File: Spoiler Image (102 KB, 1280x720)

102 KB JPG

As chaos rains down around you, and the general populace flees the scene in fear, you and Steel find yourselves staring each other down with heightened intensity. His face wasn’t twisted with fear or anger, like those of the citizens that you’d passed by earlier. His was of contempt and conviction. His sole purpose in life was to bring you down.

“Do yourselves a favor and stand down. You’re only getting in my way.” you demand with a wave of your arm.

“You don’t get to make demands after that stunt you pulled!” Steel growls, pressing his pistol a half inch closer to your face, as he gestures towards the destruction that you caused.

“None of this would have happened, had you not captured Lucky Girl and directly challenged X.” Trixy snapped back. “Do not presume that this outcome is anyone’s fault but your own!” she declares, more passionately now. You’ve never heard her get this upset. And clearly, her words are having an impact on Steel. From his expression, you sense a twinge of guilt.

“You’d better be getting mind-controlled, Steel. Because if you’re not…” you say, pointing back towards his fallen comrades. “I’ll lay you out just as fast as I did your boys back there.” you proclaim.

Come on, Steel. Fight it!

Just then, you notice a man, wearing all black, leaping from a rooftop and descending upon you and Steel with both his swords raised. Before any of you could react, Trixy moves in to engage the new target. The two of them share a lightning fast exchange of blows that almost appears to be a blur to you! However, the exchange ends just as quickly as it had begun when the ninja tangled Trixy up in a mesh of electrified cables that had originated from a bola trap that he’d thrown. As your mechanical companion fell to the ground, you instinctively positioned yourself in front of Steel, acting as a shield between him and whoever this guy was.

And all of a sudden, the ninja puts his swords away and takes out a strange looking gun. You crank your barriers up to max, preparing for whatever he has to throw at you next. But there’s no projectile that flies from the gun’s barrel. Instead, a flash of brilliant, white light assaults your eyes, even through your masks’ lenses. The resulting pain causes you to double over, your head practically pounding from the stimulation. And Steel seems to have had the same reaction.

“This is for your own good.” says the ninja, in a gargled and processed voice. But the biggest surprise comes from when he removes his mask. It’s Rex’s handler, Agent Six!

How was he wearing his sunglasses under that thing?

Before you could ponder the issue any further, you’re wracked by a wave of overwhelming memories. Some you remember fondly. Others, not so much. Even so, there are a few memories here that you don’t remember at all. Like, you’re really sure that this never happened to you.

(Cont.)

Which memory do you follow?

>The day where you and Olivia really became best friends.
>The time that your Mom was teaching you how to ride a bike.
>The first time that Grandpa took you hunting.
>The time where you met a weird masked guy in the park.
>The time where you had been introduced to Wendy in Iden’s lab.

(Feel free to choose multiple options.)

>>4795739
>>The day where you and Olivia really became best friends.

>>4795760
Taking this to move things along. Writing...

File: Eruptile2.png (1.63 MB, 2400x2400)

1.63 MB PNG

>Midtown, Bellwood
>Date: 7 years earlier
>Time: 3:00pm CST

You’re standing in the middle of the park, waiting patiently for your friends to catch their breath, your foot resting atop a dirty soccer ball. After about an hour and a half of running back and forth, everyone decided to take a little break. These little intermissions had started to feel incredibly awkward for you. The bewildered stares from your teammates, the frustrated glares from your opponents. This was something new.

When you were younger, everyone was amazed at how fast you managed to learn and excel in new skills and sports. First, it was Little League, then it was basketball. Now, you and your friends have taken up soccer.

It was all fun and games at first. You were just messing around and improving alongside one another. But eventually, your friends realized something. They’d stopped improving at such a brisk and steady pace, a problem that you had not been forced to confront. Usually when this happened, your friends would claim to have grown bored of the sport, and insist that you move on and try a new one with them. Once upon a time, you were open to such an option, becoming a jack of all trades, but never allowing yourself to excel at anything. They always wanted you to remain at their level, regardless of your potential.

However, something within you had changed over these past few weeks. You stopped feeling the need to hold yourself back in order to please your friends. Instead, you wished to explore the possibility of taking up soccer as a hobby. You even considered joining a team in high school!

Finally, one of the bigger players rose from the ground and dusted himself off. He was someone’s older brother, and a member of a high school soccer team at a different school. Judging from his skills, though, he must be a full-time bench warmer. “You’re not bad...for a pipsqueak…” he declared, between labored breaths. Apparently, this meathead was filling in for JT, since he got tied up with something at the last minute. But judging from how you saw JT playing at the arcade on your way here, you’re almost certain that they brought this guy here to “teach you a lesson” or “put you in your place”. Something to knock you down a peg or make you question how good you really were. Obviously, it had backfired completely.

But some of these guys still look like they’ve still got some fight in them. Should you go easy on them, or punish them for trying to embarrass you?

>Let them win. It’s not an important game or anything.
>Play seriously. You’re tired of holding back against these losers.
>Go out of your way to embarrass them, showing your friends exactly what it is that they need to work on.
>Just go home. You’ve had enough of this.
>Write-in.

>>4797552
>>Play seriously. You’re tired of holding back against these losers.

>>4797552
>>Play seriously. You’re tired of holding back against these losers.

>>4797553
>>4797580
Writing...

File: Young Ollie.png (3.88 MB, 3840x2160)

3.88 MB PNG

No. No more throwing games to make your "friends" feel better. You're actually getting good at this. And you want to keep at it a while longer, just to see what you can do.

"I'm ready whenever you are." you announce to the enemy team, much to their annoyance. They haven't completely managed to catch their breath, but they'd never allow themselves to appear weak or inferior once challenged directly.

With exaggerated groans and hushed hisses, the other players picked themselves up and assumed a defiant stance.

"Finally." you said with a smug grin. "I was hoping you wouldn't wuss out on me."

----------

The rest of the game proceeded as planned. You outright trounced your friends in a satisfyingly undeniable way. For the first time in a long time, you were given the opportunity to show everyone what you were made of. That is, until, someone "accidentally" elbowed you in the face in order to steal the ball from you.

At least they stopped playing to make sure that you were okay. Or maybe, that's what they'd wanted to happen in the first place.

"Hey!" shouted a familiar feminine voice in the distance. "What'd you do that for!?" she continued, sprinting towards you with a deep scowl. Is that...Olivia?

"Aww, come on. It was an accident." Cash proclaimed.

"Yeah, accidents happen all the time on the field." the big kid chimed in. "Wade's a big boy. He can take a hit or two." You're pretty sure that he's the one who fouled you.

"Don't play dumb with me! I saw what happened." Olivia claimed as she placed her hands on her hips. "What, you decided to beat on my cousin because you couldn't beat him in a fair game? Real mature, guys." she said with an indignant look about her.

"Aww, I didn't know Wakeman needed his baby cousin to defend him when he got hurt." the big kid taunted. "How precious." he said, before erupting into an obnoxious laughing fit. The others quickly joined in, and you growled under your breath, before picking yourself up from the ground and dusting off your clothes.

"Oh, Wade doesn't need my help to make you guys look bad. In fact, I'm sure you were doing a great job of that before either of us showed up." Olivia fired back, silencing the entire group in the process. "I mean, seriously. Wade might've gotten socked in the face, but I think we should get you all a new pair of ankles after that last match. I've seen each and every one of you get crossed up, eat dirt and cry like babies." Olivia continued, still on a roll. "Maybe you ought to hit the showers. And I'm not just saying that because of the rank smell." she said, pinching her nose and fanning her face for added effect.

(Cont.)

File: Jytjttyjyt.png (100 KB, 258x295)

100 KB PNG

A tiny snicker from you broke the silence, drawing the attention of the other guys, still fuming from being roasted by your cousin. At first, you wondered if a full on fist-fight would break out right then and there. If so, you were completely prepared to cover Ollie and send these guys packing. Not enough to leave obvious bruising, but enough to embarrass them, or at least get a message across. You and your family aren’t anyone’s personal punching bags. Grandpa taught you better than that.

"Whatever. Let's get out of here." Cash decided, before turning around and walking the other way. With a wave of his hand, the rest of the goon squad followed suit, still staring dagger at you and your cousin. Even if he didn't mean to, Cash just saved himself, and possibly you and Olivia, from a world of hurt. You watched them leave until they turned a corner and crept out of sight.

"Hey." Olivia said softly. "You okay?" she asked, her hand slowly moving to touch your bruised cheek.

Before she can, you gently grab her arm and pull it away from your face. "I'm fine. Don't worry about it." you say, sounding a bit deflated. "I heal fast."

"Yeah, but it must hurt, right?" she insisted. Of course it did. The throbbing, deep ache in your cheek wasn't going away anytime soon. At best, it wouldn't be as visible in a few hours, but you'd still have to endure the pain the entire time. You're not like Wolverine, or anything, but you can pretty much sleep off any minor scrapes or bruises. You SO weren't looking forward to your Mom finding out, though. She always freaks out about this kind of thing.

"Nah, I'm okay." you protest. Why were you putting on a tough guy act in front of your cousin, anyway?

"Oh, well uh…" she trailed off, seemingly running out of things to talk to you about. "Who needs them, right?" she said with a forced smile, pointing towards the direction in which your friends fled. "They were losers, anyway."

"No argument there." you replied, wincing as you went to touch your own wound. Olivia was clearly concerned, but she refrained from reaching out like she’d done before. There was a palpable silence between the two of you for a long while. The only noises coming from the ambiance normally provided by flocking birds, buzzing insects and passing cars on warm summer days.

(Cont.)

“Do you wanna come play video games at my house?” Olivia blurted out cheerfully. “We’ve got that new Sumo Slammers game that just came out. You ARE still into Sumo Slammers, right?” Olivia said, as she asked the dumbest question that you’d ever heard come out of her mouth.

Of course you’re still into Sumo Slammers! It’s only one of the greatest gaming franchises in the whole universe!

But what you really said was...

>”Of course I’m still into Sumo Slammers! It’s only one of the greatest gaming franchises in the whole universe!”
>”Yeah, I guess that sounds cool…”
>”Sure. But don't expect me to go easy on you, this time."
>”I appreciate the offer, but I think I’ll stay here and run some drills on my own. Maybe next time.”
>"Not a chance. Your Mom is totally gonna snitch to my Mom as soon as she sees this bruise."
>Write-in.

>>4798265
>>”Of course I’m still into Sumo Slammers! It’s only one of the greatest gaming franchises in the whole universe!”

>>4798265
>>”Of course I’m still into Sumo Slammers! It’s only one of the greatest gaming franchises in the whole universe!”
As if there was another option

>>4799196
>>4799211
Writing...

File: Ishiyama_OS.png (447 KB, 500x791)

447 KB PNG

“Of course I’m still into Sumo Slammers! It’s only one of the greatest gaming franchises in the whole entire universe!” you exclaim with unabated enthusiasm.

This response seemed to get Olivia just as hyped up as you were. “I had a feeling you’d say that.” she said with a big, goofy grin. That being said, the two of you raced back to her house, laughing all the while.

--------------

After sneaking past Olivia’s Mom and snatching her console from their living room, you were told to wait patiently inside her room. You’ve never been inside a girl’s room before, but you’re finding Olivia’s to be pretty similar to yours. All those comic books that you lent her are still right there on her bookshelf. In fact, she even went as far as to buy the next few volumes for the runs that she really enjoyed. They almost distracted you from the plush dolls that were displayed at the edge of her bed. But then again, she’s always been a strange mix of tomboyish and frilly.

“I’ve got the snacks!” Olivia announced as she kicked in the door and carried a tray full of junk food inside.

“Took you long enough.” you said, with a smile so wide that it made your face ache. As Olivia sat down and grabbed her controller, you helped yourself to PB&J sandwich from the tray. She even cut the crust off for you. What a thoughtful girl!

After you’d set up your controllers, you proceeded to the character select screen. You’ll go with your main this time: Ishiyama, the noble Sumo Warrior!

“Ishiyama? You’re seriously gonna pick the main character of the game?” Olivia snickered. “How boring can you get?” she teased, right before selecting Kenko, the villain of the series.

“Uh-oh! We’ve got an edge-lord here!” you shout back.

“Nuh-uh! Shut-up!” she snapped back. “Kenko’s totally cooler.”

“Uh-huh. I bet your favorite color is black, too.” you say, while selecting the stage.

“I’ll have you know that I have multiple favorite colors.” Olivia corrects you. And before you get a chance to respond, the opening cutscene grabs your attention. The load-times on these new consoles are lightning fast!

Round 1! Fight!

--------------------

After multiple sets, you’ve managed to grab a significant lead over your cousin. She’s not a bad player by any means, but she isn’t too good under pressure. You’re able to punish her whiffed attacks, as well as her input shortcuts without much difficulty. She needs more practice.

“K.O.!” the announcer declares, as Olivia’s character falls to the ground in slow motion.

“Ugh! You’re waaaaaay too good at this game!” Olivia says as she throws her head back in frustration. “How is it that I can get a ‘Flawless Victory’ on the bots on the hardest difficulty, but I can’t beat you!?” she groans.

(Cont.)

File: Kenko.png (389 KB, 779x707)

389 KB PNG

Uh-oh. It’s happening again. Everytime your friends were on a losing streak, they’d throw a fit and refuse to play any more. What if Olivia’s the same? You couldn’t handle losing another friend after that fiasco at the park. Maybe you should switch to something else, or change the subject...

What will you do?

>”It’s because I play a bunch at the arcade. I can bring you there next time.”
>”This is getting pretty boring. Got any other games?”
>”You should be careful around that big guy from the park. You could've gotten hurt back there.”
>”You’ve got a good Kenko, but you need to chill with the random teleports. They’re way too easy to read.”
>Suggest a different character that fits her playstyle better.
>Switch to a character that you don’t practice with that often.
>Write-in.

>>4800502
>>”You’ve got a good Kenko, but you need to chill with the random teleports. They’re way too easy to read.”
>Suggest a different character that fits her playstyle better.
>Switch to a character that you don’t practice with that often.

>>4800502
>”You’ve got a good Kenko, but you need to chill with the random teleports. They’re way too easy to read.”
>”It’s because I play a bunch at the arcade. I can bring you there next time.”

>>4801830
>>4802780
Writing and combining...

File: 7371242-vlcsnap-2020-03-2(...).png (275 KB, 1280x720)

275 KB PNG

“You’ve got a good Kenko, but you need to chill with the random teleports. They’re way too easy to read.” you advise, still lingering on the victory screen. “I think you’d do better with Tobi. His playstyle fits yours way better.” you suggest, deciding to switch to the character select screen.

“I don’t think I’ve played much of him. I guess I could give it a shot.” Olivia says, sounding a bit more cheerful now. You think you’ll ease up on her a bit. You don’t play much of Himawari, so picking her should make these matches a little less lopsided. “Hold up. What do you think you’re doing!?” Olivia shouts.

“What? I’m switching characters.” you innocently answer.

“You’re just gonna switch characters without giving me another chance to beat your Ishiyama!? That’s just bad fighting game etiquette, Wade.” she gasps, sounding disappointed for some reason. But you’ve been beating her main with your main for the past 10 minutes or so. It’s a little irrational to get upset over something so trivial.

“These are just casual matches, Ollie. That only applies in online ranked matches.” you say with a smirk. It wasn’t the reaction that you were expecting, but you respect her chivalrous spirit nonetheless. “And I only got this good from playing at the arcade.” you reveal.

“No fair! You’ve been grinding on your own.” Olivia pouts.

“Uh, yeah. That’s what it means to practice.” you retort. “If you want, I can bring you along next time.” you offer. Despite the throbbing pain in your cheek, you can’t resist the urge to flash a warm smile at your cousin.

Just then, a big goofy grin spread across your cousin’s face, as if she’d achieved some great victory. Maybe she had always wanted to get closer to you, and was just waiting for you to extend the opportunity. “Sure! That sounds awesome.” she beamed.

As the two of you selected your respective characters and progressed to the stage selection screen, you began to wonder why you never spent much time with Olivia. She was much cooler than your other friends. Now you understand why Grandpa was always trying to push the two of you together.

“Round 1: Fight!” the announcer shouted.

-------------

With a gasp, you snap back to reality, your vision still blurry from the bright flash of light that Agent Six hit you with. Even now, he stood in front of you, motionless and expressionless, inspecting your behavior for any abnormalities. Was he waiting for you to engage Steel so he could get the jump on both of you?

(Cont.)

“Tell me what you remember.” he demanded with that very same deadpan expression he always wore. But before you get a chance to answer, Agent Six performs a swift sidestep, allowing him to narrowly avoid being blown apart by a high density plasma bolt. Almost immediately afterwards, several more fly in his direction, forcing him back and creating distance between the two of you.

“I’ve got your back, bro!” Wendy declares through your built-in communicator. She must be trying to snipe him from some rooftop nearby.

What will you do?

>”Stand down. I don’t think he’s trying to hurt us.”
>”I knew I could count on you.” Retreat while you still can. Your team should have Olivia by now.
>”Why don’t you use that big ass gun of yours to take out a few of these vigilantes instead?”
>”Weren’t you supposed to be watching K8-E and the kids?”
>Take this chance to check on Steel. You’re curious to see how he’s reacting to Six’s strange weapon.
>Write-in.

Aliens Unlocked:
https://pastebin.com/JVq4NM2t

Skills, Stats and Inventory:
https://pastebin.com/iEYrGZS1

Top 10:
>Big Chill
>Diamondhead
>Zipmunk
>Bloodrush
>XLR8
>Fourcast
>Thriller Whale
>Knuckle Duster
>Hack N’ Slash
>Snapdragon

>>4802862
>>”Stand down. I don’t think he’s trying to hurt us.”
>”Weren’t you supposed to be watching K8-E and the kids?”
>Take this chance to check on Steel. You’re curious to see how he’s reacting to Six’s strange weapon.

>>4804643
>>4802862
This

>>4804643
+1

>>4804643
>>4806513
>>4806622
Writing...

File: Wendy_W.jpg (140 KB, 1152x1200)

140 KB JPG

"Stand down. I don't think he's trying to hurt us." you declare through your comms.

"What!? Why?" Wendy shouts. "He shot you, and you went down. I saw it."

"It looked worse than it actually was. Better yet, I thought you were supposed to be watching K8-E and the kids." you say.

"I'm not a babysitter, Wade. Never have and never will be." she responds in a matter-of-fact tone. "Besides, the girl can more or less take care of herself, and I can do more here than I can sitting on my ass back at your place." Wendy protests. At the very least, she's stopped fire at Agent Six.

Now that you've the time. You might as well check on Steel. You're curious to see how he's reacting to the strange weapon that was just used against you. If it had a similar effect on him, then you might have a theory as to what it is that Providence crafted.

"Ugh…" he groaned. "X…? What are you...oh, my head…" he said, while locking eyes with you for a moment, before clutching his head in pain and shutting his eyes once more.

"I am no longer detecting irregularities in the Lieutenant's brain patterns." Trixy reports, casually approaching you from behind as if she hadn't just been tied up and electrocuted a moment ago.

"So...the hypnosis wore off?" you ask with a glimmer of hope in your eye.

"It would appear so." Trixy nodded with a reassuring smile. For an AI that's never had a face before, she’s expressing herself with general ease. You're not sure how much of it is due to Maxima's base programming, and how much can be chalked up to Trixy's overall intelligence.

"Well, at least Holiday's prototype was good for something." Six grumbles as he flanks you from behind. "I'm guessing that you know about everything that's happening here?"

"'Evil midget brainwashes half the world, as well as the Plumber's military fleet, and now the galaxy is in mortal peril.'" you summarize. "What else is new?" you say with a shrug.

Six nods, confirming the validity of your claims. "That's right. With this prototype, we should be able to stabilize the situation on Earth. But as for the situation in space…" he trails off, craning his neck upwards.

"We're still working on a plan for that…" you respond, sounding deflated. Six seems to share the same feeling.

"We might not have to." Trixy interjects. Her back was straight and her posture grew stiff. There were lines of code and complex algorithms running across her pupils at light speed. "Incoming transmission from 'Phil Wakeman'." she reports. Your ears perk up upon her mentioning your grandfather. "He is onboard the military fleet's flagship, along with Special Agents Xylene and Kilik."

(Cont.)

File: AD_(385).png (612 KB, 1280x720)

612 KB PNG

"Do they need backup?" you ask in an overly concerned manner. Need to tone it down a bit, or else Six might suspect that you share a special bond with "Phil Wakeman".

The corners of Trixy's mouth curl into a small grin. "That won't be necessary. Two Anodites have been reported on-site, and the Raskadarian Fleet is not far behind." she says, giving you a knowing glance.

It's Verdona and Sunny! They finally came back!

"That's it then. We've got this in the-"

"Hold on. Something's happening." Trixy interrupts you as she holds up a hand. "The Plumber's military fleet has been immobilized, but the military fleets of the core worlds have begun firing on the flagship.”

“And now the Plumbers are defenseless…” you gasp. Grandpa’s on that ship!

“Wade! We’ve got big trouble!” Wendy shouts through the speaker.

“You’re telling me.” you sigh.

“Whatever it is, this is way worse!” she says, sounding frantic now. “The B team. They ran into a bit of a roadblock. You know, the kind that should still be locked up in Incarcecon!”

“Wait. You don’t mean…”

“Yeah...it’s D’traxus. He busted out somehow, and now he’s smashing through the city!” she exclaims through labored breaths. "On my way there now."

Why would D’Traxus even be here? Actually, HOW could he be here!?

What’s your next course of action?

>Catch up with the B team in order to intercept D’Traxus.
>Try to get in contact with the Core System’s representatives and convince them to stand down.
>Call Coco and have her fleet disable the Core System’s defense grid instead.
>Get Steel and Six up to speed. If you’re taking this fight, you want both Time-Out and Providence in your corner.
>Have Trixy examine Six’s gun. It’ll definitely be useful in the future.
>Write-in.

Aliens Unlocked:
https://pastebin.com/JVq4NM2t

Skills, Stats and Inventory:
https://pastebin.com/iEYrGZS1

Top 10:
>Big Chill
>Diamondhead
>Zipmunk
>Bloodrush
>XLR8
>Fourcast
>Thriller Whale
>Knuckle Duster
>Hack N’ Slash
>Snapdragon

>>4808100
>>Get Steel and Six up to speed. If you’re taking this fight, you want both Time-Out and Providence in your corner.
>Call Coco and have her fleet disable the Core System’s defense grid instead.

>>4809619
+1

>>4808100
>Get Steel and Six up to speed. If you’re taking this fight, you want both Time-Out and Providence in your corner.
>Call Coco and have her fleet disable the Core System’s defense grid instead.

>>4809619
>>4810063
>>4811424
Writing...

File: TG_(141).png (712 KB, 1920x1080)

712 KB PNG

As much as you want to rush to your cousin’s side, you’ve got more pressing matters at hand. With the Core Systems fighting the Plumbers, and the majority of the vigilante community being brainwashed, you’re gonna need all the help you can get.

“Do what you can, but be careful.” you say to your sister. She doesn’t respond, but you’re certain that she heard you. “And you two...” you say, now looking to Six and Steel, who was being helped off of the ground by Trixy. “We need to talk.”

----------------

The four of you were in desperate need of a safe-haven to discuss the gravity of this situation. Thankfully, there was a Mr. Smoothie nearby.

“Is it really appropriate to discuss sensitive information in such a public environment?” Six asked, suspiciously glancing over his shoulder, only to find a cheerful waitress passing through. Luckily, there was just enough room for all of you to share a table. Although, you were also getting a crazy amount of attention from the other customers. Not all of it was incredibly positive, but you’ll take a nasty glare over being attacked by someone like Wilderbee.

“What? I was hungry.” you mutter through a mouthful of fries. “Besides, Trixy’s on guard duty.” you proclaim while stuffing your face with a greasy burger and pointing a finger to your mechanical companion.

“CCTV footage suggests that there are no overly suspicious individuals present among us.” Trixy reports.

“Then let me get this straight.” Steel began, his hands now clasped and rested on the table. “Dr. Klein managed to infiltrate our security and information network, and brainwashed us into trusting him completely?” he continued, seemingly absorbed in thought.

“That’s right.” Trixy answered for you. “However, I do believe that you were aware of his involvement at some point. Subconsciously, at least.”

Steel now looked completely dumbfounded as he raised his head to look at Trixy. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Upon decrypting the hard drive that Cooper Daniels stole from you, I noticed that the nature of Sublimino’s pocket watch was briefly mentioned. It was vague and cryptic, but enough to warn anyone who could crack it.” Trixy explained. Now, she was looking directly at Steel. “I do not believe that Cooper stole the drive from him. I believe that, one way or another, you let him have it...just like how you let X take him into custody that night. Subconsciously, of course.”

“So, you’re saying that I’ve always been fighting it?” Steel asked.

“In your own way, yes.” Trixy nodded. “Deep down, you trusted X to piece the puzzle together.”

(Cont.)

File: Kevin_af_orig.jpg (38 KB, 962x571)

38 KB JPG

“Hmm. That theory of yours is sound.” Agent Six chimes in. “But that doesn’t explain why this ‘Sublimino’ didn’t try to hypnotize X in the first place. Surely, that would have accelerated his plan if he had intended on taking over the world.”

That certainly is a good question, but since your food had just arrived, you’d have to mull it over a bit before giving Six an answer.

“Wait a minute. What in blazes are you doing?” Steel asked, his eyes wide with shock as he observed Agent Six eating his burger with a knife and fork.

“What?” Six said, not at all bothered by the judgement that you and Steel were casting towards him. “It’s a very clean and efficient way to eat a burger.”

“Yeah, but that’s not the point!” Steel stresses. “It’s just so...so...wrong!” he blurts out, clearly at a loss for words.

While the two of them go at it, you decide to give Coco a call. You need to bring her up to speed too.

After a few rings, she answers the call with a soft pinging sound. “Hello, X. In a few moments, we will be exiting hyperspace and entering the battle.” Coco reports from her throne. “Has something happened?”

“Yeah, there’s a pair of Anodites there trying to de-escalate things, but now the armies of the Core Systems are retaliating. I need you to disable their defense grid. Keep the casualties to a minimum.” you demand.

“Wha-!?” Coco scoffs. “Do you realize how impossible of a task that is? Even with the army I’ve scrounged up, they won’t nearly be enough to take on the full might of the Core Worlds!” she exclaims, slamming her tiny little fist into the console on her armrest.

“I know, but you’ll have the Anodites and a few Special Agents on your side. I’m sure you’ll be able to pull it off.”

“Yes, but-”

“Coco…” you say softly, throwing her off guard. “We need this to work. Even if it’s impossible, we have to try.”

This stops the Raskadarian princess dead in her tracks. She appears conflicted, but not completely adverse to the plan. “For the sake of the galaxy, we will do what we can.” she says with an almost regal aura.

“Thank you.” you sigh, before she signs off abruptly. You can’t blame her for being scared. After all, you’ve given her a very tall order.

“Someone is coming.” Trixy perks up, putting all of you on high alert.

“Bad guy? Good guy?” you ask.

“Presumably, it is a friend.” she says, directing her gaze towards a well built man approaching the table. Wait, is that…?

“Who the hell’s that?” Steel asks, pointing at the man wearing plate armor.

“Hey.” Kevin casually greets you. “We need your help.”

(Cont.)

“We?” you say out loud. But then, you notice two knights waiting behind Kevin, a fair distance away, so as not to invade your privacy.

“Don’t worry about them.” he deflects with a wave of his hand. You’re more worried about that armor that he’s wearing. What’s up with that? “Right now, we’ve got to save your cousin.”

“I know. D’Traxus is on Earth. My team’s on the case.”

“Not anymore.” he shakes his head. “They got jumped by someone else. That bird girl that you pal around with, and some lady with a big, scary scythe.”

“What!?” you shout, jumping out of your seat and startling the other customers in the process. “Why would Birdie do that?”

“Dunno, but we can worry about all that later. Right now, we’ve gotta get to her before they can.”

First it was D’Traxus, and now Birdie and The Omen want a piece, too? Why’s everyone after your cousin?

“We’ll help.” Steel declares as he and Six simultaneously rise from their seats. “Just tell us what you need us to do.” Agent Six agrees with a firm nod.

What will you do?

>Have Time-Out and Providence focus on securing Bellwood from the brainwashed vigilantes.
>Request backup from both organizations as you go to rescue Olivia.
>Call all of the heroes that you know aren’t brainwashed. You could use all the help that you can get.
>Call Iden and have her bring Vilgax back. Having another powerhouse in your pocket could be useful.
>See what you can learn about the Forever Knights that Kevin’s traveling with.
>Write-in.

Aliens Unlocked:
https://pastebin.com/JVq4NM2t

Skills, Stats and Inventory:
https://pastebin.com/iEYrGZS1

Top 10:
>Big Chill
>Diamondhead
>Zipmunk
>Bloodrush
>XLR8
>Fourcast
>Thriller Whale
>Knuckle Duster
>Hack N’ Slash
>Snapdragon

>>4811657
>>Call all of the heroes that you know aren’t brainwashed. You could use all the help that you can get.
>Have Time-Out and Providence focus on securing Bellwood from the brainwashed vigilantes.
>See what you can learn about the Forever Knights that Kevin’s traveling with.

>>4811657
>Have Time-Out and Providence focus on securing Bellwood from the brainwashed vigilantes while we rescue Olivia.

Raising enough death flags that i figure we need to do this ourselves before its too late. Also they have the means to turn the tide and at give us some breathing room by restraining and de-hypnotizing. They'll make for good Leadership for any vigilantes and heroes while we are busy.

>Ask Agent Six to borrow his gun for a while and transform into a Galvan, to replicate it, and possibly improve it.

We need an ace up our sleeve, and this could be it, even if it doesn't fully work, at least it will stun.

We're putting out fires as fast as they're spreading, we need to pick up our pace.

Also as a sidenote:

-Really wish we could work more often with Olivia or Phil. Been ages.
-I'd want to see what our Universe's charm caster has been up to.
-I wish we got to spend more time with our kids, get to know them more. Currently they don't have much distinguishable between them.
-The breakneck pace we're at seems to be affecting writing quality mate, at least in my eyes. Less grammaticaly and more with consistency and mood.
-Not really happy with Trixies body currently, as in, it feels wrong to hijack Billie Billions eye meat/bodyguard. I'd much prefer if we freed the bodies AI, and had Trixie design her own, maybe with help of Iden, Us (as grey matter or such), or Creator of the omnitrix i forgot the name of? Maybe consider a cyborg body (combination of machine and flesh) vat grown by Iden? I dunno, i like Trixie being a character, but her being physical as she currently is, rubs me wrong for some reason.
-After this arc is done, I'd love a much slower pace for a while where we can settle down, do slice of life and catch up on some characters from the absolutely huge roster there is.
-FYI, my favourite arc, was the Wendy one, i liked the pacing there most.

File: Ester-ben-10-omniverse-37(...).jpg (100 KB, 897x891)

100 KB JPG

>>4811877
I really appreciate your feedback. I truly do. So, I figured that I'd address some things, or possibly reassure you of the plans that I had.

>-Really wish we could work more often with Olivia or Phil. Been ages.

Next season, I plan to have Wade's family be much more involved in the story. Him living with them again is going to be a welcome change. I've also been woefully neglecting Kevin. That is going to change very soon.

>--I'd want to see what our Universe's charm caster has been up to.

Hex and Wade's Charmcaster will play an active role in the story, since Charmcaster will more or less be joining Wade's team.

>--I wish we got to spend more time with our kids, get to know them more. Currently they don't have much distinguishable between them.

There's going to be time for that later. Don't worry. I might've gotten too caught up in the conflicts this season. The kid's relationship with Wade is going be a plot point, or a major concern of his.

>-The breakneck pace we're at seems to be affecting writing quality mate, at least in my eyes. Less grammaticaly and more with consistency and mood.

That's a fair argument. Pacing has been something that I've been struggling with for a while, but there's a reason for it. I really wanted to overwhelm Wade.

There's a period in most people's lives when they get incredibly busy with work, school or both, and they feel as if their social life dies. They suddenly have less time for their friends, family, and even themselves. As such, being a full-time hero has taken over Wade's life. It's become his life, due to it's incredibly demanding nature.

Wade feels personally responsible for the big bad's that have been popping up, and paranoia is starting to set in, due to the lack of information he's been receiving from Paradox about the fate of his timeline.

There's more or less going to be a moral to this season that I'll try to cement. But I'll try to pump the breaks a bit here.

I constantly worry whether some moments loose weight or impact due to the greatly accelerated pacing, but it definitely won't be this way forever.

>-Not really happy with Trixies body currently, as in, it feels wrong to hijack Billie Billions eye meat/bodyguard. I'd much prefer if we freed the bodies AI, and had Trixie design her own, maybe with help of Iden, Us (as grey matter or such), or Creator of the omnitrix i forgot the name of? Maybe consider a cyborg body (combination of machine and flesh) vat grown by Iden? I dunno, i like Trixie being a character, but her being physical as she currently is, rubs me wrong for some reason.

It was a very sudden development. Her new body is in no way permanent, and you will have many opportunities to trade up or build another one for her. As for her being a physical character, I'll have to keep that in mind for the future. I have plans for the development of her personality, and how that might affect the behavior of the Omnitrix.

(Cont.)

File: 68747470733a2f2f73332e616(...).png (325 KB, 720x590)

325 KB PNG

>-After this arc is done, I'd love a much slower pace for a while where we can settle down, do slice of life and catch up on some characters from the absolutely huge roster there is.

I'd love nothing more. That is my exact intention. I truly do miss the days of Wade traveling with his family on the open road and experiencing new things. It felt refreshing. Next season, Wade will be experiencing something akin to the college experience. It'd be the freedom that he's craved for a long time. He'll have time for friends, family and the means to keep them close for the sake of convenience. Morninstar's mansion was setup for that.

There will be many changes, in-universe, that will change the tone of the story. Can't exactly spoil it yet, but I'm excited to see what everyone thinks of it.

>-FYI, my favourite arc, was the Wendy one, i liked the pacing there most.

I'm glad to hear that. Wade and Wendy getting a bit of closure was crucial to their relationship. And them living together will present some new challenges and surprises that they've never had to deal with. Wendy's nature as a loner will come in to play as well. I'm very excited about it. And personally, I do regret making that season as short as it was. I was worried that people would grow tired of the pacing, since work had killed the consistency of my updates since then. I try to keep things as consistent as possible, but I can only do so much atm.

Nevertheless, I really appreciate the critique. I'll try to do better in the days to come. Might've gotten too caught up in the point that I was trying to make, or the breakneck pace. Could just be me getting overly excited to whip out new plot points.

Feel free to let me know if something else is bugging you. I don't want to ruin what I've built up here. After being a QM for this long, I've become very invested in the characters in this story. Even I miss writing some of the older, more beloved characters.

I hope these answers put you at ease, or at least gave you something to look forward to. After this arc, I'll try to bring some sense of order back to Wade's life.

>>4812048
I really appreciate you taking the time to answer my thoughts, really do. Yeah, i also feel early on the campy roadtrip feel was one of many high points, and the feeling of being overwhelmed makes sense story wise, but i cant wait till its over, guess. Take it as a compliment, you made me invested in Wade enough that I'm being empathic to how dire the situation is and how tired he is due to it.

>>4811672
>>4811872
Alright y'all, we haven't gotten any new votes in quite some time now. Would you guys like to combine, or should we wait a while longer?

>>4822012
Been 5 days, we wont get more votes by waiting. I say combine so we can move on.

>>4822525
Gotcha. Writing...

File: OmniverseGreyMatter.png (100 KB, 244x430)

100 KB PNG

“Trixy, send out a call to all of the heroes that we know we can trust.” you say internally. “It’s time we call in a few favors.”

Trixy nods to you with a face full of determination, as she juggles the tasks of simultaneously contacting the few that you’ve allowed into your circle of trust.

“Steel, Six. I need you guys to secure the city. Try to detain any brainwashed vigilantes that you know of, and any that you come across. I know a few heroes who’d be willing to help you out.” you bark, now reinvigorated by these new developments. This entire time, you’ve been doing nothing but reacting. Waiting for danger and putting your guard up in the hopes that it wouldn’t roll you over completely. At any given point, any one of these threats could’ve led to the complete and absolute collapse of everything that you’ve built up until this point. And honestly, paranoia has been the only thing motivating you for some time now. But all of that changes today.

“Oh, and can I see that weird gun of yours?” you ask Agent Six, pointing at the thing that he used on you and Steel.

Six removes the weapon from his hip, but takes a moment to hold it in both hands, clearly hesitant to hand over such a delicate device. “What will you do with it?” he asks.

“I just need to make some minor modifications.” you admit. But it doesn’t do anything to abate his skepticism. He raises an eyebrow. “Oh, come on. I know what I’m doing here.” you insist, gesturing for him to hand it over.

After mulling it over a bit, Six finally offers you the weapon. You gratefully accept it, only to place it down onto the table immediately afterwards. Clearly confused by your actions, Six watches as you slide open the Omnitrix’s faceplate, select Grey Matter and slap your hand down onto the belt’s core. In a brilliant burst of light, your body undergoes a series of drastic changes.

Everyone around you instinctively shields their eyes from the flash. And once they open them again, they come to see that you’ve transformed into a miniaturized frog-like alien species, otherwise known as the Galvan.

Despite your diminutive stature, you crouch down low and leap onto the table in a single bound, landing right next to the gun that you set down.

“Let’s see here…” you mutter to yourself, along with a series of phrases that could barely pass for legitimate tech jargon, even amongst amatuer writers for cheesy sci-fi books. Eventually, you feel that you know enough about the weapon to start removing parts. This clearly bothers Six, but you’re far too absorbed in your current project to pay his feelings any attention.

Wow...is this what it feels like to become Azmuth?

“You getting this, Trix?” you ask your cybernetic companion in a nasally voice.

(Cont.)

File: e01fa9df62da1b1c747a9ea62(...).jpg (61 KB, 675x1080)

61 KB JPG

“Of course. I document everything that you see and think.” she responds, her pupils now sideways, rectangular slits, similar to that of a Galvan’s. Now that’s a useful feature. Creepy, but useful.

This way, you’ll be able to remember everything that you’ve done as Grey Matter. The specs of Six’s experimental weapon should now be logged in Trixy’s memory, as well as the theoretical improvements that you’ve been cooking up this whole time.

“Hmm. This is surprisingly basic.” you casually remark, earning you a sharp glare from Agent Six. You didn’t mean it as a slight directed towards Doc Holiday, but you’re surprised to see that he’d bother to feel angry on her behalf. If you knew him better, you might be inclined to tease him about it a bit. “Okay, I think I’ve got everything that I need.” you conclude, as you pop everything back into place, hop from the table and undo your transformation. The resulting flash of golden light is no less bright than the burst of color that preceded your transformation.

“X, your contacts have agreed to assist you. Birdie, of course, declined to answer.” Trixy reports. You weren’t expecting much on that front, but you would’ve liked to get some context on the situation, or at least a general idea of her motivations. Especially if The Omen’s involved. You never would’ve beaten her if you hadn’t been able to trick her by transforming into Dropkick.

“So what are we waiting for? Let’s move out!” Steel declares, waving for Agent Six to follow him as he storms off. Instead, he turns back to face you again.

“You know my number. Patch us through to the other vigilantes whenever you can get them all on a stable and secure channel.” he informs you. “Good luck out there.”

And with that, he races after Steel, leaving you alone with Kevin, Trixy and the two knights standing behind him.

“Someone’s been making friends.” Kevin says with a smirk.

“Eh. They’re more like acquaintances or co-workers at this point.” you shrug, half teasing as you get caught up in Kevin’s pace.

“Will we be leaving soon?” asks the male knight. You’d barely noticed that he’d been inching closer to you. His armor seemed relatively light, as he was outfitted in both leather and cloth, forming a stylish, form-fitting tunic that covered a good portion of his scarred, copper armor. The female knight, however, has kept her distance the entire time.

Oh right. These guys…

“Speaking of new friends...who are these guys supposed to be?” you ask Kevin.

Kevin gives them a disinterested glance over his shoulder, before returning his gaze to you. “They’re kinda like...bodyguards, I guess.” he shrugs.

“You’re paying for bodyguards?” you ask in disbelief. “What have you gotten yourself into this time?”

(Cont.)

File: 4f6a25f11dc418dd01d1746fd(...).jpg (105 KB, 1030x1600)

105 KB JPG

The female knight steps forward this time, stomping towards you with tense shoulders. “We have no need for paultry coins. We’re simply doing our duty in defending a member of the House of Levin.” she declares while pressing a shining, silver finger into your chest. This one had an oversized, flowing blue cape dangling from her shoulders, laced with white fur and dragging along the ground. The ends were ragged and frayed, similar to torn scraps of cloth. It was a miracle that she hadn’t tripped on her way over.

“House of Levin”? What the-

Kevin sighs, somehow sensing your confusion. “They think that I’m royalty, or something. Some noble bloodline that ties back to a sect of Forever Knights.” he recaps, waving his hand around as if it were a casual misunderstanding that any normal person could suffer. “So now they feel obligated to follow me around and attack anyone that gets close to me.”

“How strange.” Trixy says. “Nothing in my database suggests that you would be of noble birth. I had always assumed that you were a slightly above average mutant.”

Kevin gives her a grimace and tries to stifle his agitated expression, but he fails to do so entirely. “Anyway…” he continues with a roll of his eyes. “I’m kinda stuck with them now.”

“Do they try to chew your food for you too?” you ask teasingly.

“We offered.” the male knight admits.

“On multiple occasions.” the female knight chimes in.

“But the young master would always reject our advances vehemently.” the male knight continued with a shake of his head. Much to Kevin’s chagrin, this brings a small smile to your face. And whether it was intentional or not, Trixy seemed to mimic your expression. Whether she sensed your delight through your shared telepathic link and chose to mimic your behavior, or if she simply thought it was funny, you can’t be certain.

“All right, all right!” Kevin groaned. “Can we get going already?” he asked.

Right. Time to get serious here. From now on, you’re going on the offensive.

-------------------

While Kevin and his knights chose to ride in his tricked out car, you and Trixy were racing through the streets on your fusion powered motorcycle. Every once in a while, some 2-bit vigilante would try to attack you from one of your blind spots, but Trixy managed to quickly dispatch them with a quick burst of her heat vision. That feature was proving to be quite useful already.

(Cont.)

“Wade, I do believe that it would be possible for me to integrate the method through which Agent Six disrupted Sublimino’s influence.” Trixy whispered directly into your brain. “My optical enhancements should allow me to replicate the result. That being said, I would like to suggest the possibility of allowing me to broadcast its effect on multiple media platforms.” she says, resting her chin on one of your shoulder blades. “It would certainly help in limiting Sublimino’s control over the general populace.”

What do you think of her plan?

>”Good idea. Take the bike, it’ll be faster.” Let her have the bike and hop onto your hoverboard.
>”No, I need you here with me. If D’Traxus is being manipulated, then I’ll need all the help I can get.”
>”If you need a platform, I happen to know a nosy reporter that would love to get a personal interview from you.” Hand her Darcy Drew’s contact info.
>”Let’s save that trump card for later. I want to surprise Sublimino when we finally meet, face to face.”
>"See if you can set up another social media account. I bet you'd be able to reach a bunch of people that way."
>"Try to reach out to the users on our fan-site. I'm sure they'd be happy to help in any way they can."
>Write-in.

Aliens Unlocked:
https://pastebin.com/JVq4NM2t

Skills, Stats and Inventory:
https://pastebin.com/iEYrGZS1

Top 10:
>Big Chill
>Diamondhead
>Zipmunk
>Bloodrush
>XLR8
>Fourcast
>Thriller Whale
>Knuckle Duster
>Hack N’ Slash
>Snapdragon

>>4823512
>>"See if you can set up another social media account. I bet you'd be able to reach a bunch of people that way."
>"Try to reach out to the users on our fan-site. I'm sure they'd be happy to help in any way they can."

>>4823512
>”Let’s save that trump card for later. I want to surprise Sublimino when we finally meet, face to face.”

Save it for dealing with the plumber fleet or birdy. I figure Sublimino is at least smart enough to figure out his hypnosis was globally being stopped, and try to modify it somehow. We don't have the time for a technological arms race.

>>4823512
>"See if you can set up another social media account. I bet you'd be able to reach a bunch of people that way."

>>4823518
>>4823555
Writing...

File: Olivia.jpg (667 KB, 3000x4600)

667 KB JPG

"See if you can set up another social media account. I bet you'd be able to reach a bunch of people that way." you suggest.

"What should I use for our username?" she asks.

"Dunno. Whatever you want, I guess. It's your account."

Trixy froze for a moment, pondering the exact intent of your words. "I do not understand. Wasn't this supposed to be our shared account?"

"Nah, this one's all yours. After this is over, I'm gonna be taking a break from social media." you declare. "Besides, you used it way more than I did. It only seems fair to give you your own account.”

You weren’t able to see her face, but you could sense an assortment of tender feelings welling up from within her. Joy, excitement, anxiety. Whatever came of this, you were sure that it would be a good experience for her.

“Oh, and check in with our fan-site. I’m sure they’d want to help in any way they can.” you add.

“I will notify them immediately.”

Good, now all that’s left to do is-

“Wade, I am being thoroughly insulted in this forum. The specific words that they used were ‘bot’, ‘troll’ and ‘shill’. What should my next course of action be?”

“Uhh…”

“Oh, my thread was just removed by an unfriendly custodian. It must have been some sort of mistake. No worries, for I shall simply make another.”

Good luck, Trix. This might just be your first time being exposed to counter-culture.

-----------------

Finding Olivia was easier than expected. All you had to do was follow the trail of carnage, presumably left by D’Traxus in his rage. The next set of clues were the wayward arrows that you had found lodged in nearby cars and street signs. So that pretty much confirms that Birdie’s made contact too. Awesome.

“There!” Trixy shouted in your ear, directing you towards the frightening spectacle of your cousin fighting off one of your deadliest foes, and one of your dearest friends. She and Gwen were engaged in mortal combat with D’Traxus and Birdie.

An enlarged, feral Gwen focused on wrestling the mad warlord to the ground, but quickly found herself being flung through a building by a kick from D’Traxus’ colossal foot. Olivia, on the other hand, was busy trading projectiles with the avian archer. Both of them being well-trained, or naturally-gifted acrobats, were flipping and tumbling through the battlefield, trading blows and taking pot-shots at one another ever so often.

(Cont.)

File: D'Traxus.jpg (259 KB, 790x1200)

259 KB JPG

Olivia momentarily gains the upper hand by erecting an ice wall, just in time to block a hail of arrows. Then, she uses a razor thin mana construct to separate the barrier from the ground, only to extend the construct and use it as a sliding platform from which she can push the ice barricade. The ice wall slides towards Birdie with great speed, but due to her incredible reflexes, she’s able to vault clear over the barricade with little to no difficulty. However, D’Traxus isn’t as lucky.

With an audible crack, the ice barrier slams into his back, knocking him down to the ground and momentarily pinning him there.

By the time he’s able to pick himself back up, you and Trixy have already arrived at the scene. Kevin and his knights should be here soon. Due to his car being less maneuverable than your bike, he’s being held up by the heavy traffic and wreckage blocking the road. But you just know that he’ll be salty about your bike beating his car in a race. It’s all he thinks about.

As soon as D’Traxus spots you, his face twists into a crooked, toothy grin. “Ah, you’ve finally arrived.” he says, in his usual verbose tone. Every word, every syllable reverberates through your bones, even through your armor. It’s honestly chilling. “I’ve been waiting a long time for this.”

He cracks his knuckles loudly, and begins his approach, his entire being practically oozing malice and ill intent.

What will you do?

>Transform into an alien. (Which one?)
>Use one of your Viral Forms. (Which one?)
>Toss your sword down before you transform. You want to use it later.
>”Didn’t we settle this about two years ago? Don’t be such a sore loser.”
>”She’s got nothing to do with this. This is between you and me.”
>”Looks like someone won’t be getting an appeal anytime soon.”
>”I don’t know if you’re being mind-controlled, D’Traxus. Either way, I won’t be going easy on you.”
>Write-in.

Aliens Unlocked:
https://pastebin.com/JVq4NM2t

Skills, Stats and Inventory:
https://pastebin.com/iEYrGZS1

Top 10:
>Big Chill
>Diamondhead
>Zipmunk
>Bloodrush
>XLR8
>Fourcast
>Thriller Whale
>Knuckle Duster
>Hack N’ Slash
>Snapdragon

>>4823943
>"My, still looking for seconds after the last beating? You're persistent, if nothing else."
>Toss your sword down before you transform. You want to use it later.
>Diamondhead

Lets try adding Crystals to our sword to extend its reach at will, and maybe combine it with wood stance, to cut any amor D'Traxus may have, and quickly grow crystals to restrain parts of his body?

>>4823943
>>”She’s got nothing to do with this. This is between you and me.”
>>”Looks like someone won’t be getting an appeal anytime soon.”
>>”I don’t know if you’re being mind-controlled, D’Traxus. Either way, I won’t be going easy on you.”
>Transform into Humomgosaur

>>4824696
+1

>>4824696
>>4826418
Writing...

File: Birdie.png (2.19 MB, 2100x5000)

2.19 MB PNG

“She’s got nothing to do with this. This is between you and me.” you proclaim, giving Trixy a signal to circle around and engage Birdie. Or, you could’ve just thought about it, like you did just now.

Trixy nods and does exactly as you asked.

“Oh, but I disagree. Your little friend is crucial to my plans.” he says with a playful grin. “After all, without her, I would never be able contact the Great Old One.”

What the hell is he on about? You’ve had enough of this cryptic, foreboding nonsense.

“Looks like someone won’t be getting an appeal any time soon.” you retort. If he won’t tell you what he’s up to, you might as well deal some mental damage before the fight.

With each and every step he takes, you feel the ground trembling beneath you. “Hm. You must have me confused with someone else.” he says with a grim chuckle, making confident strides towards you all the while.

Alright, this isn’t getting you anywhere. You had no idea that D’Traxus was so bad at pre-battle banter. Without any wasted movements, you slide your Omnitrix’s faceplate open and crank the dial to the right, until you see Humungousaur’s icon.

“It’s time to fight fire with fire!” you shout, before slamming your hand down onto the Omnitrix’s core. And in a burst of violet light, your body undergoes a series of drastic changes. In an instant, you’ve transformed into Humungousar!

Upon seeing that you’ve managed to mimic his form perfectly, D’Traxus stops dead in his tracks. He spends a moment to analyze your alien transformation, and you honestly expected him to be shocked or horrified by this development. This was your declaration of war, that this was not going to be an easily won battle by any means. But instead, he was smiling. An approving smirk spread across his lips, his eyes roaming across your bulging muscles with admiration.

“Well, this is a welcome development.” he says with a shrill whistle. “Aren’t you just the full package.”

“Ugh, you’re making this weird. Can we not make this weird?” you plead with slumped shoulders, your voice now sounding nearly identical to his. For some reason, D’Traxus’ voice was at a slightly higher pitch than usual. If anything, you only noticed once you’d transformed into his species. “I don’t know if you’re being mind-controlled, D’Traxus, but I won’t be going easy on you.” you declare, cracking your knuckles in the same way that he had done before.

For some reason, this makes the big guy laugh. It was an awful, hoarse, bone-rattling laugh that seeped into your very core. “I am not ‘D’Traxus’ as you know him. You are about to bear witness to the final stage of my master plan.” he gloats, uncharacteristically. “For I...am Sublimino!”

Wait...what?

Suddenly, leaps towards you with his fists clenched, poised to strike!

(Cont.)

What will you do?

>Grab D’Traxus, fly him into the air and slam him into a nearby building.
>Meet his charge with a full-body tackle and pin him to the ground.
>Spit fire into his face and rush him with a flurry of devastating blows while he’s disoriented.
>Use your knowledge of D’Traxus’ unique biology to efficiently disable him.
>Grab a nearby car and swing it at him with all your might!
>Write-in.

Aliens Unlocked:
https://pastebin.com/JVq4NM2t

Skills, Stats and Inventory:
https://pastebin.com/iEYrGZS1

Top 10:
>Big Chill
>Diamondhead
>Zipmunk
>Bloodrush
>XLR8
>Fourcast
>Thriller Whale
>Knuckle Duster
>Hack N’ Slash
>Snapdragon

>>4826614
>>Meet his charge with a full-body tackle and pin him to the ground.
>Use your knowledge of D’Traxus’ unique biology to efficiently disable him.

>>4826983
Seconding

>>4826983
>>4827132
Roll 1d100, bo3!

Rolled 23 (1d100)

>>4827189

Rolled 76 (1d100)

>>4827189

Rolled 33 (1d100)

>>4827189

>>4827203
>>4827617
>>4827960
Taking these. Writing...

File: 03bb7de02a052656eaf0b2029(...).jpg (55 KB, 360x348)

55 KB JPG

>76

Instinctively, you lower your center of gravity and throw yourself at his stomach. Given his lack of contact with the ground at the moment, you manage to throw him off balance, sending him hurtling backwards, slamming him onto the pavement with a loud crack and a deep, rumbling sensation. The mad warlord writhes and thrashes about wildly in a panic, giving you ample time to scramble on top of him. Within mere moments, you’re already raining down a hail of devastating blows upon his helpless form.

The first punch goes straight for his ear. Should have his head ringing, leaving him disoriented just long enough for you to keep him pinned. And speaking of being pinned, the knee that you’ve got pressed against his diaphragm should prevent him from using his wings.

“Okay, ‘Sublimino’...” you say in a skeptic tone. “How about a lesson in alien biology?”

Next, you place your hand over his throat and maintain a firm grip. By applying pressure with your thumb and ring finger, D’Traxus’ gills will be forcefully held shut, providing a great deal of discomfort. It might even limit the supply of oxygen going to his brain. You’re not entirely sure of how these things work yet.

Hell, you didn’t even know that the big lug had gills until recently. Maybe Gwen didn’t need to risk her neck to save him back on that beach, after all.

Now, you should shut down his fire breathing capabilities. If you remember right, those gas sacks should be somewhere around....here!

You deliver a swift punch to his side, a gap in his ribs and thinly veiled with muscle and dermal armor. You would’ve been able to get in a better hit if he hadn’t tensed up at the last minute, but from the way that he’s gasping, you can tell that your well-placed strike did its job. Right about now, he should be choking on the very same gasses that he uses to breathe fire.

“I don’t know how you’re controlling him, but you don’t have any idea of what makes this alien tick.” You deliver a brutal haymaker to the side of his face. The resulting sound from the impact almost resembled a sonic boom as it echoed throughout the city’s streets. “But I do.” You give him another, with the opposite arm this time. “Ever since I beat him, I’ve been studying him. Hell, I’ve ‘become’ him!” Your next punch pushes the back of his head through the earth with a resounding crunch. “You’re outmatched. So why don’t you make both of our lives easier and give u-”

Your speech is abruptly cut short by a stray swing from D’Traxus. Normally, you’d be able to shrug it off, but the lucky bastard managed to clip your chin, causing you to stagger backwards, freeing him from your unusually complex hold.

You won’t get another chance at pulling that off again.

“I don’t have to beat you…” D’Traxus says through ragged breaths. “I’m just here to evaluate you.”

(Cont.)

File: Esoterica.png (504 KB, 1024x576)

504 KB PNG

“Evaluate me for what?”

“You’re fast, strong, intelligent. Everything that the average man strives towards. The perfect body for the ‘original’ Sublimino.”

And then, it finally clicks. You haven’t been fighting D’Traxus, or Sublimino. You’ve been fighting a D’Traxus that “believes” he’s Sublimino. It’s the ultimate form of hypnosis. He’s imprinted his memories, personality, mannerisms, everything, onto your greatest foe. And he wants to do the same thing to you…

“Coming through!” shouted a familiar purple, fuzzy blur as she tackled D’Traxus. It’s Gwen! The freaky, magical cat one. Not the kid with the Omnitrix.

At the very least, she should keep D’Traxus busy while you help Olivia-

“Wade.” Trixy says through your telepathic link. “I’m picking up multiple heat signatures in the immediate area.” she confirms, without taking her eyes off of Birdie as the two of them maintain their heated exchange of blows.

UGH! What now...?

Just then, you spot a strange, masked figure in the corner of your eye. His arrival was as striking as his appearance. It was almost as if he had just blinked into existence right then and there. Then, you spot another, and another, and countless more! You’re surrounded!

“What are these guys?” you say to yourself. D’Traxus appears to be thinking the same thing.

At that very moment, your attention is suddenly drawn to a blue and black car screeching to a halt. And out of it, comes Kevin and his knights.

“Esoterica!” shouts the female knight as she draws her sword.

What will you do?

>Leave the masked guys and D’Traxus to your friends so that you can help Olivia.
>Tag team D’Traxus with Gwen. You won’t be able to rest until he’s knocked out cold.
>Assist Kevin and his knights in taking out these weird, masked creatures.
>Attempt to reason with Birdie. You know for certain that she’d never try to hurt one of your friends.
>Transform into Retrofit and use Six’s gun on D’Traxus. You might be able to snap him out of...whatever this is.
>Write-in.

Aliens Unlocked:
https://pastebin.com/JVq4NM2t

Skills, Stats and Inventory:
https://pastebin.com/iEYrGZS1

Top 10:
>Big Chill
>Diamondhead
>Zipmunk
>Bloodrush
>XLR8
>Fourcast
>Thriller Whale
>Knuckle Duster
>Hack N’ Slash
>Snapdragon

>>4828353
>>Tag team D’Traxus with Gwen. You won’t be able to rest until he’s knocked out cold.

>>4828353
Gonna add on to >>4829694
Since it's me
>Transform into Retrofit and use Six’s gun on D’Traxus. You might be able to snap him out of...whatever this is.

>>4829695
secundus

>>4829694
>>4829695
>>4829827
Writing...

File: D'Traxus(1).png (3.77 MB, 2514x2700)

3.77 MB PNG

You don’t care who or what they are, they aren’t more dangerous than D’Traxus. And since Gwen interrupted your little dance, you think you’ll get back to pounding on him.

Ignoring the masked figures who were now engaging with Kevin and his knights, you leapt into the air, aiming for your alien counterpart, who had been tossing Gwen off of him with a frustrated huff. You heard a shrill screech befitting that of a house cat who’d just had her tail stepped on. By the time D’Traxus noticed the growing shadow that had temporarily blotted out the sun, it was far too late for him to react.

You slam your fists down upon his chest, driving him deep into the ground and creating a massive crater, followed by an eruption of dust and debris shooting upwards, and then flowing out in all directions. “Mind if I cut in?” you quip, you say as you stand imposingly over your enemy, fighting off the white hot jolt of pain shooting up your leg. You didn’t sustain much damage in that last exchange, so it couldn’t have been an injury. Muscle aches maybe? You have been going pretty hard these past few days. Has your overexertion started to catch up with you?

Not wanting to waste the opportunity, D’Traxus delivered a brutal kick to your leg, causing you to hunch over in pain. It just HAD to be your bad leg, too!

His follow-up punch struck you deep in the pit of your stomach, forcing out a raspy groan from your throat. Now you had a throbbing pain in the back of your head. It feels like you’re falling apart, here.

No...not yet. Not until Ollie’s out of danger. Just a little further, Wade!

He throws another punch, now aimed at your jaw, but you manage to catch it in time. Holding him in place just long enough for Gwen to claw the scales off his back with her sharp claws. D’Traxus lets out an even sharper gasp, followed by a trickle of blood trailing down his back and onto the pavement. He would doubtless regenerate the wound momentarily.

As he recoiled from the pain and shock, you took the chance to deliver a thunderous uppercut, sending him flying into the air. But right when you thought him outside of Gwen’s range, she herself sprung into the air. With her powerful hind legs, the spoiled house cat caught up with the giant and brought down a massive paw, sending him hurtling towards the ground once more!

In preparation, you wound your arm back, fist clenched and poised to strike. And as soon as he was within range again, you drove your fist directly into the side of D’Traxus’ face. You remembered Grandpa’s lessons this time. You twisted at the waist, slightly bent your knees, shoving your entire weight into the punch and creating a shockwave from the impact that shattered nearby windows!

The brainwashed warlord flew in the opposite direction, smashing through a wall, along with many others inside the structure, until a massive wave of dust exploded from the hole he’d created. He must’ve smashed through just about everything in that room.

(Cont.)

File: Retrofit.png (15 KB, 317x564)

15 KB PNG

Gwen landed right next to you, making little to no sound, despite her gargantuan size. “Please tell me that there aren’t any more of those guys in this galaxy…” she whined, a pained expression on her face.

“Lucky for both of us, he’s the only one.” you say, breathing a sigh of relief.

Curious about his current state, you enter the office building, racing through the trail of destruction in search of your victim. But when you find him lying in a pile of concrete and drywall, you find that you’re no longer upset. D’Traxus might be a bad guy, but this time, he didn’t have much say in the matter. No one deserves to have this happen to them.

Taking in a deep breath, you close your eyes and imagine the only alien that might be able to solve this dilemma. And in a burst of violet light, your form changes to that of a Modrotian.

“Retrofit!” you shout, declaring your transformation a success. Now, let’s see how well this device really works. “Agent Six’s Flash Cannon.” you announce. Just then, a large, boxy contraption resembling a spotlight pops out of your back, along with two controls that you’re holding in both hands. You had to make a few last minute modifications, but this should do the trick.

“Wakey wakey.” you say in a dull, monotonous tone. And on command, D’Traxus’ eyes flicker open, still in a dazed state from being tossed around by you and Gwen. “That’s it…” you say, activating the device with the press of a button and the turn of a dial. A bright, flickering white light shot out from the mouth of the cannon, enveloping D’Traxus’ whole body, along with half of the room.

He groaned and writhed uncomfortably, his mouth opening and closing, but nothing intelligible came out of it. After a while, he clutched his head in pain and curled up into a ball. You should stop here. Any more might deal permanent damage to his psyche.

You shut off the device and cancel the transformation as soon as the opportunity presents itself. But as soon as you do, all of the muscle pain that you felt from before was amplified tenfold. Your EVERYTHING hurts. Collapsing right here and now sounds like an appealing option right about now.

However, that option immediately goes out the window the moment you see D’Traxus rise to his full height. With squinted eyes, he examined the room, taking in all of its carnage, before fixing his gaze on you and letting out a loud snort. His lazy squint was now a full on sneer. Oh yeah...he's pissed.

And the Omnitrix just HAD to be on cooldown right now.

(Cont.)

What will you do?

>”D’Traxus. Buddy. Pal. I’m tired, and extremely irritable right now. Please don’t push me on this.”
>”...You okay?”
>”Any chance of me convincing you that this is all just a bad dream and that you should go back to sleep?
>”Now, I know what you’re thinking. You could either hit me again, or we could get revenge on the guy that scrambled your brainpan.”
>”Hey D. Did you ever get those chocolates I sent you in prison?”
>Write-in.

>>4830446
>”...You okay?”
>”Now, I know what you’re thinking. You could either hit me again, or we could get revenge on the guy that scrambled your brainpan.”
>”Hey D. Did you ever get those chocolates I sent you in prison?”

>>4830446
>”...You okay?”
>”Now, I know what you’re thinking. You could either hit me again, or we could get revenge on the guy that scrambled your brainpan.”
>”Hey D. Did you ever get those chocolates I sent you in prison?”

>>4830476
>>4832494
Writing...

File: 03f1b8951b84044ca3e01ab72(...).jpg (53 KB, 564x797)

53 KB JPG

For a long moment, the two of you are completely silent, sizing each other up and evaluating the situation for what it is.

“...You okay?” you hesitantly ask, making the first move. This seems to catch the warlord off guard, as his expression softens ever so slightly.

“Mm. I’ll manage.” he grumbles, still rubbing the back of his neck. If anything, the fact that he’s even standing right now is a testament to his strength, both physical and mental. “Don’t think me so fragile as to treat me gingerly. I am far sturdier than you humans.” he said, now stomping towards you with heavy footfalls.

And just when you thought you were having a decent conversation for once…

You shake your head at him. “Now, I know what you’re thinking.” you begin, avoiding your natural instinct to create distance between yourself and this towering giant. “You could either hit me again, or we could get revenge on the guy that’s responsible for scrambling your brainpan.” you propose.

Upon hearing this, D’Traxus stops dead in his tracks, just short of bulldozing you. “You’re suggesting a truce.” he says, not framing it as a question, but an observation. “You would trust your back to me?” he asks, seemingly amused by your proposal. He almost chuckled for a second there.

“Well…” you trail off, trying to find the right words. “I won’t hit you again. So long as you agree to do the same. And we can go from there.”

Getting a guy as prideful as D’Traxus to agree to a truce is next to impossible. So, you’ll have to do the next best thing: Trick him into fighting alongside you. As long as he thinks that he’s the dominant one in the relationship, then he might be so inclined to flatten a few bad guys instead of you.

The silence was thick and palpable between you two. Either it was that, or all the drywall and concrete that was hindering your breathing rhythm. Your oxygen filters must be working double overtime.

Finally, D’Traxus turned his nose up and scoffed, before brushing you aside to resume his stride. “Try not to get in my way.” he grumbles, his hands clenched so tightly that you can practically hear his fingers digging into his palms.

“Right then…” you sigh. You’ve got a feeling that you’re gonna regret this. Nevertheless, you race to catch up with him. “Hey, D.” you say with a sense of overfamiliarity, causing the warlord to groan as his scowl deepened. “Did you ever get those chocolates I sent you in prison?”

“Yes...” he answered simply. “They were dreadful.”

“Oh…” you say, sounding deflated.

Picking up on this, D’Traxus follows up on his previous statement. “Everything tastes dreadful to me, boy. It would seem that my taste buds were left woefully underdeveloped by my creator.” he says, now sporting a wistful expression as he stared off into the distance.

File: 9ef4f71fbfac65681840a3eea(...).jpg (37 KB, 564x604)

37 KB JPG

“Oh, man. I’m so sorry…” you say with a genuinely pitying look. “I can’t imagine living your whole life without being able to enjoy your food.”

“Don’t be.” D’Traxus dryly replied, facing forward once more. “Given that I was not meant to ‘enjoy’ anything more extravagant than field rations, the decision was most likely for my own good. The ‘good doctor’ wanted a soldier, and she got one.” His eyes grew narrow and his expression grew grim. This must have been a topic that he preferred not to dwell on.

“Well...thanks for eating it anyway.” you say with a warm inflection in your voice. D’Traxus picks up on it, glances over at you and lets out a thoughtful humming noise as he returned his gaze to the gaping hole in the wall.

Upon returning to the city streets, you’re met by the grizzly sight of your friends being overwhelmed by these Esoterica guys. It wasn’t that they were terribly strong on an individual level. You mean, sure, they were decently strong, very athletic, and they seemed to possess a strange sort of magic. But it was the sheer number of them that just tipped the scales a little too far. Even Birdie and Olivia were forced to disengage from one another and focus on fending off the masked men.

And while you were glad that they were both safe, you were now forced to worry about your own wellbeing for once. The Esoterica had you surrounded. Not with superior tactics or flanking strategies, but with that unusual magic that you witnessed them using when they had first arrived.

These creatures could somehow step outside of your known dimension, disappearing from any and all scans, almost like ghosts, only to reappear in a different place altogether. You didn’t even know where they were all coming from, or why they were here for that matter.

“How irritating…” D’Traxus growled as he assumed a fighting stance.

You draw your sword around the same time. “You can say that again.”

“I will not repeat myself, Earthling. And you would do well to avoid demanding things from me in the future.” he barked back.

Ugh…

What will you do?

>Assume the Water Stance and let the Esoterica rush to their demise.
>Assume the Fire Stance and leap directly into the middle of the enemy.
>Create an automated drone from your suit and send it in as air support.
>Switch to your Flame Aura and unleash hell on these goons!
>Try to mimic that ice spell that Olivia pulled off, but on a much bigger scale.
>Try to invent a new sword style on the fly.
>Write-in.

Skills, Stats and Inventory:
https://pastebin.com/iEYrGZS1

>>4832749
Flame aura and fire stance

>>4832749
>>Assume the Fire Stance and leap directly into the middle of the enemy.
>Switch to your Flame Aura and unleash hell on these goons!

>>4832921
>>4833701
Roll 1d100+20, bo3!

Rolled 91 + 20 (1d100 + 20)

>>4833996

Rolled 54 + 20 (1d100 + 20)

>>4833996

File: 92f5eb1ead80b8609b645795e(...).gif (765 KB, 640x360)

765 KB GIF

>>4834170
>>4834229
That's a crit!

Writing...

File: eedb722945e289b571538e55f(...).jpg (102 KB, 564x809)

102 KB JPG

>101!

That’s it! You’ve had it!

Your arms are sore. Your legs are sore. You feel sore in places that you didn’t think could possibly become sore. Your muscles are practically screaming right now. You’re not sure if it’s due to overexertion or continued use of the Omnitrix in such a short amount of time, but you’re willing to bet that it’s a bit of both.

You can actually feel your anger bubbling over, taking shape and igniting the air around you. Wait...that’s not anger. That’s your Flame Aura!

Flames dance and crackle along your armor and sword, laying atop both metal surfaces without causing damage to either. You felt powerful last time you activated it, but this...this feels like it’s on a whole other level!

With a mental command, you disable the majority of the suit’s limiters and safety measures, keeping just the bare minimum in order to prevent the motors from snapping your bones with a slight twitch. By this point, your armor is literally venting steam, fogging up your vision with a heavy haze and forcing you to switch your goggles to a different spectrum of light in order to see at all.

“LET’S DO THIS!” you roar, surprising even D’Traxus with your outburst. Then, you leap high into the air with the aid of your suit, before stabbing your sword into the ground, and sending a wave of roaring flame through the battlefield. A rippling shockwave knocks away any nearby Esoterica, leaving them vulnerable to the wave of fire that followed immediately after. You watched as it engulfed them, forcing them to retreat from the severity of their burns. As soon as it subsided, you notice that more Esoterica moved in to replace the old ones.

That’s fine. You’ve got more than enough to go around.

Staggering back and forth, you twirl the blade over your hand, adopting a reverse grip, before shooting forward as a blazing blur. Within a fraction of a second, you close the distance between the enemy, catching them off guard as you plow through them by using yourself as a human battering ram. Or in this case, a human bullet.

The Esoterica fly through the air, flailing helplessly as you dig your heel into the ground, turn and fire yourself in the direction of another group. With each burst of speed, the pavement beneath you erupts into a spray of rubble and dirt.

From your empty hand, you produce a pressurized jet of flame, causing you to spin faster and faster, making you appear to be a shifting cyclone of hellfire. Like last time, you barrel through the group of masked men, throwing them into nearby cars or buildings. If they got unlucky, they’d fly near D’Traxus, who would swat at them like flies, undoubtedly crushing their bones in the process.

At least you were trying to remain civil by incorporating the Earth Stance into your bladework. Despite your flashy performance, most of these guys should barely be able to make it out with their lives. That is, if they’re able to retreat before burning to ash.

(Cont.)

File: tenor (1).gif (2.84 MB, 360x206)

2.84 MB GIF

Still spinning from your earlier stunt, you plant the tip of your blade into the ground, killing the majority of your momentum as it dragged through the blacktop. And as soon as you were able, you shot off towards the next group, and then the next group, and then the next. Your onslaught was utterly relentless. You barely took a moment to breathe. At any given point, you were either slamming your sword into something, or planning on your next course of attack...so you could slam your sword into something.

You’d cover several meters of ground in a single dash, bounce off of buildings and surrounding objects, boosting yourself mid-air with a concentrated burst of fire. You were all over the place!

It got so out of hand, that you started snatching up bad guys that your friends were engaged with. All anyone could do was stop and stare at your dazzling display of carnage and cruelty. It was as beautiful as it was terrifying.

Eventually though, you are forced to cool down. More specifically, it was your suit that needed to cool down. It was overheating to the point that Trixy was barely managing to keep the suit from exploding while you were still wearing it.

“Are you quite finished?” she asked, sounding exhausted from the taxing process of deploying coolant in bursts, diverting power and venting your suit’s compartments.

Before answering, you reach out with your hands, and exhale while slowly lowering your hands towards the ground. Miraculously, the intense flames died down on command. The smoke, however, still hung heavy in the air.

You turn to see D’Traxus staring at you, absolutely dumbfounded by your little stunt.

What do you say?

>”Hope I didn’t get in your way.”
>”Oh yeah, I’ve learned a few new tricks since we last met.”
>”Are we keeping score? Because if we are, I’m totally winning!”
>”Now that...was pretty cathartic.”
>”Maybe this magic stuff isn’t so bad after all…”
>Write-in.

>>4834992
>>”Oh yeah, I’ve learned a few new tricks since we last met.”
>”Hope I didn’t get in your way.”

>>4834992
>”Now that...was pretty cathartic.”
>Try not to collapse until we sort out Birdie.

>>4835900
>”Oh yeah, I’ve learned a few new tricks since we last met.”
>”Hope I didn’t get in your way.”
>Try not to collapse until we sort out Birdie.

>>4835900
>>4835903
>>4836066
Writing and combining...

File: The_Omen.jpg (375 KB, 652x1000)

375 KB JPG

“Oh yeah, I’ve learned a few new tricks since we last met.” you gloat, before returning your sword to its sheath in a flashy flourish, demonstrating your skill and coordination. “Hope I didn’t get in your way.” you say with a wink.

And on D’Traxus’ face, is an expression that seemed more complicated than anger or jealousy. In his eyes, were a glint of recognition, acknowledgement maybe. He wasn’t just looking right through you, like he did with most life-forms that he deemed to be inferior to himself. It was like, for the first time, he was actually seeing you.

Having him pierce your very soul with his eyes gave you some pretty mixed feelings. When you first met, he did this in order to evaluate your worth. And now, it would appear that he thought a reevaluation was necessary.

So without a word of protest, D’Traxus lets out a resounding harrumph, muttering something under his breath and diverting his attention to a group of Esoterica preparing to unleash their foul magic upon the brute.

Now that the way’s clear, you can finally-

Before you can even break out into a sprint, you find yourself stumbling over nothing in particular as your legs fold and buckle altogether. You just barely manage to catch yourself in time to avoid face-planting onto the pavement. Your limbs are trembling. Your head’s pounding. No...not yet…

Get up…

You pound your thigh a few times and press your palm to your knee, pushing off of it to give yourself some leverage.

GET UP!

You don’t recover completely, but you manage to get stable enough that running isn’t entirely out of the question. Without thinking, you make a b-line for Birdie, who nearly whirled around to deliver a roundhouse kick to your chin out of reflex. In your current state, there was no way that you were gonna react fast enough to avoid it. But for some reason, she freezes up as soon as she sees you. She...doesn’t want to hurt you?

YOU KNEW IT! There’s no way that Birdie would seriously try to hurt you and your friends. She must be getting tricked, or blackmailed. Or maybe, this is all part of some elaborate plot from Kingfisher.

“Birdie!” you shout, elated by your friend’s non-hostile response to your approach. But before you can get close enough, your world turns dark. A black, billowing cloak fills your vision, with only a witch doctor’s mask to provide some focal point to latch onto. At least, that was your initial impression until you spotted a sharp, crescent shaped blade closing in on your position.

Instinctively, you draw your weapon and bring it up just in time to block the scythe. The immense weight behind it is almost strong enough to snap you and your sword in half.

“I cannot allow you to interfere.” The Omen declared in an annoyingly calm tone.

You glance towards Birdie, who averted her gaze with a pained look on her face.

Why? Why’s this happening!?

(Cont.)

File: Jack%27s_Sword.jpg (35 KB, 340x517)

35 KB JPG

“Wa-...X!” Olivia shouted, before stopping herself short of saying your real name. She just narrowly avoided making the blunder of a lifetime before a group of masked individuals. “What are you doing here? I thought I told Kevin not to get you involved!”

...What? Why wouldn’t she-

The shock of her words is so strong that you nearly forget about the deity that you’re currently locked in combat with.

“It’s just...you’ve been so busy lately, and I didn’t want to bug you with this.” she says, artfully dodging Birdie’s blows without breaking stride. “Besides, there’s more important things that you could be dealing with right now. Like that war in space!”

You don’t know what hurts more. The fact that your best friend thought that you were too busy for her in a possibly life-threatening situation, or how you ignored two of her calls when she was being hunted.

What do you say?

>“No...there really isn’t. There’s nothing more important than you.”
>“Ollie...I’m so sorry. I’d never want you to think that I’m too busy for you.”
>”You’re my best friend, doofus! Of course I have time for you. Now shut up and let me save you!”
>”Omen, Birdie...please, tell me what’s going on. We’re friends, aren’t we!?”
>”...You made me do this. Trixy, now!” Have Trixy recreate Morningstar’s harmful sonic frequency.
>Write-in.

>>4836987
>>“Ollie...I’m so sorry. I’d never want you to think that I’m too busy for you.”
>>”You’re my best friend, doofus! Of course I have time for you. Now shut up and let me save you!”
>>”Omen, Birdie...please, tell me what’s going on. We’re friends, aren’t we!?”

>>4836987
>“Ollie...I’m so sorry. I’d never want you to think that I’m too busy for you.”
>”You’re my best friend, doofus! Of course I have time for you. Now shut up and let me save you!”
>”Omen, Birdie...please, tell me what’s going on. We’re friends, aren’t we!?”

>>4837826
>>4838035
Writing...

>>4836987
>“No...there really isn’t. There’s nothing more important than you.”
>“Ollie...I’m so sorry. I’d never want you to think that I’m too busy for you.”
>”Omen, Birdie...please, tell me what’s going on. We’re friends, aren’t we!?”

File: 49a3ed2c30b07b6dac3dcabb5(...).jpg (88 KB, 1071x984)

88 KB JPG

“Ollie…” you cry, struggling against both The Omen and your own exhaustion. “I’m so sorry. I’d never want you to think that I’m too busy for you.”

“No, it’s okay!” Ollie says at a higher volume that she’d intended, due to her being kicked by Birdie around the same time. “I’m not the center of the universe, and you can’t be everywhere at once. The galaxy needs you, X.”

Enraged by her implication, you start putting more weight into your weapon, pushing The Omen back ever so slightly. “You’re my best friend, doofus!” you exclaim through gritted teeth. “Now shut up…” With each excruciating push, you regain more and more ground from the clairvoyant crow-woman, much to her surprise. “...and let me save you!”

You notice The Omen tightening her grip on her scythe, prompting you to believe that she might actually get serious if this fight went on any longer. At that point, none of you would stand a chance.

“Omen, Birdie…please tell me what’s going on.” you plead, drawing both of their attention. “We’re friends, aren’t we!?”

There’s that very same pained expression from before. Birdie clearly doesn’t want to go through with this, but she’s doing it anyway. Is The Omen making her? Is it another convoluted plot by Kingfisher?

At this point, you don’t particularly care very much. All you need to know is that Olivia needs rescuing, and you won’t get anywhere by fighting their weird bird god.

Time to improvise.

In a surprising burst of speed, you slightly lower your weapon, allowing the crescent shaped blade to glide off of yours, moving your fingers just in time to avoid losing them. Losing her balance, The Omen lurches forwards, giving you an opportunity to slip past her.

However, with her supernatural reflexes, the grim guardian catches you by your shoulder. And without losing momentum, you leap out of your suit, only the helmet remaining on your otherwise exposed body.

Still holding onto the empty husk, The Omen just stares in awe as your hollow suit tosses your sword over to you. You twirl it over your hand, adopting the reverse grip once more, before racing to stop Birdie from attacking your cousin. And that’s when you see it.

A single shimmering arrow, loosed from her bow, aimed directly at Olivia’s heart. The thin projectile rips through the air, flying directly through a tiny gap that Birdie had made in your cousin’s barrier. Normally, Ollie’s odds of avoiding such an attack would set you at ease. But not now.

She was caught off balance, staggering backwards from the mental backlash of having her magic fail her at such a crucial moment. It was brief, but it was certainly enough to put her in a precarious situation, in which she had no way out of.

(Cont.)

File: 9c1c6d6db13cb7436b4fefb61(...).jpg (32 KB, 640x960)

32 KB JPG

It felt like time has slowed to a crawl. The look of fear on Olivia’s face, the determined scowl of your pal Birdie, and the looming shadow of The Omen moving to collapse on you. You weren’t sure of which one would hit their mark first, but you’d be damned if you didn’t use every fiber of your being to defy these unbalanced odds.

45 aliens, and you aren’t allowed to use any of them. All you’re stuck with is Wade. The same Wade that couldn’t do anything to quell the Galactic War brewing amidst the stars. The very same Wade that couldn’t even protect his family from Bellwood’s latest wannabe crook. The exact same Wade that was about to fail one of the most important people in his life.

No...not this time!

Without thinking, you threw your sword in a straight arc and watched it fly towards the gap between Birdie and your cousin. It was on a perfect intercept path, not faltering in the slightest or veering off course, even in crucial moments such as these. It was going to make it!

Or so you thought…

Appearing out of thin air, one of the Esoterica reached out to grab your sword. You prayed for him to fall short, not even feeling The Omen’s heavy hand pressing down on your shoulder.

But no. Against all odds, the lucky idiot caught it. And to your surprise, he attempted to stop the arrow as well. But it was too late. The arrow’s shaft slipped his grasp, and continued on its course to pierce Olivia’s heart.

Out of fear, she threw her hands up in an effort to make a last minute mana bubble. And she did...but not before the arrowhead had embedded itself deep into her flesh.

Oddly enough, there was no blood. No scream. No dramatic reaction. Only a sharp gasp, and a look of disbelief on Olivia’s face. Her final moments, a teary-eyed glance in your direction, and then her body crumpled to the ground, like a puppet that had just had its string cuts.

You’re not entirely sure what noise came out of your mouth, but it made your throat feel raw. The strangest part was, of course, how The Omen released you from her grasp. Whether it was out of pity, or if she had just assumed that her job was finished, you can’t be sure. You never looked back.

Scrambling to your feet, you rush over to your cousin’s body, which was now being inspected by the Esoterica that stopped your blade. Upon hearing your approach, he turned around just in time to receive a clean punch to the face. The scrawny masked figure flew backwards, tumbling across the pavement and dropping your sword somewhere nearby. You didn’t pay it any mind. The only thing that matters...the only thing that “mattered”...

The thought alone causes a lump to form in the back of your throat, and a pressure to start building up behind your eyes. You caress her face, brushing a lock of hair aside and squeeze her limp body. She seemed so fragile.

(Cont.)

File: 33634d8043327408069b29730(...).jpg (37 KB, 563x797)

37 KB JPG

Your vision grew blurry, and you began waiting for a big surprise that would make you infuriatingly frustrated with her. In a few seconds, she’d open her eyes and shout “surprise”!

Yeah, that was it. She was just messing with you again. Good ol’ Ollie…

Look, everyone stopped fighting to stare at you. This had to be a prank, and they were all in on it! You can’t believe she got D’Traxus to play along too! But Birdie was the most convincing. She nearly had you, and…

Upon seeing her pained expression, you lost the ability to lie to yourself, to deny reality itself. You weren’t holding Olivia in your arms anymore.

No. This was pain and memories. A grim reminder of your miserable failure. This was an all consuming inferno that threatened to devour your hope and eat away at your happiness. This...was the death of Wade Wakeman, and the absolute collapse of his entire world.

“No...no, please…” you bawled, hugging your cousin close to you in a desperate embrace. With tears streaming down your face, you almost didn’t notice a pair of tiny feet stopping in front of you. It was Birdie. In her normal tiny form!

She knelt down, reaching her hand out to Olivia. You didn’t stop her. Whatever she did now, it wouldn’t matter. Nothing mattered anymore.

The young girl placed her hand on Olivia’s chest, in the same place where her arrow had pierced her. And just then, a warm light passed through Birdie’s chest, into her arm, and finally, into Olivia’s chest. The warm light pulsated for a brief moment, before dying down altogether. What was she-

“Bye bye, Birdie…” the little girl whispered with her eyes closed.

Suddenly, Olivia jumped out of your arms! Wide-eyed and gasping, she broke out into a coughing fit and looked around frantically. Somehow, her clothes had changed during the brief moment that you took your eyes off of her. It was similar to Birdie’s costume, but Olivia's put a sinister spin on the white ballet outfit. Hers had a black and green color scheme, with fishnet stockings hugging her thighs. She even had her bow and quiver on her back, which nearly poked you in the eye.

“What the hell happened-!” Olivia managed to squeeze out before going into another coughing fit. You move your hand to rub her back instinctively. “Am I dead?” she asked, with tears in her eyes.

What do you say?

>”No, I...I think you’re the new ‘Birdie’.”
>”You’re alive, Ollie. And I plan to keep it that way.”
>”I...I don’t understand how you...what just happened!?”
>”That had to be, without a doubt, the most stressful, fear-inducing costume change that I’ve ever witnessed.”
>Hold her close and don’t let go.
>Let yourself relax, and pass out from relief.
>Write-in.

>>4839159
>>”No, I...I think you’re the new ‘Birdie’.”
>>”You’re alive, Ollie. And I plan to keep it that way.
>”That had to be, without a doubt, the most stressful, fear-inducing costume change that I’ve ever witnessed, which the stress probably woild have been avoided with communication .”
>Let yourself relax, and pass out from relief.

>>4839159
>”No, I...I think you’re the new ‘Birdie’.”
>”You’re alive, Ollie. And I plan to keep it that way.
>”That had to be, without a doubt, the most stressful, fear-inducing costume change that I’ve ever witnessed, which the stress probably woild have been avoided with communication .”
>Let yourself relax, and pass out from relief.

>>4840015
>>4842386
Writing...

File: a1295377cc7caa261062dfc89(...).jpg (95 KB, 564x780)

95 KB JPG

“No, I...I think you’re the new ‘Birdie’.” you proclaim, utterly dumbfounded by your own theory. Olivia seems to share your sentiment.

“Whoa…” she remarks, clearly perplexed by the gothic prom dress that replaced her old costume. “Does this mean that I’m on ‘their’ team now?” she asks, pointing to the Omen.

“It means that you’re alive, Ollie. And I plan to keep it that way.” you declare, placing a hand on her shoulder. She returns the warm gesture by placing a hand over your arm and flashing you a pleasant smile. You wonder if she’s noticed just how much you’ve been shaking. At this point, you don’t know if it’s due to exhaustion, stress or relief. Your mind and body have been through quite the gauntlet over the course of these past few weeks.

“That had to be, without a doubt, the most stressful, fear-inducing costume change that I’ve ever witnessed.” you say with a large sigh. “And said ‘stress’ could have easily been avoided with proper communication.” you add, glaring at The Omen as she shoved her oversized scythe back into her long, flowing coat. The movement was so natural that you begin to question the amount of space she has access to in there.

“It had to be done.” she replied in her usual Irish accent. “As for our methods…” she trails off, glancing over her shoulder at the Esoterica that had attacked you. For some reason or another, the masked goons were retreating en masse, using the same unnatural magic that they’d utilized to get the jump on you in the first place. It was as if they were leaping behind invisible curtains. A cheesy magic trick that had no other explanation. Except, there was no smoke and mirrors at work here. “I would say that the results speak for themselves.” The Omen finishes her thought.

So that means...it’s over?

As if she'd somehow sensed your thoughts, The Omen gave you a slight nod. Right then and there, you flopped down onto your back and let your muscles relax for what seemed like the first time in forever.

Finally...it’s over…

“X?” the little girl asked out of concern.

Your eyes were slowly closing on their own. Almost as if powerful magnets were forcing them shut. You had no intention of fighting it. As your field of vision narrowed, your world went dark, and the sound of your friends shouting your name became drowned and muddled. The fog had finally consumed your mind.

---------------

When you opened your eyes again, you were surprised to see that you were staring at your ceiling fan. When did you get back home?

(Cont.)

File: KineceleranKids.png (766 KB, 974x684)

766 KB PNG

“Oh good, you’re awake.” said a familiar, gentle voice. Sitting in the corner of your living room was The Omen, accepting a tall glass of lemonade from your girlfriend, who seemed just as confused as you were. The look of genuine relief on her face is wonderfully refreshing, though. But before she could get a word in, a small, round blue face obscures your line of sight.

“Wade’s up!” ML-E shouted at an inappropriately loud volume, given how close her face was to yours. And if that weren’t bad enough, the little tyke started bouncing up and down on your chest, causing a sharp pain to shoot through your abdomen. Looks like you’re still sore…

Another blur zips into the corner of your vision, bringing a gust of wind along with him. “We thought you’d never get up!” EN said as he tugged on your arm, nearly pulling you off the couch in the process. Yep. Definitely sore...

“Beat it, squirts!” N8 demands, appearing from behind the couch and pointing his thumb towards their rooms. This is probably the first time that the oldest sibling’s ever stuck up for you. This is also the longest you’ve seen him go without checking his phone. “Wade’s old and he needs his rest.” he argued.

“Old…?” you mutter to yourself.

“Come on, guys. Give the old man some space.” Olivia shoos them away, still snickering from N8’s earlier remark. No longer wearing her “Birdie” costume, your cousin seems to be wearing a pair of pajamas that she left over at your place last time she stayed over. “Hey there, sleepyhead.” she teased, flicking your forehead with an annoyingly smug grin on her face. And judging from how much that forehead flick hurts, you must not be wearing your suit anymore.

“I am glad that you are safe, love.” K8-E chimed in, running her claws through your hair and stroking your cheek. At least someone here was actually trying to make you feel better.

Before you could reply to your lover, The Omen loudly clears her throat, directing everyone’s attention to her. You hadn’t noticed it earlier, but her lemonade glass was now empty. When and how did she drink it!? Can she actually take that mask off?

“I’m sure you have questions.” she begins, her gaze following Slate as he walks over to you and nuzzles your hand. “And...you deserve answers. I will provide them to the best of my ability.” she insists, sounding guilty for the first time since your fight began.

What will you ask?

>”Why’d you transfer ‘Birdie’ over to my cousin?”
>”Who were those ‘Esoterica’ guys from before, and why’d they leave?”
>”What happened to D’Traxus?”
>”Where’s Kevin?”
>”What’d you do to my team? Wendy said that you were stalling them.”
>”What’s gonna happen to Birdie’s original host?”
>”If you didn’t want to harm Olivia, then why didn’t you let us in on your plan? We could’ve avoided this entire fight.”
>Write-in.

>>4843485
ALL
THE
QUESTIONS

>>4843485
>”Why’d you transfer ‘Birdie’ over to my cousin?”
>”Who were those ‘Esoterica’ guys from before, and why’d they leave?”
>”What’s gonna happen to Birdie’s original host?”
>”If you didn’t want to harm Olivia, then why didn’t you let us in on your plan? We could’ve avoided this entire fight.”
>pop open your heat chakra(for healz)

>>4843485
>>”Why’d you transfer ‘Birdie’ over to my cousin?”
>>”Who were those ‘Esoterica’ guys from before, and why’d they leave?”
>>”What’s gonna happen to Birdie’s original host?”
>>”If you didn’t want to harm Olivia, then why didn’t you let us in on your plan? We could’ve avoided this entire fight.”
>>pop open your heat chakra(for healz)

>>4844348
>>4844832
Writing...

File: ML-E.png (141 KB, 472x332)

141 KB PNG

“First of all, why’d you transfer ‘Birdie’ over to my cousin here?” you ask, pointing a thumb at Olivia.

The Omen folds her hands in front of her and throws one leg over the other. “Your cousin was chosen to be a priestess of Dagon. She acts as something of a conduit between a metaphysical being and your own physical realm.” she explains, somehow managing to give you more questions than you started with.

“I think I heard something about this, but I didn’t know how serious it was going to be.” you confess.

“What!?” Olivia explodes. “Someone told you that I was gonna be ‘conduit-thingy’ and you didn’t bother to tell me?”

“Even if I did, neither of us would’ve seen this coming.” you reply, closing your eyes and focusing on your breathing in an attempt to center yourself. You can’t see Olivia, but from her silence, you assume that she sees your point.

“What’re you doing?” ML-E asks, now sitting on the edge of the couch.

“Meditating.” you answer. Then, you channel your mana through your Heart Chakra in order to speed up your natural healing factor, and-

“Why?” EN asks, breaking your focus in record time.

“It helps me heal faster.” you say, demonstrating the patience of a saint. You nod to The Omen to continue her explanation.

“So long as Birdie remains within your cousin, Dagon loses his direct line to her, as well as his gateway to the mortal realm.”

“And...the only way to accomplish this was by shooting her in the heart with an arrow?” K8-E asks with a quizzical look about her.

“Aunt Ollie got shot by an arrow!?” N8 exclaims, causing you to wince. It’s really hard to meditate in the living room. Olivia nods, gently rubbing the area of her skin through which the arrowhead penetrated. “Wicked! Lemme see the scar.” the eldest sibling perks up.

“There’s no scar, actually. Not even a small cut.” she explains, barely able to believe the situation herself.

“Of course. We did not wish to harm you if possible.” The Omen chimed in.

“If you didn’t want to harm Olivia, then why didn’t you let us in on your plan? We could’ve avoided this entire fight.” you argue. And surprisingly, everyone in the room supports you firmly in your stance.

(Cont.)

File: Eileen.the.Crow.full.2542991.jpg (554 KB, 2480x3508)

554 KB JPG

The Omen takes a long pause before answering, possibly weighing the weight of her next words in her mind. “Consider the circumstances of young Tamara, Birdie’s original host.” She must mean the little girl from before. “In order for Birdie to enter her body, the girl needed to be weakened, both physically and mentally. Otherwise, the contract would never have been possible.” The Omen clarified. “The same goes for your cousin. Miracles are only made possible by acts of faith. Pride must be discarded. Wills must be broken.” she continues, her tone growing more intense with each passing sentence. “It would not have worked if she simply ‘expected’ it to happen.”

“So…what you’re saying is-?” Olivia began, only to be cut off by The Omen.

“Yes, child. We needed you to think that you were going to die. It was the only way, I’m afraid.” she admitted in a hushed tone, sorrow finding its way back into her voice.

The room went quiet for a bit. No one knew how exactly to process this new information. But that last part about Birdie’s original host brings you to another question.

“What’s gonna happen to Birdie’s original host?” you ask hesitantly. The Omen notices this and inhales deeply, recomposing herself in the process.

“Young Tamara is well enough to exist without Birdie’s presence. The girl will hopefully live an uneventful life, and will have nothing further to do with our affairs in the future.” she answers.

“Isn’t that kinda mean?” ML-E asks, drawing everyone’s attention. “I thought she was your friend.”

You look from her to K8-E, who seems to be considering whether she should be disciplining her child for speaking out against a force of nature.

The Omen considers her words carefully before speaking. “Yes.” she replied. “She was. And without Birdie, she would be in more danger were she to remain in The Nest. This is for her own good.”

“She’s right.” you reassure the little one while patting her head. “Tamara deserves a normal life after everything she’s been through.”

After some consideration, ML-E appears to agree with you. Still, you’d like to thank Tamara for everything she’s done someday. She was a good friend and even better ally.

You can practically feel your muscle pain melting away, being replaced by a gentle warmth that spreads from your core. Man, that meditation stuff really works! You might actually be able to walk around in a few minutes.

“Alright, one last question.” you proclaim, your hand now on ML-E’s shoulder. “Who were those ‘Esoterica’ guys, and why’d they leave?”

(Cont.)

File: K8-E SK8R.png (3.24 MB, 3500x5000)

3.24 MB PNG

“The Esoterica act as the fangs of the Flame Keeper’s Circle. They are devout worshippers of Dagon who have gained access to his forbidden magics.” she explains. “And I assume they retreated because of our success in closing off Dagon’s connection to your cousin.”

“Are those creeps gonna be after me now?” Olivia inquires with a troubled look.

“In time, yes. So I suggest that you keep your allies close, and get used to sleeping with one eye open.” The Omen says in a grim tone. “Learning warding magic wouldn’t hurt either.” she shrugs.

“Actually, the mansion we’re moving into has a few wards placed around the premises.” you inform her.

She nods in response. “That’ll have to do.” And with that, she gets up from her chair, rising to her full height, and strides over to your cousin with but a few steps. “In the meantime, I’ll be taking this one over to The Nest.” she declares, placing a hand on Olivia’s shoulder.

What!? Already? She can’t just recruit your cousin like that.

Noticing the distressed look on your face, The Omen chuckles softly. “Don’t worry. I’m not stealing her away forever. Think of it as an orientation.”

“Or an Open House!” Olivia chimes in.

“Yes. Or that.” The Omen follows up. “She must become familiar with our facilities and our members. Just as she can call upon me for help, I will be able to call upon her.”

“Well...I guess that sounds fine. Just be careful over there.” you warn her.

“Hey, I’m not the one who’s bedridden right now.” she retorts.

“Enough chatter. We must away.” The Omen interjects, cutting your banter short as she grabs her by the waist and pulls her close, eliciting a yelp from your cousin.

Without warning, the space around them grows distorted and twisted, until both of them are consumed by a swirl of shadow. A deep, moaning sound emanates from it, sucking up both figures with a low hum, until the space returns back to normal, as if nothing ever happened.

“That. Was. Awesome!” EN shouted as he excitedly jumped up and down. “Can we see it again?” he asks you.

“Maybe she’ll do it again when she brings Aunt Olivia back.” K8-E wonders aloud. The thought of it seems to get the kids even more excited for your cousin’s return. “Now, let’s get you to bed.” your lover says to you, before scooping you up, racing to your bedroom and gently lowering you onto the mattress. You always forget that she’s stronger than she looks.

“Thanks K8. I-” you begin to say, before she abruptly cuts you off.

“Dinner will be ready shortly.” she says with an unreadable expression, before speeding off into the kitchen.

(Cont.)

Is it just your imagination, or did she seem upset? She’d tell you if she was, wouldn’t she? Maybe you should ask her about it. But then again, women tend to get more upset if you ask them why they’re upset. You aren’t exactly a mind reader, here. Well, Brainstorm is, but that’s besides the point.

What should you do to pass the time?

>Hobble towards the kitchen and chat with K8-E.
>Call Phil and Coco. You want to know how the space battle went.
>Text Olivia. You want another prophecy from the Omen.
>Check in with the rest of your team. You haven’t heard from them in a while.
>Tell the kids to bring their game console into your room. You haven’t hung out with them in a while.
>Focus on meditating. Gotta get better soon.
>Write-in.

>>4845133
>Call Phil and Coco. You want to know how the space battle went.
>Check in with the rest of your team. You haven’t heard from them in a while.

Just to make sure the universe isn't exploding, even though it plays more into our workaholism K8-E must be worried about.

But immediatelly after:
>Tell the kids to bring their game console into your room. You haven’t hung out with them in a while.

Thelittle munchkins deserve it. Can't be a deadbeat dad can we?

>>4845133
>Call Phil and Coco. You want to know how the space battle went.
>Check in with the rest of your team. You haven’t heard from them in a while.

then

>Hobble towards the kitchen and chat with K8-E.
>Tell the kids to bring their game console into your room. You haven’t hung out with them in a while.

>>4846461
Seconding

>>4846461
>>4847913
These options will be played out, one by one.

Writing...

File: Phil_Tabber.png (101 KB, 350x403)

101 KB PNG

While you’re stuck in bed, you might as well give Grandpa and Princess Coco a call. You’re curious about how that huge space battle went.

It takes you a moment to remember that you’re not wearing your suit, prompting you to stretch over and grab your Plumber’s badge from the nightstand. It’s not terribly far, but far enough for you to strain yourself by overreaching.

Strangely enough, you haven’t seen Trixy anywhere. You wonder where she is right now.

Banishing the thought from your mind, you dial both your grandfather’s and your friend’s numbers and loop them into a group call. After a few seconds of dial tone, Phil is the first one to answer.

“Hey, kiddo. Boy am I glad to see you.” he says with a strained smile.

“Are you alright? How’s everything going up there?” you ask, unable to hide the worry in your voice. Your grandfather laughs it off.

“Much better now that Verdona and that other Anodite showed up. Don’t know what we would’ve done without ‘em.”

“Aren’t you forgetting someone?” Coco says as she joins the call, her voice full of hostility.

“Oh, of course. Couldn’t have done it without you either, princess.” Grandpa says as he lets out a strangled laugh. Coco narrowed her eyes at him, and then glanced over to you.

Thanks to some custom settings in your badge, there were only certain people that were allowed to see your face in video calls, and Coco wasn’t one of them. Maybe someday...but not right now.

“So...everything’s good now? We won?” you ask. Their expressions tell you otherwise.

“I’m afraid it’s not that simple.” Coco sighed as she leaned back into her chair. “We, a group of allied species that operated outside the Allied Systems’ realm of influence, just attacked the core of their operations. This includes military installations, residential stations and high-traffic tourist attractions.” she said, listing off tragedy after tragedy with her little clawed fingers.

“And from their point of view, the Plumbers helped them do it.” Phil said, his forehead wrinkling as the corners of his mouth sagged into a frown. “Politicians were on those planets, X. Very important people that funded our operations without a second thought. And now…” he paused, but you could more or less fill in the blanks for him.

“Now they’re having second thoughts.” you say in an almost hushed tone.

Coco nodded. “For the first time in a very long time, the galaxy is actually considering a future without the Plumbers. They amassed so much power so quickly, but no one dared challenge them due to the danger that Vilgax and D’Traxus posed.”

Right. No one knows that Vilgax is actually still alive! They can’t know. Not even Vilgax himself can know. But D’Traxus on the other hand…

(Cont.)

File: Coco.png (1.69 MB, 4000x4000)

1.69 MB PNG

“What about D’Traxus? He’s still out there somewhere.” you remind them. Phil and Coco exchange glances.

“Yes, that is true.” Coco admits. “But if I were them, I would put my money behind the man that brought him down, and not an organization that nearly got me killed.”

“As if.” Phil scoffed. “They know that he’s a good guy that wouldn’t beg for Taydens when he’s busy saving people’s lives. They won’t even need to pay him to do their dirty work.” he growled.

And unfortunately, he’s right. Being a Special Agent was your most reliable source of income. Without it, you’re out on your ass. Even worse, the galaxy might just lose its Military Police!

What do you say?

>”So...that’s it? The Plumbers are finished? What do we do now?”
>”Can’t we make some sort of appeal in a court of law? There has to be some way to get them to change their minds.”
>”But none of that is our fault! Sublimino made them attack the Allied Systems. We should try to find some proof.”
>”Who would they get to replace the Plumbers?”
>”Does this mean that I’m out of a job?”
>Write-in.

>>4849537
>”Can’t we make some sort of appeal in a court of law? There has to be some way to get them to change their minds.”
>”Who would they get to replace the Plumbers with?”

Like it or not, plumbers are the only thing keeping the galaxy from fully going into factionalism and letting piracy get out of control.

>>4849537
>>”Can’t we make some sort of appeal in a court of law? There has to be some way to get them to change their minds. Surely there's gotta be clause for if people were mind controlled or something”
>”Who would they get to replace the Plumbers? Cause they NEED something to help with intergalactic security”

>>4850212
This

>>4850212
>>4850418
Writing...

File: Omnivore.jpg (551 KB, 1767x2024)

551 KB JPG

“Can’t we make some sort of appeal in a court of law? There has to be some way to get them to change their minds.” you plead. “Surely there’s gotta be a clause for people getting mind controlled or something.”

Grandpa places a hand on his chin and lets out a thoughtful hum. “It’s possible, but I still don’t like the idea of it. As soon as we lay down our weapons and step off of our ships, we’re basically surrendering to them. They could take it as an opportunity to imprison us.” he explains.

“So we either surrender to the Allied Systems and trust that they’ll keep their word…” Coco says with narrowed eyes.

“Or we become outlaws.” you gasp. You hate having to deal with intergalactic politics. “Who would they get to replace the Plumbers?” you ask. “Because they NEED something to manage intergalactic security.”

Coco and Grandpa exchange glances once more.

“There are a few candidates that I know of. But very few of them can be considered ‘trustworthy’.” she says with a deep frown.

“Let’s hear them anyway.” Phil remarks in an encouraging tone.

Coco nodded. “The first that comes to mind is the Gourmet Guild and their bounty hunters.” You nearly jump out of bed upon hearing that a group of scoundrels and cannibals is your best bet for intergalactic peace. “They possess both the firepower and the resources to enforce some semblance of order in the galaxy. Their hunters are forced to follow a credo, and they work for commission. Any unauthorized captures or unnecessary collateral are counted on their records, and could possibly lead to a docked paycheck, or even banishment from the guild.”

“You forgot the teensy little matter of the Omnivore and her lack of control over her own guild.” Grandpa retorted.

Coco stared at him for a long while before speaking again. “Did she ever truly lose control? I wonder…” she thought aloud. “There was no evidence of the Omnivore being involved with the collapse of her guild’s power structure, but if she were to just sit back and let it happen…”

Grandpa didn’t get it at first. And honestly, neither did you. But a few seconds later, Grandpa’s eyes went wide. The gears in his brain were starting to turn. “...If she did that, then we’d report that she seemed ‘relatively civilized and open to negotiations’. She could root out any weakness or insubordination in her organization, while appearing to be the victim. It would paint the Omnivore in a positive light and make everyone lower their guard around her, if only a little bit.” he muttered to himself.

(Cont.)

File: Earth_plumbers.png (3.18 MB, 1920x1080)

3.18 MB PNG

“And all just in time for the Galactic Council to be reformed.” Coco added. “Why, if she were somehow able to miraculously regain control over the Guild at such a crucial time, they might even consider putting her on the Galactic Council.”

The room fell silent after that. Honestly, there’s no way that the Omnivore planned this far ahead. That would be ridiculous.

Wouldn’t it?

“What are our other options?” you ask, desperately wanting to change the subject.

“There’s the Galactic Enforcers.” Grandpa suggests. “They’re strong, trustworthy, devoted to their cause.”

“And there are only three of them.” Coco interrupted him. “How is a group that tried, and failed, to take down D’Traxus supposed to bring order to the galaxy?”

Coco let her question hang for a minute, giving everyone pause to think. You’ve been at this for less than five minutes and you were already running out of options. This is really bad.

Without the influence of the Plumbers, groups like the Incurseans would be left unchecked. And budding organizations like the Gourmet Guild could pose a real problem if the Omnivore could somehow monopolize the game on bounty hunters. Crime prevention would be a thing of the past. Hiring trigger-happy mercenaries in order to get revenge for a crime that had already been committed would become your future.

“Alright, let’s take a little while to think on this some more.” Grandpa declares. “In the meantime, I’d suggest you hoof it back to your homeworld, princess.” he says to Coco.

“Already plotting coordinates for a hyper-jump.” she reassures him. “I’ll keep you apprised of any interesting updates that my people might come across. Stay safe, Magister, X.” she nods to both of you, before her holo-portrait fizzles out. As soon as he’s sure she’s gone, Grandpa sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose.

“This is a right damn mess, Wade. We’re gonna have to disable the trackers in our badges, and make preparations to go underground if it comes to that.”

“Don’t give up yet. We can fight the system.” you say in an encouraging rant.

“You don’t get it, son. Someone used ‘our’ weapons, ‘our’ warships to commit those crimes. It’s not about the Plumbers being at fault. It’s about the Plumbers being too powerful.” he said, gesturing with his hands in order to get his point across. “There were measures in place to prevent anything like this from ever happening, and Sublimino breezed past all of them. They’re gonna tear us apart, from the ground up, just to find the root of the problem. And by the time they find what they’re looking for, there might not be anything left…”

Great. Now Grandpa’s freaking out. But it’s not like you could blame him. He devoted his whole life to this organization, and now it was all about to go up in flames.

(Cont.)

File: 309798e3d9ed1178bddb87ff2(...).jpg (21 KB, 249x559)

21 KB JPG

“I need to call your grandmother…” he sighed, not sounding even remotely excited by the prospect of contacting his ex-wife. In fact, you’re surprised that he’s bringing her up at all!

He never told you much about her, just that she wasn’t allowed to be in either of your lives anymore. Sensing that he wasn’t in the mood to divulge any further, you let the subject drop.

“You and Olivia take care of yourselves, Wade. Disable that tracker like I told you, and lay low.” he instructed you, before pressing a button on his cufflink.

“Wait! You never told me-!” you begin to shout. But before you can get the words out, he’s already signed off. “...how to remove the tracker…” you finish, feeling and sounding rather deflated.

At this point, you might as well contact your team to see what they’re up to. But you just can’t get your mind off this whole Plumber situation. If it came to a vote, who would you support?

>The Plumbers, obviously. They’re the only reasonable choice amongst the rest of these unorthodox candidates. Even if they’d have their funding cut…
>You hate to say it, but the Gourmet Guild might actually be your best shot at securing peace for the galaxy. You’ll definitely be keeping an eye on them, though.
>Grandpa’s praise of the Galactic Enforcers intrigued you. They might be small now, but that might be subject to change very soon.
>There’s always the option of letting Iden mass produce a Techadon army. But you’re not sure of how reliable they’d be.
>You’ll have to wait and see if any new candidates pop up. You’re not liking any of your options so far.
>Write-in.

>>4851538
>>The Plumbers, obviously. They’re the only reasonable choice amongst the rest of these unorthodox candidates. Even if they’d have their funding cut…
>Although we should keep an open mind for who to support if they go down hill. Keeping an eye on the situation

>>4851538
>>The Plumbers, obviously. They’re the only reasonable choice amongst the rest of these unorthodox candidates. Even if they’d have their funding cut…
>Although we should keep an open mind for who to support if they go down hill. Keeping an eye on the situation

>>4852300
>>4853446
Writing...

File: Gwen_10.png (2.58 MB, 1920x1080)

2.58 MB PNG

You’ll obviously be siding with the Plumbers in this. They’re the most reasonable choice amongst all these unorthodox candidates. Even if they’d have their funding cut…

Although, you should be keeping an open mind here. If the Plumbers aren’t able to weather this storm, then you’ll need a new group to throw your support behind. For the time being, you’ll be sitting back and keeping an eye on the situation as it develops.

After four rings, someone finally answers their communicator.

“Wade? Are you okay!?” Gwen answers. Her tone was frantic, and her voice full of concern. You could hear gunfire in the background, as well as someone barking orders.

“I’m fine. What’s happening over there?”

“Right, sorry.” she apologized, taking a moment to breathe before speaking again. “Once Wendy told us that you had the situation under control, she told us to help Providence and Time-Out. She said that we’d be ‘dead weight’ if we just sat around until you woke up.” Gwen summarized, sounding less than enthusiastic about your sister roasting her team.

“Good. They could really use you guys out there.” you say encouragingly.

“Is that Wade!? Lemme talk to him.” said a familiarly childish voice, right before snatching the communicator out of Gwen’s hands. You can even hear her complaining about it from afar. “Hey, it’s Red.” Red reports. “We’re making good progress on retaking the city, but we still haven’t seen Sublimino anywhere.”

Well that’s not encouraging. If you can’t find Sublimino, then you might have to get back out there sooner than you’d want to.

“Keep looking. We need to track him down before he can do any more damage.” you demand.

“Roger that. We’ll call you if there’s any important updates. Over and out.”

And with that, the transmission is cut off from the other end. You’re glad to hear that your team’s been working hard in your absence. And who would’ve guessed that Wendy would be the one to pick up the slack as their leader. You had your bets placed on Gwen.

Now that those issues are out of the way, you’re forced to confront your most sensitive task of the night. Making amends with your girlfriend.

With a great deal of difficulty, you pull yourself out of bed. The muscles in your arms and legs practically scream with the slightest bit of exertion, forcing you to question the effectiveness of your healing techniques.

Eventually, you manage to slide out of your bedroom and enter the hallway, where you follow a heavenly scent to the kitchen. There, you find K8-E peeling potatoes, much slower than she could accomplish at an efficient pace, you might add. She always slowed down when she had something on her mind.

Even as you hobbled into the kitchen, K8-E didn’t bother to look up to greet or acknowledge you, but you had a feeling that she became aware of your presence.

(Cont.)

File: K8-E Halloween.jpg (1.88 MB, 3741x3741)

1.88 MB JPG

“Hey, so I’ve been thinking…” you say, while leaning against the counter.

“Is that something new that you’ve been trying?” she asks with an indifferent look on her face.

Okay, ow…

What will you say?

>”Look, I know I messed up, okay? But there’s so much happening all at once and I’m...I’m terrified, K8.”
>”I know why you’re mad. I tried to handle everything on my own, and it almost got me killed.”
>”Okay...let me have it. I want to know what’s on your mind.”
>”Is there...anything I can do to help with dinner?”
>Do what you’d normally do when you’re nervous and tongue-tied. Use comic book characters as a reference for your apology.
>”The food smells great. You’ve really outdone yourself.”
>Write-in.

>>4853804

>”Look, I know I messed up, okay? But there’s so much happening all at once and I’m...I’m terrified, K8.
>"The sad reality is we're spread thin trying to stop Sublimino. I know i'm not unbreakable, i know that i should've gotten somebody, anybody at all to help me, but i didn't. And i messed up."
>"I'm... sorry, K-8."

>>4853804
>>”Look, I know I messed up, okay? But there’s so much happening all at once and I’m...I’m terrified, K8.
>>"The sad reality is we're spread thin trying to stop Sublimino. I know i'm not unbreakable, i know that i should've gotten somebody, anybody at all to help me, but i didn't. And i messed up."
>>"I'm... sorry, K-8."

>>4853842
>>4853922
Writing...

File: K8-E.jpg (45 KB, 786x1017)

45 KB JPG

Alright, let’s try this again.

“Look, I know I messed up, okay? But there’s so much happening all at once and I’m…” you pause, searching for the right words. You needn’t search long though, feeling them well up from deep within. “I’m terrified, K8.” you confess, your voice nearly trembling. This alone was enough to draw her gaze.

“The sad reality is that we’re spread thin trying to stop Sublimino.” you continue. “I know I’m not unbreakable. I know I should’ve gotten somebody, anybody at all to help me, but I didn’t. And I messed up.”

A long silence hangs heavy in the air for a while before you follow up with “I’m...sorry, K8.”

At this point, your enraged lover is carving whole entire chunks out of the potato with fierce swipes, until finally, she slams both the vegetable and the peeler onto the kitchen table.

“I just…” she tries to say, her eyes shut as she let out a deep sigh. “I just wish you cherished your own health. Your own wellbeing.” she said, her eyes pleading and burrowing into your soul. “I want you to love yourself...the same way that I love you.”

And there it was. With only a few short words, she took the wind right out of you.

“Seeing you throw your life away like some sort of martyr...I don’t want that.” she proclaims, her nails digging into the kitchen table. “I don’t need a statue of you to remember you by. I don’t care about your legend or your legacy. I need you.” she says, her voice quivering. “If one day, you were to just disappear…” K8-E said, pausing to wipe a small tear. “I don’t think that I could bear it…”

You immediately grab her by the waist and pull her into a deep embrace. “You won’t have to. I’m not going anywhere.” you reassure her, stroking the smooth, cold metal of her helmet all the while. The feeling of her warm, wet tears soaking through your shirt is almost enough to make you melt.

K8-E raises her head. Her face was still wet with tears, and her cheeks were flushed, a dark shade of blue. “You are mine. You do not only belong to yourself anymore.” she said, her voice still unstable.

“Yeah.” you replied, at a loss for words. “I’m all yours.”

Barely after you’d gotten the words out, she pressed her lips against yours, pulling you into a deep, passionate kiss. You nearly froze up when you felt her tongue fishing glossing over your lips and fishing around inside of your mouth. You were honestly just glad that the kids weren’t here right now. It was so rare for you to get some privacy around-

(Cont.)

File: KineceleranQT.png (200 KB, 341x485)

200 KB PNG

“Ahem!” said a childish voice as they forcefully, and audibly, cleared their throat. Looking over, you see EN and N8 observing you from afar. The two of you break away from each other with an almost practiced sense of coordination, finding something nearby to fiddle with as you pretend that it had never happened. Nothing could hide the embarrassment on either of your faces, though.

“Did you have a fight?” EN innocently asked, sounding more worried than disturbed. He might have thought that you were wrestling over there.

“Well...yes.” K8-E awkwardly admitted, fanning her still flushed face with one hand. “But we...quickly made up!”

“More like ‘quickly made out’.” N8 commented as he expressed his disgust.

It looks like you won’t be getting any privacy tonight. Maybe next time.

Come to think of it, you haven’t been spending much time with the kids lately. Let’s try to change that.

“Hey, are you guys in the mood for some games?” you ask, using a nearby dish towel to dry your wet shoulder.

N8 and EN exchange enthusiastic glances, before turning back to you with expressions of glee and excitement. You’d say that’s a yes. Now you just need to convince ML-E.

---------

“No!” she vehemently refused. “I’m sick of Sumo Slammers!” she protested even further as she squeezed her stuffed animal.

“See? Told you she’d be a stick in the mud.” N8 groaned.

Although you aren’t currently able to comprehend how someone could get tired of playing Sumo Slammers, you had a backup plan prepared.

You kneel down to confront the tiny Kineceleran girl on her level. “Well, why don’t we play something different?” you suggest. “I’ll buy a new game from the online store, and by the time it’s done downloading, we can eat dinner and play in me and your mom’s room. Deal?”

Knowing that you were willing to take her feelings into consideration, a wide smile grew on the young girl’s face. “Okay!” she enthusiastically replied.

“Great!” K8-E concluded as she clapped her hands together. “I’ll finish preparing dinner.”

And it looks like you’ll have to decide what the five of you will be playing tonight.

What will you choose?

>Mansion Marauders. It’s a classic 4-player co-op experience for all ages!
>Belize. It’s a 4 player co-op experience where you play as thrifty bank robbers!
>Goose Game. Hosting up to 8 players locally and online, this game pits you head-to-head against your friends and family in an all out free-for-all.
>Jackbox Variety Pack. No skill required. Just a good sense of humor.
>Try to find Trixy and convince her to join in.
>Write-in.

>>4854635
>>Belize. It’s a 4 player co-op experience where you play as thrifty bank robbers!

>>4854635
>Belize. It’s a 4 player co-op experience where you play as thrifty bank robbers!

>>4854635
>Try to find Trixy and convince her to join in.
>Belize. It’s a 4 player co-op experience where you play as thrifty bank robbers!

>>4854655
>>4854764
Writing...

File: WotW2_(323).png (1017 KB, 1920x1080)

1017 KB PNG

Yeah, you think you’ll go with Belize. It’s a 4-player co-op game about a team of thrifty bank robbers. The kids should get a kick out of this one. And considering how you have more than enough Taydens in the bank, buying an indie game shouldn’t even leave a dent.

Although, you might have to start thinking of alternative ways of making money if the Plumbers are really gonna be shut down.

Let’s not think of work right now! Tonight is about Wade Wakeman spending time with your family, and nothing's gonna stop that.

--------------

Despite K8-E’s insistence of you waiting for her to finish dinner, you decided to go back and help her cook. It’s been forever since the two of you have cooked anything together. If anything, it’s been a while since you’ve sat down at the dinner table at all.

“Wade, I…” K8-E begins, her cheeks becoming flushed. “I must apologize for my outburst before.”

“You don’t have anything to apologize for, K8.” you reassure her while checking the temperature of the Polar Ridavian heart in the oven.

“No, I do. I didn’t mean to sound so selfish.” she admits, without her knife losing the slightest bit of momentum. It’s practically a blur as it slices and dices that Fingerroot! “I appreciate what you do for this family, the world, and well...the galaxy. Your cause is a noble one, and I love you for devoting yourself to it.” she explains further.

“Uh-huh…” you nervously mutter, carefully watching her knife as it edges closer and closer to her fingers. She’s running out of root…

Thankfully, she puts the knife down before dealing any damage to her appendages, causing you to breathe a sigh of relief. “I guess I was just worried...worried that that mask would take you away from me. From us.” she says, glancing up at the kids as they desperately search for batteries for their game controllers. “I was seeing less and less of you every day. I even began to wonder whether you needed the excitement in your life to keep you going.”

She hesitated before speaking again. Before you could get a word in, she accidentally cut you off. “I had begun to worry that you were getting bored of me. Of...all this.” she shyly admitted, gesturing to the entire room while keeping her head down. “I mean, I might not be as exciting as an intergalactic threat, or as beautiful as some young, exotic queen from an alien planet. I don’t know how I could possibly keep you in one place after you’d seen what the rest of the galaxy had to offer.”

At first, you were absolutely speechless. Did K8-E have such little faith in you that she thought you’d pack up and leave her as soon as some pretty little package stepped onto your doorstep?

(Cont.)

File: XLR8smh.png (262 KB, 759x425)

262 KB PNG

No. This wasn’t mistrust or a lack of faith. This was a lack of self-confidence. This was a lack of security in oneself that was so deeply rooted that she herself had forgotten it was there in the first place. To you, she was the sweetest, most interesting girl that you’d ever met. But to her, she was just the girl that was dumped on Earth with three kids to raise by herself.

“I know, it’s a silly thought...” she laughed to herself.

What will you say?

>”You said that you loved me, even before I became ‘X’. Don’t think that you can get rid of me that easily.”
>”I’m not going anywhere, K8. I’m ‘yours’, and you’re ‘mine’, remember?”
>”I think I’ve had enough excitement to last me a lifetime. An early retirement might be in my future once we can get the galaxy in decent shape.”
>”I consider myself the luckiest guy in the world, right now. Not because of the Omnitrix, but because I found you and the kids. I get to come home to ‘this’, every single day.”
>”None of those intergalactic threats or alien queens can hold a candle to you, K8. They’re all just insanely jealous. Why do you think I have to fight them so often?”
>Write-in.

>>4856786
>>”You said that you loved me, even before I became ‘X’. Don’t think that you can get rid of me that easily.”
>”I consider myself the luckiest guy in the world, right now. Not because of the Omnitrix, but because I found you and the kids. I get to come home to ‘this’, every single day.”