Wyndon Supermarket

Percy: I don't think I've ever met one your age before, so we may be even there.

Nasreen: Percy!

Percy: ...I know a place. Let me finish up my shopping.

Wyndon Supermarket

Chiyo: -Laughing, not really offended at Percy's comment- That's fair, you're not the first of us I've met to say that to me, I think most of us around my age or older who've beaten the curse tend to be Alumni so I'm not surprised. I guess I can join you at the cash register since Dactyl and I still need to buy this tea.

Dactyl: -Spins quickly in what can best be described as the Minior equivalent of a wave-

Chiyo: Percy, right?

-Reaching out for a handshake-

I didn't get your friend's name, I'm Chiyo.

-More quickly-

I'll tell you my old designation once we're in said safe spot.

Wyndon Supermarket

Nasreen: Oh, um.

Nasreen, I guess.

Percy: They're...I hesitate to say normal, but they're not one of us. I'd trust them with my life, though.

Nasreen: -apparently blushes pretty easily out of costume-

-Percy awkwardly shifts her cane and groceries to one hand, shaking with the other-

-her hand is stiff and bony-

Percy: Alright. I don't want to be out here too long.

-and checking out presumably happens, before Percy sends out Merry for teleportation back to the Stormchaser-

Percy: You're okay with teleporters, right? And...airships?

Wyndon Supermarket

Chiyo: -Shaking Percy's bony hand- This is a skeleton, this is bones.

-Looking Nasreen over-

Well yeah, they don't have eyes like us for one, unless they've been wearing colored contacts this whole time. I tried those until I found a way apart from sunglasses that works better.

-Switching subjects-

Teleporters? I can do that myself, though probably not in a way you'd expect. And an airship? Is it a particularly eye-catching yellow?

Wyndon Supermarket

Nasreen: I think I'd look kind of weird with purple eyes, personally.

Percy: I feel similarly.

-she frowns-

How'd you know? Seen it before?

Wyndon Supermarket

Chiyo: -Shrugs- I've never actually been aboard but almost everyone knows who the J-Team is and I kinda know they've been helping us out, and I'm I guess friends with the leader now, he actually saved me from the truant officers when we were both kids.

-Chuckling a bit-

I'm not quite a member though, I'm more as he put it a J-Associate.

Edited by rmctagg09 on Aug 25th 2021 at 2:40:35 PM

Wyndon Supermarket

Percy: Am I the only person who hadn't heard of the J-team at all?

Nasreen: You're not very online.

Percy: You didn't know anything about them.

Nasreen: ...I'm also not very online.

Percy: ...Right, yeah, that's them. I guess we're sort of in that same place.

-she raises her one intact eyebrow-

After you, I guess.

Wyndon Supermarket

Chiyo: -Does her barrier portal thing- Tagg said it was in Wedgehurst, but he wasn't very specific past that, I guess since the Stormchaser is pretty hard to miss in a small place like that, but I guess working on vibes will work well enough.

The Woods Near Wedgehurst

-Owen is here-

Owen: "OK Ein's frisbee has to be around here SOMEWHERE..."

-Only to stumble upon it-

-Inside the crashed wreckage of what looks like a train car-

"...How did this get here?"

-He goes to remove the frisbee-

-Only to dislodge a strange crystal with an Ariados inside-

"...Huh? The hell is this?"

-He taps the crystal and the Ariados seem to try to yell from inside but no sound comes out-

"One of those old-timey Aura Guardian Luminite crystal proto-Pokeballs? Say that three times fast. I should ask back at the Stormchaser..."

-He pockets the crystal and takes the frisbee back-

Edited by Umbramatic on Aug 28th 2021 at 8:49:06 AM

Wyndon Supermarket, outside

Percy: ...Oh. Wow, that's...extremely cool.

Nasreen: -examines the edges of the portal- Wait, is this like back when the sky broke?

Percy: ...Huh. Vibes sound good, I guess, but I just came from there so I can lead us back I'm pretty sure.

Ersatz alliance

Florence pokes their head through a clothes rack. Evo is sitting on his head.

Florence: Yup, it was here!

Evo: <This is the Ersatz alliance. We should both be able to find some pokemon to human armbands here!>

Someone may notice the two of them.

[Venice], July 7th

HUD!Vee: -happily- <Oh hey it's you again!>

Suiko Prime: -as they depart- No, you. ^_^

-and Suiko follows suit, her own Vee-doppel propelling her through the canal-

-smiling internally at not-EMPEROR's return-

-and before long they find themselves-

-...watching one really inconvenient guy-

Suiko Prime: -on a rooftop, an eyestalk periscoping over the edge- How long do this guy's smoke breaks take?

-down on the street, the man continues loitering-

Passersby: -walking a Herdier- Giuseppe! Hard at work again, I see!

Giuseppe, apparently: Haha, you know it, Mr. Russo!

Passersby Russo: I'll figure out what you do one of these days, G!

Giuseppe: -arms wide- Living the dream, sir!

Passersby Russo: -waving, walking on- Whatever you say!

-and as the other guy walks out of sight, Giuseppe's expression falls back to neutral and he returns to smoking with intent-

-hanging from a nearby eaves, his Golbat naps shaded from the midday sun-

Suiko Prime: He is sitting right atop the source.

Dr. Ironspine: -not looking up from her screen- <Yeah, there's no way he's not related.>

Suiko Prime: -eyestalk swiveling to look at her- Huh?

Dr. Ironspine: -poking it away with an iron spine- <Figure it out. I can rig the transmitter to blow later so we get them all at once, but I can't rig him to blow. Or stop him from noticing what I'm doing if he's standing right there, or poking at it while we're at the others.>

Suiko Prime: Have you any subtle options?

Dr. Ironspine: -dour- <Do you take me for a fool? Of course I do. I also have experience with meddlers, and they're always poking your stuff at the very worst moment.>

Courage: -peeking out- <He doesn't look like a Logan.>

Dr. Ironspine: <No one looks like a Logan until they're being a Logan. Maybe is and maybe he isn't, maybe he notices and maybe he doesn't.>

Courage: -pointing a fingergun- <I could take him out. Or the transmitter.>

Dr. Ironspine: <Simple. Straightforward. There's no way they won't notice. The comms going through that thing haven't let up since I started scanning, and there's two more to go.>

Suiko Prime: What course of action do we take?

Wyndon Skies

Eric: ~...damn the Hippopotatic oath.~

Logan: -leaning out to look at him- And your insatiable curiosity?

Eric: ~You've corrupted me. I could be flying without a care in the world but here I am going in for a landing on a bed of spikes—~

Logan: -patting his neck- I'm proud of you, y'know.

Eric: ~Yeah, yeah.~

-invisibly, they get just close enough for Eric's beyond-Braviary eyes to peer at the location of the sparks-

{REDACTED}, Safe House

-oops-

-someone emerges from a haze of no memories to read brain-]]

Molybdenum: Ah! ~Sorry, sorry—~

-she coughs, patting Neo down and temporarily killing her pain receptors-

~It's...been a long few stakeouts. Had to choke a guy out, left the protocols on.~

-she's so normal right now-

Molybdenum: ~I'll.~

~I'll be right back. Cache these memories properly, debrief. We can commemorate the success.~

Stormchaser, Vents - Secret Base

-someone's taking a rare moment to lie in bed- Hiro: -looking up at his hand- ...there are an astonishing number of escapees on this ship, aren't there?

Parfait: <It's not surprising the School doesn't treat their people well.>

Hiro: I wasn't under the impression they could rebel. From what we've observed they're not very permissive of free will.

Parfait: <Among other things, it's an excellent stress-test of the Stormchaser's malevolence filters.>

Hiro: Mm.

-his base is wired into the Stormchaser's surveillance...inasmuch as she has surveillance, and however much it deigns to show him, he's aware-

Outside Wyndon Supermarket, yesterday

Chiyo: -Shrugs- Alright then.

-Jumps inside, presumably being followed after-

Route 10, North

-there's no Adelinde present, at least. She seems to have gone elsewhere-

-but there's a radius of about 50 feet in which everything has been more or less shredded-

-the tall grass is gone-

-trees are sawdust and kindling-

-permafrost has been furrowed and thick ice has shattered-

-there's other stuff, too. A few Sneasel have wandered out of hiding, nibbling at the remains-

{REDACTED}, Safe House

Neodymium: -squeaks-

~Oh! Okay. I'll get some nutrient paste on the stove. Dr. Tran got green as a reward.~

Wedgehurst

-Percy and Nasreen do indeed follow, Percy leading away from Wedgehurst towards where the Stormchaser is parked-

Percy: So...uh.

I don't really know what to say. I didn't know we could make it to your age.

Edited by memyselfandI2 on Aug 26th 2021 at 11:59:20 AM

Stormchaser

-Owen is looking around-

Owen: I can't exactly text them without setting off several alarm bells but I don't know who on this ship to ask either... Think, Oran OS, think...

-Hiro's surveillance may notice him-

Wedgehurst, yesterday

Chiyo: -To Percy- I get that a lot and, honestly, I didn't think so either. Wanted to live what I thought would just be maybe a little over a decade if the School didn't liquidate me first, but I've managed to live twice that.

-Idly forming a small barrier-

Who knows, maybe rainbows are good luck. Maybe not for all the Templars and Alumni who chased me though...

-Looking like she's away from the conversation for a second as she clutches her necklace-

Were we all so lucky...

-Snapping back with a Dactyl nudge-

Of course, I don't think I'm the only person here who's been living for far longer than they were "supposed" to.

Castelia, August 17th, 2021- 8:00 A.M.

Shaun: "It seems the three of us are awfully good at hiding."

-He's made his way to Central Plaza, hoping to hide within the crowds.-

Beowulf: <It is a big city, but...if you and Orpheus are hunting each other, and Ace is looking for one or both of you->

-Beowolf stops, tilting his head.-

Beowolf: <Found them. Skyarrow Bridge. Let's go.>

Wedgehurst, Yesterday

Percy: Yeah, Nasreen by all rights should've picked the wrong fight and died by now.

Nasreen: Come on.

Percy: ...Yeah. Uh. That's...something I can do. I mean, I'd be alive without my powers, but I wouldn't be able to move, or really speak or sense things completely, or...you know, any of that.

I feel like there's some survivorship bias, there. The ones who made it out all have some way of protecting themselves, right?

Wedgehurst, yesterday

Chiyo: -To Percy- I suppose that's true, mostly I constantly moved around, and then I got very good at killing or maiming everyone who came after us.

-There's an odd combination of pride and unhappiness at the last point-

They hadn't seriously tried to capture or kill me again until last week as a result. Sometimes I wonder if it's some sort of sick test for the folks they send after me, even if they do have the gall to call me "Iridium" when I say what my chosen name is to demean me...

-Observing Percy's whole partial skeleton deal-

And I'd assume you're one of that... "Phantom Class" I think an escapee I met called it? Some idea to make a School Batch out of Obscurics as opposed to Psychics? Who did that to you?

Stormchaser, today

-Is taking a nap-

Wedgehurst, Yesterday

Percy: Well, uh...I'm glad you made it out. That sounds pretty much up their alley.

Nasreen: -wide eyes-

Percy: I'm surprised you've heard of us. The School pretty much did everything it could to cover us up. Guess we were just too cool for school, or...whatever.

-she flicks two fingers, lightning sparking across them-

...Adelinde did this when we escaped. I was supposed to stay behind, buy time for the other people in my squad.

-staring at the ground-

I bought them maybe five seconds.

Wedgehurst, yesterday

Chiyo: -To Percy- Attacked me in Galar, chased me to Unova, kidnapped my... friends It's complicated., and were going to take them on their flying airship to Arceusknows where to be experimented on. Five Templars and this thing they sent after me. Two injured, three dead, and the desecration of our Classmates bodies destroyed, along with their airship and a whole bunch of their prisoners freed.

Dactyl: -Upon Percy identifying her attacker- <Adelinde? What did she call herself again? The Syringe? The Sickle? The Scimitar? I don't think the fight we had took that long, if you could even call it that...>

Chiyo: -Shocked- She did that to you?

Gallium...

-Crossing arms-

She's definitely changed since the last time we fought, I barely remembered her existence until just now.

Edited by rmctagg09 on Aug 26th 2021 at 11:50:59 AM

Wedgehurst, yesterday

Percy: I'm...sorry to hear that.

Nasreen: Yeah. Um. Eep. And also wow.

Percy: I don't know what she used to be like. But she's had years to get better at doing it, I'm sorry to say, and nobody's snuffed her in the meantime.

Wedgehurst, past

Dactyl: <Didn't she just leap at you and you got her with one of your barriers?>

Chiyo: It was sad was what it was, had to fight some other Templars at the same time too, and she was already beaten so thoroughly it didn't make much sense to kill her since she wasn't an immediate threat. Like I said earlier, I don't really like killing even though I've done it so many times, but no one's dragging me back to that place. Even when it's a Templar I'm facing.

I'll still leave what happened with Louise to the hands of fate and pray it works out.

-Sighs-

Unfortunately it seems all that bit of mercy did was cause you all more pain, so if need be, I'll help you rectify my mistake.

That seems to be a trend lately...

Wedgehurst, yesterday

Percy: Don't feel too bad. If she hadn't done it, someone else would've— I doubt the School is likely to run out of Templars any time soon. And who knows, it might've been someone more willing to stick around and make sure the job was done.

Nasreen: That's a really depressing way of looking at it.

Percy: I thought I was being optimistic.

Nasreen: I mean...sort of, but not really.

Percy: I'll take any help I can get with her, I guess, but if I have my way I'm going to avoid her forever, so...

Wedgehurst, past

Chiyo: -To Percy- I know you're right but it still feels that way, you know?

-Looking out towards the sky as the evening starts turning to night-

And it doesn't seem like Adelinde's going to give up on you from what I can tell, people like that never do. Just like the School as a whole continues to hunt me every so often.

-Smiling defiantly-

But we're not going to give them what they want, are we, we'll keep living free till the bitter end.

Edited by rmctagg09 on Aug 26th 2021 at 2:41:09 PM