Money is forever - Poverty Quest

[Lt Colonel Summers]

//Notice: this is an AU taking place not just outside of my previous CYOAs, but also completely independent from canon, much like the Mahou Shoujo Byakuren series.

"Stop this madness, now! Please, I beg you!"
"Stop? Now? Why would I do that, when I'm raking in millions in cold hard cash on a regular basis?"
"You are ruining everyone's lives, and driving the country into an economical disaster!"
"None. Of. My. Business."
*Gasp* "You...!"
"That's right! I don't care what happens to this sorry excuse of a country, so long as I'm making MONEY! Lots of MONEY!"
"You're crazy!"
"Crazy? Oh, I'm so flattered, sister. Oh ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho!"

x-x-x

>What you just dreamt about is an event of the past, when your sister went insane after gaining power and wealth through a "magical contract", so to speak...
>You, not wanting to see her drive your home country of Musoukyo to financial ruins, tried to stop her, and failed horribly. She fled after achieving her goal, and has never been seen again ever since.
>That was 10 years ago...
>With Musoukyo being economically dead, you and much of your fellow citizens were forced to flee to the neighboring country of Gensokyo as refugees in an attempt to avoid the harsh reality that has befallen you all.
>However, reality turned out to be cruel for you. You were left practically penniless, unlike your fellow Musoukyians, and are forced to be a beggar, waiting for some kind soul to drop the occasional penny into your bowl - the only personal belonging you have left aside from the clothes you are wearing right now.

>You are Mitsutake Shion.
>Today, you are slowly walking down a not-so-busy street, as you have been for the past 10 years, going by your usual routine of being a homeless beggar.
>It is going to be a very slow day, like the past 10 years has been for you...

>_

[Hello Purvis]

>How is our basic survival situation? Have we eaten lately? Do we have access to good water, or a place to sleep? Have we ha any luck scavenging lately?
>Where do we tend to have the most luck begging?
>Examine surroundings.

[Lt Colonel Summers]

>How is our basic survival situation? Have we eaten lately? Do we have access to good water, or a place to sleep? Have we ha any luck scavenging lately?
>Where do we tend to have the most luck begging?
>Examine surroundings.

>Your basic survival situation basically boils down to begging for food or money, and you get very little every day.
>Every day in the last 10 years, you've only eaten just barely enough to stave off hunger each day.
>You wished. You've never eaten good food (sometimes even resorting to eating straight out of trash cans), and you never had a proper place to sleep in (it has always been either alleyways or the city dump).
>You always find rotten food when scavenging. Still better than absolutely nothing, though.

>You have the most luck hitting the subway station, as you eventually learned. Even then, the difference is so small it barely matters.

>You're in the street right now. People are just casually minding their own business and going about with their everyday lives, paying little to no attention to you.

>_

[Hello Purvis]

>Do we have a begging bowl? Put it out, and just look absolutely defeated for now.
>What do we know about the area we are in?

[Lt Colonel Summers]

>Do we have a begging bowl? Put it out, and just look absolutely defeated for now.
>What do we know about the area we are in?

>Of course you have your bowl. You are holding it right now.
>You are in the shopping district of Gensokyo's smallest city (which is still pretty large). This is where the citizens often go to shop, or just happen to pass by when commuting to elsewhere. That's all you know about it, though...

>_

[Hello Purvis]

>Have we ever known a life outside of crushing poverty?
>What other places have we travelled to? In short, what do we know about the world?
>Related to that, who do we know in the world?

[Lt Colonel Summers]

>Have we ever known a life outside of crushing poverty?
>What other places have we travelled to? In short, what do we know about the world?
>Related to that, who do we know in the world?

>You have, and that was before your sister drove Musoukyo into financial ruin. Back then, you (and your sister before she gained her powers) were average people living average lives.
>You haven't been to elsewhere ever since you fled into Musoukyo as a refugee. And you know absolutely nothing about the world at large, other than that it is, well, very large.
>The only other person in the world you know is your sister, Mitsutake Jyoon. Though you practically broke up with her once she went into a life of power and felony. You two haven't seen each other since 10 years ago...

[Hello Purvis]

>Do we have any idea how hard it would be to just walk elsewhere? Just go to a new city and hope for the best?
>Continue to look as defeated as we are, and hope for the best as we contemplate things.

[Lt Colonel Summers]

>Do we have any idea how hard it would be to just walk elsewhere? Just go to a new city and hope for the best?
>Continue to look as defeated as we are, and hope for the best as we contemplate things.

>"Hard" is underestimating it, as most Gensokyians are very discriminative of foreigners, and you being a Musoukyian refugee certainly faces such a problem (this is in fact why you don't have much success begging).
>You continue to do so, and hope for the best as you contemplate things.

>As you go on with your usual routine, you suddenly see a crowd gathering around a particular spot where something peculiar seems to be happening...

[Hello Purvis]

>A crowd! That means hope!
>Grab our bowl and make our way toward it.

[Lt Colonel Summers]

>A crowd! That means hope!
>Grab our bowl and make our way toward it.

>Eyes shining with hope, you hold your bowl tight as you head toward the crowd.

>Now that you've reached the crowd, it became very apparent what drew their attention in the first place. You can't see what is going on due to the tight crowd formation, but you can hear what is being said in the middle of the crowd circle.
>"How dare you steal from our turf?!" You hear a teenage girl saying in a delinquent-like tone.
>"I-I swear, I d-did not mean to offend the Sukeban!" You hear another teenage girl saying in a whimpering tone.

[Hello Purvis]

>What do we know about the capital S Sukeban?
>Either way, try to shift through the crowd to have a look at what's going on.

[Lt Colonel Summers]

>What do we know about the capital S Sukeban?
>Either way, try to shift through the crowd to have a look at what's going on.

>Absolutely nothing. This is the first time you've even heard of the name.
>You try your best to get through the crowd and take a look at what is going on.

>As you get through the crowd, you see two teenage girls in the middle of the circle.
>One of them wears a black biker jacket over a black shirt, and a black knee-length skirt. Her hair is a pink-and-purple streak that definitely doesn't look natural. She seems to be beating up the other one.
>The other one wears a green blouse and short, and has blue hair tied into twintails. She appears to be the one beaten up.

>"Now listen up, Kappa. I'm going to make you regret the day you crossed from the Yorigami Sukeban!" Says the black-clad girl, as she draws a knife and slowly drag its tip over the blue-headed girl's forehead.

>_

[Hello Purvis]

>What does the crowd seem to be doing?
>Do we have any ability to defend ourself outside of our own two fists? Any magic or danmaku or weaponry? Or are we just a normal beggar?
>Are there any nearby rocks?

[Lt Colonel Summers]

>What does the crowd seem to be doing?
>Do we have any ability to defend ourself outside of our own two fists? Any magic or danmaku or weaponry? Or are we just a normal beggar?
>Are there any nearby rocks?

>The crowd gasped upon seeing the knife. You see some of them very hesitant to do anything at all, and some making a quick escape from the scene.
>Unfortunately, you just happened to be one of those ordinary people in a world full of magical and superpowered individuals. And you also lacked any weapons or combat skills...
>There aren't any rocks. However, you do see a rotten apple core between your feet.

[Hello Purvis]

>You know what? Hell with it. We're eating good today after we mug this idiot. And we're getting a free knife!
>Grab the apple core, whip it at the woman hassling the kappa. Try and peg her right in the face. And whatever happens, charge right in after it, and sock her in the face while she's distracted.

[Lt Colonel Summers]

>You know what? Hell with it. We're eating good today after we mug this idiot. And we're getting a free knife!
>Grab the apple core, whip it at the woman hassling the kappa. Try and peg her right in the face. And whatever happens, charge right in after it, and sock her in the face while she's distracted.

//Wow, Purvis, that's pretty violent for you...

>You grab the apple core and throws it with all your might at her face.
>You succeed in hitting her, and this gets her attention.
>What the F***?!" The thug girl exclaims in surprise.
>Taking this opportunity, you rush up and punch her in the face as hard as you can. This causes her to reel back and drop the knife in the process.

>Unfortunately, the thug girl isn't knocked out. She got back up on her feet very quickly.
>"You, a beggar, dare to cross the Yorigami Sukeban?!" She says to you, as she gets into a fighting stance. This could be rough...

[Hello Purvis]

Got nothing to lose except our life and our burning sense of indignation.

>Let her taunt and pose. We'll grab that knife!

[Lt Colonel Summers]

Got nothing to lose except our life and our burning sense of indignation.

>Let her taunt and pose. We'll grab that knife!

>You ignore the thug girl's threat and goes for the knife she dropped.
>Just as you are about to reach the knife, you inexplictably notice the thug girl drawing a handgun on you.
>The crowd gasped and quickly left the scene as soon as the gun is drawn.

[Hello Purvis]

>Freeze.
>Okay Shion, just stay still. She just whipped out a gun in front of a crowd. Someone is going to call the police now. Right? So it's just about stalling now.
>Don't say anything, just watch her, and let her say whatever she wants for now.

[Lt Colonel Summers]

>Freeze.
>Okay Shion, just stay still. She just whipped out a gun in front of a crowd. Someone is going to call the police now. Right? So it's just about stalling now.
>Don't say anything, just watch her, and let her say whatever she wants for now.

>You just freeze where you are. This is the stalling game now...

>"That's right, bitch! Just stay right where you are, and contemplate all the bad decisions you've made in your miserable life!" The thug girl taunts you as she approaches you, pressing the muzzle of the handgun to your face.

[Hello Purvis]

>Do we even feel afraid? Have we moved beyond it by this point? Maybe it's just time to snarl at the heavens?
>"You need a gun?"

[Lt Colonel Summers]

>Do we even feel afraid? Have we moved beyond it by this point? Maybe it's just time to snarl at the heavens?
>"You need a gun?"

>You've been threatened many times in the 10 years since you came to Gensokyo. But none of them had involved guns. That said, you don't feel afriad of the thug girl's threat.
>You then taunt her.

>"To intimidate 'heroes' like you, yes." The thug girl says. "I want you to slowly stand up, walk away, and forget about this, or else-"
>The thug girl never got to finish her threat, because something suddenly hit her on her head from behind, and she promptly falls over on her sides.

[Hello Purvis]

>Nab that gun! Then nab that knife!
>Once this is done, examine our rescuer with a grateful smile.

[Lt Colonel Summers]

>Nab that gun! Then nab that knife!
>Once this is done, examine our rescuer with a grateful smile.

>You quickly grab both items.
>ITEMS OBTAINED: Knife, Handgun (no mag).
>You then notice that the Handgun doesn't even have a magazine inserted into it. Was the thug girl bluffing you just now?
>You turn to examine your savior. Turns out she is the same blue-haired girl that was threatened earlier, holding a wrench in her hands.

>"You alright?" The blue-haired girl asks you.

[Hello Purvis]

>Nod. "Are you? And look at this, it wasn't even loaded..."
>How is sukeban doing? Does she seem conscious? Alive?

[Lt Colonel Summers]

>Nod. "Are you? And look at this, it wasn't even loaded..."
>How is sukeban doing? Does she seem conscious? Alive?

>"I'm okay, thanks to you..." The blue-haired girl says. She looks at the Handgun the thug girl dropped. "These gangster types..." She remarks.
>The thug girl is certainly unconscious. Still breathing, but not moving a single muscle otherwise.

>You then hear the sound of police sirens from a distance approaching your location. Looks like someone did call the cops...
>_

[Hello Purvis]

>Quick! Grab her purse! Or if she doesn't have one, rifle through her pockets!

[Lt Colonel Summers]

>Quick! Grab her purse! Or if she doesn't have one, rifle through her pockets!

//I was expecting you to say "GTFO" or something like that. And you're turning Shion into something of an anti-hero, are you not?

>The thug girl doesn't have a purse, and neither does the blue-haired girl. The latter has no visible pockets either, but the former does, so you rifle through her pockets instead.
>ITEMS OBTAINED: Ward of Cash.
>You didn't stop to count the Ward of Cash since you're in a hurry. But you can tell it is pretty thick.
>That's everything you can find on the thug girl's persons.

>"What are you doing?" The blue-haired girl asks as she sees you doing your thing.

[Hello Purvis]

>"She doesn't need it. Let's go!"
>Now we book it, for the nearest alley away from the sirens, then a block away, then keep moving.