[RP] Cycles of Power (T-M)

[Death's Spook]

[Banner by Princess Crow]

“Mass death marks the coming of the twin deceivers… Heroes die, heroes fall… Powers beyond mortal ken… Prepare them, hero who was, heroine to be!”

Five years after Michael saved the Orre region from Cipher, a frantic Fateen burst into the lab where he was working as a researcher and choked out those fateful final words to him and his apprentice before seizing up in agony. Both Michael and his apprentice attempted to resuscitate, but Fateen was dead before they could give her medical care.

Michael, though a scientist, knew he had powerful enemies (including one who specifically swore revenge), so he took Fateen’s words to heart. So for the next 5 years, he began to prepare the lab to take on Cipher again. He drilled his apprentice and everyone else in the lab in all the systems in the lab, trained as many people in battle, even taught hand to hand and as many other forms of combat as possible. Aura readers were mass distributed and the Purify Chamber was greatly refined as information on Shadow Pokemon was made public.

But never did Michael imagine the form that “mass death” would take. For one day, as Jovi walked back from a visit with a friend, as she went to hug her big brother, her backpack exploded. It killed her, Michael, and nearly everyone in the lab as it took it destroyed the structure. And with that, Cipher announced itself.

Michael’s apprentice survived the attack, and, though young, she was also one of the most skilled researchers, and so took over the administration and coordination of the remainder. But, though she was intelligent, she did not anticipate what happened next.

Randomly, inexplicably, and with no known trigger, people started getting powers.

For the next seven years, not only did people struggle to survive against mundane threats, they had to beware of other people shooting fire out of their eyes or building nukes out of vacuum cleaners. And these powerful people, these parahumans, were far from safe, either. Cipher has been attempting to recruit or extort parahumans, trying to make sure that their side has more human weaponry. Cipher has been using these parahumans to dangerous extents, employing them to steal, murder, and all around destroy the infrastructure of Orre. In conjunction with their renewed production and use of the infamous Shadow Pokemon, they have seized a fair amount of territory in the region.

The Lab, meanwhile, has gone all out, recruiting its own parahumans to the lab run Organization, while applying its many scientific minds to figure out the deal with powers as incentive to attract parahumans. They have already made a fair amount of progress, establishing the correlation between having powers and being in certain places at certain times, which they have termed Clusters. They enable parahumans under their employ to train further with their abilities and give them a support network of others like them, in exchange for using them as an army to combat Cipher’s evil.

So where do you stand in this war? Are you aiding the Pokemon HQ lab and the Organization, helping to combat evil? Are you a member of Cipher, attempting to sate your desire for power? Or are you independent, serving your own interests before anyone else’s, not wanting to get caught up in a war everyone else is trying to drag you into?

---

Sara Sage
The Organization/The Lab
The Deep Laboratory

Being a Tinker, in Sara's opinion, was pretty awesome most of the time. Working on gadgets didn't feel like work, and pulling out some new contraption in a fight to surprise an opponent (or even an ally) was just plain sweet. But then there were rare occasions that it could be downright frustrating.

Like right now.

Sara let out a long stream of words that were by no definition lady-like as a small piece of greenish metal fell to the floor from her Aegislash. Hippolyta gave her a look and said, "You know, turning your Pokemon into cyborgs is not super high priority. Especially when a basic use of phasing makes all modifications just fall out."

The parahuman glared at her companion,"You know this is supposed to help you, right?"

"Yes, I am perfectly aware. However, it is currently noon. We have been locked up in here since 8 in the morning. Yesterday. Certainly there are better things you can be doing with your time. Like, oh, sleeping."


Sara rolled her eyes at the Aegislash,"I don't sleep, Hippolyta. Remember? It's the first thing I took care of."

"And while you have more hours in the day, now, you still have other needs. Like eating. I do not believe I have seen you eat anything for the past day and a half. Or recreation. Take advantage of the lull in the action before it goes away. Haven't you had any fun recently?"

Sara feebly replied,"This is fun."

"Yes, I can tell based off of all the new curse words I learned. But seriously, get some fresh air or something. Eat, go out with a friend, or hell, even get some acti-"

Sara flushed and turned a murderous stare toward her Pokemon,"I am perfectly fine. Thank you."

It would have been a lot more convincing if it did not perfectly coincide with a loud rumble from Sara's stomach, which she promptly ignored as she continued working.

"Molly"
Neutral
Ruined Cipher Laboratory

"The aura of this place disturbs me, Molly. Why are we here?"

The girl turned to her Lucario companion, "We’re here in no small part because of this disturbing aura, Matthew. It is a place where violence and evil and heroism and profit and selflessness all intersect. And it is where we need to be."

Matthew gave his companion a sidelong glance, "You know, I’m a Lucario. We’re supposed to be all over that mystic ‘I know and you don’t’ ****. And being on the receiving end really pisses me off. I don’t like it."

"I never asked you to like it, Matthew. I asked you to assist me. You agreed to do so, in exchange for the service I am providing you."

And Molly sat cross legged in the dirt, clearly ending the conversation.

Benjamin "Benji" Verres
Cipher
Phenac City Cipher HQ

"It’s interesting, the difference in sound when you bounce the baseball in front of a wall versus out in the open."

The young (barely) teenaged woman tied up in the chair glared at the man in the garish pink suit before spitting at him. He wiped his face off before continuing:

"Oh come now, was that really necessary? I was just bouncing a baseball. I’m making it a game, see. I try to figure out if I can hear if there’s a wall in the way. There’s no reason to be so angry."

The young woman almost literally snarled, "I know who you are, Benjamin. I know you use baseballs to attack. I know you’re taunting me."

"Honestly? Really? How do you know? What if I’m trying to just make polite conversation? Name one evil thing I’ve done."

"You tied me up-"

"The grunts, not me."

"You sent a half a guy’s head in the ma-"

"Was he really that good of a person to start with?"

"You’re going to torture m-"

"You don’t know that. After all, how low would I have to be to torture a 13 year old girl? Tell you what. I’ll forgive you for your assumptions. As long as you do me a favor."

"I’ll never do anything for-"

Benjamin held up a hand, "Now now, it’s not a costly favor. In fact, it’s one that I think you’d be glad to do. Tell me what you’d do if you were not bound by those ropes and had one of your Pokemon with you. Say, your Milotic."

The girl eyed him warily, "You’re going to kill me if you don’t like the answer."

"It’s more probable that I’ll kill you if I do."

"I’d kill you first thing. Have Adrian completely blast your head off with a Hydro Pump. Afterwards, it would hardly matter to you."

Benjamin let out a high pitched laugh. "Alright, fine. Let’s find out, shall we?"

Benjamin walked over to his desk and pulled out a Pokeball and a knife. He threw the knife and used his power to make sure that it would have enough force to cut through the knot that held the girl in the chair. He handed her the Pokeball and pulled out was appeared to be a parasol. The girl looked at him in disbelief as she shook herself free.

"Really?"

"That’s your Milotic. Now show me what you’ll do."

"You’re tricking me."

"I fancy myself a bit of a trickster. However, I’m genuinely curious as to how you’ll manage this. Show me."

The girl shrugged, then sent out her Milotic, screaming, "Adrian, Hydro Pump!"

The Milotic didn’t even twitch. Not a bit.

“Adrian, come on! It’s me, Alexis! Remember? Hydro Pump that man!”

The Milotic still didn’t move. The girl kept getting more and more flustered, until it slowly dawned on her why her Milotic was not listening to her.

It’s that dawning moment of pure horror that’s so much fun.

Benjamin smiled, "Shadow Sky."

The Milotic finally moved, letting out an orb of pure darkness and shadow up into the air. The girl screamed as the first flares of light hit her bare skin, cutting her open and leaving her bloody. But not killing her. Not for a long time.

As the flashes of light bounced off of Benjamin’s parasol, he hummed to himself in time with the girl’s screams.

Eventually, what was left of the girl’s corpse was wrapped in Shadow Pokemon’s coils. Benjamin grabbed the Pokeball out her flayed hand and returned the Milotic.

To more himself than anyone else, "Well, that was fun. Although I have no need for this Shadow in particular. And I am now boooooooooooooored! Hm. What to do, what to do… Oh! I know!"

Pushing a button for the PA, Benjamin’s voice was heard all over base. "Asty, Cassie! Please come to my office! I have surprises for you!"

Today is going to be a good day.

[VeloJello]

Thomas Otone.
Organization Leader.
Lab.
Affected Roleplayers: Death’s Spook.

Twitch. Munch crackers, drink coffee. Practice fine motor skills by tricking gravity into thinking that water should only be dripping out of an upturned cup drop by single drop. More crackers. Diffuse arguments between Alto and Torrent for the umpteenth time. Cuddles for Alana. Check the clock again. And again. And -

“How many of those have you eaten?”

Thomas started at Eran’s polite inquiry. The Sylveon was sitting on the arm of the chair next to him, his ribbons carefully wrapped around his paws as was his custom, so that no one thought he was quietly manipulating people. When Thomas didn’t immediately respond, he quietly nudged the emptied plastic sleeve into view. “Keep at it and you’ll make yourself sick,” he chided.

“Don’t remind me,” Thomas muttered. “Have you seen Sara at all?”

Since he was already pretty sure he knew the answer, he wasn’t surprised when Eran shook his head. “She’s been in there for a whole day. I don’t even think she’s stopped to sleep.”

With a groan, Thomas rose. “She doesn’t sleep. I’m going to go and get her; she may not sleep, but she needs food like the rest of us do. I’m really sick of her pulling this kind of stuff.”

Eran looked thoughtful for a moment. “I know you’re hungry, too. It’s been a quiet week, maybe quiet enough for the two of you to go and grab a bite somewhere. It might help both of you relax.”

“Why would I want to do that?” asked Thomas. “She’s going to want to kill me for interrupting her, least of all asking her to actually physically go somewhere.”

For a second, Eran almost looked sad. “It’s just a suggestion. And when I said it’d help both of you relax, I meant that she’s not the only one who needs it.”

There wasn’t much Thomas could say to that. “Yeah, okay.” He turned and walked away, but he could feel Eran watching him every step of the way until he vanished around a corner.

He didn’t bother with the door; he was fully aware that if he opened it, at least six types of death trap would kill him simultaneously. Instead, he banged on it as hard as he could without hurting his knuckles. “Sara!” he yelled. “Sara, for Arceus’s sake, you need to take a break and eat something! You’ve been in there for over twenty-four hours and it’s time for lunch! Please come out for at least a few minutes and get something to eat?”

Cassandra Fitz.
Cipher Admin.
Phenac Cipher HQ.
Affected Roleplayers: Death’s Spook, possibly Winter.

The sounds of a Meganium and Mismagius humming in time made for an interesting melody - one voice feminine, calm, and high; the other deep and smooth with just the faintest rasping edge to it. But Vadim and Concordia made the song work almost as well as the hellish mixture the latter was brewing using ingredients provided by the former. Cassandra watched, intrigued, as they worked. “What are you making, Vadim?”

The Mismagius didn’t respond for a moment, absorbed in the task of measuring some sort of sweet-smelling green liquid into a bowl. “Pulped Worry Seed,” he murmured, “plus Rage Powder from a Carnivine friend and a trace of Sleep Powder to decrease concentration. The mixture should send anyone affected by it into a terrified frenzy and have them killing whatever they can get their hands on - ideally, their allies. It’ll need a test run, of course, when next we go out collecting Organization heads, mayhap -”

"Asty, Cassie! Please come to my office! I have surprises for you!"

The rather loud announcement almost caused Vadim to drop his poison. “D*mn,” he muttered. “Another time, then. We’ll wait here for you.”

Cassandra nodded, then headed off to Benjamin’s office. “Afternoon, sir,” she said. “You wanted to see me?”

[Liiammmm]

Jessica Saunders.
The Organization / The Lab.
Area surrounding Agate Village.

"You gotta be faster!" Jessica called out to her Talonflame, Jake. "Don't think about the action, just act, you sometimes only get one shot!"
"Easier said than done..." Jake murmured under his breath, dashing through the trees and leaving smoldering embers in his wake. Jessica had been working him hard, claiming that his speed needed desperate improvements. He saw nothing wrong with his speed, he got everything done well, but he knew not to question Jessica's judgement.
"Fire ball headed your way, go through the center of it!" Jessica called out, whipping her arm in a jerky manner. A pulsating red ball of energy shot out of the palm of her hand and hurtled towards an opening between a set of trees. In moments, Jake had swung around the surrounding tree trunks and had pierced through the heart of the energy ball, leaving small remnants of flame to fade away into wisps in the crisp air. Another ball of energy caught him by surprise and clipped his wing, causing him to hurtle to the ground. With one wing he stabilized his descent, and with a powerful flap of his other he sent himself flying into the grasps of his trainer.
"You also need to never lose yourself in the pride of your moment." Jessica teased him, lightly tapping his beak before burying her face in Jake's feathery plume.
"Well you need to stop firing these balls at me, it's really quite the nuisance." Jake retorted, softly pecking his trainer on the cheek.
"What can I say?" Rubbing her finger tips together, Jessica emitted small sparks of energy, electrifying and energizing the air. "I like to be spontaneous sometimes."
"And I like to not be bombarded by mysterious balls of energy."
"Well that's too bad, mister. Come on, let's go. I'm sure the rest of the gang are wondering what's taking us so long, and I bet mum has something cooked by now."
Jake simply rolled his eyes and glided down towards the forest ground. Jessica leaped from the branch that she had been stood upon, and swung her arm upwards. As she was about to hit the ground, the air around her shimmered and her descent was slowed and nearly halted, allowing her to softly hit the solid ground.
"Weirdo." Jake taunted, dashing forwards and out of the path of an incoming ball of crackling and shining energy. "Ice is cheating."
"Then I'm a dirty cheater!" Jessica yelled, firing another ball at Jake and chasing him through the forest and into Agate Village.



Sam Webster.
Neutral.
Pyrite Town.

A dank and run down warehouse seemed like the perfect location for torture. No screams, no shouts, no help for the damned. Pyrite Town had become the perfect cesspool for these kinds of activities, and Sam reveled in the twisted beauty of it. Nobody asked, nobody questioned, everybody just got on with surviving in the ways that they knew how. Sam had received a call the night previously, and in the early hours of the morning he had taken the target that he needed. Almost half a day later, his interrogation had nearly been completed.

"Some say that screams are psychopathy's greatest allies. Granted they're the screams of those that oppose the psychopath. They let someone know that they're doing their job right." Sam Webster took a deep breath, mulling over his situation. "But would you call me a psychopath, if you only looked at yourself in the mirror? I bet I look a lot more normal than you do. Go on, do it."
Stood like a soldier, a young man performed a slow turn, his eyes clamped shut and his teeth biting into his lip. Small droplets of blood ran down onto his chin, and tears of frustration and agony leaked out of his eyes.
"I said..." Sam paused momentarily, savouring the moment. "Look at yourself!" Sam flicked his hand up, and the man's eyes opened in sync, taking in his appearance in a large mirror that dangled upon a wall. His face had been bleached a sickly white, his eyes darkened, his lips and cheeks cut and bloody. A sinister and ghoulish smile was plastered onto his face, and his arms were disfigured and bent into unnatural ways. You did this all to yourself, you know? You had a bit of... outside help, but it's all your own doing."
"You're sick! You should be loc-" With a swift movement of Sam's arms, the man silenced and bent at the waist, almost snapped in two. With muffled cries and squeals, the young man crumpled into a lifeless heap.
"You people break so easily, but no matter. You gave me all I needed to know a few hours ago without realising it. The torture was just for funsies." With a twitch in his eye, Sam practically skipped out of the warehouse that he had been occupying. "Make it look like an accident, you guys." He muttered to his Gardevoir and Banette, before pulling out a small phone and walking past them. Punching a few digits into the phone, he placed it by his mouth. "I have what you want to know, leave the payment at our arranged location and I'll leave the intel. Have a pleasant day." Giggling to himself, Sam now strutted down the streets of Pyrite Town, occasionally cutting his giggling short with a solemn and serious expression, before resuming it once more.

[The Nonexistent Tazz]

Clydus 'Corkscrew' Lomata
Neutral
Ruined Cipher Laboratory

Clydus was pretty much a Nomad at this point. He didn't exactly have any set patterns or anything, just places safe and sound from the conflict and all the factions.

In a sense, they were all a**holes. Cipher was the biggest one by far and away, but he saw the recruitment attempts by the Organization to be about as much of a deathtrap as waltzing onto Cipher HQ, and the Mt. Battle folks are a secluded bunch who probably wouldn't accept Corkscrew...And for that matter, it was his goal to get away from Orre and to the more fertile lands of Hoenn. He honestly would like to see the war over with and peace restored, but Clydus was not a soldier, not a fighter, and dislikes the idea of killing others. This place was living hell, and everyone with a brain knew it. You either stood your ground for a faction, which would make it somewhat LESS of a living hell, or you get out of here completely, and Clydus liked the second choice better. The second choice meant none of them could get at you for their recruitment into a war that would inevitably end well for only one faction. In that sense, even the general good-guy-ness of the Organization and/or Lab (they couldn't decide on a name) was quite dampened by that. Really, Clydus saw no option but to escape.

He had to keep moving-Cipher, though brutal, was eager to get him on their side, and Clydus was not joining any side of this bloodshed. He was just looking out for money, food, and a way out. Orre was surprisingly lacking in airports, and the trek to the nearest region that wasn't Orre was death incarnate, barring if you were a champion or the like. Then it was only incredibly daunting. By Clydus'es standards, sea routes were the only way out.

Sadly, only a few kind of Pokemon could cross the sea-four, in fact. Kyogre was a legend, so that was out already. The major predators-Jellicent and Tentacruel, the bane of all boats-would ironically keep the others at bay, as they would consider Clydus their prey, and let the duo pass to their 'territory.' Lastly, Wailord, which was just too big to stop. Everything else invariably died to the massive swarm of predators coming at their a**. The one issue with the entirety of that plan was that those Pokemon were basically never going to show themselves to his face for his control, apart from an ally. The only other option? Grab a ticket for a boat out of the region. War be d**med, Gaeton port would get you anywhere-at a cost, and it was one he couldn't pay as of current.

So, really, finding enough money to go to Gaeton port was his best and only option. Thus far.

He pulled out a Poke Ball, and sent out his best and oldest buddy and friend in the whole wide world, Caliox the Hippopotas. He wondered why he never evolved the thing-but then again. Caliox didn't find himself in too many fights, especially after Clydus obtained Brutaeus.

"Caliox, we'll be moving across the Desert. I'll need a Sandstorm rolling before we go anywhere." Clydus said to Caliox. It didn't respond outside of nodding to Corkscrew: the poor thing was mute.

The Sandstorm deterred people from crossing him like nothing you could ever believe. Sure, all the people had crazy supernatural powers, but a surprisingly small amount of them dealt with dissipating a simple sandstorm. It had a surprising effect on powers-several people he met literally attempted to blast him to oblivion only to die because the projectile hit a piece of airborne sand and exploded immediately, or the shots themselves whittled in strength on the way to Clydus, making hits survivable. For a region where deserts were everywhere, you'd think they'd have a lot of stuff to deal with it, and you'd be right, but it was a force good enough to screw with powers like nobody's business. Granted, eventually he'd meet someone with control over the wind or something like that, and then it would backfire in his face, but until then, he was good. Time to leave this broken lab.

The ruined Cipher Laboratory...It was much more calming than it sounded. Very few people went here-this time, he was alone whist he slept. He hardly considered it a base, but his nomadic travels led him here several times in the past, and he's not seen any signs of territorial Shadow Pokemon-at least not in the past. He's still kept an eye and an ear out for those things. Nearly had his crotch bitten off by a Shadow Trapinch once, owned by a trainer attempting to purify it. The loss of his crotch was a fate narrowly adverted by sheer luck, and he'd rather not repeat it.

He started to move on. He knew of a nearby oasis that had several berries and whatnot for him to eat, which was typically what he did. He needed to save up that money for the trip to Hoenn. He originally spent money to get food at one point, but he started to avoid civilization entirely once the 4th cluster was reported to be in Phenac city-AKA, the new Cipher HQ.

It was a shame, really. The boost in Parahuman power Cipher got from that really screwed with his hopes the war would be done early due to the heavy Parahuman lean on the side of the Organization. But he was not interested in helping the war effort anyway. For either side.

He hoped he didn't get found by some 'random bystander'. They had a habit of being a**holes, Cipher-related or no.

...

Harold 'Ditto' Jackson
The Organization/The Lab/Whatever it wants to call itself
Agate Village

Ho-hum. Another day working for the Organization. Or the Lab.

Honestly, if he was in charge, the first thing he would do is make sure it had an official name to clear all doubt, rather than having two equally applicable names. He's seen utterly no preference from anyone he's spoken to on the matter. Rather weird.

If this was some odd attempt to confuse Cipher, it was failing spectacularly. It would take someone particularly simple-minded to not notice they were one and the same.

Regadless, he hadn't ACTUALLY been called to duty yet. You could say he really wasn't working for the Lab, not right then and there...So he was currently digging his nose into a book, instead. Making some use of his time. Any good spy/recon person knew about where he was, where he would go, and basically, everything he could about the locations he would visit, or was already visiting. In this case, he was reading up on Agate town. To be more precise, he was reading about the odd stone pillar in Agate town.

Recent events-the first two occurrences of Cipher's attempt at takeover-have led many to believe it could cure the Shadow Condition from a Pokemon-which is otherwise irreversible by a human hand, even if they could come as close as possible to getting a Shadow normal. It was quite a powerful artifact, though rumor also had it that it was losing said power. Granted, it was mostly irrelevant at this point: The power it had inspired those purification machines who's name he forgot, so it didn't really matter if ONE purification method was lost, when the other was basically everywhere. CIPHER probably had a few of those fancy machines in case they made a mistake when making their Shadows. Didn't seem illogical.

The real kicker was who supposedly did the work: Celebi. Guardian of Time and Light. Supposedly, playing the correct flute with the correct tone at the statue would summon Celebi to do some deed, but only once-the only evidence that there was any relation to either at all.

The kind of power Celebi wielded would be a great boon for either side-Cipher OR Organization. It was incredibly powerful on its own, so it was inevitable that at least a few lunatics who believed in that nonsense would try to seek it out. Cipher would probably twist the thing into a Shadow itself, which would probably lead to a Pokemon who could instantly make other Shadows, mind control thousands...So on and so forth. Generic evil organization stuff. The Organization, on the other hand, would probably put those supposed purification powers to work, and basically use her (Celebi was highly rumored to be a girl) to remove one of the bigger advantages Cipher has-Shadow Pokemon. That would almost instantly turned the tide-Cipher's kind of audience typically included people that needed the kind of boost Shadows give to cover up for a lack of mental faculties. Remove their key source of power, and Cipher was basically doomed.

Of course...Harold didn't believe in stuff like that. They were myths and Legends. A lot of people CLAIMED to see them, but not one piece of evidence. Even the so-called Shadow Lugia that Cipher apparently managed to make was subject to a lot of rumor, and ultimately never made it on any media. It was likely the Legends simply didn't exist, or were abstractions of powerful Pokemon: A lot of people confused Arcanine for Entei due to sheer similarities, for instance.

It was still interesting though: if not powered by Celebi, then what gave the stone its powers?

It was confusing to the Dropout Aethist that was Harold, but he didn't really think too hard on this stuff. He just decided to keep on reading.

[seapegasus]

Aerin "Reaper" Averbaum
Neutral
Pyrite Super Grand Hotel

Reaper glanced out the window, hoping for the relentless sunlight to be fading. Nothing. Not even a millimeter lower In the sky. Reaper turned away in disgust. Sunlight was the worst way to see Pyrite-illuminating every criminal, bloodstain, and piece of trash for all the world to see. But there was nothing else to look at-the Super Grand Hotel's walls would give anyone a headache. Out of all of Pyrite, the Super Grand Hotel fit the town's name best-lured in by bright colors and high prices, Reaper got a room, expecting at least decent service, but received nothing but a room full of peeling paint and a cot. Fool's gold.
Resigned, Reaper Sat back down in front of the window, waiting patiently. Willow watched from the corner, exasperated.
"Shouldn't you eat something?" She asked gently.
"What's there to eat? I can't find any food in this place," Reaper replied, not moving from her position at the window. "Hunt me something to eat and I'll eat it," she glanced at Willow, a small smile on her face, but Reaper was only rewarded with a sad sigh. Reader's smile dropped off her face immediately. "Why do all my jokes fall flat..?" she mumbled, turning back towards the window.
"Why don't you sleep, at least?" Willow suggested. "You look very tired." Willow was right, of course. Heavy bags had accumulated under Reaper's from many nights awake, hard at work. Bloody and dangerous work, but work nonetheless.
"...You're right." Reaper replied finally, standing and moving to the lonely cot in the corner. The blanket had disappeared long ago, leaving only a forlorn pillow. Reaper lay down slowly, suddenly aware of the effort it took just to move. "We're going to Phenac today. Going to pay Cipher"-Reaper paused, yawning widely-"..a visit. Might as well be ready for it."
Willow nodded and trotted over towards Reaper. "I'll wake you up when the sun sets," she said, but to no avail. Reaper had already fallen asleep. Willow sighed and took a seat at the window.

[TheCaveMan]

Isaak Kämpfer
Neutral - Cipher Employed
Phenac City - Cipher HQ

I was sitting in my bunk, awake as usual. The night had passed by without so much as a wink of sleep, despite my best efforts. My hands clutched the sides of the bed tightly, white knuckles threatening to burst with any more pressure. I closed my eyes and tried to breathe deeply, exhale all the anger and fear. It didn't work. I forced myself to let go and lay back. Other grunts and soldiers stirred around me, waking up or getting ready for basic duty. We all silently understood each other pretty well, all silently moving within the complex machinery that was the Cipher Organization. "We're all just doing what we need to to stay alive and out of the fight," I mused, reaching for the bottle of ... whatever it was. My painkillers were in the cargo pants which hung sloppily over the dresser next to my bunk. I popped the bottle open quickly, rattling out two of the small pills. I thought I recognized them as the last of the flupirtine I had looted from some hostile grunt on my last mission, but with my tiredness all I saw was a pill which promised to bury those memories which robbed me of sleep and soothe the pain in my hands. I swallowed them quickly, not even needing water to take them with anymore. I waited a moment, and started getting dressed.

Today was supposed to be a boring day where I got to play wait and see if they need something with the higher ups. I was grateful for the down time, but it had been a week since my last op, and I was getting restless. I liked having distractions, and there wasn't really much to do around the grunts. They had their own routines, and most of them weren't interesting company. Not that I really wanted to talk to anyone anyways. When I did it was usually to have a target to practice on for training, but even that got boring since most of them knew my tricks, or feared to become one of the few cases where I had sent my ... less fortunate targets to the infirmary, often with broken bones, sometimes with emerging signs of psychosis. I twisted my neck as I walked around, waiting for that reassuring ... there it is ... *CRACK*.

I walked to the small room which was designated as my "waiting room". Whatever the hell that meant. It had a desk and two chairs, a pinboard, and a speaker from which I would receive my summons. I looked at the pinboard, which was still covered with intel from the last op ... building blueprints, notes on guard rotations, patrol routes, sticky notes littered with theorized camera locations. Weeks of spying, hacking, small scale infiltration. I started unpinning the board, abjectly placing papers together for the file. I looked over to the book case. It was filling up rapidly, binders of intel did that. There weren't too many which had been relevant recently, but it was good to keep that kind of stuff on hand. Never know when I might have to break into the same place again... I turned and looked at the binders. Cipher HQ, Pyrite Colosseum, Pyrite Jail, various buildings collectively placed in the Under, Agate Village, Mt. Battle... there weren't many places I hadn't visited in Orre, though my visits never seemed to come with invitations.

Yup. Today might just be a boring day. Damnit, please let there be an op for me...

[Popshakes]

Emmaline "Emma" Andersen.
Neutral - Is partial towards the Organization, however.
Pyrite Town.
Affected RPers: Sam Webster (Liiammmm)

Emma felt eyes watching her every step. She felt hysteric and in need of something tame to cool her down. Dirty-blonde hair painted over her dark sunglasses sometimes hitting her mouth as she walked. She looked like a mess but Emma didn't care. A tattered hoodie covered her upper body, partially zipped just below her bust while her legs portrayed struggle with torn leggings and shorts. Beside her trotted an overly cautious Jolteon. His spikes were more prominent than usual as the duo stalked around Pyrite Town - a town known for thieves and vagabonds. Not to mention a home for other parahumans, like herself. Ever since the incident in Agate Village, Emma had been edgier than ever. She had mood-swings left and right. Her poor Pokemon were usually subjected to Emma's crazed attitude most times.

Emma licked her lips lightly, moisturizing them, "Flash..." She mumbled, tugging at the drawstrings to her hoodie lightly, positioning her satchel as she glanced down, "Do you think..." She began, then paused in mid-stride unable to keep the conversation going. She stopped forcefully feeling a twitch come-about.

Flash, not noticing Emma, walked straight into her, doubling over on his bottom with a grunt, "Jole..." He muttered, "Why did you stop?" He growled, regaining composure.

Emma snapped from her twitch and glanced down, "Hmm? You say somethin'?" She muttered, blowing the hair from her glasses before continuing forward.

Flash rolled his eyes with a huff, "Figures." With that, he continued on foot with Emma until she stopped without notice once more, only two minutes later, "Alright Emma... What is it now?" He growled, stamping his foot on the ground.

Emma felt her heart skip a beat. Her mind began to cloud and judgement was fading. She wasn't sure which way was up or which way was down. Confusion was setting in and Emma knew what was about to happen, "F-Flash..." She groaned, slapping her hand to her forehead, "I'm feeling nauseous... I think... I think I'm going crazy again..." She whimpered, unable to think straight. This was normal for Emma lately since developing her parahuman abilities. Ever since the cluster in Agate, Emma had developed an undiagnosed case of Bipolar Disorder - however, with her disorder it usually affects her much more often than the normal person due to her now innate abilities.

Flash pricked his spikes, worry painting his expression, "A-Are you sure? Maybe you're going through your happy phase?" Hoping for the best Flash persisted Emma was going through her hypomania before nudging her towards a bench a couple of steps away.

Emma took a few deep breaths stumbling towards a wall near her right, "Y-You're right." She hesitantly spoke, trying to believe her partner. She looked up, the world still blurry - however, figures were forming and becoming solid. She stumbled forward (looking like a drunkard honestly) paying no attention to anyone around her. Flash's soft nuzzle kept poking her legs from behind and just when they were about to reach the bench Emma felt pressure on her body, doubling over onto Flash who let out a bark.

The blunt object snapped Emma into a conscious state allowing her to think and see clearly. She shook her head and pushed herself off of Flash when she noticed the object she walked into was in fact, a person. A male by the looks of it - or, so she thought. The person was dressed in a dark attire that seemed to match and blend perfectly with the location. Emma grunted, refusing an apology as she pushed herself back up looking the creature over with dark, emerald eyes. A flash of amber flickered across her irises but nothing more. She was uninjured but that didn't mean Flash had the same impression.

Flash grunted as he regained his composure once again. His eyes glazed over the tall figure who dwarfed both Emma and himself. He felt insecure about his height but that didn't stop his confidence over himself and the overwhelming need to protect Emma. His spikes grew larger as a deep growl hummed in his throat.

[Liiammmm]

Sam Webster.
Neutral.
Pyrite Town.
Characters Affected: Emmaline "Emma" Andersen (Popshakes)

Petite young things come and go, and Sam took no notice of the young woman that he knocked into while walking through Pyrite Town. A low grumbling from behind Sam, however, drew his attention. While he had intended to continue walking on his path, he felt the need to address whomever was trying to stand ground against him. "Darling, I do suggest you silence your mutt," Sam paused, turning around while playing with a strand of Emmaline's hair that had fallen onto his clothing, "before somebody silences it for you." A jolt of energy rushed through Sam's body. Multiple hands circled and grasped Emmaline's body within Sam's mind, his master power forming a link between himself and her. A daunting smile crept across Sam's face, shattered by his grim complexion as his hood fell down. "I can't promise that my friends will provide you with the same courteous manners that I show."

[TheoreticalSelkie]

Jack
Out in the Middle of Nowhere
RPer Affected: Clydus Lomata (TNT)

Leaning against his bike, Jack eyed the clear sky, devoid of many clouds. It was a nice day in Orre like every day was, though the occasional breeze whipped sand into his face. As for why he decided to stop in the middle of the desert, Jack simply got fed up with his Xatu's moaning. Right now, the offending Pokemon was perched on the handlebars of his motorcycle, raising his wings to the sky. As for his Garchomp, she seemed to be equally as fed up and was lurking underground. It was always quiet down there, since words never traveled down quite as far as the vibrations of people moving around. Somewhere that Jack wished actually existed, though he knew underground was a death sentence to most, if not all people in Orre.

"For the last time, can we please get moving again? I have to deliver these shipments by the end of the day today. There's only so much daylight left." Jack growled, grinding his teeth. He glanced at his watch between each word, squinting through the sunlight it reflected off its face.

"But we cannot move. For the future is uncertain." The Xatu intoned dully.

"If we go fast enough, you don't have to worry about time passing, therefore the future won't come." Jack turned around and picked up the bird by the scruff(?) of its neck. He held him away at an arm's length, feeling the wings batter at his arm. Those claws and beak could really hurt. He knew that from personal experience -- there had been enough arguments like this one in the past. "Git off now, Mephisto."

"I protest! Doth thou not realize ze mistake thou art making?" Mephistopheles was smart and all, but honestly he could be a handful. And he wasn't very good at anything conceptual like quantum physics despite his intelligence. It would've helped immensely in some of the earlier arguments they got into back when Jack just received Mephistopheles.

Jack sighed as he started up the bike, taking care to snap back up the kickstand as he did so. Stamping the ground, he called out to his Garchomp: "Berleth! We're off now!"

There was a grinding sound and Berleth's narrow head poked up out of the ground in a pile of dried clods of dirt. Her yellow eyes flicked lazily up to the flailing Xatu. "So... we're heading back to Pyrite now? Since he's gone and shut up and everything."

"'ow dare thou say--" Mephistopheles's squawks abruptly cut off as Jack crammed the Xatu's head into his spare motorcycle helmet. Spare? The other one was of course, lying in the dust somewhere in Pyrite, the eyeshield cracked beyond repair along with the rest of it. Jack never bothered to get a new one, and only used the spare for other passengers that tagged along (like Taire - Jack made a face at this thought) or, Arceus forbid, to shut up his Pokemon.

"Nope, nope, be quiet. We'll waste away if we stay here forever." He hopped onto the bike, gunned the engine, and roared off in the general direction of Pyrite Town.

In the receding horizon, Berleth dug in and kicked off the ground, spreading her wings in flight. She easily caught a slight updraft and rode it high, passing Jack with her speed. He smirked, and upped his own speed. It took more gas than anything else, though his motorcycle could handle anything that was thrown at it. Except... a sandstorm. A stray grain of sand scratched past his face, whipped up by the growing wind.

Tsk. While he could power through the storm along with his Pokemon, it would be a foolish decision to keep going without enough supplies. Well sure, he could always smash a few hydrogen and oHe also didn't know how bad this sandstorm would be, and Pyrite was a ways off from where he was. Luckily for him, there was an oasis nearby that he could refill his water up at and grab a few snacks. He turned his motorcycle in that direction, whistling for Berleth to follow.

At this point, the sandstorm worsened until he couldn't see a thing. Squinting, Jack regretted not putting on the goggles he had in his backpack; the glasses he was wearing were terrible protection in the storm. It was at this moment of annoyance that Jack barely glimpsed a dark form in front of him.

"Hell!" He swore, swerving to the side, barely avoiding the form. He glanced back at the... ah, guy, it seemed. Sometimes it was really hard to tell in weather like this. "What the hell do you think you're doing out here?!"