I equip the Commissar's Hat, and the Air Controller.
I add the skillpoint to HP.

I look at the Disconnected Calypse...
"That would make a great artillery turret, I wonder"
"Well first let's try waking it up"

I poke the Calypse, then splash water on it. If that still fails, I punch it.

If it doesn't make up, I try to find a way to weaponize the Iti has the airship main cannon. It seem's like a focuser, and if we can aim and charge it, it would make a great weapon.
Using Shadowflame crystals has chargers seems like a good idea.

If it does wake up, I greet it and hope I don't get blasted.
Either way if the Calypse is intalled or not, I build a targeting system on the Airship. There's no point in weapons if they cannot be aimed.
Using Aimbot Scopes has the main ingredient, I add a bunch of circuit boards to calculate all the variables involved in ballistics and wirescraps to connect the weapon ports and targeting system together. These weapon ports are built with Titanium, weapons connected to the system have a much easier at aiming at the enemy.
I'm hoping to install the Calypse on 1 of these weapon ports and make it the main weapon.

A Daskter walks inside Pop's Hideout at Zone2.
I steal the "Bob Epic Pop", and look at the bookshelves.
Manga seems interesting, I quickly skim over the titles then throw them inside the inventory,
The couch is reeking of SP, seems like it could be interesting, I steal it too.
Hmm the The Confetti Sentry is good to keep, I also move it inside the inventory for easy transportation.

There's a perfectly reasonable reason that there's multiple Daskters walking around. The clone never was killed.

Originally posted on 2018-05-27 04:04:00

Toast does quite a few things.
First, she researches Observer Eye in The Lab.

Then, she retools her old armor.


~~

Next, swaps the Resistor for the Alpha Drive, the Amethyst Archrobes for her new old Crystalline Mantle, Meditative Sharpener for Apocalypse Flair, Bag of Tricks for Deep Thinking, and makes the following stat changes:
-2 SPC.
+3 RES.

~~

Toast looks for Marron among the crowd of players.
"Hey, sweet gun. Did you make that, or...? Well, anyway. Apparently there's a cool altar thing down in the sewers, which I'd like to check out. Shouldn't be more a few minutes. In the meantime, try not to murder Chloe? She gave you some mad heals back there."
She pauses, as though thinking.
"Anyone else is completely fine to murder," she concludes, before heading off.

Fortunately for Destiny, this means that Toast doesn't hear her call Marron a "piece of gorilla"

The conversation with Zahlia is ordered between DCCCV's post and mine. It ends with Toast putting her hand on the Altar, though.
1.
Toast heads down to the Altar Isle. She had intended to go earlier, but battles tend to get in the way of that, and it wasn't really worth a time loop. But by the time she arrives, it would appear that someone (who happens to be named Zahlia) had beaten her to the punch, and already tried some experimentation.

"Hey, uh, you seem a little stuck there. Need some help?"

3.
Toast looks at Zahlia quizzically at the suggestion, before following the girl's gaze to her own hands. "Oh, aha! That wasn't what I had in mind... (I don't think I'd have the stomach for that anyway.) What I could do is try putting my hand on this side. Then, the worst case is I chop of the crystals and wait for my hand to grow back [small](even though i really wish it wouldn't)[/small]"

5.
She looks over at the Nidus frame. Then back at the altar. Then back at the Nidus frame. Then at her hand. Then over to Zahlia. Then back to the altar.
"...If it worked for you, I'll probably be alright? Plus, I really want to see what this thing is for."

7.
"Cool. Then I guess I'll just..."
She hesitates for a moment, hovering her hand over the groove, before finally placing it down.

Originally posted on 2018-05-27 04:08:00

Destiny puts a point in AGI. She also switches out Cleave for Whirling Blades.

Destiny then walks up to Marron, she makes a :thonk: before deciding to talk.
So you're Marron. Hello, I am Destiny Detroxus, Redstone's sister, also a space goddess. I thought I'd talk to you, since I think you're very important to get off the will not stab me list.
From what I have heard from Redstone you're a complete gorilla, but that was a very long time ago. Centuries ago, actually, when Redstone was still an edgelord. Hmmph, I cannot remember what I prototyped my sprite with anymore yet I remember things like these.
Anyways, introductions aside, I'd like to know what you are like, since you do not seem like the "piece of gorilla that makes murder puppets" that Redstone has described you to be.

Destiny then decides to craft some stuff. She takes off her Bullholster Skull and takes out a Crimson Idol, 2 Silver Ingots, and 2 Shadowflame Crystals. She takes the 2 Silver Ingots and shapes them into horns by melting them and molding them with space manipulation. She then takes them to the Infusion Altar and enchants the Silver Horns with the Shadowflame Crystals, giving her Shadowflame Horns.
Next, she takes the Crimson Idol. She takes it and the Bullholster Skull. She carves out a triangular hole in the skull and places the Crimson Idol in the triangle, arranging the pieces to fit in the hole. The Bullholster Skull begins to resonate with a crimson energy, slowly charring the Bullholster Skull black before settling with a few red cracks in the skull. Destiny then takes off the original iron horns and replaces them with the Shadowflame Horns.

Result: Dark Bullholster Skull
"An ominous hum is emitted from this skull..."
Stats: +4 STR, +2 AGI, +2 INT, -2 DEF, -1 RES
Resistances: Air (30%), Dark (20%), Crushing (-10%), Piercing (-10%)

Destiny then equips this item.

Originally posted on 2018-05-27 04:23:00

Boshi drops his DEF by 1, drops his AGI by 1, and boosts his SKI by 3. He also replaces Hidden Shard with Riposte, Brew Potion with Whirling Blades, and Shockwave with Nothing Ventured. (I likely won't be returning to Shockwave anytime soon, so don't bother storing it.)

Now, since some people know of his current condition, he simply waits for them to diagnose him, standing absolutely still while it happens.

After Venia checks him, she tells him to cast spells and/or lay eggs. "(Well, there's loadsa corpses around... hm.)"

He then proceeds to eat whatever non-cultist corpses were left over from the battle (Iti preferred), and scans the resulting eggs with the Flux Detector. See if there aren't any patterns in what Venia read off him and what he got from the eggs.

Originally posted on 2018-05-27 04:26:00

The Man steals all the food off the tables. All of it. Every single minuscule speck of it. He then steals the tables.

Oh yeah, and he tosses his skillpoints into SPC.

Originally posted on 2018-05-27 04:50:00

2.
Zahlia awkwardly twists around, and waves at Toast with a free hand.
"Um, as long as help doesn't mean amputations, sure," she says, eyeing Toast's hands.

4.
"Are you sure about that? The person who last tried that with me is over there." She points to the crumpled Nidus Warframe, who is probably still? there.

6.
Zahlia shrugs. At least, she does so as well as she can, with a hand stuck to what might be a sacrifical altar. "Well, I'm not going to stop you from trying this out.

---

Back in the Grand Hall, Simeon removes the head of the Resonating Pike and hums a tune, paying particular attention to how much the metal vibrates when exposed to sound.
Simeon acquires a Strobe Beam and disassembles it, removing the capacitor, lenses, mirror and flashtube, while discarding the battery inside. He conjures up a small portal, and reaches through it to pull three Shock Crystals from the Temmie Shop, leaving thirty credits behind. Simeon taps a crystal lightly with a stick, and it releases a small loop of electricity. He pulls a silver ingot from the inventory, and stretches it into a thin wire, which he cuts into three lengths. He wraps the first length about the Shock Crystal and head of the Resonating Pike, and hooks it up to the capacitor. He then uses the second length of silver wire to connect the opposite side of the capacitor to the flashtube. Finally, he uses the remaining silver to fashion a casing for this new contraption, which is reaffixed to the top of of the Resonating Pike.

Simeon thrusts his new polarm experimentally. As he does so, he hums a melody, replicating the rhythms utilized by the Dark Carnival. He goes through the "Attack", "Mobilize", and "Status" beats, but as he hits "Unique", the electricity generated by the Pike head vibrating against the Shock Crystal is released by the capacitor into the flashtube. Now, the flashtube isn't an ordinary lightbulb. It uses electric arcs, bands of plasma, like lightning to produce light. This light is refracted through mirrors and lenses, and released in the form of a LASER BEAM. The beam is visible for just a split-second before dissipating, leaving behind a white-hot spearhead.

Cor Lucem
A spear that buzzes when exposed to any vibration.
WEAPON SKILL: Charge. Perform a string of actions, based on the map's current rhythm. If there is no rhythm, create a three-part rhythm. Gains +1 Upper Attack Damage per 4 SKI.
(9-10) Piercing
Range 2, Retreat 1, Counter 4, Hit 6, +1 STR +1 AGI

Originally posted on 2018-05-27 05:00:00

Venia shaves a spare skillpoint off of INT and tosses it and her new skillpoint into SKI, bringing her up to a round 10. She switches Watchful Eye for Decaying Light while she's at it.

She then proceeds to do the rather simple solution. "... Boshi, that cultist was going on about you being an egg? Ugh, are we going to have to be paranoid about every red thing we encounter from now on...? Hang on. Let me get a good read on you."

Venia uses the Flux Detector upon Boshi, scanning him vigorously. He is searched in the mouth, the stomach, the brain, the tail, everywhere. "I may need you to do some more, erm, physical nonsense, uh, in case the initial readings aren't up to snuff. Casting spells and, erum, laying eggs-eugh, point is we need to ensure that you aren't... Infected? Infected. This kind of stuff-Entropy, Paradox, even just some badly-casted Chaos Magic-that kind of stuff, uh, that'll warp you in ways that are, that are, uhm, downright sickening."

Venia leaves Boshi to it and hunts down Omorika. "Hey, uh, sorry for bothering, but, uh. I found this scroll... But, uh, I don't think this is your handwriting? Not sure if you recognize it... Erm. Also, uh, what is this scroll supposed to do... And, urm. Where would we even find this stuff? I mean. Individually, uh, it looks very... Valuable." Venia says to her, emphasizing 'valuable.'

"Uh, oh. While I'm at it. Eh, you keep mentioning this 'Lucid' fellow, but, uh, do you know where it's at?"

----+----

After that, Venia attempts to find Ette-preferrably while she's not with Marron, for a change. "Hi. Uh, I'm Venia... You're Ette, right? Eh. Uh. I, uh, have some kinda... Conceptual sense? And it's kinda tellin' me that you need a few... Upgrades? I guess you could call it that. You need to be, erm. Stronger. If you'd let me, I could help. Easier than you'd think... A body made of fabric like yours is very, uh, convenient for, um. Magical Enhancement! Yes. That's it."



Venia finds Ette again, after her third and final craft. "Oh, and... Uh, you wanted to help too? Did I get that right? I'm trying to figure out that... Handwaving, language, thing... Telepathy's kinda rude. Uh, one sec."

Venia quickly fizzes out of existence-not like her previous 'blurring' at all. She reappears in front of Chaos'es face. "Uh, hit me up with the, uh, Dual-Chambered Workstation." Venia says, shoving the meaty 1,000 Credit cost to Chaos. She then does some Workstation setup at incredibly hihg speeds, like a motion blur (again unlike her previous incident in-battle), before finally reappearing to Ette. "Uh, I've set up something for Chaos, so you can, uh, make stuff for us? I guess? If you want."

"... Is there anything you want to talk about...?"

Originally posted on 2018-05-27 05:07:00

Emerald whistles to himself, another into HP. ”Marron, no, gotta keep your Karma up, hurting Chloe wouldn’t help.”

From there, he decides his hat needs an upgrade. Kinda tempted just to stick a feather in it

/WIP

Ingredients: Overly Large Hat (Knight’s Tophat) x1, Processed Fabric x5, Feather Fabric x3

He takes off his hat, and asks Marron for a needle. Assuming he gets it, he takes his hat and some of the processed fabric, sewing it together into a long wrap, as a scarf.

He takes the feather fabric and breaks it down into a spool of feather silk, and from there weaves it into his hat for some sweet stiffness, plus the added bonus of having two things with the Gallow’s feathers, plus now additionally Reisz. He puts on the scarf around his neck, smiling. He had always wanted a good scarf.

[x] being how much this has improved
Overly Larger Hat
and not really matching scarf
+2 MHP, +2 DEF, Slashing (30%[+10%]), Physical (10%), Magical (-30%), Magical (10%[+10%])

Allocate other Magical to Earth. WEAKNESS IS UNACCEPTABLE!

Originally posted on 2018-05-27 07:25:00

Miki allocates her new skillpoint to SPC.

Miki-chan33: ehehe, i'm a lil bored now...

She goes over to the house, notices the airship, and decides to work on it a little. She expends 15 MP to use Incantation, summoning...

A Sentient, Immobile, Magical Roll of Flex Tape
Fixes boats
HP: 58/58 (0 AC, 0 R) | MP: 15/15 (0 R)
ATK: (15-16) Psychic, 1-3/1
MOV: N/A | CRT: 0 | HIT: 10 | DGE: 0 | CNT: 0 | CAV: 10
Spells: Transfusion, Life Essence Augment, Curaga

The roll of Flex Tape promptly fixes the boat up by a decent amount while Miki herself rushes back to the library.

Miki-chan33: hey umm.... i havent been paying attention to much while i was out so... i dont really know y'all that well??
Miki-chan33: so if anyone wants to like say hi feel free!! i dont mind

[ - Response to Calibri's Section 1 - ]

(1) new message from Calibri

Miki-chan33: you're a lil confusing, you know that?
Miki-chan33: anyways, name's miki. i'm doing fine, thanks for asking!!

Miki smiles and plays with a strand of her orange hair. Apparently that's some sort of idle action.

[ - Response to Calibri's Section 2 - ]

Miki watches the drone fly in the air.

Miki-chan33: umm... i haven't been here for some time, so i dont know what to say!! ehehe
Miki-chan33: but yeah, i've been watching for a while, just not present for almost... its been a whole day now, hasnt it?

Calibri suddenly changes form. Miki can't help but stare, her simulated mind struggling to process this new information.

Miki-chan33: whoa...
Miki-chan33: you're... you're not human are you
Miki-chan33: i wasnt really expecting that...

She suddenly perks up and spins her magic wand around.

Miki-chan33: then again im not exactly completely human either!! at least in terms of personality
Miki-chan33: im a spambot. made to get people to uhh sign up for shady websites.
Miki-chan33: but i dont do that anymore, not since i gained sentience :|
Miki-chan33: anyways whats up!! i'm kinda programmed to be inclined to ask some of these questions when i meet someone, so i hope you dont mind if i ask them =)

She pauses for a few seconds.

Miki-chan33: ummmmm so what kinda stuff do you like? games, movies, sports, whatever ;P

[ - Response to Calibri's Section 3 - ]

Miki-chan33: oh, nice!! actually i didn't really do much other than talk to people before i came here. even this whole fighting as a hologram thing is new for me
Miki-chan33: but uhhhhh out of all those i've really only played minecraft.

She pauses for a few seconds, her gaze slowly descending to the floor.

Miki-chan33: im kinda bored all of a sudden so ill craft some stuff. you can watch if you like =P

[ - Craftpost - ]
Miki picks up a Crystal Pen and a sheet of paper. She then copies the Scroll of Focus to the sheet of paper. She appends a "2.0" onto the paper, and makes a few revisions with the Crystal Pen.

A few minutes, three Crystal Pens, and four failed drafts later, she comes up with a final version that actually works. She then lightly touches it a few times with an Aurora Crystal, recreating the slightly worn look of the original scroll. She slices up a Greatwood Log and wraps the ends of the paper around the sliced parts of the log, creating a Revised Scroll of Focus.

Stats are the same as the Scroll of Focus, only with (x2 slot) replaced with (Unique: Zen) (?).
Used: 3 Crystal Pens, 5 Sheets of Paper, 1 Aurora Crystal, Scroll of Focus, 1 Greatwood Log

[ - Addendum Craftpost - ]

She also edits a copy of Mari's Tie a little, by completely redesigning its form so that it is now worn around the wrist. She then decides to go into full wardrobe revision, editing her form into a black box while she changes some details...

Finally, she de-censors herself. She looks... well...

Like this.

PdX-270 "Evil" Scouter: Rename to PdX-270b "Evil" Scanner
Book Pauldrons: Rename to Full Knowledge Jacket
Revised Scroll of Focus: Rename to Patch of Focus
Equip Mari's Tie, rename to Summoner's Wristband

Originally posted on 2018-05-27 07:47:00

Purchases:
- 1 Shock Crystal (-10 Credits)
Total losses: 10 credits.


Terry respecs. (The new charsheet is in the tab "New Build.")
----
Terry goes to the Statue Garden, then throws a Fragapple at the ground. He then picks up the fragless Fragapple, then places it on the Podium.

Oh, and he then goes downways south of the Cogwork Route.

Originally posted on 2018-05-27 12:12:00

Soulblossoms get harvested and replanted. I then ask Omo if they have any plants they would like us to grow or that they can give us one of. Then, using 2 thyme matter and a titanium rod, as well as like 10 uniform logs (which i burn into charcoal), I make sure thyme matter is in liquid form, then evaporate away the water, causing it to crystallize around the titanium rod, in much the same way i made the perditio crystal.
(I use the titanium oven for this.)

Originally posted on 2018-05-27 19:40:00

Um, I accidentally deleted my post like an idiot.

[Omoquest]

Acacia: Use Upheaval on TRifle
Treant: Attack TRifle.
Omorika: Turn LiveWood on D2 into Fallen.
Fallen: Move to D3, use Restoration.

[Thymium]

Auth equips the Void Catalyst Marron made. He also applies his Skill Point into MP (once again).

Auth's special also shifts...

The Final Curtain

Fills by: Damaging Enemies, Healing Allies (x2), Buffing Allies (x3 per Buff + Duration), Revivng Allies (x10), Lovey Dovey Stuff (x20)

Revive up to three dead Allies at 50% HP, and give them +50% Damage for the next two turns.
Each revive costs 100 SP.

Alternatively, you may apply Autorevive to two allies for two turns. Each Autorevive costs 150 SP.

Under specific circumstances, become The Final Curtain

SP Cap: 300

The Auth with Pip and Pop sighs, then disappears to be replaced with an identical looking Auth. Except he's the real one this time.

uA: Alright, I'm here now. Happy?

Back with Omo, Auth brings out what appears to be a brick. It's an old looking mobile phone...

uA: Hm, hm... did I get her contact information...?

Auth looks through his phone for a contact named 'Lyra'... not finding it.

uA: Ah, it seems I did not. Then I had better...

He looks around, before calling for Monika. Will she respond? No, she got replaced.

While Auth waits for someone who isn't coming, he pulls out a shining, slightly warm, orange-ish box.

uA: While we wait, could you take a look at this? Inside the box is the egg of the Gallow. We hope that there may be a way to sever its connection from the Iti Horde so we could use the baby bird as an ally, as we know this egg is going to hatch at some point in the near future. Might you have any ideas?

After Omo's discussion, Auth turns back to the Radio which he still has and definitely didn't forget about (oops).

uA: Um, last time I checked, I was still me. So, um, yes. It's me. Hello.[/b]

He waits a second, thinking, before answering Chloe's slew of questions.

[b]uA: I've been okay - no real complaints over here. We're on Sussui, where Chaos is originally from. I can't really make a statement on the well-being of everyone else, I don't know. How's that for an answer?[/b]

He has a spark of inspiration as Chloe says that she and The Operative are going hunting.

[b]uA: Oh, the Lucid? We're likely to be facing it out here ourselves soon, as well. I recommend that you take items that will prevent you from sleeping. If it's anything like its underlings, and what information I've gathered about it out here, I believe it can more-or-less possess sleeping targets. That's almost certainly why your Omo did what she did.[/b]

He has a thought...

[b]uA: I think I left that make-shift Inkscalibur behind in the Mindscape... I think. If it's there, you might wanna take it with you - it would clear the sleeping effect. I think I used an item that prevented sleep while I was making it, too...[/b]

He shakes his head.

[b]uA: Tangent. I'm okay. How's it been for you?[b][/b]

Originally posted on 2018-05-28 04:22:00

Excellent. With this recent battle done, Brutishace focuses on some re-evaluation of his stats and abilities.

Firstly, he takes two of the Skillpoints he's invested in DEF and places them into SPC- he's figured he's invested enough into survivability, and his shroud adds to it. It'll be known what the extra SPC is for in a bit...

He also spends the Skillpoint he earned from the battle in INT. He calls himself a Necromancer, so it'd be best to make use of his spells, should he not?

Speaking of Spells, Brutishace reads up and decides to swap out his spells.

He swaps out Twin Eclipses for Twin Photons- Death magic need not be dark, and Brutishace's magic repertoire is already full of Darkness-based magic.

He also swaps out Cure with Curaga- Brutishace has the mana pool to spare, and it further compliments his emphasis on crowd healing and keeping all of his friends alive. This is also what the SPC investment was for, as the Necromancer has the ability to self-target with the spell.

Finally, Brutishace decides to reword his Trait and rework his Special.

His Trait becomes the following, which is the same as Necromancy, but reworded and given a range, as asked.
Soul Siphon: Upon killing an enemy, restore (4-6) HP to an ally. Range 1-X, where X is the maximum range of the killing attack. Can self-heal.
This reword retains the color and modifiers of its predecessor.

His Special becomes the following:
Vitality Leech: Deal (20-21) Dark Damage. Range 2-6. Splash 2. Can't harm allies. Inflict Exhausted1 and Poison2 on hit targets for three rounds. Restore (2-2) HP to all allies within Range 1-2 for each enemy hit.
SP Required: 280 (Up 30 from Blight the Earth)
It retains the color and modifiers of its predecessor. In addition, it gains an additional modifier:
+1 Friendly Healing for each enemy killed at (6-8?) SPC.

Buff or nerf as you see fit.

Brutishace, finished with his changes, settles down his weapon and awaits the next encounter. Simeon catches his eye, and he smiles.

Originally posted on 2018-05-28 05:31:00

With the battle done, EN-913 shrugs.

"Tha' weren't so bad."

She proceeds to yawn, stretch her arms (and wings which pop out of her back for a moment), then she decides to head SOUTH from THE GRAND HALL.


In the background, Calibri wakes up from a nap he took while standing up. He blinks a few times. He seems a bit distracted, and a bit disheartened for a few seconds... Then, he closes his eyes again. In a flash of black, he disappears, reappearing probably about a meter away, nearer to Miki.

"...Know what, I could probably do with a bit of conversation now, so..."

He shrugs.

"I'm not sure if the stuff on discord was canon or not... Eh, I'll assume it's not. Otherwise that gets into a lot of technical things that honestly are a pain to talk about. Back on track... Hi. Name's Calibri. Verdana... decided to walk off somewhere else, apparently, so did EN, that's a little annoying. I would have introduced them to you. First, who are you so I can refer to you by name sometimes in conversation without it being really questionable how I found out? Second, sup?"


--==SECTION2==--

Calibri nods.

"I get that a bit. Though from my perspective, the rest of the world is kind of odd. Heh."

He chuckles quietly, then silently observes Miki playing with her own hair. All things considered, he's suddenly unsure what to speak about next... After a few seconds, he pulls out the Goddess's Servant pistol he's currently using, making sure to aim it off where it can't shoot anyone, then lets the mini hand-drone thing take flight, watching it circle around him for a while. Out of boredom, he then directs it to hover around Miki...

"Hmm... Tell me something, Miki. Been here long? I recall seeing you a lot earlier, maybe, only I'm not entirely sure if that's a fake memory or not... Those happen sometimes."

...His form shifts slightly. For the briefest of times, he looks not remotely human at all, more like a collection of ethereal blue mist and eyes in the rough shape of a human. But that image fades as quickly as it came, back to his more human-like appearance. Let's be honest, he's probably not one...


--==SECTION 3==--

There's a pause, as Calibri glances up at... the roof of the library. That's mildly annoying, since he can't see the sky from in here now. He stares at it for a second, then turns back to Miki, shrugging.

"Well I can't tell what time it is in here, but one night has passed, and it still feels fairly early in the day, so... yeah."

It then only occurs to him that he revealed himself to be nonhuman just now. Not that that's really a big deal to him, all things considered. He tilts his head a little while thinking, then shrugs and nods.

"Also yes. Not a human. Something else, I'm not quite sure what myself exactly, but... well, there's not a lot of actual humans here. Listing them off the top of my head, I'm fairly sure there's... Chloe, Comet... uh... Not sure who else. At least, not sure who I can confirm yet. You'll probably have to ask each person in turn."

By now, the hand drone that's been flying around for a while returns back to his pistol, landing and attaching back on firmly, while Calibri himself continues conversation.

"Sentient spambot, huh... Certainly not the most unorthodox kind of people person I've seen. Heh... hmm... Well, we're nowhere near any shady websites so I guess I'm fine with questions, heh. Let me think, games, movies, sports... Usually too lazy to bother with sports, to be honest. If you don't count my quote unquote job as a sport, or equally taxing, that is. But I have sat down for a game or two before, and I have some of my predecessor's memories... he used to play Minecraft, huh."

Beat.

"Also seen the Lord of the Rings trilogy and tried a few related games... hmm... can't think of much else. How about you?"


--==SECTION 4==--

Calibri blinks.

"Another Minecraft player, huh? Interesting..."

He drifts off for a moment, complete with his eyes shutting, although going by the occasional flicker he's still seeing just fine even with closed eyes. A moment later, he returns to actually being aware of things once again, returning his attention to Miki and hearing something about crafting.

"Alright. Actually thinking of doing a bit more crafting later, too..."

Originally posted on 2018-05-28 13:08:00

Irongutta puts his shiny new skill point into SPC.

He then works on upgrading his hat.


Resists: Electric (+30%), Psychic (-10%)
[/spoiler]

He approaches the Disconnected Calypse, scratching his chin as he looked it over. "Zog, this big bugger 'ad loads of dakka; explosive dakka at that! I dunno 'ow Monika made it more stone-like than it already was, but I got a feelin' we can put it to good use." He turned to Nezira (and assumedly Omo). If Omo was there, he made sure to put his weapon away first. "Oi, any chance I can inspect this thing with you two? I'm just as curious 'bout this thing as you two probably are an' I'd like to help out."

Originally posted on 2018-05-28 20:14:00

Nezira puts all three of her skillpoints into MP.

She then decides to go research the Disconnected Calypse, turning to Irongutta. "I must say, it'd be wonderful to know more about this 'Calypse', especially considering it seems to have been rendered quite inert. A perfect opportunity! Omorika, would you also be interested in helping learn about this specimen, and perhaps also about what was done to it to disconnect it?" Regardless of Omorika's response, she collects some of the shards of the prism that Calypse was previously imprismed in, before merrily walking off to a clearing nearby (yet a safe distance away from) the house, where she starts setting up a small workbench to study the shards and figure out some safe containment for if Calypse somehow wakes up.

Originally posted on 2018-05-28 20:27:00

<CRAFT & STAT DOP>
We have a lot of crafts, and a lot of mass stat changes. Let's go and process these since the odds of me getting a full thing out today are slim.











...But that's not all we're handling here! Let's go and address the shifts in stats, and some respecs. Simple stat + gear changes first...



Now, for the bigger respecs. We have... two of those, I believe.



Now, for the actual update!

<ROUND SIXTY-THREE>
To start the actual part of the update, we've updated the game to Version 1.1.4! This is mostly just changes to the summoning system, making things more consistent and overall just more balanced for the variety of summoning spells. Have fun!

Daskter decides to try and wake up Calypse. He splashes Water on it, to no avail. He then punches it for (3) Crushing Damage, which kills it causes it to rather suddenly nail him with a thin beam of dark matter for (3) Dark Damage. He feels okay, but decides to not press the matter with Calypse any further. He then decides to attempt some airship upgrades, using (x) Aimbot Scopes, 8 Circuit Boards, 4 Wire Scraps, and 8 Titanium. This yields 1 Weapon Port, and 15% Weaponry Progress! He then goes to grab a can of Bob Epic Pop. It's a can of soda. That's all there is to say about it. He also browses the selection of manga... but opts not to take anything. Odds are, if he named a series, he could find it. He then also relocates the Confetti Sentry into the inventory.

...Daskter then suddenly explodes in a pulsar of dark matter. He respawns seconds later, this death apparently having no bad effects on him or his statistics. Neat. Toast meanwhile, goes to research the Observer Eye! She also talks with Marron for a second.

MARRON: Oh, Emerald made it for me! You two know each other, right?

She also talks about not killing Chloe.

MARRON: KILL her? I wouldn't do that! Especially since so many people seem to... y'know, love her.
MARRON: I'm not above beating her around a bit, though...
MARRON: ...Ugh, if seeing her face didn't trigger something within me, maybe we'd be alright...

Marron then happily follows Toast down into the sewers to witness the altar's power.

Toast and Zalhia then place their hands on the altar. Crimson energy circulates around the hand-shaped groves, both women unable to lift them free. There's a gentle pain in their palms. Then, an absolutely excruciating pain as something rips out from the altar and digs into them, sucking away at their blood. Seconds later, about as soon as it began, whatever force was draining their blood seeps away, and their hands are released from the altar. Then, like a toaster, a vial of blood pops out from the center of the altar. One of them ends up catching it, and stashes it in the inventory. Blood Vial obtained? The two are them are injured, losing half of their HP for the start of the next battle. Simeon takes the damage in Zahlia's place, however.

MARRON: T-TOAST!?
MARRON: Holy gorilla, um, uh...

Marron wraps a variety of bandages around the hole in Toast's hand, restoring (5) HP. Is Toast even capable of bleeding from the hand that she placed on the altar? Who knows? It still helps, though.

MARRON: ...A-Are you okay?
MARRON: That was... jarring.
MARRON: Looks like you're still standing, though...
MARRON: ...
MARRON: ...I should probably help the other chick though, shouldn't I.
MARRON: Give me a sec.

Marron wraps up Zalhia's palm. Her job there isn't done nearly as carefully, only restoring (4) HP. This healing translates to Simeon. Then, Destiny approaches Marron, and greets her. One of the very first things she calls her is a gorilla.

MARRON: Hey, nice to meet you too, gorilla.
MARRON: Not surprised your brother would bad-mouth me; after all, I did sorta violently execute him that one time...
MARRON: Let's just say he really helped me with my crossbow practice...
MARRON: Anyway, what I'm like? Why are you asking me?
MARRON: I'd just tell you some stupid lie like... "i'm cool" or something like that.
MARRON: Go ask... gorillaing dunno, Toast? Emerald? Auth? There's definitely better options here...

Venia then ends up scanning Boshi, and she also ends up scanning some corpse-made eggs. Each of the eggs seem to carry no traces of entropy... but Boshi himself apparently has something growing near his heart. From what the scan shows, it's a pulsating mass, only a few centimeters away from his heart. It apparently has an eye on it, which is looking right at the scanner. Also of note is that there's a few hasty stitches on Boshi's stomach. A second scan reveals that the fleshy mass has grown an appendage with a rather sharp-looking end, pointed directly at his heart. Make of that what you will. Fortunately for the dinosaur, he doesn't seem to suffer any heart failures in the certainly-tense next few minutes...

The Man then loots all the food off the tables. He obtains 50 units of Disgusting Food, and 3 Carnival Corn Dogs. He also takes the tables, obtaining 7 Banquet Tables. Venia then shows the Crumpled Scroll to Omo. She nods her head.

OMORIKA: Hm, I did write this spell out.
OMORIKA: I cannot take credit for the design of the spell, however. I merely made a copy of it, in hopes of adding it to my spellbook later.
OMORIKA: Anyway, this is a spell that'd create a new body for a soul, one vaguely similar to one of the summoner's relatives. At least, in genetics- size, shape, and quite a few variables tend to widely differ.
OMORIKA: I had hoped to use the spell to bring back... some Chairians. Of course, the more I looked into the spell, the less and less viable it seemed to be, with all the expensive regents and the fact that I'd need the souls of those I wanted to revive...
OMORIKA: ...Chairians who are slain with fire tend to not have their souls stick around for long. They're not destroyed as far as we know, but they don't linger.
OMORIKA: In addition, there's only ever been about a dozen recorded uses of the spell, given the rarity of the materials and the difficulty of the ritual...
OMORIKA: Simply put, the spell is too expensive, and too limited in scope for my purposes.
OMORIKA: Question for you. I'm curious as to why you picked up the scroll. Is there perhaps somebody you'd like to use it on?

She also asks for the location of Lucid.

OMORIKA: For whatever reason, Lucid lurks near the far end of the library. It can work its powers on me from quite a distance, so I assume it stays there for protection.

She then goes and lobs 1000 Credits at Chaos, purchasing the Multi-Chambered Workstation! Marron may now work on three items at once! Technically, it's Marron AND Ette now, so the station renames itself to Marron & Ette's Stitching Station. Ette happily accepts Venia's work offer, and gives her +1 Hug. She's now up to three hugs in one round! She also asks if there's anything she wants to talk about. Marron translates for her.

ETTE: (No, not really!)
ETTE: (I just wanna say thanks! Now I can give back to everyone!)
ETTE: (Chaos won't let me work unless I'm paid, though.)
ETTE: (He's silly.)

Miki then summons a Sentient, Immobile Roll of Flex Tape that commits suicide on the Airship, adding 20% Hull Repair Progress. That's actually a pretty creative way of doing a fix, I'll give you that! Anyway, Miki goes and customizes her character, eventually coming out looking fabulous. And with renamed gear. And with a variant of Mari's Tie.

Terry then lobs a Fragapple at the ground, obtaining a Defragapple and placing it on the podium. Nothing happens. He then goes downways to the south of the Cogwork Route. He finds a gigantic nest of Mollusks. As in the Mollusks are gigantic. Kinda creepy. Especially that one in the back. JOE then harvestplants the Soulblossoms, obtaining 37 Goneblossoms and a net of 17 Soulblossoms. You know JOE, you have all this farming power, and you're just planting Soulblossomss. Surely there's something more interesting to plant? Then, you ask Omo for some plants she'd like you to grow.

She shuffles over to her desk, and plucks two bags from it before returning to you.

OMORIKA: Here.
OMORIKA: The blue bag contains Manabloom seeds. I have seen some of you wearing Manabloom earlier, but freshly picked Manabloom carries a far more potent effect.
OMORIKA: The blooms that adorn you are somewhat old. And if I'm being honest, somewhat withered.
OMORIKA: The second, brown bag is a bag of coffee beans. There's not many left.
OMORIKA: ...I haven't had a cup in days. Please get back to me with one.

10 Manabloom Seeds obtained! 10 Coffee Beans obtained! JOE then attempts to form a Thyme Matter Crystal. This actually succeeds, but the crystal looks somewhat dangerous! Careful with that thing! This ruins a Titanium Ingot, and destroys 2 Thyme Matter and 10 Uniform Logs.

Auth does a variety of things. First, she shows Omo the egg of the Gallow. She presses on her glasses, adjusting herself to get a better look.

OMORIKA: While I'd normally advocate for its immediate destruction, given what you did with Calypse, I would suspect there's something helpful you can do with it...
OMORIKA: ...However, this is outside my field of expertise.

Auth then answers Mindscape Chloe's questions. She's both chipper, yet rushed.

GLADIUS: Sussui? The wood planet? Hey, niiice!
GLADIUS: Also, I don't think Chaos originated from there. Didn't he technically originate on the battlefield? Or from the Psi Godmodder, if we're getting incredibly technical?

He then tosses Chloe some tips on how to fight Lucid.

GLADIUS: Sleep-inducer, huh? I think we've dealt with... actually, we haven't. We'll totally take Inkscalibur with us, though!
GLADIUS: Funny story; we actually bought it back from Temmie because it makes a really good medigun...
GLADIUS: We keep a medkit in the house. Inside the medkit is the Inkscalibur. I guess we're taking it with us today!
GLADIUS: ...Oh, gorilla. We need to go, now.
GLADIUS: Thanks for the help, Author! See ya~

The connection goes silent. At the very least, his information would save them a bunch of hardships! Then, he decides to go and claim his reward from Pip and Pop. The two Iti appear to be quite happy to see him.

PIP: Oh, good. Now, let me just pick a few select things...

Pip hops off her pile of credits, and begins to look through every single last credit there. She picks a few select credits, and holds them out towards the Author; about 200 Credits. That's kinda small, but alright. The pile behind her is still quite large...

PIP: Go on. Take it.

Auth takes the credits, and reaches to toss them into the inventory. Then, something impacts his leg, a loud crack sounding from both the impact and the sound of one of his bones breaking. Pop has a nailbat. This hurts people. Auth falls to the ground, and Pop cracks his head in two. Pop fistpumps.

PIP: Oops. Looks like your hand slipped again.
POP: yeah oops
PIP: ...Go and frisk his wallet.

Pop dives into the inventory, and emerges with 15 Credits, 11 Greatwood Logs, 2 Entropic Biomass, 2 Shadowinferno Clusters, 1 Silver Ingot, and 10 Gold Ingots. For good measure, they also steal the Aero Core.

PIP: Success!
PIP: Anyway, let's get out of here before they come back or something.

A car suddenly pops out of the Thyme Matter, and the two begin to load their ill-gotten goods into the trunk. The two of them begin to frantically scramble, but it seems like they won't be escaping for a few rounds! Quickly! Sabotage their means of escape, or attack them! Meanwhile, Auth respawns somewhere, having not gained a death. He has however, obtained an Accomplishment.

ACCOMPLISHMENT GET: Highway Robbery

EN then decides to go South of the Grand Hall Route. She finds A FUNCTIONING STAIRCASE! Unfortunately, the way up has been blocked with railroading a barrier from Stella, which must've been placed there some time ago. A shame. Maybe you could get her to dispel it? Irongutta then calls together a research group consisting of Omo, Nezira, and himself. The group meets in a non-mapped location some distance away from the House, and begin experiments on the prism shards Calypse was contained in.

OMORIKA: These prisms appear to be designed with absolute perfection. Calypse's beam won't waver if it heads through these, or even weaken in the slightest.
OMORIKA: The one-way effects of the glass appear to have been illusory magic supported by the Cultists, as well.
OMORIKA: I fear this won't be sufficient containment for Calypse. However, do we need to contain Calypse? If it was pacified by the Entropic Key, perhaps we're doing a redundant task?

Then, out of the blue, Keiko replaces Monika. The identity crisis intensifies. Question; would she recognize Omo, and would Omo recognize her? Questions, questions.
ANGEL, I THOUGHT YOU LOVED ME?
To this part of the update, Teag dismantles a bunch of speakers, save the one with exposed wiring. This yields 15 Circuit Boards, 45 Wire Bits, and somehow, 6 Speaker Systems. Lower quality ones, I guess? He also looks 6 Titanium from their chassis.

Anyway, maybe you should press in on the boss? Alternatively, you could keep playing with these things on the map; there's lots to look at!

<WOLOLOQUEST, ROUND SIX>
Uh, bad news. The enemy has breached your wall. Badder news, they've taken out Acacia. Fortunately for you, victory should still be possible- just go and defend yourself!

Originally posted on 2018-05-29 00:21:00

[color=#3333CC]

[color=#3333CC]...A lone shrine priest, of the light blue haired variety, is standing around somewhere you do not recognize. She stares out onto the nondescript lands she occupies, and breathes out. Now would be a good time to perform some crafting for what she shall be doing in the near future.

With some assistance from Hoshi, she reaches into the party's collective inventory and pulls out 3 Feather Rope Coils, 5 Silkweed, and a Luminous Crystal. This should be more than enough for her purposes. Looking at her notes inside of her, well, notebook, she knows exactly what she needs to do with it. She first takes the rope coils and loosely attaches them to each other by tearing a piece of paper out from her notebook (don't worry, she has plenty more pages) and cutting it into a thin ribbon of sorts, tying the ribbon itself together with the amazing human invention of TAPE (or GLUE; it doesn't quite matter) and simply wrapping the rope coils in it. Now, for the actual item of the day. She takes the silkweed portrayed and, reaching for some convenient sewing equipment™, wraps the ragtag ropes and ribbon up inside of the silkweed. It almost looks like a scarf now… probably because it is, indeed, supposed to be a scarf, but it’s missing something. A design! She investigates her design notes, and figures out what she’s intended to do. She takes the Luminous Crystal and cuts it into a practically uncountable amount of tiny triangles. Utilizing yet more of the power of TAPE/GLUE, she begins to paste the triangles into arrangements that would make a star, had she filled in the center of it… which she does, using the remaining Silkweed and coloring it in with a paintbrush dipped with white paint. She has created a makeshift scarf out of all of this; a Starred Scarf, to be exact.

Next, she consults the other side of her notes page, and sees another piece of equipment she needs to create. Taking the Book Pauldrons as a base, alongside 4 Tattered Magical Tomes, 50 Sheets of Paper, a Nice Coat, and a Bag of Salt, she gets to work. First, she… uses the salt to prepare some food for herself. Crafting’s a tiring process, you know. After that, she lays out the Sheets of Paper she took out and lays them all down on the floor, putting them all down in such a fashion that every page is touching others. Raising her now black-paint equipped paintbrush, she gets to work, drawing lines throughout all of them. The more observant ones in the audience recognize what it actually is; if it were to be cut out along those lines, it could theoretically fold into something! She cuts along the lines and folds it up… it’s some kind of outfit. Except, uh… it’s made of paper. But now is the time to be a smart girl. Taking all of the covers off of the Book Pauldron’s… books (does it even have books?), and the Tattered Magical Tomes, she affixes the covers onto the Nice Coat. Now it’s got some kind-of armor on. Wrapping up everything, the girl pastes her paper clothing onto the cover-covered coat, with the end result resembling a Shrinekeeper’s Outfit.

And then, she’s there. One shoving of Monika into the closet door that has suddenly appeared behind her, and the new girl has appeared.

"Wait, no, why? Why would you-"CONNECTION INTERRUPTED

This girl’s name? Keiko Yukimura. And her statsheet is located here, for your convenience. It even goes directly to it.


Originally posted on 2018-05-29 00:31:00

(Previous turn) Teag dissassembles the speakers that are jammed in to various places, except for the one with exposed wiring.

(This turn) Since his ears aren't being destroyed by extremely loud music quite as much now, Teag is able to notice the murder of a party member and imminent escape of two Iti with a load of stuff, Teag rushes over to the Hall of Sages as quickly as possibly and fires a piercing round directly at the car's engine, preparing for a fight.

Originally posted on 2018-05-29 02:50:00

Venia does some slight additional reshuffling of skillpoints. She discards the MLG Pro Charm for the newfound necessity of the Crimson Gauntlet and trades the Shadowcaster Umbra for the Entropic Key-and switches around her equipment such that the Killer Bow is now her primary weapon, not the Entropic Key. She then removes 1 point of STR, INT and MP each to put two into SKI and one into SPC to keep her stats mostly intact. This means the Shadowcaster Umbra and the MLG Pro Charm are both available for any interested.

...Combined with the skillpoint and spell-switches above, the total list of changes is as follows.

Skillpoint switches:
-1 STR (should total 8 still)
-2 INT (should total 0)
-1 MP (should total 30)
+4 SKI (should total 10)
+1 SPC (should total 8 still)

Resulting Substat Changes:
CRT: still 14 (no more equipment, but higher SKI)
HIT: 15 (-2 between no INT bonus and no equipment, despite higher SKI)
DGE: 2 (Unchanged)
CNT: 11 (+2 from higher SKI)
CAV: 12 (Unchanged)

Item switches:
Shadowcaster Umbra -> Entropic Key
Switch Primary and Secondary weapons
MLG Pro Charm -> Crimson Gauntlet

Spell Switches:
Watchful Eye -> Decaying Light

-the above is for the above update-
-the below is for the next update-

Venia sighs as she hears the inept attempts of two morons to escape with loot succeed at conning the blindly-trusting Auth to his death. You could practically hear the MGS 'Alerted' exclamation mark noise amongst the Descendants, but Venia, in response, raised her hand.

"Amateurs. Let me set them straight upon the matter."

----+----

Pip and Pop are having an unusually tough time with the car. It got checked out at the shop-wait, no, they did not. They killed the auto repair shop and everyone in it for keks under the pretense of it needing to be fixed, because it never broke. But for once, it appears the car is stalling. Rather badly, at that. No matter how much the key turns, the duo cannot, for the life of them, get it to work.

Pip checks insurance while Pop checks the car out, but both are quite displeased at this development. Or, as 'displeased' as Iti get. They're literally a hive mind with a crazy lunatic, and this is WARE's lunacy given some variation of form, so they of all people should especially be immune to serious drama. Really now. Who could get more WackyZany than them to put their escape on ice?

It was probably the person who stole the wheels of the car. Yep. Whoever that was, it was them. There's absolutely no evidence of the crime other than the absense of the wheels and the conveniently-placed cinderblocks that kept the car perfectly level.

"Ahoy there, landlubbers!" Calls out a familiar voice. The duo (likely) turn their two heads towards the source, a middle-aged Krab with attitude and a ridiculous attire, like if a certain robotic quad-wielder was also a crossdresser. He's positioned directly in the way of the car. "I see ye' be in a wee bit of a bind, attemptin' to snatch up all'a your ill-gotten plunder after murderin' the single capital-S Saint amongst the Descendants, and Neptune knows that man is a capital-S Saint! But now yer' boat's stalled, your tires have been stolen, and your engine's gone too! Karma if I've ever seen it!"

Pip and Pop are likely already aiming to kill Mr. Krabs just for that, but then likely realize 'wait what about the Engine?' and then look back at the car. It has not been touched, save for the fact that the hood is up and the engine is gone with zero evidence as to how the hell that occurred. The smiles on their faces no longer accurately represent their internal emotions, not even remotely, save for perhaps the joy they will feel later when beating this Krab to a pulp. They rush in with homicidal intent gleaming in their eyes, the primal urge of all Iti flowing through their minds.

In response, Mr. Krabs abruptly double-casts Skeletal Toss to throw them backwards towards the car, and then grows enough legs to leg-wield eighty different Shadowcasters at once. His voice warps into a parody of a gangster as he shouts "YOU CAME TO THE WRONG NEIGHBORHOOD YOU CAME TO THE WRONG NEIBORHOOD YOU CAME TO THE WRONG NEIBORHOOD," repetitively at that in a voice that could be said to be the horrific combination of high-pitched and 'throaty.'

What followed was, of course, a massive beguilement of the duo via a wave of Shadowcaster shots-aimed so inaccurately that only sheer mass of fire made it threatening at all. The duo, motivated by forces they do not quite understand, dive into the way of the only cover they currently possess-the Car.

Except the Car itself is now gone, even with the cinder blocks. In fact, they've instead dived into a ditch at the approximate location of the Car, which serves roughly the same purpose, except now they're infuriated as they just shoved all of their loot into the vehicle moments ago. An exasperated pair of sighs emits from their windpipes as Pop throws Pip a revolver.

Pip pops out over the rim of the makeshift trench and starts unloading onto Mr. Krabs. She aims with her elite accuracy, but fails to hit Mr. Krabs, as the wall of Shadowcasters easily prevents the blows from reaching him at all. It also disables a single Shadowcaster in the process, but Mr. Krabs responds by growing five more legs to leghandle more Shadowcasters.

Pip ups her game, pulling a Mac 10 and a Tec 9 out of her skirt and dual-wielding them, pouring dozens of bullets into the fray. This only serves to repeat the same issue of before, just with 8 Shadowcasters instead of 1, and Mr. Krabs responds accordingly, like some kind of mad leg hydra.

Pip ups her game far, far better, pulling out two Rocket Launchers and wielding an additional AK-12 (which is the standard Russian armament as of 2018-the moar you know!) wielded with her weird, prehensile Iti tongue. She sprays hundreds of clips worth of ammunition and fires dozens of rockets in the blink of an eye, accelerated by forces unknown to all but a mad idiot having the worst tea party ever.

Mr. Krabs responds by abruptly charging Pip in her mad firefight with a Resonating Pike, pinning Pip to the back of the small crater and beginning to pound on her defenseless self. Pop responds to her comrade being pinned down by an angry Krab with an angry shout and a rush with the Nailbat, and slams Mr. Krabs on the back of the head. Mr. Krabs shows a sign of damage, enough for Pop to continue-when Krab abruptly relocates himself to the back, with all of his guns repaired and resuming firing. This causes Pop to unintentionally bat Pip in the face at full force, wounding her further. The duo rush back into cover with two feminine voices of rage. They'll get masculine voices on an NG+, don't you worry.

After Pip hastily fixes her own face via shoving dead seekers into it, the duo of Pip and Pop contemplate their actions. Clearly, Mr. Krabs had them beat in superior firepower, as approximately one hundred and sixty miniguns was considerably more than what they could bring to bear against the Krab, and explosive fire has not harmed him properly. Wait-no they didn't! The Aero Core! Lucky enough that they stashed that baby alone in Pop's pocket well before trying to take off. That thing could cover the cost of losing the car and well more. Infinite energy isn't cheap, after all. The possibilities were endless-including, perhaps, a way to stop the Krab. Pop's face turns downright evil as she schemes Mr. Krab's downfall.

She pulls the Aero Core out of the pocket she likely didn't have before. Except, as she looks at it, she realizes something rather off-putting about the Aero Core. Namely, that it's totally not there at all and is a fake-and with that thought it totally vanishes, replaced with a single note.

Feeling Lucky, Punks?

Pop and Pip look at each other awkwardly. Is this what the hell this whole 'anime meta shift' was about in the patch notes? They'll have to eat Hoshiiro Girldrop later. Yes, the entire anime. That Sosugo girl looked especially delicious, but the point is, they can't let something outshine them, or else they get into high-pitched gunfights with Krabpersons that they can't actually win.

...The shadowcaster storm abruptly stops. The two Eliti pause, and look around-and look very damn carefully because clearly whoever's doing this is screwing with them on a very high tier, and they're not stupid enough to assume that Mr. Krabs was the only one responsible. Yeah, wasn't there a Supersize Waifu (hold the fries) with him? Her color wasn't #00CO1D, though, it was #0001CE. What? Does she need a budget buddy? Even in the face of total failure to do anything other than kill a respawning, gullible idiot, they still snicker at the idea of the big fat fatty. EZ kill, right? If she was even there. They poked their heads out of the hole.

As one might expect, there was no longer a massive wall of Shaodwcasters aimed at them. There wasn't a Mr. Krabs to aim it at them, either. Or a Hall of Sages to begin with-the duo were exposed to the autumn-themed area that made up the outside of the area instead. The pools of Thyme Matter are gone as well-revealing both thyme crystals as the tip of the proverbial icebergs, both 'icebergs' in question being statues of WARE flipping the bird (the crystal tips being his outstretched fingers), and the duo are left in the middle of a massive abyss, even deeper than before.

This new situation raises quite a few questions, which are all proverbially interrupted by the sound of some kind of chiptune theme coming from directly below their feet. An inspection is warranted-and the duo feel a compelling force to inspect it thoroughly.

It's a game boy. But, it isn't just any gameboy. It's the rare, original game boy version of Tales of Game's Presents Chef Boyardee's Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden, Chapter 1 of the Hoopz Barkley SaGa, or, if you would: Charles Barkley Gaiden. The original Charles Barkley Gaiden, before Tales of Game's (sic) had secretly sold a remake as the original. The chiptune theme is just the now-clear Title Theme.

...Is it?

Well, it is. There's absolutely no fooling anyone with functioning ears. Pope I am so sorry

The full results of the thorough inspection they were compelled to enact regardless of the obviousness of this reveals an additional piece of information: This game boy's sound system is damaged beyond reasonable repair and cannot play any sound whatsoever. Which means that the chiptune theme emits from elsewhere. Also, there's a rather overwhelming source of noise to their east, which is to be expected because of the stupid DJ 'end of the world' party going on over there. There is also a far less overwhelming but still noticeable source of noise directly overhead, but that's laughable, nothing that didn't generate in the Thymefield could penetrate it. Clearly another failed attempt at bombing Locaa to eliminate them and their glorious master WARE.

Then they get Chaos Dunked by Charles Barkley coming out of the blue. The blue that generated from the west, which no-one sane would've seen coming, as well as Pip and Pop.

The fallout of the raw Jamicite and Slamicite colliding within the Chaos Dunk, enough to enact low-tier Narrative Flux (the kind that backs Thyme), is negated by the Thyme Field-but unlike almost any other example, it's just not enough. It is almost enough-but it relegates the explosion, from a universe-detonating affair, to merely a face-detonating affair as the Shimmerglobe and Hell B-Ball impact the faces of Pop and Pip at the same time, with equal force. That's right-Charles Barkley is back from future's past after that disastrous one-off with Uzi, now ready to give these two douches the biggest B-Ball match since Space Jam.

When Pip and Pop attempt to question his status as 'alive' 'since' 0, Charles Barkley's eyes trial to a hidden Truck Pump, IE, his Save Points. He's technically reloaded an earlier save, if he's died at all.

They roll to disbelieve this complete madness, but no, itshappening.gif and there's nothing they can do about it. The sound of Barkley's fearsome dribbling skills becomes immense.

They attempt to bribe Charles Barkley to not kill them with their totally-existent Incan Gold. It works! Pip and Pop give him totally-existent Incan Gold, which Barkley takes without complaint. Barkley, hands full of gold-wait what there was no Incan Gold there in the first place. Even Barkley is confused at the confused expressions of Pip and Pop, before shoving the Incan Gold into a hyperspace pocket and resuming his intended slamdown with the duo as they rage at the abrupt realness factor of the Incan Gold they were just denied stealing due to those wretched little Hyperspace pockets. They steel their resolve for a fight-this dude's old, and can't possibly be a threat to the two mighty Eliti! Especially since there's two of them and only one of him. There's no B-Ball technique that they know of that could possibly allow him to overcome this deficiency.

The 'old dude' proceeds to execute his first technique, aptly known as Doubleteam. It quickly proves to more than make up for the deficiency of being old and being in a one-on-two, by doing exactly what you think it does-throw B-Balls into their faces. Twice. He mixes spamming this exact technique with the occasional Vampslam (which drains HP from the victim with its high damage on a 1:1 ratio) to utterly destroy Pop and Pip, jamming so high in the air all the while that Pip and Pop can't even aim at the dude properly. Thoroughly trashed-but somehow still on 1 HP each-Barkley considers this slamjam over with and warps his way into the B-Ball Dimension for a temporary reprieve from the Multiversal scene to his usual affairs. Where was he? Oh, right-finding a cure for diabetes for his son, Hoopz.

As Pip and Pop lay thoroughly trashed in a now-crater in the middle of what has just been restored as the Hall of Sages, down to the Thyme Matter pools, a certain 'Super Size' girl (hold the fries) appears before them, an even larger sack holding a considerable amount of material hanging off of her back. It'd be about the size of their car, actually.

"OK, kid meals," Venia says. "Feeling cozy down there? No? Ahahaa. You two are classic hit-and-runners, the very definition of subculture bitches-"-Pop likely freaks out, only to find her Nail Bat attempting to bat Pop herself-"-but really, it's just the lowest class I've seen of anyone. Subculture bitches have better class, ahaha. Now, ah, uh. Gotta kinda beat you to nice purple pulps now... and ask quite a few questions how I got this after." Venia says, leveraging her new gauntlet and her new key.

Cue an extended three minutes of just laying into the two Eliti with the key. It isn't particularly impassioned by anything other than the pure raw knowledge that the two things beneath her are Eliti that just killed Auth and stole from his dead corpse, and the Eliti, subset of the murderous Iti, are likely no more restrained than their usual cousins. When she's decided she's had enough, the two Eliti are naught more but purple blots on the ground. The suspiciously intact ground of the Hall of Sages-Venia isn't here to rob Omorika blind or damage the library, after all.

Venia manages a smirk afterwards. she managed to steal the car and everything that Pip and Pop possibly had on their personages, including the party's previous possessions, as well as the absence of Incan Gold so Barkley wouldn't betray her. (She knew they'd try that, and she knew Barkley couldn't resist-part of the payment plan!).

How? Well, she wouldn't be a very good thief if she told you, now, would she?

Venia returns to the party, happy. "I need to step up the pace on my research, I think. Also, Pop and Pip won't be trouble anymore, and if they are, I'll personally rectify the situation. On that note, uh, heard about what happened at the Altar Isle...? I'd like... More samples of blood, erm, blood obtained there. Or Sap, if you two Chairian ladies feel, euh, mmm, uh, masochistic today... I wouldn't recommend it either way. I think I have an idea on how to help out Boshi with, uh, uh, that..."

Venia readies up for the upcoming Boss battle-and the potential Pip and Pop Battle, if somehow either of them are alive after that.

Originally posted on 2018-05-29 02:54:00