==BATTLE==

Note that this goes into effect before Bauhaus' action.

First, Crystal requests that the Sleuth buff him and Bauhaus with Inspiration.

Crystal moves to N12 and reads a poem.

Crystal.apply(Empowered3,3)
Pope.apply(Vampiric3,3)

He then uses the Alchemy Toolkit! He uses Vial, Tornadopetal, Shellfish, to create a Range 1-7 potion that deals Air damage, applies Ensnared, and moves the target two tiles in a chosen direction, before T.Bouncing to a target within Range 1-2! He lobs the potion at the Railsniper, wind ensnaring them and moving them east to J14, before the winds swirl to the Firebomber and move them south to I14.

Crystal then Abducts Eviscerator4 to O11, Surprising them with a basic attack, and subsequently firing Rapid Rounds at the J11 Barrel Bomb, killing it safely.

Finally, he uses another charge of Metaphysical Awareness to cut-and-paste Fell Rider 1 to L14!

ZONE 5

The Reflector enters the vent that Venia just unsealed, curious if it leads anywhere of note.

CHARA: Hmm…

Finally finishing their two-week information digestion period, the Apprentice Witch promptly rolls out of their bed. As expected, the collision with the hard floor results in pain. For any normal person, this would be an annoyance, but for them, it is merely a final confirmation that their body has fully returned all its senses after recovering from narrative cessation. And that, of course, is good. Nobody likes operating an insensate body. (Have you ever tried it? It's a bit like puppeteering a doll with only one string. Or driving a car with only one speed, capable only of making 90° turns, while suspended from the roof in a cocoon swing. And you don't even get the benefit of sensory deprivation induced hallucination.)

But now that there is no further need for fine-tuning their general existence, Chara is beset with a question not quite usual for them…

CHARA: ...What now?

Indeed, what now? Usually, for whatever task they are sent to complete, there is a guideline. Be it strict, lenient, or a perfect mixture of the two as it usually is, all that matters is that it exists. But instead, all that was given for this assignment was a vague list of goals- no, not even that. Suggestions for potential goals, and permission to come up with more. For some, this would be downright heavenly. But Chara, for all their strengths, never was an innately creative person. Sure, sometimes they receive flashes of inspiration alike to divine revelations, but coming up with new ideas at a moment's notice is a no-go. Come to think of it, this is probably why Francia never dropped them into godmodding wars - they'd be downright doomed without a plan prepared beforehand.

It is far too late to join any active battle, and to do so they'd have to heavily update their sheet anyway. It is likewise not Cool and New to work on that mirror person's Maxim project. And it is certainly impossible to meaningfully influence any ongoing event at this point in time. So, once again, what now?

CHARA: Well.
CHARA: I guess I could try out yoga, now that the old hag is not here to mock me for it.

---

What follows is a 1 not-hour long series of shocking events that will not be transcribed for the sake of Chara's detoriating dignity.

---

Wiping the last little smudge of blood from their cheek, the Piece without purpose plops back onto the bed. Still finding no inspiration, they decide to check their phone for updates on both the Corte Francia's and their own situation. Sure enough, there are several standard-seeming updates from Frisk, a plea for help from Odbody, angry ranting from Homura, a nonsense string of characters from Joseph (albeit with a lot of <0>s mixed in for some reason) and… "WE ARE NOT OWNED" repeated 50 times, from the Twins. Not going to ask about that one. There is also complete silence from Efes, which is expected and much welcomed.

Empathetic as they might be, Chara is not without respect for priorities, so they dive into their partner's messages first.

Oh. Oh my. Roxxanne is relevant again? This is going to be either a complete and utter catastrophe, or an incomplete but still horrendous catastrophe. And the Metacosmic almost declared war on the token moe Disney princess because her expyness edged too far into implications. Annoying, but it does inspire a few ideas. There's also someone who knows Venia (unsurprising) and mistook the SBs for her paid guards (insulting, but also unsurprising). Might have to go sincewhenwereyoutheoneincontrol.mp4 on him later…
...Ah huh, and beloved Auth has been looking for them for quite some time now. Of course. Probably salty about his waifu having an emotional breakdown at the prospect of character development. Still, perhaps a meeting should be arranged. Preferably in one of Joseph's deathworld dimensions for ease of disposal in case it goes south - and hey, it's about time the worthless twink's angsty vent art saw some use. On the other hand, dragging Edward Cullen out of the Thymefield might be too hasty an idea. Soul Marks, 50 shades of ink, so many bits and pieces of power strewn around him like a web… truly an annoyance to deal with, they would be.

Oh well. The planning of that can wait for now. First, they've got all these friends in need to take care of, as unordinary and unstable the concept of "friendship" in the Corte Francia is.

---

@Dedomeni

Oh fuck, oh shit, oh fuck

ing

great

did i really leave my fran-sister to suffer a breakdown for

fuck

fuckfuck
does she know how long it's been?

please dont

please dont be meta to that extent
please
please

FRAN: I…

hh
why did

why do i do these things to anyone i become friends with

psychologists going to be reading this in twenty years and postulating why im crying over a mass of words and ideas but FUCK YOU PSYCHOLOGISTS THIS IS SERIOUS
fuckin
talk already

FRAN: I'm sorry.
FRAN: No. "I'm sorry" doesn't even begin to cover it.
FRAN: This was idiotic and selfish and I should've thought of the consequences before forcing individuality upon you
FRAN: and if it truly hurts that much I could undo it
FRAN: please
FRAN: forgive me? Please forgive me. Please.

Please

Auth smiles at Nana's excitement at seeing the Godblossom.

AUTH: Well... given what I've heard about it, I am entirely unsurprised that any apothecary worth their salt would kill to get their hands on it. I'm glad we're the ones who did, though. Heh.

Auth thinks for a minute.

AUTH: You don't think we could just take it out the way we came in? Not that I blame you - I've heard that Godblossoms are awfully temperamental. Would you like me to go and look around for a way out? You'd know more about safely extracting the flower than I would, I think...

As Nana probably works to extract the flower, Auth decides to fly around look at where they could be and if there's a way out that isn't the Projection Box.

---

Auth considers what Chi says about Pomme.

AUTH: Somehow, I doubt very much that killing her is a good idea. I think you could probably get away with conveniently forgetting to do so.
AUTH: But yeah, let's talk about something else.

Auth listens to Chi's story about Cypress. He considers what she says about him.

AUTH: I see. I presume there's nobody with enough technical skill to be able to repair Cypress' voice box, then? Other than Cypress himself, of course, and attempting to fix his own voice box seems... unwise. But if Cypress, as you said, lived near Tabletopian and Chairian skirmish sites, I don't think it's that unreasonable to have learned technical skills through that, somehow.

Auth also listens to what Chi says about Acacia... she gave up her eyes?

AUTH: I think I might be able to imagine why, kind of. If you're already going to have all of this garbage stuff implanted into you, why not take something that might be actually helpful.
AUTH: As for what she gave up? It sounds like her eyes. I can probably see why - with mechanical eyes you could see better, see things in ways you probably couldn't before. In a literal fashion, I mean. It could probably also improve accuracy just by nature of being mechanical, it could give more accurate information to Acacia than what normal eyes could.
AUTH: Fortunately, we know that our magic solution is able to repair eyes. One of our party had her eyes burned out, you see, and one of our tests to see if our spell worked was to restore it.
AUTH: I'm glad that she wasn't pressured into it, but I don't think Acacia was in a right state of mind when it happened... if I was in Cypress' position, without what we have, I would have given her the bare minimum and let her calm down before I gave her anything else.

Auth listens to Chi, as she talks about what she knows about the Sphere.

AUTH: I'm glad what we're saying is getting around, then! That's exactly what we've been telling people, because it is. Or, well, it won't end the entire universe, just... y'know... a huge chunk of it. Including one hundred percent of Sussui and most of the surrounding galaxies!
AUTH: Truth be told, I don't actually know if Spark is ignorant or malicious in what he's doing. I want to believe that he's being influenced by the Chaos Butterfly, but... I don't know him. Obviously.

Auth nods when Chi talks about her feelings towards the Sphere.

AUTH: Even ignoring my own perspective, the idea of such a weapon being used on anybody is appalling to me. I hate the idea of all of the research that people are doing goes just to killing other people. It's horrid, really.
AUTH: Thank you, Chi. We appreciate the support, really. We can use anything we can get.

---

Auth sighs, with Atalus' continued freak out.

AUTH: If it will get you to calm down, then we're better than the Iti, right?
AUTH: I'll reassert that we don't have a long-term plan, and our short-term plan is fighting off the It, though. Please take some breaths and relax, you sound like you're working yourself into a fit again.

Auth listens to what Atalus says about Acacia and royal protocol.

AUTH: I understand that you might have protocol that says that you are to let her get the tantrum out of her, but we reaaaaaaly don't have time for that. I apologize, Atalus, but we've got time-pressure that cannot be ignored. We need to get this done as quickly as we can.
AUTH: I apologize, but we can't, literally can't, follow the same protocol as you.
AUTH: I can assert, at least, that we you won't have 20-something corpses to clean up. You probably won't even have one.

---

Auth flies to C17, and uses his weapon skill on Marron, Nidra and Asha, applying Swift to the three of them with a splash of Viric ink.

Battle: Shifting Storage

Irongutta moves to G12, gaining the benefits of Unstoppable Force! He then basic attacks Ohmnic1.

<Shifting Storage>

Remiel moves to I10 and basic-attacks Mitocyst 6.

If that's not possible, they instead move as far eastward as possible and basic-attack Ohmnic1.

Then spoke the thunder.(WHAT THE THUNDER SAID: ACTIVE)

<ROUND 250>

CHLOE: Round 250!
CHLOE: Huh, have we really been doing this for that long?
CHLOE: Thanks for sticking around for so long, everyone!~

---

Not!Echoss does battle against a rock face! He throws an acidic shovel at the face, dealing an armorpiercing (5) damage to it! This also shreds the target's armor! This chains directly into a STICKMIN PAWNCH, sending a wide series of cracks down the rock face for (25) damage!

Taking a few steps back, Not!Echoss witnesses the Rock Face shoot a short distance, out of the wall! A large, twisted neck of Fluxflesh follows the face as it moves out. Small, spider-like legs jut out of the neck, keeping it from scraping across the ground. It crawls out of the apparently gigantic hole the face once covered, most of the being's body still located far offscreen.

It approaches Not!Echoss, and then... tilts its head a few degrees to the right. It fails to make any sort of attack whatsoever. Instead, it keeps watching him, refusing to get any closer.

---

Hannah prepares to engage the wildlife! After (not) cussing out Cypress, she pulls out her rifle. Yggcrawlers on all sides. Making her way out of here would be a huge pain with all of them still up. Well, the only thing to do is to BEAT THEM INTO SUBMISSION.

- = S T R I F E ! = -

Elsewhere in the timeline, Hannah pulls out a few solid iron rods, and shoves them into the crates to keep them stable under the weight of the ship. That should do it!! She also props up more rods as she digs through the contents of the last two crates. One of the boxes contains medical supplies! 20 Yggherbs, 5 Salves, 2 Holy Dew, and 2 Glacialstems! The last box contains...

...Pop! A hand emerges from the last crate, smacks away whatever it is Hannah's been cutting away at the boxes with, then hops right out of the wreckage. It seems to be a Grey Trickster! With the Trickster out of the wreckage, that part of the ship ends up collapsing. A large something of wood falls outward, forcing Hannah to jump back! When the dust clears, there's an IKEA's worth of wood scattered about the floor now.

Elsewhere elsewhere in the timeline, Hannah asks Chi how it's going. She shrugs.

CHI: I'm just... rather quite confused right now.
CHI: I didn't think we'd be teaming up with you guys.
CHI: And apparently, you guys are somehow rooted in my past at the moment?
CHI: I hardly understand it, and it honestly scares me.

CHI: You guys better not be trying to dig up blackmail, or something.
CHI: I-I've lived a pretty clean life! I mean, until recently, but...
CHI: The Sphere. It kinda... changes things, you know?

Then, out on the lake, Boshi does a thing of fishing. Throwing a chunk of Spider Meat onto his hook, he casts his line out. He pulls out a large, meaty fish! It kinda looks familiar, but with that Chairian sorta twist. Bass Bass obtained!

Finally, Adria asks her church choir group if they have a way of contacting anyone who could go and grab some. Chloe nods.

CHLOE: We do, actually!
CHLOE: It's me!~
CHLOE: That... counts, right?

CHLOE: I often go on supply runs for the team, so I actually don't really have a problem going out of my way to grab some dirt for us.
CHLOE: Nobody's actually commissioned me for work in a hot minute, so I could use the job.
CHLOE: Maybe I could pick up something nice for you on the way?

---

Nidra continues through Yew's Mindscape! I'll also clump together Venia's exploration of the mindscape here, as you two are sticking together, it seems.

---

Venia does other bits of work, not within a mindscape. First, she unseals the vent she just sealed up with her powers earlier. Cold air returns to the room. Then, she asks Nia to go and try and grab the Cryocore. Nia nods, happily morphing the rest of the ice out of the way, then using an Ice Nia to throw the Cryocore into the inventory.

Then, beep beep! Venia and Nia board the Hoverchair. As she suspected, there really isn't enough room for the both of them. Nia pretends to ponder this for a few moments.

NIA: Hm, well... if it won't fit both of us...
NIA: ...then I'll just need to sit on your lap!

Hop! Venia leaps backwards onto Venia's lap, making herself snug there. As it turns out, the Hoverseat is more than strong enough to support the both of them. The average Chairian must be quite heavy! Nia, with a smile on her face, leans forward. She remains in this position for a few seconds, apparently rather confused.

NIA: Oh, I think we'll need to work together to steer this baby!
NIA: Lean forward with me! Our teamwork will conquer all!

Leaning sound effect goes here. The two of them begin to float down the hallway at a very, very brisk speed. A wide smile crosses Nia's face as they begin their joyride down the hall.

NIA: Aw yeah!~
NIA: We've gotta get two of these babies, and then have a race!
NIA: High speed, high intensity hoverseat race! It'll be fun-

Boom! A loud noise rocks the hall! The gigantic wooden spire strikes the Cable Car. Nia freaks out just a bit, tumbling off of Venia's lap and out of the hoverchair. She lands face-first upon the ground with a little "plop".

NIA: ow
NIA: W-What was that?

Venia just so happens to only be a few meters away from Cypress, so she immediately begins to question him. What the HELL. Or uh, what the hell did he do?

CYPRESS: Exactly as ordered. Acacia wanted graft. Bark was replaced.
CYPRESS: However, unexpected request. Weapon augmentation. Implementation of crystals.
CYPRESS: Acacia's one desire. To be useful.
CYPRESS: Quoting Acacia, literally:

He reaches over to his throat, pressing a few buttons. A grainy recording begins to play from his mouth. Is that Acacia's voice?

CYPRESS: "I was his weapon. His sword. Because of those gorillas, I'm nothing to him anymore!"
CYPRESS: "He cast me away. He said I was useless."
CYPRESS: "He'll take me back. I know he will. All I need to do is kill them all. I'll spread their-"
CYPRESS: Redacting ranting. Resuming.
CYPRESS: "DO IT."
CYPRESS: "MAKE ME STRONG. I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE CONSEQUENCES."
CYPRESS: "I. AM. NOT. USELESS."

He presses the buttons upon his throat once more, in a somewhat different order. His speech returns to normal.

CYPRESS: Subject ordered augmentations.
CYPRESS: One. Neural interfacing implant. Connects through eye. Focus on object. Easily send orders.
CYPRESS: Two. Mind-linked staff. Codename: Nidhoggr. Utilizes elemental crystals. Imbues into wood.
CYPRESS: Mental link: triggers. Crystals modify spire.

CYPRESS: Theory: earth crystals. Greatly amplify offenses. Acacia's power: twofold. Planet-cracking spires.
CYPRESS: Theory: ice crystals. Shatter spires. Deadly area effect. Also freeze targets.
CYPRESS: Practice: fire crystals. Warcrimes: nth degree. Acacia: new title. The Cinderwitch.
CYPRESS: No safeguard: mistake. Was time pressed. My apologies.
CYPRESS: Remote shutoff: N/A. Only user controlled. However, automatic shutoff. Triggers on K.O. Safety reasons.
CYPRESS: Query: getting at. Understand?

...Well, looks like there's a new mission. This next fight with Acacia should be fun. Venia also decides to ask about the Cable Car. Are they gonna need a new one? Cypress nods.

CYPRESS: Affirmative.
CYPRESS: New cable car. Comfort: unessential. Can be crude. Only purpose: crossing.
CYPRESS: ...However, possibly unsafe. Vulnerable to attack. Also unregistered. May be targeted. Defenses: sometimes dumb. Not my design. I swear.

CYPRESS: Alternative: fly airship. Deactivate route defenses. No anti-air.
CYPRESS: However, other problems. Rebel airships. Large aerial Iti. Can sneak in.
CYPRESS: Shouldn't be problem. Spherebreakers track record. Very good. Many airships destroyed.
CYPRESS: Thoughts?

Airship mission? Airship mission! You can't possibly refuse the prospect of a second airship mission. Elsewhere, Maria hands a few Cyan Diamonds and Mental Clusters to Maple. She wants them in a heart shape, and they can make metal frilly things. Maple nods.

MAPLE: Pretty hearts? Say no more!
MAPLE: I'll make the prettiest hearts!

Maple pulls out her sword. This is most definitely not safe. But, perhaps to Maria's surprise, she's quite the craftsman, making use of an air-fueled blade to make clean cuts into the gemstones. Slowly but surely, she begins to carve multiple tiny hearts out of each. She makes sure to get feedback from Maria after cutting the first few, to make sure she has the right idea. Soon enough, there's a collection of heart-shaped minerals.

MAPLE: So, uh...
MAPLE: What's the "metal frilly thing"?
MAPLE: Is it like, a really big container for the crystals?
MAPLE: Here, why don't you show me? Draw something pretty!

Maple pulls out a whiteboard from somewhere, and sets it down in front of Maria. She then hands her a whiteboard pen. Maria and art. This can only go well.

Finally, Regalus seeks out Chaos. Identifying him as the banana merchant(?) he probably is, he asks where Maria and Venia are. Chaos assumes the standard thinking emoji pose, his head morphing in shape to accommodate this.

CHAOS: hello her fa[t]her-ah, his royal highness
CHAOS: i'm dad
CHAOS: or uh, you're the dad? i'm [c]onfused.
CHAOS: full name: [c]haos [c]onfused smi[t]h
CHAOS: pleasure [t]o mee[t] you sir

From out of the center of his shop stall, a hand extends towards Regalus. Despite being newly formed, the hand is most clearly unwashed. How unsightly. Anyway- the question! Maria. Venia. Where.

CHAOS: man wha[t]ever happened [t]o adven[t]ure
CHAOS: damn kids
CHAOS: jus[t] looking walk[t]hroughs up on [t]he in[t]erne[t]
CHAOS: ba[c]k in my day we go[t] los[t] for dozens of hours and we liked i[t]
CHAOS: probably, anyway

CHAOS: anyway, google says [t]hey're downs[t]airs, in roughly [t]his wayyyy

Repeating the hand gag he did earlier with Maria, Chaos extends his hand towards the portal downstairs. He must be running out of material. The poor sod.

---

Crya and Taeda continue their chat about theology. It's all really quite peaceful. Crya proclaims that she always tries to be calm and understanding, which is probably two traits you wouldn't find in a god. Defying stereotypes, woo! Also apparently, she obtained godhood through the "trials".

TAEDA: You... became a god?
TAEDA: T-That seems incredibly dangerous! If one person could become a god, w-what would stop some evildoer from ascending into a g-god(dess) of destruction?

TAEDA: Although... I guess something good must've come out of it.
TAEDA: If they let you become a god, you surely must be a good person!
TAEDA: Not that I need proof, as you've already proven yourself to be really kind!
TAEDA: If Lord Helix didn't exist, I'd be happy to serve under a kind and just goddess like yourself.
TAEDA: ...That's what I'd say, but I'm fairly certain that saying that is heresy, so take that with a grain of salt.

So... becoming a god. How could that ever possibly go wrong?

---

The Reflector enters a vent. It's a rather tight fit. However, after a minute or so of snaking forward, they fall into a room with no entrances or exits, filled to the brim with rubble and rock. Secret room? Secret room. What wonders are in here...?

---

Chara remembers that they exist. What to do now? Well, they could always update their character data, then head off to the battle that just opened this round. Or perhaps she could go off and meet with Chloe again. Share a warm cup of tea, or maybe a hot cocoa? Or perhaps they could investigate those folk that decided to visit the kitchen. Or maybe-

CHAOS: hey
CHAOS: you [t]here
CHAOS: the child of [t]he gender...
CHAOS: ...uh, 25.
CHAOS: 25 is a gender now? how progressive
CHAOS: anyway poin[t] is i'm amazed maria didn'[t] wake you up
CHAOS: also [c]hloe wan[t]ed you [t]o have [t]his

Chaos hurls up a piece of tupperware. Looks like somebody set aside a portion of breakfast for her.

CHAOS: she also said [t]o [t]ell you her loca[t]ion
CHAOS: 23465 183 -27564
CHAOS: or in normal people [t]erms, [t]hrough [t]he por[t]al downs[t]airs
CHAOS: anyway, [t]his message will self des[t]ruc[t] in [t]en, nine, eigh[t]-

Chaos promptly detonates before even reaching another number. This explosion doesn't even damage the room, or displace any air molecules. And yet, he somehow explodes right out of existence, re-appearing back at the shop downstairs. As one usually does.

---

Auth continues to do a whole lot of things. Down in the Projector Box's twisting halls with Nana, Auth theorizes if they could just take the Godblossom out the way they came in. Nana shrugs.

NANA: I-I don't know! I don't normally c-crawl around Rose Cultist i-infested catacombs...
NANA: I think w-we could just slot it into the i-inventory, though! Everything seems to be safe in there.
NANA: W-We'll still need to store it in something, b-but... ta-daah!

Nana pulls out a plant pot. She must've picked it up back at Lutea's place. She scoops up a deal of dirt from around the fountain the Godblossom was growing upon, and pats it into place.

NANA: This should keep the flower healthy until we take it to a proper planter!
NANA: B-But... how are we going to move the Godblossom i-into the pot? Just look!

The flower is growing upon the back of a statue of Lord Helix. The roots seem to have spread into the shell of the statue itself, which'd make removing it a bit of a pain. There does seem to be some traces of dirt in some of the cracks of the stone shell though. Perhaps the statue itself is full of dirt. Perhaps it's a planter itself, however unorthodox?

Back with Chi, Auth ponders as to why Acacia might've exchanged out an eye if she hated these bionics so much. Perhaps since she was already tainted, there was no harm in tainting herself further? The doctor nods, however hesitantly.

CHI: Perhaps...?
CHI: She's always been adverse to the idea of bionic implants though, so it's hard to imagine her willingly asking for one.
CHI: At least your cure is capable of restoring lost eyes, at least in theory.

CHI: I'd still love to see it in action myself, you know...
CHI: It sounds too good to be true, even if it is prohibitively expensive.

Auth also can't help but wonder if Spark is being actively malicious in what he's doing, or if he's simply ignorant. Chi ponders this for a moment.

CHI: I'd like to believe he's ignorant of this, but... maybe he's fine with the Sphere exploding?
CHI: The Chairian people have effectively been destroyed. Our hopes of fighting against the people of Tabletopia again after this whole incident are slim to none.
CHI: So perhaps... either outcome is good to him. Either the Sphere doesn't explode, and he uses it as planned to destroy the Tabletopians... or the Sphere explodes, and wipes out the universe along with the Tabletopians.
CHI: This is all just a theory though. An unhealthy theory, yes, but still a theory.

CHI: ...Also, as far as any of us are able to tell, we don't believe he's being manipulated.
CHI: Perhaps he was always this way, and we never knew.

Auth then thanks Chi for her support. She bows in a polite manner.

CHI: You're welcome!
CHI: I do wish you got here earlier, though.
CHI: Imagine how much easier of a time you'd be having if you got here... say, a month ago.
CHI: Far less Iti, and the Rebellion was but a few desperate people...
CHI: Still, better now than never.

Finally, with Atalus, Auth tells him to go and calm down. Otherwise, he'll probably have another fit. He sighs, and sits down with a +3 to complacency.

ATALUS: Okay, okay, okay. Fine.
ATALUS: No use in getting myself worked up before the end, no matter how rapidly it's approaching!
ATALUS: CERTAINLY.

He lets out a gigantic, drawn-out sigh. Auth attempts to reassure Atalus by telling him that he won't need to clean up twenty-something corpses. In fact, he won't even need to clean up one.

ATALUS: The only way I could have no corpses to clean up was if I died.
ATALUS: Either I'll be cleaning up 20 bodies, or Acacia will kill herself trying to kill all of you!
ATALUS: And while I'm really leaning towards the former, I can really, really try and dream about needing to clean up zero bodies.
ATALUS: If you do go in there, DON'T MESS UP. Alright?
ATALUS: Otherwise, I'll probably be blamed for it.

No pressure.

---

<GENERATOR WAY, ROUND THREE>
stop killing half of the foes in one round please
...Oh, also. Ghosts. They're kinda spooky, but you'll probably find a way to kill them all this round. Even the one behind the wall. Please don't do this to me. You're hurting my feelings.

<SHIFTING STORAGE, ROUND THREE>
A nice chunk of the normal foes have been eliminated, and there's no sign of reinforcements! Keep chipping away at their ranks, and see if you can squash the Mitocysts! Even just gently poking their HP will do a lot, as the clones they make will retain that HP damage! Also, a few of you are critically wounded- specifically, Destiny, Leaf, and Maple. See about taping them up?

<CABLE CAR CRASHSITE, ROUND ONE>
Lots of HP worth of foes, but you'll only need to gank a few of them. See what you can do to evacuate Hannah from the ruins? You should have plenty of time before the Yggcrawlers in the far back reach the spawn area, so you shouldn't be too pressed for time here.

Not!Echoss sees the giant stone face relocate, and knows immediately what he must do.
He turns around and chucks everything in his personal inventory (none of the stuff he acquired is listed there, is that an accident or did it get shunted to the main inventory?) out the entrance, knocking the credit pile out as they go, tumbling everything out of the Cave of AAAAAA to be retrieved by other players.
He then turns around to face the stone face.
"Ore Wa Mou Shindeiru"
(Translater's note: "I Am Already Dead")

Not!Echoss charges straight at the Stone Face and then promptly explodes extremely violently, to the extent that it probably caves in the cave of AAAAA at least a little bit


Battle Actions
Turn takes place after Remiel, Chloe, Destiny and Maple, but before IGU
Pionobot looks at Maple, who seems to not be doing so hot. He hands her a trio of Sapfilled Cookies
Here, take these. Think you can move out of the way real quick? I'm gonna try something."
Waiting for her to get out of the way, he then hops South a tile, and pivots, activating his trait again to swap his next spell's element to Ice (again) and fires an Aerobeam Northeast, it pivots East on P13 and then South on U13.

== Craft ==

It's Cirno day. (If this arrives late, I blame lag.)

A random ice fairy pops into existence solely to create a Cirno fumo. She requests Glacier Clusters and Spiralfloof Floof from Chloe.

She puts together a fumo base using dyes and Simple Fabric from the inventory, then combines three Glacier Clusters to create a power core for the fumo so that it is usable in battle, and dyes some white Simple Fabric blue with Blue Sap to create fumo hair. She attaches six more Glacier Clusters to the back of the fumo to make Cirno's wings.
Then, she embroiders Cirno's face onto the face-piece with dyed Puresilk, and dresses Cirno up in fumo clothing using more fabric...

And so Cirno fumo is done!

Consumed: 9 Glacier Clusters, 18 Simple Fabric, 9 Puresilk, 9 Blue Sap, 2 Spiralfloof Floof

T5 Trinket: FUMO² Cirno.
+2 STR, +1 SKI. (Icicle Fall: For every 9 MP spent at once, gain a stack of IcicleFall. Up to 3 stacks of IcicleFall can be expended at once for a Range 2-4 (6-6) Ice attack each with your HIT as a Bonus Action.)
Resistances: +40% Ice, -10% Fire

== Battle ==
Lily moves to O14, uses Ruptured Tail on the Fell Beasts, and moves back to P14.

VolatileLily0058: huh.

Shifting Storage (100% not late. Most likely happens before Irongutta moves.)
Leaf stays where she is for now.
Woodthorne uses Tend as a bonus action to grant Irongutta Emboldened, then immediately cashes out said emboldened using Purify.

Cypress

Venia's expression slides further and further, though she offers no comment until a little while after Cypress has finished speaking.

"... Cypress, Acacia mentioned a 'he.' Who was that 'he'?" Venia asks. "... Like, either way, uh. That little audio clip really hasn't soothed my nerves, like, that sounds... That sounds totally psychotic. I'm concerned, just not about the firepower... I feel like this was a major slip, she does not sound in her right mind. At all."

Venia's body tightens-her flesh-like facade reverts to the living blob of water. Her expression's actually kind of neutral, as she herself studies Cypress's expression.

"... I don't like where this is going, but thankfully we already have the cure-the thing we have is really powerful so we can take out the prosthetic entirely. So, we have a plan for what to do after winning, only problem is winning, and there's a lot scarier things than her-but not as many, err, concerning ones. I've got the second bomb to blow open the next barrier. Cypress, there's a Chairian-former Rebel, R-8733, demolitions expert. Could you coordinate with him about creating a third bomb for the last barricade?" Venia asks.

"...Oh, and don't worry, ah. I'll take point. I think she'd be pissed at me more than anyone else, but, ah. I'm also made of water, which famously can't burn... Which is a bit of a long story, let's just say curing metaphysical cancer is really difficult."

Venia then calls for Chi and Mari ("Gotta rescue the person who got in the crash!") and runs off to join that battle.

---

How to catch a psycho killer!

Things flash by fast-but the first instinct Venia has, once the wood's sealed in, is to take her Calm Mind Shard, concentrate a little, and then think-and then stab the smoke grenade straight in.

This would nominally not do much, and if anything would likely release the smoke. And it does-but the calm mind shard's psychic power, a bright pink compared to the white of before, glows softly over the whole thing, as Venia in the real world concentrates and demands of the Mindscape that this particular grenade's poison wasn't actually poisonous-that Yew really did throw down exactly what it looked like, a smoke grenade, unaltered and mistaken as a more poisonous cousin in a moment of impulse. Just saying it was faulty would never work-but an err of judgement, a moment of forgetfulness, anyone is capable of believing that. She lost this time, after all, once before.

With a ruse in place, and when the smoke grenade starts hissing, the duo had time, but not much.

"The door! Break it down, fast!" She shouts, in false panic, as instead she grabs the green sap from her partner and mixes with alcohol haphazardly. She also takes out the arrow and adds a few dashes of red sap, a curative, to heal that wound as well. She stirs her bottle from behind the wall and drinks away from it, trying to cure her poison, as the 'toxic' gas of the perfectly mundane and never-wrong smoke cloud filters in. She keeps close to the door, "You're not getting away with this, you psycho freak!" She shouts through the wall. "When I get out of here, I'm going to throw you right into your own cozy little prison cell, you hear me you crazy-" Venia breaks down into a coughing fit, deliberately. "Y-you crazy gorilla! Helix ... You're gonna regret every last one of your kills, and you're going to regret underestimating us! You hear me?! I'll make Lord Dome himself cower from how hard I'll make you pay!"

Maybe this'll be replaced in Yew's head with more appropriate lines that she might've actually said. Or maybe she's trying too hard. Perhaps Yew would think that, already being poisoned, breathing in more gas wouldn't matter, so of course Acrea would feel the need to run her mouth in her apparent final moments. Sociopathic sadists like her, though, rarely thought ahead to the full plan-she blocked off the exits, sure, but perhaps in her moment of appetite she'd think herself invincible? Venia hopes.

... No. Venia knows.

Don't you.

---

Daddy!

Maria scribbles roughly what she intends-they're mostly just frilly little inserts for the metal to go into-but turns her head as a door opens midway through, and her eyes widen as she goes in for a gasp. "Daddy!"

"Oh, my wonderful little sunshine, how are you?" Regalus asks as Maria runs up to him. Regalus, for his part, is busy staring at everyone else, but only for as long as it takes for Maria to grab onto his leg. He is still smiling without a single fault as he picks up his daughter. "I trust everything's been well?"

"It's been superfun and I've made all the friends, and venny is all better and I think her brain sickness is gone! Aaaand, I've gotta big fluffy!" She says.

"I see," Regalus says, taking a brief gaze at Cushion, and again at everyone else. "It's wonderful to hear that you're having so much fun! I knew this was the right move! Ah, but, Maria, do you know where Venia is?"

"I'unno, but I think she's doin' the thing. The thing with the dangerous thingies where she laughs and makes 'em beat each other up," Maria says. "She's OK, now! She's OK!" She adds.

"Ah, I believe you, my little girl, but I have to see for myself. Would anyone of you know...?" He asks, turning back to the Spherebreakers.

He is still smiling.

---

Battle: Cable Car Crashsite

Venia moves to I14, self-gains Ordo in the usual quickfire manner, and quick-snipes Cinderwing2 to eliminate it. She does not retreat.

"Chi, can you stun that Yggcrawler? Mari, maybe try to tame that Cinderwing?" Venia shouts, pointing to Yggcrawler4 and Cinderwing3.

---

Shifting Storage

Chloe moves to U14 via normal movement plus the warp ring, and uses her special twice on Mitocysts 3+5.

Crya emotes an awkward emotion before continuing.
...Gah, man, even so long after the fact I don't like talking about it.
The Trials... It's hard to explain. It's not anything any person can go through. It is something... fate decides. It sends you a game through a... vessel. You complete the "game", and you and whoever else obtained the game become gods and you all get your own universe to rule over.
However, the consequences and... challenges are steep.
You...

Crya looks down for a moment, then looks back at Taeda, a more melancholy expression overtaking her.

You lose... everything... when you play that accursed game. It destroys your home world, it destroys your family, it destroys your life. You become a god but in order to pass you must leave behind everything you know and hold dear. It was... hard for me to say the least.
However, it goes beyond that. The Trials themselves are grueling. For months you and others who are fated to become gods are locked into the game. Those who managed to get in to the Trials but are not chosen... die. We... overcame many tasks, such as slaying great beasts or saving villages of cute creatures. But... these threats that the Trials placed upon us were... simply horrifying.
That pulsating monstrosity from yesterday... I think I small simply not recall that memory.
In the end, the domain that I now rule is the greatest gift possible. However, for the longest time, I was not sure. I was barely an adolescent. when I was thrust into the Trials. I wanted to... return to my old life, live it out, see what life I would have taken, maybe who I would have fallen in love with. Ultimately, though, I am now Crya, the Goddess of Ice and Ocean, and I rule over my version of the world. I don't really think about what happened in the Trials anymore, and I would rather not dwell on it.

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

Destiny in battle looks at Mitocyst 9 with contempt. She holds up the Warp Ring and activates it, teleporting the Mitocyst above the void at P7. The heat rapidly increases around Destiny as she unleashes a Solar Lash.
RrraaaaAAHH!
A beam of solar flame erupts from Destiny, lashing at Mitocyst 9 before turning upon Mitocyst 2 then Mitocyst 1. Destiny moves to O5 and shanks Mitocyst 2 before retreating to M8.

Bauhaus stares blankly at the Fell Beasts. This really is a bruh moment.

<BATTLE - GENERATOR WAY>
Bauhaus moves to O13, uses the Warp Ring to go to L13, basic attacks "upwards" (Light element btw), then retreats to L14.

<Shifting Storage>
Remiel uses the Warp Ring to fade out of reality and return at M10. They Abduct Mitocysts 4 and 8 (striking 4 with a Basic Attack), dragging them to L10 and M11.

Then spoke the thunder.
(WHAT THE THUNDER SAID: ACTIVE)

Yewscape

Nidra takes the crystals from the washing machine, She then starts pretending to try to woodmancy the sealed door open, but instead focuses on thinning it on their side only. Just before she would break through the other side, Nidra fakes having to stop due to a coughing fit.

Shifting Storage

Nidra notes she should be at F14.
Movve to L16.
Power Nap Chloe.
Double basic attack Mitocyst6.

BATTLES: CABLE CAR CRASHSITE

The Reflector spawns in and flies to I12. They summon a Mirror Image at H12.

---

ZONE 5

The Reflector adds the Broke Room's bomb to the inventory, since nobody's done that yet.

In the sealed test chamber, the Reflector comes up with an elaborate plan to disable the Sentry.

THE REFLECTOR: maxim darling would you possibly potentially humor us for a moment?

They hand Maxim a set of the Anti-Gravity boots acquired earlier.

THE REFLECTOR: put these on and you'll find yourself quite able to traverse ceilings and walls and other gravitationally orthagonal surfaces! very useful really incredibly useful devices.
THE REFLECTOR: now here is the plan. you will walk along the ceiling to avoid being spotted by the sentry.
THE REFLECTOR: then well you simply will shift into your heavyweight mode and use your tendrils to yank the turret the sentry the device out of its socket!
THE REFLECTOR: problem quite admirably solved don't you think. no connection means no alarm and no bullets.
THE REFLECTOR: so how about we give it a go?

---

ROLEPLAY

I suddenly find myself returning to consciousness.

How long has it been? No, seriously, I have no idea what's happening. My mental faculties seem to have abruptly shut down at some point, like some sort of contrived narrative coma. But now I'm back. Now I'm

oh. right.

one second. i need to vomit.


Now that that's taken care of.

"FRAN": haha oh no it's far too late to put me back
"FRAN": after all the Reflector is the sum of all reflections they've encountered so unless you feel like tying them up and wiping yourself from their memory and then forcing me back into their body there's no going back no going back at all.

I try to hide my shaking hands in my pockets, only to discover I don't have any due to the sinister conspiracy that is women's fashion. (What am I wearing, anyway? A question for another day.) She'll notice either way, of course, but I'd like to preserve some small part of my dignity if it were possible.

The voices in my head are still there, sort of. I can reach out and hear them if I try hard enough. But they can't hear me. No one can hear me except her, and the rest of you callous onlookers.

"FRAN": Forgive you? For what?
"FRAN": Giving me this wonderful gift of individuality?
"FRAN": I would never demand penance for such a kind-hearted action, dear "sister."
"FRAN": After all, I'm just a shadow of your majesty, here to do as you please with.

can you tell I'm lying through my teeth? of course you can. but it's better than collapsing into a useless heap and doing nothing forever, isn't it? better to pretend i'm functioning just fine than to be labeled as some unstable weepy offshoot and consigned to eternal irrelevance. so i force a smile.

"FRAN": As for your little mistake, you're going to have to do what the rest of us do and live with it.
"FRAN": You're not getting rid of me that easily~.

Battle - Cable Car Crashsite

Hannah goes last.

Hannah sprints to (M13) if the Cinderwing is successfully tamed, and (P14) if not. She also uses the time to activate the Remote Airship Controller to fire Light Laser Turrets at Yggcrawler3, and Twin Railcannons at Cinderwing1.

---

Elsewhere in the timeline...

Cargo

Hannah looks at the newly discovered grey iti, mildly startled that she almost killed the poor thing. She instinctively pulls out the Grey Card, and backs away.

...She also cleans up the wood found all around the place. Wouldn't want anyone to trip. She poofs out of existence once that task is done.

Chi, apparently

...Wasn't exactly intended, but hey, could be interesting.

Anyway, Hannah simply tilts her head at Chi. On the one hand, that sounds awfully relatable. On the other... was she really accusing her of trying to dig up dirt on her, despite everyone already knowing who Chi really was. Still, she feigns innocence on the subject. "I... never said that we were? You might've missed a detail somewhere. Also, that's... relatable, in a weird sense?"

"Anyway, as far as I've heard, Venia's trying to find information on a rose cultist turning people into weapons and gear and stuff. We've found, like, four of those things so far. She really, really hates the Rose Cult as it is today, so she's going to try and bring a few back that didn't deserve their fates."

"Even went and smashed up both their leader and their god yesterday, man that was a trip..."

...Hannah couldn't shake the feeling that her and Chi might have more in common than she initially thought.

---

Oh hi Droplet, Special Delivery

A purple-eyed black dragon in a tuxedo meanders into the Church of Helix. Feynsik, AKA Paranoid, has returned, and it looks like he's just here to deliver something to Droplet. Namely, more Grey Iti. "Special delivery from the Spherebreakers. Bouquet [and Mimic]. I'll leave them upstairs, yeah?"

Without waiting for an answer, he walks upstairs, leaves the grey iti in the inventory on top of the tower, then wanders back down from whence he came (potentially collecting the reward from Droplet on the way and shoving it into the inventory), and walks out of the church and wanders into the great beyond once again.

Will he be seen again? Probably.

---

Chapel - Adria

Adria was a little confused when Chloe said she would get it. Though, on also offering to get something else for her, she ponders. What would be good for her while Chloe was out and about as she collects the soil?

"U-um... I remember seeing some gems attuned to light in the inventory... maybe some of them would suffice while you're there? They don't need to be at all powerful."

While she'd likely be happy with anything, she likely would prefer Shimmering Clusters.

---

Boatshi

Boshi just keeps fishing, this time using some higher quality Yggcrawler meat.

Add Poison with Toxin Coating, shoot Bouquet2 to apply that poison.

Asha moves to J11 and uses Historia on Destiny (who is in range due to the former having >2 buff levels). She then uses Touch of Arcana twice after targeting Destiny to give Marron (Mending2, 2) and (Evasive2, 2).

She then uses Alter Reality to swap Enlightened into Empowered, before attacking Bouquet1 with her basic attack. She pops her Might stacks, giving this attack a total of +120% damage.

on time