[attr="class","star2tsu4"]She's blindsided, halting her momentum to marvel at the destruction of the combination attack. She does not dare to look away, however, no matter how much she admires the prisoner's audacity. [break][break]
The shipping container fills with white light, courtesy
Roze Falkner , and everything is drowned out. [break][break]
For a moment, the shadow that lingers over her shoulders stands taller than any one of them - but the moment passes, and she's back to her old self. [break][break]
Tsubaki stares back at the stunned Rockets, glimpsing recognition in many of their eyes. Burned by acid, thrown back by the explosive force of the cannon, they still see it plain as day. A walking corpse. A woman that should be dead. She can hear mutterings of a name she never thought she'd hear again. Mouths gape in surprise, and eyes harden with hatred, and Tsubaki realizes...[break][break]
They know who she is. [break][break]
"Nice shot... But you don't wanna stay here -- GO!!"[break][break]
She urges the girl to follow
Eduardo Hisakawa . [break][break]
It feels strange. Words in her mouth don't feel like her own. Her actions as well. They feel like a pale imitation of
Navy , or even
freya morningstar . Some fake sense of heroism she's adopted by watching them work wonders over the last year and a half. She's so used to running, ambush tactics, playing dirty... it feels strange, being on the other side of this war, now - against her own. [break][break]
But they aren't her own anymore, are they? [break][break]
No, the people behind her are hers now. The innocents that
howard slayte has brought into this war, and the people who long to protect them. [break][break]
Dewford was innocent, too. [break][break]
... That's right, they won't ever be satisfied, they'll keep taking, and taking, til everything's gone. And all he can offer in response to razing the island town is a 'sorry'. She swallows down the bile rising in her throat, trying to think of what Navy would say. [break][break]
"Don't apologize with words! Make up for it with your actions, Howard!"[break][break]
But he won't listen. The grasp of Walsh is too tight. Still, if she could only reach him...[break][break]
"It's never too late!!"[break][break]
She says it, but even as she does, she feels the
thrum of a familiar energy resonate in her chest. The black bile rushes up, and she clutches her throat. [break][break]
... Fuck... not now...[break][break]
She doesn't have time for this![break][break]
The container falls away, and she glances up at the giant that had buried her home in a frigid hellscape. Dot patterns flicker, as if it means to say something, but she knows they are devoid of emotion. However sorry Howard Slayte actually is, his giant lacks such remorse. She can feel the engine within stir... [break][break]
Tsubaki throws out her hand, touching her glasses. The key stone embedded in the frame begins to glow, and her shadow flickers into a pale white. [break][break]
"Sagisou!!"[break][break]
The devil on her shoulder cackles, glee and scorn in equal measure. It is a wicked, baleful laugh. Taunting her, for relying on it at such a critical moment, basking in the desperation in her eyes and the fear in her voice. She knows it could ignore her plea, but what was the fun in ending this torture so soon? She trusts it completely... darkness that bears down on her fills her with a dread chill that cuts deeper than even the harshest winter, like the piercing of a blade wrenched sideways through her heart. [break][break]
Tsubaki laughs helplessly to herself, facing down the gathering energy upon Regice's face. [break][break]
Then, and only then, is she stricken by the shadow's curse, and her Gengar opens its yellowed teeth wide to swallow her whole.[break][break]
... The hyper beam obliterates everything in its path. The remnants of the container, a few scattered bodies of Howard's fellow Rockets still clutching blackened, scorched pokeballs. Nothing remains but a white shadow.[break][break]
And then, Tsubaki steps from the shadows, a sound like hell itself has opened up. [break][break]
She coughs black blood into her sleeve, stumbling, but she locks eyes with the man who stands at the giant's feet. She tries to shout to him, though the burn of the ichor still lingers in her throat, and the chill of the ice giant freezes her tongue. [break][break]
"... I-it's... never too late, Howard! History can remain history, if you'll set it aside! You aren't ruled by it any more than me!" [break][break]
She can't think of anything else to say, eyeing the destruction around her. She can't even pretend to protect anyone other than herself. [break][break]
This fantasy she's some kinda hero like Navy crumbles before her very eyes.[break][break]
"Get-- get... get yer head out of yer fuckin' ass, you egghead!!"[break][break]
+ Eduardo Hisakawa howard slayte Roze Falkner [break]
+ 190 MP;
3 posts (+30), gimmick (+10), have your character's Pokemon symbolize or represent in some way, the condition of your character (+50), have an antagonistic exchange of dialogue between your character and another writer's character or NPC (+50), have your character experience great fear, hatred, envy, or have a grudge worsen (+50)
[break]
+ tl;dr - gengar mega evolves, ducks tsubaki into the shadows to avoid the blast - it doesn't affect gengar... - also, ghost types can't tank a normal-type move, sorry eddie and roze!