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here she was, the lone accompanier of underboss decker. she didn’t want to read into it too much, but being accepted for such an assignment felt validating. had one of the beasts put in a good word for her?[break][break]
she and her arbok followed behind killian rather quietly, and was staring straight up at the strange alien sky when a geyser of steam suddenly burst at her left. ”ow!” she yelped, stumbling in the other direction. luckily, she’d been far enough to avoid a bad burn—but just so. [break][break]
as her hand came up to rub at the new red spot on her arm, she noted the obvious, ”this place is so weird...”[break][break]
it was like they were in a sci-fi film, and the crater that waited up ahead for them would surely only solidify that impression.

[attr="class","bottom"]Killian Decker nagi miwa Yui Fujin Silph [break]

oh god. is this isekai?[break][break]

nervous sweat gathers in nagi's palms. he dries them with a hurried swipe across his jeans. should he have brought gloves? he wonders if the evolutionary course of the otherwordly landscape sprawling out before him could be irrevocably shifted by human-borne contagion. it's only an idle thought; he knows nothing of virology or exobiology outside of what's he's gleaned from pulp sci-fi and late-night pikipedia binges. [break][break]

the task he'd been given was simple enough: meet someone; collect samples; heigh-ho it's home from work we go. and it's not difficult to spot the batman cosplay, even amidst the alien fauna. [break][break]

he steps up beside Yui Fujin Silph , feet displacing soft soil to leave a faint trail of prints. the sulphurous, steam-filled air twinges at his sinuses when he inhales.[break][break]

"... any idea of what we're looking at?"
[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] Yui Fujin Silph nina larson Killian Decker [break]


[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-litwick"]

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the tree of life had been before her time, but she’d heard plenty stories, and still wasn’t done listening to them.[break][break]
at his question she looked inquisitive. ”yeah, i’ll be fine.” her arm hurt, but she wasn’t about to complain about it. she had a job to do, and with an ultra beast under her command no less.[break][break]
as they walked towards the crater ahead, it was easy to witness when the celesteela took to the sky some distance away. nina stared, watching the violent beams that it left in its wake, propelling it higher.[break][break]
”woah. what’s that?”

[attr="class","bottom"]Killian Decker nagi miwa Yui Fujin Silph [break]

 "right. soil. on it." [break][break]

at least one of them is excited. as yui bubbles, effervescent with curiosity, nagi hangs back, resolving to be the voice of caution on this merry trip. [break][break]

caution, however, doesn't prepare him for another earthquake. unlike yui, the niftiest gadget nagi owns is a cellphone getting on in its years, so when the ground starts trembling beneath his feet, he eats (extremely fertile!) dirt. [break][break]

"pfack," he spits, before inertia pushes him down for another mouthful.

yui's whip wraps around his arm, tugging tight and almost yanking his shoulder out of its socket as the world pitches at an angle beneath him. the celesteela ascends. his ears pop. and then, just as suddenly, it stops, hovering in the air for a moment, incandescent light flaring from its rockets — and begins to drop. [break][break]

the ground rises to meet them, the celesteela arcing towards it in a controlled descent. as it approaches, two odd shapes standing out from the landscape resolve into view, growing more distinct as they approach: two people, standing amidst the geysers. [break][break]

who?[break][break]

no time for that.[break][break]

"move!" he yells, his warning swallowed up in the roar of rockets. he braces for impact.
[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] Yui Fujin Silph nina larson Killian Decker [break]


[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-litwick"]

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nina was smiling, trying to reassure her sense of ease and capability. this was fine. she was good. here to impress.[break][break]
casually, she looked down at the vile in his hand without thinking about it, only to watch it disappear into his flesh. her lips purse, face falling with sudden uncertainty about what she’d just witnessed. ”ooh.” what was that?[break][break]
she decided not to question it, kept on moving, soon at the edge of the crater with him. it was just as the celesteela had gotten close enough to determine that it was in fact headed straight for them.[break][break]
there was another surprised yelp as she was yanked down. ”ah!” a grunt as she landed roughly on the ground, with the strange symbol. she looked over it curious, but remembering she was there as muscle.[break][break]
”thanks.”[break][break]
her arbok had been quick to join them to cover, along with the naganadel. once the dust had settled above, she eyed up at the crater's edge, unable to see more than the strange sky.[break][break]
looking over at killian, she asked, ”you want me to go for it?” put me in coach.

[attr="class","bottom"]Killian Decker nagi miwa Yui Fujin Silph [break]

the view changes quickly: from the ground and geysers coming too close, too quickly, to the bright glow of mega-evolution, to a branch in his face, and then another branch in his face, and then the white, soft belly of the prone snorlax. [break][break]

down in the dirt again, nagi fumbles at the frame of his glasses wih a shaky hand. the frame is dented, but still in one piece ⁠— much like the rest of him. he picks himself up with a bitten-back groan. [break][break]

he squats by Yui Fujin Silph , squinting down at the vines. absent-mindedly, he runs a hand over one of the cuts. no jagged edge; a clean slice, as if from a sharp knife, or the honed edge of a claw. [break][break]

"a pokemon?" he hums. they're standing near where the two figures from before had been. "could be owned by one of those people we saw." [break][break]

it feels like every joint in his spine twinges when he straightens up again, the tell-tale ache of a forming bruise dulled by adrenaline and distraction. before him, the ground drops away: a crater looming deep and wide. he can't see what's inside from here. [break][break]

"do you think...," he trails off, looking sideways at yui. could it have gone down there?[break][break]

and, more importantly, are we going to follow?
[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] Yui Fujin Silph nina larson Killian Decker [break]


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