Magnum/Apex/Zilch/Sledge
Team Lockdown
Relic Graveyard Safehaven
Affected RPers: @Gef @Morzone @Alphys @LKWayvern
Magnum wasn't sure what to make of Darkrai's promises. It seemed to him that the dark legendary Pokémon wanted to help and was willing to provide all the names of the Corrupted, but he simply didn't have the truly authentic proof that Magnum and Zilch would be willing to trust.
At that moment, with nothing left to go by, both Magnum and Zilch looked to Apex the Emolga, who had been watching him the entire time. The electric squirrel nodded, and then sighed.
"He shows no signs of lying," Apex confirmed before everyone else in the room, "His body language confirms his frustration and desperation, but there was no sign of fabrication in his words. Had he been lying, his eyes would have been glancing upward and darting around, but I didn't see any of that."
The Emolga also knew there was no way Darkrai could have prepped responses for all the possible reactions and questions the Safehavens would have countered him with. It did surprise Apex, for it was the very first time any legendary passed his scrutiny without portraying signs of deception. He never thought he would see it happen, but there it was and he wasn't about to question his own judgment, training, and experience.
Magnum tapped his foot a few times, looked down, and just spoke with frustration. He was having difficulty accepting this, but the signs were pointing toward an outcome that if Darkrai really was speaking the truth and Team Lockdown had killed him, they were risking a consequence far worse than allowing one guilty legendary to escape.
However, before he could make a confirmation, Perish, Starr, and Adflatus entered the room, followed by Hyperion, Pheobe, and Oceanus. Starr was confused, and Magnum didn't feel like relaying the entire story of what had happened in the meantime. He figured someone else could catch them up to speed or they could learn most of it just by watching.
"If these words are true," Magnum told Darkrai, looking straight into his eyes, "then give us the names of those Corrupted and we'll seek them out and destroy them. I don't trust outsiders easily and never dreamed I would find myself even dealing with a legendary, but you've lasted this long in front of me and my team and haven't done anything stupid that would cause us to believe otherwise. For now, you've earned a very slight sliver of my trust, but it would be a brutal mistake to betray that or use it unthinkingly."
Zilch was silent for a moment, looking at Magnum with a questioning gaze for just a short glance, but then looked back to Darkrai.
"You're lucky." Zilch spat at Darkrai. "Damn are you lucky."
"If we are to work together," Sledge nodded, glad the tensions and aggression were dying down, "we must trust and support each other. When one calls for aid, the other must answer. We will help you, Darkrai, as we will need your help in return if this mission is to be a success."
Apex knew it was going to be hard for Magnum to accept this and work with it, but he could agree with Sledge's words. There was no doubt the alliance would be shaky to put it mildly, but it was rare that most alliances were firmly laid in stone right from the start.
This was one that was going to need time and cooperation from both sides to be built strong.
Bookmarks