SPOILER: Click to show

{STATS AND DAMAGE}

LUCY // SCEPTILE // SWEEPER
210/250
LUCY uses LEAF BLADE on Finnegan Fjord 's CROCONAW
nlk1LG4t4d20+160
(10 Rarity + 20 Super Effective + 5 Grass Pokemon + 5 Grass Moves) x4 Fast Attack


CEREAL // ESPURR // TANK
490/500
CEREAL uses PSYBEAM on Allotta Bambooga 's WURMPLE
1d150+10
(10 Rarity) Charge Attack


NARRATOR // ZORUA // SUPPORT
0/250
Knocked out by Decidueye

MANISH
375/1000

”It fits the bit! Tuesday's filled with wicked wit!”

In case it’s not obvious by now, Tuesday has an ego, and because she does, she’s actually pleased to hear the words of Bergamot Gristleborg. Yes, she’s the very best. Yes, she has wicked wit. But… wait… doesn’t that mean Morgana wants her to die?!

Well, that’s just rude, isn’t it?!

Just as Tuesday is about to rap her obviously extremely witty and admittedly somewhat aggressive response, the moon decides to intervene, and of course she does so spectacularly. With a giant dog! Is that supposed to be Canis Major? There’s something vaguely familiar about it, so it’s probably a Gen I pokémon. Whatever the case, one thing is clear: it’s rabid.

Virtual as this form may be, fangs and claws dig into skin. It’s the worst thing Mars has ever dealt with, but the pain does cause a gasp, wincing, and frowning – every single ounce of willpower existing within the Spaniard being used so Tuesday remains standing. As should only be expected, at this point, there’s also anger.

But, wait! There’s more!

“To avoid this massacre you should have called on Eninacra."

Getting thrown around by a bull is perhaps the world’s greatest irony. Tuesday would think so, at least, if she were in the condition to be thinking of anything. Everything hurts. She feels dizzy, lightheaded, and confused, to the point that she can’t help but wonder if it’s possible for MMO characters to get concussions.

"For fuck’s sake…" Oh right, the rhyming! She’s not out of the game yet! Holding onto the stone pillar, Tuesday actually manages to stand up, and naturally, she immediately points an accusatory finger at Chanda Mama. "What you just did was a mistake."

So what? She knows well the creepy moon NPC can easily boot her out of the game if it so wishes.

“Chanda Mama, tu devrais être désolé,
y créeme, esto no es hipérbole.
This is a game we all can play.
Don't stand around, cause some dismay!
By the end, you'll be saying '¡Olé!'"

Her Cryogonal, ever loyal, seems to intend to shield her from the deadly arrow aimed her way, but when Tuesday looks around at the pokémon of the other participants, she gets a completely different idea. See, her terrified Petilil had been clinging to her leg all this time, but when Allotta Bambooga’s worm fires its barrage of poisonous barbs, the pokémon lets go, suddenly seeming calm. Healing poison? That’s a new one. Curious, Tuesday plucks one of the barbs off the Petilil’s tiny body, putting it away to be studied later. And then… then she punts the grass type forward with a kick fitting of a fútbol striker.

The Petilil meets the owl’s arrow.

”GOL.” A wicked smirk marks the catgirl’s lips once more, and then she proceeds to deliver another limerick, pointing at Bergamot Gristleborg and then at diva too:

"If you want to be a star you should shine some more.
So, Ancile, use Night Slash to settle this score.
And since out here there is no sol,
Let's aim for Diva, though she's a real doll.
Aesop, use Fire Spin! Sing our songs of will and war!"

And so, Tuesday’s will is brought to life by her remaining pokémon, starting off with the Cryogonal’s ice chains, which shoot out towards Bergamot Gristleborg's MUDKIP, striking with force (or so we can hope?). Then the Fennekin leaves its mark, howling a psychic attack towards diva’s NIDORAN.

SPOILER: Click to show

{STATS AND DAMAGE}

ANCILE // CRYOGONAL // TANK

390/400HP
CRYOGONAL uses NIGHT SLASH on MUDKIP
3FCWHnsQ1d100+10
RARITY +10

AESOP // FENNEKIN // SWEEPER

120/150HP
FENNEKIN uses FIRE SPIN on NIDORAN
3d20+30
RARITY +10 x3 Fast Attack

PHRYNE // PETILIL // TANK

0/400HP
Knocked out by DECIDUEYE

Morgana didn't need a special boon for having her Pokemon be the most bloodied in the sudden flurry of round-robin violence. She already had a star for being #1, and she certainly wasn't giving it to a fainted Pokemon (Piplup) who couldn't even appreciate it. She wasn't sure whether that fell under the rules of selfishness or not, but she wouldn't risk it just yet.

So as Guillotine lay fainted in the dust with an arrow through her heart, Bergamot's Gyarados orbited above her head, trailing from the top of her standing stone like a giant ponytail. The size display glitch it had used to have had been reported during the High Tide Raid, so it was back to its normal, easily targetable size.

It was no surprise Finn's Shinx sent a Thundershock arching their way.

It was no surprise Tuesday's Cryogonal lashed out as well, after being marked for death.

Morgana the 100% support player gave a low, menacing laugh as she pulled the world's least surprising ace from her healer-build sleeve.

"Rainbow, Jack, buff yourselves! Before Guillotine's remains begin to smell!"

Guillotine almost came back from the dead to give Morgana a Look, like maybe she should be a little more grateful for the penguin's efforts at towing her all around the coastline during Beta before flying was banned. But Guillotine had been gunned down early by a Decidueye arrow, so there was no chance at Morgana facing social consequences.

In response to Morgana's order, both Gyarados and Mudkip shimmered with reflective light for a moment, appearing more formidable despite the damage they'd already taken.

"I summon thee with healing light!
Heal these wounds of sparks and night!
Singe the lightning-scars away
Soothe the darkness, plus, be gay!"

<Peep?!>

"Don't be homophobic, Jack. ...I asked you to heal, not to talk back."

Rather than turning towards their opponents, Jack and Rainbow turned towards each other.

SPOILER: Click to show

{MORGANA'S ULTIMATE HEALING MOVE}

Heal on Gyarados (Water Gun)
ogErScV34d12
+ 40 (Buff) + 40 (Mudkip Rare) + 20 (Swimmer T2)
= 129 TOTAL

Heal on Mudkip (Brine)
4d12
+ 40 (Buff) + 40 (Blue Magikarp Rare) +20 (Swimmer T2)
= 125 TOTAL

As the duo shot healing jets of water over her head like firemen trying to put out a blaze, Bergamot called over the sputtering and dribbling sounds.

"Then, not to seem uninspired
To show I'm listening (just tired)
The tithe is paid, the blood is spent,
The wounds of all are all well-meant
Their stones are cold, their bonds are weak,
What next does Chanda Mama seek?"

A brutal attack by manish's Sceptile, Lucy, sees Caiman the Croconaw collapse to the ground. A red light swallows him up, and Finnegan Fjord's HP bar shrinks considerably as a result. His expression pinches, lips pursed, but he says nothing; he had painted that target on his own back.

The circle spins again, showering Allotta Bambooga in riches ⁠— a great time to be declared her partner. They were rivals, but incentivized to work together? A smirk dances across his lips. He can only hope that she continues to spit blazing beats.

"The dragon lived alone atop a hill.

"We must slay the beast," was the good knight's will.


The princess came to bring the dragon down.

The dragon presented her with a crown.


"Dear lady, won't you work with me instead?"

And so the princess brought the good knight's head.


The sting of betrayal was ever sweet."

By this point, Tuesday has fully accepted her fate.

Have her Fennekin pass out after diva’s brutal attack? Sure, that’s fine, he hadn’t been all that useful anyway. Assign her to work with a stranger who had been – according to her – a pitiful opponent until a few seconds ago? Alright… A bit of a throwback to high school group projects, but she can deal with that. Take away a crucial letter? Not an issue! Good thing she goes by ‘Tuesday’ here, right?

She just has to use her killer leadership skills!

It’s fine! They got this!

Or, do they?

She gives the one that now goes by ‘manish’ their plan of action, and once a sonnet has been spoken, she clears her throat and uses her UI to provide the needed background sounds, playing the air lute according to the tune while her Cryogonal spins as if it were dancing:

SPOILER: Click to show

{THIS BALLAD'S TUNE}

"A hero rode on Tuesday's eve,
To a dark distant land.
As anish sans capital,
this ballad will not go as planned."

Like chirping birds with their whistling tones, it’s in a light soprano that she sings (thanks, voice changer), and once her first quatrain has been sang, she awaits for Anish to intervene.

An eye roll later, Tuesday continues singing, her lute shredding also appearing being never-ending:

"Well... Tuesdays upon Tuesdays passed,
and the capital our hero didn't find.
It is a tale that saddens us,
for up there his loved one had been confined."

And what better way to end a ballad than with a duet, no? Even with manish’s now squeaky Selene voice:

"Like other bugs tend to do,
the lack of his letter does sting,
lost love surely can sting too,
and the fact that we don't sing!"

LAST STONE STANDING

⠠⠁⠀⠧⠊⠉⠞⠕⠗⠽⠀⠃⠁⠝⠟⠥⠊⠞

SPOILER: Click to show

{DUNGEON THEME}

The moon spirit looks back and forth between Finnegan Fjord and Allotta Bambooga, putting their poem together as they speak. At the end it gasps, and the stars above gleaming ever so brightly.

manish and Tuesday enchant the creature too, as their hips tell the ephemeral truths of love won, life lived in hardship, and loss of another.

As Bergamot Gristleborg and diva finish their duet tears well up in the moon spirit's eyes, falling to the ground in gleaming drops. "Those were not poems, but heroes' tales. What you six wrought made my heart quail. I feel it now, its beating clear. It rises now, like a crimson tear. To nestle deep in my shy throat, as I offer dim praise for work of such note." The spirit bows, and then lifts its head to the stars, a string of diamond tears spilling to the grass. "The tales above writ with comets and stars, are no match for the back and forth of you bards."The spirit gives a little bow, but there is no sign of the strings connecting you all loosening. 

The stones churn again, spinning faster and faster as the constellations blaze to life overhead. The spirit dances among your ribbons, leaping over and slipping through them, as if the sole dancer in a heart-strung maypole dance. A dozen brilliant figures gleam in the inky skies, blurred by the movements of the stones. As the circle slows, so too do the figures fade,

PAIR 1
5. Bergamot Gristleborg - Piplup, Gyarados, Mudkip (481/750 HP)
2. diva - Sobble, Rufflet, Nidoran F (313/700 HP)

PAIR 2
6. manish - Zorua, Espurr, Sceptile (325/1000 HP)
3. Tuesday - Fennekin, Cryogonal, Petilil (190/950 HP) 

PAIR 3
1. Finnegan Fjord - Shinx, Croconaw, Piplup (168/650 HP) 
4. Allotta Bambooga - Sobble, Litten , Wurmple (150/550 HP) 

"I cannot decide who earns the next star, you all shone far too bright. So let us skip right to the end, a banquet feels quite right."

The ground shifts again, but instead of the stones spinning, a circular stone altar bursts from the earth in the center of the ring. The moon spirit leaps over the table, and suddenly the bare stone holds a dozen tiny platters, each holding a single serving of a sumptuous looking dish. The mix of aromas is confusing to say the least, though each of the foods individually looks like a true marvel of culinary creation, crafted with supernatural care and precision. You can feel your mouths watering, your eyes drawn a dozen ways at once. 

The Twelve Dishes

1. A massive slab of perfectly cooked steak
2. A fish-shaped pie, filled with a hundred tiny little fish
3. Charred bird and tropical fruits on an arrow-tipped skewer
4. Jet black wings in a dark barbeque sauce
5. A quiche in the shape of a 10-pointed star
6. A sizzling bowl of mush. A standout among the delicate dishes. It looks (and smells) like hot dog food
7. Bright orange soup, with a massive crab claw poking out of the steaming broth
8. A five-fingered pastry, generously glazed with syrup and sprinkled with chopped nuts
9. Two black and white gingerbread men, conjoined at the hand and foot
10. A miniature fruit cornucopia. The outer layer is flanges of red leaves, tapering to green, and the inside is a mix of tiny black and white seeds. Spilling from the mouth of the creation is a drizzling of passionfruit and mango
11. Croissants filled with cream cheese and dipped in white chocolate
12. A shot of hard liquor. A purple liquid swirls in the glass, not quite mixing with the alcohol

The dishes are arranged like the numbers on a clock, or like the players in a game twice the size of this one. They are broadly arranged from savory to sweet, and from main course through to appetizer, and on to dessert, ending with alcohol. 

A tiny placard in front of each of the plates reads either Eat me! or Drink me!

The moon spirit prances around the stone table, eagerly waiting for you to approach. "Come join me, friends, what fun we've had. I'm quite peckish myself I'll add. This fare is yours, so eat! Post haste! Don't let the spells here go to waste. There's sure enough for all to eat, but only one of each here feat. So pick one dish to sate your hunger, then gift one more to someone other."

"Once we're done with sweets and dinner, then we can declare a winner!" 

The dungeon will end in 72 hours.