Author's note: I was a liiiiitle late, but that's because this chapter's more than 10,000 words long! Yeah, thats right- this is a big one! Hope you enjoy!
Chapter 89: Her Pride and Joy Part 2
Penny had begun her walk-of-shame back to her house after her defeat to Lilith. It became cold. Very cold. Cold enough for the young girl to be able to see her own breath as she hung her head low.
The sound of thunder rang in the air before rain forced her to pull her hood up. She knew that it was going to rain hard today. She would have been home sooner if it wasn't for Lilith.
Lilith.
The thought of what that girl had done to her brought hatred sharp enough to cut through steel. Her hands balled into fists, and she bared her teeth. Before she knew it, the thoughts that ran in her mind in that moment due to sheer hatred would have terrified her in the past, but the emotion was so powerful that her mind was forgetting the line between right and wrong. The need to stay invisible was outmatched by her hatred.
But how would she do it? How would she get rid of Lilith?
Get rid of Lilith?
Penny's eyes widened as she was able to snap back to reality. She spoke as though she was…thinking of ending her bully's life. No. She wouldn't do that. She can't do that.
But her hatred came back, pricking at her like a knife.
I have to get rid of her, I won't kill her. But I'll get rid of her. Penny thought.
Having sated her guilty conscious, Penny's fists unclenched. Ideas began to flow into her, so many that she began to feel like a mastermind. She had to be, in order for her plan to work. Right now, Penny was a chef without tools, a chess player without chess pieces.
And just like any chess player needed, she needed to grab pawns.
Penny had never been more focused on anything in her whole life.
She was so focused in fact, that she barely noticed that two weeks had passed. She had spent the days scouting, purposely staying after school just to watch and find people that were also being bullied. It was unfortunately fortunate that there were quite a few kids being bullied like she was. It reminded her of her anger toward the school, about how they did nothing about the situation at hand despite acknowledging it. Of course, there's those occasional finger-wag level of warning they had toward bullying in the forms of videos that they were forced to watch.
Bullying is bad, they said. Bullying isn't tolerated, they said.
Yeah, if bullying wasn't tolerated, she wouldn't be doing what she was doing. She wouldn't have had to endure Lilith's teasing during the two weeks of preparation. Speaking of the teasing- it had gotten worse. Much worse.
The girls became bolder since they weren't getting in trouble as much. They started throwing their trays of food at Penny. Tripping her while she walked in hallways just to use their Pokémon to use Water Gun to blast her. They stole her Eevee jacket for a day and returned it to her covered in trash.
All the while, the school did nothing.
It was that anger that carried her furiously typing fingers on her keyboard as she wrote notes about the people she had found during the two weeks.
The day she decided to start was on a day that she wanted to call off school. Her father decided that it was okay for her to miss one day of school and told the school she was sick. He might have seen how depressed she looked, because her Dad would ask her questions. She couldn't answer with 'I'm fine,' or else he'd send her to school. She couldn't tell him that she was a victim of bullying, because she couldn't have him overreact.
If he called the school, the school would just give Lilith a slap on the wrist and things would continue as normal. And at this point, Penny felt like Lilith deserved much more than a slap on the wrist. So she just told him that she wasn't feeling well emotionally. After fabricating a story for her father, she was able to get him off her back.
She didn't like lying to her dad like that, but it had to be done.
She made sure to tell her father that she loved him, although that resulted in him hugging her and kissing her cheek multiple times, much to her dismay. She was in her early teens, and felt like she was still being treated like a kid. But she decided to digress.
She was sitting in front of her computer staring at her computer monitor, which had a document showing the names of the five people she scouted for.
Giacomo.
Atticus.
Ortega.
Eri..
And that girl she met a while back before, Mela.
All of them were being bullied. Penny sighed as she remembered the look of despair that they had. She remembered how sad Mela looked as a bully threw a pie at her face. She knew that talking to the teachers about what was going on wouldn't change a thing.
Now she understands, Penny thought. She almost wanted to smile because she wanted to say, 'I told you so', but that look on her face…on all of the bulled students' faces, reminded her of caged bird Pokémon. Ones that longed to be free.
She wanted to somehow 'set them free.' That didn't make much sense to her at that time. She just sort of thought of it as a passing thought and held onto it because it sounded beautiful.
She stared at the names, and their phone numbers were below them. Of course, she didn't ask them for their phone numbers up close- she hacked the school website to find them. She could have used a phone book, but hacking to her was much easier and less bothersome. Besides, she thought, no one would be able to trace her.
She pulled out her phone, having already made sure to install the necessary technology that would mask her voice, which came as a mini headset with a microphone which she put on.
She called all of the phone numbers at once. She didn't want to repeat herself.
She waited for all of the phones to pick up- they didn't all pick up at once- but eventually Penny had all of them on the line.
"Hello?"
"Uhh…who is this?"
"Um…Are you going to say anything?"
"You're giving me the creeps…"
Penny hadn't recognized any of the voices but Mela's, who said, "Is this a prank..?"
Penny had the ability to call all of them at once using her phone and her computer. But none of the people she called could hear each other. That wasn't going to be an issue- she just had to word things as though she were talking to one person.
"Hello," Penny said. "I would like to begin by saying that this is not your bullies calling you. I am someone who has watched you from afar. I want to free you from your cage. You have great potential, greater than what your bullies have led you to believe. In you, I see a fire, one that can be nurtured to shine bright- brighter than anything that ever existed."
None of the students she called responded. For a moment, Penny's face flushed. She had never thought she had such a way with words before. Despite how cheesy it sounded, it was kind of awe-inspiring... So she cleared he throat and kept going.
"Anyway, I need your help. Just like you, I have bullies that are ruining my day-to-day life. And I know that you have bullies that are ruining your lives too. I would like to recruit you- and together, we can figure out a way to show our bullies that we aren't to be messed with."
"...Oh." One boy's voice said.
"Okay-... I think I can get behind what you're saying.." Another voice said.
"Hmm…" Mela said.
"I…Sorry… I…I'm still absorbing what you said earlier…" The girl's voice sounded like it was trembling, as though she were close to tears.
"...Earlier you said, 'Lives'," A boy with a quieter voice said. "Lives, as though you are talking to multiple people. Is this pre-recorded?"
That boy was sharp.
"I understand that this may seem…very…out-of-nowhere and suspicious," Penny said. "And it may seem like a trick from your bullies. But I really meant it when I said that I wanted to set you guys free. I know you guys have…amazing potential within you. If you believe me and want to continue this conversation, I'll arrange a meeting. But know you won't ever see me in person. I'll leave behind a phone at our meeting place. Goodbye."
Penny turned off the call for all of the students she called and took in a deep breath. She felt embarrassed all over again and groaned. She shook her head, remembering that she had to do what she had to do to get Lilith off her back.
Remembering that name, 'Lilith'... made Penny clench her fists all over again- and had her realize that she had never scheduled the meeting place and date to the students she recruited. After gasping with realization and further embarrassment, Penny scrambled to call the students all over again.
Giacomo. Atticus Ortega Eri and Mela all entered an empty classroom. They all went to the vacant desks, eyeing one another with slight suspicion. They all wondered if they were in the same room as the person who called them.
All of them sat in silence for a while, until suddenly, Penny's Leafeon walked through the classroom door, grabbing everyone's attention quickly. They were half surprised about the fact that a lone Pokémon was wandering the school building without being caught by any teachers, and also surprised that the Leafeon had a Phone in its mouth.
"Hello," Penny's modified voice came out of the phone's speakers, which was loud enough for the entire group to hear. The phone screen was as black as Penny's room all the way back at her house- for she had turned off all of her lights and was sitting in front of her computer. Her phone lied beside her keyboard and mouse. "I'm glad to see that everyone came," Penny continued.
"Honestly," The boy named Ortega said. "If no one else came but me, I'd think this is some sort of prank."
"Agreed," The quieter looking boy whose name was Atticus said with a nod.
"I assure you that this isn't a prank," Penny said. "I want to work together with the five of you and work together toward a common goal: standing up to our tormentors."
"It's hard for me to trust a person I haven't laid eyes on," Atticus said. Penny realized then that this was the same person who was sharp. She instinctively muted her microphone when she felt herself beginning to gulp. She felt as though she had to choose her words carefully, or else they'll leave.
"I sure hope it's not a prank," Giacomo said. His eyes shone with a naive child-like hope, tinged with doubt due to being picked on to the point of being disappointed so often. He remembered how his heart skipped a beat when he heard what Penny said with her speech. "Because it'd really suck if it was." Giacomo concluded.
"In life, my friend, there are many things that are too good to be true," Atticus said with a sigh so deep that Penny could feel the pain behind it. That sigh carried the remains of several crushed hopes which were used as a tightly wound shield around his heart. "This may be one of them," Atticus concluded.
"...I don't think it's a prank," The girl named Eri spoke up. She was in the back, sulking and staring at her desk with a frown. Her eyes were sullen and lost, as though they had lost all hope. Her voice had a cracked sound to it, as though she had spoken for the first time in years. "No one in my life has ever told me that I have potential. I related to what she said, when she compared me- um…us… to caged birds."
Penny smiled a bit, thankful to hear that her dumb, on-the-spot speech actually worked on someone.
"This seems a bit too complicated for a prank," Ortega said, crossing his arms and legs. He had a blank expression on his face, one that had been practiced over and over again. He had learned from his experiences with his bullies that if he showed even a bit of his emotions, then he'd be made fun of.
Mela was the only one who said nothing. She only stared blankly at the phone. She was tapping on her desk with her finger expectantly, her eyes darted back and forth, as though she were planning an escape in case something went wrong, or if her bullies came out of nowhere just to tease her.
Penny realized that they reacted just like how she would have if she were in their shoes. Someone coming out of the blue and saying 'you can rise up against your bullies' did sound too good to be true.
Because she had a good grasp as to how these students felt, she knew exactly what to say, and how bold she had to be in order to say it. She took in a deep, shaky breath before unmuting herself.
"I think you all already know that this isn't a prank. Otherwise, you would have left already, right?" Penny asked. She could feel the words coming to her, as though they had always been there from the start. For a moment, Penny could feel her confidence growing- her mind moving faster and sharper."It's because of what I said earlier, right? About how I compared you to caged bird Pokémon? You know what I said was the truth," Penny could feel her bated breath leaving her lips as her heartbeat rose. Her confidence and conviction began to spike within her.
She hadn't even realized that her eyes began to shine blue.
"I meant what I said earlier, when I said that you all have potential," Penny continued, "I know for a fact that you all have potential. Your bullies have led you to believe otherwise. You came here because you had a feeling that you were talking with someone who could relate to you. Who was in the same situation as you. Who was being bullied just like you. We all have potential."
The moment Penny said, 'We all have potential," Penny's eyes began to shine red, and her hair color began to turn completely white. She felt goosebumps and felt every hair on her body stand up on end. "Together, we can rise up against our bullies- rise up for the loners, the losers, the geeks, everyone around us- they'll see us as Stars- bright and brilliant, like the sun, yet far away from their reach."
Everyone in the room stared at the blank phone with wide eyed wonder. Even Atticus, who was suspicious at first, showed with his eyes that he was coming around.
Penny felt her rising emotions become so strong that she pressed her hands onto her desk and stood up. "Together, we can show the entire school- no… the entire world..!""
For a split second, Penny's hair became blue.
"We can show everyone how great we can truly become!" Penny concluded. She breathed heavily, not even realizing she was slightly illuminating her room with her glowing blue hair. But as soon as the sharp emotion within her faded, so too did her glowing blue hair and her glowing blue eyes, which reverted to normal. She cleared her throat.
"Sorry about that," Penny said. "I…uh…got really into my speech."
Eri was sobbing. "That was so beautiful…!" She cried.
"That…was extraordinary.." Atticus said.
"...Honestly…that was…kinda beautiful," Ortega said.
"Your speech sounded a lot like the lyrics to some inspirational music I listen to.." Giacomo said.
Tears were falling down Mela's eyes. She sniffled and nodded. "That was…really something else," She said.
Suddenly, emotion began welling up within Penny, as though their tears were a contagious disease. She was able to touch their hearts. She had no idea how or where those words even came from…but she felt them deep within her heart. She had just stopped thinking for a moment and just..acted.
"Anyway…" Penny said. "Are you with me?"
"Absolutely," Atticus said.
"Y-Yes… of course..!" Ortega cried.
"I'm in." Giacomo said.
Eri was still crying, and Mela went all the way to the back to lay a comforting hand onto the tall girl's shoulder. "I'm in too," Mela said.
"I-..." Eri cried. "I-..."
"That's okay, let it all out," Mela said, patting the girl's shoulder.
"I-...I'm in…too..!" Eri managed to say before she started bawling again. "I'm sorry for crying… im such a crybaby-" Everyone in the room surrounded Eri.
"It's okay," Ortega said. "Crying is what makes you stronger… I think."
"I think it's fine for you to cry, go ahead. Bottling up that emotion's real bad for you. I learned that the hard way," Giacomo said.
After Eri had calmed down, Penny smiled.
"I'm very glad that you all are with me in this cause," Penny said. "Now-"
"Wait- what should we call you?" Ortega asked.
"Yeah!" Giacomo cried. "We can't just go through with all of this without hearing your name!"
Giving her real name was out of the question. Penny bent her pointer finger and put it under her lip.
"You can call me 'Star'." Penny said.
"Star?" Ortega said.
"That's a nice name." Eri muttered.
"It's not my real name," Penny concluded. "Unfortunately I can't give you my real name for personal reasons. I apologize if this causes any strains in our relationship."
"...Well…" Giacomo said. "I'm already in, so…I guess I don't mind."
The rest of the students agreed with Giacomo, and a sigh of relief came out from Penny's lips.
"Can i suggest something..?" Ortega said, raising his hand as though he were in a classroom. "We should…maybe spice up our outfits. Y'know, to really show the bullies we mean business."
"I like that idea," Eri said.
"Yeah, I can get behind that…!" Giacomo said. "You know what would be awesome though? If we had a killer battle theme blasting in the background too!"
"Not a bad idea," Atticus said. "You both have quite the imagination."
"Did you just say 'Quite' unironically?" Giacomo said.
Atticus's eyes widened for a moment with fear. "Wh-What? Is that weird? I'm sorry-"
"No, no, it's not weird at all," Giacomo said. "I just thought it was interesting."
"I kinda like how he said 'Quite' like that," Ortega said. "Kind of makes him sound like a smart guy. Smart guys are cool…"
Atticus's eyes widened with disbelief. No one had ever said that to him, and for a moment, Ortega looked as though he were panicking.
"I-I mean…" Ortega said. "I didn't mean to give my opinion like that, no one asked for it, so-"
Atticus smiled a bright smile. "It brings me joy to hear that," He said.
Ortega's worry began to slowly fade away, along with his emotional guard. "Oh." He said. "Okay."
Giacomo began humming to himself, nodding his head and tapping his foot. Little did Penny know, the tune he hummed would later become the theme that would play when the Team Star Leaders fought. Mela noticed and stared at him for a moment as Giacomo kept humming, and then the boy yelped with surprise.
"I didn't think you were staring-" Giacomo said, his cheeks became red as he winced, as though he were preparing to get teased.
"Oh no, don't mind me," Mela said. "I was just listening to the tune you were humming. It was nice."
"Really?" Giacomo said.
"Yeah."
Giacomo laughed and scratched the back of his head as Mela smiled at him.
"Now that I think of it…" Eri said. "I think that this group of ours should have a name."
"A name, huh?" Mela said. "Why not just name it Team Star? I mean, Star's our leader, right?"
"..Huh?" Penny blinked as though she snapped out a daze.
"I like that name," Giacomo said. "It goes with the whole speech Star said earlier. We're like Stars, right?"
"Yeah." Mela said.
"We have to make up a bunch of rules too if we're really serious about this-" Ortega said. "If there's going to be more members in the future, y'know?"
More members…? Penny thought. Technically, things were going out of control. She hadn't planned for the team to have a name. But she had no idea how to stop it.
Originally, her plan was to just organize a team with the six of them and rise up against their bullies, but as more ideas came flowing in from her new teammates, things began to change. Every day, they would meet after school, and every day, Penny found herself agreeing with several rules that were coming into place. Rules like how no one could actually boss anyone else around. Other rules were floating around and being approved, and Penny found herself agreeing to them only to appease her teammates, because she felt as though this was going to be a one-time-thing.
But as days turned into weeks, Penny was starting to think that this wasn't going to be a one-time thing. She saw each of her teammates beginning to shine in their own way.
Atticus was the first one to show his talents, giving total makeovers to his teammates.
"Whoa.. you look gorgeous..!" Giacomo cried, staring at Mela who had just put on her outfit that she would use as a Team Star leader.
Mela began blushing. "R-Really?"
"Yeah!" Eri cried. "The way Atticus made your hair look like flames like that really compliments the entire outfit! I love the outfit choice too! You really took advantage of her hair color!"
"Her eyes and hair dazzled like flames ever since I laid eyes upon her." Atticus said with a smile. "I simply decided to bring out that flaming determination."
Mela began blushing a bit. "Uh- thanks," She said. "You really have a way with words."
"You really do. Thank you, Atticus." Penny said.
Atticus nodded and smiled as he turned to Eri. "Eri," He said. "I will be designing your outfit next. I believe there is a beast within you that needs to be unleashed…"
"H-Huh?" Eri said. "B-Beast..?"
A few days went by, and Giacomo showed his talents, showing everyone the tune that would blast on speakers on the day of the showdown.
"Wow, this sounds really good!" Eri cried, giving back the headphones Giacomo had given her.
"Heh- thanks!" Giacomo said. "I tried really hard to emulate the emotion that we're going to show our bullies that no one can ever mess with us!"
"That guitar solo has to be the best part," Ortega said. "The only problem is that it may be so good that my Pokémon'll start dancing instead of fighting!"
"I wanted to make a song that inspires us and brings fear to our enemies." Giacomo said.
"You did a really good job," Penny said. "Thank you, Giacomo."
Then Ortega began to shine. He was not only able to modify everyone's Invoker so that they would be invisible so that the outfits that Atticus made could be seen… He was able to create a whole machine that looked like a bus.
"I call it the Starmobile!" Ortega said. The entire group was standing outside that day when they figured out what Ortega was able to make, and they were all surprised.
"Starmobile? That's such a cool name!" Eri cried.
"Of course it is-" Ortega said, grinning wide with pride. "I came up with it, so of course it'd be good!"
"Naturally," Penny was talking through the phone that Leafeon held in her mouth. "Well done, Ortega."
"Yeah…but unfortunately I don't really have a powersource for these Starmobiles…" Ortega said.
"I can help with that," Mela said.
"How?"
"I'll figure something out," Mela said.
And figure something out she did. As more days went by, Mela was hard at work training several Charcadet, which she had done at home. She came to the empty classroom they always met up in with several Pokeballs in a plastic bag and gave it to Ortega.
"You actually did it!?" Ortega cried.
"Yeah, of course," Mela said. "They're fire type Pokémon. They're my favorite,"
"Wow…" Ortega looked at the bag of pokeballs. "There's like… twenty balls in here..! You actually raised twenty Charcadet?!"
"Yeah. It was nothing," Mela siad.
"NOTHING? That's INCREDIBLE!" Ortega cried. By now, Mela was used to how animated Ortega was becoming day by day. Everyone in the classroom started laughing, lightly teasing Ortega. But it was clear that it wasn't bullying- because Ortega was laughing along with them.
"Although, my training regimen is nothing compared to Eri's." Mela said. "She really made us go through it these past weeks, and I know I can't hold a candle to how well she trained us."
Eri chuckled and scratched the back of her head.
"Yeah, for real," Giacomo said. "I remembered that time when I was throwing up after our first round, and Ortega was laughing hard at me, then Eri said that if he had enough air in his lungs to laugh, he could run more laps. Then he started barfing and-"
"HEY!" Ortega cried. "Jeez- you won't let me live that down EVER huh!?" Ortega cried. The two of them started laughing.
"Her training is very effective, I feel myself becoming more and more like a Ninja every day," Atticus said. "That was a dream of mine. To become a Ninja."
"That's pretty sick," Giacomo said.
"Almost as sick as you both felt when you were going through Eri's training?" Penny chimed.
"Hey!" Giacomo and Ortega cried out at the same time.
Everyone in the room laughed.
Penny kept laughing while sitting in her room in total darkness. She kind of wanted to be in the room with them, laughing and making jokes. But- she couldn't. She had to keep her invisibility for now. It was all for the sake of her goal, at least thats what she convinced herself. But- she felt like if she wasn't there, she wouldn't be connected to them at all..plus, being invisible was comforting to her.
It was nice, though. Having like-minded friends. These were the geeks that she was looking for. The ones that she could call her kin.
However, the entire time, as the days went by, Penny was reminded that those bullies were still out there and messing with them all. There were days that they all had to come together and comfort each other.
The entire time, Penny remembered to think of their mission. They had a plan to execute, and that fateful day had finally come where they could finally act.
The day before the operation, everyone showed up. They all had a serious look on their faces, because they knew that this would be the last time they'd meet up like this in their normal school outfits.
"Everything's finally falling into place," Penny said. "Tomorrow is the day that we strike back against the bullies."
"Yeah…" Eri said. "Truth be told, I'm kind of nervous."
"Forget your nerves," Atticus said. "We've prepared well."
"Of course!" Ortega cried. "Our Starmobiles are all ready."
"You put on the speakers for our theme, right?" Giacomo asked.
"I made sure to help him out with that," Mela said.
Penny smiled wide. Despite the amount of time that had passed, she was proud of what the team had become. She could see the newfound confidence within them was so much brighter than before. "All right," Penny said. "Now that we're prepped, it's time for us to start Phase 1 of our plan."
Everyone in the classroom nodded.
The plan was simple.
All they had to do was write down a message on several pieces of papers, all to every bully that was messing with them. Then, they'd have them meet up with the group at the Pokémon battlefield next to the school. By the time the bullies would come, Team Star would be completely prepared.
"The Starmobiles are here," Ortega said. Every Team Star member had their special outfits on. The Starmobiles were all lined up, each of them individually matching the colors of the outfits their owners wore. "I don't know how long we'll be able to keep them out here before a teacher notices," Ortega added.
"They won't notice," Penny's Leafeon was standing among the Team Star members, carrying its trainer's phone in its mouth. "There was a bomb threat today. So no one is at school right now but us."
"What!?" Mela cried. "Are you kidding me!? A bomb threat?!"
"That means it's not safe for us to be here!" Giacomo cried.
"Don't worry so much about it," Penny said. "I was the one who sent the email. There's no bomb that's going to go off."
"Oh, thank goodness," Ortega said. "Wait- you ACTUALLY sent an email!? Won't you get in trouble!?"
"I won't get caught. Yeah, what I did was underhanded, but I won't get caught. It's all for the sake of clearing the area."
"Wouldn't us being here bring suspicion?"
"I hacked into the cameras, and we're surrounded by school gates. No passerby is going to come by and watch us. Don't worry."
"Okay...that's good and all," Mela said, crossing her arms. "But what if those bullies don't show up because of that?"
"Our challenge is akin to a slave challenging the rule of a monarch. Their pride wouldn't allow such a thing to happen." Atticus said. "They would want to see us squirm before crushing us beneath their thumbs. But it will be us that will be doing the crushing."
"Yeah, what he said-" Giacomo said, his hands were on his phone as he was planning to adjust the volume of the speakers he installed. "There's no way they'd ignore us."
"Guys-" Eri said. "I think they're here."
A crowd of unruly students had arrived to the scene, walking to the opposite end of the Pokémon Battlefield.
"Wait- Atticus made friends?" One of the bullies said. "How much are you paying them? You stupid idiot!"
"I don't know how they noticed me despite my outfit..." Atticus said, narrowing his eyes in annoyance."
"Wait- is that Eri!?" the girl known as Carmen, Eri's future best friend, spoke out with an annoyed look. "Why do you have so much make up on!?" The friends around her giggled. "Yeah, she knows that she's so ugly that she has to hide her face in order to make friends!" Another one of Eri's bullies said.
Eri grumbled under her breath.
"What's with the dumb outfits!?" One of Ortega's bullies said.
Ortega frowned.
"Y-You think those cars or whatever is gonna scare us?" One of Mela's bullies said.
Mela groaned.
One of Giacomo's bullies started laughing. "I still can't get over Giacomo's hair with that hat on," He cried, "Guy looks like Heihachi Mishima from Tekken!"
Giacomo clenched his fists.
"All right guys," Penny said. "Go ahead and show them what we're made of."
All of the Team Star members exchanged glances and nodded to each other. Giacomo pressed a button on his phone, and immediately, the music that he planned on playing started blaring in the background. The moment the song began playing, every single Team Star member smirked.
Giacomo pulled out a microphone from his pocket, and smirked. "You guys have no idea who you're dealing with!" Giacomo cried. "You're looking at the one, the only, Team Star!"
The moment everyone's attention was on Giacomo, Penny's Leafeon spun around and ran off.
"For the longest time, you all thought that you could mess with us..." Giacomo began his speech.
Penny, who was standing on the rooftop of a skyscraper building that was still around the city the Academy was located, stood and watched from afar. The building she was on was high enough for her to see everything from far away. She could even see her Leafeon approaching, who was running to the side of the building where none of the eyes of the crowd of people who were walking around could see her. As soon as the coast was clear, Leafeon shot vines out from its body to start climbing the building so she could reach the top.
Penny's glasses shone bright enough to cover her eyes as the wind blew against her body. Her hood flowed in the wind as though it were under an ocean. She slowly took off the headphones and microphone she had on and put them in the pocket on her hoodie.
"Out of all the places you wanted to meet up," Lilith's voice invaded her ears like a virus. Penny turned around, seeing that Lilith had walked out of an elevator with her Machoke beside her. "You chose a place far away from any teacher to save you. You're an idiot."
"Do you remember what I wrote to you on that piece of paper?" Penny asked.
"Something about how I'm the devil of your life? Such a nice compliment, by the way," Lilith said. "Nice to know that I live in your head rent-free." Lilith pulled out a Tera orb from her pocket and tossed it in the air just to catch it. "Anyway, I skimmed through it and saw you wanted to challenge me again and nearly died laughing."
The spike in rage within her made her immediately tighten her fists. Almost as if on que, Leafeon finally reached the top of the building and leapt in front of her trainer. After her vines retracted into her body, Leafeon glared furiously, and radiated with Grass Type energy. "I wrote down in that paper that you were the devil in my life," Penny said. "I swore to you that was going to out-devil you, and I wasn't going to defeat you. I'm going to get rid of you."
Lilith laughed loudly. "Get rid of me!?" She cried, aiming her Tera ball at her opponent. "Why would you want to get rid of me?! We're meant to be together! You're a welcome mat, and I'm the muddy shoes that steps all over you!"
Penny aimed her Tera ball at Lilith and said nothing. She glared furiously.
Both girls activated their invoker armor, and crushed their Teraballs, and two eruptions of light erected around them both.
Lilith's weapons were boxing gloves, radiating with fighting type energy, while Penny's armor looked to be held together by grass, vines, and sticks. In her hand was a grass vine whip.
Lilith let out a battle cry and sprinted after Penny, who swung her vine whip down at her. Lilith stepped to the side to dodge, closed the distance, and landed a punch so violent that a shockwave flew out from the point of impact. Lilith grinned wide, but that grin disappeared when Penny slowly pushed her cheek against Lilith's knuckles so that she could look her bully in the face and glare at her.
Then, immediately, Penny lunged, reaching her hand out at her opponent's pants' pocket. Lilith swung her body away, dodging Penny's lunging body before grabbing the girl by the back of her neck with one hand. Lilith then slammed her knee onto the glasses-girls' face. Penny cried out in pain as she fell on the ground and grabbed her own nose. Then, Lilith kicked on her the side hard. Penny could have sworn that she heard her ribs crack. As Penny's body twirled to lay on the ground by her back, Lilith went on top of the girl and began punching her.
"Stupid! Idiot!" Lilith cried as she punched Penny's face over and over. "Does it hurt~? Does it Huuuurt~?" She said in a mocking tone. "C'mon, tell me it hurts! Why don't you start crying again!? Huh!?"
While Penny endured the punches, her hands reached for her opponent's pants' pocket. Every punch caused her entire body to lurch, making her have to try to reach for her pocket all over again. But eventually, Penny managed to grab what she was looking for:
Lilith's phone.
Penny pulled the phone and put it in her own pocket as Lilith kept punching.
Eventually, Lilith stopped, standing up and smiled like an artist marveling at their work. Penny breathed heavily as her face was covered in bruises. Lilith spat on Penny's face, then kicked the girl on the side once again. Penny let out a cry of anguish, bringing a smile to Lilith's face as she planted her foot on the Eevee fan's cheek.
"See what I mean? You're a perfect welcome mat for my muddy shoes." Lilith twisted her foot on Penny's face and pressed against it.
"I-..." Penny groaned.
"What- you're gonna tell me you're sorry? Go on, beg for my forgiveness. I might even let you go!" Lilith erupted in laughter.
"I…I-...!" Penny groaned as she slowly pulled out her own phone. "I…told you...that I wasn't going to defeat you... I said..I'd get rid of you...!"
She pressed a button on her phone and just then, a far away explosion rang out. Terror rushed to Lilith like a blast of wind as she shot her head back and forth, trying to find the source of the explosion. She put her foot off Penny's face and ran off to the edge of the skyscraper- and gasped once she saw what had happened to the Academy.
What Team Star had originally planned to do was to meet with their bullies, tell them their demands, and then challenge them to a battle. If they hadn't run from fear then, they would pull out their Starmobiles. With Star's help, they were able to turn the starmobiles into specialized weapons for each of them. The one that they would use to intimidate their enemies was Mela's Starmobile, which they gave the ability to fire off what Star had called 'The most powerful Fire type move anyone has ever seen.'
They planned to have the cannon form and gather energy, just for the bullies to give up and beg for them to stop- and then the Team members would say that they'd only stop if they agreed to leave them alone. The bullies would then run away in fear, and that would be that.
Things were going according to plan- they had gotten the bullies right where they wanted them, and they were all cowering in front of the cannon that was gathering energy. The school was right behind all of them.
Little did they know, Penny had decided to rig Mela's cannon to fire at her own command. All she wold have to do is push a button on her phone, and the cannon would fire. She had to convince Ortega to put a device onto the cannon, and thankfully, Ortega hadn't thought twice about it.
He trusted his leader that much.
After Penny pushed the button on her phone, the cannon fired- and the blast that came out of it luckily zipped past the bullies like a warning shot- but hit the school's wall directly, creating a massive hole from its entrance point, and creating another massive hole from its exit point. The entire school erupted into flames within seconds, and the team began panicking.
"Did you actually fire it at them!?" Mela cried at Ortega.
"I- I didn't do anything- I swear..!" Ortega cried.
"We have to leave, right now..!" Eri cried.
Penny laughed as she saw Lilith watching everything happening from afar. It was an uncharacteristic laugh, one that genuinely spread fear into the bully's body like a cold shower.
"You see that…?" Penny said. "That's the sound of your school life going up in flames.."
"What do you mean..!?" Lilith cried out, turning to face Penny and looking at her with horror. "Did- Did you do that!? If you did and the teachers find out about it, you'll get expelled! Are you stupid!? Is this what you'd do to get rid of me, get yourself expelled!?"
"You don't get it," Penny said. The smile on her face grew as she slowly stood up. Her eyes were set squarely on her enemy. "I'm not getting expelled. You are."
"Why would I get expelled!? I wasn't the one who did that!"
"Then why don't you just shut up and let me explain?" Penny said. The moment she said this, Lilith became quiet. Penny was absolutely delighted at her bully's fear, so much so that she wanted to giggle. Finally, she thought, finally her bully was taking her seriously. "Before all of this, I sent a bomb threat to the school. That way no one would attend school and get hurt by my stunt, and so no teachers would come and interfere. Do you want to know what email I used to send that message? Yours."
"You're lying!"
"Rainbow3019. That's your password, right?"
Penny could see Lilith's face go pale despite the sky becoming a touch redder than it was before due to the flames growing more violent from far away. "H-How..." Lilith said.. "How- did...did you-"
"Not the most creative password, honestly," Penny said, smiling. She finally had dominance over the one that tormented her for so long, and it felt good.
"You- You know that they'll realize that you did it, right?! That you set me up!?"
Penny shook her head.
"They won't even bother to investigate." Penny said. "You know how much Pressure Uva academy has been under due to the rise in bullying? Every day, parents send in messages trying to tell the academy to get their act together and stop the bullying. Clavell said that he's trying to figure things out, and that he's working on it, but soon enough, the parents of those students are going to move their children out of the school. And if there's no students, there's no need for a school. See what I'm getting at?"
Lilith was dead silent, and Penny lowered her head, and her eyes couldn't be seen over the light reflecting on her glasses.
"Once the news finds out about what happened with the bomb threat," Penny continued, "the pressure will rise. Someone will have to take the blame for everything. Just so the pressure could be pushed away from them, even for a second. And it'll show that the school is taking steps to improve, no matter how little those steps are. The person who will be taking the blame for all of this...is going to be you. They'll look at you like Hungry Pokémon looking for their next meal. You'll be their scapegoat."
"Why would anyone think that I'm the type of person to do that! I've never even thought about doing something like that! My family knows that- my friends know that-"
"That's why I took your phone, Lilith." Penny pulled out Lilith's phone and hung it in front of her face with her pointer finger and thumb and wagged it mockingly, as though it were an apple on a stick. "In this day and age, everyone looks to peoples' phones to see who people really are under the surface. With how weak your email password is, it shouldn't take me long to figure out what your phone password is. Then, i'll just plant some incriminating evidence here and there...Maybe I'll make a diary about how you secretly wanted to watch the school burn. It won't matter if your friends and family believe you, if the police don't believe you, you're finished."
Penny could see Lilith's body trembling with panic.
"All I have to do is give this to the police, and boom. You're gone." A venomous smile spread onto Penny's lips. "What's wrong? Are you afraid? Aw~... Does it hurt knowing that I ruined your life~? Go ahead and cry~ Go on..." Penny made sure to match the tone she was given whenever Lilith tried driving her to tears. "Cry about how your life is going to be ruined." Penny said in a more venomous tone."...Just like how you've been ruining mine for the longest time.
"I could just- knock you out...n-now!" Lilith said. "Y-Yeah..! Then- I'll."
"Go on. Try. I'll give you a free shot."
Penny turned her back as though to taunt her.
"I'm waiting." Penny said.
Lilith roared as she raced after the glasses-girl. Penny's vine whip dove into the ground before slithering toward Lilith. In a blink of an eye, Vines wrapped around Lilith and restrained her. She fought hard against the vines, but began to gasp as the vines used Giga Drain to drain her life force away.
"You see what I meant, now?" Penny said. "When I said that I was going to out-devil you? By the time you wake up, you'll be taken away by the police... and expelled. Or even worse...maybe sent to jail. Either way, it doesn't matter. I got rid of you like I wanted.
"Please…!" Lilith cried, losing her strength quickly. "Please- don't do this…"
Penny felt a twinge of guilt insert itself into her body like a poisoned knife. Her guilty conscious reared its ugly head, telling her to give mercy since she asked for it. Penny swung her entire body around with rage to face Lilith. "You didn't stop when I begged you to when you were beating me up last time..!" Penny roared this at Lilith, but she was trying to convince herself to not give her tormentor any mercy. "You didn't stop when I asked you to countless times when you were bullying me every single day!" The hatred within Penny was overwhelming- so much so that she wanted to punch Lilith directly in the face right then and there- but she couldn't bring herself to do it, even now. "You made my life a living hell…for the longest time… and now, I'm making yours a living hell."
"Plea-...se…" Lilith's voice lost strength as the vines began to sap more of her energy. "Do-..n't.."
"Good night, Lilith. I'll be happy to never see you again."
The vines released Lilith's unconscious body. As soon as Lilith's body hit the ground with a loud thud, Penny breathed a sigh of relief. She finally did it. She finally got rid of the devil in her life.
Just then, she heard a scream, and instinctively ran to the edge of the skyscraper building to see what was going on, and the moment she laid eyes on the panic and destruction she had wrought, she felt that guilt from earlier spread across her entire body like poison.
She saw children running over to their parents and clinging to them with fear. She saw people making phone calls, asking if their loved ones were okay. Several people clung to their Pokémon as fire trucks flew by to rush to the fire.
"MOMMY! MOMMYYYY!" One of the bullies from earlier cried out.
"I don't want to go back to school! I don't wanna go back there!" Another bully cried out.
Seeing the other bullies made reality slap her across the face. When she pressed that button, she didn't think twice about the bullies Team Star had fought against. With how the plan went, the bullies would have been in the line of fire of the Starmobile cannon…. If a single thing went wrong...She could have accidentally killed one of them with her stunt.
And those friends she made, the ones that she began to think of as family... would have thought that they were to blame for the bullies dying. The guilt was so heavy that it nearly brought her to her knees.
She truly had out-deviled her bully. But by doing so, she became a worse person. Her hatred had turned her into a full-fledged monster.
She could have killed someone.
She could have killed someone.
She could have killed someone.
Guilt began wrapping around her neck like a serpent and rushed down her spine with its ice-cold grip. She felt like a massive weight had come onto her shoulders- a new one that far surpassed the weight of being bullied by Lilith. Her breathing became much more laberous- every breath was a fight in itself, and she could feel her arms and legs trembling. She felt a cold dead weight in her chest that refused to let her be warm, even in the face of the flames which reflected off of her glasses. For a while, she just stared into the distance with a thousand-yard stare, as though it were an attempt to escape the situation, but reality had grabbed her by the face and forced her eyes open, forcing her to see what she had done wrong.
She wished she could go back. She wished she could turn back time and undo her actions, and not traumatize several people for the sake of...Petty revenge. But she couldn't. She had to deal with the consequences.
Consequences…
The moment that word, 'consequences' came to her mind, her heart raced and pounded loud in her ears like an alarm. Sweat began soaking her body from head to toe. Someone had to take responsibility for what happened…and Penny was too scared to have it be her.
She clenched Lilith's phone with her trembling fingers, as though she were a child trying to hold onto a teddy bear to feel safe. Lilith had to be the scapegoat, no matter what. Before, she planned to proudly let Lilith take the fall for everything, but now, she found herself cowering behind her as the flames of the consequences burn her bully in her place. The moment she pressed the button on her phone which activated the blast was the moment she couldn't turn back.
Penny turned away from the chaos in front of her, looking at Lilith's unconscious body. She had played this scene in her mind over and over again, from purposely letting Lilith get the upper hand on her in the battle so she could grab her phone, all the way up to the part where she'd imagine walking up to Lilith and stomping on her face as she walked over her like she was trash.
She remembered replaying that in her mind over and over again like it was a warm blanket comforting her as she was bullied over and over again, it reminded her that eventually, eventually, Lilith would get hit by the hammer of justice and karma, and she would be the one swinging it. But now...now, she couldn't even look at Lilith as she walked over her unconscious body. She eventually reached the elevator, pressed the elevator door buttons, and watched the doors close.
End of Flashback
Penny had lowered her head the entire time while she told her story to the ones that had defeated her, despite the fact she had transformed into 'Superstar Penny.' Although right now, she felt like she was less than that.
During the entire fight she had to lie to herself, saying that she was a Star, having to show herself to the world and show her radiance, when in reality...she was worse than scum.
Kai, Aeon, Arven, the rest of their teammates… and even Director Clavell was there to listen in on everything.
She couldn't bear to look at them, and their silence was killing her, so she kept talking.
"After that, Lilith was out of my life. She was expelled. But Team Star's reputation took a hit. We thought were suspected of helping the bomber blast a hole into the school because of the bullies that got away and told on us. Not only that, we were reprimanded for trying to use violence to solve the situation. We were so scared of how people would perceive us, and frustrated that the school didn't take our side. So we decided to not go to school again. But every day, I lived with the guilt of what I did. Of the people I hurt."
Penny began tearing up and clutched the grass next to her knees. "I even regret…. framing Lilith for what I did and getting her expelled. Even though the school kept the entire situation about the bomb threat under wraps. Our reputation was damaged because 'we sent students running away and skip school like hooligans,' and I would take that over, 'They were terrorists that blew a hole into the school.' I… couldn't even bear to think about it anymore…I traumatized so many people, and I…helped push away my allies from school, allies that I came to think as my own family. It's all my fault."
Penny's tears began falling onto the ground, right where her trembling hands were. She slowly wrapped her arms around herself and started shivering. "I couldn't forgive myself for what I did... had to bring down Team Star no matter the cost- so I could atone…and bring everything back to normal. I know that what I did…is unforgivable. I know that I deserve to be expelled… or even sent to jail…I'll accept any punishment."
No one said a word as Penny sobbed quietly. Clavell was the first to walk in front of the crowd, looking down at Penny with a frown.
"...Penny…" Clavell said.
Turo slammed his fist against the keyboard in front of the massive monitor that showed the entire scene.
"What is she DOING!?" Turo cried. "Now she could go to jail- she can't go to jail! If she does, this entire plan will be for nothing- and we'll have to reset the entire timeline..! DAMN IT!"
Turo slammed his fists against the keyboard again.
"We had to try so hard to convince the school to cover everything up..." Sada said. She sighed. "Anyway, we must continue to watch," Sada said. "With this timeline being as unpredictable as is…" Sada looked at Clavell, who looked down at Penny with a look of sorrow. "More things may happen."
Penny was still sobbing, and Clavell watched her. Slowly, he fell to his own knees and embraced Penny. Penny's eyes widened in sheer shock.
"I should be the one apologizing," Clavell said. "All of what happened was a result of you feeling cornered. Because you felt as though you had to take matters into your own hands. If we had helped you from the beginning, we could have prevented all of this. It's very difficult to tackle bullying as is in a school environment. We haven't thought of a conclusion that benefits both the bully and the victim, and that led to us being unable to lend a hand. But I swear to you…"
Tears fell from Clavell's eyes. "I swear to you that we will find a solution. We were afraid that if we punished the bully for their crimes, their hatred for their victim would rise. We wanted what was best for both of you. I'm sorry that we made you feel alone."
"Boss…" Eri said "...How could you be so selfish…?"
Penny looked over to Eri, who was trembling with rage. Penny was ready for the verbal beat down that she'd recieve for doing what she did. "How could you try to end Team Star...!? Don't you know how much this team means to me..!? Without this team, I would be nothing, I wouldn't have found my worth in this world…!" Eri began tearing up.
Penny's eyes widened.
"If it wasn't for this team...I wouldn't have been able to find my voice." Atticus said.
"I wouldn't have been able to see how useful I could be when I put my head into things." Mela said.
"I wouldn't have been able to see how creative I can be with machines.." Ortega said.
"I wouldn't have been able to meet all of you." Giacomo said.
"Do you see…how much this team means to us..!?" Eri shouted. "We created this team…because you gave us a reason to live. You gave us purpose. That speech that you said to us…a year ago… was the most beautiful thing I've ever heard in my life. You have no idea how much I needed to hear that."
"...Giving someone a reason to live is one of the most important things you can do for someone," Aeon said, frowning. "I know that from...personal experience."
"...Yeah," Arven said, sniffling a bit and wiping away a tear. "Despite how messed up things ended up being...You didn't hurt anyone in the end. I think that's important." Arven said.
"...I have to chime in too," Kai said, sniffling a bit and wiping away a tear. "Team Star helped me, too. I literally wouldn't be on this adventure... If it wasn't for you guys, I would have quit."
"From what I heard from your story…" Clavell pulled away from Penny and held her shoulders. "Was that you were able to find people and inspire them to be better. You gave them a treasure that they can hold dear, even if it was for selfish reasons. Do you see how grateful your friends are for you? Do you see how powerful your words can be? You may have wrought some destruction, but you cannot ignore the good you have done."
Penny knew that she had done good…but it was overshadowed by her guilt. She began to tear up all over again.
"But- But I have to go to jail..." Penny said. "I-... I-..."
"No one is going to jail." Clavell said.
"It's okay to cry…" Eri said. "Crying is what makes you stronger."
The fact that those words came from Eri of all people made Penny start to wail like a newborn baby. She pressed her face onto Clavell's chest. She screamed at the very top of her lungs, crying uncontrollably until her face became all red.
Everyone watched her cry at the top of her lungs. Not a single word was said for what felt like the longest time.
Author's note: I hope you guys enjoyed that.
Penny's been frequenting R/NuclearRevenge too much, huh...
I would have sent this out sooner, but my internet cut out and I lost A LOT of progress, so I had to grieve about that for a bit before jumping back in again... but Dang. This one was definitely my LONGEST CHAPTER SO FAR. I hope it wasn't TOO long...
I recommend that you listen to a song called "Chill and Rigor" from 9 hours 9 persons 9 doors at the part where Penny laughs as Lilith watches the academy go in flames for extra 'oomph'.
Anyway! Here's a joke scene because why not:
"I've decided that I'm going to out-devil the devil in my life." Penny said, pointing at Lilith.
"You?! Out-devil me!?" Lilith roared. She suddenly pulled out a bowl of eggs in one hand and a egg mixer tool in the other. "I'm the deviling champ!"
Penny pulled out a bowl of eggs and an egg mixer herself. "Oh you'd better believe that I can devil these eggs faster than you!"
"NO YOU CAN'T!"
"YES I CAN!"
Penny and Lilith roared at the top of their lungs as they furiously began mixing the eggs in their bowls.
Here's another joke scene:
"If he says that he's going to send her to jail, take the shot," Turo's voice came out from the walkie-talkie Inteleon had while it aimed its finger at Clavell while he hugged penny.
"No one is going to jail," Clavell said.
"Okay, we're good, don't take the shot don't take the shot-"