[PXFIRE] [RP] PXFIRE Roleplay - A Game of Storms

[Noblejanobii]

Athena Pallas the Decidueye
The Gracidea Order
The Blood Pit Arena
Affected RP'ers: @Death's Spook @Neo Emolga

Athena had never wanted to mutilate a corpse in her entire life. She had always deemed the tagging of bodies that were dead to be senseless and disrespectful. But at Phoebe's words, Athena felt an intense hatred burn in her so brightely that Athena quickly became consumed with the desire to destroy Phoebe's corpse. Athena started to dive after the Charizard when a spout of flames surrounded her. The temperature quickly skyrocketed and Athena could smell her leather armor's burning smell. Good thing it was real leather, it wouldn't catch on fire. Sadly, Athena herself did not have the same properties. Pain began to consume her wings and Athena quickly dove to the ground, too quickly. The decidueye was unable to stop in time and crashed into the ground. She groaned and stood up in time to hear the Grand Lady's request to let her take care of Vurden. Athena waved her wing to signal that was fine by her.

Athena watched as the Grand Lady completely destroyed Vurden, doing all but killing him. Athena took a quick glance at Phoebe's corpse before shaking her head. Athena turned back to the scene just in time to hear the exclamation about Ante from the Grand Lady. Given Vurden's startled response, it appeared that the Grand Lady was correct in her guess. Intriguing. The Grand Lady kept her end of the bargain, leaving Athena behind to be declared the victor. Athena stared solemnly at Vurden before drawing an arrow. She would put the poor thing out of its misery. Taking aim, Athena said,

"Remember this day when you burn in hell, you kako. Remember the day when I killed your squad leader and then decided to kill you, but only out of mercy." She then fired the arrow, striking him in the juggular and killing him. Athena heard the announcer declaring her the victor of the Blood Pit Arena. She did not smile, she did not cheer, she only waited as the cameras swarmed her. As they drew closer, Athena knew Brunswick must be watching. She hoped he was happy and relieved. The thought of the overesctatic Noiven nearly brought a smile to her face. Athena stuck her foot back behind her and her wings to the side before bowing to the audience and cameras. With that, the decidueye folded her wings and exited the arena. She caught a glimpse of a lillgant as she exited and briefly recognize her to be Nora, an assassin for the Gracidea Order. So she was here too. They had never really worked together before, but Athena knew of Nora's skill. She looked forward to seeing how tomorrow's match would go with the druggie participating.

As Athena excited the arena, she quickly realized that she would need an escort. Athena raised her wing to block a glass beer bottle being thrown at her. Athena took a tentative step back, unsure of how to proceed. She couldn't fly, her wings were too burned, she would fall out of the sky before she made it to base. But she couldn't force her way through this crowd either. She couldn't reenter the arena either, the door had closed behind her already.

"You kako! I bet all my money on the Black Lotus! What am I supposed to do now?" Fix that gambling problem.

"How dare you kill Phoebe! My daughter idolized her!" Kind of a bad role model if you asked Athena.

"She's such a coward that she refuses to attack us! Or maybe she thinks it's because she's above us!" It was neither of those things.

The Night Slash came out of nowhere. One second, Athena was trying to escape, and the next a zoroark had charged her with a Night Slash. Athena attempted to dodge, but she was cornered and had nowhere to move. Athena cried out as the attack hit her square on, leaving long claw marks across her chest. Raising her wings at an attempt at protection, Athena felt her vision going in and out. What was she to do now?

"All right all right that's enough! I said that's enough!" Athena blinked and saw a figure had appeared in between she and the mob. Someone else tried to attack her, only to be blasted into a nearby stand with a strong psychic attack. "Anyone else want to try that? I've had sex with guys that put more power behind each thrust than any of you fools!" Athena smiled. She knew that voice. Once in the prostitution ring, always in the prostitution ring. The gardevoir looked around a few times before shouting, "You! Don't you know it's rude to touch a girl without her permission? Well, I shouldn't jump to conclusions. Maybe I should try to see things from your perspective. Oh wait, I can't seem to stick my head that far up my ***." She formed a Moon Blast in her hand fired it, sending the zoroark sprawling. “Now get out of here! All of you! Leave! And remember! Two wrongs don't make a right! Your parents are perfect examples.” The mob dispersed, some shouts and grumblings in protest. The gardevoir turned around and held a hand out to Athena. “Are you all right?” Athena shook his head.

“No, I need medical attention, immediately.” The gardevoir smiled and touched Athena, teleporting them to a Gracidea Order outpost. Several pokémon jumped at the their sudden appearance before a gothorita rushed over with a machoke and lifted Athena onto a cot to begin treating her burns and gash. “Check the kids,” Athena grumbled. The doctors gave her a weird look at the request. “Check the kids!” Athena snarled, “If they’re in danger I want labor induced now.” The leavanny doctor looked over at the gardevoir, as if to ask if Athena was crazy. The gardevoir waved her hand.

“Do as the woman says. She’s far enough along a forced labor wouldn’t be too much of a problem.” The leavanny called for some other doctors and Athena was quickly swarmed. She could hear bits of chatter but she was only getting pieces of the puzzle, not the whole thing. From what she could understand, the Night Slash hadn’t actually caused that much damage, but since it was a super effective attack, Athena had suffered a bit more from the strike than a normal individual was. It would scar, but it would heal. It also appeared that the doctors felt labor didn’t need to be induced, though Athena was unsure as to why. It was either a good sign or a bad sign, and Athena could not receive a straight answer as to which it was. At some point through all the chaos, Athena felt several different Heal Pulses being used on her. Athena felt overwhelmed, but managed to stay calm until it was only she and the gardevoir in the room.

“So… what’s my prognosis?” Athena asked. The gardevoir walked over and sat on the edge of Athena’s bed. She pat Athena’s shoulder.

“The babies are fine and you will be too. The burns on your wings were… bad, but it’s nothing that a few rawst lum berry mixes can’t treat. Just rest for now, you earned it. I can even get Brunswick on the phone for you, if you’d like.” Athena smiled a little and looked over at the gardevoir.

“Thank you, Christine, that would be very nice.” Athena shifted ever so slightly and added, “Also, thank you for saving me back there. I was likely done for without your aid.” Christine waved her hand

“You flatter me, Athena, I was just helping out an old friend. In fact, many of us are hanging around the city. When we heard you would be competing, well we thought we would just have to tag along to show our support.”

Athena laughed at that. She was not surprised. Christine Daaé had been Athena’s closest friend within the prostitution ring. The girls had all stuck together, supporting each other through tough times. It was not entirely uncommon to this day for some of the girls to crash on another’s couch due to ill circumstances. Brunswick was always very understanding, even suggesting that Athena go out on a girl’s night with them sometime once the twins were born.

While Athena had been the “War Goddess of the Night” within the prostitution world due to her naturally pitch black wings and real name, Christine had been forced to undergo multiple surgeries to become desirable to the men. The result, however, was someone who was one of the most alluring women alive. Christine’s green hair and skin had been permanently dyed a dark lavender color, and her dress was solid black. Her purple hair was also longer than usual, curling around her face but also dropping down to her breast length. She also wore a black cape and a white mask that covered half of her face, but generally only when she was servicing customers. The one thing that Christine had never been forced to alter was her singing voice. Christine was one of the most skilled singers Athena had ever met, earning her the name, the “Angel of Music” amongst patrons of the brothel.

“So, how much do you know?” Athena asked. Christine was quiet for a moment before sighing.

“Enough. That's another reason why a bunch of us came out. Delphi came to us with some concerns because she heard that Brunswick was requesting time off, and he never takes time off apparently.” Athena nodded her head. That was true. Brunswick was very dedicated to his work and time off was something he rarely ever did. He had been taking a bit more time off in recent times due to their marriage and the kids, but overall Brunswick was not the type to take a vacation randomly. It was reasonable for Delphi or any of the other officers to be concerned. “So, we confronted Brunswick and it didn't take much for him to tell us everything.”

“I’m not surprised. He trusts you more than he probably lets on. Who all is here?”

“Delphi immediately demanded time off from the force to come here in case you needed her.” Delphi “The Oracle” Pythia was a delphox that had also served in the ring. When Athena had aided Brunswick in taking down the ring, the noivern had helped all the girls assimilate into normal lives. They quickly found that Delphi was a perfect fit for the police force and had served there ever since. “Anput claimed she was already planning to attend anyway so she is here as well.” Anput “Golden Jackal” Cana was a shiny lucario that had been the most popular girl in the ring. She now lived a quiet life as a housewife to a man she met after she was freed from the ring. Supposedly she still engaged in illegal activities, a fight club or something of that sort, but somehow every time a fighting ring got busted, Anput was never arrested even if she had no alibi. It was almost as if she had two friends in the police force or something. “Zilla is here as well. She's been acting as Cana’s muscle.” Zilla “Queen of the Monsters” Anguirus was a tyranitar that had acted both as a service girl but also as the bouncer. If a guy was causing trouble, Zilla would handle it, and it wouldn't be pretty. Now she mainly worked as a bouncer for clubs and bars, but she could also be hired muscle if you needed her. “And Victoria is here, probably off charming some man.” Victoria “Sweet Lolita” Edwards was an audino that was a notorious manipulator. It was no accident that if someone in power came to the brothel where they had once worked, it was always Victoria that treated them. She could get blackmail and secrets like no one’s business. By day, Victoria worked as a nurse, but by night, she was a dealer in secrets, even servicing the Gracidea Order from time to time. “The others are staying back for now, acting as your husband’s personal guard of sorts.”

“Good to know. So you plan to help?”

“In any way we can. Though, the girls have requested that we have to enter any events if you really need us. We work best from the sidelines, you know?” Athena laughed a little and pat Christine’s back.

“Yes, I am fine with that. I am just happy to have you here.” Athena shook her head a little. “That charizard, Phoebe, said I would never see him again and he would grow up to be everything I hated. I worry that she is correct. Poor Marx, he has to be so scared.” Christine squeezed Athena’s shoulder and responded,

“Don’t dwell on her words. She was just trying to get under your skin. We will find him and we will bring him home. I promise you.”

---

Masamune Toya the Braviary
Gracidea Order
Outside the Blood Pit Arena
Affected RP'ers: @Shruikan

The nidoqueen went down to Levi’s attacks like a sack of bricks. The Mr. Mime tried to charge in as well, but Masamune took care of that, striking the creepy clown with a Crush Claw attack. The Mr. Mime’s collapsed, the head rolling off to the side. Masamune turned back just in time to see Levi use Dragon Rush on Hulgar, but not to much avail.

The liepard and meowstic tried to double team Lyra, attacking from both sides using their claws. Lyra was doing well keeping them at bay, but with the meowstic playing support to the liepard’s powerful attacks, it was going to be a long fight.

“Focus on the lakeys! If we can defeat them then we can gang up on him,” Masamune called out to Levi and Lyra. “I’ll keep Hulgar busy!” Masamune flapped his wings and charged in for another Superpower against the golem. This time, Hulgar stepped back a little. Masamune tried to strike with a Crush Claw but found himself caught in Hulgar’s tight grip. He began to struggle, trying to wrench himself free as the alolan golem’s grip tightened further. Masamune desperately tried to think of something to do when he caught sight of a familiar face.

“Victoria!” A pink audino raised her head at the sound of the familiar voice. She was wearing a white coat, white boats, white gloves, and a white top hat with a pink stripe. She tapped her white and pink cane on the ground and turned away from the stall she was perusing to locate the source of Masamune’s voice. When she spotted him, she puffed out her cheeks. “Oh dear Arceus what have I done,” he whispered as the audino stormed over.

“Hey!” Raising her cane, the audino smacked the alolan golem in the head with it and tapped her left boot impatiently. “Just what on Earth do you think you are doing? Put him down!” Hulgar turned around and began to laugh.

“And just what are you going to do about it?” At that moment, the Eelektross started to charge Victoria, but the audino was fasted. She quickly and nimbly dodged before slamming into the Eelektross with a Double-Edge, sending the enemy crashing into a nearby wall. OHKO. Victoria glared at Hulgar.

“You want to try a different answer this time?” she asked darkly.

---

Brunswick Pallas the Noivern
The Gracidea Order
His home in Jadebloom

"In an unexpected turn of events, Athena of the Gracidea Order has solely remained victorious in today's grizzly Blood Pit which, to the surprise of many, claimed the lives of the entire Black Lotus team."

Brunswick had never felt such an intense elation in his life. He jumped up from his seat and began to holler and cheer. She had done it. Athena had done it! He was so happy and relieved it was almost overwhelming. He sat back down after a moment and felt someone sit down beside him.

“She did it,” he whispered, “dear Arceus I can’t believe it. My wife actually won the Blood Pit Arena.” An arm wrapped around him and squeezed him.

“Believe it, Brunswick. Your wife is now one step closer to rescuing your son.” Brunswick lifted his head and grinned at the golduck sitting beside him.

“Yeah, you’re right. I hadn’t thought about that. Marx is now one step closer to being home. And with the girls there to help Athena, our little rowlet will be back home in no time.”

“You know it!” a scizor said from behind the couch. “We’re an unstoppable squad!”

“I believe it. Though… as much as I appreciate all the security, is all of this really necessary?” Brunswick looked down when he felt someone touch his leg. A bellossom looked up and nodded at him.

“Of course it is! If Athena ends up rescuing Marx the Black Lotus Empire might try to kidnap you or Liliane instead to retaliate. We can’t risk that happening.” Brunswick scratched his head.

“I mean… yeah but you’re eating all my food,” Brunswick said quietly.

“Price you pay for safety!” an armaldo called from the kitchen as she ate her fifth orange.

“And I don’t think I have enough beds for you all to sleep in.” A salazzle sat down next to Brunswick and pat his leg.

“It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve slept in odd locations. Worst case, I’m sure Athena wouldn’t mind us taking her spot in the bed for a night,” the salazzle said teasingly. Brunswick paled a little and jumped when a porygon2 appeared in front of him.

“Relax, Brunswick, we’ll be fine. You just keep worrying about Athena. We’ll worry about everything else. Okay?” Brunswick shrunk down a little before sighing.

“All right. If you say so. How is Liliane?” A malamar approached from down the hall.

“She’s fast asleep. No need to worry about her. We will take turns keeping watch in her room, if that is all right with you.”

“Yes, thank you. That eases my mind some. And please, do not feel like you have to stay here full time. I know many of you have families to attend to as well.”

“Thank you, Brunswick,” the salazzle said, “but just leave that to us.”

[Morzone]

Julia (and Raul)
Steel Scavengers
Dread Metal derby - Lytala Slums
Affected RP'ers: @Neo Emolga @Velocity

Raul was in the zone. Had this still beeen his days as a stunt driver he could easily have pulled off even the most difficult of tricks. He swerved, fishtailed, wheelied, bounced, and zoomed around the two teams as both of their vehicles became compromised. Still, it surprised him to see both teams abandon their vehicles completely and attack each other on foot.

At first things went pretty well. He moved around the pokemon firing whenever one came in his line of fire. He managed to hit the conkledur, though the damage didn't seem to great. Raul kept having to swerve and stay on the move thanks to his heavy machine gun. Sitting still really wasn't an option with that thing still around. Of course this ideal situation didn't last very long. The Lightning Strider came rushing through on a hit and run, launching a rocket into the space between the fightng teams. From the nitro roadster's perspective it was probably very effective. It blew up one of the pokemon and sent Raul's Hornet Skidding away on its side, immobilizing him. He watched as the pichu drove away, another car close on its wheels. He recognized it as the Prankster platoon's Screaming talon. Though he couldn't worry about them now. With Raul's bike laying on its side he could no longer avoid attacks, but that wasn't going to stop him. He hadn't trained with other steel scavenger members for nothing. Grabbing a special knob he pulled, releasing a lever arm out below the Motorbike. The thing was manual, so Raul lifted the bike back onto its wheels with excruciating slowness, every second fearing attack and death.

Julia, however, was speeding through the streets with vengeance. The Armored buggy screamed the the road, its wheels screeching as Julia took dangerously sharp turns. Inspired by the belief that she was being watched by Theo, Julia felt an explainable desire to prove herself, to come back from these impossible odds and win the derby. Or at least, if she didn't win, to take out all the lotus members. Driving with her one good hand her breathing was heavy. Every bump, jolt, and turn set another wave of horrific pain up her smashed arm and burned back. Once or twice her vision grew hazy, but she forced herself not to give in. She still had things to do.

With a shocking jolt two Cars when racing by in a street she'd been about to turn onto. Craning her neck as much as she could, Julia noted a nitro roadster she hadn't seen before and the little zippy car she'd attacked back at the start of the derby. That seemed like so long ago now. The two vehicles seemed to being going at each other relentlessly. Julia shielded her eyes as several flashes of electricity flashed between the vehicles, now a good distance away from her.

Shaking herself back to attention, Julia turned onto the road, heading in the opposite direction of the pair of dueling cars. And before her was an even more incredible scene. No only was she seeing the armored truck that'd destroyed her Iron Giant broken and disabled, but its occupant were out in the street fighting a beartic whose own ride -what appeared to be a bulldozer- was also destroyed. The Ice bear's back was to her, so she couldn't tell if he was holding a weapon, but of the two black lotus members only the conkledur seemed to be holding a gun, the Raticate was scrambling for something on the ground which was probably a weapon.

That was enough for Julia. Aiming the Buggy right, She pressed the gas right down to the floor. Taking her hand off the wheel she grabbed one of the dragalge's automatic rifles and, setting it against the dashboard to make up for not having a second hand to steady it, took fire as she zoomed toward the crowd. With a bloodthirsty yell the bullets flew. One, two, three, more into the beartic's back and head, little chunks of fur, flesh, and blood going flying as Julia continued to fill him with lead. In a moment the get bear had collapsed face down into the pavement.

Baladax the Beartic (The Nightmarch) has been eliminated

But it didn't end there. Dropping the rifle Julia grabbed one of the grenades and, pulling the pin with her teeth, dropped it to the floor of the buggy. Then, seizing one of the handguns, Julia lept from the speeding vehicle. Making full use of the soft and squishy dead beartic's body to stop her fall, Julia managed to land without too muchinjury. Though she was now covered in blood, both hers and the beartic's. The Buggy however, now gadd too much momentum and much too much speed to be stopped. Its aim was true and it crashed right into the heavy-machine gun weielding Conkledur. Considering that the buggy wasn't exactly the heaviest car, the conkledur probably would have survived despite the speeding collision. That was, if it hadn't been for the grenade. As the buggy smashed into Jaze the grenade ignited and blew up, taking the engine with it. The Buggy exploded on top of the fighting pokemon, blowing him to pieces. Shrapnel and burning gasoline went everywhere, creating several walls of fire within the street.

Jaze the conkledur (Black Lotus) has been eliminated

Julia stood, perched on the beartic's dead body, and stared madly at Jucden. Blood dripped down her face and all she had was a small pistol, probably only with one or two shots. A rush of adrenaline was the only thing keeping her on her feet at this point, but it gave her courage to stay standing, to face her enemy even in this most dire of situations.

---

Theo Myrsky
Steel Scavengers
Boat on the liaocrack River
Affected Rp'ers: Velocity

Despite his words Theo really wasn't feeling that brave. Something about this greninja worried him. His reaction to Anthony's name hadn't gone unnoticed and Mazer's response to Theo's words, despite the generous tone, had sounded slightly like a threat. These people might be just as dangerous as the black lotus, they were definitely strong enough, but something told Theo that unless he was careful, he'll have shaken off the black lotus to lead another enemy right to his boss. Theo was definitely regretting mentioning the safe house, but it was too late to take his words back now. He'd just have to be more careful from now on.

"I'm hesitant to promise anything, but I do owe you for saving me. I expect I'll owe you even more as I'll accept your invitation to return on your boat. Better than sitting here among all these dreadful bodies that's for sure. I don't know where we are now, I expect you do as you weren't transported here tied up in a bag, but the safehouse is in Westfel."

As he talked something snagged in the back of his mind. Dreadful? Dread? the dread metal derby was still going on! At least, it likely was. Judging by the sun a fair amount of time had passed, though he doubted it was enough for it to be entirely over. Theo bit his lip, a worried expression on his face. Was Julia ok? Was she even alive still? No, she had to be alive. H e wouldn't let himself think otherwise or he'd go crazy. Hopefully Mazer's boat had a TV or a radio and he could find out what was going on in the festival.

[Neo Emolga]

DAY 1
Active Events: Dread Metal Destruction Derby
Finished Events: Blood Pit Arena, Gracidea Order Victory

DREAD METAL DESTRUCTION DERBY SCOREBOARD

BLACK LOTUS EMPIRE

RIPFIRE [Armored Truck]

Jaze - Conkeldurr (Driver)
Jucden - Raticate (Gunner)

PEACESLAYER [Monster Truck]

Vorkot - Scrafty (Driver)
Xed - Arcanine (Gunner)

BLACKOUT [Armored Hearse]

Sevren - Dusknoir (Driver)
Mevvan - Krookodile (Gunner)

PRANKSTER PLATOON

SCREAMING TALON [Lightweight Zippy Vehicle]

Jones - Heliolisk (Driver)
Tony - Incineroar (Main Gunner)
Cheshire - Meowstic (Support Gunner)

STEEL SCAVENGERS

THE IRON GIANT [Armored Tank Car]
SLAYER'S RIDE [Armored Buggy] (Commandeered)

Julia - Weavile (Driver/Gunner)

THE HORNET [Armored Motorcycle]

Juan - Furret (Driver/Gunner)

THUNDERCRASH GANG

LIGHTNING STRIDER [Nitro Roadster]

Sorton - Eelektross (Driver)
Latchy - Pachirisu (Gunner)

ELECTRIC WILD [Assault Motorcycle]

Rash - Whimsicott (Driver/Gunner)

SENTINEL CORPORATION

THE BRIGADER [Armored Military APC]

Koya - Cacturne (Driver)
Yandali - Infernape (Main Turret Gunner)
Vunder - Delphox (Support Gunner)
Kolm - Blastoise (Support Gunner)

THE NIGHTMARCH

ENIGMA ZERO [Armored Bulldozer]

Baladax - Beartic (Driver)
Olock - Aggron (Main Gunner)
Jugnul - Tyrantrum (Support Gunner)

ZOMBIE SQUAD

THE RECKONING [Armored Junkyard Hulk]

Fazi - Cofagrigus (Driver)
Slugz - Snorlax (Main Gunner)
Vulk - Skuntank (Support Gunner)

INDEPENDENTS

Khilter - Dragalge (Driver/Gunner)

DESTINY'S END [Speed Motorcycle]

Kikel - Pancham

LOCKDOWN [Armored Pick-up Truck]

Rudy - Rampardos (Driver)
Gile - Sandslash (Gunner)

DEVIL'S HEADHUNTER [Armored Semi Truck]

Durakan - Alolan Marowak (Driver/Gunner)

--------

Jucden Tarblack the Raticate
Black Lotus - Onyx Circle
Aboard the Ripfire, Lotus Den Slums, outside Lytala City
Affected RPers: @Velocity, @Morzone

It was only getting worse for Jucden. He had watched as both Baladax and Jaze were killed, leaving him without a driver, even if they could acquire another vehicle. Now Jucden found himself on foot, alone, as the last living combatant on behalf of the Black Lotus. Considering Jaze was in pieces now, there was not much he could do on his own. He'd either have to drive or fight, but trying to do both was impossible, even if he managed to hijack one of the other vehicles. On the other hand, there weren't that many competitors left.

Almost. Almost!!!

"Come at me, you idiots!" Jucden challenged the rest of the competitors. "I've got a present for ya!"

And that was when the Lightning Strider had spotted him. Almost immediately, Latchy the Pachirisu opened fire with the machine gun, hammering round after round as the nitro roadster sped toward the psychotic Raticate. Bullets struck everywhere around him, causing Jucden to snarl off the pain. He managed to fire two grenades, but none of them were able to keep up with the Lightning Strider.

Instead, Jucden was struck twice, once in the arm and then again in the chest. All the while, the Lightning Strider kept getting closer and closer. All Jucden needed was to get one, solidly perfect grenade to hit just the right spot and the remaining Thundercrash Gang members would be blown to bits.

Bleeding, crazed, and snarling with feral anger, Jucden fired that one critical grenade. It flew furiously toward the Pachirisu, but the small, electric squirrel just barely managed to dodge it within inches.

There was no time for another shot. Instead, the Lightning Strider simply rushed toward the helpless rat and slammed right into him, instantly ripping open his chest and sending the dead Raticate's carcass sailing into the air before landing into one of the burning shanties. And once it did, the fire raged a little hotter and higher.

Jucden the Raticate (Black Lotus) has been eliminated.

"Better luck next time!" Latchy taunted and laughed.

---

Queen Taiya the Lilligant
Black Lotus Ruling Authority
Lytala City, Black Lotus Central Palace
Affected RPers: N/A

No one wanted the responsibility of telling Queen Taiya both of Day 1's events hadn't gone well for Black Lotus. However, sooner or later, it had to fall on someone, and that someone was Solra the Bellossom. She was a simple maiden of the queen, but no one wanted to witness what would happen. So it was up to Solra to be the messenger, and she agreed to do it even without hesitation.

She did what a whole lot of other Pokémon never would have dreamed of doing to Taiya. She wasn't nervous, jittery, or even worried.

"Hey Taiya," Solra told the Lilligant, not even using her formal title. "Not sure if you've been watching the TV, but Black Lotus just lost. Both Blood Pit and Dread Metal."

Taiya was slightly surprised, glancing at the Bellossom standing beside her, but she didn't bat an eye. As though while it wasn't exactly what she was expecting nor hoping for, she just briefly nodded at it.

"How curious," Taiya replied, simply relaxing and not letting it even bother her in the slightest. "Both Phoebe and Jucden dead, I see."

"Yup," Solra nodded. "Phoebe was dropped out of the sky and staked through the heart by a protruding beam while Jucden was forced out of his truck and then run over by the Thundercrash Gang. Ugly as hell stuff."

"You know what I like about you, Solra?" Taiya asked the flower dancer Pokémon. "And I do like you. You don't sugarcoat anything."

"Because I hate Pokémon that sugarcoat things," Solra replied, crossing her arms and looking away.

Taiya nodded, and couldn't help but smile even though the recent news had been grim.

"Good, because this neither worries nor angers me," Taiya smiled. "You see, the better we live, the more it angers those that can't. The Festival... oh, the Festival is far from over. I have seen many enemies to the Black Lotus Empire emerge this year, but they all share the same common fault. The same mistake. It's amusing, really."

Solra nodded, smirking a bit also.

"You know what I'm talking about, don't you?" Taiya smiled.

"Numbers," Solra replied as her smile grew a little stronger. "These enemies of ours put all their resources into the opening round and got their best and brightest beaten up just to win day one. But you obviously distributed the best of Black Lotus across the entire duration of the Festival."

"Very good," Taiya smiled.

In truth, Solra found talking to Queen Taiya quite easy. The Bellossom was well aware it wouldn't take much for Taiya to strike her down dead in an instant, but she had no reason to. She was cunning, but not a psychotic monster.

"Oh, that's another thing," Solra informed Taiya. "During Blood Pit, our friend the Grand Lady found a way to reveal what Ante is to everyone prior to gutting a Black Lotus Volcarona alive. There are some who solidly believe the rumor about Ante now, but not everyone."

"Ha, what does that matter?" Taiya asked, giggling. "Oh Lady, you are amusing. Truly, she reminds me of a little girl who believes breaking her old toys will get her parents to buy her new ones. In any case, I'm actually happy she did that. Finally someone breaks the slow spell they've been under all these years."

"Really?" Solra asked, looking curiously at the Lilligant. "Why's that?"

"Because it will worry them now," Taiya smirked with a smug smile. "They will hesitate about who to send forth into the arena, if anyone at all, and those that would have been more fit for competing will either step aside or put themselves and everything they know at risk. And you will see what happens when warriors that our enemies can afford to lose will turn against their own allies for seeing them as so expendable. Imagine having to fight simply because your leaders felt you were an acceptable loss, and what you knew was okay to risk relinquishing to the enemy. All your secrets, dreams, desires, passions... everything. All to be inherited by an enemy stranger. What a pity."

Solra admired how dark it was. Trying to rise up against the Black Lotus now would either only be very risky or very demoralizing. The gamble their enemies would need to take would be costly. And the only other outcome was to allow Black Lotus to win.

"Do you think they'll ask us about Ante?" Solra inquired, wondering how Taiya would react to the press asking her about it.

"I will assure them it's all part of our credo that we never let anything precious go to waste," Taiya smiled happily.

---

Mesai Ildari the Delibird
Black Lotus - Onyx Circle
Westfel, Parking lot outside "The Black Lantern"
Affected RPers: N/A

For those who knew this side of Westfel, it seemed like Mesai the usually jubilant Delibird was very out of place. Even her cohorts weren't the type to fret or worry and almost seemed like the kind that were just asking to be mugged because of their seemingly innocent and unsullied behavior. They actually seemed like a peaceful, friendly bunch, which was very strange and almost bizarre for anyone in Xia, especially for someone who belonged to the Black Lotus. No one would suspect anything nefarious out of a jolly-looking Delibird and her Chatot and Beautifly companions.

They had been having casual, non-alcoholic slushie drinks just outside of a rowdy bar where suddenly a stool went crashing through one of the windows and a fight had erupted inside with all kinds of vulgar obscenities had been shouted out. For these three Pokémon, it was like the inner city crime and ruckus was totally nonexistent.

"Oh, I got a message!" Mesai told Tiki and Noel as she checked her communicator. "We're on!"

"But look, it was sent a while ago!" Tiki the Chatot pointed out as the parrot looked over the Delibird's shoulder. "Don't you think we should have been on our way already?"

"Yikes, that's right!" Mesai exclaimed, looking a bit shocked. "Oh my goodness, I never heard it go off! I didn't think...!"

"Not to worry, there's still time!" Noel the Beautifly chimed in. "We do need to get back to the truck and get a move on, though! The others are probably on their way already!"

Mesai was a little anxious, but she was still able to smile and look at things optimistically. She felt if they left right now, they'd probably still be okay. A little late, but it wouldn't ruin the mission. After all, with all the things that were going on, who would notice?

"Right, let's move along now!" Mesai smiled, getting up out of her seat.

And that was when a large Pangoro and Rhyperior stood before them, looking down upon the three like they were nothing more than bugs to squish for cash. The heavy, brawler panda Pokémon simply spat, grinned, and looked to Mesai especially. He saw nothing more than a victim that stepped into the wrong town and had to learn the hard way it was a dog eat dog world.

"Cash," the Pangoro grunted. "Your cash, or my fist."

"Hmm..." Mesai smiled, treating it like a game. "No thanks!"

She tried to skip right past him, but the Pangoro wasn't amused in the slightest and tried punching the stuffing out of Mesai. She smiled in surprise like it was a surprise birthday party, and simply leapt out of the way as the brawler panda's fist rammed through the ground.

"Ooh!" Mesai exclaimed admirably. "So strong!"

"You think this is funny!?" the Pangoro shouted.

Mesai dodged another one of the Pangoro's heavy attacks as the panda's fist smashed through one of the metal benches, but then Mesai decided to mix things up a bit.

"Hey, watch what I can do!" Mesai smiled at him. "It's pretty cool!"

She then unleashed a Frost Breath attack on him, blasting the panda with an unnaturally cold gush of freezing air and stinging ice. Noel decided to help Mesai by attacking the Pangoro with a Signal Beam and Tiki attacked the Rhyperior with a Chatter attack. In both cases, it left them feeling completely bewildered, lost, and stumbling like they didn't even know what day it was or what planet they were on.

"Oh, I know!" Mesai smiled. "Let's have some fun with you guys!"

Using a ferocious Blizzard attack, suddenly everything in the immediate area was smothered with snow and razor-sharp ice. And all the Pangoro and Rhyperior could feel was freezing, stinging, bitter, terrible cold.

...

A few minutes later, a Monferno who had been taking out the trash had come across the area where they had been fighting just a few minutes earlier. At first, he couldn't understand why someone would scatter so much snow and ice around. He shrugged, sweeping it up into his dust pan when suddenly one of the chunks of ice seemed a little strange to him. It had a strange white and black color to it, which didn't seem natural. He picked it up and took a closer look at it.

And there it was, one of the eyes of the Pangoro, frozen and staring right back at him in death. The Monferno was shocked, wondering what happened to the rest of the head. And the body.

And then he realized it was all around him in pieces. Frozen, chilling pieces.

[The Nonexistent Tazz]

'Nora' the Lilligant
The Gracedia Order
Lytala city, The Anticassamar Hotel and Casino
Affected RPers: @Death's Spook indirectly

((Zillion: A counterpart to Google with roughly the same backstory.))
((Wikipedia: Wikipedia. The more things change, the more things stay the same.))

The arrangement was quick and brief on both parties. Nora could not speak for the Gracedia Order in any extent-if anything, what she was doing right now constituted her as a Steel Scavenger Double Agent to the Gracedia Order. The Gracedia Order and the GIA were friggin paranoid. Disregarding their dislike of Blackbriar and Coalrock having (among other violations against nature) incendiary air, Anthony and his Seven Knights were terrifying on a degree that Nora rarely found, and were frequently talked about as having Ante or even referring to the Onyx Circle's members having inferior versions of whatever they had. Nora's own (heavily inflated) status among criminals was second only to legends (very rarely not even that)-but apparently that was because she got the better of at least one of the knights in the Petrox incident, and Nora wasn't even sure if that was the case, as was typical for enemy spies.

Due to this lack of power, compared to the fact she had somehow managed a barter with the head of the Steel Scavengers and the Seven Knights, the arrangement was subtle enough. The information trade that was previously regarded in the knowledge of the Black Lotus was still a go, including the finer points of Ante and the Master Blaze Jewel's effects, if ever she found anything-the exchange was precisely that right back on the part of the others, a simple enough deal. The next part of the offer, however, was that the Steel Scavengers would be allowed shot number two should the Gracedia Order screw up the theft attempt on the Master Blaze Jewel. Six days to steal it at this rate-no way it was happening tonight. It meant that time was of the essence. Nora swore the schedules shortened-she'd have to consider raiding it on days with deaths, or at least some very heavy intelligence gathering much sooner, but also competent replacements much sooner, which the Steel Scavengers could provide. Sadly, no word on whether or not she could get it on with Arlington had surfaced.

It was a very thin legwork, but it would work for now, and the deal sufficed. If Nora hadn't believed quite thoroughly that Anthony was not seeking power, merely righteousness, she would never have made that deal and prepared an attempt at one hell of an escape. Now that her theories were correct... Well, the Scavvies would try it in kind against her, that was the give-and-take. Figure out their strategies or at least how strict this moral code of Anthony's really was. Apparently theft from the morally ambiguous Blacklocke was A-OK.

Which lead into what she spent the rest of the day doing. She couldn't associate with the Gracedia Order operatives-yet. The outrage was too much and an assassin could fit into a crowd to try to kill her, easy. It wouldn't even be tried. She couldn't go to their other hideout, either; the GIA operatives were deliberately left in the dark to not have everything be compromised by one agent's flub. In retrospect, this was ingenious, as good of a counter to Ante as it could get.

This meant that, after the usual roundabouts and loop-de-loops one would make to lose spies and unwanted persons from their trail, they headed straight back to the Anticassamar. The Rotom split from them here-he offered his address on plain paper to keep, instead, which, if Nora remembered her street districts well enough, was a relatively middle-class apartment. But as for Nora and Yvonne, they went straight back to the Anticassamar. There was work to be done in private. Surprisingly mundane work.

First, she drunk an expensive cocktail at the bar. The price was staggering but Nora deemed that cocktail the best beverage she ever had. She could have had her crown bloom from that, for how well it tasted. She was no connoisseur in the fine art of drink, but she knew a good cold one when she tasted it. She needed it for what she just did. After that, more common but still great beers filled the void.

Second, she went back to her room. Ninth floor, Ninth door to the left, room 927. Nora shrugged off the many nines, pulled out a cheap laptop, complained about exorbitant wi-fi fees, put out a notebook, wrote down any information she remembered (taking great care not to even mention her contact with Anthony, instead stating that she needed to look into some aggressive drug dealers), and tabbed up Zillion and Wikipedia for searching. Almighty Arceus, Merciful Mew, and all the legends between them-thank rutting rut for the gracious free information service that is the internet! This would be much harder without it, as some of the oldest players of the game could state. But now, any fact that could be checked publicly could be done without an ounce of fear, once you took the proper precautions to keep internet contact to darknet browsers, as the darknet had an unwavering advantage in that no-one could tell who was who, a legitimate online privacy, unlike the false sense of security the mainline browsers set. She could speak to Queen Taiya for all she knew and neither would know it.

Her first instinct, because it was the most recent information she had, was to look up that Alakazam in the fancy suit. Surprisingly, her mediocre search in Zillion was an instant hit, but it was a slap in the face. Humans were gonna start coming out of the woodwork and announce that Nora was secretly the reincarnation of two legendary Pokemon at once at this rate. It made her sick to look at. Either this guy had one heckuva selection of lookalikes who needed part-time jobs in Telefare, or one of the richest Pokemon in the world had some inane reason to chauffeur a candidate to replace Zaiaku in Murhe. What made this proper complicated was that this particular Alakazam was not even 'just' a propserous upper-class Alakazam Businessman-no. This was the prosperous upper-class Alakazam Buisnessman, Yolion Branne, who founded and supported many businesses in Lytala and across Liao, many of which were great successes. One could almost be nonplussed at the fact that this mon had only 10% of the stock ownership in Blacklocke, which put him fairly low on the official heirarchy of ownership for Blacklocke-but that was enough to make Nora sweat. Steinway somehow knew one of the stockholders behind Blacklocke, and for all Nora knew, may have active, vested interest in the weapons company, and thus the Master Blaze Jewel. How much did she know? How much did she care? Nora was suddenly jittery. As much as she hated Steinway, she also didn't want to go up against her as she was downright uncanny, in every sense, and Nora was already assured Steinway was trying to kill her last time. As an ally.

Nora realized that a look into Steinway would, in fact, only give her the piano manufacturer. Nora had to groan at the revelation of the pun before searching up the only job that she knew Steinway was involved in, the theft of that purifier. Nora got a chuckle out of reading that police were still utterly baffled at the precision steps of the theft, and could only confirm that it was likely the work of a single quadruped-Steinway for sure, unless people were going to start debating the 'Are Lilligant Quadrupeds' thing again, which was stupid as that also referred to having no arms and having a prominent four-legged posture, while Nora's graceful four feet were within a more bipedal frame. Ignorant louts.

Dozens of treasures were apparently looted in the process-several were destroyed, others were merely stolen (most by the guards, Nora knew. Very poor choice of guards, if Nora thought so herself), including the prototype water purifier. Of these, only the purifier was retrieved at the house of a particular sect of the Thundercrash Gang that had just moved into the city, including the Sylveon that had apparently committed the crime. All died in the ensuring shootout. Nora knew that the Sylveon in that shootout was not Steinway. The stupid fox was alive and well. It meant that Steinway managed to pin it on them, somehow. Nora had to ask her how she did that... Then realized she wouldn't answer in a way that wasn't a massive headache to endure. The purifier itself was actually kind of ordinary, which lead Nora to wonder whether or not her real goal was killing those Thundercrash gang members as Steinway didn't make an apparent cent off of that business, no matter what.

Realizing that this wasn't getting anywhere, Nora shook off the thoughts and focused. Even in the confines of her own apartment on the darknet, Nora would not get caught reading up on any of the three major powers was begging for suspicion, if it were ever seen personally. Plus, doubtless the information would be muddled by the normal biases. So she couldn't quite look up Anthony Carpenter-Weaver here. She also didn't want to be even seen looking at a Steel Scavenger forum or the like-her own teammates would get suspicious.

Instead, she looked up the games. Checked the teams and the Black Lotus roster for Day 2 Blood Pit, as well as other rosters. Subject to change, of course-the Black Lotus were actually kind of generous about who gets rostered in, bar convicted criminals who aren't allowed to be so wishy-washy.

Nora's team consisted of a lot less agents than before. The reality was that not every idiot in the Black Lotus could use Ante. Some whispered that it would be unwise to put the eggs in the basket, but, har har, the joke was on them-the Black Lotus were more or less ousted as Onyx Circle members were now top-priority kills to prevent any... Information gains. Which was the basis of her current little plan. That said, the general consensus was that they need not put every egg into the basket, and as such, Nora was going to be the competitor for this day amongst the Phantom Thorn operatives-but it would be nightmarish if Nora died to a Black Lotus operative with Ante now, and said operative lived. Or she just died to said operative, period. Nora was not usually this religious, but on the day before her potential death a lot could go wrong. She was high-strung enough to start genuinely praying to Celebi for her preservation. And also to get rid of that headache as she browsed through other websites and wikipedia to get as much structural data on the entire arena as possible.

Analysis, analysis, analysis. She was self-educated if she was educated at all. She didn't even go to preschool for pete's sake. However, she still grasped concepts. Taught herself how to read and write; taught herself how to measure loose distances with a quick eyeball; taught herself this; taught herself that. Nora figured that she would love Ante if ever she had it, but by all means she did not need it for her work. She's uncovered crap without it before; it would only be a convenience, not a requirement for her job, because if she couldn't herself work out how to do things or learn things, she'd be out of a job pretty fast. And in the world of the information age, there was quite a bit you could gleam just by going to the obvious sources. Just knowing the facts leads to the conclusions.

Nora could have been a pretty decent scientist had she been formally educated, in her own estimation. her brief ponderings on Ante made her write down a few questions: If one Ante user kills another, do the stolen memories of the deceased transfer to the killer? By what intangible rules does Ante determine whether or not someone had slain another to steal their memories? Does it have another name? How long has this existed? Are the Black Lotus the first wielders? Would killing, say, a substitute doll count as killing the wielder? Are there entities whose memories cannot be absorbed, or absorbed safely, through Ante? All these things and more swam through Nora's mind, and if she found the answers, she would find the weaknesses of the Onyx Circle-and through them, how the Onyx Circle would behave. It certainly explained the aspect of the games.

Wikipedia was surprisingly on-the-ball; though Ante was still not more than rumor 'officially', almost everyone had felt that the Grand Lady's theory, as it had been introduced, was extremely popular. It had explained almost all the advanced skill of the Onyx Circle as well as their numbers while circumventing the 'obvious problem' that they were physiologically no different from the average Pokemon, indeed occasionally inferior in a few aspects. It still was not the most popular theory, however. And even though Nora had very little reason to doubt what had occured, it was still just that-a theory. It was possible that Ante hid more secrets than just that, or that Vurden was an exceptionally skilled actor. It had not crossed Nora that his reaction could have been faked to lead the Grand Lady on and plant false information. She kept ideas open, though... It had to beg the question on why she made that guess, then.

Of course, ideally, Nora would have to deal with Ante in no capacity whatsoever in the Blood Pit Arena. If her plan succeeded, then she'd be famous, like a scientist proving a theory, but it would not be about Ante. Her 'theory' was a method to kill everyone at such ungodly pace that no-one could stop her. Thankfully, the Gracedia Order were stocked with this kind of occasion, and that included a critical component to her plan. The plan, however, also involved predicting and taking into account field conditions and changing rosters. Doubtless there may be some arrangement that Anthony could pull-but she couldn't promise likewise of the Gracedia Order, so if that was even an idea to him it was likely bust unless the Scavvies could push the GO over the edge on a victory against the Black Lotus. Of course, ideally, such a scenario would merely be good gesture rather than vital to the plan.

The last edge was family. She wasn't watching Dread Metal, but the scoreboards were still active, and all the Black Lotus agents had been killed-not even as close as it was in the other games. Smashing! OF cousre, things were different now-with herself and a whole team now on the ball, the real reason for participation became killing Black Lotus clandstinely. Even if they weren't the best, sooner or later Taiya would run out of 'expendable' Black Lotus goons because Taiya was an idiot. Taiya was expecting her numerical ability to basically send relative chumps in and still have them be better than the rest was going to factor in. Like hell it was-if a pattern started to form regarding her defeats, she may actually start thinking she might lose the whole shebang (a prospect that pleased Nora greatly internally if only because she enjoyed the idea of the queen throwing a hissy fit over sending what she considered to be relatively expendable and expecting a win.) Taiya could afford losses... Taiya could not afford to lose the whole games, however. No, no no. If Taiya lost the whole games, it would barely matter. The people around her would look at her and her Black Lotus, scoff at them and their apparent weakness, and go ally up with the other rebel factions because each and every last one was now assured that they were strong. And then...

...Taiya very well underestimated the idea of rebellion. Clearly she had-with popular support-usurped the various minor powers across Liao. Clearly Taiya thought it the strength of her elite Ante troops. Taiya had never looked at a Minigun before. A lot of tiny bullets that shredded someone to bits. She was used to elegance-elegant swordplay, elegant strikes, quick and deadly but always, always elegant. Her Ante troops were elegant. Her everything-each in its own way-was utterly elegant and elite. Taiya would therefore die to a mob of uncoordinated, uncivil, indeed downright filthy Pokemon who would think Taiya weak, and rush in. And that would be that-because even a weak, uncivil, untrained Pokemon, in sufficient numbers, was going to beat out anything, and with everyone flinging around their own brand of superpowers... Heh.

She was wondering what Taiya was actually thinking. Probably treating it calm and composed and going all 'OK, this isn't the time to panic. No worries, just some opening losses and things I can spin my way. Possibly even advantageous on the whole.'

Nora wasn't the suave face person-she spoke pretty good with the dirt of society but anything else was kind of... No. But she had a pretty good idea that Taiya was yet underestimating her foes, and that was good.

It would make the look on her face better when Nora envisioned it later.

The only thing that spoiled these thoughts, aside from the fact Nora could also die, was the fact that her using of Swift in the Anticassamar would certainly not be useful, a fact she used to blemish the name of the various Legendary Pokemon she was previously begging for protection. She'd have to drink tonight to get good sleep.

[VeloJello]

Jones Sandstrider the Heliolisk
Prankster Platoon
Lotus Den Slums
Affected RPers: @Morzone (Julia).
“Didn’t we just get rid of these kakos!?”

Jones looked in the rearview and let out an impatient sound that could probably be labeled a ‘screech’. That stupid fast car that shot electricity was back, and it was closing on the Talon. Being the fastest was actively backfiring in this stretch of the race; the Talon was now having to pave the way through the old, abandoned buildings.

“We’re gonna get rid of them now,” Cheshire said, fiery determination in his voice. He was sitting down in his gunner’s seat. “Push them left, hon. I just need one clear shot. Jones, follow them to pin them down.”

Neither Jones nor Tony replied - it would be kind of useless over the sound of Tony’s machine gun fire. The other vehicle was pushed toward the edge, and Jones did her best to keep pace -

BZAP! Jones was only a little ruffled by the lightning bolt that ripped through the car, but when the Pachirisu shocked the Talon, everyone felt it. The car wobbled and sputtered at the power surge; Tony screamed with pain; Jones frantically pushed at the buttons; Cheshire let out a battle yowl, flared his ears, and unleashed a volley of heavy bullets. The other car was in front of them now, but its wheels had been shredded. It was only a few seconds before it crashed to a halt.

The Talon was suffering, speedwise, but Jones was able to coax it back into motion. Cheshire moved over to Tony’s gun, fired a flaming grenade, and -

Sorton the Eelektross and Latchy the Pachirisu (Thundercrash Gang) have been eliminated

- blew the car to flaming smithereens.

“Jones, Tony’s unconscious!” Cheshire called. “The shock didn’t stop his heart, but it’s wounded him fairly badly. We need to go faster or the others will catch up.”

“Doing my best,” Jones snapped. She considered adding something about how incompetent Cheshire had been with not stopping that lightning bolt, but she didn’t bother. There wasn’t a point to saying anything about it when they needed to focus on just finishing this stupid race.

Mazer Pratten the Greninja
Prankster Platoon (De Facto Leader)
Liaocrack River
Affected RPers: Morzone (Theo).
Getting back to the boat was a bit arduous - Theo wasn’t overly heavy, but extra mass was extra mass - but with Waterfalls boosting his movement, it only took a moment. Once he set Theo down, Mazer said, “We’re a little bit south of Sabinal. We can get you to Sabinal, but the rest of my crew is a bit unhappy with the disruption, so I can take you the rest of the way to Westfel - and once we get to the city, I will go. No need to take me to your safehouse, Greninja’s honor.”

A low growl rumbled in Tatia’s throat. “Mazer, that’s a stupid idea and you know it. No way are we going to leave you alone with a stranger.”

Mazer gave her an unimpressed glance. “A stranger who is unarmed and against whom I have a type advantage. I’ll survive. Besides, you and Umber have your bets to get to, right?”

Meanwhile, Mellie had already turned the ship around and was already heading towards Sabinal, while Umber seemed to be coming out of a trance. The Dusknoir was grinning with her one eye. “Oh, you guys gotta hear this.”

“Hear hm, love?”

Umber flicked the gold antenna atop her head. “There’s only four cars left in the Dreadmetal Derby, and our Talon is one of them.”

Mellie snorted. “Thank our lucky stars that that idiot Incineroar hasn’t blown up his own car.”

“You’re just jealous because you’re into Cheshire and he’s taken.”

“Umber, shut up before I -”

“Umber!” Mazer pretended that he hadn’t heard Mellie starting a tirade. “Who else is still in? Do you think our brave men and woman have any chance of still winning?”

Umber shrugged, but there was still an impish look on her face. “Dunno,” she said, “but whoever it is, it won’t be Black Lotus. All of their cars have been destroyed. I think all that’s left is our Talon, a couple of Scavengers, and some -” she paused, then, in the voice of a radio announcer, “- has eliminated the Lightning Strider! No survivors! The Talon is still going, but it’s gotta compete with The Hornet and the new rider of Slayer’s Ride! This is gonna be a close finish, folks - hopefully with more fireworks to come!”

Mazer blinked as Tatia and Umbra began chatting about their bet. “Not bad,” he murmured, “not bad at all.” He paused, then turned to Theo, “Though, uh, my condolences if you had-slash-have anyone in the Dreadmetal, love.”

[The Nonexistent Tazz]

'Nora' the Lilligantaphipuaer
The Gracedia Order????? What's that?????
WHAT EVEN THE ACTUAL EXPLICITIVE
Affected RPers: I'M AN ANTISOCIAL JERKBAG
WHEEEEEEE

Nora was tipsy. So, so tipsyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
y
y
y
y
y
y

so so drunk it made her head spin round and round, and round and round, and round and round, but good goodness, it was so good! Where was she, again? She must be in Apholophi. Apholophi was a nice place this time of the millenium. And she was! Oh, yes, she was.


So many tasty-looking alarm clocks! But they all said the same time, 91:34! And that was bad, clearly everyone knows that wrappertime is much better at driving gyarados to backflip morose ninjuitisu alpaofu land. Taiya stroked her scales with a thoughtful, meaningful movement at this pertinent thought that would go down in the history books as the most important moment of all existence.

The bemused, wonderous Celebi skipped and hopped throughout the sea, talking to all the charming denizens of the world, including Shrek, who was still defending his swamp from all comers with an army of snakemen. Hi, Shrek! Oh, wait, no, that included her. Ah well! She reached out and ate the darnable snakemen in one bite! Nom. They smelled good. Shrek tore his own eyes out, ate his own body, and turned into a geodude at this. "Good madamiel, you have consumed my snakemen! I am afraid I must selfdestruct at your glorious incandecense." And he did immediately use pound as he said he would, turning into a rollercoaster that then crashed. Noriola stroked her tentacles aside, rolled her oculars, and ocular'd out of there. A wicked flower popped out of the ground and chanted, "Where's my son, where's my son!" was that Athena, trapped in that wretched bud? Oh, dearie! But there was nothing she could do. Lalalalala. Alalala.
The wonderous cloudy bastion of baotopuaer was soon upon her, the wonderous capital of-oh, right! Silly her, she had her maps downside right. She flipped them properly to leftside back-aiou and there we were, properly in Shingadinagodn. Shingadingagodn was nice this time of the millisecond. And even better the next five million! She pranced, sol
d acountry for 59q8 Violins, and used snixtiuyo-snoix to purchase perfection in a pill-a friggin' steal! she then just kind of takes eight more from the stall, unto which the stallman turns into an alarm, and then realizes that he's late. He's so terribly late. He grabs the nearest scythe and




Oh but enough of that! The ceaseless void of inifinothing could be had for another day! Or another person! She doffed her fedora upon the lovely example that was Roxxanne-Roxanne? Ricks-anne? Rocks-anne? Who even. She didn't. Off to Jurmiaaaaaaaaaa-

-WHAP!

Nora blinked. Right? She was Nora, right? That felt very not good. No, not at all. This felt different. Slightly more concrete than before, but not real all the same.

The absolute emptiness of dark color around her that seemed to make up everything in sight was, to say the least, absolutely creepy. A black net and only the dimmest flashes of muted color made up the background and it was downright pleasing that there was a bowling alley to stand upon that was nice, bright, wooden and very physical and real. So happy for that. It's the little things.

A backwards-looking water bottle appeared out of the nowhere, rising up like a whale to breach. Nora suddenly stopped-what was a whale? It didn't matter? It must matter, somehow! The water bottle clearly knew, but didn't care; it grew a blackboard upon its face, its fingers became chalk, and Nora was gripping her ears before she knew it, but the noise penetrated. That said, that wasn't so bad as while the motion was expected, the noise was an orchestra by a russian composer, jokingly attributed to a human in a post-apocalyptic wasteland known as Major Kalashnikov, and somehow played entirely by Brothers Koch and Heckler. Nora wondered why she knew what she knew but she knew it had to be important somehow. It must be. There is always a greater picture even if it is made of other pictures. The entity she now knew to be Heckoch spoke true, writing words upon the sky as it scratched the board away, a voice like a chorus roaring them at the void: "And thus it is, lowly thief, that you shall bear witness to it. This world is wretched and dead, and nothing saves it from its utter plunge into the Abyssal Realms, no better than Hell, or anywhere like it. You WRETCHED creatures of Xia are done, utterly, beyond saving. Know it!"

Nora raised her arm in protest and realized that this was not her arm nor her body, but she also did not care. "Utterly done? Utterly done? Such depraved, hopeless, despair-induced action that you lot that call yourselves Star-Crowned now take! Truly the lords of sin have won this day that even you, Justice, would abandon us!" Nora realized that she was not Nora, nor the being she believed herself to be, but a third-her voice was not her own and her voice was a chorus of thousands like his own, and she did not move her mouth but rather move the air. "I dare you-what be next? Slaughter of our people? Do we truly deserve it? Are we without the ability to change, like those before? And dare you judge this harshly?"

"It is not my judgement that makes this decision-I am naught but an enforcer and I am here to enforce this judgement. We shan't corrupt you nor destroy you-such would be vile. The oblivion that may be sent, would be no better than what the Evil One promises its followers! But you, thief-the divine ones have use of you yet! Come, be ascended, in rapturous glory, if you would be so wise," the thing that was not Heckoch the water bottle insisted.

The thing that was not Nora recoiled. Nora felt dissonant, but somehow, something about that enraged her. "You have made folly, then, to deem us so beyond saving. I will remain-and if need be I shall resist thee to the last of my years to do so! I do not claim the power to change all things-but naught but a few flecks of innocence, surely it may be so, and surely it would prove the pitiful ones on-high as to their cowardice."

The water bottle ripped off its chalkboard, a newfound maw replacing it. It still did not move. Nora felt more herself now. "... This place, it has long memory. Long. You felt it too, then, orphan-thief, did you not?"

"...What is even going on?" Nora said in a voice that was still not her own, but one she did not object to.

"It is a dream to you, and to I, so I suppose that's it. These pins, they live." The water bottle said, pointing to the end of the lane. Blood-red pins stood where they were not before, chattering, inanely stating their hopes of the many motives Nora had heard for crime and poverty and wretchedness before. Somehow they hurt her to hear now, as if some part of her expected something better. "What do you make of it? Do you feel this betrayal of innocence as I?" Nora nodded in response. "Ah, good, then... I am in the wrong place, but I come with the right advice."

"... What advice?"

"There are two strangers-the one I have just met and the other I seek. And I come to you in the dead of night in the most deepest of places to give the other horrific knowledge that applies, quite pertinently, to you as well."

"And that is?"

The Water Bottle shifted-and Nora swore that the shape was of remarkable familiarity, just not one in a way she truly recalled. Something came up, like a flag-something... Familial?

"... I do not know your name. I pity that, for I know something far worse. Let us put it into metaphor, though."

A ball descends from the heavens, black and leaden like a bullet. "This terrible tool, this horrific thing, this new symbol of the reaper; it shall be forced upon these pins, these pitiful, wretched pins, seven times in total. These are the second set of the seven, the first you laid witness to before. You will not likewise witness the seventh. By the seventh, you shall instead be amongst them. Then the real steps may be taken."

Nora raised her eyebrow. "Are you saying-"

The wood itself raised in objection, forcing upwards to gently close Nora's mouth. The world whispered, "not here." Nora could do naught but obey.

"I am not saying, no. There is yet a falsehood to that statement. Your umbra shall remain your umbra, though. Indeed, if anything you shall not lose so much as you shall gain... "

Nora's eyes caught something to the other side of the world, away from the pins and away into infinte blackness. From nowhere a storm of lightbulbs approached, fast, fluttering, flying things strung up to chains and made to fly against their will. The Water bottle shuddered back into being a water bottle. "Alas. No further meetings from I shall we have, and I wish naught. You shall be good-great, even. What you do yet has power, and I may say that some could say that you yet may be the key to utter usurption. And to do that... My last advice... Yes, do something impossible to best serve. And while we're at it-ah, ah, I can't. I'm sorry, not that. My time is up. Adios, and may your future endeavors be as fruitful as the sky, time-wanderer."

Time-wanderer? This must be a mistake. Nora-this wasn't entirely fake, nor real. Perhaps this one was-but that would mean-Nora looked down at her hands, her hands, her hands!

They were her hands, as they had always been, and Nora was somewhere else now, somewhere else, somewhere relaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawhat the actual rut

why did that thing have three heads

why was it gold

why was it portal

why was it radiation

she asked and she kept asking but none of those three heads gave her any response even as a floating three and a trippy background backgrounded up to the background of backgrounds in bacgroundiaaallaa

but she got something else

she got that

this

thing

was

friggin

ggggggggggggeeeeeeeeeeeeooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuurrr rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeee
o
u

W E L C O M E T O T H E N I G H T M A R E T H E A T R E
The most magnificent fights of madness and malice happen nowhere else!

Our unfortunate contestant today: NORA NAHLAVHAI! And our beloved first beast, slayer of countless imbeciles-provided by our most generous master of festivities, TwinHpiouioapeuriouiopauperapiopioaruepopapoapapaa aa-the modern post-apocalyptic sci-fi shooting cerberus of our present yesterdaymorrow-

HHHHHHORRORIER!

Nora had a last name? Nora had a gun? Nora had unlimited ammo? Nora was missing her fake tooth? Nora was a quadr

The rules of our most magnificent medley of murderous mosaics have not been altered in any meaningful way! Our magnificent beast has but until our contestant wakes up to eliminate her! By the most magnificent machinations of our Elm Street Executioner Freddy Kreuger, there shall be no retries for our contestant-it is truly do, or be done!

Nora knew that Freedy Kreuger was some horror movie icon who didn't exist but probably existed because this is a dream and dreams are weird and what even is this place at all and why does this guy like his m sounds Nora only wanted to visit friggin Apholophi. Say hello to the Bridge of Invention and Velocity, ask them how Jones and Rachel were doing and wondering if she could

THE INTRODUCTIONS ARE OVER! WE HAVE BUILT UP HYPE FOR LONG ENOUGH! OUR RECOMMENDED LISTENING IS TODAY PROVIDED BY THE MAGNIFICENT MEISTER OF MUSICAL MASH-UPS OR SOME SUCH, NELWARD!!!!RRRRRRRRRROUND OOOOOOOOOONEEEEEEE!!! ACTIIIIONNNNNNN!!!

Nora did not know did not know did not know did not know did not know

but she knew

and she understood

that this thing

was a

I I G I I
F O E I I
I F O E I
I I U I I
I I R I I
X I G I X
F O E I X
I F O E X
X I U I X
I I S I I

ii-iFOE-iFOE-ii-xi-nFOE-nFOE-xi-ii

SCENE ORDER:

N O R A: 1 4 H P / 1 4 H P
H H H H H H O R R O R I E R: 6 6 H P / 6 6 H P

> N O R A

IRRUPT | INGENUITE | INVALIDATE | ISSUE | IMPOSTURE | IMPROMPTU

X|||||

N O R A fires SANGUINE at H H H H H H O R R O R I E R !
Random rolls 4 out of 20! N O R A hits!
4 damage to H H H H H H O R R O R I E R!

> H H H H H H O R R O R I E R

H H H H H H O R R O R I E R would like to show you his LITTLE FRIENDS. ALL THREE OF THEM. BAMBAMBAM!
Random rolls 19! 15! 1! Hit! Miss! ROYAL EFF-UP! H H H H H H O R R O R I E R hits himself!
1 damage to N O R A! 2 damage to H H H H H H O R R O R I E R!

A strong opening! Can HHHHHHORRORIER capitalize to start taking down Nora, or will we see the first contender victory in over 19080814246 seconds?!

SCENE ORDER:

N O R A: 1 3 H P / 1 4 H P
H H H H H H O R R O R I E R: 6 0 H P / 6 6 H P

> N O R A


IRRUPT | INGENUITE | INVALIDATE | ISSUE | IMPOSTURE | IMPROMPTU

|X||||

BACK | BLAZE IT | QUIVER DANCE | PETAL DANCE | GIGA DRAIN | ATTRACT | SLEEP POWDER | TOXIC | HEALING WISH |

|||X||||||

BACK | BLAZE IT | QUIVER DANCE | PETAL DANCE | GIGA DRAIN | ATTRACT | SLEEP POWDER | TOXIC | HEALING WISH | INITIATE

||||||||||X

N O R A sways her hips from side to side-and sways them RIGHT INTO H H H H H H O R R O R I E R'S FRIGGIN FACE AW YEAH
Random rolls 7, 16, 12! Hit! Hit! Hit!
2 damage to H H H H H H O R R O R I E R! 11 damage to H H H H H H O R R O R I E R! 2 damage to H H H H H H O R R O R I E R!
N O R A is doing all of this at 29/16ths with occasional 7/13ths! You try saying your tempo is queerer than Nora's!

> H H H H H H O R R O R I E R

H H H H H H O R R O R I E R Breathes his NUCLEAR BREATH directly at N O R A!
Random rolls 15! Miss!

WHAT IS THIS?! My tyrannical devil, someone has actually dodged the nuclear breath! What a show! Will our insane contestant continue to get lucky streaks with her-what the actual explicitive is this speed stat?! Who is this abomination!?

SCENE ORDER:

N O R A ?: 1 3 H P / 1 4 H P
H H H H H H O R R O R I E R: 4 5 H P / 6 6 H P

> N O R A ?

IRRUPT | INGENUITE | INVALIDATE | ISSUE | IMPOSTURE | IMPROMPTU

|||X||

BACK | SANGUINE | THE FANGS OF THE DEVOURER | INFINITY HEADBAND | |

||||X









NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO

WHO GAVE YOU THAT

YOU FOOL

IT IS FORBIDDEN

IT KILLS WORLDS

IT KILLS MINDS

IT KILLS ALL

BUT MOST OF ALL, IT KILLS YOU

ONLY A TRULY IGNORANT FOOL WOULD USE IT

NO

BACK | SANGUINE | THE FANGS OF THE DEVOURER | INFINITY HEADBAND | |

||X|||

SMART WOMAN.

N O R A ? ? ? ? ? ? gives the dog a WALK. In the PARK. The PARK is H H H H H H O R R O R I E R's faces, the WALK was a 5-minute commute through a lovely flower garden.
Random rolled 12! 1! DEVOURED MISFORTUNE! 1 changes to 20!
12 damage to H H H H H H O R R O R I E R! 28 CRITICAL damage to H H H H H H O R R O R I E R!

H H H H H H O R R O R I E R's EXCESSIVE WOUNDS prohibit action! N O R A ? ? ? ? ? ? gains TAKE TWO!

...That's enough! How does fortune favor you so utterly?! What freak of nature must this thing be?! I cannot fathom the probability of-

"Hello, that was ultra easy? It's a dream, you idiot!" Nora protested, but at this protest it was all over with the sudden apperance of a boulder crushing H H H H H H O R R O R I E R into conponent radiating particles. Victory was to N O R A-err, Nora.

How very, very rude! But I suppose such arrogance is justified with such undue chance! No-one had defeated H H H H H H O R R O R I E R in fair combat, and as you would have died instantly upon cheating-I must admit it, I must declare it, thou art our first, our very first, contestant winner! See you tomorrow night, you wretched onion thing.

Wretched onion thing? Nora didn't look like an onion.

Nora wasn't an onion.

That was stupid. This post is stupid. Why are you reading this at 2:11 in the morning?! No-one's awake at this time!

You're saying you're not awake at 2:11 in the morning when you read this? Well, then, it must be said to thee-Uioppaudfioafuadifofadiiafiodfuoadfaiofdaiodfudfdu iobafuidufiyf8iyuiqioeruioqdiuapaioduadguadguadguo adyfeyri8qeytioqugioadugaudguadgouaduadgadioguadgi eioqeuduifodfidfiafe7r891457tiu41oiutioaduf60oadfu ioaufi14idguvpi;alrghjiqoty8q87adfuj;DFJIOf7u8ogup o;uodusjkldfoiYF987QWT9O1IU4J5ILJDGKLudpof7F98UER7 4UTHOjfh;D8I7AGR8WT'HJGQ'PFG7sdv7y'duRG-]QR[G\
FDGA[DY89ADF9[QWTUQ78UAODJODVJ

and Nora was thus sucking the finest lollipops known to Lilligant, of which, now, there were only two because Taiya demanded them all to be turned into lovely grow-drops for the crowns of herself and her lovely relative Nora. Because Nora was definitely Taiya's relative. This was shocking to no-one. Their totally different apperances and last names were red herrings to make you think otherwise, and a convoluted backstory explamation that would give reason to both of these was the case, which we need not refer to because it's already true, so why bother? Have a crumpet.

I said, have a crumpet.

"I would love a Crumpet!"

Not you. Them.

"Who?"

Nora, why must you be so utterly ignorant? Would you let a tragedy happen on your watch for a lack of focus? Art thou to betray thy oaths and be unprepared?

"...For what?"

I find your lack of knowledge so utterly insulting, but I cannot be complicit in thy absense of knowledge. Certainly it is due to the presence of , so thus it must be that death is a ruse, Wikipedia a liar, and all matters utterly obfsucated in the matter of keys and locks. Should it be such that your attunement fails thy palette and you cannot work around the all-consuming wrath around you, just look for the signs. It'll be OK. For you. The rest won't know what to do and they'll just line up to die.

"..."

You really are clueless.

"Yep. Kind of implicit in the job."

Thy humility is not to thy service here!

"Right back at you, hollow-arm!"

Proof of further ignorance! No wonder thou have such a wretched thing bound to you! But I must wonder why? And why must even I wonder... Perhaps, then, it is as irrelevant as it appears, which it always is. No matter, then! At least some semblance of a closure, in some measure of reality.

...

And thus Nora was politely moved to the privacy and relative quiet of the bathtub in the Anticassamar room that the female GIA agents were sleeping at, Room 927 at the 9th floor, where nothing of note had happened other than her immensely loud sleep-talking, which had kept her roomates up to that point. Nora's loud sleep-talking continued without pause for the rest of the night as it had before her move, but it was contained within the bathroom, enough for the other two, who took all of this merely as a sign of stress, and saved all mentions of keys and pianos and these knives and that kingdom and those pins as signs of of a drunken, tired mind.

They hoped it was-though they did not realize that it was hope that they had thought, and not certainty.