Recap: Floor 3

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**Floor 3 Recap (TheWanderingTrio)** *Released on 1st May 2021*

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## Floor 3 Recap

After an evening of overeating at a celebratory banquet on the 2nd Floor - the consensus being that their sudden appetite may have been tied to stress - and a night in Chessboard Castle’s luxury rooms, Ashley and Syl - having been allowed to keep their equipment from the previous trial - use their newfound access to take the cramped elevator at the top of the castle up to the 3rd Floor. Despite some discomfort, including rubbing from Ashley’s gains, Syl’s mistaking the elevator for a familiar and the same elf’s claustrophobia - brought on by a traumatic childhood experience - causing to her cling to Ashley for emotional support, the journey is uneventful.

On exiting the elevator, Ashley and Syl walk straight into a fight in the entryway of the 3rd Floor, a bloodthirsty, shadowy man facing off against a green, gem-wearing woman with mismatched proportions - who Ashley and Syl will later know as Peridot - who is defending a witch - later known as Nuon - healing a medieval musketeer - Crow. The shadow is quickly dispatched by the arriving Overseer of the floor – Mordium - however, bringing the fight to a swift conclusion.

The cloaked, almost robotic Mordium greets the group, quickly congratulating those who have made it this far and ushering the group into the next room - a shop of some kind, the items it sells locked in indestructible cases. Ashley and Syl meet several other of their fellow climbers, including Growa - a busty pirate - and her crew, as well as Ogborth - a large olog troll - and a frog-woman by the name of Ferra. Once all are present, accounted for and introduced, Mordium explains the rules and nature of the floor’s challenge.

The group will be fighting in an arena adjacent to the shop, for which they will have to work together, rather than against each other, to combat waves of opponents - some of whom are hungry predators - trained to fight climbers. Each of the five rounds will consist of three waves and a boss, and there will be a final boss at the conclusion. Those left standing – or even alive, at that time will be permitted access to the 4th Floor without complaint of their number, due to a deal Mordium claims to have made with the next overseer up.

The climbers are also told they are not allowed to eat any defeated opponents, the reactions to which are mixed. Floor unique coins earned in the arena can be used between rounds to buy equipment and upgrades from the shop.

Before battling begins the group are also introduced to ”Double G”, the shop’s biker jacket clad keeper, as well as the Morcels, a race of small black balls that serve as part of the infrastructure of the 3rd Floor, and that will act as both aides and invention armed in-arena opponents who will attempt to drag climbers out of the arena and out of contention. They are also offered the opportunity to give up their climb, Mordium offering the genuine opportunity to live peacefully on the 3rd Floor, an offer that will remain open for the duration of the challenge and can be called on via the Morcels at any time. In the present, however, nobody takes them up on it.

With that out of the way - and a shout of good luck from Double G - the group are ushered into the arena, which for the first round - once the darkness lifts - looks like a medieval fighting pit that is, to Ashley’s disgust, being livestreamed for the overseers of higher floors to watch. Mordium greets the viewers, taking the moment to exposit the possibly infinite height of the Tower, subtly reminding the group of his offer before introducing each member of the climber team to the audience in turn as the Morcels help the group in last minute preparations, such as providing ammunition and potions.

Without further prelude, the battle gets underway, enemies flooding into the arena from various gates. The first round - all Morcels - are armed with everything from helmets and guns to robots of all types. The round flies by, many of the climbers - Ashley and Syl included - having combat experience enough to easily handle opposition, though Syl proves to be somewhat liberal with her use of rockets, realizing a little too late - to her embarrassment - that she has almost run out. The bosses of the round, a trio of hopping, dome-shaped attack vehicles dubbed the Monstanks, prove to be the first real challenge the climbers face on the floor. More resistant to certain attacks - notably Peridot’s energy balls and Syl’s remaining rockets, though not Ogborth’s sheer strength or attacks in combination - at least one of them armed with tar firing mortars and spring jump attacks. Through persistent damage - including pirate gunfire, fireballs spawned by Nuon and the use of Ferra’s tongue - the group defeats all three vehicles, bringing the round to a close and reaping a coin reward that the pirates greedily take a large share of.

In the breather period, Peridot purchases several flashbang grenades - demonstrating her ability to store objects in her gem in the process. Additionally, Syl acquires rocket jumping rockets with help from Nuon - which appear shiny in Ashley’s glasses sights - Nuon gains access to a lightning spell, and the pirates - to Growa’s general apathy - try and fail to steal a cannon that is well above their price range, Double G firing a warning shot at them. Ashley, over concern at Syl’s growing love of explosions, learns - through Double G - that the shop has a form of instant “practise mode” simulation, granted to anyone purchasing an item as a safety measure, which Syl and Nuon both experience.

For the second round, the arena has changed, now made up of sandstone and sand. The battle sees the defenders pitted against an army of practically nude giantesses with extreme and disproportionate curves of all varieties. A difficult fight ensues, during with Ferra learns the hard way - that being through induced nausea - that she can’t swallow the opponents. The round is capped off by a boss fight with two mega giantesses: Lokee - a woman as tall as Ogborth with a comedically insane hourglass figure - and Little Hon, who is taller than Lokee - albeit with a lesser figure - and is able to manipulate black hole-like portals and spit grey balls of paralyzing mist to catch prey. While Ogborth goes toe to toe with Lokee, Little Hon takes glee in going after the rest of the group, several of the pirates falling to her - as well as her teammate - and the group being stunned by Peridot using a flashbang before extreme force - and excessive anger on Growa and Peridot’s parts - takes the duo down.

In the next breather, Double G offers his condolences to the pirates following a protracted revenge beatdown and their group once again taking the bulk of the coins, upgrading their weapons and attempting a second time to steal the cannon, though Double G again shuts them down with a second and final warning. The rest of the party - Ashley, Syl, Nuon, Ferra, Ogborth and Crow - despite pooling their coins, have very little to work with, but eventually settle on pain absorber gauntlets for a reluctant Ferra’s fragile hands. One of the pirates makes an aggressive and greedy attempt to shake down the group for coins to buy the cannon, but Ogborth counters aggression with aggression before handing the pirate over to his captain, showing the olog’s good side. Not long after this, Syl experiences a moment of greed over wanting a grenade launcher that causes her a memory blackout and loss of common sense, something Double G explains as a curse Mordium placed on the store as an extra layer of challenge for those who have any amount of greed in their hearts. The greedier the person - such as a pirate - the more they are affected by this yellow-eyed fog on their brain, though thinking ahead can alleviate the symptoms. Syl is only lightly affected by this due to a few bouts of petty drow cracker theft in her childhood years.

For the third round, the arena has changed again, the ground made of smooth stone and the walls of collapsed rock, covered by dim lights as if the group are underground. The opposing side is again an army of Morcels in robotic vehicles, against which the pirates, Ogborth and Ferra take the front line, everyone else play defensively. The group make relatively quick work of the waves of enemies, and with the interruption of Growa forcing Mordium to skip explanations, the two bosses are faced blind, without introduction. One - a Morcel-scaled mechanical steam train with carriages carrying mounted guns - is known as the Lorry Mk1.5, while the other - a giant “worm” tank made up of cylinders and capable burrowing with its front-mounted drill - is called the Driller Mk1. As the fight gets underway, Ferra is pinned to the front of the Lorry and disappears through a gate, though Mordium assures she will remain in contention provided she holds on, which proves true once she frees herself. Syl, meanwhile, dodges around attacks, but can only deal limited damage to the bosses with her rockets due to their speed, while Ogborth uses the aggressive pirate from the shop – only now recovering from his greed induced daze – as a living projectile, knocking the Driller into the path of the Lorry and causing a pile up that totals the latter.

Before this, however, Ashley is struck by a flying stone chunk from the Driller’s digging, breaking her back and causing her to black out under immense pain as Nuon comes to her aid. As the Driller’s claws attempt to remove Ashley from the arena, Syl unable to reach her in time, Ferra arrives, punching the vehicle hard enough to give Nuon an opening to destroy it with an electric spell.

Ashley comes to in the 3rd Floor’s hospital, being provided a strange “Mario mushroom” soup that helps to heal her back. Mordium explains that she’d be bedridden for life if not for Nuon’s healing, something he seems to blame the pirates for due to their impatience stopping him from explaining the dangers of the boss fight, which he notes is usually a single boss. He’s never going to pair them again, with what that lead to, though he mentions to Ashley that the Morcel driving the Driller felt so guilty about hurting her that it sabotaged its own vehicle by driving into the path of the thrown pirate, deciding the eventual victory of the climbers. Said Morcel gives Ashley a flare gun equipped with regular and sleeping gas rounds - things Ashley previously saw in the shop but didn’t buy - free as an apology, Mordium letting it pass, this once.

Mordium also reminds Ashley of his offer to stay on the 3rd Floor, citing the near infinite height of the Tower above. Though he chooses not to use his ability as overseer to know the truth of such things, he doesn’t believe the theoretical reward at the top is worth it, Ashley’s agreement showing she hasn’t been overtaken by greed. She still turns him down, however, tearfully reaffirming her determination to get back home and have a normal life. Mordium respects this, showing Ashley a little of his softer side in his understanding.

Ashley reunites with the rest of the group for the fourth round, finding that Crow has upgraded to superheated bullets, Nuon has acquired a new water spell, and the pirates have finally acquired the now conspicuously enchanted cannon. The arena now sports smooth stone walls with blue skull pillars, and a waterlogged dark blue stone floor. In this round, the group are met with another wave of absurdly curvy giantesses, some appearing very muscular or even almost immobile, Mordium considering it a ‘mini-boss rush’. With her new sleeping gas rounds and some luck with timing and shots, Ashley takes out a large chunk of the opposition, bringing about the round’s true boss very quickly. Said boss turns out to be Big Hon - Little Hon’s older and much larger sister - who is pissed at the defeat of her sibling.

The pirates are abruptly paralyzed by a curse Double G put on their cannon as payback for their theft attempts, leaving them open to Big Hon’s attacks. Many of the pirates fall through Big Hon’s black holes and into her gut in the ensuing chaos, though the rest of the group manage to rescue several of them - Ashley grabbing Growa, while others are taken by Ogborth, Peridot and Ferra - and keep them out of harm’s way as more attacks follow, even managing to reflect one of the grey balls Hon fires off back at her, unexpectedly causing the giant to swallow it alongside several pirates, though aside from giving the opponent brief stomach troubles, all it does it gain her ire, Ashley having to rely on Ogborth - and the no longer cursed cannon - among others to stay out of harm’s way. Gradually, the group manage to wear Big Hon down, hitting the hands that emerge from her black holes with flares, cannon balls and the like, Ashley also managing to reflect a gas ball into her mouth, making her burp and swallow an approaching bomb. This chokes her for long enough that Ogborth is able to half-blind her with a cannon shot to the eye. Under this pressure and pain, Hon relents and withdraws from battle.

Freed from paralysis, Growa curses herself for the trouble she and her crew have caused the group, lamenting her having given into her pirate greed despite believing she was above such things, and not stopped her crew from falling the same way, almost costing Ashley her life. Despite Ashley trying to dissuade her, she takes Mordium’s offer. The other remaining pirates, Ron - the cannon wielder - San and George, give up too out of loyalty, a tearful Growa, though she tries to stop them at first, thanking them for remaining by her side. With their decision made, Mordium leads them out of the arena and out of view, Growa wishing the others luck on the floors to come.

Back in the shop, though everyone else present tries to comfort her, Ashley blames herself for Growa quitting, even if the pirate is alive because of her actions. It is Double G who gets through to her - with assistance from Syl and Peridot - convincing her that it was Growa’s path to choose, given she was climbing for the wrong reason: greed, unlike Ashley and others, who have meaningful goals. Ashley having taken the blame off herself, Double G takes the moment point out that few other overseers are likely to give the same offer of safe harbour, so they ought to cherish this time of relative calm, Double G not minding if they take out pent up frustrations, provided they - as picked up by Syl’s enhanced hearing - don’t break anything. Though Peridot’s gauntlet and Ashley’s mirror shield can’t be upgraded by the Morcels, the group also take this moment to improve Syl’s rocket launcher with - out of several options - a homing missile system.

The group return to the arena for the final round, the area still stony and watery, albeit now with cracked, black stone, and barred prison windows in ‘plastic’ skull embedded walls, water flowing from them. They are faced with a last onslaught of Morcels - nothing held back now - piloting multi-legged mortar robots, mini tanks, a smaller Lorry, and a surprise Monstank amid the attack. Though the group carve a path right through the waves of machines - Ogborth tearing out the Monstank’s gun - they are tired by the end, when the last round bosses arrive. Emerging from shutters behind the stands, a set of small, armed helicopters - dubbed the Four Horsemen for their unique names and abilities, and the Apache Primes overall - go on the offensive against the group.

The red War Rager sports heavy plates, miniguns loaded with ‘paint balls’ and bombs with creepy smiles painted on them. The white Death Harbinger carries countless scythes, even its rotors and landing skids having sharp edges. The tan, rusted Famine Caller generates waves of multi-coloured ‘flies’. Finally, the green Pestilence Gasser unleashes clouds of sleeping gas to incapacitate targets.

As the attack begins, the group dive for cover among the round’s wreckage, Ashley, Peridot and Crow initially taking refuge inside the blasted shell of the Monstank, Crow lamenting the situation he’s found himself in by coming here. Meanwhile, Nuon exchanges attacks with the Pestilence Gasser, while the War Rager goes after Ferra and Syl with bombs, and the Death Harbinger plays chicken with Ogborth. The hiding trio are chased from their shelter by the Famine Caller’s flies, Ashley tripping amidst the escape and giving the Caller an open run at her, though she successfully dodges, causing the vehicle to crash into a wall and shut down. The pilot isn’t out for the counter, however, using a magic flute to summon Baby Min, a giant, glowing orange fly with tiny wings and adorable face that can blow yellow bubbles… that Ashley promptly knocks out with a gas round.

Ashley tries to take cover in the Monstank again, but changes tack just in time to get away as Nuon brings the Pestilence Gasser down in the same location, destroying it by igniting its leaking gas pipes with a fireball, something the young witch is immensely apologetic for developing tunnel vision over, giving Ashley a marshmallow hug. At the same time, Syl - with Ferra’s help as bait - finally manages to bring down the War Rager, striking an awesome pose as she leaps off its crashing hull. Though crashed, however, the Rager survives, transforming into a tank tracked dune buggy and going back on the offensive. As it charges, the entire group manages to dodge away, save for Ferra, who is exhausted and distracted from playing bait, and is run over by the malicious Rager pilot. Everyone assumes the worst, until Ferra bursts from the water in fury at being run over - that having been a common occurrence in her own world - tearing the vehicle’s engine out in a fit of anger.

This leaves only the Death Harbinger, which to Ashley’s horror has cornered Peridot, though paralysed by shock she can’t help her friend. It becomes irrelevant, however, as Peridot - despite being mute - conveys a desire to give up to her opponent, who lets her leave to one of the gates…

…before Ogborth attempts to down the Harbinger with a cannon shot. The attack goes wide, tearing the back fin off the vehicle and fly forward into the wall…

…right where Peridot is standing.

Nothing seems to be left. Ashley breaks down, Syl comforting her while Ogborth screams in guilt over what he has done.

The group take a reprieve, spending more than two hours in the shop before anyone feels comfortable going back out into the arena for the finale boss, regardless of the restless crowd. During this time, Crow reluctantly gets further upgrades to her musket, while Ogborth speaks with Ashley. Despite his background generally making him apathetic to his allies, guards and enemies dying - as olog captains are replaced if they fall - he feels immense guilt for indirectly killing Peridot. Things are different in the Tower, however - though he has never consumed anyone and instead killed his final opponent on the 1st Floor - as he has been forced to team up with others, making him more aware of the deaths of those who are irreplaceable, Peridot’s death feeling like that of a blood brother to him. This mind, Ashley forgives him for his actions, which the giant olog appreciates.

Hatchet buried, the group return to the arena one final time, its design now a winter wonderland of ice bricks, snow, and trees. For the finale, the group are to face Snowcone, a giant, grinning, robotic snowman in a bowtie and top hat. Snowcone unveils its huge minigun arms, ready to fight.

The clash is interrupted, however.

From a blue-orange portal forming in the arena, a strange, slimy chocolate ‘woman’ - complete with absurd curves - emerges, wide mouth and tongue smiling darkly. The intruder punches Snowcone, immediately breaks through an ice attack from Nuon - knocking her and Ashley into the shop door - and is almost entirely unfazed by a musket shot from Crow, a tongue attack from Ferra and a rocket from Syl - though the last manages to temporarily dismember the monster. Crow and Ferra are less fortunate, however. The latter is swung around by her tongue then launched across the arena and into a recovering Snowcone, while the former is grabbed and swallowed by the interloping woman before he or anyone else can stop it happening.

A recovering Ashley and Nuon begin emptying flares and fireballs into the monster, to little effect. Before it can charge them, however, as Double G steps in.

Furious over the attack on Snowcone, Double G empties shotgun blast after shotgun blast into the suddenly terrified chocolate woman, followed by a more rapid attack as the shotgun turns into a minigun, damage being dealt faster than the thing can reform itself. Mordium also steps in, sick and tired of the interruption to his trial, entering the arena and - joined by Snowcone - emptying his own powerful blasts into the creature. After minutes of onslaught from all sides, the attacker is incapacitated, reduced to a pile of shattered, frozen chunks of icy chocolate.

Returning to the shop, Mordium apologizes to the group. He never intended them to face something so dangerous and won’t be forcing them to rematch Snowcone. Functionally, they have passed the 3rd Floor.

Unfortunately, Crow has fallen. Though his body has been recovered, he has been transformed into a chocolate statue, something Nuon doesn’t take well. Ferra, meanwhile, is still dazed, but is brought back to her senses through a mix of Nuon’s magic and - to Ashley’s surprise - Mordium’s ibuprofen, though the latter also advises the frogwoman - and everyone else - take a nap, as by this time it is 1am and the trial has been going on for almost 40 hours, something the group quickly realize as exhaustion begins to set in. Double G allows the group access to an adjacent, luxurious set of hotel rooms to sleep, though Mordium seems surprised before G explains having made a deal with the ‘owner’ of the hotel, which wouldn’t normally be ‘inside’ the Tower, for whatever that means.

Hours later, Ashley wakes in a 5-star hotel room, completely refreshed. After getting dressed into seemingly cleaned clothes and lamenting her appearance in the mirror and what she will look like at the end of everything, Double G bursts in and invites her back to the arena. There, though the stands are empty, she and the other remaining climbers encounter the chocolate woman, now trapped in a giant glass ball. Double G explains that it escaped during the night, and though they trapped it again, Mordium has decided to both make it easier to contain and make it up to the group by letting them eat as much of its chocolate mass as possible, for revenge purposes. Each climber - save for Ogborth, who chooses to be exempt from what he calls an “absurd activity” - is handed a tubed mask, and are told that there will be a competitive award - among which could be infinite ammo for a given weapon or ability - for the climber with the biggest belly when they reach their limit.

Surprisingly eager, though some more than others, the group dig in, the chocolate woman’s mass feeding into their mouths, it being beautifully delicious. Their bellies immediately begin to inflate as they are well fed, and more than two hours go by as they feed, the woman trying and failing to use un-condensing herself as a means of outlasting them. By the time they all reach their limit, Ferra is the clear winner, her giant, 75-foot belly reaching across the entire arena. Though nowhere near as large, Ashley is in an impressive second at 30 feet, followed by Syl at 29 feet and Nuon at 15 feet.

Five minutes of digestion later, and the consumed chocolate has been processed. Though Nuon doesn’t grow an inch, Ferra has developed the hourglass figure of a model, with a chest and ass both the size of her head twice over, while her hips and thighs are wider than her shoulders, with only a little pudge left over. Unsurprisingly, she is very surprised. Ashley and Syl, meanwhile, both blow up from being nearly flat to FF-cup in a single meal. Ashley is stunned, finally having an actual chest, while Syl is anticipating the look on her brother’s face at her new size. Double G provides the two with enchanted bras that will change size with them and reduce weight strain, though Syl causes embarrassment in both Ashley and Double G when she both strips on the spot and cannot work out how to use a bra, as well as not knowing what underwear are. Thankfully, Double G provides those as well, but insists with mild anger that he isn’t the kind of guy that makes him look like.

An awkward clothes change later, Mordium provides Ferra - at her request - with the summoning flute for Big Min, at her request as a challenge reward, after insisting she won’t just eat it, being a vegetarian in all manners outside of prey. Mordium agrees, directing her how to use it. With that, Mordium leads the group to another room linked to arena, where another ID activated elevator - thankfully much larger than the last one, for Syl’s sake – permits them access now that they’ve completed Mordium’s trial. Wishing them good luck, Mordium, Double G and the Morcels bid the group farewell, before the elevator whisks them away to the next floor.

On the elevator, Ogborth notes that the 3rd Floor was exactly what he expected the Tower to be like, while Nuon counters that she expected it to be more of a free for all, like the first two floors. Syl is just happy they could keep their purchases. All in all, though, the group agree with determination that they won’t let the future floors pit them against one another. Ogborth, thinking back on Peridot, goes so far as to declare the other four his blood brothers, though he admits that that isn’t how blood brothers really work. Either way, they are his friends, and they will stick together.

While she has the chance, Ashley also asks Nuon about her magic, as she was originally Ashley’s size, but now appears significantly larger and curvier. Nuon explains this as a trait that runs in her family, where they grow bigger the more spells they learn, rather than gaining weight from meals, which the lack of gain from the chocolate demonstrated. As of now, Nuon knows her original fire and healing spells, as well as water, ice, and electric magic, which her body has grown to store.

That aside, Ashley once again reaffirms her goal of reaching the top of the Tower, promising to do it not only for herself, but also for her friends, and for Peridot.

Back on the 3rd Floor, Double G and Mordium discuss various matters, some of which, oddly, seem to concern matters outside of the Tower, as Mordium turned an existing structure outside the Tower - Double G’s basement - into the area of the 3rd Floor to avoid using his powers as much as possible, his preference being to work rather than do everything with a snap of his fingers.

The fate of chocolate woman also comes up, who is now tiny and trapped in a container, who Mordium confirms isn’t local to the 3rd Floor, implying it was sent by another overseer. Mordium’s true form is also revealed, being a unique Morcel inside a robotic suit. He accidentally calls Double G ‘boss’, but G insists that he stop, as they’re family now, as opposed to whatever relationship Mordium had with his unknown previous master.

Mordium also provides Double G with Peridot’s recovered gem, implying that it being intact means she isn’t dead and just needs time to reform, and that she could make for a good assistant due to that ability, given the last Tower-bound assistant of Double G’s who tried to leave the area of the structure connected to the Tower turned to dust her. Mordium has heard rumours from climbers that the Tower doesn’t like climbers who can reform due to the climber who reached the 1,003rd Floor been a necromancer who could return from almost nothing. Though the rumour is just that - Mordium refusing to use his powers to verify anything about the rest of the Tower - the dusting is real, though Mordium seems to think Peridot will be fine despite it.

The overseer becomes upset when reminded that his choice to remain oblivious to the rest of the Tower means he’ll never know whether those he has helped have lived or died, though Double G comforts him by reassuring him of his own good nature and good intentions, regardless of what he got himself into by becoming an overseer. Now calm, Mordium is left to his business with the chocolate woman by Double G - or Golden Gunslinger, as he insists Mordium not call him - who takes an elevator up to his store front. After checking on Snowcone there to make sure he’s okay, Double G steps outside, taking in the surrounding hotel, restaurant, fields, and mountains.

And, to his relief, he finds that Peridot’s gem is still with him.