Perhaps surprisingly, there isn't a drop of alcohol on Skyler when she arrives at the designated meeting point.

Not for a lack of desire to numb the frayed edges of an all too volatile temper - at least as of late - but because visions of her alternate self, Queen Skyler, kept flashing behind her eyes, bedecked in a kind of power Skyler herself sorely lacked. For now, at least.

She can't bring herself to fault Laurence Anderson for the sip, would have usually partaken in some herself. Instead, she brings a hand down on his shoulder with no regard for the strength behind it, in a very Skyler-esque (and ultimately unhelpful) show of silent support. 

"The better to fight with," she replies, throwing a smirk over her shoulder at angelo vestri . "I would know." She would.

Her eyes travel down the path to what lies ahead  - a dimensional pocket beyond which lies a crumbling temple, and beyond that a world set for destruction. "Let's hope their queen isn't too keen on interdimensional travel, huh?" 

One Skyler was more than enough, thank you.

Double-checking her equipment one last time, Skyler allows her fingertips to lightly graze Angelo's wrist before stepping forward into the gloom. 

Laurence Anderson angelo vestri
mission: sealing - aqua

☉

"We're great at off the record," she reassures Lars with a grin, exchanging a subtle look with Angelo over the Head Ranger's shoulder. Something's up. "Hell, half of my clients don't even show their faces." Coordenates had proved to be a faster and highly efficient method of communication.

Ripples expand outward as they step into the oddly silent dimension that sits betwixt their own world and that of Sea Hoenn's. Familiar ruins dot the horizon like the very last bastions of civilization in an otherwise empty world. 

Skyler's hand hovers over her belt, hesitating for a fraction of a second before Johnny apparates at the captain's side. 

"I don't trust this." There'd been reports of strange activity, supposedly. That nothing could be heard beyond the echo of their own voices puts Skyler on edge. She'd rather take a punch to the gut than a stab in the back. 

No, she doesn't trust this quietness one bit.

"Johnny, can you see anything close to the ruins?" The Urshifu swivels to face said structures, attempting to DETECT any kind of suspicious activity.

Laurence Anderson angelo vestri
mission: sealing - aqua

☉

Mamma?

Skyler matches Angelo's shocked look behind the Head Ranger's back, brows furrowing in growing concern. Had Lars known what awaited them? Did he have an inkling as to what, or rather who, would meet them in this otherwordly realm? That fact that this venture was off the record, that he'd seemed harried and stressed even before they'd started...

What had Lars fought in these chambers - before he'd called for them?

"You do know this isn't your mother, right, spiky?" Without meaning to, Skyler steps forward to shield the ranger with her body. Not because she doesn't find him capable, but because there were things one shouldn't have to face. Fighting your mother's doppelganger probably fit into that category.

"Halt right now, or we'll consider your approach hostile!" Skyler's voice carries over the water's surface, muscles tensing up when other figures become visible and show no sign of stopping. 

Then, under her breath. "Warned you."

A powerful Hydro Pump sails through the air in their direction, and Johnny leaps to intercept it. By Skyler's side, Eelektross is released into the battlefield, crackling lightning arcing above (Thunderbolt) to crash against the group of sea people and their pokemon.

Laurence Anderson angelo vestri
mission: sealing - aqua

☉