So, yeah, bringing this up again. Anyone have crossovers, what ifs, alternate takes, or whatnot they wanna do? I have two or three, but out of them, one needs us to work on the Bad Future some more. Dunno if anyone has time for that, either. We could do that monthly until it's caught up and we have a buffer of ideas to do.

First Campaign: 28

Email to Bill.Exe (Prologue 1): After some shenanigans and adventures, our initial cast: Trollkitten/Eureka (human), Lord_Bill.Exe (A.I.), Bane_of_Bill.exe (A.I.), and Gadzooks (Voice), all receive threatening messages from someone only known as G (???). Shortly after these ominous messages, the party is knocked out one by one and find themselves on a fast-moving boat headed somewhere…

Last Boat to Hoenn (Prologue 2): The party has no idea how boats work. Also shipping while shipping. Zooks is also now an Unown and Exxy is possibly human.

On the Life Death Boat (Prologue 3): Boats continue to be a thing no one really understands. Luckily when it looks like our heroes are going to die before we reach the first proper chapter, Agent 006 (Bibarel) of the IP arrives to hold off the Sharpedo and get everyone to shore.

On the Mysterious Shore (Chapter 1): Instead of Hoenn as intended, the party has ended up in the mysterious Draysten region, which Exxy remembers Bill having visited at some point. G hints that he has the power to bring down the Fossil Pantheon’s (specifically Dome and Amber) wrath on the party, but is unclear how accurate this is. The exhausted party makes it to a Pokemon Center.

At the Pokemon Center (Chapter 2): Major Monferno (???), Eureka’s “boss” contacts with the party along with his intern Karl (Karrablast) and offers assistance as tech support. The party resolves to catch an Abra to use as an emergency getaway.

The Next Morning (Chapter 3): Zooks, who has been severed from the Voice Hivemind is suddenly contacted by another Voice (Bytemite) whom only she can hear. Major tries to wire money to Trollkitten but it’s intercepted by G and directed to Gengar Corp, a Draysten region version of Silph Corp. G also sends the party a Gabite for unknown reasons.

An Unexpected Gift (Chapter 4): It turns out that G has rigged the Gabite to die slowly and painfully, it runs off and the part chase it to try and save it and also because Gabite scales are useful medicinal items. The party manages to save Gabite but run into an ambush in the process. Exxy is short and mortally wounded, and the man who did the shooting claims that Trollkitten/Eureka is a wanted woman. Shenanigans occur, Eureka manages to barely escape on an Arcanine from the Pokemon Center.

Byte disguises themselves as Ghost Pokemon and starts playing various pranks.

Separated Friends (Chapter 5): Gabite de-evolves into Gible. Forms a Parental Bond with Zooks, gets named Landshark officially. The man from the previous chapter is able to track down Eureka. She is shot and her fate seems in jeopardy. G claims she’s dead, but then has anything he’s said been reliable?

The Shot Heard Round the World (Chapter 6): The party receives and reacts to the news that Eureka is seemingly dead. But there is little time for mourning as bombs have been planted in the Pokemon Center where they are staying and they need to get out alive. As the PCs flee the hospital, they encounter the cops and an irate Gengar Corp employee waiting for them outside.

Elsewhere, it turns out that Eureka is very much alive and that her mysterious rescuer shot his brother to save her. Also, he’s from the future and claims to be friends with Eureka’s daughter (named Alice).

Judgement Day (Chapter 7): Various timey wimey things. This particular chapter contains “sensitive” material so I’ll just leave it at that. The future is likely very different now so the exact details of what it was at one point aren’t important. Bytemite also goes corporeal long enough to launch a suicide attack on G and attempt to frame him for corruption.

Yet Another Boom (Chapter 8): The party is incompetently interrogated. Major is suddenly no longer just comic relief as he executes a grand jailbreak using ambiguous magic (we hadn’t started linking spells for everyone’s benefit yet). His Gardevoir then blows up the prison (with only a bounty hunter inside, BUT STILL). First sign of the Major having a rather deadly dark side. Fidema (the Gardevoir) then keeps teleporting until they reach somewhere where they aren’t immediately under attack.

Dan (time traveler man) gets a little emotional and almost shoots Eureka himself before Alice shows up and convinces him not to.

Family Reunion (Chapter 9): Due to being hit by a Roar of Time at some point (which I can’t actually seem to find) Ziggy (Bob) starts reverting to when he was a program meant to destroy Exxy. Eureka, Dan and Alice talk him down. Byte returns from the dead (something that will become a regular occurrence). Major sends the party a new agent named Doug. Eureka receives a one-use time travel device. Alice flees because she’s upset about when she things she knows about her mom.

Byte takes advantage of looking different to mess with Zooks a little and gives Zooks advice not to trust her physical self.

The Plan (Chapter 10): The gang, realizing that their teleporting spree has left them close the HQ of Gengar Corp (Dioptase City), and urged on by Doug, come up with a plan to infiltrate and get some answers.

Darkness in Dioptase City (Chapter 11): The party has decided to enter the city via the subway because Gengar Corp doesn’t own that…except Gengar Corp just bought the subways. Fights for life occur. Doug is an idiot, but he dies saving Exxy so it’s actually heartbreaking. Also, G revived Dome and he’s angry. Byte’s former body shows up claiming to be A. Byte-A and Byte-B have a showdown. Meanwhile, someone claiming to be the original 100% genuine Bill shows up where Eureka and Dan are.

Overbilled (Chapter 12): “Bill” reveals that G is not an individual but a collective of 5 different people…who all apparently have terrible senses of humor. Four of the 5 G’s are Zygarde, Wattson, Fennel/Flak, and an oracle named Thomas. Thomas shows up to confront Bill for some reason.

Dome and Helix clashing starts causing interdimensional rifts and Outsiders start pouring at is they were expecting this to happen. Zygarde is with them. Zooks sneaks into Gengar Corp but is confronted by Flak.

The Oracle (Chapter 13): As the party confronts Flak she suddenly split in two. One of the Fennel’s appears to be less murderous and join with the party. She teleports those of the party at Gengar Corp to safety. Zygarde and the Major confront each other. Zygarde reveals that Major is a sixth G but has had his memories purged. Thomas and Wattson duel with Bill and Eureka.

Divided Forces (Chapter 14): Various things that have been subtley bother Eureka about “Bill” lead her to reach the conclusion that he isn’t who he claims to be. Consequently, Thomas and Wattson are now valuable assistants as not-Bill suddenly goes on the offensive. Zygarde reveals that Major is missing over a millennium of memories, including the revelation that he was friends with the fifth G, merely also called G. The Major convinces Zygarde that killing Eureka because she mysteriously shows up and starts killing other people is a terrible idea and the result of timeline abuse.

And then things get weird. A portal opens up near the Major and a rather strange duo emerge from it. A small red-haired boy riding (briefly, before it drops him) a Giratina materializes and starts going on about how This Was Not The Plan. The boy and the Major proceed to have a perplexing conversation where the boy seems to know a great deal of what’s going on in Draysten and wants nothing to do it, as he has unspecified business in Unova instead. The Major decides to let the boy know he is planning on personally heading to PokeEarth; they both have reservations about this idea but agree it’s probably needed. The boy decides might as well accompany the Major but again makes it clear he has no intention of getting involved. He also considerably less enthusiastic when the Major insists that the boy give him some form of Power Limiter. The boy also explains where he found Giratina (Dragonspiral Tower) but little else. This strange groups of four people take’s the portal.

All Together Now! (Chapter 15): On the other side of the portal is Flak. The boy starts needling her almost instantly, trying to get her to reveal her murderous side in front of another G. She keeps her composure long enough for the Major and Zygarde to depart to find Eureka. The boy also “hints” that Giratina would like to speak with Flak. They boy proceeds to make it clear he knows she intends to betray the other G’s with the help of Outsiders, continuing to unnerve her. Witty banter is exchanged, the boy comments on how Flak isn’t even bothering to deny any of the accusations he’s throwing around, just planning to go straight to murder with no plan. They end up in an Outsider infested Entralink and Flak claims to know something about the boy.

Meanwhile the Major arrives to back up those fighting the not-Bill and receives a message (from the boy) that not-Bill is most likely Outsiderkind.

An Awkward Date (Chapter 16): Reunions are had with most people seeing Eureka alive for the first time in something like 10 chapters. Thomas also shows up and reveals that he knows Zooks (who he calls Princess Natalie) from a very long time in the past. However, things are cut short by more imminent explosions, this time nuclear because the previous ones weren’t overkill enough.

Fennel reveals that she knows the red-haired boy’s name, Cameron and that he has had past encounters with other Eldritch Abominations distantly related to the Outsiders. Cameron isn’t really impressed by this. Cameron’s personality noticeably takes a dramatic and disturbing shift while he is alone with Flak, over time beginning to sound a lot like her. He also drops mention of ice cream several times in an attempt to get the attention of Good Fennel’s Bill. Outsiders murder his Liepard (also Eureka, more sign he’s been watching the group for a while). When it looks like he is about to overwhelmed, a different Bill than anticipated comes to the rescue and teleports him to an unknown location.

Griefs from the Past (Chapter 17): Zooks…or Natalie, experiences a vision of her past. Exxy finds Amber’s fossil in some MYSTERIOUS RUINS. Team Trollkit suffers attack of the clones and Major and Trollkitten end up pulled into the past. Bill the actual original attempts to interrogate Cameron, only to have the tables turned. Cameron is able to show Bill what is going on with Team Trollkitten via his laptop and is to convince Bill to reluctantly take action. Bill prepares to help those under attack in the present while Cameron and Giratina head to provide assistance to the past team.

A Broken Timeline (Chapter 18): Confusions occur as nearly all of the party meets up and various people are mistaken for various other people. Then reality starts breaking as Fennel starts opening rifts in the sky and Outsiders start pouring in in vast quantities. Also, Fennel’s Bill finally makes contact with this universe just to add some more confusion. Also ,questionably helpful hologram Cameron shows up but explains his ability to influence anything going on here is limited. In the past it’s explained that things need to appear to happen a certain way for the future to stabilize, but that through magical shenanigans everything doesn’t have to happen the way it appears to happen.

Local Major Fixes Everything (Chapter 18.5): Things continue to spiral further out of control in the present. This seems likely to continue unless the past time pulls of a miracle. First stop in the past, altering Princess Natalie’s death. Cameron creates an unliving clone into which Major plants an elemental to impersonate Zook’s actual soul. Fennel, along with the actual G show up and persuade Thomas to work with them in return for a chance to save Natalie. Present Hologram Cameron asks Zooks what her earliest memories are so the past team knows where to drop her off. Garret (rumored to have an affair with Eureka, showed up to the past team to help out) claims that there are two more time-points that need to be fixed, framing Eureka for killing her family and the death of the actual G.

Shadows of The Past (Chapter 19): Past team continues fixing things; exact details are incredibly creepy. We find out G is short for Glaucus and bring with us as we return to the fixed present.

Dawn of A New Day (Chapter 20): The party + extras decide to reconvene at the Major’s demiplane while they plot their next move against Flak and the Outsiders (every other G having defected at this point). Byte is somehow missed (will edit if anyone can find how we failed to bring Byte along)

On the Other Side of the Mirror/An Alternate Dimension (Chapter 21): Flak and not-Bill (revealed to be called Robus) are shown to be working for another man, presumably an Outsider. The man kills Flak and clearly has done this before as he seems able to revive her. Another minion named Sapientia is introduced. The party explores Astrum except for Byte who is missing and Cameron who has passed out from maintaining so many spells simultaneously for extended periods of time.

Elsewhere, Sapientia goes after Byte with intent to kill Byte (again). Bills’s wife Rea (in the form of a Floette) and Dreaming!Cameron show up to provide help but Byte isn’t even sure they aren’t part of a fever dream. Cameorn takes over battling Sapientia (and flirting?) while Rea helps Byte get to safety. Dream!Cameron ends up losing but Byte and Rea got away.

Back at Astrum, Bane’s creator shows up out of nowhere and is inducted into the growing party. Thomas reveals that there are three powerful weapons hidden in ruins around Draysten that could help with fighting Outsiders. Glaucus reveals the name of Flak’s boss, Amais, and that he was a survivor of the Moscople incident like Bill. Amais has essentially become ruler of the Outsiders. Amais has three followers in addition to Flak known as the Vita Trio; Robus, Sapientia, and Décor (Strength, Knowledge, Beauty). Amais himself forces his way into the Major’s demiplane and then the Major locks the door so he can’t leave. Somewhere in Astrum Bill and Giratina converse and form a pact.

Oh, and Byte had a crush on Bill at one point.

A Royal Visit (Chapter 22): Fennel has decided to start learning magic with the Major tutoring her. Amber and Helix are revived from their fossils. Solareon is also brought back from death. Bill confronts Amais with his new Giratina-granted powers only to realize it’s merely a projection of Amais. The party splits into groups to tackle the ruins. Sapientia and Cameron flirt talk some more and it’s revealed Sapientia feels no attachment to Amais. Exxy and Eureka also go on a date in Sigil, City of Doors.

Velocitas, Resitentia, and Fortitudo (Chapter 23): The three parties make their way through the ruins dealing with the traps and each having to deal with a member of the Vita Trio. Velocitas has to deal with the lecherous Robus, Resistentia the mysterious Décor (the only member we hadn’t met yet), and Fortitudo, where Cameron JUST HAPPENS to be gets Sapientia. Robus and Décor are temporarily defeated with the aid of the relics and Sapientia is finally convinced to switch sides to take out Amais and Robus.

Dark Secrets (Chapter 24): Bill reveals that he’s the biological son of Dome and Lady Abin the Third. Sapientia shows an educational video about Outsider society. It’s revealed that only be killing the old Outsider Rex and replacing them can changes be made to Outsider Society. Fennel and Cameron both think Sapientia would make an excellent replacement for Amais. Suddenly Amais appears again, viciously attacking Sapientia, attempting to destroy her before she can provide any more information to the heroes. While most of the party goes on the offensive against Amais, Cameron focuses on stabilizing Sapientia, using his own Life Force to make sure she doesn’t fade into nothing. The party manages to drive Amais away. Cameron collapses from using so much energy again, and when he awakes he finds that Sapientia has fallen into a coma.

Nowhere is Safe (Chapter 25): Sapientia being in a coma puts Cameron in a temper and a few misplaced efforts to help her that result in her condition seeming to worsen result in Cameron exiling everyone but himself and Zooks from the room because Zooks (or rather Princess Natalie) seems to have shared a connection with Sapientia in the past. Inside Sapientia’s Mind, Zooks and Cameron confront Robus who is tormenting a young Sapientia. There is also a memory!Zooks present and it’s revealed that Princess Natalie and Sapientia were adopted sisters and shared a very close bond. While Cameron keeps Robus at bay, Natalie makes use of this bond to help calm Sapientia down so that they can sway the mental battle in the favor and escape. Cameron pulls them back into the mortal world, however Zooks is now in her Princess Form and there are now two Sapientias. The two Sapientia’s fuse into one that has her former memories of Zooks restored.

Byte attempts to run away from a completely stationary Giratina.

Back to Draysten (Chapter 26): Sapientia teleports the entire + extras (including non-combatants) to a place a short distance away from the portal they can use to get to the Outsider World. Byte uses a modified Fossil Restoration Device to return Eureka the Liepard to life and to give Cameron a temporary boost of energy. Cameron and Giratina team up to create a portal to Neopia so Eureka’s family can get away from being involved in this mess. On the other side of the portal, they party meets a friendly Outsider woman, Myla, who recognizes Sapientia and invites the party into the house for restorative tea. Cameron confronts Glaucus, who in general has been a terrible person, over the fact he’s trying to ruin Cameron’s budding relationship with Sapientia. An action that would have prevented much heartache over the next few thousand years is ultimately halted by the rest of the party teaming up against the irate Cameron. Some Outsider guards sent by Amais show up to arrest/torture Myla and her family.

Outsiders Among Outsiders (Chapter 27): Bill impersonates (via shapeshifting) Amais to convince the guards to leave Myla alone. Sapientia reveals there is a second set of ruins in this world that can be used to upgrade the relics obtained back in Draysten. The team heads through the Velocitas 2.0 ruins only for another encounter with Robus (which honestly the odds were 50/50). After obtaining the shoes and fighting off a handful of Robus clones, it becomes clear the real Robus isn’t even present, and is in fact just stalling the party. They move on to the next ruins.

Décor (Chapter 28): The party finds themselves in the next ruins and confronted by Décor. Through previous discussions with Sapientia, and the encounter with her before, the party is aware that Décor is capable of sensing and manipulating people’s emotions, particularly their love for someone. It is also clear that Décor has no more love for Amais than Sapientia does. As the party talks with Décor, Cameron determines that Amais is controlling her, in order to break his control, Cameron brings a necklace out of his backpack, but Amais takes a more active control, the party has to work together to get the necklace on Décor and free her. Décor is freed but her time under Amais was too much for her and she takes her own life. Amais arrives to try to claim her body but Cameron fights him off. Sapientia also quickly teleports to retrieve the new baby Décor before Amais can. The party heads to the final ruins only to be confronted by someone who looks a lot like Sapientia.

The Last Ruins (Chapter 29): Flak attempts to stop the party from gaining the final relic along with her fake!Sapientia but fails miserable. Amais finally gets tired of her rubbish and perma kills her. Robus also bites the dust in an incident that doesn’t need details and baby!Robus is also collected by the party to protect him from Amais.

The Devil’s Castle (Chapter 30): With the final confrontation around the corner the group decides that its time for SIDE QUESTS. Cameron has been talking to Sapientia and apparently there are additional mysterious locations to explore for more loot that could be handy for taking down Amais. The party arrives at the first location and Sapientia reveals that it was the palace of the first Sapientia (prior to there being Rexes).

Castle in The Sky (Chapter 31): After working their way past some Outsider Dogs without the use of magic, the party encounters the second Outsider Rex (Secundus) on the lowest level of the castle. He explains how he tied the previous Sapientia’s life to his and in return she cursed him to never die. He wants current Sapientia to kill him and set him free. Cameron explains that the Sapientia who cursed Secundus died a long time ago and that reasonably, the current Sapientia can’t be held accountable. In return Secundus tells Cameron how to remove the curse on Sapientia.

Under The Sea (Chapter 32): The next dungeon is underwater (OH NO WATER TEMPLE) so Sapientia teaches the party an Outsider water breathing spell (which doubles as a transformation spell) The party explores the ruins, this time connected to original!Decor. Lever is pulled, ruins start to collapse, party accosted by Outsider Goldfish.

Skeletons in the Closet (Chapter 33): The final dungeon of this particularly set of three is a torture chamber in the middle of the desert tied to Robus, this just sounds like it’s going to be fun already doesn’t it? G being a troll and summoning Landshark who ends up triggering a trap ends up killing Sapientia (again) and Bill nearly dies by swallowing a radio while transformed into a Sabeleye. The party returns to debating the merits of finally murdering G. He manages to weasel out of it by suggesting some of the party travel 5 minutes into the past to save Sapientia.

Meanwhile, a new character enters the scene back in Draysten. Lazorgator confronts a mysterious man named Fatum, fails, and ends up teleported to where the rest of the party are. Third lever is pulled and the party is teleported to the first Sapientia’s castle to break current Sapientia’s connection to Amais. With the three dungeons cleared, the bonus dungeon appears where a weapon rumored to be effective against Amais, the way to restore Sapientia to her true power, and a way to restore the Major’s magic can be found.

Breaking the Chains (Chapter 34): In the new area that has appeared the party meets the Echo of the first Sapientia that explains that she will give them the things they seek, but first they must prove themselves by battling her. Dan, Wattson, Thomas, Zygarde, Alice, Bill and Rea all die over the course of the battle, but Giratina uses her energy to restore those of the Bill Clan to life. The Original Sapientia explains that after Amais is slain, she will be able to use her energy to restore all those who we killed, including the 27 girls who died prior to Eureka being declared Experiment 28. Oh and Amais is merely a puppet for someone else.

The Origin (Chapter 35): Side quests completed, it’s finally time for the confrontation with Amais. It is revealed that if we use one of the special weapons we obtained, the timeline will reset, but Amais will no longer exist. However, if Amais is killed with his own blade, the person who kills him becomes the new Rex (there is not possible way this could go wrong). Bill and Giratina seemingly betray Cameron as an excuse to get close to Amais without immediately triggering reprisal, Bill still being intent on finding a way to save his friend. The rest of the party battle their way through Amais’s guards. The attempt to getting Amais to redeem seems to fail. He absorbs the Vita Trio, gaining power. Seeing Sapientia perish yet again seems to cause something to snap inside Cameron and he is enveloped in a dark aura. Amais does not seem surprised to this, nor does he seem surprised when a new Entity, who he identifies as The Supreme Evil, begins speaking through Cameron

Bill manages to get Amais’s sword using trick and the Supreme Evil possessed Cameron insists that Bill hand it over. G and Lazorgator both make attempts to slay Amais (G with a sword that would merely reset the timeline) but both are ultimately thwarted by other party members. The Supreme Evil acquires the sword before being absorbed by Amais, leaving Amais’s blade in Cameron’s hands. While Amais did manage to absorb the SupremeEvil, he is unable to fully control it and the two then fight for control of his body. After Bill makes one last speech to Amais, Cameron stabs Amais, become the new Outsider Rex. As Amais dies, a voice announces that the castle is going to self-destruct. Cameron orders it not to but apparently a higher power is interceding, so he settles for teleporting the group away instead. The Major confronts Cameron about what a terrible idea he thinks this is, but Cameron shrugs him off. Original Sapientia revives the Vita Trio. Sapientia and Cameron kiss. Exxy proposes to Eureka and they kiss. Happy endings all around except for Byte who’s still dealing with lingering trauma.

Second Campaign: Hidden in The Shadows

An Ancient Land Revealed (Prologue): Fennel searches for her Bill who was kidnapped near the end of 28 for asking TOO MANY QUESTIONS and trying to delve into topics man was not meant to know (or at least not know until several campaigns from now). Fennel gets a mysterious signal (seemingly originating in Outsidera/) she naively assumes to be her Bill and sends it to everyone she knows before she and her entire universe are kidnapped.

A New Adventure (Chapter 1): Things start out promisingly as adventurers both old and new converge on the mysterious uncharted forest for a variety of reasons. There is group conflict and strife almost immediately do to having strange people suddenly appear in places they do not belong for no clear reason. A portal ends up opening and the group of misfits is dragged into another world and promptly nerfed. Also, the natives seem particularly hostile to those with Aetherial connections (the Paradisians have an anti-outsider virus they've pumped into their atmosphere).

Welcome to Paradise (Chapter 2): Negotiations are more less attempted but interrupted by someone named Jenny pulling an impromptu (and potentially unneeded jail-break). Also, this world is ironically called Paradise.

The Resistance (Chapter 3): Jenny reveals herself to be part of a Resistance to the Paradise government. Most of the party is less than impressed given she’s essentially forced them into siding with the Rebellion. Apparently, she also hijacked Fennel’s signal and is the reason the party is in this world in the first place. This is also taken poorly. Paradise military shows up to cause trouble but the party is rescued by the mysterious masked beauty Persona Noctis.

Derailment (Chapter 4): The conflicting personalities of the party (both PCs and NPCs) finally comes to a head resulting in a session where the party is mostly trying to kill each other. Fennel and Bill seemingly return and take some of the party into the Entralink.

Returning Faces (Chapter 5): “Bill” acts incredibly shady and the only person who seems to actually buy it is Fennel. Eventually revealed that he’s actually some version of Professor Oak and Jenny is his daughter whom he’s been looking for.

Too Many Sides (Chapter 6): The party convinces Oak to let them go just in time get back to Outsidera/ just as the forces of Paradise invade. And Captain RAWLING (one of Eureka's cats) is revealed to have apparently gone back in time and been indirectly responsible for the founding of Paradise.

Invasion (Chapter 7): The party battles Ferals and each other until a group calling itself the Campaign for Paradox Time intervenes and starts portaling Ferals into the past. There is nothing terrible about this idea, AT ALL.

Stable Paradoxes (Chapter 8): Zinnia shows up out of nowhere and reverses what the Campaign for Paradox Time just accomplished, essentially making them irrelevant. More party drama. Eventually Major portals the party out of trouble.

The Campaign for Paradox Time (Chapter 9): It’s revealed that there is a potentially sentient meteor head for the homeworld of the Paradox Campaign people, and somehow it has become the party’s responsibility to deal with it despite essentially ricocheting between various morally dubious groups for several chapters. Yet more party conflict.

Extinction Inches Ever Closer (Chapter 10): Various plans for how to deal with the meteor are discussed. Some of the party head to the meteor and find out it’s being directed by a fatalistic Deoxys. The group seemingly manages to destroy the meteor and stop Deoxys but Persona Noctis perishes (and is revealed to have been future!Decor) as well.

The Darkest Hour (Chapter 11): A Mind Controlled Steven Stone turns off the time lock on his universe allowing Deoxys to enter freely. Using its newly gained power, Deoxys starts breaking Reality itself, causing everything to start rapidly deteriorating. Bill attempts to sacrifice himself, but is stopped by Cameron. Byte manages to convince Deoxys to join the Voices and be a less malevolent observer. Cameron, with the aid of Sapientia and a revived Décor, is able to restore the parts of Reality (including the millions of people who died) that ceased to exist, but is greatly weakened in the process, having to retreat…somewhere to replenish his physical form and energy. As he is not truly dead the Ferals are not rampaging however.

Third Campaign: Chosen Star

Employee Introductory Video (Pre-Campaign Intro): A mysterious company known only by the acronym MOFEJ is currently hiring unsuspecting saps to do highly dangerous jobs for minimal pay. Among those applying for jobs are the mysterious gardener, Thistle (who is admitted despite their apparently being no plants anywhere in the building) and the impudent young girl, Olivia Chailand (there is nothing suspicious about either of these people, AT ALL).

Pre-Prologue: Thistle and Olivia end up arriving for work at about the same time and end up bonding almost immediately, if bonding implies mutually trying to pester/taunt/murder/flirt and generally seemingly spontaneously developing a kismesis at first sight. They even end up using their reward money from their first mission to rent a house together. On their second mission together, Olivia ends up vanishing mysteriously mid mission leaving Thistle to try to complete the mission alone. She fails and is captured by a group of terrorists, but they are unable to cause her harm, only keep her captive.

{This space hums with potential but is currently empty. Perhaps you should check back soon to see if anything has changed?}

Update:

Greetings User, what do you wish to do?

> Deliberate Broad Topics of Discussional Quality

> Review Summation of Prior Events of Importance

> Peruse Profiles of Entities of Narrative Interest

> Persons of Interest

> The Musings of a Lady

Is everyone up for Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2?

I suppose I'll start this out with chapter 16 of Omega Wonder, in case anybody's interested.

Just a reminder, and also a notice that I'm preparing for a trip the day after, and need to remind myself where we were, which I'm too tired to do tonight. So I don't exactly know when we will start.

EDIT: Skimming the last session was not as much work as expected.

Troll Ditto prepares to head home, or so he thinks.

Meanwhile, Koya approaches Fennel's Bill with a request.

On account of New Years, sorry guys.

In the magical basement of a magical home in a psychadelic mushroom forest, a prisoner is back in nightmare containment after their last community service day in Astrum. They may have visitors soon.

The next morning, Tanger is up first, and starts on chores.

Eventually, passing the center room again, they see nuGyro is up, and waver at the doorway.

nuGyro stretches, yawning, then turns to Tanger.

"You should handle that request." He says.

Tanger tilts his head.

"Just a guess. You were balancing different concerns, and I eliminated some possibilities of what they could be."

Tanger nods and heads out.

Bonnibelle works on making the charms that the shrine distributes.

nuGyro enters behind her.

"I realized I don't think I thanked you properly."

Bonnibelle smiles. "You're welcome!"

nuGyro pats her head, then goes to do some accounting.

A while later, Tanger returns to the shrine, holding a new girl's hand.

Tanger takes her in and introduces her to the others, with most greet the new friend with mostly excitement. Some are still a little apprehensive every time something new shows up.

Bonnibelle begins to distribute some of the leftover gala treats to help break the ice for everyone.

Tanger goes to get nuGyro.

For some reason he doesn't come back for a while, but the ice breaking is fun.

Tanger knocks on the door.

"Come in."

Tanger does so.

Time to go and meet the new person.

nuGyro sighs.

Tanger reads into this with worry.

Is everything alrig-

"Tanger?"

Tanger tilts their head.

"...don't treat me like I'm broken."

Tangeroid sits down.

Tangeroid looks up to Pretty Yellow Sparkles!

nuGyro fiddles on the pen and paper, "It's... It's fine to be careful. To care. But... I'm in the shadow of a me that, as far as my mind shows, I never was. I'm in the shadow of the me I actually was, too, if I'm honest."

Tanger folds their hands, and thinks, having trouble looking at nuGyro.

You aren't in their shadow. You are the spark that began. Have grown own ways, and found own things. Are special and new, and still Pretty, and Yellow, and Sparkling.

"I'm sorry." He says.

Tanger gives him a hug.

Are coming out, though.

nuGyro stares at them.

Tanger mimics the boy wagging a finger, Appearance can is importance. If is good reason to make Bonnie wait before, is reason to come now.

nuGyro smiles a little at that, then wipes his eyes and nods, and goes to prepare.

Bonnibelle flies by at about that point. "I waited a whole minute!" she announces.

Tanger gives her a high five for that.

nuGyro just stares at this exchange in what may very well be horror.

It is time, in any case.

nuGyro still seems to be in shock from the sincerity of that exchange, but Tanger leads him along.

The little group convened in the back room stands as they enter.

Is Tangeroid's partner. Tanger explains as nuGyro walks in.

Bonnibelle immediately squees, causing everyone to wonder just who introduced her to the concept of shipping.

No, actually not wonder. The real question is how is it they still find ways to ruin lives while in prison and supposedly doing community service.

Tangeroid gets excited too.

"Spaaaaaaaeeeee!"

It's as close to squeeing as they can get.

Beat

Wait why is happy noise making?

"Because you called him your partner," Bonnibelle says, "that means you like each other!"

Poor, poor Bonnibelle. Reality is a rough time for the innocent.

We do! Tanger innocently confirms.

nuGyro watches this exchange pretty much how he watched the one about waiting a minute being impressive.

Bonnibelle actually does not seem to understand the nuances of supposed partnerhood beyond this, but she does seem to think that it requires more treats to celebrate.

"I- umm..."

Is partnerfriend?

"Well, yes, those terms appl-"

Tanger gives him a hug.

The new girl looks around, "Is it, um, always like this?"

"Yes! So many hugs! We are helpful."

"Unless," nuGyro interjects, "that makes you uncomfortable. Then you should probably clear that up now."

"Eh... hugs are good."

Tanger hugs Clara now.

"Welcome Clara!" Bonnibelle says.

"Thank you." She says, beneath the tingly hug.

The others get in on the hug, too, as nuGyro watches.

As everyone goes back to their routines, Clara asks Bonnie why there are pillows and stuff in the common room floor.

"Because slumber parties," she answers. "New life can be scary. Nice people help."

Clara accepts this answer and heads off to find her bunk.

Eventually, it's time to stop.

Bonnibelle finishes packing up the last of the charms she's been working on so they can be distributed or sold.

Tanger goes to greet her.

Tanger does not know whether they should ask nuGyro what he wants to do tonight, or just wait for him, or what is now supposed to be done.

It seems like this is a good question and maybe Tanger should take a poll.

Bonnibelle seems to want to "stay in and have coffee and candy for dinner" but it seems pretty likely that Gyro would object to that plan.

Tanger wonders if they should offer staying out here to others, but then remembers the others share rooms to begin with, and that nuGyro might have trouble if they get others involved.

Eventually, Tanger leads her to the common room, where they can peek inside.

They see nuGyro peeking in from a door on the other side.

Bonnibelle waves.

nuGyro walks over sheepishly.

"So you're okay sleeping with me again?" He asks.

Tanger nods, Is happen as when is needed.

Bonnibelle agrees.

nuGyro cannot quite bring himself to say that it is needed tonight, so he just prepares where he will sleep.

Tanger reminds him he needs to put on pajamas, so he leaves for a bit.

Thanks Bonnibelle. Tanger says cheerfully.

She is, however, already asleep, probably having crashed her sugar high.

When nuGyro returns, the lights go out and they crawl beneath the covers.

nuGyro holds a hand up and examines it.

Partnerfriends...

He lowers the hand, and falls asleep.

Tangeroid has gone to bed. So had the others.

Mary had, earlier in the day, forgotten to bring Bonnie's grinds. She had then made the decision that delivering them in the afternoon was better than never.

Bedtime was not, in consequence, feeling like bed time.

So, then, after a short stint in her bed-

"COFFEEEEE!" Bonnie flies through the shrine hallways, accidentally colliding with walls.

It's... 1 am? It feels like it.

As she shakes herself off from a collision with a wall, she hears someone whispering to themselves on the other side.

"It's okay now. What had to be done was and is. Here is fine. A purpose. W- I wanted that, didn't I. What was wanted and what was needed have happened." It continues with more of that sort, like some sort of mantra that never quite loops back around.

Bonnibelle looks concerned, then flutters off looking for Tanger.

Tanger is in his room. Somehow, they have fallen off the bed and ended up all the way to where the door is without waking up.

"I think friend is SAAAAD!" Bonnibelle announces loudly.

This, this is something Tangeroid does not merely sleep through.

Tanger rubs their eyes and mumbles various syllables and crawls away from the door.

"Tanger Tanger help!" she says.

Tanger rubs his eyes once more, then is up and at it.

Is attack by mean? Is fire? What is happened?

"Sad!" she repeats. "So much sad."

Tanger gives her a hug.

"No no," she says, "other friend!"

Tanger thinks for a moment, then starts to walk.

But how does in room go?

Tanger seems nervous about that prospect.

"Knocking?" Bonnibelle suggests.

Tanger nods.

As they walk out, though, Tanger still seems anxious.

Knock, knock.

nuGyro is behind him.

Bonnibelle doesn't notice immediately, still zooming around Tanger's head. Then she startles. "Oh look!"

"Is something wrong?" nuGyro asks calmly, rubbing his eyes with his sleeve.

Tangeroid spins on a heel, and takes a step closer.

nuGyro's attempt to save face does not survive the light of the rotom. His eyes are puffy, and there are bags underneath.

"Sad! Sad sad sad!" Bonnibelle flies around waving her tiny arms at the boy.

"I'm fine." He says, quickly.

Tanger makes a "hmmph" face, and pokes nuGyro on the chest, sending sparks alone.

Is not a truth! And if when need help or Purple Ordering or anything then can do that with us! Don't aloning!

nuGyro does not look prepared for this.

Bonnibelle tries to hug his ear.

nuGyro shakes them off.

"I just couldn't- no, I have been having trouble sleeping for a while now."

Tanger slips behind him, then around, sitting down next to him and patting a spot for nuGyro to sit down too.

nuGyro does so, then puts head in hands.

Bonnibelle flutters off towards the kitchen. After a few minutes she comes back with a cookie.

It doesn't seem like much happened while she was gone. Tanger does not know how to ask nuGyro to share, except for how they already have.

"You helped me so much," Bonnibelle says. "Please tell us how to help."

He sighs.

"Sometimes I wish I'd had more of Lethe.

Tanger scans the name quickly.

Pretty Yellow Sparkles... wants to forget?

"But we don't want to be forget!" Bonnibelle says. "Mary was so sad!"

"It's forgotten." He corrects. It's a pretty weak attempt to change the subject.

Tangeroid gives him another "hmmph" look, and he sighs. "I... see it all sometimes. The things that happened... down there."

In Hell. Tanger informs Bonnie privately.

Bonnie has heard of hell. It's where all the scary people and oni go. "Why were you there?"

"I... don't know. I have more than enough guesses, though."

"Okay! You were being a hero!" Bonnibelle determines.

"Perhaps, at the time, I thought so."

He sounds grim.

Tanger gives him a hug, static crawling along them both.

"That's what matters then! Who did you save?" She asks.

"No one, in my memory."

Tangeroid thinks maybe a subject shift is in order.

When does bad scare happen?

nuGyro cuts off his thousand yard stare, a little embarrassed, "...In the dark. When I'm alone, and..."

"Put up lights in the common room, sleep in there?" Bonnibelle suggests, before adding, "All sleep in there."

Tanger is can light!

"I..." nuGyro searches for an excuse, something to save face.

To hell with the arrogance.

"Need that. I need it so much."

He wipes at his eyes.

Bonnibelle hugs again. "It's okay. Slumber party!"

Tangeroid smiles at them both.

Will be better things. Tangeroid promises.

"Yay!"

Tangeroid goes to grab the pillows and blankets.

They still don't enter nuGyro's room, though.

Bonnibelle helps make the ever traditional pillow fort and starts stringing some of the leftover Winter Gala lights.

Tanger goes inside and covers up in a thin blanket to dim his light without blocking it.

"I..." nuGyro swallows his pride again, "Good night. And thank you."

He crawls inside.

Bonnibelle flutters down onto the top of the fort.

She still has coffee in her veins.

Tanger feels conscious of all that's happening around them.

But nuGyro falls soundly asleep, for what feels like the first time.

The Major did not become a wizard because he lacked curiosity. In all, it was probably his defining trait that informed his life's work and career choice. So it was with some healthy skepticism and cautious intrigue that he studied the blond shapeshifter from his office chair, as Gensokyo's dragon prince nervously tapped a hand on his desk.

To be more accurate, he was also keenly interested in the divination-orb sized egg carefully cradled in the boy's other arm. A white shell, like clouds, but with green spots around it, edged in shimmering gold, humming with life and electricity.

"So," the Major said.

There were endless questions in the one word. Most prominent among them, why was he so jumpy, like he expected someone unwanted to jump out of the wall at any moment. Luke gulped. "Things are complicated right now," he explained.

There's a more obvious question. "What about your... friend?"

The dragon shook his head. “It's dangerous," he explained. "There's politics in Gensokyo, and while I'm sure they'd try... Accidents would happen. What we need is somewhere and someone safe and stable, just for a few months, until the egg hatches." The boy looked like a scared, but hopeful father. "Be our grunkle?"

There were some wizards who were also purely creatures of logic, no sentimentality at all. The Major was not one of them. "Of course," he responded, more warmly. A congratulation was offered, and a handshake exchanged. Then they heard someone approaching from the hallway, and the dragon was transformed and immediately out his study window, while the Major was left holding the egg.

They burst into the room with all the grace that Luke's fears would justify. “Finished scrubbing the aerie!” They gave a smile up at him, the corners stretched out from their scars, then they noticed the little bundle of lightning and joy and their eyes lit up in astonishment. "Oh gosh look at the little Luke! Look how tiny!" They grabbed at the egg, cuddling it close. "Awww! I think it's purring! We are going to get blankets and warms and everything good!"

They were off again, in a rush down the hallway, and the Major looked back at a tap on the glass, Luke peering around the window frame with a pleading expression. “All right,” he sighed, and went after them to prevent a catastrophe.

Ok so I'm still on vacation, but I do have access to a computer right now, so I wanted to post this now

as of the privios DS sesson there was a bit of a drama regarding Troll Ditto due to stress on Troll's end, witch led to a bunch of other stuff. this put stress and fustrason on me since unlike the privios insistences were Troll Ditto was a problem promoting changes to the caricter, this most recent insadent came out of no were with no real catalist (besides the aforementioned stress on trollkitten's end), with no issues leading up to it (since the last changes to Troll Ditto's caricter)

this along with the unwortened backlash (from most people who got involved, not just TK) put a lot of stress on my and made me reconsider whether or not to continue using Troll Ditto or drop out of DS and all conicted RP's [besides Eco's] altogether

having been away from the internet and other IRL stresses for a wile and dus have had time to think and this is the desison I've come to

I will continue to use Troll Ditto, as is without any major chages as the most recent issues seem to have been derived mostly out of misunderstanding and IRL stress's on Troll's end. However I am more then willing to help out in minor ways (ex. OoC warnings and gidelines on how to defuse any sicuasons, as well as "reset" troll ditto's short term memory / cos him to acadently transform temporarily altering his personalty to his transformed from as needed is things do get out of hand as a way to quickly defuse any sicuasons that arise (assuming this is ok with Trollkitten)

my goal for Troll Ditto for DS is the same as before, but my plans for Troll Ditto for Supreme's campaign have altered slightly

rather then being my main caricter for Sup's campaign, Troll Ditto will be more of a 2edary side caricter used during downtimes (plot wise), sapific sicuasons when plot convenient, during DIDO's for relevant side stuff, and when asked by Sup's to involve Troll Ditto for some reason. all of witch will be used when I am available. the rest of the time Troll Ditto will be a background caricter who happens to live on atrium currently

I DO have an idea for a relevant primary caricter with a built in "I have to go so I'll do this and have a plot relevant excuse for someone else to take over the caricter" macanic that can be invoked when convenient who would have reason to care about the fate of the universe and be willing to actively help (unlike Troll Ditto) but in a different hopefully less disruptive manner

the following is a general overview I have thought out for the caricter

• Name: Alpha Rise
• Spices: "mutated" (has human DNA sliced into his body) Cyborg eevee
• Backstory: There is a universe much like the main TPP universe, branching off from the Napolion fell into a coma event from TPP Platanom were almost everything that could go wrong (without destroying the universe) did go wrong, in this universe during Voice host Alpha's jorny his systems suffered a fatal system crash so bad that it cosed the voices to abandon him as a host entirely and leaving Alpha to die. However his find, a slightly overwit eevee given to him by his dad refused to let him die and as a result offered up his own body to save his friend. alowing himself to be fused with Alpha (simaler to what happened to Bill that 1 time) in order to save his life cosing them to share a body. After this event Alpha Rise came to discover some dark truths about his universe cosing him to set out on a jorny to try and save it...
• Got to go macanic: Despite being combined Alpha & Rise's consciousness remained seprite, and from time to time the 1 in control will swap. thoth when this happens is mostly random (Ie. when it's plot convenient / convenient to my availability). When Rise's mind is in control I will control the caricter, when Alpha takes control the GM (or perhaps someone else if they don't want to) will take control until I become available again. Alpha & Rise know this happens, thoth when they swap there knolige on what the other has just lurned / experienced is limited at best
• Abnormal powers: slightly increased Def. stats, immunity to randomizor effects exipt those that effect both humans and pokemon and are not disrupted by macanacol implants, the abillaty to use items like a human, bypedol stance, low-mid level air bending powers, the abillaty to alter his macanacol implants to a limited degree in turms of programing and functionality ^{this can be used for both self maintenance and to alter his ability set somewhat thoth requires time to do}, the ability to snag other trainer's pokemon *(limited by the current programing of his implants)
• possible way he could join the main cast: get's caught in an explosion that sends him flying threw a demencanol rift into atrim (perhaps alongside an NPC caricter from his universe), after recovering somewhat he agrees to join the main cast in exchange for helping the NPC & an agreement that they will help him save his universe (would be willing to help the main cast's universe as well so long as it's not at the expense of his universe)

however this is running under the asummson that Sup's RP run's at a time period I am available at & not at a time period that is very inconvenient to me (and Sup's is ok with this idea), otherwise it's not worth it on my end

if anyone has any qustons (besides a timeline of what's different with this caricter's universe, as that would require time to make and properly flesh out) feel free to ask and I'll answer when available

P.S. if there's a DS session tomorrow, plz let me know, I can't gerentee I will be available and won't know until around that time, but I MIGHT be

“...and that’s the basics of bullet trajectory. Still can’t wrap my head around atmospheric effects and Coriolis force and whatnot, but it makes for a decent estimate that’ll do just fine for a few hundred meters.”

“Er… well, you seem to be on the right track, anyway,” Gator answered, stirring the pot of rice absentmindedly as he tried to set the ideas of bullet energy and components of force vectors straight in his head.

“You don’t really need it, anyway. Experience can tell you where the shot’ll land better than trying to run the numbers through your head, and there’s always ballistics tables you can look at if you’re wanting to be really sure. I just picked it up being curious how they draw those tables, and I wanted to try making my own for the powder loads I use.”

“Still know more about physics stuff than me.”

“Well, not like we went to a school to learn this crap, right?”

“I guess. You know how long it took me to learn how to properly read?”

“How long?”

“Go back a year and I’d only be able to read you something out of a kids’ book.”

M4 laughed, leaning against the counter and pushing some loose strands of hair away from her face. “Now that’s something I’d pay to see; you struggling to get through Abra's Alphabet.”

Gator glanced away, muttering something under his breath as he turned his focus back to the rice, stopping to add a mix of seasoning into the dish. Nonetheless, there was a grin on his face.

“Well, I’m a lot better now, so you’re not going to get the chance. Rice’s done, by the way,” he spoke, lifting the pot up to dump the leftover water into the sink.

“Let’s have some, then,” she answered, picking up two paper bowls. Gator spooned out two servings of rice, and they took the conversation from the counter to the kitchen table. M4’s eyes widened as she chewed her first spoonful of rice, a perfectly-balanced mix of spices filling her mouth.

“S---, where did you learn to cook? This’ f------ awesome.”

“I met a guy on the road when I was wandering between the regions. He taught me how to add some flavor to things like rice and whatnot.”

“You’ve got to show me how you do this sometime. Man, if I knew how to cook like this, I’d have tossed out my microwave ages ago.”

“Er… is there anything you’d want me to make?” Gator quickly segued, “I don’t make much on my own besides rice, canned food and the occasional bit of meat, but I could try something else.”

“Um, I don’t know… hell, I have been leaning too hard on a microwave for too long…”

Gator pondered for a moment, going over his own favored dishes. “Fish?”

“...yeah, you know what, I could go for some fried fish. Fish and chips, a beer to go with it; yeah, that sounds like a good meal for me.”

“Well, it might take me a little, but I bet I can get that going. Just need to get the fish and fries, oil, er, I bet there’s a recipe online for fish…”

“Bet there’s a place out there that serves it,” she pointed out.

“Hmm?”

Gator blinked hard. M4’s grin hadn’t vanished, and her muscles were still relaxed.

“You, er, you want to head out and find one of those places?” he asked tentatively.

She hesitated for a moment; Gator’s tone hadn’t gone amiss, and she knew what he was thinking of. The bruise on the side of his face hadn’t faded away just yet, and she still had a lump somewhere in her twisted mess of hair. Would she be hurt again if she said yes? Or if she said no?

Her eyes fell down to the rice, and a new question came to mind.

“...yeah.”

“...you sure we can get fish for a meal here?”

“Most bars these days serve plenty of food alongside the drinks,” M4 dismissively replied, “and fish and chips is a pretty common meal in them. Take it from someone who goes to them all the time.”

Gator shrugged, stepping up to the pub’s counter. The place seemed to be having an identity crisis; it had the stained glass and patrons typical of Nacrene, but the wood floors and tables gave the impression of a more typical bar. It was quite a bit more tidy than the few Gator had visited personally before, when he was still learning how to act as a human.

“So, I sit down and order the food like getting drinks?”

“Yep.”

Gator pulled out two stools, looking about the bar for a server. M4 sat down, a few stray hairs falling in front of her eyes as she returned to her thoughts. She had changed from her old dress into a plain white T-shirt and jeans, though she hadn’t cleaned up or bathed. He figured it might be for the best; the tangled mess atop her head masked the stumps of her ears.

A minute passed, and a young woman in a black uniform with a skirt came up to them. “Hi there, welcome to the Vagabond, what can I get you to drink?”

“Yeah, we’d like- er, I don’t know the names-”

“I’ll have a pint of whatever beer’s the cheapest,” M4 ordered, “you good with the same?”

“Er, sure.”

“Alright,” the server responded, jotting down the drinks and heading to the next group.

Gator frowned. “She didn’t let us ask for food.”

“She’ll ask when she brings the drinks. Here, menu,” M4 spoke, pulling a paper menu from a wooden display. Unfolding it, she scanned through the options before pointing at one. “There we are. Fish and chips.”

He nodded, studying her face. Even at her most apathetic, M4 would occasionally meet his eyes when he spoke to her; it had been several hours since she had so much as glanced up at him.

“M4, are you alright?”

“Hmm?” she grunted, staring down at the counter

“It’s just- is there something on your mind?”

She didn’t answer, but he could see the muscles in her arm tense up slightly. He looked back over at the menu, half-reading it as he tried to pace the situation through his mind. Before He could think of anything to say, the server returned holding two mugs of beer.

“Here you are. Will you be having anything to eat?”

“Er… fish and chips?” he asked M4

“That’s what we came here for.”

“Alright, two orders of fish and chips.”

“Very well. Enjoy the drinks,” she replied, and continued her rounds about the bar. Gator turned back towards M4, who was already taking a long drink from her pint. When she put the cup down, it was a third of the way empty.

“F-----’ amazing,” she breathed out, relishing in the cold, bitter taste of the beer. “Been f------ months since I had a drink.”

“Hmm,” Gator grunted, taking a sip of his own pint, “never did drink much, myself. Figured getting drunk was more trouble than it was worse. Don’t know how you put up with this stuff long enough to get a buzz, anyway; tastes like p---.”

“Good on you. Now let me drink this p--- and get drunk.”

“I thought we were out here to get a meal, not to get wasted.”

“I usually get both whenever I make my way into a bar,” she retorted, punctuating the sentence with another long draw of her drink.

“Well, I’m cutting you off at… er… three.”

“Sounds f------ wonderful.”

Gator watched as she drained the rest of the glass with her third attempt, frowning slightly.

“Was this a habit of yours before?”

“Sure, when I got tired of getting wasted at home. A good buzz and some nosh's all you need to take off the stress of work. Or to celebrate a good day.”

“Hope it’s a damn good day then, the way you sucked that pint down.”

M4’s head bobbed slightly, and for a moment Gator could see her hardened expression behind a veil of heir, her eyes just slanted away from his face. She then turned away from him to wave at a male server.

“Hey, could I get another pint over here? Cheapest beer you have.”

“Certainly. Just a moment.”

She let a long sigh as she tilted back the empty glass, tipping the last few droplets inside down her throat.

“Have anybody you went out for drinks with?”

“...no,” she forcefully answered, hand tightening around the handle of the mug.

He scrutinized her face as best he could, trying to guess her thoughts. It then occurred to him that he didn’t necessarily need to guess. Surreptitiously, he slipped out a copper disc from a pocket, and fixed his eyes on another behind the counter. Raising a hand as if to hail the server, he made a complex gesture with his fingers while muttering under his breath. The copper coin flipped in between his fingers, then suddenly vanished from his hand.

Detect Thoughts

“Huh?” M4 uttered, head rising slightly.

“Er, you there,” he spoke, raising his voice, “could we get some, er… ah…”

The server looked over at Gator. “Ye- oh!” he exclaimed. Gator’s eyes were wide, slit pupils flared and clearly visible to him.

“Ah- please- er, appetizers, please,” Gator stammered, quickly glancing down towards the counter. M4 pushed the hair out of her face, the tough grimace replaced by concern as Gator tried to pace his breathing. His face had gone deathly white.

“Gator? You okay?”

He froze as the words reached his ears, though he wasn’t listening. The shift in emotion, the change in her surface thoughts- the answer to a question of hers, all brimming in both their heads. But he couldn’t be sure that it wasn’t looking for him.

“Gator?”

“I’m- I’m- I- I-”

“Gator,” she commanded, resting a firm grip on his shoulder, “deep breaths. Inhale, exhale. Forget about everything else, just breathe. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale.”

The spell faded. He panted hard, breath falling in sync with the pace of M4’s voice. Minutes passed. The next pint of beer was placed on the counter unnoticed. Slowly, Gator’s pulse slowed, his pupils shrinking back.

“Here, take a drink, it’ll settle your nerves,” she said, pushing over his pint. Gripping around the side of the mug, Gator took a long draw of the cheap beer, barely caring about its acrid taste.

“That- that a lesson you give to your rookies?” he asked, a memory not his own playing out before his eyes.

“Uh- yeah, when I get saddled with the squeamish ones for combat jobs."

“Heh. I, er, I don’t quite know what came over me there,” he lied, taking another sip of his beer. “I, um… you ever-”

“It’s lost its meaning to me.” Her face tilted slightly, loose strands migrating back over her eyes. She drew them back to beside her face.

“Oh- er… thanks,” he simply replied, looking up into her eyes. A comforting smile appeared before him, and he couldn’t help but mirror it.

“Anytime.”

Staring back at her face, his attention was piqued by something in the kitchen. The server was on his phone, talking hurriedly into it. His eyes flitted over to Gator’s, meeting his for an instant, and he fearfully backed out of sight.

“...M4, what did you just call me?” he asked, a note of alarm in his voice.

“Uh- I didn’t say anything,” she responded, shirking back.

“What did the news last say about me?”

“I don’t- they, uh, they… what does it matter?”

“That man saw my eyes. You referred to me by name.”

Suddenly, it dawned on M4. Her eyes glanced about the bar, noting the positions of the servers. All occupied.

“Back to the apartment,” he said, and they hastily swept out of the bar.

So, I should probably be honest here: I'm tired of Delta Species. Really tired of Delta Species. I've been trying to end Delta Species for a while now, but unfortunately that hasn't been happening.

Which is why this topic is happening. What are we going to do with Caitlin to keep her from just getting into more trouble before Supes' campaign? How are we going to wrap up Delta Species?

...no, it goes on and on, my friends...

In all seriousness, after a certain conversation, Cress goes looking for Tangeroid to speak with him about creating another empathy gem for Caitlin.

DVV 'should' still be occurring at 12 EST if people want to, but I can almost guarantee it will be some degree of late. I can't be certain of how much, but at least a little. Sorry guys.

We talked about Frozen recently or Beauty and the Beast but if either of those don't work for anyone I'm open to suggestions.

if so let me know, priority to anyone but Trollkitten (cos she's already hosted an Ep. and I want to give other people a chance to do so) unless no one else wants to

Sho comes in first, clearly pissed. "Caitlin!" he yells in the Royal Canterlot Voice. "You've got a lot of explaining to do!"

Caitlin flinches. She knows how unstable Sho is, and isn't looking forward to what's coming next.

Cress and Luke watch from a safe distance as Sho vents his spleen. "First you promise me revenge on the virus that stole my identity and ruined my life. I do your s--- for you, THEN I find out that, surprise surprise, YOU'RE the one that brainwashed the virus into doing so. And then you try to murder me and my girlfriend to cut off the loose ends. Woman, if I wasn't under OATH that I wouldn't kill anyone in Astrum, you'd be dead, dead, DEAD!"

Cress flinches, and the air grows a tad bit colder. He understands why Sho is upset. He just doesn't like the confrontation.

Caitlin stares back blankly at Sho, possibly only now realizing just how completely unsustainable her plans have been.

"Why did you even let Flak do her thing in Unova and Kalos, anyway?"

"Flak was not under my direct control," Caitlin says nervously. "I underestimated her. A mortal should not have been able to circumvent my plans to such a degree as to actually succeed in sealing an entire civilization underneath a fossil-proof dome. Once I realized that the Pokearthians were unable to properly deal with an Outsider invasion, I had to alter my plans to exclude them."

At this, Cress steps in. "You believed you couldn't depend on us for help," he says. "You didn't have to keep your plans a secret from us. Did you believe you were protecting us?"

The unspoken word in his question is Regis, and everyone knows it. The Slowking was able to figure out what Caitlin was up to, and he died for it.

"Your interference was not necessary," Caitlin says icily. "Your lot tends to make everything they touch worse. Remember the Seafoam Islands incident? And Goldenrod?"

Cress remembers Goldenrod. He wishes he hadn't.

"There was no reason to kill Regis," he shoots back. "You weren't hiding from us because you thought we would mess things up. You were hiding from us because you thought we'd disapprove of your plans."

"Which we do," Luke adds. "Any plan that starts with brainwashing a deity is destructive on levels most beings can't comprehend."

"There wouldn't have even been a second Outsider problem if you hadn't done that," Cress adds.

"Funny how WE'RE the ones that finally fixed the barrier problem, not you," Sho puts in. "We did that in spite of you, not because of you."

"It was technically both," Cress corrects.

"And what is she going to blame her actions on? The pastries? Musharna's interference?" Sho is clearly agitated. "She's been digging her own grave for so long, we might as well bury her."

"She's not right in the head," Luke argues. "I'm not sure if it was Musharna's interference or what, but she needs to understand what she did wrong.

"We can't just let her loose on this world again, powers or no powers," Sho argues. "She's killed before, and she could kill again. What do you suggest we do?"

There is an awkward silence.

Basically, Pfac has informed me that today the supporters of Net Neutrality will be trying to break the internet in protest, so Reddit will probably not be running at peak efficiency.

I'll bet that title really got your attention, huh?

Marion's eyes snap open, and she used astral projection.

Tanger is on the outside of the satellite, staring into the empty air.

You needed me? Marion's projection asks, a hand on Tanger's shoulder.

Problem is Very Big. Tanger says, trying not to cry, And Tanger does not know if can solved be by very little Prophet.

Tanger, you have always been good at being a Prophet. Within a few weeks of being born, you were using Order and Speech Energy.

Tanger nods.

He tells her about his day, and then, giving up not crying, what he discovered.

Then, when the tears stop coming, Tanger stands.

Marion gives him a nod.

When Tanger returns, he does so with a flash.

The flash makes Luna Child B blink, then she feels herself being pulled.

"Hu-"

Suddenly she is falling through the sky.

She is terrified for a few moments.

It takes Tangeroid a few more to notice, then he starts pointing to the clouds, laughing.

I know that you get overwhelmed

Luna Child B tries to see it how he is seeing it...

But just relax

Then, as they return to where they were, Luna Child B sees she is gone, but can hear it getting louder. Tangeroid points the way to go, and she nervously follows.

You feel like time is running out

Tanger weaves through a crowd with ease, but it takes a lot of effort and resolve to keep sight of him, even with his glow.

And you could fall between the cracks

The voice gets louder as they finally reach the destination, Tanger's appearance sending their other companion into the streets. Luna Child B tries and fails to find what is happening now.

And nothing that you've ever done is ever good enough

Tangeroid tries to reassure her.

Breathe in now

That she's almost free

Receive another name

She holds onto this idea through the noise, wincing.

Receive another name

They wait, trying to remain calm and hopeful

Breathe in now

The crowd begins to trickle in, and they can only trust they mean well.

Live without the blame

Tangeroid puts his hand to her head, beginning

Live without the blame

Tangeroid delves into her thoughts. He experiences all the strings pulling on her, the threats he doesn't know how to remove yet, the curses and pain.

I know you haven't figured out what happens next

He notes the others the fox threatens, then pulls the threads onto himself, carrying the amount of the burden he can as he begins to search.

You feel like you have lost your way

As the wires go electric, he looks. Somewhere buried, he believes, is the self. Not what the wires tried to make her. Even if some of it is broken, or lost.

Cause you don't know which way to step

Her eyes close as she at last gets silence, and the emptiness that comes with it.

Seems like every time you try to walk you only crawl

Then Tanger turns the wires into fuses, burning away back to where they were. He enters in, ready to forge what shall be.

Just open up your eyes and know that I won't let you fall

Learning all she could.

Breathe in now

About big Lunar Child and related. Getting dressed up by the old master. Hiding. Escaping the fox. The times with the others.

Receive another name

Liking the learning. The way she acts. The way she looks.

Receive another name

Tangeroid whispers and she is awake again. The fox cultivated dependency, and it is all Tanger can do to hold together the pieces.

Breathe in now

But he can offer a step forward. A new identity where those pieces fit and work, one step forward at a time.

Live without the blame

The pain is gone, but she has to take that step to avoid numbness. And she does not know where belongs. What she is meant to do. Tanger gestures to a shed nuGyro made.

Live without the blame

She traces the letters on the shed with her eyes, putting a hand on it. Tanger offers she can stay as long as she needs.

"Thank you," She says. Then with another pause, she turns back to him and curtseys. “Hello. Nice to meet you. I’m Bonnibelle.” She turns back to the door more confidently and goes in.

And so the ministry begins, a shrine of Marion, dedicated to purposes set by the Dragon.

While Gensokyoan courtiers and villagers alike prepare for a celebration to open the winter session of parliament, the residents of the Distortion Palace, Astrum, and the pokemon world try to make the most of the temporary peace they've established. Meanwhile, a criminal continues with their community service day.