MARCH UPDATE

POSTED ON Nov 28, 2023 22:29:50 GMT

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And The Nails It Strikes

Zev Harcourt was a monster. Obviously. It was what he was paid to be: a beast, closer to machinery, an unstoppable thing to strike at and strike fear into the enemies of Team Rocket. It was admirable, really. There was surety in savagery, a kind of freedom that could only be felt if you were the predator, not the prey.[break][break]

Alba was not prey. He was weak, with a build reminiscent of a willow tree in winter, but he would not call himself prey. A scavenger, perhaps, feasting on the dead and feeble in his own inadequacy, but he thought himself as more than some creature born to be devoured.[break][break]

Then again, he walked through life thinking he'd never die, so perhaps his judgment was a tad unreliable.[break][break]

Regardless, the best way to get strong was to learn from the strong. Parasites latched onto bigger creatures, small enough to be beneath their notice. Symbiotes had something to offer, a service in exchange for protection. Alba thought the second approach would be safest. Regardless of the gulf between them, he was eating into Zev's time by inviting him to the meeting room, and beasts tended to have sharp senses, no matter how you tried to hide.[break][break]

Sitting back in one of the office chairs, the scientist fiddled with the bag in his pocket. Were they eager to be back home, or was that just his own anticipation at the coming meeting?

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NOTES

• Mission: Canon Connections

[break][break]Zev Harcourt

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Murderers are not monsters, they're men. And that's the most frightening thing about them.

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TAG WITH @zev

POSTED ON Nov 29, 2023 14:47:58 GMT

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Rarely did a grunt reach out to Beasts requesting help—normally, the interaction went in the other direction, with Beasts choosing grunts for this or that mission—but it wasn't unheard of.[break][break]

Zev recognized Alba Evovae from the S.P.E.C.T.R.A. trial from earlier that spring. Besides the name and face, however, he knew nothing of the other man; Zev hadn't been assigned to evaluate Alba's performance during the simulated battles. A review of the grunt's file revealed nothing special, either.[break][break]

That was fine. Whatever he wanted, Zev would find out soon enough.[break][break]

He walked into the conference room aboard the submarine. Alba was the only other person there, already seated in an office chair.[break][break]

"Evovae," was all the hitman said in greeting. He took the seat opposite Alba. "Your message was didn't specify why you wanted to meet. Well?"[break][break]

Getting straight to the point had always been Zev's preference. He saw no need to make small talk.

[break][break][break]

TAGS – Alba Evovae[break]
NOTES – mission

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November 17th

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TAG WITH @alba

POSTED ON Dec 1, 2023 23:47:28 GMT

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And The Nails It Strikes

Straight into it, then.[break][break]

"I need physical training. You teach hand-to-hand combat, right? Teach me that." He'd meant to say 'want', to downplay his desire to make it more palatable. Every ambitious grunt 'wanted' to be strong; he wasn't any different, really, but there was a more fundamental reason, too. It reared its head when his thoughts were empty, when his breath was short, when he could feel how his ribs were a cage.[break][break]

It will pass when he makes himself more than he is. It has to.[break][break]

"Oh, but before you think about your answer—" From his pocket, Alba fished out a ziploc bag holding a few small, black fragments. Under the fluoresent office lights, they looked like hungry holes in the world.[break][break]

"It's a small amount, but I think I remember you asking about them, way back in June." A bribe, a gift, a bit of both; the Beast could reach his own conclusions about that.

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NOTES

• Mission: Canon Connections

[break][break]Zev Harcourt

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MADE BY GUNSMILE

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The Devourer

he / him

January 8

Lavender Town, Kanto

heterosexual

general of war

god general

6'3" / 190 cm height

Murderers are not monsters, they're men. And that's the most frightening thing about them.

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TAG WITH @zev

POSTED ON Dec 2, 2023 14:24:15 GMT

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Zev's blue gaze fell upon the clear plastic bag containing his shards. The sight of them outside his body felt so wrong. For a moment, he recalled the sharp taste of his patron's agony and the existential sundering associated with it.[break][break]

A muscle in his jaw twitched. He clamped down on the urge to snatch the shards out of Alba's hand and said instead, "You remember correctly. Those belong to me."[break][break]

The Beast held out his hand to accept the offering. Should Alba pass them over, he would open the bag and reach inside. Black crystal would rise from his flesh to meet the shards as they siphoned toward him, the material merging together.[break][break]

They would not disappear back into his skin, but instead cover his hand in a gauntlet of alien metal.[break][break]

Zev next regarded Alba with his stare. The younger man possessed a slender physique that suggested a previous lack of athletic interest.[break][break]

"Why do you want to learn to fight? Most people are content to use their Pokémon."

[break][break][break]

TAGS – Alba Evovae[break]
NOTES – mission

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Twenty-five

November 17th

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TAG WITH @alba

POSTED ON Dec 18, 2023 16:34:52 GMT

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And The Nails It Strikes

“Nice to see them back home, then.” Zev Harcourt, the Black Knight. Alba stared at the Beast’s hand, a cocktail of emotions swimming in his eyes. Intrigue, jealousy, bitterness, reminiscence… His Majesty, crowned with the night sky that had taken so much.[break][break]

He blinked, breaking his own gaze to force it back up to the other man’s face.[break][break]

“Honestly, I wasn’t expecting you to ask ‘why’. Maybe it’s unusual, but there’s no harm in learning, right? I’m just a scientist, but it’s not like I spend all day trapped in a lab. Field research is more exciting, anyway.” And Rocket doesn’t discriminate when it butts heads with the League. All hands are expected to be on deck.[break][break]

There was clearly something on the end of his tongue, like he wasn’t sure whether to keep talking or not. A final glance back at the crystal gauntlet was apparently enough to tip him over.[break][break]

“I could be wrong about this, and it’s probably not exactly the same thing… But how does it feel to take back those crystals? Or I guess, what’s it like knowing there’s more of them out there?”

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NOTES

• Mission: Canon Connections

[break][break]Zev Harcourt

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MADE BY GUNSMILE

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The Devourer

he / him

January 8

Lavender Town, Kanto

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6'3" / 190 cm height

Murderers are not monsters, they're men. And that's the most frightening thing about them.

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TAG WITH @zev

POSTED ON Dec 18, 2023 17:43:26 GMT

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Zev cared less about Alba's personal reasoning and more about the answer he chose to give. People with certain convictions tended to have stronger desires to challenge themselves and change. Others, who did things "just because," never made significant progress before giving up.[break][break]

At that moment, Alba struck him as the latter.[break][break]

"We hold regular training sessions for grunts in the submarine. You can always sign up for those," the Beast said, giving his armored hand an experimental flex. "There was no need to meet with me first—unless, of course, there's something you want from me specifically."[break][break]

He raised his eyebrow at the younger man to emphasize the unspoken question. But his attention was diverted back to his crystals by Alba's questions.[break][break]

"It feels right to get them back, but neither does it feel wrong to know there are others out there," Zev said at length.[break][break]

After all, Necrozma could create copies of itself with its crystals, for the purpose of scouting other worlds and gathering information. And though Zev was still partly flesh and blood, he housed enough crystals inside his body to be considered an extension of the god.

[break][break][break]

TAGS – Alba Evovae[break]
NOTES – mission

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Rabbit

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Twenty-five

November 17th

Opelucid City

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5'11" height

Days fade into a watercolour blur / Memories swim and haunt you

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TAG WITH @alba

POSTED ON Feb 1, 2024 1:46:01 GMT

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And The Nails It Strikes

It’s true; really, it would have been easier to just sign up for the training sessions instead of going through all of this. There was a reason he'd arranged a meeting, though — multiple reasons, really, though he was keeping them to himself for now. They were like outfits in a wardrobe; a choice to be made with the situation in mind.[break][break]

So he says nothing, and lets the conversation move on to his questions. There was something he wanted to know, after all.[break][break]

“Is that so…?” Was Alba disappointed with that answer? It was hard to tell by the tone of his voice; at the very least, the Beast's answer had interested him.[break][break]

“So it wouldn’t have bothered you if I’d kept the crystals I just gave you?” No comment on what he wanted from Zev. Not yet. But there’s an intensity behind Alba’s eyes, as if he’s trying to absorb every little thing radiating off Zev. As if what he wants could possibly be hidden in some unconscious twitch or tell.

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NOTES

• Mission: Canon Connections

[break][break]Zev Harcourt

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MADE BY GUNSMILE

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played by

gunsmile

The Devourer

he / him

January 8

Lavender Town, Kanto

heterosexual

general of war

god general

6'3" / 190 cm height

Murderers are not monsters, they're men. And that's the most frightening thing about them.

awards

3,068 posts

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TAG WITH @zev

POSTED ON Feb 1, 2024 18:46:05 GMT

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Zev leveled a cool gaze at Alba, registering the grunt's assumption with the clinical detachment of a pathologist observing a corpse. [break][break]

Humanity's arrogance really knew no limit, despite the species' insignificance. Still, the Devourer could not bring himself to indignation. [break][break]

"If you think holding onto the crystals made them yours, you're mistaken," he said, his voice even and cold. [break][break]

As if to emphasize his unspoken point, black shards crawled out of his skin, pockmarking his face and neck in small, scattered clusters. [break][break]

"We appreciate that you safeguarded what belongs to us, but returning them was the right thing to do. And if you hadn't, we would come for them in time." [break][break]

Even if it was not until Alba's bones had turned to dust.

[break][break][break]

TAGS – Alba Evovae[break]
NOTES – mission

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Oob

Rabbit

He/him

Twenty-five

November 17th

Opelucid City

Gay

Researcher

(Rocket) Scientist

5'11" height

Days fade into a watercolour blur / Memories swim and haunt you

awards

349 posts

DOLLARS

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TAG WITH @alba

POSTED ON Feb 18, 2024 2:06:34 GMT

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And The Nails It Strikes

“No, I didn’t mean to imply that. My point—” Whatever point Alba was going to elaborate on died on his tongue, as he (presumably) thinks better of it.[break][break]

This was as far as he was going to get, wasn’t it? Zev Harcourt held the surety of stone. Questions about ifs, and whats, and other kinds of failings… They would break against his clifface without meaning.[break][break]

That would have to do.[break][break]

“Nevermind.” The scientist waved his hand through the air, a gesture that at once dismissed himself and hinted at a kind of surrender. “But to get back to your question… I wanted to give you the crystals, for one thing. I don’t know how much you remember of the dream from that day, but I thought talking to you beforehand would be more helpful for me.”[break][break]

His eyes flickered over to his hovering hand, as if he was assessing himself. Or perhaps it was like he was gazing at his own reflection. “I’m here to help myself feel ‘complete’. That’s what’s at the core of all this.”

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NOTES

• Mission: Canon Connections

[break][break]Zev Harcourt

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MADE BY GUNSMILE

close tab

played by

gunsmile

The Devourer

he / him

January 8

Lavender Town, Kanto

heterosexual

general of war

god general

6'3" / 190 cm height

Murderers are not monsters, they're men. And that's the most frightening thing about them.

awards

3,068 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @zev

POSTED ON Feb 20, 2024 2:35:37 GMT

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Zev waited, listening to Alba's rambling until the younger man reached his point. [break][break]

Completeness. Something stirred against Zev's consciousness at the mere thought of it—no, not 'something'. [break][break]

Necrozma. [break][break]

Not much time had passed since the Light-Eater had brought Zev into that other universe and cemented their pact; he was still getting used to the sensation of a vast, alien presence existing alongside his own mind. He leaned into that psychic connection and listened. [break][break]

As he navigated the ever-flowing river of emotion and thought, Zev latched onto a feeling he could comprehend: an acknowledgement, a desire. Completeness. Yes. Necrozma could understand that yearning. And therefore, so could Zev. [break][break]

He nodded at Alba, finally accepting the younger man's request. "We'll train you. We start tomorrow in the fitness center at seven p.m. Don't be late." [break][break]

Standing, Zev made to leave. There was nothing else to say. He simply had another grunt to mold from iron ore into steel. [break][break]

Perhaps this one would fare better than the last.

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TAGS – Alba Evovae[break]
NOTES – mission

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