Frontier Town The Wanderin' Zera

[Shiny Phantump]

Gladion almost got whiplash from how quickly his impression of whatever these two had going on changed. From how Brisa described it, he’d though things were going to bitter. Nope. They were flirting. (That was definitely flirting. It may not have been a subject of expertise for him, they weren’t exactly subtle.) Had Brisa been worried about nothing? Or maybe it was just gonna be more complicated because of this? He was lucky he didn’t really have to worry about this kind of thing himself.

“Would’ve said something if I’d remembered, just, uhh, I didn’t. Haven’t been able to drink normally most of my time here, it’s a long story.”

Maybe it wasn’t safe to assume the air was totally clear. They still had whatever history Brisa’s been worried about. But Sonora seemed willing to work it out, and seemed to be having a good enough time teaching Brisa to use Overheat.

An amused smirk played across his eyes. Couldn’t help but find this a little funny. “That being said, sounds to me like it’s gonna turn out alright. Maybe it’s for the best it slipped my mind.”

Seeing Sonora also reminded him, wasn’t he a mayoral candidate now too? Guess she’d still have to work to fund her campaign, especially given that— to Gladion’s great disappointment— she didn’t seem awful likely to be getting a new job once the polls closed. “Things holding up alright on your end? Figure you must be busy running a campaign alongside everything.”

Wait, did Brisa know that? Huh. She probably didn’t, it hadn’t come up before. Maybe it was a sign Sonora wasn’t as stuck on the wild and free path as before. Wasn’t exactly how mayors got to be, after all.

 

[Jackie Cat]

“That being said, sounds to me like it’s gonna turn out alright. Maybe it’s for the best it slipped my mind.”

Brisa pinched the bridge of her nose, and put back most of her remaining whiskey. "Be a sight less embarrassin' if you had, fella."

Sonora smirked. "Nah, this was serendipitity at work, sir Gladion~ I'm sure Stiff Breeze would've made herself ill worryin', otherwise. To be fair, she had reason enough to fret – I just can't bring myself to be mad at her after all that bleedin'-heart mopin'."

The Luxio couldn't quite make eye contact, intently focusing on her empty glass. It wasn't so much that Sonora had nothing to forgive, then – more that she would happily make the most of this emotional leverage. At least there was a way forward for the two of them.

“Things holding up alright on your end? Figure you must be busy running a campaign alongside everything.”

Brisa perked up, brow furrowing. "What's that about a campaign?" she asked.

Sonora leaned back and fanned her face with one paw. "Oh, nothin' that important. Prognosticators're all sayin' I'm gonna eat shit on election day, but I still wanna spook the rich folks with how much support I can get. Show it ain't just desperados an' freaks who want a fair shake."

"You're runnin' for mayor," said Brisa, dully. "Is that even... Is it legal?"

A shrug. "Got a full pardon, darlin'." Sonora turned to Gladion. "To answer your (much-better) question, I'm doin' just fine. Not really poundin' the trail about it, I can read the signs. Looked like Greasewood might cut a deal with me, put me up fer a law-mon post, but I still got that outlaw stink on me, I guess. Not his issue, more about spinnin' the pick to the gilded side of town, y'know? I ain't so thick-skulled I can't understand that, I guess. Still. Kinda stings."

Brisa looked up from her glass, the knuckles of one paw pressed to her chin. Thinking. Could be there was a way she could make it up to Sonora in a genuinely significant way after all...

"It is what it is," finished Sonora, rolling a silver dollar across the digits of one paw. "I'll get myself a drink since my shift's up, but don't feel y'all gotta entertain me or nothin'. I'm gettin' by just fine."

 

[Shiny Phantump]

"Gotta keep those rich sorts on their bloody toes." Gladion smirked. "Campaign sure was more fun with you around, at least. Damn shame the deal with Greasewood didn't work out, though. You hadn't strike me the type at first thought, but on second thought I can see it suiting you pretty well. Hell of a resume for it, between the manor and Terminal Two... Maybe if he makes it in there'll be a second shot at getting somewhere with him, when he doesn't have to worry about being behind in the polls and whatnot?"

Something about this conversation got Brisa thinking. He was curious what she was thinking about. 'Cause hadn't half of what she'd been all twisted outta shape about been how the two of them got sent down different paths when she'd been the law when Sonora was an outlaw? Must've been some kinda thought to picture them on the same side as each other again.

He enjoyed talking to Sonora, but honestly he figured Sonora's last remark was directed to Brisa more than him. If things were still tense for her, she might want a break from it. "How you holding up, Brisa?"

 

[Jackie Cat]

Sonora grinned at Gladion's appreciation. The Floragato soaked up attention like sunlight – apparently much in contrast with Brisa.

"Yeah, maybe. Guess I'll find out, and 'til then I'm here to bounce any jackass outta this place any time."

"How you holding up, Brisa?"

"Just fine, kid," murmured the Luxio. "Say, Sonora. You serious about this, uh– this sheriff thing?"

"Sure, not that it's really on the table? I mean, it's kinda weird t' think of, which I guess is why Cal reckons folks won't take to it, but it's, uh... somethin' I'd be good at, and I guess—"

Seeing something in Brisa's rather intense expression, Sonora finally caught on.

"Wait, wait, Cool Breeze, hang fire a second— This is important, ya can't just fuckin'— I don't know, hand me somethin' like that, it's fuckin' law enforcement, I'd sooner take back all that shit about squeezin' ya for favours than that—"

Brisa ignored her.

"Say, Gladion, what was that you were sayin' just now 'bout a 'hell of a resumé'?"

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Gladion's eyes lit up the instant he realized where Brisa was going with this, more than willing to participate. Now they were scheming.

"Story stretches back longer than I've been here, but when we arrived there were disappearances happening."

The story quickly sunk the enjoyment he was taking from the matter. It had been an unpleasant time, knowing nothing about what was going on, only hearing whispers of problems and dangers. And in his case, half-blinded and acutely uncomfortable in his new form. He... didn't miss that point in this whole ordeal.

"Lower-profile folks who wouldn't get noticed being snatched up and shipped off. It was the first bit of direction we had since arriving here. Sonora was the one who figured out what was up, got Las Picaras to start landing hits on the wagons. I'm sure that investigation was probably a team effort, but, y'know, she was leading them. That tied into Ignatius' business. She coordinated that raid that took him down, of course, which is a pretty high-profile victory for, justice and those kindsa nice things. The records we got there brought us through to this other non-Coven group of shitbag humans. Helped with that raid, too. We saved a bunch of people they'd been doing shadow stuff to."

He turned his focus from talking about Sonora to Brisa, towards Sonora herself. "Including Sage." His voice had become shakier now. "So, uh, thanks for that. Not sure how we woulda done it without you..."

A beat, to recollect his composure.

"Sure, you can't just get handed a position like that. But in light of the evidence, you'd probably be pretty good at it. Not unreasonable to consider that."

 

[Jackie Cat]

Brisa nodded appreciatively to Gladion, then turned back to Sonora, her amber eyes focused, purposeful. Now the Floragato was the one to be flustered...

"Hey, now," she began.

"None of that," interrupted Brisa. "What I'm hearin' is, you can lead an' inspire folks, you won justice when no-one else would, you can fight like mad, and you don't back down when the odds are long."

Sonora put her paws together, index digits extended, and levelled them at Brisa, mouth pursed. "This ain't a fun favour," she tried.

"Nah," replied Brisa. "It's a good idea, is what it is. Ain't like I'm plannin' on stickin' around to take up my old job. Look, Greasewood's already up fer it, all I mean to do is give him the excuse. And all I gotta do is tell folks the truth about you! After holdin' my tongue all those years, ain't that just poetic?"

Sonora blinked. "Can I still get those drinks, though...?"

"You can if you win," purred Brisa.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

"It is a good idea," Gladion concurred, looking quite pleased. "It honestly does just make sense to me. You woulda had it either way, if not for the politics of the situation. You think there's gonna be someone better, or something?"

The town would still need a new sheriff, if Brisa wasn't planning to stick around, which apparently she wasn't. Fair enough. She'd been notably down a partner and a father when they'd found her. Probably wanted to remedy that.

"You know where you're headed next already?" He tilted his head, curious, but not surprised. He already suspected an answer. "Oughtta let us know if you're doing anything major. Don't doubt that you're tough, but we'll give you hand, y'know?"

 

[Jackie Cat]

"No? I mean, I dunno. I thought..."

Sonora swallowed some of her drink, and wiped her mouth with the back of a paw.

"Fuck, okay, I guess we're doin' this then. Gettin' off the ballot an' everythin'."

Brisa grinned, then turned to Gladion, a little weariness showing through past her conviction.

"I don't know exactly where, but I know that sooner or later I'm goin' back east. Starr is out there somewhere, and I can't rest 'til I get her back."

 

[Shiny Phantump]

“Fair enough. Just make sure you, uhh, actually do rest.” He looked away, unable to make eye contact and be earnest at the same time. “Know it’s a special kinda torment not knowing if your partner’s gonna be alright. But ‘s not gonna get better if you burn yourself out.”

As before, this was a hypocracy. He said it as if it was obvious, because from where he was standing it felt that way. But Hazel couldn’t cough without him getting nervous about it. If someone got their hands on her, he’d wanna rend the stars from the sky if he thought it’d have a chance to help. (Still, from his empirical self-experimentation he could say with confidence that all of his sleep deprivation had yet to make an improvement in anything.)

“Maybe give Jade a call, at some point. Think she knows Starr.” (Or a Starr, at least. He caught and corrected himself before referring to her like that aloud, because he wasn’t in the mood to introduce anyone to that epistemic nightmare today.) “She’s pretty young, but it’s someone else who knows her.”

 

[Jackie Cat]

Brisa smiled weakly, and thumped the bar table lightly. "Well, I'll at least do what I can, Gladion. I was already set on checkin' in on Jade when I got a chance. Not that we got to know each too well or nothin', but we got some catchin' up to do all the same. 'Specially if you're at all right."

It didn't seem like she picked up on the implication that Jade was from Starr's world. Perhaps it was just too far outside what she'd considered; perhaps she'd already heard something whispered in the Comb. Either way, Brisa seemed to have spent her intense focus for the moment.

Sonora, who had been divining her future career from the foam in her drink, blinked herself back into the present.

"Oh, uh, sure hope that goes well. And, uh, thanks. For whatever it is you're plannin'."

Brisa shrugged. "Not the only thing I wanna do differently now I'm back. It's a start." She nodded to Gladion in a respectful farewell as she got up from the table. "Be seein' ya 'round, fella. Maybe we'll have occasion to see more of each other pretty soon."

Gladion was sure to get the feeling that this was absolutely true...

The Luxio looked back over her shoulder as she left. "And Sonora? Good luck."

Sonora forced a confident smirk.

"Nah. Don't need any."

<><><><><>​

 

[Namohysip]

The atmosphere in The Wanderin' Zera was noticeably heavier than usual.

It had only been a day since the team at Whisperwind Comb had returned to recuperate, and already they got an update from the great darkness himself that one of their very own world-foreigners--or at least, someone in a similar circumstance--had mucked things up.

A certain Hydreigon Alexander, imbued with Powehi's Shadows and unexpectedly adept at wielding it, had quietly accumulated more and more power until Powehi noticed too late. By then, a direct confrontation could risk the fabric of Forlas to rip apart, even if Powehi would defeat Alexander in the process.

That is what they knew for their background.. What they also knew in terms of present operations was that Alexander had his eyes on one of the greatest tears in Forlas already -- Eremus Rift.

Mhynt stood near the edge of a long table that Gerome had set up for the Wayfarers, making it a private but casual affair to discuss their plans. On the table were scattered papers of notes, pictures, and other items to help people organize their thoughts.

With a literal Saint assisting at the bar in addition to a former rogue, it was unlikely that anyone could spy on them without getting spotted or worse.

Alexander's power grew every day. If they didn't act swiftly, and if they didn't cut off their preparations before diminishing returns were outpaced by his growth, Forlas could be lost.

"Well," Mhynt muttered, "let's start planning with what we have. Others may shuffle in... Someone, take notes so they can be caught up. Everyone will need to know this by the end if we want a coordinated effort against our little problem..."

 

[Ambyssin]

Nova slumped over, laying his head on the table. "I don't think we need to use euphemisms. This is a biiiiiig fucking problem."

He winced, then muttered an apology to Mhynt.

 

[Namohysip]

"True enough," muttered the Grovyle with a grunt as she sat her back against her seat. She tapped her claws on the table a few times, and then sighed. "I'll try to answer what I might know, but I want to emphasize... I don't know how much of that translates here. We may be from the same world, but how that interacts with us has already differed. I don't have nearly the same power he does in Forlas..."

 

[Ambyssin]

"Then, uh..." Nova's crest tightened up. "What exactly are we looking at here? Like, the extent of what this guy can do?" He glanced around the room nervously. "He already... can manipulate people with shadows in them, right? Like Voclain... and Archie and Koa. What else should we be ready for?"

 

[Namohysip]

"Well," Mhynt said slowly, "I suppose we can go by his behavior and strategic... tendencies."

Mhynt looked at a few of the papers. On them were breakdowns of certain bios and profiles they had on individuals--Ein, Owen, and of course Alexander himself, to name a few.

"He accepts nothing short of total loyalty or total control. But the downside to that is most of his subordinates will turn traitor eventually... or be mindless drones. It's rare that he has someone truly loyal..." She also murmured under her breath, "And thankfully, the one person I know who is didn't appear in Forlas."

 

[Ambyssin]

"So, what, he'll have swarms of mindless minions to send at us?" It wasn't as if they didn't have experience with that. The Quarry was full of those awful void swarms. Nova supposed the rift would just have... more of them. Lots more.

 

[Butterfree]

Dave sighed. Yeah, this was fucking predictable. Alexander had been obvious bad news this entire time. And now he threatened to tear Forlas apart.

So fucking what. Maybe it'd bring a premature end to all this. He'd wake up in his bed and remember nothing. Have no idea Forlas even existed, if it even did.

"What's the status on Owen, anyway?" he asked. "Are we going to be able to get anything useful out of him?"

 

[Namohysip]

"Well," Mhynt said, "from what I understand, Grace informed me that he's... largely falling back on his battle instincts on overdrive, but he's cooperative enough to talk. Between talking about the various ways he can kill you, at least." She rolled her eyes. "...But I can't get anything out of him. Any time I'm nearby he clams up and goes completely silent. So, if someone wants to get anything from him, or try again, it... has to be without me.

"But I suspect he'd know a thing or two if you can get through to him. Grace nearly did. Ever since that talk, he's been much more docile. He won't be as predictable... unlike the mindless swarms." She nodded at Nova. "Mindless means predictable. That's good for us."

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Gladion felt emotionally ill-equipped to handle the scale of grandiosity things were escalating to, but he did his best. It wasn’t like he didn’t know it was coming, he knew the stories of how strong humans got here. Dealing with stuff like this was their job.

“We’re supposed to split Alex’s attention between Erebus Rift and other places he wants, correct? Could we get Intel on what those other places are from either of those? Even if Owen can’t or won’t tell us, we might be able to track a swarm somewhere.”

 

[Namohysip]

Mhynt nodded. "If we can figure out a strategic location or two that would catch Alexander's attention, we could get him frantic enough that he'd step in and be vulnerable. Apparently we only need to weaken him so Powehi can interfere... and then we finish the job.

"I'm not sure where to start asking, though. Unless we somehow get Ein or our other Cipher captures to cooperate, that knowledge is stuck with them, not us. But if we explain Alexander's threat level... I wonder..."