[attr="class","beck"]the command is heeded with little resistance. he pulls out another pokeball, cracks it open, and out comes a druddigon. he already notices its aggressive demeanor, but leaves it to merlino to handle.

theo throws another kick to ozaki's head, then reaches down to pull her head up by her hair.

"watch."

[attr="class","noodles"]Cillian Quinn oscar clayton Alexandra Briarwood Rowan Wrynn @aoi

Druddigon is released; its violent demeanour matters little to the SHADOWS that snake around its limbs to HOLD it down. Gavin barely spares the Pokemon a glance, attention fixed on @aoi.

Then Rowan Wrynn speaks.

Gavin turns, slow. A hollow amber stare fills with something that resembles disappointment, anger. He blinks, and it returns to emptiness.

"This is the price of broken loyalty, Wrynn." He shakes his head. "I get no enjoyment from this. I would far prefer our agents had the sense to remain loyal." A disparaging glance is shot toward Ozaki before he returns his gaze. "But this one sold us out to the League. If you want her suffering to stop, by all means, convince her, not me."

He folds his arms, expectant. A click of his tongue, and shadows pull tight.

A cold glare flashed towards Rowan Wrynn as he spoke. Lex’s silent thoughts manifested in his words. She could relate. He expected his outburst to be met with harsher consequences. What upset Lex more than Rowan’s outburst was Gavin’s lack of response to it.

The cold glare turned to one of shock when she glanced towards Cillian Quinn. Was that really all the reprimand the boy was going to get? The hot pinch of anger stings her tongue like a spicy pepper, enticing her to speak out.

“She betrayed us,” Lex growls, looking down at Aoi, “The consequences of her betrayal spread far beyond the cave. She deserves to suffer,” Her gaze flashes back to Rowan Wrynn, stealing a glance at his leg, “How’s that leg doing, hm?” The thief hoped it still ached and the scar itched to remind him of their excursion.

Or was Lex the only one left to suffer lasting consequences as a result of @aoi’s actions?

@consequences

[attr="class","beck"]whatever reservations wrynn has are lost on him, but he would not have allowed it regardless. this time, his eyes stay still and refuses to flick over to merlino to chastise his command.

but it's difficult to accept that this is what rocket has become.

"you can't force loyalty?"

he echoes, then tugs ozaki's head to face merlino. he leans in close.

"but i did it to him."

he releases his hold, takes a step back, then cracks open another pokeball. it's the clefable this time. but it's not what has his attention.

"you can hit her if you'd like, briarwood."

[attr="class","noodles"]Cillian Quinn oscar clayton Alexandra Briarwood Rowan Wrynn @aoi

"Control yourself, Wrynn."

Gavin's tone rings cold, dangerous. Amber eyes find their reflection in his younger brothers.

"Briarwood is right. Ozaki deserves to suffer, and she will." His gaze turns back to their hostage, a hollow void of the only things he'll allow himself to feel: anger, resentment. "But her Pokemon do not need to suffer. That is entirely her own doing."

Shadows begin to strangle the Druddigon as they'd done for the now-motionless Whimsicott.

But it's THEO BECKETT who commands even Gavin's attention, with words that threaten to make the underboss forget where he is, who he is. Beckett is right. Gavin's loyalty had been forced, but it was absolute. He inclines his head, accepting.

"I am in charge here, Beckett — but I have no qualms."

He gestures to Alexandra Briarwood, inviting.

Any attempt to snarl or fight back against its restraints only sees Klefki's hold on the Druddigon tighten. Gavin pulls out a second Pokeball, releasing a Dhelmise into the room that must lean against the wall to accommodate for its size.

A whistle, a click of his tongue, and a second SHADOW HOLD finds Clefable.

"The clock is ticking, Ozaki. You can't save yourself, but you can still save them."

Shut the fuck up, Briarwood Rowan Wrynn was poking a dangerous Beartic. Insubordination, disobedience. It wasn’t long ago Lex was taught what that meant in Rocket. Apparently, someone hadn’t taught Rowan yet either.

Lex still wasn’t in complete control of her emotions, rage being the most prominent. A burning glare flashed over towards Rowan. The fucking balls on this one must be huge. When Cillian Quinn failed to reprimand him, it only stoked the fire. Lex even spared the Underboss a surprised look when all he got was a verbal Control yourself,

“Hold her,” she hissed to THEO BECKETT before turning away from Aoi and towards Rowan. Lex wasn’t even listening to the girl’s words that were meant to egg her on, she was already halfway to Rowan Wrynn. Her invitation was to strike @aoi which she did want to do, but someone needed to put Rowan in his place.

Cillian Quinn created this monster, he shouldn’t expect any different.

“Watch your mouth, Wrynn, or you’ll be the one on your knees,” her fist strikes out with surprising speed towards the left side of Rowan Wrynn’s face. Lex favored the speed over power, just a light warning that she wasn’t going to take his shit.

@consequences

Unfortunately for Rowan Wrynn, Alexandra Briarwood outranked him.

Rocket's changed a lot, since then, but there's still hierarchy.

Gavin's own words to the younger Rocket hold him back from intervention, even when the miasma that saturates the room sees his reflexes heightened enough to intercept the blow should he wish it.

The underboss is tense as he observes them, ready to break it up if it goes too far.

A quick strike, a warning. Having recently been on the receiving end of brutality for disobedience, Lex took no joy in lashing out with violence. Apparently, that’s all Rocket seemed to understand. There might not have been joy, but there was satisfaction in asserting dominance which was surprising for her. Part of her expected Rowan Wrynn to lash out, retaliate against her, Lex was good at reading people, Killian Decker taught her that. When his eyes snapped towards the pen on the desk she tensed, I fucking dare you, is what her fiery glare would read should Rowan meet it again.

Instead, he submitted. The satisfaction of it was exhilarating, “Good,” she hissed before taking a step back and turning on her heels to assume her position beside @aoi.

Still high off the feeling of authority, she found herself more than happy to build on that high with their traitor. Should the invitation still be open after her distraction, that is, “May I?” she asked calmly, motioning towards @aoi.

@consequences

Oscar didn't react to Aoi's explosive response, he simply listened. Through her venomous words Oscar saw what was taking place more clearly, and it filled him with disgust. The sadism that had been bubbling out curdled immediately, proving that he had long shed that part of himself. This torture, the needless slaying of pokemon, grunts bickering with each other, it was all so--inefficient.

This could have been over already, send the traitor to the bottom of the damn ocean and use her pokemon for experimentation. But no they had to know what she shared, what imperative secrets she divulged to the league. Hmph, pointless. The damage was done, the league knew what they knew and Rocket needed to move forward. Make the information obsolete. 

Yet unlike poor Rowan, Oscar kept his mouth shut tight. These were concerns he would bring to Gavin in private, after this mess lurched to an abrupt and unsatisfying end. Thus Oscar chose not to react, he simply watched, listened, and thought. Even at Theo's comments on forced loyalty, spoken inches away from Oscar himself, didn't push forward the deep seated rage it had ignited within Oscar's gut. 

Forced loyalty, redundant violence, figments of a misguided past. 

When Lex approached to undoubtedly beat Aoi, Oscar let go and stepped away. She now had plenty of room to do as she wished, Oscar wasn't going to hold down a pitiful creature to be beaten around like a piñata for sport. He stood nearby though, ready to retake his position once Lex had her fill.  Careful eyes spared a sideways glance to Gavin. His expression was placid, but his true feelings could be perceived through the beast's gaze.

Oscar was pissed off.