[PUNCH CLOCK ANIMAL] MAYBEQUEST: PART 1

[Shifter55]

Maybe we should sit this round out for a while, and watch to make sure the others can at least delay Chelsea a bit. In the meantime, do you think we could get Fuller high enough to see over the wall with an injured arm? Hopefully they can land on their feet if we throw them with the kids...

If we can get at least one kid over the wall safely that might force Chelsea to drop it, otherwise see if you can help with it, maybe by tearing into a damaged area.

I kind of wonder what training with fighting the staff have, it seems simple to hit Chelsea all at once, but it might be better to stun her at the end of a swing or when her stance starts to change, with how much reach the staff has.

[MarxzVulpez]

this is going to be a rough one. Priority is probably getting that Stick away from her, as it looks fairly important and looks like it would do some really nasty damage if it connects properly. fight will still be tough without it, but could give us at least a little more leeway.

[King-Clod]

Have anyone not currently fighting focus on getting the kids over the wall - Melanie, Mason, then Maes.
For May, don't rush at Chelsea again, I'm not even sure if we can, let alone if we should.
But we need a way to get the staff out of her hands, and to distract her from Fuller and the kids in the background- I suspect if she sees the kids trying to escape she'll switch gears to focus on them.
Try to Chelsea's attention constantly shifting.

[skinstealer]

Okay, you’ve got this. You’ve got numbers, you’ve got weapons, you’re just against an enemy that could kill you all way, way faster if she wasn’t so tired. Easy peasy- but it’ll be way easier for the others to get hits in if you can distract her, and there’s not much else you can do right now with that wounded arm and no weapons of your own.
 

MAY: Hey, you’re missing a couple organs there! Where’d your stomach go, huh?!

 
No response, the monstrous karacel completely focused on watching your party tensed up around her.
 

MAY: Even with all those eyes, you can’t see everybody coming at you at once! 

 
Nothing.

You’re not great at this- but something comes to mind.


 

MAY: What would Harvey think of the fact that you’re trying to kill kids?!

 
Chelsea jolts in surprise, and Chance takes the opportunity to rush forward and shock her side, the tusks flashing in for sure this time as the ruffneck narrowly avoids her retaliating swing. Something’s definitely up, but you can’t think about that now. 
 


 
Dwayne makes his move, going for her legs. He slams them hard to stagger her-
 

 
 -and Nelson actually takes the initiative to go for her arms, holding them and putting his weight down on them. Fuck waiting around at this point, actually- you’re not going to miss this opportunity yourself.

 
With Chelsea restrained, you dash in and try to wrestle the scythe away, getting the best grip you can on it with your thumbless paws. You pull as hard as you can, but still can’t quite pry it away from her. You keep at it, and make full eye contact with her, unable to stop yourself from baring your teeth from under your mask- her expression matches yours, and you know more than ever that she is fighting just as hard as you are. 

You only have a few seconds to act before she throws both of you off.

[victorianflorist]

I know her flesh is probably gross, but bite her hand to get her to release the scythe.

[King-Clod]

Can we break the stick somehow? Use our legs or something?

[King-Clod]

...Alright the stick is metal. Can we trip her, pull her feet out from under her somehow? Use a leg sweep?

[skinstealer]

You risk taking one of your paws off the stick to yank down your face mask, Nelson making a noise of distress as Chelsea starts pushing back hard. With your mouth newly freed, you lean forward and chomp down on one of Chelsea’s hands, getting a face full of twisted raw flesh.

It’s not the worst thing you’ve ever tasted in this hellhole by a long shot, but it’s up there.

It’d probably taste a lot better if she actually fucking let go, though. All it seems to do is piss her off, getting a loud, spitting snarl out of her and not much else. Most people would have gone into shock when faced with your teeth, so you can’t help but feel more than a little insulted. You let go, leaving rows of tooth marks in your wake. 
 

MAY: Have it your way!

 

 

You back up and yank on the staff as hard as you can without warning, knocking Chelsea off-balance as she stumbles towards you. Not wasting time, you wind up and slam your foot into her lower legs as hard as you can. She’s sent straight to the floor, along with Nelson and Dwayne. As everyone topples, you reach out and do your best to snatch the staff out of Chelsea’s grip, just barely managing to wrench it from her meaty claws. 
 

MAY: It’s nothing personal, I just want to live today-

 
You can’t get the words out- Chelsea shakes Nelson and Dwayne off with ease and lunges for you.
 

MAY: Oh shi-!

 



You back the fuck up, holding the staff close to your chest, heart pounding. You try to ignore the stinging pain in your arm, blood dripping everywhere.
 


 
Chance catches Chelsea in the shoulder, driving a shock into her and holding it there as she goes down. You breathe a quick sigh of relief.
 

And she stays down.



But she does not stay the same.




 

????: ST-STOP FUCKING WITH ME!

[Monologue]

Say you're not exactly trying to. You just need to get away without getting pulverised by meat. Leave us alone, and we'd leave you alone!

[victorianflorist]

Tell Chelsea we aren't trying to fuck with her, we're just trying to get out. Sorry our interests don't align but we've had enough.

[King-Clod]

Size him up. Watch his patterns. For now I think this will be much more of a bull fight- more of a taunt and run sort of strategy than landing any actual hits.
(Our meat scythe doesn't have its meat anymore. Does that mean the walls will be going down soon as well? Keep our eyes out- we should bolt as soon as we can)

[skinstealer]

MAY: We’re not trying to fuck with you, we’re just trying to get the hell out of here!
MAY: You’re the one throwing meat at us!
????: Oh, I’m the one doing that?
????: If you’re gonna start throwing accusations around-

  

 
He whips around and grabs Chance in a sweeping motion, gripping the dog in his giant fist.
Chance gasps as he’s lifted high into the air, ending up face-to-face with the creature. Beads of sweat roll down Chance’s brow as the canine starts to look panicked.

????: At least get the right goddamn person!
????: Not so tough now without your little stick, huh?
????: I have half a mind to fucking fry you right here in my hand, give you a taste of your own goddamn medicine-

 
 

Nelson darts forward and tries to whack his shock stick against the monster’s ankle, getting a snarl out of him. 
  

????: You little shit!
CHANCE: Sorry for-

  

 
Chance stammers, trying to maintain composure while the monster's grip squeezes the air out of him.

CHANCE: We didn’t… know it was anybody else. 
CHANCE: The other person was… She was just here.
CHANCE: ...Who are you?
????: Why’s it matter to you? All you care about is taking us out!
????: And in the end, you’re no different to me.
????: You’re just another mark on our hitlist. 

  
Chance tries to respond, but only ends up coughing, the ruffneck squirming in the monster’s grip.
 

 
Nelson goes for another whack, and the monster simply swats him away with his massive tail. Dwayne just barely manages to catch him before he hits the ground, breaking his fall. 
  

????: Just more fucking dirty work that gets shoved onto me!

[Lilium Mortem]

tell him he's wrong. there's one person in there may cares about, harvey gave may hope, told her she can have a name, let her think that someday things might get better. Are they going to throw away harvey's kindness? the hope they gave may? tear away any possibility of a a future for May, the crew, or the kids?

May and co don't want to fight or kill, just a chance at freedom, at an actual future.

fighting tips: stab the stomach mouth for massive damage! maybe! Idk guys you've been punching above your weightclass for like, thirty panels.

[MarxzVulpez]

Ohhh yes smartass the only thing we care about is taking you out, not y'know actually trying to survive being "just another mark on your hitlist"? what, no right to defend ourselves even? or are you just pissy because someone's actually fighting back and not rolling over and dying all easy like? Yep, just Dirty work for your poor tortured soul
had it ever fucking occurred to you that it's actually people down here getting warped beyond recognition? or is that something you try to drive from your head to help whoever's murderous ass is there sleep at night?

[Clockwork Citrus]

Ask him “Aren’t you tired of all of this, only death and destruction? None of it is good, you’re just a tool being used just like everyone else here. Let us leave and maybe have something good on your Conscience.” ???

[skinstealer]

 

MAY: So what, we don’t have the right to defend ourselves?
MAY: Or maybe you’re just pissy because somebody’s actually fighting back, and not rolling over and dying to make this easy for you!

 
The creature turns to face you, his snarl intensifying as you goad him. You get a glimpse of Chance’s face- he’s staring at you, wide-eyed and nervous.
 

MAY: Yeah, smartass, we’re just dirty work for your poor, tortured soul. 
MAY: Has it ever fucking occured to you that it’s actually people down here getting fucked up like this?
MAY: Or do you just pretend like that’s not happening, to help you sleep better at night?
MAY: You’re just a tool getting used like everybody else here!
MAY: Let us leave and maybe do something good for once in your life!
????: What do you know about my life?
????: You don’t know shit about me, kid!

  

 
He tightens his grip on Chance, enough to get a high pitched yelp out of the dog. 
 

DWAYNE: Uhhh, Suplex?!
DWAYNE: Might wanna… be careful with how you talk to him! Considering Chance is… y’know...
MAY:  ...Well, he’s wrong, anyways!
MAY: There’s one person in there that I care about!
????: Oh yeah?
????: You care, you little runt?

 

 
He tosses Chance aside. You wince as the ruffneck hits the floor and skids. He doesn’t get back up. 
Now the monster’s attention is all on you, looming in and baring his teeth in full, electricity starting to crackle around his collar. 
  

????: Tell me, how the fuck do you care about any of us?
MAY: Harvey gave me hope.

 
At the mention of Harvey’s name, he scoffs, tossing his head.
 

????: That old windbag-
MAY: She gave me a name! She let me think that someday, things could be better!
????: I’m sure she did! I’m sure she filled your head full of fucking rainbows and daydreams, and made you feel like the world was gonna be perfect outside of these halls!
????: Guess what? It isn’t!
MAY: It’s probably better than being in here, still!
MAY: And you’re just gonna tear that possibility away?
MAY: For us?
MAY: For the kids?

   

 
He freezes.
 

????: ...kids?

[Ignispark]

That seems to have caught his attention. Press the point about all of this being about getting the kids to safety, someplace that isn't this hell.

[Shifter55]

You might want to gesture towards the meat wall/fuller, might be a good time to drop Anya's name, point out she's turning kids into monsters for someone, and that you are trying to get any you can find away from her.

If you can, see if you can get around to Chance, but keep your distance, I don't think Nelson's going to be able to carry him out.

[skinstealer]

 

MAY: Yeah, kids!
MAY: All of this is an attempt to get as many people out of here as possible. But, more than that, it’s turned into getting some kids out who need it!
????: …

  
His gaze is entirely focused on you now, but it isn’t as cold as before. 
 

????: Go on.
MAY: You know Anya, don’t you?
????: Course I do. Hate her guts.
????: She’s one of the worst people alive, if you can even call her either of those things. 
????: ...I know what she does, I know what this place is, and I know that trying to get out of this place in your position is a suicide mission.
MAY: We got this far, didn’t we?
MAY: Further than anybody else-

FULLER: For the- stop running!

  

 
Before you can really process it, a tiny karacel comes running up to both of you, and your blood runs ice cold. Your tail reaches out to stop her in the nick of time. You try not to let the panic show as you realize just how dangerous it is for Melanie to be this close to the beast, but you can’t stop her from wiggling away from your grip enough to poke her head out and sniffle. 
  

MELANIE: S-Stop it!
MELANIE: He’s hurting Chance!

 
Just what I need right now. Great.

 

  
You look up to see Fuller trailing behind, struggling to catch up- Mel must have gotten a hell of a head start. Mason struggles to keep up while holding Maes in his arms, not wanting her to run in her sickly state. 
 

MAY: Doc, keep ‘em back! This guy’s dangerous!
????: I’m not gonna hurt kids!
MAY: Chelsea threatened to kill them!
????:  That’s her, not me. She’s not calling the shots right now, and I...I don’t do that.
????: Those kids... Those are Anya’s kids, though.
????: ...you’re even more suicidal than I thought.
MAY: They need out. Doesn’t matter who they are.
????: I’m not gonna deny that, but no fucking wonder you’ve got us on your tails. You just painted the biggest possible targets on your backs. 
????: I’ve wanted to do what you’re trying to pull off for years, but it’s impossible.
????: Even with how far you’ve come, even if we let you go right now, you still have to make it through the surface levels undetected.
????: ...and we just covered one of you in blood.
MAY: We’ll make it work. We’re getting them out of here. 
MAY: I’m not giving up. None of us are.

 

 
No one else says a word. You get the feeling that it’s partially out of fear of the beast, but partially out of agreement- but maybe nobody wants to say it outright. In the silence, Dwayne sneaks over to check on Chance, who still isn’t moving.
 

????: I...didn’t know the kids were here. 
????: I wouldn’t have fought like that if I did. Especially, uh…

  


He glances down at Melanie, who looks up at him with wide, tearful eyes.
  

????: ...especially not somebody who seems to be important to them. 
????: All I knew is that somebody was fighting us, and when we get shocked or burned or shit like that, I tend to get dragged in. 
????: Just along for the ride.

[Lilium Mortem]

Tell him you have a chance(well currently he has one), not a big one, and you're aware that you could die or worse at any moment. But... you have to try. You began this as a suicide mission really. didn't expect to get this far, didn't expect the kids, but now there's something bigger than yourself. a way to screw over mother dearest and give some kids a chance at a less terrible life. you hope you'll be a part of it, but would lay down your life to get the kids to a better place.

Sorry you got a rough deal, but will you help us? or barring that just let us go? turn a blind eye? anything.