Once they finally release him from his hug imprisonment, Ninten does indeed give Wanda a (much less imprisoning) hug.
"I still can't believe you guys came looking for me all the way out there!", he happily says, thankfully recovered from his state from a while ago. "Thanks!"
After that, he also hugs Giegue, who just awkwardly looks around now because he's in the presence of the people who are supposed to find him intimidating. Getting hugged by an overly happy 15-year old doesn't do that image much good. He still shows his appreciation though, patting Ninten on his head.
"Those Oreos might have to wait for a bit.", Zarbol says. "He should probably go to Ana, Lloyd, Teddy and Pippi first. They were devastated."
"Oh! Yeah, I should go cheer them up too!", Ninten says, releasing Giegue before running off.
"For someone who died he still has a lot of energy.", Rico Jr smirks as he walks after him.
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.Megan had her alchemical pipe
◊ out again, and took a slow, thoughtful puff from it.
"It'd be a shame to have gotten here, only to have to go back to how things were before..."
Omega simply thought, thinking skeleton that he was, and tried to puzzle out something from what he knew so far — though, he did also share what had learned with Megan, as she had not been there to hear the whole story.
Hub Centralis — The Past
Rho notably sweated upon hearing what he had to match.
"Hooboy... this is gonna be a hell of a workout."
He had the sense of rythyhm, but, given that this was really his first time trying to do something quite like this consciously, he couldn't help but miss the beat here and there. He had to shake his head at the end of that, just to make sure he still had his lungs properly in place.
Oh, right, and Nora was currently wrestling the afforementioned rat-man shopkeeper.
Edited by OmegaShadowcry on Nov 1st 2021 at 8:22:37 AM
"The Stick has sentimental value. It's like an enormous, hideous teddy bear we can kill things with." -rikalousFloating City, Maverick District
There's a whole chunk of the city that's being occupied by Reploids,
◊ and somehow nobody noticed until just now.
A robot who is definitely not a Reploid
◊ suddenly walks into the streets one night. His cord-like tail curls up behind him, hanging in the air with some kind of fluid in its tip.
—
Maverick HQ
A military-grade Reploid notices the new arrival via a computer screen. "Unidentified machine has entered the perimeter. Running analysis!"
—
The robot calmly approaches a pair of Reploids who happen to be enjoying the night out together.
"Oh, hello!" one says. "Who are you, stranger?"
Analysis Complete
Unidentified machines contain oil
... Suitable
"Hey! Serial designation N." The robot salutes. "I'm new in town, and I'm really sorry about this, but..."
His eye-light-screen suddenly displays a big glowing X instead of actual eyes. Two huge "monstrous angel"-like wings sprout from his back. His fingers unfurl into claws like huge knives, and his mouth splits open into a menacing, toothy, wide grin that sports way more teeth than a machine could possibly need.
Hard to believe it's even the same guy.
◊
"I need your precious fluids to live, so why don't you refrain from struggling too hard?"
With a single swipe of his claw, he rips the head off one Reploid. The other jumps to his feet in a panic and starts to run, but N's tail suddenly lashes out and impales him, spreading a caustic nanite substance that eats a hole through where his heart would be if he were human, killing him.
—
"The unidentified robot is hostile to Reploids! I repeat, hostile to Reploids!"
There's a mighty footfall. The guy in charge of the HQ walks up behind the operator. "... Send in a task force."
"Right away, Sir!"
—
N perches over the Reploid's corpses. He rips an arm off and sucks the juices out of it like it's a crab leg. Then he grabs the severed head, holds it over his mouth and lets them pour in before crushing it.
While he's busy feasting, a squadron of Reploids in more 'real' armor warp in and start approaching from behind. He turns his head slowly, all The Exorcist-like, to stare at them. "Oh, Uzi would be so mad if she knew what I was doing."
As they fire on him with conventional weapons, he launches up over their heads with a flap of his wings, morphing one arm into some kind of laser cannon... before the cannon fires a flat cone-like 'beam' that splits them all clean in half in a single shot. He then swoops down and continues feeding.
—
"... The task force was instantly wiped out."
"I don't know why I even bothered. My turn." The commander warps out.
—
While N continues being a swell bastard, another Reploid warps in, this time just a few feet in front of him. He looks up to see who.
... Zero, you uh, you don't look so good.
N's eyes briefly go back to normal - though the rest of him stays in 'murder mode'. "He-hey, you look cool! Really cool! You are rocking that 'armored human' look!" He starts hovering in the air around Awakened Zero. "Are you, like, a new model of Disassembler Drone?"
"..." Zero briefly ignores him, kneeling down over the body of the first Reploid. He places a hand on its back.
Nonfunctional
Dead
Energy Fluid Depleted
Culprit Within 1 Meter
Calculating Actions...
REVENGE
Zero suddenly stands up, snatching N by the neck.
"Eghk!"
"You... harvested their energy reserves."
"Yeah. My model runs on the oil of other robots to live. So I kinda had to. We cool? No hard feelings?" N puts up his hands - one still in gun mode - in surrender.
"..." Zero drops N. "You get one chance. Run, or die."
N's wings, claws, and teeth retract, returning him to his normal look. "Gotcha, yessir, no problem here. I'll be on my way promptly." He starts walking back the way he came, nonchalantly whistling as he goes.
He suddenly freezes as he hears the sound of the Z-Saber igniting behind him. He starts to look genuinely nervous. "Hey, buddy, you, uh... you said I could go, and I'm going."
"I told you to run."
N whips around and is immediately impaled, causing him to spit up some of his own oil.
"And you didn't run."
Edited by KiriK on Nov 1st 2021 at 7:46:10 AM
"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."Giegue nods to Wanda.
"I will do so after they've had some time to reunite again."
"Fear?", Pilly asks.
"I'll tell you all about it later."
Some forest in Skyrim
"Bell, I'm getting really tired.", Azathoth
◊ says to Bell
◊.
"I know, but we have to keep looking. We have to find Ser before Mother returns. I know she eventually will."
"Why do we need to find him before Mother is back anyway?"
"That's... not important. Just keep looking, alright? If you're really too tired, I'll carry you on my b-"
Azathoth jumps onto her back immediately.
"... should've stayed quiet.", Bell groans.
"How do we know if Ser is still here? He's been gone for a long time. Maybe he left this world."
"Or he might've died in all the chaos that's happened since then...", Bell thinks to herself, but she then shakes her head. None of those thoughts now! They have to find Seraphim and think of a plan. He escaped from Mara once before, maybe if they're together they can come up with a plan to escape permanently.
"Bell?"
"Yeah?"'
"I can sense something near us."
Bell stops walking for a moment. Listening clearly, she hears some leaves rustle from one of the nearby bushes. She glances at it for a moment, preparing herself to strike...
Only for her to yelp when a big, yellow ostrich-like bird pops up, running off in a panic. It runs past them without doing anything though.
"Phew!", Bell gasps, still needing a moment to calm down.
"Why was that bird so panicked?", Azathoth wonders out loud.
"Let's not stay around here to find out.", Bell says, about to continue on when Seraphim
◊ suddenly drops down from the trees near them, causing Bell to let out another yelp.
"... what are you two doing here?", Seraphim asks, not looking or sounding too happy. Azathoth seems to miss that part of it, because he does look happy.
"Ser!"
"... we, erm...", Bell starts to say. Ser moves towards her, making her feel nervous. When he's right besides her though, he grabs Azathoth off of her back and lets him crawl onto his own. Azathoth gives him a little hug while Seraphim turns back to Bell.
"Well? Are you gonna tell me? Or did Mother send you after me?"
"M-Mother agreed not to-"
"Wouldn't be the first time she changed her mind. Now speak up, Bell."
"... you're still angry I helped her last time."
"I know why you helped. But yes, a little. Now stop beating around the bush."
"Well... she's currently stuck in some other world, a-and we took the opportunity to flee. We've been looking for you for weeks, hoping that maybe we can escape together."
Seraphim snorts.
"Yeah, right. And then she'll track us all down once she's back and she'll have a reason to kill me, as I'll have taken in a couple of traitors."
"... so we can't stay?", Azathoth sadly asks. Seraphim glances back at him for a moment, then sighs before looking back at Bell.
"No, you two can stay. But if Mother appears before us I am running, with or without you."
Bell looks relieved.
"Thank you. Thank you so much.", she says, after which Seraphim starts walking. Bell quickly follows.
"Can we see where you live now?", Azathoth happily asks.
"You're already in it, little guy. This entire place is my home now.", Seraphim laughs.
Floating City
Bass
◊ is still working on the robot that was on Dr. Wily's schematics. At the moment he's on his own, the Fated Four currently not present.
"The stupid thing is almost done.", he mutters to himself. "This better be worth my while in the end."
He pauses for a moment, suddenly hearing footsteps. He immediately turns to the door, buster aimed at the entrance. His systems hadn't been lying, there's someone standing in the shadows.
"Who are you, how did you find this place, and what do you want?", Bass snarls. The man, tall enough to tower over Bass, snickers.
"At ease, robot. You're working on a plan to free the good doctor Wily, are you not?"
"How do you-"
"I want to see him out of jail as well. I want to do business with him, you see?"
Bass still looks wary, but he does look confused.
"... your voice is familiar."
"Oh? I don't suppose that's all too surprising." , the man says as he moves a bit closer, not fully visible yet. His silhouette
◊, however, is, and Bass looks shocked.
"You!? Eggman!?"
The man twirls his moustache a little before grinning.
"He-He-He. Not quite right."
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.Hub Centralis - dunno
When the song wraps up, Boyfriend shoots Rho a thumbs up! He didn't FC it. Whatever, that was a great shot for his first try at that level!
"Beep! Ba doo da di skadoop!" You really do have some skill! Just practice on your own time, try to remember what it felt like to go at that speed! You'll be doing perfectly in no time!
/\。。/\FALKREATH
I've turned myself into a pickle, Morty! I'm pickle Riiicckk!
O-oh geez emmm Rick oh geeez I feel like that's been hmmmm done before. I'm more interested in knowing where we are Rick oh my god Says Morty, talking to Rick after putting him on a tree stump.
We're in a dimensional nexus, Morty. It means we're stuck with Japanimation characters and self-inserts. More importantly, I've discovered we're throwaway gag characters in this.
Oh geez what does this means?
We're gonna die.
HEHEHEHHAHEHAHEHAHEHAHEHAHEHAHEAHEHAHEHAEHAHEHA Willem Thefoe teleports behind Morty and drives his hand through his chest. Morty burst into flames immediately and becomes ashes. Thefoe then use the hand he killed Morty with to grab Pickle Rick and hold him up to his face.
Ah shit, done in by a joke character. Rick sighs. At least I wasn't killed by a goddamn Anime-Maker Ori-AAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Thefoe fucking devour Pickle Rick, enjoying the suffering and the acid inherent in any pickle.
Sweet! Like a baby's candy, ripped away from its crawly little arms! HEHEHEHAHEHAHEHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Thefoe spread his arms out and fall forward. Inches from hitting the ground, he suddenly stops: an invisible force is holding him up, like a sort of strings coming from above. Grinning maniacally, Thefoe launch himself forward like a ravenous chainsaw, cutting down trees and hapless non-player characters.
HEHEHEHEHAHEHAHEHAHEAHEHAHEHAHEA!
Meanwhile... the mutants prowl!
Edited by Bolded1 on Nov 1st 2021 at 1:36:05 PM
Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitterSuper Pamp
I would like to meet one of these some day.
Super Pamp takes the spider-chair.
Again, we all give you our thanks. I hope to meet you again. And I will tell you what Joka says about your creation!
The couple flies away, back with their teammates.
Cuchy
Well. I will wait then. Or search for some else! The world is full of people who wants to be friends!
For a last trick, would you like to see what happens if you pat my head?
Edited by BombonBombin on Nov 1st 2021 at 7:01:00 AM
Three freaking ghosts!Flying City, Maverick District
Another Red armoured "Not reploid but close to one" Arrives in the district, having managed to find a warp terminal in hub centralis. It exits a building, seeing the current scene unfold, Trying to stay in cover.
The Android Readies its pistol like buster and its sabre, unsure of the full context of the situation... Before it finally realizes that one of the two "Combatants" resembles them self to a non-coincidental degree.
The last time this happened, things went downhill, quickly, but... maybe this time, it might not be as problematic.
If Zero's Attention isn't solely focused on his acts of violence, He'll notice... another android resembling himself moving out of cover, wordlessly, still trying to process what they're seeing, with a pistol raised
Once again, parts of space and time which normally would not meet come together in the Arena, and the future and past meet.
"I know my path is suicidal. Why do you think the one version of me who succeeded never touched the Arena?"
Narktus adjusts his posture. "But if there's one thing that always decides these conflicts... it's strength. If you want me to give up... you'll have to defeat me, and everything I have left to throw at you. Prove your power, both your physical strength and that of your bonds, surpasses mine."
"I could literally grab you right now and you'd be fucked."
"So why don't you, Samus?"
Samus folds her arms. "Because you've never implied that anything would get you to back down. Not even being hopelessly outmatched would convince you to stop. I want to know... what changed you?"
"... Areui."
"If it's more murder, I'm so done."
The Iron Maiden gives a single headpat.
Awakened Zero glances over at MMZ!Zero. "Wait your turn."
He pulls the Z-Saber out, and N staggers away, doubled over. Zero continues to approach. "You, and who- or what-ever made you... are now officially my enemies."
"Eheh... That would be... humans." N winces.
"Is that so?" Awakened Zero cracks a small Psychotic Smirk. "Then I don't even have to add more names to the list."
N spits into his hand and rubs his palm on his wound, causing it to seal. Zero, noting this, promptly flash steps right up in N's face and stabs him in the exact same spot as before. This time, he immediately tosses the Z-Saber to the ground and grabs N by the face with his left hand so he can't use his saliva to heal himself, then starts punching the wound repeatedly with his right hand, each blow having so much force that it emits a shockwave from N's back. After four or five of these punches, he shoves N back before drawing his left arm over his shoulder and backhanding the ever-loving hell out of his face, sending the Murder Drone sprawling to the ground.
"You are really mad... huh?" N asks, his tone of voice being as upbeat and genuine as ever in spite of the unholy beatdown he just received.
Awakened Zero looks down at his own hand. "This anger defines me. My hate is my purpose — the reason I exist."
He looks at MMZ!Zero, pointing a dramatic finger. "The reason you exist!"
... Shit. He knows.
Edited by KiriK on Nov 2nd 2021 at 11:13:26 AM
"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."After the headpat, Cuchy grows until reach roughly the size of a 6 years old child.
... Destroy.
Just joking, hah! It was nice to meet you!
Cuchy walks towards the sunset.
Three freaking ghosts!The Iron Maiden can't help laughing. "... Pffft. Hahahahahhaah! That was actually kinda funny!"
Before Cuchy leaves, she has one last thing to say. "Uh, hey, look. If you want friends, try warning people against pressing your foot. Instead of simply telling them something will happen if they do that... tell them something bad will happen. Then they'll understand and will try to help you if you go evil again."
"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."A moral Judgement
MMZ!Zero Looks towards his alternate self, pistol still raised, not firing yet, saying "While it's nice to be reminded of where I came from, my purpose is for myself to choose, thank you very much." He has't fired yet, but he's visibly charging a shot with the handgun, as he says "I've had this song and dance before, original body and the maverick virus, the whole deal. My body may be different, But I'm not just a mouthpiece to some angry Malware."
He seems to be ready to fire at a moments notice, saying "I don't know where I am, I don't know who you're fighting, I frankly don't even care about the term maverick anymore. What I do know is that I'm looking at yet another genocidal madman."
He isn't attacking yet, but he's definitely ready for any sudden movements from his original body.
"... Your assessment, however fair, means nothing to me."
Awakened Zero turns back to N, who is actually scared, breaking his jolly attitude for the first time. N turns back into his 'murder mode', monstrous grin and all, and sends his tail full of nanite acid to try and melt Awakened Zero, but Zero catches it by the tip and morphs his free hand into the Zero Buster, blowing chunks out of N's face with one shot after another.
"Uh-OW! A little-YIPE! Help? AH!"
Awakened Zero continues shooting amidst N's desperate pleas for MMZ!Zero to step in and do something. "If X knew what I've done, he wouldn't forgive me anyway. He was all I had left... so now I have nothing. Nothing but hatred, violence, and servitude."
Edited by KiriK on Nov 1st 2021 at 9:09:47 AM
"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."Nicole raises an eyebrow at the mention of Areui's name.
"Areui? You mean, that angel who's pals with Thor and Loki? I wasn't sure you even knew he existed."
She then blows out a heavy sigh.
"So, no matter what I say, the only way you'll stop fighting and take that chance for redemption is if I beat you and the rest of Gravitas. Fine... I'll do that without having to kill you."
That one spiderman mem- Er, Floating City, Maverick district
The Servitude comment spikes up zeros interests, but he has to get his copy to stop actively committing murder, firing a super charged shot from the pistol, missing intentionally as he charges up again. A warning shot. He says "I'm guessing you're not working for Weil, unless its some form of propoganda efforts... and our original creator is long dead. And its not sigma in charge either, because I know that virus would likely give its command priority to us if it was reinstalled."
He's still not going for the kill, but he's also once again, ready to shoot, as he says "I don't like having my strings pulled without my permission, and I doubt the virus would consider it a servant of itself. While I'd love to discuss philosophy further, mind if you just tell me who's pulling your strings before we fight to the death?"
Reprium — Aftermath
Megan stayed quiet this time, and Omega spoke up.
"Huh... Do we know an Areui?"
"No, I don't think so. I know a Samaleel and a Lacia though."
—
"Take care out there, you two — and uh... be careful if you meet a Rakna Kadaki. Very big and territorial, from what I know."
Hub Centralis — The Past
"Thanks. I'll make sure to keep practicing, until one day I can-"
Rho suddenly faltered as if he had been interrupted by some kind of psychic attack.
"... Right. Rain check on the practice for now. I seem to have some business to attend to."
Ah right, this took place before he got called in to deal with the Devil Gundam.
Estraolian Mountains — Rift to Fallen Mira
A dull thudding emanated from the tear in realities, as, on the other side, the one-eyed Crimson Tyrant patrolled around this... nuisance of a gateway.
And on the other... nothing. Well, not for very long. Despite being so far up in the mountains, the Dreamwalker had found her way out here. This... was something that she quickly found herself regretting. She looked, and soon enough, she found the face she had long associated with oppression, fear, terror, and a thousand fates worse than simple death staring back at her with but a single eye. The fact that it could be damaged did nothing to reduce the terror — indeed, it almost seemed to make it worse. If even losing an eye would not slow her people's Tyrant... then what force could?
Her body told her to run — but she could not. Her limbs were frozen, her yoyos left forgotten at her side as she shook in abject fear. She could feel herself starting to tear up and cry... but she felt rooted, transfixed as her bones vibrated with the semi-magical infrasonic frequency of dragonfear, and with her own pre-existing terror.
There's... no way out. I'm going to die and be forgotten, just... just like everyone else...
"The Stick has sentimental value. It's like an enormous, hideous teddy bear we can kill things with." -rikalousAwakened Zero doesn't even flinch when the warning shot sails right past his head. N flinches, though.
"... A man called Narktus." Zero raises the back of his hand, showing the Gravitas vortex emblem painted onto it in black.
"He didn't put the virus in me - my true programming was reawakened when Eurasia crashed into the Earth. He was the one who repaired me, gave me a reason to continue, after X struck me down. Whatever he is, he's something more than human - both in his species and his abilities. He may very well be a god."
Zero spreads his arms. "And, he gave me a new people. Something to protect again. Something to value, rather than destroy. Even if they would be your and my enemies in any other timeline than this."
"Youuuu don't sound totally sane."
"You THINK?!" Zero snaps as he cleanly rips N's arm off.
"Right... maybe." Narktus turns to look at Megan. "Why are you loitering?"
Samus sighs. "I've gotta get back to the ship and... decontaminate. No high-fives or you'll die, but still... well done. And thanks."
As Dreamwalker!Megan stands there, she will feel a sensation like the world is fading.
And, in fact, she's fading. Disappearing into nothing. Less "thanos snap", more "nilesyy niles". Either way, in a few seconds, she is gone.
And she wakes up in Ljósálfheimr. To reuse the description of what Sarah saw because it's the exactly the same, the grass is a brighter and more vibrant green than anywhere on Earth, the rivers are so clear they're as reflective as mirrors, rainbows are perpetually visible in the skies above, the coniferous trees have leaves instead of needles, and there's eye-meltingly colorful flowers and reeds all over the place.
Edited by KiriK on Nov 1st 2021 at 11:16:30 AM
"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."Reprium — Aftermath
"A bit of curiosity, and to see if there's anything I could have contributed to all this..."
She wiped off the mouthpiece of her pipe, and then said, "... Would you like any of this or is that not your thing?"
???
Somehow, despite all the beauty evident in this place, the Dreamwalker's eyes focused first on the trees.
"... Leaves...? On... huh?"
If confusion were a substance, she would have been buried in it. After managing to peel her eyes away from that baffling sight, she realized that she was, in fact, not dead — or at least, not dead-dead. Er... ah, fuck it, you know what I mean.
She also realized that she could move again — which she did. Passing by gleaming waters, vibrant foliage, and dreamlike arrays of sensation — light and color, sound and smell... It almost felt, to her, like she had accidentally intruded on the dream of a long-slumbering deity, rather than into some other realm.
"The Stick has sentimental value. It's like an enormous, hideous teddy bear we can kill things with." -rikalous

"Alright."
Wanda then leaps from her chair when Ninten suddenly appears in the base, alive and well. After recovering from the initial surprise, her face splits into a grin.
"Try not to crush him, will you? He's going to have a hard time enjoying the Oreos I plan on getting him if he can't breathe."
She opens her arms, fully expecting a hug from Ninten once he manages to get free.