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Darkness falls, but it isn't something BARNABY FINCH is afraid of anymore. Especially not here, where everything is pre-determined.[break][break]

Hearing mint frost's name, his curiosity is piqued, though tempered by the gravity of THEO BECKETT's request. [break][break]

"Whatever you need. I'll be by your side." [break][break]

They'd ventured into the Distortion World before, after all. [break][break]

"But why track the rifts?" He asks as, together, they escape into the next simulation.

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"Easy enough." Handing the guy a few nails? Child's play. And, uh, actually kinda boring, too. [break][break]

Fairly quickly Barnaby found his interest shifting from wood and iron to the collar of Jethro Haig's shirt. Sweat trickled down from the nape of his neck, slipping below the hem to areas undiscovered. Thoughts drifted, his imagination much more exciting than a few broken boards.[break][break]

Preoccupied as Barnaby was, after a few minutes of work Jethro was unfortunately left with an empty hand, waiting expectantly for a nail that didn't come. Not until the cowboy's rugged voice pulled at Barnaby's attention.[break][break]

"—hm? Oh, my name?" Was that a blush on his cheeks or just redness from the heat?[break][break]

"Barnaby Finch." Perhaps he could tell from the faint Kalosian accent, but Barnaby wasn't from around here, either. Something they had in common.[break][break]

"What brings you and your family to Hoenn of all places, Jethro?" Barnaby asked, curious to see if anyone else had accompanied him on his little ranching endeavor.

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[break]

"I suppose Calyrex sensed it before even we did. War is on the horizon..."[break][break]

Though he allowed her to talk as much as she liked, when the conversation lulled and turned more serious, BARNABY FINCH made clear his intentions for meeting with Aurelie Lefevre today.[break][break]

"The League is rallying its resources. It won't be long before we clash with them on an even larger scale." He gave her a meaningful look, one that conveyed a mixture of concern and expectation. "Are you prepared for what's to come?"[break][break]

BARNABY FINCH was. Now more than ever, with MOLTRES' power acting as a boon. If anything, his patron was hungry for war and the spoils that came with it.[break][break]

Particularly, the DYNA TREE and its fruits in Evergrande City.

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A brief silence fell over the two ROCKETs, punctuated moments later by a lilting laugh from BARNABY FINCH.[break][break]

"Compliment?" The admin clapped Grigori Sokolov on the shoulder a few times as his laughter mellowed. "Ha! That's a good one, Grigori."[break][break]

To underscore his amusement, Barnaby even wiped an invisible tear from his eye.[break][break]

"No, no. By all accounts you're quite the exceptional soldier, actually."[break][break]

Composure was regained quickly. Jokes aside, they did have business to attend to, after all.[break][break]

"But something you said before stuck in my brain..." BARNABY FINCH trailed off, leaving the other man's question partially unanswered.[break][break]

"You know, I'm not originally from Hoenn," He offered instead — a rare tidbit of personal information from Admin Bee. "Where I'm from, we have a saying:" [break][break]

He looked to Grigori Sokolov's face once again, studying it, taking in his reactions.[break][break]

"Serving the homeland is half of duty, serving humanity is the other half."[break][break]

After a beat to contemplate, Barnaby asked, "What are your thoughts? Do you agree?"

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Within moments of his arrival, a mousy waitress delivered tea inside a delicately floral, ornate pot, alongside matching porcelain cups. Accompanying the tea set was a small serving tower of accoutrements consisting of finger sandwiches, scones, and the like.[break][break]

"May I?" Barnaby offered, taking the teapot by its handle in a gesture that conveyed his intent to pour for her. If Elise Calcifet allowed he would do just that; if not, he would simply continue to fill his cup, adding a sugar cube or two to cut the bitterness.[break][break]

After an initial sip, he placed his cup on its complementary saucer but kept his finger on the arm. [break][break]

"You picked a wonderful place for respite. This is one of my favorite tearooms in the region, actually."[break][break]

Barnaby's demeanor was easygoing and casual toward Elise, as if he wasn't a complete stranger sitting across from her.[break][break]

"How are things at the embassy? I imagine rather hectic, given the goings-on lately." [break][break]

As for CALYREX, BARNABY FINCH didn't even acknowledge its presence. He wasn't here to talk with the shard, after all, but its handler.

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"How sweet. You missed the sound of my voice that much?" Twirling a pen he'd swiped from howard slayte's desk in his hand, Barnaby's demeanor appeared relaxed as he leaned into the chair opposite Admin Fox. [break][break]

"Surprising, though. BARNABY FINCH can be quite grating, can't he?"[break][break]

From where he sat, Admin Bee could take in the entire room, stuffy artifacts and all, but his cobalt eyes remained trained on his fellow ROCKET.[break][break]

"Anyway, you should know better, Howard." He'd been around long enough by this point. "The chase never ends."[break][break]

Their organization was never quite sated, after all.[break][break]

"It went well. But Moltres is just one of many. I'm sure I'll be called out again soon." [break][break]

Perhaps that made two of them.[break][break]

The pen in Barnaby's hand stilled.[break][break]

"I hear you've been keeping busy while I've been away."

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THEO BECKETT's request, though offered as a choice, appeared quite the opposite to BARNABY FINCH. To deny the underboss would have drawn unwanted suspicion, so here he was, leaning back into an uncomfortable armchair within the sterile office of marcus kotov.[break][break]

"Of course, Dr. Kotov. I couldn't say no when I heard it was you." Though perhaps the psychiatrist didn't remember their initial meeting; he'd been masked, after all. [break][break]

To stoke his memory, Barnaby offered his hand, thumb and index fingers splayed to show off the faint scar left there by that rabid bitch freya morningstar. Though it was light, the ragged indents of teeth formed a definitive bitemark. [break][break]

"I still appreciate the aid you administered before. Hopefully I can return the favor today."[break][break]

Hearing the other man's congratulations brought a small, practiced smile to BARNABY FINCH's face. He drew his arm back, settling it on top of his crossed leg.[break][break]

"...and thank you. That's kind of you to say."

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"I hope so too."[break][break]

After all, BARNABY FINCH's intention here was to prepare for the worst — an outcome he hoped to avoid.[break][break]

"I trust you, Cillian, so I'll be frank." While the underboss leaned against the rail, Barnaby straightened up to better face him, his tone serious.[break][break]

"Beast Harcourt came to me, irate, a few months ago, saying that his wife of all things had been hurt on the battlefield." [break][break]

"...by a Rocket."[break][break]

He let the implication hang in the air for a moment before continuing.[break][break]

"I know he told you about it. And now that Neffatari Nzingha has joined our organization..." Sighing, Barnaby ran his hand through his hair.[break][break]

"I wanted you to know that I'm the one who hurt her."[break][break]

In the background, MOLTRES' attention fell on a huge SAMUROTT swimming toward the boat. Annoyed by its presence, it swooped down and used its FROST BREATH to freeze the wild Pokémon in place.

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Zev Harcourt's voice rang above the crowd, causing Barnaby's body to whip around toward the noise. Seeing the Beast in his everyday attire, not the atrocious garb they'd been forced to wear, was a momentary relief.[break][break]

"Doesn't the architecture look somewhat familiar?" The admin suggested once they'd reunited near the overhang of a neon-lit transit stop.[break][break]

"It reminds me of Lesser Megalopolis."[break][break]

With the sheer amount of Megalopolans milling about, BARNABY FINCH surmised that this larger cityscape was likely ULTRA MEGALOPOLIS. But why had they been spirited here? Why did their collective dream create this space and not something else?[break][break]

Before he expressed these questions aloud to Zev, Barnaby first felt the need to probe him for information. Though they were free from the binds of their TOXIC CHAINS and overbearing wardens, he stilled leaned in and covertly asked, "Have you learned anything?"

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When he'd first felt that shed tear on his tongue, the taste had been strangely familiar to BARNABY FINCH. An echo of something sweet and almost forgotten.[break][break]

It softened the magenta haze that had overtaken his vision and cut through the overwhelming despair — so much so that he soon remembered what exactly that familiar taste was.[break][break]

FREEDOM. And the WILLPOWER to ascertain it.[break][break]

When AZELF's cue eventually sounded, Barnaby rose with the others in his ward to finally push back against their captors. [break][break]

As he rushed forward, his TOXIC CHAIN pulsed and writhed with a newfound power: darkness enveloped every violet crease, splitting the chain into numerous shadowed nooses. When drawn tight around the neck or other appendages the victim would find themselves BLINDED and flung into nearby walls, other enemies, or even the floor (over and over and over, taking a page from MUNKIDORI's book). Even if they survived the attack, they'd be robbed of their sight and thus severely handicapped.[break][break]

Each noose worked independently, empowered in both speed and strength by THEO BECKETT. One strangled the neck of a hostile Megalopolan beelining his way toward Grigori Sokolov, while another hurled a woman intent on attacking Aurelie Lefevre.[break][break]

A third found purchase around the ankle of a poor soul already within Elisabeth Fiorelli's clutches, tripping them. Seeing her, BARNABY FINCH paused momentarily, the poison clouding his brain working hard to dissuade AZELF's gifted clarity. In the end, his deep-rooted bond with Elisabeth was enough to push through the doubt.[break][break]

Besides, he'd need her if they had any hope of escape. [break][break]

BARNABY FINCH reached out a hand amidst a flurry of petals.[break][break]

"Together."[break][break]

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• gains a little clarity from drinking tears[break]
• accepts THEO BECKETT's support[break]
• helps Grigori Sokolov & Aurelie Lefevre[break]
• holds hand out to Elisabeth Fiorelli [break]

WE'RE IN THIS TOGETHER!!!

• TOXIC CHAIN ABILITY:[break]

shadow nooses!! can fling people around. oh and it BLINDS on contact so even if they survive being yeeted they're handicapped afterwards and easier to pick off.

[break]

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[break]






As the world took shape around them, BARNABY FINCH scrutinized it with a critical eye.[break][break]

"Hmm... isn't this that one gym in Galar?" Unbeknownst to Shred Zeppelin, Barnaby had studied in Galar for several years and had thus seen Spikemuth's gym in passing when it was on television, social media, etc. In other words, it was pretty obvious Shred was a fraud.[break][break]



Before he could comment much else, a simulated kyle lopez appeared to give his own input.[break][break]

"Hell yeah this place looks poggers."[break][break]

As if on cue, multiple GALARIAN ZIGZAGOON scrambled out of a trash can and ran over to Kyle, who promptly squated down to give the little dudes some chin scritches.[break][break]

"The only thing missing are regular Zigzagoons instead of Galarian ones. I mean, this is Hoenn, right?"[break][break]

Still, the gym passes. However, while everyone celebrated its approval, BARNABY FINCH's eye was drawn to the newly-materialized power spot and its magenta glow.

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[break]






BARNABY FINCH acted as the pair's main defense. Even as paranoia creeped at the edges of his rationality, the ROCKET admin remained steadfast in the face of myriad horrors. [break][break]

This resolve, however, was not born in isolation. Perhaps lured out by the overwhelming stream of radiating DYNERGY, his patron MOLTRES emerged from its Poké Ball to bask in the magenta glow. The onslaught of ULTRA BEASTS were petty distractions for the LEGENDARY BIRD; a sweep of its massive wing cast the beasts aside.[break][break]

Though MOLTRES' blessing granted Barnaby an inherent resistance to the effects of the DYNERGY, neither he nor soyeon kwan were immune. Monsters composed of poisoned sludge began seeping from the fleshy walls around them — and BARNABY FINCH couldn't exactly discern if they were real or a simple figment of his imagination. Whatever they were, they were terrifying.[break][break]

"We've got another five minutes, tops. Wrap up what you can."

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