The PALLET Team

A warm breeze blows, rustling the long grass with a gentle sweeping motion. The sickly sweet aroma of hundreds of new blossoms fills the air and dot the ground with splashes of color. Soft sunlight filters warmly into the cats pelt as she delicately pads through the field of flowers. The blooms bump lightly against her brown paws, sending off a puff of sparkly pollen specks that the wind carries off. She smiles watching them trail off into the shiny bright sky filled with fluffy white clouds. The grasses and flowers seem to stretch off endlessly. A few leaves drift in the wind and pools of water rest in the plants. Its so peaceful.

Padding over to the little pond Arsi looks into the crystal clear blue water. Gliding carelessly in the liquid are little unknown species of fish of colored bright oranges, yellows, and whites. Pawing at the waters surface the fish almost seem to swim right into her paws. Within moments she had caught one and hoists it up with droplets falling from her claws. Realizing she can not see her own reflection in the water the cat drops the fish in confusion. First there is nothing but then an image fades into view. The Pokemon is completely unknown to her but she notes its pale coloration and striking eyes. Jewels on it almost seem to shine, adding to its regal beauty.. It is not a noise but a sense of presence that makes Arsi turn her head to see the very Pokemon standing on the brow of the hill. "Who are you?" She asks inquisitively but the Pokemon does not reply.

With tentative steps she goes closer to it. Without a word it seems to beckon her forward. As she gets closer it turns and steps away over the top of the hill. "Wait don't go!" She calls back to it but again receives no answer. Increasing her pace the foreigner seems to always be a certain distance away, unapproachable though it moves so slowly. "Please, tell me who you are." Trying to move quicker the thick flowers hinder her short legs. The cat can not gain speed as she lops through the plants. The stems kept grabbing at her legs and sticking to her fur. She wonders if its only her imagination but one more step and the plants do not let go. Tripping the cat lands with an oof, sending thousands of sparkling pollen spores skyward. The ground is so soft and plush it does not hurt but her hindleg is trapped within a vines hold. What is this..

Stretching her neck and shoulders Arsi realizes more vines have taken her prisoner, snaking across the ground to grip at her forepaws as well. Fear floods her body but she cannot fight the plants, feeling limp as a ragdoll. Within moments the vines completely cover and drag her down into the soil. It all goes dark and cold with a sense of being still yet falling. Falling so far, so fast.. Arsi yowls in panic, seeing nothing but darkness about her. The sound of her cries echo but there is nothing else. Nothing except a tiny white dot below. It is so far away and seems to shine faintly but quickly it grows. Before long it has overtaken her sight. It was the ground. The kitten squeezes her eyes shut in preparation for impact.


The world around her shakes and all is dark again. It is still cold and everything is horribly painful while her mind tries to awaken from the hallucination. Agony grips at her heart and she can not breath. Coughing and gasping feebly at the heavy air her body flips to a more natural position with strong bursts of pain. The tunnel she had made was so tight and cramp that her whiskers brushed the walls on ether side. The searching Garchomp shakes the ground with each swipe of a claw. It wouldn't be long before she was found and now she had no way of running.
Not that her body would allow her to again.

Deep in the earth the cat can hear nothing but what feels like a moaning in the tunnel. Be it her or simply the air moving about she does not know. The solemn note along with her labored breath sounds like the voice of death.. Faintly there is something else but her ears must strain to pickup the sound of Shiloh's screaming. It's over... The darkness intensifies as her mind fades to black once more.

Shiloh couldn't breath. The log was slowly crushing her form, the crack and snaps of bones crushing and crumbling painful as she wailed. Her cry was long and eerie, the same sound as a rabbit about to die, as she helplessly flailed her arms against the burning wood. Her paw pads were scuffed and raw, burning at every touch of the flame. The Tyrannitar was towering menacingly over her, expression dark and hateful as his saliva dripped from it's broken jaws. One of it's massive hands pressed down on the Lopunny's chest, causing the undead to gasp and gag for air, but found that only smoke would enter her lungs.

"HELP ME!" she sobbed, cheeks wet with tears. "SOMEONE HELP ME, HELP ME!" her vision was going hazy, blurred and dark. The Tyrannitar was slowly crushing her chest, grinning madly. "PL..EASE....SOMEONE HELP..." she felt bile rise in her throat, coughing and hacking as her trachea burned. "Ple..ase...some....one..." her weak arms gently claws at the behemoth's face, too frail to inflict a wound. "...help.."

Khan was moving again; strong hands had dragged him to his feet and were guiding him away from the deafening noise and blistering heat. The Lucario's legs barely managed to help haul him along as Haze took him to the shade and safety of the back of a house that had, so far, managed to avoid the explosions and flames. Khan's steel body heaved a great sigh of relief of being away from those intense flames, and his eyes flickered open just as Haze sat him back down against the stone wall.

"I'm sorry, Khan. I couldn't leave you or the others." Khan's mouth lung open limply, his throat trying to form words but he only spluttered out a hoarse cough. A thin drizzle of blood ran down his chin and onto his chest. "I'm going back, Khan. Arsi and Shiloh can't handle those two alone, and neither can I with them..." "No..." Khan's weak voice was barely audible over the screams and roar of the fire. Panic gripped him and he twisted his body round to face the wall, digging his claws into the concrete and trying to haul himself up. "I've gotta prove myself, I'm gonna be strong like you..." "Haze, please." Khan's legs trembled as he forced himself into a standing position, sweat pouring down his face at exertion. Every inch of him throbbed in agony, but he was adamant that he would not just sit by a wall and listen to his friends die. There was no way that they could take down those monsters on their own, and he doubted that his contribution would make much difference, especially since he was injured. But he had to try ... if he died, at least he would leave this world knowing that he went to his limit to try and protect his friends.

"Haze ... take them and go." Khan attempted one final plea to his friend, his eyes glistening with tears of exertion. "We can't win ... find a safe place..." But then a sound, a terrifying, hair-raising sound that jolted his senses back into reality, reached his ears from around the corner: Shiloh's petrified screams for help. "Sh-Shiloh!" Khan spluttered up some more blood as he dared to let go of the wall. He staggered forward, his leg movements almost mechanical, and clutched the corner of the building, examining the scene. Beyond the huge flames and billowing smoke he could see the outline of the Tyranitar, bending over and pressing its great hand down onto something on the ground. Squinting, Khan noticed Shiloh underneath a log, and the beast's hand slowly starting to crush her chest.

"NO!" Deep within his mind, Khan felt something snap. His entire body began to tremble violently, a bright blue light surrounding it. He barely registered what his body was doing until he noticed the cyan-coloured ball of energy flying from his hands. It collided with his nearest target: the digging Garchomp, sending the dragon reeling backwards into the inferno. He relished in her screams of agony as the flames engulfed her body. Pausing for a moment, Khan realised what he had just done.

Aura Sphere.

Upon that revelation, Khan did not hesitate. Cupping his hands together and forming another sphere, he hurled it straight at the Tyranitar. The ball of aura energy leveled the towering flames as it zoomed through them, hitting the monster square in the chest. Its bellow of pain shook the earth, and several trees were smashed to the ground as it collided with them. One more carefully aimed Aura Sphere smashed the log that imprisoned Shiloh into splinters.

Without a moment to lose, Khan made a move. His weakened limbs forced him to scramble along on all fours, and he carefully traversed the side of the trench, avoiding the flames, and finally made it to Shiloh's side. "Sh-Shiloh..." Khan's mouth dribbled with more blood as he fell to the ground beside her, panting and coughing. Pushing himself up, he managed to take hold of her hand. "Are you ... OK? Can you get up?"

((OOC: At this point, there's nothing Haze can possibly do. He doesn't have attacks that are anywhere effective on Garchomp or Tyranitar (yet...).Besides, it's Khan's turn to be in the spotlight. Just say that Haze is both too tired and impressed by Khan to do anything. Sounds corny but still...))

The behemoth that threatened to kill her was suddenly slammed with a orb of light, the Tyrannitar violently stumbling and colliding to the ground, bringing along many trees with it. Shiloh stared wide-eyed as another Aura Sphere shot, this one towards her, and in fear she closed her eyes and winced. Suddenly she felt relieve on her chest, the flaming log no longer pinning her down to the earth as she looked up to Khan. "Sh-Shiloh..." the Lucario had quickly made his way to her side, the Lopunny's breathing raspy and painful as she struggled for fresher air. "Are you ... OK? Can you get up?" she gripped his paw tightly in hers, tensing her body as she tried to force herself up.

Her motion was haphazard and dangerous, the undead no longer able to feel her right leg. She struggled to stay balanced on one foot, looking down at her battered body in a mixture of disgust and sadness. "I..." she began her words, but fell silent as her gaze traveled to the fighting-type's face. What good would it be to worry him further? Her injuries could wait, they all needed to get out of this forest as soon as possible. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me." she lied, her tone confident yet weak and feeble. The third degree burns that decorated her body still stung, along with the reddened patches of furless skin. Nearly a third of her fur had been burned and blackened, covered in ashes and debris. It was clear that she was in pain, but the undead fought to keep standing.

"We...we need to get out of here. Are the others o-okay? We should leave before the fire grows even more." she coughed and sputtered during her speech, wheezing. Awkwardly she hoped forward with one leg, attempting to make it look like her right one was still functioning as she waddled away from the flames.

((OOC: Please skip me, I have to study for college...))

In the blackness of her mind Arsi couldn't see anything. She couldn't hear or smell anything ether. Yet, she could. In a warped sense the cat couldn't tell what or where she was. A cold, closed-in feeling like that of a damp cave was around her, echoing water drips throughout its rocky walls. The sound bounces through the air giving off a sense of depth she was not expecting. Their is no visualization, merely blackness with false sound, but if there was it would be only outlines of shapes. Outlines that have come to be simply by being thought. One is of a cat, of Arsi, the other of a larger Pokemon with gleaming eyes. She tries to move, bewildered but accepting of this reality. Or lack of it.

The taller Pokemon gently bounds away, looking back at her repetitively. With each step it 'lands' in the nothingness a rippling ring circulates from its small feet. Were they standing on water? tapping the space beneath her Arsi watches rings ripple away from the spot. Accepting it as normal she goes after the other Pokemon. Something told her to follow, that to stay here would cease everything. With each lop her line-looking body felt heavier and harder to move. Her view seemed to be looking down on herself, the lines filling in with her colors and form. The brighter she got the more she weighed, the color having its own mass. Each time they went down her tiny brown paws would sink and be surrounded by the darkness, As though too heavy to stay on top of the sucking water-like space.

With each step it got worse. Hard feelings of deja vu swamped her, thoughts of vines and plants coming to mind though none were present. A pit seemed to form, funnel shaped and dragging her to the center. Unable to escape Arsi cried out in sudden panic, the sound not like one she had ever made before being that of a bell. The Pokemon she had been follow peered over the edge of the pit but did nothing to help her. Oddly, she is not afraid. Reaching the center the blotting darkness soon overtakes her vision until she is completely under the water-like substance. The eyes of the other Pokemon can still be seen, glowing down on her emotionless, blurred by the surface. Sinking downward the cat feels almost peaceful, weightless and light. This keeps happening.. dragging me down..

Drifting about the in blank space is a wavy white line, a chill that feels almost like wind. Pushing her long it hums a note that hangs in the air. Was it speaking? The idea is silly yet in this strange place it could easy exist. Suddenly her peace feels a hard shake, a turbulent of sorts shoving her forward. The darkness changes to many shades of blue, most being dark but getting lighter at the surface and past it. I really am underwater.. With no feelings of worry or urgency Arsi lets the current move her long. Slowly it brings her upward and after an eternity she finally breaks the surface. Sparkling bright light fills her vision but its impossible to see.

[[OOC: Skip! Also, love the new image, Cinder. <3]]

"I...I'm fine. Don't worry about me." Khan was not fooled. By how Shiloh looked she was certainly as far from 'fine' as you could get. Her body was covered in aggressive, oozing burns and patches of furless skin rubbed raw by the fallen log that had trapped her. Khan held her hand tightly as he helped her to her feet, an overwhelming pity for her forming in his heart. He knew she was one of them, and the pain she was feeling at that moment would never bring the death that many sufferers of the virus so wanted. If he was in that condition, he was certain that he would've asked one of them to finish him off. How does she do that? Khan thought as he watched Shiloh struggle to remain on her feet. How does she still persist on living even though her death has been written?

He did not have much time to mull this over, however - the Tyranitar was stirring from the ground, the clump of several trees he had knocked over groaning under his great weight. He and Shiloh were but a few feet away from the monster. Normally the sight of a fellow Pokemon in such a state would've awakened Khan's in-built instinct to help them in any way he could, but as he took in the Tyranitar's grotesque form; his mutilated leg; his half-destroyed jaw; the black ooze dripping from the holes in his chest and legs ... he could almost feel a morbid sense of satisfaction that he had been the one to reduce creature to such a state. He had no idea why, but memories of Maxwell came flooding back and, somehow, the Raichu was bathed in a much brighter light than he had been in reality. Killitkillitkillit--

"We...we need to get out of here. Are the others o-okay? We should leave before the fire grows even more." Khan could hear Shiloh clearly even behind the roar of the inferno behind them, but his mind refused to register what she was saying, nor agree with it in any way. Leave? Now? When the Tyranitar was one smash to the skull away from death and the Garchomp was being scorched alive? "No." The one word that would determine his fate escaped from his mouth before he could stop it. "No, I'm staying. You get Haze and Arsi to safety." A bright blue aura began to flicker all around him, and he pressed his palms together and started to charge an Aura Sphere. "I can't let these monsters live another second."

These heathens were the ones that were destroying his home, not Maxwell or Shiloh. These were the ones who killed his family, not Maxwell or Shiloh. These lifeless, soulless beasts with only one instinct left: to kill whatever crossed their path. Why hadn't he seen this before? As the Aura Sphere reached a size that nearly matched the size of a large football, a tear drizzled down Khan's cheek. I treated him ... like something on the bottom of my foot. Charging forward with a cry, he leapt into the air, throwing the ball of aura energy behind his head and taking aim. And I'm going to make up for it.

The Tyranitar groaned and raised his head upon hearing Khan's scream. By the way his crimson eyes widened in terror upon seeing the bright blue ball of energy flying towards his face, he obviously wished he hadn't. The top of the monster's skull was blown to pieces as the Aura Sphere ripped through it, splattering brains and skull fragments across the ground. For a moment it remained motionless, its half-mouth hanging open in shock, a sickening gurgle rising from its throat. Blood drizzled out of its bottom jaw as the horrifically mutilated head crashed back to the ground with a splatter and a dull crunch, the Tyranitar's body twitching insignificantly as the last traces of 'life' ebbed away from it.

Khan knew that that would work for two reasons: he was aware that Tyranitar were very weak against Fighting-type attacks, and that he had learned from experience that the head of an undead seemed to be its weak spot - whenever battling them in the past he only ever got a notable result out of it when he had targeted the head, or rather, the brain. Just the previous day he had killed Siren by repeatedly pummeling her skull in with a Bone Rush.

No surprise, no pride, no regret ... no obvious emotion was displayed on Khan's face as he stared down at his kill. One down... His eyes carried a strange, almost feral look look at he noticed a dark shadow rising from the flames in the distance, raising its huge claws and screaming in rage. One to go...

((OOC: Sorry for skipping, it's been so long that I lost myself...))

Arecus wouldn't let the cats eyes stay closed. Slowly Arsi's blue eyes slid open again to see nothing but blackness around her. It took several long moments before she could remember being underground and that she was the one to of gotten herself there. Twisted and cramped in the small end of the tunnel, the walls feeling crumbly and soft from clawing in her 'sleep'. Flipping around once more to her belly she wheezes with pain. Her entire body ached and cried where it had been hit, scraped, or over exerted. Her leg, oh her leg whined to her brain. It whined out with agony from being burned, used, and trapped. "Meeaaa.." The Meowth yowls through the tunnel over the eery note it held. The sound echoed, going on and on. How far under am I?

Was the battle still going on? How long had she been in this hole.. Arsi's head feels heavy and thoughts are dull except those of the pain that courses through her system. Only the faintest of noises make it to her from the outside. Screams? Death cries? Are my friends even alive still.. Her chest tightens with pain making it even more difficult to breathe then it already was. In fact it was very difficult to breathe. Too difficult. Suffo.. cate.. There had to be plenty of air. It was a tunnel, a passageway. A hole not a tomb. She gasps. T-tomb? Breathing rapidly her lungs scream to be filled with crisp, rich air. What if she was in a tomb? What if she was dead? I have to get out. I have to get out! Its the only way to know.

Kicking and flailing the cat moves her body through the dirt without really realizing it. Her mind is racing and her lungs pleaded for oxygen, taking all of her focus off of Dig. Too much dirt. Too much dirt. Its too dark to see and impossible to tell how close to the surface she is. This can't be how it ends.. trapped underground. The cold dirt seems to close in on her until her body can only go one way. Claws working the hard earth faster the pain in Arsi's body increases. The desire to gape for air was becoming unbearable. Her thoughts raced. Was this how it was going to end? Choking on dirt and soul lost endlessly underground.. Then one paw shoots past the other, breaking the surface of the soil and emerging into hot, warm air.

Scrambling the upper half of her body out of the hole the cat pants and coughs, trying to take in as much of stinging, smoke riddled air as possible. Her head didn't seem to want to clear. It couldn't without fresh clean stuff to breathe.. Forcing her way on to screaming paws Arsi can see something. It was the pale the taller Pokemon again. It blinks at her before walking away without a word. "W-wait.." She whines before stumbling after it, "Come back!" Her back leg ached and cried to stop being used but the cat was too out of it to notice. Increasing speed Arsi began racing after the Pokemon, though she never seemed to get closer, until it vanished during a slow blink. "No!" She pleads for it to come back. Swaying on her paws the cat is tired and desperate to just lie down and rest. A familiar shape before her catches Arsi's attention, "K-Khan?" What had she missed?

The air, thick with billowing smoke that reeked of burning wood and flesh, did little to deter a patient observer to the conflict of the survivors. Following the two lumbering giants had been a risk, at any moment they could have deemed him a snack and turned on the courting pokemon, but time and time again the bulk provided by them had proved indispensable to Zephyr's own endeavors. Who would notice and attack him when a hyper beam was aimed for their head? And there was always enough left after they lost interest in feasting to eat. Far above the battlefield, the swoobat watched from the safety of his element. His wings spread wide to carry him in slow circles overhead as large, furry ears continuously twitch and rotate so not to deny him any information on what is happening below.

No...those lumbering fools, slow wits, unfit, weak!" A raspy, underused voice states in broken fragments. The words leaving his bloodied lips under Zephyr's breath much like someone muttering a curse word. The tyranitar had failed! Who would win now? The burning garchomp or the beaten Lucario? There was too much indecision, too much chance, he needed to be certain. He needed to eat. His ragged wings pull in close to a small form and cause the infected bat to plummet downward. Red eyes focusing solely on the two prominent shapes of the lone lucario and burning dragon.

Howls of rage and pain reach Zephyr's large ears over the sound of the flames and wind. By the time his plummeting brings him within range to release his own high-pitched screeches the dragon has recovered--to the amount he can being on fire--and charges again. The soundwaves from the bat's cry release in the form of lightly pulsating rings that engulf Khan. Whether or not his supersonic took effect, Zephyr doesn't have time to find out. His form is falling too quickly to abort and retreat safely above the trees without cover. Slowly at first, but with increasing speed, a consuming light blue light overtakes Zephyr's wings and grow increasingly bright as he closes the distance between him and his current target.

Closer...closer...

Black, scarred wings burst out to full length within ten feet of Khan's form. The light intensifies enough to color the swoobat's wing's momentarily white as the energy that has been building condenses and is released as whirling blades of air and light raining downward. The sudden shift in wing position serves to catch the rising wind and heat from the burning ground below and propels the swoobat skyward once again.


((OOC: Hello everyone, glad to be on the team! Wow, it seems like everyone has been seeing quite a bit of action. The move Zephyr used last is air slash.))

"Don't die out there, alright? I'll sacrifice every strand of flesh left in me to keep those two safe, no matter what.""[/color] Khan barely blinked at Shiloh's reply, instead offering the female a short nod as his gaze remained fixated on the demonic silhouette rising out of the flames ahead. The Lopunny had limped away, calling for Haze and Arsi while Khan had not moved a muscle from the dead Tyranitar's side. He was ready - this was exactly why he was still living; why he had spent so long training himself daily until his body could take no more. What use was strength and determination if it only lay dormant within? He had survived the massacre at Mahogany Town for a reason, and this was it. I shall fight.

The dark shape of the Garchomp lumbered through the smoke towards him, the dragon crying out in agony with every step she took. Khan managed to maintain his calm composure until she entered his full view, completely obscured by the smoke. He fought to keep down vomit.

The Garchomp's body was horrifically burned from head to toe. Black, oozy flesh practically dripped from her exposed bones. Her glistening, twitching muscles battled to keep her standing, while a terrible, hacking sound snapped from her mouth at every breath. Her right eye was now nothing more than a trail of sticky, red mush travelling down her cheek, having been melted out of existence. The other eye, however, was wide open, its crimson glow tearing through the darkness and straight onto Khan, who was staggered up against a tree and retching violently, trying desperately hard not to vomit.

"You..." Her voice nothing more than a guttural croak, the Garchomp's one remaining eye blazed with rage and hatred as she dragged herself forward. "YOU LITTLE FUCKER! LOOK WHAT YOU DID TO ME!"

Khan spat out some bile and managed to stand, defiantly glaring straight back at the incinerated dragon. "I'd gladly-- argh! --gladly do it again." Pain wracked through his spine and he doubled over with a groan - for a moment he'd almost forgotten that he himself was injured.

"I ... just you wait, you piece of shit. I'm ... I'm..." For a moment, the Garchomp's expres​sion(or what little he could read of it underneath all of the melted flesh and eye) appeared almost conflicted, confused, as her twisted mind tried to conjure a comeback. She was not about to let him get away with this - he knew that, but he had mistaken her pause as a pre-warning for an attack, and had dragged himself back upright and prepared himself, but by this point the Garchomp's eye was no longer focusing on him.

"K-Khan?"

Her grotesque head had snapped around upon hearing little Arsi's voice. The Meowth was but a mere five or so metres from the monster, and Khan urgently gestured at her to run, worried that he'd only set the Garchomp off into a rage if he made any sudden noises. But the dragon did not attack. Instead, she regarded Arsi for a few seconds and then, slowly, with a malicious grin that gave Khan an unwanted view of her filthy teeth, turned back to face him. Despite the unbearably hot air surrounding them, Khan suddenly felt extremely cold, almost numb to the core, as the beast's expression told him everything that was going on in her head. The look of terror on his face had been a dead giveaway.

I'm going to make you suffer.

Before he could even fully register what was going on, the Garchomp raised her foot and swiftly brought it back down to the ground. A massive shockwave erupted from where she stood, the Earthquake attack threatening to swallow them all into the abyss as the ground at Khan's feet began to break apart. Crying out in terror, Khan desperately clung to the nearest tree, feet scuffling away from the enormous crack in the ground that traveled for at least the next fifty metres.

The others! Claws embedded firmly into the bark, Khan traversed his way around it carefully, pausing whenever the violent aftershocks of the attack threatened to shake him off his feet. "ARSI? HAZE? SHILOH?" Wheezes of pain from the attack and the possibility that one or more of his friends could've been swallowed by the bottomless pit in the ground rendered Khan temporarily helpless until he could receive a single indication that they were still alive.

Movement from above briefly attracted his attention, and before he knew it he was leaping off to the side to avoid an incoming Supersonic attack. Missing it by inches, Khan looked up to see a Swoobat - clearly undead - descending towards him. "NO." Khan conjured a spear with a second to spare as the Swoobat's Air Slash sped towards him, using it to block most of the attack. It was still enough to sent him reeling backwards, almost into the pit, but he plunged his spear into the ground to stop him from falling in. "Get - lost," he viciously spat, using one hand and hurling an Aura Sphere in the bat's direction. "I do NOT HAVE TIME FOR - YOU!"

Nearby, the Garchomp stood and laughed at him.

((The Earthquake is large enough to hit everyone [except Zephyr since he's airborne] because its range was huge - your choice whether it hits or not. Also sorry for the weird ending - I almost forgot to include Zephyr's attack, lol.))

The swoobat's dead eyes narrow as several of his attacks are deflected or dodged. This one would not be going down as easily as he has thought. It would only make their resulting defeat and feast oh so much more delicious. There is not much time to brood on these thoughts, though the wind pulls him upward and away from physical contact with the lucario, a ball of energy had followed the swoobat into the air. The light of the energy it admits enough to make the undead cringe and release a noise similar to screech and hiss combined. Swiftly, he banks to the left however it was approaching faster than the swoobat anticipated, the sphere of light and energy misses the main body of the undead, but connected with its unwinding tail.

With an abrupt screech Zephyr falters in flight as the heart-shaped end of his tail is torn into shreds. Blackened blood sputters from the fresh wound and mingles with dried blood from previous feasts and encounters. Stubborn trails of blood flow overboard and rain down as the swoobat attempt to regain his balance in the air as the sudden pain and change in structure of his tail sends him bobbling through the air forward. Luckily the garhcomp is a wonderful distraction.

It's several more moments before Zephyr is able to regain full control over his flight again. Let the garchomp deal with this one! The raving lunatic that is the infected ground dragon is better suited to risking their limbs with these scuffles. That thing is a brute. The disappoint of needing to wait for one meal is much less so when there is a smaller, weaker meal being offered as an appetizer~

With powerful down strokes the swoobat gains altitude quickly. Though before when all of the figures below had been attacking the nuzleaf  had not stood out to the bat pokemon, now as all were fleeing but he and Khan...His immobility ushered Zephyr closer. Unheard sweet words told the bat this was his chance, while the young one was afraid and shaken by the earthquake that had torn through the survivors.  

The small voice within Zephyr's head continues to speak to him as he dives forward. Of fresh flesh, blood running down his maw...plenty of leftovers to feast on well into the next day. How sweet the taste and feeling of completely overpowering another being. Silently, the bat continues in his headlong dive. His leathery wings tight against his side once more to hasten his descent he reaches the nuzleaf before any of the others would have a chance to intervene and save the young one's life. Much like before, the swoobat's wings begin to glow with charging power as Zephyr dives. However, this time, he has no intention of stopping. When the light grows to an intensity that envelopes his wings in white the swoobat unfurls his wings. Blades solidify and slash through the air and soon flesh like a knife through soft butter.

The young one barely has time to scream as multiple blades dig into his being one after another in an upward curve from bloody feet, chest, shoulder and up to its neck. The blade thick enough to almost completely slice through the delicate neck it burrows through.

Crack!

With no intention of halting his full dive, Zephyr doesn't angle his wings upward this time to gain altitude this time. This prey piece was not escaping his clutches nor would he miss. Carrying the full force of the speed he had accumulated while diving, Zephyr extends his claws and connects dead-on with the nuzleaf's face. Each clawed, bloodied foot finding a socket to catch hold within. With the body held to the ground by blades from his air slash and an already weakened neck, this blow effectively severs the head from its body. With sickening crunching the 'duo' collided with the ground though the brunt of the hit is absorbed by the severed head. The landing taking them both a some feet away from his body and leaving skid marks through the broken earth.

Adrenline would be coursing through the swoobat's veins, if he had a heart beat. His body heaves with delight and the effort it took to dive, sever, and land.

"Too brave to run and too much of a coward to fight!"

The bat snickers, a grey tongue extending from his mouth to lick over his large canines to remove the old dried blood before arching his mouth open wide and plunging down into the soft flesh below his claws. Bones crunch within the bat's large teeth as he works to remove chucks of flesh and organs.

"A pity your eyes make for such a good perch~ They are one of my favorite parts~"

The undead coos to his catch in between bites. Stopping only as a thought occurs to him and he releases his catch to spin it around. Who would have thought the land would serve as an effective skull cracker? With chortles of delight the swoobat lands again on his catch and digs in, taking in mouthfuls of bone, flesh, and brain. Hunger takes over the undead as he feverishly consumes whatever he can, mangled flesh getting thrown aside and blood drenching the jagged tuffs of fur that is the bat's mane, face, claws, eyes..his whole head as it is pressed into the opening created and carved by him. Opening his wings again, the swoobat starts to down stroke, at first it appears as if he will not lift from the ground, but when he finally removes his head from that of his prey, with a large chunk situated between his fangs, and he beats his wings more powerfully than before the bat becomes airborne with the head still in his clutches.

Though the head is quite a bit large for him to carry as one piece, the bat gains a respectable height as he continues to beat his wings to compensate for the added weight. If only the forest were not being consumed by flames he could have hid it away there until it could join his stash, but that is not so and the swoobat is content to hold his catch.


((ooc- I have been given permission by the admins to perform the harbinger attack on Haze the nuzleaf with Zephyr.))

Coughing and wheezing hard on the ashy tasting smoke, thick purple fluid bubbles up from the cats throat and oozes out between her teeth. It drips to the ground to make dangerous puddles that Arsi sways and steps around without notice. Her glazed gaze can only focus on one thing; the blurry blue image of Khan ahead of her. "Khan.." She repeats softly, able to see he was moving even though he didn't speak. He was alive and that is what mattered. If he was still moving then he had to be okay too. A bit of light comes back to her eyes as she stumbles toward him on weary legs. The words dangle on the tip of her tongue but she doesn't get the chance to ask if he is alright. A noise turns her head instead of the movement of the Garchomp.

That fact it was so close without being noticed surprises her. The shock wave from her Earthquake did even more. Instantly all the air from her tired lungs is expelled so the Meowth can not even cry out in pain. Launched and rolled across the ground several yards her mind begs for these actions to stop. Its always the same thing, same movements same attacks, same effects and damage on her! Was it Deja vu or was she going crazy.. Head spinning, body aching, the dark shape of the Swoobat overhead could merely be a speck of dust in her blue eyes. The giant crack rapidly spreading across the ground was another story. It screamed and roared as the earth split, making Arsi flail and kick her brown paws to miss falling in. Her hind legs can feel the blank space as they dangle over the moving edge. "Naaaoooo!" She squeals, half way between the word no and a panicked whine.

Everything snapped back into focus loud and clear. Each horrid shock wave bumped her further along the crack, almost toppling the cat in each time. The scent of smoke flooded her scents, stinging her eyes and clogging her nose yet her vision refused to let it blind her any longer. "ARSI? HAZE? SHILOH? She can hear Khan yelling, yelling for her! "HELP!" She shrieks, "Khan help me!" Anyone helping her would of been fine but all she could think of was the Lucario. There is no time to yell for the others as moments later her eyes catch sight of something that makes her utterly speechless. That dark speck had been a Pokemon after all. Worse yet, it was diving straight toward Haze. "Haze.." She gasps quietly. Her pink tongue batters her teeth but it can not make any more sounds. Tears stream down her cheeks at the scene until the final rip sound makes her entire body numb. Unable to feel her own paws they slip free of the edge as she is finally finds her voice once more. "HHHAAAZZzzzeee!" The word goes on but gets quieter as the cat topples down the crack.

Haze was gone, ripped to to shreds right before her eyes. She couldn't feel her body but he heart felt as though it had just been divided in half like this fissure in the ground. It beats rapidly in her chest. Im in a hole again.. Getting further and further away from Khan and Shiloh the sky was getting smaller against the dark earth. Brown paws batter at the wall but can not grip it. Instead she smashes the side with each jut of dirt. and Im going to die down here.