Omori Drip But Genuine

Caste Czar

Welcome to Green Space. 

You've been coming here for as long as you can remember.

Omori looks at this knife. Sunny is having second thoughts about what needs to be done but Omori's will, this repressed malice, stays determined. 

He approaches the door, that massive vault, and goes through it back to the bank. 

"Welcome back Omori!" Aubrey exclaims happily. 

"Oh there you are dude!" Kel adds patting him on the back with one hand while drinking milk with the other, "Ready to grab that second clam?"

"I hear it's deep in the forest that Sweetheart was last seen," Hero adds, "You remember the way right? Let's go."

The party leaves, finding those in the park have calmed back down.

"Looks like destroying that clam calmed down everyone," Kel comments with a wide smile, "Guess we should try to destroy the others too."

"Oh hey guys!" Mari greets, "Omori! Good to see you!"

Omori hugs Mari silently, forgetting in this moment that she's only a dream.

"Hey Omori?" Mari speaks sternly, "I heard you almost made a mistake earlier. A very large mistake. A dangerous mistake. If I may ask…"

The color leaves her face, her whole body monochrome as she looks into not Omori's, but Sunny's eyes. She demands sternly, "Sunny, I love you, I miss you, but, if you think I would rather you die so I can see you sooner you're sorely mistaken. I'm fine where I am and I'll be here no matter how long it takes. Stick around. Your friends love you."

Omori rubs his eyes and this ghost is gone, Mari once more looks colorful like the others of the dream inquiring, "You OK?"

Omori nods, unsure what he just say and choosing to simply move on. The party enters the forest, finding them chopped down by workers dressed in rags. Sprout moles with axes tapped to them. They're thin and dried up, malnourished and exhausted.

"They're so…" Aubrey comments, "Thin…"

"Sir are you all right?" Hero asks one of them, grabbing their decaying leaf concerned as sawdust fills the air. 

The worker coughs, lugging a heavy load of logs on his head, his feet crunch on the splintered wood with each step he takes. His lungs feel like they're shriveling up from the dry, dusty air, as he begs, "Water… water… please…"

"Here it's OK," Hero assures giving him water, "Who's doing this? You can tell us who-"

The worker is stabbed by a sprout mole with a sword, "Damn grunt forgot his place."

The knight spout mole in pink armor glares at the party, "Filth from the bottom eh? Have you forgotten those who are pink belong at the top?"

"It seems you've forgotten to value the lives of your fellows!" Aubrey retorts, "Who do you work for?"

"The great Caste Czar," the knight laughs, sword at the ready, "Who reigns over this forest. She reigns by birthright, as those before her. We are all born where we belong. You were born beneath me, so, have at you!"

The knight charges the party, Omori ducking under his sword before Hero follows up with a heavy swing from his baton that downs the knight.

"We have to find this czar," Hero states, "Whoever they are they're behind this."

The party nods, finding a massive wooden manor painted pink and packed with nobel sprout moles in pink bows. They is a massive pink fountain in the center, pink lights therein taint the water the very same pink. The pink brick courtyard and the moles upon it fall silent as a young woman in a pink dress exits the manor, laughing madly, "Oh ho ho ho ho! We have some uninvited guests!"

"What are you doing to these poor spout moles!?!" Kel demands.

"Oh ho ho ho ho!" She laughs madly, "Have you forgotten your place? I am the Cast Czar! Ruler of these lands and it is my God given right as I was given as birth!"

"So people are born into castes and that's that?" Kel inquires, "That's not fair."

"Fair?" The Czar demands, "It's karma! Genetics! We are born and die where we belong! Those at the top inherit being better from their parents! That's how it's always been!"

"If you're at the top something went wrong!" Aubrey yells, "And hard work and free will will always trump genetics! You and your selfish nobles are far worse than the loggers chopping the forest to fund your egotistical greed!"

"How dare you!" The Czar screams, "I was born the best, and I will prove it to you! It is in my blood that I am better! That we are better!"

"Blood ties are a lie!" Hero exclaims, "Get her clam! She has to have it on her!"

Hero charges forward, ducking under the flail as his allies follow not far behind.

Caste Czar is GREEDY.

"You with the pink bow!" The Czar exclaims, "You're a noble aren't you? Take what is rightfully yours!"

Aubrey falls for the lie.

Aubrey is GREEDY.

Emotion: GREEDY: Party members with this emotion will randomly use items on themselves rather than attacking sometimes.

Aubrey is overwhelmed by her emotions and tries to hog the popcorn to herself, only for it to be stolen by the Czar, who restores herself with it.

"Are you that stupid?" Kel demands throwing his ball at the Czar, causing her to stagger back.

"Still smarter than you!" Aubrey retorts. 

Kel and Aubrey became ANGRY.

The Czar laughs, swinging her flail in a wide arc which knocks back everyone, save for Omori who manages to avoid it, it shattering the hot pink brick where he once stood. Omori counters, cutting clean through her. The Czar staggers back, falling to her knees. Omori strikes once more, stabbing her in the heart to finish her off. She drops a Clam from her hand, allowing Omori to crush it under his foot.

He hears a distant lock open…

Worry spreads against the Czar's face as she asks, confused, "What…" She looks worried, out at the ruined forest, "What happened? Where's Space Fiancee?"

"Where is the third clam?" Aubrey demands, grabbing the Czar by her dress, "Czar?"

"Czar?" The Czar demands, "I'm Sweetheart! Where is he? Is he OK?"

"He's fine," Hero assures with a smile, "But we must know where the Clam is."

"Jawsume is the one you want," Sweetheart explains, "He came to get the flower crown kid too. I'm assuming you wanted him as well. He's in Deep Well but… He's dangerous."

"We don't have a choice though!" Kel exclaims, "Let's go save Basil and end this! Come on Omori! Sweetheart, you got a wedding to attend I would go."

Sweetheart smiles, "Yeah."

The party leaves, leaving Sweetheart to state to Omori, "You're not of this world are you? It doesn't need you to exist, you know that right? It's the collective unconscious, or maybe that's just what you want to think so you can enjoy it as a real place, or I just said that to mess with you. Point is…"

Sweetheart shakes Omori violently, "You need to wake up!"

Omori steps back from her, the world is shaking, and he spots a single tree standing in the distance, which SOMETHING stands next to. SOMETHING charges and…

Sunny snaps awake, Hero shaking him gently, Hero smiles, "Morning Sunny. How you doin...?"