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

[The Nonexistent Tazz]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"LET

THERE

BE

BLOOD!!!"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"The Rotom's watching," Yvonne said.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nora glimped Yvonne's attempt to make sure she didn't look too offended at that, and saw a beefy Loudred punch a irritating Swellow into submission a dozen seats away. Her eyes bounced back to the scoreboard-an Independent died early, as was basic tradition for these. Nora couldn't look much longer.

Nora did think the Rotom had a good point. At the very least a compromise between the Platoon and the Order could be reached. Maybe not the Scavengers, though. But it would be a much harder fight to beat if that were the case... Maybe. Nora had to think it through-that would pretty much be half of Liao, with a massive stranglehold on imports that Liao desperately needed to keep functional.

"Well then, you'd think it'd be better if no-one was doing anything about it?" Yvonne questioned.

"No, but that's precisely the situation we're in right now anyways. I mean, I think this is just a whole big sham. The Black Lotus either scam everyone out of the Blaze Jewel or just win as usual and go on to make like ultra-big domination soldiers of death or something-"

"Hrm, let's put it this way. If we were a united front, would we be able to field one team or three like we are now?" Yvonne asked.

"I know for a fact you're not united," The Rotom curtly responded.

Nora kept searching. The highest echelons of the pews, the roof, the area above-any snipers, anything. Was there anything? Nora didn't catch the glimpse of a sniper scope there or the subtle bump of a body on the roof-unless there was one directly above her, but then, they wouldn't really have a view over Nora and company. She kept searching. The Mimikyu came up again... Hrm. Were there any important Mimikyu she knew of? There was that Carpet-Weaver guy making waves... And that was about it. Nora didn't have a physical profile, but she kept tabs on the Mimikyu.

"...So you really think this is all for nothing, then?" Yvonne asked.

"Yep. No way you could win the games," the Rotom asked.

Nora's eyes briefly met Yvonne's. The two knew that the acutal details of the job itself could sway over the Rotom... But dare they?

"Now, can you just scram-"

"NO!" Nora jumped a little. No, that wasn't her, nor Yvonne. She looked back to the Gliscor and the Empoleon-the gliscor was standing up, then remembered where he was and, slowly, sat down, warily searching the area like Nora would. His glimpse passed Nora without stopping-Nora knew it, no recognition of her, at least. Her ears strained to hear what he might have to say next. "... No. You're asking too much, sir. I thought any price would be acceptable, but you've somehow surpassed my expectations. You could probably make the Queen turn down immortality for what you've just asked, good sir."

The Empoleon mildly shifted. Nora realized that the trio of Eeveelutions were trying to listen in-the general feel of the back row suddenly silenced. "...I would talk further, but you've attracted too much attention. Another time, perhaps. And trust me when I say that the cost is perhaps less than you think of it. I will say this; what if it were to be such that you had less than what you believed?"

"Doubtful," the Gliscor said. "But I will keep you in touch."

Nora wondered where she would have heard of a Gliscor before. Nothing came to her in the world of spycraft-these must be talking business. But what kind of deal would make Taiya refuse to pay?

"...That was... Something." Nora said.

"OK, uh, yeah. Uh, but seriously, can you scram? I just... I'unno. I just wanted to forget about how bad life seems to be, for a moment."

"Forgetting about how bad life could be is just... Look, you said it yourself that the games were a sham. Now..." Yvonne bent in. Whispering-whispering Nora could barely hear despite being right next to them-ensured.

"... What if it were that there were plans to take the very prize-"

"No."

The Rotom's response was just so final, so just absolutely noncooperational, that Yvonne had to back up. "I'm sorry, what-"

"No, I've said it already. Not. Interested." The Rotom turned back to the games.

"You don't believe in better?" Nora asked.

"Not at this rate," The Rotom responded.

"Better doesn't happen just because. It doesn't happen randomly, you know," Yvonne said. "If you don't want it to acutally happen-"

"I'm not risking my life over it, period," The Rotom asked.

"Your scat-filled, terrible life?" Nora asked.

"It's better than nothing," the Rotom said.

"What was up with the casino?" Nora asked.

"Some dumb attempt to get rich. The guy who was supposed to show up never did," the Rotom responded.

"And why did you target there, instead of some filthy run-down slum home?" Nora said.

"There was actually a lot of money there?" The Rotom asked, as if that was something obvious.

"You crazy? The slumdogs have a lot of minor knick-nacks they keep around that are worth way more and are easier to steal. You could easily make a living off of that old crap they keep around... They don't have any way to protect themselves either. You could just possess a small TV, walk off, pawn it off, repeat it until the night's over, then repeat it again when everyone's off to work whatever menial eight-to-five they've got. Bam."

Yvonne was giving mildly disapproving looks, but the Rotom looked mildly curious. "...What?"

"You probably thought of that already, didn't you, though? You just thought they either wouldn't have enough... Or you couldn't bring yourself to do it. The rich guys are easy targets, right?" Nora said.

"...Yeah. I, I tried, once. It was easy. But I couldn't do it again, I couldn't even make off with it. It just felt so... Even by the standards of this kako-filled a*sfest, that was too wrong," the Rotom said.

"So, you're willing to risk it against one of the biggest-a*s casinos and hotels in all of Xia, owned by one of the most powerful and influential Pokemon in Xia, for a payout that probably would have arrested you on the spot and thrown you in a Black Lotus prison for the rest of your life, but you won't do it against some nearly-a-hobo that could get you nearly as much in a go much faster?" Nora asked.

"Yes." The Rotom said.

"I'm sorry, but the way you've been talking, it sounds like you should just be crushing everyone and try to reach the top no matter what or who you inconvenience, but if you can't actually do that, are you sure that's what you really believe?" Yvonne asked.

Silence. Nora resumed glimpsing, keeping her eyes as peeled as possible for anything-anything! Anything that she may have missed before. Her ears were peeled for the most interesting covnersations, her eyes for the most interesting sights in the stands-anything! She noticed a kill on the Thundercrash gang now on the scoreboard-they were duking it out with the Prankster Platoon.

"...If there was a chance you could make one thing better-or hell, just stick it up to those snobs up top-would you consider it for a second?" Yvonne asked the rotom.

"I, I already did?" The Rotom asked. His voice mildly broke.

"So you're just going to live an unfulfilling life, capable of doing great, crazy things but refusing to do so, but you can't do the terrible, awful things that'd put you up top either. You're going to just let life die because you can't risk living it?"

"...Uuuuuuuuuugh. Fine. But first! Who are you and what is it that you want?" The Rotom asked. Nora's mind felt like a birthday celebration-thank goodness.

Yvonne's voice resumed whispering, and Nora resumed looking out. The Rotom's eyes bulged. "...What."

"Yes, I know... I don't think I'm ready for it myself, to be honest. It's something that's buzzing in my mind, the doubts, the fears, the worries-But I can't let that drag me down. We're going to be doing it, no matter what-but you could help, so much. You have that, uh... Possession thing, and it's not something everyone can protect against. You could really help. You could be responsible for one of the best changes Liao ever had. A hero! That would be a life well-lived, in my opinion."

"Mine too... Good god I'm shaking so much thinking about it. I've done risky, crazy cr*p before. I've done scat that felt like whoever thought of it pulled the idea from the depths of Murhe itself. But this is like someone dug beneath Murhe and then found somewhere more horrible. This just screams bad idea... But..."

"But what?" The Rotom asked. "What are you thinking? If it's that bad-sounding, why are you considering it?"

"You want to know why I suggested robbing the poor? I didn't have a family, I didn't have anything except trash, dumpsters and some hobos, and I'm lucky to have kept to friendly hobos, in this friggin' wretched hellhole. I should not have survived. I did. Mostly by theft, but I did. I don't think there's much lower on the totem pole of society to be. Of course, my antics didn't exactly curray favor with the Black Lotus, and they decided that since I wasn't with them... I had to jump ship. Managed to get to Jadeblossom... You've ever been there?"

"No." The Rotom asked. "What's it like?"

"Can't say it's perfect. That'd be a filthy lie and you'd know it. But it's like friggin' paradise. Food's better. Air's better. Everything is better over there. It's like, friggin Utopia over there, compared to this place. It's not perfect, there's still the usual troubles, but when you're livin' as a hobo in Lytala city, the comparison is like, wow. I never felt anything like it before. Can't say I'd be totally willing to die for it... But the Black Lotus are bearing down on my neck."

"... OK, there's one other thing you should know. Havard didn't call the police on you-he said you were lucky that he wasn't. You remember that, right?" Yvonne said. The Rotom simply bobbed up and down. More whispering-most likely about how the Graceida Order was there. Nora suspected that he held off of the police investigation because then they'd be turned up, and Havard would be in even deeper water than if he was 'merely' unveiled as a cannibal. The rotom's eyes lit up in shock.

"...But that would mean-"

"Well, that would mean that Havard is only waiting on us to fail, or at least for the competition to be over so we can get out of his hair. Then he can call the cops on you for the crime. The Black Lotus isn't about to oust one of their best moneymakers and certainly won't go easy on you either way. I don't want to hold this above your head, of course. You could run-but between Ante and the Master Blaze Jewel, running may not be an option," Yvonne said. "Interested now?"

The Rotom looked at the duo contemplatively for a while. Nora kept back to her scrutinizing of the crowd. "... Fine, I suppose... I guess."

"Awesome!" Yvonne said. Nora nodded her approval.

Now it was just watching the games, right? The screen flickered back to the Decidueye... Wasn't that... Oh, it was. Athena Pallas... Huh. Wonder what she was thinking of. She probably didn't see Nora or Yvonne, so far back in the crowd as they were. Nora had to watch for a moment. She hadn't really watched before. Maybe there was some tip, some trick, some tactic, that she could pull out of this to enhance her performance later on. Maybe.

Something.

Anything.

[VeloJello]

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

((Side-note: “x is grit” is a term pretty specific to Liao’s desert Pokemon, meaning something worthless at best and annoying at worst. Mazer's post is pending right now for Reasons.))

The Screaming Talon had achieved its name for two key features. The first was its sharp, streamlined shape that made it somewhat resemble the prismacolored claw of a Pokemon. The second was the ridiculous amount of noise it made when its driver slammed their foot down on the gas pedal.

The Talon took off like a rocket, sparks shooting violently out of the back of it. The acceleration shook Jones a bit - she wasn’t taken aback, but she’d had very few practice sessions to unleash this thing’s full power. However, it only took her a moment to get her bearings. She was rocketing through the slums, the Talon crashing through the slipshod buildings, periodically zigzagging along the path in case anyone was targeting the vehicle.

“How are we doing?” she shouted toward the back of the car, raising her voice as high as it could go. “Any pursuers?”

There was a pause, and then abruptly, Jones saw a field of shimmering teal energy in front of the Talon. Before she could brake, she heard Cheshire’s voice. “That one’s with us; it’s mine!” Sure enough, the field stayed the same distance away from the windshield even as Jones sped up, and it turned white and vanished as the sound and bass vibration of a loud explosion rattled the car.

“I think we have at least one!” Tony spat. “Don’t worry, babe,” he added to Cheshire, “I got this; focus on deflecting fire.”

Other ‘mons might have told Tony to just shoot at the Black Lotus vehicles and spare everyone else. To Jones, though, the other drivers were grit. She didn’t answer, and she didn’t look back as Tony shot out an incendiary grenade, hitting something.

“You didn’t get it!” Cheshire shouted. There wasn’t a response, just the sound of another grenade exploding.

“Situation!” screeched Jones. She could barely keep track of what was going on behind her, let alone in front -

CRASH! A string of curses almost as colorful as the Screaming Talon’s hull came out of Jones’s mouth as something slammed into the side of the vehicle, nearly knocking her off of the main drag. Out her window, she could now clearly see her opponent - some stupid grit-grain Whimsicott on a motorcycle that had some sort of cannon mounted on it. The Whimsicott leered up at her and mimed a rude gesture, but Jones was having none of it - she veered to the right as hard as she could without going too far off the path the other way, clenching her teeth as the Talon’s wheels crunched up vehicle parts beneath it.

Rash the Whimsicott (Thundercrash Gang) has been eliminated.

“Do better!” Jones shouted back at her gunners before righting the vehicle and slamming her foot down on the gas pedal as far as it could go. Their strategy relied on leading the pack and picking off the people behind them, not getting hammered by stupid little mosquitoes who slipped by the idiotic cats who were gunning for her.

[Death's Spook]

The Grand Lady (Tsareena)
Steel Scavengers
The Blood Pit Arena, Lytala City
ARPers: @Neo Emolga @The Nonexistent Tazz, @LKWyvern

Upon the start of this little debate, The Lady knows that the absolute first thing she has to accomplish is to obscure the vision of any snipers in the area. Haq is a crackshot and supporting The Lady in the stands, but even without speech they have already made it clear that if it was clear enough for them to shoot, The Lady was likely to be dead already. Isana the Azumarill, guarding them and Oort, seconded that opinion. It was not that her opinion mattered very much to The Lady, but, including Anthony, three competent people expressed the sentiment that The Lady needs to avoid being sniped.

The more labyrinthine format of the Blood Pits helps with that, but The Grand Lady has no intention of relying solely on that, so once the announcement starts the festivities, Kaytoo immediately uses Haze, obscuring the team from view long enough for the Tsareena’s strategies to come to fruition.

The Lady, upon deciding that she was entering the Arena, immediately catalogued her strengths and weaknesses. She quickly realized that while she was durable and strong, she had the mobility lamed Mudsdale unless she used her little ascot (which merely traded one problem for another). So she sought a strategy that would allow her to capitalize on her strengths and render her weaknesses less relevant.

First is the obvious: except for the nameless Manectric (whose situation The Grand Lady has acute empathy for), everyone is wearing lots of armor. Between Paramid vests, ballistic strike plates, and actual steel armor, The Lady is accentuating everyone’s defensiveness at the expense of mobility.

Kaytoo keeps up the Haze as Durkon imparts a silver energy into boulders hidden therein. Everyone on the team knows the signal for when to begin to act more directly, but over the Lady’s earpiece, Isana groans, “Come on, where’s your backup?”

The Lady is about to answer when, almost on cue, she feels the first raindrop. Then the next, and the next, until a veritable downpour spews forth from the heavens, making visibility quite poor.

Over the earpiece, The Lady has a sardonic tone, “Satisfied, Isana?” The aqua rabbit gives a small groan, but focuses on protecting her two charges in the Claydol’s sniper nest.

Kaytoo stops spewing forth her Haze, and as the dark smoke clears, the Lady, sword and shield in hand, takes a few steps forward like she’s on a catwalk. She uses her sword to throw her hair off to one side, then stops walking as she puts her hand on her hip.

Overhead, Jabis the Vikavolt spots the Lady despite the poor visibility and tries to take advantage of the storm through the use of Thunder. To the bug’s surprise, the bolt veers off entirely to one side, striking the nameless Manectric instead, and he seems no worse for wear despite taking a powerful bolt of electricity to the face.

Lightning Rod, the Lady grins to herself. As though I’d go to the trouble of setting up ideal weather for my strategy and then letting others use it against me. Aloud, all she says is, “Now.”

To the front of The Lady, Gloria makes a downward gesture with her hands.

And then the battlefield truly descends into chaos.

The Lady has timed her order just right: she ensured that there were enough fliers in the air for this effect to be devastating, but there is not enough time for them to start using their superior maneuverability to take potshots at the powerful but ground bound Lady and her team as the move Gravity takes effect.

Jabis the Vikavolt is significantly less smug as he is thrown towards the ground, unable to sustain the lift that would keep him afloat, just like some other fliers. Unlike some of them, however, Jabis does not have enough maneuverability to keep from crashing. He tries to use his gun, rigged to function with his control of electromagnetism, to fire at the Lady, but discovers that the greater acceleration from gravity plants his bullet in the ground many feet from the Tsareena. Further to his dismay, he is also the subject who reveals what Durkon prepared in the Haze.

Stealth Rock.

Jabis enters the area of effect of the hazards, and immediately is buffeted by several large boulders, injuring him badly. When he finally looks up, he finds himself looking directly at the Lady.

He searches desperately for any hint of mercy or pity in her eyes, any hint that he is not, in fact, about to die.

The Lady gives his head an almost dainty looking kick.

Jabis the Vikavolt (Independent) has been eliminated.

The Lady gives a grin, knowing almost certainly that at least some of the cameras around are pointed at her.

[VeloJello]

Mazer Pratten the Greninja
Prankster Platoon (De Facto Leader)
Connive, City Center -> Liaocrack River
Affected RPers: @LKWayvern (Laura), @Morzone (Theo).

((Spitland Raichu: an Alolan Raichu; their surfboard tails have been adapted for the watery environment of Spitland Lake))

“Mazer? What are you doing?”

Truthfully, Mazer had no idea what he was doing - one minute he was lying on his belly, watching the Bloodpit Arena play out; the next, he was on his feet, holding Water Shurikens in both hands. With great effort, he managed to dismiss them, though his hands were still trembling with anger.

“That Tsareena,” he said to Sheena, gesturing to the television, where a beautiful but crownless Tsareena was executing a Vikavolt, “that Tsareena is trouble. Where in the name of everything is Jacobin? I need to talk to him.”

Sheena shifted uncomfortably, “Mazer, there’s nothing we can do for them; we just have to hope they survive -”

“I need to warn them,” Mazer interrupted, snappish. “The Grand Lady hates me, personally, and she’s aligned against the Prankster Platoon. She’ll go after our people, and I need to warn them now.” Before either Sheena or Bella could protest, Mazer walked off, boosting his speed with jets of water under his feet.

It didn’t take him long to find Jacobin, a Beheeyem who was constantly tapping away at his phone. “Hi, Mazer.” Because he had no mouth and couldn’t broadcast telepathy to a Dark-type, he typed the words into a text-to-speech program on his phone. “Apparently some Black Lotus officers were spotted with what looked like some kidnap victim leaving Sabinal and heading up the Liaocrack. Must be something important for them to leave someone alive. And then there’s -”

Mazer held up a hand to try and stop Jacobin, but the Beheeyem was too busy staring at the screen to register the gesture. “Now’s not the time. Need you to get a message to Kirrun, dear,” Mazer said, exasperated. “I need you to have him warn everyone on our side that The Grand burning Lady is on the field.”

“The grand who wha -”

“A Tsareena!” Mazer shouted, his voice escalating. “A Tsareena with no crown and a penchant for deep carnage. Oh, and she f**king hates me and the rest of the Platoon, and since Laura is quite visibly one of us, she and her flock will try and murder our squadron on sight. Tell Kirrun to tell our party to either stay away from the Tsareena or kill her as quickly and decisively as possible, or they’re not going to come back.”

When he was done, Jacobin gave Mazer a blank stare, the only sign that he was even conscious being his idiotic nubby fingers blinking. Mazer was severely tempted to jolt the Beheeyem out of his reverie with a nice Night Slash, but then Jacobin made a beeping noise deep in his throat. “It’s done,” he communicated, fingers flashing across the screen of his phone. “I’ll let you know when Kirrun replies.”

Mazer shook his head, “You’ll let Sheena and-or Bella know, dear,” he corrected. “Don’t call me unless the Black Lotus are burning Connive to the ground.” He sighed and scratched his chin. “This is an unholy mess, but I think I can salvage something in it. You said Sabinal and heading north, right?”

Jacobin tilted his head, “Sir?”

“If I have to remind one more person not to call me ‘sir’ I will absolutely go berserk,” Mazer remarked calmly. “Sitting here worrying won’t do me any good. Call up my crew members and tell them that if they’re not at the harbor within half an hour, I’ll make them swim the Devil’s Tide.”

Sure enough, an irritable-looking Feraligatr, Dusknoir, Dragonite, and Spitland Raichu were assembled at Connive’s harbor within a few minutes. As soon as Mazer was in sight, the Dragonite turned toward Mazer, baring formidable fangs. “This had better be good, Maze. I’m running bets with this idiot,” she gestured to Umber, the Dusknoir standing next to her, “on the Derby, and we’re missing the whole thing.”

“Oh, please, darling,” said Mazer with a smile, “you all need to get some spontaneity in your life.” He gestured to one of the boats - not the lovingly crafted vehicle that Mazer was holding ready for the Devil’s Tide, but still a formidable vessel in its own right. “Come on. Why watch action when you can join in it?”

---

“I still maintain that this is a terrible idea,” said Mellie. The Spitlander definitely looked irate, though she was better than Tatia; the Dragonite was still growling. The only one who hadn’t complained was Krum, and that was by and large because the Feraligatr averaged about three words per day.

While Mellie was at the helm, Mazer knew that so long as he kept walking the line between authority and equal, she would keep listening to him - though she would probably still keep complaining about it. “And I still maintain that we’re getting good practice for the Devil’s Tide proper and throwing a spanner into whatever the Black Lotus is doing here,” he said calmly. “Settle down, love. Let’s make a day of this!”

Krum emitted a series of rapid-fire growls, which, for the borderline-feral Feraligatr, passed for laughter. “See?” Mazer asked, grinning, “even Krum is excited!”

Umber physically had no reason to sigh, but she did it anyway. “Krum is always excited about getting a chance to eat fresh meat. We should - “

There was the sound of Tatia’s heavy tail thumping down on the ship’s floorboards, “Excuse me,” she said, “but I see a boat.”

Sure enough, there was a faint silvery shape in the distance, speeding along on the river. Mazer smiled. “Full speed ahead, love!”

Mellie obliged, and Mazer ran to his position - he hauled himself over the ship’s railing and lowered himself down, sticking himself onto the hull using the pads on his hands and feet. His heart began to pound with anticipation; this felt familiar, as he’d played the unique and challenging role of boarder in the Devil’s Tide event many a time. While the ship came equipped with guns, he wasn’t sure they’d be needed. The closer they got to the other ship, the easier it was to see that it was a lightweight speedboat, and between himself, Tatia, and Krum, Mazer was pretty sure that the group would be able to deal with that ship with ease.

However, the other ship saw them, too, cruising at them from the north at top speed, too fast to be evaded. “Incoming!” Umber warned, and a second later, an Infernape on the ship’s prow let loose a Fire Blast that was truly a sight to behold. Mazer, quick as light, peeled one of his hands off the ship’s side, then threw up a row of green tiles. The force field was a little sloppy, but it got the job done - the worst that got through was a roil of slight heat that washed over the ship’s crew like a desert breeze.

“Mat Block, love!” Mazer hollered. “Boarders forward! Krum, the monkey is yours! Tatia, make sure they don’t run away like the cowards they are! Let’s show these worthless vermin why they’re afraid of the Prankster Platoon!”

Mazer didn’t wait to see if his orders were being carried out; he knew that they would be. Instead, he lunged off the side of the ship and into the water, where sure enough, he passed by Krum. The Feraligatr’s slitted eye fell on Mazer and for a moment, Mazer wondered if today would be the day he would have to put the reptile down. However, the moment passed quickly, and soon Mazer and Krum were climbing out of the water on opposite sides of the boat - more of a little skiff than anything; barely worth calling a boat - and there was the sound of an Infernape screaming in pain as Krum’s jaws closed around his shoulder.

Without pausing to watch, Mazer made his way into the hold, slicing through the locked door with a Water Shuriken, and cutting down the Machamp standing guard with another of the same. “Must’ve been relying on sheer stealth and reputation,” Mazer muttered as he walked deeper into the hold, looking for whatever or whoever the Black Lotus had been grabbing. It didn’t take him long to find a black bag.

“This had better not be a corpse,” Mazer muttered, “or else I shall be very cross that we got gussied up and came all this way for nothing.” He patted the bag once to make sure that he wouldn’t accidentally lop off its occupant’s head or something, then deftly sliced it open. Inside, he saw a rather bedraggled-looking Quilava, who seemed to be quite alive.

Mazer didn’t recognize him, though; what could make a half-evolved fire ferret so important? “Wake up, sparkler,” Mazer said bowing graciously and making sure that his neon jacket showed, “I am Mazer of the Prankster Platoon, and your salvation is at hand.”

[Morzone]

Julia (weavile)
Steel Scavengers
Lytala City Slums
Affected RP'ers: @Velocity

It had begun. The weavile swallowed whatever trepidation she had and put her foot down. The loud screeching of metal on metal and the roar of a blood-thirsty engine roared through the run down streets. Her car was a tank in essence, she wasn't going to get any success by trying to be discreet. Raul had sped off to some different street, she couldn't worry about him right now. Julia just hoped he'd survive long enough to make a difference.

Left, right, straight, straight, right, nothing. "Damn maze like slums" Julia cursed. This place was supposed to be full metal behemoths of vehicles and motorcycles zipping everywhere. How could she not find anyone? She could even hear the horrible sounds of metal getting ripped apart and yet- wait, metal getting ripped apart?

Yanking the wheel to the left Julia's Iron Giant Skidded around a corner. There. A block away, if you could call it a block in this mess of a neighborhood, was a Talon like a lightweight armored car ripping a bike, and what appeared to be a whimsicott, into small undefinable chunks. Perfect, with some tar she could get the broken bike and the talon stuck together- But before Julia could make a move the talon turned and sped away, leaving the mess of blood, guts, and motor parts strewn across the area they'd just vacated. Talk about messy, if these people owned a workshop it'd look like a disaster. Still, Julia supposed you couldn't be nit picky in a place like this.

"You are Not getting away!" the weavile growled. And she too pushed the gas down, speeding after the lightweight vehicle. The thing was definitely smaller than her car, if she fast enough she would have been able to flip them with the plow, but the velocity difference wasn't enough. Still, Julia stayed on the buggy's tail where ever it went. Though something about the way they moved told her they didn't want to shake her- probably wanted to use the chase to get her in their sights. Well let them try it, no little zippy car was going to get the better of her Iron Giant.

As soon as Julia felt she was within range she took a hand off the steering wheel, grabbing on of the four joysticks that controlled the guns. The gun on the front right swiveled around to point with as much accuracy as Julia could muster in the car chase at the talon. The light machine gun began to spew out bullet fire like a metal hailstorm. At first she tried to aim for their gunners, but would occasionally switch to trying to hit the back tires. She kept at for several seconds before grabbing a second joystick. This time the liquid canon aimed high over the Talon, firing two blasts of sticky tar in attempt to force the car into the speed trap and flipping.

Julia was starting to feel confident when suddenly another hail of bullet fire sounded from behind her. Julia looked over her shoulder to see another Car - specifically a military APV - laying down a hurricane of gun fire on her back window. The glass may be bullet proof, but it was indestructible. She couldn't afford for it to take that kind of punishment for an extended period of time.

Several curses about having to deal with such a heavily armored vehicle so early on slipped from her mouth as Julia returned both hands to her steering wheel. A wider side street was coming up and Julia took the turn, slamming her breaks and yanking the wheel to fishtail into it. Thankfully the tires were large and heavy enough to keep any top heaviness from flipping her. Even so, Julia wasted no time and grabbed a third joystick, the flamethrower turned and let loose a jet of fire onto the APV as it passed. It seemed to work at first, one of the side-gunners let go of their gun when they saw the flames. But suddenly a Blast of water -a hydro pump- blasted out of vehicle and Julia realized the side-gunner had been a blastoise, who had popped his head out of a porthole on the top of the APV to block the fire with his own water.

This time Julia's curses were more audible, but she kept her head. Her car wasn't moving right now. Taking her second hand off the wheel, she grabbed the first joystick again -the light machine gun - and while the blastoise was busy keeping the flames off Julia let off a rain of bullets on him. The poor guy seemed to know what had hit him. As the machine started up the turtle tried to dive down into the safety of the armored car but it was too late. Julia noted at least five bullets striking the Blastoise, mostly in the head.

Kolm (blastoise) of the Sentinel Corporation has been eliminated

But Julia didn't have time to confirm or celebrate the death. The APV Was turning to come after her with vengeance. Julia's hands were back on her wheel as she stepped on the gas pedal. The Iron Giant slammed through a shabby wooden structure, using the collapsing building to put some distance between herself and the APV as she sped back down the way she'd come when she had been chasing the Talon.



Theo Mysrky (quilava)
Steel Scavengers
Boat on Liaocrack River
Affected RP'ers: Velocity

Theo opened his eyes as someone began feeling his bag. Panic seized him, believing it was his captor, Theo struggled fruitlessly again to get out of his bonds. But in the next second the bag was suddenly slit open, and Theo starred up into the face of a Greninja. Was this his kidnapper? Hadn't it been an infernape who knocked him out? What was going on? Theo squirmed away as best he could, but before he got anywhere the Greninja spoke.

"I am Mazer of Prankster Platoon, and your Salvation is at hand."

Theo stopped squirming. Salvation? Prankster Platoon? He'd heard of them before but didn't know much of anything. Just that the group opposed the Black Lotus for their own reasons. Taking a closer look at the Greninja Theo noted the Neon jacket. Was that one of their symbols or something? Neon wasn't exactly a normal color. Still, this pokemon seemed to be rescuing him, he had said his salvation was at hand after all.

From the rest of the ship Theo could hear the sounds of fighting. Whoever this Greninja was with seemed to be attacking the ship's crew. He defintiely heard the sounds of powerful fire blasts being fired off, but there weren't any tell tale screams of people who'd been burned. What was going on out there?

Theo attempted to sit up, failed due his tied paws, tried to say something, but it was muffled by the cloth gag. Annoyed that he'd been freed from the bag but was still so helpless, he tired to breath fire in an attempt to burn the gag away. But it had been soaked in water -or something- tat kept it from burning. In the end all he could do was look up at the Greninja and hoped his expression was enough to get the water pokemon to free him from his binds.

[LKWayvern]

Laura Bette Kaye the Umbreon
Prankster Platoon
Blood Pit Arena, Lytala City
Affected RPers: @Velocity

“Wh-what do you mean you can’t see?” Laura demanded. “That’s impossible, luxrays have the best vision out of all pokemon!”

Aria and Kirrun had been maintaining a Protect barrier around the group so they might have a few minutes to recover, and decide whether the Platoon would withdraw or not.

Since the Electric type had woken up, he had been either lost in thought, or silently listening to the others. He hadn’t spoken since his revelation that he had lost sight in both eyes. He had been blind in his left eye since he had been a shinx cub the scar there was evidence of that. But a total lack of sight had left him reeling. One of the senses he had depended on most had simply vanished.

Laura had leapt up and began pacing the moment that she had heard this. She had called it impossible, she had claimed it was merely blood in his eyes, merely concussion. But she and Aria had did their best to clear the drying blood away from the fur on Xavier’s face-- his green eyes still stared at nothing.

“Miss, he means he’s blind,” Aria spoke.

The umbreon shook her head. This couldn’t be happening. “Can’t be! Give him the healing berries! You brought them, right?” Laura asked.

“You’d need a miracle berry from Shay’s Garden in order to heal this,” Aria said, drily. “Some things can’t be healed by berries and moves. Lost limbs, lost sight, lost life--”

“But we need his x-ray vision! How else would we se--” Laura paused. Her mind was reeling a mile a minute, they needed to survive this, she had to get out alive. They needed to know what was coming. An idea had crossed her mind. “Aria, you’re scouting now.”

Aria’s tendrils spread out as she prepared to argue, before she considered this again. “My intangibility? Very well.”

“Laura,” Kirrun spoke up.

“Kirrun, I need you over Xavier, guide him and make sure nothing gets him from behind--”

“Laura. Xavier’s blind and this is terrible but I have been in contact with Jacobin and I have yet worse news,” Kirrun responded. “The Grand burning Lady is on the field!”

Laura’s eyes widened. Then she allowed her gaze to fall to the ground. “I see.”

“What.” The quiet, disbelieving voice was enough to turn the heads of every party member in the source’s direction. Xavier had spoken again.

His eyes were still sightless, but he was positively glowering at Kirrun. “I don’t want to lose two senses in one day, but I know I heard you wrong.”

“I did not mispeak! Nor did I lie!” Kirrun hissed.

Xavier’s fur fluffed up, as it tended to do when he was irritated.

Laura’s tail swished with worry as she approached him. “Are you oka--”

“Better than you’ll be if we run into that Renegade-spawn,” Xavier spat.

“I take offense to that,” Aria interjected.

A pulse of electricity jolted through Xavier’s claws. “I don’t care about your insane culty deity s*** right now, Aria.” He bared his teeth. “We cannot face her now. Not like this. Kirrun, you will be Teleporting us out of he--”

“No.”

Xavier turned to the sound of Laura’s voice. “What did you say?”

“I told you, no,” Laura said.

“This isn’t a f***ing game, Laura. It never was,” he growled as he stood up.

“I know it’s not a game, the evidence is standing right in front of me!” Laura hissed. Her rings began to glow slightly in response to her anger. “What do you think’s going on in my head? I’m not stupid, and I’m not a child. I know exactly what I’m doing, you know! Just how clear of a message do you think it’ll send if the face of the Pranksters takes out one of the most dangerous of those Scrap-collectors?”

“You know very well that the Grand Lady is far more than a scrap collector. She’s a she-demon in battle, and to her, you ARE a child. She has been fighting and killing, since long before you got your new little hobby of sparring. You’ve have a little sip of blood. She’s been drinking jugs of the stuff. You fought off a couple thugs, sparred a broken helioptile, and had a meltdown when a watchog ambushed you. You won’t last two seconds in battle with her.”

“I-- you act like I’ll be alone!” Laura wailed.

She knew Xavier was making good points. She knew she wasn’t the best fighter. They’d basically won that encounter with the Thundercrash Gang-- half of their group dead, the worst casualty on their side was Xavier losing his other eye!

But that was better than Laura felt many people had expected. And even if it had been… Even if she could just barely handle their group…

The Steel Scavengers-- and the Seven Knights affiliated with them, were in a totally different league. Of all the resistance groups in Liao, the Steel Scavengers were most certainly one of the most renowned, largely thanks to the Knights.

She should run away. She’d already gotten her hands relatively bloody. She should simply bow out, and leave the other combatants to their bloodshed and brutality.

And yet…

Laura tried not to let herself get into arguments. She got into them, and then all the went on in her mind was that she had to win. No one ever made a memorable performance by picking up and leaving halfway through a broadcast.

Laura was prideful. She had made a commitment coming to here, this Bloodpit Arena, choosing to contend in these games. She couldn’t let go of the idea of victory. She couldn’t dismiss the possibility that she might be able to injure the Scavengers because they had allowed one of their members into this competition.

And she couldn’t back out of an argument.

And she could be damn stubborn if she pleased.

“I’m not going to be alone in fighting her,” Laura hissed. “I, quite obviously, have a team with me.”

“You have a crazy mismagius, a picky claydol, and a crippled luxray,” Xavier retorted. “And you are a comedian umbreon. I’m sure the bloodknight’s shaking in her boots.”

Aria and Kirrun exchanged a look.

Laura’s rings blazed to brighter light. “Xavier, your head’s filled with tauross*** right now! We’ve got a ghost and a psychic, two of the freaking most useful types! We’ve got telepathy and teleportation both! We’ve got a crazy and pissed off umbreon with some of the most annoying moves known to pokemonkind who can teleport herself out of this Arena, or away from you if Kirrun decides to do that before I’m ready, if she damn well pleases! And we! Have you!!”

Laura stepped up to her friend, jabbing her muzzle right into Xavier’s face. Her shout dropped to a hoarse but intense whisper. “We have Xavier f***ing Feurra. Son of mercenary Feurric Feurra, my self-appointed bodyguard and friend. The fluff-for-brains that I refuse to let him call himself crippled! You’re more than your f***ing eyesight, idiot! You’re a cat, and cats can still hear and see! I’m not letting you use your blindness as an excuse to boot us out of the tournament, it’s an inconvenience, but you grew up already blind in one eye! We’re taking this, we’re rolling with it, we’re setting out to murder the Grand Lady.”

Xavier backed up as Laura spat out her monologue in his face. His claws had sparked again, he’d wanted to protest… But he could think of nothing to say.

The umbreon whirled to face Kirrun. “Kirrun! Reply to Jacobin now, these exact words! Tell him I don’t care what the other Pranksters think. I’m the one in the Arena, and we are going to obliterate the Grand Lady! And if Mazer or anyone else has any objections to that, they can come into the Arena and take it up with me face to arcdamn face!”

“Laura, you’re being moronic and unreasonable!” Aria hissed.

“I’ve got a f***ing Psychic Jewel. If things go south I can just leave. But that’s a big if. We’re on the hunt for those Scrappers, and I have just the way to get that Grand Lady on her own to kill her,” Laura said, a cocky grin lighting her face just as much as her glowing rings did. “Let the Protect down! The game’s at last afoot!”

As Kirrun sent the message to Jacobin, Aria let down the barriers, and the Pranksters were on the move once more.

[Chakramaster]

Tina Volts the Pikachu
Prankster Platoon
Tempest Festival Stadium Stands

Tina had calmed down. Yet the surrounding area around her only grew louder as the event was getting closer to starting. Yet she couldn't help, but feeling like there's more going on here than she had anticipated.

"I really wonder what's happening at HQ now. Arceus I really need to plan these things out better. I do one thing for myself and get lost in everything else." Tina reached under her seat and picked up her water.

The crowd has already spilled blood, had a murders, some drunk and passed out on the ground. Some being mugged and possibly even kidnapped. Tina tilts her head back and drinks what is left of her water.

"Ugh, I need something stronger. At this rate I'll lose my mind in this crowd." Tina sighs. "I need a drink...". Tina gets up from her place and makes her way to any open shop in the stadium. As she turns a corner her ears twitch. Just behind her to her right is a Plusle backed against a wall. An angry looking Infernape hovering over it. She wanted to turn away and ignore it. Not cause a scene more than it already it. In public it's bad to get involved in things that is not yours. She couldn't. As she turned away the Plusle noticed her and cried out for help.

"Miss! Please help me!" As it reached its arm it to her. The Infernape uses a strong right punch just over the Plusle's head. It just narrowly managed to dodge by sliding down. Cowering more in fear and tears falling from its face as it cries for help. The Infernape looks Tina's way.

"If you know what's good for you little Pikachu, then you'd better turn that head of yours and walk the other way!" It said as he held out his first. Creating a small flame around it in anger.

Tina let out a small sigh. Turning her head and making a smug face and looking to her side. "While I'd love to. One, I don't like idiots like you telling ME what to do. I'm tired of being told to do this or that by bullies, thugs, or likewise."

"Wh...did you just..!"

"I-DI-OT! Yes, I did. Now I'll say this just once. Just let the kid go." Tina said as she fully turned around and faced the two. "Im not normally one to get involved with someone else's issues, but YOU brought me into this. Now, don't blame me if you get hurt. Sometimes I...lose myself."

"Haha, you? Hurt me? How can a small, weak little girl like you-" Tina had rushed him using her speed with Quick Attack. Turning her tail a shiny silver. Jumping at him and pinning him against the wall. His eyes had widened as she had taken him by surprise. Yet grin.

"Is that all?" He says with a smug look expecting more

Tina closes her eyes and opens them back slightly. Leaving a cocky grin to her face was she grabs him by his ears. Whispering. "Not by a long shot. Don't take me so lightly." The Plusle beside them slowly backing away while still on its back. Keeping watch on the two. Starting to see sparks come from Tina's cheeks. Expecting a classic lightning show, but instead...

Tina opens wide and bites into the Infernape's neck, hard. It screams out in pain." Why you bi-" Tina bites harder. Curling her tail around him and using her claws to dig into his back. Using iron tail to keep a more firm hold around him once in place. Beginning to expel sparks from her body. The flame around the Infernape get stronger with each passing second. Starting to spread around Tina. She feels it spread around her. She takes her paw to her neck and lightly presses against it. A very dim light shines for a moment and only a brief moment. The flames go down, the Inferapes eyes go cold as it slowly falls to the ground, what looks to be like smoke or steam surrounding them. The Plusle still scared as it goes quiet. Those around them paying little attention other than a few laughing at what they think became of the Pikachu.

Another small shine comes from the smoke as Tina comes out as it clears. "I tried to tell him. Bullies and thugs like him never learn." Tina slowly walks over to the Plusle as the Infernape mutters over to Tina. Clearly eaten. "J-just what are you...and how did you..?.".

"Wouldn't you like to know" Tina says as she chuck her empty metal canister of water at him. Making her way and offering her paw to the Plusle. "You okay?"

[Noblejanobii]

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

Saying all hell broke loose once the event had begun was a complete and utter understatement. Athena had watched the Blood Pit Arena on television before, but witnessing it in real time was something else. Still, she had to remain calm and who the mierda was she kidding! Yeah, staying calm was not happening in this situation. That was a load of tauros crap if Athena had ever heard of it.

"You all right back there, Athena?" The decidueye glanced down, noticing Masamune appeared a bit concerned as her somewhat tense position. Notching an arrow, Athena nodded her head at the braviary. She couldn't lose focus. This was already an extremely risky tactic, Athena was unsure as to how long it would work before people started to notice. Probably not long.

Athena watched as Perceval slithered through the field, drawing closer to the area where the Black Lotus Empire were currently splattering an Independent's guts across the field. The Gracidea Order members had yet to clash with anyone, but that would not last long. Athena hoped to hear swears alongside her name tonight.

Taking a quick count of all those currently airborne, Athena took aim and waited. Out of the corner of her eye, Athena noticed the camera starting to follow she and Masamune. Time seemed to slow as her focus narrowed to her airborne target. Were Brunswick and Liliane watching her right now? Could Marx see her? The whole world was focused on her right now, and what were they about to see? Blood.

Perceval summoned two leaf blades and looked up at Athena. She exhaled, and the skies began to shower arrows. Taking aim at all the airborne targets, Athena began to fire rapid fire spirit shackles, intending to chain those that she struck to their own shadows, meaning, they'd be grounded until the effects wore off. Accuracy didn't matter at this point, quantity over quality. After thirty or so rapid fire shots, Athena backflipped off Masamune and the two birds dove towards the carnage in the arena.

Athena immediately spotted one of her victims, poor little Eki the lampent from the Sentinel Corps was sewn to the ground by one of Athena's arrows. Tucking her black wings in, Athena angled herself towards Eki, a purple black aura festering around her wings. Eki saw Athena coming and prepped a flame burst, but that was his end. Athena suddenly vanished and reappeared in front of Eki, delivering a close range sucker punch to his bulb. His head shattered upon impact, attracting the attention of his teammates nearby, but Athena was already up in the air again, Masamune flying close below her prepared to fire up a protect if necessary.

Eki the Lampent has been eliminated.

Now came the grudge match. Adrenaline pumped through Athena's body as her eyes landed on Phoebe. There was no hydregion in this group, but that didn't mean these guys were clueless to the situation. Perhaps if she strangled that kako of a charizard long enough they would realize they had kidnapped the wrong child. Perceval was already leading the other members of the Gracidea Order in for a charge against the members of the Black Lotus Empire. That had been the plan all along. There was going to be no mercy against this team, not with one of their own in their clutches. They wanted her to participate, so she was going to participate.

Axiom and Perceval took the point position of the formation, with Jackson taking a sniper position off to the side behind some wall debris. As for Shiva and Saber, they were preparing a pincer attack from the sides, ready to charge in once Axiom and Perceval made them take the bait.

Would the fighters representing the Black Lotus Empire be confused as to why the Gracidea Order was going for an all out street fight with these guys? The audience may never know, but Athena sure hoped these guys did. Even if they didn't give up any information, perhaps it would send a message to the queen of egos that she had crossed a line.

As Athena and the others drew closer to the Black Lotus Empire group, Athena flew out of the way of a flame burst that had obviously been fired in her direction. She had no doubt that salazzle from the Sentinel Corps had shot it at her. As the flames exploded in the air, Athena winced, smaller flames grazing her feathers. Oh well, it was no big deal. So long as she did not take a wound to the abdomen, Athena was fine, and she plenty of protection there to ensure that. Too bad so sad for those out to kill her today, but Athena was not risking a "two for the price of one" kill.

Perceval raised his green head as he slithered closer. He hissed while releasing a leaf storm at the Black Lotus Empire members to grab their attention. Axiom raised his golden claws and stepped forward, growling at them, as he dared them to approach. Jackson prepared an ice beam, ready to snipe the first poor unfortunate soul that drew too close to Axiom and Perceval. That was her cue. With murder in her eyes, Athena hoped this charizard knew who she was. Athena spun and shot off, attempting to land a brave bird attack on Phoebe before she knew what hit her.

The grudge match had officially begun.

[Neo Emolga]

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

---------

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

BLACK LOTUS EMPIRE

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

STEEL SCAVENGERS

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

THE GRACIDEA ORDER

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

THE PRANKSTER PLATOON

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

THUNDERCRASH GANG

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

SENTINEL CORPORATON

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

THE SHADOW MASK

Muno - Swampert
Burrin - Accelgor
Zill - Mimikyu

INDEPENDENTS

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

Phoebe Helsden the Charizard
Black Lotus - Onyx Circle
Blood Pit Arena, Lytala City
Affected RPers: @Death's Spook, @Noblejanobii, @LKWayvern

Already, the Blood Pit had turned into a complete slaughterhouse. And there was no telling when the mayhem would stop, but there were still many survivors. That number, however, was going to drop faster and faster.

Phoebe had noticed the fight was going to end up being a three-way between Black Lotus, Gracidea, and Sentinel. While she would have loved for both Sentinel and Gracidea to slaughter each other and make her job easier, there was no guarantee that would happen without the proper "engineering."

As Phoebe noticed, Gracidea was fighting aggressively. Down below, her squad had encountered Perceval the Serperior unleashing the leaf storm attack upon their position. Several of the sharp leaves struck the group, forcing the Black Lotus squad to temporarily break formation. Most of the wounds struck off the armor while others did cause several lacerations that definitely caught the squad's attention. In response, Janos the Breloom and Vekker the Ursaring laid down suppressing fire on the enemy position while Vurden took to the air and targeted the grass type directly with a Heat Wave attack, cornering and smothering the grass snake with fire. With nowhere to run and now suddenly surrounded by fire, it gave Grec an opportunity.

With a dark and devilish grin, he caught the Serperior in the sights of his EinCaliber sniper rifle, and fired. The round blasted from the chamber and seared through the air before burrowing in and out of the snake's head, leaving a massive hole. The sheer anti-material force of the round also caused almost a quarter of Perceval's head to be blasted off as well.

Perceval the Serperior (Gracidea Order) has been eliminated.

All the while, the bloodshed and the mortal carnage was simply orgasmic to the enthralled crowd...

In the sudden chaos, Phoebe tried to redirect her squad away from the bottleneck, but at that moment, Athena had attacked the flying fire lizard with a Brave Bird attack. To Phoebe, she had to give the Decidueye credit. It was a well-played distraction and she knew she wouldn't be able to dodge out of the way entirely.

The strike was brutal and Phoebe could feel it slam even past her armor. It was a painful grazing blow that stole a breath out of her hot, fiery lungs, but she was far from finished.

"Clever kakó b***h, aren't you?" Phoebe snarled menacingly with a dark smile. "I hope that was worth dying for!"

Knowing the Decidueye was at too close of a range to consider shooting at with the rocket launcher, the Charizard knew there was more than one way to burn the owl down to nothing. She opted for an Inferno attack, hoping to shoot down the Gracidea Order's squad leader in a fireball of death.

---

Sotka Aldaros the Weavile
Black Lotus - Onyx Circle
Concealed Technical Operations Post, Lytala City Underground
Affected RPers: @Death's Spook, @Noblejanobii, @LKWayvern

Sitting before a large array of computers and video screens in an underground bunker beneath the city, Sotka watched admirably as she had a view of everything going on in the Blood Pit arena. So far, things were going quite well. Black Lotus seemed to be enjoying themselves while everyone else, especially the notorious Thundercrash Gang, was being brutalized.

She had watched Goreg the Nidoking attempt to lay an ambush on Sentinel Corporation's squad, which she thought was amusing. She wasn't sure whether to watch more of the Thundercrash Gang get brutalized, or see what was going to unfold here, but she was glad when she got to witness live on her console screens just how the heavy Nidoking had taken what looked like a large, custom-built shotgun and fired right at Vesh, the Sentinel Corporation squadleader. Sotka was actually amused and taken back how the explosive slug round hit the Tyranitar on the back of the head and caused it to explode into chunks, instantly putting Vesh to death.

Vesh the Tyranitar (Sentinel Corporation) has been eliminated.

Swill the Glaceon had immediately tried to respond, but before she was able to strike at the Nidoking, Goreg took aim at her and fired, instantly blowing apart the Glaceon's lower jaw and neck, nearly decapitating her in the process. Immediately, she couldn't breathe and couldn't do anything except become instantly horrified at the fact she would be dead in less than a minute as her blood was spilling out at a traumatic rate.

Swill the Glaceon (Sentinel Corporation) has been eliminated.

Sotka smirked at the rage that had fired up in the rest of the squad. They ignored everything and everyone else as the rest of them were overtaken by sheer madness and anger and had all attacked Goreg at once, diving on the Nidoking like an angry swarm of voracious zombies. Marsha the Salazzle was furious enough to rip the Nidoking's arm off and even beat him to death with it before Decca incinerated him and had to force everyone to step back as the fiery consuming flames devoured the mangled carcass of Goreg.

Goreg the Nidoking (Independent) has been eliminated.

But she decided she wanted to have some more fun with it. She could see why some Pokémon really enjoyed this. It was brutal. The stakes were the highest they could be. But she knew there was one thing that wouldn't change.

She turned back to her screens and used her tracking devices. No one would see this coming. And yet, it was still so exciting.

She tracked down where the Steel Scavengers were and the infamous Grand Lady that had decided to actually partake in this slaughterfest. Sotka was quite intrigued the Lady would actually subject herself to this kind of madness, but she wasn't the slightest bit fazed by it. It was her mistake and it would be even better if the Grand Lady was actually killed in this. Just as the Steel Scavengers squad had pulverized Jabis the Vikavolt, she decided it might be good if... a few more of them would just go out and die.

She pressed a button and suddenly, the ground beneath Kaytoo the Toxapex and Ioseph the Beheeyem suddenly exploded from underneath them as if a landmine had gone off. Instantly, both of them were reduced to nothing more than a gored shower of blood and body parts.

Kaytoo the Toxapex (Steel Scavengers) has been eliminated.
Ioseph the Beheeyem (Steel Scavengers) has been eliminated.

The crowd went wild, but the truth was, no one in the stands could tell if it was a landmine that went off or a remotely detonated explosive charge. It certainly wouldn't have been the first time the Blood Pit had been rigged with traps. But it wouldn't be the first time they had been engineered to strike at everyone except Black Lotus's finest.

"You could have waited on that one," Willow the Lopunny spoke to her on her headset. "A few more seconds and you could have killed the Grand Lady with that."

"Psh, there's better ways for that kakó to die," Sotka smiled. "I know what I'm doing."

As the fight went on, she saw that the Shadow Mask team was closing in on the Prankster Platoon, which seemed to have stopped fighting for a moment. As soon as the smaller squad of Muno the Swampert, Burrin the Accelgor, and Zill the Mimikyu spotted them, they pushed forward to attack. Sotka decided to let them have some fun with each other. She instead focused more on the Gracidea Order, which seemed to have something definitely out for Black Lotus. Well, of course they would. Liao's infamous band of eco-terrorists were always up to something interesting. As soon as Sotka checked her surveillance computers and the arena location they were at on her heads up display, she grinned as her claw hovered over a blood-red square button.

"Just squishing a bug," Sotka smirked as she pressed a button on the console.

Underneath Axiom the Hakamo-o, the remote explosive charge had detonated, instantly dismembering him and causing blood, sand, and debris to blast into the air.

Axiom the Hakamo-o (Gracidea Order) has been eliminated.

Once again, the crowd would be hard-pressed to distinguish a bad luck booby trap with an engineered explosive device that had gone off remotely, especially from their distance. Meanwhile, there was so much going on at once that even if anyone did care more about the nature of the death rather than how it happened, it wasn't like anyone could head down there to do investigative work.

"Where's the fun in playing fair?" Sotka smirked.

---

DREAD METAL DESTRUCTION DERBY SCOREBOARD

BLACK LOTUS EMPIRE

RIPFIRE [Armored Truck]

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

PEACESLAYER [Monster Truck]

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

BLACKOUT [Armored Hearse]

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

PRANKSTER PLATOON

SCREAMING TALON [Lightweight Zippy Vehicle]

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

STEEL SCAVENGERS

THE IRON GIANT [Armored Tank Car]

Julia - Weavile (Driver/Gunner)

THE HORNET [Armored Motorcycle]

Juan - Furret (Driver/Gunner)

THUNDERCRASH GANG

LIGHTNING STRIDER [Nitro Roadster]

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

ELECTRIC WILD [Assault Motorcycle]

Rash - Whimsicott (Driver/Gunner)

SENTINEL CORPORATION

THE BRIGADER [Armored Military APC]

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

THE NIGHTMARCH

ENIGMA ZERO [Armored Bulldozer]

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

ZOMBIE SQUAD

THE RECKONING [Armored Junkyard Hulk]

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

INDEPENDENTS

SLAYER'S RIDE [Armored Buggy]

Khilter - Dragalge (Driver/Gunner)

DESTINY'S END [Speed Motorcycle]

Kikel - Pancham

LOCKDOWN [Armored Pick-up Truck]

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

DEVIL'S HEADHUNTER [Armored Semi Truck]

Durakan - Alolan Marowak (Driver/Gunner)

--------

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

Jucden wanted Gile's head on a plate, or at least blown up into chunks and pieces. However, just as he prepared to launch another grenade at the Sandslash, the Enigma Zero bulldozer tore its way through a row of derelict concrete buildings and headed right for the pickup truck, throwing torn stone and rubble in all directions like a confetti popper.

"DAMN YOU TO-" Gile shouted just moments before the bulldozer slammed into the truck. Gile was instantly ripped in half from the shovel, but would still survive for a few more minutes. However, moments later, the Enigma Zero crushed and flatted the remnants of the Lockdown, permanently making Gile and Rudy and their vehicle into one inseparable pancake of crushed metal, flesh, and sinew.

Gile the Sandslash (Independent) has been eliminated.

"He was mine, you pissing prick!" Jucden snarled angrily, knowing he had Gile sitting like an intoxicated Psyduck just wanting to be blown up. "I'll murder you and your whole family for stealing that!"

Despite wanting to just slaughter everyone in Nightmarch and Jucden's feverish thirst for revenge, Jaze knew better than to send the Ripfire right at the Enigma Zero. Dread Metal was also about endurance and they needed to last as long as possible. While he drove away, Jucden launched a flurry of grenades as the pursuing bulldozer. Meanwhile, Nightmarch was fully intent on making Jucden another victim. Olock and Jugnul had opened fire on the Ripfire, causing bullet hole scars in the vehicle's armor as the bullets tore and bit away at it.

Explosions from the grenade launcher did some damage to the Enigma Zero, but not enough. It was frustrating to Jucden, because to the psychotic Ratticate, Nightmarch was a bunch of nobodies and he didn't want to waste the more admirable ordinance on just them. Had it been Gracidea, the Scavengers, or the Platoon, he would have loved to make short work of them with some of his more special toys, but this was different. This was using your best ammo to kill just a pesky Zubat. No, no, he needed to save the good stuff for something special.

"Let someone else hassle with these bastards!" Jucden snapped at Jaze as he took cover to dodge the incoming fire from Olock and Jugnul.

Meanwhile on the other side of the slums...

Sevren had caught sight of the Screaming Talon and Mevvan's dark eyes lit up when he spotted the first target that would make for a handsome slaughter. Mevvan licked his dark, crocodile lips as he readied his machine gun. All the while, Sevren sped the hearse toward the zip car. It was going to be a very fast, high speeds pursuit, but it was not something Sevren and Mevvan were strangers to.

"Platoon," Mevvan laughed. "Start a timer. I wanna see how long this takessss."

"Gladly," Sevren replied, pressing a button on a skull clock sitting on the dashboard to log in how quickly Mevvan could obliterate his next target. This had always been one of their favorite pastimes.

A loud, hammering and thrashing raged through the slums as Mevvan's machine gun spat one high-velocity round after another at the Screaming Talon. And all the while, he laughed and laughed.

As the mayhem raged through the slums...

Varkot's smile never left him as the Peaceslayer rampaged its way through the slums, stopping at nothing as the massive, armored monster truck could not be stopped by even the larger shanties and concrete buildings. Everything was crushed under the massive treads, leaving rubble, debris, and destruction in their wake.

"Less slums, more enemies!" Xed demanded, thinking the only thing Vorkot cared about was just flattening the whole slum sector.

"Pipe down, I'm allowed to have some fun with this, you oversized psycho puppy!" Vorkot laughed.

Out of the blue, Kikel the Pancham had been driving by, trying to avoid crashing into the buildings and shanties as his Destiny's End motorcycle sped through the cities, trying to hunt down the next target. However, Kikel didn't bank on running into a monster truck of all things. Just to add insult to injury, Vorkot slammed his foot on the accelerator. There was nowhere for Kikel to run and it was too tight to turn around. His only choice was to abandon the motorcycle to survive... but it was a choice that came too late. Both the Pancham and the motorcycle could not escape the massive treads of the Peaceslayer, and both of them were reduced to nothing but a pile of squashed metal and crushed body parts.

Kikel the Pancham (Independent) was eliminated.

Xed never even knew they ran over a competitor even though Vorkot was laughing the entire time.

Soon enough, after rampaging their way through another inner city street and running over a market stand in the process, they spotted The Iron Giant. Vorkot's eyes lit up with anticipation as he imagined the satisfaction he would get after he got to try crushing something with a little more substance than Kikel's useless crotch-rocket.

Slamming on the accelerator, the Peaceslayer raged toward The Iron Giant while Xed, perched happily on top, unleashed a preamble torrent of flamethrower fire at the armored tank car. He could just imagine the flaming husk of the car just seconds before it was squashed like a bug under the heavy treads of the Peaceslayer.

"Death's gotten sick of waiting for you, kakó!" Xed shouted with psychotic glee as the frizzled Arcanine spat fire, flames, and blazing hot carnage at The Iron Giant.

Tonight, truly the reaper of Pokémon would be hard at work.

[VeloJello]

Jones Sandstrider the Heliolisk
Prankster Platoon
Lotus Den Slums
Affected RPers: @Morzone (Julia), @Neo Emolga (Blackout crew).

“Got somebody on our tail! It’s clumsy, but it’s big with a lot of guns! Here’s where it gets real!”

Jones didn’t answer Tony’s warning; she reacted. “Clumsy” meant “sharpest turns you can make” and “big” meant “find a smaller inroad if you can”. “Guns” was a warning strictly for Cheshire, as far as Jones was concerned.

While the second action item was impossible, the first definitely was. Jones drove like mad, taking corners at speeds that were just barely manageable for even an agile, aerodynamic vehicle like the Talon. She wasn’t sure if she would be able to outspeed whatever tank was chasing them - some of the bigger vehicles were alarmingly speedy - but she was pretty sure she could outmaneuver it.

“They’re taking aim! Chesh, do your thing! Jones, brace!”

Having expected a rain of grenades like the vehicle before had used, Jones was surprised to hear machine gun fire bouncing off of one of Cheshire’s shield walls. Not that she minded; gunfire didn’t shake the Talon the way grenades did. But -

“Jones, they’re aiming ahead!” This time it was Cheshire shouting the warning. “Ahead! Veer right!”

It occurred to Jones to protest that that would send her crashing through the slums, but she didn’t say so. Cheshire knew his stuff, after all. So rather than arguing, she pulled the steering wheel to the right, her frill flaring as she drove the vehicle through abandoned buildings while thick globs of tar landed on the road where her course would have taken her. Frankly, she wasn’t sure that this was any better. The collateral damage was completely pointless, and moreover, she was only losing very little less speed than she would’ve lost in that tar. “More coming?”

There was a split second’s pause - they needed to do better; every second the Talon spent trying to plow through these buildings was a second it spent losing its momentum - then Tony called back, “Nope, the kako got involved with someone else.”

“You’re good to turn back onto the road!” Cheshire called, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Jones was already doing literally exactly that. She’d had the good fortune to find a side street, one that was thin enough that the bigger vehicles would have to plow through buildings in order to get to her.

“Direction?”

“Acceptable!” Cheshire responded. “Keep following this road until it rejoins the main track! We lost the big one for now!”

Jones nodded, feeling tense. It took only a few seconds to get back to the main road - but that backfired pretty much immediately. The Talon shook a bit as a few bullets bit into its rear end, and then another barrier flashed to life in the rearview mirror, bright orange but flashing white and slowly turning red as machine gun shells from some sort of black car bounced off it.

“Tony!” Cheshire snapped. “Can’t hold this! Do something! Jones, do you see him? Maneuvers!”

“On it, babe!” There was a heavy clanking as Tony’s gun pivoted, turning back toward their attacker. More fiery grenades shot out of the Talon and toward the black car, though Jones didn’t bother waiting to see if they hit. She sped up sharply and veered around a vehicle that bore a vague resemblance to a semi truck, sandwiching it between her and her attacker. A ghost Marowak glared sharply in her eye, and she glared right back as she steered back toward it, scraping against its side and attempting to push it into the line of fire. The barrier behind the Talon faded, replaced by the sound of the vehicle’s own gunfire as Cheshire took up his gun, a heavy sniper-like turret with a fire rate that wasn’t fast, but enough firepower to pierce most armor. Hopefully the Meowstic would recover his strength quickly; the Talon wasn’t the best at taking hits, and Cheshire was infinitely more useful with his shielding than he was at gun.

Then again, Jones reflected, the semi-truck she was shoving towards the offending vehicle would probably be pretty decent, as far as armor went.

Mazer Pratten the Greninja
Prankster Platoon (De Facto Leader)
Connive, City Center -> Liaocrack River
Affected RPers: Morzone (Theo).

Oh. Oops. The Quilava was still tied up. How had he missed that?

“Forgive my lapse, darling,” said Mazer. The technique used to make a Water Shuriken could easily be used to create a simpler, more knifelike blade, which Mazer did in order to cut the Quilava’s bonds. “I get a bit excited sometimes, you know, a bit carried away.” When he was finished, he stepped back, “Now, darling, I’m going to exercise a bit of trust, here. My associates and I can get you free of these Black Lotus wretches, but in exchange, you’re going to have to not stab us in the back.” He smiled and began to walk out of the hold, stepping over the Machamp’s corpse, “Now, come, let us go and wreak vengeance on your captors!” He paused. “Oh, and don’t mind my Feraligatr associate when you see him. He’s… well, he’s mostly savage, but he won’t attack you unless provoked.” He probably wouldn’t, but Mazer kept the middle part to himself.

Out on the deck, things were going about the way Mazer had expected - Krum had been pried off of the Infernape, whom Tatia was standing guard over now, and was instead now happily snacking on a Glaceon who’d had the good fortune to die before Krum began his meal. The Platoon ship, a highlighter-pink monstrosity covered in crude pictures of burning lotus blossoms, had dropped anchor and was sitting idly on the river just a short ways away.

“Monkey’s still alive,” said Tatia gruffly, shaking the mostly-conscious Infernape by the bloodstained fur on his back. “Seemed like the ringleader, so I saved him for you, Maze. Figured you’d want to know what this is about, given all the trouble we went to.”

Mazer smiled and clapped his hands together. “So kind of you, Tatia, love!” he said. He then turned back toward the Quilava’s direction. “This might be better if you handled it, though, darling. You might have a better idea of what in Liao they actually wanted from you.”