Elfer: Inventory consists of a four foot length of steel pipe and a fully loaded 9mm pistol.
B wins!
Slowly, you slip out the driver's door, not letting any bit of you show. "Stay here." You say to Chris and Tony. "I'll take care of this." Using a long row of parked cars as cover, you sneak to the far end of the square before you chance peaking out at the square. Scanning the square, you quickly calculate the path of the bullets shot at you, and manage to estimate the location of the shooter: the roof of a two story building on the other side of the square. Making note of the building's location, you slip out of the square, then walk as inconspicuously as possible to the back side of the square. Once there, you slip into an alley and find a back door into the sniper's building. Grasping the handle, you yank the door, only to find it locked. Swearing, you smash the lock with the pipe, jarring the door open. Striding into the building, you quickly find the stairs and start climbing them. Two flights of stairs later, you are standing under the trapdoor to the roof. Dramatically, you burst through the trapdoor into the sunlight, pistol in hand-
And your sixth sense goes off. You dive forward just in time to avoid a gout of flame coming from your left. Unfortunately, you dive toward a man with a long-barreled sniper rifle. As the man aims for you, you tuck into a forward roll then jump six feet in the air and clear over the sniper, elicitng several amazed swearwords from the man. You land and immedatly flow into a sweep kick, tripping the sniper, and follow it up with an spinning uppercut to the man's chin, knocking him to the ground, unconscious. Then you notice the tall bald man pointing a flamethower at you. Fwoosh! A gout of flame emerges from the end of the flamethower. Focusing your will, you take control of the fire and toss it away, scattering it across the concrete roof top. The bald man stares at you in pure shock. "But...How?" he blubbers. Instead of answering, you shoot the man in the kneecap. Then you clear out as fast as possible, getting back to Tony's van. Once there, you relate the entire episode to both Chris and Tony. "Those two are bad news." Tony muses, looking thoughtful. "Perhaps we should skip town now.
A-Leave the city now.
B-Stay one more night.

C Wins!
"We should go west." You say. "I want to get to Marth as soon as possible." "Makes sense." Agrees Chris. "So we all agree! West we go!" Tony says, a smile on his face. The next week progresses rather smoothly. Marth's goons are not seen at all. Tony runs into a a couple of acquaintances, who seem glad to see him. You make good time, and by the end of the week you, Chris, and Tony stop in Cincinnati to gather supplies. Tony's just parked the van when a gunshot rings out through the streets. "What's going on?!" Shouts Chris, alarmed. "What ever is going on, it's coming from that direction." You say, pointing off to the southwest. "That's Fountain square." Says Tony, looking worried. "It's sorta like Cincinnati's version of Rockefeller Plaza." Tony shifts the van back into drive and nimbly manuvers through traffic, despite the van's size. Tony scratches the sides a little, but you get to Fountain square without causing any accidents. However, when you get there, there's hear Blam-bam, whoof, whoof, and the van suddenly lurches to the right. You yell "The tire's been shot!" just before the van hits a street lamp, and every blurs into a roar of crushing metal and a blur of moving objects. You hit your head on something, then everything comes to a abrupt stop, leaving your head spinning. There is another blam! and a two holes appear on opposite sides of the van, bringing you back to reality. Looking at the holes, you realize that the shooter is using a high-caliber gun, one that could kill even Chris. Quickly you check on Chris and Tony, and finding them uninjured, if dazed. "Come on guys!" You yell, opening the van's back door. "We've got to move or we'll have a hole blown in us!" You grab Chris and move to jump out to van. Suddenly, your sixth sense blares, and you jerk back out of reflex. You hear a thirdblam! and a line of red pain streaks across your chest. Looking down, you see the bullet has sliced across your chest, leaving a long, bleeding cut. You feel an chill go down your spine as the knowledge that you were just one bit slower or less lucky you would be dead now. You take a deep breath, you plan your next move.
A-Charge zigzagging at the shooters position to attempt to an attack
B-Slip out of the van and try to sneak up on the shooter.
C-Sneak out, take cover, and wait for the police to arrive.

C Wins!
"I can get the ammo." You say. Tony smiles, and says "Gotchya. I'll get the gas. Hope you don't mind getting the food, Chris." Chris shakes his head. Tony yells "Then away we go!" hands a couple of twenty dollar bills to both you and Chris, and drives away.
As Tony's van turns out of sight, Chris asks "Err, did you see a supermarket around here?" "Three blocks back the way we came." As Chris walks away, you head to head over to a pay phone and rifle through the phone book there. Finding a gun shop, you call it, and get its address. You walk over there slowly, keeping an eye out for Marth's goons. Surprisingly, there is no sight of them, not the least thing suspicious, which only heightens your sense of paranoia. Nothing happens as you enter the gun store, nothing happens has you buy several clips of ammo, nothing when you walk back to the meeting place, and nothing while you wait for Chris and Tony to return. You know that Marth's goons are somewhere; you just can't pick them out.
Later that night, Tony spreads out a map on the floor of his van. "Way I see it," He says, "We got three choices. We can head northwest, cut through Chicago and the Dakotas, and then curve back down into California. We can go southwest, through Mississippi and Texas, then curve up through New Mexico and into California, or we can just head straight west.
A-Go northwest
B-Go southwest
C-Go west.

A wins!
Tires squeal as Tony's van accelerates, fishtails a little, then shoots down the left road, followed my the black cars. Bullets ping off the road and bumper. You smash the van's back window and fire off a few shots at the leading car. The first two hit nothing but pavement, but third punctures the car's front left tire, sending it careening into the other cars. You watch in horrible fascination as the cars crash and ricochet off each other like a demented game of marbles. Tony accelerates suddenly, leaving the wreckage far behind. " I think that's the last of them." Chris mutters. As the day goes on, it seems that Chris is right. None of the black cars come into sight for the rest of the day, and night is equally peaceful. The next morning, there is still no sight of the black cars, and Tony and Chris are certain that they're gone for good. "I talked to a couple of buddies of mine." Tony declares, slapping the radio. "No sign of those guys." However, you still can't shake several suspicions. "Who the hell were those guys?" You say. "Marth's goons, who else?" Says Chris "I guess so, but it doesn't make sense. I mean, they we're so sloppy. Everything they did was so unsubtle. Their aim sucked- I haven't fired a gun in months and I was a better shot then all those guys. What's also wierd is that their is no police on our ass. I mean we've been in or caused two car chases, a major wreck, and a gas station fire. They should be all over us. Not only that, if Marth had any sense, he'd just frame us for some crime and let the police take car of us for him. It just doesn't make sense." "He must be panicking, acting stupid." Chris says, still not that worried. "Any way, if he's making mistakes, all the better for us." Not quite satisfied with Chris's explinaition but unwilling to argue any more, you settle down for the days ride. You get into Harrisburg by noon without incident, and Tony explains what is needed. "We need food, gas, and probably ammo for that gun of yours." He nods to your right boot, where you've shoved you 9mm. "We split up our duties, get the stuff, meet back here in an hour, cool?" You and Chris nod.
A-Get the food.
B-Get the gas.
C-Get the ammo.

A wins!
As the resounding boom begins to fade, Chris hollers "What the hell was that?!" "Let's find out." Says Tony, and before you can protest, he turns onto a dirt road in the direction of the explosion. A few minutes of driving later, the road opens up in front of you to, and you see a burning gas station across the street. Even worse, you see a few figures in the gas station, trapped by the flames. Immediately you yell "We have to help them!" And jump out of the van. Sprinting and top speed, you run across the street, and are nearly scorched when a pump explodes not ten feet from you, forcibly reminding you of the danger of the situation. Cautiously, you approach the burning building. You grab the door handle, only to get a scorched palm for your effort. Swearing, you grab a length of pipe off the ground and smash a window. A quick bit of fire control moves the flames out of the way, and you jump in and yell "Whoever's in here, get over here!" A couple of panicked customers and a surprisingly calm cashier dart over to you, and you help them all out the window. Then you jump out the window yourself, only to find that the entire gas station is surrounded by black, identical cars. Dammit! It was a trap! you think. They set the gas station on fire because they knew it would draw me out! Damn! You twirl the length of pipe in your hands. Bit heavier and shorter than your old quarterstaff, but it will do. You drop into a low crouch, then zigzag towards Tony's van at top speed. The goons in the cars begin to take aim, but are distracted by Chris hurling a good sized rock into their line. While they are distracted, you run to the center car, smash the divers face in; grab his gun, then vault over the car hood. Small caliber bullets ping around you as you zigzag across the street, and couple hit Chris, knocking him down. Getting over to the other side of the street, you help Chris up and the both of you jump into the van. "Get us out of here, Tony!" You yell.
A-Drive to the left
B-Drive to the right
C-Drive back the way you came.

C Wins!
"Well, we killed a guy named Dashio who was trying to kill us. This pissed off a businessman named Marth, and now he's trying to kill us, and those goons were probably his. So now we're going to take on him in person." You say. "Aw yeah!" Tony shouts. "Count me in on this." "Are you sure? You almost get killed because of us already, and we aren't even halfway there yet." You say. "I'm coming whether you like it or not." Declares Tony. You look at Chris for confirmation, and he simply shrugs. "Thanks, Tony." You say. "Any ideas on dodging the goons?" "We wait till morning, then we head out using some back roads." Says Tony. "I know the guys here. They'll patch up The Van" The pats the steering wheel "and give us a place to crash for the night." You and Chris nod in assent, and clamber out of the van. You spend the rest of the day helping the repairs or wondering about Marth's next move. The next day, you, Chris and Tony head out through the back roads. Things seem to go well, and you don't see any of the black cars. However, at about noon, you hear an explosion from Northeast of you.
A-Investigate it.
B-Ignore the explosion.

P.S. I'm going on vacation this week, so no updates until next Sunday. Sorry.

A wins!
"Head to Harrisburg!" You yell. Tony twists the wheel, and the van speeds onto the road to Harrisburg, the pursuing car's right behind. The quickly merges into a larger highway, with heavier traffic than the last road. Five of the cars come out behind you, but one loses control and crashes into a tree. "Must be low budget goons." Mutters Chris as he looks at the smoldering wreck. Then bullets start pinging around you as one of the drivers empties a submachine gun in the vans general direction. "Okay, very uncool! Leaving now!" Tony yells, flooring the accelerator. The van lurches forward with surprising speed, but the four remaining cars give chase, forcing other cars off the road. What's worse, the rest of them have the submachine guns out, and are lines up their shots. "TONY! SWERVE!" You holler, real panic rising in you. Tony obeys your command swiftly and drastically, wrenching the wheel hard to the left. You and Chris get slammed Bullets whiz by the van, missing it by inches. One of the bullets hits the bumper of a car in front of you, suddenly focusing your attention on the other people on the highway. "We have to clear the road, or innocents are going to get hurt." You say, your voice hollow. No sooner than the words are out of your mouth than a stray bullet hits the tire of a station wagon, making it lose control and crash into one of the black cars. Tony slams his hand on the horn, but to little effect. "We need to get off the highway. We can't fight back, and more innocents are going to be hurt if we stay here any longer." You say. "Got it! I know just the way to lose these guys!" Tony cuts across three lanes of traffic to the exit. With the accelerator floored, he speeds through the off-ramp, through two intersections, and turns into a repair shop named 'Joe's repair' before the cars can get them back in their sight again. "Dudes! Need to give the man the slip!" Tony yells to a pair of suprised looking teens. The teens faces break into zit-covred grins, and they quickly yank down the steel doors. Tony looks back at you and Chris and says "Woah! Tell me dudes, what didja do to tick off The Man that bad?!"
A-Tell him the truth
B-Tell a lie.
C-Tell only part of the truth, leaving out the parts about other dimensions.

C wins!
"We wait. They may not be after us." You say. A couple hours go by, and a few more black cars join the ones following you. While you and Chris remain nervous about the following cars, but Tony is oblivious, simply singing off-key to the music on the radio. When the sun beginning to set and you begin to think that maybe the car's aren't Marth's, shots ring out.
Bullets ping on the pavement and one blows through the van's back doors and embeds itself in Tony's seat. "Woah!" Yells Tony, who breaks unexpetedly, crashing into the car behind him and sending it spinning off the road. More shots ring out, and more bullet holes appear in both sides of the van, one tracing a red line down your arm and two hitting Chris's left leg, leaving nasty bruises. Chris picks a bullet off the van floor and declares "9mm bullets" with a grim confidence.
Meanwhile, Tony is screaming "Chill, dudes!" At the other drivers, and is swerving all over the road to dodge the bullets. On the spur of the moment, you open the the back door and swing out, leap, and land on the car left of the van. You drive your foot through the open drivers window, knocking out the driver.
You leap onto the roof of the van before the car drifts off the road. Bullets fly around you, and you swing into the van before your attackers can line up a decent shot. "Do we have any guns?" Chris and Tony shake their heads and you grit your teeth in desperation. "We have to shake them" You say. "We can't fight them with the van, and after that little experience, I'd rather not screw around on car roofs." Looking ahead, you see the road diverge into two paths with signs above them. The left road sign says 'Harrisburg'. The other says 'York'.
A-Go to Harrisburg
B-Go to York
C-Pull a U-turn to try and throw them off.

Sorry it took me so long, I got writers block.
B Wins!
"Let's start Hitchhiking." You say. "I don't feel much like walking to California." Chris nods, and you both head back out into the city. A little while later, a man driving station wagon and wearing a tux picks you up. "Where are you going?" He asks. "Eureka, California." Says Chris. "Well, I can't take you that far." The man says. "I can get you to Connecticut." "Where are you headed, anyway?" You ask. "Brother's wedding." "Cool! Say congrats to the lucky guy for me.?" You manage to pass the time with casual conversation. The man drops you off in eastern Connecticut, at the wedding chapel.
. Over the next few days, you hitch a ride with an old lady, a young woman, a bunch of drunk frat boys, (Shortly afterwards) a policeman, and a newlywed couple. Thumbs out, a psychedelic van slows to a stop in front of you and a man that wouldn't look out of place at Woodstock pokes his head out the window. "Where you headed, Dudes?" "Eureka, California!" You yell back. "Awesome! Hop in!" He replies. You and Chris hop in the back and are momentarily overwhelmed by the smell of marijuana. You manage to say "*cough* Mind if I *hack* open a window?" between hacks. "No problem, man. What are you're names, anyhow?" You and Chris introduce youselves, then the man replies. "I'm Tony dudes. Just Tony. What ya headn' out to California for, anyhow?" "We have a bone to pick with a businessman." You say.
. Tony lets out an odd laugh that climbs in both volume and pitch. "Fightin' the man, huh? Good luck dudes." "Where are you heading, Tony?" You ask. "Dunno really. Just gettin outta the rat race, back to reality, ya know?" Both you nod silently, not really knowing what he means but afraid to ask.
. The next day, Tony's van is alone on the highway when several identical black cars come onto the highway behind the van. "Think those are Marth's goons?" Whispers Chris. "It's likely." You say. "Any bright Ideas?" Asks Chris.
A-Tell Tony to floor it.
B-Tell Tony to drop you and Chris off here.
C-Watch and wait.

Ignore the both above posts, something went wonky with quotation marks. Damn Word.

A and B win!
"We could research about Marth in the library." You say. "Good Idea, I'll do that." Says Chris. "While I'm doing that, you can poke around; see what you can find from the locals. Meet back here?" You nod your head in agreement, and both of you head off to your respective tasks. While Chris goes to find the library, you wander off into the city aimlessly, ears and eyes open. From the engraving on the city hall, you learn the city's name, Deliverance.
A man at a kiosk seems to be giving out courier jobs to willing people, so you pick up a small case of beer and deliver it for some cash, then wander out to the mall. You catch the name Marth in a passing conversation, but you lose the conversation the moment you catch the name. Around noon you pick up something to hot dog and a newspaper. Reading the newspaper, you find that 9/11 never happened, the war in Iraq never happened, but Saddam was killed 6 months after when 9/11 would have happened, and the whole of Iraq has descended into chaos. You skim the local news, and read the sports section to find that the White Sox are the best baseball team in this world. Turning to the business section, you scan it before spotting a small story on the second page. Reading it, you discover that Marth is apparently the owner of a large corporation named Sword and Hammer, which has a presence in nearly every industry, and has just taken over a pharmaceutical franchise. Rolling up the paper, you visit bars for the rest of the afternoon, but pick up no more info on Marth; he seems unknown to the general populace. Around eight, you head back to the alley to meet Chris. You tell him what you found out, and then he says "I was a bit luckier than you. Marth came from Australia, but he inherited like, a billion dollars from an uncle and dived into business. Since then, he's been all over the world, and he now owns about 50% of the world's businesses. Not only that, he%u2019s been accused of underworld connections, but nothing has ever been proven." You let out a low whistle. "Where is he?" You ask. "He should be at his headquarters, in Northern California." You nod, and then say "Where are we?" "East cost, Where Connecticut would be." You sigh. "Road Trip?" You ask. "Road Trip!" Replies Chris, punching a fist into the air.
A-Travel via mass transport (Train, Bus, etc.)
B-Hitchhike.
C-Start Walking.

Ignore the above post, something went wonky with the cut-and pasting.

A and B win!
"We could research about Marth in the library." You say. "Good Idea, I'll do that." Says Chris. "While I'm doing that, you can poke around; see what you can find from the locals. Meet back here?" You nod your head in agreement, and both of you head off to your respective tasks. While Chris goes to find the library, you wander off into the city aimlessly, ears and eyes open. From the engraving on the city hall, you learn the city's name, Deliverance.
A man at a kiosk seems to be giving out courier jobs to willing people, so you pick up a small case of beer and deliver it for some cash, then wander out to the mall. You catch the name Marth in a passing conversation, but you lose the conversation the moment you catch the name. Around noon you pick up something to hot dog and a newspaper. Reading the newspaper, you find that 9/11 never happened, the war in Iraq never happened, but Saddam was killed 6 months after when 9/11 would have happened, and the whole of Iraq has descended into chaos. You skim the local news, and read the sports section to find that the White Sox are the best baseball team in this world. Turning to the business section, you scan it before spotting a small story on the second page. Reading it, you discover that Marth is apparently the owner of a large corporation named Sword and Hammer, which has a presence in nearly every industry, and has just taken over a pharmaceutical franchise. Rolling up the paper, you visit bars for the rest of the afternoon, but pick up no more info on Marth; he seems unknown to the general populace. Around eight, you head back to the alley to meet Chris. You tell him what you found out, and then he says "I was a bit luckier than you. Marth came from Australia, but he inherited like, a billion dollars from an uncle and dived into business. Since then, he's been all over the world, and he now owns about 50% of the world's businesses. Not only that, he%u2019s been accused of underworld connections, but nothing has ever been proven.%u201D You let out a low whistle. %u201CWhere is he?%u201D You ask. %u201CHe should be at his headquarters, in Northern California.%u201D You nod, and then say %u201CWhere are we?%u201D %u201CEast cost, Where Connecticut would be.%u201D You sigh. %u201CRoad Trip?%u201D You ask. %u201CRoad Trip!%u201D Replies Chris, punching a fist into the air.
A-Travel via mass transport (Train, Bus, etc.)
B-Hitchhike.
C-Start Walking.

A and B win!
"We could research about Marth in the library." You say. "Good Idea, I'll do that." Says Chris. "While I'm doing that, you can poke around, see what you can find from the locals. Meet back here?" You nod your head in agreement, and both of you head off to your respective tasks. While Chis goes to find the library, you wander off into the city aimlessly, ears and eyes open. From the engraving on the city hall, you learn the city's name, Deliverance.
A man at a kiosk seems to be giving out courier jobs to willing people, so you pick up a small case of beer and deliver it for some cash, then wander out to the mall. You catch the name Marth in a passing conversation, but you lose the conversation the moment you catch the name. Around noon you pick up something to hot dog and a newspaper. Reading the newspaper, you find that 9/11 never happened, the war in Iraq never happened, but Saddam was killed 6 months after when 9/11 would of happened, and the whole of Iraq has descended into chaos. You skim the local news, and read the sports section to find that the White Sox are the best baseball team in this world. Turning to the buissness section, you scan it before spotting a small story on the second page.

Reading it, you discover that Marth is apparently the owner of a large corporation named Sword and Hammer, which has a presence in nearly every industry, and has just taken over a pharmaceutical franchise. Rolling up the paper, you visit bars for the rest of the afternoon, but pick up no more info on Marth; he seems unknown to the general populace. Around eight, you head back to the alley to meet Chris. You tell him what you found out, then he says "I was a bit luckier than you. Marth came from Australia, but he inherited like, a billion dollars from an uncle and dived into business. Since then, he's been all over the world, and he now owns about 50% of the world's businesses. Not only that, he%u2019s been accused of underworld connections, but nothing has ever been proven.%u201D

You let out a low whistle. %u201CWhere is he?%u201D You ask. %u201CHe should be at his headquarters, in Northern California.%u201D You nod, then say %u201CWhere are we?%u201D %u201CEast cost, Where Connecticut would be.%u201D You sigh %u201CRoad Trip?%u201D You ask. %u201CRoad Trip!%u201D Replies Chris, punching a fist into the air.
A-Travel via mass transport (Train, Bus, etc.)
B-Hitchhike.
C-Start Walking.

I can't get the audio portal search function to work, and there's no links to browse the genre music lists.

A tie. I request a tiebreaking vote, please

Sorry about the lack of clues, llib1.
B Wins!
On a whim, you walk to the door second to the left, the door to Marth's world. Placing your hand on the handle, you ask Chris "Shall I?" He shrugs and replies "Sure." You wrench the door open, revealing a mass of gray fog. The fog bursts over the threshold, obscuring your view of the chamber entirely, then then sucks you and Chris over the threshold and into the gray void. You feel yourself falling, falling, until the gray fog vanishes completely and you hit hard pavement. Looking around quickly, you find yourself in what seems to be an modern alleyway in a modern city. A glance and the road outside the alley confirms this. The only diffrence you can see from an earth city is the predominance of bright blues, oranges, and greens among cars and buildings. "We're gonna need new clothes." Chris comments. "Yeah." You agree. "The only place our armor is going to look normal is one of those Medieval reenactment fairs." You and Chris solve your clothing problem by bursting into through and alley way door into a closed department store. "I don't like stealing." Chris mumbles. "We can leave our old armor and weapons as payment" you say. "They'll probably get a fine price at an antique shop." Chris stays silent after that, his guilt temporarily assuaged. You and Chris get a few changes of clothes, then walk back outside, now unarmed. "Now what?" Chris mutters.

Pick two. First place you do, second place Chris does.
A-Go to a library and do some research on Marth.
B-Gather information about Marth from general the public.
C-Gather information about the criminal underworld.
D-Try and get into high society to find out about Marth.
E-Wait and see what comes to you.

Let's kick this puppy into high gear.
A wins!
You stand up slowly, never taking your eyes off the door. Behind you, Chris descends to the floor using a long curtain as an impromptu rope. Chris is silent for a few seconds, then asks "You going in?" "Yes." Your mind made up, you stride purposefully toward the door, Chris right behind you. With a sense of finality, you throw the door wide open, and step over the threshold.
. Inside is a stone chamber, the walls perfectly smooth and a uniform gray. The walls arch into a hemisphere, becoming the ceiling of the chamber. At the hemisphere's apex hangs a single spotlight, beaming it's illumination straight down upon the room's only occupant, who is sitting in a chair at a table in the middle of the room. On the table in front of him is a chess set. He himself is wearing a a causal black jacket and a fine pair of gray pants. A broad brimmed fedora is pulled down over his eyes, obscuring his face. "Come." He says. "Our time is short." You and Chris walk side by side to the man side by side, your twin footsteps echoing around the chamber.
. When you reach the man, he gestures to a pair of chairs in front of you. "Sit." He says. Both you and Chris sit in the chairs offered. "You two killed Dashio." The man says. He says it not as a question, nor an accusation. He says it as a simple statement of fact. Both you and Chris nod, then you follow it with "Yeah. Chris took all the goons, I delivered the final blow." The man does not respond, instead moving the king on the chessboard. He then gestures to you. "Your move." He says. Slightly confused, you look at the chessboard. A half played game lies upon it, white is at your end, black at the man's. You take in a board for a minute or so, until a flash of insight reveals a mating move. You move one of your pawns forward, trapping and threatening the black king. "Checkmate." you say. The man gazes for a second, then knocks over the black king, silently admitting his defeat.
. You sit back, still confused. What the heck was the point of all this? "The Chessboard is a metaphor." The man says suddenly. "The move you just made now is identical to the move you just made out in the last world." "You mean the king symbolized Dashio, and that pawn was me?" You say. "Yes. You catch on fast." "Then where am I?" Blurts Chris. The man points to a second pawn right next to the first, which is trapping the black king. "You two did an extraordinary deed today. I have been trying to kill Dashio for years." "Would of been nicer if he had just died the first time I squashed him." You grumble. "True." The man says. "But Dashio has not considered the feelings of his opponents for a long time. It was a weakness of his." Both you and Chris stare at the man, not entirely sure if he is serious. "Dashio was a manipulator. At pulling strings, he was a grandmaster. If you had not killed him, he might of actually captured Mistress Art."
. "Get to the point." You say bluntly. The man nods. Despite your rudeness, he seems unmiffed. "Very well. The multiverse has three building blocks: Story, Art and Music. Whenever these things come together, a world is born. Dashio was making a bid for the ultimate prize; total, eternal multiversal domination. In order to do this, he wished to capture the three incarnations of the fundamental building blocks of the universe: Mistress Art, Sir Story, and Music. I'm not quite sure whether Music is male or female currently.
. "Currently?" Chris says. " Whaddya mean by that?" "Art, Story and Music three people in the universe who posses great power over their chosen method of creation. Art can draw such masterpieces as to make them real. Story can create powerful illusions with story, whether from word or pen. And Music can use music to manipulate emotions." "You still haven't explained the whole unknown gender thing." Chris says. "True." The man says. "Story, Art and Music live as mortals. Their spirits can be reincarnated into any race that creates music, art, or story. Their incarnations, for the most part, remain unaware of their true self, their abilities. They become merely great writers, composers, or artists. But on occasion, they discover their powers. More rarely, they discover what they truly are."
. "The incarnations of Story, Art and Music, when brought together, can combine their abilities to create new worlds. This was what Dashio was trying to do. He intended to bring Mistriss Art, Sir Story, and Music together, and force them to create worlds from which he would build his army which would conquer the multiverse." "But then we killed him." You say. "Yes. You did. That brought Dashio's plans to a screeching halt." The man says. "Unfortunately, Dashio was not alone in his pursuit." "Crap, he has a clone?!" Yells Chris. You let out a giggle, but the man seems unperturbed. "No. He was part of a group who call themselves Path's End. When Dashio started his scheme, he encountered four others would conquer all the worlds. They were Arcanum, Marth, Ashrem, and Flower."
. "Suprisingly, they did not kill each other. Instead, the forged a pact. They would share information and resources, but each would independently strive to conquer the multiverse. Whomever was successful at doing so would make the other four his lieutenants. Together, they formed the organization of Path's End. These four went about their own way conquering the multiverse, and helped or hindered each other, depending on the situation. However, by killing Dashio, you have gained the attention of the remaining four of Path's End. I am sorry to inform you that any hope for what you two would call a 'normal' life is well and truely gone."
. For a minute there is silence. Then Chris lets out a string of swearwords that would embarrass a sailor. "You-You're sure?" You say. Gone. Any hope of a normal life, gone. "Yes. I'm sure." The man says. "Now that you have proven yourselves a threat, Path's end will hunt you until both of you lie dead. That is why I now ask you if you will fight Path's end." You look at Chris. You see in his eyes the burning rage, the sinking depression of hope stolen away, and the determination to get that hope back. And with the image of Alexnra burning in your mind, you know that if Path's End kills someone and you could of stopped it, you would never forgive yourself.
. "I'm in." You say. "Me too." Says Chris. "Good" The man says. He gestures behind him, where four doors are now set into the wall there, as if there were always there and you simply hadn't noticed. "Behind me are doors to the worlds where each of the remaing members of Path's End reside. Arcanum's world" He points to the door on the far left. "is behind that door." He then points to the near left door "Continuing, Marth's world is behind that door. Ashrem's and Flower's worlds are behind the near and far right doors, respectively."
. The man gets up, pushing away his chair. "I cannot stay here any longer. When I can, I will provide aid." He then starts walking to the door. "Wait, who are you?" You yell. Without stopping, the man says "That information will only distract you now. Let's just say I am someone who want Path's End gone. He reaches the door, then looks you in the eye for the first time. His eyes are a piercing, sharp. And as gray as the surrounding stone. "Good luck. And thank you." He closes the door. And then the door's gone. No smoke, no flash of light. It's simply there one moment then gone the next. You turn to the four doors in front of you. Which one do you go though first?
A-Far left(Arcanum)
B-Near left (Marth)
C-Near right (Ashrem)
D-Far right (Flower)

Sorry it took me so long to get this up.
A wins!
You lunge at Dashio, quarterstaff held high. Alica moves into your path, but you simply jump over her, jump off the wall behind them, and plunge your quarterstaff deep into Dashio's back. He lets out a horrible, hacking scream, and a cracking noise tells you that the blow destroyed whatever remained of his spine. You raise your quarterstaff for a final blow, but the floor undulates and swallows Dashio and Alica up like a pair of rocks falling through water, and your quarterstaff hits the oozing mass. You feel the floor stabilizing around the quarterstaff as you try to wrench it out. "Chris!" You yell. "Break the floor!" Chris punches the last standing guard in the face, and then uses his broadsword to deliver a mighty blow to the floor in front of you just as it stabilizes.
Crash!
Bits of plaster and wood go flying everywhere and a cloud of dust sprouts from the point of impact. You yank your staff from the disintegrating floor, and wave away enough of the dust to see Dashio and twenty feet below you, turning his head upward. You leap into the recently created hole, quarterstaff below you. Dashio meets your gaze as you fall. You aim your staff towards his head.
And for the first and last time, you see true fear on Dashio's face.
Your staff rams into his head, pulverizing his skull and brain. You continue to force the staff down into his body with the force of your fall, crushing it his chest cavity completely. Then you calmly and numbly remove your quarterstaff from Dashio's body. It's over. Dashio is dead, Pierce, Alexnra, Liera. They have all been avenged. Then you realize that Alica is nowhere to be found. Looking about the room, (Which appears to be an old store room) you see a broken window with a scrap of death-pale flesh caught on one of the edges. Your question answered you look Dashio's body, only to turn away as the gore threatens to make you hurl. You sit down on a box, and begin to think. You realize that you never actually found out what exactly Dashio's plan was. There were hints that involved a girl who could draw pictures into reality, but you never found out his exact plan.
It's time you knew.
You look up for the source of the sound, only to see that the familiar door leading back to the cave has appeared. But for the first time, it’s ajar.
A-Go through the door.
B-Don’t go through the door.

Hmm. A tie. Tiebreaking vote, please!

A wins!
"We charge in." You say. "On three. One, two, three!" You and Chris charge the door, which splinters into pieces under your combined assault. You burst into the room still charging to see Dashio, calm as ever. Standing beside him is Alica, short sword out. Then you see the line of ten guards in blue tunics and chain mail, drawing their swords.
. Neither you nor Chris stop charging. Chris hits the line of guards like a rhino, swinging his broadsword in a wide arc that bisects one guard, and slashes the legs of another. You leap over the line of guards and plunge toward Alica. She dodges with unnatural speed, then thrusts at your side. You roll away from the blow, then leap at her again, bringing your quarterstaff around in a wide arc. Alica leans back, avoiding the blow, then flows into a back flip kick that hits you in the chin. You use the momentum of the blow to go into your own back flip, the the pair of you land on your feet, 15 feet away from one another.
. You sixth sense suddenly blares, and you duck just in time to dodge an dark green energy blast from Dashio. The blast flies over your head and knocks one of the guards in the back, knocking him flat on his face and leaving Chris facing only five guards. You turn your attention to Alica and rush at her feinting to the left with your quarterstaff, then spin it around and hit her right shoulder. There is a crack, telling you you just dislocated her shoulder. She doesn't seem to notice, but Dashio calls to her "Alica! To me!" She looks miffed, but bolts over to Dashio before you can get a second strike in. You turn to the pair only to see Dashio's wheelchair give off a pulse of energy, and the room around you begins to twist and flow...
A-Attack Dashio!
B-Attack Alica!
C-Back off.

llib1, the door you went though lead to the other hallway. Sorry, I should have explained that bit better.
B wins!
"No, I don't want to go this way." You mutter. "Let's go back." You and Chris slink back through the halls to the door. Qucikly putting your ear to the door, you hear nothing on the other side, so you and Chris cautiously slip through. No one is in sight, so you and Chris continue toward the study, slipping by the servants that wander the hall with ease. However, when ducking into a small sun room to a passing housemaid, the door handle emits a quiet click
"Crap." You mutter. You jiggle the handle, and you realize it's locked. Not only that, there's no way to unlock it from this side. "Odd, what sort of door only has a lock on the outside?" You mutter. Turning to Chris, you say "We're going to have to find another way out." Chris pokes his head out the window, then looks back at you. "There's another window a few feet over to the left. We could swing over to it." He says. You nod, saying "I'll go first, then help you over."
Chris opens the window as wide as it will go and steps out of the way. You sprint toward the open window jump out. As you jump out, you grab the left edge, gracefully swing over to the left, let go, then land just inside the next window. Chris takes a less graceful approach, grabbing onto the left-swinging windowpane and riding it over to the other window, where you help him clamber inside before he's seen by the guards. The door in the room you just entered turns out to be unlocked, so you and Chris head back out to the hallway, where you manage to make it to the door leading into Dashio's study without much more trouble. "Are we gonna charge in, or sneak in?" Chris asks you.
A-Charge in
B-Sneak in.

B wins!
"In here." You whisper, and you and Chris slip through the door. Quickly locking the door, you turn to find you have entered a hall identical to the one you just entered. You put your ear to the door to listen to whoever's in the hallway, to find that they've stopped for a conversation right in front of the door! "We're not going to be able to get to Dashio by your planned route, Chris." You say. "Yeah. I don't recognize this hall. We have to get to a place I recognize, then I can get us to the study."
Grumbling, you lead Chris down the hall. You encounter no people or doors, and soon the hall begins to curve downward in a helix, and it isn't long before the windows on the walls stop appearing and you realize you're underground. "I think we're a bit off track." Says Chris. "Are you sure you want to go this way?"
A-Continue going down the hall
B-Turn back.
P.S: Sorry this update is so short. The next one will be longer.

A wins!
Lightning-fast, you leap forward and strike at the suprised maid, hitting her square in the forehead. THe maid slumps the floor without making a sound. Chris lets out a sigh of relief, muttering "Close one." You nod once, then shove the maid in a nearby closet. "We need to be quiet if we don't want to run into anybody else." You whisper as you slip . Chris nods, and follows you, but emits a steady clinking noise, a bit like wind chimes. You look back at Chris, confused at the sound, and immedetly realize the source: The rings of Chris's chain shirt are hitting each, making the clinking, chiming nose. "Ditch the shirt." You order in a harsh whisper. Chris quickly rips off the chain shirt, revealing a simple white cotton shirt underneath, and chucks the chain shirt into the closet on top of the maid. Then an aged butler rounds the corner unexpectedly, and is qucikly knocked out and also shoved in the closet. "Better get moving." Chris mutters as he forces the closet door shut. "Closet's full." You nod in acknowledgment, then slip down the hall quietly, Chris behind you. Chris is familar enough with the mansion to give directions to Dashio's study, where's he most likely to be, according to Chris. You slip by for several mintues without much trouble, dodge a few servants, but in a unusually long corridor you begin to hear footsteps coming towards you from beyond both corners. "Crap..." You mutter, an quickly look about for a way out. All you spot is an unmarked door.
A-Knock who ever is approaching out.
B-Hide in the room behind the door.

B wins!
"I don't like the idea of being seen by the guards." You say. "Let's enter through the sewers." Chris nods, saying "I can get us to the entrance once we're in the sewers." Nodding, you walk down the alley away from Dashio's mansion and toward a manhole. Jumping into the stinking grayish sewer, you let Chris take the lead through the dark tunnels. Nearly immediately you hear a resounding doooong and a loud "Ow!" "Watch out for those low U-bends." You say, chuckling. Five minutes and three pipes to the head later, you come to the underground entrance. "Here goes nothing..." You say, and push open the trapdoor.
The trapdoor opens into what looks like a basement storeroom. Several colored sparks are jumping about, apparently from old wards, but nothing else seems to have happened. You take a quick look about, then whisper back to Chris "Coast is clear." Chris clambers out into the basement after you. The pair of you slip through the dusty boxes and up a rickety flight of stairs. You emerge from the basement into a blue colored, tastefully decorated hallway. Unfortunately, you also emerge into the ling of sight of a young maid, who promptly drops the feather duster she was holding. As she opens her mouth to scream you-
A-KO her
B-Kill her
C-Silence and interrogate her.

B wins!
"Jode, Matt, do either of you know a way out of Azurim?" You ask. They both nod. "Good." You say. "Take Rinnia, Daine, and Liera outside the city and lay low for a while. Also, Matt, I quit as your bodyguard." "You're quitting? Why?" Matt says, looking confused. "Me and Chris are going to go break into Dashio's mansion and kill him. We'll leave when dawn comes." "Are you sure he'll agree?" Asks Matt. "I'm sure Chris will come with me." You say. "Do you know of a good place we can regroup?" "Yes, I do." Matt says. "A mile east of the southern gate to the city." He says. "Good, me and Chris will meet you there in a day or two. If we don't show up, assume the worst. I'm either going to kill Dashio...or die trying." Matt nods, and Jode says "Good luck. You're insane, but good luck anyways." You nod, then lie down and fall asleep almost immediately. The next day, Daine and Rinnia are well enough to walk, so Matt and Jode lead them and Liera out of Azurim. Meanwhile, you and Chris make you way to Dashio's mansion. You sulk in the shadows, slipping around without being seen at all. Chris follows you, unsure if Dashio has the Traglyim looking for him. Eventually, you make it to Dashio's mansion. Looking at it's left side from a unusually wide alley, you ask Chris "What's the best way in?" "Well, I'd guess their are two good ways in." He says. "There's the second floor window on the far right. There's no magical wards and the lock's broken, so it's a great way to get into the house. Problem is, it's on the second floor, and you have to cross the garden to get to it." "And there's a lot of guards in the garden." You say, watching the hired guards walk their rounds around the mansion. "Exactly. There's also the entrance into the basement through the sewers. I think it was Dashio's old bolt hole, but he forgot about it. I'm sure it still has a couple wards on it, but no human guards."
A-Break in through the window.
B-Break in through the sewers.

Finals have ended, so I can get this story running again!
To CEOofCra-Z: To your first question, do you expect Jode to carry out Daine and Rinnia alone? To your last, I answer neither aye nor nay, but one never knows where the story will go.
Speaking of the story, B wins!
"We need to get out of here quietly" You say. "We can't risk another fight." Jode, Chris, and Matt all nod. "Who's alive?" Chris asks. "Pierce is dead." Says Jode, his voice his voice choked with grief. "Rinnia and Daine...I think they'll make it. But we have to get them out of here." "I remember the way back to the roof. We can use the gliders, and Chris can probably just walk out the front door." You say. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure I can just walk out of here." Says Chris. "Where do we meet up again?" "An abandoned building, a mile west of here." Jode replies. "Good. Let's go." You Pick up Daine, and Jode picks up Rinnia. After heading up the stairs, you separate from Chris, who heads to the front gate, while you and Jode limp farther up the stairs to the top level. Panting heavily, you stop for a second to reposition the semi-conscious Daine so you can carry him more easily, then move, heading to pick up Liera. Fate favors you, and you don't run into a single guard on the way to her cell. At the cell itself, Liera seems marginally better mentally, and Jode manages to get her to follow him pretty easily. You make your way to the roof, only to encounter a new problem: "Any Ideas on how we're going to get everybody down with only four gliders?" Jode asks. "I think I know a way to do it." you reply. Quickly, you have the exhausted Matt and Liera fly down individually, then Jode glides down holding onto Rinnia while you glide off the prison roof grasping Daine. The landing's rough, but you get nothing more than a few more bruises. Slipping through the night, everybody gets to the meeting point, which turns out to be an run-down former tailor's shop. Chris is already at the shop, and jumps up when he sees you enter. Jode binds Rinnia's and Daine's wounds while Matt treats the your stomach wound with his mundane methods. It isn't long before all that can be done is done, and everyone rests and sleeps, grateful for the respite. After a while, you look at your companions. Daine and Rinnia lie asleep, slashes, cuts, and bruises bound with scraps of fabric. Daine's right wrist is broken, and lies bound in Jode's impromptu cast. Jode himself sleeps a short distance from the two on a small pile of old clothes, tossing and turning, as if in a nightmare. He is covered in small cuts and bruises. Chris looks the best, the only injury to his sleeping body being a small cut on the side from Alica's blade. Liera sits in a corner, all but insane. She rocks back and forth like a small child, her eyes wide with fear. Matt is slumped asleep on the floor, exhausted from his extensive use of mana. His pale skin is soaked with sweat, and glistens in the dim moonlight. You lie back down and drift into sleep, thinking What next?
A-Get the heck out of here. Retreat, and live to fight another day.
B-Help Jode, Rinnia, Matt, and Daine escape, then go after Dashio with Chris.
C-Lie low in the city.

Hey guys. Sorry it took me so long to get this post up. Finals are coming up next week for me, so I wont be able to post until Thursday, when they end. Sorry guys :(.

B wins!
You aim the gun past Chris to Dashio and fire a baker's dozen of shots into him. A shimmering dark green shield comes into being in front of him, deflecting every shot. In that instant, Chris turns around, broadsword coming in to cleave Dashio in two. Euphoria surges though you as you think Chris is not controlled by Dashio , euphoria which quickly turns to fear as Alica spins around and drives her blade into his side. The attack is forceful enough to knock Chris off balance and cause him to miss, but hard armor and tough skin result in only the smallest of cuts on Chris's side. You jump up and over Chris, intending to bash Dashio's head in and end his life once and for all. You clear Chris's head, and for one shining moment, you think you are going to end this battle, but then a red line of pain streaks across your gut as Alica slams her shortsword into your midsection. You fall back to the floor in front of Chris, your lifeblood pooling around you. Alica raises her sword to finish you off, but Jode's whip yanks the sword from her dead hands, and a massive punch by Chris knocks her back several paces and is accompined by a loud Crack you think is a rib breaking. "Alica!" Dashio barks, panting heavily, "to me!" Alica dashes to Dashio's side. Dashio stares with hate at Chris "You will pay." He says. "You will all pay." Then he is surrounded by a nimbus of green light, and when it fades, he is gone. Matt rushes to you, and places his hands on your wound, which glows red with mana and scabs over. "Best I can do for now, I'm afraid." You nod. "How is Pierce?" You ask. "Dead" Jode pipes up, "But we can save the other Daine and Rinnia if we get to a healer quickly. Can you heal anymore, Matt." Matt shakes his head, then nearly falls over from exhaustion." "Blast." Jode mutters. "How are we going to get out?"
A-Blast your way out. You still have the gun
B-Sneak your way out. There's been enough bloodshed tonight.

The teleportation device was one use only. And It was used in the kitsune adventure to get you and Kaze out of Dashio's (old) base.
A wins!
Forgetting Pierce in an instant, you leap toward Zaran so fast you end up blurred. Zaran panics and fires off a hasty shot that vaporizes a piece of a iron cell bar behind you. You land with a spinning staff strike that knocks the E=mc2 gun out of Zaran's hands and across the room, brings the other end of the quarterstaff into his head, and carries your momentum into a second leap to the gun in one smooth move. You pick up the gun and aim it at Zaran as he hits the floor. Zaran looks at you, blood streaming down his pretty face, with a mix of pain and fear for a few seconds, then his face splits into a triumphant grin. "Drop the gun," he says, totally confidant, "or your friends die by their own ally's hand." You look at the cell to see that Pierce now has yanked Jode clear off the ground by his shirt and is ready to punch him. You evaluate the situation for a moment, then act. You fire a single shot at Pierce's hand, closely followed by a pair of shots to the back of the knees. The clear crackling energy hit's Pierces hand first, mangling it and allowing Jode to escape before the second two shots hit the back of the knees, vaporizing much of the flesh and ligaments with a disgusting sizzle, physically forcing pierce to his knees. You turn your gun back to Zaran, who now looks terrified. Even better, Matt now has a knife at his throat. "Release Pierce, Zaran." Matt Demands angrily. "Pierce is under my control, Matthew. Not Zaran's” Says a cold, terrible voice. Matt’s head flicks up to gaze into the stair landing, only to be blasted by a surge of dark green mana energy. Matt flies across the room to land near the cell. Jode looks up from tending to Daine and Rinnia to see the newcomer. It’s Dashio, his wheel chair spreading a pulsing blue glow from the strands of mana that crisscross it. Behind him comes Alica, the former bandit leader, a short sword at her hip. She is as you remember her from Dashio’s mansion- Skin pale white and lifeless, with dried blood splattered across her neck where you slit her throat. But it’s the final person who shocks you the most.
It’s Chris.
Armored in a shining steel chain shirt and new studded leather pants, worn under a sky blue tunic, Chris looks the part of an intimidating bodyguard a very large broad sword is strapped to his back, Chris surveys the scene silently. Shock appears for a moment on both your and Matt’s faces, but you quickly hide it. Matt then retches saying. “Necromancy? You disgust me…Dashio, is it?” Zaran stands up, brushes off his coat and begins to talk. “Thank you for your timely appearance, Sir-” Dashio cuts him off with a jerk of his head, and says “Quiet, you nimrod. Not only did you fail to kill them, but you lost the gun as well. You managed to do this despite the intellegince from my ripped from the mind of my thrall, Pierce? Your incompetence knows no bounds, Zaran.” Dashio says with a cold frustration. “You are no longer of use to me. Alica?” Zaran doesn’t even have time to scream before Alica draws her short sword and decapitates him in a single, unnaturally fast motion. Apparently just because Alica is dead does not mean she can be agile. “Now with that taken care of,” Dashio says in the tone of someone who has just removed a minor nuisance, “We can move on to more important things. Alica, Chris, kill them.” Chris draws his large broadsword and advances on you, while Alica moves for Matt. For a second, you are confident- Chris is your friend- but as you look into Chris’s emotionless face, a horrible thought crosses your mind. What if Dashio has Chris under mind control as well? Looking into Chris’s eyes, you can’t tell. You force the thought out of your mind, and ready for combat.
A- Tell Chris to attack Dashio
B- Shoot Dashio with the E=mc2 gun
C- Shoot Alica with the E=mc2 gun
D- Shoot Chris with the E=mc2 gun

Oops, missed that llib1. I meant to say she cried over Alexnra's body.
Sorry I took so long to post this.
A wins!
"We should save Pierce and get out of here before we lose anyone else." You say. Everyone else nods, the grief of Alexnra's murder now fully turned to anger and determination. "The green light indicates a teleportation spell...with the techniques of the traglyim." Matt says gravely. "Why would they kill Alexnra when they've already captured her?" Asks Rinnia, looking confused. "We can care after we get everyone out of here." Daine says. "Now come on. Matt, lead the way." Matt nods, and runs out the door with the rest of you in tow. Matt leads you a ways to the right, and then opens a wooden door to reveal a spiral staircase. "Down here." He says. Everyone slips down the darkened staircase as quickly and quietly as possible. The staircase seems to go on forever until you finally hit bottom landing. You pass through a wooden door to find an extra large cell, with very thick iron bars. Pierce stands behind it, his face as stoic as ever. Jode runs ahead and picks the lock. Rinnia runs into the cell, saying “Pierce! You’re alive! Come on, we need to get out of here.” Pierce looks at Rinnia, and doesn’t say anything. Daine grabs Pierce’s wrist and unsuccessfully attempts to drag him out of the cell, yelling “Pierce! Come on, we don’t have time to be stupid.” Studying Pierce, you see something…wrong. You can’t put your finger on it, but something is off with Pierce. Matt seems to be of the same opinion, looking at Pierce with a puzzled expression. Suddenly, fear blasts onto Matt’s face and he yells “Rinnia! Daine! Get away from Pierce! He’s under-” Matt is cut off when Pierce rams his fist into Daine’s chest, knocking him to the floor with the sickening noise of rib’s cracking. “-mind control.” Matt finishes lamely as Daine coughs up a glob of blood. Rinnia draws her short sword and edges towards Daine, trying to stay out of Pierces reach. Pierce lumbers forward with no apparent concern for his own safety, winding up for a haymaker punch. Rinnia slashes Pierce across the stomach, but Pierce doesn’t even flinch, plowing a haymaker into Rinnia’s face with the distinctive sound of breaking bone and cartilage. Blood spurts from Rinnia’s face onto Pierce’s chest as she falls to the floor, screaming in pain. Your quarterstaff is out in an instant, and you rush towards Pierce. Jode dances around Pierces punches in an effort to keep him away from Daine and Rinnia. You unleash a flurry of blows to Pierce’s side, resulting in cuts and bruises, but again Pierce doesn’t seem to notice the wounds. He throws a punch your way, which you easily dodge, but the blow strikes the cell door behind you and knocks it off its hinges, serving as a grim reminder of what will happen if Pierce manages to connect. The sound of a door opening behind you prompts you to look back. Zaran is on the threshold of the staircase, pointing a gun at you. Wait, a gun? You do a double take at the pistol, and a wave of terror paralyzes you. It’s the E=mc2 gun
The gun that can destroy entire continents.
The gun that you recovered in your adventure with the worms team in another dimension.

A-Disarm him before he shoots!
B-Tell him what it does, maybe it will convince him it’s too dangerous to fool with.
C-Run. Fast.

A wins!
"Breaking this door down would be a exercise in futility." Matt pants. "Anyone here a good at picking locks." "I know a little bit" says Jode, who steps up the the door, takes out some thin instruments and begins fiddling with the lock. After a while, Jode says "Almost there." The moment the words are out of his mouth, you here a high-pitched scream, cut off by a sudden exhalation. It is the sound of someone having their throat slit. "Alexnra!" Daine and Rinnia shout. Jode fiddles with the lock a second more, and shoves the door open just in time for everyone to see a brilliant green light flare in the room then vanish; and see Alexnra lying on the floor in a pool of her own blood. "Alexnra!" Rinnia shouts again, and runs to Alexnra's side. "Is she...?" You trail off, unable to continue. Rinnia nods, her eyes hidden by tears, then bursts out sobbing over Rinnia's body. Daine and Jode move to comfort Alexnra, and you nod your head in respect to the fallen woman. After a while, Rinnia manages to stop crying, and stand up. "Let's get moving again." She says, wiping away tears. You nod, and say "Yeah, we should-"
A-Rescue Pierce.
B-Flee. This seems like a big trap.

Right, llib1 Matt is the guy you were supposed to protect and he's with you. Chris, as far as you know, is still with the nobles.
Now on to the story, and A has won!
"Let's fight them here" says Rinnia, "we'll only attract more guards if we run." The rest of you nod, and prepare for battle. Rinnia draws her short sword. Jode tosses a short knife to Daine while taking out his whip. You ready your quarterstaff, and Matt draws a long dagger from underneath his cloak. The stamping of running boots grows louder and louder until six Traglyim round the corner. Before they ever register you presence, you leap towards them, and plow the end of your quarterstaff into the lead traglyim's nose, knocking him out. The traglyim behind him. however, strikes you in the chest with his fist, glowing green from mana. The hit feels like a sledgehammer, and sends you flying. As you fly backward, you see your attacker's legs pulled out from under him by Jode's whip, sending him to the floor. You them fall to the floor in a heap. Wincing at your bruised side, you leap up in time to see Rinnia slash with her sword, drawing a red line across the chest of another traglyim, and them plunge her blade into the chest of the traglyim who punched you. Daine drives his knife between the ribs of the next Traglyim, and she falls to her knees, blood pouring out of her side like a sideways fountain. The traglyim beside Daine rushes him in anger, mana-infused fists glowing green, but is caught by Matt stabbing his dagger into her back. It isn't lethal, but it sure is distracting, and Daine takes advantage of this distraction to toss ram the knife into wounded traglyim's throat. The last remaining traglyim looks around at his fallen allies, then notices you just in time you see you slam your quarterstaff into his stomach. He doubles over in pain, and you bring the quarterstaff up into his face, sending him flipping over backward onto the floor, where he lies still. "Come on, we have to save Alexnra!" Rinnia says. "Matt, show us the way. "My pleasure." Matt replies. "Alexnra is that way" Matt points the way the traglyim came "and two floors down." All of you blast forward as quickly and quietly as you can, determined to save Alexnra. The five of you go forward through several corridors, down two flights of stairs, and through several more halls, striking like lightning at any traglyim in your way. Soon, you come to a thick looking solid metal door. "Alexnra is behind that door." Whispers Matt. Daine tries the handle, only to find that it's locked. "Crud. Any suggestions?" He asks.
A-Pick the lock.
B-Break the door down.
C-Destroy the stone around the wall.