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The four-point-five-star hotel mattress became BARNABY FINCH's long-awaited throne, where his friend's every greedy touch and lustful movement culminated in a divine ecstasy. Repeatedly. He'd truly been placed on a pedestal and worshipped like the god Girard Fraser thought him to be. [break][break]

Barnaby expected no less.[break][break]

In fact, the pleasure was so euphoric he could barely think coherently anymore. So when his friend teased him, asking for further direction, all Barnaby could muster through his moans was:[break][break]

"Keep goin—mmm!" He bit his lip, trying to find a modicum of composure. There was none, of course. "Fuck, Girard! I'm so close—"[break][break]

Smug, though, wasn't he? But Girard had a reason to be. Their long-awaited union had been even more satisfying than the fantasies Barnaby had been suppressing for all these years. [break][break]

He was right, however. They had all night to indulge, which Barnaby planned to take full advantage of. There was no need to rush.[break][break]

As they continued to rock together in passionate euphoria, he wrapped his arms around Girard's neck and pulled him down into a deep kiss. The way their lips met spoke volumes more than words ever could.

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They'd been here before, hadn't they?[break][break]

Except this time Elisabeth Fiorelli was the one tucking a strand of hair behind his ear. Before, when he'd done it, he'd offered the small touch as an invitation for more, letting their first kiss fall on her terms.[break][break]

But the roles were reversed now. And so, so much time had passed since that day within the rose meadow. He didn't need to worry about scaring the lost little lamb anymore.[break][break]

He leaned in, allowing the hand at his cheek to fall and rest at the back of his neck. There was no misinterpreting his intentions now; their lips were too close for that, barely far enough apart for Barnaby to respond:[break][break]

"Every day, since the day we met."[break][break]

He spanned the little distance that was left. Their lips met again for the third time: not hesitant like the first, not selfish like the second.[break][break]

Tender. Caring. More honest than either of them had ever been.

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From one fox den and into another. They'd barely avoided being engulfed by otherworldly shadows, only to scurry into a nest of... fuck, were those zombies? Really? [break][break]

Zev Harcourt engaged them first, followed quickly by Kaname Fujihara. Barnaby observed for a moment longer, mentally parsing through strategies. Light in this world was minimal at best and regularly being absorbed, if the vending machine outside had been any indication. Perhaps this scarcity could be used to their advantage.[break][break]

Two succinct whistles indicated for the admin's Illumina STARMIE to use SPOTLIGHT; he gestured to a congregation point, hoping the feral Megalopolans would follow the light and leave them more vulnerable to attack.[break][break]

It worked. The majority were left to smolder on the derelict tile, while one lucky individual had simply been knocked unconscious by the force of the pushback from CHIMECHO's PSYCHIC.[break][break]

"We'll take that one with us." Like hell he was carrying a half-rotten creature himself, though. STARMIE's own PSYCHIC would do the heavy lifting for him, raising the Megalopolan from the floor and levitating it closer to the group.

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[break]
[break]



The devil had a name and it was WO-CHIEN. [break][break]

They'd spun their malicious web, reached across realms, whispered promises only an otherworldly specter could offer... and ensnared one of ROCKET's own. A powerful but vulnerable vessel. [break][break]

[break]

"No..." Horror wasn't a strong enough word to describe the feelings of immense dread and panic and helplessness that gripped at Barnaby as he watched his friend descend into the clearing.[break][break]

She appeared from the darkness wholly changed. Bleached of her humanity, stripped of what was and made anew in the image of her patron. The Elisabeth of old was no more.[break][break]

Her new abilities proved that. [break][break]

She demanded he leave her to wither within the ruined glade, her words leeching life from the very vegetation surrounding her. It was a jarring thing to witness. Even more so when she crumpled to the earth within a thicket of rafflesia flowers of her own making.[break][break]

Cautiously, he approached.[break][break]

"Mon fleur... what have they done to you?" Barnaby whispered, pushing past the thorns and prickling vines until he was cradling Elisabeth against his chest. Gone were the soft floral notes that usually wafted off her skin. Elisabeth Fiorelli reeked of decay now.[break][break]

He scooped her up and turned back, seeing that his GALLADE had wandered closer. There was nothing stopping Barnaby from leaving now. The devil had already left their mark and faded back into the gloom. A pact with a price, Barnaby assumed.[break][break]

Before TELEPORTING away, he looked down at this new Elisabeth in his arms. So foreign... yet not. She wore a familiar gossamer nightgown, but blood from the nicks in his skin had stained parts of it a soiled red.[break][break]

Here they were again.[break][break]

He'd been cut by her so many times before... but it had always seemed like a cry for help.[break][break]

She'd need him more than ever now.[break][break]

Whatever the future held for them...[break][break]

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BARNABY FINCH was a man of many masks, each handcrafted with finesse and sculpted to the highest degree of believability. He was a KECLEON that could seamlessly blend into nearly any scenario. Years of practice had made him so. [break][break]

Yet Katherine Fairburne almost broke one of those masks with her filthy, vitriolic lies. He bit his tongue, however, and continued to let her spew to her heart's content.[break][break]

The audience seemed stunned into silence as she continued her manipulations. She painted herself as a wayward, impressionable girl, pitiable in her plight. A victim instead of a blight. [break][break]

Such bullshit.[break][break]

When she finished, seconds passed where no sound dared breach the tense silence. And then - all at once - chatter exploded from the stands. Myriad voices rang out, some in fear, some in anger, some in confusion, some in agreement; it was a volatile mixture of personalities and opinions that threatened to overtake the structure of the show.[break][break]

"Now, now! Let's hear her out!" Barnaby insisted, his voice rising above the din thanks to the microphone on his collar.[break][break]

"What a story, Ms. Fairburne!" His attention returned to her once the audience quieted, though there were still grumblings amidst the more disgruntled guests.[break][break]

"I have so many questions," Like where she got the fucking audacity. "But I think the most obvious one is — do the appropriate authorities know of your history?" [break][break]

"You mentioned FERNANDO SILPH..." Ah. A likely candidate for where she acquired the audacity. "But what about dahlia goode? The police?"[break][break]

"I'm all for cheering on the underdog," Even one with as much bite as Katherine Fairburne. "But I think we're all curious to know if the League endorses you as well."

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It was late. [break][break]

Hard to tell in a submarine, but apparent in the way Barnaby pressed the bridge of his nose between his fingers and breathed out a tired sigh. [break][break]

He needed a drink to get him through this next meeting.[break][break]

Leather creaked as he got up from his office chair and walked toward the beverage cart on the other end of the room. As he did so, a mechanical BEEP! warned of a visitor – one with clearance to enter without needing Barnaby's permission.[break][break]

Felix Gallagher.[break][break]

As the taller admin entered, Barnaby gestured for Felix to make a drink of his own if he so wished. He himself partook in a whiskey on the rocks. After taking a sip, he got straight to the point.[break][break]

"I'm sure you've heard I've been tracking Moltres." Attempting to, anyway. The thing was more difficult to keep tabs on than he'd initially expected.[break][break]

But they'd get to that soon enough.

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Fear and hate intermingled as all those present were sucked into the RUSTED SHIELD and transported to areas unknown. Barnaby attempted to spur his CHARIZARD on, away from the pulling force that gripped at them, but to no avail.[break][break]

Amidst the cacophony of battle, all turned to black.[break][break]

BARNABY FINCH awakened to the cold feeling of snow beneath his body. It had begun to melt and soak in in places, leaving him shivering on the ground. Once realization hit, however, he sprung to his feet, head on a swivel as his mind processed what exactly had just happened. Taking in those nearby, too. And their surroundings.[break][break]

The first thing the admin noticed was his CHARIZARD, unconscious beside him; he returned the dragon to its Poké Ball. The second was that Zev Harcourt was nowhere to be found, nor other ROCKET operatives like Elisabeth Fiorelli. Lastly... the Legendary Pokémon were also eerily absent. All around was simply snow and ice and – a vaguely equine-shaped statue within a ruined cathedral. The only landmark for miles within the Crown Tundra.[break][break]

Without Lucien to carry him across the snowy wastes, Barnaby released his SPECTRIER instead and vaulted onto their back. Once mounted, he'd respond to the comms that had begun pouring in, "Bee here. Also uninjured. Heading toward the statue now."[break][break]

Barnaby urged his SPECTRIER forward. As he advanced, he noticed several things along the way: in the distance, the exhilaratingly familiar face of Caleb Harcourt, a LEAGUE ranger known to be on the ROCKET hit list... with Isaac Merlo and ana fell beside him. Helping him, even, along with another woman that Barnaby didn't recognize as being a part of ROCKET. He took note of the encounter, but continued without interrupting the group. For now.[break][break]

He also noticed LUGIA in the sky with Cillian Quinn below her, a number of ROCKETs gathered around him. And fucking MATIAS SILPH trying to immediately ham-fist the situation. kyle lopez was there too, also fucking around with SPATIAL REND.[break][break]

"Matias and Kyle at the statue! Incoming attacks." A warning that would hopefully reach mint frost, jayden cross, fern delaney, Felix Gallagher, Zev Harcourt, and Aurelie Lefevre in time.[break][break]

Seeing GROUDON unleash its PRECIPICE BLADES, Barnaby ordered his SPECTRIER to PHANTOM FORCE to a safer distance – still within proximity to the cathedral, but out of blasting range.[break][break]

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• hidden identity (masked)[break]
• call sign: bee[break]
• returns CHARIZARD & releases SPECTRIER[break]
• comms: he's okay, going toward statue[break]
• is that caleb?? 😈[break]
• wait why are isaac & cygne with caleb..[break]
• comms: tries to warn about matias & kyle[break]
• SPECTRIER - PHANTOM FORCE away from GROUDON's attack[break]

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There was very little that made a man like BARNABY FINCH uncomfortable – physical touch the least of those things.[break][break]

So when she snuggled in closer, he did the same, pulling his arms around francie myrtle until she was nearly cradled in his lap. It was neither awkward nor unpleasant; in fact, for him, it was quite the opposite. [break][break]

“Sci-fi arc indeed. I didn’t even tell you about all the Ultra Beasts inside the rifts.” He replied softly, drinking in every word she uttered and every cute little gesture. She smiled sheepishly, and it was the most adorable thing ever to grace his living room couch. It goaded a sweet smile onto his lips, too.[break][break]

“So what’s the first thing you want to do now that you’re back?” Barnaby probed. [break][break]

“Besides me– err, seeing me.” Oop. A slip of the tongue, only partially intentional. He was quick to correct himself, a faint blush blooming on his cheeks.

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“A calculated risk.” He countered, an amused grin pulling at the corners of his lips. “But I think you’re worth the gamble.”[break][break]

And BARNABY FINCH wasn’t one who usually played the odds in this way. He liked certainties and absolutes. But there was just something about Selena Desmarais’s potential that made him want to try.[break][break]

“Besides, I’m sure you know the sorts of things Rocket does to defectors. Most don’t make the commitment to join without accepting those consequences.” The smart ones, anyway. And she seemed highly intelligent based on what he knew of her.[break][break]

“But let’s not dwell on the negative!” Barnaby implored lightly, waving his hand in a placating gesture. “We’re here to talk about you, after all, and your future.”[break][break]

And so the pitch began.[break][break]

“We can give you access beyond what you’ve ever had before. Data, events, people – whatever you need.” Their resources came from a global organization, after all. There was little ROCKET wanted for.[break][break]

“Power and money. Connections, too. You have the opportunity to shape the world in ways that were unachievable as a mere civilian.”[break][break]

The opportunities were virtually endless, to a point. As long as she pledged her loyalty. [break][break]

But that begged the question…[break][break]

“With all that in mind… what is it that you want, Ms. Desmarais?”

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“Good.” Barnaby echoed, a similar gentleness in his eye as he looked over Felix Gallagher. He was safe, at least. That was all that mattered. [break][break]

He clapped Felix on the shoulder where his hand had been resting before withdrawing it to begin unloading the revolver. Only five bullets remained in the chamber now, which Barnaby pocketed. The gun was similarly tucked into the waistband of his pants.[break][break]

“But no need to apologize. We’ve both got each other’s backs.” That fact was now marked in blood. Speaking of, the admin grabbed a nearby rag and started to wipe his face clean as best he could. The almost indiscernible tremble still remained, but color was already beginning to return to his cheeks.[break][break]

“Let’s… finish up here and take care of the body.”

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They reached the next game camera with no issues. Barnaby replaced the battery in this one as he did the last, fast-forwarding through the footage once it came to life but seeing much of the same. [break][break]

“Not that I’m aware, though I’ll check with Underboss Quinn to be sure.” He replied to Zev Harcourt, refastening the camera in place as he did so. This had previously been Killian Decker’s domain, but now Cillian Quinn had taken on much of the leadership over their espionage division. He would be sure to know.[break][break]

“Willing, though? Probably not. But I’m sure we could get one to talk.” Whether that involved persuasion or force was yet to be determined.[break][break]

But BARNABY FINCH had just the ranger in mind.[break][break]

Caleb Harcourt.

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I killed him. He’s dead.[break][break]

The words repeated over and over in Barnaby’s mind as he looked down at the bunker owner, now deceased on the floor. The pool of blood surrounding the body continued to grow, but thankfully enough Felix had pulled him away in time before the red liquid could coat his boots. [break][break]

“Uh…” For one of the first times in his life, Barnaby didn’t immediately know what to say. His eyebrows furrowed in slight confusion, as if he was struggling to find the words to respond.[break][break]

Was he okay? It didn’t really feel like it. His heart was beating so hard it threatened to burst from his chest; his face had taken on a deathly pallor beneath the streaks of blood; his vice grip on the gun turned his knuckles white.[break][break]

Felix Gallagher likely worried for his physical health, however, so the admin responded with a shaky:[break][break]

“Yes.. Yeah. I’m fine.”[break][break]

He reached with his free hand to brace the other admin’s upper arm. There was a slight, almost imperceivable tremble to the motion.[break][break]

“What about you? Are you alright?”

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The pervasive darkness all around them was unsettling at best, menacing at worst. As Barnaby observed the dilapidated city they traveled through, the narrow scope of view of what he could see made him lean toward the latter. [break][break]

There was a reason for this unnatural blackout. Something powerful had driven the residents of Lesser Megalopolis out of their homes. Seeing all the darkened crystals about, the ROCKET admin had a hunch…[break][break]

“It’s too soon to tell,” Barnaby replied, sweeping his eyes over to Kaname Fujihara. “Let’s focus on collecting as much evidence as possible for now.”[break][break]

Right about then the lights on the vending machine Zev Harcourt pointed out began to flicker and then… die. A roiling darkness appeared from the gloom, somehow blacker and more sinister than its surroundings – a void of pure shadow. Shit.[break][break]

“In here.” Barnaby ordered the group, sprinting toward a nearby multi-story office building. It was a split second decision, but he figured any sort of cover was better than staying outside with the unnatural darkness.[break][break]

He burst through the double doors in the lobby of the building and into a labyrinthian space filled with crumbling bullpens and defunct computers. The admin initially thought that was all that was within the office… until he heard the distinct sounds of shuffling feet. Multiple pairs.[break][break]

Maybe the residents of Lesser Megalopolis hadn’t actually left after all.

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