Asha switches to Blunt Stance (:ashadurg:). She uses the Ice Hat, slowing both Destroyers and applying Exhausted to 6 with her stance. She then uses Infinite Infection on herself (to no effect), and drinks a Snow-Covered Kiss to move to T9, again with Blunt Stance. She moves to T7, uses Riposte, and basic attacks Destroyer6, collapsing it (once more with Blunt Stance).

BATTLES - MOMENTS FROM DESPAIR

Star moves to I13 and Phase Shifts with the Ignihorn, then waits for the Remiels to “befriend” the Ignihorns. They then move to K11, basic attack Salt, and retreat to N11. Finally, if Salt countered them, they self-apply an Infinsyringe; otherwise, they eat an Infinipizza.

---

AIRSHIP

The Reflector boards the off-screen airship with Shadow Hannah. :reflectorbomb:

House

Blacklight chuckles. While one would probably expect it to sound more menacing, it seems having time with his own properly independent existence has mitigated that kind of effect somewhat.

"Feel free. Stew was made to be eaten... I'll pester the others if I see any of them."

Then, well... He should probably find some other things around the house to tend to. Would be a bit weird to spend the entire time talking to Beech, as much as she makes fairly good company. So, Blacklight analyzes the situation, looking for things that might need his attention.

---

"..."

I'll do something with this later I swear

---

The Temple At The Beginning Of Time

"...Huh. That's... Not quite what I was expecting."

Calibri turns around, just making sure there's no surprise sneaky traps behind him, then refocuses on the trio of Herrschers. Seriously, how is he supposed to kill one of them and at the very least incapacitate the other two with a literal hotdog? Especially when Chaos's contribution amounts to "good luck m8".

...Wait. He's not in the Thymefield.

"Heh. This is getting interesting."

Calibri focuses, then powers up, the sheer raw output of energy from his core amplifying rapidly now that it has a chance to be properly unleashed. Nothing too fancy, just the kind of raw energy one would use to break planets apart, force the sun to implode, throw solar systems out of whack... That kind of thing.

Time he's spending on powering up is time he's not spending on an actual plan of attack, though.

---

Zone 6 - The Eclipsed Citadel

"..."

Lato decides this is not her area of expertise and summarily whips out a phone, calling up Marron. How did she get the phone number? No idea.

"Excuse me, if I could borrow your attention and aid momentarily. I am told by... reliable information sources that you have practice with a ritual that brings deceased Chairians back to life. Would you come to my location in the citadel and assist me with the matter of... well, a deceased Chairian? It would be appreciated."

---

Drop has been kicked

"..."

He seems to be not in the area anymore. Curious. But those who are attuned to it might notice the odd sensation of chronological particles of some kind... Something must have happened.

The Past - Zone 2 - Whispering Library

...Yep, that's where he went. Upon arriving in the past, Calibri decides to tuck away somewhere out of sight, hope he doesn't get noticed so he doesn't have to worry about any paradoxes, and figure out the situation. If he's timed this correctly, he should have a few minutes to think of a plan, get to the area of interest, observe what happens... And if he hasn't timed this correctly, well, this is going to be kind of bad.

---

Battle in the Sphere - Moments From Despair

Verdana makes an annoyed expression as the Salt Transcendent steals one of his spells, then... shrugs.

"I mean, you picked one of the less useful parts of my kit to rip off, but fine, if that's how you want to play it, I'll make sure to school you on proper technique."

Verdana summons a large glowing hammer of psychic energies into his hands, holding it with both hands. The Cherubian Helper hovers above his head, [Amplify]ing the spell. Then, he shifts to having it over his shoulder, moving to G12...

"Firm stance, proper grip, wind up..."

...and he promptly whacks the Transcendant of Salt over the head at long range with the Newton Hammer.. The world seems to distort around the point of impact, as though gravity is being pulled in by the force of the blow...

"See, simple as that! Even a dummy could get it right."

For reference, that's (40-41) Psychic damage and Lockdown8 for three rounds. Buff levels are wack. He's got 7 of them thanks to effects. Also, Pyralux Bombardment goes off twice to hit the Transcendant of Salt two more times for (12-12)x2 of... uh... the element doesn't matter, so I guess fire?

And then Verdana retreats back to F11.

Destiny waits for Kalis to move stuff, then uses Gravity Crush on Hivemind 1, Vilebaron 1, and Symphonia 3, then uses Heat Death centered on Hivemind 1.

This world... is not yours to be in!

<Battle: Moments From Despair>

Berg moves to U12 and uses his special, Best Served Cold!
-------------------------------

<textdop /working>

Battle: Moments from Despair

Chloe will move to O4 and spend her first action Unsheathing, moving to L7 and chipping Salt. Salt should be slapped with Blind and Chloe gains Focused, as well as putting her in Unsheathed mode. She then uses her second action to attack Destroyer5, instantly killing it between Muse, Empowered7, Parasite and Unsheathed. She retreats to J9.

Venia will then spark Ordo for 12 HP and use Salvation: Reinvigoration on Chloe, giving her a third action. Chloe will take this, move to H15, and attack Destroyer5 again, instantly ending his ass.

Nia, meanwhile, moves to E5 and uses up her Ordo teleporting the Symphonia into the abyss. Twice. This kills all non-Salt enemies on the map.

Nia respawns on L10 in the proper map, then uses Phase Shift on Hexagon Missile1. She uses a Warp Ring on Pillager3 to put it on M10, then flirts with Pillager3 and 4 once, sending them directly to M13/M14 respectively. Nia then uses her Weapon Skill to regain Ordo... WHich also drops the Glacier onto a crazy number of enemies.

-edits later-

---

Battle: Moments From Despair

Naturally, Irongutta takes the most direct route to solving the current problem: trying to brute force his way to Salt to beat the gorilla out of him.

Hopefully if the conditions are right, he'll move to I14, gaining the full benefits of Unstoppable Force, and slicing Salt with a basic attack!

If not, well, he'll just attack the first thing that gets in his way.

Hexagon jets over to Ceiba as he finishes pursuing his file.
HEXAGON: QUERY: PROJECT APPARATUS. WHY STILL DEFEND, AFTER THE FALL OF THE CULT? LIKELY NO NEED. ONLY USERS STILL TRAVERSING THE NETWORK LIKELY IDENTIFY: SPHEREBREAKER ALIGNED.

---

All of these actions go at the beginning of the turn, due to buffing people before they act

HEXMISSILE1: Move to L9. Attack Pillager3. Apply Evasive to all allies in Shardstorm range.

HEXMISSILE1: Move to L10. Attack Pillager4. Apply Focused to all allies in Shardstorm range.

HEXAGON:
- Move to H8.
- Watchful Eye, Wide Eyed, F6. Intimidation: Seeker5, Seeker1, Seeker3, Seeker7, Meteos3, Seeker18. Apply Blind4 and Slow2 to all.
- Bonus Action Foam Destiny.
- Item Action: Infinipizza.

MEXAGON:
- Move to M10?
- Foam Adria.
- Contemplate the mysteries of the universe.

ræmiel post, attempt 200. :acaciadead:

-Aoki maxes Melody again with Remiel's MP.
-Aoki Dances on Marron then moves to L11 with Warp Ring, using the last of her own MP plus some of Remiel's.
-Ramiel unmantles, then moves and Relinquish-Mantles the Ignihorn.
-Remiel Basic-Attacks Bloodhound8, misses, and does it again via free tap. (Ignihorn and Farmland allows for exact lethal.)
-Remiel Basic-Attacks the Javlyn off the last Bloodhound Tap.

<ROUND 329>

Echoss does a variety of things. To begin, Echoss gives his vow to Droplet. On the blood of all his fallen kin, he swears he will do all he can for the Iti in Grey. They will not be abandoned though they were discarded once before.

DROPLET: If you're lying to us, I'll take your gorillaing head.
DROPLET: But... thanks.
DROPLET: Having some kind of future... it's not something I've ever really thought about.
DROPLET: I've always just assumed that the Sphere would go, finishing its mission and taking us pawns along with it...
DROPLET: Go... go destroy that thing, alright?
DROPLET: I-I'm...

Droplet bites the inside of her cheek as her face goes a little more flush. A paler white, due to her status as a Grey Iti.

DROPLET: ...r-rooting for you.
DROPLET: b-baka

...Truthfully, she's really not sure where to go from here. She remains sitting on the ground, as she has been earlier. Still a bit sore, in more than just a physical way. Cactus-like energy radiates from her, whatever that means.

Elsewhere, Echoss commands the Sleuth to rob a grocery. The Sleuth breaks in (the door was unlocked), steals 6 Blockmelons, and does the dastardly deed of leaving more than enough money to purchase the melons. He then locks the door on his way out, like a true villain. Using these ill-obtained goods, Echoss creates a wide variety of delicious goods! A tray of 4 Melon Skewers, 5 Orderlancers, and 4 Nightmare Pods! Actually, most of these don't seem very tasty.

---

Shelly throws hands. Or uh, throws Biflora's hand into the inventory. Biflora's Hand obtained! Biflora screams something awful as her limb is severed, her screams reverberating through the prison. With a final kick, Biflora is knocked out, left to slowly bleed to death. As a Timeclone Shelly approaches the cell to release herself, she's met with an... interersting sight. The guard who threw an "inmate control stick" at her has begun to convert the cell into a solitary confinement of sorts. It's not very solitary due to the other, dying prisoner, but y'know. Also, more guards have started pouring into the area. Whoops.

Elsewhere, Sophia elaborates to the "imprisoned" Sakura as to why she's here, and to the fact that she's weirdly strong for her age. Space adventure! Sakura stares at her quizzically.

SAKURA: A... space adventure? People are advanced enough to do that?
SAKURA: You don't even hear about Tabletopians going off on interplanetary trips all that often. Space vessels are expensive. So expensive, dad wouldn't get me one for my 32nd birthday.
SAKURA: To think, they'd give a space vessel to a kid, anyway...
SAKURA: A weirdly powerful child who can still KO a trained soldier using an umbrella, but still.

Hey, also. Why does Sakura think everyone's a psychopath, anyway?

SAKURA: Well. Who else would stand against an entire gorillaing country, and win?
SAKURA: Who else would burn a member of the Highchair?
SAKURA: Who else would gaslight, gatekeep, and girlboss a few dozen other Chairians into working for them to destroy their home?
SAKURA: Yeah, we have issues too. Sure. But if I were to point at any one of you, I'd be hard pressed to mistake you for a person instead of a loose collection of character defects.
SAKURA: Like, seriously.
SAKURA: One of you is a literal hexagon.
SAKURA: That's terrifying, in some weird, primordial way.

Sakura's odds of getting out of this unscathed are likely dropping.

Over at the "hospital", Hannah performs her assigned task; shoving an arm into place! With a "hup", she hoists the arm up hard as she can, slotting it back into place. While it is unclear as to whether Chairians have any bones or not, it seems to have done the trick, snapping back into place. Fortunately, there's no screaming- the patient isn't conscious at the moment, probably to Hannah's relief.

CHI: My word. Your power far eclipses your size, miss Hannah.
CHI: Excellent work.
CHI: And, with that...

Chi watches as Taeda unloads a healing bullet into an injured Halberder and Splintershot. Had she not been harmed with a healing weapon, those shots would both be killshots. Truly, she is a ruthless priestess.

CHI: I believe we have successfully mended all the patients here at the moment.
CHI: Congratulations to us!
TAEDA: Hurray!~

Taeda celebrates by grabbing a snack from the provisions Hannah delivered. A pastry! She sits down and enjoys herself, taking a well-deserved break after many hours of relentless healing. Chi decides to rest up against the wall, opting to drink a flask of tea she keeps on her person.

CHI: While our friend who's been hit by the carriage will still need some time to heal, we've done an incredible job.
CHI: So, miss Wolfe. Is there anything else you'd like to learn while we're still here?
CHI: While we thankfully lack any patients, surely I should be able to teach you something.
CHI: So? Any wishes? Or are you satisfied with your hands-on lessons?

So, now what? Is there anything else she wants to learn?

---

JOE decides to break out of jail. Given that the cultists never took away his weapon for whatever reason (it is rude to separate a man from his crops), he snips away at the bars. They clatter to the floor, alerting a guard! Fortunately, the guard is far more concerned about slotting the bars back in place instead of chasing JOE, so he's free to head up north. It's there he meets with his greatest rival- this random fountain! Using a three-pronged assault, he obliterates the fountain, extracting 5 Flux and 500 Credits from its corpse.

With his revengeance obtained, he then heads back to the Hellfire Room, finding the bottomless pit. Though, is it really bottomless? As it turns out, yes- it actually burrows through the entire planet. It'd be the ideal place to slingshot a hedgehog through the planet to obtain maximum velocity for a space program. But, by using Terraform, he's able to give the bottomless pit a bottom. It does not explode in a puff of logic, however. It's just a pit. Not even a hellfire pit. It's even too shallow to kill JOE, given that he's just been pushed into it by a cultist.

Given his lack of general dying, he's free to warp his way to Nia. Could he get Bypassed by her? Nia nods, not even taking up a slot for this surely suicidal experiment.

NIA: I mean, sure? Why not?
NIA: Just like, come outside. Normally I do this wherever, but... uh, just saying, I have a bad feeling about this.

JOE is tied to a chair a fair distance away from the house. With the current situation with the Sphere, there's not an Iti around to disturb them. Pressing her hands against her own chest, Nia incants a spell. The Thymefield condenses above JOE, into a heavy purple ring. Nia then leaps up, and slams the ring down pass JOE. He threads the needle, promptly bypassing the Thymefield. JOE feels liberated! He feels beyond powerful! The powers of a proper Descendant well up within him-

And then he's obliterated by a gigantic laser beam from the Sphere. Nia owo's quietly as she beholds the carnage. JOE respawns a few feet away from Nia as the beam fades. His bypass has promptly been revoked. Nia scrapes the 1 Flux generated off of the ground, papping it onto JOE's head.

NIA: Congratulations on your horrible demise!~
NIA: I was gonna do that to myself so my mundaneness could shine through the field, but now I'm glad I didn't!
NIA: Science (and my face) thanks you!
NIA: Now let's never do that again!~

---

CALIBRI FIGHTS GOD. He spends a moment focusing his immense power- this energy could shatter planets, extinguish suns, rip the very fabric of space apart! The lack of the Thymefield, as it would seem, would be his biggest blessing. Hotdog in hand, Calibri prepares to kill the trio of gods! At least, until Isaac Newton himself speaks up.

SIR ISAAC NEWTON, HERRSCHER OF PHYSICS: Hold on a tick, chap.
S.I.N.H.O.P: Did that most peculiar red fellow send you? Is he trying to kill us again?
S.I.N.H.O.P: For god's sake. No matter how many times we killed him, he just kept coming back.
S.I.N.H.O.P: Took one of my kidneys once. Not a very pleasant time, as you could reckon.
S.I.N.H.O.P: Look, I'm tired of dealing with recusants against the laws of the universe.

S.I.N.H.O.P: Why don't you just take one of my freshly regenerated kidneys, and bugger off.
S.I.N.H.O.P: Pretend you killed us. Save everyone the heartache.

Sir Isaac Newton, Herrscher of Physics, reaches into his chest, and with a sickening tear, offers Calibri his kidney. Physics bends around the disembodied organ- perhaps it could be used to defy physics itself? Of course, he could try and kill the triple herrschers. That could only end well, right?

Elsewhere, Blacklight spends some time investigating the House. Seems there's a few windows missing upstairs. It could be fixed with pretty minimal effort, far as house repairs go. There's also a few damaged bits of furniture- perhaps he could fix it up with some duct tape? Who knows what Blacklight's capable of, though? Not me!

At the Citadel, Lato rings up Marron. In just a few minutes, Marron arrives. She already has the materials for the ritual prepared. She sits down next to the body, but... she's not really enthused.

MARRON: So... why do you want me to rez this guy, and be all out of blood again?
MARRON: Like, this better not be a random-gorilla body! I-I can't just revive everyone we come across!
MARRON: I-I know that sounds really, r-really cold, but this is super taxing to do!
MARRON: I-I matter too, y'know?

There's also something about an alternate timeline Calibri in the past, but who knows what'll happen with that? I don't know. I rarely know things. I'm going insane. weeeeee

---

Hexagon seeks out Ceiba. It's a short trip into a storage room to look for him. Hexagon asks. Why does he need to watch over this box if the Rose Cult has been dealt with already?

CEIBA: ...
CEIBA: ...
CEIBA: Oh, what? The Rose Cult's been dealt with?
CEIBA: The chain of command's been sloppy as of late. That sort of message should've come to me...
CEIBA: ...Nice to know I wasted a day of exploration in here, exploring archives.
CEIBA: I have gotten very intimate with the contents of the boxes in this room. I am familiar with the events of three of the greatest skirmishes of our endless war against the Tabletopians.
CEIBA: Are you interested?

CEIBA: ...
CEIBA: ...
CEIBA: Don't answer. I would rather not. I am simply not in the mood after reading about it for so long.
CEIBA: Apologies if you were actually interested.

...Aw. No history lesson.

---

<MOMENTS FROM DESPAIR, ROUND 3>
The tide never ceases; even more Iti have arrived! Including a bunch of Verdana's. In addition, a large majority of the Iti on the map have Autorevive500: dispel it if you can, or muscle right through with your strongest multi-hit attacks! Be ready, though; next round the Ashen Knight will be arriving, and a random NPC will be getting banned from the game!

Kalis eats a Managlaze Yggapple, then moves to L9 and casts Nanostorm as a free action on L15, then moves to I10. (4 MOV used.)

Then Kalis uses Rerepresent, splitting off Kalis2 on H9.

Kalis2 casts Skeletal Toss, nudging Meteos1 1 square down. It's gonna have a mediocre time.

Kalis1 uses Improbable Incantation! (34 MP budget.)

First they Flirt Meteos3. (27 MP budget.) Unsure what gift to buy to woo it, they simply offer it a romantic gift of free credits. Meteos3, thinking Kalis has been hacked and is trying to catch them with a free robux scam, retreats into the corner, exactly as planned.

Then they cast Abduction on Igni1. (11 MP budget.) This deposits Igni1 on J9.

Finally, they Null Somnum Kalis2. (1 MP budget.)

Kalis2 uses their new turn to cast Force Nail on Salt with Flux Cascade active.

REply for above post:

Daskter moves to M11 uses Nanostorm on the Salty
Rocketeer Moves to P7 then Fortifies then fires First Strike against Salty.

Battle - Moments From Despair:

Keane moves to O11. He uses his special to gain Empowered, Energized and Guardian, self-casts Focus Energy as a bonus action, and then shoots Salty with the Bancannon.

I don't have the energy to write a longer post. The formatting for Keane's text is hell.

Sorry for placeholder I'm very woozy lately and I wanted to not lose my train of thought on the stuff I'm doing


RP:
Droplet
Echoss chuckles and stands up.
"Thank you Miss Droplet.
We don't intend to fail. Once the Sphere is down I'll come visit again.
It'll be rather easier to find time for that once the thymefield's not intervening, and we'll be able to discuss what you and your little colony here need and want."


Echoss intervenes with Shelly
In the catacombs the room suddenly vibrates, the air itself seeming to vibrate with the force of some unseen anger.
And then the air is filled with gold. Abruptly multiple forms of Echoss, looming taller than the rose cultists around the room, thick black smoke pouring off his clothes, his eyes glowing a dim orange that flickers like fire, all materialize around Shelly. And one by the guard about to let out Linseed.

YOU.

Before Shelly can react Echoss marches up and presses his palm to her forehead. To his side another passes through the door with the use of Spectral.

FRIEND-OR-FOE-IDENTIFICATION REVOKED

Shelly abruptly becomes a valid target for the anti-magic generator. The two Shelly's blur a bit as their timeline becomes unstable due to ability disruption only for the Echoss form inside of the cell to cuff that version of Shelly on the back of the head. The one outside has its timeline jolted backwards, snapping her back into the cell with a loud crack that resounds through the entire cellblock. Paradox averted at least, but it likely leaves Shelly seeing stars for a minute or two.
On the other side of the wall, (cell across from the Informant) Echoss emerges, carrying Biflora. He sets the praetorian down, then withdraws a Halobloom Remedy from the inventory. Deep Pockets triggers, conserving the one in the inventory, and Echoss pours the Remedy down Biflora's throat, spectral-stepping back out through the bars of the cell as the healing magic returns her to health behind him.

The Echoss form by the cultist about to release Linseed flicks him on the head and shoos him towards the other guards.
ECHOSS: You do NOT release prisoners to deal with another.
ECHOSS: That is called a jailbreak and will make things worse.
He hands a walkie-talkie to the guard.
ECHOSS: Contact the Spherebreakers with this instead, please. Most of us are busy today but there will be somebody who can come help.

A silence falls on the room as Echoss looks around. Finally certain that the issues have been resolved he sighs, rubbing his forehead as the other forms of himself flicker and fade, starting to separate into butterfly. One of them fails to, the butterflies disintegrating into purple smoke and golden sparks as they split off instead. The main form of Echoss reduces back down to his normal size, the black brimstone smoke of before replaced with slightly less thick thymesmoke and he staggers slightly as he makes his way back around to the front of Shelly's cell.

ECHOSS: Miss Wolfe, upon first seeing and meeting you I could see some of the similarities with your daughter.
ECHOSS: Now however I see where they end.
ECHOSS: "Ah yes, I shall murder a prisoner that those I allied myself with took specifically to avoid killing them, completely undermining their efforts and legitimacy."
ECHOSS: Your daughter has the self control to reign herself in and she is still a child.
ECHOSS: You will be staying in this cell to muse on your decisions until such time as your friends and family can come to collect you after we've finished with the Sphere.
ECHOSS: And consider yourself lucky that you don't fall under the jurisdiction of any local courts that would try you for attempted murder of POWs.



Moments From Despair
Wait for Keane to act and Teag to spawn in at M10
Echoss scavenges an Autoloader, tossing it into the battle inventory
Echoss basic attacks Symphonia 1. (empowered6, I can hit it from here, my basic attack range should be 4-7 not 4-6)
He then gives Teag a Brew of Corrupted Gods (no enlightened, trait can't proc)
Echoss then uses alter reality, changing the Empowered6 into Enlightened6.
Hex is given the spare energy drink from Echoss's satchel (Enlightened6, 20% chance to conserve, 20% chance to dupe)
Bauhaus is handed a Rosewater (Enlightedn6, 10% chance to conserve, 20% chance to dupe)
The cat gives Bauhaus Empowered4 for two rounds.



CONSUMABLES x3



People to chat with before the end for sure:
Sophia
Ette

- Asha switches to Guard Stance with Pierce Counter. This costs 9 MP, and locks her MP regen to 0 this round.
- She fires the Brewing Hat at the nearby Coral, destroying it.
- Then, she uses Toxin Coating (Aching8, 3) before basic attacking the nearby Jotun with Unmoddable Damage.
- With Always Watching, for an additional 5 MP, this applies (Blind4, 2) as well.
- Finally, she casts Riposte, gaining +120%+11 Base CNT for the round.

Moments From Despair

Adria looks at Destroyer3, smiles warmly, and simply says-

ADRIA: Boo~

Clearly she's not above a little mischief.

As for her action, Adria Warp Rings to (T10), uses Nanomend Duct Tape on Berg, uses Full Attention To Praise! for an extra +3 Buff Levels, and then uses Abyssal Vortex into Instant Suffocation on Destroyer4.

She then does another Timely Displacement, plopping her down back where she was at (R10).

---

Shelly

With her opponent bleeding and knocked out and nothing of note left to do except let the cell be encased, she... stops. No further assault. She calmly takes the needles out of her hair and stuffs them back in her sleeves, undoing her hairdo and allowing her long hair to fall. She leans against the wall of the cell, head lowered and arms crossed.

She's done what she wanted to do.

...Unfortunately for her, a certain butterfly person has ended up pissed at her.

Bizarrely, Echoss fails to startle Shelly at all. She stares back with her reflectionless eyes, almost as if... expecting him. She doesn't even react as her FOFI gets revoked either. And while Echoss does indeed stun the Cell-y for a bit with the attack, instead of the outside Shelly being moved backwards in time like he was probably expecting, she just... poofs in a shimmer with nothing else out of the ordinary occurring.

Once Echoss returns to her cell to speak... well, other than mild irritation at worst, she's decidedly neutral.

SHELLY: If I wanted her dead I'd've done more. I had already stopped before you had shown up.

She sighs.

SHELLY: ...Regardless, I saw all of this coming. The "take her away from the cell and heal her" bit and jail time, anyway.
SHELLY: I intend to stay in this cell, regardless of what else happens.

She wavers a bit, her stoic glare breaking, glancing in the general direction of the Hybridization Lab.

SHELLY: ...It's not like I'll exist past today, anyway.
SHELLY: Just another discarded idea...
SHELLY: At least my daughter will continue...

For once during her time on Sussui, and perhaps even her lifetime, Michaela's voice shakes with despair.

SHELLY: ...W-what am I even doing here...

---

Sophia

Sophia shrugs at the whole space adventure part.

SOPHIA: Eh, it's nothing special. Mine's only small.
SOPHIA: Lotsa kids from home can pilot spaceships if they wanted.
SOPHIA: Most just stay home tho. I jus' like adventurin', an' my ship helps me do more of it!
SOPHIA: (if only my fuel source wasn't so out in the open tho)

Sakura then says some frankly quite mean stuff. Sophia quizzically looks at Sakura, mildly offended and slowly growing more irked.

SOPHIA: Didn't like, two of your Highchair join on their own? I know miss Omorika did, I saw it happen as the first thing she did when we arrived at the library.
SOPHIA: She was all alone there by the way. All alone with a scary dream-eating shadow monster that was trying to, y'know, kill her.
SOPHIA: Miss Taeda, too, because Acacia was a big mean bully to her and almost got killed!
SOPHIA: An' I know miss Nana joined on her own too! I mean, she was literally taken over by a death parasite or whatever an' we saved her from literally havin' no hope of livin' after we got it out!
SOPHIA: Miss Maple was literally about to be killed by rebels before we got to her! That's what I heard, I was outta commission when it happened, long story.

SOPHIA: An' I ain't the only gal to accidentally end up here, Chloe literally came here looking for her bro with no idea there'd be... this going on!

Sophia looks like she's about to blow a fuse, puffing up her cheeks to look more intimidating (though really it looks more adorable than anything else).

SOPHIA: An' don't think for a sec that you guys were much better, 'cause you weren't!
SOPHIA: Ya wanna talk psychos? You guys authorized the use of fiery weapons against your own! Even innocent botanists from what I've seen!
SOPHIA: How is that "right", exactly!? Even on other planets that's seen as horrible, let alone on a planet of wood people!
SOPHIA: An' don' give me that dumb "traitors" excuse that Spark an' his cronies apparently used!
SOPHIA: I mean, if I was threatened with fire an' I was one of you I'd join these guys jus' to feel safe again!

---

Hannah

Hannah, a little tired from lifting the limb, wipes the sweat from her brow. She chuckles softly when Chi mentions that Hannah's strength eclipses her size.

HANNAH: H-heh, if you think I'm strong, you'd get a kick outta Sophia's strength!
HANNAH: Girl could probably lift the three of us above her head no issue if she wanted!
HANNAH: ...W-well, if the Thymefield wasn't in the way, anyway.

Hannah sits down against one of the pillars and takes out a flask of water. She takes a big gulp of the stuff. Refreshing!

HANNAH: Ahh~ Nothin' like it!
HANNAH: Cheers!~

Hannah shakes her head when asked if she wants to know anything more.

HANNAH: I think I'm good for now. Thanks, though.
HANNAH: This should be a good jumping-off point for any studies I do back home.
HANNAH: Besides... I shouldn't spend too long here. I gotta be on standby in case I'm needed for the Sphere or on the walls or whatever.
HANNAH: Can't hurt to be prepared.

HANNAH: ...Can't hurt to have a little break, either.

Hannah slumps against the pillar, relaxed, perhaps for the first time in a while.

"Wait, but what if we do that again, and then in the fraction of a second before I die (again), I do something useful? Like rebuild the farm!"
If this idea is accepted, I do it, of course. I don't expect it to work, but that's what SCIENCE is for!

Afterwards (as in after either a refusal, or dying and respawning) I head to the Citadel's B1 and am immediately diverted from my FLUX-gathering efforts by the travesty that is all this Rot! Not that Rot is bad. you can use it as a fertiliser. It'll reduce the nitrogen content in the soil when it breaks down, though, so rather than compost it or use it directly you should burn it and crumble it first. I'm a real farmer. yep. First things first, I plug up the burst Water Line with some Iron and gold from the inventories infinite reserve. Now that more water isn't flowing in, I use Terraform to clear the water away and harvest all the Rot- not the health plant called Rot, just the rotted plants- for fertilising the farm when it is, eventually, remade. As will inevitably occur.
...
why am i here oh right flux.
I head over to the ancient historical records room, with its copy of the Old Rosen Oath, and extract the flux from the copy. It's a Rose thing with magical properties! I can tell it has magical properties because it unlocks 'Revelations Ruin' without needing to be read first!

Now, I remember something I saw earlier. The rubble in the gravity-weirdosity hallway refuses to obey gravity. And some other people have a grudge against gravity. Like Chaos. Chaos doesn't like gravity because it crushes necks. I heard this from a very reliable source. Therefore, Chaos will surely be interested in knowing that some rocks just... refuse to obey gravity. I head over to chaos and helpfully tell him about the antigravity rubble. I'll meet him in the Central Southern Hallway in a second, but first...

I drop by I69 and harvest some flux from the blatant impossibility of Sakura being there when Sakura is very clearly... talking to a child in the kitchen, I think? anyway clearly Not there!

Then I head to the Central Southern Hallway where I assume chaos went to get an edge in his grudge against gravity. I point out one of the piles of rubble, and go extract flux from the other one!


[BATTLE]
I spend 2 GP on a level of Psychoid, then attack Seekers 2, 3, and 7 each with a full action single target basic attack, spending the 8 MP for each of them to Tap, and gaining 10 MP whenever I down one(If I miss, I just try again). I then cast Deep Thinking again (The enlightened and Knowledgable I get this time should be one higher, due to the Knowledgeable boost bringing my Int to the next threshold.), and Swift Terraform Doors on J16, K15, and L16 and a Fortified tile on O8. If there are further tiles due to one of the above terraforms not occuring for some reason, they are spent on the first valid option of the following: a door on M12, or if that's occupied on L12, or on O12, or J15. I then retreat to K8/K9 (if either is free) or J10 otherwise, since I didn't move and so got +1 Retreat.
Lastly, if nobody else is using the Ainifni, I do so.

Moments From Despair
Move last.
Basic attack Seeker22 and tap.
Basic attack Seeker4 and tap.
Last Dream Destroyer1.
Power Nap self.

BATTLES - MOMENTS FROM THIS PEAR

Star places Thyme Vortices at N20, I9, and R9. Then, they fly to J17 and attack Salt, Infinidrop an Infinipizza into the inventory, and retreat to I14.

---

NPC SERVICES

The Reflector hands the Sleuth some credits to scan El Iti / the Payload.

We're finally back! Teag spontaneously wakes up from his coma, notices the million balance changes that have happened while he was gone, and massively updates his build. Part of that process includes making new equipment! Although his hat and armor are taken from the storage, he needs to upgrade his trinkets and forge a very fancy new railgun.

Scope Lens:
1x Tabletopian Components
1x Gaidiamond (which is what the lens itself is made of, for some reason)

KekBox™ v1.0
1x Tabletopian Components
1x Primogem (allows it to manifest RNG Bullshit in the user's favor)

Ultra-Heavy Railgun
Fusion Weapon Prototypes (power supply stolen from these)
20x Arkalloy (the thing needs to be made from a particularly light material so the giant thing can still be carried by one person)
and the secret ingredient...
1x Creationmeld (the ammunition is made out of this stuff, which allows them extreme adaptive properties)

Once everything is complete, the new and improved Teag spawns in to the big fight, bringing the Sprint, Dweller and Timestop Kid's Hat hats with him. He spawns at at O8, puts on the Timestop hat, and after receiving buffs from the nice people who are buffing him and building a Fortified tile beneath him, hits Salt with a piercing round, applying the Plate Penetrator stratagem. I think he might be a bit outside my range; if he is, I use my trinket's Range Hack to hit him anyways.

Almost forgot: he