[attr="class","star2tsu4"]
"Oscar... got it."[break][break]
She glances up at him, a serene look on her face.
oscar clayton would not know her any other way, but her mentor
Navy would recognize it as an expression she has only worn once before: back in a lost dream, when she realized that their world was coming to an end. Acceptance. Resignation. Peace. Things she'd always rejected. [break][break]
She lifts herself off of the cold, concrete floor. The chaos around them does not faze her. She barely even spares it a passing glance, letting the brutality, the cried of pain and terror roll over her. [break][break]
She focuses solely on the lift, and follows Oscar and Navy to the bottom of the prison. Whatever lies ahead, she braces herself for it, no explanations necessary. [break][break]
"By the way, call me Baki."[break][break]
Suddenly, as if she'd forgotten to mention it, she tells the stranger who was helping Navy her name. She loosens the mask, letting it drop to her feet. There's a gaunt appearance to her face. Clearly poisoned, she seems so calm, but the fierce look in her eyes remains, the spell of her pacification broken. [break][break]
"Don't like killin'. Not anymore. But anyone tries and kills you, I'll kill 'em first. You saved Navy, so I owe you that much."[break][break]
She lets that hang in the air, without another word. Navy's off ahead of them, coming up with a plan. He doesn't hear what she says to
oscar clayton . Just as well, he probably wouldn't like it.[break][break]
When the lift opens up, and the heat hits her, she gasps. Her breath is stolen from her, like stepping into a sauna. Hotter, even. They're being cooked alive. A kiln, blown glass sculptures floating all around them like balloons, defying gravity. She marvels at the light pouring off them, when she realizes... even here, the
Sea has an influence. [break][break]
"Baki, the jellyfishes! You can save them, right?"
[break]
She sets her eyes on
Andrea Vaneau . She's locked in a struggle with the heat, surrounded by the angels of the Deep Sea. Immediately, her thoughts spring toward the Nihilego she was entrusted with following their venture to the core. Andrea had called it Jello, a disarmingly cute name for what others would call an abomination. [break][break]
This woman knows just as well as her. They're not acting out of malice. It's self-preservation. Getting those two mixed up, it's the cause of all of Hoenn's ills, it's the reason for those five bloody years in Kanto. But she's a new woman now. A new name, a new life. She struggles with the weight of it, trusting anyone-- but with those words, she knows she can trust Andrea.[break][break]
"Nothin' else I can do, Vaneau!"[break][break]
Not a moment's hesitation, she steps toward the source of the heat, feeling it burning her skin. The poison in her veins feels like it begins to boil.[break][break]
Floating, jagged rocks block the way, but a blur faster than her eye can track parts the way. It can only be
Josh Devlin , judging by his performance on Rotue 105. [break][break]
"Devlin! Thanks!"[break][break]
She takes another step. She can feel cinders burning her cheek, her heartbeat in her head.[break][break]
"You care ‘bout those Nihilego, yeah? Then do what only you can do."
[break]
Navy 's voice echoes in her ears. She takes one more step. This time, a leap, and then she's running toward it, along the path made for her, toward something only she can do. The burning, the pain, it all falls away behind her as she shouts at the top of her voice at the Nihilego.[break][break]
"... Stop! Stop it! Stop fighting! You're scared, and angry, and I know you're confused, but this ain't the place! These people, they're not your enemies! They're here to help! We're here to help!"[break][break]
She reaches out to touch the first Nihilego. A pacifying chain wraps around it, trying to calm it. [break][break]
She can feel the hum of the light within, the influence of the Sea, and this close, it conjures memories of a stranded ship. A strange feeling comes over her, but she ignores it-- blinks, rather than staring into the abyss. She turns, and keeps going.[break][break]
A flurry of chains pop out of her chest, connected to her heart, and attempt to pacify the rest. Their collective hum bothers her, a droning in the back of her mind that she tries her best to ignore. [break][break]
The battle between Andrea and the fiery pokemon with the mask is too important to mess this up, but... [break][break]
... she feels uneasy, like something scooped out her mind and made it disappear, just like the inner compartment of that ship. [break][break]
Blood trickles down her nose as she looks at the Nihilego in front of her, pacified by her chains, a direct connection to her heart. It's strangely familiar, and she suddenly wonders where her other half is-- whether it's still floating in some tank deep in the Megalopolis labyrinth, or whether that was only a
dream.[break][break]
[break][break]
58SgWB6f
[break][break]
+ Andrea Vaneau Navy oscar clayton Josh Devlin [break]
+ Ugly Ward[break]
+ Roll DESPAIRING Disadvantage: roll three times; the lowest roll is used[break]
+ Badly Poisoned![break]
+ tl;dr - baki introduces herself to oscar; uses her pacification powers to try and stop the nihilego from attacking
Andrea Vaneau and everyone else, thanks to the help of
Josh Devlin and
Navy amogus others; the call of the void speaks to her and she wonders where her own nihilego is