[attr="class","lance"]

[attr="class","lance b"]

[attr="class","lance i"]really, he's only out here to make sure this region-renown extreme sports athlete returns home safe and sound. but honestly, after coming across that mess of a scene, he's not entirely sure if safe and sound is still on the table.

it has been hours since he started his search and he's nowhere closer to finding the missing athlete. he stops for a moment at the foot of a hill, taking the time to recover. he breathes, feeling the slightest bit refreshed after drinking water. the bottle's empty now, however, and he knows his time out in the wild is limited. so he's quick to carry on.

the snapping of a branch beneath a foot is from him, sure, but the rustling is from something else entirely. his hawlucha leads the way, investigating for tracks while remaining completely oblivious to the violence that awaits.

giada morgan

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i"]in true giada fashion, she lashes out first and asks questions after her whip is already wrapped around a body. and while she shouldn't just rely on instincts alone, she's in a heightened state so sorry lance but you get the whip. enjoy.

"the fuck?" comes a moment later because really, she expected something with more teeth than him. if her face wasn't hidden behind a mask, it'd be confused. very confused. "you look harmless." and then she's tugging the whip back, allowing it to smack against the ground from the force. oops, maybe too hard.

her bisharp is still on edge even with the appearance of lance and his hawlucha. maybe it's because that rustling hasn't stopped but giada's talking over it and it's fading from her attention as quickly as it came. another mistake.

"who even are you?" there's a laugh to her tone but she keeps a distance between them if only to be certain that he's not actually the cause of that scene. he couldn't be but doubt is a fickle thing sometimes. he lacks blood on his clothes but that'll change soon.

the rustling continues, growing louder the longer she stays still. she isn't aware enough to notice it or the dread coiling in her stomach. not until it's too late, anyway.

LANCE VOLLANS

[attr="class","lance"]

[attr="class","lance b"]

[attr="class","lance i"]there's a crack in the air and suddenly a whip lashes out at him. it moves too quick for him to react so he's forced to take the hit to the arm. "fuck—" he curses, shifting to a more defensive stance as blood leaks from the fresh cut on his arm. he's peering up at her, confused.

"you don't."

whip, skintight catsuit, what the fuck. she's dressed like a burglar out in the wild and he can't seem to connect the dots. there's no blood on her either, which probably means she wasn't the cause of the scene from earlier. still, he remains guarded, if only because she lashed out at him.

"lance. ranger. you?"

hawlucha eyes the bisharp, sizing it up, and it's from this that makes the flying-type oblivious to the growing sounds of rustling. they both won't notice it until it's too late.

giada morgan

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i"]"oops," she half laughs as blood leaks from the wound. normally, she'd be excited over such things but he's not her usual victim so it loses a bit of charm. and the look on her face isn't even remotely sorry but she'll offer a fake apology anyway. "sorry." totally believable.

the grin that spreads moments later is definitely not remorseful. in fact, she's almost flattered. yes, hi, am dangerous thank you for noticing!

"that's the point, doll," she offers with a shrug of her shoulders. before she can decide otherwise, she's drifting closer with the click of heels and the extension of a gloved hand. "giada, alley cat." it's mostly the truth, right?

and with both pokemon and trainers distracted, they never see the first blow coming until it's striking and she's knocked off her feet. a shrill shriek escapes because fuck, that's definitely not something she was expecting. a knife flying out of the bushes? nope. paired with the swinging of a clawed arm? a big fucking nope. the knife lodged itself into her arm but that's not what sends her tumbling. no, it's definitely the swinging arm. it catches her in the side, claws ripping through the catsuit to tear at her skin. god, what the hell is that?

pain shoots through her body, leaving her struggling to get back up let alone take a good look at what's going on. her bisharp is immediately on the defensive, drawing up in front of her like a faithful little soldier. and yet, even as she tries to look up, all she sees is bloody teeth and freshly painted claws.

"a fucking tyranitar? seriously?" fuck. in better news, at least she's still talking?

LANCE VOLLANS

[attr="class","lance"]

[attr="class","lance b"]

[attr="class","lance i"]lance stares at her gloved hand, unsure of how to react. he remains wary because he has every reason to be. she clearly isn't just out and about with her pokemon. she's poised and ready for action, and he suspects her whipping him is just her reaction to being on edge.

he reaches for her hand but never finds it. "gia—" he barely manages to step back in time to avoid the full force of the swinging arm, but it still clips him and sends him off his feet. the impact knocks the wind out of him and he immediately gasps for air. he blinks, recovering.

"kel!"

the hawlucha is already up in the air by the time the order comes. like a wingull, he tilts, shifting his weight before plummeting down at the tyranitar for a FLYING PRESS that looks to knock it off its feet.

lance looks up just in time to see the kick connecting against his temple. he's knocked back, stunned as he tries to regain his bearings. whatever man or creature it is leaves him for later and focuses on giada.

giada morgan

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i"]this has surpassed shitshow and gone straight to all sorts of fucked up. her bisharp tries to defend her, she really does but god, that tyranitar is vile. metal claw meets bloody claws and the sheer force of it is enough to whip her hair back out of her face. she's able to see a little clearer, understand a little more.

and when she does, the dread that rises is enough to almost make her puke. fucking hell.

"aw look, a cat!" the man finally shows himself, twirling knifes around his fingers. and she tries to rise, tries to do something or anything besides just fucking lie there but god her body aches. she's a mess of blood and dirt and the man faces no resistance when he approaches. her bisharp is too busy getting batted around by the tyranitar to stop him.

her eyes try to find lance, try to look for help wherever it may be but she finds nothing. instead, she finds pain and the pulling of her hair. the man yanks her up by the pigtails she wears so proudly and the scream that escapes a moment later? bloodcurdling.

"you know, i always hated cats." he punctuates each syllable with the prodding of a knife and while giada morgan normally doesn't mind a little roughness, this is too much.

she doesn't get a chance to speak, only scream a little louder when her bisharp falls unconscious and the tyranitar comes to hold her in place. her hair is released and relief lasts for a moment before claws dig into skin and she's squirming like a wounded animal trying to escape a trap. and yet, even as she's struggling, her eyes still try to find lance, to at least know that he's still breathing even if he's not someone she'd realistically care for.

LANCE VOLLANS

[attr="class","lance"]

[attr="class","lance b"]

[attr="class","lance i"]each blink is heavy, painful, and he finds himself nearly slipping into unconsciousness from the sudden impact against his temple. everything's dizzy and spinning and he's unable to find balance, falling back to the ground each time he tries to stand up.

there's only so much the hawlucha can do against the tyranitar. despite the type-advatange kel possesses, his physicality is his downfall as his attacks fail to stop the tyranitar from advancing. the bisharp falls, and the hawlucha soon follows.

despite the odds against them, they'll find a way to win. they always have.

a sudden burst of light flashes and a bewear emerges into the scene, HAMMER ARM swinging. out of pure instincts, the tyranitar drops giada if only to bring its hands up to defend itself. but the impact is too strong and it sends it back, creating much needed space. bewear is quick to close the distance.

get up.

giada morgan

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i"]her throat is raw by the time the fourth, maybe fifth she's lost count by now, knife breaks apart skin. too much screaming, not enough escaping. and really, she should be trying harder because there's fight still in her but terror has her paralyzed. one wrong move and that's it. funny, she always thought it'd end a little different. probably by someone other than this gross ass man and his nasty tyranitar. except, it's fitting that her need for money has led her to this.

eventually, her skin slowly begins to crawl with tingles before it fades into nothing. numb, losing warmth and consciousness with each cut and each river of blood that rushes from wounds. and if she wasn't so out of it or screaming so much, maybe she'd even laugh at the situation. it's funny if she really stops to think about it. and the saying that she's heard about attracting danger has never been so accurate before.

another scream rips its way out of her throat as the man grows bored with knifeplay and moves on to simply just breaking things. and by things, i definitely mean her bones. fuck, that's the wrist that was wiggling fingers toward the whip. the weapon falls in a coil on the ground and he kicks it away. well, that was her only option besides the man a few feet away. and shitshow goes from worse to holy hell this is a nightmare.

a saving grace comes in the form of a bewear, arms swinging and knocking the tyranitar back. its claws rip through her skin as the force brings the hold on her to a screeching halt. and cue another scream. her body all but drops in a heap looking a lot like a broken porcelain doll. bad move to try breaking the fall with her hands too because holy fuck, that wrist is still very much broken and she's unable to stop the way tears leak from her eyes.

"fuck," she whimpers, face barely able to lift away from the dirt before the man is moving toward her. he grabs a handful of her hair to yank her back up and she doesn't need to even look down to know that he's pressing the blade of a knife to her throat. "you tryna be a hero?" her eyes are wide, panicked, practically bursting out of her skull. help help help, she wants to repeat it until lance gets up off the ground.

a big yikes.

LANCE VOLLANS

[attr="class","lance"]

[attr="class","lance b"]

[attr="class","lance i"]get up.

he coughs, pushing dirt away as he slowly rises to a knee. he stares at the man with the knife, unwavering in his resolve, and finally makes it to his feet. his hand instinctively reaches behind him but the absence of his gun is chilling. he must have lost it when he fell. he isn't given a moment to look for it, however, as he hears the man speak again.

"stop being a bitch. let's see if you can do the same to me with that knife of yours."

taunting, goading, lance practically smirks at the man to pull his attention away from giada. surprisingly, it works, and she is shoved to the ground moments later, now free from the dangers of the knife.

"tryna protect her? how noble, ranger. but i'll break you all the same."

there's a sharp whistle that rings through the air which causes the groud to rumble beneath him. it cracks, and lance is unable to avoid the STONE EDGE that rams into his side. the impact sends him off the ground, crashing not too far away as he rolls to a halt.

"told ya."

giada morgan

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i"]okay, now she just feels bad for whipping him earlier. the ranger--lance, her mind supplies sluggishly--is proving to be good company as far as the whole protecting thing goes. and while she should really return the favor, it's a little hard to even see let alone contribute to kicking this guy's ass.

her body drops from the man's hold and the roll that follows earns a hiss of pain from the blonde. fuck, dirt and injuries really do not mix. holy shit it burns. she's struggling to even lift her head to watch as the tyranitar comes barreling at lance. a wince follows the collision. that really had to hurt. damn. giada tries to move a little more, tries to crawl toward lance's body. only, the man definitely doesn't like that. both of his prey are down now. easy pickings, if she had to guess where his mind was drifting.

her good hand reaches for the whip but a boot comes down on her hand and effectively stops all progress she was trying to make. a tsk comes from above her and she's practically snarling at the man. "fuck you," she'll hiss a moment later, the boot pressing firmer into her hand. it wasn't enough to tear her skin apart? apparently not.

"dumbasses. ya really think that's a wise choice, pussy cat?" an actual snarl rips out of her throat at the name, hitting a nerve she didn't know she had. bastard.

adrenaline surges enough for her to try to yank her hand out from beneath his boot. and while the other hand is basically useless now, it still manages to fumble at her side enough to unleash a flash of light. the distraction is enough to allow giada to shimmy away, legs scrambling to put distance between them. a snarl, not from her surprisingly, fills her ears and the cat that's released is out for blood. the luxray lunges, teeth bared and looking for a snack.

LANCE VOLLANS

[attr="class","lance"]

[attr="class","lance b"]

[attr="class","lance i"]ribs break from the initial impact and he feels the pain surging across his entire body; its epicenter somewhere on the right of his body. he grunts in pain as he struggles to catch his breath, and as the shadow of the tyranitar looms over him, his bewear comes in with SUPERPOWER strength to smack the ground-type away.

by the time lance looks back, the luxray has already made quick work of the man. the knife finds its way to the ground as blood starts to pool, and lance is quick to react to the sight as his sense of duty overwhelms him.

another flash of light appears and with it is an order: "stun the luxray." porygon 2's ZAP CANNON has no issues finding its mark as the electric-type is distracted. the blast causes it to tense up, now paralyzed for moments. but as lance approaches, he knows he was far too late.

the man is dead.

kneeling down next to giada, he only now sees the true extent of her wounds. "fuck. hold still." he loses the ranger jacket and starts doing what he can to tend to the cuts that litter her body, but honestly, there's only so much he can do in the state she's in. he loses the shirt as well and reaches for the knife to slice it into smaller pieces.

"we need to go."

giada morgan

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i"]she doesn't even bother to wince as blood seeps onto her. the man is at the mercy of her overly protective luxray now and honestly, he signed away survival anyway. she tries to get away from the screams, though, if only because it makes her nauseous. a disgusting sound for a disgusting man.

she doesn't get very far. the body thuds to the ground at her feet and she's struggling to even roll over let alone get up. her luxray drops a moment later, bloody and paralyzed from lance's porygon. a gasp escapes because holy fuck, why would you drop her cat like that? the audacity of this bitch. and despite the fuzziness of her head and the way her vision spots with splatters of black, she'll still try to whip her head around to find lance anyway.

turns out, he's already kneeling beside her and she made herself absolutely dizzy for nothing. she's aware of his hands, of the act of trying to apply pressure to wounds. and the recoil is instant, a snarl escaping. "don't fucking touch me," she's probably just angry about her poor cat. and maybe a little bit of her struggle is needing help like some damsel. which, in this case, she is definitely a damsel and sure as fuck in distress but that's beside the point.

lance is the voice of reason. they need to go, like now. she groans and relents, allowing him to help. it's not like she can put up much of a fight anyway... her consciousness is fading. fast. and maybe it's a good thing she can't think clearly because oh boy if she could, she'd be in a panic over how the higher ups will react to her getting torn the fuck open on such a simple retrieval mission. fuck. too late to think of that now. with what little strength she has left, she's trying to recall the paralyzed luxray back and usher out a corviknight to help lance. except, it doesn't work and her body falls limp the moment fingers brush pokeballs.

good luck with the dead weight, lance!

LANCE VOLLANS

[attr="class","lance"]

[attr="class","lance b"]

[attr="class","lance i"]despite the absolute shit of a state she's in, she still manages to bite back, venom drenching her words. "if i don't, you die." it seems to bounce off him, however, as he continues to wrap pieces of his shirt around her wounds. he's attempting to put pressure ot too many points and he knows it's useless but he still has to try. he has to. not doing so would mean giving up.

"hey, don't fucking sleep on me." he shakes her but it's to no avail. consciousness fades from her and he feels how her body goes limp. "giada—" he checks for a pulse, breathing a sigh of relief when he finds one. it's weak, which puts him on a timer. "fuck."

his fascination with small and odd pokemon is coming back to bite him now as he realizes none of the pokemon he has on him would be able to carry her. the bewear is stuck with the luxray and lance is stuck with the other cat.

"i'm going to need your help here, jelmo." he then turns to the luxray that's still paralyzed and laying on top of the pool of blood. "karhu! pick the luxray up and follow us, please!" the bewear will have to catch up once it's done making sure the tyranitar is out.

lance winces from the pain as he goes to pick giada up, but steels through it and rises to his feet with the help of jelmo's PSYCHIC. he's careful to avoid pressing against the damning purple bruises that litter his right side. and with that, he's off.

giada morgan