Poppin' Arms ~ Study

[Negrek]

At least Nate didn't have to go far to find Shield. From what everybody said, he stuck around the Guild most of the time.

Everybody in the fucking Guild, Nate thought sourly to himself as he climbed another hundred fucking stairs or whatever up to where the lucario was supposed to be hanging out. And he was going to have to deal with the same hundred fucking stairs on the way back in a few minutes, possibly after Shield told him to get bent. He hadn't even gotten to enjoy lunch. Another fine fucking day on Cibus.

Nate stuck his head into the study and was greeted, as usual, with a bunch of undersides of tables, chairs, and bookshelves blocking his view. "Shield? You in here?"

 

[Namohysip]

By a stroke of luck, he was. "Yeah, I'm here," the Lucario called back.

"Why is he still a Mudkip?" asked another voice. "I thought most of them started to evolve at around the same time..." It sounded like Karat. That tingling feeling in the air was probably another indicator...

Deoxys, in his default form, was also nearby, staring unblinkingly at Nate as he entered.

Shield seemed to have a few injuries on him, including patches of matted fur and a left eye that was slightly more shut than the other.

 

[Negrek]

Thank God. Nate started moving in the direction of the lucario's voice, only to scowl when some other asshole started going on about him still being a mudkip. Who the hell--?

And then he rounded a desk and the psychic field hit him, and Nate froze, staring at Mewtwo--no, that was Karat. No that.. that other mewtwo. Or even fucking Giovanni-Mewtwo. What the fuck was he even doing here? At least you didn't have to worry about that guy surprising you. You could feel his like a fucking mile away.

Wait, Karat could hear that, right? Fuck. Fucking mind readers, why did they have to--wait. Deoxys was psychic, too, so could they both hear that? Fuck.

Nate tried to gather himself and lowered his foot that had been caught mid-step. "O-oh. Hey. Uh. You're looking... better?" he said, watching Deoxys uneasily. They had to be better, right? They didn't look like they were all shadowy no more, and they wouldn't just be standing around all casual like otherwise, right?

 

[Namohysip]

"ɿɘɟɟɘd ϱnilɘɘʇ m'I." Deoxys nodded.

"Other langnuage, D," Karat said.

He twitched a little, then nodded. "I'm feeling better. ...Thank you for saving me. I don't know anything."

"Not everything is a business meeting, you know," Shield said, smiling a little. "...We're just winding down after some training. Slipped up near the end..."

 

[Negrek]

Nate blinked at Deoxys' strange language. Were they not from around here, either? Like, they were supposed to be from space and all, but then so were the God Squad, and none of them talked any different, besides the big one, Flesh. "Dunno about saving you," he said, tugging on his gills. "Seems like that was mostly Karat. But I'm glad you're better now."

Had the two of them been able to see what he was thinking earlier? They weren't really acting like it, but that only made Nate more nervous. Were they all up in his mind or not? Goddammit.

But anyway, Shield. The whole reason he'd come here in the first place. Right. "Unfortunately I did kinda want to talk business," Nate said to the lucario. "I dunno if you heard about that trip we took to Moonlit Forest recently, but I think we saw... Pretty sure Sword was there. I was wondering if you wanted to head back there and see about trying to get her out. And"--he glanced uneasily at Karat--"that other mewtwo too, maybe. Don't know what his deal is, but I don't imagine he likes working for Giovanni much, neither."

 

[Namohysip]

Shield's and Karat's expressions both darkened. "That Mewtwo is there?" Karat asked.

"Sword... But--but I just saw her wandering the Guild. Nobody else sees her..."

"She's probably just messing with you," Karat said. "Or maybe you're losing it."

Shield glanced over the book he'd been halfheartedly reading, then at Nate. "I heard that Moonlit Forest was designated a restricted area recently," he said. "How bad is it in there? I asked Soda, but he, er... wasn't willing to talk about it."

"He used new words when addressing Shield," Deoxys said. "I might use them one day."

"You shouldn't," Karat advised.

 

[Negrek]

"Sword was here? In the Guild? Just... wandering around? What do you mean, nobody else sees her?" What the fuck was up with that? From the way Sword had talked in the forest, Nate figured she couldn't leave, even if she wanted to. Maybe she hadn't been there at all, after all. But who the fuck has been dreaming her up?

"Anyhow, the forest's pretty fucking bad. Soda was calling it a 'cursed' dungeon, which I don't know what the fuck that is. I was kinda hoping one of you might know more about them?" He took a look around at the assembled pokémon, but it seemed like a long shot. "Anyhow, I guess the deal is they take the things you're thinking about and make them real, kinda, like use them against you. So I don't know for sure that Sword or that other mewtwo were there because, like, they coulda just been evil illusions. But they were still there when the place was starting to settle down a bit, like, they didn't act like the other illusions. And I don't know who'd'a been thinking of them to make them show up there. Starr thought the Mewtwo was Giovanni, but she hit him with some nasty Radiance thing that blew his fucking hand off, but it was leaking some of that weird red energy stuff instead of blood, so I think it must've been the weird Blacklight guy instead. And Sword wasn't a mew like usual, she was a kind of funky-looking charmander instead." The more Nate talked, the less sure of it all he was. "I mean, we only went in that place because it looked like it was where Mewtwo crash-landed. Figured he must have them guarding the place."

Despite the heavy topic, Nate couldn't help but smirk at Karat and Deoxys' exchange. Sure were a lot of innocents here on Cibus, weren't there? Soda would be pleased to hear he'd taught Deoxys some new words, no doubt.

 

[Namohysip]

"Sword..." The Lucario seemed distracted again, lost in thought.

"It's not a strong chance, but perhaps between the three of us, we would be strong enough to investigate," Karat said. "Even with the energy nullification, we're still strong enough to escape. With the right preparation, at least. Do you think it's safe to go? Do we need to bring anybody with us?"

"I've still been sensing Sword here and there, you know," Shield said. "How can she be in so many places at once?"

 

[Negrek]

"Well, I wasn't thinking just the three of us," Nate said. "With the whole energy nullification thing like you mentioned, I figured we might want to bring at least a couple other members of the team along. I know a lot of 'em were pissed when Giovanni got away with Sword earlier, so hopefully we can find some people who're interested. Other than that, maybe a couple members of the God Squad, if they can swing it? Like, maybe Truffle? Might be good to have Maple along, but I know she's super busy. I wanted to see if Shield was on board before anybody else, since he probably has the best chance of talking with Sword if we can find her."

Nate hesitated. Or maybe they should leave the God Squad out of it. After what had happened to Soda... And supposedly they all had pretty fucked-up pasts, didn't they? There was definitely a balance between wanting to bring enough firepower to deal with any threats that came your way, and the fact that more people meant more potential for somebody to accidentally bring some real fucked-up fuel for the nightmare forest. For now, though, Nate let the idea stand. "Might want to bring some, like, mental herbs or something like that. Dunno if there's anything out there that'd help with illusions."

Meanwhile, Shield appeared to be off in his own little world. "You still with us, man?" Nate asked. "What do you mean about Sword being so many places at once? Have you seen her, like, being more than one place at the same time?"

 

[Namohysip]

"At the same time that you guys reported that Soda had seen Sword, or that you guys all saw her," Shield explained, "I... was chasing her around in the pine forest. I practically grabbed Mellow before I realized that wasn't Sword, but I know I sensed Sword's aura. How was she in both places at once? And--where else would she be?"

"The one in the forest might have been an illusion," Karat said. "The only person who can be in multiple places at once like that is Bean."

 

[Negrek]

"Mmm," Nate said. This was sounding even weirder than he'd expected. First the fucking moon, and now this. "Couple of other possibilities I can see. One, Sword's like the mew and charizard in this world, right? Like, two different people but same soul or whatever?" Whatever the fuck that actually meant. "Did they maybe split up somehow, and you were seeing one while the rest of us were seeing the other in the dungeon. Was it a mew or a charthing, uhh, a charmander you were seeing? And did she ever say anything to you?"

"Another possibility is, well. You and Sword are both from Telum, but for some reason you came back normal and she, uh, kinda didn't. Or that's what we've been thinking. But maybe Darkwhite is like the other familiars we've seen, made from somebody's memories. In that case she ain't actually the real Sword, and the real Sword could still be out there somewhere. Maybe that's who you saw, while we were talking to Darkwhite.

"And of course, it's possible one or both of them are just illusions somebody's sending to fuck with us. Could be Giovanni, could be somebody like Soda--but obviously Soda was with us in the dungeon, and I don't think he can do shit across multiple continents."

 

[Namohysip]

Was it a mew or a charthing, uhh, a charmander you were seeing? And did she ever say anything to you?

"Charmander," Shield said immediately. "I'd recognize that flame anywhere."

And that meant they both happened to see a Charmander. Two Charmander, in Nate's case, but perhaps that was some Mew trickery again?

In that case she ain't actually the real Sword, and the real Sword could still be out there somewhere. Maybe that's who you saw, while we were talking to Darkwhite.

And of course, it's possible one or both of them are just illusions somebody's sending to fuck with us.

"It was Sword," he said firmly, and his expression had suddenly become serious. "There's no way I would mistake her for an imitation of any kind. It was Sword. Every time I saw her--as Darkwhile or now--it has been her."

"You're not going to convince him otherwise," Karat said with a dismissive shrug. "He's as convinced as a zealot."

 

[Negrek]

Nate sighed. Well, that made the easiest explanation less likely--mew-Sword in one place, charmander-Sword in another. Of course, mew could transform, so who the fuck even knew. "So you say you're the only one who can see her, right? Like does she look normal to you, but no one else can see her? Or is she invisible and you're just seeing her with your, you know." He waved his hand near his head to suggest lucario's aura-sensing... things. "Your energy sense or whatever? And have you, like, talked?"

 

[Namohysip]

"Every time people look, she disappears. But I can still sense her. It's so strong, I--But I can still 'see' her. She's toying with me, I know it, she--" His voice hitched and he pointed ahead.

Karat and Deoxys both turned their heads.

Nothing was there... but then, something made a buzzing noise in the bag next to Karat. "Hmph. This will settle it," he said flatly, producing a badge. "I had this setting to record what was behind me, since Shield has been doing this for a long time. Let's see if--" He stopped.

"Well?" Shield asked.

Wordlessly, Karat set the badge down so Nate could see it.

It showed the back of the room, looking mostly empty, aside from what looked like a half-flickered, still image of a Charmander staring at them, expression with an impish smile too big for her face.

 

[Negrek]

"Well, I'll be damned," Nate said, and couldn't help but smile at the grinning charmander caught on film. Poor Shield. Karat's stony silence was priceless, though. "Looks the same as the charmander we saw in the forest. So that's all she's been doing, then? Like blinking into sight for a second and then... teleporting away real fast? How long has that been happening?"

Nate studied the picture of the charmander. You certainly [i[hoped[/i] it was Sword up to shit, anyhow, and not somebody else trying to fuck with Shield by sending some kind of weird apparition. Looked at a different way, the too-wide smile and literal haunting was like something out of a fucking horror movie. And with how Sword had apparently been hanging out around here without anybody realizing, she could easily be passing information back to Giovanni. She was there to help out with the attempt to frame Owen earlier, after all.

Nate frowned. "Would she always, uh, be trolling you like this?" he asked Shield. "Like even back on Telum and all?"

 

[Namohysip]

"She was a bit of a prankster," Shield said with a hint of fondness, "but she didn't have ethereal presence, if that's what you mean. She was... just a Charmander. Sword... what happened to you...?"

"You might have to accept that she's too far gone," Karat said. "It's not certain, but I want you to prepare for that when the time comes."

Shield didn't answer Karat. He was only silent. And then, looking at Nate, he said, "When can we go to Moonlit Forest?"

 

[Negrek]

Good lord. Nate couldn't imagine having to go on a world-saving quest with anyone even half as annoying as Sw--wait. Fuck.

Well, the guy really seemed to miss her anyway. "We managed to calm down the guy who was literally about to blow up the planet, so I think we got a good shot at helping Sword out, too," Nate said. "Give me a couple days to see who I can get to come along from the team, and maybe get one of the God Squad on board, too. Get supplies, all that." He turned to Karat. "You in? Uh, you two?" His gaze slid uncertainly over to take in Deoxys as well.

 

[Namohysip]

Deoxys twitched in what might have been a nod.

"We'll be there. Two Psychics to help you stay sane if possible." Karat nodded, then looked at Shield. "And of course, the one most likely to get through to Sword. With any luck, we'll be able to get something out of this."

Shield sighed and pulled out his badge. "I've also been looking around for stories about Charmander in Moonlit Forest, but..."

"I thought I told you to stop obsessing over that," Karat said, frowning.

"I haven't looked in a day! Can't I at least check now?"

Karat grunted as Shield fiddled through his badge's interface. "Now that it's a restricted zone, I can only really..." He trailed off.

"What now." Karat narrowed his eyes.

"Have you been checking the news today?"

"I don't think a lot of people here have. Too caught up in seeing Team Spectrum's revival."

"It looks like Dungeons all over the world are starting to act strangely in little ways. Most of them are harmless, like more distortions than usual, nothing you can't just escape from. But--look." Shield showed a few images to them. Similar images to what Karat had seen--images of a wide-grinning Charmander in the shadows, half-disappeared, or sometimes completely solid. "What's... what's going on?"

 

[Negrek]

"Dungeons... This just started happening? Fuck." Dungeons were supposed to be an Eternatus thing. And Eternatus was in the tree. And the team had just visited the tree. Somehow Nate doubted it was just a funny coincidence.

"If they drained power from the tree, maybe that means the tree has, like, less power to keep it from spreading its... her... influence. So dungeons are starting to get funky. And whatever Giovanni did to Sword, it had something to do with Eternatus. I wonder if, like, she's connected to the dungeons now? Maybe she can travel between them... Or is kind of part of all of them at once, somehow? Fuck." Nate rubbed at his head. "If she's showing up all over the place, maybe we oughta try looking in a less scary dungeon? I mean, at least according to Chip's mewtwo-detecting thing, Giovanni's mewtwo really was in Moonlit Forest, and he didn't disappear real fast, and neither did Sword. So for whatever reason, it might be different. But, like. Going there's a damn risk."

 

[Namohysip]

"We can always check out the more peaceful Dungeons that have been turning up," said Karat. "Shaymin Village has Sky Peak, which can be very safe overall... the Dungeon was highly segmented. We can always look at only the first one."

"The Lush Prairie might also be a peaceful place that was recently affected by... this," Shield added.