Nidra moves to Q15, uses the Sheep Counter again, shoots Static Overcharge at Her, retreats to R14, and Power Naps Venia.

Brutishace advances to L9 and continues to lay the damage on Her, using Twin Jolts once again.

He can do this all day... there must be more in store...

Keiko walks very purposefully to H10, starting Nia down.

"I can tolerate a lot of shit. I've been through this song and dance before already. But for you to go out of your way to betray us after wanting to join our side... that's a special kind of messed up. And you wanna know what happens to traitors?"

Keiko invokes Mass Paper Printing a total of THREE times, creating three Cheap Shurikens.

"They get to bleed."

All three Cheap Shurikens fly at Nia's face, before Keiko casts Heavenly Ray in her now sufficiently paper-cutted body. Keiko then backpedals to G10, materializing cover at H10 where she just was.

Ziah goes last.

The Husk's attack seems to have really done some damage to Ziah. As in... his body is barely recognizable. With Author's help, it slowly begins to reform into a noticably much more angry Ziah. His true mouth in the lower torso of his hoodie seems not to have recieved the message to reform, currently curled up in a snarl. He takes a deep breath, charging Focus Energy. He briefly turns to Marron, before two tendrils of flesh burst from his back. They soon take the texture of his hoodie, but the fact that they appear to be breathing... it's mildly disturbing at best.


Ziah: Go figure. Death is bad for your body.
Ziah: I think I can work with this.

He pauses, drawing an Orion arrow from his quiver and drawing his bow.


Ziah: Thanks for the help, Marron.

Ziah plants his tendrils firmly on the ground, before boosting into the air. In only a split second, the tendrils meet his hands, assisting him in drawing the string back a little more, before sending the arrow flying towards Nia. He safely lands with a roll at J5, panting softly.

(He moves to J5 and shoots Nia. All The Saints, Orion Arrow, Focus Energy, Yeehaw, if Nia is below 33%)

"You would rather not have me heal you at all?

Packo asks Marron, before moving to N9, crossing the barrier, and using his weapon skill.

==BATTLE==
Nez does some things, as the first few actions in the battle.

First, she scans Her as a Bonus Action, putting her Bonus Action scan passive on Reload for a turn -- applying Weakpoint Analysis, getting 10 credits, 2 MP, 4 damage, and 10 SP.

She then moves to R3 and casts Shopping Spree, grabbing 4 Psychic-element El-ite Throwing Knives.

Once Omorika Null Somnums her, she invokes Blinding Eye and Splash-scans centered on M15, Refining Understanding (Weakpoint Analysis Refine) on both Her and the Husk, and applying Weakpoint Analysis to the Spellbreaker -- as well as getting more SP, credits, MP, and damage, and applying Blind2 on all hit targets. She carefully avoids hitting Spellbearer 2's corpse with Observer Eye.

Hex slaps a Fluxblade Scroll on Elon Husk, casts Fluxblade on him, and runs to M10, and then M8.
Note: Empowered from the Salt Krab Skull.

<ROUND ONE-HUNDRED AND FOURTY-THREE>

Engie (the player) does a variety of things! A lot of things. But still, let's just work through this. Anyway, Calibri goes to meet up with Nana! He then asks what's sup.

NANA: Um...
NANA: Not much, really.
NANA: There's definitely something going on at the top of Yggdrasil, but after that battle with.... everything really, I'm kinda tired...
NANA: I don't think I'd be able to help too much, anyway. Even with my arm blades.

She allows her right arm to unravel, transforming into several bladed tendrils. They flail around for a moment before Nana gets her arm to seal back up.

NANA: I-I panic pretty easily, a-and judging from the sound of things up there, it might be hard to stay calm at all!
NANA: ...So, I'm down here, k-kinda resting.

NANA: U-Um, do you have any tips for someone like me?
NANA: I want to help, but it's hard...

While that's going on, EN explores some of the routes along the summit of Scale Yggdrasil. While exceptionally pretty, there's nothing really interesting along them... but she does spot a few low-hanging Yggapples! She snags 3 of them.

And then more elsewhere, the Engie Drone opts to spend an inordinate amount of time tending to the Couch. He sledgehammers the couch, instantly destroying it expending 10 Copper Gears, 10 Circuit Boards, 50 Wire Scraps, 15 Spider Silk Spools, 5 Silkweed, 8 Ashen / Frigid Crystals, 4 Rose Weave, 4 Rebellion Banners, 10 Durasteel, and 5 Plasteel. The couch promptly levels up, gaining 8999 levels and becoming Couchtron 9000. Perhaps it'll be handy if you get raided? Otherwise, it's just a really fancy couch. But still. Fancy couch.

---

Elsewhere, Maria continues her tantrum. Taeda opts to pick up the child, and place her gently on the newly repaired couch. It's pretty comfy, actually. She sits down next to Maria, and tries to reassure her- while she panicks and stutters at first, she takes a moment to calm herself down. An array of deep breaths. Once her breathing has calmed, she puts on a humble, warm smile, and places a hand on Maria's back.

TAEDA: You don't need to worry!
TAEDA: I'm here for you. And I'm sure that Venia and the others will be fine!
TAEDA: I don't think anything could stop them, really- not even the Sphere!

TAEDA: ...If you'd like, I could go and get us some snacks!
TAEDA: Would you like that? You can come with me if you want- maybe you could even help me cook, too~

Taeda mulls over potential options. What do human children like to eat, anyway?

---

Mustache Girl attacks the eyeball! She pulls out an Ablaze Accordion, and prepares to attack! The Eye observes her as she does this, and a fluid stops dripping from its eye. It watches intently for a moment, before getting blasted in the eye with a burst of flame! It flails violently, the eyestalk slamming into a cavern wall! The attack doesn't stop as she lobs a Cinderscar shell at the eye, sears the entire eyestalk!

The eyestalk snakes backward, a deep wailing coming from somewhere far beyond the vault. It's terribly burned and scarred, and lots of fluid is leaking from it. It flails and slams into various things as it retreats back into the vault! The scarred eye seems to recede into a wall- turns out there's a hole in the wall of the vault! The vault is then bolted shut with 4 Durasteel.

Mustache Girl then escapes the Everground, 16 Durasteel in hand. She can't help but wonder what creature lived down there, though...

---

Crya chats with Omo a little more. She talks about her own universe, and how her powers seem to be lacking.

OMORIKA: ...Another universe.
OMORIKA: ...I feel less overwhelmed than I should be, but perhaps it was a foregone conclusion with all of the madness I have witnessed up to this point.

OMORIKA: So anyway, you're powerless while on Sussui?
OMORIKA: I suppose with the Thymefield, it can't be helped.
OMORIKA: ...Perhaps I could help you in a way? We are alike, in a way- our co-workers of immense power all appear to be... mentally deficient, in a way.

Omo smirks to herself.

OMORIKA: ...Of course, Cypress is fine, but... Acacia and Spark aren't exactly what I'd call stable.
OMORIKA: It can't be helped, though.
OMORIKA: ...Anyway, perhaps I could aide you in magic?
OMORIKA: As a goddess, you must have some sort of magical affinity.
OMORIKA: Like many of the others in our party, perhaps you could... tap into it, and learn to defend yourself that way?
OMORIKA: It might not be a replacement for godly powers, but it may help.
OMORIKA: Interested?
OMORIKA: ...Also, I swear you weren't struggling with magic during the Magic Club back then.
OMORIKA: ...Perhaps you're actually just exhausted?

Auth becomes jealous of Crya Omo awaits a response from the ice goddess.

---

The game takes a moment to update the previous page with a GLYPH GET prompt! How nice.

Anyway...

<UPHOLSTERED CHAMBER, ROUND FOUR>
After what can only be described as "several gallons of bullgorilla to go", Nia is left KO'd on the ground, while Her's form begins to glitch out! The storm emanating from Nia's body begins to weaken considerably as the radiant glow of a Purge begins to course through Nia's hardlight form. Her suddenly melts into the ground, the central wall dividing the arena shattering into harmless hardlight particles. What little pool of Her is left suddenly seems to seep back towards Nia.

NIA: G-Ghh...

Nia comes to, struggling to get up onto her knees. Chloe rushes over to help her, crouching down next to her and helping her up onto a knee. Venia, meanwhile, collapses and detransforms, falling to the floor, bruised from that but nothing more. Nia's form glitches and shivers as the light of Purging begins to fill her. She grasps and clutches at her head, groaning in pain.

NIA: U-Ungghh...
CHLOE: Y-You're hurt!
CHLOE: N-Nia, I-I... w-we...
CHLOE: ...Is it gone?
CHLOE: The butterfly, I mean.
CHLOE: Please tell me it's gone.
NIA: I-It's...
NIA: E-Everything f-feels so... c-cloudy...
NIA: I-It's like, s-something's filling my m-mind, a-and it's trying to...
NIA: T-Trying to...
CHLOE: Trying to what?
NIA: T-Trying to...
NIA: GYAAAAAAAAAAH!

Nia suddenly begins to convulse as her body is overtaken by the light of the Purge, dropping to the ground and violently shaking. Droplets of both coolant and some red mist begin to sputter out of her from seemingly every part of her body, at every which angle.

NIA: STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT NO NO NO NO
NIA: IT HURTS IT HURTS IT ST<0>P ST<0>P ST<0>P

Nia suddenly hurls herself against a wall, still clutching her head. Venia struggles to get up, trying to rush towards her but collapsing midway through.

VENIA: NIA! NIAAAAA! PLEASE!
VENIA: I’M RIGHT HERE! DON’T LET IT OVERWHELM YOU!
NIA: ERR<0>R C<0>RE FILES DAMAGED
NIA: ERR<0>R N<0>T EN<0>UGH SPACE IN DRIVER
NIA: ERR<0>R SEARCHING F<0>R MEANS <0>F SALVATI<0>N...

Nia stops spasming for a moment. Venia tries to get up again, and settles for crawling-whatever she pulled took far more out of her than it appeared.

VENIA: NIA!!!
NIA: …
NIA: FINISHED CALCULATI<0>NS.
NIA: EJECTING.
VENIA: … OH HELL! HELL! EVERYONE GET READY TO FIGHT! IT’S-

Nia barely has time to process a rather large portion of her right side exploding outward. A new figure emerges out of her somewhat worn-looking auxiliary projection device- the Butterfly itself. It does seem a little more battered than usual- partially deleted or whatever. It quickly wraps its form around a few parts it seems to have stolen from Nia’s body- what looks like a power core of sorts, and other various important looking systems.

CHLOE: N-NO!
VENIA: NOOOO! DON’T YOU DARE HURT HER!

Nia’s entire form lurches, her body briefly vanishing for a moment as the Butterfly suddenly slams directly into a temple wall. The wall easily gives way as the Butterfly pushes forward, a burst of leaves accompanying it as it bursts out into the moonlight of the outside world.

Venia desperately tries to switch her Key to rifle mode to fire a shot, but she shakes too much-her hands can barely switch it over, but its not enough. She’s only able to watch as it takes off into the sky- the camera angles have perfectly lined up for her to watch it fly off towards the Sphere, a trail of holographic scales wafting from it and into the horizon.

CHLOE: W-What the hell j-just…
CHLOE: W-Wait, NIA!
VENIA: NIA! Please! Please!!! I’m right here!
NIA: U-Ugh...

Venia begins forcing herself to stand, shaking heavily, clutching her heart as she takes trembling steps towards Nia. It’s not looking good- massive amounts of coolant, wire scraps, and other generally worrying things are left in place of whatever sort of systems Nia had in her right side. Her body readily flickers in and out of existence as she weakly reaches out to Venia.

NIA: I-It’s…
NIA: I-It’s gone.
NIA: It’s… f-finally out of my head.
NIA: No more voices. No more WARNING: CORE INSTABILITY AT 94%.
NIA: Wait, gorilla.
VENIA: NO NO NO NO NO! Healers! Mari! Get over here! She needs attention RIGHT NOW! Uh, uh, inventory, comeon, wire scraps-

Venia begins frantically scrambling for items in the inventory to repair Nia’s form, hands tossing out all sorts of junk from a hammerspace hole and onto the floor ,while Chloe fruitlessly tries to shove some of Nia’s innards back into her, sobbing uncontrollably all the while. In place of the overwhelming cold that once emanated from Nia, there is now a very noticeable warmth.

NIA: I-I don’t… t-think there’s… a-anything w-we can do...
VENIA: No, no no no no no! NO! I, I-It can’t be like this! It can’t be!
VENIA: I spent so much time! All that effort! I… I can’t fail! Not for you! Please!
NIA: P-Please, d-dont cry…
NIA: I-I’m alright.
NIA: I… I…
NIA: I-I know you’ll come for me.
NIA: I-I know t-that...

Nia can’t save herself from tears, half-crying and half-yelling towards the two women next to her. Venia’s sobbing uncontrollably over her robotic form as she completely surrenders her attempts at repairing Nia.

NIA: C-Come and f-find me, o-okay!?
NIA: I-I w-want e-everything to go b-back to normal, a-and I want to see t-the sun, a-and I want to e-enjoy ice cream, a-and I just want to see C-Chloe with my own eyes again!

NIA: I-I…
NIA: Venia...

The warmth from Nia’s body is now unbearable. Venia attempts to respond. Her lips flap usellessly in the air, unable to form words. She refuses to leave, even as the heat burns her, even as her low posture stains her hair with coolant. Chloe meanwhile, is left frozen, barely moving. She’s merely staring blankly at Nia's body.

With the last of her power, Nia sends a wave of ice towards Venia and Chloe, knocking them a fair distance away from her. She mouths something to Venia moments before her core goes supernova.

There’s a ear-shattering shockwave as a gigantic explosion rips from Nia’s body, the blast liquidizing the corner of the temple that she’s lying in. The rippling flames cause Yggdrasil’s leaves to ignite in a beautiful display of flames. Smoke wafts from the ruined carcass that is Nia’s holographic projector. A few final sparks of electricity sputter out of her remnants as a charred husk of metal topples into the shattered temple ground.

VENIA: NIAAAAAAAAA!
VENIA: … I, I, I, I, I’LL FIND YOU! I, I WILL!
VENIA: I WILL SAVE YOU! I, I SWEAR!

Venia just sobs over the metal husk. Chloe is left in a stunned silence, her eyes hollow. She’s unable to move, cry, or even really do much of anything. She can only tremble. Everyone else isn’t faring quite well.

MARRON: W-What the gorilla!?
MARRON: W-We won! W-We killed the thing! I-It can’t j-just… d-do THAT to us!
MARI: O-Oh god.
MARI: S-She… j-just...
OMORIKA: I-I… I-I don’t know what to say…
OMORIKA: I-I wish I c-could help, but I-I… I-I’m powerless, l-like last time...

...And with that, the battle against Nia is over. The Glyph has been retrieved. Perhaps all you can do right now is move onward.

It’d be worth heading home. Regrouping. Making preparations for the next Glyph. Or perhaps you might want to try fixing Nia. Which is quite literally an impossible task, given that the components that made her up are scattered all around the temple, and also shattered into tiny little microscopic bits and pieces.

Perhaps time will hold a remedy. Who knows.

Wyvern's claws Evolve Strain again. He Psycho Bursts at Her as a bonus action, and takes another swipe.

Emerald meanders up to I10 and takes a deep breath, and a ready stance, holding his Umbrella before him. As such, he Guards, then speaks.
"Um, hi Nia. I don't suppose you'd be willing to overly target me, would you? Cause I'll be honest, that'd be pretty helpful for us. Plus you get the satisfaction of a target you can hurt a lot (I guess)."

Insert response to mari that was supposed to be last round here oh sat

"But... didn't we win...?"
Her face falls, taken by surprise at all that happened. She can't help but feel some responsibility for what happened here. Should she have been better informed, maybe? Yes, then she could have found a way to save Nia, perhaps! Saved her by... doing what?
Toast doesn't have an answer for that.

She is pulled out of her slump by the sound of Yggdrasil burning in the night, and figures the least she can do is salvage it. Utilising her nigh-immunity to fire, she steps off the edge and onto the outer part of Yggdrasil.
"Masith Shren Coros."
Her hand glides through the flames as the remnants of her aura energy are poured in. Where she touches, the flames first turn a light blue, and then crystallise into ice. The phenomenon spreads throughout the inferno, silencing it. Using the path made by the ice, she then follows the transmuted fire up and around Yggdrasil, magically dousing any of the offshoot fires that aren't handled by Verdana. When her job is complete, she scales up the frozen blaze, taking a seat at its highest point. Her pointed fingers dig into the ice, preventing her from falling to her death.
"The view probably would have been better... under different circumstances."

In case I forget to note this later, the ice will melt in the morning sun.

...
My... this is a tragic moment. We have lost the young lady. No way to restore her, a true death. Truly, unfortunate.
...We should give her a proper burial. It's the least we can do for her.
Destiny puts a hand on the body, and utters a prayer, something about safe passage, and descends from the temple.

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

Destiny requests the Igneon Plushie to be crafted by Marron.

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

...Well... considering the temperament of some of the deities... I wouldn't take you there, things tend to get... tense.
As for magic...
Yo.
!!!
So, about magic...
I think I can transfer my slight resistance to the Thymefield to you. I will be powerless, unfortunately, but I think I want a break now.
Uh-well-sure! I think I want to do something here!
Alright, this might sting a little...

Destiny puts her hands on Crya's shoulders and begins flowing energy into Crya. Her eyes glow with silvery white and her hair goes silver. A green energy rushes into Crya before fading out, as with Destiny's transformation.

So, that should work.

Crya has taken the place of Destiny.
P.S. Ire, save Destiny's page, I will probably switch back for the final zone / Zone 5.

Crya also gets some additional power from Her's Blessing! Frostbite also decreases HIT by 5%, and Encased/Frostbite multiply their damage against bosses by 1x more!

Crya gets to work on a weapon she can use.


Crya quickly equips this item.

"I... what? That didn't just happen, did it? Did it? You know what, don't bother answering that. I've had enough for today. I'm going home, see you guys later."

And with that, The Man turns and begins walking back to the house, clearly shaken from whatever the hell just happened.

Oh yeah, and he puts a point into MP and another into DEF, and equips the Operator's Suit, selecting the Always Watching and Relentless Chase passives.

As for his T2 trait... well, I'll do that when I think of something/aren't as lazy.

Three of the four of the people of mine appear to have seen the events. Calibri, Verdana, and EN are all present. Each of them have their own different ways of reacting. Calibri appears to be watching where the butterfly is heading...

"...That's not good. We're down a person and that thing is heading right for the sphere. God knows what it's planning..."

He stares off into the distance for some time later, then sighs, turning away. He doesn't seem to want to watch any longer. Since he's not doing that anymore, he decides to give some time checking how people are doing. He glances over at Marron and Ette, although he's fairly sure they're doing fine for the most part, if a bit shaken. He glances over at Omorika and Mari, and as far as he knows they're handling themselves alright. He then glances at Chloe.

"...Hmm."

Calibri's pretty sure something is wrong here. Last he checked, humans don't lock up like that without warning. As such, he approaches cautiously, then crouches down once he's near Chloe and awkwardly places a hand on one shoulder. Just a gentle rest, to clarify. After a moment, he speaks.

"...It's... it's okay. You tried your best. We'll... I... It'll get better. Nia's not actually... gone, just. Temporarily not present with us. Her real body self is still out there. So... uh... um. I really don't know what to say here."

There's a pause. Calibri turns his attention around the room briefly, looking as though he's a bit in need of help himself, then returns his attention to Chloe once again, saying nothing but just being close to her. And maybe giving her a hug if she wants something like that.


Meanwhile, EN seems, to put it simply, confused. Well, at first. After a bit of time, she turns to start walking around the room, recovering as many bits of Nia's robot body as she can find. Just outside the room, a small rainfall appears to have started, one that is oddly red-tinted...

"...Ain't much t' say now."


As for Verdana, he seems to have taken it the hardest of the trio. Not only is he visibly and audibly exhausted from the stresses of combat, despite the relatively short duration, he's just had to witness a complete turnaround of how optimal the scenario could be. Suffice to say, he's probably the reason why there's red rain outside.

"...That... but... that's... not how this is... meant to go..."

He collapses to his knees, the Vagrant's Will dropping to the floor and rolling away while he stares at the metal husk that used to be Nia. At first, one could probably mistake him for only being upset, but after a while it slowly becomes more and more evident that there's a level of anger building in him. Or, more accurately, starting to surround him.

Also, a funny thing people might notice happening in the background is that while Verdana's mood is gradually changing, the rain is growing a lot stronger. Strong enough, in fact, that it's gradually putting out the fires that would otherwise burn Scale Model Yggdrasil to a crisp. Yay, hidden benefits? Apologies if this breaks the flow of the post somewhat, I felt like it was important to Engietech Stealth it.

Eventually, Verdana turns his gaze upward a little, then angrily smashes the ground beside him with one fist, causing a small explosion and leaving behind a scorch mark. There's a fire in his eyes that probably hasn't been seen in him, let alone most people, for most of the time he's spent here. His anger is strong enough that it's overflowing to a very concerning degree, manifesting as a burning aura of flame around his body.

"I will not stand for this."

One would probably expect him to follow that remark with a humorous one about himself having stood up, but no. Now is not the time for humor, not from him. He turns and walks away, perhaps recognizing it's best not to be around while emitting anger and flames. On his walk back to the house, he seems to be leaving behind a trail of ash, starting off strong and flaring up somewhere along the way, but eventually trailing off and growing less obvious, and at some point being replaced by red puddles of water. By the time he's actually gotten back to the house, there's nothing left of the anger. Just a lot of sadness. And some red-tinted rain, but mostly sadness.

Starting to struggle to continue on a little, Verdana moves to brace himself against the airship as he passes by. But then he stops, considering something. His attention slowly but surely turns to focus on the airship, seeing a potential possibility...

"...Hold on. You... might be able to help. Okay... let's see what I can do for you, and then after that, what you can do for me. And the others, of course. Shall we?"

The ship, being a ship and not an actual sentient being (yet), gives no response. Going by his expression, Verdana interpreted that lack of answer as a yes.

"Great! I'll get started, then."

He starts by investigating the systems. Hull: 100%. Obviously not a priority. Weaponry: 115%. Not a priority either. Systems: 75%, Gravcore: 50%, Aesthetics: 30%. The aesthetics are not critical, so work on the other two will be important.



Installation list
Golden Gravcircuit: stores Gravcore energies for use by the ship. System. Also Aesthetic.
SSTurbulence System: lets the ship manipulate the winds of the skies. System.
Breaker Drill: ship weapon made to bore through armored things and deal significant damage to exposed systems. Weapon.
SLDS: a device linked with the Gravcore that essentially acts as it does. Gravcore.

Beyond that, Verdana isn't sure what else to do, but he's determined. So he'll just keep working on the ship overnight, adding Durasteel armor, adding more basic component systems, doing everything he can think of to improve the ship further. He has to keep working. No matter what. And woe betide whatever might interrupt him during his work, for the shining light burns bright tonight. Any kind of hostile interruption is sure to be met with a lot of fire, psychic, and light damage.


Meanwhile at the house, the Engie drone is oblivious to going-ons, and is instead playing Flappy Bird.

"Hah. This game is so easy. I just tap the thing at the right time and the bird goes through the pipes."

In the middle of a thing, he gets a phonecall. He pauses his gameplay to answer it, waiting for a few seconds, then nods.

"Sure thing, kiddo. I'll queue it in for you. Really, you oughta be doing this, so you owe me one later, but... y'know."

He gets up, wanders to the Triangle Emporium, and buys a single Rainbow Cloak. He then wanders back to his place to continue Flappy Bird.



I suppose I should officialize a build thing, hmm? Well... assuming the Skylabs win the vote contest, and it looks like they will dear past me, you are a gullible idiot... here you go.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1a-J...dit?usp=sharing

RP: Upholstered Chamber

Venia is dead inside. An incredible feeling of absolute desolation fills her whole being. She kneels at Nia's former body, trying to console herself-she's not dead! Not techncially! She's just in a coma in a kidnapper's house millions of lightyears away!

It doesn't work.

She uses Skeletal Toss, rather than move, and grabs what's left of Nia's robotic body into the inventory. Maybe Xavier could fix it? Fix her? After that, she just tries to get up again, and walk away.

... That goes poorly. She collapses immediately.

"B-boshi!" She yells. "... Boshi, I. I can't. I can't move. I need to rest. I need to go. Just... G-get me on your back. T-take us home. I need to rest. I need to see Maria."

She's no longer crying. She's just too exhausted to cry, or even move much on her own.

---

Shopping!

Hat purchases things because Venia's in no mood. He buys a Future Assault for 400. That's it.

---

Crafting!

Hat takes the Husk's arm. He also takes the Rose Eater Robes from the inventory. He also takes... Well, you know that white coat Venia had earlier in the Mindscape? That actually exists, and is a thing, but its pretty thymecursed right now.

Hat isn't gentle. Hat takes the arm, and basically beats the coat with it, smashing it back and forth until, after a few solid minutes of thwacking, the arm breaks, and then disintegrates due to the entropic reaction. This action coincidentally removes the Thymecurse around the jacket, which is moderately mundane. Hat then kind of just... Shoves the Rose Eater Robes into the coat. The robes are absorbed, causing the Coat to glow. The power within safely contained in a more efficient vessel, Hat takes the product of its work, places a link below this line, and returns to Venia.

Duchess's Coat stats here

---

Respec!

"... Boshi! O-one more thing." Venia says. "... I, I need you to, to take the Blossoming Key, and Ga'aunt."

"I, I hated the Butterfly, because, because it was doing... What I did. Brainwashing. Torture. Murder. I... I hated myself so much that it was easy to project. Wait, do you even know about that? ... I DON'T CARE! Just, I can't hold these things anymore! I can't. I'm sorry, Ga'aunt, my body... I'm not holding up. Just, someone take it-anyone take it! I can't, not anymore. And be nice to him. He's had it rough."

"... I'll fight. To the very last. If only so she doesn't have to live the rest of her life in hell, so this wasn't all in vain. I'll fight. But I can't fight like I was fighting before... That was stupid. I wanted to do everything by my own like an idiot and I can't. I'll... I'll do the smart thing, now."

Hat returns to Venia with a Future Assault. it seems to be modified-explicitly to minimize recoil on the user, with mild power loss. Venia takes it, shaking, as Hat drapes the coat over Venia's body. The suit had been mostly ruined from the blast, leaving Venia in her T-shirt. You know, the one that depicted Loss. Bitterly fitting for this situation. Of course, Hat solves this problem too, covering Venia's form with her coat. She's able to move enough to get it on her.

"... She'd want me to carry on. Save this world. And Maria needs me, too... Let's go."

The Masquerade, Reborn.

---

Shopping, Part 2!

Because Venia's not in the mood for stuff, and also her build is literally sans a Trinket right now, Hat commissions a Tier 4 Trinket for Venia at the Stitching Station. Requirements? It must grant SKI and it must interact with either summons (in a non-intellect way), have an on-hit effect (preferrably a DoT), or both. If it could possibly have MHP or MMP slapped on, that'd be a bonus. Ice/Slashing resistances would also be appreciated. Hat leaves the fine details up to the crew.

Hat expresses all of this via a written document. Hat doesn't speak at all, though he looks rather somber.

Why is this here, rather than above? Kind of hard to explain what's going on or what Venia would like if you can't see her build, right?

---

Maria

Maria's crying eventually subsides into sniffling, as she listens to Taeda.

"...D-do you have, a banana?" she asks, clutching Taeda tight.

---

Other

>Final hit on The Combined is asssigned incorrectly; Her's lockdown damage was not applied, therefore Verdana (who applied that lockdown) should have downed Nia and Her after the Post-Glitchform move, not Nidra.
>the stat achievements weren't good ideas the first time, they aren't this time either in my opinion.
>Venia's SP fill conditions are incorrect. She should have a natural "allies downed (x10)" fill condition on top of the mod granted by Vigil.
>The link to Venia's Unexisting Unison stats link to my personal copy. You should probably make your own copy of the stats instead. Also change the link in your sheet to link back to Thymium instead of to The Masquerade document.
>Add Future Assault to the T4 weapons we have, as it isn't a Player Craft.

The endgame nears. Those of the risen lands shall give their assistance.

---

The last thing that Terry saw after he powered down the visor was the broken Nia, then a deafening, blinding blast, and then the sky, as he shot past it, his body having left the temple at the speed of a bullet, and then darkness. His body lied down on a tree, hidden by all the other trees, and their many colors and kinds of leaves, in a forest. He didn't know which one. It is understood. It doesn't matter which one it was. He was far away from everyone else. He opened his eyes again after some time, and the same arcane man that floated high above the temple, the same arcane man that was watching him, was right in front of him.

"I gorillaed up, didn't I?"

The man held his hand out towards Terry. He grabbed on, and with a flash of light and a crack in reality, they were gone.

---

Somewhere else, in the Dueling Hut, a few people woke up. They looked around, taking in the completely new surroundings around them, until one of them walked toward the nearby house, lights turned on, possibly brimming with life. The others followed.

---

A blonde-haired man, adorned with flowers, enters the House.

"Hello, everyone." He takes another step. "I, uh, heard you needed some help." He picked up an oversized key off the ground, decorated with flowers and a nigh-holy glow. "So, um, what is this?" He holstered it around his back, and looked around. "What happened? Why's everyone so sad?"

Adrian Syl has joined your party! (Build and readout is in the tab labeled "Keydrian (ACT IV)."

---

And so the Great Key falls from the hands of one sad, diseased gay into those of another sad, diseased gay.

-2 SKI, +4 INT

---

Packo watches the entire scene unfold before him in complete silence. After it is done, he has nothing to say. Instead, he turns around, grabbing his roller, and equipping it again. (And at the same time, Packo forgets Overload which is replaced by Warp Step.)

Beep and Boop have lost all of their kinetic energy and have become inactive. As such, Packo stuffs them into his handle without any effort.

Then, he throws the Trident to the ground (or rather, back into the inventory).

"Of course it must feel weird not to feel pain, Marron."

Small pause.

"But feeling pain after a whole life of not knowing what it is, is terrifying."

Then, he turns towards Venia and the other people near what remains of Nia.

"Maybe it is because you are accustomed to pain that you want to fight against each other so much."

Was he angry? His tone made it hard to tell, but unlike his normal speech, he wasn't stuttering at all.

"You knew that something was wrong with her. And yet you decided that she should have transformed into... Whatever that thing was, and then decided to destroy her."

Then, his voice grew just a bit louder.

"The only reason I am staying with you, even now... Is because this world could kill me at any moment. I just hope you don't go after me next. I am not worth it. I just want to go home, and maybe not feel pain ever again."

He then turns around, away from everyone else.

"I-I'm going to leave now..."

Now you can feel the tone in his voice.

Packo is on the verge of tears.

But he still is open to talk with anyone, should they approach him.

While she's heading back, MU does some crafting...



---The Blast...---

Boshi watches on in horror as Nia's systems fail right in front of his face. Was that the Butterfly just then? It looked so... grotesque. Unimaginably so. That's what was in there this entire time...

And then Nia explodes. Boshi shields himself from whatever shrapnel was flung towards him from the blast. And by the time the blast dissipates, there's nothing left of her, and the tree was on fire, smoke filling the room.

His eyes were wide, his pupils dilated to a remarkably tiny degree. Quite frankly, it looked like he'd seen a ghost. He stands as still as the statues that surround him.

"(...)"

Every hour of this day has been like all hell just broke loose. From the charred landscapes of a previous war, to a rebellion seeking to destroy it further, to an insane cult hell-bent on supporting the Butterfly, to the Bottlepocalypse, to everyone appearing on Creation, to Adria's talons finally taking hold of Sophia, to Nia's possession, and now the explosion. It's been gorillaing terrible bullgorilla all day, he thinks.

Every time, the Spherebreakers - and by extension, himself - have been powerless to fully halt the bad. And, quite frankly, they were really bad. The aftermath of everything spoke for itself... the sheer physical, environmental, and emotional damage is unprecedented for most.

...Boshi knew that life was unfair. But why is it this way? Does it have to be? And does this unfairness have to be this... this violent? Even the most battle-hardened assassins are shook. Even Destiny couldn't help but feel something.

...

...He was dead still. Of all things, why did this have to happen now, while everyone was going through so much gorilla?
Frustration, not at anyone else, but solely himself. He could have saved her. Bought some more time. Gave the necessary power or coolant. Literally anything other than just standing there. But he knew he wouldn't have been quick enough to grab something. Gah, why did he have to be so short sighted?

He stays in his frozen trance until Venia falls over and asks for his help. This snaps him out of it right quick. He looks around frantically, before he realizes who spoke to him. "(...J-just a second,)" Boshi says, shaken. He starts walking to Venia and Chloe. He takes one last look at the giant hole in the temple. He can't put out the fire; it's just too big. Scale Yggdrasil is done for. He sighs, turns away from the hole, and continues walking. Once there, he lifts Venia up onto his saddle (which is actually a shell believe it or not). He also looks at Chloe. "(...Chloe looks like she might need a ride... you think?)"

He also decides to pick up Chloe. A bit heavy, but he can handle it. Though it seems he's repressing everything that's gone wrong today, and it shows. The ride's a bit shaky, and Boshi seems exceptionally angry and depressed much of the way back. He takes the time to say something to Packo. "(...Sonny, meet me near the house later. I... I want to explain what just happened. I think you need to know.)"

And with that, he walks out of the burning tree...

---

On the way back, Venia asks Boshi about the key. She asks him to take up the mantle. Boshi takes a few seconds to think on it... "(I... I don't think I can take it either. I can't let my own hatred for such practices fuel me like that. But I'll make sure they get into the proper hands, don't worry.)"

He takes the items from Venia, and holds on to them for now.

---

Sophia gets back to the house first. She notices a hi-tech couch in place of the old couch. She gets excited, smiling, not caring about whatever went on a few hours ago, and hops onto the couch from behind. She plops down right between Taeda and Maria unknowingly, and bounces up and down a few times. Fancy, and comfy!

She stops for a bit, and relaxes. She finds out that the left and right cushions have areas where they are pressed down. Clearly hers wasn't pressed down before she jumped on, but those were. Needless to say, she was confused. Maybe there were people here after all?

"...Hello?"

MU returns to the house shortly after, yawning. "Ugh, I never. Want to see. Another monster eyeball. Ever again! Gross!"

She heads over to the couch to get some rest... but sees that it's sorta full. "Um, am I bothering you guys, or..."

It's at this time that Boshi returns, probably with Venia and Chloe in tow. "(Well, we're back... uh... oh, there are the girls. You might want to go see 'em. Someone sounds worried... can you walk?)"

If they can, Boshi lets them both off near the couch. If not, he takes them straight in front of the couch... only to find that it's full.

Either way, he notices Sophia on the couch. He breathes a sigh of relief, knowing that she's home safely. Boshi himself waits near the wall once everything is sorted out and everyone's off his back. Once there, he starts thinking. Reflecting. While he ultimately wishes for Sophia to be able to see everyone again, at the same time, he's somewhat glad to see that she won't see what's happening now... she'd be crushed to find out about what happened to Nia...

...

...

Boshi thinks for several minutes. He shuffles through the inventory. He looks at several items, trying to piece together... something. Finally, though, it seems like he finds it. Or, rather, them.



Boshi tosses 350 Credits to Y.V. for an Attendant's Ballcap and Pink Ninety.

He then completely respecs.

---Post-Respec Stuff---
For those who didn't read the above, Bow Kid joins the party! She's a side character, so expect her to do things outside of battle.

---

Boshi and Bow Kid have allowed for the Hat Kid Plushie to act as a communication method to speak to Sophia, for those unaware.

Because of this, Boshi bursts through the back door with Bow Kid on his back and the Plushie in his arm. He skids to a halt near the front of the couch. Sophia was up, and looking around the place from the couch.

"(Sophia, we're right in front of you. I know you can't see us right now, but trust me, we are!)"
Sophia was shocked to hear Boshi's voice again. She sits back down and huddles into a ball. "H-huh? I can't... see anyone? B-but-"
"(I'll explain tomorrow. For now, just know that we're working on letting you see everyone again. Can you promise not to leave the house for now?)"
Sophia falls silent for a bit. She wants to stay safe, but something is just begging for her to go outside and do things.
"(...Please?)"
Sophia sighs. "...Fiiine."
"(Thanks! Uh, call you tomorrow, I guess? Yeah. Call you tomorrow.)"

Boshi leaves the Plushie nearby in case someone wants to actually talk to her, as well as a note saying if they want to talk to her, they're best off doing it through the Plushie.

Boshi heads upstairs, and tucks in Bow Kid in the Hat Tent. She's expended all her energy from that spell and has already fallen asleep... MU also heads upstairs, and snuggles in the tent as well.

Boshi remains awake, continuing to reflect on what just happened... he leans on the nearby wall...

Brutishace approaches the recent and tragic scene of Nia failing in Venia’s arms. A sympathetic frown is cast upon his face. Having witnessed many deaths over his lifetime, oftentimes of those close, an idea enters his head to hold a funeral mourning Nia’s death, but as he didn’t know Nia all that well, he feels inadequate to hold such a sermon.

And judging from Venia’s and Chloe’s shock, he feels like he should let them be while their grief is this strong.

With this, Brutishace slinks away from the group. He knew not Nia personally, but he still feels a sympathy towards Venia and Chloe, having been affected by the deaths of dear ones himself. His father. His youngest brother. His sister, mother of his young nephew. He retreats to the Wine Cellar in the House- perhaps a toast would be the best way to commemorate Nia's life. Or, failing that, a private drink.

Brutishace also allocates his two skill points into MP while waiting for people to arrive at the toast... he spreads word to some people around the house so that they may join him, if so inclined.