Poppin' Arms Guild ~ Main Lobby

[Fusion]

"It's like... hm..." Puddle tilted its head from side to side. How to properly and effectively explain this... "Have you ever, like, fallen out of bed with the bed sheets still around you, but they're really thin bedsheets so you don't really feel them but you know you're covered by sheets still? It's like, but it smells like lavender! Oh, and they're freshly dried, so they're also warm!"

"I..." Vix blinked, still processing the thing Puddle just said... Mmmmm, yeah no, she was still lost, but who was she to rain on Puddle's parade? It looked so proud of itself for coming up with that too. "That's... accurate..? I think?" Vix shrugged, tittering. "It, uh, really just feels like wax all over your body. I have no idea where it got all that from..."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr blinked at the shade. What the fuck was it talking about.

"So it's, what... scented?" She paused, shaking her head. "I meant let me feel it before the fight so I'm not totally caught off guard, you know? Cause I get the feeling I'm gonna need all the help I can get." No matter how weird it'd probably feel on fur.

 

[Fusion]

"B-But I was waiting for someone to ask that just so I could say that..." Puddle pouted. That was a lie, but come on, it took all the brainpower it didn't have to do that!

Vix rolled her eyes at her familiar, then popped her lampshade off her head. "Alright, gimme a sec..."

Sparks of radiance swirled around Vix's body, brightening her quite a bit. The flame inside her head swelled for a moment in golden light, then a golden orb of wax shot out, perfectly coating Starr with a protective lavender-scented layer of wax. Vix flipped her lampshade back to where it belonged, a proud look about her. Puddle clapped off to the side, impressed by how flashy Vix made that look.

 

[Chibi Pika]

"Oh Jesus--" Starr had really only expected to get a sampling of the wax, so getting a full-body coating was more than a little jarring. She took a few steps back, shaking her head and snapping, "I didn't mean all over--!" before pausing suddenly.

It really didn't feel half as awkward as she'd been expecting. On the contrary, it... actually felt pretty damn good. Like a soothing warmth loosening her muscles. And... hot damn it really did smell like lavender. Might as well have been a luxurious bubble bath.

"Shit, this actually feels really good. And this'll make for a defense buff, right?"

 

[Fusion]

Vix and Puddle both nodded, with the former shaking off tiny, excited bits of radiance off her without knowing it.

"Yeah! And, if I can get a handle on this new trick I'm trying to put together, anyone I target with wax will be able to put out more damage! But... maybe only for one hit? It'd be a really, really strong hit, at least. I remember someone saying that we won't be able to hit Joule with anything super effective, so I figured... why not?" Vix chuckled, grinning, although that'd be pretty hard to tell.

Puddle, on the other hand, had a very obvious grin. "Well why didn't you tell me about this sooner, it sounds awesome!" it snickered.

"I'm still not done practicing it yet, but I know I'll be ready by the time we have to face Joule," Vix's flame shone proudly, and she let out a giggle or two. "I won't let another battle go down like last time. I'm gonna fight this fight perfectly! Like a real hero!"

 

[Chibi Pika]

"Well, I'm sure as hell not gonna say no to hitting harder," Starr said. Her recent training had let to her imbuing even more of her inner fire into her moves. Which was good, but it didn't mean much when Joule wasn't weak to fire. So if that 'new trick' panned out, they'd actually make for a decent combo.

Starr glanced down at her wax-covered body. Nice as it felt, it'd be kind of inconvenient getting wax everywhere while trying to unload her bag later. "Any idea how to make it clear up?" she asked, but then a second later an idea struck. The Torracat let her inner fire glow, not enough to actually catch flame, but just enough to warm the wax, causing it to drip from her fur, dissolving into beads of light once it lost contact with her body. So it really was just Radiance after all.

 

[Fusion]

Was now a good time to mention that fire type attacks would get rid of the wax? Oh well, they could probably work around that in battle.

"Hitting things really hard is basically the main thing my mentors back home taught me when it came to battles, I like to think I'd be doing them proud with this new skill," Vix said, smiling with her eyes.

"When it ever gets ready, of course," Puddle snickered. "I can't wait to see it in action, Joule isn't gonna know what hit him!"

"Hell yeah he won't," Vix beamed. "I can't tell if I'm more excited to fight him or to see how strong I can make everyone else!"

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr smirked. "Funny you should say that, cause hitting things really hard was something my team was damn good at." And now it was something she could do herself. Man, what she wouldn't give to show her team the kind of crazy firepower she could do here. They'd probably be jealous, too.

"That's the kinda energy we need going into this fight," Starr went on, nodding. "I'm sick of feeling like shit--we're strong as fuck. And if you've got ways to make the team even stronger, hell, more power to you."

 

[Fusion]

Heroes of different worlds might be different in most ways, but the amount that follow the "Hit things really hard" mantra was starting to get worryingly high. Not like that was a problem, really. It helped that Vix was getting a buncha little compliments too from someone she was sure for a few days hated her.

More little sparks of radiance danced off her body as she snickered and pumped a fist in the air. "Fuck yeah we're powerful! We're damn near unstoppable!"

"Ok, remember before the Giovanni fight when you pissed the old bastard off and jinxed the whole thing?" Puddle put its hands on its hips and tapped a foot impatiently. "Don't start chanting that kinda shit before history repeats itself. I swear to gods I will not take over for you again if you get into a mental rut again."

"Y-Yeah... hehe," Vix chuckled shyly as the radiance dispersed. "Sorry, I'm good. It'll be a tough fight, can't go in distracted this time. Gotta focus..." she took a deep breath, then exhaled. "Focused! And speaking of, we should probably hit the store ag--" Two seconds into floating and she bumped into Starr. Her faced turned an embarrassed shade of purple and she floated higher than Starr stood. "...sorry..."

Puddle snorted off to the side.

 

[Chibi Pika]

"Can't believe I'm saying this, but your shade's got a point. Although I guess I can't be too mad at anything done in the interest of pissing off Giovanni." Starr shouldered her bag once more and nodded to the two. "I'll see you around."

 

[Fusion]

"Alright, bye Starr!" Puddle waved, jumping up and attaching its arms back onto Vix. "We're off to triple check out stuff or something, right?"

"Looks like," Vix shrugged, sighing. "And we can't really do that standing around here, so let's-"

"Vix if I hit another person I might just riot so please pull me up."

"O-Oh, yeah, right, sorry. Again..."

"Also also, how would you like to add Starr to that fight date thing you and Brisa g--"

Vix dropped Puddle on the ground. Hard. Leaving it as a literal puddle on the ground in the lobby. She then left the guild as fast as she could before anyone saw how purple she was.

<><><><><>

 

[Ambyssin]

Someone was kind enough to get Bahamut a towel-- well, several towels. It was odd. This body type was supposed to be more ethereal in nature, yet it was more on the solid side. And the drab gray color. Well, he supposed it compensated his typical demeanor.

He was busy rubbing his crystalline beak and wondering how things had managed to get so shitty so quickly. Had he taken the group's success for granted? That was frightening to think about.

 

[Fusion]

Puddle had a sour look on its face, more thanks to its headache than whatever transpired at the Infirmary. It took a long walk around Destiny Village to try and deal with both of them, but the headache just wouldn't leave it be.

"Goddamnit, I can't think like this..." it growled as it headed into the Guild. Maybe it needed some rest. Or a lot. Definitely a lot. "I swear it feels like I'm forgettin' somethin' but wha--" Puddle walked into a crystalline leg, and its focus was so fuzzled that it almost warped around the leg entirely.

"The hell?" Puddle bubbled and held its head, looking up the leg to see it was attached to... "Oh... Bahamut."

Probably not the highest on the list of people Puddle wanted to see... Or who wanted to see it.

 

[Ambyssin]

"Hmm?" Bahamut pulled the towel away and looked down at his leg. Ah. The angry scraggy familiar. Still simmering, by the look of things. "... oh. Did you go out into the city so quickly? Maybe you shades can move faster than I realized."

 

[Fusion]

"Yeahm I... needed to get some air. A lot of air," Puddle replied, looking away. That was certainly a new look for Bahamut, but, well... lets just say that putting on a new coat of paint doesn't take away the fact that there were now two people here that looked alike, and one of them was a murderer.

Honestly Bahamut could come out as a killer and Puddle wouldn't be surprised.

"What's with the new look? Considerin' that last fight... takin' this look so soon probably ain't gonna sit well with a lotta the survivors."

 

[Ambyssin]

Bahamut crossed his lower wings and scratched his head with an upper wing. "I didn't take it. It just... happened by accident." His eyes took on a blue and purple tint. "If the others choose to hate me for it, then that is their right. Whatever helps them with the grieving process."

 

[Fusion]

"I-Is that... so..."

Puddle gritted its teeth, sizzling. There's no way anyone would be fine with getting shit for something out of their control. Especially not some like Bahamut, right? Even a little bit of opposition from the now light-dragon would have been expected, just a tiny bit so Puddle could convince itself that it snapped for a good reason... but now Puddle was starting to feel like a jackass.

Probably because it was, but no one would be willing to just admit that.

"Y-You're really just gonna let people give you shit because of this?" Puddle asked, looking up at Bahamut. Just a bit of anger, something to justify itself. "What're you gonna do if you get attacked just because of it? You're just gonna... let them?"

 

[Ambyssin]

Bahamut's head tendrils frazzled. "In the past, I wouldn't have let such things stand. My responses were always... aggressive. Probably too aggressive, but I was so tired and angry with being alone all the time." All four wings fell to their sides. "But this is a different story. I mean... my aura isn't even tuned to properly attack anyone. I'm just a healer," he chuckled bitterly, "and a sorry attempt at a shield."

 

[Fusion]

"That's not true, you're a great shield!" Puddle huffed. "Vix and I both saw, you kept us safe for as long as possible. If... if you got killed too, I don't think we really could have... made it."

Yeah, the latter half of that fight was a blur, a red, furious blur for Puddle specifically. And a few others. "And you even tried to keep us all focused too... which you sort of did," it rubbed the back of its head, sighing. "A bunch of us didn't really listen to you, myself included..."

Being pissed just... didn't feel right then. There was a reason Vix liked Bahamut, aside from the brooding and edginess. He was genuinely nice, even if he didn't come off like that at first. Hell, he even felt like he was underperforming, something Vix and Puddle could both relate too...

"...I'm... I'm sorry."

 

[Ambyssin]

Bahamut didn't think there was anything to apologize for. "Thank you." He tucked his head down. "Though I refused to listen to the rest of the team when it came to Darkwhite. So, I suppose it balances out... or something."

His grayscale tail wrapped around his left leg. "Yes, the irony of this whole role reversal isn't lost on me. Chalk it up to uncharted territory and a precarious predicament, I suppose."

Albeit one that had an apparent solution. Still, it wasn't lost on Bahamut. Joule was an immediate threat that needed to be addressed immediately. But after several had promised to save Darkwhite, that was all being cast aside in an attempt at restoring Team Spectrum to full strength. Even though they were supposedly inside Diyem.

... his head was hurting. Trying to come up with non-aggressive solutions was not easy.