Destiny Colosseum ~ Training Rooms

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa laughed. "Fessed up t'her and Astrid. Astrid and I are stayin' friends. I'm more'n happy with that. And... I've been with Starr fer a while already. No intentional publicity, but there's nothin' t'be done about Pansit, so it's pretty much public knowledge. Fer, uh, quite some number of weeks now."

 

[Ambyssin]

"I don't read the papers." Bahamut shrugged.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"No surprises there."

Brisa smiled to herself. It felt damn good to not still be fucking stewing about those feelings, and it was nice to get to break the news to someone who didn't know.

"I'll miss her," she said, the words unbidden. "I might not remember, but I'll still miss her."

 

[Ambyssin]

"Perhaps the stars will align for you to meet again," Bahamut said.

"Nice pun!" Nero chirped.

Bahamut swatted the silvally with his tail.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"I dearly wish fer that," said Brisa, without irony. "And I wish also fer you to find whatever peace an' contendedness fits ya best, Bahamut. Thanks fer yer time. And fer yours, Nero."

 

[Ambyssin]

"Any time," Nero chirped.

Bahamut lazily waved with a lower wing. "Don't be a stranger."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa chuckled drily. Soon enough, they would be. But for now?

"Seeya round, friend. Take care."

<><><><><>​

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"An' of course, I wish ya the best of luck t'you in all yer future endeavours. Keep that spark bright, y'hear?"

"Yes, Ms. Brisket. I will! Thank you again!"

There. That was the last one. Her final student's final lesson. It had been so ordinary, she'd almost forgotten the significance of the event while she drilled the kid on proper breath regulation while using priority moves. Her last lesson was just a Quick Attack practice. Mundane as it got. She stared at the dummies they'd just been beating on together. Scuffed. Some scratches.

Are you disappointed? Not in the kid. In yerself.

Despite herself, a passing thought suggested taking on a new student just to get rid of the feeling.

One ear pricked. She heard pawsteps. Biped, mammal . . . canine? Canine. She wasn't expecting any other appointments...

"Door's open," she called, her eyes still on the training dummies.

 

[ExplosiveTurkey]

The hinges creaked in response.

"Hi, I was told this was where the fan meetup was.

If the smirk in the lucario's voice wasn't enough, her expression made up for it. As Aria walked into the room, she glanced over her shoulder one last time before shutting the door behind her. "Seriously though, kid had stars for eyes. Just an autograph, or a student of yours?"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa's face broke into a smile at her new friend's quip. She turned and padded over, slow-blinking amiably.

"Aria. Good t'see ya. No fan meetups, that stuff ain't really my style. Just said g'bye to my last remainin' combat student. Been doin' final assessments fer those as've been with me a while. Guess I'm a Colosseum guru by now, huh?"

She could play it off nonchalantly, but Aria was a lucario. Didn't those fuckers have aura-based empathy or something, enough to pick up on her melancholy? If so, perhaps she'd mask less, the way she did around Owen.

What was Aria doing here, anyway?

 

[ExplosiveTurkey]

If Aria had picked up on anything, she didn't make it immediately obvious.

"Heh. That'd track with how often I saw posters for your matches... including pretty recently," she said, a shrewd smile on her lips. "Guess even a God of sorts wasn't enough for you, hm?"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Yeah, I keep petitionin' to fight Pop, but he don't seem none too keen, so I guess I can chalk that up as a surrender," joked Brisa. "Honestly, if y'told me ya had a way fer me to stay here, just kickin' ass professionally at the Colo, I'd take it."

It'd hurt like hell to lose the rest of the posse. But hey, she'd have Bahamut, ha. But so too would she have the Cibuseans, and God Squad, and Sword... Brisa sighed, but put on a brave smile for her friend anyway.

"I'd offer you a battle, but we both know I'd dust you in our current condition," she drawled, cheerfully.

 

[ExplosiveTurkey]

A gasp, as Aria placed a paw over her heart in mock offense. "Rubbing it in my face after I helped make it possible? Truly, no good deed goes unpunished."

Then, she approached one of the freshly abused dummies, leaning in to examine its injuries. "...To be honest, I don't think I can relate. There's a reason I don't often fight for sport."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Oh yeah? How's that?"

Brisa raised a brow at this. They'd had such a great sparring match, and from what little she'd heard during their intense (if banter-filled) training sessions between the Miracle fight and the assault on the Blacklight, Aria's culture didn't have the same taboos and hang-ups as Brisa's.

 

[ExplosiveTurkey]

Aria frowned in thought, unsure of how exactly to put it into words, before sighing. "...It's boring. And if it isn't boring, it means I'm fighting something strong enough to kill off entire worlds. Makes it hard to take things casually, y'know?"

She wound her arm back, before throwing a punch that sent the dummy flying off into a wall. "And sure, these bodies are strong enough to be fun, but I don't think I'd be able to bear sticking around for too long. There's always something that could use my attention back home."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa blew air from her nose and skewed her mouth. "The only stakes as interest you are so high? Or is that a reflection of power scalin' in yer homeworld? All the strong motherfuckers are too strong?"

She drummed her claws on a dummy and thought for a moment about how Owen had described his world's strongest as being far, far stronger than anything Cibus had on offer. And how some of the posse heralded from worlds where even gods didn't compare, if they even existed. Pokémon in Dave's world were so weak, Brisa had trouble believing him about it. Wild.

"Either way, sounds like you got what I got," she mused, drily. "Can't leave duty alone, huh? You, me, Maple, and a slew of others. Don't misunderstand me, though. My career ain't a joyride. I justify it t'myself by spendin' more of my earnings on charity than on myself, and I've considered it trainin' fer whatever threats come our way. As you've seen, that's fuckin' paid off."

 

[ExplosiveTurkey]

"That it has," Aria agreed, a faint smile on her face that didn't last long. It looked as if she had more to say, but held off, walking over to drag the dummy back to the others.

"Folks in my world aren't weak, but no one's really Cibus levels of strong either. Not unless you're one of the legendaries, someone involved with the legendaries, or... well, someone who can subjugate the legendaries. Ever heard of rock-paper-scissors?"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa tilted her head. "Sure. We got somethin' like it. You're gonna tell me there's some kinda 'type advantage' thing in yer world as relates to divine power?"

 

[ExplosiveTurkey]

Aria chuckled. "Nnnot exactly, no, but it makes things a lot simpler if you think of it that way. The legendaries are mostly untouchable, with the exception of Omens. They needed folks like me to deal with those... until Mike and I did our jobs too well and hunted the Omens down to their source. One thing led to another, and... I'm kinda in charge of that source now. Weird spot to be in if I'm looking for a good fight."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa gave Aria a measured, dry, slightly concerned look. "Gotcha. I'd be cautious too, with that much weight on me."

It was an unpleasant thought, and in an attempt to dispel it, she launched a casual punch that sent another of the dummies flying. Flash-step over. Punch again. Step back, catch the fucking thing. Satisfying. Maybe helped a little.

...Nah, it was still unsettling to think of being so powerful you couldn't even pick a fight with gods to blow off steam. Could she end up like that...?

"Well, maybe you'd like to scrap with me a bit after all?" she asked, scratching her cheek fur. "Though I get the feelin' you're not in the mood. Actually, if y'weren't lookin' fer a dustin', what brought ya here, anyway? Why don'tcha tell me what's on yer mind?"