[ti]spawn[/ti]Guidance

So she ran, trying to leave the static that clawed at her behind. This was a different world, and Theron had always excelled at leaving himself behind when going somewhere new. So this- this game, even- should be no different. M'Foxy should have been able to thrive with no strings attached, and instead it felt like metal chains were wrapped around her, dragging her back to his past.

M'Foxy sniffed, tails swishing, before she turned to start running again. Theron ran often- on the faily, usually. Got up early, jogged, the whole nine yards. He didn't usually trip, though now he would next time. M'Foxy looked up, as if to meet he sun- but there was juat strm clouds and burgeoning rain. Maybe the rain would help her feel better. She didn't know.

Okay well the game was not sending her messages so that was at least part of the problem. She pulled them up, while hiding from the Pokemon, only to see them flicker and snap, like a fork in a microwave. Had- Hadn’t she turned the class effects off? This shouldn’t-

The dura yelled, stomping furiously, throwing a fist into the rock she was hiding behind, shattering it. M’Foxy, brave and calculating as ever, did the only thing she could—

She fucking booked it.

Theron was still sitting on the stupid rock. "You can upgrade your damage, yeah? Two clicks. Bam, bam." He said, pointing with his fingers like he was going through the menus. M'Foxy ignored him.

She instead sized up the duraludon. Did she even have any pokemon that could stand toe to toe with it? ... what did she have, anyhow? Gex, and... the venipede? Was that it?

She flipped up the ui- and froze. Gex, the venipede, the flamigo from Kazuki, the litleo from the cat tower, and- a duraludon. When had she caught that? If it was before- she traded everything to Ash.

Hadn't she? But this was the only spawn she had after that quest had closed- Had she already caught this one? Everything spun, oddly.

Hands kept her upright. "This is a game." The voice, normally so offputting, now became soothing. "Games glitch all the time. It's not flawless- it's technology someone made."

Right. Right. She knew that. "Okay." She breathed, voice raspy, but managed to stand after Theron let her go. She looked at the duraludon, hands balling into fists. She said nothing to the enemy pokemon, just casting out the pokeball- one duraludon slamming into the other.

M'Foxy was tossed aside like a ragdoll. It hurt, a massive punch-shaped bruise pulsing on her side. She picked herself up off the ground. This... was awful. Why was it so difficult now? Why was everything harder? Wasn't upgrading in the game supposed to make things easier?

"It does." Theron answered, reading her mind like some sort of little... telepathic worm creature. "Think of me like... a guide. The Fi to your Link. The operator to your ranger. The technician, guiding you through the Animus." He said, gesturing towards M'Foxy.

"I think Desmond would do a lot better here than I am." M'Foxy muttered, stretching a bit until his back popped. The duraludon had paused- it only attacked after she did. A kindness. Thanks devs.

Theron shook his head. "You need to dream bigger," He said, just chock full of references today. "This is a game- you know this, I know this. So..." He finally got up from the rock to swirl around M'Foxy. "Use it to your advantage. Here, nothing is true."

"Everything is permitted." M'Foxy finished. She took a slow breath, readying herself. This attack wasn't going to do much, but-

Maybe that was the point, somehow?

Her heart was pounding, foot slamming into the duraludon's head, M'Foxy flipping backwards to avoid the retaliation. The duraludon was slow, powerful but he had to hit you first-

And M'Foxy was a swift runner, the Prince of a Thousand Enemies.

She jerked, avoiding his heavy stomps into the mud of the Steppe, darting in for another quick strike.

Was it working because that was how dice worked, a random chance? Or was it something more meaningful, that she saw a path set out, that she repeated it to herself like a mantra, like a prayer?

M'Foxy could not know. Perhaps it was destiny- or perhaps it was entropy. Whichever, it simply was, and she would work with it. She stood before the Duraludon- not dead, not by a long shot, but much more within reach.

"To say that nothing is true is to realize that the foundations of society are fragile and that we must be the shepherds of our civilization." She bounced on the balls of her feet, tails fanning out, a primal energy coursing through her. The duraludon fixed her with a bright glare, letting out another roar- the stones nearby shuddering with the effort.

"To say that everything is permitted is to understand that we are the architects of our actions, and that we must live with their consequences, whether glorious of tragic." Another breath, slow, and she ran again, lashing out at the creature, steel and fire as much as it was idea and pixel.