Poppin' Arms Guild ~ Infirmary

[Namohysip]

Within Poppin' Arms was a cozy but large room lined with beds of various shapes and sizes, white walls of purity with little decorations of stars and hearts and circles along the corners. It was a little childish, but it was soothing, in a strange way. There was a gentle drone of some kind of electrical voice on the far end that droned on about some event going on. Those from more sophisticated worlds would recognize it as radio news.

Every so often, the nurses shuffled about, going on with their usual duties and checking on patients. There weren't many, and most were just there to be checked on for general health or recovery, but sometimes...

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Zane had been rescued and transferred, at some point, to Destiny Village for recovery and treatment. It was there, under warm covers and a careful eye, that Zane would wake up to that radio's droning, crackling sound. And it was also there that he would hear the gentle plap, plap of some wet creature walking around the room he was resting in. It appeared to be a Goodra, wearing strange gloves that kept her hands dry while she worked.

 

[Tanuki]

Zane was dead. Even as his eyes opened, every inch of his body ached for an end. “You need a drink,” his voice told him. He nodded along, barely registering that someone was next to him. His head hurt too much to notice or care. Whoever they were, they were right. “I always am.”

“Can it,” Zane groaned. ‘I always am,’ prick sounded like an asshole. Not worth the time of day.

Doesn’t that sound familiar? he... heard himself think. Probably just a concussion, or the pain, or whatever—did this place not have some anesthesia? “Or at least a fucking drink?”

“I said shut it!” he shouted with a slash at the hint of blue in the corner of his eye.

He missed like you always do and turned to look at nothing. No one sat next to him because who would visit you in the hospital. He only saw several eyes staring at the freak that just shouted at no one. They’re terrified. One look, and everybody knows. He quickly retreated beneath the covers to pretend to sleep as if that helps. Monster can’t hide when he’s out from under the bed. They know. They all know.

 

[Namohysip]

"Oh!" The wet steps stopped momentarily, and then approached Zane's bedside. "You're awake? That's good... Um..." The Goodra toyed with one of her horns, then cleared her throat. "How are you feeling, err... Zane, was it?"

 

[Tanuki]

“Like shit. Bring me a drink, bitch.”

Zane burst out from his covers, “I didn’t say that!” he plead. With the covers gone, he didn’t have a hint of blue in the corner of his eyes. It was right next to the goodra. He was right next to the goodra, blue fur, fat figure and all, but only for a moment.

He watched himself dissipate into sand, the sadistic grin lingering longest. Even with the figure gone, the empty space transfixed him. He couldn’t look away, not even when he was looking at nothing.

Eyes still locked on nothing, he grabbed the goodra by the shoulders alnd forced himself to look at her. “I’m haunted,” he whispered in hopes he couldn’t hear.

Can’t hide from me. His reflection in the goodra’s eyes distorted into his old form she can see who you really are. He fell back, scooting almost off the bed. Just as he came, he left Zane to stare at his own horrified expression.

“H-he’s eyes—he’s in your eyes,” he stuttered.

Since when do you talk in the third person, freak?

“Me!” he hastily corrected. “It’s—I’m—can you see me?”

 

[Namohysip]

"...Oh, oh dear," said Goodra, frowning as she placed Zane back onto his bed with a hint of firmness. Despite her delicate and soft features, she was surprisingly powerful. "I think you still need to rest, Zangoose. You're seeing things and you seem really out of it."

 

[Tanuki]

Rest in bed, sleepyhead, while their eyes watch on with dread. Go to sleep, count mareep, just to die beneath the sheets.

“Cell!” Zane shouted. A quick glance around the room brought his self awareness back and his voice down. “All these pokémon,” he whispered, “they’re all injured—” so easy to kill “—in danger. You have to lock me up or—” they’ll kill you “—he’ll hurt them!”

Why so scared of self-defense?

 

[Namohysip]

"All right. We'll take care of that," Goodra said disarmingly, keeping Zane down. "Now, why don't you sit still for a little while? I'll make sure you're taken care of and safe." Her tail pressed against some button under Zane's bed, but it would be too difficult to notice with everything else going on. Goodra produced a small seed. "Why don't you take this to rest for now, Zangoose?" she offered.

 

[Tanuki]

Can't sleep yourself away. Zane tentatively took the poison seed, but held it in his paw. He asked for some water to help wash it down and didn't want to ask how the goodra got it for him that quickly. At a glance, it certainly seemed like water. He didn't look long enough to see his reflection. The seed rolled around in his paw. Temporary solution, permanent problem.

"If I take this, you'll lock me up?" His claws were tense. He had to be careful not to crush the cup of water.

 

[Namohysip]

"No, we won't," Goodra said gently. "This is just to help you rest while you recover. You can't move around too much, alright? We were told that you need lots of rest."

 

[Tanuki]

This was fine. Zane was probably overreacting. Everyone hallucinated themselves every once in a while. At least, everyone beaten within an inch of their life by a swarm of shaymin he knew had. Maybe Diyem had decided to return the favor of Zane’s insult ridden form of piety. You’ll die.

“Okay. Got it.” He nodded with eyes glazed over. “Just rest. No one died last time I slept, right?” He didn’t look up for confirmation. The goodra might not have even been there.

He focused entirely on the fact the seed definitely was not poison. It would not kill him. Nobody could resist would even think of killing you. You’re not going to die. You’re not going to die. You’r—

He stopped thinking, tossed the seed and water back, swallowed, and waited. Drowsiness came before he could complain it didn’t do anything, and he didn’t even have time to lay down. Gravity pulled him down, his head and legs hanging off opposite sides of the bed.

Sleep would save him. He just had to close his eyes and let the seed do its work. Sleep is safe. No distractions. Nobody else. Just you.

And me.

 

[Namohysip]

Goodra watched silently, frowning, as a Salamence came walking into the room next.

"Zinc?" Salamence asked.

"Oh--no, it's fine," the Goodra replied. "Thank you for coming so quickly, though. But--"

"That Zangoose wasn't giving you any trouble, was he?" Salamence said in a low voice. "I heard he's been trouble on the team, and--"

"No, no, please, Protein. It's fine." Zinc stepped away from the bed once Zane was completely out. "I think we should just keep an eye on him for a little longer. That... whatever happened might have lingering effects, so we should probably tell S'more about it."

"Mm." Protein didn't seem satisfied with that, but he didn't press. "Fine. I'll be training with Iron. But if you run into more trouble..."

"I'll call you," Zinc said with a disarming smile.

"Mm." And then, he was gone.

<><><>​

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave returned to consciousness slowly, from a vague confused haze of nonsense that eventually schlorped away like water down a drain. He blinked open crusty eyelids with more effort than it should have taken.

He was in a room. In a... hospital? It smelled kind of like a hospital.

He shifted vaguely on the bed. He was very sore, but all his limbs seemed to work, just about. What had happened again? He remembered fighting that ridiculous fusion dragon, the casual arrival of the second Mewtwo as if nothing were more natural, it capturing Joule, Starr rushing towards it and Brisa rushing after her and him rushing after Brisa, and then...

Oh. Some nonsense had happened. The Cibus equivalent of having some sort of weird fit and pissing himself in public. Fantastic. Just what he needed in his day.

He groaned and pulled himself upright, awkwardly rubbing the sleep out of his eyes with one paw at a time. He blinked a couple of times as the world came into focus.

...Oh. Brisa was there, in a corner, just looking up from a book. Brisa, who'd fucking carried him off like a misbehaving kitten. Why couldn't this have been a blackout drunk sort of thing? Just vaguely reconstructing the events of last night, like in those stupid movies? At least that might have been kind of funny.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Howdy, Dave," said Brisa, sliding her book back into her satchel. "You were hit pretty hard back there. Everythin' feel more or less like you're more alive than dead?"

She blinked, then grinned, and gestured to herself vaguely. "D'you like the new body? This is what I'm used to lookin' like back home. I gotta tell ya, it feels good to be 'back to normal', so to speak, Diyem-made fascimile form though it be."

She really wasn't so very different as a luxio, but she liked to be the size she was used to, and she liked having mane again. She felt more powerful, too, which was no less welcome. It took a little concentration not to spark off at the thought of testing out that power.

 

[Dragonfree]

"...Yeah, I think I'll manage." It was kind of bizarre looking at her, honestly; even without being next to him, she was obviously like twice his size, all in one burst. With a sting in his gut he thought of Jean, how he'd just opened the door to her suddenly taller, misproportioned. But Brisa was only technically part human, not a genetic mess never designed to evolve. The mane made her look older, stronger. It was easier to imagine her being law enforcement back home. Just... weird, when he was still a fucking Poochyena. When would he get to evolve? Weren't they supposed to evolve early? Whatever. "You look good. All grown up. Congrats, I guess?"

He looked at her a moment longer. "...Have you just been waiting here?"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Sure have. I like checkin' on folks when they're in recovery. Gives me a quiet moment to read, which is somethin' I've been missin', and I think it does 'em good to see a familiar face first thing after wakin' up from the kinda fights we have."

She stretched out. She looked good and grown up, huh? Just wait until she evolved again. With the power continually funnelled in from Diyem and the mind-stretching battles the posse had to fight, it might actually happen.

 

[Dragonfree]

"...Right. Thanks, I guess." Dave'd been by the infirmary to check on her back in Treasure Town after hearing she'd exploded (he'd ranted about Radiance to the nurses), but he hadn't stuck around. He wasn't sure if she even knew.

He pushed himself to his feet and out of the bed. "Did I miss anything?"

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Not as such. Just fleein' for our lives."

It wouldn't help Dave to talk in detail about that experience. Everyone was on edge enough as it was. Hell, half the posse were in total denial about how bad the situation was, and Brisa didn't intend to push him on that front.

"I got that fancy talisman after all," she said, finding the most obvious distraction with which to change topic.

Brisa pulled her sapient rock from her satchel and held it up in one paw. "Say hey to Luz. She sure came in handy during the fight. I was glad to have her with me. Kinda scary havin' a telepathic critter on hand, but we make a good partnership."

Luz span on its vertical axis as if showing off, earning a tiny, dry smile from Brisa.

 

[Dragonfree]

"Oh, good. Telepathy's not bothering you?" Brisa shrugged and shook her head.

Speaking of... Dave looked around; where'd they put his bag? It was lying on a chair beside the bed; he fished Squiggly out of it. Dave peered at the stone, wary. It wasn't moving or doing much. Squiggly seemed to be feeling normal, thank God. Though there was a weird psychic hint of... something. Something not exactly an emotion but more of a vibe, something oddly familiar. Huh.

The stone grew suddenly hot in his paws, and he dropped it automatically "Yeouch! What the--"

The lump floated into the air, a strange black goo seeping out of it. "Hey! Squiggly!" He froze, his heart lurching. What the fuck was happening? The goo was coming from inside it. What was it? How could he--

"Well, that ain't commonplace," said Brisa, padding over, Luz in tow.

The goo covered the rock and then began to twist and grow, forming the vague impression of a head attached to a torso and limbs. Wait, was it... hatching? Like an egg or a cocoon? Was that why Squiggly'd wanted to go in the stone, was it like a cocoon for--

The shape congealed and solidified into a buglike shape around his size - a tiny Scyther - only its head was...

He froze.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa crouched low, her eyes fixed on the transforming rock. Whatever was happening, could happen to Luz. She had to watch carefully.

"Dave," she murmured, "is this as entirely remarkable to you as it is to me?"

Luz came to rest by her forepaw and twitched erratically.

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave was too stunned to answer, his gaze fixed on the newly-formed creature. A green light lit up in the not-Scyther's eyes, its scythes flickering to life with a similar green glow. It raised them up to look at them, tilting its head. After a moment it turned toward him.

"Hi," said a voice he hadn't heard for the better part of a year, as if nothing were more natural.

"...Mia?" Dave squeezed his eyes shut. No, no, obviously not. This was... this was Squiggly, somehow? Somehow. "I mean, no. You're not Mia. You're..."

Not-Mia shrugged. "I'm a different one." She turned her head to look at her wings, vibrated them experimentally. "I think I'm better than the other Mia. I've got wings. And proper scythes."

"Mia -- Squig-- look, no. You're not."

"Why?"

"She was the fucking real one, for one."

Brisa looked on, ears flattening against her head, eyes flicking between Dave and the former shade. Not-Mia gave him a deadpan stare. "Obviously I'm real. I'm standing right here. You've been carrying my rock all this time."

Yeah. It was hard to say she wasn't real, wasn't it. "I mean, she was a lot bigger, too. Longer arms. She'd beat you in a fight."

The tiny Mia considered that and frowned in dismay. "That's true. She could get more momentum with a swing." She slashed vaguely at the air, eyes narrowed.

Dave blinked hard at her. Why the fuck had he even said that? That was counterproductive on literally every level. He'd just kind of... slipped into old habits. He gritted his teeth.

"You're Squiggly. The shade in the rock."

She shrugged. God, why'd he gone with that name.

"So why the fuck do you look and talk like Mia?"

She paused, thinking. "That is weird. I must have adjusted based on your memories."

He supposed that made some kind of sense, the whole telepathic link thing - God, he'd just gotten done telling Brisa they couldn't read memories - but still. What the fuck.