Chapter 87: Present Misgivings
by ambyssinIt’s disappointing my gut feeling about POV-2020 was right. I’m miffed that my bosses wouldn’t believe me. I’ve been at this a while now. I like to think I’ve got a good eye for these things.
But I guess I’ve also jumped the gun too many times for their liking. Maybe there was a better way to go about this than spamming the same report repeatedly.
They’ve ordered me to keep my nose out of this, of course. But I can’t sit still. Whether we all like it or not, I’m involved in this. I was practically the first domino that fell over in this ridiculous conga line.
… Yeah, still not good with metaphors.
XxX
Yuna’s ectoplasm shriveled. The dragapult instinctively grabbed her rough gray blanket and dragged it up past her amber core.
She was mumbling to herself— no, to a memory. And Nikki heard it.
Sure, the whole “reincarnated souls” thing got brought up at the meeting. However, Yuna never went into specifics. She wasn’t sure how to broach the subject with Nikki. But it looked like she wouldn’t get the chance to think it over.
Reshiram stirred in the back of her head. No doubt encouraging honesty. Yuna kept him at bay. Her gaze remained fixed on Nikki as the toxtricity leaned against the wall opposite Yuna’s cot.
“Not a fan of the silent treatment, Princess,” she said. Sparks jumped off her mane and fizzled away before hitting the shag carpet on the floor.
“I know.” Yuna forced herself to sit up. It was much more awkward with such a bulky tail. She had to phase it through the cot, which practically defeated the bed’s purpose in the first place. “I’m having trouble collecting my thoughts.”
“Then I’ll make it easy.” Nikki sounded more tired than upset. “You think I’m one of ’em, don’t you?” She shut her eyes and tucked her chin against her chest. “These reincarnated souls or whatever.”
Yuna nodded.
Nikki’s face scrunched up. Yuna considered saying something, but the toxtricity beat her to the punch.
“Did we know each other? Is that what you were spacing out over?”
“I think so.” Yuna blinked, then hastily added, “F-For the first question, really.”
That only furrowed Nikki’s brow further. “Great. Cool.”
Yuna couldn’t peg Nikki’s tone. And she was avoiding Yuna’s gaze. Tapping her right foot on the carpet repeatedly. Even her expression was… muddled. Was she upset? Annoyed? Sad?
“So, who am I talking to?”
“Huh?” Yuna straightened up. What kind of question was that?
“You heard me.” Nikki bit her lip. “Are you really Princess? Or Yalwhatever?”
Hadn’t Yuna already explained it? She traced her hand around her core. “I’m using Giratina’s power. But it’s still me. I couldn’t… let go like that.”
“Then why are you dwelling on this past stuff so much?”
Nikki finally met Yuna’s gaze. And the dragapult had nothing for her. She was simply lying in her bed when that memory came to her. Had Giratina foisted it onto her? It couldn’t have been random chance…
Yuna had to come up with something. Nikki was still staring her down.
“I dunno… maybe there’s something in the past that can help us here?” she mumbled.
“Like what?” Nikki leaned against the wall again. “What was so important from back then it got you hallucinating or whatever?”
So Nikki did want to know. Yuna pushed her covers down and leaned against the wall behind the cot.
She told the toxtricity what she saw. The icepix’s confession about being a human. And the circumstances of her human life.
At first, Nikki didn’t say anything. Then, to Yuna’s surprise, her yellow mohawk shrank. “You’ve gotta be shitting me,” she mumbled, looking like the dragapult had slapped her across the face.
“Um…” Yuna stiffened.
“It’s not real.” Nikki held up her right hand. “That was just some… mind game someone was playing with you. Zodiark, maybe.” Her left hand squeezed her leather jacket pocket. “No way it’s real.”
“Sounds like denial to me.”
Damn it, she’d let Reshiram in. Yuna shoved him out of her mind. “Why do you think that? It’d be a pretty strange dream for me to have.”
Nikki swung her right arm. Her fist slammed against the metal wall. Hissing, she grabbed her right hand with her left and pressed it against her chest gills. The toxtricity kept mumbling, “Not real.”
“Nikki.” Yuna inched forward on the bed. Her tail was still mostly phased through it, but the end of it did poke out from under the bed. Yuna quickly realized it looked like she was coaxing Nikki toward her with her tail and hastily pulled it underneath.
“Is something wrong?” Yuna wondered. She recalled what Tessa said to Nickie when the icepix seemed unsure of herself. “You can tell me. I don’t… want to see you upset.”
After a few seconds of silence, Nikki’s loud sigh filled the room. A metallic scraping followed from Nikki’s waist spikes and the metal wall. She slid down to a seated position on the floor.
“This doesn’t leave the room, okay?”
“Okay.” Yuna pushed herself off the wall and leaned over. The dragapult winged it earlier, but was that memory actually important to the present?
“I didn’t hatch in Blightsmuth, y’know,” Nikki said, wrapping her arms around her legs and leaning forward so her chin was on her knees. “Don’t really remember anything before it. Hell, I don’t remember being a toxel. Shredder’s the one who looked after me and Scarlett when we were growing up.”
She glanced at the door, as if she expected the dragonair to open it. But it remained still. And Nikki’s mohawk was still missing.
“Then how’d you end up in Blightsmuth?”
“Hospital,” Nikki said.
The dragapult raised a brow. “Huh?”
“There used to be a small town near Blightsmuth.” Nikki remained still. “More upscale and stuff, but still under Shredder’s jurisdiction because it was closer to Blightsmuth than anywhere else.”
After a heavy breath, the toxtricity said, “I got left at a hospital there. By my parents.”
It took a moment, but Yuna eventually caught on. She gripped the edge of her bed. “Hang on. Then your parents—”
“Citadark,” Nikki flatly replied. “Apparently they left me at the hospital with some kinda nasty illness.”
Yuna tensed up. “Wait, but I—”
Nikki held up a hand to cut her off. “Not the same thing. I got sick… because my parents forced me to evolve into a toxtricity too young. Way too young.”
“Forced?” Yuna didn’t think anyone could force a ‘mon to evolve.
“They used, like, steroids and pills and stuff,” Nikki growled. “And they’re what made me sick.” She stretched out her legs, then braced her arms at her sides. “What no one’s sure of is if I was born male or my parents did something else on top of all the meds. Cuz everything was so out of whack.”
Yuna’s eyes widened in realization. “Would that—”
“I didn’t want to be a guy,” Nikki said. “Most folks around Blightsmuth were nice enough about it. But the doctors wouldn’t let me use a transfer orb until they get all the hormone stuff under control. It took years.“
She shuddered. “Everything felt wrong. And not because I evolved so fast.”
Nikki curled her fingers, grabbing and tugging on the carpet’s shag threads. “That’s why I can’t believe what you saw. I won’t. I—” She opened her eyes. “That’d mean… the same thing happened to me in two different lives!”
Yuna winced. No wonder Nikki could comfort her after her mother said she was adopted. She’d gone through something even worse!
“I can’t—” Sucking in a sharp breath, Nikki curled her legs up again. “I refuse… to believe… it’d happen twice.”
Yuna wasn’t sure whether to go to Nikki’s side or give her space. Tessa went to Nickie’s side in her memory, but the icepix’s attitude was different than the toxtricity’s. This must be why she’s always had a chip on her shoulder. Even after we ditched school.
“I’m sorry,” was what Yuna went with. She also settled for a middle ground of scooching halfway across the floor. It put her near Nikki, but not right next to her. “I never could’ve imagined.”
“Of course you couldn’t.” Nikki flicked her left wrist dismissively. “I don’t make a habit of telling people. Because it’s… in the past.”
She tensed up. “Even if… what you say is true… it’s the distant past. It doesn’t matter. I’m—” Nikki’s mohawk slowly crackled to life. “I’m Toxtricity Nikki, damn it! Not some vulpix or a dude or any of that shit!”
Silence. Nikki stretched her legs out again. Her arms flopped to her sides. She stared at her feet.
Yuna’s gut told her to inch closer, so she did. Nikki didn’t push her away. Yuna scooted closer. Again, Nikki didn’t move.
“Are you mad?” the dragapult whispered.
“Yeah.”
“Mad at me?”
“Dunno.” Nikki glanced at Yuna.
“Would you rather I keep quiet?”
“For a bit.”
So, Yuna pulled up to Nikki’s side and awkwardly sat with her back against the wall. The room was silent save for the gentle hum of the long, slender lights on the ceiling. They stared at Yuna’s cot with its crumpled gray blanket and worn white bedsheet torn at its edges.
Then Nikki lifted her right arm… and gently strummed her chest gills. The notes sounded… softer than what Yuna was used to. Almost like a different instrument. She wasn’t sure whether to ask about it.
After several seconds, however, Yuna’s curiosity got the better of her. “What is this?”
“Piano tune Scarlett and I first heard in some trashy movie we liked,” Nikki said. She continued to strum away, looking at the bed. “‘Claire de Lunatone.’ It’s a… gentle melody. Not my style. But Scarlett had a record of it. She’d play it when I was upset.”
Yuna offered Nikki a small smile. Knocks at the door stopped the dragapult from saying anything, however. She glanced at Nikki, who stopped strumming.
“It’s your room.” The toxtricity put her hands on the floor by her hips. “Not gonna stop you from answering it.”
“It’s open,” Yuna called. The door creaked open and a familiar dragonair poked her head in.
“Hey. Thought I heard Claire de Lunatone in here,” Scarlett said. “Everything okay?”
“Not really,” was Nikki’s response. “But it is what it is.”
Frowning, Scarlett slithered inside. “Having trouble with all of this? I know my head’s spinning.”
“I wasn’t sure how much to say,” Yuna mumbled. She tried to cover her core with her hands but it was too big. “So, I just kinda threw it all out there.”
Igneous’ voice startled Yuna. She sat up straighter as the grovlazzle walked in.
“Seriously?” Nikki leaned forward, squinting at Igneous. And a ponytales was hovering in the doorway, unsure whether to enter. Yuna reluctantly waved Shimmer in. He awkwardly shuffled to Igneous’ side in the opposite corner of the room.
“What, you three some sort of package deal now?” Nikki pointed between them. “Been spending an awful lot of time together lately.”
Shimmer’s face reddened. He tried to turn toward the wall, but Igneous nudged Shimmer with his right leg. Shimmer jolted stiff.
“We were talking,” Igneous said, arms crossed. “About everything Yuna said.”
He and Scarlett exchanged a look. Yuna had a sinking feeling about it, but Nikki beat her to the punch.
“Don’t tell me… you guys have been having visions like Princess?”
“Yeah. I see… a different life.” Igneous held up his hands, turning them over and back. Over and back. “An icy vulpix and a riolu. They call themselves Nickie and Tessa. And…” He put his hands against the wall. “I’m there, too. As a volcarona.” Fiery embers crackled behind his back.
There was a white flash. Then Yuna found a volcarona in Igneous’ place. Orange wings buzzed. Embers crackled around him.
“We knew each other, then.” Yuna’s voice cracked.
“I’m not the only one.” Igneous tucked his head down but cracked an eye open at Scarlett. “Am I?”
The dragonair bit her lip. “Been having weird dreams since Venish. None of them made sense.” Her wings slowly caressed her neck bauble, which flickered pink. “I thought I was Starlene — or, well, a latias — in them. And I also saw an ice vulpix named Nickie. She was asking me for help to stop an evil human.”
“You’ve gotta be shitting me!” Nikki’s mohawk sparked. The carpet fibers underneath her prickled from the static. With a startled squeak, Yuna scooted left.
“I’m not,” Scarlett said, looking down at her tail.
“And you?” The toxtricity pointed at Shimmer.
“Nothing.” The ponytales shook his head.
“Great. I’m on the outside looking in with Pillow Prince.” Nikki rapped her right fist against the carpet.
“Gee, thanks.” Shimmer’s ears folded against his head.
“Suck it up.” Nikki slouched forward. “You’re not the one hearing three people say had the same crummy thing happen to you in two different lifetimes.”
Shimmer gave her a blank look but said nothing. Yuna was also at a loss. Of the group, Nikki was the most active Team Bastion member who hadn’t gotten any wild powers or crazy transformation. Even that lightning guitar was a standard Dynaforce technique. Any toxtricity could pull it off with the proper training, according to Cid.
“We don’t have to talk about this anymore if you don’t want to,” Yuna mumbled.
“It’s wild.” Sighing, Nikki straightened up. “We knew each other in these past lives. And now we’re… together again?” Her laugh turned to a snort. “Do you have any idea how much shit had to happen for all of us to end up here in the first place?”
Yuna winced at Igneous’ words. The grovlazzle’s leaves crinkled. “Xeromus said that to me before I had my first vision. And then the cloud daemon he summoned gave me more of them.” He crossed his arms. “I’ve kept having them since Tulpise. And now it has me wondering if there’s a deeper meaning to all of us being together like this. Like our spirits were… drawn to one another because of the past.”
“Like fate?” Scarlett raised a brow.
The dragonair’s question sent a chill down Yuna’s ectoplasm. A silhouette of Zodiark’s masked face flickered all around her.
“In the end, you cannot stray from the path of chaos.”
“Listen to you guys.” Nikki thumping the wall between her and Yuna jolted the dragapult to attention. “You sound like freaking Zodiark. And that pisses me off.”
She glanced at Yuna. “I need to know it’s you, Princess. Not Yalwhatever.” Nikki looked around the room. “All of you have to stop with this ‘past lives’ shit and focus on the present. Because if you’re telling the truth, we failed to stop Zodiark back then.
“And if you get too wrapped up in the past, then none of us are gonna have a future.”
The toxtricity’s words hung in the air. It was a good point. If Yaldabaoth kept failing to catch and stop Zodiark across multiple worlds, then what good did any of their memories do for Yuna? Provide her with a long list of mistakes to avoid?
“We’re not giving up on the present,” Igneous insisted. “But we might need to understand the past better to succeed this time.”
Which was more or less what Yuna said before. Still, there had to be something she could offer Nikki to assuage the toxtricity’s fears.
Yuna leaned over and put her hand on Nikki’s left shoulder. “I won’t get stuck in the past. If I had, I would’ve let the shadows take control.”
Nikki focused on Yuna’s hand. Her mohawk rippled as fast as static on one of Cyril’s monitors.
“Giratina… came to me because I had a wish.” Yuna recalled the black, inky giratina silhouette rising from that stone floor. “A wish to be stronger, because I couldn’t help the people I cared about.”
She paused. Nikki must’ve read between the lines because Yuna swore her mohawk turned pink for a second.
“But it’s… hard.” Yuna’s ectoplasm quivered. “The visions I’ve seen… that riolu sounded so confident. So sure of everything.” A melancholic chuckle escaped her lips. “Almost like you.”
Nikki frowned. “I don’t think we got body-swapped, Princess.”
“Right.” Yuna managed to avoid stammering. “It’s more that… Tessa became part of Giratina. Because it was the only way she could see her wish through.” The dragapult shakily smiled at Nikki. “But me? Yaldabaoth terrifies me.” She laughed nervously. “I can’t do the same thing.”
She expected Igneous’ bewildered look. Yuna took her hand off Nikki’s shoulder. “Uh, I mean, I can draw on their power. But I don’t… think I know the full extent of what these chaos powers can do. And I’m not sure I want to find out.”
Igneous must not have liked that. He conjured that weird red honedge in his hand. “You may not get a choice in that,” the grovlazzle said. “If chaos energy is needed to stop the emperor or Zodiark—”
“The hell?” Nikki stood up. “There you go, sounding like our enemies again.” She frowned at Scarlett and Shimmer. “One of you please talk sense into Twiggy.”
“It’s okay, Nikki.”
The toxtricity glanced at Yuna, who rose up beside her. “Maybe it’s the wrong decision. But this is my decision. Like you said, I don’t want the past dictating the present. If that happens…” Her shoulders sagged. “Well, I feel like that’s just proving Zodiark’s point. That none of this really matters.”
Igneous glanced at the sword. Then at the others. Scarlett tilted her head at him. Yuna couldn’t quite see her face, but Shimmer’s bewilderment and Igneous’ pained expression painted enough of a picture.
Sighing, the grovlazzle dispelled the blade. “God, my head hurts.” Now it was his turn to slump down onto the floor, rubbing his right head with his right hand. “What am I even supposed to do at a time like this?”
Yuna doubted Gene’s suggestion to call it a night would work. Nobody looked tired.
Scarlett slithered between the two of them.
The two guys beside her exchanged incredulous looks. Yuna tilted her triangular head. “Huh?”
She was even more surprised when recognition spread over Nikki’s face. “You still remember that?” The toxtricity scratched her head. “Shit, how long’s it been?”
“A while.” Scarlett’s wings folded back against her head. “But I can’t think of a better time for it.”
Shimmer raised a forehoof. “What does that mean?”
“It’s a Blightsmuth thing,” Nikki said. “If folks were heated with other, they’d either battle it out or go for spicy secrets.”
“I take it that isn’t a food…” Shimmer’s tails curled up.
“Everyone says a stupid or embarrassing secret they keep,” Scarlett explained, slithering toward the door to face Igneous and Shimmer. “It reminds us that we’re not so different.”
“We all make mistakes and shit,” Nikki added, pantomiming a puppet with her right hand. “Fine. You go first then, Twiggy.” The toxtricity slowly spun around and plopped herself down on Yuna’s cot.
“Me?” Igneous’ head leaf caught fire. “It’s your game. You go first.”
“Whatever.” Nikki leaned over, resting her chin on her clasped hands. Then she abruptly sat up straight. “A’ight. The first time I ever tried to make out with someone… I sneezed right in her face.
Still floating in the middle of the room, Yuna put her hands over her mouth to stop stifling her urge to giggle.
“Wait, is that why folks back home were calling you ‘Snotty’ for a couple of weeks?” Scarlett draped her upper half over the edge of Yuna’s cot. “I thought you had a cold or something!”
“Nope. And Tina wouldn’t speak to me for a month after that.” Nikki sighed and flopped on her side on the bed. “All right, Princess, you go.”
“M-Me?” Yuna’s ectoplasm shriveled. Some sort of personal secret? Wasn’t all the Giratina stuff a big enough thing?
“Uhh…” The dragapult tapped her golden claws together. “Even though I’m twenty, I really miss getting shot out of Mom’s horns.”
She got strange looks, but didn’t expect a whinny from Shimmer. “I’m… sorry?” The ponytales’ horn flickered.
“Dragapult shoot their dreepy out of their horns.” Yuna pointed to hers. “It’s really fun! You go super fast! I think I was supposed to outgrow it, but I never did… even though I haven’t gotten shot in a very long time.”
“Damn. That’s hardcore.”
As Nikki laughed, Yuna pointed to Shimmer. “I think it’s only fair you go next. Royal courtesy and all.”
Flinching, Shimmer shuffled out of the corner. He looked slightly less uncomfortable than he was during the heavier talk the group was having.
“I’ve got… a lotta secrets. And skeletons.” Shimmer tapped a forehoof on the ground.
“Don’t kill the mood,” Nikki heckled. Yuna turned and frowned at her. She projected a tiny electric halo over her head.
“Okay, you guys know that old Radiant Guard medical show?” Shimmer asked.
“R-Gash?” Igneous said.
“Yep.” Shimmer clicked his tongue. “The way I realized I liked guys is because I had the biggest crush on Hawlucha Pierce.” His horn glistened brightly. “I kept a signed, wall-sized poster of him in my dorm at Horizon.”
“Shut up!” Scarlett gasped. The dragonair uncoiled so her head was by Shimmer’s. “I love Pierce!”
The ponytales’ expression brightened. “Really?”
“Yeah, he was the best!” Scarlett’s tiny wings fluttered with excitement. “And the actor’s a classy guy, too.”
Even Nikki managed a chuckle, despite her dislike of Shimmer. A grin had replaced her earlier dour expression. She caught Yuna’s gaze. Her mohawk turned pink again and she looked away, whistling to herself. Likewise, Yuna folded her arms over her now glowing core.
“All right, Iggy,” Shimmer said.
“Eh, not sure if I should really confess this, but what the hell.” Igneous stood up. “So, my stepsister Becca—”
“I thought I recognized one of those salazzle,” Shimmer cut in.
“Yeah.” Igneous was struggling to keep up his stoic expression. “I used to go to nightclubs in her Holowear outfits.”
Nikki burst out laughing at that. The bed jostled from the toxtricity kicking it repeatedly.
Igneous’ tails ignited. “What’s so funny?”
“Pics or it didn’t happen!” Nikki scoffed.
The grovlazzle’s brow twitched. “Fine. I’ll do you one better.”
He hopped to this feet and produced a small ring.
“Wait, why do you have a holowear ring now?” Scarlett wondered.
“Swiped it off Becca to sneak around Scale City the other week.” Igneous slipped the ring around one of his claws. It flickered blue, then in a flash of white light, a black dress with golden trimmings wrapped around Igneous torso. He held his hands up like he had an invisible dance partner.
“Believe me now?”
Nikki laughed so hard her eyes watered. “You never pegged me as the kind of guy who’d ever get in touch with his feminine side!” The toxtricity rolled onto her stomach and smiled sweetly at Igneous.
“Says the one in the heavy leather jacket,” Igneous countered. The ring flashed with light and the outfit disappeared.
“W-Well, I think it’s cool,” Shimmer said.
“Yeah! We need more twink grovyle in this world!”
“Starlene!” Scarlett squeaked, covering her glowing neck bauble with her wings.
Even if she didn’t understand the joke, Yuna found herself laughing with the others. The last of her worries from the earlier conversation faded. Washed away by a silly game started by friends she was happy to have at her side.
XxX
Gene rarely walked. His feet were not structured with walking in mind. Only floating. Sometimes it was worth it, though. If for no other reason than to prepare for circumstances where levitation wasn’t possible.
He’d been walking through the outpost halls, stopping by rooms to see if he sensed anything off. Things were quiet.
… Save for the cosmic silvally walking beside him.
“You’re really not thinking about it? At all?” Widget wondered. His gold talons clicked against the metal with every step.
“What’s there to think about?” Shrugging, Gene headed for a door to the staircase. He opened it the old-fashioned way, then took the stairs down two or three at a time.
“What if it applies to you, too?” Widget climbed down faster. Gene figured he had to. Four legs would get tangled on stairs otherwise.
Widget paused halfway toward the second floor. “Wouldn’t you want to know about your past life?”
Gene rolled his eyes. What a stupid question. “Why? So I can bum myself out if that life turned out better than what I have now?”
Widget opened his beak, then said nothing.
Got him. Gene walked by, tapping his right temple. “I got a decent enough gig here. Why jelly my jam by throwing some dumb reincarnation nonsense into it?”
He rounded another bend in the stairs. Widget’s starcloud swirled in confusion. His head crest fanned out and he dashed to catch up. “What’s that even mean?”
“It means don’t worry about it.” Gene flicked his wrist dismissively. “You’re basically a machine—”
“Biosynthetic.” Widget reached Gene’s side and scampered past him.
“Pfft.” Gene stopped mid-step and held his hand up. “Remember what you looked like before Leo gave you a starry paint job? Nothing biologic about that.” He continued up. “You were a machine. So, that whole reincarnation talk doesn’t apply to you.”
It should’ve relieved Widget, but the slow rotation of his cheek bolts and the drooping of the fish tail told Gene he was off the mark. The shadowy mewtwo pinched his brow. “What?”
“What if that’s not true?” Widget said. “What if the whole reason Leo could break me out of the emperor’s programming is because there was always a soul inside.”
“Are you having dreams about some other life?” Gene wondered.
Widget shook his head.
“Then there’s your answer.” Gene flicked his wrist. The door at the bottom of the stairs opened up. He strode across the metallic hallway, resting his hands behind his head. “You’ve got absolutely nothing to worry—”
Why was there music coming from someone’s room? Gene had the restaurant jukebox memorized, and this wasn’t one of the tracks.
He continued forward. The music was from Yuna’s room. And it sounded nothing like what a bunch of technologically inept dragons could create. Too many retro synths.
“Hot drinks reeeaaaly get you going! Warms you uuuup, when you feel you’re slowiiiing!”
“Is that… Starlene?” Widget marched up to the door. “What kind of song is that?”
“Weavies, we always serve it right away! Add a smile and have a nice daaaaay~”
Gene stared blankly at the door. Widget’s starcloud ruff swirled around his neck. “Should I knock? I think someone’s having a nervous breakdown in there.”
“Seriously?!” Igneous’ cry cut the music off.
“What’s the matter, Twiggy?” Nikki’s laughter drifted into the hallway next.
“That was you two?!“
“What part of ‘we got our start doing terrible corporate jingles and shit’ didn’t register, dumbass?”
“I worked at a Weavies and they used that song!” Igneous sounded mortified. “Had some poor schlubs lip syncing along to make a training music video!”
“Gene?” Widget hissed in a whisper.
“Leave ’em be.” The shadowy mewtwo turned around, waving dismissively.
“A-Are you sure?”
“Yeah. Let the kids have their fun.” Gene headed back toward the staircase.
“Kids?” Widget trotted after him. “They’re at least young adults… I think?”
“Ha!” Gene threw his hands behind his head. “Far as I’m concerned, you’re all a bunch of dumb kids compared to me.”
He opened the stairway door up and stood against it. “So, you coming upstairs or not?”
“Well, my room’s on the third floor.” The cosmic silvally approached the door. “But what about you? You sleep down here.”
“I’m heading to the restaurant.” Gene stepped into the stairwell. “Unova’s Goofiest Home Movies starts in five. You’re welcome to join. Or not. You wanna wallow in existential dread, be my guest.”
By the time the shadowy mewtwo floated into the air, Widget’s sighs echoed through the stairwell. Gene looked down and saw him walking up the stairs, mumbling about humans and video cameras.
XxX
Path of Valor Almanac
The lyrics briefly alluded to at the end of the second scene are part of a 1980s training video used by Wendy’s. Search “Hot Drinks” on YouTube to see it in all its glory.
For the record, this is all BarbarousKing’s fault. He used a SNES-ported version of the song in his latest Kaizo Mario ROM hack.
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