//------------------------------// // Chapter 15 // Story: Old Scars, New Chances // by Arcticbrony //------------------------------// Chii was having the time of her life. She was out playing in the park with both Ethan and Zoey, as she had not gotten too much time with the two of them after all the Pokémon had moved in with them. She understood that they needed a lot of care and attention with how injured they were. So of course she was overjoyed that Ethan and Zoey finally had some time to spend with her. She was part of their family after all, and she always wanted to spend time with them. “Are you having fun, Chii?” Ethan asked her with his normal, kind smile. “Of course!” Chii exclaimed happily. They had been playing tag and different games all that afternoon. “I love you guys.” Chii purred as she nuzzled closer to Ethan who petted her back. “We love you too!” Ethan said as he picked Chii up and held her close. Chii was not sure how long she spent just relaxing in Ethan’s arms. She was a little tired from playing that much, after all. “Hey, Chii?” Ethan and Zoey asked after a little while. “Yeah?” She looked up at the two of them. There was something about how they looked at her that was a bit off, but she paid it no mind. “We have a surprise for you!” Zoey exclaimed with a huge smile. “Really!? I love surprises!” Chii had hopped down and was bouncing around happily. “What is it?” “We have finally found someone that wants to adopt you!” Chii almost tripped as those words left Ethan's mouth. “W-what?” Chii asked as she looked up at Ethan and Zoey who both seemed to be larger and darker than normal. She hoped that she had misheard what he had said. “You are getting adopted!” Ethan repeated with a large smile on his face as if it was the greatest news possible. “You are finally eating on your own and you have gotten so much better since we took you in, so of course it’s time for you to get a new family!” Chii was having a hard time to accept what Ethan was telling her. No, they were her family. She belonged with them. With Ethan, Uncle Vernus, and Zoey. She opened her mouth to protest but no words came out, she could not make any sound at all. “She will come to pick you up real soon, so we will just leave you here!” Zoey spoke up with a smile that matched Ethan’s. “It was nice knowing you, Chii!” And with that both of them turned around and started to walk away from her. “N-no… come back.” Chii had found her voice again and managed to force out a few words. “C-come back! DON’T LEAVE ME HERE!” Chii yelled with all her might as she started running after them. But no matter how fast she ran, she could not get any closer. It was like she was rooted to the ground as Ethan and Zoey slowly, so very slowly disappeared into the distance. “P-please…” Chii cried, as she stopped running, only the silhouettes of her family could now be seen in the horizon. “P-please don't leave me…” she whimpered they finally disappeared completely from sight. She was not sure how long she just sat there, looking after them, hoping that they would return. Maybe it was all just some kind of joke. Some… cruel… horrible joke. “Y-you said that you would never leave me…” Chii sniffed as she tried to wipe her eyes. She could not believe that Zoey had lied to her. But maybe none of them had never loved her in the first place. “Hello there, Chii. I am here to take you home.” She heard a voice from behind her and turned around immediately. But almost reared back in shock as she saw Mary standing there. Her Mary, her old Mary. Maybe Arceus had resurrected her after all. “M-Mary…” Chii did not know why, but she was shaking. Why was she shaking, she should be happy that her old trainer was back. “W-what are you doing here?” She stammered out. She looked up to her own trainer whose expression changed the moment their eyes met. “I thought I told you to never speak back to me!” Mary roared at Chii as she brought her arm down and hit Chii, sending her spiraling to the side. “I… I'm sorry, I did not meant to...” Chii croaked out keeping her gaze at towards the ground as Mary walked over to her and kneeled down besides her. “Good! Because we know what happens to little Pokémon that don't know how to be obedient, don't we?” Mary said with a sharp tone as she picked Chii up by the scruff of her neck. “Y-yes… I'll be a good girl. I promise.” Chii said as she kept looking down at the ground, forcing herself to keep her tears back. “Good! Ethan told me that you were all better so that I could finally take you home! You should be happy that he allowed you to stay with him as long as he did.” “I… I did not think that he would abandon me…” Chii said, her tears having finally broke free. But as soon as those words left her mouth, Mary threw Chii down onto the ground with all of her might. “Of course he abandoned you!” Mary said with a smile on her face, like if what she did was completely normal. “A worthless little Skitty like you… everyone would abandon you at the first chance they got. You should be happy that I'm taking you home, that I'm allowing you to stay with me!” “I... I’m not worthless… He told me so...” Mary reared back and kicked Chii. “Of course you are worthless!” Mary roared as her as she kicked again. “You are a useless, little waste of air!” Chii tried her best to shield herself, but she could only do so much with her tiny body. After a small while, she looked up at her trainer who had stopped and taken a few steps back instead. Now she was just looking down at her with an angry expression on her face. Slowly but surely, Mary’s skin began to discolor. Rope marks appeared around her neck and a small trickle of blood ran down her mouth. “No…” Chii could only watch in horror as her trainer transformed. She did no longer look like the lively Mary that she knew, instead she looked like she had done on… that night. “After all… you were the one that drove me to this!” Mary let out a sickening laugh as Chii broke down in tears. “No… no, no, no, no.” Chii kept chanting to herself as she cried her former trainer seemingly growing larger and larger as she towered over her. “”YOU DID THI-” “ENOUGH!” A sudden roar stopped Mary in her tracks. A large figure came flying down from above, landing in the space between Chii and Mary. “BEGONE!” And with a powerful swipe of her wing, Mary disappeared into smoke. Leaving only Chii and Luna. Luna turned around to Chii who, if she had noticed Luna, was not showing it as she just kept crying and chanting to herself. “‘It is safe, little one, the cruel one is gone.” Luna said as she looked down at Chii who now dared remove the paws that were shielding her eyes to look at her. Chii`s pupils shrank to pinpricks as she stared at Luna. She looked around the area but could not see anyone else there. “W-w-who are you… Where is Mary?” Chii spoke incredibly softly, scared to raise her voice. “She will trouble you no more this night, young one, you are safe! I am Luna, the Princess of the night.” Luna took a step closer towards Chii who immediately began backpedaling to get away from her. Luna paused as she looked down at Chii, only seeing fear and uncertainty in her eyes. “N-no… she wouldn't… she left me again,” Chii cried. “S-she was right, I am completely useless. A waste of space… useless… useless.” Chii`s tears fell to the ground as she kept repeating that word to herself. “N-no, of course you are not useless! You are safe little one, calm down.” Luna took another step towards Chii, her wings raised slightly as she wanted to embrace and comfort Chii who obviously were suffering from great turmoil. But she halted as a loud crack echoed through and the very ground itself shook. “T-they abandoned me… they all abandoned me… W-why can't I be good enough for t-them. “W-why do I have to be so worthless.” Chii kept crying, ignorant to the cracks that were appearing in the skies and the ground that kept shaking. “Calm down, little one, you are safe! Everything is alright.” Luna walked forward and knelt down besides Chii who were crying even heavier than before. But as one of her feathers graced Chii, she let out a loud scream and scurried away. “S-stay away!” Chii stammered out. It pained Luna greatly to see such a young soul suffering so much. And the state of the dream was only growing worse by the second as she looked around. The entire sky was filled with cracks. “Nopony will abandon you.” Luna spoke softly as she kept looking around at what was happening. “No… they all will, and they all should. It’s what someone as worthless as me deserves!” Chii screamed at Luna. And as if resonating with her scream, one last crack filled the air, much louder than any of the ones before. Before Luna could say or do anything else, everything shattered… “W-what happened?” Ethan asked as he suddenly sat up in a daze as he and almost everyone else had just been suddenly awoken. A loud scream had just filled the air in the warehouse, waking most of its inhabitants before the doors were slammed open and something ran outside. “It was Chii!” Ethan looked over to the couch where Officer Jenny was laying. She had heavy rings under her eyes and the journal she had been investigating was laying in front of her. Those past few days she had been immersing herself into her work as much as possible, usually working late into the night. It had been more that one time Ethan or Brawly had to convince her to take a break. “W-what?” Ethan asked, still a little groggy from his rude awakening. “It was Chii! She suddenly started tossing and turning in her sleep, before she screamed loudly and ran out of here! We need to go find her!” Ethan finally registered what Jenny had said and stood up immediately. “No, you stay here…” Ethan glanced around the sleeping area. Most of the Pokémon had been awoken and looked at both him and Jenny in confusion. Zoey had also been awoken but she was just like Ethan and had not managed to completely gather her surroundings. Brawly on the other hand… Somehow it did not surprise Ethan that he had managed to sleep through it. “This is not the first time she has went through something like this… it will probably be better if you stay here.” Jenny looked at Ethan but did not argue with him. She really wanted to just run out that door after Chii, but Ethan had known her longer and was probably right. “Fine… I'll hold the fort here. Just go!” And with that, Ethan ran out the door after Chii. As he came out, the cold, night air made him shiver slightly. It was a beautiful night, with the moon high in the sky and not a cloud in sight. It was such a shame that he could not enjoy it to its fullest. No, he had a Chii to find. “Chii!” Ethan called out as he ran after her. She was a small distance ahead of him and he knew how fast she could really be even with that small frame of hers. But Ethan thanked his ears as he could still hear her running and followed that sound deeper into the forest. “Chii! I just want to help you!” He shouted after her as he continued. This was not the first time that something like that had happened. She was often plagued by nightmares after he first got her. It had taken some time, but the nightmares eventually became more scarce before they stopped completely, until now, it seemed. After following her for a small while, he knew that he was closing in. She had finally stopped. He could hear some soft sounds coming from a small rock nearby, where he could see Chii laying ontop of it, crying softly as she covered her face with her paws and tail. A sight like that helped remind Ethan about how vulnerable Chii still was. It was true that she had made remarkable progress, but she was still young, and what had happened to her was not too long ago, so it would still be fresh in her mind. Ethan quietly walked over to her and sat down on the large rock next to her. She let out a surprised sound as Ethan put his paw gently on her back and she looked up to him with tears still fresh in her eyes. “E-Ethan…?” Chii immediately lunged at Ethan, burying her face into the fur around his neck. “It’s okay Chii… Everything is going to be okay.” Ethan spoke softly as he held her and gently stroked her back. “S-she was there…” Chii sniffed as Ethan held her, her whole body was shaking. “M-Mary was there.” Of course, Ethan knew which Mary Chii was talking about. She had not mentioned her old trainer almost at all after they had arrived in Equestria. “It was only a dream, Chii,” Ethan told her as she held onto him with all her strength. “She is not here… she can't hurt you anymore.” Chii leaned back slightly to look at Ethan. Her face was a mess. It was obvious that she had tried to wipe away her tears, only for new ones to take their place immediately. “W-why was I *sniff* not good enough for her…” Ethan felt a pang in his heart as Chii uttered those words. “M-maybe if I was better she wouldn't have… *sniff* maybe she wouldn't have left me. Why couldn't I be good enough?” Ethan hugged Chii even tighter. “Never say that again, Chii… It was never your fault. Nothing that happened was your fault.” Ethan told her. “Shh… just let it all out.” Ethan said softly as Chii sobbed uncontrollably. “P...please don't leave me.” Her voice was incredibly quiet, barely even a whisper. “I’m not going to leave you, Chii!” Ethan said, but was suddenly caught off guard as Chii pushed herself away from him. Landing in front of Ethan and looking up at him instead. “I… I don't want a new family or trainer. I… I want to stay with you guys,” Chii sniffed. She was obviously putting in a lot of effort to keep herself together. “I… I promise to be a good girl… just please don't make me leave!” This time it was Ethan who reached out and picked Chii up, bringing her into his embrace. “No one will ever make you leave, Chii.” Ethan said as he held her. He had originally planned to try to find someone that wanted to adopt Chii. He had thought it would be best for her that way. But after Zoey had talked to him and this current incident, he finally thought differently. The two of them stayed there under the moon’s calming light for more than an hour, until Chii cried herself back to sleep. “So she saw Princess Luna?” Mary had come over to the warehouse a little later that morning and Ethan had told her a little about what had happened. All of the inhabitants were now fully awake; Chii had slept a little longer than most of the others, but that was to be expected since what had happened probably took a lot out of her. “Apparently… you sound surprised!” Chii had mentioned a pony Princess in her dream, something that Ethan found a little odd. But when he mentioned it to Mary, things started to make a little more sense. “Well…. she is the Princess of the Night! And it’s said that she can help with a pony’s nightmare, but I did not think that she could go into the dreams of Pokémon as well.” Mary said amazed. Not only that they had apparently learned something new about the princess, but that she had appeared in Chii`s dream in the first place. “Well… she might have meant good, but I don't hope that she shows up again,” Ethan sighed out. “Chii told me a little more about what had happened and the nightmare itself… she… did not take too well to the Princess’s presence.” Chii had positively been terrified. She usually acted all happy and easy going, but she was really easily frightened. “Oh... “ Mary looked over to where she could see Zoey and Chii was sitting. Chii had secluded herself from most of the other Pokémon after she had awoken, only accepting Zoey and Ethan's presence. She was currently sitting next to Zoey with her ears flat against her head and an uncertain look upon her face. “How is she?” Mary asked as she turned back to Ethan. “...” Mary was even more concerned when she saw the uneasy look on Ethan's face and the pause he took before answering her question. “Not good… She is putting up a brave face… or at least trying, but this… it hit her deep.” Ethan answered as he had a concerned look on his face, he kept looking over to Chii and Zoey as he and Mary were talking. “She is not the normal, happy Chii that you know right now. She has shut herself completely off from almost everyone else. And even worse, she is refusing to eat anything…” “That… really does not sound like her… is there anything I can do to help?” Mary inquired. She may have only known Chii and the others for a few days, but they had grown a little close and she was happy to call them friends. She had helped out as much as she could over the last two days, ever since Ethan and the others had moved into their new home. And while Ethan appreciated her help immensely, he did not think that there was much that she could do for Chii at that time. “... I don’t think so… time, that is what she needs most of all right now.” Ethan said with a tired sigh. He had not gotten any sleep since the incident earlier that night. “Time and proof that she is safe here.” Mary looked at him and help her gaze for a few seconds before nodding. “Very well… I will leave you too it then…” Mary took one last sad look back at Chii who kept refusing to look in anyone’s direction. “I hope she gets better soon…” “Me too.” Ethan agreed as he let Mary out before going back to Zoey and Chii. Jenny had gone out a little earlier that morning for some reason she would not say, and Brawly was doing his normal morning workout. “Hello there,” Ethan greeted the two of them as he sat down on the other side of Chii who were still just staring into the empty air. “She hasn't said anything yet…” Zoey said sadly. “And I think some of the others are getting a little worried too.” Chii had made friends with nearly all the other Pokémon that were staying there the days before. So when the usually high spirited and hyper Chii that they knew suddenly changed, of course they would worry a little. “Would you mind taking care of them?” Ethan asked her. “I was thinking that I would take Chii to the park… besides, someone needs to make sure that Taillow does not try to do anything stupid again.” Ethan nodded in the direction at some crates, where the Taillow could be seen trying his best to climb them. He had been jumping off almost every high spot he could find and tried to fly again. It had gone so far that Ethan had to restrain his wings. True, it was a chance that he could make a full recovery, but it was far to early for him to try any flying. “Oh dear, not again!” Zoey said in distress as she hurried over to where the Taillow was getting ready to jump once more. It did not seem that the fact that his wings had been tied to his body had discouraged him in the slightest. He had guts, Ethan had to give him that. “So you ready for a trip to the park?” Ethan asked Chii who only let out a small huff as a response. “I think that I will take that as a yes.” He stood up before picking Chii up too, carrying her in his arms. She did not protest in the slightest, if it had not been for the rise of her chest as she breathed, she would have almost resembled a corpse. Before leaving the building, Ethan took a small detour to the kitchen section to pick up a small basket of grapes. Chii had really taken a liking to them, so he hoped that he could get her to eat, if only a little. The town was teeming with life that early in the morning, ponies of all age and sizes were out and about, getting a good start on the new day. A lot of the ponies that Ethan passed, greeted them and he greeted them back. He would have liked to stop to maybe have a chat or two with some of them, but he did not think that Chii would appreciate that with how she was, so instead they headed straight for the park instead. “You really should eat something Chii…” Ethan had sat down at one of the parks many benches. He picked one of the ones that was a little away from the center of the park so that they would get some peace if some ponies or Pokémon came there too. “You even said that you liked these grapes so much!” Ethan put the basket of grapes down next to himself before taking a few of them and holding them out in front of Chii. “... I’m not hungry…” Chii said weakly. It was not the answer that Ethan had wanted, but at least she had spoken. “I can hear your stomach rumbling.” Ethan told her, making her look away in protest. “You did not even eat that much yesterday… you did not have any more nightmares after you went back to sleep did you?” “N-no…” Chii shook her head. “I just…” Chii looked back up to Ethan from where she was sitting. “I loved Mary so much… when I had that dream… why?” Her voice was beginning to crack as she spoke. “She said that she loved me but… people aren't supposed to hit people they care about. They are not supposed to hurt them again and again…” Ethan could already tell where she was going and gently brought her up into his arms. “You don’t need to think about her anymore, Chii… she is gone.” Ethan told her as she curled her tail around herself and held it tightly. It seemed that Chii gotten to the point where she understood what Mary had been doing to her. “We are here for you… I am here for you. You are safe here.” “...” She did not say anything, but she did nuzzle herself a little closer to Ethan as they sat there like that. After a while Ethan noticed another figure in the park, one that was coming their way. As it got closer, Ethan could see that it was Brawly. He assumed that he was done with his workout. “Hey!” He called out to the two of them as he got closer. “Hey there,” Ethan called back as Chii turned to glare at Brawly as he got closer. Ethan blinked, surprised as he was sure that he heard Chii growl at Brawly. Though if he noticed it, he did not show it, instead just sitting down on the other side of the bench from them, giving them a small amount of space. “Grapes huh? Don’t mind if I do!” Brawly was about to reach out to the basket when Chii snapped at him. “No! Those are mine!” She growled at him, but again Brawly ignored her, instead taking one of the grapes and throwing it into his mouth. “They are good,” Brawly said, ignoring Chii as he picked up another . “I said that those are mine!” Chii said again, with more force this time as she jumped down in between Brawly and the grape basket. Ethan could not help but just stare dumbfounded at the scene before him. At least he did, until Brawly looked up to him and have him a wink and a sly look. “There are a bunch of grapes, you can't eat them all can you?” Brawly teased as he took another grape from behind Chii. “Oh yeah? Just watch me!” Chii yelled as she took the small basket in her mouth and jumped down to the ground with it. Getting it a small distance away from the grape thief before she started vigorously eating, only stopping to send death glares in Brawly`s direction. “... You did that on purpose, didn't you?” Ethan asked, a little amused at how quickly Chii`s mood had changed when Brawly had egged her on. “Zoey said that she wasn't eating. And when I found the two of you here, it was not difficult putting two and two together, seeing that the grapes looked like they hadn't been touched.” Ethan had to give it to him, using Chii`s dislike for him, to his advantage… “You sneaky bastard, you!” Ethan laughed and shook his head. “... Thanks.” “Anytime.” After a small while, Ethan noticed that Chii was not looking too good, as she kept desperately trying to eat every single grape there was. She had stopped glaring at Brawly, and her eating had slowed down considerably. “I think that’s enough, Chii!” Ethan said as went over and picked Chii up. She protested slightly, but gave in after a very crude burp for such a small figure. Ethan even had to wipe away some grape juice from around her mouth, as she had been very vigorous in her eating. “No… they are mine… he can't… get… any…” And with that, she fell asleep in Ethan’s arms, having brought a small food coma upon herself. “Had a rough night, I hear.” Brawly said as he picked up what was left of the grapes. “Yeah… she has gone through much for such a small thing. But she is a strong girl!” Ethan said as he stood up. “You have had worse cases… I think you can manage!” Brawly grinned and slapped Ethan's back lightly as the two of them started to head back to their home. “Besides, now you have me here to help you and keep you in check!” “Me?! You are the one that needs to be kept in check. Or have you forgotten who it was that tried to surf down a waterfall?” Ethan countered. “Tried? I never tried, I rocked that stream perfectly. Had everything under control!” “And Scylla who was falling down just after you?” “... Almost under control.” The two of them shared a look before laughing. “It’s good to have you back!” Ethan said as he looked over to Brawly with a small smile on his face. “It’s good to be back.” Brawly answered before a comfortable silence settled between the two of them. Nothing more needed to be said at the moment. They had known each other for most of their life, and when Ethan had gotten wanted by the law and had to go into hiding, it felt as if a piece of himself had gone missing with how little he and Brawly could meet up. Now that he was back and Ethan did not have to worry about anything like that anymore… that piece had returned. Jenny was doing her best to stay focused inside the warehouse. Normally, that would not be a problem, but after what had happened with Chii, worry had spread quickly through most of the Pokémon that were living there. She was liked by almost everyone, after all, so it was not that unusual that they wanted to help. Jenny felt the same way. It was strange to see that little furball in such a mood… but she had her own job to do, and she trusted that she was in capable hands with Ethan. Currently, she was doing her best to unravel some of the secrets that the journal that Shady left behind might contain. What was even more annoying was that it appeared that he had written everything in some sort of code… and as much as she hated to admit it, she had not made too much progress. The words themselves were normal, but the sentences they formed made absolutely no sense at all. If she did not know any better she would say that it was the ramblings of an insane person. She was so concentrated at her work that she did not notice that Zoey came up to her before she slumped down on the seat next to her, making Jenny jump in surprise. “Oh… sorry, I did not mean to scare you.” Zoey apologised as she rubbed the back of her head and smiled sheepishly. “N-no, it is alright…” Jenny looked over to Zoey who were actually looking rather ragged. “Taking a breather?” Zoey nodded and let out a long sigh. “A desperately needed one,” Zoey confirmed. “I hope Ethan or Mary comes back soon… there are just too many of them for me to take care of everything by myself!” Jenny felt a little sympathy for Zoey, as she had been bombarded with questions among other things ever since Ethan and Chii had left. “If you need some help just-” Zoey held up a paw to cut her off. “No… what you are doing is important… it’s just… back home we had Vernus and Sax too to help take care of things… it’s just a little overwhelming when it’s just me, but I will manage.” Jenny looked at Zoey before she nodded. She was not sure how much help she would have even been. Change bandages, keeping them entertained, giving some of them medicine. It was best left to those that knew what they were doing. “Well if you say so… but it's not like I'm getting anywhere with this darned book anyway.” Jenny huffed and buried her face into the journal. “Well maybe you just need a fresh view on things… wait, what are you doing!? Get down from there!” Jenny looked up to see that Zoey had ran over to one of the walls where the Taillow were already making good progress climbing it. “Maybe she is right, perhaps I just… need…” Jenny looked down at the journal as something seemed a little strange. She had pressed her face down against the pages just then and now, some of the words and letters looked like they were fading… at least they did for a few seconds before everything went back to normal again. Seeing if she could produce the same reaction Jenny did the same once more and pressed her face against the pages for a few seconds before leaning back to see that nearly nothing had changed. A few of the letters had faded slightly, but not nearly as much as it had been before. “...Maybe,” Jenny muttered to herself as an idea formed inside her mind. It had been an idea that she had actually discarded a long time ago, because it was so outdated. But since it was a new world, maybe it was worth a shot after all. Concentrating on her inner flame, Jenny breathed out a small orb of fire that hovered just in front of her face. It had taken a lot of practice for her to be able to make those small flame wisps, but she had managed it in the end. As the flame hovered over the book, things finally began to change. Letters and whole words began to fade away, until they were completely gone, leaving behind what Jenny had been looking for the entire time. With all of the useless writing gone, it was easy for her to see dates, and locations that Shady had written down. Her work had paid off, and now she just had to follow up on the leads that the book provided her. “Gotcha!” She grinned to herself before she stood up and walked over to the door and was about to open it, when it opened for her, revealing Ethan, Chii and Brawly on the other side. “Oh, hello.” Ethan greeted her as both of them blocked the path for one another. Knowing her personality, Ethan stepped off to the side, allowing Jenny to exit the building. “... Is she okay?” Jenny asked, noticing that Chii was sleeping in his arms. “Oh? Yeah she is better, she even got some food in her, thanks to Brawly.” Jenny smiled at that, she had grown to like Chii over the time they had known each other. “So, where are you headed?” Ethan asked of her. “... Out of town.” She answered him. “I finally cracked the code in the journal, so I got a few leads to follow up on now.” She told him. “Should I come with you?” Ethan asked, he was about to continue speaking but Jenny cut him off before he could. “No… I’m not going to be as foolish as I was back in the forest. This is only a search for information. If I do find something… then I’ll come back and take you up on that offer.” Ethan looked over at Brawly who only shrugged his shoulders in return. “Well, if you are sure, then I am confident that you will handle it!” He gave her small smile. “Now if you'll excuse me, I should put Chii here to bed.” Ethan said before going past her and into the building. “Are you sure that you don't want any help?” Brawly commented as stopped in front of her, looking down at her small form. “... Yes I am,” Jenny told him. “This is just a reconnaissance mission, so it will probably be better is I do this alone.” Brawly kept his gaze on her for a few seconds before giving in. “Well, okay then,” he sighed. “Ethan trusts ya on this, so I guess I will too.” And with that, Brawly too entered the building behind Jenny, leaving her alone out there as she looked back at the door. “I have screwed up so much… but now it is time for me to do my job!” She said with confidence as she set out on her journey. She had a goal, and enough motivation that nothing was going to stop her from reaching it.