Heart of the Sphere
Move to J20.
Guard
Cast Overload.
Power Nap self.
Use Pocket Throwlem (Violent) on self, eastward.

In The Final

TURN ORDER THIS TURN, DO FIRST



With permission from Piono:
ECHOSS: (R6) via Vortex, Focused Shot Meteos5. Nightmare Pod Meteos5 to instakill it. Use Medical Pack, Scavenge.
CAT: (P5) via Vortex.

Before Berg

Accelerate Berg's Blind away (-2C)

Adria goes last.

WARE stole Adria's leg. Somehow. The latter of whom nearly keels over in agony. She tries her hardest not to wail like a banshee.

ADRIA: Owwwowowowow... ughhhh... g-gimme... ow, g-gimme a sec...
ADRIA: I - ow - d-don't want do this b-but I have no choice...

She doesn't even notice the red strings on her Exosuit as she slips her arms out temporarily.

Adria shakes off Guilt, proccing Automana as a result, leaving her with 12 MP since the discount from equipment applies. Adria then drinks a Managourd Brew and selfcasts Nanomend Duct Tape. She also casts Encourage on the allied Destroyer once it's nearby, stealing Further Mutation via Cycling.

Her leg slowly pops back in as she's healed and uses her tech to restore it back to its previous state, that being connected to her (sans buffs). Though it's obvious it feels... strange to her.

ADRIA: Wish the Phantom Limb phenomenon didn't exist...
ADRIA: also get clapped you stupid pest

---

Respite

At long last, Hannah has pinned down the ingredients she needs for her final project. Though, she knows she can't do all of it, considering its nature...



Now, who would get her to help with the finishing touches... Venia's nowhere to be found here (though that may be for the best), Vulcan's also not around right now (probably also for the best)...

...That just leaves Nia. But, truth be told, even looking at her kinda freaks her out, knowing that she's Venia's girlfriend.

...But she also doesn't want to just sit on her butt all day. So, after a deep breath, she approaches Nia, still clad in her suit.

HANNAH: U-um... hey, Nia?
HANNAH: Can I...uhh, a-ask for some help with something?

Kalis2 drinks a Tornadopetal Remedy, moves to (K20), and casts Skeletal Toss to move Projection7 to E19.

Moving after Xavier, Kalis1 moves to T13, casts Focus Energy as a bonus action, eats a Wingfig to restore MP and cure their Flux Mutation, and casts Skeletal Toss to move Projection4 to S11.

Kalis1 also volunteers to tank We All Become.

[BATTLE]
JOE Swift-casts Terraform, changing [O6-> Power Well. OTHER TILES TBD], then moves to O6, where he activates Special (Farm Sign to K12), tosses Warpmelons to Projection1(to L10) and Projection2 (to N10); spends 2 GP on Psychoid, 1 on Yggherb, and 1 on Cinderfruit; Smacks WARE; retreats through the vortex to O24; casts Guilt.

After Bergilmir attacks Meteos2, JOE eats a Warpmelon (obtained from the Terraform earlier), warping to L25, and throws an El-ite throwing knife (ice) at the Meteos. the Meteos passive only affects basic attacks, so this should work.

He also Alter Realities his Lucky into Mending.

The Destroyer Sprints M5 warps O2 continues movement to N18. If it entered range of an enemy which wasn't going to die anyway at some point while doing this it cannons it but I don't think that happens.

[WORLD]
[Craft1]
Using the many book-related resources from the Harvest of the Pagelings, Patches, Pagelisks, and one Fumore, which happened several rounds ago and neglected to give resources, JOE heads over to the Infusion Altar in Zone 1, just outside the Crystillery, and fills all the slots with pages about... who knows, really. He then sticks a Hivemind Regalia in the middle, annihilates some Paper Sheets for Essentia (per Thaumcraft, 1 Paper gives 2 Cogitio Essentia, which is the obvious requirement for anything based on books!), and gets infusing!
Shortly, JOE has infused the Hivemind Regalia with KNOWLEDGE and THINKING and WHATEVER WAS IN THOSE BOOKS! Such a crystal will surely be a powerful reagent(source of Knowledgeable) for mystical acts(spellcasting) with probably several uses!
[Resources used: Reality Lens resources which got neglected; Paper Sheets(unlimited); 1 Hivemind Regalia.]


[Craft2] Panacea! That's a thing people use! What are they? 'Potent pills containing a generally dangerous amount of curative substances'? Well, that sounds easy to replicate! Just get a bunch of different healing items, and combine them until you're almost at the point where anything more would kill you!
JOE makes a bucket out of Iron for convenience, then start dropping things into it! Green Sap, the absolute basic healing thingy! Bottled bottled water, to keep people hydrated! Lifeblood Sap for sap transfusions to chairians! A couple of Yggherbs, since there's a lot of those in the inventory! Fluxblood for blood transfusions to humans or other bloodhavers! A crushed Soulblossom, because why not! Thyme Matter for thyme transfusions to the, like, two allied iti!
There we go! That should be enough Curatives to be a generally dangerous amount! especially if you're not an entropic iti with blood! Now all JOE has to do is mix them together, Dry the Curative Slurry out until it becomes solid (You might think that's maybe not a thing which happens with Thyme Matter, but thyme matter freezes, so he just has to Freeze-dry it!) and slice it into pills!

[resources used: Iron(unlimited supply), Bottled Bottled Water, Green Sap (unlimited supply), Lifeblood Sap (unlimited supply), 2? Yggherbs, Fluxblood(unlimited supply), 1 Soulblossom, Thyme matter (unlimited supply).]

[Not Craft] Say, with how much Red WARE is talking about how we're totally idiots and missing the forest for the trees it'd be a shame to not respond to the blatant hints and see what he's talking about, so Crafterbody JOE uses his highly trained fluxovision from collecting like 50 units of Flux at record speeds to look in the general direction of the sphere and see if anything Fluxy stands out.

House

Blacklight visibly flinches when Sakura gets assaulted by the slice of the Atrocity, making a noise vaguely reminiscent of someone attempting to strangle an uncooperative chicken, then he casts a Cure on her. It's not his specialty, but he would technically have the stats to support some effective healing. After that, he takes a moment to breathe metaphorically, then refocuses, pretending that he totally wasn't legitimately worried for her safety just then.

"Sakura. Please head my words of caution next time, even if they don't make sense to you."

Then, since Keane has decided to talk to him, Blacklight turns to face him next.

"That was the Atrocity, also known as arguably the worst example of cooking on this planet. Legally, it is not considered a food. Durasteel ingots, spider venom, pieces of bloodhounds and throwlems, yaga scales, and a weapon were all used as ingredients, among other things. The creator lost karma just from cooking it."

Beat.

"And yes, Couchtron can turn into a giant robot."

---

"..."

Loading.

---

Zone 6 - The Eclipsed Citadel

"Assistance appreciated, Chi."

Lato quickly gets onto business. How to deal with the sewer... She can sense that Marron doesn't exactly like where things are about to go. But, luckily, she has a plan. Sort of.

"I sense that you do not favor physically entering the sewer yourself. With that in mind... Perhaps a more mission control role would be favorable to you, at least for this assignment? Presumably the inventory has the technology to support such an arrangement..."

---

Battle in the Sphere - Heart of the Sphere

Calibri takes some time to pull out a paper note with some instructions on it.

"...Okay, that works. Just gonna move over a bit to help enable all this..."

Calibri moves to M8.

Then, he executes Operation Somebody Else Told Me To Do This.

Use Overclocked RAC
-Traktor Cannon on (H3), shove Projection 1 to (M8)
-Traktor Cannon on (T3), shove Projection 2 to (P8)
-Traktor Cannon on (C8), shove Projection 3 to (H10)
-Traktor Cannon on (X19), move Projection 6 to (V16). Mawstem1 also dies. +1 LOVE.
-Traktor Cannon on (U24), move Projection 8 to (S20). Eyestem1 also dies. +1 LOVE.
-Traktor Cannon on (D19), shove Meteos 6 to (J13), Projection 7 to (J14), Projection 5 to (H15)
-Stratoshield Teag (Fire Element Elveil)

Then, he waits a bit to accumulate some LOVE and then whacks Ware in the face with a basic attack because why wouldn't you. Then he casts Guilt. That should take 15 MP off the cost, then take another 25% off the cost because of LOVE stacks.

And after all that, he retreats back to O7.

---

Sphere Waiting Room

"I should watch the Morbius."

Verdana moves about on the couch to get a better line of sight to the screen. He has no clue what this Morbius thing is about.

"..."

Later.

Teag, moderately upset but not at all surprised about the sudden loss of all our Autoloaders, puts on the Timestop hat, Skeleton Tosses Projection4 to M12, then tactically retreats through the vortex next to him to stand where Mexagon's corpse currently is at, O23. Bracing for the missile about to hit him, he pops on an Emergency Shield Badge and kindly requests somebody to order the airship to use Stratoshield on him.

Asha switches to Guard Stance, uses Guilt, self-Sword Beams, then attacks Meteos4 (Unmoddable). She follows up with the Brewing Hat, then the Ice Sniper.

BATTLES - WARE

Star flies to (W22) and attacks Meteos 7, with Opening Act, Fervent Emotion, and max Stellar Wind buffing the damage. They then use an Infinisyringe on themselves and retreat to (X23).

Destiny Warp Rings Meteos6 to L11 then observes and shanks Defiler 1 using Weakness technique.
CHLOE: Self Swordbeam, snipe Meteos 1.
SMOL: Scan Projection of God.

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

Destiny tosses 50 credits on the Sleuth's table to get the codex entry of the Sepirah.

I'm moving after Echoss and Daskter.

Berg moves to L21, drinks a Rosewater, then Offends Meteos2 and Projection7, taunting them and giving them Slow2!

cA: C'mon, you black-toothed pathetics!

He then basic attacks Meteos2, and retreats to L20.

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

Berg converses with WARE.

cA: You know, you're a good bit tougher than most we've fought, I'll admit that. You do have the mettle to back up your boasts.

cA: But... you're still a tyrant. A monster. You can bluster that you don't care, that with your power you're above all us meaningless specks. But we've met tyrants that have underestimated us before, with the limitless power of Creation at their fingertips. For all the hot air that you spit out, I can still feel it. You're getting weaker. Even a sting can fell leviathans if they're numerous enough.

cA: You will fall. As inevitably as mountains crumble, as inexorably as shining towers and proud monuments crack and turn to dust, you will. And when the last blow falls, you will find that your pride in your power and invincibility was as substantial as a puff of smoke. Words will not stop a blade or spell. Words will not staunch a wound. Words will never save you. And your might will neither.

cA: What is the point in continuing when you know it will all be for nought?

BEFORE STAR ACTS - HEXAGON: Mourn the death of the fallen. Move T13. Foam Star. Missiles Spawn.

With a case of not-quite Divine intervention, light shines down around Bauhaus and Cypress. Auth looks down from the sky, making sure that they're getting up alright.

AUTH: We're nearly at the end, keep it up. Just a little further.

Auth's Special revives them quickly, before it becomes too much of a pain to do it.

Shiny would be neat but I wouldn't want to risk it.

---

Alicia frowns. Being slightly shorter than Auth, she is still a rather tall 6'2. So she leans down over Mari.

ALICIA: Between me and my brother there's a whole vampire, I'd think that's enough to state confidently that...

Alicia resettles her glasses and frowns.

ALICIA: Morbius is borderline insulting. Twilight-level vampire mockery, really.
ALICIA: Besides, it's far too cynical a movie to be anything even resembling art. The only pain I felt from anyone involved in this movie is mine, watching it. The rest is somewhere between brazen greed and apathy.
ALICIA: My time would be better spent wasting four hours keeping a baby out of a fire and a dog away from flesh-eating piranhas.

A pained sigh indicates that may have been something she did at some point.

ALICIA: You know, all things considered, I'm surprised that nobody's asked "Who the hell are you!?" and "How did you get here!?" and all that, considering I just showed up in this relatively-difficult to get to location out of nowhere and have yet to actually introduce myself.

Alicia looks around. Shouldn't EN be around here, somewhere...?

Battle: Heart of the Sphere

QUOTE (Irecreeper @ Aug 9 2022, 12:52 AM)

WARE: Ah, to be so deluded, unable to read a battlefield as it develops. WARE: You haven't laid a finger on anything that could be regarded as even moderately important. WARE: You have fought valiantly against a mere puppet. WARE: A flawed entity. WARE: All the while, the Reunion has already begun. WARE: Can't you sense it? Of course you can't. You've been too busy fighting for your life. Clinging on to something that vaguely depicts something you so sorely lack. Hope.

"You need to get your eye checked, because if you think we're wearing out then you have another thing coming! All I see is your yellow belly sticking out of your cowardice to face us head on!"

In accordance with the Plan outlined in Adria's post, Venia carefully maneuvers herself to M9. She then waits for Projection3 to come into range, whereupon she sparks Ordo for the requisite HP, uses Hope Rides Eternal and two uses her Special Shoves to shift them to M11, and then uses the remaining three Special Shoves to move Meteos4 to N10, allowing Asha to kill it. She then waits for everyone else (Reisz, Irongutta, Xavier and his Godhands, Kalis1, Teag, Destiny and Ette) to move before she unleashes a Separation southwest.

"Behold the power of Ordo, the light of Pulchritude, the sacred pale fire! All who would distort this world-bathe in its light and be undone!"

Separation deals (60-62) baseline, with +60% more from Ordo and +25% more from Empowered5. On the Projections in particular, she also gains +100% more damage and ignores all their defenses, guaranteeing the death of any Projection in range. For anything else she has Focused4 and Lucky10 for additional certainty and perhaps crits, though I highly suspect any crits will just be for show. She winds up slapped with 3 Tipping... But only 3, as that's the per-round cap for any target. This also inflicts Purging on everything, which may have some weird effect on the Projections given the Entropic nonsense, but I'unno about that, doubly since they are almost certainly all dead anyways. This also spawns a lot of Unfiltered Malice where the Projections died. This probably gives her an accomplishment for the ridiculous multikill, or just updates her current Multikill accomplishment. This also heals her because of the innate Vampiric-and doesn't harm her allies due to the innate friendly fire protection.

She then uses Unexisting Theorem once with the SP she gained before this point to gain some extra substats and HP, and more importantly, activate She Shines, this time opting to use the ability to remove her debuffs instead of acquiring the buffs, reducing the Tipping by 1 intensity. She then chugs a Halobloom Remedy, setting her HP to 1 but giving her a frankly ridiculous Autorevive instead.

Venia finishes by retreating to N8.

"We will not falter, you wretched fiend! Not until all of Sussui is free of your corruption!"

Battle: Heart of the Sphere

Irongutta hurls a Lumipod at Patche1 with murderous intent, moves over to G16, and then grabs Projection5 with Skeletoss to move it to L13.

Daskter cast Guilt and attempts to mediate after.

Rocketeer attacks Ware

Taeda casts Guilt, borrowing the extra MP from Remiel (She'll still need a main action, maybe just Meditating).

Remiel unmantles everyone to end up at Y16. Can Remiel end Special early? If so, Remiel does that. Either way, they self-bonusaction-Focus Energy then Basic Attack Meteos3.

<342>

Keane witnesses Sakura, becoming down bad. The dazzling princess of cherry blossoms has ensnared his heart. Who could really blame him for it? Being royalty, Sakura has her every detail polished and trimmed to perfection, down to the gentle glimmer of her azure eyes. Of course, this has now been blemished with bruises and a now-ragged dress, but even then- she's still a beauty. And, at least according to Keane, one cannot simply ignore a hot villainess. He succeeds on his Composure check, managing to not trip over his words in front of "his queen".

What no check can save however, is the information he's decided to impart. Apparently two Spherebreakers have paid actual money to get stepped on by Acacia. Sakura rubs her cheek as Keane helps her back up onto her cushy couch-y throne.

SAKURA: S-Stepped on!? B-By her?
SAKURA: Hmph, nobody's asked me to step on them! Probably because I don't hang around filthy degenerates, but still!
SAKURA: Who'd want to be stepped on by her, a-anyway? She only has eyes for father.
SAKURA: Besides, while she's kinda hot, she's a total psycho.
SAKURA: We do not hold hands with crazy. I'm sure there's an exception or two out there, but I'm yet to meet anyone as stunning as I.

The princess takes deep breaths as she returns to her prior seat. Word, that cake hurt. Maybe she really does need a priestess for this bump. She doesn't bid the cake adieu as Keane nudges it back into the inventory. Once the offending desert is banished, she motions for Keane to kneel.

SAKURA: Thank you for your assistance, my dear servant.
SAKURA: That cake was... t-truly something.
SAKURA: I lack the words to describe how asinine of an idea it was to taint such a delicious treat like that.
SAKURA: Like, it was a good cake, up until it nearly shattered my jaw! H-How dare it! A-And how dare the chef!
SAKURA: I'll sue them for however much they're worth, that damned... whomever!
SAKURA: I'd call them a baker, but they're clearly not as such!

A deep sigh follows her little rant as she sinks deeper into the couch.

SAKURA: Kayne, right?
SAKURA: Let's get out of here. This place is simply awful.
SAKURA: The people are droll or simply rude, the food is either disgusting or downright dangerous, and the atmosphere is simply... ghoulish!
SAKURA: Who would feel comfortable sleeping in a militarized fortress? Just outside the window, there's guns and fortifications. And even in here, there's these... weird tomes?
SAKURA: I think Omorika calls them "Geo Books"? Either way, they're certainly not just for display.

SAKURA: But, yes! With your aid, I might be able to return to... well, somewhere that isn't here.
SAKURA: I simply cannot stand this place any longer. Let us go, Kayne!

A commission from Sakura for this mysterious "Kayne" figure we're yet to meet. Will he help break Sakura out of this odd form of house arrest? Legally speaking, nobody's keeping her here. But it'd be best to make sure she doesn't go off alone, right? Or maybe it'd be best to make sure she doesn't go off at all. Really, maybe you should beat the tar out of her so she doesn't do anything immensely stupid.

---

Hannah resumes the fine craft of war crimes. Though this is probably a "legal war crime" all things considered, as this is meant to end a world-ending monstrosity. That balances out the warcrime element, right? RIGHT? Anyway, a variety of horrific materials are thrown into a bottle that was bought for 10 Crafting Credits. As she works, she also queries Chi for an apple.

CHI: Hm? I suppose I could spare a fruit.
CHI: Just remember; no matter how delicious it looks, absolutely do not take a bite!
CHI: ...Well, I could cure the poisoning that would result from the apple, but I hear that the taste is far from worth the pain.
CHI: Not that I've eaten my own fruit, of course.

Base Ordovenom created! With this delicious cocktail created, Hannah seeks out Nia. Despite any reservations Hannah may have, Nia's really her best bet for this creation. She heads by the couch where Nia's taking a nap. Would it be rude to wake her-

NIA: Oh, hiya Hannah!
NIA: Man, I just can't get over how heckin' small you are!
NIA: C'mere!

Nia casts Abduction on Hannah, teleporting her directly into the transcendent's arms. It's a frosty hug that might've caused Hannah to develop hypothermia (minor), but it's still comfortable enough. Once she's had her fill of hugs, she plomps Hannah on the floor just to the side of the couch. Now, business! Hannah needs help with something.

NIA: So... what do you need?
NIA: I'm a pro at a lot of things, so I'll do whatever it is you want!
NIA: Do you want me to drink that weird thingy you made?

probably don't feed nia the poison

---

JOE continues his crafting operation of not-questionable legality. To begin, he infuses a Hivemind Regalia with the IMMENSE MIND POWER of some essentia! This creates a... Hivemind Regalia! It seems more or less unchanged. It'll probably work better for the next Knowledgable-based creation, though.

Then, he creates a few illegally-licensed Panacea by taping together a few Bottled Bottled Water bottles, 2 Yggherbs, a Soulblossom, and I'm sorry did you pump that with Fluxblood and Thyme Matter. Incredibly Questionable Panacea created! It's a miracle that this still cures people if we're being frank.

Finally, JOE decides to take a look with his Fluxvision™ and looks in the general direction of the Sphere for more Flux to harvest. As it turns out, the entire Sphere is infused with incredible amounts of Flux! Is it possible to harvest it under the watch of WARE and the hundreds of thousands of Iti inside the Sphere? Only one way to find out, right?

---

Blacklight informs Sakura of the horrors of home cooking. That cake she bit is known as the Atrocity, or possibly the worst example of cooking on the planet. It has delicious ingredients like durasteel, venom, Iti parts, weaponry, a couple dozen eyes, a mechanical grasper arm that shoots lasers, antimatter runes, holographic Charizard cards, the heart of an orphan, and look we're pretty sure the cake has evolved since its been last observed. Sakura has but one question.

SAKURA: But... why?

At this point, she's not doubting the validity of Couchtron's ability to turn into a giant robot. Or perhaps she simply disassociated for long enough to not hear the declaration. Or more simply... she doesn't believe it. Why would a couch become a giant robot? That's just absurd. Not as absurd as the cake, but still absurd to an insane degree.

Meanwhile, over in the sewers of Zone 6, Lato continues their random little sidequest. Marron, for perhaps rather obvious reasons, would rather not venture into the Chairian sewers. Perhaps Marron could take on a more mission-control styled role for the operation instead, then? Marron bobs her head.

MARRON: Uh, sure. Okay.
MARRON: Not really something I'm good at, but it does beat dying of toxic fumes.
MARRON: I guess I could like... uh, try and find a way to monitor the sewers, so you can respond to issues?
MARRON: I can make like, lil' puppet friends to help out. They're not exactly smart or all that sentient, but they can do things like... run down corridors and stuff really well. Or stand guard.

Marron assembles a Fumo Lato that comfortably sits on the palm of her hand. It's armed with a tiny version of the Everything, represented by a golden bell. It's probably a Burst rifle or something in disguise. Or maybe it's just a bell.

MARRON: Ta-da! It's a small you.
MARRON: Kinda cute, right?
MARRON: bop

Marron pets the plushie Lato on the head. A good bean.

---

Bergilmir continues to converse with WARE. He can feel that he's getting weaker. Sooner or later, he will crumble and fade away into nothingness. Words cannot save WARE. But they can't save Bergilmir either.

WARE: Ah, can't we say the same about you?
WARE: All your bluster, all the power you proclaim yourselves to have. No matter how many of you fall and perish, you claim that you haven't even been slowed down.
WARE: So, I will tell you the same. You will fall.
WARE: Mere insects cannot hope to kill a god. Their blades and bullets and blasts bounce off harmlessly, their efforts all for naught.

WARE: You believe yourselves to be winning the battle, but you've only furthered my grand ambition.
WARE: Isn't that fun? You're killing the very person you came here to save.
WARE: Their form won't hold out much longer.
WARE: And then I'll be free.
WARE: So by all means, keep up your assault.
WARE: A reunion cannot be postponed.

---

Alicia looms over Mari. With her greater height, she looms over the comparatively tiny scientist. But the joke's on her- Mari likes tall women. She's far from intimidated. Anyway, Alicia continues on, stating that the Oscar, Grammy, and Game Award winning Morbius is a borderline insulting movie that insults vampires almost as much as Twilight does.

MARI: Well, I see someone can't appreciate the incredibly deep subtext behind Morbius.
MARI: But I can't blame you. You need to have an incredibly high IQ to understand Morbius.
MARI: Like, this gorilla makes Rick and Morty look like the goddamned Teletubbies.
MARI: I bet you can't understand the deep nuisances of why Milo Morbius dances to a... song who's lyrics I can't recite around Maria.
MARI: It may seem like a simple comedic scene, or something horribly out of place, but I assure you that it's one of the deepest scenes in cinema... or media as a whole.
MARI: Matt Smith is truly a wonderful actor!
BASS: indeed
BASS: he is the man i aspire to be
BASS: humanoid and all

Also, Alicia's wondering. Why has nobody asked who the hell she is?

MARI: Sure, I'll bite.
MARI: Who the gorilla are you, and why do you dislike art?

Mari has no tolerance for haters.

---

Venia unveils her mastery over Ordo! With the power of Separation, she obliterates an entire army with the divine power of holy pulchritude, unleashing enough energy to even unmake projections of the Chaos Butterfly. The Chaos Butterfly is... hm.

WARE: Your mastery of the light is... impressive.
WARE: But what can you hope to accomplish?
WARE: The Rose Cult, those old fools.
WARE: What good did their knowledge of Ordo do for them?
WARE: Nothing. It didn't save them from my gaze.
WARE: Why do you think you'll do any better?
WARE: They had centuries to study the craft. You have had a week.
WARE: Not even their strongest could survive my corruption.
WARE: And you too, will succumb in time.

---

<HEART OF THE SPHERE, ROUND 10>
The Sphere cracks into two distinct halves once more under the power of Planar Interposition. The maneuver is far faster and more jagged than before, fragments of the Sphere losing cohesion in the split and falling to the planet below as thymestained meteorites. Wooden arms rush into the sky, returning with fragments from the Sky Labs itself. Flames of creation manifest around the Sphere as well, politely providing it with parts in lieu of a certain space station getting thrashed.

Now some sort of horrific biological-mechanical paradise, the Sphere reforms once more. Wooden tears messily meshed with misshapen metal panels, perversions of the technology on display in the Sky Labs have formed. Crimson glyphs scatter the walls, increasingly prevalent on four terminals in the room. Each one is laden from top to bottom with etched curses, their corrupt influence staining the air itself.

WARE: Why won't you understand?
WARE: We can continue production for as long as it is required.
WARE: My infinite power. The infinite horrors of the Waluigi Thyme. The infinite creative energy of a Descendant.
WARE: Already, we are an unstoppable triad.
WARE: And yet, I will rise above the boundaries of this shell.
WARE: There will be a reunion.

WARE: Now, please. Continue to struggle, as you've always have.
WARE: Tire yourselves out, so you may witness the rebirth of the apex.
WARE: The trinity.

A tear rips over in WARE's head, a storm of ethereal needles rushing outwards. They crash into the floorboards in two sets, each stitching together a separate entity. One is stitched together from the darkest wood the Sphere can provide, formulating into an eerie quadruped beast- it brings to mind a wolf, but with unnatural proportions and glowing thymium eyes. The second set pieces together... what appears to be Ruby Rose, but with an edgy face mask. Marron, who has been reintroduced into the room, grimaces.

WARE: Behold, the power of the vessel's original characters.
WARE: The Crimson Hound Hunter and the Wolf of Varying Goodness!
WARE: Now, you shall meet your-

The Crimson Hound Hunter's body is instantly overtaken by a fell trance, falling to its knees. A shroud of grey light envelops its body, its crimson cloak following in hue. The Crimson Hound Hunter rises back to its feet, weapons raised against the Wolf of Varying Goodness.

WARE: ...Ah. What a shame.
WARE: I suppose we'll need to dispose of the Crimson Hound Hunter.
WARE: Just like Droplet and her gang of horrid defects.
WARE: They make me sick.
WARE: So sick, in fact...

From WARE's mouth, a pink goo begins to drip, spilling out upon the throne and down onto the thyme-splattered ground. Bursting from WARE's body like a pimple popping video gone horrifically right, a mess of organs, slime, and what appears to be a human skull spill onto the floor. As WARE's body reforms, the slime too, begins to rebuild. It amalgamates into the most horrific form possible: a cute slime girl. A cute slime girl with nasty things floating in it, but still an utter horror nonetheless. The Dissolution of Feelings. Nia owo's intensely in the Sphere Waiting Room.

WARE: The primordial essence of being.
WARE: The vessel's love for you, spilt out.
WARE: See how you torture it so?
WARE: Perhaps they'll finally get to join you soon.

Welcome to the third phase! Face off against the Wolf of Varying Goodness, a horrific beast that can only be tamed by the Crimson Hound Hunter! The hunter isn't strictly against the party, but they'll certainly rip and tear through them if it means racking up that damage! Meanwhile, the Dissolution of Feelings will slowly infect and subsume the party if not dealt with properly! And perhaps most threateningly, the terminals in the corners of the map are suppressing vital party functions! Hack them to disable them, and gain those abilities back! Good luck!

RP for 343:

QUOTE (engie @ Aug 14 2022, 02:07 AM)

"That was the Atrocity, also known as arguably the worst example of cooking on this planet. Legally, it is not considered a food. Durasteel ingots, spider venom, pieces of bloodhounds and throwlems, yaga scales, and a weapon were all used as ingredients, among other things. The creator lost karma just from cooking it." Beat. "And yes, Couchtron can turn into a giant robot."

All the color drains out of Keane's face.

KEANE: ...W-wait, the couch is ACTUALLY a giant robot??
KEANE: I-I was joking! Murderous cakes, giant couch robots...
KEANE: You're keeping Princess Sakura here for the foreseeable future? This house is a deathtrap!

Keane then kneels, proving he has acquired the Simp(100) status effect. Unfortunately, it has infinite duration. We are never getting off of Princess Sakura's Wild Ride. Unless she does something really heinous, like kill twelve babies in cold blood.

KEANE: ...It's Keane, actually.
KEANE: But t-that's not really pressing! We need to get you out of here as soon as possible, before, like... the fridge grows arms, or something!
KEANE: Are you okay to stand, or sh-should I carry you, or...?
KEANE: ...You get what I'm asking.

Another timeclone of Keane appears behind Blacklight in a burst of glitchy grey, clearly ready to subdue him if necessary.

---

Actions for 343:

Keane moves to V21, waits for Venia to shove him closer to the IN terminal, and then hacks it.

Wait for all terminals to be hacked:

Asha begins in Pierce Stance and moves to M7.
She then immediately switches to Slash Stance with her Special, using Violet Blade on Projection1 with Slip10. It'll have +70% DMG from Fervent and Empowered for (53-3) damage total (including slip). It'll deal about 8 or 9 more from Slash Stance. From there, she finishes the job with Justitia, killing it for lethal. She grants the Ordo to herself, Venia, Calibri, and Vulcan.

She will then basic attack the Unfiltered Malice for probably considerable damage.

Due to "Avalanche", she gets 10 SP from changing Stance at the start of her turn, but that's it.

In The Final

Adria glares at WARE as they get rid of her exosuit.

ADRIA: Rude... hmph.

NOTE: See Tazz's Post for Turn Order

After the IN Terminal is dropped, Adria uses the Dreamer's Sketch on Mawstem2. She then uses Further Mutation - Unknown Organ, with the following priorities:

(High Priority) Lost In Reflections -> Star Empress's Fury/Mirage/Uncertainty/Charge Smash -> Requiem of Raindrops/Trinus -> Entropic Accumulation/MX-Assist/Ravenous -> Deep Pockets/Eternal Slumber/The White Death/Serentipidous Siphon/Hope Rides Eternal/By Your Side/Inspiring Song -> Unstoppable Force/Cold Shoulder/Identify Weakpoint/Opportunist's Shot/Valkyrie's Inspiration/Animal Communion/Thread Conjurer -> Stellar Wind/Trick Weaponry/Very Normal Farmer/Panic Blitz -> Battlefield Promotions/Actually Just You/Hacker/Wrapped -> Wilted Roseblade/Shell Stance/Death Defied/Lord of War/Rhapsody of Crimson Wings (Low Priority)

MAPLE: Move to (F3), Eat Crystallized Mana, Tactical Gust Requiem1 to (C9), Retreat to (G5)
ECHOSS: Move to (E5), Hack CH Terminal, Retreat to (F5), RAC (Light Laser Turrets on Requiem1&2, and Dissolution of Feelings
ZAHILA: Moves to (F11), Warp Ring to (C8), use Wu Xing to get to (D5), Hack CH Terminal.
BASS: Wormhole Edge to (E5), Hack CH Terminal, and... doesn't retreat into death.
MARI: Wormhole Edge to (X5), Hack MV Terminal
XAVIER: Shuffle to (V5), make new God Hand, Use Nanomender on self
CYPRESS: Spawn at (Q4), Move/Warpjack to (W5), Hack MV Terminal.
NANA: Spawn at (L4), move to (L5), Tap Seekers 5+6
VULCAN: Spawn at (P4), move to (O6), Rip up Leshy Photo of Projection3
DROPLET: Spawn at (Q4), Cheer On Vulcan, Blow Kiss on Dissolution, Retreat to (P5)
VULCAN BUT AGAIN: After Asha buffs, basic attack Dissolution, retreat to (P7)
GODHAND 3: Move to (U3), Slap Lamia1
GODHAND 4: Teleport to (T5), Slap Ohmnic1

---

Respite

Hannah blinks. She didn't expect such a... warm greeting.

HANNAH: ...Uh, wha-

Cue abduction and hug. The poor girl immediately flusters, confused as all hell.

HANNAH: U-uh... I... um... wh-...?

How the heck does Hannah even react to something like this? To her, it's completely out of nowhere. So she just... doesn't. Right up until she's placed right back on the floor, where she stumbles backward onto her rear.

Blink. Blink. She tries to process what just happened as Nia asks her what she wants. She just sits and stares for a moment.

HANNAH: ...O-oh, right! The thing.

She picks herself off the floor ant takes out the Ordovenom component she made.

HANNAH: F-first things first, no this is not a drink. Uuuunless you fancy death, anyway.
HANNAH: But yeah, poison. For the Butterfly. The Butterfly's Poison. The Poison meant for the Butterfly. Butterfly Poison. Yeah.
HANNAH: don't drink the poison, nia, i swear to god

She hands it to Nia.

HANNAH: Anyway, I need it infused with Ordo. I have no pecking clue how the stuff even works, so... I figured I'd ask an expert.

She nervously chuckles, rubbing her hand behind her head. Glancing behind her, she notices the distinct lack of Maria. Good.

HANNAH: I'd... ask Venia, but, eheh, w-well... y'know...