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The wind whips and Tempest finds himself neck in neck with Eris Halla. If this weren't a League sanctioned event and him in disguise, he would do Cillian Quinn a favor and neck the kid while he had the chance. For now, thought, all he can do it try to speed up on Marina enough to overtake her.[break][break]

The race was almost over and it was almost time. Next lap for sure.[break][break]

Gritting his teeth, Tempest tucks down closer to Marina as she bounces and bobs in the water. The air time slowed them down- but hopefully it would everyone. Marina was a big girl, she could handle a little wind.
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The Bulldoze from the Palossand narrowly misses Tempest. He grumbles and tosses a pokeball out, his Vaporeon crying out. Slushie shakes herself off before spraying a blast of water at the ghost type pokemon. Sighing, he clicks his tongue.[break][break]

"This isn't a good sign..."[break][break]

Was muttered to himself. The Palossand collapsed but was quickly ushered back into the herd. Sighing, Tempest tossed a pokeball into the crowd of creatures.
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The laughter has Tempest knit his brow, then slowly relax it into an 'o' of understanding. A softer, more amused look joins it.[break][break]

"That's not a bad thing. A lot of the people I've talked with act like they don't feel anything at all. It's exhausting"[break][break]

fern delaney's words are followed, blocky handwriting noting it down. The Admin's words carved into paper with ink in quick movements.[break][break]

"A rush? Do you feel similar when you use your powers?"

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"Just Temp is fine! Or Quinn if you feel like being formal." Being called things like 'Boss' always had made him a bit uncomfortable. Thought, he hid the feeling well from Vasla Mercer to try and keep her distress. The lower ranks tended to get upset if a Beast got cross with them.[break][break]

"As long as it works, that's all I care about. Feel free to show me how hard you can hit."[break][break]

Plucking a Dive Ball off his belt, Tempest tossed it out. A Leafeon shook out her leaves, swirling blue patterns on her skin glowing lightly. The Illumina pokemon stared up at Valsa curiously.[break][break]

Tempest gave his pokemon a rub on the head before stepping more towards the battling area of the room. He flicked his eyes down to his phone again before balancing it on his hand and tucking it back in his pocket.[break][break]

"This is Petal! Don't worry about holding back on her, she's really well trained. You start whenever you're ready."

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Tempest leans down to pick up the pokeball and finds a bunch of sand flung in his face. A Varoom flies by, speeding, before doing the Akira Slide to turn and face Tempest and Tiamat.[break][break]

Tempest sputtered and groaned. He sighed and turned to look at his pokemon, frowning.[break][break]

Tiamat nodded, understanding, before Close Combating all over that dumb bitch.

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"Ah, yeah, sorry... gotta take any chance to get some cardio in!"[break][break]

Grinning, Tempest thumped his chest like a college frat boy might. Wiping off his forehead on a little towel, Tempest reached into his pocket to pull out his phone. He flicked through it for a few seconds before humming and nodding to himself, brows knit in concentration.[break][break]

"You were recommended to be part of my Strike Force. If you're willing, I'd love to test out your capabilities."

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Even with the chill and sharp eyes, Tempest takes the quilt and spreads it open. Tossing it up, he aims so it sits over both of them. Tempest nudges closer to jayden cross, throwing an arm around his shoulder and pulling him close. Much too close, someone like fern delaney or Cillian Quinn might say. At least for Temp it was completely platonic and innocent.[break][break]

"Thanks, Dennie! Don't push yourself, though. I'll pout until you lay down."[break][break]

With a playful wink, Tempest offered the other his clipboard to take a look over.[break][break]

"I just want to ask you some questions about your Avatarship. Mostly how it feels, that kind of stuff. I'm trying to study how Avatarship manifests in the human body."

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"That's what inspired this. It felt.... bad. It makes me want to know what's happening in you guys."[break][break]

While the wording was a bit creepy, the sincerity made it less so. Like Naomi Sato and the other Avatars were not creatures to dissect but people to worry about. It was the same care of someone trying to cure a sickness.[break][break]

"I was hoping I could see how your Avatarship feels to you. What makes it unique compared to, say, declan walsh? Cillian Quinn?"

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There is so much despair here.[break][break]

But Tempest will not relent. Quiet and to himself, he watches and waits and cries in his sleep. He has hope, strong hope, that is built on his interactions with both his fellow inmates and his captors. They do not want to be here. None of them want to be here. There is hope.[break][break]

Hope is not some delicate things. Hope had blood in it's teeth after being ground into the dirt. Hope would just snarl and rise again, as many times as needed. This hope is why his Will had not been broken.[break][break]

The sign comes with a shower of sunlight. Like all those around them, a tension hangs in the air so palpable it can be tasted. Then it breaks and off they go.[break][break]

Like a surge of primal animals it quickly turns to chaos. Screaming and yelling and surges of attacks. Tempest feels it in himself - can taste it at the back of his throat with the peach flavored vitriol. He upturns boxes and blocks the path of those who would harm him and his cellmates.[break][break]

Feels a pity and power welling inside of his chest. The Megalopilan from the first and last night of his dream, she falls to the ground with a cry. Some attack slamming into her. A scrape on her head leaks her alien blood on the floor.[break][break]

Tempest found it hard to hate them. To feel the pain of hiraeth was as enticing as it was ruinous. A fist goes to slam on her cheek and Tempest reaches out a hand to her-[break][break]

The fist slams on a purple barrier. It pops after a moment, like bubble gum, and the clouded gaze of the woman meets Tempest's eyes for just a moment.[break][break]

The crash of another box, of feet pounding and rushing, blocks her from his view.[break][break]

Tempest vaguely considers going up, against the wishes of the blue pixie. From what he had gathered, Cillian Quinn was on the floor above. But, he would be coming down, wouldn't he? No need to push against the grain.[break][break]

Then Tempest spots a familiar head of hair.[break][break]

howard slayte screams at the terrible monkey. Flicking his gaze around, Tempest charges for the other man. He wouldn't leave his bro to die from monkey business.

"ONE WAY DOWN!"[break][break]

Echoed, apparently the war cry, as he feints from the side and tries to slam a fist into the monkey's hair cheek.


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The sandstorm continued to whip and make Tempest squint as he moved forward. It was more annoying than whatever effect the zone was going for. His feet stomped on hard packed clay earth, cracks rippling across it from how dry it was.[break][break]

Out leaped a Meinfoo, who proceeded to try and Knock Off whatever Tiamet might have been holding. But, Tiamat was a snake and was not holding anything. All it served to do was piss the Milotic off. Always Competitive, she lunged forward to Close Combat slam against the fighting type.[break][break]

Tiamat did the snake equivalent of flexing from her powerful move while Tempest rolled his eyes and tossed one of his warden balls.

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Two stacks of medical supplies are carefully placed into boxes in the kitchen. Some of Cillian Quinn's pokemon had been teleporting stuff like this in all day, which was fine. It gave Tempest some busy work to feel helpful on the rare day off of missions. Airtight containers were carefully labeled in his blocky writing, things sorted into piles for easy finding when it might be needed. Other than a few canned goods, this did seem to be the last of it for the moment, though.[break][break]

Picking up a stack of the boxes in his arms, Tempest carefully made his way downstairs to deliver them to Cillian. The hidden lab's once-pristine table was littered with similar boxes and a few knick-knacks. There were shelves to be lined.[break][break]

"This is the last of them for now." He says, pleased, as he places the boxes with the rest. Walking over to his husband, Tempest steals a quick peck on the cheek before looking over the sorting system that Cillian had started down here. Seeing an empty spot, he starts to work on assisting down here as well.[break][break]

War was coming. One could never be too careful.