Destiny Village ~ X-Eye Cauldron

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Kate dug her claws into the food before her and happily munched away. No wonder why they were getting amnesia on their way out. Always being able to have whatever you wanted at your claw-tips, not ever needing to worry about paying for things or who you'd have to make mad to snag it. If she remembered any of this, she could already tell she'd have missed it and kept having her mind turn back to coming back here.

Who knows? Maybe she'd get the chance. After all, those 'mons from that other Cibus seemed to...

"Well, guess not having to get drug around unannounced is always handy," the Weavile said. "Not that I couldn't see myself finding it useful to skip out from my world down the pipe if Diyem can time things right."

The Dark-type paused, and shook her head with a quiet sigh.

"Though hopefully I won't ever need to seriously consider that," she murmured, before turning her attention back to Starr.

"So how about you? Got any plans for when you're back in your own world again?"

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr idly munched on some more wings while she listened. "Skipping out oh your world, huh. Yeah, I can relate to that." Even if it sucked to miss her friends all the damn time. Sure would be nice if all they could come with her now that all the Blacklight shit was done. (Mostly done.) They'd have probably been thrilled to Cibus.

"When I get back, eh..." Starr rubbed her the back of her head. "I guess it'll just be business as usual. Traveling around, skipping town whenever things get dicey. Here's hoping my friends don't go sticking their heads into more trouble--not holding my breath on that one, though," she added with a scoff.

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Kate blinked a moment at Starr's reply about her business as usual. She knew that the Incineroar hailed from a world where humans were still around, and was a human herself back there, but with the way she talked... was she also an Outlaw? The humans that Diyem had called to Cibus seemed to have a lot in common with the Pokemon he'd called. More than she would've ever imagined before being called from her world.

The Weavile thought of just asking the Incineroar if she was indeed a fellow... 'professional forager', but thought the better of it. It was Starr's life, and if she felt the need to share it with others, it was best to let her do it on her own terms instead of prying it out of her. After all, just what sort of teammate would she be to do that?

"Mmph, I hear ya there. Though I'm not losing too much sleep on my friends getting into trouble," Kate chortled. "I do a pretty good job of that myself!"

The Weavile gave a small smirk back, and pawed at her chest with a small hint of pride.

"Just always had a knack for getting myself out of it afterwards."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr gave Kate a smirk right back. "Ah, so you're just like them, got it." She chuckled. "At least they've also got the sense to be pretty good at getting out of trouble." Even if it had caused her a hell of a lot of headaches.

Starr leaned an elbow against the counter. "So... any bullshit in particular back in your world that you'd want to skip out on?"

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Kate blinked and pinned her ears back at the Incineroar's question. ... Where on earth would she even begin to start answering that question? It wasn't as if she hadn't managed as an Outlaw, but life in Varhyde could be... precarious, no matter what side of the law you were on. She'd probably be there all night moping over every single thing that could be going better, so for the sake of the mood, it was probably best just to keep it simple and stick to the basics instead of getting lost in the details.

"Well, there's only an ongoing war going on in the background. So having a way to bounce if it ever came back to the homefront again would be nice," the Weavile admitted. "Then there's the ever present legal troubles, the threat of harvest coming in bad, or just summer being too damn hot for a year."

Kate trailed off and shook her head, cracking a small bemused smile as she blew out a small puff of icy breath.

"Heh, just listen to me. Not even home yet, and I'm already thinking of when I'd want to run away from it," she chuckled. "That Diyem sure knows how to pick his heroes, doesn't he?"

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr flashed a crooked grin. "Heh, can't relate on the summer thing--I'd preferred it even before turning into a fire-type." Her face faltered a bit, and she rubbed the back of her head. "But yeah, uh, shit... a goddamn war is a hell of a thing to want to get away from."

'Legal troubles', huh...

"Then again, the way things are going in my world, wouldn't be surprised if things turn into that," she grumbled, flicking her tail. "Uh, not that our country is going at it or anything. Just some assholes trying to get power, and making it everyone else's problem."

She waved a hand dismissively. "So between that and my friends pissing off the wrong people, we can't really stay in the same place too long. There's probably gonna be times I'll wish I was back here. Eh... if I remember any of this." That sort of put a damper on the whole thing.

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Kate flicked her ears briefly at Starr's reply as the mood seemed to sour for a moment. Actually, now that she thought about it, why was this amnesia thing happening anyways? They got drug from all these different worlds to this one that needed them, even saved it already, and now they weren't going to remember any of it?

That sort of thing couldn't happen just because... could it?

"What is the story behind that anyways?" Kate asked. "I mean, if Diyem's not ruling out coming to us again in the future, what's he got against letting us remember things from here?"

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr shrugged heavily. "Some sorta bullshit to do with how summoning to other universes works. I stopped questioning it a long time ago. Though you better believe if Diyem was doing it on purpose, I'd have kicked down his door a long time ago."

She paused for a bit, then added, "Eh, I still might. It's been a while since I asked when we'll get to remember. Something to do with that 'Hero's Aura' fading?" The last bit had finger quotes for good measure. "But, uh, I dunno about you but I'm not exactly a hero where I come from."

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Kate quirked her brow at the Incineroar's insistence that she wasn't a hero. This wasn't some sort of self-guilt thing of hers was it? Since if Diyem's definition of a hero covered her, then just how bad could Starr be?

"Oh? Try me."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr gave a small snort. "Well, aren't you forward. But eh, whatever, not like it's that big a secret after all the stuff with Giovanni." She folded her arms behind her head. "Anyway, if Diyem wanted a hero from my world, he could've done a lot better than an ex-criminal, just saying."

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Kate tried to stifle a snort, trying to keep a straight face for a moment, before she gave in and burst into laughter.

"Ex-criminal?" she chortled "That's what you're beating yourself up over?"

The Dark-type breathed in as she tried to compose herself, before giving a small, smirking smile back.

"I mean, I dunno how Diyem's 'Hero's Aura' works. But trust me," the Weavile insisted. "If it has room for a 'mon that rips off others in the woods for a living, it's got room for you too."

 

[Chibi Pika]

It took a few seconds but Starr's face split into a crooked grin. "Yeah, I had a feeling. Couldn't put my finger on it though."

She took a long swig of her drink, feeling refreshed after all the spice. "Gonna go out on a limb and guess that my line of work was probably a bit more screwed up than yours, but eh, I'm not exactly looking to make a pissing contest out of it." She shrugged and raised her glass. "Well, here's to a couple of criminals taking a hero gig and kicking ass at it."

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Kate raised her mug for a toast and gave a smiling nod back.

"Cheers! And who knows? Maybe that hero gig'll be handy once we're back," the Weavile replied. "I mean, it's certainly been a small world so far, so who knows?"

The pair clinked their glasses and wiled away the night over food and drink, happy that even if they still hadn't understood why the fates brought them here, that they could share this moment together as heroes of this strange world.

<><><>

 

[MadderJacker]

"Not here, either."

Mergo huffed. It felt like he'd strolled down half the city, and he still couldn't find The Grace. It was annoying. A couple of times now he'd considered giving up this pursuit, but he couldn't. Not just yet. Mergo would find it if it was literally the last thing he did.

He stopped on the corner of the road and started surveying the signs, trying to place himself on his mental map of Destiny Village. He'd purged that memory along with something else, but he at least knew it was in walking distance of their residential district. Maybe he was going the wrong way?

 

[Negrek]

Nate was on his way to the colosseum, Rocky in tow because he always fucking was, these days. There wasn't anything particularly interesting
scheduled today, but it was such a relief to finally be able to go outside and fucking walk around without getting knocked down by a migraine that
he'd take any excuse to get out of the house.

The crossroads weren't very busy today, which made the gardevoir hanging out near the middle, staring around, stand out all the more. Nate
didn't think anything of him at first, eyes on the stadium. But something bothered him, some faint--memory? Wait, he knew that guy,
didn't he? Wasn't that... the gardevoir who'd fucked off after like five minutes of the alternate universe picnic?

Nate hesitated, and Rocky came up beside him, looking around to see what had given his pause. Did Nate care about some random's problems? No.
But what the hell. It wasn't like he had anywhere important to be.

"Looking for something?" he asked, heading back towards the gardevoir.

 

[MadderJacker]

What gave it away? Mergo almost said, but he held his tongue when he saw the source of the voice, and the strange Infernape that tailed him.

A Marshtomp with a familiar? This late into things? His own team had similar stragglers, but they'd been sent home by that point. Why was this one an exception? Perhaps he was the child of that other Swampert? No, that wouldn't...

Mergo paused just long enough to take in the air around him. Nothing smelled out of order, so there likely wasn't anything abnormal, but it still bothered him. His gaze shifted between the Marshtomp and the Guardian, the Marstomp and the Guardian, silently trying to figure out why this one hadn't been turned into a statue like the ones in his own roundabout.

"... Yes," he answered at last. "And who might you be?"

 

[Negrek]

The gardevoir turned and stared at Nate for what felt like an entire minute. What, was there something on his face? What the fuck was this guy's damage? "Nate," he said warily. "Don't think I ever caught your name."

"And I'm Rocky!" the familiar said brightly. "What're you looking for? I bet we can find it!"

 

[MadderJacker]

"You may call me Mergo," he answered, returning almost to his usual cadence.

Was this a straggler? He didn't appear to behave like one, but...

Mergo forced himself to focus and surveyed the streets around him. "I'm not looking for anything important," he answered. "Just a place to visit eventually, since I have nothing but time to burn. Well, your compatriots as well, I suppose, but that won't be until later."

 

[Negrek]

Nate was doubtful; if all the gardevoir was looking for was a place to pass the time, it wasn't like Destiny Village had any shortage of them. And they were kind of hard to miss. He looked too lost for that to be the truth, by Nate's estimation.

But the marshtomp couldn't help but smirk at that last statement. "Feeling confident, huh? When we got, what, nearly twice as many fighters as you? How exactly you planning to swing that one?"

"Yeah! And all of us familiars are helping out, too! You're gonna get stomped!" Rocky's flames blazed high with eagerness.

It did seem like an oversight, Diyem not bringing along the familiars from the other world. If he'd actually intended to have a fair fight, anyway. Nate took another look at the gardevoir, appraising. Obviously powerful, but not to some ridiculous extent compared to most of Team Spectum, he judged.

 

[MadderJacker]

"Perhaps," Mergo allowed. "Hence why I've been poisoning them one by one when the opportunity presents itself. Your own handler doesn't seem to mind, since I think I've done about eleven now."

Numbers did mean a lot. Part of Mergo thought that he actually might need to do that in order to make this more than a victory lap for them. And besides, wouldn't something like that be a true test to see if they were prone to the greater weakness of this adventure: being manipulated? Oh, whatever.

"And once that's done and we've shown you that you're relying too much on this whole 'my friends are my power' nonsense—" that single word had a ludicrous amount of theatrical ham to it that his facial expressions almost made seem genuine, and a cold wind swept through the streets, rattling signs and pulling on scarves as Mergo loomed like a statue, "—we will inherit the Blacklight evil juice and take over this world to do... whatever with."