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“Oh?” [break][break]

There was a curious lilt to how he voiced the word, though Barnaby’s attention was divided between the underboss and his preparations for their little rendezvous. Balancing the two tumblers in the palm of one hand, he scooped up an ice bucket from the drinking cart in the other before joining Theo on the couch.[break][break]

“What did you think I enjoyed?” [break][break]

Placing everything onto the coffee table in front of them, Barnaby then began tidily unpackaging the bourbon. [break][break]

“Neat or on the rocks?”









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His teeth did not bite back this time around. Though their kiss was deep and rough, Barnaby relented to the touch and even reciprocated in kind. [break][break]

If he was to be forced into this relationship, why not try and enjoy it?[break][break]

An unfettered moan escaped his lips as Caleb savaged his neck, creating one of many marks that were sure to come tonight. The angry red color left behind mirrored the way Caleb Harcourt shoved him back against the wall, groping greedily at his body, testing his limits.[break][break]

He'd find that there were none now. The sharp rap of his boot was evidence enough of that.[break][break]

Barnaby hissed out a painful breath, but fell to his knees all the same. The sudden movement goaded a deep snarl from his NINETALES; he had to hold up a hand to stop Odette from charging.[break][break]

"Assis." [break][break]

She halted, reclining back on her haunches. There would be no more interruptions from her tonight.[break][break]

"Is this what you want?" Barnaby continued, placing his palms on Caleb's thighs and arching his back, leaning into both his king and the charade he demanded.[break][break]

His mouth pressed gently against the crotch of Caleb's pants as his eyes peered upwards, holding the other man's stare. [break][break]

"Tell me."












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Roaring wind and sleet overtake any means of communication, whether through comms or face-to-face. All Barnaby could do was plow forward, following after mint frost and their trio of Pokémon.[break][break]

They make it to the stone cave just in time. Within moments of clearing the threshold, the white out begins. Visibility would be zero if either man attempted to discern things outside the mouth of the cavern.[break][break]

"Looks like we're stuck for awhile." Barnaby quipped, leaning back against a nearby rock wall. Hugo curled around his master's legs, sharing his warmth.










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"Underboss Beckett."[break][break]

When THEO BECKETT stepped across the threshold into BARNABY FINCH's office, he'd find it to be as welcoming as one might expect. There was something fragrant in the air, pleasing and heady. Lamplight spilled across dark wooden floors toward a small sitting area, which consisted of a couch and two cushioned chairs.[break][break]

And, if Theo were to look, he'd find that at the corner of Barnaby's desk sat the Palentine's gift given to him by his superior: a single rose encased in a glass container.[break][break]

"Hm. A little formal for what I had in mind." Casual in his approach, he turned to the drink cart nearby and plucked two crystal tumblers from it, already anticipating what was to come.[break][break]

"Do you mind if I call you Theo?"[break][break]

They'd addressed each other informally in the Distortion World, but that was an entirely different dimension, far away from ROCKET's rigid hierarchy.










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August?[break][break]

BARNABY FINCH hadn't thought of Felix's little brother in quite some time. Years, in fact. How old was the boy now? He must have grown quite a bit to stand up to someone like Felix Gallagher.[break][break]

"I see." Brows scrunched in concern, Barnaby gestured to the leather couch at the far end of his office. He'd noticed the tension rolling off Felix's shoulders, the balling of his fists. If anything productive was going to get done the taller man needed to relax first.[break][break]

"Here, have a seat." [break][break]

Barnaby sat on one side of the couch, leaving the other open for Felix to claim, if he so chose. [break][break]

"Tell me what's going on. Give me as much detail as you can."[break][break]

His countenance was the opposite of his friend's: calm, collected. A port in the storm.








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"Power?" Barnaby echoed, watching the cat slink away into the darkness of the tunnel.[break][break]

How ambiguous. But it was a sentiment that Admin Bee himself could commiserate with. Power was a commodity that always seemed to be wanting.[break][break]

"I suppose that's the most logical explanation. But is it a mutual relationship?"[break][break]

Here Barnaby's cobalt gaze slid over to meet Jayden's icy blue.[break][break]

"Do you use Chien-Pao as well?"

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Lulu Flint was wrong on both counts.[break][break]

There was no giant beast, no gaping portal, but a small, slumbering Pokémon.[break][break]

AZELF.[break][break]

BARNABY FINCH remembered AZELF. He remembered its cracked and disintegrating red jewel, the way its blood seeped from ragged claw marks, how it glared at those that attempted to help but who'd ultimately failed it.[break][break]

He remembered the suffocating feeling brought on by thoughts of that day, too. It was similar to how he felt now, choking on water at the bottom of the lake. He pivoted to catch a glimpse of Lulu Flint before it all went dark.









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Aurelie Lefevre's joke earned her a small curling of his lips before Barnaby moved on to the matter at hand.[break][break]

"An excellent choice," The admin replied, his voice an approving purr. Her estimation of him was somewhat correct; though Barnaby could bide his time, he always preferred to take the offensive. To strike before his enemies even saw him coming. [break][break]

That strategy was a little harder to pull off on an already war-torn battlefield. So when ZACIAN appeared, ready to join the fray against ETERNATUS, he figured it was better to go big than skulk in the shadows waiting for an opportune moment. [break][break]

Just as he'd done before, BARNABY FINCH released his CHARIZARD to fight — this time, however, he was able to control its transformation using his DYNAMAX BAND. The dragon grew exponentially larger and then stormed ahead alongside ZACIAN, straight for ETERNATUS.[break][break]

"Let's see if we can bring it down this time!"







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"Life sprung from clay..." A familiar myth. Barnaby's hand grazed over the stone depictions, curious about their origins and meaning.[break][break]

"I wonder if the Regis were made using a similar technique?" He mused, admittedly rather terrible at history himself. This sort of question was meant for someone like howard slayte.[break][break]

"And what about the source of this life-giving light..." ARCEUS? ETERNATUS? NECROZMA, even, with its insatiable appetite for light? Would it ever give it freely to create rather than destroy?[break][break]

It was something to ponder outside of the RKS Simulation. Their time was up.







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The three birds fled in three cardinal directions: ARTICUNO to the north, ZAPDOS to the east, and MOLTRES to the west. [break][break]

There was little time to react. [break][break]

After all, ROCKET had been chasing after these particular Pokémon for months, with almost nothing to show for their efforts save for the inception of mint frost's PROJECT INFINITY. Even now, the birds only congregated because of the serendipitous manifestation of CALYREX and its colossal tree at the center of Sootopolis City.[break][break]

Lured here to the DYNA TREE to partake in its forbidden fruits, the birds did not linger once CALYREX waved them off. After shaking Mint from his petrification, BARNABY FINCH wasted no time in resuming his months-long chase. Within moments he was astride his CHARIZARD, flying headlong toward the waning sun. [break][break]








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mint frost and BARNABY FINCH would have to face their respective gauntlets alone.[break][break]

Though MOLTRES appeared as an amorphous, black figure on the horizon, the monitoring device created by PROJECT INFINITY's scientists allowed Barnaby to track the beast to an uninhabited island in the waters surrounding Sootopolis. When he finally touched down, dusk had faded into an inky darkness. [break][break]

Tension and uncertainty hung thick in the air as Barnaby followed after signs of telltale magenta light. He pushed through a maze of scraggly trees and underbrush until the vegetation eventually parted to reveal an ominous glade.[break][break]

At its center was MOLTRES, its enormous, avian frame perched atop a massive boulder jutting from the earth. Watching. Waiting. [break][break]

For the third time, the bird's malevolent stare pieced through BARNABY FINCH, its wicked aura threatening to send the admin to his knees — a small taste of its power and what was to come.[break][break]

MOLTRES was done running away.

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The subtle shift in tone, the ominous we that mirrored the way Elisabeth Fiorelli sometimes spoke now that WO-CHIEN had claimed her, the sudden chill in the air. Barnaby noted it all, but did not comment on it outright.[break][break]

"Alright," He'd play along. "What does it need?"[break][break]

What could jayden cross give it that no other could?[break][break]

Around them, TERA CRYSTALS glowed faintly, evoking memories of the events that led up to Jayden being beckoned by his patron.

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