It was strange how many masquerades and balls she had been involved in since she had come to Hoenn. She had put a decent amount of effort into networking, even if it produced mixed results at best. But, aside from the enjoyment of the frivolities of a festival, that was always her main reason to come to one of these.

Nevertheless, she took the opportunity to follow through with this scavenger hunt. Supposedly, there were rumors about getting a chance to network with the hosts. It was an offer she could not pass up.

Moreover, the scavenger hunt was right up her alley.

It did not take her too long to find one of those objects too.

Though it was hidden amongst the books among one of the shelves, it was not the book listed as one of the scavenger hunt items, but a pair of Black Glasses.

A strange object to place there and one she would absolutely have put on her face were it not for the masquerade.

---

HwxYHhY|

PRISMATIC PENITENTIARY

Imprisoned Investigator--Premiere Prisoner

"..."

There was nothing. Forget about being able to desecrate the human remains for anything that could he hidden and used as weaponry, she had to question whether he could call these thinsg corpses at this point.

She had seen it. It had been only one of the corpses but she had seen but that person was definitely beaten. But being beaten like that should not have left in that state. Bones were long and broke into sharp pieces. Even if they were beaten to mush, there should have been something sharp or hard within.

But those masses of flesh bore nothing of the sort. There was some sleight of hand here but Elaine was unsure where. Was the person she saw getting beat to death not real in the first place? Did his corpse never even end up here? Or had parts of his body been exhumed before they arrived in a place that seemed to not be covered by that watchful light?

Those questions ran themselves through her head as she finished up the work that was called punishment. Simulations of each of those ideas ran through her head but she could not eliminate anything. Not yet.

And then, it came to an end.

The close of the punishment was heralded by the beast being yanked back into a separate room by flying chains.

As the sprinklers emerged and ice cold water flew out, Elaine took every chance she had to scrub down as best she could. While she did, she moved herself to a corner to take stock of whatever injuried she had sustained...or at least the ones that were visible on her skin.

No lasting bruises...

But as she ran her hands across the places where she had collided into something or something collided into her, she couldn't help but find herself writhing as shocks ran up those areas to her spine. One on her left ribs. One on her upper spine. One on her shoulder. She couldn't tell how injured she was, but she clearly was damaged underneath if she felt this much pain on contact.

Physical trauma was a powerful thing, after all.

After finally scrubbing her body and hair down, she tried to dry herself away from the water as best she could.

While she was hardly a fan of being stripped down in public (or something resembling the public), desperate times called for desparate measures. Once she had dried herself as much as she realistically could, she donned the same clothes she had just taken off. Damp, but still not unbearable.

While being corralled by their wardens and led back, her eyes trailed over the each of the grotesque looking tubes. As Elaine tracked their interwinding paths, she found herself reminded of arteries, steadly pulsing and pumping blood. She couldn't help but wonder--was the facility they were all trapped in alive? What was beneath all of them? What were they consigned to facilitate here?

But, she would not be recieving those answers. Not yet. After what felt like an eternity (enough to at least dry her off a good amount), the group had ended up being returned to their own wards and corralled back in.

"Don't worry about me." Elaine smiled. Even though Ever would never see it, she still did it anyway. "Funny enough I've had worse. It hurts, but it's still not as bad as the time I smashed into a meteorite. That was dreadful. How about you? You got hit pretty bad too."

She lied through her teeth. She had been tackled, slammed, and thrown into the ground with supreme amounts of force today. It may not have been as bad as the injury she spoke of, but she was pretty sure something was still broken, even if it wasn't broken enough to prevent her from moving around.

“You should change out of those wet clothes; it wouldn’t do to get sick on top of everything else. I’ll turn my back on you and give you some privacy.”

For being such a pessimist, her cellmate was quite considerate. Soft at the core. If it weren't for the dull ache in her chest, she would have definitely chuckled.

Taking him up on her offer, she changed into the freshly pressed clothes while he still had his back turned and discarded the old, damp clothes as instructed. After eating her mochi as well, she, too, decided there was no point in trying to stay awake. There was nothing new to investigate at this point and nowhere to evaluate. Better to rest and be able to deal with the next day with a fresher mind.

But before she could say much, Ever had already taken to sleeping on the ground.

"You know. We could probably share the cot if we don't move around too much." Elaine said as she took a seat on the bed. Once she had finished, she rolled onto one side of the bed. Making the offer and leaving it open was all that was necessary. She did not need to force him into it.

"I know we're all weaklings here, but..." She muttered. She wasn't sure if Ever heard her, but that was fine. She did not need to be heard here. This was something she needed to say. For him and for herself. "Never forsake that simple kindness you have. No matter how strong you...become..."

---

The last things she remembered, she was in a prison cot after taking a beating. The next thing she knew, she was standing in a brilliantly lit city. It was a far cry from the prison she had been trapped in mere moments before.

Moreover, she was not only bereft of a toxic chain and her mask, but she was also wearing her usual clothing. It was strange. She had never felt such a sense of gratitude over what was her typical clothing.

But she still was missing her trusted partners. Her Pokeballs remained not at her hip.

She was, at this point, no stranger to waking up in a completely new location with different clothes, but she sighed and shrugged. It was better to take what she had when she could.

Taking this moment, she found herself traversing the grand megalopolis, one that was clearly alien to her. As she did, she weaved through major arteries and streets, observing its residents and the world itself. As she did, she eventually came across a building resembling a daycare. Beyond its glass displays, she found something that was lacking amongst the dreamscape--Pokemon. More specifically, her own.

"Siegfried! Stark! Tiamat! Ginga! Ériu! Jeanne!"

She shouted out each one of their names as she banged her fist against the window. But nothing happened. The Pokemon remained in the same state. The window would not budge.

For all she knew, they were merely an illusion. But still...

"I promise." She pressed her head against the window. She muttered. Once again, it didn't matter if anyone else could hear. It didn't even matter if what she was witnessing was not even real. "I'll save you all. We'll escape this together."

After one last, deep breath, she turned around and walked away. She needed to pull out as much information as she could. She would question as many of the Megalopolans as she could and continue to search for anyone else. Be it Ever, Violet, or Kyr. Perhaps even one of the other prisoners she had never met before.

---

TL;DR:

• Weakling Ward
• Elaine questions everything with regard to the corpses
• Elaine strips for shower to take stock of her injuries.
• Elaine sleeps on the cot
• Elaine finds her Pokemon in the dreamland but fails to reach them
• Elaine begins questioning the people walking around while looking around for anyone she knows (or doesn't know)

Tags: ever blackwell , Violet Fairbanks , Kyrenai Black

Elaine was right. She felt right bringing Violet here. The more she spoke to her, the lighter she had felt. The more she spoke to her, the more things started to feel a bit more real. It was as if she was the perfect anchor to her.

And perhaps, Violet felt the same. She had even felt comfortable enough to announce that she had been harboring a deep secret. That was hardly a shock, but it felt nice. That she had someone to confide in and someone to confide in her.

After all, Elaine had her own suspicions about Violet, but she never tread down that path once. A detective's job was exposing the secrets that people had worked so hard to conceal. In a way, that was the kind of person she had become.

Without much effort, she could dig into anyone she was close to. However, doing so was something she had drawn that line in the sand to close off. Sure, she could suspect whatever she had wanted about them as she wanted.

But, digging in and exposing them was not something she could do. Not to someone she trusted nor to someone who trusted her.

That was why she would wait. If Violet felt comfortable to reveal more about herself, she would welcome that. If she wished to keep things silent and let the world pass as was, she would welcome that.

So, she simply smiled. There were no words she could say. She would wait and accept it. Whenever Violet was ready.

"Well, you did say that he was willing to go all the way to ensure this works, right? With nothing to lose? He might just be willing to move the target into position himself and keep her there. If they both perish in the incident – or he survives, injured – at least his legacy would likely be more untarnished."

Elaine's eyes widened. It was as if something had clicked in her brain.

"So that's it." The itinerary had a few people standing on stage with Cora. "It wasn't too flashy. It was so over the top, that it would leave a mark."

It was such a crazy idea. Driven by emotions so mad that the one who ignited it all would likely not survive.

After all, he was the only of the three suspects to be standing on the stage. If she flipped the chessboard and thought through that perspective, then...

"In that case. We know what's coming. The assassin will target that one." Elaine pointed to a specific chandelier. "In which case, the best vantage point will be over there."

Elaine pointed to a specific location on the deck. There was nothing seemingly particular about the location.

"In that case, wanna try to set up a trap?"

---

Tag: Violet Fairbanks

PRISMATIC PENITENTIARY SIDE STORY

Restrained Rendezvous

It was a shame. He, too, was just like anyone else. A small person in a large world crushed by its many crazy cogs. Nobody should have been expected to have the fortitude to even consider the other side of the walls in this state. Those who did, like her, were an aberrancy, all things considered.

Although that aberrancy was one of Hoenn's own creation, she was still one.

Forged through some of the hells the region had put her through, she was far more willing to cling on to a faint hope than many.

"Who knows?" Elaine shrugged. It was the most honest answer she could give. "Gaining our Pokemon back will ultimately be requisite to any escape method. Not to mention, finding an escape method is also another issue on its own."

She had a couple ideas. For one, the platform in the center of the wards seemed to ultimately be the biggest avenue for movement, but it was also the sole avenue that they knew of--one that was constantly under the watch of their wardens.

"Suffice to say, I don't know the answer. There's too much information we don't have. Gathering intelligence is the most important thing at this stage. Otherwise, we're just swinging blindly."

Elaine stopped herself. The more she spoke on that matter, the more she was digging him into a pit of despair. That was unnecessary.

"Hope doesn't have to be based on facts and reality. It's funny for a detective like me to say that, but as long as there's something for you on the other side of the tunnel, then there's no point in discarding all hope in the bleakest situations. This is just one Hell, after all. It's just one."

---

Tag: ever blackwell

Elaine found herself chuckling a bit. She had long lived life living under the terms of the most logical explanation. But the idea of leaving things to Hanlon's Razor was not an incorrect philosophy. In fact, it had served her well many times before.

But the cold logic that undercut any case was still her domain. No matter how much one attributed to stupidity, that still remained. Such was the reality of her life. In order ot view both the big picture and the minor details that were orchestrated by people, she had to choose her blade.

What Violet had said, too, was fine.

Taking her hand, she walked up the long staircase up to the viewing deck.

"Sorry about all of this." She had known that Violet had said multiple times that she had been fine with it all. But, she couldn't help it. "Ever since the incident in the Cloud, I haven't felt the same. This is the largest job I have had since then, but I felt like I just needed to have someone close by my side."

Elaine tapped her fist onto her temple a couple of times. "Nothing feels real. Neither the life I'm living now or the memories that I lost and regained. What was I resolved to do? What led up to that? And what is the core of my resolve now? The person who I was died, leaving behind someone else, you know? So I still haven't figured it out yet--where I'm going from here."

She would normally regret dumping her inner turmoil onto someone else, but that someone else was someone who could understand. By some manner or another, they had gone through a very similar experience.

That was why, as the two of them reached the top of the staircase, she was sure that Violet would completely understand her concerns.

As the they reached the viewing deck, the two of them could see what clearly looked to be an outer rim only 5-10 feet wide encircling the entire level. On its perimeter was a railing about half the height of an average person. Aside from the fancy rug that coated the floor, a couple of chairs and couches for people to sit on and view the hall below, and a few potted plants, the entire viewing deck was pretty sparsely decorated.

It was clearly meant to not hold very many people and designed with the intent of having people only stay up there for a short time.

It was crazy just how out of view they were now from the rest of the ballroom.

And from that position, Elaine noticed something strange on the chandeliers--particularly the chains that held them up to the ceiling.

"There's no way..."

On the a couple of links on each of the chandeliers was a strange discoloration that would not have been noted without someone actively looking around.

After picking up her phone and looking at the plans for the hall, she had come to a pretty startling conclusion. Given the place of one of the chandeliers...

"That's way too flashy a method."

---

Tag: Violet Fairbanks

Aurum Badge Challenge

Everything was going exactly as Elaine had hoped. She couldn't help but crack a smile. Jeanne had been freed from restraint and now had left herself wide open.

Gram was aggressive beyond anything she had seen a trainer command before--even more aggressive than her own Lockon.

So, there was no way that it would let such a succulent-looking opening pass it by.

Elaine snapped her fingers the moment she saw the enemy swing.

"Back!"

At the sound of her command, a shadow appeared at Jeanne's feet. Without a moment's delay, she fell through. When she re-emerged, it was right behind where she where Gram's back had been. The stage was set. That was the opening she could exploit as the spectral blades slashed forward.

Yet, despite the seeming check she had put the Aegislash in, she could not help but find herself sweating. She could not expect this to be over just yet.

---

TL;DR:

• Jeanne uses Phantom Force to dodge out of the way of the Head Smash and attempt to attack from behind. Nothin' personnel, kid.

Tags:Gwyar Wledig

Elaine had heard the comment made at her after she had stuck her tongue out. It was only natural that with how blase she was acting that she get a bit of taste of her own medicine. But instead of finding annoyance from the comment, what she ended up feeling was completely different. A warm flushing came to her face as looked away for a moment. She had hoped Violet missed it but she could feel the blush at her cheeks.

It was hardly the first time anyone had called her cute but this one in particular...

That was close. I actually felt that one.

After taking a moment to breathe, she turned her head back to Violet, once again calm and collected. After teasing her, Violet had been working to make valid point after valid point.

"You are right. It does feel outlandish for someone to resort to murder especially if they have that much to lose. That would be under ordinary circumstances." Elaine took a sip of the drink in her hand before speaking again. "The same goes for that woman. If she is the assassin, she's taking plenty of risk by being in the vicinity with him. However, there are a few more details that point that way."

She had had her face turned completely to face Violet. Understanding why she had done that, she maintained an intense gaze into Violet's eyes.

"But circumstances are not ordinary. Not for him, at least. Don't underestimate the resolve of a principled man willing to go down for his cause. Ms Cora's corruption is enough of an eyesore for someone like him to take such risky action." With those words, she took Violet's free hand and turned them away from their quarry as she led them to a set of stairs that terminated at the viewing deck above the ballroom. As they made their way towards the stairs, Elaine continued to speak. "The resolve of someone willing to go down with their cause is unfathomable. If they're willing to take everyone else down with them, doubly so. And if they even feel backed into a corner, no matter how wrong the perception is, it goes further. I've seen enough of that kind of person in my time as a detective."

After all, it was one of those very kind of cases that led to her vanishing from the public eye for a while. She almost felt herself clenching her glass as a certain face appeared before. She hadn't had the same repulsion she used to have towards that face since she had left the cloud, but it was still a disgusting visage nonetheless.

"I've seen too many of that kind of person. Be it the principled or the non-principled kind."

After placing down her glass on a nearby table used to drop off used glasses, she continued. "Suffice to say, I live by the principles of Occam's Razor and the principle of eliminating all other possibiltiies. Try to play the reverse psychology game too much and you get burned. Emotions break the reverse psychology game far too often to count. Besides, you've probably already gotten understanding for the kind of people who are gathered here. Everyone here is sordid."

As she stood by the base of the stairs, she faced Violet once again, but this time with a smile and a wink. "But that's enough of boring you with my work. I invited you here so we could enjoy things a bit. So, let's focus on that for now. The viewing deck awaits."

---

Tag: Violet Fairbanks

PRISMATIC PENITENTIARY

Imprisoned Investigator--Premiere Prisoner

Elaine almost found herself breathing a sigh of relief the moment that the vote for their prisoner's dilemma was announced. The fact that a majority had chosen trust on both wards was a good sign. No matter what the reason was, the 'dummies' had chosen quite the logical option.

After all, there was no real advantage to forsaking the other ward. Not from the options presented at least.

Moreover, the terms that their punishments would be more "managable and survivable" was enough to make Elaine shudder at the possibility of what the other punishment that would have been planned for them was.

But that all seemed to wash away as the entire ward was corralled onto a platform and further into the depths of the facility. The moment the entire group had gotten close enough, they had been thrown into the new dark space. Elaine was no exception to that. Much like the others, the green brute tossed her in as well, though she was lucky enough that she stuck the landing properly enough that she shielded anything internal. She may not have landed on her feet, but there was hardly any lasting damage and barely more than a couple scrapes.

So, as the punishment commenced, she did exactly as instructed. True to her own nature, she had ended up finding one of the mangled corpses first.

Elaine sighed. As much as she hated that she was helping to commit the crime of disposing of a body and toxins, there was not much else she could really do in this state.

"I'm sorry."

She had seen how one of the corpses had come to be, through a display of absolute brutality. But the other corpses, she had never seen before. In all likelihood, other dissenters who had been made an example of.

She could not linger around the corpse forever.

She would focus on picking up the forgotten pieces of mochi while picking up pieces from the ground while continuing to examine what remained of the bodies. Observe for any strangeness. Any information. Perhaps she could fashion the ribs or bones of one of the corpses into a weapon.

While they were out of the view of the light, she needed to come up with some advantage while enduring the punishment.

However, it was all interrupted. She had heard the sounds, but she had been too tunnel-visioned. Though it was hard to observe the world around her like this, it was her fault for not paying enough attention to her suroundings.

It was a simple, yet savage blow to her chest and stomach. She had been discovered by whatever it was that had been let loose to run amok her. This had been different from when she was tackled in the wards. It had thrown all of its weight into her, tossing her back a few feet.

Elaine scrambled back to her feet. But she had been barely back to her knees when a vines lashed out at her. She sidestepped to barely avoid it, but her chest and her gut screamed from the pain. She felt like she could cough up blood at any second.

Not to mention, dodging it had only angered it. Could she fight back at this point?

She heard a sound coming from behind her and reflexively turned back just enough to throw a fist behind herself. However, her fist passed by something else. Its foot swung directly into her chest before her fist could even make contact.

Flying back, she landed in a net of vines that promptly wrapped itself around her before flinging her back down to the ground.

Was this what it felt like to be dying? She could feel her consciousness flitting in and out as she lay on the ground. It was like everything kept flashing to black.

"N...no."

She rolled onto her stomach and slammed her hands onto the ground.

Don't mock me!

She hacked and coughed, feeling the pain in her chest and her belly worsening with every disturbance of her diaphragm. A hot ache spread throughout her entire body.

But she pressed down. Her arms straightened. Her torso straightened. Her legs straightened. Eventually, she had come to realize it.

Though she felt nothing short of pure agony.

Though she felt like she could tumble back to the ground at any second.

She had stood.

And it wasn't just that. The fact that she could take her chance and stand back up meant one thing. The assailant had clearly been frenzied enough to attack her in rapid succession, not giving her even a moment to rest. The fact that it wasn't attacking her meant it got tired of her and left for its next victim.

She was free again. For now.

She was aching. She felt weak. She felt like she could cough up blood into her mask at any moment.

But she couldn't dawdle here. She had to work through this. Otherwise, there was no telling what else could happen to her or the others. For the time being, she could only hope that her cellmate and her friends had been able to avoid this ghastly fate.

"I need to find something."

She had begun to examine the corpses again as she continued to work on the 'punishment' meted out to them.

She was a weakling. But there was a snowball's chance in hell she would let that stop her here. She had not given up on anything. Not yet. She would find something. She had to.

---

TL;DR:

• Weakling Ward
• Elaine examines the corpses as she cleans up mochi. She gets in close to at least move them somewhat to the disposal.
• She gets thrashed by Ogerpon though she attempts to and fails to get one good punch in
• She stands back up, battered and dizzy and feeling like she's by death's door.
• She continues her work and continues to examine the body for abnormalities/clues or parts she can scavenge
• She worries for her cellmate, Violet, and Kyrenai's safety though she has no clue where they are

Tags:ever blackwell , Violet Fairbanks , Kyrenai Black
GWDGspzC

PRISMATIC PENITENTIARY SIDE STORY

Restrained Rendezvous

"There's nothing wrong with that." Elaine shrugged as she listened to her cellmate. The idea that losing hope in this kind of situation and not having any in this situation would even be even remotely incorrect or sinful was ludicrous.

Not everyone could be an optimist in this situation.

Hell, Elaine herself couldn't even say she was being optimistic.

"Anyone would lose hope in this kind of situation."

In fact, had it not been for what she had already experienced before, she would have been the same. One among many weaklings who had lost hope the moment the situation laid itself bare to them.

"I think we'll get out of here one way or the other, but even holding onto that hope is difficult."

Her cellmate was a pessimist. In this situation, reasonably so. But Elaine had been through some forms of hell and back. They may have changed her, but she inevitably made it through all of them.

She could not say that this was why she was sure that they would make it out.

"But that doesn't mean that there's been any reason to give up on it yet. At least, not for me."

---

Tag: ever blackwell

PRISMATIC PENITENTIARY SIDE STORY

Restrained Rendezvous

Being in jail was a new experience. In all honesty, Elaine had gone through numerous new experiences since she had come to Hoenn. Between the Cloud, the battle atop the Meteor, or the incident with the shield, she could honestly say that getting caught in a strange new experience seemed to be part and parcel for her.

But that didn't change just how surreal this entire experience had been for her. Being taken in her sleep, stripped of her clothes and Pokemon, and tossed into a prison with a mask and a chain on was not in her list of things she had expected in this region.

There was no way in hell it was in her cellmate's mental bingo card either.

"Do you think we'll get out of here?"

Her cellmate had asked that question quite bluntly. Elaine almost found herself shocked by that. But, it was only natural to question it given the situation.

"I think so."

Of course it wasn't that simple. As much as she wanted to say she had a plan, she had nothing. Just a vague hope.

"Nothing is eternal. So this, too, shall pass. That much I'm sure of. Do you disagree?"

---

Tag: ever blackwell

She was good. Elaine would normally go at these kinds of cases solo, because she had managed to solve most cases by keeping clandestine movements and setting things up. But, since that incident at the sea, she couldn't help but feel like something was wrong.

Suffice to say, it was great to have someone she could bounce ideas off of and who would be prone to giving good ideas. It was also great to have someone come to a similar conclusion.

"Well, duh. A debriefing in a hotel room wouldn't be any fun. This is cutting short an assassination attempt and so I thought you'd have a bit more fun going in a bit blind."

Elaine knocked at her head and stuck out her tongue for a moment as if to try to avert herself from an apology and just say 'Silly li'l Elaine'.

As soon as Violet said her piece, she had shifted their positions ever so slightly so Elaine could see who she was talking about in her peripheral vision.

"But your deductions have so far been spot on. I'd respect someone who had the will to pull the trigger themselves, but the vast majority of times I've been in this kind of case, the only ones who do that are those that don't have the power to get someone else's hands dirty." Elaine made sure to keep a hand on Violet's as she continued to speak.

"The crazy part is that you had the fortuity to catch my prime suspect out of my three on the first guess. Of all the people interacting with another, it just happened to be him. Taizo Anzai, 63, the CEO of Anzai Metallics. He's a pretty prominent member of the sector for accumulation and manufacturing with metals like Lithium. Despite this, you wouldn't guess that he's a pretty staunch environmentalist. That man has supported numerous evnvironmental intiatives over the years and though that cut into his business, it gave him a lot of influence from local communities that have cooperated with him as a result recently."

She paused as she grabbed a pair of drinks from a nearby server who had walked by them before passing the one of them to Violet. The moment he was out of earshot, she continued.

"Now while one would think he would be in support of Ms Cora, the complications lay in what I spoke of earlier--the allegations of corruption. He has been pretty steadfast in his criticisms of her and has fought against her campaigns multiple times though he has never run for office himself. Suffice to say, he's pretty principled. But he's also at the center of some suspicious transactions, though that was something I had to put some effort into digging up after I put him on my radar."

As she continued on, the waiter walked away from the elderly gentleman.

"But that waiter is not the suspicious accomplice. That is actually the first time they had encountered each other. In fact...speak of the devil."

A younger woman approached the older man. She was probably the same age as Violet and Elaine. Her long, purple locks were tied into a ponytail that rested upon her shoulder. Her blue dress held a long slit that allowed for a leg to poke out. "Out of all of the three suspects, those two are the ones I have seen together most. On the guest sheet, he was registered as coming in solo, but those two have been together at least three times so far. In fact, they were even watching us when we were talking to the client. The rest have been interacting with only different people."

---

Tag: Violet Fairbanks
Ret Con? I never knew him.

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."

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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

Aurum Badge Challenge

It was still a lock. Elaine had hoped that the Aegislash would try to overpower and knock Jeanne away, but it did the exact opposite. It was like the two were bringing each other into a twisted embrace where both would take from each other until one could stand no more.

They were stuck in equilibrium. That meant that she had to break through fast and she had to do it before Gram did so.

It was at that moment that a strategy came to her. If she could just use Gram's aggression to Jeanne's advantage, she could salvage this.

"To the ground! Let its blade slide off yours and slash at the bindings!"

She just needed to free herself. If she could place herself at the right location, she could declare check.

Feel superior. Take insult. And dance to Jeanne's tune!

Jeanne let one blade off and tilted the other to let the Aegislash continue its momentum across the blade's surface before getting down on her knee. As she did, she used the two blades to slash at the tassels keeping them tethered.

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TL;DR:

• Ceruledge gets down, tries to let the blades slide off, and slashes at the tassels with continuing Bitter Blade

Tags:Gwyar Wledig