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Post by urmmuxunbidden on Mar 3, 2017 15:22:47 GMT -5
As the group moved in to the clearing, Edward quickly filled in Vogun. Upon reaching the suspended petilil, Edward gasped. He had been hoping fervently that things were different, but he couldn't deny it now.
"Hattie!" Wyndra called. There was no response. "Hattie it's okay. I'm going to get you down from there!"
The tropius spread her wings and began to beat them. Each swing of the wide leaves caused ripples of air to sweep across the grass. It didn't seem conceivable, but the lumbering saurian began to rise into the air.
Edward cautioned the tropius "Wyndra, this is a trap. Whoever did this is waiting for you to make a move."
"Good. I want them to realize who they messed with."
The tropius swooped into the clearing, in an attempt to grab Hattie. She was stopped cold by a scyther suddenly dropping from the tree and brutally slashing through her wings. Wyndra fell out of the sky, just out of reach from her unconscious friend. She crashed into the stones below, with the scyther still on top.
"I'll tear you to shreds!" She screamed.
Before she could make a move, the scyther started vibrating. It moved so fast there seemed to be a half-dozen scyther all around, surrounding her. The criminal bug cackled, each one of the illusory copies mocking her.
"We know exactly who we are messing with. We know everything about you Wyndra."
Meanwhile, the scizor watched from above. Her operative was showing off, drawing attention. Good, that gave her a few seconds to line up her shot. Edward, the dossier said. He should fetch a handsome ransom if he survived. The moment was perfect, and she pulled the trigger.
Without interference, the net would completely pin down the old man, even knocking him out, sending his team into disarray.
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Post by NolChannel on Mar 3, 2017 20:55:53 GMT -5
To Khail, the signs of a trap were as clear as day. It was, for the moment, the reason he hadn't issued a specific order: as the Absol glanced up, the operative kept his gaze on the surrounding area, taking note of more secure branches and potential lines of sight. If it was a net gun, Khail should be able to make it out by the scope-
-Well, that plan couldn't even get off the ground! The enraged Tropius quickly kicked into the air, determined to use brute force to try and rectify this! Abigail looked up, and called out: "Wait, you can't-"
"Abigail!" With a firm flick of Khail's risk, the Absol looked over, and tensely stayed in position. Thus, Wyndra was left to her lonesome, the Scyther's double team quickly surrounding her. Quick to respond, Khail flung his own Poke-ball into the air, a second insect joining Wyndra in the clearing.
And as the Vespiquen took form, her gaze settled on that Scyther, a swarm of small bees already escaping her hive. With attack order, it didn't matter just how many clones there were: those small drone insects would move in, a fair number trying to sting at each one!
"Ah, but its only fair if they get to know you too. Come, my horde... let's get acquainted.~"
Welp, 'Titan' was off the deep end. But the Scyther definitely drew part of Khail's attention, as the sound of compressed air gave way, a 'pop' filling the clearing! Fortunately, Abigail was already on it: stepping in front of the net as she brushed Edward out of the way, her horn pulsed a deep black, ready to shred through it the moment it would try and-
"Ah..."
Why now?! The poison caused her paw to slip, the energy wavering for just a moment. Instead of being severed, the net easily surrounded her! "The frick is this... gah!" Her nails flashed, trying to pull at the mesh...
... Though the Scizor wasn't just going to wait! She drew the net back with a second button, pulling her right into a Vacuum Wave fired by her claw! Well, it wasn't her intent, but she would now be holding a limp, netted Absol under her arm!
"Of all the..." Khail swore, reaching for another ball... but he seemed to hesitate over this next one. If they were after Wyndra, should he really show another shadow? "Don't lose sight of the Scizor!"
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Post by urmmuxunbidden on Mar 4, 2017 20:09:45 GMT -5
At once, the illusory clones disappeared. Scyther fruitlessly waved at the small cloud of insects biting him. Wyndra cloaked herself in shadow, and dashed forward, throwing the scyther off her back. Immediately, she swung around and slammed in to him, exploding the shadowy aura through his hardened carapace. The scyther slid back a few feet. He looked badly hurt, but still more than able to fight.
"You don't hit quite as hard as you used to. I hope you'll still fetch full price."
The scyther struck back, landing a brutal aerial ace on Wyndra. The tropius dropped to a knee, and groaned as she tried to stand back up. Her foot slipped again.
"I can't go back!" Wyndra cried out.
She was starting to feel her control slipping. For her to reverse now would play right into the hands of these sickos. She had to stay strong, for Hattie. Wyndra forced herself to stand back up.
Grandius had his eyes on the net-wielding scizor. While she retracted Abigail, he ran though his list of options. Leaf storm wouldn't even scratch her, and earthquake would hit everyone except the scyther. He simply had to stand there, and let his idleness kill him a bit inside. Edward issued a command to Vogun.
Thankfully, the scizor was too distracted to hear. It couldn't have been important, she was confident that she could take whatever the puny grass-type could dish out. Having obtained the absol, the scizor unhooked the net from her gun. She spun around and chucked the net into the middle of the pond. The weight of the net dragged it's contents down below the surface. There, let someone have to rescue precious Abigail. These government types never knew how to cut their losses and leave someone behind. She quickly reloaded her gun and took aim at...
no... It was getting hard to keep her eyes open as the weepinbell launched sickly yellow spores at her. She fought to stay awake. She aimed at the weepinbell, and fired, before dropping out of the tree unconscious.
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Post by NolChannel on Mar 4, 2017 23:53:32 GMT -5
In retrospect, the Scizor had tried quite a silly thing: to just throw away a hostage like that? There was some concern in Khail's expression, but no hesitation or fear: drawing his two remaining Poke-Balls, one in each hand, he gave both a lob: one, towards the lake, and another, straight over Wyndra's head.
The former ball released an Alakazam, clutching its spoons in both hands. Around its ankle was a golden stone, an Alakazite, held by a metal bracer. With a mere glance towards Khail, he directed one of his hands outward. From the still-distended water, a drenched Absol was lifted up, the Alakazam having gripped the net with Psychic. "Quite a mess we have here, Khail." Despite his brief words, the Absol was gently brought forward, and if Khail was given the opportunity, he'd return her safe to her ball.
The second Pokemon, however, would perhaps be of more interest to the Scyther at hand. Though the insect fully expected Wyndra, what would he think of another shadow? A crimson light released a Jolteon, a harsh grin already on the fennec's face. Black static radiated from its many pins, as he gave Wyndra a glance. All he caught was the Scyther's last quote, but that was enough to give him a good enough hint:
"Oh, I have to wonder... just how prepared are you to handle someone like her?"
"Why, you..."
Jolt was far less forgiving: before the Scyther could even finish, a dark circle radiated around its feet, forcing him to kick away, right before a spike of shadow energy erupted from where he was standing! Once more, the Scyther created clones, surrounding the two! "This damn trick again? C'mon, tree-girl..." He scoffed. "Let's blow this weak bug over."
It wouldn't be so simple, though: disguised in that 'double team' were two more Scyther, the last two of the Scizor's crew!
And as for Titan? Well, the Vespiquen's insects still buzzed around, a few landing on both Jolt and Wyndra. But on Khail's hand signal, she disappeared into the foliage, floating all the way up to Hattie's net. "Damn Khail... splitting us up this far. Oh, well... c'mere..."
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Post by urmmuxunbidden on Mar 6, 2017 13:52:20 GMT -5
The net wrapped around the weepinbell, and sharply retracted back toward the net gun. Now on the ground, the scizor started to shake off her drowsiness. She shouldn't have underestimated the weepinbell, but at least she shouldn't have to worry about that again. Her wings buzzed a bit in annoyance as she watched the various happenings around her. This government worker had stronger and more pokemon than stuffy office types usually carry around. He's probably worked in the field before. There was a chance that her timing for all this was a critical error.
By now Hattie was starting to regain consciousness. She struggled to open her eyes, but all she could see was a big blur. Her body was completely numb, and she was sickeningly dizzy.
"Can anyone hear me?" She cried out, "I can't see anything. What happened to me? Where am I?"
Things were starting to happen too fast for an old man like Edward to process. His optimistic demeanor started to unravel. He watched Grandius struggle to do anything, Wyndra being tormented by the scyther, and Vogun snatched away right in front of him. Edward slumped to the ground.
The torterra realized where he was needed. He knelt down beside his old friend.
"Edward, stand up. you're stronger than this. I... Your team hasn't given up yet."
Wyndra was relieved to have help. The jolteon encouraged her, and then echoed her sentiment exactly. Hanging on dearly to her second wind, she used shadow break again. She charged in a wide arc, hoping to hit as many copies as she could. Two scyther dissapated as the tropius barrelled through them, but the third was solid. This time, the bug was flung back into a tree, and dropped to the ground, struggling to get back up.
"Was that hard enough?" She quipped.
Her confidence drained quickly as she noticed the rest of the illusory copies were still there. She hit a different scyther than the first. The one she had struck suddenly dashed forward with aerial ace, carving a deep gash along the neck of the tropius. For Wyndra, everything went black. She collapsed on the ground, fainted.
While that happened, all of the remaining images of scyther launched into attacks of their own. Half of them dashed toward the jolteon in a wicked slash, while the others jumped off the trunk of a tree and attacked the vespiquen with aerial ace. Only one of each was real, but if they all hit at the same time it would be impossible to tell which ones.
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Post by NolChannel on Mar 6, 2017 20:28:53 GMT -5
Well, this situation was getting outright out of hand: it would be difficult for one person to keep track of everything!
Fortunately, the Alakazam didn't meet any resistance, able to easily pluck Abigail from the water. She was left to rest on the Oasis' edge, soon disappearing into crimson light as Khail returned her to her ball. But this wasn't Guru's only concern: the moment that she was safe from the water, a psychic aura brimmed around him, and in the next moment, he would vanish from sight.
The Scizor, with Vogun in tow, tried to distance herself from the rest. If she could sneak back in with a good line of sight, she might be able to bag a few more... she just had to figure out what to do with this Weepinbell! She took a look around, seeing the various trees, the psychic sitting perched on a branch-
"What the-"
Guru merely flicked a spoon forward, the electrical surge of Thunder Wave now flowing through the Scizor's armor! Gritting her teeth, she readied her net gun, arms shaking as she raised to fire! CLICK!
Click... click? No matter how much she tried, the trigger simply wouldn't slide back in! "What did you do?!"
The Alakazam merely waved his hand. "If you want to have some mercy, I'd recommend giving it up right now."
"Ha, nice one!"
Always nice to see one of these things just get splatted! Grinning, the Jolteon kept his focus on the surrounding bugs... just how many were there? Weren't these just clones? But as several drew their blades, it seemed clear that there could have been several clear ones in that bunch!
It seemed that way. But, with a blink, Jolt let out a single Thunderbolt: tearing from his pins, this one was directed right towards the correct Scyther, without a single doubt in the Jolteon's head.
And Titan was in a similar boat: she, of all things, was left with the innocent little grass type! Not a soft or motherly kind at all, the Vespiquen reached her arms forward, picking her up, net and all. "Excuse me... its gonna be loud." She glanced down, seeing the Scyther approach from below. In the center of her hive, a white glow pulsed, letting out a Power Gem - again, aimed right at the Scyther! But just what gave it away?
A buzzing in the Scyther's ear would give it away: from the attack order before, the Vespiquen's small insects were still scouting the area below. A few of them had latched onto each Scyther to begin with, and let out a buzz, warning its master of the threat!
As the Torterra consoled Edward, Khail kept his focus towards the Jolteon. Seeing Wyndra felled by a single blow, he cast his glance sideways, briefly, towards the turtle and this Oasis' keeper. "Like family, then?"
He just chuckled, a smirk on his face. "Don't worry. We'll catch these bugs, and figure out just what they're up to..."
Khail pulled back his sleeve, revealing a peculiar device on his left arm, taking a great ball in hand. And he gave it a strong throw - different than before - towards the Scyther that the Tropius had knocked out. A white 'claw' tore from that ball, aiming to snatch the Scyther straight up!
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Post by urmmuxunbidden on Mar 9, 2017 0:26:01 GMT -5
Both the power gem and the thunderbolt struck the first scyther, sending him flying to the left, completely unconscious. He hit a rock coming down, and his exoskeleton cracked along his abdomen. The effects of double-team ended. The second scyther tried to dodge the pokeball, but Wyndra's attack left him with a limp. The white claw surrounded him, and carried him into the ball. The pokeball dropped to the ground and rocked once. It rocked a second time, and then clicked shut. There was only one scyther left, but by this time, he had reached Jolt with his attack.
It was dawning on Hattie that she had been poisoned, or something like it. Everything felt slow, and confusing. She could make out shapes and noises, but it was all a haze. She tried to remember what happened. The last thing she could recall was disappointment at the fact no pumpkins had grown yet. She was dimly aware that a large shape in front of her was trying to communicate.
"I don't remember anything," She explained. Her words were disturbingly slurred. "I think I ate something bad. I think we need to go to the city now."
Elsewhere, the scizor dropped her net gun in frustration, but quickly recomposed herself. It had been a while since she got her own claws dirty, and she guessed it was only a matter of time before it came to this.
"Alright, fine. My mercy will be ending you quickly."
As she tensed up for battle, a dark aura surrounded her. Unlike a certain tropius, some pokemon accepted the gifts they were given. She lunged toward the branch, but didn't follow through with her attack, expecting a dodge or even a teleport. The scizor would carefully track his movement, and would strike just ahead him with x-scissor.
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Post by NolChannel on Mar 9, 2017 21:19:25 GMT -5
Oh? This Scizor seemed to have a bit of bite - the absolutely putrid aura beginning to surround her alerting the Alakazam to that fact. Though, even sensing that, there was barely a change in the Alakazam's expression.
"So you say..."
The Scizor's charge was intimidating, and perhaps she was even agile, but Guru was fast on his feet: grasping his arm around the tree, he kicked off the branch and circled around, putting the wide trunk right between himself and the bug: there simply wouldn't be a good way to get at him. And it wouldn't just be a dodge: a set of vines quickly climbed up the sides of the tree, aiming to grasp onto the Scizor's ankles with a Grass Knot!
"But let's not get ahead of ourselves, shall we?"He aimed one hand towards the discarded net gun, a purple aura surrounding it as he tried to guide that weapon into his hands!
As for Jolt? Well, he certainly felt the blow: bracing his side, the blade dug into his pins, Jolteon gritting his teeth as the weapon pierced his skin. But through hissed breath, he gave a cackle:
So that's the real one!
He wasted no time to counter, charging a powerful Thunderbolt through his quills! At point blank, it would travel right up the Scyther's blade and into his body! "Hehe! Nothin like a bit of bug roast!"
Clearly, the shadows were encroaching on his head: he was far more into this than he was on a good day!
With the Scyther blown away, that left Titan with Hattie, and suffice to say, the insect was not one for gentle words. Heck, she pretty much looked like a violent monster herself! Still, she was easily able to pull the net free from the branch, cradling Hattie in one of her arms. "Mm, I think you might be a touch ill, too. Just close your eyes, I'll get you somewhere safe."
It was better this way, Titan felt, as she slowly descended from the trees. At least in her grasp, anyone who wanted to get at Hattie was going to have to go through a ticked off Vespiquen!
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Post by urmmuxunbidden on Mar 9, 2017 22:33:00 GMT -5
It was a clever dodge, she granted him that, but he would have to do better if he wanted to slow her down. The scizor opted to slice right through the tree, cutting through the grass knot and landing her right in front of the psychic. The tree crashed behind her, making more noise than she would like. The rest of the oasis would know where they were now, but hopefully her team of scyther operatives could deal with them. If not, she could clean up as soon as she finished here.
As part of her fluid motion from cutting the tree, she followed up with a wicked night slash, aimed across Guru's chest. The elegant spin of her motion seemed to cut the very air itself, producing a soft whistling.
Her remaining scyther operative was feeling considerably less graceful at the moment as electricity coursed through his body. It wasn't enough to knock him out, but it was clear he wasn't going to win this fight. Even if he landed another attack on Jolt, it would still leave a terrifying vespiquen and a huge torterra for the boss to deal with. He needed a new tactic, and quickly.
Maybe at least he could stall.
"The petilil will never reach the city in time. Stand down now and maybe I'll reveal the antidote."
Unfortunately, Edward heard that. He had enough.
"Stop! What did you do to her! It's me you want. Me and Wyndra! Leave her out of it! I'll do whatever you want."
The old man walked toward the scyther with open hands raised.
"You old fool!" Grandius yelled out, They'll kill you! Come back here."
Grandius had been doing his best to serve as a giant barrier for the trainers to work behind. Edward kept walking. The torterra shook the ground, just enough to trip Edward, and charged forward to protect him.
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Post by NolChannel on Mar 9, 2017 23:17:12 GMT -5
Persistent bugger, aren't you?
The matchup was indeed poor for the Alakazam, but with the Scizor already weighed down from the earlier Thunder Wave, the Alakazam was quite confident in his own speed. In fact, he had no real intention of engaging this insect directly at all, the psychic wanting to pick her off from a distance. As the tree cracked open, the psychic was thrown backwards, crossing his arms in front of himself as a block.
It was just a precaution, though: as the Night Slash neared, a blue light surrounded the Alakazam, as he teleported right from her sight, making her strike at thin air. A moment later, he reappeared at the very spot the Scizor had jumped from, kneeling to take the net gun into his own hand, an audible click given as the weapon promptly unjammed itself. But there was not much else the Alakazam could do at that moment: using Teleport so openly took a lot of focus, and it would take a few seconds for his psychic energy to refresh.
So, why not use this time to try it out? Aiming the weapon forward, Guru fired out a net, right towards the Scizor's path!
"Ha!"
Oh, that felt good: the current rushed out, and lit up the Scizor like a lightbulb! He left the bug smoking as he stepped back, preparing a second blast. And he would have fired, too, if not for the Scyther's very particular words:
Poison?
Jolt tilted his head. Though Edward immediately folded, the fennec picked up: "And how the heck is a Scyther going to hide an antidote?"
"Dumb bluff." Khail's words were absolutely certain: any poison that they would have intended to use on a target - say, Edward or Wyndra - would have already killed something of Hattie's body weight! Behind Grandius, Khail prepared and swung another ball out, right towards the 'bluffing' Scyther, the same white claw shifting out as before!
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Post by urmmuxunbidden on Mar 14, 2017 20:39:02 GMT -5
The scyther was drawn into the pokeball, but unlike his counterpart, he immediately broke free. Apparently this particular scyther had a bit more willpower. Ultimately though, he realized, he could eventually be caught. Upon re-materializing, he threw down a smokeball. When the black cloud dispersed, he was gone from view. The scyther never had as much confidence as the rest of the team, and was always prepared for failure.
His boss, the scizor, dodged the incoming net by deftly stepping to side. She lunged to counterattack, but paralysis from the thunder wave stopped her movement short, causing her to stumble. The fleeing scyther ran between her and Guru.
"Boss! It's time to abort the mission!"
Scizor couldn't argue with that. A psychic type, of all things, was starting to get the better of her. They had severely underestimated the resistance that would be put up. With no scyther team to back her up, she realized she didn't stand a chance. The two of them fled.
Vogun was still trapped in a net lying on the ground.
---
With the battle over, Edward rushed over to the clearing where Titan was holding Hattie, with the fainted Wyndra to the side. He was shortly followed by Grandius.
"Are they all right? Hattie, I'm so sorry."
He trusted the vespiquen enough that he moved past her, in order to crouch down beside Wyndra's head. He gently placed a hand on her neck.
"Hang in there. It's going to be alright. The've left."
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Post by NolChannel on Mar 15, 2017 21:00:34 GMT -5
Well, at the very least, the remaining two Pokemon found it wise to retreat - though it didn't come without some snide reaction from the Jolteon! "C'mon, that all ya got! Stay awhile, I'll treat you well!"
"No need for that." Khail's tone was still dry from the focus of battle, as he quickly returned Jolt to his ball. He shot a glance to Guru, as he approached: "Keep an eye on the surrounding area. Let me know if anyone other than whose already here shows up."
The psychic nodded, and for the moment, remained on standby. Khail, meanwhile, prepared one last snag ball, and this time gave a light toss, tapping the head of the unconscious Scyther. It would easily be drawn in, likely without resistance, and the operative would collect the two balls: a few taps into his wrist device later, and both would be sent off to Khail's PC.
For now, things seemed calm. Well, relatively calm: Khail and his team were tempered for far worse situations. For Grandius, Edward, and the rest? Well, they seemed to be reacting to it rather differently!
"Hattie? Oh, her..." The Vespiquen curiously tilted her head, looking down at the grass type. She thought differently than the rest: her body was still warm, and there was still movement in that small Pokemon cradled in her arms. Hattie would be fine, right? Still holding the Pokemon tight, she looked on as Edward tended to the Tropius.
Meanwhile, Khail had moved to help Vogun: slowly pulling away at the steel balls at the edge of the net, he managed to pull a decent-enough sized hole out of the contraption. Though, he swore under his breath a few times: though thick, the wires were still metal, and quite easy to have dig into the skin! "Guru, how's the surroundings?"
"... Clear, as far as I can tell. Though I'm more concerned about the little one."
Of course, there had to be something with Hattie! "Alright, I'll head back by bike. Edward?" He stepped closer, and knelt beside him, a careful hand on his shoulder. "Go ahead and bring all of your Pokemon back into their balls. Guru will then teleport you all to the main Pokecenter. Heh... you kept up better than I thought you would. One way or another, let's keep in touch."
Yes, he was impressed - in Edward, and particularly in Grandius' focus. "But right now's not the time to sit 'round. Guru?"
"Sheesh, twice? Fine... I'm ready when he is."
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Post by urmmuxunbidden on Mar 18, 2017 15:42:19 GMT -5
"Right, right. Of course," the old man sighed. It was a victory, but it didn't feel like one.
He went over to a depression in the ground underneath some roots and pulled out a bag. It contained most of what he owned. Edward rummaged through it until he pulled out a pokeball and a dusk ball. He's only needed to use each of them once or twice, and every time, he felt like he was doing something wrong. His friends stayed with him at the oasis because they chose to, not because they were bound by some digital capture device.
He retrieved Wyndra into the dusk ball, and Hattie into the regular one. Vogun, unfortunately, didn't even have a pokeball. The weepinbell was hurt badly, but still better off than the others.
"I'll be okay recovering here. Grandius and I will hold down the fort," assured Vogun.
Edward gave him an understanding nod.
"Alright Guru. We're ready."
With a flash, space and time folded so that the old man was standing on a sidewalk back in Garasu. Right in front of him were the traditional red and white colors of sanctuary. It was a sanctuary made of technology, instead of leaves and soil, and right now Edward needed this one.
---
Grandius turned to Khail before he left.
"Thank you, Khail. I wish you luck on your journey."
The torterra saw in the man a strength and virtue he recognized. It was the kind carried by trainers back in Unova that tended to change things. Whatever the fate of Garasu was to be, Grandius would bet that Khail would have a hand.
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Post by NolChannel on Mar 19, 2017 13:03:23 GMT -5
As Edward returned his Pokemon, Titan was also returned to her ball, leaving Khail with just Jolt, who quickly moved to his side. He shook out his fur, battered from the scrap with the two Scyther. "Sheesh... gonna be feeling that in the morning.
"You did well. Now, go on ahead, get in the side-car." He dismissed Jolt, as Guru teleported off with Edward. And as Vogun spoke, he briefly thought it over: it would be a while before the Scizor would be able to report in, and he'd be able to call into the city to check for the arrival of a Scizor and Scyther. Unless they had a hideout in the desert - unfortunately, a very real possibility - it would all sort itself out.
"Alright. When Edward gets back, I'll have already forwarded the paperwork to City Hall. I'll ensure the budget includes basic surveillance measures to check for further ne'er do-wlls." That was simple enough, right? And as for Grandius, he gave a nod. "Edward's doing something amazing here. I probably don't have to tell you this, but stick with him."
He gave a wave over his shoulder, back out towards the bike. Khail was sure this wouldn't be the last time he'd meet this group.
Hopefully, it would be on better terms than their initial introduction.
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