[Endgame: rise or DROWN]

[warpweft]

[How long have you been exploring Nessa's palace now? You've met her family, viewed her memories, learned how to fight as a witch and tried to find the source of her power and the Treasure of her palace: the Voidheart. And along the way, you've tired your best, with mixed success, to avoid the incarnation of her eldest cousin and the representation of her trauma and fear, the Nightmare of Esmau.]

[Wherever you are in the Palace right now, you feel the ground briefly shake under your feet. Little shakes here and there haven't been out of the ordinary - Esmau is trying to blow the place down to the studs, after all. But that felt different. That felt....worse.]

[Your phone beeps as you receive a message.]

Comments

[DROWN]

[voidhearts]

MOTHERFUCKER!

[Unfortunately, Zarya knew what she was trading by freeing everybody in that moment - she was leaving herself exposed. She lands on the ground. She goes to wrap Nessa up in her arms.

And Esmau's blade smashes into her back with the force of an avalanche. Zarya is nearly flung off the platform by the force of the blow right then and there.]

[rise]

[voidhearts]

[But she holds on. She holds onto the Voidheart, and she holds on to Nessa.]

I've....done all I can...!

It's up to you!

[She throws something at the ground. A cloud of smoke covers her and Nessa, rendering both of them invisible.]

[DROWN]

[voidhearts]

.....tch.

[Esmau sneers. She looks around and sees....all of you. Freed from your prisons.

She knows she has to go after Zarya and retrieve the Voidheart. But she also knows you're not going to let her do that. So she smashes the blade of her glaive on the ground once. The shield surrounding her body shimmers briefly, then becomes invisible. You can no longer see the crack. You don't know where to attack to make her vulnerable, but you know it's there.]

She no longer has the Voidheart.
There's a crack in her shield.

A path to victory may be making itself apparent to you.]

Come on! COME ON! I'll throw all your heads at her feet before I finish her off! How's that sound?!

REACTION

[voidhearts]

[survivaltricks]

[Akira drops to the ground with a deep exhale, once again landing on his feet like the cat he is. his gaze is affixed firmly on Esmau, eyes sharp]

Bring it on! I'd like to see you try!

[IT IS, PERHAPS, A BIT SILLY TO BOLT FORWARD FOR ANOTHER MELEE ASSAULT. . . but he's angry and fuming and just wants to punch Esmau in the jaw. is that so wrong??]

[he's gonna try the Gravity Strike and Quick Strike combo again]

[voidhearts]

[Both strikes his Esmau square in the face...and do absolutely nothing. Even with the crack in her shield, she's still Invincible.]

Hoooooh? Someone volunteered!

Re: REACTION

[velluminous]

[ Sprezzatura lands on her butt. she's shaking horrendously, with a half-open third eye in the middle of her forehead. it blinks, blearily, and closes again. ]

Wh- Zarya!

[ they're gone. she struggles to sit, to stand, as Akira is already flinging himself at Esmau. no time for panic. no time for fear. you have to get up. you have to fight. YOU HAVE TO GET UP.

"Get up, already!" ]

[cosplayed_out]

Oh... sorry. Am I supposed to care? Well, I don't.

ROUND 6

[voidhearts]

[Esmau's shield has been damaged, but is still functioning, meaning she is still Invincible. You must find a way to expose the crack in her shield so you can destroy it. Try counterattacking when she attacks to make her open, somehow.]

[Invokes:
Minato: Judgment is 230 damage away from being charged
Sprezzatura: 130 damage away from being charged
Akira: Rebellion is 30 damage away from being charged
Tsumugi: Re-Writes is 180 damage away from being charged]

BOSS ACTION

[voidhearts]

I was gonna pick who to kill first at random, but if you wanna volunteer, THAT'S FINE TOO!

[Esmau swings her glaive down at Akira!]

REACTION

[voidhearts]

[The attack on Akira cannot be intercepted. Akira must defend himself and then counterattack. He can:
Guard: Take guaranteed but reduced damage, then land a guaranteed counterattack to inflict damage.
Dodge: Attempt to dodge by reducing Esmau's roll to hit, then Akira and Esmau will roll against each other. If Akira wins, he counterattacks. If Akira wins by 10+, he has a critical counterattack.
Parry: Immediately roll against Esmau's roll to hit. If Akira loses the roll, he takes full damage. If he succeeds, he takes no damage and immediately has a critical counterattack.] (Akira currently has a +2 Parry Chance)]

[survivaltricks]

You think I'm afraid of you? Ha.

[. . . well, he will note that she's invincible, so-- by now he's cast four basic spells which means when he falls back away from her, he turns invisible with Stylish Phantom, and attempts to parry]

[voidhearts]

[Parry Roll:
Esmau rolls 1d20: 14
Akira rolls 1d20+2: 13+2=15

Akira's invisibility throws off Esmau's swing just enough - his dagger pushes the blade of the glaive away, making her open, then with one fluid movement, Akira flips through and drives the heel of his boot into Esmau's head, knocking her back with a critical counterattack. She snarls - no damage done, but.

Something just got knocked loose. Two purple crystals float above Esmau's head. Faces appear within the crystals.

On one...



On the other....



Those who see their faces on the crystal...you can feel something coming from it. You can feel Nessa. She's still holding on. She's still fighting. She's still reaching out to you.

You feel a warmth building in your hand. If you focus on it, a memory orb will appear inside it.]

DISCUSS

[voidhearts]

[survivaltricks]

[Akira's form turns visible once again as he falls back from his counter, gaze flickering towards the other three with him. he looks like he is about to say something, but--]

[. . . there's warmth in his hand]

Ah. . .

[and he lifts said hand to stare at it, a bit perplexed]

[voidhearts]

[Nell is wincing and holding her side. She's less sturdy than the rest of you so that little trip through the bubbles seems to have done a number on her.]

Wh...what is it?

[She looks from the crystal to Akira.]

It looks like...i-it looks like you and Nessa...

Re: DISCUSS

[velluminous]

Who... who needs charges?

[cosplayed_out]

What?

[that's all, just a what]

PLAYER ACTION

[voidhearts]

NELL

[voidhearts]

[Nell is at 30 HP.
Nell is currently visible.
Nell's Invoke will be charged in 180 damage.

You can command Nell to Gather Intel, Heal, Go Invisible or Attack. If you do not command her, she will make her own decision.]

[voidhearts]

[Nell has effectively had her arm twisted into casting Harmony Bolt on herself.

Roll 1d5+3 to heal: 4+3=7 HP restored

Nell: 37/50 HP]

[survivaltricks]

[after focusing for a bit, Akira gets his memory orb. . . it's the memory of when Nessa fought back against the Shadows that took their memory in that one Echidna game]

[with that in hand, he dunks the memory into the crystal with his face]

[voidhearts]

[The crystal absorbs your memory.

Nessa almost wishes she had never brought it up in the first place. Never complained that they couldn't see what the teams were doing. She wishes they'd just used their choice blindly, because if she hadn't said anything, Fran wouldn't have offered the trade and they wouldn't have decided to take it. It made her feel responsible for the things they were all giving up and....she couldn't accept that. So she tried her hardest to stop it from happening.

But...that's not true, is it.

She was on Echidna because she wanted to help. It would've hurt more knowing that they could've helped but didn't if the other blocks had been left to suffer.

The truth is, she would've made the same choice 100 times in a row.

The crystal SHATTERS brilliantly, sending purple shards everywhere. Esmau noticeably twitches. Her shield flickers slightly.]

What the hell was that?!

[messianic]

[ admittedly, he can't do much right now--he winces when she goes after Akira, but Akira makes it through okay, thank goodness.

He has to do something--

Minato presses his lips together tightly. Okay. He can help boost people up. They're seeing some sort of progress, and they have to keep pushing.

So he'll cast Void from Blood on Sprezzatura! What's a little blood magic between pals? It's fine that it hurts a little bit if it means powering up their tank [citation needed] ]

[cosplayed_out]

... [a memory does kind of mind that seems incredibly appropriate given her cosplay.

Her shadow, running around, doing its best to convince others Tsumugi is a terrible person. But Nessa, both Nessas stood up for her and refused to believe it. Even when Junko Enoshima's name was mentioned.

Her heart dokidoki'd that day.

And it's with that, she reaches inside for the orb.]