Point Zero

[Chungchangching]

Mentions:
N/A
TANDEM, THE ITALIAN SWINDLER

After giving Leonardo the Yo-Yo as a remembrance to how cool Tandem really is, he finally made his way towards the portal while shoving and pushing away every person that dared walked in his path because he's had a rough time today, he just wanted to go home and eat some tasty diner meatloaf or something, maybe take a huge break because he's not as cocky when stressed or irritated, he acts more like a grumpy edgelord whenever he's feeling negative but it was finally time to go home, thank God that he managed to live all the way until they finally reached their goal, his luck has no bounds but it almost ran out when Zant almost killed them all but he knew Lady Luck wouldn't just abandon him like that. . . Oh, thanks to the rest of the crew too, he guesses. They done good.

As Tandem made his way to the front of the portal, he took a look back at the remaining crew, contemplating about their adventure together before putting on a small smile. "I, uh, hate you all. I wish I'll never meet you people again." Tandem said, letting out a laugh that's eerily similar to a dolphin before tipping his hat and walking towards the portal. He's finally home.




Tandem made his way to the Diner after going back trough the portal, looking around frantically for his friends until he finally spotted them at the right, a bright smile washes into his face while they ate, not even noticing The Italian Swindler was here because they were too focused on their food. Tandem approached them with haste, causing Tayne (The wise muscle of the group) to sigh audibly at his return, breaking the cup he was holding with his bare fist, hoping that he should've stayed missing because Tandem is not easy to hang around with, he's terribly annoying and he's had enough trouble with Hazel (The woman with circular glasses) and now he has to take care of Tandem's kleptomaniac ass again. He was finally getting some rest while he was gone. Meanwhile, Hazel was happy to see him return, his energy always brightens up the day and gives her good company and they love bugging Tayne together in their free time because they love irritating people with their bombastic energy, they even do sleepovers with each other a lot like they're small children but why does Tayne stay to put up with their shit? They give him money.

"Yo, Tandem! Where've you been, buddy?"
"I thought you finally got killed."

Tandem sat down with them with a face full of hope while also looking pretty tired.
"Order me something guys, I'm hungry!"

​

 

[Veradana]

They’d forced Zant to retreat. That at least, they could be thankful for, even if it was only a temporary reprieve. Takemi nearly dropped to the floor again, gasping for breath, when the massive noise rang through the vault. Wearily, she prepared herself for another battle. Would they be fighting more Shadow-creatures, or did Zant or Cobblepot have other allies that they hadn’t seen? The clanging got louder and louder, until finally the vault door broke open, revealing just who they were up against.

The SHIELD People.

“Wow,” Iron Man said, looking down upon all of them. "Well, you guys almost screwed the pooch. Hard.”

“Tch, well, sorry for almost dying,” she muttered. At least the others were praising them for holding out for so long. Not that it would do any of the ones who’d died any good.

Nick Fury filled into the vault behind all the others, stone-faced as he had been before. It was hard to get a reading on him, even as he commended them for their work. They all followed after him as he collected the tesseract. Finally, they’d get to go home.

But Zant was still out there. Fury knew it too. At any moment, Zant could reach their home-worlds.



They didn’t have much time left here, but Takemi’s list of people she needed to say goodbye to was unfortunately short. There was only a few people she’d said more than a few words to, just her Party members, really. Then again, it seemed like they were all that way. They’d all found a group to feel safe in and stuck to them. People couldn’t survive alone, after all, but it was easier to lose yourself in a large crowd than it was among a little band.

The first people she sought out were Rin and Len. When she found them, she noticed that Arthur was with them too, and she hung back. He spoke quietly to them about something that seemed important. She made sure to stand far enough away so that she couldn't hear them. This was something between the three of them. Takemi waited for few minutes even after Arthur had finished taking to them before approaching the twins.

She probably couldn’t match his solemnity, but it would be weird of her to be sombre. She put on a smile and ruffled Len’s hair.

“Hey,” she said, crouching down to hug Rin. “You two’ve worked really hard this whole time.” Did this really have to be “goodbye”? She didn’t know what they’d choose to do, and she wouldn’t ask. It was their decision to make.

“Let’s not say goodbye just yet, okay?” They could definitely meet again someday. Hopefully under better circumstances.

“Take care, you two.”


She had to find Lyle, too. Who knew when she’d ever see him again? Once she caught sight of him, she waved as she walked over.

“I guess this is goodbye then,” she said, “or well, it’s something.” She clapped him on the back, “so long, you moron.” She tried to keep up her smile, but it faltered a bit before she could put it back up.

“Sorry if I was a crappy Party Member. I know I screwed up really badly in the sewers.” Looking back, she was surprised that he kept her on the team after that. He probably threw people off for less, considering his attitude.

“Thanks for all your support.”



Finally, she stopped to talk to Nick Fury.

“Excuse me,” she said. “If it’s alright, would I be able to be a reserve member? I can’t stay here full time. To be honest, I don’t think I ever could. My friends and my family need me.”

“…but, I want to help. I want to help capture Zant. After everything he did, after everything he put us through, I don’t think I could just go home forever and forget about it.”

thatguyinthestore

Necessity4Fun

Damafaud

----

​

When she opened her eyes, the white-tiled ceiling nearly caused her heart to jump from her chest. The stench of disinfectant, and the stinging in her hand, clued her in to the reality. She turned to see her mother, rising from a seat next to her bed. Takemi smiled weakly up at her.

“Hi, Mom.”

Her mother let out a breath, and sank back into her chair. Takemi pushed herself sitting up, ignoring any dizziness, and she stabilised herself by leaning on the railings of the bed. Her hair fell loosely into her face. Thankfully, her mother didn’t force her to lie back down. She did her best to avoid even so much as looking at the IV, but the steady beeping of the heart monitor didn’t do much better at calming her. It was a symbol that she was alive; she just had to remember that.

“What happened to you?” her mother asked after a few moments pause. “They found you passed out in front of a shrine early this morning.”

Ah, so that’s how the portal spat her out. It could have been a cleaner return, in Takemi’s opinion, but it would probably have worried her parents even more if she had just walked in the door after x amount of time being missing. At least then she wouldn’t have been dragged to a hospital.

But man, where to even begin with explaining all this?

 

[SheepKing]

It was done, they could finally leave this hell. He wouldn’t have to see innocent lives be lost in pointless bloodshed. Friendships be made before being torn apart as fast as it was born. He could finally see his brother and everyone else back in his homeland of Amestris. Of course, none of the day’s events would ever leave him. Especially not his part in three peoples’ deaths. No, that would stick with the young boy for forever. Alphonse also could never forget the friends he had made. Steve, Ike, and Ritsu, to name a few, were some of his closest. There was no way he could ever forget any of them.

Speaking about Ike, the demon found his was over to him and Alphonse immediately swooped him into his arms and hugged him with a death grip like no other. The immediate relief of seeing Ike okay was just to much for Alphonse not to act on. Even if he couldn’t feel the man’s skin against his cold body or the weight of him in his arms, it didn’t matter. He was okay.

With his head nuzzled in Ike’s shoulder, Alphonse realized he never did get to actually tell him. It almost seemed such a long time ago when his fears were personified and fought Ike, Steve, and Tandem. Nevertheless, it did happen and Alphonse need to apologize properly. Carefully he set Ike back down on the ground and got into a full bow.

“Ike, I am so sorry for forcing you to fight....that thing. There’s nothing I could possibly do to show how much I appreciate that you helped me. Thank you”

Before he could say anything further, Ritsu rolled over and gave him and Noel a custom figurine of one of her guns. Carefully he examined it and noticed that it even had a small inscription of her name. Alphonse was honestly touched by the gift. There was now no way he could just let Ritsu, or his other friends go home empty handed!

He gently set the figure on the ground before also getting on his knees. A simple transmutation now left a modest sized hole on the ground but also three miniature but surprisingly detailed figures of each of them. For Ritsu, the figure was of her with every bit of her arsenal being held by the mechanical arms that came from her body. Ike was given a figure with him in his small beast form in a hissing position. Finally, though he and Noel hadn’t truly talked all that much, she received a figure of herself proudly holding a gun ready to take aim. Of course, the figures weren’t as perfect as he would have preferred them to be. He was used to transmutating much larger objects, but he was satisfied with the results. Picking each up with his own gift. He gave the figures to their respective person.

He went on to make more figures for a few others. Rin and Len got miniature versions of themselves on a giant piano, Steve got a figure of him holding his trusty pickaxe, and Arthur got a replica of himself holding his hat to his chest. Even if it had been in a small way, they had all affected Alphonse is some way. To each he said the same thing,

“You have done so much for me, I never want to forget you!”

Even if Alphonse was ecstatic to go home, he would definitely miss seeing the group in its entirety. It was also a bit selfish on his end but, it had truly been a while since Alphonse had actually felt normal in a crowd. Among the team of multiuniveral beings of all shapes and sizes, his own unique body didn’t pop out as much. He truly felt like a person and was disappointed he would have to go back to sticking out in a crowd.

Unless.....

Alphonse quickly hurried over to Nick Fury. While he still had to withhold from fully trusting the man, the boy did see an opportunity arise. There was definitely no way in sweet he’ll that he would ever abandon all of Amestris to work with them, but if needed he wouldn’t refuse meeting up once in a while Incase a situation arises. Speaking with as much professionalism that a fourteen year old boy could, he spoke to Fury.

“Mr. Fury, please put me down as a reserve member, if needed, I wouldn’t mind helping you out once in a while”

Maybe that way he could see them once again.

As the portal began to show signs of closing, he decided it was time to leave. With one final look at everybody, the alchemist attempted to ingrain each and every member of the group into his memory. Finally, he needed to leave. As Alphonse entered the portal, he held onto the memories of this adventure as close as he could.

...................................................................................................................................

Alphonse found himself seated on a seat in a train. Looking out from the window he saw that they were traveling through a field. It took a while for Alphonse to remember why exactly he was on the train, but a quick turn of the head and Alphonse saw Edward sound asleep. Right, they were traveling to Briggs. Rather than wake his brother, Alphonse let Edward sleep peacefully as he looked down at his hands. Inside of them he found Ritsu’s model safely within his grasp. All was fine.

Well except,

“I FORGOT ABOUT PRAETORIAN!”



END.


June Verles Birb Ineptitude Chungchangching Necessity4Fun FactionGuerrilla thatguyinthestore 2Bornot2B GearBlade654
​

 

[Birb]

You make a little, happy gasp, and then a struggling gasp because well... he almost crushed you!! But that's ok!! You smile this toothy, cute lil smile and hug him back, appreciating the attention and praise... and really, you'd miss this guy.. he'd gone through as much as you did... maybe even more...

"Aw-aw geez.... you don't gotta tha- o-oh.... y... you don't have to b-bow... I mean... i've had to do this sorta saving before you're not the... uh... nevermind... but.. don't... sweat it. I wasn't forced. I was only doing the right thing. I... I only did what I felt was right..."

You hug his arm a bit, not really sure what to say... you... then look at the tiny figure... hehe... this... this would be nice to give to Soleil!! SPEAKING of which.... you take out that tiny device again.. the one you got from that armoire all the way back in the first room you woke up in... a tiny holographic screen pops up and.. shows... you had..... 82. Unread messages. From Soleil.

You turn a tiny bit pale... fuck.... FUCK!!! You were going to meet him at your apartment but you ended up here, he must have been totally worried about you!! After all, you live in a pretty dangerous neighborhood!! You shiver, imagining his worried face.. he, like yourself, had the oddest ability to get people to fall for such an innocent face... you shake the feeling and decide to say goodbye to a few others... you look over at the two blonde twins, and walk up to embrace the girl. She seemed to be much more affectionate.

"H... hey... glad to see you both alright... hehe... so, wise guy, still think imma fake 'Ike'??"

You smile a witty little grin to the boy, Len, before backing away shrugging. Before just leaping through the portal, you look at Fury...

"Hey uh... you might wanna... not mark me down in any of the groups... I don't think I'm gonna be comin back... who knows though, I have a tendency to get caught up in these sorta things eh?~"

You smile that cute, toothy smile, before going NYOOM into the portal with the figure and tiny communication device in your pocket.

thatguyinthestore Necessity4Fun SheepKing @YesWeMadeItToTheEnd!!!


In an apartment in a dimension several multiverses away, but not that many


You arrive.. back in your apartment... only to see Soleil, sitting on your couch, almost ready to sob.. poor guy.. he was probably worried sick. You gasp and smile, before jumping into his arms to soothe him, preparing to tell him about what HE would go to describe as a 'usual day' for his job. And who knew. Maybe you'd end up back there again.. and maybe you'd see a few friends... but hopefully... not for a while...​

 

[GearBlade654]

SPARK-01, designation Praetorian	SPARK-02, designation Ruin
Physical Integrity: OK	Physical Integrity: CPU Overheating
Actions: Speaking to Fury	Actions: Returning to Base

The two SPARKs were rather unfortunate.
While their allies were able to get in a beatdown on their foe, the SPARKs were still rebooting and only fully rebooted when Zant was escaping.
"Warning. Target has successfully evacuated the combat zone. Evacuation bears resemblance to psionic rifts generated by the now deceased Alien Rulers. Calculating methods on how to terminate target once and for all."
"No. NO! WHY, YOU LITTLE-I WAS GOING TO RIP YOUR DAMN HEAD OFF! AND WHAT DO YOU DO? YOU ESCAPE BY SOME SORT OF DAMN PORTAL-"
Julian was violently ranting to no end, at least until the SHIELD forces arrived. Julian didn't take kindly to Iron Man's remark.
"Oh, yes. It's normal to fight an interdimensional being. And what heroic acts have you done? Lie on the couch and-OW!"
Julian didn't get to finish as Praetorian swiftly elbowed its red compatriot in the face.
"Pardon my fellow SPARK unit. It is prone to verbal attacks on anyone."
Both SPARKs were silent as Fury told them to come along, Julian still rubbing it's face.

When the portal opened, the SPARKs processed what Fury had to say.
Julian's response was swift.
"Well, I think you guys know what I'm doing! Good bye all of you! Have a good one!"
Julian prepared to dash into the portal.
Praetorian ran another calculation. Perhaps XCOM could prove to be a great ally to bringing an end to this Zant. Having made its decision, Praetorian prepared to speak to Fury when Willow ( FoolsErin ) patted it on the shoulder while Julian was turning away.
"While I appreciate your thanks, I believe that they would be more appropriately directed towards my fellow SPARK unit."
"W-wait a minute. Wasn't I the one who gave you your lighter back?"
Praetorian then witnessed Alphonse ( SheepKing ) leaving.
"Alphonse? Wait-"
Unfortunately, Alphonse left right before Praetorian could finish its sentence. Noting nothing else, Praetorian turned to Fury as Julian turned to walk through the portal.
"From my world, I serve for a paramilitary organization called XCOM. We have been fighting off an alien occupation for some time now."
"I wish to be recorded by SHIELD as a reserve member. However, I would like to bring up the possibility of contacting XCOM as a potential ally."
"However, this alliance is not mandatory. You are free to choose."
"For now, however, I must report to base. Farewell."
Praetorian turned, and walked through the portal. The machine found itself again in XCOM's mobile headquarters, amidst a rather large number of startled staff.
"I request an audience with the Commander. I have a report that I calculate is at urgency level red."

END
​

 

[Damafaud]

Lyle Walt

Epilogue
Interaction: Lin, Ren, Takemi​

It was over. Zant ran away, but it wasn't that much of a problem for Lyle. He secured his main objective; obtain the Tesseract so he could go home. It was a long, painful ride already. Lyle jumped down from Porter and returned it to his Box, just in time for S.H.I.E.L.D agents to arrive.

He wanted to ask, where were they during the whole fight again?

However, seeing that he still needed their help to use the Tesseract, Lyle kept silent and climbed onto their black van. As they travelled back to the headquarter, Lyle found himself smiling at the thought of home. He was truly going back home.

------
​

It was almost time to go. As people started to go around saying their farewell, he started to realise how few meaningful contacts he had made with others. Apart from the twins and Takemi, he didn't spend much time with anyone else. The twins, on the other hand, received many farewell from the others. Lyle went for Nick Fury instead, approaching him regarding some matters.

"I brought this from the lab," Lyle took out the computer, research notes, and desk from Research Room. "I can't make head or tail about it, but maybe it can be useful. And..."

Something else. His Box now only held Porter and...

"is it possible to return these swords back to their home world?"

He handed over Link's Mastersword and Shiki's blade to Nick Fury. They were killed in battle. And they weren't among the group of people in the elevator. If they truly died, at least he wanted their weapons to not be stranded in this foreign world.

With his final obligation fulfilled, Lyle was ready to return. Takemi approached him first. His eyes softened at her apology. Really, what was she sorry for?

"At least you didn't kill an important source of information," he joked, referring to when he killed Hugo Strange. He clasped her hands between his. "you did well for a fighter. Don't be discouraged."

And she left. Ike said his good bye to the twins, and they were now free from well wisher. Lyle approached them with a gentle smile.

"This is good bye, then. Sorry if I didn't do too well. Protecting you guys and all that," he patted their head fondly. Then he turned to Len, his smile turning into a grin as he bend down to see his eyes. "you're my sixth male friend. Nice knowing you, Len."

Lyle stood up and headed to the portal. Just before he stepped inside, he turned to Nick Fury.

"Put me in as a reserve member. I have an empire to run, so I can't exactly stay here. Feel free to call me up, though."

And with that, he entered the portal.

------​

"...Lyle?"

Lyle blinked his eyes open. Novem stood by the door of his bedroom, dressed in her usual attire as a mage. A magic lamp lit the room. On the table in the corner, stack of paper crowded the surface, hiding the wood surface completely. He was home.

"I'm home," he grinned delightedy. He was truly home.

"...now, care to explain where you ran off this time?"
"...eh?"
"Lyle! Ahh, how dare you! You want to kill me, right? What's with this amount of paperwork!"
"Uwa, Alette, why are you here?"
"We're all worried for you, Lyle. And you need to think more of your duty as an emperor."
"I'm sor- Hold on! What right you have to say that, Marina?!"
"Really, I didn't mind you going out once in a while, but going for a whole week is..."
"Et tu, Aria?!"
"Just so you know, I ate your portion of sweets when you were gone."
"Don't add to trouble, Shannon!"
"Now about the night schedule you skipped..."
"Wait! I'm really tired right now. Miranda, listen to me!"

Unable to withstand the questionings of his wives, Lyle jumped out of his window and tried to run, only to be caught by Ludmilla and May in the garden.

Mentions: thatguyinthestore Necessity4Fun Veradana

 

[Ineptitude]

Ritsu​

Ritsu's smile only grew wider as Alphonse gave her a keepsake back—a detailed figurine of herself, brandishing a full arsenal of weaponry. Ever-so-carefully, she stored it within her body, touched by the thought that went into the gift. With everything she wanted to do having been said and done, she spun over to the portal, and with one last glance at the people she began to view as her comrades, she vanished.

———

"...itsu... Ritsu!" It was curiosity that led her to open her optical processors, only to be met with the sight of her former classmates, and even her former teachers staring back at her.

All of them, who looked far worse for wear than the last time Ritsu had seen them, immediately bombarded her with questions over the sudden disappearance of not only her main program off of the internet, but even the 'Mobile Ritsu' apps that she'd downloaded into their phones so long ago. Upon seeing them all safe and sound, something within her code clenched painfully, and she flashed them the brightest smile she could possibly muster.

"Ahh, good morning!" She greeted instead of answering any of their questions, giggling at their dumbfounded faces. "I have so much to tell you guys." One of her mechanical arms gently caressed the figurine she held in storage.

SheepKing thatguyinthestore @Wooooow,wemadeit

 

[Hahli Nuva]

Kuai Liang had accepted the girl's gift, but did not accept the offer ofbeing a reserve SHIELD agent. He had his own clan to wach over, but he did say that if anything happened in the Multiverse, all Nick Fury needed to do was contact Earthrealm. The Lin Kuei would be allies. Kuai had given Blake a special talisman, to summon him in her greatest time of need. She had been a good ally, and he would hate to see her potential squandered.

"If you ever need me, I will come. Thank you, Miss Belladonna."

After saying his goodbyes and leaving Blake with the talisman, Sub Zero returned home, taking all he had learned and continuing to protect his realm as well as the innocent.

marc122 thatguyinthestore

 

[Necessity4Fun]

.

.

~Pay Back Runaway~​

Triumphant, the twins had glanced at each other, a satisfied grin on both of their faces. They watched as the solid holographic pianos joined the array of the onslaught alongside everyone else's retaliation, hit their target with a loud 'Blam!' and then disappeared in a shower of beautiful psychedelic pixels, reduced to nothing after the damage inflicted on themselves. After everything they had gone through, it had been quite the gorgeous spectacle to witness!

"Y-you… impudent.. worms…", the vocaloid siblings hovered a hand over their consoles, preparing to bring forth more instruments in case they had to keep battling, "S-such… insolence… will be… reprimanded!"​

"Ah, don't let him get away!!", Len shouted at the appearance of the portal, but despite their best efforts, they had been too late to stop the escape. "That... coward!!", screeched Rin in frustration, stomping a foot.

Oh well, at least no one had to worry about Zant any soon... Unless the man was dumb, which he definitely wasn't given the scale of the elaborate and convoluted plan everyone had almost succumbed to. Though, surely, this wouldn't be the last they saw of him, like every game villain that was worth anything.

"No errors here!", he had responded to Leo's inquiry, "That was a close one, all systems were being forced beyond their normal capacities, who know what kind of irreparable damage could have occurred in those conditions..."

"Rin deserves lots of dessert to make up for it!", the girl let out in the background, cheerfully spinning around for no reason "and cartoons!" Len laughed, "Yeah, I suppose we could all use some downt-"

Footsteps could be heard coming from behind them. A-already?! The male vocaloid panicked and quickly made his way to his sister, interpolating himself between the entrance and her, standing in a protective manner as he glared at the vault's door, or well what used to have a door, in a tense manner...

"Wow, well, you guys almost screwed the pooch. Hard."​

Ah, the Avengers were finally back. Len relaxed, though he wasn't pleased with Iron Man's commentary, glaring at him in judgemental silence:

"And where were you guys, the supposedly called heroes, while we almost got shut down forever?!"

"Yay! It's the flying metal man, who's not an android!", Rin raised her arms high in excitement, "Aaaand flag-man, and web-man, and tiny-man, and even eye-patch man!", she waved at them, "Ohhh~ Everyone is here! Hello~~!!"

A man of few words, Fury had merely given then a 'good job' before going to the Tesseract and putting it inside a briefcase. This action had left Len confounded, that thing had previously looked enormous! And now the man had taken it in his hands and stored as if it was merely a Rubik's cube! Well, a constantly emitting radiation Rubik's cube, but still! Could it just change size willy-nilly like that, as if some kind of liquid that adapted to its container? Did the change in size, yet conservation of energy made it more volatile in the constrained shape? Could it be reduced to the point of explosion? Would a big bang happen then? Wait, those last ones were questions no one needed the answer to... But jeez, he was so damn curious about it!

The trip back was composed of Rin happily singing songs, maybe having some others join her, while Len kept silently thinking back on things, their experiences, what they had learned, what they had seen, what they had lost, what they had gained...

.

~Salutations and Sayonara~​

Back in the S.H.I.E.L.D. warehouse, everyone had been redirected to a room very alike the vault where the final battle had been. This made Len suppose that the Tesseract was about to be used in similar ways to the one Zant and Cobblepot had, though the question of why didn't they just use the machinery that was already there did pass through his head. When the topic of waiting came on, Rin groaned, waiting... They hadn't done anything but wait! And she really wanted ice-cream!

Getting bored, the girl had soon dashed away, aiming to make fun conversations with her new friends to pass the time. Her brother had instead gravitated near Stark-dono, eyeing the makeshift command center and the working man curiously. If the other hadn't been too busy, perhaps Len would have started throwing all sorts of questions at him, but since the avenger was, the boy had stood at a not bothering distance, watching as calculations came and went by, in complete awe at the whole thing.

Rin, on the other hand, dashed all over the place, trying her best to catch up with everyone, being her usual cheerful noisy self. Every time a conversation miffed out, there she would go, bouncing away to make a new one somewhere else. Eventually, her own console had started complaining at her spending energy like that, and the girl was forced to remain by a socket to recharge. Not that it stopped her from still trying to make even more talk. Nope, never!

At last, Tony had called everyone's attention to the fact that the machine was about to start. Freeing her charging cable and adapter from the outlet, the sister had quickly joined her brother beside the console, though not without teasing him for the fact that he had just stuck there, being a nerd instead of talking to others. Both twins watched in amusement as a big blue swirly portal appeared, their ticket home! As Fury had very well let everyone know.

But there was more.
The threat of Zant, the invitation to join S.H.I.E.L.D... Suddenly a lot more options had been thrown at the two siblings, and as expected, they looked a little distressed over this new fact. Both had gone silent, deep into thought. Rin really wanted to go home and she really wanted to see everyone, but on the other hand... Could she truly go on with her cheerful uneventful life knowing that these people and some of her friends would stay behind or offer to fight too?
Len had a similar dilemma, though he was a lot more firm in the idea that he wanted to help, he wanted to protect his home from even being in danger due to the likes of Zant or whoever else dared to mess with it. His dilemma was more towards Rin, and what her decision would be.

Dragging each other to a corner to talk about it, the siblings threw words left and right at each other. It never escalated into a full-on argument, though their voices had gotten raised a bit here and there. Occasionally, others had approached the two to say their own goodbyes...

"Hey.", marc122 had been the first to come, and with advice, "Just a quick reminder: Just because you can’t fight back now, doesn’t mean you can’t fight back later."​

"Ah...", Len let out in thought, before returning with a smile, "I see, thanks Belladonna-san, that means a lot coming from someone like you." "Awww, I'm sad you gotta goooo~", Rin whined before going for a hug, "I'll miss your badassery!!"

And there she went, towards Nick Fury to probably give her answer. Watching the woman go, Rin remembered something gasping at the missed opportunity:

"Ah-ah~ Nekomimi wo sawatte kudasai no tanonde te wasuretteta!" ^{(Ah-ah~ I forgot to ask if I could touch the cat ears!)} "Ima, chou osoku ni natta no desu." ^{(It's become way too late for that now.)} "Zan'nen da~ 'Waa! Sugoku kawaii, mofu-mofu shittai!' da to omotta no ni... Hyuuun~!" ^{(What a shame~ I even thought 'Waa! That's so cute, I wanna rub myself on them!'... *cute frustrated pout noise*)}

“It’s been nice meeting you two.", came FoolsErin next, expressing her gratitude, "These last few hours would’ve been harder had you two not been with me.”​

"Uhh, well...", the boy averted his gaze awkwardly, he had no idea of how to respond, "It's been nice meeting y-" "It's okay Will-Will!", Rin chimed in over her brother, "We were all really scared but then things get a lot less scary when we're all together, right?!" "Un.", he gave a nod, "You've helped ourselves just as much as we helped you. Thank you as well, Willow-chan."

"Group hug!", the girl let out, dragging both her brother and the little Willow into a nice hug, "Now take care and don't disappear on people again, okay? I was worried!", Rin laughed to herself at the tease.

The female vocaloid kept excitedly waving at the other as she stepped away. That is, until she turned back, prompting Rin to tilt her head in confusion wondering if Willow had forgotten anything and then the ice-cream comment happened. If the girl had tears to shed she'd have probably done it, omg she was so emotioned and proud!

"I hope you enjoy it!! Maybe one day you can tell me what you think of it~!"

Jumping and waving at her little friend, Rin had barely seen when the next person had started approaching. To be honest, Len thought that FactionGuerrilla 's appearance was rather unexpected, though not unfounded. It had been a nice surprise either way. When the man kneeled to meet their heights and the girl had noticed who it was, her optics had lit up in delight.

"Well, I guess this really is goodbye, then. Unless you want to stick around with us and keep us entertained at this S.H.I.E.L.D. place, I think you two and I probably won’t see each other again at least for a while."​

"We're still deciding on it...", Len replied, lowering his gaze for a while. "Artie is staying?", Rin had asked, tilting her head as usual, "Ehhh, but I- but I really like you...", she sounded sad, as in legitimately at the edge of tears sad, hnnng, why were goodbyes always so hard?!

The gunslinger once more had straightened the hat in her head, the hat that was now hers, the hat that was apparently passed on his family. Rin felt a bit bad for being now in possession of something so so important to the man, and she didn't quite understand his words, at least, not with the depth that they carried. All she knew as that having to go away from him made here really really sad and that she was getting something very very precious and full of sentimental value from him...

She suddenly went for a hug.

"Rin will take good care of it", the girl had replied in almost a soft whisper, "She'll keep it forever and ever and remember her cool cowboy friend, Artie, every time she looks at it, she promises..."

Even as the gunslinger had started addressing her brother, Rin did not let go, wishing she could just remain there in this nice hug forever and that he never had to go away.

"Ahahaha...", Len's reply to the advice was at first an awkward laugh, "Thanks Morgan-san, I'll keep that in mind for next time.", he gave the man a nod before noticing the girl basically glued at him. His gaze softened at the sight as he gave her a nudge, "Rin, let the man get up, please. He has more things to do."

Rin made a little distressed noise but did as she was told, gradually untangling herself from the hug and taking a step back.

"You two live a good life now, you hear?"​

"We will make sure of that." "Noooo, don't gooooooo..."

They watched as Arthur stepped away, surely making space for the next ones to approach for their own goodbyes. The girl made all sorts of distressed, sad noises as he kept walking, very very conflicted. No more goodbyes! She didn't want them to go, her new friends, some of them might never see each other again! It was all so cruel, there was so much she still wanted to do and say!

Meanwhile, Len had caught sight of Parappa making his way to the portal. From where he stood, he shouted at the other:

"Hey! You're going away without saying anything??", he teased a little, catching the other's attention, "I just wanted to say that even if you were scared and thought you weren't good enough, you did your best and you should be proud of that!! Not everyone would keep going on in this kind of situation, or even attempt to fight back, but you did! And I'm glad you didn't give up!"

"I'm proud of you, Parappa, I truly am!"

Finishing it up with a wave at the paper dog's direction, Len watched as he stepped inside the portal hopefully back to a more peaceful life than what the last few hours had been. At this point, Rin had looked up at her brother, though she remained silent simply watching as he interacted with the other. That's when Veradana showed up, ruffling the boy's naturally unruly hair. He hadn't seen that coming which caused him to flinch a bit, action that prompted Rin to give out a little amused giggle.

"Hey," the teenager had crouched down and hugged Rin, "You two’ve worked really hard this whole time."​

"H-hashimoto-san..." "Kemiiiiiiii!", the girl cried out, throwing herself further into the hug

"Let’s not say goodbye just yet, okay? Take care, you two."​

"Un!", Len gave out a nod, "Maybe we'll meet again soon." "Kemi too, take care...", Rin waved at the other as she too walked away, a sad, hesitant wave.

Oop! No time for that, as SheepKing stepped up to them, holding a figure that apparently was of his own making.

"Wooooa~", Rin stared at it in awe, before taking it into her hands, "Look, Len! it's us!! On a piano! It's so pretty!" "H-how, is that concrete?! From the floor?" The girl nudged her brother with her elbow, "Hey, quit being a nerd, it's a nice gift!" "I didn't say it wasn't!", he retorted before giving out a little sigh, "You're right though, Thank you Elric-kun, we'll treasure it with care.", Len had said, giving the boy inside the armor a respectable bow. "I wanna put it on a shelf and look at it every morning and be like 'Al made that, it's great!'~~"

"I'm afraid we don't have anything to retribute such kindness with, so hopefully our words are enough in return. We'll never forget you either.", Len gave the other a smile while Rin went for a hug, the encounter of metal on metal doing a 'clank!' noise, "Have a nice trip back, Al~"

With her spirits renovated, it was time for the twins to meet Birb again, the little one. Rin was delighted with the hug that she had received, taking advantage of the opportunity to pet him one last time, watching in amusement as he reacted by purring and wagging his tail again.

"Glad you're alright too! Wish you could stay and we could have petting sessions everyday but oh well~ Guess I gotta take what I get now~~", the girl let out with a playful mischievous tone, still ruffling her friend's hair.

Now Len replied with a nervous laugh, looking away for a little, "Oh well... No hard feelings, right?", he rubbed the back of his neck in thought for a bit trying to find the right words, "Look, I acted the way I did because I have someone to protect", the boy gave Rin, or more accurately, her new hat a head pat. She let out a giggle but as expected, was too focused into the petting, "I don't know what I would do without her and when she's that much of an adorable air-head, one has to be wary on her steed... Surely you can understand that.", he had concluded with an apologetic smile.

Rin had difficulty letting go out of that adorable and maybe soft, but she couldn't know, hair of his, but eventually, Chibi Ike too had gone away, stepping into the portal to his own home. And then the last person they were expecting showed up, it was Damafaud 's turn to say his goodbyes. The girl was still noticeably bothered about the fact that he had killed someone, taking a step back when he had approached.

"This is good bye, then.", the soft tone of voice was pleasant, and seemed trusting enough for Rin to step back forwards, though she remained alert, "Sorry if I didn't do too well. Protecting you guys and all that"​

The pat had caused her to flinch at first, taking a little longer to ease up into the action. His words, however, they rang a bit sad. Rin immediately held Lyle's hand, stopping the patting motion. Even if she wasn't sure of whether he was a good person or a bad person, even if she was still conflicted, she didn't want to see him sad.

"U-un", Rin shook her head, "We're still here, so that means Ly did a good job... If Ly had done a bad job, Rin and Len wouldn't have made it.", her words were very secure and sure, something one wouldn't really expect from the naive, easily frightened girl. Even Len seemed surprised, though it wasn't his first time seeing her act this way.

At Lyle's comment over the boy being his 6th male friend, he was noticeably shocked, "W-what? Why do you have so few of them?!", though he had gotten no answer back in time. Oh well, that question was going to bug him forever now...

And that had been everyone. Every single person they had made meaningful ties with had already come and gone... After having been faced with so many faces, each making their own choices, evoking and re-evoking new feelings, they had gotten closer to the answer.

.

~A New Purpose~​

Filled with confidence, the twins stepped forth towards thatguyinthestore . It had taken long, perhaps, too long, but they finally reached a conclusion and as they walked holding each other's hand as if for support, they seemed strongly decisive on what they had been about to tell the S.H.I.E.L.D. leader:

"We've decided to stay, full-time for now, but it could change in the future."

Rin looked a little down thinking about it, staying away from home would certainly be hard, but they had decided it was for the best, "There's more of us if the users need singers, so it wouldn't really be like quitting work..." "Whenever maintenance is not possible we get replaced, memory files get shared to the new bodies and it's like we never left. So surely, that's something they'll do." "But this version of us! We don't think we could just keep going with our everyday lives and forget what's going on. Rin doesn't really want to!" "If Zant can attack any universe, it means he could attack our home too and we want to be ready to protect it!" "With that being said..."

"Please teach us to fight and help us arm ourselves too!", they said in unison, bowing down in respect as they did so.

"This is why we've decided on full-time, to train, to learn." "Len wants to learn to do maintenance too..." "Un.", he gave out a nod, "Whenever we can go back to discuss things with our family, I'll be downloading some blueprints so that we don't need to go back every single time something breaks. I've fixed appliances before, I'm sure I can handle that." "He's a big nerd and very smart!"

"From today on and until the multiverse is safe, we're not just vocaloids anymore." "Please treat us nicely" "But don't be afraid to be harsh if you must, we can take it." "Yeah! We're literally made of metal~!"

Until Fury acknowledged and perhaps welcome them, the twins remained stiff in the bow, surely for longer than an actual person would have stood such a position. Whatever his answer was, as soon as their enrollment had been made official, their gazes lit up in excitement and they exchanged a hug. This would be a new beginning for them.
Detaching from their vocaloid brothers and sisters would be hard, for sure, but at the same time, making sure this version of themselves took on a different path was sorta like acquiring a new position as their own individuals too, for the first time, they could consider themselves more than just the virtual singers they were created to be... It was quite an interesting prospect and the possibilities were endless!

Dragging her brother by the hand, Rin dashed her way to the one and only person that she ought to tell the news to, her cool cowboy friend:

"Artie! Artie!", the girl excitedly ran after him, having to hold her hat in place before it went flying, "We're staying too! Isn't it great?! Now we can see each other every day!", her little hops prompted Len to giggle at her silly antics, while he held the figure Al had gifted them with his free hand.

And thus, the Kagamine twins journey on becoming their own people had truly began...

.

.