.017 battles [video | action for anyone in Discedo]

[battledancing]

[Even though this is Cynthia's frequency, this time she's not the one broadcasting the feed. She's definitely featured in it, though, along with a pile of disfigured corpses-- not like this is a shocking sight by now. The lack of blood, however, is still as much of an enigma as always.

The first body seems to be what used to be a green-haired

Comments

1/2 [video]

[fierybluebird]

[Frowns looking through the fog.]

[action]

[fierybluebird]

[And then instantly goes looking for her, flying overhead in phoenix form.]

[action]

[battledancing]

[Take your time, Marco, she's not going anywhere anytime soon. She'll just be over here, clinging to a severed head and not letting go.

Break the Cutie, indeed.]

[action]

[fierybluebird]

[Lands next to her and extends a huge blue wing protectively over her shoulders in a phoenix hug.]

[always_on_duty]

Cynthia! Where are you? [Not even going to bother asking if she's okay. It's obvious enough even for him to tell.]

[video]

[battledancing]

[No, she's not okay. In fact, she's so not okay that she won't pick up the communicator to answer - she can't even hear the damned thing buzzing, not that it would make a difference otherwise.

Instead, her Lucario answers the calling to the best of his abilities. Since he's still chipped, he can't exactly use telepathy to communicate, so he turns on the video feed and moves the camera around so to show their surroundings. Hopefully Gadget would recognize it.]

[video --> action?]

[always_on_duty]

On my way!

[And he's there soon enough. He takes a distressing glance at the corpses around, but focuses on Cynthia.]

Cynthia? It's Gadget.

[And now he's announced his presence, so hopefully she won't be surprised when he kneels beside her and puts a hand on her shoulder.]

[action]

[battledancing]

[She's not surprised at all, but that's more because she's in an emotional limbo right now than out of conscious acknowledgment of his presence. It hurts too much to think these could very well be her real friends instead of an illusion or whatever else those scientists could pull off - what if they had been brought to Fortuna without their Pokemon and couldn't defend themselves against the monsters?

Of course, the lack of blood should be a hint, but despair tends to only further cloud judgement.

Either way, on some level, Cynthia knows Gadget is there, but not a word or sound will greet him, not yet. It will take some time.]

( action??? )

[libertyfuckyeah]

[ Because I guess he's just running around every city. All the cities. WHATEVER anyway. Trust me, you'll hear him before you see him.

Meaning only a few meters away comes two gunshots followed by: ]

STOP. FUCKING. BLINKING.

[ He has his priorities straight. America emerges around the corner of a building a few minutes later hopping over bodies, not phased by the carnage until one of the bodies starts blinking like static. Then he jumps and skirts as far away from it as possible.

And this is how he comes across Cynthia and-- holy shit land shark cocking the gun. Luckily it clicks empty. NO TIME TO RELOAD.

MUST SAVE THE LADY.

MAKING A DASH TO TACKLE THE LAND SHARK I don't even know, he's hyped up on so many bad feelings. Feel free to stop him. ]

( action! ) also I swear that tag brightened up my day XD

[battledancing]

[See, normally the idea of anyone tackling her Pokemon would be enough to get a response from Cynthia - even if they could pretty much handle themselves quite well against a human. But today (or at least right now) she's not really herself, and her mind is far too distant to even process her surroundings.

Thankfully, her landshark dragon of death can fly - at mach speed, if needed - so she just gets out of the way before America gets a chance to assault her.

If the crazy human tries anything against her trainer, though, there will be consequences.]

( action! ) YAY <3333

[libertyfuckyeah]

[ America might be able to hold his own against certain Pokemon, but flying definitely isn't on the agenda. His NFL-style super strength tackle closes in on thin air and he goes skidding into the ground. Probably cracking the pavement while he's at it.

BUT HE IS RUNNING ON PURE ADRENALINE, SO HE ROLLS RIGHT BACK ONTO HIS FEET. FLAWLESS MOVE. This would be more impressive if he had an audience. His whole being screams look at me look at how heroic and cool I'm being ACKNOWLEDGE MY FEATS, WOMAN.America doesn't say that, and in lieu of anything intelligent to say or epic lines to shout, he places himself in a defensive stance between Cynthia and the flying death monster. Still hasn't realized that she's in shock because she's busy holding the mutilated bodies of her friends. I don't know if it's a testament to America's insanity that he's completely ignoring all the bodies or the sad fact that a city littered with corpses is something he's grown numb to

( action! ) <333!

[battledancing]

[SORRY, AMERICA, CYNTHIA IS STILL SORTA KINDA BUSY BEING A CLAMP CHARACTER HOLDING ON TO DEAD BODIES AMIDST A NEVER ENDING RIVER OF MEGUCA SUFFERING.... So yeah, she can't exactly pay attention to your heroic act right now.

Garchomp, on the other hand, seems to have realized the crazy human person is trying to help out her trainer - though, really, the Pokemon can't figure out why anyone would think she would attack her friend and master. But anyway, since she can't speak in ways America will understand, she will just land close to the two again and stay put, hoping he would realize she meant no harm - or better yet, that Cynthia would snap back in time to let him know.]

[Action]

[sojournsparrow]

[Haer'Dalis has been walking around the city, occasionally making corpses that he found too unsettling invisible with his spells, but he was starting to run low on those spells now, and the bodies that he turned invisible seem to keep reappearing no matter what he does. He's starting to find it a bit irritating, but that's when he stumbles upon Cynthia and her Garchomp. Haer'Dalis is a very emphatic individual, and as such, nods to the Garchomp knowing how distressed it must be over it's masters current state. Not even thinking twice about it he sits down next to her, crossed legged.]

I see that even you have been hurt by these phantoms my golden raven.

[Action]

[battledancing]

[Somewhere along the confines of her mind, the word "phantoms" clicked, though possibly not in the way one would hope. If anything, it only made her think of death, of how her dearest friends could possibly have ended up in such tragic predicament - and more importantly, of how she hadn't been there to stop it.

Yes, they were ghosts now, both because they were gone, and because all the guilt wouldn't quit haunting her mind, those thoughts so insistently kept to herself. All, except for one.]

Why.

[Action]

[sojournsparrow]

[That was always the hardest question for Haer'Dalis to answer.]

Why what? Why must people die? Why are the scientists who brought us here so despicably evil? Why does it have to hurt so much? All of these thing are difficult to answer.

[Action]

[battledancing]

[A single shake of her head is what she first offers as her response. She didn't care about any of that - no logic or common sense, or even the balance between good and bad feelings, none of that mattered, at least not right now. There was something else that took precedence over all those meaningless questions.]

Why... are they not back...?

[Because even if it violated every single rule, even if it was downright impossible to do and she normally frowned upon the very prospect, the dead did not stay that way for long in Fortuna. And right now, that was all she cared about.]