they were playing a part.

young girl had wound this little music box just to watch. she wanted to see fairy princess and dashing knight, how as the song turned as did they. arms pulling them closer together with each twirl. nanette barely noticed anything past it. angered guards threatened, but she would always be okay, wouldn't she? in this kingdom she had a much larger role to play.

as he leaned down, she let him. this was a tune for a child after all; what princess wouldn't be swept by this pace? his helmet retracted, revealing handsome jaw and plush lips. her eyes carved them out. his closeness a fire lit in her mind. and then ——

it was as if the curtains had closed, the music box shut. with that their romance ended. "what a lovely song." she manages, body still wrapped in the arms of the mech-suited stranger. "the color of your visor is really pretty." she taps at it, absinthe green. an intoxicating hue. "i think i'll have a dress made of it." she pauses. "will you be letting me go now?" she stares into the green reflection her own eyes, lashes curled and long.

"... yes we are fine. thank you for asking." but her voice is distant. eyes look past their protective barrier, and to the clinks and clanks heard just past it. the sheer largeness of machinery looms, architecture medieval but formed not by stone. it is all gadgetry, the twisting form of gears.

tick tock.

the fall, flung from such a high spot. those arms that had just been around her find themselves there again. curled at her waist and fingers a light graze at the back of her head. they crash into the cage, but she finds herself intact. "thank you." she lilts before getting up.

she watched silently as they problem solved. her body aligned with the turns of gears and wheels.

TL;DR - they dance, shes reacting to the almost kiss. the song stops, and she makes some commentary. they fall but seraphim protects her from any serious damage. she watches them pick a lock.

His Gallade was more than capable of giving Makoto a boost, but in case they needed to protect themselves quickly, he wanted it to be on guard. So he walked over to the other after Nanette thanked him in her own way, and stated she wanted to get a dress made in the color of his visor. Thankfully his helmet hid the blush of his cheeks. Between her, and @micah Amor had no clue why he was so popular when no one could see him. Maybe that was it? Those thoughts ran down his mind as he hoisted Makoto up without waiting for them to ask him too. With his well trained body, it was easy for him, they were light as a feather in his mind. Making sure to keep them steady, and when it was done, and they had successfully picked the lock of the cage, he would motion for the other three to wait.

Setting Makoto down, he would peek out first, and slowly make his way out of their temporary prison, deciding that it was mostly clear he called to the rest of them.

"Alright the coast is clear, come on down everyone." His Gallade came out last bringing up the rear, and soon they were exploring the castle. Though it was in a state of massive disrepair. Gears were rusted, and moving out of sync with one another within the walls. Steam escaped from holes in pipes that had been blown open due to the constant abuse. All in all it this place wasn't in such a good state.

That didn't even bring up the bodies. As they made their way down from the tower of the Corviknight, there were skeletal remains littering the stairs. Skulls, and assorted bones just littered the place, some from human, and others from pokemon. It was a sad state of affairs. The fact that biological organisms had inhabited this place at one point, gave way to a theory that he had.

"Do you think they all created something that killed them? I've not seen anything other than machinery in this place since we got here? But there were at least signs of life at one point." He thought about it as they reached the ends of the stairs, and he heard the familiar clanking of guards. It was two Volcanion, and four mechanical looking Gallade. They were stationary, and they were right in front of the big door that they had to go through.

"I think we're gonna have to force our way through....Thoughts?"

nanette bouvier Makoto Kurumi Cathrine Fisher

TLDR
Locking Prompt fulfilled by Makoto!
Exploring Prompt fulfilled!

They found themselves in a cage alongside their companions. Cathrine focused on Mudkip, the little creature tired from keeping up a protective barrier meant to last only moments. With a humble “Thank you.” did she repay the Mudkip as she retrieved it back into its ball, after having checked on its health.

By then the lock of the birdcage had been picked. Their door was open and they could walk out. Cathrine followed the group, noticing the very same remains that Seraphim did.

“Perhaps their mechanical guardians turned on them?” Cathrine suggested. Making sure to speak in low volume to not give away their position for anyone nearby.

As they reached the stairs they came upon guards. Seraphim was quick to suggest combat. Cathrine had to think for a moment.

“I will admit, I am not the best combatant. But if we must, I will do my best.” Her forte was definitely more on sneaking about. But now Seraphim knew what to expect and could plan accordingly.

TLDR: Cathrine just follows the group and replies to Amor's questions.
Location: MECHANICAL KINGDOM
TAGS: Amor Rose / Makoto Kurumi / nanette bouvier

Makoto couldn't help a frown, at the sight of the skeletal remains scattered about as they moved down the tower. The others had their theories about why anything flesh-and-bone had perished down here; that something they created, the guardians or something worse, had slain them. But, on the other hand...

"... Perhaps they simply outlasted their creators." They'd murmur in suggestion. Whatever threat had been here, it was possible that the mechanical guardians had been able to survive it - but their charges perished despite it. That, or old age had taken those that once lived here - their bodies failing long before those of the constructs could ever falter.

But then, as they reached the bottom of the tower, there came a roadblock. Namely, the presence of guards at the front door. Seraphim asked the group their thoughts, and Makoto quirked their lips in a thoughtful expression. "We could either fight, or make a distraction and sneak past - and my pokemon are capable of fighting..."

"... Or, we could take a different path - I could ferry us down outside the tower from the top - but there's still a risk of us being seen." They spoke. Having two pokemon who could technically fly or hover meant that it'd only take a couple trips - but that was still a window of time in which they could be seen and caught yet again, by something like the corviknight.

But, those were the three most likely options they had nonetheless - to fight, distract, or detour. What would the group decide upon?

Cathrine Fisher Amor Rose nanette bouvier

She nods along with Makoto's theory.

The heel of her shoes clack against metal. It is below them and above, beside them on both sides. It moves too, clink and clank the gears turn. "There's not much water, is there?" Her voice trails down empty corridor, "Or plants." Vegetation is found scarcely here, only outside in rare spots, where gears malfunctioned and stopped moving. In between the gaps of them little plants grew.

Nanette noticed them. Green amongst metallics and gray is bound to stand out. "Death is something only we do. Machines just stop working, but they can always be repaired." Eyes carve out the shape of a displaced gear. It stands in front of them, a minor obstruction in their path. Nanette walks around it. "The kingdom died a long time ago, the part that can die, anyway. This is just it's skeleton." All of it was. The self-repairing castle. The land beyond it. The pokemon moving through the halls like ghosts, simply doing what they knew in life.

Clink and clank the gears move like clocks, reliable and uniform. "I find it a bit comforting." It soothes her brain, the part that's always fuzzy.

It was a bit dim of her to keep going, wasn't it? What a silly girl she is! She waltzed towards an enemy, following the rhythm only she seemed to hear. She just lost track was all, the vastness of her mind was elsewhere, spinning in the turns of gears and the life they never lived but experienced anyway. Staying here would be nice, if it weren't for the ——

The pokemon of the Mechanical Kingdom all looked at her now. Eyes glowing even in dim light. Her mind pulled itself together then, adrenaline showing in the redness of her face. This would be a rather embarrassing way to die, wouldn't it? How shameful. She wasn't quite sure what to do, Gallade were already diving for her, mechanical blades unsheathing with a metallic shnnk.

One of the Volcanion attacked too, but the other looked confused. In that way machinery can get confused sometimes. Its head seemed off center and struggled moving to the right. When it tried anyway, the hinge of its neck just shook causing the spikes on its head to vibrate. It looked at her though, as well as it could manage. And it looked confused. In the way that people can get confused.

It looked like it knew her.

Her wide eyes and the bell shape of her skirt, did they trigger something?

It was sudden, like it remembered, like a gear shifted into place. It defended, steam pouring from the spaces in between metal. It fired, the force of it knocked the Gallades together, damaging them as they fizzled in the corner. Wires sparking where they were torn. The other Volcanion was still warming up, the sound of hot air whirled around it, fire loading in its canon-like tendrils. The glitching Volcaonion slammed into it, limbs haywire. The blast shot past Nanette, misfiring somewhere towards the back of the room.

The concussive force seemed to fix it however, as it's head turned right and looked directly at her. Familiarity vanished.

What is she supposed to do?

Run away?

Everything was fine, and then it wasn't. Nanette had spaced out a little to much, and alerted the guards to their presence, however something seemed amiss with the Volcanion as they after several moments turned on their fellows, destroying them, and making their job overall easier. However she was now vulnerable as the remaining two Volcanion turned their sights on her, and before they could Belus, Amor's Gallade, was in front of her with another protect. He had intended to fight them anyway, because he had an idea of how to get them all out of here with a sense of camouflage. Regardless with Belus protecting Nanette he would have to resort to his next measure.

In a flash of white an overly large Dragonite appeared, and before it could attack, it was engulfed in a shimmer light that encased it's body in a crystalline aura of white, or silver. Holding the Tera Orb carefully he gave his Dragonite the order.

"Short them out with Thunder Punch! You should be more conductive yourself now if only temporarily." So the Dragonite used it's improved typing to ram it's electrified fists into the face of one of the guards, and with an overwhelming surge of electricity it shorted out the gears causing the machine to crumble before them. "Miss Bouvier, you need to be more careful. I may not always be around to rescue you." Came the robotic reply as Draco easily rebuffed all teh potential attacks aimed at it with it's new steel typing.

Honestly that was the best advantage that they could enjoy right now. It was then that their escape ticket would come to fruition as the large Corviknight reared it's ugly head blasting through the doors that held it aloft. Now it was showtime. With Belus he teleported onto the back of the Corviknight as it started to buck him around, but Draco was doing his best to keep it busy. Amor began to fiddle with the gadgetry on the monstrous bird. Over his comms he gave the group the order, hoping they would listen.

"Keep this thing pinned down, if it's a machine, I think I can do something with it. So help Draco keep it pinned down, or immobolize it." Came hsi voice as he found the control hatch, and he looked at the marvel of machinery for him. This wasn't going to be as simple as rewiring a computer, or building a piece of new tech. So with all the faith in the world, he began to pull a few wires apart which only made the pokemon act more violently, which made his work much harder.

It was only thanks to his Gallade's psychic powers that he was even able to stay on. So carefully he began trying to figure out what did what. Blue wires seemed connected to it's leg movements, green wires to it's wings. He pulled out a yellow wire, and the lights in it's eyes dimmed, and it began to ram itself into a wall.

"Eyesight got it...." He was looking for the control mechanism, and so slowly he was disabling it's movements. It's legs stopped working, then it's wings, and soon it was just a pile of scrap on the floor, but he was still tinkering with it's insides. He found the core of it, the thing that powered it, but he frowned he knew he wouldn't be able to do anything with it.

Thankfully with the help of everyone they had somewhat managed to defeat this beast, but Amor had damaged it's insides to much with his playing around trying to figure out how it worked that he didn't think he could jump start it again. So he pouted despite it being hidden.

Hopping off he just sighed. Everyone had battled hard to help him subdue that creature.

"I believe we are done here. When you're all ready come to me, and Belus will teleport us out." It was the most efficient way of escape, even if he wanted to hack the Corviknight. Next time he would for sure.

TLDR
Nanette's Prompt Fulfilled (In her last post!)
Amor's Prompt Fulfilled!
Tera Prompt Fulfilled!
All Prompts Complete!

vGSG69Yx

All their planning was put to waste as Miss Bouvier carelessly walked into the eyesight of the guards. But surprise was painted upon her face as one of the Volcanion seemed to glitch and defend her for a moment, giving Seraphim just enough time to have its Gallade jump in and defend Nanette once the Volcanion stopped glitching.

With a battle on their hand, Cathrine summoned one of her stronger Pokémon. A bulky looking Feraligatr appeared ready to jump into the fray.

But the guards were quickly defeated, only for their means of escape to be blocked by the Corviknight robot.

Again Seraphim was quick to jump into the danger. Their lack of caution gave weight to his robotic appearance. Was it not for their little dance previously, even Cathrine would’ve been inclined to think the man a machine.

But as Cathrine tried to make herself as hidden as possible, the Feraligatr jumped into the battle. Holding onto the large robot bird. A white shine began to radiate from it as it used SUPERPOWER to increase its strength and hold down the enemy while Seraphim fiddled around.

Seraphim’s fiddling resulted in the unaliving of the Corvid robot. With the danger gone Cathrine moved over to the Corviknight-machine, taking in its appearance as best she could, making sure it was truly dead.

While the Feraligatr just poked the ‘creature’ almost disappointed that it didn’t get to properly beat it up.

Seraphime spoke, for a moment Cathrine considered looting the creature. But perhaps fiddling even further with the machine was a bad idea. And so, instead she joined Seraphine, returning the Feraligatr in the process as she spoke.

“I am ready.”

kozvg58z

TLDR: Cathrine summons a Feraligatr to help hold the Corviknight-robot down. She then takes a look at the robot, and decides she has had enough and gives Seraphine the go ahead to teleport her.
Location: MECHANICAL KINGDOM
TAGS: Amor Rose / Makoto Kurumi / nanette bouvier

A series of chaotic events unfolded, almost as soon as Makoto had proposed the idea of them taking another path.

Nanette - with her sometimes spacey nature - had wandered out into plain view of the guards. As a result of such, the guards immediately turned on them - and Makoto, in turn, was already sending out their klinklang, Haguru, to try and protect her (even as they muttered a few curses to themself all the while.) But even as a fight broke out between pokemon and construct, something strange had occurred - namely, one of the mechanical volcanions turning on its allies, and attacking them without hesitation!

But, that only lasted so long before it would once more turn on the group - not that that was a problem. Well-aimed Charge Beams, as well as a few Thunder Punches from Draco, both aided well in defeating the volcanions...

... Only for the mechanical corviknight to make a reappearance, crashing in through the doors! Draco was quick to try and grapple it, allowing Belus to teleport Seraphim onto its back in an attempt to - from the looks of things - sabotage it! As the robotic ninja got to work though, Makoto wouldn't be idle either. With the enclosed space of the tower, there was not enough room for the corviknight to rely on flight - and so...

"... Foul Play; take out its legs." At Makoto's call, Tsume would dart forth - the Zoroark keen on using the corviknight's towering size against it. Striking out, he would aim at the legs of the mechanical beast to upset its balance - allowing both Draco and Cathrine's Feraligatr to slam it into the ground, and subdue it for long enough for Seraphim to disable the corviknight completely!

And with that, the constructs were defeated. Makoto couldn't help but let out a heavy sigh of relief with this - glancing towards their teammates. That... had certainly been a situation. But, at the very least, it meant that they had one hell of a report to bring back for Rocket. They would take a moment to return their pokemon to their pokeballs - and with everyone accounted for, Makoto would approach Seraphim and Belus. "I'm ready," They spoke.

Hopefully next time they were sent on a mission, things wouldn't go quite as... All over the place, for lack of a better term...

m3zI271w
Cathrine Fisher , Amor Rose , nanette bouvier

she is flushed with adrenaline, pink stained cheeks. nanette only watches as they finish the fight. pokemon battle in quick steps and finishing moves. its quick, and over just as it started.

"i'm ready."

she musters before joining them.

SLJqe3H1