PRISMATIC PENITENTIARY

Imprisoned Investigator--Premiere Prisoner

“We really ought to just meet on an occasion without lives on the line.”

Boy, wasn't that the truth? It almost seemed like every time she ran into Violet was in some sort of damn near fatal incident. Be it the cloud, the incident with the rusted shield, or even here, it almost felt like they were magnetically drawn to each other during those events. Even the dance they were at together went awry, though that was her own falt for inviting Violet to that event.

“That being said, we should focus on work. They probably don’t want to police everything, but we should not take any chances.”

Between both seeing Violet and Kyrenai, the latter of who ruffled her hair a bit as if to pet her, Elaine could not help but feel some sense of relief. Sure, there was the downside of two people being close to her having to face danger. Sure, she agonized over that reality, but the fact that they were here with her gave her some sense of hope. It was a small light, but a light nonetheless.

After taking the dynite shard she was given, she placed it back in one of the nearby crates before beckoning Ever over to the newly formed group.

---

"So, it really did come to bite them all back in the end." Elaine sighed. She had come this close to joining the punished. Her eyes once again trailed back to the corpse left behind. She had come this close to pulling out ribs and sternum and fashioning knives out of them. It would have been a great weapon set, but it was clear at this point that she would never have been able to keep it. At this point, keeping an eye on those she did catch attempting to smuggle something was the right call.

Which led them back to square one. Though at this stage, one could say they were driven further behind square one.

One from their ward had felt the sting of the same kind of extreme violence that the corpse had. The corpse had been discarded meaning there was nothing left to salvage.

Those who had smuggled (and in all likelihood, every one had been caught) had even lost a Pokemon in such horridly gruesome ways. The squelching that she heard each time after a Pokeball was crushed rang in her ears each time their captives brought the hammer.

And there was nothing they could do about it.

They were confined there with no way out. They were separated from their Pokemon and their lives were just as much on the chopping block if they didn't comply with their captors.

Elaine clenched her fist. She grit her teeth.

That was it?

"And at the end of it all, they toss us a Prisoner's Dilemma."

Each part of this was specifically crafted to break them in one way or another. This was no different.

"We can't let ourselves fall victim this easily."

Such was the declaration she made to nobody in particular. The logical choice in this situation was probably to Forsake the other group.

But doing so would simply play into their game. To forsake the other group would simply be another piece of leverage they can use to break us further. That is why...

"I choose to TRUST."

The light of hope had not left Elaine's soul just yet. So there was no way she would be giving in to the cruelty of their game that easily.

"For the time being, though." She was glad to hear that her cellmate had chosen trust as well, and for far more altruistic reasons than her. Were it not for the mask, she would have smiled at him. "Let's make sure to watch each others' backs."

---

TL;DR:

• Weakling Ward
• Elaine reunites with people she knew and loved
• Observes the carnage, but says little else
• Votes to TRUST as one of the acts of defiance left to her
• Attempts to maintain a group of allies with Violet, Kyrenai, and Ever.

Tags:ever blackwell , Violet Fairbanks , Kyrenai Black

Words were wind, and actions were nothing more than words put into existence.

That's why Howard's mockery was disregarded. No, not mockery. An observation. He understood this prison for the farce that it truly was. A twisted game, born from the sheer desire to watch them squirm. A desperate final gamble to cripple the region and scramble back home to a godless hole where no light would ever shine again.

They were all here because this was the final push from the Megalopolan threat. The last pocket of resistance. The rest of their people were either dead, gone, or imprisoned. There was no Velmos here to lead them. No Smohke to give direction. Philomera sat dead and buried under a thousand tons of rubble.

This was all there would ever be. That's why the Megalopolans laughed. To them, it didn't matter. Whether they won or lost, this would be the final play.

The screen on the Tera Crystals flickered on. What came next was what Howard expected, punishment. They were in a prison. Misconduct would be accepted. This was no game to be played, and to call it one made these tribulations into a solemn mockery. Why were people stealing? Idiocy? Desperation?

This ward was living up to its name. Everyone here was a fool. This was the defeat of human intellect. Their vision was weak, their limbs frail, and their knowledge stagnant. Rather than acknowledge the situation, people raged against it. Thus, they were punished.

"Idiots." Howard watched as a Megalopolan went into a cell and recovered a shard. "Rebelling achieves nothing."

Yet still, the Pokeballs smashing against hammers did not feel real, even as people screamed and wept. Viscera fell from the ward above. The flesh of dead Pokémon, raining down on them? It did not matter. What mattered was what came next.

A loud thud came through the Tera Crystal screen as an antique Pokeball was set in the bowl. Immediately, the admin froze. He recognized the Pokeball immediately. He was, after all, the only one with it. There was no need for him to be singled out. He would recognize a Hisuian masterwork, reforged by Aurelie Lefevre months prior.

"No. Wait! Stop!" Howard's voice grew from that of a spectator to participant. "I take it back! I'm sorry! I'll be good!"

The hammer rose. The admin lunged towards the monkey and the screen. The Toxic Chain grew taut as he did so, refusing to give an inch of slack.

"STOP, THAT'S MINE! YOU CAN'T DO THI—" They could. This was the divine right of those who held power. "PLEASE! THAT'S MY—"

Bear? Artifact? Pokémon? Friend? Doug had saved him and others on Route 119, but the admin was helpless to do anything now. He fell forward as the Toxic Chain began to choke him.

"▂▂▃▃▅▅ーーー！！" Howard crawled forward, his face blue despite the mask hiding it. Asphyxiation mixed with screaming to create an unholy choir. "▅▅ーーー！！"

The hammer went down. A meaty crunch filled the room. From the Ugly Ward above, more viscera came down. Instead of seeing the corpses of prisoners, Howard saw only the corpse of a bear.

Gone. Yuina Higashi 's connection to Hisui. Aurelie Lefevre 's masterpiece. Eris Halla 's friend. Howard's ■■■■■■■■. Gone. Shock set in. Howard would've screamed if he could. The Toxic Chain relaxed as the admin stopped resisting.

"I..."

Nothing mattered anymore. Tears would come later. There was no time to process, for there was another game to play.

"I..."

It was like the color had been stripped from his life.

"I..."

Amor Rose and his rational plan were ignored. It didn't matter, anyway. Doug didn't matter, anyway. It was just a bear, after all. If anything, the ball was the greater loss. It held so much value as an artifact, wherein the bear had none. It was a life, and the flesh was oh so weak.

It did not matter. A ward away, Shred suffered as he did. In this, the two were united. In a sense, that did not matter either.

Nothing did. It was just a bear, just as the other ward was just a nameless group. They were just lives.

Expendable. It did not matter. It did not. It was best to keep his head down and work. He had spoken, and had been punished appropriately. When the admin spoke, his voice was bruised and raw, a rough gravel.

"Forsake."

---

@dummyheads
DOUG DEAD NOOOOOOOOOOOO
Blue person history lesson
lunging towards Munkidori and the tera screen, choked by toxic chain
Literally coping and sneeding
omg he's twinning SHRED ZEPPELIN
Forsaking out of shock and apathy

So much for trying to use the sharp TERA CRYSTALS to their advantage. He felt miserable for Michael Davis , but kept his mouth shut. He had already been tagged with OKIDOGI's chain once. That had been enough for him, the impact point having turned a festering purple. The venom contained within had reduced his working efficiency during the latter half of the day, yet his rate was good enough to avoid lash after lash that the other blonde had to suffer through. The chain's venom had prevented Josh's body from initiating the healing process properly. The red rain falling from beneath Michael's mask made Josh sick beneath his mask. Sick both on the outside and the inside, physically coughing from the stench and mentally suffocating from his powerlessness.

Some Champion he was. Some Knight of Thunder he was, too. If he got out of this dungeon alive somehow, he was sure kyle lopez 's Patron would want to have choice words with him. Though Josh could not see the same screen that the thieves did, he could hear what was coming from them: the sound of Poké Balls being crushed and the sound of squished flesh. The lives of what he could only presume to be the prisoners' Pokémon. It made him well up with anger inside, taking every effort to keep it from exploding outward. The past Josh Devlin , the impulsive one who had beaten Eris Halla to within an inch of her life, would no doubt have engaged in a fruitless fistfight with one of the Megalopolans.

Catching the GIGATON BALL on-screen out of the corner of his eye, be cried as it was crushed. "Doug..." Josh moaned, seeing the Bloodmoon Ursaluna's life stamped into dust underneath what he could only assume was a hydraulic press from how loud the sound of the impact was. He would never get a rematch with Doug now. As far as he knew, howard slayte 's bond to that Ursaluna was on the same level as Josh's Manectric, Saber. That could have been Saber up there. That could have been Raikou up there, either the Johtonian or Hoennian one. A loss like that would have deprived Josh of the will to continue fighting.

When it came time for the Megalopolans to collect the prisoners' votes, Josh spoke up, still sobbing for the Charmander whose life had been robbed this awful day. "I don't believe a word any of you are saying. You will punish all of us as much as you think we can endure for your own entertainment. Some of us weaklings will inevitably not make it. It could be me. But if I die, I die knowing that I did everything I could to help my friends leave with their lives. And I know that my faith in the Great One will herald happiness in the next life. Glory be to the Great One, as it was in the beginning, has now, and ever shall be," the Mauville Leader prayed to Ho-oh. "Though I doubt our voices truly matter, I will vote 'TRUST'."