BATTLES - END OF UNITY

Star uses their special to spawn five Thyme Vortices at E14, O10, J3, I21, and Q21. Next, they fly to L21, then cast Soaring Rush, flying to P21 (since their retreat is actually 3 by this point in the turn). They basic attack Perfect Magus 2 with Sol Aeterna using slashing damage because of gladius, gaining +40% damage from Stellar Wind, +30% from Soaring Rush, and Armorpierce8 and Slip8 (retreat becomes 3 after moving five spaces, so (3+1) * 2).

Assuming the Perfect Magus doesn't die from overkill due to a huge crit or something, Star throws an Infinidagger at their corpse. (If they are just dead, Star eats an Infinipizza instead.)

They also speak to Spark so that Ire has to write more dialogue.

STAR: Woodfire being your voice is tinged with purple
STAR: It is growing overriding your angry yellow
STAR: the one thy calls WARE he is in your head
STAR: The gifts you were given by the Thymefield they art like poisoned liqueur
STAR: Are you so desperate to prove your point that you surrender your mind to a purple nightmare?

---

ZONE 5.5

The Reflector also notices Maxim just kind of hanging out in the Central Labs.

THE REFLECTOR: hello hello hello maxim!
THE REFLECTOR: this balcony is not where we expected to find to locate you. what have you been up to since the dream took off?

---

PATHFINDER PROBABLY

"The Scion"'s eyes light up. (You know, it's really hard to write apostrophes when my character names have quotation marks in them.)

"THE SCION": Oh! I think I've played something like that before.
"THE SCION": V... erm... the Thaumaturge used to run some sort of game like that for us.
"THE SCION": But, he's been really busy recently, so we haven't gotten a chance to do it...
"THE SCION": I don't remember what the version we played was called, but what you described sounds very similar.
"THE SCION": Have you ever heard of that game, Asha?

...Man, these posts are becoming large. Should probably consider chopping off a few categories...


Battle - End of Unity

Hearing Rufa's concerns, Calfusion facepalms.

"Right, should really have thought about that..."

He'd probably have talked further, if it weren't for Rufa promptly being downed. There goes that potential mid-battle banter. Oh well, onto the next duty at hand. Namely, eliminating someone.

Calfusion takes a step through Star's thymeswirls to appear at O10, moves to L9, and prepares. This is gonna be one hell of a burst of damage, lemme tell ya.

"Terribly sorry about this, Cataria, I'm sure you don't deserve to be hit this hard."

They cast Exertion, gaining an additional +145% basic attack damage bonus from the intellect and buff levels. Then, they alter reality to turn Enlightened back into Empowered.

Reckless: +446%
Exertion: +145%
swap Enlightened back to Empowered after casting exertion but before the attack: +45%
Ordo: +20%
Bushi Road: +20%

Total modifier: +676%

(28-29) + 676% = (217.28-225.04) -> (218-226)

Crit chance: 9 base (check charsheet not readout) + 3 from MX Drone + 12 from Lucky12 = 24%

With that calculation done, they proceed to smack Cataria as hard as possible. Let's just hope this doesn't accidentally turn into a fullcrit. Otherwise that would probably turn the poor guy into giblets.

---

The Old Pass...?

EN observes the thyme matter. At least whatever just happened took care of some lurking nasties. But how to deal with the matter itself...

"Ya sure wadin' in in a vehicle's gon' be th' best course o' action? Seems better t' me t' do somethin' like... eh..."

EN pulls out a Secretary Slicer, gazing at the thyme matter contemplatively, then gives the weapon skill a go. Hopefully, tossing a Null Zone activation into the pool of thyme matter will help get rid of some of it. Course, if it's removing large chunks of thyme matter, she can't help but wonder if disturbing the liquid that way might attract attention...

---

The Everground

Loading?

---

Receptionist's Hall

Calibri's wings flutter idly as he inspects the screen. He's thinking of something...

"...I think he'd probably have taken it slower if he had the opportunity. Don't really know much about whatever happened in there, but you could probably contact him directly through the mindscape radio?"

After that suggestion, he glances at the code again, frowning. His eyes flick to monoblack briefly and his head twitches, then that goes back to normal. No reaction from Calibri, at least nothing on the outside.

"H, you don't even have a statblock, I don't think we can do that."

What a weird thing to say without any other context.

"One, Blacklight and Verdana get along better than we do, two, he doesn't have a statblock either so that still wouldn't work, three... Is that part really necessary? Honestly, I think it'd be easier to-"

There's missing parts to the conversation here. After a moment of deathly silence, Calibri shrugs, turning to Adria again.

"Not really sure either way what to do about them. Incorporation could work, but Hangman's currently violently protesting to that idea on the grounds that he doesn't like me, and I can't speak for Blacklight since I don't know him in person."

---

Star Aeterna to the battlefield

Lato is mostly content with working as Star's weapon of choice.

"Marvelously handled."

...And providing a bit of commentary from time to time.

---

Tabletopia.

Engie doesn't seem to care much about the fact that he's got a lot of guns trained on him. He turns away and looks at the sphere in the distance, then turns back to the Tabletopian soldier.

"...Yeah, no, I'm just gonna flat-out tell you - being on the same continent as that thing means you're still well within the danger zone. Just checking, you guys do know there's an insane Descendant in there, right? And that if he pops out of there, there's literally nothing around here that'll do much to stop the resulting rampage on this planet. Or the next. Or the next... or the next... et cetera..."

A pause. Engie decides not to mention a certain non-aggression pact, given that would probably just make people mad at him, and continues down a more moderate route of discussion.

"That said, going by how this timeline's going, those madlad spherebreakers might actually win this time. Still, wouldn't count on it. They did actually cause a wave of self-replicating bottles, but that got undone, thankfully. Long story. Getting off topic. Glad to hear you guys can evacuate quick if you need to. Which I think you do need to, but I can't really make you."

Beat.

"Actually, you know what? If it's not already a thing, maybe some practice drills could help on any other cities close to the border. At the very least, I'm sure I could get some hilarious footage of Sparkles having a mental breakdown upon realizing his genocide plan has basically no chance of working anymore. That'd be worth it, right?"

Another beat.

"Oh right the truck doesn't have a reverse gear. This'll just take a second..."

The Engie drone proceeds to pick up that entire truck he drove in on, manually turns it around so it'll face in an away-ward direction, then sets it down again. He doesn't leave yet, but it should hopefully be a clear sign he'll leave the Tabletopians well enough alone soon.

Remiel acts before Bauhaus. If it hasn't been fixed already: Remiel should be at 5 LOVE, and it should have 8 more MP and 2 fewer Cherry Energy free-casts.

Remiel sustains Special, activates Trait, self-sleeps, meditates, and basicattacks Shinai. Opening Act+Dreamscaper+LOVE should add up to +75% damage if they all stack additively and I did the math right.

Gain +1 LOVE when Shinai goes down.

Auth's eyes narrow as Spark seems to panic at the prospect of being denied death.

AUTH: Well now. Does that thought scare you, Spark? The denial of an ending?

AUTH: Perhaps you should have thought of that. Thought of that before you began what you've started. Before your pointless crusade.

AUTH: Have you thought of the fear that your actions have instilled into the Legion? Foot soldiers forced to fight monsters which they hadn't ever seen before, and entirely summoned by you.

AUTH: The fear of people in the Citadel as their families far away face the Iti alone, where they can't be sure whether their families are safe. Or, perhaps, the fear of tactics they are forced to engage in, bringing fire against innocents. The fear and guilt for what they do at your command.

AUTH: I am aware, by this point, that you have no concept of guilt. But you clearly feel fear. And so you should.

AUTH: If fear is the weapon that will work against you, then so be it. Be afraid, Spark. You deserve punishment to rival Ikea for the damage you, and you alone have done.

Auth flies through the E14 Thyme Vortex, and emerges on the O10 Vortex, having followed the Calfusion through. Then, he flies over Cataria's head, and lands on R9, meditating. Thanks, Abyssal Breathing!

---

Auth laughs ruefully as Omo suggests that London is a region of pure, uncontrolled anarchy. He pinches the bridge of his nose, closes his eyes, and takes a deep breath.

AUTH: You have... no idea.
AUTH: In some respects, London has anarchy down to an art form. And yet, I cannot bring myself to hate it.
AUTH: For the record, both of them were successful in their campaigns.
AUTH: Always something new to see, I guess. Can't deny that it's horrifying at times, though.

Auth nods to Omo's request.

AUTH: I'll go have a word with Taeda in a bit, then. If you're sure you want me to do it.
AUTH: I can definitely see how you asking Taeda about it might be undue influence. But I can ask how she'd feel, sure.

Assuming there's not much else to add, Auth takes flight to go and see where Taeda is hanging around.

Asha shakes her head.

"I only met people for the first time like... less than a year ago for me, and I think it's closer to a month or two ago based on everyone else's timeline. So multiplayer games haven't really been on the table until recently. That said, I've read a little bit about games like these, and I've always wanted to try one!"

Battle: Grave of Civilization

Venia's face goes somewhat neutral at Spark's commentary on the odds. The waves of Iti crashing down on the twenty-strong Spherebreakers, and then, a Descendant, WARE. It's enough pause that Spark's casting of True Silence doesn't interrupt anything-just gives her a few seconds to think-as long as is needed for Tae to quickly dispell such a modest status.

"Thanks Tae," Venia says, fast, before catching the pulled-back bowstring of the second Perfect Archer, and promptly countering by dissolving into a puddle, having the arrow sail cleanly overhead. She reforms-several steps away from Spark's flamethrower.

"... Honestly, you are correct," Venia says to Spark, totally void of condescending tone. "I've seen it for myself, I know better than anyone, Chloe and Calibri and others here can confirm it. Every single time, out of millions, billions, trillions of possibilities-it doesn't matter what anyone does. The Sphere... Breaks."

Venia moves to K10 and grabs hold of Twilit, dragging her despite their immense weight. Venia stops at J9 and places Twilit at I9... And tosses out the AMF Generator at G10, catching Twilit, Rufa, Shina and Trombe in range, causing them to lose their Recall Runes. Venia promptly shoves Twilit directly to jail. "... I don't care for 'impossible.' Just a word. I know a few others who didn't care for it either-these days, you call them 'Godmodders' and 'Descendants,' who broke-and keep breaking-the rules of existence with ultimate power. And a Descendant is just another type of Godmodder-so perhaps we should just be another kind of Descendant, fighting another Godmodder. All we would need is one push, and Irecreeper-the last bit of him that hasn't been overridden-seems very keen to give it to us."

"Hah, and you, might I add!" Venia says, suppressing a chuckle before twisting around to Cataria. If Calibri's Exertion attack hasn't downed him yet, Venia will burn her Ordo and Purge Cataria. "I hate to admit it but I ought to thank for for every grueling trial you've attempted to put us through. Incompetent as you are, I have to admit you are at least threatening-which only means everything you've tossed our way has given us strength as we've conquered it. So thanks, Spark-no matter how you look at it, we couldn't have gotten this far without you!"

After Venia's action, Venia gestures to Acacia. "Hey, Acacia! I know it's really tempting to just immediately go into smashing Spark's face in, but we need to clear out his minions or else they'll overwhelm us. And you really do not want to stand there. Plus, these Praetorians will tank any big attack aimed at Spark anyways..."

Venia (very politely) asks Acacia to move to O12, then fire a Siege Spire at Shinai. And then ingest delicious, delicious cake-the Princess Special.

"Chloe! I'unno quite what's up with that... Well of creative energy over there, but you can fly and they can't, so just... Fly up over there! Call it a hunch-but Descendants could do anything with creative energy, so maybe you could... Like, blow up that Airship gun that's about to shoot Taeda down?" (Chloe will hopefully follow this advice.)

---

Others

-later-

IT'S TIME!

Zahlia and Simeon make their way to E12, where Zahlia uses CAST JUDGEMENT.

"MY POWER SHALL BE ABSOLUTE!!!"

Battle: End of Unity

Acting after Zahlia, Irongutta will take his turn!

Conditionally, if neither P. Solider 3 nor P. Solider 4 are downed by the time Irongutta's turn comes around, he'll shout at Omo to take one of the two out.

Then, Irongutta will move to D13, consume 3 Glockolates and repeatedly smash through the P. Leader 1's divine shield layers to cleave him properly!

<ROUND 309>

Adria invokes the sacred right of child labor! She sends out a message to somewhere beyond space and time- or uh, a message straight to Hannah's cellphone. Or whatever it is she has. Does Hannah have reception all the way down there? Let's hope so.

Over in the depths of the Glyph Chamber, Hannah obliterates a stone barrier with a pickaxe. Spark slain, again! She wastes no time bolting to the end of the room, taking an imaginary spyglass to the ashen swirl at the end of the room. Far as she can figure, Xavier's alive somehow. Not that she can exactly piece together how he managed to get out of here in the presence of all of the versions of Spark down here. But perhaps, she should be thankful. As she slams her pickaxe into the surviving Spark Golem (Spark slain, again!), she receives the above call from Adria. She needs backup, and now.

All the way across Sussui, Hannah's golden eyes emerge from Spark's shadow. The false heir wastes no time, his greatsword slamming into his own shadow. Stone tilework flies in every direction, but the shining glare remains. Not that he could do much to a shadow. The shadow begins to speak, immediately prompting a sigh.

SPARK: Ah, of course.
SPARK: You lot would use shadow magic not to assassinate me or anything like that, but instead to talk more and more.
SPARK: Do all of you truly love your own voice that much?

He doesn't pay it much attention as it begins to move about, focusing on literally everyone else trying to kill him at this moment in time. But of course, he can still listen to its tale. A tale of Hats. A tale of Time. It's probably those two things, anyway. The tale of someone who went into hiding for all of their crimes, for fear of violent death with nil mercy. This, the figure explained to Spark, would be his fate, if he continued along this path.

SPARK: This path won't last much longer.
SPARK: It will end here, one way or another.
SPARK: I do not need to fear the future. It doesn't exist.
SPARK: And if it does... then I shall take control of the Sphere, and end everything myself.
SPARK: What does it matter anymore?

However, the shadow notes a key twist in their tale. They had a chance to redeem themselves. They would reach out, and try their damn hardest to change the fate that loomed around them. Now, what did Spark do? What did he do as the Iti swarmed the walls, when his people cried for help, or when his co-workers began to doubt his way?

SPARK: I did my best.
SPARK: But nobody can perform their tasks properly.
SPARK: Not the armies, not the people, not even the former Highchair.
SPARK: If they did as they were told, we never would've been in this mess.
SPARK: It's not my fault. It's never been my fault.

And what of the Sphere? Did he scrap his plans to use it as a weapon? No, of course not. But Spark refuses to give any sort of answer for this. The shadow grins. It (supposedly) knows these answers to all of these questions and more. Making use of his Fantastic Pattern Recognition Skills™, he takes another swing at the shadow. Once again, the tilework is all that suffers, sending the mason into mourning. Which is, of course, Spark. Not that he'd show it.

SPARK: You can't possibly know anything.
SPARK: You wouldn't know anything.
SPARK: You lack the nerve to even appear here yourself.
SPARK: At least I can take matters into my own hands.
SPARK: I can...

The shadow then recedes into the ground, leaving with a few parting words. His shadows, his crimes- they shall always follow him. With that, Spark's shadow returns to normal. But now, Spark can't help but look behind him every so often. Perhaps the shadow would return. Or someone would try to "get" him. He would never again be so sure.

Elsewhere, over in the wastes of the Sky Labs, Sophia decides to assault a Meteos! Clinging onto a Meteos, she rapidly slashes at it with a drill! This probably still deals a fair chunk of damage, sundering chunks of meteorite from the Iti. The Meteos immediately freaks out, driving itself earthward at a blistering speed! Sophia's immediately flung from the Meteos, taking a small spill on the ground.

While the core of the Meteos has been exposed by the drill, it still appears to be mostly intact. Durable boys. It then immediately rises up once again, flinging itself at Sophia with speed comparable to that of a bullet, except it's an entire goddamn meteorite. Can she defend herself in time? Probably. It's a forum game. But how will she do it?

Meanwhile, over in the depths of the mountain cavern, Shelly deploys the Portable Corvette. By some miracle, it appears to float on Thyme Matter just as well as it would a normal pool of water. As for turning it into a submarine... that'd certainly be possible. Would Boshi be okay with that, though? Probably. He's not here, so maybe Shelly doesn't need his opinion. Perhaps it'd help to have the consultation of the original engineer, though? Who knows if-

CHAOS: like mos[t] boa[t]s, [t]his baby [c]an sink i[t]self on [c]ommand
CHAOS: here's the submarine a[t][t]a[c]hmen[t]
CHAOS: go nu[t]s, kid

Chaos vanishes as quickly as he departed, leaving a suspiciously grenade-shaped object near Shelly. She's fairly certain it's an ordinary fragmentation grenade, but maybe it really is a submarine attachment? Maybe... maybe it'd be best to not find out.

Finally, Adria's expresses her excitement to Mari. What sort of amazing war crime inducing device will she be able to come up with? Mari engages smug mode. Is this her thinking state?

MARI: You would not believe the dumb ideas I have in my head.
MARI: Like, y'know that Mana Flower you have there? It's alright... but, what if I did some biological splicing with this weird-gorilla freak of nature?
MARI: ...This thing.

Mari pulls out a Lily of Infinite Quietus. This definitely qualifies as a weird-gorilla freak of nature. But, an infinite fractal mana flower... that'd be a sight to behold!

MARI: Not that I'm the most experienced with biological stuff, but I'm sure I could make it work out.
MARI: Or, failing that, why not just create a mechanical version of it? THEN we make it infinitely recurse upon itself.
MARI: Or like, y'know my own little weapon? This targeting controller thing that controls a satellite that drops mechanical hands on people?
MARI: That's cool, but why not go further? Why not Titanfall 2 the everliving gorilla out of everything, and rapid-fire entire goddamn robots at people?
MARI: I could totally do it! I'd just need to modify the satellite, create some sort of autonomous AI to control the attack robots, and also give them railguns BECAUSE I CAN.
MARI: It would be beyond gorillaing sick to land multiple robots on Spark's face.

MARI: And why stop there? Let's make use of that infinite space satellite theorem thing, attach some mining and constructor bots, and make INFINITLY REPLICATING ROBOT AIRSTRIKE SATELLITES.
MARI: ...Except that seems like it'd be overkill, and it'd probably develop sentience at that point?
MARI: I am not willing to mess with sentient AI at this moment in time. Not after Ire.
MARI: Gotta... rebuild my confidence first.

She glances in the general direction of the Sphere. Sentient AI is definitely a mistake. What isn't a mistake though, is robot airstrikes.

MARI: So... yeah. What do you think?
MARI: No idea how I'd go to space and modify the satellite, though.
MARI: I can probably find some way to teleport there. Yeah.

Mari into space. This is where this plotline is going now. Yes. Does Adria have any ideas, or, uh... easier ways to do this?

---

Bergilmir continues to taunt Spark! Sure, he just ate a greatsword to the face and is in a moderate amount of pain, but the intimidation factor from this would be beyond huge. And it is. Spark's just a bit shaken.

SPARK: ...What?
SPARK: You're bluffing. There's no way you're not bluffing.
SPARK: Nothing in this world can shrug off a hit of that magnitude.
SPARK: I'll... I'll make you crack. Just you wait.

---

Echoss does a variety of things. To begin, he picks up two samples of stuff:tm: from Lutea. Glacialstem Remedy and Heaven's Remedy obtained! Be careful with those potions- they're pretty experimental!

Elsewhere, Not!Echoss decides to do some sweepin'. Making use of ice skates and vacuums, Not!Echoss eliminates all the Thyme Matter in Fusion Development in record time. The acquired Thyme Matter is added to the infinite amounts already in the inventory, while the device... malfunctions and explodes once tampered with. Annoying. Perhaps it's a way to prevent the device from being used against the creators?

Next, this time with Normal!Echoss, he picks up the old corpse of Acacia. Unceremoniously, he takes it to the woods near the house, digs it a little ditch, and buries the body. Soon enough, the dirt is put back into place, grass on top. A sapling has been placed above the body, no plaque or any sort of marker to indicate what's buried here. One day, some conspiracy theorist will come across Acacia's body, and have one hell of a field day with this. But that day is not today.

Then, taking a detour, Echoss extracts Kanzan and Xerophyte from the battle, and places them each into prison. This also provides two more copies of OMEGA-type Praetorian armor, as well as the Swift Quill! Mage armor. So nice.

Next, Echoss does... a lot of crafting. Or is it Not!Echoss? Who knows? Either way, 5 Managlaze Yggapplies are made with 5 Yggapples, 5 Frostleaves, 15 Manablooms, 30 Manabloom Seeds, 5 Blue Sap Blobs, 5 Prisoner's Honey, an Aurora Crystal, and a sink full of Powerade. Then, 4 Reverie Crystals are made with 8 Reverie Fragments, an Effect Egg, a Siren Music Box, 12 Goneblossoms, 8 Soulblossoms, 16 Manabloom Seeds, 8 Electrum Ingots, a Yaga Razortooth, and a Greatwood Log.

Ah, Not!Echoss then decides to do something rather horrible to the universe. He takes the Bunker from the inventory, and tapes... a lot to it. This results in what can only be called "excessive force" being placed into the inventory. Just... be careful with this, okay? It'll explode, and it'll explode HUGE. It's also "excessively lethal". Throwing this at a non-boss will absolutely kill them. As I just said: BE CAREFUL.

Finally, Echoss performs the sacred battletech: SIGH. He sighs in the general direction of Spark, generally unimpressed by his combat capabilities. Despite everything, he's failed to threaten anyone but his own people. Spark says nothing directly to him, instead looking up towards the Sphere.

SPARK: Even if victory does not come immediately, the Sphere works in recordable ways.
SPARK: As my situation grows increasingly dire, more shall my power grow.
SPARK: The Sphere shall provide my victory. Over the Tabletopians, over you, over... everything.
SPARK: Just keep pressing on me. See how your odds of survival grow ever thinner.

phase 3.2 here we gooooo

---

The Reflector checks up on Maxim. What have they been doing ever since the Dream of Unity took off? From within their wooden shell, Maxim chitters wildly. Far as the Reflector can tell from the Thought-to-Text tablet, it's been a hectic past few minutes for them. Everything started rumbling, and the lower areas looked as if they would collapse. Maxim points to the circular walls of the central Central labs, revealing deep claw marks in them. Must've climbed up here in a panic. And now there's holographic bridges.

They then point towards the little coffee shop to the east. Apparently, he was denied service for "being a horrifying wooden puppet with an iti in it", and as much as he wanted to pop off the barista's head and eat them, that's not a very diplomatic way to do things. So now they're hungry, and there aren't any corpses around to feast on because they were all blown to bits. How sad it is to be a Maxim right now.

Ah, also. The Scion is more than enthused with the idea of playing that weird game where they pretend to be people they aren't. Has Asha ever heard of the game, though? A few posts down, Asha bobs her head. She's heard of things like that, but never played them. Marron claps once.

MARRON: Alright, that settles it!
MARRON: We're gonna play this game, whatever it's called, and have a great time doing it!
MARRON: But... we're gonna need someone to host the game for us.
MARRON: It's a weird game, because one person doesn't really play and instead strings together an adventure for everyone to go through?
MARRON: Do you guys know anyone who could do that...?

MARRON: Chloe seems like a big enough nerd to have knowledge about this sort of thing. Same with Mari, too.
MARRON: Chaos almost definitely knows what he's doing, but I can't guarantee that the game will even be good... or survivable.
MARRON: Alternatively, we can wing it, and I'll be the host-person! The "Mindscape Master"!
MARRON: I'll write a great adventure about how you guys are hunting a dragon who has shotguns for arms! It'll be super cool!
MARRON: ...Or maybe Omo knows something? She's really booky. Maybe she'd be able to make a cool adventure for us.
MARRON: She's lived in a library, so she's gotta know how to do something cool like this, right?

This is the decision that'll make or break the journey. The mild and kind, but perhaps a bit boring Chloe. The min-maxed, competitive Mari. The wildcard on fire that is Chaos. The optimistic but woefully underprepared Marron. Or perhaps, the other flavor of non-burning wildcard, Omorika. Choose wisely!

MARRON: Maybe we should invite more people too?
MARRON: I'm not sure if Ette would enjoy this kind of game, but it wouldn't hurt to ask.
MARRON: You two, any ideas on who to invite?

Another important decision. While I have insider knowledge as to who the Scion might choose... perhaps there'll be more developments? I have no idea.

The game also remembers to address Star, noting that their voice is being tinged by purple. Is something getting into his head? Spark shakes violently. Like, really quite violently. Chloe's certain that his neck twisted more than 180 degrees right there.

SPARK: I am in control. I am perfectly fine.
SPARK: This power, though lent to me from the Sphere, is entirely under my control.
SPARK: My mind is clear. My will is solemn. My fate is decided.

yeah sure purple text never means anything bad

---

EN attempts to dismantle some Thyme Matter. Equipping the Secretary Slicer, this removes a 5x5x5m cube of Thyme Matter. This immediately refills itself given just the incredible, raw amounts of Thyme Matter down there. This could eventually work, if one's willing to swing the Secretary Slicer enough times. Maybe if you had more Secretary Slicers, it'd be an efficient course of action. And more people. Gotta get that labor.

Additionally, all the way back at Tabletopia, Engie informs the Tabletopian Soldier that he's conversing with that being within the continent is probably well within the danger zone. There's a Descendant in that ball, y'know? He might go and egg a planet or two.

TABLETOPIAN: Yes. We're aware that there's a Descendant in there.
TABLETOPIAN: We have a very extensive sp- erm, we are very knowledgeable on what's going on over there, thank you very much.
TABLETOPIAN: And just in case that Sphere decides to be a problem, we have contacts we can work with.
TABLETOPIAN: Old friends of IKEA's, I believe. They should be able to resolve the situation, should it degrade.
TABLETOPIAN: Friends that the GM has no plans to include in this game, mind you.

TABLETOPIAN: And of course, we've been doing practice drills at the cities we've evacuated to. We're not amateurs like those Chairians.
TABLETOPIAN: The situation could change at any time, but be assured that we are more than prepared to deal with whatever might happen.
TABLETOPIAN: Thank you.

...Engie then mentions that he miiiight be able to get some funny footage of Spark having a mental breakdown.

TABLETOPIAN: ...You do?
TABLETOPIAN: That'd be very, very valuable military intel, as well as a good laugh.
TABLETOPIAN: I'm sure the military would offer at least 50,000 Credits for that sort of information.
TABLETOPIAN: Are you interested?

...There's a fair chance the party won't get nearly as many credits as that, if only due to exchange rates or game balance or whatever. But that'd certainly be nice to have, wouldn't it?

---

Auth continues to (successfully) intimidate Spark. The denial of an ending is what he fears. Perhaps he should've thought about that before he began whatever it is he's doing right now. If fear is the weapon that'll work against him, he'll continue to use it. Spark's fear continues to build, but not to the extent that he grows a status effect.

SPARK: W-What is it that you plan to do?
SPARK: IKEA's punishment is... incredibly light, so I see no r-reason as to why you would use it on me, yes?
SPARK: But whatever it is, i-it shall not happen. I shall not allow it.
SPARK: We all die here together. That is the plan. We shall not deviate.
IKEA: PUT-HIM-IN-THE-HEAD-CAGE
SPARK: NO-

Spark conjures a short javelin, which he promptly chucks at IKEA's head containment unit. Chloe's more than responsible enough to avoid the shot, though. This canister is awfully heavy, though- must she keep lugging it around?

Over with Omorika, Auth remarks that London truly is the most refined state of anarchy. In the streets of the Fifth City, this chaos is an art upon itself. And yet, the Author cannot bring himself to hate it. Internally, Omorika thinks that the Author may be suffering from something called "stockholm syndrome". She doesn't dare say that, though.

OMORIKA: ...How has London not fallen apart?
OMORIKA: How is a region like that even capable of holding an election?
OMORIKA: Terrifying. Absolutely terrifying.

She shudders ever so slightly. Auth then decides to head off to go and find Taeda, as per Omorika's request. She's not too far off, resting in the small chapel that holds the Godblossom planter, among other things. She lies flat on the ground, legs kicking as she happily watches the Godblossom do its thing. Grow. She doesn't take her eyes off for more than a few moments as she watches Auth enter the chapel.

TAEDA: Oh! Hello, Author!
TAEDA: I'm just taking a bit to rest. This flower, it's beyond pretty...
TAEDA: Truly, it is a gift from Helix themselves!

It's time to pop the question, then. But how to go about it? Can Auth pull off a "casual" sort of thing, or would it be better to be blunt? Who knows.

---

Venia decides to mention that reality is screwed™. This only serves to confuse Spark a fair deal. Probably because of the mentions of millions or billions of attempts or possibilities. Are these people save-scumming his battle? Is that why he's losing? That's probably what'd he think if "save scumming" was a concept he knew about.

SPARK: If the Sphere... "breaks", as you say... why do you even bother?
SPARK: It would be better to enjoy what time you have left, then.
SPARK: Why do you fight against this inevitable end?
SPARK: Your struggle then, is truly pointless. Your crimes would then be all for naught.
SPARK: You would have ruined everything for absolutely no reason at all.
SPARK: Incredible.

It is unclear what version of the source material Venia has viewed before coming to this planet. Unless Tazz knows that the endgame is that the Sphere explodes, and everyone dies no matter what. muhahahahahaha

---

Elsewhere, over within the washrooms of the Southern Sky Labs, Chi undresses. She can't arrive at the Rebel base looking like a somewhat ordinary researcher, can she? From a backpack she brought with her comes her new outfit- the visage of Pomme. While the garment is mostly forms of leather dyed a sharp black, there are Yggcrawler shells forming a protective cuirass around her. And most importantly, is her helmet. It's a curious piece, fully covering her head whilst filtering out toxins from the air. Two green orbs protrude from the helmet on each side, sort of looking like ears or eyes of a sort. Really, she looks a bit like a frog. Don't tell her that, though. She designed this outfit herself. She thinks it's cool.

Her old researcher-type outfit safety stowed away, Chi equips a prototype stealth-field generator that some of the more advanced Rebels make use of. While there's barely anyone on the way to notice her anyway, perhaps old habits die hard. She slowly sneaks across the labs, soon reaching off the sealed Medical Testing Chamber. One keycard swipe later, and she's in. The sleeping Oracle in the room fails to even stir as she enters, boots clicking against the tiled floor. The gentle hum of the sentry guns goes unchanged as she makes her way to the portal unit. Nervously, she fiddles with the teleportation terminal.

In a flash, she's warped several kilometers across Sussui. As she comes to a stop somewhere not that far underground, she suppresses the urge to vomit successfully. These warp devices- how do Cypress and the other Tabletopians stomach this so easily? A few seconds is all it takes for her to gather her bearings, though. Strolling down the halls of the Rebel base, it's clear to see that things are grim. Few soldiers stroll throughout the base, and those that she does see stare down at the ground as they walk. Would it even be possible for her to turn things around with her message?

Once she arrives at her office, she delivers an administrative message. While the communications have been on the fritz ever since some unknown assailants blew up part of Outpost Unity, they should still be stable enough to get this message out. All troops stationed at this outpost are to arrive at the meeting hall within the next ten minutes. All troops stationed at other outposts are to await a recording of the upcoming annoucement.

Once the troops are gathered, she'll deliver her speech...

---

<THE END OF UNITY, ROUND 12>
Spark's taken out both Calibri and Daskter. Get them back up, or you may find he'll keep whittling down your numbers. Also be sure to take out the Praetorians that have arrived- you're almost through them all, so Spark should in theory, be more vulnerable to damage soon! In addition, Xavier has returned to the Battlefield, and Pionobot is due to return soon as well! Heal up the former, and prepare to fight the latter!

BATTLES - END OF UNITY

Star waits until Yato and Irongutta have moved.

IF OTOGI IS ALREADY DOWN:
Star bonus action switches Sol Aeterna to Star form, then flies to J22. They cast Soaring Rush, flying to G22. They then hit Xavier with a Soaring Rushed, Stellar Wind-empowered healing basic attack, then throw an Infinisyringe at him.

IF OTOGI IS NOT DOWN:
Star flies to O15, attacks Otogi (with 1.25x Stellar Wind), and then retreats to R18 and throws an Infinisyringe at Cypress (with 1.4x Stellar Wind).

---

PATHFINDER

"The Scion" blinks, remembering something.

"THE SCION": Oh! We should invite Dawn!
"THE SCION": I don't know where they went, but I could go find them...
"THE SCION": As for hosting, um... I don't really know Chloe very well, but Miss Omo is really nice!
"THE SCION": So is Chaos, but I think he might turn the game into Snakes and Ladders?
"THE SCION": I've only talked to Mari once, but I think she might be a bit too intense...

---

ZONE 5.5

The Reflector frowns and heads over to the coffee shop.

THE REFLECTOR: hello barista! i would like to purchase, purchase a bag of gaiaroot chips or crisps perhaps. or fries? it is of little importance.

If the purchase is successful, they fork over the requisite credits, then toss the bag across the floor to Maxim. They then lean in towards the barista with a serious expression.

THE REFLECTOR: oh and by the by, a friendly warning a warning just for your own future.
THE REFLECTOR: the iti are not going anywhere or at least i believe they will not be when the sphere falls.
THE REFLECTOR: they will no longer pose an existential threat a dire threat to your people certainly! but they will remain and in great numbers, some of which intelligent even.
THE REFLECTOR: and i do not think your people are prepared for another war so soon.
THE REFLECTOR: ...do you see, see the point?
THE REFLECTOR: this is their home, too.
THE REFLECTOR: locaa will have to live to learn alongside its monsters.
THE REFLECTOR: or else be destroyed by them.

The Reflector smiles and steps away, returning to Maxim.

THE REFLECTOR: have a wonderful positively radiant day!

The Falling Dream
Out of Mana to gain more Mana. This is a shame.

Daskter gets up after being revived by Author. They walk to (K16). Daskter casts Obsoletion on Spark.

The Hunter hunts. They move to (I16) to fire off another First Strike against Spark.

The Pikemen steps to (G14) to Pike Spark.

Destiny waits for Maple to hit Archer 2 and Archer 1 befor she unleashes a Gravity Crush, attacking Archer 2, Leader 1, and Magus 1. Then, moving to E15, she unleashes a Heat Death centered on Leader 1. She throws a Fragapple centered on Leader 1 afterwards to ensure corpse destruction. Retreat to D17.

MAPLE: Before Destiny, nab Shinai's corpse and throw it straight into the inventory, move to E13, attack Archer 1 and Archer 2, retreat to C16.
TAEDA: Dip to H21 via Thyme Vortex, Perfected Prayer Xavier.
XAVIER: After Taeda, Move to K17, summon Godhand at L17.

End of Unity

Adria shudders as she witnesses the Dream of Unity get ripped apart so effortlessly.

ADRIA: ...W-well! That covers that!
ADRIA: whew...
ADRIA: Now we just need to take care of Pionobot...

She glances at Spark. Then at Auth. Then back at Spark. A single 'hmph'.

ADRIA: Correct. Normally, we wouldn't fight continuously for this long.
ADRIA: ...But does that mean we can't?
ADRIA: Perhaps you shouldn't say that while our medic's still alive.

Foreshadowing, oOoOoOh

...She also considers responding to Auth's suggestion; she could think of many ways to make one eternally suffer without killing them; but with that Praetorian looking a little shaky, she decides against it.

ACTUAL ACTION

ADRIA: ...Surrounded.
ADRIA: Like that'll hold me.

Adria uses a Warpjack to teleport to (N10). She immediately uses the Thyme Vortex at (O10) to warp to (E15).

ADRIA: You there! Nidra, was it?
ADRIA: Rip Spark's newly gained power out of him and toss it over here!
ADRIA: ...Oh, and, move out of the way if you can.

Adria waits for Nidra to do her thing and Wattle to do his.

...

ADRIA: Thank you, dear.
ADRIA: Now then. On to business.

Adria Chronoshades to (L11), appearing during what appears to be mid-sideflip, railgun pointed straight at Spark.

ADRIA: Special delivery.

Adria Basic Attacks Spark.
-Basic Attack: 38 +80% (+20% from Chronoshade, +20% from Fervent Emotion, +40% from Empowered) = 69 (nice) (Has 21 CRT)
-Overpowering Smash: 22 +130% (11 Buff Levels +20% from Chronoshade) + 40% (Basic Attack w/o Chronoshade: 38 +60% = 61 compared to Spark's Counter: 29 * 2 = 58. Overpowering Smash bonus triggers) = 71 (Has 31 CRT).

She then braces herself to take a beating.

---

The Wastes + Staircase

...It's gonna be a while before Hannah resurfaces. Climbing up stairs is much harder than dashing down them at record speed. Dorothy diligently waits for her friend to come back up.

Sophia, meanwhile, has landed in a bit of trouble. As she's flung off, she swishes her weapon to point at the nearby meteorite, then fires a grappling hook towards it. It latches on, and she pulls herself out of the way as Not!Echoss assails the meteos.

Using her momentum, she leaps off of the meteorite, not even touching it long enough to hurt, and swings the grappling hook toward the edge of the crater. Once it latches on, Sophia pulls herself towards the edge, grabbing it once she's close enough and hopping out of the crater.

After that, she guns for yet another Meteos. The one at (AH155) specifically. She leaps over the crater and grapples to the rough surface of the Meteos, drill at the ready and spinning at full as she closes the distance at high speed. Seems like she's actually using the drill as intended this time.

She rams the drill straight into the Meteos, hoping to get at the core immediately.

---

The Hunt

That's promising. The boat floats and doesn't seem to be corroding. All that's left is to-

-Chaos appears with what appears to be a frag grenade. Shelly blankly stares at it.

SHELLY: ...I shouldn't be surprised by this, but here I am.
SHELLY: ...Knowing Chaos, this... grenade(?) could save a lot of time.
SHELLY: Wonder if torpedoes are included...

Shelly hops onto the boat, looking for a conveniently placed spot to attach the object. She scours the boat top to bottom in case it just so happens to be at an out-of-reach area. Once she finds it, she attaches it.

If there's nothing, she hops off the boat, pulls whatever pin-shaped thing is on the attachment, and chucks it onto the boat.

---

The Fusion

ADRIA: ...Hm. Alright, let me put it another way.
ADRIA: It's either that, ignoring them, or removing them. All of which may cause additional issues.

ADRIA: The first one, you just said it yourself - you don't get along well.
ADRIA: The second one... well, your creator was correct on that at least. As they're effectively weaknesses for an eldritch abomination like the Butterfly to exploit, perhaps to turn against you. The same goes for the first, assuming nothing drastic happens.
ADRIA: The third one... you're effectively cutting apart your mind and soul to get rid of them. That is exceedingly risky and dangerous.

Adria hmms to herself. She tilts her head.

ADRIA: Though I do wonder...
ADRIA: Am I overthinking things?
ADRIA: Maybe just patching the holes is enough?

---

Mari

Adria nods at Not!Echoss's comment on the flower.

ADRIA: Alright, we'll wait. Not like we can upgrade our stuff yet anyway.
ADRIA: Still, I'd love to see it once we're able!

Then Mari goes on to describe her plans to go up and upgrade her satellite to fire robots from orbit instead of or in addition to Goddess Hands. Adria's the one salivating this time.

ADRIA: yes
ADRIA: god yes
ADRIA: do it

Adria then perks up. She finally has that brochure.

ADRIA: Ah, there it is!

She sends an electronic copy to Mari as well as handing her a hardlight physical copy.

ADRIA: Here's the brochure! Have a look down through it. If you have any questions, just ask~



As the brochure comes to a close, Adria chips in with a little extra information.

ADRIA: Oh, yeah, one thing they don't mention is the immigration application process for outsiders. It's long and complicated. The security's very strict about who they let move in.
ADRIA: Don't worry about it though, I'll be happy to help you get through that mess.

Adria patiently waits for Mari to look through it.

End of Unity
Move to D19
Channel Magic from Spark to Adria
Retreat to C19
Power Nap self.

cA: You are ruled by fear, Spark. No matter how strong you become, that fear will always rule you. It causes you to hesitate, to reconsider.

Berg moves to P11. Yes, on top of the Thymetinged Catalyst.

cA: I- WE do not hesitate. We will fight to the death - BEYOND death, if we must. Pain, suffering, torture, we are willing to shoulder all of this to save this world you've given up for dead, while you cower from their mention. You claim you are willing to face death. And yet you clothe yourself in such strength to face us.

cA: Those ruled by fear will never rule themselves. And your actions speak louder than your words.

The Sleuth is paid credits to scan Spark because we are a bit busy trying not to die so that we can keep taunting him to spare a turn for scanning.


Not!Echoss interrupts Mari and Adria geeking out.
Not!Echoss's head pokes out of the floor not far from Adria and Mari.
"Hey yo those flowers are copyright. 10/10 do not recommend using while I've still got lawyers pointed at them 24/7.
These babies gotta reach Tier 8 before I'm letting party members put their grubby mitts all over the rest of them. They're collectors items.
The collection is of bad ideas btw.
Anyway yeah reign in that holdie horses of yours for like, an hour. Once I finish pumping these babies with crimes against reality you can have the finished version I'll be bored at that point."
Not!Echoss vanishes back into the floor. Don't touch the flowers yet pls.


Not!Echoss got distracted from saving the kids
Not!Echoss, having successfully cleaned out the fusion chamber, does a sick triple backflip off the edge of the overlook and goomba stomps down on top of the meteos that's floating over the water, sending it crashing down into the pool. Not!Echoss then casts the mighty FREEZE RAY turning it into a frozen Meteoball, and also making it shatter into pieces from thermal shock.


House Cleanup:
Echoss takes some time to fix up the spiral staircase, pulling out a bunch of cobblestone, refined wood, and iron bars to fix up to the pieces back to how they were prior to being smashed.


Praetorian Gulag
Echoss continues to Gulag any praetorians that are put into the inventory.


INFINITE CRAFT WORKS:
1: Swift consumables: (x7 Hotpoints, x2 Cinderfruit, x8 Pocket Warmers, x20 Spider Meat, x10 Wheat, x2 Bucket of Salt Water, x1 Ember Core, x3 gaiaroot potatoes, x1 Large Pumpkin, x1 Ashen Crystal, x2 Frigid Crystals)
(Not!Echoss continues cooking up a storm. The kind of storm that wipes out three cities with a five digit casualty number. Today, Smash Bros brand Superspicy Curry. First off he takes the Buckets of Salt Water and does the thing where he evaporates then recondenses the salt water so now he has water and salt, separately. He then takes the Hotpoints and Cinderfruit, plus the gaiaroot potatoes as thickener because the other bases are hard, and stirs them up in the first water bucket which he straps all 4 pocket warmers to the bottom of to begin heating it up very quickly. From this he pulls a super spicy curry sauce, fiery hot even. The other bucket of water is used with the wheet to be ground up, doughed, and baked into noodles with the other 4 pocket warmers. Upon a plate he puts the wheat noodles, the spider meat, bits of prepared pumpkin flesh to basically be eaten like you do with other less spooky kinds of squash, and then over the top of it he pours the curry sauce. then comes the even more ill advised part. Grinding up the ashen crystal with bits of the ember core, he makes fire crystals. When ingested these will cause a fire reaction and make the person start breathing fire. These are mixed with the ground up frigid crystals, arranged using freaky food coporation salt crystal technology so that the process of making people breath fire does not actually incinerate their internal organs. He sprinkles these on the plates of the curry.)
X? Superspicy Curry: (Grants a bit of Mending, and also SPICY. SPICY is a buff that grants Swift2 and a small bonus action Fire attack in a Range1 cone, but also Blind2 and Aching6. Removing the blind/aching also removes the swift and bonus action)

2: Immediate Movement Consumables (x10 Throwlem Crystals, x10 Yaga Scales, x20 Blossompetals, Bileprincess Sacks x5, xfree Silkweed, x2 Fell Blades, x2 Squall Clusters, x10 Eversteel)
(Not!Echoss makes something not food oriented next. First, he merges together groups of throwlem crystals and yaga scales to make Spectral Yeet Crystals. These are further augmented with blossompetals and squall cluster shards, making them one use but much stronger for that one use. Next up he uses the bileprincess sacks, silkweed bundles, and shards of the fell blades to make the "ammo holders", where the target climbs in and is bagged and then the sack is forcefully launched to the location at which point the fell blade pieces are used to cut their way out. Finally, through the power of "I said so and I am very convincing" the Eversteel shapes itself into special casings for these, because it's funny.)
X5 Pocket Throwlems: (Use on self or a target in Range1. Choose "safe" or "violent". In safe mode, select a Range4 laser with Wallhack from the target's position, dealing (7-7) Crushing damage to all foes in the laser and then placing the target either on the final tile of the Laser or the tile after it. In violent mode, select a Range8 laser with Wallhack from the target's position, dealing (7-7) Crushing damage to the target, all foes and destructible tiles in the laser and (6-6) Crushing damage to the target for every foe and destructible/impathable tile in the laser then deposit them in the last tile of the laser. If that tile is occupied or impathable deal another (7-7) Crushing damage to them and set them down in Range1 of it.)

Panacea alternative (x2 Alchemy Toolkits, x1 Royal Magus Spelltome, x2 Sulfuric Acid Vials, x2 Elemental Prisma, x3 Shimmering Clusters, x1 Widow's Venom, xfree Lifeblood Sap, x2 Yellow Sap Blobs, x5 Yggherbs)
(If I have time I will expand this to include an extended path of bad ideas alchemical edition but basically Not!Echoss does things to combine magic mojo and various cure-brewing and poison-neutralizing techniques to turn the two alchemy toolkits into ready-brewed potions of "I am no longer dying")
x? Alchemical Remedies. Basically Panaceas but they remove by intensity instead of by duration, so really strong DoTs/debuffs will stay for their full duration at lower power but weaker ones will be removed even if they would normally last forever.


Battle:
Echoss stare impassively as Spark 'retorts' and then as the Dream of Unity is blown out of the air by Spark's own attempt at summoning an extra boss.
"Ah yes, because this plan has been working out so well for you this far."
Echoss turns to Beech, and tilts his head.
"You seem to actually have your head on your shoulders still, in spite of all Spark has done to cull that from his elites.
Madam, I think you know what's going on here."
Echoss points to the crumbling remains of the Dream of Unity as Pionobot shoots closer.
"And I think that if you watched the broadcast, you know who took the twisted mockery of the Dream of Unity from freefall into a crash course for the citadel.
It certainly wasn't us.
Spark has, in the petty, spiteful, deluded throes of denial declared that him being exposed for the traitor he is constitutes the death of the Chairian race.
And to ensure that his failures and betrayals are not recorded, he is attempting to kill his own people, your people, so that even when we end the threat that WARE poses to Sussui and the people beyond it nothing will remain of LOCAA.
While your compatriots have sunk too deep into Spark's lies to acknowledge the magnitude of his sins, I believe you can still see them.
You are a praetorian, yes? A guardian. Will you protect a man who is determined to burn the world down for a hollow attempt at vengeance, or will you protect your home and the people you care about?"

Whichever way Beech chooses, it is not Echoss's decision.
BATTLE ACTION
First, Omo moves to H20, casts Null Somnum on the Echobot, uses a Cryptic Scheme on it, and then retreats into the thyme vortex, reappearing at (I3).

The Echobot takes its first turn.
It moves down to (I20) and stares Spark down. Echoss looks over at Xavier and nods.
"Well done, Master Elem. Glad to see you made it."
The Echobot does several things all at once. Alter Reality procs, switching its Empowered back to Enlightened. The Echobot uses a Spiteful Serum which immediately dispells the Stun. The Echobot grants itself Ordo with its action, and uses its second item action to down a Candy Cane Liquor. (10% conserve change, 20% dupe chance goes into battle inventory. Grants 13 HP, 13 MP, and Enlightened23. Upon round end inflicts Blind7, Weakened5, Uninspired5).

One second. Two seconds. Click. Enlightened23
The Echobot takes its second turn.
The Echobot Glows with power as Echoss stares down Spark.
"If it weren't for the fact that I've dealt with many, many men just as small and petty as you in my days, I would almost be impressed at how obsessively blind you are.
You need to grovel before a mad god to wield any meaningful power, so see what I can unleash with nothing but a little foresight and allies I can rely on by not actively hampering their attempts to do their job."
Echoss starts by blasting Spark with a PURGE, inflicting Purging on the poor sucker and causing everything from here on out to benefit from Echoss's purger perk. Small beans again ENLIGHTENED23, but hey, if it's worth killing it's worth overkilling.
AVARICE UNLEASH: ITEMSTORM
First item is auto-conserved (20% dupe chance: go into battle inventory): a bottle of Mimic Blood. Echoss gains 20 MP and Lucky40 for five rounds.
And then, six flaming golden gauntlets burst out of Echoss's back, each one wielding a Oneshot Railcannon.
"Pick a fossil and pray, Spark. Neither of them will answer you anyway."
Echobot then proceeds to unload all 6 Oneshot Railcannons right into Spark's chest.
They all benefit from the following: Enlightened23+Know How To Use It, Purger, Lucky40, Cryptic Scheme.
They do not benefit from Deep Pockets, and cannot be duped or conserved.

The Echobot retreats into the thyme vortex, and comes out at K4, shunt me later into the round if they haven't gone down yet, and if they don't go down at all put me at K3 instead.


To-do List:
Also hand the Subspace Grocery Box to Cypress when he heads back to the house
Requested crafts: Immunized consumable

Battle - End of Unity

Calfusion freezes up after being hit with that last attack. Nothing particularly obvious seems to be happening. In fact... They're not moving at all.

"...Uh..."

There's a pause. Then the entire entity turns monochrome and collapses.

---



---

Then, after Auth's intervention...

The Calfusion's body suddenly flickers back to life again, those brilliant energies ejecting a bright and powerful corona of triple-colour around their form. They stand again, lance at the ready, grinning as their eyes flick through different shades of red, blue, and yellow so fast it'd probably induce a seizure in their opponent were they in a staring contest. Thankfully, they're not doing that.

They're just inducing seizures with every other extremely overdecorated facet of their form. Especially in those several pairs of wings.

"HAH! DOWN AND UP AGAIN! YOU CANNOT KILL US IN A WAY THAT MATTERS, SPARK!"

Calfusion jets down to H14 and slams Spark in the face with a violent Shield Slam. The total buffs (20% from Bushi Road, 30% from 3 buff levels, 40% from Auth's rez, 50% from Shield Toss) make this equal (22-23) + 140% = (53-56) Crushing damage, which Spark doesn't resist. (It also has 19% crit chance due to Cal's actual sheet critrate + 10 CRT from Auth apparently???)

"...That's not the last of it, I have another move saved up, but it'll have to wait a bit."

Calfusion looks up, recognizing that a certain somebody wants to say hello. They then turn back to Spark with a smirk.

"Have fun dealing with the incoming Pionobot wielding a gargantuan facsimile of your own face!"

Calfusion eats a Statipear, which is probably not the intended use of those, but does result in the entity promptly being covered in stasis. Which means it's impossible to actually target him. What fun.

---

The Old Pass...?

EN observes Shelly's choice of action.

"Are ya absolutely sure that ain't jus' gon' blow a big ol' hole in th' boat? Ah mean, Chaos is nominally workin' on th' same side as us, sorta, but ah wouldn't put it past 'im t' do tha'."

She turns her attention back down to the thyme matter and ponders. The slicer active did work, but doing that all the way down would take so long... Maybe the submersible craft would be the better way to go. Maybe.

Or she can pop on some SHP-granting gear and stand in a shallow part of the thyme matter just to test how much of an effect it might have on her. This totally won't backfire in any way no siree.

---

The Everground

I'll just leave this here for later.

---

Receptionist's Hall

"...I don't know. I really just don't know."

Calibri sighs. There's a pause, then he winces, his colour scheme graying out for a few seconds before gradually returning to normal. From the expression on his face, whatever just happened is a source of frustration for him.

"So. It's not as invincible as I thought after all... Mh, not to worry. Patching the holes could work. Ain't saying it guaranteed will, but it could. Or..."

Calibri takes a moment to inspect his code.

"Given the possibility is already there... Some more advanced version of Prototype Primus might be the simplest answer. Op dropped the design since he wasn't sure if Lato would manifest as an entity comparable to me and my other sibling, but going by what she told me, I think she does want to do that."

---

Star Aeterna to the battlefield

"..."

This is perhaps redundant by now.

---

Tabletopia.

"Alright, gimme a bit."

The Engie drone leaps into the sky with a single bound, which is probably going to attract some anti-aircraft attention, but he's just too fast to do anything about. He'll probably be back later. As for right now...

The House

Engie then lands here in the family guy death pose, getting up and pulling out a phone to dial a few numbers. It's... not entirely clear who he's dialing, maybe he's letting a nonspecific deity take the wheel in terms of who he'll actually contact? Or maybe he's just trying to nab the Spherebreaker group chat somehow. Either way, phonecall sent to whoever's valid for receiving it.

"Hi does anyone on this phone frequency have legit footage of Spark having a mental breakdown I need it for reasons ranging from entertainment to capitalism"

A voice echoes from Bauhaus's processor, directly at Otogi. "Auth is already dating Nana..." the voice says, then fades away.

Bauhaus shakes his head. "What was that? No matter, got to focus."
-- BATTLE --
[Reisz] Reisz moves to I13, casts Jaunt() downwards, then from I17, she basic attacks Spark and retreats to H17.

[Bauhaus] Bauhaus moves to H12, casts Abduction on PMagus1, putting it on H13, uses Surprise to basic attack it, then retreats to H11. Can he bag Trombe? He bags Trombe.

A turn passes. +2 Planning.
PLANNING: 4 / 10

Asha considers "The Scion"'s suggestion of inviting Dawn.

"As long as Dawn behaves themself, inviting them should be fine. I wonder if there's a way to turn down their glare a bit though... I'd prefer not to have to wear sunglasses indoors. As for other players... who's around? If we grab Ette, maybe this could be a nice 4-player game- or uh, 5 including the one running it."

Then, she considers the options for Dungeon Master. Or Game Master. Or Mindscape Master. Whatever the GM-equivalent is in this context.

"Well, I think we can rely on Chloe to run a game that would be suitable for beginners like us. From what I know about Omo... I feel like she'd run something lore heavy; exposition seems like her kind of thing. But at the same time, I'd kinda like that. Either of them would be a good choice if you ask me?"

["Wait for my turn..? No why would I do that, when your body is so perfectly suited to being a pincushion."]
Yato taunted the chairian leader with a smirk that somehow penetrated the obscuring shadows covering their face.

BEFORE IRONGUTTA
Gibbet flutters past Spark, up to K12. A Super Big Cutty on Otogi, followed by an arrow to Otogi on the part of Yato.