[attr="class","star1tsu4"]

[attr="class","star2tsu4"]"I mean... if you're happy with it, that's what matters."[break][break]

She looks questioningly at the modest home. Even her worst nights back in Kanto had left her with more than this, and that was in a sewer... [break][break]

She blinks, and shakes her head, pressing a thumb into her forehead. Something's weird. She's a nomad, a smuggler. Never spent a night underground in her life. And this 'Kanto'... what the hell was that?[break][break]

"Sorry. Migraine."[break][break]

She sets herself down at the table, gazing at the rose in front of her. It was beautiful, if fleeting. Would last a week at best, even in this vase. How long had this Explorer been here, anyway?[break][break]

"Yeah. Got somethin' like that. A few things, actually... "[break][break]

Somethin' that spoils when you get your grubby little hands all over it? Something that dies when you try to keep it for yourself for even a short time?[break][break]

Story of her life.[break][break]

"Where should I begin?"[break][break]

She mentally runs down the list, settling on the one thing that hadn't run her wrong yet. The one thing in her life that hadn't abandoned her. The one thing... she could still count on, out here in the vacuum of space.[break][break]

"A ship. Old, but she runs like a dream. Near custom at this point, all the patch jobs over the years. But. Came from a pretty common model, originally."[break][break]

How much of the original was left? Was she even the same ship anymore? Wasn't this one of those silly little paradoxes she learned back at the academy before she got kicked out for being too much of a straight shooter? Yes. Yes it was.[break][break]

Somewhere, she got distracted.[break][break]

"Listen... I'm looking for a planet..."[break][break]

[attr="class","star3tsu4"][attr="class","rouxcredittsu4"]♠

[attr="class","star1tsu4"]

[attr="class","star2tsu4"]"What... all this time, you never thought I'd finally come to take your head when your time's up, 'Pale Rider'?"[break][break]

She flashes a smile, glint in her eye. Twenty years lost to history, just a dream. It's like someone else's memories. Even then, she could never forget the moniker he called himself then, during the bulk of the time they'd known each other. [break][break]

"Or is it so hard to believe I'd wanna test the meddle of my predecessor, before he relinquishes his throne to me?"[break][break]

She's talking weird. Something in the air. Maybe the spark of youth, maybe the energy on the eve of this change in ownership over the gym is just that. Weird. At the boundary of the Sea she always spoke a little different, but... this ain't the bottom of Granite Cave, now is it?[break][break]

"Wanna see what shoes I gotta fill."[break][break]

[attr="class","star3tsu4"][attr="class","rouxcredittsu4"]♠

[attr="class","star1tsu"]

[attr="class","star2tsu"]Sumire unfurls, pinprick spots of blood begun to trickle from the holes pierced through her black scaled armor. She curls around menacingly, eyeing the fox, for of course prey that cannot struggle to the end is no fun at all. She bares her fangs, ready to plunge for the neck. To finish the deed and be done with it. [break][break]

A beam of light takes her back into her ball in that moment, and Tsubaki grasps at the back of her neck, exhausted. These visions are startin' the hurt her eyes and her head. [break][break]

Angels dance overhead, suspended among the dead. Shepherds into the next life, they dance to an unheard melody, shining lights to one another...[break][break]

"... 'fraid my cup's a little more 'n' half empty already. Like there's a hole in the bottom. But."[break][break]

She takes the drink, and swallows it all in one large gulp, catching the badge in her teeth. Spitting it into her hand, she continues the thought. [break][break]

"Guess all you can do in that case is drink fast before it all falls out."[break][break]

She smiles to the woman across from her, ever the hedonist. Surely she'd find some fun in that statement. A million lines have been uttered in the past along the same sentiment. Live fast, die faster. Better to burn out and fade away. Something about leaving a beautiful corpse. howard slayte was the keeper of those old things: words lost to history. She didn't care what the poets left. Far as she was concerned, they were just the words of some dead junkies. [break][break]

"I'm no stranger to sins, Des. But, thanks. I'll keep that in mind."[break][break]

And with that, she slides the badge in her pocket, turning for the door. [break][break]

[attr="class","star3tsu"][attr="class","rouxcredittsu"]♠

[attr="class","star1tsu4"]

[attr="class","star2tsu4"]Here again.[break][break]

She's been here before. A year ago it'd just been a pile of ashes, remnants of a failed Rocket raid. Now it was truly somethin'. [break][break]

If she had to give any credit to the current Leader's questionable taste, this would be all the evidence she needed to prove he wasn't a total lost cause. Well, that and the movie marathons that had become increasingly less common the last few months the busier the both of them had become. [break][break]

"OI!! NAVY!! [break][break]

"IT'S ME!! GET YER ASS OUT HERE ALREADY!!"[break][break]

Her voice echoes across the battlefield. Loud, abrasive, well enough to fill even this arena. She holds nothing back, emptying her lungs with that curt announcement in a voice that belies her size. [break][break]

Then, she simply waits. [break][break]

[attr="class","star3tsu4"][attr="class","rouxcredittsu4"]♠

[attr="class","star1tsu4"]

[attr="class","star2tsu4"]A snapping twig is their next cue. [break][break]

Immediately, Ai glances to the trees, the toxel to the grass. Baki turns to look out over the water, and that's when she spots it - a water shuriken headed straight at her.[break][break]

"Wha--"[break][break]

She tries to duck. A successful maneuver, with the exception of a few stray hairs. She gives their pursuer a defiant look, and a wet, slimy tongue graces her cheek. [break][break]

"... What... the HELL!!"[break][break]

She punches the thing, whatever it is, and it tumbles unceremoniously into the grass. Right in front of the stray toxel, who performs an endeavor. [break][break]

"Si--... sick behavior..."[break][break]

She only gives the froakie a disdainful glance, staring down at it from her high horse. She offers it a pokeball of mercy. [break][break]

[attr="class","star3tsu4"][attr="class","rouxcredittsu4"]♠

[attr="class","star1tsu4"]

[attr="class","star2tsu4"]All the excitement come to a head, Baki slumps against a tree. Her bulbasaur joins her with a huff, staring out at the wilderness. [break][break]

It's strange, taking a moment to sit and enjoy the scenery. Hasn't happened nearly enough lately. She gently pets Ai's head, and the bulbasaur mutters a groan under her breath. She has to give the appearance of being a fearsome monster, when that couldn't be anything but true.[break][break]

"Just like Aya..."[break][break]

They sit and watch the grass for a while, til a toxel crawls out of the grass and slumps down next to them. Watching, the baby follows. It doesn't seem like a threat. [break][break]

"Don't you have a momma you gotta go back to?"[break][break]

Baki asks, as the toxel tries to follow when they get up. The little thing just stares, as if not understanding. [break][break]

"Mm, well... come with us til you find her, 'kay?"[break][break]

They keep going, the toxel trailing them through the trees...[break][break]

[attr="class","star3tsu4"][attr="class","rouxcredittsu4"]♠

[attr="class","star1tsu2"]

[attr="class","star2tsu2"]Swallowed in black. [break][break]

Obsidian glass tendrils contort, geometric shapes in flux brimming with unnatural energy. Pitch body is wreathed in an angelic halo of prismatic technicolor. She sings with an unearthly melody, that same song to which the angels had been dancing and humming all this time. [break][break]

All around, angels big and small surrender to the widening gyre, turning, turning. [break][break]



"... Navy."[break][break]

There is a strange menace in her voice, dripping with venom. She watches him through the black, but he can see only the shape of her constant, dull eyes inside the prison Manjushage has become. [break][break]

"Presume to be a lawman... but you're doling out 'justice' without all the facts, aren't you!?"[break][break]

The fused abomination takes in light, becoming impossible to stare directly into for a moment. Then, all at once with little fanfare, a wicked beam of perdition burns a hole through the void-sea, aimed directly at him. [break][break]

[attr="class","star3tsu2"][attr="class","rouxcredittsu2"]♠

[attr="class","star1tsu4"]

[attr="class","star2tsu4"]The way the woman stutters makes her almost second-guess herself. It's that pathetic. [break][break]

Was she really the cruelest person alive? [break][break]

Having the gall to ask herself that now, after what she'd done back in Kanto... she really was without a heart. [break][break]

Still, even without that heart, that hallmark of being human, this woman was able to inspire the one thing Tsubaki rarely if ever felt for another human being: pity. Surely even the harshest, cruelest person in the world would be cowed to admit they were sorry by this display. This woman nearly welling to tears within seconds, and all for what?[break][break]

Asking her to pronounce her nearly unpronounceable last name?[break][break]

"Uuuh... well, if you can't pronounce it..."[break][break]

Wait, Tsubaki! Hold![break][break]

Wasn't this woman a medium? A total scam artist? And isn't it common in such professions to engender sympathy, to elicit involuntary reactions meant to read another person and feed them exactly what they want to hear? If that's so... then this woman was truly a master of her craft. A crybaby worth her weight in gold - and damn, with that chest she must be heavy. [break][break]

She'd had her crack in almost no time flat, sussing out her guilt, nearly making her admit she felt bad asking her to pronounce that name. And if you were to admit that, Tsubaki, then what else would she have you admit? What else would she have you say, all in the name of comforting this poor old maid? [break][break]

No. No, Tsubaki. Stay strong! Commit to the path you've chosen! Don't let her get one up on you! [break][break]

This is a battle of wills![break][break]

"Repeat after me. [break][break]

"Hyakkaryōran.[break][break]

"No, that ain't right. Try again. 'Hyakkaryōran.'[break][break]

"No, no, you're missing the gap between the k's. The sokuon. Try again.[break][break]

"Hee-ya-k-ka-ryou-ran."[break][break]

She says it slowly, finally. A show a weakness, perhaps, but not giving in on the premise that she MUST call her by her last name. After all, however hard it is to say Hyakkaryōran, admitting defeat by going by your first name is how scam artists like this get their foot in the door! [break][break]

Stay strong, Tsubaki!![break][break]

[attr="class","star3tsu4"][attr="class","rouxcredittsu4"]♠

[attr="class","star1tsu4"]

[attr="class","star2tsu4"]Tsubaki stops and blinks. [break][break]

A quick scowl comes across her face as she considers the gall the man has, presuming to give her orders. [break][break]

Still, the battlefield does not care about one's ego. Let herself be distracted by pettiness, and she's in for a rude awakening. [break][break]

She allows him that, nodding along.[break][break]

"Okay, Fuji! In sync, now!" [break][break]

She raises her hand, waiting for the signal.[break][break]

Her Salazzle's chest brims with heat, swelling up as she breathes in. Her tail burns brighter as she summons all her breath, waiting to fire the heat wave in combination with the braixen. [break][break]

"Aaaaand.... now!!"[break][break]

Only once she casts her spell forth does the lizard spew burning heat forth, hot enough to melt solid steel. [break][break]

[attr="class","star3tsu4"][attr="class","rouxcredittsu4"]♠

[attr="class","star1tsu"]

[attr="class","star2tsu"]The sight of the girl's wide eyes makes Tsubaki grin, brimming with all the confidence in the world as she turns back to the sea. Her shadow seems to swell in size, preying on the woman's positive emotions. [break][break]

"Too many times to count, I'd bet."[break][break]

Another smack, resulting in another wailord careening out over the open sea. It lets out an ear-splitting song as it takes flight, surprisingly light in spite of its size.[break][break]

"Hm? ... Well, yeah. No soft hands needed. All that fat? Couldn't hurt 'em if you tried!"[break][break]

She gestures to the next beached whale, as if to suggest Robin give it a shot. [break][break]

[attr="class","star3tsu"][attr="class","rouxcredittsu"]♠

[attr="class","star1tsu2"]

[attr="class","star2tsu2"]Ichor stains her skin, flows into her and takes her over like a little drop of ink in a glass of water. The world and everything it belongs to is painted in its colors. Colors, sounds, everything grows terribly muted. She's numb. She doesn't even register at first as Navy's arm embraces her. [break][break]

"The... the ship... it..."[break][break]

Her voice is nearly a whisper in his ear. She speaks of visions, faint and distant, a world away. Dashed hopes and dreams. A seeker of light gone out, becoming one with the Sea. A hideous union of flesh and metal that strains the eyes to look at. [break][break]

Manju shivers. [break][break]

Skin normally so smooth bristles, contorting into strange shapes as she immediately fixates upon Tsubaki in Michael Navidson's arms. Bell rings a resonant chime in sync with the woman's shallow breaths, growing and shrinking in size with the rise and fall of her chest. Then, as it darts straight after the sheriff, its colors dip deep into the ultraviolet spectrum, dyeing itself that same telltale black. [break][break]

"... Navy, look out!"[break][break]

Tsubaki opens her eyes wide. She pushes a hand against his chest, shoving him away as the parasite envelops her whole.[break][break]

[attr="class","star3tsu2"][attr="class","rouxcredittsu2"]♠