Two turns...three...now.

I gave a few warning beats as a warning that hey sans maybe put me down now because this usually sets things on fire, and then rematerialized, standing a bit in front of him.

I glanced around and saw that the Guilts were gone, which obviously meant that everyone was dogpiling Resentment now. Relying on RNG. Always fun. The little can with my sheet reappeared around my wrist where it was supposed to be, and, remembering I'd overheard something about one of my attacks, checked to see what had changed.

No charging. Damn it.

I sat down, moping, hand against cheek.

"........I don't know, smack him, I guess? I'm starting to realize my movepool sucks."

Gon, finding the way down to the floor (Especially if you're puny size)

The assassin approached Spyro and tried to get its full attention by tapping on one of its legs.

"Hey." Gon spoke to it. "Can you give me a hand here? I need to get down to the library's floor."

Eve|Mindscape|YOU GET SOME SELF-LOATHING! YOU GET SOME SELF-LOATHING! EVERYBODY GETS SOME SELF-LOATHING!

So by strengthening Friendship, they could weaken Resentment? It was probably better that she didn't say anything. That only seemed to end in disaster. Eve braced herself to attack. When it failed, she couldn't even muster surprise. It just seemed inevitable, now. But she'd keep on trying, because ... because ... because... because he was annoying. And she was stubborn.

"...keep regeneration, and nanocutters at Resentment."

Arcade could barely hold back the barrage of questions he had for Morty. He wanted to know what was happening to Eve so badly, but Morty clearly needed help. When Cole put the hat down he took the chance to place a consoling hand on Morty's shoulder.

"Whatever was attacking you before is gone," he said, "even if it isn't, we're here now, and we aren't about to let anything attack you, right Cole?" He looked up at the toddler then turned back to Morty, "but what is going on in Silanea's mind? Does anyone in there need help?"

Library

That woman just made a giant tomato appear out of nowhere with a sword. Caboose decided that this made Tucker's sword look really weak, which made sense because Tucker was using it. He wondered what this tomato sword was a key to, as all swords are keys. He still felt a bit of camaraderie with the marine toy for being a fellow gun user, though. Speaking of guns, Freckles had adjusted his targeting systems a bit based on the information that combat in the library wouldn't work.

He raised Freckles towards Vambre in approval of her weapon, and then pulled the trigger. Thank god for Freckles, or else it would have been bullets instead of confetti that came out. It was just like one of those little confetti poppers. "That sword is neat," he said.

When Astolfo asked about the other self-proclaimed heroes, Caboose said "I met this kid named Ben and he's a knight! He's in charge of a bunch of other knights and has a thing that lets him bring them to him." What Caboose hadn't fully verbalized was his belief that Ben was more of a smart leader than a fighter, and that the omnitrix didn't turn Ben into an alien but rather made him switch places with one of his knights.

"... I don't often hear someone admit that they're self proclaiming as a hero. Most of them have too much of an ego for that" the Miss Tairee in the base muttered, then nodded. "Anyway, yes. Probably most notably is Ben Tennyson, and his hero group he's tried to make called the City Knights. But there's others who aren't in the group; more than I'd care to try listing off the bat" the librarian explained.

"Now did any of you need anything else?" Miss Tairee then asked the people gathered there.

Cole just looked on a little awkwardly, glancing around a bit, before hesitantly reaching out, hand still for a second, before he finally, extremely gently and carefully, tried to pat Morty on the head, like he were a worried puppy that just needed reassurance. "I can protect you now, I'm...bigger than most things today. I might be smaller than I was but I'm...still able to fight, if I have to."

He drew his hand back after just a couple of the most cautious head pats he could manage, before offering his hat again. "I can carry you back inside, maybe I can find a cushion to put on the floor so you could have something to lay on and be comfortable?"

"Nope, nope. That is all for now. Thank you very much for your aid, good librarian. Here, a gift from me to you! Don't spend it all in one place now, dearie." Hefting the giant (to them) tomato up and then depositing it near Ms. Tairee, the adventuress then flashed a thumbs up towards the spacefarer. "Thanks! I have a lot more swords tucked away and I'll be using them in the near future so you can see how wonderful my collection is!"

Outside the library

The moment Garrett heard Makoto shout "Flash bomb!", he knew what this meant. He instinctively turned his eyes away from Anat to avoid being blinded. Hearing the robot rushing towards him, he drew and tossed a flash bomb of his own towards the general direction of Anat, then turned and ran towards the library as well.

"Yeah yeah, I'm fine," Reigen said, grinning to Makoto as he brought his hand down. "I've had worse happen, all things considered. A small bump on the head won't keep me down." He let go of her, swaying on the spot as he regained his balance.

"Could've been worse, at least. I'm good with taking a couple licks if it means avoiding a huge fight like that."

Outside Library

"Head injuries aren't something to take lightly..." Makoto chided him, putting her gun away. She looked at Reigen's bump and then turned back to where Anat was still pursuing Garrett. His own flash bomb had only confused it for a few seconds, but it had given him enough of a lead to get closer to the library. She could probably still land a Freidyne from that distance, but it might damage the building too...or kill him. Well that was a shame.

"Leave him alone for now." Her Persona came to a halt and looked back at her, allowing Garret to escape if he wanted to. Already knowing what she wanted, Anat walked back over to Makoto and Reigen. "Uh, try not to panic, this shouldn't hurt..." She mentally commanded Anat to cast Diarahan, and it held out one of its hands near Reigen's head. Blue-green energy surrounded him momentarily, trying to heal his injuries. "Is that any better?"

edited 17th Aug '17 2:15:49 PM by ScorpioRat

Astolfo I Library I What is a Hero?

"The City Knights, eh? And this Ben Tennyson is the leader of these knights?" Astolfo spoke. Then pondered. Before suddenly having his next course of action figured out just like that. "I wonder if there's room for one more! Hey, hey, do you think there's still room in the City Knights? I'm gonna try asking him!"

"And what are you talking about? It's perfectly okay for people to proclaim themselves as heroes, so long as it's true! Or are you saying that every hero should not see themselves as such? That will just be too pitiful and sad for them, don't you think?" Astolfo beamed a smile, truly believing that all heroes should stand tall and proud over their accomplishments.

Upon asking if he might be in need of anything else, the paladin had just thought of something. "Actually, since I know what to do now, would you mind telling me where Ben might be? I want to see for myself just what sort of person he is, if you don't mind~"

edited 17th Aug '17 4:40:41 PM by JustSomeGuy732

"Okay! Then I guess I'll have to- whoa!"

Unfortunately, Gyuki started moving before Yuna was able to finish her sentence, forcing her to cling onto one of the its horns while it made a mad dash towards... a tomato. The faery flew low and fast, quickly picked the fruit up with its short stubby arms, and proceeded to... lie down on its back and eat it right on the spot. Yuna, who was still clinging onto the horn, was at least now close enough to the ground that she could let go of Gyuki and land safely after a long while. And on the ground, she met face to face with... the same people she had seen (and almost crashed into) earlier that day.

"Oh hey... heheh... again," Yuna apologized, pulling out her phone and tapping a few times. "Right, let me just..."

And as if through magic, the currently enormous winged cow disappeared, leaving behind only what little chunks of tomato it had failed to consume, which the mildly embarrassed teenager unsuccessfully tried to hide by sort of standing in the way but not quite.

"Sorry about that," she apologized. "Normally Gyuki doesn't cause so much trouble, but with the change in size and all..."

Ben looked down at Fastanook, concerned, but Fastanook asked to be left alone. He furrowed his brow and started to walk away. He was starting to feel like he was getting into something he really shouldn't be. However, he did tell Veela that he would help her. Honestly though, Ben didn't feel like he was helping too much. He felt like he was bullying Fastanook.

And if it was so much of a big deal that he didn't want to tell her, maybe he shouldn't. Far from hurting Veela, Ben started to wonder if he was hurting Fastanook.

When he got to the top of the stairs, Ben started to move towards the room where the group had been unconscious, opening the door and looking around.

edited 17th Aug '17 5:02:45 PM by AllHailThrall

Library

Caboose was looking at the exchange of tomato as currency, and was thinking about how he wanted a sandwich with maybe tomato in it, when the object demanding his attention was suddenly eaten up by an adorable giant cow thing.

Not even noticing Yuna at first, when Gyuki disappeared he jumped to a "logical" conclusion. Caboose said with enthusiasm "Hello there, my name is Caboose! That's really neat, that you can turn from a cow into a person."

"A true hero doesn't work for any fame, glory, or recognition; they aren't trying to serve their own ego. They do what they do simply because it should be done, nothing more. Therefore, they have no reason to go around calling themselves a hero. Anyone who does do that might certainly be heroic, but they aren't a true hero" Miss Tairee said to Astolfo in disagreement. "Regardless, what I meant was, most of you protagonist types don't say 'I call myself a hero', they say, 'I am a hero'. They act as if there's no qualifiers for that fact, and they are a hero just because they say they are. And I say they're wrong" the librarian continued.

"Now, as for Ben, no I cannot really help you there. The entire city shifts its layout at random when one is not looking, save for only this building. So even if I could tell you where Ben is, I would not be able to give you any directions that would still be valid by the time you finished following them" Miss Tairee then explained to the paladin.

"I could contact him on my walkie talkie and ask where he is!" Louie called out from above, up on one of the desks around them. "But before that, important question: What's your stance on killing? We City Knights have a strict rule against killing anyone, even bad guys!" the trainer yelled down.

As Dave had seen that morning, Ben would see that Eve, Curly, and Sans were still normal sized, but down on the mattress sitting in the middle of the floor was Rex, Rick, Lewis, Silanea, and Dave, all shrunken. Dave was of course the only person there conscious, standing beside Silanea and currently using his little medical scanner on her. He looked over at Ben with a raised eyebrow, looking un-amused but not really concerned about Ben being relatively huge compared to himself. "Back again kid? The situation's still the same as before. Besides the size crap of today. If you're gonna stick around, help me scan those three" Dave told Ben, with a motion of his arm at Eve, Curly, and Sans.

Whether Ben would realize that Morty was missing was another matter...

edited 17th Aug '17 5:43:57 PM by FirockFinion

Astolfo I Library I Joining the Knights!

"Well, in that case, then I'll say that you're wrong too! And that you should apologize to every hero for insulting their pride and true hero-ness, regardless of intention," Astolfo said as a matter of fact, undaunted. "... True hero-ness is a word, right?"

Just before a familiar giant cow came into being and chewed onto the huge tomato in mid-air. "Ah, it's that cow fairy!"

Followed by another girl falling down the ground before de-summoning her mount and greeted them again. When Caboose thought that she was a cow that turned into a girl, Astolfo was quick to correct him. "Ah, no. It's just a girl with a cow fairy that nearly crashed into me. It's a good thing she apologized, though! And don't worry about it!" Astolfo waved off Yuna's concern and reassured her. "Me and my partner are doing fine and didn't get hurt! And hey, so that Gyuki you have is supposed to be smaller but is big today? I guess that's just the City for you."

Just then, someone else above the table said that he could offer to ask Ben to know where he is. "Yeah, give him a call! And say that a paladin by the name of Astolfo is looking to join the City Knights!" And no killing, huh? That's going to be tough, depending, but if that's what it takes to join it, then no problem! He'll just have to be extra careful. "And yeah, I'm fine with that!"

edited 17th Aug '17 7:18:41 PM by JustSomeGuy732

It looked like Sans and Rex had managed to get through to friendship again and this time it took away Resentment's dice manipulation, although his high dodge bonus still made it so that all of them missed their attacks. If they could keep that going for this turn, then maybe they could finish the battle right then, although Curly wouldn't be able to attack since she needed to dodge the incoming attack.

Then he felt the locket start beating and let go of it and in a surge of pink fire, Lewis reappeared again just to begin moping immediately after and barely making an effort to choose an action. That was just great, he made such a big mess and now he was barely managing to put any effort into trying to fix it. However... at the same time he was looking so pitiful that it made Sans try to think of what could possibly have left him in such a damaged state as it couldn't have been just the events of the game. Rex had mentioned something about someone named Seiga but... there wasn't much to go with it. It really would have been better for him to have stayed in the real world and rest but... that made Sans think about something. He looked at Lewis for some time before focusing back on friendship.

"look, friendship, even people who barely know silanea are trying to help. even lewis here decided to help even though he clearly has been having problems of his own. he's not doing a particularly good job at it, but he still made the choice to do this even though he no reason for it and actually had good reason to not get involved. he did the same thing for me as well and it was because of his help that i got everyone back. there are other people who i know would also help you here, but might not have had the opportunity or didn't know about this challenge. the same people who cared for me would care about you too, they just decided to help me first, or maybe they didn't even know what had happened with you until it was already too late. but now it's your turn."

With that said, Sans then put a hand on Lewis' shoulder.

"look, i have no clue what happened to you and honestly it doesn't matter right now. you've screwed up a couple of times and i got upset with you about it but, we can still work around this. you're not in a very good emotional state, i could tell that from the moment i saw you in the hospital, so just leave the talking to us and focus on the fighting, ok? you're getting some bad luck with those rolls but... rex also spent three turns trying to kill a guilt and failed while i got it down in one try. that's less your fault and more of this dumb game." He shrugged.

Finally, he looked up at Tester, as usual.

"tester, same attack, same target. not like there's any other enemies around anyway."

edited 17th Aug '17 7:58:47 PM by FullMoon

Reigen let the girl do whatever it was she was going to do - it's not like she was going to hurt him at this point. He glanced around as that sparkle of energy flared up around him, and...

"Wow!" He poked the top of his head a couple times, searching for the bump that wasn't there anymore. "You took care of that quick, huh? What was that, some sort of special spiritual move? You didn't even touch me for it to work!"

He paused. "Oh, right, where are my manners?" He brought his hand down, holding it out for her to shake. "My name's Reigan Arataka, Psychic extraordinaire!"

"Oh jeez, where... where... oh god, where do I start..." Morty took a deep breath and tried to collect what was left of his rational thoughts as he explained what had happened as calmly as he could. "Okay, so. Uh. I was - I was... I accidentally got sucked into Silaena's... brain, or something, and then a giant computer thing made us play Dungeons and Dragons.,."

Morty trailed off as he realized that his audience probably had no idea what Dungeons and Dragons was, and that at least 50% of them probably didn't know what a dungeon or a dragon was. "It's like, a- a game with dice and moving around and stuff. For nerds." he added a little hastily.

As Morty's wits returned to him ,he stared up at the gargantuan Cole, squinting. "Did- did you turn into a baby? And then grow giant?"

"Oh.... geeeez...." Rick slurred as he stared at Resentment. "Fffffffffffffuck this... dancing shtick. What... what are you, like, a, a, Disney thing? Are you from Disney?"

"Testicles, I, I, I, *uuuuurp* I... shoot the Disney thing."

edited 17th Aug '17 7:43:54 PM by Locoman

"So... You were just playing a game?" Arcade asked, struggling to follow Morty's explanation. "Is Eve alright then?" He probed, his concern lacing his voice. If she wasn't being hurt then he'd probably just watch over her until she woke up herself.

Outside Library

"Spiritual power...?" Makoto asked. "Oh, that's a Persona. I'm not sure it really qualifies as spiritual. Maybe more like a psychic manifestation." What exactly were personae? Morgana had explained that it was a tamed Shadow, and Shadows were a person's repressed Id, but what caused them to become physical and gain power? Having healed Reigen, Anat was currently taking its time to chip away at the glue keeping him in place with its blade, being careful not to stab him in the process.

Makoto hesitated, but shook Reigen's hand, deciding that he could be trusted. He was pretty much the most normal person she'd met so far, despite being a self proclaimed Psychic. Did he come from Japan as well? "I'm Makoto Niijima. And this is Anat, my Persona." Having finished freeing Reigen, Anat stood up again.

The only thing that Cole seemed to take from the entire situation was a slight pout and a mutter of "I'm not a baby."

Still, all things considered, it sounded like there was definitely magic involved. "We can get back inside, and I can take care of you," Cole said firmly, nodding. "I'm bigger than a lot of things today, since all of you are so small, so I can fight for you. And I can carry you if you need me to. I'm faster walking than you would be running, I think."

edited 17th Aug '17 8:05:07 PM by ColeMinor

Ben frowned and looked at the assembled group. He then nodded.

"Yeah, I can help you with that," Ben stated. "First, I have some important things to do." He dug into his bag and grabbed the tiny walkie talkie that he had been handed. He then placed the tiny walkie talkie beside the unconscious Lewis, in his hand. Secondly, he moved carefully towards the unconscious Eve, and looked down at her worriedly. He moved a lock of hair from her face and looked at her for a little longer.

"Be safe, okay?" he whispered to her. He then moved back, carefully, towards the tiny troll. "Okay, now I'm ready. You got a bigger scanner or do I have to use that tiny one?" he asked.

It seemed like she had arrived at a perfect time! They seemed to be discussing what it meant to be a hero with the... same lady that had been up there with her moments ago. How had she gotten down there so quickly that she was already in another conversation?! Well, either way, she knew lots about being a hero from her time in the Hero Club, so of course she had to contribute to the discussion!

"I do like to say I'm a hero every now and then, mostly because I'm part of my school's Hero Club and I like how the word sounds," Yuna intervened. "But being a Hero... or at least being part of the club isn't about recognition or anything like that. It's about helping out and making the community better for everyone. It can be anythihg! Cleaning beaches, making puppet shows for children, carrying heavy bags, helping out with decorations... I like to think all those things make us heroes, and that with each one of us helping out, the world is a bit better than before."