Earthbound: Champions of the Future

Chapter Five

~ Naoma Trudeau's POV ~

"T-Torchwick...!" I growled, looking up at my orange-haired enemy. He had his fist tightly wrapped around Syo, and no amount of struggling on her part could release her. "L-Let her go...!"

"Or what?" Torchwick taunted. "What can a kid like you do to me? While you're busy dying of hyperventilation, I could crush your little friend into pieces right here and now. Hmm... sounds kind of delightful, actually. The ideal way to spend my morning. Nice cup of tea, excellent view from my balcony, and a dead fairy..."

"N-No...!!" I cried. I gripped my staff tighter, determined to get my strength back. I glanced down at the weapon upon seeing a white light coming from it. Next to my thumb was the glowing image of a snowflake. It was small, but definitely there. Intruiged, I pressed it.

Some sudden knockback sent me flying across the room. I ended up on the floor and landed just before I hit the wall. Another enraged cry made me look up. A thin, white fog covered the scenery in front of me, but it cleared away within seconds. What I saw was Torchwick, his left leg was encased in ice. He was trying to fight against the frozen water, but it was useless. He was stuck. "Wh-What did you just do...?!" He growled.

"Uh... I-I don't actually know." I admitted sheepishly.

"That was PSI Freeze!" Syo exclaimed. "The staff must possess PSI abilites!"

Since Torchwick was frozen and couldn't move, I took that time to examine the staff in greater detail. The snowflake had been replaced by a regular green button. I pressed the button and a small screen popped up. Displayed on the screen were a few words. "PSI Freeze Alpha, PSI Fire Alpha, PSI Thunder Alpha..." I read. "What's this Alpha business?"

"What, did that thing not come with an instruction manual?" Torchwick remarked.

"I'll explain it all once we get out of here!" Syo cried, flying out of Torchwick's grip. "For now, let's wrap up this fight!"

I nodded and pointed the staff at Torchwick, pressing Fire Alpha on the screen. The green button turned into a red flame. "PSI Fire Alpha!!" I shouted. Flames burst out of the other end of the staff, surrounding Torchwick. Amongst the smoke, I saw his silhouette raising his case, preparing to take a shot. I decided to keep moving so he wouldn't be able to land a direct hit. I ran towards him, zigzagging left and right. I kicked myself off the ground and raised my staff, leaping over the mostly disappeared smoke and landing a hit onto Torchwick's shoulder.

He groaned in pain, stumbling backwards slightly. He adjusted his hat and glared up at me, his eyes narrowing. "Hey!" I called out to him, a smirk on my face. "Tell that boss of yours you just got beat up by Naoma Trudeau! I'd love to see their reaction!"

"Tch... I didn't get 'beat up'." Torchwick frowned. "Besides... I'm not finished yet."

"Huh...?" I whispered. Torchwick turned his back to me, as if to escape, but stopped. He raised his cane and shot a bullet at a large, glowing purple stone that lay in the corner of the room. He bolted from the room after that, leaving the stone to slowly turn a dangerous shade of red.

"I-It's going to blow up!!" I announced. "S-Syo, we need to get out of here!! Now!!"

I grabbed Syo and stuffed her small frame into my scarf before dashing from the room, using all of the energy I had remaining to escape. The explosions behind us were booming and violent, gradually getting closer. My heart rate excelled through the roof from running and fear. As soon as I reached the entrance, I took one last jump and face planted onto the ground as the dungeon behind me collapsed onto itself. It was now just a bundle of rocks, completely cut off from the outside world.

I pushed myself off the ground, coughing madly. "S-Syo..." I whispered. "You okay...?"

"Y-Yeah." Syo replied. "You look far from 'okay', though..."

"I'm fine..." I lied as I stood up. "At least Enigma won't be able to get any more Negon from this place... Torchwick just blew it all up, after all..."

"That's true." Syo nodded. "So... I guess you'll be wanting to know more about PSI?"

~ ~ ~

"So..." I began once we were back in the hotel room, recovering from the previous battle. I was laying on the bed, staff laying on my stomach. "This PSI stuff... I know it's psychic powers, but what does the Alpha bit mean?"

"The power levels of PSI is designated by Greek letters. For example, Alpha is the weakest form." Syo explained. "Next is Beta, then Delta, Pi, Sigma and finally Omega. Omega is the strongest form, but with a cost. The stronger a PSI ability is, the more psychic energy it'll take to use. You can't just use Omega level attacks continuously; doing so will make you very tired very quickly. You get stronger attacks by battling, basically."

"So I just have to fight things in order to level up, huh...?" I muttered, examining the staff closer. A sudden beeping from the weapon caught me off guard. Once I recovered from my minor shock, I glanced at the screen. "Looks like this thing can now perform Lifeup Alpha."

Syo gasped. "Ooh, that'll be helpful! Lifeup is pretty self explanatory; it heals you! Try using it now!"

I shrugged and selected Lifeup Alpha on the screen. I was instantly surrounded by a green light, which would have alarmed me if I wasn't too distracted by the relaxing feeling of having all fatigue fade away in an instant. "Whoa..." I whispered. "I feel back to normal already...!"

"See? It's great, right?" Syo smiled. "Now that you have access to these multiple abilities, the journey from here on out should be a little easier!"

"In that case, now about we get going to the next location?" I suggested. "Time's a-wasting, after all."

"Right!" Syo nodded. "Okay, so... The next location is Siton. That's a town to the west of here. To get there, we'll need to pass through Frister-Siton Woods."

"Sounds like a plan!" I cried. "Let's go!"

- - - - - - - - - -

"Torchwick... What happened at Fristerburn?"

"Looks like we got an official enemy, boss. A kid, though. Nothing to worry about. But she had a staff which gave her PSI powers."

"That staff... How did she find it? Jae was supposed to have his stubborn hands on it..."

"The kid actually introduced herself as Naoma Trudeau. You think she got it from him or something?"

"Of course the daughter would have it... We'll be needing to keep an eye on her, Torchwick. She's... not what you'd expect her to be."

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Get it

Flames surrounded Torchwick

Cruz he's a Torch

okay i'll leave now

AceAttorneyFan over and out!