Purchases/Research

Venia spends 5 Flux for the Butterfly Brace.

Venia then moves to Chaos in his tiny jail. "OK so, this may surprise you, but I have the full listed credit cost for 'Operation shell Pane with baked beans until he gives up Mari.' It is at the base price, without any discount, and matches the exact cost as-listed."

Venia hands Chaos 80 credits, purchasing Operation Shell Pane With Baked Beans Until He Gives Up Mari.

"That is all 1,010,000 Credits. I am quite amused that you would put your costs in base two, a fact I did not realize until recently. Thank you for your unprecedented generosity, mister Chaos," Venia says.

---

RP: Creation

Seconds later, Nia feels a snapping sound coming from her wrist behind her. "Noop!" Venia shouts from behind Nia, sounding chipper. "Surprise wristband from behind!"

Venia steps around to face Nia, smiling gently, the brace (which is a black wristband with a ghostbusters-esque logo on it, replacing the Chaos Butterfly's true form with the ghost) secured on Nia's wrist and active. Why a wristband? No clue. "So, yeah! Uh, that's not just a random wristband... That's a special device called the 'Butterfly Brace.' Basically, no more Butterfly intrusions to your voice! I only came into the resources needed to build that... Uh, right before the apocalypse. But once I had that, it was... Really easy. It won't stop the Butterfly in any other way, but no more voice hijacks, no more awkward pausing. Cool, right?"

"Uh, yeah! Uh... Thank you, seriously, again... I... I don't know what I was thinking. I was just... So overwhelmed. By everything. I don't know why I'm breaking down like this, I was leagues more stable days before... But, uh, anyways. First, uh. If you want to know anything about me-or whatever crap I was rambling about-seriously just ask. Even if it sounds 'bad.' I feel like... I feel like I've needed to talk about that for a while and haven't been able to."

"Uh, in any case, let's find Chloe, and the others. Got some news. And a plan." Venia says, taking Nia to the Default Respawn Point room to at least Chloe and those present. Once there, she taps Chloe on the shoulder to get her attention.

"OK, so... So, uh. News. Good news, thank hell," Venia says. "Reality's getting reset, the bottles will vanish forever, no-one will stay dead, and only us, the Spherebreakers-and maybe not all of us, either-will keep our memories of the event so it doesn't repeat. That means Maria and everyone else won't be dead! ...And I'll also have my cancer again as I will no longer be made of 'bottles,' but, thinking about it, all I'd need to do is replicate whatever I did to get like this with... Uh, a different, more stable magical power. So I guess, weirdly enough, it all worked out?..."

She breathes in, shuddering at the thought of Maria's death, among countless others-though, it was still Maria's that hit manifold worse. She breathes out. "... You did all you could. Most wouldn't even have tried-you wouldn't believe how easy it is to forget stuff like that in adrenaline rushes. I-It's not your fault, it's... Nevermind, just, don't... Don't beat yourself up over this."

"In any case... This is probably going to sound very strange, but... The Chaos Butterfly can't do much of anything stupid here. It's... Too well guarded. The Operator and the station itself would be more than enough force to quickly boot the Butterfly out of Nia if the worst happened, among other things. It means the risk of the Butterfly trying anything stupid on us, and having it work, is reduced here. ...So, uh, we should probably try for the mindscape reading thing now. Yeah. We don't have much else to do, do we? Uh, I could re-set up the whole setup in a corner of this place and we can begin, if you're ready to just get this over with."

If they both accept (and Venia really wants them to accept), she will re-set up her setup from before (three chairs, Golden Dream Ring on a podium to enhance visibility to all parties, and a magically-enhanced and soundproofed curtain) at the small corner at AC19-AE17. Cramped, but workable.

---

Assuming the above happens and they agree, Venia states a few warnings. (Again.)

"So, uh. Simple setup. Nia sits in the fancy chair and relaxes, Chloe stays by the phone to ring the party members in case things go bad, I steer at the podium. We will all see what's going up, but only the three of us-the curtain prevents people from scrying our location, and I will happily demonstrate my control over my condition on any idiot who tries to peek anyways. However, the curtains also means that unless we leave the curtains no-one can hear us, so that's what the phone is for-if anything goes bad, Chloe, call for help," Venia says. She neglects to mention, tactically, the second emergency signal wired on her own line wristband-if its destroyed, everyone else in the party will know to rush to her location. It would also activate if her heart stopped, but Venia is not currently aware her condition has given her some very foolproof immortality.

"Mindscapes... They're inherently fake. A representation of a person's thoughts and perceptions as a landscape. As such, there's a saying in my time. 'A Mindscape can't lie, but it can't tell the truth.' Everything in there is... Distorted. Sometimes a little, sometimes a lot, but its a reality based upon perception in there, so some thought has to be put into things. Case in point... I mentioned the... The Patricide, pretty loudly. My own Mindscape-it has these, like, rows of statues, representative of things I've done, and those statues glorify... Everything. Even that. I... I regret it, one-hundred percent. But, when I was doing it, it was... some kind of sick catharsis, and that is what is represented, but that isn't what I feel about it now. So we can't jump to conclusions on anything we see, however extreme, especially if it isn't a raw memory. As hard as that could be."

"Goal is simple. Find out where the Butterfly is and what its doing, and get as much information as we can on what it is doing. Optimally, with minimal intrusion upon Nia's memories. Simple enough, I think."

"Oh, and as a silver lining... It is known that looking at your own Mindscape is an excellent trigger for psychic powers, including the ability to take form in your own Mindscape consciously and shape the terrain around to a limited extent. So, there's that," Venia says. "I'd be happy to tutor you on the subject if that does happen."

She turns to Nia. "... It will be alright, alright? I, I guess I owe you my life, in a sense. That's... That's a pretty big debt, and I intend to repay it, come hell or high water..."

Assuming no complications or interruptions, Venia activates the ring on Nia...

---

Assuming no complications or interruptions, again (IE the Chaos Butterfly being right in her face the instant the ring activates), Venia will take note of the Landscape, attempt to find the Chaos Butterfly in the open, and if she can't, she will beeline towards the largest structure most likely to be the central structure of her Mindscape. I'd be surprised if nothing weird happened thus far.

---

Build Changes

Venia swaps out Terraform for Pow Hammer. She has (7-8) Damage, Toss Hammer and Brunel's Blessing on it, and that aside, it stuns. Terraform is still nifty, though, so this might be temporary.

---

Battle: The End of Creation

Mr. Krabs is about to ask THE OPERATOR more questions, but Venia then appears, smashing Mr. Krabs into a golden portal. He is consumed. Her hat is unofficially designated as the new shenanigans-causer for the time being. She then looks at THE OPERATOR, or, well, the space right next to his head, given how bad looking at THE OPERATOR is normally.

"... You. You don't have to tell me that I'm going to get my cancer again. That's expected. No more eldritch snarls. You also don't have to tell me I have bugfixing to do. He's gonna get fixed, all right... " She says. "... I had saves prepared but you already took care of that. I guess this is all that's left to do? ... Very well."

Venia spawns in at I3, moves to G6, and activates Purge. Her hat pings Secretary 1, gaining its scan data.

Irongutta held the Tiki Necklace - Toast's gift to him - in his hand. He looked over each of the miniature carved totems on the necklace in awe. Each one was a representation of some of the great foes they had all fought previously, but of course his favorite one was the one representing himself. He promptly put the necklace on and approached Toast.

"Oi, Toast! I just wanted to thank ya fer the gift. It's proppa flashy, an' it keeps track of all the big gits we clobbered an' who 'ad a hand in clobberin' 'em, hah!" Naturally, he further expresses his gratitude by giving Toast a hearty slap on the back (whether she could take it or not).

In the central room of the station, Irongutta spots Nia near the core, Creation. "How're ya 'oldin' up Nia? I 'avent 'ad the chance to speak wivv ya since, er, wotever all that was."

He notices that she's been eyeing the core. It's certainly caught his eye as well, but he noted the red marks on her face from... a flyswatter? Irongutta lowered his voice a bit, his thieving habits as a member of the Deathskull clan getting the better of him. "Ya sure there's no way fer us to snatch it up? I'm sure they'll take an I.O.U., heh heh!"

---

Irongutta distributes one skillpoint into HP, and the other into MP. He also removes one point from SPC and puts it into STR.

-Battle: The End of Creation-
Irongutta spawns in at M3 and moves to O6, gaining Unstoppable Force! He casts Focus Energy on himself as a Bonus Action, spending the extra mana, and then basic attacks Secretary2!

Hat Kid was behind Marron and Toast now. She seems to be thinking about what Marron just said to Hat Kid...

"...so those weren't my time powers that made me come back?" she thinks out loud to herself. "a-and the reason I came back was because of... spawn points? like in super corgi adventure...?"

She thinks a bit... and then it hits her. Her voice rises. "W-wait, are we in a video game!? This isn't even real!?" She visibly tries not to think about it too hard, pain evident on her face. She fails moments later, and buckles under pressure. She sits down and curls up into a ball, head tucked in. She's not taking this too well... quiet, sad gibberish can be heard from her.




Meanwhile, Boshi responds to Nia. "(Yeah, I'm holding up alright... j-just a bit nervous, is all. Glad to see you're taking this alright.)"
And then Venia happens. He... decides to step back and let the rest figure it out. He's in no position to aid Venia or Nia right now. So he decides to head over to the door, and exit. He seems intent on scouting out the area first before he brings out Hat Kid. Unfortunately, he's pulled into battle...

-----

Boshi spawns in at (M2). He immediately uses the Hookshot badge, and swings to (P7). He casts Static Overcharge on Secretary 4. 5 stacks of Static Buildup applied.

"Hey buddy, it's been seven years since Slender was relevant. You might as well be panicking over the Mayans at this point."
https://dtgforums.jcink.net/index.php?showtopic=104&view=findpost&p=12727
Keiko spawns at K2, moves to K5, and spawns a Patchwork Totem at K7, setting the element to Dark. A Mana Well appears below her at K5.

Calibri turns to face Nia before she leaves and nods to her, then turns to reapply his attention to Chloe. Since she has been having something of a rough time, he decides to give her a gentle hug before saying anything to her.

"...So. Thankfully, due to the reset, the apocalypse will be averted and everyone lost to it, Maria included, will be brought back. I guess you've taken a liking to the little one, huh? Heh... Eh, the reset is still going to be a fair while away. Plenty of time to pass until we get there... If there's anything you wanna do around here in the meantime, or you need something, let me know."

"...Course, if you'd rather not do much right now, I'm fine with that too. Just... yeah. Plenty of time, and a few ways to choose to spend it."

He shrugs. His lack of experience at interacting with people is showing full force right now, given that he's having trouble with eye contact and seems a bit unsure in his tone of voice... He promptly blurts a statement or two out, still having trouble with giving Chloe proper eye contact.

"...Preemptive sorry if I get a bit clingy right now. The circumstances have me a bit worried and I... kinda feel safer nearer you... dunno if I just made things awkward or something... help, I don't know how to interact with people..."


In the meantime, Verdana just seems happy that Venia's doing okay now, smiling happily to himself while watching her. Since Venia's also wanting to do stuff with Nia, he watches to make sure everything's fine...

"Alrighty. If things are fine now, I'll go look around this space station and do things with people. Like talk to them! Or something. People can call for me if they need me!"

He proceeds to wander off, although he ends up wandering over to where Taeda is and casts a simple healing spell on her to help her recover from whatever rough bump she took when she got here. He also tries to awaken her with a quick boop, and if this is successful, he waves at her.

"Hello! I thought it would be rude to leave you lying there unconscious while we're here. Quick recap, someone caused an apocalypse, we're currently really high up in the air in a satellite thing, the apocalypse will be reverted soon so if you want to check this place out you should probably do so but sleeping off this entire thing is also a perfectly reasonable option, and the only reason EN didn't wake you up instead of me is because she doesn't know how to heal people without using Transfusion and she didn't want you to wake up with a sore head. You bumped your head at some point. It looked uncomfortable. I healed you before waking you."

He smiles cluelessly and proceeds to bugger off to elsewhere in the station.


In the meantime, EN chuckles.

"A fight, huh? Sure. Ah'd be up fer a bit o' tha'. Jus' hopin' tha' any deaths we git in this fight ain't count. Ah've 'ad a perfect record so far... Cal ain't, but we ain't th' same, heh."

She pumps her DEF, RES, and HP up one skillpoint each, then spawns at J3, moves to K6, and angles her Aspis Shield to the South, selfcasting High Damage Ammo on herself.

Before the battle begins, Nezira sits down with Chloe.

"...Hey. You okay? ...Guess not."

She stays there with Chloe and lets her be for a bit, before speaking again.

"...You know. Everything's going to be okay. Trust me. Everything's going to fix itself up in a while and it'll be like the bottles never happened. The one running this station is making sure of that. Maria's going to come back, too, after that happens and everything gets brought back to normal."

Another pause, letting her absorb that.

"We recently got a new spell, did you know? Well. I say got, but really 'bought from Chaos'. I think it'd be great for you -- maybe even better than the Fluxblade you have. It lets you basically enhance your weapon with magic so it can hit far-away foes. Want to try it out, see if it takes your mind off... well, everything that's happened?"

Assuming Chloe agrees:

Nezira helps her stand up and then puts Chloe's sword in her hand, before wrapping her own hand around the hilt as well.

"Okay. Your sword already naturally does something like this, so this should be easier for you since you can tap into that. Close your eyes and breathe slowly, in and out, and focus on the sword in your hand. Feel the magic in it, and the magic in yourself as well. Everyone has magic inside them. Just clear your mind and focus like that for a bit, until you can feel both of those things in your mind's eye, and then tell me when. And if you need any help figuring out how to get that to work, just ask."

If Chloe asks for help feeling out the magic, Nezira feeds a slight pulse of energy into her hand, just enough to cause her magic and the sword's magic to resonate a little.

Once Chloe has both of those down, Nezira continues, "Good. Now, focus on that magic inside yourself, and try to reach out and touch the sword's magic with your own, feed power into it and infuse it with your own mana. It should be easy to feed power into it -- if you get resistance from it, you've charged it up fully. Remember, if you need any assistance, I'm here to help you figure it out."

Nezira closes her own eyes, slips into magic-sense, and keeps an eye on Chloe as she tries to do that. If she asks for help, Nezira carefully guides Chloe along the process of manipulating her mana until she's gotten it on her own, then keeps an eye on her as she goes through the rest of the process.

"Now. Open your eyes, and look at your sword."

If Chloe's done everything right (with Nezira helping her along), the blade should be glowing Chloe's inherent color, infused with magic.

"You've done it! Now you just need to test it out."

Nezira conjures a magical target out of normal sword range, and keeps her magic ready to dispel any errant slash before it can hit anything important.

"Just attack that, and you should be able to hit it even from here. Like you do when countering, act and your sword and the magic you gave it will do the rest."

Once Chloe's tested the newly-enhanced sword out, Nezira smiles -- grins, almost. "You did it! How do you feel now? And... apart from all that, do you want to talk about anything?"

=====
In the End of Creation, Nezira spawns at M3, moves to O3, and summons a Restorer at Q3.

16 INT
Restorer:
Vessel
Dark-element Attack
Weaknesses: Slashing, Slashing
Resistances: Dark, Dark
Sorrowful Soul
Upgrades: Sapphire Infusion, Restora Tome
Point distribution: 3 HP, 3 SHP, 3 MP, 1 DGE, 5 Upgrades (final total 15)
SPC Milestone: Blood Molding
Final Stats:
38 HP (1 AC), 14 SHP, 51 MP, (5-7) DMG, 0 CRT, 19 HIT, 6 DGE, 2 CNT, 18 CAV
Spells:
Restora, Restoration (upgraded by Sapphire Infusion), Guardians of Old (upgraded to apply Teneveil by Sapphire Infusion)

One skillpoint shall be removed from INT, and four skillpoints shall be put into SKI. In addition, Pope Bill replaces his Manabloom with the Blooming Bowtie that Nezira made for him.

POPE BILL [to himself]: Makes me look even more snappy!

In the battle, End of Creation, Pope Bill moves to O5 then uses his trait, Eye of Providence, to mark a tile (P6) within Range 1 of himself on the right in the middle of the corner path of Raw Creation -- just in case!

Hex drops a skillpoint into STR, then enters End of Creation on M3.
He moves to Q3, directing the flames from the Pyro Power Armor into Secretary's face, then stabs the Secretary in the face.
Then he trots over to S5, and shouts to the operator.
HEX: Can I have your autograph when this is all over? It would probably work as a crafting material or something!
He then proceeds to.. oh that's disgusting
HEX: For science!
He drinks the Em x Seeker Blood vial oh oh oh god that's disgusting excuse me as I vomit in the corner.
After the narrator recovers...
Astrec meanwhile buys the cowboy hat with the relic coupon.
Because I (not astrec) am the only Texan other then piono in the party, I am legally obligated to buy the cowboy hat, or we would all be arrested.
He then gives it to Ziah.
Astrec then searches Tamogachi and Cappa in the database.

The next part of the day will be hard...

Brutishace spawns in at M3, moves down to N7, drinks a Meldblossom Tea (he'll have to thank whoever made it, it tastes superb!), and uses Twin Serpents on the second Secretary before moving to N6.

Fist things first, I go and +2 my STR.

Now, Simeon spawns on J3, moves to I6, and before anyone else attacks Secretary1, he shoots them with the Zaliska.

Nidra takes a point out of SPC and puts two in SKI.

She then joins the battle at I3, moves to H6, and casts Last Dream on the third secretary.

uA: Am... I okay? ...No. No, I don't... I don't think I am okay. It's just...

Auth sighs as Nana walks over. He tries to put on a brave face for her, at the very least.

uA: Thanks, Nana. I appreciate it. I'm glad you're here...

Auth remains rather somber as Nana assures that it's not his fault that, well... the world is ending. Auth turns to stare back out into space.

uA: I know... it's not my fault specifically, but...

He tears up slightly. It's difficult to spot.

uA: We were supposed to protect those people. Everybody, as much as we could, but... we failed. Badly. As a whole... there are millions of people that have been damned because we failed... I don't know what happened, but I should have found a way to stop it. We're here and now... there are many people who are no longer here.

He tenses up as Nana takes hold of his arm. He relaxes after he realizes what actually happened.

uA: I... am not sure if the party member is still here - I think he is. But you're right, I shouldn't lock myself into this... I'm pretty sure they're fixing this.

Auth laughs quietly at Nana's suggestion that he's some kind of 'Hero'. He finds that amusing, apparently, since he doesn't consider himself that.

uA: I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but... I'm no hero. I was just doing my job. I help who I can help, and that's all I did. It's nothing real special. I understand what you mean, but... really, what you've said is an exaggeration. Thank you, though. I appreciate the sentiment, truly.

Auth seems better now that Nana has spoken, and he smiles down to Nana, before looking over to the Operator, where a battle is starting.

uA: Oh, I think there's a battle starting to pass the time. Do you want to come and join in?

Auth assigns his Skill Points into SPC and MP, giving him 12 SPC and 66 MP.

In Battle, Auth spawns on J3, and spawns an Ink Specter on I4, preparing to move it for protection.

αCREATINGα

Echoss hacks time to sliiip right in before Terry arrives.



He also sits by Taeda, waiting for her to come to. She doesn't respond- she must've not been prepared for the whole shock of the situation. Still, the butterfly rests by her, waiting for her to come to...

---

Terry starts off his day by editing his stats and equipment. +1 MMP, +2 DEF, +1 RES, -1 AGI, -2 SPC, and +1 Santa Hat! She then heads over to Omo, and asks if he can join her in her game.

OMORIKA: I understand the function of supporting two users, but supporting three seems unlikely...
OMORIKA: I suppose if it works, I'll be happy to have you.

---

Toast attempts to hit Tier 5... and actually ends up confusing the game, as she's listed Tier 5 in her craftpost, but it's Tier 4 in her respec. The game /shrugs, but calculates the gear to be Tier 4 anyway. Anyway, the Crystalline Mantle was combined with 2 Cyan Diamonds, a Platinum Ingot, a Spirit Blossom, a Storm Cellystal, a Glacier Crystal, an Incendiary Scrap, and a sheet of Simple Fabric.

She also does a partial respec! This time, the GM grabs the proper one. Toast also takes a moment to chat with Marron. She feels hopeless, angry- things like that.

MARRON: I know what you mean.
MARRON: J-Just, the feeling t-that we can't do anything a-about this...
MARRON: G-God, I wish I could help you... b-but I'm just me...

Marron sighs, as Toast un-tenses. She's just happy to be here with her.

MARRON: ...
MARRON: I-I...
MARRON: I-I'm g-glad you're h-here too...

She mopes silently, pressing her face into Toast's shoulder. Which is probably painful for her if she's leaning into her crystal arm, but it's still kinda sad-cute regardless.

---

Destiny opts to do some crafting, combining a Luminous Crystal, 3 Shadow Crystals, a Searing Cluster, 2 Megabark, her Dark Bullholster Skull, 1 Ruby, and 2 Spiritblossoms to create a hat named Hell and Back! She then +1's her SKI and DEF.

---

Daskter +3's his RES. Nothing much to say here.

---

Venia, still not done with words, summons more. She opts to start by passing 80 credits to Chaos, to foot the 1,010,000 credit bill for receiving Mari.

CHAOS: wai[t], [t]he pri[c]e isn'[t] in base 2-
CHAOS: ...
CHAOS: wai[t], i [c]an a[c][t]ually make some money off [t]he opera[t]ion
CHAOS: [t]ha[t] was mean[t] [t]o be a joke en[t]ry, bu[t] if you're willing [t]o pay an[y]thing for i[t]
CHAOS: su[c]kersssssss

Chaos poses, and points towards Creation.

CHAOS: yo [c]rea[t]ion [c]ook me up some beanz

...Creation hums for a moment. First, a calm, quiet hum, then a loud, angry crashing! A gigantic lance made of beams promptly appears out of a poof of green flames, instantly turning Chaos's head into a fine glitchy mist. Creation fails to do anything else. Chaos, having successfully used his head as a decoy once again, sucks up all of the beans with the gaping hole in his... lack of neck? Sure.

CHAOS: one [t]wo [t]hree five four six...
CHAOS: yeah [t]ha[t]'s a[t] leas[t] enough beans to comple[t]e [t]he hoard

Chaos opens a small rift in the code of reality, and vomits up all of the beans into there.





Elsewhere, across the galaxy, somewhere in Universe C, a random Minecraftian finishes his home in the middle of a strangely flat, grassy field. It is a beautiful creation, made up of thousands of oak trees, spanning at least one-hundred blocks. It is a mansion that Notch would outbid Jay Z and Beyonce for. Standing a small distance away from his new home, the man faces away from it, trying to align some sort of invisible camera for this thing he'd call a "screen shot".

Then, the ground begins to rumble, interrupting his screencapture. The man tries to discern the source of the rumbling, but he cannot find it. The ground begins to splinter and crack, and the man begins to scream. A beam of energy rips out of the ground, not far from his house. Energy begins to well up around it, and the sky begins to darken. The amount of energy is quite nearly enough to blow him away. And then, the ground explodes outward, in a burst of destruction.

A gigantic cannon, made out of a glitch-tainted metal. It bursts out of the ground, destroying all in its way. The man can only watch as his creation is destroyed.

MINECRAFTIAN: MY CABBAGES!

...The cannon has burst out of his cabbage field, which might've actually just been a bunch of leaf blocks placed next to tilled farmland. His house is completely unscathed. But still, the mental damage has been done. The man collapses, crying and cursing the gods for this unjust treatment. Then, the beam of energy fades from the Cannon's barrel. The cannon's glitched hull ignites with a crescendo of color.

Then, it fires. The beans aren't so much fired out of the cannon as much as they are obliterated on the molecular level, reality itself molding into delicious baked beans. The torrent of pure beany goodness streaks through the stars. The cannon then descends back into the earth, never to be seen again.

The beam streaks into the stars, reality barely comprehending the amazing flavor of the beam. Or maybe it can barely comprehend it because reality might be chugging slightly from the creation of a snarl of bottles,





...Meanwhile, in an ominous glass fortress floating in the void, a tyrant prepares his conquest. His research into Descendancy has reached its conclusion, and though he is disappointing with the final result, he has learned enough to make do. His army of glass constructs, enslaved creatures and deadly fanatics plucked from across the multiverse has been greatly enhanced by his findings, as well as his other preparations, and the man known only as The King of Pane, in his private chambers, is lounging against a throne of glass, haughty in his mood.

...And then a laser made of beans slams into his vast complex of jail cells, cutting through it like a knife through butter. A million elemental defenses to protect against every assault-but not one of them was for Baked Beans. The whole complex shudders from the force, as warning sirens blare as a neutral female voice advises all personnel that this is not a drill, and Pane, already immediately aware of what's happening, clutches his head in frustration.

PANE: ... Xenophiles.
PANE: Madness is their only asset, it seems...

Pane manifests a microphone. Despite being nowhere near anywhere to give a speech, the whole fortress reverberates with his voice.

PANE: Attention, all personnel!
PANE: My Godmodding powers tell me that whatever caused the assault is attempting to free a single prisoner, and holds no follow-ups
PANE: As it stands, I have no use for that prisoner, except to keep a watchful eye on her.
PANE: Engineers, prepare to restore the hull once the intrusion is done.
PANE: A counter-assault will have to wait until we are in position to make our moves.
PANE: Until then, regrettably, we will have to let the filthy xeno roam free... But make no mistake.
PANE: It is only a matter of time.

Meanwhile, in the jail complex-a filthy catacombs of despair and dread for many-Mari has just found a punched ticket to freedom in the form of a baked bean beam and an escape pod.





...Back at Creation, Marron can see something in the abyss of space. A streak of light, which flies by Creation! Its mere proximity causes Creation to shudder a little, but thankfully, it's a miss.

MARRON: WHAT THE gorilla WAS THAT!?
MARRON: I-IS IT TRYING TO-

Marron watches the streak of light fly by, impacting with Locaa. On the planet's surface, a pod lies in an impact crater. A door on the pod opens, a burst of smoke emerging with it. A black-and-blue haired girl in a labcoat steps out, hand raised over her eyes to guard herself from the glare of the sun.

She lasts all of three seconds before the wave of bottles reclaims the impact crater, and instantly turns her to bottles. She respawns in Creation a few moments later, no worse for wear. She's somewhat short, and possesses a similar physique to Marron, small and slender. She's just the slightest bit less flat than her, though. Mari takes a moment to dust herself off, apparently unphased by her death.

MARI: ...
MARI: Well, that was... a greeting.
MARI: Sup, nerds.
MARRON: oh, sup
MARI: sup

MARRON: ...
MARI: ...
MARRON: ...Wait, what the gorilla? How are you-
MARI: I have literally no gorillaing clue.
MARI: So. Nice apocalypse you have down there.
MARRON: It's alright, I guess.

MARRON: ...
MARI: ...
MARI: Anyway, I'm gonna go... introduce myself to whatever the hell this place is.
MARI: I think I was meant to have an "introduction event" or something, and I'm not sure if I'm legally allowed to like... join the party or something.
MARRON: ...Wait, so you just sorta show up out of nowhere, and you're just gonna go and-
MARI: yep

...A scientist known as Mari has appeared on the space station! Who knows what she's up to...? Anyway, it doesn't look like she's actually joined your party yet. Boo.

AUTHOR ACCOMPLISHMENT GET: Beanpacolypse

---

...The game opts to put a line here, and cut Venia's post into more manageable chunks. Anyway, from here, she spends 5 Flux to research the Butterfly Brace! She then ambushes Nia with it, equipping it onto her! Anyway, ambushing Nia with it has now canonically made it one of those slap bracelets. You probably had one in elementary school, and you didn't wear it much because you were always assaulting people with it, but it was cool because it wrapped around their arms.

NIA: 0w0?
NIA: It's a... oh, I played with these in Kindergarten!
NIA: Some of the other kids from there still refuse to approach me!

Venia explains what it is. Nia makes that face one does when they go "oooooohhhh".

NIA: Oooh!
NIA: So it's like, a... what you just said!
NIA: It's even kinda cute~

Venia then takes a moment to profusely thank Nia for what she said back then.

NIA: Aw geez, it's nothing~
NIA: It's been a hard time for everyone, I'd think... so, it's not weird to think that something like that would happen...
NIA: But hey, you're okay! And now we can conquer anything!
NIA: Anyway, if you're willing to talk about your past n' stuff... maybe I'll ask you something later!
NIA: Noooot right now though. I kinda wanna like, explore this place!

Venia thing brings up the news- this place will vanish. And soon.

NIA: ...Wait, reality can just sorta... get reset?
NIA: my fragile worldviewwwww
NIA: aaaaand it's okay. My worldview is okay!
NIA: It's good to know that things will ultimately be alright!
NIA: ...Maybe you should tell Omo? She didn't seem happy with the whole "apocalypse" thing...
NIA: Anyway, when we get back, I'll... dunno, create a more stable bottle rift, and shove you through it...?
THE OPERATOR: Absolutely not.
NIA: darn

Anyway, Venia then decides that now would be the best time to rife through her mindscape. Nia sighs.

NIA: Wait, really?

Nia seems a little miffed. She crosses her arms, and bites her cheek.

NIA: I-I mean, I guess...
NIA: J-Just... are we sure Chloe's ready for this?
NIA: She was crying earlier, and she'll probably be all stressed n' gorilla while doing this...
NIA: I'd like to at least wait until she's... calmed down a little.
NIA: I-Is that alright?

Nia waits for a response, even though doing this has a 100% chance to delay the mindreading because forum games™. To end her post, Venia rotates Terraform for Pow Hammer.

---

Irongutta equips his Tiki Necklace! No stat buffs, but +5 Style! He then meets up with Nia, near the core of Creation. The ork asks how she's holding up.

NIA: Oh, hiya!
NIA: I... I could be a little better. Chloe's freaking out somewhere to the north (is there a north is space I don't know), and apparently reality is gonna reset itself...
NIA: But I'm still pretty alright. You doing well too?

NIA: Also, yeah. Core's probably sentient.
NIA: I had naughty item-grabbing thoughts, and then it smacked me.
NIA: It wasn't very hard, though. I mean, it could've conjured a gigantic lance to remove my head like it did with Chaos, but it didn't!
NIA: If you get serious though, it'll probably kill ya dead.

He then +1's his MHP, MMP, and STR. He -1's his SPC in exchange.

---

Hat Kid talks with Marron. Hat Kid expresses surprise at the circumstances of her return. Marron shrugs.

MARRON: I don't know what a corgi has to do with this, but... yeah. Spawn points.
MARRON: Anyway, Chaos did mention something about a simulation a few times...
MARRON: He might've done jackgorilla for me, but he taught me how to see... "beyond" for lack of a better term.
MARRON: I can't see much yet, but occasionally, if I really try, I can make out some numbers. Like, over the head of your dinosaur friend, I can see a "31" if I squint a bunch...
MARRON: I think Chaos can see these numbers everywhere, or something? He's a weirdo, that's for sure...


Elsewhere, Boshi chats with Nia. He's holding up alright. Nia smiles.

NIA: Oh, that's good!
NIA: Things will get better, so you won't need to worry for long!
NIA: Apparently, reality's gonna reset itself? I dunno.

---

Calibri gives his full attention to Chloe. He gives her a gentle hug, which she doesn't seem to mind. He tells her that everything will fix itself soon. She's still mopey, but her words are now intelligible.

CHLOE: S-She'll... s-she'll come back!?
CHLOE: T-Thank... g-goodness...

She keeps sobbing, albeit less intensively. As to doing something... well, she doesn't seem like she's really in the mood right now. His awkwardness probably doesn't help her situation, but at least she seems comfortable by his side. Calibri then mentions he might be a bit... "clingy".

CHLOE: N-No, I understand...
CHLOE: I-If y-you're scared l-like m-me... w-well, I guess w-we'd be safer t-together...
CHLOE: E-Even if I-I'd... w-well, be a bit l-less than useless r-right now...

The two remain together in the corner of the station. It seems like she's starting to calm down somewhat- she's stopped crying at the very least, but she's certainly still distraught.

CHLOE: E-Everything w-will be... a-alright...

Verdana meanwhile, opts to quickly revive Taeda with a healing spell. Despite her being uninjured, the spell seems to unleash enough energy to rouse Taeda from her sleep. She shrieks as she comes to!

TAEDA: K-KYAAAH!
TAEDA: T-THIS C-CAN'T BE HAPPENING! I-I...
TAEDA: I...
TAEDA: ...Oh, um...

She rubs her eyes, and gives her hands a poke. She pulls out her Helix Shell Necklace, and gives it a look over. It's a few moments before she speaks.

TAEDA: O-Oh, I'm alive!
TAEDA: I-I thought that I had died, a-and instead of joining his twitchiness Helix, I-I appeared somewhere e-else...
TAEDA: So many things flew through my head, a-and I thought that maybe I had messed up as his disciple!
TAEDA: I-I'm so glad...

TAEDA: U-Um, anyway, thank you for your help, sir Verdana!
TAEDA: ...Where are we, anyway?

She stares at him quizzically, not entirely sure why it looks like it's a starry night outside when it was like midday at latest before. EN meanwhile, tends to her stats, +1ing her HP, DEF, and RES.

---

Nezira also takes a moment to tend to Chloe. She sits down next to her, reaffirming that the universe will eventually fix itself.

CHLOE: I-I don't get why r-reality's gonna do t-that, but a-alright...
CHLOE: M-Maybe it's l-like, loading a save...

Chloe sighs. Nezira then begins to tell her about a new spell they learned. Chloe falls out of her slump, and while she's still somewhat down, her interest is clearly piqued.

CHLOE: S-So... my sword can hit people from miles away?
CHLOE: I-I mean, I don't think I'm capable of learning that, b-but... y-yeah, I'd be interested in at least learning the theory...

Chloe takes Nezira's hand as she rises, and the scholar helps her up onto her two feet. She unsheathes her blade. The Secretaries stare at her, but decide that she's not really a threat. Nezira then walks her through the process. Gives her a pulse of magic to help her resonate with the magic within her. After a few fruitless attempts, Chloe eventually does manage to get her blade to glow. She stares at her handiwork, sorrow giving way into joy.

CHLOE: I-I did it!
CHLOE: S-So... d-does this mean there's... like, several forms of magic?
CHLOE: I-I worked with Toast's magical language, b-but it looks like you have a way of doing magic too...
CHLOE: I think Marron has her own way of doing it, too...

Chloe puts those questions away as Nezira summons a target. Chloe swings at it wildly from a distance, arcs of magic echoing off of her sword and slashing the target to bits. Chloe does a fancy spinning flourish as she sheathes her sword... accidentally firing off a pulse of magic into the floor of Creation, lightly scarring it. A green glow consumes that segment of the floor, and it promptly remedies itself.

CHLOE: A-Ah, looks like I-I might need to be careful w-with that...
CHLOE: A-Anyway, I-I'm again, left unsure of what to say... b-but thanks, Nez!

CHLOE: O-Oh, if you're willing to answer questions...
CHLOE: ...C-Can reality really just sorta... f-fix itself?
CHLOE: I-I mean, I've heard about some crazy stuff, b-but, r-reality resetting itself!?
CHLOE: That's... that's where I draw the line. I-I mean, y-you guys seem to believe in it, b-but...
CHLOE: T-The more I think about it, t-the more preposterous it becomes...

Chloe nervously shuffles, before taking a seat next to Calibri again. She's practicing deep breathing, just to get her heart rate in check. So much to take in, and in so little time, too.

---

Pope Bill drops a point of INT, and +4's his SKI. He then rotates his Manabloom for his new Blooming Bowtie! His dapperness stat also goes up by 20%.

---

Hex +1's his STR. He also cashes in the Relic Coupon, obtaining the Yeehaw! He yeehaws it into the inventory. He also goes to grab entries on the Tamaugachi and Cappa. Creation opts to upload these entries... into Omo's head. She's suddenly inspired to go and write a few entries into the Codex Monstrum.

>Codex Updated!

---

Simeon +2's his STR. Nidra +2's her SKI, and -1's her SPC. These posts look less lonely if they're together.

---

Auth tries to put on a brave face as Nana comes over. He starts to freak out a little, Nana starting to falter as he does.

NANA: I-I... I know that it's your duty to protect people!
NANA: A-And, y-you might say that you're not a h-hero... b-but...
NANA: I-I think you are! Y-You pulled me from that battlefield, f-fixed me up when that parasite got me...
NANA: You're like, the single most heroic person I know!

NANA: I... I-I don't think anyone could've stopped what happened. Not even you.
NANA: I-I'm... I-I'm thankful that even after dying to a wave of bottles, I have this second lease at life!
NANA: ...

Nana's face lights up with a gentle green. Auth mentions a battle.

NANA: A-A battle with you? I-I mean, like with you? By your side, y-you mean?
NANA: I-I, uuu...
NANA: ...
NANA: S-Sorry, my core's feeling kinda jumpy! Not sure if it's because I-I died, o-or maybe I-I'm just worried f-for all of us, b-but...
NANA: Y-Yeah! I-I'll do my best!

---

<THE END OF CREATION, ROUND TWO>
Okay, not the best first round. A lot of people ate hits from Tentacle X, and as a result, quite a few of you need patching up! The Secretary Horde is also pressing into your territory, so be ready to deal with them! It also might be worth thinking about stacking up some stuns on The Operator; if he hits 300 SP and the Stun Gauge isn't close to being filled, you're probably screwed. So be sure to get to work on that! It also might be worth fixing up Boshi, who got smacked by a Secretary.

Toast chats with Irongutta on the way to the battle. She makes an audible "oof" when she gets slapped on the back.
"Hey, it was no problem! I saw you'd gotten something for me, so I- Oh shoot!"
Toast realises she hadn't actually opened Irongutta's gift for her. She goes over to the tree, just before it implodes, and tears open the wrapping paper to see whats inside.

~~

Toast hops to P7 and tosses a handful of cards in the general direction of Secretary4, before hopping back to P5 and consuming three chocolate eggs. She gains some amount of SP and a Signature stack.

Terry "accidentally" switches the game on the Switch to Fortnite. Yes, Fortnite is on the switch. If this would kill Omo, he doesn't do it.
----
Terry moves to N8, casts Material Transfer (Needle Conjuration at P9), damaging Secretary4, and healing Terry.

Destiny walks to F8 and hookshots Secretary 3, landing on E10 and retreating to E8. This happens after Nia drops the Glacier.
Hello there Chloe. What do you think of these... eerily pure things? I feel a sense of perfection from them, like a perfect square. Hmmph, reminds me of Limina...

RP: Nia

"Oh, yeah, certainly. I'll give Chloe a few minutes to calm down, and then we-"

Venia is cut off by Creation being rattled. In a room without windows, she can't see what's going on outside, but the group's commotion gives the news quickly-that's Mari's escape pod, basically the one thing Venia did not expect. She didn't expect Auth's suggested 'its in binary' trick to work, and didn't stick around for Chaos's response, and just assumed Creation shot at Chaos for his act of vandalism.

"...Wait, he actually did it." Venia says. "... Oh my."

Venia turns her head to the newcomer, already feeling awkward, and... "... Oh my."

Venia stares and stares at Mari, eyes wide. She was aware that she was a genderbent Xavier and many other things due to her cheat-sheet from Xi, but the cheat-sheet was text only; Venia did not know how she looked, and how she looked-

I'mma scientist! I'll science all the robots!

All the robots, huh?

Yeah! I can go to work with you now, right?

... Venia, its not a place for you to horse around in. I'm sorry, little muffin, but can you please put my coat back?

... Awww.

-How she looked made Venia think of happier times, when she looked like Mari.

"...Oh. Oh, this changes things." Venia says,turning back to Nia. "In a good way! Uh. Quick primer. That's Mari. Mari Elem, from that Mindscape. Basically, think of her as an alternate-universe Xavier and you get the gist, and, uh, well, that's why it changes things-I really didn't expect Xavier to lend a hand willingly, and I really didn't expect Mari to be able to lend one at all as she was, uh, until now, imprisoned. By a Godmodder. In another universe entirely... But she's basically the closest person to Xavier himself and that could really help. I don't know how much, but I hope it's a lot. If nothing else, new friend! This is really lucky! I'll, I'll go talk to her and see what she could do for us. Check up on Chloe afterwards."

Venia walks off from Nia, smiling just a little. Odd, the apocalypse is happening but hope is coming in spades.

---

RP: Mari

Venia walks up to Mari. "Hello. I'm Venia Praefortis... I've been told I'm a 'leader figure' but I don't think so, and if I am then, uh, letting the apocalypse happen on my watch is probably a pretty bad mark..." Venia says, pressing a hand to her temple. "... Anyways. I lead the Spherebreakers, which is what we call ourselves. I know who you are. We managed to pay off Chaos into freeing you from your predicament with Pane, a state that I presume will be maintained after reality crashes and reloads the save... Uh, you can thank The Eternal Author for that. He suggested the idea that worked. In any case, post-reset, reality's doomed if we don't solve the WARE issue in, oh, five days? Five days... We're really in desperate need of help. ANY help. I, I can understand if you really don't want to help, given you just got out of prison and all, but we'd all really appreciate it if you could help. Or you can just, uh, crash at our place, once it comes back. But..."

Venia takes a deep breath, and lowers herself to Mari's eye-level. "So, in Chaos's Mindscape, you were tending over Nia's body in the basement, and your USB drive had the schematics for her drone on there. The Nia in the Mindscape is... In a very bad condition, and you know that there's very little you can do about it. Here in reality, its much less so. She still has free will and we've just recently managed a tiny device to keep the Chaos Butterfly, out of her voice, AND we have a device that could theoretically purge the Chaos Butterfly out entirely in a certain risky circumstance... But all of that, that's not good enough. We may be able to do something about it, though. We're trying to separate Nia from the Chaos-by any means we can. And, of course, Xavier may or may not be threatening to deactivate her if she steps out of line, or just whenever his paranoia siezes him... Uh. And now you're here. I didn't expect this, but you're basically one of the most valuable people of all time to help Nia in whatever way you can. And you can help, right? I'm trying my hardest but I'm not sure that's enough alone, not in under a week, but you can help us, right?"

Venia's voice is audibly toned with desperation.

---

The Quest for PHAT L00T

Venia approaches Creation's core, after all is said and done. "Uh, so, can't take you, can't take the Update Terminal. Reality's gonna reset, and that'd implicitly include the orbiter, but not our inventory? Hrm. So we're cool to take... Basically anything not nailed down, literally or metaphorically, as you'll basically get a 'fresh' copy without wasting energy. So, hrm. Mind if we take, like, a few of the robots in the Rec room?" Venia asks. "One of each of the Attendant and Architect, plus the inactive Secretary?... Please?"

---

Battle: The End of Creation

Piono has transferred control of Echoss onto me. Echoss moves to J4 and uses Pow Hammer on THE OPERATOR without retreating. He will also use multiform technique to stab THE OPERATOR too despite the pointlessness, because its still SP gained. One of his portals chucks Venia a Yggapple Pie, which is shared between her, The Man, and the Gladiator. If Echoss gets a lucky duplication, he hands off the dupe to Brutishace, Nia and Ette, potentially courtesy of the Item Iris.

Ziah has asked for temporary control over... Themselves this round, because they can't post. Ziah will spawn from M3, move to M7 and use their Weapon Skill, Lethal Precision.

Venia waits until Irongutta and Echoss have moved to move to J8 and ushers forth Skeletal Toss, chucking Secretary 5 to C10 (and dealing damage in the process). She then activates her Radiant Glove on THE OPERATOR. "Nia, drop the Glacier, now!" Venia yells after her action. Venia herself keeps a close eye on THE OPERATOR as she goes about things.

Her hat scan-pings THE OPERATOR for lack of anything better to do. Boop.

The Man drops his page at F6, sidesteps to H8 and uses Heartpiercer on Attendant 1.

Packo, hiding behind a piece of cover, sees how the Operator starts firing weird shots here and there. He does look scary, alright...

Is it then when it fires a huge beam that directly hits Ette and other people.

"ETTE!" He screams, only to see that she seems to be doing totally fine... She seems to be even more resilient than him, and what's important - she looks brave. Before she even has a chance to answer, he quickly corrects himself, shyly.

"I-It's nothing, it'snothingit'snothingIjustthoughtthatbigthinghityouI'mgladyou'reokaybytheway..."

However, there is no time to rest, as the Operator hits Boshi for decent damage, and then one of the Secretaries, who looked wounded, hits it again until it falls down. Packo is immensely scared that it might be dead... Until Hat Kid jumps out in time, trying very hard to survive! Packo moves closer to the Secretary that downed Boshi...

"Hey! I really do not appreciate what you are doing! If you wanted to be more considerate, we could c-chat or something, but they did nothing wrong!"

Packo is taking this fight incredibly seriously. He assumes that the fate of everyone, or at least, that creature and its rider, depend on him. As such, after seeing both Terry and Toast weaken the Secretary, he goes near it and whacks him with his weapon.

"I-I don't want to do this but you give me no other choice!" And WHACK, there it goes.

After the hit, Packo sees two more enemies near him, one of them behind a barrier.

"A-And you what, huh? Huh?" He says, as he throws one of the Stinky Splinters in his possession. The smell is so nasty that it would make anyone mad...

"H-Hey you! Kid with a hat! A-Are you okay? You should fall back! I-I think I got this..." He seems worried that there is a kid in the middle of a battle to save the universe.

"A-And I'll go after you once I am done with this!" Packo shouts towards the Operator, who seems to be the root of all of his anger...
_______________


Packo moves to P8 to whack Secretary4, hopefully downing them, and throws a Stinky Splinter at Attendant 2.

==ROLEPLAY/LOGISTICS==

Nezira sits down next to Chloe and replies to her.

"In order..."

"Basically... exactly like loading a save, actually. The terminal that the Operator (the being that looks like Slenderman) is using essentially lets him control local reality in certain ways -- which includes saving and loading states like with a game. Once we finish fighting him to pass the time before it's possible, it's going to load up an old save just before the bottles happened, with a few edits he made to turn the bottles into something actually stable so it won't just happen all over again."

"As for magic -- there are many, many different forms of magic out there in the multiverse. There's certain commonalities -- there are magical languages like Toast's, systems of magic that draw from power inside oneself, magic that manipulates power from the world around to do things, and so many more other things. I've seen magic systems where the main means of doing things was mana gathered and manipulated using magical flowers and special tools, ones where the power was drawn from within oneself but, to be used to its fullest extent, needed complex mathematical calculations performed by what were essentially handheld high-tech magical supercomputers... there's even one universe recorded in the Codex where people could eat metal and 'burn' it inside themselves for specific magical effects, although that ability came from a specific source rather than being innate to the universe. Point is, there's practically infinite systems of magic out there, given there's so many universes out there with magic, and some even have multiple systems in play at once to add to them."

She pauses for a second, letting a little lightshow of multicolored energy play above her hands to illustrate the point.

"I would continue on that track, but I realized I was starting to go on about magical theory and I didn't want to get too into it, go off track, and start boring you while not answering what you asked. It honestly is something that interests me a lot, especially given I was a magical researcher before the Codex found me. Anyway, though, I know a lot of different magic systems, but I seem to always end up defaulting to the one I started out with -- internal mana-based, shaping it into spells based partially on figured-out formulae and partially on tweaks the caster can put in on the fly -- with a few alterations based on other systems I've encountered that jibe well with that original system. I can tell you more about what I know about magic if you want -- I just wanted to catch myself before I spun into a full-on lecture on something different than you asked about."

"Lastly -- yes, essentially, reality can fix itself like that. Reality is surprisingly resilient when you get right down to it -- it has to be to deal with all the insane things that pop up in the Multiverse -- and it's even more resilient when you have someone intelligent like the Operator controlling it. Like that, they can catch things its own internal processes might not and head off things sometimes before they even start. I used the idea of saving and loading before, so, as another loose analogy, think of it kind of like a really complicated computer, with just as complicated and powerful of an automated error-catching system. Things sometimes slip by and cause real or even lasting damage, but when that happens it's usually either because something intelligent deliberately tried to cause a problem, because something really fundamental was involved, or both. And even with that, if you have someone actively using the computer, they can debug it themselves and catch the things the error-catcher doesn't catch. It's strange, I know, but it's how things work."

At another time, another place; Nezira looks up General Info and The Sphere on the terminal.

==BATTLE ACTION==
Nezira moves to M5 and summons a Fallen at O3. She also scans the Operator for 2 MP restore, Analyzing, and to unlock his Codex Monstrum entry.



Her Restorer moves to O4 and casts Guardians of Old.