by having two Forest, two Fortress, and two Light heroes on your team
Regression
Regression is when you disassemble a hero using Soul Stones to get back fodder and 5 star hero copies
Replace
Replacing is when you use Soul Stones and some 5 star hero copies to turn a 10 star or stronger hero into a new hero
RNG
Random number generation, the reason why your luck has been so bad
Runes
Rune’s Power, the Forest faction exclusive artifact that increases Damage Reduction and HP
SC
The Super Wishing Fountain, a building where you can spend Super Wishing Coins to receive rewards. SC is short for Super Casino
Shards
A resource that can be used to receive a copy of a hero. Some are for specific heroes, and others are for a specific faction or power level
Shelter
An event where you can exchange heroes for specific heroes and equipment
Sig
Sigmund, the Fortress warrior hero
SL
Starlight, the Forest mage hero
Sleepy
Sleepless, the Dark warrior hero
Slot
The position that a hero is in a lineup. These range from slots 1-6, going from the front to the back
Smash
The ability to make multiple attacks with a single button press to save time and effort
Snake
A monster that boosts Skill Damage and Block
Snot
Spirit, a resource required to level up your heroes
SoJ
Sword of Justice, the Light faction exclusive artifact that increases Attack, Holy Damage, and Critical Chance
Soul Stones
Soul Symbols, the resource that allows you to swap or regress a 10 star or above hero
Tank
A hero with a lot of HP who will typically sit in slot 1
Thug
Cthugha, the Abyss ranger hero
Tickets
Arena Tickets, the resource that allows you to attack other players in the Arena
Tits
Sierra, the 4 star Fortress mage hero
ToC
Trial of the Champion, an arena event where you fight using three teams against other players
ToO
Tower of Oblivion, a building where you can fight for Hero Promotion Stones and other resources
Torch
Wildfire Torch, the artifact that increases Precision, HP, and reduces Damage over Time
Val
Valentino, the Fortress mage hero. Sometimes also called gayboi or stunning
Valk
Valkyrie, the Forest ranger hero
VIP
Very important person, a system that rewards players based on how much money they have spent on the game
WA
Withered Armor, the Shadow faction exclusive artifact that increases Damage Reduction and HP
WGM
Wind God’s Messenger, an artifact that increases speed and HP
Is Idle Heros really fun? - 6 months in and the grind never ends.
Hey Idlers, I am a no body who really only joined reddit specifically for this Idle Heros thread because the community on here is fantastic. I have been one of those players who sits down and strategizes fusing and progression efficiency. That has been a big reason why I enjoyed this game from the beginning. Reading around on this community and watching Wraths videos on youtube have given me a ton of information on how to play more efficiently but recently I have been getting fatigued. The game pace is slow, that is fine but once you get into the "grind to event refresh" it just gets mindless. I am in no way trying to just hate on the game, I think it has a ton of potential but I feel as though the mid game is in need of some serious help. I'm at the point where the game is just not fun, so I wanted to see if others are feeling the same way? A little about me: I am a 6-7 month old player who started out making a ton of mistakes and leveled up my team to a full 9 star before learning that going 1 hero E3 is the whole idea. So I changed to that an have an E2 Xia. Im a lightish spender VIP 5. I am an Electrical Engineer so I have some knowledge in how the game is created with basic schooling on coding but in no way even a coding language novice. I like to throughly explain out my thoughts so I appoligize in advanced for the length. Complaints:
You have 2 "weeks" - really 2 hours for efficient summoning. I get having an event to specifically compliment a function of the game to drive for activity. But in a months rotation you have the heroic summoners event which is super hard to get more than 100 heroic summon scrolls unless you are spending money or skipping events (which alone makes it even worse in terms of down time) and then the prophet summons event which is more reasonable because it is fairly do-able with a month of prep. Thats basically it? So in a whole month - 28 days worth of game play you get ~2 hours of enjoyable summoning and progress. Fun.
Why are Heroic summon scrolls so expensive (in gems) for such a crappy rate of return. Even in the Heroic Summons event you have a 3% chance of getting a 5 star hero which you need 186 of to get an E3 hero. Math time : Thats 5822ish Heroic summon scrolls. Marketvalue they are between 100-250 gems depending on where you can get them. The event then to complete is 500 herioc summons??? To me it just doesnt make sense other than as a money grab and to elongate the game. I understand why Prophet orbs are but you can get them so much easier in a month to finnish the event with specific targetting progress. But you get POs so much easier.
The lack of interesting events. I also play on the PS and there arent any monthly events, which is horrible. So yeah monthly events are great. I have no complaints there, but I see people constantly on reddit complaining about the campaign drop/gembox and Casino/shelter event as being so boring. I agree, but what gets me is that the devs, I would imagine see this, and dont seem to do anything about it. Id rather them stop spending time creating new campaign drop loot "things" and just keep 12 of them in rotation. This really moves into my biggest complaint.
The Developers. I get that a language barrier makes communications complicated. I also do not know how many developers there are for this game. But seriously the rate of change-updates in this game is attrocious. It takes an entire week to change 1 hero slightly. Sometimes the updates are super tiny and meaningless. We have a lot of feedback on reddit and people posting responses they get from the ID support about passing issues to the devs but I firmly beleive they either don't get these issues or are so understaffed that they can only focus on one task a week. The 2 biggest examples are the "Phoenix Monster" and the brave trials shop rework. They have been talked about for a long time but still has yet to happen. Maybe they are testing the monster with some new mechanic that has a lot of bugs that need to be worked out, thats fine, but give an update more then - yeah we are working on it. My biggest issue is Server event refresh times. I am on a higher numbered server IOS S634. The refresh is at 8pm my time and for this event - campaign drop - I get the event refresh typically at 10pm now. So I loose 2 hours without getting those hours back of the potential drops i'd get. Every campaign event I am within an hour or 2 of getting the hero from the event. Scheduling the event to start at the event refresh and preloading the data early on all servers doesnt seem like a hard task. Seperate the game changing updates and event updates. I cant imagine what it is like for these new servers that seem to drop every day now. The revenue DH gets from Idle heros is substaintial. Right now on ThinkGaming, generic google search on revenue, they have a daily revenue stream of 63,000 a day. A DAY. 23 million dollars a year and thats just an estimate. Ranked 39th top revenue app. You clearly have the money to expand unless they are large, to which why are the updates so sluggish.
So those are my complaints. Again Im not trying to just complain about the game, those are the issues that I feel like are dragging the game down. Pay to win is fine, it keeps the money flow to the company to keep the game alive and content flowing. The scale between pay to win and free to play is a bit aggressive though. In those complaints I feel there are solutions that many on reddit here have discussed, trying to help the Devs. Game changing content can't happen in a day, but for the player it seems as nothing will change, because the devs give no feedback other than we are working on stuff. But we did get announced that E5 is coming out way. Nothing on fixing the broken issues of many aspects of the game(Celestial island, Brave Trial shop, Pray by Fire) but hell we will make it longer to get to the end game for ya! So the jist of my long essay is there seem to be a lot progress dragging issues. My brother plays free to play ( on the same server) and he pretty much has quit. The only real reason right now for me to keep playing is because ive put in over a hundred dollars over the 6 months. I want to get my time so I can reason why I spent so much. Mid game content needs to be added. Something to eleviate this huge empty gap between that 1 day of big progress in the PO event. If I were to use a stop watch over the month of how much time I spend on these events, it would be maybe 3 hours in total(exluding the monthlys). But those are the only interesting parts. So for me the game has gone from fun strategizing to team development to waiting around for fodder and copies. The waiting around for fodder and copies has been 2 months now. Im sure people will comment and say well you just have to complete the events and its not that hard to get copies blah blah. Sure maybe for you, I totalled out my team comp in terms of 5 star heros and I get around 40 per month. From what I've seen thats a decent amount, but you need 186 for an E3... so at my rate of in the "Fodder and copies" phase thats almost 5 months per E3 or 28 months for an E3 team. 2 years an 4 months. Senior Cards : (14.99USD) 420 dollars. (I get the senior card every month). I dont think it should be that much. Besides most of the time you have to be perfect little hoarder each month to chain any progress. Which in itself is so boring. Mobile games typically come in phases with popularity but the true longevity of the game is the loyal players. Having 2000 servers makes it even worse, chopping up all of those players and spreading them around. Server merging helps that I suppose. Is waiting around for 2 years to get a complete team something a loyal player wants to do? for 2 hours of enjoyment a month and 30 minutes to an hour a day of monotonous grind something the Devs thing we all want? It seems to me that we are all just putting up with it for prize at the end of the tunnel of an elite E3, until E5 comes out and we have to get 250+ fodder for an E5. I think progress either needs to be stimulated more often or mid game fodder finding needs to be increased by atleast 30%. For all players not just whales. Let me know what you guys think. Am I just being a complaining asshole or do others feel the same discouragement that I am getting in this mid game.
June 8th Show Experience! Some tips and things of note for people going.
Last nights Vegas show was amazing. Here are somethings to know. The Palms - is great. Check out the blackjack tables with the blink182 smiley inlays. Otherwise rooms are amazing and very clean. Mark walked around out front and signed autographs but I missed that... I was in line. I’d say it was 730 when he came out into the casino. KROQ- was set up in the lobby bar of the Palms. Mark was there. He did an interview. Got a selfie with him. Around 630. Line- Is not a typical line. VIP got let in at 7:15. I was not VIP and they let us in slightly before 8. The merch table was nice and they would un scan your ticket so you could bring merch up to your room if you are staying there. It made buying the poster easy. Vegas style crowd- I got there in line around 7 and was maybe 6 people deep in the GA line. Even after purchasing the poster I was able to get front row barrier. No real rushing involved for the people into that. Lots of true blink fans but no one was going crazy to get a better spot in the pit. They were in Vegas mode I guess? HMNIM- the brand manager is there. He approached me at the barrier before the show. Told me he liked my shirt (the blue ballon octopus shirt). Told me he designed it. Told me Skye Hoppus showed him a Chinese lantern and said it would make a cool shirt. He gives me a limited edition Mark Bass pin. The Craola bass. Only 300 sold and sold out on the online store. This one is not numbered it says. PALMS/300 instead. He says he gives out 5 a night. He also gave me a mark pick and a bunch of pink stickers. He’s a really cool guy and says he did a lot of the Atticus shirts too. Maybe wear a HMNIM shirt if your going to be up front. Skiba- We were right on the barrier in front of him. He played with energy and killed it. Lots of eye contact with the crowd. Reached out and handed me his guitar pick after the first few songs. Lots of cool interaction- mouthing down down down down to my girl friend. Blew a kiss to her at the end of the show, she didn’t see it so I caught it and stuck it on her face- he laughs and says thank you. They kick out a guy for throwing a beer at him and he was like why? “He missed” lol. This sub might hate him but he was excellent again. He crushed everything and I am glad he is there! You can’t tell from videos. Go to a show it was amazing. Mark- killed it all night. Sounded great- and was all over the stage. Even had lots of interaction with my girl friend and I. During reckless abandon he stuck his pick to Skiba’s face. You know the drill. After he takes it off Skiba, points right at my girl friend and climbs over the monitor on stage to reach and make sure she gets it. Overall- we walked away with an amazing experience and a bunch of cool stuff.
Selfie with mark.
Bought poster before show and still was on the barrier.
HMNIM swag including super rare bass pin and lots of stickers.
Lots on interaction with Mark and Matt during the show.
I finally broke the spell (and realized just how much Netmarble hates their paying customers)
TL;DR - playing MFF "more-than-casually" (read: attempting to compete in modes like AB and AC) since the introduction of CTPs and Premium Cards 2.0 has tilted your progression entirely towards being lucky, and I'm done spending money as a result. You should think about carefully about your spending if you're an engaged, paying player. This has probably been a long time coming. VIP15, about to hit 16 (almost any purchase would do it, tbh.) Been playing since right after 2.0. I fondly remember Sharon being introduced and making the hard-scrabble climb to get her powered up. I remember my first T2 (Hyperion, back when he was actually considered competent.) I remember when the goal of the game was developing a deep enough roster to get 5 WB clears a week on all of the bosses (well, minus Infinity Thanos, with him you were lucky to get two or three...) At that time, I loved how there were so many different characters (even though some of them were mostly useless) who you could build up mostly by playing the game - or you could speed it up reliably by paying for MRUTs and the like. And so I did for several characters that I really liked, so I could broaden my WB and Villain Siege (remember when Villain Siege wasn't an after-thought?) options. Probably my favorite update was the introduction of Shadowlands. I only failed to complete Shadowlands once - the very first week it was introduced, as I had over-committed characters in the 14-17 range and so I didn't have the juice to make it to 20 - but the idea of being challenged to stretch the roster creatively to finish this new mode felt really rewarding. I remember seeing Alliance Tournament announced and thinking it was neat - we'd get to face our whole rosters off against those of other players? I (and my wallet) had built a really strong roster, I'd love the opportunity to throw down. ....except that it was only for the top 16 AB teams - gross. Oh well. I watched with some trepidation as more characters at the same level of strength as Sharon Rogers were released. Content started getting easy - too easy. But at that point I was VIP 10 or 11, and I had almost the entire roster at 6/6, so I would just finish all the characters released within a few days after each update (and buy a bio sub if needed) and go back to spending 20 minutes per day on the grind (in addition to all the "semi-idle" time used to spend on old-style co-op. Gold was good, though!) And I've watched as more and more characters with each new update became subscription only, and watched as the "Epic Quests" were introduced (a neat idea, and not the same enormous barrier to me as they might have been to many players, as I already had the resources for much of what they requested.) I remember the introduction of Uru, what would turn out to be the first pillar of the "T3" process. In theory it seemed interesting, and it would give me something to do in addition to maxing out the new kids each update and finishing the Black Order's gears. There were a few short periods before updates where I would actually have every character in the game at max gears. I've watched as Alliance Conquest was introduced - now they were farming out the "compete to prove you're the best" to the people, instead of just the top 16 alliances! This is where the alarm bells really should have started going off, in hindsight. But I joined an alliance full of people I liked, made new friends, and expanded my roster further so I could be useful to them in AC. Pretty sure I burned through most of VIP 13 and 14 doing this. Eventually I had the most (or tied for the most, maybe) T2s in the entire alliance, most of whom were well-geared out. More native T2s. Another Epic Quest, along with a completely game-breaking character who needed FIVE other difficult characters completely maxed to allow you to START building. Another T2 ticket or two, and an X-Men Advancement pack to rush to unlock Jean. VIP 15. Our alliance hit rank 10 in Alliance Conquest. It was hard not to be a little proud, knowing that a few of our members acted as the cornerstones of the team, putting in the hits when the chips were down, because we had the rosters to do so. We'd put in the time, the effort... and the money. I'm glossing over a lot, I know - uniform upgrades were shitty for a while, but eventually found a decent place (which would later be mostly trivialized with the ability to craft UUKs), Battleworld and World Events (remember the Civil Wa Civil War 2 team events?) and other things that made you feel more like you were playing against other players without having to directly swing e-peens at one other disappeared, making the game more about direct competition (roster strength.) Timeline got flattened into a tedious, un-fun slog with all the new natives, SOME of whom would never see even a week of being banned. Co-op and Alliance Battle were reworked to give less gold (albeit with the tradeoff of being made less tedious in the process.) I knew premium cards had been a thing for a long time - I had even considered getting K-cards when I was relatively new, but I didn't know whether the game would hold my attention. I had build a great hand of regular-ass cards, anyways - Loki, Punisher, a Rank 7 CW4 - pretty good for not having spent $40 per K-card pull. Then came the new wave of premium cards, and even worse, CTPs. Fucking CTPs. You might hear, as I did, that CTP drop rates are amazing right now - my alliance chat has been a-twitter with pictures of amazingly lucky draws like this one - so I dropped half an anniversary pack on 10 draws of 10 gears (not my first time having done so, just the most recent. Maybe the first time I did this many in a row, though.) My results:
1 CTP (refinement)
0 6* Obelisks
0 5* Obelisks (other than the guaranteed)
2 4* Obelisks
And... that's when it finally clicked. The game is no longer, on any meaningful level, about the time or effort you put into it. Competing - whether in AB (and therefore AT), or in Conquest, is now overwhelmingly about how much money you pour in. And the game doesn't even value you for that! If you have shit luck like me, you WILL be passed by people who started later than you, whaled less than you, and just got luckier. That's the state of the game now: get lucky, or get boned. And even though I'm so close to VIP 16, I have no desire to keep smashing my face against a tree that bears no fruit. There is no Fire Emblem Heroes-style system in this game which tilts the odds in your favor the longer you go without pulling something valuable (the CTP was in the very first pull, for context.) There are so many systems NM could implement which would make even these money-grubbing systems feel more fair, and keep players who wanted to stay competitive and engaged in the game. Instead, they've just chosen to keep squeezing the stone, because it's not run out of blood yet. I could throw $500 more at the game, and maybe in one of those 100 pulls I'd get results like the linked image, and I might be able to expand my "T3" roster a little further (though re-rolls are a whole 'nuther piece of cluster-luck that have also been merciless,) but odds are just as good (if not better) that that won't happen. So... I'm done spending. I'll still play with my alliance, and compete as best as I'm able (which should still be for a long while, even if I slowly slide down the ladder of effectiveness). But it's finally obvious to me that Netmarble doesn't want more engaged players (and spenders), it just wants to test the depths to which any hooked whales will dive in the promise of getting just that little bit stronger. (Corollary: the Ultimates chest is a very similar bugaboo, and I imagine it helped others make this realization sooner than I did. I mostly avoided it though, so it took me this much longer to get it.) I'm not looking for sympathy - I never spent money I didn't have or maxed a credit card "feeding the need". Hard not to think about what else all that money could be doing for me if I hadn't spent it on a single video game, though. I'm almost 30 - I could have used it to go back to school; start getting a Master's Degree. Or start a college fund for the kid I can maybe one day afford to have. Hell, I could have just bought every other video game I've wanted in the last few years. Whatever the case, it's finally dawned on me that the over-riding force that keeps you competitive in Marvel Future Fight, from here on out, is LUCK. Luck, and nothing else. So I'm tapping out - my luck has always been awful; it's why I've never stepped foot in a casino. I hope my perspective can help others reflect on whether they want to spend the money to expand their rosters and become "competitive", or just to assist their alliances and friends however they can with the rosters they have without trying to "keep up". That's my Christmas gift to the MFF community, the gift of a second thought before you blow any Christmas/Hannukah cash on the game. As for a gift for Netmarble -- I'd offer suggestions on how to make the cash economy less exploitative, but I think my history of the features they've introduced has shown they don't really care about that. I'd gift them a giant ASCII middle finger at the bottom of this post, but I'd rather it not get deleted after I spent an hour writing this (frankly, kinda therapeutic) drivel. Cheers, y'all. Stay safe and sane this holiday weekend, and have a happy whatever-you-celebrate.
[1st Time Watcher] Back again. From Yuba to the Rebels' Palace Attack! (Alabasta Arc: 104-116)
Disclaimer:
This isn't your typical, "please no spoilers!" tag! I'm super sensitive about trying to be as close to 100% blind as possible. This means please no hints, not even subtle clues about the future! Thanks for helping me keep the mystery by staying in the dark!
104 | Luffy vs. Vivi! A Tearful Vow for Comrades
Alright this episode definitely had some meat, in fact it had three servings of heavy meat.
Mr. 3 is crocodile food. Nice to see One Piece getting a little gruesome again. Crocodile still seems like a pretty major terrifying villain.
Number Agents are going to try and prevent Vivi and Kohze from meeting, I love the additional obstacles they're gonna face now getting to Kohze. But this has to go down quick, I feel the tension of all the sides coming to clash soon. There's definitely some suspense I'm feeling.
Usopp said it best, "Luffy can surprise you at times." He finally had another big lucid moment, criticizing Vivi's plan, which, after a fight, ended up in another Nami-Arlong-esque moment of Luffy yelling at her that they're her nakama, and she can risk their lives in addition to her own. They are seriously all in on fighting Crocodile, and all in on Vivi being their friend. I enjoy Luffy when he's more serious, and this was a huge moment for Vivi. These lucid moments with Luffy are so great because even though he's goofy most of the time, I think he's a little tongue in cheek too sometimes, and either way, at the end of the day, he knows when he needs to be serious, and he can get pretty serious.
I also love how brutal Luffy/Vivi's fight was, like Luffy straight up leap-punches Vivi in the face. That is some real shit. This show is silly in some aspects, but it isn't immature in other aspects--quite the contrary, with serious enough dynamics going on, One Piece often knows when to ground itself for gritty drama. Anything One Piece can do to make me take it even further seriously, I'm all about that.
105 | The Alabasta War Front! City of Dreams, Rainbase
Great episode, as well as the previous episode. It's like all of Alabasta so far has just been scaling up to these moments this entire time, all up to the final kickoff. It's of course what I've anticipated, and the time is upon me now.
So Luffy was indeed a success at fully convincing Vivi that this fight needs to be rougher in order to have the best productive outcome. That they need to worry about confronting Crocodile. So, change of plans baby, we're going straight to the hornet's nest at Rainbase! Time is of the essence here, and it'll just take a day or so to get there. Not sure if that'll be enough time, because the Rebels are planning their hail mary fast.
You know, in my last submission, I talked up Luffy a ton for being a moronic toddler, and not understanding basic resources. But first off, there was his confrontation with Vivi last episode, showing his more mature side. And secondly, that old man in Yuba dug all night to give them a little water, and Luffy is being resourceful as all hell with it. So I think that he may not understand a lot of stuff intuitively, but when there's a relationship or even just a person in general involved, then Luffy knows how to consider feelings and use that to inform him about reality. I think he's basically just got a good empathetic side and that helps him grow. How do I articulate this... Luffy has been awful with their limited resources by wasting watefood, but, as soon as he digs with this guy back in Yuba, understanding how hard his life is, and how big a deal that little bit of water is, then something big clicks in his head, and he's able to be productive about it. The stretch is that this might be actual character development, and in the future he's careful in general with resources, wasting less. The reality though is that this situation may just be in a vacuum--he'll continue to waste general resources, like their food/water, but he can protect resources that are significantly/novelly precious, like the old man's water (and his hat of course). But either way it really is doesn't matter too much in the end, it's just nice to see his brighter side to contrast the goofy side. I love it.
What can help make fiction timeless is doing a good job at incorporating fundamental philosophies. It's that quality of groundwork that I usually look for in order to help enjoy something. And there have been other philosophical conflicts like this previously, but this one stands out so much because it's on such a large scale--an entire kingdom. One Piece is ticking this box off for me with the Pacifism vs. Sacrifice-Some-Save-Many. Vivi on one side, Luffy on the other (and each other gang have their individual philosophies/attitudes of course), and what's interesting about Cobra is that he appears to be on Vivi's side but he's actually on Luffy's side. King Cobra seems to play devil's advocate, E.G.: Guard: "Your Highness, it's only a matter of time before the Rebels strike us! We must strike them first!" King Cobra: "Silence, that's out of the question! Is this a children's fight? They hit us, so we hit them back?" So really, Cobra realizes that even if they fight to protect themselves from the Rebels, then it still goes back to what Luffy said: "What then? Crocodile will still be at large." I like the King's attitude and determination.
CARUE MADE IT! Good job buddy. Now the King is up to speed. |"So what if this Palace gets occupied by the Rebels while we're off fighting Crocodile--a country is its people." There it is. The King knows what he's doing. He gets the big picture. If the palace is invaded, but the King seizes Rainbase and clears things up, then he can just return to the palace and clear things up with Kohze. That's what matters.
Captain Smoker and Tashigi are already at Rainbase! Maybe the gang will end up getting some assistance... But of course Smoker and Luffy just end up in a scuffle with each other again. Smoker is gung-ho on nailing Luffy... I know he noticed something strange about him in Loguetown, how Luffy reminded him uniquely of Gol D. Rogers. Either Smoker is going off that intuition, or Smoker knows something special about Luffy, or Smoker is crazy and merely just has tunnel vision bloodlust for this kid.
Love how hard of a time Zoro has reconciling Tashigi looking/seeming like his old friend. It's like he hasn't properly grieved her death or something in some way. Like it's just impossible for him to face her because of her similarities to his late friend. I'm still really craving a hard emotional moment between those two, clearing things up between each other and eventually mutually respecting each other. Zoro doesn't quite seem like the kind of guy to just express all his feelings, so she'd maybe have to provoke him I think. They're due for a serious swordfight, and that could be the beginning of more of their relationship development, even if it ends with them in bad shape. I just like the potential dynamic they have with each other, still excited to see it progress.
Pyramid Raid. It's all starting to finally crack down now. Great episode.
@ Notable Humor:
Nami: "Luffy, you can really restrain yourself at times" [commenting about his protection of the old Yuba man's water]Luffy: "Of course I can! How rude! [gets in her face] HOW RUDE!"
Luffy: "This is some great water, dammit! Damn good water!" [Not sure if One Piece contains any/much profanity, or if these subs are taking edgy liberties, but that cracked me up]
106 | Trap in a Desperate Situation! Breaking Into Rain Dinners
Okay, Smoker is all in on chasing Luffy down, and this time he looks like he's gonna be stuck with them since falling into the Pirate Trapdoor on the way to the VIP area. Suspicions are at an all time high of a SmokeLuffy temporary alliance against Crocodile. Poor Chopper stuck behind... And Sanji too, actually.
[!] Fuckin' Sea Kryptonite. Smoker is a total jerk using his mineral-tipped stick on Luffy. I love how the handicap of Devil's Fruit isn't just as simple as "you can't swim," but rather this opens the door that it's as nuanced as, "you're weak against the energy of the sea." It's awesome there's a mineral that captures its essence. ----- While the lore could be more fleshed out and pertinent than it has been so far, I do enjoy it when it happens. Recent memory is also of the ruins (if that wasn't part of the filler), and the Dance Powder. I liked the filler-lore of the furry dragons and the Lost Island, too. And I think there's been another supernatural element someone has utilized before to enhance their weapon, but I'm a bit hazy on that. And of course there's the Devil's Fruit itself, which I'm still super intrigued about. I want to know the range of their abilities, and especially see where that shit grows! I want to see the gang stumble upon some deep in the sea, and one of the gang has an opportunity to eat it and get abilities. But not necessarily anytime soon.
[!] Cool world building with how Smoker says that (his) prisons are made out of that mineral material so Devil's Fruit users can't use their abilities to escape. That's smart, and it's great to see Oda going that far, because sometimes I don't expect that amount of depth, but then Oda will surprise me by throwing it in there.
Oh shit! Tori Tori Fruit, also known as the Duke Nukem Falcon Fruit! He is a giant falcon with fucking gatling guns! We're getting some prompt help from the Kingdom! Which is great, considering half of the gang ran straight into a trap. We also still got Sanji and Chopper on the way to act as vital monkey wrenches at some point here soon, so there's that too.
Mode: Falcon, granting one of 5 flying abilities known in the world. Woah. So I assume he's stuck to one mode, "Falcon." Considering he's toast now, I assume he couldn't engage in other Modes. Perhaps the other "Modes" are tied to the other flying abilities? What are the other 4 Flying Abilities?? Can't wait to see if it ever touches more on that later in the series. I'm left hanging with lingering mystery... I love it.
[!]Hana Hana Fruit... oh fuck...well, holy shit.
Fakeout on Vivi's death. I knew Crocodile wanted her, so she couldn't die, but for a moment I was still like, "damn, might as well incapacitate her so she's not an obstacle I guess... by putting a hole through her stomach, alright." But Miss All Sunday just wanted to provoke poor, poor Pell (RIP).
And Crocodile's Fruit is called the Suna Suna Fruit. I thought he was making people wither, but he's mainly turning people into sand (still basically withering people away it seems)? Doesn't he also evaporate their blood too, or something? Either way... yikes.
Zoro: "You've got to hand it to Luffy for making things complicated." [Zoro running away from the Marines Luffy managed to get on his tail--not even mad, just plain amused]
Luffy: "He's the only one I can't fight..." [Referring to Smoker while running away from him, a funny reference to contrast to last episode, where Zoro is running from Tashigi and says, "She's the only one I can't fight..."]
107 | Operation Utopia Commences! The Wave of Rebellion Begins to Move
Yeah, I think that Kohze had some ego involved in his Rebellion. He was partly selfish in that just because he couldn't stand to see his land dry up, he was willing to take water from elsewhere by gambling on conspiracy. But it's nice to see that he's clearly uneasy. He seems dead-set on his plans, but at the same time, he seems to be beating himself up in some way. Or just sad about the situation and for what he feels like he needs to do about it. But now, he's completely fooled, beyond a doubt. He really seems to have more logic on his side after Mr. 2's succession of his role in Operation Utopia. So of course he's all in now on attacking the Palace.
King is gone. Cobra seems awfully expendable... if not now, sooner or later... just for the ultimate middle finger to poor Vivi. I can see the sad possibility. I still need to get a feel for how easily this show "disposes" characters. I'm thinking not much. But I'm thinking that even if it doesn't really do that much, then it'll make it more intense when it does.
I had honestly not even considered Mr. 2's copy ability... Fuck me I'm like, "what is the King's plan here??? I thought I had him figured out, this is over my head!" When Mr. 2 visits visits Kohze to initiate the war, disguised as Cobra. I should've known better! Oda got me!
Got a bit heavy with Vivi desperately trying to escape Rainbase to save the damn world, and you could just see Luffy absorbing all of her energy into his rage. Luffy is very empathetic, it's totally settled.
Okay So Crocodile asked, "Do you know why I want this Kingdom so badly?" and the episode ended before an answer came. But guess what unfinished business popped in my head when he said that? The ruins. He implied he wants the land. And if there's anything special about the land, then how about those mysterious ruins? Or whatever those ruins implicate? Full of untold power? Assuming those ruins weren't part of the filler. Otherwise... maybe it's just a good location on the Grand Line for trade or power, or something, and he just wants it cleared out for himself to control? Or I'm thinking too much about it.
108 | The Fearsome Bananawani and Mr. Prince
"Hello Vivi... Do you want to play a game? You've always been a sucker for people, Vivi, your whole life you've stood up for others and cared deeply... but the depth of your care for others will be the depth of the water that your caged friends will be under if you don't act fast. These Prehistoric-sized Crocodiles will be lurking, as you must hope to find the crocodile with the key, and retrieve the key from inside the Crocodile to save your friends. Will you choose integrity and risk your life for your friends once more, or will you choose to worry about yourself for once and try to stop Kohze in time? The choice is yours, let the games begin!" -----Fuck Crocodile for making Vivi play his little Saw games.
The sandstorms were artificial! (Poor old dried-up Ossan). I know I suspected it before, but I should have put it all together as soon as it was confirmed that Crocodile had sand abilities. I wasn't thinking big enough to connect that he may be able to use sand to a huge scale, like I remembered how the wind guy back in Loguetown used his at a large scale. I like guessing and figuring stuff out, but I still enjoy getting one pulled over me.
It's nice to see whenever someone is fighting for the Straw Hats for a change. Vivi had a big moment of reciprocation toward them, motivated to save her friends over all else.
Phone call for Crocodile? Nobody else's voice could sound better than Sanji's right now, mocking Crocodile about when he tricked him on the Prehistoric Island with the phone call. The backup help has commenced! Chopper running decoy around the town, while Sanji is inside the casino, meeting up with Vivi.
Miss Doublefinger, Mr. 1-2 are still on their travels. Clearly the gang has to survive the flooding Casino basement, because I feel like they've got to work their way through the Number Agents to even get to Crocodile.
109 | The Key to Turning the Tide and a Great Escape! Doru Doru Ball!
I love that Mr. 3 went as far as making a spherical barrier inside the crocodile to survive. And it's also pretty tact that he can shapeshift wax into stuff like keys to unlock the cage they're all inside of.
Luffy is great, they save Smoker and run off, but Luffy stays behind for a second and just cheeses out on Smoker, saying, | "Y'know, I don't hate you!" You know how I know Smoker has some humanity? He blushed in response. What a stubborn goof. Just admit your little Luffy chase is without merit, befriend the Straw Hats, and be a standby ally already dude!
110 | Merciless Fight to the Death! Luffy vs. Crocodile
Crocodile making a potentially interesting note about the Devil Fruit. While many people are merely content with its default ability, they can become very powerful if trained further. I guess this was kind of inherently my assumption before, but it's some decent confirmation. Makes me also think about how I think Chopper is the one who discovered there are more transformations you can discover if you hone your skills enough, or think outside of the box (or experiment with medical alchemy).
Yeah okay, Crocodile's Sand sucks up water from the body--got confirmation straight from the horse's mouth. Nice to know further how the mechanics of his abilities work.
Welp... Shit. Luffy just got hooked... Crocodile is savage. Smoker's still around though... I can't imagine any other saving grace. Luffy just can't attack this guy. He needs to utilize something probably. Maybe throwing him in the moat around his casino. Anyway, he's making every other previous enemy look like pussies. And makes a remark about rookies coming to the Grand Line who are all talk. This guy is definitely a step in the right direction for the big league.
111 | The Miracle Sprint! Alabasta the Animal Land
Well I was somewhat on the right track as far as the water goes, as it appears to keep Crocodile solid. That's the key.
[!]Oooohh shit! Not only did Miss All Sunday just save Luffy from the sand... implying that she may have some reason to keep him alive, which is mysterious. BUT she also referred to him as "people named D." So that subplot definitely just progressed into something pretty substantial now. It's even more intriguing knowing that other people in the world know about it, aside from the witch, but apparently it's not many (or as far as they've revealed--maybe there are a ton of big league pirates who all know about it?). I can't wait for Luffy to find out more and see his reaction to being a part of this mystery that he doesn't seem to know about.
| "Mah, mah, Maaahhh," Our curly haired friend is alive in addition to Pell! I should start not thinking that so many people die. Especially the good guys. They usually pull through even if they get rocked to an apparent death.
You know, when the Dugongs save the gang in the ocean while they're crossing it trying to get to the Palace, it's kind of like it's Luffy there saving them. He befriended the Dugongs earlier on as his comrades, as that's in their nature, and I wouldn't be surprised if they recognized and remembered the Straw Hats as Luffy's allies and saved them under the goal of "teamwork." All because of Luffy being Luffy in the past. Karma.
Looks like the big fight is actually gonna be at the Palace where everybody will come to collide. So, NOW I think it's safe to say that the real battling will commence now. There are 2 million people estimated to be attacking the Palace... can someone put that into proper perspective for me?? Like holy shit.
112 | Rebel Army vs. Royal Army! The Battle will be in Alubarna!
The gang is on super spot billed ducks, all hooded to look the same, splitting up by pairs entering three sides of Alubarna. Even further, they dressed up Eyelashes, and so Vivi is totally isolated safely.
Baroque Works' Millions/Billions working for the Royal Army for saboutage, shooting near Vivi to create a dust of sand so she can't stop the Rebels. More good strategy.
Double Mark (symbol underneath the white cloth they wrap around their arms). Great foresight by the gang, that was a great flashback. More good strategy.
----- So with all that said, I'd love to see depth like this go the full 9 yards in the future, whenever Oda thinks of strategy even more complicated than that. But then again, part of One Piece's charm is in its balance of simplicity/depth. It doesn't go as far as HunterxHunter tactics/strategy goes, but it isn't as emotionally shallow as Dragon Ball. It strikes its own flavor and just makes sure that it tastes right for what it is. That said, that seems to me so far to be one decent attempt at explaining One Piece, based on my impression: a cross between Dragon Ball and HxH. I love the emotions/strategy in DB for what they were, sometimes it surprised me with some powerful stuff, but it was mostly super simple and on the surface it seems one-dimensional (I say this as a huge DB/Z fan). I think One Piece does the emotion/characters a step deeper, which may not be saying a whole lot, but I enjoy it. And it may not be as complicated as HxH, or even JoJo for that matter, but it's not completely devoid of their qualities for strategy/tactics as well. And it may not try to, like I said, Oda makes his own balance for OP, and does a good job displaying what it does. Or, maybe Oda will keep trying to top himself with contextual depth/strategy and get a little crazy with some future arcs, that'd be cool too, but it is what it is.
The earth was trembling from such a large force (2mil) running at large toward the Palace. This is an element I feel like is missed in probably every depiction of war I've ever seen. What an incredible detail, totally unexpected and well received. (Charging on camels, no less! Is this a thing??? haha)
[!] Great tension with Vivi failing to stop the initial bulk of the forces engaging, after that entire journey, she didn't stop it, and there's a great moment of her realizing Carue protected her from the stampede of camels, looking back at the two sides finally engaging, spelling out apparent defeat for her journey. But her optimism pulls through based on her development with the Straw Hats, and she's gonna try to do whatever she can anyway.
And of course "Usopp" comes horseback to her "rescue"--I'd ask, "how'd he get away from the number agents?" but I've learned that Usopp's ability to run away is inhuman. However--I was fooled again! I didn't consider Mr. 2's copying ability! Fuck me I'm underestimating the full extent at play here, haha. But I've said before, I love getting caught off guard, it makes for some great "oh shit!" moments.
113 | Alubarna is Crying! Fierce Fight of Captain Carue!
After Carue takes off with Vivi toward the Palace, Mr. 2 uses his Swan Dash move to chase her, instead of using the horse he used to get to Vivi in the first place. Funny in general, hilarious if intended.
Prevalence of the war and its scale is suspenseful--as soon as Vivi gets up the cliff, she's immediately surrounding by the fighting.
Carue is a saint. Carue's mortality getting ambiguous, and his ability to soldier on by running up the cliff and flying, later taking a bullet while running Vivi to the Palace further, with Vivi's memories of growing up with Carue, took me by surprise at how powerful it was (Sarah McLachlan Effect). And it all ends up resulting in a situation of Vivi encountering Sanji, so it wasn't in vain either.
[?] Gotta say, the Japanese voice actor for Mr. 2 is both fucking hilarious and very well performed. Really curious what Manga readers thought about his voice, was it what you expected, did it impress you guys?
Fuckin' Mogu Mogu Fruit. Can I comment on Miss MerryChristmas' name? I really hope it doesn't have a meaning, and is just meant to be an absurdly silly name, in which case, it does its job, and it's kinda funny. It's such a blatantly ridiculous name, like it's making fun of anime that's serious about wacky names. Or it's trying to just use it for world-building, like that's just the kind of universe they live in, giving it its style (reminds me of the kind of name someone might have in Dragon Ball). Or both.
[!]A gun that ate the Inu Inu Fruit. Holy shit, the world just got a lot bigger. A new technique from the Grand Line where objects can eat Devil's Fruit... welcome to enchanted items! And that's on top of vanilla chemicals in the universe that already have supernatural elements, like the mineral that's Kryptonite to Devil's Fruit users by containing the energy of the sea. So, I'm thinking there has to be someone who has made a sword of that mineral, and maybe even fed it a Devil Fruit in addition just so that it can have ridiculously OP characteristics. Maybe the paper Ace gave Luffy isn't some "entry ticket" like I thought, maybe it has powers from it having eaten a Devil Fruit? Either way, this one expansion of lore ticked off all kinds of boxes for me. I'm hyped about this my dudes! I was unsettled by the Human Fruit, but damn, a gun becoming sentient is almost more disturbing.
Usopp straight up BAILS on Chopper as soon as Miss MC goes underground! Oh my god! He doesn't change! It's hilarious.
@ Notable Humor:
[Miss MerryChristmas transforms into a mole]Usopp: "-gasp- A.. penguin!?"
114 | Swear on Your Crewmate's Dream! Battle at Molehill 4th Avenue
Love when Chopper utilizes multiple of his forms. At some point I wanna see where he pulls all of his forms right after the other in one crazy fell swoop to do something badass. I think he might've done this in his big battle back on his island.
Usopp to the rescue... he doesn't change here, either!
Brain Point Scope. I don't think we've seen Chopper pull that one before. Some sort of psychic hijack? He can also find their weakness, but he might've done that one before. Still getting used to Chopper fighting, and honestly still enjoying even the older members whipping out new attacks out of nowhere on occasion, still.
Vivi always has intense moments of her persevering. Flashbacks of the Straw Hats encouragement and insights, or fears of Crocodile. They always keep her going. She was fine at first, but she's really great. You know if the King pulls through and maintains the Kingdom with his Guard, then Vivi has a possible shot to go with the Straw Hats after this all blows over. Or she'll stay with Kohze and live happily ever after, because I'm not sure what her "goal" would be if joining the Straw Hats.
Usopp: "I'm sure you've heard of the many Baroque Works employees who've met defeat at our hands... But the one who did it ALL... was me!"
115 | Today's Grand Performance! Mane Mane Montage!
| Usopp: "There comes a time when a man won't run away from battle, like when his Nakama are made fun of." Usopp having a big moment. All this running away/coming to the rescue was begging a little response from him to address it again. When it comes down to insulting his nakama, he's in it to the end. And he's taking the biggest beating yet, absolutely covered in blood head-to-toe with whiteout eyes, temporarily broken teeth, and a squaggly nose, after taking the baseball bat to the noggin.
Horn Point! I feel like Chopper has used this before and I just totally forgot about it. Maybe back on Drum Island. If he has then it's been rare, this form is just a beast.
Usopp using Miss MC to get a closeup shot on Mr. 4, then pull off a switcharoo with the Chopper assist. Then Usopp using Chopper's antlers for a full power hammer swing. A good battle overall.
Kohze deciding to risk his life by making a run to the Courtyard, trying to make the King surrender, instead of waiting on more troops to assemble for him from the other cities. | "They won't make it in time!" I think he wants to try and save some lives, which is awesome. If this all gets cleared up before Crocodile dies, then ol Croc' is gonna have the entire land against him.
[?] Sanji and Mr. 2's fight continues to be hilarious. The legwork is absurd! And the name's of Sanji's attacks... it's great. I might've mentioned this before but this series kind of reminds me of Monkey Island in some ways, and Dragon Quest in other ways, and I don't even know what other good things. What do you guys relate One Piece to?
Chaka seeing Cobra's image within Vivi was a good moment, swallowing his paranoia and allowing her to destroy the Palace. I haven't seen Crocodile in a while though... I'm waiting for him to fuck up anything good that's gonna happen next.
@ Notable Humor:
[That irony of Miss MC calling Usopp "Long Nose," laughing heartily in her long nose Mole form.]
Chopper: "Don't die, Usopp! Someone get a doctor! A doctooor!"
Mr. 2: "Weirdest Face Montage!" Sanji: "90% of that was your own face..."
116 | Transforming Into Nami! Bon Kurei's Hard-Hitting Ballet Kenpo
Supa Supa Fruit. Zoro has met his adversary with Mr. 1 here. Just like Sanji and Mr. 2 are kind of equally matched so far, this should also be really good. Incredible opportunity to discover more of his blade's abilities.
Oh my god... the delayed kinetic energy in the final clash between Sanji/Mr. 2. That was hilarious. He starts writhing dramatically in pain and then goes flying.
I love how, even after setting the plan to blow up the Palace, for every moment Vivi hesitates and prides herself on recollecting nostalgic memories of her childhood growing up at the Palace, there are people dying in battle lol. I woulda liked to see her haul ass and not hesitate at all. Like the Guard are all holding the torches, ready to light the gunpowder, just staring at her debate herself out loud. But better late than never--Vivi of course settles on the order to ignite... what a big sacrifice, but it's not even a question when it comes to a bunch of lives, especially innocent ones.
Perfect moment for Crocodile to return. Right when they're on the verge of stopping the Rebellion again. This arc is frustratingly good. But you know, Luffy has to come back too, at some point, as well. So we have an epic save ready to come in at any point.
You know when I said Vivi doesn't seem to have a role to play if she were to join the Straw Hats, and so she doesn't seem like she may ultimately team up with them in the end? I was thinking, after this is all over, if we find out that she can play an instrument...
@ Notable Humor:
Chopper: "Your blood pressure is almost like a zombie's, but... you've got nothing to worry about!" Usopp: "I feel so good right now... I see a field of beautiful flowers..."
[Miss Doublefinger's fuckin' strut.]
Edit: Oops, the images should be reversed! Got the episodes backwards
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