(...I would've preferred it if I had been controlling Tarnish during the attack. You did a pretty good job, but there are certain motivations and powers unique to different Corrupteds that make them a bit different from normal Legendaries?)

Team Double-Take!
Outside Fractured Heavens Safehaven
ARPers: @Gef


From its current appearance alone, it had once been beautiful.


It had once been muscular and majestic, well-fed and well-groomed, proud and powerful. A shining example of what the most powerful, dedicated, diligent, and honorable warriors and leaders could someday aspire to. The Pokemon’s equivalent of a knight in shining armor.


The years and the Corruption had, however, not been kind to it.


From a distance it appeared merely unclean and underfed. Up close, it was far worse.


It had obviously not been eating. Its skin was shrunken around its belly so it was rather easy to count its ribs, despite the fact it was obviously still extremely well muscled. In fact, it appeared to be overly muscled, the bulk getting in its own way sometimes. Its once beautiful cobalt fur had fallen out in tufts, exposing pale skin either stretched taut over muscles or shrunk and wrinkled over bones.


Those could be expected, to an extent. The other changes that had been brought upon the being once known as Cobalion were not.


It was armored now. Craggy, unnatural, rust red plates, encasing its feet like hooves, jagged around its back and shoulders and exploding in a spray of oversized needles along its spine and where a tail might be. Old engravings of Cobalion had depicted it with two sharp golden horns, but this one’s head was almost entirely encased in curving, cracked horns almost shaped like an overgrown helmet. Some points were dulled and of new use, but the largest were still in surprisingly good shape, and all had what could have been the remnants of blood. Peering out from those countless branching horns were eyes, gleaming like cold steel and practically overflowing with absolute hatred.


The strangest, eeriest, and most mocking aspect of ‘Tarnish’, however, was how clean it seemed to appear. Not a speck of mud or dust or bile was visible upon it. What little fur remained upon it was licked clean and straightened, and the creature stood as upright as it possibly could. Almost as if it was still a majestic and chivalrous knight in armor, despite all appearances to the contrary.


The fact it had been relentlessly hounding and pursuing Team Double-Take! without showing the slightest bit of pain, exhaustion, or mercy proved any remnants of a brave and noble warrior that had at any point existed to be entirely gone, however.


It deserved the name of Corrupted, through and through. It gave off a supernatural aura or pure wrongness, almost as if it was not a living creature but rather a hole in the fabric of the universe, a hole that led to someplace hellish.


From the direction Tarnish had fled in came an ear-splitting whine like rusted pieces of iron scraping against each other. And something very disturbing began to happen. Wickedly sharp blades of rusted armor, at least six feet high, encircled Team Double-Take!.


No place to go but up into the sky and down beneath the ground.


Tarnish leaped over the wall of iron and landed in a fashion that could be called the undead parody of gracefulness, positioning itself so its chin was up and legs apart but solidly rooted into the ground. It made eye contact with Kiki, narrowing the steely cobalt eyes at her. Kiki may feel rather… Strange. A paralyzing fear of the fallen Legendary might begin creeping up her legs.


Tarnish began making more sounds. It was speaking now, in a deep voice cracked from a lack of use. “...Why do you flee like children? Your actions, nay, your very lives are both futile and useless. You will meet death very soon. If you truly are the so-called warriors of this age, you should meet it with honor and dignity. Not pitiful wailing and crying,” it said.




RGS, FHS, LVS, PSS, CCS
Fractured Heavens Safehaven
ARPers: @Alphys, @Morzone, @Neo Emolga, @The Nonexistent Tazz


Yuko’s Connect Orb suddenly chimed. She grabbed it, pressing her pawpads against the shimmering cerulean glassy surface. “Team Double-Take…” she muttered, before moving her fingers in a particular way. There was a burst of static, followed by a voice as it filled the room. “Delphox Yuko! Delphox Yuko, please! A-are you there? A Legendary Pok—... A Legend's on its way to Fractured Heavens...!”


Yuko stood staring at the orb for a moment, before turning to glare at Darkrai.


Darkrai held up his hands. “I knew nothing of this!”


Silver dashed towards Darkrai. “...A distraction. You confess to us, keeping us all here, while your comrades go and attack our teams while we’re enraptured by your stupid little sto--”


“They are not my comrades any longer!” Darkrai snapped, rather agitatedly.


Crownless held out a claw, summoning a stone claymore with his Stone Edge attack. Darkrai backed against the wall, the glow in his visible eye intensifying slightly.


“I-i speak the truth! Emolga, you could tell I was not lying before, I knew nothing of this! If I had known a Corrupted was on their way--” Darkrai paused, before trying to grab the Connect Orb out of Yuko’s paws.


Out of surprise, Yuko held onto it. “Hey! Unhand me you filthy--”


Darkrai muttered “Forgive me for this,” before wrenching it out of her paws. He held it close to his face. “Which Corrupted?” he asked. He looked up.


“Give that back!” Yuko growled.


“Stop. Fighting,” Crownless roared. An expectant hush fell over the Safehaven leaders. “...Right now, there is a Corrupted apparently headed towards us. I… don’t entirely trust Darkrai. However, I am going out to fight that Legendary. Silver and Lockdown, I expect you to come with me. And we are bringing Darkrai. He has claimed not to be a very good fighter, but he is currently the one who has the most information on Corrupteds. I won’t say no to more teams accompanying us.”


Crim huffed, flicking her tails. “...Knight and I will join you. Team Camelot, if you would please come as well?”