Nidra takes her Spidersilk Pillow, as well as a Goddess's Dominion from the inventory. She examines the gun briefly. That just won't do. She's no gunslinger. She casually transforms it into a golden staff, then a purple staff. Nidra then grabs the drone, and takes it apart to see what allows it to receive commands. She roughly tears that out, then carefully takes apart her pillow apart. She stuffs the drone control part into the pillow, and carefully sews it back up.

---

Meanwhile, the stuffed koala has grabbed some Zweet Fragments and some Eterna Flowers. It takes out a mortar and pestle from nowhere, and mashes the two ingredients into a paste. The koala then smears the paste into the Sleep Mask, making sure to get a good layer on both the inside and outside. After a few seconds, the paste dissolves into the cloth, dying it a slightly darker purple, and increasing its ability to put allies in beneficial rests at the cost of reducing its offensive capabilities.

---

Finally, Nidra looks down at her Melodic Nightgown. The stuffed koala slowly makes its way over and begins working on the material, a variety of buffing natural materials in hand. It sews them onto the outside of the nightgown, and when it's finished, Nidra gives a twirl, and all of them turn into silver music notes.

---

Nidra also respecs some other stuff.

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

Auth was about to go to sleep, since he's not got the strength anymore to get up, but Venia threw several spanners in that plan.

uA: I'm not on the ground because I want to be, y'know. I'm not on a hunger strike. This has nothing to do with Nia. I was came down here to rest since the couch was taken, and I crashed. Adrenaline is a hell of a drug until you tap out of it. I'm just not hungry either way.

Auth tenses briefly as there's a loud growl from somewhere nearby.

uA: It was the mollusk. Anyway, this is where I was going to sleep...
uA: ...mostly because I can't move.

Auth seems to be telling the truth about this. If he is carried up to the table and placed in a seat, he would continue to be totally limp. He would either slide out of the seat and onto the floor, or fall face first onto the table and finding himself unable to lift himself up off of it.

After some time, Auth would find what little strength he has recover. It'd be well after Venia and the rest finish whatever he was doing. Once he can move again, he stretches to make sure the blood is flowing properly. He then walks up to Chaos.

uA: Um, excuse me, Chaos, may I get a Void Aspect? I'd like to give it to Nana.

Auth thanks Chaos, pays appropriately, and receives the Samples that will come down from the sky or something because he bought the Aspect of Void for Nana. Since he's already got something for her... Auth decides to make something else. Something he's been trying to make for a while. A sleeve for her, to stop her accidentally stabbing someone to death.



Once he acquires the Aspect, and finishes the sleeve he had been intending to make, Auth stumbles around (not intentionally, he's still recovering), to find Nana. Once he finds her, he quietly calls out to her.

uA: Nana, I have something for you. I also wanted to check... how are you holding up after what's happened today?

Once he hears how Nana's been holding up, he gives Nana the Aspect of Void, and the cut-proof sleeve he made.

uA: That sleeve is for your arm, in case you were wondering. I made it so that it couldn't be cut through, so while you're wearing it the blades in your arm can't hurt anyone. I made sure it would fit, and it's for you.

Adrian nods at Venia. He leaves with the key, to sleep, with his friends outside.

Calibri quite obviously has no idea how to deal with a crying person. He remains seated and mildly distressed, closing his eyes and shaking a little when he overhears the whole Nia funeral thing, then opening his eyes again once Venia pops into Chloe's room for a bit. He just listens silently, then seems to consider something...

"...Food. That'd help... a lot of people, actually. Hmm..."

He waits to see if Chloe is gonna go for dinner. If she decides to remain where she is for now, he'll just let her know he'll fetch her something for once she's ready, pop out of the room for a bit, and come back with a burrito, then remain with her for more time. If she decides to get up, though, he smiles in a relieved manner before flickering out of the room, appearing upstairs at the dinner table already.

Over by the couch, Verdana seems to be aware of what's going on. He's a bit exhausted, but quickly comes to the same conclusion as Calibri, thus hauling his ass up off the ground and heading to the dinner table as well. As one would likely expect, both the brothers are happiest sitting beside each other. Should that somehow not be possible by now, Calibri holds a preference for seats closer to Chloe, and Verdana holds a preference for seats closer to Venia.

"Burrito night, huh."
"...Um... Cali, do you remember anything about how to assemble a burrito?"
"...Nope. Let me just watch what the others did..."

There's a flicker in Calibri's eyes. Moments later, both the pair seem to have figured out how to burrito, as they rather quickly assemble themselves a burrito each and tuck in. To the potential amusement of some people around them, both of the pair have sprouted cat ears...


Meanwhile, slightly in the past back at the tree, EN does accept Mari's offer to return back to the house together, possibly with handholding since Mari did kind of offer her a hand. That's something I have mentioned mostly for continuity reasons, and possibly humor reasons depending on how much of a joke handholding is gonna be here.

Now, in the present, EN's sitting at the dinner table. Lord knows that the chair she's sitting on despises the fact that it's being sat on by her, of all people. For the most part, she's been watching Mari, but she also tried to make a burrito at some point. The... thing on the plate in front of her, somehow, is nothing remotely close to a burrito. By the appearances alone, what she's put together would probably be locked away in a containment chamber by the SCP foundation if they had a presence here. One can only imagine how disgustingly awful that thing tastes...

"...Hm..."

She's interrupted from her thoughts by Venia informing her that Auth isn't eating food properly. She glances over at Venia for a moment, then at Auth, then shrugs as her gaze returns to Venia once again.

"Eh, 'e gits like tha' sometimes. Ain't died or anythin', jus' been real 'ard on 'is body... In fact, come t' think o' it, 'e's quite 'ard on 'imself in general. Ah'm naw one t' make psyche evaluations or anythin', but... y'know. Anyway, far as ah can tell, it ain't really a biological necessity fer 'im t' eat, though it'd prolly 'elp. Ah'd give 'im food meself, but..."

EN trails off, then casts a meaningful look at the absolute horror lying on her plate. The horrifying creation that should never have been permitted to see the light of day undulates rhythmically, emitting a sound that could only be created by the existential pain of a creature born with no soul, knowing nothing but the self-contained wrongness of its own being. Perhaps she should not have been allowed to do anything related to assembling food.

...The disgusting abomination is promptly squished by a large hammer, an Engie drone standing in the doorway of the kitchen. When he lifts the hammer back up again, it appears to have somehow turned the abomination into a regular, albeit unnaturally well-folded, burrito. The drone stands there for a moment, then rolls his eyes, which is impressive considering they don't appear to work that way in the slightest.

"We really need to talk about your negative cooking skills sometime. I can loan you a crafting hammer so that even someone with your... lack of ability can at least make something edible, instead of something that will one day grow up to star in a Kaiju movie, but beyond that you really should take some classes."
"...Ah dunno 'ow bein' capable o' cookin' is relevant t' anythin' ah do regular, but... Ah'll consider it."
"That's the exact same thing you said the last time this happened, but okay. Just follow through with the considering for once. Then we good."

With that brief and potentially odd conversation out of the way, the drone promptly leaves the kitchen again, having left behind a strange thing that looks like an overengineered carpenter's hammer. Given what he just said about things, it might be the Crafting Hammer, the oh-so-legendary device that can improve one's capabilities so that people can succeed at doing things even if they would otherwise be shockingly incompetent.

...Also, since the burrito on EN's plate is now actually recognizable as food once more, she decides to go ahead and actually eat the thing.

Crya crafts.



Crya quickly equips this item.

==RP==
Nezira has, unfortunately, been experiencing the highly acute narrativium-transmitted ontological condition known as “sudden loss of narrative focus due to her player being busy IRL” for the past two updates. In other words, she’s been doing stuff, she just hasn’t had it described. If she’d been making plans, they’d have a 100% chance of success.

Now that she’s recovered from that sad, sad condition, bane of meta-aware people the Multiverse over, we apologize for this intervening, carefully-calibrated-to-be-humorous message and return you to today’s latest episode of The Thymium Show.

==CRAFTING==
/VERY fast crystal typing at incredible hihg speed

---

After dinner, during which he ravenously ate his fill of burritos, Irongutta returned to the basement. The events of the day drove him to improve his Gitzappa Lens, which simply weren't performing to his standards. Crafting start!


Greatly satisfied by his work, he was hit by exhaustion. It had been a really long day. Maybe if he just lowered his head for a second and shut his eyes it would go away. Irongutta crossed his arms on the small amount of desk space that wasn't littered with random junk and rested his head. He was asleep in a second.

Oh yeah, and in Piggo's quest for chaotic evil, he disregards social norms and decides to sleep on the rug even though he is covered in mud.

<ROUND ONE-HUNDRED AND FORTY-SIX>
You know what time it is? THE STATTENING, PART THREE BAYBEEEEEEEEE



...That took a long time to process. Now for the rest of the owl update!

---

Brutishace declares a toast! He also chats with Omorika, who's certainly consumed a lot of wine. He offers to help her up the stairs. She immediately snaps to attention, a faint green blush occupying her cheeks.

OMORIKA: I believe myself to be more than capable of ascending a flight of stairs, thank you very much!
OMORIKA: Although, I suppose I shall come with you...

Omo joins Brutishace as they go upstairs. She's not quite tipsy enough to have trouble ascending the stairs, but she's still certainly a bit out of it.

---

Toast enjoys a burrito. She gives Marron five stars on Yelp, and gives her a hug. Marron melts into the embrace, the flattery sending her heart into overdrive.

MARRON: H-Hm!?
MARRON: Well, I'm glad you like it so much!
MARRON: We can eat like this every day, if you want!

As Toast disengages and goes to work on her burrito, she notes how she could potentially "make" Marron some food. The puppeteer dismisses her girlfriend's comment about her cooking skill.

MARRON: Ooh, cake sounds good.
MARRON: I kiiiinda doubt you suck at cooking, though.
MARRON: You're just trying to be all humble, aren't you?
MARRON: C'mon, you'd do great! Cooking's like crafting, except you need edible ingredients.

MARRON: ...At the very least, it'd be better than that cake that android chick made...
MARRON: Seriously. Thing gives me the creeps.

Marron shudders at the very thought. Then, Toast asks about Marron's arm, rubbing her jaw where Marron had punched her earlier. The puppeteer gives her metal arm a tap, making a small clang.

MARRON: Oh, yeah.
MARRON: My old arm kinda got destroyed when I... f-flipped out, a-and...
MARRON: Well, Venia got me a new one. Or made me a new one.

MARRON: Now that I've actually worn it, I can say it's pretty cool, but it's kinda uncomfortable when compared to my old arm...
MARRON: Besides, hard metal... isn't really my thing, y'know?
MARRON: If you'd like to make me one, that'd be great! I'll be there when you make it, if you need me to like, model or something.

A question then pops into Marron's head. She gives Toast's own metal arm a tap.

MARRON: Oh, yeah!
MARRON: Where'd you get this thing, anyway? I'd assume it's homemade, but who really knows?

...Marron seems to take on a slight fascination with Toast's metal arm, trying to get a good look at it. She then catches herself yawning, and begins to move towards the kitchen.

MARRON: Anyway, I'm gonna go eat dinner.
MARRON: I'll see you upstairs, alright?

She waves a quick goodbye to Toast as she ducks into the kitchen, probably making a quesadilla or something. All of the materials are there, so it'd be a reasonable thing to make I'd think.

With all that out of the way, Toast takes some time to do some chores of a sort. She purchases three bottles of Bone Hurting Juice from YV, then slams down a bunch of random crystals into the middle of her Crystillery. 2 of every basic elemental crystal (or at least the ones she has available), and then 1 of every Cluster. (again, the ones she has). She then infuses all of this with her own aura. The crystals begin to meld and fuse given the immense energy, but nothing else of note seems to happen. Perhaps it's like, the sort of thing she needs to leave to bake overnight.

---

Venia wakes up, and invites everyone over for dinner. This includes Maria, Taeda, and Chloe! Taeda seems to be quite interested at the prospect of trying Outsider cuisine, while Chloe's mood seems to improve (at least, slightly) at the mention of burritos. She's quiet and reserved as she heads upstairs, allowing Venia to guide her by the hand. By the time she reaches the kitchen, she's gone from "normal crying" to "silently sobbing". A minor improvement, but still an improvement. How does dinner go? We'll cover that later.

---

Hex goes to gather some things. First, he heads to the River Crossing, and loots some Cinderfruit from the tree there! He then takes this over to the Terra Reviver all the way over in Zone 3, and plants some Cinderfruit seeds in the ground that's being revitalized by the machine. He then casts Life Essence Augment on his skates, and promptly stomps all over the trees to boost them. Lutea watches from her biodome in a horrified state, before rushing out to beat Hex with a broom.

LUTEA: No, no, no, no!
LUTEA: You can't j-just do that to a tree! I-It's not right!
LUTEA: It's disrespectful, a-and if anyone caught you doing it, w-well... i-it wouldn't be pretty!

She gives Hex a few more hits with the broom, before storming back towards her greenhouse.

---

Daskter goes harvesting! He examines R4's still-blazing husk, and determines that given how long the fire has been raging, and the parts that have been lost to the blaze, he could maybe create something along the lines of a British Light Tank Mk VI. That's oddly specific, but alright. It'd probably make a pretty interesting piece of "armor".

---

Auth prepares some things for Nana. After a run-in with Venia, he tosses together 3 Rose Weave, 1 Spider Silk Spool, and 3 Everground Flowers to create a Cut-Proof Sleeve! He also purchases the Aspect of Void for Nana. He promptly gifts these to Nana, surprising her. She blushes warmly at the gift.

NANA: O-Oh? A gift?
NANA: T-Thank you so much!
NANA: Shouldn't I be the one gifting you, though? I mean, you were the one who saved me in the first place, so...

Nana equips the Cutproof Sleeve, and [something]s the Aspect of Void, absorbing its power. Tier 3 Special attained! She gives her arm a few swings- the sleeve is certainly doing its job! She then opts to immediately put it to the test by hugging Auth- he can feel the point of a blade on his back, but it doesn't actually harm him. It seems to work just fine!

NANA: I-It works!
NANA: Thank you, Auth! M-Maybe, thanks to this, I'll be able to live a normal life once this whole war is over!

Nana seems to be unsure of what to do, awkwardly shuffling around in Auth's presence.

NANA: A-Ah, um...
NANA: W-Would you like to g-go out and... maybe get a coffee tomorrow, or something?
NANA: I-It'd... mean a lot!

...It is unclear exactly what Nana's planning here, but she seems happy? After getting a response, she heads out to grab dinner.

ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: Awakening-er

The Author suddenly finds himself 32 Samples richer. That's a net gain of 16! Not only did he get growth, but he got profit! Grofit!

---

EN commits another food-based sin. I mean, she didn't really CRAFT anything, but still- if Marron was in the room right now, she'd throw something at her. And she is. EN tanks a tomato to the face, which Marron had lying around for some reason.

MARRON: OH MY gorilla I WILL BAN YOU FROM THIS KITCHEN.
MARI: ...Y'know, I'm gonna petition for that at this rate-

Marron's immediately pleased when the Engie Drone slays the aberrant burrito, while Mari seems to take more interest in the fact that the burrito survived the hammering, and reformed itself.

MARI: ...Um, what the hell was that thing?
MARI: The hammer, I mean. Seems kinda cool.
MARI: Secondary, follow-up question- who the hell was that guy?

Mari noms at her own burrito whilst blankly looking at EN.

MARI: gorilla this is good
MARI: gorilla yeah burritos
MARI: i mean it's not as good as chloe's but it's good
MARI: nom

...She just said "nom". Before taking another bite. Huh.

---

Returning to Tazz's post now, Venia talks the current situation. Her grim summation of recent events leaves Taeda and Nana with pits in their stomach... which is immediately filled with burrito meat, but still.

Venia notes some important things. To expect a night invasion, and that Xavier might come and visit them soon. Chloe, who's been rather somber until this point, ends up spitting out a salvo of burrito from her mouth, eyes flying wide open.

CHLOE: Xabiver ish comnin hrree? We-
CHLOE: H-Huld onwn, g-gutha...

Chloe takes a moment to swallow whatever burrito is left in her mouth. She grabs a napkin, and wipes away the debris that she spat out.

CHLOE: H-He said he was going to see us?
CHLOE: D-Do you think that... m-maybe?

Chloe's sudden hope quickly trails off.

CHLOE: N-No, that's a pipe dream...
CHLOE: Oh, Nia...

She returns to quietly nibbling away at her burrito. The presence of Maria's Chibi Nia doesn't seem to do much for her spirits either, only reminding her of a fallen friend. She remains somber as Venia continues her speech, only really truly returning to attention once Venia directly calls on her, handing her an Entropic Key. She stops sulking as she takes a hold of the weapon, getting a feeling for its balance.

CHLOE: Y-You want me to... u-use this?
CHLOE: If it lets me kill that stupid Butterfly... I-I'll take it!
CHLOE: I won't let it take anyone else from me!

The key suddenly lights up with the power of Ordo! While Chloe's resolve isn't exactly "fiery" given her previous mood, she's now actually undergone an improvement in mood. And with that, she rips a large chunk out of her burrito, and gulps it down.

As the dinner winds down, and everyone's had their fill of mexican meat, everyone begins to drift off to bed, or other places. A physically and emotionally exhausted Chloe is able to simply jump into bed, and start sleeping right away. Marron meanwhile, gets cozy with her girlfriend upstairs, both of them bound in a heavy blanket. Omo, despite Venia's suggestion, tries her hardest to remain awake... and eventually fails, alcohol doing her in. Mari meanwhile, finds temporary comfort in the new bedroom Chaos dug out.

It's a relatively calm night...

-All commissioned items have been finished! (3 Flux obtained from Chaos.)
-All researched projects have been completed!

...at least, until something visits the house.

---

Venia shakes on the couch in restless slumber, trying to will herself asleep. A whole day of events have given her the will to fight, but certainly not the peace of mind needed to keep restful. Especially not with her fears of a nightly assault. She tosses and turns, finding no entrance to the world of dreams.

...Tap. Tap. Tap. A mechanical talon picks at a window on the main floor, pointed tip bouncing harmlessly off the magically reinforced pane. Venia’s eyes whip open and she flies off the couch, her fears validated, grasping the Future Assault as she slowly approaches the glass. A series of increasingly forceful taps is applied as she approaches, with the window holding firm, magical runes refracting through the glass. Before Venia can get an angle to observe it, however, whatever was tapping the glass ceases its assault.

Rubbing the little sleepiness she had from her eyes and lowering the gun, Venia heads to the window more expediently, looking out into the darkened terrain around the house. While she didn’t quite know the exact time, her body and mind screamed for a return to the couch. As she peers into the darkness, the tapping sound resumes- this time from a different window. She rushes to meet the assailant, and sights a small, ovular droid with a variety of limbs dangling from its surface- quite like the MX-Drones that Mari makes use of. It focuses a camera on Venia, seeming to zoom in on her face. It taps on the window a few times, before stopping. It ‘looks’ at Venia expectantly.

VENIA: … Xavier?

The drone tilts up and down. It taps the bottom of the window- there’s a latch located at the bottom of the glass. Venia looks at the glass, and the drone, briefly considering her options.

VENIA: … If you wanted me dead, a Godhand would’ve burst through the wall.
VENIA: … Thank god. You’ve subverted my expectations in the best way.

Venia unlatches the window and pushes it up. The drone, without a moment’s hesitation, flies in through the open window, limbs scraping against the windowsill as it pushes through into the center of the living room. A voice comes out of it, somewhat monotone- there is a degree of frustration in the voice.

XAVIER: Hello.
VENIA: Hello, Xavier. I’m Venia. Venia Praefortis.
VENIA: … I’ll rouse the others. Whatever you have to say, everyone should be he-
XAVIER: Playing attention-grabbing tone...

A loud, ear-piercing noise emits from the drone, sweeping throughout the house. It’s a mix between dial-up tones and a siren, played at just the right frequency to rattle some heads. Venia clutches her skull in surprise. The tone stops after a few moments, and the drone idles for a second before continuing its message.

XAVIER: The following is a pre-recorded message. I cannot afford to be awake at this hour, given my current line of... “work”.
XAVIER: It is imperative that you pay attention, and follow these instructions as carefully as possible.
XAVIER: While the tone should have notified everyone of this drone’s presence, this message will now idle for about five minutes as to grant your party ample time to gather..

The drone begins to play something similar to elevator music as it hovers there in the air. Something drops out of it as the music plays, burrowing its base into the ground. Venia eyes the device with suspicion, but cannot decipher what it’s supposed to be- it looks like some sort of tiny hoop.

The first to be beckoned by the noise is Chloe, who emerges from depths of the cellar. Her hair is somewhat dishevelled, and there’s bags under her eyes.

CHLOE: W-What was that? V-Venia?
CHLOE: The entire house shook! I-I don’t understand! A-And there’s… elevator music?
VENIA: It’s Xavier! This is his drone.
VENIA: it’s all pre-recorded so there’s no real conversation here.
VENIA: We have five minutes to get everyone and get here! Something’s happening.
CHLOE: X-Xavier!? H-Here?
CHLOE: Or his drone, b-but...

While Chloe is busy being flabbergasted, multiple people come down the stairs.

SIMEON: Who what where how why.
CRYA: I heard something! What is this drone?

Irongutta was next to literally come stomping up from the basement. He was not pleased.

IRONGUTTA: Wot in Gork’s name is goin’ on up ‘ere!?

The light flicker off briefly, then flick back on. Calibri stands and stares at the drone for a second, an expression of distrust crossing his face… He soon flickers out, then reappears with Verdana beside him.

"So, uh. What’s that doing here?"
"...I just got here, what’s going on?"
VENIA: i know this is definitely low on priorities but why do you two not have formatted text
CALIBRI: Whoops. Let me fix that...

BOSHI: (Kids, stay up here, I’ll check it out!)
Boshi blasts downstairs at maximum speed, stopping near the drone, confused, and hyper-aware.

Nezira walks up from the basement, where she was working on a few small crafting projects. She holds a half-finished wand in her hand, bringing it up to point at the drone as she catches sight of it and igniting a clearly-incomplete magical blade on it.

NEZIRA: What is it now-- how did that get in. And what is whatever that machine is on the floor?

VENIA: Everyone! Just, calm down!
VENIA: Just get ready! I don’t know what’s happening.
CHLOE: So… that’s everyone?
CHLOE: Or, mostly everyone.
CHLOE: Some of us must be incredibly heavy sleepers…
CHLOE: So, now we wait?
NEZIRA: I suppose we do...
CRYA: Heh, well once Steyia slept for a whole day...

The group idles for about a minute as elevator music blares out the drone. Soon, the music abruptly cuts out.

SIMEON: Chloe, how does your brother even afford to make these things?
NEZIRA: Yes, how? Some of this technology is quite out of place for what there should be on a normal instance of Earth...
CHLOE: I-I don’t know!
CHLOE: He could do pretty incredible stuff before, b-but flying drones, teleportation, and all this other jazz is new to me!
CRYA: By chance, Chloe, do you come from the year 3000?
CHLOE: No? I don’t think that’s how time works-

A voice begins to emit from the drone. Venia motions to hush everyone.

XAVIER: So.
XAVIER: I’m going to assume you’ve all assembled by this point.
XAVIER: If that’s not the case, oh well. I’ll just play the recording again later.
XAVIER: So. I don’t have much time, so I’ll cut right to the chase.

The device embedded in the ground right below the drone begins to expand, the hoop going from say, the size of your average ring to about that of a hula hoop. An energy begins to course through it.

XAVIER: The device that hopefully embedded itself into the ground below you is similar to what I used to arrive on this planet.
XAVIER: It is a simple wormhole tunnelling device. Or a portal. Whatever you want to call it- semantics aren’t important, and portal is far, far snappier.
XAVIER: The portal, once it finishes a lengthy charge up period, will open up a connection between this point in space and my room, back on Earth. Hopefully.

The drone briefly pauses for a moment. It seems to be aware that this is bound to spark some discussion.

VENIA: Wait, what?!
CRYA: ...Can anyone explain who this man is? Maybe Destiny would know, but I am completely clueless on the majority of people here.
VENIA: He’s Chloe’s brother and, uh, not to insult, but he’s close to 99% responsible for most of our problems right now. He made Nia’s robot body and merged her mind with the Chaos Butterfly, for instance.
CRYA: ...Understood.

Nezira immediately flicks a pane of magic across one of her eyes and starts examining the portal through it.

NEZIRA: Interesting energy signature...
IRONGUTTA: Maybe ‘es gonna let us step through that tellyporta and sock ‘im.
CALIBRI: ...I really don’t trust this.
BOSHI: (Same…)
SIMEON: Okay. Everyone, take a few steps back?

A few more seconds pass, and the drone resumes.

XAVIER: So, I have a simple request.
XAVIER: Two, actually.
XAVIER: But in order to perform those requests, you must be aware of the risks.
XAVIER: Opening this portal will cause lots of energy to accumulate on this position.
XAVIER: This will most certainly attract some attention.
XAVIER: Namely, Iti.
XAVIER: We’re talking an entire horde. Dozens of the things, all wanting to feast on the energy. I think they hunger for energy, anyway. Not entirely sure on their biology yet.
VENIA: Great. That’s just wonderful.
VERDANA: That sounds kind of exhausting to deal with, but fine! More fighting.
NEZIRA: ...well, at least the defenses I made will be useful. That feels unhappily selfish to say in the face of an invasion, but at least we are prepared for this.
SIMEON: Not really? It’s natural to want to see what you’ve made in action?
NEZIRA: ...Hm. Good point. Still feels strange to have some amount of happiness that our house is going to be attacked, though.
CALIBRI: You’re not the only one eager to test the defenses. Heh.
SIMEON: ...Anyhow. Is he threatening us?
CRYA: Do you want… Iti bodies to dissect?
VENIA: No and no, I think. He wanted a request, and if he wanted us dead we’d currently be dealing with his God Hands and other combat devices. Also wouldn’t leave a warning, I think. But…

XAVIER: However, I believe it is worth the risk.
XAVIER: Nia.
XAVIER: The first request involves you heading through the portal, and freeing Nia from the machine.
XAVIER: With the mind uplink completely shattered, her mind is likely in a sort of limbo. Suspension. She’s alone with her thoughts.
XAVIER: In order to free her, you must follow these steps:

The drone begins to rattle on about a long, convoluted series of steps you must take to reach where Nia is being held. Open a lock below the bed. Pull away the bottom panel. Descend the ladder. Press the panel behind the third rung, and the panel behind the sixth rung before you get to the bottom. Ignore the room full of potentially illegal weaponry, as it’s a distraction. It’s also all fake, we swear. Slide away the back panel of the room. Then, you will reach Nia. Enter the PIN number into the terminal, which is “19851013”. Drain the tank. Pull her out of there.

Nezira immediately pulls out a piece of paper and starts hastily transcribing the steps. Verdana seems to be paying extra careful attention, Venia even more so. Crya yawns with a rather bored look. Irongutta struggles to keep up, but snaps to complete attention at the mention of illegal weaponry.

VENIA: Nia… He’s… He’s seriously just-
VENIA: He’s, he’s… He’s...

Venia blinks. Her face is disbelief incarnated as a visage. Her jaw hangs. Her eyes pop.

CRYA: V-Venia, keep yourself together. For a mission as serious as saving an ally, you must have the strongest will.
VERDANA: ...Hold it together, miss Venia. I’m as excited as you are to have Nia back, but… you know.

VENIA: … I know, but… I… I… I can’t explain.
VENIA: No, I can. It’s… This can’t be real, can it? It’s some dream. I’ve lost her, and suddenly the guy who kidnaps her risks basically everything to allow us an opportunity to give her back to us. Its unreal.
SIMEON: You’re awake. Definitely awake.
VENIA: … I know. But I can’t believe it.
VERDANA: If it’s a dream, then it’s a pretty miraculous one.
VERDANA: And somehow also a mass hallucination? It’s probably not a dream for those reasons.
IRONGUTTA: Yeah, don’t think I’ve ever shared a dream wivv uhh, five or six gits before.
CALIBRI: Ignoring a dubiously canon scenario… no, I don’t think we get shared dreams.

With that out of the way, the drone resumes, going on about the second request.


XAVIER: The second request is far simpler.
XAVIER: Please send Chloe through the portal.
XAVIER: This planet has proven itself to be incredibly dangerous… a-and I’m quite worried for her.
XAVIER: She’s going to-
CHLOE: I-I can’t! Not while-
XAVIER: -attempt to interrupt a pre-recorded message about how she can’t, because that’s the sort of person she is.
CHLOE: …
VENIA: …
XAVIER: I really hope I called that out, because otherwise that last statement will be really awkward.

Nezira tries to suppress a smile, and fails.

NEZIRA: ...He knows you well, Chloe.

Crya chuckles slightly.

XAVIER: Odds are, she’ll refuse. I’d hope that you send her through the portal, anyway.
CHLOE: Nope! Not happening! I-I can’t just go and stand idle while t-the world’s being threatened by the Sphere!
VENIA: Don’t worry, Chloe. We won’t force you into anything.
SIMEON: Dude. You need to have more faith in your sister. You’re already planning her birthday-
VENIA: simeon that’s a pre-recorded message he can’t hear you
VENIA: and i don’t think it was her birthday recently either
SIMEON: I know. Everyone else should as well.

CALIBRI: “Sorry” to dash those hopes, pre-recorded message of Xavier. That’s not happening.
CRYA: Chloe hasn’t died, despite being a mere human. I trust her enough with her abilities for her to be not sent home.
IRONGUTTA: Hmph! Not gonna let this git take a perfectly good member of me crew anyway. No way, no how!

The Ork crosses his arms indignantly.


BOSHI: (Pff. Listen to him. Thinks he’s the chessmaster who knows everything…)
NEZIRA: You’re safe with us, Chloe. He doesn’t know that. We’ll protect you no matter what happens. Besides, this planet may be dangerous... but given everything we’ve handled and still managed to come out the other side, it’s safe to say we’re more dangerous than it is. Still, though, it remains your choice in the end.

Calibri seems a little unsure for a moment, closing his eyes and shaking faintly, but soon opens his eyes and turns his attention over to Chloe. He seems to be putting his trust in her now.

CALIBRI: ...Choice lies with you, Chloe.
CHLOE: As I said, I’m not going.
CHLOE: Even though things have been tough, a-and I’ve seen things that nobody should ever need to see in their life… I-I can’t just leave!
CHLOE: I won’t abandon you guys! Not for anything!
VENIA: That’s the spirit!
IRONGUTTA: Hah, I knew ya had the chops!
NEZIRA: I can’t say whether that choice is right or wrong... but you can, and you have. We won’t let you down, Chloe.

Calibri doesn’t say anything, but his eyes say it for him. There’s an expression of pride on his face. Maybe a bit of admiration in there too.

XAVIER: ...Odds are, you disagree.
XAVIER: I can’t quite force you to enter the portal, so be it.
XAVIER: Anyway, one more thing before this message ends.
XAVIER: The portal will be activating in about ten minutes.
XAVIER: As stated earlier, this will unleash a massive wave of energy, and most likely a gigantic wave of Iti.
XAVIER: If you do not wish to save Nia, you have permission to smash the portal now. Do note that this may have… adverse effects on her.

Venia immediately turns her gun to everyone with a death glare. She says nothing. Her visage speaks volumes-anyone who smashes that thing is dead to her, end of line. Verdana, while too nice to do a death glare like that, seems to have a similar sentiment if the flames flickering on his hands are anything to go by.

NEZIRA: We won’t abandon her. ...I’m somewhat disappointed that he would think we’d want to.

XAVIER: ...And that ends this message.
XAVIER: If you do wish to take on this burden… I thank you.
XAVIER: If not… well, gorilla.
XAVIER: Recording end.

As everyone sits in silence, his voice seems to linger for a moment. It’s a deal quieter, as if he’s away from the mike.

XAVIER: Yes! Finally took a good take!
XAVIER: Not having proper editing software is a gorilla, but-
XAVIER: …
XAVIER: Oh.
XAVIER: W-Well, that’s...
XAVIER: Nevermind, this recording is… no, it’s still acceptable.

The recording properly ends. The drone that deployed the device and message “bows” by tipping itself towards the group, before flying off towards the window that Venia let it though earlier. Venia gazes at it for a second of still-lingering disbelief, before looking like a bucket of water got splashed on her face and jolting to the window, slamming it shut.

CRYA: Oh no.
CRYA: We should prepare, quickly!
VENIA: Don’t need to tell me twice!
CALIBRI: Let’s get the defenses ready. Boss man did something fancy with the couch, from what I heard...
NEZIRA: Time to make some last-minute tweaks to the defenses, indeed... it’s always been my style to fortify before a fight, when I can.
VENIA: … Oh gorilla! Maria! MARIA! We need to get Maria out of here ASAP!
VENIA: Get, get, someone get her to, like, Acacia’s house or where Lutea is staying, I, I don’t know! Anywhere but here!
CRYA: Is Maria the young one? I agree, we should get her out of here immediately! But where?
CALIBRI: There anywhere in the house that might be safe? If not, I could try teleport her somewhere else...
IRONGUTTA: Zog that, has anyone seen Piggo?
CHLOE: U-Um, I think I saw some mud near the kitchen...
BOSHI: (I’ll take ‘em! I think I’m quick enough!)

Venia hustles upstairs, ripping Maria out of where she was sleeping before-the Hat Tent. Boshi follows. Confused, Maria is too tired to object to being woken up, placed on Boshi’s saddle and being hastened off to wherever she may find herself-her small party of animals and familiars clinging onto Boshi in the process. Mustache Girl and Bow Kid also hop on with haste once they noticed everyone was moving. Sophia hears everything from the Plushie, and makes her move as well. Once everyone was on, he freaking books it to the Endless Gardens.

VENIA: I have no clue how not absolutely everyone is awake, but everyone here-get everyone awake, now! I mean it! Either get them out of the house and follow Maria or stay here and hole up the defense!
VERDANA: Time to wake the sleepy people...

Verdana glows for a moment, then the house rumbles faintly. A sudden jolt ought to get some people up and about...

CHLOE: Oh, right!
CHLOE: Nia! Who’s going through the portal?
CHLOE: I’d… suggest that I don’t go through, just in case that Xavier’s set it up to close if I pass through it, or something.
VENIA: … I’m going.
VENIA: I… I know it’s stupid, but I still feel responsible for this mess. I want to end it.
VERDANA: I want to go to save miss Nia too.
VERDANA: If nothing else, I can support miss Venia. And I’m happy with that.
SIMEON: Are we just going to have the portal open the whole time? What if it closes?
NEZIRA: ...Yes. I’m going. We need to help Nia. Besides, it’ll be interesting to see some of the technology Xavier has developed... The emplacements I developed should help in my place.
IRONGUTTA: If it closes, I could just wire us a way back. How ‘ard could it be, it’s just simple tellyporta technomology! Either way, you can count me in on goin’ through that portal.
VENIA: While it’s all really inspiring to all be ready and willing to save Nia…
VENIA: In case worst comes to worst, we ought to minimize the amount of people who go through.
VENIA: Whoever goes in… They could be stranded on the other side. Xavier may’ve set it up that way, after all.
VENIA: Point is, we have to be judicious.
SIMEON: It’s only Earth.
VENIA: Yes. That’s why we need to be judicious. … Is that the right word? Judicious?
VENIA: We need to send in the least amount of people we possibly can, so we aren’t crippled over on this end if, say, the portal fizzes out.
VERDANA: I’ll go in with you, miss Venia! I can call Calibri if anything bad happens.
CALIBRI: Guess I’m on house defense. Heh...
CRYA: I’ll go on the expedition! Even if I get stuck on the other side, my fellow deities could help me get back!
SIMEON: Sort of want to go, but at the same time...


Destiny quickly runs out of the room she was in.


DESTINY: Eugh. I wanted some rest, transferring my powers took a lot out of me.
DESTINY: What in the bloody hell happened?
VENIA: Destiny, all you need to know right now is you need to follow Boshi to wherever the hell he’s going to along with anyone else not combat-capable. Ten minutes from now this house will be an Iti magnet.
DESTINY: Understood, Miss Venia. I shall move quickly.

Right on cue, Boshi returns, skidding to a halt in front of Destiny. He’s already dropped the children off.
BOSHI: (Acacia’s house. That’s the safe area.)
DESTINY: Good idea, let us move quickly!.

Destiny quickly dashes off to Acacia’s house.

CHLOE: So… that’s it, then?
CHLOE: So. Venia. Crya. Verdana. Nezira. Irongutta.
CHLOE: I… I know that you’ll be able to bring Nia back to us!
CHLOE: I-I swear t-that we’ll defend the portal until it charges!
CHLOE: Nia! I won’t lose you again! Not now, not ever!
VENIA: I still can’t believe this is happening. I thought I just, just, I thought…
VENIA: … I’ll… I’ll find her. I’ll save her! I will, I WILL!
VENIA: FOR NIA!
VERDANA: YES, FOR NIA!
CALIBRI: Bro, could you not shout right next to my ear.
VERDANA: Oop, sorry. Hehe.
CALIBRI: Anyway, better get the defenses ready… Hey, boss man, time to do the thing with the couch.
CRYA: May the light of my, and the rest the gods and goddesses, lend us strength to do this!
CRYA: And shall our light protect Nia…
SIMEON: This is all really touching.
SIMEON: You’ve got this!
BOSHI: (I will NOT let this end in failure! Not now, not in a lifetime, not in a million years, not until the universe resets itself! LET’S GO!)

With that, the group prepares for the incoming siege, waking up (or merely rallying) the remainder of those in the house. Some are evacuated. Some are hidden. Everyone else awaits at the front line, behind the sandbags at the front of the house. Then, the portal awakens, the wave of energy being felt through everyone’s bones as it reverberates through the ground.

There’s an incredible silence as everyone waits for the first sign of hostile contact. Then, through the barren streets, the Iti appear. Massive swathes of seekers, seemingly led by banner-bearing Iti. And following them, titanic mountains of crude armor plating and blackened flesh, a purple haze rolling off of their bodies. One of them hurls a fiery blast at the house, which instantly pulverizes a section of upper wall.

An echoing chorus of roars rips from the tide of seekers as they rush forward towards the house! Accompanying them is a small horde of airborne Iti, but it seems like more are arriving on the horizon.

It seems like the tide is coming in- a rippling wave of destruction that threatens to tear down all in its path. As energy builds from the portal, it raises the question as to whether everyone will weather the storm.

- = S T R I F E ! = -

---

<THE HOUSE, ROUND ONE>
Do you like Seekers? Because there's gonna be a CUBIC gorillaTON OF THEM. Plus, they'll all be getting buffed by these scary new "Vilebarons", which appear to be Seeker generals of a sort. Add those onto two other new types of terrifying Iti, and you've got quite the brawl on your hands! Just remember that there's two floors- upper and lower, and that you can attack up / down a floor using 1 tile of range.

Just hold on for six rounds, and you'll be done here! Splash is your best friend most likely, but armorpiercing effects will be an incredible asset against the Jotun and Bastions, who may smash up your house otherwise!

Hex holds up his arms to defend himself from the broom baps, and quickly slides to the side.
HEX: ow ow ow ow ow.
HEX: No it's not like that, I swear.
He holds up the Life Essence Augment book.
HEX: You see this?
HEX: It's a spell. Specifically, one that makes the target item infuse life into the things it touches.
HEX: I used it on my skates, and was stomping the ground to send that life energy into the tree seeds, so that they would grow faster.
HEX: ...I probably should have explained that before I stomped the ground, huh.
He decides to go for a way of speed-growing that won't get him whacked with a broom, and replaces the Life Essence Augment spellbook for the Curaga one, and casts that a few times instead, infusing the ground with healing and life.

-=BATTLE STUFF=-

Hex spawns in at R6, takes advantage of the doubled move to cartwheel all the way over to F7. Then, he somehow activates the portal, teleporting him to B7, and then twirls forward in a rocket powered frenzy with Jetstream Jaunt, damaging Seekers 6 and 16 in his glorious flight. He then finishes this off with a graceful landing that involves kicking Seeker 16 in the face.

Tank Building
Seeing how he can build something extremely similar to a Light Tank MkVI with the current parts of the wreck.

However, I built in my own modifications. Instead of a small machine gun the tank is based off, the turret houses a Railfun cannon.

The hull is made from the wreck of the R4, reshaping the metal into the desired shape.

Grabbing the broken reactors of the R4 I create a compact engine for the tank that is more than sufficient to power its weapon and movement.

I grab the AI Core and start programming all of the functions. Aiming, movement and basic combat tactics are programmed in, and stored within the AI core. It's assisted by 2 CPU (buy 2 Central Processing Unit) to be able to react to changing circumstances.

Using a couple of Crystal pens, I draw runes for "Durability" and "Hardness" on the hull.
Also drawing a simple rune of "Better Sight" on the gun scope.

If I manage to finish the tank, deploy it into the House Defense (Floor 2, at N6). Time to get some combat data...

The Battle of the House

I'm on the 2nd floor of the House at O8... So many fliers, I wish we set more defenses up here.
An ambusher sits in the corner at P11

Settings:
Basic Attack: Piercing
Spell Damage: Air
Weakness: Waiting for Harpies Physical attack (preferably not weak to the Harpies)
Resists: 50% Air, 20% Psychic.

Character Stuff


Lvl 2 trait, Also buff Allied summons for 66% of the normal buff.


Formation new wording (Applies to allied summons)
Increase your Summon Cap by two. All Allied Summons within Range 1-3 of another one of your summons gain 30% more DMG and take 25% less DMG for three rounds. Bonus Action. Wide Formation.

To no one's surprise, Nidra does not wake up from all the ruckus. However, her stuffed koala does squirm out of her arms. It makes its way outside, stopping in front of the trellis. It takes a bag of seeds out from nowhere, and casually spills it onto the ground. The bag vanishes, and the stuffed koala claps its hands together. The seeds sink into the dirt, and vines quickly begin sprouting out, wrapping itself around the trellis. Within minutes, the trellis is covered with thick vines, as if they had been there all along. After the vines have finished growing, the stuffed koala claps its hands together again. The vines glow with a purple energy, though this fades quickly. The vines begin moving much more quickly, and even with purpose. It reaches out for the stuffed koala, but the koala slaps it back and runs back into the house.

Oh, and this uses up a variety of natural crafting materials.

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

---

Nidra:
Appear at U15.
Power Nap Chloe.
Move to Y17.
Tame the Tumblefluff.
Toss the Pillow to the Tumblefluff.
Retreat to X16.

Trellis Guardian:
Spread Roots to I14.

Tumblefluff:
Move to W15.

Toast, having only just woken up, is more than a little surprised that a firey blast has destroyed the wall of the house.
"...are we ever gonna get a break?"
With a flick of her wrist, her new deck of cards shuffles from the desk into her hand, eager to be tested out. She looks at the horde of Iti approaching, and then at Marron.
"So... how do you want to do this?"

~~

Toast moves to J8 and activates Chaotic Contingency. She also uses Tides of Chaos on Cherry Energy, giving her two more spells per turn at the cost of Cherry Energy.

She then guards and generates four spells with Wild Magic.

Adrian and his friends wake up, to the sound of a drone's piercing screech. They stand right up, noticing the swarms of Iti all around the house.

"Hide!" Adrian says, and his friends do so, running up the stairs, and locking themselves in the Green Room.

Adrian calmly walks towards, the door, his hands, shaking, holding on to his Key... and he trips, into the couch.

---

Adrian spawns at S5, moves to S6, and activates Couchtron 9000.

Crya runs to S18, summons a Hailstorm at W22, and moves the Hailstorm to X23. She then retreats to U16.

The Man spawns in at N9 (on the second floor), moves to J11, and uses Watchful Eye on I15.

Mariaaaaaaa

Maria has been left at Acacia's house, alongside Destiny and presumably a few other people and not just Piggo and Cupcake. That'd be incredibly rude and also very dumb.

"...Can't we just go inside?" Maria asks, pointing at the house. "It's cold, and dark, and scary, and I don't like it."

Maria's colorful cohorts huddle around Maria.

---

Turret Upgrades

While Venia goes about, rousing everyone, moving everything around to optimize the defense, and occasionally suffering from her blurring episodes, Hat opts to upgrade the turrets from 'kinda OK' to 'decent'

---

Research + Shopping

Hat slides Chaos the requisit 300 credits and a note to immediately start cosplaying and fiming himself as Ultimate Lord of True, Purest Blackest Darkness, Merely See His Visage And Crumble To Your Knees. And also slaughter Iti while you're at it.

He also slides in two requests for Omorika's Research Laboratory. Omorika herself is to research Advanced Summoning, while Mari is to research Universal Understanding.

---

Quick Switch

Venia replaces Hailstorm for Super Soak. That is all.

---

Battle: The House Siege

Venia exploits Time Shenanigans to cast the rare and highly unusual GO FIRST spell, allowing her to go first.

Venia comes out at Q15 on the first floor and heads to P15, holding a book on Incantation, talking to herself. "... I'd really like to do everything with my own two hands, but if there's any way I can take burden off of myself at this point, so be it. They said I'd be excellent at things like this anyways..."

Venia concentrates, holding the book, as a shimmering distortion appears at Q16, a multicolored haze dispensing from it, completely covering sight. Out of it steps a sharp-dressed platinum statue of a man with an eyepatch covering their left eye, clean-shaven and mature, with a rather devilish smile, revealing a row of immaculate golden teeth. The only major details out of place is how the man appears to have twelve right eyes made of diamond instead of one, and their right arm is torn off, the hollow stump of an elbow instead replaced with a shimmering ball of light like twine, which wraps around the body of the statue.

"... There. Ought to be useful," Venia says, before turning to Chloe. "Chloe! I've got a present for you." Venia says, tossing Chloe a Celefruit Rind.. Imbued with some weird, black-and-white energy. Chloe doesn't even need to eat it-it dissipates into its healing power immediately... And something more. Venia's applied Unify to Chloe! It'll start at 5 intensity and grant the effects of Evasive5 and Focused1 for its three-round duration. Chloe'll also have Mending3 thanks to the Celefruit Rind.

"Everyone! Lend your power to Chloe!" Venia shouts, as she ducks behind cover to O15.

"...Omorika, I used this spell right, right? Not quite formalized to summoning..." Venia asks Omorika, looking at the Blindsider she just summoned, then back to the Iti hordes. She focuses upon the memories of Maxim she once assimilated a while back-perhaps the Iti will be chattering in some language she could theoretically decipher? She focuses on the Vilebarons in particular-as the apparent 'commanders' of the Iti, perhaps they'll be the most likely to speak.
,
Blindsider Stats

Note: if at all reasonable, Chloe will self-cast Sword Beam and activate Ordo. I'm not sure if this should increase Unify Intensity or not. Omorika will activate Caster's Theorem to boost her summoning potential.

---

Other
>Ineffigatus Codex Entry has not been updated despite being scanned (during the Elevator Battle).
>Chloe and Omorika do not currently have their readouts available in the House battle.
>Omorika's Readout MMP is one less than her Sheet MMP. Her Character Sheet appears to be the correct MMP value in this case, for the record.
>Sporulating Fan, given it attacks in a cone, probably needs a unique counterattack.

Boshi spawns on Floor 2, and uses a combination of his MOV and the bonus MOV he gets from the lack of nearby foes to get to (F11). He looks at the Laser MG next to him.

"(...A suitable AA cannon, I'd say.)"

He stuffs a Searing Cluster into it, and aims it at the Blossoms being carried by Harpies.

Blossoms 2 and 3 regret their life decisions, as each of them are force-fed two powerful shots of fire.
At this point, he's just begging for Arkwinds to come over and try to shoot him.

---ACACIA'S HOUSE---

Mustache Girl and Bow Kid were also dropped off near Acacia's house, next to Maria. Sophia, who had heard about everything through the plushie, arrived just a few seconds later.

Mustache Girl takes the time to make a torch of sorts out of an Aurora Crystal and a Stick she found lying around. She then heads up to the door. "...I don't think she's home."

She tries pushing and puling on the door after turning the doorknob. If it appears to be locked, she fashions a lockpick out of small, residual scraps of metal found on the nearby Rebel (or from the inventory if there isn't enough), and attempts to unlock the door, holding the torch nearby to give her some extra light.

Once she gets inside, Bow Kid beckons for the others to get inside, before going inside herself. "Come on!"

Sophia notices the door open, and cautiously steps inside.

---

Meanwhile, up in space, above Sussui…

A bright flash of light emits from what seemed to be a star. Observers (No, not just the enemies, though they will certainly observe this) would also notice the shadow of a space station caught in the light. It’s odd, seems the only space station most Spherebreakers would know about would be Creation, and that only showed up when stuff was going to shit. As far as anyone knows, nothing on the scale of the Bottlepocalypse is happening…

No, this was a different one. One with a much more sinister purpose, no doubt. A space station with two wings protruding out of either side, connected by what looks to be glass. No solar panels or anything resembling an external power source.

As the flash dims down, there appears to be another station hovering right next to where the first one was. Presumably, the one that made the flash in the first place. It has a significantly different shape to the first as well, implying they were made by different people.

Observant members who know about certain video games or universes would realize what the second station really was.

The Comet Observatory.

The very same Comet Observatory present in Super Mario Galaxy, piloted by Rosalina and the Lumas. Whatever reason she has to be here, it can’t be for a good reason...

"They attack us at our home? So be it. They will die before they reach our doors."

Brutishace calmly wanders onto the field, spawns in at R16, descends a tile to R17, calmly draws his Ruiner Pistol, and blows across its crystal as if he had just slain a hated foe with it. The wine he drank earlier adds a hint of malice to his speech.

Calibri seems to have taken up the role of checking to see who's joining the fight and who's not capable right now, flickering in and out from place to place around the house. Everyone who's not participating is someone for him to take somewhere safe. He's got mostly everyone by now, but there's one last thing to check on... and so he teleports into the room with Gibbet to check on the bird.

"Sup, little one. There's a dangerous thing going on upstairs. Taking everyone who isn't part of it somewhere else. Safety reasons, y'know."

He reaches out with one hand to place it on the bird, then another flicker signals both him and Gibbet disappearing. They then reappear over at Acacia's house, where Calibri hands the bird in a nest to EN, who probably got there a long time earlier.

"Take care of this."
"A'ight."

There's a moment of silence, followed by EN taking the nest and the bird, then a sarcastic cough from on top of the house. There appears to be an Engie drone up there, defying the laws of physics by not making everything collapse despite probably being kind of heavy.

"You should probably get back to the house soon."
"Yeah, I know. I'll do that in a moment. Just a short rest first..."


Battle action

Verdana spawns in on the House 2nd Floor battle at N6, then runs off to F4. He then stares at the Spiralfloof for a few seconds...

"...Floofy!"

He promptly cuddles it, because of course. That somehow counts as an attempt at taming, which is going to work because Vagrant's Will 100% tame rate bonus. Lore-wise it probably would fit better as influence from his emotion aura thing coming into play, maybe.

...Also, if I'm allowed to activate special this round, I'd like to do that, but I didn't actually make it a bonus or free action and taming is a full action, so I can completely understand if that won't work.

He tosses a point in INT and in MMP, then meanders over back to the house.

Emerald spawns in at S15 and moves over to S17 to stand in place, handing Chloe a Toniveil.