“Bubble Storm: Bubble Bomb!”
“Lyra look out!” yelled Octavia, her voice echoing through the gym towards her partner.
Unfortunately, it was too late. The mint green haired girl couldn’t dodge fast enough to not be caught in the series of explosions that her teammate had warned of. To Octavia’s own surprise, said explosions had enough force to shove herself back a few feet, even from her distance from them.
Octavia slid to a stop while Lyra, like the monkey she was, flipped through the air and landed on the ground in a low crouch a short distance behind Octavia. Once again, she had removed her shoes and had chosen to fight barefoot. The explosions left her more than a little singed.
Whitney, sitting over on the bleachers, called out the score. “Point: Ditzy! The current score is 2-0 for Lyra and 1-0 for Octavia. ”
“Ugh,” groaned Lyra, panting heavily. “I told you *huff* we shouldn’t have let her fly!” Lyra glared up at the grey winged menace in the sky, smiling her usual ditzy smile. Surrounding her were dozens if not hundreds of variously sized, clear bubbles. Above them, completely covering the the ceiling of the gym were dark grey storm clouds. Despite the clear appearance of the bubbles, no one could tell exactly what was inside each one. Dangerous gasses, torrents of water, compressed air, Ditzy’s particular brand of avian weather magic could fill a bubble with just about anything and keep it hidden. Lyra furrowed her brow in frustration. “It’s had enough fighting the Bubble Queen without worrying about where she is in the sky.”
Ditzy frowned at her sadly. “Please, Lyra, I thought I asked you to stop calling me that. I’m not a queen. Queens are evil.” The sound of thunder boomed through the clouds and echoed throughout the gym. “I’m not evil,” she giggled innocently.
Octavia clenched her teeth and glanced back at Lyra. “Well I thought we’d at least be able to get at least one point on her by now. Maybe, if you listened to a once in a while!”
“Don’t blame me!” cried Lyra. She glared at the self proclaimed leader of their group.
There was a loud rumbling sound and both of their attentions turned back to Ditzy who was awkwardly rubbing her stomach. “I’m hungry…” she observed. Octavia and Lyra glanced at one another with horrified looks. Ditzy glanced over at whitney with an innocent looking smile. “I think we should wrap this up and get something to eat, don’t you think so?”
Whitney glanced over at Lyra and Octavia, both of whom were fiercely shaking their heads in protest. “Umm… Ditzy, I don’t think--”
It was too late, Ditzy had already raised her keyblade. It was an odd looking version with a soft looking grey shaft with 8 small bubbles acting as the teeth and a handle shaped like a muffin of all things. The keychain that dangled from the base of it consisted of two crossed arrows.
With Crossed Memories raised, a group of three particular bubbles began to circle around her. “Bubble Storm: Four of a Kind,” she announced. Immediately, the three bubbles converged on her and merged into one large orb. Lyra and Octavia recognized this move and were quick to get back as far as possible.
In a matter of seconds the bubble burst outward and 4 identical Ditzy Doo’s emerged. The only difference between them were that, unlike the original, the clones’ eyes were all normally aligned.
The instant they appeared each of them began the same preparation move the original Ditzy did near the start of the match. “Bubble Storm!” they announced, holding their keys up high. More white clouds formed along the ceiling and, in a matter of seconds, they too turned into dark grey storm clouds. More bubbles began floating down from them. None of them fell under Ditzy or her clones, but instead gathered around them. By this point her entire half of the gym was coated in potentially lethal orbs. All of them floating innocently behind the ditzy blond girl.
Even Whitney began to grow worried. “Umm… Ditzy I don’t know if this attack is necessary...”
One of the Ditzy’s turned to face Whitney, she looked confused. “Why not? Master Celestia told me that holding back defeats the purpose of training.” She turned back to her opponents and, if one were to look closely, they would find her smile to be just a bit more malicious. “I have to go all out!” With that she turned to her opponents and, once again in sync with her clones, pointed their Keyblades forward.
“Bubble Storm: Maelstrom!” they announced.
“I GIVE UP! screamed Lyra, falling to her knees. The second she did, every single bubble popped harmlessly, including the clones. Ditzy flew over to her and dismissed her wings. Lyra, meanwhile, was still shaking and whimpering on the ground. “I’ll be good! I swear! Just please don’t hurt us!”
Ditzy crouched down and tilted her head in confusion. “Umm… alright.” She looked over to Octavia who, until now, had also had her back against the wall, but still ready to fight back. Although now, she was down on one knee gasping for air. “A-are you two alright?” she asked, concerned.
Octavia weakly held her hand up. “N-no. It’s alright. We’ll just need a few seconds to get our breath back.”
Confused, Ditzy shrugged and flew over to Whitney, who had climbed down from her position on the bleachers. “Did I overdo it again…?” she asked.
Whitney hurriedly shook her head. “No! You were great as always. I just don’t think four of a kind was necessary. I think you could’ve won with the amount of bubbles you had.”
“But then they would think that I was going easy on them…”
While they were going on with their conversation, Luna watched them from the doorway. “Very good,” she announced, entering the room. Everyone turned their attention to her and bowed. Though Lyra, who was still whimpering, stayed whimpering until Luna told her to stand.
“Master Luna,” gasped Octavia. “I didn’t know you were still here.”
Luna nodded. “We were curious about you all after hearing about our student’s sparring match. We wanted to see for ourselves your strengths. Needless to say, we are impressed.” She beckoned for all of them to gather around her. She turned to Ditzy. “It appears that you fight not with strength or technique but with force of number and strategy. You fought well during the beginning when both of them advanced on you simultaneously.”
She turned to Lyra and Octavia. “And while you two were wise not to give her room to use any strong attacks, you began hesitating when she used her first technique. Though, as soon as you did, you fell into her trap and allowed her to use the original Bubble Storm magic that sealed your fates.”
“My personal advice for fighting her would be to not hesitate. Keep on her and do not let her cast Bubble Storm. I also noticed that you both backed away when you saw her raise her weapon to cast it. That’s a wrong action. If you see someone casting a spell then attack them, do not let them finish or you have lost.”
Octavia lowered her head in gratefully. “Understood. Thank you, Master Luna.”
Lyra groaned loudly. “Ugh! Why did we have to fight her in the first place?” Another loud rumble echoed out and once again, everyone turned to the blond one.
Said blond one was blushing shyly. “I’m still hungry can we get something to eat now?”
Whitney gently patted her on her back. “Sure, I’ll cook something nice to celebrate your victory.”
With that all four girls turned and made their way out of the gym. On their way out, one of the girls asked something that caught Luna’s attention.
On her way out the door, Lyra turned to Ditzy and asked. “Hey, speaking of food has anyone seen Clockwork lately?”
Luna glanced over at her in confusion. “Clockwork?” she muttered.
~~~
Kirito flew backwards through the air. Flipping to regain his balance, he landed feet-first against the wall of his training room and fell to the ground with a grunt. The room that he had moved his next opponent to wasn’t all that wide; it resembled a traditional kendo dojo from his real life home.
“Damn,” he muttered, retaking his stance. “You… you are different,” he grinned. “You don’t fight like the others. I just can’t figure how though.”
Pinkamena stepped forward, gave him a sly grin, and sat her Keyblade on her shoulder. "See, this is why you should listen once and a while."
"Kirito playfully spun his black blade a few times as he took a few steps to the side. "I still don't get why we needed to keep this fight a secret."
“Well you're the so called strongest player in this game. I guess I couldn't help my curiosity. As for the secrecy..." Pinkamena rocked her head back in forth, as if she were debating something. In the end she just threw her head back. "Weeell ya know. A girl’s gotta have her secrets.”
Kirito couldn't help but grin. “That’s cool, I’ll get it out of you eventually.” Rushing forward, Kirito launched into a double stinger with both swords pointed forwards in a stabbing motion. Pinkamena cartwheeled to the right while swiping her Keyblade to block the secondary swing that Kirito sent her way.
Kirito didn’t give her any further time to recover though as he quickly closed the distance with spinning swing from one of his blades. Pinka wisely dodged the first attack and parried the second. This went on for a while with both of them exchanging blows but unable to get a direct hit on each other.
To Kirito’s surprise, this girl, who he assumed to be a separate personality of the other girl, was fast. While she was not as fast as Rachelle, she appeared to be more reserved with her speed. It seemed that she prefered quick bursts of speed to outmaneuver her opponent and quickly strike at blind spots than Rachelle’s method of trying to completely overcome her opponent’s defense with sheer speed. While he prefered the latter way to fight, he respected the unpredictability of the former; he thought of it as a great test of his reaction times.
Pinkamena dodged one attack and crouched low. Leaning back she sent a kick aimed towards his gut. Kirito quickly crossed his swords and blocked the kick, falling right into her trap. Pinka pushed against the blades and flicked them upwards, arching her leg over her head and effectively leaving Kirito open. In a burst of speed, she spun her leg back to the ground and pushed off, aiming her Keyblade to his gut.
For Kirito, everything that happened next happened in slow motion. Seeing her attack coming , he immediately tried to regain his balance and pull a blade back to block. However, in the blink of an eye, a strange glow covered Pinkamena’s body and, in an instant, she disappeared. Pushing his reaction time to the limit, Kirito wasted no time trying to figure out where she was. He jumped into the air and backflipped just in time to see her Keyblade swipe through empty air. He landed and jumped back twice more to gain some distance. He returned to his stance just in time to see the faint glow fade completely from around Pinka’s body, and to watch turn to face him with a cheeky grin.
Kirito couldn’t help but return it. “You’re holding back arent you?” he asked.
Pinkamena let out a dark chuckle. “Please don’t say that as if you aren't. I’m just matching you right now.” She turned the Keyblade upside down and leaned on it like a cane. “So, chief, how do I rate?”
Kirito hummed for a while before responding. “Well I’m fighting at the level of someone at at around 200, without sword skills so let’s go with that for right now.”
“Let’s see, that puts me about 10 levels above Rainbrat and AJ.” She shrugged and dismissed her Keyblade in a dark red mist. Turning, she began walking away. “I can work with that. The goal was 200 right?”
Kirito looked on in confusion. “Where are you going?”
“Pinkie wants to take a shower,” she replied. “I can’t use magic like Twilight or Rainbrat so there’s no use testing me in that area. Plus, you’ve been fighting all day.” She sat her hand on the room’s doors before craning her head back to look at Kirito. “It'd be no fun kicking your ass right now. I think I’ll wait.” With that she left, leaving Kirito gaping.
~~~
After leaving the gym Luna made her way back to the library to talk to her sister. It didn’t take a genius to figure out where she was. In her early days as a master to the girls, she quickly realized how similar Twilight was to her sister. Luckily, this made Twilight easier to deal with.
Walking into the library, Luna looked around until she found a tuft of multi colored hair sticking up from a tower of books. Sister located, Luna walked over to her.
“Still searching, sister?” she asked, glancing down at the text.
Celestia shook her head, not looking away for a second. “No, not today. I’m trying to find information on this Chrysalis character. Her name sounds familiar but I cannot place it.”
Luna cocked her head in confusion. “You think that she has a prior history of mischief?”
“I’m curious to see if there’s any record of her, either as a wielder, or as someone of note. She’s the only unknown in this situation. Plus, something about the girls description of her rubs me the wrong way.”
“Her appearance?” asked Luna, trying to follow Celestia’s train of thought.
“Yes… well no. I’m not sure what, but it’s something. Perhaps she has something to do with the vanishing of the Constellation.”
Luna chuckled and leaned over her sister’s shoulder. “We thought so. You are still searching.”
Celestia sighed. “You know as well as I do that the Equestrian Constellation was not simply swallowed by darkness, not all three of them and not all at once.” She turned to face Luna with a determined expression. “It’s not possible. Something happened, and I made a promise to find out what.”
Luna stared at her and smiled. “Very well then. At least let us help you.” Pulling up a chair, Luna sat down and began going through a few tomes. “What are we searching for?”
“Anything on this Chrysalis character; her history, powers, native world? Something we can use to figure out what’s happened with Spike.”
Luna nodded and opened a particular book.
~~~
Rachelle Dash rubbed the soap out of her hair one last time before looking up at the shower head and letting the last bit of water flow down her body. After a few more seconds she reached down and turned off the water.
Rarity had already thanked the maker in a very dramatic presentation for the ability to use the showers in this world. Unfortunately, Rarity also cursed the maker for the fact that she would have to put on the same set of clothes. Nevertheless, with Yui’s help, the girls were able to make the towels tangible enough to use. Though she warned that too many hidden things in the same place would attract the attention of the system. So, once more to Rarity’s ire, they all had to share two towels.
Stepping out of the shower, Dash was quick to dry herself off and throw on some clothes. Twilight advised that they wear just the bare minimum of clothes for a while, so no jackets or gloves or anything. Though it’s not like she minded walking around in her bra and panties anyway. She briefly considered retying her long hair back, but eventually decided to leave it down.
After getting everything dry and together, Dash stepped out of the bathroom and made her way to the kitchen. It was dark, their training with Kirito and Asuna having gone long into the night. Since she had to have her final fight with Kirito, Dash decided to go into the shower last. In fact, even after having her fight, she was still sore that she lost so easily. Though she was glad that it seemed her magic was working again.
Entering the kitchen, Dash looked over the leftovers sitting on the counter. There were several things, a few cakes, some cookies, an entire plate of cupcakes and...
"Milk?" Dash muttered, picking up the jug. Honestly, she was surprised to see it. For some reason the others forbid her to drink it and kept it away from her at all times. Not that she cared, she never liked the taste of it anyway. She took another look around. Not seeing anything else to drink she simply shrugged, grabbed both the jug and a cupcake, and walked out the kitchen and into the hallway.
"Where's our room at again?" she wondered, still chewing the pastry. Turning down a corridor, she opened a door and found herself back in the dining room that held the sliding glass exit to the back yard. She was about to turn around when she noticed that the door was open and that someone was sitting on the steps outside.
She frowned when she recognized the black hair of the person sitting outside. Taking a gulp of milk, she stepped forward.
“What are you doing?” she asked, taking a seat next to him. Right now Kirito was wearing a simple white shirt and black sweat pants.
He opened his mouth to answer but one glance her way caused him to blush and avert his gaze. “What are you doing, put some clothes on!” he ordered.
Dash grinned and jabbed him with her elbow. “Oh come on, you have a wife. Why ya so nervous there, Kirito?” She laughed and took another gulp of milk.
Kirito kept looking the other way, refusing to look at the half naked girl next to him. “Should you be drinking straight from the carton like that?”
Dash shrugged. “Ehh, I don’t backwash so even if I don’t finish it should be fine.” ‘Is it just me or is everything going a bit fuzzy?’ she thought. Not only that but for face started to feel a bit warm.
*Hic* “So anyway, I thought I asked what you were doing out here? Doin’ some emo ssssoul searchin’ stuff?”
Still not looking at her Kirito turned his head back towards the lake outside his home. “Nah, I just like the view. The reflection of Aincrad’s moon off of the water, the ripple of it’s surface. All of that in real time. It all takes so much talent and skill. Everything in this game is just so amazing. Then to see it being used so maliciously. It gives me more drive to fix things I guess.”
Dash blinked. “So emo stuff? Gotcha. Here, I’ll watch it with you, that way you won’t look like you’re brooding over something.”
Kirito chuckled and let a soft silence fall over the two of them with nothing but the calm sounds of the water to listen to. Though Dash would hiccup every so often, Kirito didn’t pay it any mind until he felt a weight against his shoulder.
He turned to see her taking another gulp of milk while leaning against him. He hadn’t realized that she was this close until now, or that half of the milk was gone.
“I don’t like you…” she mumbled. *Hic*
Kirito raised an eyebrow. “Huh?”
She glared up at him. “I sssssaid I don’t *hic* like you. Stupid.” Her glare slowly turned into a sad, melancholy look. “You’re lucky… You got to train with Spike when he was still cool. Now he’sh all mean a-and... stupid.” she slurred.
“So it really was Spike that tried to hurt you?” he asked.
“NO! Well… maybe…? I don’t know!” Leaning forward, Dash hugged the half empty jug of milk to her chest. “Whe-when I fau… hit him. I looked right into his eyes. I don’t know but I could jusht tell it was him.” She lowered her head down further. “I don wanna believe it though, and hearin’ that he remembered us makes me feel… I dunno. I should be happy, and I was until I thought about it.”
Kirito honestly didn’t know what to do. In fact, he barely understood what was happening. Somehow, the girl next to him had gotten drunk, that much he understood. But how was he supposed to comfort her on a situation he didn’t fully understand?
“You kinda remind me of him actually,” she muttered looking up at him with shimmering eyes. Kirito flinched, unsure where this was going.
Dash burst out in a fit of drunken laughter, pushing him away and rocking side to side. “You- your face! Don’t worry, you’re way too emo to be like Spike. He was more of a… of a...” Her laughter died down and she returned her head to his shoulder, the milk jug still hugged to her chest. “Hey… what was Spike like when he was here? *Hic* What was he doing here anyway?”
Kirito looked down at her before giving a soft smile. “You’ll probably be asleep by the time I finish.”
Dash leaned away and weakly punched his arm. “Jusht tell me” *Hic* “Stupid.”
Kirito chuckled lightly. “Fine. I already told you how we met. I guess I’ll just talk to myself about everything else then.”
“I really don’t like you.”
~~~
A/N:
Next Chapter: Flashback!