Hello, fellow readers! And welcome back to Calm after the Storm! What shall happen this time? Before we do that, what do we have:
johannvanguard: I mean, the title says otherwise, dude. But even then, I have a couple more ideas for this before heading to the bigger fish.
With that said, let's get right into it!
Chapter 5: Unexpected Turns
Pixel found himself in Sunset's house after school, mostly cause she wanted to hang out as the others were occupied with their own stuff. He didn't mind this and accepted no problem as the two were about to play some video games.
"Oh yeah! I almost forgot." She suddenly said, "I was supposed to stream today."
"Stream? Like, online stuff?" He was familiar with what that was, but he wanted to make sure he was right in that assumption.
"Yeah. I've been doing it at least once a week now." She confirms his suspicions only to realize something, "Oh, do you want to join? I'm sorry for it being last minute, but you don't-"
"No no, you're fine." He reassures her with a nervous smile, "Honestly, it sounds kinda fun. Let's do it."
"Awesome!"
After a bit, the two were done setting up the equipment they needed for the stream. Once they sat down and picked up their controllers, Sunset presses the record button as a little intro of hers plays. Green coding was her background as a cute little avatar head resembling her pops in and winks at the camera, immediately fading away to show the two of them.
"Welcome to Shimmer Code, my game channel! Today, I've brought on a surprise guest for some two player action." She then gestures to Pixel, "Say hi, Pixel."
"...Hi." He waves at the camera with a small smile.
"I'll also be allowing him to choose what he would like to play." She continues on with before pointing at the small stack of games on the floor between them, "Go right ahead."
Pixel was not surprised that they were the modern variety, but went along with it as he looks through them. It didn't take very long before finding a suitable choice.
"Oh yeah, this one. This came out a few months ago, right?"
"Lethal Forces? Yeah, it's a recent title."
"Huh. Let's do this one."
"All right." She takes the game case before going over to the system to put the disc in, "I'd like to say I'm good at fighting games, so this should be pretty even."
Unbeknownst to her, Pixel had a smug smirk on his face briefly before the game started up. The two wasted no time as they immediately went to the versus character select screen.
"All right, I'll pick Blaze to start things off." Sunset said as she selects him.
"OK, I'll warm up with Lance." Pixel said as he selects him, which she was a bit intrigued by. "A main character player, huh?"
"Not really. It's been awhile since I've played this, so it helps refresh my memory." He briefly explains as the loading screen passes.
Once their intro finishes, the match went underway as the two did a few exchanges to adjust. Breaking away, Sunset went on the offense to make Pixel go on the back foot. Blaze was soon pushed back by Lance's guard, the latter immediately going for a combo of his own before finishing with a super to send the former flying.
"Not bad." Sunset briefly comments, "But now, watch this."
Upon saying that, her character fully recovered and counters his character when he dashed in, going all out with her combos. He barely got a chance to block before match ends, leaving Blaze standing.
"One-zero! I was expecting a bit more." She was being quite confident with those words.
Pixel didn't respond to this as the next round started, practically teleporting into his offense as he went mad with his attacks. Sunset was caught off guard as she tries to break away and counter, but it was like he was holding back earlier. A strong super finishes the round much faster than the first.
"One-one. How's that?" He kept a friendly tone with his cocky retort.
"Oh, all right. It's on!" Sunset was now fully aware of what's he capable of.
The final round was quite the spectacle for the audience as the two went back and forward, combos and supers thrown out left and right until one final clash determined the end of the match.
"Double K.O.!"
The two were surprised at the draw, only for Pixel to just notice something about the character roster once the screen changed to it.
"Wait, what's with the empty slots on the side?" He asks her.
"Huh? O-Oh, most likely unlockable characters. For some reason, the slots aren't there until you finished the story mode." She explains to him, "And even then, the requirements are pretty tough."
"What are they?"
"You have to beat arcade mode with every character on the hardest difficulty. And that's the fastest way."
Pixel fully processed what she said and had a big smile on his face, "Old school style, nice!"
"No kidding... I only did two of them so far." She admits.
"Do you mind if I help out?" His offer caught her off guard a bit, "I mean, it depends on how long you stream."
"Oh that? I go on for about two hours, usually." She estimates before getting an idea, "You think you can do all that in two hours?"
"I could." He tried his best to sound humble, but his tone betrays his intention.
"How about it, chat? You think he can do it?" She directs the question to their online audience.
Looking at the messages in the chat, she was starting to see mostly negative responses with reasons being 'it's very hard' and 'it took me days to do it'.
"Most doubt you can do it in that time." She points out, but it didn't faze him as he retorts. "Then I'll prove them wrong then."
"Yo, Visor!"
Shade calls out to his friend as he saw him leave the school, who stops for him to catch up.
"Have you seen Levin come out here?"
"No. He may have already gone for the day." Visor suggests.
"Really? This is the third time he went without saying anything." Shade points out.
"Actually, I haven't seen Twilight around either..." Visor recalls, drifting off into silence as a thought crosses his mind.
Shade can guess what he's thinking, which he gets a smirk on his face. "Nice to see the two hanging out more, in that case."
Visor casually nods at that, "Yeah... race ya!"
Shade didn't expect him to jump on his bike and ride off after a swift move to put his helmet on, "Oh come on, no fair!" He complains as he tries to keep up on his skateboard.
The two took a bit, but manages to reach Twilight's house and parks close by next door. Visor had to remove his helmet and get off his bike as Shade presses his back up against the wooden fence, the former doing the same soon after.
"So, what's the bet?" Visor sarcastically said, likely as a joke.
"Dude, we're better than that." Shade jokingly retorts.
"True... but still-" Before he finished his sentence, a loud rumble was heard from nearby and puts the two on alert. "What was that!?"
"You tell me!" Shade was just as confused.
The two then overheard a familiar voice, "I think that was louder than last time!"
Looking around the corner, the hidden duo then sees Levin and Sci-Twi with the former having a big smile on his face.
"I think we should hold off on those burst trials for now. One more and we'll be in trouble." The latter warns him about.
"Good point. Let's move on to speed, then. It'd be best if I knew how much my body can handle."
The last part got their attention. They were thinking they just have an experiment as a little project, but why would he be specific about himself?
"Considering how fast you ran earlier, I doubt your heart rate and such isn't going just as fast." Sci-Twi wonders out loud.
"I mean, I have literal electricity flowing through me." Levin casually mentions as he generates an orb of said electricity in his hand, "It can be quite the adrenaline rush..."
Unknowingly, this made his friends who were hiding behind the fence to go back and process what they just saw.
"...OK... what?" Shade simply said, still rather shocked at these turns of events.
"Dude, we are now friends with a comic book hero!" Visor summarizes it pretty well.
"I mean yeah... but hold on. How does he have them? Didn't Aeon seal away that demon inside him?" Shade makes a good point.
"He did." To the two's surprise, Levin was looking around the corner right at them. "And I also has enhanced senses, which includes hearing."
Dragging the duo out of hiding, he pulls them until reaching Sci-Twi who was suspicious about this. "Why were you two hiding?"
"I can take an accurate guess." Levin comments, "Spying so they can tease me later."
"W-What?" Visor brushes it off with a shaky voice and an excuse, "W-We heard that loud noise earlier and thought you two were in trouble!"
"Yet soon after, I heard you say that 'we're friends with a comic book hero!', correct?" Levin immediately debunks the lie, even speaking similar to Visor as he quotes him.
Sci-Twi giggles at this as Shade rolls his eyes at that, the latter then speaking soon after. "Still... how come you got powers now? And for how long?"
"These emerged a few days ago after a little lab accident went wrong. I protected her from an explosion and this shielded me in the process." A flick of his wrist makes sparks appear briefly before he continues, "I WAS gonna tell you two, but... I just forgot, honestly."
"...Fair enough." Visor simply said in response, "Your curiosity has been one of your defining traits."
"Thanks, Captain Obvious." Shade sarcastically retorts.
"Still, that begs the question." Visor then had a thought pass his mind, "Is it possible to get our own powers?"
"...You do realize what that entails?" Sci-Twi points out as a reminder, "You know, the whole... demon thing?"
"Who said it was the ONLY way to get them?" Shade counters, "I bet Aeon might know a thing or two about that."
"I do, in fact."
Shade and Visor jump away a bit, surprised at Aeon's sudden appearance behind them.
"When did you show up?" Sci-Twi was just as surprised before he casually answers, "You know, my usual transportation."
"He did catch the tail end of it, apparently." Levin points out, "Anyways, what brings you over?"
"Checking progress, of course." Aeon places his cane on his shoulder as he answers, "Though, I can see your friends are... how you say, jealous?"
"Absolutely not!" The two exclaims in denial, making Aeon raise an eyebrow.
"Really now? Then please, tell me why you want powers as well." He questions the two.
Levin and Sci-Twi were curious now as the two took a moment to answer.
"What if there was another threat and you two couldn't handle it? The Rainbooms might have a chance, but the possibility will still be there." Shade did have a good argument.
"Plus, having two whole team of super powered heroes can be very handy. Various types of media explore that concept, why not give it a shot?" Visor adds to the point.
Aeon gets what they mean before asking another question, "OK. Say that there WAS another way to get powers. Do you think it's gonna be THAT simple?"
"..." The others kinda had that impression if their faces didn't give it away.
"From the history I've seen, they can be best summed up as..." Aeon summarizes for them, pausing briefly before finishing. "...Inhumane."
The four were taken aback by this realization, letting out a gasp simultaneously.
"But since you post a good argument, I'll try and find any other ways." Aeon casually adds like he didn't notice their reactions, "Though, there are no guarantees."
"...T-That's all we ask." Shade simply said with Visor nodding in agreement, hoping that they will be safer methods.
"Excellent. Now..." Aeon then points his cane at Levin, "Mind showing me your progress?"
"Gladly." Levin then turns to Sci-Twi, "Ready to go?"
"Of course!" She assures him, leaving her and the others to observe his demonstration.
"You want us to... have fun?"
Indigo was understandably confused at this as her team was called into the principal's office, who seems to have made a new decision for the Friendship Games.
"Yes. While I am fully aware of these past few years, I had a little trip through our past history and decided to do something different. While continuing our winning streak is still our priority, the Games are a time where it should be treated as such." Principal Cinch explains to them.
The Crystal Five glance at each other, most likely wondering where the change came from, but they know it's best not to question said decisions at this point.
"And be sure to assist your teammates, as some are not from here and need direction to bring out their potential. Now, are there any questions?"
"Who are our teammates for this year?" Sugarcoat raises her hand as she asks this, putting it down soon after.
"The rest of your team will comprise of Trenderhoof, Suri Polomare, Stylite Stream, Shade Scintilla, Visor Chevalier, Levin Reed, and Twilight Sparkle." The principal states to them.
Most of the names are already familiar to them, one in particular as he was the most recent addition, before now seeing what she meant by her earlier statement.
"Any more questions?" Silence follows after she asks that, which she then dismisses the group. "Then that's all for today."
Once the five left, Principal Cinch sat in her chair as she only had one thought in her mind.
"This will be rather interesting."
And done! It feels like it's been a long time, but it's only been about a month since last chapter. Weird.
Anyways, I can understand some of you are wondering when I'll be getting to the Games. Like I said, this isn't gonna be very long. I just want to give the characters some time to themselves before we go into more magical conflicts.
So, here we see Pixel showing off his gaming skills, Levin's powers were discovered by Shade and Visor by sheer luck, and Principal Cinch has decided to loosen up a bit for said Games.
With that said, thanks for reading and I'll see you guys next chapter!
