#**Part 0.8: A Fragmentary Passage**

“May your bombs be our guiding key.”

“...I’m sorry, what.”



Before the fight begins, **Baron** will position himself in front of **Mute**. While this would seem to be a simple motion to ‘protect’ **Mute**, it is actually a clever ploy for an early attack. His arms are behind his back and facing **Mute**, while glaring at The **PHDs**. It almost looks like he’s protecting the girl, which would raise some curiosity in **Mason** and **Eleanor** at best.

**Baron** uses **4 seconds** to create **8 marble-sized bombs** in his hand. He has **Mute shrink down his pre-made baseball-sized bomb to the size of a marble** and mixes them all in his hands. Both **Mason** and **Eleanor** are **far enough away** that it would take at least **4 seconds** to close the gap, giving Cosmic Fire enough time to prepare for the attack.

#**Part 1: Phantom Bombs**

“Oh Mute look over there, a wallet!"

“Huh?” *looks away*

*Baron proceeds to commit mass murder*

**-CONFRONTING MASON-**

**If Mason approaches us immediately**, we throw our bombs at him. By throwing these **9 bombs** as hard as he can at **Mason**, **Mason** is forced to defend and has to use **all 6 of his hands to block the attacks**. The bombs would detonate right before contact, preventing an inversion and taking out some of **[DSotM]**’s hands. This stops any early inverting from taking place.

**If Mason inverts [LSD] before approaching**, this would give us at least one or two more seconds to charge our bombs, making them slightly bigger and make them inflict more damage.

**Baron** can and will **detonate the bombs before [DSotM] touches them**. **[DSotM]**’s hands only have a **B in Speed** which, while nothing to laugh at, **isn’t fast enough to hit more than one small projectile fired by A power at close range**. **Baron** would use this chance to score a hit on **[DSotM]** early on. Though with **Mason’s 2 in Endurance** and **[DSotM]**’s hands’ **E in Durability**, such an attack **could not put Mason** out of commission right away **if he wasn’t in range**. If **Mason** stayed out of range, it gives us time to attack **[DSotM]** while his hands are respawning. This is where **Mute** will finally step up.

**Mute** will take action and throw **[Atomic Bonsai]** at **[DSotM]**’s gassy core. She can pull **[DSotM] in her range with her elbows**-- mentioned in her sheet --and shorten the distance while simultaneously throwing herself at it. If **Mason** tries to run, it wouldn’t matter, because **[Atomic Bonsai]** would be shrinking the air between them, and in turn, drag him closer.



With **B Speed, [Atomic Bonsai]** will use its **left deflation orb** to shrink **[DSotM]** unevenly, transferring to **Mason**, and **inflicts serious damage to his physical form by making it lopsided**. This will leave **Mason in a sorry-yet-hilarious state**. Of course, this leaves her prone to **[DSotM]** inverting her, but at this point she doesn’t realize the dangers of being inverted, so she wouldn’t think much about her inversion until later. She can do this before getting inverted because she placed the deflation orb on **[DSotM]**, which would cause it to **continuously shrink**. By the time **Mason** decides to **invert the orb, the damage is already done to him**. **Mute** will then retrieve her orb.

**Baron** will then tell **Mute** to run for it and gather as many passengers as she can and locate the lifeboat. **Mute** will hastily oblige, kicking up her skateboard and fleeing downstairs. With her objection gone, **Baron** will use this opportunity to **stab Mason while he is defenseless and put him out of commission and undoing any inversions he had made**.

If **Mason** still has a bit of fight left in him, **Baron** will simply pummel him with more grenades until he’s out for good.

**-DEALING WITH ELEANOR-**

If Eleanor is **still present**, she is likely going to try to save her partner given her caring personality. **[LSD]** would have had plenty of time to charge, and in the case it shot a laser at **Baron**, it wouldn’t be enough to really damage him, since **[LSD]** is at **E Power** after **10 seconds**. In the case **Eleanor** rushed at **Baron** with a scalpel, **Baron** can easily best her with his sword. After handling her, **Baron** will slice at **Mason** and render him K.O.ed, then follow after **Mute**.

**Eleanor** may have **attempted to sneak away downstairs** while leaving **[LSD]** to charge. If such is the case, **we will deal with her indoors. If Mason inverted her**, and she assumes that charging inside will make **[LSD]** stronger, she won’t realize that **[LSD] won’t be charged at all** since **Mason was knocked out of commission**. If **[LSD]** was left outside, that leaves **Eleanor** defenseless indoors. **Baron** will then follow after **Mute**, proceeding to **Part 2**.

#**Part 1.2: Destiny of their Blood**

“Sorry about this!”

“Why in the blazes would you be sorry?!”


**If neither approach immediately**, we throw the charged bombs and the real grenade **at the deck they’re standing on**, causing the instability to **collapse**. The fall damage, plus the debris and the initial explosion, would **greatly damage both**. They’d have to shake off the damage and the surprise for at least a couple of seconds, **giving us time to charge up a second batch of stronger grenades**. In the time **Baron** charges the second batch of grenades, the **PHD**’s will be recovering.

**If they somehow get away from the stairs before impact**, **Baron** and **Mute** will pull off the combo **“Atomic King”**. By hoisting **[Atomic Bonsai]**’s leg up in the air, presenting the calf cannons **behind Baron’s arm as he throws the grenades**. An exerting force will expand the matter behind **Baron**’s arm and add meat to the throw, pushing away the grenade with extra force. By bombing the crap out of the pair from a distance, the **PHD**s will be seeing stars in no time.

After **Baron** charges his second batch and unleashes it at the **PHD**s, we run for our stairs. **Considering the extra time, and the fact that Mute has a 4 in Skateboarding**, she can easily skate down the flight of stairs swiftly and efficiently.

**If the stairs somehow don’t collapse**, they’ll at least shake from the explosives. This will delay **Mason** and **Eleanor** at least a few seconds, and give us time to seal off their exit before firing grenades their way. Under the impression that the grenades might be really harmful, it’s logical to assume that **Mason** and **Eleanor** would either find cover or try to retaliate.

**If they decide to jump down before the impact**, we will aim **“Atomic King”** at them as they’re recovering from the jump, **dazing them**.

Either way, they’re now (For the most part) helpless under the rain of grenades. Easy pickings for **Cosmic Fire.**



#**Part 1.4: Fearsome King**

“I’m going to be taking the throne, I don’t have time to dawdle with you. I have my citizens to save.”

“And me to feed.”

“....Yes. That too.”

If **Mason immediately approaches us** while **Eleanor runs for the stairs while charging [LSD]**, this is quite a predicament. Our first priority would be **stopping Eleanor’s advance**, so we would choose to **throw our bombs at the stairs** she would be trying to reach, and if she’s caught in the blast, it’s killing two birds with one stone. **Their stairs are sealed off**, and **Eleanor would have some damage** from the big grenade and **likely be knocked out**. Because **[LSD]** functions **only when Eleanor** is **conscious or healthy enough**, it wouldn’t be much help if we targeted **Mason** or **[LSD]**. Now our fight is with **Mason**, who is likely to be enraged, and he would definitely assume we’re the culprits for the sinking ship. **There’s no way he wouldn’t target us**.

We’ll sidestep to keep out of **Mason**’s range while charging up a second batch to throw at him. **After 4 more seconds** of keeping away, we’ll pretend to be cornered against the rail of the ship. We’ll let **Mason** approach. Once within several meters, we’ll throw the grenades at **Mason**’s feet, but they **will not detonate quite yet. Baron** will then **remove his cape** and throw it on top of **Mason**, blinding him and causing him to scuffle with the heavy cloth. **With two things to worry about**-- the grenades under his feet and the cape over his head, **Mason** will likely be in a **temporary panic**. This lets **Baron** draw his sword and **slice horizontally, guaranteeing a hit** on **Mason** should something like a stab miss. **Baron** will grab **Mason**’s weak arm and **hurl him over the railing**, feeding **Mason** to the sharks.

After that is done and over with, **Baron** will step back and detonate the grenades on the floor, leading straight below into the dining room. **Baron** will jump down and **land on a table, Mute following close behind**.


#**Part 1.6: Dark Side of the Bonsai**

“Shit! Baron, he isn’t moving!”

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

*deep breath* *

**In the off-chance [DSotM] inverts Mute, she wouldn’t know until she tried to inflate or deflate Mason**. To her surprise, when she tries **to rush at one of [DSotM]’s hands, Mason’s hand is suddenly frozen in place and the hand is suddenly unmovable.** Freaked out, **Mute** will suddenly withdraw and step back, aghast with her ability being messed up. Meanwhile, **Mason** will **struggle and find himself in lots of pain when he tries pulling at his wrist**. Immobile, **Mason** realizes his mistake in inverting **[Atomic Bonsai]. Before he can revert the ability back to free himself**, Baron will step forth and brandish a knife.

“How many seconds can you move in frozen time?”

“...Baron what the hell are you talking about.”

Throwing the knife at **Mason, Baron** laughs maniacally. The knife in **Mason**’s gut puts him in so much pain, **Mason falls unconscious and starts to bleed out**. Since **Mason** is now **out of commission, the ability reverts**, and **[Atomic Bonsai] goes back to normal. Baron** will deal with this deadweight by feeding him to the sharks below.

#**Part 1.8: Dark Side of the King**

“Topaz is Unbreakable!”

“Baron, we’re in the middLE OF A PREDICAMENT HERE!”

**In the off-chance Baron gets inverted, Baron** will choose not to use his Stand’s grenades anymore, but rather, **his sword**. When **Baron** discovers that his grenades are now healing, he will **immediately forfeit that strategy. Baron** will challenge **Mason by **rushing at the scientist via Stand Leap**, and with an intimidating weapon, **Mason has no choice but to run**. **Mute** will be waiting for **Mason**, **launching her skateboard in his stumbling path to trip him**. **Mason** will trip and fall, leaving **Baron** to be his guillotine (To **Mute**’s disapproval).

#**Part 2: Of Forks and Wallets**

“We’re gonna rescue the passengers, but screw those doctor assholes. We aren’t letting them get away on a boat.”

“Well, as suspicious as they looked, they might not have been…”

“Ah, who cares.”

Should **ONLY MASON** be out of commission from **Part 1.0**, that **undoes any inversion**. If **Eleanor** is on **F8**, and should **Mute** encounter her, **Mute**’s first objective is to remove **Eleanor**. In her own way.

First, **Mute** will decide to **hurl her skateboard** at **Eleanor**. Obviously, this is a simple diversion, since there's no **real threat to the skateboard**. With this brief distraction, **Mute**, with her **Speed at 4**, will **grab a fork off of the table** and use **[Atomic Bonsai]** to expand it. Now that **Mute** has a quirky weapon, she will latch on an **Inflation Orb at the end of the fork**. The **Inflation Orb** will constantly expand the matter around it, so **the fork will progressively get heavier but bigger to swing**.

If **Eleanor** decides to attack **Mute** with a scalpel or other drug-related item, **Mute** will **ward her away with the spear-sized fork**. **Mute** will try to **pin Eleanor to the wall**. By trapping **Eleanor** between the prongs of the silverware, **Eleanor will be subject to the inflation orb**, and unevenly. Such a **grotesque malformation would cause Eleanor serious pain**. It is out of character for the good-hearted thief to kill, so **Mute** would **stop the inflation before it got too out of hand**. To show her mercy, **Mute** would take off her scarf and use it to **bind Eleanor’s wrists** after **Eleanor** lost consciousness, then shrink **Eleanor** to fit in a wine glass that **Mute** decides to steal.

#**Part 2.2: Trouble Below Deck**

“Those doctors are responsible for this!”

“We simply cannot let them get away with this!”

**In the off-chance Mason somehow ends up below deck**, we target him. Why? His Stand looks the most suspicious. We would initiate the **Part 1 Strats** as necessary, with slight alterations. In the cases where we would throw **Mason overboard**, **Mute** would instead simply **shrink the injured man and put him in the wine glass after Baron deals with him.**

If **Eleanor** is present, initiate Part 2.0.

Some of the ship’s passengers may be stirred from the commotion. This is where **Baron**’s voice comes in handy: **by intimidating them into believing that the PHDs are responsible for the ship sinking**, they would think of **Cosmic Fire** as their heroes.

#**Part 3: Smooth Cruisin’ Criminals**

“I can’t believe how easy that was for you.”

*Baron just grins*


**IF BOTH ELEANOR AND MASON ARE KNOCKED OUT**, **Baron** will make his entrance in **F8**, and it will be easy to get everyone off board without any more conflict.

By this point, **Baron** has reunited with **Mute**, so the King would use his booming and commandeering voice to **show the chefs who’s boss**. **Mute** will tell them to prove that they’re the real deals by presenting to her their wallets, since there seems to have been an act of terrorism and they had to make sure everybody was innocent. They’ll comply with the threat of **Baron**’s wrath falling upon them looming over their heads. **By this time, the power might have gone out, so it would be hard to see in the dark**. By “inspecting their IDs”, **Mute** would **slip out any cash she could get away with with [Atomic Bonsai], fulfilling her Jojolity** right under their blind eyes. She’d give them back their wallets quickly, F**hiding the money in her inflated boobs. If a passenger gets suspicious, she’ll scream and accuse them of sexual harassment to a minor**.  If Mute is accused of theft, she’ll have [Atomic Bonsai] lowkey shrink the money, then present to them her empty pockets.

**Baron** is no fool; he knows that, despite his contempt for the passengers, their deaths will draw a lot of unwanted attention towards him. He’ll begrudgingly steer the situation towards the prospect of escape and **force the passengers down to the cabins**. **Mute** will go door-to-door and alert the passengers, quickly briefing them with the situation and telling them to follow her. One by one she’ll inspect their wallets and hand the wallets back a little lighter.

This whole process should take no more than 3 minutes.

**Baron** will tell the passengers to round up any more people left in the cabins and to immediately make way to **F4, where the lifeboats will be**. The first two floors will already be submerged, so the survivors will gather around the lifeboat, pull it down, board it, and **wait for Mute and Baron to finish their work. Baron  will use [Would-Be King] to plant grenades in the hulls of the extra lifeboats, then join Mute  and escape with the passengers.** **Mute** has a bread crumb she can infinitely inflate into bread, so she can easily feed the survivors until rescue.