"you can't honestly believe you're on the right side of—" he began to croak back at katherine, only to be interrupted by the jarring sensation of an odd frequency projected at him.

perhaps their spree of malfeasance had urged in him an impulse that the remnant had played upon. or they had been right to fear what lied within the rock's seeming dormancy. as the battle pressed on and his pokemon were quashed by the overwhelming opposition, a demi-regirock began to reassemble, like a diminutive effigy of itself. "n-no..."

"it's reacting to the stones... i can feel it. but why? it was destroyed, its aura was—"

katherine had been right to fear it, though adrian couldn't help but notice the strange sensation of life siphoned from the stone and into the construct; the familiar feel of lifeblood that he was so privy to. he began attempting to drain this energy; he would sample its properties. was it truly life he was feeling, or a convincing facsimile...?

...and if it was alive, maybe it was sentient. if it was sentient, it could feasibly communicate. full up on spite, he was seeing enemies on all sides, the coalescing regirock only the latest among a whole slate of them. where delta failed nobly, he was forced to rely on his KUBFU, which quickly recognized the dire straits they were in. pressing a paw to adrian thoughtfully, it tried to glean something out of him.

an order, perhaps. in that moment of their contact, adrian transfers the mysterious facsimile into its own lifeblood, gauging the reaction with his shinigami eyes. when it had no visible effect, he grew desperate. after all, kubfu could do nothing about their flying menace and ghostly apparitions. but the enemy of his enemy might...

even if katherine and lars were right, they were wrong to attack him without any provocation. they hadn't even gleaned his intent before loosing a volley of attacks on him. and the fact they had turned their powers on him so crudely only spurred him towards a darker agenda. but...

it wasn't right. he absolutely hated their guts, wished the worst on them... but he would've been contradicting everything he'd said, thought or felt in the past few minutes to allow the golem its rampage, just to see who it might flatten. warily rising to his feet, he and kubfu begin stepping away cautiously. it remained vigilant in their retreat, prepared to DETECT signs of hostility, tightening up its focus in case they were approached. meanwhile, adrian tried to hoard more and more of the lifeblood flowing through the conduit, redirecting to his kubfu if he could.

"for now, at least, we shouldn't let it have the stones back—which means we should keep them separate—" he spoke quickly while creating a little more distance between himself and the regi, and thus those who meant to accost him only moments ago. it might've ocurred to him to attack it before it reformed completely, but as it stood, he wasn't going to leave himself vulnerable to these ruffians.

---

[attr="class","pkspr"][attr="class","pokesprite pokemon shiny kubfu"][attr="class","pokesprite pokemon starmie"][attr="class","pokesprite pokemon beheeyem"]

ADRIAN watches on in shock as DEMI-REGIROCK resurges
KUBFU is released and stands protectively over him
ADRIAN attempts to drain "???" from the stone
KUBFU is granted "???" to UNKNOWN effect
KUBFU remains vigilant to DETECT any threats
KUBFU begins to 'tighten its focus' pre-emptively
ADRIAN & KUBFU back away slowly towards the perimeter

pain jolts up along his arm and causes his convictions to waiver, bringing him to his knees as the renegade avatar spreads their influence far and wide. one hand drives the remnant against the ground as he braces himself, using it to prop himself, while the other hand feels the dirt and dust filling his fingernails. but the burning sensation yet lingers, and yet it's curious as he doesn't recollect the will-o-wisp reaching him. in fact, the titan rushed to his aid then.

it was the power of the stone which flayed his nerves.

his eyes discern that he is saturating himself with the strange energy, but it does not react as it should. it is painful to bear within him, and knowing full well what tampering with such energies did to Bailey Cooper... he is not wont to keep it contained should it harm him ere long. but the titan is loose again, rampaging and—protecting him...? is this really happening? it was nonsensical; why would it be reacting this way, unless...?

as he is suffused with this strange energy, he cannot help wondering... has he emulated the effects of the 'gift', without the volition of its aspect? is regirock bound to him, so long as he contains this energy? a reason not to release it so thoughtlessly, then. he is unsure which path, which choice, leads where he wants it to. but his first impulse is to understand the implications of what is unfolding and avert the needless conflict.

"...stop!" he forced in a croak that others are not as likely to hear amidst the clamor, but it should reach regirock if they are indeed bound as he guessed. if it obeys...

he would restore most of its power to the remnant, unburdening himself in the process. and if it refused...

then he knew its cooperation was only happenstance, and he would have to begin acting accordingly. he hasn't the strength yet to partake in this battle, and he only now considers the repercussions of attracting the raving titan's attention in so vulnerable a state, nevermind the vultures lurking all around. but even so, he would not see Razz Kingsman harmed on his account. as for the others... he wasn't too concerned.

---

[attr="class","pkspr"][attr="class","pokesprite pokemon regirock"] [attr="class","pokesprite pokemon shiny kubfu"]

ADRIAN watches on surprised as REGIROCK protects him
Brought to his knees, ADRIAN wonders what drives REGIROCK to assist him
Queue the scientific method, or something, I guess

"...i'm not too sure." though he had a bit of a working theory, he wasn't sure one instance made it concrete. test it again.

the regirock was now sustaining significant damage thanks to him calling it off, not that he was particularly thrilled with letting it run wild either. though to him at least it seemed the greater threat had passed. and yet their peers were not so easily convinced, relentlessly attacking the goliath.

if he let them destroy it, they would just resume attacking him, which would leave him at their mercy. he wanted to separate it from the situation while retaining its power as a deterrent. otherwise they would just resume their earlier quarrel with the invigorated sense that they were in the right. he couldn't have that.

razz offered him a means of escape, providing him a solution, such as it was.

it would require him to be underhanded, but he felt the need was strong. "...would you?"

before allowing himself to be shown to safety by buzzwole, adrian allowed his dark aura to corrupt the regirock. all the while he's jumpy, keeping an eye fixated on what he perceived to be the main threat: the unidentified avatar.

eyes are drawn towards katherine, seeing the influence of their aura as she draws near the titan and them by proxy. its mechanisms cannot be inferred, but as he stares towards them, he notices the rock tucked in their arms. hypocrite.

razz delivers him into buzzwole's proximity for safeguarding. from there, he could siphon life from its robust constitution, feeding regirock the leftovers. he could only take so much, lest buzzwole should realize his deception or become unfit to bear him.

due to the gravity, he must be assisted. he conserves his strength to safeguard the rock, though in the end he's provoked by katherine's prejudice. "you're ridiculous."

adrian spits on the ground. "you fear it, and rightfully so," he takes a moment to breathe, sneering. "but what have you done to actually stop it, that we haven't? we both possess remnants, but only you are naïve enough to assume that only you know what to do about it. yet your only achievement was baseless violence, leaving us worse off when it did reappear—what was your actual plan?!" adrian gestures to regirock.

"... besides, there is no destroying this; it is an aspect, just like the one you serve."

and it would seem this aspect had chosen, if one considered it a voluntary act.

"if you continue, you're only proving to me that you're incapable of reconciliating. that you've the same inclination for violence with extreme prejudice as this... monster, as i'm sure you think of it. a threat to public safety who flagrantly abuses their gift..."

it might've been his bias, but katherine shared some nasty traits with this regirock.

adrian isn't sure what he's talking himself into, but it boils over abruptly as he harps on her transgressions. the league deserves better than you. his index points to katherine.

"it ceased fire on my order... and if that's the case, then it is no longer a threat to our safety," he doesn't want to see this thing around anymore than them. but how could anyone trust this thing under anyone's charge, save their own? adrian can clearly empathize with katherine's motives and intent, but not her alleged misconduct.

"but based on your collective actions, i can only assume you are still a threat to mine."

it's quite sad when you can't trust the league not to perpetrate crimes against you.

"if they move against us, i want you to end the matter... starting with her."

this he ordered of the regirock, retracting his previous command. yet another test.

if regirock only retaliated contingent with his specific instructions, it could be safely assumed that it obeyed him without exception. it would then also help him understand katherine—whether fear was truly the sole factor behind her persistent irrationality.

and he could deny culpability. test me.

---

[attr="class","pkspr"][attr="class","pokesprite pokemon regirock"] [attr="class","pokesprite pokemon shiny kubfu"]

ADRIAN grants REGIROCK the DARK-TYPING*
ADRIAN plays into the offer for EXFIL
^{BUZZWOLE is siphoned to revitalize REGIROCK
Unlikely to make it very far very fast under GRAVITY}
ADRIAN renders a lengthy sentiment to KATHERINE
^{ADRIAN hopes they aren't beyond reconciliation}
REGIROCK is ordered to attack if conditions are met
^{ADRIAN tests the extent of his influence on REGIROCK
Hopes to gain insight into KATHERINE'S motivations}