"That really was something else. Looks like you haven't just been goofing off, huh Kid?" Scar said, looking to Dagda as they stood outside of the stadium. The place was a complete disaster, the ground torn asunder and the stadium and city suffering damage from the battle. Dagda was asked to stay in place by the Galarian Police, who arrived on the scene after a frantic call claiming that Gordie was trying to harm the audience with his negligent attack. Who put the call in, they didn't know, but it wasn't convenient.
"I try. Of course, I have to thank you and Pops for getting everyone here and in costume so quickly. I'd never have been able to do that." he said, the Halfling laughing at the statement. It was true that they had put in a lot of effort for Dagda to have his extremely overdone entrance, but he thinks it got the point across.
"That was so cool Dagda!" he heard, seeing Renji approaching, still in his costume. All four of his fans were still in costume, rather thankful for the chance to stand on the stage with their idol, if only for the chance to introduce him in such a grand fashion.
He smiled to the snake child, rather happy. "Thanks, Renji. I couldn't have done it without all of you." he said, and they all seemed to light up. Even Kai had a smile on his face and a bit of color in his cheeks. He was, if only for now, visibly happy.
"So, what's next for the great Dagda?" Scar asked, watching as Orzhov and Kyouhei approached, the duo picking Zara up like parents at a school. The girl bid Dagda a farewell, an adorable thing that had her normal slur and childish tone. Dagda hummed, Renji standing by Scar for when they departed.
"Well, I'm going to relax after all of that. I'm gonna take it easy on my way towards Spikemuth. Rose should have gotten the message. Let him come to me. See what happens." he said, a casual tone accompanying his smile showing that he wasn't really concerned.
"Well said. I hope your next performance is as exhilarating to watch." he heard, turning to see a man with spiky black hair approaching in a suit, a long scarf about his neck. He was familiar, but Dagda couldn't tell from where. Kai walked over to him, grabbing his scarf like it was the strong of a balloon.
"Thanks, Dagda. I… liked helping out." Kai said, rather shy when it came to expressing positive emotion. He smiled, looking to the man who he assumed was Grimsley, the Unovan Elite Four member who had adopted the child. "I hope I can continue to impress, Mr. Grimsley." he said, bowing as Belphegor walked up to him, standing at his side silently as he spoke.
Scar sighed, scratching the back of his head. "Well, I guess I should head out. Do you want a moment?" he asked, looking to Belphegor, who nodded. Dagda turned to the shorter Halfling, the one he'd adopted, something he still found hard to believe he did.
"Where's Bede?" he asked, and Belphegor shrugged. "He's changing. Said the costume wasn't right for the weather." he mused, almost forgetting that his costume was a pair of footsy pajamas compared to the barely legal leather outfit the fluffy haired trainer wore. "You have fun out there, Belphie?" he asked, and the boy smiled, nodding.
"Yeah. I liked wearing this costume too. Mr. Heinreich said he made it as something that I can wear around the house too, since that's the kind of guy I am. He's pretty cool." he said, and Dagda chuckled. As much as he wanted to scold his adopted son for having a positive opinion of the monstrous dragon, he couldn't really blame him. He was the best costume designer Dagda'd ever seen.
"Well, just make sure to be careful around Heinreich. He's not the nicest guy in the world." he said, and Belphegor nodded. Dagda was glad to see him so happy. Moments like this, where he was relaxed and happy, made all of the struggle, all of the hardship, the pain and training and even the less savory things all worth it. He wanted to defeat Rose so that everyone could experience moments like this, regardless of who they were.
"I promise that I'll come get you soon as I'm done here. I just have to beat a few more people up." he said, and Belphegor smiled. "Take your time. I'm fine right now. It's fun telling all the other kids in Pinwheel that my Dad's the coolest." he said, and Dagda felt an almost lethal throb in his heart.
Despite how young he was, and how sudden everything was, he was immensely proud and happy when Belphegor referred to him as 'Dad'. It was something that made Dagda realize that everything he'd done, even publicly execute Gordie, was worth it. He smiled, hugging the boy tightly, the kind of hug that parents give their children.
Bede saw this as he approached, watching Dagda wave to the child as Scar left with the other two Halflings. He felt a pang in his chest, the overly pleasant sight something that brought a smile to his face. When Dagda turned to him, he had a stupid look on his face, a near drunk happiness that was almost contagious.
"Do you realize how stupid you look?" he asked, trying to take a jab or two at the gym challenger. He looked to him, one of his black brows rising, his face immensely amused. "Couldn't care." he said, absentmindedly.
Within the hour, Dagda had given his statement, that Gorias acted on reflex, striking down the Coalossal, who landed on Gordie in the chaos. The reason for Gorias' outburst was because of how aimless Gordie's attack was, and that it seemed to be aimed at he himself instead of the other Pokemon. This was backed up by random people from the audience, who were afraid of the raining fire and brimstone striking them, the speed of the Electivire probably the only thing that kept some of them unharmed and alive.
Dagda departed, deciding that Circhester wasn't the place for him. He had heard from Pops over the phone in the interim between his statement and release, and the older Halfling had told him that Melony would take her position back, and that she was oddly calm about her son's death. She was likely holding back her emotion, but it was weird regardless.
He was also told that the Halfling they rescued, that girl Bea, was making a recovery, and she should be back on her feet within a day or two. He felt oddly glad to hear that, and he wondered exactly when he'd see the girl next. For now, however, he had other things to focus on.
Firstly, he was focused on reaching Spikemuth. He had heard that the next gym leader was a Dark Type leader, and that it was actually Marnie's older brother. He had to meet this man, and ask him about Team Yell.
Something was incredibly off about the men he'd killed in Circhester. They weren't the same goofy adults that should be interrogated or jailed for being overzealous fans of a little girl. They were calculating criminals, people that had skills in black market dealings and even knew how to mark up a Halfling, or even a human being, to be butchered.
There was a second faction within Team Yell, one likely working for Rose. He had, above all else, decided to interrogate Piers, the gym leader. If he was aware of this, or if he even willingly agreed to splinter Team Yell to supply Rose with more men, he'd have to do something about it. He didn't want to leave a trail of bodies wherever he went, but he didn't really have much choice. This evil needed to be purged.
"What was up with that costume leaving my leg exposed?" Bede asked, snapping Dagda out of his self righteous trance. He blinked, his mind shifting from killing people and foiling evil to his friend, and the unusually suggestive costume he wore only hours ago. He smiled, glad that there was something that could elicit a positive reaction out of him.
"I dunno. I'll have to ask Heinreich next time I see him. It was a pretty good idea." he mused, his friend looking to him with a frown. "I almost backed out when I noticed that my leg was exposed. I don't think it was a 'good idea'." he said, and Dagda blinked.
"So, let me get this straight. Despite wearing a leathery costume that exposed your midriff, that had little wings and a choker, where you spoke theatrically with four half human kids, one of which we adopted, to introduce a guy whose half demon in his monster form, only for that guy to kill the gym leader, the problem you had was an exposed calf?" he asked, rather stupified.
Bede folded his arms, frowning as they walked the first chilly reaches of Route Nine. "Yes. You know I didn't even want you to see that." he said, and Dagda sighed, throwing an arm around his friend's shoulder. "It'll be fine, Bede. No one will pay attention to it except Rose. Everyone else is more concerned with the fact that Gordie is dead, and that the audience was nearly turned to ashes. Just like I planned." he said, offering his friend a smile.
Bede rose a brow, trying to remain playful and casual despite the emotion he felt. "And you expect me to believe that you killed someone, a gym leader no less, because you wanted to divert attention away from my leg?" he asked, and Dagda nodded.
His lavender orb was much more serious, it's usual playful glint, a trait of sharing genetics with the Impidimp evolution line, was dimmed. "I only decided to kill Gordie because I saw your leg and wanted to send Rose a message. You don't hurt someone I care about and get away with it. It might sound scary, but it's the only thing I can think of." he said, and Bede looked to him.
He always repeated that same line, over and over. That primal, emotional, possessive statement that Rose's abuse of the fluffy haired young man was in some way Rose disrespecting Dagda by hurting someone he cared about, defiling something of his. It was all rather unusual.
"You know, I still think it's a bit odd how you talk about me. We're supposed to be friends, right? So why is it you always talk about me like I'm some kind of action figure or stuffed animal someone took the eyes out of or something?" he asked.
Dagda looked to his friend and smiled. "Bad habit. I've just been a little more aggressive since I figured out I was a Halfling. Mr. Scar says that after eating that necklace I had, the piece of my Father, I'd be a bit out of whack. I'm kinda still adjusting maybe." he said, and Bede found it all rather irrelevant information.
Dagda blinked, the two stopping as they realized that in front of them was an expanse of water, something that they'd be unable to cross without a boat or a Pokemon to float on. Dagda realized that they could use Otis, but he'd probably be pretty cold. He'd camp out tonight, since the sun was starting it's descent, meaning that the water would grow colder.
He turned back to his friend after planning it out, and smiled. "Let's set up camp here. We'll swim on Otis tomorrow." he said, the fluffy haired trainer nodding as they released all of their Pokemon, the Grimmsnarl Halfling explaining to Otis what their plan was.
While the Snorlax was hesitant, he came to a conclusion. If he was the transportation, he could make demands. He liked the sound of that. "Fine, but I have some rules!" he said, beating his chest in front of all of them. "First, no one comes out of their Pokeball! You're all heavy, and I don't want to sink in that cold ass water." he said, receiving nods that seemed devoid of hesitance.
"Second, I get the most food tonight and when we hit land on the other side. I'm not gonna freeze my ass off floating in this cold ass water just to starve." he said, and they again, all nodded, finding nothing he was saying really unusual. It was all common sense stuff.
He looked to Dagda, jabbing his clawed finger at him. "And you! I get that you don't mind whipping it out in front of everyone for your gym battle, using hair as a loincloth, or for your little Furfrou here, but while I'm a living boat, you stay fully clothed and child friendly." he said, glaring at Dagda with an unbridled fury.
"If I open my eyes, or look down at my stomach and I see anything other than snoring faces or chitchatting, I swear to Zekrom I will drown us all, do you hear me!?" he shouted, and Dagda began to laugh, Bede staring at him like he was insane, still unable to understand Pokemon speech.
Dagda gave the bear a thumbs up, continuing to laugh as he looked to his dumbfounded friend. "Sorry. He was just saying that he wants me to keep myself under control while we're crossing." he said, and Bede hummed. There was something else.
With the moon high overhead, and Dagda laying in the tent, his friend sleeping on his chest, he stared at the moon through the small chimney. He wondered about something. He thought to the Galarian Royal Family.
Who were they? They didn't often make public appearances, nor did anyone from the family do much publicly. He wanted to learn more about them. After all, they might just be allies of Rose. He smiled, wrapping his arm around his friend as he closed his eyes.
He needed to know more. After all, what better way to make Galar his kingdom than by striking down the Royal family?
