"Ughhhh! Come on!"

Kumatora could no longer contain her frustration. Almost seething, she narrowed her eyes in concentration and focused all her powers on the boulder in front of her, lifting her hand.

PK Freeze, PK Freeze, PK frikkin' Freeze, damnit!

Sweat beaded her forehead now as she struggled to practice her newly expanded PK Freeze power.

The boulder trembled, and Kumatora lit up, preparing to do the silliest of victory dances, perhaps the one she'd always known back in Osohe-

-after several seconds, nothing happened. The boulder did not turn to ice. It didn't even get cold.

Lowering her hand, Kumatora bit her tongue, her nostrils flaring. This was not her. Kumatora, a kickass PSI user, unable to harness one of her earliest manifested abilities. Clenching her fist, Kumatora stomped towards the boulder, and with all her rage, let out a frustrated yell and aimed a hard kick at the rock.

The frustrated yell became a howl in pain. Kumatora hopped on her good foot, holding her injured one while screaming, "Ow, ow, ow, ow, OW! DAMNIT!"

She fell on her bottom in the grassy plain, exclaiming several swear words and cursing the boulder that wouldn't agree with her. She hated being useless. Just a few days ago they were fighting a Pork Trooper-a simple enemy!-and Kumatora couldn't use ANY of her PSI abilities because of this new one she gained. Because of it, Boney had gotten hurt. They had to return to Tazmily just to get some rest until Boney healed properly.

What was easy to her was suddenly difficult. Everything was difficult now-Kumatora couldn't concentrate, couldn't sleep right. Huffing in frustration, Kumatora laid down on her back, the sunlight blinding her as she closed her eyes, wanting desperately for everything to just come easy to her again. She slowly counted to ten, struggling to calm down. Although he was younger than her, she'd surprisingly learned a lot from Lucas. This was one of those things.

Count to ten, let it all simmer down.

"Kumatora?"

She didn't bother opening her eyes as she recognized the newcomer's voice. Placing a hand over her closed eyes, she sighed, "What's up, Duster?"

The thief was knelt down beside her, a curious light in his eyes, but his voice was calm and laid back as he raised one eyebrow at her, "Well, good news. Boney's mostly healed up. We can continue our travels soon."

"Great." Kumatora didn't sound too thrilled, and Duster took notice. Something was obviously bothering her. Blinking, he tried another tactic,

"Boney's been whining a lot since he woke up. Lucas and I think he's looking for you. You were always good with animals, I hear." he lightly smiled.

Kumatora only hummed in reply.

Duster blinked again, his smile fading. He waited.

Kumatora felt her frustration overflowing from her stomach, to her throat, and suddenly it all poured out of her,

"I hate this stupid ability I have. I hate when they're not consistent. I hate it."

"Why do you hate it?" Duster asked calmly.

"It's stupid. It's inconsistent. I try to do one stupid, simple, stupid thing and it doesn't freaking work," Kumatora's hands began swinging around and her eyes opened as she continued ranting,

"I mean, you've seen me in fights. I can pummel some enemies easily with my PSI abilities, like BAM!" she smirked as she slammed her right fist into her outstretched left hand, "Turn 'em into dust or freezing piles of ice! But lately, it's just..."

Her hands fell limp to her sides and stuck her tongue out, "Blech. Hit and miss. And because I can't get it right, Boney got hurt and now we're stuck here, while these stupid Pork Chops could already have all the Needles. All because of this stupid, inconsistent, and irritating ability."

There was a long pause. After a while, Kumatora thought Duster had fallen asleep. Slowly turning to look at him, she was a little surprised to see Duster indeed awake, staring intently at her.

Kumatora blinked, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. She scowled, crossing her arms, "What?"

Duster shook his head, "Nothing. It's just..." he trailed off.

Pause. "What?" Kumatora prodded on impatiently.

Duster chuckled, a small smile adorning his somewhat shabby features,

"...You think too much."

Anger filled Kumatora now as she rose to her feet, "You mean to tell me after I tell you all these stupid insecurities I have, you tell me I'm thinking too much? That's your solution for me?"

Duster rose now to his full height, looking down somewhat to meet Kumatora's eyes, "All I'm saying is you need to calm down. Quiet your thoughts and insecurities and just let go. Instead of focusing on all the little details, sometimes you need to look at the bigger picture."

As Kumatora's anger began to fade into slow realization, he patted her once on the shoulder,

"I'm gonna check on Lucas and Boney. I'm sure they're getting ready for us to head out again."

With that, he left her standing on the plain, Kumatora watching him as he left. After a while, Kumatora stared at her right hand, then sighed as Duster's words of advice echoed in her mind. She scanned the plain until she found her boulder, and closed her eyes, lifted her hand, and quieted her overthinking mind. The insecurities and little details left her, and all that remained was her, Duster, Lucas, and Boney, the four of them fighting for one cause.

Her mind quiet and calm, Kumatora let out a breath and proclaimed,

"PK Freeze!"

Her outstretched hand suddenly felt cold, but Kumatora did not lose focus. When her hand finally warmed, she slowly opened her eyes to see the result, if there was any.

Sure enough, there sat the boulder, covered in snow and ice. Letting her arm drop, Kumatora stared at the boulder, letting her accomplishment sink in.

Finally, after a long moment, Kumatora thrust her fist in the air, and kicked her foot up proudly, shouting, "BOO-YAH! The PSI Queen of Kickass is back! Ha, haaa! Thanks, Duster!

With pride in her step, she marched back to Lucas' house, ready for any new obstacles that would come their way.