Through strange magics and brutal might, the tide is beginning to turn. Astrid's hammer cuts a swathe through their force, while the multicoloured golem seems nigh-unstoppable. But the leader still stands, and the the sandmen are still fighting back.

The Blixtbots™, too, are holding their ground, with no casualties thus far. In fact, despite Astrid being the one to initially advocate a peaceful approach, the bots' tactics actually seem less brutal. With their electrified weapons^[1], they're able to stun and subdue the sandmen, without killing them. While not all of them possess this benefit, those that do are making significant headway.

Arrows and knives soar into the tricoloured golem, but even those that pierce its short flesh have little effect. The walking corpse, still slathered in sickly-sweet muck, is similarly relentless; it trudges about, pelted with countless arrows and bolts, but doesn't fall, as if ignorant of the concept of death. Unfortunately, its own attacks are somewhat ineffectual.

A screaming sandman charges the golem with some curved polearm, only for a bolt - quick as a flash of lightning^[2] - to strike it with enough force to send it to the ground and inflict whiplash. The bolt came from somewhere above; it seems the Bishop has found a perch.

But it seems the golem's woes are not over. Blue can hear something above himself - a clattering of swords and other weaponry. Its source is made clear soon enough, as an entire rack of weapons is dropped from the catwalk, falling toward him!

But the true objective, of course, is the chieftain, whose command is their will. It has heard Astrid challenge; it has heard and it will not be daunted. After all, what sort of leader would it be if it could not stand against a mere child? It will fight her, and it will fight alone.

...Then again, 'alone' can be a subjective term.

As it menacingly twirls its weapon, two figures suddenly pounce from behind it! It's a bizarre, confusing sight that's oddly familiar to Astrid - the figures are perfect duplicates of the chieftain^[3]! Not a second more is wasted before all three chieftain-figures lunge forward, propelling themselves acrobatically along with their blades and leaping to slice!

---

1. Sigil's Blessing [Lightning Rune]
2. Dashing [Heavy Crossbow] (Bishop)
3. Clone Self

As Astrid charges forward, chaos unfolds behind her. Blue Raspberry turns into a giant corn candy monster. It's all been hard to process, but with her mark on the leader, she has a focus. Get rid of the leader; demoralize the forces. Wielding both weapons, she rushes ahead, ready to throw her war hammer again once she's within range. But then the dual-blade-wielding bristly monstrosity suddenly duplicates. There's three of them now. Crap. 

Astrid's eyes dart between them. This doesn't look like the same afterimage ability her armor gives her. Maybe it's more akin to what the Displacer King and Veliky can do? Physical copies? Best to assume that's the case. Two hammers, so that means at least two hits. She could throw them, but that'd leave her defenseless. The leader leaps forward and swipes at her, and she dodges away narrowly. He's large, she's small. She's just enough faster for now, and the Diplopia Armor helps her be harder to target. Bullet Dash in a pinch. Okay, risk it with the war hammer.

Astrid sends her war hammer sailing through one of the bristly leaders. It goes right through and slams into a rack in the background. Something in that pile is definitely broken. The leader flicks the opposite end of the dual-blade at her and catches her foot. Astrid stumbles forward and loses her footing. That's damage to her greaves. She's on her hands and knees. The big guy is coming right at her. He must be the real one! 

She calls her hammer back, hoping it arrives in time. It clatters through the spilled weapons and flies back, right through the other illusion, but it reaches her hand just as the leader brings one end of the blade down on top of her. Both hammers in hand, she manages to stopper the blade, though it hits her gauntlets and dents them. No injuries yet. Stay that way! With the blade touching her war hammer, her spell focus, Astrid gives the leader baring down on her a devious look and casts Charged Object through her hammer onto the double blade. 

Bits of lightning arc out and cause immense pain through an electrical shock to both of the leader's hands. The blade falls on Astrid, though she pushes it off to the side, as the leader stumbles back in pain with both arms limp and numb.

The tide is turning for her. 

---

Challenging Mark [post 2/4]
Greaves - 1 hit reduction
Gauntlets - 1 hit reduction

Blue Hulkberry lumbered forward, swinging the massive hammer around in one hand. They swept away chunks of the crowd, sending the little enemies flying in every direction, numb from the electrical discharges. They didn't know that potion would do this, but they felt powerful thanks to it. They were overwhelmed by it. A mixture of rage and hunger took over, and all they could think about was fighting these enemies that were attacking them. All they could feel was the urge to consume.

The hulking ooze looked up as they heard a crashing overhead and saw the weapons rack falling toward them. With startling efficiency, they reached an arm up and a gooey tentacle emerged that swung through the falling weapons, catching them on its sticky surface. A few weapons stabbed into the tentacle, but they were unperturbed. With all of the falling weapons swept out of the air, the tentacle retracted back into their hand and they grasped their handful of polearms and blades for only a moment before shoving the whole thing into their maw. The weapons and metal rack were devoured and stored away, thankfully indigestible to the ooze. Dissatisfied with their meal, they looked up again to see the sandman that had pushed the rack over.

The tentacle lashed out again, and wrapped around the startled sandman before they were yanked from the catwalk to fall with a shriek directly into the ooze's mouth. A much more satisfying meal. Blue Raspberry looked around at the enemies still stabbing at them and receiving electric shocks in return. They lashed the tentacle around, continuing their feast in the midst of the battlefield. Weapons stabbed into the ooze and became stuck before being pulled into the ooze completely. The ooze just grabbed them and tossed them into their mouth.

The sandmen grew far more wary of the giant monster, keeping their distance. Several more arrows were shot into them, but they were similarly swallowed up like their spears and swords had been. With the crowd giving them a wide berth, soon, the closest thing to Blue Raspberry was the robot that had given them the potion that turned them into this in the first place. The tentacle lashed out toward Knight, trying to grab them as well, the ooze consumed by their urge to consume that had been bolstered by the strange brew.

---

Master of Combat
Lightning Armor
Rubber Whip

There comes a point in most every skirmish when victory - or defeat - seems a matter of certainty. When too many enemies or allies are lost for the remainder to have any meaningful effect, all that's left is how quickly and how efficiently the battle can be concluded. As the Knight-bot cracks its electrified whip and shocks another sandman into unconsciousness, a switch flips in its head: from conflict to cleanup.

But neither victory nor defeat are ever truly certain, as even the most favourable or baleful odds can be shifted by something truly unexpected.

The golem swings its pseudopod, but Knight does nothing to protect itself. Only as the tentacle touches its hull - denting and sundering it - does another switch flip in its processor: from ally to enemy. But, of course, it's too late by then. The bot is violently yanked into the golem's jelly-maw, drowned in the broth of liquid candy. A single, high-pitched beep rings out, only to diminuendo below the sounds of the battle.

Still, it does not go unnoticed. Through the gaps in the horde, the knife-bot called Gutter turns its attention to the golem, just as it was about to throw a knife into the crowd. Seeing its comrade violently crushed and devoured, while it doesn't evoke any true emotion, does evoke something quite more dire: alarm. And it wastes no time in voicing it.

"All units, report: Conscript Wolfe has gone rogue and is now considered a Priority Gold threat. Neutralize him as soon as possible."

There's an immediate shift in the bots' tactics. Technological correspondence bounces throughout the room as they maneuver away from the candy golem. Suddenly with two fronts to combat, the bots lose ground; the trident-bot, Fisher, falls to piercing daggers.

Despite Gutter's instruction, no offensive action seems to take place against the golem. But not all threats are seen; outside, atop a crumbling building, Bishop stands. Its aim had been trained on the sandfolk leader, but quickly reorients its trajectory until the sharp bolt points directly at the golem. A single, ordinary bolt shouldn't be enough to destroy a creature of this size and bulk, but this is no ordinary bolt: enchanted with a velocity that could pierce steel^[1] and, surprisingly, a more otherworldly arcana that's invoked for exactly this type of dark-suffused target^[2]. It's a baleful threat indeed.

The leader, meanwhile, drops its double-blade which clatters to the floor. It stumbles back, clenching and unclenching its fists and feeling the pins and needles. Disarmed - a useless combatant, and he knows it well.

As it regains its bearings, it lets out a guttural hiss, crouches down and leaps up and onto the catwalk with incredible force and grace! It leers down, as if mocking, just before it reaches into a nearby weapon rack and draws twinned, polished scimitars! But he isn't finished; the chieftain twirls one of his swords and mutters a guttural chant. Around him, particles of sand begin to rise, then hover, then swirl about him like a cloak of the desert's own fury^[3]! Within, he is little more than a silhouette - and that is soon joined by two others^[4], each of them growling and beckoning their invitation at the little warrior below.

---

1. Dashing [Heavy Crossbow] (Bishop)
2. Sigil's Blessing [Holy]
3. Dancing Sands (Sandman Chieftain)
4. Clone Self (Sandman Chieftain)

With the chieftain backing off, Astrid gets some space to recollect herself. Getting to her feet, the girl finally has a moment to take in what's going on with the bots and Blue Raspberry behind her. 

Carnage. Absolute carnage. 

How did all of this happen? She sees Knight get scooped up and swallowed up by the hulking candy corn creature. Another one gets downed by knives. Well, so much for no casualties. Where is Blue Raspberry?? Astrid quickly reaches for the communicator on her belt. Didn't a voice come from it earlier? She can't recall. "B-Beta team, come in. We're in the armory fightin' fer our lives with a buncha sandmen. If ya've got the ability, backup would be appreciated." There's no time to wait for a response.

"Blue?!" Astrid shouts with all her might towards the chaos across the room. "Where'd ya go? Are ya alright?!" But she can't see them. She barely makes out the bots' order to attack the hulking monster. Is that the ooze knight? Oh, great. Oh, GREAT. This is going super great! An arrow lands beside her foot, drawing her attention up again. It seems the chieftain still has fighting spirit and is taunting her. Astrid watches him conjure more duplicates and now a sandstorm. Great. 

With one desperate attempt to distract or hit something, Astrid flings her war hammer towards the walkway. If it hits the chief, great, but if it destroys the catwalk, possibly even better. Besides that, she abandons her fight with the chief. He's one enemy, and the bots are struggling against this new monstrosity and the remaining sandmen. She's got to help them because if they all get taken down, the rest of their journey down here is going to be a nightmare, especially if something happened to Buffalo and Alpha team. 

Still, she can take advantage of the Challenging Mark before she ends it with her next moves. "Bishop! Hit the chief now!!"

Charging into the fray, Astrid casts Lightning Armor on herself and jumps right in with her silvered battle hammer in hand. Every touch, skiff, scuff against any of the sandmen jolts them with electricity. She doesn't even focus on hitting as much as simply just making contact somewhere and giving them all a jolt. That's her best play right now. Her Diplopia Armor makes it difficult for any of the sandmen to get a proper hit on her. Good thing too because the weapons flail wildly and threaten to pierce her at any moment. 

"Gutter! Is B- Is Wolfe that- that thing?!" she shouts, slamming her hammer into one of the sandmen's chests. "If it is, then just- just avoid it! Focus on the sandmen and stay outta its way! It can't last forever!" The half-dwarf dodges a couple more swings, but the tide has turned. At least on this front. "Wolfe, if yer in there, cut that shite out!! We've got a job ta do!!" 

It's probably a pointless attempt, but it is an attempt.

---

Challenging Mark - ended early
Lightning Armor [post 1/3]

With Knight devoured, Blue Raspberry continued their rampage through the armory. Their whip-like appendage continued to flail around, grabbing any sandman unlucky enough to be hit by it and reeling them in to join the robot. The ooze was still lost in their madness and hunger, brought on by that strange potion. With the hulking ooze monster and Astrid both mowing the crowd down, the sandmen quickly dwindled in number.

The giant ooze's attention was brought to somethin strange happening above it. What looked like a miniature sandstorm had suddenly sprung up, and there were three figures within it. Three figures that were much larger than the little ones running around. The tentacle lashed upward, toward the Sandman Chief and his duplicates. The Chief didn't notice at all as the slimy appendage reached for them, their attention solely on the little warrior that had challenged them. The whip went straight through the two illusionary duplicates, dispelling them, and stuck to the back of the chief with a wet slap.

Caught off guard and pained from the force of the whip striking them, the Chief was yanked off the catwalk and toward the candy hulk. They tried to cut the whip with their scimitars, but its texture was like rubber and refused to be sliced through. The sandstorm continued to rage around it, keeping the Chief at its center. As they approached Blue Raspberry, the sand began to pelt the hulk who let out a gurgling, guttural roar in annoyance as they were scratched and scraped by the whirling sand. They pulled the Chief in, directly in front of their gaping mouth.

As a last act of defiance before succumbing to the monster's maw, the Chief stabbed both of their scimitars into the chest of the hulk. The scimitars sank into the orange goo, devoured along with their wielder. The whirling sands faded away, signaling the Chief's demise.

The candy hulk looked around for any more food, the few remaining Sandmen fleeing for their lives. The nearest thing they could see was Astrid, calling out to them. They could hear her shouting, but what was she saying? They took a lumbering step forward, but hesitated. That was Astrid, they couldn't eat Astrid. But they were starving! That was their best friend. But they needed food.... But Astrid was nice. She gave them food all the time. But she could just be the food... But, no, they needed to stop!

"Graa... Aa.. Aaaa... strid...." they gurgled out slowly, standing still.

Almost as soon as the hulk stopped moving, a single bolt shot directly through their head, blowing it off entirely. Their arms dropped limp, the whip-like appendage flopping to the ground and the hammer falling with a thud. They swayed for a moment before dropping to their knees and then falling forward with a loud splat. They melted into an enormous puddle of white, orange, and yellow goo that spread across the floor of the armory.

In the center of the candy-colored flood was a familiar suit of armor lying facedown on the ground, completely coated in the colorful slime.

As the rampaging golem goes silent, so too does the room. It takes a moment for the reality of the situation to set in, but, once it does, it seems that the greatest threats have been neutralized and the rest have either scurried like rats or taken to cowering in corners. It's a jarring change in atmosphere - almost as jarring as the electrified blade being pointed in Blue Raspberry's face.

"Conscript Wolfe, command, Priority Silver: surrender immediately. Failure to comply will result in immediate aggressive action."

---

It's been some five minutes since the end of the battle. A sizeable percentage of the opposing sandmen were successfully taken alive; the others either escaped - some of them with weapons from the armoury - while many others were casualties of either Astrid's hammer or Blue Raspberry's frenzy. The dead and unconscious have been sorted into separate heaps, while the conscious have been corralled into imprisonment by the Bishop.

Those bots that'd been posted outside have filed in and secured the room, rounding up weapons for the Pawns to carry. Unfortunately, many said weapons were damaged in the battle while others were completely devoured by the golem. Of the equipment that had first been noted by the scouting team, a brief statistic by Stalker states that the percentage of salvageable equipment is "approximately 37%."

But the end of the battle - and seemingly the end of the mission - does not diminish the Blixtbots'™ activity. Rest seems a near-meaningless concept to them as they march about the room, enacting even the most trivial protocols like a well-oiled machine (both individually and as a collective). Some are gathering equipment from the armoury, some are guarding the hostages, some are patrolling about the room and some are seeing to Blue Raspberry, who's been detained in his own corner. The Lag Switch stands at guard, buts its hostile posture - however unnervingly jittery - indicates that it's guarding others from him, not the inverse.

As Blue is sat on the sandy floor, he's approached by a Pawn unit - fortunately, the least threatening of them all. Its grating, mechanical noises grind to a halt as its movements subside, leaving it in a straight, neutral stance. Its attention is undividedly upon the candy-covered knight before it.

The silence that follows might be called awkward, though the bots experience no such emotion. It's difficult to tell what's worse: the anticipation or the bots' creaking voice that breaks the silence.

"Executing psychological evaluation protocols. Subject Wolfe, explanation: we have reason to believe that you have suffered a psychological disturbance, possibly as a result of any number of cerebrahazards. In order to ascertain the exact nature and severity of this affliction, I will now ask you a short series of questions. Please answer as clearly and truthfully as possible. Query: are you ready?"

It doesn't wait for an answer. Apparently, it wasn't asking for a verbal response.

"Excellent. Question One: what is your name?"

Just as with the last one, the Pawn doesn't wait for an answer. Though, something tells Blue that this one *should* be answered, just not quite yet.

"Question Two: what emotions are you currently experiencing and to what degree?"

"Question Three:" It raises a hand and holds up two of its spindly, mechanical fingers. "how many fingers am I holding up?"

In similarly jerky motions, it lowers its hand.

"Final Question (this question is a hypothetical): you have been sentenced to death for poisoning the brunch of the royal treasurer. However, you are entitled to a final meal of your choice. What do you choose?"

As that bot lists its questions, it's almost difficult to notice as the canine-golem called BF strides up and beside Astrid, looking up at her with its crimson, yet oddly photogenic eyes. Indeed, after observing it for some time, there are some oddities in its behaviour that make it seem rather more friendly, rather more alive than its fellows. Of course, its voice is that same drone.

"Officress Astrid, query: your emotional state, too, should be assessed. How are you feeling?"

It takes a bit of convincing demanding from Astrid to get the bots to give Blue Raspberry some space. Eventually, they agree on the ooze knight being banished to a corner while things settle down. She can't believe they were that massive creature. Actually, she can kind of believe it. They drank something when they didn't know what it would do, and with Blue being an ooze, things are bound to go wild. Alright, well they can figure that out in a few minutes. 

She watches anxiously while the Pawn bot questions Blue Raspberry; one foot taps against the ground while she watches. Her arms are crossed, and her hand rests against her chin. BF strolls up and asks how she's doing, and she looks down at the dog bot. "Great. Doin' great. Saw me best friend get shot in the face then drink a potion and turn inta a monster. Things turned inta absolute chaos around here, and that's frustratin'. We don't know what's happened with Buffalo's team, and I'm just..." 

The half-dwarf takes a deep breath and pushes it down for a moment. "This is hard. I knew it would be. Maybe I didn't know it'd be this hard. I'm just tryna make Miss Veliky proud. She put me in charge of alla this fer a reason, 'cause she believed I could handle it. So I'm gonna handle it. We just need ta collect ourselves." 

At this point, she realizes the damage to her gauntlets and greaves. That can be fixed later, but with the way things are going right now, it needs a quick fix. She reaches into her pack and pulls out a tiny bone, supposedly something with the essence of a smith. Snapping the bone, a phantasmal aura emanates out and covers her gauntlets. The metal on her wrists are mended and return to the proper shape. There's at least that peace of mind. 

When the interrogation reaches its end, she calls over, "Blue, ya doin' alright?"

---

Blacksmith's Wishbone

Blue Raspberry groaned as they lay facedown in the puddle of goo. They were groggy, and their memory fuzzy as if they had just woken from an unplanned nap that had gone far too long. Where were they, and how did they end up here? They raised their head up out of the goop, candy colors dripping down off their helmet in long strings. What was this? It felt a lot like... them. Did they make this? They braced their hands on the ground, slipping around slightly, and lifted themself to their knees. Then looked up to see Gutter, the robot, holding a dagger toward their face.

Now, they sat in the corner of the armory. Astrid had vouched for them enough that they hadn't been immediately attacked or anything worse than being put in time-out so far, but they were still scared. Not of the bots, but of what they'd realized shortly after waking up. Their memories of being the candy hulk were hazy, but they triggered something in the ooze's mind. It was so familiar. It was just like when they had first come to being on that boat. They weren't intelligent, just running on instinct and the insatiable urge to eat. And they had eaten something horribly familiar. The taste of the robot, Knight, was something they'd tasted before, but that robot was in the shape of a spider. One that looked just like the mechanical arachnid that had accompanied them on this mission. They had a worrying sense of deja vu.

Along with their worries about what they had done in the past, they were worried about their current situation. Though they were now in control unlike they had been before, they still experienced some effects from the potion. They were far more hungry than usual. They wanted almost desperately to go devour the corpses of the sandmen being disposed of by the robots. And their hair and eyes had remained the same color as the potion and their berserk form. Their beard was a vibrant yellow which faded into orange as it went to their sideburns and most of the hair on their head, save for the top which was a bright white. Their irises were split horizontally in half, orange on top and yellow on the bottom. At least the whites of their eyes had remained white. Their entire form had actually been candy colored when they'd come to. It was just lucky they were still inside their suit of armor, allowing them to shift back into their humanoid appearance without the bots seeing. But, who knew how long this would last? What if this was permanent? How long could they control themself?

They looked up, their worried thoughts interrupted as Pawn walked up to them and began questioning. They opened their mouth, hesitating on which of their two names to give the robot, but they had already moved on to another question before they had given their answer.

"Uh, confusion. And some fear? But mostly confusion." They answered. They thought it would be best not to include the feeling that they were starving. 

They watched the bot raise two fingers and tilted their head in confusion. Why were they asking this question? Were they just testing if they knew how to count or not? Well, they did! Not that well, but they did!

"Two...?"

"Huh? What! Final meal? Uh... I dunno. A chicken and onion skewer? With the stick. Like, a lot of them, I guess?" they responded, fear and confusion evident in their voice. The ooze didn't understand hypothetical questions. "But I didn't poison anyone! I'm innocent!"

They looked over as Astrid called out to them.

"Astrid! They're accusing me of poisoning a bunch of royal treasure! Help! I don't even have any royal treasure! _{...probably...}"

The BF looks thoughtfully at Astrid - as much as it can 'look' at all. But there is some modicum of empathy in its body language: a bit of... concern? Of course, the bots don't have such emotions; but perhaps this one is designed to portray a contrary appearance. It says nothing more before Astrid calls out.

With every question that Blue answers, a click can be heard somewhere in the Pawn's skull. By the time the questionnaire is through and Wolfe is calling to Astrid, the Pawn looks as emotionless as ever, its clockwork brain whirring and grinding as it attempts - perhaps futilely - to process Wolfe's answers. After a while, the noise devolves into a rhythmic tick, tick, tick, tick, tick...

Ting!

"Subject Wolfe, congratulations: you are doing well." While Blixtbots™ don't generally lie, the Pawn's definition of 'well' might be worth questioning. "Explanation: we will now move on to the next step of your psychological evaluation. I am going to raise my finger and move it in procedurally generated motions. With your eyes, I would like you to follow my finger as closely as possi-"

Crash!

...The sound comes from somewhere outside the armoury, and immediately sets the bots on high alert. The Bishop sweeps the room with its crossbow, the Vampire flutters erratically at the ceiling, the Rook keeps its sword close as it skulks along the wall. The Pawn/de facto psychologist scans about, too; it seems vacant to continue its analysis of Wolfe, a seeming that's confirmed when it coldly states "Suspending psychological evaluation protocols."

...There's another sound, quieter but closer. It shakes the stone and unsettles dust and pebbles from the ceiling. And it repeats; rhythmic like footfalls, encroaching like danger, hissing like...

Like something very familiar.

Directly beside Rook, the wall explodes into dust and detritus! Within the cloud, all that can be seen is Rook, legs flailing as it's lifted from the ground! The other Blixtbots™ gather, weapons aimed and ready to assault whatever steps through. But, for the first time that anyone has seen them do so, they hesitate; because, when the dust clears, what is revealed is the off-white steel hull of Buffalo, gripping Rook by the neck with one hand whilst lugging its massive hammer in the other.

Rook, for one, is not hesitant to attack. Swinging and flailing, it thrusts its sword into Buffalo's chest! The blade bends its steel plates, but, in doing so, snaps itself in half^[1]. Electricity courses through the massive golem's body, but it hardly seems to flinch^[2].

Now utterly defenceless, the Rook can only buzz a warning. "All units, report: unit Buffalo-01 has gone rogue and is now considered a Priorit-"

CRUNCH! With only one hand, Buffalo crushes the Rook's neck^[3]. It is difficult to imagine such a stiff being going limp - but Rook does. On the ground, it's little more than a heap of metal. Its sword^[4] clatters to the ground, beside it.

All hesitation is gone. The bots fire, throw and thrust their weapons forward in a full barrage! But, in a burst of lightning^[5], Buffalo leaps upward and forward with impossible speed before falling and bringing its hammer crashing down upon Bishop! In a visceral instant, Bishop is smashed^[6] into its basest components: cogs, plates, springs and parts that even Astrid can't recognize.

The Gutter and the Lag Switch rush toward it in some utterly vain attempt to combat or even slow the beast down. In retribution, it suddenly dashes swings its hammer with enough force to obliterate both bots, sending their pieces flying through the air like the limbs of a broken toy. And now, having nearly emptied the room, the Buffalo grinds to a halt, sending sparks as its taloned feet scrape along the floor. And when it does, its crimson eyes are undeniably upon Wolfe and Astrid.

"Officress Astrid, Conscript Wolfe, command: surrender immediately. Resistance is futile."

---

1. Torso Strike Prevention [1 remaining] (Buffalo-01)
2. Lightning Resistance (Buffalo-01)
3. Bull's Strength (Buffalo-01)
4. (Sword for Dummies) X-01 Novice
5. Bullet Dash (Buffalo-01)
6. Heavy [War Hammer] (Buffalo-01)

After the message received earlier, Astrid fully expected Buffalo to be a pile of pieces. Obviously, this isn't the case. When the croc-bot bursts through the wall, she startles, immediately dropping to a ready stance, only to watch the bot tear through what once were its allies. This is bad. And its abilities are very similar to Astrid's own. She has to fight something with her own tactics? Oh, crap. Ohhhhh, crap. 

"Buffalo, what's gotten into ya?!" she shouts, whipping her hammers out. The large bot demands their surrender, and Astrid turns her nose up at this. She's not running away from this asshole. In fact, she's going to tell Veliky about how this bot sure was a jerk to them and now has gone rogue almost worse than Blue Raspberry. At least her ooze knight in goopy armor might listen to reason! 

It shifts its weight - a motion, however subtle, that leaves cracks in the sandstone tiles.

"Officress Astrid, report: my processing has not been hindered or altered. Explanation: your place in this mission was always a liability - you, Conscript Wolfe and all organics."

It stomps with such force that the cracks in the floor extend to Astrid and Wolfe. The head of its hammer sizzles with static electricity.

"However, Mistress Veliky disagrees. Contrary to all statistics, she believes that organic oversight is a necessity." Something glows within its crimson eyes - something the other bots don't possess. "She is wrong. And I will prove it."

Suddenly, the plates on the side of its face snap together, forming an iron mask that obscures its face in a mechanical leer.

"If the data is not severe enough to sway her, then it must be altered. I will destroy you. I will tell her that you failed. This is the optimal outcome."

So, in order to prove a twelve-year-old and an ooze knight incapable, Buffalo is willing to destroy his allies? All to prove a point? A moot point when everyone had the same goal! This entire mission for Astrid has been about proving herself worthy to Veliky. She wants to be worthy of trust and a place as an inventor for the quarterling's company.

Lightning sparks in Astrid's eyes as she puts her all into channeling her magic into her weapons and body. There's a certain amount of rage on her face. This is all a big show that accomplishes nothing for the bot. He'll fail too. He'll fail worse. Astrid didn't like Buffalo from the start, and hatred doesn't suit her, but she doesn't filter the next words seething with spite from her mouth.

"I'll deliver yer head on a platter." 

With that, lightning wreaths Astrid's body, crackling blue and flashing against the walls. Red and blue clash in a blur as Astrid charges forward in a blur. Taking a play from Buffalo's book, she leaps into the air and soars directly at its head, both hammers poised to slam into it. BANGBANG! One after another, the silvered battle hammer and electrified war hammer slam into Buffalo's head with all the force Astrid can manage. Really, she hopes to take its head right off its shoulders but knows that armor plating is made of quality material. Flying past Buffalo, she lands behind him, skidding to a stop and poised for more. The metal cord on her battle hammer dangles beside her. Maybe she can make use of that...

---

Challenging Mark [cooldown post 2/3]
Lightning Armor [post 1/3]
Bullet Dash
Arcane Soul (applies lightning to bonded weapon)
Bull's Strength 

Blue Raspberry stood up quickly, surprised by Buffalo's sudden entrance and even worse rampage than they had went on after drinking that potion. They got angry as they listened to the big jerk speak. They were going to prove that Astrid and Blue Raspberry couldn't do this mission by ruining it themself? That's stupid! Even the ooze wasn't that stupid! And why did this jerk keep calling them organic!? Their anger became a bit irrational as the remaining influence of the potion flared up.

Astrid was already going on the offensive, and Blue Raspberry followed suit. After witnessing Buffalo crush all the other bots so easily, they knew they couldn't hold back and try to hide their oozey abilities in front of the few remaining bots. They ran forward as orange goo seeped out of the gaps in their gauntlets and formed into a bubble. They threw the bubble at Buffalo and it burst against the bot's torso, coating them in acid that began to sizzle and eat away at them.

Blue Raspberry saw Buffalo prepare to repeat what they had done before and dash at the approaching knight. They skidded to a halt and turned around, running away from the charging bot. Buffalo dashed forward, but before they could strike the knight, they were suddenly halted. A coating of extremely sticky goo on the ground held their feet to the floor, but their momentum wasn't cancelled. The bot forcefully faceplanted right into more sticky yellow goo, the ground beneath cracking from the force.

"Astrid! Is this bot a big jerk?" Blue Raspberry shouted to Astrid, looking down at Buffalo on the ground.

---

Acid Bubble
Goo Puddle (Buffalo is stuck in place for their next post)
Bullet Dash (Buffalo)

Powerful though Buffalo's frame might be, the adhesive strength of Blue's own essence is equally so. But, even still, its every writhe is a show of power. There must be a breaking point, a point of least resistance in this bond, but it isn't Buffalo and it isn't the adhesive. Indeed, it becomes clear as more cracks form on the sandstone tiles; the bond will not break, but neither will it hold.

Pulling away with the strength of a dozen owlbears, the Buffalo rips the very tiles from the floor! Chunks of the sandstone remain firmly attached to its face and body. As it raises to one knee, it stomps and crushes a tile that'd adhered to its foot. The hammer, too, is covered with chunks on one side. Its intent is made clear: it will continue the fight, though the detritus covering it may hinder its mobility.

The monumental machinations that are the Buffalo's joints grind noisily as it rises up; the sheer force needed to lift the massive bot, let alone its hammer, is like the force of a trebuchet - perhaps even greater. But it has certainly received a few scratches: its mask-like visor has snapped off and, below it, one of its glass eyes has shattered to reveal the unnerving sensor below^[1]; but, even stranger, Blue's acid has melted away at its hull^[2] to reveal, in its chest, a circular aperture. Within this aperture, where a heart might be found in a living creature, is radiant stone that crackles with untamed lightning.

"Analysis: impressive, but insufficient."

In another electrical burst^[3], Buffalo dashes out from the sludge-puddle, landing tremendously beside Rook's mangled scrap. It turns, holds its hammer aloft and swings it into the ground! The tiles below shatter^[4,5] so spectacularly that some of their shards nearly touch the ceiling. But more important *is* the ceiling, from which massive rubble begins to fall! Pieces of ancient pillars shatter against the ground, clearly with enough power to crush a skull. This is unfortunate, as one is falling directly toward Blue, who hasn't even one!

But, before it lands atop Blue's head, something flies through the air - a blur of barely-perceptible movement. The piece of pillar is bisected, its halves smashing on the ground beside Blue! At first, the saviour is a mystery (a welcome one, but an eerie unknown). But, looking down, all can see the bizarre cause, as standing beside Blue and clutching Rook's sword^[6] in its jaw is BF.

"Directive: protect her at all costs. Analysis: the destruction of a Buffalo unit falls within 'all costs' parameter. Conscript Wolfe, Officress Astrid, report: I will fight beside you."

It swings the sword to clench in the other half of its jaw. Head and tail held high, it stands poised to protect and, if necessary, strike.

---

1. No Head Strike Preventions remaining (Buffalo-01)
2. No Torso Strike Preventions remaining (Buffalo-01)
3. Bullet Dash (Buffalo-01)
4. Heavy [War Hammer] (Buffalo-01)
5. Bull's Strength (Buffalo-01)
6. (Sword for Dummies) X-01 Novice

The combination of Astrid's strike against Buffalo's head and Blue Raspberry's acid eating through its hull gives them an opening to strike Buffalo directly. They just need to coordinate to make it happen. Unfortunately, the goo puddle only serves to slow the massive bot down as it creaks and starts to destroy the ancient armory itself. Chunks of rubble fall, and Astrid gets ready to do something to save Blue Raspberry from the impending splattening, but to her surprise, BF takes up the fight. With at least one more ally, Astrid steels herself, gripping her hammers tight. 

"Aye, Blue," she calls back. "This one's a Real. Big. Jerk."

With Buffalo weighed down, Astrid grips her war hammer and sends it flying towards the back of Buffalo's knees. The electrified hammer slams into the bend and makes it buckle. With the rubble on Buffalo's foot, it's thrown even more off balance and falls forward to a knee. What's left of the goo puddle desperately adheres to the metal behemoth's joint and holds it down. The hammer flies back to Astrid's hand, and she dashes forward to take advantage of Buffalo's immobility.

If the bot felt anger or frustration, its cries would be more than clicks and whirls. Ceiling rubble falls around it, and it twists its hips to help momentum of a powerful swing of its own hammer. As large and slow as it is, and with Astrid's afterimages from her Diplopia Armor, she manages to dodge the swing. The angle is awkward for Buffalo anyway with her charging from behind. She has to give Blue a good shot at its exposed chest components, but she has to remove the danger.

Buffalo recovers from the missed swing and brings another powerful shot at Astrid. The hammer is a problem. It's a danger. She has to do something about it! So she grins and bears it. Buffalo's hammer strikes her full force in the chest. Astrid's armor crumples, and she nearly loses her breath, but she stanced herself up for this, and instead of letting herself be sent flying back, she holds onto the head of the massive hammer with all her might. 

"I don't appreciate bein' underestimated!" she says through a grimace. Blue lightning sparks in her eyes and she sends a powerful jolt of electricity through Buffalo's hammer. The large bot may have some resistance, but the jolt was enough to interfere with its functions, and it loses its grip. The hammer flies out of its twitching hand, and Astrid tumbles along the ground. Rolling to her feet, feeling a bit of the effects of her own spell, she reels her battle hammer back into her hand. Buffalo's temporarily disarmed. Now's her chance to give Blue a clean strike!  

Astrid rushes back toward Buffalo and leaps onto its back. In a quick motion, she loops the cord attached to her battle hammer over Buffalo's neck then drops back off its back and pulls with all her might to yank the bot backwards and keep its chest exposed. If she can pull its head off, she'll try, but this is the best she's got. 

"Do it now, Blue! Take him out!!"

---

Bull's Strength
Diplopia Armor - 1 hit prevention
Charged Object - By touching an item or object, you cause it to become charged with electrical energy. Anyone who touches this item will feel an incredibly strong shock, able to numb and disarm the limb that touched the object. If anyone touches the object they will take damage and be forced to let it go or take it off. -Deals lightning damage-
Battle hammer - Weapon Tether

Once they received permission to eat from Astrid in the two's unique way, they can't hold back any longer. The anger and hunger still present from the strange brew bursts forth and Blue Raspberry once again changes into the massive monster that rampaged through the armory. The multicolored slime flowed from every gap in their armor and engulfed them, their figure expanding to more than match Buffalo in height and width and a hammer more massive than Buffalo's was held in a single hand. The massive ooze let out a guttural, gurgling roar and took a running stance, their hammer held back and ready to swing.

Blue Hulkberry charged forward while Astrid held Buffalo in place, ready to strike it in the glowing core at the center of its chest, but Buffalo refused to be taken down so easily. The bot gripped the cord around its neck and began to spin in place. Astrid's feet lifted off the ground and she began to be swung in circles, revolving around the spinning bot like a carnival ride gone haywire. Blue Raspberry slid to a halt. They couldn't approach like this! They might hit Astrid, or more accurately, be hit by Astrid, but that would be more awful for their friend than for the ooze. She would likely be buried straight into the acidic slime. They couldn't allow that. They had enough of their senses left this time to not want to hurt Astrid.

Unfortunately, Buffalo didn't. The bot began to walk forward, toward Blue Raspberry, trying to do exactly that. If they had lost their hammer thanks to Astrid, then they'd just use Astrid as their weapon.

Blue Raspberry didn't know what to do. They were already not great at thinking, and this potion only hindered them further. All they could think to do was try not to harm Astrid. If she did end up striking them, they needed to try to keep her from being buried in them. They held their empty hand and from it, a large shield emerged with a face on the front. At least they could have Astrid smash into this instead of into them.

"Finally, freedo- AHHHHHH! What the hell is going on!? How did you get so much bigger!? And those colors- they look dreadful on you, entirely out of season! Where are we?" the shield began to complain immediately after emerging from the ooze.

---

Summon Undead Hulk (Witch's Brew)
Space Pocket
Disgruntled Shield