From the sky, everything looked small and for an ancient titan, everything was. Their golden eyes watched the humans storm the beach like a swarm of Weedle - insignificant pawns in a game made for gods.

The pale moon flashed off emerald scales amongst the dark veil of stars. The predator unfurled their serpentine body and descended from the heavens at EXTREME SPEEDS.

The wind died: their first warning. Only that which they permitted could exist. When the pawns were aligned nicely along the shore’s sliver of sand, they passed their judgment: a death sentence for their crimes against their region. Torrents of fire poured from their open maw, a waterfall of devastation. Rayquaza tore a scar across the sand, melting it to glass while Rockets screamed and burned.

They were gone so suddenly, like a ghost, back into the veil of darkness until it was time to pass judgment once more.

“That’s far enough,” Eva tensed against the putrid smell of burning flesh, her stomach curling into a knot at the loss of life but she dare not interfere with her god’s judgment, “Elisa,” she said her name with a slow, heavy draw as if it was burden she was forced to bear. Eva stood at the ready, a small barrier between Rocket and what she was tasked with protecting.

---

Elisabeth Fiorelli

+50MP for participation
+10MP use a mythical/legendary pokemon
+10MP x 1 per post

70MP

While the other Rockets cowered before this draconic show of fiery might, Elisabeth stepped forward, the figure of her Ruinous Beast drifting out of her shadow.[break][break]

Ochre eyes narrowed at the sight of the woman who had banished it from the Petalburg Woods, and the Tablets of Ruin on its back began to glow -- illuminating the name of Eva Morales for all nearby to see.[break][break]

"WE REMEMBER YOU."

[break]

"THE EARTH REMEMBERS US, TOO."

[break]

The implied threat tore from Elisabeth's throat with a demonic certainty, echoing loudly as the silence that had fallen in the wake of the dragon's flames was replaced with howling cruelty. Elisabeth's black hair swirled in a sudden miserable, bone-chilling wind that stripped their surroundings bare.[break][break]

Sand fled from the shoreline, pulled back by tumultuous waves thrown off by the shift in environment, leaving only craggy rock, splintered driftwood, and the glass of shattered seashells behind in the drought.[break][break]

"IF YOU SEEK PEACE, KNOW YOU WILL FIND ONLY WAR WITH US."

[break]

Wo-chien's RUINATION cast itself down on the majestic dragon like a hammer forged from the black tar of grudges and spite, twisted and dark as its energies congealed and compressed upon it on all sides.

[attr="class","ooc"] Eva Morales[break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

SPOILER: Click to show

- 10 MP per IC post in a RT Battle/Mission. (x2)[break]
- 10MP use a mythical/legendary Pokemon.[break]
- 50 MP for participation in a RT Battle/Mission.

The eerie glow of the tablets’ silent wrath illuminated the pale complexion of the frigid demoness she once found warm and inviting. Eva mourned the loss of such a soul. Now this ‘Elisabeth’ was an empty vessel, stripped of her character and replaced with sinful grudge.

“Then you remember burning.”

Something was different this time - something that chilled Eva to the bone. Still, she couldn’t help but poke the Ursaluna.

“We’ll be sure to finish the job this time.
For there is no peace, until we rid Hoenn of you.”

Elisabeth. Rocket. The Beasts of Ruination. The DRK Triad.They would scrub this world clean of evil.

Rayquaza’s return was unceremonious. They shimmered into existence above their chosen, golden eyes glowing hot against the soot that stained their emerald scales. A low growl echoed through their throat. They could sense it: the impending RUINTATION. The chilling wind wasn’t wind at all, but darkness incarnate that stretched beyond the grasp of the serpent’s control.

The growl crescendoed into a roar as the grudge penetrated past their armor and into their very soul like the sting of a thousand Beedril. No, ten thousand.

That pressure grew into something most harrowing. They fought against the weight of it and failed. The sudden weakness grounded them. Trees snapped beneath the weight of a fallen dragon. They wouldn’t be down long, but Eva’s heart sank. A sudden panic, not just for this moment, but for all those to come if the Beasts are allowed to release their RUINATION upon them all.

Eva chose to attack instead, sparks of gold flashed across her eyes as she thrust out towards Elisa. A powerful gust of wind blasted forward from her palms, aiming to slam the devil back into the bare, craggy rocks the jutted from the sea.

---

Elisabeth Fiorelli

+50MP for participation
+10MP use a mythical/legendary pokemon
+10MP x 2 per post

80MP

The soft-spoken woman that Eva Morales had known bore startlingly little resemblance to the Ruinous Avatar that faced her now. Dark hair, black as an oil-spill, replaced honeyed tresses of sunshine-gold. Eyes green as endless fields now harbored a malevolent red sheen, narrowed with hateful intent.[break][break]

"You are not the first to set us afire. And you will not be the last."

[break]

"Know that grudges rise up from the ashes of your righteousness."

[break]

As the RUINATION's impact rippled outwards, Elisabeth watched as the mighty Rayquaza and its dragoness struggled against the full weight of her resentment. A sick satisfaction settled in her at the sight of Hoenn's precious savior in such a precarious state, but then the winds of fate literally turned against her.[break][break]

Howling gales surged towards her, their impact blocked by a rush of seaweed that rose up to form a wall from the bottom of the seafloor. The slick and slimy barrier of algae held fast against the wind, defending the woman known as the Scorned against these fearsome squalls.[break][break]

She gritted her teeth, her grimace giving way to a cruel smile.[break][break]

"We wonder. What grudges do you harbor, O selfless one?"

[break]

This time, BURNING JEALOUSY spit out from Wo-chien's gaping maw, seeking to engulf the dragon and Avatar in its covetous embrace.

[attr="class","ooc"] Eva Morales[break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

SPOILER: Click to show

- 10 MP per IC post in a RT Battle/Mission. (x3)[break]
- 10MP use a mythical/legendary Pokemon.[break]
- 50 MP for participation in a RT Battle/Mission.

For being set ablaze so many times, they didn’t seem to stay dead. Perhaps each fire branded a new grudge into those rotting tablets, another source of power to fuel the legendary and their puppet. If she dwelled on it long enough, it would come to make sense. Her eyes narrowed in on the ochre eyes of Wo-Chien. Her jaw tensed, gritting her teeth in frustration at the blockade that tamed her winds . . . for now.

“Hmph, is that so?” her gaze thoughtfully centered back on Elisabeth. The Professor’s pink lips were curled in an almost mocking smile, brushing aside the outlandish notion.

“Then may they fuel my righteousness, for peace and justice will prevail.”

---

“Ah!” her breath forcefully expelled itself from her lungs when she slammed into the rocks she once tried to drive Elisa into. Rayquaza had been hold their own, but this was not the same creature they encountered in Petalburg Woods. It was far more powerful, with an array of strengths and a deadly grudge that only fueled its power.

Eva’s mouth opened, sucking in what little air she could. Her body squirmed under the tight hold of the avatar’s thick vines. She fought against them as they drew her hands behind her back and wrapped tightly around her chest, crawling towards her neck.

Despite her current predicament, the Peacemaker’s emerald eyes still burned with resolve. She’d never give up, she’d never stop fighting. Not until her dying breath, “This isn’t over,” she warned Elisa, though she didn’t seem to be in a place with such power at the moment. The tables could always turn.

---

Elisabeth Fiorelli

The more the battle had waged on, the less human the woman opposing Eva Morales appeared to be.[break][break]

A wicked smile slashed across Elisabeth's lips, delighting in the hold she'd managed to trap this wretched, irritating creature in. The vines twisted and wound around her with a serpentine possession, seeking to strangle the Peacemaker for daring to speak so out of turn.[break][break]

Elisabeth leaned in uncomfortably close, examining the green-eyed blonde with evident disdain, before a dark laugh left her lips.[break][break]

"This must be new for you," she gloated, "being on the losing end of encounters like this."[break][break]

The Tablets of Ruin blazed red with the name of Eva Morales, and the more her hated captive suffered, the more power seemed to surge through Elisabeth with delighted glee.[break][break]

"But I don't want to kill you, Morales. I just want to have a little conversation, that's all."[break][break]

A hand tenderly reached for the other woman's cheek, sending a shuddering sensation of GRUDGES and RESENTMENT through her.[break][break]

she can also touch others to instill her own resentment in others, or to draw out deep-seated grudges to fuel her own spite. this effect, however, is temporary. (REQ: RPER PERMISSION)

[break]

"You aren't our primary prey this day. Tell us: where is FERNANDO SILPH?"

[attr="class","ooc"] Eva Morales[break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

SPOILER: Click to show

- 10 MP per IC post in a RT Battle/Mission. (x3)[break]
- 10MP use a mythical/legendary Pokemon.[break]
- 50 MP for participation in a RT Battle/Mission.

Eva has lost many times, too many times. When she lost, she typically lost everything. Since Rayquaza, powerlessness was foreign. She wasn’t as tough as some of the other avatars that made up the League’s elite. She was small, fragile, and her powers didn’t afford her much in the way of defenses. Elisa’s vines tightened around her soft flesh. An involuntary groan of pain breathed past her lips. When she sucked in a breath that was long and labored, squeezing it past the pressure of the vines. She could taste the sickeningly sweet scent of the florist.

“I won’t . . . tell you . . . anything.”

Her voice came out like a growl, bared between her clenched teeth. She wriggled beneath the vines, unable to squirm away from the woman’s soft touch.

Something dark infected her instantly, like a jolt of electricity. The professor’s body stiffened and her mind melted. Grudges, resentment, darkness. The onslaught was deafening, blinding, and paralyzing all at once. Her emerald eyes flashed a vibrant gold, her own PRIMAL ENERGY surged forward in an attempt to combat the infiltration of the other’s.

It was a losing battle from the start. A haze replaced the golden hue and Eva found herself trapped in her own mind, lost in a place she kept tucked away from the world. Such negativity was something she avoided. Love, encouragement, understanding is what she lived by. Not this.

“Prey?” she thought out loud. An interesting choice of word. Regardless, Eva wouldn’t give Elisa what she wanted. Whatever darkness Elisa pulled to the surface made the professor less reasonable. Resentment was a powerful fuel. She responded to the question by spitting in her face.

---

Elisabeth Fiorelli

Elisabeth wiped away the moisture from her cheek, incensed at the blonde's defiance. "Perhaps you didn't hear me the first time," the underboss seethed, and her ungloved hand moved to backhand the Head Scientist in a swift, silencing motion.[break][break]

The Ruinous Avatar wanted blood to trickle down the corners of her mouth. She wanted to see a welt form on her captive's cheek.[break][break]

She wanted to see Eva Morales suffer, as she had suffered.[break][break]

"What loyalty do you have to the Silphs, anyway?" Elisabeth scoffed, sheathing her hand in black fabric once more. "The entire region knows what a mockery MATIAS SILPH made out of you and your engagement. You should be grateful at a chance to punish his family for their arrogance."[break][break]

The winding tendrils of greenery tightened their hold around the woman, insistent in their pull.[break][break]

"So I'll ask you again: where is Fernando Silph hiding?"

[attr="class","ooc"] Eva Morales[break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

SPOILER: Click to show

- 10 MP per IC post in a RT Battle/Mission. (x3)[break]
- 10MP use a mythical/legendary Pokemon.[break]
- 50 MP for participation in a RT Battle/Mission.

A sharp pain flashed against the skin of her cheek. Beneath the dirt and grim, a blush blossomed from the kiss of Underboss’s backhand. Eva could taste the iron on her tongue, the warmth of the blood. She swallowed, robbing Elisabeth of whatever prize she could.

Pain led to suffering, suffering led to hatred. It seethed and churned and boiled until the perfect monster emerged from its hostile depths. Eva knew this. That’s why she avoided these feelings. But now, under the influence of whatever poison Elisa inflicted, she felt it too strongly.

Deeply buried grudges clawed their way to the surface, rising from the dead. He did make a fool of her, cast her aside and broke his promises. For what? A shiny new toy that broke a few months in? What a waste.

Selfish. She should have seen it sooner, saved herself instead of letting herself be the sacrifice.

He never loved her like she loved him. His love was infantile.

“MATIAS SILPH is not a Silph.”

---

Elisabeth Fiorelli

In this way, they were the same: they had been wronged by the men they loved, betrayed in the cruelest of ways and abandoned. It carved fissures in the mind that left you forever wondering what it was you lacked, or in what way you were broken, that another person could discard you so breathtakingly easily.[break][break]

But until now, Eva Morales had resisted the grudges that had eaten up Elisabeth Fiorelli inside, leaving the florist's heart hollow enough for Wo-chien to devour.[break][break]

"I don't care what he is," Elisabeth snapped, impatience rising at this bizarre deflection. "What I want to know is--" And then something shifted in her gaze, searching the indignation on the Head Scientist's face for an explanation. "Why are you protecting him?" she probed instead, carmine eyes narrowing.[break][break]

A thorn protruded from the vine coiled closest to the blonde's neck, sharp enough to draw the thinnest trickle of blood in warning.[break][break]

"All these men are the same, Silph or no. Surely you know this? They take what they want from us, and discard us after. Like we're nothing to them."

[attr="class","ooc"] Eva Morales[break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

SPOILER: Click to show

- 10 MP per IC post in a RT Battle/Mission. (x3)[break]
- 10MP use a mythical/legendary Pokemon.[break]
- 50 MP for participation in a RT Battle/Mission.

The pain of the thorn’s sting was smothered beneath the coil of the vines and the darkness rising. She fought for the light, sparks of gold shimmering in her emerald eyes. The warmth of her own blood slowly rolling down her neck, soft and sensual, reminded her of a lover’s touch. A smile unknowingly twitched at her bruised lips.

It’s Elisabeth she hates. Rocket takes the gold for the most powerful grudge root in her being.

“I protect a lot of people from people like you.”

She had a long resume of doing so. History would speak to her reasoning but buried behind a wall of debris, ruins left by men like him, there was something more intimate in her willingness to protect FERNANDO SILPH.

The worst part was that Elisabeth was right. There were too many selfish men in this world to be trusted. Blind hatred protected Elisa where Eva knew love would be what saved her. A life without hope is not a life worth living.

A life without love is no life at all.

“You must live a sad, lonely life to say such things. No wonder you’re a monster.”

---

Elisabeth Fiorelli

"I'd rather be a monster than a Wooloo led to the slaughter."[break][break]

Her carmine eyes settled on Eva Morales with a cool, detached distance. Insults from a woman like this meant nothing. Willingly she'd walk to her own demise, again and again, embracing the title of a martyr as she died for a region that cared nothing for her life or her happiness.[break][break]

If being selfish made Elisabeth monstrous, so be it then.[break][break]

"But he is not worthy of your protection, Morales. You don't know the man as well as you like to think you do."[break][break]

This time, the bitterness curdling in her words became personal, and the unmistakable hint of wounded betrayal showed itself in the hurt that flashed in her carmine eyes. Her hand tightened into a fist, and the vines loosened slightly, enough to make it easier for the scientist to speak without choking.[break][break]

"In a way, I'm protecting women like you from men like him. Whether or not you realize it."

[attr="class","ooc"] Eva Morales[break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

SPOILER: Click to show

- 10 MP per IC post in a RT Battle/Mission. (x3)[break]
- 10MP use a mythical/legendary Pokemon.[break]
- 50 MP for participation in a RT Battle/Mission.

“I’d rather be the Wooloo if it meant becoming like you,” Eva’s stomach roiled. Elisa was hideous while infected by this darkness, a true bloody stain on the fabric of reality. A waste of carbon and oxygen and -

What was it that she just glimpsed under the finely sculpted mask of the Underboss? A hint of betrayal? Eva was too familiar with sentiment and called to her like a long lost friend.

A sharp breath sucked deep into her chest as the pressure released. She’d take what she could get. A little laxity may afford her the opportunity to reach for a pokeball at her waist. Otherwise, she wasn’t sure how she was going to get out of this mess. Survival was her first instinct, but the dredged up hostility left her with a funny little craving for Elisa’s blood.

“HA!” the idea of Elisabeth’s good intent was laughable, “You’re not protecting anyone but yourself and your best interests,” Eva wasn’t even sure Rocket’s best interests factored into any of it, “Maybe it’s you that doesn’t know him, hm?’

---

Elisabeth Fiorelli