[WAR Season II RP] Arcane Pokéworld [RP Thread]

[Death's Spook]

(Gah. Crap post is a piece of crap. Sorry for the ridiculous wait.)

Michael Phloros
Phoenix Battalion
Castelia City Skies
ARPers: Velocity

I nodded at Aria's last query, but I was thinking more about the situation at large as we flew.

The emotions on Aria’s face were probably more illuminating than she would ever want to know. It was likely that most people wouldn’t realize the stories that these emotions told, but I had a lot of practice with cold reading, and could put the pieces together.

Aria was tense, worried. She was far too levelheaded to actually panic, but she was thrown off by the discrepancies in my public appearances and my actual behavior behind closed doors. In an ideal world, full disclosure would have helped with that. In this world…

I took a deep breath, "I know that you're a bit wary of working with me. I know the feeling more than you realize. I don't hate you enough to tell you all the details of what I do, but I promise I'm doing the best I can to work for good guys, even if..." I'm not one of them, I thought, trailing off before I could finish the sentence out loud. I didn't have regrets, exactly, about the sorts of things I did, but the facts were that they were not the acts of a good person.

Meh. I'd walk the road to hell if it made others' lives better.

I let the conversation pause for a few seconds as we landed in an area sheltered from the public, with Madeline waiting for us. I was just getting glad that things were going my way for once, when suddenly the explosions started.

“God FU-!" <Language!>

I didn’t have time to directly make an appeal for what I wanted to do with Aria. Mind to mind contact was a topic I’d intended to broach with her, but more delicately than I was being forced to do now. I didn’t force my way into her mind (an act that’s tantamount to declaring war on someone), but I lightly pressed my mind on hers, waiting for her to let me in.

It took her a couple seconds, but she let me in. Quickly, I started telepathing, <Aria. That explosion came from the same direction as the Graymane building. This is your first assignment, one I think you’d do anyway: go. Act, help. And,> I reached for my Key Stone, concealed so no one could see it. In front of us, a sudden cocoon enveloped Madeline, concealing her form for a second. When she emerged, her ears were far less frilly, her fur far more compact and practical; she was clearly in a shape to fight. <Take Madeline with you. She won’t be recognizable Mega Evolved, and while you’re incredible artillery, she’s excellent in CQC. I’m going to look for the people who did this, and question them.>

I didn’t give her much of a chance to respond. The first person I questioned in front of her literally exploded, and I didn’t need hesitation right now. So even though we weren’t too far from the Graymane Building, I cast illusions around Lenore and I as the Gardevoir teleported us to the location.

The scene was utter chaos. A part of me revolted at the panic, the terror, the way it struck me at deep and visceral level, that I shouldn’t be here. Lenore looked vaguely queasy as Tifón tried to look resolute and didn’t wholly succeed. It was an entirely normal reaction.

So because I’m screwed up in the head, my brain made me look around and try to identify potentially suspicious individuals. My head reasoned that this was a terrifying event, and anyone not displaying appropriate terrified body language was most probably involved. This was all logical and cohesive and even as I found someone who fit the criteria, I wanted to be angry my inability to turn off my planning and manipulation abilities. I mean, such an inability was vital to maintaining my operations, an important lynchpin in guiding the world to be a better place, but…

Let’s just say I still hate my brain sometimes.

It didn’t take me long to identify a Granok who looked out of place to me. She was running, yes, but it looked like she was acting scared than actually being scared. Most people wouldn’t have noticed the difference, but I’m fairly positive I’ve established I’m not most people. I grabbed a handkerchief and brushed past her inconspicuously with it. As soon as it seemed like she wasn’t paying attention to me anymore, I made to follow her.

As the Granok got to a more concealed place, she dropped the act. Her demeanor was wary, but it was still more confident than it should have been, given that she proposed to be someone who just nearly got exploded almost completely out of the blue. She was almost certainly involved.

I returned Lenore and Tifón to their crystals. They were wonderful, really, but not the right people for this job.

I discreetly summoned Aurora and Charon. The Weavile stalked the ground as the Gengar ghosted nearby. All three of us blended in with the surrounding forest, stalking our prey.

Linda the Porygon-Z (Gabriel Phloros)
Phoenix Battalion
Castelia City, Unova
ARPers: Neo Emolga


I was about to lead Mr. Silverfield down the path to meet Gabriel when the freaking place reverberated with an explosion. The light would have been blinding to anyone without my superior programming. In fact, as it was, I was forced to contract the covers over my lenses to pinpoints to prevent permanent damage to my optical circuitry.

I made no motion to stop Axel as he and his companion rushed towards the Graymann building. It would have been utterly futile to try to do so, and at any rate he had neither motive nor ability to disappear thoroughly enough that Michael couldn’t find him later.

Besides, I had more urgent matters, given that I was being suddenly hoisted up into the air by an enormous dragonfly flying at near Mach speeds.

“Kachina. Subtle as always.”

“Linda, this really isn’t the time. Gabriel just got a call from Galen. Everything has gone completely into the crapper and we’re all regrouping at the Graymann building. Be prepared to fight.”

Kachina’s voice was perfectly calm, but his entire body screamed tension. I decided that a smart remark would be unwise, and began to prepare my energies to fight.

[Morzone]

Shawn Mazox
The Prism League
Undella town and Lacunosa City.
None (again sheesh)

Shawn woke up late the next day, the sun rising fast over the mountains behind the small peaceful village. Getting up, he dressed and went into the kitchen. That's when the first sign that something was odd occurred. The old man who owned the house jumped as he came in.

"You got here quickly, I thought you were going to arrive tomorrow, I didn't even know you were here!" he exclaimed as Shawn pulled a bowl of cereal toward himself.

"Didn't you read the note I left next to you?

"What note?"

" I wrote a note saying I was here and had gone in to sleep, I left it next to where you were sleeping on the porch."

"Sleeping on the porch? I wasn't doing that! I was inside all day yesterday!"

Shawn shrugged, assuming the old man had simply forgotten and missed the note. He turned on the old man's mirrorvision as he ate, wondering what was going on in Unova after the attack on Greymane building. A pokemart commercial came on as he turned to the news channel. Then the news came on in an emergency broadcast.

"This is an emergency broadcast relating to the rioting occurring in Castelia city, Unova. Earlier today, an unknown force has attacked the Greymane building, one of the main facilities of..."

"WHAT!" Shawn shouted, spraying his breakfast across the table as he jumped to his feet.

The old man spoke at the same time: "No! It can't be! Those horrible mechari I tell you, I bet they did it-"

"NO! This happened yesterday! The attack! this broadcast! It all happened yesterday morning!" Shawn looked at his watch, it was the same time he had seen the emergency report on the boat the day before. Something was wrong, it was like time was repeating itself, or he had gone back in time. Shawn left the table and the very confused looking old man and ran outside. Ruby was out there, looking uncomfortable and sniffing the ground, something she did when she was confused or anxious.

"You Have Been Sent Back In Time Shawn Mazox. Father Told Me That This Was The Only Way You Might Have A Chance Of Saving Your Pokemon. Go To Lacunosa. The Path Will Show Itself To You."

Normally, hearing a random Pokemon's voice speak inside his head would have made Shawn panic, run and hide, but something about the voice steadied him. He could hear the vast amounts of ancient knowledge behind the words, the pure power of the being sending them to him. He had no time to waste. If the only way he could've saved Seth and Crystal was to be sent back in time a day, then clearly things were much more serious than he had thought. He couldn't waste another day traveling like he had on that boat.

Shawn Ran back inside, grabbed his gear and sprinted back to Ruby. Quickly putting her in her PCC, he took off toward the mountain. Lacunosa City was just on the other side of it and he needed to get there ASAP. At his high speed, it only took about ten minutes to get over the mountain and start nearing the city. Even before he landed he could tell the rioting had begun. A steady stream of panicked people came from the portal metro, most likely running from the Greymane building attack. And a large fight had broken out in the main square.On one side looked to be the citizens of the town, all races present and very angry. On the other side was a large host of Angels, all wearing the symbol of Team Trainer.

"I need to stop the fight before to many people get hurt, then I can figure out what to do next." Shawn thought to himself, landing on a roof next to the fighting. Releasing Ruby, he gave her a single command: "Thunder wave." Ruby jumped down and shot into the center of the battle, already sparks of lighting leaping from her fur as she ran. The power of her Thunderwave was immense, and everyone in the square froze immediately, paralyzed in place. Shawn jumped down and followed Ruby to the center of the square, where he shouted to the crowds:

"I am going to un-paralyze one person from each side, you will tell me Peacefully what is going on and why!" He walked over to the team trainer group and unfroze a tall angel with a thin beard, then moved to the other side and unfroze a short plump granok with an angry face. "Now talk, one at a time or you'll be electrocuted."

"We are throwing these traitors out of our city! Their leaders attacked the greymane building so they could stay in world power. We won't let this foreign group take over our land!" The granok said, glaring at the angel.

"We were helping stressed people though the portal metro when these people attacked us. We defended ourselves. We will not rest until these anarchists are controlled." the angel retorted.

"How about this," Shawn said, before the granok could say anything, "If I prove that team trainer was not behind the attack, then will you both agree to stop fighting?" They thought about it then both nodded. "Alright then, you both can explain it to the others then. If I come back to find you fighting, your going to get a lot more than a thunderwave, let me tell you now."

Without waiting for a reply, Shawn turned and ran quickly through the crowds coming out of the metro portal. Ruby quickly caught up and in no time they were standing next a portal set for a portal metro near the Greymane building. "The voice had been right," He thought, " Lacunosa town had shown me where to go next. And with that thought he and His partner stepped through the portal toward the chaos filled metropolis.

[Morzone]

(OOC: OK, sorry for the double post. I'm assuming the posting has slowed down because everyone is either busy with more important things or that they're focusing on other categories. Since I have no life I guess I'll just keep posting every 2 days. Yay no life!)

Shawn Mazox
The Prism League
Greymane building in Castellia city, Unova.
Affected RP'ers: theoreticalSelkie, The phoenix battalion

Shawn was feeling very impatient. Even with the near instant traveling abilities of the portal metros, he had to wait in limbo as he traveled. Luckily, as his destination was not too far from the Lacunosa station, the time in limbo wouldn't be too long. Shawn took the time to mentally review everything he knew about what was going on at the greymane building.

"The building exploded earlier this morning with a large magical explosive. The only suspicious person I know of from the video was that one hooded figure with the Charizard, but it seems unlikely that he caused the attack. The portal metros will be flooded with panicked people. There are a number of emergency workers trying to both help the people get to safety and to put out the fire." he recited in his head. He also remembered the odd duo of the angel and chua he had seen in the video, as well as the porygon evolution. "I'm not sure about the porygon, but the angel and chua were definitely up to something, though it could be good or bad," He decided.

A shift in the light told Shawn that his time in limbo was nearing its end, and that he soon would be out in the panic filled metro station. He felt a twinge of anxiety at this, he had no plan for what he would do once he arrived. Ruby stood beside him, tense and ready for a fight. He hoped it wouldn't come to a fight. Then a Flash and a sudden onslaught of noise: he had arrived.

From what he could tell as he pushed his way out of the metro station, not too much had changed. The things that had changed had changed for the worse however. The magical fire had now spread to several neighboring buildings, and several fights had broken out on the edges of the chaos. Shawn saw several groups attacking fleeing mechari out of fear and anger. He made sure to have Ruby paralyze any that he came near. No one really stood out from the crowd however, and shawn couldn't find the angel and Chua anywhere.

One person did catch his attention though: a large, VERY large Mechari pushing her way through the crowds toward the building. Shae wore a weather worn coat with a red cross on it: the symbol of Castellia hospital. As he watched, she reached the front of the building, which was blocked by a large amount of broken concrete and ruble.

The mechari doctor began to move the ruble away from the entrance, trying to get through. Moving the ruble didn't seem too hard for her, but it would take too much time to create an entrance large enough for her to fit through. When you were trying to save trapped people, time was everything.

Running forward toward the doctor, he shouted a command to Ruby: "Ruby! Use Thunderbolt on the ruble by the entrance, we need to make an entrance to get into the building." Ruby immediately picked up speed, running straight at the entrance of the building. As she got closer, her fur began to crackle and spark, and then an enormous blast of lightning shot from from her figure. The resulting impact and explosion left a large, jagged hole through the ruble.

"Anyone still in the building is going to be in a place they can't leave. Look for places that are isolated by the destruction or by fire. Pokemon can get though the ruble and fire better than we can, use them to get them out and to safety," he told her when he ad caught up. "We have to be quick, the building isn't going to be able to stand much longer if the fire isn't put out."

Normally Shawn would've stayed with the mechari doctor and helped to find trapped people, but his need to move quickly overrode that particular normalcy. Allowing Ruby to go first, he scrambled through the entrance and looked around. He quickly found where he would find clues: the large crater where the bomb had been set off. If any remnants of the explosive or if the perpetrator had left any other objects, they would be near there.

"Ruby, search around the edges; if anything odd shows up, come get me." As Ruby ran for the edges of the crater, he ran for the very middle: maybe gravity would be his friend today. Shawn searched for a minute or two without success before he heard a soft noise from below him. It was a group of Chuas who had been trapped in a basement room.

"Ruby! come over here! We need to get these people out of here!." Ruby appeared at his side instantly, sniffing the ground for the source of the voices. "Dig quickly, try not to let too much fall down on top of them," He told her, then started digging through the ruble alongside her. Once the hole had become large enough, he pulled a coil of rope out of his pack and had the Chuas climb up and out of the hole.

"Thank you! Thank you so much! We were trapped by the falling ruble! I was even hit by one of the falling metal pieces of wall. It had an odd decoration on it though.. I've gotta get out of here!" Said the last Chua as she climbed out of the room. She and the other two Chuas ran toward the exit and soon joined the throng outside.

"That's odd.. the walls here are all made of stone, not of metal. Better check this 'Piece of wall' out," Shawn murmured to himself. Using the same rope, he lowered himself into the dark hole. The room appeared to be some kind of meeting room, a broken table and a mirrorvision lying in the middle of the floor. Next to the mirrorvision however was a piece of silver-black metal. Shawn went and picked it up, examining it. It wasn't very large, about the size of his palm, but on the convex side of the curved shard was a small insignia. It appeared to be a combination of an insignia Shawn knew well and one he had never seen before.

On the Metal was an open hand holding a glowing, yellow sun. Inside the sun was single, orange, Phoenix.

[Neo Emolga]

Axel Silverfield
Phoenix Battalion
Castelia City, Unova
Affected RPers: N/A

As it was all happening, Axel was running out of time, and with panic in every direction, he was not finding the assailant even though he was certain he had found the exact spot where he had told the lie. However, if he couldn't find the lying assailant, there was another possible route he could take...

Find the one he lied to.

"You gotta tell me what's going on, pal!" Roland told Axel, trying to squirm out of the angel's grasp. "What are you looking for?"

And yet Axel remained silent. There was so much going on at once. However, after looking in the immediate area, he found a granok wearing the navy blue and black shoulder-padded uniform of a metro security guard. He was the closest one to the site where the assailant had told the lie, and if he couldn't find the assailant on his own, he had to rely on the granok's memory, as he was likely the first one the assailant would have approached for directions. It was the only chance he had left.

"You there!" Axel shouted to him to get his attention.

The heavy-built granok with his ashen, stone face, was trying to keep the civilians calm by giving guidance and directions, turned to see Axel, wondering what was going on now.

"Tell me," Axel quickly spoke to the security guard, "did a mechari just ask you for the fastest way out of the city? It had to have happened only a minute and a thirty-nine seconds ago. We think he was one of the assailants who set the bomb."

The granok was taken back at precision of the mentioned time, but with so much going on around him, it was easy to direct and forget, especially with every civilian needing help and moving in wayward directions. Even know, he was beginning to panic.

Axel bit his lip, and decided he needed another way to do this. His objectives were riding on this one last trick, and if it didn't work, the assailant was as good as gone. Holding up his hand, Axel casted a Recall spell to peer into the granok's memories, and thankfully, with the event being so recent, he wouldn't even have to search that far back. As Axel's hand glowed a strange mixture of blue and white, suddenly he could see things from the granok's point of view, and hear the things that were told to him only seconds ago.

Everything was a blur as Axel searched back in time, and the situation was still panic, disorientation, and disarray in the metro for the past minute and a half as every now and then, someone would approach him, asking for help or a situation. But then when he got to the exact point the lie was told, everything revealed itself.

A mechari with a broad, gray and red chassis and a metallic, viper-shaped face had confronted him. Once Axel had seen that face, it was burned into his mind. And then, the mechari's words were unmistakable in a demanding, forceful tone of voice.

"I need help!" the mechari demanded. "What's the fastest way out of the city!? Are there any lines still open!?"

"Terminal 17 goes to straight to Slateport, it's to the left," the granok told him as he quickly turned back toward directing the other civilians.

Terminal 17. Slateport.

He now had the terminal the attacker was heading toward and the destination. He now knew what the assailant even looked like as well. With everything he needed to find him, track him down, and arrest him, all he needed was to hurry.

Quickly responding, Axel rushed into metallic-walled Terminal 17, trying to push his way through the crowd heading down the stone stairs before it was too late. If the assailant made it to Slateport, the situation for processing a criminal suspect would become much more of a complication on foreign grounds out of the jurisdiction of the High Magi Council. The last thing he wanted to have to do was coordinate and communicate operations and objectives with a foreign law enforcement. It was the kind of thing that would waste time while the Oppressors were plotting another attack.

Using the face of the assailant, he tried to use a Recognition spell to figure out where the assailant was by using his face as the reference point of the spell. As Axel pushed on with his eyes glowing a pale grey as a result of the spell, the spell gave him the message.

He was within fifty feet of the metro portal... and closing.

And then, as if he had some bit of luck, there had been a clearing, allowing Axel to take flight and soar over most of the panicked crowd on the ground, trying to get their bearings. It was then that Axel had seen the back of the head of the assailant himself, within less than a dozen feet of the portal.

And that was when something struck Axel in the back of the head, and he was out like a light.

* * *

"I think he's waking up."

Axel felt his cheek pressed against something cold, firm, and metallic. When he looked up, he realized he was in a small room with the walls being cinderblocks. His aching head had been placed on a metal table, and when he finally took in his surroundings, he realized he had his hands locked behind the rusting, metallic chair he was sitting on by means of a thick, metallic shackle. It all seemed very plain to him, but it alluded to something completely different.

Across the other side of the table was another mechari, only this one was different. Her chassis was slender and made of light gray and lavender colors while her metallic chrome face was shaped like two lightning bolts meeting together halfway. Her eyes glowed a hellish red as she looked into his own.

"Tell us what you know about Project Double Five," she demanded in a cold, harsh tone.

"What...?" Axel asked, never hearing of that before. "I don't know what you're talking about."

It was then that another mechari standing behind him, a much larger one, had used his dark, gray metallic hand and slammed Axel's face down on the metal table, causing a massive surge of hot, biting pain to suddenly flare up in Axel's face. Axel gagged and growled as a result of the sudden shock and alarm, but there wasn't much he could do about it. She obviously wasn't the only mechari in the room, and even though he couldn't see the one that had slammed his head down on the table, Axel could tell he was quite strong.

"I'll ask you again," the female mechari told him. "Double Five. Who's your contact?"

"Go to hell," Axel spat at her.

Once again, Axel's face was slammed down hard on the table, and his whole face felt like it was in fire for a few seconds. And then, everything just ached. It was crystal clear he was getting nowhere with this.

"We can keep doing this until the big guy just snaps the whole damn thing off," she told him. "Tell. me. what. you. know."

"Esser..." Axel muttered with hesitation. "James... Esser. He was the one who briefed us on Double Five."

"Us?" she asked, wanting to know more about the other contacts. "Who else was involved?"

"Only two others," Axel continued. "Stan Rellis, codename Urchin and Nathan Holmes, codename Red Sunday."

The more it went on, the angrier the female mechari seemed to become. This was something she hadn't expected to hear, and now it was making her angry.

"Where the hell are they now?" she demanded.

"Urchin was instructed to assimilate an IT specialist within X-Fenix," Axel replied. "He was to monitor the central Maginet core to flag down any mentions or terminology links to Double Five and use the Step Ahead algorithm to forecast where the contact would be based on location of the contact and what resources they had based on the location. If they had a local network address, he would track it and give us the intel."

"What about Red Sunday?" she scowled, getting angrier.

"Shadow ops," Axel told her. "He was working on something called Second Wind, but I was never informed about it by Esser or who Red Sunday's handler would be during the operation. They had us working in different swimlanes with limited contact access."

The female mechari looked down, tried to collect her thoughts, and then just shook her head.

"Get him out of here and stuff him in a jail cell," she demanded. "I've got to figure out how to clean up Exodus's god-forsaken mess. Don't kill him just yet, we might need him for later."

As the large, heavy-built mechari unbound Axel and kept a firm grip on the angel, Axel wasn't sure how he was going to get out of this dark place, whatever it was, but there was one comfort he had.

Everything he had said for the past ten minutes during the interrogation had been a complete, utter lie.

[Grassy_Aggron]

Pohe Vahoc
Phoenix Battalion
Bleu Plaza, Lumiose City, Kalos
Affected RPers: @Morzone, a bit? You're investigating so... (And sorry for the long post >.>)

Having been able to get the code to run and deeming the alpha stage to be safe enough to test, Pohe got up and walked over to where three clothes were draped over objects that were up to chest height, with the third being slightly bigger. Pulling off the tarps of the two smaller ones, feline shapes were revealed beneath, chassis black against the grey of the floor. A stiff, segmented mane flowed back from its head, panels running down the center to gather light. Currently, the robotic Pyroar did not have any power source, and while their intended one was still being developed, she could make do with what she had. Grabbing a crystal, she released an oval shaped steel ship, which hovered effortlessly beside her. Three eyes focused on her as it rotated its magnets, carefully observing the situation.

“Faraday, I need you to use a weak Thundershock. Don’t overload them, all right?” She waved a finger. “I need to see if this will work or not to begin with, so that’ll be a bit hard to do if you blow them up.” Giving a slight tilt to indicate acknowledgement, she stepped back as sparks began to fly off the Magnezone. They launched at the two machines, impacting and penetrating into the main circuitry through whatever cracks it could find. After a few seconds, the eyes of the machines glowed orange as they gained enough power to turn on, but that was all they could do without any programming. They were merely empty, powered puppets without an objective.

Pulling out two discs – they were still rather common, considering they were used to evolve the Porygon family on a regular basis – she slid them underneath the mane, in the back of the head. Both of them took it without an issue before their lights dimmed as they loaded and restarted. Within moments it was complete, and Pohe stepped back, crossing her arms behind her. Clearing her throat, she was pleased when both machines turned their heads to watch her.

“Do you know who I am?” she asked. Having based their program off of Porygon, they were capable of adapting and thinking, although they were constrained to the same limits of the original program for safety’s sake.

The first one spoke, voice automated and mechanical. {Pohe Vahoc.}

Then the second chimed in. {Creator of this unit’s program, FireCat.}

She nodded, a genuine smile gracing her lips. Faraday looked slightly concerned about it, considering her normal personality. “Good, good. Check your coding – any possible issues?” She took out a piece of paper, nodding as they ran various tests and scenarios. Quite a few bugs cropped up that she wrote down the locations for them, pleased that they were functioning at all. When they finished, the machines reported they were low on power. Frowning, she told them to shut down while she repaired the flaws in the programming, throwing a tarp back on after that was accomplished.

<…What use are they if they can’t power themselves?> Faraday asked, watching Pohe furiously get back to work on the coding. <That seems like a poor design choice.>

“It is a poor design choice, which I don’t make. Simply put, they weren’t designed to be this useless.” Without looking, she gestured back at the machine. “Almost got the power source figured out, just waiting on the right materials to finish it. In the meantime, getting this done.”

Faraday observed her a bit longer when her phone suddenly went off. Cursing at being interrupted, Pohe answered. “What, Chihuahua? You said it’d be a while and I’m very busy!”

An obviously altered voice laughed on the other end. “My, what a cute pet name.” She didn’t know how to retort. Something about this seemed entirely off, and that was even considering she often worked with those on the black market. “I am not offended. Rather, I am placing an order.” Her small portal activated, and she watched nervously as a purple disc came through. It was not what came through that unnerved her, no, but rather the fact the portal had worked without her giving permission on her end. They had effectively hacked her device remotely.

Picking the disc up, she observed its smooth surface, narrowing her eyes. “Paying before you even get an acceptance from me? You’re rather cocky for someone who is hiding their own voice.”

“It seems to have gotten your attention, has it not?” She couldn’t argue that point. “I want you to build more of your timers. They are difficult to alter, incredibly accurate, and resilient to everyday stress. Rather perfect for my needs, and they don’t require magic to run, making them undetectable under normal circumstances.”

“…What are you, making counterfeit watches? Because I thought the point of ‘counterfeit’ was making a cheaper, worse product, not one that’s better.”

The voice laughed, and it truly unnerved her, striking her down to the core. It was unnatural with the alterations, but beneath that laid a snake. It was sinister but cunning, whispering hidden intent that even she wasn’t willing to take part in. “Your attitude is delicious. Do we have a deal?”

She took a deep breath, and shaking her head – even though he couldn’t possibly see it – she answered carefully. “No. I’m sorry but this payment seems rather dubious, and I’ve dealt with a lot of odd people. I’m rather busy with my own projects and other repairs at the moment, so it’d take me a while to get to it anyway. You’re better off finding someone else.”

“Ah, but you see, you’ve already built one for me prior. Or rather, one of my companions. Your work was so exemplary I desired to get you to build more as well. There is no one else. As for that payment,” he stated simply and with only the smallest hint of slyness, “try giving it to your Porygon 2. It will be most delighted.”

Pohe glanced at Faraday, who was staring back with equally wide eyes. “Ah, yes. Sometimes I forget I’ve mentioned my Pokemon to others,” she lied as she tapped a finger on the desk. “I’m sorry, though. I’m flattered you want me to make you more, but I can’t. I’m too busy.”

“Ah, so you will deny my request then?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm. Let me see if I can convince you otherwise.” The portal lit up once more, and from it, a small box came through. Opening it carefully, her eyes widened as she stared at the precious ores she needed. It was exactly what she required for her experiment! But only Chihuhua knew she needed it, no one else. Could he have guessed it? No. No one was that lucky.

“How did you know I needed this?” Pohe was trying her hardest to keep her unease hidden.

The voice laughed. “Let’s just say a little rat told me, yes? Or rather, a Chihuahua?”

Her amber eyes widened. “…What did you do to him?”

“He required a bit of convincing, my dear. He won’t be talking to you anytime soon.” The voice dropped lower and became quieter, as if he was leaning closer to the phone. “Now, do we have a deal? Just a few timers… Say, ten?”

Pohe was shaking with rage, her voice quivering, but she glared at the phone anyway. “I said no, and considering what you did to him, I’m really not keen on working with someone like you. I live life on the edge and all that, I guess, but I’m not that stupid!”

It laughed, and kept laughing for a minute or two. “How adorable that you think you have a choice, Outcast. Or should I say, Pohe Vahoc? You live in the basement of ‘Beemin’ Good Parts’, do you not?” She stared, flabbergasted. “I know all about you. If you want to stay safe, to keep those you care about safe, then I suggest you build those timers.”

She was afraid to ask, but she had no choice. “And if I don’t?”

The voice went silent, which was far more unnerving than its constant laughter. “You heard about what happened to the Greymane Building, right?” She nodded, giving a quiet acknowledgement. “That was your timer on that bomb. So I shall reiterate that if you wish to keep yourself and everyone else you love safe, you will build those timers for me. Do we have a deal?”

She clenched her hands into fists, staring bitterly at the machine. She was biting back tears, frustrated at her inability to do anything and horrified at her involvement in all of those deaths. How was she to know it was going to be used for a bomb? “…F-fine. I’ll make them.”

“Wonderful! I shall be in touch. Good luck, my dear!” It clicked off, leaving her in silence save for the low hum of Faraday’s levitation and the cacophony of her own thoughts.

What have I done?

[Neo Emolga]

Axel Silverfield
Phoenix Battalion
Castelia Sewers, Unova
Affected RPers: N/A

As Axel had discovered, a makeshift prison had been made out of the underground Castelia City sewers. He wasn't even aware the Repressors were so close by, but they were doing the best they could to remain hidden but at least be close enough to the mission site. Axel didn't care much for the smells, the dampness, the darkness, and the fact there wasn't a whole lot of things to do to pass the time in his cell, but it could have been a whole lot worse.

Axel could only guess how long the Repressors had been operating in secret. However, to him, what shocked him even more than that was why they even kept him alive. The Repressors had assassinated the High Magi Council, the Celestial Circles, and the Order of the Crimson Flame without a second thought. Why would they take him as a prisoner? He was almost sure they knew they were trying to resurrect the Magi Council.

He could only conclude it was one of two things. Either they were realizing they couldn't put a true, definite end to the Council without taking another approach, or the situation with Team Trainer led them to believe there really was no way of eliminating every authoritative entity that came into power.

What he did guess at first was that the Repressors were trying to aim toward a future without magic and authority. He found it strange they would try to destroy the very thing that created them, and knew that in order to completely pull it off, they would need to undo themselves. But it wasn't until he thought about it in reverse did he get a better picture into things.

The Repressors were trying to do exactly the opposite of what he originally thought. They were trying to be the only ones with magic. And that was why they were trying to snuff out the magical prowess out of everyone else.

In the meantime, Axel wasn't sure how long his lie in the interrogation room would go on until they discovered it was a made-up hoax. He knew they were going to kill him once he was of no use to them anymore, so this would at least buy him time. While the Repressors were on a wild goose chase for Esser, Rellis, and Holmes, it could be years before they finally managed to realize these three operatives never actually existed.

What bothered him was... what was Double Five really about? And who was Exodus? From what he gathered, it seemed like the Repressors thought they killed enough people to pave the way to regain control, but the truth was they hadn't. With the resurrection of the High Magi Council underway, he knew they were going to need to go in deeper. Still, while he was here, he figured he could use a few minor, easy to conceal spells to get a better idea of what he was dealing with.

He decided to lie on his metallic bunk bed to pretend he was sleeping, but instead, he used it to conceal the faint, white light created by his use of an Eavesdropping spell, trying to probe about in the sewers for any conversations going at the time.

"Xerken, when do you think the next strike will be?"

"Soon. Castelia City will suspect another bomb, so we need to strike with something else. Poisoning the city's water supply."

"It would kill most of the city's population. Save for the Mechari, of course. Good, who needs the rest of those useless fleshbag races anyway?"

"We don't need all of them dead. Living specimens still have some use to them. Their leaders will be killed while the rest of them will be used for either research or entertainment. All those besides Mechari are lost causes. We have been made to be immune to fear, emotion, and distraction, thus making us the superior beings. We do not bleed, feel pain, or hesitate like they do. Thus, the future is our time, now."

Axel was glad that as he was hearing this, he knew not all Mechari behaved this way. However, trying to separate which ones were Repressor supporters and which ones were normal civilians was not going to be an easy task. Already, trying to read their minds was more difficult, as they didn't have brains in the traditional sense, and instead had CPUs.

For now, however, he needed to find a way out. He wasn't so much concerned for himself as he was more focused on trying to prevent the contamination of the city's water supply..

[Neo Emolga]

Axel Silverfield
The Phoenix Battalion
Castelia City Sewers, Castelia City, Unova
Affected RPers: N/A

Axel knew there was only one of two outcomes of the situation. Either the Repressors would be led down a long, winding, and potentially never-ending goose-chase when it came to finding the completely fabricated associates he had been working with, or they'd quickly learn it was all a lie and they'd probably kill him for it.

He also knew he didn't want to stick around to take that kind of risk anyway. Besides, if they were still on the goose-chase, his lack of presence would buy him more time as they were hunting down three mystery men that simply didn't exist.

As soon as the opportunity presented itself, he decided to use a spell. Fighting the Repressors when there was only him was suicide. As much as Axel wanted to go nuts and take down a whole army, he knew the Repressors had killed off not one, not two, but three highly powerful mage organizations.

He could think of at least fifty other Pokémon that would be far more fun to transform into, but he knew down in the sewers, anything besides a Rattata, a Grimer, or a Muk would be suspiciously out of place, and he really didn't feel like becoming a sentient puddle of sludge. So, he decided to go for turning himself into the very common purple and cream-bellied rat Pokémon that the Repressors wouldn't give a single care about. He knew it sure wouldn't buy him any cool points to just become a rat and run away, but fighting the Repressors would need to wait until he had a better idea of what kind of situation he was dealing with.

While the Repressors weren't looking, he quickly casted the spell on himself, surrounding himself with a faint, purple light. Within only a few seconds, Axel went from being a silver-haired angel to shrinking down, down, down in size while his body was coated with purple and cream-colored fur, a curled tail sprung from his behind, two mouse-like ears appeared on his head, and his hands were replaced with tiny paws with sharp claws. And just like that, there was no telling him apart from any other Rattata.

In his smaller rat-like form, he was able to easily squeeze his way between the bars, which the Repressors hadn't enchanted with any kind of protection. It was only further adding up toward his original theory. The Repressors were using magic one last time before trying to do away with it completely. Right now, the only thing on his mind was escape. The Polymorph spell was very effective and extremely hard to detect, but it didn't last forever.

As he scurried around in his new rat Pokémon form, he took mental note of his surroundings. As he had expected, the Mechari Repressors suspected nothing and didn't even bat an eye at him. Axel even saw two other Rattata simply scurrying around, making it easier for him to blend in and seem like a natural one. He used the overhead pipes, ledges along the walls, and holes in the walls to make his way around. He couldn't believe the kinds of places a Rattata could sneak into. Even if the Repressors knew what he had transformed into, they would still be having a brutal time trying to catch him.

While he surveyed and scouted the sewer area that the Repressors were using, he knew without a doubt, the Repressors were using this as an outpost bunker, likely to try and take down the efforts that were being made to resurrect the High Magic Council. Right now, Axel was the only one who was aware of the location, so escaping to start preparing a strike on the outpost was essential.

"The convict has escaped!"

As soon as Axel heard one of the Mechari shout, he knew they were going to have search teams out all over the place. And as he has suspected, there were Mechari rushing toward where his prison cell only to discover he was completely gone.

"We should have killed him when we had the chance!"

"What the hell were we keeping him alive for anyway!?"

"Shut up, we needed him to confess about the new High Magi Council! It's your damn fault, you should have kept watch on him!"

"I thought if he used a spell, we would have heard it!"

Ah, but that was if he used a spell to blow up the barred door. Right now, there was no evidence as to what method he used to escape.

As they argued amongst themselves about could have's and should have's, Axel kept moving about to get a better idea of the base's layout. In essence, he was lost and didn't know exactly how to get to the surface, but the transformation was at least keeping him alive and he was making significant headway when it came to scouting out the bunker. Meanwhile, acting like a natural Rattata wasn't too difficult either. As long as he didn't show human-like knowledge by using tools or fixtures in the presence of the Mechari, he was in the clear.

"Spread out!" One of the others shouted. "He couldn't have gotten far!"

He then jumped off a ledge along the wall and used two overhead pipes to get a better layout of the bunker, taking mental notes about where things were located, such as resting quarters, where the Repressors kept their computers, the interrogation room, and holding cells, which at the moment, were all empty. The more he could map out, the easier it would be for a strike team to bust in and eliminate the Repressor operations here.

After about fifteen minutes of investigating, Axel knew it was time to go. The spell wasn't going to last forever, and when it expired, he would be in trouble. At this point, he simply decided to clear as much distance away from the bunker location and head toward anything that looked like storm drain or a manhole that led to the surface. Once he transformed back and emerged back onto the surface, he would check to see what Castelia Street he was on and would use that to track down where the bunker was. He knew in less than 3 hours, they'd have a strike team ready and fully briefed on how to shut down the Repressor operations, secure intel, and expose the truth about the faction. It could be the first big break in terms of finding out all they needed to know about this terrorist organization and how best to get a payback on what they did.

For now, Axel could snicker. The Repressors had gotten too greedy by wanting all traces of the High Magi Council eliminated by trying to use him as the key to take them down, and now he was going to make them pay dearly for it.

[Grassy_Aggron]

(My shortest post to date! And I can squeeze in one more before the deadline. HOOPLAH.)

Pohe Vahoc
Phoenix Battalion
Bleu Plaza, Lumiose City, Kalos ---> ??? (Haven't quite started yet)
Affected RPers: None

Pohe tapped a nervous finger as she stared at her machine. She had been trying to take her mind off of the timers, six of which lay fully built while another was partially assembled. The issue wasn’t building them – she had plenty of materials – but just how to best thwart them going off. Sabotaging her own work was something she simply couldn’t bring herself to do, but finding a means to communicate that they were going to be attached to a bomb seemed the best way to go. Judging from the wreckage of the last one, however, the timers didn’t count for very long, which thwarted any attempt at it sounding an alarm. Someone could hear it, but there wouldn’t be enough time to get anyone out of the building or disarm it. Another way had to be found.

So while she mulled it over in the back of her mind, she now focused intently on her device, going through the familiar motions of allowing the filtration of the electrical magic before producing the electricity. Pushing her machine closer to the current, she waited anxiously to see if the addition of the ores would make a difference. It paused for quite some time before finally coming up with a clean reading. In fact, the Angel nearly dropped the device in surprise – she hadn’t anticipated completing her idea so…quickly.

Without hesitating, she walked toward her robotic companions, popping open their chassis and inserting in more of the ores. Electricity – derived from the sun – would be used to power them, while the magic would be stored for use in the machines themselves. They’d be just like the Pyroar they were designed after, except instead of food they’d derive their energy from light and wouldn’t have any waste. They would be the perfect companion, without all of the quarks, or morals, or personality of a normal one. They wouldn’t judge her as so many had before.

This needs to be tested… Returning Faraday, she instead let out Java, who stared at her with a forlorn look. “Java, I need your help moving these up to the truck. Use a Psychic, will ya?” He stared at her impassively, eyes flicking over the room, resting briefly on the timers before going back to the machines.

<…I see. So they work.>

Pohe crossed her arms, nodding. “Oh, yes they do! I’m very pleased! I still need to find more bugs, but they’re doing very well!” She couldn’t help but beam about it, extremely happy with her accomplishment so far. “One day the world will see what they are capable of, and what they can do. The perfect companion, eh?”

Java was listless, tail drooping. <Perfect companion? Aren’t we perfect enough…?>

She shrugged. “I like you, but sometimes you can complain too much, or judge silently. Doesn’t make you any less of a companion, but you certainly aren’t perfect by any means.”

The Porygon 2 waited a moment, before tilting his head toward the timers. <What are you making those for?>

“Just a request, nothing else. They loved how well my last one worked.” She noticed Java’s eyes wander toward the Dubious Disk. “Eeeeeh, don’t touch it. I’m suspicious of what it’ll do to you, and I don’t want to risk anything happening.” She gestured back at the machines. “Now, will you?”

Without a word, Java’s eyes glowed blue, the energy wrapping around the three machines – all now cloaked – and lifting them up. Pohe ushered them up the stairs carefully, glancing over at a very confused Karl. Telling the one-eyed Mechari that she was going out to test something, she lifted the garage door up and prompted the Porygon 2 to place them on the back of the truck. The engine rumbled as it felt weight, headlights flickering on as it apparently awoke.

“…I…Is it over? Can I get out of this Arceus-forsaken place?” It glanced at her, almost pleadingly.

Java gave a so-so gesture. “It’s not over Harley; in fact it’s kinda getting worse. I need to head out to an open area though, so…” Hopping into the driver’s seat, Java took up position next to her. Engine roaring to max capacity, the truck lifted off the ground a bit, inching forward until it cleared the roof and was able to join the air. It deftly maneuvered into traffic, which flowed as a steady line over the buildings, heading toward the main portal metro.

“Hmm, I see. Well then, as long as I can get out for a bit. I haven’t been able to stretch my vents in ages!”

She rolled her eyes. “Just drive, will you? I’m anxious to get this test started.” And I don’t want to be gone too long. Something might happen to Karl. Pohe glanced at Java, opening her mouth to say something before turning away. It was obvious her partner didn’t want to speak at the moment, staring out the window with dim eyes. As if I didn’t have enough problems already… I have a depressed computer program. Wonderful.

[Neo Emolga]

Axel Silverfield
The Phoenix Battalion
Castelia City, Unova
Affected RPers: N/A

It was all down to him now. After finally climbing out of the sewers and back into Castelia City, Axel knew this needed to be taken care of now. It was already bad the Greymane Building attack had gone through, but the Repressors made a crucial error and they needed to address it as soon as they could.

"They've gone underground," Axel told Charles Hill through his Maginet pocket mirror. Charles Hill was one of the coordinators for the new Magi Council. "It's definitely a Repressor outpost."

On the other line, Charles was a meek and hopeful man in his late thirties, balding, with a black goatee, but was committed to doing the best job possible. The recent attack on the Greymane Building had all of Castelia City shaken up, and he knew it was a matter of time. Either the new High Magi Council would respond, or they would be leaving themselves open for another possible strike.

"What makes you so sure?" Charles asked, wondering how he came to that. "I mean, it's not to question your judgment, but we've absolutely got to make sure we know it's a high value target before we spend resources to attack. Already most of them have been deployed to deal with the Greymane disaster."

"Castelia City Sewers," Axel told him. "Between the 6th Avenue Junction and Market Street, just across from Seron Park. I just spent the last half hour as a Rattata trying to escape from that place. I had my face slammed twice during an interrogation, and managed to buy time by giving them fake leads."

To Charles, it was very possible. He just needed to confirm one last thing before he did.

"Did you get a name?" Charles asked. "Anything at all?"

"Exodus," Axel replied. "That's all I know."

"Well, it matches what one of our covert ops uncovered during an interception on one of the metro lines," Charles told him. "Given the time constraint, we needed to force the Mechari to confess, and fast. He mentioned Exodus as well. Right after... we sawed his legs off."

It made sense to Axel. Destroying the outpost now might force Exodus to come forward. They would throwing more fire into the shadow war that Exodus started with the Repressor attacks, but sometimes it took a fire to clean everything out.

"I want Fury Division on this one," Axel told Charles with a sense of urgency. "They already know I've escaped, and these guys can mobilize very quickly. When they realize I've been gone for far too long, they may not risk hanging around for us to come to them. You saw what happened with the Greymane Building attack. They almost succeeded with that one perfectly."

"Well... alright," Charles replied with some hesitation. "You know Fury Division is usually only reserved for very high profile cases, right? If you don't have the justification now, I sure hope we can get it when everything's said and done."

"Oh trust me, you will," Axel said with a confident smirk.

* * *

It was only fifteen minutes later when the Fury Strike Force One had assembled at the target site. Knowing what they were possibly up against and what the Repressors were capable of, they showed no restraint and even had the justification for excessive force considering the nature of the Greymane attack and Bloodfall.

"Fury 4, in position," the assault mage spoke into his Maginet communicator. "Southbound exit routes blocked off."

"Fury 2, eastbound lockdown confirmed."

"Fury 6, confirming northern tunnel access has been shut."

On and on it went until all possible escape routes from the sewer outpost had been locked down and anyone trying to escape would be easily intercepted with some of the most highly trained mages the Council had command over. With the response time and tactical approach a critical element in this assault, Fury Strike Force One was absolutely determined to either kill or capture every Oppressor operative within the area. If they were still at the target site, it was going to be a very, very bad day for them.

Axel took charge of the forward assault, knowing he didn't have the time to layout the plans and trying to do a full briefing might result in the Repressors escaping before they could intercept them. Time was of the essence and even though the attack had been rushed in terms of planning, he knew these guys worked less on intricate plans, more on resourceful improvising. With both Chase the Excadrill and Blitz the Raichu by his side, he would be ready for anything the Repressors might try to unleash. Meanwhile, the remaining four members of his part of the attack team had their Pokémon out as well.

The attack approach was given the nickname of "Flooding," surrounding the enemy position from all sides, closing in on all directions to maximize the potential for flanking. The Repressors would have no idea which way to turn, and any kind of aggressive retaliation would give full diplomatic immunity to whatever needed to be done to shut down the terrorist operation.

"Contact!" One of the operatives reported. "Northgate, we have a patrol!"

From the other side of the communicator, Axel could hear the sounds of conflict. Thrashing, growls of aggression, and even what sounded like an explosion suddenly crashed out. While Axel and the rest of his team moved in, ready to face the same kind of attack.

Every time they turned a corner, they were ready for a fight. Axel knew they were getting extremely close to the bunker site as he retraced his steps. And then, suddenly, the sounds of conflict coming from Fury 6 suddenly went quiet.

"Fury 6, what's your status, over?" Axel asked quietly, speaking into his mirror Maginet communicator as he kept careful watch for any additional Repressor patrols.

"Contact down," Fury 6 replied. "They never saw us coming. No injuries to report, but we believe a distress signal may have been sent out before the last Repressor operative went down."

"We need reinforcements down here then," Axel advised him. "Everything could be riding on this and I don't like risking anything considering what these things are capable of."

"We'll send an additional three squads en route to your location now," William, the tactical advisor, reported to him. "Reinforce the Floodline."

Normally, it would seem like ridiculous overkill to send reinforcements with no casualties or even injuries, but he knew these were the robotic monsters responsible for Bloodfall and the Greymane terrorist attack. If it required them to be merciless and ruthless, he wasn't going to hesitate to hit them back for everything. It wasn't just revenge or justice. It was personal.

"Enemy spotted!" Fury 2 shouted.

And then, all at once, attack teams across the board were coming into contact with the Repressors. Axel quickly rushed in and saw two Repressor guards, suddenly alerted by their presence. He attempted to attack Axel and the rest of his team with a Nova Firebolt spell, but Axel quickly responded by forming a Valiant Barrier shield around them, forming a translucent white and cyan-colored barrier to form just in time before the Nova Firebolt spell slammed into it. If Axel hadn't stopped it, they all would have been sent to the burn unit.

"Blitz, Thunderbolt now!" Axel commanded.

The hasty, orange-furred Raichu charged into the fray, running furiously before leaping into the air and jumping off the concrete wall. Focusing his energy, he then unleashed a furious Thunderbolt attack at the two Repressors.

"Rai-chuuu!!!!" The Raichu shouted, slamming both of the Repressors with as much electrical fury as possible.

Despite being powered by magic, the intense and violent electrical disruption to both the Repressor guards was more than enough to obliterate their central processing cores and their neural transmitters. The second Repressor had attempted to raise his robotic arm to attack the Raichu in respond, but before he could, the artificial brain he had been configured with had been overloaded and then detonated in the Mechari's head. As they "died," their glowing eyes went dark just before their hulking, robotic bodies crashed violently to the ground, sending metallic clanging sounds echoing throughout the sewer hallways.

It was a sound Axel was more than happy to finally start hearing.

[Morzone]

OOC: Yeah I know It's already Saturday, I didn't get back from camp until today, might as well stick a post in anyway. Also: YAY! the truck got named Harley!

Shawn Mazox
Prism League
Castellia city, Unova.
Affected RP'ers: Grassy_Aggron

Shawn stared at the emblem in his hand, he felt sick. Then he shook his head. He was being ridiculous, there could be many easy explanations other than that it was part of the bomb. There couldn't be no metal what so ever in this building, maybe it was some building company or manufacturer run by the phoenix battalion. It could've been some other experiment that was being run, the basement areas of the greymane buildings had been science testing labs, that was well known. For all he knew it belonged to one of the people who had been working in the building.

Then his thinking was interrupted by the sound of several explosions. Jumping up in shock, he looked around toward where he had heard the noise, Ruby growling toward the same direction. Being at the bottom of the crater was not the best place to see what was going on outside however, so he quickly scrambled out of the room and ran toward the exit. When he got through the hole he had made earlier, the source of the explosions became clear.

The scene outside had changed: the panicked filled crowd had by now mostly dissipated, the fleeing people having taken the portal metro or else going through the streets to other parts of the city. What had replaced the chaos was, if anything, worse. Now a large, a very large, mob of people had come together and was attacking everything in sight. Several buildings neighboring the area had been blown to bits, some by magic and others by pokemon. As they continued their destruction, the sound of chanting broke through the confusion:

"End the mechari! End the mechari! End the mechari! End the mechari!"

The sight of such a large mass of people causing such destruction and rioting appalled Shawn, so he quickly called Ruby to his side.

"Ruby, use discharge. Stay near the edge of the rioters, we don't want to be surrounded." Ruby moved quickly toward the mass of people, her fur beginning to spark and flash once again. Her discharge, a spectacular explosion of electrical might, carved a satisfyingly large chunk out of the crowd. Then things went wrong. The rioting crowd, which was still very large even after Ruby's attack, turned their attention on him.

"Repressor!" several of them shouted, before launching a volley of attacks at him. Shawn quickly cast a large shield spell, though he knew that even with his skill in force field casting, the shield would not last long under the barrage.

"Ruby! Follow me!" he shouted, turning and running toward the alley ways on the far side of the area. When he had taken shelter down a small in-between, he looked back at the mob. His shield had held up reasonably well while he had been running. He could see several glowing cracks in the magical wall, but it was holding up. Then a bright flash and a roar came from the other side of the shield, and Shawn glimpsed a tall hooded figure and a shiny, black charizard in the crowd. Just as he saw them, the charizard had opened its mouth and let loose a massive hyper beam, and this time his shield did not hold up.

His magic shield having splintered into nothingness, the hyper beam shot toward the building where Shawn hid behind. A massive explosion consumed the building, sending debris everywhere. Once again, Shawn cast a shield spell over himself and Ruby, barely avoiding several large chunks of building coming toward them. The explosion did do him some good however, as it seemed to make the mob think he had been crushed or blown up, or simply unreachable. As he was casting the spell, he heard the small piece of metal he had found in the greymane building drop to the ground. Ruby went over and nudged it with her nose, then jumped back, growling at the small shard.

Finding this odd, Shawn stooped and examined the metal, though he found nothing different with it. Deciding to duplicate it just in case he dropped it again in a more crucial place, one where he might lose it, he held out his hands: one holding the object one empty. He quickly murmured the copy spell, which was a simple one as it was only a piece of metal.

Nothing happened. Glaring at the shard, Shawn redid his spell. Again: nothing. Why wasn't the magic working? His magic had worked a minute ago when he had cast his shield spells. This time he tried something different: he used a levitate spell. The metal shard just sat there in his hand, unmoving. Shawn then tried the same spell on a bit of ruble, this time it floated up to his eye level before he let it drop to the ground.

"This metal must be magic resistant, it repels and dissipates any magic used on it. hmm..." He murmured to Ruby, who was currently watching the rioters through the building, her eyes glowing brightly. Shawn found it too much of a coincidence that it was resistant to magic and that it had been found in the blast crater. Metals such as these were extremely rare, but if enough was found it could make a devastating bomb. If one condensed enough explosive magic inside of a metal container that would stop it from escaping...

He shook his head, he had to find out more about this metal; where it could be found and who usually bought it. During his travels he had once heard of a scientist named Pohe Vahoc who was very knowledgeable in magic and anti-magic materials, though he had never met the person. Normally he wouldn't even think of asking a scientist who was in the phoenix battalion, due to the emblem, but as castellia city citizens now thought him a repressor, most normal procedures were off.

"Let's go find another metro station Ruby, we need to get to Kalos." He said.