Brimstone Casino

-Vincent picks up a champagne glass filled with a bubbly, milky green liquid and waves off Sofia.-

Vincent: "Yes, yes, I know. It's not like you were ever receptive. But I'm sure one of the lovely ladies and gentleman here would be."

-He smirks and saunters off to find a blackjack table, or a conversational partner.-

Edited by SwiftSeraph on Dec 3rd 2020 at 11:57:18 AM

Orre, Outside the Casino

-Emilie and Gus notice the people entering the casino, and hide behind a wall, Scooby Stack style.-

Emilie: -whispering- Who are those people?

Gus: -whispering- <I do not know... Are you thinking they look suspicious, Emilie?>

Emilie: -whispering- You think they look suspicious, too, huh Gus? Well then... Time to get a closer look...

Gus: -whispering- <Just because they look suspicious, Emilie, doesn't mean that they are... Maybe they're just regular patrons.>

Emilie: -sigh- You would know, Gus...

Edited by AnimeboyIanpower on Dec 3rd 2020 at 2:09:14 PM

Outside Best Berry HQ, some time ago

Julius: I'll do it.

-He taps some things on the Meta Nav-

-And with a whoosh...-

Metropolis Of Vanity

-They are at the top of Oran OS' tower-

-...And so is Shadow Owen-

Shadow!Owen: Hello~

Oblivion Wing, Also Some Time Ago

Neon: I-it's an honor, thank you!

Motostoke Stadium

"Hmm. No, I think that's all of my questions," Hoops answers. "Kit?"

<No, that's good enough for me. I have a lot of stuff to process.>

"Yeah, so unless Kim has any questions I think that's everything."

Metropolis of Vanity

-Scanning the area around Shadow Owen-

Where'd he stash the Treasure?

Galar Route 9, yesterday

-To Volpe-

Everything you're willing to share, it'll be useful.

Spikemuth, today

-Hanging around the Pokémon Center-

Something about this place feels very [Streets of Rage].

-Volpe finishes the dregs of his grappa before using the mountainside to assist him in standing back up. Once he's back on his feet, he begins pacing back and forth in front of Tagg, linked behind his back.-

Volpe: ...I met Blondie in the back streets of Lumiose, Kalos circa hmm... 2001, I believe. I had run away from my own home for reasons I wish not to divulge, and had been living there for I believe a few months by then. I made it on my own by pickpocketing, petty thievery and constructing shelters out of scraps fastened together with my ice. They would collapse the next day, but hey helped for the night. It was hard living, and I was pretty mangey - though not nearly as much as I am now - but I made by.

-He stops to take another drag of his kretek cigarette-

Volpe: He was in the the alleyway behind Le Wow, curled up and reeling in pain, vomiting blood as his Medicham and that Gallade tended to him with heal pulses to remove the effects of bleach poisoning that Le Wow deliberately contaminates it's thrown out food with to deter dumpster divers. I think he also had with him a shiny Gardevoir at the time too, but my memory on that is a bit fuzzy. Hmm...

-Volpe finishes off his cigarette and stomps it out on the ground.-

Volpe: Oh you should have seen him signore, he was a mess. He was skinny as a rail, covered in these bruises and welts all over, scabs that at this point looked infected, clothes torn and dirty to the point that whatever color that had was almost faded and replaced by browns and blacks and some sort of cloth (maybe ripped from his shirt?) covering one of his eyes (my memory fades on which one) that looked absolutely filthy. Whatever injury or infection under there was definitely exasperated by that repugnant cloth. What a repulsive sight.

-Volpe turns to Tagg with a smile-

Volpe: Maybe you get some gratification from knowing that now.

-He chuckles as he continues on with the tale.-

Volpe: So there I was, lookin' at this poor bastard slowly dying in an alleyway from eating bleached food from an expensive restaurant that throws out perfectly fine food on the regular just because they want homeless people to starve. Even the Rattatas are treated better.

But that's off topic.

I was amused, I looked at this poor soul from the metal fire staircase nearby and smiled, leaning my elbow on the railing, chin resting on palm, and I said:

Volpe: You're new around here, aren't you? Or at least new to this~

The sickly young boy and his Pokemon look over to the voice that addressed him. Propping himself on his arm, he focuses his eyes on the figure on the railings - breathing heavily and chin stained with vomit and blood.

Volpe: That's where it started. From there we sort of a pair as I showed him the ropes on how to live the homeless life in Lumiose, and how to use our innate powers to make the best. We sort of co-habitated in the alleyways together and well-

-Volpe brings his hands to his face, links the remains of his fingers together and leans his cheek on his wrist with a hum, in a sort of sarcastic reminiscence-

Volpe: We were young. We had each other. Who could ask for more?

Edited by PippingFool on Dec 22nd 2020 at 9:54:16 PM

Galar Route 9, yesterday

-To Volpe-

Suffering doesn't particularly please me, I've seen enough of it over the years.

-A brief second passes-

What changed?

Edited by rmctagg09 on Dec 3rd 2020 at 8:27:58 AM

Volpe: For a while? Nothing much. In fact, our situation only got better. We found kids, other kids, like us. Kids who were kicked out or abandoned because their powers were seen as dangerous or a form of punishment from the gods. You'd be surprised how many people think that and do that. We liked to think of ourselves as this cool little gang with all these flower based nicknames, even gave ourselves tattoos despite the risk of infection (and we often did). We had a found family for ourselves. It was good.

- Volpe looks to the side -

Volpe: They're all dead now. It's just me and Blondie left.

- He looks back up clicks his tongue -

Volpe: But in some ways we got worse. After all, in-between that time alcohol and heroin came into the picture, which of course increased the risk of infection and made us all more violent and irritant with each other. But that's not important at the moment. What's more important is this... man comes into the picture. Some guy who called himself "Orlando Rosa".

Edited by PippingFool on Dec 4th 2020 at 5:04:59 AM

Galar Route 9, yesterday

Did it just get even chillier or something?

-To Volpe-

The original Flare? Or someone else? Because that sounds like the sort of alias a Flare member would use.

-Volpe chuckles and shakes his head-

Volpe: No no no. While Flare's mmm politics would definitely be befitting of Orlando, Flare was but a twinkle in Lysandre's eye at this point. Orlando Rosa's flowery name just happened to be his actual one, or at least the alias he chose for himself.

- Volpe takes out his hipflash and starts drinking some... pungent noxious thing that smells like it could kill a Bouffolant-

Volpe: No, Orlando was from a different sort of school... I think it was actually called "The School" or something. Though he was no longer associated with them at this point. Either he went rogue and left or... he was kicked out for being too inhumane with his experiments. Maybe that's a distinction without a difference. Who knows?

-Another swig-

Volpe: Anyway, he approached us with a tantalizing offer. A roof over our heads, food to eat, proper medical attention, showers to use, clothes to wear. That sort of stuff. And you know, saying this to a bunch of starving, homeless 14 year olds - why would we have any reason to say no? All he asked for in return was to be his assistants.

-He takes another swig-

Volpe: Well, we were assistants in loosest sense of the word. But a more accurate description would have been "lab rattatas" or "experiments".

Edited by PippingFool on Dec 4th 2020 at 5:10:40 AM

Galar Route 9, yesterday

Mason... Ludmilla...

-To Volpe-

I'm familiar with The School, we've had our skirmishes, a bunch of wicked people trying to make the perfect Aurics from their presumably graverobbed templates. They're a bit on the back seat for us as of late though. Going by what I know of them though, I figure the former was the case for this guy.

But I figure if you can't get some templates for your Build-An-Auric workshop some homeless Auric children no one will miss would be the next best thing.

Edited by rmctagg09 on Dec 3rd 2020 at 9:14:41 AM

Volpe: Thing is with Orlando is that he had no interest in building Aurics, Psychics or Obscurics (though he called the Ghost Obscurics "Spectrals" and considered them separate from Obscurics). His interest was more in the physiology of people in the Auric Spectrum. What their bodies were capable of, how they ticked, ways to increase their "output", how are powers were affected by natural phenomena that kind of stuff. He also had interest in what he called "The Aspects", but then again, that was mostly in the context of their relationship to the Auric spectrum, the correlation between and the unique effects on our bodies and powers. I think that's why The School found him appealing as a scientist in their ranks, his research could then be used by them to build their auric vessels

-Volpe leans back and shrugs, lowering his shirt without much effort and revealing once again both his back tattoo and the series of keystones embedded in his spine. Some glowing, some fading, and most not-

Volpe: This is what he did to me. It's the thing that's both killing me and keeping me alive right now. My deathly appearance and constant leakage of of iceic Obscura? Due to his interest in how Infinite Energy mixes with and affects our bodies and power.

-Volpe shrugs his shirt back on-

Volpe: Constantin was no different. Well, the tests done on him were different. But he got tested on all the same.

Edited by PippingFool on Dec 4th 2020 at 3:13:00 AM

Galar Route 9, yesterday

Where did he even get that many Key Stones?

-To Volpe-

Reminds me of those stories about people wanting the bodyparts of Black Aurics because they think it'll make them stronger or some shit like that.

What did they do to him?

CW for outdated and racist language

Galar Route 9, yesterday

Volpe: The experiments Orlando performed on Constantin were mostly done on his brain, since he was Psychic and all. According to Orlando, Psychic powers originated from the mind, Auric powers from the body and specifically the muscles and marrow and Obscuric energies from the soul, which is why Ghost and Dark Obscurics are both call "Obscuric", as they are derived from the same source. At least that was what he claimed. Knowing him it was probably some sort of quackery, but maybe quackery with a grain of truth in it.

- Volpe takes another swig of his hipflask before putting it away, taking out his cigarette case in it's place -

Volpe: What made Blondie so intriguing to Orlando was I think the fact he had one of those "Aspects" he raved about, one that well complements a Psychic's arsenal. Can't remember if the rest of us had it. I think he said that Poppy had the gold one. And that my soul was silver or something. For Blondie, he said his mind was "Like a Rock. One that glitters on all ends". So I assume it was what the mind one was. Apparently these Crystals or whatever are immune to mind alterations, even extreme ones, and combined with Psychic powers - the potential is tantalizing. His experiments on Blondie were supposedly to test that limit, to see if he could break that boundary.

-Volpe lights another kretek cig and takes a deep inhale, the smell of tobacco and spices once again wafting through the area-

Volpe: Blondie was always Orlando's favorite. Probably because his high yellow complexion and blond hair made him preferable in Orlando's eyes compared to the rest of us mulattoes and darkies. He would take him aside more often and his experiments would be a liiittle bit lighter compared to the rest of us. Not that being Orlando's favorite was a good thing, mind you. Who knows what happened when he was "taken aside" by Orlando.

-Volpe looks back to Tagg-

Volpe: You could probably root all or nearly all of Constantin's distasteful beliefs entirely on the one know as Orlando Rosa.

-Volpe laughs and shakes his head-

Volpe: Not that I exactly helped in that matter.

-He looks up and takes a deep drag of his cigarette-

Edited by PippingFool on Dec 4th 2020 at 5:13:34 AM

Galar Route 9, yesterday

-To Volpe-

A shining silver spirit, just like me. And what was your part in this?

PEFE HQ

Diane: Honestly, I'm pretty impressed by these drones. And the costume's pretty well done, too. Do you have a special tailor, or did you do the needlework yourself?

-As the drones assemble, she uses her prosthetic wing to shield herself from their attack. She cringes in pain from the jolt, but it does achieve the intended effect — it once again shifts into a normal arm.-

Diane: There we go! Back to business!

-She once again shifts to Staraptor form, and luckily the prosthetic switches correctly along with her. She stretches her wings, starting to look rather worn out and fatigued from the fight, but does manage to catch her breath enough to fly at Neowarrior.-

Diane: <No hard feelings, but you did suggest kicking me while I was down, so...>

-And she starts pummeling the grounded bird.-

-The flames sear at Skye, and she winces.-

Skye: <Agh!>

-She backs up, slashing through the wall and stirring up drywall dust in a whirlwind around Tzimisce to keep her at bay.-

Skye: <Surely, as an infamous villain, you know I have to stop you in the end? It's only the heroic thing to do, and I have a reputation to uphold.>

-Skye has been casually bantering the entire time, but now as she sees the guise of Whiptail, the air of mild irritation around her seems to relax ever so slightly.-

CW for discussion of Intimate Partner Abuse

-Volpe's expression falls into this dazed, almost dreamlike one as he ponders on the years prior.-

Volpe: Ah. You see, by this time Orlando was also sending us out to perform hits on people to get the money he needed to finance his experiments. Essentially using us as his little band of mercenary child soldiers to get the money so he could torture us in the name of "progress". Though I think you could infer there was probably some sick intentional sadism involved, considering what I've implied about his politics, who he preferred out of us and which kinds of desperate homeless Auric children he chose to target and exploit. Heh.

-His head tilts back and forth-

Volpe: So we were being sent out to kill people. We were being experimented on. The drug and alcohol problems got more exasperated as we tried to deal with the constant and daily pain. Of course, all of this stuff mixing and merging together made us more volatile, more unstable, more prone to violence and harm.

-He hums-

Volpe: You may not believe this, but back then Blondie was a rather soft and gentle soul. Delicate, even. He was probably the most powerful out of us naturally, but more of a compulsive mediator than one easily prone to violent outbreaks - only really resorting to violence as a last resort.

-Volpe forms a crude Obscruic cloud representing his old flame and begins waltzing around with it-

Volpe: Oh the volatile love we had. We would dance so beautifully together, a heavily bliss before I would snap at him for being too pathetic at his job, of which he'd profusely apologize for, fearing a retribution - which often happened as I would kick him in the hips. Sometimes he'd manage to turn around and bite my arm or headbutt me on the head or in the stomach, but then I would punch him in the throat. He would cry "No! Volpe! Please! Stop! Please! 'Please!!" as I punched his face in in a bout of fury for some petty transgression that at the time pissed me off - or knocked him headlong down the stairs. He would use his powers to push me against the wall and try to cut my face in self defense. Then we would aggressive make out, often go further, and hug and make up despite all the bruises and gashes and welts. And the next day, we would do it all over again~

-Volpe's movements become more sweeping in nature-

Volpe: Oh it was brutal. Cruel. Hellish, even. But we wouldn't have had it any other way~ It was all we knew, and all we expected. And isn't that just true love, really?

-Volpe begins to home a classic punkish tune-

Volpe: 'Ti sei mai innamorato di qualcuno

Ti sei mai innamorato, innamorato di qualcuno

Ti sei mai innamorato, innamorato di qualcuno

Di cui non avresti dovuto innamorato?

-Volpe dissapates the cloud, places his hands behind his back, and then looks back at Tagg-

Volpe: I get the feeling you expected this part of the story to go differently. Maybe you expected him to be the more aggressive one, maybe we were equally brutal to each other. But I don't think you were expecting this.

-He coughs up a coagulated glob of black blood onto the snow, which writhes before it freezes-

Volpe: There's a reason why I don't want that Shun kid to look up to me. A very good reason. But then again, he doesn't know this shit about me. If he knew, he'd probably stop seeing me as this grizzled, cynical aloof mentor figure who inside has a heart of gold and means well. Maybe he should, so he doesn't idolize a monster like me.

Edited by PippingFool on Dec 4th 2020 at 6:49:26 AM

Galar Route 9, past

Well this is something.

-Face betraying no emotion-

From what you're telling me, Constantin should be hunting for you, not the other way around. What switched things around?

Volpe: Well... What would you think would happen if you've been neglected, abused, assaulted, tormented and tortured by everyone you've ever known or has ever been close to you?

-Volpe snaps what remains of his fingers, threatening to break after completing the action.-

Volpe: You snap.

- He leans back on the mountainside, a solemn scowl on his face.

Volpe: He killed everyone. Everyone. Orlando, our friends, anyone else around who had the misfortune of being around him. Drawn and quartered, entrails spewed everyone.

The only one he left alive was me.

- He sighs and sinks back down to the ground-

Volpe: Maybe it was that sense of perverted sentimentality. That deep in his heart he still loved me dearly and couldn't bring himself to kill me despite all the horrid things I've done to him. Whatever Orlando did to him, it only made his already terrifying inherent powers more ferocious. And more unstable. Which I guess would be the end result if the tests done on oneself was to find the limits before breaking their brain.

-His eyes furrow-

Volpe: Orlando deserved what was coming to him. But the rest? Our friends? Our family? Killing them and leaving me of all people alive? That is something I've never forgiven him for. And never will. I will forever despise him for that, even if, in this one moment, you may sympathize with the devil himself and agree that his hatred of me is understandable. Even if he deals with that trauma I inflicted upon him in the most cruel and destructive way imaginable. I will avenge the lives of our friends by taking his life in recompense for theirs. Then I will die. It's the only fitting end.

-He sighs stands back up, going back to pacing as he did before-

Volpe: Maybe in a different life. This never would've happened. We would have been kinder and more caring to each other. We... I wouldn't have hurt him as I did. We wouldn't have had our lives ruined by that man. He could have gone on and become that dancer he always dreamed of. He wouldn't be so hateful. I wouldn't be dying right now. Our family would still be here. And we would have all been happy.

-He shakes his head-

Volpe: But that is not what happened, and we should accept it. You can't fight something that already happened. You can't run from it, there's no purpose in doing so. We only only have one life, and this one is ours.

-He looks back to Tagg with a furrowed brow-

Volpe: ...Does this answer your question, signore?

Edited by PippingFool on Dec 4th 2020 at 8:22:13 PM

Galar Route 9, past

And so I guess after that he just laid low after he went back home to ice his parents, then some time later he fell in with Flare and met Sol, presumably to try getting intel on the J-Team should we decide to head to Kalos. Not that we could've, we had to deal with the Dream World fusing, and then Lucius and I got stuck in the past, and after that... Cipher. So then after their Skybreak plot was foiled he just stewed in Shalour until Illusion gave him an opportunity, and then six years later here we are...

-To Volpe-

Yes. But if that's what you're thinking, despite the terrible things you've done to him, you are not responsible for Constantin's racism. That, no matter the horrors he's suffered, is a choice he made on his own.

Edited by rmctagg09 on Dec 4th 2020 at 5:25:32 AM

-The current expression Volpe shoots Tagg is best summed up as a sarcastic "No, really. You think?"-

Volpe: You must take me for a fool if that's what you extrapolated from that. None of things that happened to him is an excuse for him becoming a Nazi. Plenty of people go through horrible things and horrible relationships and don't come out the end as a genocidal, obsessive fanatic.

-He sighs and looks down, with a solemn expression on his face-

Volpe: I think my ultimate point is more... Blondie isn't a good person, but I don't think he had as much control over the person he became as he would have liked. But maybe that's giving too much sympathy to the devil

- He takes a drag of his cigarette, looking nowhere in particular -

Volpe: If anything the person I blame most for his hate is Orlando Rosa. All I did just was just give more credence to the idea that Orlando must have been correct in his theories and opinions about folks like us. Though ultimately, it was his choice to believe Orlando in the end. Hm.

-His eyes begin to go droopy-

Volpe: Ironic as it is, we would have been better off homeless then making a faustian bargain with that man.

- He laughs and looks up at Tagg -

Volpe: I wonder what would happen if you ever met him. Orlando Rosa. At least Blondie has some scraps of a sympathetic background, even if he deserves none of that sympathy. Rosa, though? There was nothing. Just tar through and through. A well off man from a well off family that loved him and treated with nothing but kindness his whole life, respected by everyone, graduating with honors. And the thing he delighted in the most was torturing and breaking down children of colour into components for experimentation for some sick notion of "progress". In some ways I think you would have despised him more than even Blondie, even if your hatred of him runs on a more personal level.

- Volpe finishes off his cigarette -

Volpe: If you've ever wonder why Blondie draws his line at harming children, any child no matter the background, and cares deeply for their wellbeing. It's because of him, the one good trait Rosa ever imparted on him. Indirect though it may be.

Edited by PippingFool on Dec 4th 2020 at 9:04:06 PM

Galar Route 9, past

Yes, but if there's one thing I know about this universe, you don't know who might be watching...

-To Volpe-

I probably would've killed him, or at least the me of a couple years ago would've.

Edited by rmctagg09 on Dec 4th 2020 at 5:18:33 AM

Galar Route 9, past

Volpe: Only the you of a few years ago? Not the you of now?

- He hums-

Volpe: That's gonna be difficult. What, you think you're just gonna be able to take a third option with him? Like, remove all his powers and leave him to rot in some jail cell to spend the rest of his days?

-He tchs-

Volpe: You don't have that option. You may have had it in the past before he got that implant on his spine, but now it's not an option at all. He either lives, or he dies.

-There is a solemn smile on his face-

Volpe: You want him dead, but you don't want to be the one who does it, is what I'm getting. Maybe during your last stand with him someone else can deliver the final shot and clear your conscious of any guilt regarding his death. But I don't think that's likely to happen

- Volpe turns around to face his Pokemon, and begins walking back towards Circhester. Before he moves further he looks back to Tagg one last time. -

Volpe: I've got to get back to the Isle of Armor. I want to spend as much time with my kids as possible, for obvious reasons. I'll leave you to ponder your prince-in-the-tent styled quandary on how best to handle him as you head towards Spikemuth.

-He turns back and continues to walk again, making a waving gesture as he leaves-

Volpe: Ciao signore. Till we meet again. Which will probably be around the time you wish to plan another raid on a Neo-Flare location. Or if I have pertinent information to give you. Enjoy your time while you can, Tagg. You know that there's not gonna be much time to do so in the future.

-And just like that, he's gone-

Galar Route 9, past

-Watching Volpe leave-

It's not that I want him dead, but I know that most likely only one of us is walking away from that battle alive. Especially if I use that thing. It's not so much the act itself that worries me... it's what comes afterwards.

-Takes a deep breath before continuing south-

Edited by rmctagg09 on Dec 4th 2020 at 5:51:44 AM

"Well whatever the party does, enjoy your time here!" The one at the front door says, before letting the party move on.

There was so much to see in the casino, so many avenues to take. Backdoors leading to employee only areas, a room stopped by a guard wearing what looked to be a knight like mask with horns, listed as "SEVER", A swanky restaurant complete with a floor show. There was so much here and so many different avenues.

How did the Floor Team want to do this?

"You called in that backup yet?" Roxy asked

Silas nodded as he finished working on another part, "He says he'll come. Says it is in a way appropriate."

"Shame the other Bolts aren't here, we could've used Skadi," Roxy noted, "Olivia as well maybe."

"I'd call in Rogue but they're... well rogue," Silas said with a smirk.

Roxy sighed, "Still, 4 should be enough to cause mass mayhem."

"Not to mention some of the floor team is rejoining us down in the vaults," Silas added finishing the piece, tossing it to Jessica.

"The new suit instead of utilizing the servos and hydraulics of the old one," he began to explain, "Utilizes the advanced nanofiber muscles that the Fox and Rogue outfits. It's more flexible and durable... though more expensive to make."

~Hence why we're using it, because we're not mass producing this stuff,~ Hacks commented with a smug grin.

Silas suddenly felt bad hoarding technology.

He sighed, "Remind me to upgrade the Vuplecula armor with it."

Roxy rolled her eyes a bit, "And supposedly the big bad Jackal doesn't need it?"

Silas just smirked and flexed his right arm.

Edited by EchoingSilence on Dec 4th 2020 at 9:29:38 AM