Still voting A, but random thought if we do B:

After we got our size shifting level to max, we figured out that we can transform without the dices anymore. So we don't really need them. That said, What if we lent Momo our dice, and let her TENSION transformation too, while we transform without the dice? give her powers to help her help us!

Yeah, she probably won't be as leveled up as we are, but she still has shape shifting powers that might be able to be enhanced with the suit. It'd be cool to see two super heroes against this kaiju. And we get to see what Momo looks like in a power suit!

>>1084737
GENIUS

Oh right and for fighting tactics... well, I have a few ideas for shapeshifting.
1, Flexible, whip-like limbs for faster strikes
2, blades for hands
3, spikes on fists
4, big claws
5, piston-like mechanism on arms to try for a pile driver strike
6, spikes in various places to discourage the enemy biting you again
Actually I'm not sure the Flesh shapeshifting allows us to change hardness/sharpness so a lot of these ideas might not work. Can we at least redistribute muscle mass to change our fighting style on the fly? Like if we need a strong hit, boost muscle mass on the arms... Oh, shapeshifting to dodge could be possible too, and it could be used to combine a dodge with an attack. Like a cross counter except your torso contorts impossibly to avoid the incoming strike.

I wonder if we could use Flesh shapeshifting to seal up that wound, maybe even try to repair it.

>>1084718
B.

Donna would never forgive us if we ran away and abandoned Momo!

>>1084737
>give dice to Momo
I think that might be the same thing as us giving away our powers, the same way we gave away our Telekinesis to Donna.

rolled 2, 1 = 3

---

Respective Attack Rolls:

You/Momo: >3 deals 2.5 DAMAGE, otherwise 1.5

Kaiju: >7 deals 2.5 DAMAGE, otherwise 2

tippler 2024/02/27(Tue)20:45 No. 1084782 ID: 9ea24b
File 170909550986.png - (15.39KB , 500x500 , T2_154.png )

You get a CRAZY idea and pull out your dice, offering it to Momo. She takes it carefully and rolls it in her palm.

You: I don’t want you to be a cliche sacrifice.
You: You’re a badass, you just haven’t always gotten the chance to PROVE it.
You: This thing is COOL and all but I don’t really need it to transform anymore.
You: Let’s show that Kaiju!!!

Momo grabs your hips and you think she’s going for a smooch to mark the emotional passing of the superpowers torch event, but instead she flings you toward the edge of the crater.

*BOOM*

The Kaiju slams her fist down where you were just kneeling, then grumbles, as if she’s disappointed that you dodged instead of allowing yourself to be crushed into jam.

And Momo–

You look up to see her standing over you, bathed in crimson light. The dice has transformed into a ruby hilted sword, and the long scarf around her neck flutters as the air is sucked back into the area. The nanobots not holding you together swirl around her like tiny flames.

She takes your hand and pulls you into a leaping strike aimed for the Kaiju’s exposed neck. You increase the density in your free hand and shapeshift it into one huge blade. The Kaiju roars as you both slice into her.

You’re startled when the meat beneath your hand gives way to smoke, and then that smoke smothers the two of you, shredding parts of your bodies and dealing [1 DAMAGE] to both you and Momo. The entire Kaiju then dissolves into a roiling gas, swiftly reforming on the other side of the crater. She’s bleeding sluggishly.

tippler 2024/02/27(Tue)20:45 No. 1084783 ID: 9ea24b
File 170909552552.png - (15.73KB , 500x500 , T2_155.png )

THE FINAL BATTLE SYSTEM
- You and the Kaiju are nearly on par, but with your maxed out skill and Momo's help, you think you have a bit more than 50% chance of winning
-You will move first each UPDATE
-Each UPDATE the Kaiju has a 70/30 chance to do [2 or 2.5 DAMAGE]
-Each UPDATE you and Momo have a chance to land a combined normal hit [1.5 DAMAGE] (70% base likelihood) or a critical hit [2.5 DAMAGE] (30% base likelihood)
-Suggest STYLISH and FEASIBLE offensive techniques to alter the odds in favor of the critical hit, up to 70% likelihood
-Now’s the time to go ALL OUT!

MOMO’S WOUNDS: 2 / (4 + 1 from transformation)
HAILEY’S WOUNDS: 5.5 / 8
HAILEY’S and MOMO’S COMBINED WOUNDS: 7.5 / 13
KAIJU’S WOUNDS: 1.5 / ?
In [1 UPDATE] you will roll a SANITY check due to the smoke: [80% chance of success], upon failure you have equal chance to damage YOURSELF, MOMO, or your GEAR
A list of Hailey’s skills and equipment can be found here: https://questden.org/wiki/Tension_Stats

PLAN YOUR NEXT ATTACK!!!

>>1084783
Keep pushing away from the island and its monsters. Force the smoke monster to chase after you.
To that end, shrink and stand on the edge of Momo's sword and turn most of your body into a serrated gyroscope, so she can mace the sucker.

Get out that fuckin' motorcycle, let your nanobots drive it as momo gets on the motorcycle for SPEED and while the nano bots are controlling the motorcycle to dodge attacks, Momo can slash the kaiju as she drives by it with her power sword as fast as she can! She doesn't need to even sit on the drivers chair, just stand on it like a ninja and slash the kaiju

While she's doing that, and the kaiju is focused on momo's speed, we will fly on up with our ultra cool boots above the kaiju, become huge, turn our arm into sharp pencil-like limbs (gotta keep with the office theme since we are a staple remover) and then slam down on its head with all your weight and might with our sharp limb.

Alright looks like her signature ability is turning into smoke, and the smoke can attack during that time. I wonder what would happen if we knocked her into water? It's hard for smoke to exist where there isn't any air. Maybe we should relocate the fight over the ocean. Hailey can use her rocket boots to stay above the waves, and... I dunno about Momo, maybe she can shapeshift into an aquatic creature for the terrain advantage.
Heck, maybe just getting the kaiju wet would reduce her smoke powers, and we don't have to fight directly over the ocean, just knock her into it at some point. Though of course Momo shapeshifting for better agility would be a good idea regardless. Perhaps she can turn into a falcon for air combat?

Hmm, cool attacks...
Hailey could do a divebomb attack where she adds spin to it by shaping her arms (pointed forwards) to be like angled fins. Maximum density for this, to build up speed via gravity assist. Getting stuck in the Kaiju after attacking is a bad idea though. Slashing and bludgeoning rather than piercing is the way to go I think.
OH! Optimally we'd want to cripple the Kaiju so we can run away. It's probably going to attack the city once we bring the crystal back, and we have more concentrated firepower there. So, aim for her wings! Slash them to ribbons so she can't fly, then retreat.

I think we should use a nanobot to make a vial to capture smoke in for research. If we can find a way to completely neutralize the kaiju's smoke ability we can easily kill it on a second fight.

Hailey could also try a spinning axe kick, gaining the spin from her rocket boots and a low density form before switching to high density to deliver the kick.

Ride in as cavalry on your motorcycle and use the exhaust to blast away her smoke when she tries to retaliate.

Another thought: since we are fighting in the crater, we can use the slopes of the crater kinda like those skate park ramps with the motorcycle and skates for air time and reach specific parts of the kaiju's body. momo especially since the motorcycle cant grow. Can even ride along the sides of the slope in one big circle if needed.

>The nanobots not holding you together swirl around her like tiny flames.

Can she use those nanobots to upgrade her sword into a flaming hot sword?

rolled 1, 5, 7 = 13

---

Respective Rolls:

You/Momo Attack: >3 deals 2.5 DAMAGE, otherwise 1.5

Kaiju Attack: >7 deals 2.5 DAMAGE, otherwise 2

Sanity: >2 for save

tippler 2024/03/01(Fri)07:09 No. 1084970 ID: 9ea24b
File 170930577938.png - (18.74KB , 500x500 , T2_156.png )

>PARADISO - BASE OF THE VOLCANO
You try to control your nanobots, but it seems you’ve lost that ability with the transfer of the dice. At least your head is clear. As if sensing your intentions, Momo summons the nanobots to coat her blade so that it’s wreathed in fire.

You: Let’s go for her wings. I’ll take my bike, you attack from the other side.
Momo: Agreed.

You whip out your motorcycle from your hammerspace and swing yourself over the seat and put it in gear at the same time. You pick up speed until you can drive along the side of the slope, engine growling like a Kaiju. You coax the motorcycle up so that it jumps off the edge, straight at the Queen, and you leap off the seat into a spinning axe kick, manipulating your density so that you pick up momentum and maximize your impact. Out of the corner of your eye, you spot Momo darting in for a deadly slash.

The Kaiju dissolves only moments after impact. Her tail whips out of the cloud of smoke to knock you away and you hear Momo gasp as a claw catches her stomach.

HAILEY’S and MOMO’S COMBINED WOUNDS: 9.5 / 13
KAIJU’S WOUNDS: 3 / ?
In [2 UPDATES] you will roll a SANITY check due to the smoke: [80% chance of success], upon failure you have equal chance to damage YOURSELF, MOMO, or your GEAR
A list of Hailey’s skills and equipment can be found here: https://questden.org/wiki/Tension_Stats

Your current strategy of straight on attacks isn’t working because of the Kaiju’s signature ability to turn into pure smoke. If there was a way to restrict her movement, you’d be able to land a definitive hit.

It comes to you as you kite backwards to meet up with Momo on the other side of the Hailey shaped crater. The Kaiju can move freely through the air, but would have trouble in a liquid. You need to get her off the island and into the surrounding water. Suggest a way to force the Kaiju into the sea as part of your next attack!

Take a gigantic dive into the water to kick up a huge spray that will soak her.

>>1084970
If only a Tiny (Former) Enemy Crab would carry us to the safety of water.

Team Combo attack!

first, you and momo get some distance away from the kaiju.

Then, tell momo to put the majority of her nanobots into your motorcycle (if she has to temporarily take the nanobots off of her sword for this, do it. We need as much nanobots we can get for this). tell her you want her to give your motorcycle boost power! We want to make it go as fast as it can to the point where flames are coming out of the exhausts to propel the motorcycle forward for extra speed. Then, tell her to hop on the bike with you

Here is what we're gonna do: Momo uses the nanobots to overclock the motorcycle to boost the motorcycle and charge right into the kaiju as fast as we can, and when we get close enough to the kaiju, we pop a wheelie so that the boost propels the motorcycle into the air, right towards the kaiju's stomach.

Then, as we are flying and boosting towards the kaiju's stomach, we stretch our arm in front of the motorcycle, and make our arm and our fist as huge and heavy as we can to punch the kaiju into the stomach, and use the boosts to push her towards the the sea.

As we are pushing the kaiju with the combined might of the motorcycle's nanobot modified boost, and our big big fist, momo will climb right on top of our giant arm and fist, and quickly slash the kaiju until the kaiju is pushed into the ocean.

rolled 4, 3 = 7

---

Respective Rolls:

You/Momo Attack: >1 deals 2.5 DAMAGE, otherwise 1.5

Kaiju Attack: >7 deals 2.5 DAMAGE, otherwise 2

tippler 2024/03/02(Sat)13:37 No. 1085098 ID: 9ea24b
File 170941546401.png - (19.41KB , 500x500 , T2_157.png )

>PARADISO - BASE OF THE VOLCANO
You retrieve your motorcycle and gesture to Momo to back off for a second, still within the smoke so the Kaiju doesn’t chase you, but out of range of the Kaiju’s claws. You tell her your plan to move the Kaiju to the ocean, and she nods before directing every last nanobot into the body of the vehicle.

You straddle your beloved ruby red motorcycle and wait for the engine to pick up speed. When the seat is vibrating hard enough to get you off, you take off down the slope at an obscene pace, Momo following behind you on foot.

You jump off the edge of the crater and ram into the Kaiju’s breasts before she can dodge, the motorcycle releasing a jet of exhaust to keep itself in place while you grow large enough to tackle the Kaiju around the middle. The dragon tears at your arms and helmet in her struggle to break free, but the blow to the chest seems to have disabled her smoke ability, maybe because you knocked the wind out of her? You don’t have much time to think before the rocket thrust acceleration of your enhanced motorcycle takes you in a perfect trajectory over the jungle and to the beach. With a final cough of the engine, the machine EXPLODES.

The Kaiju hits the water with a huge splash, though you can tell the sea isn’t deep enough here to totally cover her. She thrashes and throws you off, panicked at being stuck on her back, stomach exposed. You hear her scream with pain when Momo’s blade strikes true before a wave buffets you onto the beach.

tippler 2024/03/02(Sat)13:37 No. 1085099 ID: 9ea24b
File 170941547831.png - (14.37KB , 500x500 , T2_158.png )

>PARADISO - BEACH
There’s blood leaking into your eyes and after you wipe it away you spot a familiar tiny blue crab scuttling into a hole in the sand, eager to get away from the conflict. The sight makes you giggle, which really fucking hurts.

You and Momo are both on the verge of DEATH, but the Kaiju seems to finally be showing signs that she’s badly injured as well. Your instinct screams to you that one more critical strike will be enough to slay her, but you risk missing or dying from smoke sanity effects.

HAILEY’S and MOMO’S COMBINED WOUNDS: 11.5 / 13
KAIJU’S WOUNDS: 5.5 / 8
In [1 UPDATE] you will roll a SANITY check due to the smoke: [80% chance of success], upon failure you have equal chance to damage YOURSELF, MOMO, or your GEAR
The RUBY RED MOTORCYCLE has been destroyed
The NANOBOTS (besides the ones holding together your wounds) have been destroyed
A list of Hailey’s skills and equipment can be found here: https://questden.org/wiki/Tension_Stats

A. STRIKE THE KAIJU DOWN
-You have at most a 70% chance to succeed if you suggest COOL attacks
-You still have to make a sanity roll if you succeed
-If you fail, you’ll have a chance to sacrifice yourself over Momo

B. BREAK THE PRISM
-Breaking the prism will have UNKNOWN CONSEQUENCES
-But you and Momo will be able to return to Donjon
-You won’t be in fighting condition to respond to the fallout

B. 30% chance of death is too high.

Darn, was hoping the motorcycle wouldn't explode this update, and use that as a bomb

But wait, we still got one bomb left, perhaps two!

A. Time to make one more sacrifice, and we gotta go all out to finish off the kaiju, especially since this is the final mission: Remove the boots, transfer the nanobots holding you together to your boots (you'll probably faint after this from blood loss, but for this final move, its do or die. hopefully, Momo will get you to safety and to a clinic before you die), and then you'll throw them both the kaiju with one final throw with as much force as you can. Once it reaches the kaiju, make them EXPLODE! Hopefully the combine might of the boots, and Breezy's additions on them will be enough to finish it off!

>>1085103
As for Momo, she will finish it off with a down thrust of her sword when the explosion clears.

A. You have to be in some kind of condition to face the kaiju in the city afterward.
Cool attack? Enlarge your head as much as possible and bite hers off.

>>1085107
We don't, actually. There are other people who can fight.

I dunno if Edmango is going to even allow a sure-fire victory, but since the smoke ability is disabled all Hailey has to do is grapple the kaiju and let Momo finish it off. With Flesh-shapeshifting that should be easy.

...if the smoke ability is disabled why are there sanity effects?

A, Because we should have broken that Prism like 3 updates ago, and we instead decided to dance up to the brink of death like fools. Y'all knew the risks when you suggested this, and I am voting that we stay the course and get whatever ending we deserve. Maybe fortune will favor us, and we'll be spared from the worst outcome. Maybe we bite the big one. All I'll say is: We did NOT just get 6 extra wounds between us to decide that we actually should have broken the prism.

We've made this bed, now lie in it.

A) Fire serrated staple-thorns from your breasts.

>>1085103
One other thing, make sure you enlarge yourself so your boots are big too, bigger boots = larger explosion.

If momo is controlling the nanobots on our wounds as well, tell her to move them over to your boots for you.

rolled 10, 8, 5 = 23

---

Respective Rolls:

You/Momo Attack: >3 deals 2.5 DAMAGE, otherwise 1.5

Kaiju Attack: >7 deals 2.5 DAMAGE, otherwise 2

Sanity: >2 for save, no gear left after boots explode so failure guarantees DAMAGE

>>1085207
...Ah.
Well, at least it all ends in glory.

>>1085212
if it wasn't a critical, we'd still die from 2 damage. I think we just needed to get a good attack roll to succeed without dying (which we did.) So I think we're good.

remember y'all, we act first

tippler 2024/03/03(Sun)13:14 No. 1085233 ID: 9ea24b
File 170950048771.png - (18.49KB , 500x500 , T2_159.png )

>PARADISO - BEACH
You came this far, you’re going to finish the battle. You push yourself to max size once more and kick off your now enlarged boots, taking one in each hand to chuck at the Kaiju as hard as possible along with the remaining nanobots. Your wounds gush blood and the boots don’t really explode so much as serve as an obstacle to be shredded.

It’s enough. The distraction lets you get an opening to seize the Kaiju Queen’s head in your powerful jaws, stretching her neck out so Momo can decapitate her with a decisive slice. The dead Kaiju jerks in a few spasms before collapsing into the water. You think you pass out for a second after a bunch of dark gray blood sprays in your face.

You emerge from the island’s magic barrier slung over Momo’s shoulder, with Donjon on the horizon. The dark red fabric of her scarf is wonderfully soft on your face and you curl into it as Momo continues to dash across the water.

Momo: Hailey, you have to stay awake.
You: But you’re so warm and comfy and nice-smelling…Momo I think I loooveeee youuuuuuuu.
Momo: Oh Goddess, Hailey, we’re almost back to Donjon. Stay focused on your shapeshifting to keep your body together, just like we practiced.
You: *snff* You didn’t say you love me back.
Momo: You are dying from blood loss so now’s as good a time as any, I love you too Hailey. You’re going to be okay.
You: Hehehehehe…pretty girl like me.

The beautiful Donjon skyline swells in your hazy vision. It’s almost overwhelming to witness, it makes you think about all of your loved ones, battles, and sacrifices. The richness of kin that make life worth living.

You close your eyes until the sounds of helicopters and your friends’ worried voices block out everything else.

> [TENSION - END]
> Reputation Title - [THE SAVIOR]
> Thank you for playing!

tippler 2024/03/03(Sun)13:15 No. 1085234 ID: 9ea24b
File 170950050149.png - (13.05KB , 500x500 , T2_160.png )

> EPILOGUE 1 - THE PRISM AND PARADISO
The lab coats were ecstatic to research the prism after Hailey returned. They discovered that if it was destroyed, the entire planet would have been hit with a massive EMP, disabling a majority of technology. But, since it was kept intact, they were able to research it's properties further and discovered that it *somehow* interacted with space.

They were able to manipulate the crystal bit by bit to siphon part of Paradiso out and create pocket dimensions. They then used these pocket dimensions to create rudimentary wormholes, advancing their space travel capabilities by leaps and bounds, leading to a new era of extraplanetary exploration.

Paradiso remained where it was next to Donjon, allowing for them to research and contain the remaining Kaiju. They became significantly less violent after the [QUEEN KAIJU] was slain, and there was even [HOPE] to teach some of them how to communicate.

> EPILOGUE 2 - THE NANOBOT RESEARCH LAB
Momo, as the new wielder of the dice, occasionally helped with the nanobot research lab. This led to fantastic leaps in the technological field and access to simplified nanotech for the medical and construction fields.

Some kin learned how to weaponize it, but it was only a matter of time before somekin turned a useful tool into a weapon after all.

> EPILOGUE 3 - THE GOVERNMENT
Phyllis finally took her seat next to Cougar as head of Donjon's government when other agencies got greedy over their technological advancements and access to other planets. But, given how strongly Hailey prepared them, and how little damage the city took in general, they were easily able to resist and form an independent city state, which eventually evolved into the capital of the free world.

This led to several quiet wars, but given Cougar and Phyllis's background in espionage, Alberta's clerical knowledge on most fields, and Josephine's mastery of Mana, these issues were only minor hiccups in the grand scheme of things.

tippler 2024/03/03(Sun)13:15 No. 1085235 ID: 9ea24b
File 170950051683.png - (16.69KB , 500x500 , T2_161.png )

> EPILOGUE 4 - DONNA
Donna cried when Hailey returned. She claimed that she could FEEL part of the pain Hailey was feeling as she fought. They were in a terrible condition when they returned, Hailey had broken an arm and a leg whilst Momo wasn't in much better shape, losing a portion of her mass to the petrification. When they both woke up, Donna yelled at the two heroes for hours, her eyes filled with tears as she hugged them. She stayed by both Hailey and Momo's side in the months after as they healed.

Afterwards, after Hailey told her what happened, she decided she needed to take an active part in making a difference in the world. Donna started spending her money on the advancement of non-violent weaponry, like the foam guns. She also started working more actively with the government to help teach those Kaiju advanced enough to learn how to speak. Funnily enough, the first one to do so was the giant crab, and it only consented because it wanted to go on a date with Polka D Artep.

> EPILOGUE 5 - MOMO & THE DICE
Momo wasn't as attached to the dice as Hailey was, claiming that the experience was novel, but ultimately unnecessary. She did stick around and use the dice a few more times after they both healed, especially after the space pirates found their planet. It's not all the time that Momo gets to be The Hero after all.

She would eventually pass the dice down to little Guillermo, who became obsessed with Kaiju, monster movies, space pirates, and the like, and would use them to create Tokusatsu movies with interesting and realistic special effects. She dodged most questions as to why she picked him, but you could tell that it wasn't a spur of the moment decision.

> EPILOGUE 5 - PAZURU AND YOU
Pazuru became the official mascot of Donjon as it became its own independent country. Given her advanced knowledge of the world she was able to point out a few flaws in their planning and save a couple billion lives in the process. She claimed she was doing something along the lines of "Karmic Farming to make up for lost time," whatever that meant.

When she wasn't doing that, she was spending her time with Hailey, comforting her as she recovered from her heavy wounds. She kept talking about how well they've done in this life, and how excited she is for Hailey to see what lies beyond not only this planet, but beyond life itself. Strangely, no one other than Hailey and Momo could understand her when she said these things.

There were a few more adventures before Hailey died, like those damned space pirates, that time their planet got reverse isekaid, and that moment Cougar decided to go evil for a little, but Hailey was never bored or alone. And most importantly of all, Hailey eventually got to have an anime ass fight against a giant robot.

[THANKS FOR READING]
And now for the post-Quest Q’n’A section, what are your thoughts, theories or questions for us?!

after the final mission against the kaiju, What was Hailey's meeting with [VIRGE] like during her daily visit to the historical parasite fun prison?

How does [WILD] and [LUST] feel about Hailey's accomplishments, considering this is the 8th cycle.

who was the donor that we upset during the gala?

what was with that mysterious crab super hero we heard about?

how did the centipede kaiju know Hailey's name through morse code?

most importantly

did Donjon FINALLY get the Chompy Tear plushies?

Why did the Kaiju queen was so horny-looking?
If there was a Kaiju queen, where is the Kaiju King?

>>1085235
How did the crab's date go?

Who were all those petrified people in the cave, with their chests burst open? Was that a way kaiju are created? All the people who got petrified recently were just drained stone, not full of chest bursting kaiju or anything. Were the kaiju caused somehow by the throes of passion they died in? Some kind of lust ritual?

...Wait.
Did the die eventually turn into an object kin?!

What exactly did Pazuru do to initially become a Historical Parasite? And who was she before? What does it have to do with Lust Quest?

We met some of the potential companions, but what about the rest? Can we get some stories on where they all were while Hailey was saving the city?

What's the most interesting plot thread that we didn't pull on, in your opinion?

How much KARMA do you think Hailey accrued in this life?

What would have happened if we stole the prism the first time we encountered it?

If we leveled up nanobots or sub brain, what upgrades and perks do you think we'd get?

Hows the puppy orphanage doing?

Does Hailey retain her out-of-suit size morphing after passing down the dice? -Wait, does she just not need the dice anymore to use them or did she give all her powers away?

EDPEACH 2024/03/04(Mon)18:20 No. 1085446 ID: e2839f
File 170960520367.png - (20.68KB , 500x500 , T2E_001.png )

> QnA Intro
Edmango: Hey everyone, that's a third fully complete Edmango Quest under the belt! It was sort of a modified version of the Crystal Spire quest format and was about 100 panels longer than that quest. Unfortunately I was hit with busy times at work and stress over the final product, which led to a few haituses and mixed feelings over the project as a whole for a while.

Edmango: I originally planned one last mission, and even talked about as much on the discord but that ended up being too much for me. Writing each update became a slog, and it's not because I disliked the characters, but because I didn't like the choices that I was presenting you with. I spent a good chunk of time workshopping several of them with Himitsu in the early days of season 2 just because of that. I wanted to capture the magic and feeling I had in the first thread, but alas, the long break and my neurosis of having gone for more than a few months on this project led to me shorting out on it.

Edmango: The last 10 or so updates were actually written by tippler. I gave some feedback on certain aspects, wrote the epilogues, and made sure to reign in the fatality of the final fight (you're welcome), but still keep the chance of someone dying in the mix, especially after you took so many hits to save Momo. I'm very grateful for Tippler's help and for keeping the characters and text consistent with what was previously established. But I'm even more grateful that Tippler was willing to finish it when I wasn't motivated to.

Edmango: I'm working on a twine version of the story now and, on reflection, really did enjoy making this story, but I think I want to work on a game next and not a quest, at least for a little while. That's it for the intro, now to answer your Questions!!

> Hailey and Virge
Hailey was looking forward to messing with [VIRGE], but they never met again. Probably because Hailey was *definitely* going to try eating one of those rings this time.

> Wild and Lust
Wild appreciates that Hailey got rid of the Nanobots and LUST is happy that the power of true love appeared to grant a second hero in the final fight

> Upset Donor
It was Video Jajima, his favor was going to be asking you to star in his videojame, which would have taken a bunch of time for the mocap, voice acting, etc. But then you would have had the super awesome stealth action of KAIJU GEAR STRANDING. Hailey also would have met some other celebrities. Unfortunately I didn't have it in me to make another mission/intermission to make this thread come up.

> Crab Hero
If you followed that thread it would have been a vigilante who was inspired by the Crab and wanted to learn the ways of the crab, becoming supercrab-kin. They of course would just be knocked out by one of your punches, but it would have been a funny scene.

> Morse Code
That Kaiju had been around for a while, farming kin in the industrial district and used morse code to communicate with Kaiju coming to land and the centiminions.

As for how it knew her name, let's just say that specific Kaiju was *way* more intelligent than the rest and was communicating with small bugs too. Not that it could do much with the information.

EDPEACH 2024/03/04(Mon)18:20 No. 1085447 ID: e2839f
File 170960522013.png - (228.82KB , 500x700 , T2E_002.png )

> Where was the Kaiju King
> Why was the Kaiju Queen Horny
> Who were the petrified Kin
> What was Pazuru's actual crime and relation to LQ
These are all related, so have a loredump

The Kaiju king would have been Prota from Lust Quest, however in the backstory given here:

https://questden.org/kusaba/questarch/res/1043457.html#1050356

Prota died fighting some sort of [APOTHEOSIS] monster. This caused the Queen to slowly go insane over the course of her very *very* long life. She was infected, lost her sanity, consumed those close to her (turning them into the gem/colorful statues), and used their essences to create the Kaiju. But by that point her sanity was gone, if it ever came back she could sacrifice herself to bring them back, but the chances of that happening are so low, and would have required a different powerset, maybe [PURITY] or something around healing corruption.

Pazuru/Puzzle was there when it happened and struck with grief over Prota's death she studied TIME. Time travel is a bit complicated in my setting, but possible. To get into stupid metaphysics that I completely made up, you are currently in dimension 08-B. Dimension 08-B is the B variant of dimension 08, which ultimately *has* to lead up to the starting point of [TENSION] which is when *someone* acquires the dice.

The who/what getting it doesn't matter, and the companions can shift around but have to fit into similar roles. The problem is that the [LUST QUEST] universe is the origin of the planet, and for it to reach this timeline, the [BAD END] of Prota dying *has* to happen, think of it as the [Primary Historical Timeline (PHT)], there can be slight variances, but major milestones like Prota's death *have* to happen for it to reach the infinite branching off point which is the beginning of [TENSION]

Pazuru used her newly acquired timeline powers, noticed this, and got incredibly pissed. So of course, she tried to go back and fix it, which caused alternate versions of her to come after her when she stole their Protas. Which led to a lot of time violence and the potential unraveling of this specific dimension. She wasn't able to reconsile with angry alternate Pazurus, there was too many Protas at one point and then she got a little greedy and tried to fuck with the Karma/fate/destiny of everyone involved.

That's where she fucked up and [CHAOS] had to intervene. Turns out that one of the ways of time traveling "legally" is to do it after the [PHT] is established. Another would have been to only time travel back and spend time with that timeline's Prota, but not save their life. Another would have been to just clone that Prota and take that newly made clone to her timeline, but that can get messy fast since it involves weird soul splitting metaphysics and more Karmic adjustment.

Anyway, she gained a lot of Karma doing this but basically cheated, so she was put in time out by Chaos and forced to watch this dimension repeat from that point and watch Tension play out with different Hailey Marys (who were probably other kin entirely), and make sure no one like her was committing time crimes. Oh, but she could get out if the kin in the timeline chose her (knowingly or not) as a companion and gifted her a body. That or by waiting until all the Karma she earned got paid off by not doing anything for long enough. Chaos rewards ingenuity because it could make the universe interesting and more chaotic, but only if it doesn't completely destroy everything. There's a difference between Chaos and Destruction, even if it's a fine line.

So yeah, a Historic Parasite is someone who tried to wreck the Primary Historic Timeline so badly they had to intervene. That or someone who is willing to intern for a god and doesn't want to just watch the endless line of souls going to reincarnate, protecting them from interdimensional monsters seeking to eat raw karma.

EDPEACH 2024/03/04(Mon)18:20 No. 1085448 ID: e2839f
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> Chompy Tear Plushies
Yes, they were adorable, sold like hot cakes, and let Donna bring in so much hot cash

> How was the Crab's Date
Polka went on it and didn't have a terrible time because the Crab *is* totally a simp for her. Turns out someone who is just a crab and is willing to ignore literally all of your red flags because they themselves are a giant monster is incredibly attractive to Polka.

> Does the Die become and Object Kin
Well Guillermo becomes a Demon (see Catalyst/Queen of Hell) at some point, so ultimately it depends on what he did with the dice after demonifying really. I can see the Dice turning into an object-kin fairy that runs a dungeon and acts as an assistant but only wants to see giant fights tbh.

> Can we get stories on the other companions
Nope! Feel free to imagine your own CYOA with them!

> What's the most interesting plot thread you never touched
Explaining how Pazuru committed time crimes was probably up there. Behind that, I suppose it would have been fun if you spent time with the 2 headed snake and you had a Kaiju Companion.

> How much Karma did Hailey get
Considering she had other adventures post [tension], probably a lot. But also considering that she's the protagonist, I wonder if she paid a bunch of Karma for the privilege of that?

I like to imagine Hailey as that one karmic cultivator speedrunner that you see briefly in the beginning of [shards]. She just keeps trying to get the most optimal run saving every one of her blorbos, all in the attempt to get enough Karma to find someone or become a [GOD] herself. Though that's just a headcanon cause of how bullshit lucky she got with her RNG

> What would happen if you stole the prism the first time
The Queen Kaiju would have freaked out, your ears would have bled, and while the Queen Kaiju would have been locked inside if you did not escape in time, you would have to deal with a massive Kaiju outbreak chasing after you and the prism.

> What perks would you have gotten if nanobots were upgraded
I was thinking Organic Nanobots, Some sort of floating nanobot cannons, or some sort of advancement to your multitasking/programming capabilities since you messed with that a few times in the past.

> How is the puppy orphanage
The puppies are saved! All of Mamita's kids got to spend time with them!

> Does Hailey retain her power after getting rid of the dice
Yup, she can transform without the dice since she reached S rank, the power of size shifting is hers permanently and can be used in/out of suit.

EDPEACH 2024/03/04(Mon)18:20 No. 1085449 ID: e2839f
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> Afterwords
Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed [TENSION]. This one was a doozy to make and give a throughline, or a like meaningful arc as it went. I think the main characters got developed enough, though some of the government agents had more development in the beginning than the end. (rip Josephine not being there for the final fight).

I think I liked the C/B/A/S ranking system and branching upgrades for abilities a lot, and I'm honestly glad you only really focused on Growth. It kept the combat straightforward and made it easy for me to make adjustments for things as well as come up with other narrative bits.

I think that in the future, the big lesson I need to take from this is to keep the quest contained to a four month period (if I update 4x a week), or I need to do a better job of writing myself into a narrative corner. Crystal Spire was much easier to conclude because you had a bunch of set pieces on your way to a destination, so each new place was fresh and there was a sense of progression. Tension had you coming back to the same place for intermissions, and then doing a mission, mostly reacting, and I think that would probably have been my biggest complaint. That I had you *reacting* too much in season 1 and then started letting you be proactive too late, after I was tired.

Either way, I learned a lot from this, and definitely couldn't have done it without you tippler. You are and have always been pretty based and much cooler than me.

And, like last time, can you please fill out this poll of who your favorite [TENSION] character was, it's a pick 3 system, I'd appreciate knowing who everyone liked!
https://forms.gle/qTKYv261ordG1Rcg9