I sighed, laying on the bed of my temporary room without Tina. Ugh… why is there so little for me to do…
"This sucks…" I grumbled.
Tina's at the spa, Gallon and Micheal are finishing up some portal work then are gonna finally see the other Custodian/Township holder in a new area the New Foundation recently took protective rights of, so, right now it's just me…
I sighed again. This sucks…
"Well, I am here but sadly can't have fun like this." Cheat said.
"I know I know…" I answered, getting up and walking out of the room. "Tina's enjoying a day to relax, Gallon and Micheal are off being important, I have no idea where to even start with Diamond, and there's not a damn thing I can do about any of this…" I mentally grumbled. "And anything that I can do will just be playing into Dark Gray's hands cause whoever thought this game should end with Reality having a tidal wave of Evil running rampant and unchained after evil Loses must have been a complete dumbass." I mentally growled.
"Well, whatever the case, maybe there's something to distract yourself. Like an arcade or something?"
"Maybe…" I thought to myself, starting to walk around aimlessly as I wasn't sure what to do.
I walked down the halls and looked for something to do. Eventually I just went back through the portal to my home and zone and decided to slaughter some zombies.
I started using the new sword, since after ten kills I get a skill point and with my multiplier I get more than one.
It was something to do, and productive at least.
"So many skill points…so much murder…" I thought carefully.
I walked around, taking out infected and walking around. As I did I noticed something… I found a tunnel, the hole in the ground behind a building was a strange sight, even weirder… There was a chilly air blowing out from it… and I think I could see bits of frost along the walls.
Huh… it this from a new infected type?
"Hello?" I called out, readying to fight whatever new monster is around.
I didn't get a response. I put the sword away and walked in, the tunnel was large but not large enough to swing a blade unfortunately. As I walked I began giving off a little fire from my head to give me some light. The further I went the more ice I saw forming until I was walking on the stuff. It wasn't smooth or slick, but rough and textured, enough so that walking felt more like stepping on gravel.
The cold in here was pretty chilly. What is this? A Dungeon?
"What the hell is this place?" I wondered.
As I walked, the ice tunnel opened into an ice chamber. There was natural light in here. Some of the ice, I think that's still ice, was glowing. Weird, this room looks like…
I looked around, seeing the room I was in was full of various things. Some food items, some random assorted things. Weird…
I saw a doorway and looking through-
"Grrrrrr…"
I was face to teeth with a giant maw that was growling at me. The surprise made me jump a bit, then I got a look at them and did a double take. I swear… she looks similar to Tina, the giant Zingore Den Mother was on all fours and stood her ground fiercely.
Before I could speak though, she leaned forwards, her nose was sniffing me… uh… did I walk into someone's house…?
"Uh…hello?" I asked nervously. "And…why do you look like Tina?"
"Hmm… You know that name and smell of her. How?" She asked. Then she took another few sniffs of me. "Ah. You are one of her mates." She said, shifting a bit and taking a seat. She no longer seemed hostile. "Any mate to my Alpha's sister is an ally to us."
Alpha's sister- Wait, her brother Tony?!
"Excuse me, your Alpha is Tony?" I asked in surprise.
"Correct. Three years ago my pack awoke here. The Alpha was missing, but his mates and children were all in an unfamiliar land, with unfamiliar creatures. The Snow Cyclopses all quickly got to work tunneling a new den, as were the others, sadly, the initial panic of our arrival to these lands, we did lose one pup. As a Den Mother, and that pup's mother, this has been an unforgivable transgression."
"I'm sorry to hear that." I said softly. "If there's anyway I can help…well, first is getting you and everyone else here to safety, I know a spot that's a lot safer than the cave system here."
"I refuse."
"Why are you refusing?" I inquired.
"As the Alpha's first mate, the Pack safety and responsibility falls to me. And I say, until our Alpha is found, and returned, we will not be leaving."
"And we have a possible way to find your Alpha, and again, the New Foundation is a lot safer for you and everyone else here."
"Until the Alpha rejoins the pack, the pack stays at the new den." She stated, reaffirming her statement.
"You're as stubborn as Tina…" I grumbled. "Whatever, here." I said, making a Frontier portal for this place. "A Frontier portal, it'll let important people show up to help take care of you all…and where is everyone else and why is it so cold?"
"The pack is safe in the deepest chamber of the new den, and the temperature is to help the Snow Cyclopses. Alpha brought their species back from the brink of extinction, but they can only survive in cold environments, the heat above may as well have been that of a volcano to them."
"I suppose that's fair." I nodded. "But mind if I look around and meet some of the others?"
"No."
"...Why not?"
"No outsiders until the Alpha returns to allow it."
"Don't mind her." I looked over to see…a Nargacuga if memory serves from what Tina told me…and also…hot damn is she big, buff and busty as hell. "She's set in her ways and no amount of talks will stop that. Names Sandra."
"Button Mash." I nodded. "So, are you apart of Tony's pack or something?"
"Part of? I'm the one that dicks down that horn dog on the regular." Sandra laughed. "And Tina but that just became a thing last time we got Isekai'd."
"Huh…" I looked over all of her…"Yeah, I can see that. But Tina would be insanely happy to see you considering she mentioned your name a few times, I can bring her here or you can come with me if you want."
"That would be great. So, how'd you two meet?" Sandra asked.
"I met her at a New Foundation city's gym, she was doing her thing and I met her and her girlfriend Lovely Days, and then one thing led to another where we joined a Party and then…well…"
"Yeah, knowing her you two probably had a wonderful stuffing party." Sandra chuckled as I blushed.
"W-well…maybe…" I admitted. "But for the most part she's been a great help with fighting and…a wonder to be with romantically."
"Yeah… I'm glad to know she's alright… just wish we knew where Tony is." She sighed. "So, wanna go fetch her and have a three-way?"
"Two things…one, yes, and two…that was rather fast of you to offer up a three way…" I said carefully.
"You've known Tina for how long and are surprised?" She asked with a smirk.
"So long as you keep this out of the main chambers." Magnolia spoke up.
"We can turn this one here into a nice little meet up for Tina and I and Button here." Sandra said.
"Well, I knew Tina would have suggested it, just surprised you given we just met." I admitted. "But sure,
"Cool, I'll get a cozy bed spot set up here." Sandra said with a smirk.
I walked back through the portal, arriving back at the New Foundation main HQ. Now… where is that spa Tina is at…
"...Minimap's exist for a reason…" I thought to myself, checking my map to see where my party members were at.
I followed her little cartoony icon on my map to her location. The spa was rich with the smell of perfume and soap.
I walked inside and looked around, spotting Tina in a large back of what smelled like soap, perfume… and oatmilk.
"Hey Button." She said, giving me a nod as her body was neck deep in the bath mix.
"So…it smelling like oatmilk in here is a choice, but I have some important news." I said readily. "I just met Tony's pack and Sandra-"
"SANDRA'S HERE!?" Tina shouted as she shot up standing real quick.
"Y-yeah, she's at a Den because Magnolia, one of Tony's mates, is being turbo stubborn about people leaving or entering the Den so Sandra's staying there right now." I said quickly.
"I… They're here… They're safe…" She said, smiling. Some tears forming. "That means Shy, Twi, all of them could be here too."
"Even with such a huge as shit reality…small world I suppose." I chuckled. "Come on, I'll take you to her when you get cleaned up and dressed."
"I won't be needing to get dressed cause I'm taking that Nargacuga cock like it's the last thing I do." Tina said, before grabbing me and bolting out of here.
"Uh…okay…" I said slowly as I was being carried like a sack of potatoes here. "This is happening…"
Ohhhh…
Ouch…
Hurts… but hurts good…
"The fact you did a three way with two people like, four to five times your size and took both their meats at once is… honestly, both impressive and terrifying…" Gallon said as I was recovering on the couch at home.
"I feel like you were trying to reenact a porn…" Micheal added as he put another ice pack on me. "Also amazed your regeneration left you sore…"
"W-worth it…" I said weakly as I raised a shaky thumbs up.
"Ten out of Ten, would double team our birb again." Sandra said happily.
"So, are you gonna be coming and going?" Micheal asked her.
"Yeah, now that I know Tina is here and that means somewhere Tony is out there, I can at least make trips between the Den and here for supplies. Magnolia is strict but… between losing Tony and… one of her daughters… I know why she's the way she is now."
"Yeah…" Tina sighed. "See…Den Mothers are so absolutely committed to being Mothers and Protectors, of our children, of our home, of our mates if given the chance…but to lose your mate, be thrown into a new land and…what I can only assume is a Chaos Guild kidnapping one of your kids…it's such a horrible feeling…" Tina said sadly, having personally went through such a thing believing that she was alone in this wide world.
"I guess if anything, she just wants to keep them all safe… Hope her daughter will be fine…" Gallon sighed. "I… don't know what kind of… pain that would be like…"
"... Do you know what happened?" Micheal asked Sandra
"We woke up surrounded by those infected. Fighters started fighting, many started digging. The Snow Cyclopses of our Den weren't doing well in the midday sun. It was chaos. It wasn't until after we were underground and more secure that we took a head count. Daisy was the only one missing. She was only six." Sandra sighed. "We looked but her scent went cold…"
"I…I'm scared I know what happened…" I said slowly, seeing Sandra raise an eyebrow. "See, in this reality, people can't 'die' in the normal sense…they would respawn in a Safe Zone or their last respawn point…but we're on Armageddon, where everything is fucked and if you die, unless you have an Anchor…you respawn in Mother know's where…she could have respawned a couple miles away, she could have been teleported onto the other side of the planet…who know's." I explained.
"...And then, the Chaos Guilds…" Micheal added. "If one of them got her…"
"... She'd be as close to dead as one can come in this reality…" Tina said. "She was a girl… a Den Mother?" She asked. Sandra nodded. "Then if she was, she'd have been sold or given to Lust… Forced to age up and turned into a Breeder… people built or forced to become baby makers, they… don't think or want anything else but to pleasure their master and have their kids."
"... Magnolia's gonna want to die when she hears this…" Sandra said, her tone sounded… haunted.
"Yeah…I wanted to die too when I got here…" Tina admitted sadly. "But…it would be even worse knowing what they would be doing to her child…"
"So… Portals are all done." Micheal said. "Gallon and I will be at the office, when you two are done here, or when Button can move again, meet up, got some work to do." He said, the two walking out of the house.
I sighed… Well, this was… scary thoughts…
"Well…this soured the mood an ass ton…" I sighed bitterly.
"That's life on this ball of pain…" Tina said bitterly.
I sighed as I pushed myself up. I still feel sore, but I need to get to work. I stretched, letting joints and even the ones in my wings pop as I got up, shaking the ache off as Tina and I headed out.
We met up with Micheal and Gallon at the office quickly.
"Got here faster than I expected." Micheal said as he was looking over maps and such.
"We got work to do." I said. "Soreness be damned, I can still move my legs and be alright, so what's on today's docket?"
"Well, there's some Dungeons that I want to set up Outposts at, some locations that are high value item respawns, and the first data drive and other items came already so we also got a few Chaos Guild hideouts on the map."
"Good." I nodded. "Where are we going first?"
"Well, It's Nexus that is getting hit over in the Nightmare that's starting this whole thing of Panic Buying and such, so, they'd be a good mark to hit first, but, I'm not sure how much security they have. Not much is even in the Nightmare aside the monsters and dungeons there. Here, they're aware of New Foundation in the area so their defenses might be stronger than we're expecting."
"And they're not prepared for me to break down their front doors and wreck the house." I stated.
"Plus I have Transpite so there's practically nothing they can do to stop me." Tina admitted.
"True, but we'll still be going in blind. We know the locations, but not the layouts or if there's a trump or trap card they have in waiting." Micheal stated. "Besides, personally I think a different target would be better suited for us at the moment."
"What kind of target are we going after then?" I inquired.
"Lust." He said, showing Tina and I the map he was looking at, a building on it circled in red marker. "Based on where Magnolia and her Den appeared, this facility being a Lust Transport hub, odds are, her daughter was taken here."
"Then let's go there, rescue whoever we can, steal everything that we can use, and burn the entire damned place to the ground." Tina stated.
"It's a transport hub so odds are we might find lots of Breeders, Lust staff and according to these notes Midas left us, some Violence bioweapons acting as guards. Those will be the hardest to deal with, but before we do, we need to prepare."
"We need to prepare a lot, oh and also, I was busy grinding and did a lot of zombie murder with my new nifty sword, and got an asston of skill points if we want to work through that before going off."
"We'll be needing more. Tina and Gallon will team up and wipe out infected with those swords out in the zone topside. Meanwhile You and I Button can go back into that level one Void Dungeon and between using the swords, necklaces, and your natural booster and all that, we grind for Skill Points. Gallon and I are still the weakest, especially given that you and Tina basically have immorality Abilities while Gallon and I don't. Well, I get yours when your HP reaches Zero or you take lethal damage, but if Gallon and I could get our own that would keep us in the fight even if we're underpowered compared to you two."
"I wouldn't recommend Immortality, cause it fucking blows." I admitted.
"Maybe it does, but better than being sent to Respawn to god knows where and Gallon or I ending up… lost." Micheal sighed. "I'm not risking it. I can't risk it…"
"You two are a part of the Respawn Anchor remember?" I pointed out. "And if not then I have no idea why two of the most important people in this entire section of the planet aren't…"
"Because they're not easy to make. The resources are scarce enough as is. Besides, this just makes more sense in the long run." Micheal stated.
"Weird that they would be scarce considering…the Foundation." I admitted.
"It will keep us in the fight and hey, there's already an Immortality Ability we do have our eyes on." Gallon said.
"It just requires a Vitality of 14,000 first." Micheal said.
"Woah…" Tina said.
"Well, that shouldn't take too long." I admitted. "Cause if I get even a hundred skill point orb that would be seventy two thousand, more than enough to get both of you that immortality ability."
"I'm hoping we can grind enough to get even more than that. So, are you two up for the work?" Micheal asked.
"Gallon and I can have some fun teaming up for a while." Tina nodded.
"Especially in your pupper form." Gallon added with a chuckle.
"Yis." Tina said proudly.
I chuckled warmly. "Hmm, should we invite Sandra to our escapades? She looked and…felt really strong." I brought up.
"Your sex life aside, maybe later. Right now we have work to do now." Micheal said.
"Well, technically out of all of us she has the most experience combat wise." Tina pointed out. "Just to let you all know."
"Why's that?" I inquired.
"She used to be rather respected…Hunter Shadow." Tina brought up. 'But with her new Narcaguga Den Mother form…who know's how strong she is now." Tina shrugged.
"We'll keep that info for later, but we still have some business doing some skill point farming." I stated.
"Alright, then let's get going."
With that, Micheal and I headed for the Void Dungeon and Tina and Gallon went out and started a mass zombie slaughter.
The dungeon was the same as last time. I gabe Micheal a few Final Thanks boosts and then we got to work.
I have to admit, the Fear Resist helped a lot. While these things were still ugly as hell and terrifying as all shit, my immediate reaction wasn't panic, it was more… surprise.
Made taking these things out easier.
"We can probably head down to level five and call it a day." Micheal said as we were walking down the tracks.
"Yeah, level five sounds good." I nodded. "But thank Mother for Fear Resist, makes me not panic all the time.'
"Yeah, fighting these things on fire is a lot less fun than fighting them normal." Micheal smirked as we entered the next area.
"Oh yeah." I nodded. "But so far things are working out fine here."
"So far. Hm, you know, I wonder what kind of loot the higher level Void Dungeons drop? When that Update thing happens in a few months, that's gonna make the level fives less dangerous, right?"
"Yeah, it'll make level five nonlethal." I said. "Now I don't know if Level Five Void Dungeon's ignore Immortality but I'd rather not test that out yet, best best to wait for the update."
"Fair." Micheal nodded. "Bet they drop incredible loot though."
"Oh yeah, I can only imagine what kind of sweet loot it would drop." I said as my imagination ran a bit with that and imagined some really cool shit.
This next area was another station. This one was in complete ruin, barely anything of a station was recognizable. There was, interestingly enough, a ruined train car here filled with skeletons and some stuff inside.
"Well, this place looks like it's seen better days." I said, still ready for whatever nonsense it wants to throw at us.
"I noticed that each chamber we come across is in a worse state than the last. We must be reaching the last room of this floor." Micheal said as he jumped into the ruined car, looking the bones over for a moment before kneeling down and began picking out suit cases and such. "This reminds me a lot of back home…" He sighed.
"How so?" I inquired, helping scavenge the place.
"Mass extinction event, remember?" He asked as he popped the suitcase open. Inside were a few potions and what looked like ammo. "Just us Nokori. Humans all got killed by the event, and other magical based races seemed to have just… been slaughtered by the magical wildlife. Went to a mostly Elf based city to check and see, the place was in ashes. Dragons, which is weird considering they're not native to that area." He sighed. "But in those early years, bodies littered Leto. Decaying over time. It was… a sickening sight everywhere you looked."
"Yeah…that makes sense." I nodded. "I suppose I'm just…desensitized to all this after so many years of fighting the undead…"
"I can relate. Over time, the bodies became less and less… recognizable, as once living people. Still, remembering the old days always brings back this knot in my stomach… Hey Button, what would you have done?"
"Before or after I got to this reality?" I inquired.
"If an unknown event took out your whole species." Micheal said, the loot in the case doubling from the Title, and he began pocketing them. "If you were taken against your will, transformed into a whole new species, had spent years inside, only to one day have all the doors open up, a message play on loop, telling you all outside were dead, and you and all the others in that building with you, all three thousand, five hundred and thirty six of you were the last remnants of your species. When you finally step outside and see sunlight for the first time in years, all that's there to greet you is the silence of a city, populated by corpses." Micheal asked. "What would you have done, in those first days?"
"Well…if it was before I got to this reality…I would have probably took over a hobby shop, called it 'Fort Gamer', and done nothing but play video games all day." I shrugged, causing Micheal to laugh in shock at how dumb my idea was. "But after I got here…I suppose I would try to find any other survivor's, try and build some form of new life with the other survivors and just…go from there I suppose." I shrugged.
"Yeah… that's about what I did…" He said, opening the next case. "In those early days I felt worthless. I tried to help, tried to find use, make myself useful. While others were clearing out the bodies, incinerating and sanitizing the areas, taking over and maintaining the farmlands, keeping the water systems operational and working to try and fix up the power grid so nothing was unnecessarily wasted, I was trying to see if I could give the dead back their identities. In the end someone else took over that job… heh, and as usual, Gallon was working on community improvements. First thing he ever got done was build a relaxation and rec room for others to unwind in. He then took requests and little by little, began working on them. In the end, he helped me find my purpose. I helped track supplies that were needed. Shipping warehouses, loaded semi trucks, factories where goods were produced. In the end, I made myself useful by raiding the ruins of the world."
"Sounds like you managed a good life after you met Gallon." I admitted.
"Yeah… while I spent my time working myself to the bone to be useful, to justify why I was alive after the event, he spent his time getting me on dates and forcing me to relax and smile so I didn't burn myself out. I guess in the end, I'm amazed I didn't initially turn Dante down when Gallon introduced us. Heh. Sorry for getting weird, guess this is just… getting to me." He said.
"Nah it's alright, you getting weird on me means you trust me enough to get weird with me." I explained. "And if I was Tina I'd make a joke about how that sounds mildly dirty…"
"Pfft. I swear Gallon and Tina are a lot alike in that regard."
"So, what happened between you and Sandra?" Gallon asked. He and Tina standing on a rooftop to spot hordes of undead easier.
"It's…a whole thing." Tina admitted, grabbing a Tyrant infected and Consuming it whole as it would give her extra bonus like she saw with Button. "But…if I wasn't such a horny, harem fetish loving doggo…she would be my one and only."
"...Do you regret not being her one and only?" Gallon asked.
"Honestly? No, cause Sandra know's me and Tony like the back of her hand and technically we were giving her the start of her own harem." Tina admitted. "And no, me and Tony have standards, no incest, that is one thing we don't do even if I was told 'incest doesn't mean shit anymore'."
"Hm, fair, though if you were gonna date other people as well as her, that would be more of a Polycule right? Agh, I spent way too much time with Silver…" He sighed.
Tina chuckled. "Sounds like a fun person to be with."
"She already had two wives. Back in the early days she focused solely on taking care of all the kids that were taken and turned into Nokori. She loved children, always wanted to be a mom, but a very bad love life made that hard to accomplish. Still, in the end she got her wish. All the Orphaned kids Y Labs took and turned, they all recognized her as mom, she met and fell in love with two really bad ass ladies, Obsidian and Citrine. In the end, everyone knew her as Mother Silver." Gallon chuckled. "Though, the fact she took care of so many kids was… a bit more terrifying than anything. Literal hundreds ranging from toddlers that don't even remember ever being human to teenagers. She had a big heart, and since her Orphanage worked with my 'Church of Y' we worked in the same office space more often than not."
"That's good to hear." Tina said, slashing one more infected and setting off a chain lightning that killed twenty more. "But since you're giving me all these details…" Tina shook her head. "Me and Tony both met Sandra at a silly masquerade party, ask for a simple fling because at the time we were all but wearing a 'Free Use, just Ask' sign…but after that day of some of the most emotional sex we've ever had…she was our world, even though she bailed on her rich 'family', we couldn't have been any happier together…but then…the one day that still haunts me to this day happened…"
"... You two did something, huh?" Gallon asked. "Something you regret, and hate yourselves for to this day?"
"It was the day we were going to propose…and she was going to tell us she was pregnant…" Tina teared up. "We just…we just made a dumbass joke…but she just got back from the bathroom without any context to it and…and everything fell apart…our love, our lives, our futures…shattered, broken…just as dead as the miscarriage Sandra had…." She explained bitterly, her anger at that horrid time activating the Fulgur bugs she got as she activated her Charged State that doubled her strength and speed. "I tried…we tried to get Sandra back…we did all we could but…but we just grew to hate each other for years…I wanted her back so bad…" She trailed off as she howled and swung her sword again, this time a shockwave of electricity shot out from the sword and cleaved through more infected like they were butter to a hot knife.
"Yeah… that would do it." Gallon sighed. "I don't know much about multi partner relationships, but Silver always said they needed constant communication from all members. Anything withheld or secrets tend to lead them down bad routes. Even in the more open ones, everyone must know. Never had it in me to try something like that… but I know what it's like to sabotage a good thing, though I did so intentionally because I didn't think I was worth his love…" Gallon said, looking down at the street below.
"We tried to tell her that we just made a stupid joke, that everything was fine…we trusted each other so much…" Tina sighed. "Then, we got into an argument when me and Tony were trying to buy a Zinogre statue from Demon and…while me and Tony appeared on Equis as Zinogre's…Sandra was a Hunter Shadow in a world Tony went to for a bet with Voodoo…where he learned it was ten long years for her…but our love stayed true, and while she was being a bit stubborn about things, well Tony worked hard to get her that body she has now and…well, I couldn't have been happier to have gotten a hug from her immediately after seeing her and then some very wonderful make up sex…it was like nothing ever happened when we were together like that…I had my Sandra, and she had me and Tony…and…and now I have her back again." The zinogre den mother said with tears of joy in her eyes.
"Yeah… I know that feeling too." Gallon chuckled as he sat on the building's edge. "I knew I loved Micheal, but there was a part of me that felt like… I didn't deserve him. It was nearing the end of our 'arrangement' and Well… I had known Dante, helped him with some work rebuilding the library and talked him into it. He and Micheal were… perfect. Hell, he was nice, kind, one hell of a looker… they got along great. Meanwhile I just let myself drown in my own emotions. Heh… would get so drunk I'd see my old man's ghost yelling at me… his face was the last thing I wanted to see, his voice even less when I was drunk…"
"But you have Micheal now…cause love is a weird thing sometimes."
"Heh, yeah. Still, sometimes I think back and wonder… how I almost never had this. Had him. My advice, Tina… don't ever risk losing or doing something that could lose her. You got your happy ending… and now, she's here, with you and someday, we'll find your brother and he'll be with her too."
"You don't have to tell me twice my friend." Tina said, having cleared thing's out and sitting down with him. "It's…it's just a miracle…"
"Yeah. Guess we both really lucked out. You found Sandra and know for a fact now your brother is here, your other loved ones too, and I ended up here with Micheal. Makes me happy things worked out so well, even if I wasn't expecting to be leaving Hulda whether I found him or not…" Gallon sighed.
"Yeah, we are really lucky to have the ones we love with us here." Tina agreed. "As long as we have them…everything seems a lot easier all things considered."
"Yeah. Even if I worry about Micheal with his Perfect Custodian thing, not gonna lie, seeing him go all take charge, ring leader of our group… really turns me on~" Gallon said with a huge grin.
"I see you like being dommed every now and then I see." Tina giggled.
"Believe it or not, when he isn't an adorable blushing ball of cuteness he can be very confidently sexy when he does that. And that is so worth being bottom." Gallon laughed.
"I can imagine." Tina giggled. "I love topping as much as the next person, but bottoming for someone special and confident like that is something else."
"Oh do tell."
"Ah-choo!" Micheal sneezed. "Shit… was that dust or something?" He asked as he rubbed his nose.
I was about to speak, then also sneezed. Well that was weird.
"Well…maybe it's some anime logic or something?" I questioned. "Someone's talking about us maybe?"
"Maybe? Eh…" He shrugged, stretching as we finished beating this floor boss… one very nasty, very ugly unholy amalgamation of metal, rotting flesh and rock. "So, what did this thing drop?" Micheal asked as we walked over to the drops. There was a large bag of rem, what looked to be a crossbow with several bolts, and two potions of a glowing golden energy.
I used Scan.
[Scan Complete!
4,980,540 Rem!
–
Crossbow of Survival
Att: 305
Def: 201
Mag: 190
–
Vibranium Crossbow Bolts x20
–
Fully Restoration Potion x2]
"Well…damn." I blinked. "Before my item multiplier kicks in, 4,980,540 rem, a really strong Crossbow of Survival, twenty Vibranium Volts, and two full restore potions."
"Sweet, and after, a lot more of each." Micheal smiled. "Those potions will especially be of use."
I nodded and got to work.
Alright, that's 3,585,988,800 rem, seven hundred and twenty crossbows of survival, 14,400 bolts of vibranium metal, and 1,440 Full Restoration potions.
What a haul.
"Mind if I take some of the potions. I can use Super Nanny to help out Gallon and Tina from here if I see their HP starts to drop, doubt it will but better safe than sorry." Micheal said.
"Sure." I said, handing him half of the potions.
"Perfect. Alright, guess this leads to floor two." Micheal said as we looked down at the hole. It was a bit of a drop. "So, glide down then?" He asked, flexing his wings a bit.
"Yep." I nodded, spreading my wings with a smile. "Let's do some gliding."
Nodding as well, Micheal and I both began gliding down the tunnel. It was dark but oddly relaxing. We were reaching the end of it and oddly, we saw something… light?
"Well that feels unsettling…" Micheal hummed.
"Well…either it's a train demon barreling towards us, or we're supposed to head towards said light…"
"Well, whatever it is, be ready." Micheal said.
We got closer and closer to that light, almost feeling blinded by it once we were on top of it.
We then flew into it… and emerged outside high above a metropolis.
"Excuse me- what the fuck?!" Micheal yelled at us suddenly being a mile or more in the sky suddenly.
"You took the words right out of my mouth Micheal…" I said, absolutely confused as to where the fuck we were now.
We landed on a skyscraper's roof, shaking off the surprise and looking over the edge. Micheal pulled out some binoculars and looked through them. "Well… there are more undead down there… Did you know a Dungeon could do… any of this?" He asked, motioning to all around.
"I did not…this is first…" I said carefully. "What the hell's going on…"
"No idea…" He said, looking through the binoculars. "Where even is the exit to the next floor… how the fuck are we supposed to get back?" He asked, looking up.
I did as well, seeing nothing but a bright blue, partly cloudy sky.
"...This better not be a planet room someone shoved into this dungeon…" I admitted. "I mean, would be safe to put it here, go out when the monsters respawn but…fuck…"
"I doubt it… Something about this feels staged… I mean, look at all the buildings, it's like back on Floor one in the first area, the buildings and everything around looks… new. Like, the undead just appeared here…"
"Yeah…something about this isn't right…" I said, looking over the landscape to see if there was anything out of the ordinary even for this nonsense.
As Micheal and I looked, I was wondering what's going on here… "Hey Button…" Micheal spoke up.
"What?" I inquired.
"Uh, you said Dungeons can spawn people in pods, right?"
"Prize Pods people, yes." I nodded. "Why? What's up?"
"Yeah uh… are the monsters able to… break them open?"
… What?!
"They shouldn't, and we need to stop them!" I said quickly. "Where's the pod?"
"Down there, outside the overturned bus!" He said. I turned and looked, seeing the overturned bus and that there was a single pod being bashed by the undead, smearing blood across it.
I descended down onto the undead and cleaving through the swiftly, being mindful of the pod and keeping it safe.
I tried to open it, but it wouldn't. The hoard around me was swarming so I managed to find a handle, and by some miracle of all that's divine, flew this thing back over to Micheal on the roof.
It. Was. Heavy.
"You good?" Micheal asked me.
"I'm fine, but this thing is heavy." I panted.
"So… this is a prize pod?" He asked as he walked over to it. "It's… big."
"Yeah, they're made to house people." I said, looking over the thing to see what kind of pod it was.
As I was trying to find the mark, I… wasn't finding it. Micheal though, touched it and it gave a hiss, the thing began opening.
"Is that… normal?" Micheal asked.
"Well…I couldn't find a mark but it opened up for you so maybe it's a Lover Pod…" I said, taking a step away from the pod to see who would appear.
"Oh I hope to god not!" He said, backing up. The lid from the pod opened and inside was…
She was small, very small, with a light gray fur coat, a thin pink tail and large pink ears. No real head hair, just more of her fur coat. She was a mouse, humanoid.
She blinked, opening her eyes as she yawned, looked around and her bright blue eyes fell on Micheal. "Daddy!" She cheered, getting up and hug tackling Micheal.
"I'm sorry… what?" Micheal asked.
[Notice! Dungeon Quest Started! Protect Tulip From Infected.
Rewards: Tulip(Daughter)]
"Well…first, congratulations on the new Daughter…and two, we have a dungeon quest to protect her from the Infected…" I said carefully.
"I'm sorry, is this normal? Is this like… some weird thing Dungeons do?" Micheal asked, his arms up as the little mouse girl, Tulip, was still hugging him.
"Well, the Lover class Prize Pods also have categories, like Child, which is weird phrasing for it…but I suppose it's normal, but the dungeon quest? That's a first for me."
"Uh… so, do they mean like… adopted daughter cause…" He motioned to the both of them. "Uh… what the fuck?"
"Uh…I don't know, maybe she is biologically yours…hold on." I said, deciding to use Scan on the little girl to see if she actually was biologically his.
[Scan Complete!
Name: Tulip
Gender: Female
Age: 4
Father: Micheal
Mother: N/A
Race: Nokori]
"Yeah, she's yours." I said.
"...What?"
As Tina and Gallon walked the streets, a gorific display of decapitated and dismembered infected behind them, Gallon suddenly paused in his steps. "Something just happened…" He muttered.
"What?" Tina asked.
"I don't know… but I'm very excited and happy for some reason…"
"How does that even work?!" Micheal yelped in a panic.
"I don't know, I haven't really delved deep into the logic of Prize Pod People." I said nervously, but I was quick to grab a rather strange looking infected, looked like some sick mixture of a man, spider and flying squirrel as I threw it off the side of the building we were on hard, causing it to crash and cave in the ground away from us. "Though I think we better get moving, our cute little Tulip here is in danger."
"Move where? It's not like we can just keep building hopping to a safe place, lot of these infected can climb and some might even be able to fly."
"Then clearly you don't know that's exactly what we're going to be doing." I said readily
"Then we'd just keep moving til what, every infected is dead or we find a way out?"
"As someone that's been exclusively doing that for ten years straight, yes." I said simply
"That doesn't make any sense for some dungeon quest-" Micheal started, stopping as he pulled out the Bloody Blaster from his Inventory and fired it. The extremely loud gunshot echoing out as the bullet zoomed past me and I to the head of some flying infected, turning it to chunks that all fell below. "To just be some makeshift defense mission."
"Wouldn't be the first time something weird like this happened." I shrugged. "Come on, it's just like Dead Rising just without the horrible AI."
"Wait… if that's the case then… there would be a safe zone in all this mess."
"There should be, so let's go find one." I said readily. "Ready to run around with daddy Tulip?" I asked with a smile.
"Where are we going?" She asked.
"To a safe place." I answered readily. "Where that is…well, we'll be figuring that out sooner or later."
"Okay. Who are you?" She asked.
"My name's Button Mash." I said politely.
With that, Micheal finally got up, and slowly put his arms around Tulip to hold and support her up as she clung to him.
"I still got two hours on the Final Thanks boost." He said.
"That should be plenty of time to look around the place." I said, flapping my wings up into the sky and starting to look around. "Hmm…ya know, I wonder…" I thought to myself, as the Alicorn of Volcanos, I should probably be able to tell what the ground is like, as I focused my magic on sensing the earth's area and trying my best not to accidentally create a Volcano here.
Hmm… alright, if I'm doing this right… this isn't actually a planet or even an open space… it's a single room. A few hundred miles around and two miles up and tall… meaning the sky and such are illusions. Okay so where is the escape… there has to be an escape…
"Button!" Micheal yelled.
I turned and saw there was a large black portal opening on the ground. Emerging from it, was a partly skull, partly flesh head with glowing white eyes. "Get in." It said.
… okay seriously, the fuck?
"Uh….okay sure…" I said carefully. "What in Mother's name is that?"
"Hey I'm trying to help now get in the portal before the building collapses!" The head snapped.
"... Well, not like we got a lot of options or can this dungeon get any weirder…" Micheal said, holding onto Tulip as he jumped in.
I followed.
The portal felt like… oily jello, and we emerged out in… somewhere else. We were in what looked like a brick building. The partly skull headed being was a mix of blackened flesh and exposed bone on their body.
"Who are you and what is going on?" Micheal asked.
"I'm Ridge, and what's going on is that you two started a quest that was never properly created."
"Uh…first, nice to meet you Ridge…and two, how is that possible?"
He sighed, crossing his arms and leaned against the wall. "Okay, so you two know what a Void Admins are, right?" We nodded. "Well, I'm one of them."
"...Oh dear…" I muttered in worry. "Uh…well, it's nice to meet a Void Admin for the first time…"
"If you say so." Ridge shrugged. "Anyways, Void Admins are meant to oversee Void Dungeons. This includes repairs, maintenance, ECT. Now Void Admins are rare enough but even more rare here on Armageddon."
"Is it because the Chaos Guilds would be hunting you down or something?" I inquired. "Or is it because of the Majority?" I asked, having just learned about their fucking death cult having a Void Admin would be amazing for them.
"Bit of both. Anyway, this room and quest were actually unfinished."
"Are you the one who left it unfinished?" Micheal asked.
"No, that was a different Void Admin. Not many people make it to floor two in Void Dungeons anyway so, I took a while getting here to wrap things up."
"And you had her be the reward?"
"Better than letting some Chaos Guild member take her."
"Oh yeah, definitely." I nodded.
"Besides, she's a very special child. Not just anyone could have opened her pod." Ridge added. He waved his hand over us, a flash of black and green.
[Quest Complete! Tulip has been saved!]
"Cool." I nodded. "And she's special because Child Prize Pods only open for their designated parents? That's why she didn't open up for me?"
"No. See, she's not a normal Prize Pod person. She wasn't brought here from Loot Spawn like others, she was created by a Void Admin who's… no longer around."
"You can… create people?" Micheal asked.
"With limitations but yes." Ridge nodded.
"So…this was a past Void Admin's daughter or something?" I asked, looking at Tulip still holding onto Micheal.
"Sort of. I don't know much, but before the Void Admin that made her was stationed to Armageddon and the Void Dungeons here, he used to draw a lot, and he always drew that little mouse girl. That's about all I know."
I nodded in understanding. "And…what happened to the Void Admin here?"
"Madness. Not even admins are immune. He spent a lot of his time just bringing his drawings to life, the people and children he drew, made them flesh and blood. Heh, artist til the end really."
"I understand." I nodded. "At least they lived happy doing what they loved."
"So… why me?" Micheal asked. "Button's a father, and mother, so why me?"
"Maybe you and him are alike, I dunno." Ridge shrugged. "So, I take it you two are gonna want out then? I can finish this dungeon up properly, remove the quest and fix up that floor and you two get out of here."
"That would be good, cause we were just grinding and wanted to see the rest of the dungeon." I said honestly. "Gotta do some grinding before taking out a Lust facility."
"Fair. Hopefully I'll have this place fixed up in a few days. Anyway, good luck and take care of that little one. She was important to someone."
Ridge snapped his fingers, another Void Portal opening on the wall next to us.
Micheal looked Ridge, then Tulip a look before walking through it and I followed.
We popped out the other side of it outside the dungeon. Well, that was interesting.
"I have no idea how Gallon is gonna react to… her." Micheal said.
"He's probably going to be super excited about it." I admitted.
"Maybe, but we never even talked about adopting kids or anything… now I suddenly have a biological daughter thanks to freaky dungeon magic…"
"No, thanks to freaky Loot magic." I corrected. "But how well do you think he'll take a joke I'm cooking up for this situation?"
"... If you say you're the mother, I'm shooting you in your ovaries…"
"Then you'll feel the same pain as me, and do you want to know the pain of shot ovaries when you don't have them?" I asked. "Or would it feel like getting shot in the dick? Hmm…well, if you want to take that chance my guy that's up to you."
"Either way, this is just… a lot to suddenly happen. I don't even know how to care for a child let alone be a parent. Gallon and I were both only children and honestly, being a parent was not on my life goals."
"Me and Tina will help you out my guy, we have experience doing all that parenting stuff." I said. "Tina more so…but still."
"But that's infant care, she's four and no offense but uh…" Micheal said, giving me a worried look.
"Yes, I know, I'm a dogshit parent, I tell myself that everyday." I rolled my eyes. "Not my fault I had to spend ten fucking years heading to that bastard David…" I sighed bitterly.
"... I mean, I was gonna say Inexperienced with… toddlers…" Micheal said, slightly hushed. "I don't think you're a bad parent, I… know what you did was for a good reason, a good cause, and you're dealing with the results that came from it. Besides, at the end of the day you got more experience than I or Gallon combined anyway."
"Yes…and I do have experience with Toddlers, but Tina has the most." I admitted.
"Right. Still… this is all a whole new thing for me…"
"You get used to it." I chuckled. "Welcome to parenthood my friend."
"Something I never expected for various reasons." He sighed.
"Well, you get to experience the joy's and mild pains of parenthood." I said. "They're wonderful bundles of joy that can bug the piss out of ya but it's worth it to see their warm smiles."
"Yeah I know, your daughter Jada is… something." He said.
"Hey!" We turned, seeing Tina and Gallon rush up. "What's up- what the hell?" Tina asked as she and Gallon stopped at seeing Tulip in Micheal's arms.
"Tina, Gallon, I have some news." I started. "Micheal and I had a child, and her name is Tulip." I motioned to the mouse girl.
"No you didn't." Tina stated. "Tulip smells nothing like you."
"You ruined the joke…" I grumbled.
"Thank you Tina, also," Micheal started before-
Bang!
Son of a bitch!
I gripped my already regenerating sides. Ouch!
"Told you I'd shoot you in your ovaries." Micheal said. I did notice him gritting his teeth hard from the shared pain.
"That was my whole insides…" I hissed.
"Twenty millimeter shells. They make big holes." He said, coughing as he gripped his side too. "Worth it…"
"No, it wasn't from how crippled you look." I hissed.
"...Micheal, you really need to stop being a Yandere about this…" Tina sighed.
"How the fuck does that even apply here?"
"The gut wound you gave me would like to answer." I frowned. "I don't care if it regenerated, you still shot me for a dumbass joke."
"I told you I would and I did. Not my fault you don't listen." He huffed.
"Since when are you such a-" I started.
"Hold it…" Gallon spoke up. "I just realized something… Micheal, when you get all… like that, from Final Thanks, your temper is more easily set off…"
"And?"
"Well, what if Final Thanks transfers more than just stats? I mean, no offense but you're kinda acting like Button when he's all pissed off."
"I mean…the lava and regeneration should have been dead giveaways that it also did abilities…" I pointed out. "Cause if it just did stats, he wouldn't have been on fire or having my Chaos Blades."
"You know what I mean." Gallon rolled his eyes. "Point is, Final Thanks transfers all that over and then it stacking each death might also transfer parts of the person's personality. Then stacks it to."
"I mean… that does make sense. Micheal does act a lot more bold, brash, arrogant and hot headed after a few Final Thanks boosts from Button. No offense Button." Tina said.
"You wish I was arrogant and hot headed." I huffed.
"I mean…you are?" Gallon pointed out.
"If you think I'm arrogant and hot headed, then boy howdy will you be surprised when you actually meet someone that is those things." I frowned.
"It's in moderation Button, but stacked onto itself like that several times over? Then it becomes noticeable. Also, not really helping your case but proving the point." Gallon spoke up. "Point is, I know my husband. You wouldn't shoot at someone who tried to kill you Micheal, so I know you shooting Button for a joke like that isn't really you."
Micheal looked at us, the Bloody Blaster in his hand then… sighed, the weapon vanishing and returning to his Assistant storage. "I'm gonna feel like dog shit when this wears off aren't I?"
"Probably. Guilty and all that." Tina said.
"Wait, so does that mean if…" Micheal asked, motioning between Gallon and Tina.
"You will either become an overprotective yandere like Gallon, or you'll become the biggest horndog on this planet like Tina." I stated.
"That sounds hilarious if Micheal becomes as horny as me." Tina laughed.
"Hornier if it's multiple to stack." Gallon smirked.
"I'm gonna start using this ability in moderation from now on…" Micheal sighed.
"That would be for the best." I said honestly.
"Well, come on… Gallon and I need to reorganize and add a room to our part of the house for Tulip." Micheal said, taking a deep breath before he started walking.
We got back home and while Gallon and Micheal showed Tulip the house, Tina helping them get kids supplies for later, I went to… check something.
Thankfully, O5-1 has answers and I get to talk to them…
"Normally I don't take unscheduled visitations." The older man said as he sat in the desk. "But your group does have an acception to that rule."
"Thank you sir." I nodded. "I have some questions about things…one about Void Admins and one about Final Thanks if you know more about it."
"If it's within my knowledge." He chuckled. "What did you want to know?"
"Well, let's start with Final Thanks, does the user also gain their custody's personality?" I inquired. "Cause we just had a…minor incident with that where Micheal was becoming more agitated like me…"
"Yes, that's known to happen." He said, reaching over to a tea cup on his desk and picking it up. "Let me ask you something, Button, what do you know of the story of the Lion with a thorn in it's paw?"
"Well, I suppose in this case it would be a Manticore for me, but the story goes that a Manticore was in pain due to a thorn in it's paw, and when it traveled to a building as I don't remember what, many people ran from it scared, but one kind person took the thorn out of it's paw and it was forever grateful to them." I explained, trying to remember that old story I haven't heard in well over fifteen years…
"Hm. In the story I know, the Lion tried and did their best to remove it, but to no avail. Then a mouse, small and timid, approached, and offered help. The lion, amused such a small creature approached it, humored the mouse. After all, if he could not pull it out with all it's strength then how could the mouse? In the end, the mouses size made it small enough to grab hold of the thorn, and pulled it out in one swift tug. The lion was surprised, and in a show of appreciation and gratitude, befriended and guarded the mouse from others that would hunt them for food." O5-1 said. "In this story, you, Tina, and even Gallon are the Lions. Micheal, is the mouse."
"Considering how protective Gallon is, I'm not surprised." I managed to joke.
"Heh. Indeed. At their core, all Custodians and Perfect Custodian title holders wish is to help others… but tell me, what do you think happens when a timid, gentle creature gains the size, strength and traits of oh say, a predator?" He asked. "To use such power requires certain personality traits that are key for victory over an obstacle. Micheal, naturally, lacks this. You, however, do not, so, Final Thanks transfers these key traits over as well. After all, anyone can gain power, strength, but to use it to help and harm well, that takes something else."
"Right…" I sighed. "So, if that's how that works…then if he were to gain the powers of Tina and Gallon…"
"Same as you, just their own versions. Now tell me, what do you think happens, or would happen, if a natural predator received this power?"
"Um…would they act the same but stronger or would they go out of control with the new power getting to their head?"
"In the past, a few received this power. In the end, most noticed little to no changes. One, however, sought to grow their power, using the power to empower themselves and not others. That's not to say all who would be classified as predators are ill suited for the power, it just depends on if they use it for what it was made for. Still, as you lot and your Custodian grow in power, changes are inevitable."
"Right…" I said carefully. "So…best not to abuse this power then…" I said carefully.
"I wasn't talking about the power." O5-1 said, sipping his tea. "Tell me Button, compare yourself now to how you were long ago, before you got stronger, before when survival in this place was to hide and sneak. Were you happier then, or now?"
I thought about that…I thought about all the times I had to sneak around when it was just me and Cheat, then to when it was just me going on so many murder runs for the rest of my family…I always had something to do, I always had a goal…"Simple doesn't mean happier but…it was a lot simpler back then, when I either had to sneak around or even go on killing runs on a daily basis for supplies…I always had something to do, a goal to achieve…"
"And now, you're easily bored with the daily, mundane life your partners and children lead, isn't that right?"
…
"I should be happy to be with them…to finally take a break…to keep my promises…" I sighed. "But yes…I am bored of the mundane, when I should be enjoying it with my family, I should enjoy the simpler things with my kids and getting Jada to actually be functional outside of her deadly obsession with coffee and video games…"
"But you aren't. You find yourself craving a goal, a reason to keep fighting, keep getting stronger, to keep going. To keep fighting. Do you know why that is?"
"Because…I'm this predator you're talking about?" I asked, thinking this is where he's going with this conversation.
He smirked. "And what is the boring, mundane lives of the mice to that of the Lion who sees danger, and sees a challenge, a thrill. In getting stronger, in choosing the path of the Lion, you lose touch with the mice, and in removing weakness to become strong, people you hold close, you end up distancing because in the end, you can not relate to people who are, for all intents, weaker than yourself."
I…was horrified…as a part of me shriveled up with that explanation…"Oh…that's…that's not good at all…"
"Power, like all things, can be an addiction. A craving that never truly goes away, nor a calling few can ignore." O5-1 sighed, taking another sip of his tea.
I looked at my hands…and now just wondered…"I…I don't want to abandon my family…to lose the people I care about because of this…"
"Then don't." He said, making me look back up to him. "If disconnection is what you fear, then you need to remember, remember how it is to live and walk amongst the mice, remember what it is to be weak, vulnerable."
"But…what if I can't?" I asked weakly, fearing my own need for strength and this upcoming battle against the Chaos Guilds would just…ruin everything…
"... I might have a treatment." He said, reaching into his desk. He pulled out what looked like a bracelet, on it was a chain, kept on by a lock that had the key in it. "This item is called the Shackle of Revert. When worn, it resets your stats back to their base and locks you out of Abilities. It's not much, but wearing it while within the walls of town, might help you remember and relive simpler times."
"Well…it's better than nothing." I said. "It'll feel weird at first but…hopefully I can understand again."
"Hopefully. This is why Custodians and Perfect Custodians are such an interest to the New Foundation, to me personally, and to Midas. They know both how to be the Mouse and the Lion. A rare thing too few can manage."
"Well I'm stuck here about to lose everything I care about because I can't understand how to just…be normal…"
"My advice, wear that when in town and take a vacation. At least for a few days. Remember and reconnect with your family. After all, weakness is what let's us truly connect to one another."
Right…
I put the bracelet on, locking the little lock and pulling the key out.
[Shackles of Revert Activated! Abilities are all locked until removed. Stats temporarily reset to base numbers until removed.]