The ALPH Team

"It was me. I did it. She's gone because of what I am."

Self-loathing and guilt halted at the words that came from the dark feline behind her. Lalita's head turned and her eyes widened as she saw that he was dead serious about what he had said. His eyes met hers without a flinch or a hesitation, the so called 'windows to the soul' hard and reflecting back at her like...like they were dead. She turned and stepped back, inching herself away from the Absol and closer to Fuzzy, not sure what to do or believe. But his words scared her just as badly as Calamity's had.

“Disaster…" Clyde went from being her kind-hearted, albeit sad, friend to this viscous monster, snarling and staring down the Absol. “Leave.” The shiny Ninetales's eyes darted back and forth between her friend and Calamity, not sure what was happening. Then Champaigne joined in the vote for him to go. The Absol hung his head in shame and began to make for the door, not even bothering to contest the challenge issued by the Vigaroth. His tail dipped and his gaze never left the floor but Lalita couldn't watch this happen. Defying everyone else in the room she stood in front of the door and Calamity didn't even notice until he walked right into her.

"Wha..." He looked up to see the desperate female looking at him with tears in her eyes. "You can't leave until you tell me just how this is all your fault." Was she serious? She wanted him to explain that he was a curse? A demon of ill omen? Frown crossing his face the Absol shook his head and tried to back away, but the constant growl of the Vigaroth changed his mind. He was stuck. "Fine. I'll tell you. I've only been here an hour or so and already you have lost, by my count, three members of your party. I'm cursed. Everything I touch, everyone I am near, bad things happen and there isn't anything I can do about it. And personally, I'd rather not hurt you so please...move out of the way."

What he saw next wasn't quite what he expected. Rather than glaring at him and ordering him out like the rest of them her eyes turned soft, and a sad smile passed over her face. She...she felt sorry for him. She didn't hate him. Who was this creature? "I don't think bad luck and bad timing quite count a being cursed. By your logic, since Circe showed up right as Silver vanished then she would be responsible." Calamity's mouth dropped open as his mind pondered those words. Could she...could she have a point?

"...Please... can we keep moving?"

Lalita looked over to Circe and nodded her head. They needed to get moving so they could look for Silver. "The only way should could have gone is out this way. I'm sure we will run into her sooner or later if we keep heading towards Violet City like we planned." She happily moved out of the way and out the door, expecting everyone to follow. When she turned around to check she saw Clyde in the Absol's face growling angrily. "Fuzzy...is everything okay?" She was getting worried about her friend. For the last few hours he seemed to be less and less like himself. Going from scared, depressed, to angry when she had always seen him as brave, kind, and strong. It was really starting to worry her.

“You can't leave until you tell me just how this is all your fault."

Just when the Absol was willing to ashamedly leave the group’s presence, Lalita had to avert his disappearance. Clyde growled at the sight of the Ninetales blocking the shiny, angered that the female was clueless enough to let him endanger the entire group with his malicious curse. Although furious at the selfishness of the fox in her decisions, an incredible fear simmered just beneath in Clyde, the true emotion overwhelmed by this new anger. He couldn’t lose Lalita. Anyone but Lalita…

Claws seeping into the ground once more as his friend stuck by the murderer even with his blatant admittance, Clyde knew he was going to do something he’d regret if he looked any longer. Turning harshly away, seething as he made no effort to disguise the disgust of Calamity’s presence within his circle of friends, hackles raised and coarse fur standing on end, Clyde was on breaking point. Lalita’s hopeful words about Silver’s safety threatened to shatter him altogether.
“She’s gone,” He snarled savagely beneath his breath, glaring into the floor with an ungodly intensity as he heard the group gradually dispel from the building. Unsure whether he wanted to join them, Clyde, scolding his own cowardice, reminded himself that he was the only one who could protect them from Calamity.

"Fuzzy...is everything okay?”

His furious musings disturbed by Lalita’s delicate question, the Vigoroth lifted his heavy head to meet her concerned eyes. He looked feral. The hatred in his eyes was startling, dark circles beneath heightening the intensity of his wild look. A thin injection of red had looped about his pupil, the colour slowly seeping to taint the azure orbs his company had always known. Staring at the Ninetales, Clyde’s expression eventually broke into an unsettling grin. Shaking his head, suddenly maniacal in his expression, the short, crazed laugh finished the picture of insanity.
“Never fucking better!” He exclaimed, with a joyous sarcasm. Stalking forward, his smile died away as he neared the shiny fox, stood close before her face a moment, before slipping past and out of the door.

(( Yeah, Clyde really ISN’T okay, lol. ))

The tension was almost suffocating, the three arguing pokemon causing her fur to bristle with unease. While glad that the lucario was no longer there, she doubted that this group was now any safer traveling with than being alone entirely. There was a bitch shiny ninetales, a bad lucked shiny absol and a nearly feral vigoroth, who looked less and less mentally sound with each passing moment. Really, it looked like the best pokemon to cozy up to was the ninetales herself, and that just wasn't going to happen.

Said ninetales kept the absol, Calamity, from leaving, explaining that by his own logic, Silver's absence was Circe's fault. At the notion, Circe frowned, ears flattening against her skull. Incredulous little bitch! She wasn't broken-hearted now that the prying canid was gone, but it certainly wasn't her fault! However, the vigoroth seemed unamused at the suggestion, laughing maniacally at the query of his well-being. He stalked past Lalita and Calamity, leading the way further in. Circe's eyes went from him to the shiny couple. What the hell was she supposed to do?

Fighting her instincts, she carefully stepped after Clyde, pausing where Lalita stood. These were pokemon she either hated or wanted to be as far away from as possible, but... lonliness and fear of facing the dark alone kept her at their side. "...Do..." Her voice was soft and thin with unease. "...Do we follow?"

Bear was fed up to say the least. He was tired, hungry and aching all over. Johto sure was a hell of a way away from Sinnoh, that was for certain. The old Mightyena groaned to himself as he limped along the beaten path towards a large clump of trees. Having never even set foot in Johto, he had absolutely no idea where he was and was simply just acting on instinct, following the sun as it floated its course through the sky.

It was a very different region to the one he was used to. The cities that he had passed through were smaller and more traditional than the ones in Hoenn or Sinnoh. Not that he cared; the only thing on Bear's mind at that moment was finding something to eat and perhaps a nice place to rest as a bonus.

As he approached a gate of some sort, and angry voice shouted out and startled him, making the fur on his back bristle up in a display of aggression. "Never fucking better!" "...Oh?" Bear watched as a badly wounded Vigoroth wandered out, his expression mirroring his own not too long ago. Bear relaxed at the sight of him - he didn't seem to be infected at the moment - but couldn't help but take a look at his surroundings to see whether there were any hordes of hungry undead on the way. Peering through the gate he spotted the silhouettes of other Pokemon. A feeling of relief crept its way into Bear's old heart at the prospect of meeting some new friends. But first...

With his head held high, Bear marched straight over to the Vigoroth, curling back his lip into a small snarl. "Is there a problem here?" He peeked around the Normal-type and got a better look at the Pokemon still inside the gate - there was a Ninetails, a -black?- Absol, a Combusken and a Leafeon. The former seemed reluctant whether to follow or not. With a grunt and a flick of his tail, he turned back to the rather loud Vigoroth. "Yelling like that is never a good idea when there are hordes of monsters out there who want to spill your guts. Try to keep it shut in the future, eh?" He stepped around the Vigoroth until he was within plain sight of the others. "Anything I can do to help? I know how to deal with the loud-mouths, trust me."

“Never fucking better!”

Lalita flinched at the harsh words, tears brimming in her eyes at the vicious nature of Clyde's words. He approached, and stood face to face with her for a moment, and the shiny could see the strange bleed of red in his eyes. She had never been scared of Fuzzy before, but here she was cowering in the face of her friend. Backing out of the way quickly he walked by her and the fox finally allowed herself to cry. She hadn't felt this alone since the day Little Miss died, and though she only knew Fuzzy for barely over a day she had felt connected to him. But now...

Her tails dropped to the ground, laying almost limp in her sorrow. Everything was falling apart. This world was dying, her family was dead, her friends kept disappearing, and now the one solid thing she had left was pushing her away. Calamity could see her suffering and the dark Absol once again started blaming his curse. She looked like an abused kitten, completely empty and devoid of any emotion but pain and sorrow. "Is there a problem here?"

Calamity's head snapped up to witness the newcomer, a large and intimidating Mightyena, and placed himself strategically between him and the lovely Ninetales. "Yelling like that is never a good idea when there are hordes of monsters out there who want to spill your guts. Try to keep it shut in the future, eh?" His fur bristled at the accusation that they were some idiotic children who needed an adult to curb their antics. "And scolding us loudly like petulant children is supposed to what, make them go home? Take your own advice old man."

"Anything I can do to help? I know how to deal with the loud-mouths, trust me." Lalita looked up from her fascinating blade of grass she had been staring at and gave the new hound a solemn look. "The only loud one here is you..." she whispered sadly. "Everyone else just seems to not want to talk..." Not bothering to even apologize for her strange behavior and started to follow Clyde as he walked away, silent tears rolling down her cheeks once more. "We should get going guys." Lalita's voice cracked and she decided not to talk anymore, so Calamity glared at the Mightyea and followed after Lalita, daring him to say anything about it. Lalita simply didn't care anymore.

((OOC: Welcome Nightfall! I'm sure Bear will fit in he just came in at a dramatic part of the group. Feel free to let him follow us, he can even try to cheer up Lalita if you want. She's kinda depressed right now. ^_^))

Clyde didn’t hear Lalita’s sobbing, the Leafon’s hesitance to follow him – too deafened by malicious thoughts to dedicate any time to reality. Bonnie was calling for him through the orders to kill, to hunt, to just hit something, anything. Unable to explain this sudden hostility and aggression, the Vigoroth impatiently clawed the ground, staring in the distance as he worked to silence the frenzied shouting within his mind. He didn’t get far, however. All too soon a stranger – an aging Mightyena – was snarling in his face.

"Yelling like that is never a good idea when there are hordes of monsters out there who want to spill your guts. Try to keep it shut in the future, eh?"

What? WHAT?! Clyde mirrored the canine’s expression with the intensity only a madman could boast. How DARE he?! It took every fibre in the ape’s body not to tear the bastard a new bellybutton, spill his guts so that these so-called monsters would be distracted from all the goddamn noise. Nostrils flaring, a deep, guttural growling escaping the enraged Vigoroth to accompany waves of fury, Clyde stood motionless, rooted to the spot as the only method to combat the inevitable physical reaction this scolding would cause. Surprisingly, the accursed one came to his defence, backed up by Lalita.

"Everyone else just seems to not want to talk... We should get going guys."

Whilst her whispering sorrows had once crushed the sensitive ape, Clyde remained numb. His head was burning, eyes aching as his muscle screamed for relief. His hateful glare lingered on the dark-canine, expression the epitome of loathing, as he contemplated how easy it would be to slaughter the probing mutt now. Would he be missed? Surely not. But he restrained himself, roughly turning away to resume stalking on ahead. Lalita was right. He didn’t want to talk.

Well, wasn't this nice? All he had done was try to help and they had all gotten their fur into such a twist about it he wondered why he had even bothered. The Vigoroth looked like he wanted to just murder him on the spot and the Ninetails had the nerve to call him the loud mouth. And the Absol clearly was under the illusion that he had been the one who was being addressed, not the temperamental Normal-type.

"Why ... you ungrateful little ... turds!" Bear spat, the fur on his back bristling in anger. What was with kids these days? It was almost as if older Pokemon like him were nothing but lumps of lifeless flesh who followed everyone around being annoying. Ha! Kinda like the undead. As the group began to move on, Bear actually considered persisting with them and following to see if there was anything else he could do, but being treated like just some interfering idiot had offended him.

"Hmph! Fine! If you're going to be so rude and uncouth then I will take my leave. I'll go and find some Pokemon who are worth wasting my breath for!" With a growl and a dismissive flick of his tail, Bear plodded off into the undergrowth and out of sight.

"We should get going guys." Carefully stepping after the group, the Mightyena had come and gone swiftly. "Hmph! Fine! If you're going to be so rude and uncouth then I will take my leave. I'll go and find some Pokemon who are worth wasting my breath for!" Flinching at the harsh words, the Combusken silently followed at the back of the group, fiddling with her pipe. Perhaps it would've been better if the canine had stayed, at least there would be something to break the silence.

The quiet wasn't exactly deafening, but it was painful. The awkward, tense aura that had settled on the group was taking it's toll on Champagne, her body shaking lightly as if she were to start bawling her eyes out at any moment. She wanted to say something, anything, but no words came to her mind as she trotted along. The fire-type quietly wished she was a native to the region, perhaps then she may have somekind of interesting land mark or area to chat about, but instead her beak was sealed shut. 'Oh Arceus someone break the silence already...'

[OOC: Sorry! I didn't realize it was my turn. ^^;;]

As soon as an older, rather rugged mightyena came, he left. Circe had nearly jumped in joy at a normal male pokemon; one that wasn't completely off his rocker or shiny. She would have latched onto him like a leech and never let go. Unfortunately, by the unstable monkey's behavior and the stupid ninetales' words, he left in a rage, leaving her without a foothold once more.

"Wait!" she cried, taking a few steps after the raging mutt. She looked to the vigoroth, her own bit of rage welling inside of her. It was enough that she had to play nice with the stupid ninetales and her boy toy, it was enough to have to endure all of these indecencies without a proper escort. But to watch that brute chase away the only bit of normality she'd seen in the past few hours was over the line. She began her snappy retort to him in her head when she caught a glance at his face, still contorted with fury. Her anger quelled and she took a couple of steps back, remembering her place. A one-on-one fight with this barbarian wouldn't be the right approach. He'd rip her to shreds in a heartbeat.

No... she'd need something different.

With no proper escort within the group, it was difficult for Circe to want to stay. However dysfunctional they may be, though, she knew it was far safer to travel with them rather than on her own. So... she'd need to buy time for when she did come across another man, and when that happened, she'd simply leave. But she'd made a vow against any and all shinies, especially those unbearable foxes, and she knew she couldn't just leave. No... she'd need something; a parting gift for the beautiful maiden.

She knew exactly what to do.

She turned back to Lalita, still unsure of the vigoroth's sanity. "...Maybe... we should find some place to rest. You all look pretty tired, and I know I could do with some lunch. Some rest and food might put everyone in better spirits." Her tone was light but a hint of caution lay underneath that brightness.

This was it. This was the day they would all die.

Garth sat himself down upon a branch high in a tree and smirked to himself, leaning his hand on his knee and craning his neck as far downwards as he dared. He was simply desperate to lay his claws into that miserable lot; craving to hear their screams and pleas for mercy; hungering for the flavour of their blood embracing his tongue as he licked it off of his leaf blades. He was finding the taste of blood more and more satisfying lately, and he knew exactly why. Kill them while you still have the mindset to enjoy it.

After putting that pathetic Quilava to rest he had managed to keep himself occupied by becoming the new best friend of a desperately lonely Furret, who had literally burst into tears of joy and leapt into his arms at the sight of him. Clearly he could still pass as an uninfected Pokemon when he wasn't covered in gore, despite the small patches of grey that were starting to appear on his leaves and the purple bruise surrounding the bite mark on his neck. He had led the Furret to a pile of berries that he had purposely collected and then hacked her to pieces as she took the last mouthful. He could still hear her piercing screams echoing back and forth in his head, begging him to stop. Their pleas only energised him further. The fear, the pure, raw fear that pulsated from them in their final moments only reminded Garth that he was the dominant one; he was the one who held all the power. Word of his savagery would only spread until every Pokemon in the region, even the infected ones, would be terrified of the sight of him. They will be next.

The Grovyle shifted slightly on his branch and watched the scene unfold. That white-furred bitch was still there, as well as the Vigoroth, who currently looked a little worse for wear. Oh deary me, I wonder who did that? Garth quietly chuckled to himself at the memory of almost slashing that bastard's chest open; that brief but hilarious look of surprise on their faces always amused him. But then the Ninetails had stepped in and had been the only reason why he hadn't killed that bastard right on the spot. She can go first. The group seemed to be tense and a Mightyena had come along and offered to help, but was rudely dismissed. The canine had huffed his disapproval at them before leaving, literally passing right by the tree that Garth was perched in. For a moment he had considered jumping on the old dog and tearing ripping his throat out as well, but he knew that he had to try and stay focused; awakening his old habit of rushing into things and fucking it up would not help to quicken the deaths of the little party. And besides, they'd only hear him and come running in acting like a bunch of over-confident idiots wanting to play the hero and revenge act.

Wait... As silently as he could muster, Garth climbed from one branch to another, determined to keep up with the group. If he could just eavesdrop on their plans he could figure out the perfect moment to strike. He hoped that he could just land right on the Ninetail's head and hack it off right there and then. It'd serve her right for interfering before and making him look like an imbecile. Or should he go for the Vigoroth first? Or take one of the newcomers for a hostage for a little bit of a gamble? Either way, one thing was for certain:

Not one of them was leaving the National Park with their lives.

Guilt ate at the shiny fox as she watched the large hound go off in a huff, not meaning to drive him away. All she wanted was for everything to be the way that it was...but all she kept doing was screwing things up. It was all her fault. It always was. She began to wonder if the others would be better off if she just left, but there was a tingling feeling in the back of her mind that told her she shouldn't go, not just yet.

Calamity glared at the Mightyena as it stormed off, not giving a flip that he was offended for being a giant bear and accusing people of the very thing he himself was doing. 'Idiot...' he thought to himself. He saw the look on Lalita's face, however, and felt a little guilty that their attitude's had added to her sorrow. She looked nothing like the beauty he had first seen that morning, this world bearing down on her lovely shoulders and hard. But it seemed that his curse wasn't done with her yet.

"...Maybe... we should find some place to rest. You all look pretty tired, and I know I could do with some lunch. Some rest and food might put everyone in better spirits." Lalita turned her gaze up from the ground to look at Circe, puzzlement on her face. "But...we are just leaving from resting. Why would we need to go do it again? We haven't moved all day..." No, they had to keep moving. This wasn't the time to just hole up somewhere, and with everyone so on edge they wouldn't get any rest anyway. "We should try to get as close to Violet City as possible before we try to rest again. We've already lost the morning due to...recent events."

The dark Absol was in full agreement with Lalita, having watched them since the Poliwrath's attack and knowing they hadn't done anything to need rest again. What they all really need was emotional rest, and that would only happen once he was gone and out of here. But there was something about the way that Circe addressed Lalita that made the feline frown, eying her carefully. She was up to something, but he couldn't quite put his paw on it. 'I'm watching you...

(( Skip me, please. Clyde’s not doing much but looking like he wants to kill something, lol. ))

Champagne slowly walked with the group, only pausing for a moment when the Leafeon spoke. Although the idea of having a quick meal was a nice idea, the Ninetales did have a point. She nodded an agreement. "We should try to get as close to Violet City as possible before we try to rest again. We've already lost the morning due to...recent events." The Combusken looked at the environment around them, eyes wide in awe at the sights of a foreign region.

"I-I hope we don't run into anything on the way there, she murmured, smiling. "We've had e-enough trouble for the day." the fire-type chuckled a bit, trying to lighten the mood. She was at a lost of words, however, her voice lodged in her throat. "I wonder if we'll meet more living over at Violet City," falling quiet, Champagne was left to wonder about her thoughts. Maybe they would meet new friends in the city. The thought made a smile tug at her lips. 'I think what we all need is a happy moment,'

So from what Garth had gathered, the group were in a tense situation from one another and they were planning to head to Violet City. The Grovyle frowned upon hearing this; concrete buildings were not exactly easy to climb on, and neither did they provide much camouflage. Then they will never make it to the city, Garth thought, a twisted grin creeping its way onto his bloodstained face in anticipation of what was to come. If they were going to die before they'd even set foot within that city, then the time to strike had to be soon. Wait ... you must wait... He continued to stalk them but was finding it increasingly difficult to control himself. They were right there, right beneath his feet and within perfect striking distance. However, to alleviate the decision of who to strike first and, indeed, the consequences of such, Garth decided that he deserved a little bit of fun before any blood was spilled. After all, installing fear and uncertainty within the hearts of victims made them weak, and it wasn't like he was going to succeed at befriending them, not after what he had done. This was Plan B, and in his opinion it was just as fun.

Garth hopped over a few more branches until he was ahead of the group, still hidden perfectly within the canopy. Opening his jaw and holding it in a patch of sunlight coming from a gap between the leaves, he charged a Solarbeam. He allowed it to reach full power before unleashing it. The ground just in front of the group erupted, shooting leaves, dirt and stones into the air as the Solarbeam exploded. By the time the dust had settled, Garth's grin had spread from ear to ear. Oh their faces! They were terrified and he knew it. Their minds were frantic with worry, wondering what the hell was going on and who was attacking them. He'd make that very clear in time, of course, but why not have a little more fun while he was at it?

"Whoops!" Still hidden within the trees, Garth's high-pitched voice simply oozed with mockery and insanity as he suppressed a burst of laughter. He returned it to its normal tone, however, and made no effort to disguise it when he said, "I do apologise. I have terrible accuracy. That was actually mean to kill you ... Lalita." Garth sat back on his branch, keeping an eye on the Ninetails's face and eagerly waiting for that look of realisation to appear on it. My favourite part.

Circe didn't answer right away and that was fine with the Absol, ignoring her attempts at controlling Lalita in favor of the soft voice of the Combusken. "I-I hope we don't run into anything on the way there. We've had e-enough trouble for the day." Calamity couldn't agree more that this group had seen more than its share of demons, even in the short time he had been there. "I wonder if we'll meet more living over at Violet City," The dark Absol softened his gaze as best he could before trying to address the young girl. "I'm not sure the city is the best place to find living friends, but I think we will be fi-" but true to his luck he couldn't even finish the sentence before the ground in front of him exploded. Jumping back he ran smack into the shiny Ninetales who was looking around frantically trying to figure out what had just happened.

"Whoops! I do apologize. I have terrible accuracy. That was actually mean to kill you ... Lalita."

That voice....that voice! Lalita was on her feet in a flash as recognition filled her, knowing that the owner of that sadistic tone was someone she had met before. It had only been a day since they last saw Garth, but it seemed he was back and crazier than ever. Her eyes widened, chest heaving with shallow breaths as she tried to steady her nerves, and she looked around anywhere she could spot to try and find the devil of a Grovyle. "Where are you? Garth!" she cried, praying with all she had that the psycho wouldn't be ready to attack again after using what appeared to be a Solarbeam. "Stop hiding you...you...coward!" Maybe goading him on wasn't the best idea but honestly she would rather see where he was rather than letting him fire at them from the shadows.

Looking to Fuzzy the Ninetales eyes pleaded and begged, praying that Clyde would snap out of whatever was wrong with him and help take out their pursuer. Clyde had hated Garth from the start so she was hoping that he would want to get rid of the guy that had left him with those x-shaped wounds on his chest. "Fuzzy! Please! Do something!" Lalita knew she wasn't strong enough to take on Garth on her own, and it was only thanks to the group that she had even driven him off the last time. Calamity couldn't stand to see her so terrified so he decided to try his own tactic rather than wait. Kicking up a terrible wind he waited a few moments before using his horn to cut through it, sending blades of wind slashing through several trees trying to pick out where the attacks had come from. "Show yourself you bastard!"

The second the ground burst beneath the force of a stranger’s attack, Clyde’s demeanour shifted. His anger spiking, the Vigoroth span around to inspect the damage, reddening eyes latched onto the cavernous earth just before Lalita and her tiresome companions. But, his observation was brief. No sooner had he turned, was he scouring the treetops for glimpse of a creature responsible. His posture screaming hostility, Clyde’s fur was puffed out in blatant aggression as his ruthless glare searched for a culprit.

Then, that voice.

"Whoops! I do apologize. I have terrible accuracy. That was actually mean to kill you ... Lalita."

The snarl that echoed from Clyde’s throat was the definion of a raw, untameable fury. How dare he return? How dare he try to claim another life?! Eyes narrowed to slits, the crimson slowly seeping to taint azure pools, the Vigoroth’s attention never left his surroundings, constantly searching for glimpse of that bastard. Even with Lalita’s fearful voice in the background, Clyde couldn’t comfort her. He felt her pain, but instead of sorrow, his emotion was translated into a bitter hatred, a lust for violence. He would kill that psychopath. Not for Lalita and all his victims, but for him. Clyde had always hated that creep, but there seemed to be something more to his disgust. Everything had started to crumble when they’d met him.

"Show yourself you bastard!”

Not realizing he’d begun furiously pacing, Clyde’s infuriated roar ripped through the silence.
“GARTH!” He bellowed, uncaring of what beasts such noise might attract. He didn’t care. He could think of nothing but smashing that sly reptile’s face to a pulp. He would have that honour. He would tear through countless undead alike to have the chance to snap the creep’s bony little neck. In fact, he lusted for the violence, the gore, the blood.

Circe snorted a little at the bitch ninetales' answer that they'd already rested quite a while. Like I would have known that, Bitch, she growled in her own mind, looking away with contempt. It was only a suggestion.

However, things quickly made a turn for the worst. As the others discussed Violet City, the ground literally exploded, causing her to shriek in shock and jump back, putting her near the rather insane vigoroth. "Wh-What...?!" she cried, attempting to ask what the hell was happening when someone else did it for her.

"Whoops! I do apologize. I have terrible accuracy. That was actually mean to kill you ... Lalita."

Circe whirled around, eyes searching for the source of the eerie disembodied voice. While she obviously had no love for the ninetales mentioned -in fact, she was rooting for the bastard to kill her- she wanted to make sure she wasn't on the shit list either. Tail flared and teeth bared, she searched the vegitation around them as everyone else shat their pants. "Where are you? Garth!" Lalita screamed, searching for the source -Garth, apparently- as well. "Stop hiding you...you...coward!"

“GARTH!” the vigoroth roared near her, causing her to jump back and away from him. Circe glanced around her once more, weighing her survival rates if she were to high-tail it out of there.

"What the hell is this thing?!" she demanded, her fear seeping into her voice.

Well, that did it. Just as predicted, the mere sound of his voice had sent them all off on one hell of a panic. Garth leaned his weight onto his knee and laughed his head off at the sight of Lalita spinning around in circles as she tried to seek him out, the look on her face just the one that he had been looking forward to seeing. Clyde paced up and down looking like he wanted to commit murder, before furiously bellowing the Grovyle's name. That was it. How boring. A scoff escaped the infected Grass-type's lips as the Leafeon started to panic as well, the fear loud and clear within her voice. Wonderful. She'd be an easy target, and perhaps a good hostage if necessary.

A great wind suddenly picked up below and the Absol used an attack, which he guessed was Razor Wind, and tore away at several branches just to Garth's left, scattering leaves and bits of twig in his direction. Covering his face with one arm and using the other to hoist himself up to a slightly higher branch, Garth scoffed loudly. "Now that was just downright rude!" he laughed scornfully, flicking a small splinter out of his leg. "There was no need for that. I was just passing by and decided to settle a score or two with Twitch the Bitch and Mr Grumpy over there. Surely you'd want to do the same if someone had gotten in your way and pissed you off, yes? It's only fair."

He took another moment to take in their reactions and feed on their emotions before shuffling himself into a more comfortable position on his branch. "Oh, do carry on to this city of yours. I'll just hang on for a bit and decide which of you I want to kill first."

"Now that was just downright rude!" Calamity growled as the voice finally revealed itself, showing a Grovyle practically radiating madness. "I'll give you rude!" he snarled, readying another Razor Wind. "There was no need for that. I was just passing by and decided to settle a score or two with Twitch the Bitch and Mr Grumpy over there. Surely you'd want to do the same if someone had gotten in your way and pissed you off, yes? It's only fair." Lalita stepped back in alarm, not sure how to respond to something that was actually singling her out to kill her and not just anything that moved like a normal infected. Garth was actually crazy...and that was something she had never experienced.

"What the hell is this thing?!" Circe's cry drew Lalita from her thoughts and she realized that only she and Clyde even knew who was after them. "His name is Garth," she answered timidly, still eying the Grovyle. "He was someone we trusted, let into our group, but he turned out to be a sadistic infected and attacked us. He's killed two of our own and is the one who gave those terrible slashes to Fuzzy's chest." It was only luck that her fire had driven him off last time, luck and that demented Absol. They just seemed to attract all the crazies didn't they?

Fuzzy was actually beginning to get that way himself and she wondered if the pressure was finally starting to get to him. They had been suffering nothing but hardship and mental torture in the last two days and it made them feel like they had already lived a lifetime. "Oh, do carry on to this city of yours. I'll just hang on for a bit and decide which of you I want to kill first." Calamity let his Razor Wind loose at that comment, waiting for that smart mouth to open once more. "You won't be killing anyone you demented freak!" His bad luck was not going to be the death of the shiny Ninetales. He wouldn't allow it.

"There was no need for that. I was just passing by and decided to settle a score or two with Twitch the Bitch and Mr Grumpy over there. Surely you'd want to do the same if someone had gotten in your way and pissed you off, yes? It's only fair."

Clyde had caught glimpse of that sly bastard through the foliage, his darkening eyes unmoving from the bloodstained skin of that damned Grovyle. His entire body rigid, the need to kill something, anything slowly driving away all sanity, all that escaped the Vigoroth was a menacing snarl. The coward only climbed higher, getting a better look of his prey whilst spouting his usual bullshit.

"You won't be killing anyone you demented freak!"

Past Lalita’s explanation of who exactly this murderer was to the oblivious Leafeon was the Absol’s anger. As much as Clyde disliked the company of a bringer of ill-omen, he was pleased the guy was actually doing something about this threat. In many respects, he was glad that he wouldn’t have to bring Garth down alone – Arceus knows he’d keep the girls out of the violence – but there was a certain jealousy lingering there too. Clyde wanted the glory, the privilege, of killing the demented reptile himself. Watching as the Razor Winds of the Absol went in search of Garth, Clyde too, leapt into action.

Charging towards the tree that Garth perched atop, Clyde threw a powerful Hammer Arm at the trunk in a bid to bring the thing toppling down. He had to do something to quell his growing anger, the uncontrollable fury and need for blood that was evoking hideous thoughts. Pummelling the trunk with punch after punch until his paws were bleeding from the force, the crazed look in Clyde’s eye was topped off as the red in his orbs began to spread.

Things were getting way out of hand. Circe could only watch in horror as a grovyle popped out of the brush, feigning hurt after the shiny absol launched an attack. "Now that was just downright rude!" Getting a good look at the lizard, the leafeon understood why everyone was so up in arms about this thing. His crimson eyes were wide with insanity, his sharp-thoothed grin unnerving. Circe gulped; she wasn't sure if even she could run from this thing. Much less kill it. "I'll give you rude!" Calamity growled, earning a glance from Circe. Like the guy looked very frightened from the previous one.

"There was no need for that. I was just passing by and decided to settle a score or two with Twitch the Bitch and Mr Grumpy over there. Surely you'd want to do the same if someone had gotten in your way and pissed you off, yes? It's only fair." The lizard's words rang out like a bell, striking a delicate nerve. She gave one glance to Lalita and her little posse. She held no love for any of these creatures, the only one even half qualifying already looking about as demented as the lizard that posed such a threat to everyone. Settle a score? It was exactly what she'd done with the little bitch that had stolen her trainer from her... How... was this different? She cursed herself for trusting the ninetales so quickly-- of course she would lie and twist the truths to better suit those around her! How stupid was she, a master of manipulation, to fall for one of the easiest fucking tricks in the book!?

Her resolve met, she knew what she had to do. Glancing at each pokemon in turn, her gaze resting on the mad grovyle last, she then darted off into a nearby brush, running like mad. Hopefully, Garth would follow her sudden movement, knowing that a chase would be too delicious to miss. Under the cover of the vegetation, she would be able to pose a chance for the lizard. It was a risky move, but if it gave her the payoff she so direly wanted, it would be completely worth it. For Circe no longer wanted to fight the grovyle... but to join him, and kill that little shiny bitch as well.

((Dun dun DUUUUUUUUUUUN.)))

((Please skip. Lalita would just be totally confused as to why Circe ran off and I want to wait for Night for Calamity. ^_^))

(( I'm going to have to skip too. Clyde's just punching a tree, lol. ))

The Combusken quietly observed what had happened, to scared to speak nor move as she simply stood trembling. The harsh voices, the shouting, had simply reduced the fire-type to a sniveling wreck. "Oh, do carry on to this city of yours. I'll just hang on for a bit and decide which of you I want to kill first." Champagne squeaked in terror, stumbling back. "L-Leave us a-alone!" she chirps, a few flames escaping her mouth. She watched as Clyde began to attack the tree the undead perched upon, while Circe bolted away.

Clearing her throat, the bird tightly gripped her tungsten pipe with her claws. Champagne slowly inhaled a deep, large breath, before suddenly being engulfed with a mass of flames. "W-watch out!" she called to Clyde, before beginning her sprint towards the tree. The more she ran the larger the fire became, embers trailing behind her. Meters away from where the infected was, the Combusken leaped with all her strength, the Flare Blitz surrounding her bursting into more blaze as the female slammed her whole body against the tree. The inferno began to climb up the trunk swiftly, the fire-type watching her work grow as she stumbled backwards, in pain from recoil damage.

((Skip again... :x))