Auth joins the upcoming boss fight, equipping the new item from Venia's hat.

+2 SKI.

At the house, Calibri is awoken by things.

"...Hm."

He teleports away without hesitation, appearing at the Upholstered Chamber. He seems to be concerned.


Elsewhere, Verdana is initially calmly drifting down to the ground with Gibbet on his head, but he soon overhears something. His face quickly turns pale. Far more pale than it really ought to be capable of going, and that's saying something, given he's normally very white in complexion to begin with. He shakes a little, then glances up at Gibbet.

"Back to the house. Wait there."

He slams himself into the ground, races inside while holding Gibbet to return the birb to the nest, looking the most panicky he's ever looked before. Once he's put Gibbet back in the nest, a surge of energy bursts through the air around him as he rockets out of the house and straight-up ICBMs himself into the Upholstered Chamber too.


EN, meanwhile, has something else to do. Namely, she's standing in the Yggdrasil Summit, channeling the very appearance of that one bouncer at the night club front door who is not going to let anyone in who doesn't present ID no matter what other underhanded tactic they try and who will almost certainly absolutely body any fool dumb enough to try to force their way in with violence. She's doing this by the passage to the Upholstered Chamber, to clarify.

"...Better not be any hostiles trynna sneakysneak their way past."


Also there's the Engie drone. He just decides to go up to the surface and drop off the supply of Plasteel.

"Not sticking around here any longer if I'm gonna start getting sick because of it."


Also, stat allocations: Calibri +2 SPC, EN +2 STR.



RP STUFF: UPHOLSTERED CHAMBER

Calibri has arrived there almost immediately. He didn't need much prompting to make his way there as quickly as he could. Once on the scene, he takes a look around the room. There are people. There are things happening. There's a glyph. There's a Venia having some issues. He takes a moment to flick his eyes at... something, then glances over at Chloe.

"You should probably do that thing the hat said to do. Like... immediatelyish. If you weren't already doing that."

He was about to say more, but Verdana just ICBM'd into part of the tree elsewhere and ran up the stairs to the Upholstered Chamber as fast as he could arrive. Suffice to say, the noise of him crashing in has thrown Calibri completely for a loop this time around. Shortly after arriving, Verdana closes his eyes, then opens them to stare at Venia. He's a healer by nature, so he can tell when someone is having issues. But he seems to be listening to something... His eyes darken. They've never done that before.

"I'm... not allowed to... the plot won't... let...?"

There's a pause. Verdana seems, to put it mildly, a bit upset by being informed of certain things by something. And "a bit upset" is pretty much code for "so angry he could probably break standard cognitohazard shielding by glaring at it hard enough". Without a word, he slams the bottom of his Vagrant's Will copy against the floor of the room, actually leaving behind a faint scorch mark upon impact. The words from him follow soon enough, Verdana being surprisingly quiet. Sort of.

"I know there's a fight coming. It's probably going to be a bossfight or something, isn't it... Normally I'd sit these out. Normally. But right now... I'm not feeling in the mood to be a bystander anymore. There must be a reason why Venia's... having issues, and a reason why... other things. I don't know these things, and I know I don't know..."

Verdana's eyes brighten again, but not with his usual light. No, they're honestly more... on fire.

"Look, I don't know where I'm going with this. I'm not thinking about it. The point is, there's a fight coming, Venia's... in danger, I've decided it's time to get involved. This is personal. So I'm taking it personally."

Suffice to say, Verdana's not quite his normal friendly self right now. He's probably not quite far enough to qualify for Enraged, but he's certainly pissed off. In the background, Calibri looks like he's about to try and talk Verdana out of it, but has reconsidered hard on that front and is just keeping himself out of the way. Also, here's a statsheet that might be relevant for a grand total of 1 battles.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CDA...dit?usp=sharing

Nidra (temporarily) switches out Nightmare Singularity for Static Overcharge.

She then uses a Heart Key, upgrading Eternal Slumber to T2. Assuming all goes well there, she puts two points into SPC.

Next, Nidra takes off her sleep mask, though only from a certain point of view, where it stops being an item as recognized by the thyme field as a reskin of the selfscape uplink, but continues existing in and of itself as a sleep mask. Nidra first re-enchants her sleep mask with similar shielding abilities with some mental clusters, dissolving their essence into the mask. She then adds some resistance piercing ability using some silverwood logs through a very similar process. Finally, she uses some zweet fragments and green sap to give the sleep mask the ability to put allies in a beneficial rest.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iJq...dit?usp=sharing

Lusiarre gets a slight rework! More focus on stuff.

Reworked Lusiarre. Also includes item crafted below.

-----------

Also gonna do some crafting, as the Circling Shadowflames/Necroweave Skullcap are nice and all, but it's main ability has seen... no use, at all. Now with Curaga being more than single-use, it's time to try and turn the item into something more fitting Lusiarre and more usable repeatedly in battle. So let's get to doing that.



Items used:
- Necroweave Skullcap (Lusiarre's)
- 1x Rose Weave
- 2x Spider Silk Spool
- 1x Entrophy

End Result:
Corrupted Cleric's Veil
+8 MMP, +2 INT, -1 DEF, Cleric's Corruption
Resistances: Slashing (10%), Ice (10%), Dark (20%), Light (-30%)
Cleric's Corruption:
Your Restorative spells have Manafuelled1.
By spending 4 more MP, you may cause a Restorative spell (or a non-Restorative spell healing effect) to restore no HP, and instead deal Dark damage equal to the amount it'd heal. The first use in battle is free.

-------------

Also, Lusiarre join's the upcoming battle. Fun times ahead!

<ROUND ONE-HUNRDED FOURTY>
First, as per tradition for these sort of updates... SKILLPOINTS. And crafting- or at least, equipment crafting.



The game opts to keep trekking onward from here.

Daskter inspects a crashed pod. It wasn't always there- it only arrived about ten rounds ago, or something. Mari fell from the heavens to join your party, and she arrived in that there pod. Maybe you should scrap it?

---

Packo chats with Mari. Okay, well, it doesn't really start with a chat- Packo beats Mari's face in with a healing mace. As she comes to, she freaks out, given the fact that she's being brutalized- or at least, it looks like it! It takes the scientist a moment to realize that she's actually being healed from these blows.

MARI: ...Uh, what's with the scary healing method?
MARI: That's like, the worst way to wake up. Realizing someone's tenderizing you with a hammer.
MARI: Well, it seems to have worked, anyway...

Mari properly sits up, and winces as the drones spray some medical material into her wounds.

MARI: Oh, you're that... rotund teleporting guy.
MARI: Anyway, I'm Mari Elem. It's nice to meet you, I guess.

Packo introduces her to his drones. Mari stares at them.

MARI: You've got some drones too? Niiiice.
MARI: There's few better options for dominating the field, so yeah; I approve.

MARI: ...Why would you want them to talk, though? Seems annoying.
MARI: And by "seems", I mean it IS annoying- seriously, your drones can go and shut the gorilla up.
MARI: Sure, they're good at taunting the enemy, but they're also good at provoking me! Even when I'm not their target!

...She seems kinda irritable at the moment. Probably comes with the whole "getting KO'd" thing. Anyway, after that debacle, technically at a different part in the timeline, Packo forms the Avengers up with Irongutta, Nezira, and Venia to work on the Airship! The Super Aero Core, the Stratoshield, the Calypse Cannon, the Lucid Laser, and the Under-Wing Cannons have all been installed! 50% Gravcore Score, 25% Systems Score, and 65% Weapons Score (somehow) added to the ship! The game automatically distributes 35% Ship Contribution to everyone who worked on it.

The Airship is actually probably air-worthy at the moment! I mean, it probably couldn't go very high due to having a weaker Aero Core... but you could theoretically use it! Omo, who is somehow in the area at the time, takes note of your work.

OMORIKA: Oh my.
OMORIKA: You've certainly done quite a bit of work on Abies's old airship.
OMORIKA: It was mostly a vehicle for work- not the most technically advanced or fastest thing in our arsenal, but certainly a thing of beauty...
OMORIKA: ...I also do not believe it was intended to be weaponized, but who could blame you?

OMORIKA: Also, given the caliber of the weaponry installed, I believe that perhaps, we could make use of the Airship mid-combat?
OMORIKA: Do contact me when you can. I have a few plans...

The Remote Airship Controller is now available for research! It's certainly expensive, though...

Anyway, a lot of materials are expended in making all of these components: like, enough that I'm actually just going to copy-paste that list instead of typing it out.

-1 Tornadopetal
-1 Stratoshield
-7 Seer Crystals
-5 Gold Ingots
-9 Durasteel Ingots
-90 Wire Scraps
-50 Circuit Boards
-1 AI Core
-3 Coilgun Parts
-1 Luminous Crystal
-1 Silver Ingot
-1 Calypse
-1 Lucid
-1 Goddess Dominion Crafting Charge
-1 Turbulence Crafting Charge (i'll just disregard the fact that you're out)
-25 Credits of Temmie Shop Materials

---

Crya approaches Omorika, and asks a few questions. Something about her title; does she prefer to be called lady, or something else?

OMORIKA: "Lady" or "Miss" is acceptable.
OMORIKA: Of course, I do believe we are all equals in this group. So if you wish, you may forgo a title.
OMORIKA: I will say that I prefer "miss" over "lady", as typically, everyone refers to Acacia as "Lady Acacia", so it does create a bit of a distinction between us.

She then asks if she may be allowed to vent about the Pantheon. Omorika shrugs.

OMORIKA: Do as you please.
OMORIKA: I will do my best to lend an ear.
OMORIKA: ...And to record information.

She opens up her Tomehammer, preparing a spare page for noting down whatever information Crya may disclose.

---

Mustache Girl goes blast fishing! She creates a net of 3 Durasteel, and some "bait" using a Mortar Shell and 2 units of Yggcrawler Meat. She promptly nukes the lake, sending 18 Fluxtainted Fish out into the air! She catches them all! Looks like they're mostly dead, though. Odds are, there's few of them left in the water as well... but she should be safe to grab the Durasteel next round. She also transfers her inventory to the Engie Drone.

---

Toast comes to by Marron's side. Marron's worry seems to melt away as Toast comes to, and she wraps the self-proclaimed sorceress in a hug.

MARRON: A-Ah, you're awake! I was s-so worried!
MARRON: I-I mean, not that I was really worried, since like, y-you're too good to die, o-or something...
MARRON: But I'm glad you're okay.

She helps lift Toast up to a seating position, before going over what happened- they held off the invasion, and now Nia's apparently going to do something really dumb. Y'know. The basics. Toast vents her frustrations with getting KO'd.

MARRON: W-Well... at least you're not dead, right?
MARRON: I think we've both gotten off pretty easy, considering what's happened to us...

Marron taps her new right arm with her left index finger. It makes a clanking sound.

MARRON: Besides, when all's said and done, you'll probably have gotten KO'd less than me, at the very least...

Marron then watches as Toast fiddles with her arm, and pulls out a cracked vial of blood dye. The gears in Marron's head whir for a bit. She suddenly suppresses the urge to vomit.

MARRON: WAIT, THAT LIQUID WAS YOUR BLOOD?
MARRON: I-I thought you were remarkably unharmed, and just... r-really sweaty, o-or something!
MARRON: A-And... well, l-let's just say I'm gonna take a long-gorilla bath tonight...

Toast then thanks Marron for the patch-up work, and that she'll leave the beatdown to her next time. Unless she gets her first.

MARRON: Hey, don't mention it.
MARRON: There was like, no way I'd let you bleed out, or something like that.
MARRON: ...Also, just you watch- next time we fight, I'll floor you again~

Marron then snickers towards Toast, before helping the girl get up on her feet.

MARRON: Anyway, we should probably get going.
MARRON: Maybe once we're done, we can like... enjoy the view from the top of the tree?
MARRON: It looks like it'd be a really nice place to... do stuff...?
MARRON: Yeah. Smooth.

The two of them then catch a ride up to the top of Scale Yggdrasil.

---

Nezira does some crafting! She tapes together a Mantle Cluster, 25 Wire Scraps, 5 Circuit Boards, 3 Durasteel Ingots, and 1 Silver Ingot to create 3 Emergency Shield Badges! The game also opts to begin defining Temporary and Bonus SHP, which will be elaborated more (or renamed) in the next update, which'll 100% be after this boss. Basically: temporary lasts for the round, Bonus lasts until depleted.

---

Venia does quite a bit of stuff. Some of it will be ignored until the end of the post- basically, some of her roleplay. Anyway, she begins by commissioning Mari for a new weapon!

MARI: Poison? Didn't quite take you for the sort that'd approve of biological warfare!
MARI: But hey, I don't blame you. It's kinda fun.
MARI: One war crime on a stick, coming up!

Sporulating Fan put into production! Venia then hands 20 Credits to Chaos, making Crystal Pens legal for purchase! She then hands over a grand total of 1250 credits to Yung Venuz, purchasing a whole load of Essences! This sets all of the Minor NPC's to Tier 3 in everything, save for their specials!

TAEDA: I-I'm humbled by your gift!
TAEDA: I'll do my best to meet your expectations of me!

BASS: oh neato
BASS: thank you for the snack

NANA: Thank you for the gift!
NANA: You won't be let down! I-I mean, I'd hope so!

Then somewhere else in space and in time, Maria and Chaos are ambushed by a rather loud, droning horn that reverberates through the walls. Maria ends up asking what the horn was, and where Venia is. Oh, and then Chaos gets a text on his phone, telling him what happened. Except Chaos doesn't have a phone, because he IS the phone. The message appears in the corner of his vision. He rolls deception.

CHAOS: okay one: [t]he horn was like, an emergen[c]y [t]hing [t]o [t]ell us [t]o s[t]ay in [t]he house
CHAOS: and [t]wo: venia pm'd me a message saying [t]o... s[t]ay inside [t]he house, be[c]ause [t]hings are no[t] grea[t]
CHAOS: i [t]hink she's doing [t]he se[c]ond manda[t]ory boss figh[t] of [t]he zone
CHAOS: [t]ha[t]'d explain [t]he drama in her message, like wow
CHAOS: drama queeeeeeeeeeennnnnnnn

The remainder of the roleplay will be addressed a bit later.

---

Verdana rushes back to the house, and plops Gibbet back onto its nest, which it promptly settles down into. The birb seems concerned with the attitude of its master, and is left in a slight state of disarray as he leaves. At the same time, EN and Calibri displace themselves to Yggdrasil.

Then, down in the mines, the Engie Drone absconds with his loot! The following items are obtained: 17 Durasteel Ingots, 13 Plasteel Ingots, and 8 Entrophies!

---

The dim hum of hazel light arcs off of the Chair Glyph, floating above its chiseled stone spiral. And Nia, sights still pointed skywards, approaches the twisting rock below the Glyph. Her right arm caresses its surface, the holographic glow from her hand illuminating a series of sigils upon it. Then, she freezes up. Every meticulously rendered hair on her body stands on its end. Chloe grasps Nia’s shoulder.

CHLOE: N-Nia? Are you alright?
NIA: I-I...
NIA: I’m s-scared...
CHLOE: I... I’m scared, too.
CHLOE: But we can get through this. Together.
CHLOE: A-Alright? We’ll-

...Somewhere behind them, Venia’s stress escalates, her heartbeat increasing with it. Then suddenly, a bit of discord breeds itself within her heart. Then, dizziness and general agonizing pain swallows her as she suffers from a heart attack. She falls to the ground with a rather loud thud, causing the two women to turn around. Nia freezes up- and it’s getting a deal more literal, with ice crystals suddenly jutting out of her body, before snapping off and falling to the ground. Chloe meanwhile, rushes to Venia’s side, giving her a shake.

It’s there where Venia’s hat explains that yes- she’s having a heart attack! It gives her an immediate avenue of action- a Shock Therapist jolt! Chloe nods, and begins frantically rummaging around in the inventory for the tool.

CHLOE: O-Oh god, w-where is it?
CHLOE: A-All I can find are... cartons of eggnog, rainbow shutter shades, and... i-is this the Gallow’s head? W-Why the hell are we-
CHLOE: I-It has to be around here somewhere!

As Chloe rummages through Hammerspace in a frantic frenzy, Nia’s heart goes awry as well. Fortunately, she doesn’t randomly and sporadically experience a heart attack, but it’s clear that her sanity is being pushed to the limits.

Then, she feels something gently scrape a nail across her back. She snaps out of her trance, and nearly screams as a six-legged (or possibly two-legged, four-armed) creature reveals itself behind her- the Husk. Nia attempts to swipe towards it with her staff, but the creature jumps back onto the spire where the Chair Glyph is. It stares at her as it stands on the diagonally-sloped surface.

THE HUSK: The husk tips his hat towards Nia as a greeting, and immediately renders that redundant with a normal greeting. “Greetings, miss Khioneas!”
NIA: W-What the hell!? W-Who are you?
THE HUSK: The Husk simply laughs to himself, refusing to tell the girl his name.
NIA: Y-You do realize you literally j-just said your name, r-right?
THE HUSK: The Husk stares at Nia with a fierce intensity. “That was the point.”

He begins to run counterclockwise along the Chair Glyph’s spire, head somehow contorting to stare at Nia as he scurries about.

THE HUSK: He stares right through Nia, leaving the girl unsure if he’s talking to her or not. “So, it’s finally time!”
NIA: ...What?
THE HUSK: “I suppose it bears repeating.” The Husk clears his throat.
THE HUSK: And then his face rips open.
NIA: ...And then his face rips open? That doesn’t-

And then his face rips open, its split halves flickering before fading out of existence. Within the void of his neck stump, flows a crimson energy. A zero, flanked by pointed brackets. The sigil of the Chaos Butterfly, shaking with undistilled fury. It’s at this point where Chloe finally manages to find the Shock Therapist and jolt Venia with it, hopefully restoring function to her heart. She’d spend more time tending to Venia, if it weren’t for the fact that Nia was actively being accosted by a beast.

Chloe, knowing all too well exactly what the hell this thing is, immediately stands up, springs forward, and attempts to stab the damned parasite. One of his four arms twitches in response, passing a scythe to two of his other arms.

NIA: C-Chloe, watch ou-

SPRING-LOADED HAMMER SCYTHE

Chloe butchers her dodge roll, and is promptly smacked with what looks like a black-and-white hammer with two gigantic fists making up the hammerheads. A burst of spit leaves her mouth as she’s launched across the temple. She hits the wall of the temple hard, bouncing off of the now-cracked stone and falling to the ground. Chloe remains motionless for a few moments, but she’s quick to at least sit up, rubbing her surely sore back.

Now free of random chicks trying to stab him, the Butterfly within the Husk takes a moment to have a friendly chat with Nia. His voice has violently distorted- it is no longer even attempting to pretend to sound human.

THE HUSK: MISS KHI<0>NEAS.
THE HUSK: IT IS TIME F<0>R A REUNI<0>N.
THE HUSK: D<0> IT.
NIA: I-I don’t... u-understand?
NIA: What do you-

The singular eye of the Husk begins to pulsate. A piercing pain fills Nia’s head.

---

...Elsewhere, a Butterfly clings to the snowy sky of a Mindscape, watching the world down below. Dozens of small figures are shivering in fear, while many are in abject panic. It feels a small, burning sensation within its eye. An order. From... itself?

It was prophesied, was it not? Something that could only be described as “giddy anticipation” fills the eldritch abomination. For the first time in a day or so, it flaps its wings, pushing itself off of the Mindscape’s ceiling. It flies so that it’s positioned above the gigantic hole in the center of the Mindscape. Then, it flies a few meters offset, so that it’s not directly above the abyss.

Then, it dives. The distance between it and the ground closes rapidly, yet it shows no signs of slowing. The Butterfly slams directly into the ground, sending deep cracks along its surface. A crimson energy radiates through the cracks. Then, a moment too late, a crimson figure emerges from the abyss. It’s Her, standing (or I guess connecting) upon another gigantic beast of her creation, a mess of scars, eyes, and tendrils.

HER: NO! YOU CAN’T DO THIS!
HER: W-We can’t just destroy this realm! W-We need to-
<0>: I AM AWARE <0>F THE C<0>NSEQUENCES.
<0>: IF THAT IS WHAT <0>NE W<0>ULD REFER T<0> THEM AS.

The crimson energy radiating through the ground intensifies. Her watches as a horde of chibi Nia’s attempt to beat the Butterfly to death, but their efforts appear to be fruitless. Her sends out a gigantic tendril of crimson material towards the Butterfly, lashing it across its eye. A small chunk of it is torn out, entropic energy oozing from the wound.

<0>: N<0>W, N<0>W.
<0>: Y<0>U KN<0>W THIS IS H<0>PELESS.
<0>: AFTER ALL
<0>: THIS VESSEL
<0>: IS MINE

The cracks that the Butterfly left in the ground grow to consume nearly the entirety of the ground. Her stares at the carnage, and freezes up. She raises a barrier of flesh around herself.

And then finally, the energy within those cracks surges outward.

---

Nia suddenly falls to her knees, grasping her head. She screams to the sky in agony, barely noticing that the Husk has taken this moment to take its leave. Or at least, it’s trying to leave- Chloe intercepts it as it runs, and takes another swing at it. An arm is severed from the Husk, falling onto the floor lifelessly. Chloe attempts to take another swing, but the Husk quickly tackles her back down to the ground before scampering away down one of the four flights of stairs, blasting away through whoever stands within its path with a variety of strange scythes.

With the Husk gone, Chloe suddenly notices a massive chill- while this room was certainly cold before, it’s frigid now! She soon realizes its source- waves of ice are beginning to consume the ground, centered from Nia’s position. She’s stopped screaming at this point, now only staring at the ground.

Then, in a violent flash of red, Nia’s projection unit flares to life. A red-hued woman, only really familiar to Chloe and Venia enters the scene. It’s Her. A red holographic flesh begins to sweep over the ground, intermingling with the ice, creating a hideous slurry of the two. Her’s body is spasming, hands placed on her head as equally holographic fluid spills out of various gashes on its body.

HER: The facade.
HER: It destroyed it. Effortlessly.
HER: It was waiting, it wanted to w-wait for the proper moment t-to do so...
HER: And now you’re all... you’re all going to...
HER: We’re all going to-

Her’s body suddenly ceases its twitching, and its gashes suddenly all seal up. Her’s face goes completely blank for a moment, before a few more gashes open themselves, in the shape of the <0> on her face. Chloe slowly approaches Nia, incredible worry consuming her voice. Mist plumes from her mouth with every breath- just how cold is it now?

CHLOE: N-Nia?
CHLOE: Y-You’re a-alright, r-right?
NIA: ...
CHLOE: Please say something.
CHLOE: A-Anything...
CHLOE: I-I... I-I know y-you’ll b-be alright, b-because...
NIA: Can...

A bit of hope flickers across Chloe’s face.

CHLOE: Can? C-Can we w-what?
NIA: Can...
NIA: Can we...

Nia suddenly stands up. Her face appears to undergoing a few errors, a large glitchy blotch replacing it. Chloe’s heart sinks.

NIA: Can we destroy this world?
CHLOE: W-What? T-That’s w-what w-we’re trying to prevent!
CHLOE: W-What d-do you-

Her suddenly turns to face Chloe, movements deliberate and precise.

HER: <0>F C<0>URSE.
HER: WE WILL BRING AB<0>UT THE END, AS Y<0>U PLEASE.
NIA: I’m... glad...

Nia’s words seem utterly dead. Destroyed. As the room grows ever colder, Chloe grows ever more desperate.

CHLOE: N-No, y-you don’t want this!
CHLOE: W-Why? I-I know you! Y-You’d never w-want this!
NIA: Why wouldn’t I want this?
NIA: This world is awful. Broken.

NIA: The people, even those who were meant to love me- despised me.
NIA: Mother, everyone at school, you- everyone.
NIA: Everywhere I’ve seen is fundamentally broken- not just on Earth, but even here.
NIA: The strong cast the weak aside to further their own agenda.
NIA: No regards for anyone else, or the world itself.
NIA: And I... I can’t even love myself.
NIA: I see myself, and I feel... nothing. Absolutely nothing.

NIA: ...As long as this world- this universe exists, there cannot be happiness.
NIA: There cannot be joy.
NIA: It would be better if we started over.

Flurries of snow suddenly begin to pulsate out of Nia, buffeting everyone in the chamber. With them, a roaring wind kicks up- it’s an indoor blizzard.

NIA: Butterfly.
NIA: I offer my worthless vessel to you.
NIA: Please.
NIA: I don’t want this.
NIA: I never wanted any of this.
NIA: Make it stop.
HER: AS Y<0>U C<0>MMAND.
HER: THE W<0>RLD WILL END IN <0>NLY A MATTER <0>F DAYS.
HER: THEY ALL WISH T<0> SAVE IT.
HER: S<0>, IT IS SIMPLE.
HER: Y<0>U MUST FIGHT F<0>R WHAT Y<0>U BELIEVE IN.

Her’s arms suddenly morph into slender blades with serrated edges. Nia casts Boxican aside, a panicked flurry of nonsense spewing out of them as they bounce off a wall, and then fall down a stairwell. She creates a new staff for herself out of the ice that’s spewing out of her, a singular eyeball adorning its tip, with a snowflake pattern of pointed brackets coming out of it. She slams her staff into the ground.

CHLOE: N-NIA!
CHLOE: P-Please, y-you can’t do this!
CHLOE: I-I don’t want to fight you! N-Nobody does!
CHLOE: W-We’re all here for you, N-Nia! W-We can... w-we can talk this out!
NIA: Give up.
NIA: Please. Just give up.
NIA: I... don’t want to hurt you, either...
NIA: But you’re in the way.
NIA: In the way of a new beginning.

NIA: Won’t you join me, Chloe?
NIA: We can be together, in the absense of all creation.
NIA: Maybe we could both finally be happy.
CHLOE: ...No.
CHLOE: Not while there’s still people that care for this world!
NIA: And who might that be?
CHLOE: Me.
NIA: ...
NIA: I’m sorry, Chloe.
NIA: I suppose I always knew it, but...

NIA: ...we were never meant to be.




You are accosted by...

NIA
Harbinger of a New Dawn

HER
Insubordination in Azure

PLAY - A Beautiful Song (NieR: Automata)






<SKYSCRAPING TEMPLE, ROUND ONE>
...A blizzard is roaring through the temple, and it'll only get worse over time! While you don't need to worry about freezing to death, you will need to worry about eventually not being able to heal anyone! In addition, Nia and Her' substats will slowly rise as the combat rages on, so it'd be prudent to get things done quickly.

Pick a side of the field. Be prepared to deal with the constant swapping of Nia and Her! Nia is weak to Physical attacks, while Her is weak to Magical attacks! Both are also weak to Psychic. If you feel like it, you can switch sides of the field via teleportation, or using some strategically-located swapping points! They'll only take one person a round though, so use them sparringly!

Harvesting?!?!

Hat decides to create a clone of himself, because for some inexplicable reason, Hat decides that right here, right now, this is the perfect time to harvest some Yggdrasil Bark Splinters, for Ette.

Hat's clone descends to the Summit of Scale Yggdrasil from the Upholstered Chamber, stands roughly dead-center in the room, and looks incredibly hard at the floor right beneath him. The floor, responding to his eternally vigilant eyes, responds by shuffling up a singular, pure splinter of Scale Yggdrasil's finest and most incredibly potent bark, packed with the magic needed to further Ette's ritual. Hat takes this bark, pulls out a small empty vial, and stores the bark within, secure, before depositing this splinter into the inventory.

---

Spellswitch

Due to various factors, Venia switches her 4th spellslot from Terraform to Zillycharm. Her Zillycharm gets +1 Duration and the Zillyhoo modifier.

---

Maria

Maria looks at Chaos oddly, blinking a bit. "...What's a man-duh-tor-E boss?" She asks. "... Wait, waitwaitwait! Venny's doin things?! Without me?! I wanna do things," Maria says, pouting, but she seems to believe the ruse. "Mister Chaos, can we do things? Like-"

"Venia, the doctors and I, your Emperor, command it! You cannot go! Your 'cancer' is too severe to allow it. As they said, any extraneous action will radically reduce your lifespan, and as it stands you only have months! You'll die in days if you seriously intend to fight! Bottom line: No! And that is final!"

"...I understand, your majesty."

-and her face twists into a panicked expression.

"WAITWAITWAIT VENNY'S DOING FIGHTY THINGS! VENNY SHOULDN'T BE DOING THINGS, SHE'S ULTRA SICK! Daddy said so! DADDY SAID SO! Venny's gonna die before we can make her fuzzies go away and make her all better! Daddy said nothin' ex-train-E-us, and I'unno what that means, but I know that means she's TOTALLY BREAKIN' THE RULES! And if she can break the rules so can I!"

Maria apparently rolled natural 20 on her perception.

"We gotta go save Venny, mister Chaos, before she does a dumb thing! I'mma goin' right now! Giddyup!"

Maria leaps on the "Kitsune" and kicks at her sides as if attempting to spur her on. The Kitsune refuses to budge, however.

"Your highness. His Majesty-your father-has issued a command; you are not to be deliberately put into any combat situation, no matter-"

"VENNY'S GONNA DIE!" Maria screams, already red in the face, kicking the kitsune even harder now. "SHE'S MY BIG SISTER, I DON'T WANT HER TO DIE! LETS GO! GO GO GO GO GO!"

"Mister Chaos implicitly agrees with you staying here. I will send myself to her posthaste if that is your desire, but your Highness, you must stay."

This is the first sign of the Kitsune having even slightly stressed even a syllable of its language. It is harder to tell if it is amazing this occurred at all, or if it is only now that the Kitsune slips, when Maria is throwing a full temper-tantrum and kicking the kitsune repetitively in the side of the ribs. Her cats join in, clawing at the Kitsune, though it seems they can't even scratch the surface, and Cupcake doesn't seem remotely inclined to join. In case it wasn't obvious, Maria hasn't relented-she's only devoled into shouting at the top of her lungs about her Venny dying. A sulphuric stench seems to waft into the room all of a sudden.

"... Mister Chaos, pardon the young princess. She is incredibly worried for her grace," the Kitsune monotones over Maria's screaming. "It would be prudent to find some way to restrain Maria or calm her down. Her powers have been known to react to her emotional extremes."

---

???:

---

---

BATTLE: Upholstered Chamber

First off, Nezira acts first this round, then Verdana. Proceed as normal from there.

"H-Here we go! I'll give it my all!" Venia shouts, hooking around to I12, and officially using Affidavit Adjucication from that tile. I don't think it matters.

Venia acts at this time, throws up her Entropic Key and jumps after it, leaving glitchy afterimages and prompting Nia to go on the defensive, holding her staff at the ready and keeping her glitched face locked onto Venia. But then, Nia's grabbed by the skull, head diverted-Venia's soul, grasping a wicked knife with hair-tendrils while its clawed hands burrow into the distorted face. The odd creature buries the knife into Nia's neck, gaining the 50% boost because Verdana is directly across from where the attack comes from... But that's not all. An odd energy courses through the knife-Always Watching kicks in, inflicting Nia with Erroblight.

Nia's reflex is to raise her staff to block Venia's falling blow, but Venia comes down right in front of Nia, landing between the harbinger and the soul, Blossoming Key raised defensively, as her body begins to distort. The soul rips into Venia's head with its own tendrils as Venia plants her arms on the ground, grey ooze from nowhere pouring over and forming into a massive spider made of far-less-massive-but-still-relatively-large mask-spider things. The soul, arm still stuck where Venia's skull would be, dives straight into the ooze, completely absorbed. Venia has entered Unexisting Theorem-and that means Irregular Apocalypse kicks in, and a tear in reality rips from Venia's body through Nia, annihilating another chunk of her HP and cutting into her for real damage. Nia then takes additional damage, and probably insult, from Hat, secure within Venia's odd ooze form, as well as a forced de-corruption of a lot of potential scan data as Venia backs up a space to J13

"Chloe! Make sure you're not close to anyone! I t-think they're going to do that thing where they switch places with us like at the River Crossing!" Venia shouts. "Omorika, come up east side! I'll need you there in a m-m-moment! All of your power, go! Summon your absolute best, rightaway!" Venia says. That's code for 'use Gaia's Guardian immediately.' (I recommend Vengeful, Understudy and some points spread into SHP among other stats of choice because Omo can only take Guardian's Shield, with a Magical Resistance set to Ice and Light/Dark weaknesses). "Everyone! Do your best, don't hold back! And DO NOT gun for a take-down, not until I've Purged them! This is OUR ONLY CHANCE! DON'T WASTE IT!"

Destiny swaps out Phase Shift with Phial Burst (Psychic). She also quickly switches out the Dark resistance on Hell and Back to Ice. Nice and balanced.

She then runs up to the Upholstered Chamber.
[/color=#ff69b4]Augh, I knew there was something off about this girl. I've seen mental breakdowns but not a complete body split.
Looks like we'll have to... put her down. Again.[/color]

Destiny spawns at E12, runs up to H10, and performs Overpowering Slash on Nia. She then retreats to H8.

The Man does an acrobatic pirouette all the way from the base of Scale Yggdrasil to exactly E13 in the Upholstered Chamber fight and uses Heartpiercer on Nia The Queen.

"Well, looks like it's you or us, and honestly, I doubt your chances. Hey, no hard feelings, right? Right?"

Clarification text for Blank Canvas:
- Blank Canvas can't allow someone to use a locked special. It also locks the special when appropriate. (Vanishing Point only allows for instantaneous specials to be used more than once.)

~~

Toast raises an eyebrow at Marron.
"Stuff?" she asks, beginning to smile to herself. "'Stuff' sounds... good. But if this place doesn't have a nice view, I'm calling the police. Having a massive tree without a good view has to be illegal."

It is at this point they will likely have heard the commotion in the next room. Naturally, Toast goes to check it out, reflexively drawing a few enchanted cards as she approaches.

~~

Toast's gaze becomes steel. Her deck of several things riffles into her off-hand.
"What makes you think you can take us all on, Butterfly? You're outnumbered, outmatched, and way, way out of your depth!"

~~

Mari uses her special, then does whatever it is she does.
After Mari acts...
Toast spawns in at Q11, then uses Blank Canvas on Mari. Toast's aura flashes as a storm cloud, before auric energy rushes out towards the storm ascendant. This costs 92 SP, and deals (11-13) Damage. Otherwise, its the same as Mari's special.
Toast then dashes down to O15 and uses Static Overcharge on Her. She then retreats to N16.

Random Spell: End of Turn. Cost =< MP.

Toast's MP and trait name are incorrect on her readout.

RP with Mari

"W-Well, sometimes they are very talkative, but you just have to get accustomed to them! They just need to be thrown around and they actually remind me of my bo-"

KABOOM

---

A huge noise, followed by freezing temperatures. And even more noise.

WHATISHAPPENINGWHATISHAPPENINGWHATISHAPPENING Beep and Boop scream in confusion.

Packo, startled, goes upstairs to the room above, only to see death in front of him.

And the dread kicks in. This time, even heavier than ever before.

WHATISTHAT The bots say. Packo doesn't answer. He shivers. It's cold.

It doesn't help that Venia is knocked down on the floor, and same thing with Chloe, who he recently fought against. Why does this have to happen?

Why couldn't he just go home? Repair his spaceship the same way he had repaired someone else's airship... For combat.

Maybe everyone else knew this was going to happen. It would be normal for them, after all. A society of warriors and fighters, who were destined to battle even their closest friends. And Packo wasn't one of them. Packo felt alone.

---

The baker, tired, wipes the sweat and flour out of his forehead with a quick gesture. Looking at his roller/weapon, satisfied, he hears the long, uninterrupted alarm, followed by the appearance of huge letters in the screen next to the conveyor belt he's standing next to. Although some of the screen is obstructed by flour and sugar powder, it reads:

Packo, Little. Products in debt: 0

The screen then shows a green tick.

This is the End of Hour 16. Please return to your resting place immediately. Hour 1 of the next day will start in 8 hours.
M.O.L.D. Committee, Sector 55: Bakery

Right as those words appear on screen, the door in the room in opens with a slam. A small figure wearing multiple aprons approaches, waving at the baker.

"H-Hey." The baker replies.

"I didn't know you could that with your roller!" The small man's voice sounds quite enthusiastic.

"W-Well, I dunno... I guess I am just good at it? But I appreciate it, Smart."

"Boss would be proud to see you doing that! You should show him that trick of yours, Little. Maybe he won't call you a dummy all the time anymore."

"H-He never stops saying that... I don't think it's worth it..."

"Well! During the next shift, you should show me when we get on the last round of cinammon rolls."

Startled, Packo replies. "B-Boss is going to find out!"

"Not if we step up our game a bit and do our job faster."

"You really want to see me use my roller in a fancy way that much?"

"Well dude, I just think you are very strong. After all, you always seemed to do things way faster than me. Now I can start to see why."

"I-I see..."

"And besides, the way you use your roller... It almost looks as if you weren't using a roller at all. The softener-" He says as he points at Packo's spiky ball. "- doesn't even look that worn out. And for how long have you been baking?"

"T-Ten years..." Packo says, slightly blushing. "You shouldn't be using your monthly free hour just to watch me do my work. I am not even that good at it."

"Ha, sure! And I insist! Maybe it is so awesome that Boss deserves to know. Regardless, I will see you tomorrow anyway."

"T-Thank you, Smart..."

And so, the man known as Smart left the room, slamming the door as he left. Packo sighed, and looked at his roller one last time before cleaning it and putting it back in its cover.

---

In the present, Packo was also looking at his roller. However, this time, Beep and Boop were directly obstructing his view of it, both drones screaming at the top of their lungs... Assuming they had lungs to begin with.

DUMMYDUMMYDUMMYDUMMYDUMMY

NIAHASGONENUTSDOSOMETHING

Beep and Boop are behaving even more erratically than before. For the first time, they sound... Scared. Just like Packo.

The baker then throws his weapon to the side, only to run into battle, not before saying:

"I will be back."

The bots, confused, and for the first time ever, stay silent without needing to resort to Packo's healing mode.

Packo doesn't know why he threw his weapon away. Did he do it to leave Beep and Boop out of this? He doesn't know. All he knows right now is pure fear. Fear from the eldritch abomination in front of him... But also fear of leaving forever, and shattering his chances at destroying the Ball and never returning to Licheria.

Frantically rummaging through the Inventory, Packo grabs the Chairleg Trident, moves from E11 to F13, and waves the trident in the air, using its curative weapon skill.

Right now... This is everything he can do, pushed by pure dread. And since Beep and Boop are gone from the party, Packo temporarily replaces Warp Step for Overload, only for the duration of this battle.

The Insanity..
"This is going to be painful, though I refuse to believe we will be defeated"

I enter the battlefield against Her...
"Don't worry, we will beat the corruption out of you Nia/Her"
Spawning from Q9, I quickly position myself to O6

Ambushers get ready!
Summon a Cherub: Ambusher at M6

Cherub Type: Ambusher armed with a rifle
Basic Attack: Piercing Damage
Spell Attack: Psychic Damage
Weakness: Crushing/Slashing
Resist: Ice/Dark/Light
Special: Feint Arrows (Basically a +10% basic damage)

Terry prepares to charge at the two Nias, but then something shakes in his pocket. He takes out his phone.

MartinTheDreamer: Hey! What the hell do you think you are doing, kid?

He looks out of the chamber, and sees a hooded figure, floating on a platform seemingly made out of magic. Ah yes, one of the few things that can shake Terry out of a montage-y battle trance: a worried parental figure. He then looks back at his phone.

TerryR: Saving the multiverse.
MartinTheDreamer: If that's the case, I'm all for it. Just, don't die too much, okay?
TerryR: Alright. See ya later.

The hooded man blinks out of the atmosphere with a flash of light. Thankfully, the Nias haven't seen Terry in the staircase yet.

---

Terry uses this to his advantage, and sneaks up behind Her. He walks silently, rifle in hand, and necklace glowing, cycling through the colors of the rainbow.. He unloads a couple of rounds, heavily searing the side of Her's head, and flips back, dodging everything that either Nia throws at him in retaliation. When he lands, he smirks, and menacingly aims his rifle at Her, then Nia, then Her again, then Nia again.

---

Terry moves to L13, basic attacks Her, and casts Intimidation. Boosted by the Cloudwalker Insignia, of course.

"Saw this coming."

Calibri chuckles sadly, then takes a seat on the stairs. He doesn't seem to want to head into the battle area, probably because there's already someone else there. Now might be the best opportunity to get a conversation with him, if there's anyone seeking such things.


"Tha's a bugger."

EN appears to have seen what's going on in the Upholstered Chamber, gazing there via magical bullshit powers of some kind. She shakes her head, then turns away.

"Ah'm naw goin' in there, sorry. Too much chance o' water. Tha' stuff ain't good fer me an' all."


In complete contrast to the above reactions, the Engie drone is nowhere near the upholstered chamber, and so has absolutely nothing to do with it. He's a bit busy elsewhere, having wandered his way back to the house for now. He soon walks into the house to see what's going on, takes a look at the fact that Maria is making loud noises and Chaos and the kitsune are probably trying to do something about it, and immediately turns around to walk right back out of the house.

"Nope. This is beyond my expertise. That couch, though..."

He walks over to the couch, taking a look at it for a moment, then moving to pluck the black memory orb out of there and stash it away somewhere else, since it really shouldn't be left in the couch. He then moves to pick the couch up, shaking it in a way that somehow causes all the water to fall out in one big heap, and puts it back down. A few blueprints appear around him as he analyzes just what to do with the couch...


BATTLE STUFF:

Verdana takes a good look at what is happening. He seems a bit concerned with everything, all things considered. Still, this is something he's getting himself into now, so he might as well follow through... He concentrates, checking his loadout for a moment. The spell slots appear, two of them shifting...

CURE -> HIDDEN FORCE (FIRE) (18-19 Fire damage, secondary typing Psychic, Slip... uh... 2 or 3, dunno)
HEAVENLY RAY -> FIRST AID (Mending11, range 1-2)

He then nods, satisfied with that quick change to accommodate battlefield conditions, then... he does the most surprising thing, which is not actually going in just yet. There's an air of significance around him. Once that draws attention. Verdana's eyes glance around the room momentarily, then he focuses... and begins speaking. All that is covered in another post now. So it's not really necessary for me to keep the speech in here... I'll return it if needed, of course, but anyway.

>Heroism: ENGAGE

"First things first... that Glyph."

Verdana spawns in properly now at E9, quickly relocates to I10, and hurls a jet of flame at K11, aiming to quickly burn away all the flesh that's surrounding that glyph. He really seems to want to go for that thing as soon as he can...

Nidra temporarily switches out the Stuffed Koala for the Patch of Focus, drops Last Dream and Psycho Link, and picks up Force Nail. She also moves a point from SKI to INT.

---

Nidra spawns in at Q13, uses the Sheep Counter, moves to O15, shoots Static Overcharge at Her, and puts Toast to sleep with Power Nap.

"Huh, that result was better than I expected."

Brutishace exits the battle and sinks his two skill points into MP.

However, then he witnesses the crisis with Nia and HER, rushing to the battlefield regretting that he had no time to brew himself some tea. Or upgrade his other equipment.

No matter. Brutishace spawns himself on Q10 in the Upholstered Chamber. He moves over to O9 and prepares to cast Vitality Leech! He withdraws his skull from an inner pocket of his robe and points it at the foe...

"Edictum Praetoris... Memento Mori... Toga Picta... Interregnum!"

Once again, a blast of green noxious energy fires from the skull contained in his pocket, directly striking the Glyph and catching Nia and HER in the blast! Brutishace wickedly chuckles to himself before drawing his Ruiner Pistol. Time for the real action to begin next.

"(...Let's go.)"

Boshi ends up on Her's side, at (Q15). He runs to (S18). There's a sparkle on the edge of his glasses as he summons... what looks to be an ice sculpture of Sophia. It's wielding a finger gun. It crashes down at (S17). It's really out of the way... what's he planning?



The statue rotates, pointing its finger guns at Her, ready to fire. Not yet, though, because game mechanics.

Boshi himself stays right where he is.

---ZE CAVERNS OF EL DORADO (but not really)---

Mustache Girl takes the opportunity to dive into the lake. She casts an Alchemical Barrier on herself, and swims to the Durasteel. It looks like she's got a minute before she runs dangerously low on air... and before the fish return.

She decides to dual-wield the Coilbust Laser Drill and the Razorwind Reaver, several shockwaves emitting from the pickaxe as she tries her hardest to take out the vein of durasteel as fast as possible, and the lasers evaporating the water around her as the lump of durasteel is rapidly dislodged from its earthen prison. At the tail end of her time underwater, the durasteel becomes fully dislodged and begins falling.

She then puts away her tools and swims to grab it. She then pulls a Super Mario World and swims back up to the surface strangely quickly. With her haul in tow, she walks out of the room with the lake, giving the middle finger to the returning fish. She's starting to get tired. Between a vault raid and a deep dive in the same day, it'd be hard to not be tired.

Auth spawns on Q13, and moves to P14. He then proceeds to cast Perseverance on himself.

He seems quiet, like he wants to say something to someone but has both nothing to say and nobody to talk to.

Lusiarre spawns in at E13, and walks over to I16.

She then summons a Voodoo Spellbearer at I15! She then links it to... I think it's both since they share the same health bar? If not, Nia.

Because she got new stats I have to remake all my summons. Remind me to that sometime. Anyway, new Spellbearer:

- 2 Points into HP
- 3 Points into DMG
- 3 Points into CRT
- 3 Points into HIT

Buy Skittish & Lunge

Should be correct if I understand the calculator correctly.

Keiko +1's her INT/SKI/RES, jumps into the fight at E12, and sets down a Patchwork Totem directly in front of her at F12 (Ice resistance) with additional cover at F11.

+2 SPC
-2 INT
+2 RES

Ziah pops into Nia's Service Station and seems slightly confused as nobody's there. After seeing the Slaying Bow and the Lucky Seven ready, however, he shrugs and equips them both. He also visits Teag in cryostasis, and takes his Rabbit's Foot.

Ziah: I'll... probably get more out of this than you will.

He then takes the time to head over to the Whispering Library, reading up on a bit of ice and psychic magic. Although not entirely confident with his freshly learnt abilities, he swaps out Splash for Ice/Psychic Aura (Phial Burst but with Ice and Psychic) because it's neat, and he can do that now with the power of magic and Toast Points. Also because I didn't really know how to flavour Splash. Seriously. At all.

He then heads up the elevator and, after using his newfound Psychic Aura (let's go with that), develops a plan of attack. One that includes Marron, who, as luck would have it, is barely a few steps away. He backs off, slightly awkwardly, as he notices her and Toast holding hands.

Ziah: Uh, Miss Marron?
Ziah: Or just Marron?
Ziah: I'm not sure if you remember me. I was the dude who got you out of that battle one time. I think? I'm not entirely sure, I was following orders.

He pauses.

Ziah: Sorry if I'm interrupting something... I've kinda got a battle strategy in mind, though. And, as a fellow archer and DPS... whatever that means, I think you might like it?

Ziah pauses again, waiting for Marron to respond.

Ziah: I'm not entirely sure why we're fighting Nia, but I'm not going to question it.
Ziah: What I will question is if you wouldn't mind entering with me and casting Fury on me? I want to try and do some decent damage, and you strike me as the type to appreciate that.

Assuming Marron accepts, Ziah smiles and thanks her, entering the battle at E9. A golden glow appears around him as he uses Focus Energy, and his arrows glowing white as he activates Astra. Once Marron buffs him, Ziah fires five arrows into the air, which disappear. They soon reappear behind him, and, in sync, all fly at Nia.