Rebeca’s eyes shifted from person to person, simmering. The foam, for her, wasn’t actually all that uncomfortable; she’d been in much colder situations. Startling, yes. Annoying, certainly. But uncomfortable? No. The attention it drew to her, however, was far more so. Concerned looks in her direction, a relatively disturbing attempt to clean her up, hurried apologies, all of which did little improve her mood. 

The Porygon-Z’s comment was surprising to her. She had known from the beginning that she was warmer than everyone else. How could she not, given what she could do? But to be THAT hot? News to her, she hadn’t had her temperature taken since she was 10. 

And then the green-haired guy decided to crack a joke, for which the pink-haired girl immediately began chastising him for. Or at least, she thought it was supposed to be a joke. If so, the only response it gained from her was an irritated glare, and though she wasn’t aware of it, her eyes began to glow slightly. In truth, she didn’t even hear the girl’s words.

Then Maya began visibly squirming and chittering in discomfort, startling her out of her focus on the situation. She glanced down, where the Kabuto’s eyes were peering up at her through the collar of her shirt. The Porygon-Z was right; she WAS getting hotter. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath through her nose, then released it through her mouth, almost imperceptible heatwaves emerging with it as her hand absently come up to reassure the infant Pokemon. “[color=red]Shhh shhshh.[/color]” This did succeed in calming her, though her legs continued to lightly squeeze around her chest to express her continued displeasure.

After a couple more breaths, Rebeca opened her eyes, her voice possessing an oddly steady calmness. The pink-haired girl was now glowing rather brightly (seemed she wasn’t the only one who wasn’t in complete control of themselves), and was arguing with the green-haired man. Almost everyone else seemed occupied with their own concerns; yes, she had no desire to be here whatsoever. “[color=red]I think there has been some mistake. I am not what you think I am, I was just looking for some work. Obviously there isn’t, so I’m leaving now.[/color]”

She turned away to do so, but was stopped cold when Mihkail snarled at her. The sound was loud and angry as it echoed off the walls, catching the attention of the entire group as he firmly planted himself in Rebeca’s way, fangs bared, head lowered and spine raised as if he was going to charge. For a moment, Rebeca was astonished. Mihkail had never been so visibly angered towards her before. “[color=red]Mihkail, get out of the way.[/color]”

The Spike Pokemon snarled again. [i][color=e25822]No.[/color][/i]

Rebeca gritted her teeth and tried to step around him, only for him to lunge into her path, as much as his short legs would allow him to, the ground cracking audibly beneath his weight. [i][color=red]I wasn’t asking, Mihkail. Move.[/color][/i]

[i][color=e25822]No. You are being childish, stubborn and stupid, Rebeca.[/color][/i]

[i][color=red]Fuck you. I am not staying with these people, and I am not joining any stupid tournament.[/color][/i]

[i][color=e25822]These people are like yourself. Yes, granted, first impressions have not been spectacular, but still. How can you not take this opportunity to learn from them? It seems like a no-brainer to me. Besides, you used to like fighting.[/color][/i]

Rebeca’s hands clenched into tight fists, and Maya began squirming again. [i][color=red]It’s not happening, Mihkail. I am not some circus Ursaring to be put on display for everyone to gawk at![/color][/i]

Mihkail roared. [i][color=e25822]No, you are not! But you cannot honestly tell me that you didn’t have an audience when you were six![/color][/i]

[i][color=red]That is completely different! That was fighting for the sake of fighting! This is a fucking performance by attention-seekers too preoccupied with themselves to actually give a damn![/color][/i]

[i][color=e25822]Get over yourself Rebeca. You know NOTHING about these people, and I’ve seen the impressions that you’ve left on people before. You are not the picture of innocence.[/color][/i]

[i][color=red]Dammit Mihkail, I am not going to hurt anyone![/color][/i]

At that point, Maya had had enough. Giving her “mother” one last chitter of displeasure, the Kabuto slid down her body to emerge from the bottom of her shirt, scrambled down her legs to the floor, and scuttled next to Mihkail. The amount of heat radiating off of Rebeca could now easily be felt more than a foot away from her, and were it not for her gloves, her nails would have pierced her palms from the amount of pressure inside her clenched fists. 

Mihkail himself grew notably quiet, though far from cowed. [i][color=e25822]Ah.[/color][/i] He paused for a moment to allow Maya to clamber onto his back, where she nervously watched the group of humans. [i][color=e25822]Rebeca, look at these people. You saw what they are capable of. Out of everyone in the world, they are the least likely that you could harm. As for everyone else, I get it. I do. But this could be a place where you learn more about yourself and how to best control yourself. How to use what you are capable of. You owe that to yourself. And if others happen to see it, so what? Since when have you ever given a damn what others have thought about you? Do you really think that you would be put in a situation where you could harm those who couldn’t take it? That you wouldn’t stop yourself in such a situation? Have a little faith on yourself, Rebeca.[/color][/i]