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Owner	Pose
Staren	EARLIER, IN HESINCA'S LAB:     "So if you don't help us build the doomsday device, I pull this lever and you fall into the shark tank, dood."     Staren looks down at the line in the floor of her cage where it presumably opens. "...The shark tank without any sharks in it because the budget was spent on a block puzzle instead?"     "I'm just following instructions, dood." A BIT LESS EARLIER:     Staren shouts instructions from her cage, the floor of which is covered in a mess of electrical components she's assembling. "You there! Pick up the end of that conduit! Yes, that one! Good, now plug it into the connector on your right..." ZAP! "NO, YOUR RIGHT! You there! Get me a sandwich. And you..."     The camera pans past the massive, half-assembled machine, only some of which is visible from the top of the gantry and the adjoining catwalk which Princess Wiremu's cage has been moved to, and keeps panning, past a large open crate labeled        DISCOUNT DAN'S DISCOUNT DOOMSDAY DEVICES GUARUNTEED TO WORK OR NO             ...and continues panning over to the prinny turning back and forth holding the swivel fan that's broken and doesn't swivel anymore. It stops as it's pointed at. "Dood?" ... "Keep doing what you're doing."     Swivel Function Prinny, That Is, Prinny Who Is Replacing A Broken Function And Not Even An Entire Appliance sighs, takes a breath, and then picks up the fan again to resume turning it back and forth.
Staren	STILL LESS EARLIER:     The towering machine, menacing with cables running around it, an ominous electronic hum, and lights blinking in arcane patterns indicating uncertain information for unclear purpose, is finished. Staren smiles and points dramatically. "Alright. THROW ZE SVITCH!"     The assembled prinnies (except Swivel Function Prinny) all rush over at once, crowding around the massive knife switch, climbing over eachother and pushing eachother out of the way. "I got it, dood!" "No, I got it!" "Demon Lord Hesinca had me on ottoman duty for a month and her legs can't even use an ottoman! It's my turn to do something cool dood!" "Well she put ME on scarecrow duty, dood!" "...But we don't have any fields." "I've been standing out in the parking lot for two months, dood! She forgot I was there until she called us all in for this dungeon!"     The melee turns into a fight cloud. Eventually, a dejected Assist Mode Prinny walks in, ignoring its surroundings until it suddenly notices the switch it's passing. "Ooh, a switch! You'll find many switches throughout the dungeon, pulling them will usually allow you to proceed in some way!" It grabs the switch and pulls. "For example, this one... nnngh... this... one..."     Swivel Function Prinny finally abandons its post to run over and help. There is a satisfying KA-CHUNK noise, the other prinnies stop fighting to stare, and the lights in the room dim as the machine makes an ominous whine, parts of it begin to shake, and the lights blink in a noticeably different but still indecipherable pattern.     After several seconds there is a loud PEW noise, like an energy weapon firing, and then the machine goes still, lights turning off. The room lights brighten again. "This one, um... I don't know what this switch does, dood! Sometimes it won't be obvious. After pulling a switch, try revisiting areas of the dungeon you've previously explored looking for any changes, dood!" "Did we destroy the world, dood?"     Staren walks over to the stairs haltingly (the bars were too far apart to actually hold her) and makes it down one step before deciding to take the damn boots off and walk normally. It still takes awkwardly long to undignified-ly hurry down the flights of steps as the prinnies gather at the edge of the catwalk, some following after her.     Eventually, she comes to the bottom of the device, where a distinctly Giant Ray Gun-Looking part of the machine is aimed at a target on the floor. "What kind of doomsday device is this, dood?"     "What? No, this isn't the doomsday device." Staren walks out onto the target and bends over to pick up the plate with her sandwich on it. "This was just to keep you all busy so you didn't mess it up." She takes a bite with a soft crunch and chews, nodding and smiling slightly in satisfaction. "Also I wanted a hot sandwich and this toasted it *perfectly.* Good job!"     "But you were supposed to help build a doomsday device, dood!"     "I did! It's up in my cage." The camera pans up to where all the prinnies have turned around to look at Staren's cage. A much smaller device, still larger than a refridgerator and with lots of lights and controls on it, sits freshly-assembled, plugged into a couple of the heavy cables running here and there across the room.     "Sometimes, you may have to pull more than one lever to proceed, dood! That's why you should pull every lever you find!"     The camera pans over to where Assist Mode Prinny is reaching for the lever Staren was being threatened with earlier.     "Waitwaitwaitwait no dood!" "Don't pull that lever dood!" and a chorus of similar cries emit from the crowd. Staren runs off while they're distracted.
Hesinca	It's been a tough series of battles, challenges, puzzles, miniboss encounters, and for some reason a quiz show. But the group has, at long last after several grueling minutes, arrived at the top floor of the tower. It's time to face the Dark Overlord and rescue the princess. "Hah, you fools are too late!" calls the Dark Overlord as they enter the tower's top chamber. "I have already forced Princess Wiremu to build me a doomsday device!" Indeed, a couple of the prinnies are team-lifting it out of the cage as she speaks. "And now I have no further use for her! Farewell, heroes, you'll never stop me before I activate the Doomsday Device!" And with that, Hesinca pulls a glowing floor tile from her inventory, throws it on the ground, and steps onto it. She disappears, going somewhere else, and leaving the room empty. Well, empty besides the conspicuous and explicitly-hat-labeled Vendor Prinny and Save Point Prinny, and the Assist Mode Prinny and Difficulty Selection Prinny and the Hint Prinny and the Make Sure The Group Doesn't Get Stuck on Door Paralysis Prinny. And all of you. And the cage that was holding Staren, which has bars far enough apart that someone could just squeeze through it. And the control panel for the dungeon, and the glowing floor tile which is still there, and the Trial of Wisdom Prinny who has just now gotten himself free from the block-pushing puzzle he was stuck in earlier while looking for tea. Yeah, aside from all of that, empty. The room exudes 'antechamber before the final boss' energy. Presumably things will start going down once the group steps on that ominous glowing floor tile, so make sure you're ready.
Staren	NOW:     Staren comes into the room through a different door than the party, still carrying her boots in her hand and annoyed that she's gone in a circle. How is this place such a maze?! She even fooled my automap... no wonder a prinny got lost in the block puzzle... But less annoyed to realize that she's found the party!     "Oh, uh, hey! Um, I got away, but not before building a weather control device that could plunge the tri-state area into eternal snow! ...Or be used to make sure it's always perfect growing weather for crops! The, the potential is there! I couldn't just throw that away, um..."     Staren looks around awkwardly. "...Does this mean I've joined the party? Oh wait! I mean, uh," she holds the back of her hand to her forehead, clonks herself in the head with her boots and knocks her glasses off, then squats down and picks them up and puts them back on, then does that with her OTHER hand, "Fair heroes! You have rescued me! I don't know how I can ever repay you -- but, y'know, if you want eternal life or lots of guns you can just ask, you don't need to rescue me for that -- but your quest is not yet over, for now we must stop the evil Demon Lord Hesinca from activating the doomsday device!"     After looking off in another direction dramatically while speaking, she moves her eyes to look at the party and see how they're reacting.
Ishirou	I4 reaches the top, who is not under extra damage from the last time they were here because save points are bullshit and are fake.  Still dressed in the 'hero's outfit' including a shiny sword that he'd likely never use.  He looks like he's stepped out of Dragon Quest, through no fault of his own.  This is, of course, not important as the Dark Overlord reveals that she can not be stopped, drops down her escape, and steps onto it.   "So wait, Staren actually made a real doomsday device..?" he asks before Staren comes in to explain that she made a doomsday device.  I4 slaps his forehead, head buried into his hands.  He remains in this position the entire time she gives them a speech, before trying not to scream into his hands.  Which he does anyway, out of frustration.   "I thought this was supposed to be a game, why would you actually do that!  What the crap is actually wrong with you?  Like, this was supposed to be light-hearted right?  Fun right?  Stopping a literal demon from literally ruining the world isn't fun!" He sighs, shoulders dropping, and walks towards the glowing panel.  "Great, now I get to get my ass beat again."
Blemishine	After many TRIALS and TRIBULATIONS and ENEMY RECRUITMENTS THAT MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE BEEN SECRETS, they've all finally reached their destination, with the party's suspiciously accurate paladin stand-in happily taking the helm.     Complete with coming ready to point her sword at Dark Overlord Hesinca as they bust into the tippy top of the tower. "...! We didn't get here fast enough!?" Unfortunately, there's absolutely nothing Blemishine or anybody else could have done to stop the overlord's grand escape, or the prinnies carting out the terrible(?) device. "Wait, get back here!"     Lowering her weapon to place it back at her side, she's somewhere between 'still in character' and 'legitimately surprised' as they're left with the not-so-empty room. "Wow, all her help /really/ is dedicated...and were they doing everything down in the dungeon from up here? That's some amazing tech work, actually...! These little guys are actually a lot more capable than they look, aren't they?" After some muffling to herself under her breath, the entrance of PRINCESS WIREMU eats up all her attention.     "A-Ahaha...don't worry about it, Princess! For someone like me, just ensuring you're safe is more than enough! We're glad to see you're okay." Back in character, in the same way that's so genuine you'd be hard pressed to tell it's any kind of acting. Nevermind the fact there wasn't actually any rescuing done. The knight takes a few steps forward to give I4 a few reassuring pats on the shoulder as he lets it all out.     "It's okay, I4." A few nods. "With all of us here, there's nothing to worry about. So let's put an end to all of this, and save...er, honestly maybe pretty rightful chewing out, for after we do!"     Naturally, she's coming right along for the final showdown. How unwise of her, to not bother with the Save Point Prinny. "And I'll protect you as best I can. Promise."
Staren	I4's chastising makes Princess Wiremu look away awkwardly like she's being told off by the teacher or her mom. Sad catgirl's ears splay and her tail droops. Before she can reply, though, Blemishine stays in-character!     A-Ahaha...don't worry about it, Princess! For someone like me, just ensuring you're safe is more than enough! We're glad to see you're okay.     Staren blushes as she lifts her head to look up at the paladin. "Ah... t-thanks...!"     It's okay, I4. With all of us here, there's nothing to worry about.     Staren nods and hurries over to pat I4 on the back too, "You won't get your ass beat! I believe in you! I believe in all of you! We've got heroes AND a Dark General AND a Science Princess! We'll do fine!"     There is something she's wondering, though. Staren approaches the Save Point Prinny. "Okay, I gotta know, how the hell does saving our game actually work?"     She'll hurry along after the explanation! Or be dragged off in the middle of it, either way.
Hesinca	"I remember your position really well dood, so if anyone asks I'll be able to tell them you were here," says Save Point Prinny, proudly. "For example, Staren dood, earlier you were down at the base of the tower with the rest of the party a while ago!" it says, with absolute certainty and absolute inaccuracy.
Staren	Staren stares at Save Point Prinny for a long moment.     She holds out her hand. A swivel fan warps into place, her fingers closing around the stand. She holds her other hand up to the controls, and a tiny sharp blade on a thin spidery armature extends out from under her sleeve and cuts off the swivel control knob.     She hands the now-broken fan to the prinny and walks back to the party.     Maybe spending time around prinnies just *gets* to you.
Hesinca	Past the glowing floor tile... and into the Pocket Netherworld. The interior space isn't *infinite*, exactly. It's about the size of a city block and no larger, for arbitrary universal reasons. But it is floating in what is essentially an infinite void. (What's past the edge? Jump off and find out. I dare you.) The space is roughly-square shaped, with a large open central area and various buildings and facilities around the outside. There's a movie theater, a restaurant, a motel (with parking spaces, but there's no roads here?), the spa... ... For reasons that will become apparent later, you shouldn't worry too much about the exact layout. For reasons that will become apparent immediately, you don't have time to take in the exact layout. Specifically, those immediate reasons are prinny-shaped, assembled in a large huddle in the center of the space, and there's a lot of them. Dozens. Hundreds. A thousand? "PRINNY SQUAD!" calls a banner-bearing prinny, waving his banner. "What are we, doods?" "Weak, dood!" "Squishy, dood..." "Kinda stupid, dood!" "Distracted... I guess, dood? Wasn't really paying attention-" "Comic relief fodder, dood." "I was gonna say squishy but some dood stole my answer..." "Yeah! But," the Banner-Bearing Prinny looks about, waving his banner. "Individually, we may be all those things, but in large groups, en masse, as an army, what are we, doods!?" "STILL ALL OF THOSE THINGS BUT SLIGHTLY LESS SO, DOOD!" is the nearly unanimous reply. "Yeah! And all of you elite doods, you're gonna learn how slightly less we really are!" says Banner Prinny, spinning around to face the party. "You may have come here expecting a multi-phase final boss fight that'll forge your bonds together like untempered ore alloyed together in a furnace of... a furnace of... hang on, dood." He pulls out a script. "... A multi phase final boss fight - yeah, said that part already... okay, a blazing furnace of trials and tribulations, emerging stronger together for your shared hardships. Got it, dood. From the top." He puts the script away, and gestures with his banner. "You may have come here expecting a multi-phase final boss fight that'll forge your bonds together like untempered ore alloyed together in a blazing furnace of trials and tribulations, emerging stronger together for your shared hardships - but you won't get past phase one, doods! PRINNY SQUAD, CHARGE!" And then the prinnies are upon the group. They may have no redeeming qualities, but there's simply a lot of them. If you take them down one at a time you'll be here all day, and you don't have all day, and also they all have knives.
Okada Izou	But dealing with mooks in large numbers is someone else's specialty.      A full moon out of nowhere. A shining silver crescent. It flashes into the sea of blue plush as the smell of smoke fills the room.      The Dark General is just there, standing in front of the party, wiping his blade on the ground. He drops the last of the cigarette from his mouth and stamps on it, grinding it into the ground.      "Don't make me laugh. You think this is where this ends?"      Izou's jacket swirls around him as he takes a step forward. The killing pressure is intense. For someone like Blemishine, who's been around swordsmen and intimately knows the blade, it's probably more than a little uncomfortable. For someone of weaker will, it's overwhelming - enough to freeze someone in their tracks.      That killing pressure is pointed squarely into the mess of Prinnies, right into where he's looking, and the backblow behind him as he walks into the mass is still *ridiculous*.      "Move," Izou says, "You're in my way."
Ishirou	I4 is descended upon by Prinnies!  I4 moves to avoid attacks, even as Blemishine moves to protect him.  He gives her a smile, glad that she's at least on his side here even though he's sure that this is likely some Concord trap.  Or plan within plan... A pause, is it really?  I4 isn't sure what to make of all of this, because it seems so haphazard, but at the same time could it just be some stupid double-blind bluff?  Is everything just smoke and mirrors?  Then the Prinny's fall flat in front of him.   "Probably not.." he admits to himself.  He holds a hand at the Prinny and attempts to use 'biohacking' on it, aiming to send it back into his peers and then cause it to do its 'biggest attack' on as many of them as it can.  He's not sure what it'd do, but it's better than trying to stab him instead.   This might also cause it to throw itself.
Blemishine	That--is an utterly absurd amount of prinnies. Right after she got done praising them, too! She's not able to enjoy the wonderfully interesting scenery as much as she otherwise would have because of it. "Heh!? They're going to make us go through a whole gauntlet before we get to her!? ...Alright, fine!"     She pauses on her initial step forward, blinking at the Dark General's dramatic reappearance. That wave of pressure hits her--and her surprise quickly shifts into a confident grin, and she continues onward. "Manslayer...! I4, I'll help cover you!"     As it turns out, a proper shield makes for a good bulwark against what's basically a tidal wave of little penguin doods wielding knifes. There's a lot of 'thunk'ing of their bodies bouncing off, and metallic 'clank'ing as blades bounce off--     And then she counterattacks, bracing back before shunting her shield forward and pushing ahead, to knock over a considerable amount of unfortunate mook prinnies and send even more barreling towards the flagbearer!     "Sorry to say, but your army is nothing compared to our party!"
Staren	It *is* kind of all a game, a play, but... After half a lifetime of feeling barely tolerated and like her allies will turn on her at any moment, even after a few months of everything turning around, it still hits differently to have the heroes show up and one of them say it was for *her*. Like she's *worth* saving. Someone who doesn't even know her is glad to see she's okay.     She's not going to start pulling Sarracenias, but Staren can maybe kinda see just a little of why the other princess *wants* to be kidnapped.     I4 is still being a sourpuss though. She hangs her head at his words (and what she heard Blemishine muttering about not believing the device works and justified scolding) as she trudges towards the base panel.     ...And soon has no time to think about all that, as she's besieged by prinnies! "Hey!" she drops the boots and reaches for her pistol and it's NOT THERE. Cuts tear her clothes, which are NOT armor, and nick her skin as she frantically dodges, narrowly avoiding far worse injury! "Ow! THIS part sure isn't a game!"     The others buy a moment's breathing room, which she puts to good use, leaping into the air as the hovermech is summoned around her!     It looks like the cab of a futuristic hovercar, which someone has jury-rigged a pair of legs, additional thrusters and armor, and a twin railgun under-nose turret onto, the whole thing then given a shiny white coat of paint!     Staren grabs the controls, or rather, she pulls a wire out of the dashboard and plugs it into the back of her neck. "The princess isn't supposed to be in the thick of the fighting getting stabbed, right? This is much more my style." The dual railguns start spewing hypersonic metal into the crowd of prinnies, sweeping it across the mass. "Can they even actually die? If we tear those penguin suits, the souls just escape to wherever they go next, right?"
Hesinca	MEANWHILE "Crap - are they almost through the prinnies already?" Hesinca glances out through her motel window. "Yeah - thought they could hold out longer, at least... Okay." She checks herself in the mirror. "Armor looks good, helmet looks good... got the phase three puzzles set up, got my Villainous Speech chambered and ready to go..." "... I'm sure I'm forgetting something..." she adds, to herself, and then glances out the window again and does a double take. "Wait, they're all defeated already? I gotta get out there *now* and keep the momentum rolling-" "- Okay, deep breath, get your mind in the right place, showtime..." ---Okada comes in unexpectedly, taking out the first wave of the incoming prinnies. The rest hesitate for a moment - but they know better than to turn back. The prinnies dash themselves against Blemishine's shield, while Staren starts tearing into the bunched-up prinnies in front of her with her railguns. And then one of the prinnies runs at I4, stops, and then turns back and runs over to another prinny. "Throw me, dood! Throw me, throw me!" "Well, that sounds like a pretty bad idea, dood, but okay," says the other prinny. BOOM. After the last prinny goes down, there's a few seconds of silence and stillness - and then the side of the motel bursts open, as an armored centaur demon crashes straight through it, leaping from the balcony down to the ground in front of the group. "TREMBLE, HEROES! FOR YOUR DOOM HAS ARRIVED!" "I, Demon Lord Hesinca Disastre, am a recurring mid-boss no longer! And you have arrived, not to stop me and liberate your princess - wait I mean STOP THE DOOMSDAY DEVICE-" ("Crap, that was the old script-") "- Stop the DOOMSDAY DEVICE from being activated, but to wander right into my trap! For I have prepared fiendish troubles and impossible challenges, of which my army of minions was but the first!" "But before all of that, I, HESINCA, SHALL LAY YOU LOW!" And she wades into the party, with trampling hooves and crushing fists and hip-checks that could fell buildings!
Ishirou	I4, unfortunately, is weak to hip...checks.  The crashing of the centaur sends him flying and hitting the ground even despite Blem's defenses and he tastes dirt.  He groans, unable to savor his victory over the first group of people.  Struggling to his feet he frowns.   He staggers a bit after getting to his feet and rubs his head, feeling reinforced thanks to his ally.  Some might call him a sourpuss, but he might call others irresponsible!  After all, you don't see him going around and digging into things to sate his curiosity. Wait... Nevermind.  I4 decides that he should cast something.  Despite his forced armor, he was not a warrior.  Though he could use a blade if pressed, he was more of a secondary fighter, and he perhaps used a bit too much effort for the Prinnies.  So instead, he points his hand out.  "POD.  Machine gun burst!" he shouts, as the flying box with arms deploys guns on either side of it. Bursts of light fire, aiming to try and pepper Hes-the dread demon lord!
Staren	Staren barely has time to buckle the seatbelt before Hesinca charges out! She holds on with a white-knuckled grip as she frantically jukes and steers and flies, trying to avoid Hesinca's strikes and still, in a goddamn car(-mech-thing,) getting sent careening across the Item World just from getting CLIPPED by one of Hesinca's strikes! (There's a pretty big dent in one side of the car, too)     Staren gets the mech to its feet. "Your cruelty ends this day, Hesinca Disastre! I built that doomsday device to *help* people, and that's what it's going to do! You may have an army of demons and a lair full of fiendish traps, but we have the power of FRIENDSHIP!"     Staren turns and looks at something on the seat next to her and reaches for it.     And then she's leaning out the window extending a collapsible one-shot rocket launcher, shouldering it, and sighting it at Hesinca. "And ROCKET LAUNCHERS!" *FWOOSH*
Okada Izou	Izou's fought Hesinca before, but he can't *say* that, and he can't give them *advice* on how to deal with her. First, professional courtesy. They both work for the Concord, after all. Second, that's not how this *goes*. The turncoat's not supposed to go and tell the heroes all the secrets, just enjoy himself as he turns more good thanks to the love/loyalty/friendship/rivalry/bonds of the hero. He's supposed to still be cool while he's a guest party member, or die dramatically against the final boss, or something like that. He doesn't really know. He just read some of Sarra's books.      More than he probably needed to.      ...okay, he kinda got a little into them.      But he sort of knows what Hesinca's about. So when she starts moving, so does he. He doesn't try to intercept her charge - just slide his blade up and use her momentum to get out of the way.      It works...okay. He skids backwards, digging his blade into the ground, his coat swirling around him on one hand, maybe a broken rib but nothing more substantial. He stands, pulls the carton out, sticks a cigarette in his mouth, and stows the carton back in his pocket.      A lighter snaps into his palm.      "Alright."      "Guess I gotta take this a little seriously, huh."      He flicks the sheath off his waist and holds it in front of him like a shield. His hip shifts as if wearing heavy plate. He chokes up on the katana grip.      His movement is only a little slower, only a little more careful. Though the weapon isn't heavy enough to make perfect use of this style, and the sheath is a poor imitation of a western shield, Izou just compensates with speed. The weighty slashes come down two by two instead of singular, heavy blows. The shield bashes are modified into sheath-smashes for Hesinca's face.      It's much more defensive than he usually fights, but Hesinca is much more...durable...than most people he has to kill.
Blemishine	The prinnies go down, but it's obvious it's not over just yet - and there's barely a chance to exchange any banter before the scenery crashes in, and the horse-eared knight braces herself against the shower of debris while they come face to face with DEMON LORD EVIL OVERLORD HESINCA DISASTRE.     "Wait, you were never recurring in the first place...!" She only just manages that before the wrath of the powerful centaur blitzes through their party, and Blemishine hurries to defend herself. There's a rush of armored movement from both combatants, swiftly avoided strikes, a too-late attempt to stop one from entirely getting to I4...     ...But when one of those vicious checks comes her way, she rolls out of the way and waits for the return rush before acting, rushing forward to meet Hesinca while utilizing her shield to try and deflect her momentum to the side. At the same time, her sword stabs in towards her side to attempt to leave a lengthy cut into her armor by the time they separate again.     Only after the fact does she side-eye in Izou's direction. "I don't suppose you want me to throw you my shield, Mr. Manslayer?" That's definitely banter.
Hesinca	Hesinca takes the rocket launcher and machine gun hits direct on the flank, seeming unphased by both. Okada manages to get a dead-on sword hit in, slicing open Hesinca's helmet, and then Blemishine staggers her, knocking the wind out of her momentarily. She has to pull back and regroup... ... or, is she pulling back because she has something planned? "So - you're all tough as a team, but how are you when you're isolated! Let's put it to the test, shall we!" She wades in once more - a newly reinvigorated round of hand to hand assaults, but this time they seem more purposeful, trying to shove people around and get them into certain positions - and separated from each other - before Hesinca ends her charge near the center of the arena... "Perfect - right - THERE!" She stamps her hoof, hitting not just the ground but some hidden ley line below it. "GEO - CHANGE!" And all around the area, colorful panels start taking form - most prominently, a cross-shape of NO ENTRY panels forming, placed in such a way that each of the four party members are cut off from each other, forced into their own individual challenges!
Hesinca	NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY A half moon appears out of nowhere. A glowing red D-shape. It flashes into the sea of black as the smell of expired seafood fills the room. The Swordbearing Prinny appears, emerging from the shadows, wielding a pair of swords (actually just slightly longer than usual knives, but it technically counts). "True Name," he says, holding his swords low. "Swordbearing Prinny, dood. Class: Manslayer... -slayer." Also he's standing next to what looks like a bomb shelter, for some reason. It's probably not important. "If you say I'm a scruffy dog, I'm going to kill you, dood," he says. "And also I am a swordbearing genius." He brings his swords low, then up high. "Allow me to demonstrate my sword brains to you, dood. Prinny... barrage!" And then he starts throwing his swords - one, then the other, and then pulls more of them out and throws them, over and over and over, just throwing swords haphazardly at Okada. There's no real style or finesse to it, just a lot of swords. NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY
Hesinca	NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY I4 finds himself... without foes to face. Well, without foes, but with plenty of hazards. Four sets of them, in fact, starting at his position and radiating outwards in the quadrant that's been blocked off by the NO ENTRY panels. The panels directly beneath his feet are colored lime green, and they're helpfully labeled as POISON PANELS. A bit further out, there's proximity land mines, covering the ground. There's a lot of them, but they're not distributed in an even pattern - someone could theoretically navigate through them without triggering any. A bit further out than that, there's a spiked pit, with a single tightrope going across it. Again theoretically navigable, if tricky. And then at the far end of the blocked-off area, there's an inexplicably swampy section - one inhabited by multiversally imported MECHA PIRANHA swimming back and forth in a set pattern. Theoretically someone could get through without getting bitten if they carefully watched the timing of the MECHA PIRANHA and ran through at the right moment. And on the other side of it all, separated from I4 by the land mines, spiked pit, and piranha-infested swamp, is a single prinny holding a gallon-sized glass jug which has been labeled 'EASILY BROKEN BOTTLE OF ANTIDOTE FOR THE POISON FROM THE PANELS YOU ARE STANDING ON', presumably in order to make sure that the puzzle here is understood. "Hey dood!" calls the Prinny. "Don't worry! I'm secretly on your side, and I'll bring you the antidote!" He can't possibly make it. "Don't worry! I'll be over all these hazards and get you the antidote right away, no sweat, dood!" He definitely can't make it. "You don't gotta guide me or give me advice or anything, I've got this all on my own, dood!" He probably needs some advice. NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY
Hesinca	NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY The panels trap Staren in a relatively enclosed space. The others have to deal with more immediate threats, either direct or environmental, but she doesn't get anything at first... ... until a group of prinnies emerge from a nearby building, team-lifting a trio of vending machines with them, which they set down in front of Staren. The threat here is immediate: there's a powerful bomb in one of the vending machines, clearly labeled as such, and visibly counting down on a short fuse. It looks like it'd be easy to disarm - if Staren could get her hands on it. Except that the bomb costs a hundred each of red, blue, and green tokens. Checking the change return of one of the machines yields four blue tokens. There's more tokens in the machines - packs of them, available for purchase, for different amounts and types of tokens. For example there's a pack of thirty red tokens available for purchase for twenty blue tokens, or a pack of ten green available for fifteen red and five blue. There's a specific order of purchases that need to be made in order to end with at least one hundred red, blue, and green tokens - and from there purchase and defuse the bomb. Even a slight deviation from the specific order will leave Staren short of at least one color of tokens at the end. Also there's an adorable plush computer mouse in the machine, for four blue tokens. "Okay! The vending machine puzzle is set up, back into the bomb shelter, dood!" says one of the prinnies. "... Um, the bomb shelter is..." the prinnies look across the expanse of NO ENTRY panels, over into Okada's section, where there's a small bunker near where the Swordbearing Prinny is stancing up. "Wait, we set up the bomb shelter in the wrong section, dood." "... Oh anchovies, dood." To make matters worse - Staren now has a group of prinnies crowding around her, getting in her way, yelling and pleading with her to solve the puzzle, which is not at all a distraction, right? NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY
Hesinca	NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY And Blemishine doesn't have a puzzle or a hazard. Instead... she gets Hesinca. Specifically - she gets Hesinca on one side, and on her other side there's a set of cubes - ones that correspond to the various colored tiles throughout the arena. There's some correlation going on there - the cubes are imparting various effects to the tiles, and if Hesinca gets to them to rearrange them then nothing good will come of it. "OUT OF THE WAY!" calls Hesinca, and charges, full on, intent on getting through to mess with the cubes and doom Blemishine's companions! NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY NO ENTRY
Okada Izou	Right.      The swords start coming in. Izou's response is exactly what one might expect from it - blocking, parrying, bashing aside with the sheath. He's fighting just like Blemishine, just like an armored knight, slow and deliberate (well, as slow as he can be and still be leveraging his advantage), taking only the scrapes he needs to take and the blows he has to deal with as he moves forward, as he walks forward, as the sheath is shield and the blade parries with thrusts to redirect swords into other swords. Genius isn't just a word for Okada Izou to brag about.      Eventually, he gets to the little Prinny.      He crouches.      He reaches forward.      And he flicks the thing in the forehead.      "Don't get cute, you little bastard. You're ten thousand light years too early to be fucking with me."      He leans in, that look in his eyes bright, that horrible grin spreading across his lips.      Flick.      Flick.      Flick.      Flick.      Every time the Prinny tries to move, speak, or pick up a blade, it gets a painful flick in the forehead. Yeah, Izou's not much better than a normal human, but Servants *do* have a pretty decent baseline strength all told.      Flick.      Flick.      Flick.      He's just sitting there fucking with it like a dog chewing on a bone.
Ishirou	I4 goes into a poison tile, which immediately hits him and floods his body with very bad no-good poison, and nearly lays him out.  The poison burns in his veins, forcing him to look up blearily.  There is a Prinny shouting something about ally, with a bottle in his hands.  That's likely the antidote.   He fires a beam of hacking at the Prinny, and attempts to control it directly.  He sends it flying to try and jump from rock to rock in the swamp, trying to make it avoid the Piranha, but it probably at least gets one small bite in.  He carefully guides it across the spike pit, avoiding falling down and dying. He burns again, the poison doing more damage as he tries to not lose focus.  He attempts to navigate land mines, but it probably still hits one as the poison burns again.  The twice damaged and slightly singed Prinny would just have to get close with the antidote, so he sets it on one of the tiles, and has it throw the bottle at himself.   At the Prinny's expense.   "Oh that's better...so how do I get out of here..?"
Blemishine	"Eh!? She was--" Luring them into position. That's all that the part-horse (in a different way) knight gets out before they're all shunted off from one another by the changing battlefield. She's left looking left to right in a panic, seeing each of them get locked away in turn.     "I4! Princess Wiremu! Mr. Manslayer!" She's not going to have the chance to try and find a way to get in and help any of them however, as she was one very very big problem of her own to contend with.     Hesinca. Oh.     And these blocks behind her.../oh/. She gets it almost instantly. If she lets her through...     "Oh no you don't...!" Making her choice right on the spot, she decides to face down Hesinca in that dead-on rush, digging her heels in deep and readying her shield once more. The armored overlord, for lack of a better term, is going to completely crunch this thing and also probably her with a direct hit.     So rather than letting that happen, Blemishine takes the initative leaps forward at the last moment for a jumping shield bash straight into Hesinca's body! From below, a little bit at an off-angle, to where she can crash into one leg and use her own weight and momentum to throw her off. Painful but much better than the alternative.     And just enough to try and redirect the charge off to the side, so that they'll both go ramming right into one of the NO ENTRY panels instead. Her blade is swung out to stab into the same point in the armor as before just to get a better grip so she doesn't go falling off right away.     "Messing with things behind the scenes...no way I'd let you! Separating us doesn't mean we're fighting alone!"
Staren	So - you're all tough as a team, but how are you when you're isolated! Let's put it to the test, shall we!     Wait, what? Does she actually have some kind of real challenge planned? Staren feels a sense of mild but hard-to-shake dread that this could be a serious problem... NO ENTRY  NO ENTRY  NO ENTRY  NO ENTRY  NO ENTRY  NO ENTRY  NO ENTRY  NO ENTRY       She rushes to the 'wall' as soon as it forms, but prodding it with a mecha foot confirms, Staren's not getting through there. "How does THAT work?" she asks, genuinely curious, exiting her vehicle to push and prod at the 'wall' as the prinnies arrive. Once they're done, she turns around...     And takes in the challenge.     And feels the pressure at the edge of her mind gnawing, NO TIME NO TIME NO TIME.     You've been in worse situations. This should be an *easy* problem. Staren reassures herself, and takes a deep breath. Come to think of it, wasn't disarming a nuke on a similarly-short timer one of her first missions, so long ago...? And this is a puzzle, it's *meant* to be solved.     She does her best to put the timer out of her mind and focus on the problem. There *has* to be a way to solve this programmatically...     The sight of her just sitting there while she works on her headcomputer might not exactly be reassuring to the prinnies, though.     Eventually, she has the answer, and just follows the instructions her program spits out. With the bomb in front of her, she pulls up her sleeves, and the wristbands underneath turn out to be cybernetic multitools which make short work of the bomb, opening it up and cutting the right wires with seconds left on the timer.     Staren lets out a breath she didn't realize she was holding, and takes another deep breath, lets it out, then turns to the prinnies. "Okay, so one, you'll get me that mouse, right? And two, what happens now that I've solved the puzzle? And saved your butts, apparently."
Hesinca	"H-hey, wait..." protests the Swordbearing Prinny, who starts trying to attack back against the flicking... ... until, utterly humiliated, he's left sniffling, and then drops his swords and just starts crying big ugly tears. "WAAAAAAAAAAAH! STOP BEING MEAN TO ME, DOOD!" The prinny hacking works out more or less as intended. It navigates its way past all the hazards, and throws the antidote to I4, and then trips and falls directly on the poison panels and dies. C'est la prin. Staren manages to solve the puzzle, and gets the bomb defused. The prinnies breathe a sigh of relief. "Alright, dood, we'll get you that mouse, and find a way for you to get out of here," says one of the prinnies. "Wait, if you had that fancy tool, why didn't you just hack the vending machine or cut it open, dood?" asks another prinny. And Blemishine... manages to knock Hesinca off course. Hesinca's charge continues, having lost vector but not momentum, and instead of going straight at the cubes she ends up slamming into the invisible NO ENTRY wall, pinballing off of it, and plowing directly through the cubes - which fizzle as she plows through them, finally managing to come to a stop right after. "... Oh," she says, looking over her shoulder at the spot the cubes used to be at. "Uh oh," she says, clarifying the oh, and then trying to get her feet in order again to run away from that spot. "I shouldn't have-" The universe lags for a moment, cutting her off. And then there's a wave, spiraling out a square at a time, of red panels flipping over to blue. And then blue panels flipping over to green, and then- Each wave of flipping panels hurts. It hurts in some way that can't be described - some sort of cosmically non-typed elemental damage across the whole body. And the waves keep coming, one after the other, relentlessly - with the only silver lining that by the second wave the NO ENTRY panels have disappeared, meaning people are no longer cut off from each other and can try to dodge a bit more easily.
Okada Izou	Oh.      Okay.      Izou jumps around as best he can. He runs away from the squares. He slides sideways past an explosion. He moves really, really well - but he has no idea how to deal with this shit. It's just so far beyond his ability to grasp. Why is the ground exploding? Why is it *changing color*?      He breaks character just for a second to go, "Oh this is bullshi-"      Kaboom.      When Izou emerges from the smoke, he's made the transition from Recruited Villain to...well..Mid-Boss. He's covered in ash and he coughs out some smoke and if he had a face box at the bottom of the screen it would look really put-out right now.      And now that he's made the transition to comedic villain-ally, well, the thrust just doesn't seem to be quite as strong.      Damn. Levelled-down by the damage.
Ishirou	The pannels start swirling around, causing I4 to try and curiously ID the attack before it could come and consume them.  "Oh no that's non-elementa-" KABOOM, it comes right through his square.  The explosion is seen for miles as I4 falls down in a pile. "See...I told you..." he says, muttering towards Staren.  Proven completely right.   Yay...?
Staren	Staren assumes that the panels flipping is part of removing the NO ENTRY effect now that they've solved the puzzles, and so doesn't even try to dodge the first wave.     "AAAGH OW!"     Now realizing the danger, Staren tries to escape. "You said you had a bomb shelter?? We gotta get to it!"     This might actually result in the prinnies slamming into the NO ENTRY wall before the second wave, oops. At least afterwards they can hide there. Staren tries it to see if it works, or dodges best she can if it doesn't. Either way, she's still pretty badly beaten up.     But others are worse off.     "I4! No!" She rushes to his side, "You weren't supposed to... I didn't think this would happen! I'm sorry!"     Fix this fix this fix this Fix This Fix This Fix This FIX THIS     Staren stands straight and turns to Hesinca. "I know he was kind of being a buzzkill... but I think this is seriously hurting him. You heard him, assuming he'd lose... I know he's stronger than that, and... I regret any part in making someone feel that way! E-end this!"     Of course, Hesinca's not going to end this just from being asked. Staren takes a deep breath and waves her hand.     A missile appears over her shoulder and launches at Hesinca. Staren frowns. There was SUPPOSED to be a whole wave of missiles, but maybe her system is straining to work here in the Item World...     The beaten and battered mech stands up on its own as Staren remote-controls it, turning its railguns on the centaur-demon as well!
Blemishine	As Hesinca comes to a stop, Blemishine kind of limply hangs off of the top of the way bigger demon centaur, also glancing back towards the ruined cubes.     "...Oh. Um..."     She glances up at Hesinca, feels a single bead of sweat roll down her forehead at that reaction, and scrambles back to her own feet at the same exact time. "W-Wait, that wasn't part of your plan!? What exactly are those meant to--"     Now she's the one cut off by what follows after, with the first shock of flipping colors washing over her body in a brand of pain she certainly has never felt before. The knight staggers with a pained wince and a few heavy pants, but there's no time to rest when more keep coming. "Ngh...! That's not even something I can block against...!"     She moves after that, narrowly diving and avoiding out of the way of the rest following behind it - she's less worried about herself and more for the others. "I4!"     Staren has him safe, thankfully, and she'll have to stow her guilt about being too slow for later. For now, Blemishine swoops in to ensure no stray waves will end up catching him up in them.     Partially, by targeting them rather than Hesinca herself. Stowing her shield to switch to a two-handed grip, light sparks and ignites along it like a second edge: one that she brings down in a wide and sweeping arc to try and bisect the nearest set of panels down their middle, and make it so that the mess of constant flipping is a little less messy.     You know, assuming it actually stops them. "Miss Hesinc--Dark Overlord Hesinca, I don't suppose you can turn them off!?"
Hesinca	The geo chains finally stop. Hesinca looks like she's also not come off too well from the waves of GEO CHAIN that were going out - the damage is indiscriminate between enemy and ally, which is probably why Hesinca (who doesn't really *do* dodging) doesn't use it often (or on purpose). Okada comes in with a stab to her flank, it gets through armor and cuts through some meat parts, as does the focused blast of railgun fire. "... Can't stop them. But they stop on their own eventually. Usually after, like, knocking everyone out." She coughs, bringing her hand up to cover her mouth as she does so, and coughs again. "... Problem with working with leylines using geo-change, gets them tied up in knots and sometimes... sometimes they... unravel, like that." And then Staren asks her a question. For the moment, the fight stops. (Though if Okada keeps stabbing her in the background she just stoically takes it.) "... End this?" "I work in hell. Literally. I've seen... a lot of people pass through. Pass on." "I've seen enough of the supposed permeance of... everything. To know that it isn't. Permanent. Us, most of all - but... hopes. Dreams. Ideals. Art, monuments, great works." "End this. No. Because... because everything's gonna fucking end, eventually. Quietly, loudly, suddenly, or gradually." "And people get - all fucking tied up in knots when you acknowledge that things end, that things break. That all those priceless irreplaceable dinosaur fossils on display are getting worn down by light and wind and have been in the slow process of breaking apart, or..." She coughs again. This isn't the villain speech she had prepared. That script was thrown out the window. She's improvising. "So why not... break things. On your own terms. Get some enjoyment out of it instead of bemoaning that it's all gonna vanish. Party like there's no tomorrow, and pump yourself full of shit to keep going all night. Find something beautiful and tear it to shreds, and dance amongst the pieces like so much confetti. Burn your life's candle faster, because it's fucking burning anyway." "Why not... create a pop up dungeon, with minions and minibosses and puzzles and all of these theatrics, just to have a good time for everyone, and fight like it's real just to make it more exciting, nevermind if you die." "Why not..." She reaches into her armor, pulls out a remote, and presses the single button on it. Somewhere behind her, Staren's doomsday machine starts warming up. "... Invite everyone into your own goddamn home, wreck it up by fighting in it, and then ruin the whole damn thing, something that you love, just to make sure the point sinks in?" And then she gets back into motion, striking with her fists, her hooves, her whole body once again, dancing amidst the pending destruction.
Okada Izou	Izou scratches his ash-covered face.      "...because that's dumb?"      "I don't want my shit to get smashed."      There's another beat.      He scratches his cheek again. "...like, I don't really get it. Why do you want to break your shit? Why are you in a rush to fuck up the stuff you like just 'cause it goes away in the end?"      Another pause. He's clearly thinking. "I mean...shit, I'm dead, an' I still don't want people to smash up my stuff. I like my stuff. Who gives a shit if it goes away some day? I'm here now, ain't I?"      "An' trust me, as a guy who died early, I'd kinda have liked a little more time to, y'know, enjoy myself. It ain't like I didn't go kinda hard, buuuut..."      "Hey, I'd'a liked ten or twenty or fifty more years of it?"      "Ain't gotta be in a hurry or-"      Whomp.      Oh, right. It's still a fight. She's not lecturing in dialogue boxes.
Blemishine	Staren is--really upset. And with Hesinca standing tall and going into a full blown speech in return, after all the pain of constant GEO CHAIN waves have passed...she's left standing off to the sidelines, getting her bearings and her breath back for a scant few moments.     "I think...that's not a good reason at all for all of this, Dark Overlord..." When she finally does speak up, it's with a breath in that helps her stand back fully straight. "Sure, nothing is permanent, and that's why we can enjoy it while it does last!"     "But that doesn't mean you should be hurrying all of it up. That's just destruction for destruction's sake, when you should be grateful that you had the chance to experience it, and drawing it out for as long as you can! Even though people might be sad it has to end sometime, that's also why you can enjoy it!" There's a brief glance off to the side.     It's probably somewhere between a real response (to an improved big dramatic villain speech) and improv in her own right, but she'd rather not have anyone walk away with permanently hurt feelings from this. To do that, she has to take it seriously, and do her best to help end it. And that, she can do.     Izou goes down. Whomp. As if on cue, she focuses back and delivers a resolute nod. "Mr. Manslayer is exactly right! And if that's the point you want to make to the world, we'll stop you!" Her shield remains put away, allowing for a two-handed grip she didn't use against him.     So as Hesinca comes trampling in, she's battering her off with the blade itself. The flat meets fists, hooves are barely avoided being trampled underneath, and this time the knight goes flying more than once among the chaos as bruises pile up beneath her armor. And then she rises back up to fight in kind, striking back with her blade of light for every strike she takes in return.     She'll fight her back head-on, focusing her blows towards the gaps in Hesinca's armor to maximize damage - and maneuver in a way that'll take the fight away from the fallen and closer to the Cruelly Ennobled Princess' Doomsday Machine.
Hesinca	"I don't - know if it's a good reason or a bad reason..." Hesinca gets slashed at, again and again, breaking apart the rest of her armor, and getting at the stuff underneath. She doesn't seem to care. About the attacks. She's caring about the words, though. "But it's my answer." "And - if people oppose me for it, all the better! It'll make things more interesting than if I was just allowed to go knock over buildings as if they were dominoes!" "And - if I can make things interesting, entertaining, less dull, *something* for the people I come across - Good! I want to do that!" "So I gotta ask!" She wheels around, sacrificing a bit of her advantage in order to get face to face with Blemishine, look her in the eyes. "Are you having fun yet?" As they fight, the doomsday machine continues warming up - and starts changing the climate here, from a pleasant neutral temperature towards a gradual chill...
Staren	Hesinca gives a speech.     Staren clenches her fists, but holds further fire for the moment, letting her say her piece.     So this is the kind of person who can learn the first circle of necromancy. I really can't think that way...     Staren shakes her head. "No. You're... Maybe you're not completely wrong, about everything ending. But this isn't the way to handle it!"     You went along with this because you thought it would be novel. And you got to be valued and have heroes try to rescue you, and it was kinda nice. And I4 paid the price, and now so will everyone who lives near here.     Was it worth it, 'Princess Wiremu'?     No. No! NO! I have to fix this!     You can't undo the psychological harm to I4. You don't know how to fix him. I can stop her from hurting so many others...!     "I won't let you!" Staren takes a hit that would incapacitate a normal human then and there. Nanomachines and drugs keep her going. Weapons warp into her hands, and she struggles to aim at Hesinca with a breaking body. The mecha resumes firing. I reject this reality!     Staren's sent flying again. Sarracenia's fashion tips are borne out, all the poofy flowy fabric billows nicely as she flies through the air, before she hits the ground. Another missile launcher warps into her hands, and she struggles to sit up and extend it into firing position. The mecha keeps firing.     Another hit. Staren pushes through the pain that's well beyond what drugs and nanomachines can keep up with. I have to... I have to stop her. For I4 and everyone else. I have to help them. Someone has to help them... And we're the only ones here...     The next hit is accompanied by a sound that does not come from organic bodies that are going to get up and fight again. The Astral Plane:     Staren gasps. Or, her spirit FEELS like it gasps. There isn't really AIR here, or even if there is she's not actually breathing. But the cessation of pain kind of FEELS like a breath of fresh air. She... she needs a moment.     And then hangs her head. "Oh."     I knew it. This is what happens when you don't take things seriously all the time. "N..." 'No'? 'I reject reality?' Geeze, Staren, you really did absorb too many stories as a kid, huh? How many times have you thought you had your big revelation, and reached for that power, and it never comes? You... I was right all along.     "But..." A world like that... really isn't worth living in. ...Yeah. We have to keep trying. Save as many other people as you can so they can see the better world when someone else finally makes it. Then it won't matter if you play princess or whatever. "Yeah."     Staren takes a deep breath and sighs, feels for a body, and trudges off in that 'direction'.
Blemishine	"Your answer--then I can't really be angry about it, can I?"     There's a slight bit of a smile on her face as they move, going back and forth amid the increasingly colder environment. She's without a doubt on the backfoot between the two - the Demon Lord is really just that much physically stronger than she is, so of course she's not going to have the advantage in a direct exchange of blows.     Still, she braces through every hit when they come, even if they bruise beneath armor or threaten to topple her over entirely. That look in her eyes is...     "Haha...! Of course I am! I've had fun since we first came here!"     "Even though the details are pretty different from them, the whole thing has almost reminded me of the kinds of books I used to read. A band of heroic travelers fighting together...all sorts of dangers they can only over come together...even all sorts of twists and turns, all leading up to a climactic showdown...!" Her voice gets more strained as they continue exchanging.     "How couldn't I be excited? It's been sort of like a chance to live one of them out, for real. So if that's what you really want...I think you've done a great job, Miss Hesinca! Thank you!"     That glint in her eye was definitely excitement. But then it as well as her expression shift much closer to pure resolve, and she loses her casual tone.     "...But I suppose this is also the real world, with real stakes. And people who have been hurt. So even if I am, what comes before anything else is stopping your plans. So on my honor, I'll just have to keep trying until I can't anymore!"     With her footwork carrying her around Hesinca, Blemishine twists her body weight into a heavy slice, to cut a large as possible gash into her body - but the rising part of the attack, the upswing, is going to be arced around to also strike where Hesinca had put the doomsday device's remote.     Is that on accident? Or on purpose? Either way, a full-on hit just might end up with it getting dislodged and dramatically clattering away from the both of them.
Hesinca	"Heh..." Hesinca smiles - even as she's getting cut apart. "You can *try* to stop my plans. Stop me from dancing in the destruction..." She glances to the side. Towards the doomsday machine. Towards the fallen remote - which did indeed go clattering a short distance away from the both of them. She doesn't make any move towards picking it up... "But - if I'm the one dancing, I'm setting the tune, and we've played this one out!" And with that last statement - she tries to kick at Blemishine - a kick aimed at knocking her straight towards the exit panel!
Blemishine	"We'll see about that--!"     The knight could go for the fallen remote. She thought about it. It'd be the smart thing, compared to duking it out head-on. But right here at the very end, she finds herself rearing back for a stab and challenging that kick to the last...!     But her movements are a bit too slow, Hesinca too strong and precise, and she's honestly been on her last legs since the others went down. All of that comes together with her getting rocked with a ridiculous amount of force right in the chestplate.     It takes the caving in, in the place of her ribs, as she's bowled off her feet and directly into the exit panel at high speed. Wherever or whatever she ends up crashing into on her way out of the world probably isn't going to enjoy it one bit.     And neither will she, if she'll even be conscious enough to worry about it. If it's not from piled-on damage, it'll likely be from raw exhaustion that not even she can shake off.     But she certainly tried her best.
Hesinca	Things steadily get colder. Hesinca shivers a bit, and then looks around. She goes over - anyone who hasn't made it to the exit yet gets carried, pulled, or just simply thrown there. She'd already pulled all of her other staff out of here the moment she came up with this plan. The cold continues to intensify. Staren did her job, even if she might wish she hadn't. And at the end, there's just Hesinca, wounded but still standing, alone in the pocket netherworld. She glances down at the remote, and then kicks it - sending it hurtling off into the infinite void. It gets colder. "Most precious thing I ever stole," she says to herself. "I'll miss it." And with that, she turns, and leaves the Pocket Netherworld to its eternal winter. <TO BE CONTINUED>