The vines go away to reveal all the machinery in the walls.
Crowne: ...wow, you don't see that every day. What IS this tower?
Crowne finds an input section upon examination.
Crowne: Huh, generic interface. I can touch it...
Click. Screens pop up with unreadable writings and pictures!
MC: WHAT
Crowne: Okay wow, I didn't expect that to do anything. I wonder if Space Google Translate will work here...?
Crowne uses SGT on her phone to work the machine.
Viscunam: >:( (stays on guard)
Sensettia: Hey Viscunam, weren't you going to make something to deal with the vines?
Viscunam: ...I can't.
Sensettia: wait WHAT
Viscunam: I said I can't! It's not going to help against a Monster! We should focus on surviving, and I don't want to go into the Monster's lair anyway.
Gomeisa: Viscunam, what happen?
Viscunam: ...it's a long story. Short version, I can't handle facing off against Monsters.
MC: Huh, wonder what happened?
Sensettia: ...wow, I never heard you say you can't before. Usually you always yell about how you can do anything with SCIENCE!
Viscunam: (frowns)
Sensettia: ...whoa, you aren't even going to argue?
There goes Sensettia's image of Viscunam after he broke her out of her cage. But maybe he's in a cage of his own.
Sensettia: ...you can still think it through at least, can't you? You know, make something with what's here to deal with the vines!
Viscunam: ...well that, I can do. Blow up the tower.
Crowne: ...! (stops)
Sensettia: W-wait, isn't that overkill?
Viscunam: ...Crowne, what do you think? If these vines are a Monster and that Monster goes berserk in here, is it really that far-fetched a plan?
Crowne: ...it's not impossible, but that'd be a plan if the goal is getting rid of the Monsters at all costs.
MC: WHAT / (stares)
(A) Crowne smiles slightly at MC.
Viscunam: Monsters prioritize predation over survival, and they've been taking over this tower and turning it haywire before we got here.
Crowne: Well, it's in the middle of taking over the tower. Meaning, it's focused on something else besides us.
Sensettia: No way!
Gomeisa: Then...if Monster done with tower...
Crowne: Yeah...it'll be even stronger than it is now. Then it'll look for something else. Sure there's us, but there's also a city nearby.
Gomeisa: Oh no...
Viscunam: ...right. Of course, blowing up the tower now could also backfire and make the Monster flip out if it lives. But...
Crowne: ...there'd be less of them which means it might be easier to fight them then.
Sensettia: Wait, we're really considering blowing up the tower...?
Gomeisa: Crowne...
Gomeisa looks determined, but Crowne gestures for him to wait.
Crowne: I get what you're saying Viscunam, but...
MC: The answer's no, right?
Crowne: Yep. Your idea makes sense, but I'm against it.
Viscunam: What!?
Crowne: Yes, your argument makes some sense, but it's going to take time and resources to actually make it happen. The Monster will probably be done eating the tower by then.
Viscunam: They go that fast??
Crowne: Also... (kaiju Monster incident flashback!) MC and I went through the same situation where someone planned to space nuke our city. We can't accept anything like that happening elsewhere.
MC: Yeah.
Viscunam: BRUTES!
Crowne: Hang on now, your plan still makes sense, so we'll keep it as a last resort. We'd still need to get info and check out the situation for it anyways, so let's do that. We might find something helpful...no guarantees it'll work though.
Gomeisa: Crowne have idea!?
Crowne: Not everything, but Space Google Translate got me the gist of things. (fiddles with machine) Now this screen shows a model of the tower and something flowing up. It's energy from the tower itself, and the whole thing's a weather control machine.
MC: Oh my god!
Viscunam: Wow, this amount of resources is not something you can get on short notice... Still, amazing work to make it all an energy source, armoring, and a piece of machinery.
Crowne: Yeah, crazy how it's been on 24/7...translation's done, I'm pretty damn certain it's a weather control machine when you look at the city. Also, it looks like we're close to the tower core. Here's the map, here's us, and here's the core up above.
Sensettia: ...wow we really came high up. The core's definitely above us, right? It's not gonna turn out to be in the basement levels?
Crowne: Nope. The paths we saw all went up, right? There could have been other paths, but look at the map. (points) There's a big boss door up ahead. Main control terminal's in there.
Gomeisa: Wow...why weather go weird then?
Crowne: Easy. Monsters broke the machine.
Click. Look at all those red dots on the map!
Viscunam: ...what's that?
Crowne: All the machines offline.
Viscunam: But it's almost everything!
Crowne: Yeah. It's not that the machines are malfunctioning. It's that they're just off.
Sensettia: Whoa, it's that hot just because the weather machine is off? What kind of hellhole is this planet?
Viscunam: Nature is going back to how it was...is that what's happening?
Crowne: Yep. The original creators must have been amazing.
Gomeisa: Then, tower gone bad for planet people? Lose homes?
MC: Yeah...I want to help them.
Viscunam: Well that changes what we thought of things. I still support blowing up the tower...but it seems we can only choose to destroy it or fix it.
Crowne: (frowns)
Crowne: ...yep. First we should check it out. Honestly, it's gonna be a struggle to see if it even can be fixed, but we'll never get anywhere without getting rid of the Monsters first anyway.
Sensettia: Yep, this has escalated really fast. Well I'm already here, I'm in for the whole ride.
Gomeisa: But weren't Sensettia and Viscunam here to help fix tower to begin with???
Sensettia: Huh? O-oh, yeah! Of course! Totally!
Crowne: ...alright, let's go. The door should be right over there.
And so Crowne, Gomeisa, Sensettia, and MC start walking looking determined. Viscunam frowns really hard as he brings up the rear.
Later
The party reaches the giant tower core door.
MC: I sense a BIG Monster...
Crowne: Welp. The vine boss must be inside.
Gomeisa: Oomph! Oomph! ...o-oh no, can't move...
Sensettia: Pulling and pushing don't work. Is it broken?
Crowne: I didn't see any damage reported near the door, so I didn't think so. I don't know anything more though.
MC: Hmm...
Viscunam: There are Monsters here. I shouldn't be here...but somehow I still am. Why? I can't afford to be retgone if it comes to it yet...
Flashback!
Viscunam's Dad: Viscunam, inventions are--
Present
Gomeisa: VISCUNAM!
Viscunam: AAAAA! W-what was that for!?
Gomeisa: Viscunam invention help!?
Viscunam: I-I...
Gomeisa: Viscunam many amazing inventions! Talk about so many! Can't invention help?
MC: Seems like a bit much / Please, Viscunam!
Viscunam: B-but...!
Gomeisa: Never seen person make so many amazing things before! Viscunam want be famous, yes!? I want Viscunam be famous too!
Viscunam: (flashes back to earlier in the tower)
Gomeisa: Viscunam, please!
Viscunam: HNNNGH! ...okay fine, I'll stay long enough to open the door! (starts investigating)
Gomeisa: Yay, thank you!
Crowne: ...you were considering bailing, weren't you?
Viscunam: (stares) ...yes. Do you blame me for being afraid?
Crowne: Nah, I think it's great you're sticking around even though you're afraid. Thanks.
Viscunam: Again, only long enough to open the door.
Later
Sensettia: ...any clues?
Viscunam: ...I don't even need my inventions here. The door runs on ether and should open once there's enough.
MC: It's automatic?
Viscunam: (touches door) This door normally gets energy from elsewhere, but it's locked now because it doesn't have enough. It can absorb energy like sounds and radio waves like the crystals. We supply that, then it should move.
Crowne: Wow, you figured it out that quick?
Viscunam: ...hmph, I can figure that out by yesterday's breakfast. Remember how the crystals shone when Girlie sang? If we make the crystals here do it, it'll release the energy the door needs.
Sensettia: My song...? Really?
Viscunam: Yes, I am 100% sure.
Sensettia: ...well okay then! Time to rock!
Viscunam: N-NO WAIT! The Monster might attack as soon as the door opens! At least think of something in case that happens!
Crowne: ...oh, right. We don't know how strong the boss is either.
Sensettia: Can we really do anything...?
Gomeisa: We only fight. Can't make special plans. Viscunam have any inventions use!?
Viscunam: Urk! Monster fighting's outside my specialization!
Gomeisa: Oh...
Sensettia: Hmm... (thinks) Oh! Viscunam, can't we use that one thing?
Viscunam: what thing
Sensettia: You made a giant megaphone thing for me before! Can't we use that to both open the door AND attack the boss Monster!?
MC: Deus ex machina!
Viscunam: ...the Ultra Power Voice Amp? Hmm, hooking it up to your Parallel Weapon makes sense. Luckily I brought it with me! I just need to fiddle with it to make it work here.
Sensettia: Yes, we got it all fig--
Viscunam: Girlie, you're forgetting something.
Sensettia: What? ...oh.
Viscunam: Yes, the high energy requirements. It's the problem we'd already be having using your song to create energy, and I doubt grabbing all the crystals nearby would be enough.
Sensettia: Oh right, last time we caused a huge blackou--I mean, problems were caused. And here I thought it was a good idea...
Crowne: Hmm...well there might be a solution to our energy needs.
Viscunam: How?
Crowne: We're heroes and we have to stream our battles. VP's basically infinite energy in a way, so maybe we can use that...
MC: Oh, yeah!
Crowne: Yeah, we can work this out.
Viscunam: Wait, we're going to use the VP we basically use as MP to attack to power the machine instead? How are we going to get that much VP?
Sensettia: I'll do my best, for Christmas!
Gomeisa: Yes...if no Christmas, many city people sad!
Sensettia: This is gonna be the best concert ever! I'll sing and crush that Monster! And lots of people on this planet believe in this tower, right? I should tune my singing to make them happy.
Sensettia starts thinking about her songs.
Crowne: What? You're gonna mix them up right now? Damn, performers are crazy. Sounds good though, we gotta get those sweet, sweet views with all our work.
Viscunam: But I don't know how to turn VP into energy...
Crowne: I do! I did this last Christmas! And we have plenty of people to make up the audience: all the townspeople hoping we'll solve the weather problem we've got going on.
Sensettia: Oh right, them!
Crowne: I'm a little worried about whether they'll actually watch though. It'd be nice if we had a huge screen to stream this to.
MC: Hmm...
Hey there was a giant screen in town when people were setting up for Christmas in space.
MC: Hey, let's have them stream it on that screen in the event area!
Crowne: Oh right, there's that! MC, can you call the festival committee? Tell them they need to have as many people as possible watch it! This is a planetwide problem we've got on our hands!
MC: On it!
Crowne: Okay, while MC's on the phone, we gotta start working on the adjustments!
Viscunam: Well now that we have those plans sorted out...
Sensettia: ...what now?
Viscunam: I need to remind you all that this is the last chance to back out.
Silence.
Viscunam: This is a reckless plan to charge into an enclosed area with insufficient information on an unknown Monster with erasure on the line. I'm afraid of Monsters and of being forgotten.
Gomeisa: Viscunam...
MC: Why haven't you bailed out then?
Viscunam: ...I don't know. Normally I'd be gone already, and I can't let myself be forgotten before I make the ultimate invention. I still need to decide, and looking at you all irritates me so for some reason...
Sensettia: Well, that's...
Crowne: ...aren't you...?
Viscunam: ...what?
MC: Doesn't that mean you're worried about us?
Viscunam: What?
This apparently has never occurred to Viscunam.
Viscunam: I'm worried about you all...? No, wait...
Viscunam's intuition says he's not.
Gomeisa: It okay, I know that feel! But I protect everyone! No one going to forget!
Viscunam: W-wait, what?
Viscunam flashes back!
Viscunam's Dad: Viscunam, inventions are just a resultant product. The truth is that they're a connecting process, and that connection is important.
Present
Viscunam: Process? I chose to make an unbreakable baton to pass on...and always ran from Monsters... Is the process to get to that point to have everyone I come across be constantly destroyed...? I have to sacrifice them?
Flashback!
Viscunam's Dad: I never had the intention to make that invention. He just proved the worth of having it in the world.
Viscunam's Head: Inventing is about drawing up a world where a thing exists...and having the intention to make it... I see. I...I fear Monsters, but...there is no need for me to consign everything to the trash bin because of it!
Present
Sensettia: Uhh...Viscunam...? You ok--
Viscunam: ...h
Sensettia: What?
Viscunam: BWAHAHAHA! I have made a serious misjudgment!
Sensettia: OW MY EARS
Viscunam: Okay, fine, you win. I'm coming with you.
MC: Really!? Yes!
Viscunam: Not to the bitter end, of course. There's far too much unknown, so if we aren't able to eliminate the Monster...
Crowne: ...what?
Viscunam: We're all escaping together. You're all part of my inventing process now.
Gomeisa: Yay! I protect everyone!
Viscunam: R-right, you do that!
Sensettia: Weirdo.
Sensettia sees that Viscunam is back to his usual self.
Viscunam: Crowne, we will finish this in ten minutes. Come with me.
Crowne: ...got it. I'm a bona fide mechanic, you know.
Viscunam pulls out a telescopic speaker, and he and Crowne get to work on it.
Ten minutes later
MC is ready to turn the livestream on and the party is suited up for battle. Drone cameras and the amplifier doohickey are ready.
MC: Ready guys? It's almost time to roll.
Gomeisa: Yes!
Crowne: Well we came this far. We're gonna survive and party in town after this!
Sensettia: I'm gonna sing!
Viscunam: H-hmph! SCIENCE will defeat you, Monster!
MC: Okay! Showtime! (click)
Sensettia starts singing. The door starts shaking.
Crowne: Nice, look at the view count and VP coming in!
Viscunam: Just a little more and we'll have enough to run the amplifier without cutting into our battle potential! Also, wow I don't think Girlie or me have ever fought with so much attention on us before.
Gomeisa: Oh! Door opening!
The door shines and groans open.
Crowne: Yes! ...!?
Look at all those vines!
Viscunam: So many...
Vine avalanche!
MC: Here they come!
Gomeisa: No!
Gomeisa makes an ice wall that freezes the vines that touch it! Now there's a gap.
Crowne: You did it! Let's go in through the gap!
Gomeisa: Okay! I protect everyone!
Sensettia: Cool! I'll make a medley of two or three of my songs now!
MC: Let's go!
Crowne and Gomeisa go in first. MC and Sensettia go next.
Viscunam: (frowns)
Viscunam hesitates...
Viscunam: ...ahh! (charges in)
Monster: (slithers sinisterly)
The room looks like a shrine, and the walls are covered in crystals and machinery. Vines are everywhere and converge at the top of the steps where the boss's main body seems to be.
Viscunam: Is that the core body!?
Crowne: The tower core should be the furthest part in, and of course it's got a big ugly Monster growing out of it!
Monster: (slithers menacingly)
The Monster's head piece looks towards the party, then screams!
Gomeisa: Monster looking here!
Crowne: Wait, that's not the boss! I mean it's probably the core, but there's two of them...? Whatever, destroy it and we'll be done!
Sensettia: I'm warmed up and ready to rock out!
MC: Here we go, people!
Viscunam: We have so much VP, but it's still not enough for the contraption! MC, don't forget there's also a limit to how much energy can be put into the Amplifier at once! Keep the VP flowing! I'll keep watch for the right time to activate the invention to blow the Monster away!
MC: Okay!
The Monster still looks ready to attack whenever!
Viscunam: Hold that thing back while we gather VP! Girlie, ready!?
Sensettia: I was born ready!
Monster: (screams in vines)
Showtime!
Title Card: The Crucial Big Concert
BATTLE START
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