Poppin' Arms ~ Training Facility

[unrepentantAuthor]

The heat was all-consuming by now. She let it consume her.

Eyes still closed, air left her body, and returned to it, in, out, cycling forever.

How would she feel when the stones were finally removed?

 

[Ambyssin]

Bahamut gave no indication as to how much time was passing. Because Brisa was doing well. He could tell; he wasn't going to say anything about that, though. His instructions didn't change... up until he noticed the steam dying down.

The necrozma levitated all the stones back to him. "How are you feeling?"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

She spoke quietly, barely above a whisper.

"Warm. Can't feel the stiffness no more. Fine overall, I guess."

With the stones absent, she felt almost bouyant. The feeling of ordinary air against her fur was chilled by comparison.

"Lighter."

 

[Ambyssin]

"Good." Bahamut wrapped a couple of dry towels up with his tail and passed them over to Brisa. "Here. Having you go out in the chilly air while damp will undo this."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Mm. Thanks."

Brisa dried herself off as best she could. Although it was tempting to transform just to burn off the moisture, as it were, the act felt somehow disrespectful. To herself? A strange notion.

"Strange technique," she remarked. "Effective, though. Or seems it fer now. Appreciate it, fella."

Perhaps Bahamut intended to provide this service to stressed team members, and she was his test case? It wasn't like she was more stressed out than the rest of the team, right? Either way, she gave him a grateful nod before she left, and her assurance that she'd recommend the peculiar experience to anyone who asked about it. It'd be going a little far to say that she enjoyed it, but it was certainly relieving, at least. She needed all the catharsis she could get.

 

[Ambyssin]

Bahamut watched her go silently. He looked down at all his supplies.

This was him. This was the life he had made for himself... before everything was upended. He used to feel good doing things like this. But now... there was nothing. Just emptiness.

“Those who seek absolute power must be prepared to surrender themselves to it.”

That was what Bahamut had told the team. No one listened, but he was sure of it. Slowly, he lifted his wings and gathered up his supplies

What happened to me back home?

<><><>​

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"C'mon. I've got an arena in mind."

Brisa grinned back at Aria as they entered.

"Did yer Cibus have a place like this?" she asked, knowing the answer already. "Make much use of it?"

She prowled over to a battleground zone with a handful of obstacles and raised surfaces, to make for a more interesting fight.

 

[ExplosiveTurkey]

"Well, it was either punching people or punching walls to take the edge off, and walls can't fight back nearly as well," Aria said, crackling her knuckles. "Need a warmup before we start? Heard you were all out of commission after your last fight."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa shrugged. "Yeah, we all just spent a good several weeks in recovery after gettin' walloped by a critter as big as a city block. Didn't stop me trainin', though. Too fuckin' stubborn."

She cracked her neck and stretched out, claws extending.

"Sure, we can go steady at first."

Brisa's fur ignited with silver-gold plasma, rippling over her luxray form in shallow waves of light.

Brisa's Arcflash conferred a Burn, +1 Accuracy and +1 Resistance! Her Guts activated!
Brisa's Eterna Perks gave her +3 Attack, +3 Speed, +3 Accuracy, +2 Defense, +2 Resistance and +2 Evasion!

"Show me what y'got, partner."

Brisa: 621

 

[ExplosiveTurkey]

Aria chuckled, raising a brow. "That's how you start off steady?"

Streaks of white ran through the fur on her legs, their glow intensifying with every instant.

"Heh. Color me impressed."

With a plume of dust left in her wake, she was off like a bullet, twirling to deliver a kick to Brisa's side.

Aria used Extremespeed!

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa's face broke into a wild grin as she took a good hit from a regular opponent on about her level for the first time in an age. She didn't fully transform, not just yet, but she wielded Blacklight to keep her plasma in check, healing rather than harming her. Oddly, the spike in Radiance and Shadow was more manageable than usual. Unaccountably so. Not that she was complaining.

"Y'ain't seen nothin' yet," drawled Brisa, sparks flying from her teeth. She darted forward, eager to repay Aria's attack.

Brisa used Charged Thunder Fang! +400 Paralysis!

 

[ExplosiveTurkey]

With no other way to defend, Aria raised an arm and let the bite sink deep, twitching as electricity coursed through her veins. But it wasn't enough.

If Brisa glanced up in time, she would've seen a grin that mirrored her own, before a punch closed in on her. It was oddly weak, but enough to give Aria a chance to hop back, her silhouette briefly tinted a faint pink.

Aria used Agility!

She idly shook her arm, droplets of red falling to the ground. But there was no pain in her expression. "That stung," she observed, sounding almost pleased.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa chuckled. This was what it was all about. Fighting for fun. To get to know someone! But her read on Aria didn't match her expectations at all. Aria was confident, a little cocky with her banter, but holding back far more than she ought to be, and Brisa didn't get why.

"C'mon, Aria," she drawled, "that can't be all y'got! Don't tell me yer goin' easy on me? I ain't havin' that!"

Brisa called out to Aria!

Brisa rolled her shoulders, charged up a Shadow-imbued package of electrical power, and struck Aria right where it'd leave a mark.

Brisa used Umbral Overcharge!
Brisa used Electric Facade! Critical Hit!

C'mon, make it hurt...

 

[ExplosiveTurkey]

Tiny bits of burnt fur crumbled from her chest as Aria staggered back, gritting her teeth at the unexpectedly strong blow. But that soon shifted into a cross between a grin and a grimace. A second dose of psychic energy fed into her form, followed by her legs glowing a much brighter white.

"You want more? Fine! Let's try that again!"

The air whistled around her. There were no fancy kicks this time, just a punch aimed straight for the face. And by all means, it should've hit harder, much harder... but it didn't.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa took the punch with hardly a flinch. Her lip pulled back in a feline scowl.

"No fuckin' way is that close t'yer best," she growled.

Brisa struck out again, wondering why Aria would hold back so much, even as she took a drubbing. Brisa's paws lit up with plasma, and she followed up with another electrified hammer-blow. Not her best, but not weak. Not patronising. Why would the hero of another Cibus, a gal with such obvious confidence and strength, strike back without putting any effort it? Hell, it reminded her of...

A young shinx girl, frowning with puzzlement and frustration, looking down at half a dozen townie kids. All laid out with hardly any effort. Groaning as if she'd done them real harm. Was that really all they could take?

...Was that the most she'd ever be able to put into a fight?

...Huh.

While Aria was still reeling from the last attack, Brisa grit her teeth and extended a paw, bright cables flying out from her forearm to lash at the lucario's limbs and lock there, the searing energy providing a bridge for a brief exchange of feeling. Lightning pulsed from Brisa's limbs along the tethers, carrying with them an intention... A kind of wish.

Where's yer strength, Aria? What, are ya afraid to break me? Show me what you can do.

Brisa used Shining Whiplash!
Brisa used Thunder! Brisa opened her heart to Aria!

 

[ExplosiveTurkey]

At first, there was nothing but cold, practiced, and almost desperate restraint. Then, a challenge rang out in her mind, thoughts not her own, and that veneer cracked.

Even as electricity crackled through the cables, Aria twisted them around her arms, locking them in a grip of her own. Her eyes burned a bright gold, and that grip tightened, tightened, tightened, more than corporeal as it threatened to tear the radiance from Brisa herself. But before that could happen, Aria glanced up, meeting her gaze. Her grasp faltered... but she didn't, a tiny smirk forming on her face.

"Brace yourself."

With a muted roar, she yanked the luxray off her feet and closer to herself, before rearing her head back and slamming it down onto Brisa's. No special tricks, no hesitation, just raw strength and a particularly thick skull.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

That was more fucking like it.

Brisa grunted as the impact made her head ring, and her adrenaline spike, and the pulse of emotion washing back along the whiplash tethers thrum with fighting spirit, so different than the fearful restraint she'd first sensed coming back off Aria.

"Good!" she cried, leaping and rolling to entangle Aria in immobilising ribbons of light. "I can fuckin' take it! I want to! Let's show each other our best!"

Radiance bloomed like a wildfire across Brisa's body . . . and raced along the whiplash to cover Aria in that same honey-gold light.

Brisa used Brilliant Paragon! She pushed herself and Aria to be their best!
They each sustained -25% HP, +2 Atk, +2 Spd, and +1 Protect!
Brisa is fully charged!

 

[ExplosiveTurkey]

Once again, searing pain lit up Aria's nerves, and she had no reason to ignore her instincts this time... or so she thought. Grabbing at the tethers binding her, she made to rip them off, only to stiffen in slow surprise. The pain had begun to ebb, replaced by an odd warmth in her limbs.

"Did you just...?" Aria began, before trailing off with a chuckle and a shake of her head. "...You're fun."

Aria used Triple Extremespeed!

Her opponent was electric, but she was lightning, streaking across the field in the blink of an eye. Then, just a few meters away from the luxray, she kicked off the ground, eyes flashing blue as a translucent platform appeared in the air. Bouncing off it with her final burst of speed, she slammed a leg into Brisa from above.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

So're you, thought Brisa, her sharp eyes tracking Aria's path and openings even as she sped past the point where her body remained visible. The golden Paragon shield took the first hit, and Brisa took the rest with gritted teeth sparking off, the Blacklight plasma taking the edge off the hurt. Extremespeed, huh? She'd always wanted to learn that one. Alas, Aria was faster than her.

Well, now. She'd see how much faster the lucario was when she was siezing up from static shock.

"Slow yer roll, partner," jibed Brisa, shivers of delight making her mane flicker and spark. "You'll tire out."

Aria genuinely looked like she'd tired out at some point, but Brisa could keep this up all day. Still. It wouldn't hurt to try a little harder. Brisa struck again, eager to stun Aria hard enough to leave her winded, barely breathing from the heights of adrenaline she was reaching.

Brisa is getting her Second Wind!
Brisa used Umbral Overcharge! Brisa used Electric Facade with overcharged Paralysis!

 

[ExplosiveTurkey]

There it was.

As Aria jumped back after taking the hit, her muscles suddenly seized up, causing her to stumble to one knee.

"N-never getting used to t-that one," she said, voice shaking from the paralysis, yet laced with a grin.

Raising an arm towards the luxray, she clenched her paw around thin air before yanking it back. In an instant, the faint connection between them strengthened immensely, and Brisa could feel all of her accumulated Shadows get siphoned away. "I t-think... I'll be taking that."

Then, Aria swiped her other paw through the fur where Brisa had struck her. A veil of darkness ran up her arm, crackling with the same electricity that hampered her movements.

"And you can have this back!" she exclaimed, leaping forwards to deliver a blow of her own.

Aria used ???!
Aria used Copycat! Aria used Shadow Facade!