Destiny Colosseum ~ Stands

[Fusion]

Shit, she knew. How could anyone have known? That was its one buff if you didn't count all the other ones it made earlier.

"You really wanna see me throw a punch, huh?" Puddle growled, readjusting its arm and flexing its hand. It hadn't tried to hit anything before, but it couldn't be all that hard. Just clench a fist, and throw it. Hit the thing your hitting really hard. "Alright, I'll show you a punch!"

Puddle leaned back with its arm held behind it, clenching its fist so hard it just became a weird ball on a noodley stick. It then threw the punch as hard as it could... and missed.

In fact, it missed so bad that it kept going...

And going...

Puddle's arm kept stretching until it hit the side of Coalossal, who luckily didn't notice. "...See? I'm so good at punching they count as ranged attacks. I bet you couldn't do that?" Puddle scoffed smugly, reeling its arm back in.

 

[Namohysip]

Cal squinted, which was done by flattening her embers. "How did you even do that? I want to do that! Do it again! I bet I can do it, too!" She balled up her fist and wound her arm back, but her technique was all off. "When I snatch one of Owen's books I can hide in the cracks of the wall and he can't get me. I bet if I get long arms I'll be unstoppable!"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Luz turned from spectating the fight to spectating the bickering between Cal and Puddle. They were like kids, weren't they? Was that because Owen and Vix had some parental feelings in their heads? They were so alike herself and yet so different. Fascinating!

"Hey, it's been swell spendin' a minute with ya," she told them as she stood to leave. "Let's hang out the three of us again, real soon! Maybe with our hosts, after the big showdown? We can make a shindig of it!"

She beamed, and then laughed. Almost all the Spectrum flesh'n'bloods and half the familiars were so stressed about the confrontation with that necrozma. Why worry? They were all so darn strong. They'd pull through for sure, just like they always did.

 

[Fusion]

"When I snatch one of Owen's books I can hide in the cracks of the wall and he can't get me. I bet if I get long arms I'll be unstoppable!"

"I have no id-- I mean, it's my secret technique. I can't just give it to anyone," Puddle said with a smug grin. "But I wouldn't mind trying to teach ya. If I even can..."

"Hey, it's been swell spendin' a minute with ya," she told them as she stood to leave. "Let's hang out the three of us again, real soon! Maybe with our hosts, after the big showdown? We can make a shindig of it!"

Being reminded of Vix's existence outside of the "my dad v. you dad" context brought Puddle back to reality. "That sounds like fun, yeah! I'll see if Vix is up for it, then drag her along anyway." That lamp really needed to get out more. Puddle didn't wanna see her waste her life away behind a book, alone, friendless... that was just alone, again, but still.

Speaking of, Puddle looked to wherever Vix was last, but it looked like she had already left. Nervous bubbles rose in Puddle's body, and it didn't know whether to find her or not. Was that how she felt when he left her in the infirmary? Not gonna lie... shit stung.

 

[Namohysip]

"Oh, looks like Owen's leaving for the infirmary or something," Cal said. "Party's over... Hey! Let's go see how many cracks we had hide in somewhere else!" Cal hopped off her seat and disappeared under the stands, the only thing impeding her progress being the Core that made up her being.

At least she was cheerful...

<><><>​

 

[Namohysip]

"And that's the match! A decisive victory for Karat against Team Drumstick!"

"Gah!" Thyme flicked a vine toward the arena in what might have been a rude gesture. "C'mon, humans represent! Bone!" But she probably didn't hear him.

"Well, they are against Karat," Pepper added, patting Thyme on the back as they sat at the stands. "They spar all the time. They're probably constantly trying to learn each other's moves..."

"At least they actually let Karat out to fight and stuff," Thyme muttered. "Guess helping take down that Giovanni dude was enough to make up for everything else..."

"Bone's so cool..." Surf stood on her toes, while Turf, now a Croconaw from her fights in this very colosseum, tried to get to the same height. "Can I use a weapon during fights?"

"I don't think it'd be as effective, Surf," Pepper commented. "It's not really all that often Pokemon can fight better with a weapon than without... Too clunky. Marowak were practically built for that kind of fighting, though."

"Heh. Imagine me with a weapon." Thyme tilted his head.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa nearly mentioned that Karat could just let himself out of the holding cells anyway, but thought better. She considered remarking on Diyem's shadow warhammer, then reconsidered. She bit her tongue a lot around Cibus natives compared to Team Spectrum, it seemed.

"Y'know, there're other species with natural weapons," she mused. "Delphox have their spellsticks, the dewott line have their scalchops, and some folklore tells of a legendary pokémon that wields a sword. Zacian, the warrior wolf."

Luz shrugged expansively. "Seems like a liability t'me. Y'can get disarmed if ya rely on weaponry."

The zeraora-shade cupped one fist with her other palm and made a knuckle-cracking gesture. She didn't seem to mind that she had no bones to crack.

 

[Namohysip]

"Yeah, that's also true. I wonder how Bone deals with that..." Surf leaned forward.

"Oh, I've seen that," Thyme said. "Bone's probably one of the strongest Marowak in the world! If you try to disarm her, and you do, well..." He trailed off, shuddering. "I did that once, thinking I'd get the upper hand. Turns out she can just..." He made a flicking motion with his vines. "Right back into her hand. No clue how she fuckin' does that... Must be a trick. Or magnets."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Or the weapon's a part of her," said Brisa. "Connected to her aura. Inseparable."

She scratched her chin. "I once saw my pa reach out a paw and have one of his wands fly to his palm. I always figured it were telekinesis, but maybe it's somethin' pokémon with natural weapons can just do, if they learn th'trick of it."

Luz waved a paw dismissively. "We could still take her, though."

"Ground type, Luz."

"Still. We could."

Brisa chuckled. Luz' incorrigible confidence was growing on her, damn it. "Well, maybe when we can win against an Omen Hero with a type advantage, I'll consider challengin' one with my only goddamn disadvantage."

Luz waved a huge black paw at Pepper. "Rematch, darlin'?" she said, beaming.

 

[Namohysip]

Pepper beamed a little, but Thyme pointed to the sky. "That tournament was cool and all, but I think we're getting too close to the apocalypse to get sparring matches in properly, y'know?"

"Urf, yeah..." Pepper rubbed the top of her snout. "Sorry we can't help you. That energy-nullifying thing is really rough on us. We'll try to find a way to help somehow!"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa nodded, suppressing a grin at Luz. "Yeah, we've done just about all the serious sparrin' we can afford. An' some of our new moves are rough as hell on a gal's endurance. Mine is exhaustin' t'keep usin', an' when Saltriv hits me with their new power-strengthenin' technique it feels like I've been hit by a speedin' rhyhorn. Starr keeps tellin' me to lay off so much trainin'. I jus' get . . . restless."

Luz scoffed. "We've got this handled. With all of Cibus cheerin' us on from down here, there's no way we can lose."

"Don't tempt the fates, Luz."

"C'mon," drawled the shade. "Everyone figured Giovanni had us beat, an' then we took out not jus' him, but his goons as well. It'll work out."

 

[Namohysip]

"I'm still not sure how you pulled that off," Pepper said. "You guys really are growing fast, aren't you?"

"Yeah, at this rate we might have to go all-out against you." Thyme smirked, then looked in the arena. "Then again, I'd rather have the strength I have now. Seems like the powers you guys have is... volatile."

"And cool!" Surf added.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Well, what I keep tellin' folks of late is, Team Spectrum is more fearsome by a hundredfold when we work t'gether. Our greatest strength ain't raw power, but synergy, force multiplication, or in other words–"

"Teamwork," said Luz, with satisfaction.

"Yeah, teamwork."

"Still reckon Brisa can take Pepper by now though," quipped Luz, flashing a cheeky fang.

By now, the combatants had left the colosseum, as had some of their audience. Brisa had the itch to get down there herself, but a quick {same here, but hold back, darlin'} from Luz kept her from suggesting it. When had she stopped wincing at the telepathic touch? It hadn't even been that long since they started practicing.

"I'm given to understand y'all 'Omen Heroes' had a synergy all yer own," remarked Brisa. "The energy of a human an' pokémon workin' t'gether, like my parents. I keep meanin' to ask you more about that, feels like I've already got half th'story jus' from yer anecdotes."

 

[Namohysip]

"Oh, that." Pepper nodded. "It's not just me, actually. The temps we recruited onto our team before they split off to make their own teams got a lot stronger just by training under Thyme, too. The human spirit is just an augmenter for us. That's what we figured, at least. And, well, our kids, it's not really as strong as what Thyme has, but on their own, they definitely have some of that in them."

"Which means we might be getting into some high-power occupations in the future," Surf said. "But..."

"But maybe not fighting," Turf said.

Pepper smiled sadly, then looked at Brisa. "When Turf became possessed... Shadows, right? Brisa... Tell me, um--those aren't fake thoughts, right? They're... just the thoughts we hide, or something?"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Ah. So they were still dealing with the events at the Bluff, were they? That had been the start of her feud with Starr, who was now among her most trusted friends. How long ago that seemed.

Well. She sure could talk about shadows.

"The thoughts an' feelings that come with shadows ain't always rational, but they're definitely our own. They're as real as the shadows yer bodies leave in the light. They're just . . . uncomfortable, painful, or powerful private in some way. Secret fears, often. Shame, too."

She closed her eyes and let her shadows rise around her, just a little. She felt Luz's paw on her shoulder, keeping her steady. She wouldn't drift far, not here, but she needed to demonstrate...

"Turf's shadows came from th'fear of havin' to be a hero when that ain't what's in her heart," said Brisa, her expression slackening as her voice grew deeper. "My shadows ain't so different. Right now, I feel..."

The weight of two whole worlds on her shoulders. Guilt, shame, anger, resignation, and heartache. She wasn't a killer, but she was a creature of violence. And she had a duty to be violent when it counted. Get a grip, ranger.

"...responsible fer the'safety of more souls than I ever imagined could be countin' on me. That's true, ain't it? I gotta do my utmost, 'cause doin' any less would be shirkin' my duty to folks who don't have my kinda power. Used t'be my shadows came from th'certainty that I was dangerous to people around me. Now I know I'm not, I'm more certain than ever that I don't got the right t'try an' be happy, when I oughta be workin' harder than ever to use my strength fer good. That... That feels true."

Luz squeezed her shoulder, and she gasped as the shadows left her.

"Feels true when the shadows're gone, too," she said, smiling weakly.

 

[Namohysip]

Pepper and Thyme looked nervously toward one another, then back at Brisa. "It twists it into hostility, too," the Feraligatr said. "When we were possessed..."

"I remember feeling like I should just destroy everything," Thyme said, "because I was just gonna lose it all. It's like I forgot that Balm is fine now, or that I've got a family here. It's... crazy. It had me thinking, is that how Dark Matter felt, but all the time? It's no wonder he tried to destroy the world..."

"Seeing my Shadow helped me think, though," Turf said. "I guess I was trying to ignore it..."

"But now we aren't training to be heroes anymore," Surf added, putting a fist to her chest. "Now, we can just train because it's fun, and we can worry about what comes after later!"

"I had no idea how much pressure we were putting on our kids," Pepper admitted. "I guess... it's kinda funny, but these Shadows helped us grow."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa bit her lip, and thought for a moment.

Luz spoke up to fill the silence. "Y'know, they say you only grow through adversity. What don't kill ya, makes ya stronger, an' all that. I guess I believe that! The legends say that Zeraora Luz, th'Wanderin' Light, was once a lil' kitten too, til' she grew mighty fearsome from always runnin' straight into danger when others would flee. That's–"

"I ain't ignorin' nothin'," said Brisa, firmly. "Sure, my first experience with my own shadows brought out a lotta deep fears I refused t'think about normally, but what I got now is different. The feelings that fuel my Umbral Overcharge are about this sense of obligation to give everythin' I have fer the safety of others, and they ain't hidden or repressed in any way when I'm done fightin'. Don't that mean it's true?"

Luz rubbed the back of her neck and looked away. None of what she'd said about how heroes deserved to feel good about themselves had been well-received by her host. Of course Luz would feel that way. She was a myth.

 

[Namohysip]

"Uhh..." Pepper glanced awkwardly at Thyme.

"Hey, you know, it feels like the Shadows react a little different for everyone," Thyme said. "I guess we kind of just need to evaluate that, or something..." He shifted his weight. "You, uh. Seems like you've got some shit to work out."

"Thyme." Pepper elbowed him.

"Whaaat? With the Shadows and stuff I bet they all do. You know that Owen kid keeps talking to himself when nobody's around?"

"I think that's just his Shadow."

"They can talk, now?"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Shit to work out.

Maybe.

"Hell, I forget y'all can't see that stuff. Yeah, that's Owen's shadow. Goes by th'name of Wishkeeper, behaves an' talks like Owen used to, when he were younger. Fella's older than you'd guess, apparently."

She sighed.

"Yeah, I guess it works differently fer everyone. But uh... One thing I've been wantin' to ask y'all about..."

Luz spoke for her. "Brisa wants t'know what y'all think a hero is. Seein' as ya are heroes."

"Mm."

 

[Namohysip]

"Ehhh..." Thyme sighed. "It's kind of hard for me to explain that, isn't it? Like. Sure, I was a human who got involved in trying to save the world, but I feel like at some point it could be any human who'd have my, you know, criteria."

"I think that's what she's asking," Pepper said.

"Oh, right. Well, I guess courage would be one factor. Being able to face something when it seems really daunting... Or just knowing when to step up instead of run away." Thyme sighed. "But we ran away a ton of times. I guess sometimes it's just being in the right place at the right time, and then acting on it. The stuff you accomplish by happening to be there..."

"It means doing cool stuff!" Surf said. "And being a good person!"

"Only difference between being a good person and being a hero," Pepper said, "is probably just... opportunity."