Air Continent ~ Pokemon Square

[NebulaDreams]

"They'll be fine, all right? And they're at least alive. If they died, Diyem would have their souls back by now—wait a second."

Curio almost punched him for that one, but decided against it. He shouldn’t have brought up the possibility of them dying, but there were fewer stakes for dying in this world. It just didn’t sit right coming from him of all Pokemon.

"Got something against me, shortstuff? What gives?" He didn't care what she thought, of course not, but she at least used to act friendly. Thinking back even gave him a bit of a chuckle. "Mad you're more a Blueberry than me, now?"

“Yeah, bub, have some awareness, for godsakes. Do you really not give a shit about Brisa or somethin’?”

 

[Tanuki]

“Yes. I care,” Zane forced through grit teeth. “What kind of question is that?” He wanted to be angry, but her words cut more than they stung. He kept any confusing emotion other than anger off his face, though, which biology made easy enough for him.

“Do you honestly think I don’t?” he barked. This was stupid. This shouldn’t bother him. He didn’t care what she thought. “Or are you just looking for a reason to hate me like everyone else?” That hurt to say more than he expected, but he didn’t show it for more than a second.

 

[Namohysip]

Owen blinked, squinting. "Is this really the time for this?" he said, frowning. "We need to try to figure out where they could be that Diyem can't even reach out to them. If it's not Cibus, then where would it be? Where's--where'd Maple go?"

Perhaps because she'd grown tired of the bickering, Maple had left at some point earlier.

 

[Adamhuarts]

"Owen is right. Just leave him be, Curio," Cynthian said, finally gaining the courage to speak up thanks to Owen also interjecting.

"Brisa and Starr will be fine. I just know they are." Cynthian's eyes were still filled with worry, and he said those words more to himself than to Curio and the others.

 

[NebulaDreams]

“Yes. I care,” Zane forced through grit teeth. “What kind of question is that?”

She didn’t respond to that either. She was as much of a sitting ducklett as he was, so she was as guilty as him for inaction. It didn’t stop Zane from rubbing her the wrong way.

"Is this really the time for this?" he said, frowning. "We need to try to figure out where they could be that Diyem can't even reach out to them. If it's not Cibus, then where would it be? Where's--where'd Maple go?"

Well, crap. She didn’t want to make Owen mad, of all Pokemon. But what could she say? “I still dunno. Something Giratina might help us out with if she’s all about dimensions and stuff? Maybe regular Earth, far away from Cibus.”

 

[Tanuki]

"Sure, fine, be a bitch and change the subject," he grumbled under his breath, pulling out his comm-badge. "Anyone have her number? We could call her, see if she's out searching." He clicked over to the map, and the familiarity flustered him for a second. "I know the area. Used to live here, well, kinda." He'd help them just to spite Curio. "Rescued... too many caterpie in Sinister Woods." That was somewhat less than true. He'd only saved three, but it was the same three more times than Zane wanted to remember.

 

[NebulaDreams]

"Sure, fine, be a bitch and change the subject,"

Curio stared at him for a moment, trying to process what he just said. No fucking way. This guy didn’t just say that; she tried to change the subject specifically because she wanted to drop this shit about Zane. She would’ve explained that to him, but— fuck it.

She sprang forward and socked Zane in the jaw.

 

[TheGOAT]

Astrid could taste the tension in the air. Without a word, she shifted her weight to her haunches: silent, but ready.

And oh, Curio was punching Zane now. So much for being ready. “Wh—n—hey—!” Curio was a bolt of lighting, seemingly able to create momentum from nowhere. Astrid reached out and placed a mediating paw on her shoulder, but by then she’d already followed through. All she could do at that point was place herself between the two of them.

Zane wasn’t her concern right now; if he was hurt, he’d deal with it. Probably deserved it anyway. Facing Curio, she balanced her paws on the Riolu’s shoulders and walked her back a few paces for good measure.

“E-easy! Easy…” She dropped back down, hoping she wouldn’t have to actually try and restrain Curio. Yeah right. She’d get overpowered in seconds.

 

[Adamhuarts]

"Don't let him get you, Curio!" Cynthian said, joining Astrid who was quicker to reach her. He walked up and held Curio's paw with his flower vines, though she could easily yank her paw away if she wanted to.

"We shouldn't be fighting each other now. It wouldn't get us anywhere. Looking for Brisa and Starr will!" Cynthian's chest drummed as his grew increasingly stressed out out. He turned his attention to the Zangoose and frowned. "And you, please be a bit more considerate. You're better than this."

 

[NebulaDreams]

“E-easy! Easy…” She dropped back down, hoping she wouldn’t have to actually try and restrain Curio. Yeah right. She’d get overpowered in seconds.

"Don't let him get you, Curio!" Cynthian said, joining Astrid who was quicker to reach her. He walked up and held Curio's paw with his flower vines, though she could easily yank her paw away if she wanted to.

Astrid put a paw between them while Cynthian restrained her. His vines didn't really have that firm a grip, so she almost overpowered him, but she got the message and stopped. Curio breathed in and out, in and out, trying to calm herself down. She still wanted to wipe that smug, self-pitying head clean off of Zane's shoulders like a soccer ball, but this was getting her nowhere. So she stepped back, joining Cynthian and Astrid.

"The fucking balls on that guy, I swear to god."

 

[Tanuki]

Despite their size-difference, "Shortstuff" sent Zane smashing to the ground. "Why?!" he shouted, voice half-muffled by the claw clutching his face. By the time he pushed himself up to his elbows, Cynthian was lecturing him.

"What the hell is wrong with all of you?" He shot up to his feet. "Dave can't take an apology, Celeste shoves his maw where it doesn't belong, the flower wants to play teacher, and you ask me if I care if Brisa's dead?" His jaw clenched. He stared daggers at Curio. "Y'know what? I don't care! Why the hell should I! Every single one of you treats me like shit on sight!"

The burning rage dulled the feeling of tears dripping down his cheeks. "I didn't want any of this! I just want to go home—or at least remember it!" He turned on his heels and headed west out of habit. "Go die. I'm done." He knew he wouldn't find the hobble he called a house but held out hope until reality had its chance to crush it.

 

[TheGOAT]

If her anger were able to take physical form, Astrid would have melted like an ice cream cone on a summer day by now. The team was in chaos before Zane acted out; they did not need this energy right now.

Something channeled through Astrid that she didn’t even know she had. “You’re a liability,” was all she said, barely even looking Zane’s direction. Whether he ended up hearing her or not would depend on how much ringing was going on in his ears right now. That punch was frighteningly clean.

“We have two missing friends,” Astrid told Curio as calmly as possible. Her legs shook from the sudden adrenaline rush, so that wasn’t very calmly at all. “C’mon. Let’s just… let’s go bring them back, alright?”

 

[Tanuki]

"You're an ass, well named piece of shit," Zane shouted back, not stopping for a second.

 

[Adamhuarts]

Cynthian was taken aback by Zane's outburst, but he really shouldn't have been surprised. Zane was a cannibal, a thief, and he spent most of their battles saying abhorrent things to the enemies. All those factors should make Cynthian hate him, but Zane did help out in his own unorthodox ways and has even saved some of them. The disparity of it all left Cynthian conflicted about what to think of Zane for the most part.

"I feel sorry for you that you ended up like this," Cynthian said with lowered eyes.

 

[Ambyssin]

Was there something going on around him? Maybe. There were voices. But he couldn't make out any words. It was all deafened by high-pitched tones that made his core rattle in his broken body. Bahamut continued to stare into space. More specifically straight up toward the sky.

"So, what should I call you in this form?"

A specter appeared in his mind's eye. Staring at him with yellow eyes. "You don't have to call me anything different. I'm still your Chiron... even if I look like this." Two shadowy wings appeared on either side of the eyes.

"Right. Of course. How silly of me."

The ringing in his figurative ears grew even louder as the same hallucination back away and wrapped its wings around a small, purple starcloud.

"Chiron! Io!"

Ethereal flames washed across the two figments and they dissolved away in a multicolored stream. Without even realizing it, Bahamut had reached his right arm up. When he spotted it, he hastily lowered it back to his side.

 

[NebulaDreams]

“C’mon. Let’s just… let’s go bring them back, alright?”

"Yeah, let's. Thanks for pulling me back there, you two." She sighed and turned away from Zane, who she almost felt sorry for. Almost. But Astrid certainly put him in his place. And good for Cynthian for speaking his mind this time.

 

[Virgil134]

Cabot opened his mouth to speak, but stopped as Astrid and Cynthian quickly got things under control. After looting a shop on their first day and constantly insulting him during their fight with Lugia, Zane was the last person on the team who Cabot considered a friend. Curio was... okay, but the two were his teammates either way, and the last thing he wanted was for them to fight.

The Cranidos shifted awkwardly as Zane ran off angry, unsure what to really make of all of this, though some part of him couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Maybe there was a reason he acted like this? Cabot sighed when he noticed Bahamut reaching for the sky, prompting him to raise a brow.

"Bahamut? Are you alright?"

 

[Ambyssin]

Bahamut looked at his right hand. "It would seem... that the will of causality is determined to ensnare us with our pasts, no matter how little bearing they have on this world."

 

[The Walrein]

"Hold up - am I the only Pokemon who's concerned that our badges apparently have some sort of weird- malfunction? - " (Was that the right word? It was one Jaro had learned only recently) " that can cause a Pokemon who looks at one to fall into some sort of weird trance where they keep muttering crazy stuff?" Jaro said. "You might be blaming Zane for something that isn't even his fault. I'm going to see if I can catch up with him, we don't want to lose a third Pokemon to some stupid thing." After all, Zane had a tendency of running into powerful entities when he wandered off on his own, didn't he?

Also, the fact that apparently Zane seemed to remember living in this world before intrigued him. Turning, Jaro hurried after Zane as fast as he could, calling out to him to slow down a bit. Still, if the Zangoose wanted to evade him, it would've been easily possible for him to outrun Jaro.

 

[Virgil134]

Cabot tilted his head, giving Bahamut a puzzled look. "I'm... not sure what that means."