CYOA MLP: Forevermore Inverse Morning #9 A Brief Intermission

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>>30127592
>Goofy raises his hands up in defense.
>"We surrender!"
>"Goofy!"
>Donald punches his side, attempting to silence him before he says something that'll make the situation worse.
>Thankfully, you think you've found an explanation that will help while keeping the world order.
"What my friend meant to say was that we're travellers from... a far off kingdom. We didn't know this was your property, and we'll leave. Sorry 'bout that."
>You give a sheepish smile and rub the back of your head, the explanation a raher solid one, given the circumstances.
>Applejack stares at the three of you, distrust still there, but nowhere near the violent levels from before.
>"Well, if you fellers weren't here on purpose, Ah suppose we can let you go. Right, Big Mac?"
>The large, red pony next to her simply nods.
>"Eeyup."
>"Still, y'all really should know better than to wander around in crop fields. Not a good first impression-"
>"Applejack?"
>A more distinctly high-pitched voice comes from behind the two farm ponies, coming from a young yellow pony with a red mane.
>The filly comes out from behind the two as she looks at all of you with piqued interest.

>You've been Applejack your entire life, and that won't change for a long while.
>And these three fellers have to be some of the oddest around.
>The diamond dog, apparently named Goofy, flat out surrendered for a moment, with his griffon companion trying to keep him quiet.
>Then the pegasus explained that the three of them weren't from around here.
>That much was apparent regardless, but they don't seem like bad folk.
>"Applejack?"
>A familiar voice interrupts you as you turn around and find Applebloom looking at your uninvited guests.
"Applebloom? What are you doing up so early?"
>The filly trots past you too take a closer look.
>"Ah noticed you two talking earlier and decided to follow you."
>After a short while of examination, Applebloom begins to beam at the three of them.
>"Howdy! What's your names?"

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>>30127643
"My name is Sora."
>"I'm Donald."
>"The name's Goofy!"
>The filly known as Applebloom nods.
>"Sora, Donald, and Goofy, huh? Sounds catchy."
>She turns to Applejack.
>"Can they stay for breakfast. Please?"
>Applejack's serious face falters a little as the filly pulls off a mean puppy dog face.
>"A-Ah don't know..."
>"Pleeaase?"
>"What do you think, Big Mac? Should we?"
>Big Mac ponders the dilemma for a while, then nods.
>"Eeyup."
>A slight grin betrays her, as Applejack walks over to you.
>"Well, it would be rude not to offer hospitality to our guests. Even if they come at ungodly hours."
>She extends a hoof to you, which you manage to grab for a solid shake.
>"Nice to meetcha, Sora."
"Likewise, Applejack."

>As it turned out, the barnhouse was nearby the actual house where the Apples, as you found out, reside.
>While a rather roomy place, it was clearly designed for ponies in mind, as Goofy stands around awkwardly, and Donald is lying on the ground like a cat, less by choice and more by the lack of suitable furniture.
>You managed to hit the transformation jackpot, relaxing on a chair as your stomach growls.
"Guess it has been a while since we've had actual food."
>"You're right. These Apple folk sure are nice too, offerin' to feed us and all."
>"Not like you helped, Goofy."
>Donald grumbles once more as he looks at the three of you.
>"Still, this seems like an interesting world, considering the transformations. Goofy stands out way more just by walking on two legs."
"And it doesn't look like all ponies here have wings, so we might actually be sticking out much more than we expected."
>As the three of you are talking amongst each other, Applejack and Applebloom exit the kitchen with friendlier faces than outside.
>"Breakfast is ready, fellas. Come on in!"

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>>30127658
>Breakfast, as well as the names of the ponies you've met so far, give you an omen of future happenings.
>Apple fritters, apple pie, apple scones, soft apple cider...
"I guess if you're good at something, you might as well go the whole mile."
>"Come on, Sora, don't be like that. This stuff's delicious!"
>Goofy says in between mouthfuls as he digs into his apple mountain.
>"Glad to see even diamond dogs can appreciate some good ol' apple byproducts. Feel free to help yourself to more."
>So Goofy's a diamond dog, whatever that means.
>As everyone enjoys an earlier breakfast, an elderly green mare makes her way to the table.
>"Well now, who're these young folks? Friends of yers, Applejack?"
>"Just some early morning guests, Granny. From a far off kingdom, if I recall."
>"Eh? A Griffon King? You sure make a lot of friends in high places."
>Donald turns confused, looking at Granny like she lost her marbles.
>"Don't mind her, Donald. Granny has a bad ear sometimes."
>"Whatever. So, Applejack, where are we?"
>"You're on Sweet Aple Acres, just off of Ponyville."
>Donald lets out an exasperated sigh.
>"A horse pun, great."
"You mentioned a Twilight earlier. Is she a friend of yours?"
>"Yep, she's Princess Celestia's student and a good friend to me."
>Goofy halts his eating and joins in on the conversation.
>"Princess?"
>Applejack gives him a deadpan look.
>"You know, the Princess? Most powerful pony in Equestria? Moves the sun?"
>So that explains the oddly close movements.
"Don't mind Goofy, he probably just forgot, right?"
>"Uh, yeah, just forgot. Hyuck!"
>"Uh huh..."

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>>30127665
>Applebloom is the first to finish as she goes outside, leaving the rest of the Apple Family and you to talk.
"Would it be alright for you to introduce us to Twilight? I think she miht be able to help us with our problem."
>Applejack looks at you inquisitively.
>"Problem?"
>"We're looking for something to protect this place from threats."
>"That's an odd thing to look for. Mind explaining why you'd need tha-"
>"A-Aahhh!"
>Applebloom's panicked voice rings through the house, as you, Donald, Goofy, and Applejack rush outside.
>Just in time too, as a familiar trio of shadowy gremlins and a janky armored one are closing in on the terrified filly.
"Applebloom!"
>The group rushes to block the Heartless from Applebloom as Applejack turns around.
>"Get back inside, Applebloom! We'll deal with this!"
>The frightened filly nods as she runs back inside, Applejack preparing her rope as your Keyblade forms in your mouth and Donald and Goofy grab their weapons.
>"So you can fight?"
"We've had past experiences."
>"Let's get to it, then."

Battle 1: Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Applejack VS 3 Shadows and 1 Soldier

GO!

>>30127682
It'll take a while to make full-fledged Character sheets, but here's the general stats for each character:

>Sora

>13/13 HP
>40/40 MP

>Strength: 14 (+2)
>Dexterity: 14 (+2)
>Constitution: 16 (+3)
>Intelligence: 12 (+1)
>Wisdom: 12 (+1)
>Charisma: 16 (+3)

>Skills: Fire (2d6+int modifier), Thunder (2d6+int modifier), Blade (Allows for Strength or Dexterity Modifier to replace Intelligence Modifier), Dodge Roll (+2 to AC against enemies in line of sight), Slapshot (increased Crit chance), Charisma modifier added to AC

>Donald

>6/6 HP
>60/60 MP

>Strength: 8 (-1)
>Dexterity: 8 (-1)
>Constitution: 11 (0)
>Intelligence: 18 (+4)
>Wisdom: 16 (+3)
>Charisma: 11 (0)

>Skills: Blizzard (2d6+int modifier), Thunder (2d6+int modifier), Cure (1d6+int modifier), Bulwark (Creates a shield worth 8 HP that protects the target from attacks. Strong/weak to opposing elements), Half MP Cost

>Goofy

>14/14 HP
>30/30 MP

>Strength: 11 (0)
>Dexterity: 13 (+1)
>Constitution: 18 (+4)
>Intelligence: 8 (-1)
>Wisdom: 8 (-1)
>Charisma: 14 (+2)

>Skills: Provoke (increases threat to nearby targets, making it more likely he'll be targeted. Helicopter (Aerial attack that hits up to three times in a straight 15-foot (three square) line), Shield Toss (1d8+dex modifier, can stun target), Charisma modifier added to AC

Applejack, as a guest, has unknown values, but has a buck and a lasso to bind opponents and swing them around.

>>30127694
I want to see applejack lasso a soldier and knock it into the shadows. Then once we've successfully put them in a pile hit with aoe shit.

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>>30127682
>Almost immediately, one of the Shadows melts into the ground swiftly moving away from the other Heartless.
>With a quick skip, the Soldier spins at you, lightly swiping your side as he lands behind you.
>"Ah'll try to keep that varmit from scurrying about!"
>Applejack swings her lasso at the Soldier, attempting to catch any part that would ensnare the Heartless.
>Unfortunately, the rope falls just short of the Soldier, mechanically jerking in confusion.
>"Horseapples."
"Take this!"
>You turn around swiftly and strike the Heartless's side, catching it in a weak spot that sends it tumbling towards Donald.
>Goofy readies his shield and tosses it at one of the remaining Shadows, clocking it aside the head and causing it to explode into darkness.
>The final above ground Shadow leaps at Donald, its claws swiping madly in an attempt to take him out.
>However, the Heartless was only able to deal a glancing blow as electricity began to crackle from Donald's staff.
>"Thunder!"
>Bolts of lightning arc from the sky onto the Shadow and dazed Soldier, disintegrating them into dust.
>Applejack looks at Donald in surprise.
>"Ah've never heard of a griffon that could cast magic before."
>Puffing his chest, Donald looks down on the last Shadow, still melted on the floor.
>"Now to finish up with this one-"
>As he said that, two orbs of darkness appear with a duo of gold-plated Soldiers, jankily moving towards the battle.
>As far as you can see, the remaining Shadow is crawling towards Applejack, while the new Soldiers are making their way towards Donald and Goofy respectively.
>What's should you do?

Sora: 9/13 HP
40/40 MP

Donald: 5/6 HP
53/60 MP

Goofy: 14/14 HP
25/30 HP

>>30129171
We don't have a cure spell do we? If not I'd say have donald throw a potion while sora calls up a fire blade for goofy so he can go sword and board.

>>30129959
While Donald has the Cure spell, Sora currently does not. I neglected to mention it, but the current stock of items is 3 Potions and 2 Ethers.

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>>30129171
>As your pondering, the Shadow finally emerges from the ground and lunges at Applejack, leaving a scratch on her side.
>In return, she quickly turns around and bucks it at the Soldier next to Goofy.
>The poor Heartless vaporizes on contact, and the Soldier staggers, wounded by the blow.
>Just then, an idea pops into your mind, and you focus on the Keyblade.
"Here, Goofy, Fire Blade!"
>In Goofy's opposite hand sprouts a blade of fire, making him look truly knight-like.
>"Thanks, Sora!"
>He lunges at the staggered Soldier and takes a swipe with the Blade.
>It connects, searing through the darkness holding the Heartless together and cleaving it in two.
>The other Soldier, however, manages to catch Donald by surprise, spinning right into him and knocking the air right out of the griffon.
>"G-gah..."
>Donald falls, too wounded to get back up as the victorious Soldier gauges what to do next.
>It looks like this is the last Heartless, but you're already down one, and your wizard at that.
>The two of you stare each other down, looking for a weakness or plan to execute.

Sora: 9/13 HP
26/40 MP

Donald: 0/6 HP (KO)
53/60 MP

Goofy: 14/14 HP
25/30 MP

>>30130670
Oh fuck. Someone throw a potion at donald. I assume potions does fix KO right?

>>30131102
It does. Do you have anything you want Goofy and the revived Donald to do?

>>30131136
If we're going with a mostly defensive and rival measure I'd recommend getting Goofy between us and/or using his 'voke

Personally I'd let Donald get a bit of magical retribution once he's back up, in the form of scathing ice.

>>30131280
>>30131102
On the off-chance AJ catches the Soldier with her Lasso, would you be inclined to change your strategy?

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>>30131360
If the lasso connects I vote Sora slapshot the tits off of the Soldier and have Goofy follow through with a fire blade basic, perhaps simultaneously... In a Cross-shaped assault pattern.

Applehorse might wanna duck and cover, while holding the rope of course.

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>>30130670
>Applejack prepares her lasso once more, determination in her eyes.
>"Ah'm not gonna miss this time, varmint!"
>True to her word, the rope hits its target: pinning the Soldier's arms to its body and locking it's movement!
>"Ah got 'em. Hit 'em hard, Sora!"
"Got it. With me, Goofy!"
>With a nod, the two of you take intersecting paths, Keyblade and magic sword in hand.
>A roar sounding from your lips, the two of you charge the hapless Soldier and slice through him!
"Cross Strike!"
>The Heartless, along with the rope that was tied to it, burns away as Donald gets back up.
>"Oof... Hey, you guys finished without me!"
"Maybe next time you can take a hit better."
>The two of you argue about as Goofy chuckles at the scene.
>Behind the three of you, however, Applejack is staring at the smoldering remains of the Heartless you defeated.

>You are Applejack, proud apple farmer in a long line of apple farmers.
>And you've seen some strange things in the past few months, thanks to your adventures with your friends.
>But those things weren't like anything you've ever seen, and they certainly didn't stay long after being defeated.
>You look at the trio once more, even more strange than they were before.
>Especially that pegasus, Sora, and the giant key he was using to fight with.
>Just who are these folk?

Battle Concluded:

Sora, Donald and Goofy have leveled up.

Each have 2 points that can be added to any stat.

Sora has two abilities available:

>Berserk: Increased damage die (2d6 -> 2d8) when below 50% HP.
OR
>Stun Impact: 10% chance to stun opponents when attacking.

Donald has two abilities available:

>MP Haste: MP regenerates during combat (5% per turn).
OR
>Second Chance: Once per battle, can survive a fatal hit with 1 HP.

Goofy has two abilities available:

>Charge: Ram opponents in front of you (1d6+dex modifier), and can continue pushing for 10 MP per push.
OR
>Rocket: Leap at opponents above you and hit with your shield (2d6+dex modifier) (5 MP per use).

>>30131629
Give me berserk second chance and rocket leap please

>>30131629
MP haste sounds amazing, but Donald probably needs second chance more.

>>30132187
>>30132311
Looks like the skills have been decided. Do you have preference where the +2 points go for Sora, Donald, and Goofy's stats, or would it be more useful to auto-assign them?

>>30132462
Throw con on sora Int on donald and str on goofy

>>30132187
>>30132311
>>30132666

Sora has toughened up from the last fight, and has learned Berserk.

Donald's knowledge of the world has grown from this battle, leading him as far as he can go, and has learned Second Chance.

Goofy has grown muscle from the last battle, allowing him to hit harder, and has learned Rocket.

Update in a bit.

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>>30131629
>"Say, Sora?"
>Fixated in your argument, you almost forget that you are indeed Sora.
>And Applejack might not be too happy about the lasso you and Goofy burned.
"Oh, sorry about the rope, Applejack. That was an unintended casualty."
>The farmhorse shakes her head and smiles.
>"Don't you worry none 'bout that. Rope can easily be replaced, but you helped me save my sister from whatever it was that attacked her."
>She extends a hoof once more, giving a more firm and serious shake when you retun it.
>"Thank you, from the bottom my heart."
>You give a sheepish smile while you bask in the praise.
>It always felt good to help those in need, and Applejack's family did quite a bit for you three.
>"That said, it seems like y'all have experience fighting those things."
>Applejack gives a sharp look at you, kiling the afterglow of the praise.
>"Um... "
"Well..."
>"Ya see..."
>As the three of you attempt to explain yourselves in a statisfying, but vague matter, Applejack holds up a hoof.
>"Ah ain't trying to interrogate you fellers, but these things could mean danger if they make it to Ponyville."
>She turns her gaze down the road to a town nearby.
>"As Ah doubt those were the only ones, I need to report this to my friends. And Ah'd like you three to follow me."
>Donald attempts to protest, but grumbles away as he sees she's not willing to budge on this point.
>"Ah phooey, I guess we don't have much choice in the matter."
>A more genuine smile pops up on Applejack's face.
>"Consider it payment for the breakfast. It shouldn't take too much of your time, so y'all be able to find what your looking for too."
>You weigh the options in your head, but it looks like she's got the upper hand in this negotiation.
>Besides, what's the worst that could happen?
"Alright, we'll come with you."
>"Yeehaw! That's what Ah like to hear. Let's not waste any more time, then."
>Thus the three of you, plus Applejack, make your way down to the nearby town.

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>>30132952
>Of all the places you expected this Twilight to be, a literal tree house was not in the top ten.
>Applejack knocked on the door as other ponies began waking up and beginning their daily activities.
>Still, your group still attracted curious stares from the townfolk as you waited for someone to answer the door.
>Eventually, the door creaked open as a small, scaled creature rubbed his eyes and yawned/
>"Who is it? It's way too early for the Library to be open, so please wait until la-"
>"Ah'm sorry for waking you up, Spike, but there's some news Twilight needs to hear. Could you get her for us?"
>"Oh, Applejack! Um, sure, but what about the group behind you?"
>Spike asks inquisitively, pointing at the three of you in confusion.
>"Don't mind them, they're guests that might be of some help soon."
>He looks back at Applejack with some doubt, but shakes his head and goes back inside.
>"I'll see what I can do. Twilght!"
>As Spike's voice vanishes into the distance, Applejack leads the three of you into what appears to be a living room in a library.
"You mean someone lives here?"
>"Twilight can be... Zealous about her books."

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>>30132971
>It doesn't take long for Spike to return with a somewhat tired unicorn following behind him.
>"Applejack? What brings you here this early?"
>The tired seems to snap away as she looks at your intriguing posse.
>"And who are they?"
>"Relax, Twilight, they're just travellers from a far-off kingdom. That being said, there's something sinister happening nearby, and Ah think we're gonna have to fix it."
>Upon hearing the word "sinister", Twilight's attitude becomes serious.
>"I see. I'll go get the rest of the girls and-"
>"Actually, Ah'm going to go get them while you get some coffee. Those all-nighters aren't doing you any favors, Twilight."
>Twilight smiles sheepishly.
>"Well... This time I think I've discovered something very interesting."
>Applejack smiles back.
>"That so? Anywho, Ah'll let you mingle with these fellers. The pegasus is Sora, the griffon's Donald, and the diamond dog's Goofy."
>With that short introduction, the farmhorse leaves, probably to grab the rest of the girls Twilight mentioned.
>You return to Twilight, who is currently looking at the three of you with a scientist's stare, as Spike has left the room to probably get coffee.
>You've no doubt that Twilight has questions for you, but this might be an excellent time to ask some of your own, before Applejack returns with more company.
>Anything you want to ask?

>>30132984
Ask her what was she researching, and what did she discovered.

>>30132984
Tell her to not poke us with that horn
Ask her about discovery and about anything unusial past days. There probably is something that allowed lacking hearts meanies slip into that world just now

>>30134186
Yeah how exactly did twilight crack the foundations of reality today.

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>>30132984
"So what were you researching? That discovery must have been amazing to have kept you up all night."
>Twilight rubs the back of her head sheepishly.
>"Well... all-nighters have been my thing for a while now, but this time I think I've found something. Tell me, do you remember the incident with Discord a few months back?"
>Goofy tilts his head in confusion.
>"Discord?"
>"He was a draconequus that attempted to take over Equestria with chaotic magic. During that time, he managed to manipulate the emotions of my friends into negative ones. In a way, he managed to turn my friends against me."
>You grimace a little at the thought of someone strong enough to control Donald and Goofy's actions against you.
>Certainly not something you want to experience firsthand.
>"The thing was, it didn't look like he fabricated the negative emotions. Manipulated, yes. Exaggerated, certainly. But those emotions were already inside them, like a darkness in their hearts."
"Darkness in their hearts?"
>"If you can call negative emotions 'darkness'. So I dug in a bit, and found another connection with Princess Luna and Nightmare Moon."
>Thankfully, Goofy remained quiet in his curiosity, but you gathered that the name implied that Luna was the one moving the moon.
>"Not necessarily affected by Discord's manipulation, but the darkness in her heart consumed her too, before the Elements of Harmony helped her."

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>>30135114
>Before you can push about those "Elements", Twilight quickly turns the table on you and takes control of the interrogation.
>"That said, Sora, you keep rather interesting company. How did you come to be with Donald and Goofy?"
>Before you can answer, Donald steps forward.
>"You see, our king is currently missing on an important mission, and we have to find him."
>Twilight's eyes light up as she turns to the wizard.
>"King? So you're nobility, then?"
>A smug smile creeps on Donald's beak as he enjoys the attention.
>"Something like that. Sora, here, holds an important key to our mission, and he's pretty good at fighting as well."
>Hyuck! Yeah, all for one."
>She giggles as Spike finally returns with a cup of coffee for Twilight.
>"Ah, if Starswirl created anything good for this world, it would be coffee."

>Sensing an opening, you push for another question that has been nagging you.
"Has anything strange been happening lately?"
>"Besides you three in my library, and Applejack calling a meeting?"
>Twilight looks into her coffee, attempting to wrack her thoughts.
>"Well, I haven't seen anything personally, but it does feel like something's going to happen soon, if it hasn't already. Oh!"
>She jumps up, nearly spilling her coffee.
>"That's right, I recall somepony mentioning that Carrot Top was acting strangely a few days back. I don't know her well, but a small town like this is good at noticing that sort of thing."

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>>30135123
>"Now it's my turn to ask a question. It's nothing serious, but I've noticed that your cutie mark is rather strange."
>Twilight's gaze focuses on your flank, and you turn around to notice that there is indeed a mark on it: the crown that's on your necklace normally.
>"I've never seen a cutie mark like that before. What's your special talent?"
>What is a cutie mark?
>What does it have to do wth your special talent?
>You can't quite put the puzzle together, and every moment spent mulling is a moment Twilight gets more suspicious.
"You see, I'm actually part of a minor house that specializes in fighting. That's why Donald and Goofy asked for my help initially, and why I have a crown cutie mark."
>Probably.
>It was a last second excuse, but it seems to have been satisfactory to Twilight's curiosity.
>"I have heard about some pegasus houses still practicing the arts of warfare."
>Albeit for possibly the wrong reason.

>Before either of you can think of another question to ask, a pink blur bounces in from behind you.
>"Wowee, Applejack, you weren't kidding! These guys really do stand out."
>"Honestly, Pinkie, it's rude to jump on guests."
>Another unicorn, white this time, trots past Pinkie currently poking at Donald and annoying him greatly.
>"That said, it's not every day a diamond dog and griffon come to our little town."
>"But did you have to drag us all for a meet and greet?"
>Another pegasus flies in, fully confident in her flight abilities, but not terribly impressed with the three of you.
>"I was going to get some practice in before weather duty."
>"Settle down, everypony. There's a good reason why Ah brought you all here."
>Applejack comes in, tailed by a yellow, more muted pegasus creeping behind her.
>"Now that everypony's here, let's get started."

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>>30135132
>"So let me get this straight."
>The blue pegasus now known as Rainbow Dash interjects in Applejack's explanation.
>"You're telling us that these guys popped up from a 'far-off kingdom' and helped you fight off shadow monsters?"
>"Ah wouldn't say 'shadow monsters' per se, but that's the simplified version, yes."
>"Aw man, that sounds awesome! Fighting monsters like that, you should have let me me join in!"
>Applejack rolls her eyes at her enthusiasm for the wrong reason, and continued.
>"These varmint were nothing like I ever seen. But Sora, Donald, and Goofy all seem to have experience fighting them, so Ah asked them to share their expertise. Anything we can do to keep these things from invading Ponyville shoud be our top priority."
>Twilight and the others look at you expectantly, waiting for your piece in the matter.
>How do you want to explain all of this?

>>30135137
Time to meddle again.
Should probably start on what the heartless are and how to deal with one. Nobodies don't seem to be around, but we should probably talk about those too. Then explain our key-shaped weapon's purpose and how it chose us as its master or whatever.

>>30135137
Keeping people in the dark has been nothing but trouble but I'd also hate to have to retcon Yen's universe.
Warn Twilight about what she's researching and the implications it may unfold.
Keep that we can use magic despite being a Pegasus a secret as well.

>>30135627
Well it's not like the two stories are canon with one another anyway.

>>30135627

>>30135713 does have a point. In yen's story sora and company are long dead by the time anon gets his keyblade. We've already created an entierly unique timeline here so we don't need to worry about retconned yen's story.

To smooth out worries, I will confirm that this has nothing to do with Yen's current story in any sense of the word. So don't worry about retconning in your decisions.

>>30135212
She will not stop to ask us questions for hours if we tell her such information about ourselves, maybe even try to experiment on us and blade. "Don't mention other worlds and who we are" part aside, it will take tons of time and apparently that is what we lacking of right now

Better tell them (in the most positive manner, that's Sora we are talking about) who enemies are, that we came to deal with them and find source of them, find our king who is on a same task, what to be aware of about baddies (including darkness origin and "they can get civilians for good" part), and maybe ask all six of them if anything suspicious happened around last days

If they going to ask us about our kingdom or backstory, think of as many bad horse puns as possible

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>>30135137
>You'll need to be careful not to reveal too much about yourselves, as Twilight looks like the pony who'd drill you with more questions and experiments if she knew the power of the Keyblade.
"These things are called the Heartless, creatures without hearts that we've been hunting down for a long time. We search for sources of these creatures to seal away, and we've got reason to believe there's one nearby."
>Twilight nods as the other girls look at each other with concern.
>"Is that what your king is doing as well?"
>"Eeyep. We're trying to catch up with him and take care of spots he might've missed."
>Goofy responds, doing a rather fine job adapting to the story.
"Applejack is correct in assuming they're dangerous, as they'll attack civilians and try to steal their hearts. They're completely corrupted by the darkness in their past hearts, so they can't be reasoned with."
>"Um..."
>The quiet pegasus known as Fluttershy finally speaks up.
>"How do we find the source and seal it? If it's not what you were going to talk about next."
"We can handle the sealing, but where we'll find it varies. Speaking of, has anything strange happened lately? Anything we could use as leads would help our search."

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>>30136361
>Rainbow Dash is the first to speak up.
>"Well, Derpy's been doing an amazing job on weather duty."
>A rather unfortunate name, but that doesn't sound particularly strange, as Applejack speaks your mind.
>"Ah don't think somepony doing a good job is something to keep an eye on."
>"You don't get it, AJ, Derpy's known for being clumsy, and has a track record of making mistakes. But right now, I haven't seen her make one lately. That's pretty strange to me!"
>A polite cough interrupts the two as the unicorn Rarity responds.
>"I have seen Lyra acting rather suspicious, like she thinks somepony's watching her. I've never had the opportunity to ask her, but she did look concerned."
>"Um... I haven't noticed anypony acting weird, but I've noticed more animals leaving the Everfree Forest than usual."
"Everfree Forest?"
>Twilight pipes up.
>"It's the forest next to Ponyville. It's rather chaotic and dangerous for normal ponies."
>Pinkie jumps up and down with her hoof stretched out.
>"Ooh! Ooh! I've noticed something odd with Octavia: she seems to be actively avoiding Vinyl like they got into a fight. I remember Vinyl mentioning that she didn't know what she did."
>Applejack turns back to you.
>"The only thing lately that fits your description is you fellers, and Ah don't think that's what you're looking for."

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>>30136375
>With everyone's piece in, Twilight's face scrunches up in thought, as if processing all the information given.
>"Sounds like we've got a number of potential locations for our 'Heartless' source. You girls go on ahead and look into your leads. I want to have a couple more words with Sora."
>The other ponies nodded and left the libary, each going their own ways.
>As the last one left the door, Twilight turned back to you with a more serious gaze.
>"You know something about my research, don't you?"
>Knowing you can't avoid talking about it, you respond honestly.
"I've seen folk researching the darkness in everyponies hearts, and every time they've gone too far and have been consumed by that pursuit. Just be careful about the research."
>Twilight looks down, somewhat concerned by the warning, but nods.
>"I'll keep that in mind, Sora. Say, do you mind me accompanying you three to check out those leads? It might help to keep other ponies from glaring at you as much."
>You ponder for a bit, but with an enthusiastic nod from Goofy and a moderate shrug from Donald, you nod back.
"Sure, welcome to the team, Twilight."
>An excited grin plasters Twilight's face as she hears the response.
>"Excellent! This should be useful to my studies. Come on, everypony, let's move!"
>Donald groans once more.
>"Of all the worlds we could land on, this one had to be Horse Pun Land."
>You ignore him as the four of you leave the library.

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>>30136387
>From what you could gather, there seems to be five potential targets.
>Twilight mentioned earlier that she heard that a pony named Carrot Top was acting odd.
>Rainbow Dash seemed convinced that this Derpy pony was performing too well, considering her past record.
>Rarity's observation of Lyra's paranoia implies she might be in some trouble, though perhaps not from Heartless.
>Fluttershy seems worried about the amount of animals leaving the Everfree, and considering the forest's reputation, it might be something rather dangerous.
>Pinkie's talk with Vinyl revealed that Octavia was intentionally avoiding her, and from the tone spoken, this seems uncommon to say the least.
>Knowing that any of these can be the lead to this world's Keyhole, where do you want to start?

Twilight has joined the team!

>12/12 HP
>65/65 MP

>Strength: 10 (0)
>Dexterity: 8 (-1)
>Constitution: 10 (0)
>Intelligence: 19 (+4)
>Wisdom: 15 (+2)
>Charisma: 11 (0)

>Skills: Blizzard (2d6+int modifier), Thunder (2d6+int modifier), Fire (2d6+int modifier), Shroud (1d6+int modifier damage when struck by enemy), Blink (can teleport to close distance or retreat for 20 feet (4 squares), can teleport an additional target for half the distance) Costs 5 MP, Half MP Cost (Blink not affected)

>>30136438
Let's save the forest for last, and deal with town leads first because more potential loot.
Twilight's with us now, might as well see what's up with Carrot top first.

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>>30136438
"Let's start with Carrot Top. If she's sticking out enough for townsfolk to notice, there might be something wrong with her."
>"I agree. Small town observations are often accurate."
>As you make your way down the morning bazaar, you notice that other ponies are less inclined to gawk at you from a distance.
>"I guess having a Princess's student following you around does wonder to unwanted attention."
>Donald muses as Twilight coughs awkwardly.
>"Try not to think of it that way. I'd rather ponies treat me for me, rather than the student to Princess Celestia."
"You don't like the attention?"
>"I've been living here for quite a bit to learn more about friendship. It's part of my lessons with the Princess: if I learn a lesson, I write her a report about what I learned.
>"Gawrsh, seems a bit complicated."
>"It's not so bad. Besides, living here with my friends is more than enough for me."

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>>30137292
>As you continue talking, you arrive to Carrot Top's stall.
>The stall is well-made, though it does appear that little has been done to make it stand out, other than a lone carrot sign on the top.
>Similar to her stand, Carrot Top seems rather out of it as well, sighing tiredly before she notices the four of you and switches to shopkeeper mode.
>"Oh, welcome to the Carrot Emporium! Might I interest you in some fresh carrots? Carrot dogs? Or maybe a Carrot Muffin: a Carrot Top original."
>Twilight raises a hoof and shakes her head.
>"That's quite alright. Might I ask you how you've been? I've heard some ponies were worried about you."
>At first, Carrot Top looks about to decline and assure Twilight, but she sighs and relents.
>"Well, there is something bothering me. I'm sure you've noticed the lack of fresh carrots available."
>It's true, the cart in front of you seems quite empty, with the cart bottom showing in some places.
>"For the past few days, something has been ruining my carrot garden at night, or when I'm away for longer than an hour. I've tried everything from traps to fences, but they keep coming in and ruining patch after patch."
>Carrot groans and places her face between her hooves.
>"At this rate, I won't be able to make enough of a profit for the month! And that's already hard enough to do, thanks to the Apple family popularity.

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>>30137310
>You look around at your companions, each of them nodding back at you.
"I think we'll be able to handle that problem for you, Miss Top."
>"Please, call me Carrot."
"Miss Carrot, then. Would it be alright to point us to the direction of your garden?"
>She nods and puts an "Away" sign on the cart before trotting up to you.
>"Sure. It's not like there's anypony at this hour looking for a good carrot or two. Follow me."
>It's not a long trip, her house being relatively close to where she keeps her cart, with the garden behind it.
>You notice four patches of healthy carrots, bunched together in a sea of ruined crops.
>Donald whistles at the vegetable carnage, and whispers to you.
>"I'm seeing some frost on a couple of these vegetables, and it doesn't look like we're in Winter."
>You nod and turn back to a concerned Carrot Top.
"My friends and I will look around and try to take care of this problem of yours."
>Relief washes over Carrot as she smiles at you.
>"I would certainly appreciate it. I haven't been able to fix this, but if you can, I'll give you something in return. Now I need to return to my stand. Be careful!"
>With that, the less tired pony turns around and trots back to her stand, a new skip to her step.

>"I appreciate you offering to help Carrot Top with this, but how are we supposed to locate these things that are attacking the crops?"
>Twilight asks as you draw out your Keyblade.
"With luck, they'll come to us."
>As if right on cue, five orbs of darkness appear, spawning two Soldiers and three small blue Heartless with pointy, yellow wizard hats.
>Goofy pulls his shield up, standing between the carrots and Heartless.
>"We need to keep them away from the carrot patches!"
>You nod and get into a battle stance, with Donald, Goofy, and Twilight following suit.

Battle 2: Sora and friends VS The Karrot Killers (2x Soldier, 2x Blue Rhapsody)

Go!

>>30137328
One more not before we begin, each of the four carrot patches have an effective health of 6 HP. Carrot Top's reward might change depending on how many patches survive the encounter.

>>30137338
They really ought to be called the Krazy Karrot Killers.

>>30138479
Not with a Y rating, mister.

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>>30132187
You. I am absolutely disappointed and with you and with your choices.

>>30137328
I request information, Merlin.
What's provoke's effective range and what's the positioning of the enemies (In accordance of our own, if possible)

I suggest Sora and Donald focusing down the two Rhaps with (counter element magic if possible) early so they can't ramp up any magic damage while Goofy moves to intercept and voke early.- Put his HP pool to use.
Stuff like this is usually a wave-type encounter so neutralizing ranged while using Goofy to tie up melee would be my general idea. Have Sora be a floater switching between rushing down ranged (Or combating it with his own ranged) and curtailing melee if and when Goofy gets overwhelmed.
That's all I got for now, I trust anyone else will point out any flaws in my strategy

>>30139417
I suck at editing, but here's the shake down:

The two Soldiers are about 10 feet (2 squares) away from your general party, though Goofy and Twilight are closer to them. Provoke works in a constant 10-feet radius, though the threat levels will diminish to normal levels over time

The Blue Rhapsodies are 5 feet behind the soldiers, with two on the outer sides of them and one in between.

Th carrot patches are five feet behind you in general, with Goofy closest to them.

>>30139417
Also, what would you like Twilight to do, or would you rather her be on auto?

>>30139466
If she's open to commands then I'd have her retreat slightly and either precast shroud or harry the soldiers with anything that might stop or slow them down.
I'm going to wait for additional input from the thread before suggesting exact abilities.

Oh and is turn order information available?

>>30139509
Turn order is currently unavailable.

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>>30139417
>"What are those things, Heartless?"
>Twilight is caught by surprise, momentarily stunned as Goofy makes himself a more likely target.
>"Look over here!"
>One of the Rhapsodies, unaffected by his taunt, fires a bolt of ice that strikes the wing.
> Donald grimaces from the cold burn, but remains standing.
>With the nearby Soldier distracted at Goofy, you aim at the other Rhapsody and shoot a fireball from your Keyblade.
>The spell connects with the Heartless, burning it away to cinders as Twilight looks at you, shocked.
>"You can cast magic as well?"
>You chuckle and rub the back of your head.
"I'll explain later, okay? Let's take care of these guys first."
>Recovered from his freeze, Donald aims his staff at the Heartless that hit him.
>"Fire!"
>The ball of flame soars towards the Rhapsody, but it hops away from it, the spell careening into the ground.
>Meanwhile, the aggravated Soldier finally acts, spinning at Goofy but only barely scratching him as Goofy pushes it back.
>The other one gets luckier, as it manages to spin past Twilight, cutting her in the process and getting closer to the carrot patches.
>"Oh no you don't!"
>Twilight gallops around the Soldier and activates a shroud of flames around her, standing her ground against the Heartless.
>"I won't let you harm these carrots!"
>As if on cue, two more Rhapsodies appeared, ready to battle.

>From what you can see, one Soldier is distracted by Goofy's taunt, one is dangerously close to one of the carrot patches with Twilight protecting them, the Blue Rhapsody that attacked Donald is now about 5 feet ahead of you, from the jump it made, and the two new ones are ten feet away, with Donald closest to them.

>You quickly rack your mind to find a suitable solution.

Sora:

15/15 HP
32/40 MP

Donald:

3/10 HP
56/60 MP

Goofy:

15/17 HP
25/30 MP

Twilight:

8/12 HP
62/70 MP

>>30140229
Sora - Fire the Blue Rhapsody that attacked Donald
Donald - Cure self
Goofy - Melee the Soldier focusing on him
Twilight - Thunder against Soldier heartless close to carrot patch

>>30140554
Maybe thundering the carrot adjacent soldier might not be a good idea. The fallout from the lightning could destroy the carrots

>>30140836
True, I wasn't sure which magic to pick. Fire or Blizzard? Spell strength seems to be equal, not sure about the mp cost, and Soldiers doesn't have any weakness in particular.

>>30140854
Normal Spells cost 8 MP, while Spellcrafting costs an extra 8 MP. Twilight and Donald have their spell costs cut in half, so normal spells for Twilght would be 4 MP each.

>>30140901
Might as well have Twi DEEP FREEZE the soldier.

>>30141001
I second of we can do the non shotgun version of blizzard

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>>30140229
>"Gotcha now!"
>Goofy senses an opening within the Soldier's defenses and deals a critical blow, the Heartless bursting into darkness.
>The Blue Rhapsody in front of you charges another Blizzard and shoots it at you.
>Thankfully, you manage to dodge at the right moment and cast a fireball back at it, burning it to pieces.
>Suddenly, a thought pops up in your mind.
>If the Blizzard didn't hit you, wouldn't it hit the carrots?
>In a panic, you turn around, sighing in relief as you notice the ice whiffing by the vegetables and melting in the sunlight.
>Meanwhile, one of the new Rhapsodies shoots another blast of cold at Donald, grievously harming him, but still holding on by a thread.
>"These things hurt a lot. Cure!"
>Donald raises his staff once more into the air, healing his wounds completely,
>The Soldier that's close to its intended carroty goal swipes at the offending unicorn in front of it, leaving a notable scratch, but badly burning itself in the process.
>With another blue light, the other Heartless shoots a cone of frost at Donald, severely harming him once more.
>Twilight, badly injured, lights her horn and blasts the burned soldier with a frost spell, freezing the thing in place and shattering it with a touch.
>"We're good back here, guys!"
>As if waiting for her to mention that, two more orbs of darkness spawn, leaving two more Soldiers close to Goofy.

>As you can see, the two remaining Rhapsodies are crowding a wounded Donald, and the Soldiers are only slightly annoyed by the weaker taunt Goofy exerts.
>From what it appears, this seems to be the last of them, and no more reinforcements should be arriving.
>You take the minor lull in combat to figure out what to do next.

Sora:

15/15 HP
24/40 MP

Donald:

3/10 HP
52/60 MP
(Second Chance used)

Goofy:

15/17 HP
25/30 MP

Twilight:

4/12 HP
58/70 MP

>>30141071
>Donald heals to full
>immediately knocked to 3 hp
Goddamnit, is there a battle where he won't get KOed?

Sora - Fire one of the annoying blue things surrounding Donald.
Donald - Fire the other Rhapsody.
Goofy - Recast provoke.
Twilight - Can she blink Donald out of there if the heartless decides to finish him off? Otherwise, Freeze the closest soldier.

>>30141125
As Sub-QM, I cannot force you to make decisions, but I will point out that Donald does have the Bulwark Spellcraft that effectively adds 8 more HP to any target.

>>30141152
Oh yeah, I forgot about those, Donald can cast Ice Bulwark on himself. One of the Rhapsody seems to have the initiative though, so Sora should focus on that one.

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>>30141071
>One of the new Soldiers rushes Goofy, attempting to spin past him and go for the carrots.
>Unfortunately, it only manages to get the business end of his shield, damaging it and knocking it back dazed,
>"Keep yer attention on me!"
>Goofy taunts out once more, catching the ire of the other Soldier and one of the Blue Rhapsodies.
>Seeing an opportunity, you attempt to shoot at the distracted Heartless, only for the fireball to whiff and dissipate in the air.
>The other blue Heartless, sensing the weakened Donald, attempts to finish him off with another spell, only for it to miss the mark and land a foot in front of him.
>Donald's eyes suddenly light up as he raises his staff and summons an ice shield around himself.
"Why didn't you do that before?"
>Donald huffs to your question.
>"I could handle it."
>With his injured state, that was rather hard to believe, and Donald grumbled at your skeptical stare.
>The Soldier and Rhapsody, seemingly on the same wavelength, both charge at Goofy.
>The Soldier swipes from underneath his guard, leaving a nasty cut, while the Rhapsody unleashed a cold stream at his shield arm, slowing it down.
>"G-Gawrsh, that was a doozy."
>Twilight, seeing no one else near the vegetables, blinks up to Donald's location and fires anoter Blizzard at the dazed Soldier, freezing and shattering the ambitious Heartless.

>One of the Rhapsodies is next to you, Donald and Twilight, while the other one and the remaining Soldier are heckling an injured Goofy.
>In fact, besides yourself, everyone else is rather injured at the moment, but a swift assault might bring this to a close.

>You contemplate what to do next as the situation seems to be close.

Sora:

>15/15 HP
>16/40 MP

Donald:

3/10 HP
8/8 Blizzard Bulwark
44/60 MP

Goofy:

3/17 HP
20/30 MP

Twilight:

4/12 HP
54/70 MP

>>30141392
Sora - Melee the Rhapsody next to him.
Donald - Cure Goofy since he's faster than the two heartless surrounding Goofy.
Goofy - Shield toss at Soldier.
Twi - Burn the Rhapsody close to Goofy

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>>30141392
>Ignoring his injuries, Goofy swings his shield at the Soldier's head, dealing negligible damage, but hitting just the right way to stun it temporarily.
>Deciding to forgo magic for this Rhapsody, you swing at the Heartless, connecting hard and taking it out with one mighty blow!
>"Goofy!"
>Donald cries out as he uses his magicks to heal some of Goofy's wounds, albeit not restoring him to full health.
>"Thanks, pal!"
>While the Soldier was dazed, the remaining Blue Rhapsody takes it's chances and shoots one more cone of frost at Goofy, injuring him once more.
>Twilght takes aim and fires another bolt of fire at the remaining blue Heartless, burning it away, and leaving you with one dazed Soldier left to deal with.
>While victory is essentially assured, your experiences remind you that cornered Heartless might be the most dangerous of all.
>You think about your next line of attack as this battle reaches its conclusion.

Sora:

15/15 HP
24/40 MP

Donald:

3/10 HP
8/8 Blizzard Bulwark
40/60 MP

Goofy:

5/17 HP
15/30 MP

Twilight:

4/12 HP
50/70 MP

>>30141523
Persona all-out attacks ending with skull mushroom cloud in kingdom hearts when?
Goof melee the soldier. For future reference, does Helicopter knocks ground enemies into the air?
Sora slapshot for possibility of cool critical finish
Donald heal Goof just in case
Twi blink in to freeze if those two somehow miss

>>30141603
Helicopter does not launch enemies into the air, but it can be used to push them off ledges and into the air.

Also, Slapshot is more of a passive than an ability at this point.

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>>30141523
>Goofy goes once more for a strike against the final Heartless, but misses completely and loses his balance!
>However, you plant your feet down and swing hard at the Soldier, connecting right at the middle and cleaving it into two as the final Heartless falls!

Battle 2 Finished!

>Everyone is clearly out of breath as you hear noises coming this way.
>As you look up, you notice Carrot Top looking at all four of you with concern.
>"Oh my! What happened to you all?"
>You shake your head an smile.
>"It turns out your problem was a lot feistier than we imagined.But it's gone now, and your carrots should be safe for now."
>A quick check behind you shows all four patches in pristine condition, considering the battle you all went through.
>"Well, at any rate, thank you all so much for helping me like this! I already feel much better than before, I've even managed to sell a few more carrots than usual."
>Twilight smiles as the rest of the grouppick themselves up.
>"I think this problem has been officially solved, Sora. Though you still have some explanations to give."
"Don't worry, Twilight, I haven't forgotten."
>A series of growls echoes through the scene as the four of you hold your stomachs in hunger.
>Carrot Top giggles as she beckons you al to follow her.
>"Please come with me, everypony.I think you've all earned some food to fill you up. My carrots are rather nutritious, after all."
>As the four of you make your way out, Donald notices an unknown scrap lying in the asshes of one of the posthumous Heartless.
>He quickly snags it before following th rest of you for second breakfast.

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>>30141724
>As you partake in the carrot dogs and muffins Carrot Top gave you, you certainly feel rejuvenated.
>You pat your fully stomach as everyone else prepares to get going to the other leads.
>"Oh! Before you go, take some of these."
>Carrot Top offers you some fresh carrots and a couple carrot muffins in a bag.
"You don't have to, that meal was a really good rewards as is."
>You attempt to explain, only for her to cut you of with a shake of her head.
>"That won't do, Mr. Sora. You've saved my livelihood, and a Carrot always pays her dues. With those carrot patches you saved, these will be easily replaced."
"Thank you, then. Well, we need to be heading off."
>"Thanks again, friends!"
>As the four of you exit out of earshot, Twilight turns to you.
>"I'm still curious about your magical abilities, but we should check on my friends first. Rainbow Dash is still probably looking into Derpy, Rarity's most likely in her boutique, Fluttershy's almost certainly in her cottage near the Everfree, and Pinkie will be in the bakery at this hour."
>She turns to face the more crowded bazaar.
>"Where should we head next, Sora?"

[Recieved 4 Fresh Carrots and 3 Carrot Muffins.]

>>30141733
Fresh Carrots heal 1d6+con modifier HP, while Carrot Muffins recover 2d4+con/int modifier HP and MP.

>>30141733
Who's closest to us?
I suppose, we'll go visit Rarity now.

>>30141733
Meta talking, with so many muffins we could try and learn Derpy secrets, but as leads goes, it's the choice from the closest one out of Rarity-Lyra, Pinkie-Octavia and Dash-Derp. Although Lyra's case sounds more serious if Heartlesses really trying to get her in particular

>>30141811
>>30141937
For reference, Fluttershy is the furthest away from all of you, Rainbow Dash is the second furthest, and Rarity and Pinkie are relatively the same distance, albeit in different directions.

Looks like we want to go to Rarity's next. Fair warning, Monday is my busy day for the most part, so updats will be much slower.

Not to mention Yen's probably coming back soon.

So, two things 1. 5 Final Mix Proud Mode Mage run has taught me:

1. Magic is gimped to hell in the first game.
2. It doesn't matter one bit, because levels 71 to 99 exist solely to give you all the stats and abilities you normally get early game in other modes.

The real key, I suppose, was getting the Ultima Weapon, which for some reason has the ability to counterattack better than any other keyblade. I managed to beat Sephiroth without it (which I regard as the harder fight of the two "secret bosses" in terms of skill), but Xemnas was straight actual bullshit and required the ability to essentially counter his counters. I was actually really disappointed in that fight, because it was literally impossible without the Ultima Weapon and piss easy with it; as long as you don't get hit with the roulette too much, you just go HAM on him like you did DarknessRiku and heal as necessary.

Oh, and Ansem was of course hilariously easy; it made it that much funnier when starting up RE:Chain of Memories and Marluxia explains that you lost all your skills as soon as you walked into Castle Oblivion.
>"Look, you're going to obliterate this entire game if you swing that weapon in here, so here is a flimsy in-universe explanation for why you can't right now. Please enjoy this KH/Yu-Gi-Oh crossover while your friend is busy ending our existence."

>>30143002
You haven't encountered true hell till you beat Sephiroth with the wooden sword (via codes of course). Cutscenes were especially funny when they refer to the wooden toy sword as a key.

Here's a few tips for Chain of memories, spoilered them in case you wanna go through it completely blind.
Sleights are really overpowered if you set them up right. Seriously, you can beat the game just by spamming them.
Up on the directional pad goes to shortcuts, while down goes to reload.
So put some cures and cheap zero numbered keyblade cards at the end of the deck for easy access.
Donald is still a useless piece of shit that heals the enemies instead of sora.

>>30143188
No worries, I've already played original CoM on the DS, so most of the surprises are going to be gameplay related. that said, I've already watched Donald healing the mages, and was appropriately disappointed in him. The shortcuts will be useful though, thanks for mentioning that. I beat Axel before I called it a night yesterday, it was a good refresher.

I wish the card system were implemented better in Re:, I'll see if I fall into a groove with it but it definitely feels like it's way better suited to the Double Dragon/TMNT pseudo-3D they had in the original than to the full 3D of the mainline games. In the original you inherently have better spatial understanding of where you are vs. where the enemy is, so you can use your cards economically; right now I spend a lot more time positioning and trying to time my attacks than I do actually attacking, and dodgerolling is not fun in KH1 and 2. Attacking is what's fun in those games, and Re: puts all kinds of limits on it that I'm not sure I like. Again, we'll see, I'm arguably still in the tutorial so maybe I'll adapt over time, but that's my first impression.

>tfw Yen never shitposted while at the con

>>30143729
A fact I deeply regret. I'll have to make up for lost shitposting now that I'm back home.

>>30143584
I don't think its the transition to full 3D that really hurt Re:COM, at least not directly. The real issue is that they made all the maps too large. It's too easy for enemies to scatter and get away from the bigger flashier slights, not to mention the pain that is chasing down exp baubles. That's all a symptom of the transition to 3D but it's more in the execution than anything else.

Also I've been enjoying the side adventure while I was away. I threw in a few anonymous suggestions here and there but We were so busy at the con I haven't had time to really participate in it.

>>30144080
How was the con, by the way? Get any fun trinkets?

>>30146054
I got a great many trinkets. Some of the highlights being a wooden buster sword, a dual gashat from ex-aid, a master grade thunderbolt gundam kit, and a limited set of the figuarts for the primary three riders from ex-aid. Also about 700 bucks worth of DVDs.

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>>30142727
With the return of Yen, I think now's a good time to put this mini-adventure on hold.

I hope you've enjoyed it so far, and I might bring it back later if Yen's gone for a long while again.

>>30146729
For what it's worth I was having fun. Nice to know we have something on the back burner if yen gets arrested for a DUI or something

So as I recall we you all were about to ask NotDeku to tell you about his history with NotBakugo. I think there were some people asking about the possibility of an option c where you were asking Ulysses directly what's eating him but I feel like We were more in favor of cutting directly to victor and their past.

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>>30127592
Last time, on My Little Pony: Forevermore Inverse Morning.

>OH SHIT COLD WELDING
>OH SHIT IT DIDN'T WORK
>OH SHIT IMPROMPTU SPELLCRAFTING
>MAGNET GET
>OH SHIT DRESS PONE
>OH SHIT SHERIFF WOODY
>STOP TWO: MEDBAY
>OH SHIT DOOR
>TIME TO BARDIC KNOCK THAT SHIT
>OH SHIT CUTE ALIEN NURSE
>OH SHIT WE THING NOW
>TIME TO COLLECT SAMPLES SUBTLY
>OH SHIT NOT!DEKU JOINED THE TEAM
>OH SHIT TSUYU CAUGHT OUR LIE
>OH SHIT DEKU'S PISSED
>OH SHIT EXPLANATION TIME
>OH SHIT BARELY MISSED GETTING SOCKED IN THE FACE
>WE'RE COOL NOW THO
>OH SHIT NOT!BAKUGO'S A SHITHEAD
>GO FIGURE
>TIME TO START YELLING AT HIM
>OH SHIT IT WORKED BARELY
>DIPLOMANCER TREE CONFIRMED
>OH SHIT ANDROID MIGHT BE INFECTED
>OH SHIT MINA'S PISSED
>NO TIME GET SAMPLES
>OH SHIT SAMPLE SORTING
>OH SHIT YEN'S GONE FOR THE WEEKEND
>TIME FOR A HALF-BAKED ADVENTURE
>OH SHIT WE SORA, DONALD, AND GOOFY (TM) NOW
>GRIFFON, DIAMOND DOG, AND PEGAUSUS
>OH SHIT
>OH SHIT WE LANDED IN APPLEJACK'S FIELDS
>OH SHIT SHE'S PISSED
>OH SHIT APPLEBLOOM COVERING OUR ASSES
>OH SHIT BREAKFAST
>APPLES AND APPLE BYPRODUCTS
>OH SHIT HEARTLESS ATTACKING APPLEBLOOM
>OH SHIT WE WON BUT DONALD GOT TANKED
>OH SHIT GOOD SKILL CHOICES ALL AROUND
>OH SHIT TWILIGHT TIME
>QUESTIONS
>ANSWERS
>THEN PINKIE PIE
>OH SHIT MEETING
>OH SHIT FIVE LEADS
>STOP ONE: CARROT TOP
>OH SHIT PROTECT MISSION
>OH SHIT WE HAVE BULWARK
>KINDA FORGOT ABOUT THAT
>OH SHIT GOOFY'S A BEAST
>OH SHIT WE WON WITH ALL THE CARROTS
>OH SHIT DONALD FOUND A CLUE
>OH SHIT FREE CARROT ITEMS
>OH SHIT YEN'S BACK
>TIME FOR THE INTENDED BROADCAST

We now return to the intended content, with all the new adventures within.

Pastebin 1: http://pastebin.com/QLAqK2kT
Pastebin 2: https://pastebin.com/ccb4NSFz
Merlin's Adventure: https://pastebin.com/UZKBh6Dx

>>30147889
Sounds good to me. Might as well see if we can help him with some of his frustrations.

>>30147921
Very well then. this is going to depend on a diplomacy check to see if he'll share something so personal. If you fail I'm going to have you pivot to the more topical runner up.

>>30148637
Speaking of a diplomacy check, what exactly do you all want to say to try and get Ulysses to open up about his past? You could always just leave it to the dice but an eloquence bonus never hurts.

>>30148879
>"So I had a conversation of sorts with Victor. A rather rude asshole like you mentioned, but I heard that he only started making a scene when he saw you helping out. Was he always so hotheaded and assholish?"

>>30149065
I might tweak that last question to something more like "was he always such a hotheaded prick?" or any insult of your choice in leu of prick. I felt like asshole should be avoided though for the sake of not repeating the prior asshole comment.

>>30149257
This sounds pretty good, I approve.

>>30149257
Makes sense.

Also, I was wondering if there was any good spots for grinding in the first Kingdom Hearts. I'm just about done with Rescuing Kairi, and I'm only like level 42. I wanna try levelling up some more before I fight the secret bosses.

>>30150910
Once Riku attempts to open the keyhole at hollow bastion the battle level on all the world's gets turned up. I like to grind in the twilight town second district since you can do laps through the courtyard, hotel, and gizmo shop to infinitely spawn enemies.

>>30151688
I think deep jungle running camp to waterfall room and back would be a good loop too. That should respawn your entire route each time.

Either that or tent to cliffside and back.

>>30151688
Equipping every exp boost item then farming materials in the final room levels me up pretty quick.
the neo-shadows especially I found gave decent experience and the materials they drop I sold for cash or used in fusion

>>30150910
I always found the Coliseum to be the best place for that, don't remember when the Hades Cup starts but it's basically tailor-made for power leveling. Donald and Goofy get revived after each fight, you don't lose your EXP if you get your ass kicked, and there are some exceptionally rewarding fights throughout the ranks.

>>30153863
Do you know if you get more experience in the coliseum solo modes?

>>30154854
To my knowledge all party members on all worlds earn the same experience whether they are on the field or not. That's why even if you haven't been in Agrabbah for 40 levels, Aladdin is still approximately in line with your own level. You just don't see the level up info when they're not in your party.

>>30155022
You know I never actually realized that party members on old worlds leveled like that when you left. then again I usually didn't bother to use the supplemental member on return trips. Defeats the purpose when you're trying to pick up trinities.

Speaking of trinities we better not have any in this game. They were annoying as fuck and I'm glad they died after the original kingdom hearts.

>>30156140
Trinities? Annoying? At best they were easter eggs to spot and get cool toys from. The real annoying thiing was the horrible camera controls.

>>30156172
An Easter egg that you can't pick up when found and instead required you to remember it and come back after the game gives you permission. Not only that, if you happen to actually have the permission when you find it but you have the world exclusive party member with you you're SoL.

Not exactly what I'd call fun.

>>30156249
Oh, and don't worry, you're going to use the exclusive party member whether you want to or not, because each of them has some power that grants access to some item or location you can't get otherwise. I think Jack in Halloweentown is the only one that doesn't have some gimmick where you need to use them.

>>30156996
Oh man I totaly forgot that they did that. All the more reason to be glad they ditched the trinity mechanic.

Maybe I was too young when I played it on GBA, but re: Chain seems fairly simple, going up to Axel.

>>30159407
I feel like re:com explains itself better

>>30159407
Which axel fight? There are a few of them as I recall.

>>30160829
The first one. On the third floor now.

>>30160957
Oh well if you're only on the 3rd floor you have yet to uncover the full complexities of the game. Don't worry, it will get more complicated with time.

So what's the deal with Traverse Town? Both Hollow Bastion Radiant Garden and Twilight Town seem to be actual homes for the people inhabiting them, but Traverse Town was essentially a haven for castaways.

On the other hand, Traverse Town has it's own Keyhole, so wouldn't it counts as its own world with its own people? When we kick Ansem, Seeker of Darkness into the void, doesn't that make Traverse Town unneeded to say the least?

>>30162485
Twilight town, while it does have a heart, does not have its own citizens. It exists at a kind of interspace crosscurrent that allows those cast adrift from their home to wind up there.

As for the kicking ansem into the void question, yes it does in fact make travers town pointless. in fact I think that when the barriers came back up the world knew it was no longer necessary and that's why we find it slumbering in KH3D despite the fact that it was a living breathing world last we saw it.

>>30162485
There are people who live there but they seem to be rather "ordinary" compared to the castaways who find themselves without a home.
Also I'd like to think that traverse town is an example of a country adapting to the influx of refugees from other worlds, ever expanding with more elaborate buildings (DDD focused on verticality with its Flow Motion), while twilight town would be a truly isolated world that had been largely unnafected by the heartless invasion. On the complete opposite Hollow Bastion was a world completely consumed and overrun by the heartless and through the acts of Malifacent it was redesigned to her very whim.
TDLR: traverse town should have been turned into a ghost town after the events of KH1

>>30162580
I mean it kind of did m8

>>30162580
I feel like DDD is a weird example given the world is dreaming and inhabited by some particularly unusual outsiders. Sure the arrival of the Twewy crew changed the world but I wonder if they would have that effect had the world been awake.

>>30162580
I've not played anything past 2, does the series ever explain how worlds are formed or where they originate? I guess my overarching question is more "does each world come into existence with a heart (and thus keyhole), and if so do its inhabitants come into existence at the same time?" Because KH feels (from what I've played, obviously) like the kind of game where "the world's heart is the collective heart of its inhabitants" would fly as a canon explanation.

If so, Traverse Town would make sense as having a keyhole when people gathered there, but being abandoned after everyone went home would cause it to lose said heart and become more like The Heap, just a bunch of cobbled together buildings with nobody living in them and do no heart of its own.

>>30166762
the problem is kingdom hearts doesn't really lay out the hard rules of its metaphysics. Still, we do know some things.

1) Kingdom Hearts is the heart of all worlds, and if you are able to manipulate it you can change the world as you see fit.
2) Kingdom Hearts is paired with a legendary weapon called the X-blade, (that's chi). All other keyblades in the realm of light were formed in the image and in imitation of this original. The X-blade allowed one to access and rule over Kingdom Hearts, however in the great keyblade war the X-blade was shattered and has been lost ever since.
3) once long ago all the worlds were one but where nearly swallowed by darkness when people went to war over the light of kingdom hearts.
4) Legend says the worlds were saved by the light in the hearts of children and were reborn in their current state. (The story of Kingdom Hearts X/ Union Cross goes into this in more detail.

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>Playing wingman to Ulysses' little crush on the gravity engineer can wait.
>For the time being you can’t help but feel like his problem with Victor is going to prove a more pressing issue.
“So I had what I imagine passes for a conversation with Victor, you were right, he was a complete asshole.”
>Ulysses lights up when he hears you take a potshot at Victor and nods in agreement.
>”It’s not exactly a secret, anyone who’s worked with him for five minutes knows how volatile he is.”
>”He’s just so good at what he does that he manages to make himself indispensable.”
>Ulysses says with a sigh, plopping down onto a stool as he finishes laying out your blood samples.
“The thing is, as far as I can tell, he only started making a scene when he saw you helping out and I can’t help but think you two have some kind of history.”
>Ulysses just looks away sheepishly as you press on.
“So what’s the deal? Was he always such a hotheaded prick or what?”
>Ulysses shakes his head as he keeps his eyes glued to the floor.
>”I wouldn’t exactly say always but it’s been this way for most of our lives.”
>he says as the four of you stare at him expectantly.
>The silence drags on for nearly a minute but just when you’re about to try again to drag his past out into the open Ulysses speaks.
>”You know, the funny thing is all of this goes back to you commander.”
>Ulysses finally manages to look up from the floor and look Buzz in the eye before he continues.
>”Victor and I have known each other for as long as I can remember, and for just about as long Victor and I have been looking up to you. Dreaming of joining star command and following in your footsteps.”
>Ulysses sighs and pulls his space wallet out of his jumpsuit and produces a battered old trading card stamped with the faded image of Buzz soaring out through the stars.

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>>30167713
>”The difference is Victor was strong, talented, and fearless and I was… well… I was me.”
>”Still, that wasn’t going to stop me. I was determined to join star command, but it seemed like every time he would blaze past a hurdle and I would squeak by behind him at the back of the pack it would enrage him more and more.”
>He sighs again and looks at the card before slipping it back into his wallet.
>”He’s always been treated like a savant destined for greatness, I think he takes it as some kind of personal slight that a weakling like me would even dare to try and stand on the same stage as him.”
>You Dan and Spike glance at each other before shooting a look at Buzz as if to say, “And you hired this guy?”
>Buzz just shrugs as the three of you eyeball him.
>”What do you want from me? He passed the Psyche evaluation and had excellent scores on all his aptitude tests. How was I supposed to know about all this?”
>Ulysses coughs and draws the party’s attention back to him before you can dig into Buzz any further.
>”To be fair, ever since I landed what is more or less a desk job out of the academy and he got into the space ranger corps he seemed to relax. I guess he thought I had finally learned my place and he was off to bigger and better things.”
>The four of you nod understandingly and you can see the final pieces of the puzzle fall into place.
>”That still explain why he’s such an unbalanced shithead now.”
>Dan says looking at Ulysses for an explanation.
“I think I can guess. It’s because the two of you both got stationed out here on the Infinity isn’t it?”
>The logistics officer nods so hard he nearly falls out of his chair.
>”Yeah that’s it exactly! Once he found out we were both going out to the Infinity he’s been worse than ever.”
“Because somehow, despite how much better he thinks he is you were still able to follow him all the way out here and work directly with Buzz.”

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>>30167726
>You say slowly, finishing Ulysses line of logic for him.
>”That’s my thinking anyway. It’s not exactly like I can ask him about it.”
>The four of you sit in silence for a few seconds unsure of how to respond.
>You can see Spike trying to rack his brain for some kind of applicable friendship lesson but the little dragon seems stymied.
>Surprisingly it’s Dan who breaks the silence.
>”Sounds like Victor just needs a swift punch in the throat.”
>Spike and Ulysses’ jaws drop at the suggestion as Buzz harumphs and sputters as he jumps up and jabs a finger at Dan.
>”I won’t have my crew members at each other’s throats. We should be able to solve this with the station’s councilor once they arrive.”
>Dan meanwhile is completely unfazed by the blustering space ranger.
>”Don’t knock the mendel school of problem solving till you try it.”
>He says before turning to address Ulysses directly.
>”All you really need to do is find a way to prove you’re equals. I’d say a throat punch is the easiest way, but who am I to tell you how to do things.”
>Dan punctuates his sentence with a shrug before leaning back in his seat as the surprisingly reasonable spirit of Dan’s advice takes the wind out of Buzz’s sails.
“You know, Dan has a p-”
>Before you manage to finish that sentence Mina bursts back into the room pushing a cart loaded with equipment.
>”Okay, I’ve collected your patient’s sample and I’ve gone ahead and brought some equipment for you to try and find whatever it is you’re looking for. Now, would someone please tell me exactly what’s going on!”
>You look at the cart and find what looks to be a microscope along with a spectrometer and an assortment of empty glass petri dishes for you to make use of. There also seems to be some kind of centrifuge and a filtration system for you to play with.
>Now that you have all these toys the questions are, which do you use first and how much do you tell Nurse Mina?

>>30167737
We really need her focused, so I say tell her what we told Ulysses. That way we're all on the same basic page. Can we do a knowledge check on that equipment? I know what the Petri dish does, but not really the other two.

>>30168038
You guys are on fire with these rolls here, lets hope your luck doesn't give out when you need it most.

Knowledge check (Nat 20)

Microscope: The Microscope will allow you to examine the samples at a microscopic level and possibly catch any unusual particles floating in the blood.

Spectrometer: The spectrometer allows you to do a spectrum analysis of a sample and determine it's composition.

Petri Dishes: Plain glass dishes normally used to grow bacterial cultures. You may be able to grow a darkness culture from a tainted sample but time may prove a prohibitive factor. They're also great for sticking hot wires in.

Centrifuge: Capable of separating a fluid by density. Blood into platelets and plasma for example.

Filtration system: Essentially a miniature dialysis machine meant to filter impurities out of samples and isolate them. The process is unfortunately rather time consuming.

As a bonus for your high check you also know
1) that the microscope doesn't appear to operate by back-lighting a sample. You aren't sure exactly how it works but you can tell that it probably won't destroy your samples by over exposure to light.
2) that a spectrum analysis works by determining how your sample interacts with light. This may prove harmful to your heartless samples but you have no idea in what way if at all. you also know that the sample is so small that you'll have plenty of blood left to work with even if the spectrometer proves useless.

>>30168304
so If I understand correctly there's only a chance the spectrometer may fail on us. I don't see any harm in trying it at least. Question is can we use this ourselves or will we need Mina to help out?

>>30168304
The Petri dishes might prove useful, once we discover who's infected. I wonder if we have to to X-ray to see where they lie dormant?

Then again, that might agitate them into action.

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stop the fucking presses. Bandai is releasing a figuart of kh2 sora. no longer will we be forced into square's shitty play arts Kai line

>>30170887
Nice. Bout time that shit gets made, even if it's ungodly expensive.

>>30168304
>Petri Dishes: Plain glass dishes normally used to grow bacterial cultures. You may be able to grow a darkness culture from a tainted sample but time may prove a prohibitive factor. They're also great for sticking hot wires in.

Are they great for sticking oversized light-collecting darkness-magnet magic blades in a shape of key?

>>30171054
Is that the best idea with two people who've never seen a Keyblade?

>>30171054
We can probably get one of those eye exam lights and have the same effect

>>30171054
Might be a little small for that m8

You know, if Mickey can use Stopza, which is basically [The World] on the Organization and only not affect one angry dude, how come Yen Sid can't magic the Organization into the ground? Obviously he has enough knowledge on the Keyblade that he can train Mickey on it. So Yen's magical skills are almost certainly exponentially stronger than his.

I suggest we put a sample from the guy who we think might be infected (I can't specifically remember who at the moment) and put it into the filtration machine, as that seems the surest bet. In the mean time, put another one into the centrifuge (if there's someone else who we think might be infected, great, if not, random sample) and let those two run. Let's have Buzz (and maybe Spike or Dan) look at some samples through the microscope (if it isn't backlit, it's likely an electron microscope, so that should be small enough to see the particulate). And then finally, us and Mina should work on the spectrometer. Spectrometers work by running light through an aqueous solution, and determining what areas on the visible spectrum the compound is reflecting (i.e, if you had a solution that contained silver, but not enough to change the whole solution blue, the light run through the solution would still reflect the blue on the visible spectrum that aqueous silver reflects, therefore confirming that silver is in the compound). In this manner, any blood that shows absorption or reflection on the visible spectrum of anything other than the red of blood (or whatever color may be normal for some of the aliens), would indicate an unknown particulate, that would need to be further examined. Maybe with the microscope, maybe grow some darkness in the petri dishes.

But that's the best strat I've got. Thoughts?

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Alright faggots time for a plan of attack.

Yen please let me know if we have enough blood to do the following:

1. Take part of the sample, plate it, examine it under the microscope, and snap of picture of what we find.
2. Take another part of the sample, centrifuge it, then culture each layer of material on its own dish in a warm, lightless incubator. Check again in 6 hours, careful not to expose to excess light and every 6 hours after that. Provided your technique is good and this is done in a sterilized hood we should only get the growth of organisms in the actual blood.
3. Take small part of sample and dilute it until we can spec it. Get readings, compare reading to normal blood. Take the spec'ed sample and examine under the microscope. Snap a picture and compare to the earlier sample that didn't undergo the pure light of the spec, careful to watch for any differences.

We should be able to figure out who is or isn't infected (hoping it's that asshole Victor), though I'm a bit short on figuring out how to cure them once we know. Laser treatments are only skin deep and very painful, besides. Power of friendship, maybe?

>>30174540
You should have the blood to do most of it. The multipule cultures are going to prove the sticking point. It might be a stretch for an individual sample.

Still the larger problem is the lengthy culture period. Spending 6 hours waiting on cultures lets time pass everywhere else too.

So I've been to 2 graduations and its weird honestly seeing it from a different perspective when your not on the podium.
Any of you fags been to any so far? Just thought I'd share

>>30174685
None this year but I never did like graduations. Neither spectating or participating.

>>30174540
>>30174639
The only issue with this plan is what Yen has been mentioning, which is tthat we're on several time restraints here. Not only is there the whole crew sitting on their thumbs while we do this, but the longer we spend in the medbay playing scientist, the more the Heartless enjoy a field day running around and fucking the station up.

That's not even mentioning the possibility that life support might not last long enough for us to do that.

Is there something we can do that could take only an hour of work?

>>30173740
Because he trained (and was total bro) with both Xehanort and Eraqus and probably on equal power level with then right now and knows what they capable of maybe even aware of his "watching" keyblade? That would explain why he is too cautious about every 'Nort move and not trying to confront him directly or show himself, especially with not one but many Xehanorts being present. I'm not even sure if Xehanort is even aware that his old friend in magic tower not just alive, but helping his enemies too

>>30174468
>>30174540
>>30176041
It would be perfect if we had clearly clean samples (although I would try Dan and NotDeku, if Ooze triggered by emotions it would burst hours ago) to compare with clearly tainted ones (not sure if Agent works, with Ooze not being present in him anymore, but at least we have some people with really high chances of infection)

>>30176176
The heartless may leave traces in the system post infection, if that's the case the spy could at least let us know what to look for.

>>30167737
I'd say we should just tell Mina basically everything. Ask to make sure she doesn't have any obvious memory gaps, then tell her about the parasites and our theory on what causes transformation. If she's infected we're super boned, and we're in excess of 90% sure she's not anyway, so I'm willing to forego testing her sample before informing her.

>>30178256
One question: did we tell Ulysses all of this? At this point, Ulysses is convinced that, while we did lie to him initially, that he now knows the whole truth. If we tell Mina everything, and we left something out of our explanation to him, that's gonna be a bomb a thousand times worse than what it was before.

>>30178900
Well we do have a writen record of what we told Ulysses.

>>30178900
I don't know, if we test him first and then fill him in after highlighting the exact reason for keeping him in the dark I think he'd get it. I mean it's not like we're sitting him out in the wating room with the other shlubs

>>30179408
>>30181947
From what I can tell, we left out some rather key points from our explanation with Ulysses. Mainly, we never talked about how the condition that would put people to harm themselves are actually parasitic spiders of DARKNESS that rip body parts in order to make indestructible weapons.

At this point, I believe that we might as well play the part we gave Ulysses to the end:

Tell Mina everything we told Ulysses, but nothing we haven't told him.

Act in surprise as we find out that the Ooze is incubating in the victims.

Act like this information we knew is actually something we just found out.

Is it cowardly? Somewhat. Could we make it easier for ourselves to just tell Mina everything in front of Ulysses? Maybe marginally.

But we've already betrayed Ulysses's trust once, and breaking it again would almost certainly have horrible consequences for the rest of the World.

At the very least, we'd lose a rather valuable ally at an opportune moment.

>>30182203
I was under the impression we had made clear to Ulysses that we were leaving out details that he couldn't handle at the moment, and that as soon as the tests conclude he'd get the full and unadulterated truth. Was that not what we expressed? I know that was my intention in giving a vague answer, though I don't know if that's how Yen (and in turn Ulysses) interpreted it.

Also, is Ulysses going to follow us during the testing? I'm reasonably sure we could ask him to hold back until we're done with his test, at bare minimum, with the promise that we'll be running his sample first.

For the sake of helping everyone reach their conclusions, here's Anon's full explanation:

>"Okay, I'll tell you two what's going on, but not here. This is... Let's just say sensitive information."
>"Before I go any further, I need you both to sit down and take a deep breath. And above all, I need you to remain calm. Seriously, keep calm and don't talk, just listen for now. Save any questions for when I get done explaining."
>"Okay, so first of all, Tsuyu, you are correct. There's more going on outside than a simple collision. That asteroid was carrying a colony of incredibly dangerous creatures that are now loose, scurrying through the station. We've already sen our share of victims."
>"Save the moral outbursts for the end too, please."
>"In fact, I do have a reason. It has to do with these blood samples we've been taking, and it's the same reason I asked you to keep calm. We're testing for a conditon that causes the victim to become an immediate and deadly threat to themselves and those around them when subjected to extreme emotional duress. Ad I don't mean 'might', I mean 'will'. The individual you saw us carrying in was afflicted, and we had to do improvisational field surgery to save his life and stabilize him enough to bring him here. To make matters worse, we have no immediate way of knownig if you are suffering from this affliction, and so we decided we had to keep both the affliction and the alien incursion under wraps in order to avoid causing panic and sending any of you over the edge."
>"Once we were able to figure out who was at risk, we were planning on bringing you all up to speed. I'm sorry we had to leave you all out of the loop like this, but we all felt it was the safest way."

>>30182967
The main issue seems to be that we're planning on telling Mina some things we didn't tell Ulysses. It does look like we didn't link the two things together, for him, but whether or not that one detail would be a betrayal, I wouldn't know.

>>30183717
I think that one detail would definitely escalate the severity of the situation in his mind. Honestly it's kind of a crap shoot as to how he takes it. On the one hand I could see him taking it badly but I could also see him understanding given we already explained the need to keep stress down. Like we told him the problem we just didn't eleaborate on the particulars.

I think if we decide to go full disclosure our success is going to depend on how we go about telling him. The more positive modifications on our roll the better.

Plus side if we pull it off this will probably bag us that diplomacy upgrade.

>>30184609
This really does seem like a "make your bed" situation we're in. Funnily enough, all we really had to do was tie the condition to the aliens, and this would've been extremely mitigated.

There is a way, I think, that we can cover our asses without omitting important details: all we have to do is change our certainty of the connection into a suspicion. After all, we have no clue where the Ooze incubates, so it'll be as much of sa surprise to us as them when we find out.

Making it a suspicion would make sense why we didn't tell Ulysses and Tsuyu about it until now, since suspicions don't hold nearly as much water as convictions.

I don't like half-truthing about that particular stuff, but considering how we made this bed by omitting information, we have to find some way to make it comfortable to lie in.

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>>30178900
>>30181947
>>30182203
>>30182967
>>30183717
>>30184609
>>30184705
>This whole situation.

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>>30184826
you are enjoying this arnt ya

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>>30184864
I may be enjoying myself watching you squirm a bit more than I ought to, but like the apple horse says I have confidence in your ability to get through this.

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>>30184913
fair enough but she also once said "i didn't learn anything, i was right all along" and so i hope you are right

>>30185006
What's the source on that waifu you have there.

>>30185792
to be honest i dont have a clue i saw it on /a/ and saved it

>>30185006
True, fortunately it's our ability to learn lessons and put them into practice that matters here, not thicc appol.

>>30185792
>>30185825
Uzuki Shimamura from Idolmaster Cinderella Girls

>>30186723
>idolmaster
Suddenly I find myself much less interested

I think its about time we get all the options on the table and reach a consensus.

We have>>30168038 for tell mina what we told ulysses.

>>30178256 for tell mina basically everything after ensuring she hasn't had any blackouts. including telling her about the parasites which we didn't inform notdeku of.

>>30182203 A second for tell MIna only what we told deku but with the stipulation we feign surprise when we discover the heartless is incubating in the host.

>>30182967 what we told ulysses is a little more vague than you might prefer. It doesn't really explicitly state we know more than we told him at the time, though one might infer that. However you have no way of knowing if Ulysses interpreted it that way.

>>30184705 seems like an elaboration on >>30182203 and seems to be saying we should play it off as a susspicion, that we suspected the heartless and the disease were connected but we didn't know how.


So to boil it down It looks like you've reached three possible options.

A) Tell Mina what you've told Ulysses and leave it at that. Then deal with any future problems with Ulysses as they arise if they even arise at all.

B) Tell Ulysses and Mina the whole truth while explaining the reason for your earlier omission. Possibly leaving this explanation till after testing Ulysses' sample.

C) Further obfuscation where you feign ignorance of a connection between the heartless and this condition.

I should point out that A&B will run on diplomacy and C will run on a group bluff check.

It seems as though you're leaning a bit more towards B but I'm not entirely sure.

And remember any particulars you'd like to contribute in how you'd like to play this will be used to modify your roll.

>>30189338
to make it simple should we just post our final answer? is if so i vote B, final answer

>>30189338
I mean, if you put it like that, the answer is fairly obvious.

The reason why we neglected to mention the connection between the Heartless/invading aliens and the condition was because we were worried about how the two of them would handle being in a literal recreation of the Thing, right?

It's not the strongest reason, but the only thing we didn't tell Ulysses was the connection: we took a lot of risks as is taking this man under our wing and working with him like a trusted confidant.

As such, I vote B, but with an addendum: it is clear that Buzz is more than just an idol to Ulysses and Victor. He is literally everything that Star Command stands for: truth, justice, doing the right thing, etc. Just by helping him reclaim the station, we have associated with Buzz in a way that connects our actions to his reputation. Us lying about this important, lifethreatening thing twice might lead Ulysses to lose his faith in Buzz, even though it was our fault.

And I'll be damned if a friend suffers for a crime only we commited. The addendum is this: Anon takes full responsibility for this deception, and accepts the consequences therein. Not Buzz, not Spike, not even Dan should feel even an iota of Ulysses's potential anger at us. If he wants to break our nose, he has full rights to. I choose this, knowing that we might be villified in Ulysses eyes: a friend twice betrayed.

But I'll be damned if we kill his hero.

That is my final answer.

>>30189546
I must agree, not only for the reasons listed but aso because trying to feign ignorance is going to raise a lot of contradictions with our previous statement that we'll need to smooth over. Otherwise that particular lie is dead in the water.

B for sure.

Honestly I feel B is the only option at this point.
I feel like if Ulysses is a true analogue to Deku then the logical side of him will win out, even after an emotional outburst.
Plus, if he flies off the handle, I think he'll only vindicate us in our earlier deception. He might not realize it right away, but it'll come assuredly.

>>30193067
Well to quote all might, we may keep lots of secrets but we don't lie.

>>30193067
I feel like we can pretty safely rely on Deku acting like his canon counterpart. I feel like the whole point of incorporating characters like this is to save oneself the trouble of reinventing the wheel as a writer.

Quick Question: is Xaldin supposed to be so horribly difficult to beat? I am playing on Critical, which explains some of it, but I recall him being a nightmare on Standard too, back in the day.

>>30194343
Xaldin is legitimately a bitch and a half my man

>>30189338
I'm fine with B, mostly because I'm confident that Deku will generally get why we didn't divulge everything right away. Mina's only getting this info ahead of anyone else because she's practically guaranteed clean and we need her help anyhow.

>>30195069
>Mina is practically guarenteed clean.
Watch Mina end up being the fucking host now.

>>30195198
>implying she isn't the other Agent and made the other one "sleep"

Might as well expect the worst.

>>30195216
>Mina is an agent.
Nah man Mina is actually lord zurg in disguise.

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>>30195989
I mean, I'd love if the entity the universe knows as Lord Zurg was actually a qt alien who's super cool but still hellbent on destroying the galaxy.

>>30196148

>tfw we ultimately WanderOver Yonder here

I'm okay with this.

>>30196284
Zurg is lord dominator and this was secretly a stealth wander over yonder world.

Well looks like we have a unanimous consensus on option B. I'll go ahead and get to work. if you have any specific lines you'd like to chime in with throw them my way.

>>30197283
just something like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izJbgzP1tRA if not thats fine

>>30197283
I can't think of anything. Everything I can think of is just an excuse or a justification. We should probably physically gird ourselves for the wost-case scenario.

Probably wouldn't do much good to fly out into the lobby with a broken nose.

>>30197382
We may get socked in the jaw but I'd be willing to bet Ulysses is too weak to actually send us flying into the lobby.

>>30197342
Well, we DO have mask under which only Spike, Dan and Rara looked...

>>30198956
I don't think we've ever put that mask back on since we pulled it off for dan

>>30199727
I would argue that we don't need to explicitly state everything we do, but I guess that's Yen's job to decide.

>>30199778
I think if we had put it back on there would have been a lot more people reacting to the mask.

>>30200451
In a world of aliens, anime, and Sheriffs in SPACE? I guess we might stand out a bit.

>>30200645
I doubt it would be as big a deal as when dan tried to smack us with a wrench but I imagine it would be at the start of most conversations.

>>30201487
>>30200645
If it matters I've been imagining the mask off this whole time. True you don't need to explicitly state every little thing but anon hasn't exactly had a reason to put it back on either.

>>30168304
I think I might have an idea for figuring out how to remove the infection without triggering it. So what if we take the blood in the petir dish and add like some kind of stress related hormone? Then if the darkness manifests as a rat sized heartless or whatever we know how the transformation is triggered and what it looks like. then we can start introducing agents to samples to try and find something that will destroy the heartless without triggering a transformation or harming the host.

>>30203431
Do we know any stress-related horomones, or is that a code word for sticking a hot wire in their.

>>30203810
well cortisol is released by the body in response to stress and used as a common medication in the form of hydrocortisone. It's pretty common so it shouldn't be too hard to find in the medbay

>>30203867
Pretty good starting point, we still need to figure out some way to bring it on home and wipe out the latent infection though. Hopefully we'll have some ideas after the first round of testing.

>>30203867
Any chance that adrenaline could do the same thing? It's certainly also released in stressful situations. I also think we should whip out the keyblade and see if exposure to it draws out Heartless; it is advertised to attract them, after all.

>>30206368
Wouldn't that agitate the infected outside, then?

bump this dump

Why is the board moving so fast today?

>>30208059
2 hours to hit page 9's fairly common, unless I'm missing some ghost bumps.

>>30206574
You know I hadn't actually thought of that. Might be worth considering

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I can't into anatomy, but doodles are always good to bump the thread with. I have a theory that Tokoyami is going to be a red herring in this search for dark creatures that possess people, but even if true it'd be a bitch to make that a reasonable assumption for story Anon to draw.

>>30209092
Boop

I had a feeling before that we could use an X-Ray to figure out the place the Ooze is incubating so we can find a way to expel it, but I wonder if that wouldn't trigger it?

>>30209092
I love how not!tokoyami.is taking just enough of a design shift to avoid a lawsuit. It reminds me of early Dreamworks where they just shamelessly ripped off Disney. Very in the spirit of crew 1A that we have out in the waiting room.

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>>30210772
He came out looking a lot more like a budgie or a robin than a crow, but I'm kind of okay with that. I could see Dark Shadow being a symbiote for Tokoyami's race.

Another doodle before bed. I can't even begin to come up with an outfit that makes any sense for Mineta, so have a goo-gremlin in a bib and diaper.

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>>30167737
>You sigh as Mina glares at you demanding an explanation.
>You might as well take this opportunity to share the whole truth with Ulysses while you’re at it.
>You just hope he’ll understand why you didn’t tell him everything before.
“Okay, Ulysses has already heard this so I’m going to try and keep it brief, but before I continue I need to ask you to try and remain as calm as possible during this explanation. Any emotional outbursts could potentially put us all at risk.”
>You say meeting Mina’s angry gaze before shifting your attention in Ulysses direction, implying the same request goes for him as well.
“The injuries that have been coming your way aren’t just casualties from the collision. The asteroid in question was carrying a colony of incredibly dangerous creatures that have begun infesting this station. The man we brought in was one of their victims.”
>Mina gasps but quickly slaps a hand over her mouth when she realizes she’s broken your rule.
“As though that weren’t enough to deal with we also have an affliction on our hands that causes the victim to become an immediate and deadly threat to themselves and those around them when subjected to extreme emotional duress. Our patient was a victim of that as well, and we’ve been collecting blood samples from your patients to ensure none of them are carriers.”
>You brace yourself as you reach the end of what you shared with Ulysses and he stands up with a nervous smile.
>”Now you’re up to speed, and we can get started working on a cure.”
>The slight waver in his voice makes it obvious that he’s trying to put up a brave front in the face of this crisis.
>As much as you hate to have to attack that facade he deserves to know the truth, and so you hold up a hand cutting him off as you begin to speak again.
“Actually Ulysses there’s a little more I haven’t shared with you yet."

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>>30212054
"I felt given the nature of this crisis and the way we suspect the shift is triggered it was imperative that we prevent panic, even if that meant keeping the particulars of this problem secret.”
>Ulysses goes quiet and stands stock still as an awkward silence fills the room.
>It seems like an eternity passes before he finally asks,
>”What do you mean particulars?”
>You sigh again before plunging onward into what may ultimately ruin Ulysses’ ability to trust you.
“You may have assumed some connection between the condition I mentioned and the aliens loose on the station, some kind of alien disease that affects the victim’s state of mind. After all two major crises at once can’t be a coincidence.”
>Ulysses and Mina both nod agreeing that the thought had occurred to them.
“Well the truth, unfortunately is much worse than that. It seems these aliens are able to use other beings as hosts, transforming their host into a puppet while greatly increasing the threat the alien poses in a fight. Originally we had thought they were only capable of utilizing the bodies of the dead but the reality of the situation is far worse than that.”
>The two of them sit in stunned silence as you pause to let the information sink in.
>Ulysses looks like he’s about to be sick but you force yourself to press on.
“These things are capable of hiding within the body of a living host, leaving the victim unaware until the creature bursts out from within the host’s body transforming them into a lethal combatant.”
>”That’s completely ridiculous, do you really expect me to believe something like that!”
>Mina shouts unable to restrain herself.
>”It’s true; I’ve seen it with my own eyes.”
>Buzz says solemnly, speaking for the first time in this whole exchange.
“Besides you’ve seen the man’s wounds yourself.”
>You say jumping in after the space ranger.
“Something ripped his hands open from the inside, You can't write that off.”

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>>30212061
>Mina stammers for a few seconds but finally sits when she’s unable to come up with another explanation.
“We aren’t sure how it works, but we believe the transformation of a host is triggered by stress.”
>You say with a pointed look at Ulysses.
“That’s why I felt the need to keep this final detail under wraps last time. I was afraid if this information spread out in the waiting room there would be a panic and we’d be dealing with one or more of these things carving through the other patients.”
>You try to look him in the eye but you can’t bring yourself to do it and end up staring at the floor as you go on.
“I’m sorry to have kept this from you Ulysses, I know how much you wanted to help us but I felt like the risk that this information represented to you and Tsuyu was more of a gamble than I was willing to take.”
>You tense up waiting for a fist to come sailing your way as you finish.
“Still the decision to keep you and everyone else in the dark was mine, Buzz and the others had nothing to do with it. So if you want to be mad at someone, be mad at me.”
>The seconds tick by but the punch doesn’t come.
>You look up and see Ulysses slumped in his chair rubbing his temples.
>”A part of me wants to sock you over this, but I can’t really get mad at you for trying to keep everyone safe.”
>Ulysses sighs as he stands and looks you in the eye and you can see the anger smoldering there behind his calm expression.
>”What I don’t understand is why you would put all of that at risk now by telling me the truth.”
>Ulysses clearly wants an answer, but it takes you a few seconds to get your thoughts in order.
>”Well, I’m waiting, what changed that made it worth the risk of telling me? And what about Mina? How do you know she isn’t a host?”
>Clearly I felt guilty for lying to you isn’t going to cut it here.
>Fortunately you have more than up your sleeve.
>You meet his steely glare and take a deep breath.

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>>30212074
“We’re about to start testing to try and discover a way to determine who is a host and how to destroy the creature without triggering its transformation. If everyone doesn’t fully understand the situation we may never find those answers. Simply put you needed to know if you were going to help.
>Ulysses mutters to himself for a few seconds before turning back to face you.
>”That’s still a pretty big risk to take, but I can understand that. No hard feelings.”
>He says as he holds out a hand towards you, the anger in his eyes gone.
“Not as big a risk as you might think, Mina hasn’t left the medbay since the impact and you’ve been so stressed since we got here that if you had been a host you’d have turned by now.”
>You reply as you grab his hand, shaking it vigorously before you pull him in and slap him on the back.
>Mina meanwhile slaps her cheeks and jumps up out of her chair.
>”Okay enough sitting around shocked, It’s time we got to work!”
>She quickly loses steam though when she sees all the blood samples laid out and the cart full of equipment she just rolled in.
>”… uh… where do we start?”
>She asks as she looks back at the five of you.
>Fortunately you’ve got a few ideas.
“The first thing I think we ought to do is try and establish some kind of control levels. I’d like to examine samples from Mina, Buzz, Spike, Dan and myself and compare them against the sample from our known victim and see if we can find any kind of discrepancy. Maybe running them through the microscope and the spectrometer to start.”
>You look to Mina for confirmation and the nurse returns the look with an eager nod before she leaps into action preparing slides and spectrometer samples from the blood you’ve provided.
>You get to work firing up the spectrometer and feed in the agent’s sample.
>But as you’re watching the spectrum pattern something unusual happens.
.

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>>30212087

>For a split second you think you see the black bars on the spectrum start out wider than they ought to be and then shrink to the proper width.
>Suspicious, you collect another sample and drop it into the slot, this time watching the readout the entire time as you feed in the sample.
>This time the display starts out entirely black and the colors slowly burn their way through and establish a normal spectral pattern.
>the entire process only takes a few seconds to unfold, you were lucky to catch the tail end of it the first time or else you may have missed this completely.
“Well there’s definitely something unusual going on with our known victim’s sample. We can’t tell what the substance is since the spectrometer’s lights seem to destroy it but there’s definitely something there.”
>You run through your group’s samples as well but you don’t catch anything unusual on the spectrometer.
>You flash the others a thumbs up and turn your attention over to the computer monitor that Mina and Buzz are using to view your blood samples through the microscope.
>As expected Mina’s sample is normal, and after a little bit of searching you manage to turn up what you’re looking for in the agent’s blood sample.
>An oily black cloud drifting between blood cells.
“Well that’ll make things easier knowing what to look for.”
>You say with a grin as you turn back to high five whoever happens to be within reach.
>But something moving on one of the other readouts catches your eye and forces you to stop mid turn.
>Maybe it’s just your mind playing tricks on you but you need to be sure.
“Buzz, run back the recording on Spike’s sample.”
>The Commander jumps as you practically shout in his ear, but sensing the urgency in his voice he doesn’t question you.
>As he rolls the footage backwards frame by frame you find exactly what you were afraid of.
>There, sliding into view on spike’s monitor as a lone oily black blob.
“Shit.”

>>30212096
As one famous wise man once said,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfkhUkmCrps

Not only -1 in a party until we fix him, but our strongest, toughtest and with abilities that will destroy us all in mere seconds when heartless gets to him guy. Even "beat blob out of him" will not work on that small tank as well as on agent. Time to brainstorm light related solution

>>30212440
But when did spike get infected in the first place? And it looks like his darkenss count is even lower and harder to catch than the guy we already exorcised. I want to run further tests on his sample and our own.

Guys. I think with all of this medical equipment around and having chosen the path of the mage, it's about time we invent and use some healing magic. (Because I mean for real, Cure will be useful as fuck throughout the rest of the adventure). If we can save Spike, maybe the other carriers, and get a bitching spell in the process, that would be great.

On the off chance this doesn't work though, the others should be working on a scientific method. Maybe sans Ulysses so he can keep Spike company.

>Ulysses sees the light with no violence

Aw yea-

>Spike's infected with the DARKNESS

-shit.

This is going to sound partially dick-ish, but I feel like we could have Spike as a way to find a general solution.

Something that worries me is that the spectrometer didn't pick this up. If it can only find heavily infected people, then we would be just as infected as Spike is.

I don't suppose we could roll Spellcrafting to think of some spell to Detox Spike of the DARKNESS?

>>30212096
So what's the plan for keeping our best bro from freaking out? I feel like this is one of those situations where simply knowing you have it makes it worse.

>>30212497
>>30213064
Maybe something more like Esuna would be appropriate? Nobody has actually been hurt, they're at full HP, we just want to remove the "Infected" status effect from the victims. And metagaming only slightly, Yen did mention that Cure is going to be hella expensive when we get it, so the ability to help people without burning 100% of our magic might be useful.

>>30212465
If our stress theory is correct, it would have to have been after the fight with the Agent at minimum, and probably after the comms fix. He did stab the transformed agent with a knife, which both freaked him out and drew blood; I don't remember if he'd been injured by then, but if so it could've been direct transfer, blood-to-blood. Or possibly afterwards when we were carrying the schmuck to medbay, come to think of it. If keyblade exposure causes transformation, that still wouldn't have been before the agent. I can't think of anything else that both aligns with what we know about the NecroHearts and would allow Spike to be infected but dormant before that fight.

Ulysses' sample was included in our group's, right? If not, we'll want confirmation he's clean. After that, we can pair off and start working on our theories, maybe. Dan and Ulysses analyze the other samples, since Ulysses might know things about individuals' biology and Dan can temper him with that patented Dan cynicism; Buzz and Mina will test the stress chemical theory, Mina with her medical knowledge and Buzz prepped with his Light laser in case something manifests; we and Spike can centrifuge the spy's blood to see if filtration is even worth our time (if the parasite adheres to platelets or something, that's a lot harder to fix than replacing plasma), and also try to think of any magical solutions to this problem that might not occur to people other than former Magical Horse Land residents and Number 1 Assistants to the Princess Who Loves Magic. Thoughts?

>>30213064
If the microfilter can remove darkenss in the samples maybe we can hook spike up to some kind of space dialysis.

>>30213646
Trying to come up with some kind of magical cure might be worthwhile but I think our success there is going to depend on what spike or rarity is able to tell us.

>>30213064
Speaking of, if Spike's infected, wouldn't we be able to use something like an x-ray to see where it's incubating? If we can find out where it is, we might be able to get it out.

Also something to consider is that we might be able to create a vaccine for the Ooze if we could get a sample from it. Unless I'm a moron and it doesn't work like that.

>>30215244
Worth saying, too, is that infected (but not manifested) blood doesn't have darkness in high enough concentrations for it to make a noticeable difference in the spectrometer. It's (presumably) only once the NecroHeart manifests that the blood is flooded with enough DARKNESS for its destruction to be notable.

If we can force the Heartless cells to congregate, the spectrometer has proven that bright light can destroy it fairly quickly. To that end, I'd advocate either something that draws the Heartless cells to a specific location, or something that drives them away from other locations. Don't know what might attract them without causing them to multiply though, that's what I'm hoping our stress-chem testing might tell us.

>>30215244
I thought vaccines worked by training your body to identify harmful things, usually harmless versions of the thing you're trying to vaccinate against, so it can fight the real thing better if you catch it. Basically the immune system equivalent of a training dummy? If we can do that, count me impressed, but I feel like this is more akin to a parasite that feeds off the host, rather than a disease that infects them. I'm not sure if we can train the body to fight DARKNESS. (Not discounting your idea, just clarifying.)

I have a dumb theory fueled by alcohol and unrealistic dreams: the Heartless are genuinely driven by the emotive state of the host. Anger makes them multiply and manifest, so the cure is also going to be emotive. Everyone has been bleak since the station got attacked, but if we make them happy, they might get better. Laughter might really be the best medicine. I'm not sure if I even want to be right.

>>30215439
>cheer everyone up
This looks like a job...
For Cuban Pete.
https://youtu.be/-dyO9SWiY7k

>>30215439
>spoiler

Well, out of all the people on our team, Spike does seem to be the one most emotionally low than the rest of us.

>>30215439
>noticeable difference in the spectrometer.
It may just be that the distortion was so slight we failed to notice it with our rolls. And I'm not so sure spike is even truly infected since his levels are even lower than the spy.

>>30213646
This seems like a pretty solid division of labor. I'd be down for this plan.

Everybody, please, make your contributions at savetheSpikes.bump

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>>30218371
Have a mobile pone Pepe.

>>30218371
bump

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I'm not used to drawing people in general, but have some doodles. Proportions are hard, and shorties like Spike make it harder, but I'm trying to get myself into the habit of drawing characters instead of just props. I kind of like how Jewbear Dan came out, even if it's not a particularly dynamic pose.

>>30221383
Are spike and dan meant to be the same size? Dan may be a manlet but he's not a dwarf.

>>30222022
Looks like he was going for some sort of perspective thing maybe?

>>30222090
Maybe

>>30222090
I'd say more they were drawn next to each other and just happen to be the same size. That or spike is meant to have transformed into an older state

>>30223882
Good morning Bump

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>>30212096
>Oh hey what's going on in that ol kingdom hearts thread.

This just hasn't been a very good world for spike has it.

>>30225214
Putting an essential child in the Thing can do that to them.

That being said, I wonder if the infection can spread through the blood? If that's the case, we migt want to be careful against infected folk in the future.

>>30225239
You know speaking of blood transmission I wonder if its airborne? there was that darkness contaminated area right there near the elevator we started at.

>>30225269
I'd have expected to see signs in our other party members samples if airborne were a possibility, though I suppose we could have missed them. We did barely catch spike's after all.

>>30225904
Man it's going to be fucking rough if we all got a case of the heartless.

So, what is our plan? Find a light source to blast Spike with it? Check more medical equipments for solution? X-Ray heartless out of small bro? Try to create a new healing or status removing spell? Boost morale and emotional state of Spike (which probably is the easiest to achieve, just by giving him a walkie-talkie with Rarara on the other end)? Do nothing for now and check first who is not clean to deal with everyone at the same time? Do Cuban Pete?

>>30228259
Depends on if we want to lie to Spike or not. I don't think the X-Ray will do more than show where it's congregating. We could try spellcrafting something like Esuna, since we've got two more quill's worth of +3 bonuses. Blasting Spike with a light source probably won't do anything, like we mentioned before. I worry that giving a link to Rarity might backfire on us.

Save the Cuban Pete idea for later. We might need it elsewhere, and we haven't performed shit since the Fallen Hero.

>>30228259
I'm kind of thinking wait and see who else is infected before we make any more actions. Run some more tests and build up our info base

>>30228591
>spoiler
Im fine with saving Cuban Pete as a trump card in case everything else fails.

>>30229893
>>30228259
Any alterations from >>30213646? Or does that sound good?

>>30232117
Sounds pretty good to me.

>>30237394
Boop

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Yo, Yen... y'alright?

>>30239323
More or less, it's been a busy weekend and the fact that my phone happened to roll into an IP that had like 6 bans stacked on it hasn't exactly been helpful. But that's all sorted and I should have something up for you guys tonight.

I wonder if we could theoretically use the power of DARKNESS like Riki did in Chain. That would be some serious firepower.

>>30241091
I mean I'm sure it's possible. The question is do we want to take the risk associated with opening ourselves to darkness?

>>30241091
we lacking of King from Chain that will aid us or even stop us before we go too far, ho-ho!

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>>30241091
Being strong because of the darkness is like having a car that's fast because it's falling off a cliff.

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>>30212096
>”Well that’s not exactly a good sign.”
>Dan deadpans as Spike begins hyperventilating.
>”Oh jeeze I can’t be trusted, you need to put me in quarantine right now.”
>the little Dragon’s eyes dart around the room looking for a place to hide before Mina crouches down and places a hand on his little purple shoulder.
>”Calm down I don’t think we’re in that rough a position yet. You haven’t displayed any symptoms and your levels are even lower than someone who’s already been cured.”
>Spike still looks like he wants to bolt but he manages to take takes a few deep breaths and after a few seconds the panic seems to have passed.
>”Okay, but I want your word you’ll lock me up at the first sign of trouble.”
>The little dragon punctuates his demand by pointing a shaking claw at you.
“I promise I won’t let you hurt anyone.”
>’’Thanks Anon.”
>You can practically see your promise lifting a weight off of Spike’s shoulders as he breathes a visible sigh of relief.
“That said, I won’t let it come to that. We’re going to solve this thing here and now.”
>You say with an earnest grin as you reach down and offer a hand to Spike.
>Spike can’t help but smile back as he grabs your hand and you pull the little dragon back to his feet.
“Okay first things first, now that we know what we’re looking for let’s get some division of labor going so we can cover more ground.”
>You say as you point to the spectrometer and the microscope.
“Dan and Ulysses, I want you two to start analyzing the remaining blood samples. Be sure to pay close attention on the spectrometer and keep an eye out for any unusual reactions.”
>Next you turn to Buzz and Mina.
“Mina I’d like you to run reaction tests on our positive samples. Our working theory is that stress triggers the transformation so maybe you can trick it into activating it if you introduce some kind of stress related hormone to the sample.”

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>>30245780
>”I should have a couple of things we can try, I’ll go get the cortisone and the epinephrine.”
>Mina says with an enthusiastic nod before hustling off to the back room to collect the medication.
“Buzz I’d like you to help Mina with her experiments and be ready with the laser in case something manifests out of the sample.”
>Buzz nods and starts setting out petri dishes for the two of them to work with.
>In the meantime you turn to Spike.
“You and I are going to get to work on the centrifuge. I want to see if it’s possible to filter this directly out of the blood stream and the first step to that is seeing if we can separate the contaminant from the blood.”
>Spike nods and grabs his own sample before following you over to the centrifuge.
“In the meantime I wanted to ask you about something. I know I’m pretty new to this whole magic thing, but can you think of any magical solutions Twilight might try if she were here? Maybe I can try and replicate them.”
>Spike rubs his chin as you load the sample into the centrifuge and turn it on.
>The gentle whir of the centrifuge’s motor fills the room as the little dragon thinks and minutes pass by in as your sample spins.
>The centrifuge is beginning to spin down when Spike finaly pipes up again.
>”Well, Twilight was doing a lot of research on removing magical contaminants a few months ago during the whole poison joke incident. I don’t think she ever fully developed a spell though, the side effects of the poison joke made it impossible to put any of her theories into practice.”
>Your eyes light up at the news, Spike may actually be on to something here.
“Do you think you can remember any of the research?”
>You ask as the centrifuge spins to a halt.
>”Ummm maybe? I can definitely try.”

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>>30245795
>Spike says hesitantly as you toss him a notepad.
“See what you can come up with, that research might be our key to a shortcut around this whole mess.”
>You say reaching for Spike’s sample only to be interrupted by mina walking over with a dejected look on her face.
>”I’m sorry Anon, we didn’t get any reaction out of the agent’s sample or Spike’s.”
>She says before you even get a chance to ask her what’s wrong.
>Damn, you thought you were really on to something with that one.
“Maybe the heartless picks up the host’s emotive state directly from brain activity, and that’s why you didn’t get any reaction.”
>You say thinking out loud as Dan walks up.
>”Or maybe there was no reaction because that sample wasn’t a full infestation.”
>The little man says interrupting your train of thought.
“What do you mean not a full infestation?”
>You ask waiting for Dan to explain himself.
>”It’s going to be easier to just show you. Come check it out.”
>He says beckoning you over to the microscope’s display.
>”Okay, over here we have our samples. Yours, mine, tiny Chris, Buzz, Mina, and even Ulysses.”
>Dan explains pointing to a series of videos on the left side of the screen.
>”We went back and double checked our samples and discovered low levels of this black stuff in all the samples except Mina’s. And by low I mean even lower than the spy, to be honest we were lucky to even find it.”

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>>30245805
>Your heart stops for a second as you turn to Dan.
“So what you’re telling me is this thing’s in all of us?”
>You ask quietly, trying your level best to remain calm.
>”See that’s what we thought at first too, but now I don’t think so. We’ve put Ulysses through the ringer emotionally and Mina just did the same with the samples chemically. And we got nothing.”
>Dan begins to pace back and forth as he gesticulates wildy.
>”I think we’re missing something. There’s more to this whole thing than simple contamination. We were missing a key piece and I think I just found it.”
>Dan says as he hits a button on the command console and a new video pops up.
>”We started checking other samples to try and find a pattern when one of them came back jet black on the spectrometer, took nearly a minute to resolve into a normal spectrum. When we put it under the microscope this is what we saw.”
>Up on the screen you can see the bright red platelets swimming in a veritable sea of inky black fluid, contamination completely unlike anything you’ve seen in the other samples.
“This has to be the real thing; the rest of us must have only contracted trace amounts…”
>You say trailing off as you look at the monitor.
>Dan holds up a hand to cut you off as you open your mouth to speak again.
>He taps on the screen as something swims out of the blackness and tears through one of the bright red platelets leaving a cloud of new black sludge in its wake.
>”there’s our missing piece.”
>You look up at the top of the video file and sigh when you see the name Den’ki.
“Nothing can ever just be easy.”

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Well, shit. It looks like it's time to place him in quarantine and see what we can do vis a vis that magical cure.

>>30245814
So, only one troublesome pal to deal with? That's nice to hear. Now only "find a way to quarantine him" and "find a way to cure him" left (and my bet that we got these tiny traces of darkness via air and that Dead Space style corridor, since nurse is okay). We can even share our discoveries with Rara and Woody after dealing with infected one

>>30245814
Really, only Den'ki's infected? That would ertainly make things simpler, but having an electric Necro doesn't sound like much fun.

>>30246841
Dan's only run like 5 samples so far and he came directly to you with this discovery. You aren't exactly out of the woods yet.

>>30245814
>We’ve put Ulysses through the ringer emotionally
>tfw we unintentionally did stress tests on Ulysses

>>30247831
I guess we were lucky he wasn't a full host. Otherwise this bring him along play would have turned out really bad for us.

I should mention, your sample in the centrifuge did show signs of separation, using the filtration system to extract the infestation may be a viable option.

>>30250071
Might as well try that out, unless that means we end up with mini Oozes running around.

>>30250553
maybe it will maybe it won't. That's a chance you'll have to decide if you want to take.

>>30251408
Just have our Keyblade at the ready in case it does fly out and try to have a romantic evening with our face.

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>>30251762

>>30127592
I'm assuming we've dropped the health orb mechanic from the Dive to the Heart for good? Haven't seen it since, and it would've probably been helpful during the Heap.

>>30253131
I'm honestly not sure. It's something I've had trouble implementing in a balanced way since that first fight. D&D is partly about health management and having free HP falling from the sky might hurt the value of things like potions, med kits or cure spells. Plus the hp orbs weren't really thematically consistent with the inhospitable wasteland that was the heap.

We may see a return in future boss fights in order to balance high hp pools and give you strategicly valuable targets but I doubt we'll see them in small skirmishes. You might also see some hp orbs again if you ever have to fight a huge mob of heartless without the aid of a mini gun.

also I kind of forgot they existed. I spent a whole world forgetting to drop munny for you.

Slow but steady progress bump.

>>30245814
So, Den'ki is definitely getting quarantined, and we now know what true infection looks like. Other than that, continue as intended I guess? Have Buzz and Mina rerun the stress tests on our active sample instead of the defeated one, we'll continue our magic search and see if a sample of Den'ki's blood can centrifuge as well as the spy's, and Dan and Ulysses can get us an ordered list of infected from most at risk to least. Does discovering Den'ki's condition change our course of action?

>>30255095
I'd like to run an active sample through the filtration system but I think that might require us to choose between chemical/ centrifuge tests and the filtration system.

>>30255123
All we need to do is figure out if it works, right? One test on the filtration should be enough to determine the result. Shouldn't take too much time away.

>>30255202
Yen did explicitly say filtration was time consuming. That said we don't know exactly how much time it needs.

>>30255269
The time limit was there to prevent you from just running every sample through the filter. You should be fine if you're just running one active sample.

That said I don't think you'll have enough blood to split three ways out of a single sample.

I was just thinking, How many camp horror conventions have we picked up now?

Alien: face huggers
Dead Space: Necromorphs
The Thing: who isn't what they appear to be.
Walking Dead: the twist is everyone is infected.

Are there any more I'm forgetting and how many more do you think we can pile on?