#i already wanna hurl my tablet out the window

[artofcarmen]

No one told me Caleb would be hard to paint lol

Get ready to see more masculine faces from me, because yall I gotta practice this

[pocket-monsters-precure]

Chapter 21: File Not Found!? A Negative Missing Number!

This week’s nega-evolution was designed by @dai-rokuten-maou​ !

Guest appearances by Fanfancures by @salsasprecure​ and @bubblemahouhub ! 

“Hnnnngh…”

 With a grunt, Alice stretched herself as she leaned back in her chair, taking off her glasses briefly to rub her eyes. She got screen headaches much more quickly these days; she figured it was just a sign of getting older. But she still had more to add to her database; how could she possibly continue to be on top of her research into pokemon health if she didn’t keep up with the new information on nega-evolution provided by the Precure?

 A slight rumbling noise came from her lap, as she looked down to see Penumbra staring curiously back up at her; the Umbreon had been disturbed from its slumber when she stretched.

 “Oh…sorry,” she apologized softly, gently scratching her companion under the chin. “Though…seeing you sleepy like that makes me realize I should probably get some rest, too.”

 She looked back to her computer and navigated to the start menu, noting the computer wanted to update before shutting down. “Alright…there we go.” She selected the proper option before turning off the monitor, picking up Penumbra in her arms as she stood up. She couldn’t stop learning, now…for the sake of both people and Pokemon. And for the sake of the group’s new, reluctant ally in the form of a highly dangerous escaped genetic experiment, but he wasn’t there that evening.

 As she prepared to crawl into bed that evening, she stopped to lower the blinds on her window, obscuring her from the prying eyes outside.

  =====

 “Alice Pierce, pokemon researcher specializing in the field of pokemon health and medicine….” Bedlam muttered, arms crossed as he went over his gathered information aloud while lounging in a tree. “Yeah, I can see why they’d look to her for guidance.”

 “There you are!” Ataxia appeared on an upper branch, sitting daintily and looking displeased. “Return at once. Lord Tumult has informed us all of some strategic changes. All of us, that is, except for you.”

 “I’m assuming the changes aren’t all that different from the old strategies,” Bedlam shrugged, “Nega-evolve pokemon. Be defeated by a bunch of little girls. Swear revenge. Repeat.”

 Ataxia huffed. “If only you’d put a little bit more enthusiasm into this. Once Dys has enough sustenance to breach the worlds, we can expand, and create the paradise meant for us! Does that not appeal to you at all!? Don’t you want to succeed!? Don’t you want a world where everyone’s as wayward and lost as those Tumult has brought into his service? Where we can all be brought together by Dys, and never struggle or worry again?”

 “Quit with the preaching. Of course I wanna succeed,” Bedlam replied, “But frankly, I find it just a bit odd that Tumult hasn’t lifted a finger to do anything.”

 “Tumult answers directly to Dys!”

 “Whom none of us have seen up close. How do we know Tumult isn’t lying, or trying to screw us over so he looks better?”

 Ataxia sputtered. “A-are you…are you questioning your very mission, Bedlam!?”

 “I’m trying to figure out a new way, without Tumult. I’m going to strike at the heart of the Precure on this island….and if it works, then we can repeat the strategy across this world…”

 Ataxia watched him in silence for a moment. Then, she sat down next to him. “Well, then��be a team player. Tell me what you’ve learned so far, won’t you?”

 Bedlam looked back at her, briefly surprised. Then, he nodded.

 ===

 “Ready, and—!” Naomi set the volleyball, before leaping up as a mischievous glint flashed in her eyes, staring down Kailani opposite her.

 Kailani, meanwhile, froze. “I’m beginning to think I made a mistake—“

 “—SPIKE!” Naomi slammed her fist into the ball, smashing it down into Kailani’s head as she let out an unladylike squawk and fell over into the sand. The girls were playing out on the beach on a weekend day, having finished some difficult exams (and balancing that with battling nega-evolutions). It had been about a week since the previous incident, and though the girls had been keeping the island safe, nega-evolutions were still cropping up across the globe, and Rotomi hadn’t shown any new developments ability-wise, despite continuing to absorb the nega-energy left behind after each purification.

 “Kailani! Are you alright?” Fae called from the blanket where she sat with Asuka and Clefable; Asuka was focused on a tablet in her hands, while Clefable was sunning herself.

 “I’m…okay…!” Kailani called out, finally sitting up and rubbing her head. “Come to think of it, anyone know where Raichu is?”

 “He’s over there,” Naomi pointed, seeing Raichu surfing with his tail on some small waves out on the water, Rotomi flitting after him. “Looks like he got tired of watching us.”

 “Poor guy…I’m sure he misses the waves in Alola; they were much larger than these. We used to surf together.”

 “I’m much more of a windsurfing person, myself,” Naomi said, “Anyway, you wanna try again? I won’t spike anymore.” She held out her hand.

 “Yeah, let’s try again…” Kailani accepted the hand offered to her, standing up.

 Back with Fae and Asuka, the former glanced to the latter. “You seem really focused on something. You haven’t even let any of your pokemon out like you said you would.”

 “Huh? Oh! Ohh!!” Asuka hurriedly took out two pokeballs, releasing her Cyndaquil and Scizor. “I should shuffle my team more…I’d release the whole team but we shouldn’t crowd the beach.”

 “What’s on your mind? You’ve been glued to your tablet…” Fae tipped her head a bit as Asuka glanced back at the tablet.

 “It’s…this news from the Galar region. A nega-evolved dynamax pokemon appeared.”

 “Dynamax!? Those are huge, aren’t they!? That must have been absolutely massive once it nega-evolved!”

 “It was stopped by two Cures—Cure Monarch and Cure Phantasm. What luck they showed up…”

 “Nega-evolved and dynamaxed…the Cures in Galar must really have it tough.”

 “You’re telling me…” Asuka frowned as she looked back at the article on the screen. “And we already know that they can nega-evolve people…”

 Fae watched her face for a bit, trying to read her expression. “It’s okay, Asuka. I’m scared too. We’re all scared.”

 “We just…need to go over all the information we have,” Asuka muttered. “Maybe…maybe I’ll feel a bit better after we do that.”

 Asuka always preferred cold, hard facts. She liked being well-informed before making decisions. Being a Precure hadn’t always given her the luxury of that, but since they seemed to have some downtime, it was time to catch up.

 Nega-Evolution was spreading like a disease.

 More Precure were popping up, as if her world was creating antibodies, of a sort, to combat it.

 Darkness was a sickness…and they were the cure for it. It made sense. To her, anyway.

 As she was pondering this, Fae got an idea.

 “I’ve got it!” Fae tapped a fist in her palm. “Why don’t we go to Dr. Pierce’s place later and ask to see her collected notes? I know she’s been trying to keep things organized for us…”

 A rustling sound came from Fae’s bag as Rotomi burst out of it. “I need her to update her database from the Cure Dex anyway!”

 Asuka looked at the pair of them, as a smile began to cross her features. “That…would help a lot.”

 ===

 Meanwhile, in Johto…

 “Brace!” Cure Faith shouted—the trio of Sacred Beast Precure crossed their arms in front of them to absorb the blow of a shockwave caused by a Nega-Stantler, skidding back from the impact. The beast leered at them with a piercing, enraged glare, its sharpened, hooked antlers ready to gore anyone who got too close. It was rather small for a nega-evolution, but was still larger than the average Stantler; this beast stood about one story tall, and was making up for its smaller stature with pure rage. It dug a hoof into the ground angrily, before charging.

 “Shining—“ with a twirl, Cure Cascade sent a jet of water toward it to force it back, “—Torrent!”

 “How ‘bout this!?” Flash shouted, and with the snap of her fingers, she electrified the jet of water. A gruntlike, pained roar emitted from the nega-evolution, but as the jet of water ended, the creature still stood, its antlers beginning to glow with a sinister aura.

 “That’s a problem…!” Faith ran forward, before digging her fingers into the earth with unnatural strength and hurling a large chunk of solid earth at the beast—not only did the chunk break into smaller pieces as the incoming blast from its antlers was fired, but the chunks smashed into Nega-Stantler’s head, causing it to stagger.

 “Nice!” Flash pumped a fist, “About time we caught it off-guard, right?”

 “Let’s hurry!” Faith turned to face the other two. They shared a nod, holding out their hands as three large, golden, intricate fans appeared in their hands.

 “Open!” They declared in unison, opening the fans with the snap of their wrists. “Miracle Matsuri Fans!”

 “Precure!” They began to dance a choreographed routine, with grand, sweeping gestures, the fans seeming to leave trails of light as they moved. “Miracle Matsuri Refresh!”

 In a brilliant flash of sparkles, Nega-Stantler was defeated, the original Stantler left dizzily standing in its place. Shaking the dizziness away, it approached the Precure, seeming to understand the situation and nuzzling Faith before giving her a hearty lick on the face.

 “Ack—!” Faith made a face, as it scampered off into the brush.

 “Done and done.” Flash dusted off her hands, before flipping her massive, swirling ponytail.

 “At least it wasn’t more than one this time…” Cascade rubbed her temple with a hand.

 “Wait, what about the Shadowlings our pokemon were dealing with!?” Faith yelped in realization.

 “Grrrowf!” A voice declared, as Faith’s Growlithe ran toward them, joined by an excited Azumarill; Noctowl swooped down to join them.

 “Oh, thank goodness….!” Faith knelt down to catch Growlithe in her arms, sighing in relief.

 “Come on, we better hurry back to the National Park,” Flash grinned as she ruffled Noctowl’s feathers. “We might be able to catch the end of the Bug-Off! We can update the group doc later!”

 It seemed, even without someone like Rotomi to guide them, the Precure across the other regions were developing their own ways to learn and keep track—be it with technology or simply word of mouth. As the girls reverted to their true forms and headed back toward the National Park, the girl who was Cure Cascade was already pulling out her phone, accessing where they kept their notes, eager to jot down the information before it had a chance to leave her memory.

 ===

 “It’s a lot more to look at than I expected…” Asuka admitted as she sat before Dr. Pierce’s computer. The Cure Dex was connected nearby, Rotomi humming contentedly inside.

 “It’s not just notes we’ve gathered,” Dr. Pierce explained, “I’ve been keeping up with news headlines, and speaking to colleagues located in other regions to learn about their own experiences. Don’t try and overwhelm yourself, Asuka; it’s best to do things in bits and pieces.”

 “Hang in there,” Kailani reassured her, “If you find anything new or interesting, let us know! We’d hate to crowd around you while you’re trying to read. We’ll just help Dr. Pierce around the house.”

 Asuka looked over her shoulder at them, giving a smile and a nod. With that, she got to reading, looking at files that had names that piqued her interest—she was fortunate that most of them were fairly easy to read; they didn’t use a lot of complicated language like she was expecting. All this information now at her disposal…and more.

 But as she went over a headline regarding the spreading nega-evolution cases, something occurred to her.

 “Rotomi?”

 “Yes?” Rotomi’s voice came from the Cure Dex.

 “Your whole world suffered from this nega-evolution thing, right?”

 A pause, then a sad reply. “Yeah. Yeah, it did.”

 “…we’ve never bothered to ask you what it was like, have we? A world entirely nega-evolved.”

 A longer pause. “It’s really sad. I didn’t wanna bring it up in detail unless someone asked.”

 “Well…” Asuka debated opening up a word processor to note down what she was about to hear, but opted instead to just…listen. “…I’m asking now.”

 Rotomi exited the Cure Dex, looking down at the floor before floating into Asuka’s hands.

 “It’s dark. It’s hard to breathe, the air is so thick with…not something physical, but…just..this unease. This unfixable feeling that nothing is right. That nothing will ever be right. The people and creatures nega-evolved are shells of who they used to be. There’s no warmth or comfort. No satisfaction. It feels like whatever the solution is to whatever ails them…is just out of their reach.”

 Asuka listened, her stomach dropping. “That sounds horrible. I’m so sorry…”

 “It’s supposedly to feed ‘Dys.’ Whoever that is; I’m not sure. But what kind of person…what kind of thing…feeds off the misery of others? That’s just…that’s terrible. And…” Rotomi’s eyes saddened even further. “To think that…that Amaranth might be going through the same thing right now…”

 Asuka brought Rotomi to her chest, as if to hug her. “It’s okay. It’s okay to be scared. It’s okay to not know, and to worry. I’m sure Amaranth is worried about you, too. But we’ll find a way to save your home. And to help the people and pokemon here who were nega-evolved. And you’ve been getting stronger by absorbing the leftover energy, so maybe you still have things you’ve yet to figure out you can do! Even then…you’re safe, and you’re with people who will stay by your side until this is over.”

 Rotomi looked up at Asuka, smiling a bit. “…thank you.”

 “Of course, Rotomi. Any time you need reassurance, just tell me.”

 Asuka looked back at the screen, setting Rotomi carefully on the desk as she got back to skimming the notes; the little fairy flew back into the Cure Dex.

 Some time later, the girls were gathered around the coffee table while Dr. Pierce set down some tea and cakes. Asuka was sharing her notes with the group as they enjoyed the snack.

 “Dr. Pierce has been keeping notes on not just the nega-evolutions we’ve defeated, but any that her colleagues have encountered,” Asuka began, “Thankfully, some of said colleagues are also working with Precure…”

 “I’m currently adding their data to your Cure Dex,” Dr. Pierce explained as she looked over from her computer.

 “We were correct in assuming they just use warped versions of moves the pokemon knows,” Asuka continued.

 “Like Mr. Mime’s Trick Room, that shuffled the rooms at school!” Naomi piped up.

 “Exactly. But now there’s the matter of Shadowlings…”

 “They’re not physical pokemon, thankfully,” Kailani said, looking at the notes Asuka had written, “But they can be battled like any normal pokemon. I think we should be able to just leave those to our own pokemon in most situations.”

 “Chu-chu!” Raichu threw a little cake in the air in joy, as it landed on his head when he was unable to catch it and seemed to forget he had psychic powers.

 “…you’re lucky you’re cute,” Kailani sighed.

 “That reminds me,” Fae started, “There’s apparently this place in Sinnoh that, if you don’t take a ‘cute enough’ pokemon…”

 As the conversation started to derail, Asuka tried to get the group back on track. Dr. Pierce watched quietly, before hearing a knock at her door.

 “Hold on…” Dr. Pierce stood up to answer the door. “I’m coming!”

 However, the moment she opened the door, the girls heard her cry out in alarm. “Dr. Pierce!?” Kailani called as they stood up from the table, rushing to the foyer to find her in the process of sitting up, looking up in shock and fear at the new arrival…

 “Hello, ladies.” Ataxia waved a hand daintily as she stepped into the room, heels clacking on the hardwood floor. “Or, should I say, Pretty Cure?”

 “Ataxia!” Rotomi cried out, “You…you’re here!?”

 “I thought today I’d take a bit more of a direct approach.”Ataxia rotated her wrist, the Nega-Ring flashing briefly on it. With a flourish, she prepared to summon a ring of nega-energy.

 “Not so fast…!” Kailani and the girls pulled out their compacts, while Ataxia was already in the motion of preparing to cast it toward them—only to turn and direct it at Dr. Pierce.

 “Wha—“ “NO!” Rotomi shot out of the Cure Dex and smashed her tiny body into Dr. Pierce, knocking her over as the force knocked the Cure Dex off the table—which landed in the dark circle that had formed where Dr. Pierce once stood.

 It shook, rattled, as the darkness spread down the cable connecting the Cure Dex to the computer. The lights flickered, the air grew tense, and numerous error messages appeared on the screen. Before, finally

ERROR: MISSING_NO.();

 The darkness shot out the window.

 “Wait!” Kailani darted past Ataxia, who quickly vanished while the remaining girls tried to register what just happened. Kailani came to a stop outside, finding the group’s foe.

 The beast hulking before her was an amalgamation—vaguely carrying the traits of pokemon she knew, yet all the same crossing way into the uncanny valley.

 “NEEEGAAAAAA….” It rumbled, its voice distorted, as if trying to speak through a poor speaker, or a damaged sound card. Ataxia reappeared sitting on top of the roof, legs crossed daintily.

 “My,” she remarked, “That’s an unusual nega-evolution, for sure.”

 “It’s a…computer error, or something!?” Naomi tried to comprehend as the other girls caught up to Kailani. “It Nega-evolved the Cure Dex itself!”

 “Missingno!” Asuka reasoned, “It’s…some kind of error that pops up in pokedexes sometimes when it can’t find what it’s looking for!”

 “How can a computer bug be Nega-evolved!? It’s just code!” Naomi argued.

 The creature seemed to glitch in response to this, as if angry. Then, it raised its misshapen hands in anger. “NEGA!”

 “Alright, enough!” Fae pleaded, “We need to deal with it before things get out of hand!”

 “Right…!” Kailani gripped her compact.

 “Precure! I! Choose! You!”

 “Swarm it!” Sunrise declared, the quartet of girls rushing Nega-Missingno at once. It glitched away just as Sunrise and Starlight lunged, the two crashing into each other.

 “What a surprise,” Starlight mumbled, “That didn’t work.”

 “Wish whimsy….” Wish started up an attack, when Nega-Missingno glitched in front of her. “Ohh—!”

 “NE!” Nega-Missingno swatted her away, giving off a sinister aura of binary code and nega-energy.

 “Gotcha—!” Willow caught her.

 “Thanks…” Wish muttered dizzily.

 “Wake-Up Shock!” Sunrise clapped her hands together, sending the bolt toward Nega-Missingno. It glitched in place, and the electricity had no effect when it struck. “Huh!?”

 “That thing’s made from a modded Pokédex; why isn’t electricity scrambling it!?” Starlight summoned Absol. “Type: Dark! Precure Wicked Whirl!”

 As the duo’s summoned cyclone of darkness approached Nega-Missingno, it glitched in place again, giving off a bright pink burst of light as the attack struck…once again, no effect.

 “Oh, come on!” Starlight complained. “What’s going on!?”

 “That pink light was almost like a fairy-type aura….” Wish muttered.

 “Like a fairy-type…and dark types can’t affect fairy-types….” Willow murmured. “…hey. I wanna try something. Dr. Pierce!” She turned toward the house.

 “Huh!? Y-you need me!?” Dr. Pierce cried out from the window.

 “You have a regular Pokédex, don’t you? Scan the nega-evolution!”

 “Scan it!? Oh, yes…!” Dr. Pierce came outside, holding a standard Pokédex as she aimed it at Nega-Missingno.

 ERROR: MISSING_NO.();

 “It’s coming up with the Missingno error!” Dr. Pierce called out, “…but…it’s showing a fairy-typing!”

 “Someone attack it!” Willow called out.

 “On it!” Sunrise whistled, as Raichu zapped out of the house. “Type: Psychic! Precure PK Spectacle!”

 Master and pokemon placed their hands to their temples, as a spiral of psychic energy launched itself toward Nega-Missingno. The nega-evolution gave off a dark aura as the attack struck. No effect.

 “Scan it again!” Willow ordered.

 “Same error! But….dark-type!?” Dr. Pierce called back.

 “That’s it!” Willow pumped a fist. “I know what’s going on! It’s changing type once it realizes what type the incoming attack is! That nega-evolution is literally a walking database of pokemon typings!”

 “Then how do we beat it!?” Sunrise asked, letting out a startled yelp as she dove away from an incoming swipe.

 “I’ve got an idea! Huddle!”

 The four Precure immediately moved into a huddle, much to the confusion of Nega-Missingno.

 “Nega?” It comically leaned in, trying to eavesdrop from multiple angles, before jumping back as the girls parted.

 “Ready!” Wish and Willow narrowed their eyes, each summoning a pokemon—Charizard appeared proudly behind Wish, as Cyndaquil joined Willow.

 “Type: Fire!” they cried out in unison. “Precure Passionate Inferno!”

 As the heart-shaped, rose gold-tinted blaze spiraled toward Nega-Missingno, it seemed to shift in place, before the flames struck, with no effect.

 “Ground-type!” Dr. Pierce called.

 “Now!” Willow shouted. Sunrise and Starlight leapt up from behind with Brionne and Sharpedo.

 “Type: Water! Precure Wild Geyser!”

 Before Nega-Missingno could react, the pastel-colored, sparkling geyser of water struck it in the back; as it impacted the ground, Fae’s Charizard flew up and unleashed a flamethrower, predicting it would then change its type to grass, burning it in the process.

 “Now!” Sunrise shouted as the girls regrouped.

 “Precure Quartet Refresh!”

 As the refreshing attack purified Nega-Missingno, it seemed to stare at the group, in silence, before slowly fading away…leaving the Cure Dex behind.

 “Ohhh…!” Ataxia stomped a foot, crossing her arms, before glancing at Dr. Pierce. “…..” she vanished.

 ===

 “That was some quick sleuthing you did, Asuka!” Kailani beamed; the girls were seeing off Asuka as she was waiting for the ferry to head home.

 “It was just standard type-advantage logic…” Asuka replied sheepishly.

 “We even have an entry on Nega-Missingno now!” Rotomi piped up from inside the Cure Dex.

 “But now we have a bigger problem,” Naomi spoke up.

 “Yeah,” Fae began, “It looked like Ataxia was specifically targeting Dr. Pierce….”

 “We’ll be sure to check on her every day, then!” Kailani pumped a fist. “And if Mewtwo comes back, he’ll be sure to check on her, I bet.”

 “If he comes back,” Naomi emphasized, “He doesn’t seem keen on forming any kind of bond with us, though.”

 “He wants to keep himself updated on Dr. Pierce’s research, so I’m sure he’ll return,” Asuka reasoned, “Don’t worry…”

 The ferry arrived, and Asuka boarded, waving to the group as the boat set sail. She replayed the day’s battle over in her head—despite it being an amalgamation of code and data, she couldn’t help but feel bad for Nega-Missingno. For the fleeting time it existed, it only knew to fight and defend.

 She sighed, then nodded to herself. That was likely how all nega-evolved pokemon felt. And that was terrible. Stepping away from the rail and going to sit down, that realization was all it too to reaffirm her mission—she would do whatever it took to keep any pokemon for feeling that way for long. She had to work faster, undo the nega-evolutions faster.

[musingsofonehuman]

Shall we talk Xbox? Unless you wanna talk about Ubisoft but I’d rather not, I already feel ill as it is.

So, Xbox had their Xbox Games Showcase yesterday, an hour long video showing off all manner of video games for their Xbox Series X and Xbox Game Pass, overall, I would say it was very good, a nice plethora of games, some we already knew about and others we didn’t, plus it’s nice to know games will be getting updated to use the new hardware. I do have one big criticism though, more gameplay was needed.

We saw in the Sony showcase that gameplay helps with understanding the game, with being able to make a judgment on whether this is a game you’ll enjoy, and we hardly saw any in the Xbox showcase, yes there was a nice chunk of Halo Infinite gameplay, but apart from that, it was all scattered between cutscenes and cinematics. I get wanting to use cinematic trailers when you’re announcing games, probably because the game is not in a state where it’s ready to be shown yet, but after that, you need to be using gameplay trailers at the minimum, preferably chunks of gameplay, even just a minute or two, just to get a feel for the game. I think back to Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, a two minute trailer, a few cinematics, but a solid chunk of gameplay that I could digest, that helped understand the game so much more than a flashy trailer, developers need to be more confident in showing off their games, just show them, and if it gets a negative reaction, learn from it, use that feedback and make the game better, that’s what feedback is for.

But like I was saying, it was really good, but nothing never really stood out for me, there was no game that I saw as a must have, I’ve never been a Halo fan and while Forza, Everwild and Tetris Effect looked really good, nothing grabbed my attention, and I think that was deliberate.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying Xbox is purposefully making mediocre games, that developers are making games that are meh, of course developers are going to put their all into it to try and make the best game possible. However, you have to remember the strategy that Xbox is now going for, you have to remember one key thing throughout all this, Xbox Game Pass (XGP). For those that don’t know, XGP is basically their version of Netflix, for a payment each month, you can get access to a range of games that you download and play, currently there’s over 100 games on the service, available across Xbox consoles and Windows PCs, there’s an Ultimate version where you get XGP for console and PC as well as Xbox Live Gold, their online service.

For Xbox, XGP is a big deal right now, it currently has over 10 million subscribers, and has become a huge revenue source for Xbox, and they’re pushing it hard for the next generation, all first party games will be available on XGP on day one, and all the games shown in the showcase will be available on XGP on day one or free to play. XGP has revitalised Xbox and set them on a whole different path from Sony, whereas Sony are pushing to make the PS5 the next big thing, Xbox have decided to take another route, yes they’re still making consoles, and powerful ones by the sound of it, but instead of making people come to Xbox, they’re taking Xbox to the people. One of their big initiatives over the past few years has been xCloud, their streaming service, and in September, XGP Ultimate members are gonna be able to use xCloud as part of their subscription.

That’s the point, over the past number of years, we’ve seen a transition away from buying physical games, to downloading digitally, and this is the next step, streaming them over the internet, Xbox doesn’t need to tie its games to a platform when they can be streamed to a phone or tablet. You don’t have to buy the big box to play all the next gen games, simply pay the subscription fee, grab your phone and away you go, it makes gaming affordable for so many people, a past time that has always been quite expensive is now just a subscription fee away. Mind you, it is worth keeping in mind that the technology may not be ready for use yet, we’ve seen Google Stadia come and fall flat on its arse, whose to say xCloud won’t go the same way.

All of that brings me back to the Showcase. Was it a deliberate choice to show mediocre games? No, but it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter if the games are mediocre or not, if the games are meh, because they’re all on XGP, you can just try it, it doesn’t cost anything extra, and that’s the key point. It doesn’t have to be mind grabbing because it doesn’t cost anything to try, again, Netflix, you watch a decent movie, it was ok, but you don’t feel ripped off because you didn’t pay extra, it’s part of the service, so long as you’re paying for the service, they don’t care what you watch, what you play, it’s about getting you onto the service and keeping you there. That’s why we’re seeing all these different types of games from Xbox Game Studios, games like Bleeding Edge, Grounded, because they don’t need to be sold at a premium, they’ve already got an audience, the people who have XGP. Bang! It pops up, you download it and try it, don’t like it? Uninstall it, you haven’t spent anything. I have XGP and I tried Gears 5 when it came out, never played Gears before, not a shooter fan, but I was pleasantly surprised, not interested in the multiplayer, but the single player was enjoyable.

I think back to a gamesindustry.biz article I read, and a quote from Tim Schafer talking about how he felt like he now had the freedom to try all different types of projects, and the reason he can do that is because there’s already an established audience, so it doesn’t matter if the games aren’t of the highest quality, because you haven’t paid for the game outright, therefore developers can make niche games that most likely wouldn’t sell on their own, but they will as part of a subscription. Sony on the other hand has to make out-of-the-park hitters as they’re still selling their games at a premium, so they have to justify the price of the game by making them standout blockbusters.

"It does make me think about some of the crazy game ideas we've had, and some of them you're just like... I can never pitch this to any publisher. I would never get this signed. But I am now opening up that folder of documents again, and going 'oh I really love this idea, I bet I could do that now'."

To that end, there was also something else I noticed about the Xbox Showcase, some of their long standing IPs seemed to be getting refreshed in a way, think about it. It wasn’t Halo 6, Forza Motorsport 8, or Fable 4, instead it was Halo Infinite, Forza Motorsport and Fable. It seemed like games were getting refreshed and rebooted for a new era, for a new generation, but not console generation. I think Xbox IPs are getting refreshed for the transition to xCloud. For Xbox, the next generation is not just about the Xbox Series X for them, but it’s also about their streaming service, it’s all about XGP, getting people to sign up to XGP, and perhaps, by refreshing their current IP, they may be able to bring in a new audience of players. This is all just pure thought, but it was interesting to see some of their biggest IP not getting numbered sequels, I do wonder if the next Gears game will be Gears 6 or if it will be called something else, just a thought to consider.

I suppose all of this is why I viewed the Xbox Games Showcase as very good and not mind blowing, because the games don’t need to be mind blowing, they’re not selling the games, they’re trying to sell XGP, and yet, we’ve all watched these conferences for years, waiting for some game to come across and steal the headlines, Xbox doesn’t need to do that anymore, they just need to give you a reason to subscribe to XGP. If anything, the Xbox Games Showcase is a misleading title, it should have been called the Xbox Game Pass Showcase, showcasing all the games you can try on Xbox Game Pass. They’ve mentioned they’re doing another showcase later this year, so it’s gonna be interesting to see how that one unfurls. In the meantime though, let’s talk about Ubis-hurls out of window-.........on second thought, let’s not.

[builder051]

I love prompt 78, can you do it ?

Alright, think back to the joy of your very first migraine, and imagine Peter Parker trying to deal with it all on his own…

Yes, another migraine fic.  But hey, you requested it, and it’s kind of my jam.  I’m not in love with the way it turned out, though, (because I wrote the dialogue all out of order) so, well…hopefully it’s ok.

___

Peter’s home alone on a Wednesday night, picking thorough his homework and waiting for May to finish up her evening shift.  He’s been nursing a headache since lunchtime, and Peter’s used to that.  Food and ibuprofen usually put a damper on things, but not today.

A throb flickers in Peter’s right temple, and his vision shifts weirdly, making the sheet of notebook paper in front of him appear faintly magenta, streaked with pencil marks of hunter green.  He blinks hard, and everything goes mostly back to normal.  Except for the cluster of stars working its way in an arch from one corner of his right eye to the other.

It’s distracting as hell.  And screwing with is depth perception.  Peter starts scratching out another problem from his math assignment, but the numbers are all lopsided and hanging off the line, so he pauses.  Stares at them for a second.  Then fumbles for an eraser.

Good thing this assignment isn’t due tomorrow.  He’ll never finish at this rate.  Peter heaves a frustrated sigh and lets his hand slacken over the resulting pile of rubber shavings.  A wash of apathy comes down from Peter’s head just as the ache in his temple decides to ratchet up a few marks. He drops the eraser and shuts his math book.  He’s starting to feel too ill to work anyway.

As he looks for the proper folder to stow away his homework, Peter’s head gets heavier and heavier.  He nearly slides out of his chair because the left side of his face seems to be leaden and drooping while the right just hurts.  It vaguely occurs to him that this isn’t good.  This is all wrong.  People…people go to the ER for things like this.  The exact word escapes him, but Peter wonders if he’s suffering a brain bleed, about to die in a pile of homework.

Peter considers calling May, but his stomach clenches at the thought of sending her scurrying home early and losing precious hours of pay.  Either that or he’s just nauseous.  Regardless, his imminent death somehow seems less important than his aunt’s finances.

But, god, he can’t just sit here.  The inside of his head feels like Bohemian Rhapsody, but the disorganized offshoots of electrical activity floundering in every direction are full of every kind of pain.  Peter unlocks his phone and scrolls through his contacts.  Ned can’t help.  He’s already decided against calling May.  He doesn’t know why he even has Flash’s number.  Whatever’s next on the list is too blurry to read…

He needs help.  He scans the list as best he can in his partially obscured, quivering visual field.  Then he comes to a promising name and presses the call button.

Peter waits, breathing through vertigo as the phone rings out.

“Mission reports go to Happy,” Mr. Stark’s voice says.  “Thank you and goodnight.”

“Wait, don’t—don’t hang up,” Peter gasps.  “I need…I can’t…”

Mr. Stark’s tone changes at the panic in Peter’s voice.  “Ok, kid, slow down.  What’s going on?”

“Something’s—”  Something’s wrong.  But…how the hell to articulate that word?  What letter does it start with?  How does that sound fit into his mouth?

“Kid?”

“I’m, I’m…”  Peter’s lost in aphasia.

“Are you drunk?” Mr. Stark asks.

“No.  My head,” Peter groans.  “My…I can’t see, I can’t…”

“Slow down.  I don’t get it.”

He sighs.  How to articulate in elusive words that this is the problem?  He can’t think.  He can’t concentrate.  “I…my head hurts.  There’s…there’s lights, my face is falling off…” Peter slurs.  “I don’t…wanna die.”  He doesn’t mean to say it.  But it’s starting to feel like an increasingly plausible fear.

“Oh, kid,” Mr. Stark breathes.  “I think…have you ever had a migraine before?”

Peter shakes his head.  Then he remembers the gesture is no good on the phone, and he exhales, “No.”

“It’s a lot to experience,” Mr. Stark says.  “But you’re not gonna die.  I’ll be right there, ok?  You’re at home?  By yourself, I assume?”

“Yeah.”

“Ok.  Hold on a minute.”  The phone clicks as Mr. Stark hangs up.  Peter drops his forehead to his desk, hoping he can keep his stomach in place.

It turns out he can’t, and it’s all he can do to fling his homework and textbooks out of the way before he brings up a rush of sick over the scuffed tabletop in front of him.  Vomit runs off the edge and onto the floor, and Peter shoves his swivel chair back a couple feet to avoid getting a lapful of the mess.  He balances his elbows on his thighs and buries his face in his hands, relying on the pressure to prevent his head from exploding.

Time passes.  Or maybe it doesn’t.  Peter just sits there, swallowing hard so he doesn’t retch himself into a new level of brain-crushing pain.  There’s a tapping sound from outside his window, but he can’t make himself lift his head.

The rusty metal tracks scrape as the slightly open window is pushed up.  “Kid?  Pete?”  Mr. Stark’s voice asks, slightly distorted by his ironman mask. The red and gold suit flies head first through the window, sending the dusty blinds rustling.  Peter can hardly spare a lift of his head before he’s gagging again and spilling acid and spit down the front of his t-shirt.

“Aw, geez, kid,” Mr. Stark says.  He hovers upright for a second, then releases himself to the floor.  His suit origami folds itself into a band around his forearm, leaving him looking unimposing and almost small in his civilian clothes.  He sinks down to his knees beside Peter’s desk chair.  “Not feeling good, huh?”

“Nuh,” Peter manages, swallowing impending nausea as best he can.

Mr. Stark slides his fingers under Peter’s sweaty bangs.  “Well, no fever.  That’s something.”  He surveys the mess on the desk and floor.  “You think you’re done hurling?”

Peter shrugs.

“How ‘bout you spend a minute in the bathroom anyway?  It’ll probably be good to sit in the dark.”  Mr. Stark helps Peter to his feet.  “You know, I remember the first time this happened to me.  Was about your age.  At MIT.  Puked right in the middle of the physics lab,” he chuckles.

Peter squats, letting his weight leave Mr. Stark’s arm and drapes over the toilet seat instead.  “Ok.  You chill,” Mr. Stark says.  “I’ll, uh, clean up your room a little.”

Peter can’t will himself to say anything.  Mr. Stark pats him gruffly on the back and leaves, snagging a towel on his way.  Peter breathes deeply, practically feeling the scent of the bleach on the toilet water seeping into his head, running down his throat, and turning his stomach again.  He throws up a little bile, and the sound and the smell and the taste compound under his face and make him feel sick all over again.

It dies down, though, eventually.  When Mr. Stark reappears to drag him to his bed, Peter’s not prepared to stand up, but at least his stomach’s mostly back where it belongs.  “Alright, just lie down,” Mr. Stark instructs, removing his hand from Peter’s shoulder once they’re a foot or so from the lumpy mattress.  “I’ll be right back.”  He bends to pick up Peter’s small trash can, which is overflowing with the now sick-sopped towel he’d taken from the rack.

It’s a relief when the mess leaves the confines of the small room and Peter can breathe in clean air again.  The deeper and slower his breaths, the less static there seems to be around his eyeballs.  He drops his jeans and crawls into bed in his t-shirt and underwear, blissfully burying his head in his pillow and blocking out the rest of the world.

“Alright, one last thing,” Mr. Stark says, his footsteps annoyingly loud as he approaches again.  He drops the empty and freshly-lined bin beside the bed, then produces a bottle of pills, a water bottle, and a straw.  “You’ll thank me when you’re doped up.”

Peter squints in the semi-darkness and holds out his trembly hand to accept the white tablets Mr. Stark offers him.  “That’s called Excedrin,” he explains.  “You’ll probably want to buy some.”  He drops the straw into the bottle of water next, holding it so Peter doesn’t have to move in order to gulp down a swig.

Mr. Stark leaves the bottle on Peter’s bedside table.  “Ok.  You all set?  I owe you a towel, but I’ll deal with that later.”

“Thanks,” Peter murmurs.

“Alright, see you later, kid.  Not tomorrow, just, whenever you feel better—”

The sound of a key turning in a lock stuns Mr. Stark to silence.  “Your aunt?” he asks, raising his eyebrows.

“Yeah,” Peter sighs.  He starts to sit up, but hits a wall of dizziness and has to press his face back onto his pillow.

“No, stay put,” Mr. Stark says.  “I got this.”  He moves into the doorway of Peter’s room and poses, leaning languidly against the frame.

Hardly a moment later, Peter hears May pad down the hall and give a little yelp of fright.  “What?  What’s going on?” she demands.

“Well, Pete here called and said he wasn’t feeling good and didn’t want to worry you, so I just thought I’d pop by.  I was…in the neighborhood.”

“Is he ok?” May asks.  Peter can see her concerned face peering around Mr. Stark’s frame to get a glimpse of him curled on his side in bed.

“Yeah, he just has a headache.  You know, like one of those stress migraines.  I gave him a little bit of Excedrin and put him to bed,” Mr. Stark says. “Well, I told him to go to bed.  I didn’t put…he’s not a little kid, and I’m not a creep, so.”

“Well, thank you,” May says, sounding grateful and still a tinge confused.  “What…Is there something I should do?  To make sure he doesn’t get another one?”

Mr. Stark shrugs.  “Let him skip school tomorrow.  I don’t expect him back at my office until he’s feeling better.  I can cut his internship hours if that’s adding to the stress.”

“Hey, no, you don’t, please don’t do that,” Peter mumbles.

“Go to sleep, kid,” Mr. Stark says.  He turns to face into Peter’s room.  “It’s taken me a long time to figure it out, but a solid two and a half decades of working too hard kind of makes you realize it’s not worth it.”

Hot tendrils of prickling nausea flare from Peter’s stomach to his throat to his face.  He tries to think of a decent response, but settles on just keeping his mouth shut.