Destiny Village ~ Hot Cocoa Therapy Offices

[Dragonfree]

He blinked. "Wasted. Drunk. I'd just had a few beers at the cells with Soda. Basically half-asleep by that point too. Point is, I figured whatever, I'd agree to go to therapy if they'd leave me alone and let me sleep. That's about the size of it."

 

[Namohysip]

Fugu nodded. "I see. And does this happen often? Could that be what they were concerned with, or is it something else? What do you think about that?" All the while, Fugu seemed to be watching for a mental barrier Dave might try to put up. Evading something, dismissing something, she felt she was getting close to where she'd attack--perhaps literally.

 

[Dragonfree]

"I mean, like I said, that wasn't exactly a great time for anyone. Multiple apocalypses going on."

Shadow's eyes bored into him.

"Sure, I was drinking a lot at the time. Frankly I'm surprised anyone wasn't."

 

[Namohysip]

"Then, you associate your drinking with coping with stress?" Fugu asked. "Granted... dealing with world-ending apocalypses is very stressful. Why do you think others don't seem to be drinking a lot? Maybe we can explore this."

 

[Dragonfree]

"I don't even fucking know. What's that got to do with anything?"

Shadow stared at Fugu, ears flat. Why the fuck was he even here if he was just going to be standing there? It wasn't like she could even see him, for fuck's sake.

 

[Namohysip]

Fugu nodded, eyes closed. "This is where we will explore today," she said. "Dave, I want you to follow your instincts here. Perhaps this will open a new mental path."

She stepped away from her desk and then aside, giving it a firm push with her hind leg. The desk slid into the wall, disappearing in a hidden alcove, and Fugu drew out her blade from her forearm. The sound of the blade was a primal challenge that rang in Dave's ears.

"It's strange, Dave," Fugu remarked. "I sensed something like this from Owen, once. But I am feeling two sets of emotions in this room that are not my own." She crouched. "What is that? Let's talk about it."

 

[Dragonfree]

Fugu suddenly kicked the desk into the wall and pulled a sword out of her arm and Jesus fuck. He jumped at the deep, ringing clang of the blade, felt the thick pulse of adrenaline shooting through him as his body prepared for a battle. Honestly at this point he couldn't complain, could he.

"Two-- Look, it's complicated. Team Spectrum's just got a lot of weird shit going on. Why?"

Shadow looked afraid. Goddamn it. Dave felt Radiance blooming in his head, and before he could think about it, golden shields had wrapped around both of them -- him, and the spectral Mightyena that Fugu shouldn't even know was there. Shit.

Dave used Radiant Guard!

 

[Namohysip]

"I want you to tell me about him and how he relates to you, then!" Fugu replied, taking her first blow. She rushed at Dave, slamming the blunt of her blade against the barrier, but then glanced at the one that had been left for Shadow. "And that is where he is?" asked Fugu, jumping back to avoid an attempt at a counter.

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave charged to follow her as she withdrew, gritting his teeth as shadows sprouted in his wake. "It's just some Blacklight bullshit that -- it's a weird doppelganger thing. Just this wispy version of you that follows you around sometimes. Consider yourself lucky you can't see or hear them."

Shadow stared back at Fugu through the barrier as she looked in his direction. The barrier wouldn't last long, but it wasn't like Fugu could attack him anyway, right? Why protect him?

Dave used Shadow Charge!

 

[Namohysip]

Fugu parried the hit, but it wasn't without a slight wince from Dave's raw power. Even if he was more focused on disrupting, Dave had still become an extremely powerful Pokemon, and it showed in the way Fugu briefly buckled. But then, she redoubled her effort, calibrating and adjusting, and then said, "Follows you around? You seemed agitated for more than just that. What is yours?" Fugu said. "He's more than just an illusion!"

 

[Dragonfree]

"Help," Shadow whispered. Was he even talking to him? Fuck.

Fugu was fumbling a little, playing defense now. Shadows gathered in Dave's paw as he moved in again to slug her with it, snarling.

"It's just, he talks, all right? Just, all this pathetic fucking whining about nothing." Come on, come on, wasn't this supposed to be a fight?

Dave used Umbral Barfight!

 

[Namohysip]

Fugu grunted and blocked the hit again, buckling, but this time she pushed back and slammed into Dave as a counter. The Aqua Jet was quickly followed up by a dull slash to Dave's shoulder, and with it came a sharp call, "Just talks, and yet he is of you? What does he say? Why do you dismiss it so readily?!"

Fugu prepared another Aqua Jet!

 

[Dragonfree]

Fugu hit hard; those muscles weren't for nothing. Dave staggered back, saw her preparing another strike as his heart pounded uncomfortably in his chest with a deep spike of panic, and dragged more Radiance out of his brain with a shuddering heave of mental effort.

Dave used Shining Burden!

The golden glow had no other target but Shadow. The cold, clear buzz of Blacklight was deafening in his brain. The other Mightyena was curled up, shivering behind the barriers.

"It's some kind of subconscious-- They just air out the shit in your head, all right? It's not even his fucking fault."

 

[Namohysip]

Fugu slammed into the barrier, but that was all. She seemed to be ignoring Shadow for now, even if she could see the barrier.

"How do you treat this subconscious part of you?" Fugu asked. "Does he go away when you drink? Or does he become stronger?"

 

[Dragonfree]

Fugu's eyes bored into him from the other side of the remaining shield. A flash of anger rose within him but drowned in a sickening surge of Blacklight-tinged memories.

--Shadow helpless and bloodied under him, hitting him and feeling the pain mirrored across his jaw--

"He doesn't go away," Dave snarled. "No matter what I do. Reappears when I drink, if anything." That was... "Shit. Fuck!"

The Blacklight within him bubbled and sizzled. There was still another barrier up, a moment of time. He took a deep, shaking breath, grasping to rein it in.

Dave Focused!

 

[Namohysip]

Fugu didn't seem to give Dave the time of day. He had a moment to breathe, a moment to focus, but the moment he tried to conceal his thoughts, Fugu seemed to know just when to counter. "And do you speak to one another? What does he say? Why? What is he to you?" She weaved in for a locking slash, intending to hold it so Dave didn't have time to mask his words.

 

[Dragonfree]

Even that brief moment of concentration was cut short before it could clear the cold fog in his head too much. Fugu broke through, blade flashing, and his pulse pounded in his throat, and he had no time to think.

"I don't fucking know! Shit about my dead kids, or Soda, or that I don't want to fucking live."

He couldn't summon another barrier as the Blacklight rose again. It poured out of his skin in great fizzing globs, different impulses battling for dominance. Finally he snarled and lunged for her, teeth bared.

"Just fucking fight me and get it over with!"

Dave Unleashed, Hexternalizing Taunt!
Dave used Crunch!

 

[Namohysip]

"I have been!" replied Fugu, and while it looked like the Taunt had worked, she had remarkable restraint regardless. She recognized the mind-altering technique, even if it was formed in a strange way. And what a powerful Taunt it was... "Your shadow! Is what he says, to you, true?" This time, she hit Dave with a barrage of pressure-building attacks, first an Aqua Jet to slam into him, and then another dull slash with her scalchop. "That life is no longer worth living? Why?"

 

[Dragonfree]

Fugu barreled into him with an Aqua Jet that left him seeing stars and then struck with her blade. Dave lost his balance, stumbling. The Blacklight was seeping through his tissues, spreading with every beat of his heart and ragged breath he took. He was so fucking exhausted.

"It's all true, I just don't fucking want to think about any of it."

Dave stumbled...

 

[Namohysip]

Somewhere, Fugu recognized that this was Dave's mental limit, either by Blacklight or by the way he was behaving, or a combination of both. And so, rather than rush in for a second strike, she would quit while she was ahead and let this be the opening--an acknowledgement. Because the killing blow would be Dave's own words.

A red aura glowed at the tip of her horn and Fugu slammed her scalchop on the ground. A wave of energy permeated the room, nothing that would truly invade Dave's mind. Instead, it showed him something--and, to Fugu's surprise, she heard more than just Dave's voice on playback. Even she was surprised at some of what reflected back...

It was like looking at himself, distant, removed, objective. It was different from Shadow, and Dave couldn't look away. This was him... And the words, while providing clarity of mind, would be fresh and pressed against him.

They all returned...

"Sure, I was drinking a lot at the time. Frankly I'm surprised anyone wasn't."
"It's just, he talks, all right? Just, all this pathetic fucking whining about nothing."
"It's some kind of subconscious-- They just air out the shit in your head, all right? It's not even his fucking fault."
"He doesn't go away. No matter what I do."
"Shit about my dead kids, or Soda, or that I don't want to fucking live."
"It's all true, I just don't fucking want to think about any of it."

"Help."