Prepare to raid a laboratory.

LAB #3 - MUIAN, a laboratory built to study the findings of Demon King Muian, watched over by the angel Serafina. That was the one you were recently able to find. However, you know the location of LAB #4 as well, whatever its purpose may be. It's located in the Endless Wilds, a massive forest northwest of Tolis, meaning it's technically outside of the Tivera Empire. You won't need to travel far into the Kingdom of Varat, however. Your destination is somewhere west off the road between Tolis and Wolvenhood. You have a map, but that doesn't make it a cakewalk. Forests are dense, and this is a word of pixies and dragons. Anything could stand in your way, and that's if you can follow the clues to even find the invisible door.

You call a great meeting in the Throne Room.

Before you is every resident of Castle Phoenix, and that includes the commoners and the brigands, who seem to have settled quite comfortable here despite the recent raid. You stand donned in your armour, a crown atop your head, and rings to decorate your fingers, on top of the signet one you always wear. People are murmuring to one another. Though when you step forwards and raise your hand, they slowly hush.

Eva continues. "And then I said, I didn't forget them, okay? I'm not that kinda girl. A goblin took them--"

"Eva," you say.

She stands up straight and purses her lips.

You clear your throat. "We survived an attack. While it wasn't directly by our usual enemy, Lord Vraelion is still allied with him. Elok Daven. Breiah. Meti. Anastasia Phairgem. Ariusia. Nae. In a more confusing state, possibly Eugene, also known as The Edge, though I believe he's unlikely to be fully on their side. There's also Faceless, that weird evil dude from ages ago who I honestly forgot about until just this moment. Not to mention an army of constructs, including however many ALICEs he has. Then his allies. As said before, Lord Vraelion. Also, the current king of Tivera, the so-called Hero-King Thadius. These are our enemies. Therefore, we can't afford to send large parties away from Castle Phoenix. They have means of getting armies to us too quickly. So, our next party is going to consist of me, Niki, Eva, Amara, and Snow. This elite team of five will be more than enough. The rest of you, stay vigilante. These walls won't fall."

Taking a breath, you reach into a bag nearby and pull something out to show everyone. "Thanks to our loyal spy, back from Tolis, we have some other goodies too. No longer will I have to take your ear, or fumble around with my Arcane Eye, just to check in on everyone." In your hand is a small metal slab with rounded corners. The front has a protrusion of lips, and on the side, a small ear. "If you speak towards this item, no more than a foot away, it'll hear you, and transmit that voice to the other. I'll take one, and I'll always leave one back here. That way, if something happens, I can warp back straight away."

"Ooh, Sending Stones!" Eva calls out.

Niki nudges her. "Shh. You're not supposed to talk yet."

"What?"

"I said that you aren't supposed to talk yet!" she shouts.

"What are we shouting about?!" Delphi yells out even louder.

You stare dumbfounded at your audience while slipping the Sending Stone into your pocket. "Well since everybody wants to speak, I'd like to move onto the next thing. An open forum. If anyone has a concern or something to share, please raise your hand, and you may stand up here and address everybody."

"Topless Tuesdays!" Fang calls out from the back.

"If anyone else yells something without raising your hand and coming up here first, I'm putting them in the Dungeon, I swear to god."

Luna raises her hand. She then makes her way to the front and stands beside you. With a smile, she brings her hands together in front of her waist and bows politely. "Greetings, everybody. Not to sound as if I'm advertising my services, but I would like to announce that I've greatly increased my skills since I first arrived here. With access to new materials, and most importantly, new ideas thanks to our dear Kyle here, I've been expanding my horizons. Denim. Sneakers. Hoodies. Zippers. If you're interested in clothing your bodies in a melding of ideas between our world and another, come speak to me. That is all." Then as quickly as she came, she makes her way back into the audience.

Next comes Fava, who is not currently in her larger body. She flutters up before the crowd and waves her hands to gather their attention to one so tiny. "I just wanna say that I've been hard at work tinkering on all sorts of things. If anyone has any requests, I'll consider them if they're fun! Ah. I guess that's it." She shrugs and returns to the rest.

Laira hustles forwards with her hand up. She stops abruptly after realizing that she was meant to bring up her hand before stepping up. But after seeing your affirming nod anyway, she continues. There's something new about her outfit. She's still wearing nothing more than overalls down to a pair of small leather boots, though the footwear looks fancy and new, and the overalls themselves are far better made. They're made from denim now, and are a deep shade of blue--more flexible and soft then before, though still hardly enough to cover her body when seen from the side. It keeps her cool while forging, she says. "S-Same with me! I mean, not tinkering, but I love working with metal. Leathers and hides too. Maybe together, Fava and I can make some really cool stuff."

"I'm always down!" Fava calls out from the others.

After Laira returns to the rest, you give a pause to see if any others have anything important to say, but after that, you continue. "Obviously, we're a family here. This isn't a job. We're just working because we need to stay alive. If anyone has anything to say, you can talk any time outside of these meetings. Don't be afraid to ask me if you need anything. We have more craftsmen here now, and traders coming and going, albeit still rather slowly given we're still enemies of Tivera. Nyllia? I'm leaving the other Sending Stone to you. Though if you leave to adventure more, you may choose who holds it next."

"Yes, my king," Nyllia formally responds.

You glance over to see that Peony is already inspecting all the walls of the room as she figures out how to cover the interior with plants and flowers, as spoken about before. As the meeting begins to dissolve, however, Lalarin steps towards you with a hand up in the air. She isn't dressed as the super heroine right now, but in something new. Denim overalls stop at her thighs like shorts, though unlike Laira, she actually has a top on beneath. It's white with frilly short sleeves and tiny stitchings of flowers all over. There's even a special pocket on the side perfect for the small rod she carries, which of course can be magically extended into a full length bo staff.

"Ah. Did you have something to say, Lala?"

Your Kitty Sense feels a pang of joy from the bunnyfolk upon hearing the nickname. She lowers her hand, bringing it briefly through her long, brunette hair before approaching you to speak--not to the audience, just to you.

"I was wondering... if I could come with you all," she says.

"I don't know. Five is already quite a few, and--"

"I know, Kyle, but I grow so restless here. I normally spent my days monitoring the streets for crime. There are so many people out there I could be helping, just as Nyllia and her party recently were. Even if people may know of RF's connection to the Demon King, I don't care! I want to help people."

You sigh, yet smile. Then you take hold of her upper arm. "Suit up then, Rabbit's Foot. Come kick some ass with us."

"Yes!" She throws her arms up into the air and bounces like a bunny. "There's bound to be evil in this laboratory of Elok Daven's. Stick near me, and none of us will fall. I'll kick its butt, and then the butt of every other lab until we find the one with the man himself inside."

If you didn't know already, I do have a Twitter and a Patreon, and I've been posting unreleased story drafts on the latter each week. The first was "Erotic Dungeon Crawl II", and this week is "Dig, Fight, Boobs: A Terraria Erotica". You heard that right! Anyway, thank you for continuing to enjoy what I write. It makes me really happy, especially when I'm able to read all your comments.