#chroma writes

[chromatasia]

first isat fanfic (that ive actually posted)!!!! this is based on a comic by @radioroxx GO LOOK AT THEIR ART!!!!

[an-established-butt-dent]

Dragon age: the Veilguard 2024

Look, I'm HYPED after the gameplay reveal, but all I wanna say is that the confrontation could have gone very different if it had been Lavellan trying to stop the ritual instead.

10 years!!! Varric, my Grey haired sweety, what were u planning on doing my friend. Just talk him out of it?

I need an Solavellan reunion like I need air.

[artchixs]

saint martikov

[ulteriorm0tiv3s]

⚙️ ─ funfetti

✭─ pairing: metal sonic x reader (gender neutral)

✭─ genre: fluff

✭─ summary: it’s metal’s birthday! eggman tries to make a special gift, but you interfere to make it more ‘personalized’ from you.

✭─ song: https://spotify.link/7oI9LZ2RkDb

✭─ notes: LATE BIRTHDAY BIRTHDAYBITTHDAY BITTHFAY BIRTHDAY !!!! late birthday because his birthday was on my homecoming day so i didn’t have much time so 😭😭 thatz also why itz kinda short and poorly written, i didn’t wanna make something too long and have it posted too far away from his actual birthday 😞 so ya birthday oneshot kinda!!!! woo!!

༶•┈┈┈┈┈♡┈┈┈┈┈•༶

it was 4 in the morning, and you could not get an ounce of peaceful sleep. everything around you was so loud. the loud cranking of machinery was literally all you could hear. usually, you found the sound comforting, but it was far too noisy this time. you tried covering your ears in various different ways, but it was no use. sleep obviously wasn’t an option anymore, so you hesitantly climbed out of bed to go investigate.

eggman’s “tinkering room”, is what you called it, and of course that’s where the noise was coming from. it didn’t surprise you that eggman was causing your lack of sleep. there had been various other times where he kept you up. the evil genius was seated at a large metal table, working on some unknown creation.

“doc, it’s FOUR in the MORNING. what the actual fuck are you going this early,” your tone was cranky, which was understandable since you haven’t slept in 17 hours.

“i’ve warned you multiple times not to swear in my presence. however, i’m in a good mood so i’ll let it slide this time.”

“you didn’t answer my question.”

“i don’t have to answer anything,” eggman glared at you, a stern look on his face.

rolling your eyes, you leaned up against the wall, “i’m not leaving until you do though, soo…”

he just rolled his eyes as well and sighed, “fine, since you insist on pestering me. today is metal sonic’s creation anniversary. it has been 30 years since i’ve created him, my most magnificent creation to this very day. so i’m making something special for him, something that’ll finally get rid of that horrendous hedgehog.”

“creation anniversary? dude, just say it’s his birthday.”

“well, he technically wasn’t ‘born.’ so it isn’t a birthday.”

“well,” you mock his tone, “you sound goofy as hell when you say creation anniversary. but anyway, what exactly is the gift? are you gonna almost destroy the world again with some ugly counterfeit gem?”

you could tell you were pissing eggman off. he was trying his best not to boil over from rage and cook himself. the doctor just rubbed the bridge of his nose in annoyance, trying to focus on his current project.

“a deathray. i’m going to build it into metal sonic.”

“oh.” well that was straightforward!

“now will you finally leave me to my work? you’ve been distracting me long enough.”

“can i get some earplugs or something first?”

“get out.”

“okay, okay jeez…”

🔩♡🔩

eggman ceased his work around 30 minutes ago, but you still weren’t able to sleep. you were planning something quite silly since you knew it was metal’s birthday now.

instead of eggman, it was you who was seated at the large metal table, tinkering away. you were making a few modifications to this so-called ‘deathray.’ these modifications were sure to be more enjoyable than a deathray. well, in your opinion anyway. when you think of birthdays, you don’t think about deathrays, you think about cake that’s so sickeningly sweet you throw it up.

you knew metal couldn’t eat, but the idea of making him a cake was really funny for some reason. besides, what’s better as a gift than the sugary scurrility of a funfetti birthday cake? nothing, literally nothing. perhaps a blue funfetti cake though if anything. maybe you should’ve done blue funfetti…

🔩♡🔩

metal sonic’s feet clanked against the floors as he walked. he was newly equipped with eggman’s special gift. of course, no one knew you had customized it just a little bit.

“hey metal buddy!” you ran up behind him, making sure your voice was loud enough so he wouldn’t detect you as a threat.

last time you ran up behind him without saying anything, he almost shredded you like cheese. fortunately, that didn’t happen this time since you were loud enough. metal sonic turned his head in your direction, awaiting for what nonsensical thing you had to say.

“happy birthday! i'm assuming eggman already told you ‘happy creation anniversary’ or whatever. and just so you know, happy birthday is the correct term.”

he didn’t really understand what you were talking about. he was a robot created to destroy sonic, obviously, so birthdays weren’t really something he was programmed to know about. so he just tilted his head and whirred, showing his confusion.

“birthday, like, y’know, celebrating your birth. or… celebrating when you were built in your case, i guess. but that doesn’t matter, it’s still called a birthday. but anyway! today is your birthday!”

even though you explained it somewhat well, the robotic hedgehog still didn’t see how this was relevant to him. he kept his crimson eyes on you as they occasionally flickered over your form, wondering if you had anything else to say.

“i forget you can’t talk sometimes.. just gonna imagine you’re saying ‘thank you sooo much (y/n)! i’m so joyous about my birthday!’” you spoke in a very very awful impression of his nonexistent voice, patting his head afterwards.

metal sonic rolled his eyes as he turned away from you, beginning to walk away. he had more important things to attend to; like beating the shit out of his organic counterpart, sonic, or something like that. you bid him farewell, and he responded with a beep. maybe he was saying goodbye back. or maybe he was telling you to fuck off, who knows. hopefully he’ll still enjoy your gift.

🔩♡🔩

a tree tumbled down as a certain blue hedgehog was violently tossed into it, making said hedgehog groan in pain. it was a common occurrence of a fight; metal sonic vs. sonic the hedgehog. usually sonic would have the upper hand, but it seems that metal sonic is going all out today.

“aw man! that was my favorite tree! couldn’t you have thrown me into a different one?” sonic sneered, crossing his arms and doing his infamous foot taps as he stood up.

his robotic counterpart was in no mood for his mockery, clutching his sharp metal talons before lunging towards the hedgehog once more. luckily for sonic, this was easy to dodge. the tension of the battle was starting to slow down a bit, causing sonic to yawn.

“man…this is starting to get a teeeensy bit boring. just a tad. how about we finish up?”

metal sonic beeped, seeming to agree. however, he had something planned. he would take the win this time, and get rid of this horrid hedgehog once and for all.

“alrighty! this’ll be an easy win!”

sonic dashed towards the robot, preparing for his final hit. metal sonic did the same, clashing into sonic. the two blue blurs continued the battle, the intensity revving up again.

unexpectedly though, sonic was thrown into a tree a second time. this time, the tree hadn’t snapped, but bended. this caused the hedgehog to be flung across the field, giving the robot an opportunity to finish charging up his final blow.

“thanks for throwing me into a tree that wasn’t my favori— why is your chest glowing. that isn’t normal is it!”

indeed it was not normal. the robot had finished charging up his deathray; the birthday gift from eggman. he wasted no time putting it to use. it was game over for his rival.

…

rather than being blown to smitherines, sonic had been blasted with…

“is this funfetti frosting?”

the hedgehog, still in one piece, was coated in bright blue frosting and cake. specifically funfetti, but that didn’t matter. what mattered is what the fuck happened to the deathray eggman made, and why metal sonic was blasting out cake.

seems like he found your surprise!

[donut-entendre]

as an actual ace gay the script is. bad. because its bad. it was fun and crazy to get but like its bad. ive been saying donut is ace for years and i think outright saying "i don't have sexual attraction for anyone" is bad and homophobic because its literally not true and acehood is a spectrum that can very much INCLUDE him experiencing sexual attraction to men so he literally didn't have to do that? he didn't have to say that. and I think I'm actually incredibly rational for thinking that making him something other than a gay man was always going to be a bad move because you need to handle complicated sexuality with a lot of tact that the rvb team simply would not have been able to do with him. I do not trust their skill or time management or writing or knowledge of queer topics and I am proven right to not trust this because "I'm not sexually attracted to anyone" is missing that respectful tact by a mile. It has no place by Donut's character. Blatantly disprovable. I do not think the intention was that Donut is repressing his sexuality there either because it came from a first-draft script conversation where they had no voice at all. its not real and its bad and and i'm gonna sit over here with my entire au i made to talk about donut's sexuality and repression and you can come play too if you want i guess. TLDR he's literally gay

[heroesofchroma]

Magics of the World

Figured it was high time to start explaining some lore, and since it'll be a focus of the next chapter, I suppose the magic system is a good place to start.

So the Magic of this canon is based on the existence of 4 different existences. The Where that magic comes from. That being the Planes;

The Mundane; Where the story at large takes place. Finite spaces where you'd find humans, mutants, aliens, the usual stuff. It's the central Happening spot, with shaky origins as to why it exists at all.

The Primal Plane; This is where ANY AND ALL Elemental magic comes from. And we're not just talking the commonly thought of Fire, Water, Wind, Electricity, Ice, Earth, nope. It's E V E R Y T H I N G. If there's a magic school for it, it's found here. The Primal Plane is an endless expanse, seemingly, where the local zone is what determines the types of magic you'll find in your world. From Technomancy to Pyromancy to Astromancy. The Primal Plane is also, incidentally, where elemental creatures would reside or originate from, from raw elementals to dragons, quetzals, and kitsune.

The Nthotay; One of two Conceptual magic planes. This one is of Light and Order, and where you'd find creatures you'd classically hear called "Angels" or "Angelic."

The Nthatic; The other of the Conceptual magic planes, this one, of course, being the polar opposite of the Nthotay, embodying Darkness and Chaos. You'd find creatures you'd classically hear referred to as "Demons" or "Demonic."

So how does one actually Cast magic? There's a few ways, but two overall reasons you can cast magic. Either you, A; Are from one of the "extraplanes" (aka Not the Mundane), or B; Have something from the extraplanes with you. Be it a flower, crystal, scar, or even a possession or familiar from the extraplanes, any of these with the correct attunement and practice can allow you to cast magic. And once you're attuned to such an item, you're ready to go on your magic journey, from the lowest level flicking your wrist to light a candle, to sending meteorite swarms from your fingertips.

[tigirl-and-co]

Colours and Light Part 3

Morning Sun

Yippie, more unedited, stream of conscious shortficfic for my OCs! This is like the only time I write fluff lmao

Some people were very teary-eyed on waking up, eyes watering to rid themselves of collected dust and sleep. Chroma was among them. Some people forgot to take off their mascara and eyeliner before bed- Chroma was among them, too. This, of course, led to many mornings with makeup-stained cheeks and time spent washing her fur to be rid of the inky tear tracks.

Many times Luxa had thought about letting her girlfriend know when she was about to make the mistake again, but every time Luxa found a reason not to. She wanted to hasten Chroma into bed for extra cuddles, she liked the way the tear tracks looked...

But most of all, she treasured the mornings. Luxa booted up quickly in the morning, and had taken it upon herself to guide Chroma, bleary-eyed and incoherent, into the bathroom. The wolf would seat her girlfriend on a chair facing the mirror, and gently wipe away the evidence of yesterday's shows and last night's dreams.

Quietly, she would whisper and mumble, chastising the hedgehog for her forgetfulness, complimenting her vibrant quills, weaving together the fragments of last night's dreams, until there were no more smudges and all traces of makeup were gone.

Unbeknownst to Luxa, Chroma enjoyed the time just as much. Even through her bleary eyes and the cloudy mindedness that came with a slow start to the day, she admired her girlfriend. She'd stare into her sharp blue eyes, or use the mirror to marvel at how the two made so perfect a pair. Occasionally she'd think of those hands, so gentle and tender with her now, and be amazed that those same hands once fought so valiantly to keep them all alive. She felt blessed to know how soft those hands could truly be.

Burdened still by the weight of morning and unwilling to disturb the routine, Chroma said nothing, instead allowing herself a large, dopey smile, the kind of expression one can only make when they know they're safe. The kind of smile Luxa prized.

And in these peaceful moments, Luxa found herself unafraid to return it.

[shukakumoodboard]

Which letter are you currently on with your Syllabarium fic? *O* If you could tell us morrrrrrre (I know I’m forcing with this one and I have no shame)

tell me, my beloved. would you like letter c to be “chroma” or “contact” 😚

i’ll work on it just for u i swear . maybe i’ll gun for a new segment this weekend

i want to keep most of the words a secret until they’re posted but here’s a random sample: grasp, tactile, perihelion

[sharkface-daydreams]

thinking about the tonal misalignment between Sharkface's grievances with and vengeant crusade against the freelancers with the almost flippant death the writers gave him

why

why would you put all this weight behind his narrative and his grief only to be like 'lol and then we shot him and moved on haha c'mon laugh' like no i will not?? if he'd been a cartoon villain hell bent on causing pain for fun, because he liked it, if his character had been previously treated with that same levity we wouldn't be getting that tonal whiplash right now. and for a severe tonal shift to be funny, well. i can't tell you what it requires but i know you ain't done it right.

as if in at least three past seasons you didn't fold a former villain into your tornado of insanity and friendship despite then trying to kill the main crew. as if two of those former 'villains' aren't the ones staring down the barrel of their own mistakes committed under the direction of a corrupt military prog —

...... you fucking killed him because you didn't want to have to deal with holding wash and Carolina accountable for what they'd done. this is actually repeated in season 15 with the blues and reds. I'm

[akela-nakamura]

I have so many fucking WIPs.

They keep expanding.

If anyone wants to know what I'm working on that's not on AO3, just ask.

There's so much hidden in my GDocs yet, y'all don't even know

[the-arigen]

Hi! Happy WBW! This week I've been thinking a lot about religion so... What is considered sacrilegious in your world? Is it common to encounter such a thing or is it punishable (or maybe both)? How do religious institutions react?

No matter what, it really depends who (in the worlds) you ask!

For Chroma (Rainbows Fade) the most common one is acquired superpowers (as opposed to inherited), along with certain kinds of magic- particularly those that subvert belief from large numbers of people or that control minds/souls as detached from the body.

People with acquired superpowers (an "empowered", distinct in universe from a "super") make up about 2.6% of the population, and most major religious institutions have basically given up on trying to call them evil, but it remains one of the most common targets of hatred for extremist sects. Some countries have tried to make it punishable, but this tends, for a few complicated reasons, to make even more empowereds. It's much more effective to just let them be.

The magic is a different story; many of the kinds that would be considered "sacrilegious" get their practitioners actively hunted down by the dragon clans. While religious orders typically lack the institutional strength to punish them, the structured belief does act as a shield against those kinds of intrusion (depending on the religion, sometimes just for believers and sometimes for friends/family/people nearby as well). There are usually 10-25 practitioners of forbidden magic per year. Typically, a maximum of 3 survive until the next.

[chromatasia]

Isabeau with flowers please [:

“You know there’s meaning in flowers, right?”

The question came without warning, and Isa looked up at Odile from where he lay on the ground. The researcher (or, not-researcher, he supposed) kept her eyes on her notebook. The question didn’t come unprompted; the two currently sat in the fields surrounding Jouvente, and in those fields were, well, flowers. This wasn’t Isa’s first time visiting the fields - he’d grown up here, after all - but it felt… different. More meaningful.

“I know some basic stuff, yeah. Flowers are quite popular in the city!” Odile nodded, humming to herself as she scribbled something in her notebook. “Any reason, madame?”

“Oh, no, not at all.” She covered a smirk with her hand and, oh no there was definitely a reason. “Just curious, since you’ve received quite a few flowers on our journey, is all.”

And she was right! He did! The flowers he’d received from his family lay protected at the bottom of his travel bag, protected by the rest of his items. How poetic, he’d first thought.

“Do you know what the flowers mean?” Isa asked, though he expected the answer.

“If you show me, I’ll probably know,” Odile answered, closing her notebook and placing it on her lap. Isa lifted his head from where it rested on his bag and started digging through it, taking the various items out and spreading them around himself.

“…Flower-ology?” He proposed, causing Odile to laugh. Yeah, there was no secret research, but it was still fun to throw out guesses.

“That’d be botany, Isabeau. And no, I just know quite a bit from my travels.” One day he’d manage to get a story about Odile’s mysterious past, but that wasn’t for now. Isa looked into the bag and - there, wrapped in string, were the flowers. He pulled them out gently, taking care not to loosen any of the pressed petals.

Isa pulled a flower out a random and held it up. “Bonnie gifted me this one, I think. A little bit before we reached Dormont.” Odile leaned forward and nodded.

“Our little Boniface has quite the knack for choosing flowers, then,” Odile said with a small smile. “This is an Edelweiss, said to symbolize courage. That’s quite true for you, I’d say.” Isa gave a small chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck.

“I mean, I'm not that courageous, madame. Just doing my job!” It was part of being a Defender, after all.

“Still, Boniface admires you quite a lot, for all their teasing.” Her face dropped minutely, her eyes narrowing as she averted her gaze. “It truly is cruel, how brave they needed to be, in our journey.” Odile sighed and shook her head. “We can’t change the past though.” She leaned back, and looked back at the collection of flowers.

“I see a Zinnia in there, Isabeau. Who was that from?” Isa perked up at that, and the chance to ignore the weight of their journey.

“Oh, Mirabelle gave me that one! She said a villager gave her one as thanks, and thought it’d suit me.” Despite how long it had been since their victory over the King, passing villages often tried to extend their thanks to the saviors, much to Mirabelle’s apparent discomfort. Isa had taken the flower with a smile and given her a tight hug.

“Zinnias represent eternal friendship, supposedly due to how easily they grow in certain regions. Something with the abundant flowers representing how frequently the recipient was in the giver’s thoughts, if I am remembering correctly.” Isa nodded, twirling the flower in between his fingers. He loved his whole family, but being with Mirabelle since the beginning of her journey made their connection… special. He’d been there for her since the start, all the way up until the end of their journey. Had seen how she’d Changed, despite her protests that she was the same old Mirabelle. He smiled at the thought of his friend.

“Yeah,” Isa muttered, smiling to himself, “that fits.” He glanced at the rest of the flowers, and - oh!

“This one was from you, madame!” He held up the slender plant, the large leaves carefully covering the delicate flowers. Odile smiled and nodded.

“Yes, the Laurel. A common sign for victory across multiple countries.” She brought a hand up to her chin as she got lost in thought. “Boniface had asked, once, whether or not it could be used in cooking. It can’t, thank Gems they asked, but I did tell them of its meaning. Then they insisted I gift the ones they collected to the rest of our group, as a good luck charm.” She chuckled to herself. “I suppose not a sign of good luck, but we did succeed, by all odds.”

“Well, thank you for the gift, madame!” Despite the fact that he was sitting, Isa gave an exaggerated bow, and Odile sighed at the gesture as he giggled. “I shall treasure it to the end of time!” She flicked him on the forehead, which only served to send him further into a laughing fit. Isa flopped back, the grass cushioning his fall, and took a deep breath.

“Just one left, I suppose.” Isa held the flower up to the sun, ignoring the way his face grew warm as he looked at it. “This was from Siffrin, not too long ago.”

“I can tell, based on your expression.” Isa shot up at that, and Odile snorted at the appalled look on his face. He floundered for words but, well. It was Odile. She’d counter any one of his arguments made that no, this was definitely not from Siffrin, and he always smiled that happily when he looked at gifts from his friends, not just from a certain cloaked rogue.

So, rather than arguing, he simply flopped back down and groaned, covering his likely-dark face with a hand.

“…Is it really that obvious?”

“Yes.”

“…Can you tell me what it means, at least-?”

“ZA!! DILE!! WE FINISHED OUR SHOPPING!!” Isa sat up abruptly, trying to school his face into something that didn’t look like a flustered mess, and Odile sighed and waved behind Isa.

Looking back as he stood, Isa saw Bonnie running at top speed, arms behind their back, towards himself and Odile. Jogging behind them was Mira, clutching a couple of books, and Siffrin, who wore an easy smile and their face. Upon looking at Isa, they ducked their head under their collar.

Bonnie proceeded to collide directly into him with a hug, throwing Isa from his thoughts and into hugging back the preteen.

“Sorry if we took too long!” Mira called as she approached, taking a deep breath in as she slowed her pace. “The library was much larger than I expected and-“

“Mira, Mira it’s fine! But only if you rant about them if they’re bad.” She giggled, and that seemed to help her. Siffrin came up behind her with a mischievous look on their face and-

“Besides, Mira, we had the whole day booked.” Mira and Bonnie collectively groaned as Isa laughed, clutching the tulip in his hand close to his chest.

There, in that sprawling Azalea field, he never felt more at home.

[vallkary]

Out of Context Line, tag from @illarian-rambling ?

Pulled from “Do You Remember me Now?”

Something clicked as her eyes finally traced over where the next journal would’ve sat, a hole in a story she swore she knew the name of. A missing journal, but who was next in line? She would’ve thought it would be Achlys’ name waiting to be filled in that missing cavity, if it weren’t for her pounding head, and a frantic, clawing desperation that she knew wasn’t her own. Remember.

The lights went out with a snap.

I have no idea how tag lines work, but @foursixtwonineoh-pieces-of-lego ? (I’m so sorry I know you write and you’re the only one I could think of)

[forthedancingandthethriving]

New ocs time;

Blitz & Chroma: Firewalls built and made by a company that doesn't want their secrets getting out somehow became sentient. Extremely mistreated by the CEO and others who use them, oftentimes leading them to be withdrawn. But the manipulation and abuse stems from the moment their code was written down, so they're extremely intense about their jobs. It can actually be scary. They're both currently at the main building of the company, continuing to run security checks every minute.

Comedy & Tradgey: Assistants to Sparks and Chroma respectively, meant to aid in toning down their intense nature's. This didn't work, as the duo also suffer the same treatment as the other two, and are therefore also quite intense. Currently searching the wide web for some specific copies of some games because the CEO of the company took interest in them.

[occulticvioletdepths]

Part 2 of my gauntlet against Occulture's staff. Notes below the video.

Link to the previous part.

----

[Video attached, filename camillevsocculturept2.mp4. Synopsis below.

The video continues directly from the previous part.

Camille tosses her ball at the same time Elmir drops his. Camille opens with Plagas, her Trevenant. Elmir opens with Ceruledge.

"Easy", Elmir scoffs. "Executioner, Bitter-Blade that... thing."

Blade burning with a ghostly pyre, the Ceruledge charges towards Plagas. Camille wastes no time - a snap of her fingers, and a point downwards. "Earthquake."

"Treeeeh." Plagas slams its hands into the ground, the ground shaking, cracking as he does, and with one jolt - Plagas causes the soil to... for a lack of a better term - get knocked into the air, the Ceruledge as well, its feet firmly planted on a rock.

Elmir shouts. "Like hell you will. Continue!"

With a quick nod, Executioner hops from rock to rock, inching closer to Plagas. Plagas could only narrowly retract his roots before Executioner lunges at him.

One swipe. Two swipes. Despite being a lumbering piece of wood, Plagas manages to evade, if only narrowly.

Camille points her fingers to the right. "Hammer it!" Plagas' hands form itself into a blunt object, swinging at Executioner - a sad miss, and retaliation - as the Ceruledge slices at Plagas' legs.

"Reve-RE!!

"Kgh- Earthquake! Get 'em off you!" Plagas plants his roots, and the field shakes once more - knocking Executioner in the air.

"Now! Horn it!" He wastes no time. The branches on his head gather energy as he leaps forward to crack through the Ceruledge's armour. The move connects, and the shatters, sending Executioner flying, and ever-so-slightly recovering Plagas' health.

Executioner manages to land gracefully.

Elmir speaks. "Good. Swords dance. Bolster your attack."

And as Executioner performs the ritual of blades, Camille talks to Plagas. "Ghh... this isn't working. You did great, but I think I'll need to switch."

Plagas nods before being retreated - swapped out for Camille's ace - Melisma, the Mismagius.

"Melisma. You see that Ceruledge over there? It's unarmoured - you know what that means. Think of the most utterly vile way to hit it."

Melisma nods, a small "Mi-mi-mi~" giggled out. She's got a nasty plot in mind - and Camille knows it, too.

"What's the matter, huh?! Too afraid to approach?!" Elmir shouts. "Executioner - slash that WITCH down!" Executioner nods, rushing in for a Night Slash - hopping across the sundered and shattered fields, before leaping, right above Melisma.

"NOW! Shock 'em!"

"Miiiii... --!!" Orbs of purple and pink colours gather around the Ceruledge. They know what's going on, and they expedite their attack - a small combustion emanating from Executioner's feet as they try to close the gap.

No luck.

The orbs rush into the Ceruledge, and it wails in pain. Melisma merely had to float to the side, as Executioner knocked themselves out impacting the ground.

"YOU--" The referee gives Elmir a stern look, and he wordlessly recalls his fainted Ceruledge, murmuring something to their Pokéball, before tossing in another one.

An Annihilape.

"Sunder! Strengthen up!"

"You did well Melisma. I'll call upon you again."

As the Annilhilape - Sunder - bulked up their phantasmal muscles, Melisma was swapped out for the Gothielle, Margareta.

"Now, make good on your name, Sunder! UNTIL THEY DIE!"

"You know what to do, Margareta. Right side."

Margareta nods, standing stalwart as the Annihilape approaches. Normally she'd be a little slow to react - but this move almost always hits 'em first.

Sunder charges in for the punch - but Margareta steps to the side, and delivers a slap to its face. She retreats - before using Hypnosis - with great success. Sunder topples, sleeping happily, allowing Margareta to toss him up with Psychic, and like a batter - Shadow Ball them out of the field.

"That's an out! Recall your Annihilape, Elmir."

"WHAT?! That can't POSSIBLY count-- He's just asleep!"

"He's out of the field. That counts."

"Grrr... Fine. Malice, you're up. A bit EARLY, but you won't have to exert yourself just yet."

Another Pokéball tossed - it's a Gengar. With a quick word of affirmation, Camille swaps out Margareta with Géode, her Sableye.

"Géode, burn 'em."

"Malice. Bomb."

Malice catches fire just as the Sludge Bomb hit Géode - and they're both wracked with an ailment - burning, and poisoned, respectively. Malice seems to... not give even a small bit of a shit.

"Ack- merde- Are you okay Géode?!" The poisoned Sableye nods, though his body looks weak. "...Alright, I'll switch- Huh?"

Géode shakes his head, pointing at the Gengar, holding his hand up and... pinching his fingers together.

"...you see something. Got it. You know what to do, then."

Géode rushes towards the Gengar, hand stretched out like a claw.

"Oh NO you don't! Malice - Hex!"

The attack connects - and the sound of something breaking sounded through the field. The seal Camille placed on Géode's chest broke - and he rushes forward at breakneck speeds.

"What the--"

He lunges right at the Gengar, climbing onto it, trying to grab at something on its back - and... SNATCH! He hops right off - but not before Sunder runs at him, casting another Sludge Bomb. Géode only narrowly manages to avoid it... but not the Hex that came right after. He seizes up, and falls - right as Malice, the Gengar, takes back the stolen item.

"Shit-- Return! Before she finds out!"

Both trainers recall their Pokémon, Camille whispering "You tried. You did well," to Géode's Pokéball.

[ >> Fast forward >> ]

The next part of the battle did not go well for Camille. Elmir's next Pokémon - a Chandelure (named Hokkai) - was sent out - who promptly took down Camille's Trevenant, Plagas, before he could be switched out, the fire-warding talisman only helping minimally.

A hypnosis and a Shadow Ball from Margareta later - and Hokkai was removed from the match, but not without Margareta taking a few close sears.

[ > Resuming 1x speed > ]

"...Fuck. Now or never. Malice!"

And his Gengar is switched back in, no longer on fire.

"I'll tell you when we're starting. Sludge 'em."

"Shadow Ball! You've got this!"

Malice casts another Sludge Bomb - but with quick thinking on Margareta's side, the Shadow Ball strikes right through - if only narrowly missing Malice.

"Grrr... Get in close - Jab that D.o.B.!"

And despite its stumpy legs, the Gengar moves swiftly, swinging at Margareta with its fists, missing one strike, but hitting the next. She retaliates as Camille shouts "PSYCHIC!" - firing the Gengar well away from her.

Margareta looks beaten and bruised, but as Camille lifts her Pokéball to recall her - Margareta tells her not to - waving her hand to the side.

The camera pans over to Elmir, who, like three of his Pokémon already - looks disheveled, exhausted... and VERY, VERY ANGRY.

"Alright - Fuck this! You think you can FUCK with the Editor-in-Chief of Occulture Unova?! I've HAD IT UP TO HERE!"

His hands slowly slide up to the mask he wears - grasping it tightly.

"I'll make sure you'll be on the CUTTING ROOM FLOOR!

MALICE, NOW!"

He rips off his mask, and for the first time, his full face is visible - a glowing stone embedded into his right eye. And as he shouts, it glows. Malice is suddenly embedded into a crystalline sphere, before it cracks, like an egg - emitting a brilliant, blinding light - as Malice Mega Evolves.

Camille takes a step back. Her face isn't visible on the video, but from the fact that her hands are trembling. Yet - she hold her hand up, and snaps her fingers.

The seal upon Margareta breaks, power - if perhaps not as much as Malice has - pulses from her.

Malice spends no time dawdling. Immediately, not just one, not two, but five different Focus Blasts fire out of the Gengar's mouth - Margareta doing her damndest to avoid. She tanks three, before getting in close enough to fire a sure-to-hit Shadow Ball. It connects, but Malice doesn't look fazed.

Their hand raises, and in a split second - a Poison Jab connects. Margareta's launched backwards - almost like a bullet - out of the field and into a tree, with a sickening crunch.

Out cold. And perhaps worse.

Camille recalls her, and whispers something, before floating her last Pokéball to her hand.

"Y'know, when I heard that you were from Kalos, I'd expected you to have one a' these, too, y'know?!" Elmir taunts, pointing to his eye. Malice mimicks his motion, but instead pulling on their eye and sticking out their tongue. "ESPECIALLY when I saw that lil' Sableye of yours! Geh-heh...

...Missy was right. It's a fuckin' miracle you did all y' did, 'cause you're NOTHING MORE THAN A DUMB BITCH!"

"ELMIR! One more INSULT out of your mouth, and you lose by default!" The referee shouts.

"FINE! But just know this, ''Camille''... When you lose, there's gonna be a ten-page-long exposé on your ass!"

Camille doesn't comment, not even as she sends Melisma back into the field. She snaps her fingers, and Melisma's seal breaks. This time, there's much more power pulsating from her than there was with Margareta - almost as if she knew it'd come to this.

"...you know what to do."

Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.

Melisma looks severely weakened, but there's a grin on her face. She just needs to survive as long as she can - and maybe take a few potshots at the opponent to hurry it along.

It won't take long now.

"FIRE!"

Elmir shouts, and Malice does as ordered - firing a volley of Focus Blasts straight at Melisma. "NO! NOT THAT! SLUDGE!"

Each blast phases straight through Melisma, cackling as they do - taking the time to plot a bit, before setting up a Psyshock. A Sludge Bomb hits her in the face as the shock hits the Gengar, who seizes up for a second, but is able to continue nonetheless.

Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.

Even Mega-Evolved like this, Malice looks... troubled, and it's rubbing off on Elmir, who puts his hand to his chest for a second.

"LOCK IT! HEX IT!"

Melisma took the time to fly across the field - to make sure no projectiles hit her. And as she lines up for another Psyshock - she suddenly shrieks, as a hex hits her, full-force.

Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.

"I got you. I'm in your head. That's right, you little-- I'm in your head. I'm READING you. I'm in your FUCKING head."

Camille didn't give any more commands. She's breathing, heavily. Shaking. She almost looks like she's about to topple herself - and so does Melisma. So does Elmir and his Gengar.

"Come ON! What're you WAITING FOR?! Punch that WITCH into OBLIVION!" he shouts.

Pained, strained. Something's sapping away at Malice's strength and they don't know what it is. That's the impression that he gives, at least - the once proudly Mega Evolved Gengar, Malice - now stressed and strained.

But they move like a bullet train.

Launching up into the air, they try to deliver a Poison Jab - it whiffs, as Melisma ducks, lowering herself to the ground. Malice continues - rocketing themselves at Melisma. The ground quakes as a jab connects with the ground.

They've got her in their sights. There's no escaping.

Malice prepares to charge...

...Before an ethereal nail appears above their head.

Thunk.

Thunk.

Thunk.

Both Elmir and Malice's eyes look on in horror, before the latter limply falls to the ground... followed soon by the first.

"All of Elmir's Pokémon have been eliminated. The winner is... Camille!"

The few passer-bys that gathered applaud.

"What- WHAT?! HOW?! I- I DID EVERYTHING RIGHT! You-- YOU--!!"

With a grunting scream, Elmir charges towards Camille. The referee immediately swoops in to knock him to the ground, and to recall Malice.

Camille turned around to face Calli, who's holding the camera. She's slowly walking towards her, a bit wobbly, eyes hazy.

"You can-... you can turn it off now. And... can you bring Margareta to the Pokémon Center? I think she needs a referral to the vet, after how hard that..."

"Camille, are you alright-"

The video cuts here.]

---

I'm fine, by the way. Just needed to lay down for a second. Elmir on the other hand is in the hospital, as far as I know. I had some talks with Ishmael, the now-acting editor-in-chief, and they said they'll try to correct their wrongs, among which issuing an official apology and retraction of the interview. They say they can't promise to never use me as a source, but they'll try to avoid it, or at least contact me first. They're also... reconsidering Elmir's position as Editor-in-Chief, and they're discussing obliging him to step down.

Margareta is paralyzed from the second segment down. That Gengar did a massive number on her, and... she communicated that she holds no ill will, but it still sucks that my... personal spats with people caused such an outcome. Modern medicine is amazing, however - and it's expected that she'll make a full recovery, but she'll need to take it easy, and I can't put her in my Pokéball for extended periods of time or the recovery will take much, much longer.

All of my other Pokémon are alright.

I should've stopped the match when I heard that crunch. It didn't seem like anyone but me and the camera heard - but I panicked, knowing that Gengar Mega Evolved, and there was this nagging feeling that I just... had to take them down. Especially after what Elmir said.

I'm not sure what he has on me, but you don't say that kind of stuff offhandedly.

Either way... I hope you enjoyed(?) watching me battle. I take advice or whatever. If you live in Unova I can send you some of you some of the seals I used.

[heroesofchroma]

Heroes of Chroma; A comprehensive List

Hey there! Looking for new reading material? Well, look no further!

Heroes of Chroma is a superhero novel and short story series, following the exploits of super-powered individuals from the universe. Ranging from small town adventures to globe spanning, world shattering events, all the way up to interplanar apocolypses!

For a list of novels;

-WASP's Fall-

WASP's Mistake

The Misadventures of Ironbride and Firebrand!

For Short Stories and Prompts;

First Awakening (WASP's Fall)

Ironbride and Firebrand

Spawn of Red Death

Retirement of Red Veil

Gold Maned King

Child of the Threshold

Gravetender

For Lore Drops;

Magic of Chroma

The Faewylds

Power Classification

Let's do some History