Brave the Snomager's Hoard

Moltres was back at it again (not at Krispy Kreme). In Kazuki’s defense, it wasn’t so much as him being fixated on the games as he was fixated on an old man. No, not that one. The other one.

He followed Cygnus in a stealthy waddle, unable to shout for his attention, plus his texts were being left on read—he was getting the Ren treatment here too—and after seeing Theron disappear into a booth, he was quick to follow suit, selecting his in-game character.

Kazuki spawned into immediate regret, getting blasted with arctic temperatures. The only reason he did not chafe to death was thanks to programming magic. Gritting his teeth, he chased after M'Foxy, leaping across floes, only stopping when he saw that giant Sanrio worm emerge. It may look like a bastardized Furby, but he had been playing Pokemon long enough to know better. In this world, even Furbies could kill.

The worm started blasting. Kazuki narrowly got shot off the floe, falling to hands and knees as he braced from the freezing depths. His skin was coated in snow, looking more like ice sculpture than man.

Raising his head, he spotted Theron being treated to the same. But the man finally noticed him.

“The hell do you mean, what am I doing here!?” Kazuki hissed, “I’ve been trying to get your attention!” He stood upright in time to catch the man as he leaped to his platform.

“Oh shit.” It wasn’t the only attention he managed catch. There was a distant groan, the scrape of a long body dragging over snow as two beady eyes set their sights on the two walking targets.

No, Percy had not cared for Neopets as a kid. It just hadn't appealed to him. So, Snowager? A pound? Neoboards? Paint brushes? Neopoints? Neggs? No. He has no idea what Pace is talking about when he suddenly starts mentioning all of these things in quick succession and with little to no explanation, but of course, he doesn't stop him, because Pace just looks so damn excited when talking about all of these things.

That's how Percy ends up finding himself stepping into an AR both to play some Snowager-inspired game. They had decided to stop by the arcade because he had mentioned that he was yet to collect his player stamp, but unknowingly to Percy at the time, the moment Pace had spotted the word SNOMAGER, his fate had been decided.

"So... we're supposed to steal from it?" He questions, decidedly to calm for a situation where a gigantic snake-like monster is shooting ice beams at people. Others swim or run, but Percy stands perfectly still on the ice floe, taking a moment to smooth down those same clothes that he had just been wearing to the con. It's weird to be here without his avatar, and it'll sure be even weirder when he realises there's other people that he recognises from UNOVR...

"Hm." Pace falls, or rather, ibis does, and naturally, as if that's the most logical thing to do at this time, Percy walks over to him — making sure not to rush and to step on patches of snow, so he can focus on keeping balance. Ugh, he has always disliked ice. These shoes are definitely not meant for ice. "...Do you need a hand?"

Kazuki snorted at the flirting, having half a mind to throw M'Foxy into the freezing waters. This was not some heroic gesture, this was a ‘You ditched me to play Giant Worm Dating Sims and I’m going to strangle you about it’ gesture.

But the strangling would have to be put on hold. An unholy blast of ice razed the field, nearly upturning the thinner floes. Distractions everywhere—there were the other players, one (ibis) he didn’t recognize and one (Muin) whose face he couldn’t place, but whose voice was unmistakable.

“You think I give a half shit about your hoard of good boy points?” Kazuki hissed, but he grabbed Theron anyway, making to leap for another floe as the raging pool noodle began charging another blast.

“I need you to help me get rid of the suit,” Kazuki said, as grave as declaring a hit on his enemies. It was nearly the last day of the con; by all means, he should not even have the damn thing in his possession anymore, let alone still be wearing it.

“Every time I’ve tried to switch to a regular disguise, my roommate gets rid of it. And if I try to get rid of the Moltres, it just reappears by my bed like fucking Houdini. Nearly gave me a heart attack this morning.” He hopped in sync with M'Foxy, moving lily pad-style over the floes.

“It’s sabotage, but I can’t kill my roommate yet, so help me get rid of the old suit and find some new clothes.” He was not risking Ren feeding his actual clothes to a paper shredder. They would. They’d record it for his official TikTok page. And then he'd be in underwear, at the mercy of their fashion sense, and it would kill him.

Having M'Foxy round him as if he’s shawarma made the hairs on the back of his neck stand, but he kept still, used to this. If not in the arena, hair, makeup, and wardrobe teams moved like this too.

He grimaced at the mention of other UNOVR NPCs. “You are not putting me in either of those.” Chadwick would basically give him away, same with C.L.A.W. That, and he was not willing to be stuffed in a dress a second time.

“… Are you being paid to act like this?” He squinted, but Theron disappeared before he could get an answer, bustling in-character. Kazuki sighed, tensing as he realized he was left in the Snomager’s crosshairs. Something cold and bright was appearing over his shoulder.