ᴇʟᴇᴄᴛʀᴏᴍᴀɢɴᴇᴛɪᴄ ⚡

❝ ... ❞ A pregnant pause, —as if he just "poked the bear" and is only now fully grasping the consequences. ❝Someone's gotta protect people, somebody's gotta stop you!❞ Niko took on Grimbald, who was pretty big and scaly himself. This... should be... easy enough... maybe.

"Protect the people?" he looks around mockingly as he approaches the young mongoose beastfolk, an amused flick in his tail. He could tell this was but a young child, a teen sure, but child no less. He had no desire to harm this lad but he would certainly teach him a lesson in meddling. Perhaps a well placed roar. "Alright then lad."

"COME BE A HERO"

The demon's roar seemed to blow back Niko's fur, frizzing up his hair especially.

—Yeah, this was a little above his pay grade. Similarity to Baron Grimbald the serpentine pirate aside, Alexander was just so much bigger than even Grimbald.

But if Niko was to run now, he'd be a coward. A big-mouthed yellow-bellied coward.

❝ I'm not sure if I wanna be anymore. ❞ Niko said covering his ears, as they were still ringing from how loud Alex's roar was. ❝ I wanna live. ❞

 ❝ You win. ❞

There was no way to look good in this situation, the teenage mongoose was scared to the point of being weak in the knees all while trying to mask that fear by putting on a tough face before the demon, he could only hope the monster would show him mercy.

The humiliation of Niko having to come to terms with the fact that on some level, he valued his own life more than... protecting people fruitlessly, it was a tough pill to swallow.

if he had the power to put a stop to the giant demon before him he would, but he just didn't.

"Actual superpowers! That's well amazing. I w-wish I had something like that." Says the guy who should be long-dead. Says the guy who has survived being swallowed alive by a whale. Shot into space in a winnebago. Nearly being fed to a demon beneath LA. He should really give himself more credit than he does.

He's also the one who has, quite literally, gone momentarily starry-eyed. Like all Toons, he's expressive- comically so.

Using his fur's electrical charge to create... music? —While Niko wasn't entirely sure how him and 2D would go about that the concept was very exciting.

 ❝ Sounds like a plan! I've always wanted to learn how to play an instrument. ❞  ───────────────  

❝ I'm sure it's bound to be a real hair-raising sound! ❞ —said Niko, letting the intrusive thoughts living inside that mongoose brain of his win and allowing a cringe pun to leave his mouth with no resistance on his part.

Talented, young and fashionable, Niko looked the part of a rock star.

He'd never give up being a treasure hunter entirely, him and Luna had too many fun globe-trotting adventures to give it all up for a career in music.

—Besides, music was 2D's thing, Niko didn't want to step on the human's toes.

Have you ever had to actually shoot someone with your gun arm?

  That question made Rock a bit uneasy, so uneasy that his Mega Buster went back inside his armor and out with his other hand. Azure L.E.D. eyes now dart away from the other, his head turned a bit. Guilt.                                                     Guilt was all he could feel.

The look on his face should say enough, but if not, then maybe his hand going over to his arm and holding it while his back is turned should say plenty without him even needing to open his mouth. But he eventually had to address—the other did ask a question, and he should actually answer it instead of staying silent.  “I only did it because of my protection and to help them. I wouldn't harm someone because I want to. I hate hurting robots. Not only that, but I hate their suffering just as much. They suffer, and I suffer with them.                                                  No robot deserves to suffer. No robot deserves to be controlled by someone who only cares to get back at me. I just…                         Want to help them. And since they resort to violence. I have to also. But it's the last thing I ever want.” His grip tightens on his arm, his eyes shut, and he could feel his body weight get heavier as his body slumps down a tad—his back fully turned on the mammal. 

“… Sorry.” Words covered in such synthetic tears, his voice even cracking a tad, “I shouldn't… Get so emotional. But—you need to understand that hurting others, people, robots—it's all the same.                                                                                                I don't -- Mean -- too. I have no given choice, sir. If I had the option each time. I just want to talk them out of it. But words don't carry like a firearm does, now do they?  Not to them. Ever.” 

❝ Hey, hey. ❞ Niko didn't mean to hit a nerve, but he clearly, unambiguously and thoroughly did.

 ❝ It's ok if they left you no other choice. ❞

❝ If a peaceful option can work, of course it's always the right choice. But if the peaceful options don't work and you've expended every other approach, you're fine. ❞

Sheesh... if robots could cry, Mega Man would probably be bawling right now.

Still, curiosity killed the cat, Niko felt bad he even asked.

❝ I'm sorry, I didn't mean to trigger you. ❞ Niko pats the robot on the back gently, wrapping an arm around Mega Man's shoulders. The sorta "half hug" people did with strangers when they didn't know how comfortable they were with physical contact.

This was a gesture people understood universally, but without a proper sense of touch Niko was afraid the robot was experiencing whatever the 'touch version of a language barrier' is.

Move aside, AJ Styles- there's a new shampoo commercial icon in the mix.

"Well nice," they say, in admiration. They like custom pieces immensely, as well as limited collabs. Nothing works quite as well as them, and their own closet is a riot of colors, street styles, and a bevvy of articles they've picked up during their globe-hopping music career.

Benefits both cosmetic, and ones that weren't immediately obvious.

❝ His name's Ivan, he actually suggested the whole lightning bolt thing. ❞ Niko showed off the vertical collar of his jacket, branded with 2 identical lightning bolts.

❝ Ever since I was a kid, my fur's been able to generate an abnormal amount of static electricity. ❞ Sorta like the whole: 'rubbing your socks against a carpet to carry a charge to others' thing.

Danessa, the doctor of Wonderwood was in the forest with her bestie, Sprint. The female was looking for items she needed to collect a few things. Danessa is a healer and uses magic to heal anyone who needs it. The Deer was singing happily while the weather was warm and pleasant. Sprint walked beside her humming the song Danessa was singing.

Danessa held up a list ad s making sure she wrote down everything. Her ears started twitching at a faint noise, a noise she never heard of. Her head tilted up to see a blimp and carefully watched the machine "Sprint, let's go investigate" she said.

Spacious and airy, the treasure hunters's ride had successfully went off without a hitch. —Their ship had now landed.

The adventurous mongoose, Nikoderiko, had been hanging off the side of the blimp taking in his first impressions of the beauty of this new land from as up close and personal as he possibly could while his best friend Luna steered the ship, soon also deploying the ladder for herself and Niko to climb down.

Grinning and now fully grounded with his feet on the grass, the cheerful young mongoose found everything here visually fascinating, the trees sprouted bright purple leaves, and the wildlife seemed actively friendly for once instead of being actively hostile.

❝ —Luna, what's the hold up? You gotta come see this place. ❞ Niko's tail did a little wag despite the fact he isn't a dog.

Niko (and Luna) hadn't come here completely blind however, they had a treasure map, but Niko was too distracted with sight seeing to look down at it at the moment.

"But I'm Nico...." He muttered in reply. Well, this was new. He wasn't used to anyone having a name remotely similar to his, past maybe something like Nicolas.

"Treasure hunta' huh? You get much success wit' that?" He was genuinely curious.

❝ —Oh? ❞ This is awkward.

❝ Well, my full name is Nikoderiko, you can just call me that I guess. ❞ His friends usually only call him that if they're angry at him. But it seemed like a necessary sacrifice in this case, otherwise this would get very confusing between the two of them.

Niko was very excited to answer the cat's next question, as he has had tons of success as a treasure hunter and had plenty of interesting stories of swashbuckling adventure to tell as a result.

❝ Well, as long as you're not hurting anyone. ❞ Niko said, shrugging his shoulders.

❝ I'll remember not to get on your bad side. ❞ The mongoose said in a surprisingly jaded tone for his usual cheerful demeanor, —seems like Saranoia is getting on his nerves already.

 ❝ Wait, —what exactly do you do for a living? ❞

While he's probably crossed the line into being "nosy" at this point, making character judgments on her and now prying into her work life, he doubted he'd ever get another opportunity to find out what demons do all day.

"I don't have a temper problem! It's everyone else who thinks it's funny to PUSH MY BUTTONS!" And the end results usually aren't pretty considering she's a demon sorceress.

Sheesh... considering how angry sounding that long-winded speech was, the concept of irony was lost on her.

"Uh......who're you suppos' t' be?" This person didn't look like the kind of people Nico was used to seeing.

❝ I'm Niko. ❞ The mongoose answered with confidence, unbeknownst to how confusing this would soon get. ❝ Talented, charming and humble treasure hunter! ❞