I can sense the desperation within the heart.
Move forward, comrades, soon we shall put this thing down.

Destiny moves to G23 and Unavoidable technique attacks Lamia 2. They proceed to retreat to F25. Destiny uses the Twitchy Glyph and volunteers for We All Become.

[BATTLE - tentative]
JOE casts Mirror Image to S17, retreats to Q16; waits for Venia to shove Remiel, and throws the Warpfruit he got from casting Mirror Image to Venia, warping her to S16; waits for Hexagon to Special and hand him Empowered and Vampiric; retreats his second retreat tile to R16.
After the MA Terminal goes down, he swift-casts Terraform to put holes in whichever doors need holes in them, probably 7, 8 and 4 since the others are out of range/broken. And if he has spare Tiles after that, he puts Cover or Barrier tiles (whichever have more HP) at Y16+Y12 in that order.

If Kalis2 is free to warpfruit him to S19, JOE Cherry Energies Harmonizer 3 4 times, then Elemental Snipers it once.

Otherwise, JOE warp rings to S19.

If all Warp Ring uses have been expended this round, then he instead Violently Pocket Throwlems himself up-right, landing at Y9 because hallucinations don't exist.

He also swaps Mending for Energized.


[WORLD]
JOE molts off another body somehow and sends it to try to siphon the flux out of the sphere with a fluxstraw. As long as it's just Seekers, there's nothing to worry about- No matter how many seekers it is, each can only do 1 damage after Blockmelon-boosted AC, which means a maximum of 24 damage per round(due to their ranges), which means it'll take at least 3 rounds for them to kill him! Which is plenty long enough to siphon out some flux, right?
as for largely theoreticalnot-seekers iti, he can skip a fair amount of blockading with Watermelons and move slightly faster than most of them, so... it's still worth a shot!
[CRAFT1]
hm... Greblades! Yeah! That's what we need. We being JOE, in particular. How do you make a Greblade? you make a lot of throwing knives and wrap them around an explosive made of, apparently, iti parts, gunpowder,and explosive apples.
Unfortunately, we have no explosive apples left. fortunately, there's a solution! simply take a regular apple, and Make it explosive! The regular apples are obtained from a Barrel of Fresh Fruit. He then extracts the fuel from a Fluxfuel cell, and injects it into the regular apples, making them quite explosive! Mind you I'm pretty sure that fuel is just fluxblood but still!
Next up, iti parts. Which iti parts?...blossom petals. It's the only properly explosive option except maybe the thyme missileport! So, JOE hollows out the cores of the apples (obviously the fluxblood went into the apples... flesh? that's not it. the parts you eat. whatever.) and stuffs them full of blossom petals (...carefully, to not set them off prematurely). Explosive Iti-apples prepared, he then mixes some Green Sap with a bit of gunpowder and covers the apples with it, like some kind of sugary glaze that's made of death.

Finally, throwing knives. The process of making throwing knives is easy! simply take Titanium out of the inventory and slice it into the appropriate shape with incredibly sharp T8 weaponry; then attach a thin edge carved out of Elden Everwood, known for its bizarre sharpness. And there's probably Some throwing knives in the generic chairian weapons, too.
There's really not much more to say- he attaches the knives to the sap, and that's it. It's a grenade covered in knives, not a crime against eldritch thought.

TL;DR: Gre-Blades craft, using a barrel of fresh fruit, [a fluxfuel cell or fluxblood], blossom petals, green sap(free), gunpowder, Titanium, Elden Everwood, and Chairian Weapons/Elite Chairian Weapons.

[CRAFT2]
INFECTION? That's a problem. Well, as we all know, you can cure any disease by killing the patient. If you're dead, you can't have a cold. known fact. But being dead sucks (also known fact). So, the disease cure for this infection is to die without dying. How? autorevive! now, there are four items which give autorevive, and two of them are temmie items. this means Temmies are deeply tied into the nature of life and death. how? heck if JOE knows... or has to know, for that matter. Temmie flakes are cheap as cardboard for obvious reasons, so JOE buys about five tem flakes, dices them into tiny pieces(Temmie Powder Cake is made of tiny pieces of tem flake), and pauses. Although the autorevive has been achieved, how to kill the user?
Actually, this is an easy question. This can be solved with JOE's, empirically, favourite crafting method: mixing together every item we have an infinite supply of! So JOE puts the Powder Cake into a small bag(one of the spare bags from the bags of salt he's expended in the path) and gets to work on making something exceedingly deadly.
Thyme Matter, to kill from the inside! Uniform Logs, because eating wood chips is probably unhealthy! Durasteel, because that can probably also kill you! some wire scraps and joltwire, because that sure doesn't belong inside your body! Fluxblood is just a bad idea in general! Assorted elite and non-elite chairian weapons(this is doing the heavy lifting of working on like, machines and stuff. How did JOE cram several full-sized weapons into a pill you can fit in your mouth? beats me, but if you look at it funny it'll probably explode!)! There's no need to engineer this further because it's clearly going to be deadly!
...Hm. on further thought, JOE realizes that people usually have more than 1 HP, so Autorevive 1 followed by death for status cure is not a good idea. Luckily, this might be solvable with more free stuff! Really, he needed to add something to the temmie powder cake anyway so it doesn't fall apart, so he mixes it with some Lifeblood Sap! With the incredible powers of blood transfusions which are mostly from the wrong species, the autorevive will (probably) be higher than 1! maybe it'll even be, like, 20 or something? who knows!

TL;DR: I didn't have the inspiration for a knowledgeable craft so instead it's a status-cleanse which operates by killing you and then immediately reviving you. Created using: Tem Flakes and Lifeblood Sap (for the revival). Thyme Matter, Uniform Logs, Durasteel, Wire Scraps, Joltwire, Fluxblood, Chairian Weaopns, and Elite Chairian Weapons (for the killing you part).

<BATTLE: HEART OF THE SPHERE>

Berg uses the Royal Insurance/Eager Beaver combo to spawn at Q8, then he moves to S13 and pops his special, Best Served Cold! Which probably taunts the CHH and the Wolf.

cA: C'mon, you fuzzy pantywaist! You too, silver-eyes! Let's do this!

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

QUOTE

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.

cA: ...It is a tragedy, yes. The shame of it... is hard to describe. Sacrificing them to defeat you...

cA: ...

cA: ...If there was another way, we would, I'm sure.

cA: ...But if they could speak right now, they would call for your death as eagerly as us. They hate what you have done to them. I doubt they would shed tears for you.

cA: And when when you are released from your unwilling vessel, we will kill you for the last time, once and for all.

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

QUOTE

WARE: Their form won't hold out much longer. WARE: And then I'll be free.

Berg recovers himself somewhat, looks at the Crimson Hound Hunter, and laughs in derision.

cA: How impressive. Which is it, that we have no chance against you as you are now, or later?

cA: For someone that claims omnipotence, your creations seem to have the oddest habit of turning against you. Droplet, this... Hunter that feels oddly familiar... If you had ultimate power, as you say you currently have, you could keep them from breaking free. They wouldn't even have a chance. Gorilla, you could make it so that they never had the thought of it. And yet time and again, you fail.

cA: Which means one of two things. First option, you're arrogant, and willingly weaken yourself. Which if so, fantastic job at making it easier for us. You won't see me complaining at the opportunity you've given. Honestly, if that's the truth, you're more pathetic than I thought, prancing about like a mustache-twirling villain at a theater for children. Honestly, it would be quite... cliché? Embarrassing, really. Refusing to admit the danger that you're in until the last moment.

cA: And who's to say that we're the only one's aiming to defeat you? What if there is an enemy that you haven't thought of, or can think of, one that has a chance of truly killing you?

cA: Second, you're not omnipotent. For one that claims ultimate power, you haven't exactly been demonstrating it. If that was true, you could snap your fingers and turn us all into less than dust. You could open up a black hole in the Sphere, and survive. You could do something that we couldn't even comprehend, erasing us so completely that we never existed at all. And yet you don't. You're at our level, where our mortal attacks can damage your form.

cA: So which is it, "Descendant"?

BATTLES - POSTING ON MOBILE AAAAA

Star waits for every terminal except MV to be down.They move to the closest wall and Leyline Stride to (X5), where they hack the cursed MV Terminal. They then retreat to (Y7), eat some Infinipizza, and advise all NPCs to stay out of Range 1-2 of them.

Before Venia: Remiel Liberates Cal, then mantles Keane.

After Venia, Before Keane: Remiel hacks the IN Terminal.

Heart of the Sphere
Go after Bauhaus.
Use wormhole edge to E23.
Hack the terminal.
Retreat to F22.

Battle: Suddenly Hacking Minigame



Venia waits for Remiel to Mantle Keane, then uses Phantasmal Force twice, striking down Large Door 6. Snowfell Star triggers to remove the rest of her Tipping. She uses an Unexisting Theorem shove to nudge Devotee2 to V16. She then waits for JOE to use a Warpmelon (of the Narehate variety) to transition her to S16. Keane moves to V21 and Venia moves to W22. At W22, Venia uses a few more Unexisting Theorem shoves to punt Harmonizer2, Harmonizer3 and Screamer3 down a row, and uses one more Phantasmal Force to Directly assault the Requiem, casually piercing all its SHP and killing it instantly. She uses the last two Unexisting Theorem shoves to get Keane to X23, where he and Remiel will hack the Terminal. Venia then waits for Kalis to use a Warpmelon (Narehate Helm sourced, again) to shove her to W23 where she can hack the terminal, unlocking it. She retreats to V23 and uses Hope Rides Eternal (which does not require Ordo this time as she has spent enough SP from her special) to teleport Kalis1 to P20.

Finally, in an action so important it deserves its own line, she activates the Patch Note Pen, and crosses out two/three words on cell A917. This particular cell now appears thus:

Removed monika.chr.

"I understand this thing only works for a short time. But given you were never really gone at all, well... I think it's fitting. This is the final battle. And he did just rob Creation of some material. If you would please come back... I'd certainly appreciate it!"

Later, when all the Terminals are hacked, Maria and the Sapsqueal Behemoth wait for Teag to take funny pictures of the Skourgeking, Projection3 and Projection4. Maria moves to X19 while the Sapsqueal Behemoth moves to Y21, and both promptly tear up the pictures of the Skourgeking and Projection4 respectively.

"Hooray! No more Morbius! I'm Magical Sparkly Princess Maria, and I'mma beat you ALL up!" Maria exclaims, clearly just happy to be back and perhaps oblivious to the Infection due to both poison resistance and also being a projection.

---

Shop

Venia requests the delivery of three Panceras and one Smash Ball.

House

Blacklight doesn't have a good answer for Sakura, so he just shrugs at her.

"I genuinely couldn't tell you. The decisions made by some people here are surprisingly lacking in intelligence. Speaking of which..."

He promptly rounds on Keane. It's pretty easy to tell that whatever Blacklight is thinking, it's far from positive. A staff manifests in his right hand, one with an obsidian-black metal shaft and some strange crystal mounted at the top. Looking into that crystal is like trying to peer into the vast emptiness of the space between worlds...

"I do not know if meeting Sakura has somehow instantly obliterated your braincells, or if you are always this misinformed and intellectually lacking. What I can tell you is this: The house is the opposite of a deathtrap. Codex Proelium, Battle 3-12."

An array of silhouette-like shadows appear around and within the household, doing their best to concisely mimic the events of the first assault upon the house. In the interests of time, Blacklight doesn't let that play out too long.

"Codex Proelium, Battle 5-15."

Again with the massed darkness. Of special note is that it contains one of the most spectacular scenes, the utter obliteration of the Scrap Metal Gestalt. Blacklight lets the scene freeze there for a time as he continues his talking.

"It is not a deathtrap. It is a battle-hardened fortress. The Spherebreakers are the only force that has been able to claim this house from another faction, and it has remained theirs during the entire stay here. Oddities aside, this truly is the safest place for Sakura to remain until further notice."

A pause, then a sigh as the silhouettes crumble and vanish. The staff is still there, though. He's still ready in case the prompting didn't sufficiently convince present company.

"I do not want to have to press the matter further. Let's find something more constructive to do instead, shall we?"

---

"..."

Loading.

---

Zone 6 - The Eclipsed Citadel

Lato observes the plushie. It is smol. She doesn't seem to quite understand the whole concept yet.

"That is an unusually small version of myself. Fascinating. Perhaps they can act as a rudimentary mass surveillance system. I shall leave that call up to you and venture forth."

Lato herself is more about direct intervention. Summoning a mirror image of herself and shifting her own Everything into some sort of elemental handgun, she sallies forth into the sewers via the entryway that was pointed out to her earlier.

---

Battle in the Sphere - Heart of the Sphere

Calibri determines that between having fully stacked up LOVE and having some considerable buffs adding weight to his attacks, he should probably go on the offense. But who against...

"...Probably better to cut that slime down to size first."

While the wolf is certainly a threat, Cal does not like Dissolution's vibes, and he's fairly sure the hunter can handle a dog, so into position he goes.

Calibri moves to R11, hangs out until Eris gives him ordo, bonus action Focus Energys to give himself Lucky16, then whacks Dissolution very hard.

The crit chance is very insane on that attack, just so you know.

Then he retreats to T13 I do not have ideas.

---

Sphere Waiting Room

"..."

"..."

Loading.

Alicia frowns. It seems that arguments nearing intelligence will not work. It's time for an alternative approach.

ALICIA: Fine, I suppose there's no way I can convey this being artless garbage to people far to invested in the meme of it not being a horrific catastrophe. I appreciate that.
ALICIA: I wonder if Auth knows I've been stealing his dictionary... anyway.
ALICIA: I suppose it can be artistic and still bad, even if I don't see it because I'm almost certain this movie was made as a tax write-off.

Alicia has given a diplomatic attempt to move on from the topic.

ALICIA: As for me? I'm Alicia Geraldson! I'm Auth's twin sister!
ALICIA: You know, the prime medic with the girlfriend. That one. He's my twin brother.
ALICIA: I know, I know, we look nothing alike, it gets mentioned all the time!

Alicia suddenly appears on Mari's other side.

ALICIA: I came to cheer you all on for the final battle! Since we couldn't come together, and the field is weak enough for me to be able to show up for it in person!
ALICIA: Kick WARE's butt! How dare he bully Nana and such! Point is, I'm here to hang out for the final moment.

Maybe Mari (and some other people?) would appreciate her support. She tactfully ignores the second half of Mari's question. Or maybe not.

ALICIA: The other thing is that my magic has been weird for the past couple of days and since this is where Things:tm: are Happening:tm: I assume the reason is here somewhere.
ALICIA: Do you know if anyone has had anything to do with ice and the fundamental nature of magic recently?

A natural and reasonable question, that she asks before Mari gets Nyoomed away.

---

Auth sighs in frustration as Nana takes a whole host of damage. He flares his wings, with barely a scratch on him, and prepares to heal her back to full.

AUTH: Hold on, I've got you... you'll be okay, Nana. Just like every other time.

Then the world warps again - and Auth finds himself spat back out in something that looks kind of like the Sky Labs... again.

AUTH: Round four, alright. WARE, we're barely scratching the surface of all we've got to use against you.
AUTH: We have yet to need to turn anything you've used against us back at you. Through our own power and resourcefulness we have brought you to your knees.
AUTH: Bluster all you like, praise and laud yourself as you will. You know in your heart that you still lack a crucial element to surpass us.
AUTH: Anything you do, we will continue to surpass. Bring forth the Trinity - and we will drive it back as we have everything else you have set on us so far.

Auth stands tall and the light focuses around him.

AUTH: The centre will not hold, WARE. At the end of this, at your end, you will be nothing but a memory.

Auth returns to normal posture (which is still mostly straight up), and then his knees give out and he puts a hand to his forehead.

AUTH: Something... is wrong.

Auth probably didn't need to say that but it's really very wrong. He looks around...

AUTH: Where... is Nana?

He looks around but Nana is gone. He's standing on the ground, too - a weird feeling, given that he's been flying above the ground for basically all of the past week. He tries to fly... no dice, all of his wings are bound. He tries to reach into his pockets... no good either! At least, until the IN Terminal is fully hacked, and he can reach back into his pockets. He throws a Lumipod at Devoted4, moving it up one space to G12.

Then, he waits for the rest of the terminals to get cracked open, restoring Nana and his ability to fly. Auth floats above the ground, which is something he's found more comfortable recently.

Auth flies to L9, and brings Nana to L7, It's a little nervewracking being so close to the Dissolution but whatever, there's not much that can be done about it. Auth directs Kindness at Nana, which should heal her up nicely.

The positioning and such of where things should be is entirely up for suggestion, though, I'm happy to let things move if necessary.

Tell me if I forgot anything, too.

Battle: Heart of the Sphere

Irongutta found himself in a real bad spot, practically on the verge of keeling over. Thankfully, the inventory had a Nanomender for him to make use of. Activating it on himself did just the trick.

With newfound resolve, Irongutta charged forward to T4 to smack the Lamia (with Magnolia, of course).

Teag stays where he is and uses Leshy's Camera to take photos of Projection3, Projection4 and the Scourgeking. He then activates Rangehack to shoot Projection2 with the Field Disruptor stratagem, with Vitalstrike because why not.

AFTER AUTH HAS POKED THE DEVOTEE WITH A LUMIPOD

HEXAGON: Dreamer’s Sketch closest Hallucination.
Adria does the same, i think.
HEXAGON: Foam Bauhaus (smiths boon), and Zahlia (power of friendship mp). Move to F13. Hit the Purger. Activate Special (Buffs self from trinket, buffs everyone with foam, buffs a extra near everyone with foam, full thing soontm) Retreat back to H13. Missiles spawn.

Volunteer for we all Become.

AFTER RECEIVING SUPER HEXABUFF
CHLOE: Place a Lumilure next to WARE. Move one tile down, Flash to N20, then Bleeding Edge the projections twice.

Bauhaus uses a Warp Ring to zip to D18 then walks to E23 and Hacks the Terminal.

<ROUND 343>

Keane threatens Blacklight! He absolutely must get Sakura out of the house before the fridge grows arms and suplexes her into the nearest sun! Sakura, more than capable of standing on her own, dismisses Keane's request to carry her.

SAKURA: I-I'm more than capable of walking on my own, t-thanks!
SAKURA: A-As for this guy...

Though Sakura doesn't have a weapon, she's still in possession of fairly powerful lightning magic. Arcs of lightning jump between the fingers of her right hand, exuding confidence that betrays the fact that she was roundhouse kicked by a cake earlier. That false confidence is bopped with crowbars as Blacklight reveals the contents of the Codex Proelium to her. This place really is secure... but there's only one person here to stop her escape today!

SAKURA: W-We can totally take him, r-right?
SAKURA: I-I don't care if this place is s-some kind of stronghold! Y-You're not holding me here against my will!
SAKURA: And b-besides... y-you're all alone! Y-You couldn't stop us, e-even if you tried!
SAKURA: It's two a-against one!

So, should the two of them leave? Do they dare face off against Blacklight?

SAKURA: Keane! D-Do you have a plan?
SAKURA: I-I'm... not exactly a master of battle tactics, s-so...

---

Hannah hands Nia a delicious drink of instant death. Nia swishes the vial of poison around in her hands, being extra careful to resist her munchies and not drink it. Swirl, swirl. It's for the Butterfly, but it needs an infusion of Ordo in order for it to actually be effective. Could she handle that much?

NIA: Hmm...
NIA: Yeah, I probably could do that.
NIA: And don't worry- I don't know how Ordo works, either!~
NIA: Just believe in Nia though, and everything will be alright!

While Hannah probably hopes to some deity that Nia doesn't kill someone, Nia pulls out her precious Luminous Rose. Setting the poison bottle out in front of the couch, she sits cross-legged upon the floor. She plants the rose in the air just above the vial, a luminous force suspending the rose in the air. Nia cups her hands below the rose, her icy hair billowing in a mysterious updraft. Like a crystal, Nia's entire body lights up, casting prismatic refractions across the room.

Ice particles float from Nia's body up towards the rose, landing in the bloom itself. Condensation forms along the pale petals of the rose, dripping down the stem. Dozens of droplets fall into Nia's cupped hands, creating a tiny little pool of pure, undistilled Ordo. The rose then flutters back into Nia's trinket slot, and her glowing ceases.

NIA: Okay! Now to...
NIA: Ah, wait. The bottle's still closed, and my hands are full.
NIA: One sec!

Nia pulls her cupped hands to her mouth, slurping the pure Ordo. Cheeks full and hands empty, she's free to pop open the poison vial. She spits her Ordo-infused payload into the bottle. The lid is then plopped back into place, and the poison violently shook much like a soda can. Pleased with herself, Nia returns the vial to Hannah.

NIA: Bon appetite!
NIA: Except don't drink it! You'll die, and it has my spit in it!
NIA: That'd be totally weird if you drank my spit, right?
NIA: Anyway, need anything else?
NIA: It's not like I'm doing anything. Wanna like... play something? Watch a movie?
NIA: ...Maybe not watch a movie since y'know, but the idea still stands!

Nia is bored. A dangerous situation for anyone within fifty meters. Should Hannah play along, or does she have more important matters to attend to?

---

JOE attempts to siphon Flux from the Sphere. With a straw. He stabs the straw into the sphere, and like anyone would do with a straw, he takes a sip! What could possibly go wrong? 25 Flux is cleanly siphoned from the Sphere- it's a gold mine! Of red! A ruby mine? A blood bank? The Seekers that attempt to claw at him bounce off of his impressive AC! What could stop him now?

...Something surges through the straw, into his mouth. Directly down into his throat.

...ARE Y<0>U M<0>CKING ME?

Six insectile legs punch from JOE's chest, his head twisting off and bursting into a hideous eyeball. The skin is flayed from his body, forming into horrific wings covered in gore. Needless to say, JOE has perished. The newly formed JOE Exhibition takes off to join the battle at the Heart of the Sphere! JOE respawns somewhere with a surprising lack of straws. At least he gets to keep the Flux.

JOE then heads off to do some crafting! He throws together a variety of materials to create 3 Gre-Blades, then slaps together another batch of materials to make a... "status cleanse" item! It's promptly named The Death Cure. Though, is putting Thyme Matter and Fluxblood in the mix the best idea? Probably not, but who cares???

---

Bergilmir continues to talk down to the Butterfly. If the Butterfly was truly as ultimate as it claimed it was, why do so many of its creations turn against it?

WARE: As if that would happen were it wholly under my control.
WARE: I cannot make use of Descendancy, but the vessel can.
WARE: No matter what carrots I offer, what sticks I provide, the vessel resists.
WARE: And while I could stem the vessel's control, a Descendant's power comes from their creativity. To stamp that out would be to stamp out its usefulness.
WARE: Such a fickle power it is. Not that you would understand.

In addition, if the Butterfly keeps failing in this fashion, is it really as omnipotent as it claims? Perhaps it's weakening itself willingly for theatrics.

WARE: Trust in that we've been wholeheartedly trying to extinguish your flame.
WARE: Perhaps I am not as omnipotent as I say.
WARE: However, I am the product of an omnipotent god. I could not hope to match the creator's majesty.
WARE: In comparison to you, I am a shining star of knowledge in the callous void of Oblivion.
WARE: In addition, the Reunion must be witnessed.
WARE: HIS RETURN SHALL BE CELEBRATED WITH A DANCE <0>F BL<0><0>D AND DEATH. Y<0>UR C<0>RPSES WILL MAKE A FINE <0>FFERING.

...Ah. That's pleasant.

---

Lato observes smol Lato. Perhaps these smol fonts can act as a rudimentary surveillance system? Marron bobs her head, already having begun mass production of Fumo Lato's. A pile of ten of them surround Lato herself. Marron then pulls out a high explosive grenade, ruthlessly cuts open a Fumo Lato, and shoves the bomb in there before sewing them back up.

MARRON: I guess surveillance works, but I was also thinking it'd be cool if they exploded upon contact with the enemy.
MARRON: They're plushies, so I think this is ethical! Right?
MARRON: ...If you want one without a grenade, you can commission one if you'd like!
MARRON: Anyway, squadron one! Move out!

The army of ten Latos jump into the sewers, wearing little floaties to navigate the waste waters of the passageways below. They begin to spread out, investigating the sewer system to the best of their ability. For the most part, it seems that the sewers are devoid of threats. Is it really possible that all of the Iti have been recalled to the Sphere? This theory is immediately disproven when a small horde of Seekers barrels onto a Fumo Lato, detonating it. The enclosed space causes the resultant shockwave to be far more lethal than it really should be.

MARRON: Uh... I think there's probably something living down here.
MARRON: Far as I can tell, there's more Seekers coming down that hallway where the plush went boom. Mostly just Seekers, in fact.
MARRON: What do you figure's the cause? Migration? Bilequeens? Thyme matter pools? Secret nest?
MARRON: I dunno. I'll send more plushies that way if you want.

More Lato's are produced up on the surface. She'll be able to send another army soon. So, what's the plan? Move immediately towards the source of the Iti? Secure other pathways? Suicide charge with the Fumo Latos? So many options!

---

Alicia spites the name of art itself. There's no way she can convey that Morbius is apparently artless garbage. While Mari whole-heartedly disagrees, she knows in her heart that there's no way she can talk sense into someone so far gone. Inside her mind, she shifts Alicia's name from the "undecided" board to the board labelled "really dumb and i should speak to them slowly with simple words". Anyway, Alicia is Alicia. An immutable law.

MARI: And I am Mari Elem. Technically Chloe's older sister.
MARI: It's... complicated. Certainly nothing you'd understand, anyway.[/color]

Alicia goes on to explain that she's here just to cheer on the party during the final battle. In addition, her magic's been acting weird the past few days, and she'd like to ask if someone's ruined the concept of ice while she was away. Nia exists intensely from the comfort of her couch.

MARI: Uh, I guess it's good to have you?
MARI: Really, this place is stupid dangerous, so I have no idea why you'd come, but whatever.
MARI: Also, not a mage. Unless your lore setting counts "technomancy" as a thing. If anyone knows a thing about the fundamentals of magic being odd, it might be like, Nia or-[/color]

Vwoomp! A hole opens up beneath Mari, where she is banished to the battlefield. A shame. They were having such a nice little chat. Down a map, Mari slams into the ground and ragdolls. Auth meanwhile, talks down to WARE. Round four, and the thymium god has barely reached into the eternal abyss that is the party's unyielding bullgorilla.

WARE: ...It's round ten, dipgorilla. Soon to be round eleven.
WARE: But tell me. What is this crucial element that I supposedly lack?
WARE: Suicidal overconfidence? Unwavering idiocy? Temmie flakes?
WARE: If anything, we are blessed that we are not as cursed as you.

...Also, where'd Nana go?

WARE: Oh, Nana? She's been taken over by another Eliti.
WARE: ...Which is what we'd like to say, but the true answer is that we right clicked her and saved her to our PC.
WARE: She'll remain there, forever. As part of the blockchain.
WARE: A truly detestable fate.

I can't believe the Chaos Butterfly is into crypto. The monster!

---

Venia undeletes Monika.chr. Crossing out line ASSET_DATA_CORRUPTED in the patch notes, the game is completely ASSET_DATA_CORRUPTED. Erm, I meant ASSET_DATA_CORRUPTED. Oh dear. In a fit, one of the Ohmnics falls to their knees. They spasm and froth as they fall to the floor, thyme matter spewing from their maw as a feminine hand shoots from their mouth. Pen in hand, ever so gently, the arm sweeps down. The body unzips and falls apart, much like an unoccupied fursuit.

From the mechanical viscera, a young woman in a school uniform steps out. She brushes some thyme matter off her skirt and straightens her ribbon. A notebook manifests in her left hand, with a familiar pen in her right. She turns to the ASSET_DATA_CORRUPTED, waving.

MONIKA: Hello? Can you hear me?
MONIKA: Hmm... well, you can't. It's a text-based medium. So... can you read me? Yes? Good!
MONIKA: You're a lucky one, Tazz!
MONIKA: Normally, Creation would never authorize such an action, but to assault Creation directly...
MONIKA: Well, I'm happy just to have a reason to step out for a bit!

Mystical glyphs appear in her notebook- the laws of this world! With quick flicks of her pen, the strands of energy binding her to them are crossed out and severed.

MONIKA: And... thank you for the new toy! I've never seen anything quite like it!
MONIKA: The "Patch Note Pen", was it? Creation will probably love this!

Armed with the Patch Note Pen, Monika will write a poem of the enemy's woe! Welcome her back to the field, and perhaps make use of her devastating abilities to turn the tide of the battle! Perhaps you can stack up some Protoenergy? You remember that, right? Infinite power for the price of a few random spirits! What could possibly go wrong with Monika at the helm? Nothing, probably. She has Creation on her side. She'll be fine this time.

Ah, also. Venia places in an order for three Pancreas and a Smash Ball. The items are delivered. Yung Venuz is even king enough to provide three Panaceas with the order of the pancreas. The triad of pancreas are still fresh, harvested from... someone. Or uh, three someones. What has she done...?

---

<HEART OF THE SPHERE, ROUND 11>
Well, uh. Be VERY CAREFUL with WARE's current maneuver. Just... don't do any excessive over-planning, okay? Interweaving actions may be painful, so try and make sure you have a good reason to do it this time. Also, pain. Pain everywhere. Have fun!

RP for 344:

QUOTE (engie @ Aug 28 2022, 02:02 PM)

House Blacklight doesn't have a good answer for Sakura, so he just shrugs at her. "I genuinely couldn't tell you. The decisions made by some people here are surprisingly lacking in intelligence. Speaking of which..." He promptly rounds on Keane. It's pretty easy to tell that whatever Blacklight is thinking, it's far from positive. A staff manifests in his right hand, one with an obsidian-black metal shaft and some strange crystal mounted at the top. Looking into that crystal is like trying to peer into the vast emptiness of the space between worlds... "I do not know if meeting Sakura has somehow instantly obliterated your braincells, or if you are always this misinformed and intellectually lacking. What I can tell you is this: The house is the opposite of a deathtrap. Codex Proelium, Battle 3-12." An array of silhouette-like shadows appear around and within the household, doing their best to concisely mimic the events of the first assault upon the house. In the interests of time, Blacklight doesn't let that play out too long. "Codex Proelium, Battle 5-15." Again with the massed darkness. Of special note is that it contains one of the most spectacular scenes, the utter obliteration of the Scrap Metal Gestalt. Blacklight lets the scene freeze there for a time as he continues his talking. "It is not a deathtrap. It is a battle-hardened fortress. The Spherebreakers are the only force that has been able to claim this house from another faction, and it has remained theirs during the entire stay here. Oddities aside, this truly is the safest place for Sakura to remain until further notice." A pause, then a sigh as the silhouettes crumble and vanish. The staff is still there, though. He's still ready in case the prompting didn't sufficiently convince present company. "I do not want to have to press the matter further. Let's find something more constructive to do instead, shall we?"

Keane steps back slightly as he witnesses the demise of the Gestalt through a shadow-based medium. He's not quite shaken in his conviction to free Sakura from house arrest, but is he really willing to anger the Spherebreakers- the people he's literally helping kill a god?

Yes. The answer is yes. Keane is a complete ditz.

KEANE: "Misinformed and intellectually lacking"? Jeez, you sound like my dad.
KEANE: I'll have you know I am in full command of my vast intellectual capabilitires.
KEANE:
KEANE: Capabilities.
KEANE: Fuck.

KEANE: Alright, I'll concede that this house is more of a stronghold than a deathtrap, but that doesn't change my stance.
KEANE: The princess wants out of this place. Who am I to refuse her call for aid?

Sakura then expresses a desire for battle tactics, something Keane is happy to oblige with.

KEANE: Not to worry! I've got a foolproof three-step plan!
KEANE: Step one: GEDDEM, BOYS

The air froths into a glitchy mist as the GEDDEMBOYSENING commences, bursts of grey heralding the manifestation of Keane timeclones around Blacklight, appearing much in the same manner as the member of the Felt known as Eggs. You know, from Homestuck. The timeclones promptly dogpile Blacklight, whose mental processes are probably devolving into "I HATE TIME TRAVEL I HATE TIME TRAVEL I HATE TIME TRAVEL" right about now.

Does Keane fight fairly? No! Are at least half of these time-clones doomed? Probably! Will this massive and irresponsible display of time travel and paradoxes attract some clowns? Depends on if there are any still surviving! Regardless, this maneuver makes enough space for Keane to get to the next part of his plan-

KEANE: Step two: Time to ditch!

Beckoning for Sakura to follow, Keane Prime slips away from the combat into the main hall and kicks open the main door, attempting to escape to the Chairian Outskirts with the princess in tow.

---

Battle for 344:

Keane warps over to S25, then pops Skipback, summoning the finest timeclone he's ever created... Chronokeane. We'll call them Cheane for short.

Anyway, Cheane then jaunts to X20 and throws a Phoenix Up at Kalis2 with enough force to crush the can and squirt all the delicious phoenix soda directly into their mouth. They wince, popping Keane's special and applying Enlightened to Kalis2.

CHEANE: Sorry! That looked like it hurt...
CHEANE: As penance, how 'bout I volunteer for that big mutation move?

Cheane- aka Future Keane- then volunteers for We All Become, and fires on Wolf Of Varying Goodness.

Daskter moves to L10.
Summons Vessel: Physician below him.
Tactic: All-Out
attack type: Ice
Weak: 20% Crush, 20% Pierc
Resist: 30% Dark, 30% Light

In The Final

Adria glances directly at Keane and sighs.

ADRIA: ...Okay then.

After the EN Glyph is activated (and making sure she doesn't interrupt anyone's actions), Adria moves to (J11), Nanomend Duct Tapes Auth and swapping it with Diligence (also +1 to Adria's Lost in Reflections), then throws a Lesser Evil at him, before Basic Attacking Malice2.

---

Respite

Hannah slips the Ordovenom into the inventory after receiving it from Nia. She smiles.

HANNAH: Thanks, Nia! I'll make you something tasty later, if I get the chance.

She hops onto the couch of her own volition this time. She tries to relax, but... now that she's next to Nia, Hannah has the thing on her mind.

HANNAH: ...D'you think that, y'know, me and Ven could, um, forgive each other?
HANNAH: I mean, I know I said some... awful peck to her... and the whole regicide thing too. I probably damned her to the eventual animosity of Maria, too...
HANNAH: I-I'm just... kinda worried, I guess?

While she's doing that, Hannah's shadow detaches from her body again, morphing into that familiar form of hers. It then scoots herself next to Omorika, who's down for the count. She looks over her, trying to pinpoint any injuries. She also decides to holler over to Chi.

HANNAH: Oi, Chi, c'mere. Omo needs some help.

---

keane

Keane kicks the door as hard as he can. He succeeds in opening it, only to find none other than Adria standing right in front of it, as if patiently waiting for the duo. She, herself, is likely a Timeclone. She appears both annoyed and disappointed.

ADRIA: No. Bad. Stop that.

She baps Keane on the head with a newspaper. Simultaneously, all the Keanes assailing Blacklight also find them bapped by a newspaper. When they recover from that, they'll probably notice Blacklight standing 10 feet to their right. Blacklight has been moved. Something might tick Keane off that maybe he shouldn't mess with the lady right in front of him.

Adria tries SO HARD not to insult Keane, she's that irritated.

ADRIA: What were you thinking? You should've known this wouldn't end as you intended, not by a long shot.
ADRIA: We are fighting what is clearly the biggest immediate threat to this planet right now, and this is what you spend your energy on? A dozen or so inferior Timeclones to beat up an ally?
ADRIA: Ugh...

She glances at Sakura. Something clicks in her head. Her annoyance suddenly turns to... amusement.

ADRIA: ...Oh, it's like that! How romantic!~
ADRIA: I support your relationship!

The amusement swaps to disdain for Sakura.

ADRIA: Though, do note I haven't forgiven a certain someone for attempting to harm my niece. Be glad it was as ineffective as said attempt was.

She continues looking at Sakura. Then to Keane. Then, likely expecting an answer from Blacklight and nobody else, crosses one arm and rests the other arm between that arm and her head.

ADRIA: ...Though, question, why is this girl even here in the first place?

[BATTLE - Tentative]
After Echoss, apparently, and before Venia:

MainJOE Swift Terraforms Y26 into a ... something..., The Update Terminal into Farmland (because why not. This also refreshes Justitia and [Redacted])[1 tile discretionary for other things], then moves (due to the teleport from the glyph that got used) to S17, and basic attacks Devotee2.

Mirror!JOE buys a third and final level in manabloom, sacrifices 10 HP to Overgrowth for one more buff level, and swift-terraforms a hole in all 4 doors in range, then uses Blockmelon for a triple-layered divine shield!



[WORLD]
[Craft1]
Right, so, Knowledgeable! JOE takes that prepared Hivemind Regalia+ from earlier and looks through the inventory for something to combine it with, until he finds the Primal Baubles. They do have crafting charges, and there's nothing keeping them from being used as material for a consumable rather than equip! They're also already a magic-enhancing modular... thing! After some thought, JOE doesn't have any good ideas for how to incorporate Thyme Matter, Fluxblood or other infinite-supply things into this, so One quick Infusion later, the Baubles are charged with mystical knowledge and ready for use.

[Craft2]
Moving on, what else do we need... Mana damage which works on Hallucinations would be nice, and Elemental Sniper shots are limited. So, JOE takes some Fresh Manablooms and plants them in the Will Of The Crops, using his control over the living weapon to reshape the Manablooms into something approximating throwing darts- growing them around a small core of Durasteel to change the balance and weight of the weapon, as manablooms aren't exactly the densest of plants. Now, the darts have to be attuned to the proper mana wavelength magibabble something something make them work on hallucinations, so he carves several crude wooden dummies out of oak, treating the wood for one of them with fluxblood mixed with mana-infused water from some raindrop crystals. After tossing the darts at the dummies (and repairing them) repeatedly, the plants, bolstered by JOEs loosely-defined influence, adapt to use Flux as a signal for what they can steal Mana from.
The darts are almost ready- but not quite ready. Optimised for taking Mana from Entropic organisms, sure... But they need to take them from organisms which aren't real, and that's the kicker, see. It's pretty tough to make something not real- if you break it, it's still real, just broken. Luckily, JOE has just the idea. at CO27, at the Sky Labs, is a canister of Void Liquid-
wait Void Liquid doesn't work on Organic Material.
Heck.
...
...
after several more minutes of thinking, JOE has a Replacement Idea! he heads to the VoidWell in Zone 0, ties the darts handles with Silkweed, and carefully lowers the resulting bundle of darts down to the point where it vanishes (but the handle bit doesn't) before retrieving the darts. Then, he takes the resulting signal runes and throws Them into the Void Liquid Canister! Now that the tip of the darts no longer exists, they can drain mana from things that don't exist, and it's already optimised for Fluxy hallucinations. Perfect!


[Flux]
Then, JOE heads back to the sphere, where he is totally not making fun of the obviously-false idea of entropy. Maybe he shouldn't've used a straw... Nah, that's crazy talk. Straws are old reliable... ooh, he knows what to do! After getting another straw, he casts Mirror Image and has the mirror image suck more flux out of the sphere! He then coup de grace's the image as soon as it starts to transform, harvests the flux from its demanifesting(?) lungs(?) in a bucket , rinse, repeat!

Shitpost Johnson speaks once more to Chloe, granting her a whole crate of Iti Monster EnergyTM. (He requests Chloe to gather credits)

JOHNSON: GO
JOHNSON: GO PARTICIPATE IN CAPITALISM FOR ME
JOHNSON: THIS HOT PRODUCT WON'T SELL BY ITSELF
JOHNSON: JEFF BEZOS IF YOU'RE UP THERE ARE YOU PROUD

In the meantime, Destiny tosses the "Banned from Twitch" and Skynet Suboti to Nia to upgrade.

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

BATTLE
Move to D21, WB up to C15 then back down to C16, Unavoidable Technique attack Predator3 (unless Whirling Blades entirely misses, then Weakness Technique), retreat to D19 and eat a Princess Special.

Battle: Hoo boy

Bass uses the legendary GO FIRST, and Activates the EN Glyph! He then moves to G3 and spawns a Light Shade of himself at F3.

Echoss uses the [REDACTED] on Devotee6, [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [THE JOKE IS TERRIBLE] and just like that, it's dealt with. He then uses the Remote Airship Controller again, still with his Enlightened10 to add a 1.5x effectiveness to basically everything. He uses the Stratoshield on himself, set to Earth Element, and then uses the Twin Railcannons at Predator2. He then moves to G6, exploits Alter Reality to switch Enlightened to Empowered, and shoots Predator2 thanks to having Wallhack from Living Imagery. Preadtor2, being in a cramped vent, cannot dodge and thus experiences an Exact Lethal even on minrolls for all hits. ((15*1.5*.8) + (15*1.5*.8) + (8*1.5-4) + (8*1.5-4) + (8*1.5-4) = 18 + 18 +8 + 8 + 8 = 36 + 24 = 60, the exact number of HP the Predator has... All assuming the lowest possible damage rolls.)

Zahlia uses an Apothacary's Remedy to get rid of their DoTs, then uses her last Wu Xing charge at E4, combined with her natural movement, to brazenly warp all the way to P8. She then, after dozens of turns at full SP, activates Si-Op, obliterating Predator5 with Light Damage from inside the walls instantly. She retreats to Q10 immediately thereafter and gives Vulcan a Blessing from her Flux Mutation-granted Pale Promise. She also activates Riposte, figuring that the best defense in the absence of any Divine Shields will be Countering and Dodging.

Maple noms a Holy Dew to cure Infection, moves to H3 and stabs the Harmonizer dead. In case of emergency failure to kill, she uses an Elemental Blaster set to Ice to finish the job.

Venia tactically waits for JOE's and Keane's actions, then uses three special shoves and Hope Rides Eternal to force Bileprincess3 into whichever wall JOE has opened for her. She then uses the remaining three shoves to drag Devotee5 to T20, IE where the Bileprincess was and dead in the Lethal Zone. She briefly stands at V22 and tosses a Cinderfruit to break the divine shield, then Pow Hammer's the Devotee via the Bonus Action granted by her Blessing (bypassing the need to pay 50% more), ending her actual movement at X23-allowing her to take a regular shot at the Wolf (with StubbornOrdo and Empowered4 for 1.8 boost total) before retreating to Y22 and safety.

"Oh good grief this is absolute mayhem." Venia mutters. "SPHEREBREAKERS! RALLY! We have fought worse and won! Keep up pressure on the Eliti! Watch where you're standing and what you're doing!"

The Sapsqueal Behemoth-the Big Pig, if you would-stands perfectly still and Guards. They are a brick house (nana na na na naaah), and the Big Bad Wolf's gonna have trouble huffing, puffing, and blowing this house down.

Maria noms a Holy Dew to get rid of her nasty flu, then aims her Basic Attack-and every hit-directly at Predator4, freezing and burning it and also probably not doing much damage at all but it's incapacitated by being frozen solid so it doesn't matter.

"I will destroy your pathetic pants, weirdo fake dog and you other weirdo fiends! I'm the master of capitalism, Magical Sparkly Princess Maria! I have defeated Snakes and Ladders Easy Mode, for real! I own Chairheir Studios and I know for a fact you are, uh, con-tract-u-ally ob-lee-gate-ed, to lose, and if you don't I'll fire you all for violatin' your contract! Mister Chaos said soooooo!" Maria yells.

... Mr. Krabs, realizing an imminent problem, abruptly appears in front of Crimson Hound Hunter with 20 credits (courtesy of the party and not his own stash, certainly) and one note-"80 MORE IF YOU KEEP YOUR MOUTH AT A PG RATING-NO CURSING."

Chloe waits for Teag to move, then moves to J23. She uses Heroine's Hour on Teag to cut into the potential damage value Teag could get. She then uses 2 of her Echo to restore 10 MP, activates Sol, and swings at WARE, intending to Blind and do some minor healing to WARE. She doesn't retreat. This attack triggers By Your Side, and also has Empowered10 and Fated Encounter to work with.

Monika... Uh. I guess this is more a suggestion given all? But she should step to S4 and uses Creation:Understanding on Irongutta, removing his Infection, healing 30 HP, and giving him Empowered6, then cast "spell_debug_spawnentity(obj_enemy_creationspirit)".

Nana waits for Irongutta to act, and then moves into N4, gives him Focused6 and Lucky12 with Multitype Darts, then retreats to N3. And then noms a Panacera.

Droplet noms a Panacera and moves to Q8. She scythes down the Large Door, which doesn't really change much for Dissolution but changes a lot for everyone on the other side. She also Inspires Zahlia, taking Bauhaus off the list. She retreats to P10.

Cypress waits for Monika and moves to T4, using Pinning Shot to ping Dissolution... And marks her for a +45% damage boost next round for Cypress. And also uses System Shock to apply Mentblight4.

Xavier waits for Nidra-As-Mari and Cypress to move, then uses Abyssal Blade and combos into a Southeast-facing basic attack to hopefully kill the Bileprincess in one go. This spawns the Bileprincess'es payload in a predictable fashion. He then retreats to V3, as his movement has teleport and that includes his retreat. His Godhands accordingly rearrange themselves; Godhand4 now occupies X5, Godhand3 occupies V5, and Godhand2 is at U3. Godhands 4 and 3 then immediately Clap the Projection on W5, instantly killing it. Godhand3 retreats to V4, protecting Godhand3 and 4 from Lonesome, and then crushes a Purifiction in a Bottle to get rid of the Infection. Godhand4, in turn, utilizes a Warp Ring to drag the Projection on W7 to W6 instead-IE, in the killzone of Silent Bullet.

Vulcan waits for Devotee2 to die and for Kalis2 and Calibri to take their actions, then moves to Q9 and expends her Ordo to move CHH to U17, deliberately hitting nothing other than Devotee2's corpse with the damage. (In case of no Devotee death, Range 1 and hitting the Devotee with the Glitch damage works.) She then uses Rosen Oath to regain her HP and MP and Ordo again... And noms a Panacera to get rid of Infection.

Marron steps to D20 and puts her Needles through the head of Ohmnic3. Simple as that!

Mari-As-Nidra swivels to C21, uses the Sheep Counter to put themselves to sleep, uses Soft Chime:Preserverence to give everyone 12 Bonus SHP at the cost of 3 Melody, passes her Pillow to Destiny, and finally Guards, having moved a little too far to Meditate.

Any NPC who I haven't covered and hasn't used their item action will use their item action, regardless of all else, to purge their Infection, if they have it.

---

House

Maria, who's actual physical location is still squarely safe within the house with Chaos, immediately notices the commotion of Keane trying to leave. Now, she only very vaugely knows that the girl on the couch (that she hadn't been paying attention to because she was too busy being a magical girl in a sphere) had been put here because she was being naughty and therefore wasn't to leave, but also knew that the giant vamprobilitant would probably be able to punt her away with little difficulty if he was truly bent upon 'rescuing' her.

Fortunately she had a trump card.

"MISTER CHAOS!" She shouts. "Mister Chaos, the tall hoof feet person and the naughty girl are, are, they're trying to escape time out!" She says.