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Incredible.[break][break]

To be able to bend facets of reality to her will... Naomi Sato was a force to be reckoned with. This display of power prompted a thought within BARNABY FINCH — one that he'd like to delve into with the scientist at a later date. Assuming they both made it through this island conflict alive.[break][break]

"Then I'll be on my way." He said curtly, knowing that the more they talked, the more the rangers were likely to move or suspect something was up.[break][break]

"Join me when you can." Her fatigue did not go unnoticed, but it wasn't as if it was out of place.[break][break]

With that, he and his IRON BUNDLE passed through the portal and out onto the other side, reappearing just behind a cluster of boulders so that their position was concealed. Still puzzling over the jammed radio frequency, the rangers were like sitting DUCKLETTs.[break][break]

"Freeze their limbs." Their arms, their legs. So they couldn't retreat or withdraw Pokémon of their own.[break][break]

The IRON BUNDLE complied and waddled forward, the element of surprise lending itself to a successful blast of icy FREEZE-DRY.

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[break]

TOTAL: 215 MP[break]
+ 100 MP for secret mission[break]
+ 50 MP for participation in an RT battle/mission[break]
+ 25 MP for using a paradox pokemon[break]
+ 10 MP per IC post in an RT battle/mission[break]
+ 10 MP per IC post in an RT battle/mission[break]
+ 10 MP per IC post in an RT battle/mission[break]
+ 10 MP per IC post in an RT battle/mission

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Their momentary haven reached, BARNABY FINCH felt a sudden thud! from behind. He reflexively stiffened, considering they'd just come off a battle, but quickly softened upon realizing what it was. The clap on the back did not go unrequited, as he gave a compatriotic clasp to howard slayte's shoulder in turn.[break][break]

"Don't leave out your merits. You did well out there. I'm impressed, to say the least."[break][break]

Just as the other ROCKET had done, Barnaby removed his own mask to reveal a face sticky with sweat and congealed dirt where the edges had pressed against his skin.[break][break]

"Admin Bee." Their hands met with a firm grip, shaking once before releasing.[break][break]

"I look forward to watching your future progress within Rocket, Howard."[break][break]

For better or worse, the archeologist was now a blip on BARNABY FINCH's radar.

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[break]

TOTAL: 500 MP[break]
+ 100 MP for supply mission[break]
+ 50 MP for participation in an RT battle/mission[break]
+ 10 MP for interdream mist/paradox pokemon[break]
+ 10 MP use mega evolution in your thread[break]
+ 10 MP for incorporating obstacles[break]
+ 10 MP assisting another character/pokemon[break]
+ 10 MP assisting another character/pokemon[break]
+ 250 MP for "tying" an RT battle/mission[break]
+ 10 MP per IC post in an RT battle/mission[break]
+ 10 MP per IC post in an RT battle/mission[break]
+ 10 MP per IC post in an RT battle/mission[break]
+ 10 MP per IC post in an RT battle/mission[break]
+ 10 MP per IC post in an RT battle/mission

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Once the KIRLIA concluded her work and stepped back to return to her master's side, BARNABY FINCH rose from his seat, wounds cleaned and bandaged as best as one might expect out in the middle of a battlefield. It would suffice until the conflict was over, at least.[break][break]

"Thank you for the treatment," Sincerity laced his words as he spoke, though his attention was on gathering his things in order to vacate the room for the next patient.[break][break]

"Doctor Kotov."[break][break]

Barnaby left the bloodied, tattered remnants of his undershirt where it lay on the ground, knowing that the supply tent here would have more, but did pluck the armor and tactical jacket into his arms. He moved to the tent's exit, pausing only briefly to throw an offhanded valediction over his shoulder before departing.[break][break]

"Take care."












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Insinuation was his bread and butter. BARNABY FINCH was hardly ever direct in the way he spoke. But some situations, like this one, deserved a certain taunting bluntness.[break][break]

"You use this beautiful body," He replied lowly, moving in to slip his arm across the small of her back and fold his palm against her waist.[break][break]

"And this stunning mind," The wooden mask was raised with his free hand before he leaned in close, forcing an intimate proximity.[break][break]

"To your advantage." [break][break]

There was a fond reverence in the way he spoke the words.[break][break]

"You're no wallflower. You get what you want, no matter the means." [break][break]

To hell with what AQUA thought.[break][break]

"That's admirable, in my eyes."











[break][break]

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Greyson Connors didn't seem to recognize the gravity of his position beneath BARNABY FINCH. The man's grin was so wickedly out of place on a bloodied battlefield like this one. [break][break]

What was he, some facetious pervert?[break][break]

The thought brought a kindred smile to the admin's own lips.[break][break]

"Why waste time getting to—" A hand jerked him forward, closing the gap between their bodies.[break][break]

Holy. Was this encounter going to be like Caleb Harcourt all over again?[break][break]

"...The poin—" Barnaby almost purred the words, but was cut short by Greyson's big fucking Neanderthal-ass forehead colliding with his own. [break][break]

Pain sparked across his skull and he staggered back, releasing the grip on his opponent's other arm in order to steady himself on the ground. It was a split-second reaction — one that Barnaby immediately recognized and took steps to remedy.[break][break]

His hand flashed to his hip before Greyson could continue his assault.[break][break]

Meanwhile, BLACEPHALON was still working through its confusion. For now, it was hurtling SHADOW BALLS wildly around the field in an attempt to hit the grubs... but was mostly just hitting the sand around them. Including a spot near Greyson Connors.

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[break]

TOTAL: 215 MP[break]
+ 100 MP for shore mission[break]
+ 50 MP for participation in an RT battle/mission[break]
+ 25 MP for using an ultra beast in your thread[break]
+ 10 MP per IC post in an RT battle/mission[break]
+ 10 MP per IC post in an RT battle/mission[break]
+ 10 MP per IC post in an RT battle/mission[break]
+ 10 MP per IC post in an RT battle/mission

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The fall did not slake freya morningstar's wild behavior. She was frenzied beyond recognition, all swinging limbs and snarling teeth. [break][break]

BARNABY FINCH was no better behind the mask. Fury creased his face into a taught scowl. Even as they plummeted downward, accelerating at a dizzying speed, he tried to grip her clawing hands — hard — by their wrists.[break][break]

Before they could be taken by the roiling sea below, he'd seize an opportunity to swing a leg up and thrust it into her gut. The force would separate them, but at a cost:[break][break]

Sprawling fingertips clipped the edge of his mask as they parted, sending it careening into the open air.[break][break]

Revealed was a man with billowing hair, shoulder-length and crow-black, and flashing blue eyes — glossy from the fall, sharply incensed by the turn this battle had taken.[break][break]

freya morningstar was endowed with this fleeting image for the briefest of moments. A passing glimpse, obscured by the pounding wings of the admin's CHARIZARD as it plucked him from the sky.[break][break]

BARNABY FINCH knew when it was time to strategically retreat. [break][break]

He urged Lucien on as the dragon spewed enormous clouds of SMOKESCREEN to shroud their getaway route.

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[break]

TOTAL: 470 MP[break]
+ 100 MP for sea mission[break]
+ 50 MP for participation in an RT battle/mission[break]
+ 10 MP use mega evolution[break]
+ 250 MP for "tying" an RT battle/mission[break]
+ 10 MP per IC post in an RT battle/mission[break]
+ 10 MP per IC post in an RT battle/mission[break]
+ 10 MP per IC post in an RT battle/mission[break]
+ 10 MP per IC post in an RT battle/mission[break]
+ 10 MP per IC post in an RT battle/mission[break]
+ 10 MP per IC post in an RT battle/mission

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BARNABY FINCH managed to hang on and right himself on the back of his BRAVIARY — but just barely. The roiling earth had been mere inches from his face, so close was he to crash-landing into the ground.[break][break]

Once recovered, he saw Kouji Matsubara finishing off the rest of the TALONFLAME, only for more Pokémon to step in to fill their combative role. Things weren't looking good for them here.[break][break]

"Got it." Kouji was right; they weren't here to win any particular battle. They needed to disseminate their learned intel as quickly as possible, even if it meant a strategic retreat from confrontations like this.[break][break]

To this effect, BRAVIARY conjured up a volley of undulating TWISTERS to stymie the AGGRON and STEELIX's approach — and to give time for Kouji, astride his IRON JUGULIS, to put distance between them.

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[break]

TOTAL: 210 MP[break]
+ 100 MP for secret mission[break]
+ 50 MP for participation in an RT battle/mission[break]
+ 10 MP for incorporating faction race obstacles[break]
+ 10 MP for assisting another character[break]
+ 10 MP for assisting another character[break]
+ 10 MP per IC post in an RT battle/mission[break]
+ 10 MP per IC post in an RT battle/mission[break]
+ 10 MP per IC post in an RT battle/mission

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Barnaby's sentiment toward the Distortion World couldn't have been more opposite to THEO BECKETT's. Galar had been a twenty-year prison for him. He did not relish ever returning.[break][break]

But was this plane any better? At least Galar had resembled reality. [break][break]

Given that, it was a surprise to stumble upon a familiar face here.[break][break]

"Theo." Barnaby returned the underboss' greeting and moved to walk toward him. Oddly, no matter how many strides he took, the distance between them didn't appear to lessen.[break][break]

"I've been better. What do you make of this place?"






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[break]



"It's always for Rocket." [break][break]

And it'd always had been. ROCKET was Barnaby's network, his source of influence, his connection to power and wealth and control. He'd invested too much to allow the organization to fail.[break][break]

And by extension, to allow the universe it resided in to succumb to the likes of the DRK Triad.[break][break]

"What's the point in rising from the ashes when the world is burning around you?"[break][break]

The admin's tone had cooled in the moments since his last remark. [break][break]

"This is about survival. And I'll do what it takes to guarantee that."

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[break]







Prisons have secrets.[break][break]

And ROCKET was surely full of them.[break][break]

Elisabeth Fiorelli's lament was not lost on BARNABY FINCH, but he did not have time to respond before the world blurred around them... to an annoyingly familiar plane.[break][break]

XATU. Again. Ugh.[break][break]

Barnaby knew what to expect next. Sure enough, he soon felt a probing force penetrating his psyche before his consciousness succumbed to the vision.[break][break]

He was expecting another peek beyond the veil of his childhood. Another memory he'd suppressed, brought to a festering, contemptuous light. [break][break]

This time, however, something was... different.[break][break]

It was not a complete scene. The first sensation came on slowly: a bone-deep chill that persisted, even as the vision shifted. Stone walls, the sounds of battle, and then —[break][break]

A luminescent flash of magenta colored Barnaby's mind, filling up his consciousness with a sinister RED.[break][break]

But it was not a solid hue; the light flickered ominously, like a cold fire burning within him. He tried to make sense of it all, yet there were so few straws to grasp at. He felt an inherent need to know more.[break][break]

The admin was denied this, however, as a sudden, overwhelming fatigue overtook him. His mind went blank once again, the fuchsin color fading at its edges, as he fell to one knee.

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[break]






Walsh's voice faded into the background as the pair exited the gym. They had only a few moments before the scene shifted, time which Barnaby used to comment on her... situation.[break][break]

"So you are needed as a weapon, then." It was said with finality. Blunt, without mincing words. Not meant to be hurtful, mind.[break][break]

But that was his honest interpretation. They wanted her as he did — to be used for their own purposes.[break][break]

"How different is that role than what you were already doing for Rocket?"[break][break]

He asked this question, but already knew part of the answer. With them, she was to work toward whatever clandestine goals they possessed.

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