Glaceon and Umbreon were sparring.
May could tell her opponent was getting winded. The practice was paying off massively for Dawn but her stamina wasn't up to par with her own yet. Huffing and puffing Dawn felt like her legs could collapse at any moment. But she wasn't going to make excuses for herself on why she failed. If May can juggle this hero thing with her school life without even noticing it she should at least be able to do the same minimal standard the brunette set.
The ice heroine swept her dark sister of her feet by using her feet to create a ice trial and make Umbreon lose her footing. Umbreon used her shadow to prevent her from falling completely by tying it around her wrist, before it then lifted her up and she performed a vertical spinning back kick before landing on her feet again.
"Come on Dawn. Just a bit more!"
Wiping her brow Dawn heard something. Two hard thuds coming from upstairs knocking Dawn out of her concentration.
"What was that?"
"Stay here." May went to check who it was despite having a pretty good feeling. They did not know where to look exactly for the hidden entrance but it helped they knew there actually is one. Opening a hatch door to the roof she saw the two guardians looking for something strange that does not belong on a roof like the small skyscraper they were on.
"Come in guys!" May calling to them they saw her head poking out of a hole. The three went downstairs to the secret gym. All sorts of equipment from weights to gymnastic the two aura users checked it all out not used to this type of luxury. Removing their masks they were sweating a little and their faces were red.
"Ash and Riley?" Dawn surprised to see them.
"Hello Dawn. Nice to see you again. Or should I call you Umbreon now?"
The older of the two seeing the girl for the first time since the mass kidnapping he noticed she looked pretty ok. Wearing her outfit but the mask off at least he knows how she looked like while going as her alter ego. Sweating a bit because of May's intensive training Ash eyed Dawn the whole time looking over her. She asked him what's wrong.
"So that's what you look like when you change your look."
He never saw Dawn use the earrings power the way May did so this form of hers was new to him. Her hair was darker than his which he found strange. Walking around her slowly to take in every angle Dawn found his actions weird.
"What do you think?" Asking for his opinion she saw him give her a silly grin.
"At least you look good when I beat you."
"That's what you think Ash!" She wasn't planning to get swept aside as easy as he thinks. Dawn only became more fired up to put him on his back and make him admit she's suited to this hero thing.
"Continue this another time. How did it go with Sableye?" Glaceon asked them.
"He got away. Too many police at the place holding me at gunpoint to catch him. We were more busy fighting them off then Sableye." Riley sounding disappointed he apologized to the spirit for not grabbing the gem thief.
"You didn't hurt them did you?" May immediately concerned for the well being of her dads coworkers.
"Would've been more if I hadn't taken out those snipers." Ash told her.
"Snipers?" The newbie hearing that expert marksmen had them in their sights she did not believe they escaped being shot.
"Long story."
"Let's take a break Dawn."
May wanting to hear the gist of it and just how bad it got for the guardians. The more she heard it went from bad to worse for them. Ash's little capture of Bisharp did nothing to lower the bounty placed on his mask and arguably only made things worse for them all.
"Can you help get these shards out of my back?" Riley still feeling some discomfort undid the top of his disguise and showed the scars of his encounter.
"OH MY LORD!" Dawn yelling from the top of her lungs saw small traces of blood running down his back. Shiny particles glistering faintly shining under the rooms lighting Ash formed a kunai and went to work scooping out the pieces stuck in Riley's back.
"A shame you couldn't catch him completely." Umbreon familiar with the thief and his appetite.
"At least you managed to take away his meal. He'd come out sooner or later." Glaceon seeing the brighter side of it it wouldn't last long before he'd show up again.
"We'll need more practice. This might make a proper training ground." Riley peering around him had a suggestion for this place. Wincing a bit over the knife being continuously poked in his back he clenched his fist to numb the pain.
"I wonder if we can make this our base." The place Dawn did her workouts in had plenty of room to spare. Plus it addressed a lot of issues which made it a suitable location.
"A meeting point near the center of town. A whole training ground to ourselves to hone our skills and try different things."
Maybe with a bit more imagination and some extra furniture and items to house some of their belongings it would make staying hidden from the public a whole lot easier and minimize the risk of someone seeing them leave their houses when changed.
"I think that's the last one." Ash no longer seeing glass wiped away the dried blood with a wet rag. Proceeding to bandage the upper torso he would suffer no further loss of blood.
"Here you go." May had already filled a bag of water and cooled it off. Handing the ice bag to Riley he winced under the sudden cold touching some of his painful spots.
"Dawn? Would you mind if we use this place as our hideout?" Anything to keep his mind distracted from the uncomfortable feeling he eyed the current black haired girl.
"If Lila agrees to it and you keep the place clean." Dawn wouldn't mind having more people to spar with but getting them over without Lila's knowledge didn't sit well considering this is still her building.
"Remember that she said this whole floor is yours. You can do whatever you want to it. I think Riley's idea for this place is perfect. A board with a map of the city here, some beds there. I see the potential."
Umbreon agreeing with the older mans assessment while still having some criticism for both aura guardians.
"After your antics today the police are only going to look harder for people dressed like you and who have aura powers. You boys still have a lot to learn despite having the fighting skills."
Out of Veilstone City there is an old sawmill. In the woods far removed from any major roads only an old train track and a backroad lead towards the plant for the common worker. The place designed to process trees to be turned into boards was one of the favorite places of a man who has a funeral parlor. Fresh wood but still with the possibilities of shaping it into your image and create something out of by pure craftsmanship was why the owner of it loved the place so much.
But with the old fashioned tools making way for more modernized processes business was not so profitable anymore. Managing to keep it afloat thanks to some jobs on the side which 'coincidently' created business for him even he had to give into modernization eventually. As much as it hurt to leave this place he wasn't just going to let it fade without the proverbial blaze of glory and solution to the biggest issue that can stop his plan.
"Boss? Can we come in?" Hearing a faint yes two me. slowly opened the doors to the workshop he was in. Both them wearing well pressed black suits with ties one of them had black hair while the other had brown.
Seeing the labor their boss was performing they did not comment on it. Using sanding paper to smooth out the splinters on the wooden box he was working on he gave them permission to speak while still having his back turned.
"Have you heard the news?" The second one with brown hair said. Putting down his carving tools the boss turned to look at his henchmen. Petrified to speak further knowing he can snap their necks without lifting a finger he told them not be fearful and just say something. It was not his intention to kill them and stick them in some of his caskets after all. They were reserved for people more special.
"Two people dressed in blue that can make weapons fought the police and jewel thief from yesterday." He did not hire the jewel thief like the assassin he send after the Maple family. Hearing who was involved in it only helped in his advantage and confirmed what he already knew.
There were people called aura guardians in Veilstone City.
A dozen or so large caskets were placed all up around him. Having created the wooden boxes himself he was probably going to need them soon. Nearly done with them he only needed some decals for them as a ceremonial sign.
"What do you think for flowers? Blue or black ones?" Holding a bunch of fake ones out to test the look for them the henchmen quickly responded with his favorite color.
"Uhm…black?"
"Can't never go wrong with black. It's what you see at funerals." He had to make a small order of black flowers for later. Some cheap ones in this case.
"Why all the caskets boss? Your game seems off." Normally he'd put a lot of work in his craft. But they seemed incredibly basic for one who has crafted caskets for royal families even.
"They're for cremation." These boxes won't exist for too long. They're more ceremonial than actually for their intended use of burial. Now to him the hardest part was over. Now they just had to be filled with bodies.
"Have the rest of the men and workforce here been informed to evacuate?"
"Yes boss. All workers here have put down their tools and went home. And every little treasure we have is transported to our new base."
The one with black hair didn't know why the boss told him to transport all his ill gotten gains to a new place more in the center of town. One of the used gains to pay off someone for a very special job soon. A handyman of his expertise and ability hard to come by was sure costly but it's a short term loss that warrants a long term gain.
"Has he agreed to work for me?"
"Yes boss. He's ready to strike at any moment." The one with brown hair saying he agreed everything was set in place. The boss turned around and went to work building more coffins just in case. He had his numbers down but you never know and he might have his hands full in the end and have to get rid of the guardians and ice powers person himself.
"Good. Now leave as well so I'm the only one left in the building." Ordering their demission he wanted to spend the buildings last few days by himself. This place the start of his casket and criminal empire he had to burn it if he really wanted to fulfill his ambition in the short term.
"You sure you don't need protection?" For a man of his importance who made a lot of enemies protection is more of a need than a luxury.
"I have all the protection I need right at my fingertips." Ten golden rings adorned each on one finger. As long as he has them he's invincible because nobody can touch him. And the best part of it is because they work for free and don't eat and sleep they were a whistle away.
"But with those weapon makers and ice girl…"
"Are all going to be to distracted to even think about me and you."
"Is the scarf really necessary?"
Dawn's hobby in designing outfits came in handy drawing up the models that Ash and Riley would take as the new Greninja and Lucario under the instruction of Umbreon and Glaceon. Ash getting a design similar to a blue humanoid frog had some protest against a huge part of it. Primarily a pink scarf that was supposed to resemble a frogs long tongue. The makeshift tongue combined with the drawn mask gave an illusion that it came out of his mouth.
"You have to make people believe you're not human. The frog tongue is essential."
"Won't people grab it in the middle of a fight? Or won't it stick on something in a tight space?"
"You tie the tongue around your waist as a belt."
"We just don't have the time."
Riley himself had Glaceon design an outfit that made him resemble an Egyptian wolf. If the spirits said the designs will help he still had his doubts. There were a lot of details in the designs and neither he nor Ash had the skills to tailor it to their needs and make it look remotely like Dawn's sketches.
"We'll let Lila do it!" Dawn telling them their identities are safe for the stylist. As long as she had their sizes the stylist could probably whip something up for them quickly in a few days. It only took Lila a few hours to make her Umbreon costume in the end.
With it being late they all decided to sleep. Creating makeshifts beds with some extra blankets Lila had in her home and they all dozed off except for Dawn.
From the corner of her eye she looked at the sleeping Ash. With Dawn having set the date for their practice fight it was only a few more hours away. With the three of them having agreed to scout the city to find the mummies and necromancer she hoped to impress him enough that he'd take her with him on the biggest challenge he, Riley and May ever faced.
Motivation is a bit low. I'm just so done with this stupid virus that ruins, cancels everything and make people react in mass hysteria like its Armageddon.
Stay safe, healthy and hygienic to you all. Good luck to all of you if you live in a country where there's a national lockdown or have relatives or friends that have it or have a bad health.
See you around.