Forum Thread

“The team is one of the newest, They were given this tower because we were moving the old team to a newer tower. And if you have any questions you are to call my number” Mrs.Fengli said, handing Kyoko a business card. “Now, In we go” Mrs.Fengli led the way into the building and into the elevator. The sharp woman pressed the button bringing them to the second floor.
The elevator opened up to a large living area, with a half circle couch taking up the majority of the room, with a kitchen that had an island counter in the middle to one side and a doorway to the other. A Lanky girl stood hunched over one counter putting something into her large lab coat esque pockets. She seemed to jump to the side at the elevator ding, facing the two. “Mrs.Fengli, I wasnt aware you would be coming today.” She said, crossing the room and extending her hand.
“I had sent out correspondence two days ago. I would have assumed your teammates to alert you of this, Scarecrow.” Fengli ignored the outstretched hand, prompting Scarecrow to stick it in her pocket.
“Locke is fine, as i've told you several times prior.” Locke narrowed her eyes at the older woman. “I assume this is our fifth member?” She deferred the conversation to Kyoko.
“Yes, of course. I will be leaving her for you to acquaint her with everyone else in a moment. I assume they are all out?” Fengli asked.
“Yes, they got the alert a little while ago.”
“And the Issue we conversed about last time is fine?”
“yes, Of course it is, no issues. Where are the files on Red over here?” Locke asked, referring to the colour of most of Kyoko’s clothing.
“My Name is Kyoko” She said, a little annoyed at being talked around.
“Yes, here” Fengli handed a thick manilla file to Locke. “Your next checkup to see how you all settle in will be soon, expect correspondence prior to it.” She stepped into the elevator and left.
“Right, Because i will totally be made aware of it” Locke rolled her eyes, shuffling through the papers in the folder before tossing it onto the island counter. “I'm assuming you got the spiel about the building, and the whole ignus program ‘n junk.”
“Building, yes, I only got the basics about the program though. They didn't cover much in training” Kyoko said, sitting on the couch.
“Well the basics are all it is. They toss in two villains and three heroes into a huge tower and have them do this instead of sitting in jail.” Locke said, sitting on a stool that was beside the island. “You are the fifth member here, we are one of the newer groups but they stuck us with this older buildin. I haven't really been up here recently so ive no idea which floor will be yours.”
“Floor?” Kyoko asked.
“There are six, seven includin the basement. This floor is general livin area. My floor is the basement.” Locke said, before sliding off of the stool. “Everyone else is comin up in the elevator” She said as the elevator whirred, indicating it taking passengers up.
The elevator dinged, before expelling three males all speckled in a weird goo. One of them flew above the two others, lounging in the air. The other two walked, the shorter of the two playing with a few rocks.
“So which one of you was going to tell me we are getting a new member?” Locke asked, glaring at each of them in turn, being only taller than the one with rocks. The one in the air looked down sheepishly, only to be pulled down by his collar. “Keep info from me one more time and I might not cork your bombs too tightly next time, Are we clear?”
“Of course, Nyx” He said, putting emphasis on her name -giving a third title to be heard by Kyoko- Only to be pulled down and elbowed sharply in the back, dropping him to the ground.
“Good. Kyoko, this is Swift Speed, Evak, and Jake Calder.” Locke said, referring to the male below her, The male with the rocks, and the third male who had been observing them all the whole time. “SS, E, JC, This is Kyo.” She said, jerking her thumb over her shoulder to Kyoko, who had gotten off of the couch by then. “Newest member, Fire manipulator, Sword user.”
“Great to meet you Kyoko!” Swift said, jumping to his feet and walking over to greet her with a handshake, which she returned.
“You as well, I look forwards to working with all of you.” She said, Shaking hands with Jake and Evak afterwards.
“Kyo, I am going to require a blood sample in several minutes, please wait here whilst i go retrieve my needles and vials.” Locke said, before exiting, presumably going down a second flight of stairs or elevator.
“Whats her deal, and all the weird names?” Kyoko asked, after she had left.
“Old villain thing, She gets all upset when called by it. Remember the ole’ ‘Shadow creature’ thing? That was her. she apparently go it under control buuuut, I'm not to sure about it.” Evak said. “Dont really know if we can trust her yet.”
“Evak, She’s fine, Fengli must have brought Kyoko over, Fengli tends to rile her up.” Jake said, as they all heard the ding of the elevator.
“Kyo, you're just going to have to sit still for a minute, i think you should be able to help me manage this bottled fire thing i've been working on, you guys did order dinner on your way back right?”
“Yeah, From the chinese place on Lavender street” Swift said, as Kyoko took a seat on the couch, her arm out on the side, palms up.
“Sweeeet, should be here in a bit. How’d the thing go, normal robbery and stuff?” She asked, sticking the first needle into Kyoko’s arm and extracting a vial.
Swift shrugged and stole a glance to the side. “Yeah, uh kinda. It was a group calling themselves ‘Dimidus’ weird, i know. They might be reporting to higher ups. One of the goons shot sticky stuff out of his hands, uh hence the goo.”
“Right.” Locke said, extracting the last vial of blood from Kyoko’s arm. “You should all change than, if one of you could holler over the PA when chinese is here that’d be great. or take the elevator.” Locke said before leaving, walking so fast her coat billowed out.
“Uh, whats she going to do with my blood, in such a vast quantity?” Kyoko asked, rubbing the spot slightly.
“She’ll probably make some more of her potions, you use fire, so they’ll probably be fire based. So cool, last time she tried that though it blew up and the basement was quarantined. Although I don't think she actually sleeps, never gotten to see if there is a bed down there.” Swift said, clearly the more enthusiastic of the three males.
“She throws things at you if you try to go down there, and aren't Jake. She doesn't even need to look she just knows its so weird.” Evak said.
“Probably because i don't start yammering about why i came down there the second the elevator opens.” Jake said.
“Throws things?” Kyoko asked, somewhat worried.
“Not her potions, she likes that elevator working of course, mostly just books and empty glass bottles and general debris that she has lying around. Half the time i don't see her, just baskets of potions and half the fridge being empty are the only notions that she’s here.” Swift rambled, his speech as fast as his name boasts.“Oh, right your floor is the fourth, all your stuff should already be in there, just look for the red door, those are your quarters. well the whole floor is but thats where the bed is. Each floor has two extra rooms though, so you can switch ‘em if you like.”
Swift and Jake left afterwards, Evak hanging behind a moment. “If you can't tell so far, Jake and Locke, Scarecrow, Nyx whichever you call her, were the villains. I think they may be in cahoots, just giving you a heads up.” He said, sounding serious as the silence that followed his departure.
Kyoko huffed and melted into the couch, processing all of the information she was given.

~~~END CHAPTER 1~~~

Kyoko entered the living area to see Jake, Evak and Swift Speed on the large couch, with a portion on the floor to reveal a raised computer. “Good morning” She said, standing to the side of the computer.
She was answered with a chorus of ‘morning, Hello! and Good morning. “whats this thing?” She asked.
“Only the coolest computer in all of amethyst, although its called mission control by the higher-ups” Swift speed explained, hovering over the large console. “It lets us know when there has been a crime, its hooked up to all of the police scanners and such.”
“Wow!” Kyoko said, her comment interrupted with a elevator ding and a plume of smoke and coughing from down the hall.
“Okay, so, there are several things on fire downstairs. Several of them won't stop being on fire.” Locke said, leaning against the doorframe that lead out into the hallway, her coat heavily singed at the sleeves and bottom, as well as the cuffs of her shirt sleeves and the cuffs of her pants.
“I assume bottled fire didn't go well?” Evak asked.
“The fire part went well, the whole bottled part however, not so much.” Locke walked over to the couch and tipped forwards to lay down on the unoccupied portion. “I’ll be joining you on any missions today while the fire burns through its remaining oxygen, Dont look at me like that, I made sure i sealed it off.” She said, as Swift gave her a skeptical look.
They settled to an uneasy silence before it was interrupted by the main console beeping. “Monster on english street, Size of a two story building, its smashing everything in its wake.” Evak said, instigating them all to jump to their feet. They all rushed to the door, Evak slinging a quiver over his shoulder and lifting a bow that had been leaning against the back of the couch as Swift pulled on gauntlets with daggers attached to the fingers and Locke grabbed what looked like a skateboard with no wheels. Kyoko already had her sword sheathed at her side, so she just watched everyone else for a second. They all grabbed earpieces from the side of the console, Locke grabbing the green, Jake grabbing the blue, Swift grabbing the magenta one and Evak taking the yellow one. Kyoko took the remaining red one.
They all entered the elevator, which dropped smoothly but still quickly to the entrance. The group of five exited, Swift grabbed Kyoko’s wrists, mindful of the daggers on his gauntlets as he carried her upwards.
Locke’s board turned out to be a hover board, as she took off on it, with Jake on it as well. They flew upwards with the ease of practice as Evak manipulated the earth to move seamlessly and quickly to English street.
Swift placed Kyoko on the roof of a building that was across from the large monster, diving towards it and swinging himself onto one shoulder, digging into its flesh with his gauntlet, as Evak threw rocks at the monsters legs.
Jake jumped off of the hoverboard, landing on the monsters shoulder. He began forming ice crystals and driving them into the monster, who pitched its shoulders back in a roar. Jake was launched backwards, Locke managed to move the board to catch him, Launching herself at the monster. She pulled two black daggers out of her pockets, using them to slow her descent as she scored two deep marks down the monsters back, landing on the ground, dodging a rock as it landed. “Hey, watch it!” she said, having it relayed into Evak’s earpiece.
Evak nodded and switched from rocks to his bow and arrow. Swift ceased his barrage of clawing its shoulder and flew over to Kyoko, who had been watching the whole time and picked her up, “Im going to throw you at the monster” He said, before following through with what he said.
Kyoko drew her sword as she sailed through the air, sinking it into the monsters chest. The behemoth tipped backwards. Swift flew and grabbed Kyoko, pulling her off of the monster as it tipped. Evak dropped through a hole he made below him, closing it and making a tunnel away from under the monster. Locke ran to the side of the monster, getting launched backwards aways as its arms descended faster than the rest of it. She tucked and rolled, launching herself back into a run as she got past the creatures wake.
“I could have easily avoided getting squished by going between its legs! I am such an idiot!” Locke said, before generally checking her elbows and knees from when she rolled, noticing the rather large scrapes she had acquired. “Okay yeah that hurts” She said, rolling up her sleeves to check the bruises that seemed to be blooming. “Jake, can you bring me back my board?” She asked into the headpiece, jogging a little to jump on the board as it went past. She let Jake do most of the piloting(?) back to the building, entering behind Swift, Kyoko and Evak.
“Kyoko gets to order whatever mealtime it is.” Locke said, flipping over the couch to lie upside down.
“Dinner” Jake said, looking over the abrasions on Locke’s knees, determining whether or not its worth using water to heal. “There is too much gravel embedded in your knees, Evak can you get it out.” He asked.
“Sure” Evak said, pulling out all of the gravel from her knees and elbows at once, causing her to squawk undignifiedly.
“Could’ve given me a bit of warning first” Locke grumbled, getting up off the couch, nearly toppling Jake with her elbows. “I'm leavin before you get the aerosol salt.” She said, moving to look at the huge control center, tapping it a few times to bring up a security feed for her lab. “Still too smoky to inhabit.” she grumbled. “All my coats are down there” she muttered, as Evak walked into the kitchen area, seeing Kyoko and Swift hunched over the many pamphlets offering take out.
“Pizza?” She asked.
“Had it yesterday” Evak interjected. “And three times last week. My votes for cucumber rolls”
“Indian” Jake shouted from the other room, over another squawk and the sound of aerosol spray.

~End chapter 2~

“Kyoko stop you look suspicious” Locke hissed at her companion. “Its called recon for a reason we can't be recognized.”
“Yeah, sorry” Kyoko said, adjusting the overly large red sunglasses. she blended in perfectly in her red t-shirt and tan capris, the style was practically the norm for spring. Locke looked generally uncomfortable in a similar style, in white with grey sleeves. “What are we looking for again?”
“We got reports of a strange street performer, we are supposed to check it out” Locke said. “They should be on the street corner”
“Strange street performer. you are kidding me.” Kyoko deadpanned.
“I kid you not. They can be dastardly at times.” Locke commented as the rounded the corner and saw their quarry. “Oh Nononono not them literally anyone but them give me your sunglasses” Locke panicked, swiping at Kyoko’s face several times before attaining the sunglasses and putting them on her face. “Okay now we can go watch the performer”
The two joined the large crowd watching the purple clad performer, who was stood atop the street sign, announcing a need for a volunteer. She spun around on one foot, generally showing off as she looked around. “Oooo” She crooned, a massive grin appearing on her face. “You in the clashing sunglasses and shirt” The performer pointed at Locke, who started to wave her hands to show disinterest only to be shoved to the front of the crowd.
“Now, the one I discovered
Let us show your true colours
But i shall add a little twist!
Oh your name, it shall fit!” The purple clad woman crooned, waving a long purple wand over Locke, which dispelled a large cloud of white smoke, still perched on the sign. There was a loud “Pop, pop, whoosh” sound, followed by an overly high pitched shriek from Locke.
The cloud dissipated, revealing what the performer had done. Locke was a literal scarecrow, only her eyes were obviously not straw. There was also an ominous glow emitted, it seemed to mostly ebb to a smaller glow. “Enchantress I will have your head if you do not reverse this” Locke snarled and growled, pulling the taller woman down by her ankles, than striving to lift her by her collar, succeeding in an inch.
“Oooh but than you wouldnt have any fun I even threw in unlocking the powers you already had!” Enchantress grinned. “You will have ooooh so much fun! See you soon!” She snapped her fingers, going up in a cloud of smoke.
“Wait, no.” Locke muttered, looking down at her hands. “Really?” it came out as a whisper, as the dark glow around her hands darkened and intensified. “Oh, oh this is going to be fun”
The crowd dispersed when Enchantress vanished, too used to the weird powers to care. “Locke, Enchantress left, we should go back to base.” Kyoko said, lightly touching her comrade's shoulder.
“Right, I’ve some plans to sort out” Locke grinned the same manic grin Enchantress had before she left. “Come on, lets hail a taxi”

“We’re baaaaaaaaaack” Locke called through the tower, leaving scorch marks with her shoes as she walked.
“Oh no what happened” Swift asked, coming in from the hall. “Oh. I assume you met the street performer?”
“Yep, Now i am officially a scarecrow.” Locke cackled. “And I have a few tricks up my sleeves” She put her palms up to the ceiling, bits of black-purple fire flaring up.
“Jake, Evak, Come down to the living area, Half of the females in the building has become even spookier.” Swift said through the intercom.
Locke let out bits of dark energy and used it to neaten up the scorch marks she left as Jake and Evak came in. “Whoa” Evak said.
“And I thought i was a stick figure before. I guess im more of a straw figure now.” Locke laughed at her own joke.
“Who did this?” Jake asked.
“Some female named Enchantress” Kyoko said. Both Jake and Locke’s faces darkened a bit.
“I suppose this is her way of making up for it.” Locke said. She bounced a bit on her feet. “I wonder what would happen if I cut off just a bit of my arm. Like from wrist to elbow. Think my hand would fall off?” She asked, already walking towards the elevator.
“Dont cut off your arm” Jake said. “Fengli is coming tomorrow.”
“Oh, really? Lovely. I won't cut off my arm. I am going to have to put the bottled fire on on hold, i feel like I'm a bit more flammable as of late.” She said, turning not towards the elevator, but towards the training area in the back. “Ive a few tests to conduct.”
“Kyoko, what really happened?” Evak asked.
“This Enchantress person turned Locke into a scarecrow, and apparently unlocked her powers, which i assume are the whole shadow thing she has going on. Locke was really threatening to Enchantress until she told her about the powers.” Kyoko rattled off. “How can you lock someones powers?”
“You can’t, you can restrain yourself heavily from using them that they become diminutive, but you can't completely remove your powers.” Evak explained.
“Dude, no, Enchantress and the weird spell magic users totally can.” Swift countered.

~End chapter 3~

The elevator went off with a ding, followed by the click clack of sharp heels on the floor. “I’ve arrived to inspect the state of the building.” Fengli announced, clicking her pen against the clipboard in her arms.
“Right, Good morning.” Evak said, the only one up at eight in the morning. “The others will be down in a few minutes.”, his statement quickly proven true as Jake, Swift and Kyoko entered the room.
“And your fifth?” Fengli asked, interrupted by the ding from the elevator and footsteps.
“Goooood morning Fengli” Locke grinned, walking into the room in a normal overcoat instead of one that was long, showing off with both hands engulfed in flames.
“Oh now what could have possibly happened?” She asked, narrowing her eyes.
“I got everything back of course, why, do you have an issue with this?” Locke asked, trapping Fengli in passive aggressive warfare.
“Of course not, just curious.” She said waving off her reaching towards her needles, embedded in her hair, as an attempt to shield her eyes from the lights as she glanced upwards. “You can all just go about your day as normal, I’ll speak with you each individually later. “
The group dispersed, Swift Kyoko and Evak going to the kitchen area for breakfast and Jake and Locke sitting in front of the large console. Fengli let out a slight hiss before walking into the kitchen area.
“You are really letting the two prior villains to keep an eye on everything?” Fengli harshly stage whispered.
“Its not like its much of an issue, besides its a low time for crimes.” Swift shrugged. “Besides if they were going to do something it’d have been done by now.”
Fengli made a small noise of disapproval, and inspected the kitchen, only cringing slightly at the smell when she opened the fridge, a large improvement from last time. She then stalked into the other room, glaring as Locke and Jake ceased their hushed discussion over the console.
“Any crimes going on now?” Fengli asked, suspicion evident in her voice.
“Of course not, we wouldnt just be sitting here if so.” Jake said, as Locke closed some things on the console. She had been leaning too far over it for fengli to be able to read any of it.
“Of course.” Fengli said, leaving the room to examine other parts of the building, aside from Locke’s floor, having learned her lesson last time as she entered and almost been washed out of the elevator. June was not a good month for expanding water potions, meant to flood an entire street.
All of the rooms checked out fine, other than a general rancid smell and a large pile of dishes in Swift’s room. Fengli reentered the main room, where everyone else was gathered.
“Line up in the hall, I will talk to you individually now. Kyoko, I will be speaking with you first.” Fengli said, pointing with the end of her pen as she spoke.
“Right, I assume you have been integrating into the team well?” Fengli asked, her pen poised to write over her clipboard.
“Of course, everything has been going fantastically in the week I have been here” Kyoko said, grinning.
“Have you noticed anything peculiar going on, specifically concerning Jake and Locke?” The older of the two asked.
“Of course not, they are perfectly normal team members.” Kyoko shrugged.
“Right.” Fengli nodded, jotting down some notes on her clipboard. “Send Swift in.” Kyoko nodded, walking into the hall, followed by Swift coming in. “Right, How have things been?”
“Everything has been normal, wait, the fridge has been emptier.” He said after pondering for a second
“Yes, as the majority of the contents of the fridge are smelly and labeled in your handwriting, you should do a better job of eating your leftovers. Go clean out the fridge before i leave.” Fengli said, pointing to the kitchen.
“Yeah yeah” Swift grumbled, walking into the kitchen as Fengli called Jake in.
“How have things been?” Fengli asked.
“Same as they have ever been” Jake answered.
“Nothing overly important going on?” Fengli asked.
“Of course not, If there was I assure you, you would be the first to know.” Jake replied. “Anything else?”
“There never is.” Fengli said, “Send Evak in.”
“Of course.” Jake said, heading into the hall. “Evak, your turn” He said, standing next to Locke as Evak left.
“Any news for me?” Fengli asked, tapping her clipboard.
“There has been an increase in the whispering between them, and Calder has been taking the elevator down more often, despite no noticeable increase in Scarecrow’s sleep patterns.” Evak said, “I assume something is being planned, right below us.”
“Perfect, thank you.” Fengli said, finishing her notes on the clipboard, and dismissing him. “Send in Scarecrow.”
“Of course.” Evak said, walking into the hall, it being clear that Locke and Jake finished a hushed conversation. “Locke, you’re up.”
“Oh, this is lovely” Locke said exiting.
“what is so difficult for her to understand what I’m hinting at.” Jake stage whispered harshly as Locke left.
“Well she has the brains of a scarecrow” Evak commented as he walked past and into the elevator.
“Good morning Fengli!” Locke said, a bit of swagger in her step as she entered the room.
“Right good morning, now lets get down to business.” Fengli said, tapping her clipboard.
“Oh, I dont think so.” Locke said, approaching Fengli with a sudden burst of speed. She lifted the older woman only enough to get her off of her feet. “I shall be settling this once and for all” A large ball of dark purple light forming in the hand not holding Fengli up.
“No, you shall not!” Fengli said, quickly snapping her arms up to grab the two needles in her hair, quickly snapping them down, imbedding both into Locke’s shoulders.
“Gosh!” Locke squawked, dropping fengli to the ground and dropping to her knees herself, the pain evident in her expression.
“Poisoned needles, I never leave home without them. Even better when the person you are stabbing doesn't have bones to impede their progress.”

~~End Chapter Four~~

Fengli stalked out of the room, picking up her clipboard on her way. “Calder, Scarecrow is a bit injured; you should probably fix that,” she shouted as she waited for the lobby elevator.
“What happened?” Jake asked, unsure if he should pull the needles out. “Do scarecrows even bleed?” he muttered.
“She made a threat upon my life; I was reasonable. Be glad it wasn't something more crucial,” Fengli said as the elevator opened, and she left.
“Jake, calm down. Gosh, I think I would know if I was dying,” Locke said. “It just hurts, quite the bit. I don’t think I can bleed, so if you could just pull out the needles, that would prolly just be awesome.” Locke trailed off at the end, trying not to start rambling off on a tangent.
“Right, okay; are you sure you aren’t dying or anything? I don’t even know what poison is in these needles,” Jake said, over the initial freak out. He pulled the needles out quickly, Locke gritting her teeth to not squawk.
“Come on; I need to figure out what was in those needles, and maybe find some straw to fuse or weld or something in the holes, those bloody needles.” Locke snickered slightly at that. “Bloody? Ha. I can’t even bleed right now,” she said, standing up and leaning slightly against Jake.
The two walked to the internal elevator, Locke opting to lean against the wall whilst they waited. “I think it may be a sedative, or maybe a general weakening poison,” Locke rambled on the ride to the lab.
“This should let me figure out what’s on those needles,” Locke said after mixing several different chemicals, holding out the white mixture for Jake to drop the needles in.
Jake dropped the needles in, points down. The mixture immediately started clouding a soft shade of blue. “Just what I thought: a sedative. Who knows when it’ll flush out of my system, or if it even can?” Locke yawned, getting up from the chair she had been sitting on. “You guys need to find the Enchantress, get her to reverse the scarecrow aspects. Otherwise, who knows how long those needles will have me out for?” She slumped back into the chair, folding her arms on the table and resting her head on them, dozing off. “Right, well, bye,” she mumbled.
Jake stood there for a minute, before leaving. He left as the solute turned a darker blue. As he arrived to the console room, he hit a button on the underside of it, which summoned the rest of the team from their living quarters. He pulled up the files on the villains they had faced, frowning at the outdated information.
“What’s the emergency?” Swift asked, taking a seat on the large couch in front of the console. Kyoko sat with him, while Evak opted to stand across from Jake at the console.
“Fengli stabbed Locke with her poisoned needles; apparently there was a sedative coated on the tips of them. We can’t tell how long Locke will be knocked out for, or if it will wear off if she doesn’t become significantly less straw,” Jake said, as he switched from villain files and into civilian files.
“Wait, Fengli stabbed her?” Kyoko asked, bewildered.
“Matter of time, really,” Evak said as Jake started typing furiously on the console.
“Alright, come on guys, and Kyoko,” Jake said, picking up the hoverboard that had been leaning against the couch. “We’ve a villain to deal with.”
Swift, Kyoko and Evak looked over the console, which had been left open on a civilian named Caser N Nhast. “Villain? All I see is the file of a perfectly normal person. Look - they have a job and everything!” Evak countered, scrolling through the file.
“No; what you have is the file of a cover up,” Jake corrected, waiting for the elevator. “Think for a moment. Caser N Nhast is an anagram of everyone’s favourite magician.”
“Where is your proof?” Evak asked.
“My proof is in the fact that I wouldn't go if I weren't certain.” He stepped into the elevator. “Now, are you coming?”
“Yeah, hold the elevator,” Swift said, he and Kyoko joining Evak.
“Fine.” Evak joined them right before the elevator closed. “Where does she live, anyways?”
“The end of Crim Crossing,” Jake said, as they exited the building.
“In that spooky old house?” Swift asked, picking up Kyoko and flying up a bit. Jake hopped on the hoverboard, becoming level with Swift.
“Yes; surprising no one noticed before. Now, let’s go,” Jake said, taking off at a fast speed without waiting for them. Evak dropped into the ground, moving underground towards the house. Swift and Kyoko followed Jake.
They all arrived in a short span of time, despite it being about a mile away. Jake seeming to be travelling with haste, although it may have just been that the hoverboard was calibrated to the moving weight of two people. Jake walked up to the door, knocking calmly. “I’m coming,” a muffled voice called from in the large house.
“Oh, no.” Caser scowled, dressed much more casually than any of the heroes had seen her, in a tank top and sweatpants. “We had a deal, Calder,” she said, pointing a sharply filed nail at Jake.
“And I’m not breaking that deal.” He pushed her hand to the side. “We aren’t here to arrest you.”
“Right, yeah, of course. Don’t bother telling me what you’re here for; I already know. You can come in, but your hero buddies have to stay outside.” Caser turned, walking further into the house. Jake followed, closing the door behind him.
“Alright, what’s the deal? I’ve been keeping an eye on you and your buddies, don't get me wrong. She seems ecstatic about the whole powers thing and the straw isn’t bothering her. What’s up?” Caser leaned against a table as she spoke, crossing her arms.
“She isn’t made of flesh, so she is going to be out for an undetermined amount of time. I am assuming the worst, so change her back,” Jake said, his voice becoming threatening towards the end.
“This is going to get rid of her powers as well. You are aware of this, right?” Caser asked. “She didn’t take it well the first time I did it, and the second time, she almost got herself killed. I don’t want that to happen again. She was my friend.” Caser reluctantly picked up a wand from behind her.
“I am aware, and I’m sure,” Jake said.
“Alright, then. Fine,” Caser sighed.
“To reverse a human made of straw
Is one of the rudimentary things of magic law.
But this one is special for this one is injured,
It will require assistance from the one who has made a blizzard
You will just need to burn this picture.” A plume of smoke came out of the wand tip, a piece of paper bursting out of it, folded in half. Caser caught it. She handed it to jake, along with a pack of matches. “Burn it quick before it starts trying to change.”
Jake lit the piece of paper on fire. It burned up quickly, crumbling to ashes.
----
The camera focused on the lab, mostly unmoving other than a gradually fading puff of smoke in the corner. Locke turned on her side, seeming in the midst of a nightmare.

“Its time for your audience with the current head of Dimidus. Watch what you say brat.” The heavily armoured guard said, pushing Locke forwards by jabbing her in the back with the but of their spear. Locke pushed her way through the doors, entering the cavernous room.
The long red carpet she stood on lead up to the throne, upon which the current ruler of Dimidus sat. The ceiling of the room was up two floors, with balconies looking down upon it the throne room. Locke stood up straight, her shackles rattling behind her.
“Young Villainess why have you been brought before me?” The ruler’s voice boomed throughout the room.
“I was brought her for reports of treason, here to plead myself guilty.” Her eyes inverted, the normally black iris’s turning white. “But you know, I cant really do that.” The chain snapped behind her, and she brought her hands before her. “Oh thats much better.” Locke rubbed her wrists calmly.
“Guards!” C. Monster shouted. “Guards come here at once”
“Really? Trying to ruin my fun already. Such a kill joy!” Locke sighed. “Well if you insist. Her fist was coated in a layer of darkness. She swung upwards, making a grabbing motion. The leader was swung upwards by a large slightly purple shadow. Using her other hand she swung backwards, taking out a wave of guards. She released C, swinging forwards and hitting him as he fell.
“Cease attacking me, your leader is gone. By the laws of Dimidus I lead you now.” Locke stood up straight, and walked to the throne, standing in front of it. “Well, where are my accomplices?” Locke shouted, this time her voice booming through the room.
“Thats our cue” Caser said, glancing over at Jake. The two swung down from the balconies, landing safely. They joined Locke in standing before the throne.
“My word is now law around here. You will all listen to them as well as they are my lieutenants. The first to ignore them will be first accused of treason. And I am not as easy to defeat as my successor.” Locke said, a small speech, but the words held a air of threatening about them with energy flairs that could be felt around the room. Anyone who hadnt heard of it before would certainly have heard of it now.

“Okay, so weve made three raids on these storage garages.” Caser said, waving her wand over the table and three figures of broken sheds appeared on the board.
“Than there are two more in Amethyst, seven in Garnet and four in Pearl. Have the scouts gotten back from Quartz yet?” Locke asked, throwing steak knives at a target, hitting the center or near it every time.
“Jake sent word this morning that they are on their way with maps and that they’ll arrive in about a minute.” Caser said with a glance at the alarm clock with a knife sticking out of it.
“And the lovely weekend of the girls comes to a close.” Locke joked, clapping Caser on the back as they left the room, and descended the large staircase. The large doors that led into the building could be heard closing from where the two females stood.
“Hey Jake hurry up with those maps” Caser shouted, pulling a broom out of a umbrella stand and jumping on it as it floated.
“Show off.” Locke rolled her eyes, but racing alongside Caser to the entryway where Jake and several other scouts stood. “Maps.” She demanded. Jake handed them to her before conversing in hushed tones with Caser.
“Alright troops, Go rest up. We havent any missions requiring your services for now.” Locke dissmissed them quickly. “Alright nerds, We’ve raids to plan” she grinned, leading the way. Caser glanced at Jake before the two followed. “You two arent plottin behind my back are you?” Locke joked, taking the steps two at a time as she looked over her shoulder.
The two didnt answer as Locke barged into her room, which over the month they had ruled over so far had became a center of command after several long sleepless nights and reports of the lights in the board room being on frightened the new recruits.
She spread the map on the table, adjusting the earlier pegs so that they were all on the new extended map. Her cohorts joined behind her, the three pouring over the map. “Im thinking if we hit these two at the same time the heros will have to choose which is more important. If we make a large enough racket than we can have a third troup attacking the final warehouse here in amethyst. “ Locke suggested, creating small figures that glowed a dark colour.
“Locke we dont have the troops for that.” Jake pointed out.
“Really? I see two others in front of me. Jake you handle the one in Pearl, its right on the waterfront. Caser you can have your pick of the two in Amethyst. Split the troops between the two of you. I’ll take the last one.” Locke said, the figures flaring upwards as she grinned.
“Locke, you didnt sleep at all this weekend did you?” Caser asked.
“No, nor did I wednesday thursday or friday. this has nothing to do with anything. My plan is foolproof and you both know it.” Locke glared at the two of them.
“Locke, you arent thinking straight. We cant risk you getting too injured because you decided to take down an entire warehouse on your own.” Jake said, slamming his hands on the table.
Locke blinked, taking a step back from the table, her figures dissipating. “Right, Youre right. Both of you, when arent you right. Ive not been tired is all, I never have been and when I am the whispers keep me awake.”
“Whispers?” Caser asked.
Locke waved her hand away. “Nevermind forget I said anything.” She ran a hand through her hair pacing back and forth for a second. “I’m going outside, I’ll be back, uh, sometime.”
The door closed lightly behind her. “Jake, I dont know whats wrong with her but its something big. She hasnt slept or even stopped glowing at all since wendsday and today is monday” Caser fretted, mentioning the elephant that left the room with Locke glowing.
“I dont know what it could be, stress probably.” Jake said.

Locke scowled as she walked, glowing an ominous purple. It was storming out, must have started after Jake had gotten back as none of his fleet was wet in the slightest. She swung a hand over her head, making an invisible umbrella that moved as she walked.
“I’m not losing it, I am fine, perfectly fine.” She combed through her hair with her fingers. “There is nothing wrong.”
“Well than, if there is nothing wrong then why are you out so late?” a figure from the shadows asked.
“You are speaking to the queen of con artists, you would be right to cease at once.” Locke glared at the figure, stopping.
“I’m no con artist my dear friend, I am but a person looking to do a good deed.” They shrugged and stepped out of the shadows. They were fashionable to say the least, in a nice coat and a lovely hat.
“Oh really now? What could you possible do?” Locke asked, skeptical.
“I can make all of the whispers go away, no more urges to kill anyone at all” They smiled, “At no cost to you at all.”
“No cost at all?” Locke asked, a hint of desperation and joy in her voice. “And no whispers”
“None and none. Do we have a deal?” They stuck their hand out, it halfway under the umbrella that Locke had created. Locke hesitated for a moment before shaking their hand.
Sparks of purple erupted from their joined hands, flowing mostly towards the more fashionable of the two. “Oh did I say no cost? Well I’ll admit thats a bit of a lie. Too late now!” They cackled as the purple surrounded them, and just like that they were gone in a flash.
Locke fell to her knees as they vanished. The rain lightened up to a drizzle. She pushed against the ground to stand up. “I’m fine, I am fine just going to go home” Locke muttered, starting towards the way she came, mumbling the whole way. She walked straight into the door to knock, leaning against it as she waited for someone to come.
Jake and Caser opened the door, Locke falling onto Caser, who fell into Jake who managed to hold the three of them up. Locke righted herself, leaning against the door for a second.
“Locke you are soaked to the bone!” Caser said, pointing her wand at Locke, which dried her clothes and hair, which popped back to its bed-head like state.
“I’m fine, really, just beat.” Locke cut off anything her two friends had yet to say. “I’m heading to sleep.” She walked past the two of them, trudging up the stairs. She gave the maps that were still on the table a last glance, adjusting it back to her prior plans. Locke flopped into the bottom bunk of the bed in the corner, pulling the curtain shut so no daylight would awaken her.
“I dont know what happened, nor do I really want to know what happened.” Caser said. “But at least shes getting some sleep and not glowing anymore”
“Right” Jake said, “I can’t help but worry though.”

“So, we wont be going through with my plan, but I do still think we can manage the two raids,” Locke said, adjusting the figures on the map. “Jake you can still take the one in Pearl, its just far enough away. Caser you take the one her in Amythest.”
Caser nodded. “And which one will you be going with?” Jake asked, suspicion in his voice.
“Either? Neither? It doesnt really matter to me.” Locke shrugged. “Either of you want me coming with you?”
“You should come with me, That way there will be less troops to transport.” Jake said.
“No, same amount of troops.” Locke shook her head. “They’ll be dispensing more hero’s if there are two of the three heads of dimidus are at one raid.”
“Right” Caser agreed, adjusting the pegs. “We should leave at noon tomorrow, It’ll give us plenty of time to mobilize and get into position.”
“Now go split the troops between yourselves,”
0o0o0o0
“And you know the plan right?” Locke asked Caser.
“Of course I do. We fan out around the warehouse, than at dusk we strike. Stop fussing!” Caser said. “Its going to go off without a hitch.”
“Yes, I know, I’m not fussing.” Locke frowned. “I’m just checking, It has to go perfectly.”
“You are totally fussing.” Jake said.
“Whatever. Its 11:45, practically noon. Lets go” Locke left the room, marshalling the troops to lead them outside. They would be taking back routes to Pearl, going quiet as a mouse. “Jake you lead them, I’ll bring up the rear.”
“Right.” Jake said, moving to the front of the brigade.
Locke dropped away from the group as they left Dimidus, barking at the one subordinate to ask where she was going.
Dusk came quickly, with Jake’s group arriving at their destination and Caser’s group posed to strike. Locke stood in the general vacinity of her target. Dusk fell, and the groups pounced.
Locke descended upon the warehouse, Elevating herself using large platforms of shadows. She used large vice like claws extending from the platform, ripping the roof from the warehouse, setting off alarms.
Several heroes were dispatched. Locke immediately recognised three, Dragoon, Xespo and Lamperos. She scowled, knocking Dragoon out of the sky by hitting one of his dragonesque wings, as Xespo created a mini volcano where he stood. Locke fell backwards from her platform, dodging a stream of Light magic from Lamperos that was studded with intricate patterns.
Locke landed on a different platform, sprawled out to take the brunt out of the impact. She kept down as Xespo sent a plume of lava over her, mostly protected by another platform above her. There was a large purple explosion behind her from Lamperos’s explosion.
She jumped up, the platform that had been above her vanishing. Locke realized from the heat behind her that the building was on fire, as were likely some of its contents. Locke scowled, blocking another attack, this time from Dragoon. He slammed headfirst into a light purple wall, as Locke turned towards the building. She lifted several of the crates and brought them near her, dumping a vial on each of them, causing them to disappear.
As the last one vanished, the wall that had been protecting her from the attacks vanished, launching her forwards. Locke fell into the building, the only crates left were on fire, as was most of the building. She squinted, taking off her black overcoat before it was subjected to the flames, tossing it away from herself as she stood. Creating a series of platforms in front of her she started walking up them, rolling up her sleeves.
“Look, I’m done here. alright?” She scowled at the heros below her.
“Oh, No you are not!” Xespo corrected, standing atop a small volcano he has brought up.
“Oh, Yes I AM” Locke said, her voice escalating in volume until she was screaming, coating her arms in a mystic purple flame as she jumped down from her platforms, conjuring new ones as fast as she left them.
Lampero was her first target, the light based hero barely having enough time to create a small shield that had the same flower pattern as her last attacks. Locke slammed her side into it, shattering the hastily made armour. Once the shield was out of the way, Locke slammed her fist into the other girl’s side, managing to stun the other hero.
While Locke was attacking Lampero, Xespo had brought lava up his volcano, launching it at the Villainess. Locke made a series of weak shields to slow the plume whilst she moved out of the way. She focused on Dragoon, deciding that Xespo’s attacks were too weak and slow to focus on. She charged upwards on her platforms, towards the flying hero.
Xespo’s volcano rumbled, covering the sounds of their back up. Locke ignored it, focused on jumping on Dragoon’s back as he tried to fly upwards. Locke scrabbled on his back for a moment, the purple fire engulfing her arms burning the leathery skin. Dragoon shouted, diving towards the ground, tucking into a roll before hitting the ground, letting the villain on his back cushion his fall.
Locke fell off of Dragoon’s back upon impact, lying sprawled upon the hard dirt. She sat up, and realized she was surrounded. She scowled, glancing around for an exit. Seeing none, she let out a wave of her purple flames, launching herself upwards only to be slammed downwards.
She let out a scream as she fell, letting loose a wave of dark magic, knocking most of the soldiers back. she felt as though something was being ripped from her, something deep and primal as she screamed, letting loose more and more of her powers.
Miles away, as Locke collapsed, a person with a very fashionable hat smiled. They walked away, glowing a soft purple.

I slid down the side of the wall, Looking up in horror at the figure in a long black cloak. "What did you do to me?" My voice broke.
"I did as you asked. You'll no longer have to worry about loosing anyone you care for ever again" The being opposite me flipped up their collar against the cold and adjusted their fashionable hat. "Have a nice life, wont last you as long as you are used too"
I shuddered as they left, a streak of lightning illuminating everything sharply for a moment. I took every little detail in, trying to distract myself. I could feel blood moving through my blood stream, every cell dying as it was replaced, oxygen being pumped into me from the ragged breaths I was taking.
I had been immortal, one of the few who still where. Of course our numbers have never dwindled some of us just hid away from the world, tired of seeing loved ones pass away like grains of sand through an hourglass.
I had never needed to breathe before it was like once I had grown my body just stopped. It was like time was at a stand still for me, yet I could still move. I had seen the rise and fall of so many empires.
I stood, my breathing finally regulating itself. I was soaked to the bone, chilled. I leaned forwards stooping down as I walked curling inwards. I walked towards my current home, hugging my arms to myself. I never wore anything warmer than a T-shirt not ever feeling the cold or the warmth negatively. I could feel my blood flowing under my fingertips, my heart beating and my lungs expanding. I crossed the road assuming that no one would be out this late.
I was wrong.
On the bright side, I saw all of my loved ones again.

I stood after having beaten the classily dressed lady, in her layered shawl, long shirt and dress. “Oh thanks a lot!” She sneered. “Now I have a bad report to bring back to Them!”
I rolled my eyes. A bunch of the lackeys I had to beat to get here has commented on reporting back to Her, so I must assume that the lovely lady in front of me is Her, or better referred to as She. I really didnt care, I just wanted to get out of this town and to the next one. I leaned back and let loose a loud sigh as She just grabbed onto the ladder of a passing helicopter.
“Toodles~ I’ll see you beaten by Them, I assure you of that!” She gave a mock salute to me as the actual adults who were supposed to be chasing the criminals in the area. I left to collect my next badge, the ones I has already collected clipped to my bag.

I sighed as I was lifted as I tried to leave the town. A small child stopped me from leaving the town. “Excuse me, but there is a bit of a commotion at the big office building! They have my big brother there!”
I wished I wasnt mute so I could direct the child to the police. I jumped a bit as they grabbed my hand and started directing me to the building. Welp couldnt get out of it now. I trudged into the building and faced the first grunt. I beat them and they shouted about how they were going to warn Him.
-
I came out on the top floor of the building, and faced a hulking mass of a man. He was dressed in the same green as everyone else in this organization, but he was wearing a shawl type thing on his shoulders. I assumed him to be the He all of the grunts said I’d face.
I defeated him quickly, attaching my pokeball to my belt. I slouched as I made a gesture to a height around my waste. He leaned backwards making a loud groan. “I forgot all about my sister didnt I!?” He shouted. “I’ll suppose youll face Them next though!”

I finally reached the end of the league and then who do I see sitting on the champions throne but a spindly figure in green. “Oh so its you whos been taking out all of my subordinates. Well, you can see why Ive not been doing it myself, I’ve a cushy seat here.”
They take a deep breath and tilt their head before continuing. “But I had to get these pieces somehow. “ Their hands pull apart revealing two gems loosely floating between their gloved hands. They snapped them into their right hand. “And with mine” They bring a third out of their pocket, the shawl on their shoulders shifting.
“Ive got a Imperial stone.” They shrug as they put it in their pocket.
“But its about time I’ve left the throne so lets see if you’ll win!” They say as they pull a pokeball off of their belt, letting it float a little between their fingers.
I won, not to anyones surprise. “Alright than, bye.” They give a two fingered salute. The back of the room was open to air, a rather long drop behind. “See you.” They fall backwards.
I rushed forwards, looking over the edge. I let out a soft sigh as I see that They had landed in a flying car. “Dont worry, I’ll show you all about the Imperial stone in another time! But for now, enjoy the throne!”

I walked into Willow town, already decided to just poke around bit, and than leave.
Stille happened to be walking through the town on his way to the PokéMart, his Noivern at his side and his violin in hand. He lived there, so he knew the route well, and knew many of the townsfolk. He saw someone near the PokéMart whom he did not recognize. [It is I.]
I walked into the pokemart, intending to restock on supplies while in the town. I gave the shopkeeper a list and the appropriate amount of money for everything on it instead of miming out what I needed.
Seeing that I was giving the shopkeeper a list, Stille wondered if I was mute, but didn’t see any reason to ask. Even if I was mute, for all he knew, he might not want to speak.
I put everything in the bag at their side and waved to the shop keeper, lifting a small sign that said thank you on it. Muteness was no reason to be rude. I left the shop and went into the pokemon center, healing the current party that was on them.
When Stille saw I lifting a literal sign, he took it as a metaphorical sign that I was mute but had nothing against speaking. He then decided that he should teach I about using Telepathy to communicate, just in case it would help I; with this in mind, he followed I to the Pokémon Center (not in a stalkerish way, but in an I’m-going-to-help-you-and-then-leave-you-alone way).
I waved awkwardly at Stille, as they waited for their pokemon to finish healing.
Stille waved back, then telepathically (through Noivern) began a conversation. Er… hi. I noticed based on your actions in the PokéMart that you might be mute. I am as well, and I just wanted to suggest having a Pokémon with Telepathy like my Noivern to help you communicate. It… it might help you if you really need to say something. You can reply through my Noivern as well until he stops the connection.
I started using sign language at a rather basic pace. Do you know sign language?
I do, to a limited extent. I started learning when I was a lot younger, but sort of stopped when my parents found Noibat for me to telepathically communicate, he replied in sign language. He noticeably made a few errors and had to pause for several seconds between words.
Right. Thank you for your suggestion, but I am fine. I have signs if I urgently need to say something. I said, using both telepathy and sign language, the words going at a slow pace to match the hand motions. I believe I have a medicham with the ability if the need arises though.
Alright, Stille replied cheerfully. I simply decided to suggest in case you did need the help. Before we part ways, would you like to have a Pokémon battle?
Yeah sure, one second. I retrieved their pokemon from nurse joy, before leading Stille to the Union Room on the second floor of the pokemon center.
Stille followed. I’m interested to see how you communicate with your Pokémon in the battle. Noivern won’t be able to focus on Telepathy during the battle, so obviously I won’t be able to talk to you during the battle what with my awful sign language - I’d be interested to see how the battle goes.
I nodded, letting typhlosion out of its pokeball. The fire type let out a roar and puffed itself up.
Alright, buddy; it’s time to stop using Telepathy. Thank you for your help! Stille said as Noivern let out a noise that could only be described as the cheerful version of a bat-wyvern roar. He then prepared for battle by getting ready to use his violin.
I was a bit surprised at the appearence of the violin. but shrugged. I pulled out a Electric keyboard on a stand. They tested it by playing a quick scale to make sure it was working before giving a thumbs up to Typhlosion.
Similarly, Stille tuned his violin. Afterwards, he played a short melody to prepare Noivern for battle. The wyvern looked back and nodded to confirm that he was ready.
I played a C major chord, and Typhlosion charged at the bat.
Immediately beginning to play his violin, Stille commanded Noivern to fly out of the way and use Dragon Pulse at Typhlosion.
I slammed down on a deeper chord, focusing on their left handed bass scales, while the right hand shifted between the third and fourth octaves. maintaining the melody. Typlosion launched a strong eruption.
Using a faster tempo to convey a sense of urgency, Stille told Noivern that it was unlikely he would be able to dodge completely, but to try to avoid as much as he could (it’s surprising how frequently such a command would come up - Stille actually had to create a new violin command just for it after too many times that he wished he could say it), then use Boomburst.
I played a quick haunting bassline, with sharp high notes, signaling for Typlosion to use smokescreen.
Noivern’s Boomburst created an outward burst of deafening explosions in quick succession, hitting everything nearby except the Trainers, who were, thankfully, protected from all attacks with special shields built into the Union Room. This did mean hitting Typhlosion, although Noivern couldn’t see it; however, the smokescreen certainly would prevent him from seeing Typhlosion’s other attacks and would result in an inability to dodge.
I played a crescendo, signalling a sense of rising action, as Typhlosion used flamethrower, several times in sucession, marked by several crescendos and diminuendos.
Knowing that it wouldn’t be very easy to hit Typhlosion with Dragon Pulse, let alone the highly inaccurate Focus Blast, until the smoke cleared, and that Boomburst was taxing on the user and could not be used too many times without resulting in exhaustion (let alone twice in a row), Stille began a decrescendo while also lowering the tempo drastically to indicate that Noivern should use Moonlight to recover from what damage he would take and was presently taking.
I frowned, playing a higher scale with a F major chord under it, signaling Typlosion to use lava plume. I was slightly aware of the amassing spectators watching from the stands.
Stille’s Noivern couldn’t dodge the Lava Plume in time, and was badly damaged. Were it not for his resistance, he would certainly have fainted. Stille kept up the slow tempo and decrescendo, instructing Noivern to once again use Moonlight to attempt to recover as much lost health as possible.
I continued playing the scales, rising in tempo steadily as they crescendoed. Typlosion used Lava plume again, hoping to burn the flying bat.
Unfortunately for Stille and Noivern, Typhlosion was successful. The burn made it harder to heal, and Noivern managed only one more Boomburst before collapsing independently of any further attacks. Stille played a sad melody in an apology to his beloved partner and quickly recalled him to allow him a good rest; he then sent out his Heleo, with the intention of “fighting fire with fire,” literally.
I paused in their music while Stille swapped pokemon, cracking their knuckles before leaning back over the keyboard, raising it up a notch or two in height. They hovered over the notes while waiting for Stille be ready.
Stille prepared his Heleo by shifting to a different song, to which the Light Pokémon was more accustomed, and then raised the tempo quite a bit to request use of Psyshock. The leonine Pokémon immediately reacted by sending several orbs of purple light shooting outwards until they reached Typhlosion, where they stopped moving and then suddenly solidified and spiraled into the eruption Pokémon. On contact, they exploded into bursts of purple energy.
Typlosion was knocked back a few feet, showing damage from having already defeated one of Stilles pokemon. I played the chords for flamethrower and the flame pokemon used the move.
Heleo, being Fire-type, wasn’t hurt badly; in retaliation, Stille lowered the tempo and the pitch, commanding a Dark Pulse.
I slammed on the lower keys, directing typlosion to use lava plume as a last ditch effort to cause damage.
The Lava Plume hit Heleo, who could not be burned due to being Fire-type and who resisted the attack, but the Dark Pulse hit Typhlosion at the same time.
I frowned, as Typhlosion was unable to continue. They returned the large pokemon and swapped for Aromatisse, turning the keyboard up a few octaves and stepping on the peddle in hopes to confuse Heleo with the reverberating notes. They played the G major scale in G position, because Aromatisse was used to those notes.
Stille decreased the tempo and began a decrescendo, instructing Heleo to use Synthesis to restore all of the damage it had lost; he then began a crescendo while retaining the low tempo to indicate use of Eruption as soon as Heleo was fully healed. Eruption did more damage the higher the user’s health, so Synthesis was an effective way to take advantage of it.
I played a loud reverbrating series of notes, commanding Aromatisse to use disarming voice to further throw off their opponents.
Hoping that the resisted move wouldn’t hurt too much, Stille did not change his command - as soon as Heleo finished the first Synthesis, he launched a high-powered Eruption straight at Aromatisse.
Aromatisse took the hit, looking worse for the wear but still like the pokemon that helped beat the hoenn elite four and champion. I played a high melody with both hands, signalling aromatisse to use moonblast.
Stille retaliated by instructing Heleo to use Eruption once again, which hit the Moonblast in midair. The Moonblast burst, which also stopped part of the eruption and caused more to spray in the wrong direction; some of the lunar energy did, in fact, hit Heleo, and what was left of the Eruption barely even had the momentum to reach Aromatisse. It still was searing hot and painful, but at least it wasn’t being blasted in the creepy perfume’s face!
I slammed down on the keys, causing the eerie tingling to linger in the air as Aromatisse rushed forwards and used draining kiss.
Heleo retaliated using yet another Eruption at close range. His health was being sapped while it was being used, so it was no more effective than the long-range hits he had been doing previously, but the accuracy was increased and the move did at least hit. However, when Draining Kiss had done too much damage, he had to stop using the move, which depended too much on how much energy he already had.
I slammed down on the melody over and over, Telling the large pink pokemon to use the move again.
Decreasing the tempo but retaining what once was a crescendo and what was kind of now just a high volume, Stille told Heleo to stay strong and use Synthesis again. While this was effectively giving Aromatisse an unlimited supply of energy to drain for itself, it still helped Heleo a fair amout.
Aromatisse shook out afterwards, being fully healed from the two healing moves in a row, using moonblast at I’s melodic commands.
While Stille retained the slow tempo and high volume, Heleo continued to heal heself, totally ignoring the Moonblast as he managed to restore all of his health, including that which the Moonblast was taking away. Seeing that Heleo was finished, Stille commanded an immediate Psyshock, taking advantage of the creepy perfume’s low defense.
The large pink puffball shook out, before a reverbrating crescendo in a lower octave signaled foreboarding while the melody commanded fairy wind to be used.
Keeping up the higher tempo used for Psyshock, Stille instructed Heleo to use the move once again. The psychic orbs were weakened by the Fairy Wind, but still managed to reach the opposing Pokémon with relatively high power.
I played a reverbrating tone, signalling the pink pokemon to use disarming voice before fainting. I swapped the Kalosian pokemon for a Torterra, switching the computer down three octaves than normal. Slamming down on the lower keys to signal that torterra should use earthquake.
Heleo leapt gracefully into the air and did not stay airborne for long enough to avoid damage. If only he could Levitate… Using a slower tempo and a decrescendo, Stille instructed Heleo to use Synthesis in preparation of a hopefully-powerful Eruption. He just hoped that Heleo wouldn’t be hurt too badly in between the two moves so Eruption would still be effective.
I played a series of two chords alternating, informing torterra to use Hyperbeam while Heleo was using synthesis.
Heleo kept up the Synthesis to heal damage taken from Hyper Beam WHILE the move was being used, but it had to be kept up just long enough for Torterra to finish the move AND finish recharging before Heleo had enough energy to do anything else. Since both Heleo and Torterra could now act, and Heleo was a bit faster, Stille took advantage of the situation to use Eruption, with a crescendo but no change in tempo. The burst of fiery energy was shot forward very quickly.
Torterra took the hit, moving back a few inches. It used the smoke from the firey energy to power forwards, charging Heleo.
Stille instructed Heleo to use Eruption once again, but it was too late. The crushing weight of the world tortoise Pokémon was overpowering, and Heleo instantly returned to his PokéBall, accompanied by a sad melody on Stille’s part. The violinist prepared to send out his last Pokémon, and grasped Audino’s PokéBall in his hand. Glancing at the Mega Pendant on his neck, he sighed nervously and sent out the Hearing Pokémon, playing a cheerful-sounding tune to match the Pokémon’s nature. He then grasped his Mega Pendant, and when his hand touched it, a bright pink light burst out. The Audinite grasped by his Audino began to shine vividly, and his partner was cloaked in a spherical veil of reddish-orange energy as she began to glow and underwent a rapid change. When the spherical veil faded, the Mega Evolution symbol appeared in the air above her head and burst into glittering light. Suddenly, however - before the battle was over - another sphere surrounded her and shattered into shards of light as she returned to her normal form, much to the utter shock off the spectators and Stille.
I gave Stille a strange look. they didnt know much about Mega evolution, but that could be something normal to happen. I had no idea.
Shrugging it off so that his opponent didn’t gain the upper hand as a result of his hesitation, Stille decreased the tempo and began a crescendo, indicating that Audino should surround herself in glowing green light, which should then be explosively released in the form of a Hidden Power. He would have to investigate the failed Mega Evolution later.
I had Torterra use earthquake after taking the Hidden power, glad for the grass types HIGH defense. It was as high as a forgotten balloon.
Fearing for the safety of his Audino, and concerned by the failed attempt at Mega Evolving, Stille instructed use of Secret Power - perhaps he could manage to paralyze Torterra and make it easier to fight. Audino’s body began to shine brightly, and energy appeared to be drawn from the surroundings, visibly pulsing through the ground and even the normally-invisible shields for the Trainers, coming towards Audino. She then released it in a burst of light as she tackled Torterra with her full weight.
Torterra moved backwards and inch, not moved much by the lighter pokemon. The already slow pokemon was slower as it was paralyzed. Torterra used Toxic at a Strange nine second intro that sounds vaugly familiar.
Stille was unsure how to react to the music, but this moment of hesitation proved to be a bad decision, as Audino ended up being hit by the move. Stille cringed at his own stupidity for allowing his Pokémon to be poisoned, but hoped Audino could pull through and win BEFORE the poison worsened too much, commanding her to again use Secret Power.
I commanded Torterra to use wood hammar, glad for the ever hitting move. I used a deep chord to signal it.
Stille’s Audino could barely hold on, but she used Secret Power once more, praying that it would be enough to knock out Torterra. If only the Mega Evolution hadn’t failed for whatever reason…
I had torterra use giga drain while secret power was used, barely hanging onto the win.
Much to Stille’s dismay, Audino collapsed to the ground from the poison damage combined with the powerful draining move. Stille withdrew Audino and, since the battle was officially over, his Pokémon were fully healed by the wonderful Union Room technology, allowing him to send out Noivern and resume his telepathic communication with the others. That was a wonderful battle! Congratulations on your victory, er… did you tell me your name? WAIT, I DIDN’T EITHER! Sorry!! My name is Stille!
I held up their trainer card, which was currently pegged with stamps marking that they had beaten the hoenn and sinnoh champions.
Stille’s eyes widened. You’ve beaten two Pokémon Leagues?! It’s no wonder you defeated me! I have eight Badges, but I haven’t been able to win in the Pokémon League yet!
Going to beat this one and than leave. I communicated through both sign language and telepathy. Than I am going back to Hoenn than Johto.
That’s amazing! Stille replied. Oh, um, since we weren’t communicating telepathically at the time and I couldn’t ask, did your Torterra have something special about it to prevent Mega Evolution? My Audino reverted to normal after only a few seconds!
I dont think so? I do not know much of mega evolution. I believe that Torterra has overgrow. Does that effect mega evolution? I asked, only knowing a little more than a tall agendered person back in Hoenn who looked up from what they where doing incredulously.
Not as far as I know, Stille replied confusedly.
“Excuse me,” one of the spectators interrupted. “Sorry if I wasn’t supposed to be listening to you, but if you’re confused about your Mega Evolution not working… I think it may have been the work of an extremely rare Pokémon. There IS the rumor of the Pokémon in whose presence Mega Evolution cannot be performed, and people have mentioned seeing it near here recently…”
I shrugged, You should probably find the person who catches that pokemon than.
“Catches?” the spectator asked confusedly. “No, this Pokémon has never been caught. That’s why we know so little about it. But… if your Audino failed to Mega Evolve, that could be related to it…”
Thank you for your help, Stille replied. I’ll go ask around town and see if I can get more information.
“One last thing,” the spectator said. “Y-you two had a really amazing battle. The music was beautiful.”
Thank you! Stille said cheerfully.
I signed Thank you, as it was one of the few commonly known words. I hoped it wasnt mistaken for the swear word that was similar to it.
“Excuse m- oh, wait, sorry, I misread that,” the spectator said sheepishly. She handed both of them a Lumiose Galette. “That is for the wonderful performance!”
Several other spectators gave them assorted pastries. One of them bit his own pastry instead of handing it forward, earning him some confused looks from other spectators.
Thank you! Stille said gratefully, before deciding it would probably be best to leave and look into the strange Pokémon.
I made a strangled frog noise as the pastries where given to them, before leaving, balancing them in a tower. They went down into the pokemon center to share them with the three pokemon who had just battles before leaving for the Thiryu pokemon league.

Just a note clarifying that there have been some... uh... technical difficulties we totally didn't forget to redo the italics when copying the story from our RP document to PH regarding the italics. They shall be fixed later. For now, if there is something that does not look like narration, it is probably telepathy. Sorry for the confusion! XD

‘This is going great!’ Swift thought, patrolling around. It was getting a bit hectic in the tower, with Locke and Evak butting heads at the moment. He was a bit surprised when he heard flapping. Normally the birds around Amethyst weren't huge.
Or at least they were not human sized.
“Hey, Bird dude!” Swift half shouted. “Who’re you?”
The ‘Bird dude’ in question half paused, still having to flap his wings unlike Swift, who was just standing on nothing. “My name is Cardinal. You are Swift Speed, correct?” His head tilting to the side slightly.
“Yes, Hello! Lovely to meet you Cardinal!” Swift said, “I would shake your hand but that might knock you out of the air!”
“Yes, Farewell Swift Speed.” Cardinal said, flying in the direction Swift had came from.
“Awesome dude” Swift said, continuing towards the Ignus Tower. He flew feet first into one of the windows, and it tipping into the room on its axis in the middle.
“Hey, Swift, watch it!” Jake said as he almost fell out of the window, stepping to the side as it closed itself.
“Oh, Sorry dude, didn't see you there!” Swift apologized, landing. “Oh you won't believe who I met today!” Swift flopped over the back of the couch, landing upside down.
“Who?” Jake asked, leaning over the back of the couch.
“I met this bird guy, his name is Cardinal and he is attractive as the sun is bright!” Swift would have swooned had he not been lying down.
“Huh, really? Must be one heck of a dude.” Jake said. “Bird guy? How birdy was he?”
“Wings instead of arms, made it a bit weird cause i couldn't shake his hand, and talon feet I think? Didn’t change much though.”
“Huh. Well, he sounds lovely.” Jake said, “Kyoko and Evak said something moved in the fridge, you might want to get on that.” Jake walked away as Swift groaned loudly at the thought of cleaning the fridge, even though it really was his fault that the fridge was a biohazard.
Swift didn't move for a while, contemplating on if he could just burn the fridge, when the crime alarm went off. He floated up and rolled over, grabbing his commlink and hooking it into place on his ear. “Come on guys!” He hollered, throwing the other commlinks at his teammates.
“Swift, calm down a bit.” Locke said, grabbing the hoverboard. “Jake is staying behind, he said he had to check something out.”
“Now lets go” Evak said, running towards and out the spinning window, catching himself on a large boulder. Locke, Kyoko, and Swift followed. Locke simply hopped on the hoverboard while Swift had to pick up Kyoko follow Locke, who was kind enough to hold the window open for them to get through.
“Where are we heading?” Locke asked over the commlink.
“Just follow the loud alarms” Kyoko said, hanging from swifts arms like a monkey. She wasn't heavy as Swift was managing to manipulate both of their gravities while holding onto her. “Sounds like its coming from main street.”
“Kyoko you hit the nail on the head” Evak said. “Just a robbery”
“Wait is that Cardinal?” Swift asked, squinting in the direction of the Bank. “Oh shoot it is! I hope he doesn't get hurt”
“Swift, He is the one doing the hurting.” Locke said, tossing one of her potions to the ground as Cardinal dropped a police officer, distracting them from the villains getting away. The potion exploded into a flurry of foam, allowing the Officer a semi soft landing.
“Kyoko, I am going to drop you.” Swift said, his voice darker suddenly.
“Right” Kyoko said, letting go and landing in the pile of foam, bouncing off and drawing her sword, running into the bank, much to the police’s chargin.
Swift flew towards Cardinal, tackling him before the Bird hybrid could pick up another police officer. “Dude, what?” He asked, manipulating cardinals gravity to launch them both in the air. He then dropped Cardinal. “What are you doing?” He asked as the bird composed himself.
“The only thing I can do” Cardinal glared, his features seemed more birdlike although they hadn't changed since the last time Swift had seen him. “Now get out of my way.”
Locke launched one of her potions in a chem ball, hitting Cardinal in one wing, causing him to spiral down. Evak lifted the cement, turning the two getaway vehicles into each other, causing them to crash.
Kyoko used her fire sword to cut a hole in the back of the vehicle that hadn't made it as far, jumping into the back of it and knocking out the driver.
Locke left Swift to deal with cardinal, landing her hoverboard roughly on top of the second getaway car, kicking in a chunk of the cracked windshield and pulling it out, careful to not cut her fingers before pulling the unconscious driver out. Locke passed him down to the police.
Kyoko tapped her commlink as she exited the car. There was a large glob of goo on the ground where Cardinal should have landed and Swift was no where to be seen. “Hey Swift, you okay?” She asked, leaning against the side of the car as the police dealt with the arrests.
“I’ll be fine, just need to go for a fly. I’ll be back in a bit.” Swift said, before the ping was heard that signifies Swift’s commlink was turned off.
“Hey Locke, looks like I’m hitchin a ride with you.” Kyoko said, hopping on top of the truck that Locke was still on.
“Yeah, lets go.” Locke said as Kyoko got on the board behind her. They took off towards the Tower with Evak trailing behind underground. They arrived in one piece, seeing Jake pulling up documents on the large screen. “Guys, you might want to see this.”
The file pulled up was Cardinal’s. He was on a missing persons list except for one thing.
He was fully human.

“This is a war, so you must run. Flee youngling, watch out for yourself, carry only what will not hinder you. Be noticeable enough to be pitied, but unseen enough to not be picked out in the crowd.” Navy clung to these words, told to him by a drunken man outside of a bar. The man had given him some credits as well though. He was eight and he could move things with his mind and his parents screamed.
He left under the cover of the night, the ever inconsistent night, with his schoolbag filled with food, his pufferpig bank and one of his fathers extra coats. Navy wished his parents hadnt moved to Umbara, the dark planet wasnt suitable for a young human child.
When he was nine he got off world, already tainted by the dark humour of Umbarans, but ready to leave, for his own safety, still heeding the words of the man who was dead for all he knew. But he fled, fled to the planet known as Harridan. The city he ended up in was crowded, and his sleeves were never quite white for very long.
He quickly learned the art of running and how to use his thin tall limbs to his advantage. Of course, Navy was nine and wasn't as tall as he could have been. People got suspicious fast though and he was approached by a Jedi, who had been stationed in the city.
“No nonono” Navy shouted, shoving out his hand.
“Calm down youngling, I’m here to help you”
“How do I know that?” Navy asked, his hand still out in front of him. “How do I know you wont attack me with your light stick thing?” He asked, not entirely aware of what he was talking about, but he had heard that the Jedi have sticks that could cut through anything.
“Look, here” The Jedi put his lightsaber on the ground beside him, and stepped to the side, away from it.
Navy picked up the lightsaber, dropping it into his bag. “Alright, how are you going to help me?”
“Come with me, I’ll take you to coruscant with me. You can train to be a jedi. You wont have to live on your own anymore.”
-
“Master, I dont know anything about whats going on.” Navy asked, the day before he was to take his trials. “I hardly know about the war, or how I am to help”
“Youngling, You know what you need, and nothing more, nothing less. You’ll have your own padawan after you pass and then you will know more.”
“When I was younger I was in danger, but I knew what was going on. Now I am safe, and I have no idea of what is happening.”
“But are you happier for it?”
“I dont think I know.” Navy sighed, adjusting his coat, which wasnt entirely his and came down to his knees. He had grown in the five years as a padawan. He was only 16 but more Jedi where needed than ever.