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All Marilyn could do was roll her eyes at the young woman's response, clearly too exhilarated to have any respect or class when it came to interacting with elders. Though they were both of the same organization and in a simulated reality, the interaction with the executive would be one she would never forget, and not for the better of reasons. Like all the other young of the world, this one seemingly underestimated her capabilities outside of the body that contained her; if the executive would cross her in the real world as she did with her willingness to abandon, she would be sure to plan a way to create a garland of her teeth and hair.[break][break]

The wretched dreams of tearing at her were distracted by the burning city, alongside the invisible walls inside the gym's interior they had now found themselves within. It was strange, being threatened by a younger, refined man of clear, criminal intent; why would he wish to harm those who were members of Team Rocket, one of the largest criminal networks in the world? She was unaware of his prominence in the organization, his kingly chesspiece, simply due to working with his underbosses instead. She wanted to prove his words false, but the invisible walls were enough to block even the ghastly Flutter Mane from tumbling through.[break][break]

"How obnoxious," she said, directed toward both Xenon's words and his strange cowardice, though promptly following in the steps her companion would take. "Lead the way, young one." A quick snip of the boss's weaponry cut at the paradox pokemon with a lunge, causing it to seethe in agony. If this was in the real world, surely she would have sent her Golurk to level the place from the outside in. But there was fun in the artificial sense, the outlandishness.

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Marilyn's eyes widened when the check hit the table, glimmering as if she had stumbled upon a vault filled with the most precious metals found deep within the world's crust. "You'd.. do that for me?" She said in shock, tears of joy welting upon her face, ".. oh my, my heart feels so full, I had never imagined this would come!" Taking a shaky, viscerally delighted sip of her tea, she tried to imagine what it would be like taking to another tea house. All those mistakes she ruminated about during jail that had departed returned, and if she were to go through with it, she knew she would never make another. Her excitement nearly caused her to dump the remainder of the glass across the table, though she was able to catch it just in time. It felt even better than that night her husband kissed her under the mistletoe, their first holiday together.[break][break]

"I'd love to provide such a space for all of the living assets! And ears, hungry for curious words." Words wandered into her daydreams of the brilliance, the swirling of the tea leaves that had once been tainted with arsenic. "There was a fascinating loophole with my release that may not require a new identity for me, but I'd love to reach out for one just in case, too. And you say Sootopolis? Would.. they be okay with such things? At this point we're plotting the downfall of the very business we are currently patrons of, though this city would be an exquisite location." She shot a glance at the workers of the establishment as they spoke, giggling when picking up the irony, speaking softly so the onlookers had no choice but to refrain.[break][break]

But her bitterness ran deep with how she viewed the world, encased in the shell that was her withering body. Holding her hand out to welcome the tea pokemon into her palm, she swirled her sharp nails around the rim of its glass, pondering aloud. "Would it be possible for me to do both? I'm a greedy granny at heart, dear," she chuckled, ".. a jack of all trades, or something like that. I do not wish my aged body to hold me back from dealing with the front lines, even though I require plentiful rest following the release of adrenaline! Tea house when the muscles need a break, front lines when it's feeling all good. Does that sound promising?" Having already proved to herself she was indeed capable of taking to the lands with a wish to carry out violent orders, her ego had already been boosted, wishing to further fuel the flickering violet flame. A tiny granny with dreams tenfold of her size.[break][break]

"Around that resurfaced island that day.. I defeated one of the members of the Elite Four in the skies, though his name escapes me.. a Silph, I believe it was? Not a Connors. A little jaded, cryptic fucker. He tumbled, and I giggled."

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When Marilyn heard the talks of rifts and the lands that existed behind them, she dismissed them as entirely fictitious, insolent dreams that the younger generations nagged on about with no reality tucked within their cracks. But here she was, traversing the thick smog of what was said to function as a middle ground for deceased spirits on their way to the afterlife. At least she wasn't alone with only the supernatural she brought with her, though, and at least it wasn't some cushy world of pastel puffs and cushions. It was much more fitting for a woman like her to have this one be her first otherworldly designation, humming in delight as the eerie figures of the dead drifted through the skies toward something.[break][break]

She felt moderately comfortable, as she was always fond of commanding spectral beasts of a spiritual nature. Not one to fear the dead, as those that conquered old age typically were open-minded, at least, in that regard.[break][break]

"I think it would be delightful to run into some of the spirits I'd know," she responded softly, her cane reverberating against the rocks beneath her, ".. perhaps Lucy, Bartholemew, Robert. Would be magnificent to see the look on their rotted faces, scumbound. This mist, though.. it reminds me of chalk, I'd prefer to get out of it so I can smoke my cigar."

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The smiles of her companion were infectious, bringing her to grin from ear to ear as she looked up at him; there was a considerable size difference between the two, bringing her to giggle, too. Watching as the decadent, modest woman left her seat at the table alongside those endowed in the shadows, she was initially unaware of what they wished to accomplish with their clapping but was flattered nevertheless. "Ah, takes me back to all that damn clapping back when I was released those months ago, ahh," she said with a gargled giggle, ".. I love guns, ghosties, and glory, baby. And I'm not ashamed to take gifts from you all, got anything to hand over, mm?"[break][break]

Marilyn anticipated ample gifts to be provided to her, the same as those given when she showed promise and potential in her endeavors as a mere grunt. But the words that followed hers were just as oddly endearing as they were completely odd, ignoring her confident claims; what did they mean, their presence was an anomaly in such a seemingly artificial world? What would be able to perceive them in such a technological simulation, when Team Rocket were the ones to commandeer such devices? At least the voices claimed they would offer to hide them from such things, but her curious mind led her to wonder.[break][break]

"What in Arceus' wretched name?" She said, being cut off by the emergence of hands and arms in the endless black, manifesting outward like flying french hens. Their grasp was warm, strangely comforting. Trying to catch a glimpse of her companion with a wish to make sure he was alright, the limbs cut off her vision one by one until there was nothing left. Trying to shout, her words came out muffled. And then they fell, brought to their next destination of the foreign sensations.

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The cries of the worker to cease tampering with the boulders had been music to her ears, which she would ignore like a Cutiefly buzzing in the background; it was an ancient version of the youth she grew fond of detesting, just as annoying, just too much. Being in a simulation was a marvel that there were seemingly no consequences for her actions, a fact that appealed to her just below being able to walk and run again effortlessly. It was only fair that she followed suit in the recklessness of her momentary companion, because hell, what was there to lose?[break][break]

Sprouting from the melting, crackling boulders was none other than a monolith, one that had just as many strange eyes as it did strange noises. Before Marilyn could react, before she could promptly command the Flutter Mane to bring it to rubble, the ultramodernist roughly began to pull her up onto the futuristic paradox, bringing her to gasp. "Oh shit, youngin'," she exclaimed, feeling the burning sensation in her glutes, ".. it's all in the knees, it's all in the knees! Arceus, fuckin' christ!" Holding onto the back of the beast, the two had been able to flee just in time, as the rocky creature was tearing it from the inside out. She had no clue what any of this meant, but she initially cheered at the thrill, elderly phlegm bringing it to sound more like a gargle.[break][break]

"Never pull me like that again, fuckin' twit! Have you no manners?" She said as the two advanced through the odd rift, coughing. It hurt a bit less than what she was used to, but it was still just as shocking being manhandled. Though at least she didn't have to go through the hassle of dying and then getting.. rebooted, the kids called it, right? It was a weird feeling, partially grateful and partially disturbed.

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When she listened to the story of her fellow poisoner, they felt as if they were two sides of the same coin, constructed of the same metal. Though one side happened to be aged and tattered, while the other had been shined and repaired. What the woman had wanted and appeared to have achieved was all that Marilyn wished for in the present, to finally take that which forced her into the cells. "It's strange to think that once something is taken from you for so long, once it falls back into your hands some wish for it to feel like a reward rather than being deserved," she said softly, ".. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't bitter because of it, unable to live to my whims. It's what all of us ladies need, ultimately."[break][break]

Confidence in her words, knowledge delicately placed on the table, it was clear that Elisabeth was quite wise; many saw elders to be incompetent due to their deterioration, but the words that drifted from her lips made it seem the feeling of respect was mutual. It was kind, one that brought her grin to widen from ear to ear. Taking a long sip of the tea, her hand clasped her heart while her eyes delved into the nostalgic dreams of such a resurrection, humming in flattery at her previous sincerities.[break][break]

"Oh, that would be quite the blessing. Picking up where I left off, ah." Her eyes traveled around the words, looking into the crackling fireplace that rested upon one of the fine walls. "It could even be a safe house for all of the young ones of the world dedicated to the cause, a rendezvous point.. perhaps somewhere not lost with the times, like Rustboro. I despise how different most of the cities are now, like Mauville and Slateport, they lack the old charm they once retained." She said, open-minded to some things, but not all.[break][break]

Though she spent most of her adulthood before her conviction in the big city of Goldenrod, her childhood flourished in what used to be the antique Hoenn. A shame the once quaint city of Slateport had fallen into the hands of modernization, it was quite the annoyance.

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To mourn for a soldier who gave their life to protect Hoenn was a noble feat, though Marilyn's curiosities led her to wonder just what they gave their life against. Though that was all so trivial, all so unimportant; the stranger was finished now, allowing the two to coexist in the moment without a need to pry. Fluttering about, their gaze both turned to the paradox pokemon which appeared to have its eyes set on a wild Bronzong, scheming for what it wished to inflict upon it.[break][break]

"You've met one too? How delightful, sweetheart," she said with a smile, tapping her cane into the ground below, ".. they are curious creatures, yes. A dear acquaintance gave it to me as a gift." A wager, a gift that was brought upon her for being believed to be promising- one of the few delights that came from criminal, wretched expertise. She wished to leave out such details to appear lighthearted, a free existence without bounds or ties, a temporary feeling.[break][break]

And a blessing that wiseness would be, as the woman's introduction held the name of Galarian royalty. "You may call me Mari, or Gran if you prefer.. that last name comes with quite the history, my! Oh, and you have some spirits with you as well, how precious! I adore ghosts, they are divine." She exclaimed with drawn-out words and a giggle. Noticing that the Flutter Mane had launched a shadow ball at the Bronzong, she was quick to throw a pokeball at it to prevent a further scuff. Unpleasantries and lack of civility had no place when having a run-in with a presumed royal.[break][break]

She wondered why a Calcifet moved to Hoenn, unaware.

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