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LAST PART UP! Man, I thought this would NEVER end. Did you?
Rene's sleepover with the Crossroaders draws to a close and he is taken to the Lava Baths with the DeCinders! You probably don't need to be a Psychic-type to guess how this ends....awkwardly!
Rene's sleepover with the Crossroaders draws to a close and he is taken to the Lava Baths with the DeCinders! You probably don't need to be a Psychic-type to guess how this ends....awkwardly!
Category Story / Pokemon
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 50 x 50px
File Size 63.5 kB
&&&
René’s Chaos with the Crossroaders (Finale)
&&&
First thing the next morning, two of René's tails is given a very WARM welcome to the new day.
“Up and at 'em!” Mehgan announced. René awoke with a pain-filled yelp and grabbed the injured tails.
“YIIIIEEE! HAVEN'T YOU EVER HEARD OF AN ALARM CLOCK?!?!” He wailed.
“I AM the alarm clock.” Meghan informed him. “Now get up and get dressed so we can have breakfast. That goes for ALL of you! She kneeled down to pull at the sheets as she spotted Floritt trying desperately to look like she's still asleep. “You too, Flo.”
“Aww, but I dun wanna go to da lava baths!” Floritt moaned.
“No, but I don't want you staying in the house while we're gone...unless you want to keep gramps company for when he comes back.” Meghan replied.
“Ok, done. Can I at least taka non-lava showa?”
Meghan sighed. “We just have a guest bathtub, since we don't really use water to bathe...”
“That werks. I got a tub a home too!”
“You'll have to wait, Charla's using it already.”
“Aww, MON!”
“MEANWHILE...What do you guys want for breakfast?” Meghan asked.
“I'm a french toast kinda guy.” René offered. “Oh and by the way...I am NOT picking cat hair out of the tub! Ew!”
“French toast it is, then! They'll be done as soon as you guys finish washing up.” Meghan nodded.
“No, you be pickin' Smeargle hair, 'cuz I be goin' next!” Floritt told René.
“I'm the one who just had his tail set on fire! I should go next!” He protested.
“So? Dat why yer goin' to da lava baths fo'! Ta get dat an' da rest of ya burned!” She pointed out.
“Ok, that's enough out of you two.” Meghan looked down at them.
“Oh, ok...René can go ferst.” Floritt yielded, but René shook his head.
“Nah, let Flo go first. She's got a point. Besides I can help set up the table for breaksat. Where's Maggie?”
“Sure, you can help me out, then. As for Maggie...” Meghan giggled. “Where else?”
Maggie chose that moment to call out from the kitchen. “MEEEEEEG! Are they having Frenchy toast or not?”
“They are, hon!” She called back. Then in a beat she added. “AND NO SPRINKLES THIS TIME!”
“Awwww! You sure?”
“Very. They're running out, and if they do we won't have any for ice cream!” That seemed to satisfy the littly magby who responded with:
“Oh, okay!”
“I'll be done in a jiffy, promise!” Floritt assured René.
“Kay Flo...just be sure that the shower isn't purple when I go in.” René asked.
“Not guaranteein' a ting!” Floritt gave him a mischievous grin before disappearing.
Unpeturbed, René made his way into the kitchen with Meghan. “OOoh, it smells good in here!” He breathed.
Maggie was on a stool in the kitchen working the pans from before, a few well-placed licks of flames getting the French toast nice and toasty. Charla was sitting close to the TV and eating some eggs.
“Well, morning to you. Aren't you coming to the table to eat?” Meghan asked with a quirked brow.
“Mmmmph, fine, but I was comfy here.” Charla said.
“Come on, come over and eat with the rest of us.” Her leader encouraged her.
“Fine, I'm coming...Can I have some more juice?”
“After the table's set.” Meghan told Charla.
“Oh, fine...”
“Look who'se up...and wearing pants.” René noted.
“Hey, I wear pants for breakfast!” Charla informed him.
“Do we have syrup and cinnamon sugar?” The vulpix asked as he sniffed around. “Maggie, you're a great cook!
“But of course! Aaaaand we also got chocolate fudge!”
“Not too much or you'll get a tummy ache.” Meghan warned her.
“Awww...”
René sat down and got ready to eat. “So what will you do after breakfast Char?”
“Mm, me? Actually I need to get to the school early so I can hand in my work for the school newspaper. Nothing big, just an interview I got to do recently.”
Floritt finally came back out, dressed up and with a towel wrapped around her tail-tip. “Yer good ta go, René mon!”
“That IS the old towel I let you use for the last time you stayed over, isn't it?” Meghan asked her.
“Yeh, it is. See?” Said towel was very very purple. It used to be orange once.
“Just checking. So where are you heading after this, Floritt?”
“We got a gig dis weak, me an' me famileh, so I need ta get home as soon as I can' Cerse, I kno' most of da moves by heart so it won't be too bad if I AM a bit late.”
“Okay...and René, you doing anything after the hot baths?” Meghan asked.
“I seldom plan anything ahead, so I'm probably going to end up doing nothing.” He shrugged.
“You sure you’re okay with this?” Meghan asked him.
René gave a rather doubting look that she would ever let him hear the end of this if he did bail. “I'm in.” He said firmly as he finished his breakfast. “I'm going to shower and change. I'll be back in five. Then we'll go?”
“Five it is. Oh and before I forget, you have to being your own towel, so feel free to grab a spare from the closet after you're done!” Meghan agreed.
“Yaaay, René's coming!” Maggie whooped.
By the time René had showered and changed, everyone else had gotten ready to go. He got back just in time to see everyone cleaning up the table. “This it then? See you later Flo. Charl.”
“Seeya latah, mon.” Floritt waved.
“Have fun in the bathhouse!” Charla called.
&&&
It was a short and uneventful trip to the Lava Inn and Bathhouse: A smallish locale that looked more like a cabin, at least from the outside. Inside, a Numel lady greeted the small party, smiling as she was told about René and his reason for joining them. They were quickly led to a door at the far end of the establishment that lead straight to their goal: A large indoor replica of a natural hotbath like what most 'mon are used to seeing, the glaring difference being that there is no steaming water in them. Instead, molten-hot lava bubbles in its stead, its red glow painting the gray stones surrounding it bright yellow. The heat would drop a non-Fire type to its knees, but to a creature of the element, it is pure bliss...at least, to creatures like Magby and its evolutions. As to how a Vulpix would enjoy it...
“Well? What do you think?” Meghan asked him.
René breathed it in, a bit blissfully. “I love it! Haven't seen anything this cool since the Fire Caves of Sinnoh. Don't get me wrong, I'm just glad it's a DRY heat in here. A wet, humid heat is a REAL pain to someone who'se covered in fur. Fortunately for you two, you have no idea what THAT'S like. Anyway, thanks for bringing me here! Um, so where are the, uh, changing rooms?”
Meghan tossed René his towel, as well as the locker key she got from the Numel lady previously. “They're to your left there. I tell you what, as I figure the co-ed change rooms would freak you out, you can go get ready first and we'll change soon afterwards when you come out, ok?” She whirled around. “--Maggie, don't get your feet in the lava, your pants will melt! They're not THAT flame-resistant, after all!”
“Awww...” The magby pouted. Meghan turned back to René before he could even ask.
“And in case you ask, those towels are made of synthetic Flareon hair, they won't melt easy. So you can just come back, slip in and take the towel off once you're in the pool. So unless you have any more questions, get going!”
“Er, right.” He couldn’t help blushing a bit as he took the keys and towel and went into the locker room. He emerged a moment later holding his towel, which extended from his chest to just above his knees, looking even more embarrased than ever. “Um, I guess you're up.”
Maggie giggled at the sight as Meghan pulled her with her to go change. “We'll be right back.” She said. Soon enough, both Magby and Magmar came right back clutching their towels up to their chests, a tricky thing to do when one has long spikes on their back (and in Meg's case, a pudgy build and large chest region. Finally, some peace and relaxation—
“Maggie, honey, no!” Meghan protested as her sister started running.
“First one's in a rotten Exeggcute!” Maggie jumped right into the pool and made a mighty SPLASH, throwing her towel away in the process. Many of the other customers glared in her direction, though the one that Meg is worried about most was René, as the molten-hot splash was headed his way.
“René, watch out!” She warned.
René winced a bit as the lava splashes around his ankles but since it didn't come as a complete surprise he was able to adjust to the heat. “I'm just as soon glad that it DIDN'T go in my eyes.” was all he said. Meghan winced as the lava hit him...but then looks in relief when that was the worst reaction he gets from that.
“Oh, thank goodness. This gives me faith that this will work out after all.” She breathed. “So, shall we? Oh, before I forget...” Maggie winces as she notes Meghan glaring at her, just like the other old people are.
“Sorry, big sis...” She apologized.
“And?” Meghan asked.
“An' little sis?” Maggie added.
“...René?” Meghan guessed in confusion.
“Yeah.” She paddled up to the edge. “Can René be lil' sis?”
To say Meghan was taken aback would be an understatement. “Err, I...don't know...if he's ok with it...”
René blinked, a little put off but sees no harm in it. “Uh, sure just remember that I'm still bigger than you short-stuff.” He said as he sat at the edge of the pool and dangled his legs into the magma.
“But you're littler than Meg...” Maggie pointed out.
Meghan just watched René with concern as he dipped his paws into the pool, joining him once he doesn't look to be running away screaming in pain. “There we go, just take it slow now...” She said encouragingly.
“This is nice. And really, I'm fine. I can adjust to heat just fine if it isn't a sudden surprise or anything...so just don't go pouring hot coals down the back of my shirt and I'll be okay.” He told her as he kicked around the magma a bit. “It does feel weird though...I've never bathed in anything other than water and this is much more--viscous I guess.”
“It takes some getting used to, I imagine. For you, I'd still recommend you take a bath as you would normally if all you want is to be clean...this is more for regaining your fiery strength, which believe me is quite common for us city 'mon.” Meghan noted as she slide on down into the pool, the towel sliding off only after she was completely in.
“And really, woudn't you rather that whatever hot coals you get running down your back come out more as a tickle than a burn? THAT'S what this is all about. Plus this isn't just good for when you're battling. I mean...just letting the warmth get absorbed into your body...it's calming. Loosens you up. Peace within the flames.” Meghan said.
René, for his part, barely heard what she said, as his face erupted into a mamoth blush when she slid in and took off her towel, despite the lava doing a fine job keeping her and everyone else hidden. “Erm...” He was clearly going to need some help getting in.
“Of course, it'll work best if you actually get in here.” Meghan added as she crossed her arms in annoyance.
Maggie splashes him again, this time on purpose and with tiny hands rather than a cannonball dive. René fiddled his fingers nervously and looked at nothing in particular as he tried to ignore the splashing lave. “Er, yeah...” He coughed.
Meghan looked at him flatly. She turned around and carefully rested her head on the edge of the pool, took a deep breath and let out a Lava Plume attack that hit one of his tails.
René’s eyes bulged and watered “YIIIE!” He bolted straight up, dropping his towel in the process, which the then tripped on and fell in.
Meghan couldn’t help whimpering a bit as he ended up splashing in. Nevermind diving into a fiery pool won't help soothe his burning tail, but the fact that said pool is a bit on the shallow side... “René? René, you okay?!”
With his less than graceful bellyflop René had landed kind of roughly on his stomach. He sat back up and shook his head...and promptly crossed his legs as he sat in the pool. He had adjusted to the heat already so there wasn't any problems on that front...the embarrasment was another story.
Meghan and the other people look to be mostly unphased by the brief moment of nudity, the other 'mon merely rolling their eyes and going about their business. The Magmar reached over to pat René gently on the head.
“Right, you just sit there quietly and stop caring about what others think.” Meghan told him.
“Big sis?” Maggie asked.
“Yes, honey?”
“...what was that that was hanging between lil' sis's le--OOOPH!” Meghan smiled broadly and not-at-all-embarassed as she oh-so-very-lovingly embraces her sister and keeps her mouth conveniently muffled.
“AHAHAHAHAHAHA. Such a cute girl, isn't she?!” Meghan asked.
“MMMMPH!” Was all Maggie said.
René, blushing from head to tail, buried his head under the lava, apparently in the hopes of waiting out his humiliation or drowning himself, whichever came first. Eventually he raised his head out of the lava, looking very red and not because of the heat.
“Meg,” He said, in an odd voice. “You are aware that I am going to have to make you suffer for this, right?”
“Nothing you can do can make me feel as much pain as what certain little sisters can bring.” Meghan sighed.
Maggie stuck out her tongue out at both of them.
René crossed his arms and sulked in the magma. “Well this is sure shaping up to be a fun day. Just glad no one I know is here.”
“Oh, come on, you just got started. And even if there was anyone here that you knew, so what?” Meghan asked him. “Of course, how many other fire-types do you even know, let alone who'd come here?”
“Some of us aren't exactly PROUD of their bodies Meg.” René sighed. “Well, I guess it is nice here...uh, would there happen to be any deeper areas?”
“No use making excuses now, I warned you what this would entail and you agreed.” She reminded him. “And the deepest this goes is maybe 10 or so feet. Maggie, don't even think about it, you scared me to death last time you were over there.”
“Awww...”
“I'll just move over here...” René said as he went to where it was about three, three-and a half feet deep. He started rubbing the magma on his arms. “Do you have to wash this stuff off when you're done?”
“Well after a while the stuff hardens and you DO have to scrape it off...but I think you can talk to the owner to get you hosed off afterwards if you want.” Meghan offered.
“Uh, no nevermind...” René coughed. “Just going to be more annoying for me since, unlike you, I don't have smooth skin.” He sighed. “Anything interesting ever happen here?”
“It's pretty peaceful here usually, but we did for a while we had to share the bath with, get this, a STEELIX. Nevermind the fact that just being IN THIS ROOM should have been enough to melt him—” Meghan said.
Maggie popped her head out of the magma. “Steel-types are really weak to fire!”
“--err, thank you sis.” Meghan said, splashing her in amusemeny. “Besides all that, that Steelix was huge. He took up the entire deep side twice and made the lava overflow every time. It was really weird to walk outside the pool during that time because all you could see were slippery melted rocks.”
Then Meghan suddenly grinned. “But you know, he was the reason I eve suggested you come here. He told me himself he was putting up with all that pain just so he can build up his defense against Fire-types. Seems he was a big-time combattler and was looking to the baths to train before a match. He hasn't come back since, so I assume either it worked or he gave up...but from what I saw, I'm most certain it did work. And if this place can do that to a Pokemorph that's weak to this kind of heat, you'll be fine.”
“How 'bout you, René? You got any stories?” Maggie asked.
“Maggie...” Meghan sighed.
“Pleeeeease?” Maggie begged.
“What about kiddo?” He asked as he gently splashed her a bit.
“Heeeey!” She splashed him back. “Lessee...” She swam up to René and tilted her head at him. “You got any stories about you and your mommy?”
Meghan didn’t say a word, she just adopted a stony expression on her face.
René gave Magggie a sad smile and settled backs in the lava. “Well, okay kiddo. When I was about your age my mom and I went snorkling in the Orange Islands. There was one place where the water was blistering hot--to anyone but a fire-type that is. We loved it though. It was full of beautiful coral and fish you couldn't find anywhere else in the world. It was so much fun...even when a tropical magikarp got caught up in my tails.
I still have some of the shells we collected together in a box under my bed. It was our last vacation before....” He stopped and sighed a bit. “I guess that's about when I started having some difficulty adjusting to sudden heat.”
Maggie went up to hug René. “I miss mom, too. Can I see your shells someday?”
Meghan stayed strangely quiet, sinking down into the bath so her only her eyes and her flaming head could be seen.
“Of course sweety.” René told Maggie. “I bet my mom would've liked you alot. In fact I think our mom's would've been good friends and--Meg? What're you doing?” He asked.
“It's nothing.” The magmar said softly.
Maggie frowned. “Meg gets weird sometimes when we talk about mommy. I don't 'member mom very well, but I do remember her real nice...and Meg sometimes acts just like she did.”
Meghan said nothing.
“I'm afraid I'm not following here...” René admitted.
“...Nevermind, forget it. Maggie, go clean up.” Meghan told her.
“Huh? But Meeeeg!”
Meghan reached over to grab Maggie's towel. “Our time here is almost up. It's time we get going. Now go clean up and I'll meet you there soon.”
“Siiiiis, pleeeeeeeease! We got time left, you liar.”
“I said move it, Maggie!” Meghan snapped.
Maggie puffed up, letting a tiny puff of smoke spew out her beak Meg's way before grabbing her towel and getting out of the pool. “Why do you gotta always be a meanie when we talk about mom? You're so stupid, sometimes!”
“You just don't understand it, you're too young to remember what happened!”
“So what?!”
“What do you mean so what?! Drowned by a Water attack, you have any inkling what this is like? At all? How horrible that kind of death is?!” Meghan snapped at her little sister.
Maggie’s bill curled up as she started to shed tears. “No, but I remember HER. And I wanna remember my Mommy when she was happy! Why can' you want that too?”
“Because...because that memory is what drives me to want to keep mom's Gym alive, mom's hopes and dreams alive!” Meghan shot back.
“But Meg, you're *not* mom!” Maggie pointed out.
Meghan said nothing.
Maggie reached back to grab the towel Meg tossed over the edge and ran off. Meghan merely looks at the discarded towel left in front of her, unsure of how to even begin explaining what just happened to René.
The vulpix, for his part, had no trouble speaking his mind. In a strangely flat tone of voice, he said, “We need to talk. NOW. Not only about your own inability...or unwillingness...to remember your own mother when she was happy; but also WHY in the world you would tell your little sister about just how horribly she died!” René wasn’t shouting, but he wasn’t far from it either.
“She knows about death because back then, they sugarcoated the reason to me, told me she was sleeping and needed to go sleep in the volcano we were born in for a while.” Meghan finally answered. “You've any idea the feeling of despair I got waiting all that time for her to wake up? Waiting...and waiting...and waiting...and then I get the news that I'm the new Gym Leader. And that's how I learned mom was never coming back. THAT'S how. I didn't want Maggie to go through that, that's why she knows.” She trailed off from there, still uncertain as to how to answer him as to why she has a hard time remembering the good times with her mom.
“There still is a difference between sugar-coating something and using a little TACT when dealing with your little sister.” René said severely, then softened as he put a hand on her shoulder. “Look if this is hard for you then I guess you don't have to answer. But I'd like to understand.”
Meghan glanced down on the hand on her shoulder, but otherwise gave it no mind. “I appreciate it, I really do. It's just...not so much that I DON'T remember the good times but that whenever I do I end up crying every time...because that's all those good memories are going to be. And I don't like crying, René, I really don't...”
Yet despite her words, René noted a familiar sparkle forming in her eyes. She tried to evade his sight, but it remained clear all the same.
“Do you think anyone does enjoy it?” René asked her. “Doesn't mean it isn't necessary though. I mean...wanting to make sure her gym doesn't fail is one way of honoring your mom.
But if you work so hard that to prevent yourself from even crying for someone...well, it's almost like saying that she didn't matter.” He gently caught her tear on his finger. “Crying for someone is--while painful--the best tribute you can give; the best evidence that somoeone mattered. Someone who isn't worth crying over probably never did anything worthwhile with their lives. From what you and your sister have told me, I think that your mom was great enough to deserve a good cry every now and again.”
“I know...and....and I do,” Meghan hiccupped. “I just hate doing it in public...like I'm doing now....damn it...” She hide her face between her crossed arms and sobbed on top of the rim of the pool. René patted her back a bit as he sat back against the side of the pool.
“It's okay.” René assured her.
“...not okay...I don't want you seein' me like this...” Meghan said as she tried to gasp for breath, to get her bearings back, but it just wasn’t working. “This is embarrassing...”
“What’s a little embarrassment among friends?” René asked, unable to suppress an eyeroll.
Meghan’s reddened eyes suddenly flare open as a thought came to her mind. “...Where's Maggie? She should have been back by now...”
“Um, you don't think that you may have upset her or anything?” René suggested.
“Yes, I think that, why do you think I'm worried?!” She demanded. “Maggie? Maggie! Oh, screw it, come on, René!”
Too worried to care about modesty, she climbed out of the bath and just grabbed a towel to idly wipe her leg and wrap it around her body as much as the spikes on her back let her.
René shook his head and moaned. “I know I'm gonna hate myself in the morning.” Was his only comment as he climbed out and followed her, sans towel as Maggie took an extra one with her and Meghan grabbed the third.
Meghan had just made her way over to the lockers, where Maggie was supposed to go. “Maggie? Maggie!”
As they reached the room in question, the place is bare save for a female Charmeleon draped in a towel who was about to leave when Meghan got in her way. “Excuse me, ma'am, have you seen a little Magby girl?” She asked urgently.
The Charmeleon gasped. “Oh, dear, is that what it is? I know I heard a faint cry coming from one of the lockers but I just assumed it was someone's ringtone doing the sound. My sister has hers sounding like a bellowing Wailord, you see and—“
“Yes yes, thank you very much!” Meghan didn’t bother to ask which locker, as she already had an idea which is it.
The Charmeleon shrugged and made her way out...though not before raising a brow and failing to hide a grin as she catches a glimpse at René. “For once I'm glad this place is always short on towels.” She left soon after that.
“Meg? Why would Maggie be in a locker?” René panted as he followed Meghan.
“That's what I'd like to know.” She said as she came to a halt in front of one locker. She rapped her knuckles against her own locker. “Maggie? You in there, honey?”
“Go 'way!” Came Maggie’s voice.
“Maggie, please! I'm sorry 'bout what I said, just please open the door.” Meghan urged.
“You're not sorry 'nuff! No!”
“Oh come on, please!” Meghan asked. Then in a beat, added. “René needs a towel.”
“...fine, ok.” Maggie asked. The locker rattled, but didn't open. “...I can't open it!”
“What?!” Meghan asked frantically. “Maggie, where's the locker key?!”
“It's with me.”
“Oh, for the love of...” Meghan tried to open the locker herself, but it would’t. “Maggie! I'll get you out, sis, don't worry! As soon as I figure something out, anyway...”
“Let me have a look.” René said as he peered at the locker door. “I think maybe if we heated the metal around the door it would expand enough so we could pry the door off.”
“Alright, then...you torch one side, I torch the other?” Meghan asked.
“Right.” He took one side and slowly started to melt it with his breath. “Almost there...”
“Almost...almost...GOT IT!” Meghan said. “Brace yourself, sis!” Once it was as melted as can be, she grabbedhold of the handle and pried it wide open. Maggie was right on the bottom, balled up and with tear-stained eyes. She quickly leapt up to hug her sister once she realized she was free.
“I'm sorry sis! I'll never do that again!” She promised.
Meghan gently bopped her big forehead against her little sister's. “You better, you little fire-brat, you.”
Maggie stuck her tongue out.
Meghan retorted by sticking hers right back out at her. “You little...oh! And don't forget to thank your other sis...ter. Oh.” Meghan winced as she remembered that René still didn’t have a towel.
Maggie pointed at him. “Brother-sister!”
“Oh, gods...” Meghan groaned.
René quickly sat down on the bench and crossed his legs to preserve whatever's left of his modesty. “Not one word Meg.” He warned her. “Not ONE word.”
Meghan averted her eyes and covered Maggie's for René's sake. “How 'bout I wait outside while you change, then? Maggie and I still need to talk some things over, anyway.”
“Awww....” Maggie groaned.
“Yeah. Which one is my locker again?” René asked.
“The one we just burned down to open.” She admitted. “Which reminds me, yes, I'll have a talk with the Ladins later to tell them what happened.” Meghan averted her gaze upwards. “Um look, this…awkward moment aside I think that was a real positive experience for you. We’ll have to do this again…sometime.”
“…Sure.” René grinned ruefully. “Why not?” He shook his head. “…Now can you take your little sister outside for a minute while I get my pants?”
&&&
THE END! (Finally!)
René’s Chaos with the Crossroaders (Finale)
&&&
First thing the next morning, two of René's tails is given a very WARM welcome to the new day.
“Up and at 'em!” Mehgan announced. René awoke with a pain-filled yelp and grabbed the injured tails.
“YIIIIEEE! HAVEN'T YOU EVER HEARD OF AN ALARM CLOCK?!?!” He wailed.
“I AM the alarm clock.” Meghan informed him. “Now get up and get dressed so we can have breakfast. That goes for ALL of you! She kneeled down to pull at the sheets as she spotted Floritt trying desperately to look like she's still asleep. “You too, Flo.”
“Aww, but I dun wanna go to da lava baths!” Floritt moaned.
“No, but I don't want you staying in the house while we're gone...unless you want to keep gramps company for when he comes back.” Meghan replied.
“Ok, done. Can I at least taka non-lava showa?”
Meghan sighed. “We just have a guest bathtub, since we don't really use water to bathe...”
“That werks. I got a tub a home too!”
“You'll have to wait, Charla's using it already.”
“Aww, MON!”
“MEANWHILE...What do you guys want for breakfast?” Meghan asked.
“I'm a french toast kinda guy.” René offered. “Oh and by the way...I am NOT picking cat hair out of the tub! Ew!”
“French toast it is, then! They'll be done as soon as you guys finish washing up.” Meghan nodded.
“No, you be pickin' Smeargle hair, 'cuz I be goin' next!” Floritt told René.
“I'm the one who just had his tail set on fire! I should go next!” He protested.
“So? Dat why yer goin' to da lava baths fo'! Ta get dat an' da rest of ya burned!” She pointed out.
“Ok, that's enough out of you two.” Meghan looked down at them.
“Oh, ok...René can go ferst.” Floritt yielded, but René shook his head.
“Nah, let Flo go first. She's got a point. Besides I can help set up the table for breaksat. Where's Maggie?”
“Sure, you can help me out, then. As for Maggie...” Meghan giggled. “Where else?”
Maggie chose that moment to call out from the kitchen. “MEEEEEEG! Are they having Frenchy toast or not?”
“They are, hon!” She called back. Then in a beat she added. “AND NO SPRINKLES THIS TIME!”
“Awwww! You sure?”
“Very. They're running out, and if they do we won't have any for ice cream!” That seemed to satisfy the littly magby who responded with:
“Oh, okay!”
“I'll be done in a jiffy, promise!” Floritt assured René.
“Kay Flo...just be sure that the shower isn't purple when I go in.” René asked.
“Not guaranteein' a ting!” Floritt gave him a mischievous grin before disappearing.
Unpeturbed, René made his way into the kitchen with Meghan. “OOoh, it smells good in here!” He breathed.
Maggie was on a stool in the kitchen working the pans from before, a few well-placed licks of flames getting the French toast nice and toasty. Charla was sitting close to the TV and eating some eggs.
“Well, morning to you. Aren't you coming to the table to eat?” Meghan asked with a quirked brow.
“Mmmmph, fine, but I was comfy here.” Charla said.
“Come on, come over and eat with the rest of us.” Her leader encouraged her.
“Fine, I'm coming...Can I have some more juice?”
“After the table's set.” Meghan told Charla.
“Oh, fine...”
“Look who'se up...and wearing pants.” René noted.
“Hey, I wear pants for breakfast!” Charla informed him.
“Do we have syrup and cinnamon sugar?” The vulpix asked as he sniffed around. “Maggie, you're a great cook!
“But of course! Aaaaand we also got chocolate fudge!”
“Not too much or you'll get a tummy ache.” Meghan warned her.
“Awww...”
René sat down and got ready to eat. “So what will you do after breakfast Char?”
“Mm, me? Actually I need to get to the school early so I can hand in my work for the school newspaper. Nothing big, just an interview I got to do recently.”
Floritt finally came back out, dressed up and with a towel wrapped around her tail-tip. “Yer good ta go, René mon!”
“That IS the old towel I let you use for the last time you stayed over, isn't it?” Meghan asked her.
“Yeh, it is. See?” Said towel was very very purple. It used to be orange once.
“Just checking. So where are you heading after this, Floritt?”
“We got a gig dis weak, me an' me famileh, so I need ta get home as soon as I can' Cerse, I kno' most of da moves by heart so it won't be too bad if I AM a bit late.”
“Okay...and René, you doing anything after the hot baths?” Meghan asked.
“I seldom plan anything ahead, so I'm probably going to end up doing nothing.” He shrugged.
“You sure you’re okay with this?” Meghan asked him.
René gave a rather doubting look that she would ever let him hear the end of this if he did bail. “I'm in.” He said firmly as he finished his breakfast. “I'm going to shower and change. I'll be back in five. Then we'll go?”
“Five it is. Oh and before I forget, you have to being your own towel, so feel free to grab a spare from the closet after you're done!” Meghan agreed.
“Yaaay, René's coming!” Maggie whooped.
By the time René had showered and changed, everyone else had gotten ready to go. He got back just in time to see everyone cleaning up the table. “This it then? See you later Flo. Charl.”
“Seeya latah, mon.” Floritt waved.
“Have fun in the bathhouse!” Charla called.
&&&
It was a short and uneventful trip to the Lava Inn and Bathhouse: A smallish locale that looked more like a cabin, at least from the outside. Inside, a Numel lady greeted the small party, smiling as she was told about René and his reason for joining them. They were quickly led to a door at the far end of the establishment that lead straight to their goal: A large indoor replica of a natural hotbath like what most 'mon are used to seeing, the glaring difference being that there is no steaming water in them. Instead, molten-hot lava bubbles in its stead, its red glow painting the gray stones surrounding it bright yellow. The heat would drop a non-Fire type to its knees, but to a creature of the element, it is pure bliss...at least, to creatures like Magby and its evolutions. As to how a Vulpix would enjoy it...
“Well? What do you think?” Meghan asked him.
René breathed it in, a bit blissfully. “I love it! Haven't seen anything this cool since the Fire Caves of Sinnoh. Don't get me wrong, I'm just glad it's a DRY heat in here. A wet, humid heat is a REAL pain to someone who'se covered in fur. Fortunately for you two, you have no idea what THAT'S like. Anyway, thanks for bringing me here! Um, so where are the, uh, changing rooms?”
Meghan tossed René his towel, as well as the locker key she got from the Numel lady previously. “They're to your left there. I tell you what, as I figure the co-ed change rooms would freak you out, you can go get ready first and we'll change soon afterwards when you come out, ok?” She whirled around. “--Maggie, don't get your feet in the lava, your pants will melt! They're not THAT flame-resistant, after all!”
“Awww...” The magby pouted. Meghan turned back to René before he could even ask.
“And in case you ask, those towels are made of synthetic Flareon hair, they won't melt easy. So you can just come back, slip in and take the towel off once you're in the pool. So unless you have any more questions, get going!”
“Er, right.” He couldn’t help blushing a bit as he took the keys and towel and went into the locker room. He emerged a moment later holding his towel, which extended from his chest to just above his knees, looking even more embarrased than ever. “Um, I guess you're up.”
Maggie giggled at the sight as Meghan pulled her with her to go change. “We'll be right back.” She said. Soon enough, both Magby and Magmar came right back clutching their towels up to their chests, a tricky thing to do when one has long spikes on their back (and in Meg's case, a pudgy build and large chest region. Finally, some peace and relaxation—
“Maggie, honey, no!” Meghan protested as her sister started running.
“First one's in a rotten Exeggcute!” Maggie jumped right into the pool and made a mighty SPLASH, throwing her towel away in the process. Many of the other customers glared in her direction, though the one that Meg is worried about most was René, as the molten-hot splash was headed his way.
“René, watch out!” She warned.
René winced a bit as the lava splashes around his ankles but since it didn't come as a complete surprise he was able to adjust to the heat. “I'm just as soon glad that it DIDN'T go in my eyes.” was all he said. Meghan winced as the lava hit him...but then looks in relief when that was the worst reaction he gets from that.
“Oh, thank goodness. This gives me faith that this will work out after all.” She breathed. “So, shall we? Oh, before I forget...” Maggie winces as she notes Meghan glaring at her, just like the other old people are.
“Sorry, big sis...” She apologized.
“And?” Meghan asked.
“An' little sis?” Maggie added.
“...René?” Meghan guessed in confusion.
“Yeah.” She paddled up to the edge. “Can René be lil' sis?”
To say Meghan was taken aback would be an understatement. “Err, I...don't know...if he's ok with it...”
René blinked, a little put off but sees no harm in it. “Uh, sure just remember that I'm still bigger than you short-stuff.” He said as he sat at the edge of the pool and dangled his legs into the magma.
“But you're littler than Meg...” Maggie pointed out.
Meghan just watched René with concern as he dipped his paws into the pool, joining him once he doesn't look to be running away screaming in pain. “There we go, just take it slow now...” She said encouragingly.
“This is nice. And really, I'm fine. I can adjust to heat just fine if it isn't a sudden surprise or anything...so just don't go pouring hot coals down the back of my shirt and I'll be okay.” He told her as he kicked around the magma a bit. “It does feel weird though...I've never bathed in anything other than water and this is much more--viscous I guess.”
“It takes some getting used to, I imagine. For you, I'd still recommend you take a bath as you would normally if all you want is to be clean...this is more for regaining your fiery strength, which believe me is quite common for us city 'mon.” Meghan noted as she slide on down into the pool, the towel sliding off only after she was completely in.
“And really, woudn't you rather that whatever hot coals you get running down your back come out more as a tickle than a burn? THAT'S what this is all about. Plus this isn't just good for when you're battling. I mean...just letting the warmth get absorbed into your body...it's calming. Loosens you up. Peace within the flames.” Meghan said.
René, for his part, barely heard what she said, as his face erupted into a mamoth blush when she slid in and took off her towel, despite the lava doing a fine job keeping her and everyone else hidden. “Erm...” He was clearly going to need some help getting in.
“Of course, it'll work best if you actually get in here.” Meghan added as she crossed her arms in annoyance.
Maggie splashes him again, this time on purpose and with tiny hands rather than a cannonball dive. René fiddled his fingers nervously and looked at nothing in particular as he tried to ignore the splashing lave. “Er, yeah...” He coughed.
Meghan looked at him flatly. She turned around and carefully rested her head on the edge of the pool, took a deep breath and let out a Lava Plume attack that hit one of his tails.
René’s eyes bulged and watered “YIIIE!” He bolted straight up, dropping his towel in the process, which the then tripped on and fell in.
Meghan couldn’t help whimpering a bit as he ended up splashing in. Nevermind diving into a fiery pool won't help soothe his burning tail, but the fact that said pool is a bit on the shallow side... “René? René, you okay?!”
With his less than graceful bellyflop René had landed kind of roughly on his stomach. He sat back up and shook his head...and promptly crossed his legs as he sat in the pool. He had adjusted to the heat already so there wasn't any problems on that front...the embarrasment was another story.
Meghan and the other people look to be mostly unphased by the brief moment of nudity, the other 'mon merely rolling their eyes and going about their business. The Magmar reached over to pat René gently on the head.
“Right, you just sit there quietly and stop caring about what others think.” Meghan told him.
“Big sis?” Maggie asked.
“Yes, honey?”
“...what was that that was hanging between lil' sis's le--OOOPH!” Meghan smiled broadly and not-at-all-embarassed as she oh-so-very-lovingly embraces her sister and keeps her mouth conveniently muffled.
“AHAHAHAHAHAHA. Such a cute girl, isn't she?!” Meghan asked.
“MMMMPH!” Was all Maggie said.
René, blushing from head to tail, buried his head under the lava, apparently in the hopes of waiting out his humiliation or drowning himself, whichever came first. Eventually he raised his head out of the lava, looking very red and not because of the heat.
“Meg,” He said, in an odd voice. “You are aware that I am going to have to make you suffer for this, right?”
“Nothing you can do can make me feel as much pain as what certain little sisters can bring.” Meghan sighed.
Maggie stuck out her tongue out at both of them.
René crossed his arms and sulked in the magma. “Well this is sure shaping up to be a fun day. Just glad no one I know is here.”
“Oh, come on, you just got started. And even if there was anyone here that you knew, so what?” Meghan asked him. “Of course, how many other fire-types do you even know, let alone who'd come here?”
“Some of us aren't exactly PROUD of their bodies Meg.” René sighed. “Well, I guess it is nice here...uh, would there happen to be any deeper areas?”
“No use making excuses now, I warned you what this would entail and you agreed.” She reminded him. “And the deepest this goes is maybe 10 or so feet. Maggie, don't even think about it, you scared me to death last time you were over there.”
“Awww...”
“I'll just move over here...” René said as he went to where it was about three, three-and a half feet deep. He started rubbing the magma on his arms. “Do you have to wash this stuff off when you're done?”
“Well after a while the stuff hardens and you DO have to scrape it off...but I think you can talk to the owner to get you hosed off afterwards if you want.” Meghan offered.
“Uh, no nevermind...” René coughed. “Just going to be more annoying for me since, unlike you, I don't have smooth skin.” He sighed. “Anything interesting ever happen here?”
“It's pretty peaceful here usually, but we did for a while we had to share the bath with, get this, a STEELIX. Nevermind the fact that just being IN THIS ROOM should have been enough to melt him—” Meghan said.
Maggie popped her head out of the magma. “Steel-types are really weak to fire!”
“--err, thank you sis.” Meghan said, splashing her in amusemeny. “Besides all that, that Steelix was huge. He took up the entire deep side twice and made the lava overflow every time. It was really weird to walk outside the pool during that time because all you could see were slippery melted rocks.”
Then Meghan suddenly grinned. “But you know, he was the reason I eve suggested you come here. He told me himself he was putting up with all that pain just so he can build up his defense against Fire-types. Seems he was a big-time combattler and was looking to the baths to train before a match. He hasn't come back since, so I assume either it worked or he gave up...but from what I saw, I'm most certain it did work. And if this place can do that to a Pokemorph that's weak to this kind of heat, you'll be fine.”
“How 'bout you, René? You got any stories?” Maggie asked.
“Maggie...” Meghan sighed.
“Pleeeeease?” Maggie begged.
“What about kiddo?” He asked as he gently splashed her a bit.
“Heeeey!” She splashed him back. “Lessee...” She swam up to René and tilted her head at him. “You got any stories about you and your mommy?”
Meghan didn’t say a word, she just adopted a stony expression on her face.
René gave Magggie a sad smile and settled backs in the lava. “Well, okay kiddo. When I was about your age my mom and I went snorkling in the Orange Islands. There was one place where the water was blistering hot--to anyone but a fire-type that is. We loved it though. It was full of beautiful coral and fish you couldn't find anywhere else in the world. It was so much fun...even when a tropical magikarp got caught up in my tails.
I still have some of the shells we collected together in a box under my bed. It was our last vacation before....” He stopped and sighed a bit. “I guess that's about when I started having some difficulty adjusting to sudden heat.”
Maggie went up to hug René. “I miss mom, too. Can I see your shells someday?”
Meghan stayed strangely quiet, sinking down into the bath so her only her eyes and her flaming head could be seen.
“Of course sweety.” René told Maggie. “I bet my mom would've liked you alot. In fact I think our mom's would've been good friends and--Meg? What're you doing?” He asked.
“It's nothing.” The magmar said softly.
Maggie frowned. “Meg gets weird sometimes when we talk about mommy. I don't 'member mom very well, but I do remember her real nice...and Meg sometimes acts just like she did.”
Meghan said nothing.
“I'm afraid I'm not following here...” René admitted.
“...Nevermind, forget it. Maggie, go clean up.” Meghan told her.
“Huh? But Meeeeg!”
Meghan reached over to grab Maggie's towel. “Our time here is almost up. It's time we get going. Now go clean up and I'll meet you there soon.”
“Siiiiis, pleeeeeeeease! We got time left, you liar.”
“I said move it, Maggie!” Meghan snapped.
Maggie puffed up, letting a tiny puff of smoke spew out her beak Meg's way before grabbing her towel and getting out of the pool. “Why do you gotta always be a meanie when we talk about mom? You're so stupid, sometimes!”
“You just don't understand it, you're too young to remember what happened!”
“So what?!”
“What do you mean so what?! Drowned by a Water attack, you have any inkling what this is like? At all? How horrible that kind of death is?!” Meghan snapped at her little sister.
Maggie’s bill curled up as she started to shed tears. “No, but I remember HER. And I wanna remember my Mommy when she was happy! Why can' you want that too?”
“Because...because that memory is what drives me to want to keep mom's Gym alive, mom's hopes and dreams alive!” Meghan shot back.
“But Meg, you're *not* mom!” Maggie pointed out.
Meghan said nothing.
Maggie reached back to grab the towel Meg tossed over the edge and ran off. Meghan merely looks at the discarded towel left in front of her, unsure of how to even begin explaining what just happened to René.
The vulpix, for his part, had no trouble speaking his mind. In a strangely flat tone of voice, he said, “We need to talk. NOW. Not only about your own inability...or unwillingness...to remember your own mother when she was happy; but also WHY in the world you would tell your little sister about just how horribly she died!” René wasn’t shouting, but he wasn’t far from it either.
“She knows about death because back then, they sugarcoated the reason to me, told me she was sleeping and needed to go sleep in the volcano we were born in for a while.” Meghan finally answered. “You've any idea the feeling of despair I got waiting all that time for her to wake up? Waiting...and waiting...and waiting...and then I get the news that I'm the new Gym Leader. And that's how I learned mom was never coming back. THAT'S how. I didn't want Maggie to go through that, that's why she knows.” She trailed off from there, still uncertain as to how to answer him as to why she has a hard time remembering the good times with her mom.
“There still is a difference between sugar-coating something and using a little TACT when dealing with your little sister.” René said severely, then softened as he put a hand on her shoulder. “Look if this is hard for you then I guess you don't have to answer. But I'd like to understand.”
Meghan glanced down on the hand on her shoulder, but otherwise gave it no mind. “I appreciate it, I really do. It's just...not so much that I DON'T remember the good times but that whenever I do I end up crying every time...because that's all those good memories are going to be. And I don't like crying, René, I really don't...”
Yet despite her words, René noted a familiar sparkle forming in her eyes. She tried to evade his sight, but it remained clear all the same.
“Do you think anyone does enjoy it?” René asked her. “Doesn't mean it isn't necessary though. I mean...wanting to make sure her gym doesn't fail is one way of honoring your mom.
But if you work so hard that to prevent yourself from even crying for someone...well, it's almost like saying that she didn't matter.” He gently caught her tear on his finger. “Crying for someone is--while painful--the best tribute you can give; the best evidence that somoeone mattered. Someone who isn't worth crying over probably never did anything worthwhile with their lives. From what you and your sister have told me, I think that your mom was great enough to deserve a good cry every now and again.”
“I know...and....and I do,” Meghan hiccupped. “I just hate doing it in public...like I'm doing now....damn it...” She hide her face between her crossed arms and sobbed on top of the rim of the pool. René patted her back a bit as he sat back against the side of the pool.
“It's okay.” René assured her.
“...not okay...I don't want you seein' me like this...” Meghan said as she tried to gasp for breath, to get her bearings back, but it just wasn’t working. “This is embarrassing...”
“What’s a little embarrassment among friends?” René asked, unable to suppress an eyeroll.
Meghan’s reddened eyes suddenly flare open as a thought came to her mind. “...Where's Maggie? She should have been back by now...”
“Um, you don't think that you may have upset her or anything?” René suggested.
“Yes, I think that, why do you think I'm worried?!” She demanded. “Maggie? Maggie! Oh, screw it, come on, René!”
Too worried to care about modesty, she climbed out of the bath and just grabbed a towel to idly wipe her leg and wrap it around her body as much as the spikes on her back let her.
René shook his head and moaned. “I know I'm gonna hate myself in the morning.” Was his only comment as he climbed out and followed her, sans towel as Maggie took an extra one with her and Meghan grabbed the third.
Meghan had just made her way over to the lockers, where Maggie was supposed to go. “Maggie? Maggie!”
As they reached the room in question, the place is bare save for a female Charmeleon draped in a towel who was about to leave when Meghan got in her way. “Excuse me, ma'am, have you seen a little Magby girl?” She asked urgently.
The Charmeleon gasped. “Oh, dear, is that what it is? I know I heard a faint cry coming from one of the lockers but I just assumed it was someone's ringtone doing the sound. My sister has hers sounding like a bellowing Wailord, you see and—“
“Yes yes, thank you very much!” Meghan didn’t bother to ask which locker, as she already had an idea which is it.
The Charmeleon shrugged and made her way out...though not before raising a brow and failing to hide a grin as she catches a glimpse at René. “For once I'm glad this place is always short on towels.” She left soon after that.
“Meg? Why would Maggie be in a locker?” René panted as he followed Meghan.
“That's what I'd like to know.” She said as she came to a halt in front of one locker. She rapped her knuckles against her own locker. “Maggie? You in there, honey?”
“Go 'way!” Came Maggie’s voice.
“Maggie, please! I'm sorry 'bout what I said, just please open the door.” Meghan urged.
“You're not sorry 'nuff! No!”
“Oh come on, please!” Meghan asked. Then in a beat, added. “René needs a towel.”
“...fine, ok.” Maggie asked. The locker rattled, but didn't open. “...I can't open it!”
“What?!” Meghan asked frantically. “Maggie, where's the locker key?!”
“It's with me.”
“Oh, for the love of...” Meghan tried to open the locker herself, but it would’t. “Maggie! I'll get you out, sis, don't worry! As soon as I figure something out, anyway...”
“Let me have a look.” René said as he peered at the locker door. “I think maybe if we heated the metal around the door it would expand enough so we could pry the door off.”
“Alright, then...you torch one side, I torch the other?” Meghan asked.
“Right.” He took one side and slowly started to melt it with his breath. “Almost there...”
“Almost...almost...GOT IT!” Meghan said. “Brace yourself, sis!” Once it was as melted as can be, she grabbedhold of the handle and pried it wide open. Maggie was right on the bottom, balled up and with tear-stained eyes. She quickly leapt up to hug her sister once she realized she was free.
“I'm sorry sis! I'll never do that again!” She promised.
Meghan gently bopped her big forehead against her little sister's. “You better, you little fire-brat, you.”
Maggie stuck her tongue out.
Meghan retorted by sticking hers right back out at her. “You little...oh! And don't forget to thank your other sis...ter. Oh.” Meghan winced as she remembered that René still didn’t have a towel.
Maggie pointed at him. “Brother-sister!”
“Oh, gods...” Meghan groaned.
René quickly sat down on the bench and crossed his legs to preserve whatever's left of his modesty. “Not one word Meg.” He warned her. “Not ONE word.”
Meghan averted her eyes and covered Maggie's for René's sake. “How 'bout I wait outside while you change, then? Maggie and I still need to talk some things over, anyway.”
“Awww....” Maggie groaned.
“Yeah. Which one is my locker again?” René asked.
“The one we just burned down to open.” She admitted. “Which reminds me, yes, I'll have a talk with the Ladins later to tell them what happened.” Meghan averted her gaze upwards. “Um look, this…awkward moment aside I think that was a real positive experience for you. We’ll have to do this again…sometime.”
“…Sure.” René grinned ruefully. “Why not?” He shook his head. “…Now can you take your little sister outside for a minute while I get my pants?”
&&&
THE END! (Finally!)
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