Destiny Village ~ Sundae Park

[Namohysip]

"Maybe!" Cola seemed excited again. "Soda's cool! We can go on an adventure, maybe, around the village outskirts!" Cola giggled. "But... I still don't really know how Pop feels about all of this. He's still talking like I'm gonna return to him one day..."

 

[Fusion]

"Like hell am I gonna let that happen!" Puddle said, puffing out its chest. "Pop ain't gonna lay a hoof on ya on my watch, Cola. I'll fuckin' stay here on Cibus if I have to!"

"I'll get stronger, and beat the snot outta Pop if he tries shit!" Puddle knew damn well that if Pop actually did try to take Cola... there wasn't really anything it could do to stop him. At least, not like it was now. Its weak lil noodle arms couldn't do much to anyone, but it knew it could get stronger. It had to. "I already messed up once, I ain't gonna let that happen again."

 

[Negrek]

Rocky winced, then turned away, his ears drooping. "No! I mean, no, if you don't want to... He can't make you. He shouldn't make you! You're your own person, not just a part of him." He scuffed at the ground, not meeting Cola's red circles. "I was with Joule earlier, and it turns out that shades are pieces of him, and he's going around absorbing them so he can be whole again. But I used to be a shade. All of the familiars did." Rocky glanced at Puddle. "So he might want us to go back to him, too. But I don't want to! I just got here! So I don't think you should go back to Arceus... I don't think any of us should have to go back to being pieces of other people if we don't want to."

 

[Fusion]

Puddle froze. Joule was... absorbing shades. What the familiars used to be. The same asshole that killed half the team, was absorbing shades, absorbing familiars, for power... And Puddle almost made the mistake of wanting to forgive Joule for what he did.

But maybe, maybe this was a misunderstanding. Even though every part of Puddle was screaming with red flags, it didn't want to immediately discard the chance that Joule wasn't eating its family for power. "...He hasn't gotten any of us, right? He's just goin' for shades?" Puddle asked Rocky, a mix of worry and faint anger in its voice.

 

[Negrek]

"I don't think so," Rocky said. "He said he'd think about it later. But if he needs to absorb us to go back to full strength... If he feels like he's missing pieces... I don't know. Maybe he won't do anything. At least not for a long time. But I bet he wants to."

 

[Namohysip]

"Then Joule and Pop are both thinking about becoming one person again by just not caring about what the other parts of them might feel about it?" Cola asked, shrinking. "...Why would... they do that? How come the powerful Pokemon have to be that way?!"

 

[Fusion]

Haha... that wasn't confirmation. That did not calm any of Puddle's non-existent nerves. Yeah, it was just ragging on the rest of the team having issues, but if more of Puddle's friends get threatened to be eaten by big, powerful things, then by GOD was it gonna have a whole ass library behind it.

"Th-Those... rotten... no good..." Puddle growled, boiling with rage. It clenched its fists tightly and gritted its teeth, the rest of its body giving off faint, black wisps. There was no goddamn way that was right, it certainly wasn't fucking fair. Just because those assholes were stronger, they got to take whoever the hell they wanted?!

But, seeing Cola shrink like that... Puddle's rage started to fade. Was he scared? He definitely had a reason to be... Puddle took a deep breath and exhaled, its boil dying down to a simmer, then gave Cola and Rocky a confident smile. "I won't let 'em do anythin' to us, not Pop, and not Joule neither," Puddle said, reassuringly. "I'll get stronger than both of those jerks, and keep everyone else safe. Like a real hero."

 

[Negrek]

"That's right! If we all get strong--if we all get strong together, they won't be able to make us go back! And there's a lot more of us than them. We can win against them, easy." Puddle was all fired up, but Cola looked afraid. Rocky leaned forward and gave him an encouraging smile. "There's lots of people who don't want Arceus to take you back. We'll help you! And I bet Soda will, too. Whatever Arceus thinks, he doesn't get to decide what happens to you!"

 

[Namohysip]

Cola, emboldened a little, rose higher. "Y-yeah... yeah! I bet if the worst happened, maybe Soda could hide me in one of his illusions, or... or I can hide in one of you, or something! Then Pop won't be able to get me ever!" Feeling more secure, he tapped his hoof on the ground and declared, "I bet that if we work together, Pop will never be in control of me again!"

 

[Fusion]

"Hell yeah!" Puddle pumped a fist in the air, flashing its usual grin and bubbling excitedly. "We'll watch each others backs and get stronger together! Like a team! Or a family! At least... I think that's what families do," it chuckled. Just then, Puddle's headache started to fade, and it felt a bit brighter. "Honestly, a team sounds cooler, hehe!" Puddle wagged its tail, bubbling still.

 

[Negrek]

"Yeah!" Rocky said. "Even if we're not real pokémon, we can still get stronger. And Cola's going to be a god some day. All we need to do is make sure he stays safe until then!"

Puddle's suggestions sounded great, too. "Teams are better," Rocky said with authority. "They can have secret code names and costumes and everything. Families don't get that." He tilted his head, tail flicking gently while he thought. "We'd have to think of a team name, though."

 

[Namohysip]

"A team name, huh?" Cola repeated, looking giddy from all the prospects of being their own little team. "I know. I know. How about we get me, you guys, and Soda together and we'll call ourselves... Team Usurpers! Because we're gonna punch God!"

 

[Fusion]

Puddle had to think for a second about what "usurper" meant, then it thought for a third... and just when a fourth was lined up, Puddle decided it liked the name anyway! If it meant "Punch God" then fuck it, that was badass! "Oh hell yeah, that sounds fuckin' awesome!" it cheered. "We're gonna be Team Punch God! I mean, Usouper! U-Usurper? Usurper!"

'Nailed it.'

"All we gotta do is convince Soda to join us, right? That should be easy!" Puddle grinned, wagging its tail again. "We'll be super-strong in no time, guys! Then everyone will have to take us seriously!"

 

[Negrek]

"Y-yeah!" Rocky said, flames flickering nervously. He didn't actually want to punch Arceus. But if Arceus was being mean to Cola... Well, Rocky would talk to him about it. Probably he just didn't understand how afraid Cola was of him. And Mudkip could be as mad about it as he wanted.

At least he'd get a chance to hang out with Soda. That was good, right? "'Usurper' is a really cool name!" he said, as enthusiastically as he could. "And yeah... Yeah, we should go get Soda! He can teach us all the best attacks and how to do the coolest illusions. Especially Cola! I bet you'd be able to do better illusions than anybody."

 

[Namohysip]

"I bet," Cola agreed, nodding. "I heard that Soda's busy doing some sleuthing for possible spies, though. He's probably too busy right now... Maybe after you guys save the Worldcore we can hang out with him!"

 

[Negrek]

"Oh... right." Rocky's ears drooped at the thought of the spies. They were making Mudkip all paranoid and even less fun than usual. And now they were going to make it so they had to wait to team up with Soda? Mudkip was right about one thing, at least, and that was that Giovanni ruined everything. "Want to come with us to the Worldcore? I bet it's gonna be an epic fight! And we'll get to save Sword, too. I bet you'll like Sword. She's funny."

 

[Fusion]

"Worldcore? Ya mean that thing Vix's other crush got sucked into?" Puddle hummed, tapping its chin. "I heard that was just a big, scary mess of a whole lotta things... It sounds cool! I can't wait to fight it!" it beamed. "If we beat it, we'd get super-strong I bet!"

 

[Namohysip]

"Arceus doesn't want me going there," Cola said with a frown. "I think I should stay behind... It still seems dangerous and I don't wanna get sucked in all that chaos."

 

[Fusion]

"Oh... yeah, that'd be pretty shitty," Puddle tittered. It wouldn't be as fun without Cola, but it was definitely safer for him to stay. "We can tell you all about it when it's over, then! And while we're out, maybe you can find a hideout for us? Somewhere we can talk about our hero stuff in private, like..." Puddle tapped its chin more in thought. The only things that came to mind where treehouses and... trees that were actually houses. "...I ain't got any cool ideas, but I bet you can find us a cool hangout spot, Cola!"

In Puddle's excitement, it was about ran off to... somewhere. Probably Vix's house to get ready for the fight, that won't be for a while. It quickly turned back around, sliding on its own feet and falling on its face with a splat. "The fight ain't right now, so... you guys wanna play-fight?"

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[Namohysip]

Cal didn't want to be home.

Owen was there preparing for some kind of important trip away and there was too much movement and noise and reminders that she wasn't really a person.

So she went to the park to find some place to be isolated for a while and try to forget about all that. It wasn't working. She slithered around a small patch of forest, her amorphous body sliding between the roots while her main Core rolled around them, until she found a good spot to stay put and think while seeped into the dirt.