Session 58

Screams, panic, and rushes for the only gate greet Midas's sudden drop into the fort!
The exit is temporarily jammed with escapees.
Linnea: "Well ain't this just a kick in the pants."
Gem Jean: "Help me hold it off until we can all get out! Any of you good with a sword?"
Linnea briefly twirls her knife all fancy-like.
Sam Spade shakes her head rapidly
Linnea: "In a manner-of-speaking, yes."
Esme: "I'm good with something like a sword but not at all?"
Gem Jean: "Then here!" She unsheathes her crystal two-handed sword and tosses it, thankfully handle-first, at Linnea.
Max Thorn: "No swords here, but…" Max reaches into his coat and draws his pistols. "…I've got these?"
Gem Jean: "Whatever you do, Don't. Touch. Midas."
Sam Spade: "Can we talk? Or look? How does Midas infect?"
Linnea quickly sheathes the knife and takes hold of the sword, shifting her stance a little to compensate for the weapon's heft.
Gem Jean: "Bullets are fine. Weapons're fine. If you can stop him with a glance, try it! Just no punches or tackles or the like."
Linnea: "Oh, this is really cool."
The sword is HEAVY. Dense for its large size.
Max Thorn: "Got it. Suijin, come on out."
…almost as if the sword was pure diamond, but not brittle like most diamond is. Just the opposite.
Suijin pops out of his ball once more in a red flash, and the mouse squeaks, looking up at the crystalline pokémon.
Linnea: "So, I cleave Midas with this diamond cutter here? Okay, sure."
[OOC] WC GM: This combat being more narrative than usual, init order is: party in whatever order you want, Gem Jean, then Midas. Tim and Sands are among the evacuees.
[OOC] WC GM: Round 1! Go for it!
Sam Spade: Sam looks up at Midas again, flicks her eyes at it, and blows a kiss! Sweet Kiss!
Sam Spade rolled up 1d20: 8 (8) (AC 6)
Max Thorn: "All right, Suijin! Do not, under any circumstances, allow the foe to come in physical contact!" With that, Max pauses to focus, drawing a bead on Midas… [Aiming Down The Sights]
Linnea holds the sword tight, feeling magical power thrum through the entire weapon, and then in a massive horizontal swing, a brief rift is torn - emitting a blinding flash of light as it claps back together! [Moonblast]
Sam can tell her kiss just bounced off Midas's cheek.
Linnea rolled up 1d20: 14 (14) (AC 2, -1 S.Atk on 15+, -1 Acc on evens)
[OOC] Sam Spade: -2 on accuracy roll for one round. Also, Frequency not expended.
Linnea's Moonblast hits on that same cheek, but does not simply bounce off.
Linnea: "Be wary! It may thrash to hit what it cannot see!"
Linnea rolled up 3d12+40: 59 (8 1 10)
Esme takes Sam's approach, but instead opting for good ol' fashioned neurotoxin-induced vertigo as she hurls a pester ball at Midas!
Esme rolled up 1d20: 18 (18)
[OOC] Esme: AC 6. Confused!
Esme hits right on the nose! Which, for a pester ball, is about where one wants to put it.
Miator charges up a whirling vortex of [Psychic] energy, which she hurls at Midas!
Suijin takes his cue from his trainer, then inhales and lets out a stream of bubbles! [Bubblebeam]
Linnea rolled up 1d20: 8 (8) (AC 2, -1 S.Def on 17+)
Max Thorn rolled up 1d20 3d8+24: 8 (8) 39 (6 1 8)
The psychic and watery jets hit each other and combine in a spiraling beam that drills Midas back further!
Linnea rolled up 3d10+35: 57 (7 8 7)
[OOC] WC GM: Sam's and Esme's pokemon's moves?
[OOC] Esme: Oh! Uhh. I guess Gerv could still be out from rubble clearing.
Gervais eyes Midas warily, keeping his distance. He fires a salvo of poison spines! [Poison Sting]
Esme rolled up 1d20: 2 (2) (AC 2, Poison on 17+)
[OOC] Esme: Aaaayy
A clean miss. Thankfully the ceiling can not be poisoned.
[OOC] WC GM: Does Sam have a pokemon out?
[OOC] Sam Spade: No.
[OOC] WC GM: Alright, and if she's not summoning one…
With a sudden yell, Gem Jean charges Midas, swinging her diamond(?) pickaxe like a berserker, then leaps for Midas's head!
WC GM rolled up 1d20: 16 (16)
At the top of her arc, she thrusts the pickaxe in front of her into Midas, causing a momentary prismatic flare as crystal strikes crystal.
Linnea: "Whoa…!"
WC GM rolled up 2d8+20: 30 (2 8)
…dazzling as that was, the party, experienced trainers all by now, can tell by the "tink" sound that that barely scratched Midas.
Linnea: "Hey, you idiot! What were you thinking?!"
Midas, in turn, tries to coil itself around her before she can hit the ground.
WC GM rolled up 4d6+2 3d6: 10 (2 1 2 3) 12 (6 4 2)
Gem Jean manages - barely - to slip out of the way, making a three-point landing, though she skids back a full meter after landing from her momentum.
[OOC] WC GM: Round 2!
Gem Jean: "Not touching him. And it worked, didn't it?" Her voice betrays her lack of confidence.
WC GM rolled up 1d20: 17 (17)
Max Thorn: "If that tink was any indication…no, not really."
Midas shakes off its confusion!
Max Thorn lines up the shot he wants and fires…
Max Thorn rolled up 1d20+2 1d8+24: 20 (18) 29 (5) (AC 2, +2 crit range due to Aiming Down The Sights)
…and hits right between the eyes!
Max Thorn rolled up 1d8: 8 (8) (crit, woo)
Linnea charges up power once more, causing the blade to glow and hum eerily - and with a forward slash, the stored energy bursts forward in a spectacular light show! [Dazzling Gleam]
Linnea rolled up 1d20: 12 (12) (AC 2, THIS ONE IS -1 ACC ON EVENS >_>)
Max's shot manages to put a small crack in Midas's shell - but only a small one.
Linnea rolled up 3d8+40: 56 (5 6 5) (Fairy/Spec)
Suijin follows up with another stream of bubbles.
Linnea's blast does not quite manage to nail said crack, but it hurts enough.
Max Thorn rolled up 1d20 3d8+24: 4 (4) 39 (3 5 7) (AC 2, -1 Speed CS on 18+)
Suijin's shot goes wide!
Sam Spade whispers a personal secret to Midas. Confide!
Sam Spade rolled up 1d20: 2 (2) (AC 2)
[OOC] Sam Spade: EWWW
Midas does not seem to be able to hear Sam at range.
Miator conjures a crackling ball of fey fire, then hurls it toward Midas! Anything can burn if you try hard enough! [Will-O-Wisp]
Linnea rolled up 1d20: 13 (13) (AC 5)
Midas thrashes at the last minute, dodging the ball!
Esme: "Hrm."
Esme recalls Gervais. "He's way too evasive for you…plus the whole bone thing. Luc, you're up!"
[OOC] WC GM: This being a non-league battle, Lucrece can act now.
Lucrece bounces, then whirrs, firing a concentrated, gooey dose of Toxic at Midas! [Toxic]
[OOC] Esme: Badly Poisoned, -2 Speed CS, -6 Additional HP per tick, aaaand…
Esme snaps her her fingers! With a crack, violet lines etch themselves across Midas' prismatic form! [Corrosive Blight]
[OOC] Esme: Aaaand lose a tick of HP each time he gets hit for one full round. Stupid Onix
Gem Jean whirls her oversized pickaxe, smashes the wooden floor in front of her, and quickly makes a tunnel down! No one in the party has actually seen a human use Dig before; that was thought to maybe be impossible.
After barely a moment's consideration, Midas follows her in!
Linnea: "Again! You idiot! Ugh!"
Linnea: "What is it with these people?!"
Linnea: "Do you wanna die?!"
[OOC] WC GM: Round 3. No targets, but combat's not over, so this round will be preparatory actions. Go for it!
Max Thorn 's eyes go slightly out of focus as he Listens, arms loose… [Aiming Down The Sights]
Sam Spade pulls a pokeball out, and brings Malta once again to the fight!
Linnea sticks the sword, point down, in the ground for a moment, taking a brief moment to re-center her thoughts… [Leyline: Escalation: +2 Sp.Atk CS]
Sam Spade: Malta immediately begins whipping up a whirlwind. Razor Wind!
Suijin thinks for a bit…
[OOC] Max Thorn: I was gonna consider Helping Hand, but the text says it only benefits in the round it's used in.
Miator lets out a strange singsong series of notes, conjuring up barriers to deploy on a moment's notice… [Lucky Chant]
Esme: "How did it go again? Let's see…" She traces a symbol across the ground with her foot, and strikes a pose! …an awkward moment later, her aura flares! [Magic Weapon: +1 Sp. Atk, +1 Accuracy CS]
Linnea: "You're a natural!"
Linnea thumbs-up.
Luc bubbles. Then crackles! Then…levitates slightly higher. Just in case. [Magnet Rise]
[OOC] WC GM: Alright, that all?
[OOC] Sam Spade: Yup
[OOC] Linnea: Aye
Midas bursts back up through the hole, Gem Jean in his jaws!
Linnea: "…Fuck."
WC GM rolled up 1d20 3d8+30: 10 (10) 46 (5 5 6)
Gem Jean tries to parry with her pickaxe but it's no good.
[OOC] WC GM: Round 4!
Linnea: "…Are we able to contact the center at all? This is serious!"
[OOC] Max Thorn: brb, need to switch to a different server because this one hates being remoted into any more. :I
Sam Spade: "Malta! HIT IT! HIT IT AND DON'T HIT HER!"
Malta unleashes the Razor Wind at Midas.
Sam Spade rolled up 1d20+2 2d8+10+14: 11 (9) 27 (1 2) (Crit on 18+)
Linnea: "Damn…! I'll just have to distract it…"
The wind strikes along Midas's body, leaving visible scratches.
Esme runs up to Midas, her bracers and anklets pulsing with energy! She skids to a halt, and swings around, a ghostly Arbok extending from her kick! [Bane]
Esme rolled up 1d20+1: 10 (9) (AC 3)
[OOC] Esme: Pfft
Linnea traces a strange rune in the air, then points at Midas - as if on cue, strange symbols sear themselves into the creature's body! [Leyline: Fey Lash]
Linnea rolled up 1d20: 3 (3) (AC5 for -2 Attack CS)
The ghost-Arbok snaps its jaws just short of Midas. (Miss)
Midas's thrashing in the dirt soon rubs the symbols off.
Esme: "Tch…"
Linnea: "C'mon, Lin, don't panic, don't panic…"
Luc looks inquisitively at Midas, as though scanning him… [Trace - Free Action]
Miator follows up with a blazing flame, trying to sear the creature perhaps more literally! [Will-O-Wisp]
[OOC] Esme: What abilities dood got
Linnea rolled up 1d20: 10 (10) (AC 5 for Burn)
It is not immediately obvious how crystal can burn, but it does.
[OOC] WC GM: Abilities: Sturdy, Rock Head, Crystal Plague
[OOC] Esme: HRM
[OOC] Esme: Let's take that last one. For reasons.
[OOC] Linnea: -2 Defense CS, lose 1 tick of HP if they take a Standard Action
Luc fizzes, and then is suddenly sporting a nice crystal exoskeleton. Huzzah!
Linnea: "…You didn't."
Esme: "I mean, apparently Luc did. Surprising, given they don't have bones."
Sam Spade: "Luc…."
[OOC] WC GM: Sam, Max, Lucrece-standard action, and Suijin have yet to go, yes?
[OOC] Sam Spade: Sam went.
[OOC] WC GM: Ah? Thought that was just Malta.
[OOC] Sam Spade: Sam gave orders and marked target.
[OOC] WC GM: K
Luc bounces happily, before firing a beam that ignites poison at Midas! [Venoshock]
Esme rolled up 1d20+1: 14 (13) (AC 2)
Said beam sprays down Midas's belly - the underside of his middle sections.
Esme rolled up 4d10+45: 62 (5 4 6 2)
[OOC] Esme: Special…but Poison, sad damage
[OOC] WC GM: Is Aerdan able to post, or is that a ghost connection?
[OOC] Max Thorn: just bubblebeam for suijin and alternate shooting and aiming down the sights
[OOC] WC GM: Go ahead and roll the bubblebeam.
[OOC] Max Thorn: cert shit is being more obnoxious than expected. will resolve properly when home.
[OOC] WC GM: Alright.
Max Thorn rolled up 1d20 3d8+24: 14 (14) 34 (3 3 4)
Suijin's beam of bubbles paints right over Lucrece's poison on Midas's belly.
Apparently sufficiently annoyed, Midas spits out Gem Jean and dives away through that hole. Gem Jean is very still as she flies from the air; even from a distance, the party can see the look of sheer terror in her eyes.
Linnea narrows her eyes - she's just had a troubling thought. Setting the sword aside, she pulls out her pokedex to scan the creature! (And -1 AP for +1 to whatever roll.)
[OOC] WC GM: Athletics or Acrobatics to catch. Malta and Lucrece have first shot, being mid-air.
Malta rolled up 4d6+2: 13 (6 2 2 1) (Acrobatics!)
Pokedex: "No pokemon detected."
Luc is not only bad at both of those, but is even more poisonous than normal right now. Pass!
Linnea: "…I knew it!"
Sam Spade: "No pokemon - what does that mean!?"
Malta snatches Gem Jean out of the air and is able to give her a soft enough landing that nothing immediately seems broken.
Linnea: "It's exactly like I guessed before…!"
Sam Spade: "Come on! We have to get Jean the antidote!"
Linnea: "That creature is either Gem John…they're definitely -someone-. That's no pokemon!"
Esme: "What."
Linnea: "My 'dex couldn't detect anything!"
Esme takes an opportunity to scan Lucrece too, before that Trace wears off.
Linnea: "Even though it was right there in front of us…!"
Linnea: "But Sam's right, we have to get out of here."
Pokedex: "Porygon-Z. Its programming was modified to enable work in alien dimensions. It did not work as planned."
Esme: "Haha! True."
Esme: "Hmm."
Linnea: "Moving her normally would be bad in this condition…Mia, you'll have to help us this time!" [Telekinesis, if applicable]
Esme looks around. Did the other holdouts make it out okay?
Esme does get scan data for the crystalline infection. As suspected, it is transmitted via touch to sufficiently stone-like things.
Only the party and Gem Jean remain in the fort; Tim and Sands peer in from opposite sides of the gate. Miator is able to levitate Gem Jean with some effort.
Esme taps in and forwards a copy to Scale Mount. They've got the graveler, but more data doesn't hurt.
Esme: "If it makes you feel any better, the dex classifies it as the ability 'Crystal Plague'."
[OOC] WC GM: Esme: Pokemon Ed check.
Linnea: "That's supposed to make us feel better?"
Esme rolled up 2d6+1: 12 (5 6) (1 AP, What are Pokemon)
Pokedex: "Detecting signature of pokemon within ability. Analyzing…correlating…"
Esme: "Oh! Absolutely not. There's definitely some magic mixed in there. Not natural."
Pokedex: "Diancie. A sudden transformation of Carbink, its pink, glimmering body is said to be the loveliest sight in the whole world."
Esme: "…Yeah."
Linnea: "Wait."
It is about that time that Lucrece's exoskeleton fades away.
Linnea: "…What does this mean?"
Tim: "Hey in there! If you're alright, we'll guide these guys back to camp. Some of them look half-starved already."
Linnea: "By all means! The more help, the better…"
Tim: "Okay!" He and Sands run off, presumably toward where the evacuees have gathered.
Tim: "Just don't take too long! I don't want to have to come back for you!"
Linnea: "We've got our own reason to hurry, too…"
Linnea sighs.
Esme rubs her chin, pondering…then perks.
Esme: "Well…not to jump to any conclusions, but…"
Esme: "There's traces of alchemy, which is combining the essence of things together to make something different, and the pokedex detected Diancie within that weird ability Midas has."
Linnea: "…"
Esme: "There's also the whole Diamond Storm thing with the Gravelers, so…"
Linnea: "That, along with the golem earlier…"
Linnea: "Either Diancie is angry, or someone's manipulating them…"
Esme: "But who?"
Linnea: "Hell if I know."
[OOC] WC GM: So, carrying Gem Jean back, or trying to treat her here?
[OOC] Sam Spade: Is there any way for us to treat her here? Max and Linnea are the only ones who'd know.
[OOC] Linnea: Going to do some stabilization before levitating them back. Healing Pulse from Mia, along with trying to bandage the wounds - while wearing gloves, of course.
[OOC] Linnea: That's my thoughts.
[OOC] WC GM: No roll needed, though Healing Pulse does not purge the plague apparently.
[OOC] Linnea: It's fine, it was for the physical wound side of it.
Esme sprays the party with some Super Repel. Won't stop Midas, but should hopefully keep the smaller infected-mons from ambushing the party on the way back.
Linnea settles down some, as she turns her attention to Gem Jean. Snapping on a pair of gloves, she starts applying bandages to Gem Jean's various wounds while Mia stabilizes her further with healing pulses. "… This is all I can do in these circumstances. We need to get back as quickly as is safely."
[OOC] WC GM: Before I forget: +75 pokemon XP each for the Midas fight.
Midas does not return on the party's return trip. Another two swarms of crystal zombies are encountered, but the Super Repel keeps them at bay easily.
But as the party nears camp, zombie-like moans and groans sound from up ahead.
Linnea groans in a much more irritable fashion.
Esme: "Uhh."
Sam Spade: "No no no no no…."
Linnea thumps the sword into the ground. "Right! What's next in this cavalcade of nonsense, huh?!"
Evacuees: "Fooood." "Fooood!" "FOOOOD!" They are mobbing what appears to be a hastily set up lunch table. Tim and Sands have been roped into carrying trays between that and a nearby makeshift kitchen.
Linnea: "… … …"
Esme: "…mon dieu."
Linnea: "Yeah, what she said."
Esme: "I'll take it, though."
To be fair, the evacuees are marching about a bit zombie-like. They must have been hungrier than appeared. Even Gem Jean's stomach rumbles in Miator's telekinetic grip.
Linnea is definitely getting Jean to the center first - the Midas contact needs to be checked out and treated.
Nurse Joy is at the center, overseeing another batch of antidote construction. She looks up at the party's approach, then wordlessly snatches another red container and tosses it to the party - carefully not in Gem Jean's direction.
Nurse Joy: "Please heal her quickly." Joy's hands ball into fists. She trembles a bit as she scowls.
Sam Spade gives Linnea any assistance she can.
Nurse Joy: "Just pour it in, make sure she swallows, and get most of it on her teeth as it goes in."
Linnea catches the bottle, and sets about getting Jean to a more stable location to start treatment, and to administer the antidote.
Esme: "Has there been any history of Diancie in this region, Joy?"
It is easy enough to administer, though it takes a short time to take effect.
Nurse Joy fixes her scowl upon Gem Jean. "Yeah. There've been reports from the lower levels, but nothing concrete. Why?"
Sam Spade: "Because the pokedex says that the 'Crystal Plague' has elements from Diancie."
Nurse Joy: "If you want to check them out, Jen should have the files - once she's done feeding our guests."
Gem Jean begins to flex, carefully. "Phew. THANK you!"
Linnea: "Don't worry about it, eh?"
Linnea: "It's not like we were gonna leave you in the jaws of that thing."
Linnea: "Though, really, what the hell were you thinking?"
Linnea: "Hey, don't go and touch the thing! Don't get it melee range! Then swings a bloody pickaxe at it."
Nurse Joy: "All better now?"
Gem Jean: "Yes, wh-"
Nurse Joy marches up and SLAPS Gem Jean hard! "YOU!" And a second time with her backhand. "IDIOT!" Then punches her through one of the pokecenter's flimsy walls.
Linnea: "HEY!"
Linnea: "C-can you not? I still need to treat them!"
Max Thorn , in the meantime, has gone down to the pump with the lodestone he obtained while in town.
Max Thorn rolled up 6d6: 14 (4 3 1 3 2 1) (Tech Ed to fix up the pump.)
Linnea: "…is this entire underground full of idiots?"
Nurse Joy at least uses the door, but storms out to stand over Gem Jean. "Do you have ANY IDEA how many people are DEAD because you wouldn't evacuate?!?"
Linnea: "Gods, can we worry about that later?!"
Linnea: "Shut up and back off, or I'll have to restrain you! And you sure as hell won't like it!"
It takes a bit of tinkering, but fortunately the lodestone was already shaped to be put into something like this, and Max is able to get the pump working again. Though, how there is water under the mountain to pump up is not immediately evident.
Nurse Joy's angry gaze whirls upon Linnea. "You haven't seen the corpses! You didn't have to tell the survivors their families were gone! You…" Her anger cracks, and tears well up. "You…didn't have to…"
Sam Spade hugs Joy really tight.
Sam Spade: "We know, Joy. We know."
Joy begins blubbering incoherently into Sam's chest.
Sam Spade: "Linnea just wants to make sure you don't kill Jean."
Linnea: "So… come on, you don't want another corpse or someone permanently injured…"
Sam Spade: "Linnea, focus on Jean."
Linnea sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose.
Linnea: "Yeah, yeah…"
Gem Jean shakily stands up. "I-I'll be…" She coughs. "…fine. Had worse."
Sam Spade is still holding Joy, just in case.
Sam Spade: "Why didn't you evacuate?"
Joy is hugging Sam tight, like a rock in a storm.
Linnea stares flatly at her. "You're at least getting sufficient rest such that you can stand and walk properly, first. I could also restrain you, too."
Linnea: "I'm not gonna take any argument."
Gem Jean: "'Cause I was waiting on my brother." Leaning on her oversized pickaxe, she smiles at Linnea. "Hey, kid. You swung that sword well."
Linnea: "It's funny what you can do when lives depend on it."
Linnea: "Have you fought off Midas with that thing before?"
Sam Spade: "When was the last time you saw your brother?"
Max Thorn heads back into the camp. "Pump's working again."
Gem Jean: "Just my pickaxe. That sword was a gift from my brother. You can keep it while you're in town…so to speak. Just don't take it with you when you head off to the next town."
Linnea: "I was gonna ask. I would have been fine if I just returned it to you know, but with that…I get the feeling I should keep it at hand."
Linnea: "…Plus, it makes me feel like a badass."
Gem Jean: "My brother was going to investigate those rumors of a Diancie. Just after he gave me that; he'd found it down below."
Sam Spade: "You are a sexy badass, Linnea."
Sam Spade blinks.
Linnea: "I-"
Sam Spade: "That was before Midas first appeared?"
Linnea: "…well, OBVIOUSLY."
Linnea laughs quietly.
Gem Jean nods. "Just before."
Linnea: "…That's weird."
Gem Jean: "I know, I know. He was probably Midas's first victim. But I can't let myself believe that, not without proof."
Linnea: "But it makes sense…"
Esme: "Highly coincidental."
Linnea: "When I tried scanning it, the 'dex said there was no Pokemon."
Sam Spade: "Yeah…"
Sam Spade sighs.
Linnea: "So my original statement might be closer to the truth than I first thought."
Sam Spade: "Yeah."
Esme: "How'd he go down? Take the old service lift?"
Gem Jean: "Yeah. Down to near where th-"
Gem Jean freezes up, her eyes going wide and her jaw dropping.
Sam Spade: "Jean?"
Linnea: "Hey, you with us?"
Behind the party, Officer Jenny approaches with a laden plate of food. "There you are! That kid, Tim, said you'd be over here."
Gem Jean: "J…J…J…You're DEAD! I BURIED you!"
Sam Spade looks at Officer Jenny, hesitates for a second. Then pulls up her Pokedex.
Linnea: "(Clearly not well enough.)"
Pokedex: "Diancie. A sudden transformation of Carbink, its pink, glimmering body is said to be the loveliest sight in the whole world."
Linnea: "WHAT."
Nurse Joy double-takes.
Officer Jenny pouts. "I forgot about those…"
Sam Spade: "Diancie."
Nurse Joy: "Jen?!? B…but…"
Linnea looks on in utter astonishment for a few moments, then narrows her eyes. "With all due respect, I have many, many questions."
Max Thorn: "I…think we all do."
Officer Jenny sighs and closes her eyes. "Fine, fine, I suppose I'm making it a bit awkward." Her skin shimmers and fades, becoming dark grey rock.
Sam Spade hesitates.
When the one dressed as a cop opens her eyes again, they are like red rubies. "Better?"
Linnea: "Kinda unnerving."
Sam Spade: "A little."
Linnea: "But, sure."
Officer Diancie: "I took my form from your memories because you had been through enough already."
Sam Spade is still holding Joy tight, though not as tight given one hand is holding her pokedex.
Joy is still clinging to Sam, right now in confusion as much as in despair.
Diancie grins lopsidedly. "Sorry? And sorry for wasting your antidotes, but since no one was in danger by the time you applied it to me…"
Sam Spade: "I'd wondered about that."
Esme: "Hrmm…"
Nurse Joy: "But…but…we k-kissed! A-and…" She blushes. "All that…an illusion?"
Officer Diancie: "You needed comforting. I wanted to make it right."
Sam Spade hesitates.
Sam Spade: "I don't know if you managed at that latter, Diancie."
Linnea: "…Our minds work on different levels, sometimes. Sadly."
Sam Spade: "How…what…"
Sam Spade: "…Is the Onix we call Midas the same as the human we call Gem John?"
Officer Diancie: "At least let me do this." She offers her plate of food to Gem Jean - who angrily bashes it aside, only to realize what she did a moment later and pounce on the now-grounded food, nomming quickly.
Sam Spade keeps her snicker inaudible.
Officer Diancie: "'Midas' is…hmm…well, your Gem John is part of that thing, yes. Only the living core, though, with far less control than I'd intended."
Sam Spade: "Ah."
Linnea: "Well."
Linnea: "…Wait, what?"
Officer Diancie: "Now. Let me ask you a question."
Linnea: "So, his soul is stuck in that thing?"
Linnea: "…Alright, go ahead."
Diancie points at Linnea. "Am I going to have to arrest you for grand theft?"
Diancie pauses. "…this disguise is getting to me."
Linnea keeps her expression neutral. "Y'got the evidence for-"
Linnea: "…"
Linnea: "…is this your sword?"
Officer Diancie: "That sword is my Heart Diamond."
Linnea pales considerably. "I'm not gonna hang on t'something as important as that without your say so, then."
Linnea: "By all means, take it back."
Sam Spade: "Is that why you did whatever-it-was to Gem John?"
Sam Spade: "Or were the two of you trying to do something?"
Sam Spade: "…No, you said he had a lot less control than you'd intended, so it wasn't that."
Diancie shakes her head. "It is cursed, as Gem John is. Right now, if I were to touch it…the best that COULD happen is that it would phase right through me. If you can carry it, I'd rather not test worse possible fates."
Linnea: "… Wait. If I -can- carry it?"
Esme: "That's ominous!"
Linnea: "What the hell bullet did I just dodge? Or take, for that matter…"
Officer Diancie: "You are carrying it right now, are you not?"
Linnea: "Yeah, I-"
Linnea: "Right, explain."
Officer Diancie: "Your soul did not implode, did it? You do not seem to have been changed into one of the mindless."
Linnea: "…"
Linnea takes a moment to sit down.
Officer Diancie: "And the mountain is still here; it did not explode like one of…what is the word, your extremely destructive weapons…'new clear'?"
Linnea: "…Nope."
Linnea: "I uh."
Linnea: "Jeez."
Sam Spade: "So Gem John is the living core of Midas?"
Diancie smiles. "So. Can we settle for, 'I would rather not take the risk if you can return it', please?"
Esme: "And that sword implodes souls?"
Sam Spade frowns.
Linnea: "Uh. Yeah."
Diancie smiles. "Or explodes mountains. It's my first! I'm not that familiar with them!"
Sam Spade: "And 'if you can return it…' To the heart of the mountain, I assume?"
Max Thorn: "…"
Linnea: "Whhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhere am I returning this…thing?"
Linnea: "I feel distinctly uncomfortable with something of that power."
Esme: "…Lemme see it."
Max Thorn: "Well, uh. I guess we find the mountain's core and put the sword back?"
Officer Diancie: "To where Gem John stole it from, obviously. Or…well…where it used to be; we'll have to reconstruct that place."
Linnea: "Wouldn't be the first time I've done some mystic reconstruction."
Sam Spade: "Well."
Diancie nods to Sam. "And yes, 'living core' is as good a description as any for Gem John's current role."
Sam Spade: "So if we can extract Gem John from Midas, what will happen to the rest of it?"
Officer Diancie: "It should return to me."
Esme: "…and to Gem John?"
Officer Diancie: "He should return to the shape of a human."
Linnea: "That's convenient."
Officer Diancie: "…temporarily. What happens after that is up to him, his form, and what damage his soul has taken."
Linnea: "Bah."
Linnea: "I'm not as good at fixing souls."
Esme: "…Yeah."
Sam Spade: "Oh, dear."
Sam Spade: "….Ah, how temporarily?"
Esme: "Me either. I've only worked with two, and one turned out to be a Rotom already."
Diancie shrugs. "He'll probably be fine, if bruised. I mean, I doubt he can have encountered anyone who could poison or burn him in this mountain."
Esme coughs.
Max Thorn: "…Well, I guess in some way he'd fall within Shaymin's purview, at least with regards to rejuvenation, so I might be able to do something with that."
Sam Spade coughs as well.
Esme: "Right so…Sword! Down in the mountain. I know where the elevator is!"
Officer Diancie: "Oh, could y-" She glances at Esme and Sam. "…what?"
Linnea: "Nothin' I can't fix."
Sam Spade: "I don't think I really burned him much."
Sam Spade: "….But."
Officer Diancie: "…oh dear. And the curse won't let him faint or die."
Max Thorn: "If anyone could poison a pokemon through Steel type, it'd be Esmé."
Esme winces.
Linnea: "Well, he's gonna be pretty angry then."
Esme: "It's…not impossible that he shrugged off an experimental technotoxin?"
Linnea figures that was a very charitable way of putting it, but.
Diancie looks to Max. "He's going to be pretty damaged. You'll have your work cut out for you."
Officer Diancie: "We should make sure you are near him when we end the curse."
Sam Spade: "…Yeah."
Max Thorn: "Indeed. And the sooner we can manage it, the better."
Sam Spade: "So the plan is we get down to the heart of the mountain, reconstruct the area around the sword, get Midas to chase us there, and return the sword?"
Esme: "At least we have a plan, for once."
Nurse Joy: "Umm…I think…there miiight be another wrinkle…"
Linnea: "Yeah, what's that?"
Joy finally manages to wean herself off Sam's support, standing up on her own.
Nurse Joy: "Given the timing - Gem John was going to widen the, ah, 'aquifer' so we could continue to draw water. You're saying some rock went missing?"
Sam Spade: "Yeah. The lodestone?"
Officer Diancie: "That's right! Where the mount was, is now just empty space…and water."
Linnea: "…Empty space?"
Nurse Joy: "…if you just undo it, we'd be cut off from our water source."
Max Thorn pinches the bridge of his nose.
Max Thorn: "How rapidly can you construct a cistern?"
Nurse Joy: "At least the service elevator - which parallels the shaft - should take you right there."
Nurse Joy: "It's not how fast, but where. The place the cistern WAS constructed, is…" She points to the sword. "…where that needs to be."
Sam Spade: "Oh no."
Max's pokedex pings, with a message from Scale Mount. "Analysis quarantine breached. Zombie outbreak contained for now."
Max Thorn mutters something unprintable.
Max Thorn: "So we need /another/ cistern."
Officer Diancie: "You have lived here for a long time. Where did you get water before?"
Max Thorn: "Oh. And the analysis quarantine was breached. Fortunately-and I use that word advisedly-they were able to contain the resultant zombie outbreak."
Linnea: "Great. So actually catching that thing unleashed a world of shit?"
Nurse Joy: "That source? Diverted to…'headquarters'."
Linnea: "What are we gonna do about that?"
Officer Diancie: "Headquarters? I do not know that word."
Officer Diancie: "But can you not undivert it?"
Sam Spade: "…As in…"
Nurse Joy: "Not without…trouble. Only those sanctioned by Team Jaeger could do it."
Sam Spade: "Tim?"
Linnea: "Go twist their arms, Tim."
Sam Spade: "Or…a pokemon team with sufficient badges?"
Tim is not in earshot.
Nurse Joy smirks. "Yeah, maybe. I mean, technically just someone with nine badges would have the authority. But where're you going to find someone like THAT these days?"
Sam Spade: "We have ten?"
Sam Spade: "Yeah, ten."
Nurse Joy: "Heh. Ha! Thanks, but this is no joking matter. I mean, it's automated so if you could show them to the dam it'd give you control, but…"
Sam Spade: "Oh, so we don't have to go anywhere?"
Sam Spade flips open her pokedex case.
Nurse Joy: "…"
Max Thorn flips open his case, too.
Sam Spade: "Eight, nine, ten."
Gem Jean looks up. Her jaw drops, letting out the sandwich bite she had in it. She instinctively grabs it, stuffs it back in, and fingers her jaw shut.
Sam Spade: "How do we get to the dam, and should we do that before or after we go to the cistern to break the plague?"
Nurse Joy: "Uh…uh…" She BLINKS. "Wellll!" And smiles. "The service elevator has a few stops; you'll want the two on the bottom. The second from the bottom should have a tunnel leading you straight to the dam. The bottom is the 'new' cistern."
Nurse Joy: "So…hmm…"
Officer Diancie: "Might I suggest the bottom first? If you undivert the dam, the cave where my Heart Diamond should go will be flooded. We should block it off, and return my stone, before that can happen. Besides…" She locks eyes with Joy. "…this place can go without water for a short time, can it not?"
Max Thorn: "So that solves the water problem. I'm thinking…Esmé and myself to the new cistern, Lin and Sam to the dam? Unless Lin's needed for this project too…?"
Max Thorn: "And we set it up so that the dam portion proceeds only on a signal from the cistern team."
Joy pauses for a moment, then looks away blushing. "You…still look kind of like her…"
Sam Spade eyes Diancie and Joy.
Linnea: "I'll go wherever I'm needed."
Sam Spade: "Well, we need to make sure that Midas follows you guys and not us."
Officer Diancie: "I would feel more comfortable if you all would accompany me. I would prefer to have my eye on all of you, when we go to my chambers."
Joy blushes further.
Linnea: "…Sure."
Max Thorn: "Okay."
Sam Spade: "Do you want to come with us, Joy?"
Sam Spade is glancing from Joy to Diancie.
Nurse Joy: "…n…no." She is unable to look anyone in the eye right now. "I need to stay here…just in case."
Sam Spade: "Okay."
Sam Spade: "…Probably for the best."
Max Thorn: "Well, in that case, let's proceed."
Max Thorn heads to the elevator.
Gem Jean: "Yes, let-"
Nurse Joy places a strong hand on Gem Jean's shoulder, stopping her. A subtle aura of anger and menace surrounds Joy.
Gem Jean: "What?"
Max Thorn: "I don't think you get to come along on this one. Call it a hunch."
Nurse Joy: "The rest of you go on ahead. I have to treat a severe case of life-endangering idiocy."
Linnea: "Don't beat up my patient."
Gem Jean gulps.
Linnea: "Or you'll have me to answer to."
Nurse Joy smiles a cruel smile. "Oh, don't worry. She'll LIVE. Heh, heheh, oh she WILL survive…"
Linnea: "Don't torture my patient, either."
Gem Jean squeaks.
Max Thorn: "Please ensure she's in the same condition she was in when we go down, thanks."
Nurse Joy: "She'll be in better condition, don't worry."
Max Thorn: "If my hunch regarding Shaymin's gift is correct, I really don't want to spend it on two people in the same place on the same day."
Joy tilts her head, closes her eyes, and smiles. The light gleams off her teeth.
Linnea sighs and shakes her head.
Max Thorn: "And if it's /not/ correct, well…then I'm just going to be…irritated."
Max Thorn: "Anyway…"
Officer Diancie: "Could you tell me about this gift on the way?"
Max Thorn: "Um. Sure? I'm not entirely certain I have my facts straight, though."
Officer Diancie: "As best you can. My Heart Diamond is a vessel. I…may have a request, once we are done, if you can fulfill it."

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