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.