[Area] The Lethean Dream

Most of the others cringe at the screaming, but try their hardest not to be deterred too much. About half of the group is caught off guard and stops aiming while still swinging their scythes, eyes closed. At least a handful of them get hit by their own attacks and fall down. Those seths that have fallen have reverted to pure spirit form to avoid any further danger.
Those that remain fighting continue doing so. The small fraction not affected by the screaming too much fall back and get out of the way so the gunners in the back can get some clear shots. They seem to move in a more synchronized manner with the battle music being played by the pianist, though the screaming did make him stumble a couple times on the keys. Nevertheless he gets back on track easily. One must wonder how many hours he's played that game to have the battle theme memorized by heart.
Meanwhile, Raphael has taken it upon himself to lead the gunners, giving them cues to all shoot at once.
"Ready... FIRE!"
a flurry of shots from shotguns zoom across the area, most of them aimed at the less crowded orbs. Some seths gethit by friendly fire, but thankfully not too many.
Meanwhile, Thoren seems satisfied with the effectiveness of his fireballs. Due to his past travels in the furthest ring desensitizing him from disturbing sounds, he's able to recover fairly quickly from the screaming. He readies another fireball and throws it at another regret orb. He tries to use a conjuring method that is easier for Seth to read from. Unfortunately this makes the resulting fireball easier to dodge.

Thoren notices the glowing of the orbs. Remembering the warning, he calls to his troops.
"GET OUT OF THE WAY! THEY'RE DOING SOME SHIT!"
The unconfused seths within close range retreat further back. The ones previously affected by the screams take a moment to take the hint due to attacking blind, but soon enough they begin booking it in the same general direction. The fallen, do not move from their spots.

Chestnut, being held together barely by a thread after that crash attack, gets up off the ground, surrounded by the splinters of his treasure chest. Apparently it was not as strong as he was and could not take a head-on collision with a tree.
He looks around and is nearly devastated by the destruction of his chest. Instead though, it is converted straight into resolve as glowing white tears flow from his blank eyes. He turns his focus upon the regret orbs. Powerful emotions compel him forwards.
Not listening to any of the warnings, he brashly rushes towards the electrified spheres, basic scythe in his hands. He must avenge his treasure chest. It protected him the best it could, and now he must return the favor. Chestnut makes a leeroy jenkins beeline and goes in for a brutally swift stab at the top of the closest orb.
"Aaaaaaaagh!!!!!" He cries out in desperate anger.
"You idiot!" The pianist yells as he continues playing that battle theme for some unknown reason.

Meanwhile, Thoren feels a stinging sensation, though thankfully not as bad as it was the first time. It seems Seth is venting most of his strong feelings into powering his fire magic. It's not being utilized very efficiently, bit it's definitely better than nothing.
Thoren tries to burn off the remaining feedback by readying his next attack. But, he seems to be charging dark magic in his hand instead...

The majority of the seths comply with the warning, ducking and dodging away from the lightning as best as they can.

"GET BACK HERE!" Chestnut yells as he continues chasing after the orb he was going to stab with his scythe. He doesn't seem to be listening to anyone from either side. The pianist wants to stop him, but cannot seem to break the spell he's under.
As much of a nuisance that kid seems to be, he had something about him that stuck out. He was so afraid of losing his identity that he couldn't see what really was his defining point. He doesn't deserve to donetier so soon in this...

The pianist begins playing a battle theme arrangement of the vaporwave song he had become well known for playing. He hopes it will bring Chestnut back to his senses. Even if he can't leave his seat while in his piano playing trance, maybe if he plays the right things it will all come together alright.

Unfortunately, because the tune is a battle theme arrangement, Chestnut interprets it as the pianist giving his support to him. it fills him with determination... for all the wrong reasons.
"I WON'T LET YOU DOWN, MAC!"
And with that, he leaps up several feet in the air and aims a falling strike upon the fearsome enemy with his scythe.
Mac, the pianist, can only watch in disappointment, horror, and desperation as one of his closest friends makes the worst decision of his entire afterlife.

Chestnut would suddenly feel something wrap around his abdomen before being pulled back down and into the ground.

It looks like the girl in pajamas used her whip to pull him away. She lands right next to him, part of her strange hair is charred.

'I...uh...Suggest ya not do that, that small chance at vengeance ain't worth the experience you were about to get with that lightning. Would probably feel like double-death. Would probably be double-death. I dunno, I don't wanna have someone find that out.'

She looks at the pile of electrified orbs...or at least tries to. They've become so bright it's almost like you're staring at a miniature sun.

'...I'd reckon it'd be a good time for a solid ranged attack before their lightning goes waaaay out of control.'

Now with a very highly charged magical attack stored in her holographic cornstaff, she has gamebirb launch a sprite of an ear of corn with a magnet attached to it towards the electric regret bunch. Not needing to use eyes to see, gamebirb tosses it exactly where it needs to go, headed towards the regret orbs. The cornmagnet.bmp attacts any and all corn-styled attacks towards it.

With that in place, Niki launches her own thing, having been charging it for quite a while.
"ULTIMATE CORN BARRAGE!"
She swings her cornstaff forwards and the images of various corncobs begin mercilessly zooming towards the corn magnet. this display lasts for at least 20 seconds before the last corn, a can of baby corn, donks off the target before disappearing.

With the end of the battle, Mac is finally able to finish playing, concluding with an oddly familiar victory jingle that is surprisingly not from any commercial game. With that, he hops over the piano and rushes over to check on his pal.

"you don't understand........I'm, I'm a nobody without that chest...just another faceless seth in the file... there's a fuckton of us that could easily replace me!" Chestnut continues crying on the ground. "W-what do i have to stand out, a fucking impalement hole in my torso? That's the most common place for a fatal wound among us!"

Mac arrives finally, looking down at his fallen friend. "Chestnut... what in the name of Thanatos were you thinking."
"...Mac... you, still recognize me without my chest?"
"well of course. you did just almost risk everything for that pile of wood."
Chestnut stops crying for a moment... before releasing another wave of whining.
"I feel so, exposed.... vulnerable.... not safe."
"hey, that's what fucking happens out here. Sure, it's a lot safer if you have something to hide in, but at some point... you gotta learn to, let go..."
Mac looks forlornly towards his piano just a short distance away. As if he could ever give up his addictive passion for piano playing. He's not so different from Chestnut. Just another seth trying to stick out in the crowd. Maybe this whole "fear of being lost in conformity" is a general seth thing. It would explain why so many of them vainly wear copies of that "pin of individuality", despite the copies defeating the purpose.
Realizing the futilities of their mutual struggles, Mac begins to break down and sob too. He finds a spot to sit down nearby on the ground next to Chestnut.
"What am I saying... it's all useless..."

Meanwhile, the other seths begin surveying the area and re-collecting those that had reverted in pain and fear. They'll probably need to get more energy somehow if they're going to be able to resume fighting in their preferred forms. Thoren walks up to Raphael to congratulate him on his leadership skills. They banter on for a bit as the remaining seths regroup themselves.

Thoren and Raphael continue talking.
"Raph, I can't thank you enough for keeping them organized like that. We probably wouldn't have done as well without you." Thoren glances at the damages. a few of the less hit seths that reverted have managed to muster enough energy to regain their forms again, but most of them seem to be out for the count. Nobody said this would be easy, but even for the first battle it almost seems like they were hit a bit too hard.

Raphael smirks proudly "Heh, thanks. This isn't exactly my first time leading them around. I've told you about how much bullshit my death was before, and how I almost overthrew Thanatos with a smaller group, right?"
"I remember hearing you got your ass kicked by Alpha when you tried to kill him a while back." Thoren chuckles darkly.
"Hey, so did you." Raphael smirks
"Well I had just gotten all my plans ever fucked over just a moment before, I know you understand that kinda shit." Thoren crosses his arms.
"Point taken. But yeah, I've had a fuckton of minor leadership experience with these chumps."
Thoren listens for a moment. The pianist doesn't seem to be playing at the moment. It seems oddly quiet and noisy at the same time. There is at least one or two seths out there crying. He looks over at the piano and sure enough he's not there. Odd.
"Did you catch where the piano player went off to? I feel he deserves some recognition for his help."
Raphael points over at the duo on the ground just a short distance away. "...you mean that guy? Look at him cry like that, is that really the kind of spirit we need around here?"
Thoren looks over there as well, and sighs in frustration. "...Excuse me, I need to find out what the fuck his problem is."

---

Thoren walks over to Mac and Chestnut, who are still crying next to each other.
"Okay, who tripped and fell first?"

"maybe it would have been better if she let it destroy me..."
"...Hey bitch, cut that shit out. I'm not letting any of my men get doublekilled, erased, or destroyed. I don't care how shitty your life was, we're all in the same fucking boat." Thoren puts his hands on his hips. He is not in the mood for any more of his army dwindling away so early.
"all in the same boat... we're all stuck in it too... damned to an afterlife of getting lost in crowds made up of ourselves... what's even the point? Is it torture? is it apathy? is it, fear?"
"You listen up too, You should know better than anyone here that it's what you do that sets you apart, not what you look like or attach yourself to. You played that piano so well it kept the army together in the midst of chaos! And you over there, you got balls of fucking steel trying to rush that regret glob. While I think you should have listened better to the instructions, I have to admire your zeal still. Hone your strategy and I'm sure you'll lead us to victory."
Chestnut listens to his words and surprisingly, stops crying. Mac also stops crying, though doesn't quite feel as inspired as Chestnut.

Though he may have lost something dear, Chestnut has gained something in return. Something that can't be broken or stolen: A passion for fighting. Chestnut can fight in memory of his chest, but that won't fix the gaping hole left behind. He needs to fight for himself. To prove he can be great, if not greater than the others.
He can continue existing without his chest, no matter what anyone says otherwise. He won't be forgotten if he is written into legend. Though perhaps, it would be wise to choose a new name for this new beginning. He's no longer Chestnut, the nutty seth that hides in a chest. He is a new man, and he has come out of his shell.

He sits up and whipes his own tears. He looks up and sees above him that it is none other than Thoren, the leader of the army. Is this real? Is such an important seth really talking to him?
"so, you think.... I have... potential?"
"I don't have to think, I know you do." Thoren gives a smile of confidence.

A shining red light shimmers from within, sensing the completion of a metamorphosis on the horizon. He stands up and looks up at Thoren from a closer vantage point. He's never realized just how tall that man was. Thoren is probably the tallest seth in the entire crowd.
"I have one thing to ask. Can you give me a new name?"
Thoren takes a moment to think as Mac stands up shortly after.
"How about... Cheese? We go together pretty well." Mac cracks a weary smile and attempts to laugh. He seems emotionally exhausted.
"it, sounds fun, but I want something with meaning. Something that can be highlighted. Cheese isn't exactly fighter's name."
Thoren continues to think, honestly perplexed by this quite tall order. Maybe an answer will come to them soon enough...