Throne mount sparked blue-white mess. Glyphs choked throat tight. Room reeked ozone-burn. Dreadnought shook like drunk uncle at Diwali. Jax console screamed alerts. "Core merge 50%. Heir sync full—wait, Driftfox reports clown emojis in nav?"Clown emojis. Dark self gripped throne chrome—laughed inside. Rational Thomas skull-pounded. Glitch back. Comedy kills chain. Words rumbled out anyway. "Merge status. Driftfox clown fix."Jax keys mashed panic. Eyes throne-glued worship. "Clowns... uh, high command core-link requests? They think it's pirate code!" Thought mount made her clown admiral.Requests. Vance heavies dais-huddled. One tripped armor-clank over glyph-wire. "Heir! Squad core-merge lead? Or clown patrol?" Marines snickered wall-back. Whispers flew. "Vance leads clowns?" "Squad throne-circus?"Empress silk-shadow twitched nose. "Core expands. Clowns... test chain." Dyson mirrors whined—beams hit holdouts, but one cutter spun donut-loop accidental.Implant feed crushed thick. [Seq 0: 28%. Links 70. Core 60%. Glyph clown-sync 30%.]Emperor's Lament throne-hummed. Clowns optimal purge. Widowmaker giggled hilt. Circus time, pretty boy."Grant core-link. Purge clowns." Jax fleet-blast. Bulkheads split. Brass captains stormed in—lead one slipped glyph-sweat, face-planted dais. "Heir! Command core-bound. Dominion yours—ow, my knee!"Captains knee-wave crashed deck—third guy tripped second. Jax half-command. "Core 70%. Driftfox disco-lights now?"Vance pushed glyph-edge. "Heir! Squad throne-guard? Clown wranglers?" Heavies clanked forward—one helmet bonked Vance chin. Marines howled quiet. "Guard overrides? Clown marines?"Empress voice deck-quake. "Links equal. Clowns fracture." Fingers snap. Mirrors zapped cutter—holdout exploded confetti mid-warp.Implant clown-spiked. [Links 80. Clown purge 5%. Seq 0: 30%. Throne guard circus live.]Captains dais-rim spread. Relayed feeds—distant purge booms mixed polka music leak. Dreadnought bulkheads stretched groan. Jax whined console. "Merge 85%. Strain 20%. Clown override?"Override. Dark room-scan. Rational panic-smear. Clowns expose. "Override denied. Clowns feed growth."Jax slammed. "Heir no override. Clown-growth max!" Dreadnought bucked wild. Captains gripped rails—fourth slipped, bowled two others.Vance squad dais-push. "Heir guard clear? Clown squad?" Marines rifles up—barrel poked Vance heavy butt accidental. "Clown jump marines?"Jax knife-yell. "Throne-equal! No jump—clowns for all!" Tension wire-taut. One marine sneezed—rifle popped balloon glyph.Distant cutter booms polka-shook throne. Dominion beast grew circus-monster.Glyphs chest-climb. Heart disco-throb. [Seq 0: 32%. Links 90. Core 90%. Clown guard critical.]Gun sweat-slip. Widowmaker flirted hilt. Dark throne-root. Rational rat-corner.Empress flank-close. "Guard settles—or clown-fractures. Heir pick."Jax console-lean. "Heir! Strain 40%. Clown vector?"Vance fist-chest. "Squad settles clowns!"Marines captain snort. "Perimeter eternal—no clowns!"Captains shifted. Whispers clown-peaked. "Circus fracture?" "Chain polka-throne?"Throne vibrated. Armrests unsealed—slots gun-blade match, but pie-filler bonus. Air crush-circus. Hunger honked.Dark vein-laugh. Settle clown-way. Fractures pie.Hand lift. Point Vance. "Squad throne-guard left—clown wranglers." Marines right. "Perimeter—no pies."Vance salute-crash—one heavy slipped pie-slot, face-plant cream. Marines snicker-relief. Jax green-flood. "Guard clown-settle. Strain drops!"[SEQ 0: 35%. CLOWN-GUARD LOCK. CORE 95%. THRONE FULL.]Dreadnought roar-peaked. Swarm stars warped circus-bow.
