villainy commenced [[1x1 w/ the-nug-king & hexspecs!]]

[grey matter]

"You should roll first. If you plan on staying in the same spot, just ask if it's evens or odds then move one tile over if it's odds," Lazarus said.

The Platform was already on it though, and had prepared the answer of "Even."

"Oh, well, nevermind."

[[eh just get an answer of even or odd, i gotcha covered]

[the-nug-king]

((omg i rolled for them and they both got a 1))

"So now we roll again, right? Platform what do we get?"

"Player 8 rolls... 1. Player 9 rolls... 1."

"What? Oh this is ridiculous!" Aurion hissed. "I use my powers of mind domination to take control of Cazenar's body and command he follow me to the ballroom."

"Wait, really? That's where I was going to kidnap you to!"

"But I'm doing it with far more style! Now be silent, prisoner!"

[grey matter]

"I'M GOING NOW," Lucdust spelled as they rolled a number that allowed them to move into the courtyard.

Lazarus rolled an evens just to stay perched atop the mezzanine, Lucas soon rolling to join him.

"I greet you," Lucas said, initiating an interaction.

"And hello I say back. I also say... 'Oh, it sure is boring looking from atop here, just watching water flood and rain waters drip... It would be much more fun with a science fun fact or something."

Lucas pondered this for a moment, debating over whether or not a reaper of lives would know any science. Life science? Oh, yes. His mind quickly searched for and then blurted out the first life science fact it could think of. "Well, I'd be happy to oblige... Um... All water has been used before, and almost all water has passed through another being... more specifically, prehistoric creatures such as dinosaurs."

Lazarus was silent a moment before responding, still in character. "You mean to tell me - all that water out there, and all that water down there, is all just... dinosaur excreta?" He stifled a laugh. "This is worse than the fact that coprolites exist!"

Meanwhile, Bon Voidage was laughing it up over Lucas's horrible choice of fact as he realized his choice of fact was such. "Wait- don't take this weirdly or anything. How I've managed to invoke three water-related substances is beyond me! And- no, it's been cleaned since!" he attempted to cover up the horrible mistake he had made.

Lazarus was laughing at Lucas's utter embarrassment at his own words, and, haha, funny topic.

"Lazarus, please stop laughing, you're making a fool of yourself!"

"You're the one whose made a fool of himself, you- you picked the least serious science fact! Even if it was intentional, your embarrassment combined with the subject - that's hilarious!"

"This is really immature!"

"You've laughed at this sort of stuff before, Lucas, don't lie to me."

"I wouldn't, this is slightly funny but it is way more immature and not as funny as you're making it seem!"

"Voidage is laughing too, and, besides, you admit it's funny!"

"KEEP EMBARRASSING HIM, YOU'RE GIVING ME MORE POWER!!" Lucdust typed AND spelled for effect.

"...Wait, was this indirectly inspired by my sub-goal?" DVS said, pondering as this disaster was happening.

"Hold on a second, I think I might just use my turn to do a double-reveal-sacrifice-gambit, and I think I'll be accusing you of being the God of Water-Related Substances."

"That isn't even a card!"

"It is now," the Platform chirped. "For future reference."

"I'm still going to waste my accusation and gambit on this. Maybe. Maybe not. But probably just to embarrass you."

Lazarus watched as Lucas's expression went through the turmoil of having the God of Water-Related Substances be a character. Hopefully it'd never come up again. He had to strategize what he would do now that Lazarus was making the double-unmasking gambit. He could let that happen... it might just make things a bit harder for him.

[[Just realized all this water buildup was a great lead-in to y'know's momentary appearance.]]

[the-nug-king]

"As much as I hate to interupt such an amusing conversation to you all, I'm sorry to tell you that's not entirely accurate," said Three. "Well, sorry to extend this interaction, in any case. I am, however, very pleased that DarkBoard, not to mention the school's Soft Sci-Fi labs, are able to create entirely original, unused water."

"Fantasy can also do that," said Aurion. "Far quicker than Science Fiction can."

"Okay, actually fun fact," Scorpius announced. "All the water in Gotham's been used in a supervillain's scheme, or infected with shark repellant, at some point. Even if someone does create new unused water, it ends up getting used in a scheme." Ze sighed. "Gotham's a really bad city."

[grey matter]

"Well... all water cycle water is, then!" Lazarus sharply deflected. "Probably! Depending on your universe."

"...that was a really universe-specific fun fact," Lucas realized, feeling a little embarassed. "Geez, when science works so differently... science fun facts are hard. But that is also pretty interesting..."

"Scheme water sounds like a brand that would taste vaguely off but otherwise good. Now I want to generate some scheme water... oh, wait, my water is... probably original too? I don't even know," Bon Voidage gave a quick shrug.

Lazarus gasped. "Not my good wat- Wait. That can be checked momentarily. I still want to unmask myself and Lucas for the fun of it. Platform- register this, please. Lucas, on three. I am forcing you into this. We're doing cross-removal, so I flip your character card, you flip mine, we switch cards with masks on-board."

"Fine."

"One... two..."

The two did what Lazarus said they would, and The Phoenix and The Reaper were revealed.

"Darn it," Lucas said. "Well, since we did that form that counts as me drawing my first blood of the night, now I've got to kill everyone otherwise it'd be too awkward."

"You what now?"

"But you're basically immortal... so, to keep you in half-dead, half-alive state of reviving but also not, we're holding hands. It's either this or no touching until the game is over," Lucas said, taking Lazarus's hand.

"...You drive a hard bargain. I'll figure out another way to make you lose... but now we move as a unit, so the extra spaces may be worth the whole half-dead thing."

"Not to interrupt, but is it just me or is it weird that nobody questions why that case of water bottles is rumbling around. I think Lucas irritated the water with universe-specific science facts," DVS said.

"Not my good water!" Lazarus exclaimed, standing up and turning around to look at the case of water bottles, which were rumbling around a bit.

"The hand-holding thing still applies."

"Fine, but we're checking on my waters."

The two would go and check on the case... which would soon quietly and gracefully have all the water spouting out of it, before forming... the silhouette of Lazarus.

"hey, sorry i'm late to the party. i was dormant for a little and also kinda caught in a water cycle but then i realized our memories were in the same place if i just got out of the water bottles," the entity spelled in a similar manner to Lucdust. "nice to meet everyone in person. especially you, sugar-dust."

"OH MY GOSH I AM ALREADY BEING FLIRTED WITH I WASN'T EXPECTING THIS. SOMEONE PUT A DEBUFF ON LUCAS FOR HIS SCIENCE FACTS I FEEL WEAKENED???" Lucdust spelled in reply.

"-1 to all interaction rolls," the Platform said.

Lucas facepalmed with his free hand.

"Can someone explain this?" DVS asked.

"Okay, weird story," Lazarus started out. "I messed with the weather and got snow. Built a snow-person. Snow made me happy. Minus the spinning, but, y'know. Anyways, I ended up with a sentient and moving snow-Lazarus, but snow-Lazarus eventually evaporated after telling me they would, so anyways we changed their name to Liquidzarus because... well, it was the best pun I had other than Snowclone Lazarus, and they feed off my positive emotions. It's an Inamonth thing, probably."

"Oh my gosh, Lazarus made Frosty the Snowman all over again," Bon Voidage said.

"Who?"

"Wait- wait, does this explain the dust Lucas? Also, what spinning?" DVS asked.

"Similar story, but different," Lucas said. "And they feed off negative emotions. Like my slight disappointment at that debuff. And the spinning... that's another story entirely."

"LIQUIDZARUS(? AM I SPELLING THAT RIGHT) SHOULD JOIN US. ONE OF YOU MAGIC PEOPLE, CAST A SUMMONING SPELL NEXT TURN, YOU CAN PROBABLY SUMMON THEM A SOMETHING OR OTHER." Lucdust spelled.

"yeah, you spelled that right! （＾ｖ＾）"

"GOOD."

"Uh... ending our turn and that interaction," Lucas said, realizing the game was still going on.
[[Liquidzarus appears!]]

[the-nug-king]

Morgan gurgled at the appearance of Liquidzarus, reaching out a hand to try and grab them.

"Morgan, no, we don't grab people we don't know without asking, unless we're fighting them, or in a high-stakes situation where there isn't time to ask for consent. Hello, Liquidzarus. I am Three, and this is Morgan. I apologise on their behalf, they're very young and still learning the basics of human interaction, but I believe they are excited to meet you."

"Uh, yeah, hi Liquidzarus. I'm Scorpius. So how do I get a cool elemental clone? Wait, nevermind, mine would probably just be made of scorpions."

"I do not believe there is any universe or dimension in which scorpions is an element."

"And I'm Cazenar. Which you know already, right? If you're him," Cazenar pointed to Lazarus. "And, with you being him and everything, I believe that makes you my minion."

"My minion, for the rest of this week, in fact. Greetings, pitiful water being. I am your commander, Aurion Malisar Umbrator, Scourge of the Universe, Bane of Virture, the Shadow that Swallows the Light."

Three smirked. "And half your minions have obscured facial features. Congratulations, Aurion. You're making excellent progress on getting a faceless horde."

Aurion narrowed his eyes. "I prefered it before you started making expressions. I could pretend you weren't being sarcastic."

"You could, if you wanted to look stupid, yes."

"Even I have to make sacrifices sometimes. I don't want Cazenar getting too intimidated by my superior intellect. He still doesn't believe you have a sense of humour."

Cazenar gave a mocking sneer. "Please, I lie and insult people all the time. Everyone knows that." He leaned over to hiss in Scorpius' ear, "Three has a sense of humour??"

"In any case, I believe it is my turn. Hmm. I may be able to add Liquidzarus. I think that would depend on how well I rolled. Would you like me to try, Liquidzarus?"

[grey matter]

"THE CRITERIA FOR INAMONTH DOING THE THING WITH THE CLONES MADE OF SUBSTANCE (NOT NECESSARILY ELEMENTAL BUT MAYBE):
* MAKING/DESTROYING/ALTERING A SUBSTANCE, WITH EMOTION (CAN BE NEGATIVE OR POSITIVE OR WHO KNOWS WHAT; PROBABLY LEADS TO CLONE ENTITIY FEEDING OFF THOSE EMOTIONS)
* A CONNECTION TO INAMONTH
* INAMONTH FINDS YOU INTERESTING/DEVELOPED ENOUGH(?)
* SO FAR IT'S ONLY PEOPLE WHOSE NAMES START WITH L THOUGH I CAN'T BE SURE
* (NEITHER CAN LUCAS SO DON'T ASK HIM EITHER)
* ALSO YOUR SMIRK IS GOOD THREE" Lucdust spelled out a nice bulleted list.

" <<<-------- seconded!~" Liquidzarus spelled, pointing to Lucdust's list. "lazarus also won't know unless he goes into some certain archives, hahah. not to imply i know because i don't but i am aware of cool definition archives and i want to know what the heck i am too."

"Could scorpions be an element?" DVS asked, genuinely concerned by the thought of scorpion-bending.

"i dunno, maybe! but like, it might be a little too big by inamonth standards. we haven't had anything made of living substances become a clone being before (not saying it couldn't happen. there is just. 0 knowledge we might have to definition-hunt sometime. also, yes, you can, try for that, and morgan is allowed to touch me if they want, i'll try to reign the drippiness. y'know, maybe try to condense myself a little. i'll probably be cold but rest assured i am not going to kick in anyone's allergies like lucdust might with some of the stuff that goes into a dust that is almost definitely just filth."

"I AM JUST DUST. THAT COULD BE ANY DUST. I CAN CONDENSE MYSELF TOO YOU PUDDLE. I CAN BE MORE SOLID IF I WANT TO! DUST =/= FILTH YOU DIPDOOP, I JUST UTILIZE FILTH-DUST WHEN NECESSARY. I CAN EASILY SWITCH DUST TYPES/CLEALINESS AND I DO ON A FREQUENT BASIS, SWITCHING OUT MY DUST OFTEN."

"the fresh heck's a dipdoop? also sorry- lacked knowledge, that makes a lot more sense."

Bon Voidage was snickering at this, the phrase "the fresh heck's a dipdoop" now going to be ingrained in her mind for at least a while.

"YOU'RE FORGIVEN. ANYWAYS, THAT'S AN INSULT LUCAS MADE UP WITH HIS MIND IN A BOUT OF SELF-CENSORSHIP. IT HAS A GOOD MIND-FEEL YOU SHOULD THINK IT SOMETIME."

"noted!"

Lucas adjusted his glasses a bit. "Please don't make mention of the phrase 'dipdoop' ever again?"

"...I'LL HOLD OFF FOR THE DURATION OF THIS GAME."

"Thank you."

Lazarus was looking at Lucas in awe. "You made that one up? What's it mean?"

"Synonym of... dunderhead?"

"Neat. Now I have to make up some words to combat that..." Lazarus said, smiling somewhat maliciously. "Just you wait..."

"...I'm fairly certain anything could easily combat dipdoop."

"No, the "ip" and the "oop" paired with the "d" sounds... that's some powerful stuff. Just... give me a moment." Lazarus started quietly pondering dipdoop comebacks.

[the-nug-king]

Aurion sighed, shaking his head. "I'm going to have to teach you all some real insults, I see. Perhaps it was foolish to expect my minions to live up to me."

Three moved slightly closer to Liquidzarus, letting Morgan reach out to touch them. They squealed, pulling their hand back. "Hmm. Were you unprepared for the wetness there, Morgan? Liquidzarus is made out of liquid, which is a fluid state of matter and likely to always be wet, I'm afraid."

"You know they don't understand you, right?" said Scorpius. "...They don't understand right?"

Three ignored zir, turning back to Luquidzarus. "Thank you, Liquidzarus. Um, Platform, would you mind moving me the required amount? I have nowhere in particular I wish to go, but I would like to be in a free space. Morgan and I will then... attempt to summon a mask for Liquidzarus to play as, as player 11?"

"Natural 20."

"Mmm. Good. Welcome to the game, Liquidzarus."

[grey matter]

"Please don't think I was actually going to say that word out loud ever unless Lucdust brought it up," Lucas said, trying to defend himself. Was the world out to embarrass him right now?

"ACCEPT YOUR FATE AND FACE YOUR INNER DEMONS!!!!" Lucdust spelled.

Lazarus scoffed. "I know real insults! More than Lucas! I just like neologisms! I know plenty of archaic insults and- did you not hear our banter? Our banter is exquisite, and... well, that's that!"

"yay, i'm in the game! when do i take my turn?" Liquidzarus spelled amidst this insult chatter.

"After player... 9, unless 10 decides to do any rolling," the Platform said.

"affirmative!"

Bon Voidage cracked her knuckles. "Alright, Platform, odds or evens?"

"Evens."

"Alright. Initiating interaction with Scorpius so ze gets kind of a say in it... With my equipment charged, I'll do this revealing because the goal requires it...." She flipped over both of her cards, revealing The Reanimator and the goal of Haunt, "and now I use my equipment to get myself into the half-alive state with something that should technically that allows me to get my haunting bonus by means of electricity that would normally revive but it's also in water but it's also definitely for reviving, and now I just have to watch the points rack up... oh, also, your ferret should probably roll for if they're still alive, Scorpius, because I have no idea how this is actually supposed to play out, but if you don't feel like it, you can also be stuck here in half-alive-ness with me. Oh, and if anyone's on any tiles that are touching the water, I think you should also be effected? Geez, this is probably so incorrect to actual reanimation... Quick, Platform, before anyone objects to this, can I do this?"

[[Bon Voidage's gambit revealed!]]

[the-nug-king]

"Yeah, my minion's far better at insults than yours," said Cazenar.

"He's still mine at the moment!"

Scorpius stared at Bon Voidage aghast. "What?? You can't kill my ferret! You can't just kill a poor, defenceless animal like that!"

"Aren't you technically a shapechanger in ferret form?" said Three.

"No! I've been a ferret too long now, I don't want to go back."

"I'm... not certain that's how that works."

"I don't care! Someone stop her killing my ferret! Or half killing my ferret!"

"You could make that roll."

"But what if I fail??"