He'd find himself at a dead end.[break][break]

Unnatural spikes of a reef erected outside its natural watery habitat stretched their way across the caverns distantly behind them, blocking the interference of a certain white-haired interloper.[break][break]

That final knight had been discarded from his chessboard, at last. Leaving only one piece left to corner.[break][break]

It was not freya morningstar's bow that she heard now; the taut strings of his DECIDUEYE pulled back with a more controlled vengeance, the unexpected SPIRIT SHACKLE pinning her shadow in place.[break][break]

Elisabeth almost laughed. As if she'd run, after coming all this way.[break][break]

"Ah," she said instead, and the distinct sound of self-satisfaction resounded in that single syllable. Her smile held something disturbingly genuine as she faced him. "It's you."[break][break]

The Tablets of Ruin still pulsed brightly upon Wo-chien's back, and with it, the power of its chosen Avatar emanated with a malevolent aura that cast a shadow of its own across the premises. The councilman would not recognize this woman, with her jet-black hair and the crazed gleam in her carmine eyes, as the same one he'd met over a year ago under far different circumstances.[break][break]

But that scorned creature had always been there: buried deep beneath the mask, waiting to be unearthed.[break][break]

The visible manifestation of her own bitterness leered at her side, the Ruinous Beast sneering up at him as the Tablets of Ruin were emblazoned with his name upon its back. Sensing a nearby fuel source of such rich, refined resentment pleased Wo-chien immensely.[break][break]

The Beast would feast well, tonight.[break][break]

"It's good to see you, Fernando. I'm afraid you've just missed Miss Morningstar."[break][break]

That would be the only warning he'd receive before RUINATION unceremoniously cleaved towards him, targeting the councilman himself rather than the Decidueye on the field.

[attr="class","ooc"] FERNANDO SILPH[break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

SPOILER: Click to show

- 10 MP per IC post in a RT Battle/Mission. (x1)[break]
- 50 MP for participation in a RT Battle/Mission.

Her smile widened as RUINATION melted against the Glalie's protective barrier, another Pokemon entering the fray.[break][break]

How predictable. A man with contingency built upon contingency.[break][break]

Two could play that game, of course.[break][break]

Her Salazzle slithered into view, mirroring her grin, as the lizard's eyes caught that of his Glalie: hoping to transfix it and DISABLE its latest maneuver from repeating. Its shadow, like the Ruinous Beast's, found itself soundly held in place -- but this mattered little to Elisabeth.[break][break]

They had no intention of fleeing.[break][break]

Her Ruinous Beast curled in on itself, manifesting a SPIKY SHIELD slick with its own ichor, as it weathered a barrage of ICE SHARDS. Other vines shot up from the ground, these beckoned into being by the underboss as she breathed in her own resentment like air, elated beyond measure by the power that the TABLETS OF RUIN bestowed upon her now.[break][break]

elisabeth can add names of those she resents most onto wo-chien's tablets of ruin. her resentment of them serves as fuel that enhances her power. names may be added or removed over time as elisabeth's relationships shift and change in dynamic.[break][break]

should she be facing a specific target of her resentment from those tablets, she may enact a GRUDGE that focuses her attacks wholly on the individual. during this time, her attacks will be greatly heightened, but she will be unable to divert her attention elsewhere.[break][break]

this also considerably drains her physically and mentally, and can render her fairly defenseless afterwards.

[break][break]

He'd see it in how the thorny vines she'd summoned moved with whip-like ferocity, ceasing only when it appeared the blizzard had begun to ebb and fade.[break][break]

"It must be difficult to fight in your condition, now," she commented idly, a crook of her hand gesturing for the plants to answer her beck and call. "Not necessarily due to the loss of Tapu Fini, though, hm?"[break][break]

Two vines snaked upwards, reaching towards him like unforgiving hands to drag him towards her--[break][break]

"But the depth perception."[break][break]

--one striking just out of his field of vision.

[attr="class","ooc"] FERNANDO SILPH[break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

SPOILER: Click to show

- 10 MP per IC post in a RT Battle/Mission. (x2)[break]
- 50 MP for participation in a RT Battle/Mission.

Of course, freya morningstar had broken Elisabeth Fiorelli down in the worst possible way.[break][break]

Sanity slipped through the fissures of Elisabeth's mind, split apart and shattered through the dragoness's attempts to uncover the underboss's humanity by prodding at her festering wounds. This was the same foolish mistake Isaac Merlo had made, beckoning to her with Suicune's aurora borealis, only to reveal the depths of the woman's own self-loathing.[break][break]

Peeling back the protective layers that guarded her fragile psyche unleashed the GRUDGE within, drowning out reason in favor of relentless waves of emotion.[break][break]

"You like puppeteering, don't you, Fernando?" she said, yanking on the vine that seized his arm as if to toss him carelessly about like a ragdoll, laughing as she did so. "How does it feel, to wear the strings this time?"[break][break]

But the howling BLIZZARD soon swallowed her shrieking laughter, and caused the pull of that vine to waver.[break][break]

Her Salazzle's teeth flashed as FLAMETHROWER seared out towards the snow, seeking the Glalie that served as the eye of the storm. Snowflakes melted in its wake, drawing a visible path of steam as it sought its prey.[break][break]

The raging winds of ice carved into Wo-chien's shell, digging in as the Ruinous Beast retaliated by focusing itself steadfastly in the ground. A DARK PULSE swirled and radiated out towards the offending Decidueye, casting the falling snow soot-black.[break][break]

Elisabeth attempted to pull on the vine again, and her eyes narrowed, unsure if her quarry remained tethered in place or not.[break][break]

It was difficult to see, in this vast haze of white.

[attr="class","ooc"] FERNANDO SILPH[break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

SPOILER: Click to show

- 10 MP per IC post in a RT Battle/Mission. (x3)[break]
- 50 MP for participation in a RT Battle/Mission.

The curtain of white faded as her snipped vine collapsed uselessly to the ground, no longer leashing her target. Distantly, she could see the graceless form of the councilman haplessly holding onto the newly released Gliscor, determined to survive despite the indignity of his predicament.[break][break]

Something in the desperation of that scene satisfied her. But not enough to sate her vindictive need.[break][break]

Shriveled petals caught up in a SPRINGTIDE STORM of rot and decay directed themselves to the Gliscor and its ACROBATICS, reminiscent of black roses that had been sent to him in warning several times before.[break][break]

The relentless offense continued as her Salazzle pursued the Glalie further, following up the FLAMETHROWER as it unhinged its jaw to seize the Ice-type in its fangs with a FIRE LASH, as if looking to swallow it whole.[break][break]

With so much focus on the players moving across the field, the shadow whispering behind her went unseen, at first. Her fingers rested on another Pokeball, clicking open only as the attack moved to strike her from behind. The Decidueye took the clear opening given to it, and Elisabeth reacted on instinct as its shadow loomed over her: plumes of pink mist bleeding out of her in a panic as she raised her hands to defend herself. It shrouded her in its cloudy expanse, disorienting the attacker as her silhouette vanished into the mist.[break][break]

FERNANDO SILPH would recognize this heady fog for what it was, sparkling and rosy-tinted with a madness his former patron had used many times over.[break][break]

He would know it to be the mark of Tapu Fini's blessing.[break][break]

elisabeth can also expel a fog that causes affected targets to enter a BERSERK TRANCE. this can be used to tunnel their aggression onto a particular target. in roll-based events, characters who are in this fog roll with disadvantage (take the lower of two rolls). spread of the fog is determined by the moderator.

[break][break]

But this time, its aggressive target was aimed towards him.

[attr="class","ooc"] FERNANDO SILPH[break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

SPOILER: Click to show

- 10 MP per IC post in a RT Battle/Mission. (x4)[break]
- 50 MP for participation in a RT Battle/Mission.

Their tenacity manifested differently.[break][break]

Where FERNANDO SILPH became a wall of stubborn will, embodied in a SHEER COLD that froze her Salazzle to the bone, her own survivor's mentality resulted in the dispassionate discarding of pawns on the chessboard of battle.[break][break]

Better Elisabeth's Pokemon fall to ruin than her. So long as the Glalie fell with it, she'd accept her Salazzle's perishing.[break][break]

The frozen husk of the lizard collapsed onto the ground, heartbeat dulled to an abrupt stop, as WO-CHIEN zeroed in on the injured state of FERNANDO SILPH. "Kill him," the darkness of her thoughts whispered, "kill him, NOW, before he can escape from us like the VERMIN he is."[break][break]

But Elisabeth Fiorelli did not feel her patron's impatience as her own.[break][break]

Poisoners bided their time.[break][break]

"You don't know, do you?" she asked him, vines rushing in a rustling susurrus forward to reach towards the Gliscor with a vicious grip. Perhaps it might evade them with another slice of its claws; perhaps it might find itself tangled, the way the councilman had once been. "Why I'm hunting you."[break][break]

Another click of her Pokeball revealed a TSAREENA this time, who leapt after the GLISCOR with a TROP KICK that aimed to keep it grounded. With the DECIDUEYE focused upon its own fallen trainer, she felt comfortable taking her time with him.[break][break]

Part of her relished in his slow, drawn-out suffering.[break][break]

"I know how you earned your blinding, Fernando." Her lip curled into a snarl, and the residual mist pluming around her thickened visibly, becoming a sickening pink miasma of its own. "And I will finish what another woman started."[break][break]

"We will make him pay, for what he has done."

[break]

"We will make him pay, for how we have suffered."

[break]

ALEXANDER STONE had stepped in where freya morningstar had failed her.[break][break]

A finger unlatched the poison gas grenade from Devon Corp, and without ceremony, she prepared to launch it in the centre of the cavern as her NIHILEGO finally floated into view. With no exits, the gaseous poison would expand outwards, drifting into FERNANDO SILPH's lungs. Like cigarettes, like alcohol, like every poison she'd tried to numb herself with -- these neurotoxins would have no effect on her.[break][break]

What of him, though, mortal as he now was?[break][break]

5... 4...[break][break]

"I'm curious what it's like, to see the great Councilman Silph lacking his famed composure. I had a glimpse of that with your dear Champion, kyle lopez. I look forward to seeing what you hide behind your mask."[break][break]

3... 2...[break][break]

A pale finger moved to release the pin from the grenade.[break][break]

Her offense kept taking, and taking, and taking from him.[break][break]

It hadn't occurred to her that it was simply not yet his time to take.

[attr="class","ooc"] FERNANDO SILPH[break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

SPOILER: Click to show

- 10 MP per IC post in a RT Battle/Mission. (x5)[break]
- 50 MP for participation in a RT Battle/Mission.

...1![break][break]

The thin film of leaking miasma in this place suddenly became a flood. The pink INTERDREAM MIST intermingled anew with the lingering remnants of the BERSERK FOG, now made sickly sweet with noxious fumes as Nihilego neurotoxins invaded the air of the living.[break][break]

To Wo-chien, it tasted almost as delicious as the grudges it now feasted upon. Like salting meat before a devouring.[break][break]

elisabeth and her Pokemon are IMMUNE to all poisons.

[break][break]

Subtly, the Nihilego's tentacles moved to wrap around FERNANDO SILPH from behind, aiming to force him to endure this onslaught. Half of Elisabeth didn't know what this potent combination of toxicology, supernatural manipulation, and Ultra Beast biology might result in; the other half of her didn't care.[break][break]

She didn't exactly have time to mull on it for too long.[break][break]

Hazy as the world of the dreaming, the environment around them blurred ever so faintly, making the vicious ICE SHARDS of the Glalie all the more harrowing in their impact.[break][break]

BURNING JEALOUSY hissed out of Wo-chien, embittered with the stench of smoke and ash as it lanced forward to create a fiery wall to defend Elisabeth against the worst of the projectiles. Several still embedded themselves in the Ruinous Beast, finding their mark, while one or two errant shards nicked Elisabeth's arms and legs. Blood trickled visibly from her shoulder, although she seemed unaware of the wound.[break][break]

This time, her TSAREENA shifted targets, finding the limp and abandoned Gliscor an unimportant and inconsequential foe in the greater scheme of things. Taking a cue from her mistress, she aimed to enact a PAYBACK on the Glalie for its own act of cruelty, matching its strength with sheer vindictive spite.[break][break]

Elisabeth's focus remained on the man across from her, however.[break][break]

Watching.[break][break]

"Show us."

[break]

Waiting.[break][break]

"Unleash the monster that we know you are."

[attr="class","ooc"] FERNANDO SILPH[break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

SPOILER: Click to show

- 10 MP per IC post in a RT Battle/Mission. (x6)[break]
- 50 MP for participation in a RT Battle/Mission.

They'd entered the late-game, hadn't they? Of this bastardization of chess they'd both been playing up until now.[break][break]

She didn't know all the pieces on his board yet, but he'd evidently guessed at some of her own.[break][break]

FERNANDO SILPH writhed and screamed with inhuman resolve, whatever dignity he'd had now lost to the animalistic instinct to survive. Shaking hands grabbed an EpiPen, negating the work that ALEXANDER STONE and Elisabeth Fiorelli had collaborated on in the shadows.[break][break]

What a waste, to have sworn to only use it on that man.

[break]

The MEGA-GLALIE towered before her, and she prepared to react in kind, only for the world to suddenly fade out all around her in a blanket of mist. Panic surged through her as FERNANDO SILPH and his Pokemon disappeared from view -- (not now, not when I am so close) -- only for a firm hand to snake itself around her waist. She flinched on reflex, squirming to move out of this unknown grip as she turned around to meet two eyes that stared back at her evenly.[break][break]

"You," she hissed, visibly rattled by the familiar words he'd whispered against her ear¹. "You shouldn't be here."[break][break]

Because you aren't real, her mind finished desperately. This is just the Interdream Mist, playing tricks on me as it has so many times before.[break][break]

Like it had with BARNABY FINCH. Like it had with Isaac Merlo.[break][break]

And like it had with FERNANDO SILPH, back in the Ultra Deep Sea.

[attr="class","ooc"] FERNANDO SILPH[break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

¹"Fernando Silph Final Route: Third Date (RVL)" ft. Fernando Silph[break][break]

SPOILER: Click to show

- 10 MP per IC post in a RT Battle/Mission. (x7)[break]
- 50 MP for participation in a RT Battle/Mission.