Work Text:
Saying that Giacomo felt sick would be an understatement. It was like a swarm of Vivillon were fighting in his stomach as a pit was dug beneath them. Maybe it was because the school in general held bad memories or perhaps because the very group he had fought for could now crumble in front of him. The early January sun streamed in through the many windows and caused a glare to appear on his computer. Giacomo frowned as he tried to tilt himself at an angle to reduce the glare. He eventually found a place that worked before turning back to the music. It was too quiet for his liking. Star were never silent, even when working on projects there was always some noise but now there was nothing.
Giacomo's frown deepened as he looked towards his friends. They all looked as scared as he felt despite how hard they were trying to mask it. there was no way to hide the paranoid glances and restless hands. The laptop shut with a click as Giacomo stood up. "It might not be as bad as we think it will be, maybe we can have a nice civil talk?" He didn't even believe the words he was saying.
Mela looked up from the floor for the first time in nearly an hour and scowled. "Why should we do that? He's just going to spout some bullshit about us being truants and expel us." She flopped back into the chair and closed her eyes. Giacomo sighed and sat down in front of the chair where Atticus was sitting in. Atticus somehow managed to look both unaffected by the situation and on the edge of a panic attack at once. His hands were rapidly moving in the same way they did when he was sewing.
"Momo? What are they going to do to us?" Eri whispered. Giacomo turned to look over to where she sat at the other side of the small hall. Her coat was pulled around her shoulders and her black tiara was now crooked. Parts of her face paint were smudged with tears. Giacomo walked over to where she was sitting and started to fix the headpiece.
"I'm not sure, but what I do know is that no matter what we're gonna keep on shining brighter than the sun, no matter what he says." Giacomo smiled in a way that he hoped was reassuring. Eri's face crumpled and she started to cry again but muttered her thanks to Giacomo before covering her mouth to stifle the sobs.
A door creaked behind them before the conversation could go on for any longer. The group of students swiveled their heads towards the new sound only to see that it was Mr. Clavell (or at least that was what they though his name was) poking his head out. "Please join me in my office," he said with a fake smile on his lips. The squad bosses shuffled into the slightly open door before everyone had entered and the door creaked shut. Clavell sat behind his desk with the same smile as before. Giacomo couldn't trust it, he couldn't risk it.
Everyone stayed quiet for what seemed like forever, all trying to find the perfect first words. Mela eventually stomped towards the director and slammed her hands on the desk. "Alright, what's the deal? If you wanna expel us be quick about it, we have bases to attend to." Mela never was one to mice words. Clavell just continued to gaze at the group like they were an experiment gone wrong.
(Maybe they were, one about why not to bully people and why to actually do something about it instead of just ignoring it until everything gets even worse for the kids and then...)
Giacomo didn't even realize the director had begun to speak until he heard the last half of the sentence. "...and why you all are so obstinate about staying at your bases." Clavell had barely finished his sentence when Ortega chimed up for the first time since arriving.
"Well, since you're so curious Clive I'll tell you. We have people relying on us for everything. Shelter, Food, Safety and much more that you couldn't even imagine. If we leave, the squad falls apart and then you have probably close to eighty kids who have nowhere safe to go. So much for being the villains huh." His words were laced with so much venom that you could mistake him for a poison type trainer, though no one had the heart to tell him off for being so brazen. He was right.
Atticus took a step forward, bowing before the director before launching into a tirade of his own. "Thou had much nerve to disguise you're true identity. ye expect us to trust thou thou when thee had the gall to deceive us like a villain." The normally calm tone of his voice now seemed strained. Giacomo and Eri continued to stand silently in the back.
The air hung in the room as both parties did nothing but stare. Giacomo had to suppress a grimace as the weight of his friends words hit him. They had both just insulted the director of their school (one much more elegantly than the other) and didn't seem apologetic. The worst thing was that they both were right. If any of the bosses left and the bases fully shut down, so many kids would be left with no home. Hell, many would end up in a ditch somewhere or floating in the ocean. Clavell did lie to them about who he was. no one truly thought he was the teenage student he said he was but everyone just seemed to think he was an older student. How was anyone supposed to know he was the new director? It wasn't fair. The director cleared his throat before beginning to speak once more.
"If you all would just return to school then we could sort something out. Everyone could be safe like how they are at your bases but have support from the staff as well. you all are much too young to be responsible for that many people." This time it was Giacomo who felt anger bubblin up beneath his skin.
"Yeah because you did a miraculous job of helping us before," Giacomo said with a monotone drawl. He didn't care that it was new people, they couldn't help once so why would they help now. Even if they did come back who's to say that there isn't just new bullies who will target them and what f there was still bullying going on at the school and they were just ignoring it again and what if-
Giacomo felt a hand snaking around his own. He looked over to see Eri trying to grip his hand in her own ones. He gave her a soft smile and was please when she returned the expression. They still had each other. That's all that mattered. "Now back to our original question," Mela said. "Why did you want to talk to us in the first place?"
Clavell sighed and pushed his small glasses further up his nose. "I was going to ask you all to just stay until sunset." Before anyone could start yelling again he held up his hands in an attempt to placate the group. "Your boss has agreed to show themselves in the courtyard for one final battle at sunset, if you could just stay until then we can discuss this discourse later." Giacomo couldn't believe it. The boss was finally back! All they needed to do was stick it out until the sun started to set and then the boss could tell them the right plan. It would be perfect.
A wave of understanding passes through the room. "Fine," Ortega said. "But if boss decides that the smartest move is to leave then we will follow their orders." Clavell only smiled and finally let them leave the stuffy room
----
The air had a new chill to it and the sun dipped below the horizon. All of the star admins were now huddled against each other behind a bush in an attempt to prevent the shiver threatening to wrack through their bodies. The boss still hadn't shown up and Giacomo was starting to doubt the claim when the same student who had raided their squads walked onto the court, followed closely by Clavell who was dressed up in his stupid disguise.
(How would he like it if we lied about who we were? Would he be impressed?)
A new figure walked through the yard. They looked small with a hoodie covering most of their frame and their face covered by the hood itself. A large Eevee backpack swayed with every step they took. Words started to come out of the new persons mouth but they all were lost to the wind. The hoos was finally removes to reveal what seemed to be a girl, not much older than Ortega. Her hair was short and dyed red and blue while large glasses rested on her face. It didn't conjure the look that he had imagines but there was still an immense amount of power behind her movements. One thing carried through the wind; "I'm the big boss of Team Star. The name's Cassiopeia—No...Penny!"
Battle broke out soon after and the Eevee back made much more sense. A horde of Eeveelutions came to fight, and fight they did. It was tense to watch as It was left to the final Pokemon. Watching both sides Terastallize was mesmerizing. Star never used Terastal in the traditional sense as none of them had the orb necessary. The tension finally fell as Sylveon fell to the ground.
It was over.
It couldn't be over. They still needed to help people, they were all still needed at the bases. What was going to happen to all of the other members who couldn't come back to school? Giacomo tried to fight through the tears as all of the leaders left from their hiding spot to go and greet the boss properly. Ortega ran up and locked Penny in an embrace as everyone followed suit. The warmth felt nice against the rapidly cooling air and broken sobs met his ears. They weren't sad sobs though, they were happy to finally be meeting the boss and have her guidance once again. She could put it right.
Team Star wasn't going to burn up anytime soon.