Truth and Train

Truth and Train is a OVA that takes place after the events of Rendered NULL and takes place during the six month time gap between Fantendo Smash Bros. Victory and Fantendo - Zenith. The story was written by and is the debut of Laverne Echo.
Unten sets off with Kiva, Quartz, and Zerita to train with Laverne Echo, a friend of Logi and Denos who resides at the edge of the universe. Meanwhile, the rest of the group and the Shōri play truth or dare during a slow day at Seattle.
==Story==
===Part 1: Morning===
Unten gets ready for his training with Laverene Echo, packing Imperium and his Hyper Mode orb in his coat. He hears knocking at the door.
:Unten: Who could that-
The door bursts open and Zerita walks inside.
:Zerita: You were going to go to some mystery training thing without me?
:Unten: I mean… I already roped Quartz and Kiva into this earlier, so I figured it might be too much…
:Zerita: Unbelievable… you didn't even go to me first?
:Unten: Well, you always seemed plenty of capable?
:Zerita: And Quartz isn't?
:Unten: I felt bad for not spending enough time with her.
:Zerita: It's fine, whatever. As long as I do get to come with you.
:Unten: I mean, if you really want to come, go ahead.
:Zerita: Thanks.
:Unten: I'm supposed to meet with everyone at 9 AM at the park. Logi said their garage was too small to create the portal.
:Zerita: I'll just wait until you're ready then.
:Unten: You ever find your Hyper Mode orb?
:Zerita: Yeah.
Zerita pulls it out.
:Unten: Yours looks way nicer than mine… mine has kind of like a really faint black spot and I'm not sure where it came from.
:Zerita: Probably because your room is a mess.
:Unten: Hah… I guess it is.
:Zerita: Seriously.
:Unten: Alright, let's just get to the park.
----
Quartz and Kiva are waiting with Logi and Denos by the giant portal they've set up in the park. Kiva swings around her sword boredly as Quartz glances at Logi, amused by his somewhat scared facial expression.
:Logi: Look, I know she's supposed to be one of the good guys now, but man, she knows how to pull off a look that tells me evil intents…
:Denos: She's smiling, jackass.
:Logi: Why are you so calm about it? Weren't you chased by her? 
:Denos: No, I was waiting in our aparment.
:Logi: Right… right, I remember.
:Kiva: When's Unten supposed to get here?
:Logi: I told him 9, I have no idea what's holding him up.
Unten and Zerita come into view, walking towards them.
:Denos: Oh, what the hell. You're bringing another person along?
:Unten: I guess…
:Zerita: I used to be his old training partner!
:Kiva: That's what that was? I thought you were just hitting him with a stick.
:Zerita: Well…
Unten rubs his head unconciously as he looks at the group.
:Logi: Well, we better get this going. 
Logi activates the portal.
:Logi: Tell Laverne that she can't have her bowl back. We uh… broke it.
:Denos: What's this "we" buisness concerning the bowl you broke?
Unten goes into the portal, following Kiva. Quartz goes in after him, alongside Zerita.
----
Rachel shows up to the firehouse, stretching her arms. She grabs a cup for herself, filling it up with hot water. Nycho and Obena are eating Mana Loops for breakfast.
:Rachel: Morning.
:Nycho: Heyo!
:Obena: Hi Rachel! How's NULL?
:Rachel: Still asleep… it's bizarre to see Robyn's bed having someone sleep in it again, to be honest.
:Nycho: So… is like NULL like, your adopted daughter now?
:Rachel: What? No. She's an adult. She might be kind of… uh, silent, but she's just not used to the outside world. 
Obena looks a little uncomfortable.
:Obena: So, she has the mind of a child.
:Rachel: I mean… kind of, but come on, I think we can all agree the situtation is a bit different.
:Nycho: How come I don't get to sleepover your house then?
:Rachel: Because you make it weird. 
:Nycho: I don't get it. Bang's allowed to sleep over there, NULL's allowed to sleep over there, but your friend Nycho isn't allowed to… I smell sexism.
:Rachel: Yeah, I'm pretty sure you're the only one smelling it.
:Obena: Honestly, I'm not sure we'll get to do much today. I haven't seen a hint of crime at all, to be frank. No supervillains, no bank robberies, not even insurance fraud.
:Nycho: The patent office has to be a little suspect by now, come on. Not a single one of my submissions, patented? 
:Rachel: Maybe the most sensible thing here is to just wait and see, alright? Let's not just to other busy work only to be sidetracked if something big pops up.
Nycho grumbles as Obena pats his back to comfort.
----
Unten, Kiva, Quartz, and Zerita arrive on the other side of the portal, glancing around. A yellow alien approaches them from the portal.
:Kiva: Oh! That's an Arbelian! They're so cute…
The yellow Arbelian shakes his head and outstretches his palms before addressing the group.
:Yellow Arbelian: The name is Prin. Please call me that. As for you four, this is Unten's group, yes?
:Unten: Yup. I'm Unten, she's Kiva, that's Quartz, and that's Zerita. We didn't exactly clear that with Laverne but I hope that's okay…
Prin takes a moment to sigh.
:Prin: I mean, of course it'll be fine, she's a very forgiving person… but you do need to clear that kind of thing next time. 
:Unten: Hah…
:Prin: I'll bring you to her. Keep in mind you will probably have limited time to train with her. 
:Unten: I wouldn't want to take away her time…
Prin leads the group through the hallways of The Edge, leading into a large room with a giant window, which has the vastness of space across it and a giant skeletal dragon that is slashing at a blue, transparent shield. An one armed woman sits in a mediating posistion, opening her eyes as Unten and the group enters the room.
:Woman: Unten? 
:Unten: Ayup… that's me.
:Woman: Name's Laverne Echo. 
Laverne jumps up a couple feet in the air, landing on her feet effortlessly.
:Laverne: So, I heard from Denos and Logi that you are all fighters?
:Unten: More or less, I suppose…
:Kiva: Aw yeah, we are.
Kiva swings around her blade as Zerita crosses her arms, with Quartz onlooking somewhat confused. Laverene grabs the blade with her bare hand, stopping it.
:Laverne: We're not here to focus on weapons, sweetums. 
:Kiva: Huh?
Kiva puts her blade down as Laverne smiles.
:Laverne: What can you do without that blade?
:Kiva: Fly… crawl on walls? I mean, that's why I use Kayser…
:Laverne: Good god… you really don't know how to use your wings? Vesperians have whip-like reflexes with those limbs… 
:Kiva: I can fly with them, what else do you mean?
:Laverne: Try extending your limbs like you were going to do a spiral and then release…
Kiva attempts to do that, not really pulling off much with them.
:Laverne: You have to put a bit of step into your legs, like this…
Laverne keeps her left foot anchored as she spins around, her arm extending out. Kiva attempts to copy her, her left foot wobbly.
:Laverne: Come on, one more time.
Kiva tries again, this time a gust of wind shooting out from her wings and blowing everyone but Laverne back.
:Kiva: Woah.
:Laverne: That's not the only thing you can do with those wings. Try whipping up your wings real quick.
Kiva does as she instructs, creating a cutting gust of wind that strikes the wall.
:Laverne: We'll be focusing on that for your session. Zerita, tell me what you can do.
:Zerita: It's mostly claw stuff… I got this cool cyborg arm from a friend. It's mostly just slashing, dashing, climbing walls, you know…
:Laverne: You grew up on Zeon, right? 
:Zerita: Born and raised, yeah.
:Laverne: You used those Glistening Blumps, right? What happened when you used them?
:Zerita: I turned… radioactive. Kind of dropped toxic sludge everywhere.
:Laverne: Your species evolved from a nuclear attack hundreds of years ago on that planet, if I remember what Denos told me right. You didn't just adapt from the blast; it runs in your veins. You produce low, non-lethal uranium energy that you can tap into given the right circumstances.
:Zerita: Is that what happened?
:Unten: Wait, you've been radioactive this whole time?
:Laverne: Non-lethal, remember? But using Aura, she can use it to further enhance her attacks… and if her friend was aware of this, she could do some interesting modifications to that cybernetic arm.
:Unten: Wait… Aura?
:Laverne: We have a lot to go over. Zerita, I'm going to go over Aura once I'm doing evaluating the potential here.
Zerita nods.
:Laverne: Quartz! You were one of those Threat's Top 10 members, right?
:Quartz: Was. 
:Laverne: What was your powerset?
Quartz shrugs.
:Quartz: Lasers… heated claws, flying, an access to better transformation, but uh… I don't want to use it if Unten's nearby. It makes me… try and kill him beyond my control. 
:Laverne: Mhm. That seems like a Threat thing to do.
:Unten: Yeah…
Unten looks a little uncomfortable.
:Laverne: We'll work on controlling it. The way you want it. 
Quartz perks up.
:Quartz: Wait… seriously? How… how are you going to do that when it's deep programmed into me?
:Laverne: Nothing is impossible as long as you put yourself into it. Unten, tell me what you got.
:Unten: No weapons? Uh… some electricity, but it kind of "runs out" kind of quickly? There's also Descension but uh… I don't think I can really use that in combat.
:Laverne: Beorns were assigned to be judges but yes… they're very limited on their own. I suppose you've been using that sword and Hyper Mode orb as crutches to make up for that?
:Unten: A little… yeah. I dunno if they're crutches-
:Laverne: Weapons of any kind are crutches. Most people are going to be able to pick them up and use them if you let them, and against a strong opponent, that might not be within your control.
:Unten: Well… what am I supposed to do? Come on, isn't there some hidden potential thing like everyone else? 
:Laverne: I'm afraid there really isn't. Hyper Mode orbs will only get you so far and that sword will only do you so good as long as it's on you. 
Laverne takes a step back.
:Laverne: Which brings us to Aura. 
:Quartz: What is that, exactly, anyway? You never explained…
:Laverne: I'm about to!
Quartz nods.
:Laverne: Aura is a energy that any living being can tap into, although not easily. Unlike most abilities, it's faith-based. That faith being in yourself. 
:Unten: Oh…
:Laverne: Aura is an extension of yourself and the energy you radiate. Confident people will be able to tap into it better than those without confidence. Using Aura, you can create those shields I have just outside of the Edge to hold in that being called Teriodin, for instance. 
:Quartz: Terio… din?
:Laverne: It's a universe destroyer from another universe next to ours. If it comes in and spreads it's wings, it'll destroy planets, blow out stars, and destroy the anti-matter that makes up our universe. Within a month, it'll all be gone. 
:Kiva: So you're only holding him back using an Aura shield?
:Laverne: That's how powerful it is, but even then, I can only keep him behind it for a mere couple hours. That's my life now.
Unten glances at Teriodin.
:Unten: That's… quite powerful.
:Laverne: But I didn't get to that point when I first started. Most of you are not going to be able to use Aura to the same extent I do even if we trained for a solid year, but it's important you start now. 
:Unten: Well, how do we tap into it? 
:Laverne: It's going to be different for everyone… but it starts with you channeling yourself. 
Laverne raises her fist.
:Laverne: We're going to start that process now.
----
Obena taps the counter boredly as Strafe walks through the door. Nycho is watching Dragon Ball clips on his phone as Rachel clips her nails. 
:Strafe: Slow day, huh?
:Rachel: What tipped you off?
Rachel smiles.
:Strafe: Is there seriously nothing going on?
:Obena: Not really…
Obena creates a white ball of plastisteel, dumping it on the counter before creating a plastisteel hammer to smash it with.
:Nycho: They won't go to the patent office with me, so what's the point?
:Strafe: Where are the Shōri...?
Über waves his hand from the couch.
:Über: Kimi and Hinata went with Guadalupe for grocery shopping and Tōsō is asleep.
:Strafe: Well, what if we played a game?
:Rachel: I'm not playing card games again.
:Nycho: I mean, what if we did truth or dare? Get to know the other group better when they come back?
:Strafe: Hm… I suppose that could work...
:Nycho: Hey, so you're on board. Anyone else on board?
:Rachel: Ey, sure. Used to play it a lot in my high school days.
:Obena: I'm not too familiar with the concept…
:Über: Nor am I…
:Rachel: It's fine, we can explain it. 
Obena listens intently as Über sits back on the couch.
:Rachel: Okay, so we're gonna spin this bottle and the bottle side will point to someone in our circle. Then we spin it again and the person who gets that spin will be asked truth or dare. Truths are usually questions, and dares are well, things you have to do.
:Strafe: I mean, this is just for fun. So you can decline things.
:Rachel: Yeah, but you gotta take one of your clothes off if you decline both.
:Strafe: What? No…
:Rachel: That's how I played it…
:Strafe: Well, we're not doing that.
Rachel grumbles slightly.
:Rachel: We can still do dares like that, though, right?
:Strafe: I guess?
:Rachel: Good…
Strafe sighs as he grabs a empty beer bottle.
:Strafe: This good?
Nycho looks at it.
:Nycho: Ayeah, I don't think Guadalupe does anything in particular with the empty bottles.
:Strafe: Well, we'll wait for her and the girls to get back and then we'll start.
----
Laverne and her students sit in mediating poses. Unten attempts to channel out his Aura for the first time as Quartz looks to him.
:Quartz: I'm sorry about everything back in that base…
Quartz sighs.
:Unten: You mean trying to ask me out?
Quartz shifts her head away.
:Unten: To be frank… I'm still not sure what to say.
:Quartz: It's fine. I don't even know if my feelings were necessarily real, all things considered. 
Quartz shuts her eyes as she focuses on bringing out her Aura. Unten takes a bit of a sigh.
:Laverne: Think about things that you're proud of. Aura is yourself, after all.
:Unten: (to himself) Right… if only I was proud of anything I've done at all. 
Unten pulls his head back, tilting it back and forth. Zerita pulses with a green Aura.
:Unten: (to himself) Shit… she's already figured it out. Come on… managing to turn over Doomulus Grime to our side was a good thing right? 
Unten remembers the reaction that Zerita and the other Zeonians had when they found out.
:Unten: (to himself) God damn it…
:Kiva: Hah!!!
Kiva glows with a light brown Aura.
:Unten: (to himself) Okay, how did she even manage to do that? She was crying to me not too long about how she felt like she couldn't do anything… maybe she's proud of her new powers? Of course mine have only…
Flashes of the Beorn Androids, Quartz laying on the floor after being Descended, The Fan and the Enemy crossing their arms at Unten, and Forrester's death come to mind.
:Unten: (to himself) Gah… my powers as is are terrible when they're out of my control…
:Quartz: There we go…!
Quartz unleashes a white aura. Unten is sweating now, trying to think of any positive traits for himself as all the bad things he's done flashes before him. He opens his eyes to look at Quartz, taking a long blink as he remembers training her.
:Unten: (to himself) Well, I guess if I trained her, I can't be that bad…
Unten unleashes a blue aura, sighing in relief as he opens his eyes again.
:Laverne: About time, Unten… I wasn't expecting you to be so behind everyone else given your experiences…
Unten laughs nervously.
:Unten: I mean, who's to say they were all good experiences?
Laverne shrugs.
:Laverne: Now, we begin to channel out our Aura. The Aura that you bring out now is it's weakest possible form. Over time, it's power and versatility will grow as you continue to use it… which is what we will be doing. Of course, it's also important to realize just how limited we are right now.
Laverne looks at Unten.
:Laverne: I think you're going to need to know that the most...
----
Guadalupe comes in with Kimi and Hinata, who are bringing in grocery bags while she drops her keys on the counter.
:Guadalupe: We're back!
Kimi and Hinata drop the heavy grocery bags on the counter as Guadalupe sorts through them, putting stuff in the fridge.
:Hinata: Why are you all just sitting in a circle?
:Strafe: We're gonna play truth or dare, if you're up for that.
:Hinata: I got nothing else to do, why not?
:Rachel: Alright, let's do this!
:Hinata: Did you guys set up any ground rules or anything?
:Rachel: It's just the bottle spin thing. Y'know, if it lands on you, you spin it again to see who you gotta dare. And you can't dare yourself.
:Hinata: Hm. No rules like you gotta take a piece of clothing if you refuse both?
:Rachel: Yeah… no, I was gunning for it too…
:Hinata: Damn, really? We get still make dares like that, yeah?
Rachel nods.
:Hinata: Eh, alright.
Hinata sits down in the circle.
:Kimi: Well, don't leave me out of this…
Kimi sits down too.
:Guadalupe: Well, jeez, don't leave me out of this!
Guadalupe jumps onto the empty spot as Rachel idly taps the bottle. Nycho has his headphones plugged into his phone.
:Guadalupe: Hey, are you just going to be on your phone the entire time?
Guadalupe yanks his phone and throws it at the wall.
:Nycho: Ah jeez… now I gotta see if it cracked.
Nycho crawls over to his phone as Rachel glances at the group.
:Rachel: This is a good amount of people right? Yeah?
:Strafe: Is Tōsō joining us?
:Rachel: Probably not.
:Über: I mean, I tried asking him earlier but he said he was busy doing something else. 
:Hinata: Probably jackin' it…
:Guadalupe: HEY-O!
The group starts laughing.
:Rachel: Alright, let's start this thing.
Rachel spins it, landing on Strafe.
:Rachel: Strafe!
Strafe spins the bottle again, landing on Obena.
:Strafe: Obena… truth or dare?
:Obena: Mm… uh… truth I guess?
:Strafe: So… hrm… do you know any really filthy words outside of the english language?
:Obena: Phh… I mean, there's "Jollith", which means… uh, like freezing someone's erect… ho boy. And then you take like a hammer? And you just kind of… yeah?
:Strafe: Yeah, I think I get it…
Obena just spins the bottle again, landing on Rachel.
:Obena: Truth or dare?
:Rachel: Mm… dare.
:Obena: Uh okay… uh… uh….
Obena shakes her hands in a way to let people know she has to no idea what to dare with.
:Hinata: Just ask her to take her coat off or something…
Obena nods.
:Obena: Uh!!! Take off your coat!
Rachel obliges, spinning the bottle back to Strafe.
:Guadalupe: Aw damn, back to him?
:Rachel: Truth or dare, Strafe?
Strafe thinks to himself for a second.
:Strafe: Truth?
:Rachel: What's the most expensive thing you've ever stolen?
:Strafe: (muttering under his breath) What the fuck?
:Strafe: Well… it'd be an arcade cabinet. Back in my thieving days we did steal a bunch of gold and jewels and stuff, but like, the Neo Geo arcade cabinets? That shit was worth a lot more than some of the rival thief guild halls we stole from.
:Nycho: Hang on, I thought you weren't a thief.
:Strafe: Not anymore. But in Noah… you kind of had to. The whole city is run by thieves, you were putting yourself at an disadvantage if you didn't.
:Rachel: So… an arcade cabinet. What game?
:Strafe: I mean, it was a Neo Geo. MVS, specifically, which meant you could load up to six games on it.
:Rachel: I see.
:Kimi: Ooh, do you still have it?
:Strafe: Afraid not… when I left Noah, I kind of had to leave it behind too. It's probably somewhere else now.
:Kimi: Damn… why'd you leave?
:Strafe: Aw… come on, we don't really need to do this whole big deep dive. Save that for other questions.
Strafe spins the bottle, although he spins it with a certain force behind it, landing back on Rachel.
:Rachel: Oh…
:Strafe: Truth or dare?
:Rachel: Uh…
:Strafe: I would not go for the dare if I were you.
:Rachel: Mhm. Alright, truth?
:Strafe: Are you dating anyone?
Rachel gets really red.
:Rachel: Yes…
:Strafe: Who?
:Rachel: Aw come on, save that for the next question-
:Strafe: Nah, everyone else got to ask a bunch of follow up questions. We gotta play the way we've been playing.
:Rachel: Fucking fine… Bang Crimson.
:Guadalupe: Oh shit, for real? 
:Nycho: Huh, I just thought you guys were friends.
:Kimi: I could tell from a mile away.
:Rachel: We've been dating for a couple of months, I wanted to keep it on the downlow in case it didn't work out… just like my multiple other relationships.
:Kimi: Who were those other relationships?
:Rachel: Save it for the next question…
Rachel shakes her head as she looks at Strafe, who leans back.
----
Unten watches as four walls surround him, giving him some enclosed space as Laverne sits on top of one of the walls. He realizes that they're all made from a blue Aura, Laverne's Aura.
:Laverne: Since you're a Beorn, your normal capabilities are a bit limited. Even with your hardest electrokinesis, you don't really take many people down with it, do you?
:Unten: I mean, I wouldn't consider that being important-
:Laverne: Unten, it's very important to get your opponent down. Or…
Laverne looks to her missing arm.
:Laverne: You end up with a missing arm or worse.
Unten nods slowly.
:Laverne: You don't want that, do you?
:Unten: I don't think anyone would.
:Laverne: Alright, so we're on the same page then.
:Unten: Yeah… 
Unten spreads himself out as electricity charges from his hands.
:Laverne: Give it all you got. 
Unten nods as he charges up a big ball of electricity and releases it, throwing his whole body weight into it. The ball disperses harmlessly into the Aura wall.
:Laverne: Hm… 82 volts.
:Unten: Seriously?
:Laverne: 100-200 can kill.
:Unten: I mean, I guess, but 82 volts? 
Unten pants a bit as he charges up again, creating a equally big electric ball and flings it, grunting as he does. The ball disperses harmlessly again.
:Laverne: 83…
:Unten: God… okay… I'm going to put everything I can into this.
Unten charges up a big electrical ball, the biggest he's ever done, somewhat bigger than his body and then unleashes it with a really hard swing that nearly makes him trip over his weight.
:Laverne: Here we go…
Unten's electrical ball disperses into the Aura wall harmlessly as it cackles.
:Laverne: 120 volts.
Unten sits down, sweating.
:Unten: I think that was all I could do chief, I mean look…
Unten shows his hands, which barely even make sparks.
:Laverne: Hmm… so it looks like your most lethal and best attacks, you can really only do about three and then your energy gets completely sapped away. How do you replenish yourself?
:Unten: I used to do it with Blump fruit but they don't make those on Earth so… I just kind of eat whatever until I feel it come back.
:Laverne: Hmm… we may have to look into your Earth's fruits. In the meantime... 
Laverne tosses him an apple.
:Unten: Huh, alright…
Unten bites into it, trying to eat as much as he can before he drops it.
:Unten: Yeah, that gets me about halfway there.
Laverne nods.
:Laverne: Yeah, that's about all you'll need for this demonstration. Try some weak attacks.
Unten nods and unleashes about 25 small electrical attacks before he sits down, exhausted.
:Laverne: 20 volts each… 
:Unten: Alright, you don't gotta point that out each time.
:Laverne: It's important to have this kind of data, Unten. I'm honestly impressed it's so consistent.
:Unten: Eheh…
:Laverne: That means you can do an upwards of about 50 electrical attacks before you tire your powers and yourself out.
:Unten: Yeah…
Unten sluggishly stands up as Laverne tosses him a pear.
:Laverne: So, what you want to do is inject some Aura into that. It'll be even weaker, but… you'll be able to reserve more energy.
:Unten: What do you mean, inject some Aura into that?
:Laverne: You're still going to need to think about yourself for a moment here, your body isn't used to push out Aura. But imagine like, wrapping that around one of the volts. It'll def pull at your power to do that but…
Unten nods as he takes a bite of the pear, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath as he thinks of Quartz again, his hands surging with electricity as he unleashes a blue colored bolt of lightning that strikes off the Aura wall harmlessly.
:Laverne: Nice, you got it. 12 Volts.
:Unten: Yeah… that seems doable. 
Unten takes another bite of the pear as he watches the walls go down.
:Laverne: Zerita, you're next.
----
Sakeena enters through the front door, glancing at the circle in front of her.
:Sakeena: Oh hey, what are you guys up to?
:Rachel: We're playing a bit of truth or dare. You can join if you want!
:Sakeena: Sure!
Guadalupe comes back in from the kitchen with a six pack of beer, recently refrigerated.
:Guadalupe: Anyone want to pop a bottle off?
:Strafe: Yeah, give me one.
:Rachel: Ayup, pass one here.
:Nycho: I could go for one.
:Hinata: Hah, sure, why not?
:Kimi: I'm good…
:Obena: What's a beer?
:Sakeena: Eh, I'm good.
Sakeena sits down as Guadalupe passes out the beers.
:Sakeena: So, whose turn is it?
:Guadalupe: It's Über. Spin the bottle, you funky sapien.
Guadalupe chugs a beer as Über spins the bottle.
:Guadalupe: Woo! That's how I like my beer! As cold as my soul…
The bottle lands on Nycho.
:Über: Alright, Nycho. Truth or dare?
:Nycho: Ah… you know. Truth. Seems less risky.
:Über: You and Obena… are you a thing?
:Nycho: Aw hell nah. 
:Obena: Yeah… no.
:Nycho: Why would you ask that?
:Über: I dunno, I'm in a relationship with Hinata so I just wondered if anyone else was in one of those relationships.
:Hinata: Mhm…
Hinata drinks down her beer as she looks away from him.
:Nycho: Well, here I go…
Nycho spins the bottle, landing on Sakeena.
:Sakeena: Oh!
:Nycho: Truth or dare?
:Sakeena: I'm gonna for truth…
Nycho shrugs.
:Nycho: (quietly) I mean, who wouldn't…
Nycho looks at Sakeena for a moment.
:Nycho: I heard you made fanfictions about the group?
:Sakeena: I mean, yes… but I stopped that back around December…
Sakeena scratches the back of her head.
:Nycho: However, that was not my actual question. My actual question for this truth is… what was the weirdest fanfiction you've ever written?
:Sakeena: I mean, besides some of the weird self-insert ones I did?
Sakeena looks at Rachel and Strafe before looking back down.
:Sakeena: I mean, it would have to be the ones I wrote for Unten…
:Rachel: Huh?
:Sakeena: I mean, a while back… and I mean, like a while back, I think it was around the time we were dealing with that Threat's Beorn guy… Forrester? Unten asked me to make some fanfiction with him and Rachel as the main focuses. And I mean… he read them and he gave me some pretty good feedback but I was a bit weirded out by it originally…
:Rachel: How many did you make?
:Sakeena: It was like five?
:Strafe: Were any of them lemons?
:Sakeena: One.
:Rachel: Yeah… that seems about right… he asks for one and then he feels too awkward for asking for another…
:Nycho: Damn, what goes on with those lemons in those fics?
:Strafe: It's… a term…
:Sakeena: I'm done asking follow up questions! 
Sakeena spins the bottle to Strafe, who nods his head.
:Sakeena: Truth or dare?
:Strafe: Dare. I ain't taking up that truth again…
Sakeena nods.
:Sakeena: Okay, take off your shirt.
Strafe smiles and takes off his shirt, showing his chest.
:Sakeena: Mmm…
Strafe spins the bottle, which lands on Hinata.
:Strafe: Truth or dare?
:Hinata: I dunno, dare? Is it going to be taking off clothes?
:Strafe: Yeah, you're on the money with that. It's just the jacket though.
Hinata nods and unzips her jacket, tugging it off as it reveals her black tank top.
:Hinata: It's kind of dirty, I don't really do laundry.
:Kimi: It looks fine to me…
Kimi blushes as Hinata spins the bottle again, landing on Sakeena.
:Sakeena: Again?!
:Hinata: We can respin if you want.
:Rachel: Yeah, yeah, spin it again…
Rachel sips some more beer out of her bottle as Hinata respins, the bottle landing on Obena.
:Hinata: Alright… truth or dare Obena?
:Obena: Uh… I guess dare?
:Hinata: I dare you to 3D print a string of beads.
:Obena: Oh, I can easily do that!
Obena 3D prints a string of beads made out of plastisteel. Hinata takes them into her hands and Rachel blushes on realization of what Hinata asked Obena to do.
:Obena: My turn!
Obena spins the bottle, landing on Kimi.
:Kimi: Oh! I thought this thing would never land on me…
:Obena: Truth or dare?
:Kimi: Um… truth?
:Obena: So, you write fanfiction too? What do you write about?
:Kimi: I mean, it was about Amatsuchi characters and sometimes I would do some Pokedude… but like lately I've been kind of doing…
Kimi looks down as her voice gets real quiet.
:Kimi: (quietly) Some fanfiction about this group and my group…
:Sakeena: Like, fanfiction about me?
:Kimi: I mean, yes…
Sakeena glances, interested.
:Sakeena: Huh… okay…
Kimi grabs the bottle and spins it, the bottle landing on Rachel.
:Kimi: Truth or dare?
:Rachel: I'm gonna go with truth...
:Kimi: So, what's some stuff you and your girlfriend do?
:Rachel: Fuck, I retract. 
:Hinata: No, you don't get to retract.
:Rachel: God… okay. We just kind of… do some racing on motorcycles, some fighting with our weapons, uh, we sure do kiss and do that kind of under the bed stuff… god, I didn't even want this to get out…
:Hinata: Sounds like a keeper to me.
:Strafe: I mean, the important thing is that she makes you happy, right?
:Rachel: It's complicated… mostly because I'm dumb and stupid about my life.
Rachel takes the bottle and spins it. It lands on Nycho.
:Rachel: Truth or dare, Nycho?
:Nycho: Dare.
:Rachel: Huh, alright. Well, I want you to show me one invention you wanted to get a patent on.
:Nycho: Now, this is a dare I can get excited about…
Nycho opens the door.
:Nycho: It's out there.
:Rachel: Your car?
:Nycho: Yes.
:Rachel: You tried to patent the car?
:Nycho: More specifically, the act of bird cages on the car.
:Rachel: Phh… god. Okay…
:Strafe: Yeah, but like, what's the invention?
:Nycho: The bird cages!
:Strafe: The bird cages aren't yours though…
:Nycho: I glued them on. 
:Rachel: So, like, what's the utility though?
:Nycho: You can take the birds on a trip!
:Rachel: Yeah, but it just seems safer to tuck them in the passenger seats.
:Nycho: They don't really feel the wind that way, though…
Rachel just shrugs and gives up, Nycho comes back in and spins the bottle again. The bottle lands on Sakeena.
:Sakeena: Truth.
:Nycho: You ever write fanfiction about me?
:Sakeena: I stopped like a month before you and Obena like, officially joined the group.
:Nycho: Damn…
Guadalupe goes back to the fridge to get another cold beer.
----
Zerita watches as the Aura walls go up around her, with Laverne hanging off the edge of the wall behind her.
:Zerita: So, this radioactivity thing… 
:Laverne: Yeah, that's what we're going to focus on.
:Zerita: I mean, I've been doing pretty well with the robot arm and claws…
:Laverne: The robot arm isn't going to be much help when an EMP goes off, will it?
:Zerita: I suppose not.
:Laverne: Besides, it's just wise to know all your options and use them effectively.
:Zerita: Yeah, that makes sense. Still… radioactive the whole time? 
:Laverne: Well, again, it's non-lethal.
:Zerita: You sure I'm not giving someone cancer with this?
:Laverne: X-Ray machines and airport scanners produce more radioactivity than you would.
:Zerita: It's just weird to know that now and kind of rethinking everything…
Laverne tilts her head to the side.
:Zerita: Alright, I'm done. How do we do this, chief?
:Laverne: Why do you guys call me chief?
:Zerita: Paternal struggles. The only parent me and Unten really knew was the chief of our tribe.
:Laverne: I see. Well, start by holding out your hand like…
Laverne holds her hand out, flat palm.
:Zerita: Like this?
Zerita tries to follow to the best of her ability.
:Laverne: Yeah.
:Zerita: Alright.
:Laverne: Try channeling out your Aura again.
Zerita nods and closes her eyes, thinking about her "sister" Mioda and how she's grown from her past. A green aura pulses out from her hand.
:Laverne: There we go. Now focus on… I guess expanding that energy.
Zerita shuts her eyes tightly as the Aura expands out to a bubble that touches the tip of her claws. Zerita can feel it, tensing up.
:Laverne: A bubble, huh? Yeah, that's looking nice and green and glowy.
Zerita shudders.
:Zerita: If this pops, it's going to do something bad, isn't it?
:Laverne: Your powers are deadly, yes. You need to launch it off. It needs to hit the Aura wall where it can disperse harmlessly. You need to push it off.
Zerita nods her head and starts to very slowly pull her claws even further back, blowing a bit on it as it starts to float slowly over to the wall, where it disperses harmlessly. Zerita sighs in relief.
:Zerita: I don't think I liked that.
:Laverne: Yeah, I can't imagine you liking that.
Something roars in the distance.
:???: Ahaha! I've torn down your wall, Laverne!
:Prin: Goddamn it, Teriodon broke through your Aura wall again…
:Laverne: I'll take care of this. How about you try finding some other stuff to do with your powers until I get back?
Zerita nods, shutting her eyes as Laverne runs over to the big window, where Teriodin is attempting to push against the second Aura barrier.
:Laverne: I really wish you wouldn't be so damn loud when you break through a Aura shield…
:Teriodon: Admit it, you're tired. I will outlast you, I'm powered by the cosmos itself…
:Laverne: Seems like the cosmos is maybe not that powerful if a one armed woman can hold it back for a decade?
Laverne creates a reinforced Aura shield that pushes Teriodin back, causing him to grunt.
:Teriodin: You can't hold me off forever…
Laverne nods.
:Laverne: That's why I gotta train these guys.
Laverne leaps back to Zerita, who unleashes a bright green glowing wave of energy that disperses against the wall harmlessly.
:Zerita: That's a Radioactive Wave.
:Laverne: Pretty good. Here, let me summon something…
Laverne summons a radioactive rod, causing Zerita to step back a bit.
:Zerita: Why the…
:Laverne: I suspect you think your radiation powers are too much and might get your friends infected with cancer. Actually, I know you think this.
:Zerita: So what the hell do you expect me to do-?
:Laverne: Well, if you can gather radiation from yourself and collect it, why not try it on other objects?
Zerita's eyes open and nods.
:Zerita: I see.
Zerita activates her aura near the rod, dulling it's energy as it's collected into a bubble. She sends it off to an Aura wall, dispersing harmlessly.
:Laverne: I say you got it.
Zerita nods as she stretches her arms. She picks up the rod, no longer radioactive.
:Zerita: I could see this being useful, maybe.
Laverne grins.
:Laverne: Alright, how about we take a moment and take a break?
===Part 2: Noon===
The door knocks and Sakeena goes to answer it. Bang Crimson waves.
:Sakeena: Oh hi!
:Bang Crimson: Hey! 
Bang Crimson grins as everyone looks at her.
:Bang Crimson: My, my, you've got quite the party here going on. Mind if I join?
:Nycho: Oh hey, it's Rachel's girlfriend…!
Rachel's eyes open and she looks away out of guilt. Bang Crimson seems quite pleased.
:Bang Crimson: You finally told them, honey?
:Rachel: Eheh… yes…
Bang takes a seat next to Rachel, purring loud.
:Tōsō's Voice: Now hold on a minute…
Tōsō slides down the fire pole and steps near the group.
:Tōsō: I want to join too.
:Hinata: Really.
:Tōsō: Yes, really! I was just waiting for a opening, come on.
:Hinata: If you say so…
Strafe spins the bottle, landing on Kimi.
:Strafe: Truth or dare?
Kimi looks to Tōsō.
:Kimi: Uh, dare.
:Strafe: Huh, really? Well, since you said you wrote fanfiction about us, I guess you could read some of it out loud…
Kimi freezes up.
:Kimi: Right… I forgot I mentioned that…
Kimi opens her phone, looking completely red. Bang Crimson pecks at Rachel's ear.
:Kimi: Hinata was in the shower when Rachel came in, opening the door before she had realized what a terrible mistake she had just committed. As she closed the door, she heard Hinata shut the water off, stepping her wet foot out…
:Hinata: Hm.
:Kimi: When… do I stop?
:Rachel: I guess when both parties are uncomfortable… like I am right now…
:Hinata: Keep going.
:Kimi: She stepped her wet foot out, wrapping herself around in the towel. She opened up the door, tapping Rachel on the shoulder. "Trying to use the toilet?" she asked.
Rachel looks away.
:Kimi: "No… I was just trying to find some nail clippers, I swear…" Rachel replied. Hinata licked her lips as she pushed her onto the bed.
Hinata leans in.
:Kimi: ...keep going?
:Rachel: I'd really rather it stop here…
:Hinata: Nah… a little more.
Kimi takes a sigh.
:Kimi: "Well, I guess you got more than what you bargained for, Harel…" she said, slipping a tongue past her ear.
:Rachel: That's enough, come on.
:Hinata: Alright, fine. 
Kimi sighs in relief as she spins the bottle, which lands on Obena.
:Kimi: Uh, truth or dare, Obena?
:Obena: Um, I guess dare?
:Kimi: I dare you to make a… uh… nice curved cylinder? 
Obena shrugs and makes it, with Kimi grabbing it. Hinata nods in approval as Kimi scratches her hair.
:Obena: My turn!
Obena spins the bottle, which stops on Hinata.
:Obena: Uh, truth or dare, Hinata?
:Hinata: Might as well go with a dare…
Obena glances around.
:Obena: I dare you to do a dance with the fire pole.
:Hinata: Oh, that's a dare, alright… how long?
Obena thinks about it for a moment.
:Obena: 30 seconds?
Hinata gets up and clings onto the pole, spinning around it for a moment before wrapping her legs around it, pole dancing for a bit before jumping off and landing on her feet.
:Bang Crimson: Huh. I'll be kind of damned. She's pretty decent at it.
:Hinata: Thanks. Honestly, it's the first time I've done it but damned if I didn't think about it a lot…
Über takes note with a nod. Tōsō can't seem to keep his eyes off her. Kimi bites her lip.
:Hinata: Alright, let's see…
Hinata spins the bottle, landing on Guadalupe.
:Hinata: Alright, Guadalupe. Truth or dare?
Guadalupe takes a big sip of beer out from her bottle.
:Guadalupe: Let's go with truth.
:Hinata: Do you like Obena? I get the feeling you don't. Personally, I like her quite a bit but… I'm curious.
:Guadalupe: I mean… it's complicated.
:Hinata: No lies.
:Guadalupe: I mean, fine, she's cute. Dunno much about aliens but for an alien I find her… appealing in a certain way. It's just… well, me and Nycho were very close growing up as friends, and as cousins, and like… he's grown distant and I come back and he's hanging out with her so…
Nycho looks a bit guilty alongside Obena.
:Nycho: I didn't mean to make you feel like that…
:Obena: Now I feel bad for hanging out with him…
Guadalupe sighs.
:Guadalupe: It's fine. It's whatever.
Guadalupe takes a big chug out of her beer bottle and looks back at the circle, spinning the bottle. It lands on Über.
:Guadalupe: Truth or dare, Über?
:Über: Uh… truth.
:Guadalupe: So about last week, I thought I heard a bunch of noises and it kept me up at night and you know I saw? You two…
Guadalupe points to Über and Hinata.
:Guadalupe: ...fuckin'.
:Über: I mean, yeah, it's been known.
:Guadalupe: But where, exactly?
:Über: I mean… we moved around a lot…
:Guadalupe: Where though? I dare you to show us.
:Über: You can't just change it to a dare.
:Rachel: Yeah, no, you can't.
:Guadalupe: Alright then, answer the question.
Über throws his hands up.
:Über: In the kitchen, living space, the bed that I sleep in, and on the table.
:Strafe: Aw, what the...?
:Rachel: Did you all least… clean up?
Über stays silent as most of the group holds their hands up.
:Guadalupe: Yeah…
Guadalupe takes another sip of beer.
:Strafe: Might as well give me another… I'm empty and I'd rather forget that…
Guadalupe nods, getting up as Rachel looks at Bang Crimson again, looking back away out of guilt for how the information got out that they were dating.
----
Unten and Zerita are sitting down, watching Kiva struggle against Prin in a fighting game. Quartz stands by the wall, seemingly detached from the ongoings of things. Laverne keeps her eye on Teriodin, who digs idly against her Aura shielding, while remaining dead quiet.
:Laverne: (to herself) That was too close… I don't know if I can keep teaching if things are going to get back down to the wire again…
Laverne looks at Unten.
:Laverne: (to herself) ...I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to have to do in order for him to tap out his true potential… he's already working harder than anyone else with his moveset but it's just not enough…
Kiva grits her teeth, having lost a round against Prin.
:Kiva: Are you cheating or something? How are you pulling off those moves?
:Prin: It's just inputs… half circles, quarter circles…
:Kiva: Bleh, I already have a headache. Anyone else want to play?
:Unten: Uh, sure, I'll give it a go…
Unten takes the controller from Kiva as she sits down with Zerita.
:Prin: Well, if it isn't the Big Blue himself…
Unten rolls his eyes and looks to the screen. Zerita glances to Kiva.
:Zerita: Crazy to think about how I had so much untapped potential like that…
:Kiva: Right? This training thing has been extremely useful for me too... 
Kiva whips around her wings limply.
:Kiva: I mean, I'm not going to do it right now, but you know...
:Zerita: I suppose it's a good thing then that we're doing this… I mean, Doomulus Grime was tough, but if these guys are supposed to be even tougher…
:Kiva: I mean, that's the reality I've been living for the past couple years. Even then, I suspect we've barely hit their better guys… Thai and Rise were beyond powerful to what we faced against and I don't even think they were fighting seriously…
Unten is furiously button-mashing in the background.
:Zerita: Hey, you can't just button mash, brother…
Unten grits his teeth as Prin lands the final blow.
:Unten: When you were talking about hitting the buttons and stuff, with the half circles and quarter circles and stuff, what were you talking about?
:Prin: The special move inputs?
Prin backs out of the menu and into training mode.
:Prin: Okay, so for your guy that you were trying to play as, you needed to do a quarter circle and the high attack button to unleash the Centipede Fist, and half circle with the low attack to unleash Mantis Kick. So, those motions can only be done at the start of any given motion when the control stick goes to neutral. So quarter circles are down to left really quick, while half circles are down to left to up. So you do that, really quick and press the attack button.
:Unten: That doesn't seem like it'd be really accessible….
:Prin: Well, that's how it goes. If you have the skill to pull it off, you can pull it off… of course, there are still tools to counter and control…
:Unten: I see… this isn't a break at all but more Aura training…
:Prin: What? No, this is supposed to be a break. I'm not the damn teacher…
Unten shrugs as he tries to pull the moves off. He struggles with the timing for a bit.
:Prin: You gotta, like flick it but in a intentional way, you know?
:Unten: It's hard…
:Prin: Yeah, well, nobody said it was going to be easy.
Unten finally manages to pull it off, although is unsuccessful in a follow-up attempt.
:Unten: Hrm.
Unten keeps trying, eventually getting a good rhythm.
:Unten: Alright, back out, let's try this again.
Prin nods as he retreats back to the versus screen. Quartz looks at Zerita.
:Quartz: I suppose it's lucky for you two that you still had potential to wring out… I've known my potential for years now, being composed to battle and all…
Zerita glances at her.
:Zerita: Well, yeah, but you still have a lot to learn too, I bet. 
:Quartz: The only thing I really need to learn is to control my mind… but I don't know how I'm going to manage that…
Quartz looks to Unten.
:Quartz: I hate that she did this to me. Continually adding barriers just so I serve her purposes…
:Zerita: She's gone now though. Hell, who knows where she went… I don't think she'll be able to hurt you anymore.
:Quartz: I suppose… but her effects still linger like poison in my mind.
Quartz sighs.
:Unten: Bah!
Unten watches as his fighter is defeated, although he managed to put up quite the fight against Prin.
:Prin: You got way better… I suppose if we keep practicing you might be able to beat me…
Laverne steps in.
:Laverne: I think that's enough. I don't think I'll have much time left to finish training you as planned, but… I mean, experience is the best teacher, yeah?
Quartz looks to her.
:Quartz: You're not going to bother training me? 
:Laverne: I mean, to be honest, your trauma and your encoding are something you're going to have to overcome on your own. I will provide a safe environment to help you with that, but… yeah, it's a little out of my hands, especially given how little time I have…
Quartz sighs.
:Laverne: Group together and I'll tell you how this will go.
----
Sakeena glances at the group as they eat lunch, made by Guadalupe.
:Sakeena: This has been kind of fun… but maybe we should dial it a bit back before we start doing stuff we regret?
:Tōsō: That's like, the whole point.
:Sakeena: Right… I gotta be the... asshole I guess. Well, who's spinning it?
:Tōsō: That would be me. 
Tōsō spins it, landing on Obena.
:Tōsō: Hmm… truth or dare?
:Obena: Dare?
Tōsō thinks for a moment.
:Tōsō: I dunno, I got nothing. Take off your headdress or whatever. It bothers me that you look more regal than everyone else here…
Obena looks a bit confused but takes off the headdress.
:Obena: Gee, I didn't know that was how you felt about me…
:Tōsō: Well, that's how I feel.
Sakeena crosses her arms as Obena spins the bottle, landing on Rachel.
:Obena: Truth or dare?
:Rachel: I suppose truth.
Rachel sips down some beer.
:Obena: Alright… you mentioned playing truth or dare in your high school days?
:Rachel: Eh, yeah. A little afterwards… I dunno, it was a freeing way to explore my bisexuality in a safe environment. Of course, I never did tell my parents about it but… it was pretty important for me in a way.
:Bang Crimson: Makes sense, I suppose.
:Rachel: Damn, Serah, Rubelline, and Alyssa did a bunch of stuff back in the day… haha…
Rachel parts her hair back as she reminisces.
:Strafe: Alyssa?
:Rachel: Alyssa was the first girlfriend I had… we kind of parted ways after a bit though, I don't really think it was meant to be. She was a blonde girl, got me somewhat interested in motorcycles but yeah… we were both free spirits back then. I haven't seen her in forever…
Bang holds Rachel close to her.
:Rachel: Oh yeah, my turn.
Rachel spins the bottle, landing on Guadalupe.
:Rachel: Alright, truth or dare?
:Guadalupe: Mm… dare. 
Rachel ponders for a moment.
:Rachel: Hrm. 
Rachel looks to Bang for a moment and then looks back to Guadalupe.
:Rachel: Eh, kiss Obena. 
:Guadalupe: Que?
:Rachel: Look, you admitted you had a crush on her, right?
:Guadalupe: I guess…
Guadalupe kisses Obena on the cheek, causing Obena to blush.
:Rachel: No, no, kiss on the mouth. 
Guadalupe blows out some air as she kisses Obena on the lips.
:Rachel: You gotta have some tongue too.
:Guadalupe: Okay, I'm not doing that.
Obena blushes profusely as Guadalupe sits back down.
:Guadalupe: Now I get to spin.
Guadalupe spins onto Sakeena.
:Guadalupe: Alright, truth or dare?
:Sakeena: Mm… I guess truth.
:Guadalupe: Why haven't you drank like a drop of beer?
:Sakeena: I'm just… not really keen on it, I guess. Even though I left my religion a while ago, I just kind of don't really think it's for me… if that makes sense.
:Guadalupe: Come on, you should drink.
:Sakeena: Nah… besides, you need one sober person to do things, right? 
:Guadalupe: Shit, that's a good point. Alright, fine…
Sakeena spins the bottle on Rachel.
:Sakeena: Truth or dare?
:Rachel: Mm… dare?
Sakeena blushes as she tries to think of a dare.
:Sakeena: Take your pants off?
:Rachel: Eh, alright.
Rachel unbuttons her pants and takes em off, sitting in her black thong.
:Sakeena: Oh wow…
Rachel sticks her tongue out and kisses Bang on the cheek, slightly inebriated.
:Rachel: Alright, my turn.
Rachel spins the bottle onto Kimi.
:Rachel: Truth or dare?
:Kimi: Dare.
:Rachel: Alright, I want you to remove Sakeena's t-shirt. 
:Sakeena: Eh?!
:Rachel: Just the t-shirt, I know she wears the long shirt underneath.
Kimi rolls her eyes and peels Sakeena's t-shirt off.
:Sakeena: I guess that's your revenge…
Rachel drinks some more of her beer and points, nodding.
Kimi disappointingly spins the bottle, landing on Tōsō.
:Kimi: Hmm… truth or dare?
:Tōsō: Dare. 
:Kimi: Mmm… I dare you to kiss me on the mouth.
:Tōsō: Fine… if you want to waste that kind of dare on me…
Tōsō leans in, kissing her very quickly on the lips. Kimi squirms happily.
:Tōsō: Well, I'm never going to hear the end of that.
Tōsō spins the bottle again, landing on Bang Crimson.
:Bang Crimson: About time… truth...
:Tōsō: I dunno, I'd like to know more about you. Something interesting maybe you haven't told many people?
:Bang Crimson: Ah… well, I'm gay…
:Tōsō: Well, everyone could tell that.
Bang Crimson giggles.
:Bang Crimson: I guess I never did learn to read or write…
:Tōsō: Huh, that's interesting. You were never schooled?
:Bang Crimson: Yeah, just never really had a school where I lived and when I came over here, I was already an adult…
Bang taps the floor.
:Bang Crimson: It sucks sometimes, but this cutie tells me what things mean.
Bang Crimson kisses Rachel on the cheek.
:Rachel: Mmm… that's right…
Bang Crimson spins it on Über.
:Bang Crimson: Alright, truth or dare?
:Über: I suppose truth? 
:Bang Crimson: Well, what's some interesting facts about you that not many people know about?
:Über: Ah, you know… we all kind of come from wealth, the Shōri as a whole. I was an ambassador much like Obena over there. When I came here, I crushed a monster with my ship. Of course… when you make an entrance like that, the people want you to stay, so I did…
:Bang Crimson: I said that not many people know about. Not your backstory.
:Über: Right, I was getting to that.
:Hinata: You'll have to excuse him, when you let him talk about himself, he likes to really seize the opportunity… 
:Über: ...I actually only speak Japanese, there's a translator embedded into my neck that's letting me speak english.
:Obena: Huh. You're kind of a one culture man, huh?
:Über: Don't see the issue with that.
:Obena: Well… I think being fairly cultured just makes you more keen into other people's issues…
:Über: I just don't really find it necessary…
Obena crosses her arms.
:Obena: If you're here to protect Japan from galactic threats, maybe you shouldn't be willingly blind.
Nycho sips some beer as he watches Obena go off.
:Rachel: Dang, I've never seen Obena this passionate.
Obena blushes as she uncrosses her arms.
:Obena: It's important to me… I just don't see how you can ignore it like that when you're supposed to be an ambassador.
:Über: There are different ways to go about things.
:Obena: I'm saying your way is a bad way of going about things.
Über spins the bottle to try and end the conversation. Obena growls as the bottle lands on Strafe, who taps his fingers against the floor as Obena leans in.
:Obena: I'm not gonna shut up about this!
Strafe gets up to get a beer, figuring this might take a while…
----
Unten and Zerita stand across from Kiva and Quartz. Laverne sits in a fold-up chair, watching as she makes Aura walls.
:Laverne: This is going to be a two on two fight. I expect to see you use your abilities that I've gone over, as well as try and press yourself. I'll try and stop anything from going too far.
The four students nod and get into fighting stances.
:Quartz: Alright…
Quartz unleashes her Second Form, holding her claws out.
:Laverne: Excellent… try and control it Quartz…
Second Form Quartz nods and starts to float off the ground.
:Laverne: Ready… set… go!
Second Form Quartz immediately strikes Zerita with her tail, with Unten sliding under Quartz.
:Unten: (to himself) I'm only going to be able to do a couple of my more damaging attacks before I run out of energy, so I probably need to play it more safe…
Unten barely avoids a cutting gale by Kiva.
:Unten: Hah!
Kiva shakes her head as she snaps her hand around, causing it to sling back into Unten, although just barely missing him.
:Unten: (thinking) Hmm… she never did get those quarter circle motion concepts, did she?
Unten jumps onto the Aura wall and slams his two feet out, with Kiva holding up her wings and blocking the attack. Unten stumbles onto the ground as Second Form Quartz thrashes Zerita with her tail, which Zerita attempts to attack using her claws.
:Second Form Quartz: You really think your regular old claws are going to phase me?
Zerita heats her claws up with Aura and her radioactive energies, merely using the heat and not the radium. Second Form Quartz screeches.
:Second Form Quartz: Ack!
Zerita is able to get up, attacking Second Form Quartz with a radioactive green beam.
:Second Form Quartz: Jeez!
:Unten: Hey, sis, that's not going to give Quartz cancer, right?
:Zerita: I'm trying to isolate the Aura and Radium as part of the attack… but I'll be able to remove any traces of radium if Laverne finds any. 
Unten sighs in relief before being slammed into the ground by Kiva, being hung up in the air by Kiva's claws.
:Unten: Ah!
Unten unleashes electricity around his body, shocking Kiva. Unten makes a mental note that he has about 2/3rds of his electrical power left.
:Unten: Nice try Kiva, but you need to be aware of what you're getting into…
Kiva shrugs it off.
:Kiva: Your electricity ain't gonna hurt me too bad… especially given that you don't have much left now…
Unten nods and then does a sweeping kick, electrifying his legs only a bit as he surrounds them with Aura.
:Unten: Aura Storm Sweep!
Kiva is knocked off her balance as Unten shoots a lighting bolt into her wings. Kiva finds that she's unable to move them.
:Kiva: Mm… smart.
Kiva kicks with her clawed feet, cutting Unten's cheek.
:Kiva: I think you're forgetting that I was fighting without my wings for a long time though…
Kiva does a bunch of kicks, powered by Aura. Unten blocks them with his hands, also covered in Aura.
:Laverne: Huh, Unten's getting this Aura thing a lot faster than I thought he would… already blocking attacks with Aura shields. Small… but it's a start…
Second Form Quartz growls ferally as she looks at Unten, caught in a chokehold by Zerita. She breaks out the chokehold, flying towards him before starting to slow down.
:Second Form Quartz: No… no… Hhhh…
Second Form Quartz stops, trying to control herself. Zerita gets up and walks towards her, putting a hand on her shoulder.
:Zerita: Remember… she doesn't control you anymore. 
Second Form Quartz shakes her head.
:Second Form Quartz: I'm trying to… but I just feel a urge to kill…
:Zerita: And it's not coming from you. Look… it's not hard to figure out you like him.
:Second Form Quartz: Did Unten tell you that?
:Zerita: Nah, but I could tell from the way you act around him. 
:Second Form Quartz: Okay, but what if you were wrong?
Second Form Quartz fidgets violently.
:Zerita: I mean, I'm not, am I?
:Second Form Quartz: No…
Second Form Quartz starts to relax.
:Second Form Quartz: Why am I feeling this way?
:Zerita: It's what you were programmed to do… but you can operate control.
Second Form Quartz shuts her eyes and stares into a empty black space.
:Second Form Quartz: Where's the bloody chip…
Second Form Quartz descends down to her brain, where she finds a black crystal embedded into her brain.
:Second Form Quartz: Hrm…
Second Form Quartz attempts to pull it out, but her vision completely freaks out.
:Second Form Quartz: Ack, that's not going to work…
Second Form Quartz focuses on her Aura for a moment, becoming surrounded in her white Aura.
:Second Form Quartz: Gently…
The white aura wraps around the black crystal, her brain slowly pulsing without its effects. She holds onto it, opening up her eyes. She has to extend some energy to keep it under control but… she feels like she can manage it…
:Zerita: You good?
:'Second Form Quartz nods.
:Zerita: Good!
Zerita kicks Second Form Quartz in the hip.
:Second Form Quartz: Oh yeah, I forgot we were in a fight…
Unten is blasted back by a wind, hitting the ground as he unleashes a huge bolt of electricity at Kiva, which misses. He follows up with a volley of lightning bolts, which either miss Kiva or don't cause her to flinch. She keeps him under her foot.
:Kiva: Hey, so when do we know who wins?
:Laverne: Mm… when I say it's over… 
Unten struggles under Kiva's grip, but grabs her leg solidly and screams as he shocks it with all his left over energy.
:Kiva: G-g-gahhhh!!!
Kiva jumps back, her leg searing in pain and smoke.
:Kiva: Geez…
Kiva suddenly follows up with two cutting gusts of wind, which Unten blocks with two larger Aura shields, which disperse her attack harmlessly. Second Form Quartz grabs Unten from behind, holding him in a tight grip, although not one intended to kill.
:Unten: Quartz?
Second Form Quartz looks down, in control of herself now.
:Second Form Quartz: It's the hug I've wanted to give you forever ago…
Unten smiles as Second Form Quartz bats Zerita away with her tail.
:Laverne: Alright, that's enough of that. Good stuff.
Laverne forms a phantom limb with Aura, clapping as it vanishes with each clap.
:Laverne: Let's wrap it up.
===Part 3: Late Night===
It's turning dark at the firehouse, with the moon coming out. The group is still going at it, with Strafe spinning the bottle onto Bang Crimson.
:Strafe: Alright, truth or dare?
:Bang Crimson: Truth.
:Strafe: Do you have any plans with Rachel? Child? Moving in together? 
:Rachel: I mean, we have been looking into a car…
:Bang Crimson: I mean… Rachel just told you all so it might be awhile before we get to that point, but man, I never want to have a kid.
:Rachel: Oh… you don't?
:Bang Crimson: I'm a free spirit, I can't see myself having a baby or wanting to raise one with you… I mean, that'd be a serious slow down on me and you…
:Rachel: If that's how you feel…
Rachel sips the last of her beer.
:Rachel: There any more?
:Guadalupe: Nah... 
Sakeena glances at a sleeping Obena and Kimi.
:Sakeena: Jeez, they're out.
:Hinata: Yeah, so is Über and Tōsō.
Rachel nods her head drunkenly, getting up and nearly falling over on her coat and shirt.
:Rachel: Jeez, when did I get into just my underwear?
:Hinata: I dared your shirt off.
:Rachel: Right… and I dared those ugly sweats off.
:Hinata': We still pressing on?
:Rachel: Eh… I mean, we can if you want…
Bang Crimson blinks her eyes irregularly.
:Bang Crimson: Honestly, have no idea how I'm gonna get home as drunk as I am…
:Rachel: It's fine… they know we're together so there's not going to be any weird looks if we are found sleeping next to each other…
Bang Crimson nuzzles Rachel's neck as Rachel sighs, still kind of not over what she said about not wanting a kid.
:Bang Crimson: One last spin…
Bang Crimson spins the bottle, landing on the still awake Nycho.
:Bang Crimson: Hm. Truth or dare?
:Nycho: Dare.
:Bang Crimson: Well, I'm out of ideas, so take off your shirt I guess.
Nycho obliges, Strafe glancing over.
:Strafe: Honestly, you barely look drunk Nycho.
:Nycho: Eh, I'm like Sakeena in that I barely drink. I have one bottle and then the self control to keep it easy. I like taking advantage of drunk people though.
:Strafe: Like, in what way?
:Nycho: Just like, doing favors for me. They don't really remember it. 
Nycho picks up a bucket of blue paint.
:Nycho: Do you remember when I dared you to pick this up from the store for me?
Strafe shakes his head.
:Rachel: Oh yeah… what were you going to do with that?
:Nycho: We're going to paint the firehouse when you guys are sober.
:Sakeena: Hm. The Fantendo Firehouse… painted blue. I guess I can see that.
:Rachel: I need to get low…
Rachel lays on the ground, groaning as her eyes shut. Bang Crimson wraps herself around Rachel and falls asleep too.
:Sakeena: Some night…
Sakeena puts back on her t-shirt.
:Sakeena: Man, when is Unten getting back?
:Nycho: Eh, hell if I know…
Hinata gets up, leaning against the fire pole.
:Hinata: Mm… think I'm just gonna…
Hinata falls over, unconscious.
:Sakeena: Ah jeez.
:Nycho: Well, you know what you gotta do…
Nycho stretches his arms as he goes to bed upstairs.
:Sakeena: Wait a minute, are you making put everyone to bed?
:Nycho: I mean, you can. You can just leave them there too, but I'm too tired to help ya.
Sakeena groans as she picks up Über.
:Sakeena: When did I become the adult here…?
----
Unten, Kiva, Quartz, and Zerita get their stuff packed up. Prin helps Kiva out with her duffel bag. Laverne walks towards them.
:Laverne: Hey, thank you all for coming over. Sorry if I didn't get to do everything I wanted, but hey, we got future sessions, right?
:Zerita: Yeah, I think I'll probably want to come back.
:Unten: I mean, I have to.
:Quartz: Yeah, you taught us a lot.
:Kiva: My schedule will be busy, but you know, whenever I can fit it in…
:Laverne: Good… I'll be looking forward to it. There are a couple of last things... 
Laverne pulls out four fliers.
:Laverne: A old pal of mine is starting up the old World Tournament again… some kind of reboot of it, I guess. 
:Unten: World Tournament?
:Laverne: The World Tournament was a gathering of all kinds of warriors in a little moon-shaped arena… so many crazy fighters. My time is over, but imagine if I got one or two or even all four of my students into the bracket? I'd be so proud…
:Unten: Heh, you've really taken a shine to us, huh?
:Laverne: Well, it's the first time I've done any kind of training in a while… can you blame me?
:Unten: I guess not.
:Laverne: Additionally, for next class… we're going to focus on bringing out Aura in a technique called the "Meijiora". All of you bring it out as you need it, and while that isn't bad… this will help out in a big way.
:Kiva: Wait… huh?
:Laverne: Let me demonstrate…
Laverne spreads her legs out a bit, holding her fist up as a blue aura surrounds her whole body.
:Laverne: Instead of bringing out Aura as needed, you'll be using it to coat your body as it's active, allowing you to use Aura techniques quicker and across your whole body. That's the Meijiora technique, and while it has it's drawbacks, I want you to practice until we can organize another training session, okay?
Laverne bows down.
:Laverne: Alright, I'm done!
Prin pats Kiva's back.
:Prin: Now you guys can go.
Unten, Quartz, Kiva, and Zerita bow back and head to take their leave through the portal. Kiva and Zerita leave first, but Quartz grabs Unten by the arm.
:Quartz: ...hey, hang on.
Quartz blushes.
:Quartz: I know I said forget it but… fuck it.
Quartz kisses Unten on the lips, leaning in. She quickly seperates, looking away.
:Quartz: Shit, sorry. 
Unten tilts his head.
:Unten: I mean, you can control your Second Form now, yeah?
:Quartz: Yeah…
:Unten: I don't see a reason not to give us a shot…
Unten kisses Quartz back on the lips. Quartz grabs his shoulders as the two kiss for a decent amount of time.
:Prin: GO ALREADY!
Quartz and Unten giggle as they part, holding hands as they go into the portal.
----
Sakeena sits on the couch, waiting for Unten.
:Sakeena: God… it's a good thing I have metal powers or I don't think there was any way I was lifting any of them…
The door opens, Unten stepping inside.
:Sakeena: Unten!
Sakeena rushes over to hug him.
:Sakeena: Man… you were gone all day, huh?
:Unten: Yeah, sorry…
:Sakeena: Nah, it's fine!
Unten grins.
:Sakeena: We kind of just hung out here and played a very long and very drunk truth or dare game.
:Unten: Oh damn, that kind of sounds fun.
:Sakeena: Eh… it got kind of messy and unfun at the end there.
:Unten: Mm.
:Sakeena: Kind of to the point where I felt like I was the only adult…
:Unten: Right, you wouldn't drink beer, would you?
:Sakeena: I mean… 
:Unten: You do you! I wouldn't want a Sakeena that isn't Sakeena.
Sakeena smiles.
:Sakeena: Alright, truth or dare?
:Unten: Hm. Truth?
:Sakeena: You look way too happy for an all-day training session. Did something happen?
:Unten: Something did happen. Uh… I dunno how to put this.
:Sakeena: You and Kiva are back together?
:Unten: No… no… but you are on the right trail.
:Sakeena: You and Quartz...?
:Unten: Yeah.
:Sakeena: Oh my goddd…
:Unten: I'm not going to try and keep it secret either.
:Sakeena: That's a good idea.
Unten grins.
:Sakeena: I'm happy for you! I mean, you look happy.
:Unten: Yeah, I'm happy. Very happy. 
:Sakeena: That's good…
Unten glances at the time.
:Unten: It's 1 o Clock.
:Sakeena: Ah shit, I should get some sleep.
Sakeena hugs Unten again.
:Sakeena: See you and hopefully Quartz tomorrow!
Unten nods and gazes up at the light, going to turn it off as he joins Sakeena by the door to head back to his apartment.
----
Guadalupe walks into the kitchen the next morning.
:Guadalupe: God… I have such a massive hangover. 
:Rachel: It's alright, i got breakfast cooking…
Rachel flips over her eggs.
:Guadalupe: Are you making breakfast burritos?
:Rachel: Ayup…
:Guadalupe: You really are the el diablo of cooking.
Rachel frowns as Obena slams the table.
:Obena: How do you willingly blind yourself to other cultures when you bond yourself to this one?
:Über: Hey, I kind of just crash landed here. It's not exactly something I was planning to commit to…
:Tōsō: Jeez, you guys are still on that? Thank god the shinto shrine is almost done being repaired…
:Rachel: Oh, I hope you guys still come around!
:Tōsō: ...we'll see…
Tōsō glances back at Hinata and Rachel.
:Tōsō: (to himself) I really don't have a chance with either one, do I…
:Nycho: Nope!
Tōsō glances at Nycho, who seemingly sprung out of nowhere.
:Tōsō: Don't do that.
:Nycho: I'm just saying.
Unten enters through the door.
:Strafe: Oh hey, Unten!
Unten waves as Quartz follows him in.
:Unten: Hey, uh, we have a announcement.
:Sakeena: Oooh!
The firehouse group glances in their direction.
:Unten: Me and Quartz are dating.
:Rachel: Oh!
:Strafe: Huh, that's a development.
Quartz kisses Unten's cheek, hugging him by the side.
:Quartz: Yup… he's mine at last…
Quartz giggles as she kisses Unten's face all over. Rachel turns around to smell something burning.
:Rachel: The egg is on fire?
Guadalupe snatches the pan and throws it on the floor, stomping the eggs to vanquish the flame, getting egg everywhere.
:Guadalupe: Let me just take this…
Guadalupe takes the pan as Rachel retreats back to the table, Bang Crimson wrapping her arm around Rachel's shoulder.
:Unten: I'm guessing you two are open about it now?
:Rachel: Yeah…
Rachel looks down a bit and sighs in guilt before looking up and smiling.
:Rachel: We got a bright future to look forward to, yeah?
Sakeena nods, although she feels an uneasy atmosphere. Still though...
:Sakeena: Yeah…
Unten glances at his World Tournament flyer from Laverne before looking back at the door as Zerita comes in.
:Zerita: We're going to have to train with all the time we got if we want to do this, Unten.
Unten nods and puts the flyer up on a corkboard. Rachel glances at it, as well as Strafe. Hinata sips a glass of orange juice as the camera pans out of the firehouse.
THE END
==Cast==
UntenTraining.png|Unten Bluzen
ZeritaMvFB.png|Zerita
QuartzNoArmor.png|Quartz
KivaGlaiveTraining.png|Kiva Glaive
LogiVictory.png|Logi
DenosVictory.png|Denos
RachelPostVictory.png|Rachel Harel
NychoInvalidezPostVictory.png|Nycho Invalidez
ObenaX.png|Obena
UberX.png|Über
PrinNF.png|Prin (debut)
LaverneEcho.png|Laverne Echo (debut)
Teriodin.png|Teriodin (debut)
HinataItoX.png|Hinata Itō
KimiLeeX.png|Kimi Lee
GuadalupeInvalidez.png|Guadalupe Invalidez
Sakeena2018.png|Sakeena Kamel
Bang CrimsonVictory.png|Bang Crimson
Tōsō MusukoX.png|Tōsō Musuko
===Transformations Featured===
QuartzSecondFormVictory.png|Second Form Quartz
LaverneEcho_Aura.png|Laverne Echo (Meijiora)
==Trivia==
*Unten mentions his Hyper Mode Orb has a faint black spot on it, which is more foreshadowing towards an Nega Mode transformation.
*All of the people Unten brings with him is people he has either taught in the past (Quartz, Kiva) or trained him prior (Zerita).
*Ironically enough, the entire training group does not pull from their good experiences specifically, but rather their connections with other people.
**Unten thinks about Quartz to originally activate his Aura.
**Zerita thinks about Mioda to activate her Aura.
**Quartz thinks about Unten to activate her Aura.
**Kiva thinks about Kurafeza to activate her Aura.
*Meijiora is a portmanteau of the words "Mage" and "Aura" in Japanese. 
*While not mentioned explicitly in this story, Episode 1 of Pink Lemonade takes place during the events of Truth and Train. Rei Carnation and Xerra babysit NULL during the course of events, which explains that NULL was not unintended to during the events of the story.
===References to Other Work===
*Rendered NULL - Unten asks Zerita if she found her Hyper Mode Orb, which she had stated she had lost in the previous story.
*Fantendo - Genesis - Logi mentions he's afraid of Quartz due to the chase scene in this story. Additionally, Denos reminds him he was still in their room while all that was going on.
**Rachel mentions NULL is sleeping in Robyn's bed, which was from her brief stint as Robyn's parent. 
*Sparring with Six - Kiva mentions that most of Zerita's training with Unten just seemed to be hitting him with a stick. This is a reference to the training method that Unten remembers from his Zeon days with Zerita in this Fantendo Now episode.
*Rendered NULL - Rachel first learns about Strafe's past as thief during the events of Rendered NULL, and Strafe learns that Rachel is dating Bang Crimson as well. They end up using this knowledge to expose each other's secrets to the group during the truth or dare game.
*The Threat's Beorn - The events of this are mentioned by Sakeena during one of the truths, notably the part about Unten asking Sakeena to write Unten x Rachel fan fiction. 
*Amatsuchi! - Amatsuchi is apparently the thing that Kimi Lee writes fanfiction about.
*Super PokeDude Show - This show from the classic Fantendoverse is mentioned as a show that Kimi Lee writes fanfiction for.
*Days of Victory - Nycho's bird cage car, which was first built during the events of this story, is apparently something he tried to get a patent on.
Category:What is the New Fantendoverse?
Category:Original Video Animations
Category:Fan Fiction
Category:Original Fan Fiction