A/N: I am updating my other stories as fast as I can, I apologize for having to make you guys wait. Now that I got that out of the way... I would like to say that the lack of TOME fics bother me, so here. This is a What-If AU. What if TOME went to war with the hackers, and those who lose in battle must never log back in.
There is onesided slash (boyxboy) and the pairing is Nylocke x Kirbopher. Don't like? Then you must simply leave. If there is OOCness, I'm sorry. It's hard trying to match Nylocke's speech pattern, okay?!
TOME belongs to Christopher Niosi, and not me.


The imp-like male walked through the halls. Few people were in there, speaking in hushed voices. He managed to catch a few words. Correction; names, pertaining himself and his friends. Hearing this... gossip, if you could even call it that, Irritated him.

Ignore them, Kirb. You have better things to worry about. Such as this 'war' going on. He thought as he picked up the pace with his steps, trying to reach the room were his friends were gathered, and before Lavendera was attacked for the umpteenth time.

After a few minutes of seemingly aimless walking, he finally reached it. He exhaled before turning knob, and opening the door very slowly. He poked his head in the room, seeing the familiar group of friends, speaking. They turned their attention to him, and Kirbopher weakly smiled.

"...Am I late?" He simply late, fiddling with his burlap sac, entering the room, closing the door behind him.

"About ten minutes." Gamecrazed plainly replied.

"Yeah, yeah, bite me." Kirbopher muttered, approaching them. "So, what's the status?"

"Uh, well... Not... good, apparently." Alpha simply replied, scratching his head. "They really wouldn't tell anyone anything."

"The only thing they did tell us was who was staying behind for today." Flamegirl added. "And, well..." She laughed nervously.

Kirbopher raised an eyebrow. "...What? Oh wait, let me guess... One of you guys has to stay behind. Don't worry, I got you covered and..."
He stopped, eyeing the looks on his friends' faces. Oh... It happened again.
He smirked. "It's cool. So what if I get to stay behind? Those hackers are lucky that they don't get to face me!"

"Uh, you su-"

"It's not like I'm the only one staying behind, right?"

Silence.

"Oh." Damn. "Well..." He shifted for a while. "Might as well get moving. C-Cause, you know, you don't wanna get the others pissed off." Or something...

His friends looked at one another, unsure of his reaction. Than again, he did keep a calm composure when he couldn't team up with any of them for the Gemini Tournament, so...

"Okay, Kirb..." Alpha simply replied, concern still in his voice, worried about his dismayed friend. "W-We should probably go n-now." He fled, Flamegirl following.

Kirbopher exhaled. He looked at the remaining players. "What?"

Gamecrazed said nothing, but he appeared as if he wanted to do the opposite side of the coin. He gave the swordsman a look of reassurance, nodded, then left without saying anything or making any body language. The only one remaining was Nylocke.

...Silence. Blinking. Shifting.
Silence.

...Awkwardness...

"Kirbopher."

"ACK! HOLY SHI-" The swordsman froze. "Oh... Gamecrazed... Okay, dude, don't sneak up on me like that! And why are you back here, anyway?!"

"Alpha and Flamegirl seemed concerned about you." Gamecrazed explained. "So, they asked me to check up on you."

"Then tell them that I'm fine! So what if I have to stay behind like yesterday and the day before? I don't care!"

Gamecrazed titled his head, then nodded. "Alright. If you insist, and if you're sure of it, then I'll tell them."
He turned around, truly leaving.

Kirbopher exhaled. Damn it.
He shifted on his feet for awhile, clearing his throat, then turned to face Nylocke. "Uh, hey... Mind if you tell the others that I wish them... good luck...? And that I hope they don't lose?"

Nylocke smiled. "Of course, sir Kirbofour! I'd be more than happy to deliver your message." (1)

Kirbopher frowned. "Look, it's Kirbo- oh forget it... J-Just, don't lose, 'kay?"

"Have no fear, Kirbopher, for I; NYLOCKE! MASTER OF WINNING WAR BATTLES, shall succeed and help TOME win this war against the foul hackers who dared to ruin the joy of this world."

"Y-Yeah, uh, s-so, I suppose that I'm just going to stay here. Unless I get called," Kirbopher said. "... Or something. You should probably leave now. The other's could be losing now, and your help could be needed."

However, the dragon did not leave. He just looked at the swordsman curiously. "Er, sir Kirbofour-"

"Kirboph-"

"Kirbopher, thou will be alright staying behind... Again?" The last word came out in a worried tone. "In solitude?"

Aformentioned player blinked. "It's cool. Hey, those hackers should be glad that they don't get to face my strength! And while you're kicking hacker-butts, I'll be here, gaining experience to cream said hackers!"

"So, thou will be alright staying here alone? No one to comfort or to speak with? Surely the others will understand my motives if I stayed behind to aid you."

"Hey, like, I said, it's cool, Nye. I appreciate your concern and all, but don't worry." Actually, that's a lie.

"Oh... Well..." Nylocke cleared his throat. "Then I pray for the day in which you will fight by my side, squire! For I; NYLOCKE! MASTER OF-"

"Uh, hey..."

"Of, um... Er, yes?"

"Okay, serious talk here... What would you do if you... lost?" Kirbopher asked, voice almost cracking. Please have a good answer.

Nylocke remained silent for a while. "I,er..."

"I-It's cool if you don't have a clear answer, man."

"Well, have no fear! I assure that I; NYLOCKE, DRAGON OF THE COLD STEEL!- Will not fail in any battle!"

"Alright man." Kirbopher smirked. "Well, good luck. Come back safe, promise?"

"Promise!" Nylocke was grinning. "With that, I depart! WOOSH!"
And the ice-user left.

Kirbopher exhaled. "...Damn it."
He sat down. "I'm staying behind again."
Should I log off or stay online just in case?

He groaned. "Maybe I should have agreed with Nye staying behind with me."
Kirbopher looked around the empty room. "Sure is... Lonely in here. Having company did seem like a good idea."

It's too late to shoot a PM, though. He sighed in frustration.

"Damn, why I am so bad at making decisions like this?!" He cried.

Maybe I should just log off and come back on tomorrow... Or I can try to go after him and ask... Although, it would be awkward or something if I did. I mean, what the hell would we even talk about? Then again, an awkward conversation is better than none at all. So, going after him does seem like a...

Kirbopher shook his head. "No, no. I'm cool. Besides, I got experience to gain!"
He stood up, then sat back down. "Oh, who the hell am I kidding." He sighed. "I'm an idiot."
He left the building, looking around, seeing other players head to Lavendera for the battles. Not many people stayed behind, like him, and said people were all strangers to Kirbopher.

He groaned. "...Why?"
He went back inside, not wanting to deal with the strangers. He bit his lip, wondering how his companions were doing. Who were they battling? How strong were their opponents? Are they on the verge of losing? Or are they doing well? So well that they really didn't need Kirbopher's help? Is there a possibility that he outlived his usefulness?

He shook his head. "Ha! Me? Useless? As if! Ah, ha, ha, ha, ha... Ha... Ah, ha... Ha..."
The swordsman groaned. "Damn. What is up with me nowadays?"

He really couldn't answer his own question. He was aware that he acted in such a manner a week or so before this war started. And after said war began, he acted even stranger. The reason for this could be due to the fact that he may never see his friends, and that he really never had the chance the help them.
But what about his actions before this strife? What was the reason for that? He couldn't quite place a finger on it. Although, he did have a slight feeling that it connected to the odd signals he was having a for awhile, and said odd signals came into being mainly because of...

Kirbopher mentally slapped himself.

He was thinking too deep. Way too deep.

Again.

More thoughts started to swarm into his brain, all centering around similar topics. The solitude was starting to get to his head, and he was beginning to regret rejecting Nylocke's offer. And not sending the player a PM.

Kirbopher paced around.
And around, and around.
And around.
Around...

He sat, exhaling.
He started to wonder why he was getting worked up about this.

Oh. Right. I'm alone, my friends are fighting and I may never see them again. He was becoming slightly enraged, irritated, tired.
Sad.

His eyes brighten when his PM box popped up. He scanned through the message, hoping nothing horrible were in the lines. Fortunately, everyone seemed fine. Unfortunately...

"I'm staying behind... Again." Kirbopher groaned. "What. The. HELL?!"

He jumped up. "...I'm so going to log out..."
He paced around again, waiting for his friends' return, when those thoughts swarmed back into his mind.

He froze, sighed, and sat down, closing his eyes. "Man. What is wrong with me?"
His pondering wandered into the point of no return. Well, possible no return. He knew that those thoughts would run back into his mind; especially during this time of war. But what he couldn't understand, couldn't comprehend... Was why?
Why exactly where these musings centered around one topic? One person? And why was it that person?

Kirbopher really didn't know how to answer his questions, and he didn't know how to ask for help with such a situation in his hands.
In fact... He wasn't sure about anything!

However, he was sure about one thing.
All these thoughts lately... They have come to make him realize one thing.
One thing in the midst of this confusion.
It didn't matter how or why.
All he knew was one simple, albeit a bit weird and complicated, thing.

He definitely had a crush on Nylocke.

And this war is not helping me. Kirbopher groaned.

"Not at all."


A/N: I am screaming internally because it is very late at night, and I don't want to wake anyone up. You guys wouldn't believe how hard it was for me to not rip my hair out.

Matching the personalities of my two favorite TOME characters is not easy. Especially since I'm making a onesided-slash fic of them!

(1)- In TOME; Kirb's name is pronounced wrong. In the original TvTomeAdventures; were there was a lack of voice acting, which I didn't mind, his name was spelled as "Kirbofour" as if it was being pronounced wrong. I decided to apply this to my fic because I didn't really know how to pull off the joke in any other form besides this.

So... Will there be a sequal? Maybe. It probably won't happen. Plus... *looks at my multi-chapter fics*... I got shit to do.

Oh, and while I was typing this, I was listening to Your Call by Secondhand Serenade. Which is a good song, so would you please give it a try?
Well... ThePokemonMage is signing out to work on her fics.

And I pray you guys have a safe and wonderful summer. Peace!