[attr="class","jaytop"]

[attr="class","littlejay"]

raindrops drizzle down from the sky. it's a peculiar feeling — had it been so long since he'd seen rain? where he had been stationed in kanto — cinnebar — did not see much of it. ironically, at least in the summer, sootopolis didn't seem to either. perhaps it was because the city was so aptly blockaded. the last time it had rained seemed like a downpour.

[break][break] he continued onto the mission location — dewford's lighthouse. rumor had it that a valuable pokemon was trapped in it's interior, and of course it was rocket's responsibility to liberate it.

[break][break] it seemed like these days he could rarely find a moment's peace to go on his own mission. most were mission details given to lower recruits, which was not surprising considering his recently promoted position. but there was something unique about going after a task yourself, a fact that he was sure that Felix Gallagher would understand. hopefully, he would not mind that he'd left a few more stacks of paperwork on his desk than usual.

[break][break] jayden finds the lighthouse with ease, and decides to climb into the north-west windowpane. it's easy enough, and he drops onto his feet silently. the inside of the building is eerily quiet — almost too quiet.

[break][break] it makes it all the more shocking when he turns and finds him face-to-face with a familiar set of eyes.

[break][break] one that he hadn't seen in a lifetime.

[break][break] "sawyer?"

[attr="class","ooc"] Ashley Shepard

☉

[attr="class","jaytop"]

[attr="class","littlejay"]

sawyer.

[break][break] immediately, a hundred emotions surge straight through him.

[break][break] betrayal. hurt. regret. disbelief.

[break][break] it's been years, but he can still remember that one rainy day when Ashley Shepard had made his choice. all of the events of their childhood had escalated before them: the disagreements they had (some petty, and others greivous), the way jayden had slowly become less and less human over time as sawyer became more empathetic, and finally, the murder of their leader SILAS BLACKWELL .

[break][break] by leaving, sawyer had betrayed them. had betrayed rocket. had betrayed him.

[break][break] bile is fresh in his mouth as he faces his ex-best-friend.

[break][break] "you shouldn't have come here, sawyer."

[break][break] atop the steps, he glares down. his voice is cold as ice, brittle enough to break. the wind hisses loudly outside, thunder cracking in the rainstorm. the glow of blood-red eyes appear right behind him, just a flash, before a BLIZZARD whips out towards Ashley Shepard.

[attr="class","ooc"] Ashley Shepard

[break][break]

☉

[attr="class","jaytop"]

[attr="class","littlejay"]

"and you should have stayed in kanto with theo and the rest where you belong."

[break][break] "the rest? you used to be part of that."

[break][break] a cold blisters past, but it's hard to tell if it's from their pokemon's attacks or the conversation. it's all jayden can do to not be transported back in time, to a conversation that's long gone. the feelings of childhood youth, stacked upon years and years of moral agony and betrayal.

[break][break] "you betrayed us, ash."

[break][break] you betrayed me.

[break][break] those blood-red eyes flash again, except in a different direction. his duskull has moved, glowing white, as it tosses a WILL-O-WISP towards Ashley Shepard and his pokemon.

[break][break] jayden doesn't move from his perch, fists clenched and knuckles white.

[attr="class","ooc"] Ashley Shepard

[break][break]

☉

[attr="class","jaytop"]

[attr="class","littlejay"]

jayden doesn't feel. it's a common sentiment upon many rockets, he is sure, that have known him. after all, his quiet demeanor and stoic impression is one that has stood the test of time. whether it's baseless rumor or truth, jayden has never spoken up on the claims — he could be very much like the ghosts that he held dear.

[break][break] yet when jayden looked down at Ashley Shepard, his gaze was full of brimstone and ash.

[break][break] as the spiral of whirlwind edges towards him, he moves. jayden darts to the side, just out of the breath of the attack. the wind still ripples past him, threatening to throw him out of the window. "chernobog!" he calls, and the duskull appears at his side. a SHADOW SNEAKS across the ground, sneaking across the ground before tangling around Ashley Shepard's shoes, attempting to immobilize him into place.

[break][break] unclipping another pokeball from his belt, he calls out his golett. "earthquake!"

[break][break] materializing beside him, timofey grips the rubble beneath him and slams down his fists, attempting to rock their opponents off their feet.

[attr="class","ooc"] Ashley Shepard

[break][break]

☉

[attr="class","jaytop"]

[attr="class","littlejay"]

there are many things that jayden fears. his father, his mother. his brother. his superiors, people such as THEO BECKETT or declan walsh. fearing someone like Ashley Shepard is not one of them.

[break][break] yet when his ex-best-friend pulls a fist at him, only freezing at the moment of contact. there is something that darts in his dark eyes — the beat of bird wings against an incoming storm.

[break][break] before he can think another thought, there is the roar of wind and water as the surf crashes through the windows. jayden's feet slip from under him as he is caught in a tornado of water, not unlike that of kyogre's storm during the sootopolis takeover. his heart lurches then in a terrifying way, memories of his past unlocked in a brief fit of panic.

[break][break] as he crashes down the stairs, his hands grab fistfuls of Ashley Shepard's chest, or what he can grab in the whirlpool. the surf crashes like a wave all around them, and even with the blood that drips down jayden's skull, his eyes are blazed as they grip onto ashley. knees propped on either side of him. his lungs feel like they're about to burst.

[break][break] "ash. why did you come back?"

[attr="class","ooc"] Ashley Shepard

[break][break]

☉

[attr="class","jaytop"]

[attr="class","littlejay"]

it's not what he means.

[break][break] why are you here? in my life? why are you here? why are you making me do this? why are you here? again?

[break][break] but he's never been good with words.

[break][break] at the top of the stares, somehow miraculously making through the torrential downpour of their opponents' attacks, stand both chernobog and timofey. the duskull flares with life as yet another BLIZZARD formulates around the ghost-type. this one forms into an ice-dagger that sings towards the bird.

[break][break] timofey stomps down the stares, arms flaring out behind him, as he aims a SHADOW PUNCH at the slowpoke.

[break][break] the humans seemed subdued — but they were still rockets. rockets vs. the league.

[break][break] battles didn't stop just because of feelings.

[break][break] "we've been in hoenn for years," he says. a dagger finds it's way into his hand, eyes blazing as his fingers wrap around the knife. the other climbs up to the other's neck, but not enough choke.

[break][break] he shudders.

[break][break] "you could have stayed away. you should have stayed away."

[break][break] 'i don't want to kill you.'

[break][break] "you betrayed us. betrayed me."

[attr="class","ooc"] Ashley Shepard

[break][break]

☉

[attr="class","jaytop"]

[attr="class","littlejay"]

kill him.

[break][break] he can hear his father's word as clearly as day, like blood gushing through his ears. the blood-scarlet gaze of one dmitri volkov bearing down on him in a ghost of a shadow — imposing, threatening, unbearable.

[break][break] 'kill him,' it says. 'it's your duty, mischa.'

[break][break] 'you have to do it. for rocket, for me. you don't want to disappoint us, do you?'

[break][break] "i trusted you."

[break][break] it's a plea for help, as there is any.

[break][break] dmitri had never liked Ashley Shepard. probably thought he was too idealistic and brave for his soft and moldable son. he made as much clear to his wife, in the closed-quiet corners of their house, where they thought a young mischa couldn't listen. 'a bad influence,' he would say — ironic, given himself, and the people he allowed his son to be acquainted with.

[break][break] Ashley Shepard, who would teach jayden things like courage and bravery and love.

[break][break] in the whistling quiet of the lighthouse, drenched head-to-toe in betrayal and hurt and a post-mortem surf attack, jayden trembles above one Ashley Shepard. it's been years since he's hesitated over a kill, years, and yet —

[break][break] he hesitates.

[break][break] the dagger falls.

[break][break] but instead of descending into pale flesh, it clatters to the ground in defeat just as a BLIZZARD cloaks around his duskull and his golett pulls his arm back in a DYNAMIC PUNCH. it crashes into the slowpoke without mercy — where jayden may hesitate, timofey doesn't. he is a pokemon born and bred in rocket, a robot without the feelings that consume a young mischa still fluttering like a baby-bird in the chest of the seasoned jayden cross.

[break][break] hearing the finality of the punch and the sound of a dagger clattering to the floor, jayden stands up in alarm, as if being pulled out of a trance. he breaths in sharply — shit — as he suddenly recalls both his pokemon.

[break][break] blood pools the ground from where timofey is left, and jayden whistles for his dragapult to come sailing through the sky and teleporting him away with a PHANTOM FORCE.

[attr="class","ooc"] Ashley Shepard

[break][break]

☉