Nons!ozOtJW9BFA 2010/07/26(Mon)22:00 No. 212732 ID: 5de592
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Your name is Saigi. You're a guy who, up until now, has had a decent grip on reality.
Today, you aren't sure what the hell just happened. If you remember correctly, there's only one way to make sure that wasn't just a dream.
You check your pocket.

There's the note. Crinkled and dirty in your clammy hands. For now though, you're feeling tired. Maybe you should rest and reflect on what you've learned. Tomorrow is a new day.

(So, should I start a quest discussion thread, or is it too early?
Also, chapter end graphic will be up soon.)

>>212732
Well that was certainly fucking odd. You should probably start getting some excersise and combat training if this shit is going to keep up.

Nons!ozOtJW9BFA 2010/07/27(Tue)13:20 No. 212901 ID: 5de592
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(I swear to god this would be so much better if I had a tablet. I will have one soon, hopefully.)
Chapter 1 End

Nons!ozOtJW9BFA 2010/07/28(Wed)22:03 No. 213414 ID: 5de592
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You wake up from your sleep, still contemplating the events of "last night", if that's what it even was. The sunlight hits your eyes, coming from your open window. The smell of gooey eggs and steaming bacon streams into your nose as a smile lights up your face.

"Hey, Saigi! Time for school!" Your older brother calls out from the living room.

Nons!ozOtJW9BFA 2010/07/28(Wed)22:07 No. 213416 ID: 5de592
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You walk into the living room, and see your older brother hard at work at the kitchen counter.

"There's some bacon and eggs on the table. I got you up early so you could eat 'em. Be sure not to eat too slow though, you have to go in 20 minutes." He says to you as he chops onions on the granite countertop.

>>213416
Well get started on eating them. And you should consider getting up a bit earlier to be able to enjoy a nice relaxed breakfast before the day. It's usually worth it.

Ask your bro if he saw anything weird last night.

He could be one of the Players...

Nons!ozOtJW9BFA 2010/07/31(Sat)21:39 No. 214406 ID: 5de592
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You sit down, staring hungrily at the red bacon and golden eggs before picking up the fork and digging in. The taste fills your mouth as you grin. Your brother is a good cook.
"This is nice food, you know that?" You say to your brother in between mouthfuls.
"Yeah, thanks. I can only do this every Monday though, it's my day off." He replies.
"These are almost as good as Moms, did she give you the recipe?"
"No, I figured it out from years of eating it!" He laughs, boasting of his achievement.
"Maybe we should go and visit them soon, find out if you made 'em just like she did." You suggest innocently.
Your brother stops laughing. "...Yeah."
Oh, right. You forgot that the main reason you live together with your brother is that he and Dad don't get along, after that big fight over his girl.

You spend the rest of the morning finishing your meal and small talking with your brother. Before long, he reminds you that it's time to go. Bidding him goodbye, you walk out the door, and walk down the street to the school.

Nons!ozOtJW9BFA 2010/07/31(Sat)22:35 No. 214421 ID: 5de592
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Passing through the school gates, you walk through the doorways and go up the stairs. You arrive in the hallway your class is in, and enter your classroom, 2-A.

Nons!ozOtJW9BFA 2010/07/31(Sat)22:50 No. 214428 ID: 5de592
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The classes of the day were mostly boring, except for one thing in particular that caught your attention in Psychology.

"If you remember, we've been learning about Jungian psychology over the week. Yesterday we covered the Anima/Animus, and today we'll be covering the Shadow. Can anyone make a guess as to what the Shadow might be?"

One of your classmates raises his hand. "The evil part of your mind?"

"No, not quite. The shadow is the part of our psyche that we're not quite proud of, the parts that society tells us to repress. An unhealthy or unusual obsession, or a bad behavior might be a part of someone's Shadow."
He continues. "For example, someone who is a follower might have a Shadow that has the desire to conquer or win. An easygoing Shadow might belong to someone who is paranoid."
"There's more to it, but we'll be going over it in later days. With that, I believe that class is dismissed for lunch."
The bell rings, and your classmates file out of the door, excited to get their meals.

Nons!ozOtJW9BFA 2010/07/31(Sat)22:55 No. 214430 ID: 5de592
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You are the last one left in the classroom, except for another person, a girl that's been staring at you since you got into your seat. She's been quiet so far, but it feels a bit strange having holes bored into your skull. It seems she won't leave until you do.

On the other hand, you found a note in your desk from your best friend Michi, who has invited you to have lunch with her on the roof. A strange place, but it isn't the first time you've done this. It's almost like a secret meeting place between the two of you.

Finally, the teacher has just walked out of the room, and you could probably catch him if you wanted to ask a question.

acknowledge the person staring. they would probably follow you to the roof if you don't. after you get them off of you then you can go to the roof.

>>214430
You'd better see why the girl's staring at you. Go and introduce yourself. With a fake name.

>>214430
Go give the girl the note you found yesterday. Ask her if she recognises it.

Nons!ozOtJW9BFA 2010/08/01(Sun)22:44 No. 214732 ID: 5de592
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You approach the girl in the corner, who was staring at you. As you come closer, you begin to speak.

"Hi, I'm," You realize this girl might be dangerous. "I'm Peter Herman."

"No, your name is Saigi Elsee. Proof is your reaction to the name in class." She speaks in a monotone voice.

"Err..." You feel a bit put off, but decide to get to the point. You take the note out of your pocket, eager to get information about it.

"Sorry to bother you about this, but do you know anything about this letter?"
You hand her the letter. She looks it over, strangely indifferent.

"U-um.." She glances up from the paper, and looks toward the door, her eyes wide for a brief second. Her back straightens.
"I do not know anything about this letter. I am sorry that I could not be of service." She responds in a drone.

"Oh, thanks anyway." She hand you back the letter, and you slip it into your pocket. You turn your back and begin to walk away, when you hear her again.

"Wait." You turn around. She glances at the door again.

"Whoever wrote that... whoever wrote that must be a dangerous romantic." She stares you straight in the eye with a piercing glare.
It's awkward for a moment, but then you decide to go to the roof, where your friend is waiting.

"Err...ok?" You walk out of the classroom a bit faster than normal, disturbed by her comment.
Before long, you ascend the stairs and open the door to the roof.

wow, you are really bad at telling when someone is lying huh?

Nons!ozOtJW9BFA 2010/08/01(Sun)22:58 No. 214736 ID: 5de592
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As you open the door to the roof, the sun blinds you with it's bright rays. Holding your hand over your eyes, they adjust and you look around. Past the chain link fence, you can see the neighboring houses, streets and all sorts of things. The other, more important thing is your friend Michi, sitting near the corner with two lunch bags.

"Hi Michi." You greet her in a rather mundane fashion.

"Hey Saigi." She replies back in the normal way.

You've been friends with her for quite a while, ever since 3rd grade. You can't remember exactly how you met, but you're pretty sure it involved a sandcastle and the setting sun. At least, you think it did.

"Hey, how come you have two lunches?" She has two bags sitting next to her, her twin pigtails rustling in the wind.

"Huh? I just had a lot of leftovers, so I thought I'd make something extra..." You walk over to her and pick up the bag on the right, plopping down next to her. She stares, and yells out a small exasperated "Hey!"

"Thanks for the food. I somehow forgot my lunch today." You pull out an egg salad sandwich, and take a big bite. It's gooey, but good. "Hey, this is good." You say, after swallowing.

"I-idiot. It's not like I m-made it for you..." She talks in a rush, a blush filling her face.
"Yeah, I bet." You know she's that type of girl.

At this point, still chewing on the egg salad sandwich, you are at a loss as to how to continue the conversation.

>>214736
Well you might have found the dangerous romantic earlier. Or hell, could be this girl as well.

But anyway, continuing of conversation, tell her of the strange "dream" you had earlier, insist that it was a dream and see how she reacts.

Nons!ozOtJW9BFA 2010/08/02(Mon)21:52 No. 214979 ID: 5de592
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"You know, I had a weird dream last night." You begin.

"What was it about?" She asks.

You tell her the story of the dream, being sure to tell her of your shadow, and the monster. But most of all, you make sure to include the note.

"So, the funniest thing about this dream is that the note I found," You take the crumpled note out of your pocket, " is real."

She takes the note from you, and looks it over. At the end, she hands it back to you, looking disgusted. "Wow, that's really creepy, and weird. But, you might have had it in your pocket when you went to sleep. Are you sure you didn't just forget to take it out?"

You're almost sure that you picked it up in the dream, but all you needed to see was her reaction.

"Oh yeah, you're right. I think I might have. Thanks." You reply, with a smile on your face.

"Where did you get that note, anyway?" She says, her hair hanging over her face.

"...I actually can't remember." You reply.

"...Idiot." She scolds you.

There's only time to talk about one more thing with her before the lunch bell rings.

>>214979
Ask her if she also thinks that teacher you think is an asshole is an asshole.

Then onwards towards the next class!

Nons!ozOtJW9BFA 2010/08/04(Wed)21:38 No. 215710 ID: 5de592
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"Hey, Michi. Don't you think Mr. Veli is kind of an asshole? I mean, running around the field is good for exercise, but isn't doing it for the entire period without any breaks kind of dickish?" You say, a bit of an acid tone in your voice.
"Yeah, I agree. It's not like we have to, and it's just pointless. Wasn't he in the Vietnam War?" She replies.
"Well, he flaunts all damn day and night. He's always talking about it when he isn't torturing us, how 'The charlies were everywhere, all in the shadows, they'd kill you without any notice.' Yeah, we get it, just stop pestering us." You spit, annoyed with your teacher's behavior.
You look at your watch. It's only 2 minutes until you have to get back to class.
"Alright, we need to go. I'll see you later, ok?" You get up and go to the door.
"Ok, see you later." She follows you into the door and down the stairs.

The rest of the day goes by without anything particularly interesting happening. Class goes by just like normal, and the two girls that you talked to don't interact with you anymore that day. You walk home, and greet your brother before having dinner. You take a shower, and then go to bed. It's time to see whether or not that shadow thing before was just a dream. You lie in your bed and close your eyes.

Nons!ozOtJW9BFA 2010/08/04(Wed)22:09 No. 215719 ID: 5de592
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Well, it looks like this will be repeating itself tonight.

It looks like you're in the junkyard, which is almost a mile from your apartment. There's junk strewn about obviously, but a big metal pipe catches your eye.

The other thing that catches your eye is that your shadow is sitting on a tire, which is jutting from the gigantic junk pile.

He looks up when he sees you.

"Ok, right off the bat I need to tell you some information I've gotten." He starts immediately, skipping greetings. "Seeing as how you're here right now, it's obvious that when you enter the hour, you don't start at the same place. I don't know if it's because I'm here, but that's probably it.
Next off, I didn't know what was going to happen when you exited the hour, but I found out. Oh boy, did I find out. I stay here, and time goes by, even though everything is frozen. It's hard to tell, but I think a day has gone by. Has a day gone by in your world?" You nod.
"Alright, then it seems that I have to live here for the full time of the War, while you only go in for an hour.
Now, the other thing I need to tell you is that I've found another shadow. It's a guy, all dressed up in military garb. He's got a pistol, a big one, but he doesn't ever use it. He's got what looks to be an unlimited supply of grenades. I approached him, but he just screamed, 'HOSTILE, HOSTILE!' and chucked those things like no tomorrow. He chased me into the junkyard, and now I've been hiding from him. He might be nearby though." The shadow nods, then hangs his head.

Well, looks like you've got a crazy soldier after you with an unlimited ammo cheat on. What do?

>>215719
Sounds like a video game nerd. It would be wise to exploit that somehow.

Hey, grab that pipe. You might need to bust some heads. Then get somewhere high. It's very difficult to throw grenades up onto higher terrain.

>>215719
First off, grab that heavy metal pipe there. Then consider the possibility that it's your gym teacher and his shadow has vietnam flashbacks, and that the guy might have nightmares about shadows coming alive to kill him.

Anyway, start prowling the junkyard for any alternate exits. It would be safer if you could just get around the crazy guy rather than through.

other option is super bluff yell at him "SOLDIER! you WILL stand down and salute your superior officer or i'll have you court-martialed!"

Nons!ozOtJW9BFA 2010/08/06(Fri)21:36 No. 216021 ID: 5de592
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You bend down, and pull the cold metal pipe out of the pile of junk like King Arthur pulling Caliburn out of the rock. You hold onto it with an iron grip, it's protection comforting you.

Hey, wait a second. Didn't your shadow say that nobody could affect anything in the Hour? You reach down and try to pick a rock up off the ground and sure enough, it's stuck there as if someone had welded it to the ground.
Didn't your shadow say something about this before?
"Only objects that are touching your skin when the hour begins or ends can be affected by you." That's what he said. You weren't clutching a metal pipe when you went to sleep, that's for sure... so why can you touch this?

Your shadow shakes you out of your thoughts by climbing onto the pile, and whispering to you, "Hey, come on. We need to get to higher ground." You hoist yourself up the frozen junk pile, and climb to the very top. There, you can see your gym teacher, looking a bit scared while a man in full military get up is sweeping around him dramatically, brandishing his small pistol like a sword.

Suddenly he catches sight of you.

"Hey! Who the hell are you!" The soldier shouts, staring at you and reaching for his belt.

"... Wait, is that Saigi up there?" Mr. Veli says quietly.
"Don't be fooled, private!" The shadow shouts at him. "Those damn Congs will do anything to get ya!"

Your shadow points at him. "SOLDIER! You WILL stand down and salute your superior officer or I'll have you court-martialed!" He screams at the top of his lungs, hoping to bluff his way out of it.

There is an exit to your right, about 12 yards away.

Nons!ozOtJW9BFA 2010/08/06(Fri)21:39 No. 216023 ID: 5de592
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The soldier grimaces, and shouts back.
"SUPERIOR officer?! What, you think you're better than me, Cong?! I'll get you for that!" He reaches into his belt and throws 3 grenades in quick succession, pulling pins out with his teeth and spitting them onto the ground.

The pineapple grenades soar towards you, aimed so they'll drop right on top of the pile, right at your toes.

Well, shit.

BASEBALL TIME! smack the grenades back and in the smoke you escape.

>>216023
Jump off the pile to your right and hope to put enough distance between you and the grenades. If he's good with those fucking things then he will have timed it so that they will explode when they're close to you.

Also, when you're safe from immediate explosion and laceration via hot shrapnel, yell to your teacher to get some freaking therapy to deal with his fears.

Nons!ozOtJW9BFA 2010/08/09(Mon)20:47 No. 216882 ID: 5de592
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>>216052
You briefly consider batting the grenades back, but reconsider as your common sense tells you that it would lead to your quick death.

Reacting quickly, you jump off the junk pile, evading the pineapple grenades as they land right where you stood. You land near a tire, and put your hands over your head. You feel a gigantic *BANG* and shards of plastic and hot shrapnel zoom past you. A washing machine crashes down and almost crushes you underneath it, but averts it's deadly course at the last second.

Mr. Veli walks over to where he believes you landed, shaking. It's clear he's nervous at least, and confused now that he's seen one of his students. He's searching for you and he knows approximately where you are. He'll definitely find you soon.

Elsewhere, it appears your shadow is confronting Mr. Veli's shadow. You can't see much of them, but you manage to pick up a quick rebuttal by Mr. Veli's shadow.

"You dumb or something, Cong? The only way to permanently destroy us is for our Humans to psychically battle! Jesus, it's one of the Rules for god's sake!"

{{RULE DEFINED}}
{{RULE 4: SHADOWS CANNOT BE DESTROYED UNLESS THEIR HUMANS PSYCHICALLY BATTLE}}

Well, with this knowledge in mind... what the hell do you "psychically battle"?

>>216882
Wait until he gets a little closer, then leap up and smash him on the head.

I think perhaps that this whole thing isn't using your real body.

Alternatively you could try the psychic thing. Focus your brain on the prospect of attacking his.

or you can go the nicer route and try to talk him down, tell him that he is not dreaming, this is actually happening.

also, ythe rules say shadows must fight shadows, if you were hit it would of been disqualified.

>>216882
Braining him seems a bit extreme. Try talking him down and get him to realise that he needs some fucking therapy to get over his post traumatic stress issues. If he calms down a bit then the shadow should stop freaking the fuck out as well.

And you can probably take him if it comes down to a fight. He should be pretty old now, and even if he's a gym teacher he might not be that fit anymore, and you got a pipe. Just keep you distance so he can't grapple with you.

Nons!ozOtJW9BFA 2010/08/10(Tue)22:20 No. 217233 ID: 5de592
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You quickly consider your options, and decide to talk him down from his fear. You sit behind the washing machine, and summon your courage.

"It's going to be alright, Mr. Veli. We just need to sit down and talk with someone. I think you have PTSD." You talk slowly and calmly, trying to reassure him.

"Huh? What are you saying, Saigi? I can't have PTSD, because-"

"It's going to be alright, Mr. Veli. We just need to sit down and talk with someone. I think you need to stop playing so much Team Fortress 2"

Nons!ozOtJW9BFA 2010/08/10(Tue)22:30 No. 217238 ID: 5de592
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It is now broad daylight.

You are not in a junkyard.

You are now in a jungle. Made of palm trees.

There is a sign nearby. It reads:
"Welcome to Vietnam! You are here!" There is an arrow on the map pointing to a random location. The area on the map is completely blank.

You realize something. Mr. Veli always talked about being in Vietnam, but he never actually described it. Strange.

There is a path going to the right. Also, you could try walking into the trees and seeing where it takes you.

it seems mister veli doesn't realize he has PTSD because he sees the world like this.
don't go into the trees. take the path, and stay low. see what side you were put on. hopefully he put you on america's side.

>>217238
Maybe he hasn't actually gone to vietnam, but wishes he had?

Follow the path for now.

Nons!ozOtJW9BFA 2010/08/11(Wed)22:56 No. 217557 ID: 5de592
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You proceed along the well defined path, passing by nothing, oddly. Your history teacher taught you that traps were everywhere in Vietnam, and many unwary soldiers were caught by them.

Strangely enough, Mr. Veli never mentioned that either.

The path finally comes to an end. There are 2 Vietnamese (at least, you think they are Vietnamese) people standing in the middle of the clearing. They have sticks in their hands, but seem to be a fair distance away.

Behind them, there is a bunker. It is grey and featureless, but there is a message written right on the front, labeled "SECRET BUNKER". There is a door right under the message, wide open.

Besides the soldiers, there is a sign with a more blatant message than the last one. It reads, "THERE ARE ENEMIES. SHOOT THEM." There is no map, just that message. There is a sign right next to the bunker as well, but you can't read it from this distance.

You are currently wielding a gun, if you hadn't noticed. There is also a minigun, right on the ground behind the soldier on the right.

There's another thing. Why didn't the person pick the minigun up?

>>217557
The minigun is probably trapped. Go over and read that sign next to the bunker.

you probably have to shoot them, since they are enemies.

I'm not sure why we should play along with this game. He's obviously never been to Vietnam. This is all just a fantasy, so don't behave like he expects you to. Don't shoot them.

They don't seem dangerous. You shouldn't shoot them until they attack.

You could try talking to them, but I doubt we could understand them. They're "foreigners", so if I understand this place they probably speak gibberish.

Nons!ozOtJW9BFA 2010/08/13(Fri)23:03 No. 218231 ID: 5de592
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You approach the Vietnamese soldiers, and they back away, twitching noticeably, eying your gun with suspicion.
You don't want to hurt them. After all, what have they done to you?
You figure that in this strange mash-up of Vietnam, these people might respond to gibberish.
"OHbualjauaojkneafn!" You shout random letters and syllables, trying to sound as stupid as possible.

"What the hell are you trying to say?" One asks in perfect English.
"I hope it isn't, 'DIEDIEDIEDIE'. They always say that." The other looks a bit scared of you, still staring at your gun.

"Wait, you can understand me?" You reply in stark disbelief.

"I guess so." The braver of the two responds.
"You aren't going to kill us?" The other squeaks out.

"No, I'm not." You walk over to the sign, trying to read what it says.
It reads, "IF YOU KILL ENEMIES, YOU ARE A GOOD PERSON"
"What the hell? So if you don't kill people, you're a bad person?" You read, appalled by this logic.

"That's how this place works." The two soldiers followed you over to the sign.
"We're staying with you. It's a lot safer than standing there. You don't seem like you're a part of this place." The meeker one tells you.
"My name is Tran." The braver one states.
"And mine is Nguyen." The other follows up.
"Nice to meet you. My name is Saigi." You respond in a casual fashion.
"You're gonna save us from the Allies, right?" Nguyen asks, a hopeful look.
"Who are the Allies?" You reply.
"They're the people that shoot us all the time. We come back after a while, but..." Nguyen pauses.
"It isn't pleasant dying, friend. They'll be coming soon, like they always do around now. You have a plan, right?" He demands, an expectant look on his face.

well we need to know what we have to plan with. such as, what's with that minigun? any other place to go? could we just run off and play them for suckers?

Let's use the minigun against the Allies.

Using violence will only prove that the "enemies" are a real threat. We need to stop the war. But to figure out any plans, short-term or long-term, we'll need more information.

Have they ever managed to kill any of the Allies? Did they come back afterwards? Do they know anyone in particular? Who else is around here?

For now, it would be a good idea to get away from the "PLEASE KILL THESE PEOPLE" signs and into the jungle.

OH WAIT! maybe you can rewrite the signs. change Good to Bad. and stuff.

Nons!ozOtJW9BFA 2010/08/14(Sat)10:48 No. 218298 ID: 5de592
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>>218241
You think to draw on the signs, and write "BAD" where "GOOD" is written, but your plans are ruined when you realize that the words are etched into the material. You can't remove or erase them.

"About those Allies, have you managed to kill any of them?" You ask.
"We haven't managed to kill him yet, because it's impossible." Nguyen replies.
"Him? And how is it impossible?" You ask.
"We think there are more Allies, but the only one we've ever met is... him." Nguyen shakes as he talks.
"By him, he means Nuke Dukem." Tran says, "We think it's possible to kill him, but we can't do it. He shoots us before we can get close." Tran says, depressed.

"Do you know anyone that can help us?" You ask.
"Perhaps, if we go to our village." Nguyen replies.
"Well then, let's go. I need to know more information if we're going to survive."

You pick up the minigun. It's surprisingly light, almost weightless.

The two Vietnamese walk to their village, and you follow them. You walk through forests of palm trees, strangely devoid of any other type of vegetation. It's an easy walk, and you're at the village in no time.

In the village, there are only 3 huts, and the total amount of people comes to 6, counting Nguyen and Tran.

You think you see a gun inside one of the houses.

>>218298
Give one your old gun and tell one of the others to get the gun from the hut. Also ask them if they got any bubblegum, Duke might be placated with one.

Prepare an ambush. And try to avoid dying. You're probably not going to come back if you get killed here.

It looks like an normal rifle. If that gun is weaker than what you found at the base, maybe he's going to show up here first, then head towards the secret base. Slowly powering up and all that.
Or I'm completely wrong and it's all random or whatever.

That said, ask the villagers why they don't try using the weapons. They know he's coming, so why aren't they arming themselves?

Nons!ozOtJW9BFA 2010/08/14(Sat)13:22 No. 218340 ID: 5de592
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"Why didn't you grab the guns yourself?" You ask Tran.
"...We can pick up those guns?" Tran asks, mystified.
"Sure. I mean, I did it right?" You heft your minigun upwards, proving your point.
"You did, but you're different. We can tell you aren't from this place." Another of the Vietnamese speaks up.
"Yes. You are an instrument of change for this world." Nguyen says, strangely devoid of his shyness.
Needless to say, this makes you feel uncomfortable.

"...Right. Why don't you try grabbing that gun?" You say.
"Sure." One of the Vietnamese goes into the hut, and picks up the gun. The others all stare at him, starstruck.

Suddenly, an exact copy of the gun appears with a *POP*. Another one of the Vietnamese rushes in and grabs that gun. The same gun appears again. The cycle repeats until all of the Vietnamese are armed.

"Alright, we need to set up an ambush, or we'll all die." You state.
"Ambush? What's that?" Ngugen quips.

"... Just hide in the huts. Does anybody have any bubblegum?" You ask.

As they begin to hide themselves, one of them says, "What's bubblegum?"

"Nevermind. Just wait for my signal."


A few stressful minutes pass, but sure enough, you can hear footsteps. You also hear a gruff, badass voice.

"I'm here to kick ass and kill people, and I can't find any donkeys."

>>218340
Hot damn, wait for him to become visible and then unload everything you got on him. Time to show Duke that there's a new lord in town.

>>218342
his name is nuke dukem, not duke.

anyway. the moment he shows up then yeah, totally let loose.

Nons!ozOtJW9BFA 2010/08/14(Sat)15:35 No. 218373 ID: 5de592
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Nuke Dukem strolls onto the scene, a gigantic cigar coming from his fat lips, and what can only be described as a peashooter in his hand.
"NOW!" You scream, and the Vietnamese come from their houses, spraying bullets all over. Only a few that are fired actually hit him, but that's a lot when so many bullets are being fired.
He opens his mouth, the cigar glued to his teeth.

"If I had a dime for every ambush I've been targeted by, I'd be the goddamn U.S. Mint." He raises his pistol, slowly, obstructed by the sheer amount of lead in his skin.

And that's when you come out.

>>218373
Spray him full of mingun hot lead death. And come up with some appropriately snappy oneliner. Like cut him in half with bullets and tell him that you hate to cut things short.

Nons!ozOtJW9BFA 2010/08/14(Sat)15:40 No. 218376 ID: 5de592
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You fire bullet after bullet from your minigun, ammo coming from nowhere, the heat from the barrel dispersing into the air. The sparks from the bullets make the front of the gun look like fireworks and the sheer force pushes you back.
You stand, aiming the force of nature at Nuke Dukem as he stands there, taking hit after hit, only to simply stand there and spout one liners.

"Scars are like money. The more you have, the more women want you." He just then realizes that he is actually being shot.

"Whoah, I'm taking damage!" He raises his peashooter, and guns down several of the Vietnamese. They fall and then spontaneously explode into meaty gore.

>>218376
Hmm, you should probably start running to dodge his shoots.

Hmm, might be good to withdraw towards the bunker. Some concrete between him and you should even things out alot more.

Nons!ozOtJW9BFA 2010/08/14(Sat)15:52 No. 218379 ID: 5de592
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You blast away at him, slowly descending the stairs. You can see him taking significant damage, and you hope he's almost down. Yet, like always, he keeps spouting stupid one-liners.

"I could make another Statue o' Liberty with all the bullets I've gotten shot with!"

"And I could make a Purple Heart with all the bullets I'm gonna fill you with!"

He turns toward you and aims carefully.

>>218379
Time to dodge like a motherfucker. And try shooting him in the mouth some more, that might help shut him up.

USE YOUR SPECIAL MOVE

^ ^ v v < > < > B A

Wait.

Back up into the hut and take cover. In a lot of video games back then, even the smallest bit of cover stops bullets.

>>218379
Dodge dodge dodge! He probably has a hard time hitting moving targets, what with his 'careful aiming'

Non!ozOtJW9BFA 2010/08/16(Mon)20:39 No. 218962 ID: 5de592
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>>218381
What the hell?! Where are the buttons?!

You duck inside the house, jumping up the ramp and inside the grass walls. You hear several loud BANGs and you feel the wall rumble as the bullets slam into it. Luckily for you, in this world it seems that grass is as hard as concrete.

"Oh, look at my health! I gotta heal up!" You peer around the door, and watch as Nuke Dukem sprints off to your left, leaving an obvious trail of blood.

You briefly consider that all the Vietnamese are dead, blown apart like gory pinatas. Maybe you could have saved them... but you'll never know.

What do you do now?

they will re-spawn, wait a bit and see if they do. then go scout out more area, like check in the woods and stuff now. maybe you can find a secret area with an even better weapon?

>>218962
Get moving and follow the blood.

Can you see where he's going? If he's going towards the base you'll need to kill him before he gets a minigun of his own.

Follow him while keeping up a hail of bullets. Make sure to circle-strafe when he starts to aim.

>>218962
Can't let him heal up. Go after him with a hail of bullets.

Nons!ozOtJW9BFA 2010/08/17(Tue)21:19 No. 219343 ID: 5de592
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You look behind the farthest hut, and find a mysterious path. It leads to a small clearing, which has a treasure chest in it. You open it, and find a gun.

As you pick it up, sudden knowledge fills your head. You have a Triple Laser Rocket Shotgun! It's a shotgun that shoots rockets that shoot lasers! Awesome!

Nons!ozOtJW9BFA 2010/08/17(Tue)21:21 No. 219345 ID: 5de592
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You retrace your steps and follow the trail of blood. Unfortunately, your secret-finding has made you unable to catch up with him. You follow the jungle path.

Nons!ozOtJW9BFA 2010/08/17(Tue)21:22 No. 219346 ID: 5de592
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Wait, what?

Nons!ozOtJW9BFA 2010/08/17(Tue)21:26 No. 219347 ID: 5de592
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You appear in front of a paved path, which leads into a large fenced in military complex. The trail of blood leads to a domed building that dominates the horizon.

You also notice to your great displeasure that you are no longer holding the Triple Laser Rocket Shotgun. Instead, you have a puny knife. It appears that the Loading screen has replaced your weaponry, which enrages you. I mean, who the hell has loading screens in their head?!

And to make matters work, there appear to be men inside the military complex. It doesn't seem as if they've noticed you.

get closer, but be ready to dodge just in case.

>>219347
Hmm, must be some sort of sneak level or something. Go up and slit the throat of the first one and steal his weapons.

It looks more like the home base for Dukem. He's probably going to find a medic or a healthkit or something.

I'm not sure if the NPC's will shoot at you, because you're not 'technically' part of the game.

Nons!ozOtJW9BFA 2010/08/19(Thu)21:54 No. 220034 ID: 5de592
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You creep towards the men, cautious. They stand rock solid, watching with an iron eye. You brandish your knife, carefully, lowering your body as you approach one of them near your gate. As you steel yourself to slit the throat of a soldier, you realize something strange about him.

He's made of cardboard.

You look around. All the soldiers in the base are made of cardboard. You stand up straight, the tension gone. They stood vigilantly because they couldn't move at all. Everything about them is fake, from the guns to the helmets.

The trail of maroon blood continues into the domed building. There are also buildings off in the distance.

try the buildings first, i bet nuke still has his pistol, which is deadly.

We're not facing Duke without a better weapon. Look around a bit.

Nons!ozOtJW9BFA 2010/08/20(Fri)22:38 No. 220373 ID: 5de592
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...God.

This place is just...
It's hard to describe your feelings upon entering this room. The coffins stacked upon the walls, and the pictures of the men hanging above them. Who are they? His comrades?
And the messages on the walls. "I'M SORRY" "I AM A COWARD" "I DIDN'T GO" You hope that they aren't written in what you think they're written in.
The mummified corpses of the soldiers stand inside their coffins. You walk up to one of them, slowly. You wrench a gun from the corpse, tearing a hole in the wrappings and revealing blackened, rotting flesh.

You think you understand Mr. Veli more now, more than before.


What would you like to do now?

this is another lie. a mummy does not rot under the wrappings. is the whole point of being a mummy in the first place, prevention of decay. mr. veli obviously has no god damn clue what to think so his mind is a mess of half made ideas. these soldiers probably died in a movie only.

>>220373
I wonder, are we both in Mr. Veli's head... or is he in our head learning about our own set of mental issues while we're in his? If the latter, we're on a clock- eventually, he'll figure us out and we'll... lose somehow.

The thing is, is Duke even the one that we're supposed to the fighting here, or is he as much of a supporting cast member as the people he's shooting and the cardboard cutout guards? He doesn't seem like he's some critical representative component of Mr. Veli's psyche, aside from the general fact that he's the 'main character' in this crazy video game world.

Only one way to find out, I guess. Take your gun and go cautiously looking for anyone else.

>>220379
Uh. They could just be improperly mummified. Like, just covered in bandages instead of actually dried out or anything.

I suppose we could check the other two coffins.

>>220390
(Yeah, that's actually what it is. I just didn't explain it well enough. It isn't that they're mummified, it's that they're just wrapped up in bandages.)

You open the other coffins. There are also mummies in those ones as well.
You feel increasingly uneasy, and exit out the door.

>>220380
(I support this kind of thinking.)
You look around the complex, brandishing your gun cautiously. There isn't anything of note in the other building, so the only place you can go is the gigantic domed building.
You open the hatch door, and find nothing except a long staircase. A rotten smell hits you, and you steel yourself. You ascend the long staircase.

Nons!ozOtJW9BFA 2010/08/21(Sat)21:49 No. 220895 ID: 5de592
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Well. If you thought the other building is bad...

It's quite obvious where the bad smell is coming from now.

It's coming from the mountain of corpses, skinned and mushed into a pile, being ground up like orange skins in a trash compactor.

You heave, the disgusting sight bringing burning stomach acid to the top of your throat. You force it back down, trying not to reveal your position.

Maybe this is what happens to the people who die here?

You look ahead on the catwalk. Nuke Dukem is standing there, looking at a very big lever. What does it do?

For that matter, what do you do?

[[BE CAREFUL. YOUR PROGRESS, AND THE FATE OF A MAN IS BALANCED ON THE TIP OF A PIN. YOUR ACTIONS HERE MAY TOPPLE HIS MIND.]]

>>220895
Aim the gun at him, and say to stop right there. We don't have to fight. We can just talk. Ask him what the lever does.

>>220926
This. Only without looking like a threat. I think what he really needs now is a friend, someone to trust.

fuck, NO. just run up and knock him in. he has no qualms with killing us, we should have none when it comes to him. it is crunch time and you are all getting cold feet.

Be warned that wild speculation and assumption on the nature of our current situation follows.

>>220930
>I think what he really needs now is a friend, someone to trust.
Maybe Mr. Veli needs that, but we're not talking to Mr. Veli- this is Duke, who is apparently some sort of bizarre protective fantasy/psychotic personality shard. We're wandering around inside Mr. Veli's head; nothing that we see here is him, but everything that we see here is some part of him.

Now, to consider: Duke is part of Mr. Veli's standard mental play, and wants to pull the lever. So the lever somehow moves Mr. Veli's fantasyland forward. If he pulls it, my guess would be that everything stays the same for Mr. Veli, based upon the assumption that his head will attempt to maintain a steady state. We therefore do not want that level pulled, since we wish to disrupt his steady state.

However, bullets aren't the answer here. We already shot the guy; he hardly notices, because part of Mr. Veli's fantasy is that the Duke character gets shot and keeps going. What we need to do is use what we learned in the mummy room and attack verbally. Duke is a fine target, but we could just as easily shout at a wall; it's all Mr. Veli's head, so he'd hear us either way.

I think that the choice before us is to use encouraging/consoling words, or cruel/disparaging ones. If we want to break him, we reinforce his cowardice and shout out how sad he is for replaying a fantasy based in video games in his head again and again to somehow make up for his friends' deaths. If we want to help him work through his issues, we tell him that it's okay that he didn't go, he'd likely have died along with his friends and robbed countless children of a great teacher, and etc. in that vein.

Either path is fine with me, but if I were deciding on my own... I'd try to break him.

His self-loathing is what runs this world. If we enhance those negative emotions, we're going to get nowhere.

I'm really sorry I haven't updated yet! Real life got in the way of this, but I'm still checking for replies!
Sorry!

Plus I wanted you guys to think this out more.

Nons!ozOtJW9BFA 2010/08/28(Sat)22:11 No. 223224 ID: 8d838b
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>>220933
((I like paragraphs, and since that's the only decision we really reached, I'm going with that.))

You raise your gun, aiming the barrel right at Nuke's face.

"Stop. What does that lever do?" You say.

"It stops all this. This machine, it makes all of them respawn. It continues the war, and I'm tired of it. Before, it was a game. Now... I'm not sure what to think. Maybe those people don't deserve to die..." He says.

"You think you can repent for what you've done? You can't go back." You say.

"What're you talking about?"

"I've figured this world out. I understand this now, I understand everything about you. You are a representation of Mr.Veli's want to go back to that moment from when he ran away from the army. He ran away from his responsibility at the last second. The people he met that day, they died because of him. Maybe if he was there, he could have saved them. But he ran." You say.

"He ran, and you are just his delusion, put into a fake version of Vietnam to play out his power fantasy of killing the enemy and saving his friends. But I saw his Black Bug Room. He can't save them, no matter what he does. They're dead, and he can't change that. But he continues his fantasy, because it's the only way he can keep living."

"And so, I have come to this conclusion." You say.

Nons!ozOtJW9BFA 2010/08/28(Sat)22:46 No. 223232 ID: 8d838b
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"Your inner reality is a delusion, and your cowardice keeps you locked inside it. When you chose to run that day, you condemned yourself to a life of regret."

"You are broken as a human being. Your sin is that of cowardice. Continue to delude and isolate yourself until the day you die." You say.

Nons!ozOtJW9BFA 2010/08/28(Sat)23:24 No. 223238 ID: 8d838b
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"I think there's one thing you don't know." He says.

"Huh? What, then?" You reply.

[[I AM THE EGO.]]
[[I AM THE DEFENSE MECHANISM, THE SELF]]

He raises his pistol to his own head, and cracks a great big grin.

[[YOU HAVE DISPROVED ME, AND DESTROYED ME]]

"No, wait-"

Nons!ozOtJW9BFA 2010/08/28(Sat)23:34 No. 223240 ID: 8d838b
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You are now back in the junkyard.

Mr.Veli is now screaming and holding his head.

What do you do now?

knock him out. the fact that he isn't on the ground yet means his mind hasn't collapsed all the way.

>>223240
Wait for our shadow to win its fight, now that we've won the psychic combat. There's no need to risk coming out into the open just yet.