The Pretender 2010/07/23(Fri)11:07 No. 211252 ID: b4b04d
File 12799084751.png - (43.51KB , 800x600 , 2.png )

Look at these people. They all pretend.
They don't need anyone to pull the wool over their eyes. They keep themselves in the dark.

Eyes burn silent accusations into my back.
Coming here was a bad idea.

Yes, you're a special snowflake. What happened to your face?

Where are you?

>>211252
What's that you're drinking?

The Pretender 2010/07/23(Fri)11:16 No. 211256 ID: b4b04d
File 127990898435.png - (29.00KB , 800x600 , 3.png )

In a nameless bar in a hollow town, drinking beautiful, poisonous nectar.

My face was maimed, but it was not unwarranted.

The men behind me don't think I've noticed them. I feign ignorance.
I believe they will want a fight, but they are cowards. They lie. They will turn when it suits them. Not here.

So why do these guys want to fight?

>>211256
Cowards, eh?

Let's pick a fight with them, right here, right now. Expose their hypocrisy to the world.

>>211256
So do you just always talk to yourself, or are you hearing voices for a particular reason?

The Pretender 2010/07/23(Fri)11:27 No. 211264 ID: b4b04d
File 127990965910.png - (34.65KB , 800x600 , 4.png )

This is not the place for violence. I can't bring that attention to myself. Too many eyes on me already. The law would come down. Too much trouble.

This dialog is new.
Are you a voice in my head?
Or am I a voice in yours?

>"Quit starin', guy. I'm not interested."

>>211264
Stare harder

More intensly, scare him off.

You seem to want to be alone.

>>211264
Last I checked you're the only one with a head around here. Don't worry about the details, just accept our company and let us help you. You make your own decisions though, do not forget that.

You don't seem to want to be here, so the why the hell are you here? I'd just get the strongest drink and go home.

The Pretender 2010/07/23(Fri)11:38 No. 211270 ID: b4b04d
File 127991031989.png - (27.40KB , 800x600 , 5.png )

I stare harder. She flinches.
She's a rich woman. She was. She destroyed it, and herself. All she has now are the skeletons of her past. She comes here to convince herself she's not better than this.
Same old story.
>"What's your problem, huh? Do I know you?"
"I know you."
>"Have we met?"
"No. Excuse me. I must be going."

so you know everyone's story. that is a hard power to deal with.

>>211270
Awesome. So, where to next? I mean, you need to do something. Life's just empty otherwise.

No wonder you drink...

Use your power for the greater good.
Rob some banks using it. Buy more expensive whiskey for the profits.

>>211270
Interesting trick, I can see how being like that can make you a bit moody.

But, you ever try to use it help anyone? If you can see wounds or weakness, you can perhaps act to heal them.

The Pretender 2010/07/23(Fri)11:47 No. 211275 ID: b4b04d
File 127991085556.png - (23.20KB , 800x600 , 6.png )

I already have a job. I quite enjoy it. But it makes me enemies.

I am not a healer. I'm not a guiding light in the darkness.
I'm the enemy.

I should go. The men will follow. I will decide how to deal with them. I anticipate violence.

Are you ready?

Very much so.
Do you have anything on you that would help in a fight?

>>211275
Healing isn't always about the light you know. It can be just as well to crush a persons illusions, drag them kicking and screaming to the reality they don't want to see. Hurt them, be hated, and they become all the stronger. And maybe the world becomes just a little less twisted and disgusting for it.

Yeah, go kick some ass. They are arrogant and must be broken.

Be careful to not let them through your blindspot now if they intend to fight.

The Pretender 2010/07/23(Fri)11:54 No. 211279 ID: b4b04d
File 127991129654.png - (20.90KB , 800x600 , 7.png )

If necessary I believe I will be able to stand up in a fight. I do not know how they are armed.
But I know they are cowards. They will turn when they believe I am not aware.

At first I thought they were seekers of vengeance. Survivors of a past job.
But for those proud eyes. They believe they will be doing the world a service.
They know who I am, but not what I am. Just another soul for sale.

They still believe I am unaware.

>>211279
That's far less in detail than you knew of that woman. What is the difference, are their minds more guarded, do you need to look them in the eyes?

I suggest you simply show them what you are. In the most blunt and stinging way possible.

Take out one of them. Surprise style if you can.

Then interrogate the other, as they are cowards they will most likely yield to a little torture.

Let them know you are aware. If they think they have lost that advantage of taking you by surprise, perhaps they'll back down. As you said, they are cowards.

Just make sure you never surrender.

The Pretender 2010/07/23(Fri)12:14 No. 211286 ID: b4b04d
File 127991245236.png - (33.80KB , 800x600 , 8.png )

They are cowards. All the more reason they should die.
I don't need to interrogate them. I can see what I need to know. They are the self-appointed bringers of justice in a lawless world.

I lead them down an alley, then turn.
They draw swords.

They think they know so much. They think they know can recognize a monster. They can't. They don't see me when they look in the mirror.
There is no fear in their eyes. Confidence. They don't expect to die. It hasn't even occurred to them.

They think they're something permanent. But death is life's one constant. I must teach them this. I must show them they are temporary things.

Alright.

Can you disarm them somehow?
Do you have any outstanding attributes?

Do not answer these if you are short on time.

>>211286
I would find it more satisfying to maim them, leave them disfigured and helpless and scant inches from death. They would certainly learn the lesson of their mortality.

But hey, killing them is cleaner and quicker. Not like they'd be much less a stain on the world if they were crippled and afraid.

Your call, boyo.

>>211286
Injure them, hurt them, humiliate them, maim them and make them beg for mercy. Make sure they feel the fear of what you are and they realise their mistake. Only then will you slit their throats. But don't do it quickly or cleanly, make sure they feel all of it and see their life flow out of their necks before they perish.

So, what's next after that? Some food maybe? Murdering always get's me a bit hungry.

inb4 emo punk gets shanked in the alley

They're hardly even worth the effort and attention. I'd suggest maiming them similar to yourself... I mean in the physical way and not the metaphorical way you like to talk about. Just give them a scar and something to regret for the rest of their probably short lives.

>>211286
Psychologically destroy them, after you have removed the threat.

Make a feint toward the one in the black hat. While he's recovering, quickly kill his partner.

The Pretender 2010/07/23(Fri)23:17 No. 211505 ID: b4b04d
File 127995226613.png - (42.47KB , 800x600 , 9.png )

I feint towards the man in the black hat. He recoils, and the other man approaches quickly from behind, looking for a quick strike on an unaware opponent.
Instead, I teach him a lesson he'll savor for his last few moments.

Like a book out of print, he loses his future.

You don't give lessons very well you know, what's the point if they can't actually use the knowledge gained from them?

not that it is one on one just a simple one two strike will finish the other.

Hit the other guy so hard that he flies out from under his hat, causing it to spin around in midair.

...or just stab him while he's stunned at his friend's death.

>>211505
Injure the other but not lethally, let him live to pass along the lesson.

The Pretender 2010/07/23(Fri)23:30 No. 211516 ID: b4b04d
File 127995301229.png - (38.68KB , 800x600 , 10.png )

I hit the other man sharply in the wrist to deflect his violence, then break his nose with my palm.
One, two.
That should keep him in the dark.

>>211516
Wear his hat.

>>211516

Take his knife.

>>211516
Explain to him his mistake.

>>211517
yes

that hat would look excellent on you.

The Pretender 2010/07/23(Fri)23:40 No. 211525 ID: b4b04d
File 127995361397.png - (38.38KB , 800x600 , 11.png )

The hat wouldn't fit me. Fashion is an ill-suited preoccupation for one such as myself.

I slam the man against the wall by the throat and squeeze.
>"Go on, kill me! There will be others! Th--hhhkkkhhhh--... hhhhh... hahh..."

His wheezing plays a discordant melody and his bloody sputtering coughs provide the percussion to the beautiful song. If only I still knew the words, I would sing again.

The hat would make a nice trophy, but I fear it clashes with your outfit.

just hum along with the song. the words aren't needed.

>>211525
"They will die as you have."

>>211525
Well, finish him off, then. With his own knife, preferably.

Or let him live, I suppose. That would be crueler and more amusing. Cut some bits from him, his ears, his nose, his lips, his eyelids. Neuter him, cut his hamstrings, make him a broken man. And then leave him alive.

>>211525
slowly choke him while staring him dead in the face, unblinking

The Pretender 2010/07/23(Fri)23:52 No. 211539 ID: b4b04d
File 127995433284.png - (33.39KB , 800x600 , 12.png )

A sharp pain, an overlooked detail.
Sometimes the will of instinct surprises even me.

Even from the dark, he refuses to surrender.
Even in my pain, I admire that.

The weakened strike is glancing but not inconsequential.

>>211539

Reverse kick that mother in the face.

>>211539
Break his neck, quick death.
Break the other ones legs, not so quick.

>>211539
Don't forget about the one in front of you either. Kill both of them quick-like.

The Pretender 2010/07/24(Sat)00:03 No. 211553 ID: b4b04d
File 12799550278.png - (40.19KB , 800x600 , 13.png )

It saddens me to cut short their dying song. That blissful, heavenly melody of the skeletal self.
I turn and grab the blade, spinning it to catch the other man through his skull, and like an artist with his masterpiece I paint a stroke of the most perfect crimson across the alley. My foot finds his neck, breaking the spine with a chorus of splintering bone.

Two more dead.
Same old story.

>>211553

Neat.

...now what?

>>211558
Now? Now we dance!

>>211553
Dance about in the blood of your enemies, paint a greater masterpiece.

>>211553
You. You know what? You're badass. I like you.

The Pretender 2010/07/24(Sat)00:16 No. 211568 ID: b4b04d
File 127995581981.png - (27.79KB , 800x600 , 14.png )

With that indulgence out of the way, my mind returns to my task.
I've come here to obtain a magical artifact.

Picking over the two canvases I've left behind, I find these men were hands at the very place I believe it is being kept.
A pleasant surprise.

I'm done pretending ignorance. I should move.
The target is an old shelter, the artifact is inside. Guards should be minimal, especially with these two pretenders aside.

>>211568
Hang on, you got stabbed in the ass. What about that? It looked fairly nontrivial, shouldn't you put a band aid on it r something?

Why the artifact? What will it do for you?

>>211568
Let's case the joint.

The Pretender 2010/07/24(Sat)01:08 No. 211581 ID: b4b04d
File 127995891382.png - (33.03KB , 800x600 , 15.png )

The artifact is just one that I will retrieve for my benefactor.
As for my wound, I will tend to it when my task is done. It will not kill me until then, at least.

My goal is here in the bad part of town. The poor and destitute gather outside like maggots on a corpse. Inside is the prize that longs to be mine.
Only a few inside will offer resistance. The others can be kept in the dark.
This place is as hollow as they are.
They all pretend.

It's about to begin. Are you ready?

>>211581
Let's do this.

Sure. Who is your benefactor? Are you sure you can't get it and leave them ALL in the dark?

The Pretender 2010/07/24(Sat)01:43 No. 211607 ID: b4b04d
File 127996099995.png - (34.76KB , 800x600 , 16.png )

I am ready. I expect light resistance.
It's time for these bones to march in once again.

>"Alms for the poor?"

>>211607

"Not today."

The Pretender 2010/07/24(Sat)01:54 No. 211619 ID: b4b04d
File 127996169122.png - (28.40KB , 800x600 , 17.png )

"Not today."

The words come easy, but not from me.
I wonder about the line between us.
Why do you speak to me like this?
As though I'm one of your plays.

I told you before, I'm not like the others.

>>211619
Huh? Wait what, you're talking directly to us now.

Would you rather have given the poor guy money?

>>211619

You didn't happen to come across a magical artifact, did you? One that speaks voices into your head?

Anyways, cautiously open the door.

>>211619
And yet here we are

The Pretender 2010/07/24(Sat)02:01 No. 211625 ID: b4b04d
File 127996206840.png - (32.88KB , 800x600 , 18.png )

I have come across many artifacts.
I let the darkness swell and feel the pull of the magic item here. It leads me through the black halls and the human filth and soon I reach the door that must hold the world away from its secret.

>"Sorry, friend. Not this way."
The man is a soft authority. This job is his only form of acceptance, and even here he skulks around his duty for fear of judgment. He has a wife and child.
Too bad for them.

tell him he has one chance, stand aside or his child will not see him again. if he reaches for his weapon then slay him. any action other then moving out the way results in slaying.

>>211625
Smash his face in, then slam his head against the wall.

The Pretender 2010/07/24(Sat)02:15 No. 211642 ID: b4b04d
File 127996291537.png - (34.91KB , 800x600 , 19.png )

"Stand aside now, or you will never go home to your child again."
He is quiet a moment, instinctively reaching for his weapon.
>"This... is a sanctuary for the sick and poor. I'm asking you not to bring violence here."

>>211642
Offer stands.

>>211642
Well, you warned him.

promise you won't. Lies do well against the weak

Tell him it won't, as long as he steps aside.

The Pretender 2010/07/24(Sat)02:25 No. 211653 ID: b4b04d
File 127996355619.png - (34.26KB , 800x600 , 20.png )

I did warn him.
This is how it always begins.

Another book finished. Another ending written.
Tonight I am a grim and wonderful poet.
In this light I feel so handsome.

You look pretty ugly to me. Are you just pretending?

>>211654
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Move quickly, quietly, and avoid being seen. The less trouble we get into the better.

The Pretender 2010/07/24(Sat)02:34 No. 211656 ID: b4b04d
File 127996409466.png - (36.38KB , 800x600 , 21.png )

I've been known to look quite handsome, at the proper angle.

I enter the room. The artifact is here.
A man stands nearby crying crocodile tears for his fallen compatriot.
>"You killed him! You monster! I'll crush your god-damned head in!"
This man has never known sympathy in his life. But he has learned to fake it himself.

The artifact. I wonder if he even knows its significance.
They've kept him in the dark, I'm sure.
Pretending.
Just like him.

if violence is not aloud then why allow weapons within? dodge his swing and kill with a swift strike to the neck.

>>211656
He's charging you, weapon raised? Should be easy to take him out. The artifact is right there. He's barely even in your way. Toss him aside and abscond with the item.

I'm curious though... why would a man cry like that in front of his enemy unless he meant it? Perhaps, if you pretend hard enough, you truly believe the lie.

Get the artifact and leave quickly, throw him into the wall.

The Pretender 2010/07/24(Sat)02:51 No. 211667 ID: b4b04d
File 127996509074.png - (56.36KB , 800x600 , 22.png )

You're right. The artifact is close. No need to delay now.
I end him quickly.

When I kill him, I am so handsome.

>>211667

What the hell was THAT?!

>>211667
So you're super strong, really fast AND a magic user? There's not much that can stop you, is there.

Grab and dash. I hope nobody else gets in your way.

The Pretender 2010/07/24(Sat)02:56 No. 211671 ID: b4b04d
File 127996539655.png - (37.32KB , 800x600 , 23.png )

Come now, do you think I would tell you all my secrets? You're still in the dark too, I see.

Something unexpected.
A young woman throws herself in front of the artifact.
>"Please, you can't! If you take this away from us, people will die!"
She is unarmed.

simply swat her aside, and take the item. no point in using more force then needed.

What is she pretending to be?

>>211671
oh lawdy, be gentle..

>>211671
So? People die anyway. Kill her and take what you came for. Atleast her misery will be cut short.

The Pretender 2010/07/24(Sat)03:06 No. 211676 ID: b4b04d
File 127996597131.png - (31.78KB , 800x600 , 24.png )

I swat her aside effortlessly and take the artifact.

Ah, yes.
Step one complete.

The Pretender 2010/07/24(Sat)03:06 No. 211677 ID: b4b04d
File 127996598493.png - (30.83KB , 800x600 , 25.png )

Now for step two.

>>211677
Hmm, that thing looks potentially cursed. Be careful with it.

>>211677
What. Why are you going to blow up the building? That seems unnecessary!

>>211677
>ǝʌısoןdxǝ
Oh come on you got what you wanted why are you blowing things up now!
That seems highly unnecessary!
And besides do you really want that much attention?

>>211679
Oh, explosives. Well that makes sense. Will cover the tracks and make it look like the artifact was blown up in an insane act of random terrorism.

>>211677
Proceed. Try to see if you can't make an orphanage catch fire as well with some flaming debries.

So, what's happening next? Maybe some food? All this bloodletting must make you work up quite an appetite.

The Pretender 2010/07/24(Sat)03:15 No. 211685 ID: b4b04d
File 127996653496.png - (43.99KB , 800x600 , 26.png )

I can't skip this step. Can't leave footprints. No footnotes in this story. Not ever.

The woman throws herself against me.
>"Please, you can't!"
The fuse beckons me.

>>211685
Tell her that you can. Slash her throat, but not deep enough to make her bleed out before the fuse burns down. Light it and be on your way.

>>211685
An exploded building is a pretty damn big footprint!
Maybe you should be a little sneakier next time mister!

>>211685
Well, you seem to be some sort of bastard, so simply say "Yes, I can." Then cackle maniacally while lighting it.

You never said what she was pretending to be.

>>211685
People already want to kill you just from looking at you. You want people to know that you blew up a homeless shelter, so they send assassins after you? There are witnesses outside that saw you walk in, you gonna kill them too?

How many stories do you need to end just to claim this one artifact? Explain yourself.

The Pretender 2010/07/24(Sat)03:23 No. 211695 ID: b4b04d
File 127996698785.png - (24.41KB , 800x600 , 27.png )

"Yes I can."

The Pretender 2010/07/24(Sat)03:24 No. 211696 ID: b4b04d
File 127996703987.png - (22.90KB , 800x600 , 28.png )

I should leave.
I can hear more guards being rounded up outside. They're taking the front door, of course.

I believe I saw a side exit on my way in. I wonder if that would be the better option for me.

>>211696
Yes, sure. Go out the side. This artifact had better be worth all this death.

>>211696
Well then damatically dive out through the side exit and calmly walk away from the explosion. And don't look back at it. Just calmly walk away.

Maybe you should kill her too? Stabby stabby.
And blowing up shelter is not the best idea in my opinion.

Can't you teleport?

The Pretender 2010/07/24(Sat)03:37 No. 211705 ID: b4b04d
File 127996783237.png - (25.19KB , 800x600 , 29.png )

I make haste for the side exit. The guards are busy breaking down the front door.
It's barred, of course.
That should keep them in the dark until...

>>211706
Stop pretending to be heartless.

>>211706
Hmm, look at that. An abandoned kid. Probably an orphan.

Well, nothing to see here. Keep moving. Don't want to get caught in the blast.

Adopt him or her or it. Or just kill him/her/it swiftly.

Bring the kid outside, they're not going to be able to remember anything anyway.

The Pretender 2010/07/24(Sat)03:45 No. 211713 ID: b4b04d
File 127996835467.png - (41.58KB , 800x600 , 33.png )

I'm finished making sense.

I'm what's right.

Sense is overrated anyway.

and that is all that matters.

>>211713
Because you have the might.

So, lets go get paid.

>>211713
Wake up. Abandon drugs.

The Pretender 2010/07/24(Sat)03:56 No. 211723 ID: b4b04d
File 127996898328.png - (29.65KB , 800x600 , 34.png )

In the safety of my home, I treat my wounds.
But there is always more to do. The wheel keeps turning.
It turns me, forever.

The injury teaches me to bring armor next time.
I pretend nothing else: It is only a delay of the inevitable. We are none of us permanent. We're temporary.
Stories reaching their inevitable end.
Books going out of print.

And this turning wheel, it's never-ending.
Same old story.

The Pretender 2010/07/24(Sat)03:57 No. 211724 ID: b4b04d
File 127996902881.png - (30.18KB , 800x600 , 35.png )

No, I make no pretensions. But you, you're the pretender.

I know who I am. You know who I am.

I'm what's left
I'm what's right.
I'm the enemy.
I'm the hand that will take you down and bring you to your knees.

The Pretender 2010/07/24(Sat)03:57 No. 211725 ID: b4b04d
File 127996904524.png - (32.55KB , 800x600 , 36.png )

So... who are you?

>>211725
We're the voice of your future doom and master.

Larro 2010/07/24(Sat)04:02 No. 211729 ID: cf68aa
File 127996933061.gif - (1.27MB , 319x131 , 125547339715.gif )

>>211725
Oh hell no... We're screwed.

>>211727
Well played, Sir. Well played.

Bravo.

Suggestion 2010/07/24(Sat)08:26 No. 211772 ID: 0c5fca
File 127998516738.jpg - (7.49KB , 300x300 , pretender.jpg )

Just throwin' this on the end so the spoiler isn't on the front page

>>211727
Oh, son of a bitch.

>>211772
what spoiler? the chapter thing? you telling me you didn't recognize the art?

>>211790
It's not the art, it's who the fuck that guy is. A small end image could put the puzzle together and ruin the shock.

OH GOD I JUST REALISED WHO THAT IS.

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUCK.

Hoh Fuck. I wasn't even reading this until you guys started mentioning spoilers.

You sure got some smoother line software there, author.

>>211725

Oh DAMN IT.

Recognizing art style is one thing, but that only narrowed it down to an author known to have at least four threads going at once. I'd chalked it up to being a fifth. Good show.

Okay, so I'm slow.
No clue what everyone's flipping their shit about. Anyone care to enlighten me as to why this is significant, apart from final image?

I love this song.

>>211727
Also awesome.

>>212016
And don't forget to use spoiler tags.

>>212016
The lethal, vicious, and generally insane individual we've been following for this quest is revealed to be the same as an antagonist we met in DiveQuest. We have a very powerful and very unhinged character after us and only at the end was it revealed that this was in fact a DiveQuest chapter.

>>212305
So it's exactly what it seemed like, and it's a problem of me not being amazed by something that is par for the course with Weaver.

It isn't the first non-orb perspective shift we've seen, and it probably won't be the last.

Thank you for clarifying.

Am I the only one who saw it coming the entire time?