Cw for slightly gory content

Lumiose Hospital, Earlier.

Volpe gives a long, beleaguered sigh as he turns around on his chair so his back is facing Shun, and lifts up the back of his shirt. Revealing to Shun the full back tattoo and series of Keystones embedded into his spine that we have seen before.

Most crucially, all except the top two Key Stones have completely blacked out, with the second remaining Key Stone half faded.

As if they have been depleted of energy.

Volpe: See this, ragazzo? This is both what's keeping me alive and killing me slowly.

He pulls down his shirt and turns around to face Shun.

Volpe: Look.

Volpe forms an icicle shank in his hand and stabs himself in the side of the neck.

Once he removes the "blade", however, the wound begins glowing with the same energy that racked his body moments before, and slowly patches Volpe back up.

Volpe: ...Such is the power, of raw Infinite Energy. But, it has it's caveats.

Yveltal's Mansion.

"Dolores": T..oo... tal...k... wit...h... Ti..no... Yvel...tal... b...r..oug...ht... me.. t..oo.... ta..l..k...

She begins nodding off.

"Dolores": S..he... s...ai...d sh..e'd...f..ix... m...e... i...n... re..tur..n..

h..ow... gene...rous...

It seems by this point, she's passed out.

Edited by PippingFool on Sep 21st 2018 at 11:23:41 PM

Lumiose Hospital - Earlier

-Shun and Tara both instinctively recoil as Volpe demonstrates his regenerative abilities, though Shun is the first to regain the power of speech.-

Shun: ...Then you just need more Key Stones, right? I know they're not exactly easy to acquire, but I'm sure we could find a means of sourcing them, you can't just give up...

PEFE HQ

To: Ever

From: Tagg

Edited by rmctagg09 on Sep 21st 2018 at 9:33:11 AM

Lumiose Hospital, Earlier

Volpe: Ah, it doesn't quite work like that ragazzo. The amount of energy these keystones provide is enough to keep me alive, sure. But I will still then be constantly in pain, constantly falling apart, constantly leaking out obscura from every pore on my body while my organs half shut down because I'm unable to actually absorb any energy I'd get from eating because it all goes to my powers - but still kept alive because there's just enough Infinite Energy to go around.

Volpe points to where he's hacked up on the floor, of which the masses of blood have stopped twitching.

Volpe: That's why those were twitching earlier. Vestiges of IE burning out of it.

He looks to Shun.

Volpe: The amount of energy I would actually need to stay properly alive and not be in constant pain and wishing for death would require the death of numerous living creatures. Sucking them dry for all they have and leaving them an empty husk, like some vampire or other form of parasite. Once you're on that lifeline, you can't get off of it without dying.

He sighs and looks back down.

Volpe: I've made my peace with it. My family has made their peace with it. For your own sake, you should do the same.

Edited by PippingFool on Sep 24th 2018 at 2:35:55 AM

Lumiose Hospital - Earlier

-Shun leans forward, looking at Volpe with what is probably an uncomfortably intense gaze.-

Shun: ...Even the twins?

-He sighs, and shakes his head.-

Shun: I don't know how you found yourself in this state in the first place, but I refuse to believe that there are no other solutions. I'm not going to just let you die. I accept that it might be always be a spectre looming on the horizon, but you do not have to go gentle into that good night. If not for your own sake, then for the sake of your family.

Lumiose Hospital

Volpe: It's a hell of a story and a half, maybe I'll tell it to you one day, but regardless-

Volpe manages to stand up, though he's a little wobbly.

Volpe: Yes, even my kids know I'm on the way out. That's why they've been spending more time with me lately. Eeking out whatever time we can before I snuff it.

He brushes himself off.

Volpe: And trust me ragazzo, I ain't gonna go "gently" anywhere. Constant pain and suffering isn't "gentle" in the slightest. And staying alive in this half dead, shambling state is gonna be more stressful for my family than if I just cark it.

PEFE Forest Module

A pink-haired girl with pink rabbitmon ears, a pink crescent tail poking out of her back and powder blue eyes is walking around. Her business? Not even she knows, evidenced by her fooling around with the ribbons around her neck and left ear, and her microphone.

Someone may have noticed.

-Cayenne smiles fondly at Ludovic-

Cayenne: Well, partly I simply wanted to see the extent of the aftermath myself. I was hoping to glean a bit of information about these supervillains, if I could, you know? Plus, who knows what other exhibits might have gotten compromised.

-Mason, after all this time, is hiding out of view, possibly with at least some of the other now-former prisoners of the Macraul estate, after a story that will be told another day.-

Mason: ...That. Happened.

-He slumps against the wall.-

-Vierr narrows his eyes.-

Vierr: ...Okay, who the fuck.

Corrin: "By your hand"?

Lumiose Hospital - Earlier

-Shun's hands suddenly ball into fists as he fixes Volpe with a venomous glare.-

Shun: ...No. You do not get to die on your children that casually. Do you have any idea what I'd give to have another moment with Mom? What I would do to be able to talk to Dad one more time? I'd be willing to drag myself through any amount of pain just to see them again, and I know they'd do the same for me. I don't doubt that it's hard for both them and you, but if you're too much of a coward to drag yourself through it for our sake then you shouldn't have been a father in the first place.

-The moment that last remark passes his lips, some of the tension seems to fade from him, but he's still glaring at Volpe with red, teary eyes.-

Edited by Herbert40k on Sep 21st 2018 at 3:25:19 PM

PEFE HQ

-Ever smiles-

-and their smile shifts to a wide grin-

-Ivan is standing here, waiting for Jean to show up for his tour.-

Museum Park

Jean and Shutter wait for their expected companion in the museum's grounds. One was a Plate Careé-styled map of the world styled into a formal garden. Shutter looked below at one path of blue stone that crossed where his home region was represented. At the center, where Kalos was represented, was a detailed globe made of metal, dated to the 1980s and, incidentally, bore the name of one Lowell Macraul.

Shutter was humming this cheerful tune.

Jean: We mostly kept the garden this way because of historical purposes. Back when the garden was opened, they have just switched to the Plate Careé map. In 1989, they had one of Kalos' most esteemed artists at the time make a globe, since it showed the museum's commitment to science: the Earth is not flat. The Macrauls are a family of collectors; Madame Cayenne was a donor to the museum and her husband doesn't have the infamy his famous cousins have.
Shutter: So you're saying they're not all bad?
Jean: It's best to avoid them unless absolutely necessary, regardless. The artist who made this globe was a Macraul; a masterful chemist and computer engineer, terrific artist, too. Many of the statues decorating the city's restored monuments were his. It doesn't always happen, but frequently these were usually unveiled when his brother is reported to have acquired a controversial artifact. Paul is... well...

Shutter walks down the blue path while T posing.

Shutter: Oh. He's one of them. Entitled bastards who think they can own anything they fancy because they're rich and powerful...

Jean looks down and recognizes the path Shutter was on. Blue stone was used to mark significant oceanic currents in the Museum's Map Garden.

Shutter: ...Regardless of the consequences.
Jean: Oh. I see what you mean.
Shutter: My people called it the Beast of the Sea. Pretty funny how this current controls all our weather. It's reputed to be sensitive to the activity of the legendary pokémon that resided in the islands off Shamouti. I was seven at the time. It felt like the world around me was going to end. I later discovered who was behind it and how utterly flippant his reasons behind his blasphemous vandalism.
Jean: You're not alone, Gavin. It felt like an apocalypse for everyone. What are you humming?
Shutter: The Guardian Songs of the Orange Islands. What can I say, I'm feeling a bit homesick.

Shutter continued to walk on the blue path of the current, humming another, more somber tune. Jean, meanwhile, spots Ivan from a distance and waves to him.

Edited by MasterJayAM on Sep 24th 2018 at 8:30:16 PM

Lumiose Hospital, Earlier.

Volpe shoots Shun a glare almost as icy as the frost that encases his person.

Volpe: I didn't want to be a father. Marco did. I told you all of this almost a year ago.

He pops the collar of his uniform jacket.

Volpe: My kids live in a nice house with two fathers who love them unconditionally and are very well off, with a family network that supports through hell or highwater. I was never a permanent affixture in their lives, ever. I was always on the periphery, because I knew that I'd be a horrible father if I was in their lives more often.

He pulls out a cigarette and puts it into his mouth.

Volpe: Let them know the me they think they know. That they want to know. Not the actual person who can only ever let them down. Just like you Shun, who's only known me for a hair over a year and yet has this lofty idea of who I should be rather than what I am.

He makes his way towards the door.

Volpe: Goodbye, Shun.

And he leaves without another word or glance Shun's way.

Edited by PippingFool on Sep 22nd 2018 at 6:56:35 PM

Lumiose, Natural History Museum

Ludovic: -starting to move- Oh yes, of course! After you. I think we'll have to be careful, with so many things falling apart in there. Xerneas, I'm so glad they didn't go after you for any reason. What savages...

Charlotte the female Aurorus: <...> -glares at some rookie policemen who have started to make their way toward the couple, dissuading them from coming closer-

Lumiose Hospital - Earlier

-Shun blinks the tears out of his eyes as Volpe marches out.-

Shun: Wait, no, that's not what I-

-He's cut off as the door is slammed in his face.-

Tara: ...Well then. Maybe I should've left after all.

Shun: Now is really not the time, Tara.

Tara: Right. Sorry.

-Moments later, the door swings open again, revealing a nurse following closely behind Dani.-

Nurse: Sorry to bother you all, but I heard there was an emergency in-

Tara: False alarm. Don't worry about it.

Nurse: ...Oh.

-She seems rather peeved as she turns and marches back down the corridor, while Dani just looks confusedly at Tara.-

Dani: Huh? But I thought-

Tara: I'll explain as we go. For now, though, I think Shun just needs some time alone.

-She leads Dani away while Shun sits morosely in his cot, before turning to his phone in an effort to distract himself from the guilt simmering in his mind.-

Lumiose City

-It's a few minutes before his next message comes through.-

Edited by Herbert40k on Sep 21st 2018 at 4:03:08 PM

PEFE HQ

Daydre blinks a couple times to make sure she's not imagining things. Once she's sure, she closes her sketchpad and calls out.

"... Uh, hey there."

Miscellaneous Sentret: -With a voice inexplicably like somemon who's smoked two packs a day for 20 years- <We done? Don't forget to bring the stuff if you ever come back.>

"Oh, uh y-"

Before she's even done the Sentret hops away.

"Oh... Okay..."

He pauses, then points at Shutter. "I know you. From the news. You were the one who covered the Lumiose crisis..."

He shakes Shutter's hand. "Nice to meet you." He then turns to Jean. "So, where are we going first on this tour? I'm really interested."

Cayenne: Oh, Ludy, sweetie, I am confident that they are unlikely to go after me directly. Even without the silly superstitions.

-She gives Ludovic's hand a gentle squeeze-

Cayenne: I'm certain of it.

-She continues into the museum, at least as far as security will allow her.-

PEFE HQ

“Oh, hello,” the pink-haired girl chimes upon noticing Daydre. “Didn’t know if anyone else was here,” she allowed, approaching. “Sketchin’, eh? Were you sketchin’ the Sentret that just dashed?”

PEFE HQ

Map Garden, Lumiose Museum Complex

Shutter: Hello there. Gavin Albright, known as 'Shutter' to friends. Either name's fine. Pleased to meet you, Ivan, and welcome to Lumiose City.
Jean: Well, since we're already here. Let's get started. The museum's natural history department is still under repairs from yesterday, but the grounds are pretty impressive. Pity, though, since my favorite exhibit's a permanent one. They also took the opportunity to clean out the model pokémon at the Grand Gallery of Taxonomy cleaned. Across the garden, facing North Avenue, the Miare Hall of the Arts, the most familiar wing of the museum.
Shutter: Where to next? The Pantheon? Prism Tower?
Jean: I'm saving those for the grand finale. You haven't lived until you see the city from Prism Tower at night. I should know; my wife and I shared our first kiss atop the tower.

Edited by MasterJayAM on Sep 21st 2018 at 11:30:25 PM

PEFE HQ

-it takes a little longer to reply to the other message. Typing notifications briefly pop on and off for a minute or two, before-

Lumiose City

-Even after the message is sent, Lucius remains sat staring at his phone screen, internally screaming.-

Lucius: Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Lumiose, Natural History Museum

Ludovic: Well, ma choupette, then it must be true. -follows her inside, tutting at the damage- Oh, that's right - I saw my cousin Lowell not long ago. Still eccentric as ever. He chattered about making a social call sometime and giving us our anniversary gift, so there is your warning. -smirks, then continues to look around-

PEFE, Cafeteria

-There is a Pent here, staring into a half-finished bowl of soup-

-Late lunch or early dinner, you make the call-

N's Castle

Welp, I guess start adjusting them until we get a match.