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Angela	Angela hasn't asked for help from the Concord, officially, in dealing with the receptions that plague the Library. She figured that asking for help in being freed from the Library by killing intruders through death battles is a bigger ask than than performing triage at Lobotomy Corp to help free her. But the fact is, as the enemies approaching the Library become more dangerous and, as such, dangerous enough that Roland and a bunch of Sephirah (she can't throw the Red Mist at EVERYONE. People would stop coming!) can't handle--the idea of calling on Concord aid is fresh on her mind. They ARE supposed to help one another aren't they? And she helps. She is always helping. And maybe some of her willingness to take that plunge is because she is feeling exhausted. At some point she has gained the ability to 'get tired' but that didn't come along with the ability to sleep. Fortunately, she doesn't REQUIRE sleep, still, but the sensations are still enough to make thinking and scheming more difficult. She wants nap. She can't nap. And this is coming at a time where she can't be assured the Library will win most of its receptions anymore! What does that have to do with today? Well, she wants to see which Concord Partners will still have anything to do with the Library for starters. Once that's done she can maybe find ways to ask for their help. Even if they are unwilling to fight for the Library maybe they can help her make the place feel less empty. She's found SOME new employees, citizens of the Library if you will, but they've been few and far between. She can promise some safety, sure, but this is still a place essentially under attack with some frequency. So she's starting with a small ask. Something that is almost akin to providing a favor. She is giving Flamel an opportunity to be helpful, and she's offering Kukuru, Sougo, and Woz the opportunity to restore a friend amongst the Agents they had made back to life. For Petra, well, she's been feeling the emptiness of the Library--one more former coworker wandering these halls might encourage her to stick around a bit more and visit the Woods less? And she's been getting the vibe that White wanted to be relied on. It isn't just Concord agents, anybody willing to lend a hand is allowed to drop by. But it's mostly Concord. "Oh hey. Helping out this time?" Roland says to Riku as people file into the lobby. A desk has been set up with a singular book on it and Angela is there waiting for people to trickle in. "Frankly, preferred, still racking my brain how I'm gonna fight a giant." He doesn't seem to be holding a grudge, but it seems like he's coming along on this little adventure too. Once there's quorum, Angela begins to explain the situation.
Angela	"I have asked you to come here because before the fall of Lobotomy Corp, one of its agents fell in battle due to some time travel nonsense. Kukuru was able to revive his body, but we hadn't been able to wake him up so I have kept him in book form so that he would remain in optimal condition for an eventual restoration plan." "It's against the Head's Taboos to restore the brain." Roland says. "But we're a bit well past caring about the Head's laws." Angela nods to Roland. "Correct. And risking further scrutiny from the Head back during Lobotomy Corp for a low rankin agent was certainly not going to happen, but now that the Library is established I would like to try. Flamel says it should be a--relatively speaking--simple procedure. But that doesn't strictly mean it will be easy. For starters, I will be unable to join you since he received his injuries from some sort of Arbiter that some potential future version of me summoned. I might only make matters more hostile by going within as origins of trauma can be supercharged in the mind of the one inflicted. This does mean you might have to fight an Arbiter without Lilian's assistance but it would be a memory of one so, hopefully not quite as deadly as the real thing." Angela does not point out that the 'Arbiter' might also just be more deadly than normal. "Either way, the objective is to remind M.O.M's mind that it can wake up." She looks to Flamel. "I hand the floor over to you to describe the particulars of process and to start the procedure."
Flamel Parsons	"So, here's the key issue." Flamel explains. "Simple doesn't mean easy. Think of memories as a series of facts that eventually add up to current truths -- and sometimes those facts can be incorrect, and skew the truth so that information can't be processed correctly. Starting from base presumptions, memories sequentially perform astral arithmetic... Okay, never mind, we'll skip the technicals." He waves a hand, as if dismissing the idea, and while actually, literally dismissing the idea by way of waving off some presentation slides he'd had cooked up.     "Right now, a very, very strong memory in M.O.M's brain says 'I have been killed'. It's impossible for his mind to restart while that fact is still fresh in recent memory. Sort of like how you'd find it difficult to do something after being traumatized about it, he can't do things like wake up, think consciously, and form new memories while he's 'recently traumatized' about being alive." He brandishes a door. "I've planted one of these on M.O.M's head, which is usually the hard part, but it's easy for this one. We'll dive into the short-term memory, which should be *lightly guarded* at least. But, the problem isn't going to be M.O.M's own defenses."     Okay, a LITTLE bit of powerpointing. A terrible caricature of an arbiter, brandishing a vast arsenal and puppeted by a vast hand of Angela's own, is standing atop a poor, innocent brain, laughing and waving its guns. "Memories themselves, especially major ones, *don't like* being deleted. And this one's a violent, traumatic, stressful one that has managed to securely conquer the entire neurology. We might have the mental immune system on *our side* with this one, really," Little figues rush at the caricature, en masse. "And if we do, we're gonna need it. Work with the mind and against the memory. Take it down however you can, without destroying the mind in the process. We might wind up in a not-too-inaccurate recreation of M.O.M's own moment of death, even! One way or another, the thing that killed M.O.M is what we need to kill -- and not get killed by. This might be the most straightforward and violent psychonautry I've done in years, honestly."     "Get in there: Easy. Find that memory: Also easy. Kill that memory..."     "Not easy."     When everyone's ready, assembled hopefully somewhere they can sit and stay safe during the process (and ideally with M.O.M nearby), he'll kickstart an astral projection. That gentle tug that helps guide people astrally, out of their brains and into the skull of another...
Riku Asakura	'Oh hey. Helping out this time?' "Yeah.  I'm helping out this time.  The fall of L-Corp affected me too, so I feel that everyone that can be saved should be saved from its effects." Riku says to Roland, with a smile.  He's in his normal outfit.  A jean jacket with an orange shirt on underneath with a space agency logo on it.  He's got a pair of jeans on, with a pair of sneakers below that.   Riku listens to Angela explain things and Roland's input on other matters regarding the city.  It's still strange to him that books can keep people alive who have been killed.  Flamel explains the finer points of psychonautry that they have to engage with to save M.O.M.  Riku sits down where directed and keeps listening.   "So we need to kill something that took Lilian a lot of effort to kill.  Simple but not easy.  Right..." he looks somewhat skeptical but not against the plan.  Flamel knows his stuff; he's just skeptical that they could do it.  The mind is a powerful thing.  But maybe it won't be as bad on the inside as it was for real.   He takes a breath, "Sitting around doing nothing won't get us anywhere... So I'm ready."
Kukuru	Why is Kukuru here? Of course Kukuru's here. She's precisely the sort of person that would show up anywhere if anyone asked for her by name nicely enough. This goes double for anyone in the Concord, and double again on top of that for those she's personally fond of since she is not shy about hiding how much she plays favorites. She's even made sure to clear time in her schedule for this today, too, preparing plenty of snacks for Angela, the staff at the Library, the to-be-awakened, and those coming to do the awakening. Mostly, it's a lot of different finger-sized paninis, still fresh and crispy even if a few of the unlucky ones on the side are a little soggy. She got a lot of bread on sale, and she's been having a bit too much fun with a commercial-grade panini press. "Mhm, mhm.. He-llo, Rolaaand. If you gotta fight something really big..." She taps her chin lightly in thought, trying to recall her own battles against giants. Eventually, she taps a fist against her palm. "You just gotta get riiight inside them and punch from the inside. It's hard to defend yourself from the inside, you know?" She suggests, forgetting that Roland is not a regenerator. During the briefing, Kukuru keeps nodding along slowly while glancing around, listening for any signs of other emergencies to be wary of. She raises an eyebrow briefly at Roland mentioning the Head's taboos, then giggles a moment later. "Mhm, mhm. Besides, what they don't know won't hurt them. And if it does... Mm?" She shrugs, not sounding concerned. "Besides, it's more important that we get M.O.M. back. And then..." Kukuru trails off, trying not to think too hard about everyone else that had been lost along the way, then takes a deep breath and settles right back into her calmer, more (probably) reassuring smile. "One step at a time. And don't worry, Angela. We know you're with us in spirit even if you can't be with us in there." Having noticed Angela showing certain symptoms she's all too familiar with herself, meanwhile, Kukuru takes a moment to say a little more quietly to Angela: "I've got something that might help for you, too, dear. I'll show you after all this is done, okaaaay?" Flamel's briefing, somehow, doesn't get that usual dazed and confused look that so often crosses Kukuru's face when faced with anything more technical than an instruction manual. She actually looks like she's listening intently, too, and she almost looks like she's starting to relax before he gets to explaining the hard part! "That sounds like it might help to be... Not just stronger than whatever killed him, but look it, too. Then it'll help M.O.M.'s mind believe that it couldn't have happened, if whatever did it looks weaker than us. Something like that, Flamel?" Kukuru sort of asks to try and confirm her own understanding, giggling softly at Riku's comment about the simplicity of it. "Lilian's super strong, mhm, but don't short sell yourself, either. You've come along way since back then, too, and so have all of us." She settles in with a tiny panini, then closes her eyes. "I'm ready."
Timespace Riders	Sougo and Woz show up in a flourish of Woz's grey scarf, swirling outwards from nothing into a wide vortex before calming and settling on the retainer's shoulder as a normal garment.     "Hi, Angela, Roland," Sougo waves at the two a little less whole-heartedly than he would if this weren't something so important to him. His slightly oversized pastel pink-and-blue button up is less guarded in its happiness than he is, but, even so: "I have a good feeling about this." This does mean you might have to fight an Arbiter without Lilian's assistance but it would be a memory of one so, hopefully not quite as deadly as the real thing. Either way, the objective is to remind M.O.M's mind that it can wake up.     The would-be Demon King of Time nods. "Even being able to try means a lot to me," says Sougo softly. Thank you so much, Angela."     He frowns, hands finding their ways into his pockets. "As for the Arbiter... Lilian and I had a talk, after the Jester of Nihil. I told her that... I felt like I was running a marathon and trying hard just to keep the place I was at. Not even to pull ahead, just not to fall behind. I asked her if it gets any easier, and she said it doesn't. But that's how marathons are, isn't it?"     He smiles, a little sadly, but also, a little not. "Moment to moment, step for step, everything looks the same. But look behind you after a while, and everything's different. I can't be a king, or even become a king, hoping that she's going to be this place or that place to help me out. And she shouldn't have to always be there to do it. She has people she needs to protect, too. Just like any knight. A king would be lucky to have even one knight like her, but he has to know what to do when he doesn't. I'm not saying I'm going to... beat this with one hand behind my back, but I'm not the same me I was when we met. And this is personal for me."     With that said, he turns to Flamel, taking a short, sharp little breath. "Hi, Flamel. I think me and Woz are ready when everyone else is."
Petra Soroka	Petra and M.O.M never really talked, not often. Before her promotion to Extraction Captain, she frequented every Asiyah Department but never had a reason to engage much with him specifically, and they rarely interacted in the dorms or living facilities either. When M.O.M died the first time, it was a grim reminder that even with Elite assistance, none of the Agents' well-being was guaranteed. Sal was miserable, Sougo was unhappy, but Petra was... dazed, and unable to elicit any particularly strong response to her coworker's death.     Now, retroactively, it's different. Now there's seventy thousand loops of Petra watching alongside Angela through the cameras while M.O.M lived and died and lived again, and his talks with Sougo in the facility, and being there watching Sal furiously blame Angela and Sougo for it, parasocially fixated. From the time where Petra was hired to the moment L-Corp ceased to exist, the number of dead agents could be counted on two hands, and among them are M.O.M and Cinder.     'The final loop' meant something very different for Petra as for Angela. For Petra, not being born in the facility, it meant moving on, cut loose, while the life and community she'd gathered for the past years scattered to the wind; not entirely bitter, but not 'freeing' in the way it was for Angela. The only ones that stayed, really stayed, where Petra's feet were rooted in the concrete floor, are the ones that died there.     So Petra's here, wearing her General Works suit, raven feather in her hair and Fourth Match Flame held by a loop of Silver at her waist. She was here before the call for aid, but it's impossible to say whether she'll stay after, as much as she enjoys being quietly absorbed in the books they've gathered. "And risking further scrutiny from the Head back during Lobotomy Corp for a low rankin agent was certainly not going to happen, but now that the Library is established I would like to try."     Petra dimly smiles, sitting on the edge of a table stacked with books and swinging her legs loosely. "Might as well try." The sentiment ends flatly, even though it's meant sincerely, because neither of them want to think about applying that same feeling to Cinder at this point. "This does mean you might have to fight an Arbiter without Lilian's assistance . . ."     "Well, I'll try and be a good enough replacement, sis." Petra slides off of the table to join the crowd at M.O.M's literary morgue, sarcastic and meaning it at the same time. Her aura is, for once, fully suppressed, leaving her psychically vulnerable enough that she won't destroy Flamel's machinery with her presence. "This might be the most straightforward and violent psychonautry I've done in years, honestly."     "It's not like M.O.M. to let anything make him feel bad enough that he ends up staying dead about it. I figure we'll definitely have his mind on our side. And then all there is to it is beating a mental dysfunction out of him, so, like, that's what I've always wanted." "And she shouldn't have to always be there to do it."     "Lilian's amazing because of how much she's able to do when other people aren't doing anything at all. Well, for, you know, a million reasons, but that's one of them. But, like, we're all here together, so," Petra shrugs, leaving the implication that she can be relied on and rely on Sougo in turn unstated. "Yeah." "That there's no point in being king if I lose everyone I care about. ...Even if I have to put everything back together a thousand times, I won't build a future without you in it."     Petra presses her lips together like she wants to say something more, but then turns away from him towards Flamel. "Anyways. Giddyup."
White	White still isn't confident in her ability to help with these psychonautry-related brain-fight types of things, but a fight is a fight, and if it's to defeat death... Well, she's kind of done that. Sort of. That's how it felt when she fought Araba, and she's come further since then. She could only hope that would be enough to matter, more than just being here for Angela's comfort and out of obligation. It never feels very good to show up and not have anything to offer.      She listens to the briefing in silent attention, releasing a couple of her 'agents' from her sleeve to sit nearby and give her an ongoing view of her own body before she's taken out of it, seemingly just for a sense of security. The spiders mime out the part of little nurses, touching people's wrists like they're checking pulses or scritching the floor like they're writing notes, but the bit falls away shortly after. She shares a momentary, slightly awkward glance with Riku, nods a little at him, looks back to Flamel and quietly asks, "Please... Warn me... If we need to be... Delicate." She's not going to go easy on something that Flamel is outright claiming to be dangerous, when she's fighting on still-unfamiliar terms against an unfamiliar threat with ambiguous limits. She doesn't know that she *could* get away with being delicate, really... But she'll find out.      Petra's emotions are hard for White to read, but she catches some small thread to pull on. She pauses, glances downward slightly, then back at Petra. "I'll try... To give you leeway, then. Do your best, Miss Petra." She seems to be ready and waiting, after that.
Angela	''So I feel everyone that can be saved should be saved from its effects.'' "Oh yeah? You were in that fight too?" Roland asks. ''So we need to kill something that took Lilian a lot of effort to kill.'' "It's still just a memory, not a real Arbiter. ... And Lilian didn't kill the Arbiter. We don't even know for sure how it will be represented, this is just some educated guesses. It could be anything." She pauses, thinking about Flamel's own words on the matter. "To be honest, ''what'' it is only matters in terms of identification. Because that's just the skin it wears. As I recall, 'an angry dog' could be just as dangerous as an Arbiter in these circumstances. Maybe even more so." This probably isn't the most reassuring sentiment! ''You just gotta get riiiight inside them and punch from the inside.'' "I'll uh. Remember that. Kukuru." Roland, who has spent most of his career doing his very best to not enter any sort of monster is wondering about how he'd even go about that. He then looks towards Riku like he's trying to think about how he'd get inside him, and then he plays that line back in his head and frowns to himself. "How uh. How do you get inside...giant people? Do you... jump into their mouths or something?" He does collect a sandwich. Angela abstains for now but does say, "I will have one after." It seems rude to her to eat a sandwich while everybody's working and she's just watching over their bodies. ''We know you're with us in spirit.'' Angela's eyes widen slightly, then she exhales, looking a little guilty as she glances away. Maybe it bothers her that she can't actually help. Maybe she's just tired. She can do it. She can be the bad guy indefinitely, she can be as cruel as she needs to be, but she can't revel in it. This is a chance for her to help and once again she can do little more than provide an opportunity for others to do the work. It's maddening. ''I've got something that might help for you too'' Angela feels immense dread, but her body makes her head nod appreciatively. "Thank you, Kukuru." She pauses. "You might be on to something there. If you appear as something stronger than his trauma..." But she has no idea what that might be. It's Sougo that Angela is MOST worried about. But ironically enough, it's Sougo that gives Angela hope in the moment all the same. She nods her greeting to her, even smiling at Woz, though it's an exhausted smile. "I understand that feeling well, lately." Angela admits. Even when her relationship with Lilian is rocky, she still finds a way to help her. "I hope I..." See more than ruin when she looks back one day. "...Will have that sort of view." ''I'm not the same me I was when we met.'' "You aren't. Neither of you--" She looks to Woz. "--are. I hope the mission is successful." Neither Angela nor Petra want to think about applying this to Cinder, though Angela is pretty well aware that Sougo has been working on a plan for her too--she hasn't heard anything recently but there's any number of reasons why that might be the case. "I am confident you'll succeed." Angela tells Petra, though she does crack a small smile at her 'eagerness' to beat up a 'mental disfunction'. She looks to White and adds, "Naturally, do not hesitate to retreat if you have to. As far as I know there is no reason we can't try again." Though that would be kind of a downer! "Good luck, White."
Angela	Once you enter M.O.M's mind the scenery shifts to... Oh it's Lobotomy Corp again, specifically the Information Department. Well, sort of. Much of the mindscape is the facility as one might expect from someone who spent as much time working there as M.O.M has, but it's different. There's cherry blossoms scattered across the ground, leaving a trail on the floor and some portions of its halls are replaced with segments of City backstreets. Periodically, tree roots jut out of the floor and walls, presenting tripping hazards and platforming opportunities. There are other Agents present, some of which are recognizable--some of which you've never seen--but they're all snoozing around on the floor even as roots wrap around them and cherry blossoms cover their bodies--some more tightly than others. "Is this how Lobotomy Corp used to work? Damn." Roland says. "Huh... look over there. There's some Axe Gang scrubs--wait, this guy used to be part of the Axe Gang?" He wrinkles his nose, "Wings, I know you all mentioned the bleach smell but this is way worse than I expected." Of course, Flamel would know that the Axe Gang of M.O.M's mind might be way harder to deal with than the Axe Gang of reality but it's likely they are part of the mental immune system. There's no real unifying identity among them that can be spotted, the only thing that seems to be common in their dress is how they're all wearing black leather jackets and have a general biker gang aesthetic. Well, there's one unifying element. They're all carrying axes. But they aren't immediately hostile to the interlopers either, they seem to be more concerned with trying to chop those roots to bits with their axes, but they aren't making much progress. Periodically, one or two get seized up by the roots and snap-pulled out of sight. It isn't just the roots that one has to watch out for. Around a corner, a man in white and brass Index robes steps into view, though their head has been replaced by a brilliant bouquet of bright pink flowers. In their hands, a scythe is gripped tightly.
Flamel Parsons	"So we need to kill something that took Lilian a lot of effort to kill."     "Not technically true," Flamel rambles a bit. "But you probably won't draw any wrong conclusions from that. If M.O.M wasn't prone to amplifying things in his head, that'll be a useful way to think about it."     "Not just stronger than whatever killed him, but look it, too."     "Won't hurt, but this isn't about pure perception. We won't be routing through the visual cortex. Still¸ whatever edge you want to get, I won't say to leave it at home." Flamel nods to Kukuru.     "I can't be a king, or even become a king, hoping that she's going to be this place or that place to help me out."     "That's the spirit! Build your own conspiracy, don't get your conspiracy of secret power store-bought. It's more satisfying, and you get around the unethical practices." Flamel beams, approvingly, rambling some shit that doesn't make any sense.     "I figure we'll definitely have his mind on our side."     "I'll trust you on that. Everyone hold fire when you see mental defenses, in that case." Flamel nods firmly, committing that to the tactical plan.     "Please... Warn me... If we need to be... Delicate."     "First time I've ever really been able to say, we shouldn't see much of a delicate operation here at all. I'll let you know if that changes, but until then, go ahead and open up the throttle!" Flamel's tone is even, cheery, and encouraging.     "Sitting around doing nothing won't get us anywhere... So I'm ready."     "I'm ready."     "I think me and Woz are ready when everyone else is."     "Giddyup."     Flamel approaches M.O.M, takes a big breath, and nudges the door open with one finger. The shimmering light behind it flickers oddly -- it's not meant for connecting with someone dead, so someone who thinks they're dead is rather a similar matter. And everyone will feel that tug on the thread, the influence inviting them slowly out of their body and through the door in a streak of distorted light and astral self-image...     As for once they're in there...
Flamel Parsons	"We're looking at where memories were strongly committed. That's backstreets, but mostly Lobotomy Corp." Flamel explains, as everyone materializes (astralizes?) in the hallways. "These mental images stuck in the roots... I have to guess that they're parts of the mental functionality that are suspended while the mind is stuck. Try to help them out, if you can, and watch out for their moves."     "We're here to help!" He calls out to the axemen. "We want this place working properly! We'll help!" Be open with these mental factors and surely that'll help. He raises both hands, summoning a dense spherical shield and some pyrokinetic beams to start trying to sear clean lines through the roots and free things...     Uh oh. He catches sight of the robed man, with the terrifying head. Pulling away from his pyrokinetic lance, he assumes a stance with two fingers on one temple, and the opposite hand brandished out like a gun. The shield stays. "That's not Arbiter colors, but-- who is that? Anyone got an ID?" He calls out to the bouquet-head. "Hey! Are you here to help? We could use your scythe, we've got an overgrowth problem!"
Riku Asakura	'Oh yeah? You were in that fight too?' "Yeah.  I was.  A lot of stuff went down during the fall of L-Corp.  Stuff I probably wasn't ready for yet, but butted in on because I can't leave well enough alone.  Still, I don't regret helping wherever I can." There are assurances about the Arbiter, but Riku isn't as confident about fighting something that took one of the strongest people he knows to fight to a standstill.  However, he's stronger than he used to be, so perhaps he has it in him to stand up to this threat, too.  It's just an echo after all.  Right?   Inside the Mind of M.O.M., the smell of bleach is nearly overwhelming, just like he remembered it.   'Huh... look over there. There's some Axe Gang scrubs...' "I don't know who the Axe Gang is, but I can probably put two and two together that they're a gang from the Backstreets and use Axes?" He asks Roland.  Not sure about M.O.M.'s past with the Axe Gang.  In fact, he didn't know M.O.M. very much at all. When the man for flowers for head comes up, he's not sure what to do.  The roots are being attacked by the Axe Gang, and M.O.M. was a part of them in his past.  Perhaps they're trying to save him from whatever the roots are a sign of?  Flamel confirms it, so... "You go!" he activates a capsule.  "I go!" he puts the second capsule through its activation process.  "Here we go!" he scans both capsules with the Fusion Riser, combining into what looks like a Red and Blue double helix on the Fusion Riser itself.   "It's time for my courage to burn bright!" he says and pulls the trigger on the Fusion Riser and puts it over his heart.  "Geeeeeeeeeeeeeeed!"  Brilliant blue fire pours out from the Fusion Riser and over Geed as he transforms. Fusion Rise!   Ultraseven! Ultraman Leo! Ultraman Geed Solid Burning! Solid burning is a little different than Primitive.  Metal plates adorn the mostly red color of Ultraman Geed's body, giving him some protection as well as his hard-hitting punches and kicks.  He goes to work immediately.  His hand was burning brightly to bring fire to the branches that were spreading throughout the facility, and tear them down.
Petra Soroka	"I'll try... To give you leeway, then."     "Oh, I've never actually-- been in one of these things before. I know what to expect, at least, but, uh... well, I'll do my best, yup." Petra doesn't exactly know what White expects by 'leeway', but she'll never disagree with a woman telling her to do her best. Especially since it's been established that she's acting as a stand-in for Lilian's assistance. "Do you... jump into their mouths or something?"     Petra firmly instructs Roland, "Don't do that. Don't jump into any mouths."     Inside, back into Lobotomy Corporation. Petra's Librarian uniform doesn't shift to match the environment, regardless of how thoroughly her self-concept is rooted here, but she sighs, meditating on the bleach smell with a steady breath as she so often does. Her hand falls to the pommel of Fourth Match Flame, and while her eyes are still closed, her tone shifts to lecture.     "M.O.M was attuned to the EGO of Grave of the Cherry Blossoms. It's an Abnormality that's peaceful and incapable of breaching, and typically beneficial to Agents, but as with anything in the facility, you can't assume it's safe just because it's pretty. Grave of the Cherry Blossoms lures Agents to become fixated on it as a symbol of peace and freedom, soothing them to the point of hypnosis so that they can be absorbed."     "Suppression guidelines..." Petra opens her eyes again. "The Abnormality stays in bloom year-round, without sunlight, by absorbing blood. It might not be relevant to M.O.M.'s death, but if it looks like it's going to interfere, prevent any Agents from being taken into the roots and beat them until they snap out of the daze." "Huh... look over there. There's some Axe Gang scrubs--wait, this guy used to be part of the Axe Gang?"     Petra teeters to a stop after leaping up over towering roots, higher than the ceiling would naturally be in the real L-Corp. She looks down at Roland with a dim smile, surveying the mindscape from her perch. "Scrubs? What's that, Grade 9?"     "I don't think the Axe Gang will be hostile to us, anyways. M.O.M. was with them before joining L-Corp, because... there. The Index." Petra points to the flower-headed Syndicate member, then skids down the massive root on her boots like a slide. "But he didn't die in L-Corp, or to the Index, so if they're not hostile, ignore them. That's guy's business. We're not here for his backstory."
Timespace Riders	On the other side, Woz and Sougo both transform in short order.                   Amazing! Time! Future! KAMEN RIDER WOZ? WOZ?!                                     KAMEN RIDEEER.. (RIDER..!) ZI-O--ZI-O!! II!                     This guy used to be part of the Axe Gang?      "Lobotomy Corp was his big break," says Kamen Rider Zi-O, his helmet dipping in a slight nod. "We call him M.O.M., but it's short for 'Mind Over Matter.' That's his philosophy... always trying his best not to let what's going on around him discourage him. That's what made me like him so much... I think I wanted him to be right. To be smiling for something, instead of in spite of it." Are you here to help? We could use your scythe, we've got an overgrowth problem!      "Doubtful," Kamen Rider Woz cautions Flamel, loud enough to be heard by the man with the flower-head. "That is a member of the Index, a Finger which M.O.M. ran afoul of in an effort to make a better life."      Zi-O's helmet swivels with surprise towards Woz. "You remember that?"      "But of course, sire. You told me so."      Zi-O's helmet bobs in a nod, and he 'mms' with warm relief. "Right. Flamel, M.O.M. felt... regretful, I think, and maybe scared, about that part of his life."      "Woz, help the Axe Gang deal with the roots. I'll handle the Index guy if we have to."      Woz places a hand over his breastplate and bows slightly at the waist, before reaching out with his hand. A green-bladed spear with a black haft and a touchscreen just under the head flies into his grasp from a cloud of neon green motion-lines.                                   JIKAN DESPEAR!                                        Woz slices at the roots with arcing cuts, switching in heavy stabs--each type of motion carries a scything swath of green energy, burning hotly as it cuts and exploding shortly after.      Zi-O, meanwhile, leaps forward to put himself in the figure's way. "If you're here to scare him, you can give up. He doesn't need you any more."
White	"Thank you Miss Angela. See you soon."      Drawn into the mental recreation of a portion of Lobcorp that she never visited (which is most of it really), White doesn't have much of a framework to particularly notice what parts are 'off' or 'strange' other than the general fact that indoor trees are a little strange, and that backstreets architecture probably stands out on a material level. The bleach smell is a bit offensive, but unconcerning. The root-textured and oddly shaped walls and floor actually make White more confident in her maneuverability within the space, if anything. It sort of evens out to let her feel cautiously neutral about the environment, and she takes in these details while immediately beginning to test her own astral body for any incongruencies with her physical one! She's got a strong self-image, and none of her abilities really come from 'outside' of herself, so she imagines she should be in fine condition.      She actually doesn't particularly notice that initially, her lower half is kind of hazy and indistinct when her astral body is being formed. It takes a few moments to solidify in either of her primary shapes, and eventually seems to settle on her tanklike spider-body after she instinctively acknowledges its greater utility in the environment. On eight nimble legs, tough and slender, even her much larger arachnid lower-frame can traverse the ground-roots and underfoot hazards without touching anything she doesn't mean to; omnidirectional vision is really great for that, too.      Even her scythe is easily summoned before long, made from a part of herself both materially and spiritually as it is. Whether it's truly the 'real thing' or a reconstruction of the mind doesn't particularly matter to her after she's felt it out for its proper weight and shape, and confirmed that it's still sharp; if roots try to grab her, a quick slice should split and rot them away from her body. She has to feel out the 'rules' of the space, but she feels more confident as she does! From there she naturally steps in beside Roland with her scythe over her shoulder, eyes open, and already generating a small cluster of shoulder-hovering glyphs so that she won't be caught off-guard now that Flamel's given her permission to 'open up the throttle'; it's kind of a comfort to get the opportunity for once, honestly. Plus, Petra's right there giving her the strategy-guide readout without her even having to ask! Petra gets a little thumbs-up. 'Keep blood away from the roots' is a naturally following side-objective that pops into mind.      She's about to assume that the axemen are a threat, but Flamel indicates otherwise by entreating them. Okay, so the roots are tangling things up, and that's an issue. Good for her understanding! She'll initially start trying to teleport the trapped mental-recreation-people out of the roots' grasp, but if they prove more tenacious she probably won't get to try a Plan B before the strange flower-headed scythe-guy comes into sight. Her focus shifts to him, and she's beginning her Evil Eye analysis by the time Flamel calls for an ID, trying to fetch any identifying or combat information she can about the strange floral figure while keeping her guard up to intercept surprise attacks with her webbing if needed.      In the back of her head, she's wondering if this is meant to be some kind of mirror-match. That feels like kind of a scam though, since she's already *done* mirror matches before! Surely her story can't pull that on her twice, that'd just be boring! ... Right, she doesn't have D to strawman-argue at and blame for 'bad narrative' here. Well, hopefully if it does become a fight, she can just blow him up and be done with it. She'll just shoulder in beside Flamel's shield in the meantime to double up on their immediate response options, already kind of ignoring the axe-men and the roots unless they come close enough to touch her.
White	Another benefit of omnidirectional vision is that she can watch Riku's transformation sequence without being distracted. She still hasn't made up her mind whether she's jealous of the transforming heroes or glad not to have canned animations herself, but still... Having a neatly themed powerset seems so cool...
Kukuru	Satisfied that her advice to Roland will definitely bear fruit some day, Kukuru can go in ready to fight the things in M.O.M.'s mind! Despite her encouraging words to Angela, though, even she knows that sounds a lot easier than it's going to actually be. Still, she needs to look confident enough going into this that Angela doesn't have to worry about her knowing what she's doing, or she might just make Angela worry even more! "It'll be okay. We have everyone here going in, and it's just like you and Sougo said. We know you'll keep us safe out here, and we'll be sure to escape if we really have to." A pause, and then Kukuru taps her chin even while closing her eyes. "I wonder if I'd be faster inside M.O.M.'s mind than on my regular feet..." "Still, whatever edge you want to get, I won't say to leave it at home." "Mhm, mhm, anything to be the strongest in M.O.M.'s mind.  Looks, sounds, maybe even smells..." Kukuru sounds uncertain even as she says that last one. "No nervousness, no panicking... Calm, firm. Like whatever gets in our way isn't even a problem, so the mental defenses are nice and relaxed about us, too." --- When the scenery changes, Kukuru finds herself sighing lightly at the familiar, yet different surroundings of Lobotomy Corporation merged with the City. Some of the familiar faces get her to perk up a little, and others cause slightly somber noises to come out of her. "There were some preeetty tricky Abnormalities back then, mhm. Although I don't remember ^it being so planty around this section... Ah, but it has been a while. Maybe I'm just forgetting how Information was." She admits to Roland with a quiet chuckle, tilting her head slightly at the sight of the Axe Gang members hacking at the roots. Spying a chance to appeal to M.O.M.'s mind with a show of strength without being threatening about, she takes a deep breath before speaking up with a pleasant '"He-llooo" and then gesturing at the roots lazily. "Do you need a hand with those?" She asks, but it's not really a question because Kukuru's already strolling towards some of those roots that are fairly close to where she's moving anyway. Gripping one of the many roots, she just sort of pushes down on it to smush it right into the ground like it was made of pudding instead of tree root, deliberately keeping her face relaxed so there's not a hint of her actually trying very hard. The bouquet with the scythe, too, gets a friendly and measured wave from Kukuru so she doesn't look like she's moving too fast. "Ah, hello there. Bringing that was a good idea, yep... Let us know if you get tired swinging that around, okaaay? We can do the gardening real easy with just a little snip here and there, too."
Angela	''Don't jump into any mouths.'' "I wasn't planning to..." Roland tells Petra and then once he's in... ''I don't know who the Axe Gang is--'' "They're a gang that's slightly above the Rats in terms of organizational capacity, they took killing jobs for money, they weren't skilled enough for bodyguard work but 'suddenly gets jumped by five guys with axes' is a pretty reliable strategy. They had good comradery with one another, so it doesn't surprise me that he thinks fondly of them." ''Scrubs? What's that, Grade 9?'' Roland laughs, rubbing at his neck. "Fair point. Just take it as me getting used to some really crazy customers since coming here." ''We're here to help!'' The axemen turn towards Flamel's voice. They hesitate, but once he starts searing through the roots--psychic damage is super effective!--they seem to buy what he's saying and approach. "We got a real problem, roots busting up all in our bro's business. Whatever you do don't get grabbed by those roots unless you want to make like a tree and never wake up." An Axe Gang member says. "The tree breached one day." Against the sort of protocols Petra said in how it worked. "M.O.M was sleeping in the central Nap Pile and the roots grabbed our bro." He looks over his shoulder towards the lingering member of the Index. "At first it was just the roots but those Index Bastards have started working with the tree." He whistles and a number of Axe Gang members approach the Elites, offering completely normal looking axes to anybody who wants them. In reality, they're probably not that tough, but as a symbol of the mental defenses wanting to help out, they might have some use. Roland climbs after Petra, leaping from branch to branch. Of course, the branches do try to grab ahold of Petra and Roland's legs but Roland is expecting this sort of thing and is making sure to not linger on any particular branch for too long. Fire is effective against trees! This is logic that makes sense in M.O.M's head! The Index officer rushes at Geed, stabbing at him with his scythe! This probably confirms that they are part of the encroaching force here. ''To be smiling for something, instead of in spite of it.'' Roland does feel something for that story but he pushes it away for now. He's not in a position to fret over others and it's unprofessional besides. M.O.M would probably prefer if he didn't start thinking of his own miseries while he was supposed to be trying to help him. "What's the central Nap Pile?" He asks. ''If you're here to scare him, you can give up.'' "Surrender to the Prescripts. Even Your Death Will be Peaceful." The Index member 'says' before screaming like a horror movie monster, vines from its flower-head lashing out and trying to pull Zi-O into the flower! That's probably bad! White CAN teleport the little mind people out of the roots. They don't immediately wake up and seem somewhat emaciated, but it's probably helping more than it's hurting. The Flowering Index's attempt to nom down on Sougo is interrupted by webbing smacking the man in the face, though the vines are small enough they are still pulling on Zi-O, even if he now mostly has to worry about getting stuck in the webbing as opposed to eaten. Analysis indicates that the Index entity isn't really part of the Index--it's an ambulatory part of the tree that is entombing M.O.M into his coma. Nevertheless, M.O.M remembers them as powerful so it's about as strong as an actual Index Proselyte and has its monstrous appendages to help out too. It doesn't seem to have much of a mind, though, it is rather singlehandedly subsumed with targeting the mental defenses of M.O.M so that he never wakes up. Much like the roots.
Angela	Aside from the axe-man offering Kukuru an axe, and the scythe wielding Index member attacking Sougo and Riku, neither seem to pay Kukuru much mind. Those not actively being harassed can readily move on ahead, the roots seem to be leading to what Petra remembers as being approximately where the Safety Department used to be. That's where all the best napping was, but the trip over feels longer than it ought to have been. No doubt in M.O.M's mind, traveling to the nap pile felt longer than it actually was. Sougo too might remember that's where he had met M.O.M, once, despite being from a whole other department. Another pair of Flowering Indexes appear, these ones wielding greatswords as they throw themselves at Kukuru, trying to carve into her with their weaponry. Roland, too, ends up getting ambushed, but not by the Index. He is briefly distracted upon seeing Kukuru under assault which slows down a jump which means a root lashes out and grabs at his leg. Swearing, he starts slicing at the roots with Durandal. "We're going the right way right??" He calls out.
Riku Asakura	Ultraman Geed is starting to make short work of the roots, but before he can get ahead of things, a scythe cuts through the air and cuts into his body.  Thankfully, he's got the extra defense today, because the sparks rain from where the scythe cuts and forces Geed into falling backwards from the blow.  He rolls with it, rolling back to his feet and jumping to defend against the next blow from the Flower-headed person.   'Surrender to the Prescripts. Even Your Death Will be Peaceful.' "Sorry, but I don't know what 'surrender' means," Geed says to the Index member, before he grows larger to try to use his size as an advantage in the room.  Now more Dimo-sized than normal human-sized, he rains down a series of burning punches on the Index Member, aiming to try and use fire on the plant-guy.   Steam bursts from the back of his arm as he does this, signaling that this attack will be very spicy.
Petra Soroka	"Ah, but it has been a while. Maybe I'm just forgetting how Information was."     Even though it's Kukuru, who notably has the memory of a goldfish, this line is staggeringly uncomfortable for Petra to hear. For her, as for Angela, it's permanently crystal clear in her memory, but only nine months out of the war and Kukuru's starting to forget, and inevitably, so will everyone else. It was always a fixation of Petra's even before then to fill out every corner and hidey-hole of the facility to claim it as her territory, and now...     Well, this isn't even the facility properly, anyways. She can tell where bolts are missing, or doors lead to nowhere, or closets that should be present just aren't in the mindscape. Even the smell is off. "Whatever you do don't get grabbed by those roots unless you want to make like a tree and never wake up."     "That's what trees are always doing," Petra agrees with the Axe Gang member, drawing her EGO and cutting a charcoal-inducing slash through one of the roots as she walks. On her other side, the Silver wraps around her arm and coils off of her wrist, forming several razor sharp tendrils that whip through thinner branches to slice them clean off, autonomously moving without her attention.     "If the tree breached, then... what... maybe that means that M.O.M. is currently feeling like it's *easier* to stay dead? As in, he's held down by the, uh, fuck, what's the word, captivating allure of giving up and avoiding life's difficulties, contrary to what he actually wants? Maybe? I'm not a Psychonaut." "We're going the right way right??"     "I don't know. I haven't seen any Arbiters yet. Have you?" Well, saying that makes Petra vaguely suspect that the memory might be housed in Extraction, but that's probably not the case. M.O.M. never even went down there; Binah's not enough of a link. The words that the Index thing is spouting makes her feel somewhat more certain about her hypothesis, dodging around the grasping vines to catch a greatsword on the flat of Fourth Match Flame. She braces herself, and then shoves to reorient the blade of her EGO towards the flowers of its head, wavering orange heat charring the flowers into white ash within seconds. She pulls the sword down through its body, sap hissing and spitting off of the blade.     "He spent a lot of time in Safety. So it's not bad odds that this is the way to go."
White	Analysis turns out to be rather vague, but White can't be too surprised given she's analyzing something that isn't strictly a real, living creature as much as a psychic figment of one, and that's pretty different from the kind of thing the Evil Eye is accustomed to analyzing. All Flamel gets is "It's part... Of the tree." and a moment later, "Compare it to... a 'Proselyte'." The 'whatever that is' goes unsaid, but is self-evident in her tone if one listens hard.      The situation is evolving quickly though. She sees successful ploys, unwanted ambushes, and little hazards scattered all around with her unusual acuity of sight. Offered an axe and only having a vague idea of its significance, White takes it wordlessly in one hand with the other still supporting her scythe over a shoulder. Fortunately, having her hands full doesn't stop her from letting nigh-invisible silk strands extend from her arms as if they were innumerable hairs, twining the bouquet-head's extended vines together into bundles and restricting their flexibility while adhering them to the ground partway when they reach out for Sougo. Given the chance, she'll try to lop the whole bundle and sever it to free him with an upward sweep of her scythe in one hand, and let the Rot attribute of its magic course back toward the enemy's body, seeing it as a possible easy and quick win in the moment.      But! She's not particularly invested in the skirmish once it seems like Sougo (or should she be calling him Zi-O?) is stably on both feet and ready to fight! She's started to have a thought, an idea even, you see? After the bind-and-slash on the Kamen Rider's behalf she takes note of how preoccupied Geed and Kukuru are and turns back toward the roots and the ensnared people(?), skittering away from that particular fight with her scythe and the gifted axe bundled together in both hands. She's searching for a spot where the roots are most tightly entangled, using the distraction of the tree's defenders to shamelessly circumvent a fight, and when she finds a spot that feels good enough she quickly does a few things at once.      First, she swings her scythe down like a pickaxe into the densest part of the root, burying the blade as deep as she can and leaving it there. Then, she does the same with the lent axe, with a small gap between. Her magic glyphs fold together like cards, exchanging several Black Spears pre-charged for a single Black Blade that's taller than her and crudely shaped like a cruciform mass of oily smog and sputtering black flame, which she also plunges down further up the root, giving three different access channels into the interior of the root. From there, it's just a matter of channeling raw Dark Magic through all three differently sized weapons, like pouring venom into a wound. Or like putting copper nails in a tree stump? Something like that. As the Rot spreads, she'll teleport captives out of the way as needed, if the Rot isn't as contained within the tree as she hopes.      It is her hope that with the tree's defenders distracted, she can just keep pouring Dark Magic into the roots and let it spread throughout the tree from there, weakening the entire mass without having to blow up the area or anything so extreme! The axe she was given probably won't *survive* having Rot channeled through it, but she hopes that it'll amplify the effect since she's aligning with the axe's psychic purpose or-... Or something! She's just hoping for the best on that front really.
White	If she's attacked, she'll have to redirect some of her effort to deal with that, but she doesn't have to fear being captured very much right now. If she has to find a more optimal spot to channel this magic into the tree from, that's what trial and error is for! And if those Index-whatevers are really a part of the tree in a psychic sense, this is *definitely* going to start making them weaken if she gets free reign, so it's almost like she isn't just watching everyone fight after all! If someone gets into a *really* bad situation and she has to bail them out, that'd be a problem, but she will just choose to believe and hope for the best rather than be disappointed preemptively just yet.
Timespace Riders	What's the central Nap Pile?     "Precisely what it sounds like," answers Woz, testingly turning the axe he was offered over in his hand before rearing back, winding up with a sideways flip and burying it into a root. Surrender to the Prescripts. Even Your Death Will be Peaceful.     Zi-O gasps--he'd expected an attack from the scythe, and is caught completely unawares by the outstretched flower stems. He calls forth a two-tone silver-gold greatsword that resembles the hands of a watch in alignment, but is unable to lift it in defense before the flowers bind his arms. Webbing stuck to the Proselyte's face affords him a modicum of relief--but his boots still grind against the floor as he struggles to escape his opponent's grasp. The Zi-O II armor's conferred strength allows him to slowly pry the vines off, until his hand has enough space to reach for the crossguard on the sword--an asymmetrically-set thing that looks exactly like the faceplate of his original armor.     The edge of the blade is suddenly ablaze in golden energy, exploding outward to cut through the flowers holding him. Pressing his opening, Zi-O separates the greatsword into a pair of longswords--one silver, one gold--and whirls them, one after the other, in an advancing arc. Stepping closer, he wards off a counterattack with a high roundhouse, combining the swords as he turns and winding up for a finishing strike. The greatsword's blade is completely enveloped with golden light that extends into a blade well past the original sword's point. At its center, burning brilliant white, pink katakana rise to the surface, reading 'ZI-O RULES'--                             KING (GIRI-GIRI) SLASH!                                 Just before the masssive sword of light explosively bisects the Proselyte. <J-IC-Scene > Flamel Parsons says, "It looks like the root structure of this EGO is keeping things in this unstable state. We won't make any traction with *anything* until we get some of this cleared up. It might not even be an Arbiter-related memory, at least not mainly -- gah!" <J-IC-Scene > Flamel Parsons says, "I've got enough pyrokinetics to focus on the roots, can someone disrupt the link between the Index and the Grave? I don't know enough about either to really wedge between them!" <J-IC-Scene > Roland says, "The Index is all about giving up your individual thought and will in exchange for safety. but lots of people regret making the choice to sign on." <J-IC-Scene > Flamel Parsons thinks, wracking his brain a bit literally from the sound of the audio. <J-IC-Scene > Flamel Parsons says, "Giving up free thought and free will aligns with sleep, the temptation structure aligns with lulling, but there's gotta be a division point..." <J-IC-Scene > Flamel Parsons snaps his fingers. "Got it. Find wherever the best sleep was, there should still be some reserves of dream-logic. It's too individualized, if we can inject it into the root structure it should circulate and drive a wedge with the Index."     "The Nap Pile," Zi-O calls. "In Central! He used to sleep there with Sal. Woz, change of plans! White's Rot stuff seems like it's really driving back the roots. Stick with me and let's keep the Index guys off of her--UWOOOH!"     Zi-O's buffoonish cry of surprise heralds his ungainly juke away from a thrown axe which embeds itself in the chest of the Proselyte, courtesy of Woz.     "By your command, sire," the retainer calmly answers, before leaping forward to pry the axe loose with the blade of his spear. He pops it upwards with his foot, his grip on the spear choked up all the way to the touch screen so that he can dual-wield it with the axe he snatches out of the air.
Flamel Parsons	Flamel is quick and active. The Index is focused on others, so he can break off. As he moves, his pyrokinetics work overtime, focused into tight beams and expanding into huge bubbles, and he flicks in and out of visibility. <Ah, dangit! It looks like the root structure of this EGO is keeping things in this unstable state. We won't make any traction with *anything* until we get some of this cleared up. It might not even be an Arbiter-related memory, at least not mainly -- gah!> He dodges around a hostile root, leaping over it dramatically and then nearly tumbling on his ass when he clears it. Invisible again. <Reorient tactics, same approach, focus on the limiting the root structures and culling it back to where it needs to be, and we'll get to an Arbiter if we find one!>     Still, can't just hack away the outer area. <I've got enough pyrokinetics to focus on the roots, can someone disrupt the link between the Index and the Grave? I don't know enough about either to really wedge between them!> He wracks his brain visibly as he focuses on a heavy burn... <Giving up free thought and free will aligns with sleep, the temptation structure aligns with lulling, but there's gotta be a division point...> He snaps his finger, finishing off a huge burst of fire. <Got it. Find wherever the best sleep was, there should still be some reserves of dream-logic. It's too individualized, if we can inject it into the root structure it should circulate and drive a wedge with the Index.>     Zi-O has some insight. Central? A sleep zone? His beams and bubbles of conflagratory heat try to carve paths for the others to leap through on a rapid path to Safety, though he's got some high expectations of their ability to platform. That's good for Petra, isn't it?     Speaking of Petra...     "...Captivating allure of giving up and avoiding life's difficulties..."     <Ghhh... can you track down anything that would make life worth living a little more for someone in The City? Or any memories M.O.M would have that make death more of a deterrent? I'm a *little* blind here, but I'll do what I can!>     While he's here in Safety, he takes a break from his burn duties to plant two fingers on his temple and pound the ground with psychic force. The wave of light pulses out like a radar, seeking out signs of joy, motivation, or other reason to live. If the others can keep up the fight, hacking down the roots and fighting back the Index, he might be able to find some motivators and extract them. They'll be what he needs when he can find the central root source.     Never fix a mind by force. Connect pieces within it and let the natural flows heal what's broken. The mind knows what shape it needs to be in, it knows what a state of 'healed' means. Focus on finding what's out of place, and place it where it ought to be. But burn these damned roots while you do.
Kukuru	Despite the Axe Gang's warnings not to get grabbed, hearing that M.O.M. did, in fact, get grabbed by the roots and put to sleep forever starts to put an idea into Kukuru's head. Some/most of the people here might already be able to guess that she's thinking about getting grabbed just from the thoughtful look crossing her face, but  it might look like more of a skeptical look to those unfamiliar with the workings of her head. "Really? That doesn't sound..." There's an awkward delay before she remembers that she needs to look decisive. "... Good. Don't you worry, dears. We'll get your brother out of there, too. Now." She claps her hands together with a pleasant throat noise as the other members bring out the axes, taking one for herself and flipping it around a few times like it's no heavier than a baton. "Oh, I haven't held swung one of these since I was little... Hehe. Those were fun days." Another pleasant sigh, and Kukuru quickly stops herself from reminiscing too much. Even if they're less effective than using her own hands and claws, Kukuru's still grateful for the gift from the mental defenses. She's clearly rusty with the axe, but she still aids in pulling up and chopping apart roots on the way towards Safety while making it look fairly effortless. "Have you any of you ever chopped down a tree before? It's reaaally relaxing, especially in the winter when the leaves are coming off, so you get a biiiig carpet of crunchy leaves and branches by the time you're done..." She asks nobody in particular, just sort of glancing around at the other Elites when there's a lull in root-clearing and Index-fighting. Kukuru isn't safe from the Flowering Indexes forever, of course, but she was already mentally preparing for a fight by the time the greatsword wielders come at her. She deliberately avoids flinching away from their blows, too, opting for a show of overwhelming strength as promised. Instead of trying to back off or teleport thhrough their attacks like M.O.M. likely would have seen her do plenty of times, Kukuru instead steps right into the Indexes' initial attacks, intercepting their blades with a claw on one side and an axe on the other to minimize how much force they're able to put into actually cutting into her. Even though she's bleeding from both sides already, the green light suffusing through her body and focusing on those wounds is the telltale signal that her healing powers are already kicking in. "We should be heading the right way, mhm. This is looking more familiar already." Kukuru answers Roland with a slow and unbothered nod while she twists the greatsword around in her clawed grip to mess with that Flowering Index's grip, then whipping the back of her claw outwards in a mighty backhand to throw them straight into the ceiling. The one coming at her from the axe side doesn't get off any easier even with her shoddy axe-fighting technique, either, as she eschews fancy twisting techniques in favor of just thrusting it upwards with enough force to impale the Flowering Index with the axe even at that improper angle. "In Central! He used to sleep there with Sal." "Then that's where we gotta go. We find the Nap Pile, and we'll find M.O.M. Maybe we'll even find..." Wait, would they find anyone else in here, or would it just be M.O.M.'s mental image of them? Kukuru can't quite scratch her chin in the middle of trying to casually obliterate the two Indexes on her, but she has that look on her face (complete with the tip of her tongue sticking up from the side of her mouth) she usually gets when she does. "Then we cover White, and Petra can help make sure we're heading the right way. If we weren't in M.O.M.'s head, I'd teleport us there, but... Do you think that would work, or just do something weird to his mind?" She asks, looking towards Petra and Flamel in particular.
Angela	''Sorry, but I don't know what 'surrender' means.'' "It means to submit to the inevitable!" The Flowering Index says as if expecting giving Riku the answer will result in him being more vulnerable. His punches are able to ignite the flower part of the Flowering Index, but it retaliates by flinging those burning vines right back at him! There's no self preservation mechanism to this entity. fourth Match Flame is particularly effective. Not only is it fire, it's also EGO which means it's doing weakness damage two times over. Roots peel away from Petra's swings as if in a panic though it isn't enough to protect them. They rapidly burn away and the Flowering Index can't even get close to her without risking themselves and the one that attacked Petra is immolated within moments. Roland thinks that Petra's got a point even as he hacks at the branch latched around his leg. He's able to get enough of it down that when White starts unleashing rot, the weakened vines immediately drop him early to the ground where he lands with a THOOMP. "Thanks...White." He says, pushing himself up dizzily. It's hard to tell if the Rot would affect the people within but they seem weakened enough that it's probably a good idea to teleport them out of the way anyway. The more people White teleports out of those root,s the stronger the Axe Gang become--as do the axes they've offered. It's honestly fairly isekai in feel. It's not just Roland's roots that snap, channeling the Rot through the axe rapidly clears the path (of roots at least), rapidly blazing a trail towards Safety--literally in the case of the fire. As expected, the Flowering Index stumble and hiss in pain as their origin is struck--it also makes White a target, but even with the Flowering Index now swarming to the location--between Flame, Woz, Sougo, and Kukuru along with their weakened state? They are easy enough to tear apart. Just--the numbers aren't slowing down. Flamel's plan of disrupting the connection between the Index and the roots might prove necessary just for that alone--help the mind do the healing. The group pushes on to Safety. There's three objectives here: The first, keep the Index off of everyone else. The second, alert the Dream Center to the discrepency between the Index and the concept of 'peaceful rest'. And finally... Safety has been almost entirely taken over by roots and in its center is a giant cherry blossom tree--it does, in fact, look quite like the Abnormality. It is in full bloom and M.O.M himself is embedded in its trunk, eyes closed and non-responsive. He's not the only one. There are members of the Axe Gang within there as well as numerous Agents--Petra can recognize them all, it's mostly Safety and Information Team members but there's also some clerks. Standing in front of it is Angela, wearing the Cherry Blossoms EGO--she looks like she did when she worked at Lobotomy Corp, eyes closed. It isn't REALLY Angela of course--that's the memory of his 'death'. Axe Gang members charge her but she tears them apart with fans, splashing blood across the floor as she dances around the room. As people approach she unleashes a wave of wind to try and knock them away. But that's not all that's going on there. As one might expect, the Dream Center is near the Sleeping Nap Pile Tree. A floating sheep cloud thing is hovering in front of a door labeled 'Dream Center' and Netzach is sitting on top of it. A Dream Netzach. Not the real thing. Dream Netzach is constantly in the process of nodding off. They're so eepy!
White	White is pleased to see that her plan is working out. It's a fair bit to focus on at once, having to manage spellcraft, guiding the raw Dark Magic, relocating the captives as the Rot attribute eats its way toward their confines and more. Fortunately she's not at risk of missing anyone who's buried thanks to her ability to see through the roots and other surfaces, but it's still a lot to do at once! It helps a lot when others fall in around her to defend her, and strikes her as an unusual sort of novelty too. It gives her time to think a little, while she's prying up her set of blades from the initial spot and skittering further along to a less-rotted spot to serve as the next nexus of her efforts, planting each blade again and resuming her crude channeling.      If this isn't enough to finish the job yet, what's the next move? Does she seek out a spot closer to the proverbial heart, or just keep at it here to keep the pressure off of the others? She could scout around for the 'dream logic' Flamel wanted, but frankly she barely knows what to look for, and even if she leaves the scythe embedded in the roots while she's away there's only so much it can do without her actively present. Flamel and Petra seem to be on the move looking for the lasting solution, and Roland's fallen behind Petra... And there's a facsimile of Angela defending what they need. Okay. It might sting a little, but she has a grasp of the situation.      Roland doesn't get along to be dizzy and disoriented; White brings him directly to her with a beckoning teleportation while leaving one hand on her embedded scythe, pushes a round little spider-friend against his chest until he has a grip on it, and gently turns him around by the shoulder. "Point... Where you want to go. I'll watch." Then, Roland is teleported away toward Petra's side in front of the false Angela! With the spider-agent clinging to him, or whoever he hands it off to, White will devote part of her attention while she's being defended to try and manage teleporting the spider's carrier when needed, helping augment the mobility of at least one of the people facing down the false Angela, and hopefully enabling them to effectively either evade harm or pull off a heist on the stuff she's protecting.      If there's enough downtime where the spider isn't being given instructions directly, White will use it to try and remove more and more of the captive Lobcorp folks from the tree's grasp, like she was doing earlier with the ones closer to her! Otherwise, she's going to concentrate on spreading the Rot as thickly and deeply as she can through the roots, keeping the enemies' strength manageable in the meantime; she even siphons some of the tree's energy off for herself with the Jinxing Evil Eye, just to keep the intensity at full blast.
Petra Soroka	"Ghhh... can you track down anything that would make life worth living a little more for someone in The City?"     "Yeah, I'll get right on that," says Petra, whose track record of trying to make life more worth living in the City usually results in someone getting killed. Still, though, she knows this place and its people better than anyone here. "Woz, go back down that hallway, turn right at where the containment cell door got burst open, then Sal's office door has a little glowy purple outline in the metal around the window. There should be a memory of some kind in there I bet, like a photograph of the Info team, or maybe something more personal. Take Riku with you if you're not certain about going alone."     At least, Petra has to hope that M.O.M.'s mental model of the facility lines up close 'enough' with reality that those directions will suffice. White's rot courses through the root system as Petra is running and platformer-sliding over them, with sticky black decay suddenly appearing under her hand. She drops to the ground and wipes off her hand on also rot-stained pants, but takes the opening as the roots collapse in front of her to pick up the pace, simply ignoring the Index puppets besides a cursory strike with Fourth Match Flame to force them back.     Then, in the central chamber of Safety, Petra's eyes find M.O.M., and then after a moment of scanning the rest of the tree, Baba sleeping there with him. She lingers on that for a moment-- only one of them is really 'here', after all-- before readying her sword for the fake Angela guarding the Grave of the Cherry Blossoms.     "I'll take the Manual-- er, the dream Angela. Cherry Blossoms' vulnerable to red damage, so this should be quick." She twists her lips, Silver tendril zipping out to yank an Axe Gang member away from the Angela's fans. "It's a mercy killing or whatever, anyways. Killing an Angela that doesn't exist in M.O.M.'s mind makes room for the real one later."     Petra flickers, and the use of her psychic power in this mental space leaves a static silhouette of her body where she was. Angela's fan flicks through the silhouette an instant later, but the next step of her dance is anticipated, twisted, and reversed, with Fourth Match Flame leaving a scorch mark on her body as Petra appears behind her. Numerous more precognitive flickers blink around the green-lit chamber as Petra keeps up with Angela's tempo, gradually baiting her away from the tree and harrying her with fiery sword strikes.
Kukuru	Even if the numbers of Flowering Indexes aren't diminishing at all, seeing them go down as easily as they are does put a bit more pep in Kukuru's step. "That's the way, mhm.. You're all doing great. Now we just need to keep this pace, and then M.O.M. will be back up on his feet in no time~" She's not singing a song while hacking and battering them away, of course, but Petra, Woz, and Sougo might hear her humming every now and then like she's doing yard work and not splattering people-shaped mental constructs. She gets a better handle on fighting the Index the longer this trek to Safety goes, too, taking full advantage of both White's Rot and the empowered axes to even start nailing them before they can cut into her. "These Indexes are such troublemakers... How's anyone supposed to be able to sleep through all this?" She gets her answer upon reaching Safety, seeing all those Agents and Axe Gangers and Clerks and M.O.M. embedded right into the cherry blossom tree while yet more Axe Gangers are in the middle of getting cut right up by- "Angela? I thought you were outside..." She murmurs, sounding confused at first and then aaah-ing in understanding once Riku and Flamel clear that confusion up for her. "Oh. Not Ange... Okay. That should make things easier, theeen~" She says while nearly getting blown right back out of Safety, only catching herself by stomping a foot through the ground to root herself in place. <J-IC-Scene> Riku Asakura as Ultraman Geed says, "So we have to stop this Angela..." <J-IC-Scene> White says, "... Get Mister Flamel... His 'dream logic'... First. I'll send... A little help." <J-IC-Scene> Flamel Parsons says, "We accounted for this. We won't be able to change his mind about Angela, not yet, but we might be able to get it off his mind for a while." That rules out trying to reason with this Angela, but Kukuru still has another approach in mind. She hasn't forgotten about having to show M.O.M. that his cause of death would ultimately be weaker than all of them, and she sees another opportunity to do so in the Angela standing between everyone and him. Still avoiding the use of any teleportation out of fear that it might explode M.O.M.'s mind, Kukuru starts making her way towards this Angela, one heavy step through the ground at a time to anchor herself against the wind. "One step at a time... Nice and easy, veeeery easy. Come on, let's not make this aaany harder than it needs to be, okay?" She calls out, trying to draw the fake Angela's attention towards herself. Once she's within striking distance, she brings both hands up for the wind up, then swings them forward with a massive... Firmly grasping the fake Angela's wrists, holding them in place to force her to face Kukuru. Apparently, even knowing that this is a false Angela isn't enough to get her to take a proper swing. Still, if she can hold her still long enough for Petra to cut her down, that'll have to do.
Riku Asakura	Geed continues to face down the Flowering Index, this time sparks rain across his form until he brings out a barrier to protect himself from the vines that are on fire.  However, he can't spend all day working on this guy, so he runs forward.  Hand on fire as he punches the creature in the chest and lets loose a burning stream of flame energy.   When it was done, there was a geyser of steam that erupted from the back of his arm.   This leads to Safety, where the sleeping captives are.  Including a dream Netzach.  But before that is a Dream Angela.  Who seems to be callously killing members of the Axe Gang.  It takes Geed aback for a moment, but thankfully, people steer him in the right direction, which was away from direct conflict with Angela again.   'Take Riku with you if you're not certain about going alone.' "Right, I'll go with you, Woz.  Lead the way!" He says going with Woz in the direction that Petra directs them.  Riku uses himself to shield Woz from blows or hidden threats, trying to do his best to cover the retainer to the Demonic King of Time the best that he can.
Flamel Parsons	Flamel blasts through in a rush of hot air, charges forward -- and then is quickly slammed back by the blast of air, flicking out of invisibility. Dammit, that's not useful if the mental-Angela can just attack *everywhere*! Skidding to a stop, he kicks in the levitation and tries to flank -- no dice. It's too wide, it's too strong, it's too powerful when that broad impact rushes over. He'd have to face her purely visibly, and he just doesn't want that smoke, as the kids at his camp often say.     The others are occupied, focused on Angela or on the roots, or on procuring some strong motivator at a greater distance. Riku and Woz will get what they can. Flamel... he rushes the dream center, flicking in and out of visibility until his telekinetic hands can grasp the counted sheep firmly and extract the energy. Wool should come cleanly away, and the Rot that White is making should be a simple, straightforward weakness point to drive some of that in. With the parasite's own immune system weakened, it'll be all the more vulnerable...     <We've got what we need! White, think of a clear injection point where you'd bite this thing! I'm burning a clear injection!> If one comes to her mind, he'll be driving a super-hot lance straight through, and telekinetically jamming some of that dream-logic straight into the vascular tissues of this construct. Those lead straight to the center, to the Grave, after all. The spreading dream-logic should introduce enough individualistic chaos that any mental imagery of the Index... well, it won't be friendly, but it should at least see the Grave as a too-individualistic, too-independent risk. They might cull themselves. They *might* attack the Grave, if Flamel's lucky.     It might make the Grave behave erratically, though... Hopefully the others can deal with Angela and the Root. Hopefully some old memory of something worth living for might drive through all this...
Timespace Riders	Zi-O and Woz arrive in Safety after a difficult push. The would-be Demon King's chest heaves with exertion, his words interspersed with short breaths. "We're getting closer," he says, only for his voice to catch in his throat when he sees--     "M.O.M.!!"     He takes a step forward, only to be buffeted by gusts of wind from Angela's fans. His greatsword strikes up sparks and screeches against the floor as he plants it in to slow himself and resist the gale. Slowly, he advances against it, one heavy, effortful footfall after the other placing himself between White and Angela. "We just... have to give his survival instinct... room," he utters Flamel's words to himself between grunts of effort. Woz, go back down that hallway, turn right at where the containment cell door got burst open, then Sal's office door has a little glowy purple outline in the metal around the window. There should be a memory of some kind in there I bet, like a photograph of the Info team, or maybe something more personal.     The retainer's smartwatch-themed helmet sweeps from Petra to his king.     "Go! I've got a good feeling about this," Zi-O assures Woz.     "Very well, sire. And thank you, Petra."     Toei! Future Time! Dare Ja? Ore Ja! NINJA! Futurering Shinobi! SHINOBI!         Woz's armor shifts its aesthetic from entirely smartwatch-themed to the same general theme, but with accents to emphasize a ninja; purple shuriken app-icons on the shoulder pads, a large purple shuriken at the breastplate, an asymmetric one on his helmet to suggest both the hands of a watch and the archetypal Rider 'antennae,' and, of course, a flowing iridescent purple scarf.     Woz strikes a quick series of handseals with both hands, disappearing in a puff of smoke with the classic deer-scare 'thunk' sound. He reappears at the mouth of the hallway Petra indicated, already in a superhuman sprint that corkscrews from floor to wall to ceiling, beelining for the door she mentioned to force it open--with explosive shuriken, if need be.     Zi-O, meanwhile, swings his greatsword and pulls a trigger just under the crossguard, flinging a cluster of disembodied silver clock faces at M.O.M.'s vision of Angela to get her attention. They fly, swarming in a cloud of polychromatic energy, to collide and explode with their intended target. "M.O.M.! I know it's been so long since we saw each other... but please don't give up yet! Things are changing in the City! There's so much I want you to see, so much I want to show you, so many new reasons to smile, so please... wake up!"
Angela	''Point... Where you want to go. I'll watch.'' "...You sure? It's not the real deal but that doesn't mean it's nothing." Of course he imagines that Angela would be the first to mock HIM for hesitating just because of what an enemy happened to look like. "Alright." Roland was exploded into spiders the last time he wasn't nice to spiders so Roland isn't about to just hand off a spider to someone else. Angela might hear about it and then send him into Laeticia's book again or something. No, he's going to be very nice to this spider. There's only really one mostly stable place to put a spider on though which is directly on top of his head. "Gonna be rushing around so hold on tight." Like Ratatouille! And Roland is going to make use of it. He rushes Angela directly. Some part of him no doubt sees this as an opportunity to get some experience fighting ''an'' Angela. Might prove to be something he needs to do some day. He points periodically to have White teleports push him out of the way of Angela's winds--he's adapting quickly to the boost White's giving him, more quickly than he usually adapts, but the fact that there's an Angela here to fight has signaled a neuron that he best fight his damnedest. Then again, Angela did rip off his limbs once so. M.O.M himself seems resilient to being teleported out, but White can teleport the others agents out. The Axe Gang members shift their efforts to holding back the Flowering Index. The base of the tree is strong, but that Rot's gradually weakening its defenses even as the roots crumble around it. It's not as if Petra hasn't worked to kill the illusory versions of people in another's head before. Angela herself is less vulnerable to fire than the tree and roots, but M.O.M knows the weaknesses of his own EGO. Red damage will work great. Angela is drawn from the tree, but there isn't significant recognition in her eyes on Petra--this is a fake Angela after all, and it's not like M.O.M was remotely aware of how close they were--or ended up being. Roland, seeing what Petra is doing, sees summons an axe to his hand and smashes Angela in the back with it, allowing Petra to get a couple good burning carves into her chest. Why doesn't this feel better, Roland thinks, even knowing that she's a fake--he should feel a little better, shouldn't he? But he doesn't. All he feels is that familiar dullness like when he helped kill Murdoch ... When he booked Mars ... same as every other killing in his life. Eventually, Angela stops pulling away from the tree and starts fighting more defenisvely, keeping Petra and Roland at bay with those petal infused waves of wind buffeting them. But as she's preoccupied with Roland and Petra, that's hwen Kukuru sees her chance and lunges forward, grabbing ahold of both her hands as they come together and pin Angela in place, Sougo's clocks constantly clocking her in the face and making it difficult for her to focus her strength and pull herself free. Sougo shouts out to M.O.M... He stirs faintly. He considered Sougo a friend. His mouth moves but no words come out. His last words were an apology. He's trying to apologize again.
Angela	Meanwhile, Riku and Woz are rushing down towards Sal's office--as Petra suspected, M.O.M has a real clear vision of where Sal's office was. With Riku beating back the Index and keeping Woz harrassed-free, the retainer is able to bust into the door where... BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-YMea2QM8w Two ghosts dance in Sal's office amongst enkephalin crates and tubes filled with monstrous looking organisms. "Monty, please. I'm not a dancer." Sal laughs, holding M.O.M's hands in theirs. "You're distracting me from my work. Yesod's a stickler for punctuality." "But I love dancing and it's no fun dancing alone, ha ha! Come on, what's the point of your big promotion if you're going to be working harder than a grunt like me." "Maybe they'd demote me then you can deal with CHewie." Sal says as they waltz across the office lab. "...To be honest, my parents would be so pissed if they knew I was dancing with some Backstreets killer." "A cute one." Monty says. "Besides, they probably had no idea this was the sort of Nest Work you were in for." "No... They're like the biggest Ayin believers on the planet. They're always gushing about how he saved the District. Had a cousin who died from Smoke poisoning." Sal pulls in closer. " Do you think we'll get out of this someday? Maybe if the City changes enough, there won't be 'Nest' and 'Backstreet' anymore. You won't have to kill anymore, you can become a dancer like you wanted." M.O.M hesitated, "Well...I promised a Demon King that I'd look forward to the day I could laugh and smile for real so...I'd probably get in trouble if that doesn't happen." M.O.M turns his head and sees Woz there. Within the dream there's a flicker of recognition as the Sal fades away. The Dream M.O.M transforms into dream energy and sloughs through Woz by instinct. As he does so, the Index shudder and fade away from harassing Riku. Flamel Parsons grabs ahold of the Void Dream. Netzach wobbles on top of the sheep but they are mostly present due to association. Flamel sheers some wool away, causing Netzach to tumble off and then flop to the ground snoozing, green fluid dripping out of his mouth as they stare at the ceiling. The 'positive dream memory' flowing through the facility reaches him and White--the both of them can take hold of that energy and inject it directly into the dream center like a venomous bite. Or, really, the opposite of one. A curing bite. The sheep's eyes snap open as it rapidly transforms into a rooster, pulling free from Flamel as it stomps to the ground and approaches the tree. It lets out a mighty, "COCKADOODLE DOOOOOO!" before rearing back and PECKING the Tree with its break. Any remaining Flowering Index disintegrate and the Angela stumbles, allowing Petra and Roland to punch through her defenses and skewer her. The false Angela drops her fans and slumps to the floor, fading away as M.O.M's mind starts to wake, the Cherry Blossom Tree fading away like a dream that ended long ago. The Axe Men salute the Elites with their axes and in short order the mind pushes everyone back out through the Psychoportal, the work done.
Angela	Once they're out, Angela--and Sal who had joined her while you were in there, startle. "How'd it go??" Sal asks. "Look." Angela says, pointing towards M.O.M whose eyes are slowly opening. He doesn't get off the table. He tries, but he has been in a coma for a very long time. It's gonna take him a while to remember how bodies work. "Wha....where am I? .... Had a ... nice dream." M.O.M says. Sal cups her mouth and starts crying. She's never cried before. "You're alive.. you actually saved him... Thank you, thank you..." "S..sorry Sal... don't think I'm ready to sit up yet... God, what kind of bed is this...?" "It's a table." M.O.M frowns. "...Wait...is that Jazz? I thought... It's weird, Woz was there..."
Riku Asakura	Woz disappears, but Geed has to go the long way around.  That's fine, because it means he can trigger all of the Indexes to come at him.  There are more than he can handle in a fair fight, but he doesn't need to fight them for long; he just needs to hold them off until Woz can get to where he needs to get.   And for the two ghosts to share a moment that Woz observes.   During this time, Riku makes a fist that explodes with fire energy again, and fires a beam from his hand at the Indexes.  "Strike Boost!" he calls out, as the very hot beam aims to burn through as many of the Indexes as he can get.  Steam pours out of the back of his arm in response, both steadying him and releasing energy in response to the attack.   Things get dire after this, but then... The Index slowly start to fade away as dream energy M.O.M. walks by.  This causes Geed to sigh in relief.  It seems like the situation was resolved, and Petra's instincts were right on the money.  "Nice one, guys..." he says and then... Riku's eyes open on the seat he had made himself comfortable in.  He wipes his mouth because he's started to drool a little and looks around him bleary-eyed.  Once he's awake a bit longer, his eyes fall towards M.O.M. and Sal as they share a moment.  He smiles brightly, glad to have helped make it possible.   "I guess all's well that ends well..." he says with a sigh of relief.
Flamel Parsons	Flamel firmly pushes the dream-logic through, the dream center acting as the perfect conduit, and then eventually...     The rolling shock of a wakeup unsteadies him. "Alright, mind wants us out! We need to get going before the red carpet that the axemen gave us gets stale!" He calls out, watching the lovely element of healing love solve this. He stays, just a bit too long, to watch that work. It's always something lovely to see, when a mind makes the connections it needs to heal from a wound like this. A circuit closes, and positive feeling flows from where it rests to where it needs to be. Things are put in balance, things move again... "See you on the outside!" He calls out to the awakening M.O.M, planting two fingers on each temple and starting to pull everyone out. Unless they hang on hard, the link will sever, and then...     Everyone will find themselves waking from the trance, like M.O.M. "Phew... you know, that was a really straightforward case." He rambles, staggering a bit to his feet. "It's nice to have one of these that's just difficult for the normal reasons." He approaches M.O.M and waves brightly. "Hi! I'm Flamel Parsons, agent of a vague yet ominous goverment organization. And *you're* safe and in a good situation, with all the needs we can think of accounted for! Let me know how your brain is feeling while you get your mental footing, and I'll handle any additional adjustments you need."     He beams just a little more than usual. This one was a mood-lifter for him.
White	The last stretch is always tense, and White isn't sure if it's more or less so when she's partly removed from the 'boss fight' the others are engaged in. She won't let her work drop for a second, though, as long as it's having an effect. Even watching the false Angela being slowly overwhelmed and blitzed by the concentrated efforts of Petra, Kukuru, Roland, and Sougo through the eyes of her own 'agent', she doesn't skip a beat in meeting Roland's demands for mobility and squeezing out every bit of productive action she can. She's glad that there are people here who know enough to care for M.O.M, who can take up the roles they have. It's a spider's job to eat the parasites and pests of the world, if anything... And it feels a little good to be at the backs of people who clearly do care so much.      She doesn't fully understand, initially, what the energy is that gets sent through her when Flamel gets his hands on the positive dream-stuff. She doesn't spend long examining it either, relying on instinct and imitation when she kicks her scythe up and out of the roots and warps over to Flamel's side, plunging her arm straight into the gap Flamel's been searing open and letting it loose. Splinters, burns, scrapes or otherwise, a little discomfort won't rob her of an opportunity. It's a convenient excuse not to look at the falling, fading false-Angela in the moment. The last thing she gets to do before everyone is ejected back into their bodies is gently leave the axe with those hard-working gangmembers, its handle and blade eaten up but still just about whole. It was a worthy tool.      White awakens with a slight jolt in her spine; she'd gotten used to being on eight legs again for the moment, so returning to her human-ish body with her legs folded almost makes her lose her balance despite being seated. She catches herself on a palm on reflex though before she can fall backward all the way, momentarily covers her mouth, then breathes out in faint relief when she sees her standby spiders rushing around to check on everyone as they wake up. Rather than stay on the floor, she puts her boots underneath herself and stands up, stretching her back a little and joining her 'agents' in a slow walk-around to offer others a hand up as needed.      Sal is crying... M.O.M is staying laid down... White can't help but look over at the two, back at Sougo, over to Petra, back to M.O.M... She doesn't know these people! She doesn't know what to do about this!! Does... Does she just leave?! Uh..! Quick, deploy a spare plushy, maybe a bunny?!      The ten inch white rabbit plushy isn't so much handed to either of them as it is placed on a spiderling's back to be carried up onto the table, while White herself quietly speedwalks around toward Angela's side. It's strangely stressful, seeing this kind of relief... Maybe this is what it'd be like if Ariel could talk to Sariel again. Maybe White aught to try and get used to it before then?
Timespace Riders	Sougo and Woz find themselves outside, in the physical world, once again. Neither of them wears their armor out here, which is a point of mild surprise and confusion for both the king and his retainer. You're alive.. you actually saved him... Thank you, thank you...     Sougo Tokiwa has cried before. "I never forgot. I'm just... sorry he needed saving in the first place. And sorry it took so long, Sal," he says, with misty-eyed joy. It's good to have something to smile about for real. Maybe that's part of where the tears are coming from. He half-chuckles, half-sobs with relief, taking a shuddering sigh of closure at the feeling of Woz's hand on his shoulder. It's weird, Woz was there...     "Indeed," says the retainer with a sly smile. "As I recall, you are a rather spirited dancer."     "As I *also* recall, my Demon King's desire was called 'greedy,' some time ago," Woz gently intones. "What a delight it is to see such a devilish nature pay off."     "You apologized to me," says Sougo. "In your dream, just like before. And just like before, I don't accept your apology," he says, sniffling softly. "Because you didn't do anything that needs one. I'm so happy you're back."
Kukuru	Just a little longer. Kukuru keeps telling herself she just needs to hold this fake in place a little longer, that this isn't really Angela, that this is just something that looks like her inside M.O.M.'s head. She's seen family members fight before, but this still feels worse even though she knows it's better. It's to get another one back, after all! She still has to look away a couple of times, because it's still incredibly uncomfortable seeing anyone in her family getting banged up so much, even if it is a fake. She can distract herself a little watching Flamel working on the Dream Netzach, at least, forcing herself to wonder about how comfortable sleeping on that many sheep must be. That does make it remarkably more confusing, then, when that sheep turns into a rooster. The squawking that follows turns out to be the first thing to actually have Kukuru flinching at all in M.O.M.'s mind, but she doesn't need to hurry to regain her composure once she sees the Flowering Indexes disintegrating and the fake Angela getting run through. Right in front of her, even! Her breath catches in her throat for the remaining moment before she's shunted right out of M.O.M.'s head along with everyone else, and Kukuru jolts upwards once she's back in her own body. She looks like she's seen a ghost, too, but some kind of terrible-even-for-her kind of ghost. Hearing Sal and Angela speaking first, Kukuru slides right off her seat and doesn't answer Sal right away. Instead, she beelines for Angela and latches onto her arm with shaky grip, only just stopping herself from hugging her outright. "Haaah... Oh, it was really bad!" She admits with a shaky laugh that eventually turns into a relieved sigh. "But I'm suuuper glad it wasn't really you in there, Angela. And we did it, so..." Turning to M.O.M., Kukuru's expression softens again as that earlier shock continues wearing off, and she appraoches the no-longer-comatose patient to give him a gentle pat on the arm. "Don't rush to get up, dear. You've been out for a loooong time. Lots of us have missed you-" She looks towards Sougo in particular, shuffling over just a bit to make sure she's not standing in the way. "-and there's a whole bunch of stuff to catch up on." Another giggle, and then Kukuru takes a bottle of water and bendy straw out of her pockets, popping the latter into the former before holding it all towards M.O.M.'s face. "Slow sips now... Oh, have you met White yet? She worked super hard to help you out in there, too. And Roland came in aaafter... Ah, but all the news can wait until you're better. Now." She claps her hands together, but gently so it's just a golf clap at most. "It might be a liiittle soon to think about this, but is there anything you wanna eat? You must be starving after all that."
Angela	Angela doesn't seem to be seeing herself part of the moment either. Aside from making some small comments, answering questions, she makes no move to join the celebrations or to embrace anyone or to cheer or anything like that. But rescuing M.O.M wasn't really about her. If it helps her, it'll be in the way his return helps other people. The morale of it. Angela didn't consider him a friend. She's not friends with agents. ''It's nice to have one of these that's just difficult for the normal reasons.'' "Indeed." Angela says. "A shame I couldn't see what normal Psychonautry is like versus the horrifying evil kind but I am glad it exists." But even with her troubles with Flamel it is nice to see him less tormented. Angela has never been that good at enjoying the torment of others. Least, not most people. She doesn't blame herself for Riku's torment at all, though, so he just gives him a nod. A bunny is placed on the table. M.O.M reaches out and flops his arm on the bunny but he's gonna need some time to recover from being in a coma and also being a book. But beyond that, he seems fine. Angela gives White's nearest hand the pat of understanding and sympathy. ''As I recall, you are a rather spirited dancer.'' M.O.M laughs weakly. "Guess I'll have some time after the Seed of ..." He pauses. "...Uh this doesn't look like the facility so I'm guessing it worked out." "I'll fill you in once you've had a chance to eat and move around." Angela tells him. "Sal can answer any questions in the meanwhile." ''Sorry it took so long, Sal.'' "...Sorry for blaming you." They say. "...I needed to blame someone but ...it wasn't right of me. Yesod was chiding me about it all the while and he was right..." ''I'm so happy you're back.'' M.O.M smiles, "Happy to be back. Though my limbs feel like rocks oggh..." Angela is startled by Kukuru grabbing onto her arm. She wobbles backwards with wide eyes and she says, "...It wasn't ever going to be the real me, Kukuru, though I feel a little embarrassed that she lost so I understand it might have felt off." She glances to White. "Sorry for putting you through that. I am not upset, of course, it is important that M.O.M is back." M.O.M is told not to rush and though he isn't exactly as aware of what Kukuru had been doing for him as he is for Sougo, he smiles at her all the same. He's incredibly grateful for the water, taking small sips while craning his head. "I don't know who they are at all." M.O.M says happily. "Maybe we can have a lunch day to get to know each other once you've recovered." Roland says. "White as a big help in fixing you up." M.O.M can't quite look at her. "Thanks White..." What does he want to eat? M.O.M stares at the ceiling. "Do we got burger?"
White	White feels the pat on her hand and gently grabs Angela's hand in return, blinking over at Kukuru holding the opposite arm and reaching over to pat her on the head. More and more with every meeting, Kukuru becomes 'a big kid' in White's mind... So if the headpats keep working, she'll keep resorting to them. The blank expression that comes with those headpats shifts slightly when Angela apologizes, which seems to confuse her a little. White blinks once, then squints a little at Angela. "... It wasn't as bad... As I thought. It's fine." Maybe she's just too used to having a terrible time, but it's not like she's going to try and be *less* used to it at this point.      Getting specifically pointed out by name as a helper by Roland seems to mildly surprise her, though. She looks at him for a moment like she's trying to figure out his ulterior motives, before giving up on that and closing her eyes with a silent nasal huff before looking down through her eyelids at M.O.M again. She doesn't say anything immediately, fishing for something that feels normal-enough in her thoughts, before finally giving a gentle nod and the simple answer, "... I could... Get some."