Worthy Core

Late that evening, the moonless night left Triple Peak Mountain shrouded in darkness so heavy that the guards stationed at the mountain's approach would have had trouble seeing a visitor approaching even thirty feet away from their camp. They certainly had no chance at all of spotting the ones who flew in several hundred feet above their heads, no matter how clumsily those visitors might have done so. It was quite lucky for those new arrivals that the narrow mountain path left no space for a proper guard post closer to the dungeon's entrance, as the landing they finally made on the rocky trail was far from stealthy.

Groaning, Woosley goes down to one knee as Farlossus lets go of her arms. "Ahh, I hate having to travel like that! My pit scales are gonna be raw for a week - and we ain't even flown back yet."

The draconic does some grumbling of his own as he sets down next to the much smaller kobold. "Carrying you like luggage is no pleasure flight either, you know. I hope I wasn't selected for this mission purely for transportation purposes."

As Cerise appears next to him, shapeshifting out of her bat form, the succubus already has a frown on her face. "No slots on this mission were wasted - I would have rather had one or two more in fact, but my ability to hide draconics from magical detection spells is limited. I hope we're all mission-capable? We can rest for a few minutes if we need to but I would not linger longer than that." Pullyp emerges from the bag on her waist while she speaks, and when Cerise hands him his robe and staff from another bag it takes him only moments to shift into it.

"All good here, Lady Darktouched! My, strange to think we were just here, what, not quite three months ago?"

A slight smile touches her lips, but not for long. "I only wish this visit was under better circumstances. Remember, our mission here requires that we provoke the dungeon into fighting at its fullest strength. Regardless of whether or not the dungeon passes its tests, we must at least appear as if we're prepared to destroy the core tonight. We must actually lay hands on it to prove that the dungeon is, quite literally, not untouchable should the Dragonlord wish it."

Woosley sighs. "Gonna make things exciting, at least. Well, let's not make things easy for it, eh? After you, my Lady."

With her party prepared, the succubus takes the lead and brings the group the rest of the way up the trail, coming to a stop before Doorman a few minutes later. The guardian spots them quickly despite the darkness, and offers his greetings. "Evening, Lady Darktouched and friends, it's a pleasure to see you again. We weren't informed as to the exact date and time of your arrival, but we have been expecting you."

Cerise nods in response, but her voice holds little cheer. "Greetings to you, guardian of Worthy Dungeon. I wish this was a visit between friends, however we stand before you tonight with a duty from our sovereign. We are to test your quality, and I ask that you let your master be aware that failing this test may well result in her death."

Doorman frowns down at the red-skinned woman. "This all seems entirely unnecessary - not that anyone ever asks my opinion, of course. Still, you will not find the dungeon an easy nut to crack. Perhaps we'll kick your asses and then next go-around we can all be a little friendlier, no?"

"As much as I would enjoy returning to a more cordial mode of relations, I'm honor-bound to not go any easier in this encounter. Please, guardian, present us with your challenge."

Doorman sighs before continuing. "Very well. What is...Lollyp's favorite food?"

Cerise raises an eyebrow. "...Really?"

"Well...her birthday is coming up soon, and the Master was hoping to make her something nice, but didn't want to ask her directly. Keep it a surprise, you know. Don't suppose you know?"

"...No, I do not. But..." Cerise looks down at Pullyp beside her, who nods.

"Oh, yeah, I got this! Scrabbler oysters!"

Doorman's brow furrows. "I...don't believe I've heard of those."

"Oh, well, scrabblers are like these squirrel-like rodents who live out in the canyons. And oysters, are, well, it's what we call...it's their testicles."

Doorman stares at him for a moment, before doing his best possible impression of a shrug as he can, given his lack of shoulders. "Suppose that's fitting enough for her, now that I think about it. Not sure if that's on the Master's menu, but thank you for your response. Enjoy your visit to Worthy Dungeon!"

As the door slides open, Cerise fixes him with a stare. "I do hope your Master is taking this as seriously as she ought to be."

The guardian responds with a grin. "Please, as if I could have stopped you from going in, if you wished it. But trust me - we have not been idle, my lady..."

As on their first visit Cerise's party strolled through the first floor without issue, with BB's speed being no match for Farlossus's reflexes and the rabbit monster was crushed by a single blow from the draconic's mighty warhammer. The elevator down Floor Two was likewise no challenge at all, although Cerise did pause before proceeding on to the boss arena.

"While we have reports on the rest of the dungeon, this is as far as Pullyp or myself reached last time, as the dungeon had been no larger at the time. This is also where we're about to encounter our former colleague...I have to admit, I'm not looking forward to it."

Pullyp nods along. "Me either. Still, we both have our duties. I do hope we at least get to say hello first..."

As the party steps inside, they find no one waiting for them amidst the chemical pools. This is no surprise, as Lollyp's inclinations towards ambushes are public knowledge at this point, but Cerise does find herself slightly disappointed anyhow. "Slime Elementalist Lollyp. I hope you're doing well?" Her voice projects, bouncing off of the stone walls and back to the group.

Another voice echoes around the room, coming from a number of cracks in the ceiling. "Pretty decently for a dead woman, you bet. Good to see you, Lady Darktouched...and Pullyp!? Is that you!?"

Pullyp grins as he looks around the chamber. "That's Slime Reviver Pullyp, now. Just promoted this week, as it happens."

"Wow, congrats. So...heard that you bunch are actually out for the core on this run? That can't be right, right? We haven't fucked anything up that badly!"

Cerise sighs. "This is not a punishment - or not yet, at least. But it is a test, and we require that you fight with all your strength. Are you ready to do so, or do I need to have Farlossus here begin re-arranging the cavern stone?"

"Someone's antsy, but I can't blame you, I guess. So it goes." The boss's echoing voice goes silent, but a moment later Woosley perks up and suddenly shoves Cerise to one side.

"Falling traps, dodge!" Alerted by the Rogue's magically-improved senses, the party has just a bare second of warning as a number of glass vials begin to drop from the ceiling. As they land and shatter, pools of oil cover the ground and then quickly light on fire, save for one vial which freezes the stone into a slippery smooth surface instead. A bit of rock shrapnel bounces off of Farlossus's armor and scales, but the rest of the group manages to avoid initial injury. Even so, they find themselves somewhat scattered, with the sudden pools of flame disrupting their prepared formation.

When a red blob swings out from a crack in the ceiling, aiming towards the back of Farlossus's head, Woosley's expert reflexes send her leaping up to intercept with her daggers drawn. It's to her surprise then when the slime twists in midair, grinning at the kobold as her wand charges with electricity. "Gotcha." Woosley mostly manages to dodge the attack despite the suddenness of it, but still takes a glancing blast to one cheek as she spins and dives out of the way. Lollyp continues the rest of her swing, but perhaps unsurprisingly does nothing at all to the much-heavier draconic as she lands on the back of his skull, and simply uses the man as a brief leaping platform onward down to the ground. Before he can turn around to face her Lollyp's frozen one of his feet to the rock, and from there the slime is quickly on the move away from the center of the arena.

Cerise frowns as she fires off a pair of arcane bolts at the boss, both shots going wide thanks to the haze and the smoke of the fires separating them. "A good distraction, Elementalist, but you lack the power to truly harm us."

"Please, I've barely gotten started!" The slime finds herself once again facing off against the kobold, barely dodging out of the way of the rapidly-swinging blades and still occasionally picking up the occasional light scratch despite her best efforts. A flamethrower blast does drive Woosley away for a short reprieve, but as she looks around Lollyp finds Farlossus has already freed himself and is swinging his warhammer in her direction.

"I shall splatter you against the walls, slime!" A heavy downward swing manages to crack the stone of the cavern floor, but misses the boss by a large margin, triggering a mocking laugh in response.

"You draconics always had egos too big even for your massive skulls! Eat lightning!" Lollyp wisely avoids the use of flame against the man, knowing that draconics tend to barely notice such things, but unfortunately her choice of element proves not much better on this occasion. To her surprise, the direct hit of the lightning bolt against the man's scale-covered shoulder triggers no apparent injury at all. Laughing himself, Farlossus begins to charge up his hammer with his own red-tinted electricity.

"Know your enemy, fool! I am a Thunderbolt Hammer! Enjoy your own medicine!" The giant man swings the weapon, blasting the whole region in front of him with a wave of lightning. While it does force Woosley to dive backwards to avoid becoming collateral damage, Lollyp herself is fully hit by the attack, going into spasms that interrupt her dodging for just a moment. A moment that's far too long, as the next swing impacts her directly in her center of mass, flinging her across the room.

Directly into Pullyp. With Lollyp's integrity still rather unstable from the elemental attack, she and Pullyp engage in a rather embarrassing activity for any slime to perform by accident - the two begin to merge. Although they don't fully mix, streaks of red and green begin to twist and writhe within a single mass, Pullyp's robes and Lollyp's vest only becoming an entangled part of the confusing organism. Being the more stable of the two, although not by a great deal thanks to his elderly status, Pullyp is the first to cry out. "Lollyp! Get - get your pseudopaws out of me!"

"Tryin' to!" Lollyp manages to reform her head, pulling it out of the combined body, but almost wishes she hadn't when she sees Woosley, Farlossus, and Cerise are all closing in on her. Even were she to escape the entanglement, the odds of her avoiding the next few attacks appear slim indeed. "Hey! Stay back, or the Healer gets it!"

Cerise motions for the group to pause, knowing that they have the upper hand, but Pullyp himself is far less calm. "Hey! Don't mess around like that, Lollyp!"

As their squirming begins to slow down, Lollyp takes a moment to look over at the fellow slime she's temporarily sharing a form with. "What, you think I'm messing around? ...Are you really going to fuck with Xenia's core, if we don't pass this little test of yours?"

Pullyp doesn't answer at first, but eventually nods his head. "If that is the decision the Lady makes, then yes. I'm sorry, Lollyp."

Slowly, Lollyp nods back. "Yeah...me too. Sorry, Pullyp." She begins to reach for several of the vials strapped to her vest, and although Cerise quickly shouts out for someone to stop her, even the quick Woosley is unable to get through the slimy mass in time. Grabbing hold of a pair of bottles filled with a milky-white liquid, the slime boss cracks them open, and barely a second later the two slimes explode. The conflagration isn't particularly dangerous to the rest of the party, with even Woosley barely taking a scratch from the force of it, but they do find it incredibly disturbing. As the trio look down at themselves, all three find themselves covered in a mix of red and green slime.

Farlossus recovers first, growling and shouting. "WHAT THE BLAZES WAS THAT!?"

Shuddering, Cerise takes a deep breath before answering. "I...I believe I've heard of Valleylanders occasionally using substances like that. Something specifically designed for killing slimes."

Woosely sighs as she does her best to clean herself off. "A suicide attack. Heard of some dungeon bosses doing that, didn't expect it from a smart one, though. More fool's me. Does uh...this mean the dungeon's already passed the test?"

The succubus shakes her head. "We still must test the dungeon master's intentions - and as I said earlier, we aren't leaving until we've laid hands on the core itself. Proceeding without a healer is...not ideal, but we have our potions and I know a few basic spells. We should be able to complete the mission despite this...this setback."

Farlossus turns and heads for the rear of the chamber, not waiting for the others. "The sooner we move on the sooner we'll be done. Now let's find ourselves a healing fountain and wash this - this disgrace off of us."

Cerise frowns, but her voice remains steady. "...Yes. We can mourn later, for now...we proceed."