Poppin' Arms ~ Holding Cells

[Namohysip]

"...I have no idea what you're talking about," Diyem said flatly, and then he started to walk toward the exit again. "Eien is in the tree and my goal is to save her, obviously. All I'm doing is performing some careful... sleuthing to make sure Xerneas is open to us entering the tree. Which should be soon." Diyem looked off. "Very soon. So, until then... you should all prepare. Goodbye."

 

[Negrek]

"Careful sleuthing, huh? And what's your careful sleuthing turned up so far?"

 

[Namohysip]

"...That Xerneas is very pleasant."

And with that, the Charizard was up the stairs.

A beat of silence followed. Chip buzzed to fill it. Then, he remarked, "Do you think Dark Matters are monogamous?"

"I thought he wasn't capable of... pleasant," Lunala, Giovanni, said.

"First time for everything," Mewtwo, Silver, concluded.

 

[Negrek]

"Watch yourself, all right?" Nate called after Diyem. "I know Xerneas is sexy and all, but there's something fucking weird going on here!"

"Jesus," he muttered after the charizard had left. "Ain't he like a zillion years old or some shit? I thought he'd be over that sorta shit by now." And thanks, Chip. Nate wasn't really interested in contemplating anything about how relationships with Diyem... worked.

He looked back at the cells and smiled to see Typhlosion in with Silver, standing close by his side. At least they finally managed to get those two back together, right? And the rest of the team. Another shitty Cibus twist, Giovanni and his son getting swapped, but maybe it had worked out okay in the end. Now they just had to find a way to get everybody home.

"I'm gonna talk with the rest of the team about getting you out of there," he said to Mewtwo and Lunala. "If Chip can make something that'll stop anybody controlling you, it don't seem like there's any reason for you to be down here. I'll be back, okay?"

Nate hesitated, not sure whether he ought to wait for Starr to come with. But it didn't look like she was in any rush. Probably had a lot to think about. So Nate simply gave her a nod before heading back for the surface, feeling more fired up than ever about finding out what that shithead's deal was. That was the missing piece, wasn't it? Maybe if they could take the guy out, things would finally start falling into place.

<><><>​

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave made his way past S'more and Giovanni's cells, holding a takeaway bag from the X-Eye Cauldron in his mouth. He'd wound up bringing several cans of beer (may as well leave him a few if he was staying long), a couple of burgers and fries in boxes, and a large portion of mozzarella sticks for good measure.

The Soda substitute was housed in the cell just beyond. God, voluntary confinement because anything can fucking break you sounded like Hell.

"Hey. You manage to get some sleep?"

 

[Namohysip]

"Kind of."

Soda was lounging on a simple nest that had been made for him in his cell. All things considered, occupants of the holding cells were treated nicely enough, and that helped keep Soda from feeling like his body was wasting away more than it needed to. The way he moved, though, he was being extra cautious with everything he did.

"Guess I could've slept easier if I wasn't worried about losing it."

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave winced. "I was assuming the damage'd already been done. Can't break it more without access to you again, kind of thing." The idea of having your brain fucked with to a point where it'd just... deteriorate on its own, or just shatter if you thought the wrong thought, was fucking horifying. "Have you... tried to figure out exactly what things you don't remember? Just, from when you arrived on Cibus, where are the gaps? Could give some kind of clue, maybe."

He got Soda's burger out of the bag, pushed it through the slot in the cell. After a moment's hesitation he pushed the mozzarella sticks through as well. Maybe Soda'd leave him some.

 

[Namohysip]

"Yeah, well... I dunno what I wanna poke around before that just falls apart," he said. "I've been trying to just not think about it for now. Leave it to you guys. Since obviously I've been duped the whole time and Real Me is up on the moon doing who knows what..." He took the burger first, then the sticks, noticing that Dave didn't seem to have any. He spread the wrapping out and took half before sliding the rest through the slot.

"I spent so much time playing deception that I didn't realize I've been deceived from the start. By my own damn thoughts..."

 

[Dragonfree]

Mmmm. Dave had really been hoping they could get somewhere with figuring out patterns to what had been erased. "You really have no idea what he's doing up on the moon? Was the thought process just oh yeah, going to the moon sounds like a great idea, let's do that? No plans for what you were going to do there? Or is that another thing where there probably was something there but it's been erased?"

Soda passed half the sticks back. Bless this fucking guy. He grabbed one and took a bite out of it.

 

[Namohysip]

"Was gonna gather up all the power that was up there," Soda said, "but that isn't really a huge discovery. So..." He trailed off. "The plan was to get the five superpowers available on Cibus, consolidate it all into me, and then use Cibus as a catalyst for pushing what one soul can do beyond its limits. That... probably was going to involve absorbing every soul on the planet, and then going into the astral plane to get the ones 'near' Cibus, too. With all five powers combined, it should've been enough..." Soda looked at the ceiling. "The fact that hasn't happened yet means he doesn't have everything he needs yet. Something was held back. My bet's on Eterna energy. Eien must have resisted... Either that or acclimating to all five powers takes time. Wouldn't be surprised."

 

[Dragonfree]

Soda's plan continued to be the most insane apocalypse bullshit, and the fact it was coming out of the mouth of the same guy who'd just chosen to give him half the mozzarella sticks was just maddening. Dave shuddered, looking away for a moment. Then something occurred to him, and he turned back toward Soda, sharply. "Hang on. What do you mean, Eien resisted? Eien's in the Tree. If he didn't get the energy he wanted from Eien, why would he go to the moon in the first place?"

 

[Namohysip]

"Now or never," Soda replied simply. "The best way to get to the moon without Maple r Joule's help was through that Tree. Whether or not it was with all he needed didn't really matter. Knowing me, I'd probably find some way to make it work anyway... Now that I think about it, I wonder if I could've used that dude in a pinch." He gestured to Giovanni next door. "Moon god. That would've been helpful."

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave glanced over towards Giovanni's cell. "The whole obsession with the fucking moon had me pretty suspicious that he had something to do with it. Still does, if I'm honest. What if he just let you think you'd double-crossed him while actually having fucked with your memory so you'd do exactly what he wanted?"

 

[Namohysip]

"Hmph... Who knows? I don't think I know anything at this point." He shrugged noncommittally and leaned back. "Still, seems like a pretty ass-backwards plan if he wants to get caught with his mind-swap plan, put both in jail, and then have the real Silver go free. Pretty sure he's done."

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave shrugged. "Maybe you're the contingency plan. In case he gets caught and fails to escape, you head off to the moon and set whatever it is he wanted in motion anyway."

 

[Namohysip]

"Maybe." Soda rubbed his claws. "Then again, I bet the powerful psychics like Breaker would get that info. It's not like he's got any more locks on him. All his secrets are open to see. I bet Breaker could even find out what kinda girl he likes." He hissed through his teeth, thoughtful. "Call me shattered..." He seemed to mumble that to himself.

 

[Dragonfree]

Soda was really not dealing well with all this mental damage, was he. Dave was not his fucking therapist, for Christ's sake; what the hell was he supposed to say to any of that? He looked at Soda for a moment before starting in on his burger.

"Look, whatever was done to you, you're not broken. We'll get it fixed. We'll find the person who did it and make them reverse it, or just... figure it out."

 

[Namohysip]

Not broken, and then he immediately says that it'll be fixed. Soda couldn't even muster a smirk. "Yeah, sure," Soda said, taking a halfhearted bite of his meal. "...So, how's life been for you, then? Anything explode recently?"

 

[Dragonfree]

"Well, Vix and several familiars earlier tried to go to the moon and got blasted by some kind of Blacklight cannon along with Deoxys who they somehow roped into taking them there, so that's one explosion, I guess." Everyone seemed pretty sure the familiars'd drift down to Cibus eventually, though who knew how long that'd take. Or for Diyem to find where the hell Vix had ended up in the Voidlands.

 

[Namohysip]

"...And they didn't even think to ask--wait, it's Vix. Of course she didn't." Soda sighed roughly, leaning back. "I swear, all that wax is what she has in place of a brain. Gets all over your fur, too." He rubbed his nose, then took another bite out of his burger. "No kidding it wouldn't work. He probably blasted them because obviously he won't let enemies get close while he's setting up, or something."