For anyone that wants to read it, the Amy/Lucas collab is up!
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The training room ringed as Lucas kept hitting the reinforced dummy. These dummies were specifically made for those with increased strength. Or rather, who could apply quite a bit more newton than the average boxer. It didn’t matter how to the dummies. Thus the bully of Delphina kept hitting, completely alone in the hall. It was midday, so everyone was out eating. But not Lucas, a man who just went through two hellish talks. Strangely, the last one was the worst. There was something particularly embarrassing being asked by a mother if you’re dating her child. But it simultaneously hit an incredibly sensitive string. So now he was trying to cope with all that. Or rather, he was trying to forget it. Through the only way possible: fighting.
Amy entered the training room with a slight smile on her face, not really paying much attention to anything else in there. It wasn't really too often that she'd train in here but she figured it was about time to sort herself out and prepare for the tournament as much as she could, although finding an opportunity was an issue. Still, everyone was meant to be out getting food right now, so she could finally train without having to hide anything. Stretching lazily, she decided to stop holding back her powers, her grey eyes losing their colour as they extended around her. It was kind of a relief, honestly - having to keep such a tight rein on them could be a headache in more than a few ways.
Lucas had just taken a breather. Trying to keep himself under control. This wasn’t supposed to get like back in the forest. He wasn’t supposed to beat himself to the point that his knuckles started bleeding. Today was supposed to be far more stretched out. Not just a spike of anger, but a slow burn. One that would sear away the problems. If even for just a moment. Alas, he reckoned it was high time again for another set of exercises. As he stepped up towards the dummy he took a deep breath, supplying his already aching muscles with more oxygen. It was now time to train with the full power of the solar force. When pulling back his fist, a light flooded his fist. Like it a comet, it had a tail going along the arm of Lucas, ending way beyond the shoulder. With a smooth motion he moved forward, summoning forth all power he could put in a punch. Letting it get amplified by the power. He could feel the strength, the energy. He knew what it was capable of. But right when he was about to hit his target the bright energy surrounding his arm dissolved into the air. With wide eyes he witnessed how his fist hit the dummy, barely even moving it. While the bones in his fist felt as if they all just cracked. “What the hell!?” he exclaimed, looking around. There was nothing, no-one. He never experienced his powers failing. But then he saw it. Some girl, one among the group chosen for the tournament. He eyed her, trying to remember if he knew her power. He didn’t. So he slowly turned his gaze to his arm, trying to trigger the solar force again. But to no avail.
Eyes widening in surprise, Amy glanced over at the source of the noise. Wait a minute, that was Lucas, wasn't it? One of the Delphina guys, and one that most people thought of as a whole lot of trouble. If she remembered right, he wasn't the best guy to make angry. Okay, that probably wasn't good. It might have been a good idea to look around the room before she did that, now that she thought about it. Still, there was always a chance she could just pretend nothing happened. Maybe he'd just think his powers went wrong for a second and she'd be able to train in peace, although she didn't want to bring the field in completely since that seemed like missing the point of training in the first place. Settling on a comprimise, she brought it in slightly, just enough that Lucas would be a couple metres out of range. Trying a little too hard to pretend nothing had happened, she gave him what she hoped was a look of curiosity and a sympathetic smile, as if she had no idea how his powers possibly could have done that. Even as she did so, she could tell it wasn't really convincing but it was worth a try.
The girl threw him an utterly unconvincing smile as suddenly his arm coated itself once more in pure burning energy. Looking at his palm he could feel the power coursing through his blood. A whole different feeling from what he felt but seconds ago. Something was alright. Hell, something was straight up fishy. His powers never just failed. Well, his Darkstar power certainly wasn’t that reliable. In fact, he rarely could use it. But his solar force has always worked, no matter the situation. His mom told him he once destroyed the bed because he activated it when he was asleep but Lucas couldn’t remember that. Still, was the girl responsible? Maybe, he could only ask. With his power still active on his arm to serve as immediate intimidation he walked up towards her. Mayweather or Delphina, it was better to make sure they knew with whom they were talking. But when he got closer the power suddenly vanished again. The heat in his blood vanished once more. Causing him to stop walking and look at his arm again. Once could be a coincidence, twice was a pattern. He quickly took a step backward and sure enough, his power returned. He looked at the girl again, not caring to keep his power active. Even without the pure blinding energy enveloping his arm he could look menacing.
Marching like a warrior he came up to her, asking: “Delphina or Mayweather?”
Yeah, that didn't work at all. As Lucas advanced towards her, Amy couldn't help but feel a little intimidated. Sure, his powers weren't working, but without a weapon she wouldn't stand a chance fighting the guy. He'd figured her out anyway, so there wasn't much else to do but talk it out. Taking a slight step back, she replied to his question. Normally she couldn't be bothered with this type of talk, but not answering didn't seem like a good idea. Saying that, answering might not be either, but it was the best option. Although she was still a little taken off balance by his sudden discovery. "I, uh... I'm Mayweather. And you're Delphina, right?" she smiled slightly as she adjusted to the situation, this one more genuine if a little less confident.
Despite Lucas' repuatation and school status, Amy didn't actually seem hostile in any way, more annoyed with herself for not looking around than anything. She decided it might be best to introduce herself if only to make that clear, so she smiled slightly gesturing towards his arm in hopes of smoothing things over. "Oh, almost forgot. I'm Amy. Sorry about your hand, by the way. Didn't expect anyone else to be in here."
She knew who he was, yet still answered truthfully. Well, he assumed it was the truth. Mostly because she knew who he was, yet it was clear he didn’t know her. Most would have assumed answering Delphina was a better choice. Well, in a way they weren’t. He examined the girl standing before him, trying to get a grasp on her. So many people were so easy to read. It was as if they showcased their buttons and got mad the second you pushed one. Still, the girl seemed surprisingly nice to him. Especially as she knew who he was. The comment about his hand did pull his attention towards the now bright red knuckles. “Nothing big.” He said with a casual sort of neglect. His knuckles have been through worse before. Not even that long ago. Now a layer of scar tissue covered them. “Amy huhn?” he returned his attention to the girl, relaxing somewhat. Trying to look less big or ready to slam someone’s head against the ground. “Usually nobody’s here at this time. So why are you here?” Of course, he knew why.
Amy looked at him for a second, curious as well as relieved that he didn't seem ready to punch her or anything. As for his question, it wasn't really that difficult to figure out, so she was pretty sure the guy was just confirming his suspicions. "Well, it's just that, because nobody else is. I try to keep my powers to myself, and it's worked for me so far." she laughed slightly, looking relieved at how reasonable this was apparently turning out. She was silent for a moment, glancing at the scars on his hand and appearing to think things over. After a second, she spoke again. "To tell the truth, pretty much everyone in Mayweather thinks I suck, and that suits me fine. Means I can catch them by surprise if I have to, you know? Plus they don't try and drag me into stuff, so I get to pick my own battles."
Lucas listened with some unusual attention. But everything that concerned fighting endlessly fascinates him. So after Amy finished speaking he walked away, without saying. He went to a certain closet and pulled out two pairs of fingerless, MMA gloves. One pair he threw at Amy, not really caring if she’d pick them up or not. As he walked towards the boxing ring within the training hall he pulled on the gloves. Once in the ring, he said to Amy: “Guess it’s time you got dragged into some stuff. Taking people by surprise won’t be enough. Not here, not during the tournament. Show me what you got.” It was all calculated, though. The plan was forming in his head. A girl that could negate his trump card was a danger. No doubt he could overpower her physically, but the problem was her getting in the second round. During the free for all. Even then he could physically take on most opponents. But he had to be able to do more than just take on.
Catching the gloves, Amy looked at them for a couple of seconds. This seemed like a really bad idea, but the gloves gave her hope. They were designed for a specific purpose, for fighting. If that was right then there might be a chance. Not like she could risk backing down right now and annoying Lucas. If she didn't get on his good side, no way could she convince him not to tell the whole school about her powers. As she walked over to the ring, looking slightly dubious about the whole idea, she tugged the gloves on and barely held back a sigh of relief - looked like they did count as tools after all, since she could feel her other ability's effects taking hold. Seemed like Lucas might be in for a surprise. She took her place opposite him with an unreadable expression. " I guess I can try and show you a couple things."
Lucas wasn’t planning on having a talk. Hell, he wouldn’t let her say a word. He immediately went for the low kick, aiming for Amy’s ribs. A hit would hurt, but it wouldn’t deliver the devastating strike he wanted. Even an idiot could block. Even ineffectively. To take her out of the game for good he would have to aim and strike perfectly. So for now, he would have to hurt and wear her down.
Caught off guard, Amy's block wasn't as effective as it might have been, and the sting she felt from the blow showed on her face. So that's how this was gonna be, was it? She retreated a little to catch her breath. His attacks weren't refined, but there seemed to be a lot of power behind them for sure. No way was she winning a blow-to-blow fight, enchanced skill or not. She shifted her stance a little and hung back, appearing worried but actually just waiting for him to attack her again - her best chance would be to counter him and use the force of his own attacks against him.
The kick connected, but Lucas wasn’t about to let it at that. As she went back, he went forward. Applying the pressure. A simple mindset: keep the opponent busy, afraid and occupied. So they don’t have a chance at retaliating. A mindset Lucas took at heart. The look on her face was proof enough that it was working. But also a problem. The most efficient strikes one could make were counters. He needed her to attack. Still, he first had to draw her out and weaken her. He stood before her for a second, shifting his weight back and forth, keeping her guessing how he’d strike. Suddenly he shifted his weight, committing to a violent forward attack. A single strike aimed not at her face but at her stomach. Soft tissue that could easily bruise.
As Lucas struck, Amy moved with surprising speed and shifted her stance, not making any move to stop his momentum but instead using it - with surprising skill. Not that it was any skill of her own, but he didn't need to know that. Instead of blocking and letting herself take another hit, she decided to try and use the force of his attack and transfer it into a textbook and hopefully painful judo throw. Her face had changed as well, no longer bothering with the 'scared little girl' approach and replaced with something closer to an expressionless mask.
Lucas didn’t realize what happened at first. One moment he put all his weight and strength forward, the next he was with his back on the ground, feeling the air escape his lungs due to the incredible amount of force he slammed down with. But he got his breathing under control in literally no time. A throw, Lucas could only guess it was judo. She could do judo? The fight would become a little harder now. Still, Lucas was not discouraged. He would just have to learn what her style was. He jumped right up and faced her. In judo, weight and balance is everything. It was an art of using one’s power against him. The more power he’d use, the worse she could hit him back. How do you fight such a person?
Simple. Lucas once again flung a fist at her, but this time at her head. A much higher target for the girl. If she wanted to throw him again, she’d have to go up with both her arms. Opening up her sides. In judo, that wasn’t a problem. The left arm alone could achieve little. But this wasn’t judo? One attempt to throw him and he’d slam his first right in her ribs. Using the temporary distraction to grapple with his first fist around her neck. Taking control.
Amy couldn't help but be a little surprised by what had just happened. Firstly, she'd somehow managed to throw the guy, and secondly, how quickly he'd gotten up after it to launch his attack. There wasn't much she could really do but try and react, considering how surprisingly fast he was. Letting her body's instincts take over, she moved again, into a stance where she was a little lighter on her feet, more like a boxer as she brought her fists up in a block to try and turn the blow away from her head - she definitely didn't want to take a hit there. Trying to change her stance so quickly meant she wasn't quite as balanced as she should have been, however, and the force of his fist slamming into her forearms caused her to stumble back a few steps, biting back a curse from the pain of the hit.
A boxing move? The swift change of stance surprised Lucas. She knows boxing too!? The girl suddenly rising on this threat chart. Boxing was harder to counter, but again it had limitations. Ones he could clearly see. Boxers were light on their feet, moving swiftly. This was because leg sweeps weren’t done. But Lucas sure as hell would. He waited a second, mimicking her defense, keeping his eyes locked on her. Timing it right, he swept his right foot towards her. A hit on her feet would be enough to fully disrupt her balance. Right after the sweep he’d take a hit at her when she was, supposedly, completely open.
Seeing the leg sweep out at her, Amy felt her feet shifting again - and for a brief moment wondered how many fighting styles came with these gloves. Seriously, she had to get herself a pair. There wasn't really any way for her to dodge the sweep, which collided with her foot and caused her to grit her teeth, a slight pained noise escaping. Okay, that did it. Now she really was pissed. She launched a straight knee strike at his stomach, a move taken straight from Muay Thai.
Judo was understandable. The boxing could be explained. But the knee, that was one step too far. This girl was too good a fighter to have to surprise people. Hell, she certainly didn’t have the physical body for someone so experienced. After taking the knee to the stomach, a strike mostly taken by his muscles there, he took a step back. Eyeing her. The hits only caused more adrenaline to flow through him. This was one of his advantages. Through rigorous training, he got used to it. The high, the power, the blood like molten lead flowing through your veins. So few could take the kick of it and keep their head straight. It required you to get used to it, physically.
Lucas was out of plans. For every strike he tried to deliver, she had an answer. Seemingly from another sport. “You fight quite well. From your body, I wouldn’t have guessed you practiced that many martial arts. What belt you got in judo?” he asked, while still keeping his distance and his guard up.
Amy smiled dangerously, finding something about this pretty funny. "Judo, huh? Nothing." Judo? Guess that was where the throw came from. She'd gotten kind of tired of being on the defensive. So, she needed something that would let her take down a bigger, stronger opponent - yeah, she had a feeling these things would give her something. Taking a step forward, she aimed to get a hold on Lucas' arm, keeping her head down to protect it as best she could but well aware that she'd probably take a pretty strong hit for it. Still, that's what her instincts were to do, and she couldn't do much but trust them.
Unknown to her and possibly also to Lucas, the reason for the grip was to try and take the fight onto the ground. When it came to taking on a stronger opponent, having time to adjust and take a breather meant that she could shift to a style meant for that exact purpose - Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Lucas had no idea what was happening. Suddenly she managed to grab his arm and the next moment she threw him with an incredible force against the ground. The only reason she managed to do that was because Lucas stood there, utterly confused. No belt but such a perfect throw? Impossible. No way she could just train judo without gaining the belt. There was little doubt, she had to have expert training. But once on the ground, Lucas had enough. As she threw him, she held his arm, which was her undoing. Lucas threw in his weight and pulled her down on top of him. Giving her no moment to think or move he locked her in his legs as he grappled towards her neck to strangle her. A hot headed approach that could most certainly end very badly.
Unable to hold herself up against Lucas' weight, Amy found herself in a little bit of trouble. Along with a fair bit of discomfort and the inablity to get herself free from the hold, along with the feelings of panic and need to escape that naturally accompanied the situation - it seemed like there wasn't much help coming from her powers in this scenario. Whether that was because of her shock or just that there wasn't a particular move coming to mind for this situation wasn't really clear. For lack of a better plan, she lashed out as well as she could towards roughly the area where his face would be, hoping to score some kind of hit and be able to breathe again.
A hit connected, on his head no less. Precise enough to disorient him for a second, letting loose of his grip on Amy. In reaction to this he rolled backwards, keeping his distance from the girl as he shook his head once more. There was something off. The girl was too good. Her physique was too light for being such a trained fighter. Did she leech off his own skill somehow? No, her strikes were too precise. Even he had flaws in his technique. Maybe she leeched off the skills from someone else? He still kept his distance, trying to find an opening. But her stance was precise and very effective.
What could be her weakness? What sport did she not know? She showcased 2 martial arts and boxing already. No way he could go up against that in a conventional fight. So he decided against going for a finishing move. Then the lightbulb in his mind came on. With a trained eye he observed her, focusing on her whole body at once. Little muscle definition, little tone. When his fists connected he could feel little resistance from any muscles. She wasn’t weak, but they certainly weren’t defined as a trained fighter. No way she would survive a battle of attrition. So that’s how he came at her. With a flurry of strikes and kicks. Constantly being sure he kept his balance and never committed fully to an attack. Even half-assed strikes could hurt.
She wasn't sure how long she could keep this up. Sure, she was blocking his strikes well enough, but that didn't change the fact that it hurt like hell. It was tiring her out, wearing her down. Already struggling to keep up the pace, Amy realised that she couldn't afford to stay on the defensive for much longer against him. No matter how well she blocked, she was still taking hits, her arms weren't up to that kind of strain and it wouldn't be long until he got past her guard. All those weeks of not training at all were starting to take their toll, that was for sure. At this rate, he was just going to outlast her, and the pain she wasn't used to was showing on her face.
Out of options, there really wasn't much she could do other than going for a last-ditch attack. One of them would have to go down after it - if she couldn't take him down then no way was she lasting much longer in the fight anyway. It was pretty much this or nothing. She had no idea if it would actually work or not, but she lunged forward, intending to launch a series of elbow strikes directly at his face, aiming the first at the bridge of his nose. If she connected, it would probably do some damage, but either way she'd left herself completely open in favour of an all-or-nothing assault. If this didn't take him down, she'd be in trouble.
A precise strike. If Lucas wasn’t so busy speeding up his strikes, he would sure block it. But he didn’t. The elbow connected though not on his nose. Somehow he managed to evade it slightly, letting the elbow not hit the nose but his cheek. The soft tissue took the brunt of the force and Lucas felt how his teeth bit down on his own flesh. A splatter of blood came out of his mouth, but Lucas was used to blood. The fact was that right now he was more than just high on adrenaline. The endorphins of his body blocked out any form of pain, turning it into a dull, distant ache. His mind was still surprisingly clear. He knew that with such an attack, the girl was now open all along her right side. He had to guess where her feet stood, but from the corner of his eye he did see her body twisting. Making an educated guess, he lifted his foot and stomped down to where he guessed the side her knee would be.
Not enough. Amy realised, as her attack made contact. It was a decent hit, but it hadn't taken him down, which meant-
Her thoughts were interrupted as he stomped on her knee, and her muscles exploded with pain that obliterated her focus. She didn't know how to push through it like he did, and it was the type of feeling that meant serious damage. Collapsing to the ground with gritted teeth she was unable to stop a pained noise from escaping her throat. She shifted, with a little difficulty, until she was sitting after which she looked up at her opponent, unable to keep it out of her voice completely. "Guess you win - Fuck, that hurts." she said, muttering the last part under her breath. At least nothing seemed broken, but that didn't make it hurt any less.
Lucas fell over backward. Slamming into the ground with a loud thud. He was surprisingly exhausted. The girl did pull out the best from him. Then again, he couldn’t use his own powers. No doubt she would have left with broken bones if she lowered her field. But that didn’t matter. He won and did so much more. The stomp would definitely bug her but only during training or the tournament would the pain get too worse. She was out, at least for now. Taking a sigh of relief he sat up. Looking at her. “I always win, honey.” He threw her a grin. “You fight surprisingly well for someone who looks like… well you.” He motioned with his hand towards her entire body. “And the throw was surprisingly well executed for someone who claims she doesn’t own a judo belt. Tell me, who trained you?”
In response, Amy just shrugged with a soft smile. "I guess I'll take that as a compliment. As for who trained me, there isn't anyone. I didn't really have anything to train for growing up, so I didn't bother." her tone was genuine, of course. What reason was there for her to lie? She couldn't be bothered trying to come up with a story right now. Wincing slightly as she sat up, she laughed a little. "Honestly, it's not been long since I even found out I had powers. Never knew anyone else with them back home."
He listened quite attentively at his victim. To his own opinion, the girl was a little too trusting. Every half-assed fighter would know what kind of effect such a stomp would have. They’d also immediately realize he didn’t do it randomly. Still, she talked. And he felt somewhat obligated to listen. When she finished he stood up and walked out of the ring, without saying anything. Only to return moments later with two sport bottles filled with water. Carefully he handed one to Amy, after which he took up his place on the ground in front of her again. Drinking from the cool liquid. Only now did he realize just how much he was sweating. “Strange. You certainly fight as if you got some extensive training. Is that another power? You can negate someone’s powers and know martial art instinctively?”
"Something like that." she looked at him curiously, surprised at how civil he was being. Saying that, she'd definitely need to get her leg checked out somehow considering what he'd done. But even so, it didn't really seem to fit. "This might be a stupid thing to ask but why bother talking to me? I mean..." She glanced at her leg. Well, she didn't want to make any accusations, it always could've been a heat of the moment thing... "Never mind. Guess I just expected you to be more hostile, me being at Mayweather and all."
“So many people are so sure that I…we are the bad guys, that they literally cannot imagine it any way else.” Though on this occasion, he really was the bad guy. Though sometimes things had to be done out of necessity. He didn’t actually bear Amy any ill will. Especially not now. But she was a threat. A danger. There was a plan and it needed to be executed as precisely as possible. Taking out any distractions was part of it. Though, at his core, he was hoping Brenna was doing the same. Just so he knew he wasn’t the only one walking in this moral deep gray area. “Honestly, if people asked more ‘why do you do this’ about common things like talking, the world would be a brighter place. So I don’t really think it’s stupid.” His voice was calm, as he tried to get his heartbeat to level out again. “I guess I’m talking here because…” why did he talk to her? After the entire morning, he wanted nothing more than to beat away the feelings. But here he was, talking to a Mayweather he just injured. After the pause that was clearly indicating that he initially didn’t have a clue why he talked to her, he answered: “You know how like, your entire life is just a giant rollercoaster? You go from situation to situation, crawl out of a hole just to fall in another.” A metaphor too deep. “I guess, what I’m saying is that I talk to you to entertain myself. Because it’s simple. And right now, I need a little simple in my life.”
Amy seemed to think for a second, before nodding slowly. "I think I get it. You don't get much simplicity in this place. But as for you being the 'bad guys', well..." Amy sighed, looking over at him. "I never really thought about it like that. Sure, you are the 'villain' school, but I don't think it's the same thing when you really get down to it." It wasn't really that easy as far as she was concerned. After all, it wasn't like everyone in Mayweather was a saint, so why would their counterparts be any different? "If I had to put words to it, I think it's more that a villain's meant to act in their own interests, while a hero's meant to use them for others. That's what I'd say the difference is. Whether you're a good person isn't the issue." She looked at him, curious to see how he was reacting to what she said, what he thought of it. After all, it might be a change from some of the more self-righteous attitudes held by her fellow Mayweather students.
“There are many ways to be a villain. But I think, by far the most common is the villain of the necessary evil. Some of us must do what others cannot. But that brings a moral dilemma to most heroes. Would you kill one person to save a hundred? Of course, heroes will say that if that person is evil, the kill means nothing. But what if it is a university professor with two kids and a loving, faithful wife? Heroes fall in a moral limbo once they enter the gray areas.” The example was not loosely chosen. Though he doubted Amy would know. His sister was once faced with the very same problem. A university professor was kidnapped. His research on nuclear fission was unparalleled. But the ones that took him were trained. His sister still claims they were some sort of black ops. Alas, she was forbidden from entering the building, lest the situation would escalate. But the situation had to be resolved. To this day, she still claimed the most daunting words she ever heard was an FBI director say: ‘No more options. Finish it.’ A few bullets later and a faithful husband and man that advocated for peace his entire life laid dead in the back of a van.
Lucas got up, realizing they’ve been talking too much about too deep stuff. Whether he’d end up as one of the kidnappers or the ones that pulled the trigger, he didn’t know yet. He would take whatever side Gianna wanted him on. “We better get that checked out.” Lucas switched subjects, as he meant her knee. He reached out with his hand and was pretty ready to support her. Though he hoped the nurse nor the assistant of the nurse would be able to heal her.
@Eklispe @Pikmin Eye I'd prefer to go with summarising the rest of it if we can, just to stop things getting too dragged out and/or repetitive. Assuming that they all attacked the Hoppip would be fine with me if no-one's got any better ideas :)
I'd be interested :)
THE NEXT MORNING
Location; Running track
Interacting With; No-one
“I can tell you this: You should get new friends, if you can call them that. I have seen Gianna’s fall, and with her, the rest of her pawns."
Keats wasn't sure how long he'd been running around the track, but it had definitely been a while. Call it dedication or some other bullshit feel-good term if you wanted, but it was more of an attempt at self-destruction, anger swirling through him ever since he woke up. There were a lot of things going on, and he wasn't sure about any of them. All he knew was that he'd been going for long enough and fast enough that it was starting to hurt. That familiar burn in his muscles as he kept on running. That was good. What he was looking for.
Yeah, he deserved that. Deserved a hell of a lot more than that, with the thoughts that just kept circling and circling around his head. Thoughts that told him to leave everyone behind, to just stop trying to watch their backs. Be his own man - what kind of disloyal backstabbing bullshit was that? He chose to stick with them, with Luke. He chose to take on each and every one of those Mayweathers. He chose it. It was always his decision, he was already his own man. They'd stick by him, he could trust them.
"They will not help you. They will not save you from what is to come. Don’t be collateral damage; find your own way out of the chaos.”
Despite what he told himself, he couldn't help but dwell on it. Keats found himself distracted, not really paying attention to where he was running at all. Losing his footing, he went over his ankle, twisting it and falling to the ground. What was wrong with him lately? He hadn't been himself. He knew what had brought this on today - stupid freaky girl and her talk about seeing the future, but it had been going on for more than that. His ankle throbbed - normally he'd go get it healed, but today he needed it there. Needed something real, something he understood.
Besides, maybe he really did deserve this. This wasn't what he was meant to be. Who he was meant to be. He was a successor to the family name. The only successor, now. Had to be a villain, and a damn good one, or he was letting them all down. Not like that was anything new. For all his training, all his bluster, Keats was never able to match up. Always second place. So why was he even bothering?
Maybe he just wasn't cut out to be a villain - no. That couldn't be it, he wouldn't let that be it. Couldn't let that be it. Nah, he had to be strong enough, there wasn't another option. He stood back up, fabric wrapping tightly around his ankle, enough to support it but not enough to stop the jolt of pain every step he took. A reminder to himself to stop being such a coward about everything, he guessed.
He checked the time. That was right, he had a meeting, didn't he? With a sigh, he walked back towards the building, head held high and walking strong, not showing any reaction to the pain as he entered. It was bad enough dealing with his own thoughts, but Keats wasn't about to let anyone else see him looking weak. Besides, maybe she'd just been messing with him. Maybe none of what she'd said was true. If it was though...
"Sometimes its fun knowing what others don't. Other times... I'm not so sure."
He smiled bitterly to himself as he walked across campus. He had a lot of questions, and no real answers to any of them. Maybe Lyla really knew something he didn't, or maybe she was just a crazy bitch looking to fuck with his head. He couldn't exactly ask her about it. Had a feeling she wasn't lying when she said he wouldn't see her again, if nothing else.
Location: Dorm room
Interacting With: No-one
Interacting With: No-one
Ah, shit.
Amy squinted up at the ceiling, getting the feeling that she'd maybe had a little too much to drink. The night was... Blurry, at least for most of the time she'd spent inside the club. She could remember coming in, the first little while of the night, then... Well, not too much. Let's see... Vague feelings of regret? Does that count as remembering? Judging by past experiences, she'd have found some way to mess up. How badly - or not badly - was a mystery to her. Yay for good decisions. Go me.
Come to think of it, she definitely remembered making someone a little angry. Judging by the lack of any kind of injury, at least she figured she hadn't been stupid enough to escalate any kind of fight in the middle of Delirium, which was mildly comforting. No super-powered thugs were going to come and break her limbs without warning or anything like that, so it could probably be worse. Time to get up and face the day.
With a sigh, she sat up. Somehow, this seemed like it might be a pretty long morning. Well, maybe she could think of it as a learning experience? Just as the thought crossed her mind, the alarm on her phone decided it was the perfect moment to ring. Loudly. With a groan, she scrambled to switch it off as quickly as she could. So much for positive thinking. Nope. Never mind. She could do without this particular learning experience, thank you very much.
What she could do with was a few more hours of sleep - or more accurately a few more hours staring at the ceiling without any more loud noises. Did she have classes today? Did she care if she had classes today? Skipping stuff probably wasn't the best idea, though. And it wasn't like she was capable of causing too much destruction anyway, and something important could always come up... Looks like I do care. Should probably get out of bed now.
Besides, she wasn't the most distinctive person anyway. As long as she kept her head down like normal, any and all potentially pissed-off people that could shoot magic beams out of their backsides probably wouldn't cause any trouble. It seemed like a sensible option anyway - both for herself and anyone else in the general area. Also whoever had to clean up the school after people got obliterated. That job would probably suck.
Anyway, there was stuff she had to do. Nothing too flashy until she decided to get started, though. Of course she could technically do whatever she wanted or needed to, so long as she could make sure no-one figured her out. Flying under the radar was the only way she'd be able to work anything out around here - being an outsider to the whole mess.
Not that she could really work things out on her own, but it was hard to think of anyone that'd help her out. Seemed like most people were already associated with either side in the great Mayweather vs Delphina shitstorm of 2016 - which kind of ruled them out. As she started to get dressed, Amy figured she might as well spend some time thinking about it during the day.
Not like there's anything better to do, is there?
Abigail looked relieved as the Magby finally fainted. Sure, Winston had dodged the Natu so far and at least done a bit of damage, but she figured having the help wouldn't be a bad idea. Still, there were a few downsides to having her teammates' pokemon near Natu - the main one being she couldn't really afford to attack any more. If she missed, she'd risk doing serious damage to someone.
Sure, what Dawkin said made sense about watching it, but it wasn't really that worth the risk. Then again, it wasn't really her thing to sit around and let someone else take all the credit - so maybe she could compromise a little. "I don't want to hit anyone else... Um... H-hey Winston, Tail Whip again! Make sure everyone's attacks count!" she said after a moment of hesitation. While she'd love to knock it out herself, Winston had done enough damage to the bird already - if she could lower its defence again then she figured it wouldn't take many more attacks from the other two.
Still, this seemed to be going pretty good. Abigail had a massive grin on her face as Winston listened to her order. Battling really was as cool as she'd expected, this was great! It was like all her birthdays at once except without getting any older! She couldn't help but glance at Mr. Super Special Elite Four while she waited - she'd show him who deserved to get a pokemon!
"Yeah! Great power Winston!"
Abigail had gotten a bit caught up in her own battle. She was surprised to have hit the Natu the first time, but figured a straight-up Water Gun wouldn't hit the bird this time. She had to make it harder to dodge. "Winston, Tail Whip then see if you can swipe your Water Gun across and hit the Natu!" she called, confident that the strategy would let her hit the bird, although it wouldn't have the same power behind it. Tail Whip was more so her teammates had a better chance at helping her out whenever they got there. Winston didn't really know any physical attacks, but wagged his tail all the same to lower the bird's defence.
Of course, it was only once she'd actually called this out that she realised her teammates were behind the Natu after it had moved. And while the spread of the Water Gun was pretty impressive, and she'd usually be pretty happy with it... Well, whether or not it hit the Natu, it seemed like a few of the other Pokemon in the battle might be in for a bit of a soaking. Oops. That wasn't exactly what she'd planned to have happen - but at least the water might hit the other team's Pokemon as well.
It wasn't like she'd meant for collateral damage, she'd just kind of forgotten it was a team battle for a little bit. Hopefully it wouldn't hit them too hard - if she was lucky, maybe they'd somehow dodge it. Not that she was that lucky most of the time.
Azura was always surprised at how much food Tius could put down - it seemed like he had a bottomless stomach, at least to her. She was pretty sure some of the guy's meals could last her for a few days, but it didn't seem to slow him down any. Whatever he had looked pretty good so she went and purchased one of her own, scarfing it down it surprisingly quickly. She could get a little, well, possessive of her food. Call it a habit.
She finished off her food while she listened to Tius' suggestion. The idea didn't exactly thrill her if she was honest. It had taken her long enough to get used to her own teammates, and compared to a lot of these people they were at least tolerable. Of course, part of her knew it was a good idea, but well...
She glanced around the festival. You could tell which people were hunters and huntresses in training from their fancy weapons, and as far as she was concerned, their ridiculous outfits. First impressions were key, and her first impression of them hadn't been the greatest. A lot of them dressed as though they'd never heard of colours that didn't burn her eyes. Besides, most of the people who'd actually dedicated themselves to being hunters their whole lives?
Well, they normally seemed to go one of three ways as far as she was concerned: They'd never actually known suffering, were full of themselves, and didn't understand what the job meant, they had some sort of hero complex, or they had some deep motivation and were convinced they could somehow make everything better on their own. Not that it wasn't an admirable belief to have and all. Each to their own, people could make their own decisions. Whatever motivation people had to be here was up to them.
She just thought they were morons, that's all.
Not one to be polite about it, she looked at Tius and spoke matter-of-factly. "I'm not exactly a social butterfly. Apparently I'm 'difficult' to deal with and people don't really want to know me. The feeling's mutual - I like my privacy." she said, not appearing particularly concerned with the fairly hostile words coming out of her mouth. It wouldn't exactly be news to them that she didn't open up much, considering how she hadn't told them anything about herself beyond her name and age. Maybe they'd picked up on more, maybe not.
Azura sighed. "In any case, I don't know anyone. You two?" she said, gesturing towards Forrest, and more reluctantly towards Jin.
@Raijinslayer@LokiLeo789@Aquaknight I was going to wait for one of you guys to post, but I can try to get something up if I have time later today.
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