Frontier Town Industrial Park

[Shiny Phantump]

“Awesome. I’d ask Laura if she has any use for it, she’s the one of us who has a role in the Gazette. And if not, there’ll be other chances. I’ve talked to her about it before, and I’m of the impression we’re on pretty good terms. We’ll find a time to give it a shot at some point.”

 

[Ambyssin]

"Right. Laura." Nova looked down at his claws, then back up. "Oh, right! Dark meowth. There are a lot of cats to keep track of."

And Nova hadn't even gone to see the— oh, right! That was the other thing he was curious about.

"If you don't mind the slight subject change, you went to see the Escarpa before, right?" Nova said. "Were they, y'know, freaked out at all by your appearance?"

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Hm. That was a good question, Gladion had noticed it at the time— a lack of any sort of surprise at all.

“Nothing. They don’t seem the type to let themselves be easily freaked out by something they don’t recognize, but I’d have thought they didn’t really notice it at all. If not for the fact they, you know, generally did have eyes. I wonder if there’s an extent to which people are simply accustomed to seeing unfamiliar species without access to the internet or a dex, but even then I’d expect us to stick out.”

 

[Ambyssin]

"Maybe it is the roughlander element." Nova shook himself out. A bit of dust fell from his coat. "Admittedly, I've been sleeping outside and stuff for a while now. Wondered if maybe I should go see them or something. Especially if we're trying to get us allies and stuff."

 

[Shiny Phantump]

“That would make sense.” Gladion glanced in the general direction of the train system, recalling their previous plan to deal with the shadows. “We’re planning to work with them dealing with Cipher, too, so it’d be a good idea to familiarize yourself.”

 

[Ambyssin]

They were? "Ah, nice. Seems like a decent group to cooperate with," Nova chirped. "I may not be much for attacking here, but hopefully I can put something together for this."

 

[Shiny Phantump]

“They’re strong and passionate. I liked the them, and they’ll be good allies. If we keep them as such. I’m nervous about our ability to navigate the political situation here long-term, but you won’t have to worry about that yet. And the more they know us, the more leeway we’re likely to get…”

I hope…

 

[Ambyssin]

"Oh, uh, yeah... pretty sure I'm allergic to politicking," Nova quipped. "All my references are kinda authoritarian, so... y'know how it goes." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Anyway, it was good catching up with you. And don't worry. I'm sure you'll break that mask soon enough. If I can do it, you definitely can."

His cheek bolts brightened a bit as Nova turned to head back toward the town square. Even if this had only yielded a bit of progress at trying to figure out how the heck to make his ability work here, it was better than nothing. And it went a lot better than his last time with Gladion. That counted for something, right?

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[Sinderella]

As she watched another slab of metal melt away under the heat of Fiery Wrath, Odette scoffed in disbelief. The fact that she was picking up on the move so quickly, compared to every other move she'd learned since arriving in Forlas, both tickled and perplexed her. It was a god's move, was it not? Both in her world and here. There was no escaping it. She had a god's move at her fingertips and was executing it like nothing, despite how drained she actually was.

Things just kept coming from every direction, exacerbating the sheer amount of static rattling about in her skull. Growing pains at Sun Stone, recovering from the battle with Alexander, the amount of time she was now spending in Novelux, Covenant infiltration, so many conflicting thoughts, absolutely nagging feelings...

Without music to keep her company, all she had was the metal in the industrial district and more firepower than she'd ever had before. After figuring out a way to channel the fire into Jawile, she was having a literal blast watching her second mouth breathe the dark fire. Just like Odile did back home.

Despite the way it tickled her, she still didn't feel much better. There was still far too much to dwell on, far too much weighing her down. No matter how many bits of metal she watched melt down into magma, and no matter how many decrepit warehouses she blasted through, she felt no different. She felt her frustration growing along with the force behind her attacks.

Setting sights on a bigger piece of scrap metal, she inhaled the deepest breath she could muster. As she filled her lungs, she focused on channeling every last bothersome memory and thought into her hit. She remembered the Combs, and Kimiko. The battle. She remembered her conversation with Andre. She remembered spilling her guts to Koa.

Her better recollections also trickled in. Commiserating with Dave over cults, and Bellatrix over Forlas happenings. The unexpected outing with Nolan. Her moment in the gardens with Steven.

It had all dammed up inside her mind. She was a machine, overheating. That much was certain by the way the steam snaked off her skin, and the way the sweat beaded up on her forehead while the heat accumulated inside of her.

Just before it became unbearable, she released a scream that reverberated through the park, and an explosive flame was quick to follow. It engulfed its target in no time flat, but the sheer area of the attack caused the embers to recoil backward toward Odette, and they curved around her, only licking at her skin with a surprisingly painless fervor. Nonetheless, she braced on instinct.

Too rough, she thought regretfully.

However, when the smoke and embers cleared, she felt...lighter. Clearer.

Taller.

Something had shifted. In the cursory glance she gave to the area, she noticed that her horizon line was much...higher than it had been to start. Looking down at her legs, she saw that her dress no longer dusted the sand, and there was now some length to them. Tilting her head also made her realize that, despite her new sense of clarity, there was a heavier weight pulling against Jawile's stem.

"What the--" she breathed as she rushed over to a piece of metal that seemed slightly more reflective than the rest.

To her complete and utter surprise, what stared back at her was a changed form. An evolved form.

Longer legs. A defined figure. Jawile had elongated at least another two feet, with their bottom lip now brushing the ground while just sitting at a rest position. They had somehow grown more teeth than they had to start, too. Most striking of all, however, were the two new tiny jaws that had sprouted at the ends of her tassels.

She slowly brought her hands to her face, trying to process just what the fuck she was looking at. She'd changed? She didn't think mawile could even do that, but unless she was having a psychotic break, her reflection couldn't have been lying to her.

"Oh my gods,” she muttered, patting down her torso. "I'm hot."

Amazingly, the two additions to her tertiary mouths chimed in.

"Yes! Yes! Super hot!"

"...super hot!"

She momentarily frowned at their intrusion. That was going to take some getting used to, but she supposed it was better than--

"Now is the perfect time to find somebody to kiss you! Aren't you feeling deprived of sugar? It's been a while!"

"...a while!"

"Okay," she said, rolling her eyes at her own shitty luck. "You're getting chains too." Somehow, having two smaller heads to spew her horny thoughts was worse than Jawile's lone bullshit. She really couldn't catch a break.

But, with her mind now clear...she didn't mind it for the time being. With her form having reached an evident new level of power, she couldn't be upset. This was the lightest, the coolest, she'd felt in weeks.

Sighing, she slanted one more look at her new reflection, turning to admire her backside, and her new silhouette. It was there she noticed just how snug her dress had gotten, and she groaned.

"And I see a trip to the tailor in my future now, too."

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