A Collection Of Other Adventures

Looking To The Future

Date: June 7th, 2024

Now that it's sundown, it's time to decide what to do next. "Swift." "What is it, my knight?" "There are no xenomorphs within a 200 kilometer radius of us. The rate at which they're being eradicated is accelerating." "So things are going much faster than we thought they would. Thanks for taking time to get that update on the situation. Well then, I guess we can turn in for a night as long as we aren't desperately needed to help out right away since things have improved due to reinforcements. But the fact that there's so many xenomorph colonies at this point is so unsettling to me that I now just want to get rid of them all before doing anything else. I feel restless and drinking a sleep replacement potion won't help me feel any better about any of this. I realize that now. As much as I want us to train our Pokémon and get some more of them.. As knights, we have to put the innocent inhabitants of this planet first before any of our wants and we kind of lost sight of that. In our excitement to be in this world, we really did lose sight of that. We need to push ourselves in helping solve this situation as we can. We could then compromise between our duty and our desires by using the downtime we need to focus on the Pokémon. Sleep replacement potions should work on Pokémon. I wouldn't see why they wouldn't." "Indeed. Let us bring out our Pokémon and see what those potions do to them. But we must wait until we have exhausted ourselves completely with the mission." "That won't be easy. The priorities is efficiency when it comes to killing them. We aren't here to have fun with xenomorphs. We are here to eliminate them and pursue our Pokémon related wants as we remain here.

But before we head to anywhere where there's still xenomorphs.. 2 things. Sleep replacement potions. Affection. I think we deserve to have a little fun together before we continue with the mission if you get what I mean. I may have never really been that big on romance over the course of my life but I suspect demiromantic and demisexual might be perfect ways of helping me better describe how I am without going contradictory to who I am and what I've been feeling. I say might be because I'm not entirely sure since when I feel feelings related to such things, they are actually pretty powerful. Either way, I fricking love you, Herbsalvin. I'm just in the mood today ya know." "I agree. Let's do that." "Might make dealing with thousands and thousands of xenomorphs easier. After all, I don't think either of us can grasp just how many physical and emotional scars we have from what we've been through. We could spend a good while looking at each other's scars and talking about them. I have what seems to be a strange occasional fixation on scars I don't dwell on much. Scars are like memories and wounds that are physically etched into the skin. But of course, they ain't something one should go around showing to kids. Okay, maybe the cool scars. But that's it because some scars are real nasty." We then proceed to do exactly as planned and after having fun together, we show some more physical affection. After all, we aren't just a couple of non binary knights in love. There's also other bonds we have. Comradely as knights and BRAINS members. The friendship that our romance largely was born from. And of course.. The original bond we forged. The bond between knight and pegasus. I genuinely find romance novels to be my least favorite genre.

But still, a good couple's a good couple and I love Herbsalvin. We are each other's knight in shining armor. Once we're done, we part ways for the time being to cover more ground to take down more clusters. Andromeda and Chocolate split from us as well to go off on their own for now. All of us trust each other to get crap done. You'd never expect a wolf puppy to be efficient when it comes to taking down xenomorphs but being around seasoned warriors and war changes an individual. Still though, Andromeda retains a lot of innocence in terms of behavior which isn't far fetched considering Shun from Saint Seiya's unbreakable kindness even as one of our many comrades. You also wouldn't expect a wolf puppy or a horse for the matter to wield laser blasters but we live in a turbulent time where anything can happen. We've been forced to adapt to a lot of things. But thanks to the 4 of us being able to all use BRAIN Blasters, it will be days before we truly have to rest as long as we drink sleep replacement potions. Between that and teleportation, we can kill xenomorphs with little issue as long as those nightmares don't overwhelm us. It's really not that hard to understand at all. Now that we've wiped out more of them earlier, we'll kill em even more easily now. We know exactly where to hit them. There's a secondary BRAINS team that has been established to focus more on rescue and healing. That's helped speed along process in the mission because now, I don't have to stop every so often to escort a lost Pokémon trainer home or something like that. Someone else will take care of that. As much as I want to help do stuff like that, it's better to focus more on one task over the other so I'm going to end many xenomorphs.

I focused almost exclusively on killing xenomorphs for 3 days straight. I used my Quantum Leap band to quickly get to my targets to kill them before they could smell me. Without that odor cancelling thing to make it so I didn't stink but didn't necessarily smell good either because I don't care much about smelling good, I must smell like a lot of things. Sweat, blood, metal, you name it. Despite a few xenomorphs nailing me somehow, I used poisons to heal my undead body and carried on without much hesitation which was not easy due to my inner nature as an individual. But when it was all said and done, I had eliminated at least 20 clusters of xenomorphs over those 3 days. In that time, we had wiped out the vast majority of the xenomorph clusters. Even ones that were well hidden. A third team dedicated to tracking down xenomorphs was created and deployed to track down hidden and lost and new clusters. Even clusters that were thought to be completely destroyed. The xenomorphs have been a real pain to deal with but we're finally getting close to being done. And if a giant xenomorph appears, there's already a plan to freeze it completely on sight with a substance as close to absolute zero as possible in order to kill it with one attack. Plans have been drawn up to take down any variant of xenomorph not normally seen, including xenomorph computer viruses if you can believe that. BRAINS has become reliant on the vast imaginations of many members in order to pull off stuff like that. Part of why BRAINS is so unique and stable is because of the cultivated emphasis on imagination in the collective. The arts and sciences are both seen as vital.

Therefore, progress in the arts has accelerated just as it has in the sciences. The truth is you need imagination to create a better future. People look down on the arts and artists and that has to stop. Artists are the scientists of creativity. Science is an art. Art is a science. I have helped push for that drive in the arts in BRAINS. As far as I know, I'm a top BRAINS member when it comes to creativity even now thanks to my persistence on imagining things, drawing art, writing, and working on Twisted Land for so long. In the past 3 days, I have come across some really odd xenomorphs like a flying variant with wings but guess what? We had plans for dealing with them all. Many of my fellow creatives in BRAINS have been making up variants of xenomorphs before helping plan for how to deal with each variant and then waiting to see what happens on the field here in the world of Pokémon. It is amongst the greatest creative efforts in BRAINS history so far. If we let the Pokémon world fall, the xenomorphs may expand to other worlds and universes. Best to stamp them out as soon as they appear instead of waiting to see what they do and jump in when things reach a true crisis level. Enough rambling. Myself, Herbsalvin, Andromeda, and Chocolate soon meet up after I stop hunting xenomorphs. We're so worn out from all of that. I've become numb to killing xenomorphs at this point not to mention so efficient at it that I could have never imagined developing the skills to kill them as quickly as I can now. It's like I do it so quickly that they die as soon as I spot them.

Andromeda falls asleep as soon as we meet back up. I gently pick them up: "Awwww. Fell asleep already. Okay, let's just set up camp here for now to rest and establish space to train our Pokémon. Due to our skills in combat, we can easily teach them to fight much better without them having to fight other Pokemon just yet. Nothing says that we can't do that. As long as we do this right, it's going to be alright. I'd like to get a fighting Pokémon later as it's said that having a strong trainer provides a great role model for fighting Pokémon. Herbsalvin, we possess strength that exceeds normal human limitations. We can bring fighting Pokémon to their full potential for sure. And that goes for other Pokémon as long as we know what we're doing." "You are right. I'm very tuckered out from all of that fighting, however. It's going to be something to train our Pokémon in the shape we're in." "As long as we don't accidentally frighten them, we'll be good. Though I doubt we have to worry with a sleeping wolf puppy being one of the cutest sights ever. Okay, I'm going to put Andromeda down somewhere in sight where they can be comfortable. Chocolate, can you come with me? You and Andromeda should rest together. It's only because you have larger legs than Andromeda that you haven't fallen asleep from exhaustion." Once everything's taken care of, Herbsalvin and I release our Pokémon though it's kind of hard too since we're so exhausted. Bulbasaur speaks: "Bulbasaur?" I smile at my Pokemon: "We're going to train you and Herbsalvin's Pokemon today. Get ready. We're going to teach you how to fight without necessarily needing to use your special moves." It was kind of perfect to sit down due to being so exhausted while training them.

By sitting down, we were more at level with them and there's no way we could intimidate them by accident given the fact that we were literally sitting down now. The rest of the day was focused on training them. The day after that, we helped eliminate the last xenomorphs, putting an end to our need to stay in the Pokemon world. That caused 2 opposing vibes in at least me personally. "Finally, those damn xenomorphs are gone. We can finally leave." "That took a lot less time than I feared it would. Now that we have no business to really be here, we have to leave but I don't want to leave just yet." Obviously, that is a problem. But Herbsalvin and I talked it over. We figured out the best way to proceed from here. We'll take them with us and come back for more Pokémon when we needed to. On our downtime, we can come back as long as it means we aren't interfering much in the Pokémon world. Additionally, we will continue training our Pokémon even outside of the Pokémon world. After discussing things, we headed to the space station to contribute our experiences to the overview of the entire mission. When that was done, Dominic approached us: "Hey you two. It's not a nap causation to see you. In fact, it's a delight to. Something I never really say. I don't waste time with surprises in situations like this. I observed carefully while you were in the Pokémon world and learned that you want to keep training your Pokémon. Luckily, there's a way we can do that beyond just you two instructing them. It's simple. We can have them fight robots simulated to look and act like Pokémon or pair them against other small creatures in fights to ensure fairness in size. I'm interested in studying the Pokémon as well.

However, I recognize the wealth of research that's already been done so I won't push it until I get my hands on that research. Correction: until we in the BRAINS branch dedicated to science that has recently been given a much more fitting name than just Science BRAINS. The Scientific Advancement Union Of BRAINS or as it's more easily called: the SAU. Science BRAINS is still seen as an acceptable name to refer to it as but the name change has had some positive unintended effects so there's that too." I reply: "We can work on training the Pokémon later. Good thing they respond well to sleep replacement potions which is data you can absolutely do further study on along with the others. But anyway, what you just said reminded me of something that has also changed. Knight BRAINS. In that branch, many of us knights realized that maybe that's not a good name and might even be a hinderance. We did some discussing and decided on not only making it even more of an official branch that actually does stuff specifically but also to make it into something of a real knight's order but in the same vein as the Knights of Miitopia has become. It's not right to call it an order of knights of course. But a name was picked out that most of us agreed on in a vote over the name change. It's so perfect. The Unified Collective Of BRAINS Knights. UCBK for short. At this rate, BRAINS is definitely going to become a true civilization which will cause a lot of interesting things to happen. Given this space station is reaching full completion in its expansions, that's even more apparent. To think that a multiversal collective is becoming poised to turn into an actual civilization. It's truly bananas. Identity wise, the decisions to have names changed by scientists and knights is seriously going to improve our morale.

Of course, I foresee that I won't have the foresight to mention these changes when I write about what's going to happen the day we try to liberate Goha City but oh well. Did you hear about the name change within Art BRAINS? I swear these name changes are going to help us distinguish between the members of BRAINS who go on missions like us and those who just live in the upcoming collective BRAINS society. Anyway, Art BRAINS is now called The BRAINS Community Of Creative Minds. BCCM for short. These name changes are an upgrade BRAINS needed. Really helps show the course BRAINS is now going." Herbsalvin nods: "That's right. As it stands, we will be able to grow strong enough to fight our foes in the ultimate battle when it comes." Dominic sighs: "It may come sooner than we think." I add: "Yeah. Even to the point that it happens to perfect align with the fact that I'm developing a need to not just marathon working on Twisted Land but to marathon writing after it's done. I may end up writing the ultimate battle around the time it happens around 2027-2028 according to what I foresee through my imagination and in that point in time, I may also be fighting tooth and nail to survive in my own world as fascists under Trump continue to destroy almost everything good in my world under the likes of their Project 2025 scheme. Or I might end up writing it sooner than 2027. That sounds like hell but I will have no choice but be at mercy of what things have in store at that point in the future. Living in this body has given me more time to think, leading me to think these things and probably weeks in advance before I do in my other body with no memory of thinking them while in this body." Dominic yawns: "As nice as it is to just talk, we need to focus more on our priorities right now. It was right to say to hold off on training Pokemon till later. I hear you two were asked to initiate some new knights into BRAINS and Miitopia's knights recently."

Herbsalvin nods: "That we were. We have to get to that soon since we did accept." I add: "It's going to be really special for them. I'm doing it for the memorable experience. But before we part ways for now, we do have to discuss something important. We found a world not too long ago that could prove to be trouble in the future if we don't do something before they become capable of traveling across dimensions." "What a nap causation. That world. That world you foresaw going to in order to infiltrate a kingdom. Correction: an empire. To use your skills as a knight to earn their trust and eventually turn on them in the name of aiding revolution." Herbsalvin adds: "That world. Swift, you won't be doing that alone. I shall do it with you." "I figured as much. But we're not gonna be enough. Plans for interfering in that world when the time is right are being drawn up but no real action will be taken till next year in 2025 I expect. "It's going to be a nap causation because it's going to take a while. That world has far more magic than any world we know of. Its capacity for human life is also much higher than even Earth's. Then there's the other 2 major powers of that world. The church and the demons." "It's so cliche that it's no wonder Herbsalvin and I infiltrating the empire will be such a good idea. It's a fantasy world with so much magic. But before we do anything about it, there's that other place first. Alva Towne Unamusement Park. Forget the horror game Death Park. Alva Towne Unamusement Park is evil. My imagination is the only reason I know of it. I don't know who all is going there but I will be among them and my strength won't mean anything to what lerks there in the world it's in. A world that is so eerily similar to my own world.

Depending on who goes, I will or will not be able to eventually possibly publish a book on going there and writing about it in my own world. None of us really know for sure what's in there but I already wrote chapter names for the story I'm planning on writing on going to it. And let me just say that it's going to be so dangerous that not even going to the bathrooms in there will be a very good idea. I foresee that just about everything in there will try to kill any of us who goes there. Even the benches, ticketing booth, and garbage cans." "I'll go even if it's a total nap causation." "You can count on me as well." "Okay then. We'll see what happens I guess. Okay, Herbsalvin and I really should get going." "Go on. I have some things to work on with some of our comrades or should I say, colleagues of mine since they're scientists like me? Doesn't matter. Too much of a nap causation to care about semantics like that. Gadgets to build! Gizmos to test! So much to do! *yawns* See you later." Before Herbsalvin and I move, I remark: "Is it me or is Dominic slowly turning into something of a mad scientist like Bevel or Eggman?" "He's probably just really tired." "You're right but we can't rule it out just yet. I mean, with everything horrifying I've been learning about in my world, it feels like I'm slowly losing it myself. I mean, I have before when my dark side was rampant but still. So many of the things I believed in the past have been completely destroyed. I have found myself at odds with society's crap so many times. Let's hope neither me or Dominic becomes totally unhinged. We don't need a repeat of what happened to Yappa Yappa who I haven't seen much lately. Hope he's alright."

"He's okay. I happened to hear of how he's doing." "That's good. Let's waste no more time. It's go time to do that knight ceremony stuff. It's going to be different from the last because let's face it, all of these knight ceremonies within BRAINS have begun to differ wildly every single time. Some are more traditional. Some are more chaotic. Because the lineup of who is involved in them now changes a lot, that means that fluctuations are the least to be expected now. We're still so busy that the lineups have to keep changing. The traditional Miitopian knighthood ceremony isn't necessarily performed anymore. Instead, variants of it are performed. Each is rooted in the traditional way but branches off of it. That guarantees originality for each ceremony and that's not exactly something you can truly get by staying stubbornly stuck in the past through tradition or trying to bring back the past by destroying progress. It's better the way it is. The traditional ceremony is great as it was at least when I underwent it with some spoken intentions of breaking tradition but this arrangement is even better. It's like my ceremony was the blueprint of a fusion between progress and fusion for the ceremonies. But chop chop. We really have to go. Despite the Pokémon world's time running 50 times faster than here, Mii World, etc, and thus meaning not much time has passed here, we still don't have much time till the ceremony starts." And so, we teleport to the familiar Knights Of Miitopia base which has had a few changes as of late to incorporate more technology while also expanding on the tradition of swords and magic within its walls. Almost everything is ready for the ceremony. I'm actually pretty damn excited to do this. I just can't wait to do it.

I rarely get truly excited most days. Too busy taking conflicts seriously and all that to be more excited plus my default vibe and stuff. The turnout from BRAINS members is small because there's so many missions not to mention a battle that just started in Ninjago. A coordinated invasion attempt by Don Thousand's forces. But on the flip side, many Miitopians who aren't part of BRAINS are present. It's a rather large crowd in part due to the excitement of the unpredictability of the knighthood ceremonies apart from one element. The sword stuff is the one thing that doesn't change(though it has slowly evolved the past year and a half anyway) because well, swords are cool, classic, symbolic, and kind of important for most knights in combat.. Despite my nerves and what have you, I speak up first as soon as a group of 8 to be knights reaches Herbsalvin, myself, and our entourage in the area of the dining hall the ceremony usually takes place in. "Welcome, dudes, dudettes, both, and neither to the latest knighthood ceremony of the Knights Of Miitopia. I am Swiftdrawer and I will begin this ceremony. Is everyone comfortable? Knights to be, I know you must feel nervous now but do not worry. You will get through this and you will get through it and be celebrated for everything you have done to earn this achievement called knighthood. But let's not be too boring. This isn't scripted at all, I'm just saying what I think feels right. With that out of the way, if you are up to it, allow those in the audience to see you in full. Come a little closer to us and turn around. Audience, let's begin with a round of applause. They have completed difficult trials to get here today. It wasn't so long ago that I became a knight myself in this very room and now, the torch passes to these 8."

The crowd goes wild. Due to the war here in Mii World and the knights' heavy involvement in it, the knights have only become more iconic in the eyes of the people. Embracing beliefs stemming from an opposition to imperialism and capitalism, the sudden radical shift in the makeup of the knights basically as soon as I joined them allowed them to be a significant force in helping liberate Mii World from fascism and active genocide. This amongst many other things has altered what a knight is in Mii World and helped lead to the peace we're building towards even now despite the occasional obstacle. Once the applause came to a natural close, I spoke again: "Now then, you can turn back around. I'd know that I'd rather face where I'm standing now than the audience if I were to relive my knighthood ceremony personally. Deep down, anyone presenting or on stage or whatever feels nervous when doing all that. Now then. Let's hope this doesn't go completely off the rails like I did when Nimona and Ballister just kind of showed up here. *audience laughs* I have a little more to say before I hand things off for the time being. Knights to be, you are a shining example of the next wave of individuals to fight for a truly better future for all of us. We have rid ourselves of the shackles of royalty, fascism, oppressive hierarchies, and more in this world but our work is far from over. It will never be over. Making a better future includes maintaining and improving upon that better future. A better future will always have to be fought for even when it has finally arrived.

You stand before us as next to be recognized as noble warriors. May you wield your weapons with the spirit of revolution, progress, remembering your roots, the future, the life that exists, and more. May you don your armor to protect and build better like as we who ourselves wear armor as well do. Today is the beginning of the next stage of your life. Knighthood can be said to be on the same level as childhood or adulthood. Herbsalvin, it is your turn to speak. When it comes around full circle, I will perform the sword ritual and you will present them with the gifts they have earned and when this is over and the feast is over as well, we will discuss more with these 8 for it is vital that we do so. I normally do not speak this way. But as an artist and a knight, it is best I do so given that I appreciate the beauty in wordplay and see it reasonable to really put on something interesting communication wise." Herbsalvin nods: "Then, it is my turn. I am senior to most living Miitopian knights who were born after I was. In this world, I have lived multiple lives and in my previous one, I served and died as a knight. I then came back as a pegasus and realized that I could transform back into the knight I was years ago. The challenges you 8 will face ahead are not going to always be easy. They will test you and we will do our best to guide you forward. I promise to share the wisdom I have gained with you when you require it. This day is so important to all of you that it wouldn't be strange to celebrate it a year from now like it's your birthday. May your path be filled with joy even as the enemy tries to take everything from you. We live in dark times. Not necessarily here in Mii World but across the multiverse itself. And we are at war.

All of you must stay true to what you strive to vow to do on this day. A knight's promise is a valuable promise but know that we knights are not above anyone else. Each individual has a way they can contribute to the collective society of this world and that goes beyond any phantoms left of abolished classes, ranks, and so on. We are part of a collective much greater than any of us mortals can fully comprehend. The collective is us standing together with just about everyone else. Together, we are all the collective. Upon the closing stages of this ceremony, I will give to each of you a chest full of the gifts you do in fact deserve. A sword that will shape your future in someway. A shield. Robes. A tabard. And a visor. Stand tall for we are celebrating what you have done to get this far. Blaster, it is your turn." "Arr! Excellent! Listen here, scallywags, if you have any grievances you need to share.. that includes anyone here in this room, speak now and we will verbally attempt to resolve it in order to ensure this ceremony goes without a hitch. I know Im no knight but I am a pirate. And pirates like me? We have our own honor we follow. Once upon a time, I plundered and explored the seas but now, I explore the multiverse and fight for a collective better future as part of the collective struggle. I stand with you all. The old ranks and crap are done. We don't need em anymore. I'm captain no longer. Of my own free will." The grievances of the few there were were quickly taken care of. It was mostly stuff felt by the 8 knights to be. Those of us who spoke or will speak soon advise them and they feel a lot better after that is done. Pirate Blaster smiles: "Excellent. We can continue this voyage of a ceremony from here.

I never thought I'd be standing here but the knights were shorthanded so they had to ask me to help out! There's just too much happening to spare many knights or anyone else for that matter! Enough yipper yapping. I got a feeling it's time for Barla to speak! Darn, I just realized Swift and Herbsalvin are the only knights up here to speak! Oh well! I told y'all! Told ya!" Barla speaks up: "This is going to get more and more awesome. We're going to have one hell of a feast but not quite just yet. As a marksman and tank, I differ a lot from the knights. However, we're all fighting for the same things! I'm here for you and I trust your all here for me! That's just how it goes. Especially in a collective not bound by rigid nonsense! I can only imagine what you 8 warriors and knights to be went through to get here. Nobody told me a damn thing about the trials you went through! But what do you know, we're too busy for that kind of thing! *smiles warmly* If you need my help, please ask for it. I may be real tough but I'm almost like a cookie THAT IS NOT CURSED BY DARK MAGIC. Hard on the outside, soft on the inside. What can I say? You gotta be pretty tough to fight for your life and the lives of your friends, loved ones, and the innocent. Don't back down from what's to come, you 8! You got this but if you don't actually got it, there are others around you that will make you got it! Ha, it seems that even I have less words to say than Swift! Well, I said what I needed to say for now! On ya go, Bray! There may only be 5 of us speaking but that's more than enough for a ceremony like this! In most knighthood ceremonies, it's some monarch or priest who does 95% of the talking. While that's nice and all, it's kinda boring because hierarchies like theirs are dull!" Bray nods and begins performing some magic: "This ceremony may be somewhat brief but as I prepare this necessary spell, it is time for you 8 to take your vows. Choose what you vow carefully and share them with us.

When you are ready with what to say, please share one at a time. The number of knights being inducted per ceremony always differs. One time, we nearly had 20 be inducted at once but that was too many for one ceremony. Now then, I shall explain the spell as you begin to think as well as speak some more. This spell shall allow you 8 to have your potentials as Miitopian knights be unlocked. You will be able to level up to level 100. Level 50 will no longer be your limit. You will also receive boosts in your stats such as agility, strength, intelligence, and luck. It will also help solidify your coming identities as knights. This spell has been altered over the years but is an integral part of this ceremony most of the time. I want to congratulate you on making it this far. The trials are never the same or easy. They always change. I await welcoming you as comrades even though I am a sage rather than a knight. We expect you to try your best to fight for what's right. And I believe in you. We all do and I anticipate hearing tales of your future exploits. I additionally invite you to have hands on magic training with me. I wish to help you delve into the true power of magic. Many knights have been more successful by using magic. And I want you to be no exception. Until the time is right, I shall be one of your direct mentors. Audience, I welcome you to the magic training as well. We are all in this together no matter who or what we are. Pirates, knights, assassins, sages, teachers, scientists, artists, writers. Above all of that, we are sentient beings who have the capacity to build as peaceful a future as possible. We deserve to live happy lives as our authentic selves. Yes, I am transgender. And that's okay. I am a sage. I am a Miitopian. I am a living human being with thinking seemingly more complex than that of most animals on most of the many worlds all known as Earth.

And you knights to be are going to be knights. Be proud of yourselves. You made it. You made a dream of each of you's come true. It's happening. If you want to cry in happiness, go ahead. No one is stopping you. Feel what you must feel as Swift over there would say. Hmm. It seems I'm running out of words while avoiding repeating what's already been said by any of us. That is not a big issue. It is the perfect time for you to speak what you wish to speak as dictated by your hearts." And therefore, the 8 make their vows. They only say them loud enough for the 5 of us to hear but that's enough. Bray smiles: "You all looked really nervous. You did a good job speaking your vows. Audience, we will not ask them to repeat what they just said. Just know that what they said was exactly what we wished to hear them speak. They are proving themselves to be truly qualified to become knights. What's more is that with the vows they made, they could have easily become assassins, pirates, ninja, sages, or scientists as well. We have ourselves some of the best knights to be set to become knights in quite some time. I'm excited to find out what's to come for them. The spell is now ready. All 8 of you, please step closer to me and into the already drawn magical circle. *whispers to me* Thanks for doing this yesterday in advance. When it comes to drawing anything, you have more patience than I which is rather ironic." I nod before she continues once the 8 are inside the circle. Good thing that were plenty of diagrams and such to guide drawing the circle with paint. I refused to use chalk because I hate working with it. Gave me goosebumps as a kid. It's also super messy but looks great when used right.

"*speaks in an ancient language for some time* The ritual is finished. You will now feel yourselves change somewhat on the inside. We shall watch carefully in case anything goes wrong. Should it go wrong, I will call upon a certain scientist to aid should it prove necessary." We wait in silence until the magic circle successfully fades away and nothing bad happens. Once that happens, I speak again: "It is now time to make it official. I will go to each of you for the next step. In most knighthood ceremonies, a ceremonial sword is used to touch the shoulders of knights to be. However, we do things very differently. It will be my sword that touches your shoulders. That is how it will go. And frankly, I hope Herbsalvin gets to do this part next time. Boring to have the same person always doing it. Luckily, it isn't always the same. We can talk about how boring it is to have a sword just for ceremonial purposes later. But right now, it is time. Your time. Right here right now. You have made your vows, experienced Bray's spells, and heard all of our words. And now, as planned, by what we have outlined in this ceremony, you are officially knights of Miitopia!" I then go do the shoulder tapping and speak to each new knight one by one. "You did a great job. Allow the touch of my sword to show you how much trust we are putting into and heed the words I say to the others well as well. As for the rest of you, heed these words and so forth as well. I will test your promise now, new knight. You are at the peak of the ceremony. This is a defining moment for you. Let the test begin. Can you stop a few shadows from doing something that not preventing it would cause you to break your vow?"

I do the same with my shadow magic for the other 7. They all passed the test. Barla smirks: "Hell yeah, these are some seriously good knights!" Blaster nods: "Let us celebrate! They may not fight with us specifically often but we know they have IT inside of them." I add: "Good thing I sent the shadows toward some prepared life like dolls. There's no way I could allow them potentially failing to cause actual harm. You 8 are now our fully fledged comrades now that you have achieved the dream of knighthood. Once again, congratulations." After the feast is over and believe me, it was a great one, I smile for once: "Well, I'm glad we actually were able to pull off the full thing: feast included. It's almost boring to do the really abridged version while in battle. Would be boring if it weren't for the dangers of battle and the drive to desperately sum up the whole ceremony. Speaking of boring, we can talk about how boring rigid tradition can be as well later. Of course, when I tested the new knights, there's no way we were gonna throw em out just because they failed. No, we were going to insist upon helping them work towards sticking to their vows better after reassuring them and the audience and still having the feast. You don't have to be punished for failing to learn from it. The failing is usually enough and guidance just makes the lesson learning succeed in full. We should check on Andromeda and Chocolate. They were so damn exhausted even when we brought them back to the space station with us earlier, Herbsalvin." "Indeed. They were pushed even harder than we were." "No kidding." That's exactly what we do and we find them in a relaxation room in the space station peacefully sleeping.

My lover takes my hand: "Swift, we mustn't disturb them. It is time to find something else to do for the time being." "You're right about that. Let's see. What can we do besides more training of course? We could train our Pokémon again but I just kind of want to relax right now. Maybe just chill somewhere and read. If I'm going to just chill around, I want to do something meaningful at the same time. Oh wait.. Let's cuddle. But not like cuddling asteroids." "Cuddling asteroids?" "I never told you about that story. Another time. Do you wanna cuddle?" "Yes." "Let's do it somewhere comfy. Doesn't matter if we won't really feel much of it due to our armors but whatever. There's the sight part to it too." As we find somewhere, Carlos passes by us and snickers: "2 walking hunks of metal kissing in a tree." I playfully lightly slap the ninja: "Don't you go making fun of us like that." Herbsalvin is amused: "I am very much enjoying this interaction." "Are you also enjoying the fact that I've never really done something with very lightly and playfully slapping someone?" "Yes I am." Carlos laughs: "Hehehe. So honest. Okay. Bye bye now!" He scampers off and a few seconds, we hear him and Tetsuya yelling about something. "Okay, I'm not sure who started whatever that is. The crab? The ninja? Who knows. But anyway, let's go cuddle." We end up going to the relaxation room from before to cuddle and it was great. We cuddled for like a whole hour. Cuddling is great because friends, couples, whoevers can all do it without any issues. Once we were done, Herbsalvin hugged me and lifted me off the feet while doing so as soon as I returned the hug while they were still hugging me.

I remark: "Oh, look at us. We just did the same thing you can do in Ragnarok Origin if you interact with a lone guard in the city of Payon near an edge of the city map in its western/left side half." My knight laughs and we figure out what to do next from there. That's when we decide on training our Pokémon again. We go to one of the now many training rooms onboard the space station. However, before we can actually do anything, intruders break into the station and come face to face with us. I demand: "Who in the world are you people? Why are you here?" One of them laughs: "To kill everyone in this place and take all its secrets!" Herbsalvin replies: "That won't happen. You won't get past either of us." I nod: "That's right and even if you've done your homework on this space station and BRAINS, that doesn't mean you can take us down easily no matter how hard you prepared given that you managed to break in here without setting off any of the alarms. We won't waste any time. You are clearly formidable based on how you just broke in here like it was nothing. Yami No Game. *summons shadows* Game Start. This is part of why I'm a dark knight." Not too long after that, we have easily defeated the intruders. The breach in security was patched easily and we helped interrogate the intruders. But it turns out they had nothing important info wise. They weren't even worth killing. We knew reforming them wouldn't work so we just left them stranded on an uninhabited island. That was the end of it and the end of the day as well.