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

[Neo Emolga]

http://i.imgur.com/DtYUuVx.png

The PXFIRE RP is a roleplay section that is part of the PXFIRE Forum event. For more details about the competition as a whole, you can find all those goodies right here! (http://www.pokemoncrossroads.com/forum/showthread.php?13967-PXFIRE-Welcome-to-your-summer-event-POKEMON-CROSSFIRE!) To join in this, you have to be in a PXFIRE team.

This thread is for the RP only, and you will need to sign up here (http://www.pokemoncrossroads.com/forum/showthread.php?14455-PXFIRE-SU-DS-PXFIRE-Roleplay-A-Game-of-Storms) before taking part. I'm hoping you join us!

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PXFIRE RP: A GAME OF STORMS

ROLEPLAY DETAILS RECAP:
THERE IS A WORLD...

Throughout the universe, there are many prosperous, colorful, and lively worlds of peaceful Pokémon that live well and work well together in harmony.

Xia is not one of those worlds.

Like many others, Xia is a world where only Pokémon live and humans are the myths of fairytales like the stories humans tell of mermaids and centaurs. But unlike many other worlds of only Pokémon, Xia is ravaged, corrupted, and dirty. Throughout most of the world, cities are bathed in oppression and violence. Crime is culture and treachery is tradition. While Xia's technology is more advanced than most other Pokémon worlds and is somewhat similar in nature to what modern day humans have, it owes that to the loose and lax regulations regarding pollution, greed, and endless industrial creations. Most cities are bathed in dark smog while trashcan fires and flashing, imposing neon signs fill their streets with a hellish glow. Meanwhile, massive motorized vehicles stampede their way through the streets, adding to the noise and smog that surround these dark cities.

Upon Xia, there is a small, southwestern continent named Liao. And it is here where a new development is arising.

For fifteen years, the Black Lotus Empire has ruled throughout the hot, arid continent, but it shares its dark and ravaging culture with the rest of the world. Under the rule of Queen Taiya the Lilligant, Black Lotus has shown no compassion for the weak or the poor. Taiya's elite officers, known as the Onyx Circle, serve Taiya and the Black Lotus cause as commanding officers, legionnaires, and centurions. Some of them are infamous for their strength, cruelty, and cunning while others remain in the shadows as only rumors and enigmas. Despite her protection and sworn bodyguards, Taiya is quite a lethal fighter herself, having killed four assassins all on her own and taunts her opposition to send her a fifth to provide her with more entertainment.

Rebellion groups that have opposed Queen Taiya's rule have only met crippling defeat so far. Meanwhile, there is word that Black Lotus hides a powerful secret that explains why their troops and forces seem stronger than other Pokémon. It wasn't until recently that the name "Ante" had surfaced from the shadows, but for now, the name is all that outsiders seem to know about this mysterious force of power.

A FESTIVAL OF BLOODSHED

Today marks the beginning and opening of the fiftieth annual Tempest Festival, a violent tradition of blood sports and mortality games that leave many of their participants dead or crippled for life just for the chance of power, fame, and extreme wealth. These globally-televised events capture the attention of millions of sadistic Pokémon craving these destructive death games. As the 50th anniversary of these hellish games, the next month of events and games promise to be deadlier, bloodier, and more destructive than ever before to celebrate this dark anniversary. Black Lotus has their own highly-trained and prepared team of battle-hardened Pokémon more than ready to slaughter every last adversary Pokémon in every competition. The mass grave pits are already prepared and are simply waiting to be filled while the betting machines are at the ready, just itching for greed and lavish desires to seize the impulses of many gambling Pokémon.

Meanwhile, their competition, like many years before, consists of captured innocents, insurgents, rebels, resistance soldiers, and anyone brave or foolish enough to put their life on the line to challenge Black Lotus at their own blood games. But like a flame battered by Black Lotus's hurricane of violence and madness, their hope of winning is pale, though still possible. Like gold dangled on a string before them, they are driven by their own impulses and fight with little left to lose.

This year, however, there is a twist to maximize the size and scale of these bloody competitions and the hellish circus anarchy.

The grand prize for the team, country, or faction accumulating the most points and thus, winning the 50th annual Tempest Festival, will be presented with the Master Blaze Jewel. A white-silver gemstone relic that grants the holder the ability to evolve well beyond what should be possible for what that Pokémon can evolve naturally. Offering this incredible relic is none other than Blacklocke Arms, a weapons manufacturer given exclusive rights to supply a large portion of the weaponry in this year's games and have plenty of advertising presence. It is unknown how they got the Master Blaze Jewel in their possession, but it remains as the most coveted prize out of all the hundreds of offerings Tempest Festival sponsors are providing this year.

The Master Blaze Jewel is rumored to hold strong, incredible power of allowing Pokémon to evolve even beyond their normal forms as a kind of skeleton key for evolution stones and evolution sources. It is believed that if Black Lotus wins the Blaze Jewel, Queen Taiya, in conjunction with her mysterious force of Ante, may become unstoppable in unnerving, unpredictable ways that has most of her adversaries deeply concerned, forcing rebellion and opposition groups to have to take part to prevent Black Lotus from getting it. Meanwhile, though many of the other competitors are hoping to win lessened prison sentences, cash prizes, and other lavish desires, the Master Blaze Jewel is by far the most coveted relic.

Your team and allies have the chance to use these games as a leverage to potentially overthrow Black Lotus and build a better, more peaceful Xia with the Master Blaze Jewel under your control. Or, you may simply decide to replace Black Lotus as the new ruling authority. The problem is you're not alone in your objectives. Other teams and Pokémon seek the Master Blaze Jewel, the glory, all the other prizes, and the better life that comes from winning what promises to be the most brutal of Tempest Festivals as it celebrates fifty years of bloody carnage and ferocious combat. You and your team have been preparing hard for these games. Unlike many others who are entering, you are better prepared with your own armor, weaponry, vehicles, and training. Black Lotus may have the advantage, but this year the stakes are higher and the competition is more ready and ever before.

War may never change, but this time it's on television and under the classification of "entertainment."

YOUR TEAM'S ROLE

Whether your team is a band of freedom fighters, scoundrels, thieves, pirates, covert heroes, smugglers, or what have you, this is your chance at furthering your team's agenda. All members of your team have plenty of supporters and you are a known threat to Black Lotus, but you have survived, endured, or evaded their oppression. As far as you and the rest of your team are convinced, they may say the land you have claimed for yourself is theirs, but you refuse to acknowledge it.

Your team has many NPC supporters and is well-funded to be a considerable nuisance to Black Lotus. You and your teammates are better prepared than most entering these dark and violence arenas and competitions. In the grizzly events, your team has a budget big enough to enter with considerably tough vehicles and hardened armor and weaponry (the Pokémon-only options mainly apply to other poor but aspiring NPC contestants that you will be engaged with during the ferocious events). Meanwhile, there are spots on the map that will be under your team's control, even though you're still considered to be in Black Lotus's borders. The situations between your team and Black Lotus are on the brink of revolution like a pile of fireworks sitting on burning ashes.

It's your choice. It's up to you whether to enter these vicious and savage games as gladiators, or simply find a way to sabotage them from the outside or inside. You can use the media attention to build your own agenda, or use the whole Tempest Festival as a distraction to work within the shadows where eyes won't be watching.

The only restriction is that you cannot be allied with Black Lotus (I'm controlling all of them by myself). Beyond that, everything is fair game.

THE GRACIDEA ORDER

Nestled in the southeastern tropical edge of Liao, The Gracidea Order has had enough with the world diminishing into a polluted cesspool of grime, toxic waste, and filth. As Black Lotus's factories and industries continue to show no respect for the natural world and the aftermath of its continued neglect and care for the environment, The Gracidea Order intends to rebel against the Black Lotus now that they have acquired the resources, following, and the drive to no longer just be a nuisance to Black Lotus. Now they've become a real threat within Black Lotus's own borders. Inspired by its ability to purify the surrounding environment, The Gracidea Order is often resembled by Shaymin and the Gracidea Flower.

What started as a small band of environmentalists quickly turned into a strong faction that is determined to restore natural beauty and cleanliness to the world of Xia, starting with Liao. Factories and power plants that have been especially brutal on the environment have been destroyed by Gracidea Order operatives on multiple accounts. As more Pokémon realize the more comfortable living within The Gracidea Order's territory, their numbers and supporters have grown exponentially. Their capital city of Hana and the neighboring city of Jadeblossom remain as a hardened stronghold that Black Lotus still cannot get to comply with the empire's regulations. And now, further and further, the region further slips away from the grasp of the empire.

Black Lotus regards The Gracidea Order as a band of eco-terrorists hellbent on undoing technological progress for inane reasons. Meanwhile, Gracidea Order operatives mock Black Lotus, claiming their dark colored flower emblem comes from all the filth and pollution.

THE STEEL SCAVENGERS

Located in western Liao, the Steel Scavengers are a band of renegades and traitors that have directly betrayed The Black Lotus Empire and Queen Taiya in one way or another. After the number of rebels, exiles, and blacklisted Pokémon continued to escalate, they began to come together as the Scavengers. After seizing control of Blackbriar City and the neighboring industrial metropolis of Coalrock, a significant portion of Black Lotus's industrial supply lines were permanently cut off. As a result, the Scavengers have gone from being a serious nuisance to a genuine threat that intends to undermine everything Black Lotus seeks to achieve. With a large portion of western Liao's industrial zones now under their control, the Scavengers seek to finish the job and bring the entire empire crashing down and anyone else that intends to get in their way of doing so.

Known to create monstrous juggernaut war machines, brutish weaponry, thickened armor plating, and beastly mechanisms of battle, the Steel Scavengers rely on sheer, mechanized brawn and brutality in combat, intimidating the meek and unprepared. As a faction that has always been deeply-ingrained enemies with Black Lotus since day one, the interaction will be exceptionally bloody.

THE PRANKSTER PLATOON

Located north in the Shadysands Desert and above the Downdune mountains, the Prankster Platoon remains as a faction of anarchists and chaos that absolutely refuse to cooperate with anything the Black Lotus empire does and demands. When it comes to who will be the first to mock and ridicule Black Lotus in open in satirical broadcasts and musical parodies, the Platoon will proudly be the first to do it. Past and recent Black Lotus attempts to retake the northern area have not gone well at all and the Platoon happily reminds them of it at every possible opportunity. Tanks have been disabled all along Highway 1 and Highway 18 only to be turned into colorful piñatas by the Platoon. Meanwhile, Black Lotus officers and infantry have warned others the Platoon is known for finding other nefarious uses for their septic waste.

Combat against the Prankster Platoon is known to be extremely unpredictable and many have died to their tactics hearing maniacal laughter before dying. Many have been warned that while Black Lotus commandeers a relentless and hardened military, there's a good reason why this faction of resilient and blatant chaotic jesters doesn't just survive. They flock like endless, laughing Murkrows on a dead Rattata.

OTHER FACTIONS

Besides the three PXFIRE Teams, there are other NPC-exclusive entities that aren't on good terms with Black Lotus, but they aren't as significant. They will, however, be making appearances throughout the storyline and will be involved in the competitions.

Thundercrash Gang - Thundercrash isn't so much as a thorn in Queen Tayia's side, but more like a pin. They have a small member base of being criminals and smugglers that have stolen and worked directly against Black Lotus, but they're good at dodging scrutiny and they're nomadic, meaning it's very difficult for Black Lotus to track them down and eliminate them. They also don't care if Black Lotus is hosting the Tempest Festival. They want to win all for themselves. The Thundercrash gang welcomes all members, but they have a strong affinity for electric-based weaponry and attacks. They also tend to bend their vehicles and attack tactics on speed rather than muscle and force.

Sentinel Corporation - Mysterious, covert, and shady, these Pokémon don't say very much, but they're specialists in computer crimes, espionage, sabotage, and very James Bond / secret agent work. Meanwhile, they're more of a problem to Black Lotus when it comes to information. They focus mainly on tactics of perception, accuracy, and secrecy and have some of the best snipers in the world. A lot of their vehicles will harbor many secret weapons and a lot of their agents work under cover with strange, enigmatic codenames and call signs. Some of them even only use a series of numbers.

The "Shadow Network" - No one on the outside truly knows what the "Shadow Network" really is. Rumor has it that their name takes many forms and is under a varying branch of entities, but still remains as one. Two Pokémon that may look like enemies on the opposite sides of the spectrum may in fact be sworn blood brothers. Some believe it doesn't actually exist, but there is evidence some kind of underground operation that opposes Black Lotus is working deep within the veins of the continent.

There are other groups, but they are only very minor and will not make a significant impact on the storyline.

BLAZE JEWELS

Upon the Pokémon world of Xia, there are relics called Blaze Jewels. The silver-white Master Blaze Jewel offered as the grand prize is a special one, but there are more common ones throughout Liao and the rest of the world.

Standard Blaze Jewels allow your Pokémon character to change their typing, such as a Raichu using a Fire Blaze Jewel to become a fire type and use any fire type move they'd like. Even something like Sacred Fire which is usually exclusive to Ho-oh. Said Raichu could still use electric-type moves, but as a fire type Pokémon, they wouldn't have as much power as before. Also, said Raichu would look more like a fire type with reddish/orange fur and maybe a flame tail rather than one with a thunderbolt-shaped tip. When using a Blaze Jewel, your character's appearance and features would be changed to resemble the new type they're taking on. With Blaze Jewels, you only need to have it near you (about one meter within) to use it. So even if you're a Pokémon that needs to walk around on all fours, like Umbreon or Luxio, you can still wear it in a pouch or as jewelry to make use of it. Also, you can take off the effect at any time in an instant.

In the world of Xia, Blaze Jewels are rare, but not too rare. They're common enough for your character to start with one and for some other NPCs to have them, but not to the point where everyone and their mother is walking around with dozens of them. Think of it like owning a car. They're also spherical and are about the size of a golf ball and are colored to whatever type they change, such as a fire one being red and an electric one being yellow. They're also perfectly legal to use in these Tempest Festival events, and you will see NPCs using them. You can get others besides the one you start off with. It's not against the rules to pick one up from a dead Pokémon in the middle of an event!

Since the world of Pokémon has dual types, you could use two Blaze Jewels at once to become a dual type based on both of the Jewels you're using. So if you use both a Dragon Blaze Jewel and a Fire Blaze Jewel, you're now a fire/dragon type! But that's your limit. If you acquire a third Blaze Jewel, you're going to have to choose two out of the three typings you have available, but not all three. So if you found say an Electric Blaze Jewel on top of what you already have, you could go either fire/dragon, electric/dragon, or fire/electric as far as dual type possibilities go. But you're free to swap among those forms on the fly! And if you acquire a fourth and so on, it's the same kind of thing. Additional Blaze Jewels will just give you more selections as far as your dual typing selection goes. And if you have multiple Blaze Jewels, you still have the option of using only one at a time, also. Just note than any use of Blaze Jewels will overwrite whatever natural typing your Pokémon character has.

As for the Master Blaze Jewel, it's anyone's guess as to where it came from, but it's definitely confirmed to be authentic. But it does make one wonder. Is that the only "Master" Blaze Jewel out there?

MAP OF LIAO

http://i.imgur.com/2qa4sgl.png

LIST OF TEMPEST FESTIVAL EVENTS

In almost all of these events, victory goes to the last team or individual still alive, though in the past, losers have been able to retreat and flee away from the carnage after the situation looks hopeless to them. There's no punishment or prosecution for running away (besides losing/disqualification) and it's a perfectly acceptable (although humiliating) way to survive, but in most cases, the number of survivors is usually very low.

Expect for NPCs to be dropping like flies in these events, but I totally understand if you don't want your character to be the same way. So, if things are looking grim, bailing out via running/flying away, teleporting, or what have you is possible. It might require some creativity, but it's a possible option. Just note that most participants don't make it out alive, so usually only player-controlled characters will have this kind of safety net available to them. Realistically though, it would make sense for your character to take non-lethal injuries and maybe some of their NPC companions/teammates would be killed in action even if your character escapes from the carnage.

BLOOD PIT ARENA
On ground arena combat event
Location: Blood Pit Arena, Lytala City
Here, Pokémon enter as gladiators in a fight to the death. Entrants are allowed to bring whatever weapons and armor they so choose, but there are no vehicles in this competition. Meanwhile, Blood Pit Arena has several variants. In the "Open" version, there is limited cover and gladiators enter only with that they begin with, while in the "Pillager" version, the arena becomes more like a labyrinth with better weapons and armor hidden within the dark, bloody halls of this bloody, televised deathtrap. Gladiators are free to use whatever Pokémon attacks they have, as well as use whatever weaponry they come ready with or steal from someone else whether they're alive or dead.

DREAD METAL DESTRUCTION DERBY
On ground vehicular combat event
Location: Lotus Den Slums
Much like the Blood Pit Arena, the Dread Metal Destruction Derby is like the Blood Pit Arena, only with vehicles. Contenders are free to work in teams using either a fast and speedy vehicle or the biggest junkyard hulk they can construct. Vehicles can be armed with whatever weaponry the competitors decide to use. Meanwhile, the arena itself consists of an entire urban slum neighborhood to wreck havoc in where collateral damage means nothing. If a competitor's vehicle is disabled or destroyed but they survive, they can still fight on foot, but they'll be at a severe disadvantage.

ROADKILL WARRIOR COMPETITION
On ground vehicular racing combat event
Location: Highway 2, Leaving from Garland City heading north toward Lytala City
For those who want speed and destruction, look no further than this bloody racing event. Roadkill Warriors is vehicle-only, and unlike Dread Metal, it is a racing event with flames, carnage, and mayhem. However, use of weapons or attacks isn't allowed until five minutes into the race (to prevent everyone from killing each other right at the Garland City starting line!). Here, racers need to decide whether to sacrifice speed for more armored protection and weaponry, or go fast but fragile. Meanwhile, like Dread Metal, multiple Pokémon can work together in teams in the same vehicle, but the difference is if your vehicle is disabled, you lose your chance to win, but could definitely still die while rendered helpless on Highway 2.

FIELD OF SCREAMS (credit to Velocity!)
On ground racing obstacle course event
Location: Lytala City
Field of Screams is a footrace but with a twist! Along the way, there are plenty of traps, hazards, and deadly surprises along the way. Pits with spikes, flame jets hidden in the walls, and even deadly audience participation are all threats these racers have to deal with as their finish line will either be at tend end of the race or by the reaper's blade. Attacking your fellow racers is perfectly allowed, but it becomes a battle of keeping the pace, dodging everything else that's flung your way, and fighting back against your competition!

THE DEVIL'S TIDE
Naval combat
Location: Crackwood Sea
Here, the arena situation is similar to the ground events, only this time, it's in the drink, right in the filthy, polluted waters just south of Crackwood City. Combatants need to have a naval craft ready for combat, or take the risky chance of using a water Pokémon (definitely not recommended, no one has ever won with one). Contestants, especially Black Lotus, have been known to enter naval vessels even as large as battleships, though sometimes the bigger they come, the harder they fall. As with the other events, last team standing wins. If you're not ready to win, you'd better be ready to swim!

HEAVENS OF FIRE (credit to Morzone!)
Aerial combat and racing event
Location: Skies above the Lotus Den Slums
If destruction and bloodshed on the ground or in the water isn't your forte, this event has Pokémon using airplanes or flying Pokémon (usually used by those who can't afford planes) to dogfight each other out of the skies. And unlike the ground events, a disabled aircraft will usually result in death. Oh sure, there are parachutes, but gunning a helpless parachuting Pokémon holds a special place in the hearts of the crowds. Usually those that use flying Pokémon need to go light on the armor and weaponry, as unlike planes, most of them can't fly with heavier weapons. They need to rely on speed and maneuvers in those circumstances or it will be over far sooner than you can imagine.

DEADLY FORCE
Situation-based infantry combat event
Location: Lytala City
In this team-based competition, one team is pitted against another instead of the free-for-all like settings of the other competitions. One team is the Assassins while the other team is the Bodyguards. The Bodyguards have to prevent the Assassins from killing the VIP, a unprepared and completely innocent Pokémon yanked off the streets and used as fodder for this bloody competition. The catch with this event is Black Lotus's forces will always take the assassin role. And it's extremely rare for them to lose.

DEATHWISH ENDURANCE
Physical endurance event
Location: Lytala City
Deathwish Endurance has a survivor mode and 1vs1 mode. Here, opposing Pokémon are locked into chambers and exposed to the element they're weakest against. Fire Pokémon are thrown into tanks that will be filled with water. Water Pokémon are hooked up to an electric-chair like device while grass types are put into an incinerator that progressively gets hotter and hotter. How to win? Survive longer than everyone else. This competition remains as the hardest, because somehow Black Lotus stays alive longer and there is suspicion Ante may be involved, but there's absolutely no evidence.

SIGN UP

Sign ups start RIGHT NOW! You don't need to wait until PXFIRE starts to make your characters. You can have them prepared and approved in advance so that you're ready to go opening day. Also, you're free to make as many characters as you'd like, no limit. Furthermore, you're free to make more characters at any time whether it's before PXFIRE, during the PXFIRE event, or even after the whole event concludes!

Sign ups take place Right here. (http://www.pokemoncrossroads.com/forum/showthread.php?14455-PXFIRE-SU-DS-PXFIRE-Roleplay-A-Game-of-Storms)

PXFIRE ROLEPLAY GRADING AND RULES RECAP

PXFIRE ROLEPLAY GRADING AND RULES

The PXFIRE Roleplay lasts for the entire duration of PXFIRE and beyond! This is pretty much the one PXFIRE section that can keep going even past the final day of the PXFIRE event. Judging will stop on the final day of PXFIRE, but the roleplay storyline doesn't have to!

Judging will occur at the end of each week of PXFIRE. A total of 100 points will be awarded among all participants. How many you get will be based on how good your performance is and how many other people are participating.

GRADING RUBRIC

Here, players will get a letter rating of A++ to F for each of these categories. +s and -s will also be applicable.

A++: This person is a star and an MVP in this area. It's VERY rare to get this.
A+: Awesome, awesome performance. It's near-impossible to ask anything more of this person.
A: Truthfully really great skill here. It would be tough to ask them to do better, but there's a slight window where they could.
A-: Still really good in this area. Not perfect, but still really good.
B+: A solid good effort in this area. They could be better, but I can't complain.
B: Good work here, could be better if they want to shoot for the stars, but it's far from lousy.
B-: Decent job, not bad, but nothing to praise over.
C+: Eh, not stellar, but there's some small qualities here.
C: Pretty much status quo right here. The person kind of did what the bare minimum requirements where and just settled on that.
C-: Not terrible, but still a tinge below average.
D+: Meh, this person kind of got lazy and really didn't care or overlooked a lot of things.
D: Not really thrilled about what the person did here. At this point, they're doing things that have a negative impact on the RP and could be considered a bit disruptive.
D-: Really not great at all. What they've been doing is actually getting a bit annoying or they're just totally ignoring what they should be doing.
F: The person just really missed the mark completely on this. Either they didn't do this at all or they've been doing things very wrong. It could also be where they're doing a lot of negative things that badly affect the RP.

GRADING AREAS

Driving Force - Characters that have more influential impact on the storyline will get heavy points here, whereas a player that just posts background stuff over and over again and keeps to themselves won't get very much. I'm a pretty anti-filler person, so don't make a whole lot of unnecessary background stuff if you don't ever plan on going anywhere with it. I don't want people to hang around the exposition stage for too long. Sure, the first two posts or so are okay, but then it's gotta get going time!

A+ Example: The person is really getting involved with the plot, adding their own subplots, and is getting involved however they can, keeping things evolving and making the RP interesting for everyone without breaking rules.

C Example: The person plays along with the plot, but kind of in a roll-with-the-punches kind of way. Nothing special, but they're at least doing their part.

F Example: The person is totally ignoring the plot, not interacting with the setting, and they're possibly doing things that really aren't applicable.

Written Content - The second big factor to having posts that are interesting to read and really tie well with the character the player has written up. You could completely miss the ball on the Driving Force element, but if the posts are at least intriguing, you'll make up points.

A+ Example: This person's posts are full of interesting and intriguing dialogue, there's great description and emotion, and the posts are colorful with adjectives and emphasis in just the right amounts at just the right times.

C Example: The posts are okay. They're nothing special and I'd read it once and be okay with that and not really be intrigued to read it again and again. They did a passable job and it's acceptable, though it could have been cooler.

F Example: The posts don't make sense, they're confusing, the character interactions are really unrealistic, and they're doing other weird and awkward things that just make the post really difficult to grasp. A person would also get this score if they've been breaking rules like god-modding and bunnying.

RPer Interactions - One of the big advantages of roleplaying is that you get interaction opportunities! This is a big push to get involved and interact with others to get the storyline going and progressing. The more the RPer interacts with others, the more they'll shine in here.

A+ Example: The person has been interacting with other members of their team to implement teamwork, possibly getting involved in battle engagements against the enemy teams, and they've been getting into fights and interactions with Black Lotus, the main adversaries of the RP, which are controlled by me. So they're interacting with me too. That's good stuff.

C Example: Well, the player interacts with another RPer every now and then, but it's nothing super-special. It could be argued that maybe it wasn't even necessary or they just didn't do much beyond a status quo kind of thing.

F Example: The person either isn't interacting with anyone at all, or they're actually being disruptive toward others and doing annoying, pointless, and possibly even spammy kinds of things with them.

Activity Level - Activity level is based on the frequency of posts that person puts in. The first three areas are quality, and yes, this one is quantity-based, but that's why this one comes behind those three. A person who really posts a lot and really puts in a lot of quantifiable effort will get rewarded here.

A+ Example: The person was the top poster here. They're super active in the RP, they're really doing a lot of content for it, and they're committed to making the RP a daily interactive activity.

C Example: The person posts maybe every now and then. It's clear they're still participating, but not really on a lively level. But they're still in it at least.

F Example: The person posted one really short post during the entire week. They were there, but not much else beyond that.

Formatting, Spelling, and Grammar - I'm not a big stickler on this, but I don't really want to see an absolutely horrible job either. So, I would like people to care about how presentable their posts are and to make sure they're clean and tidy.

A+ Example: No errors, no weird grammar, no typos. It's clear the person has been proofreading these things and making sure they're clean and good to go before posting them.

C Example: Here, the posts are a bit rushed. There might be spelling mistakes, maybe a "their" where there should have been a "they're" and things like that. There might also be weird word redundancy or the sentence structure doesn't quite flow right all the time. Here, it's clear that some proofreading would have helped clean up the blemishes if they were just a bit more careful.

F Example: Spammy, chat speak, junk, and weird incoherent stuff that actually reads like what the SPAMbots post or a bad form of Engrish. The posts here are so bad it's hard for anyone to understand them.

RULES

The rules are pretty simple. Nothing too crazy.

CORE ROLEPLAYING RULES

Follow all PXR Rules - But you know that. :P
No Godmodding - Basically don't make your character an immortal god and let them be aware of it. Extreme abuses of power, breaking reality too much, or doing an unrealistic amount of damage and destruction in a very short amount of time with no preparation is rule-breaking. Also, using out of character knowledge falls under this area. You, the player, may be aware of something, but your character wouldn't.
No Bunnying - Basically, no controlling other people's characters.

SETTING AND CONTENT RULES

Considering the darker and grittier nature of the RP and the setting, here's the policy on what's acceptable and what's probably a little too beyond.

Violence and gore - Open season. Go as M-rated as you like in this area. Xia is a nasty and violent world and because there's so many different ways to die, feel free to capture whatever you'd like in whatever detail you can imagine. After all, it is only words and not visual. Plus let's face it, we've all played at least one M-rated game by now.

Sexual Content - I'm okay with things like sex, pornography, prostitution, and rape being implied and given brief mentioning, but I'd rather not see it go too beyond that with heavy and cringe-inducing detail. Keep it touch and go. While there's plenty of this going on in Xia, I want to keep a cap on it and avoid it getting to the point of being distasteful. If you slip a little bit too much on this, I won't chew you out the first time it happens, but I'll drop a note for you to keep it lower.

Swearing - Well, if the swear filter blanks it out, it blanks it out, but you're free to imply it with * marks. Kudos goes to the people who actually make up new swear words as part of Xia's culture. That's creativity!

Alcohol and drug use - Open season. There's plenty of that going on in Xia. Drugs range from steroids, hallucinogens, narcotics, you name it, you got it. Note that the names of these drugs are different in Xia. Xia may not have things like cocaine or crystal meth, but they might have drugs like "Swish" or "Jirachi Dust" that have similar effects to actual drugs but just with different names. Be creative and feel free to conjure up something druggie Pokémon are into!

Gambling - Open season. Another thing that's all over the place. Pokémon are constantly betting on winners in these deadly games. Beyond that, casinos and lotteries are common. Those are all over the place.

Darker Themes - Things like terrorism, genocide, racism, and things like that are fine here. You might have plenty of that going on. Don't take what happens in the RP's storyline too literally and think it's an implication to anything in reality. It's all purely fiction and nothing's implied.

With all that said, good luck, have fun, and enjoy the roleplay!

One last note!

Please make sure each of your posts has this header on top:

<Character name and species>
<Faction/Team>
<Current Location>

Enjoy and good luck!

[Neo Emolga]

Willow Ranzel the Lopunny
Black Lotus - Onyx Circle
Lytala City, Tempest Festival Central Stadium

Cheering. Noise. Strobe lights. And seemingly endless fanfare, fireworks, and thunderous applause. The music was loud and the audience was already becoming drunk and unruly.

It was foolish to expect anything less out of the Tempest Festival Opening Ceremony.

Avid fans of the savage and bloody games cheered as deadly machines of war drove around the stadium as a precursor of the ravaging mayhem that was to ensure in the weeks to come. Usually hundreds of competitors would be killed as a result of these mortality combat games, but with the arrival of the dark 50th anniversary, it was estimated to reach in the thousands as more and more entrants had signed up for a chance to win it all only to lose it all. The metallic and imposing stadium was lit and full of loud and rambunctious activity.

Perched in her sniper position high up in the stadium, Willow the Lopunny could see everything happening down below. She was charged with the task of making sure nothing would try to make an attempt on Queen Taiya's life as she watched from her throne, but in truth, Willow wasn't worried in the slightest. She had her EinCaliber Sniper Rifle in position with the sights calibrated, but Willow knew Queen Taiya could perfectly handle herself and her presence there was simply additional overkill, which was a Black Lotus custom. But Willow enjoyed the thought of someone being stupid enough to try and attack her as this thunderous opening ceremony was being broadcasted around the world. It would be a race between everyone on standby as to who could kill them first.

As the ceremony continued, a fleet of new and larger armored vehicles stormed their way into the stadium. These were some of Black Lotus's finest, but just to keep the competition on the edge, they weren't getting all the insight as to what to expect when the actual competitions started.

"This is Visor 3," a voice suddenly spoke into her headset radio. "I've lost visual on the asset due to audience obstruction. Changing position."

"No, you stay there, Riggs," Willow sighed into her headset. "Taiya has more operatives watching her back than you think. You're a rookie compared to most of them."

Willow never liked handling new recruits and even though Riggs had been on a few missions already, the formality of his approach was too tight in her opinion. The Nidoking was fidgety, too eager, and so much by the book that when there was an exception to what the book called for, he had trouble making his own rational choices. And to Willow, it was taking him forever to pick up on.

It was only a short while after the fanfare that things had settled down a bit and Queen Taiya had approached the metallic podium's microphone.


Queen Taiya the Lilligant
Black Lotus Ruling Authority
Lytala City, Tempest Festival Central Stadium

A dark smile never left Queen Taiya's face as she watched everyone so eager, so viciously and wickedly eager for the Tempest Festival to begin. The arenas were dry and were yearning for blood. The burial pits were vacant and begged to be given their fill. And so many contenders were lined up and in dire need of such death. As the dark and wild audiences cheered and the performers all looked upon Taiya to give the Opening Festival her blessing, she smiled and greeted all of them. The fierce and wildly-loved Lilligant was more than happy to proudly grant this sadistic audience their darkest and most violent wishes.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Taiya gracefully smiled as her voice was broadcasted throughout the stadium and all across many channels, "You've waited too long for this moment. You've counted down the days and you've had many sleepless nights as the anticipation for this legendary Tempest Festival kept you begging for time to march faster!"

There were roars and cheers throughout the crowd, and Taiya smiled at how in the recent days, the desire for the opening of the 50th annual Tempest Festival had only gotten more frantic with every passing hour. They wanted it to be legendary and Taiya knew it would satisfy all their sadistic desires and then some. All their wishes for the most destructive events the festival had always promised would be bigger and better than ever before. They wanted blood. They wanted screams. And there would be plenty.

"And now it's here," Taiya grinned to her highly anticipated audience, both in the stadium and watching on live broadcast. "Now you will see everything your feverish hearts have desired. And more. Victory will go to the strong and prepared. And death will take its claim on the weak and foolish. You've seen it in the years past but none of that will prepare you for what's to come this year. This anniversary. This glorious, 50th anniversary!"

And the cheering had gone wild and frantic. Already there were some members of the audience that had gone overboard after vicious cocktails of powerful drugs and highly potent alcohol. Horns and firecrackers had been going off...

...and at that moment, it was then that one had decided to take his chance while the audience was distracted and the noise level was high. Just under the stage where Queen Taiya had been standing, a panel had been moved. Months of planning and preparation had prepared Nenge the Toxicroak for this moment. He was going to be the one assassin to bring Queen Taiya down.

In front of everyone.

He quickly leapt onto the podium while the intensity was at its peak and Taiya was giving her speech, and in the heat of those few, critical seconds, he took his combat sword and was ready to take her down in one, perfect, lethal killing blow. Before any of the Black Lotus snipers or bodyguards could even make their move. The "Tongue of Death" was what they called this shadowy assassin strike that took years to train in, and only a few knew it. A twisting, burrowing strike right into her side would be more than enough to reach her heart and dig it out.

The audience suddenly saw what was going on. Some thought this was part of the ceremony, while others suddenly realized this was an unanticipated occurrence. And then there were others that were far too drunk and stoned to even take notice and would only ever know what happened in the replays of the recording. As he was tempted to scream that the Shadow Network sent their regards, he stayed silent. The strike was more important.

Nenge made his move knowing he would immortalize himself in history as being the one who assassinated Taiya. His hand, his blade, his years of training and stealth all lead up to this moment. HIS moment. It had all come down to this.

She narrowly dodged what was supposed to be the perfect, killing blow that would change and write history.

There was only one word that struck his mind in that moment.

HOW...?

But just as his combat sword flew forward, twisting and digging through nothing but air as he drove it down thinking it would have gone through Taiya's flesh, Taiya had spun around, elegantly as if in a dance. Her leaf-like hand was swift to deftly unsheathe her own concealed blade, and she struck the Toxicroak in his red vocal sac, causing it to burst as her blade tore through his lungs and permanently cut off his breathing. There was suddenly blood all over her blade as members of the audience were now on their feet in shock, bewilderment, and excitement for what had just transpired.

Nenge had tried to fight death. Desperately, desperately tried to withhold himself from the reaper's grasp. He tried to improvise one last, wild strike in this last ditch moment to at least take her with him into the dark gaze of death, but as Taiya slowly drove her blade in further, he was too weak and in too much crippling pain to hold onto his sword. His fingers loosened, and the hilt slipped further and further from his dying grasp before it left his hand and plummeted to the ground with a simple but career-ending clang.

He had failed.

And then it suddenly hit him as his vision was fading and his blood was spattering all over the metallic floor. Suddenly he realized what exactly Ante was...

...only it was far, far too damn late to warn anyone about it.

In his dying moments, Queen Taiya spoke a simple line, but it was carried into the microphone that was broadcasted to everyone... everywhere.

"Oh thank you so much for that," Queen Taiya smiled.

And those were the last words he heard. Nenge's bloodied body crashed to the ground besides his sword as blood pooled around the Toxicroak's corpse while Queen Taiya's freshly bloodstained blade gleamed in the lights of the stadium making her look fiercely heroic and charismatic before all her supporters and admirers. Instead of making history and being the one assassin that put an end to Taiya's reign, Nenge simply became the first kill of the Tempest Festival, captured on live broadcast, in front of everyone. And there would be no end to how many times the moment would be replayed over and over, all showing Queen Taiya's superior skill in bringing down her fifth assassin and only proving just how unstoppable she truly was... and always would be.

The crowd had gone berserk. The cheers, the fanfare, the promise of blood and violence was already unfolding before them, even when no one expected it. Queen Taiya simply made her way back to the podium, and smiled before her adoring and admiring crowd.

"Let the games begin!" she cried out with a loving smile.

[VeloJello]

Jones Sandstrider the Heliolisk
Prankster Platoon
Scheme City Central, Platoon Training Field
Affected RPers: LKWayvern (Laura)

((This post has been bunny-checked by LKWayvern))

The target was quadrupedal, small, dark-furred. Weak, by the looks of it, but looks could be deceiving. Jones glared at her and circled, body low to the ground, holding her half-expanded spear in her left hand. The tip of her tail twitched periodically, and the frill on her neck itched to be lifted, but she kept it down. She wanted to give no indication, no warning, as to when she would attack. This wasn't time to show off; it was time to fight. She stopped periodically, like she was preparing to do something, then resumed her circling. As a result, she expected the Thunder Wave she shot at Laura the Umbreon’s flank to come as a surprise.

Jones didn’t stop with the Thunder Wave, though. The Pranksters watching let out a series of cheers and gasps as Jones threw out her frill, and with it, a massive amount of sand. Even within the confines of Scheme City, where buildings, brightly-colored roads, and vehicles of all shapes and sizes were strewn about seemingly at random, Shadysands Desert was the perfect place for a Sandstorm attack.

Without skipping a beat, Jones lunged into the Sandstorm. If the Thunder Wave had connected, then Laura should be paralyzed and easy to bring down to the figurative mat. Even if not, Jones was pretty sure that the Umbreon would have difficulty seeing, even breathing, in the maelstrom of grit. On the other hand, sandstorms were familiar territory to Jones, and it helped her tighten her focus on her opponent.

Now was the time to strike, and strike hard, making sure to put her opponent down. Taking hold of the spear with both claws, now, she channeled her best Thunderbolt into the metal and struck out, aiming at the blue-eyed umbreon.

Mazer Pratten the Greninja
Prankster Platoon (De Facto Leader)
Rhondul
Affected RPers: None.

As expected, the fiftieth Tempest Festival began with a bang or seventy. Well, there were probably bang sounds. The restaurant TV had been taken off of mute for the occasion, but the only sounds coming through were the audience cheering. “DEATH, DEATH, DEATH!” “We love you, Queen Taiya!” “This! Is! Awesome!”

Sheena, the Chesnaught that Mazer had brought along as extra muscle, sat next to Mazer, delicately holding a glass of nectar-water in her huge paws and sipping from it. Mazer had already withdrawn his tongue - he needed to be able to talk for this meeting, and that was rather difficult when one was using one’s tongue as a scarf - but he wasn’t drinking from his water, instead focusing on watching to the TV and rolling his Blaze Jewel around the bottom of his mouth.

There was a quiet thunk as Sheena set her glass down. “They’re doing that on purpose,” she said matter-of-factly.

“Oh, the audio thing?” Mazer asked as Queen Taiya herself, that mythic b*tch, appeared onscreen, a honey-sweet smile on her face. “Definitely. It’s -” he was ready to comment on how Taiya’s publicity would shoot up from the audience’s babbling alone, when a Toxicroak appeared on the screen with a sword in hand and, with no preamble or warning, sliced at Taiya. As perfectly as if it had been choreographed, Taiya dodged the attack and sliced open the Toxicroak’s throat. “Holy s**t,” Mazer muttered, but his voice was lost in the clamor as the other restaurant patrons began muttering and mumbling among themselves. There were even a few laughs and cheers, because really, who was dumb enough to publicly try to assassinate the most dangerous known single Pokemon on the face of Xia?

A Salazzle unceremoniously sat down at Mazer and Sheena’s table. “Well,” she said, a wry smile on her face. “What a way to begin a Tempest Festival.”

Mazer had definitely been surprised, but his voice didn’t show it. “Meh,” he said, “the fortieth Festival had way more exciting fireworks.” Now, he took a drink of his water, though he was careful not to let his Blaze Jewel hit his esophagus.

The Salazzle placed her chin in her hands. “Then your time away from the Tempest Festival has dulled your memory,” she said matter-of-factly. “Listen, I’m a very busy woman, so I’m going to make this short. I’m pulling your sponsorship.”

Next to him, Mazer could feel Sheena tensing up. He leaned forward, “Janine, ma’am, sweetheart, darling, can you please explain why?” The words oozed from his mouth like honey, but his stomach was rolling with nerves. Janine - an opportunist businesswoman who had gotten rich changing her pheromones into drugs rather than perfumes - couldn’t make or break Mazer or the Prankster Platoon’s participation in the Tempest Festival, but her massive amounts of money could definitely give them a leg up, and they were going to need it.

“Love, I’m sorry, I truly am,” said Janine, her cadence matching his pleas in an almost mocking fashion, “but I’ve had a change of heart. Your little prankster group is weak and the Black Lotus Empire will put you down soon enough, but there are plenty of others who are going to do well in these games. Others who I will, quite frankly, see better returns on.”

As Mazer had instructed her, Sheena didn’t say anything, but Mazer could see her clenching her paws. He had to sort this out. “My most gorgeous, lovely, elegant Janine,” said Mazer, fully aware that he was brown-nosing and doing it anyway because Janine normally ate it up, “I haven’t partaken in a Tempest Festival in many years, but I can assure you that I have not lost my edge. Is there anything I can do to change your mind?”

There was a sudden predatory gleam in Janine’s eyes, just enough for Mazer to realize that something was quite wrong. “Prove it, dearest.”

The Thundercrash Gang. That pack of absolute idiots was, Mazer was almost certain, the origin of the Electivire that suddenly grabbed hold of him from behind. He felt a pang of panic, room I need room I need room I need room, and aimed a Low Kick behind him. It was sloppy, poorly-executed, and panicked, but it had two effects: one, it loosened the Electivire’s hold on him and most likely interrupted whatever electric attack the Electivire would be preparing to launch; two, it sent a change shooting through Mazer, his Protean ability giving him strength from the attack.

“Dirty, rotten coward!” Sheena shouted as the other restaurant patrons began hooting and hollering. This was supposed to be a fairly high-class place, but given that these same people had eagerly watched a Lilligant slice open a Toxicroak’s throat on live television, they seemed more inclined to watch the fight than stop it. “I’ll rip your arms off!”

With a little more wiggle room, Mazer was able to use Waterfall, kicking at the floor and shooting jets of water from his heels and launching himself halfway across the restaurant. “Don’t interfere, Sheena!” Mazer snapped. He was confident that the Chesnaught would be able to handle this fight, but based on Janine's words, she would be much easier to win over after this if Mazer finished this alone.

“She won’t have the time,” the Electivire huffed, raising one hand.

Too slow; Mazer’s reflexes and senses were built to keep up with a ridiculously quick body. Another Waterfall jet sent him across the restaurant again; this time, however, he grabbed the Electivire by his fuzzy chest and slammed his fist into the Electivire’s face. He almost lost his grip when the Electivire reeled, but he kept a firm hold with one hand and, with the other, readied a Water Shuriken and shoved it forward as hard as he could.

It wasn’t quite as elegant as Taiya’s epic throat-slit, but a Water Shuriken to the brain did the job. The Electivire fell, bleeding from the hole in his head where the water had melted away. By the time Mazer removed the sticky pads of his fingers from the Electivire’s fur, he’d stopped breathing.

Mazer looked up at Janine. He couldn’t cock his eyebrows, but he tilted his head to achieve a similar effect. “The Thundercrash Gang, darling?” he asked. “Really, you thought you could pull a fast one on me with dumb muscle?”

Janine’s smile had never left her face. “If he’d killed you, I would’ve known you’d lost your edge. But seeing you fight just now… yes, I’ll return to sponsoring you.” She offered a hand to help Mazer up, and he took it. “I look forward to seeing you fight, dearest.”

She walked away, her tail swishing. Now that the fight was over, people in the restaurant were starting to get antsy. Mazer glanced at Sheena. “See, lovely?” he asked, though the term held no romantic connotations between the two of them. “I had it all under control.”

Sheena sighed. “Come on, you psycho,” she grunted. “Let’s get out of here before someone calls the cops.”

[LKWayvern]

Laura Bette Kaye the Umbreon
Prankster Platoon
Scheme City Central, Platoon Training Field
Affected RPers: Velocity

Laura was not a fighter. As a result, her limbs were somewhat shaky from nerves and adrenaline, her tail twitching, and she looked ready to either bolt or go into a frenzy. Each time she thought Jones was about to attack, Laura’s muscles had tensed up in preparation for movement, though she quickly stopped every moment that she was wrong.

This was quite possibly the only reason that she was able to conjure a Protect before the Thunderwave hit her. She sharply inhaled in surprise as the sparks dissipated against her shield, and the barrage of sand bouncing against it shortly afterwards. The sheer force of the wind and the stress of defending her against two attacks in a row caused small hairline fractures to appear in a starburst pattern across the see-through barrier.

Laura hissed angrily under her breath, squinting her eyes and inhaling what she was sure would be her last full breath of clean air for a while, before bringing down her Protect and rapidly leaping away from where it had been located. In order to avoid such tricks in the future, she Taunted “Haha, weakest Sandstorm I’ve ever seen! Kind of feels refresh-FEGH!” she choked slightly as she inhaled sand.

She could hear excited hollers from beyond the visual confines of the sandstorm-- Pranksters laughing at her insult, or from her inhaling sand unexpectedly. Nevertheless, the cheers seemed to be coming to a head as Laura had shown the attacks thrown at her had not yet taken her out of the fight. Laura felt her heartrate accelerate from the thrill of combat.

Still, this Sandstorm was damn annoying. She wanted to curse Jones out, but didn’t open her mouth in case more sand got in. Her nose was all clogged up already so it was doubtful she’d be able to scent where the helioptile had gone, and her eyesight was quite obviously out of question. She couldn’t strike with Toxic because she didn’t know where Jones was and, again, didn’t want sand in her mouth, Foul Play was more of a close-range tactic…

Frustrated, she simply conjured a Confuse Ray and hurled it in the area she guessed Jones would be. Maybe heading towards the place Laura herself had last been seen?

[The Nonexistent Tazz]

'Nora' the Lilligant
The Gracedia Order
Jadeblossom City, Kudzu Apartment Complex, Room 421

The whole thing had been broadcasted to everyone. Nora's roomie was in total shock at it. An assassin narrowly managing to screw up his big moment and get killed as the first blow of that bloody stupid blood sport, the Tempest Games.

Nora herself was not in total shock. If anything, she was too drunk to be in shock, and too unsurprised at the absolute failure to call the Toxicroak anything other than an idiot.

"Idiiiut," Nora sighed, clutching and chugging a bottle of cold beer. She would actually be more shocked if it actually worked. Between the window of the panel opening and the sword coming through, Nora could feasibly see herself dodging that. Sure, the panel sliding away would be near-impossible to hear over the ruckus, but Nora could still feasibly see herself hearing and feeling the subtle disturbance in the floorboards where there shouldn't be, and for those with the ability to pick them up, the obvious choice was to move-almost any direction would have made the thrust utterly useless.

The Toxicroak made a fatal error in his very execution-go for the glory, the flashy kill. Sure, an open theater like that would be excellent for assassination-even with twice the amount of usual guards those events were deathtraps for the hosts, open and visible, and his ability to secure a spot right under the boards was the stuff that an assassin would dream of... But that was the cue to pull out your sniper rifle and shoot them from as far away as the effective range allowed. Bullets, not swords! Ranged attacks!

In other words: The Toxicroak's failure was nothing short of unsurprising for Nora. Where people would have blamed Ante, Nora blamed incompetence. She wasn't surprised in the slightest. She was still heavily disappointed, though-that would have fixed so much.

"That's so... Augh, frustrating! I mean, these games are disgusting but that could have been it!" Said her roomate-an outright obease example of a Floatzel named Felicity Luna Sonata, in full. Nora's usual thing, in moving to a new apartment, was to study up on her fellows in her other apartments to make sure of their identities-who could be blackmailed and who was secretly a spy. Felicity had the misfortune of being born to parents of a rather... Exceedingly eccentric cult to 'the dark ones.' The cult was under the fanatical belief that their newborn children could house immense power given from 'The one below,' and thus they got together in excited rituals for birthing what would hopefully be the spawn of hell, which they also recorded for posterity. The night of her birth was when that cell of the cult was unceremoniously busted by a police raid and arrested one-and-all, and the young children were put under witness protection-but not good enough witness protection. All very interesting, and perfect blackmail material to keep her from spilling whatever inconvenient secrets she needed to. And she definitely needed to.

Nora hadn't spent much time in Jadeblossom City before some low class Black Lotus assassins tried to kill her. Felicity accepted the first random time some random Charmeleon jumped into the house with a knife was just a stroke of bad luck, and Nora was forgiven for ruining her sunday best in strangling the Charmeleon to death, praising her unexpected bravery and cunning. Then the second assassin came, and the third, and the fourth, all more clearly black lotus and more trained than the last, and then Felicity got suspicious, but if her suspicions were let out publicly, well, that would be just a darn shame. So Nora mentioned her charming relationship to a cult. Surprisingly, after the initial shouting about that dirty secret, the both just agreed that they wouldn't really be able to settle down if either of them said anything, so they just sat together, Felicity figuring that the assassins would start targeting her now despite having zero association with Nora beforehand. Felicity was nowhere near happy about it, but she and Nora both knew better than to doubt the thoroughness/pettiness of the Black Lotus.

And this they were now sitting on a couch in a dingy apartment, watching the proof that Queen Tanya wasn't joking about being a master swordmistress on live teleivsion. Nora just kept drinking the rest of the ceremony away, uncaring of it. If there was an operation being made by the Gracedia Order within the city, she wasn't a part of it. Yet. And clearly others weren't in on this. Either some freaky 'shadow network' dude that she's heard rather weak rumors of, or one of the other two factions.

A knock on the door. Felicity looked at Nora-the new arrangement, in accordance with the assassins, was that Nora would handle the visitors despite being totally drunk. "Gimmie uh sec," Nora managed, as she slowly got off of the couch and stumbled to the door, opening it.

On the other end was a relatively nonplussed and composed Leafeon, tall and strong-looking, in one of the most classy tuxedos known to Mon. Nora knew this Eeveelution well-this Leafeon was the one who had, thanks to her intelligence, ratted out the Quagsire spy within the midst of Jadeblossom, and was in general in charge of their more covert intelligence operations. And anyone with a brain knew that this meant Nora had a job, and considering he never came up in person for anything short of an extremely important job, Nora knew it was one of those jobs. The last one had lead up to her discovering that one of the Onyx Circle was a flipping Clefairy... Who had deliberately chosen not to evolve and had psionic powers to put most Alakazam to shame. With all the extensive danger that entailed.

Nora cursed under her breath. The Leafeon-Yesley Malan-would take it in stride. Nora basically made his career by giving him the info he needed to oust that spy.

"I trust you're doing well?" Yesley said. You'd have to strain to hear the undertone of sarcasm; he spoke so politely Nora could see him flattering Queen Tanya. And then bedding Qeen Tanya.

"Yeup. Lemme geuess. Job." Nora said.

"To the point, as usual, I see," Yesley said. "We'll be talking on the way this time, and you'll be working with others this time so you'll need to meet them."

Nora raised a confused eyebrow. "Wait, wut?" She asked. Nora had done a lot-but very rare were the days she worked directly with other rogues.

"Not now, later," Yesley said, dismissing it. He turned his head slightly away. "Oh, and you should know that you'll be taking an extended trip, so do plan to be away."

Nora knew that, of course, even she had made the preparations without any ado-but, working with others?

"Workin', with uthers? Yur' utta yur mind!" Nora said. "We do our work-"

"Let me explain, later, elsewhere." Yesley said, a bit more firm. Nora turned back to Felicity on the television-then to the television itself-then back to Yesley, now understanding.

"You're gonna-"

"Nora." Yesley said, not so much of a hint of agitation in his voice as a sharp, deliberate current. "... Come."

Nora sighed deeply. "Ucourse, ucourse... I'mma want'u see luuudes a green on this one, Yesley," Nora said. She suspected heavily of what the job was. The Tempest Festival was obviously related. Obviously related. But anything stealthy was best done alone, from experience. Or at least, it was her experience.

"You haven't even heard what it is yet... But this will be a high paying job, for sure. Your highest yet. Now, come along. You know I wouldn't fetch you personally if this was not of dire importance. And believe me. This is more dire than I can safely express."

"... I'mma be trevlen?"

"Tavern?"

"Travellin'," Nora clarified.

"Yes. I suspect you already packed," the Leafeon commented.

"Lemme get it," Nora said, shuffling off to under her bed. Lously good-for-nothing donkey of an Eeveelution, dragging her out of her enjoyable depths of alcahol while she dryly commented upon the dumbest sporting events of the year, all years. She dragged out her briefcase-filled with all the right tools she usually took in the right hidden compartments, as well as actual clothes because she wasn't going to go around nude. The only things she didn't pack, in fact, were her sunglasses-her favorite sunglasses-and her pistol-her favorite pistol. The sunglasses she put on-the pistol, she tucked into a small compartment in her shirt, a makeshift holster strummed together as inconspicuously as possible. The weapon itself was, however, so heavily and professionally modified that she could safely call it the most expensive pistol she ever laid eyes to-and she laid eyes on all sorts of weapons.

Nora's ears strained to hear it over her drunken stupor-but so often had she done it before that it wasn't as hard as just an average drunk. That was a window breaking a floor above her. Not too usual for a place like this, so clearly, something very bad. Nora did not put her pistol into its holster-she put on her sunglasses, grabbed the briefcase, and walked out precisely as a normal person did. Yesley knew better than to question why she was openly brandishing a pistol, most likely because he heard that noise a lot clearer than Nora did.

"Lesgo," Nora said, Yesley shrugged and agreed. Felicity, silent, walked to the door, her girth slowly moving to shut it, while both moved forwards, walking to the building's easternmost staircase.

A Black Lotus assassin-and a cheap, reckless, stupid one at that-at this time walked down the staircase, brandishing and aiming an automatic rifle with a deliberate purpose, to get a clean shot and go off. Some nameless Raticate that was desperately looking to get with the 'in' crowd at the Onyx Circle that he clearly wasn't a member of.

It was times like these that Nora really appreciated those tiny mirrors in her sunglasses. Made aiming behind her head all the less troublesome. Nora took her pistol, pointed it back over her shoulder, and fired. The assassin wasn't dead-heavens no, Nora had realized that consistent killshots with a pistol over your back, even one as tricked out as hers, were a dream-but Nora had learned how to make hitting shots in this manner consistent enough. The assassin was the dregs of the Black Lotus-he winced far too hard at the pain, even if it was a shot to the side, not outright fatal. It gave Nora the time she needed to turn around, aim properly (needing a bit of time to focus on the shot in her drunken state), and fire the proper killshot. It penetrated his lungs, rent flesh, and left him a relatively clean job for the landowner.

Yesley was used to quite a bit. The one thing he wasn't-and Nora knew he wasn't-was direct action. Yesley flinched-the sound was surprisingly loud for a 'silenced' weapon. "... Good work as always," Yesley said, an unflappable barrier being mildly flapped by that.

"No prublum," Nora said. "Felly, that's the fifth! Fifth time I've saved your filthy *** from Black Lotus!" Nora shouted.

"Nora, leave! Ugh, you're unbearable!"

"Oh, Felicity, sorry for all the ruckus," Yesley said. "Don't worry-we'll be willing to compensate for your, err, damages. It must all be very stressful, dealing with her unprepared as it is... Some financial aid will be forthcoming soon. And don't worry about the cops, just say I did it."

Felicity just gave a grunt of reluctant approval. Nora holstered her pistol. "...Now... Wuzzis job, Yesy?"

"In the convoy. You'll know soon enough," Yesley responded.

Nora had a really bad feeling this wouldn't be a job she would want... But this could be her big break. This was important. She knew it had to do with the Tempest Festival, somehow. It could give the Gracedia Order the edge it needed. If she was involved... There could be quite a bit of pay involved. And then, maybe, she could arrange for some of her favorite dealers to hook up the area and give her the lovely Swift she craved. It was just so hard to get good Swift around here-Nicotine and Beer only gets her so far. Maybe it could go even greater?

If nothing else, it'd be interesting.

[VeloJello]

Jones Sandstrider the Heliolisk
Prankster Platoon
Scheme City Central, Platoon Training Field
Affected RPers: LKWayvern (Laura)

((Bunnying once again approved by Wayvern))

Lights. Bright lights, flashing in her face. Jones didn’t know what the lights were, didn’t have time to figure it out, before it hit her, the red, followed by fear and rage shooting through her. It was red like eyes, red like blood, like claws, like violence. Jones lashed out with the spear, beyond angry, her frill fanning out as far as it could go, and let out a wordless hiss. The electricity in her spear intensified to a near-blinding degree; she would need all of the power that she could possibly get in order to kill him, kill the Haxorus, kill him before she was killed, because she would either kill her opponent or she would die and that was the way of the world.

But he wasn’t there, where was he? She couldn't see anything, the sandstorm was hiding him, she'd made a mistake. He was going to be there any second, she'd ruined her chance and he'd strike her down for it. Her head gone from her shoulders in one clean swipe, if she was lucky. Maybe a tusk to the belly or claws to the throat if she was less so. She'd seen him kill 'mons in ways that took hours or even days; what would he do to her for trying to take his life? Her tail whipped behind her as she whirled, looking around - but she couldn't see anything.

Shouldn't he have killed her by now?

Something wasn't right about this; she remembered an Umbreon standing before her, but she was here now, her claws trembling as she clutched her spear. She remembered things like this happening before. Time and time again. She wasn't... was she even here?

Jones didn't know, but she did know that she had a spear in her hands and the fear of death coursing through her body, which meant that it was time to fight. The electricity on the spear's tip flared up and she turned abruptly, loosing it in the direction she thought she remembered her opponent standing. "You won't kill me!" she screeched, holding the spear tightly and tensing herself up for the retaliation, wherever it came from.

However, there was no retaliation, just the sound of a scream to confirm that her shot had hit - but it wasn't his. It was the Umbreon's. It was Laura's.

For a second, Jones stood still, straddling the line between memory and reality, until what looked like a paw made of shadows reached out of the sandstorm and slapped her. She winced, her frill lowering very slowly, and rubbed the spot on her face where the blow had landed. With the sandstorm clearing away now, she was able to quite clearly see Laura standing on the other side of the fighting grounds, her fur on end from electricity. She was calling forfeit, though Jones still felt restless.

A paw landed on Jones's shoulder, as if someone was preparing to hold her back. Jones brushed it back and whirled on the paw's owner, a male Meowstic whose blue fur was accentuated with bright yellow face paints. "Get off of me, Cheshire," she snapped. "I'm not gonna go nuts."

She then walked across the grounds, still standing on her toes and twitching her tail in agitation. "Had a flashback," she said, by way of explanation. She felt like she maybe owed Laura a little more information for attacking so viciously, but she wasn't sure how to phrase 'I had a flashback that made me think you were my dad that I killed so I was trying to murder you as brutally as I could, sorry' in a way that wouldn't sound dumb, so she didn't bother trying. "Whatever the heck that light thing you hit me with was, it was potent. Strong. I couldn't even tell what you were going for because it mumbo-jumboed me too hard. That thing you did at the end, though, wasn't as good. Not sure what it was, but it wasn't much of a show-stopper. You're fragile like me so you gotta focus on taking your opponent down."

[Noblejanobii]

Athena Pallas the Decidueye
The Gracidea Order
A bar in Lytala City

Athena watched the single television in the bar with complete and utter disinterest. The place was packed, every traveller in the area huddled in with few respects for personal space. They wanted to see the opening ceremonies that badly, it seemed. Athena took a careful sip from her drink, sparkling pecha cider with a shot of drapion vodka. Said to contain the poison from the beast itself, Athena had always been partial to it since one of the other girls had introduced it to her in the early days. Still, she was not drunk enough yet to revel in the events that took place on the television.

Her ladyship, Queen Total Ego, stepped out on stage to give a speech. Athena could see a few males in the corner making less than subtle sexual gestures. As if they’d ever get that unlucky with the queen. But then, all of hell broke loose. A toxicroak was on the stage faster than the blink of an eye, making a killing strike with the slash of his sword. But, his plan did not go accordingly, it was easy to see in his shocked expression as his air sac was popped. Athena instinctively placed a hand against her throat, feeling that cut somewhat on a spiritual level. Still, this had somewhat… unlikeable desires on the tavern gowers. Everyone was cheering and ordering more rounds of alcohol. There were plenty of places that Athena would rather be. Though from the sound of the explosions and celebrations outside, the situation out there was not much more favorable. Taking another sip of her drink, Athena paused to question why she was here. As if to answer the silent thought, a hand slammed down on the bar next to her. Athena glanced up to see her escort, a lurantis and a medicham, standing over her. As yes, that’s why.

Athena closed her eyes, recalling the events of a few days prior that had forced her into this situation. She had been at her home in Hana City, her husband due home from work any minute now. Her children, Lilliane and Marx, were playing in the living room while Athena cooked dinner to be ready for her husband’s arrival. Everything was fine until the sounds of play stopped, causing Athena to be sent on alert. As quietly as she could, Athena turned off the stove and prepared to attack the potential intruder in her house. Peeking her head around the corner, she spotted the perpetrator, a hydreigon wearing the robes of a Black Lotus assassin. The soulless kakó was stealing her children. Well now, that simply would not do. Prepping a spirit shackle attack, Athena took a deep breath in when suddenly the front door opened.

“Athena, Lilliane, Marx! I’m… home…” Brunswick froze at the sight of the hydreigon, the dragon clutching his children in either hand. Brunswick reacted, but the hydreigon was faster. Shooting out the window, the assassin fled, the rowlet and noibat still in his clutches. Athena fired her spirit shackle but the arrow barely missed, the hydreigon dodging at the last minute.

“That kakó!” Athena screeched, dashing out the window and taking flight after the Black Lotus member. Her black feathers spread, shooting Athena through the air as she slowly started to gain on the assassin. She could hear Brunswick not too far behind, and from the shouts on the street below, the neighbors had spotted the assassin as well. Signaling to the people below that she was going to attack, Athena tucked in her wings. She was going to do something risky, she only hoped Brunswick or someone else would be able to catch her children if she could not. Beginning to spin, Athena shot forward in a burst of green light and slammed into the assassin’s back. The hydreigon screeched from the pain of the bug attack and lost his grip on Lilliane. The noibat, still learning how to fly properly, tumbled down below, flapping her wings as best she could. Thankfully, several vines shot out to cushion the noibat’s fall, the combined effort of Athena’s neighbors preventing Lilliane from being harmed. As Athena swung back to her original position, she sighed in a little relief. One down, one to go.

Preparing another U-turn, Athena started to dive again when an alakazam appeared out of thin air. Spotting Athena, the alakazam fired a signal beam at Athena. Unable to dodge, Athena took the brunt of the hit head on and was reflected back to her original position. Brunswick took the opportunity to try an attack of his own, getting so close he could almost touch Marx, but a close range dragon pulse had sent the noivern spiraling. Athena tried to reach her son in time, but it was too late, the alakazam and hydreigon teleported away right as Athena was in reach, Marx still in their clutches.

Extremely distraught, Athena and Brunswick had contacted the Gracidea Order about the incident. An agent was deployed to meet with them and right as the noctowl arrived, a letter appeared on their doorstep. The message was simple, participate in the Tempest Festival, or Marx is never seen or heard from again. The letter did not specify which parent was to go, and Brunswick was pretty adamant about his going to fight due to the risks and highly likely possibility of the amount of strain and stress it would put on Athena’s body. But somehow, Athena had managed to convince Brunswick to let her go.

So here Athena was, in a bar in Lytala City, about to participate in the Tempest Festival. With multiple lives at risk, Athena was not entirely sure why she had convinced Brunswick to let her participate instead of him. Maybe it was because she felt she had been through more than him and could survive longer. Maybe it was because she had brought Marx into this world and she sure as hell was not going to be letting anyone take him out after only three years of life. Maybe it was because Marx’s screams as he had been taken away still rang in her ears. But no, while all of those were some part of the reason why Athena had convinced Brunswick to not participate, they were not the true reason. It was because Athena had learned a lesson a long time ago that the Black Lotus was about to learn the hard way, courtesy of their new professor, a decidueye that was out for blood. After all, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, especially if that woman was a mother. Athena was getting her son back, even if she had to slit the throat of that arrogant lilligant herself.

“We’re leaving,” the medicham grunted. Athena glanced at her drink, mentally slapping herself for drinking something alcoholic. That was a stupid move for a number of reasons, even if it did steady her nerves. Athena could hear Brunswick scolding her mentally right now. Standing up, she followed behind the two ladies. Athena began to scan through the city, examining it best she could for any possible places that Marx could be held captive. If she were an evil organization bent on spreading misery to those who threatened it, where would she take the stolen child of one of the rebellion’s foremost killers? Well quite candidly she’d flaunt the child like their was no tomorrow, show what power she truly held to make people both fear and respect her. But that was just Athena’s take on things. Each person had their own ways of going about kidnapping and torture. Still, as they neared their destination, the Gracidea Order’s makeshift headquarters in Lytala City, Athena felt her blood beginning to boil. Some heads were going to roll tomorrow, and they certainly weren’t going to be hers.

[Steel Lunpara]

Chance the Zangoose
Prankster Platoon
Lytala City, Tempest Festival Central Stadium

Chance was bleeding. This was not good.

It wasn't a very large cut- Just a lucky swipe across the arm. His enemy had started bleeding first, and this was good. The punk gets lightheaded within a few minutes, and by then the fight is over. He'll die in that alley soon enough- That's what happens when you pick fights with strangers- But Chance was bleeding, and this was not good. He pulled a bandage around it and stepped into the crowds. He wasn't as excited as the others, but interested enough to at least show up in person. It's good for networking, or something like that.

Chance looked out into the crowd surrounding him. They were already going wild, bursting with anticipation for the games ahead. Old Taiya knew what she was doing, that was for sure. Not that she had to work hard for it, of course, half the audience was so intoxicated he doubted they could actually hear her words. "Dead by morning..." Chance couldn't afford anything but sobriety.

Something changed on the stage, in the crowd. In an instant, a Toxicroak had made a lunge for the Queen, and just as quickly, he was ripped open, laying broken on the floor. Perfect, so perfect, just like always. "Idiot..." he muttered, his voice being lost in the cheers of the crowd. Maybe they weren't planning it, but the Lotus certainly let it happen, they probably didn't even have to warn Her about it. Did he seriously think they wouldn't expect him? He wasn't the first assassin to come into this stadium, but he would be the last to make a move today. Deserved every bit of punishment he got.

Dead assassins, stoned opponents, fights already breaking out... Chance leaned back and lit up a smoke. Maybe a good cut's not so bad after all.

[Death's Spook]

Anthony Carpenter-Weaver (Mimikyu)
Steel Scavengers
Unknown Location

“So like, why do you keep doing this, Anthony?”

It is a bizarre tableaux. A strange Mimikyu and a Volcarona are in front of a recently dug grave. There is no name on the grave, and it is instead marked with “PYROAR: If only fate took a different path.”

To those unacquainted with the Anthony, the question would be a very valid one. After all, the Pyroar died because Anthony killed her for trying to assassinate him. In the land of Xia, leaving her corpse out in the open to rot or putting her in a mass burial pit would not have been very unusual. But Anthony insisted on burying her personally, as he had, whenever practical, with everyone who has tried to kill him.

Anthony’s hiss is far closer to a sigh than a statement of aggression, “We have been over this, Magenta.”

The moth’s wings flare out, “You mean you’ve, like, told me what you thought was an explanation. But ‘because no one else will’ so isn’t a good reason to do, like, almost anything. Why are you so insistent on this? Do you feel, like, guilty? She tried to freaking kill you, Anthony!”

Anthony is quiet for a moment before he replies, “No, I do not feel guilty about killing her, my friend. It was her choice to force a situation in which one of us had to die, and I chose to be the survivor without compunction. But while I do not feel guilty about this, I still feel sad. I mourn her not as she was, but for what she could have been. In a different circumstance, could we have been friends? Could we have helped one another? Could she have done some good in the world, rather than die for a failed attempt at a false glory? I wonder the same things about everyone who does ill in the world, to be honest. I do this because I fear I am one of the few to ask these questions, to have the presence of mind to mourn her and others like her. Her family, if she still has any, is unlikely to know what happened. Her employers are likely to conclude that she was simply too weak a pawn, shrug off her death, and continue on with their lives like nothing has happened. So yes, I feel it falls to me, her potential victim, to feel sadness for her passing.”

The Sun Pokémon gives her leader a long look. “To be honest, I think what you’re saying is completely insane.”

Anthony gives a sharp laugh, “Perhaps you’re correct, but I refuse to give it up all the same. You are free to leave your service to me, if you so choose.”

Magenta favors Anthony with a fond expression, “Nah, this entire world is, like, totally bonkers anyway. I’ll stick with your brand of it any day.”

The Grand Lady (Tsareena) and Max Clerk (Klinklang)
Steel Scavengers
En Route to Westfal

The Grand Lady may not be Queen Taiya, but she is definitely the queen of this little entourage.

The Tsareena rather enjoys being feared and revered, which includes the advantage of her own personal vehicle--a modded RV armored and armed to the teeth, for all it did not look that way--on this little road. Further, being known for her wrath means that the introverted Lady can reliably ensure that very few would want to share it.

Of course, ‘very few’ is importantly different from ‘no one’, given the Sharpedo lazing around in without a care in the world. A Klinklang is pacing in front of a whiteboard, immersed in some calculation or another.

The Sharpedo gives his fellow Knight a lazy smirk before asking, “So, any news on our favorite event of the year?”

The Lady’s expression is calm as she looks up from her portable television screen, arching one eyebrow at the cocksure shark, “Yes, actually. Do you remember telling me that some friends of friends of yours were making a move tonight?” The Sharpedo nods as best as he can as the Lady turns her television around to him, “It would appear that they failed most miserably.”

He watches, then sighs before giving an eloquent, “Well, damn.”

“You seem to be remarkably level headed about this.” The Lady’s statement would fail to ask the question of anyone other than one of her fellow Knights.

“If I got worked up about everyone who tried to kill Taiya and failed, I wouldn’t have much else I would be doing, now would I? I’m more annoyed that this little show doesn’t tell us anything new about Ante.”

The Lady takes back the television and gives the screen a glare, as though trying to intimidate it to reveal more about Queen Taiya’s ace in the hole. She gives it one last look of digust before saying, “It’s strange. What she’s doing feels almost familiar.”

The Sharpedo laughs, “Well, that’s not surprising. You already have a lot of people who compare you to Taiya, you know.”

“These people all have one thing in common.”

“Oh?”

“They are complete idiots.”

At her friend’s somewhat surprised expression, The Lady continues, “The primary similarities between Taiya and I are superficial. We are both female grass types traditionally considered elegant and who are competent at combat. That tells you absolutely nothing about the kind of people we are, how we choose to accomplish our aims, and other actually important things, which are quite different. No, Arlington, I am not saying she’s familiar because she reminds me of myself.”

Arlington’s voiced is bemused as he asks, “Well, who does she remind you of?”

“She reminds me of Anthony.”

All trace of amusement is gone from Arlington’s voice, and anger is evident in his mostly level words, “Taiya is nothing like Anthony.”

The Lady holds up a hand, “Calm yourself, Arlington. Their morals are nothing alike, but it is their tactics and positions on the board that I am interested in with this analysis.”

The shark gnashes his teeth in annoyance, calmer than before but not wholly mollified, “Tell me.”

“Both the Lilligant and Anthony demonstrate an extremely high awareness of their surroundings. Taiya just thwarted an assassination that should have been a complete surprise as though she saw it coming from a thousand Golurk-paces away. It reminds me very directly of Anthony, who’s done that at least seven times that I can count.”

Arlington huffs, then asks, “What do you mean by ‘positions on the board’?”

“Essentially, if this were a chess board, Taiya and Anthony would be the kings. They’re the most important pieces, the ones without which the game could not continue. If we kill Taiya, we show the world that the Black Lotus is not invincible, that they are not strong. If they kill Anthony, they break quite possibly the most important symbol of hope that Xia has.”

Arlington thinks for a second, “So what is this whole entourage supposed to accomplish, other than getting lots of people horribly killed for the sliver of a chance of getting a fun little shiny? Anthony wouldn’t have agreed to risk three of his Knights if he didn’t think there was a good reason.”

The Lady nods, “We’re hoping to accomplish some or all of quite a few objectives. To extend the chess metaphor, the queen,” The Grand Lady calmly indicates herself before gesturing at both of the other present Knights, “and the bishop pair are invading the other side of the board. Maybe for a material advantage, maybe for a mating attack. Essentially, Anthony and I both think that opportunity is knocking.”

Arlington gives The Grand Lady a shrewd look, “I suppose you would decide that you’re the most powerful piece on the board. Why are Max Clerk and I the bishop pair in your little metaphor?” The Klinklang looks up from their calculations, curious about the conversation.

“Because each of you has certain blind spots and vulnerabilities almost perfectly covered by the other one. You’re a terrifyingly good team when you’re working together, and keeping you both well coordinated should make it more difficult for Taiya and her little group to form a counter attack.”

The Sharpedo rolls his eyes with an accommodating, “If you insist, Lady.”

There is, of course, one point about the chess metaphors that The Grand Lady refuses to state.

Yes, the queen is the most powerful piece, a dangerous attacking force in her own right that exerts control from far away. But in the game, the queen is far from the be all and end all of strategy: she is frequently taken off to remove the opponent’s equally imposing female deity, or to open a vulnerability to catch the opponent’s king in a mating net. Even when she is helping checkmate the king, the final position is frequently one where the queen can theoretically be captured.

So yes, The Grand Lady decided she is the queen because she is the most powerful. But she also decided that because she refuses to allow any of her friends to be at a greater risk than herself.

[Neo Emolga]

OPENING CEREMONY NIGHT WILL BE ENDING SOON

Tricky Ravken the Raichu
Black Lotus - Onyx Circle
Outside The Low Blow Bar, Syngraft

Tricky wasn't thrilled she couldn't be there in person to see the Opening Ceremony, but she understood that Black Lotus couldn't have every one of their special operatives all in the same stadium all at once. But she was able to watch it on portable television while stationed at the shabby town of Syngraft, which looked like something more out of a post-apocalyptic junktown. And to the happy-go-lucky Raichu, the Low Blow Bar smelled awful in a funny way.

She had gotten a Spine Twister cocktail while her sidekick, Kust the Whimsicott, was sipping Brass Balls vodka. Tricky couldn't help but admire her drink was a lovely blend of red and pink while Kust could have been sipping water and she wouldn't have been able to tell the difference, save for the fact that whatever it was had been getting him wasted very quickly. But, rather than sit in the bar, they decided to take their drinks back to the black Ensign military personnel carrier Tricky had parked just outside. Tricky couldn't stand the smell in the bar itself. She could have sworn it stuck like a Snorlax farted out the aftermath of a greasy breakfast burrito.

"So remind me what in Murhe's name we're doing here?" Kust asked her Raichu companion, before suddenly finding it funny and laughing. "I wanted to see that assassination attempt in person! Taiya gutted that dude like a fish!"

Tricky snorted. It was obvious Kust was already well on his way toward getting wasted. To her, she had noticed the giant, oversized cotton ball really couldn't hold his liquor for the life of him.

"We're here..." Tricky told him before giggling a bit, "Oh shut up! No, we're here because I needed a drink. You obviously needed one, too. And that became... ha, ha... that became too many! Look at you! You always have that stupid smile on when you're drunk."

Tricky sat back in her seat and propped her feet up on the steering bar. At the moment, things were a bit spacey. She knew she needed to head into Jadeblossom in the morning, but the exact reasons were written down. She figured she could just review that tomorrow.

"And you've had six of those so far?" Kust asked, trying to do the basic math that was failing him at the moment. "Six or five? I think I've had six. I mean, not those, but... well, these. Or something like that. I haven't been counting. It's like that movie Raw Strut where Dubie and Olam are drinking Crazy Eights and then the camera pans away and you find out they left the bar without paying and ended up in a doctor's waiting room and-"

"No, you pissing Pichu, you're thinking of Hangover Hitchhiker," Tricky laughed, nudging the Whimsicott. "Holy Murhe, Kust, why do you keep making that mistake? I don't know what in piss name is Raw Strut, but-"

"Raw Strut," Kust laughed, snipping his vodka again, "Rawwww Strut."

He then began laughing hysterically, spilling his vodka a bit onto the black, padded floor of the Ensign truck.

"Oh piss, I knew I should have booked a hotel room before drinking this much," Tricky said anxiously just seconds before suddenly bursting into hysterical laughter again. "Unless you wanna sleep here?"

"In here?" Kust laughed again. "I mean, why not here? Hotel probably smells like pee-pee. "

"I'm too drive to drunk, custard," Tricky snorted, giggling for a few good seconds before sipping her pink and red cocktail again. "I'm enough to sleep here. Somewhere. I think I still have cash."

"I can drive," Kust nodding, pointing to the steering bar. "Or... well, it's straight until 13. Or 10? Somewhere we get off at 10. That seems kinda late if you ask me. I can't drive at that hour but I'm definitely old enough to."

"No, you'd drive us right into the Eastsplit River thinking that was the highway, custard!" Tricky laughing, shoving her paws into his chest. "I can't wet tonight, dude. I mean, I just can't. I've been working all day and there's no way in fate's name I'm cooking anything tonight."

Kust nodded, totally thinking that was the best idea he had heard all night.

"So we'll just go with my idea," Kust said in a serious tone before suddenly laughing. "It mean, it was my idea, after all. We can just sleep here, not have to pay a toll, and I'll see what the weather is like tomorrow. We're not on call anyway. We don't have to listen to that crappy music in there either."

"Yeah, I guess that's true," Tricky replied before leaning back to relax, only to pass out and suddenly drop the remainder of her cocktail on the floor in a puddle.

"Classic Trixie," Kust snorted as he took another sip, not even realizing Tricky was out like a light. "There's no way in plant's name I'm watching Raw Strut again with you. Can't stand that movie. I woke up twice before the movie was done. Shows you how bad it was."

And he spent the rest of the night talking completely to himself before drifting off to an alcohol-induced sleep.

[Chakramaster]

Tina Volts the Pikachu
Prankster Platoon
Tempest Festival Stadium Stands

Tina was In the stadium. Getting ready to watch the ensuing chaos to come. After years of so much pain, crazies, and madness. She had build a tolerance for it all. It drove her to lengths where she yearned for it. Even if it was watching it there in person. Those around her already yelling. Cheering on the madness to come. Her fingers twitching as she develops a slight smirk. The cheering and some around her already fighting themselves. The sight and smell of blood filling the air already. Causing her more insane side to behind to come out. Suddenly she shakes her head. Taking in a deep breath as to keep herself composed.

"Not here. Not now". She says softly to herself. "I need to keep myself compose. I can't let my crazier side loose here. Not yet." Looking around Tina sees the crowd around her. Some laying on the ground knocked out, some gutted and bleeding out, some stoned, some confused, others making out in public right in the stadium.

"Ugh, every single place you go. It only gets worse". The Pokémon behind Tina bump into her. Causing her to turn back only to see it wasn't another Pokémon. Just trash. The event hadn't even started yet the crowd was filled with incredibly rude Pokémon. She pulls her tail to her front and brushes it off as to keep it clean. She looks back up to the center as to see what might be happening before the event starts, but other than killers, drunks, stoned, and so much more dispicable viewers. Tina couldn't help, but lean back and sigh again. "Maybe I should just let loose. Get a few more...kills to my count."

[The Nonexistent Tazz]

'Nora' the Lilligant
The Gracedia Order
Jadeblossom City, en-route to the Gracedia Intelligance Agency Building

"No," Nora said, defiantly. No way, no how. She had suspected it. But she was not going to do it. Not unless Yesley had a hell of a reason.

They were in a rather large van-a nice one with a great deal of bulletproof glass, perfect for foiling would-be assassins. Yesley and Nora were seated together, the two of them posing the most ridiculous contrast possible-Nora's deplorable apperance against Yesley's princely getup-and Yesley was agitated by the scent of Nora's polluted aroma but knew better than to open a window, just in case.

"I'll be quick with you. You are going. And before you raise your objections, I'll tell you why we're doing this now. The short of it is, the Black Lotus have been piece-by-piece piercing together your identity together, or at least, who they think is you. The 'rumors' of Lilligant being killed semi-indiscriminately are true-those are Black Lotus Agents, trying to get a bead on you, and considering that five assassins have been put to your location, I think that any intelligence officer with a brain would realize that there was definitely something suspicious about how every assassin sent to this specific spot would always wind up dead, and would then start sending Onyx Circle after you. Perhaps even teams of Onyx Circle, if they felt you warranted it. Of course, the fact that all the assassins have been as obvious as they are means we're fairly sure they either aren't taking you seriously, they want to maintain their higher-priority assassins on targets of higher importance and/or lower danger, or this is just a prelude to worse. In other words, we're coming to the conclusion that your days of being an operative in the shadows are going to be over very soon. But just not using that talent is a waste."

Nora blinked. She was slightly more sober, but still very angry about it. Good god, no. She knew exactly what that meant.

"... You're sending the best you have to the Tempest Festival, then? I don't do my business like that, I don't, I don't!" Nora yelled.

"You're not only going to the Tempest Festival. We'll talk more once you're with the others about the full details. You'll be kept very busy for this one, I assure you. That said... Yes. You're competing," Yesley said. "Now, can you please stop shouting about it?"

Nora glared, but complied. She mulled it over internally, sliding a leafy arm across the door handle. She wasn't stupid enough to argue with Yesley's points. She knew that they were closing in-the time between the fourth and fifth assassins were much closer than the first three, and altogether they had been steadily increasing in frequency. It was only a matter of time, but Nora had thought that would just mean she packed up and left for Hana city. Apparently, the Gracedia Intelligence Agency had completely different, and completely stupid ideas.

She did a lot of ridiculous jobs beforehand, too. Before and after joining the Gracedias. The sheer stupidity that was the Psycho Clefairy job was only the most recent; no, before then there was the Sylveon who had a 50% chance of being one of the very 'dark ones' that the Cult Felicity had been born to worshipped (Nora refused to believe in the supernatural and nothing outright was shown, but there were way too many coincidences going on with that girl to just be 'luck'); before then there was the job where she had to learn how to deliver a baby for a high-ranking Black Lotus agent, the latter of which Nora would kill after the baby was secured; Before then, before even her switch to the Gracedia Order, there was the business with the animator who was part of a brainwashing cult (unrelated to Felicity's cult), and before then, perhaps one of the strangest jobs she ever did, there was the business in Petrox City. Nora never thought she'd be putting up her work in an Art Museum. Nora also didn't think she'd have to learn how to perform laser eye surgery. And Nora definitely didn't think she would be fighting magical girl cosplayers-and Nora wasn't quite sure they were Cosplayers for their unusual effectiveness. When you're having to consider whether or not one of Liao's best-kept secrets is a friggin' team of high-school wizards in frilly outfits fighting crime in the name of love and justice that had somehow evaded all detection by even the best of the Black Lotus, you had gotten yourself into a real pickle. Nora had done some things that she had really had to stop and consider whether or not she had actually been tripping the whole time.

But all of those-one and all-were done on her terms. Alone, stealthily, as a lone operative, in the shadows to the best of her ability to do so, which was, in those particular cases, particuarly stymied by outside circumstances or just the odd rules of the job. She would argue her most interesting missions were her hardest for her screwups, or else being blatantly unable to operate without coming under scrutiny. But this was a different story. If Yesley had his way, she was going to be watched on live television, broadcasted to everyone, in one of the most bloody shows of fighting skills one could ever ask for, and expect her reputation to keep totally There would be absolutely no secrecy after that. And that was a lot to ask for an agent of the shadows, like Nora. And though she couldn't prove it-it was just a shoddy assumption-she had a gut feeling that Yesley had somehow expected her to do more than just compete, most likely her typical shady operations. She'd be caught, for sure... By some rabid fan begging for her autograph attracting enough attention to draw the whole Black Lotus onto her position. If she even lived.

She didn't want to do it, plain and simple. Nora did not count on being 'the one,' like so many foolish Pokemon did. Nora did not go into the culture of Liao-where the most important person in Liao is the most bada*s. Nora could foresee the whole assassination attempt on Taiya being scripted to remind her followers of her prowess (Nora didn't doubt Taiya's prowess herself). Nora could foresee the devotion to the Black Lotus being concordant with the power of the possibly-fake Ante that their best had. Nora could foresee the dictators of the last fifty years being previous winners of Tempest Festivals. Nora could foresee the Legendary Pokemon of ages past being merely normal Pokemon of near-unheard of fighting skill and prowess.

In a world of powerful beings who's uncanny superpowers were almost always only used for fighting... It was the only logical conclusion that everyone would so thoroughly enjoy blood sport. Everyone but the people who actually killed for a living. Might made Right. That was the first law of Xia. And Nora's might wasn't might she could leverage in the Tempest Festival. Not all of it. Nora did not want to compete. She couldn't see herself winning.

"... Boss. The Tempest Festival. That place. It is nothing short of a deathtrap. You'd be burning me as an asset. You'd be sending your best black operative to your death," Nora said, trying her best to speak clearly.

"... Nora," Yesley began, and Nora realized that this was the first time Yesley had ever said her 'name' directly. "I understand your life has been harsh, seemingly futureless, and I know that the Tempest Festivals aren't pleasent experiences. I know from experience. I know from the operatives I had to send there before, telling me horror stories and how they wouldn't take another life again from how bad it was. I know exactly what you are thinking," Yesley said. "I know. But I made this decision for two reasons. the first is, in light of all that's happened... You don't have a future in our business anymore. Not as an operative, not as you are. The Black Lotus is closing in on you. You will be found. You will be caught. You will be killed. It was always a risk-but now the risk is becoming more certain. Every minute they further and further pin down who and what you are, and why they should kill you. I know you didn't sign up for this to die. But the way this is going... You won't live."

Nora looked harshly upon him. "And I suppose the second reason is that you believe in me?"

Yesley looked mildly sheepish. "If I didn't believe in you, you wouldn't be here right now. And I believe in you perhaps the most. You're going to get every advantage I can leverage. The finest equipment. The finest weaponry. The finest in protection. Nothing but the finest. Nothing less, because I want to give you every edge you can get. The Gracedia Order is... Terrified, of the Master Blaze Jewel. Terrified of the Black Lotus and this 'ante' they're so strongly suggesting and rubbing into our faces. We're throwing you in there, Nora, because we believe you to be the kind of person who could... As cheesy as this will sound to you... Be the guide in the darkness. I would say 'light,' but that would insult you. You know the darkness too well. But now you need to make yourself known."

Nora honestly wasn't much more convinced than before.

"... We would also compensate you heavily. On top of any rewards you might receive in the Tempest Festival itself for any victories you may achieve," Yesley added.

Nora sighed deeply. Like it or not, she needed money, and burning the Gracedia Order on a major mission would mean killing her career. Yesley's speech worked-but it worked because Nora realized that if they were really this desperate, turning them down would mean the end of her career as an operative. And that meant no more money or easy drugs for her.

"... Fine. I don't like it. But I'll do it," Nora said, trying her hardest to sound as reluctant as possible.

"Thank you. From the bottom of my heart," Yesley said. "Now... We're almost here. Before we disembark, I should add one more thing, before we make this all official."

"Whut?"

"The Tempest Festival is universally a team sport, with the exception of the very last event, the Deathwish Endurance. You're not competing in all of them," Yesley said. "So you'll have to make yourself aquainted to our... Other operatives. And while you may think you're one of the most interesting we've ever recieved... Some of our others are competitors for the role."

"Eh, I've dealt with all sorts of weirdos. Cult gods, magical girls, psycho midgets, popular animators, newborns, clown assassins, post-ironic hipsters, all sorts. Workin' with 'em can't be too different," Nora said.

Yesley sighed, in a manner that came off to Nora as to mean 'Famous last words right there.' Or just 'I really hope you were tripping for most of that.' Hard to tell. "I hope as much," he said.

Nora nodded.

Nora didn't imagine herself seriously going to the Tempest Festival and participating in the bloodsport. She had when she was little, but never seriously. She couldn't see herself fighting those battle-ready lunatics that populated these events, not at any stage of her life, even as Queen Taiya took throne and reminded everyone now and again that Lilligant could be bada*ses, please and thank you. And especially not when the world of intrigues and secrets was open to her, not while she delved deeper and deeper into the works of spycraft and assassination.

Then again, she didn't imagine herself fighting magical girls either. She still thought she could have been tripping for all of that, though.

[Soups]

Jax the Marowak
Gracidea Order
Lytala City, Snag ‘a Room

Failure has never been Jax’s cup of tea. He understood the concept of it and its importance, but it wasn’t anything he was used to himself. To Jax, failure was life’s way of slapping you in the face, grabbing that same face, and shoving it in a pile of… well, you know where I’m going with this. To put it simply, Jax was, is, and always has been about success, and if you let him tell it, he’d rather die than fail.

“And that’s all she wrote…” Jax sighed, as he watched an extremely bold Toxicroak lose its life to Queen Taiya. “For him, at least…”

Of course the Toxicroak, its poor soul now travelling to the afterlife… well, hopefully... didn’t lose its life unnecessarily. What it attempted was courageous. If it had successfully taken the Queen’s life, it would’ve been talked about for years to come. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much left to talk about now… except the spilled remains of the poor fellow.

To no one’s surprise, not a tear was shed. In fact, the masses cheered in a way that they hadn’t cheered before. Was it because they legitimately enjoyed the public murder or was it because they feared the same would happen to them if they hadn’t? The latter isn’t far-fetched as it seems.

Jax didn’t care to personally attend the Opening Ceremony. Awards aren’t given for that. He understood what he was here for: to rid of the Black Lotus and push the agenda of his faction, Gracidea Order. How he was going to do that was unbeknownst even to him, but he knew he’d have to try… and it wasn’t going to be easy.

“Let’s try not to die, Jaxy…” Jax whispered to himself sarcastically, “It’s OKAY to do this… you know… not alone.”

Jax knew that his best chance at success and survival involved working with others. And who better to work with than his own family, the Gracidea Order.

“Tomorrow oughta’ be a treat…” Jax said sarcastically before switching the bedside lamp off.

[LKWayvern]

Laura the Umbreon
Prankster Platoon
Scheme City Central, Platoon Training Field
Affected RPers: Velocity

Laura tried to keep the scowl off her face. She knew what Jones was saying made sense-- the umbreon was not built for a long-lasting fight, but mainly to assist allies and inconvenience the enemy. But in a one-on-one fight… Perhaps Laura could have had a fighting chance against Jones if this match had continued, but Laura wasn’t interested in pushing her luck unless it was absolutely necessary. She knew the helioptile had been right, but at the moment Laura was humiliated and exhausted, the paralysis in her limbs being the only thing keeping her upright.

She irritatedly flicked her ears. “Ugh, just-- yeah. Keep away from Confuse Rays in the future, I guess. They’re supposed to just disorient, sometimes they make you attack yourself but-- Can I just get a cheri or an oran or something?”

It didn’t take long for an irritated looking green-eyed luxray to approach her. “Surprised you didn’t just Heal Tone it. Helioptile was right, not your best finale.”

“Paralysis might’ve blocked it, freaking annoying,” Laura huffed. “So y’just gonna stand there or what?”

The luxray let out an only somewhat-exaggerated sigh. “Great then, c’mon.” He picked her up by her scarf, quickly depositing the smaller quadruped on his back, her stiff legs going every which way. “Get comfy.”

“Easy for you to say, you’ve never been paralyzed, fluff-for-brains! The hell are we even going, Xavier?”

The luxray, Xavier, sighed. “Back to our place. Not every quad’s got a mystic psychic stone like you, so I can’t exactly bring berries for when you get in trouble.”

Laura’s ears flicked in irritation again. “...Can you at least make it a bit easier for me to stay on. Please.”

Xavier adjusted Laura’s position with his tail so that instead of her being in a messy heap, it looked less like she’d abruptly fall off the moment the luxray began walking. “Is that more to your satisfaction, my lady?” He asked, teasing sarcasm evident in his tone.

Laura snorted. “It’ll do, my vassal. Onward!”

Laura and Xavier’s relationship was somewhat… unexpected. Officially, Xavier was her bodyguard. Nobody had really hired him to the position, he had simply gone along with Laura on her infamous ‘tour’ and continued hanging around her afterwards. At some point they had become ‘friends’. Around that point, Xavier and Laura began sharing the same home.

Upon arriving at the aforesaid home, Xavier unceremoniously dumped Laura onto her bed, and padded over to the medicine chest, flicking it open with his tail. He returned with a bottle of oran salve and a cheri.

“Lemme borrow the magical mind crystal, it’s ****ing annoying to get this lid off,” he remarked.

“If you can get the damn bracelet off,” Laura responded, “it’s yours.”

A few minutes later, the cheri had allowed Laura to regain sensation in her limbs, and the salve was comfortably soothing the injury Jones had left her. Laura stretched, easing out the remaining tension in her joints. “Mm, that feels good.”

Xavier laid down next to her, pawing at the remote. “Ya want this on?”

Laura shrugged. “I don’t mind.” The luxray jabbed at a button, the tv in their home coming to life with the sounds of explosions. Laura’s fur immediately fluffed up with surprise. “The frigging hell!?”

Laura felt Xavier’s tail flop onto her in what she supposed was meant to be a calming gesture. “Calm down. Just the opening night fireworks.”

“The what now.”

“Tempest Festival. Opening night’s tonight,” Xavier reminded her.

Laura felt herself calm down. “Right.” She sighed, relaxing. “You doing Blood Pit with me?”

“Yeah.”

She yawned. He gave her a look. “...Get some sleep. You’ll need a lot of energy tomorrow.”

“Can’t sleep, darkrai-damn fireworks sound like violent popcorn,” Laura complained. Xavier quickly hit the mute button. “Much better…”

Soon enough, the umbreon was fast asleep, tail and legs occasionally twitching.

[Morzone]

Theo the Quilava
Steel Scavengers
The Air over the Dueling Badlands, En route to Westfel
Affected RP'ers: N/A

There were too many clouds for Theo's liking. Or more specifically, too many different types of clouds hovering at different heights. It made flying safely bothersome. The last thing he needed now was for some Lotus jerk to surprise him because he'd had to fly through a cloud and go blind for a few seconds. Still, otherwise it was pretty straight forward flight. It gave him plenty of time to think.

As he went around a large puffy cloud Theo leaned over to get a view of the plains below. He wished he could've flown over the highway and stayed above Julia and the others, being on his own was rather unnerving when flying into Lotus territory. This whole festival thing was unnerving in and of itself after all. When Julia had told him a week ago they'd been asked to join the Grand Lady and the Knights in competing for the Master Blaze Jewel it hadn't really seemed to make any sense- the two of them were just some mechanics after all.

"Crazy Weavile's probably has some crazy idea that got us into this Crazy mess." He muttered to himself, just as he had done every other time his thoughts had turned this direction.

"At least we had a week to prepare, I bet some people are going to get forced into this mess the day it starts." He kept talking, patting his plane's controls with affection. "Finally I can show you off... still need to name you but we'll have time for that later."

It occurred to him that he had started talking to no one again. Julia would've just laughed and asked if invisible ghosts were hanging around. As he shook his head he flew around yet another cloud and before him in the distance was Westfel. It didn't take long to spot the special hanger that had been acquired to hide his plane during the festival. It may be hard to see from the ground, but it was clear as day from the air. Smiling, he leaned over and turned on his speakers. Flight of the Valkyries came on, and he hummed along as he began his descent.

Julia the Weavile
Steel Scavengers
Highway 3, En route to Westfel
Affected RP'ers: Death's Spook

Julia was thoroughly enjoying herself. Despite some protests, she had opted to drive her monstrous destruction-derby car right down in the middle of the highway in order to get it to westfel with everyone else. Easily two to three times as tall as your average car, her presence was certainly known as other drivers gave her plenty of room. Of course, she was stuck driving behind the Armored RV that housed the rest of the knights going to the festival, but you couldn't have everything.

Deciding to liven thing up a bit Julia hit the horn button, blasting a sound as loud as a Train's horn across the highway. Then she leaned back, grabbed the wheel with her foot to keep it straight, and flicked on the radio. Some horrible scratchy music came out, prompting her to quickly fiddle with the dial to change channel. On came a live report of the festival's opening ceremony.

Talk about a mood killer, listening to that 'Queen's' voice. It made her question whether she'd made the right choice when Anthony had come asking for weapons and materials to fight in the festival with. Julia had responded that her price for helping was to be allowed was to have Theo and herself participate, which Anthony had granted once he'd heard why.

Julia shook her head. "No, it was the right choice. Theo needs this..." She muttered to herself, glaring up into the sky, imagining Theo's plane flying over head. Still, if there had been one thing she was unsure about it had to be how much she'd told that Mimikyu. To think Anthony's brother in law might be the very same Gallade that killed Theo's parents. She had to admit she wasn't entire sure about anthony having such a close interest in Theo. He wasn't a bad guy but... well maybe he could Theo to talk about the second half of the story behind his parent's death. She certainly had never gotten out of him.

"I've got too many problems. This festival better be the best stress reliever that ever existed." She muttered again, quite liking the idea of taking her frustration out in some violent road rage battles. Westfel loomed ahead of her, they'd be arriving soon. She wondered if Theo would get there before them.

[The Nonexistent Tazz]

'Nora' the Lilligant
The Gracedia Order
Jadeblossom City, Gracedia Intelligance Agency Building
Affected RPers: N/A
We Can Haz A-Team?

The Gracedia Intelligence Agency Building was a building preferring width to height, low to the ground, surrounded by a few patches of astro turf. Nora never saw it in action, but apparently there were missile batteries hanging under the turf for the occasions that the Black Lotus thought it acceptable to try to bomb them. It definitely happened once. The wreckage of the airplane that tried was still on display at the war museum.

The inside of the building was a bit of a maze. Yes, they had signs, but even then the layout was quite confusing. Nora hadn't bothered to memorize it, and only now escaping a mild hangover, Nora was definitely relying on Yesley to guide her through the halls and the numerous buildings, each one likely possessing separate committies endlessly debating the nature of Ante and how to counter it, among other, more mundane things. Nora still had a standing order to fish up a dead Onyx Circle member just to see if they have Ante-and if they do, what it is.

Finally, Yesley inserted a keycard into a reader in a door, and the click of a lock coincided with a green light. Yesley opened the door into a room with eight others.

Nora swept her eyes over the eight others, briefly. The one on the farthest-left was a Tyranitar, who's fearsome getup was tempered by the uniform of a local resturaunt. A fairly good resturaunt at that. He even touted a kitchen knife in his hands. The one to his right was a Bronzong, only recently having de-invested his time from the local newspaper to look at Nora. The third fellow was a Mienshao with an eyepatch who looked deeply distressed at some immaterial thing, even now. The fourth, center-left, was a female Heracross-who had heavily pierced his horn with various metal rings. She was the only one smiling. the center-right was the epitome of stereotypical military muscle, a beefy Machamp with a camoflagued getup and even some kevlar vest already on. The sixth one was a Furret so utterly, totally normal that you'd have to be really attentive to notice if this Furret was following you. The second from the right was almost the inverse, a smeargle so utterly covered in paint you'd be forgiven for being unable to peel your eyes away, not just from the colorful display but from the amount of demented happy faces painted all over the already crazed display. The final one was the only true quad in the group, a Mightyena-no, wait, not a Mightyena. That was an illusion. Stupid Zoroark.

Nora rolled her eyes as Yesley made the introductions. "It looks like we're all here. We don't have much time, so I'll introduce you to one another now. The Tyranitar is Boraz Ilian, and the Lilligant is Nora; they're two of the top assassins in the Order. Boraz's secondary skill is cooking, and Nora is addicted to everything I can think of as addictable-and exploits it well. The Mienshao, the Machamp and the Bronzong are, respecitvely, Anshan Ivory, Baragan Bales, and Ichabold Ulio. They aren't part of the GIA formally, but are loyal members of the Gracedia Order all the same; they've been picked up from our army for special duty, and they're the 'muscle' for this operation. They're not going to be a part of your secondary goal, they're there to make sure you can authenticate your claims as full-on competitors and nothing else. The Zoroark and the Furret are Talian Halsey and Faraday Galvant; both expert operatives specialized in infiltration. Finally, the Smeargle and the Heracross are the faces. The Smeargle, surprisingly, isn't a runaway from the Prankster Platoon-" Nora's ears and senses perked up at this, as did the other GIA agents. That phrase- 'isn't a runaway from the Prankster Platoon'-that was code. Code for 'kill this guy, he's a Black Lotus spy.'

Yesley did a much better job at containing his surprise over the sudden abrupt violence this time. Everyone in the room who was an actual GIA agent so swiftly pulled a weapon or readied an attack that their target didn't even manage to look surprised. The Smeargle had no clue what hit him. Nora did-it was about two bullets, a meat cleaver, a Focus Blast, and a Dark Pulse, near simultaneously. The Smeargle was dead. That was two in a day, a record for Nora when she wasn't on a mission. OK, it was tied with two other days, but they weren't both Black Lotus. The other three looked extremely confused and panicked, but as the others put their weapons away (bar the Tyranitar, who checked a pulse and then hacked the dead Smeargle's head clean off as a doubled assurance), they merely returned to being especially wary.

Yesley's throat cleared the room better than any janitor. "Oh, so sorry we couldn't tell you about him. Err, we accepted a known Black Lotus spy into our organization and have been feeding him misinformation for weeks to disable the Black Lotus to the best of our ability. He couldn't be around for the briefing," Yesley said, turning to the three soldiers. "Just so you know... The secondary meaning of what I uttered? That's only valid if the speaker is a GIA member. But you're going to be GIA members for the duration of this, so do remember that. Even an actual disgraced former member of the Prankster Platoon shouldn't be referred to in those terms... Moving on. Our last member here is Yvonne Gelia the Heracross, who was working with our diplomatic efforts until recently, and has foiled various assassinations on various VIPs," Yesley said, gesturing to Yvonne. "Also one of our better drivers."

"With everyone introduced-and the mole eliminated-it's time to get you up to speed on the assignment. To keep it brief: Your mission is to retrieve the Master Blaze Jewel being offered as a prize in the Tempest Festival, by any means necessary. To this end, we have arranged for you to move to Lytala city and participate in the Tempest Games, in an attempt to aid the Gracedia Order in retrieving the Master Blaze Jewel directly. We've assigned you to multiple events to play to your strong suits. Your schedules are out on that table to the left," Yesley said, pointing to a small coffee table to the side, where a stack of nine. "Don't take the folders with you, just the papers inside them, keep your schedule on-hand, and please, try to keep your survival as a higher priority than actually winning-but hang in there as long as you possibly can. In addition, the retrieval of any body of any suspected Ante-user, dead or alive, is to be retrieved and stowed as securely as possible in an attempt to research this 'Ante,' if you can. A reminder; the Onyx Circle aren't invincible. We just haven't gotten them into one of our mortuaries for study."

"What I have just said to you is your mission, and you will refer to it as such. However, there is another part of this mission. I said to retrieve the Master Blaze Jewel by any means necessary. I mean any means necessary. We have very little faith in the idea that the Black Lotus will honor the implicit bargain of handing over the Master Blaze Jewel to just anyone. While we will attempt to fight and win it over fairly, the odds of us so much as escaping the city intact with it are nil-the Black Lotus would consider us the 'terrorists' we are the minute we left the stadium and bring out as much force as possible to deliver it to Taiya, if not just deliver us a fake. Indeed, the way Blacklocke has managed to 'supply' it for the Tempest Games rather than simply being forced to hand it over reeks of suspicious activity. We do not know to what limitations the Master Blaze Jewel operates at this time-if they operate similarly to regular Blaze Jewels or have their own set of rules. However, if it is being offered as the absolute grand prize, we can tell that it is being advertised as a force unmatched openly, one Queen Taiya is unlikely to part with willingly. IN other words, the Gracedia Order believes that the game is rigged; even if the Gracedia Order or another faction were to emerge victorious, there would be no chance of retrieving the gem normally."

"We have not signed you up to cover every day-there will be days when all nine of you are simultaniously exempt from all events. On those days, as well as any other time you can, I want you to investigate Blacklocke Arms, the ones who apparently discovered the Master Blaze Jewel in the first place. Your primary objective is to secure the Master Blaze Jewel by any means necessary-and we believe that the only real chance of doing that is by stealing it directly from them. Your secondary objective is to discover how Blacklocke Arms came into possession of the Master Blaze Jewel-if it was found in some ancient dingy temple for archeologists to dream of, or manually created by some force. Anything else you discover along the way, related to the Master Blaze Jewel or not, would be welcome news for the Gracedia Order. For the most absolute secrecy possible, I must request that any discovery you make is at any point not uploaded to any device connected to the internet in any way or is in any way able to be hacked or bugged, in case of Black Lotus operatives hacking your personal computers-and we suggest that you do not get the aid of any third parties equally interested in this information. The Master Blaze Jewel, and the information surrounding it, should not fall into any hands that aren't the hands of the Gracedia Order."

Nora would honestly have preferred hearing the grim news of being the newest assassins for Queen Taiya to that. Blacklocke Arms were perhaps more dangerous than the Black Lotus or the Tempest Festival. Sure; they didn't send assassins to your door, and Nora knew that they weren't strictly providing to the Black Lotus on every occasion. But they had a reputation for being impervious to break ins. It was well-founded. Nora knew of nine break-ins, all of which failed. And that wasn't getting into how the headquarters of the Blacklocke Arms corporation were but two blocks away from Queen Taiya's palace, and anyone with a brain could tell you that Taiya had reasons to keep Blacklocke Arms on her side moreso than any other-which meant that some of the meanest Black Lotus agents they had would swarm the place if it was so much as touched. It was terrifying, therefore, that the Black Lotus were only instrumental in stopping a break-in once of those nine times. To steal their most recent and most prized possession right out of their hands was unthinkable.

... It also meant Nora would be rich for this. Really rich. To say nothing of being the potential owner of the Master Blaze Jewel-anyone in the network. And if anyone in Xia could do such a heist for the Master Blaze Jewel, it was Nora. Nora and this group of spies and soldiers. Hopefully.

"One last thing. While this is a recent development... One of the children of Athena Pallas, one of our other fighters in the Tempest Festival, has been kidnapped. It's precisely the kidnapping that's brought her into the Tempest Festival-apparently the Black Lotus kidnappers had it as part of the bargain. 'Come to the Tempest Festival or you'll never see him again'- direct, if nothing else. As with the Master Blaze Jewel, the odds of them playing fair regarding this are nil-and we suspect the worst. You're on the lookout for Marx, a Rowlet of about three years of age-if at all possible, retrieve him and return him safely to the Gracedia Order's headquarters in Lytala. You likely won't find him in Blacklocke Arms-you'll have to search. It's tetriary compared to the other goals... And you may need to, er-hem, remind Athena of her duties to the Order, should her parental urges compromise her."

Reminding them of their duties to the order. Quite obvious code, even the three non-GIA got it clear. It was code for 'kill her if she betrays us.' Every idiot who ever thought the Gracedia Order were just a bunch of lazy hippies were tripping harder than Nora ever could. The Order could not and would not tolerate differences in vision. Nora had been called upon to resolve those differences before-once.

"Of course, we wouldn't have let Athena get as far as she had if we believed she would succumb easily to the temptation. I have confidence in her strength of character, from her profiles. But just in case, don't hesitate," Yesley added.

"Are we clear?" Yesley asked, rhetorically. His voice was crystal and without double-meaning. There was no confusion. Eight heads tilted down and up in response. "Good, then. You are due in Lytala City today, before the events start. Take everything in the manila folders, except the folders themselves. They'll include your schedule, your passes for the events as competitors, a detailed map of Lytala city, and a 2-week long premium pass for the subway system in Lytala."

Nora retrieved the contents of her manila folder with only slight delay from her hangover. It had practically already gone. She made sure to get a cup of coffee to make sure that it didn't come back later while she interviewed her schedule... Huh.

Day 2, Blood Pit Arena Qualifier. Day 3, the Finals for the Blood Pit. Day 5, Field of Screams Qualifier. Day 7, Roadkill Warrior Competition (only day). Day 9, Field of Screams Finals. Day 10, Deadly Force Qualifier. And then the Deadly Force Final on Day 14. Days, 1, 4, 6, 8, 11, 12, 13 and 15 were all free.

"We're giving you the first day to recover from the trip, integrate yourselves with the order forces in Lytala, and prepare the best you can for the competitions ahead as well as the raid. As long as your attempts to raid Blacklocke do not compete with your schedule, you may attempt it at any time-though we have no competitions on days 6, 11 and 13 for any of you for a reason. Oh, and you may notice that none of you are assigned to Deathwish Endurance... Our strategic department has one and all concurred that the odds for that particular event are too heavily slanted, and as the ultimate reward is the master Blaze Jewel, it may become more dire to steal it away if the Black Lotus look certain to win it-even if we can't secure it, better that they look like they won't uphold their bargains in front of millions to the real winners than them being the actual winners. As they usually have," Yesley sighed. "Nevertheless, if you believe it may help, you may sign yourselves into the event personally, but the GIA doesn't believe it'll be worth your while."

"That is all. As of right now, the operation-Phantom Thorn-is a go. You are dismissed," Yesley said, putting the last little spin on it as he gestured to the door. Nora walked out, tension twisting her guts like a knife through her liver. Her poor, abused liver. Nora had to roll her eyes at the thoroughness of it all. It seemed the GIA had some instruction for every eventuality. Though, given the chaos of the Tempest Festival and the extreme importance this one had to everyone, perhaps such thoroughness was justified.

Nora was just hoping she lived.

[Neo Emolga]

Noblejanobii The Nonexistent Tazz Soups Death's Spook Morzone Velocity LKWayvern Steel Lunpara Chakramaster


DAY 1 HAS ARRIVED
Active Events: Blood Pit Arena (Qualifying Round), Dread Metal Destruction Derby (Qualyfing Round)

Phoebe Helsden the Charizard
Black Lotus - Onyx Circle
Outside Blood Pit Arena, Lytala City

Phoebe didn't think much of last night's Opening Ceremony. It was the same deal and meant to entertain the lustful, sadistic masses. Even the news of the assassination attempt wasn't a surprise as it hadn't been the first time Taiya had to deal with it.

Phoebe had been ordered to take part in the Blood Pit with six other Black Lotus operatives, the max a single team could enter for this particular event. Her task as squad leader was to ensure the skies were swept clean while the rest of her team grinded everyone else down to a pulp.

The roster of entrants for the first qualifying round was filling up. Some had already preregistered, but it was very common for entrants to preregister and then get nervous and never show up. So when the actual round began in the afternoon, there was no telling how many entrants would be left. But for now, they were waiting and gearing up for every grizzly thing that would come their way.

Phoebe had her own strategy on how she wanted to handle exterminating the competition. She had her Death Spitter rocket launcher ready and she was in perfect shape to soar through the skies easily, even with the amount of armor she had on. Vekker, an Ursaring specializing in chainguns, was exceptional at laying down suppressing fire. That would give Grec the Gengar all the time he needed to use an EinCaliber sniper rifle to pick off anyone held down by Vekker or held back by Vurden the Volcarona's constant barrage of fire attacks. That was one thing about this team. She knew they loved burning everything and everyone to hell after punching numerous holes into them.

The Qualifying Round for this first match was expected to go well for Black Lotus. And in times past, if things went well in tomorrow's Qualifying Round, Black Lotus wouldn't have to even compete with a secured win.

"I'm sure you know how this all works," Phoebe told the rest of her squad. "We've been over it a dozen times so I'm not going to repeat myself. As a reminder, I don't want any taunting or sneering while we're on the field. Save that for when we win. We lost an operative last year because he felt like bumping the butt of his gun in the face of a dead opponent and never noticed a Scyther charging right for him from behind. We still have the head in case you need a reminder."

"Punk deserved it," Vekker spat. "If anyone got killed that way in front of me, I'd piss on their carcass."

"We're no idiots," a heavily armored Luxray named Unloc replied. "Some other Lotus operatives may like the gloating, but we know you. There's a reason we signed to be on your team instead of the others."

Phoebe nodded. Some Lotus operatives saw this event as fun, but Phoebe saw it much more like a job. Her task, along with the rest of her team, was to kill everyone fast and hard and not leave a single enemy soul standing no matter what. The only mercy offered from her and her team was a faster than usual death, and that was all they would be getting if they were lucky.

"Let's go," Phoebe told the rest of her crew. "I want to size up everyone that comes through that door thinking they can compete against us. Remember, as we're up first, we need to make this demoralizing on every enemy team. It will ruin them for the events ahead."

Phoebe would never say she enjoyed her job. But killing Pokémon was something she was very good at, and it was her job every day.


Jucden Tarblack the Raticate
Black Lotus - Onyx Circle
Lotus Den Slums, outside Lytala City

Today, the Lotus Slums would go from being an impoverished town to become a warzone and many Pokémon would lose the little they had from the collateral damage. Already, the slum intended to be the site for the Dread Metal competition had been cleared out. No impoverished citizen was going to stick around only to get killed and there was no way they'd ever be able to convince Black Lotus to reconsider. They could only hope and pray their mud hut or shanty wouldn't be blown up in the carnage that was to come, but the chances of that were slim considering it was common for half the town to be crushed or burnt to the ground in the aftermath of the event.

At the rules stated, teams could enter three vehicles at max into the competition. Jucden would be driving the Ripfire truck, which was a hulking junkyard beast that Jucden and his cohort Jaze the Conkeldurr had built together and involved a lot of weaponry that they both loved: explosives galore. Jaze enjoyed driving while Jaze was more than happy to be the one to sent every competitor to a messy and gored demise. Meanwhile, Jucden would never pass up an opportunity to decorate the Ripfire with flashing lights and a crudely-painted metallic smiling Pikachu head that had bullet holes shot into it.

The other two vehicles in today's Dread Metal was the Peaceslayer armored monster truck that Vorkot the Scrafty had spent all of last year modding and perfecting just for causing the maximum amount of damage. It was another heavily armored car where Vorkot would be driving and manning the front machine guns at the same time while his gunner on the rear was Xed the Arcanine, a wild pyromaniac that would burn the whole shanty town to cinders just for fun. Lastly, the Blackout was an armored hearse that was driven by Sevren the Dusknoir and Mevvan the Krookodile. Sevren would be the driver while Mevvan would be focusing on laying down heavy machine gun fire on everyone else, as well as using whatever dark projectile attacks would work best for the situation.

Jucden felt his only real competition was the other two Black Lotus vehicles. Everyone else was just worth kill points and he needed to get as many as he could to brag the hardest.

"It's a B-E-A-utiful day for same carnage, isn't it, Jaze!?" Jucden was laughing hysterically, tugging on the Conkeldurr's body armor. "It's hard to just stand here waiting for this! I've been watching the damn clock for the past two hours and we still have several more to go!"

"Hurr, hurr," Jaze chuckled, smashing his fists together in anticipation. "Dem runts gettin' gored inta goo. Pasty-like."

"Yesss!" Jucden hissed and snickered as he jumped up and down in excitement. "Pasty like! I like that! Yes, I like that! There better be more. Way more than last year! We're going to set a world record today!"

"Hurr..." Jaze snorted. "My kinda killin'."

[VeloJello]

Jones Sandstrider the Heliolisk
Prankster Platoon
Lotus Den Slums
Affected RPers: None

((Tony's name is a joke and I sincerely hope at least a few of you get it. Mazer post coming when I’m less exhausted, hopefully tomorrow))

Jones watched Laura walk stiffly away with a Luxray, sitting down on the ground and twitching her claws impatiently. It hadn't been good enough, that battle. Laura had only honestly attacked her once, and that had felt like a stiff breeze. A Pokemon less f***ed-up in the head could have easily powered through that Confuse Ray and killed Laura under the cover of that Sandstorm and been on their merry way. While Jones didn't think that Laura needed to be an absolute master of combat, the Umbreon was practically the face of the Prankster Platoon. No amount of bodyguards could protect her forever. In the end, everything came down to your own strength, and Jones was concerned that Laura wouldn't be strong enough if the time came for the Umbreon to defend herself.

Not that Jones had been perfect, either. Her tail began to flick in rhythm with the clacking of her claws against the side of her spear. She shouldn't have let those memories get the better of her. Amu had died years ago, and it had been Jones who'd done the deed, making sure that there was no pulse or breath left in the Haxorus's body before she'd fled. He was dead and gone, and remembering him was just going to mess her up. The "PTSD" or whatever the heck Cheshire and Tony called it was a severe annoyance and it was going to get her killed one of these days if she didn't deal with it right.

Of course, according to Cheshire, the "right" way to deal with it was to talk about it, which was super stupid. Talking about the past wouldn’t fix it. It was over and done with and Jones just needed her stupid brain to move on.

The Meowstic was still waiting on the edge of the pit. Jones might’ve dragged him into the training, too, but she didn’t think she could handle any more psy attacks. Besides, she knew from experience that the demure feline was stronger than he appeared. “Come on,” she said to him, “driving practice.”

Cheshire walked beside her - he was always careful to be beside her instead of in front of her; it felt kind of like babying, but she appreciated not having to look over her shoulder every couple of seconds - without complaint. “That Confuse Ray did a number on you.”

She grunted. “Flashback,” she said. “Stupid psy attacks always screw with me. I wasn’t expecting her to pull that one. I’ll be more careful in the future.”

“That’s not what I meant,” said Cheshire. He sounded like he was going to launch into another rant about touchy-feely scrap, so Jones walked faster, forcing Cheshire and his short little legs to hustle just to keep up. She didn’t slow down until they reached their destination, a wide-open makeshift parking lot full of brightly-colored vehicles, each of a different shape, size, and armor quality.

Cheshire sounded a little irate when he spoke again. “I was trying to get at the fact that you need to deal with your problems, Jones, and that you can’t keep running away.”

“I’m good at running,” Jones said. “Keeps me alive.” She began making her way through the lot, though this time she slowed down a little. She didn’t want Cheshire to lose track of her, since he would be kind of important for this next part. “Not all of us can just melt minds with our magic ears.”

The Meowstic didn’t bother explaining his metaphor. “You need to settle your mind.” Jones rolled his eyes; he sounded like one of those Gracidea Dream Smokers. “If you’re not at peace with yourself, you won’t be able to do well in the -”

The Dread Metal Derby was a storm of noise and smog stench, and it was extremely overwhelming - and overstimulation led to dissociation. Jones shook her head, clearing her brain of thoughts about yesterday because yesterday didn’t matter and Cheshire was an idiot about brain things and he didn’t know anything about her.

However, Cheshire wasn’t an idiot gunner, which was why Jones was incredibly glad to have him gunning for her. He’d be watching the left flank of the Screaming Talon, a sleek vehicle with light armor and splotches of red, blue, and yellow all over it - and most importantly, lots of spots for Cheshire to throw Light Screens, Reflects, and Protects, affording the vehicle lots of speed since it wasn’t weighed down with heavy armor. There was a lot of risk in having a psychic doing the majority of defense, but between Tony the Incineroar’s eagle eye for targets and her own lead foot and unpredictable, quick driving style, the likelihood of them needing Cheshire’s defenses wasn’t too high.

Not that this wasn’t a serious matter. Jones’s heart jackhammered nervously in her chest as she looked out at the other racers’ menacing cars. Hopefully no one would be shooting Confuse Rays.

[The Nonexistent Tazz]

((I see your tony the tiger and your chesire cat. I raise you my popular western animation reference.))

'Nora' the Lilligant
The Gracedia Order
Highway 10, En-Route to Lytala city.
Affected RPers: N/A

About fifteen minutes before they left Jadeblossom-because as it turns out, Yvonne needed to refill the flippin armored APC-Nora caught sight of a familiar face at exactly the right time. A rather dejected-looking Kirlia, clutching an Everstone-a good sign that it was a he, as very few men wanted to evolve into a Gardevoir. A Shiny Kirlia, at that. Her-HIS-unusual coloration was irrelevant to Nora; that was a known drug-dealer, and the backpack he carried had lovely Swift. And that Kirlia owed Nora one hell of a favor; the last time they met, Nora was looking at him getting near-killed by a very angry Arbok. If not for her intervention, the Kirlia would be food for-well, Nora did know that there was a hobo Pikachu with appetite for dead corpses around the same block.

Nora checked the street for cops-she'd rather not run into trouble with the Order now of all times-and walked up to the Kirlia when she was assured the only one around would be her own members. "Yoo, wazzuppp?" The depraved Lilligant called out.

The Kirlia's face widened with shock at recognition, but then swiftly-heh-composed. "... I remember what I said, I know what you're going to ask already, and lucky you, I want nothing more to do with Swift. Going legit. Say no more, don't even pay me. Just, take it!"

The Kirlia bounded away like he had just been liberated of the backpack. Nora, meanwhile, just looked confused, looked back around, and just took the backpack, again ensuring no police were watching the scene. Her teammates were dissaproving-but beyond the Tyranitar, uncaring-that the backpack was utterly loaded with Swift.

An hour later, Nora was still in the grips of a powerful, beautiful, ultra-awesome Swift-dream. Well, until now. She was so happily skipping through the face-fields without a care in the world, but then she tripped and fell in a room. And then she saw her. That friggin Sylveon. That Kako! She was rising up from the floor playing the piano, and it was made of fire! The demon! Nora tried to pull a gun, but somehow managed a sword. Nora caught sight of a mirror in the corner-she wasn't Nora! She looked like Queen Taiya all of a sudden. "We'll meet again-" Nora disregarded this sudden transformation and tried to rush her, but, aguh, a shackle around her spindly legs! Curses! "-Dunno where, dunno wheeeennnn-" She tried reaching her sword out to cut that stupid thing's throat for the time she was nearly crushed by a Piano, but no, she coudln't even scratch the piano! "-We'll meet agaaain, some sunny day!" That stupid sylveon stopped singing, revealing eyes of burning black. Nora wretched. The eyes bored into her soul without effort on the part of the Sylveon, so utterly, maliciously content she didn't even need to look anything more than the stupidest she possibly could.

"W-where are we?" Nora asked-but her voice wasn't her voice! She really was Taiya!(?)

The Sylveon-the Demon-chuckled. "We're on top of the pentouse suite! Come on, make yourself at home!" She said, so utterly totally saccharine that it would probably kill the Black Lotus if they heard it. Like, all of them. Pure sugar genocide. Nora-Taiya very reluctantly sat on a couch that she happened to know was behind her. "You know that thing is still alive, right?" Taiya-Nora tore her attention away from the Sylveon to the couch-oh Murhe, it was Felicity! With a sword! Coming from her mouth! The queen spun on the spot, narrowly avoiding the tongue-sword from the demented Sylve-Floatzel, as her blade casually met her air sac. The wound was much more fatal than it should have been-ooze leeked out, and for a moment the fat Floatzel looked like a Toxicroak.

"Oooh, yessss..." The Sylveon said, floating right beside Taiya, her slavering for the corpse muttered right in Nora's ears! Nora flinched as the Sylveon lept upon the Floatzicroak-Toxizel-whatever! And she ate, but she didn't bite in-no, she took the whole fat-a*s (was she fat, now?), and just shoved the whole thing in her mouth. It fit-there wasn't even a lump in her throat after she got her whole mouth around it, nor any bluge in her stomach, her proportions were perfectly normal. The body was gone. Even the blood-ooze seeped right into her mouth, and then the Sylveon laid down on the couch-wait, didn't she eat that? No, she wasn't laying on the couch, she was floating as if to suggest laying down on a couch which wasn't there, leaving a void of stupidity. Nora was sure that the reddish substance on the floor was liquid stupid.

"Quit the games, Cipher!" Noriya said. Wait, Cipher? Who was Cipher?

"Awwww, but these are myy games! My special games! Made just for yoooooooooouuuuuuuuuuu!" The Sylveon complained, huffing and holding-holding-a Key, made of some white substance-so bright it looked like starlight was stolen into it! Such a blinding Ivory key! Nora knew this was important, somehow! Her leafy-leafeon? She was a leafeon now? Oh, who cared, her paws reached for it. "Ap!" The Sylveon flicked her-in the nose! How dare she?! Black Lotus flocked into the room, oozing from the walls like zombies, each and all aiming directly at the Sylveon with their archaic rifles and their television remotes, determined to fast-forwards that Sylveon right out of existence. "This isn't yours yet. Also, I lied. We won't be meeting again, ever. Oh, but you'll have it! Err, you'll need it."

The Black Lotus operatives, one and all, clicked the buttons-and Taiya hadn't noticed that they were all Sylveon themselves-and then Taiya realized they weren't Black Lotus. Friggity Friggin Frackafrack! The one time she wanted it to be Black Lotus-wait, she was Taiya, that should be all the time-she wasn't Taiya, that shouldn't, but they weren't and that was bad this time! They all clicked fast forwards! The room sped up, like the world was ending. Nora degraded right in front of the Sylveon. The other Sylveon had their removes melt. The room melted. The piano peeled itself apart, withering away. The floor fell away. The Sky burned. The tide collapsed. Impossible doors were in the background being opened by living symbols. Golden Gods died under the flow of thousands of attacks. The very meaning of the end of existence and nihilism was extinguished. They were falling. The Black Lotus vanished into black petals. The remaining Sylveon looked very different-falling, falling! They were falling! She was praying to something, the Sylveon-that-was, and Nora could see the ground. Some silver thing was whilring up a storm, and thousands of monsters were charging into it. The thing-it looked like a pack of red Serperior-it looked like a massive Gardevoir-it looked like some take on humanity-it looked like her! That Sylveon thing looked like her now!

They hit the ground so hard that the ground exploded. Nora lost sight of the Sylveon. She flew up like a beech ball, and then back down, and-

Nora heard herself curse maddeningly before she even knew what was happening. She blinked. She was in the APC again, lying on the floor, her head back against a tire, which she probably hit. A bump in the road-one hell of a bump. She looked around. The Tyranitar chef guy, Boraz, was refusing to get near her in her state, and Yvonne was driving. The other five looked at her.

"You seem to have the most interesting dreams when you're high," the Mienshao said. Anshan, right? That was his name.

"Ayeeeeeee... Pro life tip! Always saave the drug dealers!"

"Was that what the whole thing with the backpack was about?" the Machamp asked.

"Yes, unfortunately... Before you ask, Swift gives off mild psionic signatures. It's why Psychic types take particuarly bad trips when they ingest it, but it also means that you can 'tune in.' Very interesting. Who was the Sylveon?"

Nora blinked, as her head turned to the Bronzong guy. Uh, he was Baragan? No! Ichabold. "... If we meet that Sylveon ever again I'mma see about the local cannibals."

"So probably not your best friend, then," Anshan snarked.

"that Kako should burn in hell, except I dunno if they're managin' that." Nora said.

"So literally a demon from the pits of Murhe. You think, anyways," Anshan smart-mouthed.

"That Kako should burn in hell, she dropped a piano on me!" Nora shouted.

"A piano?" someone said-no, wait, yeah, there she was, a furret! Talia? Talian? No, Faraday. "Like from a ledge?"

"She 'arranges' things, like pianos falling from planes. Do they even do that?... Frighighagh, ugh, lemme alone," Nora said, flipping over on her hard, makeshift pillow.

"Lucky you, we have eight more hours," Yvonne said, curtly. "enjoy your stupid swift-dreams, nut."

Nora just arranged a rude gesture from her back as the tire started to melt right in front of her. The Sylveon's face appeared again, mocking her. Nora punched it-and let out a torrent of explicitives as her weak, leafy hand met the hard metal.

"... This is one of our best, folks," said no-one in particular. Wait, no, there was a Talia guy? Talian. Faraday? No, Talian this time. "Yesley had better been serious about her effectiveness."

"We're all gonna die!" Said Faraday-definitely Faraday. You could add a colon and a closed parenthesis and you could not complete that sentence better. Silence followed, and Nora swore to Arceus that a Keldeo was now among the party. On the floor. Eating cotton candy. Which was actually his mane, from the looks of things. He also didn't have a face to eat it with, and was just shoving it into fleshy negative space below its snout soundlessly.

Swift-Dreams. Gotta love 'em. Gotta hate 'em.

[LKWayvern]

Laura the Umbreon
Prankster Platoon
The Psychotic Lobster Tavern and Inn, Lytala City
Affected RPers: None

Laura’s original plan for entering Lytala City had been dramatic. She had wanted to humiliate the Black Lotus Empire in their own capital, preferrably in a way that screamed ‘Prankster Platoon’. She had wanted to make it clear that she was competing, and she was unafraid of her opponents and any retaliation they could bring her. There was going to be paintbombs, a confetti cannon, and probably a very distracting laser lightshow.

Her bodyguards had unanimously shut down this idea, to absolutely no one’s surprise.

“But it’ll send a message!” Laura had complained.

“So will the dozen mercenaries following you after the show. And I doubt their message will be asking for an autograph,” Xavier had retorted.

It was generally agreed that the move Teleport would be the best way for Laura to enter Lytala-- but another problem was where Laura would stay while waiting for the finals, if she survived.

There are many massive cities in Liao, with Lytala being among the largest. Out of the millions of Pokemon in Lytala, it’s unsurprising that at least a couple hundred would sympathize with the rebellious teams across Liao, but lack the balls to openly support them. And it was inevitable that at least a couple would be fans of the Prankster Platoon.

At some point, those fans had decided that while they didn’t want to run away and join the Platoon, they still want a place to totally disregard rules and freely slander the Black Lotus Empire without fear of retaliation. As a result, small groups of them frequently got together to create speakeasies and places of constant chaos, most moving totally at random to avoid raids. Others unpopular enough to mostly avoid detection.

The public had, quite unsurprisingly, nicknamed these places ‘Asylums’. And it was determined that one of these asylums would be the ideal place for Laura to hide out until her events in Lytala City were over.

This was how Laura, Xavier, and a few other Pranksters found themselves outside the Psychotic Lobster Tavern and Inn.

The interior of the Psychotic Lobster was interestingly decorated, and anyone could tell it would not pass a health code inspection. Every surface was coated in painted and carved graffiti, as well as other unidentified liquids. The only true piece of furniture were the tables and benches, few of which were totally intact, and all bore signs of food, a battle, or some kind of bodily fluid. Crates were stacked in the corner, some of which had been smashed open at some point and now only contained crumbs or glass shards.

By sight alone, one could tell that if they treasured their sense of smell, breathing in through their nose was not highly encouraged.

It did not take long for a clauncher to enter through a backdoor. Xavier quickly stepped up to him.

“You’re Mortimer?” he asked, looking the crustacean over skeptically. “Mortimer Nerean?”

The clauncher in question began laughing hysterically, spraying spittle on the Pokemon nearest to him. Mainly Xavier. The luxray squinted, rubbing the spit out of his fur with a paw.

“Yep. That be me. Most call me Mort, though,” the clauncher corrected. “And you be the Pranksters, then?”

“Yes. Luxray Xavier Feurra, Claydol Kirrun Dimei, Mismagius Aria Kantra, and you recognize Umbreon Laura Bette Kaye,” Xavier introduced. “You have rooms reserved for us.”

“Aye, and just in time. Three days from now we’ll all be gone, the scent’s fin’lly driven away me regulars!” Mort began cackling again.

“Wise decision,” Xavier responded, drily. “I take it they’re in the back?”

Upon receiving affirmation, Kirrun telekinetically lifted up the group’s luggage, Laura carrying her own things with her Psychic Blaze Jewel.

Aria, possessing both intangibility and impatience, entered the room first, and found herself surprised by a bullet sailing right through her incorporeal form, and a banette brandishing firearms descended from the ceiling, quite obviously a Black Lotus assassin.

“May your soul be DEVOURED by Milady Renegade!” Aria shrieked, the projectiles of an ethereal Magical Leaf attack materializing around her and making straight for the banette’s throat. The other ghost quickly went incorporeal, avoiding having his throat slit but consequently dropping the gun with a loud thump.

Moments later the banette was on the ground, corporeal, reaching for his gun again. Aria squinted at the assassin’s incompetence as she sped towards him, causing him to flinch from the unearthly scream of Astonish. The banette responded with a scream of his own, which was cut off as Xavier entered the room, slamming the door.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Xavier pounced onto the shocked ghost, brutally attacking with a Crunch. The banette shrieked again as before it was silence by a second, and went limp.

Xavier dropped the banette and looked up, his one seeing eye blazing gold as he activated his x-ray vision and scanned the room.

No other enemies.

He glared at Aria. “This is why you let me scan the rooms first. Or did Uxie steal that from your thoughtless mind?”

Aria scowled back. “Arrogant kitten. He would have shot you the moment you entered.”

With the excitement over, the other two members of the small party entered, and all could settle into the room. It was, admittedly, sub-par, but surprisingly spacious and somehow marginally better than the tavern part of the building. Marginally being the operative word. While settling in the Pokemon found someone’s half-eaten lunch, multiple beer cans, a condom, a knife embedded in a wall, that banette’s gun(which Kirrun identified as a Lugia’s Force Rifle), several boxes of ammunition hastily tossed under the bed, and a dirty sock.

Most things were disposed of when Kirrun tossed them out the window. The ammunition was kept. The knife was impossible to remove from the wall, unfortunately.

“This is a horrible building,” Kirrun commented. “It must be condemned. Never have I been more glad to lack a nose to scent with, or a mouth to vomit with, for I would have done so the moment we set foot into the tavern. Not that I have feet. This is a disgrace. A disaster. It must be purg--”

“Whatever happened to the strong silent type?” Laura sighed, somewhat dramatically. “It sucks, Kirrun, we know. But cleaning it would take a decade.”

The Pranksters were as comfortably settled in as one could be in the room.

“So, we are all competing in Bloodpit, yes?” Aria asked. “How before we must arrive?”

“We have time,” Xavier assured her. He paused a moment, looking purposefully at Laura. “Our objective is to win, yes. But we are not taking unnecessary risks. A certain death could lead to much demoralization.”

Laura flicked her ears. “I know.”

“We’ll be sticking together, to make it difficult for other teams to pick us off one by one,” Xavier continued. “Any questions?”

There were none.

“Prepare yourselves, I suppose.”

The four proceeded to equip armor, and ready their weapons.

Laura slowly figured out her shiny new set of leather armor, trying to figure out how to sheathe and unsheathe the hidden knives along her forelegs and tail. She tried to avoid showing it, but hearing that assassination attack had increased her nerves somewhat. That was not her first attack by assassins, but it was a reminder of how close to death they would get that day.

When all were ready, Kirrun Teleported them to the arena.

[VeloJello]

Mazer Pratten the Greninja
Prankster Platoon (De Facto Leader)
Connive, City Center
Affected RPers: None.

((In which Mazer definitely doesn't foreshadow anything, nope, not at all))

Last night had certainly been interesting, Mazer reflected as he sat in front of the set of pilfered Jumbotrons in the middle of Connive, where the qualifiers for the Dread Metal Derby and Bloot Pit Arena were starting to play. He’d considered joining in the Blood Pit Arena, but Sheena and Bella had successfully talked him out of it… and honestly, he was a little grateful. He would still be needed whenever the Devil’s Tide event took place; that would be the his big show. And frankly, the groups they’d sent out were good enough that Mazer wasn’t too concerned. The Screaming Talon and crew were shoo-ins for the Dread Metal, and the other two cars were in fine form, as were the squadrons that had been sent in for the Blood Pit.

Sheena settled down next to Mazer and Bella with a huff, munching from a pouch of acorns. “You worried, Mazer?”

The Greninja shook his head. “No, darling,” he said, poking his tongue out a bit to lap from the bowl of spiced mealworms that were forming his breakfast, “not for this. Some of the ‘mons we sent are gonna die, and that sucks, but they knew that they probably wouldn’t leave alive.” He shrugged, then laid down on his belly and slurped up a couple more mealworms. “Either way, they’re gonna make some interesting fireworks.”

Sheena passed a few acorns to Bella, who chewed them up with a crunch. “I more meant about the people we met last night,” she said. “Does it affect anything?”

Leaves, crunchy and dry from the arid climate of Connive, rustled as Bella turned to glance at Mazer. “Who did you two meet?” she asked. “I haven’t heard anything about this.”

Mazer shrugged, “Some people.”

“Some weirdos,” Sheena said. “Couple of them are gonna be fighting today, I think. Didn’t that Gliscor say he was going to be in the Blood Pit Arena?”

“And the Bisharp,” Mazer said. When he saw Bella staring at him, as though still patiently waiting for an explanation, he sighed. “Okay, love, here’s what happened. Remember how Sheena and I went out to Rhondul to visit Miss Janine and pick up the last of the boat parts?” When Bella nodded, Mazer continued, “Well, there we were, meeting up with Joss to pick up the last of the supplies for the boat,” he said, “since those thundercharge batteries were so scarce. He still had some, but this Metagross and Swampert showed up with some Gliscor and Bisharp escorting them. They were trying to buy, but you know Joss - that Octillery has never believed in ‘first come first serve’; just ‘most money first serve’. The Bisharp got them to back up pretty much immediately, which was weird? They must not have brought a lot of cash to haggle with,” said Mazer, shrugging. “But they were acting kinda creepy. They were clearly together, but I couldn’t tell what faction they were with. If any. The Bisharp and I think the Gliscor were supposed to be in the Blood Pit, but I haven’t seen any of those guys on either of the screens. Either way, they didn’t seem too offended when we out-moneyed them and they didn’t try to murder us, so we’ve got bigger concerns for the moment.” He pointed back to the blaring TVs. “Like keeping our beautiful fingers on the ragged pulse of this festival.”

Sheena frowned as a teleport scar rippled across the screen and a pair of familiar Pokemon wandered out - an Umbreon and a Luxray. The Chesnaught tapped Mazer’s shoulders and pointed at the screen, “Um, Mazer…”

Mazer was so startled that he nearly spit out his mealworms. “Is that Laura!” he yelped. “What is that girl doing; she’s gonna get herself killed!”

Bella snorted. “She’s probably doing what I was doing. I wouldn’t be surprised if she wasn’t there just to rant at Taiya atop a pile of bodies. Have a little faith in your compatriots, Marcellus.”

It was several years’ worth of a deep and abiding friendship, as well as the knowledge that it would get him a faceful of Sheena’s fist, that kept Mazer from trying to strangle Bella for using her real name. Instead, he just muttered, “I hope you’re right,” and lapped up a few more mealworms. There wasn’t much that put him on edge, but the prospect of losing the Prankster Platoon’s de-facto spokesmon didn’t sit well with him.

[Death's Spook]

((OoC: A minor note: Anthony's part takes place the previous night))

Anthony Carpenter-Weaver (Mimikyu)
Steel Scavengers
Unknown Location (yesterday evening)

After Magenta left the grave, Anthony seems to speak at nothing, “So I assume that you two have made up your minds.”

A Pelipper seems to emerge from the cover of darkness, an orb of shadow over his head, “Yes. The death of Nenge has forced our hand.”

Anthony looks downcast, “I wish it was different, my friend. That being said, I must confess a lack of surprise. Without knowledge of Taiya’s advantage, it is difficult to find a way to circumvent it.”

“We think he may have discovered what it was, albeit too late to help,” to Anthony’s mild surprise, the black orb above is the one who spoke.

Anthony gives his friend a look, “A question, Phillip. Why is this--”

The black orb cuts him off, “I am here because I am Phillip’s superior, Anthony Carpenter-Weaver. I am a Master of Shadows.” A pause, “And also because I intend to help with your little errand.”

Anthony takes a second, then laughs, “You would think that my experiences would have led me not to judge a Pokemon by their species.”

The orb gives a pause and is about to speak again when Phillip speaks, “Yes, boss. He knows what you are. It’s a little trick of his. He probably knew about where we were significantly before we revealed ourselves.”

Anthony inclines his head modestly, “I did not wish to startle my friend Magenta. She can be paranoid and occasionally overly violent.”

Phillip gives a sharp laugh, “That’s what happens when you grow up around pieces of work as nasty as the Onyx Circle. Or my brother, I suppose.”

Anthony chides, “You should remember your brother for how he was, not for what he became, Phillip.”

The Pelipper’s wing makes a slashing motion at a nearby tree, scoring it. “I remind you that you killed him, Anthony.”

The Mimikyu nods sadly, “He was my friend, Phillip. I took no pleasure in it. He was a good person, before.”

Phillip sighs, “Yeah, but when even I start thinking someone’s too far gone…”

Anthony starts to reach out to put a shadowy hand on Phillip, but thinks better of it, “That does not mean we cannot honor the good that was once in him.”

The clearing is silent for a moment, then Phillip speaks, “You know, I was gonna talk to you sooner, but then that Pyroar tried to kill you. You killed her before I could help, so I got curious to see what you would do. My brother conclusively demonstrated that even the best of us can go bad,” he laughs bitterly. “But you buried her. Personally. Just like you did with my brother. So yeah, I’m gonna help you.”

The shadowy orb speaks, “He will help for your sake, as will I for the sake of Nenge. Your Grand Lady will have our assistance in the ring tomorrow. Do you have a plan?”

Anthony’s voice is sad, but there is a satisfaction that comes with confidence in his intelligence. “Yes. Or rather, the Knights all together came up with this plan.”

The Pelipper’s expression is wry, “Before we start talking details about insane plans, here.” Phillip tosses Anthony a gem before continuing, “I burgled Thomas Clerk’s house after your Knight chewed up him in the arena. Thought this was a Ghost Blaze Jewel, but it didn’t work for me, and I’ve used them before. Then I saw there was an inscription and got super confused.”

Anthony looks carefully at the royally purple gem, reading the fine golden print aloud, “‘Guardian of the borders, should you find yourself close to crossing the threshold, destroy this.’ I think I know what this does, actually. May I keep it?”

The Pelipper shrugs, “It’s why I gave it to you in the first place. I remember you said something about borders being important to ghost types, so I thought of you when I remembered it. ‘Snot like it’s gonna do me any good.”

“Very well. Shall we discuss ‘insane plans’, Phillip and…”

“Please, call me Gramme,” speaks the orb of shadows.


The Grand Lady (Tsareena)
Steel Scavengers
Outside The Blood Pit Arena, Lytala City

When the Lady first told Anthony that she intended to put her metaphorical hat in the ring for the blood pit arena, his first condition, after ranting out a slew of every variation of “no” the Grand Lady ever heard (and some she hadn’t), was that any strategy she wanted to use had to cut down on visibility. It seemed like a slightly odd request until the Lady realized that Anthony had absolutely every reason to believe that the Black Lotus would have multiple snipers who would have loved to take the credit for killing the second most powerful of the Seven Knights.

On reflection, that had been the inspiration for her little plan for the ring.

There was absolutely no way The Black Lotus was going to fight fair. None whatsoever. So therefore, the Lady was not going to break the rules.

She was going to discard the entire premise of rules in the first place.

Of course, to be able to do that, she needed a team of people to stand beside her. Given that everyone agreed that giving the Black Lotus the chance to take out all of the Seven Knights in one shot was a terrible idea, she was led to the team now standing before her.

And while The Lady is not a particularly religious type, she’s spent at least an hour praying to Celebi to give her the strength not to kill her team members.

“Okay!” Gloria the Goodra cheers out, almost euphoric as she snaps her hand and sways her hip, “We’re all set, Lady! Today’s gonna be super fun!”

Please, please, Celebi. I’m begging you. BEGGING. Do you know how many of my enemies would kill to hear me BEGGING?

Aloud, The Grand Lady’s voice is regal as ever as she chides, “Gloria, we are not supposed to be having fun. We have a plan.”

Durkon, a Clefable whose only refuge from peace is drink, drawls, “Yes, but we can have a plan and have fun, too.” The Lady glares at him for encouraging Gloria.

“Not fun, to be honest,” grumbles Michigo, “I am in the unfortunate position of babysitting all of you.”

The Grand Lady almost lets out an audible groan, but reminds herself that these were the people she chose on the basis of loyalty and competence both, training them all to her exacting standards both alone and as a team. So instead of focusing her efforts on killing them all, she decides to ensure everyone’s best possible chance in the ring. Going through her mental checklist, she ensures ample supplies of critical supplies like Oran Berries, Reviver Seeds, guns, Mental Herbs, knives, Heal Seeds, Power Herbs, all in ample amounts. She checks the chamber on her .50 caliber Mandibuzz and picks up a sword and shield when Isana the Azumarill, holding her own sword, gives her a sardonic look and says, “You’re going to get your sword damaged like that.”

The Lady rolls her eyes as she refuses to address the topic, instead asking, “Ioseph, you remember your primary function, correct?”

The Beheeyem nods, “Teleport out everyone if it’s reasonably practical. We’ve been over this before, Lady.”

Kaytoo the Toxapex finishes a brief prayer and gives the Lady a questioning look, “So uh. Why are we doing this at all? It’s not like we have any intention of fighting fair at all so it’s not for glory. Winning is clearly only a secondary objective if you’re having Ioseph on standby to teleport anyone he thinks needs it. What plan do you have?”

The Lady gives Kaytoo an inscrutable look, “We are going to accomplish multiple objectives by doing this, Kaytoo. Some of them you can figure out, others I am not going to inform you of. Suffice to say, I chose all of you for a reason. Do you remember the plan?”

Iolande the Gastrodon speaks up, her pink body quivering in anticipation, “Of course she remembers the plan, honorable Lady. We all do. We’re just worried about whether or not the plan is going to work.” A silent Manectric whom The Lady personally recruited to the Scavengers nods in agreement.

The Grand Lady’s voice is frank, “Of course it is not. It is not meant to, as such. It’s meant to be construct off of which we can improvise when things go wrong.”

Kaytoo groans, “Which is kinda hard if you won’t tell us any of the objectives of the plan.”

The Lady gives the heavily armored Toxapex a look, “Yes, which is why I’m prioritizing everyone surviving over everything else. Are we all ready?”

“Of course we are, Lady! We just need to get gone!!!!”

The Lady reminds herself once more that this is in fact the best team she could have for this, other than The Knights, and that in the heat of battle, she personally ensured that everyone could collaborate.

She just needs to avoid being driven insane beforehand.

Max Clerk (Klinklang)
Steel Scavengers
Unknown Safe House, Lytala City

“This plan is, like, insane.” Magenta complains.

Max Clerk usually does not agree very well with the Volcarona’s opinions, but this is one time that their opinion coincides with Magenta’s almost perfectly.

“You did help create the plan, you two,” chides Anthony gently.

Arlington speaks up, “We can help create a plan we think is totally crazy, boss. How do you wanna play this?”

“I will be traveling with you and Anthony, Arlington,” murmurs Gramme.

Max Clerk moves to join the group with Gramme, only for Anthony to raise a shadowy hand, “No. Max, I need you to travel with Magenta and Phillip.”

The Klinklang is positively shocked, “Um. Anthony. I am not sure that you get this, but while the Onyx Circle wants you dead, they’re really likely to want Magenta and I alive if they can do it. Pairing us together is not a good way to avoid attention, especially if we end up having to be less than polite.” Max Clerk cannot entirely hide the note of anticipation at the end of the last sentence.

“Avoid confrontation if it’s reasonably practical, Max. But I am sending you with Magenta because I would be shocked if peace is reasonably practical all the way through. Haq is on standby to teleport into the arena if need be and extract everyone that they can, should The Lady’s Beheeyem fail. Oort is already concealed in the audience in case they need to help lay down suppressive fire to protect everyone allied with The Lady in the arena.”

Max Clerk makes a noise, then calmly shifts their gears around into a more efficient configuration. “Alright. Magenta, Phillip, let’s go.”

((Further OoC: If you must blink, you'll want to do it later. Trust me.))

[Neo Emolga]

Noblejanobii The Nonexistent Tazz Soups Death's Spook Morzone Velocity LKWayvern Steel Lunpara Chakramaster

This is your last chance to enter your character into an event before they actually happen!


DAY 1
Active Events: Blood Pit Arena (Qualifying Round), Dread Metal Destruction Derby (Qualyfing Round)

Queen Taiya the Lilligant
Black Lotus Ruling Authority
Lytala City, Black Lotus Central Palace Outside Courtyard

It was a known fact Taiya didn't usually watch the brutality of the games in person. There were many who believed she was above watching the carnage and the bloodshed, but she was only interested in the games for another reason, and that was finding out how she could leverage them.

She preferred to relax outside by the large central fountain by the multiple flowerbeds rich with yellow, red, and magenta-colored blossoms. However, the air was only slightly cleaner around this area of the city than the surrounding areas. While the Pokémon could try to beautify the palace as much as possible, there was no stopping the air pollution. And there were still loud noises blasting off in the distance that were the result of the heavy industry and at times, explosions just from violence.

While she had been biding her time with a cold drink of crystal clear water, which was practically worth gold in Lytala, she had been approached by Ruleg, a Bisharp dressed in refined attire and holding a briefcase. The sword blade Pokémon had a very stoic and cold demeanor surrounding him as he sat in a vacant ornamental chair besides the table. He hadn't even greeted Taiya as he sat down and simply went straight to business.

"Ah, you're here already," Taiya smirked. "I was expecting you to be late to tell the truth."

"I'm never late," Ruleg commented, opening up the briefcase and taking out several agreement papers. "In the interest of time, my clients have replied to your proposition. So far, they agree on the initial terms, but there is another component they want to bring to the negotiating table, however."

"Oh what now?" Taiya sighed, rolling her eyes at what the Blacklocke could possibly want.

"They want in on whatever the 'Ante' deal is," Ruleg told the Lilligant.

Taiya couldn't help but laugh. After a brief chortle, she shook her head and sat back. She wasn't expecting a stern and serious Bisharp like Ruleg to ever even mention it, so it did surprise her for just a brief moment.

"Funny, Ruleg, you're not the kind of Pokémon I would expect to take stock in rumors," Taiya giggled, looking at Ruleg like he was a fool. "Enlighten me. Why would you and Blacklocke be interested in this 'Ante?' What exactly do you think it even is?"

"I'm not at liberty to give details on that," Ruleg replied with a stoic expression.

"Well, I have bad news," Taiya chortled. "I'm not at liberty to give details on it either. Now with that out of the way, let's sign on the initial terms and be done with it. I could have sworn you told me you were not someone who liked to waste time."

"No," Ruleg stated. "The deal is null and void without full information on this agreement condition. The board of directors specifically stated they wanted full clearance and access to any resources and assets relating to 'Ante' or the deal is rescinded."

Taiya had to blink twice in surprise. But never once did she wear a scowl. Instead, she simply laughed, almost gawking, but still wearing a nonchalant during the entire negotiation. Whatever shocked expressed she wore was simply feigned acting.

"Oh my," Taiya laughed. "Ruleg, I have to admire you. It takes titanium balls to do what you just did. Now, many other Pokémon might strike you dead for that kind of noncompliance. They might even call you a tramp, or a Kako, or a bastard, but I admire defiance in a gentleman."

"If you decline, then there will be no further discussion on behalf of myself or Blacklocke Arms," Ruleg replied, preparing to put his agreement papers away. "I have other clients I need to speak to."

"Shame, and I was enjoying so much of our time together," Taiya sighed with a smile. "Well then, go along now. Surely I mustn't let you keep your other clients waiting. Oh, I know how important they are to you. So important. Please, please, don't keep them waiting for little ol' me. Oh please, that would be just so utterly rude and uncouth."

Ruleg simply placed the papers back into his briefcase and stood up. He looked down on Taiya, narrowed his eyes, and then proceeded to walk away. As he proceeded to make his way out of the courtyard, Taiya simply sighed and smiled.

Because you aren't even worth it!


Rexor Rondel the Zoroark
Black Lotus - Onyx Circle
Jalopy Juice Gas Station, Route 18

"Wrong answer."

With a deafening blast from the XND-50 shotgun, the Slurpuff's head was blasted at point blank range and was instantly gored into a pasty gruel of blood, brains, and skull fragments before being sprayed and splattered upon the tarmac. Only a second later, the headless now more red than white and pink corpse of the Slurpuff leaned over and collapsed before a pool of blood soon gathered around the deceased meringue Pokémon.

"Pissing Murhe, Rexor, was that worth it?" A Jolteon sighed, rolling her eyes as she looked to the imposing Zoroark standing and looking down at the fallen Slurpuff.

"No, Shana," Rexor muttered, putting the XND-50 away. "But as long as I'm not paying for the ammunition, it doesn't concern me."

Shana simply sighed and soon enough they were joined by a worn and scarred Heatmor as he stepped out of the liquid container truck that had been parked just outside by the old gasoline pumps. As the three gathered, a hot wind blew through the rickety gas station than was slowly succumbing to the elements. There was no one else for miles and it was clear the amount of clientele the gas station had was very little.

"This plan isn't going to work if you just keep killing every Pokémon we try to get answers from," the Heatmor narrowed his eyes at Rexor the Zoroark. "A trail of dead bodies creates suspicion."

"Venot, if you're worried about that, then take one of these spit-pissing vehicles back to Lytala and go watch those stupid games," Rexor snarled at the Heatmor. "This is how I work. If you don't like it, then piss off."

"I'm just saying-"

In only seconds, Venot suddenly was staring down the barrel of the XND-50 as Rexor pulled it out of his holster. With a firm grip, the dark fox Pokémon had his claw ready to squeeze the trigger.

"I don't want to hear you say anything," Rexor snarled as his eyes glared into the Heatmor's. "You comply or you die. Do you understand?"

"Fine," Vonot disdainfully replied.

A second roar fired from the XND-50 and just like the Slurpuff, the Heatmor was soon rendered headless as the head of the anteater Pokémon was blasted to pieces across the cracked tarmac. The headless corpse of the Heatmor fell over backward and soon enough, a second pool of blood formed around the decapitated body.

Shana's eyes were suddenly wide open and in shock about what just happened, but she remained silent.

"Think twice before you get in my way," Rexor warned the Jolteon as he headed back to the truck, "I prefer working alone."

Shana simply nodded and as Rexor got into the driver's seat of the liquid container truck, Shana quickly got into the passenger side and shut the door behind her with her front paw. Soon after, the truck took off and left the derelict gas station behind.

Already the blood was starting to dry as the hot wind blew across the now quiet arid landscape...

[Noblejanobii]

Athena Pallas the Decidueye
The Gracidea Order
Entering the Blood Pit Arena

Being a mother in a competition dealing with the complete opposite side of the spectrum of what mothers were known for was a bit of an interesting situation for Athena. She often received odd looks from other competitors that she had routinely ignored and dismissed the hateful comments that came her way. None of that really mattered to Athena or her situation right now. All that mattered was she needed to survive and locate Marx. He was her number one priority.

Athena looked at the psychic types that passed her to enter the arena before her. Given their uniforms, they were obviously press, not competitors. They would start broadcasting soon it appeared. Athena could imagine the stroke Brunswick was having right now out of fear, anticipation, and all other sorts of negative emotions. Following her arrival to the Gracidea Order's headquarters, Athena had received word from one of her fellows that Brunswick had demanded he have time off work until the Tempest Festival was over. The poor man was worried sick over his wife, and Athena found it very endearing. She made a mental note to remind Brunswick of how much she appreciated his worrying and caring nature when they next saw each other. But now was not the time for such thoughts. Athena was entering an area where it was kill or be killed, and even the slightest distractions could cost not just her life, but also that which she carried with her.

Athena took a deep breath, one of several attempts to calm her nerves. Most would resort to alcohol by now but, as much as it may help, Athena was not supposed to be drinking it anyway. She was still a bit frustrated that she had slipped up the night before anyway. Instead, Athena opted to check over her armor and weaponry again.

Athena was wearing a thin layer of black leather armor over her feathers, as well as her abdomen and chest. While it was obvious on her central body, Athena was counting on her notoriously black feathers camouflaging the armor for a certain amount of time. Clipped around her waist were four canisters of gem dust. In less time than the blink of an eye, Athena could launch an arrow bearing fire, lightning, ice, or poison depending on which gem remains she dusted the arrow with. She also had two long daggers strapped to her thighs. Athena really wanted to refrain from using those. She really did. Athena was much more skilled with an arrow than a dagger, but she had seen how these matches had gone in previous times. You could never be too prepared.

"Are you ready, Athena?" Athena felt a soft leaf touch her shoulder and looked over at the serperior beside her. If there was one thing Athena could do, it was count her blessings. At least in this fight she has a brave man standing beside her. Perceval was a long time family friend, a brave soldier, and loyal to an absolute fault. In another place, in another time, Athena could see herself falling in love with this man. But instead, they stood as close friends.

Perceval was a retired Tempest Festival combatant as well. He suffered from it, that was for sure. Almost a decade ago, the serperior had sworn off participating in the festivals after having been forced to watch the love of his life burn alive in the Deathwish Endurance after there was "a mechanical malfunction". Anyone with two braincells and a basic knowledge of history could figure out that this was an assassination, not a malfunction. After all, she had been one of the only remaining members of the ruling family prior to the kako that sat on the throne now. Why would she have ever been allowed to live? Perceval often claimed he could still hear her screaming his name at night. Thus, to cope with his crimes and guilt, he joined the police force and acted as a partner for Brunswick on many different missions. However, shortly after Athena and Brunswick were married, the PTSD was too much, and Perceval retired from the police force. And yet, once he had received word of Marx's kidnapping, Perceval had ordered, not asked, but ordered, he be sent to fight alongside Athena. No one had the heart or the guts to tell the man no.

"Yes," Athena replied, "I believe I am, Perceval." Perceval nodded his head and removed his tail from Athena's shoulder. Slithering forward, he paused then looked back at Athena.

"For Marx," he said, then continued forward into the arena. Athena hesitated at that. Were these to be words of encouragement or a battle cry that would instill fear into the hearts of others? Because Athena saw it as neither. Or perhaps both. She was not quite sure with herself on that one. But once again, this was not the time nor place to discuss this with Perceval. She had enemies to crush and a son to locate. With that in mind, Athena took another long breath, then stepped into the arena and waited for the announcement of the event’s start to begin.

[Morzone]

(Aaaah I was with family all day and couldn't finish my post!)

Julia
Steel Scavengers
Westfel, En route to Lytala City Slums, the Slums.
Affected RP'ers: Any one in the Lytala Slums

The day was clear. Which was good. Though Julia could easily imagine the clear blue sky wouldn't mean much in the gritty slums of the capital. Those sorts of places were always filled with the worst grime... ugh.

She went back to her breakfast. Her usual, a bowl of dried Belue berries. The plant had proved surprisingly durable when she'd planted a bush behind her workshop. Just kept on living despite all the smog from the factories. Probably didn't taste as good as fresh stuff, the food those gracidea order people grew was probably much tastier than this crop. Still, it filled the stomach and her special technique for drying them made the batch last a good while.

"JULIA" A slightly squeaky, but very loud voice blasted out next to the weavile, causing her to curse and nearly drop her food.

"Don't shout you damned weasel! I'll poke your eye out with my spoon next time. What do you want, Raul?" She replied to the furret, highly annoyed.

"We should get going if we want to get to the Slums in time. I don't need you slowing me down today!" Raul replied, looking rather self-important. The little squirt....

"Whatever, weasel. I've seen that trash heap you ride. I'm surprised you even made it here alive." Julia replied, but stood up anyway. Even she was itching to get a move on. It was an odd experience, nervousness wasn't natural for her to feel. Still, when you're about to walk -or ride- straight into a death festival being a little nervous shouldn't be that rare. She just hoped her stomach would calm down by the time she got to the slums...

"Come on then." Julia said, standing up from the table and heading for the exit. Theo was standing there, waiting for her. Kind of surprising, Julia hadn't expected to see him away from his plane. If she was honest Julia had hoped she'd be able to leave before having see him. She knew he might be putting on a brave face, but Julia could see through each shadow in his face to see his real worries. All there was to do was to try and reach past the blockade and brush the worries away like always.

"Julia-" Theo began, but Julia wasn't going to let him get started.

"I'll be back later, kid. See you this evening."

Theo frowned, "I'm not a kid-"

Laughing, Julia pulled the quilava into a one armed hug. "I'll be back Theo, don't you worry. Even if my monster breaks down, I'll be sure to get away alive." She whispered into his ear, giving him one last squeeze before letting him go.

"You better." Theo muttered, his expression downcast.

"Oh come on, are you doubting the one and only Julia MCgeegles?" She demanded with a smile. A small smile made its way onto Theo's face as well. The two had spent many evenings together making up random and hilarious names to replace Julia's missing last one.

With an annoyed look from Raul, Julia took her leave of Theo and headed out to the parking garage. The entire Steel Scavengers group had stayed the night in a hidden safe house on the edges of Westfel, complete with Hanger and garage. It was pretty impressive. Apparently it had been set up by a family of drilbur and excadrill a while back. She'd have to track them down to improve her workshop once this hell was over. Maybe she'd install a pool... The two of them climbed into their respective vehicles and set out. Each's ride had been specially built up for today's destruction derby, though with entirely different ideologies.

Raul's ride wasn't actually a car, it was a motorcycle. The whole thing was covered in some kind of special armor the Raul claimed could withstand everything. Even the wheels were covered on the sides. The upper part, where he would sit as the driver, was encased in a bubble like casing of Bullet proof glass. The only weapons on the whole thing were two light machine guns sticking out the front of the motorcycle's armor. At least it used special piercing bullets. According to Raul, the motorcycle's maneuverability would be perfect for a relatively cramped space like the slums. The furret had apparently been some kind of stunt driver before joining the SS. It would give him an edge over the big, bulky monstrosities everyone else would driving. All he had to do was pop tires and they'd be sitting ducks. From that simpleton's perspective, it was a perfect plan.

Julia had opted for one of those "bulky monstrosities." With Wheels roughly as large as she was, covered in spikes to shred the wheels of opponents, it was only the start. The "car" looked like a cross between a tank and a train. The front sported a plow-like Structure perfect for pushing wrecks aside. The cockpit sat slightly elevated, it gave her a full 360 view. Thankfully the Knights had supplied her with bullet proof glass in the week leading up to the festival. But what Julia really liked were the guns. Four of them, two per side of the car. Sitting on the upper part of the car's main body, they all had a good spread thanks to a simple rotating mechanism. But what was really special about the guns was that each had a special function. One was a light machine gun like Raul's. Another was closer to a shotgun that fired off shrapnel filled casings, good for close range. The third was actually a flamethrower, because who doesn't love a bit of flame? The last was a a special cannon that let out a torrent of a sticky tar-like substance. It worked well both at messing with wheels and flipping cars as well as covering windshields. Needless to say she was very proud of her little "monster."

The ride into Lytala City slums was pretty short. The Lady and her group of knights had headed out earlier than She and Raul had. The previous night they'd talked about their plans to keep the Lady alive in the bloodpits, it had been a very "Beat them at their own cheating" kind of talk and Julia had actually found it kind of funny. There was some safe house on the fringes of the capital itself The Lady was working out of, though Julia and Theo hadn't bee told of its exact where-abouts in case the black Lotus made a move to interrogate the pair of them. Which as the Lady and Anthony had been quite happy to remind them on several occasions, was highly possible.

Soon enough the two drivers arrived at the slums, making their presence known to the other contenders with a nice loud and challenging horn blast. Raul just Gave Julia's monster a disdainful look and drove off to a different street to start from. Julia wondered if he was going to survive. Then she wondered if she was going to survive. The weavile touched two of the pockets in her tool belt. One with her lucky wrench, the other with her Steel type blaze jewel. It would be her secret weapon in this. No one expected a steel weavile. If her car was disabled, the jewel and her tools were all she had to protect herself with.

It was going to be a tough match.

Theo Myrsky
Steel Scavengers
Safehouse, Westfel
Affected RP'ers: N/A

Theo wasn't entire satisfied with Julia's promises to come back alive. Of course he knew she had some tricks up her sleeve but this was the black lotus they were dealing with. Those bastards were sick murderers with sick powers.

"She better come back. I still need to make her spill the beans about what she was talking about in secret with that Mimikyu." He grumbled to himself, his outward appearance satisfied with the excuse to bring Julia home safely. Of course he was just fearful for her, but he wasn't about to admit that to anyone. Annoyed, Theo tightened a few bolts on his plane's wing. The hanger was a spacious place and excellent for finding solitude. Even if you weren't alone, the place was big enough you were likely far enough apart from any other person you might as well be all on your lonesome.

This was of course exactly to Theo's liking. There were still several other steel scavenger members who'd stayed back in the westfel base along with Him and Julia. But Theo always avoided contact with them whenever possible. Some voice in the back of his head warned him not to get friendly with any of them. People who got close to him often ended up hurt... Theo shook away the thoughts before his memories started coming. Glaring at the wrench in his hand he went back to tuning his plane. He felt much safer with his plane. No matter how destroyed it got he could always fix it.

As he worked a small prickle went down the back of his fur, which spared and flamed slightly. The quilava glanced around at the apparent empty hanger. Even if his liked solitude something about the hanger's silence was eerily off.

As if someone was watching him.

[The Nonexistent Tazz]

'Nora' the Lilligant
The Gracedia Order
Lytala city, the Anticassamar Hotel and Casino.
Affected RPers: N/A
Recommended Listening: Anarchy Road, by Carpenter Brut. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uk3n-CkQao8)

The nine-hour ride from Jadeblossom to Lytala was mercifully free of pain. As competitors (and nothing else!), the presence of an armored ACP was only standard, a sign of wanting to (seriously) compete in the Dread Metal Destruction Derby-and ironically enough, a cover for the real vehicle the team would use for that very event. It would certainly be unusual all the same, but it would not be attractive for the doubtless-legions of spies, scouts and snipers that had no doubt coated the city like a blanket.

Lytala City's outskirts, the Lotus Den Slums, were exactly as Nora remembered them to be-wretched. High-rises of glass and steel dominating the skyline as they rode through the slums (as in, the area of slums designated as safe from the carnage of the Dread Metal Destruction Derby), neon lights at every angle, a polluted, slightly gray sky, the subtle scent of trash, the filthy brown water puddles here and there. And this was the party of the city that was spared the indignity of being wrecked by the Derby event. The whole place that wasn't a glaring, glowing sign was a depressing gray, and Nora, too familiar with it, could see wretched Pokemon covered in rags desperately digging through various dumpsters, or arguing with what Nora suspected to be drug dealers, or getting in fights.

Nora used to call this place home as some filthly little hobo girl. The familiarity and nostalgia wasn't pleasant to begin with. No-one liked being homeless, and Nora had the luck to come down upon the more respectable type of hobos, but it was further tainted by the simple idea that there could be better. Nora was a success story, in a way. But far more of the Pokemon around here were there because they weren't. And disregarding that, Nora had a newfound appreciation for how clean environments can change things-and had lost her tolerance for the air here.

Boraz was, as Nora learned, a very strong believer in the Gracedia Order's ideology. His body was still, eerily so, but not before a single complaint about the poor air quality. Nora could see through a bit-he hated it here. The other six, too, were even less capable of taking it than Nora. Anshan had to wince as he took a breath for the first few minutes. Yvonne swore at a truck driver that got in front of her for the air-a truck driver more than likely to be also heading for the same place. Faraday's smile was strained. Talian began breathing out of his mouth. Ichabold didn't have a nose to begin with and he still got that bit more agitated. Baragan was the only one who didn't really shift his position... Because he brought a face mask.

It didn't get much better as they managed to clear the rather depressing threshold from the slums to the actual concrete jungle known as Lytala City proper. Crowded, smoky, smoggy, and yet despite this terribly proud, the Black Lotus banners were draped all over what Nora knew to be the main streets, as well as advertisements for the 50th Tempest Festival, each one more in-your-face than the last. The pedestrians were more likely to wear the clothes of high standing, but it was perhaps more filthy here-the alleways more cramped-the air worse-the tension, the feeling that something horrible was about to happen, worse. Black Lotus bodyguards surrounded Pokemon of high standing. The usual preacher to Arceus was screaming the usual denouncements of the Tempest Festival and was being ignored almost entirely, except by the hopelessly idealistic. If it wasn't for the Tempest Festival, it was still about the festival-advertisements for Blacklocke, the casinos, the special 'tempest deals' going about, or the offers to join the Black Lotus. More subtle but perhaps worse were the advertisements for Insurance, Health Care plans, phone numbers for graveyards and coffinmakers, that sort of thing. A tension filled amongst the eight as it all passed them by. Some horrific sense of mortality was in the air. The only reason these games went on was because they were 'voluntary,' and also because other Pokemon weren't a part of it. Nora had seen a few 'veteran' competitors before. They looked about as bad as soldiers, and Nora knew of stories where they gave everything up, not because they were suddenly generous, but because they were inevitably driven mad by it. Nora's thoughts drifted to them. Was she going to become one of those hollowed-eyed, despair-consumed veterans?

Nora wasn't used to these kinds of thoughts, but coming back here, now that those games had purpose other than a meaningless slaughterfest made her chest feel heavier than it should.

As the APC turned a corner, Nora finally saw their destination-and it was kind of hard not to. Most would think dingy taverns and pubs or out of the way hidey-holes on the edge of Lytala would be the ideal location to hide in. But why do that when you had the most vile kind of secrets regarding the owner of one of Lytala's most successful casinos and hotels?

The Anticassamar was the biggest casino/hotel combination in Lytala, and one of the few places that took great interest in looking not only clean, but even more flashy than usual. They even had flowers and bushes in the front, an excruciatingly painful rarity in Lytala city (ironic for the capital of the Black Lotus), and the fountain in the front poured fourth some unusually clean water. But those astute sights paled in comparison to the building that these things were perched in front of. Rows of flashing lights, stripes of Neon, pillars of marble, a towering citadel of greed and gluttony-the only place more colorful than this would likely be a carnival, and the only place more indulgent the Queen's Palace. The place had a theme, like most great casinos, which only highlighted the extravagance. This one had a theme of ancient temples from one of Liao's earliest civilizations, with its arched rooftops and massive pillars, which the owner-a notorious Escavalier by the name of Havard Bravanard-had great interest in. No-one would suspect it would be the hideout for the Gracedia Order simply because absolutely no one would think of it being sane. There was simply no way that an establishment this wealthy in the heart of Lytala wouldn't support the Black Lotus out of principal. And they did, and still do officially, to Nora's knowledge.

The only reason that the Gracedia Order could effectively use it as a hideout was the fact that Havard Bravanard also had a very uncouth interest into eating his fellow Pokemon. Havard didn't kill Pokemon for it personally-he was more the opportunistic kind who discreetly purchased dead bodies for consumption via the black market, but it was nevertheless vile. Vile enough that the Black Lotus couldn't publicly support such a Pokemon. It was doubtful the Black Lotus didn't already know, but doubtful they cared either; the real show-stopper was that the Black Lotus didn't know the GIA found out. The GIA was lucky to pick up such useful blackmail against one of the most powerful Pokemon imaginable, and at that one of the most concrete, with enough photos and documents, as well as bloodstained cultery, to seal his fate tighter than a vacuum. The release of that information would ruin Havard's life; people would think he was going downright primal, and of course his involvement with criminal institutions was just not going to work well either, only a slight step above madness. And thus, the GIA finally pressed him for a favor; give the competitors safe harbor in his hotel. Havard could only negotiate that it wasn't free, merely significantly discounted, and that was mostly just to keep apperances up.

The APC parked at the entrance loop, and Nora stepped down with a smile on her face-she hadn't stayed anywhere this nice ever before. She's seen places like the Anticassamar before, of course; she was either breaking into them for theft or murder, not staying in them. An Infernape Bellhop-one free of the kind of looks Nora was trained to worry about-gestured to the door as the other operatives stepped out. "Welcome to the Anticassamar. Please, check in at the front desk-"

The sliding glass doors opened to something Nora didn't expect, nor the rest of the people behind her. It was Havard-a magnificently suited Escavalier, his armor polished and his tuxedo magnificent. His face felt like the face that smiled big and wide on most occasions, the wealthy grandfather you never knew you were related to. Which made the fact it was currently furrowed into a fierce frown a bit shocking. HE pointed out to the street. "Get out! Out! Now! And be thankful I haven't called the police on you!"

A Charizard and a Dragonite, both in security uniforms, were following right behind, both wearing tough rubber gloves and dragging out a rare sight to see-a Rotom. Rotom weren't exactly common Pokemon, mostly due to the fact that, biologically speaking, they're a relatively recent type of Pokemon, and their ways with technology were beforehand completely unheard of. It was fortunate that they couldn't be attuned to every electronic device, but the fact they could be attuned to the devices they can is alarming enough. The first few Rotom were so isolated that Nora had heard they were treated like the legends of old-as pure myth and fabrication. These days, they've managed to upgrade their population enough that, outside of dedicated communities, you'd be hard-pressed to find one.

That this rotom was possessing a slot machine basically told anyone in sight the story of why this one was being thrown out of the Anticassamar. The security guards literally threw the poor Rotom right into the street, smashing up the slot machine in the process. The Rotom de-possessed it, leaving behind the broken thing, and as the guards left to retreat back inside, the Rotom took one good look at the onlookers, let out a sigh of sincere depression, and just started to float off.

Havard sighed, making sure the Rotom floated out of the premises, before turning to look at the guests and the stunned bellhop. "Oh, so sorry. Err, the Rotom somehow managed to feign being one of the slot machines and was giving jackpot payouts to everyone. Noble-sounding, but you understand that I can't just have that happen... In any case, err, sorry about the fuss, welcome to the Anticassamar! Ahaha!" The Escavalier said, smiling the smile everyone knew he had. "I take it you're here for the Tempest Games?"

"That we are, sir," Nora said. That story put an odd idea into her head, but that would mean...

"Sir? Ah, ah, no need to be that formal, ohoho! Please, just call me Mr. Bravanard. I don't want to bore you with the success stories and all that, and I have a few business meetings to attend to, but please, if ever you find any extraordinary trouble, contact our staff and we'll see if we can do anything about it."

Mr. Bravanard, at this note, opted to head right back in as if nothing happened.

"... Text me the room number once we've checked in," Nora said.

"You're gonna go after the Rotom?... You sure you can convince her?" Anshan said.

"Paying out jackpots to whoever plays... At the very least has some illegal background... Ugh. No, I'm not sure, but someone has to."

"You can park, right?" Yvonne asked the Bellhop. The Infernape's calm nod cemented it. "Excellent. I'll go with you, make sure that we don't give off the wrong impressions."

"Fair game," Nora said, looking at the Casino longingly. Nora didn't gamble very often, and of the many things she loved doing, she really loved gambling. But good Arceus it was hard to get the money to really gamble, and this odd idea had totally sized Nora. It wouldn't let go. They'd need every advantage they could get, from every source.

In the fight against a high-tech corporation, what better ally is there than a Rotom?

[Neo Emolga]

And... here we go! Reviews are going to be kind of just short and sweet since everyone's getting one.

This week, I definitely would like to see more RPer interaction going on. I know things only just started and warmed up, but I would definitely say exposition time is done. We definitely need to get the ball rolling now!

Also, expect some surprises this week. Just in case you were feeling lonely... >;3

Velocity
Prankster Platoon

Driving Force Rating: B-
Written Content Rating: B+
RPer Interactions Rating: B
Activity Level Rating: A
Formatting, Spelling, and Grammar Rating: A+

TOTAL POINTS AWARDED:
13

I like the interaction you had with LKWayvern. It's simple, but it was a good warm up toward deeper interactions later on. Meanwhile, there was some push toward making minor influences on the storyline, but again, I understand it's tricky to have all that much happen this early on. Activity level is very nice. Four posts for the week is a pretty solid number and they were definitely decently sized with plenty of nice flavor. This is nice work you definitely want to keep up and see if you can boost a bit if you can!


LKWayvern
Prankster Platoon

Driving Force Rating: B-
Written Content Rating: B
RPer Interactions Rating: B
Activity Level Rating: B
Formatting, Spelling, and Grammar Rating: A

TOTAL POINTS AWARDED:
11

As I told Velocity, I like how you guys decided to open up with a training session to get some interaction flowing. Even though it was a minor thing, hey, every little bit helps! Activity was pretty good and I'd say the only thing that kind of blocked you from a perfect score for formatting was a few moments of lots of dialogue, but that's not a big deal, really. Everything else was good, but I can hopefully see it jump up higher when the action starts to happen!


The Nonexistent Tazz
The Gracidea Order

Driving Force Rating: A
Written Content Rating: A+
RPer Interactions Rating: F
Activity Level Rating: A+
Formatting, Spelling, and Grammar Rating: A+

TOTAL POINTS AWARDED:
20

The only part where you got hit the hardest was RPer interactions, since I didn't see a single one. And it's bit understandable considering you had some really interesting exposition that you wanted to cover and sometimes it's tricky inviting someone else into it. So unfortunately, I can't give you credit there.

But with a big HOWEVER, everything else was awesome and very exceptional stuff! Nora's introduction and her reflection on the failed assassination, her being pushed against her own will to partake in the festival, the mission briefing, and the VERY vivid description of Nora's experience with the Swift drugs was tasty cake. Holy crap, what a post that was! Though your last post was past 5PM EST, it counts for Week 2, but this is still very awesome stuff and you did a great job with character and exposition build up. Your posts were very interesting to read with great style and flavor and you were definitely highly active throughout the week.

Toss in some interactions and you could potentially be sitting on solid gold here. This week, I'm sure you're bound to have some!


Noblejanobii
The Gracidea Order

Driving Force Rating: B-
Written Content Rating: A
RPer Interactions Rating: F
Activity Level Rating: B-
Formatting, Spelling, and Grammar Rating: A+

TOTAL POINTS AWARDED:
18

Props for creating "Kako" as a swear word. It has definitely caught on. >;)

Again, the same area Tazz got hit is where you got hit, also. TRUST ME, I can understand it, but I would definitely suggest talking to Tazz to see if you and him could possibly get some interaction. But, if not or it's hard to get a hold of him or anyone else from Gracidea Order to get in on interaction, you could always do some high-level chaos against a Black Lotus Onyx Circle member and pull me into it. With the first rounds of games starting, there's high potential for it.

Everything else was pretty good. The B- ratings are easy fixes, though. A few more posts during the week and causing some chaos on Black Lotus could spin these around toward higher ratings.

Where you really did excel was the interesting content and your spellings, formatting, and all that jazz was very solid stuff.


Steel Lunapara
Prankster Platoon

Driving Force Rating: C
Written Content Rating: C+
RPer Interactions Rating: F
Activity Level Rating: D-
Formatting, Spelling, and Grammar Rating: B

TOTAL POINTS AWARDED:
5

The low scores are mainly because you only posted once for the entire week and it was a bit of a short post considering what some other people's posts look like.

I'm actually totally fine with short posts, but then they've got to be more frequent if you want to score higher on Activity Level. That kind of goes hand in hand with Driving Force, as not much happened beyond Chance's injury, which in turn hasn't really influenced the storyline. I'd love to see Chance really get more into the story and feel like a real gear in the machine rather than just a cog off to the side.

As for interactions, there are definitely plenty of Platoon members you could work with. See if you can work with them, interact, get some good plot work going, and bump up the activity a bit. You'll definitely be looking at much higher scores then!


Death's Spook
Steel Scavengers

Driving Force Rating: B-
Written Content Rating: A-
RPer Interactions Rating: F
Activity Level Rating: B
Formatting, Spelling, and Grammar Rating: A

TOTAL POINTS AWARDED:
15

You definitely get props for having a very interesting collection of characters to work with. Anthony's interesting take on chivalry is unexpected in a setting like this and from a Mimikyu. But you definitely have a knack for characters that break the mold and tell tropes and clichés to buzz off. Beyond that, your posts have a great style and flavor to them. The Lady's use of chess as an analogy was a nice touch, also.

Generally, everything was pretty good, though as with quite a few other people, interactions were low during Week 1. You kind of missed the boat on interacting with Julia, Morzone's character, which would have netted you a better rating for interactions. Maybe try to see if you can work something out with Morzone for that.


Chakramaster
Prankster Platoon

Driving Force Rating: D
Written Content Rating: B
RPer Interactions Rating: F
Activity Level Rating: D-
Formatting, Spelling, and Grammar Rating: B+

TOTAL POINTS AWARDED:
4

Okay, please don't take this the wrong way. I'm thrilled you're giving RPing another chance, but this week... you only had one short post. It was interesting and you definitely have me wondering what's going on with Tina and that mania she's trying to keep suppressed, but there was nothing else going on at all for the week, so as a result, there wasn't much on the Driving Force or RPer Interactions either. It doesn't mean what you did was bad, but you've got to do more if you want to score higher.

Unfortunately, to be fair, I can't really award that much here considering there were others that put in a lot more continuous activity and had deeper descriptions. My best advice is follow their example. Look at some of the people who scored high like Tazz and Noblejanobii and try to bring yourself to accomplish that kind of activity.


Soups
The Gracidea Order

Driving Force Rating: D-
Written Content Rating: C
RPer Interactions Rating: F
Activity Level Rating: D
Formatting, Spelling, and Grammar Rating: B+

TOTAL POINTS AWARDED:
3

Jax has a brief intro, but there just wasn't much beyond it and the reflection on the failed assassination. I'd definitely like to see him get out there and get much more screen time. Right now, he's kind of just another face in the crowd and hasn't really had the chance to do anything noteworthy that sets the stage for him to get involved and become a major player.

Definitely try to see if you can get more posts in with more details, more interactions, and more of an influence on the storyline. I can kind of understand things might be a bit slow in the beginning, but there's going to be opportunities ahead and if you'd like to score higher, jump on those and really make Jax shine as a character.


Morzone
Steel Scavengers

Driving Force Rating: B+
Written Content Rating: B+
RPer Interactions Rating: C
Activity Level Rating: B
Formatting, Spelling, and Grammar Rating: A+

TOTAL POINTS AWARDED:
11

I like your attempts to get RPer interaction, but unfortunately there hasn't been too much response on the receiving end. That's not really your fault, though, but for it to really rake points in for both players, it needs to have a response. If that seems tricky, you can always go Onyx Circle hunting and pull me into it. I count for interactions!

All the other content was generally pretty good. I think my only remark about it is it does seem pretty dialogue-heavy, but that's not too big of a deal. I like your characters, their style, and you have a good style of writing. Maybe a bump up in activity would help you score higher, but what you have is definitely good and I'd like to see more of that if you can!


TOTALS:

http://i.imgur.com/xUEO7rQ.gif
Gracidea Order: 41 points
The Nonexistent Tazz - 20
Noblejanobii - 18
Soups - 3

http://i.imgur.com/V6TZREs.png
Prankster Platoon: 33 points
Velocity - 13
LKWayvern - 11
Chakramaster - 4
Steel Lunpara - 5

http://i.imgur.com/gZMT8CG.png
Steel Scavengers: 26 points
Death's Spook - 15
Morzone - 11

Noblejanobii The Nonexistent Tazz Soups Death's Spook Morzone Velocity LKWayvern Steel Lunpara Chakramaster

[Morzone]

Theo Myrsky
Steel Scavengers
Safehouse, Boat on liadcrack river between Sadinal and Rhondul
Affected RP'ers: N/A

Clink. Clink. Clink.

Theo's screwdriver bounced monotonously off the concrete floor, Theo watching as he tapped it over and over again. He felt restless, terribly, horribly, mind-numbingly restless. He knew why, of course, but that didn't really help him at all. Julia hadn't left that long ago and would likely still be on the road toward the capital. So at least she wasn't fighting yet.

Groaning slightly as he stood up from his sitting position against the hanger's wall, the quilava looked at his plane. Massive, bulky looking with its guns looking like they'd been sunk into the frame in an odd way. Theo shook his head. He couldn't think about Julia or he'd go crazy. He had his own event to think about, even if it was several days away still. The boss and the other knights were counting on them.

He moved to the entrance of the hanger, a large, wide open door facing out into the flattened strip of dirt that was the runway. Standing near the edge of the opening, he stared out at the scenery. Thinking about the boss had reminded him of something Julia had told him not long after the mimikyu had contacted them. Even though he went by Anthony, they shouldn't call him that because the queen had some kind of special grudge against him. A somewhat redundant measure, as Theo only ever called him "boss" anyway. Still, he couldn't help but be curious about why his name held so much negative weight.

"Anthony huh..." He muttered, trying to imagine what the mimikyu could possibly have done to get so far on the wrong side of the queen.

"Yes, anthony." A voiced suddenly whispered into his ear.

Startled, Theo whipped around to find two brown hands with blue fingers reaching inches from his head and neck. The first wrapped around his neck, pinning him against the wall. The other covered his mouth and nose with a wet cloth. Theo struggled, tried to call out, couldn't make a sounds through the cloth. The infernape holding him back slammed him again against the wall, making stars appear in the quilava's vision. A stinging smell filled his nostrils and lungs as he drew breath. The world began to go hazy. He was fading out. In the monkey's grip Theo slumped and the infernape dropped him. Just before it went dark, theo watched as the Infernape tossed a Molotov at his plane. And Theo remembered nothing more.

---------

Shaking. Rocking. A wet, moldy smell. The light was dull as Theo slowly opened his eyes. He could tell immediately that he wasn't where he'd been. Or any place he recognized for that matter. Well, that wasn't entirely true, it was quite clear he was tied hand and foot in some kind of large bag. But thanks to a small tear in the fabric he could see outside, and that's where the recognition ended. It appeared to the be a small, metal transportation boat, the kind that you might see thieves use as a get away boat. The scenery over the edge of the boat was unknown to him.

The quilava struggled and attempted to escape the bag, but Thanks to the rope tying his paws together, and a gag over his mouth, Theo had no way of escaping the situation. And if he guessed right the infernape probably worked for the black lotus. Despairing, Theo slumped down and wondered what would be in store for him, where ever he was going.

(Julia's just waiting for things to start so It's only Theo for now. I got really tired after watching the all star game last night and had trouble keeping a coherent sound to my post so I gave up for the morning. Sorry for the lateness!)

[Neo Emolga]

DAY 1
Active Events: Blood Pit Arena (Qualifying Round), Dread Metal Destruction Derby (Qualyfing Round)

---------

https://s5.postimg.org/z3s3ol1s7/Emolga_Tough.png
OOC: Strikeout means D.E.A.D. by the way. And yes, totally do not fall too much in love with your NPCs. It's Open Season for all. >:3

If you kill an NPC, mark it in bold the same way I have done. Same goes if you make an attack attempt on another player (and include them in mentions). Easy breezy, just be fair. This post, I'm going pretty mild and I'm just warming up to give you all a chance to respond and strike Black Lotus first, but next post, WATCH OUT!

BLOOD PIT ARENA SCOREBOARD
A.K.A. Who's surviving and who's dead.

BLACK LOTUS EMPIRE

Phoebe - Charizard
Vekker - Ursaring
Grec - Gengar
Vurden - Volcarona
Unloc - Luxray
Janos - Breloom
Shandal - Passimian
STEEL SCAVENGERS

Grand Lady - Tsareena
Gloria - Goodra
Kaytoo the Toxapex
Iolande - Gastrodon
Unnamed - Manectric
Ioseph - Beheeyem
Durkon - Clefable
THE GRACIDEA ORDER

Athena - Decidueye
Perceval - Serperior
Axiom - Hakamo-o
Shiva - Medicham
Saber - Lurantis
Jackson - Alolan Ninetales
Masamune - Braviary
THE PRANKSTER PLATOON

Laura - Umbreon
Xavier - Luxray
Kirrun - Claydol
Aria - Mismagius
THUNDERCRASH GANG

Dycee - Alolan Raichu
Cartaka - Sylveon
Modkus - Hydreigon
Vink - Watchog
Voris - Alakazam
Ryke - Swellow
Soland - Excadrill
SENTINEL CORPORATON

Vesh - Tyranitar
Lotec - Mawile
Marsha - Salazzle
Decca - Torracat
Swill - Glaceon
Eki - Lampent
Julver - Kommo-o
THE SHADOW MASK

Muno - Swampert
Burrin - Accelgor
Zill - Mimikyu
INDEPENDENTS

Bax - Togedemaru
Goreg - Nidoking
Zengar - Noivern
Jabis - Vikavolt

Phoebe Helsden the Charizard
Black Lotus - Onyx Circle
Blood Pit Arena, Lytala City
Affected RPers: Death's Spook, Noblejanobii, LKWayvern
Recommended Listening: Max Payne 3 - Tears (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEH_LSL4rVw)

It was time.

Blood Pit Arena was filled to the brim with spectators watching from the elevated protected cage to avoid having massive amounts of spectator causalities. The cage was strong and would absorb most of the mayhem that happened to stray away from the center of the arena. Meanwhile, it gave everyone a decent view of the brutality that was to unfold. With the scoreboard lit up with its massive list of entrants on display on the televisions throughout the stadium, the crowd was extremely feverish and the cameras were rolling with many excited and sadistic spectators just waiting for what promised to be the most savage, deadly, and brutal Blood Pit of all time. All across the world, Pokémon were watching on television, listening to the radio, steaming online, and tuning in however they could to the brutality that was about to unfold.

Never before in the history of Blood Pit were there this many entrants, already making good on promise that the 50th Tempest Festival would be the most brutal and monumental of all time. Because of size of roster, the "Pillager" version had to be put into play to avoid extreme and unclimatic opening death tolls. Stone walls, junk piles, shanties, and many other obstacles and obstructions had been put into place once the officials were informed there would be more than twenty entrants. Meanwhile, additional weapons, combat drugs, and even traps were hidden throughout the wasteland-themed arena pit. The death toll was guaranteed to be higher than ever before.

As per standard, competing teams were gathered beyond massive steel cage doors just behind the walls of the arena that would lead into the arena itself once they were opened with the event's start. In only minutes, they would all be opened at once and it would become a total savage free for all between teams, save for the independents that were allied with no one but themselves alone.

As Phoebe rallied her squad, she was more than ready to kill, kill, and kill until the round was done and she and whoever was left on her squad prevailed. No Black Lotus operative ever had to deal with this level of competition before, but she wasn't intimidated by it. She and her team were deadly and were willing to stop at nothing to ensure Black Lotus would prevail in every possible round.

"Remember your training," Phoebe told her squad, knowing this was more about preparation and not the myth that many called luck, "and we'll all get through this just fine."

Her squad members nodded and grinned, more than ready to give the crowds something to celebrate. The arena sand was thirsty for blood, and Black Lotus had every intention to quench it.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" the announcer voice boomed throughout the stadium. "I'M SURE YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS!"

The stands erupted into a wild ecstasy of cheers, screaming, and feverish whistling. The final countdown was on, and behind all the arena cage doors, weapons were loaded, hearts were racing, and blood was pumping.

"WE PROMISED YOU THE MOST SAVAGE BLOOD PIT ARENA MATCH EVER, AND HERE IT IS!" the announcer shouted with excitement, causing the anticipation to spread like wildfire as the cheers got louder. "WE PROMISED YOU COMBAT. WE PROMISED YOU EXCITEMENT. AND WE PROMISED YOU BLOOD. AND NOW...

LET

THERE

BE

BLOOD!!!

The cage doors fell. The opening siren was wailing. And all hope for ethics and morality in this place of combat and death was snuffed out like a candle instantly crushed in a hydraulic press.

Immediately, Phoebe the Charizard and her team charged into action through the doors and stepped onto the wasteland sand, knowing they had a lot of targets to take down. While Phoebe took flight with her draconic wings and protected her squad from above, her team kept a ground-based tactical defensive position that relied on close teamwork to stay alive and strike down any targets that were sighted.

Already, gunfire was lashing out and the engagements were fierce. A sudden inferno erupted in a building shell a far distance away from the flying fire lizard, and Phoebe had witnessed Decca the Torracat ambushing Bax the Togedemaru from her vantage point. Though Bax had tried to retaliate, he was too late and Decca had no problem smothering the hedgehog Pokémon with a constant Flamethrower assault that incinerated Bax alive.

Bax the Togedemaru (Independent) has been eliminated.

Already, the crowd was growing wild as combat and fatal engagements were taking place in just about every direction. Phoebe aimed her Death Spitter rocket launcher at Decca, but she knew the chances of it hitting the Torracat was unlikely. She had nothing to lose in her attempt, but she took the lack of Decca's name being crossed off that she hadn't been killed after the rocket struck the inside of the building shell.

To the side, she noticed Sentinel Corporation's squad was making their way toward her squad's position. If the two met up, it would be a serious slaughter between both sides and Phoebe didn't want to have half her team dead when there were so many other competitors still alive and fresh to the fight.

"Heads up, incoming from the left at four o' clock, fifty vilmarks distance" Phoebe informed her team via her headset radio. "I'll try to draw their fire and lay down suppressing reprisal, but I need two flankers to strike from the right side. Vekker and Unloc, you're up."

"Heh, copy that, boss," Vekker sneered.

"I'm all over that," Unlock agreed.

Phoebe knew if this worked according to plan, everyone on the Sentinel Corporation team would be wiped out and it would knock off a good chunk of the competition. But it wasn't going to be easy...


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]

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

SLAYER'S RIDE [Armored Buggy]

Khilter - Dragalge (Driver/Gunner)
DESTINY'S END

Kikel - Pancham
LOCKDOWN [Armored Pick-up Truck]

[s]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
Recommended Listening: The Book of Eli - The Convoy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiFwA4Ww3zU)

Jucden had been waiting for this day for ages. No one had granted his wish more than Black Lotus when it came to wanting to blow up as many Pokémon as possible. And today the frenzied Ratticate was like a rich kid on Christmas morning about to be royally spoiled to death.

The slum sector that had been zoned off for Dread Metal was ready, and a larger than normal sector had been prepared due to the larger number of entrants and the heftier vehicles that were entering. Some of the largest, heaviest, and most ruthless vehicles ever prepared were ready to unleash carnage. After they had been put into their starting positions, all that was left was to wait for the opening horn that would be played throughout the slum sector on expendable speakers. Meanwhile, cameras scattered throughout the slums would capture the live carnage and mayhem for everyone watching.

"Let's git ta killin' already!" Jaze complained, slamming his hands on the steering rod in his disgruntled impatience. "I ain't growin' any yunger 'ere!"

"AHHHH HA HA HA, any moment now!" Jucden laughed with glee as he jumped up and down with his grenade launcher. "YES YES YES YES YES!"

"ARE ALL YOU MAGGOTS READY!?" the announcer shouted, his voice carrying throughout the slums. "IF YOU'RE NOT, GET PISSED ON, KAKÓS! BE READY TO FLY OR BE READY TO DIE!!!"

YOUR

DAYS

END

HERE!!!

The starting horn had blared loudly after the announcer's voice had ripped through the streets, and the roars of many raging engines had ravaged the silence of the slums. Almost immediately, the largest and most deadly junkyard hulks and assault vehicles had begun their onslaught and ripped and tore their way through the slums, smashing down shanties and blasting their way through the rickety houses and marketplaces. The arena was larger than before, and the competition this year was mindlessly ferocious.

Jucden's eyes were lit up in feverish, blood-drunken excitement as dark adrenaline raged through his body. Both of them were lit up with an excited mania, just itching to slaughter more than anyone has ever done before in a Dread Metal competition. Everyone else was nothing more than prey in his feverish vehicular madness.

"HURRY!" Jucden shouted, jumping up and down from the back of the Ripfire. "GET IN THERE BEFORE EVERYONE'S DEAD ALREADY!!!"

The Ripfire tore its way through several shanties, throwing wood, metal, and stone pieces in all directions as the raging truck mercilessly plowed its way through the slums. Up ahead, it spotted the Lockdown, and Jucden's eyes lit up with murderous frenzy as he readied his grenade launcher.

"HAVE A NICE DAY!!" Jucden laughed, taking aim and launching a barrage of grenades at the Lockdown.

Gile opened fire in retaliation using the mounted Jozar-X Machine Gun, trying to lay as much punishment on the Ripfire as possible. Jucden quickly took cover in the armored truck, just as one of his launched grenades flew into Rudy's horrified face and instantly turned the whole upper half of his body into bloody paste that was thrown about in all directions. Meanwhile, the entire cabin of the pickup truck was decimated into pieces, leaving Gile the Sandslash completely stranded without a driver or a functioning vehicle.

Rudy the Rampardos (Independent) has been eliminated.

"RUDY!!" Gile shouted at his deceased comrade before gritting his teeth in anger and turning back to Jucden, "I'll murder you, you piss-drinking kakó!"

More gunfire was laid down on the Ripfire, but most of it had only struck off the armor and did minimal damage. Meanwhile, Jucden had the stranded Sandslash in his sights, ready to make him nothing more than a pasty aftermath of yet another brutal Dread Metal competition.

[LKWayvern]

Laura the Umbreon
Prankster Platoon
Blood Pit Arena, Lytala City
Affected RPers:

Laura could feel it. Adrenaline pounding through her veins. Her limbs were trembling. She allowed her mouth to drop open so she could get just a bit more oxygen into her lungs. When she breathed in through her nose, all she could smell was sweat and tension.

Her ears flattened and tail fluffed up as the opening siren screamed its message, the first lightning-strike of a long awaited storm. And this storm was going to refuse to pass quietly.

Her teammates were racing into the arena before she was. Xavier grabbed at her with his tail, sweeping her along so she didn’t get left behind.

“Formation, now!” Xavier hissed, leaping to the front of the group. Aria fell into place behind him, and Kirrun took up position behind the umbreon. Laura tried to do her best to breathe, and calm her nerves, as the group began advancing through the corridors.

A performance. This was all it was. A live performance. All she had to do was put on an excellent show. Perhaps it was a bit bloodier than usual, but she was no stranger to violence.

She could hear Aria enchanting her allies with a Lucky Chant. It was a whisper compared to the blood pumping in Laura’s ears.

She saw the golden light illuminating the corridors ahead as Xavier used the x-ray vision his species was fabled for. He raised up his tail. A signal.

Silence.

Three eyes gazed attentively at the Gleam Eyes Pokemon.

The tail moved again, beckoning Laura forwards. She approached, and Xavier tapped at the Blaze Jewel with a paw, eyes shifting to silver as he used its mysterious power.

‘Thundercrash ahead. A couple bends away.’

Laura nervously glanced down the corridors.

‘Kirrun, Teleport. Cut them off. Aria, Laura, distract them from behind. Then… do as you see fit.’

Without a second to spare, Kirrun was gone. The feline, the vulpine, and the ghost moved swiftly and silently. Laura noticed Aria vanish through a wall.

Laura perked up her ears, she could hear them.

“Kill him!!”

“Don’ hafta tell me twice!”

“Ha, send the sorry solicc back to--”

There was an almighty clamor as Kirrun’s Ancient Power caused boulders to tear themselves up out of the ashen grey walls and floor, hurling themselves at the gang members as if they had a life of their own, just as Laura and Xavier came into view of them.

Laura witnessed a sizable rocks collide with a swellow’s wing with a sickening CRACK, and the bird plummeted to the ground. That brought a flutter of excitement to her heart, but the majority of the gang seemed to escape relatively unscathed, as she saw an excadrill burrow underground at unbelievable speed, an alakazam telekinetically hurl boulders back, a hydreigon merely vaporize the boulders with Focus Blast as though they were nothi--

There! That hydreigon! Perfect target! Blue and yellow illuminated her face as she conjured a wisp of Confuse Ray. Silver swam through her vision as she activated the Blaze Jewel.

‘Aria, that hydreigon!’ she commanded.

The spectre understood.

She materialized from out of the wall, a singly Magical Leaf whizzing from her outstretched tendrils to neatly nick the hydreigon’s main neck and dissipate upon hitting the wall. The hydreigon turned to Aria, rage evident in his eyes. Not even bothering with banter, he spread his wings and lunged towards her… Only to smack into the wall when Laura’s Confuse Ray hit home in the back of his neck.

“WRAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!! HIKA YOU KAKO, you’re not getting away now!” He snarled, slobber spraying out his jaw as he ripped into the wall with a fearsome Dragon Rage. Cracks appeared in a starburst patter around where he struck.

Laura glanced about, frantically looking for her next foe. Kirrun and the alakazam-- Had his name been Boris? Doris? Probably not the latter, but she hadn’t been paying attention-- they were in a telekinetic free-for-all with each other, hurling boulders, firing guns, snatching bullets. It was really a contest of who could keep ahold of which weapons the longest at some points.

Xavier. He was doing fine. Laura smiled. He was poised over the downed swellow, trapped beneath a boulder with a broken wing, fangs out and sparking--

Ryke the Swellow(Thundercrash Gang) has been eliminated.

Muzzle speckled slightly with blood, Xavier pounced onto his next victim. He immediately pounced upon the sylveon.

Laura glanced about, looking for where she could fit in. Aria had left the hydreigon to decimating the wall, and was trading ranged attacks with the Alolan Raichu. She swore, that thing was only here to show off how flamboyant its dodges could be.

Laura looked back to the fight between-- between VORIS(THAT’S his name!) and Kirrun. She tapped into the power of the jewel, Teleporting directly behind Voris, and then blasting a close range Dark Pulse.

He hissed in agony. “You kako--”

“What’s that thing Psychics always say in a fight? You were broadcasting those moves from a mile awaYEEEEEEEEEEAGCK!”

Their screams of pain blended-- Voris’ as Kirrun’s bullet struck his kneecap, and Laura’s as the watchog pounced on her from behind with a super fang, aiming for a chink in her light armor near her neck, ripping a hole through her scarf. She immediately felt that her excitement drained, replaced with wooziness and fear.

“Stop gloatin’, ya damn hellion!” the weasel hissed in her ear.

Laura groaned, trying to roll over. Partially so she could slam the watchog into the ground. Partially because she didn’t want to trust her legs at the moment. “G-geROFF!” Her rings lit up, a blinding flash. It still wasn’t enough.

She reached for the power that her Blaze Jewel would provide her with, once more. Not thinking entirely coherently, she tried Teleporting away.

As the watchog was still holding her so tightly, she couldn’t leave him behind. She reappeared fifteen feet or so from the fighting, and staggered to the wall before suddenly gagging as the watchog yanked at her scarf, choking her.

What to do-- what to do-- what to--

Laura launched herself at the wall, weak, but managing to hit the watchog’s head just right. Just enough to stun.

She convulsed, reared up, unsheathed the knives in her forelegs and ripped through the fabric of the scarf. The split halves fluttered free. With nothing to hold onto the watchog fell backwards.

Laura twisted around, landing on the ground again and opening her mouth, fangs popping out and rotating, twin jets of Toxic rocketing out from them and into the watchog’s eyes. It screamed. It wasn’t enough. She stabbed it with her knives-- in the eye, the mouth, the throat. Shut up. Shut up. Stop SCREAMING.

It stopped.

Vink the Watchog(Thundercrash Gang) is eliminated.

Laura leaned against the wall. What next…? Oh! Oh, yes. Moonlight. Heal herself.

Moonlight didn’t heal her completely. Sped up the clotting. But more importantly, stopped the pain.

She looked back towards the fight. What was happening now?

There was Kirrun’s gun to Voris’ head. Both the alakazam’s kneecaps were bleeding. He was on the ground in pain.

Blam.

Voris the Alakazam(Thundercrash Gang) has been eliminated.

Aria and the Alolan Raichu were still dueling.

The hydreigon was zooming down the corridor in the other way.

And Xavier… he was doing well. The sylveon was on the ground, paralyzed, he was about too--

No!

The excadrill, she’d forgot the excadrill! It rocketed up from the earth, slamming into Xavier with a painful-looking headbutt, launching him off the sylveon. It didn’t look good. There was blood, and it looked like Xavier’s. The excadrill loomed over him.

Laura didn’t remember deciding to move but she was spraying Toxic at the excadrill-- it wasn’t affecting him, why wasn’t it affecting him!?

The sylveon tackled her and she was gasping for breath.

“Pampered joke. Better stay off your feet, dearie, you’re looking a little winded,” the vulpine crooned.

And then it was on her mouth. Invading her mouth. His fangs were burrowed in her lips and she could feel her energy going, she couldn’t, it can’t be like this can’t can’t NO

Toxic. Straight from her fangs into his mouth.

He leaned back, choking on the poison. She hurled him off of her with Psychic, and rolled back onto her legs, and-- and--

She’s swaying the world’s swaying she can’t-- can’t--

Oh no Xavier, that looks bad

Psybeam nails excadrill in the back on its head.

Aria’s all around her, and is holding her up with the mismagius’ tendrils. She’s got me. She’s got me.

Kirrun’s slammed the excadrill against a wall with Psychic. Repeatedly. There’s blood, smeared on the wall, all dripping down.

Blood.

Wasn’t there blood somewhere else too?

“We gotta get Xay to’n ‘mergency room!” Laura said. Her voice sounded sing-song to her.

Kirrun’s Ancientpower again. Dragging boulders out of the wall that hydreigon damaged, dumping them on the excadrill, the fleeing sylveon. Laura can’t see the hydreigon or the alolan raichu. There's a hole in the wall now. They go through there.

They’re running, it’s okay. Aria’s got Laura, and Kirrun’s got Xavier. They did good. She thought they did good. They killed some enemies. And yeah everything’s dizzy and swaying and feels like her head’s so cloudy and there’s much blood on Xavier’s face and chest but he’s alive right?

They’re all alive.

Xavier wasn’t waking up, but he was still breathing. Laura tried using the Blaze Jewel to heal him with Heal Pulse. It was like her Moonlight-- not really real healing, starting the clotting and stopping the pain. Aria had a few berries.

Xavier opened his cloudy green eyes.

“I… I can’t see…” he groaned.

[The Nonexistent Tazz]

'Nora' the Lilligant
The Gracedia Order
Lytala city, the Blood Pit Arena
Affected RPers: Noblejanobii , Death's Spook , Neo Emolga (most likely), basically anyone else in the arena. (As a warning: Not competing directly.)

Nora, to Yvonne's mild displeasure, had pulled out a cigar and was now smoking-but that was hardly the worst that she could be doing right now, and the both of them knew it. Nora was getting a craving for something anyways, and Nora really couldn't be calm when one of them came on. Shaking hands, shaking world. Not good for work, and this was important work. Relatively speaking.

The Rotom had made no real attempt to disguise her tracks, opting for the fastest route through various side-alleys. Nora kept a hand close to her pistol while she traversed, knowing better from experience. Fortunately, no-one opted to exist in the cramped corridors between buildings the Rotom chose to travel through, and tailing her wasn't too hard as she clearly wasn't bothered. Yvonne had to hold her nose to keep from puking from all the trash. Nora had to try her best not to roll her eyes and complain at her companion's lack of stomach.

The Rotom's destination was thoroughly surprising for both of them. Turning a corner to tail the Rotom, they came across the stadium for the Blood Pit Arena-a prominent stadium usually made for somewhat less violent events re-purposed for the yearly bloodbath. Yvonne nor Nora would be questioned-they had competitor's passes, if they weren't competing themselves they'd still be let into the guest bleachers. The real problem, and question, was that the Rotom was also going to it.

...Well, maybe there wasn't a problem. Sure, the Black Lotus weren't exactly known for fair play. If the Black Lotus tried to pull that, or they otherwise played to intercept, then Nora could expect that the stands would become as hot as the arena itself in short order. But on the flipside, if they really believed they were dominating as much as they had, why bother with that? They'd take every precaution for Taiya, of course. Onyx Circle thugs just seemed to spawn out of the walls, on the other hand-they were replaceable. And if cheating was clear and blatant, well, it would make it seem like the Black Lotus was very strained, rather than mighty, to the masses, as well as dirtier than they thought. They can't cheat that blatantly, and if so, they wouldn't be causing havoc in the stands either way. If people didn't think their mass advertisement was unsafe to watch directly, then the Tempest Festival would already be losing some money, and the Black Lotus did not have infinite value.

Ultimately, there was nothing for it other than to enter. The charming Armaldo at the booth was clearly not Black Lotus and did not question the authenticity of their (perfectly authentic!) competitor's passes, and they were given pretty much immediate access. No reserved seating for the normal seats (the special seats costed extra and weren't part of the package); you found a spot you enjoyed and you sat down, and took your eyes to either the massive jumbo-tron like thing above the cage roof, or if you could, down to the desert wasteland arena below to see the action directly, and hope that your neighbors weren't going to start emulating the act. Low-ranking Black Lotus and more general temporary hire security guards lined the stands, making sure that there wasn't a full-scale riot or anything underhanded and/or sneaky going on. Anything else was fair game.

Now the only real problem was finding the floating lightbulb in a massive crowd of Pokemon-

"LET

THERE

BE

BLOOD!!!"

-and the event was already starting. Screaming and shouting and soon the noises of hell would be waged, and the pits opened up. Nora and Yvonne flinched simultaniously at the sheer volume. Nora could only barely glimpse that the Black Lotus team had started right beneath them, so to speak. Sadly, the cage was two-way; Nora would doubtless have loved to sneak in a bullet right into the flying Charizard's brain and have ended that right then and there, but aside from maybe blowing cover, it wouldn't even work. Yvonne tapped Nora's shoulder, and Nora turned-Yvonne found her, or him, the Rotom, floating very nonchalantly near to the back. The duo nodded to each other.

"They really do have to be loud and noisy, don't they?" Nora said, taking a quick glance at the crowd.

"And drunk and intoxicated, too. Just the worst. Yeah, horrible, isn't it?" Yvonne responded. Nora caught the undertones.

"My habits are my habits! Don't judge me for 'em," Nora snapped.

"I can, it's a trust matter. I can barley trust Pokemon in this state to listen to me-"

"Well then you're pretty much screwed over already, you're not getting rerolls on teammates or anything," Nora said.

"You'll be sober for the missions, then?" Yvonne said.

"'Course, 'course, don't mix business with pleasure 'n' scat," Nora said.

"The Rotom's watching," Yvonne said.

"'Course." Nora said, looking at the Rotom. No idiot was going to forget that those two Pokemon were roughly where he/she was thrown out of a fabulous casino not but five minutes ago, right? The Rotom wasn't perturbed enough to move, however-which was a good start. Wasn't skittish... Though, Nora would definitely be feeling very skittish in that situation.

Yvonne made her seat directly adjacent to the Rotom's left, and Nora took the seat immediately adjacent to Yvonne's left. Nora kept her eyes peeled-she figured her job in this was to make sure there weren't any interesting encounters mid conversation. Black Lotus assassins, mysterious 'benefactors,' the sort. That would be extraordinarily hard-between the ruckus of the Pokemon and the preexisting Black Lotus agents already stationed to ensure the roudiness didn't get out of hand... Nora performed a sweep of the bleachers, Trying to get a glimpse of anything or anyone suspicious.

"...You're following me, aren't you?" The Rotom said. It was like the mix between a curious young boy and a robot.

"Yes, can't deny that much. You did cause quite the scene," Yvonne said. "But we aren't here to hurt you over it."

Nora briefly eyed the Gracedia Order team on the screen, beginning their run through the maze-she had to wonder what their plan was. Then it switched to the Steel Scavengers... Their 'Grand Lady,' huh? Had she heard of that name before?

"... Why?" The Rotom asked. "Uh, why are you following me?"

"We're interested in your special talents. And we think you may be interested in what we're doing," Yvonne said.

Nora mulled it over a bit more-and it hit her, she had, she definitely had. It was too familiar, but not so familiar that it brought itself into her mind instantly. Nora struggled to remember when she heard the name of this 'Grand Lady.' The Tsareena reeked of importance... No, not now! She couldn't focus on the game itself. Her eyes darted amongst the bleachers. A Mimikyu there, a trio of Eeveelutions there, a Gliscor and a Empoleon in the midst of some secretive conversation there-aha. There was something. Though the Mimikyu was also interesting. Not a usual sight. Something itched Nora's brain.

"...I'm definitely not into that kind of thing," The Rotom asked. "I've been asked that before. I'm not going to be dying for something I don't understand."

"Well, would you fight for something you did understand?" Yvonne said. "We're... Mph. We're interested in ensuring a bit of a brighter future for Liao as a whole."

"Liao has a future?" The Rotom asked, a mild joke in his voice. "The way things are going, I'd bet you that the whole place would just descend into lawless hell the instant Taiya was done running the place, and those 'rebel' groups are just so busy bickering over thesmelves with unimportant derivatives that they can't even oust the kako."

Nora glimped Yvonne's attempt to make sure she didn't look too offended at that, and saw a beefy Loudred punch a irritating Swellow into submission a dozen seats away. Her eyes bounced back to the scoreboard-an Independent died early, as was basic tradition for these. Nora couldn't look much longer.

Nora did think the Rotom had a good point. At the very least a compromise between the Platoon and the Order could be reached. Maybe not the Scavengers, though. But it would be a much harder fight to beat if that were the case... Maybe. Nora had to think it through-that would pretty much be half of Liao, with a massive stranglehold on imports that Liao desperately needed to keep functional.

"Well then, you'd think it'd be better if no-one was doing anything about it?" Yvonne questioned.

"No, but that's precisely the situation we're in right now anyways. I mean, I think this is just a whole big sham. The Black Lotus either scam everyone out of the Blaze Jewel or just win as usual and go on to make like ultra-big domination soldiers of death or something-"

"Hrm, let's put it this way. If we were a united front, would we be able to field one team or three like we are now?" Yvonne asked.

"I know for a fact you're not united," The Rotom curtly responded.

Nora kept searching. The highest echelons of the pews, the roof, the area above-any snipers, anything. Was there anything? Nora didn't catch the glimpse of a sniper scope there or the subtle bump of a body on the roof-unless there was one directly above her, but then, they wouldn't really have a view over Nora and company. She kept searching. The Mimikyu came up again... Hrm. Were there any important Mimikyu she knew of? There was that Carpet-Weaver guy making waves... And that was about it. Nora didn't have a physical profile, but she kept tabs on the Mimikyu.

"...So you really think this is all for nothing, then?" Yvonne asked.

"Yep. No way you could win the games," the Rotom asked.

Nora's eyes briefly met Yvonne's. The two knew that the acutal details of the job itself could sway over the Rotom... But dare they?

"Now, can you just scram-"

"NO!" Nora jumped a little. No, that wasn't her, nor Yvonne. She looked back to the Gliscor and the Empoleon-the gliscor was standing up, then remembered where he was and, slowly, sat down, warily searching the area like Nora would. His glimpse passed Nora without stopping-Nora knew it, no recognition of her, at least. Her ears strained to hear what he might have to say next. "... No. You're asking too much, sir. I thought any price would be acceptable, but you've somehow surpassed my expectations. You could probably make the Queen turn down immortality for what you've just asked, good sir."

The Empoleon mildly shifted. Nora realized that the trio of Eeveelutions were trying to listen in-the general feel of the back row suddenly silenced. "...I would talk further, but you've attracted too much attention. Another time, perhaps. And trust me when I say that the cost is perhaps less than you think of it. I will say this; what if it were to be such that you had less than what you believed?"

"Doubtful," the Gliscor said. "But I will keep you in touch."

Nora wondered where she would have heard of a Gliscor before. Nothing came to her in the world of spycraft-these must be talking business. But what kind of deal would make Taiya refuse to pay?

"...That was... Something." Nora said.

"OK, uh, yeah. Uh, but seriously, can you scram? I just... I'unno. I just wanted to forget about how bad life seems to be, for a moment."

"Forgetting about how bad life could be is just... Look, you said it yourself that the games were a sham. Now..." Yvonne bent in. Whispering-whispering Nora could barely hear despite being right next to them-ensured.

"... What if it were that there were plans to take the very prize-"

"No."

The Rotom's response was just so final, so just absolutely noncooperational, that Yvonne had to back up. "I'm sorry, what-"

"No, I've said it already. Not. Interested." The Rotom turned back to the games.

"You don't believe in better?" Nora asked.

"Not at this rate," The Rotom responded.

"Better doesn't happen just because. It doesn't happen randomly, you know," Yvonne said. "If you don't want it to acutally happen-"

"I'm not risking my life over it, period," The Rotom asked.

"Your scat-filled, terrible life?" Nora asked.

"It's better than nothing," the Rotom said.

"What was up with the casino?" Nora asked.

"Some dumb attempt to get rich. The guy who was supposed to show up never did," the Rotom responded.

"And why did you target there, instead of some filthy run-down slum home?" Nora said.

"There was actually a lot of money there?" The Rotom asked, as if that was something obvious.

"You crazy? The slumdogs have a lot of minor knick-nacks they keep around that are worth way more and are easier to steal. You could easily make a living off of that old crap they keep around... They don't have any way to protect themselves either. You could just possess a small TV, walk off, pawn it off, repeat it until the night's over, then repeat it again when everyone's off to work whatever menial eight-to-five they've got. Bam."

Yvonne was giving mildly disapproving looks, but the Rotom looked mildly curious. "...What?"

"You probably thought of that already, didn't you, though? You just thought they either wouldn't have enough... Or you couldn't bring yourself to do it. The rich guys are easy targets, right?" Nora said.

"...Yeah. I, I tried, once. It was easy. But I couldn't do it again, I couldn't even make off with it. It just felt so... Even by the standards of this kako-filled a*sfest, that was too wrong," the Rotom said.

"So, you're willing to risk it against one of the biggest-a*s casinos and hotels in all of Xia, owned by one of the most powerful and influential Pokemon in Xia, for a payout that probably would have arrested you on the spot and thrown you in a Black Lotus prison for the rest of your life, but you won't do it against some nearly-a-hobo that could get you nearly as much in a go much faster?" Nora asked.

"Yes." The Rotom said.

"I'm sorry, but the way you've been talking, it sounds like you should just be crushing everyone and try to reach the top no matter what or who you inconvenience, but if you can't actually do that, are you sure that's what you really believe?" Yvonne asked.

Silence. Nora resumed glimpsing, keeping her eyes as peeled as possible for anything-anything! Anything that she may have missed before. Her ears were peeled for the most interesting covnersations, her eyes for the most interesting sights in the stands-anything! She noticed a kill on the Thundercrash gang now on the scoreboard-they were duking it out with the Prankster Platoon.

"...If there was a chance you could make one thing better-or hell, just stick it up to those snobs up top-would you consider it for a second?" Yvonne asked the rotom.

"I, I already did?" The Rotom asked. His voice mildly broke.

"So you're just going to live an unfulfilling life, capable of doing great, crazy things but refusing to do so, but you can't do the terrible, awful things that'd put you up top either. You're going to just let life die because you can't risk living it?"

"...Uuuuuuuuuugh. Fine. But first! Who are you and what is it that you want?" The Rotom asked. Nora's mind felt like a birthday celebration-thank goodness.

Yvonne's voice resumed whispering, and Nora resumed looking out. The Rotom's eyes bulged. "...What."

"Yes, I know... I don't think I'm ready for it myself, to be honest. It's something that's buzzing in my mind, the doubts, the fears, the worries-But I can't let that drag me down. We're going to be doing it, no matter what-but you could help, so much. You have that, uh... Possession thing, and it's not something everyone can protect against. You could really help. You could be responsible for one of the best changes Liao ever had. A hero! That would be a life well-lived, in my opinion."

"Mine too... Good god I'm shaking so much thinking about it. I've done risky, crazy cr*p before. I've done scat that felt like whoever thought of it pulled the idea from the depths of Murhe itself. But this is like someone dug beneath Murhe and then found somewhere more horrible. This just screams bad idea... But..."

"But what?" The Rotom asked. "What are you thinking? If it's that bad-sounding, why are you considering it?"

"You want to know why I suggested robbing the poor? I didn't have a family, I didn't have anything except trash, dumpsters and some hobos, and I'm lucky to have kept to friendly hobos, in this friggin' wretched hellhole. I should not have survived. I did. Mostly by theft, but I did. I don't think there's much lower on the totem pole of society to be. Of course, my antics didn't exactly curray favor with the Black Lotus, and they decided that since I wasn't with them... I had to jump ship. Managed to get to Jadeblossom... You've ever been there?"

"No." The Rotom asked. "What's it like?"

"Can't say it's perfect. That'd be a filthy lie and you'd know it. But it's like friggin' paradise. Food's better. Air's better. Everything is better over there. It's like, friggin Utopia over there, compared to this place. It's not perfect, there's still the usual troubles, but when you're livin' as a hobo in Lytala city, the comparison is like, wow. I never felt anything like it before. Can't say I'd be totally willing to die for it... But the Black Lotus are bearing down on my neck."

"... OK, there's one other thing you should know. Havard didn't call the police on you-he said you were lucky that he wasn't. You remember that, right?" Yvonne said. The Rotom simply bobbed up and down. More whispering-most likely about how the Graceida Order was there. Nora suspected that he held off of the police investigation because then they'd be turned up, and Havard would be in even deeper water than if he was 'merely' unveiled as a cannibal. The rotom's eyes lit up in shock.

"...But that would mean-"

"Well, that would mean that Havard is only waiting on us to fail, or at least for the competition to be over so we can get out of his hair. Then he can call the cops on you for the crime. The Black Lotus isn't about to oust one of their best moneymakers and certainly won't go easy on you either way. I don't want to hold this above your head, of course. You could run-but between Ante and the Master Blaze Jewel, running may not be an option," Yvonne said. "Interested now?"

The Rotom looked at the duo contemplatively for a while. Nora kept back to her scrutinizing of the crowd. "... Fine, I suppose... I guess."

"Awesome!" Yvonne said. Nora nodded her approval.

Now it was just watching the games, right? The screen flickered back to the Decidueye... Wasn't that... Oh, it was. Athena Pallas... Huh. Wonder what she was thinking of. She probably didn't see Nora or Yvonne, so far back in the crowd as they were. Nora had to watch for a moment. She hadn't really watched before. Maybe there was some tip, some trick, some tactic, that she could pull out of this to enhance her performance later on. Maybe.

Something.

Anything.

[VeloJello]

Jones Sandstrider the Heliolisk
Prankster Platoon
Lotus Den Slums
Affected RPers: None

((Side-note: “x is grit” is a term pretty specific to Liao’s desert Pokemon, meaning something worthless at best and annoying at worst. Mazer's post is pending right now for Reasons.))

The Screaming Talon had achieved its name for two key features. The first was its sharp, streamlined shape that made it somewhat resemble the prismacolored claw of a Pokemon. The second was the ridiculous amount of noise it made when its driver slammed their foot down on the gas pedal.

The Talon took off like a rocket, sparks shooting violently out of the back of it. The acceleration shook Jones a bit - she wasn’t taken aback, but she’d had very few practice sessions to unleash this thing’s full power. However, it only took her a moment to get her bearings. She was rocketing through the slums, the Talon crashing through the slipshod buildings, periodically zigzagging along the path in case anyone was targeting the vehicle.

“How are we doing?” she shouted toward the back of the car, raising her voice as high as it could go. “Any pursuers?”

There was a pause, and then abruptly, Jones saw a field of shimmering teal energy in front of the Talon. Before she could brake, she heard Cheshire’s voice. “That one’s with us; it’s mine!” Sure enough, the field stayed the same distance away from the windshield even as Jones sped up, and it turned white and vanished as the sound and bass vibration of a loud explosion rattled the car.

“I think we have at least one!” Tony spat. “Don’t worry, babe,” he added to Cheshire, “I got this; focus on deflecting fire.”

Other ‘mons might have told Tony to just shoot at the Black Lotus vehicles and spare everyone else. To Jones, though, the other drivers were grit. She didn’t answer, and she didn’t look back as Tony shot out an incendiary grenade, hitting something.

“You didn’t get it!” Cheshire shouted. There wasn’t a response, just the sound of another grenade exploding.

“Situation!” screeched Jones. She could barely keep track of what was going on behind her, let alone in front -

CRASH! A string of curses almost as colorful as the Screaming Talon’s hull came out of Jones’s mouth as something slammed into the side of the vehicle, nearly knocking her off of the main drag. Out her window, she could now clearly see her opponent - some stupid grit-grain Whimsicott on a motorcycle that had some sort of cannon mounted on it. The Whimsicott leered up at her and mimed a rude gesture, but Jones was having none of it - she veered to the right as hard as she could without going too far off the path the other way, clenching her teeth as the Talon’s wheels crunched up vehicle parts beneath it.

Rash the Whimsicott (Thundercrash Gang) has been eliminated.

“Do better!” Jones shouted back at her gunners before righting the vehicle and slamming her foot down on the gas pedal as far as it could go. Their strategy relied on leading the pack and picking off the people behind them, not getting hammered by stupid little mosquitoes who slipped by the idiotic cats who were gunning for her.

[Death's Spook]

The Grand Lady (Tsareena)
Steel Scavengers
The Blood Pit Arena, Lytala City
ARPers: Neo Emolga The Nonexistent Tazz, @LKWyvern

Upon the start of this little debate, The Lady knows that the absolute first thing she has to accomplish is to obscure the vision of any snipers in the area. Haq is a crackshot and supporting The Lady in the stands, but even without speech they have already made it clear that if it was clear enough for them to shoot, The Lady was likely to be dead already. Isana the Azumarill, guarding them and Oort, seconded that opinion. It was not that her opinion mattered very much to The Lady, but, including Anthony, three competent people expressed the sentiment that The Lady needs to avoid being sniped.

The more labyrinthine format of the Blood Pits helps with that, but The Grand Lady has no intention of relying solely on that, so once the announcement starts the festivities, Kaytoo immediately uses Haze, obscuring the team from view long enough for the Tsareena’s strategies to come to fruition.

The Lady, upon deciding that she was entering the Arena, immediately catalogued her strengths and weaknesses. She quickly realized that while she was durable and strong, she had the mobility lamed Mudsdale unless she used her little ascot (which merely traded one problem for another). So she sought a strategy that would allow her to capitalize on her strengths and render her weaknesses less relevant.

First is the obvious: except for the nameless Manectric (whose situation The Grand Lady has acute empathy for), everyone is wearing lots of armor. Between Paramid vests, ballistic strike plates, and actual steel armor, The Lady is accentuating everyone’s defensiveness at the expense of mobility.

Kaytoo keeps up the Haze as Durkon imparts a silver energy into boulders hidden therein. Everyone on the team knows the signal for when to begin to act more directly, but over the Lady’s earpiece, Isana groans, “Come on, where’s your backup?”

The Lady is about to answer when, almost on cue, she feels the first raindrop. Then the next, and the next, until a veritable downpour spews forth from the heavens, making visibility quite poor.

Over the earpiece, The Lady has a sardonic tone, “Satisfied, Isana?” The aqua rabbit gives a small groan, but focuses on protecting her two charges in the Claydol’s sniper nest.

Kaytoo stops spewing forth her Haze, and as the dark smoke clears, the Lady, sword and shield in hand, takes a few steps forward like she’s on a catwalk. She uses her sword to throw her hair off to one side, then stops walking as she puts her hand on her hip.

Overhead, Jabis the Vikavolt spots the Lady despite the poor visibility and tries to take advantage of the storm through the use of Thunder. To the bug’s surprise, the bolt veers off entirely to one side, striking the nameless Manectric instead, and he seems no worse for wear despite taking a powerful bolt of electricity to the face.

Lightning Rod, the Lady grins to herself. As though I’d go to the trouble of setting up ideal weather for my strategy and then letting others use it against me. Aloud, all she says is, “Now.”

To the front of The Lady, Gloria makes a downward gesture with her hands.

And then the battlefield truly descends into chaos.

The Lady has timed her order just right: she ensured that there were enough fliers in the air for this effect to be devastating, but there is not enough time for them to start using their superior maneuverability to take potshots at the powerful but ground bound Lady and her team as the move Gravity takes effect.

Jabis the Vikavolt is significantly less smug as he is thrown towards the ground, unable to sustain the lift that would keep him afloat, just like some other fliers. Unlike some of them, however, Jabis does not have enough maneuverability to keep from crashing. He tries to use his gun, rigged to function with his control of electromagnetism, to fire at the Lady, but discovers that the greater acceleration from gravity plants his bullet in the ground many feet from the Tsareena. Further to his dismay, he is also the subject who reveals what Durkon prepared in the Haze.

Stealth Rock.

Jabis enters the area of effect of the hazards, and immediately is buffeted by several large boulders, injuring him badly. When he finally looks up, he finds himself looking directly at the Lady.

He searches desperately for any hint of mercy or pity in her eyes, any hint that he is not, in fact, about to die.

The Lady gives his head an almost dainty looking kick.

Jabis the Vikavolt (Independent) has been eliminated.

The Lady gives a grin, knowing almost certainly that at least some of the cameras around are pointed at her.

[VeloJello]

Mazer Pratten the Greninja
Prankster Platoon (De Facto Leader)
Connive, City Center -> Liaocrack River
Affected RPers: LKWayvern (Laura), Morzone (Theo).

((Spitland Raichu: an Alolan Raichu; their surfboard tails have been adapted for the watery environment of Spitland Lake))

“Mazer? What are you doing?”

Truthfully, Mazer had no idea what he was doing - one minute he was lying on his belly, watching the Bloodpit Arena play out; the next, he was on his feet, holding Water Shurikens in both hands. With great effort, he managed to dismiss them, though his hands were still trembling with anger.

“That Tsareena,” he said to Sheena, gesturing to the television, where a beautiful but crownless Tsareena was executing a Vikavolt, “that Tsareena is trouble. Where in the name of everything is Jacobin? I need to talk to him.”

Sheena shifted uncomfortably, “Mazer, there’s nothing we can do for them; we just have to hope they survive -”

“I need to warn them,” Mazer interrupted, snappish. “The Grand Lady hates me, personally, and she’s aligned against the Prankster Platoon. She’ll go after our people, and I need to warn them now.” Before either Sheena or Bella could protest, Mazer walked off, boosting his speed with jets of water under his feet.

It didn’t take him long to find Jacobin, a Beheeyem who was constantly tapping away at his phone. “Hi, Mazer.” Because he had no mouth and couldn’t broadcast telepathy to a Dark-type, he typed the words into a text-to-speech program on his phone. “Apparently some Black Lotus officers were spotted with what looked like some kidnap victim leaving Sabinal and heading up the Liaocrack. Must be something important for them to leave someone alive. And then there’s -”

Mazer held up a hand to try and stop Jacobin, but the Beheeyem was too busy staring at the screen to register the gesture. “Now’s not the time. Need you to get a message to Kirrun, dear,” Mazer said, exasperated. “I need you to have him warn everyone on our side that The Grand burning Lady is on the field.”

“The grand who wha -”

“A Tsareena!” Mazer shouted, his voice escalating. “A Tsareena with no crown and a penchant for deep carnage. Oh, and she f**king hates me and the rest of the Platoon, and since Laura is quite visibly one of us, she and her flock will try and murder our squadron on sight. Tell Kirrun to tell our party to either stay away from the Tsareena or kill her as quickly and decisively as possible, or they’re not going to come back.”

When he was done, Jacobin gave Mazer a blank stare, the only sign that he was even conscious being his idiotic nubby fingers blinking. Mazer was severely tempted to jolt the Beheeyem out of his reverie with a nice Night Slash, but then Jacobin made a beeping noise deep in his throat. “It’s done,” he communicated, fingers flashing across the screen of his phone. “I’ll let you know when Kirrun replies.”

Mazer shook his head, “You’ll let Sheena and-or Bella know, dear,” he corrected. “Don’t call me unless the Black Lotus are burning Connive to the ground.” He sighed and scratched his chin. “This is an unholy mess, but I think I can salvage something in it. You said Sabinal and heading north, right?”

Jacobin tilted his head, “Sir?”

“If I have to remind one more person not to call me ‘sir’ I will absolutely go berserk,” Mazer remarked calmly. “Sitting here worrying won’t do me any good. Call up my crew members and tell them that if they’re not at the harbor within half an hour, I’ll make them swim the Devil’s Tide.”

Sure enough, an irritable-looking Feraligatr, Dusknoir, Dragonite, and Spitland Raichu were assembled at Connive’s harbor within a few minutes. As soon as Mazer was in sight, the Dragonite turned toward Mazer, baring formidable fangs. “This had better be good, Maze. I’m running bets with this idiot,” she gestured to Umber, the Dusknoir standing next to her, “on the Derby, and we’re missing the whole thing.”

“Oh, please, darling,” said Mazer with a smile, “you all need to get some spontaneity in your life.” He gestured to one of the boats - not the lovingly crafted vehicle that Mazer was holding ready for the Devil’s Tide, but still a formidable vessel in its own right. “Come on. Why watch action when you can join in it?”

---

“I still maintain that this is a terrible idea,” said Mellie. The Spitlander definitely looked irate, though she was better than Tatia; the Dragonite was still growling. The only one who hadn’t complained was Krum, and that was by and large because the Feraligatr averaged about three words per day.

While Mellie was at the helm, Mazer knew that so long as he kept walking the line between authority and equal, she would keep listening to him - though she would probably still keep complaining about it. “And I still maintain that we’re getting good practice for the Devil’s Tide proper and throwing a spanner into whatever the Black Lotus is doing here,” he said calmly. “Settle down, love. Let’s make a day of this!”

Krum emitted a series of rapid-fire growls, which, for the borderline-feral Feraligatr, passed for laughter. “See?” Mazer asked, grinning, “even Krum is excited!”

Umber physically had no reason to sigh, but she did it anyway. “Krum is always excited about getting a chance to eat fresh meat. We should - “

There was the sound of Tatia’s heavy tail thumping down on the ship’s floorboards, “Excuse me,” she said, “but I see a boat.”

Sure enough, there was a faint silvery shape in the distance, speeding along on the river. Mazer smiled. “Full speed ahead, love!”

Mellie obliged, and Mazer ran to his position - he hauled himself over the ship’s railing and lowered himself down, sticking himself onto the hull using the pads on his hands and feet. His heart began to pound with anticipation; this felt familiar, as he’d played the unique and challenging role of boarder in the Devil’s Tide event many a time. While the ship came equipped with guns, he wasn’t sure they’d be needed. The closer they got to the other ship, the easier it was to see that it was a lightweight speedboat, and between himself, Tatia, and Krum, Mazer was pretty sure that the group would be able to deal with that ship with ease.

However, the other ship saw them, too, cruising at them from the north at top speed, too fast to be evaded. “Incoming!” Umber warned, and a second later, an Infernape on the ship’s prow let loose a Fire Blast that was truly a sight to behold. Mazer, quick as light, peeled one of his hands off the ship’s side, then threw up a row of green tiles. The force field was a little sloppy, but it got the job done - the worst that got through was a roil of slight heat that washed over the ship’s crew like a desert breeze.

“Mat Block, love!” Mazer hollered. “Boarders forward! Krum, the monkey is yours! Tatia, make sure they don’t run away like the cowards they are! Let’s show these worthless vermin why they’re afraid of the Prankster Platoon!”

Mazer didn’t wait to see if his orders were being carried out; he knew that they would be. Instead, he lunged off the side of the ship and into the water, where sure enough, he passed by Krum. The Feraligatr’s slitted eye fell on Mazer and for a moment, Mazer wondered if today would be the day he would have to put the reptile down. However, the moment passed quickly, and soon Mazer and Krum were climbing out of the water on opposite sides of the boat - more of a little skiff than anything; barely worth calling a boat - and there was the sound of an Infernape screaming in pain as Krum’s jaws closed around his shoulder.

Without pausing to watch, Mazer made his way into the hold, slicing through the locked door with a Water Shuriken, and cutting down the Machamp standing guard with another of the same. “Must’ve been relying on sheer stealth and reputation,” Mazer muttered as he walked deeper into the hold, looking for whatever or whoever the Black Lotus had been grabbing. It didn’t take him long to find a black bag.

“This had better not be a corpse,” Mazer muttered, “or else I shall be very cross that we got gussied up and came all this way for nothing.” He patted the bag once to make sure that he wouldn’t accidentally lop off its occupant’s head or something, then deftly sliced it open. Inside, he saw a rather bedraggled-looking Quilava, who seemed to be quite alive.

Mazer didn’t recognize him, though; what could make a half-evolved fire ferret so important? “Wake up, sparkler,” Mazer said bowing graciously and making sure that his neon jacket showed, “I am Mazer of the Prankster Platoon, and your salvation is at hand.”

[Morzone]

Julia (weavile)
Steel Scavengers
Lytala City Slums
Affected RP'ers: Velocity

It had begun. The weavile swallowed whatever trepidation she had and put her foot down. The loud screeching of metal on metal and the roar of a blood-thirsty engine roared through the run down streets. Her car was a tank in essence, she wasn't going to get any success by trying to be discreet. Raul had sped off to some different street, she couldn't worry about him right now. Julia just hoped he'd survive long enough to make a difference.

Left, right, straight, straight, right, nothing. "Damn maze like slums" Julia cursed. This place was supposed to be full metal behemoths of vehicles and motorcycles zipping everywhere. How could she not find anyone? She could even hear the horrible sounds of metal getting ripped apart and yet- wait, metal getting ripped apart?

Yanking the wheel to the left Julia's Iron Giant Skidded around a corner. There. A block away, if you could call it a block in this mess of a neighborhood, was a Talon like a lightweight armored car ripping a bike, and what appeared to be a whimsicott, into small undefinable chunks. Perfect, with some tar she could get the broken bike and the talon stuck together- But before Julia could make a move the talon turned and sped away, leaving the mess of blood, guts, and motor parts strewn across the area they'd just vacated. Talk about messy, if these people owned a workshop it'd look like a disaster. Still, Julia supposed you couldn't be nit picky in a place like this.

"You are Not getting away!" the weavile growled. And she too pushed the gas down, speeding after the lightweight vehicle. The thing was definitely smaller than her car, if she fast enough she would have been able to flip them with the plow, but the velocity difference wasn't enough. Still, Julia stayed on the buggy's tail where ever it went. Though something about the way they moved told her they didn't want to shake her- probably wanted to use the chase to get her in their sights. Well let them try it, no little zippy car was going to get the better of her Iron Giant.

As soon as Julia felt she was within range she took a hand off the steering wheel, grabbing on of the four joysticks that controlled the guns. The gun on the front right swiveled around to point with as much accuracy as Julia could muster in the car chase at the talon. The light machine gun began to spew out bullet fire like a metal hailstorm. At first she tried to aim for their gunners, but would occasionally switch to trying to hit the back tires. She kept at for several seconds before grabbing a second joystick. This time the liquid canon aimed high over the Talon, firing two blasts of sticky tar in attempt to force the car into the speed trap and flipping.

Julia was starting to feel confident when suddenly another hail of bullet fire sounded from behind her. Julia looked over her shoulder to see another Car - specifically a military APV - laying down a hurricane of gun fire on her back window. The glass may be bullet proof, but it was indestructible. She couldn't afford for it to take that kind of punishment for an extended period of time.

Several curses about having to deal with such a heavily armored vehicle so early on slipped from her mouth as Julia returned both hands to her steering wheel. A wider side street was coming up and Julia took the turn, slamming her breaks and yanking the wheel to fishtail into it. Thankfully the tires were large and heavy enough to keep any top heaviness from flipping her. Even so, Julia wasted no time and grabbed a third joystick, the flamethrower turned and let loose a jet of fire onto the APV as it passed. It seemed to work at first, one of the side-gunners let go of their gun when they saw the flames. But suddenly a Blast of water -a hydro pump- blasted out of vehicle and Julia realized the side-gunner had been a blastoise, who had popped his head out of a porthole on the top of the APV to block the fire with his own water.

This time Julia's curses were more audible, but she kept her head. Her car wasn't moving right now. Taking her second hand off the wheel, she grabbed the first joystick again -the light machine gun - and while the blastoise was busy keeping the flames off Julia let off a rain of bullets on him. The poor guy seemed to know what had hit him. As the machine started up the turtle tried to dive down into the safety of the armored car but it was too late. Julia noted at least five bullets striking the Blastoise, mostly in the head.

Kolm (blastoise) of the Sentinel Corporation has been eliminated

But Julia didn't have time to confirm or celebrate the death. The APV Was turning to come after her with vengeance. Julia's hands were back on her wheel as she stepped on the gas pedal. The Iron Giant slammed through a shabby wooden structure, using the collapsing building to put some distance between herself and the APV as she sped back down the way she'd come when she had been chasing the Talon.



Theo Mysrky (quilava)
Steel Scavengers
Boat on Liaocrack River
Affected RP'ers: Velocity

Theo opened his eyes as someone began feeling his bag. Panic seized him, believing it was his captor, Theo struggled fruitlessly again to get out of his bonds. But in the next second the bag was suddenly slit open, and Theo starred up into the face of a Greninja. Was this his kidnapper? Hadn't it been an infernape who knocked him out? What was going on? Theo squirmed away as best he could, but before he got anywhere the Greninja spoke.

"I am Mazer of Prankster Platoon, and your Salvation is at hand."

Theo stopped squirming. Salvation? Prankster Platoon? He'd heard of them before but didn't know much of anything. Just that the group opposed the Black Lotus for their own reasons. Taking a closer look at the Greninja Theo noted the Neon jacket. Was that one of their symbols or something? Neon wasn't exactly a normal color. Still, this pokemon seemed to be rescuing him, he had said his salvation was at hand after all.

From the rest of the ship Theo could hear the sounds of fighting. Whoever this Greninja was with seemed to be attacking the ship's crew. He defintiely heard the sounds of powerful fire blasts being fired off, but there weren't any tell tale screams of people who'd been burned. What was going on out there?

Theo attempted to sit up, failed due his tied paws, tried to say something, but it was muffled by the cloth gag. Annoyed that he'd been freed from the bag but was still so helpless, he tired to breath fire in an attempt to burn the gag away. But it had been soaked in water -or something- tat kept it from burning. In the end all he could do was look up at the Greninja and hoped his expression was enough to get the water pokemon to free him from his binds.

[LKWayvern]

Laura Bette Kaye the Umbreon
Prankster Platoon
Blood Pit Arena, Lytala City
Affected RPers: Velocity

“Wh-what do you mean you can’t see?” Laura demanded. “That’s impossible, luxrays have the best vision out of all pokemon!”

Aria and Kirrun had been maintaining a Protect barrier around the group so they might have a few minutes to recover, and decide whether the Platoon would withdraw or not.

Since the Electric type had woken up, he had been either lost in thought, or silently listening to the others. He hadn’t spoken since his revelation that he had lost sight in both eyes. He had been blind in his left eye since he had been a shinx cub the scar there was evidence of that. But a total lack of sight had left him reeling. One of the senses he had depended on most had simply vanished.

Laura had leapt up and began pacing the moment that she had heard this. She had called it impossible, she had claimed it was merely blood in his eyes, merely concussion. But she and Aria had did their best to clear the drying blood away from the fur on Xavier’s face-- his green eyes still stared at nothing.

“Miss, he means he’s blind,” Aria spoke.

The umbreon shook her head. This couldn’t be happening. “Can’t be! Give him the healing berries! You brought them, right?” Laura asked.

“You’d need a miracle berry from Shay’s Garden in order to heal this,” Aria said, drily. “Some things can’t be healed by berries and moves. Lost limbs, lost sight, lost life--”

“But we need his x-ray vision! How else would we se--” Laura paused. Her mind was reeling a mile a minute, they needed to survive this, she had to get out alive. They needed to know what was coming. An idea had crossed her mind. “Aria, you’re scouting now.”

Aria’s tendrils spread out as she prepared to argue, before she considered this again. “My intangibility? Very well.”

“Laura,” Kirrun spoke up.

“Kirrun, I need you over Xavier, guide him and make sure nothing gets him from behind--”

“Laura. Xavier’s blind and this is terrible but I have been in contact with Jacobin and I have yet worse news,” Kirrun responded. “The Grand burning Lady is on the field!”

Laura’s eyes widened. Then she allowed her gaze to fall to the ground. “I see.”

“What.” The quiet, disbelieving voice was enough to turn the heads of every party member in the source’s direction. Xavier had spoken again.

His eyes were still sightless, but he was positively glowering at Kirrun. “I don’t want to lose two senses in one day, but I know I heard you wrong.”

“I did not mispeak! Nor did I lie!” Kirrun hissed.

Xavier’s fur fluffed up, as it tended to do when he was irritated.

Laura’s tail swished with worry as she approached him. “Are you oka--”

“Better than you’ll be if we run into that Renegade-spawn,” Xavier spat.

“I take offense to that,” Aria interjected.

A pulse of electricity jolted through Xavier’s claws. “I don’t care about your insane culty deity s*** right now, Aria.” He bared his teeth. “We cannot face her now. Not like this. Kirrun, you will be Teleporting us out of he--”

“No.”

Xavier turned to the sound of Laura’s voice. “What did you say?”

“I told you, no,” Laura said.

“This isn’t a f***ing game, Laura. It never was,” he growled as he stood up.

“I know it’s not a game, the evidence is standing right in front of me!” Laura hissed. Her rings began to glow slightly in response to her anger. “What do you think’s going on in my head? I’m not stupid, and I’m not a child. I know exactly what I’m doing, you know! Just how clear of a message do you think it’ll send if the face of the Pranksters takes out one of the most dangerous of those Scrap-collectors?”

“You know very well that the Grand Lady is far more than a scrap collector. She’s a she-demon in battle, and to her, you ARE a child. She has been fighting and killing, since long before you got your new little hobby of sparring. You’ve have a little sip of blood. She’s been drinking jugs of the stuff. You fought off a couple thugs, sparred a broken helioptile, and had a meltdown when a watchog ambushed you. You won’t last two seconds in battle with her.”

“I-- you act like I’ll be alone!” Laura wailed.

She knew Xavier was making good points. She knew she wasn’t the best fighter. They’d basically won that encounter with the Thundercrash Gang-- half of their group dead, the worst casualty on their side was Xavier losing his other eye!

But that was better than Laura felt many people had expected. And even if it had been… Even if she could just barely handle their group…

The Steel Scavengers-- and the Seven Knights affiliated with them, were in a totally different league. Of all the resistance groups in Liao, the Steel Scavengers were most certainly one of the most renowned, largely thanks to the Knights.

She should run away. She’d already gotten her hands relatively bloody. She should simply bow out, and leave the other combatants to their bloodshed and brutality.

And yet…

Laura tried not to let herself get into arguments. She got into them, and then all the went on in her mind was that she had to win. No one ever made a memorable performance by picking up and leaving halfway through a broadcast.

Laura was prideful. She had made a commitment coming to here, this Bloodpit Arena, choosing to contend in these games. She couldn’t let go of the idea of victory. She couldn’t dismiss the possibility that she might be able to injure the Scavengers because they had allowed one of their members into this competition.

And she couldn’t back out of an argument.

And she could be damn stubborn if she pleased.

“I’m not going to be alone in fighting her,” Laura hissed. “I, quite obviously, have a team with me.”

“You have a crazy mismagius, a picky claydol, and a crippled luxray,” Xavier retorted. “And you are a comedian umbreon. I’m sure the bloodknight’s shaking in her boots.”

Aria and Kirrun exchanged a look.

Laura’s rings blazed to brighter light. “Xavier, your head’s filled with tauross*** right now! We’ve got a ghost and a psychic, two of the freaking most useful types! We’ve got telepathy and teleportation both! We’ve got a crazy and pissed off umbreon with some of the most annoying moves known to pokemonkind who can teleport herself out of this Arena, or away from you if Kirrun decides to do that before I’m ready, if she damn well pleases! And we! Have you!!”

Laura stepped up to her friend, jabbing her muzzle right into Xavier’s face. Her shout dropped to a hoarse but intense whisper. “We have Xavier f***ing Feurra. Son of mercenary Feurric Feurra, my self-appointed bodyguard and friend. The fluff-for-brains that I refuse to let him call himself crippled! You’re more than your f***ing eyesight, idiot! You’re a cat, and cats can still hear and see! I’m not letting you use your blindness as an excuse to boot us out of the tournament, it’s an inconvenience, but you grew up already blind in one eye! We’re taking this, we’re rolling with it, we’re setting out to murder the Grand Lady.”

Xavier backed up as Laura spat out her monologue in his face. His claws had sparked again, he’d wanted to protest… But he could think of nothing to say.

The umbreon whirled to face Kirrun. “Kirrun! Reply to Jacobin now, these exact words! Tell him I don’t care what the other Pranksters think. I’m the one in the Arena, and we are going to obliterate the Grand Lady! And if Mazer or anyone else has any objections to that, they can come into the Arena and take it up with me face to arcdamn face!”

“Laura, you’re being moronic and unreasonable!” Aria hissed.

“I’ve got a f***ing Psychic Jewel. If things go south I can just leave. But that’s a big if. We’re on the hunt for those Scrappers, and I have just the way to get that Grand Lady on her own to kill her,” Laura said, a cocky grin lighting her face just as much as her glowing rings did. “Let the Protect down! The game’s at last afoot!”

As Kirrun sent the message to Jacobin, Aria let down the barriers, and the Pranksters were on the move once more.

[Chakramaster]

Tina Volts the Pikachu
Prankster Platoon
Tempest Festival Stadium Stands

Tina had calmed down. Yet the surrounding area around her only grew louder as the event was getting closer to starting. Yet she couldn't help, but feeling like there's more going on here than she had anticipated.

"I really wonder what's happening at HQ now. Arceus I really need to plan these things out better. I do one thing for myself and get lost in everything else." Tina reached under her seat and picked up her water.

The crowd has already spilled blood, had a murders, some drunk and passed out on the ground. Some being mugged and possibly even kidnapped. Tina tilts her head back and drinks what is left of her water.

"Ugh, I need something stronger. At this rate I'll lose my mind in this crowd." Tina sighs. "I need a drink...". Tina gets up from her place and makes her way to any open shop in the stadium. As she turns a corner her ears twitch. Just behind her to her right is a Plusle backed against a wall. An angry looking Infernape hovering over it. She wanted to turn away and ignore it. Not cause a scene more than it already it. In public it's bad to get involved in things that is not yours. She couldn't. As she turned away the Plusle noticed her and cried out for help.

"Miss! Please help me!" As it reached its arm it to her. The Infernape uses a strong right punch just over the Plusle's head. It just narrowly managed to dodge by sliding down. Cowering more in fear and tears falling from its face as it cries for help. The Infernape looks Tina's way.

"If you know what's good for you little Pikachu, then you'd better turn that head of yours and walk the other way!" It said as he held out his first. Creating a small flame around it in anger.

Tina let out a small sigh. Turning her head and making a smug face and looking to her side. "While I'd love to. One, I don't like idiots like you telling ME what to do. I'm tired of being told to do this or that by bullies, thugs, or likewise."

"Wh...did you just..!"

"I-DI-OT! Yes, I did. Now I'll say this just once. Just let the kid go." Tina said as she fully turned around and faced the two. "Im not normally one to get involved with someone else's issues, but YOU brought me into this. Now, don't blame me if you get hurt. Sometimes I...lose myself."

"Haha, you? Hurt me? How can a small, weak little girl like you-" Tina had rushed him using her speed with Quick Attack. Turning her tail a shiny silver. Jumping at him and pinning him against the wall. His eyes had widened as she had taken him by surprise. Yet grin.

"Is that all?" He says with a smug look expecting more

Tina closes her eyes and opens them back slightly. Leaving a cocky grin to her face was she grabs him by his ears. Whispering. "Not by a long shot. Don't take me so lightly." The Plusle beside them slowly backing away while still on its back. Keeping watch on the two. Starting to see sparks come from Tina's cheeks. Expecting a classic lightning show, but instead...

Tina opens wide and bites into the Infernape's neck, hard. It screams out in pain." Why you bi-" Tina bites harder. Curling her tail around him and using her claws to dig into his back. Using iron tail to keep a more firm hold around him once in place. Beginning to expel sparks from her body. The flame around the Infernape get stronger with each passing second. Starting to spread around Tina. She feels it spread around her. She takes her paw to her neck and lightly presses against it. A very dim light shines for a moment and only a brief moment. The flames go down, the Inferapes eyes go cold as it slowly falls to the ground, what looks to be like smoke or steam surrounding them. The Plusle still scared as it goes quiet. Those around them paying little attention other than a few laughing at what they think became of the Pikachu.

Another small shine comes from the smoke as Tina comes out as it clears. "I tried to tell him. Bullies and thugs like him never learn." Tina slowly walks over to the Plusle as the Infernape mutters over to Tina. Clearly eaten. "J-just what are you...and how did you..?.".

"Wouldn't you like to know" Tina says as she chuck her empty metal canister of water at him. Making her way and offering her paw to the Plusle. "You okay?"

[Noblejanobii]

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

Saying all hell broke loose once the event had begun was a complete and utter understatement. Athena had watched the Blood Pit Arena on television before, but witnessing it in real time was something else. Still, she had to remain calm and who the mierda was she kidding! Yeah, staying calm was not happening in this situation. That was a load of tauros crap if Athena had ever heard of it.

"You all right back there, Athena?" The decidueye glanced down, noticing Masamune appeared a bit concerned as her somewhat tense position. Notching an arrow, Athena nodded her head at the braviary. She couldn't lose focus. This was already an extremely risky tactic, Athena was unsure as to how long it would work before people started to notice. Probably not long.

Athena watched as Perceval slithered through the field, drawing closer to the area where the Black Lotus Empire were currently splattering an Independent's guts across the field. The Gracidea Order members had yet to clash with anyone, but that would not last long. Athena hoped to hear swears alongside her name tonight.

Taking a quick count of all those currently airborne, Athena took aim and waited. Out of the corner of her eye, Athena noticed the camera starting to follow she and Masamune. Time seemed to slow as her focus narrowed to her airborne target. Were Brunswick and Liliane watching her right now? Could Marx see her? The whole world was focused on her right now, and what were they about to see? Blood.

Perceval summoned two leaf blades and looked up at Athena. She exhaled, and the skies began to shower arrows. Taking aim at all the airborne targets, Athena began to fire rapid fire spirit shackles, intending to chain those that she struck to their own shadows, meaning, they'd be grounded until the effects wore off. Accuracy didn't matter at this point, quantity over quality. After thirty or so rapid fire shots, Athena backflipped off Masamune and the two birds dove towards the carnage in the arena.

Athena immediately spotted one of her victims, poor little Eki the lampent from the Sentinel Corps was sewn to the ground by one of Athena's arrows. Tucking her black wings in, Athena angled herself towards Eki, a purple black aura festering around her wings. Eki saw Athena coming and prepped a flame burst, but that was his end. Athena suddenly vanished and reappeared in front of Eki, delivering a close range sucker punch to his bulb. His head shattered upon impact, attracting the attention of his teammates nearby, but Athena was already up in the air again, Masamune flying close below her prepared to fire up a protect if necessary.

Eki the Lampent has been eliminated.

Now came the grudge match. Adrenaline pumped through Athena's body as her eyes landed on Phoebe. There was no hydregion in this group, but that didn't mean these guys were clueless to the situation. Perhaps if she strangled that kako of a charizard long enough they would realize they had kidnapped the wrong child. Perceval was already leading the other members of the Gracidea Order in for a charge against the members of the Black Lotus Empire. That had been the plan all along. There was going to be no mercy against this team, not with one of their own in their clutches. They wanted her to participate, so she was going to participate.

Axiom and Perceval took the point position of the formation, with Jackson taking a sniper position off to the side behind some wall debris. As for Shiva and Saber, they were preparing a pincer attack from the sides, ready to charge in once Axiom and Perceval made them take the bait.

Would the fighters representing the Black Lotus Empire be confused as to why the Gracidea Order was going for an all out street fight with these guys? The audience may never know, but Athena sure hoped these guys did. Even if they didn't give up any information, perhaps it would send a message to the queen of egos that she had crossed a line.

As Athena and the others drew closer to the Black Lotus Empire group, Athena flew out of the way of a flame burst that had obviously been fired in her direction. She had no doubt that salazzle from the Sentinel Corps had shot it at her. As the flames exploded in the air, Athena winced, smaller flames grazing her feathers. Oh well, it was no big deal. So long as she did not take a wound to the abdomen, Athena was fine, and she plenty of protection there to ensure that. Too bad so sad for those out to kill her today, but Athena was not risking a "two for the price of one" kill.

Perceval raised his green head as he slithered closer. He hissed while releasing a leaf storm at the Black Lotus Empire members to grab their attention. Axiom raised his golden claws and stepped forward, growling at them, as he dared them to approach. Jackson prepared an ice beam, ready to snipe the first poor unfortunate soul that drew too close to Axiom and Perceval. That was her cue. With murder in her eyes, Athena hoped this charizard knew who she was. Athena spun and shot off, attempting to land a brave bird attack on Phoebe before she knew what hit her.

The grudge match had officially begun.

[Neo Emolga]

DAY 1
Active Events: Blood Pit Arena (Qualifying Round), Dread Metal Destruction Derby (Qualyfing Round)

---------

BLOOD PIT ARENA SCOREBOARD
A.K.A. Who's surviving and who's dead.

BLACK LOTUS EMPIRE

Phoebe - Charizard
Vekker - Ursaring
Grec - Gengar
Vurden - Volcarona
Unloc - Luxray
Janos - Breloom
Shandal - Passimian
STEEL SCAVENGERS

Grand Lady - Tsareena
Gloria - Goodra
Kaytoo the Toxapex
Iolande - Gastrodon
Unnamed - Manectric
Ioseph - Beheeyem
Durkon - Clefable
THE GRACIDEA ORDER

Athena - Decidueye
Perceval - Serperior
Axiom - Hakamo-o
Shiva - Medicham
Saber - Lurantis
Jackson - Alolan Ninetales
Masamune - Braviary
THE PRANKSTER PLATOON

Laura - Umbreon
Xavier - Luxray
Kirrun - Claydol
Aria - Mismagius
THUNDERCRASH GANG

Dycee - Alolan Raichu
Cartaka - Sylveon
Modkus - Hydreigon
Vink - Watchog
Voris - Alakazam
Ryke - Swellow
Soland - Excadrill
SENTINEL CORPORATON

Vesh - Tyranitar
Lotec - Mawile
Marsha - Salazzle
Decca - Torracat
Swill - Glaceon
Eki - Lampent
Julver - Kommo-o
THE SHADOW MASK

Muno - Swampert
Burrin - Accelgor
Zill - Mimikyu
INDEPENDENTS

Bax - Togedemaru
Goreg - Nidoking
Zengar - Noivern
Jabis - Vikavolt

Phoebe Helsden the Charizard
Black Lotus - Onyx Circle
Blood Pit Arena, Lytala City
Affected RPers: Death's Spook, Noblejanobii, LKWayvern

Already, the Blood Pit had turned into a complete slaughterhouse. And there was no telling when the mayhem would stop, but there were still many survivors. That number, however, was going to drop faster and faster.

Phoebe had noticed the fight was going to end up being a three-way between Black Lotus, Gracidea, and Sentinel. While she would have loved for both Sentinel and Gracidea to slaughter each other and make her job easier, there was no guarantee that would happen without the proper "engineering."

As Phoebe noticed, Gracidea was fighting aggressively. Down below, her squad had encountered Perceval the Serperior unleashing the leaf storm attack upon their position. Several of the sharp leaves struck the group, forcing the Black Lotus squad to temporarily break formation. Most of the wounds struck off the armor while others did cause several lacerations that definitely caught the squad's attention. In response, Janos the Breloom and Vekker the Ursaring laid down suppressing fire on the enemy position while Vurden took to the air and targeted the grass type directly with a Heat Wave attack, cornering and smothering the grass snake with fire. With nowhere to run and now suddenly surrounded by fire, it gave Grec an opportunity.

With a dark and devilish grin, he caught the Serperior in the sights of his EinCaliber sniper rifle, and fired. The round blasted from the chamber and seared through the air before burrowing in and out of the snake's head, leaving a massive hole. The sheer anti-material force of the round also caused almost a quarter of Perceval's head to be blasted off as well.

Perceval the Serperior (Gracidea Order) has been eliminated.

All the while, the bloodshed and the mortal carnage was simply orgasmic to the enthralled crowd...

In the sudden chaos, Phoebe tried to redirect her squad away from the bottleneck, but at that moment, Athena had attacked the flying fire lizard with a Brave Bird attack. To Phoebe, she had to give the Decidueye credit. It was a well-played distraction and she knew she wouldn't be able to dodge out of the way entirely.

The strike was brutal and Phoebe could feel it slam even past her armor. It was a painful grazing blow that stole a breath out of her hot, fiery lungs, but she was far from finished.

"Clever kakó b***h, aren't you?" Phoebe snarled menacingly with a dark smile. "I hope that was worth dying for!"

Knowing the Decidueye was at too close of a range to consider shooting at with the rocket launcher, the Charizard knew there was more than one way to burn the owl down to nothing. She opted for an Inferno attack, hoping to shoot down the Gracidea Order's squad leader in a fireball of death.


Sotka Aldaros the Weavile
Black Lotus - Onyx Circle
Concealed Technical Operations Post, Lytala City Underground
Affected RPers: Death's Spook, Noblejanobii, LKWayvern

Sitting before a large array of computers and video screens in an underground bunker beneath the city, Sotka watched admirably as she had a view of everything going on in the Blood Pit arena. So far, things were going quite well. Black Lotus seemed to be enjoying themselves while everyone else, especially the notorious Thundercrash Gang, was being brutalized.

She had watched Goreg the Nidoking attempt to lay an ambush on Sentinel Corporation's squad, which she thought was amusing. She wasn't sure whether to watch more of the Thundercrash Gang get brutalized, or see what was going to unfold here, but she was glad when she got to witness live on her console screens just how the heavy Nidoking had taken what looked like a large, custom-built shotgun and fired right at Vesh, the Sentinel Corporation squadleader. Sotka was actually amused and taken back how the explosive slug round hit the Tyranitar on the back of the head and caused it to explode into chunks, instantly putting Vesh to death.

Vesh the Tyranitar (Sentinel Corporation) has been eliminated.

Swill the Glaceon had immediately tried to respond, but before she was able to strike at the Nidoking, Goreg took aim at her and fired, instantly blowing apart the Glaceon's lower jaw and neck, nearly decapitating her in the process. Immediately, she couldn't breathe and couldn't do anything except become instantly horrified at the fact she would be dead in less than a minute as her blood was spilling out at a traumatic rate.

Swill the Glaceon (Sentinel Corporation) has been eliminated.

Sotka smirked at the rage that had fired up in the rest of the squad. They ignored everything and everyone else as the rest of them were overtaken by sheer madness and anger and had all attacked Goreg at once, diving on the Nidoking like an angry swarm of voracious zombies. Marsha the Salazzle was furious enough to rip the Nidoking's arm off and even beat him to death with it before Decca incinerated him and had to force everyone to step back as the fiery consuming flames devoured the mangled carcass of Goreg.

Goreg the Nidoking (Independent) has been eliminated.

But she decided she wanted to have some more fun with it. She could see why some Pokémon really enjoyed this. It was brutal. The stakes were the highest they could be. But she knew there was one thing that wouldn't change.

She turned back to her screens and used her tracking devices. No one would see this coming. And yet, it was still so exciting.

She tracked down where the Steel Scavengers were and the infamous Grand Lady that had decided to actually partake in this slaughterfest. Sotka was quite intrigued the Lady would actually subject herself to this kind of madness, but she wasn't the slightest bit fazed by it. It was her mistake and it would be even better if the Grand Lady was actually killed in this. Just as the Steel Scavengers squad had pulverized Jabis the Vikavolt, she decided it might be good if... a few more of them would just go out and die.

She pressed a button and suddenly, the ground beneath Kaytoo the Toxapex and Ioseph the Beheeyem suddenly exploded from underneath them as if a landmine had gone off. Instantly, both of them were reduced to nothing more than a gored shower of blood and body parts.

Kaytoo the Toxapex (Steel Scavengers) has been eliminated.
Ioseph the Beheeyem (Steel Scavengers) has been eliminated.

The crowd went wild, but the truth was, no one in the stands could tell if it was a landmine that went off or a remotely detonated explosive charge. It certainly wouldn't have been the first time the Blood Pit had been rigged with traps. But it wouldn't be the first time they had been engineered to strike at everyone except Black Lotus's finest.

"You could have waited on that one," Willow the Lopunny spoke to her on her headset. "A few more seconds and you could have killed the Grand Lady with that."

"Psh, there's better ways for that kakó to die," Sotka smiled. "I know what I'm doing."

As the fight went on, she saw that the Shadow Mask team was closing in on the Prankster Platoon, which seemed to have stopped fighting for a moment. As soon as the smaller squad of Muno the Swampert, Burrin the Accelgor, and Zill the Mimikyu spotted them, they pushed forward to attack. Sotka decided to let them have some fun with each other. She instead focused more on the Gracidea Order, which seemed to have something definitely out for Black Lotus. Well, of course they would. Liao's infamous band of eco-terrorists were always up to something interesting. As soon as Sotka checked her surveillance computers and the arena location they were at on her heads up display, she grinned as her claw hovered over a blood-red square button.

"Just squishing a bug," Sotka smirked as she pressed a button on the console.

Underneath Axiom the Hakamo-o, the remote explosive charge had detonated, instantly dismembering him and causing blood, sand, and debris to blast into the air.

Axiom the Hakamo-o (Gracidea Order) has been eliminated.

Once again, the crowd would be hard-pressed to distinguish a bad luck booby trap with an engineered explosive device that had gone off remotely, especially from their distance. Meanwhile, there was so much going on at once that even if anyone did care more about the nature of the death rather than how it happened, it wasn't like anyone could head down there to do investigative work.

"Where's the fun in playing fair?" Sotka smirked.


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]

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

SLAYER'S RIDE [Armored Buggy]

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

Jucden wanted Gile's head on a plate, or at least blown up into chunks and pieces. However, just as he prepared to launch another grenade at the Sandslash, the Enigma Zero bulldozer tore its way through a row of derelict concrete buildings and headed right for the pickup truck, throwing torn stone and rubble in all directions like a confetti popper.

"DAMN YOU TO-" Gile shouted just moments before the bulldozer slammed into the truck. Gile was instantly ripped in half from the shovel, but would still survive for a few more minutes. However, moments later, the Enigma Zero crushed and flatted the remnants of the Lockdown, permanently making Gile and Rudy and their vehicle into one inseparable pancake of crushed metal, flesh, and sinew.

Gile the Sandslash (Independent) has been eliminated.

"He was mine, you pissing prick!" Jucden snarled angrily, knowing he had Gile sitting like an intoxicated Psyduck just wanting to be blown up. "I'll murder you and your whole family for stealing that!"

Despite wanting to just slaughter everyone in Nightmarch and Jucden's feverish thirst for revenge, Jaze knew better than to send the Ripfire right at the Enigma Zero. Dread Metal was also about endurance and they needed to last as long as possible. While he drove away, Jucden launched a flurry of grenades as the pursuing bulldozer. Meanwhile, Nightmarch was fully intent on making Jucden another victim. Olock and Jugnul had opened fire on the Ripfire, causing bullet hole scars in the vehicle's armor as the bullets tore and bit away at it.

Explosions from the grenade launcher did some damage to the Enigma Zero, but not enough. It was frustrating to Jucden, because to the psychotic Ratticate, Nightmarch was a bunch of nobodies and he didn't want to waste the more admirable ordinance on just them. Had it been Gracidea, the Scavengers, or the Platoon, he would have loved to make short work of them with some of his more special toys, but this was different. This was using your best ammo to kill just a pesky Zubat. No, no, he needed to save the good stuff for something special.

"Let someone else hassle with these bastards!" Jucden snapped at Jaze as he took cover to dodge the incoming fire from Olock and Jugnul.

Meanwhile on the other side of the slums...

Sevren had caught sight of the Screaming Talon and Mevvan's dark eyes lit up when he spotted the first target that would make for a handsome slaughter. Mevvan licked his dark, crocodile lips as he readied his machine gun. All the while, Sevren sped the hearse toward the zip car. It was going to be a very fast, high speeds pursuit, but it was not something Sevren and Mevvan were strangers to.

"Platoon," Mevvan laughed. "Start a timer. I wanna see how long this takessss."

"Gladly," Sevren replied, pressing a button on a skull clock sitting on the dashboard to log in how quickly Mevvan could obliterate his next target. This had always been one of their favorite pastimes.

A loud, hammering and thrashing raged through the slums as Mevvan's machine gun spat one high-velocity round after another at the Screaming Talon. And all the while, he laughed and laughed.

As the mayhem raged through the slums...

Varkot's smile never left him as the Peaceslayer rampaged its way through the slums, stopping at nothing as the massive, armored monster truck could not be stopped by even the larger shanties and concrete buildings. Everything was crushed under the massive treads, leaving rubble, debris, and destruction in their wake.

"Less slums, more enemies!" Xed demanded, thinking the only thing Vorkot cared about was just flattening the whole slum sector.

"Pipe down, I'm allowed to have some fun with this, you oversized psycho puppy!" Vorkot laughed.

Out of the blue, Kikel the Pancham had been driving by, trying to avoid crashing into the buildings and shanties as his Destiny's End motorcycle sped through the cities, trying to hunt down the next target. However, Kikel didn't bank on running into a monster truck of all things. Just to add insult to injury, Vorkot slammed his foot on the accelerator. There was nowhere for Kikel to run and it was too tight to turn around. His only choice was to abandon the motorcycle to survive... but it was a choice that came too late. Both the Pancham and the motorcycle could not escape the massive treads of the Peaceslayer, and both of them were reduced to nothing but a pile of squashed metal and crushed body parts.

Kikel the Pancham (Independent) was eliminated.

Xed never even knew they ran over a competitor even though Vorkot was laughing the entire time.

Soon enough, after rampaging their way through another inner city street and running over a market stand in the process, they spotted The Iron Giant. Vorkot's eyes lit up with anticipation as he imagined the satisfaction he would get after he got to try crushing something with a little more substance than Kikel's useless crotch-rocket.

Slamming on the accelerator, the Peaceslayer raged toward The Iron Giant while Xed, perched happily on top, unleashed a preamble torrent of flamethrower fire at the armored tank car. He could just imagine the flaming husk of the car just seconds before it was squashed like a bug under the heavy treads of the Peaceslayer.

"Death's gotten sick of waiting for you, kakó!" Xed shouted with psychotic glee as the frizzled Arcanine spat fire, flames, and blazing hot carnage at The Iron Giant.

Tonight, truly the reaper of Pokémon would be hard at work.

[VeloJello]

Jones Sandstrider the Heliolisk
Prankster Platoon
Lotus Den Slums
Affected RPers: Morzone (Julia), Neo Emolga (Blackout crew).

“Got somebody on our tail! It’s clumsy, but it’s big with a lot of guns! Here’s where it gets real!”

Jones didn’t answer Tony’s warning; she reacted. “Clumsy” meant “sharpest turns you can make” and “big” meant “find a smaller inroad if you can”. “Guns” was a warning strictly for Cheshire, as far as Jones was concerned.

While the second action item was impossible, the first definitely was. Jones drove like mad, taking corners at speeds that were just barely manageable for even an agile, aerodynamic vehicle like the Talon. She wasn’t sure if she would be able to outspeed whatever tank was chasing them - some of the bigger vehicles were alarmingly speedy - but she was pretty sure she could outmaneuver it.

“They’re taking aim! Chesh, do your thing! Jones, brace!”

Having expected a rain of grenades like the vehicle before had used, Jones was surprised to hear machine gun fire bouncing off of one of Cheshire’s shield walls. Not that she minded; gunfire didn’t shake the Talon the way grenades did. But -

“Jones, they’re aiming ahead!” This time it was Cheshire shouting the warning. “Ahead! Veer right!”

It occurred to Jones to protest that that would send her crashing through the slums, but she didn’t say so. Cheshire knew his stuff, after all. So rather than arguing, she pulled the steering wheel to the right, her frill flaring as she drove the vehicle through abandoned buildings while thick globs of tar landed on the road where her course would have taken her. Frankly, she wasn’t sure that this was any better. The collateral damage was completely pointless, and moreover, she was only losing very little less speed than she would’ve lost in that tar. “More coming?”

There was a split second’s pause - they needed to do better; every second the Talon spent trying to plow through these buildings was a second it spent losing its momentum - then Tony called back, “Nope, the kako got involved with someone else.”

“You’re good to turn back onto the road!” Cheshire called, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Jones was already doing literally exactly that. She’d had the good fortune to find a side street, one that was thin enough that the bigger vehicles would have to plow through buildings in order to get to her.

“Direction?”

“Acceptable!” Cheshire responded. “Keep following this road until it rejoins the main track! We lost the big one for now!”

Jones nodded, feeling tense. It took only a few seconds to get back to the main road - but that backfired pretty much immediately. The Talon shook a bit as a few bullets bit into its rear end, and then another barrier flashed to life in the rearview mirror, bright orange but flashing white and slowly turning red as machine gun shells from some sort of black car bounced off it.

“Tony!” Cheshire snapped. “Can’t hold this! Do something! Jones, do you see him? Maneuvers!”

“On it, babe!” There was a heavy clanking as Tony’s gun pivoted, turning back toward their attacker. More fiery grenades shot out of the Talon and toward the black car, though Jones didn’t bother waiting to see if they hit. She sped up sharply and veered around a vehicle that bore a vague resemblance to a semi truck, sandwiching it between her and her attacker. A ghost Marowak glared sharply in her eye, and she glared right back as she steered back toward it, scraping against its side and attempting to push it into the line of fire. The barrier behind the Talon faded, replaced by the sound of the vehicle’s own gunfire as Cheshire took up his gun, a heavy sniper-like turret with a fire rate that wasn’t fast, but enough firepower to pierce most armor. Hopefully the Meowstic would recover his strength quickly; the Talon wasn’t the best at taking hits, and Cheshire was infinitely more useful with his shielding than he was at gun.

Then again, Jones reflected, the semi-truck she was shoving towards the offending vehicle would probably be pretty decent, as far as armor went.

Mazer Pratten the Greninja
Prankster Platoon (De Facto Leader)
Connive, City Center -> Liaocrack River
Affected RPers: Morzone (Theo).

Oh. Oops. The Quilava was still tied up. How had he missed that?

“Forgive my lapse, darling,” said Mazer. The technique used to make a Water Shuriken could easily be used to create a simpler, more knifelike blade, which Mazer did in order to cut the Quilava’s bonds. “I get a bit excited sometimes, you know, a bit carried away.” When he was finished, he stepped back, “Now, darling, I’m going to exercise a bit of trust, here. My associates and I can get you free of these Black Lotus wretches, but in exchange, you’re going to have to not stab us in the back.” He smiled and began to walk out of the hold, stepping over the Machamp’s corpse, “Now, come, let us go and wreak vengeance on your captors!” He paused. “Oh, and don’t mind my Feraligatr associate when you see him. He’s… well, he’s mostly savage, but he won’t attack you unless provoked.” He probably wouldn’t, but Mazer kept the middle part to himself.

Out on the deck, things were going about the way Mazer had expected - Krum had been pried off of the Infernape, whom Tatia was standing guard over now, and was instead now happily snacking on a Glaceon who’d had the good fortune to die before Krum began his meal. The Platoon ship, a highlighter-pink monstrosity covered in crude pictures of burning lotus blossoms, had dropped anchor and was sitting idly on the river just a short ways away.

“Monkey’s still alive,” said Tatia gruffly, shaking the mostly-conscious Infernape by the bloodstained fur on his back. “Seemed like the ringleader, so I saved him for you, Maze. Figured you’d want to know what this is about, given all the trouble we went to.”

Mazer smiled and clapped his hands together. “So kind of you, Tatia, love!” he said. He then turned back toward the Quilava’s direction. “This might be better if you handled it, though, darling. You might have a better idea of what in Liao they actually wanted from you.”

[LKWayvern]

Laura Bette Kaye the Umbreon
Prankster Platoon
Bloodpit Arena, Lytala City
Affected RPers: Neo Emolga Velocity

“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Aria hissed in Laura’s ear. “Because I am this close to simply abandoning you, if you can Teleport out so easily--”

“Don’t expect to do any business with the Platoon after if you do desert,” Laura said.

“I don’t anyway. I’m leaving your psychotic ways behi--”

The sound of rushing water echoed down the corridors as something barrelled into Kirrun with a Waterfall, causing both to crash into Aria. The mismagius let out a scream that was part pain, part surprise, and part frustration as she quickly went intangible.

Kirrun’s eyes glowed brilliantly as he tried throwing his oppressor off of him, but the swampert that had tackled him spat up a mud bomb over his eyes before whipping out a gun that looked like it belonged on the hood of an armored vehicle and unloading a round into Kirrun’s face. The bullet went right through the Claydol’s eye in into his brain, killing him instantly and splattering his killer with a mixture of mud, jelly, and blood.

Kirrun the Claydol(Prankster Platoon) has been eliminated.

Simultaneous to this, Burrin the accelgor pounced on Xavier, viciously slashing the luxray’s shoulder with a wickedly serrated knife. Xavier retaliated instantly, clamping down hard on Burrin’s entire hand was a Fire Fang, until it blacked so much that Xavier managed to separate it from the Bug’s body and spit it and the knife aside.

To Burrin’s credit, the Bug didn’t scream, or even make a peep. Burrin simply jerked backwards, before grabbing Xavier with his remaining hand which began glowing a soothing green color as Giga Drain was used. Xavier let out a retching sound.

Xavier allowed electricity to pulse through his claws and he used his paws to shove Burrin away, as he prepared an Iron Tail. He quickly whirled around, wildly beating his foe with his taill, not even bothering to aim. Burrin frantically let loose a Bug Buzz, and while Xavier flattened his ears in an attempt to blot out the noise, he refused to be deterred.

Xavier whirled back around, flames dancing about his fangs as he lunged at the accelgor again, pinning the insect down to the ground before making another move.

Burrin tried headbutting Xavier with a Quick Attack, but the only response that Xavier had for him was another Fire Fang, buried deeply in Burrin’s skull. Burrin jerked once, then fell limp until death.

Burrin the Accelgor(Shadow Mask) has been eliminated.

Aria Kantra rematerialized, eyes shining green as she conjured multiple Magical Leaves, sending them to plague Muno. They all scored direct hits across the swampert’s back, and he turned to glare angrily at the spectre.

However, it was not Muno who retaliated against Aria. Zill the mimikyu leaped up, a rapid Shadow Sneak striking Aria long before she could dodge. Aria scowled at the cloaked ghost, hurling a volley of Shadow Balls down on her. Zill was totally unfazed, the sickening crack! of a Disguise shattering causing Laura and Xavier to wince in mild disgust. It sounded almost exactly like a spine snapping.

Zill let forth a maniacal cackle, slapping Aria with an Astonish and following up with a punishing Wood Hammer. Aria lay stunned on the ground for a split second before coming to her senses, becoming intangible and allowing herself to sink below the Arena’s floor, mere moments before Muno’s bullets left holes where she had just been. Humiliated and badly injured, Aria Kantra fled the Bloodpit Arena.

Aria the mismagius(Prankster Platoon) has left the battlefield.

The remaining members of the Shadow Mask turned their attention to the remaining two members of the Prankster Platoon.

Zill descended upon Laura with Play Rough, only to run into a Protect created by the umbreon. Laura glared viciously at Zill, her fangs out as she obviously prepared a Toxic. The Protect dropped, and the moment it did Laura unleashed a stream of Toxic directly into Zill’s eyes.

Zill let out an annoyed shriek. “YEERGH! Kako scum!”

Laura didn’t paused a moment, she went down hard upon the cloaked sprite with an Iron Tail. Again, and again, and again, before turning around and plunging her twin knives into Zill again, just to make sure.

Zill the mimikyu(Shadow Mask) has been eliminated.

Xavier had not been faring so well.

The moment Zill had claimed Laura as her adversary, Muno had turned back to Xavier. He had punched Xavier clear into a wall with a Hammer Arm, temporarily stunning the Electric type, and there was the audible cracking of bones heard. Xavier slid the the floor, before scrambling to his feet and letting electricity blaze through his rings and claws as brightly as he could manage, blinding Muno. And Xavier was racing towards where he had been hurled from, pouncing and attacking with Giga Impact, causing Muno to slide back several inches.

Muno took out his oversized gun once more, moving to pour lead into Xavier’s head, when suddenly the tibia and fibula in his right leg were shattered by Laura’s well-timed Foul Play attack. He crumpled to the ground, falling on top of Xavier, and Laura leaped on top of him. Laura winced as she heard more ominous cracking from Xavier.

Even though Muno was badly injured, he raised up an arm, swinging wildly and managing to clout Laura on the side. She exhaled rapidly as pain exploded all along that side. She thought maybe she had cracked a rib.

Laura leaped off Muno, moving around to where she could see his throat, and quickly slit it with her knife.

Muno the swampert(Shadow Mask) has been eliminated.

Laura knew her work was not yet done.

She tapped into the powers of her Blaze Jewel once more, eyes glowing bright silver as she used telekinesis to throw Muno’s corpse off of Xavier. She sent a Heal Pulse into Xavier, and again.

“Laura?” he asked. “...Is everyone else…?”

Laura sat down. Her muscles were burning, her heart couldn’t stop pounding. She used Moonlight on herself. “The Shadow Mask ambushed us. They’re all dead. But they got Kirrun. And Aria ran.” She hung her head. “...We’re the only Pranksters left. Are you…?”

“I’m… I’ll be fine. Cracked ribs, I think. Solicc hit me hard,” Xavier said. “Are… We need to leave.”

“No. We’ve decimated two teams already. We are going to win this.”

“We’ve already qualified for the finals just by being here! You need to f***ing survive! Teleport us out!” Xavier hissed.

“No. We’ve come so far already,” Laura snapped back. “Can you stand?”

“No.”

“Liar.”

Xavier sighed, and slowly stood up. “Laura. You want to make a f***ing statement? Look around. We killed half the Thundercrash Gang. We killed all the Shadow Mask. And now there’s only us left-- and it’s going to be hard to defend ourselves with just two.”

Laura thought for a second. “...We can make it. I’ll guide you.”

Xavier shook his head. “I’m not moving unless it’s to leave.”

“Xavier, we can--”

“No. We cannot. It’s lucky that we got this far. We. Are. Leaving. I know you can be stubborn but I’m done indulging you, and if you keep trying to stay I am knocking you out and digging a tunnel out of here, and I will drag you along,” Xavier growled.

Laura thought for a moment.

“Fine,” she said.

She trotted over to Xavier, and teleported them both to Connive.

Laura the Umbreon and Xavier the Luxray(Prankster Platoon) have left the battlefield.

Laura used her Psychic Blaze Jewel one last time, to send a telepathic message. ‘Hey Jacobin, we’re back… We need better healing…’

[Noblejanobii]

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

"Clever kakó b***h, aren't you?" Phoebe snarled menacingly with a dark smile. "I hope that was worth dying for!"

"I hope stealing my son was worth dying for," Athena spat back, spreading her wings to regain her balance in the air as the brave bird attack took its toll. She kept her facade up as she grimaced on the inside from the pain, blue electricity crackling across her body as part of the recoil. That had really been a stupid move on her part, but too late to change it now. Athena felt the air around her get heavier and could instantly tell someone had put gravity into effect on the field. For now, it was isolated, but it could and would spread to ground her within minutes if the castor kept it up. Still, she had to stay close to Phoebe. Athena knew very well she could not out maneuver a rocket launcher, so it was time for close combat.

And then she heard Perceval scream. Athena's head snapped towards the ground where she saw the serperior was pinned under a constant barrage of scorching winds. Where was Axiom! Wasn't he supposed to be keeping the fire off Perceval? Why wasn't that kako doing his job? Sure it was the dragon’s first fight but they all had roles to play! Athena started to dive in to help Perceval, completely willing to leave her back open if it meant saving him. But as she started her descent, Athena turned just in time to see Perceval’s head explode. The green snake’s body collapsed as his soul escaped into the great beyond. Athena froze up, not sure how to react. Just minutes ago he had been giving her a pep talk about Marx and now he was dead. He had come to help her rescue her son and now he had paid the ultimate price. Well if she wasn't mad, before, she was now. Was that why it was so hot?

“Athena! Pay attention!” Masamune shouted from behind her as he used tailwind in an attempt to keep them in the air and to possibly smolder the flames of the coming inferno some. Athena snapped out of her thoughts and realized she was about to be struck with a close range inferno. Maybe she had not thought this close range thing through. “Athena!” Masamune grabbed onto her back and formed a tight blue protect bubble around them, spinning them so that Masamune’s armored back was towards the attack. The braviary began to pant as cracks began to spread across the protest from the brunt of the inferno. “Stay focused! Perceval knew what he was getting into. Kick their *sses and find Marx!” Then the protect shattered and Masamune took the rest of the inferno to the back. He was wearing leather armor but Athena could smell flesh burning. The inferno had ripped straight through it and burned off most of the braviary's beautiful red plumage. Masamune released Athena’s back and plummeted into the growing mist cloud below.

Athena quickly unsheathed her knife and used the remnants of the tailwind to shoot forward at Phoebe. This was for Perceval, this was for Marx. A nightmarish aura began to enshroud her black wings again as she prepared another sucker punch. This kako was going down.

Below, Jackson quickly shifting locations to follow the bullet. Powering down his ice beam, the alolan ninetales laid down close to the ground and used his tails to unpack the sniper rifle that had been tied to his side. Jackson couldn't get a clear shot at his target, so he'd have to shoot and go. And go he did. The alolan ninetales fired his ExChiller 3000 then released a heavy mist across the field to cover his retreat back to another wall of debris to hide behind. As he stirred up his mist, Jackson felt a smirk creep across his face as his bullet found its target. Slamming straight between the eyes of the ghost, the gengar never even knew what hit him. That was for Perceval.

Grec the Gengar of the Black Lotus Empite has been eliminated.

As Jackson began to retreat, Masamune crashed to the ground beside him. The braviary was alive but barely. With his light blue tails, Jackson lifted Masamune onto his back and took shelter. Using a weak ice beam, he froze over the burn wound on Masamune’s back, hoping to not hurt the bird too much more in the process. The braviary grunted and ate some of the rawst berries that the ice kitsune offered to him to numb the pain. Taking one of the pistols that Jackson carried, like the arms dealer he was, the braviary began to offer cover fire for Shiva and Saber.

Saber opened her eyes as the ground shook from a sudden explosion. An arm landed in front of her, but the lurantis did not let the dismembered claws of Axiom distract her. It seemed unlikely he had stepped on a landmine given he has been frozen there for a minute before it went off but all things were possible. As a misty fog began to envelop their side of the battlefield, Saber’s eyes glowed a bright yellow-green and she released a high powered solar beam that ripped across the battlefield towards her opponents. Shiva took that opportunity to start firing the automatic she had been carrying with her in order to provide some cover for Saber until the solar beam finished. Saber quickly ducked behind some debris before leaping over it and attempting to slice off Janos the Breloom’s head with an x-scissors. Eye for an eye, man for a man. If two Gracidea Order members fell, well then Saber was going to make sure two Black Lotus members met their untimely graves as well.

[Morzone]

(why is everyone being called Kako all of a sudden? where did this come from?)

Julia
Steel Scavengers
Lytala city Slums
Affected RP'ers: Neo Emolga

"Damn APV" Julia muttered, glancing back over her shoulder again. The sentinel corporation were still chasing her. You would have thought Julia had killed one of their members or something. Thankfully the crumbling building had slowed them down enough to put a fair amount of distance between them. The bullet fire was easier to avoid now, and she was too far away for them to use any pokemon moves. Julia took whatever turns she could, trying to shake them, but her Bulky Iron Giant was just as heavy weighted as their APV and as such their turning capacity easily matched her own. She'd already fired several blots of tar to slow them down, but they were too persistent to stop, it only maintained the good distance between them.

"Come on... I need a way to turn them around on the defense-" Julia muttered to herself, glaring out back behind her, but before the thought could finish making its way out of her mouth a thunderous crashing noise up ahead caught her attention. It was the peaceslayer, that behemoth Black Lotus monster truck exploded its way out of a building it had just finished crushing under its enormous tires. Even worse, it seemed to have set its eyes on her Iron Giant. The Weavile cursed loudly. That was some kind of bullshit final-boss entrance there.

But she wasn't being given time to think, the peaceslayer had started to move. Behind her, Julia could hear the APV still closing in as well. What were they doing? Trying to squish her? She well, she wasn't going to just sit here and get roasted by the oncoming flames. Giant armored behemoth cars were notorious for heating up quickly, if she took that fire too long, the engine would give out and she'd bake like this was the death wish event.

[b]Grabbing the wheel in one hand and joystick 3 in another, Julia stepped on the gas and began to speed toward the oncoming monster truck. All the while she returned fire with her own flamethrower, trying as best she could to cancel out the arcanine's flames with her own mechanical ones. If only she had about 3 more arms... The Peaceslayer was obviously trying to crush her after burning her car up. If she'd been able to Julia would have used her tar cannon to blot cover the monster truck's windshield and blot out the driver's vision., but the arcanine's fire was too oppresive. The bright flames made it difficult to aim at the pokemon itself, so she couldn't shoot with her machine gun.

This only left her with trying to fend off the flames while making a counter attack. They'd be over confident, with their enormous size, and try to run her over, but that was going to be their downfall if, miraculously, things worked out in Julia's favor. Julia sped up, charging at the Peaceslayer as it charged at her, blocking the arcanine's fire as best she could with a spew of flame from her own flamethrower. Watch the timing... closer... closer... Now! A second or two before impact, Julia ranked the wheel to the right, changing course from what had been a head-on collision to utilize a much underestimated part of the iron giant: the plow on the front. The plow, shaped similar to the wedge ramp seen on older trains, was going to be her secret weapon. With the turn The Iron Giant Slammed the Side of the plow into the front left wheel of the peaceslayer, an angle at which would hopefully provide Maximum lift to the tire. But that wasn't all. As Julia yanked the wheel, she released the flamethrower and grabbed the fourth joystick, and aiming upward at the now close range underbelly of the peaceslayer, fired two rounds of of her close range shotgun shrapnel cannon into where she believed the Monster truck's gas tank should be.

All She could do now was hope the Swerve-ramp trick had given the tire enough lift not to crush the whole left side of her Car, and that the gas tank actually had been where she'd aimed. Julia couldn't worry about the APV anymore, she'd hedged all her bets on this maneuver. Arceus almighty What had she gotten herself into?

[b]Theo Myrsky
Steel Scavengers
Boat on Liaocrack River
Affected RP'ers: Velocity

As if I'd be stupid enough to attack a bunch of water types on a boat in the middle of a river. Theo thought as he followed the Greninja out onto the main deck. Still... a savage feraligatr? Were these people crazy? It was common knowledge that wild pokemon -or savage pokemon- were impossible to control or reason with, but if these guys had found a way to reign in a savage pokemon... Theo shivered. This group sounded extremely dangerous.

The greninja was talking to one of its teammates... it seemed they'd kept the Infernape alive to question him. Well Theo supposed that made sense, he'd never heard of a black lotus agent kidnapping rather than killing before.

“This might be better if you handled it, though, darling. You might have a better idea of what in Liao they actually wanted from you.” Mazer spoke to Theo, which surprised the quilava slightly. He hadn't expected to be allowed to question his captor. Maybe he had the wrong idea about these people. They had saved him after all. The quilava approached the beaten and bedraggled monkey, trying to look braver than he felt. Even if his enemy was now utterly defeated, the looming presence of the feraligatr, as well as Mazer and the others, seemed to dwarf Theo's small figure. Still, he had a hunch about what this was about...

"You did this because I said his name right? Why did you kidnap me, instead of just killing like every other person in your black organization?" He demanded of the infernape.

The infernape spat at Theo's feet in reply. This didn't particularly offend Theo, compared to what he thought of this guy it was probably good manners to spit.

"Tell Me! You're already going to regret what you did to my Valkryrie, I'd highly suggest not adding this to the list." Theo warned, adding a meaningful glance toward the feraligatr. Of course Theo had no control over what the water-gator did or didn't do to the Lotus fire pokemon, but that was a minor detail the infernape didn't need to know.

"Alright! Alright! I was sent to find information on him, yes! But The queen was getting impatient, she wanted to get answers on him personally, so I was told to kidnap one of his team members for her to torture." The infernape said quickly, giving the feraligatr a fearful look, "I'm sorry ok? I was just following orders!"

Theo shook his head in exasperation at the Infernape's feeble attempt to beg for mercy. Still... for the queen to want answers personally... What had Anthony done?

[LKWayvern]

Laura Bette Kaye the Umbreon
Prankster Platoon
Connive, City Center
Affected RPers: None

It didn’t take long for Laura to get the medical aid she had requested.

Soon, a cincinno with mussed-up looking fur and a natu entered. The cincinno took one look at Xavier’s eyes, and snapped his fingers. The small Psychic leapt onto Xavier, and both teleported.

The cincinno turned to look at Laura. “Another doctor’ll be with ya. I need ta look at yer friend. Don’t go wanderin’ off.”

Laura waited about five more minutes for a wormadam in a sand cloak to enter, and squint at her. “You that Laura girl?”

“That’s me,” she confirmed.

The wormadam clucked her tongue. “Kadda. Come.”

Laura assumed that ‘Kadda’ was the wormadam’s name, and followed her down a corridor.

Once in the room, Kadda began examining Laura’s injuries. “I take it ya won, since you’re here an’ all,” she remarked.

Laura nodded.

“When ‘e gets back, Mazer’s gonna chew you out.”

“He’s not here?” Laura asked.

“Nah. Some kidnapping by the Black Lotus ‘e wanted ta check out.”

“Kidnapping?” Laura scrunched up her nose in thought. “That’s rare.”

“S’why he wanted ta check it out in the first place!” Kadda replied. “Have t’agree with him. Very, very lucky ya only walked away with this. I seen better ‘mons ‘en you get blown straight ta Yveltal’s lands!”

Laura sighed as Kadda started applying a sitrus salve to her side, the healing berry’s power seeming to seep into her skin and straight into the injury. “Yeah. Xavier wouldn’t let me forget that.”

“Lucky he likes ya. If ‘e hadn’t been there, well, things woulda been way tougher fer ya to deal with!” the bagworm pokemon cackled. “There. Ya got a day b’fore th’final round. Not nearly enough time ta heal completely, but better’n nothin’, I guess.”

Laura nodded as Kadda left the room. She sighed, glancing around before spotting an old looking television and a remote.

She whacked a button on the remote, causing the screen to come to life with an explosion of static.

She squinted. Half the screen was blotted out by television snow, but she was fairly certain that this was the Dreadmetal Destruction Derby. Wasn’t Jones in this? She couldn’t really tell what vehicle was Jones’, but there was an awful lot of fire on the screen.

She whacked another button. The channel switched to the Bloodpit Arena. Or, that’s what it claimed to be. It was a mix of blank white and static. Possibly cruddy quality, possibly someone used Blizzard.

She sighed, wondering how Xavier was. She was very certain he wouldn’t die, but he was still in way worse condition than she…

...Oh, crap, there’d only be two Pranksters in the arena in the finals. She prayed Yveltal would even out the playing field a little, to give them a better chance of not dying.

[Death's Spook]

The Grand Lady (Tsareena)
Steel Scavengers
The Blood Pit Arena
Affected RPers: Noblejanobii Neo Emolga

The Lady had waited for her opportunity, and paid the price for it.

She was hoping that by establishing a defensive position, she would have been able to allow her foes to whittle themselves down before going after one of her prizes in this field.

But as she had walked towards a more ideal position (some morons were shouting about obliterating her, this was really quite annoying), her posse in tow, intuition sent a little warning. She was about to warn her group to be on guard for traps when Kaytoo and Ioseph exploded before her eyes.

Rut, The Grand Lady had thought to herself, and they were the among the ones I least suspected. It’s possible it was one of them, regardless, but I doubt it. And that took one my escape routes, too.

Presently, her group is stealthily approaching the battle between the Black Lotus and the others. The Lady is quite annoyed: she has yet to accomplish any of her objectives in coming here, and all that she has to show for risking her life in this rutting insanity is a dead Vikavolt that everyone watching already forgot about. She decides to take the risk of tying her little blue scarf around her neck: she is suspicious that she is about to need mobility more than enough to compensate for the drawbacks.

The effects of Gravity lift, and The Lady holds up a hand before it can be reapplied. She notices a Ninetales-- one adapted to the harsh cold of a mountaintop, but definitely a Ninetales-- hiding behind a piece of debris, getting ready to take aim at the battlefield once more, with his back to her. A member of the Gracidea Order, not the Black Lotus, but The Lady is not the type to split hairs about which enemies present a threat to her. She throws her shield, a massive thing about as wide across as she is tall, and hits the Ninetales in question.

Dazed and surprised, he wheels around, only for the Lady’s golden sword to follow her shield. Between her prodigious strength, his inherent weakness to the steel of the blade, and the typing advantage she is keeping under wraps, subtly guiding the metal weapons, the Ninetales’s unpleasant surprise becomes his last.

Jackson the Alola Ninetales (Gracidea Order) is eliminated.

Behind her, Gloria has gotten the general idea of what The Lady is attempting to accomplish, and she fires a Draco Meteor directly at the position of the Black Lotus Ursaring, taking advantage of the surprise. The Breloom and a Lurantis from the Order are quite possibly caught in the periphery, but as the scent of a Power Herb restores Gloria to full strength, it becomes clear that the bear is the one who caught the brunt of the blast. Iolande applies an Earth Power, and as the ground erupts underneath the Ursaring, it takes his life in quite the parallel to the blast that took Kaytoo and Ioseph.

Vekker the Ursaring (Black Lotus) is eliminated.

“Now then,” the Tsareena announces, “Who wishes to try for the honor of striking down The Grand Lady?”

Come on, take the bait…

And he did.

The Lady’s scarf does its job, allowing her to move with much greater speed than she would be able to otherwise as a Moonblast from behind destroys her previous position. The knife from her hair is reflexively thrown and hits her target dead on before he has the chance to react.

Durkon the Clefable (Steel Scavengers) has been eliminated

“A pity,” says the Lady, “I owe Arlington some money. I did not think the mole was you.”

The whole time, the Grand Lady ensures that her awareness of the battlefield was undiminished. It would not do to be ambushed, after all.


Anthony Carpenter-Weaver (Mimikyu)
Steel Scavengers (Leader)
The Blood Pit Arena Stands (hidden)
Affected RPers: The Nonexistent Tazz

Anthony scuttles about in the shadows of the stands. The Lady is putting her life on the line for opportunities such as this one, and it would not do to dishonor her by not making the most of it.

Arlington is some distance away, easy to spot but difficult to identify: Sharpedo were not common on land, but they were far from unique, and Arlington’s easygoing demeanor and seemingly constant focus on “getting some” (as the shark artlessly put it once) makes it easy to be less than guarded talking to him. Presently, no less than six other Pokemon were doing just that, and Anthony was certain that if at least some of them were polled before today, they would swear that they would never try to get into the pants of a Sharpedo.

Anthony loves his friend, really, but the Mimikyu married young and has been shamelessly head over metaphorical heels for his wife even longer than that, which makes Arlington’s lifestyle seem a little strange.

Of course, making the mistake of assuming that Arlington is a clueless idiot with only a focus on satisfying his baser urges is quite stupid, as several new wallets belonging to the shark attest. Honestly, the Scavengers have more money than they know what to do with, but when Anthony asked about the Sharpedo’s sticky fingers in spite of all of their money, Arlington grinned and retorted that liberating rich, stupid idiots of their possessions was a public good, no matter the personal profits.

Of course, Arlington’s general demeanor is just as much calculated as it is natural: Anthony realized early on in their friendship that Arlington is genuinely always sticky fingered and willing to get down and dirty, but that the Sharpedo is aware of how people perceive him and ergo how to use that perception. Anthony’s subordinate is far more intelligent than people give him credit for, and he is currently using that considerable intelligence to point out to Anthony just who is “in the business.” Between the people Arlington has personally heard of or interacted with and “the look”, the shark is able to identify more people than the number Anthony could be possible for the number of spies and assassins in the world.

In between, Anthony tries not to avert his gaze too much from the unnecessary violence of the blood pit arena. He only catches glimpses between his distaste and his position hidden in the shadows, almost impossible to see (especially from the sniper positions he noticed almost immediately upon glancing at them). But he does notice when the mole among his friend’s companions reveals himself, and the bloody price the Clefable pays for daring to cross her.

Over their earpieces, Anthony privately queries Arlington, not wishing to distract the Lady or inform Isana of his question, “I still don’t understand why The Lady decided to take all the potential moles with her into the arena. Could we not have done this in a more controlled and less risky manner?”

Arlington snorts, but keeps his voice down, “Yeah, but it also would be slower. Plus, the documents I found revealed that there was only one mole among those guys, and we already cleared one of them. We figured the Lady and her definite ally could easily remove one mole from the equation.” Pause. “As we just saw.”

“But why here, in such a sensitive circumstance?”

Arlington gives a small laugh, “Because she’s been taking notes from me.” At Anthony’s noise of confusion, Arlington continues, “Think about The Grand Lady for a moment, Anthony, from an outside perspective. To you, she’s your closest friend whose life story you probably know by heart as she tearfully but privately confessed it to you when you unabashedly extended all the sympathy you were capable of to her.” Anthony makes a small snort at the somewhat accurate comment: she certainly was not tearful when she told him about herself. “But to everyone else outside of the Knights, she’s the person egotistical enough to run around calling herself The Grand Lady but dangerous enough that what would have been a cliche to laugh at in almost anyone else’s case is now a title that inspires fear, which makes it look less like ego and more like a justified confidence in her abilities. By very publicly and personally executing her spy, she shows that she’s powerful and cunning enough that she uses her enemies’ own bloodsports to remove traitors in a public spectacle. It increases fear and wariness in her presence. On a different note, that chick is definitely in the business.”

Anthony is quite surprised when Arlington points out a Lilligant. As a species, they were quite targeted, either by idiots looking for a facsimile of Taiya to take out their anger on or by fringe Black Lotus operatives trying to ensure that no one with the temerity to look like their queen survives the circumstance.

If she’s a Lilligant, and an assassin…

Well, she certainly merits a conversation.

Anthony suspects, by the relative health of her leaves, that this Lilligant is part of the Gracidea Order. But that just meant that he had leverage on her.

Arlington gives a flirty wink at her (earning her a slew of glares from some of his hangers on). Behind her, Anthony manifests a shadowy hand, gently poking her with it before beckoning her to a place within the shadows. As one of the most wanted people alive, it would not do to be seen so publicly in the Black Lotus’s stronghold, so he makes sure his appearance is obscured by the shadows. He is hoping that using a giant hand made of shadows to merely beckon her rather than eviscerate her is enough to communicate that the conversation to follow is not optional.

OoC: For the record, I foreshadowed the Lady's Choice Scarf in quite a few places, from her SU to the post where she mentions her, quote, "blue ascot" and the advantages it gives her. Also, if someone could help me with dealing with the pain of mentioning others (which only sometimes seems to work for me), I'll give them a million dollars (not really)

[The Nonexistent Tazz]

'Nora' the Lilligant
The Gracedia Order
Lytala city, the Blood Pit Arena Stands
Affected RPers: Death's Spook (definitely directly), possibly others. (I bolded what I did for a good reason... I think.)


Nora's eyes gazed upon the battle unfolding. The Steel Scavengers were exploiting field effects as the Grand Lady took her first kill-and at that moment Nora's memory clicked into place like ball bearings. Oh good alph. That Lady. And that would mean the Mimikyu in the stands would be that Carpenter-Weaver. The less they knew of Petrox, the better. Sadly, or maybe not so sadly for Nora, almost immediately succeeding their first kill two of their own was detonated by a landmine.

The Gracedia Order was moving in on the Black Lotus, themselves moving in onto the Sentinel Corporation team-and as first blood between Athena and Pheobe started being exchanged, as a bullet came straight through Perceval's head and eliminating him, and another Gracedia Order fellow got killed by more sudden landmines-wait.

Nora's mind buzzed-a contradiction in some earlier factoid. Something was not entirely right with that. That Gracedia Order guy-the Axiom fellow-he was... Wasn't he? No, he was-he hadn't stepped on there and immediately caused the explosion. He was holed up there for a good while doing some on-point havoc. If it was a legitimate landmine, that wouldn't have happened-it would have detonated the instant he stepped onto it, not later, right? Nora didn't think most landmines were wired up to a timer-no, no, definitely not. Traps started instantly when the game went on. Nora knew from a random factoid she picked up-and as far as Nora was concerned, a part of spywork was coalescing random factoids into actual concrete facts. In this case... There was a record for the fastest death in the arena-2 seconds in to a booby trapped cache, wired up to-you guessed it-a landmine.

Nora soundly concluded that the odds of that being a landmine-as opposed to, say, a remotely detonated explosive-were near to zero.

She wasn't the only one. Any idiot with a brain that had actually been watching would realize that was unlikely to be a landmine, at least in that one instance. Shame that the whole crowd were bloody zombies for how much they thought, though! If anyone noticed, they didn't comment-which was smart. Not yet would they speak of it, but the information had been brought to the table, and anyone who connected the dots and watched the footage over would realize there was an error in events. An unlikely thing. Doubtless all three of the major rebellion factions, and soon everyone that wasn't sticking their heads up their own hinds (or perhaps their ruts) for the Black Lotus, would realize that the death of that poor Axiom chap was not to a landmine. There had always been things like that before-there was yet another, though this was perhaps one of the most blatant yet. Nora hadn't been paying too much attention to the other factions-she had low hopes to the Steel Scavengers high-armor playstyle. She wasn't tough enough to emulate it either way, not strong enough to heave the armor around herself. Perhaps the 'landmine' that killed two of them was likewise not a landmine at all.

"Whoever detonated that bomb was out of a job," Nora snidely thought to herself.

The closest people got to speaking of the event was no less than one of the Black Lotus goons behind her commenting on how he preferred the booby traps to not just be spewed about randomly-took away from the real action, like the Gracedia Order and Black Lotus Captains fighting it out in midair. Nora had to admit that was definitely the big thing going on right now. The other was the surprisingly lethal Prankster Platoon, as the Prankster Platoon, after an impressive showing of crippling the Thundercrash gang and annihilating the Shadow Mask group, were forced to back away with only two members left in the fight, the rest phasing through or dying beforehand. So that was that team entirely out of the running, with only one elimination on a four-man team, one of which appeared to be dead-on blind after a certain attack (and that wasn't the dead one). Nora made sure to recall that the Mismagius phased through the floor, and ergo could still be lurking about elsewhere-

-and was not too pleasantly surprised about suddenly being tapped in the back by a shadowy hand, roughly the same time a rather unusual Sharpedo was giving her some flirtatious looks. The Sharpedo was unusual because he was, as they used to say, a player of the game. And lurking dangerously close to her purse.

Nora shifted her purse to Yvonne's lap after a quick check of contents (nothing was stolen). It would take a stupider soul to steal her gun where it was holstered-she'd yell, and it was near to a constant in this world that beefy men weren't going to ignore a charming young lady screaming her head off right next to them. Yvonne's glance at the Sharpedo proved that no-one was confused (except the Rotom) about what was going on here. "Uh, what's happening, and who's he?" The Rotom said.

"Err, nothing, just a meeting with someone else..." Yvonne said as Nora nodded and walked off.

"Charming little fish, aren't we?" Nora said, taking a breath of the cigar. "And charming little handymon associate, from what I've heard," she adds, as an observation. though, Nora hardly heard the claw as much as felt it on her skin.

Once behind the stands and thoroughly in the shadows... "... Let's skip the pleasantries. I don't need to know every name to know who moves around here," Nora said. "I'm ready to do both kinds of dirty dancing, preferably the rough before the pleasurable, if you get what I mean," Nora added. Innuendo meets business talk-Nora knew that business came before pleasure, but both near to each other was just the jackpot. And spywork could be said to be a kind of dirty dancing...

Nora attempted to huff out a ring of cigar smoke. It didn't work out, of course, more like a crescent moon, but that was neither here nor there. Nora's senses trembled for additional presences. She expected the Mimikyu-perhaps it was the Mismagius, though, and she was overthinking it. But why would a Mismagius know Shadow Claw? Nora didn't know if they could even learn that. Maybe it was another type of Ghost-type? Nora was fairly sure it was a Mimikyu, though... Fairly sure.

Nora respected scientists for one reason; Science relied upon theory in much the manner of a spy. Nothing was straightforwards and a simple answer typically masked a more complicated situation, and everything, in a sense, was assumption. Spywork was merely more high-risk assumption.

[LKWayvern]

Laura Bette Kaye the Umbreon
Prankster Platoon
Connive, City Center
Affected RPers: None

Laura didn’t realize that she had fallen asleep until she was awoken by the sound of yelling.

“I don’t f***ing care what you say, he’s going home with me and if you don’t like that, you can go f*** a slugma for all I care!”

“Miss, shut up, you’re--!”

“Clairia, you’re yelling louder than Raikou’s f***ing thunder! Calm the f*** down!”

“No, Xavier, I won’t calm the f*** down until I--”

“Can you just scram? You’re makin’ an arc-awful rackett!”

“Oh, I’ll leave for sure! Come on Xavier!”

“No.”

“No!?”

It was quite easy for Laura to follow the noises. The scene that Laura walked in on was… rather unexpected. There was Xavier, face and sides bandaged up as he reclined in a comfortable looking nest. There was the cincinno doctor who had been with him. The cincinno was standing between Xavier and the third occupant of the room, a shiny luxio with a Blaze Jewel dangling around her neck. The luxio’s eyes were bright green-- matching exactly the shade that Xavier’s eyes were.

“Um… The hell’s up with the shouting?” Laura spoke up.

The two occupants of the room who weren’t blind turned to look at her. The luxio glared. Xavier simply swivelled his ears in her direction.

The luxio stalked towards Laura. Laura couldn’t help but notice the agitated sparks flicking off her claws at every step.

“You’re the kako that brought my brother into that damnable arena?” the luxio hissed. “F***. You.”

“Good afternoon to you too,” Laura sighed. “You act like I forced him at gunpoint to go in.”

“Don’t be stupid, little kit. If you’d done that, he would’ve ripped your throat out. But you damn well did make him stay in that cesspit hellhole and blinded him.”

“Are you sure he’s the only one who’s blind? ‘Cause last I checked it was a swampert from Shadow Mask that nearly blinded him-- do I look like I’m either of those things?” Laura snapped. “And I’m not a kit or kid or whatever! I’m your age!”

“You’re the reason he was in there in the first place!” the luxio yelled. “It doesn’t matter what arcdamn species you are, you’re f***ing responsible!”

“That’s not how it f***ing works, solicc! Or are you so mad you’d pin blame on any ratatta, sentret, and bidoof?” Laura retorted.

“I don’t needa pin blame on them, the braindead culprit’s right here!”

“Clairia, eh-f***ing-nough!” While they had been arguing, Xavier had stalked up next to them and batted the luxio, Clairia, aside. “Clairia, you know I’m blind, not deaf. And I’m in the room. I can still think, and speak, and take care of myself. You going hysterical and trying to assign blame and arguing with my friend is not going to bring my sight back, or resurrect Kirrun. Literally all it’s doing is giving me a headache.”

“Y… You’re still coming home! With me! I don’t want you in any more stupid Tempest games!” Clairia argued.

Xavier sighed. “Fine. If it’ll make you feel better, I’ll go home with you. But only after the doctor says that I can leave.”

“I-i want you home now though!” Clairia whined. “I’m…” She sighed, letting herself slump. “Xavier, you have no idea how worried I was about you. It’s been so hard to get in contact with you-- and then suddenly I see you in the arcdamn Tempest Festival. I see you in the games famed for deaths so gory that loved ones can’t even recognize some of the bodies most of the time. And I see you getting trounced by some buff swampert and I drop everything and race to the fastest transport to Connive I can think of ‘cause you’re running with the Platoon now, and here’s their base… And all I can do is pray to Xerneas that you’ll turn up here, and not in a bodybag…”

Xavier sighed, curling his tail around his younger sister. “Clairia, I can take care of myself. Wha-- yes, I’ll sit down now, okay!” The cincinno doctor had been furiously tugging at Xavier and gesturing at the bed. Xavier sighed, padding back over to it and laying down. “Ya ruined a touching moment. Happy?”

“Very,” the cincinno responded, drily.

Laura leaned against the doorway. “I don’t suppose you’d be up for Field of Screams then, Xavier? And I’m not asking you, Clara, I know your answer.”

Laura could feel the fur on the back of her neck prickling from Clairia’s deathglare. “Clairia.”

“Clairia. Whatever.”

“Absolutely f***ing not,” the cincinno growled.

“What he said. But less aggressive,” Xavier agreed.

Laura nodded. An idea crossed her mind. She looked over to Clairia, a huge grin on her face. “Hey… Clairia…”

An irritated look crossed the luxio’s face. “No.”

“Come on, in this one not everyone has to kill everyone else to win!” Laura reasoned.

“I said no. I’m not crazy strong like my brother, and I’m not just plain crazy like you,” Clairia huffed.

Laura deflated. “Well. Xavier’s out, Aria’s gone, Kirrun’s dead… Maybe I could find someone else? Bleh.”

Clairia thought for a moment. “I… Might know someone who was considering joining you Pranksters. And is pretty fast.”

Laura grinned. “Good. Great! And I’m sure I’ll find some others who want to join in with the race. I’d say it’s been a please, Clairia, but if I’m honest being deafened is never a pleasure!”

Clairia shrugged. “I just want hellweek to be over with. If he’s interested, he’ll probably be around the city square with me tomorrow morning. I’ll go call him.”

Clairia strode straight out of the room, pushing past Laura somewhat rudely. Laura turned to Xavier. “So, that’s you’re sister?”

Xavier nodded. “She’s usually sweet. She gets nasty when she’s worried, though.”

“I can tell,” Laura responded, drily.

[Noblejanobii]

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

Athena ducked and weaved around Phoebe, the decidueye constantly keeping on the move to avoid any oncoming attacks when she heard Masamune come over the coms.

"It's the Grand Lady. It's the Grand Burning Lady!" Athena paused in time to see Jackson get utterly destroyed by the representative from the Steel Scavengers. She winced, noticing Masamune was hiding right nearby, not moving so as to not give away his position.

"Masamune, I need you alive for later on. Shiva, Saber, and I can handle this. Get your burns treated. I'll meet you on the outside. Okay?" Athena saw Masamune look up at her and give her a really annoyed expression.

"I can handle myself, Athena. I'll be fine," he protested.

"Masamune, no, listen to the squad leader. Don't let your pride get in the way," Saber spat over the coms. The lurantis was a bit worse for wear from the attacks from the Steel Scavengers but she wasn't going to give in yet. "Let the girls have their fun. Besides, you're our best flier. We'll need you for later events."

"Saber-"

"Listen to them, Masamune!" Shiva chimed in as she charged a focus blast. "I'll provide the distraction and then get your feathered a** out of here." There was silence over the coms before Athena heard Masamune sigh.

"Fine. Stay safe. Stay alive. And give those Kakos hell for me."

"Hey Grand Lazy!" Shiva shouted. She fired a focus blast at the tsareena, purposely missing and striking the ground, sending up a large dust cloud. It mixed with the remnants of Jack's mist, creating quite the blinding view in the area.

Masamune dove to Jack's body and unclipped the alolan ninetales's bags. Dashing to Perceval's body, Masamune ripped off the serperior's necklace. The braviary managed to spot Axiom's arm nearby and grabbed the bracelet the dragon had been wearing. Holding the items in his beak, Masamune took off and using tailwind, the braviary escaped the stadium. He could hear the booing coming from behind as he fled, but it didn't phase him. Someone was going to have to deliver these belongings to their families. It was the right thing to do anyway.

Athena gave a slight sigh of relief as she saw Masamune leave. At least one person was safe. Expanding her black wings, a purple glint appeared in her eye and the sky began to rain purple arrows. She had been charging the attack for a while now, and it didn't last long, but if it struck down anyway, then it was worth it.

Several arrows struck down on the ground aimlessly, but Saber watched as two struck the weakened breloom nearby. He was immobilized. Good. Saber's blades suddenly turned white and she charged, slicing the breloom across the throat and stomach before dashing into the dust cloud. She watched from a shelter as the breloom's body split into three pieces.

Janos the Breloom has been eliminated.

The three women, now free of some of their opponents, regrouped around Saber. Staying close to the ground, they realized they had trouble. How were they supposed to confront the Black Lotus members without interruption from the Steel Scavengers?

Brunswick Pallas the Noivern
The Gracidea Order
His home in Jadebloom

((OOC: We interrupt your regularly scheduled program to bring you, a very distraught and worried husband.))

"And it appears that one of those cowardly kakos from the Gracidea Order is fleeing the arena! Perhaps the cherubi leaves finally wore off and the sucker came to his senses. Still, that leaves only three members of the Gracidea Order in the arena."

Brunswick could barely keep from biting off his claws in worry. Liliane was currently at daycare with several other children. She didn't need to see this. Brunswick didn't care much for events like this, but he couldn't not watch his wife fight in this. Still, it all happened so fast, Brunswick was having a hard time processing it all.

Perceval had gone out first. That noble hard-headed serperior had gone all out until the end. He had been like that during police operations as well. Charge in first, figure everything else out later. Brunswick made a mental note to visit the man's family later. He'd be leaving behind a beautiful roserade wife and four children. They probably would not take the news well.

And then Axiom went down. He was the youngest of the fighters, the only newbie in the arena. He had begged to be added to the team. Brunswick had personally trained the newbie and Axiom had been due to be a police officer within a year. Brunswick would have to inform the teenager's parents and younger siblings of the news. At least he died for a noble cause.

And then Jackson went down. That hit hard. He was leaving behind an Arcanine wife with twelve kids. They had adopted some of the kids, sure, but with two large litters plus the adopted kids, it had been Jackson that had brought in the money for the family. Aria was no doubt watching. She always had in the past. Jackson had competed in these events before with Perceval. He had always been an arms dealer and weapons junkie which has always brought him out of it alive, but apparently, that wasn't true this year.

It had been Masamune that fled the arena. Brunswick couldn't help but sigh in relief there. The man was a widower after all, and if he died, it would be painful for Brunswick to organize an adoption of his three children. The man was a previous client of Athena after all, so of course, Athena would insist they take on his kids since Masamune was practically family.

Still, that left Saber and Shiva. The two wives had no children and little-extended family beyond those within the Gracidea Order. Supposedly Shiva's parents were actually members of the Steel Scavengers. Perhaps they'd like to see the Grand Lady squash their rebel daughter. Saber would not be a fan of that though. The two were known for their skill in street fights in Jadeblossom for a reason.

Brunswick took a sip of his beer, attempting to still his nerves. He hoped Athena got whatever information she needed out of that charizard. It was extremely dangerous to fight a member of the Onyx Circle in general, but one with a type advantage? Athena was doing literally everything possible to make her husband worry. The noivern sent up a silent prayer and touched the necklace with one of Athena's feathers that hung around his neck. Why had he let her go? It should be him out there, not her. It wasn't just she at stake here. There were three lives at risk the minute Athena set foot in that arena.

"Please, make it out alive, Athena."

[Neo Emolga]

DAY 1
Active Events: Blood Pit Arena (Qualifying Round), Dread Metal Destruction Derby (Qualyfing Round)

---------

BLOOD PIT ARENA SCOREBOARD
A.K.A. Who's surviving and who's dead.

BLACK LOTUS EMPIRE

Phoebe - Charizard
Vekker - Ursaring
Grec - Gengar
Vurden - Volcarona
Unloc - Luxray
Janos - Breloom
Shandal - Passimian
STEEL SCAVENGERS

Grand Lady - Tsareena
Gloria - Goodra
Kaytoo the Toxapex
Iolande - Gastrodon
Unnamed - Manectric
Ioseph - Beheeyem
Durkon - Clefable
THE GRACIDEA ORDER

Athena - Decidueye
Perceval - Serperior
Axiom - Hakamo-o
Shiva - Medicham
Saber - Lurantis
Jackson - Alolan Ninetales
Masamune - Braviary (Left)
THE PRANKSTER PLATOON

Laura - Umbreon (Left)
Xavier - Luxray (Left)
Kirrun - Claydol
Aria - Mismagius (Left)
THUNDERCRASH GANG

Dycee - Alolan Raichu
Cartaka - Sylveon
Modkus - Hydreigon
Vink - Watchog
Voris - Alakazam
Ryke - Swellow
Soland - Excadrill
SENTINEL CORPORATON

Vesh - Tyranitar
Lotec - Mawile
Marsha - Salazzle
Decca - Torracat
Swill - Glaceon
Eki - Lampent
Julver - Kommo-o
THE SHADOW MASK

Muno - Swampert
Burrin - Accelgor
Zill - Mimikyu
INDEPENDENTS

Bax - Togedemaru
Goreg - Nidoking
Zengar - Noivern
Jabis - Vikavolt

Phoebe Helsden the Charizard
Black Lotus - Onyx Circle
Blood Pit Arena, Lytala City
Affected RPers: Death's Spook, Noblejanobii

Never before did Phoebe have a battle go so poorly while she was in charge. Vekker, Grec, and Janos were all dead under her command. It was not a foreign thing for a Black Lotus member to die, but it was a whole other story when three casualties were taken like this. Someone wasn't doing their job right and the rest of the squad was going to pay with fewer numbers to work with.

Gravity had forced Phoebe to get out of the air and land on the ground. She couldn't see who or what had triggered it, but she decided it was better to group up with the rest of the squad and at least try to retake what they had lost. It wasn't looking good, but it was far from over. But they were not going to take the Black Lotus sweep they were originally hoping for.

"Bloody hellhole," Shandal spat, clutching her Matador shotgun. "I hope you have some kind of backup plan because I highly doubt this is what you had in mind."

"It's not," Phoebe snarled, wondering if Shandal was questioning her judgment and leadership ability. "Vekker and Grec got carried away. They always do. I didn't think it would get them killed this time around, but it just did and there's no changing that. We're smarter than those two, however."

Vurden and Unloc nodded. It wasn't the greatest of situations, but it wasn't over. There was still a strong possibility they could win this. In the meantime, Phoebe had lost sight of Athena in the process of landing, and she snarled at the fact she didn't get to finish off the Decidueye the way she wanted. She wasn't going to get careless, however. The fight was between more than just the two of them and to target her specifically was asking to get killed by someone else.

All the while, Phoebe kept a watchful eye. There were more conflicts happening around the arena, but a good number of the competitors were already dead. There were, however, other stragglers that were lurking around. Some of them had been separated from the rest of their squad and Phoebe knew they would make for easy prey. She needed to get those numbers down so she could focus on some of the other, more noteworthy targets. She was confident the one known as the Grand Lady was still out there and alive and to Phoebe, that was unacceptable.

But just when she wasn't prepared for it, Athena had charged at Phoebe. Angry but not losing her rationality, Phoebe knew she didn't have time for a counter attack if she wanted to survive the Decidueye's strike. Her whole team had hit the deck by throwing themselves down at the sandy arena floor as soon as they could, and Phoebe only narrowly jumped down out of the way before Athena flew past her like a bullet. Had she been a second later, it would have been brutal and Pheobe would have had her wings dug out from her back. But when she got back up from throwing herself into the arena sand, she couldn't catch sight of the Decidueye to fire back at her with the rocket launcher or a fie attack.

"Keep a watch out for her because she's going to do that again!" Phoebe snarled.

Stupid, psycho kakó.

"We need to keep low," Vurden advised. "Don't head back into the air. She'll only see you and try that again."

Phoebe growled a bit, not liking the idea of taking the Volcarona's advice, but decided he was right. This wasn't a hunter versus prey game. This was simply hunter versus hunter and she needed to be smart about this.

Using hand signals, Phoebe decided to go with a stealth approach rather than heavy weapons one. Her sniper was also dead and it forced her to change her tactics and go close quarters. While navigating her way through the arena, she was closely followed by Vurden, Unloc, and Shandal. Unlike many of the other teams, she was still in it.

Coming down the side of the blood pit, she and her squad made their way through a debris pile, checking to see if they could find any stragglers. One in particular, the Sylveon from the Thundercrash Gang, had become separated and was now on her own. Her team got into attack position and prepared to cut down the gang's numbers even more. While they weren't the Lotus's greatest threat, she wanted them cleaned out so they would never get the chance.

Shandal, after being given the attack signal by Phoebe, closed in from behind and cut the distance between her and the Sylveon quickly before she had the Matador ready. Once she was in range, Shandal had the shotgun to the Sylveon's head, and she only had enough time to gasp before the Matador went off, blasting the Sylveon's head off her neck in an explosion of pieces.

Cartaka the Sylveon (Thundercrash Gang) has been eliminated.

To Phoebe, it was another one down, but there were still higher value targets out there. The Grand Lady. Athena. Though Phoebe wouldn't mind if the two of them killed each other, she would have liked it more if she could have been the one to deal the deathblow. But she wasn't going to be greedy. She just wanted to win this, not get reckless just for the glory. If she failed and got killed for it, she'd spent her last seconds on this putrid world as a joke.

"All in good time," Phoebe nodded, clutching her rocket launcher.

When Phoebe felt the effects of Gravity wear off, she decided to stay grounded, at least for now. She knew whoever triggered that would be looking to spot any fliers attempting to retake the skies. It would be suicide to do it so soon after the Gravity wore off and there was no telling where Athena or the Grand Lady was either. Even though Phoebe knew she had the fire type advantage over both of them, it didn't give her leeway to be stupid and reckless. Mistakes made in the Blood Pit were usually the last ones ever made.


Sotka Aldaros the Weavile
Black Lotus - Onyx Circle
Concealed Technical Operations Post, Lytala City Underground
Affected RPers: Death's Spook, Noblejanobii

Sotka was shaking her head. Three Black Lotus members dead? It was rare something like that happen, but then again, with this many competitors, there was some more variability in the outcomes. Some.

Sotka patched herself into Phoebe's headset. Usually, she didn't like to speak in on Phoebe's party, but she knew this wasn't what she had originally intended. Vekker and Grec being dead made it clear she needed some backup.

"Stay down," Sotka advised Phoebe. "I can be your eyes in the sky. I'll warn you if that owl tramp decides to do that again."

"I don't need your help, Sotka!" Phoebe snarled. "I know what I'm doing."

"You have three dead squad members, chicka," Sotka chortled. "I don't think you do. Listen to me unless you want to eat sand again. You just need to win this, not prove any stupid points. Anyway, if you keep going down ten ticks forward, fifteen ticks to your right, and just a little upward, you should be good to flank that Tsareena kakó and her posse."

Phoebe snarled, but then she stopped. Sotka nodded. She knew Phoebe was headstrong, but not dumb. Though a bit reluctant at first, Phoebe followed Sotka's directions and though she just missed her opportunity on getting a shot at the Grand Lady, she still had a shot at killing her allies. She knew she needed to act fast, and so she took aim and fired her Death Spitter at the Manectric. The electric wolf Pokémon could only turn to see the rocket speeding down the corridor right at him before slamming right into his side, instantly turning him into a shower of blood and body parts.

Unnamed the Manectric (Steel Scavengers) has been eliminated.

Quickly, Phoebe ordered her team to fall back and dash away before they were seen in a very guerrilla tactics style of warfare. The confusion and smoke from the blast would give the Black Lotus squad enough time to break away from the disengagement until they found another good moment to ambush them again.

"See, wasn't that nice?" Sotka asked, shrugging. "You could keep doing that and the Grand Lady is toast."

"No, we need to diversify our strategy," Phoebe told her.

"That's what I meant," Sotka replied, rolling her eyes. "Obviously they'll catch on if all you do is use rockets. I mean ambushing them like that. Ambush and run. You don't need to see their ugly faces."

Phoebe wasn't entirely convinced, but she was willing to listen to Sotka for now, even though she didn't want to admit she needed help from someone else...


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]

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

SLAYER'S RIDE [Armored Buggy]

Khilter - Dragalge (Driver/Gunner)
[s]DESTINY'S END

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

The Peaceslayer had lost its left front tread after the impact, making the monster truck difficult to maneuver. Vorkot had also lost sight of his target, snarling in hunger to want to make Julia a fresh kill. However, two shotgun blasts later, the gas tank of the monster truck was ripped open, spilling fuel all throughout the street. The Scrafty and Arcanine, however, were unaware the fuel had been spilling all over the place.

"Find them and kill them, you freak!" Vorkot shouted to Xed. "It's your damn job!"

Xed had caught sight of The Iron Giant and impulsively launched another flamethrower at the APC. However, he hadn't anticipated stray embers being thrown in all directions and landing on the massive puddles of fuel that were around. Very quickly, an inferno wave lashed its way around the disabled monster truck and suddenly everything was on fire.

"YOU KA-" Vorkot screamed his last before getting cut off.

The Peaceslayer and everything around it suddenly erupted into flames and fire before the truck itself exploded into fiery pieces. Chunks and large metallic parts went flying into the air in flames before crashing back down like a fiery, hellish metal rain, leaving only a wrecked, burning husk of twisted metal.

Vorkot the Scrafty (Black Lotus) has been eliminated.
Xed the Arcanine (Black Lotus) has been eliminated.

Watching in the distance, Jucden had been laughing hysterically. He had always known Xed to be low on brains, but seeing it result in both of them dying just from the Arcanine's idiocy was something Jucden was convinced he could wet himself over. It was even funnier to him when The Reckoning came along and rammed its way into the flaming metal husk, further smashing it into even more twisted, flaming metal pieces.

"IDIOTS!" Jucden screamed with orgasmic laughter. "You always said that stupid dog would screw you over and LOOK! LOOK! LOOK AT YOU NOW! WHA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!"

Jaze just couldn't stop chuckling as he drove the Ripfire along.

"Dey ded," Jaze grunted with a smile. "Ded, ded, ded."

Meanwhile...

The Blackout had lost sight of the Screaming Talon during the tight road pursuit. Sevren wasn't able to maintain the same level of speed as the Talon, resulting in the armored hearse slamming into a shanty and losing the pursuit on the car as it disappeared into the distance. The only choice to get out of the mess was for Sevren to back up the hearse and then continue forward, but by now, it

"Dammit!" Mevvan shouted, slamming his claw on the side of the car's interior. "We should have had that piss maggot stuffed with a bullet breakfast! Where in Murhe did they learn to drive like that!?"

"No only truly escapes death," Sevren sneered. "Some only bribe it just enough to survive a little longer."

Mevvan knew there would be other opportunities. There was still plenty to kill out there in the slums and the massacre was far from over.

"Get to the main road and let's hunt down another victim," Mevvan told Sevren, pointing right with his claw. "We'll run into them again."

"Or what's left of them," Sevren flashed an evil grin.

"Heh heh," Mevvan snickered.

The Blackout hearse headed back to the main road, and Sevren soon caught sight of The Brigadier. Not surprisingly, Sentinel had put all their eggs into one monstrous basket. To Sevren, this would be more of a challenge, and it was going to be difficult for The Brigadier to handle the faster speed of the hearse. Plus, Mevvan had a bit of a surprise for them.

"Clock me, buddy," Mevvan sneered.

Grabbing a specialized rocket launcher with an armor-piercing round, Mevvan fired at heavily armored military APC before they even noticed the hearse was attacking. However, that didn't stop the NOX09 rocket from slamming into the back of the APC, causing the rocket to burrow through the back door. But, instead of exploding, the NOX09 released a highly potent nerve gas that caused Koya to lose control and swerve, causing The Brigadier to tumble over and land on its side. For a moment, the members of Sentinel Corporation were stuck inside, but tried to break open the back door and escape from the APC that was rapidly filling with fatal amounts of nerve gas. And Mevvan flashed a wicked grin, just waiting for them to make that mistake so he could gun them all down like helpless dogs with his machine gun as they tried to exit the vehicle.

However...

It was at that moment that Jucden had noticed the disabled APC lying on its side and as Jaze drove by at a hit and run, Jucden fired multiple grenades at the weak underside of the APC, suddenly causing the disabled military APC to explode as the fuel tank was detonated like a bomb.

Koya the Cacturne (Sentinel Corporation) was eliminated.
Yandali the Infernape (Sentinel Corporation was eliminated.
Vunder the Delphox (Sentinel Corporation) was eliminated.

"THOSE WERE MY KILLS, YOU BASTARD RATICATE!" Mevvan shouted, event shooting a few rounds at his own teammate as the Ripfire sped away with Jucden laughing hysterically once again. However, the rounds only hit uselessly off the metal before Jaze and Jucden were too far out of range.

Meanwhile, all that was left of The Brigader was a flaming husk and the signature smell of burning flesh.

"There will be others," Sevren snarled, not exactly happy to see the fruits of their labor stolen by their psychotic teammate.

[VeloJello]

Jones Sandstrider the Heliolisk
Prankster Platoon
Lotus Den Slums
Affected RPers: Morzone (Julia).

The good news was that the Talon’s pursuer seemed to have vanished. The bad news was that the literal truck that Jones had used as cover was still going, and its driver seemed pretty annoyed.

“You neon idiot,” hissed the ghost Marowak, its phantasmal voice echoing above the roar of the engines. “Trying to throw me to the Lotus like that? I’ll end you.”

That black car had been Lotus? Jones filed that information away as she watched the Marowak take one claw off the steering wheel and place it on another set of controls. Her first instinct was to disengage, but doing so would set her careening and would give the Marowak even more freedom to unload its weapons. “Chesh, Tony! Get him off me, then hit him! One-two punch!”

Having a mind-reader in the car was helpful, since “one-two punch” wasn’t an official strategy that the Talon’s crew had ever discussed before. However, Tony and Cheshire seemed to get the gist. After a second’s pause, there was a loud noise of crackling energy and crunching metal, coupled with the unmistakable flash of a Protect barrier springing up between the Talon and the semi-truck. Jones had no time to ponder how much damage the barrier would do to the Talon itself, given the vehicles’ proximity; she was too busy righting her car’s trajectory to think about what damage it may or may not have taken.

The Protect faded in seconds, but those seconds had been enough. The semi had been pushed off of the Talon, and Tony was now taking aim at it. There was the sound of machine gun fire; Tony must have switched to the smaller weapon to finish the semi off.

“Boom!” Tony roared, laughing. A glance backward revealed that the semi was quickly receding into the distance, literal holes shredded into the tires. “Hope the ghost can phase through bullets - but even if he can, that truck’s not going anywhere!”

Durakan the Alolan Marowak (Independent) has been eliminated.

Once again, Jones was able to take the Screaming Talon up to full speed. That little kerfuffle had cost some time, but they’d been prepared for a few scrapes to slow them down. The damage that the collision with the semi had done, though…

As if he’d read her mind - ha, ha - Cheshire called out, “Right side’s functional, but we lost some armor! Tony and I are gonna be more vulnerable and I’m not sure how many more Protects I have in me!”

Jones saw someone coming up ahead, a car that spit fire out of its sides, painted with lightning decals. It was fast, maybe even faster than the Talon - but raw speed wasn’t everything. “Take out this scrap’s tire!” she called. They were close enough that she could see the Pachirisu in the vehicle ahead fiddling with something that most sensible ‘mons, and Jones, would assume was a gun. “Then get back to reflecting or deflecting or whatever it is as soon as possible!”

Mazer Pratten the Greninja
Prankster Platoon (De Facto Leader)
Liaocrack River
Affected RPers: Morzone (Theo).

At the Quilava’s threat, Krum leered at the Infernape. Mazer held up a webbed finger - you’re good doing what you’re doing, but wait. He wanted to hear the rest of this.

After all, the conversation was certainly interesting. He was curious about this ‘Valkyrie’; it was some sort of vehicle for the Tempest Festival, probably, but Mazer could only guess its kind. It definitely wasn’t in the Dreadmetal Derby; he could surmise that much. That said, though… whose name were they talking about?

The Infernape twisted slightly in Tatia’s grip, like he was trying to get away from Krum, but stopped when Mazer leaned in. “Whose name did he say, darling?” Mazer asked.

“You -” the Infernape hissed, breaking off as Tatia tightened her claws ever so slightly, “Look, I can’t tell you! Do you have any idea what the queen would do to me if she found out that I was giving out state secrets!? It’s bad enough that I failed in my mission; she’ll tear me apart if I give you Prankster freaks anything!”

Mazer nodded. When he spoke, his voice dripped with false sympathy. “I understand,” he said. “Fortunately, I can make it so that you do not have to tell the queen of this little incident.”

The Infernape was quiet for a moment. “Wha - glurk!”

An ugly grunt left the Infernape’s mouth as Mazer grabbed him by the tongue. The Infernape’s throat glowed as he tried to retaliate with a spout of flame, but Mazer raising up a spinning water shuriken right near the Infernape’s eyes put an end to that. “You’re going to tell me whose name our friend here said, love, or I’m going to saw out your tongue.”

After a few seconds, the Infernape nodded as well as he could with a webbed hand holding him by the tongue. Mazer let go, and the Infernape - after spitting again - said, “It’s Anthony. Queen Taiya is looking for information on Anthony of the Seven Knights.”

Several expletives found their way to the tip of Mazer’s tongue, but he contained them. Tatia locked eyes with Mazer, who said, “Take the Infernape back to the boat, please. You, Umber, and Mellie can keep him stunned. Krum, go with him. I’ll be along in a moment.”

Tatia looked a little concerned, and Krum a little disappointed, but they both complied - though it took a point-blank Thunder Wave to get the Infernape to stop wriggling. When they were gone, Mazer turned back to the Quilava. “I imagine,” he said, “that you’re among the Steel Scavengers. I can also imagine that you understand how this complicates things. I don't plan to harm you, darling, but this puts me in a deeply tricky position.” The Prankster Platoon and the Steel Scavengers had clashed before - and Anthony, that idiot, mud-brained, delusional kako, was at the heart of it.

But maybe this could be useful. After all, Queen Taiya wasn’t the only ruler of ‘mons who wanted Anthony Carpenter-Weaver dead.

[LKWayvern]

Laura Bette Kaye the Umbreon
Prankster Platoon
Connive, City Square
Affected RPers: none

After Clairia had left the room, Laura had made it out into the hall, her eyes and rings flaring up silver as she activated the telepathy that her Blaze Jewel granted her.

‘Aria are you there?’

She hummed and swished her tail as she waited for a response.

‘I thought you informed me that the Platoon would no longer be dealing with me,’ Aria’s irritated hiss replied.

‘You are. Just wanted to make sure you remembered,’ Laura responded.

‘Well, you made it very clear,’ Aria sighed. ‘I see you survived. Is Xavier in one piece?’

‘Permanently blinded. But beyond that, just a couple broken ribs.’

There was an awkward silence in the telepathic link.

‘You understand that it’s not that I particularly wanted to leave you to die,’ Aria said, deliberately and slowly. ‘But I refuse to leave my two daughters as orphans. Bethani and Lisette are good girls. They do not deserve growing up in the streets, threatened by predators and gangs.’

Laura leaned against the wall. ‘You knew what you were getting into when you walked into that arena.’

‘I did it because I required money, and you had promised that Xavier was the greatest fighter you knew, and you had crazy ideas that no other team would expect. But you turned out to be a cocky teenager with no experience fighting,’ Aria sighed. ‘Thanks to your overconfidence, and your agitated screaming about murdering the Grand Lady, the Shadow Mask found us and killed Kirrun. Did you know he was supporting a younger sibling through bodyguard jobs? You didn’t even call his family or his client. I needed to do that.’

‘...Only one of our members died… Better than Shadow Mask and Thundercrash Gang managed,’ Laura tried reasoning.

‘Any death is a tragedy,’ Aria said. ‘This whole arcdamn country has forgotten that, and someday they will all face the Judgement of Arc and the Renegade for it. I don’t care what you do-- but try not to make stupid decisions, or consequences will hit you closer to home than you expect.’

Laura sighed, cutting off the link, and wandering off into the hallways.

Clairia had said she would try to get some friends to help, but Laura still felt she should get together a few other Pokemon, preferrably Pranksters.

Soon enough, Laura found exactly who she was looking for.

Vic the blaziken was known to be a major risk-taker and supernaturally lucky gambler, fabled to have bankrupted at least four casinos they had played in. Their personality was just as flamboyant and eccentric as their fashion sense. And their fashion sense was extremely flamboyant and strange. They wore a tye-dyed suit, and had dyed their feathered crest as well, somehow managing to straddle a strange line between class and craze.

“Laura! Congrats on getting out alive, you hirra!” Vic greeted her. “We thought you’d torchic out’n run! Even I didn’t think you’d take out those Shades!”

Laura chuckled. “Yeah! It was-- Tell your little gambling ring it was easy! I could’ve gotten a Black Onyx kako if Aria and Kirrun hadn’t gone down.” She hadn't been quite that confident after talking to Aria, but she didn't want Vic to know that.

“So, a little birdy told me you wanted ta try runnin’ with the Screamers too, you wanted ta get a little cash bettin’ on yourself, too?” Vic asked.

“Well, not quite. That birdy was right, but I was actually wondering if you’d like to run with me too?” Laura asked.

Vic raised an eyebrow. “Really? That’d be new… I never been in the games before…” A wicked grin split their face. “Count me in, girl!”

Laura grinned back. “That’s great! You know anyone else interested?”

“Yeah, actually-- buddy of mine, flygon named Ziz. B’fore raids we both bet on how many Lotus bums we can get,” Vic said. “We can do the same thing here!”

Laura nodded. “Come with us tomorrow, Xavier’s sister’s getting some friends who might want to join the race, and become Pranksters if they survive.”

“Sound like my kinda guys!” Vic said, giving Laura a thumbs up. “Welp, I gotta go find Ziz. Where’re we meeting up tomorrow?”

“City square,” Laura said. “See ya there.”

[Morzone]

Julia
Steel Scavengers
Dread Metal Derby -Lytala SLums
Affected RP'ers: Neo Emolga, Velocity

The screeching of metal. The thunderous crashes of an enormous monster truck slamming over the Iron giant. Gunfire. Splintering wood. Splashing gasoline. Buildings collapsing. Through the chaos a yell was heard: "Find them and kill them, you freak! It's your damn job!" A roar. Light, heat. Sparks. The fire was coming at her... then suddenly the fire was everywhere. And the Hulking body of the Black Lotus monster truck Peace Slayer Exploded into a thousand pieces.

Julia sat, stunned, in the cockpit of the Iron Giant, which had been carried a short distance past the now burning wreck of a vehicle due to momentum. Ringing from the explosion pressed itself upon her as she held her pounding head steady. Gotta pull myself together... This hell ain't over yet. Julia reminded herself, lifting her head to take note of her situation.

The fire was everywhere. Twisted remains from the monster truck sat in a pile where it had exploded, but shrapnel, both large and small, littered the ground. Run over that too much and your tires would be shredded. Apart from the crackling of the flames there wasn't any sign of movement from the Peace slayer, which was partially good. The two Lotus members had likely perished, or were incapacitated and were going to perish in the flames. But the real problem came from the fire. It as bad enough there has a huge flaming wreck in the middle of the road, but the gasoline explosion had thrown flames all over the adjacent buildings as well. And If Julia knew one thing about shabby, poorly built buildings like the ones here in the slums, it was that they were VERY flammable. That fire was going to spread Fast, and the last thing she needed was to try to have to survive insanely weaponized vehicles while trying to navigate a burning, smokey inferno. It didn't help that she was an ice type, nor that her blaze jewel was steel. So much for covering your weaknesses.

From the other side of the burning wreck, distantly down the street, Julia could still hear gunshots and explosions. Probably that APV battling some other vehicle. She hoped who ever it was would take it out, though if they did that would generally mean the attackers were even more dangerous. Her own vehicle was still functional and for the most past fine, but along the side closest to the explosion -the left side- were A multitude of burn marks that Julia suspected had dealt a fair amount of damage to its ability to protect her. She'd need to check the guns on that side as well -the shotgun and the flamethrower- to make sure hey could still move properly. The part of her plow she'd hit the monster truck with had crumpled somewhat, and wasn't going to be nearly as effective as the other side of the plow.

The suddenly the zombie Squad's The Reckoning Came speeding out of a side alley, ramming the burning wreck aside into another building, which went up in flame almost immediately. And then, just to top off the now rapidly expanding flames, the Junk yard hulk turned and started making its way over toward her.

"God arceus ****ing damn you **** sucking low life bastard sons of Giratina's Sh***iest mother ****ing *****es, go die in the damned fire of Hell!" Julia growled, ending up screaming as her frustration made itself known in yet another string of curses. She was annoyed that they had deliberately spread the fire, but what really angered her was that they thought they could take down her masterfully crafted Tank-car in that Horrible disgusting piece of scrap with wheels. In a flash her foot was back on the gas and the Iron Giant Shuddered as it added the smell of burning rubber to the smell of burning everything. Her metal monster roared down the short distance between herself and the zombie squad's junk heap. Gunfire rained down on her shields, but she ignored them, They weren't strong enough. Not nearly. One hand was already on a trigger, launching a trio of large dollops of tar right onto The Reckoning's windshields.

Now blinded, the Zombie Squad's car veered left and right, Seemingly trying to catch a reliable angle to see out of between the gaps in the tar. Julia swerved to the right, getting around the side of the scrap car with little trouble. Yanking the steel as far as she could around to the side, turning in preparation to accelerate and flip the car on its side with the remainder of her plow. The Zonbie squad wasn't going to go quietly however. They gave up on the guns and small hatch opened, sending out a small, roundish object.

Grenade! Julia realized -too late- it exploded along the right side of her vehicle, which rocked violently from the force. The Reckoning took the chance to speed up, trying to get away from Julia. Probably a smart move, considering they were blinded and didn't know what her other guns did. But they were underestimating her. As soon as the Iron Giant settled from the explosion, the weavile revved the engine once again, chasing down the scrap heap of a vehicle. She fired a few rounds of bullet fire, Bullet holes appeared, but judging by the lack of reaction otherwise she guessed it was too thick for the bullets to have proper effect. Back to Plan A then. Pushing the gas down Julia closed the distance until- Crash! She slammed into the back of the reckoning, her somewhat smashed plow doing its job and throwing the scrap car's weight to one side. With a slight turn and a nudge, it came crashing down on its side, skid marks flying up as it's metal sides scraped against the pavement. More machine gun fire, this time into the Scrap car's thinner underside. She considered going for the tank and blowing it up again, but it seemed unnecessary as she heard the agonizing screams emanate from inside The Reckoning's Hull. As a safety measure she followed up by shoving the scrap hulk into the blazing buildings, coving its hull in tar in case any survivors wanted to try to crawl their way out.

Fazi - Cofagrigus (Zombie Squad) Was Eliminated.
Slugz - Snorlax (Zombie Squad) was Eliminated
Vulk - Skuntank (Zombie squad) was eliminated

Julia took a moment to breath, then started speeding away from the burning hulk. She took a quick stock. The plow was scraped up but still in good shape, but the point blanks grenade had been brutal on her car's armor. Both sides now had weakened spots on them. If more people had explosives like that -which they almost certainly did- Julia wasn't sure how much longer her vehicle was going to withstand the onslaught.

Theo Myrsky
Steel Scavengers
Boat on Laiocrack river
Affected Rp'ers: Velocity.

Theo took a step back, slightly relieved, as the Greninja took over the interrogation. Theo had worded his demands carefully to keep from saying Anthony's name, as it only seemed to bring trouble when it was mention. If he was honest with himself he didn't really think it was going to do any good though, and soon enough he was proven right as the infernape spilled the beans on his target. A slight surprise at the greninja's reaction to hearing the name, but then again if Anthony was enemies of the queen, he'd probably gotten on quite a lot of bad sides.

The greninja gave orders out to his men then turned again to Theo to give him a rather grave message. “I imagine,” he said, “that you’re among the Steel Scavengers. I can also imagine that you understand how this complicates things. I don't plan to harm you, darling, but this puts me in a deeply tricky position.”

Theo understood perfectly. He had no doubt the steel scavengers, a group he'd originally joined to help rid their mechanic shop from low life Lotus scum, was involved in much bigger things than he knew. What Mazer meant was that Theo wasn't free. Not yet at any rate. There was a very high possibility that he was now these guys' prisoner. Or perhaps hostage might be a better term. At any rate Theo had a feeling they'd treat him better than the black Lotus freaks. And he still was stupid enough to try anything with that feraligatr around. Especially not on a river.

"Theo." He suddenly spoke, his voice solid, as if answering a question, "My name's Theo myrsky. And yeah, I joined the Steel scavengers several years ago. I need to get back to our safehouse as soon as possible, even if it is clear to me that right now I'm at your mercy to be taken where ever you want." Theo finished his speech, wondering if it had been the best thing to say in the situation. Hopefully he'd at least lean their names, which would be a start.

[Noblejanobii]

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

"Saber, watch out!" The lurantis ducked out of the way as a torracat lunged at her. It appeared the Sentinel Corporation was making its move. Too bad they had no idea what they were getting into. Athena drew her arrow and took aim at Decca when Marsha the Salazzle let loose a flame burst. Athena leaped back but was still singed from the flames. Wincing, Athena drew her arrow again and coated it in water gem dust. Firing it, the arrow struck true in Marsha's left shoulder. The salazzle screeched before firing a venoshock into the air in a last ditch attack. Shiva created a protect barrier over her and Athena, the venom sizzling as it struck the green force field. Athena watched as the salazzle collapsed.

Marsha the Salazzle of the Sentinel Corporation has been eliminated.

Saber's pink blades slashed through the air, attempting to inflict some sort of wound on Decca, but the torracat was too nimble. Decca kept snickering and taunting Saber, prompting her to attack more fiercely but also less accurately out of pure rage. It was too late when Saber realized it was a trap. She suddenly felt a strong jaw wrap around her throat.

"Saber!" Shiva screamed, her voice no longer calm and collected, but desperate and cracking as her demeanor shattered at the sight of her wife being lifted up by Lotec the mawile. Lotec paused at Shiva's scream, eyeing the medicham with a sadistic smile. Saber screamed as his teeth dug further into her neck, her air supply quickly running out as she began to suffocate. Lotec began to laugh at the sight before Shiva kicked his head into the ground. She didn't hesitate in popping his head like a watermelon underneath her impeccable thighs.

Lotec the Mawile of the Sentinel Corps has been eliminated.

Shiva glared at Decca, the torracat quickly retreating to regroup with Julver. Shiva helped Saber stand up. The lurantis was bleeding heavily and had quite a bit of difficulty breathing but she refused to die just yet. Shiva frowned, not wanting to risk Saber's life but also not wanting to leave Athena on her own. Saber began to emit a green glow as she used synthesis. Shiva scanned the area for Athena only to see the decidueye currently confronting Modkus from the Thundercrash gang, and it appeared Athena was losing.

"Mommy?" Athena knew it wasn't real. It couldn't be him. She was just going crazy or maybe it was hydregion mimicry. The two heads on its hands had no brains, which was fairly well known, but it was a little-known fact that they could also be used in the art of deception such as voice mimicry. The thing was though, hydregion could only mimic words they had heard from that particular voice before. Athena grit her beak and kept her arrow pointed at the enemy's heart. Somehow, this man had met Marx. This wasn't the man who kidnapped him, but perhaps they were related.

"Mommy? Why are you pointing that at me?" This was a dirty trick and given the smirk on Modkus's face, he was well aware of that. Athena took a step backward.

"You know," Modkus finally spoke up in his real voice. "Your son is a fantastic boy. It'd be such a shame if you were to lose and something were to happen to him."

"How do you know anything about him?" Athena asked, her black feathers ruffling in anger and irritation.

"I have connections with the empire. Let's just say, the Black Lotus Empire has done a fantastic job is picking out their masters of espionage." Modkus suddenly lashed out. Athena let an arrow fly and it stuck through one of the hydregion's hands. Still, that didn't stop him from biting onto her wing. Athena bore through the pain and summoned a leaf blade, stabbing Modkus through the neck.

"Where is he?"

"Near… Taiyla." Those were his last words.

Modkus the Hydregion of the Thundercrash Gang has been eliminated.

Athena had always suspected the Black Lotus empire had spies everywhere, but never had confirmation prior to this. This was an interesting development, no doubt. But she had no time to dwell on it. There were other matters that Athena needed to attend to right now.

Athena narrowed her eyes at his corpse before attempting to locate Phoebe again. Suddenly, a wave of pain consumed Athena and she fell to the ground. Shiva rushed over with Saber, freaking out over Athena as she smiled at them.

"Nothing to worry about, just late pregnancy cramps. Just let it run its course, that's all we really can do."

[Death's Spook]

Max Clerk (Klinklang)
Steel Scavengers
Sniper's nest above the Blood Pit Arena
Affected RPers: Noblejanobii Neo Emolga

Max Clerk is having more than a little bit of fun.

“Are you freaking kidding me?!” Phillip screams, taking cover as bullets continue to fly.

Magenta cackles as she burns a rather unfortunate Parasect to a crisp, taking advantage of the chaos Max Clerk is causing. The Klinklang, meanwhile, is wading into the sniper’s nest unperturbed by the firing guns, their steel body mostly unmarked between their remarkable speed and durability. The gear Pokemon is practically howling with excitement as they engage the unfortunate Alakazam intended to spot for the sniper they’re attacking. Unfortunately, the psychic in question is attempting to rely on superior speed to outmaneuver the steel type, a deadly error since Max Clerk has used Shift Gear. Despite the Klinklang’s bulkiness, they are lethally quick and it does not take long for the Alakazam spotter to get caught in Max Clerk, their gears breaking her bones to powder and turning her powerful brain into so much mush.

However, the sniper quickly reveals herself not to be defenseless. Max Clerk groans as the Blissey shifts from trying to get a good look at the arena to trying to not die at the hands of two Knights. She pulls out a pistol, and only the Magenta’s previous use of Quiver Dance allows the moth to evade the gunshot. Max Clerk tries to exert their own pressure, but as they attempt to strike the Blissey down, they learn quite directly that she is using a higher caliber weapon. Thankfully, the bullet only hits their outer ring, but the gear Pokemon is forced into temporary retreat, wondering how they and Magenta are going to kill the Blissey.

Of course, Max Clerk forgot that this fight was three on one, not two on one, as they realize when a Pelliper emerges from behind the Blissey. Phillip does something, and three long lines of red open up in the Blissey’s head. The Pelliper shoves his wing into the Blissey’s head, and she promptly dies as Phillip rummages around in her brain.

“Now, may we please continue on with our days?” Phillip groans.

Max Clerk tries to give a reassuring look, but from the expression on the Pelliper, it does not come across as intended. They look out to the arena and notice the dust cloud surrounding The Grand Lady.

“Wait. Magenta. You see these corpses? Can you use Hurricane to aim them at specific targets?”

“Somewhat. Why? If you’re, like, trying to kill some people with them, my aim from up here is so gonna be terrible.”

“We’d just need a rough aim for this, Magenta.”

“Um. Max? Like, what are you planning?”

“I concur,” says Phillip. “I don’t understand what you think you’re doing.”

The Klinklang’s demeanor gives off a sense of smugness, “Picture this. You’re The Grand Lady, in a situation with limited visibility and the only thing you know for certain is that a bunch of people are trying to kill you. You hear a loud thump. What’s your response?”

Phillip looks confused, but Magenta’s grin is wide. “I’m soooooo aiming for the Black Lotus contingent.”

“Ok, what’s going on?” Phillip asks, somewhat concerned.

“Watch and learn,” Max Clerk smiles, “Just watch and learn.”

The Grand Lady (Tsareena)
Steel Scavengers
Blood Pit Arena
Affected RPers: Noblejanobii Neo Emolga

The Lady begins to realize how screwed she might be if she does not act quickly.

The Focus Blast that kicked up the dust in front of The Grand Lady clearly gave the Lotus the idea. The smoke marking the former spot of the nameless Manectric lingers in air, and combined with the rain it makes for a situation with poor visibility. In conjunction with The Black Lotus contingent vanishing, it becomes clear that her enemies are going for a more guerilla based attack.

“No, we need to diversify our strategy,” said Phoebe. Reflexively, The Grand Lady throws a knife in the direction she roughly guesses the voice to be. It does not quite her intended target, but it does land a hit on one of her target’s allies. The Luxray reacts like every other person reacts in response to sudden, unexpected pain: he swears.

“Motherf--!”

Of course, the louder voice does allow The Grand Lady to pinpoint his location more precisely. She uses her superior speed to change her position so that she doesn’t give away where she is with her knives, but three blades sink into the Luxray, and based on the gurgling sound, one lodged itself in his throat.

Unloc the Luxray (Black Lotus) has been eliminated

The Lady keeps moving, but grins to herself, Your tactics rely on stealth. THAT will teach you to run your mouth when your tactics rely on stealth. If only briefly.

The Lady bumps up against someone, and she nearly kills them before realizing it’s Gloria, who has Iolande in tow. The Goodra gives her a questioning look (bless her heart, she knows to keep her mouth shut), clearly asking for orders.

The Lady grabs her by the arm and throws her out of the dust cloud as hard as she can. A second later, the Tsareena does the same thing with Iolande.

The Lady has a flutter of fear that Haq is not watching or does not understand what she means by the gesture. The fear, however, shows itself to be unfounded as a Claydol teleports in, “catches” the thrown Pokemon with telekinesis, and then teleports out again.

Gloria the Goodra (Steel Scavengers) has left the battlefield.
Iolande the Gastrodon (Steel Scavengers) has left the battlefield

The Lady is stalking the arena, looking for her enemies. She debates the merits of revealing the trick of her thrown sword, but decides against it: it won’t work well in the context of guerilla tactics. Overall, she keeps herself moving, quickly: she does not want her enemies to pin her down.

She almost accidentally stumbles on the Gracidea Order from behind when their Decidueye says, "Nothing to worry about, just late pregnancy cramps. Just let it run its course, that's all we really can do."

Wait. What.

The Lady is a terrible person, even by her own estimations. She’s cruel and vicious and almost entirely without morals. But only almost. So it does not completely shock her when she realizes that she is not eager to strike down a pregnant woman, no matter how opportune a target. She’d do it, if forced, but when The Lady has no intention of winning this contest, why not put her reputation to use, particularly when she had a missive for this kind of situation?

She grabs a knife from her hair along with the paper she had written up for this kind of occasion. She skewers the folded paper with the knife, and after a second of thought, uses the copious blood around her to write the word Pregnant??? on the outside of the paper. She knows that, unfolded, the paper reads:
Congratulations! I, The Grand Lady, think you’re the team most likely to prevail in this madness! Help me kill The Black Lotus contingent without attacking me or my allies, and I will cede this contest to you. Thus my word is given.

--The Grand Lady

The Lady is quite glad that the sanctity of her word was known almost as much as her propensity for violence. She throws the knife with the message so that is lands on the ground where the Order might see it. There is likely to be at least someone amongst the tree huggers who would know that she means what she wrote. But she does not stick around to find out: she has to keep moving, refusing to let her enemies pinpoint a location or a trajectory, changing position, direction, speed, all on a dime.

Suddenly, she hears a thump, and she equally suddenly throws three knives with all the force she can bring to bear in roughly that direction. The first and last ones whiff, but the second results in a Passimian groaning in pain. She throws two more knives at the groan, sending one more opponent to the grave.

Shandal the Passimian has been eliminated.

The Lady decides to indulge in some theatrics, aimed not at the leader of the Black Lotus, but at the Charizard’s ally, “Vurden, dear,” as the Tsareena moves, “Your sister bids you hello.” As the Lady continues to move, she notices the corpse of a burned Parasect, and realizes what made the thumping noise, “And she gives such lovely presents.”

The Lady continues to refuse to stay still or predictable in her path. It would not do to get caught by her own gloating, especially since that make her little punishment of The Black Lotus seem hypocritical.

Anthony Carpenter-Weaver (Mimikyu)
Steel Scavengers (Leader)
The Blood Pit Arena Stands (hidden)
Affected RPers: The Nonexistent Tazz

Anthony gives a good natured at the Lilligant’s comment as he emerges from the shadows, “Honestly, what is with you people? I am married.” The Mimikyu gives the Lilligant a once over, a joke in his tone, “Also, you are much too young, regardless.”

Arlington comes in from behind the Lilligant, loud enough to avoid looking like he’s sneaking up on her, “That being said, some of us are single and ready to mingle, if you’re up for it. And also don’t literally have a stick up--”

“Arlington,” Anthony scolds gently, but he can’t completely keep the fondness out of his voice, “We are here for business, not pleasure.” The Disguise Pokemon turns his false head to the Lilligant assassin, “As I do not doubt you’re aware, I am Anthony Carpenter-Weaver, leader of the Seven Knights. Now, you are a member of the Gracidea Order, and would normally be opposed to us. In fact, I remember your voice from the fiasco in Petrox: the Lady is furious at you, even though she does not know who you are. Fortunately for you, this isn’t about that. I am going to arrange for your teammate, Athena Pallas, to not only leave alive from the arena, but emerge victorious. The only thing I ask in turn is that I hire you to spy for me.” A second passes, “Not on the Order, to be clear. I do not ask for you to give me information on them, or betray them in any way. I merely want to facilitate an exchange of intelligence on The Lotus, because no matter the differences between your group and mine, I believe I speak for both of us when I say Queen Taiya and her companions need to be stopped.”

Anthony is under no delusions. He knows, for fact, that this Lilligant will probably try to use this to backstab him as thoroughly as possible, at least eventually. But trying to do so now would be suicide: Anthony was almost as infamous as the queen for his inability to be assassinated. Further, the way for his new business partner to use this little alliance to her greatest advantage, in Anthony’s estimation, would be to try to string him along for useful tidbits on the Lotus, and only then betray him. This would also have the advantage of allowing Anthony to figure out what the Order wants him to do, and hopefully to exploit that to his advantage. He also holds out some hope that his reputation as a hero will make her underestimate him, but he doubts it: this Lilligant almost undoubtedly knew that underestimating opponents usually resulted in the deaths of the idiots who tried it.

[The Nonexistent Tazz]

'Nora' the Lilligant
The Gracedia Order
Lytala city, the Blood Pit Arena Stands
Affected RPers: Death's Spook
THIS IS STUPID

“Honestly, what is with you people? I am married.” The Mimikyu gives the Lilligant a once over, a joke in his tone, as he emerged. “Also, you are much too young, regardless.” Nora kept his eyes on him-she kept the fact that she had somehow managed to mistake him for a common Mimikyu (as if Mimikyu were common to begin with) well in the back of her head. Sometimes, the coincidence is a coincidence... Though she did keep the other Mimikyu on the back of her mind.

"Hey, hey, I'm twenty-nine and just fine, still in my prime," Nora said, half-ignoring the joke.

“That being said, some of us are single and ready to mingle, if you’re up for it. And also don’t literally have a stick up--”

"Arlington," the Mimikyu interrupts, not without a dollop of amusement, “We are here for business, not pleasure.”

"Eh, why you gotta be so boooring?" Nora asked, mildly bemused. These people knew what they were doing, though, in the fact that it was all a reasonably lighthearted exchange. The fact was that while Nora would be at a disadvantage in a sudden fight, everyone here knew that spycraft was not exclusively the act of killing your rivals. It was more the leverage. Nora kept her eyes peeled for anything odd, just, anything odd at all, a brief skim of the area left, right, behind, down and up, before turning back to the Knightly Mimikyu, just in time for his words.

"As I do not doubt you’re aware, I am Anthony Carpenter-Weaver, leader of the Seven Knights. Now, you are a member of the Gracidea Order, and would normally be opposed to us. In fact, I remember your voice from the fiasco in Petrox: the Lady is furious at you, even though she does not know who you are."

"...Well, rut." Nora cursed. Then, as an afterthought, "Well, take solace in the fact that you didn't have to deal with the-"

"Fortunately for you, this isn’t about that."

"...Oh." Nora said.

"I am going to arrange for your teammate, Athena Pallas, to not only leave alive from the arena, but emerge victorious. The only thing I ask in turn is that I hire you to spy for me.”

"What?" Nora asked, incredulous. Her head darted to-and-fro again, ensuring no unwanted intrusion. This would be one of the best days for even the lowliest Black Lotus goon if they caught this conversation. Or one of the worst.

“Not on the Order, to be clear. I do not ask for you to give me information on them, or betray them in any way. I merely want to facilitate an exchange of intelligence on The Lotus, because no matter the differences between your group and mine, I believe I speak for both of us when I say Queen Taiya and her companions need to be stopped.”

Nora rubbed her chin thoughtfully for a moment, after yet another moment of darting her eyes-she takes twice as long with the ceiling this time, thinking a hanging dust bunny is something less passive. Then she turns back, rubbing her face, pretending to be in slightly deeper thought than she was. In truth, there was an obvious way this exchange would end, in a yes. It was unusual and Nora knew there was more to this-most likely Anthony trying to scoop information on the Gracedia Order through her actions to him-which meant how she treated him would affect his next moves.

Scratching each others backs and trying to stab each other in the back the whole while. Typical. Willing to cede the first match to their agent was sufficient, disregarding how she now heard the announcer note the passing of all the Steel Scavengers (via teleport) save the Grand Lady herself.

Cocky pricks.

"...Hmph. So you're thinking it's a bit-hrm, a bit unlikely, too?" Nora asked. 'Unlikely' was the closest she could get to 'loaded to the teeth in the Black Lotus'es favor.' And no doubt he was aware enough to know that the landmine(s) that killed Axiom (and those two Steel Scavvies) weren't landmines. "Sending messages to everyone at large with your, hrm, uh, uncanny actions?" Nora asked, remembering Durkon being killed by the Grand Lady-a teammate to the outside observer. The Announcer sure went to town on that particular comment, even himself somewhat baffled but always mocking. Uncanny to kill your own teammates because they were spies on your own death games, indeed. "So I then suppose you're not so much here to fight as you are to just steal the show?" Nora asked, knowing that no-one would, in context, be dragging one of their biggest targets right into the ring and leave the others so closeby if they were so assured that the games were pointless. This meant they had either a way to murder Taiya (and preferably the smart way, unlike the failed 'tongue of death'), or take the entire reason that everyone was here to begin with-the Master Blaze Jewel-right out of their hands. Or just felt that the mass slaughter of their own units was a sufficient way to kick Taiya in the balls.

Nora sighed. Competition.

...She thought back to the Rotom.

...Maybe? ...No. No, Nora. That thought in your head is indeed absolutely insane. Anthony was well known to be 'heroic,' and live up to his name of a Knight. Chivalric code and all. But... No, no! No, it must be insane even for him...

...

"...Those 'rebel' groups are just so busy bickering over themselves with unimportant derivatives that they can't even oust the kako."

Nora didn't like politik. It was maddening to deal with. It was why she still craved her former independence, even though the GO had its benefits. Touchy relationship cr*p was even worse when you were dealing with it head-on, especially since Nora was more a piece than a player of the great game of spycraft. And no doubt did that stupid Rotom think so too. No doubt did others. Perhaps there were even more? And perhaps the quietest signs of the alternative, perhaps that would be... Motivating?

Nora had acted on gut instinct before. She was less likely to call it stupid as her gut instinct happened to be the gut instinct that 9 times out of 10 saved her life on the streets, but she knew it was stupid all the same, gambling on him being that much of a knight, something that even Nora knew better than. But it was worth a shot.

"A few minutes ago I was talking with someone-they mentioned how we're too busy bickering with each other over stupid scat. To be frank, I'd probably be on your side if I hadn't gone to Petrox..."

Nora did another quick turn of the head around the area. The back of the stands were clear-and they were really clear. Nora's tone didn't quite enter whisper territory but it was quieter now.

"We both know the games are a sham, and we both can't have, erm, uh, my more 'traditional' counterpart get away with... With the White Dragon," Nora said, shaking her head. Stupid spy-speak. It never seemed to come naturally. The White Dragon. Reshiram. The Master Blaze Jewel. "I'd agree to help with you, but quite frankly information trade isn't gonna cut it. The games are a sham. Your plan is something out of a Prankster's guidebook, strutting your stuff right into Taiya's face... But that would be pointless if the White Dragon's everything they're hyping it up to be. And nothing, no-one, no plan, no nothing, is perfect."

Nora really didn't want to say this, but something else compelled her. It was stupid. Nora's face crunched up, the puffs of her cigarette became more agitated, the need for a cold one floated into her mind, and she reflexively kept checking the area, paranoid of an intrusion by even the lowliest Black Lotus grunt. No, nothing still, that was good. Good enough. No misplaced stripes of red anywhere or the like. Her tongue rested near to her Blaze Jewel even though it was just mentally activated in a flash-it would certainly help escaping the ghost-type, though! And she may really need to just kill him right now, too, in case his language didn't quite add up. But that wasn't her problem, inside.

Her plan-It was so stupid it transcended stupidity altogether. This wasn't stupidity anymore, no sir, it was something else. This wasn't your average-every day stupidity, no sir, but this was common for gut instinct to progress a step up. But this was special-it was even beyond the more respected threshold of advanced stupidity, the kind of stupidity that lead to you becoming an internet meme or the target of scorn for one's thoughtlessness, the kind that gets Onyx Circle killed by Taiya herself, no, no, no, well beyond even that. This absolute boldness was descending right into madness. She was casually informing the leader of the Steel Scavengers of the plan of the Gracedia Order-hoping that her teammates do not in fact find out about this relationship for actions that they would have responded to by pulling the pin of a grenade-and forcibly giving the Steel Scavengers unprecedented levels of leverage both on her and the actions of her own plan, all to hope that if nothing else it wouldn't be them coming out with the Master Blaze Jewel-or perhaps better, that they could be said to be Gracedia Order at the end of this. and yet, one niggling fact was drawing her to this madness.

The Steel Scavengers were outcasts. Traitors to the Black Lotus, almost exclusively. It was personal to them, far beyond either the Prankster Platoon or the Gracedia Order. The Gracedia Order seemed to at least have a vision of Liao's future that was somewhat less bleak than the one shown right now-the Steel Scavengers were motivated by revenge. Would the Steel Scavengers care if they lost the power struggle between the three, if it meant that they'd get to watch the Black Lotus so bitterly fail?

"... I think it may have become mildly obvious what my proposition is," Nora asked. "It is, beyond question, one of the stupidest things I have thought of without being on anything other than like eight kinds of drugs. Probably even exceeding that as I don't have the excuse of eight kinds of drugs."

"You came together to topple the Black Lotus, fair. WE agree on this. What after that? You say you're on top of the totem pole of the Knights-I suppose you'll have some kind of vision. Wouldn't it be better if we could just, you know, forget about the times we did some very uncouth dirty dancing on each other's backsides?"

Nora was struggling. Oh, the price of conscious stupidity! She'd be having a very long time with Swift after this. But no turning back now.

"... I'm suggesting a step up. That we will-quietly, to ourselves, beneath the surface-agree that things like Petrox never ****ing happened to begin with, march together and hope that at least one of us comes out on top, without looking it. Yes, yes, let us not fool each other. I would like my side to come out on top, and you would like yours. I enjoy Jadeblossom's fresh air, you enjoy... Uh, I don't actually know what you enjoy of the Steel Scavengers because I'm not a flipping psychic, go figure. I'm saying this because you'd think it'd be all in your propaganda to say that we're gonna be better than the things you're gonna try to topple, what kind of thing you'd do after you're done-my question is, would you care if you didn't get to rule Liao if it meant that you got to see the goal you're working towards pan out? The big ol' 'Rut you, Kako' that you've been dying to say more directly, I mean. As far as I can tell you want a better Liao and to give the Kako some rude gestures. After getting rid of the kako... then what? Would you be comfortable backing us-all the way-even if it just meant you wouldn't win the stupid power struggle?"

Nora paused briefly, to catch her breath. She was speaking fast now-faster-she puffed a cloud of smoke to the side. She was shaking, mildly. This was stupid. Everything in her head told her this was stupid.

"...Those 'rebel' groups are just so busy bickering over themselves with unimportant derivatives that they can't even oust the kako."

Everything in her stomach-her heart was too self-centered for that-it told her that this was going to work. And that was valuable advice.

"... The only reason I'm asking this is because I find the power struggle between the scrappers-the growers-the nutters-all of it-rutting ret*rded with this newsflash in play. I can't say I'm an altruist. I care for myself. I want this plan to work because if it didn't work I'd rutting die, and that's basically it. And I'm referring to pretty much all of them at this point. Including the plan to basically tell you exactly what the **** we were going to do and expect you to help us do it as the exchange. Because it's the ****ing dumbest thing I've thought of, period."

"We're going to steal it. The whole shebang. Everyone with a brain knows this is loaded-but it's not the Black Lotus that have it, you know. It's Blacklocke. If it could be stolen, no threat of the Black Lotus winning something that may make them near-invincible... Possibly even the very thing we'd need to beat them into submission, if it's really all its cracked up to be."

Nora winced. It was downright supernatural the chill on her spine from stating that obvious fact. This was it. She was either losing her mind or a genius beyond her own understanding.

"... Let's face facts. I can't seriously take you up on your offer, because I know for a fact that it's a shitty bet to even expect it to work to begin with, even with what's going on. Sudden traps and all that jazz. No-one'll win if they can't, they'll be petty like that. I'm betting I'm gonna rutting die in there tomorrow and that'll be the end of the plan as I know it, and that's with me trying to think of how I should go about this as if I didn't have a team to back me up-because I'm so terrified of the prospect of losing. We know the rules are a laugh. There are no rules and we know it, and I know that you have something else going on here as we speak-you wouldn't put this many eggs in one basket if you didn't think you had this place locked down as tight as a choke-hold."

"... I was speaking with someone else out there. He was so pessimistic about the odds. Saying how that it was all rigged, yadda yadda... And also that the way things are now is barely better. Un-united resistance kicking each other as much as the thing they were jointly conceived of to fight. He looked the type to help out, to readily jump up and join, but the bickering between the three was just that much of a detriment..."

This was stupid. This was stupid. This was stupid. She shouldn't be doing this. It would get her killed, it would make her an outcast to the GO, it would be stupid.

... She was doing this. It wasn't like she could rewind time, after all.

And hey, if things didn't work out, a switch of teams after her disgrace was always a prospect. The Steel Scavengers would be understanding of her position. And she said it herself, didn't she? She wasn't an altruist.

"...This was the stupidest thing I have ever done," Nora said to herself, taking a deep breath of cigarette, refusing to keep her eyes away from Anthony and Arlington. Her tongue rested upon the fake tooth, her eyes peering right into Anthony's eyes-his real eyes. "You understand that I can't really take that back, and that it would be a d*mn rutting shame if I gave you that much for nothing. I can't give you the finest details, not until you agree... But I gave you far more than I would have if I didn't hope you'd agree to this. This, this idea... This mad idea... That we could work together."

Madness.

Or, perhaps, genius.

[Noblejanobii]

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

Athena glanced up as the rain began to drop from the sky. She blinked as it struck her face and sighed. Hooray for low visibility! Because that's what they needed. Someone must have used rain dance, and given who was left, it was probably someone from the stands. Kako. Athena frowned, trying to think of how many more competitors they would have to eliminate to finish this thing. Candidly, Athena just wanted Phoebe's head, but she did have some information from that hydregion. Though what the heck "near Taiyla" meant was beyond her. Still, it was something, she supposed. Athena looked over at her two remaining teammates.

Saber was certainly worse for wear. The Lurantis was in desperate need of medical attention but Athena knew Saber, she wasn't leaving unless Athena was leaving with her. Shiva was of a similar mentality as well. No wonder they had such a healthy marriage. Now all they needed was a little baby girl that was just as sassy and stubborn as they were. Athena leaned against the wall beside her, gasping a little as pain wracked through her. If it wouldn't make her look completely insane on national television, Athena had half a mind to scold the unborn twins. Now was really not the best time for them to decide to throw a temper tantrum.

"Athena." The decidueye turned her head towards Shiva's voice. The magenta pokémon was still holding onto her wife, but in her other hand was a knife with a note on it. Removing the note from the knife, Athena carefully holding it. She raised her left black wing to shield the paper from the rain. Pregnant??? was scrawled on the outside of the note. Athena's eyes lifted to Shiva for a moment before she unfolded the note. Apparently either someone had been close enough to hear Athena's comment about her cramps or they had put two and two together. Either way, Athena was unsure if that was a good thing. She skimmed over the note, realizing it was from the Grand Lady of the Steel Scavengers. Athena felt her beak twist into a snarl. This had been the one that had killed Jackson if Athena recalled correctly.

"What does it say?" Saber asked in a weak and cracking voice. She pushed herself up slightly, leaning on Shiva for some support but also doing her best to stand on her own if she could.

"It's from the Grand Lady of the Steel Scavengers," Athena replied softly, "and she's offering a team up. Gracidea Order gets the win, all we have to do is help take out the Black Lotus members." Athena paused, examining her teammates' expressions for any signs of apprehension or distrust. Neither gave any indication of either emotion. "I normally would be a little suspicious of this kind of note. But with this," Athena showed them the front of the note, "scribbled on the front, something tells me she's being sincere. Even killers can have standards, after all."

"I am not opposed. We will need to keep on guard though, as it could always be a trap. But I would not be against such an alliance. It would allow you a chance at that charizard and practically guarantees us the win," Shiva answered, grinning at the thought. Saber nodded her pink head in agreement. Athena swiveled her head between the two a few times before folding the note and tucking it under one of the straps on her armor. Athena expanded her wings then said,

"Let us be off then." Athena would rather have rested longer but there was no time for that. Those land mines or whatever could go off any second, and she had lingered in one location for long enough. Plus, as much as she disliked wet feathers, the darkness of the pouring skies was too much of an opportunity for Athena to ignore. She took to the skies, flying high enough to gather some aerial view but also low enough that she would not risk a lightning strike. Not only is that a mistake you only make once, but she did not want to make that mistake while carrying either. Athena quickly dove back in the direction that she had last encountered the Black Lotus members. Perhaps the remaining ones were hiding somewhere. As she drew closer, Athena spotted the Grand Lady taking out Shandal. Athena started to draw closer when she heard the beating of wings nearby and saw the Black Lotus volcarona attempting to sneak up on the Grand Lady.

"Careful now!" Athena shouted at the Tsareena, dropping to the ground and firing an arrow at Vurden. It angled wide, missing the volcarona by a wide margin, but even with her decent eyesight in the darkness, this was becoming too much of an eyesight hazard filled terrain for her to effectively fire off shots. Athena drew closer to the Grand Lady and prepared to unsheath her knife. "I accept your offer. Victory is not a requirement for our cooperation. I would settle for taking the charizard's head." Athena heard Shiva shout in the distance before a Kommo-o's head went flying past her. Apparently, the Sentinel Corporation had thought it would be wise to try and double back after they had been given an explicit warning not to. The fools.

Julver the Kommo-o of the Sentinel Corporation has been eliminated.

"I have two allies remaining on the field from my side. One is critically injured but refuses to leave. How many do you have left from the Steel Scavengers?" Athena heard a shuffling nearby and notched an arrow, firing it and missing whatever it was again. Curses. "I have heard of you before, so I hope you are as true to your reputation as they say. You may never have heard of me, but I do not abandon those I ally myself with. I hope you can put that much faith in me."

Brunswick Pallas the Noivern
The Gracidea Order
His home in Jadebloom

Brunswick felt his heart seize up in his chest as Athena suddenly froze up in pain after killing the hydregion. It was the twins again. Brunswick had been worried about this. Prior to sending Athena in, the couple had paid for just about every relaxant they could think of in order to ease her pregnancy for these battles. Especially in a situation like the Blood Pit Arena, they could not risk her suffering like this. That pause in time could cost she and the two kids their lives.

The camera suddenly shifted its focus to the Grand Lady slaughtering the Luxray from the Black Lotus team. Good, good. One less individual that could strike down Athena. Brunswick chuckled a little to himself. He was really starting to get into this, sort of. He folded his red claws together and leaned forward, watching the crown-less Tsareena before realizing he needed to stop rooting for her. She was drawing a little too close to Athena for the noivern's comfort. Way too close.

"Leave her alone!" Brunswick shouted instinctively as he saw the unnoticed assailant drawing a knife. She was going to kill Athena. She was going to kill his two unborn kids. "No! No no no no no!" he screamed, his breathes starting to come short. But then, Brunswick realized his worries were for naught. The Grand Lady attached a note to the knife and then threw it at the ground. She took off before Shiva could even reach down to pick it up. Perhaps the Grand Lady was not as evil as they all spoke?

Brunswick let out a heavy sigh of relief, his heart pounding in his scaly chest. Putting his hand over his heart, Brunswick rested for a moment before taking another drink of his beer. He lifted his head as there was a knock at the door. He stood up and started over to it, wondering who it could be at this time of day with an event such as the Blood Pit Arena going on.

[Morzone]

Julia
Steel Scavengers
Dread Metal Derby - Lytala slums
Affected RP'ers: Neo Emolga, Velocity

There was too much fire. WAY too much fire. The burning wreck of the peaceslayer had turned the entire block into a blaze, and it was threatening to spread even further. At least the smoke was going up into the sky rather than hanging around in the streets. It's smell seemed to permeate everything, but thankfully it wasn't messing with Julia's visibility. Just the small blessings in life, not having smokescreen problems in a burning hell inferno of a dread metal destruction derby.

"You'd think this was coalrock city." Julia muttered as she observed yet another building starting to catch fire. That place had coal dust everywhere. It was almost impossible to buy matches and other fire starters because no one wanted to be held responsible for selling to some immature kid who started a wildfire. She, like most starting mechanics and forgers, had needed to steal fire-starters until she'd gained enough respect in the community to be able to buy them. I wonder if anyone from the market is watching this She pondered as she took another turn, still not seeing any new victims. Maybe o'l Talin the toxicroak was, he had a tv in his shop. then again he might have already forgotten this whole festival was going on. Old fart couldn't even remember where he put his helmet half the time.

Now that she thought about it, Julia wondered if Theo was watching her. She was pretty sure the safe house had a TV in it somewhere. Probably on some special hacked network so they wouldn't be traced to the location. Knowing him he'd probably be out of his mind in worry every time Julia had gotten near an enemy vehicle. She could picture the quilava pacing around in circles in front of the TV, talking to himself under his breath, trying to reason away his worries. The image saddened Julia, made her wish she could be there with him to keep him comforted. She certainly was going to need something very durable to be her stress reliever when Theo's event came around.

Imagining she was looking into the eye of a camera, Julia gave a smile and a wave before focusing again on the road. She revved her engine sightly as she went around yet another turn. Only this time, there was someone around it. The sight of the armored Hearse caught Julia off guard. Yanking the wheel sideways she swerved to avoid a collision, resulting in the Iron Giant Fish-tailing into the street and coming to a stop. Her angle could not have been worse. In somewhat of a panic Julia grabbed the Shotgun's joystick and fired as many close range shrapnel rounds as she could while her other hand yanked the car into reverse. Backing up only ran her into a building, but it gave her enough wiggle room to be able to turn around properly. She was at too much of a disadvantage now and needed to get away, or at least turn it into a chase scene where she could clog them up with tar.

As Julia spun the wheel as far as she could and hit the gas, she heard another sound from farther down the street. Risking a backward glance Julia saw, a good distance behind the hearse, Raul! Raul and his armored motorcycle The Hornet, Looking somewhat battered up but still working. The Furret, looking somewhat odd through his bullet proof glass bubble, was speeding toward the hearse, machine guns blazing. In an instant Julia switched tactics. She slammed on the breaks, turning slightly to block as much of the road as possible. Seizing joysticks with both hands Julia fired Tar everywhere: between her and the hearse, around the hearse on both sides, but mainly she worked to cover as many of the hearse's windows and doors to block visibility. The other Joystick sent a steady stream of flamethrower onto the hearse.

The hearse only seemed to have one gunner. They'd have to choose between Raul, speeding toward them from behind, and Julia in front. If they wanted to attack and break out through Julia, they'd have to get through all the hot, sticky tar she'd laid down, as well as Julia's guns, while risking letting Raul get close and do some point-blank shooting damage with his machine guns. If they wanted to focus on Raul, well, Julia hoped his stunt driving skills made him a master dodger.

[Neo Emolga]

DAY 1
Active Events: Blood Pit Arena (Qualifying Round), Dread Metal Destruction Derby (Qualyfing Round)

---------

BLOOD PIT ARENA SCOREBOARD
A.K.A. Who's surviving and who's dead.

BLACK LOTUS EMPIRE

Phoebe - Charizard
Vekker - Ursaring
Grec - Gengar
Vurden - Volcarona
Unloc - Luxray
Janos - Breloom
Shandal - Passimian
STEEL SCAVENGERS

Grand Lady - Tsareena
Gloria - Goodra (Left)
Kaytoo the Toxapex
Iolande - Gastrodon (Left)
Unnamed - Manectric
Ioseph - Beheeyem
Durkon - Clefable
THE GRACIDEA ORDER

Athena - Decidueye
Perceval - Serperior
Axiom - Hakamo-o
Shiva - Medicham
Saber - Lurantis
Jackson - Alolan Ninetales
Masamune - Braviary
THE PRANKSTER PLATOON

Laura - Umbreon (Left)
Xavier - Luxray (Left)
Kirrun - Claydol
Aria - Mismagius (Left)
THUNDERCRASH GANG

Dycee - Alolan Raichu (Left)
Cartaka - Sylveon
Modkus - Hydreigon
Vink - Watchog
Voris - Alakazam
Ryke - Swellow
Soland - Excadrill (Left)
SENTINEL CORPORATON

Vesh - Tyranitar
Lotec - Mawile
Marsha - Salazzle
Decca - Torracat
Swill - Glaceon
Eki - Lampent
Julver - Kommo-o
THE SHADOW MASK

Muno - Swampert
Burrin - Accelgor
Zill - Mimikyu
INDEPENDENTS

Bax - Togedemaru
Goreg - Nidoking
Zengar - Noivern
Jabis - Vikavolt

Phoebe Helsden the Charizard
Black Lotus - Onyx Circle
Blood Pit Arena, Lytala City
Affected RPers: Death's Spook, Noblejanobii

Something was wrong. Phoebe saw the battle completely going to hell around here and she was suddenly crippled without a squad. But instead of getting her worried, it got her angry.

Meanwhile, the only one she had left was Vurden. She didn't even think of running away from this one. She rather be a dead warrior than a spineless, pathetic coward. Without a ground squad, Phoebe decided to have Vurden and herself take to the skies in one last glorious airborne assault. She roared, knowing if she wasn't to survive this, she'd at least give her enemies pure hell before she went down.

"Follow my lead and cover my back," Phoebe ordered Vurden. "I don't even care if we don't win or even don't survive. I just want to incinerate whoever I can."

"Understood," Vurden replied with a glint of evil in his eyes.

Once both of them soared into the air, the first unlucky contender they came across was Zengar the Noivern, taking flight as well. To Phoebe, he was nothing. A simple target, a pathetic victim to be snuffed out of existence. She targeted him with the rocket launcher and fired, as if there was nothing more to snuffing out his life than simply flicking a switch. The rocket plowed into him and took his body immediately to the ground, exploding it into pieces and spreading flames around the area.

Zengar the Noivern (Independent) has been eliminated.

Inhale. Kill. Exhale. At this point, Phoebe didn't care if she lived or died, just so as long as she was feared. Her next spotted target was Decca, alone, scared and not sure what to do without her comrades or if she could find a way to escape. To Phoebe, it didn't matter. She could just stand there and die and all would be right with the world. Everything.

Without the ability to fly, Decca was in trouble and had nowhere to hide. She attempted to launch a flamethrower attack at the airborne Charizard, but Phoebe was quick to respond and dodge and then swoop down, ripping into Decca's neck with a ferocious and bloody Dragon Claw attack. The strike was so forceful that it ripped the Torracat's head right from her neck, causing blood to spew everywhere.

Decca the Torracat (Sentinel Corporation) has been eliminated.

"WHO ELSE WANTS TO DIE!?"

There were very few contenders left. Out of the corner of her eye, Phoebe spotted Dycee and was berserk enough to immediately pursue her, but after seeing the battle was a completely lost cause, Dycee had managed to squeeze herself in a gap between the arena and the cage. To her, this battle was over and staying in the arena at this point was suicide. Phoebe fired anyway, but the rocket simply slammed into the cage and only left a blast mark in the wake of Dycee mounting herself on her tail and floating away from the deathtrap.

Dycee the Alolan Raichu (Thundercrash Gang) has left the battlefield.

"YOU COWARDLY KAKO!" Phoebe shouted to the Raichu just before she drifted away out of earshot.

Meanwhile, realizing the situation was beyond hopeless, Soland the Excadrill also burrowed his way through the arena stadium floor while his squadleader had abandoned the situation. While the Thundercrash Gang never liked retreating, this was suicide and there was no coming out of this one alive. Especially with The Grand Lady around.

Soland the Excadrill (Thundercrash Gang) has left the battlefield.

Pursuing Dycee, to Phoebe, was futile. Meaningless. She was nothing more than drifting dust. No, the real prey was still with her. Still waiting to die. No one would leave this arena. Everyone was going to die!

She flew through the air, followed by Vurden who was slightly beginning to question her tactics. Nonetheless, he was about to challenge her decisions. If they were to die, better it be fighting in glory than between each other. There was no escaping out of this one, and even if he could, he wouldn't want to. He knew his was how he wanted to go. A warrior. A gladiator.

A killer.

The Charizard snarled as she spotted the Gracidea Order squad. Dead. All of them had to die. Especially the mother. Phoebe couldn't find Athena, but she was on her guard knowing the Decidueye's usual ambush tactics. She was not about to let that nonsense happen again without Athena suffering for it. If she showed herself again, there wouldn't be anything left of her to bury.

"Strike down that hideous Medicham," Phoebe ordered Vurden. "I want that b*tch dead."

The fire moth nodded, surrounding Shiva with a stinging and forceful hurricane that swept the Medicham off of her feet. She struggled to grab onto anything she could, but the only thing that stopped her was her body slamming against the side of the arena, nearly snapping every bone in her body. Only once the winds died down was the body free... only to plummet two hundred feet to the ground like an overly-beaten ragdoll.

Shiva the Medicham (Gracidea Order) has been eliminated.

All of them. They're all going to die...


Sotka Aldaros the Weavile
Black Lotus - Onyx Circle
Concealed Technical Operations Post, Lytala City Underground
Affected RPers: N/A

Sotka watched as the battle had gone to hell. Phoebe wasn't even listening to her anymore and she was off doing her own thing. Meanwhile, Black Lotus wasn't faring well at all. Usually they had these battles swift and easy, and now they were struggling.

"Shut it down," a voice told her in her headset. "They're onto you."

"Yeah right," Sotka snickered. "And who could possibly know where-"

And that's when a sudden bang had struck the door of the operations bunker. Sotka's smile quickly faded. She wasn't about to ask how or why. She just needed to deal with the problem, shoot first, and then ask questions. Suddenly, the metallic door was thrown aside as a battle-hardened Mienshao stood in the doorway, accompanied by a cunning Espeon and a Crobat.

"I KNEW IT!" the Mienshao shouted.

But his confidence was short-lived. Sotka was quick to respond, and in a heartbeat, she had turned to the Mienshao and suddenly opened fire with her X09 Automag machine pistol. The bullets stung like a swarm of angry berserker Beedrill. It gave Sotka enough of an opportunity to quickly strike in and attack with a Night Slash attack, tearing through the Espeon before dashing away through the sewers to escape.

She didn't know who these attackers were, but they had found one of her outposts and she wasn't thrilled about that. However, while the Mienshao tended to the Espeon's wounds, the Crobat tried to pursue her. And while the Crobat was fast, Sotka was simply more spry at navigating the sewers and using the tight tunnel system that the Crobat could not easily fly in. Whoever her attackers were, they wanted her outpost information and her, of course. Well, today, they weren't getting anything at all.

Just as the Crobat thought he had Sotka cornered, he flew into her trap. Suddenly he realized he was flying too fast into what was a dead end with nothing but a brick wall on all three sides, and he could either only crash or stop and try to turn around in time. However, though he went for the later option, it was more than enough time for Sotka to unload the rest of her X09 Automag machine pistol magazine right into the bat's face. An unholy shriek echoed throughout the sewer tunnels as the Crobat was gutted alive by the machine pistol's bullets. The bullet-riddled corpse felt face-down into a puddle of murky water, which quickly turned deep red as the blood mixed in with the sewer water..

"You think they'd learn," Sotka sighed, releasing the expired magazine to load in a fresh one.


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]

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

SLAYER'S RIDE [Armored Buggy]

Khilter - Dragalge (Driver/Gunner)
DESTINY'S END

Kikel - Pancham
LOCKDOWN [Armored Pick-up Truck]

Rudy - Rampardos (Driver)
Gile - Sandslash (Gunner)
[s]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

The slums were an inferno. Entire city blocks were completely in flames, and to Jucden, the carnage was like a child's fascination with fireworks. It was delightful. Magical. The pyromaniac in him was smothered with bliss as he could feel the warmth, heard the cracking, and the magic of watching the flames rage through the shanties and reduce them to nothing but ash.

And there, off to the side, was the Blackout, being smothered with tar as the hearse was disabled for just a short moment. And then, flames. More flames. Everything about the Blackout went up in flames before the hearse exploded and died in a fiery explosion of raging fire and twisted metal pieces. What funny, funny irony.

Sevren the Dusknoir (Black Lotus) has been eliminated.
Mevvan the Krookodile (Black Lotus) has been eliminated.

"Hurr hurr," Jaze chuckled. "Wudja luuk at dat."

"OH SEVREN AND MEVVAN...!" Jucden laughed happily. "I... I NEVER LOVED EITHER OF YOU! HA HA, HA HA, HA-HA-HA!"

At long last, they have everyone left to themselves. Jucden no longer needed to think about the other Black Lotus dimwits stealing his kills. No, they were dead! All dead! Deader than dead! All four of them were cremated like never before and to him, it was comical. He wanted to make a snowman out of their ashes and then run it over! Any maybe build a tiny house out of their bones like they were nothing more than Lincoln Logs.

"Come, come, everyone else is ours for the taking!" Jucden laughed. "Now let's go blow them up to bits already!"

Jaze was more than happy to comply. And he decided to reward Julia. For killing off their real competitions, he felt they would be happy with a new present. Death! There was plenty of death to share with everyone and there was no reason why Julia should be left out. Because she was so helpful, Jaze decided she should get treated first for being such a good girl.

Immediately, the Ripfire rampaged its way through several flaming shanties, and Jucden was giddy and more than ready to go. He tossed aside his grenade launcher. Now. Now was the time for something much more fun! He pulled out a large sentinel rocket launcher with happy stickers and rainbows painted on it. As the Ripfire thundered its way through the streets, Jucden took aim and fired two of the four rockets at the Iron Giant. As the rockets sped through the air, Jucden could happily imagine what a Quilava would look like wearing two nice feather wings and a halo!

"HAVE A NICE FLIGHT!" Jucden laughed.

[Noblejanobii]

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

"Shiva!"

Saber's scream echoed across the Blood Pit Arena as the Lurantis scrambled over to the Medicham's body. Shiva had knocked her wife out of the hurricane's path, but as a result, she had sealed her own fate. Saber was barely able to keep herself up, her own injuries taking a heavy toll. Tears dropped from the pink praying mantis's eyes as she rested her head on Shiva's body. In a final gesture, Shiva moved her hand ever so slightly so that it was resting against one of Saber's claws.

Athena tensed up at the scream. She looked around frantically for Shiva and Saber. She noticed most of the remaining contestants had fled or been killed. The hurricane had helped lift some of the visibility issues for Athena, which was good. Still, Athena could see Saber's distress from across the arena. Shiva was dead, which meant it was time for Saber's sacrificial technique. The two made eye contact from across the arena. Saber's eyes began to glow as she crushed something underneath her claw. It was a mimic orb, a rare item that took the user's own lifeforce in exchange for using a move. A bright light shot up into the air before falling back down onto Athena and the Grand Lady. It wasn't very strong, the move being a copy of the actual thing, but it was a Healing Wish nonetheless, restoring the strength of the two warriors just a bit. Saber's eyes went blank as she released the knock off Healing Wish. She collapsed onto Shiva's body as she passed on to be with her wife.

Saber the Lurantis of the Gracidea Order has been eliminated.

Athena was silent for a moment before mumbling, "Scratch that about two teammates. It's just me now." Turning her attention to the sky, Athena narrowed her eyes at the two opponents. "You want to take out the Volcarona, yes? I can help arrange that. Now that I have a clear shot, I can anchor it to the ground, or at least lower it." Athena drew an arrow and fired a Spirit Shackle at the volcarona, catching it through the wing. The arrow took hold and chained the Black Lotus member to his own shadow, before dragging him to the ground. "He's all yours," Athena said, gesturing in his direction. "If I should die, inform the Braviary that is with me to keep up the search. No need for my husband to lose a wife and three children in one day."

With that, Athena expanded her wings and shot into the air. She began to coat herself in a sickly dark aura, preparing a sucker punch for Phoebe in case the charizard decided to attack her. She intended to get answers, one way or another, and if this lady's head had to roll as a result, then so be it. Athena extended her talons and attempted to slash at Phoebe.

"Where is my son, you kako?" Athena shouted at the charizard. Athena tried to hit Phoebe with another swipe of her claws, attempting to stay close quarters like before for fear of that rocket launcher. "You're obviously an Onyx Circle member! So where is he? Where is Marx?" Athena was not going to leave this woman alone until she was either dead or had an answer of any sort. Murder danced in Athena's eyes as she continually tried to attack Phoebe while also staying far enough back to protect against oncoming attacks. She needed answers. She needed answers now.

Masamune Toya the Braviary
Gracidea Order
Outside the Blood Pit Arena

Masamune watched on one of the televisions as Athena went after Phoebe, using what little strength Saber has given her in her sacrifice. There were no loved ones for their belongings to go to, but their memories would still be treasured. The two were an inseparable pair and unforgettable people. Masamune turned away and started to walk down the street with the belongings he had collected still in his beak. He was about to reach an outpost for the Gracidea Order when a suspicious figure caught his eye.

Handing off the belongings to the member of the Order at the door, Masamune decided to pursue. He tailed the Hitmonchan for several blocks before it stopped. A lucario approached with a baby smeargle squirming in its hands. The two exchanged words too low for Masamune to hear before inputting a code in a keypad. A door slid open and the two stepped in, crying voices echoing from inside. Masamune frowned, perplexed by this revelation but unsure what to do about it. He decided to return to the Order for now and relay the information to them for future use.

[Morzone]

Julia
Steel Scavengers
Dread metal derby, Lytala Slums
Affected RP'ers: Neo Emolga, Velocity

It was one of those moments where your thoughts just couldn't really keep up with your actions. Before Julia knew it the Hearse in front of her had blown to bits, overheated most likely, considering the sweltering heat coming from the ocean of flames around her. As the boiling wave of air from the exploding car washed past her, Julia heard a cackle and a yell from a distance down the street to her back.

"OH SEVREN AND MEVVAN...! I... I NEVER LOVED EITHER OF YOU! HA HA, HA HA, HA-HA-HA!"

It was the Black Lotus Raticate, apparently laughing maniacally at the deaths of their fellow Lotus members. The sight of his glee was rather chilling, even for an ice type like herself. Doubtless that she would be his next target, Julia did a quick scan of the Raticate, the Armored truck's gunner. Looked like he was holding a Grenade launcher. Her Iron Giant's armor wasn't going to be able to stand too many of those, but those launchers weren't the longest ranged, they'd have to drive closer to hit her, putting them in range of her own guns.

Good, I wonder if I can blow those 'nades up midair with the flamethrower... not gonna be easy to hit small.. targets... Julia's thought's trailed off as she saw the raticate suddenly toss the grenade launcher aside.

"EJECT!" Julia screamed, slamming a button and causing the glass dome covering her cockpit to pop open. Leaping out she jumped to the street below and sprinted for towards the burning hearse. For she know three things: First the black lotus were armed beyond the teeth and if they were throwing aside a grenade launcher, whatever they were picking up would be much worse. Second: Whatever it was was going to be an explosion even bigger than grenades, something her Iron Giant could already barely handle. And third: If she had to choose between sitting in her car to be blown into little meaty chunks or making a mad dash over a burning hearse, the latter was definitely the choice to make.

And so Julia did not see the raticate fire two rockets at her tank, nor did she hear them roaring through the air as she tried to climb over the least burning part of the Hearse. Burning metal seared under her feat, flames licking her sides. Smoke filled her vision and lungs, the fire was agony, twice as bad as normal on her Ice type body. All see could see and hear were the bright, crackling flames and smoke surrounding her as she gritted her teeth and tried to push for the less-on-fire street beyond. And then Rocket made their mark, resulting in a explosion so large the Iron Giant Shattered, the gas tanks fueling the flamethrower adding to the destruction, sending fire, smoke, and burning metal into the sky to rain down every adjacent area.

Julia felt herself, as well as the burning hearse beneath her, blown forward by the force of the explosion. And while The hearse merely Rolled slightly and caught on fire even more, Julia found herself thrown into the air to come crashing down, bouncing and scrapping along the paved and rocky street until her body finally came to a stop. Her mind was blank, her hearing gone, all she could feel was the burning pain all along her back, from her head to her ankles, and the hot, sticky blood falling from the places where her skin had been shredded by the pavement. But her troubles were not yet over, for the burning remains of the Iron Giant were returning to the ground they'd been blasted off, and a rather unfortunately chunk of Metal landed on Julia's left shoulder. She couldn't really feel her bones shatter, at least not as sharply as she should have. Her brain seemed to have become numb from the pain she'd already received from all her burns, skin tearing, and heavy hits from being thrown down the street.

All he could do was lay there, weekly coughing the smoke out of her lungs. If the thought had been able to cross her mind she might have found solace in that there were now two burning wrecks between herself and the Black Lotus Raticate. But as it was all she knew was what was right in front of her blurry vision: more fire. She felt tired, numb, ready to close her eyes for a good, long sleep. And as her lids closed the fire blurred, so suddenly it was as if Theo, his head and back flames blazing, sat before her. He seemed to smile at her, the same kindhearted smile he always seemed to have with him. As if to say it was Ok, that he didn't blame her for dying like this.

But.. that wasn't right. That wasn't the Theo she knew. The Theo she knew wouldn't let her die like this, to let her just give up. And Julia blinked, the apparition vanishing from her eyes to be replaced with the nightmare she was truly in. Theo was surely watching this. She Would Not Die like this, not with him helplessly watching from behind some screen. She still had two legs and one arm, she could still fight. And, filled with a passion burning hotter and brighter than the flames consuming the buildings either side of her, The weavile pushed herself to her feet. And despite her left arm hanging uselessly by her side, she began to walk carefully down the street - away from the burning Hearse and her Obliterated Iron Giant. Raul and his Hornet Had vanished from the street long before, something julia would chew him out abut if they both made it out alive.

Her movements were unbalanced due to her broken arm, and each step sent a jolt of pain through her from her bleeding scrapes and burns, but Julia persisted until she'd reached the end of the street when something new caught her attention. A rumbling Hum of a light engine, followed quickly by the appearance of a lightly armored Buggy, adapted to be able to seat the dragalge driving it. The Dragalge spotted Julia immediately and sped over to her. However he didn't raise any guns or weapons at the weavile, instead driving up close and gloating,

"Hee-YEA! Looky here a broken bodied weavile! What's that? Yee lose your precious tank car? I saw yee earlier blowing them lotus freaks up. Thanks for takin 'em out for me! Waste their big guns of mons like yee." The Dragalge laughed at Julia's pain and misfortune and continued, "Well, I don't wanna keep yee waitin. Not gonna waste my ammo an yee, just a little beet of Poison to push you over that edge. Now don't yee be trying anything!"

The dralgage added his last warning as Julia thrust her working hand into her tool belt, seeming as if to pull out a weapon. The Dragalge gave her no such chance, spitting a sludge bomb at her. A direct hit. And the poison type laughed, laughed and laughed and failed to notice Julia moving toward him until it was too late. Because Julia hadn't pulled out a weapon, she'd touched her Blaze Jewel, changing her type to Steel. Immune to poison the sludge bomb had done nothing to her, and as the dragalge laughed itself hoarse over what he thought was her death she stepped forward and slammed the pokemon across the head with and Iron Claw. The dragalge, compeltely caught off guard, toppled sideways out of his buggy. Grabbing one of the poison type's small hand guns from his seat Julia fired one, two, three rounds into his head and body, each bullet marked with a splash of blood and a sad little convulsion of pain.

Khilter the Dragalge (independent) has been Eliminated

Slowly dragging herself with her good arm Julia pulled herself into the now vacant buggy. She paused to take stock. A few small hand guns, one heavier gun mounted on the top of the buggy, and a few grenades stashed under the seat. Taking note of the measly weapon supply, Julia sat in the dragalge's custom seat -something she was somewhat grateful for, as its odd shape, while uncomfortable in normal sense, lessened the amount of burnt skin she had to sit on. Now she needed to think of a plan. She only had two choices. Escape. Or survive until it was just her and someone else to attempt a 1 on 1 victory. Neither seemed very likely as the fires swelled and the air rippled with heat on all sides.

------

Raul, meanwhile, had taken the fastest route he could away from the sight of the hearse's destruction. He'd been zooming around the streets enough to get a sense for their general layout and as such was soon heading back toward the same street he'd just left, this time chasing down a Yellow behemoth he'd passed on his way to help Julia. Stupid Weavile, he'd known she was going to need his help at some point with that bulky monstrosity.

Taking another turn at breakneck speed -something he was rather good at- the Furret spotted his Target, and more. Down the road was the Extra large bulldozer and its three extra large inhabitants, how those three giant pokemon had all fit in there was a mystery to the furret but that was a mystery for another time. For not i=only had he spotted the Bulldozer but The bulldozer's own target: An Armored Truck belonging to the black Lotus. The Bulldozer seemed to be doing a full on assault, all guns blazing, trying to take down the truck.

Raul, taking advantages where he could, shot forward and, slipping through the small gap between the burning houses and the bulldozer, skidded out into the street behind the armored truck. The Hornet's Twin machine guns began to flash, raining bullets down on any and every tire he could lay eyes on. Staying still wasn't an option and he began to zip around, taking hard turns and swerving, circling the truck and bulldozer as much as he could, aiming his guns at any tires that appeared in front of him. The Bulldozer's side gunner fired several rounds at him only to be stopped by his Bullet-proof bubble. If he could just immobilize both vehicles they'd be forced to shoot each other to bits which would give Raul an opportunity to slip away. All he had to do was keep moving. Keep moving and hope he didn't get blown up...

(Sorry for taking so long to reply, I've been vacationing with relatives and I haven't had as much time as I thought I would have. Here's some easy targets to make up for it :D)

[Shruikan]

Levi Hallik the Gabite
The Gracidea Order
Lytala GO Outpost
Affected RPers: Noblejanobii

Levi paced restlessly. He should be out there, destroying those Black Lotus Kakós, but instead he was sidelined to guard duty at a temporary outpost. The building itself appeared to have once been an apartment block, but it had obviously been abandoned long ago. Wallpaper curled down from derelict walls revealing mould eating away at the structure below, the stairs were a deathtrap, cracked and barely held up, just waiting for someone to misstep and bring the whole thing down. The only thing that looked new was the TV set, newly acquired for the sole reason of monitoring the Tempest Games.
Not for the first time, Levi considered sneaking out to the Blood Pit arena. Even if he couldn't enter, he could still help from the stands, taking out snipers or gathering information or something. But that would just set him right back to where he started; he needed to obey orders and stand guard...

"Guard duty? But why? You know I can fight, let me take part in the Blood Pit!"
His commander sighed. "We've been over this Levi. Your bravery is admirable, but I'd never want to watching my back. You're too reckless, and in the Blood Pit you'd just get yourself and the rest of your team killed, and knowing you it'd be while trying to save an enemy from the Lotus. You're staying away from the arena, understand?"
Commander Atlas, a Venusaur with a noticeable scar running from his mouth across his left cheek, making it look like he was half smiling all the time. Strong, but with a slight limp in one leg, slowing him down and making him appear to be an easy target. But with a glint in his eye that dared you to try anything, just as multiple now-dead assassins had in the past. Levi knew that there would be no arguing with him, but that didn't mean he wouldn't try.
"Yes commander," he said reluctantly. "But if I could just-"
"No." The venusar stamped down with his good forefoot and making the ground shake slightly. "No buts. If you want to be trusted with the big jobs, you have to prove you can follow orders. Now, once again, you are to guard the outpost, and provide support to the competitors throughout the games. Understand?"
"Yes sir, commander."

Levi was snapped back to the present by a horrible screeching sound. He whirled around, whipping out a throwing knife as he spun to face the direction of the noise, thinking he was under attack from some new sonic weapon.
"Whoa, hey! It's just me!" Levi relaxed as he saw a familiar Kricketune nimbly bouncing down the rickety stairs. "I know you're taking this guard duty seriously, but there's no need to get so jumpy!"
Lyra, the Kricketune who couldn't carry a tune in a bucket. Generally happy and carefree, she was an excellent spy for the GIA. Preferred sniping enemies, but when close combat is necessary, likely to go for the knife concealed at her left hip first. Always carries her violin with her, both as a musical instrument, and an excuse to carry a large case everywhere, perfect for smuggling things about. Too bad she sucks at the actual "playing the instrument" part.
"Uhh, that's kinda what the job is," Levi responded, concealing his knife back in the folds of his cloak. "I stop suspicious pokemon that randomly drop in from above like a frigging ninjask. How did you get up there in the first place? And what was that atrocious noise? Are you practising using it as a replacement for astonish or something?"
The crimson insect laughed as she placed her violin back in its case and slung it over her back. "Well, ok, you've got me there. But come on, I was standing there watching you gaze into space for at least five minutes, and you never batted an eyelid. If you're going to be so serious about keeping watch, you should at least pay attention."
"You didn't answer my questions" Levi protested, as the kricketune nonchalantly flopped down on the threadbare sofa.
"Now if I went around answering questions, I'd be as bad at my job as you are," she replied with a wink. "So, how's the festival going?"
Levi sat down next to her, careful to avoid a loose spring sticking out at an odd angle. "Well, the Pranksters all ran for it after their first casualty, most of the Scavengers are dead, and Athena's the only Order member left, with Masamune making a run for it after being badly injured. Oh, speak of the Renegade." Levi watched as the very braviary they had just been talking about handed something to another guard at the door before hurrying back off into the streets again.
"Well, he must not have been too badly injured if he didn't stay," Lyra said before leaning back slightly. Levi stood up quickly, earning a squeak of surprise from the off-balanced kricketune as the without the counterbalance, spy and sofa went tumbling over.
"No, he was badly burned. He needed medical treatment ASAP, so something important must have happened."
Levi's mind raced. He wasn't supposed to leave the outpost, but Masamune must have seen something important to head off himself without treating his wounds. And hadn't Atlas told him to provide support to the competitors? So going after him wasn't technically disobeying orders...
Lyra stumbled back to her feet. "Hey watch what you're- wait, where are you going?"
Levi was already halfway out the door. "I'm going to follow that bird. I need to know what he's up to."
"Well, not alone you're not. I know what happens when you're left to your own devices. Especially with assassins." She winked again. "Since I'm between assignments, why don't you let a pro come along."

For several blocks the two pokemon pursued the braviary. It quickly became apparent that he was following someone himself, but neither pokemon were sure who, and Lyra refused to let them interrupt him to ask in case he lost his lead. It was only when they saw him stop for a while, then turn back toward the outpost that Levi was allowed to reveal himself.
Stepping out the the shadows, Levi held up his hands non-threateningly. "Hey, no need to be alarmed. We're with you. We've kinda been following you. I sort of figured that you might need backup if things went south, but I see that didn't happen. You really need to get that burn looked at, so I figured whatever drew you away must be important. But I couldn't see what or who you were following without getting closer and miss musical here didn't want to distract you." Levi turned to stare pointedly at his companion, who had slunk deeper into the shadows.
"C'mon, I'm amazingly talented and you know it." The kricketune said as she stepped into view beside him.
"Yeah, just not at music." Levi remarked, which earned him a joking smack behind the head.
"So, to the point, what exactly was it that you were following?"

[Noblejanobii]

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

Masamune jumped slightly when Levi suddenly appeared in front of him. The braviary gasped a little in pain, his burn really starting to hurt. He raised his wings and got into a combat position, ready to fight his way out of his alleyway when Levi started to explain himself. Masamune eyed the gabite and kricketune suspiciously, unsure what to make of them. On the one hand, if they were Gracidea Order members like Levi claimed, then it could be useful to have the backup. However, if they were spies or Black Lotus members, then he was in check on this chess board. Still, he had little choice in this position. His burn needed to be treated now. Masamune was practically begging for infection when he opted for this adventure instead of heading for treatment immediately.

Masamune cocked his head a little and stared at Levi for a moment. Hadn't he seen that Gabite near the outpost earlier? Masamune thought it over for a minute before coming to the certain decision that he did recognize this Gabite. Perhaps they weren't as much of a threat as Masamune's paranoia was making them out to be. The braviary looked back in the direction where the pokémon he had been tailing had disappeared and gestured with his wings for them to move.

"I was tailing what I believed to be a Black Lotus member but I lost them. Sort of. It's not really safe to discuss here. We need to move." Swishing his red feathers, Masamune started to walk forward. He pointed in the direction whence he came. "Perhaps we could speak in the privacy of an outpost. Or maybe a bar would be more suitable for secrecy. I am open to suggestion. Still, we must be quick about this. No need to be caught doing something we shouldn't be doing."

As if summoned by his words, a group of pokémon quickly descended around the three. Masamune did not seem the least bit surprised, almost as if he had known that he was being tailed, albeit, not by Levi, but rather by these mysterious foes. An Alolan Golem approached the trio and chuckled at Masamune's unamused expression. They were surrounded by six pokémon: an alolan golem, a mr. mime, an eelektross, a nidoqueen, a male meowstic, and a liepard.

"It's been a while, Masamune," the alolan golem said as he approached the braviary. "Never took you for much of a tournament participant. Then again, you fled before it was over, so maybe I was right. Still, rumor has it you've got some juicy information and you know us Sentinel Corp members, we love information brokering."

"I stopped dealing with you a long time ago, Hulgar." Masamune leaned in and growled. "I left the Sentinel Corps because you're just insignificant bugs that bully information out of people. Sadly for you, I'm not an easy egg to crack. And the two behind me are completely useless to you. I can guarantee they do not have the information that you seek. So how about you just hobble back down the street to your little computer because you're one bit short of a Boolean if you think you can win against me." Masamune spit in Hulgar's face. The alolan golem stumbled back in shock before growling at Masamune.

"You kako! I'll tear your wings off, you traitor! Take the braviary alive, but kill the others!" The nidoqueen immediately charged in, attempting to strike Levi when the gabite wasn't ready. Masamune began to glow and charged at the alolan golem, slamming into his opponent while using superpower, but the golem barely budged.

[Neo Emolga]

DAY 1
Active Events: Blood Pit Arena (Qualifying Round), Dread Metal Destruction Derby (Qualyfing Round)

---------

BLOOD PIT ARENA SCOREBOARD
A.K.A. Who's surviving and who's dead.

BLACK LOTUS EMPIRE

Phoebe - Charizard
Vekker - Ursaring
Grec - Gengar
Vurden - Volcarona
Unloc - Luxray
Janos - Breloom
Shandal - Passimian
STEEL SCAVENGERS

Grand Lady - Tsareena
Gloria - Goodra (Left)
Kaytoo the Toxapex
Iolande - Gastrodon (Left)
Unnamed - Manectric
Ioseph - Beheeyem
Durkon - Clefable
THE GRACIDEA ORDER

Athena - Decidueye
Perceval - Serperior
Axiom - Hakamo-o
Shiva - Medicham
Saber - Lurantis
Jackson - Alolan Ninetales
Masamune - Braviary (Left)
THE PRANKSTER PLATOON

Laura - Umbreon (Left)
Xavier - Luxray (Left)
Kirrun - Claydol
Aria - Mismagius (Left)
THUNDERCRASH GANG

Dycee - Alolan Raichu (Left)
Cartaka - Sylveon
Modkus - Hydreigon
Vink - Watchog
Voris - Alakazam
Ryke - Swellow
Soland - Excadrill (Left)
SENTINEL CORPORATON

Vesh - Tyranitar
Lotec - Mawile
Marsha - Salazzle
Decca - Torracat
Swill - Glaceon
Eki - Lampent
Julver - Kommo-o
THE SHADOW MASK

Muno - Swampert
Burrin - Accelgor
Zill - Mimikyu
INDEPENDENTS

Bax - Togedemaru
Goreg - Nidoking
Zengar - Noivern
Jabis - Vikavolt

Phoebe Helsden the Charizard
Black Lotus - Onyx Circle
Blood Pit Arena, Lytala City
Affected RPers: Death's Spook, Noblejanobii

Phoebe knew there weren't very many Pokémon left at this point. Countless bodies and marks of destruction were thrown about in the arena. It was almost over. Sure, it might not have been one of Black Lotus's grandest victories and it certainly wasn't flawless like she had been hoping for, but it was trivial. It had been a good slaughterfest and the masses wouldn't go home disappointed.

She had watched Saber's sacrifice for the Grand Lady, wondering why the Lurantis would give up her life for her, but it didn't matter. The whole act was going to be completely in vain. In fact, Saber had done very little but reveal the Grand Lady's position to the Charizard, and now they were all going to die.

Phoebe knew... if she could kill this infamous legend, it would make up for Black Lotus's higher than normal casualties. Yes. The Steel Scavengers had a blood debt to pay, and it would paid with the Grand Lady's head.

"I wonder what your screams sound like," Phoebe snarled with a wicked grin.

Taking aim at the Tsareena, Phoebe fired not once, but twice, launching two incendiary rockets at the Grand Lady to make sure there wasn't nothing left of her but ash. However, before she got to see the results of her strike, suddenly she was ambushed when her attention was focused on the Grand Lady. She never saw Athena coming in the rush that she did and with her guard down. And Vurden had completely failed in his task simply because he was more interested in watching the Grand Lady die than cover his squad-leader. Athena couldn't have found a more opportune moment to attack.

"Where is my son, you kako?" Athena shouted at Phoebe.

In her rage, she struck relentlessly, causing Phoebe's rocket launcher to be ripped out of her grasp and fall to the sandy arena floor before.

"You're obviously an Onyx Circle member!" she continued her assault. "So where is he? Where is Marx?"

Only then did Vurden realize the horror of his mistake. He turned and watched in shock as Athena struck Pheobe in the throat, cutting off her breathing and spraying the Charizard's blood everywhere.

"You'll... never find him," Phoebe gasped with a dark smile as she plummeted to the ground. "He'll only grow... to become everything... you've ever hated..."

Her body continued to fall to the ground, but before she hit the floor on the long way down, she was impaled on a large, metallic rod that had been jutting out of one of the many piles of junk and debris that had been intended to be obstacle obstructions. Her impaled body never touched the ground, but instead was suspended in the air as the metallic rod had driven its way through her back, into her vitals and rib cage, and out of her abdomen as a now bloody and metallic stake. All that was left was the steady leaking of blood all over the pile of metallic garbage.

Phoebe the Charizard (Black Lotus) has been eliminated.

The audience was surprised, shocked, and for the many that bet money on Black Lotus, horrified. It was not something they had suspected, but it had happened nonetheless. They definitely couldn't say it hadn't been an interesting and unpredictable fight.

Guilty and ashamed, Vurden felt he had no choice but to make up for his blunders by at least avenging Phoebe's death. He immediately surged toward Athena and attempted a flamethrower attack. He knew he would never be forgiven for letting Phoebe die simply because he wanted to witness the death of the Grand Lady, but he could at least take Athena to her grave as well.

He wasn't even sure if the rockets had hit the Tsareena, but that didn't matter to the Volcarona. Once he was done with Athena, he could finish up what Phoebe started and be the sole hero of the Blood Pit match.

It would all be worth it in the end.


DREAD METAL DESTRUCTION DERBY SCOREBOARD

BLACK LOTUS EMPIRE

RIPFIRE [Armored Truck] (Disabled)

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] (Disabled)

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

Kikel - Pancham
LOCKDOWN [Armored Pick-up Truck]

Rudy - Rampardos (Driver)
Gile - Sandslash (Gunner)
[s]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

Jucden wrongfully thought the explosion had killed Julia. When the Iron Giant had exploded gloriously, he never saw her escape and he simply took it as yet another kill to his name. There were plenty of other drivers and vehicles to destroy, and as he had expected, he wanted them all to himself. Jaze would just be his slaughterhouse chauffeur in the fiery madness.

Jaze had spotted the Enimga Zero in the distance, which he would make for a large bounty of flesh that Jucden would definitely enjoy. The large bulldozer hadn't seen much in the ways of damage, but Jucden knew that was certainly about to change when the explosives were going to fly.

The machine gun fire had done some light grazing on the Ripfire, biting away at the armor that had already seen some wear and tear throughout the vehicular mayhem. Jucden decided that while the Enimga Zero was garbage owned by an enemy team, it was still a fairly worthy opponent, so blasting it to pieces with the remaining two Sentinel rockets seemed fair. He already had his finger on the trigger anyway, so why not? There was no putting any of that away without making good use of it first!

Just as Jucden's two rockets fired out, one from the Enimga Zero was launched by Olock the Aggron. Jaze was anxious as there was no way he could dodge the rocket, so there was nothing the two of them could do but brace for impact. It slammed hard and loud into the Ripfire, ripping out the front portion of the truck and completely destroyed everything inside, including even the massive engine block. Meanwhile, Jucden's two rockets had blasted apart the left side of the Enigma Zero and destroyed the main guns and the gunner nest, turning Olock the Aggron into nothing more than a shower of body parts and Aggron armor plating.

Olock the Aggron (The Nightmarch) has been eliminated.

"MY TRUCK!!" Jucden shouted in horror, realizing the damage to the Ripfire had been severe. "YOU STUPID BASTARDS! I'LL USE YOUR BONES TO REPAIR IT IF I HAVE TO!!!"

On the opposite end, Jugnul the Tyrantrum had tried to finish off what Olock started, continuing to rain bullet hell on the disabled Ripfire, but Baladax the Beartic quickly realized the Enimga Zero was stranded also and critical damage had been done to the axels and wheels on the left side. Their engine was still alive, but the whole bulldozer was leaning on its side and wouldn't budge at all with the left half run into the ground. Meanwhile, Raul in The Hornet was ripping new holes in both vehicles, forcing the members in both vehicles to have to take cover and use their disabled hulks as shelter from the onslaught. There was definitely no way either team could get their vehicles to be functional again without serious repairs.

Jaze knew there was no choice but to fight on foot now. He grabbed his Revenant light machine gun and fired back at the Enigma Zero. Loud hammering of gunfire echoed throughout the slums, which had turned into an inferno over the course of the Dread Metal match.

"Gunna mash ya heds in!!" Jaze shouted back.

Meanwhile, as The Hornet swung around, he opened fire on it also, but the shots only did grazing damage to the vehicle as it was moving far too fast for him to get any accurate hits on, especially with the large machine gun and its heavy recoil. Jaze snarled, annoyed that he was being bested by a motorcycle rather than a massive, hulking car. To him, The Hornet should have been squashed long before the match got to this point.

Jaze was struck in the arm by The Hornet's gunfire, causing the Conkeldurr to snarl and swear a blood revenge. On the other side, Jugnul soon ran out of ammo and he realized he would need to finish off Jaze and Jucden using only attacks and possibly his claws and jaws. His machine gun was dry and the main cannon had been destroyed. Meanwhile, Baladax had pulled out his own canister rifle, hoping to finish off Jaze's stupidity for good. It was the last firearm The Nightmarch team had left and Baladax had strong intentions to make good use of it.

Jugnul had waited for Jaze's magazine to run dry while Jucden had to scramble to retrieve his grenade launcher, which had slid a sizeable distance away from his grasp after the impact. Jugnul had torn his way out of the disabled bulldozer and charged toward the stranded Ripfire, but at that moment, he hadn't seen the Lightning Strider tearing its way down the road. Just as he heard the roar of the nitro roadster's engine, he suddenly turned to see Latchy the Pachirisu smile, wave, and then launch a rocket at him before the electric squirrel gave him the finger as the rocket sped right at his face.

The impact lit up the area between the two disabled hulks and fragmentation and Jugnul's body parts went flying in all directions.

Jugnul the Tyrantrum (The Nightmarch) has been eliminated.

The Lightning Strider simply darted away, watching and waiting for the two teams to slaughter each other before descending upon them like a hungry Mandibuzz. It seemed as though the survivors of this engagement would only live to get killed by them instead. Jucden and Jaze realized this, trying to figure out ways to finish off the rest of the Nightmarch and then somehow eliminate both Juan and the rest of the Thundercrash Gang. Without a mobile vehicle, it was going to be extremely difficult.

[Death's Spook]

Max Clerk (Klinklang)
Steel Scavengers
Sniper's nest above the Blood Pit Arena -> The Tunnels below
Affected RPers: Neo Emolga (Sotka)

As the effects of Shift Gear fade, Max Clerk is quite pleased with the tactical stroke they and Magenta just succeeded with, but their joy is short lived when they receive a distress call over the comms.

“We found an outpost like you said to, but there was a member of the Onyx freaking Circle there. We attacked, she attacked, Cerdwin is half dead, I’m grazed, and if that screaming is at all indicative, Esteban has probably been brutally murdered. How do we pursue her? She knows these tunnels better than we do.” Earl the Mienshao is blunt as usual, but Max Clerk finds the weasel quite refreshing in that regard.

The Klinklang is reasonably certain that Anthony is about to reply, but cuts the Mimikyu off before he can get going. “You don’t, Earl. Focus on ransacking the outpost more than anything. Have Cerdwin telepath as much information as she possibly can to…” Max Clerk thinks for a second, “Haq and Anthony both,” picking the two Knights the Klinklang considers most likely to survive this mess. It was a bit callous, leaving two of the Scavenger’s better people in a room where soldiers were either going to come in or that was booby trapped to the fullest extent. “I am going to pick you up.”

Anthony’s voice is clear and precise, “Max, this is not what we agreed on. I can--”

The gear Pokemon’s voice gets testy, “You’re undesirable number one to these people, Anthony! With me, they’re likely to think that all I want is a fight and they’ll be less likely to send four different armies to massacre me. I’m not the leader and symbol of an entire resistance movement, Anthony. You are.”

There is a pause on the comm. “Very well. But be careful.” It’s as much an order as it is a statement of concern. “Magenta, are you planning on going with Max?”

The Volcarona shakes her head, then realizes that the comms are strictly auditory, “No. Like, I’d love to, but The Lady is, like, fighting my brother. I can’t leave her alone with him.”

“Very well,” says Anthony, “have our ally stay with you as well, Magenta.”

Max Clerk takes their cue, descending from above the Blood Pit Arena to the tunnels down below. It takes a couple minutes, and when they’re below the stadium, it is with some trepidation that they enter the labyrinthine tunnels.

Left. Right. Forward. Right in this alcove, ignore this other one that they remember is a trap. It could as easily have been two seconds as it could have been two years: the maze makes it difficult for Max Clerk to keep track of time. And so it is almost accidental that they come across a long corridor, wider than the others but with the only entrances and exits being ahead, beyond Sotka the Weavile, or behind Max Clerk. Neither occupant is going to make progress without getting past the other.

The Klinklang’s eyes gleam with bloodlust.

Aloud, all the say is, “Oh. Well. This is awkward.”

And then they rush forward, intent on crushing the Weavile in their gears.

The Grand Lady (Tsareena)
Steel Scavengers
Blood Pit Arena
Affected RPers: Noblejanobii (Athena) Neo Emolga (Vurden)

It probably says something about what the Knights’ lives are like that the Lady’s first reaction to realizing she’s being shot at is Oh thank Celebi, there is NOT secretly a plan to leave me alive so that I can somehow do more damage to my own cause later.

That being said, she does not fancy being blown up into powder sized pieces. She rolls into an area that would allow her to take the worst of the blast wave with her armor, and the ease with which she identifies the safe zone surprises her until she realizes that the technique Phoebe used to aim her looks familiar, and it takes her a second to place it.

It’s a technique that the nameless Manectric used to aim some of his less accurate attacks.

On its own, it would not mean much to her. After all, she has frequently employed the tactics of her enemies. But that usually took study, careful analysis, and the like, and the nameless Manectric in particular was not a public figure. Durkon could have told the Lotus, but in the Lady’s opinion that is not the sort of thing he would have paid attention to, particularly with her, a higher priority target, standing right there.

Further, she and the Knights had routine sessions about figuring out what, precisely, Ante was. It wasn’t a Pokemon move or even aligned with a type. Nor was it a direct offensive attack: they would have noticed it if it was. Anthony’s current opinion was that it was some kind of perceptive power, allowing their foes to somehow detect surprise attacks, but if that were the case, it would have been more likely that Unloc and Shandal would still be alive.

A memory strikes her. A Lurantis. Not her recently deceased temporary ally, but a different one, back when she had only recently become the Grand Lady, one from the Black Lotus. He had given her a distinct sense of unease, and then winked at her, like he knew her, even though they had never met. And she is just realizing why:

He was carrying himself the way her eldest sister used to, several years and a lifetime ago. The attacks he used carried the marks of being similar to Queen Artemis, to boot.

The Lady barely cares as she’s thrown into a nearby pile of debris. Her left arm is quite busted from the impact, her face is cut up, her entire body is filthy, and she does not care as she realizes what this might--might!--mean.

A voice in her head sounding suspiciously like Max Clerk chides her, reminding her to be skeptical, to make sure that her extraordinary claim has enough evidence for her to believe it.

Start with the spy network. The Master of Shadows said that he believed Nenge the Nincompoop figured out what Ante was.

“Gramme,” she calls sharply on her little headset (slightly banged up but perfectly functional), “Is Nenge the first assassin you guys sent?”

There’s a pause before the mysterious orb replies, “No. He was the second. Actually, Taiya killed him in a way remarkably similar to some techniques we teach… But why does this matter right now?”

“It does, Gramme. Trust me. And thank you!”

Alright. How to play this? Given her little foray with the wrong end of a rocket launcher, the Lady has the advantage of surprise, but only briefly, and she decides it’s time to reveal her own ace up her sleeve.

The Lady finds herself, as always, taken aback by the sheer usefulness of her fellow Knights’ advice.

In this specific case, it’s Arlington whose advice comes in handy, specifically in how he runs cons.

Step one, identify the premises.

According to the Sharpedo, every interaction in the history of the world has a set of rules, explicit or implicit, that everyone assumes will be followed. The trick is to identify what those rules are and therefore what blind spots they induce. It was tricky, finding such a thing for the Blood Pit Arena, but in the end she found two:

There was a limit on the number of allies she could bring in, and her weapons would be assumed to be just that unless people were given very good reason to suspect otherwise.

Step two is feeding expectations.

The Lady found this to be quite simple: she used her sword and shield like a sword and shield, and suspicion was deflected. Even abandoning two perfectly good melee weapons at the first opportunity was not enough to cause suspicion, the Lady smugly thinks to herself.

And step three? Executing the surprise.

Vurden is too focused on avenging his commanding officer even to notice that the Lady, though bruised, battered, and quite injured, is both alive and still able to fight. He is even less focused on the corpse of the Ninetales, and the sword therein. The Lady puts away her scarf, calling instead on her Blaze Jewel to employ Shift Gear. And as Vurden turns around, hearing the clanking noise of the Lady’s armor rearranging itself, the Tsareena throws a knife with her enhanced strength and says, pitilessly, mercilessly, “Now, Michigo.”

The sword reveals that the cloth around its handle is actually the result of two tassels, one of which reach to grab the nearby shield. And then Michigo the Aegislash calls forth sharp shadows, trying to rend the Volcarona in twain.

Vurden is not helpless, but he does not dodge the assault perfectly either. The Lady’s knife he avoids, albeit barely, but the Shadow Claw travels up the Spirit Shackle that Athena Pallas used earlier, making it difficult for the moth to dodge the assault. His fragile wings are not touched, but he is cut severely across the face.

The crowd boos, quite loudly, when they realize the Lady’s cheating. The Knight laughs haughtily, her eyes on Vurden, as she faux apologizes, “Oh I am truly sorry. I did not realize there were rules in a duel to the death.”

Vurden glares at The Lady, powder shaking from his body as he uses Quiver Dance, “I’m going to burn you alive. All three of you.”

The Lady’s laugh grows sharper, “Oh, that’s going to somewhat difficult in this downpour. Convenient, is it not?” To Athena, The Lady makes an aside, “If it is practical, do not interfere. Vurden’s fate is a matter internal to the Steel Scavengers. Michigo, your assistance, if you please.”

The next two minutes are a blur to the Lady. Even after, all she is able to remember is the gleam of knives, the sound of infernal screeching clawing her ears, burns and elegant dodges and power and fear and exhilaration as the battle invigorates her. Even at such a disadvantage, Vurden is a match for The Grand Lady and her surprise ally, and the clash grants new injuries to all three. But then the Lady reveals a surprise: aloud, for everyone on camera and in the arena to hear, she asks, “So, Vurden, when you use Ante to take the memories of the people you kill, does it help you use their skills if you practice the way they practiced, or is it more helpful to practice like you do already?”

It is carefully calculated to sound like she is certain about the premise of the loaded question. She has a certain carefully crafted aura of mystique, after all: she may not know for sure if she is correct about Ante, but she is the mysterious, powerful, intelligent, and, of course, grand Grand Lady. She is one of the foremost enemies to the Black Lotus, and sounding certain about something she could not know about would enhance that and would more thoroughly throw Vurden off of his game. True to form, Vurden’s attack sputters as he lets out a shocked, “How did!--”, confirming the Lady’s guess.

It also helps Michigo’s Shadow Ball nail him, sending him tumbling over teakettle before coming to a stop in front of the Grand Lady.

The Tsareena immediately makes use of her superior physical strength, pinning him and straddling him. She looks him the eye with a smile sweet like honeyed cyanide. “Now then, Vurden dear, we are going to play a little game.”

To his credit, Vurden blazes with fire, trying to throw the Knight off.

It hurts. A lot.

But The Lady keeps her composure, as though the burning (which though painfully injurious, will not be fatal) merely tickles as she says, “Do you know the game with flower petals? Where we ask if someone loves me or loves me not? It’s a variation.”

The Grand Lady rips off Vurden’s top right wing with her bare hands, disrupting his concentration on the fire attack and leaving him unable to continue the assault, “Do I leave you dead?”

She repeats the same with his middle right wing, “Or alive?”

Bottom right, “Dead?”

Top left, “Alive?”

Middle left, “Dead?”

And as The Lady rips off Vurden’s last wing, she gives a savage look, almost manic in her sadism, “Alive it is.”

She pulls out a knife, and disembowels the Volcarona.

“See the mercy of The Grand Lady. You are alive, Vurden. For now.” Alive, yes, but disfigured beyond repair with his guts hanging out of his body, the moth is unlikely to remain so for a short but highly agonizing period of time. And if he somehow survived the next hour, The Lady has no doubt that The Black Lotus will do things far worse to him than she just did. She idly grabs Michigo, the Aegislash watching the show with some revolted fascination.

“As I agreed, madam. I will be taking my leave, and leaving you unharmed. Spare Vurden or kill him, I do not care which. Good bye.” The Lady, burned and greatly injured, gives a graceful curtsey to Athena Pallas like nothing is wrong.

Haq appears behind the Tsareena and her formerly hidden ally and teleports them out to the agreed upon safe place.

The Grand Lady (Steel Scavengers) has left the Arena

Gloria and Iolande give the Lady looks she will try to decipher later, because she is preoccupied with falling to her knees with a litany of curses, in quite some agony.

OoC: I will have Anthony's post up a little bit later, and also I left significant foreshadowing about the stunt with Michigo the Aegislash. I even mentioned her by name before.

[Neo Emolga]

OOC: Just using this as a catch-up post for some other friendly faces.


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


Sotka Aldaros the Weavile
Black Lotus - Onyx Circle
Lytala City Underground
Affected RPers: Death's Spook (Max Clerk)

To Sotka, it was one more dead Crobat. The Ante made it obvious who had found her: The Steel Scavengers. She now knew of the mission and what the Scavengers were up to. To her, it was almost funny how when there was no Tempest Festival going on, everyone was in the shadows, but now, all the players were coming out. But there was a reason this was all going down the way it was in the first place.

Sotka was about to turn around and head out, but then before her emerged the Klinklang. Soon enough, the gears of this metallic Pokémon had begun to turn, and she knew trying to get past him without doing anything first was obviously suicide.

"Oh," Max spoke, with its eyes colored with bloodlust. "Well. This is awkward."

Meanwhile, Sotka knew her X09 Automag machine pistol wasn't going to be very helpful against a Pokémon that was already made of metal. She knew she might as well be trying to break a tank open with a horseshoe. And she realized her trap for the Crobat had been used against her, as she had no way out now either. There was either go through Max, or wait at the brick wall and wait for it to get there. Neither of them sounded like Sotka's ideal way of spending the day.

But on the other hand, Sotka was not one to dismiss creativity. She quickly rushed back to the Esteban the Crobat's corpse, picked it up, turned around, and hurled it at Max Clerk's spinning gears.

"Not to worry, I'm done with him anyway," she smiled.

Esteban's corpse sailed through the air and quite instantly, the bat had begun to go through the violent crushing process as soon as it came into contact with the Klinklang's turning gears. The Weavile quickly made her move, leaping into the air and hopping on top of in-process Crobat corpse and using it like a stepping stone to then jump to safety behind the Klinklang while Max Clerk experienced the morbidity of crushing one of his own teammates in the gear crushing process. She had come close, just barely avoiding getting snagged into the grinding gears by a few seconds. Nonetheless, Sotka had safely jumped her way to the other side.

She simply didn't have the weaponry and tools to deal with Max Clerk at the current moment, but she knew there would most likely be another future occasion. Cowardly or not, she was well aware that sometimes the best defense was, quite frankly, running away.

"Right," she told Max as she sped off. "I'm outta here."

She then darted off, slightly wondering if Max Clerk would actually stop crushing Esteban and be apologetic for turning what would have originally been an open casket funeral into a closed one, or simply just mechanically continue grinding him to a pulp and think nothing of it. But, curiosity be damned, she wasn't interested in sticking around to find out.

As Sotka raced her way out of the sewer tunnels and intended to head back to base, she hadn't been aware of how exactly the Blood Pit match had gone down. She already had a bad feeling about it when it came to Phoebe's survival and how last time she checked, half the Charizard's squad had been killed. When it came down to it, many entrants plus limited squad sizes was going to even the score and she knew Black Lotus would go from always having the advantage to now having to play on an even playing field. There was room for error and disaster, as she had just witnessed.

Once she was back into the open air of Lytala City, she headed back into the streets and had quickly noted how the crowds of Lytala City citizens were reacting. It didn't take long for her to overhear the whispers and murmurs.


Rexor Rondel the Zoroark
Black Lotus - Onyx Circle
Freight Truck northbound on Round 18, En Route toward Connive
Affected RPers: N/A

The ride was silent as Rexor manned the steering rod. There was very little to see on the long road to Connive. Desert wasteland, rocks, decaying plants, and the occasional abandoned vehicle husk were all there was to see as they left the gas station behind them. Meanwhile, the heat of the sun was bearing down mercilessly on the desert landscape, and the road itself had become hot enough to use as a cooking pan if sanitation was not a concern.

Shana looked at the radio, curious to know how the Blood Pit and Dread Metal events were going, but she didn't dare request permission from Rexor to turn it on. There was only the sounds of the truck's engine and the crunching of dust, sand, and stone under the freight truck's heavy tires.

Rexor hadn't ever seen Connive before for obvious reasons, but it didn't matter. There was no home field advantage here. Not with a mission like this. Once they were in Connive, the bets were off. All the eyes were on the games and guards were being dropped. He was "just another" in the field. A nobody. A spectator.

It made him that much more dangerous.

Up ahead, Rexor soon encountered the rear of another container truck on the northbound side of the highway, and he simply stayed behind it as it too, was heading into Connive and was unmarked as well. While it was going slower, Rexor didn't try to pass it or get angry against the driver. He already knew what they were doing and he was going to play along with it. After all, it wouldn't be the first time the Zoroark had worn disguises.

"Can't we just pass this guy?" Shana asked, seeing as how they dropped in speed.

"No," Rexor replied in a dark tone. "We do everything they do. This is now a convoy, understand?"

Shana nodded as she swallowed and looked back to the other truck. She had an idea of what Rexor was planning, but not all the way. There was something about him that made it all hard to piece together and she knew she wouldn't be able to entirely figure it out until it was all done and over anyway.

She had just witnessed him kill a fellow Black Lotus operative over nothing but a slip of the tongue and she wasn't about to question his judgment. As long as she was with him for the duration of this mission, he was in charge. They were his shots. She wouldn't act unless commanded to. It was not her idea of a good time, but all that could change once that was done. She wouldn't need to sign on with him again. It was simple math and she wasn't going to let pride get the better of her on this one.

And the convoy continued on toward Connive.


Tricky Ravken the Raichu
Black Lotus - Onyx Circle
Leaving Syngraft, en route toward Hana City
Affected RPers: N/A

"Uuurrrrpppppffff... blleeeeeffffff," Tricky scornfully vomited into a rusted barrel used to hold trash. "Ohhh... oh, god, that..."

"Shut up..." Kust the Whimsicott complained from the passenger seat of the Ensign carrier. "The more you talk, the more my head bangs."

Tricky had spat one more time into the barrel just to get the taste of bile out of her mouth. She knew she'd feel better later in the day, but right now it was like Giratina had calmly leaned right next to her and screamed into her ear while being violently castrated. Meanwhile, her stomach felt like she had eaten a Muk's egg completely raw and whole and decided to jump off at the highest point of a roller coaster and break the fall with her stomach.

"I just wanna go," Tricky told Kust as she climbed back into the carrier. "This whole... this whole town smells like fiery anal piss. I swear to Arceus I'd rather crawl up Lugia's ass and wait to get crapped out with all the other excrement in there than stick around this town."

After getting inside the carrier and shutting the door behind her, she tried to find where she left the keys, but they had been in the ignition the whole time. It took her a good two minutes before she finally realized it, and when she finally discovered her mistake, she looked to Kust like it was all his fault.

As Tricky turned on the ignition, Kust decided that rather than listen to Tricky talk for the rest of the ride to Hana, he'd listen to the radio to get the updates. He hadn't checked the time, but he figured the events would be starting soon.

He hadn't expected for one of them to be already over.

"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."

"Is that for f**kin' real!?" Tricky exclaimed in shock as her jaw dropped. "Holy pissing Murhe, Phoebe, how could you of all Pokémon screw that up!?"

As Tricky slowly began to drive with her nerves reflecting her now irate mindset, they listened in on all the details and recounts of what had transpired throughout the entire Blood Pit match. Many Pokémon dead, several had evacuated when the situation looked hopeless, but there was solid confirmation the entire Black Lotus squad was completely eliminated, including Phoebe the Charizard. But the question that came up the most was the incident surrounding the Grand Lady and what she had done to Vurden the Volcarona, along with and the speculation of Ante. They had just left Syngraft when the recap had finished.

"Damn, you think they figured it out?" Kust asked curiously.

"Oh please, you think that means anything?" Tricky asked, rolling her eyes. "I'll admit, Vurden was an idiot, but everything about Ante is something uninformed Pokémon look up in documentaries and conspiracy theories. He might as well have said aliens exist."

"Maybe they do..." Kust smirked.

"Of course they do," Tricky rolled her eyes. "But do you see anyone care? No. No one cares. Oh, Ante? No one cares. Peanut butter bread cheese muffins? No one cares. But it does make me happy I wasn't wasting an hour watching Phoebe's ass get kicked. Turn on Dread Metal. See if that's still going on."

All the while, the carrier headed closer and closer toward Hana.

[LKWayvern]

Xavier Feurra the Luxray
Prankster Platoon
Connive, City Square
Affected RPers: None

Despite being unable to see what was going on, Xavier had a pretty good idea, thanks to the announcer’s narration.

Grand Lady having a hidden ally… Well. Didn’t totally surprise him as much as it should have.

The Black Lotus actually losing? And an Onyx kako being killed?

...Infinitely more unexpected. He, personally, had been expecting to make Laura leave the arena at some point sooner or later. He doubted she would’ve been able to face off against a Black Onyx member.

Defeating one would be incredibly different. If Laura hadn’t been in the arena, if Xavier had had a full team of trained and dangerous Pranksters, he may have attempted it. But while Laura had done better than he expected, she was still far from the level of a Lotus member.

The Grand Lady and her new ally forfeiting…

He frowned, tail swishing. Something was off about that. She had brutally maimed the volcarona, and left the Gracidea Order’s single surviving participant, Athena Decidueye… In fairly good shape.

It would be a pathetically simple matter for Athena to just end Vurden’s life.

It did not add up to him. Unless…

He frowned. Perhaps there was a sort of alliance between the Steel Scavengers and the Gracidea Order?

That had to be the answer.

He swished his tail again. Why would they team up? Perhaps they were planning something major…

Once he was recovered, he would have to look into it further.

[Death's Spook]

Anthony Carpenter-Weaver (Mimikyu)
Steel Scavengers (Leader)
The Blood Pit Arena Stands (hidden)
Affected RPers: The Nonexistent Tazz


Anthony’s mind races at Nora’s proposal.

Words could not describe how much he wants to take her proposal at face value. He desperately wants to believe her right out of the gate, to trust her, to take her under his wing and to be allies, friends even.

But though Anthony’s nature desires one thing, his experience tells a different story.

For one, reason tells Anthony that it is far more probable that she is going to try to betray him. He is quite wanted by quite a few people, and many people would be willing to pay quite a bounty for his disguise on a platter. Not just Taiya, either: Anthony is almost entirely certain that if someone brought his corpse to Mazer, for example, the Greninja would kiss their hand and promise to brutally murder everyone the person who killed him wanted dead.

There’s probably a reason that a voice from the less listened to parts of his mind wants to discard the whole idea just because the Lilligant has a low enough opinion of his intelligence to think that he is merely copying from the Platoon’s handbook.

Focus, Anthony.

Joy, fear, disgust, annoyance--emotions, in short-- were excellent as motivators, but Anthony takes a second to keep them under control, his ears and eyes continuously keeping an eye for a dagger in the back. He needs to keep a clear head if he wants to make the correct decision. He spares a look at Arlington, and to his surprise, the Sharpedo gives a slight nod.

It takes a second, but Anthony realizes why. If the Lilligant is being honest, then allying is obviously the correct choice. And if she is deceiving him, then keeping her close would allow him to more likely detect treachery and eliminate her.

He is about to voice his opinion, when his little headset crackles. The Mimikyu is about to say something, but becomes silent when his Klinklang companion speaks first. He allows his subordinate to speak, but when Anthony grows too concerned, he voices, “Max, this is not what we agreed on. I can--”

A few seconds. Max Clerk makes regrettably good points.

“Very well. But be careful. Magenta, are you planning on going with Max?”

An orb of shadows emerges from behind Anthony, but he pays Gramme almost no mind, “Very well, have our ally stay with you as well, Magenta.”

The Master of Shadows speaks, “Do you not trust us, Anthony?”

The Mimikyu gives him a look, “It is not that I do not trust you, so much as Max Clerk is likely to get into a fight they could avoid because they prefer the violent option. Phillip is more subtle than that.”

“That much is true, I suppose.” Gramme inclines his cloaked body at the Lilligant, “What is the issue with her?”

Arlington speaks, “All of us are secretly planning to enter everyone on this continent into a mass suicide pact, thereby ending every threat everyone here could possibly present to everyone else.”

Gramme gives Arlington a long look, “‘None of your business’ would suffice.”

“Yeah, but it’s a lot less fun that way.”

“Both of you.” Anthony's voice is final. “Enough. Gramme, this is a topic of a sensitive nature,” And Anthony is reasonably certain that the Master of Shadows already heard at least bits of it, “We are allies of a sort, but please, I need to extend this woman the right of confidentiality. Arlington, stop trying to distract everyone from the point involved.”

Gramme’s face is hidden, but he manages to convey mild annoyance before vanishing into the darkness again. Anthony makes sure that he’s out of earshot of whispering before continuing to Nora, “I accept your offer as it stands. Deal honestly, and we will do the same. But I strongly advise you not to use this as a ruse. If you betray us, the Seven Knights will personally come after you.”

[VeloJello]

Jones Sandstrider the Heliolisk
Prankster Platoon
Lotus Den Slums
Affected RPers: Morzone (Julia).

The windshield shattered.

“Cheshire you -”

There was a flash, blindingly bright, as a lightning strike ran up against a panel of light lacing the front of the Screaming Talon. Thunder cracked a split second later, nearly deafening Jones. “- USELESS SHED-CLAW GRIT-GRAIN KAKO SON OF A W**RE!” The rant continued; Jones’s volume merely increased to compete with the sound of the roadster that they were pulling up against. The Pachirisu at gun was preparing something else.

“It was the bullet or the lightning, but if you want the Talon to lose all power, that’s fine!” Cheshire snapped.

Jones didn’t reply; she didn’t get the chance given that she was preoccupied with braking to narrowly avoid another lightning strike, then fighting to make up the speed.

None of them were pulling their weight, here, and that included Tony. The Incineroar had switched from grenades to a more accurate machine gun, given that Cheshire was occupied with pretending to try to shield the Talon. However, the roadster beside them was at least as maneuverable as the Talon, and that kako squirrel was throwing Protects left and right.

“Cheshire!” Jones shouted, inspiration striking her. “Wheel! Now!”

“I won’t be able to -”

“I know. Wheel!”

There was no more argument from Cheshire, though Jones got the sense that he had quite a lot he wanted to say to her. He just took her place, allowing Jones to peep out of his gunner’s seat. The roadster was hard to aim at, even from this distance, but she was a dab hand at ranged attacks as any Heliolisk worth their salt had to be.

Electroweb wasn’t her best attack, but she managed to hack one - literally. Her frill flared and she made a noise halfway between a bark and a cough; a fizzling web of sticky string, arcing with electricity, flew from her mouth and landed square in front of the roadster. It wasn’t stopped, but that webbing sure as oblivion slowed it down.

A satisfied grunt left Jones’s throat - followed immediately by a yelp of pain. Years’ experience told Jones that the bullet that had clipped her shoulder wouldn’t be lethal, but it hurt like the bite of an Arbok. With a hiss, she made her way back to the driver’s seat, trading places with Cheshire.

Where in oblivion’s gates was the finish?

Mazer Pratten the Greninja
Prankster Platoon (De Facto Leader)
Liaocrack River
Affected RPers: Morzone (Theo).

Temptation seized Mazer for a moment. It would be so easy - a Water Shuriken, with sufficient force behind it, could take the Quilava’s head in a blow. Getting the paint-spattered head delivered to Anthony Carpenter-Weaver’s doorstep would be a little more difficult, but it would be doable. It would sent quite the message to that arrogant, two-faced, stuck-up insufferable prick.

It would also send a message to the rest of Liao - that the Prankster Platoon couldn’t be trusted. Recruitment wasn’t exactly bad, but slaughtering citizens who had any sort of connection to Liao’s other rebel factions would send a rather poor message. There was more to be got out of this; vengeance would come in its own time.

The situation at present presented plentiful opportunities on its own, anyway. Mazer gestured Krum back to the ship with a flick of a hand, watching the Feraligatr until he started swimming back to make sure that he was obeying orders. Having done that, he turned back to Theo. “Well, Mister Myrsky,” Mazer said, “I will admit that I was hoping to simply give you a ride up the river to Connive and celebrate a new Platoon recruit with booze and burning Lilligant effigies. But I think we can work out a different arrangement.” Mazer did his best to sound generous, “I feel like there is a debt here to repay. I have no problem getting you to your safe-house; perhaps we can find some trouble to get into on the way there or back…” Honestly, this situation was chock with goodies; a look at the safe-house could give good information; Theo might be a step closer to Anthony. “... but I digress. In exchange, you will owe me a favor. If you find this acceptable, just say the word and I can Waterfall boost us over to my boat. If not, well,” Mazer spread his hands, “there’s a perfectly good boat here.”

Pause for effect, “Though, this boat is full of corpses, whereas ours is full of capable Pokemon who will be happy to protect an ally - even a temporary one - from any more Black Lotus prying eyes.”

[The Nonexistent Tazz]

'Nora' the Lilligant
The Gracedia Order
Lytala city, the Blood Pit Arena Stands
Affected RPers: Death's Spook, others indirectly

((Telefare: The Teleport counterpart to Uber.))

Nora's eyes did not entirely leave Anthony alone as she kept her head looking about. Searching everywhere, for anything out of place. Even the presence of Gramme, a weird orb of shadows, was only a moderate surprise-a reminder to Nora that she had much to learn, or at least, a reminder to keep moving while talking to someone to make sure they weren't hiding things behind their backs like that. If nothing else, Nora's ability to actually act like a woman frightened by scary terrorists was going to check any thoughts of assassination fair enough-and anything like screaming would make any security guard worth their salt rush to the scene, a scene that could lead to the downfall of the Steel Scavengers. It was a risk Nora knew of, a risk Anthony knew of, and a risk that both knew the other knew of. Failing that, a really quick Protect would suffice. The minutes were tense-Anthony had to pause to give instructions over comms regarding a 'Max,' a name Nora instantly recognizes as an interesting Klingklang, and 'Magenta,' who Nora recalls from that rather public incineration, the one she didn't watch because that was simply macabre, not her thing.

Nora could only chuckle at Arlington's summation of the whole plan, really. And it was a joke, but it was much less of a joke than what Nora wished it would have been. It was like this: no matter how hard or flashy their clever plans happened to be, the Black Lotus were just flat-out stronger than them, a foe that only recently exposed a vulnerability. Any slipup was a death sentence and it could legitimately doom all three rebels.

The announcer outside got very agitated, something about cheating-Nora couldn't focus everywhere at every-time, but she knew this was probably the moment the Scavengers were going for, and why she said they were taking from the Prankster's playbook. Sending a message. An... Unorthodox message. Whatever it was.

The word 'Ante' caught her attention, and her focus waned enough to make Anthony her second priority, as it was the Grand Lady speaking. "-to take the memories of those you kill-" oh, that was a theory. A theory indeed. Nora almost agreed with it. Onyx Circle fellows were always skilled, dangerous combatants, and Nora had assumed that this was the reason they had been chosen for the job... And it was said that all the Onyx Circle had Ante. Nora had assumed that the former was the reason for the latter. The alternative wasn't a possibility she considered.

It was really only the 'How did?!-' afterwards that completely confirmed it, the only thing that could. Before it was speculation-or a really crazy guess-but now it was obvious. Vurden would be killed by Taiya herself for that if the Tsareena didn't do it first. And with that fact out there, there were a few logical implications to go upon-unless the Onyx Circle wasn't chosen explicitly for Ante, it meant there was a great chance the Onyx Circle promotions were made on the basis of having Ante, rather than Ante being the reward for promotion-meaning it was handed out lower on the totem pole than expected, or they were picked for the circle for having Ante and thus were not inducing it. Either way it turned a lot of conceptions she had about it on her head. Her mind raced-such delightful news to tell, if Yesley hadn't already heard.

"-onestly, and we will do the same. But I strongly advise you not to use this as a ruse. If you betray us, the Seven Knights will personally come after you," Anthony said. Wait, no, he didn't say 'onestly,' that was 'honestly.' She was a bit preoccupied by that news. was juicy-too juicy to leave well enough alone all to itself. But it sounded like he was actually agreeing at its face value, and his wording was so wonderfully straightforwards. It could be a really blatant lie, but more likely than not it wasn't, if Anthony's reputation was truly founded.

Nora grinned. "First off, congrats on sending your message. I guess seven heads are better than one," Nora says. Seven Knights, seven heads. "All I was gonna give you on the matter of Ante was that they're not immune to poison, heh, but that's kind of irrelevant now. But, uh, caught off-track by the juicy tidbit there, sorry. Yeah, that's pretty much as groovy as it gets. I accept-and trust me, I'd think of myself as an even bigger idiot if I was trying to con you, of all people."

'As groovy as it gets' was a massive understatement. The initial confrontation seemed to be so utterly flawless that Nora was extremely wary, but at the same time extremely happy that it went so well. He seemed so perfectly open. She was knowledgeable enough to take Anthony's threats at face value-after all, she was already marked by Arlington in more ways than one, and Nora failed to give them the really crippling information-like when the attempted theft would occur, for instance. Of course, she would have to feed him that.

"...We'll need to work out the little devils later," Nora said, referring to the details of the arrangement. "I wish my copatriots would be somewhat more forwards-thinking on this, however... You know how it is. I need to get back before one of 'em charges in here thinking you've assassinated me in cold blood. We'll talk later today-shadow me until I separate and start leaning on a wall," Nora said. So much to arrange to make sure this worked. And to make sure that her partners didn't think she was conspiring against them. She was conspiring-but not against them. Big difference.

With that, Nora nodded to the charming Knights (and whoever Gramme was), and taking another puff of her cigarette, walked back to the stands and to her seat.

Nora was genuinely surprised when she got there. She had just walked in on the fight-it was much more close than she would ever have guessed. Athena was alive, for a start. Vurden the Volcarona was the only other mon alive and in the ring-the Grand Lady sauntered off, and considering the distance between Athena and Vurden, doubtless it was of her own will. With that said, Vurden was so utterly ruined that the announcer-and the scoreboard itself-had declared it all over in an incredibly close game with Athena and the Gracedia Order as the ultimate winners. It was already a total humiliation on the Black Lotus, even if the others had to work for a non-BL win. That was disregarding how Ante's inner workings-memory stealing-had basically been announced to everyone, including the three rebel factions who would delight in sending the message out to all of Xia just to make Taiya's life as hellish as possible. This would be one to put in the history books, for sure. Nora had to hide a smile, even now-but as she went back to her seat her smile was wiped off of her face.

Nora had sat two seats away from the isle she was closest to. While she might as well have started to leave (and several did), she wasn't going to leave without Yvonne or the Rotom, of course, who were still seated-and the Rotom looked downright bug-eyed at what had occurred. Yvonne was looking at the seat closest to the isle, instead. The yellow coloration of the small pool of liquid in it was a mild enigma, but it wasn't where she sat. The other seat was free of piss... Oh.

There were three Eeveelution siblings two rows ahead of Nora and Yvonne's spot-a row between them separated them previously. One of them, a Sylveon of familiar features, of ice-blue eyes and a wide smile Nora knew to be perpetual, was now standing on one of the stands in-between, her front legs perched upon the back of the seat, a small pink vest to complement her small pink frame as her only clothing article of choice. Nora knew this Sylveon. Nora knew that, yes, she was prone to the oddest of things, like putting piss on seats to ensure that she was talking face-to-face with someone else, or, you know, dropping pianos on people. And Nora knew that she would do so with a tone and air so sickeningly saccharine that it boggled the mind.

Nora sighed, thinking back to that Swift-Dream for a moment. The minimal hope that Nora had for no further meetings with this Pokemon-the imaginary representation of this very Pokemon as an even more obvious devil-had just been butchered in the darkest, bloodiest pit in Murhe.

Nora, her eyes drooping into a very deadpan look, took the seat free of bodily fluid, readying herself for dealing with this absolute kako.

"Hello," The Sylveon said.

"What even is your name?" Nora asked.

The Sylveon put a paw to her mouth, faux-coughed, and repeated, "Hello."

"... Hello. Would you give me your name, please?" Nora asked, again.

"Hrm... You forgot what I gave to you before? Ah, no matter, we knew it was a falsehood, you and I. My-" she faux-coughed again. "-name is... Steinway." She smiled in a manner that could convince any bystander that she was genuinely sweet and happy. And maybe she was happy under the facade-but sweet was another matter.

"...What is it?"

"Today has been very interesting, hasn't it?" The Sylveon asked in response, seemingly ignorant of Nora's question. "Ante's nature being revealed to the masses in the manner closest to official, and one of the tightest matches in Blood Pit history! Afufufu, it was magnificent to behold the looks on everyone's faces as they saw it. This pigsty of debauchery has been shaken up-and I like it, however impermanent it is. Isn't that just lovely, that the shaymin-worshippers pulled one out?"

Yvonne's face failed to conceal what was otherwise a neutral expression with patches of... Well, the blue turned a bit purple. Nora herself would probably be slightly infuriated if she could not be classified as a double agent.

"What is it that you want? Would you reveal that to us, please?" Nora asked. She knew this Sylveon had a mild obsession with politeness even though the Sylveon herself wasn't terribly polite.

"Oh, pardon me! Ahaha, I was getting to that, you see. You understand how lopsided these games usually are. Athena's exploits are going down in the history books for its even nature and surprise outcome-and the cheating, too. So... Unpredictable! This is a colossal failure for the Black Lotus, Michigo aside. But hardly enough to singlehandedly sink an empire, I would think," Steinway said. "No, no, certainly not. Pardon me for saying this, in fact, but I would dare say that, as per the usual agreement, there is no way[i] these silly games are going to be bothering the Black Lotus any more than they would. I dare say that even if the entire event showcased a total void of victories for the Ebon Botanists, with not even a single victory to their name, that it would hardly be the end of the world for them."

"Not alone," Nora said. "Not alone, most likely. Of course, with Ante revealed and the Master Blaze Jewel out of their hands and into a rebel group... It wouldn't matter much which rebel group it was, they'd gain a lot of traction. It would be a foundation for their fall, if nothing else."

"I would politely disagree with you there, but that is entirely upon pesky little nitpicks, and there is little time for that and I am [I]dreadfully busy," Steinway said. "My siblings and I have become... Very interested in you, especially now with all that's happened. We heard you are competing in the next round of the Blood Pit, and we are very anxious to watch! It will be very hard to compare to what we just witnessed here, of course, in terms of spectacular must-watch action, but if all fares well, why, I suspect such action would not be strictly necessary," Steinway said. "The point is, that I would like to make sure such goes smoother for you and your lovely friends!"

Nora knew better than to look a gift hearse under the hood. Except, Steinway's gifts aren't gifts at all, they're forward payment for jobs, and this was the worst possible timing for another scheme of hers. "Oh, that would be very kind of you," Nora said, trying her best to sound as deadpan as possible without breaking polite language, "But I am not sure-"

"I insist, my dear Nora," Steinway said. "And even if you do not, I will still be rooting for you from the sidelines of these dreadful competitions in any way I can, because I know how you work, and you are one to watch, afufufufu!"

Nora sighed, but knew that she'd have to accept-again-if she was going to insist. That wasn't her politeness at work there, that was her order to take the cr*p she had and do what she wanted. There was literally no refusing her 'gifts'. The gifts weren't unhandy nor useless, far from it; Nora's best knives came from the first job with her and they could practically cut the sky in two. But Nora was practically forced upon them before she knew what they even were. Steinway asked first, presenting it in a pastel pink box with cherry-red ribbons plastered all over it. Nora thought it too straightforwards in a rather public place, ripe for theft or at least suspicion from others, a sentiment which Steinway (appeared to) respectfully understand-especially since Nora had no intent of taking the job. That is where it got creepy. Nora's address wasn't exactly hidden, so she thought little of Steinway mailing it to her-but that it was filled with poisons was where it crossed the line, and the dead thief on her doorstep confirmed their effectiveness too well, so she disposed of both before the day was out. The day afterwards, a courier Ferret ran straight through oncoming traffic to deliver that same box to Nora, nearly shoving it on her (thankfully free of toxins) before the courier, hollow-eyed, shot himself in the face. Nora threw it in the garbage bin at the nearest alleyway-suicidal couriers were a bad sign that this was not someone you worked for. It took all of hours, in the middle of the following night, for her to finally accept the Alpha-scorned things after being shot at with a T-shirt cannon.. And that T-Shirt that was shot at her? It had the box's contents within. It was followed by the actual, now-empty box, carefully re-wrapped and cleansed, to be thrown in after.

"... Fine. I accept... But I know you wouldn't be doing all of this without a polite request in mind," Nora said, trying her best to sound exceptionally weary.

"Nora-"

Nora nudged Yvonne. Yvonne fell silent.

"Ah, yes, well, happy days, my request will be considerably less obstructive than the one previous-and I must apologize for the complicated dance we did last time, again," Steinway said. "I know you're competing, and I know that any shenanigans to distract from that would only hamper your effectiveness, so I merely politely ask that you humbly allow me to compete with you in the Deadly Force competition."

"No," Yvonne said, without second thought. "And that's-"

Nora nudged Yvonne again. Yvonne turned to Nora. "That is-"

Nora grabbed Yvonne and pulled her close in the manner as to suddenly move her away from an assassin's knife. It wasn't the case-the person right next to her was the Rotom, who was just confused, but it sure shut the Heracross up. Nora pressed her mouth to Yvonne's ear and exhaled words. "She won't care for us not wanting her there. She'll do it anyways. This is the Sylveon who 'arranged' to have a piano dropped on me, she'll 'arrange' one of us out to put herself in. She's a complication we have to deal with, not an obstacle we can avoid."

"I will have to admit that I have been known for my stubbornness. I have not known any to be more relentlessly determined than I," Steinway said, as if the duo were not whispering to one another. "Failing any other advantage, I have weathered my foes down to submission with my sheer relentlessness. And Nora may vouch that I am exceptionally skilled at sharpshooting and situational awareness, enough to not be a liability in your endeavors. I would not so insist if I were anything lesser."

Yvonne's attitude did not improve, but she allowed Nora to disengage from holding her before she continued. "... We're basically hinging our success upon you. Each of our teammates must be of the highest calibur-the presence of Ante is merely an unfortunate downside, and not just for reasons of 'skill.' Skill has limits. And of course, you could die. You understand?"

"Afufufufufufuu!" Steinway said. "Oh, most certainly, Yvonne! You must take your jobs with the utmost sense of righteousness and caution! It is almost a tad overwhelming to me, how your devotion shines. Bright as a sun. Oh, what a horrible world it would be for you if the Gracedia Order did not supply the similar-why, I would say you would have felt so utterly alienated and doubtful if not for the camaraderie of like-minded individuals! And so lucky for you that your enemies are so utterly heartless, it must make your psyche so splendidly clear! Alas that so many cannot have such easy foes. But I talk too much, aha."

Bright as a sun. Blinding and damaging to stare at. As in, she was blind-as were the Gracedia Order itself-and only morally correct for their dislike of the outright vile Black Lotus. Nora couldn't say that Steinway couldn't do subtle insults well.

"So you think they need to go?" Nora asked. "The Black Lotus?"

"... A dangerous question in these times," Steinway said. Her smile perked up. "Your boldness is delightfully refreshing, compared to those more likely to be reserved or even evasive of their desires. Alas that more do not think like you, my lovely Nora! To be quick-I do believe they must go, but not the names, nor even the peoples behind them. No, no, Nora, I believe that the very ideals-the glorification of their need for death-need to perish, and that the peoples and the names that carry such ideals are merely like the seeds of dandelions. I say that they would weaken sufficiently if the Black Lotus were to be despoiled. So, to compress it, yes, they must, and you are the most efficient vector I know of to help carry out this task!"

Yvonne's face was even more skeptical, as was Nora's. Even the Rotom looked mildly apprehensive of her supposed support.

"Ah, yes, yes, time is almost up. Err, and the spectators are leaving," Steinway said. "I'll have to depart-business in Hana... Was it Jadeblossom? No, Hana. I have siblings and such living all over the place, and I must ensure their well-being, briefly. Ah, the wondrous courtesy of Telefare!" Steinway said, looking towards an approaching Alakazam in an incredibly classy suit. Nora's memory pricked her consciousness-she knew this Alakazam before, from somewhere, but she didn't know where. "My endowments to you will be given to you here tomorrow. Ta-ta!"

The Alakazam gestured to the Sylveon and her siblings, an Espeon and an Umbreon, who clung onto the Alakazam's legs while the Alakazam himself scooped up Steinway, before a flash of light consumed them, leaving them gone.

"... Who was that?" The Rotom asked.

"I've worked with her once before, and quite honestly, I'm still not entirely sure myself," Nora replied. "She isn't straightforwards, that's for sure... Put me through a lot of work for a water purifier the last time. Begs the question of what obscure objective she intends to pull off."

The crowds were flocking out of the stadium. The match was over, despite the fact not all were dead, and even the Black Lotus had admitted it. There was no way-legitimately, no way-that Athena could realistically be murdered by Vurden with all six of his wings clipped and so utterly disemboweled. The Black Lotus had lost. Even if they won as expected in Dread Metal, their performance here was utterly ruinous enough to be a huge help to the rebellions. It would go down in history as one of the biggest victories by both the Steel Scavengers and the Gracedia Order-spun each in their own way, and the Prankster Platoon would doubtless tell of how they performed admirably with a half-staffed team. An event to prove the crushing power of the Black Lotus turned into an event to prove the crushing power of the other factions instead. Now Nora just had to figure out how she was going to pull a repeat of that incredibly crushing defeat upon the Black Lotus... Or, rather, if the initial plan she had already devised was going to work in any fashion whatsoever.

If she succeeded she'd mildly undermine the Steel Scavengers, not out of direct malice, but rather that, if her plan really worked, well, she'd make the Grand Lady look considerably less... Grand.

And thus the spies left-to create and discuss plans and begin the seeds of what would doubtlessly become the convoluted, twisted, dimly-lit, barely-explained, nigh-incomprehensible, semi-nefarious tangle of plots that would become the shadowy backdrop of the Tempest Festival.

[Shruikan]

Levi Hallik the Gabite
Gracidea Order
Outside the Blood Pit Arena
Affected RP'ers: Noblejanobii

Levi's thoughts raced as the braviary studied him. It only now occurred to him that he should have brought along some form of identification. Rushing into things again, he chided himself. I need to do better than this.
After a few minutes, to his relief, Masamune appeared to believe them, and gave a brief explanation. Lyra glanced around nervously at the mention of the Black Lotus, surreptitiously backing away from the direction Masamune had come from.

"Perhaps we could speak in the privacy of an outpost. Or maybe a bar would be more suitable for secrecy. I am open to suggestion. Still, we must be quick about this. No need to be caught doing something we shouldn't be doing."

At that time, there was nothing Levi wanted less than to return to the outpost, but one look at Masamune's back was enough to convince him. The burns looked even worse up close, and he was impressed by the pokemon's bravery, trailing a Lotus member in this condition. I wonder if that's where the name Braviary came from, Levi though with a slight smile.
Just as Levi was about to suggest returning to the outpost, he heard a cracking sound coming from behind him. Turning around, he saw several figures closing in on them from behind. A quick glance around confirmed his fears; they were surrounded.

What appeared to be the groups leader stepped forwards, a golem with electricity sparking along his back. Alolan golem, usually strong, but slow. And especially weak to a certain type of move that just happened to be his favourite. Levi quickly scanned the others; there were six visible, most were weak to ground moves, which gave Levi a slight advantage if a fight were to break out. Lyra was doing her best impersonation of a billboard, pressed up unmoving against a wall. Masamune was facing the group down as thought he knew they were coming. They were following him? Or did he call them here? Was this a trap?

Levi didn't have to wonder for long, as it turned out that the golem was an "old friend" of Masamune from the Sentinel Corporation. As the conversation quickly turned south, Levi began rapidly flicking his gaze between the would-be assailants, trying to figure out who would make the first move. As such, he had his back turned to the nidoqueen as she began he attack, only ducking to the side a split second before his head would have been violently disconnected from his body. Rolling to the side, Levi span around, slicing at the nidoqueen's throat with a Dragon Claw, then leaping back a few steps opened his mouth and engulfed the injured pokemon in a wave of flames, courtesy of the move Incinerate.

Satisfied that his opponent wasn't getting back up, Levi quickly surveyed the battle. Lyra seemed to be holding her own against a meowstic and liepard, while the others hung back, apart from the golem, who was still fighting Masamune. Snarling, Levi ran at the golem, glowing with the purple aura of a Dragon Rush, and leaped at the gangs leader. However, even barrelling into him at full force, he barely knocked the pokemon back an inch, and did little visible damage. Staggering back, he realised that his charge had done more harm than good, as now he was surrounded again.
"Is that all you kakos got?" he taunted, feeling a lot less confident than he hoped he sounded.

[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

Kikel - Pancham
LOCKDOWN [Armored Pick-up Truck]

Rudy - Rampardos (Driver)
Gile - Sandslash (Gunner)
[s]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!!!! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-Pn1uKUk2s)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.