We're going to have a.. SKELE TON OF FUN! [OPEN]

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Power Level: 20,706
Word Count: 666

Once again, the midday sun shone brightly in the skies above, illuminating the busy cityscape below. Hundreds – if not thousands – of people of all shapes and sizes milled about the streets of East Capitol, as too did their means of transport. It was a sight that Azguard had grown used to by now, though the bubbly Bio-Android could find nothing but wonderment in the antics of the everyday world. Many of these individuals had jobs to attend to, given a break from their various occupations just for the sake of sustenance in that time called ‘lunch hour’.

For Azguard, the basic concept of meals was irrelevant. As long as there were bacteria and virulent diseases to prey upon, absorb and assimilate, then it needed not to bother with the basic foods of human necessity. Of course, that did not mean it hadn’t taken up an interest in the various objects humans and their sapient relatives liked to insert into their mouths.

^{‘Azguard wonders,’ it asked itself:
‘Can they eat food, too?’}

With nobody to answer that psychically announced query, the amorphous entity was forced to find its own answers. Fortunately, it had found its way to a perfect part of the city in which to test such a theory. The eastern metropolis’ air was alive with the odours of many a meal, from simple sandwiches to cooked dinners and everything in between – sweet desserts and spicy sauces, fresh fruits and succulent meats. But what to partake of was the ultimate question. To be honest, the malleable medicine did not find much of what humans ate to be particularly appetising, but innate curiosity somehow held back that strange sense of disgust.

Plopping itself down upon the pathed landscapes of the city’s park, surrounded by lush greenery stowed amidst the jungle of industry and commerce, Azguard began its search. What exactly it was searching for was as much a mystery to it as it was to the inquisitive individuals who gave the gelatinous mass unusual glances. Having melded its Plasm into a vaguely humanoid shape, walking along on stubby truncated legs, it began to search for something new.

“THIS IS THE BEST PIZZA I’VE EVER HAD!” was not the most expected of orations. However, the exclamation was both close enough and loud enough to trigger what vestiges of auditory sense the maggot-like Core possessed, shifting its attentions towards a park bench and the most mesmerising of sights. Well, maybe mesmerising was one word, but the only phrase that flew through Azguard’s mind upon seeing it was:

^{‘What…?’}

Ignorant of the second individual whose attentions had also been captured by the scream of delight, the medicinal marvel’s entire nature was telling it that what it currently looked upon with three beady eyes was utterly implausible. A skeleton – and a human skeleton at that – sat upon the wooden furnishing with cheeks flushed blue and mouth agape, having apparently slapped itself with its own bony extremity. There was neither muscle nor organ upon those bleached white bones of his, which set off something within Azguard’s mind. Alarm bells rang loudly as it tried to comprehend what was going on here. All laws of biology, the very foundations upon which it had been uniquely built, seemed to have flown out of the window.

‘Skeletons can’t move without muscle,’ Azguard reminded itself mentally, using the power of flight to skip a few steps and bounce towards the mysterious collection of calcium and its artificial (but at least logical) acquaintance. Stopping a couple of yards short, the creature’s nucleus pressed itself closely against the outer limit of its azure confines to get a better look at Mister Bones. At least Walker, whose biology was unusual but present, made some semblance of sense. Then again, Azguard knew a lot more about human biological structure than plant, so maybe it just had failed to realise the sheer scale of abnormality that was the dryad.

^{‘Excuse us, Mister Skeleton’ it asked hesitantly:
‘But how are you moving…?’}

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<sub>Because Neato doesn't make any sense in Azguard's eyes...

Azguard (336699)
Neato Skeletino (111111)</sub>

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Power Level: 20,706
Word Count: 594

Calcium was the secret to becoming extremely powerful? That was what the skeleton seemed to believe – even Azguard could not deny that there was some logic behind this statement, even if a walking and talking mass of bones was anything but logical. It knew full well the boons of calcium and how important an element it was to life. Without such a chemical, a life form’s bone, muscle and nervous developments were diminished. You just couldn’t live without it! In the case of the cellular sludge, calcium served as one of its most fundamental composites, and it was certain that the same applied to the ivory individual.

^{“I am Neato Skeletino!” the bones announced:
“And I am a skeleton!”}

“Everyone just calls me ‘921’,” added the Android, who currently sampled a slice of pizza provided by Neato. The Bio-Android tumbled within its coating of azure, now opting to try and analyse the foodstuffs that had taken up the cybernetic sir’s attentions. As far as appetite went, the consumption of common foods was not exactly an easy thing for a creature that lacked a proper orifice for it – fortunate was the serial number that he still possessed a maw, and indeed the ability to eat. For Azguard, the process was a little less normal, though that did not stop it from succumbing to a case of curiosity.

A flat cardboard box contained a now broken circle of edible matter, the surface colour of which looked a little green as the amorphous entity observed it through a bubbly screen of blue. The substance was clearly the source of calcium to which Mister Skeletino was dedicated, comprised of a viscous dairy product identifiable as ‘cheese’. It had a crisp golden colouration, discernible even through the plasm, whilst the darkened crust was most definitely a form of bread. Cut neatly into even triangles, the platter’s broken shape suggested a hint of salsa red similar to that of the illustrious tomato. To be frank, it looked like it was bleeding, but even Azguard was pretty certain that food of this style did not share Animalian anatomy.

^{‘May Azguard try some pizza, too, Mister Neato?’ it asked;
‘They have never tried pizza before, either!’}

The core within somersaulted, hinting towards an unusual excitement. Though deep within it still found the skeleton an anomaly of the greatest calibre, it saw no use in chasing after answers that might never have been important to its cause. Just by behaviour alone, Neato had proven a state of mental health and happiness that could only come about from a healthy style of life. In short, the medicinal marvel’s usual question – the query of whether or not a person was healthy – had been answered without even having to be asked. In a sense, Skeletino could have considered himself a lucky man, but the two anomalies likely had very different thought processes.

Awaiting a response, it looked to 921.

‘921 is an Android, right…?’ Androids – these were far less of an unusual occurrence in Azguard’s world. Indeed, they were quite a common thing in this day and age, with many serving alongside the human and zoanthropic races as shopkeepers, medical staff and more! The benefits of an artificially augmented entity were rapidly growing upon the world at large, causing facets of life to evolve in ways many would not have expected. Still, even though it was pretty sure that 921 was in a perfect state of health, the malleable medic could not help but pose a question: ‘Is 921 fully mechanical? And what do they do…?’

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_{Azguard (336699)
Neato Skeletino (111111)
#921 (19c5e6)}