Destiny Village ~ Parfait Way

[Dragonfree]

Dave slumped down on the floor, rubbing his face with a paw. Had this even accomplished anything, really? Blue was on board; now what? If he hadn't even been spending his time on anything plan-related, did it change anything for him to no longer be out there?

"Green's been living here to avoid getting himself hurt. Probably let you do so too, if you wanted. If you've got anything to share that'd be useful for taking on Prime, that'd be great." He sighed. "What else. Uh, we checked out the parasites. They're just... little fuckers made of negativity that think the world should be destroyed because of all the negativity, go figure. Apparently they work kind of like Substitutes, and their Prime is probably the one in Soda Prime at the moment. And they're hungry for power. So I figured, maybe if we've got some great power source up there, maybe even some kind of lure, and we just weaken Prime enough that that starts looking more attractive, you know? Jumps towards the lure, and I trap it, bam."

He tried to remember the rest of what he'd been thinking. "And... with S'more and Xerneas the parasite had 'imprisoned their spirits', or whatever the fuck. But that still meant we could recover them and give them new bodies. So even if... you know, we can still get him back. Blacklight Mewtwo, we got the parasite out of him too, and it wasn't great but apparently he's still alive in an Ultra Stone. So I've got one of those too, in an emergency."

 

[Namohysip]

"Maybe..." Green frowned, thoughtful. "That's... possible, ain't it? Problem is, we don't know for sure one way or the other if we can make a power that attractive, especially since it was so powerful already, right? I mean, taking over the moon... Anything we offer would be one hell of a risk."

"There's actually... something else I've been considering," Yellow said, arms crossed. "Dave, I'm gonna guess you don't know anything about Substitute Shock?"

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave's ears perked. "Substitute Shock?"

 

[Namohysip]

The three seemed to shift slightly. This was definitely an uncomfortable topic.

"When a Substitute is separate from its host for a very long time, when it finally dies, the memories that come back are substantial. If the person the Substitute became is particularly different, the unification process, mentally, can be taxing. It could stun you, two minds battling it out." Green glanced away. "...Just a thought. But if, say, the fight against Prime is too hard, and you need to buy a few seconds..."

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave's ears flattened again. "...Right." He exhaled, laying his head back down on his paws. "From what you made it sound like, that's not exactly going to help his mind piece itself back together, is it?"

 

[Namohysip]

"Might help, might not," Green said flatly. "I think if we do it too much, it'll... make things worse. But I'm tougher than that. I can handle it once or twice..."

"And it might be a good way to get a proper opening..." Yellow glanced at Blue, who shrugged.

"Maybe. Possibly. Who knows? It'll definitely distract him, though. We just gotta time it. And..." He glanced darkly between the two others. "Decide who goes first."

 

[Dragonfree]

After all the insistence that their memories joining with him would just make him lose it for good, huh. "Look, that's a last resort. If we don't... If you might still be able to carry on without Prime, then you can't do that anymore if you join with him. What, you'd just be waiting here for a badge-communication about blowing yourselves up?" Fucked up. "What's the plan if we recover him, anyway? You all just... get yourselves killed and get reabsorbed, the end?"

 

[Namohysip]

"Dave..." Green looked away. "We're Substitutes. We aren't built to last. We aren't split the way Bean is, where he regulates and heals and... whatever that is. We won't last even if you save Prime. It's just... how it goes. If Prime dies, we don't know what's gonna happen, but it's by how spirits work that we will tend toward recombination. That's... just how it goes, Dave. It's an inherent property of spirits."

Even Blue seemed to sober up at that, the only sign of his drunkenness being the occasional wobble.

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave clenched his jaw, hard.

"What's that even mean? Tend toward recombination? What, so you could survive his death, take every precaution, stay in a cell where you can't get hurt, and then you just go recombine with his dead spirit anyway? Then what's even the fucking point?"

Sometimes he fucking hated Cibus.

 

[Namohysip]

"The point is..." Green sighed. "Just a little longer as myself, I guess. But hey, that's what I meant about using this time to stun Prime. At least then my 'death' will mean something, instead of just... waiting to fade."

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave stared at the wall. "Whatever. Fine. Keep your badges around and we'll let you know if we need it."

He felt the barest hint of a cold tingle that he'd come to realize signified Shadow materializing. Shut up, shut up, shut the fuck up--

"How would you do it?" the other Mightyena asked, quiet. "Is there anything that'd make it easier?"

Dave dragged his paws over his face. Fucking Shadow. He didn't want to listen to this shit. He considered just standing up and leaving, right now, but didn't.

 

[Namohysip]

"Heh." Green smirked. "I want it to be something dazzling. Get me a bunch of Blast Seeds, string them up, put on a show."

"If that's too expensive, maybe that damn Charizard can donate a few of those stored Overheats or something. He loves using those. Just don't tell him what it's for." Yellow crossed his arms, thoughtful.

"We can also just dispel ourselves," Blue added. "But c'moon, where's the fun in that?"

 

[Dragonfree]

Shadow shuddered but said nothing.

"Either way," Dave said forcefully, standing up, "we've got like three different fucking plans to keep Prime alive. If none of them work, there was never a chance. You still planning on going back to see Flesh?"

"I can never save anyone," Shadow said, head held low.

"Fuck off," Dave snarled.

Shadow looked pleadingly between the Substitutes, as if they could just decide they were salvageable after all if he gave them enough puppy-dog eyes.

 

[Namohysip]

Green and the others exchanged a look. Then, after sighing, they looked at Dave. "If we're lucky, we can save one of us to do... something. Who knows?"

Yellow waved absently. "Guess that's all, though. What comes after... I'll just be happy that I was able to help stop myself. It's whatever. Don't look too much into it, alright?"

 

[Dragonfree]

'Don't look too much into it'? Well, that sure implied there was more there to look into. Dave squinted at Yellow. This was obviously not a great time to get into it, though, with fucking Shadow there. And all three of them looked like they'd had about enough of this conversation.

Shadow's ears had perked, too, but he didn't say anything.

Dave sighed. "Fine. We heading back to your house or not?"

 

[Namohysip]

Green, looking satisfied that it wasn't being pressed further, nodded and withdrew back to his seat in his cell. Yellow and Blue, meanwhile, seemed unsure if they should go. Perhaps it was by some small instinct that they wouldn't go traveling to the same place, as different Substitutes...

"Yeah," Blue said, sobering up slightly. "Yeah, let's go."

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave nodded to Green and Yellow and accompanied Blue back out towards Parfait Way. Shadow trailed behind them, quiet.

"Whole thing's fucked up," he muttered, to no one in particular.

 

[Namohysip]

Blue grumbled in reply, but the words were incomprehensible, as they continued down the road. He muttered something about Green trying to swindle him out of being independent, but it probably wasn't anything substantial.

Soon, they'd wound up back at their home, Blue staring forward. "...I ain't gonna leave Flesh behind," Blue mumbled. "Ain't no way. That's what's gonna keep me around, just you watch..."

 

[Dragonfree]

There was a cold knot in Dave's chest. Did the Soda on the moon still remember Flesh? At this point his money was on probably no.

"Yeah. He needs you." Maybe Blue really could just stick around for his sake after Prime's death, spirit mumbo-jumbo be damned. Maybe. "Should've come by here to check on him earlier. I just..."

 

[Namohysip]

"Nah... you were busy saving the world, weren't ya?" Blue rubbed his snout. "More'n I've done."

He walked toward the entrance, pushing the door open. "Flesh, I'm back," he said, wobbling inside. Flesh wobbled back, the ground rumbling for each step. Blue collapsed in front of Flesh, and the Guzzlord tenderly caught him with two of his tendril-snappers. There was a flash of concern and understanding in his eyes as Flesh lifted him up, cradling him.

He looked at Dave and growled something. Somehow, Dave knew it was in thanks, and then Flesh reentered his home.