Destiny Village ~ Sundae Park

[Magyk]

Ben nodded eagerly. "Yeah! Everyone has a part to play, no matter how small it is--it's all important! And who knows, maybe you'll get super lucky and see everyone again!"

His expression then became serious. "You can't give up, Brisa, because the moment you do you let everyone who turns their head at you win. I know what it's like to feel like you don't fit in, I mean, I started as a thief doing community service and nobody wanted to trust me or my partner--she was a sneasel. You know how some 'mons get about their kind and stuff. But they couldn't have been more wrong about her."

He remembered Brisa's zeraora-like form when she unleashed, it had actually intrigued him quite a bit. Was there a reason back home for that transformation or was it something else? It had gotten his attention for sure, especially since Danithan was a zeraora in part as well.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa grinned. "I reckon there's more t'most people than's readily apparent. I live with my thoughts'n feelings pretty damn close t'the surface, an' folks still don't always exactly ken me."

She gave a determined sigh.

"Don't you worry 'bout me, big fella. If there's one thing you can be damn sure of, it's that no matter how bad things get, I'm far too fuckin' tenacious t'give up."

 

[Magyk]

The relief hit him like a charging tauros. He'd not forgive himself if he let someone like Brisa submit to the darker thoughts and woeful wishes. But he didn't have to worry—her light seemed to be stronger than he originally thought.

"That's what I like to hear!" he said with a grin. "So, tell me about your unleashed form, is there a reason the way it is? You looked pretty awesome honestly."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa shifted into her zeraora-esque body with barely a change in pace.

"Grew up on folktales of Luz Escarpa, the Wanderin' Light, a zeraora sworn t'protect the region I'm native to. When I were a kit, I had dreams of one day takin' her mantle. Guess they were still inside me somewhere, seein' as how the Blacklight dredged 'em up like this."

 

[Magyk]

"Woah," he whispered, eyes wide.

The confidence she had in simply entering that form without hesitation was really something. It reminded him of a certain lucario, and he was sure there was no way they wouldn't get along.

Then he recovered with a chuckle. "Yeah, that sounds something like the Blacklight would do. From my understanding it brings out the deepest parts of you, whether you like it or not. The antlers were something I picked up briefly back home...I wonder if I'll need powers like that again there..."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa nodded, with a huff of amusement. "I dunno if I like it or not. Feels like if I let myself enjoy it, I'll stop bein' halfway worthy of it."

She shrugged expansively. Big shrugs were one of the mundane pleasures of a biped body, especially one with such large fists.

"How 'bout yerself? Are ya happy with yer xerneas-form? And, uh, how'd it come about in yer own world? Presumably not by means of Blacklight."

 

[Magyk]

"It was gifted to me to help someone," he explained rather cryptically. "It was cool and scary and all that, but it's something I hope I don't need to use again. I'm not sure if my world could handle something as explosive as Blacklight, too powerful and unnatural."

Ben hummed in thought. "I won't bore you with all the details, but Xerneas gifted it to me in a time of need. A friend of mine, his father wanted to remain strong and powerful and was scared of discovering a new type, so he stopped anyone who tried to discover it or got close. Had to help him see that change isn't too bad, something I had to learn during my own journey."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Change is part of life," mused Brisa. "An' there're plenty kinds I'd say were always a good thing. Societal changes scare folks, though. Can't say I sympathise much with keepin' a society from changin' if it ain't perfect t'begin with, and I don't reckon there's such a thing as a perfect society anyhow. Cibus comes close, but t'be fair, Cibus' natural law runs on fuckin' optimism."

She thought about that other thing Ben had said, and flexed a fist, Blacklight plasma rippling over the knuckles.

"I gather Blacklight works diff'rently accordin' to the world it's in. But if it were t'behave anythin' like it does here, an' came to my world? I can't help but think it'd sweep the world bare or else turn it into a perpetual madhouse."

 

[Magyk]

That statement made him grimace at the thought. "Absolutely," he agreed. "I think Blacklight would destroy my world, we're not nearly as equipped to handle madness like that. I didn't even have a good grasp on any of it when I first started using my powers here, it almost consumed me."

He was glad his world didn't have a crisis like this one, or the others. Evil Dark Matters and Bittercolds sounded terrifying to deal with.

"And my world likes to operate on balance, which I think had struggled for a time because dragons seemed more powerful than anything else—only themselves and icies could get the advantage in a battle. Then we found faes and, well, that changed a lot of things."

He briefly wondered what it was like to suddenly be bipedal.

"How about your home?" he asked. "You have any evil entities or anything in your history books?"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa waggled a paw in a non-committal way. "Eh. There was some shit my parents dealt with, but if there were an evil entity at the heart of it, they didn't talk about it much. Given what I've picked up on Cibus, I wouldn't be surprised if it were an Omen event, so fer all I know, my Ma and Pa beat the shit outta Dark Matter. Dunno, though."

She wet her lips and cast her gaze aside, wandering in thought for a moment.

"Kinda hoped if anythin' like that ever happened again, I'd have a paw in fightin' it."

 

[Magyk]

He wasn't entirely sure if saving the world was meant to be this grand goal to achieve, but at least she had a level head about it. He was excited and ready to be a hero himself, but when he remembered the impact it's had on Owen and Aria...it had him worried. Would he even be able to handle the things they had been through? He didn't want to think about it.

"Well based on how you beat me up here, I think you'd have no problem fighting whatever decides to mess with you back home!" Ben declared.

"Especially since you've got plenty of experience already. Your mind may forget but your heart and muscles won't."

At least, that's what he believed.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa chuckled. "Believe me, I ain't rootin' fer terrible things to happen just so's I can get a lick at 'em. I guess I just don't wanna be like half the Legends of Cibus, or like Pine when the Dark Matter crisis hit, stuck on the wrong continent. I want..."

She pursed her mouth. There it was.

"I want all the shit I've been through so far t'be worth it, I guess? Like, I got staggerin' power back home, bein' the child of Omen Heroes, an' it's given me nothin' but grief. I want there to be a purpose fer that power. Somethin' good and kind."

She smirked. "Yer damn right I'll have no problem, though. Ain't too worried I'll run into anythin' I can't handle."

 

[Magyk]

"Maybe you could make something good and kind of your powers?" he tried to offer. How do you help someone who lived worlds away? "Like, um, instead of waiting to save the world, you could try using those abilities to help the law—or maybe help the people with less of a 'world-ending' context?"

Small stuff, but it was still something, wasn't it?

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa chuckled. "I am a keeper of the peace back home. A ranger. Not an official one, though, and..."

Why not? She could be a real ranger. Hell, a regional marshal. If she could fight the Eternal Blacklight and win, getting a goddamn badge was small potatoes, right?

"Y'know what," she said, grinning, "I think maybe I got somewhere t'be headed back home after all."

She liked Ben, Brisa decided. Good listener. Earnest fella. Pleasant company to walk with.

Maybe she'd keep walking with him a while, while the chance still existed.

<><><><><>​

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr's tail swished idly back and forth as she wandered the familiar paths of Sundae Park, phone in one hand, hot dog in the other. She was planning to meet up with Brisa and Astrid later for some drinks later, but for now she had time to kill.

Weird to think that there were only a few days left now. She'd known it was coming, but it still didn't feel real. This had been her life for so long now. And soon she'd be returning to her old life. Starr wasn't really sure what, if anything, would've made her feel more ready. Back when she'd first arrived on Cibus, she figured she'd be itching to get back home. Crazy how much had changed.

 

[Namohysip]

And then a massive Flamethrower blew past Starr, giving her hotdog a slight reheating, as Cal went flying past her in a crumpled, gooey heap in an empty bench.

"Fucking cheap shot!" Cal snarled, kicking what might have been her legs as she dislodged herself from the crevices of the park bench.

"You left your guard open," Owen replied in a sing-song voice as he stepped out of the park next. "Er, sorry for the scare, Starr," he added with a little smile. "Hey, Cal, are you gonna--oh."

She had shifted to a more serpentine form and twisted her way underground, never to be seen again. A discontent hissing, bubbling sound came from inside, like the depths of the underworld. Owen sighed, smiling. "Guess she's gonna brood for a bit..."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr let out a snort as Cal vanished. "Is that how your sparring sessions usually end?" she asked Owen. At least void eternas were goddamn indestructible.

It idly occurred to Starr that she'd barely done any battling with void eternas, both before and after their 'upgrades.' Sure, she'd watched Brisa and Luz spar a bunch, but aside from occasionally obliging Rocky's requests, she hadn't done much herself. (And obviously Lexx didn't care about things like that.)

 

[Namohysip]

"Usually," Owen said, sighing. "I guess she just really wants to get the upper hand against me before I have to go. Then she'll only be able to wonder if she can beat me one day..." He chuckled. "But it wouldn't be right if I threw the fight to her. ...Then again, she'd probably know if I did that to begin with, anyway."

He gestured toward the inner parts of the forest, likely where he usually prowled around, as if offering a walk and talk. "How have you been doing, anyway? Heard you did a real number of Giovanni, punched him into another dimension. How long have you been planning that one?" He almost smirked.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr gave a nod and the two of them set off down the shaded path, with speckles of light shining down on them through the trees overhead. It was a good day for a walk. Nice and warm.

"To be honest, I didn't think I'd ever get the chance to give him a good beatdown," Starr replied with a laugh. "What with how many hoops we had to jump through to even make the fight happen. It's because of Astrid, really. Anyway, I know he's not my old man, but after all the shit he gave us, I owed it to him." So now maybe, maybe, they were even.

Starr stuffed the rest of her hot dog into her mouth and crumpled up the wrapper. "Would've been a pretty kickass note to end on at the colosseum, but of course Brisa's got like thirty more things scheduled in our last few days here."

 

[Namohysip]

Owen pointed at the hotdog wrapper and a golden light appeared around it. He pulled with a flick of his claw, and then pulled the Protected wrapper with a flick of his claw. Then, like a magic trick, he grasped the Protect orb, and when he opened his palm again, it was gone.

"You guys definitely do like your fights," Owen said, laughing. "I wish I could do those more, but the crowd... Really sets my Perceive off sometimes, y'know." He sighed. "I guess that's one thing I can't escape from in either world."