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Post by NolChannel on Mar 23, 2017 19:32:05 GMT -5
Ordinarily, not a lot of attention was drawn to the derelict part of Garasu. Previous efforts to revitalize or re-purpose what was once a booming scientific district all fell short one way or another, in part due to the history of the area, its general area away from the docks or even the desert landscape, and the faint odor of its waste still wafting through the air. Thus, it became a playground for hooligans and Shadows who preferred to remove themselves from society.
But today, there was definitely an odd 'sense' in the air. For most of the city, this would go completely unnoticed, but just a half-mile or so around the district, any Shadow Pokemon would feel a definite 'something' in the air, and that 'something' would be like a mental itch they couldn't scratch, whether it be a buzz in the ear or a pounding headache, slowly building over time. Only one thing would somewhat alleviate it, and that was to go with the flow: facing in the direction of the laboratories would begin to quell it, and moving toward it would take much more of the load off.
Just what was causing it? Like a demented siren's call, shadows would be lured from their trainers and homes, towards this derelict district: Shadow Rattata, long forgotten and skittering Garasu's allies, would be clawing outside the door of one particular lab, its letters worn with age:
ULT_M__A LABS
Or, to those familiar with its brief history, 'Ultimita' Labs. From the outside, it would appear like many others, with boarded up windows and a reinforced, bolted door. And perhaps more perplexingly, there was no signs of entry to this building either.
Just what happened? Why did this place suddenly give off such a reaction?
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Post by urmmux2 on Mar 25, 2017 22:46:15 GMT -5
The crew was uneasy. This was way outside of their modus operandi. Not only were they far from the relative safety of their ship, but there wasn't even really a target to steal from, or a plan to enact. This was foreign. Lash was the most affected. The despair that hung in the streets here unnerved him enough that he couldn't focus on a disguise. Normally talkative and cheerful, Kleus stayed gravely silent. He constantly probed the shadows of the alley for movement. Theodore stayed in the middle of the group at all times. He couldn't help but mutter nervously to himself. At least he muttered quietly, as to not give away their position. Even Davy stayed a bit less corporeal than normal.
Nuuras, however, was indifferent. Unflinching, she led the group on, cutting through the ominous alleys of the derelict district. They had been following this shadow nincada all through town for hours now. There was a mystery concerning the shadow pokemon, the group realized, and Nuuras promised three days of vacation if they solved it. She must have been in a generous mood.
The group rounded a corner, to find the strange door. Nuuras scowled at the swarm of ratatta. As if shadows weren't already verminous enough. She watched with complete and personal disgust as they obsessively clawed at the laboratory. Kleus had to look away.
"What we're doing here is a mercy. These ratatta have suffured long enough."
Lash took the hint and steeled himself for a fight. He shifted his stance with a quick motion. Within the motion, an intelligent observer could pick out the basics required for swords dance. The zoroark would hit quite harder now. Theodore set up reflect for the party. It would keep himself alive. He figured it would be unfortunate if the pirates took advantage of the reflect, but he wasn't going to lose sleep over it.
Just seconds after she was assured her crew was ready, Nuuras conjured a massive wave of toxic sludge. The wave rippled out, reaching shoulder height and crushing the debris underneath, before slamming into the wall of the laboratory. She hoped to hit as many ratatta as she could.
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Post by Akane Suzukaze on Mar 26, 2017 22:58:51 GMT -5
Cherry-red fingernails tapped against a Poke Ball, carrying with it a scent of smoke. The leathery work-boots of a woman clopped against the earth. Drab coat and messy red hair signaled unpreparedness as natural lips folded in distaste. Pearly-blue eyes peered across the oily floors of the , following flattened tracks down corridors. Akane did not typically chase Pokemon down. She didn't even want to chase down Dusky - that bizarre, trash-worshiping psychopath - nor did she wish to follow an obvious honeypot. That Shadow was good as dead.
For some reason, her company disagreed. Trail ended where Rattata skeletons appeared, which were already "promising." Nose tehn wrenched at the waves of sludge, giving Akane one more reason not to walk this floor. Teeth clenched as Akane, pockets barely full, maneuvered across the alley to another side. Heart raced at the glimpse of a Dragalge, a Pokemon she swore had been restricted to mythos. Her movements had been steady and quiet; her only instrument fit in her front pocket.
Akane did not look to get caught, today.
---
On the flipside, Dusky did not. She had been compelled, but she took shelter in a glorious steel can, complete with apple-cores and discarded needles. Claws were sharpened to neutralize the threat of disease. She'd stayed here for a time, as there was no way would the Linoone sacrifice herself for a signal. Something needed to explode, and she'd damn well take the headache until that happened. But at the same time, Dusky did not realize that she may have been watched...or searched for. Akane wasn't the only quiet shadow-hunter.
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Post by 0bserver on Mar 27, 2017 18:42:22 GMT -5
The Shadows were restless.
In fact, Dia's entire compound was made restless. Every single one of them felt it. Every single one. The numb pain at the back of her head, slowly growing into a splitting headache. A single person can deal with a headache. But with multiple shadows in one narrow and constrained space, it was threatening to become dangerous. It had to be dealt with, and soon...
Dia was not an action girl. She preferred working behind the scenes, and sending people to do the heavy lifting for her. But in this case, she could not sit idly by. The gardevoir had to find the source of this... head-splitting signal, and shut it off. Before she and her wards would completely lose their minds. It was a kind of a signal not even she was able to completely block.
The place was not hard to find. Dia simply followed the direction she had to look at, to make the pain go away. Not that she necessarily wanted to... She pulsing, throbbing pain traveled from her temples and down, echoing in the rest of the body. It did not feel good. But ... it was better than nothing at all. And the Gardevoir did not feel much in her, for quite a long while. Once she approached the place, things were becoming clearer.
An abandoned laboratory of Cipher. She heard of one being here, but never knew what was inside. Having been forced to be an assistant researcher during captivity made her privy to some information about other locations and associated experiments. This one, however, Dia knew very little of. It was marked a secret. And secrets were not showed to captive laborers.
She did not come alone. Her Bisharp, and her Gallade were accompanying her. Initially, the Gardevoir planned taking Bisharp alone, but Gabriel insisted on following too. The unlikely trio made it to the abandoned ruin of the laboratory. It was a dark, desolated place. Dia walked carefully, avoiding sharp stones and bits and pieces of glass on the floor. Blade crushed the nuisances under his metallic foot. The Gallade did not care much, but kept looking around all the time.
"This place gives me the creeps. Why are we here again."
"To stop the Headache. This is its source. It is close. I can feel it."
But, like always, Dia's motives had ulterior goals behind them. This was an old Cipher laboratory after all. Perhaps inside was some technology she could use in her research. Some documents available... Perhaps whatever was emanating that impulse could be of use to her too... Alas, they did not get here first. There was a squabble at the door, as a group of pokemon was making short work of the Rattata. These were shadow Rattata... But vermin regardless. Dia tried to bring herself to care for their slaughter... only to fail. She watched friends die at her surgeon table without a single pang of sadness. What were the lives of a few rodents. Still...
The Gardevoir waved her hand. Rattatas were simple-minded creatures, very easy to manipulate on a psychic level. The creatures would freeze, as if controlled by a willpower stronger than their own, even though the acid was melting their bodies. Dia spotted the leader of the group. A tall, large Dragalge. A sea-dragon creature. None of her cohorts were shadows. They could not feel the impulse. But if so... why were they here?
"There's hardly any mercy in being melted by toxic sludge. You should turn back, poachers. There is nothing for you in this ruin to find."
Dia addressed the big boss, looking at it with a rather dispassionate stare. While her companions were wary, she did not care. The worst thing that could come out of this was more pain. And she forgot to fear pain a long time ago. There were much worse things in this world than mere pain...
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Post by Glacia on Mar 28, 2017 17:20:06 GMT -5
Well, this scene had quickly turned into sheer chaos... but then again, with a brigand of vigilante pirates leading the charge, nothing else could really be expected!
If Nuuras and her crew were expecting much fight out of these vermin, well, they were mistaken. Though they were disease carrying rats and quite capable of putting someone unaware into the hospital, the Rattata were also mere testing specimen that had managed to escape the various labs into the area. Their squeaks filled the air, several of them scrambling to scatter down alleys and sewer grates, several caught up in the bog tide of poison! Sure, they could be chased down, and some of them caught, but it would largely be boiled down to wasted effort.
Even the few Rattata caught by the objecting Gardevoir merely writhed in her grip. But if nothing else, the two groups' intents were put forth, the tension hanging thick in the air...
... And for one lucky Weavile, who managed to hold herself back around the corner as the pirates started their raid, she saw a blessing. Like the other shadows, she was called here to the center by a sharp pain in her head, just trying to figure out what was going on. She would have sought a way to sneak into the facility, but as the Dragalge had taken to the scene, well, screw that thought! No, she hid, not wanting to get drawn into a long, drawn-out fight.
But as Dia and her own two shadows moved to confront the group, Glacia and her cohort saw an opportunity. And with a nod to her partner, she climbed up, and...
"Hey, hey now! No need for all that!"
The Weavile came into view, but not by herself. She stood on the shoulder of a rather imposing Beartic, who was not a shadow, but had a tense-enough look in his eye. The weasel herself kept a smile, looking first towards Dia, then to Nuuras - she looked like the leader of the pirates, anyway! "Now, I don't know what's what here, but we're all trying to figure out what's up with this lab, right?" She nodded to the facility at hand. "I don't like what its doing with our heads," She motioned to herself, then towards Dia's group, "And, er... I'm just guessing, but I think we all benefit from trashing that lab instead of each-other, right?"
Alright, she might be failing on appeal, but she still patted the shoulder of the bear. "Ol' Brute here can tear that place open. How about we go in, see what its about, and then decide if we still want to rip each-other's heads off?"
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Post by urmmux2 on Mar 29, 2017 16:21:49 GMT -5
The sludge wave ended up being all it took. Still, it was better to have overestimated a fight than underestimated one. Theodore's wall of reflect flickered and vanished. They were about to move on, when a group of ratatta froze, held in place by a mysterious power.
Now Nuuras was alarmed. For a small moment, there was the possibility that they were followed here and ambushed, by psychics, no less. The Dragalge whipped around with surprising agility and scanned the area. Fortunately, it was not as she feared. A small group led by a gardevoir had merely mistaken them for poachers. They didn't look like authority.
"Hah!" She laughed, although it more of a declaration. "As if you knew anything about us."
Perhaps the Dragon spoke too soon. There was the question of what the gardevoir was doing here. They didn't seem to be driven mad like the ratatta, so it was possible their purposes might be aligned.
"We're here because the shadows led us here. Something strange is happening just inside this building."
Her crew, mostly Lash, was still tensed up for a fight. It was true that they new nothing about the gardevoir and her entourage. The risk of being betrayed or reported was high, especially under such mysterious circumstances. Had the situation been different, she might have entertained the notion of combat, but this was not the place. It was unwise to get into trouble this far into the city. As long as Nuuras stayed peaceful, her crew would follow suit.
It was then that a third party stepped up. It was a good thing Nuuras kept calm, because not only were there a group of psychic types, but one of ice types as well. She resigned to the fact that they held the upper hand. It didn't matter anyway, as the Weavile echoed her own sentiments.
"I agree. Whatever is happening is bigger problem than poachers, or differences of opinion."
Nuuras wasn't usually so inclusive, but she was still worried that either group might have ties to the government. Her statement took Lash and Kleus by surprise, while Theodore was visibly relieved.
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Post by Akane Suzukaze on Apr 7, 2017 1:11:10 GMT -5
Akane kept a careful eye on the band of Rattata that flurried from every pore of the area, covered in all kinds of grime and muck. One that attempted to crawl up Akane's boot would be promptly kicked away. With a sneer. A sharp, contemptful sneer. She adjusted hair that drooped and near closed blocked vision, and caught wind of a. Akane also heard quarreling, albeit, a dying quarreling. A duo of humanoid Pokemon, the spokeswoman whose attitude caused Akane's brow to rise, and a far more boisterous Dragalge, whom she quickly attributed the raucous smell to. None held Snag machines, but none of that detacted from the tension of facing five or more Pokemon. A fight would be incredibly difficult to maneuver, and for then, the best she could do is keep her eyes open, and watched her steps. If not for the impromptu assembly, Akane would've begun to rot from boredom
Dusky thought differently . "...dragged to an isolated location, caused a commotion, then..." Not quite stable by any means, the Linoone held in That vague quote was about all Akane needed to determine the Linoone's identity. Akane shook her head. "Dusky, there aren't any of those around. A fake laugh converted her remaining jubilance to annoyance
When Dusky didn't budge, Akane declared with an exponentially rising sass: "...you're covered. You can go, now-"
"Fine!" Dusky spun a trash lid, sending a small flying saucer after Akane's torso. She may have been far from the hitting her target, but that wasn't the point: the (self-declared) princess of Garbage Lagoon rose from her domain. Banana peel followed the Linoone as she raced up the walls, sharp claws and limber body perfect for wall-climbing, though with variable results. It's then she declared: "We break the-ache-or die trying!"
And there, without much sympathy for her attacker, Akane would wait with Doug's Pokeball in her coat-pocket. Whatever siren's song brought this along, she would personally record it...and she followed, with the actual audio recorder behind her coat.
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Post by 0bserver on Apr 11, 2017 18:04:18 GMT -5
It seemed that the lab and the signal it emanated drew numerous parties to this place. Each for their own reason. A band of poachers, a shadow with a bear friend, and a child hiding in the trash cans. Each of them was here for their own reasons, but none of them knew even approximately what this place was, or what to do with it. All they wanted is just to trash up the place. Neanderthals. The gardevoir frowned, before looking at the sea dragon.
"I know what you are not. You are not a shadow. There is ... something within this place, that causes shadows pain. Mental, and physical. That is why the shadows are converging on this spot. Your purpose here, on the other hand, is unclear."
With that, Dia passed by the Dragalge and her crew, standing at the entrance to the mangled remains of the front door. Looking into its dark depths. Her two cohorts kept close, the Gallade eyeing the others warily and figure out their changes in an all-out fight. The bisharp, on the other hand, stood still. His hand passing over the blade attached to the other.
"This place used to be a Cipher Laboratory. Whatever is inside is either a machine or a creature with great psychic potential to encompass a whole area and sending out a signal that penetrates even dark-type defenses. Destroying it will solve the problem but give no understanding. Shutting down or subduing it - will. That is what I am here for." - Dia stated her purpose here.
Unlike the others, she was not as hasty on forming this little coalition. They had to be united by the same purpose, which would need to be different from common curiosity. The Gardevoir doubted not the weavile and her bear friend, but the "poacher" and her horde - very much. They were not one of them, and had no stakes here. She pointed a finger at the large sea serpent, and asked directly.
"What are you here for?"
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Post by urmmux2 on Apr 12, 2017 21:40:54 GMT -5
(switched turns with Glacia for story purposes, permission granted by NolChannel)
The commotion around a trash can alerted the group to the presence of Akane Suzukaze and the linoone. Theodore saw it first, and the others followed his gaze. This would have prompted some sort of action, but the gardevoir addressed them beforehand.
Already, they were getting answers, although Nuuras didn't appreciate the tone they came in. They now knew why, and even had a few guesses for how. Kleus and Lash shifted about in an agitated manner as Dia's group passed by them. Kleus was hoping things stayed peaceful, but Lash's restlessness only grew. If it were up to him, they wouldn't be putting up with such disrespect.
Nuuras shot him a glance, and he resolved to calm down. The Dragalge returned her attention to Dia. She had to be very careful about what she said here. She had a feeling that "to hunt down shadows" wouldn't be a good answer. It sounded like all of the other groups might have shadows on their team. As much as she hated it, they were completely outnumbered.
"I have personal interest on the subject of shadows. What was done to them was an atrocity. If this is some Cipher plot, I want nothing more but to see it undone. Surely, we can agree on this."
She wasn't going to let Dia have all the power, though.
"If that thing is Cipher tech, I will destroy it. There's no need to understand it, and such knowledge should be lost. We both need to get to the signal though, even if our intentions are different."
Meanwhile, Davy remained oblivious to the tense discussion at hand. While Nuuras hashed it out with the gardevoir, Davy drifted over to Akane. He didn't do much, just observed the pair with a strange fascination.
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Post by Glacia on Apr 12, 2017 23:07:40 GMT -5
Well, there was a reason Glacia wasn't very good at these sorts of appeals. After all, her entire drive was assuming that this group wanted to do what she wanted to do, not digging too much into the specifics. It helped that they generally didn't want to fight - and it probably helped that this Gardevoir didn't look like much of a bruiser...
... But, of course, she didn't think things would go so simply. Which was why she decided to take a different route: just start the darn thing! "Alright, Brute!" She spoke loudly, enough for the entire group to hear, giving the Beartic a pat on his shoulder. "We're going in, even if these two are just gonna stand outside and bicker about it. Let's roll!"
"Hmph. I'll find a wedge." The Beartic's rough voice rumbled out, matter-of-factly, not asking a single one of the other ten here for permission. The Weavile jumped off his shoulder, herself darting for the door, as the Beartic lumbered over towards the trash.
"Yo, Draggy," Glacia's voice flicked towards Nuuras, "You got some kind of water move, right? I'm gonna blast the door with ice; just keep switching with me." And, regardless of whether or not Nuuras would participate, Glacia would take the first turn, using a narrow, powerful breath of ice - Blizzard, in fact - focused on the steel seam of the door. The concept was simple: if Nuuras would act in kind, the repeated hot-and-cold switch would, in fact, eventually wear down even this door's secure lock.
And Brute would arrive shortly after: walking past the Linoone, sharing but a glare with the shadow, he'd bend over, and collect a long, rusted steel pole, before walking towards the door himself, jamming it right into the entrance. "You." He nodded to the Gallade, and then even to the Bisharp. "Help pull." And the Beartic would stand on the edge, waiting for the other two, at least for a few seconds, before beginning to pull on the makeshift lever.
These two were clearly working to open the door. Whatever the rest wanted to do, well, that was on them, but this door would definitely take some effort to open this way!
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Post by 0bserver on Apr 12, 2017 23:51:09 GMT -5
"Personal interest?"
Dia was getting more suspicious of this Dragalge and her merry band of brigands she brought along with them. She did not strike her as the type to do charity... Or even fight for a worthy cause. Besides, the Gardevoir was not sure if she was telling her the truth - the dragon spoke many words that summed to nothing. An elaborate way of avoiding the question. She would have repeated herself, but the impatient weavile and her ursine friend butted in at that moment, distracting Dia enough and diverting the subject away completely.
The Gardevoir covered her mouth with a hand, seeing them trying to break the door with ice and a metal stick. This was insulting Cipher's security standards. Even though the door was a decade-old, it held so far. And it was not meant to be breached so easily. After all, many of these facilities contained strong pokemon inside. And were meant to keep them inside, no matter what.
"This will not do at all. You will need to weaken the door before you can breach it. Blade."
The Bisharp, who was about to help out with the wedge, looked over his shoulder, and nodded. One of his hands extended to become a sharp, sword-like blade, which soon was imbued in dark, shadowy energy. And there was ... a lot of it. Out of three, Blade was likely the most corrupted. And had used it the most. He slashed at the door, performing a powerful Shadow Break move, which would have been enough to shatter a normal door or even a wall, but the door was meant to handle such things. Which meant that he had to do it again. And again, and again. The slashes becoming more frenetic, after each one. Dia could feel it. Even attacking an inanimate door was making Blade feel ... excited. She closed her eyes, and breathed out:
"Enough. It is made to hold your kind. You won't cut it much further."
Feeling Dia's grip on his mind again, the Bisharp's clouded eyes cleared out, and he stopped. Taking a few steps back, and retracting the blade. His attacks managed to breach the outer metal layer of the door and tear it off. But further layers remained largely unscathed. They were made of something ... stronger.
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Post by Akane Suzukaze on Apr 19, 2017 0:07:37 GMT -5
On one hand, the ceiling Linoone found herself more in-tune with the raiders than the scientist and her partner. Yeah, it was obvious that there was something wrong in there, even to her, but wouldn't the Gardevoir have the most stakes in that? She'd come in from nowhere, willing and ready to question everyone around for something that should be painfully obvious. The shadows everywhere were the tipping point, after all! With that, she decided not to help with the door. Looking inward for solutions, Dusky'd been very confident in her Pin Missile, sending a line of hard needles down the ceiling before nailing them in with her fists! Whatever the result of her gamble had been, something told her the door served as an efficient distraction - nothing less!
Plus, if she made headway here, she could get more people to climb up with her!
Akane wasn't quite so willing to get in the conflict, either. She really just needed to break down that whatever-it-was so that she could leave in peace. Not that she would flash her credentials here and get thrown to the ground. It seemed that plan would already get in place, based on the great Anchor lurking behind her. Nose tracked the bitterness of the dead seaweed, and. Hand pressed against a wall and eventually adjusted crumpled workpants, as the enormous size of the lurker daunted her.
Politely, but flat-facedly, Akane opened a dialog: "Oh...hey. Need something, big guy?" If anything made the woman feel awkward, a ten foot floating set of boating equipment would easily do the job.
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Post by urmmux2 on Apr 20, 2017 11:25:11 GMT -5
"I'm inclined to favor the weavile's approach here. It won't matter what the door is made of if we're patient enough to wear away at it."
Blade's direct approach had made a significant difference, but Nuuras wanted to take every opportunity to assert herself. With her fin, the sea-dragon motioned toward Kleus. It was a specific gesture, and Kleus recognized it from their training. By drifting up, and then sharply pointing down, the relicanth released a watery aura into the atmosphere. It started to drizzle, and the rain steadily increased.
"I do have something a bit hotter than a water move, though."
The rain was important. She needed the accuracy required to create a weak spot in the metal. Thunder echoed around far above the group. With a lurching motion, Nuuras conjured a bolt of electricity from the heavens.
For a brief moment, everything around was stunningly bright. The door itself glowed a soft orange where the bolt coursed through it. The sound came afterword, a loud rumble not unlike a train passing through the area. melted ice around the bolts of the door steamed off of the super-heated metal. Even for the first attempt, it was easy to see it start to warp and deform.
The cloudburst caused the rain to come down hard now. At least it washed away some of the sludge that was left on the ground. Kleus spread his fins out to catch as much water as he could. The relicanth listed to the side a bit, clearly enjoying the moisture.
"Rain dance is always fun," he said. It was trivial, except that it was the first time one of Nuuras's crew spoke. Kleus had an almost oblivious cheerfulness.
Meanwhile, Akane adressed the dhelmise. Davy hovered over her, as if they had never seen something like this before. Indeed, it was rare for Davy to be off the ship and among humans.
"Curious." They responded, although it wasn't clear if that was meant as an answer. Their voice was whispery, and yet still echoed around the air. Davy didn't notice when it rained, probably because the rain seemed to pass right through them.
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Post by Glacia on Apr 20, 2017 21:25:57 GMT -5
To be fair, with the size the Linoone was, the roof wasn't quite a terrible idea - surely a building of this size would require some sort of ventilation? Then again, with this level of security, it was doubtful that it would have led anywhere worthwhile, or met another steel barrier at some point. The door seemed like a far more likely candidate, but it looked like it would take more than a little effort to -
"What the-"
Alright, Glacia stepped back. First up was the Bisharp, whose relentless, brutal use of his shadow form managed to even rip the front panel off! The sparks of the blades scraping the outside made the weasel briefly cover her eyes, but he was ready to go at it and try tearing a hole straight through. Thankfully, before the Bisharp could dent its claws further, Dia managed to call her off! "Well, that'll make it easier to wedge-"
Or, maybe there was a little more to it. Nuuras' words, precluded by a rain dance, gave Glacia more than enough of a cue to step back, Brute pulling away the metal pole and tossing it aside as the setup took place. Yup, so much for subtlety: the Weavile was in time to cover her eyes, as blinding lightning tore forth at the door, but it was hard to tell just how many would at least get caught up in the flash! The result was quite evident, though: even though the door was metal, the frozen part was left nice and searing hot, the metal bolts keeping the door sealed shut visible and steaming. It was easy enough for Brute to, with his bare claws, grip the side of the battered door, and - after gritting through the static dancing over his paws - rip the entire thing open!
"Well, its not like we're trying to have everything in tact here... well... let's get going inside..."
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Post by NolChannel on Apr 20, 2017 21:48:38 GMT -5
Ultimata Labs
Inside, the building had a rather quiet feel. The debris from the sealed door, and the rain that had managed to bounce inside, left a growing mess on the white, tile floor. But, aside from that? This area looked untouched for months, and the sterility given by the door's seal was quite evident: though the walls and floor were dusty, there wasn't a single spider web, nor broken door from potential looters. No, the foyer itself seemed remarkably clean, even up to what looked like a functional front desk.
A look around the counter, though, would show a different story: all the drawers were left empty, save a few pointless paper clips in the bottom, and despite a monitor and keyboard being left in place, the entire CPU had been unplugged and removed. It was curious - a government raid would not have been so clean in its removal.
This ground floor seemed more administrative than the rest: doors with glass windows, names scraped away, led to offices with a similar setup: a large desk, but any physical or electronic file completely removed from sight. But that begged the question, why hide this place at all?
Well, the shadows would know that the main draw was to the back of the room, to an open stairwell that led to a deeper part of this lab. And they would be drawn to it - perhaps the draw would be too much to even inspect the offices.
And once one of them came about halfway across the floor, an audible 'whirr' would kick up, right from inside the stairwell. And half a moment later, there would be quite a sight:
Porygon. Not just one or two, but one for each Pokemon, and one for Akane, would come straight up from the basement, and attempt to settle into place a foot in front of each figure, a green light flashing from their eyes should they get into place.
"Scanning..." Their voices sounded like a chipper AI, echoing throughout the empty hall.
Just what was this? They didn't seem immediately threatening, but it was unsure what they would do if one or more subject tried to retaliate!
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