"Huh. So... guess we're starting now!"

Those were words uttered shortly after a flash of light: a young man dressed in blue appeared in the middle of some sort of street.

Surrounded on all sides by buildings and roads, the next course of action was simple: find his allies. Thankfully, one was already close by.

In his pocket, in fact.
A monster in his pocket.

"Jewel! I choose youuuuuuu!"

A dramatic pose! Cobalt's Poké Ball triumphantly gleamed as a burst of red energy materialized into a figure in front of him!
An unamused figure.

A girl in a brown dress, with ears and tail of a fox, appeared with a scowl on her face, and before even greeting her partner, she scanned her surroundings. After a careful pause, she turned to look him in the eyes.

"No more theatrics! Those are dumb."
"Aw, c'mon! You aren't excited? Not even a little?"
"Why would I be excited?"
"'Cuz we're gonna earn a billion points and get a wish!"

Cobalt wore a gleaming smile as he placed a hand on Jewel's shoulder. Her expression didn't soften.

"Or die horribly and end up as sex slaves. I'm just glad we aren't already being jumped. Seems all contestants get at least a little breathing room, or maybe we're just lucky?"
"'Lucky'? You bet we are. Take a look around you!"

Cobalt hadn't taken his hand off of Jewel's shoulder. After a moment of staring, she decided to indulge in her partner's request, but not before removing said hand. Again, she looked around the already carefully scanned surroundings.

"Zero clue what I'm looking at, here. Where are we, anyway? 'Open Screen'!"

At Jewel's request, a phantasmal screen made of light appeared before her, with 4 colored options.

Lightly tapping on the option 'Map', Jewel expanded the screen.

"So, we're starting in Cursed Tokyo...? What, could you tell we were already here just from these surroundings?"

Upon the map, inside the area within the 10 Sectors an orange dot of light highlighted a small sliver of the Melting Pot. The unique Meet-Up Spot each of the 120 teams were given: it would be a good idea to get there soon.

"No -- c'mon, Jewel! Don't you know where we are? It's a good luck omen!"

"It's the Shibuya Crossing!"

She stared blankly.

"Why should I care?"

Cobalt proudly put his hands on his hips.

"Because - we got an iconic spawn! Therefore, we are the main characters! Our victory is assured."

Jewel's blank stare slowly turned into one of contempt.

"You idiot! That doesn't mean anything! And you were bothering me with this instead of checking your 'Screen' right away? Are you retarded!?"
"You're just mad you can't recognize the Shibuya Crossing! If you could, you would have came to the same conclusion! But you didn't, and now you're pissy that you know I'm right."
"Huh- what!? That doesn't even follow! How did you even come to that conclusion!?"
"Because I'm smart."
"You ARE retarded!"
"Nuh uh."
"Dummy!"
"Doesn't matter what you called me, you couldn't recognize the Shibuya Crossing and I could. Therefore, I'm smarter by default. So who's the real dummy?"
"...I should leave you for dead."
"You'd be back."

Jewel sighed, and calmed herself down.

"Alright, alright, shut the hell up. Did you check your screen, or do I have to do everything for you? You DID check your screen, right?"

Cobalt glanced at the phantasmal screen opened by Jewel a moment ago.

"Yeah, I checked. 'Map', 'Status', 'Bounties', 'Extra'."
"You did? Then what's in them?"
"...A map, our status, bounties... and then some other stuff."
"..."

"...So, actually... we should check to see what that other stuff is..." Jewel muttered as she scratched her head.

"...Probably," muttered Cobalt as a response. "'Open Screen'."

The same screen that opened for Jewel opened for Cobalt, and he quickly selected 'Extra'.

"'Power List'...?" Jewel pondered.
"Mm, remember that thing about how we're supposed to recognize some people and know what power they have? Probably the aide for that."
"Oh, yeah, probably."
"And then 'Team Serverence'..."
"Self-explanatory. Same with 'Forfeit'."
"Yeah. That's really it? Maybe other stuff will be added later..."
"Hrmph. Okay, what now?"

Cobalt clicked an X in the corner, backing out.

"'Status', pard?"
"...Yeah, let's check 'Status'," said Jewel after a quick eye-narrowing, and moving over her own screen, sliding it through the air. Pard is pushing it, but she'd let it slide.

"You think everyone has one of these, or just us 'cuz of supreme gaming skills...?"
"I don't think you have those. Anyway... I guess so? Not sure how you'd forfeit or sever yourself, otherwise."

"...Well, that's helpful."
"I guess you'd need to meet anyone else first? And why isn't my name there?! Is there a way to complain? There wasn't a report in 'Extras'..."

Cobalt ignored Jewel's plea.
"Think it's for everyone, or just us 'cuz Drop-In?"
"Could be just us. Maybe literally just us. Interference or something."
"...Maybe every single one of our teammates disbanded, and we just have one on the way... late to the party, you know...?"

Jewel paused, contemplating.

"That'd fucking suck, yeah."
"But it's a no to disbanding for us anyway... Team Severence bonus is based on the number of members in a team, right? So no need to disband. Like, obviously, you should only do it AFTER meeting your team members! Buncha dummies..."
"That's true. Guess meeting our team members and attempting to group up is first order of business."

Cobalt contemplated this time.

"Well... maybe."
"What's your idea?"
"Evolving you first could be a good idea."
"...If we go for Espeon, then we can just do it along the way."

Jewel smirked.

"If I like you enough."
"We're already bestest friends, albeit?"
"Pfft."
"Besides, we gotta go over which evolution is best. Realistically... Psychic's a bad choice."

Jewel's face twisted with annoyance. They were really gonna be getting into this now.

"But Ice is a great choice?! Do you know how many people are going to be punching? That's Fighting! And stabbing? That's Steel!"
"Might just be Normal. Besides you gotta think about the big picture! What if they punch evily or spookily? That'd be Dark or Ghost. You know how many edgelords there are?"
"Then Fairy should be good. Or being Dark myself."
"See, Dark's an alright idea for what I have in mind. But it's not the best option."

Jewel sighed. This conversation always gets on her nerves.

"Fine. What do you have in mind? You never really told me why you're dead-set on Glaceon, anyway."

Jewel seemed to twitch. Something distracted her.

"It's simple. I looked over the Powers, and there's too many things that could get in our way... but-"

SMASH!!

---

Dust surrounded the area. Something hit Cobalt in the stomach, and he was left gasping for breath. His vision was unfocused.

"Cobalt!? Are you okay!? Stay behind me!"

Cobalt looked up, and saw Jewel sticking out a protective arm over him. A cloud of dust surrounded a crater of broken concrete.

"Owwwww..."

Jewel glanced at him with a mixture of pity, annoyance, ...and guilt, before returning focus to the cloud.

"S-Sorry. I was a little rough getting you out of the way."
"I'm okay... the hell is that...?"
"Tch... seems our grace period ended."

The cloud cleared, and a terrible figure stood where it once obscured.

It straighted its back, sickening noises emerging from its spine. After that, it merely sized up its prey. Watching motionlessly.

Jewel cracked a slight, uneasy smile. "Seems to be a Curse. On the bright side... guess we got a confirmation that we can see them, huh?"

Cobalt merely stared the Curse down.

"Jewel, can you take it?"
"I don't know. I was fast enough to get us out of the way."
"...First order of business is to see how much of a challenge it poses, then. Don't let it get close to you."
"Don't have to tell me the obvious."
"Don't overextend, either."

Cobalt rose to his legs, and began slowly backing away. The Curse narrowed its eyes.
Jewel didn't look away from it.

"...What are you, my mom? I'll handle this."
"Just be careful."
"Shut up."

Jewel outstretched her hand, and an aura of clear energy surrounded her. The Curse shifted, as if ready to pounce.

"SWIFT!!"

In the shape of small stars, a barrage of energy darted through the air!

The Curse twisted as they approached... and the stars followed suit! Changing direction in mid-air, they collided into the side of the creature, one after the other; a burst of smoke!

POP-POP-POP!

A satisfied grin crossed Jewel's face, as a small gust of wind from the blast blew through her and Cobalt's hair. Cobalt looked less satisfied.

"See!? I told you; I had it handled. Looks like it was no big deal!"

The smoke dispersed... and the eyes of the Curse stared back. Clearly, the force of the attack knocked it away, and had caused a bigger crater than its sneak attack... yet, it seemed unharmed.
It's smile grew bigger.

Cobalt gritted his teeth.
"Damnit! Just as I guessed!"

Jewel, dumbfounded, brought her hand to her face. Victory didn't just seem pulled from her grasp-- now, it seemed impossible entirely.

"Ghost Type," she mumbled, under her breath.

"And... I only know Normal damaging Moves..."

Tears seemed to well up in her eyes. Though, of course she blinked them back.

"C-Cobalt! I can't hurt it! We need to get out of here-"

Grrrrrrrrmmmblleeeee...

A black aura surrounded the Curse as it made a sickening noise... and suddenly, a black aura enclosed the Shibuya Crossing.

"Dammit! We gotta get out of here!"
"Jewel, let's run!!"

Another aura surrounded Jewel, darker in color: with a quick sweep of her leg, a large cloud of dust shot out as a wave. Again, the Curse tried to avoid it, but was caught; it furiously scrubbed at its eyes, gargling in annoyance at its sudden blindness.

Cobalt's headstart was quickly caught up to by Jewel, and she surpassed him with not much effort afterwards. She was functionally a Knight with enhanced agility, after all, thanks to being Cobalt's Queen.

A cloak of white energy surrounded her, and as she approached the barrier...

Whoosh!

...She harmlessly passed through!

"C-Cobalt! We can get through!"
"Yeah! Almost-"

Bonk.

Cobalt did not harmlessly pass through. His face planted into the dark energy of the barrier, and no matter how he pushed, he could not get through.

The realization-- of why she could get out and why her partner couldn't-- appeared in Jewel's brain, and an expression of dread slowly crept onto her face.

"R-Run Away..."
"Jewel!! Break the barrier! Swift!"
"Yeah, yeah, on it!"

Another burst of golden energy suddenly struck against the darkened dome between them, and it both rippled and groaned.

Yet it did not break.
Functionally, a trapping move.

"It... seems to be like Mean Look, or Block..." whispered Cobalt.

Jewel gulped, and didn't dare take her eyes away from the enemy, still furiously scrubbing its face. "So... there's... t-there's no getting you out of this, huh...?"

Cobalt turned around, and examined the enemy once more. Its movements were more precise, now. Carefully, it plucked a few grains of debris from its eyes, before further cleansing. Seems like it was only a matter of time before it cleared its sight.

"I can't see any escape route," he muttered.

Tears welled up in Jewel's eyes.

"C-Cobalt! We're not done! I won't give up on you! We need to think of something...!"

The trainer thought for a moment, and then... smiled calmly.

"Well, there's actually a pretty obvious thing we can do."

"Yeah, yeah, what is it!? Tell me!" urged Jewel, both excitement and panic in her voice.

"I'll just let this thing kill me," responded Cobalt, nothing but positivity in his voice.

"WHAT!?"
"It's fine. Even if I die... you can get out of here. We still have our Team Members. Maybe, you'll be able to convince one of them to make a wish we'd like."

"Grrrrrrrrrraaaaaagh..."

The Curse muttered in annoyance. And then... it blinked a couple times. Seemed like its vision was cleared up.

"S-SHUT UP! STOP BEING... STOP BEING DUMB! I can't... I won't leave you here!"

Jewel had tears in her eyes. They would start falling down her cheeks any minute, now.

Cobalt, in turn, pulled his hat down, over his eyes.

"Sheesh... I can't look at you when you're so sad..."
"I-I'm not sad...! I'm mad! Dammit, think of something! Please, anything!"

Cobalt backed up from the barrier, and turned around.

"In hindsight... I guess we should have hidden away first, huh? Sorry... for being a worthless tactician. Shouldn't have been preoccupied with making dumb jokes..."
"N-No!"
"Just... get outta here, already..."

The Curse steadily walked forward towards its soon-to-be victim. It didn't seem to be in a hurry.

"Some real shitty luck we had, eh...? D-Don't watch, Jewel. J-Just... get outta here. You're wasting time..."

The Curse picked up the pace. It's walk turned into something closer to a blissful gallop. It reeled back its arm.

("If only I had an actual Ability... well... guess I should at least attempt to fight back. Who knows? Maybe I'll get a miracle. C'mon, brain! Develop some Cursed Energy! I need to, or else I'll be leaving Jewel all alone...!")

Cobalt stared down the fast-approaching Curse, and balled his hand into a fist. He tightened it so much, he felt like his palm was about to bleed from his nails digging in. He readied his arm, and got ready to throw the last punch of his life...

"Cursed Energy... GOOOOO!!"

CRACK!!

Cobalt stumbled onto the floor, his clusmy punch hitting nothing but air.

"E-Eh? Jewel!?"

Jewel stood about a foot away from Cobalt, and so did the Curse. Its fist was firmly connected with Jewel's forehead, her own connected to its abdomen.

Only her blood was shed by the exchange. The Curse remained undamaged. It garbled out a surprised grumble.

"You really are the stupidest dummy ever if you thought I was really gonna leave you... I'd rather die!"

Jewel winced from the pain, blood streaming from her forehead. But beneath that pain, there lay nothing but fury, and desperation.

"D-Damn it, Jewel! It's pointless! Just... just leave!"
"Never!"
"But the only way for you to harm it is to-"
"Use Cursed Energy, I know!"

The Curse stumbled backwards. Its eyes squinted. It really didn't want any more sand in them.

Rearing back to unleash another blow, Jewel waited patiently... and after a quick sidestep, grabbed its arm!

"I'll just keep fighting it... until I figure it out! Heeeyaah!!"

Twisting her body at the hips, she chucked the Curse away from both her and Cobalt! It landed with a thud, near the other side of the arena.

"With the power of the Rook... I should be strong enough to maybe last long enough...! Then..."

Jewel had broken out into a fullblown sob, before quickly wiping the tears and blood off of her face.

"I'm gonna save you!"

"J-Jewel..."

Cobalt stared at her... and then smiled, wiping his own eyes.

"I can't stop you... so I just have to help you! We're gonna figure it out! 'Open Screen'!"

Cobalt looked over the blinking screen and immediately hit 'Status', before selecting 'Skill Tree'!

"With Gaming, maybe I can figure out how to get a single point, or skill level, or something into learning Cursed Energy...!"

Jewel nodded.

"...G-Glad you came around to seeing things my way! I'm gonna stall this piece of shit...

The Curse, still unharmed, lumbered onto all fours, and it eyed down Jewel.
It lunged.

"...for as long as I can!"

An aura of darkish-tan energy surrounded Jewel, and she unleashed another blast of sand and dust at the charging Curse; Sand Attack!

"G-ggggaaAaAaAaAaaa!?"

It was not amused by more annoying sand, but it was prepared.
Barreling through the cloud, its eyes shut so tight it was as if they were sewn together, its jaws opened up for a bite.

It grew closer and closer, the odorous stench on its breath making itself know, but Jewel was fast-- one swift motion, picking up a piece of chipped concrete on the ground, and then shoving it into the Curse's maw!

"Eat dirt!"

Following up the attack, Jewel gripped the Curse by its neck-- lifting it up, she drove it into the ground face first, managing to bury it as if an ostritch!

Cobalt looked over his screen again and again... yet nothing. No points, nothing to respec; absolutely nada.

The Curse, meanwhile, tore its arms free; cutting Jewel with debris sent flying!

"G-Gah!"

A momentary distraction well capitalized on-- the gnarled arm of the Curse landed a meaty blow to Jewel's abdomen; a lariat blowing her away.

Landing with a thud against the concrete, her skin tore and bruised as she bounced along like a soccer ball.

She glowed with that same clear aura, locking her teeth into a pained growl.

Swift wasn't going to damage, but as the Curse once again sat its sights on Cobalt, she had to do whatever she could to keep it occupied.

"You're fighting me, you piece of shit! Pay attention to me, dammit!"

The barrage of stars slung across the arena, and again sent the Curse stumbling with a volley of firework-esque explosions. Stumbling, but again unharmed.

It cracked its neck and turned its attention to Jewel, once more.

Cobalt looked on with a mixture of equal parts fear and determination.

("D-Damn it! Jewel can't take much more of this...! There has to be something I can do! Focus, focus! Alright, I can't unlock it by buying it...")

Gears turning in Cobalt's head, he navigated to Cursed Energy on his screen... and found a description.

("...But what if it could be achieved in some other way!?")

Jewel braced her arms together across her chest, as the leg of the Curse nailed them where her sternum was.

Launched backwards once more, she cursed under her breath as the Curse dashed towards her for another strike.

She readied that tannish aura of energy once more-

WHAM!

-and was met with a sudden backhand from the Curse, slapping her further away.

Energy maintained, she unleashed a Sand Attack in a cloud around her.
She wanted to do that before the Curse got to her.
She was getting sloppy.

This wasn't sustainable, and the Curse hadn't even been seriously tired out.

Cobalt called out to her: "JEWEL!"

In the cloud, she saw the sillhouette of the Curse turn its head in the direction of Cobalt's voice, calculating its next move.

This time, it was her advantage to take care of the momentary distraction--

The clear aura of a readied Swift returned, and just as the sound of her movement alerted the Curse to bring back attention towards her, her body was already right by its legs; one quick tackle, and it was on the ground with her.

"Gggggghhh...!"
"Bastard!"

POP-POP-POP!

"Gyyyyaaaaahhh?!"

Point-blank, the Curse was launched into its own barrier; splatting into it, headfirst.

It's head was lodged in the blackened energy, and as it struggled to remove itself, Jewel collapsed to her knees, catching her breath.

"Jewel! Cursed Energy can be used by you! 'The foundation of Cursed Energy is negative emotions such as fear, grief, anger, hatred, and envy'! People who can see Curses can because of their higher amount of Cursed Energy, so we already have it! All you have to do..."

"Ggggghhhyyyaaa!"

The Curse pulled itself free, slumping onto the ground, but bringing itself back to its feet!

"...focus on all of your rage, or fear, or anything! Put it all in one attack! Negative emotions are the foundation, and you should have the potential! You're a Monster, after all, right!? You just gotta... believe in yourself... or something!"

Jewel growled as she saw that her opponent was regaining it's bearings, and pulled herself up from her slump.

"C-Cobalt, I'm believing really hard right now! Nothing's working!"

And in turn, Cobalt scowled.
("Yeah, duh, of course she's trying really hard! I need to find better motivation!")

"'Cause if you don't, I'll die! Remember that!"

Jewel focused. She took those words to heart; that was clear as day. Cobalt wasn't getting out of this barrier until that Curse was dead, or she shattered it.
Either needed Cursed Energy to accomplish.
So she focused.

"...Yeah. You'll die if I can't do this...! C'mon, hatred! Fear! Negative emotions...!"

The Curse righted itself, and Jewel took a deep breath... and stuck out an accusatory finger at it!

"Listen up, you ugly piece of shit! You're dumb, ugly, a freak, you smell bad, and I will never, ever, forgive you!"

She balled up her fist... and it seemed different. Cobalt looked on in shock.

("Holy shit!? Is that... is that Cursed Energy!? D-Did she do it!?"

"Gyah!?"

The Curse understood no language, but it seemed at least partially offended.
Comically rearing its left arm back, its right instead dripped with Jewel's blood as it hung limply to its side, not out of damage, but out of laziness; a grim juxtaposition.

**"Take this! KIYAAAAAAAAH!!"

Lunging at the Curse, Jewel put everything she had into her next blow!
Anger, fear, disgust, annoyance, everything!

CRUNCH!

---

The Curse's head was shifted back from the force of Jewel's punch. It stumbled back several feet, before sluggishly stopping as it hit the barrier wall.

That was it.

It was unharmed.

"N-No...!"

Crumpling to the floor, Jewel cradled her hand, as she still seethed with rage. All she had managed was breaking her own fingers.

"...Gyaaaahhh~!"

A mocking utterance of victory.

("Shit! Shit! Shit! She couldn't do it...! What now!?")

Cobalt watched on in horror as the Curse raised its arm, sharpened fingers extended, and walked towards Jewel, who could do nothing but watch herself, tears in her eyes.

"I-I failed...! I-I'm sorry...!"

It wasn't going for another blow.

It was going for an execution.

("FUCK, what went wrong!? Jewel.. she put everything in, and I felt something! Shouldn't she have splattered it...?")

"Gyah, gyah, gyah!"

Repeated chants left the Curse's stinking mouth as it stopped in front of its prey. Perhaps one of mockery, or excitement, or even delight? Not like it mattered anymore.

Cobalt's thoughts still raced in his head.

("I-I can't let Jewel die here, not because of me...! I have to do something... maybe...")

Eureka?

("Jewel... she felt rage, disgust, fear... but not sorrow. If I can get her to feal that, maybe that's all she needs? ...I hope I end up surviving this next idea.")

Cobalt sprinted towards Jewel.
"G-G-Gyaaaahdbye~...!"
"OUTTA THE WAY---!!"

SLLLLSSSHH!

Jewel looked up...

...To see a splash of blood erupt from Cobalt, taking the slash from the Curse himself.

"Gyaaah...?"

"J-Jewel... s-survive for me, okay?"

Cobalt collapsed, into Jewel's arms.

Tears started streaming down her face, and she looked up at the Curse.
Now she was really feeling all of those emotions from earlier.
Mixed with something a lot stronger, too.

"Gyaha-"

SPLAT!

Critical hit.
A shower of purple-blackish gore covered Jewel's good hand, the Curse's head reduced to nothing but mush.

Around her, Cobalt's bleeding body, and the still standing corpse of a Curse, the blackened barrier disappated into nothing.

---

Cobalt came to on a cleared counter. It hurt to move.
Of course, Jewel was standing right beside him. She had managed to bandage her arm and forehead.

He gave her a smile.

"...Did we win?"

She seemed to wipe something off her face, before looking down at him.

"...Yes, we won a single fight, one in which you almost killed yourself."
"But... I am alive."

Jewel sighed.

"Yeah. I guess."
"And you're alive?"
"Yes, Sherlock. Lucky you. I'm no combat medic, speaking of. You need to take a look at our wounds and treat them properly in a bit."
"Yeah... okay..."

Straining himself, Cobalt already sat up, causing Jewel to exclaim in dumbfounded surprise. Gently but firmly, she pressed him back to the counter.

"Wha-!? Get back down, you idiot!"
"We don't have any time to waste..."
"You're gonna waste yourself if you move like that! We should at least take the day off from moving! This abandoned convenience store should be good enough!"
"But I'm the tactical genius..."
"You're delirious! From blood loss!"

Cobalt looked into Jewel's eyes.
Maybe he should relent this time.

"Fiiiiine..."
"Good!"

"..."
"..."

Cobalt shifted.

"'Open Screen'."

On cue, the phantasmal screen appeared above him, and he weakly extended an arm to fiddle with it.

"What are you doing?"
"We should at least take this chance to educate ourselves further, right?"
"...Yeah, okay. 'Open Screen'."