The poisoned 'Red Shard' glittered cruelly up at her, taunting her with the depths of its jewelled artifice.[break][break]

"We both know we'll ruin him anyway," her giggling shadow-self had said the day that Chien-Pao had unveiled the depths of her own self-hatred; it was the day the Ruinous Beast had ultimately claimed the soul of jayden cross. "Isn't that what we always do?"[break][break]

That was what happened to men who made the mistake of caring for her. It had happened to her late husband, to GIDEON GRAVES, and to FERNANDO SILPH. Why would MATIAS SILPH be spared the same fate?[break][break]

How long until BARNABY FINCH is ruined too, a small part of her wondered fearfully, but she squashed that thought before it could gain power over her.[break][break]

Instead her hands curled around the weapon, accepting her role as Delilah in this tale of Samson's inevitable betrayal.[break][break]

"I will have to find the right moment. He'll be suspicious if I succeed in his request too easily." Her emerald eyes glanced up at him, then back to the Red Shard. "But I shall do as you ask. Admin Bee will be kept abreast of my progress as the admin of intelligence, of course."[break][break]

The faintest reticence entered her voice as a lump rose in her throat.[break][break]

"Have you done this before? What should I expect after he consumes it?"[break][break]

Should I be concerned for my immediate safety, was her real unspoken ask.

[attr="class","ooc"] declan walsh[break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

"you and admin bee can take your time. be patient for the best window of time to administer the shard." [break][break]

the rocket boss withdraws his gloved hand. even the fabrication leaves the red static of malice on his fingertips.[break][break]

"in your hand, you hold the lethal dosage." the boss says. "as lethal as it can be in that form. it may be better to describe it as a wrench thrown into the cogs of his blessing." [break][break]

his darkrai emerges from the shadows behind him.[break][break]

"expect another skyler dross." the boss says. "he will lose control of the continent pokemon... and by the consequence of the shards embedded within his skin, he too, will become berserk."[break][break]

he remains stoic. no smile. no frown. every word is declared rather than said.[break][break]

"if groudon doesn't kill him, the league will."
[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] Elisabeth Fiorelli[break]
[attr="class","pokesprite pokemon darkrai"]

"Very well. Poisoners are acquainted with patience."[break][break]

Assassination, then. This was a familiar enough task.[break][break]

The severity of the sentence, nonetheless, chilled her to her core. She'd seen what a berserk MATIAS SILPH was like, back when he breathed in Tapu Fini's fog. He'd terrified her, to the point the only thing that she could do to appease him was wield his affection like a shield.[break][break]

Should he turn on her in that moment, what would be her salvation, then? It would be wiser to flee once the effects began to manifest than to face him herself.[break][break]

Declan himself had said she wouldn't have to perform the killing.[break][break]

"How like us, to use such a cowardly means of murder."[break][break]

That hatefully familiar voice echoed in her mind with gleeful laughter, delighting and relishing at this endless repeating cycle.[break][break]

"He deserves it, though. They all do. We know this better than most."[break][break]

Her hand gripped the Red Shard so tightly its facets threatened to break her skin.[break][break]

"You should have your second Skyler Dross shortly. I'll inform Underbosses THEO BECKETT and Cillian Quinn of the upcoming operation, so they can prepare themselves accordingly for the fallout."[break][break]

The sense she should stand and prepare to leave came over her suddenly, and she did so as if prompted by an unseen hand to arise.[break][break]

Elisabeth glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, hesitating. A feeling of something unfinished lingered in the air between them, like a fraying thread.[break][break]

"Will that be all then, or shall you require something else from me?" she asked haltingly, a sustained breath held deep in her lungs.[break][break]

She'd been prepared for a punishment that hadn't been dealt.

[attr="class","ooc"] declan walsh[break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

"that is all."[break][break]

the door creaks open. shadows disperse from its hinges like scrambling ariados legs.[break][break]

"even if he does not perish," the boss says, "we win. the league will have to contend with another embarrassment. an encore of weakness."[break][break]

he stands eerily still, awaiting her departure.[break][break]

"you best not be on that stage when that transpires."
[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] Elisabeth Fiorelli[break]
[attr="class","pokesprite pokemon darkrai"]

She could picture it so vividly: the hero of Kanto, once more reduced to a pitiful failure.[break][break]

"Your concern for my welfare is touching." She managed to somehow curb the full acidity of the barb the moment she realized what she was saying aloud. "I will keep that in mind, however. I have no desire to cost Rocket any collateral damage."[break][break]

On the contrary. She'd dedicate herself to making the operation a success in every possible way, her survival included. This would sever Elisabeth's ties to that man, and reaffirm her ties to Rocket in one fell swoop. In that way, this was an ideal situation.[break][break]

She'd told him what to expect from the beginning. If it was her or him, she would always choose herself.[break][break]

He knew what she was. Or he should, by now.[break][break]

"For the glory of Rocket, then." Elisabeth bowed stiffly at the waist, the gesture seemingly correct in front of the most powerful man of the organization. The sense that the sentiment felt like it belonged more in Kalos than here persisted nonetheless. "Until we meet again."[break][break]

The shadows danced towards her as she made to exit, drawing a ghostly pattern of spiderwebs across the floor. She ignored the way their thin, snaking tendrils ensnared her own shadow as she walked by, drowning what remained of her in all-encompassing darkness.

[attr="class","ooc"] declan walsh[break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]