There's nothing really laying around, though judging by the way some stuff is placed, like a chair, it does indicate he's still living here.
Niko enters the room now too, keeping quiet and looking around. Both he and Sandra know how to sense their uncle's movements, so if he's focused he shouldn't get caught off guard.
He opens the door to the other room, which contains only a single bed and nothing else. Not even a closet for clothes. There's no window either. Feels kinda like a prison, and that gives Niko the creeps.
There's one other door in the kitchen, and if Sandra opens it, she'll find another nearly empty room, the only thing inside being a cupboard.
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.Niko and Sandra
Sandra check the room further. In her inexperience, she forget to check on Niko, and she's silently relieved to see he hasn't suddenly disappeared.
... Dude's furniture tell a lot about... She doesn't finish her sentence, likely because it's obvious enough. The alternate Argo is not a happy camper and everything around his house indicated the bare minimum in housing. It kind of made her wish she could convince Niko to step down and maybe go wait to see if there wasn't a way.
But it'd be pointless - there was no other way they knew of.
Noticing the cupboard, Sandra silently point it out to her brother.
Stupid Arena won't let me see through it. You think he's hiding in it?
Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitterDust and Bones and more Dust
Yuki first dealt with the arrows heading her way by simply vaporizing them with a fire blast, then smirked as she let the zombo approach her. She waited and right as he swung, she seemingly vanished in a burst of flames. Said flames flowed behind the mummy thing and she reappeared out of them. She quickly aimed both her palms at the undead menace and fired a near point blank blast of fire at its right side, aiming to either blast the shield arm off or hit the obvious weakspot.
Vs Gerald
Aerodactyl isn't the most bulky mon around so between those two beefy attacks, the poor pterosaur is down and out; Tenshi pulling out an old fashioned (aka PLA) Ultra Ball and returning it. She's about to send out another when the Gravity stuff kicks in. Thinking quickly, she opts to deal with it by raising a chunk of earth and clinging to it whilst making it float around; Toph style.
With that taken care off, she sends out her Togekiss.
"Dazzling Gleam." she orders as Togekiss sends out a wave of Fairy charged light at Giratina.
Edited by shroobot3000 on Jul 23rd 2024 at 12:53:05 PM
"That was a pointless encounter with a pointless person."Niko pops in to look at the cupboard.
"I hope not, that'd be creepy."
He ponders over whether or not to open it. After all, what's in there is none of their business. And he doubts the guy would be hiding inside that thing. That seems more of an Uncle Argo move, hiding in a cupboard to then jump out at them as a prank.
The pondering is immediately put to halt when a hand suddenly grabs his shoulder. Another tries to grab Sandra's shoulder at the exact same time. It's a tight grip, and while the two superpowered kids won't exactly get hurt by this, the grip being tight should already tell them that the person behind them is not happy to see them here.
Startled, Niko stiffens. It's pretty obvious who found them, and an immature part of him questions if maybe nothing bad will happen if he doesn't look behind him.
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.Niko and Sandra
She'd half expected Argo to jump out of the cupboard angrily asking them what they're doing here, having decided to cram himself there to... scare them better? Because he was weird? The idea of it almost make her laugh nervously. And when she feel a tight grip on her shoulder, someone having snuck up on her despite her senses, she laughs nervously.
Unlike Niko though, she knows that she need to confront her fears. Especially when that fear is literally holding her by the shoulder.
Turning around, Sandra try putting up a strong face, attempting to grab the arm grabbing Niko's shoulder.
S-sorry for sneaking in, but my brother and I have some questions for ya. If it isn't Argo, she's gonna be embarrassed - and maybe scared, because then things would definitely not have gone to plan.
Edited by Bolded1 on Jul 22nd 2024 at 11:15:33 AM
Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitter"Huh. This again."
She stood across from Luin, decorated in armor as she always was. "Next time we meet, I’ll have to ask if this was real, or just a meaningless dream."
"Next time we meet," hissed Luin, "I’ll rip your tongue out through your throat."
"You’ve certainly gotten more colorful with your insults, that’s for certain." The General took a seat, and suddenly they were in a room. She sat on a velvet chair, with a lamp on the stand beside her. She fingered a scale in her right hand, turning it over countless times. "What happened to the good girl who wouldn’t hurt a fly, much less take a person’s life?"
"You happened."
Luin could feel the smirk under the General’s helmet. "I didn’t wanna take credit, but…yeah." She sighed. "But honestly, I’m surprised you’re still mad at me. More than anything. I thought you’d be grateful by now!"
"Grateful? How? Why? For what! Kidnapping my beasts? Hurting my friends!"
"Freeing you." The General shot to her feet, and she towered over Luin. "Freeing you from the bondage of innocence. If it weren’t for me you wouldn’t be where you are. Instead of snuggled up next to the man who promised you a crown, you’d still be at home, sulking about whatever fucking animal you just lost for the thirtieth time to that dragon. You don’t want to admit it, Luin, but you know it: I made you stronger." Luin had no response save to glare at the armored woman, so the General shook her head. She turned and returned to her seat. "Speaking of that dragon…how goes the preparations? You know…for the final battle?"
The soon-to-be queen balked. "You…know?"
"’Course I know, silly. Same way I know where that dragonseer said he’d be: Messan…something Cairo. Am I remembering right?"
Luin was rendered speechless. "How..?"
"We’re connected, Luin. I know you like I know myself. I wanna help, because trust me, I despise Annihilation Nergigante as much as you do. I’ll be in Cairo. You have my word I’ll help, and if you give me a chance to explain…I’ll tell you everything. I don’t want us to fight. We can make the world better together." But Luin said nothing in response, so the General only shrugged again. Then, she pulled the lamp’s chain, and the light shut off with a click.
Not long after, Luin awoke.
With great power…you know the rest.Drought - basically just Lupin and Luna now
"You got it backwards, I'd be getting you in trouble. It's just my nature as a thief. Most other humans don't like me."
Confluence of Fates
Reyna takes a deep breath of irritation. She just used her strongest attack.
Well, maybe her strongest normal hunter attack.
She cups her hands together at her side.
Vampire Duel
Slayer just scoffs at Flandre's retort.
When she offers her retaliation, he grins and spreads his arms, inviting her to take her shot.
Beerus raises an eyebrow at the purple energy.
SLASH!
The impact of Dracula Cradle sends Slayer flying around the planet just as he had done to Flan moments prior, with him crashing into the ground and skidding to a stop in front of her. Even so, when the dust settles, he's lying on his side, casually propping up his head with one arm like he's not even wounded.
"'Twas a joke, Ms. Scarlet. But you could take dietary supplements."
"Do you concede defeat?" Beerus asks.
"Aye, I'm satisfied."
—
"How juicy," Whis comments.
"The gossip, I mean, not this snack."
Filia
Narktus stands up.
"I will retrieve the necessary object from our secure storage. Wait here."
And he's gone.
For like five seconds before he reappears with a funky-looking rock
◊ in his hand.
"You simply have to approach the door with it on your person, and the magic will react on its own."
Yawning Abyss
Iron Valiant is built for this fight.
They jump away from the ramming attack, again turning and slashing at Giratina as they move.
When gravity is reduced, they simply keep going until they hit a wall of the giant crater, springing off of it and downwards, back onto the ground.
"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."Oh, it's indeed BE!Argo, and not only does his glare not lessen one bit upon seeing Sandra being brave, but it seems to intensify when she grabs his arm, his eyes slowly shifting to look at specifically her.
There's no immediate exchange of dialogue, but the message is already pretty clear.
"I-it's only a few, and we'll leave you alone forever after.", Niko carefully says as he manages to turn his head. BE!Argo's eyes shift to him for a moment, after which he suddenly pulls his arm back, potentially fast enough that Sandra'll let go of it purely out of surprise.
"You break into my cabin and you're the one with questions?", he asks.
"The door was unlocked.", Niko quickly and defensively says. BE!Argo huffs, then turns around and walks back to the kitchen.
"It has nothing of value.", he says as he walks, probably referring to the cupboard.
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.Niko and Sandra
Sandra lets go, eyeing the situation in wary surprise. They weren't getting thrown about, good! A-... And why was she thinking they'd be thrown about? Was she not following her own advice? Shit. She was getting intimidated, which she shouldn't be.
Still, despite this, she keep her brave face. She doesn't want Niko to be unsettled by that. So long as she can put up a strong face, he might have one of his own.
We're really sorry, she says, unwittingly letting out some of her angst first. But to be blunt, you've got answers we can't find anywhere else.
Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitter"About?", he bluntly asks while taking a bite out of a salted steak. Which... where did he get that from? It's raw, but clearly bought from one of the stores instead of hunted. He must've been out to go get it since it wasn't around anywhere.
"Um... 0.02.", Niko says.
"This again? I already told you things about her.", BE!Argo growls.
"Y-yeah, but... like Sandra says, we haven't had much luck in finding out much more."
"That's not my problem.", he says while taking another bite out of it. He bites off half of the whole thing. For some reason that kinda makes Niko more nervous. It's probably not meant to come off that way, but it feels a bit like a threat.
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.Sandra doesn't ponder where the salted steak comes from, but she at least doesn't see him biting it off as a threat. Well... She could see that maybe he was leaning unto it, but she didn't want to look scared. They weren't simply prey to be consumed - they were hybrid children with superpowers who had went up against warrior deities and prevailed.
Yet those reassurances rung hollow in Sandra's mind. And she knew it.
We need a bit more. And then we're gone. I can promise that. You'll never have to see us again, she say, deciding that dancing around was likely pointless. Promises are promises, I know, but we're serious about not bothering you after that.
Her words do betray her lingering fear, to her annoyance, but she steel her nerves in preparation.
Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitterBE!Argo's gaze is piercing.
"And in a few months, you'll be stuck again and come back for another bit more."
"L-look, sorry, I just-", Niko starts, but is interrupted by BE!Argo immediately eating the rest of the steak in one go.
"... do you think, just because you're my family in some other world, that I'm gonna be willing to satisfy your curiosity any further than I already have? I couldn't care less whether or not you find what you want to find."
He points to the door with his thumb. A surprisingly casual movement, were it not for his ever-glaring expression.
"Out. I've already humored you creatures for more than I should have."
Oh, that actually hurts. Being referred to as 'creatures' by someone who looks and sounds exactly like their uncle, and not in a playful teasing way either.
Despite that though, instead of backing down, Niko, surprisingly, continues to push the matter.
"Please, it's important! If I know what happened to her, maybe I can find a way so that Dad and Uncle Argo aren't sad anymore on the same day every single year!"
BE!Argo... looks briefly surprised. Still glaring, but his eyes are somewhat wider.
"... The same day every year. Ah, I think I can put together what their problem is now."
"Y-you do?", Niko asks. Despite everything, their dad and uncle hadn't actually really told anyone about what had happened. Even Sarah may never have gotten the full story, though she probably could have guessed over time.
"Yes."
"T-then can you-"
"No. It's none of my business to tell. And even if it was, I wouldn't. Get out.", he says, back to his angrier attitude.
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.Creatures? The fuck you mean by- Niko speaks up and Sandra shut up, being glad she didn't get to finish her sentence. And for a few moments, she's even gladder because her brother seem close to breaking through Argo's shell. For a split moment, she hopes that all of this can come to be solved amiably, with Argo dropping some more hints at least. Or even telling the full story.
One Sandra was sure not even their mom had heard of.
And then it comes crashing down when Argo's stance doesn't change. If anything, Sandra has the impression that he's about to double, triple, quadruple down on it and she want to know why. And while a part of her feel like he's right, it's only a part of her.
But that business is hurting them! They deserve to have some happiness out of this! Sandra says. I don't want dad and uncle to keep that heavy secret for their entire lives!
Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitter"So their lives aren't perfect. Cry me a river. It's not like their view on it will ever change, at least if my guess is right. Maybe this'll be a lesson in that you can't have everything you want."
He crosses his arms.
"This is the last time I'm telling you this. Get. Out.", he says, his voice lowering dangerously with the last two words.
"NO!", Niko yells, speaking without thinking. It's clear from his following shocked expression that he feels he made a mistake.
Judging by BE!Argo uncrossing his arms and keeping his glare, it may have very well be.
Then something probably neither of them expected happens. Niko suddenly gets grabbed from behind and full-on swung towards Sandra with the intention of having them crash into each other painfully. They may be super strong, but they're also super tough, and with them being around equal power, that would definitely hurt them both.
The culprit turns out to be a second BE!Argo. Right, Argo can do that. But that doesn't explain how neither of them were sensed by Niko and Sandra.
"That's one way all you Sister kids are the same in. None of you accept the word 'no'.", the first BE!Argo snarls.
Edited by DevilPsyco on Jul 22nd 2024 at 12:07:55 PM
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.Niko and Sandra vs Argo
When the fight start, Sandra is just a tad too slow to react and it get her whacked. Argo's calculations are correct - at their level of toughness, being struck together, hurt. However, Sandra try to retaliate immediately, sprouting a chain from the palm of her hand, extending it, and then lashing out with a wide swing of her arm, attempting to "extend" her swing to hit the first Argo, with enough strength to cut the cabin in half and extend across it.
Should it succeed, or even should it fail, Sandra yell at Niko to duck! and try to hit the other Argo behind her.
Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitterThe first BE!Argo gets chained, and Niko reacts immediately upon hearing Sandra's signal, ducking as BE!Argo is swung over him...
But the second one dodges with a jump while the first one hits the wall. The second one then snatches Niko up by his shirt and holds him up.
"If words don't get it across, maybe THIS will!"
Before Sandra can intervene, a third BE!Argo suddenly leaps in from outside, attempting to grab her and slam her into the ground. Wait, since when can he split into three versions of himself?
Regardless of success though, Niko takes notice and, in an attempt to go help Sandra, ends up punching the second BE!Argo in the face so that he falls back and lets him go and runs over to Sandra to assist.
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.Jax
Jax nods to Evan, smiling at Mike's reassurance to the boy. The Grandmaster at Arms is quite surprised the salmon transferred, let alone became a real fish! He celebrated internally, a dinner well earned, Jax thought. The Grandmaster at Arms began to move to the door, slinging Icathia's last light over his shoulder with a triumphant stride to leave, turning to raise his voice loud enough to be heard by all.
"If you've ever got another dead king that needs clobbering, come find me!"
Jax chuckles, giving no extra indication on how to find him, or even where to look. Oh well, I'm sure they could find Jax if they wanted to. Jax takes his leave.
Filia
Filia narrows her eyes at Narktus, plunging an arm through the plume of sand to grasp the stone with a curious gaze. Withdrawing her hand, she looks down to inspect the stone momentarily.
"Clear enough instructions."
She responds before disappearing, the plume of sand falling to the floor, wafted away into non-existence by an unseen and unfelt breeze an instant later.
Vampire Duel
"Hmph. My 'dietary supplement' is the blood of humans." Flandre scoffed at the strange Scottish man. She won but it felt vaguely unsatisfying after seeing how casual Slayer was, compared to herself feeling drained from the ordeal. Jerk.
"I believe I was promised a reward." she then says, eyeing Beeroos.
—
"I'm glad that went well." Daiakuma sighs in some relief. Last thing she needed is an upset Lady.
"That was a pointless encounter with a pointless person."A Winner is You
Delilah silently waves Jax goodbye.
Cassie blubbers in a panic.
"I looked all over for you before all this! A-and I almost died! There was a robot with your voice and it tricked me into—"
Charlie looks up at Sam and gasps. She starts to call out to him as Cassidy helps her up, running after him.
"Wait, why can't you-"
But he's already gone.
"...That was my brother. Or...was it an illusion?"
Him disappearing as soon as he was out of sight has her doubting.
"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."Niko and Sandra vs Argo
Sandra's senses are sharp. And so are her reflexes. Things turning into a fight, if anything, make it all easier. Because now, they can try to beat the information out of him. While she's surprised, it does allow her to react to the attack heading her way. There's a third you?! Sandra dodge to the side, barely dodging the attack, and allowing him to nick her on the side of the face.
With her brother dealing with a danger of his own, Sandra try to quickly knee the third Argo on the stomach to send him flying into the air, even bashing him through the roof of the cabin if needed. If not successful, she try to shove him with her elbow, even if the attack will not be as powerful as it should.
If it was, Sandra shoot chains out of her arm to try to grab the third Argo and then attempt to slam it down on the first one with a hearty cry, the air warping as she try to smash them both with ground-breaking strength (it help it's a revenge for his first attack on her, which made her bleed from the forehead)
It just mean I need to beat up MORE of you!
Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitter∞0
'what the fuck am i reading' <- AbsoluteSolver looking at the absolute mess that has become Zero's software landscape
"SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT"
Absolutely ain't no way we ain't letting evil Zero become Absolute(Solver)Zero get that shit OUTTA HEEEERE.
>ABORT LOAD AND DELETE
-
"Understood."
Revvvevevevevvvvvvs up! before strafing around in ball form before bouncing off the ground (and over X, while Zero is focused on him) to try and knock said mid-air Zero over in Iris's direction.
Edited by Rbade on Jul 22nd 2024 at 5:21:03 AM
/\。。/\Niko and Sandra VS BE!Argo
The third BE!Argo gets kneed into and through the ceiling, though simply vanishes into energy that flows back inside once the chains try to reach him, returning to the other two. Odd, Argo's duplicates usually physically return to him. Is this an advanced form of this power?
Niko stops near his sister, relieved that she's alright. He looks back as he hears a dry, mirthless chuckle coming from the second BE!Argo, who's now joined again by the first. Apparently he got out of the chains. Regardless, the second BE!Argo disappears in the same way, rejoining the first.
There's something about his eyes right now. He looks less angry now and more... bitter.
"Either you two are holding back or you're weaker than those other ones...", he says, narrowing his eyes before a cruel grin forms on his face.
"Because I felt nothing of that. Then again..."
His fingernails turn into claws, which he spits on. The two should be acutely aware that he just poisoned his claws.
"My nervous system stopped functioning a LONG time ago.", he reveals, and given what he went through... that makes a disturbing amount of sense. He was used as a training dummy for Eleven and all her siblings so much for so long that his nervous system is just broken at this point.
"But even then, I tend to still feel some tingles whenever I get hit by something actually strong!", he roars as he jumps at the two. For a moment it looks like Niko's about to try to shield Sandra and get hit and poisoned in the process, since he immediately moves in front of her, but he's smarter than that.
No, he instead tries to grab Sandra's arm and, if successful, sends an electrical shockwave down through his legs, basically letting the force propel them both up and over BE!Argo's attack.
Game
Evan and Gregory wave goodbye to Jax as he leaves. They're sad to see him go, as they'd gotten a bit attached to him, especially Evan. But this was always bound to happen at the end. They're just glad they all made it out.
... well, except Lolbit... but would they even have been able to get out if they lived? Noah's monster couldn't. It's impossible to tell now.
Regardless, Cassie starts blubbering and it catches Gregory by surprise to the point that he can't really focus any further on anything else. He returns to hugging her.
"I-it's okay, Cassie. I-I dunno anything about robots that have my voice, but we're all safe now, so you can calm down a bit, and after that you can tell me everything, okay?", he says, trying to help her calm down a bit. Freddy and Roxy stand with them now, trying to cheer her up a bit.
Grape seems reluctant to approach, looking like he has something on his mind. Regardless, he keeps his distance.
Mike (with Evan still in his arms) approaches Charlie now, as does Cassidy.
"I didn't know you have a brother.", Evan says.
"I didn't either.", Cassidy says.
"I remember him, vaguely.", Mike says. "At least enough to know both you and your twin brother existed. But I never really took the time to know him seeing as he was way younger than me. And I never got the chance after."
"What do you mean?", Cassidy asks.
"Well, after... something happened at Freddy's not long after... the bite...", he says, briefly glancing at Evan. "Mr. and Ms. Emily moved away from Hurricane and they took their kid with her. I never saw them around again. I can't really blame them."
Kid. Singular. It's not hard to guess what that 'something at Freddy's' was given that they all know what happened to Charlie.
"But wait, if they left, then shouldn't he be older than Charlie now? Why was he still... eh... about however old Charlie is?"
"He's gotta be from a different world. Or from that time period. Either way, we should keep an eye out for him. I don't know why he's avoiding us, but this is a dangerous place. ... I'd like to at least try to keep a child safe for once."
That statement surprises Cassidy. Maybe she won't hate him as much after today.
"Now then, don't wanna ruin any moments here, but how's about after we've all had some time to rest, we head over to the Mega Pizzaplex and have a grand old time?" , Monty asks as he approaches Charlie's group, then glancing at Evan. "The kid did say he was okay with giving it a visit now, right?"
"I did?", Evan asks, upon which he remembers, yes, he did say that while they were in the game. He gets the impression like Monty's smirking at him, challenging him, and normally Evan would back off bashfully at best.
"Monty, if he doesn't want to go-"
"Let's go! I-I'm not scared!", Evan says, feeling bold all of a sudden surprising both him and Cassidy.
"Are you sure?"
"That game was way scarier than anything in there can be, right? I wanna go see.", he says. Mike doesn't really know what to says. Monty, however, chuckles happily and snatches him out of Mike's arms, moving Evan so that he gets to piggy-back-ride on Monty's shoulders.
"A man of his word, this kid! I like it! You can start out with Monty's Gator Golf! It's not intense... not too much at least, gwahahahaha! It'll be on me!"
Evan doesn't know where his feelings of boldness came from, but he can't help but feel pleased right now. Maybe going through that game and Jax encouraging him helped him more than he thought.
Although with him on Monty's shoulders, it's impossible to tell that his shadow is shuddering just the tiniest bit...
"Well, you guys have fun with that. I'm leaving.", Noah says as he passes by them.
"Uh... t-thank you!", Evan calls out after him. Noah glances back for a moment and smirks.
"Oh, it was nothing.", he says before he leaves the building. Once outside, he opens his hand, holding out the three data chips from in the game.
"Well, I guess it wasn't nothing.", he chuckles to himself before pocketing them. He has no idea if these will be of any use to him, but who knows? He wants to try and see.
—
Deep underneath in the sewers, Sammy's shifting through the dark tunnels. The smell doesn't bother him, he's smelled worse.
He didn't intend on Charlie actually seeing him. He's not supposed to get found out, not before he finishes his mission. If he does, the others will surely hold it against him.
No, he has to do this alone. William Afton is out there somewhere, and he'll get him back. That's what this was all about.
After all, once William Afton is finally gone for good, then they'll all be able to rest, right?
Some strings shimmer around him as he enters the full darkness of the tunnels.
Edited by DevilPsyco on Jul 22nd 2024 at 1:46:59 PM
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.

The spooky part
... Keep your eyes peeled, hm? Sandra would make a joke but again, the whole situation she find to be kind of bizarre to bask in. And she doesn't want to stress her little bro by that much.
She look around the kitchen, trying to see any details. Like anything Argo could have interacted with recently (like food, even if they were weird with food).
Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitter