Game Week of the Multiverse: Togetic Arcade

[Navar]

"...I have no idea what just happened," Lance blinked a couple of times.

"Me neither," Brian replied.

"Nah," Meggie agreed with them.

"I kinda spaced out? It's weird," Lance shrugged. "Who's turn is it now?"

 

[Ambyssin]

"How about you, Mr. Edgy?" Nero looked at Lance, tail wagging. "Truth or dare?"

 

[Navar]

Lance raised a brow. "...I'm not edgy! And I'll take a truth. It's quicker that way."

His friends just snickered.

 

[Fusion]

"All y'all are a buncha meanies," the Coras pouted. "And he is edgy, which is awesome."

 

[Ambyssin]

"There's an absol back home who'd disagree with that statement," Nero mumbled. He shook his head. "Actually, that's a perfect truth kind of question. Why are you so grouchy?"

 

[Navar]

"Really? I walked straight into that question," Lance mumbled.

"As a kid, I got kidnapped and experimented on. This broke me, and I could hardly feel anything after that," it even hurt to talk about it, despite how long ago it happened. Nonetheless, he crossed his arms and continued the speech. "Felt like I needed to shut everything down so I wouldn't get hurt again, and it took me years to heal. I'm still making an effort, I'm more... social now, but my 'grouchiness' is too ingrained."

 

[Ambyssin]

Nero's glowing parts flickered pink. "I had a feeling." He winked at Lance.

 

[Fusion]

Each of the Coras slid on over to Lance, smothering the jackal in hugs. "That's... awful," the original sighed, wincing slightly.

"At least it's over, and you're getting better, and that's all that matters," Cora 2 said, soft.

"We're glad you made it out of all that," Cora 3 smiled. "If you want, we could find whoever did that to you and tear them to shreds."

 

[Navar]

Lance pulled deep into the hugs, shivering for a bit. "He's... gone. We took care of him, don't... worry about it, Kora."

He rubbed off a tear from his eye, forcing a smile. "I'm fine, I'm fine. It's all in the past now. Let's just... let's just continue the game, alright?"

Lance pointed at Lillie. "Truth or dare this time?"

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Lance had been... Yikes. And to think she complained about her childhood.

Lance pointed at Lillie. "Truth or dare this time?"

"M-Me? I guess I want a... a..."

Could she get away with picking truth again? Seeing how her last dare went, she dare not do anything but a truth.

"A truth, please."

 

[Navar]

"Perhaps we're doing more truths this time around. Well..."

Lance pondered, tapping his chin.

"What is the thing you like the most about yourself?"

 

[Fusion]

Lance pulled deep into the hugs, shivering for a bit. "He's... gone. We took care of him, don't... worry about it, Kora."

Cora purred, ruffling Lance's head a bit. "If you don't me to worry, then I won't," he said. Maybe, whenever he kicked the bucket, Cora would kick whoever that dickhead was in the head.

He and the clones rested around Lance, waiting for Lillie's answer.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

"I like..."

She couldn't really appreciate her new Mimikyu form, nor would anything about her human self be acceptable. She still had her personality? Though, really, she didn't know if there was much to like there.

...

I have to say something. This shouldn't be a hard question. I can't take too long, it'd be suspicious.

"Well, people tell me that I'm sweet. That's good."

 

[Fusion]

"Well, people tell me that I'm sweet. That's good."

"And people would be right," Cora yipped, purring. It kinda felt like there was something wrong with that but Cora couldn't think of why.

The two copies learned next to each other. "Wait but isn't that cheating? That's what she thinks other people like about her..." Cora 2 whispered to its other self.

"Do you want to point that out? I just wanna have us go again already," Cora 3 huffed quietly. "And she really is sweet so that counts."

"Why don't you, you're older," Cora 2 pouted, poking the third in the chest.

They both started getting pushy and shovey, until Cora flicked them both in the noise and dispelled them away. He sat there for a moment, feeling his brain doing something, then he suddenly snapped his claws and looked at Lillie. "Wait, but that's what other people like about you. What do you like about you?"

 

[Shiny Phantump]

"Wait, but that's what other people like about you. What do you like about you?"

Shit.

"That's, uhh... I mean, I like it about me, too?"

 

[Fusion]

Cora squinted, humming. That didn't sound genouine, but Cora didn't even know if he thought that word right, so maybe he was wrong. He shrugged and smiled, saying, "Well I can't argue with that."

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Lillie turned to Kora. "Uhh, anyways... Truth or dare?"

 

[Fusion]

"Dare!" Cora chirped, not skipping a beat. "What could go wrong?"

It was possible he had selective amnesia...

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Lillie wasn't sure what to do at first, but it wasn't long before a devious idea occurred to her.

"I'll be back in one moment," she said, slipping away towards the Misdreavus house.

...

She returned holding a red frism, being cautious not to touch it with anything but the fabric of her disguise. She set it down in front of Kora. "Here. Use this. Just touching it should work."

 

[Fusion]

The very first thought Cora had was to eat it. It just looked so red and sweet and cool and like a strawberry! And red! "Ooooooo, yummy~!" he snickered, picking the frism up and raising it to his mouth, when the frism lit up with a crimson glow.

"And Zack hasn't responded back yet?" a voice sighed. "I'm sure all three of them are fine, but I can't just let them run free in the multiverse."

Cora blinked, his ears twitching alertly. That wasn't... the sound strawberries made. Actually, did strawberries even make a sound? "...Who was--"

"Aaaaaaaand I'm hearing Kora's voice. Again. Fantastic. If he's just been messing with us this entire time..." the voice growled, then sighed. "Why is it so hard for him to not be a headache? He either breaks shit, leaves, or fucking both."

"Well it's not my fault things just break around me," Cora huffed, crossing his arms. "Lillie, this weird strawberry isn't fun, can I get a different dare?"

"...He's here, isn't he?" Laughter rumbled inside the frism. "Give a sec, Rio, I need have a word with him. Yeah, no, I don't care if you didn't hear him, I did and I'm asking you to give us some privacy."

That didn't sound very good... and now that he thought about it, this voice sounded kinda familiar... "I-Is this, uh... who is this?"

More laughter from the frism. "It actually is you! It's Gardevoir, the same one you've been driving absolutely fucking mad trying to find you! Do you have any understanding what "being under house arrest" means?! Despite me outright explaining to you that you can not leave your house until further notice?"

"O-Oh, uh..." Cora's ears drooped. "About that..."

"Don't you even fucking try to come up with an excuse, Zoroark. You and your team choose this over outright jail time for the shit you pulled, you're lucky I only sent Zack to find you, because everyone else has orders to get rid of you and Lee on sight. I've had to work night and day looking for you, and guess what? I haven't slept in WEEKS!" Something broke in whatever room Gardevoir was in, probably made of wood. "I haven't even set foot outside of this goddamn building, Kora! I don't even remember what my bed feels like because I've been sleeping on the FLOOR. My boss is going to check on you and your friends tomorrow, and the second she realizes that not just one, but two of you are gone... It's my head at stake. Literally."

"What I need you to understand, is that the longer you're gone, the longer your friends will be locked up. Now that I know you aren't dead, I can finally sit back, relax, and charge someone else to serve the sentence that you purposefully decided to ignore. And whenever you do get back, I can assure you, you won't be able to leave again."

"Y-You can't do that! I can't get even get back if I wanted to, I'm stuck here until I can get my power back!" Cora whined, his feline form fading back to his fox self. "I-I'm sorry, I'll come back as soon as I can but I can't right now! I just need a week, less than that, I promise!"

"You don't seem to understand anything I've said, which I should have fucking expected, it is you after all," Gardevoir groaned. "You don't have a week to get back, you barely even have a day. Meaning, I barely have a day. Your friends, barely have a day. Mawile isn't half as forgiving as I am, and I was already considering to throw you in jail until starve for this. I can't even guarantee you're going to have anyone to come back to."

Something shattered in Kora's chest, and the color started to fade from his body. "I'm... sorry. I'm really... really sorry..."

There was a sigh, then a few seconds of silence before Gardevoir spoke again. "I am not the one you should be apologizing to."

"Yeah... I know..." Kora dropped the frism from his paws, holding his elbows and sighing. There it was, his one major fuck up of the day, except it stretched across maybe this entire week. At least... maybe he won't have to worry about fucking up again?