[RP] Broken Sun - The Mandate of Anarchy

[Neo Emolga]

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y109/Ultradyne/BrokenSunBanner.png
BROKEN SUN
The Mandate of Anarchy

The True Soul Pact has been shattered. And now oblivion is at hand.

The Pact was meant to be an agreement between the heavenly skies of Utopia and the burning bowels of Abyss. The pact decreed that no living soul of Pokémon would bear witness and be influenced by either of the two afterlife realms before the moment of their death. If left alone to live their own life according to their own choices, the true nature of their soul could be determined for proper and adequate judgment. The Abyss would be able to claim their evil dead, while Utopia would welcome the compassionate and the righteous that had passed on, one of the only things Utopia and the Abyss could agree upon. For many centuries, the True Soul Pact was honored by both the righteous and the wicked for the mutual benefit of discerning proper judgment.

But the Abyss crossed the line. The legions of the Abyss were able to break into the Pokémon world of Talandra after a portal was created by the dark necromancers and warlocks of the infernal pits. But like a thief in the night, they were silent, spreading among normal Pokémon as sleeper cells while causing no initial alarm or suspicion. These agents of the Abyss made no friends or enemies among the living Pokémon. They simply waited, watching and listening for the moment. Their entry had been undetected by Utopia, and when the Abyss took note of this, they spread even further, their secret shadow moving like an underground plague. They soon settled upon other living worlds of Pokémon, erupting into the very cataclysm that would later be called The Infernal Schism.

That moment of darkest dusk has come, and now the fires of The Schism War have been lit and enrage with soul-consuming flames. Dishonorably, the Abyss ignited its rebellion against Utopia, and have already begun to entrench their morbid pestilence among the living Pokémon of these three ravaged worlds, soon to spread further with every dishonorable victory they acquire. Through dark influence, evil and scourge has spread across all three of these once-beautiful, lively worlds, already plunging the souls of the living into darkness, anxiety, and wickedness. Pokémon, both wicked and righteous, are being ensnared by the shackles of damnation as the dark legions of the Abyss continue to rise to make way for their ultimate plot. Their infernal plan is to grasp the plane of Utopia itself with its hideous gauntlets of damnation, and send the heavenly realm itself plummeting into the foul, fetid trenches of the infernal underworld. Once this happens, no Pokémon, no matter where in the universe they are, will ever see salvation, doomed to suffer the fate of the damned no matter how honorable or righteous they live their lives...

Already, they have begun to carve, butcher, and craft Talandra, Valkea, and Kokoro into the material of nightmares, the same, macabre abomination that The Abyss is, and will soon target others if not suppressed. In time, it is feared that these three worlds will be transformed into the horrific sisters of the Abyss with more to come. Now, the infernal dominion continues to grow and threatens to dominate all existence both in life and beyond death in a final, eternal apocalypse. As the Abyss sneers and smirks at their vile, dishonorable deed, screaming laughter at their cheating act of villainy, Utopia has been blocked from entering the world of the living by the Infernal Barrier, bound to only watch and weep as all of creation succumbs to this unholy apocalypse.

Already, a dark prophecy, one called the Black Doom, has been made, a foresight that has declared all living worlds will be sullied and infested by the Abyss, and once this has been done, Utopia itself will join it as the gauntlets of death seize the heavenly realm by the heart, and laughingly yank it from its celestial haven and send it screaming into the foul pits of burning doom.

Hope for all Pokémon dies for eternity if we fail...

YOUR INTERVENTION

Upon the industrialized world of Talandra inhabited only by Pokémon, you are one of the Indigo Seers, just one of a handful of mystical warrior sages born with powers and capabilities that some Pokémon can only dream of. As a mystic soothsayer, other Pokémon have gone to you for your power of clairvoyance and divination, but never once did you think your powers would be the ultimate gambit against the Infernal Schism. Initially, the Abyss didn't suspect you of being any different from all the others. But, it wasn't long until they realized the danger of that assumption.

Now you're a critical target for their assassins.

The truth came to you in a vision, and visions of the Indigo Seers never lie. The Abyss's infernal plan would have already worked, and all would have been forever lost. But instead, because of you, a small but fading splinter of hope still exists. In a universe so rapidly collapsing out of control, you are but the few grains of sand in the hourglass of doom that cling to the edge and have not plummeted through the infernal vortex that so many are falling through already.

Meanwhile, the Abyss has cut Utopia off, ensuring the souls of the deceased are only pulled into the underworld, and the armies of Utopia are prevented from interfering. You can hear Utopia's cry in your visions and dreams, but it is distorted and distant, only able to stutter incomprehensible statements before being swallowed by the shroud.

But you can change it.

The power of the Indigo Seers goes far beyond the powers of mysticism. Alone, you carry the power to alter the course of the Black Doom Prophecy, to rewrite the dark declaration made by the Abyss's acolytes. And only you have the power to undo the chains and shackles that prevent the armies of Utopia from defending the souls of the living.

You must ensure that The Schism War will take place and be a true war... and not a horrific massacre of woe and eternal grief...

YOUR MISSION OBJECTIVES ARE AS FOLLOWS

The mission has been made clear in the visions you have seen. Only you and the other Seers are capable of changing the course of doom.

Broken Prophecy - The three Brothers of Despair, Xac the deranged Hypno, Undax the diseased Gengar, and Delath the villainous Grumpig, are the ones responsible for writing the Black Doom Prophecy on the Parchment of Fates. Until their dark deed has been undone, what has been written will come to pass, and Utopia and all the worlds of the living will fall. Already, time marches on and the shadow of doom creeps further over everything with every passing second.

The vision has told you that all three Brothers must been slain, and their black blood will need to be mixed together. Once done, the blood has to be used to blot out the dark runes on the Parchment of Fates, and then burned in fire. If and only when the dark words have been blotted will the Parchment of Fates be flammable.

Once this is done, only then will the vice of the Black Doom Prophecy be shattered. Only then will hope have any fighting chance whatsoever. However, you must beware. Xac, Undax, and Delath are formidable and merciless opponents, and will not be defeated easily.

Rites of Passage - The Abyss has established a massive stronghold upon Talandra, a dark and truly damned citadel known as the Cathedral to Corruption, currently skewering its way into the fallen city of Sartaras in Victakan. Only the Indigo Seers know that this infernal building is the reason behind the Infernal Barrier, the reason why Utopia's warriors are barred from providing reinforcements. In their haste to establish their offensive front and keep Utopia blocked, the Abyss left this citadel as the only forefront to keeping Utopia barred, and it will be some time before they can reinforce the barrier or provide supplemental protection as their current operations are very resource demanding. At the current moment, they believe no one among the living knows about this weakness in their operation and have made a costly assumption.

The structure will fall and collapse if the Altar to Pain is destroyed by Cleansing Fire, a conjuration ability the Abyss did not think you and the other Indigo Seers possesses. If the Cathedral to Corruption falls, the Infernal Barrier will be shattered, and Utopia's armies will descend from the heavens by the millions. Once the holy battalion arrives, the Abyss will be completely unable to further prevent them from entering the realm of the living again, and their merciless massacre will have to become a war of equal sides. Victory for the Abyss will go from a certainty to a struggle.

Others - While these two missions are of utmost, critical importance, there will be other missions that will need to be accomplished. Stopping key commanders of the Abyss, providing support for Utopia, and undermining the Mandate of Anarchy are but just a few. Some of these missions may require you to head into the heavenly realm of Utopia, while others may only be accomplished by heading into the Abyss itself.

LEGIONS OF THE ABYSS

The undead horrors of the Abyss come in many forms. These are but a few of the ones you have seen in your clairvoyance of the darkness. They come for you, knowing you are the last hope that the living have against the dark campaign. Your ability to foresee their plans, reveal their weaknesses, and undermine their campaign of darkness is a threat they will not ignore.

You must continue to defy them by fighting them and resisting their dark influence. Until Utopia becomes involved in the fight to bless the weapons of the resistance, the slain members of the Abyss can only be sent back to the foul pits where they came from upon their "second death," where unfortunately they can regroup and resurface again in less than a year. Killing them, however, does buy precious, invaluable time.

The Infernal Scourge - These fetid, ghoul-like Pokémon are the souls of the wicked. Those that murdered others and enjoyed it. Those that acted as fiends even in life, and now continue to seek that same, murderous desire in undeath. Others have been so corrupted by sin that they know nothing but slaughter and mindless mayhem. Like many other horrors of the Abyss, they bleed black.

All they want is to see you die, and inevitably join their ranks of the damned.

The Cohorts of Chaos - These blackened, shadow-colored Pokémon are the main workhorse of the Abyss's legion. These foul but strong warriors of doom never breathed life, and have always been savage combatants of the Abyss's army since their grotesque creation. While many of them still reside in the Abyss, many of them have set foot upon the living worlds of Pokémon, infecting the living and the environment with their pestilence and plagues of sin and vice.

Unlike the legions of the Infernal Scourge, the Cohorts have the power to wound souls, but not kill them. Wounds inflicted by the Cohorts and their jagged weapons of darkness will not heal on their own, and must be healed by Utopia's clerics or by their heavenly salves.

The Cohorts of Chaos are commanded by Meiun and Banjin, the Brothers of Doom, the twisted renditions and rejected legendaries that are the Fallen of Lugia and Ho-oh. They currently command their dark legions from the Abyss.

The Fallen - Every living and deceased Pokémon has a Fallen, a powerful, evil rendition of themselves made of all the sins that Pokémon has committed in their lives. Yes, even you have your own Fallen lurking in the shadows as it tries to hunt you down. The more sins a Pokémon commits, the more powerful their Fallen is. But in contrast, a righteous and honorable Pokémon is mirrored by only a weak and frail Fallen. While Fallen are rare to see outside of the Abyss, there are a few that have surfaced in the world of the living, often serving as captains of the Infernal Scourge or the Cohorts of Chaos.

Fallen can also wound souls, but seeking the soul of their counterpart to infest them with an overwhelming darkness is their highest priority. However, they will not hesitate to corrupt those that seek to stop them or hinder the efforts of their dark allies. A soul that is defeated by their Fallen becomes forever corrupted, lost in mind, body, and soul into a never-ending whirlwind of sin and malice. These Fallen become "The Defilers," and are stronger and harder to kill as they are the living embodiments of sin and insanity.

Defeating and destroying a Fallen is extremely difficult, although possible (definitely not in groups). Upon destroying a Fallen, the counterpart soul undergoes a divine, angelic transformation, a state of such infinite white purity that they become Utopian Paladins, resistant to the temptation of sin and influence of corruption, and possess powers of holy purity and righteousness. These Paladins are very rare, and make up some of the strongest warriors Utopia has for this very reason...

Legendary Pokémon also have Fallen renditions (such as the case of Meiun and Banjin, and other Abyssal commanders). Meanwhile, The Fallen are commanded by Zaiaku, the Overlord of Sin, the twisted, dark travesty of Arceus himself.

NOTE: It is impossible to kill your own Fallen alone. Seeing your own Fallen generates a feeling of paralyzing and unfathomable fear, and the fact any wounds your Fallen rendition receives, you will receive as well with an excruciating level of pain. As the Fallen begins dying and bleeds out of control, you suffer the same, and only until they are completely destroyed will you undergo the holy rebirth.

The Legion of Xov - The Legion of Xov is made up of dark, shadowy, blob like enigmas that are living entities of the void, vaguely resembling black, oily Pokémon with glowing red eyes.

Xov's minions of despair are infamous for their ability to vaporize souls upon consumption, and erase their existence from memory of all. Meanwhile, Xov has many lieutenants, sub-commanders that have lost all resemblance to Pokémon. As for Xov himself, he resembles a massive, shifting mass of voids and nothingness, constantly shaping itself into intimidation, resembling skulls, unholy symbols, clawed hands, and other infernal shapes.

Even just touching Xov or any of his underlings results in full and total erasure. But even worse, the means to destroy them still remains a mystery. Thankfully, these abominations remain exclusively in the Abyss, although those that would venture into its depths would need to beware.

Others - There are many other types of enemies and Abyssal threats you may find in your travels. These are but a few of the followers of infernal evil.

TALANDRA

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/7889/talandramapbrokensun.png (http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/7889/talandramapbrokensun.png)

Gutted and bleeding from the inside, Talandra is just one of several victim worlds who has had its core become a channel to the Abyss as the once lively world now rots from the inside out. Talandra, once a world of ingenious Pokémon inventions such as airships, clockwork devices, steam engines, and other steampunk inventions is now on the brink of destruction.

City locations with red names and areas on the map covered with a reddish-black blotch are areas that have become overrun by the Abyss's legions, and are quickly spreading like cancer. The once majestic capital city of Sartaras is now the stronghold of the Abyss upon Talandra. Like the other defiled and corrupted cities across the bleeding planet, it cannot be saved, and must be destroyed and eradicated like a vile, festering tumor.

RULES AND ABILITES

As an Indigo Seer, you know exactly where and how to find other Seers (other RPer's characters). You can even communicate with them via a special Seer Telepathy message. If you use this ability, write the communicated message in italics.

Main Rules:

Follow all standard PXR and RP rules.
No godmodding outside the scope of what your character is capable of. I'm okay with a few rules being bent, but don't do it excessively.
Bunnying should only be done with permission.
You're free to make as many characters as you like, but please give them equal attention. Also, each character should get their own sign up. Characters that are only acquaintances of your character mentioned in their history are still only considered NPCs.
Try to be active if and when you can. Talandra and Utopia are depending on you!

SIGN UP

It all depends on you...

Name: Your character's name
Gender: Male, female, or genderless
Age: Your character's age in years. Assume Pokémon and humans age at the same rate.
Species: What Pokémon species your character is. Can be evolved or non-evolved.
Description: How your character differs from other Pokémon of their same species. Note any visual differences, such as scars, cleanliness, birthmarks, or even body art tattoos. Also, some Talandra Pokémon do wear loose and small articles of clothing and jewelry, such as cloaks, bandanas, pendants, and so on.
Personality: Your character's attitude, emotions, and perception. At least one paragraph.
History: Your character's background and past. At least two paragraphs.
Weapons: What kinds of weapons your character carries.

THE CAST
Duke Stellar the Ledian (http://www.pokemoncrossroads.com/forum/showthread.php?7010-Broken-Sun-The-Mandate-of-Anarchy-SU&p=158461&viewfull=1#post158461) - Played by Phantasm.Angel
Theo Myrsky the Quilava (http://www.pokemoncrossroads.com/forum/showthread.php?7010-Broken-Sun-The-Mandate-of-Anarchy-SU&p=158496&viewfull=1#post158496) - Played by Morzone
Professor Talahass von McYarglefargle The Ninth (http://www.pokemoncrossroads.com/forum/showthread.php?7010-Broken-Sun-The-Mandate-of-Anarchy-SU&p=158533&viewfull=1#post158533) - Played by The Nonexistent Tazz
Kaxo Sychal the Lopunny (http://www.pokemoncrossroads.com/forum/showthread.php?7010-Broken-Sun-The-Mandate-of-Anarchy-SU&p=158558&viewfull=1#post158558) - Played by Neo Emolga
Raven Karan the Mightyena (http://www.pokemoncrossroads.com/forum/showthread.php?7010-Broken-Sun-The-Mandate-of-Anarchy-SU&p=158602&viewfull=1#post158602) - Played by Noblejanobii
Shiro Minamoto, Lugal of Jansen (http://www.pokemoncrossroads.com/forum/showthread.php?7010-Broken-Sun-The-Mandate-of-Anarchy-SU&p=158620&viewfull=1#post158620) - Played by Death's Spook
Moira Magro the Lucario (http://www.pokemoncrossroads.com/forum/showthread.php?7010-Broken-Sun-The-Mandate-of-Anarchy-SU&p=158767&viewfull=1#post158767) - Played by Velocity

[Neo Emolga]

Kaxo Sychal the Lopunny
The Hole Tavern, Scarwell, Azmarax
Affected RPers: N/A

I hated this place, but it was one part of the planet I could sit down, forget about all the hellish things that were going on outside, and just relax with a drink.

The tavern was a dirty and filthy wreck, as if the owners figured since the apocalypse was happening anyway, no one had to give a rat's damn about cleaning the place. The stools and tables were dirty, random pools of alcohol, spit, drool, or whatever bodily fluids were about, and I didn't think much of the regulars here. Most of them were bumbling idiots that drunk themselves stupid on Cinnabar Cider or the seasonal ale. I wouldn't be shocked if the Plusle I saw on the wooden, barroom floor was lying in a puddle of his own piss.

Normally I liked to be alone, but there was the problem of a Floatzel named Lude who told me he had money that apparently he actually didn't. And then there was his friend Bretner the Furret that thought Lude had him covered. So now I had to drag these two knuckleheads around trying to find some use for them as repayment for the money they owed. The three of us sat at the clunky table in the back, the only one that didn't smell like urine. There was an awkward silence, with Lude and Bretner exchanging looks, not sure what was to come out of this.

"What would you three like to drink?" A Lilligant waitress came to ask us, looking a little moody.

"For me, one Cinnabar Cider," I told the bouncy flower. "These two dropout zombies don't want anything."

That wasn't entirely true. I was sure these two would have loved a drink on my tab, but like hell that was happening. When she nodded and left, the two of them looked at me like I just cheated them yet again.

"What do you want from us, man?" Lude asked doubtfully, acting like I was actually enjoying their company.

"Yeah, why do you have to be like that?" Bretner joined in. "Just let us go, we don't want any trouble."

Pft, yeah. Should have thought twice about that before telling me there was money involved when there wasn't. The deal was Lude was going to pay me for saving his idiot friend Bretner from a Rhyperior loan shark who enslaved him. I did as he asked by busting Bretner out of prison, and Lude was broke.

"Let me ask you this," I told the both of them, "have either of you killed anyone before?"

"I swear, never in my life!" Lude exclaimed.

"No... no way, I'm clean!" Bretner told me, thinking I was accusing both of these rejects.

"Shame, that makes both of you even more useless," I told them, thinking they could have been as least somewhat instrumental in helping me kill off the brothers.

Instead, these two clowns would simply get themselves killed and it would solve nothing. It was hard to figure out some kind of use for these deadbeats, and I had no intention of letting them go. News of that crap floats around like a fart.

The Lilligant waitress came back with my Cinnabar Cider, and I was interested to see why this drink was such the rage here. I took the brown clay mug, looked at the orange-tinted liquid inside, grabbed the mug with my paw, held it to my mouth, and took a sip.

As the cider touched my tongue, I had to wince. It was ungodly sour and bitter. I swore, I could get drunk off of urine sooner if it was alcoholic. I couldn't believe this was the kind of stuff some Pokémon were getting plastered over. I began to figure that if this was the kind of place that passed for a bar around here, it was no wonder the drinks were just as deplorable.

"Kaxo?" A slightly familiar voice asked me. "Kaxo Sychal?"

I then looked up from the disgrace of an alcoholic beverage I was going to have the hassle of paying for later and saw it was Ergin, the Darmanitan. I wasn't expecting to run into this monkey-head with arms and a grin that went out of its way to be punchable. He was with his idiot henchmen, a Heliolisk named Renk and a Mawile named Sankin.

"Listen here, you bastard rabbit," He snarled, pointing a finger at me. "I swore I'd be ripping your furry, little face off the next time I ran into you. I have proof you cheated me out of my money, and I'm going to make you pay back in blood for it! You're a damn con!"

Psh, as if it was my fault Ergin was an idiot gambler.

"Ha, ha, you were the idiot who decided to keep going," I told him, knowing he was too dim-witted to ever blame himself for his own idiocies. "Yes, I take total responsibility for your own lack of restraint. Sorry about dropping you on your head at birth too. That was totally my fault."

"EERRAAGGGHHH!" Ergin roared, grabbing a wooden table and throwing it aside in his tantrum, suddenly disrupting everything in the bar. "When I'm through with you, I'll wear your bones as a necklace!"

"Listen, we have nothing to do with him!" Lude told him. "We're not his friend!"

Well, this was just going swell. I sighed, figuring Scarwell's medical clinic could probably use the business anyway.

[Kentucky Fried Torchic]

Duke Stellar the Ledian
A Jail Cell in Morbidtree, East of Scarsdale, Azmarax
Affected RPers: N/A

Duke Stellar woke up from the same nightmare that he had been having for the last few weeks. It was a vision of fire and death. It was a painting of a world gone mad by a drunk, hazy visions of Pokémon screaming and bones turning to dust as the sun slowly went black. Cheery images. The dream had become so common place that the Ledian didn’t wake up with a start anymore, no, now it was just a cold sweat that dripped off his red and black body. He took a glance around to find out where he was starting his day this time. The poorly plastered wall and thick iron bars told Duke that he was in a jail cell. He didn’t remember anything out of the ordinary happened, so he reckoned that it was the drunk tank and not because of anything serious. Jail cell or not, it beat waking up in a ditch at noon reeking of alcohol. This way, he got something resembling a mattress at least.

The headache was something else he had gotten used to, a sort of collary to the dreams. As soon as they had started, Duke found that the more that he drank, the foggier and less vivid they got. And since the current horrors meant that he was getting a lot of visions of pain and suffering, the drinking had picked up in earnest. The migraines were a small price to pay for not having to look at the kind of unwarranted gore and misery that seemed to be one of the lingering curses of Duke’s birth as an Azure Seer. As he held his head, the thought of what he might be seeing if he had kept training made his body shudder anew. But, like all the others, the headache simmered down into a low throbbing.

Rising to his feet, the Ledian saw his duster and hat hanging off a hook in the cell. Although the filthy dirt floor didn’t bother him, the lack of weight to his cloak did. They had taken his guns. Great. Nothing that could be done now though, so Duke set about getting dressed, a quick task for a Pokémon with four arms. He still found the time to read the graffiti that had been crudely etched into the wall next to the cot though. There were enough familiar pieces of chicken scratch, “The ladies at Madame Phong’s are the best!” and “Someone tell Kinney that he owes me money”, to let the Bug-type know that this was one of his regular stops on his current tour of barhopping and fist-fighting. There was also enough new scribbles to keep things interesting. The most prominent of course was the huge gaping holes cut in the wall, probably by a Scyther or the like, that read, “The end is nigh!” in all frightening capital letters. Underneath this some joker had etched in, “Jirachi saves”, which put a smirk on the Ledian’s face.

As soon as Duke finished pulling the boots at the foot of the bed on, another Pokémon entered the jail. It was an old Beartic wearing a white hat, a belt holstering a gun, and a small silver badge pinned to the belt. How an Ice-type like him found the misfortune to find himself in the arid Vectaken wastes, or found the fortitude to survive was beyond Duke’s comprehension, but the Pokémon himself was not. “Howdy, Sheriff,” the Ledian said with a nod.

“Don’t howdy me, Duke,” the Beartic said with a heavy sigh, dropping his enormous bulk behind a desk that he dwarfed. “Do you only come to our fair city to get trashed? You spend half your time in Morbidtree in the bars and the other half sleeping it off in here. Why don’t you settle down, find yourself a good woman?”

“What’s the rush when your wife’s such a great cook?”

With a sigh, the huge white-furred Pokémon tossed a sack to Duke, landing it next to the cell with the grace of a man who’s performed the same action with drunks since as far as he could remember. The Ledian tore open the paper bag to find a sandwich and a piece of fruit. Between bites, he said, “Much obliged, Goyi.”

“That’s still Sheriff Goyi to you, Duke,” the Beartic said with weak chastisement. “At least until they find another poor sap to fill these boots.”

Duke finished the food, wiping up the crumbs around his mouth with the bag. “So, how about you let me out of here?”

“So you can head back to the bar?” the sheriff said with a raise of one shaggy eyebrow, the movement barely perceivable under his thick coat of fur.

“It’s either that or Madame Phong’s.”

“You gotta be careful, Duke. One day that mouth of yours is going to get you into a lot of trouble.”

“Already has, Sheriff,” the red Pokémon said. “Now, what d’ya say?”

The Ice-type rose to his feet and lumbered over to the cage, a key clenched in one giant paw. “I don’t know why I try anymore,” he said, more to himself than to his prisoner. “The whole world’s literally going to hell and I’m locking up drunks.”

The Ledian grabbed his hat as the door swung open and plopped it onto his head as he walked out of the cage. “Now, how about my guns?”

“Right, right,” Sheriff Goyi said with a heavy sigh before heading back over to his too-small desk and opening one of the drawers. Duke walked over and fetched his twin six-shooters, stowing them in the back of his duster with two hands while the other two picked up his other belongings, mostly ammunition and money. Before the smaller Pokémon could leave though, the Ice-type stopped him with a firm but gentle paw on his back. “I’m serious, Duke, I don’t want to see you again tonight.”

“Where should I go then?”

“Why not Scarsdale? It’s the biggest city in the region, it’s gotta have a better selection of booze than a little mudhole like Morbidtree. The law enforcement there isn’t as nice as I am, but that’s the price you gotta pay.”

The Ledian tipped his hat at the Beartic. “I just might do that then,” he said. “Give me best to your family, Goyi.” And with that Duke Stellar walked out of the jail and into the harsh sunlight of one of the small towns in the Vectaken wastes. The glare triggered another burst of his still lingering headache, but once it died down the Bug-type spread his wings and with a buzz began flying west. If his mental map of the area was accurate, then Scarsdale wasn’t more than an hour’s flight away. His circuit of barhopping had taken him another lap around the ring of cities in the desert it seemed. With that cheery thought, the red and black Pokémon zipped off in search of more alcohol.

[The Nonexistent Tazz]

(ooc: I'm going to do this like it was an old text adventure. Hooray for obsessions with MSPA!)

Professor Talahass von McYarglefargle The Ninth
McYarglefargle Laboratory, Syn City, Synamax
Affected RPers: None that I know of

<Ple-Hel-Aby-Inf-Ana-Pal-Sto->


-> Professor Yarglefargle: Wake.

And that, as they said, was that.

You immediately wake to a relatively normal day in the apocalypse, and when you do, you, finally sick of these utterly deplorable visions, give the heavens above and the hells below EXACTLY what your opinion on them is, in terms very clearly stated and very hard to argue against at any angle whatsoever

"UNAAAAAAAAAAACEPTAAAAABLLLLEEEEEEE!!!"

You then spend the next minute catching your breath.

You have done this for the last week, as you gruelingly prepare to set out and kill the three brothers, burn some parchment, break into one of the ABYSS'es military bases and proceed to destroy probably the most guarded unholy shrine in its most unholy sanctum-aka, the ALTAR TO PAIN. You have also, wisely, decided that killing the BROTHERS OF DESPAIR and obliterating the so-called BLACK DOOM PROPHECY (Which you simply fail to see the intimidation factor in) with them will probably help in the considerably harder task of infiltrating the now-unholy city of SARTARAS. Granted, either direction works in theory, but the sooner the BLACK DOOM PROPHECY leaves your thoughts, the better.

You have grown sick, tired and straight-up ANGRY at these awful visions of death and despair and hopelessness, and considering the source of them is the conflict at hand, you have officially decided that you have had enough of hell and will give it the business, the hard way.


-> Professor Yarglefargle: Examine Laboratory.

It's your LABORATORY, a dinky old place with gears and cogs and pressurized steam tanks laying about, your basic government-approved scientific standard with some upgrades that your father's money managed to grab. Shame it's not so easy these days, as now you are kept afloat only by the occasional success. You ARE brilliant, of course, solved several equations and made a living, but you're not exactly...You know...Famous. Or very rich. But you still are living the dream, just not as much of it as you wanted to. The most recent additions are the welded-on metal plates on the windows, designed to prevent any would-be thieves in the night or any attackers to your laboratory, what with the advent of the apocalypse.

You might have wanted to ask your FATHER for more money to spruce the place up a bit and get some more interesting devices, but he's retired now and he probably really needs it. Your FATHER lives-or rather, used to live-In JANSEN. He's almost certainly in Sylath, as you have not received word of his untimely demise. Or word at all, really, but you would have gotten a considerable inheritance should he have kicked it, which would be somewhat useful in establishing more money for the journey ahead. It would have certainly made news, they would have paraded it around at least. The short of it is, he's not dead. Hopefully he's not worse than dead, given the circumstances.

As it stands, you have packed into the contents of one TRAVELING BACKPACK, the following: PROVISIONS FOR TWO (2) WEEKS, your trusty GRENADE LAUNCHER with approximately FIFTY (50) GRENADES, your STEAMGUN, TWENTY (20) SMALL PRESSURIZED STEAM CANS, 30,000 in POKÉ, and nothing else. The rain never bothered you, sun won't be too much of a pain to you, and your goggles will help with the sandstorms that plague the deserts to former JANSEN, your first target on the quest to kill the BROTHERS and stop the BLACK DOOM.


-> Professor Yarglefargle: Take TRAVELING BACKPACK.

You take the TRAVELING BACKPACK and put it on your back. There is space for other stuff, which you might need later on, including those interesting Abysmal and Utopian artifacts that your quest will almost certainly intersect with. They could be extraordinarily useful for the cause of SCIENCE that you lovingly work for, hohoho!


-> Professor Yarglefargle: Look around for any last-minute inclusions.

In all honesty, you have planned the contents of your TRAVELING BACKPACK for five days and could have gone slightly earlier...Had you wanted to possibly return to a crater. As it stands, the Laboratory can currently be left for YEARS without maintenance by others. The worst it'll get is dusty. Your life expectancy, in all honesty, isn't that high either, so you have made sure it will get auctioned off to the public scientific community should worst come to worst, and in all likelihood it will.

Well, it would certainly end those awful visions ONE way...


-> Professor Yarglefargle: Exit LABORATORY.

You EXIT the LABORATORY, slamming the door wide in ferocious anger over the audacity of the situation you've been put in. As you do so, the door doesn't slam into the outside wall and you hear a crunch, implying someone was on the other side.

You take a quick look around your field of view. No-one else is nearby. You did live a little out of the way of the main city.


-> Professor Yarglefargle: Investigate the noise.

You close the door and discover some...Well, some kind of BEEDRIL ZOMBIE, really. Some fetid, horrible ghoul of an already dangerous-looking insectoid that was, rather unfortunately for it, right in front of your door, now partially paste against your wall. It looks like the blow you did in slamming it open like that was FATAL. It is not moving, and bleeding some black substance profusely...Quite disgusting, honestly. This could preclude an invasion...But you doubt it. You would have almost certainly gotten a HORDE of visions if this was the case. This was almost certainly an assassination attempt. You do not see any signs of an attack beyond this guy.


ASSASSINATIONS FOILED: 1.

INFERNAL SCOURGE SLAIN: 1.

...Oh, right. This reminds you. You need JARS, or at least a CONTAINER capable of holding LIQUIDS, like BLOOD. You will need the blood of the fallen BROTHERS to break the BLACK DOOM pact.


-> Professor Yarglefargle: Retrieve JARS.

You don't have any jars!

You substitute in some empty PRESSURIZED STEAM CANISTERS instead, however. You take FIVE, just in case.


-> Professor Yarglefargle: Clean up the mess.

You execute DRAGONBREATH on the ZOMBIE BEEDRIL CORPSE. The scent of the burning is utterly disgusting, but fortunately it burns with surprising speed, devouring the flesh. You are left with plain, blackened, demonic-looking BONES and a relatively dark sludge after a few minutes of application. Relatively clean, you say. You don't really want to touch it.

This MAY have been an assassination attempt. This may also mean that Syn City is about to come under attack, but you have gotten no visions to support any attacks, so you will assume the former for now. A low-ranking but dangerous soldier sent to do fieldwork and test you, maybe even kill you if they were lucky, yes...But this means the ABYSS somehow already knows you are a INDIGO SEER, and are invested in foiling their plans.

CERTAINLY NOT A GOOD START TO THIS. Not even seconds in and already there's been a (rather ill-fated) Assassination attempt. Ah well. Now to just catch a ferry out of here...

Before you forget: You retrieve the LABORATORY KEY from your LABCOAT POCKETS, and lock the LABORATORY. Safe and secure, on top of the BOARDED WINDOWS. You also check your ZEPPELIN TICKET-Port I, 9:00 AM arrival and 9:15 departure to the city of OASIS. You would, from there, brave the SYNATA desert to make it to JANSEN. That was the plan, in any case.


...


INVENTORY:

GRENADE LAUNCHER (LOADED)
GRENADES X50
STEAMGUN-100%
PRESSURIZED STEAM CANISTERS-FILLED (STEAM)-X30
PROVISIONS-TWO WEEKS
PRESSURIZED STEAM CONTAINERS-EMPTY-X5
LABCOAT (EQUIPPED)
LABORATORY GOGGLES (EQUIPPED)
LABORATORY KEY
ZEPPELIN TICKET-FROM SYN CITY, TO OASIS
30,000 POKÉ

[VeloJello]

Moira Magro
Sylath Outskirts
ARP’ers: None

“Turn the ship around!”

My paws skidded across the smooth main deck of the Black Braviary, unable to get a grip with my haste. A few eyes turned toward me, but quickly looked away; every hand on the deck was busy maintaining the rigging during our descent into Jansen. Besides, only one of them really knew about my Indigo Seer’s visions, or the gravity of them.

I slid to a halt in front of Captain Pike, who looked calm as usual, if a bit curious. “Moira,” the Nidoqueen said. “What’s the problem?”

“We need to turn the Black Braviary around,” I grunted. “Jansen is swimming in Abyssal energy. If we go below the cloud cover, the ship will be spotted by hostile forces and then torn to shreds.”

Captain Pike remained at ease. “They’ve been having issues with that for months,” she said calmly. “Frankly, I would be surprised if there weren’t a few of the pests hanging about.”

My agitation was getting worse every second - the captain never did anything except at her own pace, and her pace was about equal with a Shuckle’s. “You don’t understand; this was a vision. I saw Jansen burning. There is nothing there but rubble and death.”

I watched as Captain Pike’s expression soured. I couldn’t blame her for that; we were, all of us, low on sleep and funds and high on stress and problems. “Gunner Magro, this is an important shipment. Without the pay from this job, we’re not going to have money to buy fuel at whatever port we next rest in. If you’re wrong, it’s the end of the Black Braviary.”

“I am not wrong, I swear on Dialga’s bones. Pawn the guns in Sylath or Brachta Beach or Scarwell. If we go to Jansen, then it will definitely be the end of the Braviary.”

After what felt like an eternity, the captain raised her head and boomed out in a voice that I knew from experience was loud enough to be heard anywhere on the ship. “Helmsman Abelard!” she cried. “Change in plans! Turn to port on the double. We’re now bound for Sylath.”

Then, abruptly, the entire main deck of the Braviary vanished.

“No!” I screamed as the Braviary dipped below the clouds. “Pull up! They’ll see us; Arceus da -”

And then there was nothing between our ship and the burned ruin that had once been the city of Jansen.

For several seconds, there was nothing but silence from the crew as they stared at the ruin. Just over a month ago, at our departure, Jansen had been prosperous, bustling, and beautiful. Now it looked like a skeleton, with scaffolding bones and gravel flesh.

Something in the city screamed.

Movement rippled on the ground below. The ship’s alarm began to blare as winged shapes, indistinct in the distance, rose up to meet the Braviary. Mumbling under my breath about fire and condemnation, I turned to man my station at the main guns. However, Captain Pike barred my way with a meaty arm. “Don’t go down to the guns; this isn’t a sky pirate skirmish. Those targets are too small for even you to hit with what we have.”

I grunted my acknowledgement and walked to the railing. With each passing second, the flying shapes were getting closer, and there were quite a few of them. I frowned. Fighting Flying-types wasn’t my forte, but I was sure I’d be able to at least do some good damage.

My breathing slowed, my eyes closed, my crown rose up from behind my ears. Time seemed to slow as I stretched my arms. I couldn’t see them, of course, but I could sense them. Bright power, rusty red, pulsed through my body. It only took a slight effort of will to direct the energy to the space between my paw pads, until an Aura Sphere formed there.

My senses cast outward, searching for a target. The first auras I registered were the ones closest to me, but the Braviary’s crew was irrelevant. I needed to look further, past the ship, and try to find the -

It hit me like a sucker punch. The shape was hazy, indistinct, pulsing red but layered with black like someone had dipped it in hot oil. There was something fundamentally wrong with it, something that put fear and rage in my stomach and filled my lungs with ice.

Later on, I would sort through the memory and realize that the Pokemon that I had taken aim at was a Gliscor. Somehow, in that moment, it didn’t really seem to matter. It felt like I was looking directly into the Abyss.

And it scared me.

…

The flare of sickening red light and oily black energy pulsed in the distance. It was like I was back in the moment of the crash. I was choking on the smoke of the crash, deafened by the crew’s screams of panic, splattered with the red blood of the fallen and the black blood of the Abyss. Somewhere in the distance, I could hear someone whimpering.

A pressure rested on my shoulder, someone’s heavy hand pulling me back to reality. I turned around to look into Captain Pike’s keen gaze. “Are they coming for us?” the captain asked.

I shook my head and drew in a deep breath, trying hard to relax. “No,”
I replied. “I only spotted one aura signature, and it was growing fainter by the second. Probably some manner of aerial scout on patrol. Nothing for us to worry about.”

Captain Pike nodded sagely. “Good, good. I apologize if I startled you, but you were shaking and whimpering like you were having some sort of nightmare.”

If it were anyone else, I would’ve been mad, but the captain was like a mother to me, and her presence was incredibly reassuring. She was large, even for a Nidoqueen, standing over a whole head higher than I and laden with the heavy muscle to match. On the plate of armor on her right shoulder, two black wings stretched wide - the mark of the Black Braviary’s crew. Scars criscrossed the Nidoqueen’s body; her left ear was missing a chunk, and what appeared to be a burn scar marred her stomach. Her smile was wrinkled, and worn by time, but it was familiar and friendly, and it dulled the impact of the memories somewhat.

“What’s the word, ladies?” called a voice. I stifled a grunt of frustration as Declan Downey, a smallish Excadrill with well-kept, coppery claws, walked up. Beside him was Helmsman Abelard; the slender Haxorus looked timid, as she had every second since the crash the day before. “Do we continue on, or do we futilely beg the mercy of Arceus, knowing that salvation will never come for our poor wretched souls?” There was a grin on his pale face that Moira didn’t like. It was too greasy, too fake.

“Cool your heels, Downey,” grunted Captain Pike. “It was a false alarm. Let’s keep walking.”

The Excadrill gave a sardonic half-bow. “Yes, ma’am.” Once more, I followed a step behind Pike’s lead. Behind me, Downey shuffled through the sand, with Abelard bringing up the rear.

The badlands of Synamax were a horrible place to be stranded, I decided, irrespective of Abyssals. The ground, where it was anything but hot sand, was baked dirt that scraped even the toughest of paw pads until they bled. Shade, water, and landmarks of any kind were rarer than precious stones. Unwary travellers could easily find themselves attacked by all manner of predator Pokemon.

So basically, the desert was hot and dangerous, and yet it somehow managed to be downright monotonous in the worst way.

After hours of travel, filled with Downey’s endless commentary and sideways insults, our ragtag band sat down to rest. The sun was starting to set, which helped me feel less like I was going to spontaneously combust, and sitting down felt good for sore pads. I did a cursory check for auras, but I could see nothing but a few desert predators and the signatures of Sylath’s residents in the distance.

“Still say we could’ve gotten to Sylath,” grunted Downey. “It’d be simpler that way. We could sleep in actual beds instead of in shifts.”

“You’ll quit bellyaching if you don’t want first watch,” Captain Pike said amiably, picking gravel out from between the plates of her armor. “Not everyone can go as long without water as Ground-types like you and I. Abelard and Moira should probably take a break if they don’t want to lie down to die of dehydration, and I frankly don’t mind the chance to get off of my sore feet. We have to stick together.”

I could hear the edge in Downey’s voice, “It seems to me like we’ve got less and less to gain by traveling together as the time goes by, Cap.”

Abelard scooted a few inches away from our little group as the tension rose. I watched carefully; Captain Pike knew how to manage her crew fairly well, but she had some trouble bringing down discipline when necessary. Which it was looking like it might be with the Braviary’s former cook. “Downey, if you have something on your mind, say it.”

“Alright,” Downey said entirely too gleefully. “Here it is. First of all, Cap, you’re acting like you’re still in charge. But you’re the captain of a ship that no longer exists, and we’re free Pokemon. You’re trying to force us together with this ‘stick together’ business, but enough is enough with the boss act.”

Whether or not Downey heard the warning growl rumbling in my throat, he continued. “And one thing that’s been bothering me without end,” he said, “since the minute we saw those Abyssals. How did she -” he pointed at me with one claw, “know that it was going to be overrun? And why didn’t she tell us? It looks like -”

“She,” I snap, “is right over here. If you have a problem with me, say it to my face.”

He looked surprised, but he turned toward me. “Alright, fine. Why didn’t you tell us about Jansen? To me, it looks like you held back information that could’ve saved lives. If you’d gotten to Abelard sooner, and if Abelard had pulled up in time, then maybe the other crew members would still be alive. This whole thing has been one screwup after another. Our helmsman couldn't steer, our gunsmith is suddenly having useless future visions, our captain can't lead -”

“N-now hold on,” Abelard stammered as I rose to my paws. “This isn’t going to solve -”

Downey was about half my height, but his head rose far above mine when I picked him up by the neck and hoisted him high. “Listen up, Downey,” I snarled. “I don’t mind you badmouthing me. But I’m not going to sit here and listen to you blame the deaths of the crew on Mary. And I am certainly not going to sit here and listen to you insult the captain. You haven’t shut your lousy mouth all day, and you’re only making a horrible situation that much worse. If you don’t like the way that Captain Pike is leading, then fine. Leave. But I’m not going to listen to you blaming everyone else for your problems and bragging about how you can handle yourself for another second. Do not insult my captain or my crewmate again and I will knock every tooth out of your idiot mouth.”

Having spoken my mind, I dropped Declan and surveyed the others. Abelard looked nervous; Declan looked stunned; Captain Pike’s expression was inscrutable. I crossed my arms, took a few steps back, and tried to get my crown and tail to stop puffing up.

“I’m going hunting,” I grunted. “Be back later. Bye.”

And then I tromped out, alone, into the desert.

[The Nonexistent Tazz]

Professor Talahass von McYarglefargle The Ninth
Western Syn City, Synamax
Affected RPers: None that I know of


-> Professor McYarglefargle: Examine surroundings.

Ignoring the now-skeletal corpse you have left from an ABYSMAL ASSASSIN, pun COMPLETELY INTENDED...And ignoring that it doesn't have an ENDOSKELETON, merely hardened shell at this point...

You are outside of your LABORATORY. There is a relatively quick path to WESTERN SYN CITY that you could quickly take. WESTERN SYN CITY is where people actually live these days, while EASTERN SYN CITY is devoted to commerce (and it's where you need to go). CENTRAL and SOUTHERN SYN CITY are mostly home to the main part of town, and in the case of the CENTRAL area, it's also where the government is housed. NORTHERN SYN CITY was initially a relatively small army base, which is where the town sprung up around and was, for the most part, forgotten in exchange for trade. Now, this is no longer the case, as the Many armed forces of SYNAMAX are now using it to the full capacity it was initially intended for, and are now making a stand here. You managed to dodge the Drafting by way of being FOURTY-NINE. Only Pokemon EIGHTEEN to THIRTY-FIVE are drafted in SYNAMAX.

Let it be stated clear and prominently: That you are not eligible for being drafted into the armed forces is not saying you are a weak combatant. Indeed, your species and secondary occupation alone make you frightening to fight, but you have not specifically trained outside of some mandatory exercise classes in high school/college all those years ago.


-> Professor McYarglefargle: Move to the actual City already.

You honestly agree, it is altogether MUCH TOO HORRIBLE that you have not already gotten your hind quarters rooted firmly in the city. You follow the path, which isn't too far off, and find yourself within WESTERN SYN CITY in no time flat. You often come here, or close to here, in an attempt to show off some of your inventions, or just walk about in relative peace. The Police in Syn City are pretty high-standard for the relatively small population, so rare is the news that anyone was jumped, least of all a GOODRA like yourself with such a tall and intimidating appearance.

You don't really consider yourself a socialite, but you do know the people around here to an extent. Most noteworthy to you are only few: There is ROXXIA and CUMULA, two extraordinarily tall Lucario (well, extraordinarily tall for their species); YONCHA, a relatively 'normal' street merchant if he wasn't a Shiny Pangoro; HINTONIA, a Froslass with hoarding issues and a fascination with all things supernatural; and HASTUR, an unfortunately named Octillery who's job was tour-guidance in the CANALS, and not at all related to certain figures in LOVECRAFTIAN LITERATURE.

SYN CITY was relatively small, but it wasn't unknown. It was semi-famous for its mostly-unique CANAL SYSTEM. The city was mostly built by water types, intended as a naval base and later a naval seaport, so naturally they got to decide on that. Half of the property, and property you usually do not visit, is actually underwater. It's often rumored that the underwater half of the city itself is littered with secrets that not even its denizens are aware of, including tales of twin dragons and a hidden garden.

POPPYCOCK, YOU SAY! Or, rather, would have said, as you would have said similar from an invasion from hell. Oh, wait, guess what's happening RIGHT NOW, ALL OVER TALANDRA? You do have a somewhat more open mind to the supernatural at this stage. Still, no physical proof of either dragon exists at all. If they do exist, their ability to hide is second-to-none, as people more dedicated than you are to finding them have not even found a hint of their existence at all, and this is with some good time to research. Certainly not dedicated, poke-your-nose-into-everything research like your more pragmatic endeavors are bound to be like, but by all means it was still thorough. Plus, there really haven't been any incidents that would reason such a thing. No odd occurrences at all. A myth founded entirely by rumor. HINTONIA is of a different mind than you, but you would like to think that HINTONIA has a few screws loose. She believes in SANTA CLAUS for pete's sake. She thought YOU were SANTA CLAUS once, in fact, but the story behind that one is pretty big.


-> Professor McYarglefargle: Investigate possible recruits on this fantastic voyage of yours.

You honestly do not want to raise more ruckus than you already do regarding this. In any case, the people who want to fight off the legions of the Abyss have already joined the army, and you are not getting assistance from them even if you are a credited INDIGO SEER. The rest in the city have managed to dodge the draft for some reason or another.

As for your neighbors that you know enough about: HINTONIA (blind in an eye) has stated, quite clearly, that she wants NOTHING TO DO with ANY Abysmal Powers that exist, and most of her research into the subject right now is explicitly defense AGAINST them, though this might warrant a visit to her house; ROXXIA (PTSD, supposedly) and CUMULA (SIXTEEN) are an Aunt-Neice pair, and whist CUMULA would be all over the idea of adventures, ROXXIA would say no to any adventure taking them near ABYSMAL TERRITORY in a heartbeat, so neither would be going; YONCHA was suffering from SEVERE ASTHMA and wouldn't make for a good traveler, preferring to hear the stories from people who buy from him; and HASTUR (THIRTY-SIX), though very eager to leave the city and explore, is also a massive pacifist and wouldn't hurt a soul, even a soul tainted beyond salvation, which is not so good when your job explicitly calls for the deaths of the BROTHERS OF DESPAIR.

You don't really think you can call upon a MERCENARY CREW, or at least one willing to go anywhere near ABYSMAL TERRITORY. The one within your price range demanded exorbitant fees for attempting to go anywhere near JANSEN.

Any ALLY of yours would join by coincidental allegiance rather than any overt attempts, you think.


-> Professor McYarglefargle: Make stop at HINTONIA's HOUSE.

More like HINTONIA's HUT.

You take a left and politely knock on the wooden shack five houses down from where you entered. After a few minutes, a gruff "Who is it?" came into your ears.

"It's the Professor, Professor McYarglefarlge! Open up, I've got some business to make with you!"

The door swung open extremely fast. The half-blind FROSLASS, wearing a CLEANSING TAG on her head and an eye-patch, almost immediately answered. Money was so sparse for her it was practically music to her hears to know of a customer. "Ah, so I take it your mystical sight has brought you here?" She said.

She knew you were an INDIGO SEER, she's seen you more often than any other for her own asinine brand of experimentation. You don't want to really think about that, though.


-> Professor McYarglefargle: Ask HINTONIA about wares.

"I cannot believe I would ever ask this, but I need to see your, err, wares, concerning, you know...Protection from Abysmal things."

"Hohohoho...I doubt it will help with the Abyss itself at Talandra's neck, but come in! I'm sure I can find something." She beckoned you inside. You ducked low and closed the door behind you with your ears, which fortunately serve as extra appendages.

Inside was an old crackpot's occult shop, meant to dedicate itself to anything and everything that you initially believed would never be useful, ever. You still don't believe it, honestly, but she is a master on the subject of the ABYSS and practically predicted some of their strategies-including the presence of the Fallen as captains of the other main branches of the ABYSMAL ARMY, the INFERNAL SCOURGE and the COHORTS OF CHAOS.

On the floor is a hatch meant for water-types. You don't have such a hatch, as your a bit too far from the canals for that, but that was made in case water-type customers who lived in the underwater districts showed up. There was a similar hatch on the ceiling for the postal service to do its thing. There were two windows: One facing the street and one facing behind it to some wilderness beyond.

Within was every useless good luck charm you could care to name, every item meant to ward away evil spirits, and other such things that would otherwise be completely useless. The only thing that EVER caught your eye was the one thing that she would NEVER part with. It was supposedly an Artifact from Utopia itself, a small pendant to prevent illness, and indeed you never heard of HINTONIA ever getting ill, even during flu season, and this despite her unfortunately poor living conditions, so unlike every other item in here it may have some legitimate claim to supernatural powers. However, she refused to sell it, a family heirloom. Understandable...But it might be the only thing in this whole room of any legitimate value in your quest whatsoever.

"Yes, yes...Now, Professor, first, tell me why you seek me now, of all times...And what's with the backpack?" HINTONIA asked, gesturing to your sack.

"The visions...They have grown absolutely intolerable, I say! And they're begging me to go off and do various tasks that will supposedly suppress this whole invasion from the Abyss. Helpful and all, but I'm losing sleep over it, it's clouding my mind!"

"Visions of the apocalypse are to be expected from an Indigo Seer at this-Wait, what about various tasks?"

Oh great...


-> Professor McYarglefargle: Tell HINTONIA about various tasks.

You really don't want her getting wrapped up in you...But it might make her more leniant on prices, and money is a valuable resource.

"Ugh...I've been, in that sense, told how I MAY be able to stop the Black Doom Prophecy. Namely, by murdering various Abysmal Captains, burning some parchment in their blood, and then going to burn an Altar in the single most heavily defended building in the single most contaminated city in all of Talandra." You say, rather impatient.

She looks at you, quite deeply. HINTONIA is clearly interested in this...No, something more than interested but you can't make it out. "...Interesting...The odds are against you...But, an aversion of the Apocalypse? Our prayers to the higher powers answered, even? This is what you could...Guarantee?"

"I'm not guaranteeing anything!" You say. "I barely believe this invasion myself, and I'm only doing it to make it stop-"

"Ah, say no more...I would still want my little trinket, but I think...Yes, yes, I have something that may help the slightest bit...Where you're going, you will need the strongest I can provide, yes..." HINTONIA seems to have been persuaded into doing something. She reaches into a cabinet and takes out some kind of headband. You can tell it has been very deliberately made. She must have spent a lot of time on this. On the headband were various UNOWN SIGILS...Huh, you didn't know she knew that much. You thought she was limited to FOOTPRINT RUNES.

"Yes, this will do nicely. This is, admittently, hardly protection where you seem destined to go, but it should serve to lessen the blow of the Abysmal Energies...Be wary, though, the way the world is this is not much protection at all. The way things are going, I would be seeking Utopian Artifacts for a much more palpable protection..." HINTONIA said. "...It's the least I can do for that time with the Purrloin."

Oh Arceus. That time. You are still mad at her for it.

You reluctantly accept the RUNIC HEADBAND. It is highly unlikely to help you in any tangible sense whatsoever, but it MIGHT.

"Thank you, I suppose." You say.

"Oh, anything for one of our potential salvations...I would go myself, but I do not want to look at anything Abysmal...A crippling Phobia, you understand." She says. "Best of luck, Professor, and may the Legends Bless you."

"Uh-huh." You say, hastily leaving.

You privately hope you do not have to visit HINTONIA ever again.


-> Professor McYarglefargle: Check time.

You don't have a watch! There's a clock tower in the middle of town to check for that, though, but you really should be going to EASTERN SYN CITY as soon as possible.


-> Professor McYarglefargle: Go to CENTRAL SYN CITY.

You head over several bridges and make your way into the center of town...


...


INVENTORY:

GRENADE LAUNCHER (LOADED)
GRENADES X50
STEAMGUN-100%
PRESSURIZED STEAM CANISTERS-FILLED (STEAM)-X30
PROVISIONS-TWO WEEKS.
PRESSURIZED STEAM CONTAINERS-EMPTY-X5
LABCOAT (EQUIPPED)
LABORATORY GOGGLES (EQUIPPED)
LABORATORY KEY
ZEPPELIN TICKET-FROM SYN CITY, TO OASIS
30,000 POKE
RUNIC HEADBAND

[Death's Spook]

Death's Spook
Shiro Minamoto the Aegislash
The Hole Tavern, Scarwell, Azmarax
Affected RPers: Neo Emolga

Personally, I do not think anyone has witnessed the depths of drunken shamefulness until one observes a Pangoro attempt a dainty pirouette on a table while screeching out a filthy ditty only to surprisingly fall off.

I carefully reach out from under my cloak to touch the driest part of him (no mean feat, considering that the man is a spectrum of urine and vomit), and extract the barest hint of his life energy. I figure some part of him, no matter how infinitesimal, should go towards being productive to the world in which he lives.

Mind, he does not precisely stand out in The Hole. The walls are black with rot where they did not simply crumble into nothingness, with puddles of liquid of dubious origins splattered across the floor. I do not smell or taste in a typical fashion, but I do not find difficult to be thankful for that particular flaw right now. Several customers are toppled over in a stupor and are not conscious enough to resist when I feed from them the same way I did the Pangoro.

Although I have not fed enough to cause anyone harm (or expose my species), I have nibbled from enough people at this point that I can consider myself to have had a full meal. I cannot say it makes me feel that much better, and under most circumstances, I would consider it improper to be in this place: the crowds are a plus when I am hungry, but there are so many more refined places I could have fed as well. But I am not here for my own edification. The sight of Jansen, burning and blackened while its lugal stood completely incapable of doing a thing because a creature thought to bring his dark reflection as it burned the place down made be want to walk into the nearest Abyss controlled place and massacre every creature in the reach of my blade until I either wiped this scourge off of the earth or died in the process.

Unfortunately, if I do that, the latter outcome is infinitely more probable. And it would most likely happen that I would not slay the one I hate most. Even more regrettably, my grudge is with Undax of the Burning Rot: given that most people turn pale and terrified when I so much as imply this, it precludes most allies.

Which brought me to my purpose here. I had foreseen that a certain bounty hunter would most probably be here. Peeking into the likely futures where he engaged in combat left me cautiously optimistic that was a Seer just as I was; he had a tendency to be slightly too lucky with his dodging for me to chalk it up to chance and skill. If it panned out, he would be the first Seer I discovered who did not get killed by the Abyss before I could get to him, and that is not a resource I intend to surrender.

So of course, just as I am about to approach him, a squad of three idiots makes an unlikely decision, walk through the front door and starts accosting him.

I go through my options. One, I can just leave. Few could blame me; few would care, in fact. Certainly not in this place, where anyone not marinating comatose in their own urine is doing their absolute best to get there. But I did not come here so close to my goal just to allow it to slip through my fingers.

Ideally, I would resolve this without violence. I can almost certainly buy off the ruffians, but it irks me to think about. I do not want to simply fritter away my main method of leverage frivolously. Not only that, such a move would only identify me as a person from Jansen, which would help any idiot narrow down my identity considerably. But they are unlikely to leave Kaxo alone without interference.

An attack, then.

Any Ghost type attacks are immediately out: my tattoos would glow and, identified, I would be dead within the hour. Contact attacks will give away my shape, especially since the ruffians would most likely reply in kind, ripping my cloak and revealing my species and tattoos. Flash Cannon could light up the inside of my cloak, possibly revealing me as well. But…

I cannot smile, but I imagine this is how it feels like.

I do not act immediately, of course. In a fit of eloquence and civil discourse, the Darmanitan bellows in challenge while throwing a table. The sniveling Floatzel and the cowering Furret are not helping my employee to be, of course, but I want to wait until all three of their backs are turned to me before I attack.

In the next moment, I am seizing the opportunity before I even consciously realize it is there. Portals open in the ceiling above the distracted ruffians as a veritable wall of rock falls on them, obscuring them from view. Underneath my cloak, I raise my shield once more to account for the likely event that one of them attacks me.

Out loud, my voice is tinged with dry scorn, "I believe these fine gentlemen are about to show themselves out of here. Politely."

[Kentucky Fried Torchic]

OOC: Random encounter, time!

Duke Stellar the Ledian
Enroute to Scarwell, Azmarax
Affected RPers: N/A

The journey to Scarwell had started up well enough. Despite the oppressive heat of the midday Vectaken sun hanging overhead, the combination of shade provided by his hat and the rush of the wind whipping against his face kept Duke Stellar cool as he zipped west in search of another bar. The wastelands were mostly empty now. The first wave of infernal assaults had driven most families to the large city on the coast, hoping that there was safety in numbers. If the fall of Jansen was any indication though, there wasn’t, and these Pokémon, husbands and wives, fathers and daughters, mothers and sons, might have only saved the demonic forces the work of hunting them down one by one.

Still, while the scattering of towns and rest stops west of Scarwell were mostly populated by roughnecks, ladies of the night, and other types who had nothing to lose, not everyone had been part of the exodus that had taken place after the first cities had fallen. This was evidenced by a lone covered wagon that Duke saw grow larger as he drew nearer. The rickety contraption was made out of wood and covered in a series of white tarps in an attempt to offer some protection from the elements. These ramshackle vehicles were all the rage after the well-to-do had purchased all of the decent forms of transportation; for a few weeks carpenters couldn’t fill all of the orders they got for even shoddy wagons like this one. The set-up was usually the same, a family of Pokémon would strike a deal with a larger quadruped who would pull the wagon for a fee. They tended to leave during midday under the assumption that trouble only happened to those traveling at night. The situation this wagon found itself in proved just how mistaken that belief was.

The wagon was stopped, its pale canvas roof painted by the circling shadows of two flying Pokémon. Duke came to a stop as he saw the Bouffalant hitched to the wagon growling at the figures above while two Quagsire inside the vehicle hugged a Wooper close. The Ledian wanted to get plastered, but he also didn’t want to leave these Pokémon at the whims of these highway robbers. So, with the heavy sigh of someone resigned to doing the right thing, his wings slowly stopped their vibrations and he landed next to the Normal-type Pokémon. “Need a hand?”

“Yeah, if your traveling companions are armed and willing, we’d appreciate it,” the large Pokémon said, not taking his eyes off of the circling Pokémon.

Duke’s own blue eyes narrowed. “I’m all by my lonesome,” he said, purposefully dropping the tenor of his voice, “but I think that’ll be more than enough.”

“Yeah? Those are Mandibuzz, fierce desert hunters, and no disrespect, but you’re just a bug in a funny coat.”

The self-appointed protector of the weak ignored the slight, instead shouting up at the Pokémon overhead, “Hey, just because you’re Dark-types doesn’t mean you have to act like complete savages!”

That seemed to get their attention and the two birds seemed to confer silently before one began to dive at the wagon. The red Pokémon was about to congratulate himself on his masterful use of psychology on these desert bandits when the diving Mandibuzz opened its mouth and let out an unearthly shriek. A flash of insight in the back of his mind told Duke to throw up two of his hands and concentrate, creating a blue rectangular barrier in front of the incoming Pokémon. The Mandibuzz hit the shield with a hard thump, its beak and talons crumbling against the wall of azure energy in a mess of feathers and claws. But the sight that attracted Duke’s attention were the eyes of the attacking Pokémon. There were two dark pools where the eyes should have been, with a small red light dully glowing from within. These Pokémon weren’t Pokémon, they were creatures of the Abyss.

“Dammit,” Duke muttered.

The Mandibuzz pushed itself off of the shield and took to the sky again. The Ledian drew his twin pistols and began taking shots at the retreating Pokémon, but despite the three holes he punched in the dark mockery of a Pokémon’s wings, it didn’t slow it down. Stowing the guns again, Duke turned to the Bouffalant whose mass of hair was now sleek with the sweat of the heat and of danger. “Keep them safe down here, I’m taking the fight to them.”

Then, the Bug-type crouched and jumped off of the uneven wasteland to take flight once more. As he neared the two flying Pokémon, he opened his mind, tapping into what little Seer training he had received. His senses would be aided by glimpses of danger and potential openings, but this time it wasn’t a barroom brawl, it was a fight against forces of the Abyss, no matter how tangential. Duke had faced Pokémon ten times his size and virtual companies of belligerent drunks, but they didn’t scare him like these two Dark-types did.

As he came closer, two things happened. One was that the overwhelming stench of decay and rot reached his nose, forcing the Ledian to suppress a gag. The other was that the two Pokémon took notice of him and began closing in for an attack. Duke halted his approach and waited for them to come to him, readying his fists. When the first came within range, it opened its beak to let out a harsh caw only to have its mouth shut by the Ledian’s uppercut. The bird went spiraling back to recover, but its counterpart took that opportunity to attack. This one was met by a heavy two-handed attack to its head knocking the bird down to the ground. Before it could finish scrambling up to get airborne, Duke let himself drop, landing on its misshapen form with sickening crack as his boots sunk into the writhing mass of dirty feathers, rotting flesh, and black blood. Its torso destroyed, the Mandibuzz could only cry out weakly as it died once again.

Duke ignored it, focusing on the sky trying to find the other Abyss-born Pokémon. By the time he saw it, diving at the back of the wagon, he couldn’t make it there in time, only hear the screams of the helpless Wooper child and its parents. With a rush that could only be achieved by adrenaline and some kinds of narcotics, the Ledian took off again, rushing towards the wagon, but he was too late to get between the family and their assailant. So instead, Duke held out his hands and let out a groan of exertion as he projected another blue barrier in front of the diving Mandibuzz. It hit the shield, hard, but instead of relaxing, Duke tapped into some hidden reservoir of power and began to move his hands, shaping the simple rectangle into a sphere, enclosing the Abyss-spawn inside. Then, his four hands slowly came together, crushing the Mandibuzz within as the ball of blue energy shrunk. When he was satisfied that the Dark-type Pokémon was dead, the Ledian released his energy, dropping to the ground, huffing for breath.

OOC: I’m not sure if Azure Seers can produce barriers at will, but for Duke there, that was a simple Reflect attack, later manipulated into a different form by virtue of his Seer abilities.

[Neo Emolga]

Kaxo Sychal the Lopunny
The Hole Tavern, Scarwell, Azmarax
Affected RPers: Death's Spook

I swore, as if Lude and his idiot friend couldn't have been more useless. Both of them backed off and cowered away like little, whiny Pichu stung by a Bedrill.

I was ready to stuff my fist in Ergin's butt-ugly monkey face when someone attacked him first, dropping rocks on his head. I didn't know what the hell this was about, but I looked at who did it and all I saw was someone or something wearing a cloak. Who the hell was this guy now?

Ergin and his two butt-buddies, Renk and Sankin were bruised and battered in their heads and shoulders from the fallen rocks that were now lying all over the wet, hardwood floor, but they still capable of fighting.

"I believe these fine gentlemen are about to show themselves out of here," he told them. "Politely."

"YOU!" Ergin snarled. "I'll twist you into a misshapen lump! How stupid can you be for angering me!?"

While he was distracted, I grabbed the mug with the piss-sour Cinnabar Cider in it, and threw it at the back of his head. It exploded into shards on the back of the Darmanitan's head, spraying overpriced alcohol and clay pieces in all directions over the barroom floor. Sankin the Mawile jumped at me, attempting to attack me with his ugly black gator-mouth coming out of his head while I quickly side-stepped out of the way and then struck him from behind with a jump kick once he landed. It sent his slimy carcass flying into glass display case. All of the metal plates that the case was displaying were sent rolling everywhere after he crashed through the glass, causing the whole damn thing to fall apart into shards and splinters right on top of him, burying him in a pile of broken wood and glass.

"I'll mangle your sniveling head, you-" Renk the Heliolisk snarled as the black and yellow electric lizard came charging after me.

I quickly picked up one of the bar stools and swung it at his face before he made contact. It smashed the whole thing into splinters and bits when it struck his snout hard, sending Renk flying head over heels before he landed on his anus. He quickly tried to get back up, but I grabbed him by the neck with one paw, punched him hard in the gut with the other, winding the hell out of him, and then slammed his face into one of the hard, wooden tables once, twice, and then three times before I threw his mangy remains into the same pile of broken glass, wood, and metal plates as his clueless friend, Sankin. Both of them were out cold and I could bet they'd be feeling that for the next few weeks.

Meanwhile, the whole bar erupted into a brawl. These drunken idiots saw a fight break out and decided that after seeing us fight, it was a great idea to start punching and smacking each other for no real reason than to brawl, brag, and forget about any of it happening with the ensuring hangover that was coming their way and wonder why they were all cut up and bruised when they finally sobered up and woke up in a warm, stinking puddle of alcohol.

I saw a idiot, drunken Pangoro with his black and white fur wet and matted with alcohol smack a Shiftry in the jaw, sending the brown and white tree Pokémon doubling back into another set of tables and chairs, causing everything to be knocked over as his butt snapped the legs of the chairs apart. A lanky Watchog got struck in the face with a glass bottle thrown at him by a dark blue Meowstic that was just laughing hysterically as the Watchog stumbled back and collided into the liquor cabinet, causing the brown and yellow weasel to have an avalanche of liquor bottles and glass rain on top of him. The whole bar had gone from a piss-poor tavern to a complete wrestling ring of idiocy and anarchy.

I didn't know who or what this sword thing was or why he even had a bone to pick with Ergin in the first place. Knowing Ergin, though, I wouldn't be surprised if that monkey mongrel had been a pain in the crotch for quite a few Pokémon around here and this was just another Pokémon he had pissed off in his lifelong career of being a complete jackass.

"Don't fight me!" Bretner pleaded, backing away as the cowardly Furret tried to create as much distance as he could from anyone that might attack him just for fun. "I don't want any trouble!"

"Same here!" Lude the Floatzel whined, backing up against the wall from the fight, holding up his hands in surrender.

What a bunch of idiots. I didn't know who the cloaked figure was, but I figured I didn't care. We could both beat the stuffing out of Egrin and I could call that a good day. Once he went down, I was getting out of this god-forsaken deranged zoo for rejected carnies.

[Noblejanobii]

OOC: And now, almost a day after this started, the Moonlight Writer makes her entrance.

Raven Karan the Mightyena
Streets outside the Azalea's Jewelry, Scarwell, Azmarax
Affected rpers: none

A dry breeze lifted the dust of the quiet town off the ground and into the air. Silence had filled the area, most citizens paying their daily patronage to the taverns at this hour. Of course, alcohol was something good, but jewelry was better.

Silent as a shadow and swift as an eclipse, a figure slipped along the walls of the nearby establishments. She had one mission, and one mission only, retrieve the Lilligant emerald necklace. It was an easy task. It was child's play. She could not screw up.

As the figure approached nearer the store, she noticed a sign on the door. It brought a smile to the girl's face. They were closed for a tavern visit, just as she had predicted. Claws extended, a quicker pace was made to approach the window where the Lilligant emerald necklace lay. Upon arrival to the desired destination, the thief lifted her right paw to the window and carefully cut into the glass. Upon finishing, she retracted her claws back into her paw, and pulled back the glass.

She switched paws now, something specific for this job contained in her left paw. Dust. With a flick of her wrist, the thief released the dust into the hole. Trigger wires came into view. The thief only snickered, slipped her paw in, and began to pull out the necklace. Then, she heard footsteps.

Her moment of panic caused the thief to move carelessly and hit one of the tripwires. Alarms began to ring out in the store. The thief panicked, the Lilligant emerald necklace landing on the ground. The thief scooped it up into her mouth and began to run, unsure if anyone would care to follow. The shouts that followed answered her point.

"Eh! It's that dark type again!"

"The quadrupled right?"

"Yeah, that's the one!"

The thief ducked out of the way as a flame burst nearly scorched her fur. A quick glance over the shoulder told the whole tale. It was those three dumb deputies again. What was with this town and dark type quadrupled pokeism?

The thief turned down a nearby road, the jewelry still clenched tight in her jaws. It didn't occur to her that her tight grip might break the jewels, but that was not her main concern right now. Another flame burst hit the dirt path beside the thief and she stumbled a little in surprise.

'No,' she thought, exasperation in every idea that floated through her head, 'not now! I can't shut down now! They'll catch me!' Despite the mental protests, the body of the thief did not listen. Pain began to rise in all her joints as she tried to force herself to continue at the speed she had been going. The thief ignored it, but the pain only rose in agony and hit harder than before with each step she took.

Another flame burst hit the ground and the thief was forced into a dead end alleyway. Her legs shook as they could barely support her. She breathed hard, the effort it was taking to even remain standing right now exhausting her. It was shameful, truly, to go down like this.

The thief scouted out a route for her escape, but was having no luck. What Raven Karan needed now, more than anything else, was a distraction.

[VeloJello]

Moira Magro
Sylath Outskirts, Synamax -> Sylath, Synamax
ARP’ers: The Nonexistent Tazz

My belly was full and our little “camp” was quiet when I got back. I was mildly annoyed, but not surprised, to see that Downey was still there, snoring several feet away from Abelard, who in turn was curled up not far from Captain Pike. The Nidoqueen was still, but her ears swiveled forward immediately, indicating that she was still awake.

“How was the hunting?” the captain asked, raising her head.

“Good.” I plopped down beside her, unworried about her spikes. They were hard to hurt yourself on unless you were trying, and anyway the worst thing they could do to me was poke me a bit. “Honestly, I just walked right into the Trapinch’s nest and offed it with a Drain Punch to heal the bite it gave me. Feels weird eating the meat raw, but I’m glad it was a predator who would’ve killed someone else.”

The Nidoqueen nodded. “Fair. We’ll be able to fix everyone up with a proper meal shortly. I have to say, I’ll miss Downey’s cooking.”

I could feel the scowl on my face. “He should’ve left. It’d be better for all of us.”

“You didn’t have to do it, you know,” Captain Pike said calmly. “Threatening him like that. I can handle myself - and a rowdy crew.”

“He crossed two of my lines,” I snarled. “He’s lucky I didn’t deliver the warning with my fists. And besides, he sounded like he was getting way too nosy about Blue.”

‘Blue’ was a shorthand that Captain Pike and I had come up with, which referred to any part of my life that was related to or the result of my Indigo Seer abilities. Of all of the members of the Braviary’s crew, she was the only one to ever know, and I preferred it that way. If the information got public, it would make it that much easier for the Abyss to target me.

What’s more, Captain Pike knew that was how I preferred it, and her voice had a hint of concern in it for the first time. “Declan is… he’s not a coward, but he’s not hardened like the rest of us. When he signed onto the Braviary, he was expecting to just sit in the kitchen and shop vegetables and listen to the occasional pirate fight from a distance. He wasn’t expecting to hear and see his crewmates die around him while swarms of Abyssal monsters tried to kill him.”

“If he’s not tough enough for the work, then why was he on the ship to start with?”

“That’s just it. He was tough enough for what we were doing. But now, Arceus and everybody can see that he wasn’t cut out for a rough life, so he’s overcompensating by showing off. If he truly thought I was going to lead him to his death, he’d have been gone.”

I wasn’t so sure, but I decided not to push that particular issue. The captain had a knack for seeing what people were really made of. “Still, he was faulting Abelard, who probably already blames herself. And if he figures out about Blue…”

Captain Pike gave me a doubtful look, “You really think he’s not going to figure it out on his own? Neither he nor Abelard are idiots. You saw the destruction coming, and you’ve helped us out with your predictions before. Eventually they’ll figure it out. Honestly, I think it might be best if you just told them.”

“Unacceptable.” Rare was the occasion in which I would flat-out defy my captain, but I was not about to compromise on this. “No one can know. If word spreads, the target on my back gets even bigger. I don’t feel like getting whacked. Let them assume it’s my aura sight or something.”

Another long pause reigned. Conversations with Captain Pike typically involved a lot of those. “It’s your decision,” she said eventually. “Just think about it. Here. Why don’t you go to sleep? I’ll have you take last watch, if it’s all the same to you.”

“That’d be good, thanks,” I said, relieved that she didn’t press the issue. I padded a few feet away from her and lay down, setting my rifle beside me and settling my chin on my paws.

Before I went to sleep, however, there was one more important task to take care of. Now that the Braviary had crashed, the terms of my service to the world had changed. My first job was to take care of the remnants of the crew, but after that was done, it was time to get into the fight with the Abyss personally and make them pay for what they’d done. So I closed my eyes and cast about with my senses, hunting for other Indigo Seers.

It took me only a few moments to triangulate the nearest Seer - some manner of Dragon-type in Syn City. I couldn’t tell much other than that, and I didn’t want to contact them yet - it was very late, and it wouldn’t be very endearing of me to awaken them in the dead of night.

Syn City, I told myself, as I drifted off into sleep. Just gotta get to Syn City.

…

Sylath was the largest city in Synamax, by my reckoning, although it didn’t come close to the splendor of Jansen. The city had been built for practicality, with brick and metal making up most of its features. Like Jansen, it overlooked the sea; however, there seemed to be more trees and grass here, which provided the terrain with some texture. All in all, it didn’t seem like a bad place to be, and the armed guards who stopped us at the gate assured us that it was also one of the safest cities still on the face of the map.

That’s what they’d said about Jansen, of course.

As it happened, word of Jansen’s demise was mostly considered “under investigation” within the city, and having nothing but our word that our airship had been brought down by Abyssals, we had no evidence for them up or down. The only person who believed us was an old Raichu who smelled of moonshine and happened to overhear us explaining the situation in Sylath’s skyport. “The end is upon us, I know,” he had said sagely while the skyport authorities marked down the Braviary’s crash as an ‘engine failure’. “Say, do you fine folk have any spare coin?”

By the time we were done trying to harass the skyport authorities into taking us seriously and subsequently getting kicked out of the skyport, it was the afternoon. Downey was whiny, Abelard was nervous, I was angry, and even Captain Pike seemed mildly annoyed. It was no surprise, really, that we ended up in the nearest bar within a few minutes.

“Can’t believe those idiots won’t listen,” grunted Downey. Unlike the rest of us, he was a desert Pokemon, and had skipped the stage of furiously downing water that we were on and gone directly to assaulting his liver with his weapon of choice: wine. “They’re ‘investigating’ the situation, they know something’s wrong. Why’s it so hard to listen to a reputable captain and her reputable crew?”

A wry smile tugged at my mouth, “We look ‘reputable’?”

Abelard spoke cautiously, “They probably don’t want to believe that Jansen could be wiped out. It’s very close to this city, and Jansen was equal to - if not superior to - Sylath in terms of security. If Jansen can be destroyed, so can Sylath.”

Captain Pike nodded, then requested a Micle Martini from the bartender. “Hit the nail on the head there, Helmsman. They’re scared. But the main point is that we’re here and that ‘here’ is relatively safe. The Braviary didn’t have enough insurance on it to cover a whole new airship, but we’re not going to end up having to beg in the streets before we can find new jobs. And we don’t have to pay off the shipment to Jansen, because no one’s around to lay claim to it. We’re going to be alright.”

“Until the Abyssals swarm Sylath, too,” Downey grunted, precariously holding his wineglass between two of his claws. “Our time is borrowed. I say we should head further northwest. Kuran’s got a skyport as good as Sylath’s.”

“I say we should head to Syn City.”

It hadn’t really occurred to me that I could serve two of my goals in one stroke until just then, but the idea had merit. Syn was isolated, not a huge target for Abyssals, and they had good security measures. They also had their own port, which by my reckoning was better than Kuran’s or Sylath’s. This move bought me travelling companions to assure my safety, and I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to find a better place for my crewmates to settle on the whole continent.

“Hmmm,” murmured Captain Pike. “Isolated, safe, nice big skyport, not too crowded, temperate weather except for the occasional hurricane. I say why not.”

Downey fixed me with a curious look. “What made you think of Syn?” he asked.

I could feel my tail puffing up defensively. There he was, getting all nosey again. “Besides the reasons that Captain Pike just rattled off? It’s safer there than here, and I can’t leave you guys in good conscience without making sure that you’re safe.”

“Leave?” Downey asked innocently. “I didn’t know you were planning on leaving. Where are you trying to go?”

Ho-Oh’s feathers, I couldn’t believe I’d actually let that slip. All I was doing was giving Downey more pieces to the puzzle, and if he figured it out then everyone in the vicinity was going to know. “Right now,” I said hastily, “I’m going to the john. Don’t you guys get too plastered without me.”

I could hear them talking behind me, but I didn’t hear what they were saying. Crap, crap, crap. If they wouldn’t listen to me, I couldn’t leave them behind, I couldn’t - not even Downey. Sylath didn’t feel safe the way Syn did, but I couldn’t tell them why that should matter, or else I’d have ten separate knives in my back in a blink. I couldn’t save the crew, couldn’t keep everything from falling apart, couldn’t, couldn’t, couldn’t.

I blinked. While I was standing here in the hall to the bathrooms, there was one thing I could do: make contact with the other Seer.

On closer analysis, I sensed that the Seer was a Goodra, which was good news. I’d met one once, when we were running a job to Bayoutown. They were hardy, powerful Pokemon, which was just what I was looking for in an ally. Conveniently for me, this Goodra was still in Syn City.

To my surprise, I actually felt a little nervous. So far as I knew, I had never actually made contact with another Seer before. My abilities only told me bits and pieces about this Pokemon - I had no idea how he would react to me, or whether he would even heed my call at all.

But nothing ventured, nothing gained. Hello, I began, my name is Moira Magro, and I’m an Indigo Seer like yourself. I, and three of my crewmates, were involved in an airship crash two days prior in Jansen; we are the only survivors. If you didn’t already know, Jansen’s been overrun. I don’t know if my crewmates will follow me to Syn City, but once I have made arrangements for their safety, either in Sylath or Syn City, I would like to aid you in fighting the Abyssal forces, if you are so inclined.

The communication felt weird, and I was glad to end it, although I knew that hopefully I was going to have to receive and respond to another such message in time. Having spoken my piece, I leaned back against the wall and prepared for the wait.

[The Nonexistent Tazz]

Professor Talahass von McYarglefargle The Ninth
Central/Eastern Syn City, Synamax
Affected RPers: Velocity

You are now in the central part of town. The Clock Tower near city hall reads 8:45. You should be getting over to the ZEPPELIN docks soon. In the center of town is a regiment of the Syn City's pristine Navy, looking very proud and very ready for people that are, without exaggeration, fighting the legions of hell itself. Outside of that is the Governor's building, which is only somewhat more standout than the buildings around it; though he would be considerably important during times of peace, as of right now the real power around here is currently more to the north of the city, in the arms of the Navy Colonel, whoever he is. You know he is a Colonel and that is the limit of your knowledge on the subject, not like you ever really cared all that much.

Surrounding the town square that you find yourself in is a beautiful series of canals. You can certainly see why this place is such a tourist attraction when it's peaceful...And also why it would be such a powerful maritime base, peace or war. The Canals would certainly make it easy for Water Pokemon to slip around, but not so much for a ground invasion. You could get around on the bridges and canals to an extent, but if the bridges were pulled up, that was a different story. Meanwhile, the open waterways make for easy traveling and ships from faraway could easily dock and sell goods, back when it was only naval ships anyways. The invention of the Zeppelin changed that a bit, but SYN CITY had made itself known as a trading city at that point. Then again, being so deep into SYNAMAX had its issues for naval purposes, and , there were better places for open trading, IE the EMERALD COAST or former JANSEN, or even SYLATH.

-> Professor McYarglefargle: Move to Eastern Syn City.

You move across the bridges and into Eastern Syn City. This is a fairly normal pathway for you, as you usually go out here to shop.

The area you wander into is nothing short of a massive hodgepodge of all sorts of shops and a huge marketplace. The prices are competitive and busting, and even right now people were buying all sorts of things. More recent additions include the kind of things that HINTONIA would sell, but more mainstreamed and generalized, as well as other religious artifacts that claimed to protect from the ABYSS. HINTONIA was kind of an expert and closer than most others, but you really could care less. YONCHA was peddling his wares not far from you, his wares being clothing-his wife was the sewer along with her 'gal club' as YONCHA was quick to call it, while he made the living. You are also aware ROXXIA works here, but not what, as you've never seen her before. Which is odd, as she's insanely tall for a LUCARIO, a foot under your height and would probably garner attention for sheer size factor alone. You're no Biologist but you have been curious about how she's gotten so tall and who her parents were, but she's been rather insistent that you are not nearly as 'invasive.'

FEMALES.

YONCHA is waving you down, for some reason. You can see him clearly from here, and he's calling your name. "PROFESSOR, PROFESSOR TALAHASS!" People didn't like calling you by your last name, for some reason. You don't mind, as long as they know you're the PROFESSOR.

-> Professor McYarglefarlge: Go see what he's waving you down for.

You move past the crowds, which is fairly easy considering that you are not exactly small for your species, and your species is not very small at all. YONCHA's stall isn't very occupied at all either.

Of course, before you could get there...

"Hello,"

You turn your head multiple directions but cannot make out where it comes from...Except, wait, no, it's coming from your head. Yes, another Indigo Seer, yes...You focus in a bit and see a Lucario, currently in a bar in SYLATH, nowhere near as tall as ROXXIA or CUMULA but certainly tall for her species.

"My name is Moira Magro, and I’m an Indigo Seer like yourself. I, and three of my crewmates, were involved in an airship crash two days prior in Jansen; we are the only survivors. If you didn’t already know, Jansen’s been overrun. I don’t know if my crewmates will follow me to Syn City, but once I have made arrangements for their safety, either in Sylath or Syn City, I would like to aid you in fighting the Abyssal forces, if you are so inclined."

Oh, oh yes, this is precisely what you needed, or at least, precisely what you wanted, a semi-aligned group of people who wanted to kill the Abyss. Or at least, another Seer. Safety in numbers, as they said.

-> Professor McYarglefarlge: Respond to other Seer.

You pretend to look off into the distance at something interesting while making a response to Moria.

"SALUTATIOOOOOOOOONNSS!! I am Professor Talahass von McYarglefargle the Ninth! Please, just call me the Professor! In any case, you're lucky there ARE survivors at all, for you didn't just waltz into any Abyss-taken city but the last-known location of Undax of the Burning Rot himself, if the earthly rumors and these pesky visions are of any indication whatsoever! It's possibly one of the most heavily-defended locations the Abysmal army may send your way, perhaps even second only to Sartaras itself, but I'm almost certainly getting ahead of myself-the point is, you are quite fortunate to even live! In any case, I was just about to leave Syn City for Oasis to make the journey over to Jansen to rip the wretched Gengar to shreds, or something along those lines...I'm due on an Airship outbound to Oasis in less than a half-hour, in fact, and I'm not going to be wasting my Poké that I spent on the ticket, the fares are outrageous these days...In any case, I'll be arranging for you at Sylath, unless you would rather come to me in Oasis."

That's one thing done. YONCHA is still waving you down vigorously. You then hear him cough loudly and stop waving you down-poor lug and his Asthma...

-> Professor McYarglefargle: Meet YONCHA and investigate whatever he's waving you down for.

You make it to his stall. His wares aren't terribly interesting to you in general, but the Shiny Pangoro always is. You wait for his coughing fit to subside.

"Ack...Sorry about that, Professor. It's pretty important...I wasn't expecting you to be out and about...You look like you're ready to travel." YONCHA says.

"As a matter of fact, I'm heading off to Oasis...There are errands there I must be getting on with. I'll be gone for a while." You respond.

"Oh...Uh, funny, Oasis isn't all that good-looking right now...Eh, care to say what's up over there? Some kind of science thing?" YONCHA asks.

"It's private business, invention showcasing, I'll have you know." You say. "Now, why were you trying to flag me down so vigorously?" You ask.

"Oh, right! Uh, I found this lying in the street...Looks like it might be yours, and I don't have any use for it." He says, reaching down under his stall. "Where'd I put-ah, found it." He says, rising up and showing you an EMPTY PRESSURIZED STEAM CANISTER.

"Ah, thank you! I was missing one from my stock for a while now, thank you." You take the EMPTY PRESSURIZED STEAM CANISTER and put it in your TRAVELING BACKPACK. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get to the Airport before 9." You say, leaving YONCHA to his business.

"Take Care!" He says.

YONCHA, such a friendly person. Shame he's got that Asthma, in all honesty.

-> Professor McYarglefargle: Move to SYN CITY AIRPORT.

You maneuver through the crowds to get to the place you need to be most, the Airport...


...


INVENTORY:

GRENADE LAUNCHER (LOADED)
GRENADES X50
STEAMGUN-100%
PRESSURIZED STEAM CANISTERS-STEAM-X30
PRESSURIZED STEAM CANISTERS-EMPTY-X6
LABCOAT (EQUIPPED)
LABORATORY GOGGLES (EQUIPPED)
LABORATORY KEY
PROVISIONS-TWO WEEKS
RUNIC HEADBAND
ZEPPELIN TICKET-FROM SYN CITY, TO OASIS
30,000 POKÉ

[Death's Spook]

Death's Spook
Shiro Minamoto the Aegislash
The Hole Tavern, Scarwell, Azmarax
Affected RPers: Neo Emolga

"YOU!" the Darmanitan growls obnoxiously, "I'll twist you into a misshapen lump! How stupid can you be for angering me!?"

Clearly, this idiot is intending to attempt a diplomatic solution.

I am about to attack when Kaxo decides to steal my heart by throwing his flask at the back of the fire ape’s clearly unused head. The clay mug shatters, splattering alcohol and sharp, solid fragments across the bar floor.

And then pandemonium breaks out. Everyone starts attacking everyone they can get their hands on. Thankfully, I manage to slip the random blows that fall around me with my Seer abilities.

Of course, there was Pokemon who is not simply randomly attacking me. The moronic Darmanitan cloaks himself in fire and rushes at me.

His blows definitely are powerful, judging by the impressions they make on the wall and the reactions of the drunks who are slammed by it. However, he has the unfortunate habit of telegraphing his blows, making it stupidly simple to dodge even without my Seer abilities.

I let out a laugh, “Indeed, I do seem to be stupid! I had thought the point of combat was to hit your opponent with your attacks! I am most grateful for your brilliant example!”

In a move I am sure surprises absolutely everyone, he gets angrier, rushing at me with even more recklessness and raw fury. I am not required to even lift another finger past my initial assault: between the number of times he Flare Blitzes into random intoxicated idiots and the retaliations of said random intoxicated idiots, he manages to remove himself from bothering me anymore most considerately.

I move to leave the zoological garden this place has become, but before I am out the door, I gently brush against Kaxo, mutter an apology, and walk out.

Oh. And I stealthily drop one of the Jansen royal diamonds in his hand. Not a big one, but definitely enough to pique his interest.

<I think we should converse.>

[VeloJello]

Moira Magro
Sylath, Synamax
ARP’ers: The Nonexistent Tazz

<SALUTATIOOOOOOOOONNSS!!> The Goodra’s reply nearly was so loud that it felt like he was trying to split my head in half. <I am Professor Talahass von McYarglefargle the Ninth! Please, just call me the Professor! In any case, you're lucky there ARE survivors at all, for you didn't just waltz into any Abyss-taken city but the last-known location of Undax of the Burning Rot himself, if the earthly rumors and these pesky visions are of any indication whatsoever! It's possibly one of the most heavily-defended locations the Abysmal army may send your way, perhaps even second only to Sartaras itself, but I'm almost certainly getting ahead of myself-the point is, you are quite fortunate to even live! In any case, I was just about to leave Syn City for Oasis to make the journey over to Jansen to rip the wretched Gengar to shreds, or something along those lines...I'm due on an Airship outbound to Oasis in less than a half-hour, in fact, and I'm not going to be wasting my Poké that I spent on the ticket, the fares are outrageous these days...In any case, I'll be arranging for you at Sylath, unless you would rather come to me in Oasis.>

I groaned, propping myself up against the wall and rubbing at my temples. Synthesize this, Moira, I told myself furiously. Undax in Jansen. Undax in Jansen. Awesome. Seer named… “Sassafras Gargler”? Suicune’s crown, I was never going to remember that name. Mercifully, he seemed to be aware of the issue, so I’d call him Professor like he asked. The Professor was effectively already on his way to Oasis and willing to meet there or in Sylath. That sounded like everything.

So. I had some decisions to make. Having just been informed that my plans to lay up my crewmates in Syn City was going to be a lot harder to accomplish with me present, I needed to reconsider. Oasis was a safe enough place for them, too, but how was I going to get them to go there, to convince them that I had changed my mind so suddenly.

I groaned again, rubbing at my eyes. All I could think of was that Undax himself had been in Jansen. Could he have known that there was a Seer on the Braviary? Did it even realistically matter?

After spending an entirely unseemly amount of time groaning in frustration and leaning on the wall, I went back toward the bar proper. I wasn’t going to convince anyone of anything, by Entei’s mighty mane, or at least I wasn’t going to convince anyone of anything that wasn’t true.

“I’m an Indigo Seer,” I announced quite calmly as I resumed my seat beside Captain Pike at the bar.

A snort of amusement bubbled up from Captain Pike as Downey’s huge head suddenly swiveled toward me, while Abelard let out a little gasp of surprise. “I knew something was off about you!” Downey hollered.

I reached across the captain, nearly knocking over what I wager is her third Micle Martini, and rapped Downey on the mouth. “Don’t announce it to the whole bar, you idiot,” I snapped. “This doesn’t travel any further than the four of you, hear? If I end up with knives in my back because of you then, Abyss or no Abyss, I’ll haunt you til the end of days.”

Downey took another swig of wine, “Fine, fine, cool it. So… this explains a lot. But why tell us now?”

Briefly, I summarized what the Professor had told me about his plans and about Undax. “I can’t force the three of you to do anything,” I said. “But I want to make sure you three are safe, and I wanted to be honest with you. I think that it would be safest for you to find new airships, it doesn’t matter where. Sylath’s as good a place to start as any… I’m sorry I didn’t tell you the truth at first.”

“But what will you do?” Captain Pike asked me, fixing me with a level gaze.

“I’m going to help this Professor kill Undax,” I said simply. “Or at least, I’m going to try. He sounded a bit… eccentric, and if he doesn’t have a good plan, I may have to turn back. But I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. In the meantime, I’ll be waiting for him here.”

“No need,” Captain Pike said. She finished her martini in one long chug. “I have all sorts of favors I can still call in. So long as my old associates are still alive, I can get you to Oasis in record time. On one condition.”

“Which is?”

Captain Pike stood up, her weight making the floorboards creak. “You take me with you.”

Gears start grinding in my head immediately. I knew exactly how I want this to end, but I had to be careful. The captain was more hardheaded than anyone I’d ever met in my life, and if I said the wrong thing, I would make her more determined to come with me. “Don’t you have to stay here with Downey and Abelard?”

Captain Pike surveyed the both of them and sighed. “Look, Downey was right in what he said yesterday - I’m the captain of a ship that doesn’t exist anymore. The lot of you are all free Pokemon, and it’d be wrong of me to try and drag you into something on authority that I don’t actually have. But Moira, this is clearly important to you, and I can’t bear the thought of you walking into danger with only a stranger’s help.”

Tension made my crown rise. Half of my instincts were screaming at me to protect my captain, while the other half were howling at me to listen to the woman who had basically mothered me since I was a stupid little pup scrounging airport scraps. “Captain Pike, this is Undax of the Burning Rot. Not that you’re not powerful enough in your own right, very far from it, but you…”

“If you’re about to tell me that I’m getting old, stop,” growled the Nidoqueen. “Moira, I don’t want to strongarm you. But if this Gengar is as powerful as you say, you’re going to need all the help that you can get. Sometimes you don’t know what’s best for you, so I’m going to make this simple. You have two options. Option one, you let me get you transit to Oasis and let me accompany you to Jansen. Option two, you knock me out cold and lock me up. Because that’s the only way you’ll get to leave me behind.”

I quickly choked out the snarl of sheer frustration that was rising up in my throat. There would be plenty of opportunities to dissuade Captain Pike, or give her the slip if necessary, between there and the fight at Jansen. “Alright. Fine, Captain. You win.”

“Good,” she said primly, then turned toward Abelard and Downey. “You two. I know you don’t owe me anymore, but I figure I may as well give you the chance to tag along. Both of you are good fighters, and you’d be most welcome.”

Before I could tell Captain Pike that no, they are most certainly not welcome, please stop trying to help me, Downey spoke. “Nope. Sorry, ladies, but this is way out of my league. I’ve got no interest in going to a slaughter, which is what it’d be for me. Count me out.”

I wasn’t surprised; from Captain Pike’s expression, neither was she. “Very well. What’s your answer, Abelard?”

“I…” she hesitated for a moment, but the look in her red eyes was resolute. “I couldn’t save the Braviary’s crew when it mattered, but without Moira, all of us might have died. I still think of you as my leader, if not my captain, Miss Pike, and I’d be honored to accompany you.”

I blinked. I had never heard Abelard utter that many words in one sitting without getting shy again and clamming up. Maybe there was some steel in the Haxorus after all - then again, there had to be, if Captain Pike had hired her.

Of course, it made my job of going it alone that much harder. Now I had to ditch two instead of one. Although, maybe the help would come in handy, especially if I was going to be alone with that nutty Goodra…

No. The others had to be protected, whatever the cost.

“Thank you, Abelard,” said Captain Pike, her voice gentle. Then, her bearing and tone grew businesslike once again, “Alright. If your Professor is leaving for Oasis soon, we haven’t a whole lot of time. Let’s get moving. Goodbye, Downey; take care of yourself. It’s been an honor being your captain.”

“You, too, Pike,” said Downey. “With luck, when next we meet, I’ll be serving up the best food that Synamax has to offer, and that Undax guy will be thoroughly killed.”

Captain Pike led the way to the skyport and had Abelard and I stand by while she chatted up the various captains and crew that were hanging around. I decided that this would be a good time to update the Professor on my plans.

<Moira again, Professor,> I said. This message was easier to send than the first; I had never actually done this before today. <It happens that my airship captain is going to call in some favors and arrange quick passage for her, myself, and another one of our crewmates to Oasis, so with luck we’ll be able to meet you right at the skyport. However, the two of them will not be accompanying us to Jansen if I can possibly do anything to be rid of them. I don’t want them getting mixed up on this… It would appear that my captain’s coming back. I’ll let you know when we’ve touched down in Oasis.>

Captain Pike started talking the second I finished my message. “Good news, everybody! You ever heard of the Little Yanma? Don’t answer that, I know you haven’t. It’s a tiny little passenger airship run by a Banette who worked for me before even Moira came aboard. Meet,” she gestured grandiosely to the small Ghost-type beside her, “Captain Seelie.”

The Banette waved a hand. “Hey, all,” he sounded as raspy as a Graveller with a smoking habit. “Look, I won’t waste time on formalities. Suffice to say you’re very lucky you’re in with Pike. She’s told me that this could be a matter of world-saving importance, and I happen to like the world the way it is. So with that out of the way, c’mon and board. Mess up one thing on my ship and I’ll curse you so hard that your grandchildren are gonna feel it. Got it?”

Abelard nodded, while I grunted my agreement. Captain Seelie was gruffer than I was used to, which was annoying, and I didn’t much care for small airships after so long on the Braviary. They rocked too much in the winds, and were much more liable to lose fights should any opportunist pirates or Flying-types decide to swoop in. Plus, I was going to be spending the entire trip trying to figure out how to ditch the last two friends I had left in the world, on my way to go fight one of the most dangerous Pokemon on the face of all Talandra.

Ah, well. It beat walking.

[The Nonexistent Tazz]

((OOC: A few things. I consider Mystery Dungeon to be tangentially related to the world; Growth Garland is basically Fred Rodgers, while Dargius Pulchritude is simultaneously a Problem Sleuth reference and basically the most charismatic 'mon in existence; And if anyone catches exactly what reference King Jellyfish is to in this situation, kudos to you.))

Professor Talahass von McYarglefargle The Ninth
Central/Eastern Syn City, Synamax
Affected RPers: Velocity (?)

You are now at the SYN CITY AIRPORT. It's gotten a lot of passengers for a while now-you predict a level of growth, at this rate, that will cause SYN CITY to start growing to JANSEN-like levels, or at least strat becoming more and more of a major city. Isolated from the mainland and an internal naval base, very secure-sounding. Then again, JANSEN was assumed to be very safe, and look what rumor had said of it!...Then again, by those same rumors and your visions, UNDAX OF THE BURNING ROT was responsible, so perhaps it would stand a chance against a less coordinated army?

In any case...Oh? It looks like CUMULA, of all people, is here. She and her mother are late sleepers, you definitely know it, they'd sleep to 10 AM when most are up around 6 AM. You would have woken up sooner normally but your sleep has been so wrought with those visions...You are going to punch UNDAX to death at this rate, with your bare hands to boot, you don't care how literally sick he is. Those BROTHERS are making you that angry. this also ignores that UNDAX is a ghost type. In any case, this is highly unusual behavior out of her. She's also wearing a scarf-one her aunt ROXXIA usually does. She was always the rebellious type...Oh my. Ugh, you might want to sort this out...ROXXIA has impossible levels of stubbornness when it comes to niece protection. You might as well put CUMULA in JANSEN, mail ROXXIA (anonymously), and then watch as you are killed, and then as a servant of the abyss Witness JANSEN being literally punted out of the ground in her quest to get CUMULA. Especially if you wind up on the same ship: ROXXIA WILL BLAME YOU, and she may also ignore several laws in making sure you get the picture.

Before you can properly react to this, Moria Margo responds again.

"Moira again, Professor, It happens that my airship captain is going to call in some favors and arrange quick passage for her, myself, and another one of our crewmates to Oasis, so with luck we’ll be able to meet you right at the skyport. However, the two of them will not be accompanying us to Jansen if I can possibly do anything to be rid of them. I don’t want them getting mixed up on this… It would appear that my captain’s coming back. I’ll let you know when we’ve touched down in Oasis."

You decide that, as of right now, you can wait on responding. CUMULA's return to her house is practically your life on the line, because if ROXXIA realized you knew, well...Let us put it one way, the last time this happened and you knew, she was extremely stern, and you learned how dense her fists are. And the rest of her body. You also learned the maximum velocity of a LUCARIO that may or may not suffer from GIGANTICISM.


-> Professor McYarglefargle: Save your life.

You manage to get past a great deal of people, saying your pardons and excuse mes, before reaching CUMULA, who is walking rather firmly towards the same Airhship you're on, which is really only furthering the complications. EVEN worse, she has a ticket. There was no way she was giving up something so valuable, and no way you were getting upon that ship should you attack her, which, by the way, would also mean a cruel, hate-filled death. You will need to suddenly become the UTOPIA-blessed lovechild of GROWTH GARLAND and DARGIUS PULCHRITUDE (by some means) to save your behind. You might as well commit seppaku and save yourself from dying a horrible death at the hands of King Jellyfish ROXXIA and whatever her (supposedly) PTSD-Riddled mind could possibly come up with, law enforcement be darned.

At least she's turning around to see you. "Oh, hello Professor!"


-> Professor McYarglefargle: Explain in no ambiguous terms how CUMULA must return home right now.

"What in tarnation are you doing!?" You exclaim.

"Boarding an Airship to Oasis. I want to explore the world, or while it lasts anyways!" She exclaims back. "My stuck-up Aunt won't let me leave Syn City even before this whole Infernal Schism Tauros-"

"Hun, tongue. A lesser brute would murder you for getting such a mouth in the first place, and I prefer to work with people with some class."

You look down. Oh no. Your figuratively ABYSMAL luck continues to surmount. Standing right next to CUMULA is, well, someone unfamiliar-a SYLVEON. Those of a Fey alignment were a rare and bewildering sight to witness, as they usually have some extremely uncanny views on the world. The Fairy-Types in general happen to behave-literally no other word for it-weird. They practically live in a separate society, and they either aren't aware of the rules to begin with or don't even care. They view some things as irrelevant and some things as absolutely dire, and ninety-nine percent of the time they rarely truly conjoin with society's values (though equally rarely do they completely go against it either). In other words, already a sign of everything going even worse than it already was, though you might just be somewhat bigoted due to type issues, and also because of the time three of them attempted to forcibly play matchmaker with you and a Milotic. It ended well for NO-ONE and you and that Milotic exchanged mails of apology frequently for three straight years afterwards.

This particular specimen wore an interesting piece of headgear...You don't' have any name for it but it looks like basically she's wearing a small black sack on her head, with an EMERALD RIBBON laying upon it, as well as two sacks laid across her sides, packed with random items, many of them quite shiny. You make out quite a few items, but most importantly an EXPLORER's BADGE...Impliciting her as a possible part of an Exploration Team. Exploration Teams being something that's been legally debated (very fiercely) to be forcibly and completely retired as of right now due to the fact it basically legalized bandit work and piracy. To be fair, most Guilds for it were very bent on making sure their pupils turned out to be perfect citizens, but though there were some exquisite examples of this in action, they were the exceptions that made the rule. Most Guilds could not control their pupils enough to stay away from illegal activities.

In other words, it was very blatant that CUMULA was about to do something very dumb with her.

"Oh, jeez, you sound like my Aunt, the stuck up bi-I mean, stuck-up wuss that she is." CUMULA snapped back.

"I try not to sound like other people's aunts, though, and to be fair she IS a stuck-up wuss, but I would rather you not badmouth your relatives like that, reasons reasons..."

"Right, right, sorry, so where are we going after-"

"You're not! You're literally going to have your aunt march through whatever Arceus-forsaken grounds she may find herself treading on and slaughter whatever bothers to get between you and her, and then kill me because I didn't talk you out of it!"

"That sounds like a madwoman who should have gotten mental remodeling done. And also, horribly unlikely." The SYLVEON said. Oh, great, MENTAL REMODELING, that old thing. You don't even want to talk about THAT. The one time you saw any victim to that (and they were indeed victims to it), you were tempted to kill him, and not because he was actually violent, but because he was...Broken in a way to horrible to describe. How do Fey even LIVE with people like that walking among them?

"She's too much of a coward. She's so jumpy about everything, and she could probably rip most of it to shreds!" CUMULA stated.

"Now that is just going too far, she has PTSD-"

"Faked, and I know it! She's never been in any fight in her life, I know it!" CUMULA cut in.

That was enough to make the SYLVEON flinch a little. That was going a little too far.

"If I was your father I would have beaten you to the ground for that! But that is seriously cruel, she looks so terrified by fighting, bar to save you...As I should know. Very well." You say.

Admittently, those very beatings make you wonder if she really DOES have PTSD. They're so violent, like some spirit of the ABYSS siezed her.

"Hun, a woman like that is too protective for this girl's own good, she's gotta go out and expand her horizons, it ain't healthy. We left a note for her to understand, and I'm making sure she doesn't get too deep into trouble, and when she's satisfied we'll settle down, maybe even return here...It sure is quite a beauty, and I've seen quite a few scenes in my life." The SYLVEON says.

"I'm sorry, but I must ask you to hand over that ticket, Cumula, for my life's sake and yours! It's LITERALLY hell out there, you see how empty that ship is?" You state. Indeed, there were literally five people onboard-During more normal years, you usually see thirty on the ship to OASIS. "No-one in their right minds is going! You've gone mad!"

"I HAVE gone mad, I've gone mad at every last time I've had to be bossed around by someone else! I've GOT to get away from it all, and hey, we're all doomed anyways!" CUMULA shouted, at this point trying to get behind you. You kept backing up, getting onto the bridge.

"I am of a personal mind to say there's still hope left!" You shout back. "But no matter what the case, you shouldn't just be going out NOW of all times because you are BORED. What would your mother think?!"

CUMULA's mother, he never really knew about her other than she was dead from some incident ROXXIA was somehow involved in when CUMULA was extremely young. And yet, the memories of her were perhaps the most fond she had. she didn't even know her mother's name-it seemed to be something only ROXXIA knew of-and she had a fierce admiration of her. She was a hero, apparently. Come to think of it, you never knew her last name either...

In any case, that got her to briefly stop. And then, she donned a most fierce expression, one bearing but a fragment of the ferocity within a similar expression of ROXXIA's. You know she is rather young for her size and realize a fight against her would be practically unfair, but if she wants a keruffle now, then so be it.

"So why are you going onboard that ship towards Oasis yerself?" The SYLVEON asked, quite suddenly.

Oh boy that was a hard question to answer. You did NOT want this crazy lunatic to know you were an INDIGO SEER, and she looked like a foreginer. SYN CITY itself was fairly knowledgeable about you but you were not a brand name as an INDIGO SEER, that wasn't common knowledge outside of the city and it wasn't a common topic either. CUMULA's rage continued to build, she was now shaking.

"Aren't you an Indigo Seer or somesuch? I've heard that the Abyss is buzzing over them for some reason, buzzing for kills, so why leave Syn City?"

You would shout explicitives if you dared to let them enter your dictionary at all, but she responded before you could even open your mouth. OK, her learning isn't all that impossible, still, but this was not good. He could convince CUMULA away from the ship, maybe, but you had no chance to sway the SYLVEON and, for that matter, you didn't care all that much, you just had to sway CUMULA, and yet it would be very hard if he didn't have the 'moral high ground' so to speak.

"There is a scientific presentation-"

"During the Infernal Schism?"

"New technologies, Military application, could help-"

"Why in Oasis and not the Emerald Coast or some other big city?"

"Meant to be secret-"

"I don't think this exists, but I would think an Indigo Seer like yourself would certainly want to keep silent against the Abyss...."

"OK, yeah, full of Tauros...Dung. Let me past or I will knock you past!

You will eat that Sylveon and savor every last second of it one day, before you inevitably die of ROXXIA.

"No-one else is coming aboard, I can just stand here and-"

"You're letting us come aboard, you have no right to stop either of us, we paid for our tickets, and I'm not leaving without her...Or should I go do some sightseeing of that lab of yours? Ugly cogs..." The Sylveon said.

No, no no no no no no no no no, UNACCEPTABLE! NOT THE LAB! But, ROXXIA would kill you if you let CUMULA aboard, and probably ACTUALLY kill you after weeks of horrendous torture! What you did last time was paltry in comparison, and even if you were to suddenly become a perfect sinless being she would STILL come and rip you to shreds. The Abyss has no fury like a woman scorned, and there is no woman scorned more ferocious than ROXXIA.

"Lemme help that decision process of yours."

You, paralyzed by sudden indecision, find yourself suddenly realizing how attractive that Sylveon is. Oh, oh how pretty and pink and cute is this thing?

"You'll let us aboard, right hun? You're such a darling man..."


-> Professor McYarglefargle: Let CUMULA and the SYLVEON aboard.

You allow them aboard without a second thought, anything for the absolutely beloved...Uh, wow, you didn't even know her name, how rude of you to not know! You've absolutely got to ask!

Remembering you also have an appointment to make over there, you get your ticket checked, boarding the ship of eight yourself. You follow the Sylveon and CUMULA, close to the helm of the ship.

"Now, hun, stay here-I think we may need to move, I saw someone rush off somewhere..." The absolutely adored woman of four legs said.

"Oh, Meiun's neck, no!"

"Relax, hun, this one's easy to fix...Oh, you do have business on this ship as well!" The lovely maiden fae said, looking at you. "Hush, darling, I need to speak with the captain about early leaving."

Ah, yes, marvelous, a Fae beguilement! Perfect for a leave several minutes ahead of schedule, just as you (and more importantly her) wanted. You obey her orders, waiting right next to CUMULA, as she walks into the Captain's room and uses ATTRACT...Wait.

You look at CUMULA, eager to go. You see something else-OH NO ROXXIA YOU COMPLETELY FORGOT NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO


-> Professor McYarglefargle: Attempt to stop the Sylveon.

Too late. Yet another endeavor screwed over by the Fae. The Captain listens to her like a sucker, just like you were. You go pale.

The ship leaves port with an unexpected speed, confusing every other passenger as they climb back to the forward, but they find the Captain's doors locked.

"Oh, man. It was the best decision I ever made to wake up early today...I got to meet HER, she's amazing, her name is, uhh, what was it, kinda weird...Right, it was Sophia! But anyway, she was so totally understanding and helped me out, and I'm on board and I'm on an adventure and-"

-> Professor McYarglefargle: Recover from shock, perform last-ditch attempt to save your life.

You grab CUMULA by the snout with your ears, by the upper chest with one arm, and use the remainder to keep a punch ready to go.

"I am going to kill you, and her, by field test from one of my newest inventions at this precise moment and time, all reasonable and legal parameters for such aside, unless you immediately leap out of this ship right now and swim back to Syn City this instant. I will NOT suffer your aunt's wrath again! I had a cast on this arm-" You point at your left arm-"for TWELVE YEARS because of something almost completely harmless! This is NOT harmless, this is sending you off to death!"

You let go of her snout, only to instead focus around the neck, JUST hard enough to become uncomfortable but not hard enough to choke her. She struggles, natch, but finds little success. "I'd rather die!"

"Oh dear, I thought that would last longer...".

You whip your head around. Of course, the Sylveon was there, staring at you with a look of utter boredom.

"YOU ARE-"

Oh right, wasn't she the amazing pretty one you wanted to marry yourself to and listen to and help out because she's so awesome and cute and incredible?

You don't get much else-she suddenly leaps at you out of the blue with some sphere of lovely pink energy forming at her mouth before you go black, and your dreams instigated by this are dreams of dancing with a Milotic in a lovely field of flowers, a Milotic that looks a lot like SOPHIA...

...You then get nailed by more BLACK DOOM visions. Of course, you can't even dream about proper nightmares!

[Neo Emolga]

Kaxo Sychal the Lopunny
The Hole Tavern, Scarwell, Azmarax
Affected RPers: Death's Spook

After finishing off Sankin and Renk, I turned to see Ergin had tried to attack the guy with the cloak. If there was anything the dumb, flame-brained monkey was known for, it was pissing just about everyone off. I'd call him a stupid twat, but he lacked the warmth and the depth.

As if on cue, he attacked a rather beefed-up Blastoise unintentionally, but obviously the big, hulking water turtle juggernaut thought it was totally intentional, and he gave Ergin that look that made it clear he was going to murder his whole family and stuff their severed heads up his anus. And then Ergin barreled into the idiot dancing Pangoro, as if pissing him off was a great idea too.

"Indeed, I do seem to be stupid!" The cloaked one laughed. "I had thought the point of combat was to hit your opponent with your attacks! I am most grateful for your brilliant example!"

Instead, Ergin kept rushing around like a brain-dead Bouffalant on steroids, crashing into more tables and chairs and then into Krag, the well-known, dark dary-skinned, four-armed Machamp regular that was probably the last one he should have bumbled into. Krag then slammed Ergin in the face and I could have pissed myself laughing just before the drunken Pangoro and Blastoise all gang up on him at the same time and beat the stuffing out of Ergin. After getting slammed in the face by the Pangoro, kicked in the ass by the Blastoise, and then having both of his arms get broken by Krag, I knew that stupid Darmanitan wasn't going to be heading off anywhere for a while. I swore, he was either going to be dragged out of here in a coma or in a bodybag.

"D-damn...!" Lude stuttered, backing away. "Sweet mother of mercy, did they just kill that guy!?"

"Who the hell cares, would have been his own damn fault anyway," I told him, really thinking he should quit being such a sheepish twit about everything he saw. "Come on, we're getting the hell out of this pisshole."

"I swear, I'm never coming to this place again!" Bretner whined as we headed for the door. "No more alcohol for me... ever!"

With the way he was acting and whining, he was probably a decade off from being legal age anyway.

And that was when the cloaked guy came by me again. For a moment, I thought he was going to go his own separate ways after Egrin had his head punched so hard his colon would vomit out his skull, but he was still hanging around. And that was when I felt something drop into my paw. I took a quick look at it, obviously quickly catching onto the idea it was not meant to be seen.

When I saw it, I thought I was hallucinating. It was a royal diamond with one of the most insane artisan cuts I've ever seen. That guy, whoever the hell he was, had to be LOADED. I quickly stuffed it in my satchel, and then looked at him.

<I think we should converse.>

As if the diamond wasn't surprising enough about this guy, he had some telepathy power as well. Or was he... possibly a Seer also? Damn, I never would have guessed. I had to know for sure, and it was obvious he wasn't here to beat up a few bar goons either. He had to know something about me, and even though I might have overstayed my time here, this definitely had to be one last prospect looking into.

<Out back. There's a shed back there, perfect place to hide before the police show up and arrest all these hopeless goons.>

I then grabbed Lude and Bretner like the little, infantile children they were and headed out the back door, away from all the ungodly ruckus and the mangled remains of Ergin and his two idiot butt-buddies. I swore, the clinic down the street was going to have fun with these *******s.

Outside, I spotted the shed the bar used for storing alcohol down a small hill away from the tavern itself. We headed down the hill and through the patches of dry dirt and dead grass. The sky was getting oddly dark, but right now, I didn't care too much about that.

Once we made it to the shed, I opened the sliding door and pushed the idiot Floatzel and the Furret inside. The shed was filled with barrels, old brewing equipment, and a distillery I swore I hope they weren't thinking of actually using again. When something rusts to the point it has holes, you get rid of the damn thing. In the meantime, it smelled like old people piss in there.

"What are we doing here!?"" Lude asked, acting like I was going to murder them both in there and run off.

"Hiding from the authorities," I told him, knowing I didn't want to be dragged out in shackles like the rest of those idiots were going to be and then held for questioning and processing. "That and... there's someone I need to talk to."

"You mean that guy with the cloak?" Bretner asked me. "You know him?"

"I will in a moment," I told him, smirking a bit.

It was rare for me to find another Pokémon worth meeting, but there was something different about this guy with the cloak. That, and with a diamond like this, I knew he wouldn't make an empty promise and be yet another deadbeat I'd have to drag around trying to find some use for.

[The Nonexistent Tazz]

Professor Talahass von McYarglefargle The Ninth
???, en Route to ???
Affected RPers: Velocity

A dream, a vision...You feel the ethers of the past in this one, this has already happened...So foggy though, like the rest...You never really got these. You felt the tiniest thread brush your mind, as if begging for more.


-> Professor McYarglefargle: Entertain vision.

You tried to 'grab' the mental thread and 'pull back,' as they would say...You tugged, and tugged and tugged, and...It all came into focus...

You stood as an all-black version of yourself, horribly demonic, bearing a wing upon his back that looked more like a claw, one you were currently staring at. You would think you looked into your own Fallen, but you are not entirely sure...You're fairly sure, though. Ugh, so that's what it looked like. Even more slimy than you were, and you admitted you were kind of gross yourself, gross and slimy. Made it hard sometimes, but this was three times worse, like it was more liquid than solid...Ugh, you don't even want to look at yourself. It's as if this part was explicitly to spite you. You couldn't twitch, it seems you're stuck in first person-and the first person of this guy.

Thankfully, you soon turn your head to some kind of altar of darkness in an unknown building-this room was equal parts cathedral, cavern and, well, hell, with stalagmites hanging down from the ceiling supporting the chandeliers, and utterly rotton-looking benches where everyone sat upon-everyone being partially made up of FALLEN, though mostly there were lesser horrors, like Cohorts or Infernals. You were looking upon some altar of darkness wherein three Pokemon worked-One was a Gengar, Mega-Evolved, who looked utterly plagued, with all sorts of open wounds letting out disgusting fsetering things-UNDAX OF THE BURNING ROT. A second was a disgusting-looking Hypno, with a Mr. Mime shoved and merged into its torso, its hands and legs operation on the Hypno's will rather than its own-XAC, THE HERALD OF MADNESS. The final one, a Grumpig who's skin was partially golden and partially some rotten black scab-like substance, sitting at the head of the Table, wearing all sorts of jewlery: DELATH, EMPEROR OF THE DESPISED.

The Three BROTHERS...And they were writing furiously at something. Yes, you think this was the BLACK DOOM Prophecy. A few seconds pass, then, one of them suddenly flings himself to an upright position, throwing a black-feathered quill up into the air, as the Parchment burst into a black, infernal flame.

"IT IS DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONE!!!! IT IS DONE, AND THEY ARE DONE, AND WE WILL ALWAYS SIT ON OUR CANDY-COATED CAVALIERS!!! HOORAYYYYYYYYY!!!" Bellowed XAC. They weren't kidding about him being the Herald of Madness.

"YEeeEEEssS...BUt noW WE muST SaFEGuaRD It..." Said UNDAX. Jeez, he had some SERIOUS voice problems, nasty, sounded as sick as implied.

"But of course...Letting it fall into ANYONE's hands...THAT would be a travesty and a half. We cannot write that the Prophecy is invincible, we cannot write ourselves as invincible, we cannot write a great many things as certanties...Such a pain, we could only write a probability-our victory, granted, but it was like a great many things equally beneficial were out of reach...Now, we have made victory a certainty, on a singular condition: We protect this prophecy! How we go about it ought to still be cautious...The right people in the right places can easily undo our work, and if we are not cautious about our positioning we can run into issues...And yet, at the same time, we could run into those problems if we are not fast enough in establishing our footholds, as well. This work, the Black Doom, it makes it a LOT easier to do everything-luck befalls our footsteps now-but if the Prophecy is harmed and the Infernal Barrier broken-both possible, and both events we cannot cover...Well. Let us say that we have achieved something GREAT here, but this is NOT the end of the war where we can just cruise to victory! We can run into problems, and there can always be spanners..." Said DELATH.

...

You did not expect one of the BROTHERS OF DESPAIR to talk like he was DARGIUS PULCHRITUDE's long lost brother.

"YES YES, LIKE THAT ONE SEER THAT GOT AT THE PAPERS!" XAC chimed in. The Mr. Mime on his chest was about to say something, but one of the Mr. Mime arms sealed his lips. Poor thing.

DELATH's face soured considerably from the relatively calm position it held at the mention of the Seer. "That, that was an uncounted for piece on this grand chessboard! AN INTRUSION TO THE PLAN!!! What we have to do now is to make sure such intrusions to our plan are MINIMIZED! Indigo Seers are dangerous-one nearly shut us out of this golden opportunity SINGLEHANDEDLY, dodging our patrols, dealing significant damage when confronted, and without any warnings! Were it not for our lovely Fallen here," Delath pointed to an Aegislash in the front rows of the pew, "And HIS own powers as a Seer, we would have been without the Black Doom Prophecy, and that would complicate matters, completely disregarding what those skyward filthbuckets would do if they even could come!

Utopia, right? You figured that the 'skyward filthbuckets' was in reference to Utopia's presumed armies.

"SoOOOoo, NoW wE wAIt, and HiDE IN shADOwS, proTECT Our BLoOd-"

"-and Promptly miss out on field commanding our troops, go to slowly, and watch as more complications regroup, launch a combined assault from the corners of our eyes, and destroy our propechy and destroy the Altar! No! Two of us must continue to wage war in Talandra while one of us goes and keep our secret to success SAFE in the darkest corner of the Abyss we can find!" Delath cut in.

"AnD whO do YOU reCOMMenD foR THat TasK, OF stAYinG?" UNDAX asked.

DELATH turned to XAC, and so did UNDAX. They then turned back to each other with extremely deadpan looks upon their faces.

"NOT him." DELATH said. "Really, it should fall to someone who succeeds at direct combat...And I mean, someone who is not turned from powerful to weak by the presence of a Disease-protecting Utopian artifact. Plus, your power is equally potent on an offensive scale, so though I would rather be going out and introducing people to my glory...I will instead take the safety of our prophecy into my hands. Well, actually, not just my hands, but I will stay here in the Abyss as a doubled safeguard, as will the Prophecy...Yes, I know secure hands for the Prophecy itself."

Xac piped up."OH OH OH! I KNOW! YOU WILL FEED IT TO-"

And just like that, you awoke, sharp and fast, in a cold sweat. You highly doubted that Delath was going to feed the Black Doom Prophecy to, well, anything. Worse still, they may have already known that you were an Indigo Seer-meaning that Infernal that got crushed by your door was not alone.

You awoke, mercifully, in a bedroom, with your backpack intact, as well as various other garments. It was a cramped quarters, you admit, you were almost too tall. A majority of furniture that was not part of the floor itself was instead crammed to the door, which surprised you. You also got an indoors cabin, it seemed, no window. Most pressingly, SOPHIA and CUMULA were there. Your face was rather sore.

"Ah, you are awake...Yes, I think you'd be better off awake after that 30-minute powernap. Let's ignore that I fired off a point-blank Hyper Voice to knock you out in the first place and focus on there here-and-now, OK Hun?"


-> Professor McYarglefargle: Inquire.

"...What in tarnation is going on?"

"Uh, someone came aboard the ship and hijacked it?" CUMULA said. She was staring at the door and readying herself as if to Aura Sphere it...You weren't entirely sure if CUMULA could even use that move, though...

"Someone...Yes, just Someone. Someone with Abysmal magics, a thirst for blood, a vendetta against Indigo Seers, cloaked until now, now wearing the most...Demonic imagery you could get like he was a mad cultist to Zaiaku...Yes, just someone. Clearly not an Abysmal assassin out to kill us all. He had someone come aboard with him, but that particular brute is working the ship to make sure it doesn't crash...Likely taking us directly to Volgoia, and that's POSITIVE thinking...They could be taking us to Jansen, I don't know where, not much to listen too other than sadistic glee!" SOPHIA said. Her eyes darted between you and the door, and her feelers were poised and ready to attack.

Well this was certainly not pleasant.

"We've got the place barricaded, but I don't think it'll hold. Still, we'll know when he comes and maybe we can kill him, or her? I don't even know what it is! CUMULA said, slightly hysterical.

"Did it have some claw-like wing?" You ask, fearing the worst already.

"No, no, I don't think Fallen are aboard, they'd be pretty high profile...I think this is just a strong Cohort or maybe an Infernal, or something else, which is still not exactly a jolly situation...There might be more than the one aboard, but we can't really go out there and attack them straight-on. This brute has an ability to take blows, even from me...And I'm very good at dealing out blows, let no-one befuddle you otherwise." SOPHIA said.

You breathe a sigh of relief that it's not a Fallen.

"...They're not Fallen either, though, so that's one relief."

Well, it appears your powers will be getting a very full application right now. But first, two things.

"Well, I clearly didn't forsee this, but I did try to persuade you away from the whole adventure thing."

"Can you just HELP?!"

"Of course."

And then, a message.

"Sorry it took so long to reply...Abysmal forces have invaded our Airship to Oasis, at least two particularly strong fellows, not sure if there's more. I was unconscious for a time, but they haven't gotten to me yet. Not many passengers at all, and they're probably all dead. Not a fantastic situation. I do have some assistance, though...I'll see what I can work with here, it's not hopeless, that much I assure you of! These scoundrels, Moria, they lack SCIENCE!"

The door shook, as if someone was attempting to enter. You pull out your GRENADE LAUNCHER. You also spot the RUNIC HEADBAND and, thinking it might not hurt, put it on as well. It was quite itchy, but you were not about to complain if even the slightest protection was offered.

"Ah, yes, one is already knocking on my door. Well, I shall hope to meet you in person, and not as a shambling abomination from the Abyss!...Actually I'll keep talking to you, this isn't the time to go silent."

Time to blind them, with SCIENCE!


...


INVENTORY:

GRENADE LAUNCHER (LOADED) (EQUIPPED)
GRENADES-X50
STEAMGUN-100%
PRESSURIZED STEAM CANISTERS-STEAM-X30
PRESSURIZED STEAM CANISTERS-EMPTY-X6
LABCOAT (EQUIPPED)
LABORATORY KEY
LABORATORY GOGGLES (EQUIPPED)
RUNIC HEADBAND (EQUIPPED)
PROVISIONS-TWO WEEKS
30,000 POKÉ

[Morzone]

Theo Myrsky
Town Square, Emerald Coast
Affected RP'ers: None

Theo sat quietly on a metal bench, out of the way of the more busy parts of the square. He tried silently to focus on his plans, but found that he couldn't think of any real means of executing them. He certainly knew what he wanted to get done, which was to find Via and stop these infernal abyssal creatures, but he was at a loss as to where to start. So he mulled over his more recent visions, most of which hadn't been very pleasant. He knew that the abyssal forces were strongest in the Eastern parts of Talandra, but they still had a good number of strongholds in the rest of the world as well. Perhaps that was the way to go, to slow their spread until they were spent. Though of course, the problem with such a course of action was that they could simply bring more fallen pokemon back from the abyss. No, he would need to think of other ways to oppose the evil.

"So this is where you're hiding today, in broad daylight."

Theo looked around to see Joshua standing over him from behind the bench. The machop looked rather annoyed and he had a feeling it wasn't to do with his training that day.

"You've been hiding off by yourself a lot lately Theo, you're not gonna get anything done if you just sit and mope."

This annoyed Theo slightly, he wasn't moping, he was thinking. "I'm not moping Josh, unlike some people who care too much about whether or not the dojo master gave them a smile today or not. I'm just thinking about what I'm going to do about the mess the world is in right now."

"I do not mope when Master Veeli doesn't smile at me! Besides, what is there to think about? You always said that the abyssal forces have a weak spot, why don't you just go and hit it?"

Typical straight forwardness of Josh, but he was used to that. "Of course they have a weakness, more than one actually, but the problem is that I can't just walk into their stronghold and 'hit them' as you put it. The fallen and their masters are not easy foes, and even if I could kill a bunch of the abominations they would just come back up from the abyss again."

Joshua blinked at me, then stared into the distance for a moment, his usual thinking pose. Josh could usually do what ever he set his mind too, but he had a habit of doing it to directly and causing needless trouble. Any idea from him would probably either be too simple or too impossible.

"well," he said slowly, as if putting his thoughts together was no easy task, "Why don't you just stop them from coming back then?"

"That's crazy! what good would that do when so many are-" but I stopped mid sentence. That was a good plan, though of course it wouldn't be easy. If he could find a way of closing the portal from the Abyss to Talandra, then the Abyssal forces would have no backup. Any more conquering they would do would mean spreading out their forces, weakening them. "You know, that's so crazy it might just work," he told Josh. who was genuinely surprised to find he actually liked the idea.

Theo fell silent again and thought, if he was going to target to portal to the abyss, he would need some help. The portal wouldn't be left unguarded, in fact it was probably in one of the most guarded places of all. He would definitely run into many horrible and deadly enemies, and maybe even one of the three brothers. Theo looked at Josh, who seemed bored. He looked around the busy square, at all the shops and pavilions and Pokemon scuttling from one place to another, laughing and smiling. Josh was still in training and Emerald Coast wasn't known for having many fighters, so he would he would have to look somewhere else for help.

"Josh, if you were me, and you were the one gong on this mission, where would you start?" he inquired.

"Well that's easy, I'd figure out who else is fighting back against the abyssal forces. No one would be able to do anything on their own."

"OK, but who would that be?"

Josh thought for a moment before snapping his fingers and replying: "The indigo seers! You're fighting back because your seer vision gave you special stuff right? Well I bet there are some other seers in Talandra somewhere who are fighting back as well."

"Technically, I'm sighting back because they targeted me by kidnapping Via, but whatever." Josh grew solemn at the mention of Via, but quickly put a smile back on his face, he never was one to admit when he felt down. "That's a good thought though, there probably are some other seers in Talandra who could help me."

Theo decided not to tell Josh that he already did know about the other seers, though admittedly he hadn't thought of going to them for help. Back when he had been training his seer abilities, he had found the he had given off a rather distinct aura, though the aura was only distinct due to his own seer abilities. Theo had quickly used his powers to find other sources of the seer aura, locating several. Most of them were so far away that the most he could do was to know the general location, something he had checked every day since the infernal Schism.

"Well I better grab an airship then, if I'm going to find the other seers. You keep training Josh, maybe you could help defend Emerald Coast against the abyssal forces if they get here before everything is over."

Josh seemed to like the idea of doing something so heroic. "You got it Mr. Wizard, I'll work mighty hard."

Rolling his eyes at the nickname, which Josh had given me back when he had first learned about my powers, Theo got up off the bench. "See you on the flip side then, Josh."

Theo gave him a quick hug, then turned away. He hoped he could find a pilot who would still be willing to travel across the sea to the Eastern continents. Ever since Kivian City had fallen the sea and air had become rather dangerous to travel through. First thing was first though, he needed to get to that airport and figure out which seer aura he was going to go for.

[VeloJello]

Moira Magro
Aboard the Little Yanma, Synamax -> Oasis, Synamax
ARP’ers: The Nonexistent Tazz

The Little Yanma had several positive qualities. It flew, it had operable cannons - although part of the deal that Captain Pike had made with Seelie had been to have me fix a jam in one of the guns that the Yanma’s own gunsmith hadn’t been able to work out - and it moved at a good, fast pace.

However, it also rocked worse than a drunk Spinda, was run by a crew that was competent but grouchy enough to make me look like a patron saint of patience, and smelled weird. Then again, perhaps that last part was simply a result of the fact that I was covered from nose to waist with soot and grease. Captain Pike and Abelard had been kind enough to offer to stay with me in the weapons bay, although a part of me wished that they hadn’t. I was feeling tense enough as it was, and I had been hoping that some alone time might help on that front.

“How’s it going, Moira?” asked Abelard as a light breeze caused the Little Yanma to pitch so hard that I had to dig my claws into the floorboards in order to keep from falling over.

“Just fine,” I lied, righting myself so that I could go back to examining the locks in the Yanma’s massive gatling gun. “Looks like the only thing wrong with it’s a couple of busted lock springs. Captain Pike, you sure this Seelie fellow knows what he’s doing?”

“Captain Seelie is a smart sky-sailor,” said Captain Pike. Her leaning stance against the wall was precarious - if she put too much weight down at once, her spikes would punch several annoying holes in the wall - “but this is a passenger ship, and they see far less attacks than cargo carriers like the Braviary. They can afford a little slack where their guns are concerned.”

My ears flicked with annoyance as I took to the rusted spring with a set of wire cutters. “Please never curse like that in my company again, Captain.”

She laughed. “Alright, I’ll spare your poor virgin ears.” She paused, “Have you heard anything back from your contact yet?”

I shook my head and gestured to Abelard to kick over a bucket of scrap parts over to me. I couldn’t see any suitable springs for the lock, but there was one the right width that I could simply snip short to make it fit. “Not a word,” I said, pulling out the wire cutters again. “Which isn’t too worrying. I just told him that I’ll be in Oasis when he is. No big thing.”

Abelard piped up again, “It’s been awhile since I last saw Oasis. I don’t know if you knew this, Moira, but I was born there. There’s a lot of followers of Celebi, Landorus, and Virizion in the city, very devoted. We may be able to find some manner of protective charms within the city. My mother, for one, knew several ways to ward off Ghost-types.”

The word ‘mother’ caressed my ears with all the gentle grace of a screeching Aggron. “That would be good,” I grunted as I began to reassemble the gun. “One of us is going to have to wait in the skyport for the Professor, though. Maybe I should wait in the port while the pair of you go looking for charms like that.”

Captain Pike’s voice was tinged with exasperation. “Moira, for the Latis’ sakes, I’m not blind or stupid. I know what you’re trying to do.”

You mean that I’m trying to keep you from getting yourself killed by Abyssal scum? I thought wryly. Aloud, I said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

I never caught Captain Pike’s reply. At that moment, my telepathic link to the Professor opened up again. <Sorry it took so long to reply…> he began. <Abysmal forces have invaded our airship to Oasis, at least two particularly strong fellows, not sure if there's more. I was unconscious for a time, but they haven't gotten to me yet. Not many passengers at all, and they're probably all dead. Not a fantastic situation. I do have some assistance, though… I'll see what I can work with here, it's not hopeless, that much I assure you of! These scoundrels, Moria, they lack SCIENCE!>

He paused for a moment; I winced. Science? What did science have to do with anything? What sort of nutcase had I blindly allied myself with?

He was back within a few seconds. <Ah, yes, one is already knocking on my door. Well, I shall hope to meet you in person, and not as a shambling abomination from the Abyss! …Actually I'll keep talking to you, this isn't the time to go silent.>

His blatantly cavalier attitude toward the deaths of the other passengers on his ship irked me quite a bit, given the prominence of the Black Braviary’s crash in my mind. However, this wasn’t really the best time to bring that up. <No worries, keep up when you can. If that’s the case, we’ll probably arrive at the skyport before you do - smaller, faster vessel that’s not in the process of being hijacked and all that. Best of luck to you, Professor. Stay in touch.>

When I came out of my trance, I was struck by a feeling of vertigo - the Yanma must’ve been descending. I answered Captain Pike and Abelard’s curious glances by saying, “The Professor has apparently been compromised. Abyssals are attempting to hijack his ship, though he believes that he’ll survive. So we’ll probably be waiting for him when he gets here.”

Abelard looked alarmed. “Is there anything we can do to help him?”

“Doubtful,” Captain Pike said. “He’s coming from the direction opposite ours. By the time we could get to him, his fate will have been decided for better or for worse. Besides, if these Abyssal folk knew what ship to find him on, they may be getting ready to meet him in Oasis proper.”

That cheerful thought hadn’t occurred to me yet. “I hope this guy is worth it,” I grumbled, more or less thinking out loud. “He must either be really powerful or really stupid to be so high-profile that he’s got Abyssal monsters trying to hijack an entire airship just to get to him specifically.”

“If he is an idiot, he’s not liable to make it to Oasis alive,” Captain Pike said cheerfully, “so either way, we’re sure to find out. In the meanwhile, we’re starting our descent. You two might want to come up on deck. Oasis isn’t the sort of sight that you want to miss when you can get it.”

Captain Pike was right - Oasis was incredible. Having been born and raised in a desert town, I was always intrigued by this whole “lush, beautiful vegetation” thing that a lot of places had going on. However, even compared to other forested cities, Oasis was spectacular. It lay on the fringes of the Esteran Rainforest, which gave it a sort of “jungle” feel with the convenience of not being located in an actual jungle. Some of the houses were carved right into the larger trees, while others were made of rich wood and decorated with vines and colored glass. Wherever paving stones and generations’ worth of footprints didn’t mark out paths, grasses, ferns, and flowers grew in tangles. From the air, it was all a swirl of light on leaves, beautiful and hidden.

The Little Yanma came to a halt on one of the landing docks; Captain Pike, Abelard, and I disembarked while mechanisms attached to the hull of the ship and tugged it into the shelter of the ‘port. We followed it inside; the skyport wasn’t as big as Jansen’s or Syn’s, but it was respectable, and I found myself almost instantly annoyed with the number of people inside of it.

“What did Seelie say about taking us and the Professor back toward Jansen?” I asked Captain Pike.

“Haven’t asked, yet,” she grunted. “I have to talk to him. We may not be able to secure a flight that way, though. I can nudge him, but if I try to lead him in a direction that’ll threaten his own life, he’ll balk. Can’t say that I blame him.”

“I can. His help would make this a lot simpler.” I paused. “You know, if you want, you can go and talk to him now. Abelard and I can go into town and see if we can find some of those charms she mentioned.”

Abelard looked excited, but Captain Pike gave me a skeptical look. “You’re sure you’re not using this as an opportunity to ditch me? I know you don’t want us going into Jansen with you, Moira, and don’t think I’d appreciate it if you ran off on me.”

I frowned. “I accepted your help,” I said. “Even if I wanted to ditch you -” I did want to ditch her, but I wasn’t exactly about to tell her that to her face, “it’s not like I could in this skyport, and I’m taking Abelard with me anyway.”

The Nidoqueen grumbled, but she didn’t object, “Alright, but I expect you to return whenever your contact arrives. Try not to spend all of the cash you’ve got on you; we’re not going to be able to get more for a while.”

“Understood,” I said. “You want to go, Abelard?”

She nodded and I had to hurry to keep up with her in the crowd. People were willing to part for a big blade-covered dragon, but a fluffy dog, even one with battle scars and a gun, got a bit less respect, and I lost ground on Abelard pretty fast. Because of this, I was several feet away from her as she neared the exit and something started screaming in my head.

“Abelard, wait up!” I shouted, but my voice went unheeded in the skyport’s white noise. Frustrated, I closed my eyes, still walking as fast as I could without trampling people while my crown rose and the people surrounding me changed into shapes of aura. Something was very, very wrong here, and I needed to -

The ground exploded beneath me.

I had just enough time to be reminded of the Trapinch nest I had raided previously before fangs closed around my leg and started pouring electricity into my body. A Krookodile with the hideous bright red life-force and oily veins of the Abyss had hold of me and was dragging me down into the ground. I was only dimly aware of the screams of the crowd around me as I slammed the Krookodile’s nose with a Force Palm. The thing screamed as I hit it, and mercifully I felt the monster’s teeth release me. I reached upward, shoving away soil, and managed to pull my head out of the Krookodile’s hole.

This time, when the Krookodile tried to bite me, I was prepared. I pulled my legs up, holding onto the rim of the hole with both paws; when the Krookodile grew near, I kicked out with both legs as hard as I could. This time, it let out an unearthly scream of pain; something had crunched beneath my feet. Gritting my teeth, I pulled myself upward. The instant I was clear of the hole, I swiveled around and let my crown fall, letting go of the aura sight. Sure enough, the Krookodile burst out with a snarl and a flash of teeth, but I was ready this time. My Low Kick sent it sprawling onto its back; my Metal Claw sliced it open from throat to belly. Black blood poured out onto the paving stones; the wretched monster twitched a few times, but quickly fell still.

I could feel a crowd’s worth of eyes boring into me, but I ignored them. I looked down at the Abyssal Krookodile; it had a few rotting patches of skin here and there, and much sharper and more vicious scales, claws, and fangs than most Krookodile, but definitely didn’t look like one of the Cohort. That, at least, was a relief; the Cohorts of Chaos were capable of dealing wounds that never healed. This one was probably a member of the Infernal Scourge - dangerous, but usually more of an annoyance than anything.

However, its mere presence had been enough to worry me. It had sat and waited as Abelard and several Oasians passed over it, suggesting that it was a specifically-designated assassin rather than a chance attacker. While it may have been waiting to ambush the Professor, it had opened with an Electric-type move, which would have had little effect on a Goodra. The whole thing sent a chill down my spine. Thanks to my tenure on the Braviary, I had largely been able to avoid any run-ins with Abyssal Pokemon. But now, it would seem that they knew where I was, and they were hunting me actively. As if I didn’t have enough problems.

“Abelard.” The Haxorus had sidled up to me tentatively and was now staring at my thigh, where I was putting pressure on the Krookodile bite. It wasn’t a massive wound, but it hurt like crazy. “Please escort me to the nearest medic before I bleed out from a pansy idiot’s Thunder Fang.”

[Death's Spook]

Shiro Minamoto the Aegislash
The Hole Tavern, Scarwell, Azmarax
Affected RPers: Neo Emolga

Being an Indigo Seer is a truly incredible experience. I have the very threads of the future at my beck and call, to be seen as I peer at the riddles of fate. Arcane forces waiting to be tapped lurk just underneath my skin, begging to be unleashed. My power is that of legend and terror and I can cow entire legions with my mystical abilities.

It also lets me see the extremely entertaining look on Kaxo’s face as he sees the diamond in his paw.

Petty? Perhaps. Hilarious? Well, the morale boost from that one facial expression will probably sustain me for years to come.

Kaxo is many things, but he is not an idiot: it takes him about half of a second to reply and I am certain he put the pieces together when he does. <Out back. There's a shed back there, perfect place to hide before the police show up and arrest all these hopeless goons.>

I actually know precisely which shed he was talking about: the distillery in there is extremely rusty, but there is still iron in it, so I ate from it before entering the bar. It is not as though the extra holes would be very noticeable.

I do not care to be observed as I enter the distillery, so the second I think that no one sees me, I use my ghost type abilities to phase into the floor: cloak, bag, and all. It is not an ability I use often, given that most of my senses do not really work when phased, but I have a good sense of direction and distance, so it is not too much trouble to ensure I am beneath a shadowy corner of the shed within a minute. I emerge under the cover of darkness, and, as a small favor to Kaxo, warn him that <I am about to emerge from a shadowy corner. Do not be startled.>

When I make myself visible, I have the intended effect on all of Kaxo’s companions: the startled reactions and the terrified disbelief clearly demonstrate that I am making them at least wary of me. I know from experience that to deal with the perpetually timid was a balancing act: while being kind is a good way to get them to like you, to make them truly loyal requires that they also be more terrified of you than of anyone else they can go to. The trick is to balance the carrots and the sticks to ensure they help you without betraying you at the first opportunity from either resentment or someone terrifying them worse.

I address the group with the kind version of my voice. Softly, with a hint of kindness, I ask, “Is everyone alright? I hope none of you are hurt.”

The Floatzel and Furret look at each other, clearly wary of me, but they nod and mumble assurances about their health after a moment or two. I cannot smile at them, but I increase the kindness in my voice as I give them a sincere “I am glad.”

Privately to Kaxo, I explain, <They may not have courage worth a Magikarp, but there is no sense in treating them completely unkindly, in my opinion. That said, I do not trust them enough to leave them privy to our terms. Consider the first diamond I gave you to be payment for the entertainment: it was an incredible amount of stress relief to arrange for your dearest friend to beat himself.

<That said, I am certain you are aware that I am not here to congratulate you for your stellar choice of former companions. I want to discuss several points of business with you.

<First, I have been seeking allies in the fight against the Abyss, and would like us to travel together. I will not pay you in money for this: this part is a mutually beneficial arrangement, not me hiring you for a job. In addition, I will probably be collecting other allies as well, and the expectation is that you are reasonably civil. I am not anticipating that you will be a perfect angel, but some decorum, please.>

I press the second largest diamond I plan to give him into his palm, <However, I am paying for something incredibly simple: until the Abyss is rooted out and obliterated, you are not to take other jobs at all. We need to be as focused as we can and that diamond will more than cover any money you could make off of jobs for the next few years, anyway.>

I then hand him a smaller gem, just a hair larger than the very first I gave him, <I am assuming that you will be able to start putting the pieces together with regards to my identity sometime soon. I will be most displeased if you revealed details that could compromise me. Given that I would prefer to remain friends, please exercise the utmost discretion with what you learn. If you are going to insist on bringing your companions along, I expect them to keep revealing details to themselves as well.>

I take a few moments to find and pull out the largest, most artistically crafted, and overall valuable gem from my pack. I try to use a second to calm myself so my thought voice could be somewhat level, but it still comes out frostier and more vicious than I intended. <And finally, should it be reasonably practical, I should like to be the one to slay Undax of the Burning Rot.>

(OoC: with regards to eating the distillery, my headcanon is that while life energy is well and good for sustaining an Aegislash's life processes, Shiro would still need a source of iron for his physical body. Incidentally, he also drinks water.)

[Morzone]

Theo Myrsky the Quilava
Air over the Middle Sea, Edge of Scarwell
ARP'ers: None

The Airport of Emerald Coast was not a sight, no matter how sore the eyes. The once grand and beautiful airport lay in almost complete silence as the few tourists that dared to travel scurried quickly and in pacts from one spot to another. It made Theo sad, the airport had once been the place to be for the younger generation in Emerald Coast. The large complex had housed many restaurants and shops as well as maintained a beautiful little park for people who had to wait for delayed planes. Now however, the place was nearly deserted. Parents no longer wanted their children to leave their side, and the normally humongous numbers of tourists were afraid to be caught up in the Abyssal forces' spread.

The thing that Theo was glad to see however, was an old friend who was sitting on one of the benches in the small park. Theo hadn't actually known him for more than a few years, but he was in fact nearly 90 years old. Theo walked up to the bench and looked down at the snoring Shiftry, a bottle of wine held loosely in his limp fingers. He always did have a fondness for wine, though he didn't care for any other form of alcohol.

"Hanz! Wake up you old fart." The old Pokemon stirred and looked up blearily at him.

"Eh? what'ya want now? Can't an old Pokemon get some rest around here?" Hanz shook his head and rubbed at his somewhat bloodshot eyes. "Oh it's you again Myrsky. What'ya need from me this time?"

"I was hoping to be able to use your ship to fly somewhere?"

"What'ya mean fly somewhere? the whirlwind and Imyself are retired. Leave an old Pokemon alone."

"That doesn't stop you from flying her around the skies every thursday. Come on, your old plane's got plenty of juice in her."

"Aye, that she does, never fails me she does, but what you going somewhere for? Emerald Coast is plenty a nice place."

"I have some important work to do Hanz, I just need to get to where I'm going, which is rather far away."

"That right? Where you going then Myrsky?"

" I need to get to Scarwell, There's someone I need to meet there." Theo had thought about it as he had walked through the city toward the airport. Scarwell had the greatest concentration of seer aura, so it was perfect hunting ground for potential helpers.

"You know that's no easy flight myrsky. All the way across Middle sea Scarwell is, plus you got all them Abyssal pokemon to worry about."

"Its only one trip, but if you can't handle it I'm sure I could find someone else to help me."

Hanz mulled it over for a bit before asking: "You gonna give me anything for doing this favor?"

In response Theo handed him a small bag, containing exactly 10 gold pieces: the price of two airplane tickets. Hanz nodded as he counted the coins, biting one every now and then to see if it was fake. Eventually he put the bag in his pocket and motioned for Theo to follow. He led him to the back of the airport, where a small hanger stood. Inside sat a small, but rather glorious looking airplane. It was a two seated streamline racing plane with The Whirlwind printed in large curly letter on its side. As it was a racing plane, it had no weapons. Such things were too heavy and were banned in the sport anyway.

"Go on, get in. I need to prep a few things with tower control."

Apparently prepping "a few things with tower control" meant going to the front of the hanger and Morse code flashing them with a hand mirror. Hanz came back quickly, and with a maniacal grin on his face.

"Alright then, lets get this show on the road! Tank is full! To Scarwell or bust!"

With that, he revved up the engine and we shot out of the hanger. Taking a quick turn onto a runway, the plane began to pick up speed. It was extremely fast, and shaky. Clearly the plane had seen many years of use, judging by how much it squeaked and shook as we neared the end of the runway. I hope Hanz was right about this thing still being in good enough condition to fly to Scarwell Theo thought as he held tight to his seat. Then the front wheels rose off the ground, quickly followed the rear pair. The change was amazing, the shaking stopped nearly instantly and the plane rose with even greater speed into the air, as smooth and easy as taking candy from a baby.

Once Theo had gotten over his surprise at the sudden quality of flight, he sat back in his chair. It was going to be a long trip and he might as well get some sleep. Just as he closed his eyes to rest however, he felt his mentality shift. Opening them quickly he now saw the world from high above the sea, apparently floating in the air without any form of suspension. As he looked around he saw a plane come flying out of a cloud, burning in flames and on a crash course with the water below. Looking closely, Theo recognized the curly, silvery The Whirlwind written on the side of the falling plane. Just as he read the words, six planes, all of them blackened and piloted by a terrible pokemon of the abyss, came flying out of the cloud as well, firing their guns nonstop at the aircraft before them. Theo looked down and suddenly he was in the destroyed plane, trying to wake a bloody Hanz as the plane crashed nose first into the cold depths of the sea.

Theo woke in a cold sweat. It had been several hours since he had first fallen into his vision, and they were now far over the Middle Sea. In fact, Theo could even see the distant outlines of land on the horizon. They had nearly finished their journey, though Theo knew that if they stayed on their curent course, they would never finish it.

"Hanz! We need to change course! Fly south! South!"

"Aye we almost there Myrsky, don't you worry! This beauty isn't giving out any time soon."

"No! if we keep going-' but it was too late. A horrible presence descended on Theo's senses as six planes appeared out of the clouds.

The blackened metal of the planes seemed to emanate an evil aura just as much as the abyssal monstrosities that flew them. The planes moved faster than Theo could've thought possible, but they quickly arranged themselves in a pattern around The Whirlwind. Positioned directly to the top, bottom, back, front, and either side of the plane, they had the plane completely surrounded. Theo however, was prepared for this, and he quickly climbed out of his seat and opened the passenger door.

"I'm going to give you an opening! Take it as soon as you can Hanz!"

Without waiting for a reply, Theo stepped out into open air. In the second of time he had before the plane him turned him into minced meat, Theo curled into a tight ball, whispering an incantation as he said it. A sphere of electric blue flame surrounded him: cleansing fire. Normally Theo would've simply used his own fire, but he wasn't going to take any chances against those cursed planes. Then the second was over, and Theo smashed head first into the approaching plane, tearing through it like a living meteor. The cursed plane and its now unconscious pilot fell into the sea.

Immediately The Whirlwind's brake flaps opened up and the plane shot backward through the air that was now free of abyssal planes. Grabbing hold of a wing as it passed, Theo pulled himself back into the plane as it shot downward and below the enemy aircrafts. As the abyssal planes grouped together to follow them, Theo shot more cleansing fire at their direction, which stopped them from following as Hanz pushed the engines to maximum power.

It did not however, stop the planes from firing their guns at the escaping ship. Theo heard the bullets shredding the wings and engines of The whirlwind as they flew. Then they began to fall. The abyssal planes, which were now too far away to even shoot at them, disappeared back into the clouds. Theo watched as the surface of the water came ever closer. Then it changed, they were now hurtling toward a blackened beach! The surprise that they had made it to the land registered in Theo's mind only seconds before the plane crashed to the ground. Theo was thrown out of the plane, landing hard on the ground about a hundred feet away from the crash sight.

The last thing he saw before blacking out was the outlines of several tall buildings looming over him. They had made it to Scarwell.

[The Nonexistent Tazz]

Professor Talahass von McYarglefargle The Ninth
???, Airship that was supposed to go to Oasis, en Route to ???
Affected RPers: Velocity

<No worries, keep up when you can. If that’s the case, we’ll probably arrive at the skyport before you do - smaller, faster vessel that’s not in the process of being hijacked and all that. Best of luck to you, Professor. Stay in touch.> Morial responded, as you mentally prepare.

The strings of fate tug at your mind with a singular message that can be summarized in a simple sentence-another life-saving quip. You seem to get those whenever you're in danger, but shame they're so sparse and sudden. You quickly realize you have three seconds before that door is removed from its hinges by this entity and its sharp claws, and that, however powerful it is, it still shares weaknesses with the Pokemon whose forms they take so often. You adjust your aim calmly as the hand rips into the door, shoving aside the makeshift barricade, and remove the hinges, revealing THE most ugly Lickitung you have ever seen in your life. Jet-black with red highlights, you could mistake it for a similar condition with your skin, but it also had a demonic pair of horns, pure red eyes with no iris nor pupil to speak of (how did it see?), and the hands and feet ended in nasty, jagged digits that could easily tear through your body, as well as enough ABYSMAL iconography plastered onto his skin and cloak to make an unholy church to ZAIAKU out of his body. Most interesting of all, though, is that his large tongue ended in a spiked 'cap,' presumably to be used as a bludgeon, kept in place by a great amount of bolts. It looked quite gruesome.


-=> Professor McYarglefargle: Fire GRENADE LAUNCHER at ABYSMAL LICKITUNG.

You proceed to fire a singular grenade directly into the COHORT's mouth before he gets a chance to properly react, just as his face and yours lock eyes. Ugly eyes that make you drip a tad faster, eyes that you really don't want to look at all that often-but you will. It's inevitable. Unless you keep managing to slam grenades into them fast enough.

The ABYSMAL LICKITUNG couldn't block the GRENADE in time, though a reflex in the tongue told you he certainly tried to swallow it-which would not make it any better, as it was still an explosive, and indeed it would probably be worse. He probably thought it was NOT going to be so volatile, to be fair. In any case, the GRENADE slammed directly into the beast's eyes, your intended target. On impact, the GRENADE explodes in a chemical mixture of force, flame and noxious chemicals, and you can see some nasty scarring on the face immediately. One of the eyes is definitely shot. The ABYSMAL stumbles and screams a rather anguished shout-almost like a regular Pokemon, just a bit twisted up-but you doubt it would have done that if it wasn't for exactly where you put the shot. It fell back onto a wall in the outside hallway, not too far from where you were...This wasn't a big ship, so you could roughly guess where you were from here, but you were no regular to this kind of thing.

You reach for your bag and try to grab another GRENADE while the ABYSMAL was reeling-might as well just test this thing out while you had the chance-but you heard a shout that was extremely NASTY. You got down, only to realize it was actually that SOPHIA's doing. The LICKITUNG proceeded to take the impact of a full-force HYPER VOICE, smashing his head between the powerful energies of the sound and the cold hard wall, and went still. You are fairly sure he's merely UNCONSCIOUS, not DEAD. You are also assured that any remaining ABYSMAL FORCES aboard this airship-you think it was the F.S. DOYLUS-would be imminently approaching unless they had other business to attend to.

"Isn't my first time fighting...Definitely my first time fighting these brutes, though." SOPHIA quipped. She poked her head through the door. "No-one is coming, despite the noise...You do it."

Quite surprising that there was no-one coming after that ruckus...Not so surprising she asked you to do it. Of course a Fae one would leave the dirtiest work to you. You are a man of science and aren't afraid of a little grime...But executing a COHORT was not a little grime. It was a massive walking pile of grime that was out to kill you. Unfortunately, you think finishing this off will require quite a bit of force, just to make sure, as a small explosion only did so much damage...This was going to be disgusting.

-=> Professor McYarglefargle: Do it.

You walk outside the door and do it. By which she means, you take his head and introduce it to a DRAGON CLAW, jamming your fingers into a weakened part of the skull. You turn your head to the left side, away from what is about to occur. "Ladies, don't look now!"

You proceed to remove the front of the skull entirely and give a good punch to the brain of this creature. You don't actually look at your damage, but you almost certainly knew it was fatal, and knew that you did not want to look at it. It would be just as bad as those industrial accidents.


Cohorts of Chaos vanquished: 1

You immediately use WATER GUN upon your hands afterwards to quickly wash that blood off of your hands, and a few times afterwards just to be sure. Black and disgusting. You immediately regret your choice of execution method.

"Disgusting. Absolutely filthy. Those industrial accidents are coming back to haunt me...Not doing that twice."

You don't look at the corpse again, period. You turn around to see SOPHIA, looking surprisingly deadpan after disregarding your advice entirely, and CUMULA...Not looking nearly as deadpan, to put it one way. In fact, she looked very green.

"Ugh, disgusting work...I've seen worse, but that's still not pleasant...Shame the brute will just come back later." SOPHIA quipped.

You don't even want to imagine worse.

CUMULA quickly took this opportunity to puke in a bin for a few seconds back inside the room. You think she now realizes exactly what she got into, though it might just be how gruesome it was and completely disregarding your advice. Or both. All things considered that's what you did when that first industrial accident happened, so you're not surprised nor judging.


-=> Professor McYarglefargle: Investigate area.

You turn your head and make out the area you are currently in, now that the COHORT has been dispatched. This is the second and upper floor of this ship, almost certainly. Almost all ships had at least two floors-larger varieties had up to four. This was a small zeppelin, so it was almost certain that this floor was on the same as the captain's floor, and you know well that they keep the passenger and engineer floors separate. Most usually kept the engines and other systems in the lower floors if at all possible, by your recollection. You are no expert in the subject but you would like to find yoruself at least not ignorant. As no-one was rushing up to you, you took the time to give another message to Moria and RELOAD your GRENADE LAUNCHER.

<"Sorry for being chatty about this, Moria, but I'd at least keep you updated and aware rather than in the dark and unsure, I think...We've got one of those filthy scoundrels without much incident, the bugger didn't get time to attack before it was quickly taken care of. I suppose that's a good start to things-forgive me, I'm a scientist, not a soldier. I do make weapons, though! Many things, really. Anyways, considering how noisy that brief keruffle was...Well, I can presume that there really aren't that many people around, as no-one's coming to our location...I'll check the rooms for survivors now.">

You didn't want to bother her on the gruesome bits. That just seemed completely unnecessary. Meanwhile, CUMULA had stopped vomiting excessively, but she's still extensively shaky, while SOPHIA is still just standing there, alert but not particuarily phased.

"Just keep calm. You can do this. Just keep calm. You can do this. They're from the pits of hell. No pity for them. They're from the pits of hell. No pity for them. They want you dead. Don't let them get to you. They want you dead. Don't let them get to you...Professor? Can you...Not do that ever again? That was...AWFUL."


-=> Professor McYarglefargle: Attempt to coerce CUMULA home while simultaneously consoling her.

"Let's not leave the question hanging, request granted, I'll not attempt to do that again. But more to the point...This was PRECISELY why I told you to go back home! It's THIS kind of scene that would occur and this was a lucky break! That and your mother is almost guaranteed to do equally unspeakable things to me as well for this, but the point stands, this was NOT the time to be going out for the simple sake of curiosity. Know your limits, I say! To be fair, I don't find it terribly pleasant either, but this is part of their game plan-intimidation and attacks on morale. Everything they are, everything they do-this is how they want to make you feel, and the state of affairs doesn't help matters at all. I warned you about this, and I would hope you've had a change of heart on this matter."

She's silent for a minute.

"I'm not going to press this anymore right now-there's at least one other abomination aboard and we have to check if the passengers are well. If the Abysmals got to them, well...I'll tell you if it's gruesome in there or not. For now, just keep out of our way and leave the fighting to the adults, OK?"

She sighs and nods.

You check the halls again. Eerily clear, but you're not going to complain. You would think your visions would help to at least tell you if any of these guys were invisible, as being invisible is one of the single most obnoxious abilities you could care to name. You then take the head. You're not entirely sure you want the Fae leading you, and CUMULA is out of the question.


-=> Professor McYarglefargle: Check rooms for surviving passengers.

You investigate every room. However, in each room there is either nothing at all or a very bloody corpse, with the implication the ABYSMAL LICKITUNG took them out. None were very clean takeouts, though, as evidence on each and every bit implicates that there was a nasty fight that broke out every time. All of them were in varying states of being really dead (and by implication worse) and the only one that still had his head intact didn't have much else intact, to put it one way. You fail to find anything of note other than the four corpses of the passengers on this floor.

By the last room you checked with the fourth body, SOPHIA was looking rather annoyed. "Well, glad to know our little friend was weakened beforehand...And here I was thinking he wasn't all that dangerous and just got the drop on everyone. And he was not alone, may I remind you? His buddy must still be alive and piloting, otherwise we would have crashed a long time ago..."

"Now, we can either check the lower floor to see if any of the crew survived...That's probably where they would be. The alternative is we can confront the other hijacker directly, assuming it's only two like you said."

"I would, uh, rather check the lower decks first..." CUMULA said. "Maybe they just ran down there?"

You hardly blame her for sounding like she lost a lot of her previous moxie. To be fair, you weren't all that happy about it either, that was horrendous from start to finish, and the only reason you're not joining her is because you already did that some time ago dealing with those industrial accidents, and you still dread those.

Suddenly, the ship's intercom buzzed to life.

"KythRUS oRDerSss youR DEatH, INdigO oNe..."

You stand attentive, as do CUMULA and SOPHIA, ready for anything, but you can't really respond. The voice itself was horrendous, like a multitude of vastly different Pokemon were trying to make an echo effect with poor results. It also sounded like it was having a bit of a hard time speaking.

"YOU alREADy GOt to mY LEssEr BEing...BUT I AM STILL HERE...aND I wiLL meRRILy conTINUE THiS flIghT to JaNSeN, unINTERrupTeD. nOw, a QUeSTion...To DIe nOw, OR laTER?"

Oh come on.

"I'm WAITinG On YoU, inDIGO onE...Don'T BE boRINg...COME TO ME! COME TO DEATH!"

The intercom shuts off.

"Well. He's certainly interesting...And who's this Krythus fellow? I've heard of the Brothers of Doom, Zaiaku, and even Xov...This guy, though, doesn't even ring a bell. Professor?"

"I'm sorry, I don't know who he is either...Could just be a small commander."

"Great...So, I guess this is a change of plans?" CUMULA said. It seemed she's gotten some form of stability back to her now, though you still don't hear her moxie.


-=> Professor McYarglefargle: Respond.

"Yes...Heading to Jansen right now is going to be a very poor move to allow." You say. "We get rid of him first."

"Hopefully that brute doesn't have friends." SOPHIA quipped.

You hope likewise. This day has been positively stuffed to the gills with excitement, and it's entirely too much for you.

[Neo Emolga]

Kaxo Sychal the Lopunny
The Hole Tavern, Scarwell, Azmarax
Affected RPers: Death's Spook

I had to know more about this guy and where he was getting these diamonds from. For a lack of knowing his name, I decided to nickname him Cloak. But in any case, this was definitely not a normal employer just hunting around for a mercenary.

"Do you... know this guy...?" Lude asked, acting like we were going to cut them into little pieces.

"What, you think I know every employer by heart?" I asked him, nearly laughing. "Please. Whatever you do, don't wet yourself in front of him. This place doesn't need more noxious smells."

And that was when I heard from Cloak. I figured he got the message when we had to separate after that bar brawl.

<I am about to emerge from a shadowy corner. Do not be startled.>

His entrance was hilarious. Cloak suddenly appeared in a ghost-like appearance, and Lude and Bretner nearly squealed. Please. I've dealt with plenty of dark and ghost Pokémon before and a few others that didn't exactly have a family-friendly appearance, and these two twits had to realize not every employer of mine's going to be some bouncing happy-go-lucky, vomit-brained Wigglytuff.

"Is everyone alright?" The cloaked one asked. "I hope none of you are hurt."

Lude and Bretner just sheepishly nodded, still not totally believing the two of us weren't going to carve them up into flesh sticks.

"I am glad," Cloak replied.

<They may not have courage worth a Magikarp, but there is no sense in treating them completely unkindly, in my opinion. That said, I do not trust them enough to leave them privy to our terms. Consider the first diamond I gave you to be payment for the entertainment: it was an incredible amount of stress relief to arrange for your dearest friend to beat himself.>

<That said, I am certain you are aware that I am not here to congratulate you for your stellar choice of former companions. I want to discuss several points of business with you.>

I nodded. In truth, Lude and Bretner didn't have the wits to double-cross me and pull it off successfully. However, the big problem with them was making sure they didn't get away without paying back what they promised. If even all they could do was pick fruit, fetch water, or gather firewood, they'd be doing it and making up for the cash they didn't have with servitude. But the last thing I wanted to do was just let them off the hook for nothing. Because I knew these two clowns would tell others about it and I didn't want a thing like that leaking around. I was nobody's charity hero. You start doing that and people from all over the place start making requests. If you're good at doing something, you never do it for free.

<I'm listening.> I told him.

<First, I have been seeking allies in the fight against the Abyss, and would like us to travel together. I will not pay you in money for this: this part is a mutually beneficial arrangement, not me hiring you for a job. In addition, I will probably be collecting other allies as well, and the expectation is that you are reasonably civil. I am not anticipating that you will be a perfect angel, but some decorum, please.>

He was definitely another Seer. Without a doubt, he had been coming across the same things I had been. In essence, the whole thing with the Abyss surfacing was unnerving everyone to at least some degree. Heck, even I found it freaky these cold-hearted bastards managed to write up a prophecy that required all kinds of hoopla to undo it. And if we didn't, this place would be a fiery hellhole in no time.

As for that decorum, yeah, he shouldn't be holding his breath for that. If these demonic bastards stuck their faces in my direction, I was going to make a failed jigsaw puzzle out of them with my own personal style. But, I would at least give him the cordial respect if that's what he wanted.

And that was when he deftly put yet another diamond into my paw. I shot a glance at it, and I swore, I could live like a king and take the next ten years off with what this guy was contracting me with.

<However, I am paying for something incredibly simple: until the Abyss is rooted out and obliterated, you are not to take other jobs at all. We need to be as focused as we can and that diamond will more than cover any money you could make off of jobs for the next few years, anyway.>

<I'm all yours. You're the only one on my list until we're done.>

After handing me a third gem that I quickly stashed away, he then spoke to me again.

<I am assuming that you will be able to start putting the pieces together with regards to my identity sometime soon. I will be most displeased if you revealed details that could compromise me. Given that I would prefer to remain friends, please exercise the utmost discretion with what you learn. If you are going to insist on bringing your companions along, I expect them to keep revealing details to themselves as well.>

<Trust me, you could be one of those legendaries and I wouldn't tell a soul,> I told Cloak. <As for these two clowns, don't worry about them, they aren't brazen enough to disclose anything they stumble across and no one would ever believe them anyway. But if you want, I'll try to get rid of them early. I just want to make it clear that I'm good at doing things and that I don't do it for free like these two bozos thought.>

And that's when he showed me his largest gem. There was no doubt about it, this guy was serious about this contract and had to have been extremely wealthy if he was just handing all this over.

<And finally, should it be reasonably practical, I should like to be the one to slay Undax of the Burning Rot.>

Yep, Undax the Gengar. He was only one of the three brothers that we were going to need to kill, but if Cloak here wanted to be the one to twist the knife when it hit his heart and smile into Undax's dying face, I could roll with that for that kind of gem.

<He's all yours,> I told him. <If you want to burn his whole god-forsaken family at the stake and even his pet Growlithe, I'll gladly help you gather firewood. Last time I checked, that maggot was still in Jansen. We can commission an airship to get across the Triplecross Sea, but don't expect that captain to get too close to that city. Word on the block is those Abyss bastards have no issues attacking airships if they're within range, and these captains are shippers and ferrymen, but they sure as hell ain't warriors. If experience serves me right, they'll drop us off on a lifeboat and will fly back to port. If you're game for that approach, I'm with you, but if you had another plan in mind, you make the call.>

Besides, we needed Undax's blood for a whole other reason as well. But it was easy to see this guy had a deep vendetta for that Gengar. I had a few theories floating around, but for now, they were just plausible until more of the truth came out. And as far as Lude and Bretner went, there was no way they'd be able to hike across the Synata Desert on their own anyway. They had the survival skills of a drunken Goomy, so I wasn't concerned about them betraying me or spilling the beans on this guy's contract. They were going to help and shut up about it. And if it meant showing them which end of a gun or a sword to use, better they at least make the Abyss think they could be potential threats even if it was all just for show.

It was all up to Cloak now.

[Morzone]

Theo Myrsky
Scarwell, Azmarax
ARP'ers: Noblejanobii

Theo stared fixedly at the crater left by the wreckage of the crash. Now nothing remained of the plane but a few burning scraps and here and there a bit of broken glass. It really was quite a sad sight. He looked down next to him, at the old Shiftry unconscious next to him. He had been thrown from the plane as well, though he had landed on rockier bit of sandy beach than Shawn had. His arm was bloody and ripped, and he had several other injuries beside. Theo was in slightly better shape, while he still had several gashes and bruises, he at least did not have any mangled limbs.

He looked around and noticed that a small crowd, most likely pokemon who had been on the beach during the crash, had gathered at a small distance. They seemed to be conversing with each other, though he couldn't make out what was said. At length, a tall Sawk broke away from the group and approached Shawn, the others watched intently.

"Who are you? Are you OK?" The Sawk asked, his voice rather lower than Shawn had expected.

"My name is Theo Myrsky, and I've just had a rather bad run in with Abyssal fighter planes." He responded quickly. "My friend here is rather badly hurt and needs immediate medical attention. I myself woke up a few minutes ago, though I'm not to badly off."

The Sawk seemed to consider him for a moment before replying: "I see," at which he turned and gestured to the group to come closer. Most of them didn't move, but a few Pokemon approached tentatively.

"We need to get this 'Mon up to the hosptal, you three carry him, I'm going to keep talking to Mr. Myrsky here."

The small group carefully picked up Hanz and moved away slowly. Theo watched the process nervously, the old Pokemon wasn't exactly the best age for such dangerous things as that fight, and Theo couldn't but worry that the injuries might be too much for him. Even if his injuries didn't kill him, the fact of his plane's demise might be too much.

Theo was brought back to his own situation with the sound of the Sawk speaking.

"I'm Robert Flows, though most call me Robs. I'm curious Mr. Myrsky, about why Abyssal planes would be targeting you."

Theo paused before replying. He could tell Robs about the whole "Indigo seer" deal, but that could have some consequences if the information was spread around. Then again the remaining abyssal pilots would know that he was in Scarwell, though they might not know if he had survived the crash or not. No, it would be safer to simply say they few to near one of the fallen cities.

"My friend and I were flying to Scarwell from Emerald Coast, and long the way we passed just a hair too near Kivian City, which has fallen to the Abyss. The plane we flew was originally made for racing, so we were able to avoid them long enough to get to the shore. Though as you might be able to guess, they caught up to us in the end."

Robs shook his head. "Its too dangerous these days to be flying around anywhere, especially across the Triplecross Sea." Take a boat and go the long route to avoid the dead lands. Now, Mr. Myrsky, I need to discuss this with the others, so if you'll just stay here for a moment, I'll be right back."

As he turned away and walked back to the other beach go'ers, Theo quickly put up a Hide spell around himself. Not a very good one, but good enough that they wouldn't immediately notice his disappearance. Normally Theo would've stayed to sort out any problems that might arise from crashing a plane into a City beach, but he was on a mission. He needed to start looking for help quickly.

Theo walked into the busy streets, following at a distance the small group of Pokemon who were carrying Hanz. once he had been safetly delivered to the hospital, Theo snuck into a side ally and removed his Hide spell. He watched Hanz through a hospital window for a moment, his eyes changing from a light yellow to a dark blue in the reflection, before moving out.

As he re-entered the streets, he cast out with his aura search. There were four Indigo seers, two of them seemed to be right next to each other, one seemed to be on the outskirts and traveling toward the City, and the nearest one was on its own. If Theo hadn't been walking in a busy street at the time, he would've stopped and put more focus into the search so as to discern what species they were, but here he couldn't do that.

Ending the aura search before his slightly glowing eyes brought on any attention, he directed his path toward where he had felt the nearest aura. As he walked however, he started to notice an odd atmosphere around him. Watching through his peripheral vision, he didn't notice anything particularly off at first. Then he noticed the glances, the muttered words behind paws and the glaring. Something about him seemed to be causing the indigenous Pokemon to seriously dislike him.

"Maybe they've heard about the plane crash and think I'm going to bring the abyssal forces on them." He mused as he continued down the streets, avoiding any eye contact and ignoring the hate surrounding him. Nothing good would come of making a fuss about the treatment he was getting. Any fuss would bring attention to him, and attention was one of the things he did not especially want at that moment.

Passing a jewelry store, he stopped at the opening to an alley between two buildings. He had felt the aura from far down that alley. He moved down the path quickly, hoping that the seer hadn't gone very far since his last search. Just before taking the last turn, Theo stopped and peeked around the corner. In the last stretch of the alley he saw four Pokemon. Three of them, a magmar and two charmeleons, stood together facing away from where Theo hid. All three of them wore security guard uniforms and a slightly pathetic air about them. The fourth Pokemon, a mightyena, stood with her back against the end of the alley. She appeared to be in a rather poor state, physically exhausted and trapped. Theo needed to do something quick.

Stepping out from behind the corner, he said in a loud voice: "Stop! She is with me!"

All three of the guards spun around and looked at Theo. For a moment, no one said anything. Then the right most Charmeleon said in a voice filled with disgust and contempt:

"Of course this piece of trash is with you. All you Quadrupeds are filth just as much as those abyssal "mons are scum." And she spat on the ground at Theo's feet.

Theo felt his emotions boil. So this is the reason behind all of those horrible looks and the muttering behind paws! "You got something wrong with Quadrupeds lizard? I'm surprised you even know how to talk, for someone with so little brains."

Theo didn't know where all of his anger was coming from. He had endured much worse insults before this, but something about the injustice of the quadruped racism seemed to have hit a sensitive point. He wanted to hurt these three Pokemon who stood before him, these three who dared to claim that they were better than he was just because of how he walked. Maybe their screams of pain would sound just as pathetic and low life wasteful as their views were.

The Charmeleon roared in anger at the insult and charged at Theo, raising her claw for a Metal Claw attack. As she got close, Theo jumped at her, avoiding the slashing claws and landing two paws on her head, which he abruptly slammed in the brick wall next to him. Her grunt of pain and lack of movement satisfied him greatly. It did not please her fellow guards however. As the other Charmeleon charged forward as well, the Magmar let out a mighty Fire blast. Quickly grabbing the wildly charging Charmeleon, he used him as a shield to block the approaching inferno. His shout of anger and pain wasn't quite as pleasing as the grunt had been, but it was close. Theo bared his fangs and smiled at the struggling Charmeleon before smashing him too into the stone wall. He slid down unconscious next to the other one.

"You're going to get it now you stupid Quadruped. Your the filth that's made this world the way it is. You and that criminal beack there!" The Magamr shouted at Theo. He tucked in his shoulder and charged at Theo, preparing for a Giga impact. Theo didn't move, but brought his paw back instead as if about to hit something and focused. As Theo focused, he felt as if everything around him had slowed. The Magmar was no longer charging at him at a high spead, but was instead was crawling along.Slowly he got closer and closer to Theo, then, just as he was about to make contact, Theo moved.

The force of Theo's focus punch sent the Magmar flying backward, smashing into the wall behind the Mightyena. "Hurrrgllghhlllhh" the magmar gurgled as it slid to the ground, just as unconscious its other two partners. As the angry red haze disappeared from Theo's sight, he decided that that was the most satisfying sound he had ever heard.

[Noblejanobii]

Raven Karan the Mightyena
Back alley, Scarwell, Azmarax
Affected rpers: Morzone

Raven backed up slightly, her left rear paw against the wall. She braced herself, the necklace still in her grasp, for the pummeling of a lifetime. They wouldn't let her off easily. Not this time. They only make that mistake once. Her carelessness was costing her, and now her perfect record was about to be royally smeared with her own blood. Claws digging into the dirt, the charmeleon before her prepared to strike with a metal claw, when an unfamiliar voice called down the alleyway.

"Stop! She is with me!" Raven couldn't keep the confused look from her face. A quilava had stepped from around the corner and was coming to help her. Why? He obviously wasn't from around here. No one, in their right minds, would help a thief in this area. She prepared to ward him off, get rid of him so she could handle this herself, but Raven had remained in her state of confusion for too long. The charmeleon had already made her move.

"Of course this piece of trash is with you. All you Quadrupeds are filth just as much as those abyssal "mons are scum." Then she proceeded to spit at the quilava's feet. Well, as far as Raven could tell, that was not a smart move. At all. That only seemed to enrage the quilava. He seemed particularly mad at the comment, or the spit, or both. Raven wasn't really sure and that detail didn't truly matter in this situation.

You got something wrong with Quadrupeds lizard? I'm surprised you even know how to talk, for someone with so little brains." A fight quickly broke out. Before Raven could truly react, the big mouth (er… snout?) charmeleon was charging at the quilava with a metal claw. The quilava easily fended her off and disposed of the other two charmeleons and magmars with relative ease. Raven flinched a little as the quilava disposed of the last magmar.

Raven removed her paw from the wall and cautiously backed away from the stranger. She couldn't trust him. No one would help her, especially if they knew who she was. This man, he had to seeking a reward of sorts. She couldn't provide that. Especially if he wanted this necklace. She had clients waiting. Raven backed up further, hesitated for a second, something nagging her in the back of her mind about this guy, before taking off towards the front of the alleyway.

Raven legs pumped hard, her claws digging into the dirt and releasing it lightning quickly. She shot through the town, most of the occupants still hanging in the bars for now. She just had to hope the quilava would either refuse to pursue, or was not as quick as her. Of course, that quickly became the least of her worries when she felt herself collide with someone. Raven grunted and opened her left eye, only to reveal she had collided with another magmar. She groaned internally. Enough with the officers today!

Raven pushed herself off the guy, rolled back her ears, and released a loud snarl, temporarily stunning the guard while she made her escape. Raven dashed into another alleyway and entered a store. Inside, a treecko was waiting. He glanced up as Raven entered and smiled. Without a word, the treecko gestured to the pouch of coins on the desk. Raven placed the necklace on the desk, then picked up the pouch and slid it into her fur. The transaction was done and over, quick and easy.

Raven exited the shop and felt a ringing in the back of her head. It was the same feeling she had earlier when encountering the quilava. Could it be her seer powers? Raven began to walked out into the main streets, mainly sticking to the darkness, before deciding to find this quilava again. It didn't take long before she was on the fire pokemon's trail and following him with silent feet.

[Morzone]

Theo Myrsky
Scarwell, Azmarax
ARP'ers: Noblejanobii

Theo took a moment to relax, and tried to ignore the internal scolding he was getting from his old dojo master. Good old Master reeves, he would've flipped out if anyone had tried to focus punch stunt like that in his dojo. Once he had shaken off this memory, Theo looked up at the Mightyena. She had a very shiny black fur coat and inverted eyes, something that he found interesting considering his own eyes. She also had a beautiful necklace gripped tightly in her mouth. Something about this bothered him, but he couldn't quite place why that was. He opened his mouth to greet the seer.

Then she vanished.

She didn't literally vanish, but had actually sprinted forward so fast that Theo did not have time to react.
"Wait!" he shouted once he had recovered, but it was no good. The mightyena had already disappeared. He sprinted back up the alley, hoping that he could catch up to her before she escaped, but he was no match for her speed. She had long disappeared into the crowds by the time Theo had made it back to the main street.

"Of course she was going to get out of there you idiot! You just showed up and started attacking people!" He cursed himself mentally, still looking around the streets in hope of some miracle. A nearby jewelry store caught his attention and he walked toward it. Outside the doors were several Police Pokemon, some of them discussing quietly while others seemed to be searching for something. His curiosity growing, Theo walked up to one of the searching Officers.

"excuse me, but what happened here?" He asked.

The Officer looked up, clearly annoyed by the interruption. "Some thief came in and stole some stuff, now I need to get back to looking for evidence."

Theo walked away down the street, thinking about what the Police Pokemon had said. Some thief and stole something some a jewelery shop. This reminded him of the necklace the seer had been holding. Surely that seer could not be the thief, but wait, that Magmar in the guard uniform had called her a criminal. Theo had thought that was just the quadruped racism, but could she actually be a thief? He didn't want to believe it, but too many things pointed toward it.

A thief. A Thief. Of all the seers had to have gone to, it had to be one that was a criminal. Theo shook his head. He couldn't get caught up on this, he had a mission to do. Besides, there was probably wasn't her fault she was a criminal, there was enough racism in this City to turn anyone bad. What he needed to focus on now though, was what to do next. He had two real choices: he could either try and find the Mightyena again, or he could go and find another seer.

His thinking was interrupted by a hard knock to his side, making him stumble. Looking up, he saw a large Mr. Mime looming over him.

"Oh, Sorry," He said in a voice dripping with Sarcasm, "I didn't see you there. You should be careful, it must be hard to walk with two left feet."

Theo glared at him, trying to put as much of his hate as he possibly could into the look. The Mr. Mime faltered slightly, then walked away quickly. Theo turned and hurried into the nearest alley to get out of the main street. Sitting down on a wooden crate, he took several deep breaths to calm himself.

As he did it, he fingered his wrist band, covered in Unkown letters. It didn't spell anything at the moment, but he knew he could change that if he wanted too. Looking down at it, he noticed that he had absentmindedly written "Thief" with the letters. "That's probably for the best. Yes, I will find the mightyena seer, hopefully she isn't too far," he said to himself, standing up, "Alright, let's get searching."

Theo cast out once again with his Aura search, this time putting more effort into it. His eyes glowing brightly, he searched around for the seer auras. Most of them were relatively in the same place. The one traveling, a Ledian, was still traveling. The two that were near each other, a Lopunny and an aegislash, were still near each other. But he could not find the Mightyena, it was as if she had found a way to hide her Aura.

"Typical." He muttered to himself, "How am I supposed to find that seer now?"

[Death's Spook]

Shiro Minamoto the Aegislash
Airship Hangar, Scarwell, Azmarax
Affected RPers: Neo Emolga; Velocity The Nonexistent Tazz (indirectly)

I allow my satisfaction to bleed over the telepathic link, <I am pleased to have you on board. And keep your allies as long as you like. I cannot turn down help right now, however much it might be... unconventional. And as much as I would like to waltz into Jansen and turn Undax into a pile of guts and gore, I currently consider that a suicide mission. One that would almost surely fail, at that, even if we tried to go for an assassination instead of a battle. No, we need clout. Give me a moment.>

The lugalate of Jansen kept a list of all known seers active in the city. I have memorized the list, but unfortunately, Undax now has access to it as well. And despite the fact that the Gengar is loathsome and vile and all manner of horrible adjectives, he is–regrettably–not stupid. I spent a considerable amount of time before meeting with Kaxo trying to find these Seers, but all the known Seers from Jansen were either caught in the massacre directly or hunted down before I could catch up to them.

Still, I owe it to all of my people to try to find them, especially if they can help. I pray, for once, that someone was mistrustful enough of the lugalate to not register his or her name as a Seer. It may be a futile att-

What?!

I see her in the next instant. A Lucario, fighting against an Abyssal Krookodile. A flash forward and I see her, wounded, but victorious. I obsessively page ahead, trying to figure out where she is going and how I can meet her, and I catch two more Pokemon I need to pay attention to.

The first is a Goodra I do not recognize: loud and obnoxious and obviously a mechanical genius. My citizen is going to meet him in Oasis, and while he is clearly a Seer, she is just as clearly disinclined to like him. It hurts to see her forced to find the nearest Seer instead of knowing there is one with her best interests at heart, just floating around in Scarwell.

The second is Captain Amelia Pike.

A quick check confirms my deepest fears: the Black Braviary is completely wrecked in the ruins of Jansen and trying to find the members of the crew I know by face turns up mostly corpses. This Lucario was clearly a member of the crew, perhaps even why the crew was targeted. I want to find Pike and the Lucario and the other living crew members and I want to reassure them that their lugal is alive and a Seer and he is coming to help them and he will make them safe as is his duty.

But as I am about to tell the Lucario as much, something stays my hand.

I realize something absurdly simple: I cannot claim to be lugal to these people. I failed, utterly failed, in my duties when they fell to me. The fact that I was all the way in Scarwell instead of at my subjects' sides protecting them as my duty implies shows that I am still failing them. I must correct my failure as quickly as possible, but for now I am too ashamed to claim any authority over the Lucario or her captain.

But I still want her to know that she has an ally she can trust.

The words leave my mind without conscious thought, after that, <Seer of Jansen! Know that you do not walk alone! Know that there is another like you, bound to you in kinship by the indigo visions plaguing our nights, by the roiling sands of our city, by the deep mystical secrets hidden beneath our ground! Know that I am another like you and that I am your staunch ally! You are not alone!>

Ok, maybe I am being just a little more emotional than usual. But I need to protect my citizens. A ruler without anyone to rule is no ruler at all, after all. My citizens always have and always will come first.

To Kaxo, I shake my head again. <Definitely not Jansen. We need to go to Oasis. We will find more allies there, and I know of one person with a very fast and reliable vessel.>

I don’t care to pay attention to which, but one of Kaxo’s entourage asks, “So… uh… Are you two gonna talk about what’s going on? Or tell us about it?”

I let out a laugh. Then, of course, I refuse to reply.

*****************

Captain Demos the Serperior is not legally a pirate in the eyes of Jansen’s government. Officially, he is a merchant. This, of course, has nothing to do with the background deal that he limits illegal activities to outside of Jansen and in turn gives anyone in Jansen who knows of the deal preferential treatment for hiring him.

Of course, almost everyone in Jansen is dead, so he probably assumes he is off the hook for that deal. My suspicion is confirmed when I discreetly flash him one of the Jansen Royal Blood Diamonds and he blinks, which for a professional like him is the same as freezing in shock. A small amount of smugness leaks into my voice as I tell him, "Oasis. We leave in ten minutes."

He lets out a dark laugh, "Thought you were dead."

"Greatly exaggerated. Though that was rather the point of the exercise. I expect discretion."

"Discretion costs money." His voice is matter of fact.

I growl to myself and hand him a few extra coins. He shows his teeth at me, but I hesitate to call his expression a smile.

It takes five minutes before Kaxo's Floatzel speaks, and of course, it is a complaint, "Cloaked person? I-it feels like I'm moving through syrup all of a sudden."

I am about to make a disparaging comment when Demos comes down from his ship to say something and suddenly makes a displeased noise, “Hate to say this, but Whiny has a point. It feels a lot harder to move all of a sudden.”

Which is distinctly odd. Not only am I not suffering from the mysterious lethargy of motion, it almost feels like I am… moving… faster…

It is daytime, but few are around. The only visible people around are Demos, Kaxo, Kaxo’s cronies, and me. Most of these visible Pokemon here are all relatively fast by nature, and the only who is not has his species concealed. The dots connect in my head.

I begin rapidly constructing a wide barrier: one that would not be useful for a focused strike, but would adequately protect against area effect attacks. I hear a voice scream out “TRICK ROOM!”, and it takes a second to realize that the voice is my own.

An enormous wave erupts and taxes the strength of my barrier, but the defense holds throughout the initial assault. When the water clears, a twisted violet Jellicent is revealed to be the culprit.

Twisted purples and blacks roil angrily like an aura around her. The water she summoned would look inky even in the dead of night, and smells of mercaptan besides. Black blood rolls down her eyes, and her mouth is an angry gaping toothy maw. Her voice has all the gentle caress of an angry Sharpedo as she… smiles... at Demos and says, “HeLLo cApTAin. DId yOu MiSs mE?”

Demos, bless his heart, tries to react as quickly as the twisted dimensions allow, throwing a Leaf Storm at her face. She practically teleports out of the way, of course, but it is the thought that counts. He does not say a word other than the tactical shout of, “She’s a Defiler! Get to the ship!”

Indeed, this day was looking up.

[Kentucky Fried Torchic]

Duke Stellar the Ledian
Arriving in Scarwell
Affected RPers: N/A

Luckily there were no more attacks from infernal Pokémon for the rest of the wagon’s trek to Scarwell. The family he had saved offered Duke some kind of reward, but as they didn’t have any alcohol, the Bug-type Pokémon refused their generosity, taking only an old rag and a bit of polish for his boots. As he worked on getting the gore off of his kicks, the young Wooper waddled its way over to Duke, taking its time since its path was hazarded not only by the lack of arms to balance but also by the bouncing and jolting of the wooden floor as the wagon crossed the wastes.

“Why are you dressed so funny, mister?” the Wooper asked with a slight whistle.

“Don’t bother him, Squirt,” his mother said, but both the Wooper and the Ledian ignored her.

“What do you mean?” Duke responded, not taking his eyes off of a particularly annoying stain of blood on the brown leather.

“Lots of Pokémon back home wear hats like that, but none of them wear tarps like that, or those things on your feet.”

“Look, kid,” Duke said, abandoning his boot for a moment, “it’s not a tarp, it’s a duster. It helps me hold my guns and booze, and it looks cool, not funny.”

“Well, where did you get it?” the curious Wooper responded.

“Let’s just say I used all the parts of the Bouffalant,” the red Pokémon said with a roguish glint in his eye. The Pokémon pulling the wagon let out a harsh and conspicuous cough. “Oh, calm down! I was joking!” Then, Duke turned back to the Wooper and whispered, “It was actually a Tauros.”

“That’s enough of that,” the awed young Pokémon’s mother said as she pulled her child close to her and away from the odd Ledian riding along with them. “Thank you for what you did back there,” the female Quagsire said to Duke, putting special emphasis on the last two words, as if to divorce his previous actions from the current bad influence that he was exerting on her child.

“We would have been fine,” grunted the Normal-type at the head of the vehicle.

“Oh, of course,” Duke said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “A brilliant strategy you had, luring those monsters into a false sense of security by providing them with easy targets. Who knows, maybe they would have gotten bored with such pathetic prey and gone off in search of a challenge.”

“That’s enough,” the male Quagsire interrupted before the wagon could finish screeching to a halt. After a tense moment, the wheels began turning and the hooves began clip-clopping again. “We are grateful for what you did for us back there, yes. We didn’t expect any trouble, especially so far away from the larger cities that are under control of those monsters,” the flustered Water-type continued. He raised one slimy hand to his equally slick chin. “I do wonder what those two creatures were doing so far from those infernal centers though.”

The Ledian shrugged, slightly disappointed that a fight between him and the Bouffalant had not broken out. “Probably just stragglers, creatures from the Abyss looking for random violence and a quick bite to eat.”

Both Quagsire looked positively nauseous at that thought.

“Or they could have been scouts, an advance guard,” the Bouffalant pitched in. “Signs that the Abyss is planning something big. My guess would be a drive to the sea to wipe Scarwell and all of the Pokémon there off the map.”

The Water-type Pokémon turned an even more sickly shade of green at that comment.

“On that happy note,” Duke said, “how close are we to Scarwell anyway?”

“We should be nearing the limits any minute now.”

The wagon pulled up to a queue of other tarp-covered vehicles, all waiting for clearance from the city’s government before they could enter Scarwell proper. They were all of a similar level of shoddy quality as the one Duke was in, but the wagons that stretched off toward Scarwell were anything but identical. Different wagons had varying levels of damage, huge tears in their coverings, tarps covered with dirt and distorted from the harsh winds of the waste, and even a wagon that was missing a wheel only to be pushed along by a duo of Gurdurr. These were just a few of the refugees who had been driven west by the Abyssal assault on the continent. Driven out of their homes by force or the fear of force, these Pokémon were joining the many who had arrived in Scarwell clinging to the desperate hope that this would provide them with a modicum of security. But what really got Duke’s attention was a hum in the air, a strange feeling that he had not felt in many years.

During his seer training, he had learned that Azure Seers could communicate telepathically. Duke had even learned how to listen in a bit, gathering pieces and glimpses of conversations, using them to pinpoint the presence of other Seers. The way it was described to him was that all Pokémon create ripples in the world’s mental map by virtue of their thoughts and consciousness, but Seers’ mental abilities and gifts caused them to process at a higher level, allowing for them to be sensed by other Seers. Most of the time it took concentration to detect such subtle vibrations, but when the Seers in question were using their abilities, whether in combat or communication, the ripples in the surface became greater. Especially if they were close.

Duke gave an involuntary sigh at the thought of more Seers. It was completely expected that Seers would be in Scarwell. Not only was it the largest city in the area, but it was also hosting most of the surviving population of the Vectaken peninsula in the form of refugees. Still, to feel other Seers again after so long, especially ones that seemed as strong as the indeterminate number he was sensing came as a shock. Before Duke could give it any more thought though, he felt a slight prickling in the back of his mind. He rubbed the back of his hat absentmindedly before he realized what it had been. He had been sensed! Not in the vague way that he had just picked up the Seers in the city, but in the way that meant that someone was directly looking for Seers and their location. That could only mean one thing.

He was going to have to start drinking earlier than he expected.

The Ledian hopped off of the wagon, offering only a slight tip of his hat and a nod to the Pokémon he had ridden with before buzzing toward the city. Instead of following the line of wagons, the crimson ladybug flew towards the nearest business district. It would be easier to get inside a quarter filled with money-hungry shopkeepers than through a bureaucratic processing center, plus it would probably be easier to get information on the best (or worst) establishment to go to in order to get filthy stinking intoxicated and mask his Seer presence and powers in the stupor of drunkenness. Years of drinking had done a bit to dull his powers, but it never hurt to add fuel to that fire.

Once he was inside the business district, the Ledian’s senses were assaulted by an onslaught of sights, sounds, and smells. Every Pokémon was hawking one thing or another, with charms against Abyssal forces apparently proving to be some of the hottest items on the market. Duke lowered his hat to hide the distinctive star birthmark on his forehead and let his antennae and his residual Seer abilities to sort out all of the commotion and find the quietest person in this area. Hopefully he could ask that person where he could get a stiff drink without the Pokémon trying to sell him some useless junk.

[VeloJello]

Moira Magro
Oasis, Synamax
ARP’ers: The Nonexistent Tazz, Death’s Spook

All around, the leafy streets of Oasis flickered in my dim vision. My wounded leg burned; I tried to turn to Abelard, to lean on her shoulder, but she wasn't there. No one was; the place had been deserted.

Except just one, up ahead: a slender Lucario, with tall ears and a long crown. She was almost as tall as me, but without the bulk to match, she looked scrawny. Covered in shadow, she peered out of an alleyway, the lone occupant of the lonely streets.

I walked toward her; no longer did my paws brush aside dirt and moss, but rather they clicked on paving stones. The street was not Oasian; it was Jansenian.

"Ma'am?" I called out to the Lucario, who made no effort to move out of the shadows. "... Mother?"

So fast that I almost failed to process it, the familiar Lucario was shoved forward, out into the middle of the street. She fell, body curled and contorted awkwardly, and did not rise.

Another Lucario came in her wake, this one built like a Beartic, considerably larger than even myself. It moved more like a Mightyena than a Lucario, however, holding the long knives of its vicious claws near the ground and snarling a feral, wild-eyed snarl at everything around it. On its shoulders was a tattered cloak, similar to my poncho, but this cloak was scarlet and emblazoned with evil symbols of black and gold. The Lucario was like me, but… feral. Brutal. Brimming with the desire to kill and rend and harm. I wasn’t reading the thing’s aura; I just knew this with every fiber of my being.

And then its eyes fell on me.

Sclera bloodshot, irises red, pupils slitted. I felt like I was caught in a spotlight, trapped beneath the monstrous Lucario’s gaze. With an easy grace, it stepped over my mother’s broken, twisted corpse and rumbled out a furious snarl. I tried to move away, tried to ready an Aura Sphere, tried to do anything other than stand there, stone-still, as it came toward me…

And then it lunged, teeth flashing.

My Fallen.

~~~

“Moira? Are you okay?”

I rubbed at my eyes with stiff paws. Abelard’s voice had, mercifully, cut through the dream. Despite myself, I must have fallen asleep when the Oasis medics went to work on my leg. It happened sometimes; a good Heal Pulse could stitch up most wounds fast, but the quickened healing drew on the strength of the patient’s body as well as the Pulse user’s. An annoying fact for us Indigo Seers, as most of my sleep was consumed by horrible nightmares.

But that… had my Fallen been in Jansen? And my mother, had it…?

The hospital that Abelard had brought me to was a good little establishment; I had been set up in a more public area, where those with more minor wounds could be sat down on cots, healed, and quickly shuffled out. It wasn’t exactly busy; Oasis lived up to its name, and for the most part its citizens didn’t go about getting seriously injured. Abelard sat on an unoccupied cot next to mine, watching me with nervous eyes.

“Sorry for waking you,” she said. “But you were growling and whimpering in your sleep. You -”

<Sorry for being chatty about this, Moria, but I'd at least keep you updated and aware rather than in the dark and unsure, I think…> The Professor’s psychic voice cut off Abelard in mid-sentence. <We've got one of those filthy scoundrels without much incident, the bugger didn't get time to attack before it was quickly taken care of. I suppose that's a good start to things-forgive me, I'm a scientist, not a soldier. I do make weapons, though! Many things, really. Anyways, considering how noisy that brief kerfuffle was… Well, I can presume that there really aren't that many people around, as no-one's coming to our location… I'll check the rooms for survivors now.>

“... bad nightmare,” Abelard finished. I winced, then held up one finger in a gesture for her to wait a moment.

<It’s fine. Better to be in contact than to keep worrying you’ve died. It’s possible your message reached me later than intended. There was an assassin waiting for me in Oasis, who gave me a bad wound. I fell asleep during the healing. I’m officially on high alert now, and so’s the whole city, probably… Never a dull moment for a Seer, eh?>

I then turned back toward Abelard. “Okay. Thanks for waking me; it was… it was definitely not a good dream. Now… Dammit, where’s the staff around here. I need to pay someone for this, don’t I.”

“Not really,” Abelard smiled. “I already paid the nurse for your healing. It seems like you need to hold onto your money more than any of us, you know? If we get separated or something.”

I considered repaying her, but she was right. I was going to need cash, especially when I managed to ditch Abelard and Captain Pike as planned. “Thank you,” I said, rising up from the cot and stretching my leg experimentally. It felt as good as new. “Do you know if the skyport is still on lockdown?”

“Probably. Do you want to just go out like we planned?”

Once the dead Abyssal Krookodile had been hauled up out of the ground, the Oasis officials had immediately started an investigation, one that involved keeping all outbound airships grounded and keeping all patrons behind locked doors until the security breach had been seen to. It was fortunate that Abelard and I had already been leaving, or we would’ve been trapped inside as well. Now we at least had the chance to do something productive. “That would be best, I think. Let’s get going.”

~~~

The market area of Oasis was business-as-usual; it didn’t seem to matter to anyone that an Infernal Pokemon had just burst out of the ground and assaulted someone. There were goods to sell, and they were going to get sold, regardless of any so-called apocalypse. For the most part, the market was open-air, with leafy stalls formed from rooted shrubbery or carved out of wood. Wares ranged from windchimes to scarves, but I couldn’t help but notice that a lot of the stalls were selling knives, firearms, or even light armor beside their usual wares. Good. Despite the peace that reigned in the city, the inhabitants were smart enough to protect themselves.

I sauntered over to a Xatu’s stall, intrigued by the multitude of pistols on display. Captain Pike carried two, but to my knowledge, Abelard had little experience with firearms. I picked one up and tested its weight in my paw; the trigger guard was wide enough to allow Abelard’s claw to fit into it. It might help her to have one, since she was a melee fighter by nature.

I shook my head and put the weapon back. It didn’t matter whether Abelard carried a weapon. She wasn’t coming with me. With luck, I’d be leaving her in Oasis along with Pike.

I found Abelard again looking at some Furret’s beadworks. I sighed. “Do you know where I could find something to actually help against the Abyss?” I asked, trying to keep myself from snapping too viciously. Much as I didn’t want to admit it, the attack and the nightmare that had followed it had rattled me pretty badly.

“Oh!” Abelard said, looking contrite. “I’m sorry, Moira; I know that I got sidetracked… My mother sells charms from a bigger store in the shops district. I could take you there, if you wanted. And… I wouldn’t mind seeing my mom again. It’s been a few months since we set down in Oasis.”

I had to exert an effort of will to keep the snarl out of my sigh. “Okay, sure. So long as we make sure to stay on track. And not get ambushed again.”

Abelard waved goodbye to the Furret and started walking, but she seemed nervous. It took her about two seconds to ask me, “Are you alright, Moira? Do you want to talk about your dream?”

I considered cursing her out, or just staying silent, but some bizarre urge prompted me to speak. Maybe talking about the dream would settle me. “When I slept, I dreamt that I was back in Jansen. I saw... do you know what a Fallen is, Abelard?”

I was surprised to see her nod assent, but I continued. “I saw mine, in the streets of Jansen. It was… horrifying. If it had been real, the thing could’ve taken me apart, easily, no questions asked. If it’s still there, it could go very badly for me.” I neglected to mention that I had seen it with what had looked like my mother’s corpse.

"It seems to me," Abelard said, "that your Fallen shouldn't be very powerful. You're a bit grouchy sometimes, yes, but I wouldn’t really call you sinful.”

I contemplated just dismissing what she said, but no - I wanted her to know. Otherwise she would keep bugging me. I ushered her out of the crowd and kept my voice level as I spoke, “Abelard, there is a reason I never stayed on the Braviary much whenever we docked, and why I always went off into the wilds by myself. For food, you eat mostly vegetables, right? With the occasional insect or Magikarp for protein?” When she nodded, I looked her dead in the eye and said, “That Furret merchant we passed? I don’t look at her and think ‘oh, what wonderful beads she’s selling’. I look at her and remember that the most delicious part of a Furret is the lungs, that the obliques are tough and chewy, and that the best way to dispatch them quickly is with a Bullet Punch through the brain because their necks are too flexible to readily snap.”

When Abelard said nothing, just stared at me in a kind of fascinated horror, I kept going. “I’m not saying I’m some sort of serial killer who goes around shooting Skitties for fun. But I need to eat fresh meat in order to survive, and I’ve killed most of what I’ve gotten. And that’s discounting the people who’ve been hurt by weapons I’ve made or fixed, or the sky pirates I’ve killed. I can’t say I’ve ever regretted it, either, which probably makes things worse. So if this thing catches up to me, or if it’s still in Jansen, it’s going to be bad for everyone within a mile radius or so.”

Before Abelard could reply, I felt pressure on my mind again, but this one was different from the Professor’s bombastic presence. I held up a paw to silence Abelard again, then braced myself.

<Seer of Jansen! Know that you do not walk alone! Know that there is another like you, bound to you in kinship by the indigo visions plaguing our nights, by the roiling sands of our city, by the deep mystical secrets hidden beneath our ground! Know that I am another like you and that I am your staunch ally! You are not alone!>

Good Arceus, this guy was almost as hammy as the Professor was. But there was something else behind his voice. There was no command in this new Seer’s voice, but there was a certain air of authority to him regardless. There was something… genuine to it. Heartfelt. This guy, I realized, meant that he was from Jansen and he wanted to help me.

But a quick check showed me that he was in Scarwell, with another strange Seer with him and a couple of other strangers - a Lopunny Seer, and a Furret and Floatzel. Ironically, I was able to discern more about the company that this new Seer kept more easily than I could identify the Seer himself. When I tried to look at him, he was concealed within some manner of cloak, which made it impossible to see what sort of Pokemon he was.

Hm. So my new mystery “ally” was willing to help out… from another continent, when he was clearly in hiding. Whatever help he had to offer, it wasn’t coming soon.

<I’m starting to think that melodrama is a common Seers’ trait I missed out on,> I replied sardonically. <Look, if you’re interested in alliances, find me in Oasis. I’m waiting on a Goodra, and we intend to put together the means to kill Undax and, quite frankly, we need all the help we can find. Do you get me?>

I then gave Abelard a grin. As an afterthought, I realized that showing my fangs in a way that probably looked more like a frustrated grimace than a genuine expression of happiness was probably going to be unsettling to the Haxorus, and I stopped grinning. “Never a dull moment in the life of a Seer,” I said with forced cheer. “C’mon, let’s get out of this alleyway and go buy some charms, alright?”

[Noblejanobii]

Raven Karan the Mightyena
Back alley, Scarwell, Azmarax
Affected rpers: Morzone

Raven narrowed her inverted eyes at the Quilava. He had tried to pursue her, but it was less than valiant effort. He had given up quite early into the chase. Disappointing, purely disappointing. Still, he seemed determined enough to find her, even if he had not pursued the chase.

Raven watched curiously as the fellow was roughed up by a Mr. Mime. The glare cast back at the bipedal psychic type delivered the message clear enough. This Quilava did not want to be messed with. Raven could respect that. Most of the four-legged Pokemon in this area just took the racism with a tight upper lip. This fellow, however, was definitely not from this area. He would not remain silent.

The Quilava sat down on a wooden crate and began to fiddle with that bracelet of his. Raven watched him, the creature seeming to have a deeper pondering going on. Raven had little doubt as to what he must be pondering, but it was still interesting to watch nonetheless.

Raven stood up from where she sat and cast her gaze around the nearby area. It did not take long for her to spot three different guards lurking nearby. If she was not careful, they would spot her, and she couldn't be caught with the money on hand. It would only prove her guilt. Tail swishing back and forth behind her, Raven came to a quick decision, if this Quilava was who he was implied to be, then they would need to finish their discussion elsewhere.

Perhaps her master would like to meet him. Another seer would be great in helping Raven progress her fledgling abilities. Sure, Raven knew how to use the basics of her abilities, but she still had little substance or control over them. If Quilava were, in fact, another seer, he could help her in her training, especially with such a dire future drawing ever nearer.

"That's probably for the best. Yes, I will find the mightyena seer, hopefully she isn't too far," he said to himself, standing up, "Alright, let's get searching." Raven watched as the Quilava closed his eyes and seemed to focus. She felt something brush past her, but it did not seem to touch her, only go around her. This seemed to frustrate the Quilava. "Typical. How am I supposed to find that seer now?"

Raven took that as her cue.

"You wouldn't have to look very far is you searched the shadows," she answered as she approached the Quilava. Raven sat down beside the man and looked over him. "I must admit, I was a bit startled when someone actually came to help me when I was cornered. It immediately told me that you weren't from around this area. I apologize for bolting as quickly as I did. The risk of getting caught is highly likely for someone of my… allure. You see, I was unsure if I could really trust you or not. So, I admit, I fled, turned in my prize to its rightful client, and began to wander again. It was then that I realized, there was something different about you. A unique feeling that I have only truly experienced few other times. And what you have said since I began to tail you only proves my suspicions. You are a seer, are you not?"

[Morzone]

Theo Myrsky
Scarwell, Azmarax
ARP'ers: Noblejanobii

"You wouldn't have to look very far is you searched the shadows,"

Theo nearly turned around and attacked the voice that had come out of the shadows practically right next to him. He had not expected anyone else to be in the alleyway, but his surprise at the voice was nothing compared to his surprise when the Mightyena walked right out of the shadows and sat next to him. She had been right there all along, and he hadn't even noticed. After sitting down, She continued talking.

"I must admit, I was a bit startled when someone actually came to help me when I was cornered. It immediately told me that you weren't from around this area. I apologize for bolting as quickly as I did. The risk of getting caught is highly likely for someone of my… allure. You see, I was unsure if I could really trust you or not. So, I admit, I fled, turned in my prize to its rightful client, and began to wander again. It was then that I realized, there was something different about you. A unique feeling that I have only truly experienced few other times. And what you have said since I began to tail you only proves my suspicions. You are a seer, are you not?

Theo took a breath and sat back down on his crate, looking at the mightyena.

"Yes, I am a seer. And yes, I'm not from around here. I've recently traveled across the Triplecross Sea from Emerald Coast. I apologize for startling you, I didn't want any possible friends or allies attacked before I got a chance to talk to them. As for lookng in the shadows, you;'re ability to hide yourself is so acute that even your seer aura was hidden when you were right next to me. I don't think that I would've been able to find you unless you wanted to reveal yourself."

Theo glanced over at the shadowy area the Mightyena had appeared from before looking back at her inverted eyes and continuing.

"My name is Theo Myrsky. I was Born in Kivian City, but eventually moved to to Emerald Coast. I've had training in both Seer abilities and physical fighting, as well as some studies by some rather self absorbed Royals from Kivian City. I also have a slight problem with anger issues, tough its rather selective on what I get angry about. And to be honest, you are the first seer I've actually met, though I know where several are through my Aura search."

Theo paused for a moment here, considering how to word what he was about to say next. He had refined his original plan slightly since first making it, and having to put it into words forced him to be more exact about what he wanted to do. Start with the end goals, then work backward. He had learned that that was always the safe approach when unsure about plans.

"I came over to Scarwell to find seers who could help me fight the abyssal forces. You see, my friend Via was taken hostage by the abyss as a way to get some kind of control over me. I want to save her. My original homeland has fallen to the abyss as well, something I plan to change. And while I'm at it I figured that I might as well work toward getting the monsters out of this world all together." As he said this, he fingered the Thunderstone shard necklace around his neck.

"I have a plan, but to be honest its not completely thought through and I would need a lot of help to achieve it anyway, which is why I sought out other seers. What I want to do is flank the enemy armies, get behind them and hit them where they don't expect it."

Theo took a deep breath, and mentally readied himself for what he was about to say.

"I want to go into the abyss, capture the black prophecy, then close the portal from the abyss to our world. Though of course preferably after I had left the abyss."

A little more direct than what he had been taught by the Nobles, but something told him that the high end talk of the rich was not needed here.

"You don't have to help me. If you feel that this is not the task for you, then I will go and seek out another seer. Though your personal set of skills would be ideal for this kind of mission."

There. a perfectly fair chance to refuse his crazy plan.

[Noblejanobii]

Raven Karan the Mightyena
Back alley, Scarwell, Azmarax
Affected rpers: Morzone

Raven watched in slight amusement as she seemed to have completely taken the Quilava off guard. This Pokemon surely could not be that practiced of a seer if he could not sense another one of his own kind right next to him. Yet, there it was. The Quilava took a deep breath and sat back on the crate where he was perched. He seemed to be trying to wrap his head around the situation. Raven merely watched him calmly, not bothered by this wait at all. Patience is a virtue after all.

"Yes, I am a seer. And yes, I'm not from around here. I've recently traveled across the Triplecross Sea from Emerald Coast. I apologize for startling you, I didn't want any possible friends or allies attacked before I got a chance to talk to them. As for lookng in the shadows, your ability to hide yourself is so acute that even your seer aura was hidden when you were right next to me. I don't think that I would've been able to find you unless you wanted to reveal yourself."

Raven narrowed her eyes a little in confusion. He hadn't been able to sense her at all? Perhaps her seer abilities were stronger than she had once thought. Being able to cloak herself in the shadows was one thing, but completely hiding herself from all detection was another. Raven quickly made a mental note to discuss this with her master later before tuning back in to the Quilava's speech.

"My name is Theo Myrsky. I was Born in Kivian City, but eventually moved to to Emerald Coast. I've had training in both Seer abilities and physical fighting, as well as some studies by some rather self absorbed Royals from Kivian City. I also have a slight problem with anger issues, tough its rather selective on what I get angry about. And to be honest, you are the first seer I've actually met, though I know where several are through my Aura search."

Raven had to fight back a smirk at this. She hadn't realize this was the hour to tell your entire life story. Well was this kid in for the sob story of the century if he wanted to hear her background. However, before Raven even had the chance to introduce herself, the Quilava continued.

He began to spell out his plan against the Abyssal forces. This Theo character gave a little bit of background as to why he wanted to actually do this plan. He wanted to rescue a "friend". Friend, yeah right. Raven could tell by the way Theo was fingering that thunderstone shard that this "Via" was more than just a friend. However, Raven would not deny that finding out she was not the only one missing someone close. It brought some comfort to the Mightyena, but Raven had little time to relish in it.

"You don't have to help me. If you feel that this is not the task for you, then I will go and seek out another seer. Though your personal set of skills would be ideal for this kind of mission."

Raven paused, considering this offer. She had to admit, it was not very well thought out and completely insane. However, it was crazy enough that it just might work. Raven felt her charm, cool against her fur. This Theo had come to her for help, and Raven would not disagree that her skill set was made for this mission. However, a mission, no matter who for or what purpose, could not be done for free. Raven required a price.

Raven cast a slow glance around the area. Of the three guards she had spotted earlier, one was no longer where he had been before, one was in the same location, and the third had moved several feet closer. Raven's ears tilted back a little in distress. This was becoming riskier by the second and she couldn't afford to dawdle much longer. Her reputation would be destroyed if she was caught, especially under these circumstances. The situation was now escalating from calm to dire.

"You are correct, such a mission is clearly fit for my skill set. However, you of such high heritage may or may not realize that those of us from lower standings do not work for free. I will expect some form of payment after we have finished this mission. We can discuss this more, if you agree, in a more secure location. Our current spot is quickly becoming compromised as we discuss this matter. For, in case you have failed to notice, there are three guards in the area. One is currently drawing nearer to us with each second." Raven tilted her head towards him just barely for emphasis. "And if I get caught, then I cannot do the job you wish for me to do now can I?"

Raven did another sweep of the area and, for a brief second, caught the gaze of the gravitating guard. The fact that he looked in another direction almost instantly cemented his guilt in Raven's mind. This man was not to be trusted; he was most definitely a guard. Raven felt something click in the back of her mind and she grimaced a little as her senses seemed to expand. She was suddenly able to pick up that the guard that had disappeared before we about to grab Theo from behind if they did not move soon. Was this her true power? Was this the power of a seer?

Raven gazed behind Theo and, sure as her vision had said, the one guard that Raven had not been able to find was slowly approaching Theo from behind. Raven bared her teeth a little and began to whisper in a rushed voice, not wishing to expose to the guard that she knew his next move but also wishing to remove her next potential employer from any form of danger. This guard counted as a form of danger.

"Theo, I suggest you decide quickly, as there is an individual behind you that wishes to bring you harm. If you value both our lives and your mission, you will agree, and then duck. Understood?"

[Morzone]

Theo Myrsky
Scarwell, Azmarax
ARP'ers: Noblejanobii

As Theo had been talking, he got the distinct feeling that he was talking too fast and saying too much. People had always said he had this problem and it annoyed him deeply when he noticed it. To late now though, what was said was said. The mightyena seemed to consider his words for a moment before replying.

"You are correct, such a mission is clearly fit for my skill set. However, you of such high heritage may or may not realize that those of us from lower standings do not work for free. I will expect some form of payment after we have finished this mission."

This annoyed Theo slightly. Of course she would want payment, he wasn't that clueless. It did cause him some worry however. This kind of insane mission would require the kind of payment only a king could give. Despite what she might think, he wasn't from a very high heritage, he had just been payed attention too because of his seer powers. He had brought a good sum of gold from home, but it probably wasn't quite enough for a mission of this caliber. He would need to find some other way for payment beside the gold.

"We can discuss this more, if you agree, in a more secure location." The dark type continued, "Our current spot is quickly becoming compromised as we discuss this matter. For, in case you have failed to notice, there are three guards in the area. One is currently drawing nearer to us with each second. And if I get caught, then I cannot do the job you wish for me to do now can I?"

Theo mentally cursed. He had been paying too much attention to what was being said and hadn't bothered to watch his surroundings. A rookie mistake that could've cost him a lot. He did kind of find it ironic that he was doing more fighting with local police forces than with actual target, which was the abyssal Pokemon. Before he could think of anywhere they could move to to continue their talk, the Mightyena started talking in a hurried whisper.

"Theo, I suggest you decide quickly, as there is an individual behind you that wishes to bring you harm. If you value both our lives and your mission, you will agree, and then duck. Understood?"

He personally thought that now he knew about the guard it didn't matter that he was sneaking up behind him, but this was a good opportunity to watch her fighting skills in action. He nodded twice at her, then gave a mischievous smile.

"Ready. Set. Go."

He dove off the crate and spun around on the ground, ready to watch the show.

[Noblejanobii]

Raven Karan the Mightyena
Back alley, Scarwell, Azmarax
Affected rpers: Morzone

"Ready. Set. Go."

That was the only cue Raven needed to get into attack mode. The fur on her back bristled high as Theo dove from his perch on the crate. The guard behind him, a Monferno, was startled by the movement. Raven took immediate advantage of this moment of hesitation in her opponent.

Quick as a bullet, Raven shot from her position and pounced onto her opponent. Her fangs glowed a sickly purple as she sank them into the Monferno's shoulder. Then, like a ghost, she vanished into the shadows after having dealt the blow. The Monferno lay on the ground, the poison from Raven's fangs disorienting him. He started to sit up, about to call to the other two guards for help, when Raven swept in again.

This time she came from the shadows behind the Monferno. Raven dashed forward as a blur and smashed the Monferno into a nearby walk. She melted into the shadows again, but the Monferno caught onto her tactic. He shot flame bursts to illuminate the shadows. Raven yelped and shot out of her hiding spot. Her tail, however, was now a silvery color. She growled and charged the Monferno. They clashed, iron tail against Mach punch. Raven, however won out.

The Monferno stumbled back and collapsed. Raven, still growling, placed a paw on his throat and looked up at Theo. It was then she noticed the two other guards advancing on him. Raven kicked the Monferno aside and attacked the two magmars.

The first one was a bit tougher than Raven expected. Then again, it was a two on one fight. She resumed the same tactic as before, striking with a poison fang before ducking into the shadows. The weakened magmar, however, would not fall for the same tactics as his partner. He shot a ball of light into the air, the sun not beating down much harshly than before. Any shadows were now eliminated. However, Raven had disappeared.

She attacked from behind again, striking both the remaining officers with her shining tail. The weakened one when down without a fight but the second officer refused to go down. Raven's shimmering coat was struck with a fist of flames. Raven stumbled back, her eyes narrowing in anger. She glanced to her side and quickly rolled out of the way of a flamethrower, smothering any sparks on her coat at the same time.

Raven charged again and slammed straight into the officer, tackling him to a wall. Paws holding him there, she growled in his ear and then bit his shoulder. The guard slumped down. Raven walked back over to Theo while scanning her surroundings. She bowed to him and smiled.

"Am I worthy of your consideration now?"

[Morzone]

(OOC: I know there are more than two of us in the RP, are people too busy to post? If you are, I'm ok with waiting until you can jump back in.)

Theo Myrsky
Scarwell, Azmarax
ARP'ers: Noblejanobii

The mightyena shot straight for the monferno with blinding speed and attacked. As Theo watched, he was intrigued by her style of fighting. Her tactics put her extreme agility to high use, and to quite a good effect. He himself had usually focused on power, though of course he made sure not to be particularly slow.

Once the mightyena had finished with the guard she turned back toward Theo, though the expresion on her face told him the fight wasn't over yet. Someone was sneaking up on him from behind. AGAIN. He was seriously annoyed that he had fallen for the same thing again, especially after reminding himself to check his surroundings more often. Spinning around with a nice healthy crush claw to meet the new foes, he discovered two more magmar guards coming up the alley toward him. Before he could start his attack however, the Mightyena had already shot last him and sank her fangs into one of the magmars.

In some surprise, Theo let his crush claw fade and went back to watching the fight, though not before scanning behind him for more guards or other Pokemon. The mightyena continued her previous tactic of attacking and disappearing into the shadows. It seemed to work until one of the magmars lit up the area, erasing any shadows. And yet the mightyena had still managed to disappear from the guards by using their blind spot. She really was good at concealing herself, even if there was no real hiding spots to use. Once she had finished taking down the guards, she walked back over to Theo, giving a mock bow and saying:

"Am I worthy of your consideration now?"

Theo had to laugh, it was too good.

"You're the fastest and most agile Pokemon I have ever met, I would definitely consider you, even if you weren't a seer." He replied, humoring her question. "Though the consideration, as you said, would probably best be continued in a safer location. I will refer to you, as you're more likely to know the best places in this city to avoid being found by the Police."

He went back to his crate and sat down. Remembering to check this time, he searched the main streets outside the alley for more guards. The closest to be found were moving away from them, so the coast was clear, which relieved him. He didn't like the idea of becoming a known wanted criminal before he could talk to any other seers.

"The only guards in the vicinity are currently moving away from us, so we should hopefully be good. Once we get their we can continue our talk, I'd like to know a little more about who you are, as well as talking prices and plans."

Theo stood up, ready to follow the seer to where ever she planned to go.

[Noblejanobii]

Raven Karan the Mightyena
Back alley, Scarwell, Azmarax
Affected rpers: Morzone

Raven's ears perked a little as Theo laughed. She had pleased him. Very well. A pleased client was better for business, and she'd need him to be pleased if she was going to ask such a large sum of this Quilava. Raven wouldn't admit it out loud, but she was still wary of this man. Sure, he was a seer, but Raven never truly trusted anyone until they proved themselves. Even so, this may be her only option for the reward she sought.

You're the fastest and most agile Pokemon I have ever met, I would definitely consider you, even if you weren't a seer." He replied, humoring her question. "Though the consideration, as you said, would probably best be continued in a safer location. I will refer to you, as you're more likely to know the best places in this city to avoid being found by the Police."

Raven scanned her surroundings quickly as Theo made a move back towards the crate. They seemed to both have had the same idea. They'd need to move quickly and without detection if they were to discuss this further. Plus, Theo didn't seem like the thieving type, and Raven felt it only fair to help keep him that way, even if it only blackened her own record. Raven didn't have much to lose by a blemished record anyway.

"The only guards in the vicinity are currently moving away from us, so we should hopefully be good. Once we get their we can continue our talk, I'd like to know a little more about who you are, as well as talking prices and plans."

Raven shook out of her thoughts as Theo spoke up. She tuned into his words and nodded slowly. Yes, she knew the perfect place, but they would have to be very careful as they approached it. It occurred to Raven that Theo could not melt into the shadows as she did. This meant that the likelihood of being caught versus remaining undetected had just skyrocketed, not to mention the time it would take to reach the desired destination.

"Well, we will be heading to my office, if you do not mind," Raven answered. She scanned the area, picking out the best route to take before picking the alleyway with more shadows than light. Stepping over the unconscious Monferno, Raven halfway melted into the shadows, the other half of her body still visible to Theo. "I will try to remain visible to you, but for both our safeties I may randomly disappear into the shadows. If this happens, do not panic, just listen for my feet. You can still hear me even if cannot see me," she explained before leading Theo down the alleyway.

They were heading towards the outskirts of the city, where more of the criminal types, drunkards, and homeless lived. For the most part, the Pokemon that would normally try to pickpocket the occasional goody-two shoes that wandered through this area stayed away from Theo when they noticed who his escort was. In fact, a few even tipped their heads to him, acknowledging that he was in good paws.

[Morzone]

Theo Mysrky
Scarwell, Azmarax
ARP'ers: Noblejanobii

"Well, we will be heading to my office, if you do not mind."

Theo didn't really mind, as long as he didn't have to deal with any more guards. They had a knack of showing up when you don't want them too. He followed the Mightyena as she started down the alley, making for another alley connecting to the first. The place was full of shadows, something Theo figured he was going to need to get used to if he wanted to work with her.

"I will try to remain visible to you, but for both our safeties I may randomly disappear into the shadows. If this happens, do not panic, just listen for my feet. You can still hear me even if cannot see me." She told him as she partially vanished into the dark patches of the alley.

"You don't need to worry about it too much," he replied, "I'm going to stay in Aura sight as we walk, so as to avoid any unwanted dealings. As long as you don't hide your aura, I will be fine."

Theo did as he had said, entering his sight into aura search as he walked. This time he focused on all Pokemon auras rather than just the seer ones. He did try to keep the usage at a minimal, as he did not feel comfortable with his eyes glowing as they walked past other Pokemon. They still glowed, but faintly.

They seemed to be walking into the lower part of towns, the kind of place where the Kivian City nobles would call the slums. He watched the other Pokemon carefully here, sure that a good number of them would happily try and take his money, which he kept in a bag he had brought from Emerald Coast. For the most part however, they seemed to be avoiding him, some of them were even giving him a sign of respect. He could figure out why this was, as he knew he was the ideal target for these kinds of criminals.

He figured it out soon enough though. At one point, when his guide had vanished into the shadows, a young snivy started to approach him. The snivy stopped suddenly when the mightyena reappeared, giving the two of them a frightened look and hurrying away. Clearly this seer was a well known and respected thief, if even other thieves did not mess with her and her clients. He wondered briefly if he should exploit this and be as goody-two-shoes and an easy target as he could be. He decided against it, which was probably for the best anyway.

Eventually they started getting into areas where the other Pokemon only watched hidden from the shadows, or were too busy sharpening weapons to notice them. It gave Theo the distinct feeling that he should not be there, but reason told him that if this seer, who was a well known and very skilled thief, was going to have an "Office," it would be here. it also occurred to Theo that this seer might not be the only one at the "Office," she cold easily have other criminals that she dealt with, or even other clients. She seemed more like a person who worked alone, but you could never truly be sure.

[Noblejanobii]

Raven Karan the Mightyena
Raven's Office, Scarwell, Azmarax
Affected rpers: Morzone

Mentally, Raven groaned a little at Theo's aura comment. He probably didn't realize that she had little experience controlling her seer powers. Nevertheless, she would neither correct him nor inform him of the truth. The less your potential employer knew of her weaknesses, the better for her own reputation and safety.

As the reached probably the most dangerous part of town, Raven began to scan her surroundings. This is where the criminals didn't care who you were, they would still attack. One had to be careful of that. Just then, a murkrow cawed above Raven and Theo, then soured down to them. It landed in front of Raven and cocked its head at her.

"Karan."

"Corvus." They addressed one another in formal tones. The murkrow nodded his head back towards the part of town where he had come from. "Boss wants to see you."

"Tell him I'm coming, and get someone to prep my office. I've got a client coming." The murkrow strained his neck a little to see Theo before smiling a little.

"As you wish." He bowed and then straightened to take off into the air. His little wings beat hard, generating a minuscule cloud of dust as he shot into the air and then down the alleyway Raven and Theo were traveling.

Raven glanced back to make sure Theo was still behind her before continuing on. She moved out into more light now, the odds of a guard showing up as small as they could get. She knew it to be not much further, but a distance that would usually take seconds would take much longer with her escorting the client to the place.

"It's not much further," Raven mumbled after a moment of silence.

[Neo Emolga]

Kaxo Sychal the Lopunny
The Hole Tavern, Scarwell, Azmarax
Affected RPers: Death's Spook

Cloak wasn't too crazy about heading right into Jansen, as much as he wanted to turn Undax into rejected lunch meat. I wasn't sure how exactly he wanted to handle this, but I was hoping it wouldn't be anything pansy-like. Still, for the wealth he just slapped in my paws, I figured I could tolerate doing things his way, even if it meant slapping on goddamn tutus and clown noses.

As he took a moment to think things over, I got poked by Bretner the Furret, like he had some kind of death wish or something.

"Uh... Kaxo...?" He asked.

"First of all," I told him, swatting his paw away like it was a Serviper trying to take a hunk out of my shoulder, "don't ever touch me. I'm only taking you along because you owe me."

"Oh... ok," The sheepish Furret replied, backing away into a bashful ball. "Look, uh... could you explain what's going on? You know, Lude and I are kind of wondering. We don't know who... that guy is either."

What damn difference did it make? What, they were afraid of Cloak just because he didn't want to expose himself?

In any case, I kept thinking about these gems Cloak gave to me. Either he needed help really bad, or he was thinking the world was screwed anyway and holding onto things of value was pointless. Maybe yes, maybe not. Didn't matter, it felt nice having them. Someone was going to exchange quite a bit of cash over for them, and that's all that mattered.

<Definitely not Jansen.> Cloak telepathically told me again. <We need to go to Oasis. We will find more allies there, and I know of one person with a very fast and reliable vessel.>

<Suit yourself,> I told him, casually giving him reign over the decisions here.

"So... uh..." Bretner goes on again, wondering how we were communicating just by looking at each other. "Are you gonna talk about what's going on? Or tell us about it?"

Cloak just laughed. I had to admit, seeing Bretner just dazed and confused was funny. If the furbrain Furret was good for anything, having him around was definitely effective at making the rest of us look like geniuses. I decided to let Cloak lead the way. He was the client, so I figured with what he was paying me with, we could do things his way.


* * *

We arrived at a familiar airship hangar. Not the cleanest of places, but then again, in an age like this, not to many Pokémon really gave a Ratata's ass. That was when we ran into Captain Demos. I didn't know how Cloak knew this snake, but I was only slightly familiar with the guy. In truth, I only had him as a client once, and after that, I left town when most of the better prospects dried up.

"Oasis," Cloak told Demos. "We leave in ten minutes."

"Thought you were dead," Captain Demos the Serperior laughed, arching back his frilly serpent body.

"Greatly exaggerated," Cloak replied. "Though that was rather the point of the exercise. I expect discretion."

"Discretion costs money," Demos spat, getting right to the point.

Cloak stuffed a few extra coins into Demos's satchel. I just nodded, knowing this was just how intelligent people do business. I figured Lude and Bretner could learn something from this guy, but instead, they were distracted with some other crap.

I wasn't really paying attention, and then Lude suddenly complains to Cloak.

"Cloaked person?" Lude asked, looking bashful again like he never had his balls drop. "I-it feels like I'm moving through syrup all of a sudden."

What in crap's name was he whining about now? I swore, at this point, I was really beginning to question if...

And then I felt like I was sick. I swore, it was like it was suddenly worse than the time I tried those Blowout drugs and spent the next three days wondering why any Pokémon with just a morsel of a brain would enjoy that crap.

"Hate to say this, but Whiny has a point," Demos told everyone else. "It feels a lot harder to move all of a sudden."

"Let's just... get the hell out of here," I told him, not sure what the hell was doing this.

I wasn't sure what was the cause of it, but whatever it was, it was migraine-inducing. Instinctively, I just tried to make distance. Something was affecting the general area and the smartest move would be simply to get my bunny ass out of it. And it was a slow crawl. I could try sprinting and it didn't help a damn thing.

"TRICK ROOM!" Cloak shouted.

That's what this assclown antic was? I swore, whoever was doing this was going to get their ballsack ripped off and worn as a bow-tie. Still, as Cloak was fighting whoever was causing the havoc, I realized Cloak was having a hell of an easier time fighting in this crapshow than any of the rest of us were. I just decided to grab the two furry fleshbags known as Lude and Bretner and head for the airship.

“HeLLo cApTAin. DId yOu MiSs mE?”

Damn, I turned for just a moment and that warped and deranged Jellicent was barely recognizable as a Pokémon. As if a Jellicent wasn't already ungodly enough, what was once a puffy pink jellyfish had become a deranged, blackened and warped abomination from the lowest cesspool of the Abyss. Demos tried throwing a Leaf Storm in her face, but she warped herself away. Seeing that, he came up empty-handed for any additional combat quick fixes.

"She's a Defiler!" he shouted. "Get to the ship!"

"Oh god, oh god, oh god!!!" Bretner whines. "Please, don't kill me, pleeeeaasseeee! I'm too young to die!"

I simply drag his ass onto the airship, which is thankfully out of range of the Trick Room. Meanwhile, Lude is quivering all over the place, looking like he badly had to go to the restroom before he shat himself.

As much as I wanted to take a throwing knife and bury it in that ***** Jellicent's head, trying to fight a Defiler was like a trying to take on a serial killer Zoroark with nothing but a god-forsaken lollipop. We didn't have the bigger guns we needed and I sure as hell didn't want to screw around with a Pokémon that had already deployed the perfect setup to make the rest of us fight like ass.

"These are your henchmen!?" Demos exclaims at me. "I've seen babies fight better than these two!"

"These asshats owe me money, that's the only reason I'm dragging them along!" I told him, making it damn clear there's not a snowball's chance in hell I'd ever hire these two as my own personal goons.

"They'll sooner get you killed than pay that back!" Demos argued.

That was probably true considering what I had to do on several occasions already. As Demos tried to get the airship going, I knew Cloak couldn't fight a Defiler alone, but the rest of us were next to useless within Trick Room surroundings. While he fought on, Demos made an opportunity to get the airship started.

"Come on, Cloak, get your butt on the ship and let's go!" I shouted to him, knowing we needed to bail out of here now.

"PLEASE!" Lude whined. "I'm... I'M SCARED!"

I swore, at the first opportunity, I was getting rid of these two brainless dirtbags and figuring emotional trauma was probably enough damage to them to not going running to everyone that I gave them free service. Because if anyone looked at their quivering, trembling, and on-the-verge-of-pissing-themselves composure, they'd know it was not a good idea and not paying up when cash is due means getting your soul ruined from the things you'll see.

I decided to launch a throwing knife at the Jellicent. I knew there was no chance of it hitting her, but it would force her to warp if she didn't want her defiled brain to have a wedge of sharpened steel in her head for company. It would in turn would give Cloak the chance to break away from the fight and get on the ship while she had to dodge the knife.

[Morzone]

Theo Myrsky
Scarwell, Azmarax
ARP'ers: Noblejanobii

They hadn't been walking long in this darkest of areas when the two of them were confronted. A murkrow came flying down from aboce, landing in front of Theo's guide.

"Karan" It said, addressing the mightyena.

"Corvus" She replied in a formal tone.

"Boss wants to see you"

"Tell him I'm coming, and have someone prep my office. I've got a client coming."

The Murkrow looked over Theo for a moment, Theo just nodded at him silently.

"As you wish."

And that was it. The Murkrow flew off again and they continued walking. The exchange had created a lot of questions in Theos head though, and answered only a few. Who was Boss? Who was this Corvus? Who else did this seer work with? Apparently her name was Karan, but by the formality of the exchange it might be a last name, could go either way. And what, especially, was this office of hers? As they walked, Theo contemplated which question to ask or even whether or not to ask Karan, as he would call her until he found out what she preferred to be called, any of the questions at all.

After some time of silent walking, Karan spoke in a mumble: "It's not much farther."

The phrase seemed to be more to break the silence than too really give him information, which probably had something to do with the encounter with Corvus they'd just had. Theo was about to respond when he felt a small sting and an odd pressure on his sense. This was bad, he knew this feeling, it was the feeling he had had when the abyssal pilots had come near him.

Something wasn't right however. When the pilots had come near there hadn't been any painful sting and this pressure felt slightly different, it had a more evil feel to it. The pilots had felt corrupted, but this felt monstrously more evil. He needed to find out what was causing it and where it was.

"Wait" Theo said, stopping his walk. He put his paw up to his eyes, pretending to rub something out of them to hide the sudden glow as his Aura search intensified. As he increased the power of his search, the stinging grew worse, as if he was exposing himself to some sort of sharp blade. Theo looked quickly over the city, trying to guess which direction he could feel the pressure coming from. Then he noticed something odd in the direction of what appeared to be the Scarwell airport. Three prominent Auras were gathered there. Two of them were seers, and the third was something horrible, something that seemed to be more of an Anti-Aura than anything. If Auras were living creatures, this Thing would eat normal auras for breakfast.

Theo could not watch the void like Aura for long however, as looking at it caused the stinging pain in his head to reach a head splitting pitch. So much so, that after a second or two of looking at the three Auras, Theo couldn't help but wince painfully and put his paw back down to balance himself. After which he quickly ended his aura sight, mainly to stop the pain as well as to stop his eyes from visibly glowing.

"Alright, Let's keep going then." Theo said, trying to keep his voice steady. The sight of such an anti-life Aura left him somewhat shaken, though he had no doubt what had been causing it. A defiler, one of those horrible Abyssal creations that had never truly breathed a breath of life. Judging by the presence of the two seers, they had probably been ambushed by it and were now attempting to combat it. They would need to exceptionally skillful to win though, even if it was two on one.

He needed to discuss this with Karan. Another thing to include in their talk at her office. He felt he should make a comment however, at least to explain why he had stopped. He had tried, on several occasions, to talk to other Pokemon telepathically, though he still preferred regular speech. Right now though, in this unfriendly environment, he didn't like talking about anything seer related.

So as he walked, he focused and sent a silent message to his seer guide: <"There is a Defiler attacking two seers by the airport. They were most likely ambushed, so there may be abyssal Pokemon lying in wait for one of us at some point or another.">

Once he had said this, he continued his walk silently. Hoping that the office really wasn't much further.

[Noblejanobii]

((I AM RETURNING TO THE LAND OF THE LIVING!!)


Raven Karan the Mightyena
Back alley, Scarwell, Azmarax
Affected rpers: Morzone

"Wait."

Raven turned around and sat down when she noticed Theo had stopped. He seemed to be rubbing something out of his eyes. However, the small pricks of light coming out from behind his paws and the somewhat pained expression on his face told Raven otherwise. Swishing her tail back and worth, Raven waited patiently for the Quilava to be finished with whatever business he had to take care of.

Raven frowned a little at him. If she had to guess, Theo was using his seer powers. The man appeared to be an expert at these arts. She would have to ask him for proper training, if she could swallow her pride enough to admit she was an amateur when it came to her powers. Sadly, Raven knew very well the odds of that happening were little. Theo would more than likely figure it out on his own or find out the hard way. For both their sakes, Raven prayed that the result was the first way.

"Alright, let's keep going then." Raven snapped out of her thoughts at Theo's sudden announcement. She nodded a little and stood up, shaking the dirt off herself before moving on. Raven swished her tail back and forth, a signal amongst the thieves in this area that she was escorted a civilian. It served its purpose well, as no Pokemon that meant them hard approached them.

Raven spotted the building that housed her office up ahead. It was a run down shack, the gray paint peeling to reveal a darker black coat. The roof was the same dark black color, with murkrow dotting the top of the building. The windows were boarded up with brown, rotting boards, like most other establishments in the area. There were stairs leading up to the porch in the front, where two Weavile stood sentry. As Raven and Theo approached, a terrified looking Espeon exited the building and scampered off, a shiftry following after her, presumably to do a job. It was then at Raven received Theo's message.

<"There is a Defiler attacking two seers by the airport. They were most likely ambushed, so there may be abyssal Pokemon lying in wait for one of us at some point or another.">

Raven stumbled a little, not having expected the message at all. It was the first time she had received a message in this format and the Mightyena could only assume that it had come from Theo. Raven recognized the mention of abyssal Pokemon from her prior conversations with Theo and from her boss's constant mentioning of the abyssals ruining business. Still, Raven was unsure as to what exactly Theo wanted her to do. Then again, he probably didn't realize her lack of training in her seer abilities and thought maybe she could sense them or something.

Raven sighed mentally at the issue at hand but decided to put that aside for now. She silently gestured toward the run down shack and led Theo inside. The place was populated by mainly dark types. They all seemed to glare Theo down as he and Raven passed, but not one made a move towards them. Raven led Theo to the back of the building, to the third to last door on the corridor. Standing up on her hind legs, Raven opened the door and walked in.

"Please, sit," she said, closing the door behind Theo, "we have much to discuss."

[Death's Spook]

Shiro Minamoto the Aegislash
Airship Hangar, Scarwell, Azmarax => The Arbok, above Scarwell, Azmarax
Affected RPers: Neo Emolga, Velocity

Under most circumstances, a duel between two ghosts such as myself and the Defiler would resemble a war more than anything else. Attacking and defending when both participants are ghosts is a rather risky affair, given how the very shadows we control are also our bane. Ceding control of a critical shadow in favor of unstrategic attack was a simple and effective way to get dead. It is difficult to explain to Pokemon not of the ghost type, since most pokemon are not weak to the same elements that they control. Even dragons, the only other type in this situation, have difficulty grasping the situation, since their attacks tend more to the blatant and straightforward in contrast to the control and manipulation of shadows that ghosts prefer.

However, these circumstances were not the same as most circumstances. For one, engaging directly in a shadow war with the Jellicent would most likely get me killed: in terms of raw power, it would shock me if she were not many times my superior. If she discovers I am a ghost before the correct moment, my death would be the inevitable conclusion.

However, I do have to prevent her from attacking me with the shadows regardless, without betraying my type until the right time. And I have to engage her singlehandedly, because my allies are useless under Trick Room. And I have fight her for an extended period of time to protect said allies, without dying.

Joy.

She begins to gather shadows into a mass for attack. Thinking quickly, I summon an orb of Flash Cannon into my palm. She throws the mass, but the shadows encounter the harsh light and fade. However, I do not fire. Instead, I summon two more Flash Cannon orbs, holding them in a rough circle around me.

I feel so naked, cutting myself off from the immediate shadows, but better metaphorically naked than literally dead.

She switches tactics, instead firing boiling water at me. Barrage after barrage of Scald are alternately deflected with my shield and dodged with my foresight. The dance moves quickly, far too quickly: the Trick Room is dizzying. Her attacks are too swift to follow, but in turn, my defenses are too impenetrable for her to actually land a solid hit.

I see the vulnerable moment an instant before it happens. I switch stances and drop rocks on her head. Her movements are swift, but the danger area is too wide and she is caught by some of the rocks. She wipes black blood from her chin and glares.

I use the moment she spared to give me a dirty look to fire one of my Flash Cannons. She dodges, barely, but crashes into a pillar in so doing.

I am about to reach for the shadows, but she recovers from the crash too quickly, looking absolutely furious. The groundwater erupts, and it hits me before I can defend with my shield.

Torrents upon torrents strike me. The currents in her inky black water buffet me. I frantically attempt to raise my shield. It is all I can do to keep the shield in my hands and shadows.

I do not know how long I am submerged. All I know is that I emerge, battered, with a soaked cloak and no defense from her shadows.

She summons a Shadow Ball and makes her face more unpleasant by putting a smile on it. "i DoN'T KNOw whom you ARe, bUt i AM AbOuT tO TAke grEAt PlEasuRe in smitiNg you."

The Shadow Ball looms in my vision.

She pulls it back. Slowly.

Then, as she prepares to fire it, she continues, "tHeN, Of couRsE, demos AND tHe OthErs."

I realize I have been in this situation before. I stood by, helpless, as Jansen burned. If Aria was not...

No. There is no Aria to save me now. But this creature will not take more lives as I stand helpless. I forbid it.

The ball of shadows begins to fly toward me.

I forbid it.

I feel the desire to protect those on the Arbok manifesting with a desperate intensity.

"I FORBID IT!!!!!!!!"

A feeling of power rushes down my arms as a point in front of me simply ignites. A sphere of blue-white flame manifests, destroying the shadowy murder weapon and making the Jellicent hiss.

I do not have the opportunity to fully register its existence before it is gone. But the Jellicent is shocked.

Pity for her.

Shadowy ball after shadowy ball coalesces as I fire them repeatedly into the Defiler's face. The first two hit her while she is still surprised by the fire. The subsequent nine slam into her because I do not pause as she reels from the previous attacks.

When I am forced to pause in my barrage by sheer exhaustion, she makes an attempt to attack again. However, she is forced to speed far away from me when a knife nearly pops her face open.

Ah. Excellent. It is nice to see that you can do more than curse and complain, Kaxo.

I do not continue my barrage, instead using the distance she made between us to run to the ship, where I find a convenient bench and lay down to catch my metaphorical breath. I idly notice that I appear to be glowing blue: even though my cloak does a decent job hiding the shape of my tattoos, it does not conceal the glowing entirely, especially when I call on the shadows so heavily.

After a second to recuperate and allow the azure light to become less harsh, I say aloud, “I thank you for the judicious interference Kaxo. I believe you may have been saying something to me earlier, but you will understand, I hope, when I inform you that I was too focused on other matters to care to hear it?”

Demos snickers, but is not particularly paying attention to us, instead focusing on take off. His ship looks more like a flying garden than a typical airship, and, in another metaphorical lifetime, the lugalate’s intelligence service indicated that he personally pilots the ship with his chlorokinesis. I recognize his first mate, Angela, a scarred Solrock with a split upper-right spine. However, he appears to have acquired a new crew member, a Togekiss who appears to be annoyed by everything her eyes land on.

I spend the minute of downtime confirming to the Lucario that I am indeed on my way to Oasis when the ship suddenly stops, throwing all of us forwards in a chaos of bodies.

My thoughts are first drowned out by the cacophony of cursing, then a piercing whistle. Demos yells, “She isn’t leaving us alone! She’s doing something with the shadows and immobilized the ship!”

Superb.

Angela adds to the good news, “She’s extending the twisted dimensions! I can try to counter it, but by the time I do, she’ll already be on the ship!”

Demos says a very impolite word, “So she’s getting on the ship whether we like it or not. Angela, start countering Trick Room. Henchmen,” two vines grab Kaxo’s subordinates and move them far away from the rest of us, “if you’re going to be useless, don’t get in our way. Other than that, we’re going to wait until she’s actually on the ship to engage.”

I am about to protest when I see the trap: I feel anticipation growing within me instead. To the Lucario, I add, <Incidentally, while The Arbok is rather quick, it is going to be somewhat delayed. Rather unfortunately, we are being made to deal with a Defiler who simply refuses to die or flee.>

[Neo Emolga]

RISE FROM YOUR GRAVE! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CKEbdnJJ3E)

Kaxo Sychal the Lopunny
The Hole Tavern, Scarwell, Azmarax
Affected RPers: Death's Spook

I wasn't in the mood for more of these cheap as balls Trick Room games.

The Defiler, more deranged than a PMS-fueled pregnant girlfriend on caffeine drinks and medication, seemed to be way more interested in dueling with Cloak than anyone else in this mess.

"I thank you for the judicious interference Kaxo," Cloak told me, speaking instead of using Seer Telepathy. "I believe you may have been saying something to me earlier, but you will understand, I hope, when I inform you that I was too focused on other matters to care to hear it?"

Why the hell was he glowing blue now? Cloak was one hell of a weird client, but with pay like this, I didn't give a flying Rattata's ass about who this guy really was. In any case, it was simply to tell him to get his butt on this airship before more of these

"Yeah, it was about-" I started to tell him before I got cut off.

"She isn't leaving us alone!" Demos's first mate, a Solrock, screamed. "She's doing something with the shadows and immobilized the ship! She’s extending the twisted dimensions! I can try to counter it, but by the time I do, she’ll already be on the ship!"

Demos pulled Bretner and Lude away, figuring these dimwits weren't even good enough as meatshields. And that was when that horrendous, ugly as sin Jellicent from Hell climbed aboard, looking to continue attacking Cloak again.

I swore, this Jellicent ***** sure had one hell of a deathwish. The Trick Room asinine assclown antics were going to envelop the ship soon enough, so there was no way in hell I could rely on speed. With little left for options, I figured I'd try to take her head on. While she attempted to unleash a Hex attack, I stepped in front and relied a Mirror Coat, surrounding myself with a reflective aura. As soon as the Hex made impact with my chest, I sent the grizzly attack right back in that *****'s sniveling face. It burned like all unholy hell on her, causing her to jerk back and howl.

"YoU wILl DrOWn iN dEAtH fOR ThaT!!" She screamed, twitching and growing ever more senile and psychotic.

She was going to try and envelop the whole damn ship with the Trick Room crap again, so I figured there was a nice and effective way out of it. She attempted to rely on her dark Abyss powers now, which wasn't a surprise. She summoned a dark and demonic swirling vortex, and my closest guess was it was some kind of dark portal. Being outnumbered, she wanted to seize control of the ship, and I figured that meant trying to summon an army of asshat bastards to help her overtake the whole damn thing.

I set myself up for a Bounce attack, figuring I still wanted this damn Jellicent to be bleeding out from fifty different places before I was done with her. As I thrust my feet down, I launched myself into the air, and flew upward into the air like a rocket. There was no way she could keep eyes on me and the rest of the team without getting distracted by at least one or the other.

As the first arrival came out of the Dark Vortex she had summoned, I saw it was by far the most hideous Purugly I'd ever seen. It was totally black and gray with blood blotches scattered all over it, and there were just two vacant holes where the eyes should have been. Meanwhile, its jaw was hanging open like a god-forsaken zombie. I swore, the more of I saw what the Abyss was capable of, the more I felt like gathering up all this crap and shoving it right back down their ******* where it belonged.

And that was when Demos had attacked the deranged Purugly with Gastro Acid, vomiting up a nice pile of poisonous hurl at the vacant zombie's face. It sure did a hell of a nice job at melting off the face, but it still seemed to be "alive" and moving around, even though it was now just a molten skull attached to a blood-soaked and blackened Purguly body.

As I rocketed back down from the Bounce attack, I targeted that damn Jellicent. I swore I was going to reduce whatever was left of her brain to diarrhea and focus it right out her ******* in one nice, steaming pile.

[Morzone]

((Christ Neo, your character has quite the vocabulary. Sorry for taking so long, School showed up with a "Take no prisoners" attitude.))

Theo Myrsky
Raven's Office, Scarwell, Azmarax
ARP'ers: Noblejanobii

The office building that she had brought him too was not a sight, but it seemed to command a sort of respect none the less. Here was the place where the most dangerous criminals gathered. The ones with that deadly pairing of both skill and brains. As Theo walked through the building, sticking close to his guide to avoid any unwanted interactions, he tried very hard to not show his nervousness. It did occur to Theo, somewhere in the back of his head, that most of the criminals here were dark types. He wondered for a moment on why dark types tended to be criminals, but soon focused on more important topics.

The Mightyena lead him to a room near the back of the building. Standing up on her back paws and opening the door, which greatly impressed Theo, he had never liked trying to open doors, they entered a small room. This was clearly the office she had been talking about, it was furnished mainly with an old, somewhat burnt desk and a few chairs. Around the room were a few other oddments that were most likely picked up from jobs she'd done over the years.

"Please, sit," she said, closing the door behind Theo, "we have much to discuss."

Theo followed her advice and took to the least uncomfortable looking chair. He took a moment to collect his thoughts. If he screwed up now he would have to start all over, and he didn't want to waste time looking for another seer. Even apart from wasted time, Theo didn't want to lose such a valuable asset. This seer was extremely skilled in the exact field of work needed for his insane plan. If she helped him the plan might have a chance of working, even if it was a small one.

"First." He said, "I want to know more about you. I understand that personal information isn't generally given out in particular field of work, but fighting the abyss will require us to work together quite a lot and I want to know how much I can trust you. If nothing else, I at least need to know your name. Your Murkrow friend called you Karen, but that seemed rather formal. Do you prefer Karen, or do you have a different name in mind?"

Remembering the incident with the Murkrow, Theo remembered a rather important piece of information, especially considering where they were at the moment.

"I don't know how much time we have to discuss details, but if you need to cut our talk short, feel free." He said quickly, "Your boss still wants to see you."

[Noblejanobii]

Raven Karan the Mightyena
Raven's Office, Scarwell, Azmarax
Affected rpers: Morzone

"First," he said, "I want to know more about you. I understand that personal information isn't generally given out in particular field of work, but fighting the abyss will require us to work together quite a lot and I want to know how much I can trust you. If nothing else, I at least need to know your name. Your Murkrow friend called you Karen, but that seemed rather formal. Do you prefer Karen, or do you have a different name in mind?" Raven watched Theo carefully as he paused in thought. "I don't know how much time we have to discuss details, but if you need to cut our talk short, feel free." He said quickly, "Your boss still wants to see you."

Raven flicked her tail back and forth in thought. She walked over and took a seat at her chair behind her burnt desk and nodded slightly to herself before speaking.

"It's Karan, not Karen. And Karan's my last name. It's what most of the underlings or my employers call me. My first name, however, is Raven. Address me as you wish." Raven glanced at the door then shrugged again.

Theo was right, she did have a meeting pending with her boss, but she felt that it was important to have him included in this discussion. If all went according to plan, he would burst into her office shortly after him finding out she had arrived.

"He will not mind. The pokemon is a man of patience," Raven answered simply with a flick of her paw. "And I apologize for the lack of introductions earlier. For a Pokemon, like myself, it is better to remain silent in most cases out of protection against those who wish to seek us out maliciously." Raven swiveled her ears forward a bit. "I'm not sure if you're accustomed to that kind of behavior or not given that I have barely encountered anyone of another culture prior to this occasion." Raven glanced at the clock on the wall and then smiled at Theo. "A word of advice, I'd move away from the door some."

As if to symbolize exactly what Raven meant, there was a loud shout from outside Raven's office. "Raven!" A crash was heard outside, it sounded like a piece of pottery to Raven, and then a shadow appeared at her door. After a short struggle with her doorknob, the door swung open and inside stepped a very mad Honchkrow.

His feathers were more gray than black and he had scars covering his wings and face, the largest one cutting across his beak. This Honchkrow had been in the business a long time. "I thought I had one of the Murkrows summon you," he said in a deep, raspy voice.

Raven watched him, a smug smile playing at her lips. She glanced at Theo, wanting to see how he was taking this whole ordeal before answering, "And you did, but I felt it would be better if you met my latest client first. Boss, this is Theo Myrsky, a seer."

The Honckrow's expression softened a little. He looked over towards Theo and observed the Quilava before closing the door behind him. Raven's Boss turned his cold gaze back to Theo and asked, "Is this true, son?"

[Morzone]

Theo Myrsky
Raven's Office, Scarwell, Azmarax
ARP'ers: Noblejanobii

"It's Karan, not Karen. And Karan's my last name. It's what most of the underlings or my employers call me. My first name, however, is Raven. Address me as you wish."

Theo nodded. He'd go with Raven, it seemed to fit her better then Karan.

"He will not mind. The pokemon is a man of patience," Raven answered. "And I apologize for the lack of introductions earlier. For a Pokemon, like myself, it is better to remain silent in most cases out of protection against those who wish to seek us out maliciously. I'm not sure if you're accustomed to that kind of behavior or not given that I have barely encountered anyone of another culture prior to this occasion." She glanced at a clock on the wall and then smiled at Theo. "A word of advice, I'd move away from the door some."

Theo looked at the door confused. Was someone hiding behind it and listening? Why would Raven want him to move away from it? Right then, however, a loud crash and a shout came from the other side of the door. Quickly relocating to a chair farther away from the door, Theo watched as an old, heavily scarred Honchcrow pushed his way into the room. He did not look happy.

"I thought I had one of the Murkrows summon you!" He rasped angrily, flapping his wings slightly in his anger. Theo wasn't sure whether to laugh or not. Sure this Honchcrow was covered in scars and looked like he beet down Ursarings as a morning warm up, but the sight of this gray feathered old bird bust into the room and squawk angrily was hilarious. Raven's smug smile told him that she had known all along that he was going to bust in here. A 'Mon of patience indeed.

"And you did, but I felt it would be better if you met my latest client first. Boss, this is Theo Myrsky, a seer." She replied to the bird.

This caught Theo completely off guard. He had been focused this entire time on making sure that his seer powers stayed a secret and he wasn't quite sure he wanted that to change. Still, he figured that if Raven was so quick to tell this Honchcrow about his seer abilities, he must know about hers as well. The information seemed to catch the honchcrow off guard as well, as he stopped shouting and took a good long look at Theo before saying, "Is this true, son?"

"Yes It's true," Theo responded, "I came over to Scarwell looking for other seers to help me fight the abyss," Theo nodded his head slightly at Raven at this, "I assume that you are Raven's boss. I apologize from keeping your employee from meeting with you, but I had been hoping to persuade her to take the job. Feel free to join in the discussion, I have no power to stop you here."

He may have sounded a bit stiff, but Theo did not appreciate being called "Son," it brought back teeth grinding memories of pompous nobles. He wasn't really sure what to expect from Raven's boss, but he knew one thing for sure, and that was that this was not a bird to be on the wrong side of. He would need to be very careful with this conversation.

[Noblejanobii]

Raven Karan the Mightyena
Raven's Office, Scarwell, Azmarax
Affected rpers: Morzone

Raven noticed that Theo seemed to be caught completely off-guard by her introduction to her boss as him being a seer. It had occurred to her that he might have wanted to keep it a secret, but it didn't seem fair to keep it from the only man besides her brothers that knew she was a seer.

"Yes It's true," Theo responded, "I came over to Scarwell looking for other seers to help me fight the abyss," Theo nodded his head slightly at Raven at this, "I assume that you are Raven's boss. I apologize from keeping your employee from meeting with you, but I had been hoping to persuade her to take the job. Feel free to join in the discussion, I have no power to stop you here."

The Honchkrow waved off Theo's comment with a wing. "It is quite all right, son. Given your status and the crisis at hand, I find that your current mission request will be more important than anything I have to ask of Raven. I can debrief her later." He paused then looked at Raven. "Just keep a watch on each other. More and more of the world is falling prey to this deadly disease and the last thing we need is two of some of the most powerful beings in the universe trying to work independently. Am I clear?"

"Yes sir," Raven replied immediately with a bow. Raven's boss tipped his hat then exited the room, closing the door tightly behind him. "Shall we continue then?" Raven asked Theo.

[Morzone]

(Sorry for taking so long, got distracted by some eggs)

Theo Myrsky
Raven's Office, Scarwell
ARP'ers: Noblejanobii

Theo decided never to assume anything about anyone ever again. If a crime boss could be that respectful and fatherly to his subordinates then anyone could. His comment about the two of them being some of the most powerful beings in the universe had surprised him some. He hadn't really thought about it, though it made sense. The thought was somewhat unnerving.

"Shall we continue then?"

Raven's question snapped Theo back into the moment. "Yes of course." he replied, moving over to his original seat. "I supose we should start with the money and get that out of they way. Now I don't know what you usually earn per job in this business, but this is what I'm going to offer: 500 gold coins now, assuming you take the job, and another payment at the end of the mission depending on how well it goes. If you want a quantity to the second payment, then I know that it most likely will not be under 200 gold coin."

Theo took a breath to calm himself, negotiating always made him nervous. If he had the ability, he would've payed raven much more, but that would take the kind of money only Kings had.

[Noblejanobii]

Raven Karan the Mightyena
Raven's Office, Scarwell, Azmarax
Affected rpers: Morzone

Raven listened to Theo's offer in coins. It was far greater than what she usually got paid, but, then again, she was performing a much heftier job than just stealing a piece of jewelry. In her honest opinion, all the money in the world wasn't enough for this job. So it was a good thing it wasn't money she was after.

"Cease your monetary offers while you still can. You can give me your money if you don't think you can give me the reward I seek." Raven glanced down at her desk before reaching up and touching her charm with her right paw. "As seers we are highly respected but we also are highly targeted. My status as a thief does not help." Raven's ears fell a little. "I've been seeking three individuals since my powers manifested, they're the reasons my powers did manifest. I've tried to locate them for a long time, but to no avail." Raven looked up at Theo. "I request of you that you try to help me locate them. If you can't, I understand I will take your coins. I just… have a hope that you might be able to help me in my location of them."

[Morzone]

Theo Myrsky
Raven's Office, Scarwell
ARP'ers: Noblejanobii

Relief spread through Theo. Helping Ravan find her friends was a better payment than any money he could have offered. It was something a seer should do anyway, helping others, even if the world wasn't going to hell. He touched his Sun pendant, thinking of the person he wanted to save as well. Perhaps all seers were plagued with the curse of having people they're close to taken away. The thought made him sad.

"I will do everything in my power to help you find your comrades." Theo told Ravan, his voice stronger than it had been before.

[Noblejanobii]

[b]Raven Karan the Mightyena
Raven's Office, Scarwell, Azmarax
Affected rpers: Morzone[/MENTION]

"I will do everything in my power to help you find your comrades."

Raven's ears lifted and she looked up at Theo. There was a sparkle in her eyes and she smiled just slightly. Her claws tightened around her charm. Finally, someone was willing to help. With Raven's powers being so underdeveloped, having someone more experienced might be just what she needed to locate her brothers. She would find them, even if it meant her own demise.

"Thank you," she replied softly. "They mean the world to me, and I will do anything to have them stand by my side again. And even if we cannot locate them, your efforts in helping me are more than enough payment for me. Thus, I require no form of monetary payment from you. For no amount of money could replace them."

[Morzone]

Theo Myrsky
Raven's Office, Scarwell
ARP'ers: Noblejanobii

Theo nodded, glad to be of use to her. "May I inquire more about your comrades? Who they were and who took them from you?" Mentally he went through a list of people or organizations that might want to attack a seer. Obviously there were abyssal forces, possibly a government that was afraid of her possible power and influence, maybe some other underground organization. Then again, the racism against quadrupeds in this place could've easily motivated a lot of Pokemon to want to hurt her. They wouldn't like the idea of a quadruped being a seer.

[Noblejanobii]

[b]Raven Karan the Mightyena
Raven's Office, Scarwell, Azmarax
Affected rpers: Morzone[/MENTION]

Raven's ears fell and her claws tightened on the charm. She sighed and looked to the side, her eyes far away. She shook her head a little and glanced back at Theo.

"They're my brothers," she answered quietly. "We were raised in the same orphanage together. They protected me and in turn, when it came to it, I provided us with food to eat. See, even within groups of dark types, quarapleds are discriminated against, so being the only ones with four legs brought us together. Our caretaker bore no prejudice against us, but the bipedals were always trying to harm us, especially me since, at the time, I was the youngest and the weakest." Raven sighed and looked at the charm in her paw. "There's the oldest, Axel. He's an absol. Then there's Selini, an Umbreon. He was always the voice of reason amongst us and kept us from lashing out at those who hurt us. Then there's Cerberus, he's the closest to my age and the one that helped train me."

Raven released the charm from her paw and let it fall back against her neck. She narrowed her eyes and let out a low growl.

"I was tricked and lured into a thieving mission. The authorities almost caught me, leaving me with this scar on my snout. What I didn't realize is I was allowed to escape on purpose and led them straight back to my home. The next day, when I returned from another mission, they were…" Tears rose in Raven's eyes and she cursed herself for it. Now was not the time for such a weak emotion. She rubbed at her eyes as she spoke but her voice still conveyed her emotions. "They were gone. In their place, a note that said 'Pleasure doing business with you.'"

[Morzone]

(The map of Talandra has disappeared from both the first post of this thread and the SU for me. Is it gone for anyone else?)

Theo Myrsky
Raven's Office, Scarwell
ARP'ers: Noblejanobii

"Pleasure doing business with you..." Theo murmured. He glanced at the scar on Ravan's snout, thinking hard. He doubted the abyssal forces were behind this, there would've been more destruction, more chaos. Most likely a government, probably the racist one of Scarwell, though he couldn't rule out some other criminal organization, though he doubted that one as well.

"Most likely," he said slowly, "most likely it was the government, though you've probably guessed that by now. If it is them, the only way we would be able to find your... family would be to ask someone inside for information." He touched his own memorabilia hanging around his neck, understanding what it felt like to lose someone important. "As a seer unbeknownst to this area, it may be possible for me to acquire an audience with the royalty, or at least someone important within the government, and see if I can find any details about their whereabouts ." Theo looked at Ravan, wondering what she thought of this plan.

[Noblejanobii]

[b]Raven Karan the Mightyena
Raven's Office, Scarwell, Azmarax
Affected rpers: Morzone[/MENTION]

Raven considered Theo's plan carefully. It seemed almost too simple, too diplomatic. It certainly wasn't Raven's style, but it might be Theo's. She had to admit, the quilava was an effective negotiator so this might be their best option. Her only worry was discrimination. Theo might not be a dark type, but the quadrupled discrimination was something he was still a possible subject to. Though, being a foreigner might help him avoid such pokeracism, though Raven doubted that. Still, Occam's razor, the simplest argument is often the best one.

"It sounds like an interesting plan. It's not my style but you're more of a diplomat than I am, so if you believe you can get that to work then go ahead an try it. What will you need for it?"

[Morzone]

Theo Myrsky
Raven's Office, Scarwell
ARP'ers: Noblejanobii

Theo thought for a moment, recalling what he'd been taught. He decided the most important thing was information, mainly about the customs of the nobles in Scarwell and the names of the King or Queen and other Pokemon in high position. He would also need a way to announce himself beforehand, as showing up unannounced did not command much respect.

"I need to know as much as I can about the King or Queen and their nobles, their names and special customs they abide by. A good impression can often do wonders." It occurred to him that a good impression may be impossible due to the quadruped racism. He would have to work around that. "I also need a way to announce myself before going there personally, so as to create the illusion that my lifestyle resembles that of a Pokemon similar in statute to theirs. A letter will probably do, so I can handle that." He mulled it over a second or two before adding, "I may be able to address the quadruped racism in the letter, but I doubt it will remove the problem. hmm..."