OshaliteX2's CYOA of stuff. <#kun version>

This update brought to you by Gar's Hero Supply & Bodega.
You try to blow away the rubble from the pillars by punching the ground with an explosive strike. Once you do so, the floor erupts in flame and the debris goes flying in every direction away from you. This ends up singing and slinging some pebbles your allies, however. They all take 7, 1, 0, and 0 damage in party order. But the rubble is cleared from where you stand in a solid 50-foot radius. With this unobstructed view of the area around you, you are able to discern both Firemoonbeans are not close to you.
... and that's about it. You might grimace a little at this...
"There has to be a better way to clear this rubble. You had a good idea to blow it away with an explosion... but try amplifying that."
Unfortunately you aren't able to immediately apply that suggestion, as Marshall's sudden scream pierces the area and your attention is immediately turned behind you. A Firemoonbean can be seen to his left, shooting a stream of flame from its mouth, completely engulfing him. Marshall seems to be trying to defend himself with close-range water magic, though; you can see huge billows of steam rise from his body. The creature has managed to inflict 26 damage with its surprise attack.

The Rock Pastree's arms are still in the ground for a reason you still can't figure out, and the other Firemoonbean is still hidden beneath the rubble... for now. Marshall's being flash-steamed behind you, Amanda's right next to you, Isra is invisible, and Apollo is still to your right of the Rock Pastree and is looking pretty nervous.

What do you do now?

Rock Pastree: 268/350 doing a thing???
Firemoonbean A: 124/145
Firemoonbean B: 132/145, 0.75x Atk hidden

Ace: 58/75, 2.5x Atk/Def
Marshall: 53/100, max pulseness, Tater Flash charged, behind you, getting flash-steamed
Apollo: 29/75 ahead and to the right
Amanda: 33/50
Isra: 25/35 vanished
--
Elliot is with Pyralis
Pyralis: ???

New Items: None
Persony Bits: None
Battle Turn: Ace's ground explosion (cleared rubble around him, 7 to Marshall, 1 to Apollo), A's surprise flame stream (26 + flash-steaming* to Marshall), Rock Pastree's groundhands (continued from previous turn, ???) (enemy music)

*just a fancy way to say "he can't do anything until there isn't a snake trying to burn him alive"

This update brought to you by the Wizards of Wine Winery, now with 85% less druid poison!
Out of sight from the rest of your party, Isra silently appears behind the Rock Pastree. To her, its hands have been underground and seemingly inactive for far too long, and she's decided to try and do something about it. With nobody looking, she begins to slowly strength-sapping magic on its right arm. Once it's weak enough, she should be able to sever it... and if not her, probably literally anyone else. As she does this, the Rock Pastree seems fixated on the battle playing out in front of it and doesn't notice her or what she's doing.

(And yes, the rubble is actual rocks. I thought that was implied, my bad.)
You jump up to punch the rubble away with another Eagle Punch, but as you swing down you're suddenly greeted by a giant flaming snake mouth and an all-too-familiar sense of dread. Your attack is interrupted and weakened by spiked walls closing down on you from both sides, and you only manage to deal 11 damage to the Firemoonbean as you become engulfed. You take 11 damage from the aforementioned spiked walls.

Amanda wasn't really watching when that happened, however. Instead, she ran over to help out Marshall. She swings wide as she approaches and launches a Tornado Blast at the Firemoonbean; the attack swooshes ahead of her and catches the creature in its gale. This pulls its spewed flame away from Marshall and further stokes it, creating a flaming twister that swallows the the creature instead. Yet, when the flames dissipate, it appears unscathed from the attack (but it still receives the 2-level defense debuff from the base attack). It gets notable more scathed, however, when Marshall douses it with water magic for 21 damage. Startled, the creature quickly burrows back under the rubble, leaving its adversaries in suspense. Marshall takes a moment and utters a quick "thanks" to Amanda, who just nods back.

Apollo notices you get majorly Firemoon-bit, and rushes over to try and help free you. He charges up lightning, but then suddenly lets it dissipate, afraid of hurting you if he zaps the creature with you inside it. Speaking of, you take another 11 damage from the fiery flames of fieryness inside the Firemoonbean. Ouch.

During all of that, nobody has noticed Isra doing her thing. In fact, she herself feels a bit relaxed, just standing there, weakening her adversary. No explosions, no crumbling rocks or shooting flames, no having to disappear... it's a nice change of pace. And all the while she's still managing to contribute! At the rate she's weakening the Rock Pastree its arm should have the consistency of driftwood by next turn. She feels super gosh-darn accomplished right now.

Isra's chilling out doing her thing right behind the Rock Pastree. The Rock Pastree is still doing its thing with its hands. Apollo's a few yards away to your right, unsure what to do. Marshall and Amanda are a bit father behind you, and are bothkeeping an eye out for a hiding Firemoonbean. You're still trapped the mouth of the other Firemoonbean, getting bitten and burnt. You try to lessen the hurtyness of this by reasoning it was bound to happen to someone on your team this fight... but still, why'd it have to be you?

Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
You're in horrid pain,
What do you do?

Rock Pastree: 268/350, weakened right arm, doing a thing???????
Firemoonbean A: 103/145, 0.5x Def, hidden
Firemoonbean B: 121/145, 0.75x Atk, nomming Ace

Ace: 36/75, 2.5x Atk/Def, nommed by B
Marshall: 53/100, max pulseness, Tater Flash charged, behind you
Apollo: 29/75 to your right
Amanda: 33/50 behind you
Isra: 25/35, weakening Rock Pastree, behind Rock Pastree, undetected
--
Elliot is with Pyralis
Pyralis: ???

New Items: None
Persony Bits: Ace is nommed
Battle Turn: Isra's reappearance (starts weakening undetected), rubble IS rocks, Ace's rubble-clearing punch (blocked by B; 11 to B), B's spikewall chomp (11 + nomming to Ace, no longer hidden), Amanda's Tornado Blast (freed Marshall, 0 + defense down to A), Marshall's magic douse (21 to A), A's startled burrow (hidden), Apollo contemplates zappage, A's fiery flames (11 to Ace), Isra is contributing (RP's right arm weakened, still undetected), skillfully-written poem. (enemy music)

This update brought to you by hyper-sentient turtles who fly in physically implausible helicopters that give them life-lasting hand cramps while going "GNAAGH GNAAGH GNAAAAAAAAAAAA". I'm not crazy, you're crazy.
You get a grip on the spikes inside of the Firemoonbean's mouth. Thanks to last time this happened to you, you know you can punch something towards the back of the creatures throat to trigger some sort of gag reflex. You attempt to crawl back, taking 11 damage from the scraping and flames, and do a quick jab. You hit something, and feel the Firemoonbean reel back in shock and take 2 damage. However, it manages to keep you trapped, and you take 5 damage from the sudden jolt. Still, that seemed to do something. You punch it again, deal 2 more damage, and this time its mouth opens slightly and stays open long enough for you squirm to the front of it. You take 11 damage from the flames again, but plant your hands and feet in between spikes and push at strength to open the Firemoonbean's jaw completely and hop out. It shoots a roaring jet of flame that sears your hair as you escape, and you doge to the side as the rest of the attack razes the area ahead of it. It only stops once it gets hit by a rather unpleasant jolt of Irk-Thunda from Apollo for 1 damage.

Marshall has a plan. He scans the ground; not to see if he can spot the Firemoonbean, but to see if he can spot a crack in the sediment. He notices one shortly, and crouches down beside it and begins forcefully filling it with water. As he does this, he realizes he can feel the water seep throughout the area. In fact, he can feel something else... something moving. Something moving... and... right behind him?
He suddenly hears Amanda shout, "Marshall, behind you!!!"
Marshall jolts upright and turns to face a rather soggy Firemoonbean just as it lunges at him. He ducks sideways and and the creature flies past and misses him by mere inches.
"Taters and spice..."
Not giving up on his plan, though, he quickly reorients himself and pounces back to where he was and charges up an ice spell. The Firemoonbean lunges again, but this time Amanda steps in and redirects it forcefully to the side with a powerful sword strike, dealing 18 damage. By now, Marshall has his spell ready. He raises his hand and slaps his palm onto the crack in the ground, sending an icy shockwave through the area...
The ground glows blue around him for a moment, before erupting in an explosion of ice and dirt. The rubble around Marshall has been reduced to dust, and icicles protrude from the ground like stalagmites in an outwards area. The Firemoonbean is impaled by one of said icicles and takes 62 damage. It staggers back, disoriented. Miraculously, the icicles stop just before reaching you.

At this moment, the Rock Pastree's voice echoes in your head like a muffled gong, "Now it is time for you to see another part of why none ever leave these caves."
It raises its hands from the ground, and you see large pools of lava where they once were. You also notice Isra behind it. You were wondering where she went...
The Rock Pastree then tries to stab both of its hands back into those very lava pools from just now, but as it does so Amanda flies past its right arm, dealing 19 damage and somehow managing to sever it clean off! Isra give her the thumbs up as she lands. The Rock Pastree makes some confused and aggravated sound at this. However, the left arm is still intact, and is thrust into the lava. Suddenly, pillars of molten rock erupt all around that side of the room. Fortunately, the only one on that side of the room is Apollo. Less fortunately, he takes 38 damage and is flung high into the air, badly burnt and seemingly unconscious. The entire right side of the room is now a bed of molten lava as well, and it seems Apollo is very much falling towards it...

You can't quite focus on that yet, however. The Firemoonbean that was previously engaged with him and you now raises itself up, opens its mouth, and starts shooting a barrage of fireballs at you! The Rock Pastree also now turns to Amanda and Isra, clearly aggrivated, and raises its left arm above its head...

What do you do?

Rock Pastree: 249/350, no right arm
Firemoonbean A: 23/145, 0.5x Def, disoriented
Firemoonbean B: 116/145, 0.75x Atk

the right side of the batlefield is a pool of lava
Ace: 9/75, 2.5x Atk/Def,
Marshall: 53/100, max pulseness, Tater Flash charged, behind you
Apollo: 0/75, to your right, falling
Amanda: 33/50 behind Rock Pastree
Isra: 25/35, weakening Rock Pastree, behind Rock Pastree
--
Elliot is with Pyralis
Pyralis: ???

New Items: None
Persony Bits: Apollo is KO'd
Battle Turn: Ace is scratched and burnt (11 to Ace), Ace tries to make B spit him out (2 to B, 5 to Ace), Ace does it again (2 to B), Ace escapes (11 to Ace, freed Ace), B's roaring flame (miss on Ace), Apollo's Irk-Thunda (1 to B), Marshall's plan, A's lunge (miss on Marshall), A's second lunge (countered by Amanda), Amanda's counter (18 to A), Marshall's icy shockwave (cleared rubble everywhere except behind Rock Pastree, 62 + disorient to A), RP's groundhand finisher (caught partly by Amanda), Amanda's interception (19 to RP, removed right arm), RP's groundhand redux (38 + KO + launch to Apollo, right battlefield is now a lava pool), Apollo is falling to certain death, B is now shooting fireballs at you, RP is attacking Isra and Amanda. (enemy music)

This update brought to you by Timmy's Heartfelt Art Co., since discontinued.
Marshall is first to act on Apollo's immediate peril. He turns his focus away from the Firemoonbean and conjures a huge blob of water with the appropriate spell, directing the mass swiftly towards the pool of lava beneath Apollo. Upon contact, the water hardens into stone. Marshall then twists the water around and upward to splash Apollo as he falls, softening the inevitable impact with the created platform. Apollo hits the plat form with a wet THUD and immediately bolts upright at the sudden splash, but then can be heard to mumble "Owwwww..." and flops onto his back. Marshall himself doesn't get to rest, however, as the Firemoonbean from before has started to melt his icy spikes with its fire breath. Realizing these spikes seem to be serving as a palpable defensive measure, Marshall takes a few pot shots at the creature with his potato gun. He manages to deal a total 24 damage over 6 hits. On the last hit, though, something seems to break inside the Firemoonbean. It suddenly collapses to the ground, the fiendish light fading from its eyes, and stops moving entirely. Marshall just lets out a surprised "Huh."

You take evasive action against your own immediate peril: the barrage of fireballs being launched at you from the Firemoonbean that's still alive. While you do that you dig through your bag to try and find a Sweeter Potion to gulp down.

On the other side of the room, Amanda and Isra are ALSO in their own case of immediate peril. As the Rock Pastree swings its arm to try and crush both of them at the same time, Amanda just happens to notice you dancing in between a number of sizable balls of fire. Thinking quickly, she points her sword in your direction, then swings it wildly towards the incoming arm of the Pastree.

You feel a sudden and strong gust of wind blow from your right and send you toppling over. At the same time, all the fireballs that were headed towards you suddenly change direction and fly in an arc towards Amanda, eventually colliding with the hand of the Rock Pastree. They explode into flame, angling the creature's arm upwards and dealing 10 damage. Amanda ducks as the hand of the beast whooshes over her head harmlessly, but collides with where Isra is! Or, was, it seems, as Amanda notices traces of the telltale smoke that's left after a successful vanish (2 HP lost).

One of the fireballs didn't quite go with the wind, though, and ended up flying toward Apollo, and passes him inches from his face. Startled, he once again bolts upright, and this time actually gets up. He then hops off the platform and over the lava (it wasn't that far anyway) to help with the fight.

You stand up and finally pull a Sweeter Potion out of your bag and chug it (-1 Sweeter Potion). You then get hit by a fireball for 7 damage. It didn't hurt as bad as you though it would, honestly...

Suddenly, the Rock Pastree's right shoulder begins leaking lava for a moment, then a whole new arm and and spurts from it, identical to the one Amanda severed just seconds ago! This new limb slams into the ground, and the Pastree spins itself, sending rocks from the ground and lava on the right side of the room flying everywhere!

Wop sop uoy bo?

Rock Pastree: 239/350,
Firemoonbean A: 0/145
Firemoonbean B: 116/145, 0.75x Atk

I should note, when I say "your right" I mean it as "if you were facing the Rock Pastree, to your right", because in that last bit Ace was facing to the right towards Firemoonbean B so TECHNICALLY Apollo's in front of him right now but behind the monster
the right side of the batlefield is a pool of lava
Ace: 62/75, 2.5x Atk/Def,
Marshall: 53/100, max pulseness, Tater Flash charged, behind you
Apollo: 1/75, to the right
Amanda: 33/50 behind Rock Pastree
Isra: 23/35, vanished
--
Elliot is with Pyralis
Pyralis: ???

New Items: -1 Sweeter Potion
Persony Bits: None
Battle Turn: Marshall splashes and saves Apollo (+1 to Apollo), A's fire breath (melted some icy spikes), Marshall's pot shots (24 + KO to A), B's fireballs (miss on Ace), RPastree's left arm swing (countered by Amanda, miss on Isra), Amanda's fireball redirection (10 to RPastree), Isra's vanish (2 HP), Apollo gets up to help now, actually, Ace uses a Sweeter Potion (+60 to Ace), B's fireball (7 to Ace), RPastree's limb regen (regained right arm), RPastree is throwing rocks and lava everywhere! Watdo? (enemy music)

Somebody like throw a potion at Apollo from halfway across the map so he can catch it all cool-like

Everyone: Make big hits on the Pastree's elongated torso section and try to punish it hard enough to cancel the attack maybe.

This update brought to you by AAARG'S NOUN COMFIN.
You point towards the Rock Pastree's elongated torso and tell your party to HIT IT BIGLY.
Amanda is first to swing at it, but her blade is repelled immediately by the rapid spinning. Marshall follows by shooting water at it with similar results. You run up and Eagle Punch it, and while the explosion manages to deal 13 damage, you're blown back like a fly being swatted and are flung several paces away onto your back. The Rock Pastree is still spinning. Apparently you haven't hit bigly enough...

Also, two of your party members are still occupied. Isra rushes forward at the Firemoonbean, swinging her sword wide from her left. The creature lunges as she approaches, and in response Isra discharges the magic enhancing her blade. A wave of darkness breaks out ahead of her, completely engulfing the Firemoonbean and dealing 21 damage. Despite this, a pair of jaws emerge from the mass and slam together sideways in a bone-crushing attack. Isra is not hit by this (-4 HP). Instead she suddenly appears to the side of the Firemoonbean, sword drawn, and stabs straight into the lower jaw of the monster for 7 damage (plus passive effects).

Her blade sticking out just slightly, Isra then ducks between it and the ground in a crouched handstand position. She pushes upwards, her arms suddenly glowing red with supernatural strength (-3 HP), and kicks her sword like a lever for 16 damage. The Firemoonbean is forced upwards, its head twisting 180 degrees from its body, exposing the sword on its chin to the ceiling.

Isra is then surprised to see a bolt of lightning suddenly arc over from Apollo. It strikes her weapon and is discharged into the monster, and electricity crackles through and around it as the blast is maintained. Looking closer, Isra thinks she sees something strange happen to her sword as this happens. Suddenly, when Apollo finally releases the charge, a bolt of purple lightning manifests around the grip of her sword. It quickly is absorbed into the blade towards the tip. A blinking moment passes, and then an electric explosion violently erupts from the spot, blasting the jaw of the Firemoonbean apart and dealing 72 damage. It collapses, inanimate, and Isra's sword is sent flying. *NEW COMBO She's not watching it, though. Instead, she finds herself staring slightly slack-jawed at Apollo, who actually is watching her sword. It flies up, up, up, before getting hit by a blur of rock and ricocheting off to who-knows-where.

"(... wait.)"

Apollo traces his gaze from that blur to the center of the room and sees you, Amanda, and Marshall trying to whack the Rock Pastree. He quickly puts two and two together, mutters "oh shoot", and runs over to help you out, however that may be.

Isra also notices, but is kind of at a loss without her weapon.

The Rock Pastree is still spinning, and its arms are getting closer. You start to feel bits of rock tossed by them fleck your shoulders and head. You don't seem to have made any progress with stopping its spin by hitting it the normal way, no matter how bigly you do so.

You probably have about 2 turns left to figure out a way to stop it.

What do you do now?

Rock Pastree: 184/350, spinning real fast
Firemoonbean A: 0/145
Firemoonbean B: 0/145

the right side of the batlefield is a pool of lava
Ace: 45/75, 2.5x Atk/Def
Marshall: 38/100, max pulseness, Tater Flash charged
Apollo: 61/75
Amanda: 14/50, behind Rock Pastree
Isra: 11/35, no weapon
--
Elliot is with Pyralis
Pyralis: ???

New Items: None
Persony Bits: NEW COMBO: Stygian Bolt (Apollo + Isra): Embed Isra's sword in an enemy to convey Apollo's shocks straight into their system, then watch in awe as a purple bolt manifests itself to blow it all to smithereens. This will leave Isra unarmed until she can find her sword again, however.
Battle Turn: Amanda's big hit (deflected), Marshall big hit (deflected), Ace's big hit (13 to RPastree but still deflected), Isra's darkness wave (21 to B), B's bone-crushing jaws (miss on Isra), Isra's vanish (4 HP), Isra's jaw stab + Night's Cruelty (7 and weaken to B + 7 HP drain and poison to B), Isra's supernatural strength (3 HP), Isra's lever kick (16 to B), Isra + Apollo's Stygian Bolt (72 + KO to B, disarmed Isra), Apollo runs over to help, RPastree is still spinning, 2 turns until death, watdo? (enemy music)

Try to destroy the ground under it so it falls over like a nerd.

Heal Isra somehow and make Marshall do all the work in attacking the guy as revenge.

This update brought to you by the xylophone solo from Porgy and Bess and the fact that the violins also have to play it.
You command your party to halt. In an instant you hear them stop, and the area goes silent. You then turn to Marshall and lock eyes. You nod at him. This is his moment to make up for his past mistake, specifically the time where he didn't go on three like you said to. And what a mistake that was. Because of that past action your faith in him has been all but shattered. You may not be able to trust him ever again. All the times he's saved your life, gotten you out of a tough spot, or simply given you a bigger portion at mealtime, were those true acts of camaraderie? Is he truly your ally, or is he just using you for his own selfish gains? If so, what are his motives? No, motives or not, you need to test if he deserves a spot in your ragtag team--a place in your heart--a seat at your lunch table. This is all conveyed to him through your steely gaze, a gaze that pierces him and spreads through every fiber of his actions. He now turns to the Rock Pastree, takes a single, powerful step forward,

but suddenly his footing slips and he falls on his face instantly.

Welp, he's done all he could.

...

... hold on. Was that on purpose? There's no way he could have somehow failed to understand the message belayed to him by your gaze. Even a man of seemingly average intellect such as him would have had their very soul shaken to the point of deadly inspiration that could level a mountain range! No, you can't believe it. He must have some malcontent for you and your group. There's no other way...!

Convinced of his treachery, you approach Marshall, who continues to lie on the ground, with an Eagle Punch thriving off of your sheer contempt for his actions. What an evil he must be, to have pretended to be an ally for so long. Not even mentioning that he wasn't even turned to your side by your gaze of earth-shattering purpose! This inhuman abomination of will doesn't even deserve any last words heard from you. Your flaming fist burning with the fury of a thousand suns, you raise it high and bring it straight down!

A torrent of dark water appears and blasts you away before you connect your attack, however. Marshall begins glowing a sinister aura and begins to cackle, slowly levitating himself back on his feet. He turns to you with a villainous sneer.
"Well, you finally realized! It really took you long enough, guess it just goes to show how dirt-STUPID y'all are!"
Behind you, you also hear a repressed snicker from Isra. She runs over to Marshall, but on her way over she bursts into full-on guffawing-snorting laughter. She turns to you, an ugly grin befitting of pure, uncontested malcontent stretched across her face.
"I am surprised Marshall did not kill you when he already had so many chances!"
"Me as well, Isra. Now, how about we finish this by-"
"HEY!"
Everyone's attention is suddenly caught by Amanda, who seems to now emanate her own dark aura, "Who invited YOU wannabes? I got closer to offing the little snot ages before Little Miss Darkness and Tater-Splash over here even had a plan! I only didn't go through with it because Apollo came in, and I know how much he loves to torture his victims and wouldn't let me here the end of it if I killed them with him noticing... the weirdo."
"It's not weird!" Apollo pipes up, his magic robes suddenly dark-colored and glowy, "You only had them restrained anyway when I was there. Isra, though, basically had a group of assassins get this close to murdering us!"
"I wasn't finished! And those freaks weren't assassins, they were just... freaks. And they used stun guns, not killy-guns! Not to mention that Isra doesn't even try to hide her darkness! Any other person would be able to tell she way evil right away!"
"I resent that. Apollo still has a point, too." Isra comments. Amanda gives her an angry look.

But now Min zips out. She's a weird, dark color, though.

"Please, I've been way ahead of you all this entire time."

She makes a short and sudden click sound.

Then everything goes black.

GNOME EVAR
>Try to do it properly this time...

You reprimand Marshall for not going on three like you told him to. In penance, he has to do all the work. He grunts, tries to step forward, but slips and falls on his face.

Welp, he's done all he could.

You sigh to yourself and instruct him to pick himself up and istead just cast Sauna Pulse. He at least manages this, and your entire party is healed for 36 HP.

Isra, meanwhile, lets go of Apollo and collapses to the ground on her knee. She picks herself up once Marshall's spell reaches her, though. Apollo's at a loss as to what to say to her, considering she basically saved his life just now. At this moment, he also sees a gleam in the distance behind her. He ignores it, though, when you yell at your party to hit the Rock Pastree as it's down. He rushes over to the prone Rock Pastree, stopping before the lava pool, and casts Thunda! to deal 12 damage. You jump in as well and punch it with repeated explosive hits for 32 damage.

Amanda also wants to jump, but Isra suddenly appears behind her (1 HP) and grabs her shoulder.
"Hey, Amanda, can I borrow your sword?"
Amanda is initially stunned by this question, "Uh-"
"I will give it back, I promise."
"I... but I was about to... sure?"
She hands the Cutter to Isra, who gratefully takes it.
"Thank you! I had an idea, give me a moment..."
Isra begins casting magic through it, causing it to glow a dark color, then hands it back before collapsing to the ground on her palms. Amanda immediately reaches out to try and help her up, but Isra just stutters, "N-no, this is just... p-penance for my inspiration. I-I will be... fine. You should swing that sword soon, though! H-heh..."
"O-okay."

Amanda turns, shakes off her shaken-ness, and rushes at the Rock Pastree. You notice her and jump off just before she lands and deals a series of powerful strikes using her Dragonfly Wave technique! Blasts of darkness spark off where she hits. Over this rush of attacks she deals a total of 65 damage, hacking a veritable hole into the Rock Pastree as it lies defenseless.

She struggles to step back, however, when a blasts of lava erupts from the cavity she created. She takes 4 damage as she's flung back to your group and lands beside you for another 9.

Now the Rock Pastree tries to get back up, but Marshall shoots a Tater flash at it for a quick stun, giving your group enough time to recuperate and get into ready positions.

The Rock Pastree stands tall despite its wounds, and you hear a peculiar noise echo all around you, "... ... ...". You're not sure, but you feel like this is similar to the one before when the Firemoonbeans appeared. You can't quite decipher what it might be saying, though...

Then the room begins to shake, but this time it's more of a soft sway. You also watch as the lava from before seems to soak back into the ground and the terrain below your feet get elevated just slightly. All of a sudden, the ground erupts with Fire People! Hands clamor out and molten heads emerge from every corner of the room.

You also notice the balled fists of the Rock Pastree begin to swing down at your group...

This may go south very quickly.

What do you do now?

Rock Pastree: 51/350, 0.5x def
Horde of Fire People: ???/???
Firemoonbean A: 0/145
Firemoonbean B: 0/145

Fire People are emerging everywhere!
Ace: 75/75, 2.5x Atk/Def
Marshall: 74/100, 1 pulseness, TF recharge in 1 turn
Apollo: 75/75
Amanda: 37/50
Isra: 1/35, no weapon, can't use items
--
Elliot is with Pyralis
Pyralis: ???

New Items: None
Persony Bits: Isra STILL has no weapon
Battle Turn: Ace gets freaking bamboozled (GAME OVER), Marshall falls on his face (quality humor), Marshall's Sauna Pulse (36 to Party), Apollo notices something gleam beyond Isra (???), Apollo's Thunda! (12 to RP), Ace's explosive punches (32 to RP), Isra empowers Amanda's sword (dropped HP to 1), Amanda's Dark Dragonfly Wave (65 to RP), RPastree's cavity blast (4 + 9 to Amanda), Everyone recuperates (all in generally the same area), RPastree's peculiar noise (seemingly summoned Fire Person horde), Fire People are emerging everywhere, RPastree is swinging down at your group, watdo? (enemy music)

This update brought to you by Simon's Cheezy Fromage.
Amanda immediately jumps up towards the Rock Pastree's incoming fists with the intent of deflecting them. She swings with wind blowing from behind, and hits from her right for 18 damage. You feel the Pastree's attack land just a hair to your left, shaking the area with its sheer might. Amanda is rocketed back towards the ground from the impact and takes 9 damage. Here, another problem awaits her. Hands of Fire People emerge from the floor, intent on not letting her get up. Clawed hands wrap around her ankles and wrists, and any sound she makes is muffled as she's absorbed into the floor of the cave by them.

You toss your last Sweeter Potion to Isra. She catches it and, without thinking, gulps it down frantically (-1 Sweeter Potion). However, halfway through she suddenly stops. She gags, and you can see what appears to be corrupted potion drip from her mouth before she spits it out completely. She attempts to re-stopper the item, but is then grabbed and restrained by a horde of Fire People emerging from the floor. She screams as she becomes cocooned within the floor of the cave by fiery corpses.

Apollo is also grappled and casts Irk-Thunda in self-defense, but the swarm surrounding him is too numerous. With every hand he shrivels away with lightning, several more take its place. Within seconds he's practically covered in dirtlike bodies and appendages and takes 35 damage as they attempt to drag him under like they did to Isra and Amanda.

As you notice this, you feel some arms scrape and grasp at your ankles. You kick them away easily at first, but then they manage to wrap around your feet. Before you realize it they've reached your hands, then your arms and head. You take 20 damage.

Marshall sees all this unfold, and grimaces. He will hold his hands high above his head as his feet become restrained and charge up water magic with a particular fervor. Just before the Fire People can reach his waist he swamps the area with an enormous wave of water in all directions, dealing 6 damage to Apollo and 5 to you, but you feel the layer of Fire People wash off of you as he does this and you regain your ability to stand. But as you scan you realize there's no sign of Amanda or Irsa.

You're freed from that now, but Fire People continue to push themselves up from the ground. To counter this, Marshall freezes the water to create a layer of ice to prevent any surprises. Fire People that have emerged from other spots in the area still advance towards you, though.

Min pings you all of a sudden, "I've done an analysis of that sound you heard the Rock Pastree make just now. While its purpose seemingly was to summon all those Fire People, its overall sound and melodic tone bears shocking resemblance to common pastree mating calls, perhaps meaning this creature actually WAS a pastree once before becoming... that, and it's repurposed its call. That, or it's just really lonely- lonely enough to call out for love in the midst of battle."
You may or may not thank Min for that vital piece of intel.

Now the Rock Pastree sucks in a deep breath, as if its about to launch a massive fire blast at you as you're surrounded by the encroaching Fire People.
... oh wait that's exactly what it's about to do.

How to act?

Rock Pastree: 33/350, 0.5x def
Horde of Fire People: ???/???
Firemoonbean A: 0/145
Firemoonbean B: 0/145

Fire People are emerging everywhere... except directly beneath you
Ace: 50/75, 2.5x Atk/Def
Marshall: 74/100, 2 pulseness, Tater Flash charged
Apollo: 34/75
Amanda: 0/50, ???
Isra: 0/35, ???
--
Pyralis: ???

New Items: -1 Sweeter Potion
Persony Bits: Isra's weapon is probably lying around somewhere but otherwise... None?
Battle Turn: RP's double fist-swing (9 to Amanda, countered by Amanda), Amanda's counter (18 to RP), Horde's clawed hands (KO to Amanda) Isra's Sweeter Potion (failed due to Unspeakable Magic), Horde's corpse cocoon (KO to Isra), Apollo's Irk-Thunda (No Effect on Horde), Horde's dirtlike appendages (35 + restrain to Apollo), Horde's scrape grasp (20 + restrain to Ace), Marshall's enormous wave (5/6 + freed to Ace/Apollo), Marshall's ground freeze (no emerging Fire People from below), Min's important intel (it's important), Rock Pastree's big breath to prep a HUGE fire blast as you're all trapped by encroaching Fire People! Watdo? (enemy music)

Yeah tower time GO

Apollo: Shoot da pastry guy with frightening lightning.