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

[Death's Spook]

Anthony Carpenter-Weaver (Mimikyu)
Steel Scavengers
Unknown Location

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“These people all have one thing in common.”

“Oh?”

“They are complete idiots.”

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

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

“She reminds me of Anthony.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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