Destiny Colosseum ~ Training Rooms

[Namohysip]

This time, her blades connected, and the doll lost some of its ethereal stuffing before the wound seemed to slow its 'bleeding.' It was a good shot, but not a lethal one.

"I don't," Owen said. "Not anymore. I was... it was to keep me from hesitating on a mission. But..." He sighed. "It's not about not needing it. It's that I can't get rid of it because it's... stuck there, in a way. Even if the mechanism is gone, it's still this... stray thought that gets distracting. Or maybe it's just an irrational fear..."

 

[Dragonfree]

Mia landed, keeping a displeased eye on the Substitute. "Sometimes I think about eating people but I don't," she said. "I like thinking it but actually doing it wouldn't be worth it. So I don't. It can't make me do anything."

She cocked her head. "Does the battle mode activate when you don't want it to? Dave said that Bahamut sent people into your brain to remove the parasite. Maybe they can go into your brain to remove that, too."

 

[Namohysip]

Owen laughed a little. "It activates by external stimuli. A trigger energy. But I don't have it here, so it's just something mental now, no physical presence. Back home, it's a physical presence. I asked Breaker about it, actually, and she didn't find anything to fix with her methodology."

Wishkeeper set the Substitute a little lower. "You are getting faster," he said. "Try again."

 

[Dragonfree]

Mia shrugged. "Breaker couldn't fix the parasite either. Maybe going into your brain is better." Maybe people should go into Dave's brain and remove whatever it was that was making him weird. He probably didn't want her to tell Owen that either.

Mia built speed again, zooming back and forth across the room, then took a dive towards the Substitute.

 

[Namohysip]

Wishkeeper kept up, but foresight alone wasn't enough for Mia. This time, she had a clear shot, and the slice made the Substitute split in half completely. Wishkeeper seemed to smile.

"Maybe," Owen said. "But... that's something that'll have to happen at home, not here, if they find a way to fix it. Over here, I can handle it enough for, you know, the mission."

 

[Dragonfree]

The Substitute tore in half, and Mia landed, satisfied.

"In my world all Pokémon are battlehearts," she said after a moment. "Humans aren't. I think we all were but most of the others pretended they weren't."

 

[Namohysip]

"If it's normal in your world, maybe that's okay," Owen said. "That means you guys have a society that can adjust to it, kinda like how Cibus does. I think on average, people in Cibus are more battleheart-like than people in my world. I kinda like it, but... they're still tolerant. I heard that it's not the same where your memories are from."

 

[Dragonfree]

"Most people there don't like fighting except when Pokémon do it," Mia said. "They have laws about it. Dave says it's because humans are easily killed or permanently injured. I think it's also because they're not very good at it, unless they have guns."

 

[Namohysip]

Owen nodded. "I think that makes some sense, if humans are weaker. Pokemon can definitely handle more, I think..." He sighed. "It's too bad. I can't imagine being so vulnerable."

 

[Dragonfree]

"The other me was killed," Mia said. "It only took one shot. That's why this body is better."

 

[Namohysip]

"I heard about that..." Owen frowned. "I guess it doesn't mean too much to you, but do you have any memories of, like, seeing it happen... or is it secondhand?"

 

[Dragonfree]

Mia's eyes narrowed as she thought about it. "Dave wasn't there. He heard about it later from Jack. He just has memories of imagining it."

 

[Namohysip]

Owen winced. So her demise was only a vague one. Perhaps that was for the better... "I guess that doesn't scare you too much, though," he commented, standing. "You don't seem to get scared by much. I guess there's not much of a reason to, to you?" Mia's psychology always interested him, and being able to talk frankly was a little refreshing.

 

[Dragonfree]

"I'm not afraid of anything," Mia said. "There are things I don't want to happen. But I'm not afraid."

 

[Namohysip]

"That's interesting," Owen said, tilting his head. "Is that how the other Mia was, too? Not afraid?" He curled his tail forward. "Fear is usually an evolutionary thing to keep the person safe by making them not want certain things innately. So if they aren't afraid, they aren't going to be careful. But for you... you just don't want certain things to happen? Why?"

 

[Dragonfree]

Mia looked blankly at him. "I don't want things that would mean I can't do the things I want. I'll avoid those things whether I'm afraid or not."

She paused for a moment before continuing. "Dave thinks that's probably just how Scyther work in our universe. They're apex predators who can fly. They don't have to be afraid of things. They just have to make smart decisions."

 

[Namohysip]

"That makes some sense..." Owen frowned, thoughtful. "But even predators need to be careful, don't they? One wrong move against a strong prey and they won't be able to hunt anymore. But maybe Scyther of your world react to that in a different way. Like... if something could happen that would make you unable to hunt anymore, then you'd want to avoid that." He nodded. "I think that makes sense."

 

[Dragonfree]

"You can be careful without being afraid," Mia said, cocking her head. "You just need to know when to be."

 

[Namohysip]

"In the wild, instincts tell you that by being afraid--for my species, at least. Charizard are afraid of the dark, and want to avoid being in the dark, because that means our flames are weak, and that means we're in danger. We also like bright areas because it makes it harder to see us. My kind, and a lot of other species, operate on likes and dislikes, instead of simply 'knowing' what to do. It's... more robust. I think it's to make us more adaptive to all kinds of situations, instead of specifically hunting. My breed of Charizard are social creatures, meant to bond with humans for part of their life cycle."

 

[Dragonfree]

Mia tilted her head the other way. "I thought you were from one of the universes without humans."