Why are we Even Here.

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Mercury the Fennekin dragged her friend Kye around a smoky haze of apparent toxins, following the directions that a shady Nidorino had given them earlier. She looked around at everything around them, though the misty fumes made it hard to see everything clearly. Regardless, Mercury bounced around energetically.

All the mist was AMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZZZIIINNNGGG, and it was blowingerestering Mercury's tiny, broken mind.

"Wow Kye, look at all the mist around here!!!" Mercury exclaimed, bringing him closer and closer to the Gulch. It had taken them most of the morning to get here, and it was now around noon for them. "It's amazing, isn't it?! Have you ever seen anything like it?!?!" the odd Fennekin gushed. She was extremely happy, to be there, especially being there with her new, besterest best friend.

(Mercury - 3 Energy)

Seeing Kye looking so happy made Mercury even more giddy; he had been looking so blue.... well technically he was grey, but that didn't make his mood look any less sour and not fun. Having fun together with friends was Mercury's absolute favorite pass time, but it wasn't any fun at all if Kye couldn't have fun with her while she was having fun. Now that he was smiling, everything was great! There was nothing the little fox had wanted more than that; not a single thing.

Mercury probably would have rambled on and on continuously in her thoughts (and also probably with her voice) for hours after that if Kye hadn't surprised her with a weird thing that surprised Merc at first; then started to make her sniffle and smile at the same time. Mercury hadn't had a hug in a looooong time, or at least not any recent ones that she remembered. She had been very, very young the last time she had been hugged; although she had grown rather fond of them back before the feral Pokemon had begun to invade their home. After all those hostile threats appeared, Mercury's parents hardly had any hugs available, especially after Mercury's mother was forced out into the wilderness to try to stop attackers before they could approach. Of course, Mercury's memories of this were far from accurate, or complete, but she did remember the feeling. Kye helped Mercury remember the nice feeling one gets when their being hugged by someone they care about; how warm and fuzzy it feels (in both meanings of the phrase) to just be together. Mercury was quiet, a single tiny tear rolling down her fuzzy cheek, as for a moment before Kye let go, Merc reached up and put her paw around one of the forelegs that Kye was hugging her with, leaning her fuzzy cheek up against him for a moment and squeezing him before the hug ended.

After the hug happened, Kye requested that the two of them leave the dungeon, which Mercury couldn't help but agree with for once. This place was fun, but... not very. It was like something was sucking the fun away... Maybe it was the fog? Mercury blinked, then gasped. Of COURSE it was the fog!! The fog was stealing their happy! The fog was stealing their fun!! THAT'S why Kye looked so miserable! THAAAT'S why she felt so sick and gross!!

"KYE!!!" Merc exclaimed urgently, "Kye, you're right!! The foggy fog steals fun and happiness; we gotta go or it's gonna make us not have fun and be happy!!" The small fox looked horrified and shocked. "That's why you can't have any fun and you look all fidgety unhappy! C'mon, let's go; this place is dumb and home is a lot less foggy. There's no fog at home actually, just little failed clouds that the water wall makes and lots of gray rocks." Mercury began to look around, trying to maybe find an exit sign when she suddenly noticed it. The marking again, this time pointing in the same direction the duo was traveling in. "Kye, look!" Mercury exclaimed, "there, it's the thing!! We gotta go that way!!" She didn't dash off without Kye this time, waiting for him to start running first, albeit a bit impatiently.

Mercury the Fennekin - 20 Energy (only nope because about to roll a motherfunction monster house)

FoxFireAlchemist carried out 10 launched of one Venen Gulch :

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Velikye stared blankly at the fenniken for a moment as she went on about the fog and the whole area being evil.  She didn't exactly use the word "evil," though she honestly may as well have.  The eevee wasn't sure how exactly he was supposed to reply to this, so he just decided to submit and accept the fact that his friend agreed they should leave.  Besides, Mercury technically wasn't wrong.  Everything she'd said was right.... her way of viewing it was just odd.

Upon having a familiar sign of sorts pointed out to him, Kye turned his attention to the odd marking.  It definitely wasn't natural.  If it was a trap, well.... they were walking right towards it.  Though, honestly, it wasn't like they would easily find their way back by backtracking at this point.  They'd traveled deeper into this place than he was comfortable with.  With that in mind, he decided to go forward, since they at least knew the path forward.

"Alright, alright.", he commented as he started back off in the direction they'd been going, since that was the direction the "sign" pointed.
"We'll go this way, just make sure to stay close.  Because.... uh....", he paused for a moment as he tried to figure out a way to explain serious things to Mercury in which she would take them seriously.  Finally, he decided on an idea.

"Because there might be bad guys, so we've gotta stay together so they can't.... uh.... ruin our fun!", he.... explained, in his attempt at Mercury-language.

Mercury nodded vigorously at Kye in response to his suggestion. "Yeah, good call," she responded, "We don't want this icky fog stealing more of our happy than it already has!!" She huddled closer to Kye as they started to move forward on the path, petrified by the thought. Being near Kye made her feel more secure, like she could always be happy as long as he was around.

As they continued their tromp through the gulch, they began to pass little signs of life here and there that signified they were actually moving into an inhabited part of the gulch. There were claw marks in the wall here and there. As they walked further, there were abandoned fire rings scattered around the place. Mercury's Magician ability started to pick up items hidden in rocks, like a purple gummi and even a TM. Soon, they began to even see makeshift shoes for larger species of pokemon strewn around, abandoned once their useful lives had run out.

"I think there are friends nearby..." Mercury mumbled quietly to Kye. The wheels in her little head were clearly turning, as if she was aware that there was something going on.

Velikye followed along, glad his friend had apparently understood what he'd said, making it not a waste that he'd had to act so.... weird. It certainly wasn't something he wanted to do often, but maybe he'd just have to put up with that to be friends with this fenniken, which was something he definitely wanted. He instinctively wanted to step away as Mercury got closer to him, being naturally nervous around others, but he resisted that urge. He actually liked having Mercury this close to him anyway, just a little bit.

As the area began dropping ample hints of the high likelihood that there were living things in the area other than the two furry little foxes, the eevee began to tense up and worry. It seemed even Mercury had gathered that it seemed they were no longer alone, the two had very different views on the situation. Kye had immediately taken to worrying about if they were about to run into something hostile, but it seemed Mercury was expecting friends as opposed to hostility. Well, it wasn't a bad point of view, as long as the fenniken was prepared to fight if need-be.... because at least one of them needed to fight if it came to that and he doubted he would be the better choice.

"Lets hope so," he whispered back to his friend, trying to look at the glass half-full as opposed to half-empty.
Maybe if there were things in the area, they'd be friendly! Maybe Mercury was right, there was no reason to jump to conclusions before they'd even met the inhabitants. Actually, they didn't even know if there was really anyone here, maybe there'd recently been a group of nomadic travelers here and they'd just left!

"What ho, young travelers?!" A voice permeated the fog, hitting the two tiny fox pokemons' ears as they traveled forward. Out of the mist trotted an oddly friendly-looking Scoliopede who was carrying a Toxicroak, who also looked unusually friendly, on it's back. Both looked deeply concerned for the two fox pokemon for some reason.

"So sorry to have startled you fine young adventurers," the Toxicroak announced apologetically, "but it isn't often that we find foreign pokemon wandering this far into the gulch." He approached the two pokemon and bowed. "Allow me introduce myself. My name is Prince Croak, and this is my companion."

The Scoliopede also stepped up. "My name is Prince Poli. It is truly an honor to make your acquaintance."

Mercury was thrilled by the prospect of new friends. "WOW, friendly princey friends!!!" she exclaimed joyfully, bounding up to each of them without fear and shaking hands/paws/hooves which each of the other pokemon before bounding around them excitedly. Finally!! Friends with friendly faces!!! She ran a few more friendship laps around them before running over to Kye and trying to encourage him to meet their new friends. "Come on Kye, princely prince friends!!!" she excliamed as she encouraged him forward with all her might.

"Yes indeed, we are the princes of a small organization that makes it home here in the gulch. We were inspired by the stories of a kingdom being erected high in the mountains, and we wished to create something similar for the troubled gulch," the larger pokemon explained. "May I ask, though, what you are doing in the gulch?"

"We mean not to offend, we only worry for your safety. It's not often that pokemon of your age come through here, and it is toxic to the underequipped...." Prince Croak explained with worry.

Velikye froze up as a voice sounded out, indicating there was indeed someone nearby. He looked in the direction of the voice to see.... very big and intimidating-looking things, the likes of which seemed like they could probably deal with Mercury and himself easily if they wanted to. He remained silent and still as the two creatures spoke; even though they didn't seem aggressive, he was afraid to risk talking to him. Mercury, on the other paw, was an entirely different story. The fenniken ran right over to the two likely dangerous "princes" and acted as if she'd known them her whole life! Worse, Mercury then approached him and tried to get him to socialize with the newcomers as well.

The eevee hesitated to speak and stayed back, but when a question was asked that he figured would need a bit more logic than Mercury was capable of, he decided to speak up.... just a little bit. Why were they here? In truth, his airheaded new friend had dragged him all the way here based off the word of some random shady stranger. They were now lost and slowly losing touch with reality from the toxins in the air. When worded in such a manner, though, it honestly looked quite pathetic. But what other way was there in which to say it?

"We came here because some creep told us to. She thought it'd be fun," he spoke up, skipping greetings entirely and going straight to answering the question.
He nodded his head toward Mercury at the word "she" to show who he was referring to. The tone of his voice made it clear that he wasn't particularly hyped up about being here, and Mercury's contrasting attitude probably made it clear that his words were sincere. He didn't want to pin all the blame on his friend, as he'd willingly agreed to go, but it was true that Mercury was the one who had pushed so much for coming here.

Prince Croak looked.... unsettled, to say the least. He was more interested in what the Eevee had to say about the stranger than anything else. Prince Poly felt the same. An eerie silence mixed in with the thick poison fog as the two looked at each other grimly, processing the Eevee's remarks. Neither was sure of exactly how to word their next statement.

"Well, that's frightening... although that person was probably just a promoter for the black market that's being run around here," Prince Croak replied, "However... if the pokemon that guided you happened to be a Koffing, than it could be a much more sinister ordeal." The Toxicroak mulled over things in his head. "Do you know it that pokemon was a Koffing?"

Koffing? Mercury blinked. That was a weird name... was it a weird name friend or was it a weird name game, though?

"Who's Koffing? What's a Koffing?" the Fennekin asked, cocking her head to one side. She wasn't sure which question was more appropriate, so she asked both.

Prince Poli took a moment to carefully choose his words. "A Koffing... is a.... 'friend' that has a round, purple body and is always surrounded by a cloud of toxins. Which is.... bad air. Did the pokemon that lead you here look like that?"

Mercury thought back. A ball friend would have been fun to play with... but no, she didn't remember a ball friend. The friend that had sent them on the adventure to the funless death place was different; They had looked like Princely Croakly friend if Princely Croak friend was smaller and had less spine damage. Recalling this, Mercury shook her head.

Both Princes looked relieved to hear this. "Ah, then it was a black market promoter. That's relieving, they are harmless. I was worried that it had been the pokemon that have been stirring up a much more sinister stir," Prince Poli sighed.

The faces of the two supposed princes seemed to suggest worry, which in turn worried Velikye. If someone else was worried, that meant it was probably a reason for him to be worried as well. The "princes" continued asking questioned and he continued being less-than-invested in the conversation, though that was okay since Mercury could be invested enough for the both of them. However, one issue was that the fenniken wasn't exactly the best at being.... what was the word? Mature, coherent, logical, sane? Regardless, she didn't seem to be the best to ask about something like this.... or most things, really. Still, this by no means meant he intended to answer instead unless he had to.

Luckily, it seemed the princes had figured out Mercury's Mercury-ness and how to communicate with her in her language. Great, this again meant he didn't have to worry too much about having to speak. What was more, they'd apparently been told to come here as a promotion for a.... black market. Well, black markets were bad and all, but it wasn't like it was of any concern to him. His right to worry about doing illegal things had already been revoked; he was an outlaw, as much as he hated to think about it and as little as he deserved to be one.

He was beginning to calm down a bit about the whole situation, but then what came next changed his mind. Stirring up.... a much more sinister stir? That.... felt like it could have been worded at least a little bit more sensibly, but he gathered that it was something dangerous. This worried him, enough for him to speak up just for the sake of knowing what to look out for. "W-what?" he simply questioned.
What was this sinister behavior they were speaking of? Was he in danger being here? Or Mercury? Well, they were in danger regardless due to the toxins in the air, but other than that....

Prince Poli looked looked at Velikye with sudden urgency. "Have you not been made aware of the news, child?" he exclaimed suddenly. "There is a turf war going on here, there are pokemon here running a pokemon trafficking ring in order to try and stage a sack on surrounding villages. They've been writing symbols around as marks for their holding cells, so be careful navigating in those areas.... it's a map they've created strategically to mark places where explorers to go. Aka, the places where they take pokemon." Prince Poli looked grim. "...I suppose the news hasn't reached outside the Gulch's borders, then...."

Mercury pondered upon the the big Poli friend's words for a moment, before turning and taking a few steps back in the direction they had come from. "There were funny marks over there... are there friends trapped there, too?" she asked.

As Mercury was walking, she stepped on a dusty pink disk that was camouflaged by the think mist. As she did, the disk began to glow, as did her eyes and also a light emanating from the roots of her ear fluff. She was suddenly awakened to a power within her, something she tapped into unconsciously with her wishes but had never awakened to before now. As it flooded her mind, she could feel all the particles in and outside her body vibrating, making small pulses and calling to her in a language she couldn't understand. The more Merc focused and tried to understand the things in her head, the faster and more unpredictably the particles started to vibrate, and the less she knew what was happening. The spectacle ended with an explosion, caused by an unidentifiable power, that blew the ground out from under Merc's feet. Merc yelped in a panic and she began to fall down to a lower level of the gulch. Prince Croak dove after her, grabbing her at the last second, but the remnants of the power left him with a splitting headache. He released Mercury and collapsed, quickly attended to by Prince Poli. After a few concerned moments of tending to both his childhood friend and the strange fire child, he turned to Kye and frowned.

"This... This is trouble," Poli commented. "We're now short one experienced fighter, and the child is disoriented from the ordeal... which means we should regroup with the guild as soon as possible. Whatever.... whatever that was, it may get us noticed. We should move. Please help me get the smaller one, as well as yourself, onto my back," he commented grimly, doing his best to haphazardly load his fainted comrad onto his back. He tried to get close to the child, but he found doing so gave him a similar headache. "....No, this won't work. That.... power is making me ill, as well. Can you motivate her to walk?"

Merc got up on her own, dazed but completely unharmed by the explosion. She looked at Kye, but it was more like she was staring through him. She took a few hobbley steps toward him, but she was mostly looking terrified and dazed.

Velikye listened and stuck next to Mercury, wanting to stay near his friend more as the conversation went on. It sounded as if this area was considerably dangerous, and he didn't know about Mercury, but he certainly wasn't very strong. It seemed like Merc knew how to fight and wasn't a complete pushover, unlike him, but she didn't really seem to have the will to fight. It seemed like the fenniken mistaked fighting for.... playing. He really just wanted to leave, now. Not only was he putting his own life at risk for no reason by being here, but his only friend's life was being risked as well! It wasn't like they could do anything to help with the issues their guides were speaking of, so they had no reason to stay any longer than necessary.

Due to being right next to Mercury, the eevee could feel the odd sensation as the air around the fenniken changed. He instinctively backed away a bit from the feeling, and it was a good thing too, as she suddenly EXPLODED mere moments later! "Mercury!" he cried out as he watched the fenniken fall toward the ground. Luckily, one of the two supposed princes caught her, but it seemed she was somehow hurting the prince just from being close to the guy. Kye listened to the other prince and nodded, agreeing to at least try and see what he could do. He would have done as much regardless, but he wanted to show he was cooperating.

He carefully made his way over to the fenniken, speaking when he began to get close: "Mercury, it's alright."
Mercury seemed very zoned out. She needed to be somehow un-zoned, then. Stimulating senses could snap someone out of a trance, and since Merc's sight and hearing clearly weren't doing the trick, Kye figured maybe touch would do it. He carefully approached the fenniken, feeling the effects the princes had experienced as he got close. It was enough to make him stop in his tracks and consider backing off. He felt light-headed and disoriented after mere moments of it, but he persisted.

"M-mercury, you're alright, snap out of it...." he muttered as he reached out a paw to touch the fenniken's shoulder.
He was getting a headache. He wasn't built to take damage. It hurt. If this didn't work, he was going to pass out.

Mercury's ears twitched with a spastic urgency whenever they detected sound, as if even the slightest noises were putting her senses into overdrive. She stared off into the distance as the humming vibrations buzzed around her and took over her senses. Nothing felt real, everything felt like vibrations. Vibrations of energy trying to come apart and be free. The ground started to rumble with the vibrations as they Mercury felt like she recognized the power. The power was somewhere familiar.


Mercury remained unmoved. She didn't want to move. She had to stay there, because what would they do if she didn't? They wouldn't eat if she moved. All around Mercury, familiar visions. She could see the trees. The palm comforting her. The great beast, it's chest rising and falling besides her.


Go? Go where? Go far away.


A great clarity fanned out from Mercury, a void without buzzing. Mercury felt like she could blink again. With some effort, she did. Her bristled fur began to relax. She looked over, and for a split second she could still see the great mass of dark red fur. Then, it was gone. She continued to stare at it, though. The air right next to Kye.

Mercury's ear's drooped low as everything faded. The buzzing was long gone now, and she could feel Kye's paw on her shoulder again Something was different. Something felt off. Mercury kept staring at the air next to Kye, until she forgot why she had even started staring there. She did nothing, said nothing. Everything was blank.

Prince Poli immediately noticed the change in atmosphere. "Good, it seems like whatever that was has passed. Is she awake? can you lead her? We're going lower in the gulch, to regroup with the rest of the camp. It's a narrow pass, but you two should be fine," he explained, re-adjusting his friend on his back before beginning to lead on. "Just follow me."

Everything was getting so fuzzy. Velikye could literally feel the strange psychic presence in his mind and body, almost like static. It hurt, but in a weird way. He was pretty sure Mercury wasn't actively trying to hurt him, as it didn't quite feel like something with any ill intent behind it, but that didn't change what it was doing to him. Still, he persisted and kept himself upright. He couldn't just give up while Mercury still needed help snapping out of whatever trance she was in. She was still in trouble and still needed help, and for some reason, the eevee felt like he had to deliver. He wasn't sure what he could possibly do, but he needed to do something. His paw rested on the fenniken's shoulder and he gazed at her with half-closed eyes.

Then the painful, disorienting buzzing finally ceased. At the same time, a bit of life returned to Mercury's being, suggesting that maybe, just maybe, she was going to be alright. This made Kye smile faintly, without any active thought put into it. It was an entirely subconscious gesture. He had no clue why he felt so attached to someone he barely knew. Mercury just made him feel.... kind of happy. She was the only nice thing currently in his life, and that was no exaggeration. He didn't want to get too attached, but he couldn't help but dislike the idea of losing this one good thing.

"We need to leave...." he muttered as his legs gave out under him.
He fell against the fenniken's chest and just barely managed to use her to help keep himself up, but he was slowly sliding the rest of the way down. Now that he had even the slightest sign of Mercury being alright, he could finally let go. Maybe it was selfish, but he could barely keep his eyes open and his head was all fuzzy. He wasn't even entirely sure what he was thinking at that moment. His eyes slowly drifted shut as he leaned against Mercury, soon to be on the ground and out cold if nothing was done.

Mercury's mind was still drawing a blank as to what had happened to her before, but the things around her were certainly coming into focus. An urgent voice came from the giant bug guy with now-dead frog guy on his back, urging her forward with them. Seeing such friendly faces in a state of unrest shook her to her core. She then found herself buckling under a foreign weight starting to press down on her. That foreign weight she came to recognize as Kye, sending her into a more frenzied panic. It became the new focus of her thoughts, shooing out all of whatever had been plaguing her before.

"Kye?!?" she exclaimed. "Kye, are you tired?! Don't take a nap!!! I'm sorry you need a nap, but we've got to keep going!! I'm sorry, the ew mist hurts, but we gotta get out now!!! That way it won't hurt, and then we'll go to my supercool den and see my collection of rocks and items and stuff!!!" She was pleading as she pushed him along, trying to keep up with the other larger Pokemon. Her heart was racing wildly.

Poli could hear her rantings behind him and looked back, feeling more and more uneasy as he saw how slow the other two were making progress. He closed off some of the distance behind them by stoping and waiting a moment, but it was clear by his body language that he was eager to keep moving. The Eevee seemed completely drained due to the Psychic discharge, and Croak was still out like a light. They were very ill-equipped to handle any kind of retaliation as they were.

"I could help your friend get around; he can ride around on my back," Poli remarked. "As for you, however... You have good legs on you, you need to walk on your own. With some distance between us."

Mercury was shocked and confused. She knew Kye needed help, but.... She felt like she needed to be the one to help him? No, she just needed to be able to look over him. She couldn't just let him get on the bug's back without her, what if the bug ran away with him?!? That wouldn't be good!!!"

Poli seemed to notice her panicked and upset expression and quickly intervened. "It's only because of weight, of course, and we need another lookout. You don't have to be out of our sight, just.... Someone needs to scope out the path... Your friend will be alright!!!" He was anxious and clearly desperate. Mercury was reluctant to oblige.

"Kye? What do you want to do?"

Just when Velikye was ready to let himself fall to the ground, he heard his delusional friend encouraging him in her own way. He stayed up and went where the fennekin guided him, though his eyes remained shut. He just wanted to pass out so the headache would go away, but apparently, he needed to walk instead. He followed along without question, mostly ignoring Mercury's panicky gibberish as he was finding it a bit difficult to focus. However, that changed when he heard another voice speaking up, saying that he needed to be carried.... and that Mercury needed to stay away. Sure, he wanted to be carried, but he didn't want to be separated from his friend. Mercury was delusional and maniacal, lacking any form of sanity or rationality.... and yet he trusted her. At the very least, he certainly trusted the insane fennekin more than some random stranger he'd known for all of five minutes.

The eevee's aching mind immediately started up trying to figure out some alternative solution, but the simple act of thinking was proving to be rather difficult due to the splitting headache. He knew that he was surely slowing the group down with his inability to walk on his own, and he knew this was not okay. He was a hazard to everyone, including Mercury, so he entirely understood that something needed to be done. He couldn't keep being supported by Mercury, but he also didn't want to be separated from her. It took longer than it should have due to the headache, but he finally came up with a solution: he was injured, so he could just heal himself! He took a deep breath and attempted to focus long enough to wish himself back to good health, but he couldn't even properly get the wish through his mind.

He was too disoriented to help himself. Desperate to find another solution, he lifted himself away from the fluffy fennekin and opened his eyes to see ahead of him. He would just need to walk. This seemed like a pretty good idea until he actually got a chance to stand on his own legs and realize he.... well, he couldn't. Kye stumbled in the opposite direction of Mercury before falling to the ground, but on the way down, he finally came up with a good idea. It was something that would have taken him moments to think of if his mind had been in good condition, but then he also would have been able to heal himself. "W-wish," he tried to speak clearly but ended up muttering at a barely-understandable tone.
He couldn't focus well enough to heal himself, but Mercury seemed to be doing alright now. She could do it.

The fluffy ring of fur around Velikye's neck took a lot of the pain out of his fall, which was nice. He hoped Mercury would understand what he wanted her to do. He didn't want to be at the mercy of some stranger he didn't trust. He wanted to stick with his friend, and he needed her to help him do that.

Mercury felt terrible as she watched her friend fall. He sounded so fluffy and sad as he started to fall. Her eyes started to burn really bad, like they were filled with the lifeless grey falls at her den home. "No Kye, don't go to sleep!!! Sleeping' bad here, it'll take you too long to wake up!!!" she cried. The streaks fell down her face, burning her. She wrenched her face around in discomfort, trying to clear her vision so that she could save Kye. She looked at the big multicolored horse. "Please, how do we wake friend Kye up?!?!? He's gotta be awake!!!!"

The bug Prince had heard everything. He looked pained, glancing at the pair and then the sounds coming from the road behind him. He needed a way to fix this.... but the party's healer was with the rest of their troupe. He pondered for a moment, having heard everything. "I think.... your friend asked you to do something. Maybe he had an idea....? He tried prodding, trying to get the nutty little fox Pokemon to catch on.

"He... what? He wants an idea...?" Merc replied, not catching the hint at all. She leaned down to his ear. "KYE, do you need an idea to wake up?!? Maybe you should try washing your white fur and your..... whiter fur sepparately?!?!?"

"No no," Poli sighed hastily, "He asked you to use your power, you see."

"Power??? What's that? I have some seeds, is that a power?" she asked.

"I..... uh, no......." Poli grumbled. He had to calm himself down, he wasn't getting anywhere like this. He took a deep breath and cleared his mind, trying to think like the little Fox did. "I.... don't you wish your friend would wake up?"

Mercury blinked. "Well, yeah! I really, REALLY wish he'd wake up, and I wish we could go home!!! I wish we could play tag, too. Tag's one of my favorites. I wonder if he likes treasure? Gee, I wish I had some treasure, maybe THEN Kye would wake up??? And I wish....." she kept prattling on like this for a while. As she kept talking, a palpable power began to erupt in the atmosphere, spreading out in the air as it grew more and more concentrated. Poli backed away a bit, as the energy made him uncomfortable and sick, but smiled smugly with just a teensy bit of pride in himself.