Stormchaser Hallways

-As Mason and Percy cross paths, Mason similarly freezes.-

Mason: ...

-Corrin... does not.-

Corrin: <Aah! Risen!>

-Her first reaction ("get that thing away from me") manifests as her instinctively smacking Percy away with Dragon Tail.-

Mason: ...

Dyna Tree Hill, past

Channah: -flutters up to Tagg's hat- <Well there, now I can't peck you as easily even if I wanted.> -wobbles a little- <By the way, your head's getting smaller.>

Dyna Tree Hill, past

-To Channah, confused-

Smaller? You sure you're not just getting close to evolution?

{REDACTED}, Safe House

-Neodymium grins at Bela-

Neodymium: ~We're totally gonna pass now, you know. We were so cool.~

-Neodymium isn't much of a telepath, but she's a pretty nice person, so she pats Bela's shoulder-

Neodymium: ~I'm gonna see if Ferrum will let me take a nap, now, but just ping me if you need to talk about anything.~

Stormchaser Medbay, textspace

Stormchaser, hallway

-Totentanz skids in front of Corrin, raising her bone to parry-

Totentanz: <What the hell is a Risen?>

-the violence snaps Percy out of her daze-

Percy: Mason! Call her off, it's me!

Edited by memyselfandI2 on Aug 12th 2021 at 11:37:00 AM

{REDACTED}, Safe House

-Bela just nods, the faintest ghost of a smile still present.-

Bela: ~...Very well. In the meantime, I will see if Alumnus Forty-Two happens to keep a spare helmet around the house.~

-She goes off to begin her search.-

Stormchaser Medbay - Earlier

-Kahlia has already drifted off to sleep by the time Brie's message is sent, but Alice's reply comes through almost immediately.-

-The typing notifaction flashes up and down several more times, but ultimately, if Alice has anything to say about Brie's last message she keeps it to herself.-

Stormchaser Medbay - Now

-Sure enough, Alice is here promptly, wearing her usual black suit and an expression of concern as she sees Kai's condition.-

Alice: My apologies for the delay; I came as soon as I could. Quite frankly I was hoping for a longer delay before either of us saw the other in this sort of state again. How bad are your injuries, Kai? What exactly happened?

-Her face creases into a frown as she glances over at the occupant of the room's other bed, who is fixing her with the widest grin possible under the circumstances.-

Kahlia: Heya, Red. Miss me?

Alice: ...Whiptail.

Edited by Herbert40k on Aug 12th 2021 at 7:57:40 PM

Dyna Tree Hill, past

Channah: -looks down at herself- <Oh. That could be it too, yeah.>

Dyna Tree Hill, past

-To Channah, jokingly-

When you do evolve, just don't start footing me when you're mad, okay?

Stormchaser Medbay — Today

-Kai is looking a bit better today. She's still bedridden, but has at least been able to sit a bit more upright, and thus is doing so when Alice arrives.-

Kai: Hey, Alice. I'm okay. Broken ribs. Also a few fractured bones in my hands, but it's kind of incredible what Heal Pulse can repair. It still hurts a whole lot to breathe, though.

-Her face falls into a grimace as Alice and Kahlia acknowledge each other.-

Kai: ...before I go into the details, can I make a preemptive request? Please don't... start anything. Not while I'm stuck in the same room. That... that means both of you, Alice and Kahlia. There's... later times, to gaze loathingly at each other. A time and place for everything... but not now.

Stormchaser Hallways

Mason: Er, r-right. Corrin, hold on a second.

-Corrin gives a weird look, but stops attacking. She doesn't let down her guard, though. Mason doesn't either, really, but he seems to be wracking his brain.-

Mason: ...Fifteen? Phosphorus? Is— is that you?

Edited by BittersweetNSour on Aug 12th 2021 at 7:58:10 AM

Rebel Island

Jess looks slightly confused but doesn't say anything.

Robin: <Sorry, who are you?>

Stormchaser, Medbay

Brie: (deadpan) Yeah, this is a lovely occasion, it'd be a shame to spoil it with a fight.

Amanita: You're all so weird. But yeah, please no fighting in the hospital.

Apple-A-Day: -waves from the corner-

Stormchaser Hallways

Percy: Yeah. I know, I look like hell. Blame Adelinde and a lack of Gatrade at the Wyndon hospital.

...

Thought you were dead for a while.

Stormchaser Medbay

-Kahlia looks somewhat faux-offended at Kai's remarks - it seems she remembers how to do that, at least.-

Kahlia: Hey, don't look at me, I'm being nice and friendly! It's Red here who's got the problem. I've done nothing but be my perfectly charming self on the last two occasions we've met, whilst she's been the one giving me stinkeye and acting like I'm a bad smell whenever I'm about. Can't we just exchange bouquets with roses arrayed as a gesture of friendship and bury the hatchet?

-She continues grinning toothily at Alice, who just pinches the bridge of her nose and sighs.-

Alice: ...Very well. Rest assured that I shall honour your request, Kai. I promise that I will be perfectly civil with Whiptail whilst I am here, for this is a serious situation and I have no wish to aggravate it.

Kahlia: You heard it here first, folks! Best-ies, best-ies~

-Alice just ignores her, an act that seems to require considerable patience on her part.-

Alice: In any case, I am glad to hear that your injuries are not more serious, even if I would prefer no injuries at all. Considering what I know of your attackers, things could easily have been far worse. How did this confrontation come about in the first place, anyway? Are the School now simply launching unprompted attacks on anyone affilated with the J-Team as retribution for harbouring their escapees?

-She raises an eyebrow at Apple-A-Day - and Amantia, to a lesser degree, but Apple-A-Day is definitely the more eye-catching of the two.-

Alice: ...Also, new friends?

Stormchaser Medbay

-Kai just... gives Kahlia a look.-

Kai: Kahlia.

-She sighs, and shakes her head, before returning her focus to Alice.-

Kai: They were specifically seeking Kahlia out. Retrieving... memories, apparently, from her. One of them — Beryllium — was derived from her DNA, presumably for Aura Drain reasons, and I guess that ties into memory drain. Then there was Neodymium — apparently an ability augmenter — and Ferrum, a magnetism user. Ferrum's apparently a Templar and not actually a Schoolkid named Iron. I mostly dealt with Ferrum, or at least tried to. He smacked me with a hammer and threw a knife in my leg.

-...-

Kai: ...I kind of made the dumb decision to attempt to bluff that I was a Schoolkid, to distract from their actual target. Purple eyes, and all. It worked until it didn't.

-They cough a bit.-

Kai: Anyway, yeah! That's Apple-A-Day. They're a hero. I thought I was hallucinating them at first but then they were still here after I woke up, and they still are. So I think they're real. I hope so, they're nice.

And the other purple is Amanita. I fought her in the PWT years ago and then met her for real at the wedding. And now she and her team are the primary reason I'm not coughing up blood, so. She's cool.

Stormchaser Hallways

Mason: Yeah, well, inaccurate assumptions are my specialty. It worked, didn't it?

-He hesitates.-

Mason: ...I haven't... seen any other Phantom Class students in years. Apart from escaping with Alonya. Er, Platinum, at the time.

Edited by BittersweetNSour on Aug 12th 2021 at 9:37:48 AM

Hammerlocke Stadium, sometime late last year

Hale: -looking up at the building- <IfIwerenotaPsychic-type.IwouldnothavemindedbeingbornaDragon-type.>

Channah: You've got the attitude for it. -hesitates-

Hale: -turns to stare-

Channah: -shaky laugh- Yeah, I'm just. Hoping this doesn't turn out like the last time I fought a Dragon Gym.

Hale: <Claire.ButyouroutedherwithasinglePokemon.Me.>

Channah: I mean, what came next. After that it was all downhill.

Hale: <ThisisnotJohto.ThisisGalar.AndIamalive.Andyouarestronger.Focusonthepresent.>

Channah: Don't start with the pep talks just yet, you'll jinx it. -enters-

Gwen: -freezes a Hakamo-o solid with an Ice Beam-

Korexis: <Take that!> -Dragon Claws the immobile mon, shattering the ice on it painfully-

Hale: <Iremainuncertainastothecompetitivevalueofdoublebattles.>

Channah: Mmhm, because you gotta split the glory of winning with somemon else. You didn't let Toshiko do anything that last fight.

Hale: <Shejuststoodthere.>

Channah: Because you knocked out both Pokemon immediately! You can't just ignore rules you don't like.

Hale: <YouhavespenttoomuchtimeinHoenn.>

Channah: You have spent too much time in the past. Tell me about focusing...

Raihan: Finally! A challenger made it. I've been waiting all day for someone to battle...

Channah: Okay, Korexis, you and -

Raihan: Though I didn't think it would be someone with a Milcery.

Channah: Huh?

Andy: <Haha, you didn't sees me sneak ups.> -cuddles a Berry Sweet, then sticks it on his forehead- <This Berries. It hurts my face. Hehehehe.>

Channah: Andy - Where did you get that -

Andy: <Weeeee!> -grabs Channah and spins-

Channah: Heyheyhey- -unintentionally dabs in front of a whole stadium's worth of people while trying to re-balance-

Andy evolved into ALCREMIE◊! Congratulations!

Andy: <Wowee! Lemonsweet is ready to dances!>

Channah: @_@

Raihan: Okay then! Let the winds blow! -sends out Sandaconda and Flygon-

Andy: -joins Korexis- <Hello! We ams friends now!>

Korexis: <If you say so...> -gets hit by Sandaconda's Fire Fang and flinches-

Andy: -weathers a Thunderpunch and raises his arms, summoning a Misty Terrain- <Haha! We plays by mys rules please!>

-Korexis and Andy work together to KO the Flygon with Dazzling Gleam and Dragon Pulse; Raihan sends out Gigalith in response-

Channah: Hum. Korexis, come back. Go, Gwen!

-Andy Recovers some health while their opponents set up Stealth Rocks and try to break through with Earth Power-

Sandaconda: <That'ssss enough of thissss pink fluff!> -raises a Sandstorm, which just turns into a pink sandstorm- <Aww, man - > -faints as Gwen's Blizzard blows him away-

Gwen: -is about to say something but instantly gets revenge-killed by Gigalith with Rock Blast-

Raihan: Bring the storm! My partner will send everyone in the stadium flying! -sends out G-maxed Duraludon-

Channah: ...Never fought a hospital before. Uh. Toshiko, come stall with us!

-Toshiko attempts to knock out Gigalith with Steel attacks while Andy keeps healing himself, but Duraludon ends her role prematurely by slamming her with Max Wyrmwind-

Andy: -throws up another Misty Terrain-

Channah: Hale, get rid of Gigalith!

Hale: -barrels out of his pokeball throwing Close Combats and takes out Gigalith-

Duraludon: < I C A N ' T B E L I E V E Y O U ' V E D O N E T H I S > -draws a Max Wyrmwind up, blowing Hale off the field-

Andy: -blithely lets loose a Dazzling Gleam-

Korexis: -pops out- <Let me help you with that!> -spits Dragon Pulse at the now-normal-sized Duraludon and finishes it off with Andy's help-

Channah: -peering at Andy- How did you survive this whole thing?

Andy: <It's the powers of diabetic comas, of course.>

Channah: ...Whatever.

Raihan: I'll give you what you want, then. The proof of your victory - the Dragon Badge! Now, win your way through the Semifinals and Finals for your chance to become a Champion!

Channah: Easier said than done...

Korexis: <Hey! I'm glowing!>

Korexis: <I can seeeeeee!>

Channah: Oh finally. Nice. -thumbs up- Uh, but do you really need to wear three sets of Black Glasses?

Dyna Tree Hill, past but presenter

Channah: <Maybe you should get a hard hat, just in case.>

Dyna Tree Hill, past

-To Channah-

I've dealt with worse, like my Garchomp as a Gible, but I'll keep that in mind. Bold of you to assume I don't have one of those though.

Crown Tundra, today

-Is looking disgruntled-

Pugh: <What's wrong with Tagg?>

Doc: <He's still thinking about the stuff with Mason.>

Edited by rmctagg09 on Aug 12th 2021 at 11:30:29 AM

Jackal looked to Bishop, "I'll get something rigged up Captain. Rest assured we'll be informed should anything happen," the Pory said.

Jackal nodded and looked back, the palace fading away, "So... enemy persona users. We might end up facing more of them won't we?" he asked.

They'd be ready, for certain.

Miss Natalie finished up a phone call, "Yes and do make sure to make it look like an accident. That troublesome renegade is right in there, good luck."

She hung up and smiled, "Come in," she called out.

The School-Bursary Office

Some weirdo in a skull mask and a hood (with cat ears sticking out of holes in the hood) waltzes in holding bag of kettle corn. Their skull mask opens up and they shove some popcorn in their mouth, munching on it loudly. Clearing their throat they finally speak.

"Come in."

It was a perfect imitation of Miss Natalie.

Stormchaser Medbay

Apple-A-Day: I'm not a hallucination!

Amanita: I've been here for years. I do cool things with Poison-types. And lately am apparently a healer. So...fun times.

Apple-A-Day: Before you ask, I'm a Dragon-type trainer, not a Grass-type trainer. Everyone always makes that mistake and I don't know why.

Stormchaser Hallways

Percy: Wish I had more good news for you. It's thee and me and Nitrogen, as far as I know, and Nitrogen's gunning for you. Probably me as well, now. (bitterly) Sold out to the Templars for an extended warranty.

...It's good to see you alive, though.

The Hades, bridge, pre-briefing

Priscilla: You tease, Captain Grant. But I see what we're up to makes this gift downright serendipitous. And one does appreciate the aesthetic of a well-dressed man in uniform. Even if said uniform had less than positive connotations.

The Hades, Aurabolts Briefing

And Priscilla was right. She could barely muster the will to look away to not make the staring seem obvious. The attention to detail was a bit too perfect. The team who made the suit replica more than earned the bonus she gave them.

Priscilla: I don't know enough about [Russia] and the [Central Asian] republics to pass as them successfully, so I'll go with what works. [Hong Kong] business magnate, manufacturing maven, and international arms dealer Constance Yang.

Murphy: Wasn't that the OC from one of your cringey Henry Parker fanfictions?

Priscilla: I can neither confirm nor deny. But daddy knew his fair share of [Lord of War]-style business people and I kind of know how they act.

Murphy: Didn't you rely on them once upon a time? I think you and the Hunter's Guild actually bought bullets from the same guy once.

Priscilla: It's a cruel irony, and one that makes me seriously reconsider using firearms.

Edited by MasterJayAM on Aug 17th 2021 at 9:36:59 PM

Stormchaser Hallways

Mason: ...ah. I... I'm sorry to hear about Nitrogen. I know you guys were close. Never thought she'd be the type to side with the Templars though.

-He sticks his hands in his pockets-

Mason: ...Bren found me a while back. Him and his weird cat. I think he was trying to rope me back into joining the School's ranks again, but there's no way I'm doing that.

-...-

Mason: ...It's nice to see you too. In one piece, currently.

Corrin: <...um, is anyone going to address the elephant in the room? About, well, the bones?

Edited by BittersweetNSour on Aug 12th 2021 at 12:13:07 PM

Stormchaser, Outside - Today

-no one's watching-

-no one's been watching, aside from the usual gawking tourists and, like...half the J-Convention-

-and—oh, let's give it a rest, already-)

Molybdenum: -staring at the Stormchaser- ...

(-so this is what she's been doing the whole time the kids have been out and Ferrum compacting the safe house's silverware into a ball-)

(-she'd hope he hasn't been in her room, if she had any idea he was back or had any possessions of value anywhere except on her person at all times-)

(-this nonexistent monologue is interrupted by—-)

Molybdenum: ...hrm.

-tempation-

-not for the first time, she thinks—she could perform a routine inception—seed a destructive impulse to fruit a month down the line or provide a sharp, unstoppable blow hours after she's left the scene—-

-but no-

-no guarantees-

-the minds she canvassed, moving in and out of the ship—not too closely, with the disconcerting number of people or creatures able to sense her handiwork about, on their guard—-

-they whisper of...a shift, in the order of things, since she last visited-

-and days of painstaking focus fail to uncover anything but fiery wards, erected around the various entrances, to detect and dismantle; the usual suspects as they come and go, for all practical purposes frustratingly out of reach-

-and an inkling of...something-

Molybdenum: ~...~

-coming from—localized around—above, below, within...-

-...the ship-

Molybdenum: ...!

-that...ringing, in her mind's ear-

-is that—has that been—the ship?-

Molybdenum: -stares, internally- ...oh.

-dumbfounded-

-disbelieving-

-very nearly awestruck—she can hardly believe her senses-

Molybdenum: -quiet- Oh, this is just…

-...a chuckle, mask-silenced-

...too good. Did you bastards—you beautiful, damnable idiots—

-grinning- —grant your one safe haven a mind?

-she frowns a bit at the purr the tail end of that thought emerges as—she's got some housekeeping to do-

-later.-

-now…-

Molybdenum: -exhale-

-there's no marshalling of power-

-no telltale glow, no charging, no focus beyond what's largely mundane-

-the current running through one neuron is on the scale of one nanoampere; one neuron chains through a thousand more-

-she's nothing if not efficient-

Molybdenum: -chortle- Your wards block off people, "hero". This is no Pokémon, and no fucking way it's human.

-no gestures, no rustling, not an inch budged from her days-long concealment beneath an SEP field subtle enough perhaps to flummox Aura Sense, if concealed behind...-

Boltund: -continues napping right in front of her-

-she fixes a metaphorical gaze on her quarry, mental targeting sights metal-bright beneath her camouflage-

-her mind's eye pierces the skin of the

Stormchaser Hallways

Percy: I didn't either. Shows what I know.

Bren...sorry to hear that. He was too nice before the escape, and...scary, during it.

Adelinde's after me. Nearly caught me, and put some of my...uh, acquaintances I guess, in traction. They're okay now, but...

-she sighs-

It feels weird, trying to think of this as a safe place.

-she stares down at Corrin-

Totentanz: <The what in the room?>

Percy: Slang term for a Copperajah. It's an unfortunate accident, and an admittedly rather disturbing means of making do.

Stormchaser, outside

-the carrion birds have gathered-

-well, one carrion bird, and a bodyguard-

Ever: -sitting down next to Molybdenum's head, cross-legged- That was peculiar to watch. Like watching a bird hit a window.

Misery: <Hm. She is interesting, you're right.>

Ever: The other you didn't feel that way.

Misery: <The other me is an idiot, so that's fair.>

Ever: -holding out a pint of chocolate ice cream- Headache?

Stormchaser, Outside

-she has, indeed, ended up flat on her face (although that's a difference of roughly thirty degrees of lowered head)-

Molybdenum: ...what

-and has, indisputably, "eaten shit", as is the vernacular-

Molybdenum: you

Molybdenum: I

-her helmet's resting on its cheek, now—a bit uncertain if her head within has turned to match; the helmets do not seem to have facial features, such as eye holes-

Molybdenum: ...what.

-life in her tone! mostly bafflement, shading to rage, at what's undoubtedly a carton full of poison-

Boltund: -gets up, starts licking for the ice cream-

Stormchaser, Outside

Ever: Easy, Fido.

-with a skill born of dealing with a great deal of hungry and impulse-challenged Pokemon, they casually push the Boltund's head away from the ice cream with a knee-

Ever: I diagnose you, Molybdenum, with projection.

-they stick a spoon in the ice cream, taking a big gulp-

It's good! Nice cheap gas station stuff.

Misery: <Mutually exclusive.>

Ever: You don't even eat chocolate.

Misery: <I have picked up on many, many people coming into Hammerlocke and getting gas station food.>

Ever: I think it's just one of those things you have to experience for yourself.

-they wiggle the carton around-

How are you feeling?

Stormchaser, Outside

Boltund: -whines and falls asleep again, conveniently enough-

-and Molybdenum shoves abruptly upright-

Molybdenum: -snatching for the carton- give . me - that

(-Ever's familiar, no doubt, with what it looks like when someone's body is being puppeteered-)

-forget the spoon—she pries her helmet off, her face pixelating in the eyes of any observers—no mind for anything more elegant and starts chugging ice cream like coffee-

(-it's pretty rare that it's self-motivated, huh-)

Molybdenum: -gasp, after a long moment of squeezing ice cream loose from a container into her mouth with her hands- oh sweet brain freeze. oh that's. so much. less p

-and registers, apparently, that there are watchers-

Molybdenum: -rubbing at somewhere in the pixelated mass with the back of a gauntlet- ....peachy.

-she almost sounds like she—ow ow fuck shit ow hahahahaha-

Molybdenum: wonderful. Molybdenum feels spectacular, and it shows on her face. her face which they can't see. fuck.

-she presses a now-chilled back of her hand to her forehead, soothing a migraine-

projection is what I do. it is. my power. you. you. you...ever. ow.

Stormchaser, Outside

-Ever skritches the Boltund absently behind the ears-

Ever: You're so cute, yes you are.

-handing over the ice cream without issue-

-and observing quietly as Molybdenum eats ice cream like someone who has never eaten ice cream and is incapable of making a basic assessment of how they might go about it-

Any chance you can unscramble that face?

~I am genuinely insulted.~

Try not to let on you're doing it.

~You must have some terribly incompetent psychics on your team.~

I will freely admit that they have their ups and downs.

Ever: You're, uh, narrating out loud there.

And you've eaten all my ice cream. I don't know why I'm surprised.

-they rearrange themself a little, sitting catty-corner to Molybdenum-

Ever: So, uh, while we're all here, a little birdy tells me you've got kids?