Skull Phone’s Message:
This phone will perform ONLY ONE full resurrection, before it disappears forever. One dead sim fully restored as they were in life, with no deficiencies. Which sim would you like to resurrect? Choose wisely.
Pascal and Vidcund Curious stared hard at General Buzz and Ripp Grunt. Neither side showed any signs of giving way to each other.
Circe Beaker was pleased at this impasse. She blurted, “See, they can’t possibly agree! Just let me bring back Loki, so Ophelia cannot bring back OLIVE SPECTER!!”
Everyone stared at Circe. The few short seconds of silent shuddering felt like a dreadful eternity. Ophelia Nigmos broke the silence with a cry of indignation.
“Why did I even call for this meeting? Because I know I can’t possibly bring back my aunt!” She turned to the Curiouses and Grunts. “Just make up your mind now, or I’ll choose.”
Ripp stared at Ophelia. “Who will YOU pick?”
“You’ll choose Loki!” Circe yelled, making a painful attempt to rise from her wheelchair.
“Circe Beaker, you boolprop! Your evil husband deserved to die anyway. Strangetown is better off with the last Beaker male dead!” roared the General.
“Hey, that’s not very nice!” Erin Beaker snapped. She instinctively put her hands on her hips, forgetting momentarily about restraining Circe.
“I’ll kill you, Grunt!” snarled Circe, as she turned towards the General. “You should’ve died in Beaker Castle yesterday, if not for *watcher knows who*…”
“Kill me, and you’ll have the whole army bombing that stupid castle of yours.”
“OK, if I can’t kill you, then your other son dies!”
Without a second thought, Ophelia grabbed Ripp’s arm, and teleported off.
General Grunt was stunned for a moment. But upon realizing that Ripp was quite probably safe, even if Ophelia had brought him to the Smith house, he marched towards Circe instead, and attempted to strangle her with his good arm. Erin tried her best to push him away, but it was surprisingly hard to restrain the angry, injured General.
Vidcund and Pascal stared at the commotion, then looked at each other. They nodded.
Pascal had a clear path to the skull phone. He picked it up and answered its question.
Only Pascal and Vidcund noticed Lazlo Curious emerge in the poof of green smoke.
“Vid? Did you get the remote control, or did you disable the… fence?” Lazlo stared around him. His disorientation only made him more animated than usual.
“Yikes! Graves! Are those the Beakers’ graves? Wait, there are only two of them… Where are we? Specter Yard?
Pascal was smiling, yet inwardly banging his head.
Vidcund’s smile broke into a grimace. “Shut up, Lazlo…”
“Wait a second! Lazlo Curious is supposed to be dead, isn’t he?” Erin looked askance. “Why is he standing there?”
General Grunt stopped and counted the Curious brothers.
There were three of them, and no skull phone in sight.
His heart sank. Tank is gone forever!
“You fringin’ doublecrossers!” he roared at the Curiouses. “This wasn’t the deal! We didn’t even come to a consensus!”
Grunt turned to Circe. “You boolprop! Why did you distract me?” He shoved her to the ground. Circe screamed in pain, her mouth full of a thousand curses on the General and the Grunt family.
“Grunt, be a man. Blame yourself, not other people, for your own incompetence!” Erin snapped, as she helped Circe onto her feet, and back on the wheelchair.
Vidcund shrugged. “From the looks of it, one of you would’ve become a candidate for resurrection yourselves. Didn’t really look like negotiating to me.”
Circe grimaced. “I don’t even know what I ever saw in you as a teen, Vidcund Curious. Loki deserves to live! Not that dumb Grunt boy or… “
“Don’t you DARE talk about Tank like that, you boolprop, or I swear I will…”
“What will you do, Grunt? What will you do?!”
As Grunt, Circe and Erin continued their slapfest, the Curiouses decided to run for it. Pascal put his finger to his lip, while Vidcund grabbed Lazlo’s arm. They were safely back in Curious Observatory, before anyone even noticed they were missing.
Circe Beaker’s life went downhill after her fall in Specter Yard. Her injuries were so severe that she was confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life. She was still able to work, but her life and Beaker Castle felt empty and unfulfilling without Loki.
Fortunately for Circe, Erin Beaker was willing to take care of her. While Erin would gladly help with most matters, she firmly drew the line against being Circe’s “accomplice” in any new nefarious schemes, like what the Beaker couple used to plot together.
Furthermore, Erin made it clear that once she found a man to marry, Circe would have to find new help, or check into a home for the disabled. This might take a while, as Erin had broken up with Ajay Loner. Neither Erin nor Circe ever found out the truth about who kicked Circe away from General Grunt during the third battle.
General Grunt was visibly sadder after permanently losing Tank, despite trying to comfort himself with the fact that he was hardly the first general to have lost a son in combat. There was no point forcing Ripp to join the army, as the middle Grunt son would more likely be a disgrace in the military instead.
Buck, the youngest Grunt son, realized that the General would be happier if he had someone to train at home. So Buck volunteered to be trained on the military obstacle course, on the condition that the General never forced him to join the army. Buck would prefer to have his options open, and a military career would be only one of the possibilities for his future.
General Grunt thought this was better than nothing. He would have to learn, albeit slowly, to respect his children’s wishes. Perhaps one day, he might even be proud of Ripp.
The General also found comfort in hosting his new regular visitors, Kristen Loste and Ajay Loner. There was constant joking about how these two “Grunt allies” might eventually become more than friends, which neither of them minded at all.
Ajay could also tell from the way Ripp and Buck looked at him, that the General had told his sons that he was the hero who saved their father’s life. Ajay was so happy to get such a glowing review from a man who was otherwise strict and hard to please.
However, General Grunt never forgave the Curious Brothers for betraying his trust during the Specter Yard reconciliation meeting. He considered them to have “stolen his son” from him, so he endeavored to make life as difficult as possible for Pascal, Vidcund and Lazlo.
Fortunately, Grunt had no wish to start a “Battle of StrangeTown II”, so he stuck to mundane “attacks” of kicking their trash can, and stealing their newspapers and other deliveries. Over time, Grunt devised methods to elude the sentrybots and other booby traps around Curious Observatory.
Good thing the Curious Brothers interpreted General Grunt’s persistence as an ongoing technological challenge to strengthen their own fort, instead of bothering with any form of retaliation against Grunt Boot Camp.
After all, Pascal and Vidcund would rather focus on appreciating and encouraging Lazlo. Curious Observatory was happier place with the youngest Curious brother’s cooking, jokes and brilliant booby traps (for General Grunt). Thankful for his second chance, Lazlo also showed more focus in his career and relationships.
Soon, Pascal’s son Newton welcomed two younger sisters, Vivian and Zoe, who were technically his first cousins by uncles Vidcund and Lazlo respectively. With an heir for each brother, the happiness in Curious Observatory was complete.
Now Nervous Subject found himself in a new neighborhood. During his journey, he reflected on the many things Ophelia had told him, including details about his paternity. Nervous decided that from now on, all the new people he would meet would know him as “Nick Grimm”.
The lush green park was a refreshing change from StrangeTown. Nick made quick plans about how he would one day fish in the large pond, or swim in the dividing river.
“Such a quiet, beautiful place for a new life. Hopefully there would be less feuding here…” he whispered to himself.
| STSYC #10A is one of the possible endings of this story.
Another equally plausible alternate ending, STSYC #10B, is up next. Comparison of screenshots between 10A and 10B is highly recommended for maximum enjoyment of both endings. After that, you may try the STSYC Quiz, and vote on which ending you prefer. This choice of ending may or may not even be the same as the sim you voted for… Also see [Olive Specter’s Timeline], a short prequel to STSYC. (It’s like [Goals of Daniel Pleasant], but the plot moves at a MUCH faster pace.) For the POLL on Pascal’s alien baby, vote according to what happened in your game, or what you like to happen in your own story. STSYC Chapters: 1. The Pleas Extras: Olive Specter’s Timeline (STSYC Prequel) 1. Early Years: Danielle Greaves, Earl E. DeMise 2. DJ Spectra: Rigger Mortis, Hugh Thanasia 3. Midnight Hollow: Thanatos Grimm, Nervous Subject, Doe Family, Ichabod Specter 4. Elder Guardian: Ophelia Nigmos, Lyla Grunt, Strangetown Bella Goth / Jane Doe |
StrangeTown Monty (STM) 
Hahaha a Strangetown-er going to live in Veronaville – I see what you did there 😉 Glad to see Lazlo back but it’s still sad about Tank.
This “doppelganger reversal” of STM’s main premise may just be an excellent sequel. But for now, the only things that are confirmed are the Olive Specter’s Timeline prequel, and the continuation of STM, partially in machinima and partially in screenshot form.
As for Lazlo and Tank, let’s see how differently the events may transpire, if the other route is taken. Screenshot comparison between 10A and 10B is highly recommended for maximum enjoyment of the various possible endings.
I couldn’t help but laugh at the line, Hopefully there would be less feuding here… Oh poor Nick he has no clue what he has signed himself up for. I noticed that while there is an episode 10B in the works where Tank gets resurrected instead there isn’t a 10C where Loki gets resurrected. Could this be due to the number of factors that work against Circe getting her wishes such as injuries, the amount of opposition and her state of mind?
I definitely liked the way that 10A went as it was bittersweet. I can’t really see anything stopping General Buzz from being a serial trash can tipper as he seems set up to do that is gameplay.
Just one tiny push from an injured General is all that’s needed to confine Circe on a wheelchair for life. Just imagine 5 sims tackling her if she tried to grab the phone. She may immediately become a “candidate for resurrection” too 😮 , albeit one that’s just as unpopular as Loki 😛
Let’s see how different the circumstances would have to be, for Tank to be chosen instead… and if the 10B Pascal and Vidcund would behave any differently from 10A General Grunt in the aftermath.
Haha, it’ll indeed be too late to turn back once Nick introduces himself to Bianca and Kent, because a fresh newcomer may just be (quite literally) a Watcher-send in Veronaville now.