ITT: We Have All Become Pokémon

Thankfully, Whitney gave him the okay a few posts ago. "... It's... It's okay, yeah. Just do it already, alright?"

She's getting a little bit anxious. If he doesn't hurry up, she may have even more blood on her hands.

... She can't handle that.

L'arachel's Manor, Foyer

Mila struggles to keep her balance, feeling lightheaded almost after all of her continued attacks. As L'arachel begins to wrap the Combee around herself, Autumn takes the opportunity to try to drag the Raichu back to the safety of the others before she can do worse. Mila struggles, but only nominally as she finds herself unable to push back against the much more rested Braixen.

"Mila, you have to slow down, please. You're scaring me. We should find—"

Once L'arachel starts speaking again, Autumn finds herself stopped by Mila's struggles, the Raichu pushing against her grip and worming her way out even in her tired state. Speaking equally to Autumn and L'arachel, Mila shouts with a hoarse tone.

"I'll stop once she can't hurt anyone ever again!"

Mila looks over to the Combee around the Vespiquen and grimaces. She still remembers what she did to the amassed ones earlier, and she's worried what she might do to these ones if she can't control her attacks. Koss, meanwhile, looks to the mons around him once he's been taken back to the rest of the group by Woodruff. His expression is dour, still being uncertain how he can be of any use in this situation. At the least he should formulate what he wants to tell them after all this is over, how to express what lies ahead and how to apologize to the Furret for his actions.

After the others improvised treatments, it was the Electivire's turn. The jolt made the Quilava's entire body twitch in pace. His eyes flickered with the same red glow that they've been cursed with for the past three days. The light, however, was fleeting, and dimmed away within seconds. The body settled down, and Nyquil's eyes closed. If anyone bothered to try listening, he could be faintly heard breathing. His heart pumps once more.

L'Arachel's Manor: Foyer

I hid behind Marlon's shield as L'Arry's swarm was dispersed. I looked at L'Arachel's appearance. Man, she looks so demonic! It's giving me chills down my nonexistent Bronzong spine. I launched a Psychic blast at the demonic Vespiquen, hoping that it would give her a good amount of damage.

Ballroom

(Marsha leans down to listen.) Oh good, he's at least breathin' again. Thanks for da help. (She tells the Electrivire.)

(She listens on to the ruckus going on in the foyer, including the loud crash. She feels a bit worried about Marlon and everyone else.) Guys, you keep tendin' ta Niles, I'm gonna check on what's goin' on in dair and see what I can do!

(Marsha begins waddling toward the foyer.)

Foyer

(Gene manages to decipher what Eliot is telling him. Get the cloak L'Arachel is wearing? That could be easier said than done, but if it'll help...)

(While L'Arachel (presumably) is distracted by Eliot and his Water Gun, Gene carefully makes his way to behind her, dashing between and hiding behind objects and fallen rubble all the way, and once behind her, reaches for the cloak.)

Foyer

I stop to watch as Woodruff makes his way over to me and tap my leg with a orb of blue energy/Zelda offering some assistance as well. Helping Hand? After You? How the hell is any of that supposed to help when I'm still recharging from the Hyper Beam-

And then I realize that the feeling of being weighted down by the recharging is gone. I have full power again to attack and not having to feel so vulnerable for the moment. Great!

And as so, having picked up on Eliot saying something about the cloak, I fire off some leaf blade stars, hoping that my attack is precise enough to rip holes into it. Clearly, she's become Superman with that on, and removing that would be Kryptonite.

Still hoping Marsha makes it here soon...

Edited by Team42Larson on Feb 6th 2019 at 2:09:56 PM

[Fatal Bloom]

The Leer unnerves L'Arachel somewhat, but she is quick to swerve out of the way of the Sludge Bomb. She ends up getting hit directly by the Ice Beam and Dragon Pulse sent at her as Rinmaker's Pyschic hampers her movement, but one of the red Combee around her jumps in the way of the Toxic, getting poisoned. The red Combee buzzed angrily before dive-bombing forward towards Dinah.

L'Arachel's cloak is struck by the Leaf Blades from Marlon and tears somewhat, but still seams mostly intact. As Gene reaches, two of the red Combee's white eyes flash and they both slam in to him to knock him away.

The attacks from the red Combee seem considerably much stronger than their regular counterparts.

L'Arachel's eyes narrowed at the others.

"   Cheeky...   ", she breathed out before noticing the Water Gun blasting at her, as well as Claude's attempt to throw his shield at her.

Grinning maliciously, the Vespiquen used one of her fists to knock the shield in a new direction to obstruct the Salazzle, at worst even flying directly in to them.

With a snap of her fingers, the noblewoman was already right nearby Noriaki, who jumped a bit in surprise but met her with that determined glare she despised.

This also seemed to give command to part of the Combee swarm to form in to the shape of a giant Ekans that lunged forward, passing Eliza and going towards the general vicinity of Marlon and Rainmaker, attempting to constrict and crush whoever is slowest to react to it. The Combee all let out and angry buzz, sounding more like a vicious roar or hiss. The Protect barrier could stave off the massive binding attack just enough for someone to slip out.

Noriaki tried to shoot an arrow, but it was deflected fast as a massive fist of Combee came out to strike him.

He fazed through, but as soon as he reappeared and prepared his counterattack, he was slammed with another. And another. And another.

Her swarm-based attacks seemed to be coming out one after another now, leaving the Decidueye little time to react as he was tossed to the side.

Montresor flew upwards and prepared his pins, but a cluster of Combees shaped in to a massive boot slammed him back in to the ground.

"Montresor! Noriaki!", Notte yelled as he watched his comrades get knocked back, "Damn you...!"

The Bisharp rushed towards the Vespiquen, who scoffed and commented, "   Is that anyone to talk to the woman whom you have served for so long?   "

She sent another fist of Combee forward, but Notte had managed to charge directly through it and delivered a sharp strike to the noblewoman's abdomen. As he prepared to follow up with a volley, a direct X-Scissor from her blades blew him back.

L'Arachel reappeared near the center and watched the entire scenery around herself.

"   Lovely... This is truly unparalleled power and beauty!   "

"You are mad."

The Aromatisse in the white floppy hat had apparently scurried her way close enough to the center. Her eyes were shaking, but there was a hint of frustration in them.

"I m-may not be Noriaki, but I know he would say something around the lines of "Your face may be beautiful, but your heart is hideous"", Hikari stammered our, "Your obsession for being above everyone else hurt so many us, and now you seek to do even more harm!"

L'Arachel rolled her eyes and prepared to respond, but was already cut off by a sudden Moonblast.

Hikari glared at the target she had just hit, her breath shaking.

"   ... A fool indeed, to dare to strike me, especially with such feeble strength   ", the monarch growled as she prepared an X-Scissor, but was unexpectedly caught off-guard by the two beetle guardian suddenly slamming in to her from both sides with Stone Edge.

"   You lot...   ", L'Arachel snarled as she felt the pain of her wounds, "   IRRITATE ME!!!   "

The Vespiquen raised her hand as the bulk of her massive swarm surged down then rose up aggressively, pushing Hikari and the two guardians away before the swarm of Combee became enveloped in a dark aura and smashed a massive, gaping hole in to the floor of the middle of the foyer. Those attentive enough to it may notice that there seems to be traces of caverns and even some prison-like constructions down below in the deep hole, even some off-flows of water.

The impact let out a dark shockwave that knocked Achilles and Hector down, greatly damaging them as well. The shockwave loses power as it goes further out.

Hikari nearly fell in, but was able to float back to the stable ground right before the hole.

"By the gods..."

Noriaki managed to lift his head off of the ground and spot Hikari's nearly fatal encounter.

"Hikari..."

The Decidueye struggled to pull himself back up and stand once again.

Edited by Konkfan7 on Feb 6th 2019 at 3:34:35 PM

Foyer

(The Toxic missed and hit one of the red Combees...well, at least I know how to use it no-)

AHH! (I just manage to hit the ground and avoid them as they try to attack me. Now what?)

(Already having taken a lot of abuse and not being an especially resilient fellow, the Combees manage to knock Gene out upon hitting him. Dodie sees this happen out of the corner of her eye.)

NOW YOU'VE DONE IT!! (Dodie growls. She begins running toward Gene's location, but has to brace herself when the shockwave comes by and then starts to fall once the floor starts to cave in. She grabs a particularly large piece of rubble with her vines to keep herself from falling straight to the bottom.)

(Gene is particularly close to the edge of the hole and may very well end up falling into it if no one gets to him in time. Not in a good position to do so, Dodie shouts for help.) OY! SOMEONE GET GENE!

(OUCH! That shockwave blew me back! Oh, I wish I hadn't been that close to L'Arachel right then...that hurt...)

(I hear Dodie shouting something, but I cannot for the life of me understand what it was. I'm beginning to wonder if I should fall back and check on Sally, but the Combees are blocking the way back there. What do I need to do now...? I try to wave down someone who is still out here.)

(Marsha arrives in the foyer just in time to hear (and feel) the impact of the floor being punched through.) Dang, dis is bringin' up bad memories... (She says, thinking of Hoard.)

(She begins looking for where Marlon and the others are. When she hears Dodie, she begins looking for Gene as well.)

Foyer

Kevin hits the deck to avoid the shockwave as best he can. As he has remained hugged to the outside wall he avoids most of the damage. He stands back up and sends out water from his cannons (Hydro Pump). However...

I manage to quickly slide out of the way of the Combees with aid from the protect barrier (but not taking it with me) yet I do not anticipate the sudden outward-running shock wave that I could not protect from in time thanks in part to detaching from the protect barrier to save myself from the combee snake.

The Shock wave sends me flying backwards, and in landing I do not immediately recognize that a piece of pillar basically wound up as a spear pierced clear through my left leg. In the same swift movement my ankle slams down into the floor. For the moment, I'm dazed; someone's gonna need to point this out.

Edited by Team42Larson on Aug 10th 2020 at 10:00:44 AM

L'Arachel's Manor: Foyer

I managed to follow Marlon, but then since he didn't anticipate the dark shock wave, and so I did, I got hit full force by the shockwave.

I screamed as I got hit. I fell on the floor, slowly rolling towards the Combee-Swarm Ekans.

Edited by Theyja on Feb 5th 2019 at 7:34:14 PM

L'arachel's Manor, Foyer

This time Koss is the one to pull Woodruff away, retreating from the Ekans-like swarm and lifting up onto his tail to avoid the brunt of the dark shockwave travelling across the floor. Once on the ground, however, Koss looks to retreat behind another barrier only to notice Marlon lying on the ground, wounded. Koss lets go of the Furret and moves over, examining the wound and putting a paw on the Gallade's shoulder to try to stop him from moving.

"Ah, crap, that ain't lookin' good. Unless we got bandages here ah can't have ya movin' that. Bleedin' an' fragments a' rock gettin' stuck in there are both some awful options."

Koss looks back over to the combat, trying to spot anyone who might have the necessary supplies. He can't see anything at the moment, but Autumn is still holding on to the mostly-empty first aid kit from yesterday. The Braixen herself is busy with Gene, struggling to pull him back while handling her own bruises from the fighting. If Mila isn't listening, Autumn knows she'll have to help in other ways, even as it hurts her to see the Raichu doing this.

Mila struggles to pick herself up once more after the shockwave pushes her back. She'd been far enough away that it wasn't much of an injury, but she wasn't in a good shape either way. Something about the situation, however, whether seeing the risk still present or reaching a point where her body had processed the possibility of death, whatever it is Mila finds herself once more able to harness her electricity to its full potential. Without saying a word, Mila waits for the moment L'arachel has her back turned and charges up a Thunder, sending it out with another cra-ak of sound and flash of light, momentarily stunning herself from proximity to it.

Just let this be done...

Foyer

No, mom, I didn't eat those cookies..

A loud boom snaps me out of my brief delusion.

Jesus, what the hell just happened? How the fuck did she manage to coalesce a bunch of Combee to slam down the floor, enough to blow a hole in it? Wait....Koss's paw is on my shoulder, I caught the end of what he said to me. I glance down at my leg and when I see it, my heart sinks and yet all the same begins to race. Fuck fuck FUCK! My leg! It's not only impaled but the piece of pillar forced its way clear through the other side as well...I can't move my ankle...oh my god, what just happened to me?

Oh god! Please man, you gotta help me! Anybody!

Through only bare necessity I summon a new barrier to protect myself and Koss. It takes a good deal of the present strength I have to do so.

Edited by Team42Larson on Jun 30th 2020 at 9:53:45 AM

The Quilava's chest rises and falls, but at an accelerating rate. His face scrunches up a couple times, his legs twitch and jerk at random, and his breathing becomes labored as he begins to exhale something resembling words. "St-Stop… stop it…"

Vs. L'Arachel

(We barely made a dent in her, much less pushed her back. I barely fired my arrow before she just smashed the floor from under us. I managed to fly up, despite the wave hitting my talons. Stung like a motherfucker, but I still kept to the ceiling, whatever's left of it anyways. Noting the unconscious Infernape, I flew over to check on him, likely gonna put him in cover.)

(After she chased after the swarm, Eliza felt the shockwave knock her off her balance. Looking behind her, she saw the drop below and Despite the damage and gravity pulling her down, she used her whip to wrap around a somewhat stable piece of the floor. She pulled herself up, trying to reach there as fast as she can.)

(While he was not nearly as close as some, Arsene still felt the power of the shockwave and was pushed against the wall. Coughing out to clear his throat, he stared at the queen, preparing to fire a Hydro Pump before his wounds reopened. Staggering, his shot went wide to the hole above. As he struggled to reorient himself, he saw a magenta hand rise from the ledge, knowing who's it is. He tried to say something, but the pain choked out whatever could've came out of his snout. The figure climbed up to face her aged compatriot, no, friend, and then to his assailant. Still with the whip in hand, she whistled to L'Arachel, defiantly staring her down.)

(Zelda was occupied with the swarm above, meaning the damage from the shockwave was minimal. Yet the same cannot be said of the Aegislash, who fell in with the group.) _{No, no,} no! (Disregarding the queen, she dived down to his position to make sure he still lives. A few moments after she looked at him, he attempted to move before he was interrupted.) You've already pushed past it! Just hold still, I'll get you to a safe place. (Without another word, she dragged the Aegislash near the group, him barely keeping consciousness.)

Ballroom

(The Thunderlord breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that he didn't leave the little guy to die. He looked at the group and replied to them.)    I'll just... go before I make this more awkward.    (With that, he made his way back to the hole he came from.)

Foyer

(Marsha hears Marlon shouting and begins heading in his direction.) Dat doesn't sound good...

(Upon reaching him, she recoils at the shrapnel driven through his leg.) HOLY CRAP! Marly! Oh gosh! (She yelps, pressing herself against the barrier surrounding Marlon and Koss.)

(Not waiting for a response from either of them, Marsha whirls around and turns toward L'Arachel.) Okay, L'Arachump! No more Ms. Nice Gal! (She hefts a piece of rubble up and slings it at L'Arachel. Marsha used Rock Throw!)

(Gene is successfully pulled out of danger. He begins to stir a bit, coming to after being walloped.)

(Dodie manages to pull herself out of the hole herself and wastes no time in running to Gene, Autumn, and Grigori's location and trying to run the red Combees off.)

Go away you pests! (She shouts at them, firing a smaller Sludge Bomb at them.)

(Seeing everyone busy trying to help someone else, I decide that it's probably up to me to get myself out of here. I begin heading toward the barrier to-...wait, the Combees are there now and they look like an enormous Ekans...how will I-)

(I'll dig! I'll dig back over to everyone else! I immediately go to work digging into the ground, making sure not to fall all the way through the floor.)

(A moment later, Dinah is visible to the others behind and around the barrier trying to dig back up.)

Ballroom

What's he trying to say? (Cole asks, leaning down toward Nyquil to try and make out what he's saying.)

L'Arachel's Manor — Foyer

Seeing the Ekans-like formation, Woodruff freezes and flinches before Koss whisks him away. Breathing a sigh, he looks to his old friend with a little smile; guess he returned the favor there. Seeing a little red out of the corner of his eye, his attention is directed to the sight of Marlon's gored leg, the immediate sight of which makes him wretch and nearly vomit.

As Marlon wakes up and starts screaming out, Woodruff starts panicking a little. His instinct is telling him they can't just leave him there, but Koss has a point about the wound potentially getting worse by trying to remove him. All he can really do right now is curl himself up and wait for something to be better.

[—shield! Just as I did with L'Arachel's cloak, I leap out of the way of the shield as it arcs above me, hitting the ground with a hard clank. I'm breathing heavy...who the hell even threw—naked Aegislash, probably theirs. I go over to pick it up, get it back to them...okay...okay, yea, we're putting that back down, I ain't gonna be able to move this effectively, not like I am.]

[...I only make an adjustment, more substantial build, a few inches bigger...with some effort, I'm able to pick up the shield, though, and already, my arm's shaking a little trying to hold it up. I could try and get it back to that Aegislash...oh—oh, shit, he's...oh, god...]

[I barely catch the pillar of Combee coming down. In that one brief moment, that one point where time slows down and you feel you could count the dust particles in the air if you wanted to, I bring the shield forward to take the blow...]

Woodruff hears something impact against the barrier Marlon put up, and he feels the pull to tear himself out of his cocoon and see what it is, but he manages to stamp it down, even as he feels the floor quake underneath him. He tightens himself, burrowing further into himself...he just wants this all to be over. If all this just passes him by...

[Not a second later, I'm flying through the air, the shield pressed against me with my arms and chest flaring with pain. Contact. I roll, losing the shield and cricking my arm as it goes, losing the shawl as I hear a sharp tear and the things unfurls from around me. Coming to a stop, I find myself belly down, nothing between me and the cold, hard ground. I'm trying to breathe, but no matter how hard I try, nothing seems to come in.]

[Finally, the bubble bursts. I gasp for air, pushing myself up onto my hands and knees. I'm shaking, struggling to get up...if I could black out now and sleepfight my way through this, I would, but...]

[Somehow, I manage, and I'm back on my own two feet, and somehow, I'm able to get back to the shield. Picking it up...that's gonna be another thing entirely...]

Foyer

With his attack having been sent out, Kevin scans the arena to find anything else of particular interest to aid the others. He can't help but notice that everyone is in some really rough shape, but perhaps none in worse shape than Marlon. Upon beginning to try and claw his way closer to the group pooling around him, he catches a damn good glimpse of the Gallade's injury. (YIKES...)

He stops to reach into his pack and hopes to Arceus he'd have what would be needed to aid in helping him-aha!-the first aid kit that his dad always issues to those in the Silversand F.D.. He rushes over to the barrier and carefully approaches once he truly understands the extent of the injury. The poor guy had a piece of pillar driven through his leg. He gets the attention of those around the barrier, particularly Koss, the one who's aiding the Gallade at this moment by keeping him as still as possible.

Okay, here! Use this! Not sure how much this would help but it's a start!

He carefully places the kit before the Raichu.

[Fatal Bloom]

L'Arachel places a hand under her chin as she observes the carnage her sudden outburst wrought.

   Not very graceful of me, but I would say it was them who put me on the warpath to begin with right then.   

The Vespiquen whistled to the cluster of Combee in their Ekans formation, who were about to seize the opportunity and try to crush Rainmaker before their mistress's call made them break formation and rush closer to the center of the room. They formed in to the upper half of a Tyrantum and used their unified, monstrous jaw to pluck Achilles and Hector off of the ground before they began snapping their jaw with force to chew them.

Mid-chew, Hector's arms pressed against the force of the Combee-Tyrantrum's jaws, allowing the Heracross to push himself out and deliver a powerful punch to the makeshift snout.

Regaining his footing as his Pinsir comrade rolled to the side, Hector rushed up to the Combee, still clustered together but failing to maintain the jaw's shape, and delivered a flurry of punches that blew the bee Pokemon back and left them incapacitated on the ground.

"... You alright, Achilles?", the Heracross asked through heavy breaths.

The Pinsir was barely able to raise himself off of the floor as he reverted from his Mega Form and responded through coughs, "Looks like I might need to fall back and recover."

Hector sighed angrily and dragged his old friend back away from where L'Arachel was.

Hikari hears Dodie's call and rushes her way over to where Gene was pulled to.

"Please, allow me...", the Aromatisse mumbled as she held her hand close to the Infernape and started using Heal Pulse.

The two Red Combee were swerved back to evade Dodie's attack and returned to L'Arachel's side after her whistle.

Marsha's Rock Throw managed to strike L'Arachel, who seemed more annoyed than thrown off as she turned to the Swampert. She then looked down to see Eliza taunting her.

With a glare, the Vespiquen drew one of her weapons, preparing to deliver a ranged stab at the Tsareena, but her failure to notice Mila let her be directly hit by the Thunder.

Clearly hurt greatly, L'Arachel's piercing red eyes turned to shine at the Raichu from the side. She had a cluster of Combee gather and was going to send a fist at Mila, but her attention ended up being drawn to Hikari healing Gene.

"   ... That will become rather bothersome.   "

In a mixture of pragmatism and vendetta, L'Arachel commands a large fist of Combee that directly launches Hikari over the hole in the ground, aimed so carefully it is not likely to do more than graze Gene and the others.

The Aromatisse, being somewhat knowledgeable in aerial movement, tries to maneuver and float herself to stable ground, but a swinging "arm" of Combee sweeps at her landing spot, potentially also hitting Eliza, that knocks her back above the pit and now in shock from the blow.

Noriaki's eyes widened.

"Hikari!"

The Decidueye beared through his pain and dashed forward, jumping up to try and assist those caught in the air over the pit.

His and Hikari's red eyes were able to meet closely for the first time in ages. For a moment, everything else seemed to stand still for them. They without a doubt recognized each other from that wordless exchange alone.

However, time in reality had of course not stood still, and a massive boot shaped from the Combee swarm formed above them.

"...!"

"...!"

The boot slammed down with a great deal of force, spiking Noriaki and Hikari downwards in the abyss very quickly.

"   Ah, to perish together   ", the noblewoman laughed, "   Sounds like something out of those silly little tales you two loved so much. Fitting...   "

The other two former servants stared ahead with shock and worry before they rushed at L'Arachel.

She simply gave Montresor an imposing stare as he flew towards her, Notte jumping by his side. The Noctowl was shaken by this and was wide open as another foot of Combee slammed him down. Notte was prepared for this and managed to dig his metal hands in the clustered Bee Pokemon and swung himself upwards before delivering a downward swing of his steel foot on to L'Arachel's head. Not faltering, the Vespiquen launched the Bisharp off of herself with a massive fist that was followed up by another from behind. Notte used Protect as he was also about to be booted in to the gaping hole, but only the damage could be prevented as the force still pushed him down.

"   You fancied yourselves heroes? And I thought that Noriaki calling himself "Pillager of Twilight" was the most hysterical thing anyone has said in front of me   ", the Vespiquen cackled, prepared to send anyone else that finds themselves over the pit spiraling down.

Edited by Konkfan7 on Feb 7th 2019 at 5:55:17 AM

Foyer

(The Heal Pulse is successful in revitalizing Gene, and he fully awakens just in time to see Noriaki and his friends get thrown or pushed down into the pit.)

Oh! (Gene cries. Dodie can only flinch at how hard the others were smacked down.)

(Gene takes a moment to regain his senses while Dodie uses Mega Drain on L'Arachel.)

(Emerging from the hole, I can only grimace at L'Arachel SLAMMING everyone down into that hole. That has to hurt...)

Okay, guys, we gotta stay as far away from dat hole as possible unless ya want your face beat in. (Marsha says.)

(But what about everyone down in the hole?) Shouldn't we see if they're all alright down there? (I ask.)

Well, if ya wanna run up ta L'Arachump and get smushed down into dat hole by her too, Bookworm, den be my guest. (Marsha tells me.)

(I simply scowl at her. I don't have much patience for Marsha's wise-cracks right now.)

What?

Vs. L'Arachel

(He's still alive. That's good. Just then, the swarm barely caused an abrasion on my wing. I looked at where, or rather who, it hit and felt my nerves fire up. I reached for an arrow, intending for it to reach her head, but what came next stopped my grip cold.)

(With the blade nearly reaching her throat, Eliza flinched for only a moment before it stopped. The little Raichu just bought her some time. She leaped forward, legs first, into the Queen's face with all the anger she could muster. She nearly reached her until the swarm had swatted her aside. She attempted to throw her whip to another ledge, but as soon as she caught one, the force of the boot-shaped swarm struck her...)

(Right in front of me. It felt as time itself just froze right there to see her body bend to the attack, her expression of pure shock. My heart felt like it just shut down, but only for a moment. Then, without a second passing by, I leaped after her. I'm not losing her! I'm not losing her! Not here! Not now!    I don't give a damn what hits me now, she's not dying here!   )

(In my mad descent, I managed to grab a hold of her hand and then her back. It wasn't long before I had my wings around her. A stalagmite awaited us at the bottom. I was too close for a soft landing, so I reoriented myself away from the spike and to the floor. I put my back against the floor, cushioning her landing with my body. Every inch wanted to tear my back to the spine. After a few meters on making contact with the ground, we finally stopped. My back flared with immense pain, to the point where I could barely scream, only breathe. My glasses were jostled out of my face and landed a few feet nearby, surprisingly intact. Then I looked at her, damaged, but still breathing. She's still breathing. Still breathing... Almost instinctively, my eyes tear up. I could barely move, but as long as she's still able to, it's worth every bone broken.)

(Eliza only felt shock in the last few moments. The stomp, the descent, the rocky spike, that Decidueye. All of it had her breathing heavily in fright. Her heart threatened to burst from her chest. But after a few moments, her breathing started to lighten. She was practically stunned over what just happened.)

(Arsene looked down the crater, his cold demeanor shaken on the attack, fearing the worst. Almost all of them still moved, especially her and her savior. Reckless bastard... yet he couldn't have done anything about it. Maybe he was wrong about that Decidueye, he thought. He did what the old mon couldn't. Looking at the Queen, he backed away from her, trying to find a better position. Time for desperate measures, he thought.)

(The knight was slumped against a nearby wall as he saw more of the group enter the hole, some more dramatic than others. The ward could only helplessly fire Air Cutter after Air Cutter, trying to thin the numbers.)

L'arachel's Manor, Foyer

Through the chaos, Koss finds some solace in the fact that he's on the sidelines, and his medical knowledge is kicking in to gear, taking over his concerns about what to do with a goal and the means to achieve it. As Marlon notices what's happening and begins to struggle, Koss pulls back his paw but replaces it with a psychic force, spread across the Gallade's body like an incredibly heavy, ethereal blanket. It won't stop him from escaping if he really wants to, but it'll keep him relatively still.

"Thank ya fer the supplies. Now, ah need ya ta be still, ah'll do what ah can ta make sure this ain't gettin' worse, but ah can't fix it fer good until we got an actual healer, ya hear?"

Koss draws out the roll of bandages and pulls at the end with a paw, starting to wrap around Marlon's leg above the injury and pulling it tight enough to bind to the skin. Once he reaches the foreign object, though, he stops and looks it over. He'd like to cut it down to size but he doesn't have the capability for that himself, and the Gallade would have been his first choice if he wasn't the one being treated. Koss looks around for someone who can help him, shivering slightly as he sees Woodruff curled up in a ball. Hopefully he wouldn't have to treat for shock afterwards.

"Anyone know cut? Ah gotta trim tha thing down a bit. Yer gonna be fine. Jus' stay still."

Autumn pulls back as Grigori and Dodie move in to handle Gene, retreating from the middle of the room and the most dangerous area. When Noriaki and the others fall down, Autumn pauses for a moment, wondering if that's what it must have felt like for Eliot and his Combee to be so close and just watch as they slipped away. Another flash of lightning from yet another Thunder shakes Autumn's attention away from the pit and causes her to notice Eliot struggling across the foyer. Autumn rushes to try to bring him out of the danger as well, knowing just from the tone of Mila's voice that there's no hope for her to reason with the Raichu who has for some reason chosen to mercilessly pursue L'arachel's defeat.

"I said shut up!"

Even as she's recovering from the blast, each bolt taking its toll on her energies, Mila finds herself running, keeping her body moving around the perimeter of the arena. Maybe it's to keep herself awake as exhaustion sets in. Maybe it's to keep herself ready to evade whatever is coming at her. Whatever it is, she knows that she can't let herself stop. Not until L'arachel is on the ground, preferably not moving.

L'Arachel's Manor: Foyer

I slowly recovered from that hit and got up.

   Goodness gracious...that shockwave was a doozy!   , I said weakly to myself.

I threw a Confuse Ray at the Vespiquen, hoping that I would hit while she was monologuing.

Foyer

Yeah, loud and clear..

I breathe a sigh of relief as the Blastoise lumbers his way over and Koss begins to work. It's then I realize...

I can't move. Mostly. I recognize quickly that this is Koss's intent with his ability to somehow lock my body down with his psychic ability. I'd like to snap through and break out of this but I also really want this thing out of me so I stay locked in place. In my state of being largely stuck in place I await someone who can learn cut.

Well I mean not like I can move from this spot anyway with a pillar in my leg...

Kevin wants to take some practice chops with the air but realizes how he himself simply cannot learn the move. He darts his eyes around to the two most reasonable mons here (assuming that Neph didn't fall into the hole, at least), who could learn cut, which includes Dodie. Kevin frantically motions for one of the two to come over, perhaps any others that are fighting L'Arachel who could learn it as well.

Hey! We need one of you over here! Anyone who can help us in using Cut.

Edited by Team42Larson on Feb 8th 2019 at 9:19:56 AM

[Fatal Bloom]

Nephenee's eyes shake with shock and anger.

"Y-You...!", the Scolipede began, but her attention was grabbed by a call for support with Cut.

Damn... Okay, okay... Calm yourself, Neph, don't let your burning blood make a rash decision for you again..., she thought to herself before scuttling over to where Marlon was.

"Need me to Cut something?", the mercenary asked, her tail already glowing slightly.

Gerome actually began creeping along the wall to meet with the group near Marlon himself.

"The culprit is distracted with others, it's for the best I go ahead and deliver some of these berries and Leftovers I got to help with that..."

The squad of red Combee noticed the incoming Confuse Ray and blockaded it from their liege's sight, getting confused themselves as they buzzed to the side, getting picked up by the rest of the swarm for now.

L'Arachel huffed out a sigh before warping out of the way of Mila's next attacks.

"   Quite the berserker you have yourself there   ", she commented as she did a wide swing of her whip that aimed to yank at the Raichu's leg, "   A raving renegade... Reminds me somewhat of when Noriaki was just a boy. Sweet and soft on the outside, but in the heat of battle, when the intensity rose, it was a bloodlust much like this...   "

In a moment, L'Arachel was much closer to Mila.

"   Positively thrilling!   ", the Vespiquen exclaimed as she held her palm forward and delivered a Hyper Beam directly in front of herself, "   Unnerving, yes, but there was some degree of shared sense of this... "Bloody glee" that all of that ferocity was for me!   "

As she said this last part, L'Arachel looked over to Autumn and smiled cheekily.

Regardless of the success of her attacks, L'Arachel is now standing and re-orienting herself, although the swarm is still in wait.

[The Pit?]

...

Someone awoke from water splashing on their face.

She shook her head and managed to stand back up. Why was she... Mostly uninjured? She still bears the pain from L'Arachel's attacks, but she does not see or feel any apparent damage from the fall she feels she should have taken. The Aromatisse walked a bit forward and saw her white hat on the ground, which seemed to be in good condition. As she picked it up, dusted it off, and placed it on her head properly, she took in her surroundings.

Blue-ish stone, gravel, and dirt, some long-forgotten wood and steel constructions, some openings in the walls that allowed for either drizzles or massive flows of water to trickle and pour from.... Some parts of the ground rose up along with rubble to make almost walkway-like paths she saw available. Hikari decided to follow this and see what she found.

Moving around enough, she saw two familiar Grass Pokemon landed somewhat away from a menacing-looking stalagmite. The round black glasses the Decidueye had worn were on the ground away from them.

So it is not Noriaki... But he has still helped. Hikari moved closer, picking up the spectacles and approaching the two with concern.

The Pit

(My vision was blurry from the tears and my eyes trying to adjust from the light. I still felt her around me, my grip loosening. If I die here, at least she won't. I'm not letting it happen again. I looked at the pink figure weakly, then her.)

(After her nerves had slowed down, though not completely calmed, she made an attempt to stand on her own two feet. It was obvious she was struggling, but she still tried. She looked at the Aromatisse, figuring out who's side she's on.) Please, let me. (She reached for the glasses and put them on my face. She nodded to the Fragrance Pokémon, knowing she should help me first. He went through all that just to save me, she thought. For some reason, she felt something in her heart. She wasn't sure what it is exactly, yet one thing for sure, she felt like she wanted to be with him. Perhaps it's love?)

(Zelda thought to herself, she might as well be spitting at them, all she's doing is pissing them off. She floats down to the group, dejected at the current situation, but not defeated just yet. Looking at the caves, she tried to look for a way out that didn't involve getting a face full of Combee. She looked at the Aromatisse approaching a few of them. At least they have a medic here.)

Vs. L'Arachel

(Now that her back is turned, time for the desperate measure. From his snout came a glowing orange energy. He tilted his head upwards and fired a single ball of energy into the hole above. It may not be like how Janus does it, but he'll make it work. He directed the orb directly towards the Vespiquen, the color changing dark blue. Arsene used Draco Meteor!)