"So this kid is… the whole planet?" Gallon asked, giving a boop to Armageddon's muzzle.
The foal chuckled at that.
"Why does he look like you?" Micheal asked.
"They chose to." I said. "Kinda thought it was to be more like…'see what you're used to' kinda deal but I'm not sure." I admitted.
"Well why is he here?"
"Because his father, Dark Gray, said that 'shit's going down' and…he gave Armageddon a body, plopped him down a few miles away with a very important key…that a random Pack Rat stole from him." I said.
"So we need to find that Key and figure out what it's for." Tina said.
"Precisely." I nodded.
"Well should we bring the kid along then?" Micheal asked.
"I can help." Armageddon said. "I know secrets."
"What kind of secrets?" I inquired.
"All kinds. Got a map?" He asked. Micheal walked over to him, a printed out map of some of the area around the walls. Armageddon pulled a crayon from his assistant and circled a building on the map. "This place has a secret."
"What kind of secret? We've been there, it's an electronics store." Micheal said.
"A secret room that always fills with fun stuff."
"Wait…you're talking about those Secret Rooms in games that tend to have some rare stuff if you know where to look?" I asked in surprise.
"I guess." He shrugged.
"How do you know this?" Tina asked.
"I know where everything is."
"That… makes sense…" Micheal hummed. "If Armageddon is the soul of this planet, it makes sense he'd know where everything on his 'body' is."
"Yep." I nodded. "So, how's about we go and do some Secret Room hunting?"
"Well, guess we can take every advantage we can." Micheal said.
"Well this will be interesting." Gallon said, picking up Armageddon in his arms.
"I mean, we were also going to have to find the Key that was snatched, but also doing some adventuring will do us some good." I nodded, getting up and stretching a bit. "Alright, time to head off."
We headed out and towards the Electronics Store on the map. It was looted, being this close to the walls how could it not be?
"So, where's the secret?" Gallon asked, still holding Armageddon in their arms.
"You gotta shoot lightning at the camera right there." The foal said, pointing to the small camera mounted on the right corner of the ceiling.
"That's…a weirdly specific thing." I admitted as Tina raised a hand and shot lightning at the specific camera Armageddon said to shoot.
It sparked and crackle and then the wall in front of us dropped down, revealing a long stairway down.
… What the?
"Well, that's unexpected." Micheal said with a blink.
"Uh…yeah, this is rather unexpected." I said honestly, carefully moving towards the long stairway to see what was at the bottom.
We walked down, arriving at the bottom and through a door we were met with what looked to be a Bunker. It was Fully Stocked.
Weapons. Ammo. Armor. Food. Medicine… there was just so much here…
"How many secret rooms like this are there?" Gallon asked.
"Lots. Most are well hidden like this one. Some are guarded." Armageddon answered.
"This is more than I've ever found at once while on Runs…" I muttered.
"This is nuts." Tina said.
"Yeah…this…this is insane." I said as I walked in. "Uh…and does this respawn with this much stuff?"
"Yeah, but only once a year." Armageddon said. "Unless you have an Anniversary Clock."
"... A what?" Micheal asked.
"An Anniversary Clock. It's an item that force resets a zone before the normal year mark of respawns. Dungeon monsters, loot and Secret Rooms like this all get affected by it and even normal loot pops back in as if it was day one of it spawning in."
"Huh…that's a really cool and possibly stupidly rare item." I said honestly.
"I know where one is. Your Loot Multiplier Ability applies to them when you get them as loot."
… WE CAN SPAM THE SHIT OUT OF THIS!
"Oh…" I said, as I started to grin. "Oh ho ho no~." I laughed at that.
"And thus, Button Mash has entered his Villain phase." Micheal said with a small chuckle.
"So, unless there's somehow a cooldown on the Anniversary Clock, we can just…spam the thing a lot with the multiplier I have."
"One can be used per zone a month." Armageddon said.
"Wait… per… zone?" Tina asked.
"Yeah. It affects the whole zone."
"Oh…oh this is going to be amazing." I laughed. "We're going to get all the loot!"
"Yup. Button has entered his Villain Phase. Capitalism." Gallon said with a laugh.
"I'm sorry, but just hearing that we can abuse a lot of loot spawn's is great, sure it's once per month but with my item multiplier…boy howdy is there just going to be so much."
"So, where is this Anniversary Clock?" Micheal asked.
"One can be won by beating the Special Boss, Decayed Gaia." Armageddon said.
"Right…that's going to be a dangerous thing…" I said carefully.
"And… where is Decayed Gaia?" Tina asked.
"Two Lightyears west in a place called The Rotting Womb." Armageddon said.
"Gross…" Gallon said.
"Yeah…that's uh…that's rather gross." I said carefully. "So, better question is, how strong is it?"
"I dunno. Monsters aren't my specialty. Dad usually tended to that stuff, but I have something that can help." Armageddon said, this time he pulled a book out of his Assistant.
Micheal walked over and took it. "... There's no name or anything on it." He said.
"Ask for information on Decayed Gaia." He said.
"Alright? Tell me about Decayed Gaia." Micheal said. The book then opened and the page depicted the image of an absolutely massive female infected covered in rotting flesh and vegetation, ichor and ash falling from her mouth and eyes.
"Yeah…that's really gross." I said carefully.
"Well, let's grab everything here and then get back home and… plan." Micheal said.
I nodded, grabbing a box of Shotgun Ammo- Wait…
POOF!
"I always forget your Ability does that…" Micheal huffed, just as buried in ammo as I was, at least until my auto pick up ability kicked in and put most of it in my inventory.
"Sucks there's a delay on the pick up…" Tina said.
"I'm okay…" I grumbled. "Ick…hate it when that happens." I said, getting up and rolling my shoulders.
"Well, once we grab everything here we should look for that key and the Pack Rat that stole it." Micheal said as he was putting items into his Assistant as well.
"If we're lucky it might lead us to its nest. Don't those have much more of their loot hoarded into one area?" Gallon asked.
"Yes they do." I nodded. "While I sadly never found one, the loot there would be amazing."
"You don't happen to know where those are, do you?" Gallon asked Armageddon.
"No. It's made by those Monsters, so I don't know where it is." Armageddon said.
"Right…so best we can do is find one and follow it back to its nest." I said honestly.
"Let's hope it's the right one." Tina sighed.
"If not, more loot." I shrugged.
"You've gone fully Loot Goblin Mode haven't you?" Micheal asked me.
"No, I hunt and kill Loot Goblins." I joked. "Greedy bastards also have a chance to take me to a version of a Greed Realm…that I sadly never experienced."
"Oh yeah, Diablo 3 enemies." Tina admitted.
"Well regardless let's just hope it doesn't take us too long to find this key." Gallon said.
Packing the supplies took a while, there was just so much. When it was done though we headed towards where Armageddon said the key was stolen. We stood in the middle of the road. There wasn't much around, just buildings and such.
"It was right here." Armageddon said, pointing at the ground from where he was, still being carried by Gallon.
"Alright." Tina nodded as she started to sniff the air, as I've learned that Den Mother's has super sniffers and could smell a lot of different stuff.
"What's the super sniffer say?" I inquired.
"I'm smelling a lot of blood and infected for one." She said simply, still sniffing around the ground. "Ugh, the infected smell is so heavily caked. It's hard to make out anything else specific."
"Is there anything specific you can get from the scents?" I inquired, as I know it's hard but knowing she is really good at smells.
"I'm literally using my new Cyborg abilities to try and help differentiate the smells and I'm not having any luck." She sighed. "Unfortunately the Pack Rat Infected doesn't have a distinct scent and whatever that Key is made of either has a faint or no smell to it."
"Ick…" I groaned. "Right…so best we can do is move around and hopefully catch the scent of something else it had on it, cause Pack Rats tends to be carrying a lot of shit."
"Did you use Simulation?" Armageddon asked.
"Simulation?" I asked.
"She is bio-mechanical. She can get an ability called Simulation that can let her figure out where the thing might have gone based on stuff she knows about the monster." Armageddon said.
"Huh… that would be useful." Micheal said, already pulling up his Custody menu to find the Ability for Tina.
"Well, that's definitely going to help out a lot." I nodded.
"... Hey Armageddon… how would one go about way, reaching the /Max+ overflow on their stats?" Tina asked.
"A few ways. You have Consume, which gains you abilities from enemies you eat. But Voracity is its Sister Ability." The foal said. "It adds the stats of those you eat and adds them to your own and when your victim respawns their stats are reset to their defaults. But it has a special power that if you devour the soul of the person, permanently killing them, it doubles the stats you get from them."
… Well that's Nightmare Fuel…
"Uh…huh…" Tina said carefully. "That's…extremely concerning."
"Yeah…that's…a nightmare ability…" I added.
"It's the fastest way to power up, but it also works on spawned monsters." Armageddon said.
"How do you know that?" Gallon asked the foal in his arms.
"I have it."
"... You… have it?"
"Dad gave it to me. With all the other Dark Skill Tree Abilities and Titles."
"...Voracity is a Dark Skill…" I said worriedly.
"Why did he give you all those horrible Titles and Abilities?" Tina asked.
Armageddon shrugged. "He said it's what I was born for."
"...And I'm the one getting scolded about 'free will." I rolled my eyes. "So…what are some of the more…dangerous things the Dark Skill Trees can do?"
"I don't wanna talk about it…" Armageddon said, looking a bit uncomfortable.
"Well…best I can say is to warn us if we're on that specific track alright?" I asked. "You don't have to talk about it, just…help us not go down those dark paths."
"Okay." The kid said.
Gallon ruffled their mane a bit to comfort them.
I sighed, looking back to Tina. "Got anything?"
"Simulation is helping so far but I need time." Tina said.
"Take your time." I said with a raised hand. "We've got plenty of time to also look around for anything else."
Tinq walked around the area, sniffing at the ground and air on and off and seemed to pace around.
Micheal took out the infected that got closer to us.
I helped when there were hoards. Magma is useful like that.
Even with my power ups, I still didn't like being out here when it's dark, and the sun was starting to get low.
"Think we're all ready for night time out here?" I asked, cause while we are all insanely strong...I'm still nervous about it.
"The biggest issue would be the Volatiles. Even the Guards that do work outside at night are scared of them. Add that the normal infected are faster and more aggressive in the dark…" Gallon sighed.
"I have an idea that might help if need be." Micheal spoke up.
"What's the plan Micheal?" I inquired.
"Well, My founding Titan form had upgrades I was able to get… You know them as like, Beast Titan, Colossus Titan, all that. Well, once I unlocked them all I also unlocked the ability to not only pass on those specific powers to others I've given Titan Shifting to, I can combine them. Create new Titan types from the ones people I give Shifting Powers to and the ones I unlocked and so forth."
"Well that's kinda busted when you take into account what we can do." I admitted.
"Yeah but there's one Titan Power now that I've seen the Anime and read some of the Manga… Attack Titan… kind of works."
"Oh boy, that convoluted sack of crap…" I said carefully. "Got to the part where the Attack Titan apparently time travels?"
"Well, it works kind of like that but also doesn't." Micheal said. "I found out that Time Travel isn't really a thing in this Reality, but I can still sort of do something like that, and that's I can see past experiences of people who I've given Titan Powers to. It's actually rather… immersive, to a degree."
"How so?" Tina asked.
"Well, I can smell, taste and hear everything they did. What if I gave Armageddon Titan Shifting and though that, brought Tina with me to get the sensory Data she needs to find that Pack Rat and Key."
"Would that work? Armageddon isn't a normal uh… kid." Gallon asked.
"Yeah…either it could be just the time Armageddon got their body, but it could also act like you getting the collective knowledge of one of the oldest planets to exist." I pointed out.
"I can control how far back I look, so I won't be looking back very far anyway." Micheal said. "Would you be okay with this kid?"
"Sure, if it works." Armageddon said with a nod.
Micheal walked over to the kid, putting a hand to their forehead. "Alright, it took so far… I guess just… change and we go from there." Micheal said.
"Okay." Armageddon said, hopping out of Gallon's arms and walking a bit away.
"... This could either be very cool or very bad." Tina hummed.
"If it's very bad that I'm pretty sure we might get some divine intervention." I admitted, as I took a step back as I was worried about how bad this was going to be.
Armageddon seemed to take a breath, then bit down on their own tongue.
The light form the transformation blinded me for a moment and when it faded and i could see, standing before us was… uh…
"Hi." Armageddon waved.
"Huh… it's literally just… a larger version of himself." Micheal said. "Says he's the… Armageddon Titan… fitting."
"Was I the only one expecting an eldritch abomination?" Gallon asked.
"I…kinda thought that he would have melded with the planet and…basically turned into Unicron or something." I admitted.
"Does he have any… special powers?" Tina asked.
"Uh… It just says 'The Heart of Armageddon. Innocent in its purpose'." Micheal read off.
"Well… that's creepy." Gallon said.
"Well…I suppose that's why they're just a child…innocent even after…all this."
"Alright, well, come on Tina." Micheal said, grabbing her by the wrist then walking over to Armageddon, putting a hand on his leg and they all closed their eyes suddenly.
"... So, think it will take long?" Gallon asked me.
"Probably not all things considered." I said honestly.
"Maybe. So… How's all the baby work been?"
"I adore and love them to death but…can they not act like egregious little gremlin's for five seconds?" I groaned.
"Heh, I'm sure they'll grow out of it. I think that's maybe just the Phoenix in them. I remember a legend back in the day, a man climbed a mountain, only to become trapped because it was actually a volcano and erupted while he was on it. Was stuck in a cave for some days. Then, one day, the rocks began to glow red and melt. A Phoenix burrowed its way towards him. Born from that eruption and just seemed to be exploring. The Phoenix is an ever curious bird, or so the story goes."
"Would be great if that curiosity didn't also mean them never giving me sleep or rampaging and burning whatever they please."
"So they take after you then?"
I sighed… they do…
"I mean…while they do, I'm not a pyromaniac." I huffed. "I don't just look at just anything and go 'hmm, this thing needs more fire burning it to ash'." I frowned.
"They're young and they have super powers. Be honest, every kid would do the same. Heck, I know I would have."
"Eh…mildly true but still." I huffed. "Lost too many nights of sleep because of that…"
"Heh. Well, Tulip has been doing well. Classes are going well, hasn't made any friends though but she does have her first ballet class soon. She's super excited for it." Gallon said.
"That's good to hear." I nodded.
"She's been real sweet. Back home Micheal and I doubted we'd ever get to raise a kid, between being busy and all the ones from the Lab were growing up, few were even kids. Youngest was fourteen so… just figured it would be us and us alone."
"I understand." I sighed. "I was…always concerned about being a parent, especially when I was forced here…but thankfully it worked out."
"Yeah… Would it be weird if I decided to say… adopt Armageddon?" Gallon asked.
I blinked at him.
"Well…that's surprising." I said honestly. "But…I suppose that's for the best given he likes you more."
"I know a thing or two about having a shit dad and from what you said about Dark Gray… I just want him to know what having a loving father is like."
Right. His parents were insane… I can get that. Guess you can't do worse than people like them and Dark Gray as far as parents are concerned.
"As long as you treat them well that's all I can ask for." I said honestly.
"That's the plan." Gallon nodded. "Guess in that regard I can understand Silver. Heh, still a crazy fox, but she knew what she was doing."
"That's good to know, but you haven't really talked about Silver all that much." I brought up. "How much did Silver know?"
"About?"
"Well, I suppose kids." I said honestly.
"Heh. She seemed to know a little of everything. She grew up basically raising her little sister, and like me, had super religious, super insane, super conservative parents that did not take kindly to her being bi and being Poly. She wanted a big family, and to care for kids who's own family's basically torture or throw them away for being 'diffrent' or 'not normal'. She was a woman with a pure heart. Basically took in all the Orphans Y Labs turned into Nokori, made an orphanage she ran and managed to care for them."
"That's good to know." I nodded. "Sounds like a really good person even if you say she's…worryingly crazy." I said.
"Heh, well caring for almost a hundred kids alone after being told the world outside is full of corpses… guess it was less crazy and more that she had her priorities in order." Gallon chuckled.
"The most important of priorities." I nodded.
"Yeah. You know, despite everything, I'm not upset about being on this world." Gallon said.
"Well, you at least have some good experiences with this planet besides…the Majority." I said carefully.
"Well, the alternative would have been eternal imprisonment in stone with Micheal and I next to one another but unaware and unthinking in what was as close to death without being dead so…"
"That is also true." I sighed. "But…I just wish I could show you the Outside…all of you the Outside." I sighed.
"I know. But that's not your obligation Button. Maybe one day we will see the 'Outside' worlds and such but… for now, as long as I have Micheal, and Tulip… and Armageddon even… I think I'll be alright and happy. You know what they say, if you can't go to heaven then bring heaven to you, right?"
…
Heh. Bring Heaven to us? That… sounds nice.
"If only I could…" I sighed. "But you have a point there."
"Alright, got it!" Tina said, grabbing Gallon, Micheal and I. Once Armageddon de-transformed she grabbed them too and bolted.
"How far is it?" I inquired.
"Not far. It's only a few miles from here in the top floor of an old office building. It's nest is there and given it's still daylight out it's likely still there too."
I nodded, readying myself so I could take that Pack Rat out.
"Time to do some monster murder and take all it's loot." I said with a smile.
We arrived at the place quick. A Pack Rat tossing around all the stuff. Before it could run, I blasted it with a small shot of magma through it's head.
"That was surprisingly accurate." Micheal said as Tina put us down.
"Button's hand is a Gun, just like from Infamous." Gallon chuckled.
I lightly blew some smoke from my fingers like in those old westerns. "Got really good with my aim."
"Before or after burning down a small forest in the Planet Room?" Tina asked with a chuckle as we started looking around. Most of what was here was medicine, weapons, ammo. Even some armor and then all kinds of random stuff.
We searched for a while until, "Found it!" Armageddon called up. We looked and all saw the foal had the key in his teeth. Just as he described it. It was rather decorative.
"Huh, that is a neat looking key." I said honestly. "So, what's the key even for?"
"Dunno. Dad said just to give it to you when I got to you." He said, walking over and placing it in my hands.
Hmm… I decided to Scan it.
[Scan Complete!
Key Quest Item!
Key To Afterlife (1/7)
Notice!
You have gained the Quest, In Search of Heaven.
Quest Requirements:
Find the seven keys to the door to the Afterlife. (1/7) Locate The Final Dungeon. (See Details for minimum stat requirements for this quest and dungeon.) Clear The Final Dungeon]"Th-the…Final Dungeon!?" I asked in surprise.
"The what?" Gallon asked.
"...The Empty…" I said in fear. "Oh no…oh I don't like that." I said nervously.
"Gonna give us some context here my guy?" Tina asked.
"So…The Empty is a blank spot on Armageddon, and when I say 'blank spot' I mean unless you are physically staring at it, any other form of tracking the thing is basically a missing piece of Reality." I said. "I…was told years ago that that place only had three people enter it…and only one person came back out and they went Mad shortly after."
"Uh…huh…" Tina said. "And…how strong do we have to be to even attempt that?"
"Uh…not sure." I said, looking at what Stats we needed to even attempt said adventure.
[In Search of Heaven Stat Requirements:
HP: 999,999,999,999/Max+/Max+999,999
MP: 999,999,999,999/Max+/Max+999,999
ATT: 999,999,999,999/Max+/Max+999,999
DEF: 999,999,999,999/Max+/Max+999,999
PR: 999,999,999,999/Max+/Max+999,999
MR: 999,999,999,999/Max+/Max+999,999
ER: 999,999,999,999/Max+/Max+999,999
Status R: 999,999,999,999/Max+/Max+999,999
Poison R: 999,999,999,999/Max+/Max+999,999
Fear R: 999,999,999,999/Max+/Max+999,999
Bleed R: 999,999,999,999/Max+/Max+999,999
Acid R: 999,999,999,999/Max+/Max+999,999
Psychic R:999,999,999,999/Max+/Max+999,999
Disease R: 999,999,999,999/Max+/Max+999,999
—
Strength: 999,999,999,999/Max+/Max+999,999
Agility: 999,999,999,999/Max+/Max+999,999
Vitality: 999,999,999,999/Max+/Max+999,999
Vigor: 999,999,999,999/Max+/Max+999,999
Intelligence: 999,999,999,999/Max+/Max+999,999
Endurance: 999,999,999,999/Max+/Max+999,999
Dexterity:999,999,999,999/Max+/Max+999,999]
THUD!
"Uh… Button… you good?" Micheal asked.
"That was a pure unresponsive face plant to the ground." Gallon said.
"H-h-how the fuck do those numbers exist!?" I shouted in shock and horror.
"It can't be that bad…" Tina said, as I shared the stats needed with my party right now. "...Hey Armageddon…what…I forgot…what number do you need for /Max+ stats?" Tina asked, her tone shaky and scared.
"Over Ninehundred and ninety nine Centillion." The foal answered.
"...Ah…yes…" Tina said, taking a deep breath as I saw her slowly nod along like what the foal just said was okay. "That's…that's a number." Tina said, as I saw sparks coming out of her as I'm pretty sure she was having a mechanical fit trying to think of the stupidly high numbers needed.
"So in other words, you have to be very strong. Got it." Gallon said. "Well we got the key, Micheal can you make a Frontier Portal for us to head home?"
"On it." Micheal said as he opened his Menus.
"Okay…so we need…an impossible number." I said carefully, getting up carefully from that reaction. "Oh dear…"
"Come on, let's get you a drink and some food before you go catatonic now." Gallon said, already gently leading me through the portal.
"Yeah…some food and a drink will help a lot." I nodded carefully. "Jeez…this quest is never going to happen…" I said, trying to think of how the hell we're supposed to get that strong.
The next few days I calmed down from that… shock and just kept the key in my inventory.
How the heck can you even get that strong? Is that even possible?
I sighed, sitting on the couch and sipping some tea now that I have a moment's peace.
"I'm bad at math but…just to get to one Max+, I would need like…thirty five zeroes worth of Skill Points just for one stat…" I thought to myself carefully. "If not fucking more…ick…"
I took a long deep sigh and laid back. Maybe Tiara was right… shit like this is… just insane…
I sipped my tea again before turning the TV on. Hopefully I can watch something interesting.
"You look sad." I looked down, seeing Armageddon sitting on the floor below and to the side of me.
"A bit…sad about one of my girlfriends still roaming around doing Mother knows what and…now this new Quest with an impossible stat requirement…"
"Dad said stuff is only impossible if you give up on working towards it."
I chuckled. Hard to imagine Dark Gray saying that.
"Well, unless there's a way to get to those stats that won't result in the heat death of this reality I'm all ears." I joked.
"Dad's gonna be hosting a… uh… a fight thing." Armageddon said.
I blinked and looked right at him.
"A…tournament?" I asked curiously.
"Yeah that! Him and a lot of the others are gonna be having one of those once a year in… uh… not sure when but it's gonna be announced soonish."
"Right…" I muttered. "So, that'll be a thing I'm going to have to be prepared for…doubt I'll win these tournaments given it'll probably be open for everyone and…yeah."
"Not sure. I remember dad was saying there'd be two kinds. Open to the Public and Invite Only."
"Huh, cool." I nodded. "Let's hope it'll be good and not go horribly wrong."
He shrugged, then flopped down to his belly and laid on the floor flat.
I chuckled at that, remembering how I used to do that back home. "Cute."
I spent a good while watching TV when I suddenly felt a… odd sensation flow over me.
It was like something I had sensed before and…
"... Button why are you uh… bowing in a random direction?" Gallon asked, walking back into the house with Tulip who was in her ballet uniform still.
"Ugh…not again…" I groaned. "But…I sensed a Sun Phoenix appearing near here." I said carefully as I got up from that silly display.
"Huh… well that's odd."
"Why odd?" I inquired. "The bowing or the fact that a Sun Phoenix just popped up?"
"Both I guess." Gallon shrugged.
"Yeah…so it's weird that they just popped up here, cause I know they were around the planet but…to be here is weird." I said carefully. "And I learned that Phoenix's have some weird royalty system or some crap like that…it's weird.'
"Well, guess Sun would beat Volcano." Gallon shrugged. "So… any plans?"
"Eh, not really." I shrugged. "Now just kinda waiting for Dark Gray to start talking about some Tournament he wants to create."
"Tournament?"
"Yeah, Armageddon here mentioned that DG wanted to make a Tournament to make the stats for our stupid quest easier."
"I have become one with the carpet." The flopped over child said.
"And then there's that." I chuckled at the silly thing they said.
"Heh. Well if you're gonna do nothing today, maybe we can hang out? Last time we did was when you were having self worth issues and was on the verge of a mental breakdown…"
"Yeah…maybe having a nice day hanging out without that happening would be good." I nodded, getting out of my chair.
"Tulip, tell daddy I'll be out for a bit alright?" Gallon asked his mouse daughter.
"M'kay dad." Tulip said, sitting next to Armageddon and poking the foal, making them giggle.
Gallon gave her a smirk before we headed out.
We walked a bit through the street and looked around some. "So, anything in particular in mind or just up for anything?" Gallon asked.
"Eh, anything really." I shrugged. "Just want some lazy day after…a lot of things happened all at once."
"Alright. Well first I'll be shopping for some stuff and then maybe we can see about video games?"
"That would be fantastic." I nodded, as I was both thankfully and regretfully getting back into my gaming addiction but it was to help my sweet daughter.
I followed Gallon along through the store and more or less watched him shopping. He mostly got various fruits, veggies, eggs, noodles, various things.
"Gonna cook something fancy for Tulip?" I inquired.
"I like to stock up on Micheal's favorites, and Tulip seems fine eating meat too, so we usually try and make a healthy mix of dishes that we can all eat and a meatless version for Micheal." Gallon said as he put some cooking sauces in his shopping cart.
"Fair enough." I nodded, following along and wondering if I should also grab a thing or two.
Gallon wrapped up his shopping and then we headed to a videogame arcade. I noticed this one had older games in it. Some I even recognized from when I was a foal, others from other species and worlds and such.
"Jeez…this takes me way back…" I admitted. "Feeling old…"
"Ah yes, when you begin to realize stuff you grew up with is already older than some kids." Gallon chuckled as he looked around. "I remember when the first couple back in New Leto had the first full Nokori Born children. It was both a happy and surreal moment for everyone in the city."
"That's fair." I nodded. "Didn't think Nokori could have kids at first?"
"It was suspected, medical knowledge on us was pretty bare bones. There was some stuff in the Labs but most of it was about things like our organ placement, heart rates, blood types and such, but medicine and such was all an unknown. We did know based on the data that pregnancies were possible, but we were unsure of if the process would be different than normal humans or elves and such. Not all the people taken for fusion were human, but the majority was. Thankfully everything went fine and the mother got to greet her new baby. Still, despite that, she birthed the first child to be born a Nokori, to never know the old world. Lots of kids were little and growing up forgetting they were human or whatever originally, but that was the first kid born to the new world and, well… it was surreal."
"Yeah, I can imagine." I nodded. "Would be a hell of an experience to see all that while knowing what the old world was like."
"Yeah. Guess it's why back in Little Leto it was real… surreal to see people referring to Micheal and I as some big historical figures. Wonder if that's really how it is for us back home?" Gallon hummed as he browsed through PS2 titles.
"Who knows." I shrugged, looking through a lot of other PS2 titles cause there were a lot.
"Well, just hope whatever happened back home before Micheal and I ended up here that everyone is okay."
"Well, I'm sure everything is going well." I shrugged. "Just have to find a way back after all."
"Save the face you and everyone else said there isn't… besides, we don't know how much time has passed between there and here… for all I know the Sun already exploded…" Gallon sighed, picking up a game and looking it over.
"Well…that is true, but Time Walkers wouldn't mention 'there is a way back' like that, it would probably mean that we can go back around when we disappeared." I admitted.
"Maybe… still. In any case, what would you even do if you did go back to that moment?" Gallon asked me. "Knowing about this world and all it has, your family here… What would you do?"
… I… don't… I never thought about that…
"Well…first thing I'd do is find mom and…and give her a hug…tell her how much she meant to me." I admitted.
"I guess that's fair." Gallon nodded.
"Yeah…then drag Dad over to see her and laugh at her reaction to see dad is a chick." I chuckled.
"Heh. Wish I could say I'd do the same, but in all honesty I'd probably just spit on my parent's ashes again."
… Wow, he really had a bad relationship with them.
"So…a really bad relationship, noted." I nodded.
"Like water and oil." Gallon nodded. "Still can't believe those two even had me. Ever know anyone like that from your world? Who's kids and parents were basically polar opposites?"
"...Diamond Tiara and her mom, Spoiled Rich." I said, getting a snort from Gallon. "Her name was actually 'Spoiled Milk', but she married with a wealthy pony, Filthy Rich,"
"Dude…come on." Gallon commented, looking like he's trying not to laugh at the names.
"Yeah yeah I know." I chuckled. "So basically Diamond's mother was a horrible person that tried to get her daughter to be like her, a 'high class noblemare', even though they lived in an Apple Farm town…then one day when we were kids, some friends of mine finally got her to stand up to Spoiled and they were practically two different people from their on…also helped that Filthy slammed her with a divorce and a 'Keeper' clause to it all as she was basically thrown from high society to being a beggar who could never see her Diamond again like, three years later." I admitted.
"Damn. Guess bad parents are a thing in every universe." Gallon sighed. "Wonder what you'd do if you met her now, because I think you're talking about a different Tiara then the one I know."
I nodded. What would I say to my reality's Tiara? She changed for the better but I didn't really speak to her all that much.
"...I'd try to ask her out on a date." I said honestly.
"Dude, really?" Gallon asked. "I mean… no offense but isn't that kind of… weird, given your… relationship with the other Tiara?"
"Is it any weirder than my…current relationship with Cream Heart?" I asked.
"... Fair, then your whole thing with Cheat… Yeah fair point your sex life reads like a really weird browser history."
Heh… he's not wrong…
"Yeah…you're not wrong." I admitted.
That left an awkward silence that hung around for a bit.
Despite that I did find a few neat games I want to try out.
After that Gallon and I headed back home.
I sighed as I laid under the sheets. Ginder kept his arms wrapped around me gently but also firmly. Might be a bit of an odd relationship but it was a lot like my relationship with Barb. We lived apart but were romantic together.
Just wish I had more time to be here with him too, but his Club and Love Motel also took up his time, so usually I spent about a day with him a week.
"Wish we could spend more time together…" I sighed.
"Same. Especially given you're considering us trying for our own fluffy winged infants~" He said, giving my cheek a kiss as he reached over and took my hands. "Hope if you do, they won't cause you as much trouble as your current little feathery monsters."
I sighed, but laughed. I'll admit my day a week here with Ginger is a nice reprieve from my little monsters.
"Yeah…I really hope that they would be better than those winged gremlins." I admitted. "Would be nice…but work is work."
"Yes, but these once a week meetups are quite the stress relief." He said. "I do wonder, would you prefer our first born be a boy or a girl?"
"Either or is fine, but…why do you ask if I prefer?" I inquired.
"Just wondering. Helps with naming sometimes. Lots of prior partners talked about their sons, daughters, some having preferences over the two. Heh, it's the thing most people talk about when thinking about kids and trying for them."
Huh. I never had those kinds of thoughts. I was just happy the kids were born healthy. I never wondered about them being boys or girls… I usually don't even try and think of names until the birth is approaching.
"That is true." I nodded. "I…just kinda winged it with the names when they were born as I…was just happy to see my children were born healthy."
"Heh, well if it isn't broke, why fix it?" Ginger asked with a chuckle. "Either way, I hope they have your lovely wings and lovely eyes."
"I'd rather they have your eyes Ginger, they look much better." I admitted.
"Heh, well only time will tell and only lots of effort can tell us who's eyes they'll inherit~" Ginger said as they kissed my neck. "Either way, I look forward to greeting our children someday."
"Same here." I said with a smile. "I hope they'll grow up as happy as they can be.'
"Then shall we get back to ensuring they're born to enjoy that happiness?"
"Oh yeah, let's."
"You have a pregnancy kink." Barb said.
Heh… Yeah, I'm pregnant again. And yes Ginger is the father. I found out four days after our night of… effort and yes, I was happy about it… but I already forgot morning sickness is a bitch and it wasn't a pleasant discovery until after the… nausea passed. Damn.
Still, Ginger is happy and the girls are all making bets on if I'll have triplets again. Though this time they let me join in and I'm betting it's just the one this time.
"I really need to dip into the Mother Skill Tree to stop a lot of this pain." I admitted. "But…yes, I might, and yes I am happy to be having kids with Ginger."
"Heh, well as long as the kids are loved. Speaking of, another week or so and our own bundle will be hatching. The Egg has been heating up a lot, so they'll soon be cracking the shell."
"That's great to hear!" I said happily. "Can't wait for them to hatch, got a name ready?"
"I was thinking… Tulria." Barb said.
"That sounds like a nice name." Inodded.
"Heh, the product of an alicorn-phoenix Nokori fusion and a dragon… heh, well either way, they'll be quite the power house as they age."
Thud!
I completely forgot about that…
"Oh no…" I groaned. "I don't want another feathery goblin setting even more things on fire…"
"Well, a feathery drake youngling." Barb chuckled. "Maybe they'll grow up to be a fighter like you."
… I know some of my kids do have talent and skill, a desire to learn to fight and combat… heck one of my daughters sneaks out to kill zombies thanks to an insane ability she was born with…
… are some of my kids really gonna grow up and become… like me?
"I'd…rather my kids not grow up like me…" I sighed.
"They won't be children forever Button. It would be better if they do choose to grow up and be a fighter like you, that you encourage them. Going against their dreams, especially if they want to fight for their home like you, would hurt them deeply. I know you don't want them to get hurt, but there's only so much you can do. Especially after they become adults." Barb said, patting my back.
"Growing up to be fighters…that's fine but…I'm more concerned that they'll grow up to be like me." I said, reiterating my point that…I'm worried that them being like 'me' will be a problem, not growing up to be a fighter.
"Well, that's why being a parent is all about helping guide your kids. Keep them from making terrible mistakes while trying to help them become their own people. Sometimes the two feel like they conflict at times."
"I know I know." I sighed. "Just…worried ya know?"
"I know." She said, kissing my forehead. "The Alicorn of Volcanoes and Worry, Button Mash." She chuckled.
"Well, I have a lot of things to worry about ya know?" I chuckled.
"Well for a bit, turn that worry off and get on this couch. We're watching Yu-Gi-Oh."
"Hooray!" I said happily. "Which Yu-Gi-Oh we watching?"
"Original. Obviously." Barb said.
The next few days went by pretty well.
Things were good and calm.
All and all, good stuff. I was walking to our loot/exp grinding machine with Tina, Gallon, Micheal and Cheat since I do want to build up our EXP and Skill Points so we can power up.
Micheal managed to set up a Frontier Portal there and now we were just waiting as the pits and grinders worked their magic.
"So how long are we working this thing today?" Gallon asked.
"Hmm, well first, let's see what we have in store just from the bit where we just let this thing work it's magic." I said, given that we haven't been here in a few days so just to get all the crap we need.
"Alright." Micheal said, turning the noise makers off and getting ready for us to head down.
As the hoards slowed and the pits got covered I noticed Tina sniff at the air.
"What up?" I inquired.
"I… smell some…" Tina started.
"Tina!" We all looked, seeing an equally cybernetic looking Zingore Dire Wolf, this one clearly male making a huge leap over the pits at the hatch doors closed.
"Tony!?" Tina yelped as her long missing brother tackled her to the ground and the two hugged and cried.
"Huh…didn't expect this today." I said, looking over and seeing a human, a very fluffy fox-dog nokori, and what looked like a slime person based on their more gelatinous looking form running towards us.
"Glad to see you found her Tony." The woman said, moving closer to the crying Zinogres.
"Uh, hi?" Micheal said.
"Yo." Gallon said with a nod.
"Sup?" The slime-like person greeted.
"Hi." The Fox-Dog Nokori said.
"Well, hi." I said. "I see you're the ones who has Tina's brother."
"Yes, my name is David Alchem," David said…but I couldn't help but flinch at that…disgusting name… "That is Toshnori Yagi," He pointed to the Nokori All Might. "And that's Shift." They motioned to the now…what I can guess was a Shapeshifter if the name was right.
"Uh… hi. I'm Button Mash." I introduced myself. "This is Cheat Code." I motioned to said identical twin of mine. "And that is Micheal," I motioned to the winged ram Nokori. "And next to him there is his husband Gallon." I finished, pointing at the goat-wolf with bad wings on their back.
"Uh…excuse me but…you really are Button Mash?" They asked in surprise. "And…also hello everyone, it's nice to meet you."
"Yeah. I know I don't look it. A lot has happened… so… where do you all come from?" I asked.
"Aqua Terra, our Settlement is called New Earth." David answered. "And uh…yeah, I fully understand what 'a lot has happened' means."
"I have a question."Gallon spoke up. "How the fuck did All Might become a Nokori?"
"That's a long story." Toshinori chuckled.
"A long story." David chuckled. "But to make a long story short, he perma-died but I technically had a copy of his mind and Nokori shenanigans with Romero."
"Who?" Gallon asked.
"Ah, different Nokori world." David nodded. "Well, David Romero is a Galaxy Phoenix-"
"So that's the bitch I've been sensing since I became a Nokori." I said in realization.
"Yes, and he is stupidly strong Nokori." David said.
"Is that why when you tried to sense something you just randomly jumped into a bow?" Micheal asked.
"... Maybe…" I said, now deep in a bit of thought.
"I think there's some weird Royalty to it all." David shrugged, as I wondered who the hell this Romero person was. "But anyways, and Tony is a Comet Phoenix, basically a Sun Phoenix but ice." I pointed out just in case they were curious as to why my thunder pupper had wings and a lot of ice.
"Huh. Neat." Gallon said. "And what about Shift there?"
"Mimic. Now I'm technically a Chaos God of sorts but I honestly don't use my powers much." Shift said with a shrug.
"Yeah, it's a whole thing." David shrugged.
"Well you're group sure is interesting…" Cheat said, looking over at Tina and Tony still hugging. "Hurry it up and fuck already!"
The siblings immediately got off each other.
"We are not fucking each other!" The Twins shouted…huh, they sound rather alike actually. "We may be horny but we have standards!"
"So? Button and I are technically twins and we fuck all the time." Cheat said.
They all stared at me.
"Uh… it uh… there's a whole story… you see…" I started.
"Bruh…" Shift said.
"You should see the things he does to Cream Heart, and she's basically a copy of his mom!" Cheat added with a laugh.
"He has become his Internet self!" Tony said.
"Uh… still not as weird as you eating your own daughter Tony." Shift said.
"Tony what the fuck?!" Tina yelled.
"It was a whole thing and Daisy wanted it and…I'm thankful that the Nokori fusion didn't erase her from existence!" Tony defended himself. "Cause if it fucking did…"
"Ugh… I knew I should have stayed in the office today…" Micheal said, rubbing his eyes.
"You ate my niece!" Tina yelled, now rather violently shaking her brother.
"She literally asked for it!" Tony grabbed Tina and stopped her from shaking him.
"That kink my friends is called Vore." Cheat added, laughing at the chaos she pretty much caused.
The sudden tail swing that slammed Cheat into the ground was…rather shocking. "DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE MAKE FUN OF MY DAUGHTERS SADNESS YOU INCEST FUELED WHORE!" Tony roared in anger.
Holy shit!
Cheat got back up from the hole, her body bursting into flames and magma as she regenerated. "Oh you're one to talk! FYI! Your pack is here and I talked to them and know you fucked your other daughters and sons too!"
…Oh yeah…
"Tony…" Tina said flatly.
"As a True Alpha I did my job of stopping a species from going extinct." Tony stated carefully. "And can we get past the fact that Cheat just made fun of a depressed and suicidal girl that only found happiness after-"
"I was making fun of the obvious vore. Not her depression." Cheat said.
"I'm going home…" Micheal said, already leaving as Gallon followed.
"I'm…gonna follow Micheal and Gallon…you two have fun getting back together." David said carefully.
"Just…can you stay here and help me through meeting my family from…my other world?" Tony asked.
"Alright you big fluffy pupper." David said simply. "But…incest was okay?"
"Listen, it's one thing I didn't want to, but due to one of my mates being the last of her species and just…listen, it's a whole thing and I…I just can't believe I have Tina and my family back…w-wait! Is-"
"Yes, even Sandra is here." Tina said. "But we're going to have a big talk about this, my guy."
"I know…" Tony sighed. "Just…so much happened back on that world and…Daisy just…" Tony sighed bitterly. "But…Daisy says she's happy to finally meet you sis."
After all that, I was following with the group to Tony's Pack's Den. It was… a little awkward and mostly we just listened to Tony talk with Alchem and Tina…
Then… Tina mentioned about their missing pup…
Tony bolted immediately.
"... He's gonna leave." Cheat said.
"Well…he is missing one of his kids so there's that." I pointed out, following after him quickly.
"I mean he's gonna leave like you did." Cheat said, making me stop. The rest of us turned to look at her.
"And why do you say that?" I asked.
"... Experience." She said, looking at me.
…
"What… are you talking about?" Alchem asked.
"This is different." I shook my head. "I…I had to travel around this entire planet for ten years with Three's help, but this…this is different."
"So that's where that bastard went…" Alchem said, probably without thinking.
"Well…anyways, I wanted to see about a thing that could help get rid of Breeder programming…I doubt he'll just bail because…of the worst happening."
"He will… you would." Cheat said.
… I would…
"We just got reunited, Tony…" Tina started.
"He is. He won't change his mind. He'll want to prove himself. Not just for vengeance for his daughter but to prove he's capable of avenging her. Maybe he'll be gone for a little while… or longer… Won't know until he does come back." Cheat sighed.
… She's right…
"We need to stop him before he does something stupid." I said carefully.
"Didn't stop you." Cheat said.
I winced.
"... There's a history here and I… don't like that you're seeing it play out again with… Tony." Alchem said.
"He's headstrong, anger prone, feels less than he is for one reason or another and even if he goes get validation it doesn't help that insecure feeling in the back of his mind?" Cheat asked.
Alchem got a bit quiet.
She chuckled. "So you two are alike then… hell you're like Button too. Three headstrong idiots who will leave home rather than stay to protect it. Perfect." She huffed.
"Listen…Tony has been away from one family for well over a thousand years-"
"Excuse me what!?" Tina asked in shock and horror.
"It's a whole thing with Story Dungeon's…but…to finally have his family back, every single person that he cared for before I married the silly thunder pupper…the fact that you just…casually talk shit about him losing his family is not something I'm taking kindly here." Alchem said.
"If he's like Button then… he's gonna leave." Cheat said simply. "Maybe you don't want to see it, but I can already see it… He will leave and he'll say his goodbyes… I suggest you don't beg him to stay… that didn't stop Button."
Barely a day later… Cheat was right.
Tony said his goodbyes, made Tina the new Alpha of his pack while he's away and… took a ship and left.
We both went to New Earth and after a little bit of searching found Alchem in their personal Castle Bar.
"... Come to gloat?" Alchem asked.
"Consol. Tina will be here in a bit after she's checked the state of things with the pack. Considering moving them here. Safer and all that." Cheat said as we sat on each side of Alchem.
"Yeah, consol, is that what you do after being about as socially graceful as a flaming brick?" Alchem asked
"Don't mind her…she's…been through a lot…" I sighed. "We've all been through a lot…"
"... How did you… Was it really that obvious?" Alchem asked.
"I used to be Button's Symbiote. I was in his head when it was all happening. Every leap of self justified logic. The pure… thick headed stupidity as his loved ones were begging with him not to leave. His own kids both infants and some about to be born… Perks of being a symbiote is that we read our memories right off our genetics. Even if I'm not one anymore, some things you just don't forget…"
"... Do you think he'll be gone for that long?"
"Hard to say. Might be more. Might be less." Cheat sighed, pouring herself a drink, then handed Alchem the bottle. "All I can say is just look after your kids with him best you can. He'll feel like shit enough when he comes back and his kids either don't recognize him or don't know he's their dad."
I looked at the table… I know that feeling all too well…
"W-well, maybe we can give him something to help his travels?" I suggested. "Micheal has Frontier, if he allows Tony to create portals-"
Alchem sighed, swigging a drink from the bottle. "He's already gone. Grabbed a ship from The Eternity and… fucked off." They huffed. "You know… I was always afraid I'd be the one that had to leave everyone I loved to fight some big battle for their safety… I never once imagined I'd be on the other end of that ache…"
"...Because you haven't had to do anything that requires it." I said, shaking my head. "Yeah…we're all sad, we hate how people leave, but it's not our fucking fault that we have shit to do." I stated. "But let's all be sad, get drunk as we're constantly berated, scolded, or told to sit the fuck down when we're not at liberty to do that."
"You're pregnant. No drinking." Cheat said.
Oh yeah…. Crap.
"Congrats… first kid?" Alchem asked.
"That they've had, no. First kid with their boyfriend Ginger though." Cheat answered.
That made me feel a little better.
"My point still stands though." I said. "So far, all me and Tony have gotten was shit for doing something we had to do, I'm still getting shit for it…"
"Considering you normally keep yourself in self loathing and self hatred, having someone else point out the obvious might feel better. Hate them rather than yourself for a change." Cheat said.
"Not sure that's working." Alchem said.
"Eh. Emotions are still finicky for me. Besides, what will this do for Tony in the end? You at least came back with Yuri and your baby… Tony won't be getting his daughter back… It's just… pure rage he's running on."
"And that's fair, he needs to do something to vent that rage." I stated. "And you weirdly still being finicky with emotions doesn't stop the fact you've just…kinda been a dick." I pointed out, cause ever since Tony got here…Cheat weirdly wanted to poke and prod Tony and also throw shade my way.
"At least I admit what I am. Tony trying to put up to 'Duty of a True Alpha' Please. Had he really not wanted to do it, he could have gotten other Dire Wolves looking for mates to move in and partner up with his daughters and such. At least I'll admit it, I'm an incentious bitch and I get off on it. Meanwhile mister fucked a species back from extinction left out that those Frost Cyclopses are always born female and always born a frost cyclops regardless of the father."
"Is… that actually true?" Alchem asked.
"Got it from their very mouths. Culturally the Frost Cyclopses take in one male from wherever to be the Alpha that breeds the new generations, then they die and a new one is taken in, but as Alpha Tony had full authority to change that. He didn't."
"Alright, didn't know that." I admitted. "Did you still need to be a douche about it?" I asked, the whole point of Cheat just being an asshole to Tony still being the point of this conversation.
"I don't like hypocrisy. Sue me." She sighed.
"And if he wasn't being a hypocrite and you just projecting your own fetishes?" Alchem asked.
"Then he was sure as shit regretting that he enjoyed his own children physically. Point is, he tried to hide all that. Hell Tina didn't know any of that stuff about the Frost Cyclopses and it wasn't just them Tony laid with. Got all the details from that one bat lady… forget her name. Maybe he regrets it, or maybe he enjoyed it and is ashamed by it. Either way, point is he was doing it and tried to hide it."
I looked at Cheat. "Lady…he just got his family back after he somehow got stuck in a dungeon for a thousand years, didn't want to explain the very first moment he got here when all he wanted to do was spend time with his family…and your first instinct…" I blinked as I shook my head.
"I'm a bitch and a monster… I told you that a long time ago, remember? Was it hard and uncalled for? Maybe, but clearly his priority now is avenge his one lost daughter when all his kids are with him when Tina doesn't even have that. She's still missing her partners and children from Equis… Tony got all that back and all because one was missing and he's leaving them all for fuck knows how long. I'm not saying she's not worth avenging… I'm saying that even if she's a Breeder now, he didn't have to leave the family he just got back to when mourning the pup and getting to know the Breeder she's now can be done. Hell, you worked your ass off to get your Breeders into hobbies and some jobs so they weren't constantly on your dick." Cheat said.
"I… did open a school for them that's been rather effective… helps." Alchem said.
"See… even if she's not his puppy anymore, he's gonna miss out on how she can develop."
"Where did she go?"
"New Foundation Breeder Adoption Facility. Same as the others. The ones they found that were aged up but still mentally babies are able to be de-aged back to infants, and the babies saved are being taken to the New Foundation Orphanage."
"I know there are…things in place to help them all…but Tony will never have his daughter back, as she's just a body now…unless Yuri figures out something that can somehow get her back…Tony is just an enraged, grieving father that needs to do something…and Tina…"
"Who was Tina's family?" Alchem asked.
"From what she told me, the father to most of her babies was a Fluttershy with a dick, and she mothered a lot of those babies, even helped care for some Tony left with some others and Tina got her own magic member and fathered a few kids with a pink and chubby baker and a few others. Had a good friendship with a god of chaos and… she hasn't seen any of them since arriving here." Cheat said.
Alchem got a look on his face as he looked up, the same look Micheal had when he used Township. "Hmm…Fluttershy…and…Pinkie Pie…hmm, did she ever mention one of her kids?"
"Only when drunk."
"Hmm…" Alchem frowned. "Gonna have to look more into that cause…I have an entire planet of names to sort through…"
"Alright…" I sighed.
"Well, guess for now all we can do is wait and see if Tony comes back to his family." Cheat sighed, taping a sip from her cup.
"And for you to apologize to them." I told Cheat.
"When he either admits he liked it or he was ashamed of it." Cheat shrugged.
"Tony's been through enough shit as is, just apologize to the guy." Alchem frowned. "Not only because of you making fun of the incest bit, but also because of the comments about his daughter Daisy."
"Again, making fun of the vore, not the depression. Yeesh what part of what I said did I even refer to his daughter?" Cheat huffed.
"The whole Vore thing?" I pointed out.
"Tell me I'm wrong?" Cheat asked.
"Since I know the context, yes, you are." I pointed out. "I mean come on…with how violently he reacted, the whole joke part to begin with was a bit much."
"I'm not apologizing."
"Guess Button's not the only stubborn one here… not like I have room to speak." Alchem sighed, taking another swig from the bottle. "I'm gonna go spend time with our kids… Maybe invite Tina so they at least know their aunt."
With that, Alchem got up and left.
I rubbed my temples. "God damn it…"
"Where the foal himself not so cute and innocent I'd curse Armageddon out." Cheat muttered.
Yeah… how the heck is Armageddon so innocent and everything happening on their surface so… fucked.
"Yeah…I don't understand how they can be so cute and innocent but also kinda…house all this." I said.
"What was it that Micheal said when he read their Titan form? Innocent in its purpose? Poor kid, and to have every Dark Skill Tree and Title forced on them…"
"Yeah…but…Innocent for what purpose? As the planet of every End of the World Scenario? As a Prison? What?" I asked, cause everything this planet has had to offer, including the Dark Skill tree, was anything but innocent.
"One of many questions with absolutely no answer." Cheat sighed. "Need to find out where I can buy this stuff. Good booze." Cheat said as they sipped more from their cup.
"Probably some of Alchem's stash…but…" I sighed. "I have to wonder…if this isn't some ploy from that David…" I muttered, as besides the gender…they were pretty much the same.