Motostoke Stadium

-The Foul Play comes in, knocking Ori to the ground-

Agnes: Ori!

-Ori lays there for a second...then slowly gets back up, staggering-

Agnes: You ok to keep going?

Ori: -nods- <That was close.> -To Kit- <...Nice shot.>

Agnes: Ok. Use Air Slash!

-Ori beats her wings, this time making a small ball of wind that goes flying towards Kit-

Striaton City, NYE

Piper: -calmly- <They may hurt, but we'll help by sharing the pain... Don't you worry, Dio... You are not alone...>

Galar Wild Area

Me: Oh, that's just Freddie. He's been like this since we met 'im. He's timid and takes things way too literally... It's kinda like when I first met Raru...

Edited by AnimeboyIanpower on Jan 28th 2021 at 9:29:50 AM

Striaton City, NYE

Dio: <Thanks... but I still feel kind of terrible about myself.>

Joel: <Well, don't worry. We'll be there for ya.> (He suddenly pauses, then turns to Ian and Evelyn.) <You guys still have that guitar from the BOTB, by any chance?>

The Wild Area

Jagger:    <Raru?>   

Edited by OPALGARNET16 on Jan 28th 2021 at 9:32:53 AM

Mementos, Armory Path

Okay she's probably gonna go berserk soon.

-To Shadow!Kai-

This isn't your Mindscape, though it is a similar place.

Galar Route 9

-Walking towards the tunnel-

Was getting tired of Spikemuth anyway...

Striaton City, NYE

Me: I do.

-Ian reaches into his backpack and pulls the electric guitar out of it.-

Me: When I changed my outfit earlier this year, I made sure to transfer everything from my old backpack to my new one. Well... Almost everything, as I didn't sew a new J-Team pocket into this bag...

-Ian then hands the guitar to Dio.-

Galar Wild Area

Me: Raru, come on out.

-Ian throws a Poké Ball into the air and out comes Raru, who then promptly hides behind Ian's leg.-

Me: -calmly- Don't be shy, Raru... Kim made some new friends. They won't harm you.

Raru: -worried- <R-Really? Because I sense a presence with a type advantage...>

Me: -calmly- The Toxel? Oh, you don't have to worry about him. He just likes music. He won't poison you...

-Shyly, Raru peeks out from behind Ian's leg.-

Raru: -shyly- <D-Do you promise?>

Galar Route 7

-Coming out of the tunnel-

That sure is a mighty big crater.

Did Necrozma come from here?

Cam: <So Raihan's next?>

Yes, then we're making our way straight to Wyndon.

Motostoke Stadium, Pitch

Kit takes the attack head on with no time to react. The force is enough to lift his small body off the ground, and he falls unmoving on the stadium floor.

Hoops: Kit!

Kec <Kit!>

Striaton City, NYE

Kim: "...you have a J-Team pocket?"

Joel: <Also... the guitar was for me, not Dio...> (He takes it from Dio and chuckles.)

The Wild Area

Strummer: <What, are you mad? 'Course I won't!> (then, to Freddie) <I won't hurt you either, by the way. Just in case you thought I would.>

Freddie: <T-thank goodness... I was kind of worried about that... b-but... that's not the main thing I'm worried about...>

Jagger:    <Then... what is?>   

Freddie: (whimpers; hides away)

Motostoke Stands

(Kim suddenly notices Kit on the ground, and her eyes widen in shock.)

Kim: "Oh no."

Edited by OPALGARNET16 on Jan 29th 2021 at 8:45:48 AM

Motostoke Stadium

Agnes: Uh oh.

Ori: <Did I put too much into that??> - She flutters over to Kit- <You alright there, kid?>

Motostoke Stadium, Stands

Me: Oh... that can't be good...

Motostoke Stadium, Pitch

Evelyn: Taihenda... Hatty, use Life Dew on Kit...

Hatty: <Got it...>

Evelyn: Let's hope it's not too serious...

-Hatty jumps off of Evelyn's head and sprinkles some rainbow-colored dew drops on the weakened Nickit.-

Striaton City, NYE

Me: Well... It's a Long Story... Are you familiar with the Macraul Family?

Galar Wild Area

Raru: -shyly- <Thank you...>

Me: Don't worry, Strummer. Raru's been like this since the day I first met him.

Edited by AnimeboyIanpower on Jan 29th 2021 at 2:50:41 PM

Striaton City, NYE

Kim: "Only vaguely. Why?"

The Wild Area

Strummer: <Ah, don't fret! It's fine.>

Kim: (turns to face Jagger) "He still has grippers, by the way; that's why he's hiding."

Freddie: (terrified) <P-please... don't remind me... eep!>

Kim:(to Jagger) "He's very self-concious."

Jagger:    <I can tell.>   

Striaton City, NYE

Me: Well... ha ha... Let's just say their manor's security measures left something to be desired...

Wild Area

-Raru pokes his head out from Ian's leg.-

Raru: <Congrats on evolving, Freddie.>

Striaton City, NYE Battle

Kim: "What exactly do you mean by that?"

The Wild Area

Freddie: (hides away more) <T-thank you...>

Striaton City, NYE

Me: -laughs- Well, that's a story you'll have to ask someone like Pentigan, Colton, Des or Grandpa Reynard about...

-Ian then remembers exactly how the story ends...-

Me: -almost grimly- ...but you won't like the ending...

Galar Wild Area

Raru: <I'm Raru... Nice to meet you both...>

Edited by AnimeboyIanpower on Jan 29th 2021 at 9:45:13 AM

NYE, Striaton City

Kim: "Hmm... yes... I do want to get in contact with Rever at some point and wish him a Happy New Year after the ball drops. I do not know, however, if he will see my text or respond to it."

The Wild Area

Jagger:    <Hey there, kid! Name's Jagger. The Toxel is Strummer- he likes The Clash and hates The Establishment. As for me?>    (He snickers, then:)    <I like pranking and scaring people~!>   

Edited by OPALGARNET16 on Jan 29th 2021 at 9:52:59 AM

PEFE HQ — Back In The Old Days

-Skye is battered by the very unsanctioned Psychic, and staggers a bit.-

Skye: <Urk... W-well, I think we can expect that— >

-And a very loud sound, like a trombone doing its best impression of the Inception sound, suddenly quakes the entire module, as two Swellow soar through the door.-

-One of which is, in fact, playing that exact trombone making that exact sound.-

Kattraea: <Bronze Birds Captain Kattraea, reporting for duty!>

Annie: <Halt, evildoer! Your villainy ends here!>

Skye: <Oh thank every Mythical in the pantheon I dunno how much more I could take>

Kai's Apartment

Kai: Oh, of course, I don't want to make it a whole thing. Just... yeah.

-She hesitates.-

Kai: ...I'll see if she's interested. Just her.

-She takes out her phone, but before she starts typing, she winces slightly.-

Kai: Mmh. Headache. I— I guess the nervousness is getting to me a bit.

-She exhales, then continues with her text.-

Mementos — Armory Path

Shadow!Kai: Technically my Mindscape or not, you're still intruding. You already seem to know far too much about my problems, and I don't like that.

-She climbs up on top of the railing, balanced over the edge.-

Shadow!Kai: I pride myself on being a reliable secret keeper. Both for myself and my friends. So when someone tries to pry, I have no choice but to defend my mind, by any means necessary.

-And she leaps off, coming down to the ground in a superhero landing.-

- The dark screen covering their face flickers to life, glowing indigo from the front, with pupil-less yellow eyes burning through whoever they look at. The figure coughs and gasps, an attempt to catch their breath after the fall, but the filter over their voice seems to turn it into wheezing, croaking laughter.-

-All in all, the end result looks uncannily like a certain vigilante the group may have caught wind of◊. The details are off, but the resemblance is undeniable.-

Shadow!Kai: ...You don't get to walk away from this.

-They take a stance. Behind them, a trio of figures, all with their own resemblance to Toxicroak, manifest. One stoic and stern, one small and agile, and one bulky and aggressive — a grunt, a runt, and a brute.-

-And they dart forward, aiming to strike where each opponent least expects. In particular, the Rogue lookalike and the brute attack Sorceress and Daydre with 'claws' laced with venom.-

╓────────────────╢ SHADOW KAI ╟──────────────────╖ 
╠╡ AURA ╞════════════════════════════════════════╣ 
║████████████████████████████████████████████████║ 
╠════════════════════════════════════════════════╣ 
║████████████████████████████████████████████████║ 
╚════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

Edited by BittersweetNSour on Jan 30th 2021 at 12:02:31 PM

Mementos, Armory Path

-Ariadne and I get Faked Out-

Ack!>

Pink: -Starts scanning, having hung further back-

Hammerlocke

-Looking at the Stadium-

So it's all gonna end here.

Edited by rmctagg09 on Jan 29th 2021 at 10:46:29 AM

The Wild Area

Raru: -concerned- <Not to ask the leading question, but... what do you have against "The Establishment"? And what even is "The Establishment"?>

Striaton City, NYE

Me: -quickly snaps out of my reflection- Oh! That's right!

Evelyn: Thank you so kindly for reminding us, Kim... We should really get to watching the ball drop. It's almost time.

Me: Yeah. Shall we, Evelyn?

PW Sector 1, Beacon 2

-It's fairly easy to notice the new ship in this area after it powers up shields and deploys weapon hardpoints. The hull is rather rough with a notable dent near the front and a hasty paint job in crimson red. No one has really told the crew of the Defiant Wing what space pirates look like around here, but the aesthetics carry all the explanation nessecary-

-And then it opens fire at the mining vessel. The first volley isn't enough to do any damage to anything but the shield but it does remove them-

Commander Riley: <Aaaaaaaah okay. Hey can you please cover me while I spin up the drives? I'll drop you a canister of LTD once we're in the clear okay?>

Kai's Apartment

-Gale immediately looks concerned at the flinch but after a moment she shakes it off-

Yeah don't worry too much about it. I can run over the full plan again if your friend wants in.

Motostoke, Damn Rich People Indeed

-Abilene cocks her head, listening to the bystanders-

Abilene: Need listen to me, no.

-and, yes, this child in front of her-

Abilene: Listen to what crawls from your rathole mouth?

-she sighs, put-upon-

Abilene: I'd advise it.

-Parmenion slams deadlong into Castanea—in the same weight class, roughly, Chesnaught to Drednaw-

-but Castanea roots his stance in the cobbles, steadfast and solid as mere grass isn't-

-momentum shatters like waves on granite, and he just stands there, letting Parmenion's mass drive itself onto his anterior spines-

Castanea: -grunts-

Abilene: -shaking her head, softening her tone- I'm afraid I don't know what you're implying. Does my dear companion, raised from childhood, seen through—

-revealed glinting from his shoulder is a Ribbon—a series of Ribbons—unfamiliarly Kalosian, unmistakably Champion-grade-

Abilene: —oh, a trifle here or there, some year or other—lack documentation of his right to stand by my side? -gasp-

-utterly unafraid that his present struggle might drive him back a single centimeter, she steps behind him, giving him a gentle pat on the shell-

Abilene: -tsk, tsk, in a stage whisper- Nor do I, an upstanding citizen, know why that is the first thought that occurs to you. What have you learned from whomever trained you?

-she stops for a moment at Terrence's claim and Gaspard's remark, unable to restrain an impolite snort-

Abilene: -outright rueful- —Water specialists! Can't live with them, can't fucking escape them. Your father and his roster, of course, are free to challenge me. When they tire of beating the same old drum—

-all humor flees her tone-

Abilene: Yet this distracts from my point.

-if Terrence's speech could be described as flinty, hers is the reminder of roots that break flint, scattering it to meal for the underbrush—Castanea's muscles strain and pop—-

Abilene: You will return my cousin's property, and cease your petty squabbles. That you have come this far unchallenged speaks ill of this school, your peers, your father—and you will not shame me and mine as you have disgraced yours.

-and, here, her Chesnaught endeavors (not Endeavors) to heave Parmenion onto his back, in time with the rhetoric-

Abilene: I will not have it.

Route 7

-Hiro makes no attempt at hiding his appraisal of Ever's caution, with no expression further than rueful appreciation-

Hiro: The kind you trust, but verify.

-he takes a moment to chew a bite of stew-

Hiro: Before you spend another year in sidereal exchange.

-Chips pauses in gazing solemnly up at the babypatterns long enough to give Hiro another strange look; Parfait gives him a pat on the shell that disrupts the smoke-streams momentarily-

Hiro: -waving his fork- Personally I'm uncertain if this source of ours has anything other than a knack for noticing fracture points, but that alone is useful enough—

(-potentially dangerous enough, he does not say-)

—that it shouldn't be ignored.

-he yawns for a long, long moment-

Hiro: -rubbing his eye- They're convinced enough that you and yours poke these out like professional perforators—

Parfait: -bemused- (<Stumble across them like Bouffalant trying to replace a tea set?>)

Chips: -...yawn...- (<...Mothim...flame…>)

-Hiro spends another moment visibly weighing metaphors, before forcing himself to shrug and move on-

Hiro: ...as they are convinced they don't dare meddle directly in. Something.

Hiro: That seems arbitrary to every test I have subjected it to, which

-oh look, it's soup time—he eyes Ever across the rim with something that seems...searching-

The Wing swung in at the Pirate ship, firing a burst volley of laser fire. Internal gravity compensating as best as it could for the inertial effects upon the crew inside.

Snakeye was making a mad dash to the engine room to begin monitoring the power usage. Blackquil had taken over sensors, <Grant-Dono. We have a problem.>

"What?"

<The enemy vessel has a teleporter, boarders have just transported in.>

"Arthur, Gale, best get on that," Silas sent the notice down, "Roxy keep us on target as best you can."

Arthur marched over to the door, he could hear the sound of Scyther blades scratching at it, he nodded towards Nightingale and slowly loaded his double barrel with malicious intent. Clutch out and ready, <These pathetic flesh sacks do not know what is coming.>

Tyrant slowly marched, servos whirring in his heavy armor as Archville slowly skittered along... the two paused, Tyrant turning his attention to the area where Shaun was. The spotlight from his helm barely touching the area...

He stared at the zone, longer than expected... before turning his attention away as he heard something else. Marching off, in the direction of Belladonna, "Who's there? This area is secure access only!"

Edited by EchoingSilence on Jan 30th 2021 at 11:04:37 AM

Metaverse

-Sorceress brings up her staff to block the Fake Out, but her bones still rattle. Poison splatters on her dress, but fails to eat through.-

Sorceress: "You're gonna owe me a pizza after this. And for what it's worth, I' sorry. Nekomata!"

-The mask is torn off, and an anthromorphic female Meowstic appears behind Sorceress, balancing her dagger on a fingertip before pointing it ar Shadow!Kai, raw mental force burrowing into her brain.-

Brimstone Casino - Backrooms

-An opening. As Midna returns with a duffle bag, Shaun slings it over his back and starts making his way to the server room's entrance, the Froslass sticking her head out of the bag to keep an eye on the guards.-

The door was kept on an electronic lock, but with the power issues it was easy to open up. The Servers sat there, countless rows all processing streams of data. Whatever Scratch needed these to operate, he wouldn't have them much longer.

Casino - Server Room

-Shaun eagerly reaches into the bag and starts sticking explosives onto anything in the room that looks remotely important to the server. After that, he throws his Froslass-patterned cloak on and pressing his sword hilt against a magnet on his thigh.-

-Shaun tosses his phone to Midna.-

Midna: <Do you want to get indicted?>

Shaun: "Take the damn photo."

"Hmm?"

Valkyrie sets her helmet down, reaching for her phone.

Midna: <Was it worth it?>

-Shaun grins, pulling his hood and mask back up.-

Wraith: "Yep. Let's go."

-Wraith peers out into the hallway.-

Brimstone Casino, Floor - The Dark, Distant Past

-Sofia watches as her associates split off to distribute their distractions, tracking each of their locations on her PDA and monitoring chatter over the earpiece, before slipping into the crowd herself. She stops next to one of the larger pillars or stairways occasionally, seemingly just to check her handbag for a moment. A casual observer wouldn't notice anything being placed anywhere - not least because it doesn't seem to appear until she's already moved on. She pauses upon seeing Shaun's message, smiles faintly, and then murmurs something into her earpiece in response.-

Sofia: Understood. Time for phase one, everybody.

-She keeps moving until she comes to a glass panel on the wall, and sends out a Lilligant.-

Elderberry: <Am I to comprehend that we are progressioning with my role in this peculiarious plan?>

Sofia: We are indeed. You know what to do.

-With that, she breaks the glass on the fire alarm, pulls the lever, and starts screaming at the top of her lungs. Entirely coincidentally, the temperature on the floor starts to increase gradually but noticeably as a faint red tinge begins to fill the room.-

PEFE HQ - The Distant, Dark Past

-The Sonic Forces auditory energy of the Bronze Birds bursting into the module is enough to blow the already-weakened Ventrue across the room, where she collapses with far less grace than she would like.-

Ventrue: <Gngh... you... how dare...>

-Whiptail, however, seems entirely unperturbed - nay, even delighted - by this development.-

Whiptail: Ah, so you really are a legit hero! You don't just play one on TV.

-She takes off her mask and drops it to the ground, giving Skye a wide, toothy grin as she places her hands behind her head.-

Whiptail Kahlia: Well, a promise is a promise. I surrender.