(ACE) The SKY Team

Ari should have figured that Blowjob would have had his reservations about waltzing straight into an inky minefield. She didn't particularly blame him, necessarily, but she still would have preferred if he had kept his damn trap shut. "Musn't there be another way up?"

"What do you expect us to take, the fucking elevator?" McChu snickered at the reply; hell, he'd almost said the same fucking thing himself. The humor was enough to momentarily distract him, at least, until the group continued to move toward the darkness.  "Man up, pretty boy. Let's go."

"Try to stay close. I can't see a damn thing up here so if you get separated holler, that way we can find you." Ari nodded and fully intended on keeping her word, but something happened. She had never experienced a darkness so obsolete, so oppressive that for a moment, as she paused in her strides, she wondered if she were suddenly and spontaneously blind. Well shit.

She waved a feathered wing hand in front of her face and saw nothing. "Guys, are you having issues seeing? It shouldn't be this fucking dark..."

"I can't see shit either," McChu grumbled beside her. "I'm grabbing your fucking tail. I ain't losing you in this--"

"Help! Something's got my wing! Please...! Hurry!"

"Chickie Poo?!" McChu didn't let go of Ari's tail, but he did run toward the voice a bit before being stopped by the tail's short length. "Ari, we gotta fucking go. Chickie Poo's in danger!"

"We can't just run off into the darkness, Fatass, we could fucking fall!"

"I'm not gonna listen to her fucking die!" the Raichu snapped back, and not a moment later, Ari felt his grip on her tail drop, accompanied by the sound of heavy footfalls. There was more shouting from the others, and Ari could barely make heads or tails of what was happening or what she was supposed to do. What the shit was going on?!

Nyx danced in glee as each of the fools ran off in opposite directions, running towards where they thought their precious flower's voice had emanated from. This was too easy. The girl they sought had become lost in the shadow and now they only had her to guide them, how tragic. She hovered near the ceiling as a portly outline moved through the darkness, his hurried and heavy steps a dead giveaway of his panic, and she followed him. He was so worried....

"It hurts, it hurts! Please make it stop!"

She moved behind him as she called out, worried that he might run into one of the dogs as they flailed about if he kept in his current direction. It wouldn't do for them to have support. Fear bred in loneliness, in desperation, the instinct to crave survival in an unknown situation. The scent of fear was growing in the air and Nyx swelled with pride knowing that she was the cause. Now...to up the ante.

"Help! The monster is here, it's with me! I'm too pretty to die like this!"

"It hurts, it hurts! Please make it stop!"

Ibiza whipped his head from side to side, hoping to catch a glimpse of any movement in the shadows, but his search yielded nothing. He began ambling aimlessly, caterwauling in an attempt to frighten the perpetrator. His heart sunk, if only a little, at the thought of losing the sweet dinosaur to the claws of a murderer. She was blind to the darkness of the world. She didn't deserve this. But his heart was walled up, and he refused to get emotionally invested in any of the Pokemon for fear of rejection, death, or worse. He supposed that was why Lancelot vexed him so. Such a cold heart, feeling such a warm sensation; ice melts from the pressure of heat, and he worried that Lancelot would be his undoing.

But fuck, he had to find him. He had to protect him. He, admittedly, was craving his affection, his wise words, his intelligence; a drug that pumped adrenaline through his very conciousness. Somehow, the pesky canine became a ray of sunlight filtering through the blackness. Somehow, he had wormed his way back into Ibizas' mind, the nostalgic bliss of happier days making him giddy and hazy, so much so that he had to put up an even ruder front around the other canine.

"Help! The monster is here, it's with me! I'm too pretty to die like this!" Initially, under fears spell, Lancelot believed that he had actually shouted the words and not realized it. The sound of his own voice jarred him so greatly that all he could do in rebuttal was let out an urgent whine of confusion.

The sharp cry caught Ibizas attention, and he perked up his slumped ears to offer more detection. "Lancelot! Where are you?" His typically delicate steps were now pounding on the stone floor as he blindly sprinted through the black, his ears flapping behind him in frantic desperation. God, why was he quiet for so long? Why wasn't he responding? "Listen here, fuckface. Tell me where the hell you are!"

"Ibiza! I-I swear that wasn't me! I didn't say a bloody word!"

Ibiza narrowed his eyes, decting that the voice was coming from his left; the direction that he veered towards once he heard the outcry. With a valiant lunge, Ibizas feet came to the ground for mere milliseconds before he was up again, bolting so fast he would have been a blue blur in the light. "Ibiza! Are you--"

The Glaceons' eyes widened in a panic when it dawned on him that the voice was much too close; he was unable to have time to skid to a stop before barreling into the startled canine, bowling both of them over into a panting, heaving mess. Lancelots bones ached as he wearily opened his clenched eyes, unable to recognize that it was his friend due to the darkness. He could only feel the hot breath of someone against his cheek. "P--please, Oh Arceus, if you're the murderer, if you have any sense of mercy left in you, kill me instead of the sweet girl you were harming. And kill me instead of Ibiza. Please."

This hindered Ibiza catching his breath even more, shock causing him to quake. "After all I've done to you," he inhaled deeply before continuing, "you would...give up your own life...for me?"

"Ibiza," Lancelot sighed in relief. "Oh, it's merely you. I'm so grateful to Arceus above, I believe. I'm not so certain. In that short time, I had become accustomed to the thought of dying."

"Worry not, we might still," wheezed Ibiza, climbing to his feet and ushering Lancelot to his. There was a silence between the pair, save for the pants of exhaustion.

"I'm thankful that, if I am to go, it is with a friend. No matter what, that is what you'll always be." Ibiza hung his head, an icy feeling of guilt creeping along his skin, making him to want to seep into the floor. "I know I have the tendency to monolgue, but, if these are to be my final moments, if the monster is lurking around, hungrily waiting for me, I want you to know something." Ibiza opened his mouth to retort, to say that their top priority was to search for Acht, but it may have been a lost cause at this point. She had been quiet for far too long. No, if they were to die, Ibiza would want to sit and have a conversation as if it wasn't their last minutes. "When we were children, you gave me hope. Even after you left to tour, and you had all but faded from my regions memory, I still looked at the old band posters and drew strength from you, even when you weren't there. When my owner died, when my best friend was slaughtered at the paws of my father, when I witnessed fellow survivors torn limb from limb by a monstrous Alakazam, I thought of you, and you gave me solace. Knowing that you could be out there somewhere in this dark and dreary world, shining bright as the day I met you, that thought brought me peace. And though you've lost a bit of your shine, y--you're still the brightest thing in this world to me. I still look at you and see the smiling face of a friend, playing tag and chasing one anothers tails." Lancelot attempted to shake out the embarrassment from his pelt, but it held tight. He held his head in shame, tapping his paws in anxiety as Ibiza remained stonefaced and silent.

Finally, after what felt like hours, Ibiza finally spoke admist the chaos and sense of impending doom in the cooridor, "You know, Lancelot." The Furfrou perked up his ears at his name. "After all that I've been through, I swore off the finer things in life. Hope...love...it is all a false luxury. It can be ripped away at the slightest moment, as proven here. Why would you still think of me? I'll admit, you hardly crossed my mind at all. I pushed you away, and everyone else, because my worst fear is rejection. I am but a coward, and I deserve to be ripped to shreds by a monster. And not even the Universe would shed a single tear for me."

Lancelot nosed his way through the shadows until he found Ibizas side, twining his tail with his. "Stay with me. Draw peace in the face that I'll never leave you. I can show you that you deserve much more than this. You're still down there. That band of yours created quite a buildup of stress, didn't it?" Ibiza felt himself breaking; he never imagined his eyes would well up with tears, but here they were. Lancelot nudged his cheek. "Let's go. Let's find a way out of here. I'm sure Ari has already done a number on whatever is attacking us. I don't know how to fight very well, but I'm talented with my Protect. I'll shield, you attack in the event of a brawl. Is that a bargain?"

Lancelot exhaled windily, his lips forming an "O" as he tried to calm his quaking paws. "I suppose so. And Lancelot?"

"Mhm?"

"You're a fucking idiot," grinned Ibiza, shouldering the Furfrou with a playful vibe.

"I'm well aware," chuckled Lancelot. Before they began their hunt through the dark, Lancelot gave a brief warning to whoever was listening...or left. "Everyone! We are being attacked by a supernatural being of sorts! For I was not the one who screamed!"

"Ahh, but they were right about one thing," thought Ibiza, a charismatic grin plastered on his face. "You are far too pretty to die."

"It hurts, it hurts! Please make it stop!"

McChu's heart pounded in his ears and gut as he skidded to a halt in his tracks and darted in the new direction. Shit, what had happened to her? Was there something munching on her? Was he already too late?! "CHICKIE POO!?" he cried, the desperation and panic all too clear in his voice as he raced along the uneven floor. He tried letting out small shots of electricity out in a bid to see his surroundings for even an instant, but the thought cut short as he tripped over his own feet and he slammed hard into the ground, dazed.

"Fatass?!" Ari called, startled and disoriented by the random and unknown flashes of light. "Fatass!" She heard nothing but more distressed, incoherent noises, and the flashes of light had stopped. She couldn't tell where they'd originated due to her poor eyes still trying to adjust and now he was just... silent. Shit. SHIT. What if he'd fallen!?

"Help! The monster is here, it's with me! I'm too pretty to die like this!"

"OH FOR FUCK'S SAKE!" Ari snapped, whirling in all directions as the voices bounced off the walls and pillars surrounding them. There was no way to find any of them like this-- her best sense was shut down like a fucking eclipse. She wanted to shout at them to shut up, to let them quietly and carefully make their ways back to each other, but there was fat chance of that. Fatass was either dead or about to be, and Acht and now Blowjob were likely out of the ring too. She snarled and thrashed in frustration as her mind frantically tried to come up with a solution. Thankfully, Blowjob managed to distract her.

"Everyone! We are being attacked by a supernatural being of sorts! For I was not the one who screamed!"

"The FUCK did you just say?!" Ari snapped back at the darkness. "What do you fucking mean, you didn't fucking scream?! What else can sound just fucking like you!?"

Nyx frowned as her plan backfired and led the two idiots to each other. The entire point had been to keep them apart so they would wander in the dark but it seemed like they didn't want to play right. Bastards. They weren't allowed to break the rules! She manipulated the shadows behind them and crept up slowly, waiting until they weren't paying attention before letting out a horrific scream of agony using the voice of their little fossil friend.

Raven heard the scream all the way from where she was and tried to find her way back but ended up running head first into a broken wall. "Ow! Mother fucker! I swear whoever is doing this I am going to rip you apart!" She hissed and seethed even as the others started to find their own voices. "Everyone! We are being attacked by a supernatural being of sorts! For I was not the one who screamed!"

"The FUCK did you just say?!" Ari all but snarled into the darkness surrounding her, probably wishing she could see what she was yelling at. "What do you fucking mean, you didn't fucking scream?! What else can sound just fucking like you!?"

"He's Lying! Don't listen to him he's trying to trick you. Only I'm the real me!" Nyx had moved back to her hiding spot in the shadows on the ceiling and watched her victims panic. If they were going to break the rules then she was just going to have to change them. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry this is all my fault. If I wasn't here the kid wouldn't be dead and none of you would be here." Raven's eyes went wide as she heard her own voice mocking her hidden shame. How...?

The pair of canines' had an acute sense of hearing, so the chaos that ensued caused them both to feel anxious. A dull thud caused Ibiza to turn his head and twitch his ears, and as Ari screamed out in desperation for the Raichu, he deduced that he had been the one who had fallen. "McChu is down," Ibiza glowered, seeing it as more of an inconvinience than anything. An eerie calmness in his tone made Lancelot uneasy.

"How can you tell that it was him, rather than the feline?" inquired Lancelot louder than intended, bracing himself by keeping his muscles taut and glaring into the darkness.

"You know good and well he's the only one large enough to make a noise like that." Lancelot, although acknowledging that the comment was brusque, nodded in affirmation. He assumed now was not the time to be polite; it was more of a time for swift analysis.

"What do you fucking mean, you didn't fucking scream?! What else can sound just fucking like you!?"

"I--" began Lancelot, but before he could piece together an explanation, a piercing screech sounded between him and Ibiza like an alarm. This sent both of them reeling in shock, and they were seperated in the shadows once again. Lancelots fight-or-flight instinct made him throw up a Protect to shield himself. "Follow my voice, I can use Protect! I shall shield you from the beast that plagues us!"

Ibiza cursed at the air, breathing a brief sigh of relief at the sound of Lancelots' voice. He spoke up, not only as a method to communicate, but as a way to show Lancelot he was not harmed. "Someone, find McChu!" he barked. "If we can get him to use an electric move, than maybe we can at least fucking see!"

"He's Lying! Don't listen to him he's trying to trick you. Only I'm the real me!" Lancelot snarled at the sound of his own voice, breaking a sweat as his Protect began to falter and fade into nothingness. He couldn't summon the energy to raise it again. He panted in exhaustion, choking out, "That...wasn't...me..."

Ibizas' mind whirled as he spun about in the black, releasing a quick burst of an Ice Shard in the faintest hope that it would gleam or offer the slightest bit of light, but this did not come to fruition.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry this is all my fault. If I wasn't here the kid wouldn't be dead and none of you would be here."

"Now...is not the time...for grief," wheezed Lancelot, still spent from holding his Protect for longer than intended.

"Lancelot is right. The only way we're going to survive this is if we all find each other and deduce where this fucker is coming from," Ibiza narrowed his eyes, yet again scanning the room for any sign of movement to no avail.

"I--" Ari's head swiveled as Blowjob's voice bounced off literally everything around her. This. Fucking. Tower. Once she got to the fucking top, she was going to raze this fucking place straight to the fucking ground. "Follow my voice, I can use Protect! I shall shield you from the beast that plagues us!"

Ari all but spat at the statement. "No shit, Sherlock! What the fuck do you think literally everyone in this fucking room has been trying to do?!"

"Someone, find McChu!" Icetits barked, incurring more anger from the Archeops. What the shit did he think she'd been trying to do? She wasn't just calling out for Fatass for her fucking health! "If we can get him to use an electric move, than maybe we can at least fucking see!"

"He's Lying! Don't listen to him he's trying to trick you. Only I'm the real me!" There was a moment of silence before Blowjob's voice echoed again, this time sounding winded and choked with strained effort. What the literal shit was happening. "That...wasn't...me..."

That of course wasn't the end. Suddenly Toots' voice was next. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry this is all my fault. If I wasn't here the kid wouldn't be dead and none of you would be here."

"Now...is not the time...for grief," Blowjob panted out from wherever he was and his chilly little boytoy agreed.

"Lancelot is right. The only way we're going to survive this is if we all find each other and deduce where this fucker is coming from,"

"And looking for people with just sound is fucking useless because the gODDAMN PLACE FUCKING ECHOES!" she erupted, smashing something stoney nearby to help vent her anger. She was never good at holding it in. "So, canine dickheads. Raven. You guys have the best noses. So let's all stop shouting at each other-- you find Fatass and make him use an electric move to light this place up. Use your noses, not your voices."

Hopefully, this would fucking work.

Raven scowled as she heard her own voice echo in the room, voicing her inner guilt but making much more of a sob story than she would have. Whatever, or whoever, this was they were in for an ass kicking when she found them. "Now...is not the time...for grief," Oh for fucks sake. "That would be helpful if it was me that fucking said it Cum-wad!" Raven hissed and scratched into the floor as her pent up frustration had no outlet. She had half a mind to start firing Thunderbolts at random to light up the area for brief moments but she ran the risk of hitting one of the others. Shit.

"Lancelot is right. The only way we're going to survive this is if we all find each other and deduce where this fucker is coming from,"

"And looking for people with just sound is fucking useless because the gODDAMN PLACE FUCKING ECHOES!" Well at least Ari seemed to get the point. Raven didn't know what happened in the dark between the two dogs but she really didn't want to know seeing as how they were suddenly so supportive of each others dumb ideas. She shuddered at the disgusting visual that presented itself in her mind. Dogs were gross.

"So, canine dickheads. Raven. You guys have the best noses. So let's all stop shouting at each other-- you find Fatass and make him use an electric move to light this place up. Use your noses, not your voices." Raven nodded, to herself because no one could fucking see her, and knew that Ari's plan was their only shot unless they happened to stumble into whatever was causing this by chance. "Got it!" She called back, but as she did she felt the air around her grow suddenly colder and the urge to flee prickling across her skin.

Nyx lurked in the shadows behind the feline and scowled menacingly, furious that these interlopers weren't playing fair. Without warning she shot a Confuse Ray at the Persian and without even realizing what hit her the cat was suddenly stumbling and crashing to the floor like a newborn babe. A bit of glee returned at the sight and she allowed her laughter to build. Soon the entire room was echoing with the haunting sounds of small children laughing, bouncing off of every corner of the room and giving no distinct direction. Let them try to hunt her, she was ready for them.

((I would like at least one more round before she gets caught please and thank you ^_^))

At the Persians' icy retort, Lancelot fought baring his teeth. He decided (as he had the first time he met Raven) to just let it slide off his back, as the idiom goes. Despite the fact that she was positively feral. After all, they were all having a rough time with their temper, given the cirsumstances. In the light, he would have given an obligitory glance towards Ibiza.

"And looking for people with just sound is fucking useless because the gODDAMN PLACE FUCKING ECHOES!"

Ibiza snorted, "Well, I don't hear you giving any damn ideas." Even in times of peril, his wits were about him. Lancelot wanted to hate his uncouth language, he really did. But coming out of that pretty mouth...he supposed he was excused. He drifted back to focus as Ari barked out a plan.

"So, canine dickheads. Raven. You guys have the best noses. So let's all stop shouting at each other-- you find Fatass and make him use an electric move to light this place up. Use your noses, not your voices."

"Got it!" Raven affirmed. Lancelot barked his approval, and began his hunt as well, ignoring the nervous quakes causing his body to clamor. He could do this.

"Like that's any better! You think just because I am a dog, that means I go around sniffing everyones' ass all day? I don't know what you smell like!" Ibiza spat on the ground in no place in particular. He couldn't wait to get to the peak and get all these...these intruders out of his tower, his domain. Except Lancelot, of course. The only time he could show affection towards the fellow canine was when they were alone, after all. That's all his pride would allow. He wondered if Lancelot was aware of that. He was sure that he was.

"At ease," Lancelot smoothed over, reducing Ibizas' boisterous complaining to a low grumble. "Besides, if this were one of those Undead heathens," he curled his lip at the words, "we'd smell their rotting bodies. This has to be something living. And the chances of survival, us against another living, is heavily in our favor." He said this more to reassure himself than anyone else. Each time he blinked, he saw the grinning face of that Alakazam behind his closed lids, holding up Spots' head like a morbid trophy.

Ibiza huffed, choosing to ignore Lancelot, simply due to the fact that he was right. He parted his jaws to breath in the damp air, trying to catch a hint of any odors in the air. Ibiza acknowleged that Raven had been quiet for quite some time, but he said nothing. They were too good for him, let them hunt for their own damn selves. He, although he didn't say anything, knew what Lancelot smelled like, and that was the only thing he was hunting for right now.

"Got it!" Well, that was slightly reassuring. Thank God Toots had some goddamn brains. A short yip from what Ari could only assume was Blowjob signaled his own understanding, but it seemed Icetits had a differing opinion.

"Like that's any better! You think just because I am a dog, that means I go around sniffing everyone's ass all day? I don't know what you smell like!"

"I assume BADLY, Dickhead!" she snapped over the subtle lull of a softer reply. "Everything in here, besides us, smells like dust, right? Well I know for a goddamn fact that I smell like seawater and ass stank. Shouldn't be that hard to pinpoint over the other smells. Douche." She stopped herself short as a childish laughter soon reverberated all around them, causing her feathers to rise and floof out.

"Oh no. Oh HELL. NO. FUCKING KIDDY LAUGHING? NU-UH. THAT'S THE FUCKING LINE. THAT'S CROSSING THE GODDAMN LINE." She whirled around, straining her eyes through the inky dark to find that useless fat tub of lard. "I swear to God, McChu, I am going to find you and I am going to use you like my personal flashlight." She stormed ahead, her wings on the ground as well as an added bit of peering into her surroundings. She had to find him. She had to get him to light the goddamn place.

Fucking kiddy ghosts.

Aris' rant made Ibiza snort with contempt, but it further fueled his momentum. He was, without a doubt, going to make it to the towers peak. And he was, without a doubt, going to get these...these intruders, out of his fucking territory. His ears folded behind him in frustration; his eyes narrowed into slits as a migraine began pulsing in his skull.

The Archeops didn't take the laughter well, as expected. "Oh no. Oh HELL. NO. FUCKING KIDDY LAUGHING? NU-UH. THAT'S THE FUCKING LINE. THAT'S CROSSING THE GODDAMN LINE. I swear to God, McChu, I am going to find you and I am going to use you like my personal flashlight."

"Then just fucking do it," muttered Ibiza.

Lancelot offered a more dignified response, pausing in his stride. "I have a propisition, we could--"

"No time for 'plans'," hissed Ibiza, biting his tongue after the cold retort. Lancelot recoiled from the snark in his tone, and, swallowing his pride, he continued his search. "Shit, just, gah..." Ibizas' eye twitched. "Just follow what Ari says. Any other ideas will be shot down anyways, she's the All Superior Dyke."

Lancelot felt his fur bristle at the words, a pit forming in his stomach. He didn't want to argue against Ibiza, but he wanted to tell him that now was no time for instigating a fight. It was then his nose caught the scent of someone, but it faded as soon as it came. He cursed his luck.

Icetits muttered something, but Ari couldn't be arsed to figure it out now. The only puzzle she was willing to solve right now was getting the lights back the fuck on. "I have a propisition, we could--"

"No time for 'plans'," Icetits interrupted, and once more his voice fluttered below her comprehension. Once his voice surfaced again, the words gave her pause. "Just follow what Ari says. Any other ideas will be shot down anyways, she's the All Superior Dyke."

"You're damn fucking straight I'm the All Superior Dyke," she snapped back. "And don't you fucking forget that, Icetits, when you think of another fucking smart-ass reply to spit out. Just find the fat fucking rat and we can get the fuck out of this tower."

Raven didn't understand the fog clouding her mind as she continued to stumble around, dazed. She took a couple of swipes at what she thought was a passing shadow but ended up merely smacking herself once then tripping and hitting the floor the other. She hissed and yowled in annoyance which only caused the strange, childlike laughter to get louder as it bounced off of the walls in every direction. She could hear Ari's voice screaming and cursing but her words sounded like static in her mind and not actual speech. What the hell was...

Fuck. She was confused. Whatever fucker in here they were trying to hunt had fucking confused her! The realization helped her head to clear and in her fury she allowed static to build across her fur as she unleashed a Thunderbolt, arcing up in multiple spires around her body and lighting the small area she now found herself in for just a brief moment. But it also had a bonus effect she didn't anticipate.

"O-uch!"

Ouch? That voice didn't sound like the other echoes, and it didn't sound like one of the others in the room. This was a new voice and it had a direction, it actually came from somewhere. A sly grin spread across the feline's face as she began slowly prowling around in the dark, building and letting off random Thunderbolts in the direction she heard it come from. "Stop it! Hey! You're not playing fair!" The voice kept moving and Raven kept letting off a new attack every time it did, following and herding the creature.

She hoped no one was in the direct path of her lightning but surely by now the flashes of light and the prissy voice had alerted them to what she was doing. At least Ari would have figured it out, she wasn't too sure about Jizzy and Creepy since it looked like they barely shared a brain between them. Why Sparkles hadn't figured out this little trick was beyond her but Raven wasn't going to let up. As the flashes lit up the room Raven spotted Feathers nearby and began to push the offending creature towards her hoping that Ari would help her bring whatever it was down.

Nyx struggled to keep hidden in her shadows as that blasted light kept making them vanish, sometimes long enough that she would get caught by the current of electricity and yelp in pain. But the cat hadn't spotted her yet so if she could just find a moment to get away- Ow! "Quit it!"

"Heh, not likely toots."


((Time to reign her in ^_^))

Lancelot clenched his jaw at the argument that began to spark between the pair; Arceus, the fire they spat at each other could light up the room on its own. He wanted to protest against the bout, but the dire situation rendered him mute. No doubt about it--he was frightened.

Ibiza lashed his tail behind him, considering the Archeops lucky that the infernal room was black as pitch. If it weren't, he would be buffering her with the strongest Blizzard he could muster. Her type disadvantage and snarky attitude would have been her downfall...if he could bloody see.

"O-Ouch!"

Both Lancelot and Ibiza whirled their head around at the vulnerable cry. Ibiza twitched his ears, cocking his head in perplexion. The voice didn't sound familiar...

"Was that the perpetrator?"

"Only one way to find out." Ibiza tracked down the general location of where the voice came from, hearing Raven hiss a reply, but not fully registering what she had said. He snorted. "Not so brave now, eh?" he clicked his tongue, chuckling at the Pokemon who had been terrorizing them. In turn, Lancelots' fear slowly ebbed.

The screams down below still haven't stopped.

Pacing the floor above and wringing his paws, the small Riolu swallows and once again, uses his aura vision.  Same number of auras as before, and none of them were red.  They're all alive, so no one's being... hurt... right?  Not like... not like that anyway, where the end result is... death.  

It's not hard to hear them talking; they're very loud and use strange words he's never heard before, but it's pretty easy to guess at the general idea.  People are angry and yelling angry things as they try to figure out which one of those auras below is the one messing with them.  There's zaps of electricity now.

Should he go down below?  Should he stay put?  When the yelling had started and startled him from the nest of rags he called his bed, he'd been so sure it would be over soon, but... well... it hadn't been.  And a few minutes ago he'd started checking to see what was going on down there in case he was wrong, and he had been wrong about what he'd originally thought; no undead.  Just angry survivors.  One is scaring the others.

And now there is a choice to make about this whole thing.  Stay put or go down?

Well... I don't have to stay, right?  I can just- peek.  And make sure that they're all okay.  They're survivors, they shouldn't be bad, but...  But one is scaring the others and that's not something he can deny.  Maybe they're just scared like me and they're scaring other people to ward them away?

Yeah, actually, that makes sense!  If someone from the lower floors had come up to the higher floors recently to settle, and other survivors came upon their territory, and they were as small as he is...

Of course they'd resort to scaring others to keep them away.  He should go assure them that they'll be fine!  Steeling himself with a nod, he moves to climb his way down to the floor below.

He halts to hide behind some debris, trying to peer through the darkness... but no.  Only his aura sight can help him here, and there are certain things he can't see with it.  It looks like the darkness is fading, though...

(Feel free to have anyone spot him and pounce on him because they assume he was helping Nyx freak everyone out!  I'm assuming the darkness is getting better since Nyx has been nabbed but do feel free to correct me if needed and I'll make the appropriate edits.)

"O-uch!"

Who the shit was that? Ari's head snapped up, searching for the owner of the new voice. Her eyes couldn't keep up with the random flashes of light Raven's electricity provided and therefore had to try and listen for the location. "Stop it! Hey! You're not playing fair!" Dammit, the thing wouldn't stay still! How was she supposed to follow a voice that kept fucking moving?

Toots, on the other hand, seemed to have a much better grasp at the whole "finding shit in the dark" thing. Good. "Quit it!"

"Heh, not likely toots."

Ari turned a little at Icetits' voice. "Not so brave now, eh?"

"Zap the living shit out of that garbage trap. I'm done with this fucking bullshit."

McChu woke from his daze with a start, giving a light groan and rubbing his forehead. Damn, what was happening? Fucking-- that's right. Some weird shit had happened and-- His eyes sprung open as his foggy mind jogged back to alert. Chickie Poo. He'd heard Chickie Poo call for help...

Desperately, he started to waddle again in a bid to find some trace of Chickie Poo. That awful feeling of dread was still solid in his gut and he hoped that the worst hadn't occurred. However, as he did, a new scent entered his detection. What was this... a Fighting type pokemon? Maybe Normal? He'd always had difficulty telling the two apart by scent. Still, it could be a Hariyama lurking in the dark and that was the last thing anyone needed.

With his adrenaline aiding his power, he tackled the newcomer full charge, shouting a "Gotcha, fucker!"

As Raven cornered the shadowed blob she could hear the others starting to close in with her. "Not so brave now, eh?" Raven almost missed the small creature scoff under the sound of her own, rolling her eyes as the Glaceon acted like he did anything to actually help. "Zap the living shit out of that garbage trap. I'm done with this fucking bullshit." The Persian was inclined to agree but as she moved closer her sparking skin started to reveal a shape inside of the shadow.

"Uh....huh? What the heck even- a stump?!" Raven was dumbfounded when she saw a tiny tree stump shaking beneath her forepaws, two eye holes peering up at her with little red dots in them. Was this for real? "What the heck even are you?" she asked with genuine curiosity as she poked at one of the limbs with her paw. The gentle batting caused the stump to spin around and Raven's innate feline nature grew too entertained to not keep doing it.

"H-Hey! Cut it out ya big b-bully!" Raven barked out a laugh at the meek voice within the stump, the owner trying to sound tough but failing with each stutter. "Aw come on, come on out. I wanna see what the heck you are." Nyx shook her head. "No! You're just g-gonna laugh at m-me. The always l-laugh." Raven paused her playful batting at the twisted limbs and made the stump stop spinning. "I'm not gonna l-"

"Gotcha, fucker!"

"Holy shit!" Sparkles loud cry scared the fuck out of Raven and made her jump back, scared that the chubby rat was going to tackle the stump and get her instead. But he never came. So what the heck was he after? Nyx tried to use the distraction to get away but Raven's paw came crashing down on her stump and kept her in place, the little ghost shaking and twisting to try and break free but Raven's paw was too big. "Stupid cat..." she muttered under her breath. "Shhh! Hey, uh, Sparkles? You okay there big guy?"

((Hate to do this but I'm gonna have to skip this round, my laptop is getting repaired. Lancelot and Ibiza are just crowding around Nyx with the others. Ibiza is snarling while Lancelot is more passive and ious. Sorry to keep you guys waiting so long. I thought it would be done today.))

"Not so brave now, eh?"
"Zap the living shit out of that garbage trap. I'm done with this fucking bullshit."

If only it weren't so hard to see what's going on!  He still can't see jack.  His nerves are spiking.

"Uh....huh? What the heck even- a stump?!"  Huh?  A stump?  Wait, was it a stump that was scaring everyone?  "What the heck even are you?"

"H-Hey! Cut it out ya big b-bully!"

A laugh.  "Aw come on, come on out. I wanna see what the heck you are."

"No! You're just g-gonna laugh at m-me. The always l-laugh."

"I'm not gonna l-"

Pain!

Little Felix is no match for the much larger McChu, the "Gotcha, fucker!" the rat cries as he tackles him nearly lost on the tiny canine as he's slammed into the ground.  

"Nononono get off get off that hurts I'm sorry I wasn't doing anything bad please get off-"  Words just fall out of his mouth as he squirms beneath McChu, pushing on the rat with the arm that didn't get pinned as terror roars through his ears.  What if coming down here was a mistake; what if they're going to hurt him now what if- what if-

Ari found herself finally beside Toots and let out an exasperated sigh. Jesus, that shouldn't have taken that long. Now, since Toots had whatever had been fucking with them on the run... "Uh....huh? What the heck even- a stump?!"  The fuck did Toots mean by a "stump"? Like a lost limb kinda stump? Surely not. Then that left the only other kind-- meaning what was left after a tree was cut down. "What the heck even are you?"

What the shit was even happening. Since when could stumps of any kind fucking talk? "H-Hey! Cut it out ya big b-bully!"

Toots laughed, but Ari didn't see much of the humor. She was way too pissed off. "Aw come on, come on out. I wanna see what the heck you are."

"No! You're just g-gonna laugh at m-me. They always l-laugh." Well, if she was a fucking tree stump, Ari didn't blame whoever "they" were.

"I'm not gonna l-"

McChu's triumphant shout took them all off guard-- even more so when his fat pudgy ass didn't appear in front of them. What the actual fuck-- "Nononono get off get off that hurts I'm sorry I wasn't doing anything bad please get off-"

"Shut up, you piece of shit-- what'd you and your fucking buddy do with Chickie Poo?!" he roared. "I'll get off of you when you answer me. 'Til I get an answer that I like, your little twiggy ass is gonna be my chair!" McChu shifted and properly sat on the poor bastard he'd found.

"Hold on, wait a minute, since when were there two?" Ari growled. "Would whoever fucked with the lights kindly turn them the fuck back on so we can fucking get a grasp on the goddamn situation?"

"Hold on, wait a minute, since when were there two?" That...was a good question. Raven's ears perked as she heard Sparkles complain about something with twiggy limbs. Was there another stump over there? "Would whoever fucked with the lights kindly turn them the fuck back on so we can fucking get a grasp on the goddamn situation?" Nyx struggled once more under Raven's heavy paw and hissed angrily. "Get the stupid cat off of me and I will!"

Raven scoffed. "Nothin' doin' sister." She lifted her head again even as the tiny ghost under her started to screech angrily, rolling her eyes at the kid's antics. "Sparkle Butt! What the hell you got over there? You got a tree too?" Nyx crossed her shadowy arms and pouted. "I'm not a tree you big bully."

"Me bully? You bully. You're the one trying to scare everyone."

"Yeah because this is my place. I've been here longer than you so get out."

"Oh for the love of- Sparkles you better get your fat ass over here before than vein in Feathers' head explodes and I learn to eat vegetarian."

"Shut up, you piece of shit-- what'd you and your fucking buddy do with Chickie Poo?!" His heart pounds harder as the angry rat roars at him. "I'll get off of you when you answer me. 'Til I get an answer that I like, your little twiggy ass is gonna be my chair!"  

Chickie Poo?  Buddy!?  What is he talking about!?  He's heavy and it hurts and he won't get off!  At least he can breathe, kind of?  Maybe he can be reasoned with?  "I didn't do anything and I don't have a buddy and I don't know who that is; I live upstairs!" He gasps. Oh. Talking is harder than he thought it'd be. Did anyone else even hear him? At least the Raichu did? "I heard screaming! I came- I thought I might be able to help!"

He resists the urge to shove at the giant butt pinning him. That might only make him madder.

"Hold on, wait a minute, since when were there two?" Okay good there are still other people there; maybe they can help? Will want to help? "Would whoever fucked with the lights kindly turn them the fuck back on so we can fucking get a grasp on the goddamn situation?"

"Get the stupid cat off of me and I will!" That's a littler voice. Is that who was scaring them? He can't even look over!

"Nothin' doin' sister." Angry screeching. Oh that aura is furious. "Sparkle Butt! What the hell you got over there? You got a tree too?"

"I'm not a tree you big bully."

"Me bully? You bully. You're the one trying to scare everyone." Oh, so she is!

"Yeah because this is my place. I've been here longer than you so get out."

"Oh for the love of- Sparkles you better get your fat ass over here before that vein in Feathers' head explodes and I learn to eat vegetarian."

"Pleasegetoff," he wheezes. Please listen to that lady, whoever she is.

McChu snarled down at the little fuzzy fighter -which could have only been a Riolu- as it writhed under his bulk. That's right, you little fucking shit. SQUIRM. "I didn't do anything and I don't have a buddy and I don't know who that is; I live upstairs!" the little guy pleaded with gasping breaths. McChu's long tail lashed around him, betraying his anger with the unsatisfactory answer. "I heard screaming! I came- I thought I might be able to help!"

"'Help'?" McChu echoed with a snarl. "Uh huh. Help shove us to the quick way down to the bottom floor, you mean."

As Ari bitched in the distance, another squeaky voice found its way to his ears. "Get the stupid cat off of me and I will!" What, was this entire tower filled to the brim with kids? Who the hell planned this?

"Nothin' doin' sister." Looked like Toots had whoever was making the other screeching noises. "Sparkle Butt! What the hell you got over there? You got a tree too?"

"I'm not a tree you big bully."

"Me bully? You bully. You're the one trying to scare everyone." Oh, so she is!

"Yeah because this is my place. I've been here longer than you so get out."

"Oh for the love of- Sparkles you better get your fat ass over here before that vein in Feathers' head explodes and I learn to eat vegetarian."

"Pleasegetoff," the little fuzzball wheezed, which had little effect on McChu's demeanor. "I don't have a tree. I've got a little Riolu," he called back. "I'm not moving off my cushion until the lights come back on so I can make sure he doesn't run off again."

"Mkay," Ari snarled, leaning down a little to to the small stump ghost. "Either you turn on the lights now, or I destroy you. Not kill. Not eat. Destroy. So complete will be your demise, there won't be a single fucking trace that you ever fucking existed. Do you understand me? I will smother you out of the very fabric of reality. Turn. On. The goddamn. LIGHTS!"

"Pleasegetoff," Another small voice, but not hollow like the sound of the ghost squirming beneath her larger paws. "I don't have a tree. I've got a little Riolu. I'm not moving off my cushion until the lights come back on so I can make sure he doesn't run off again." Raven rolled her eyes but looked down to the struggling tree as Feathers made her irritation beyond known.

"Mkay, either you turn on the lights now, or I destroy you. Not kill. Not eat. Destroy. So complete will be your demise, there won't be a single fucking trace that you ever fucking existed. Do you understand me? I will smother you out of the very fabric of reality. Turn. On. The goddamn. LIGHTS!" Nyx gave a rather undignified 'phbbt' towards Ari but at the deathly glare the larger bird she eventually relented.

"Fiiiiiiine. Hold your biscuits hot damn." Closing her eyes she began to release her grip on the shadows encompassing the floor, their murky depths retreating into their original forms as the hazy sun once again spilled through the open windows. "Happy now precious? Or are you going to aim more pointless death threats at a ghost?" Raven snorted. "Got a mouth on you for such a pipsqueak dontcha?"

"I aim to please."

"I don't have a tree. I've got a little Riolu. I'm not moving off my cushion until the lights come back on so I can make sure he doesn't run off again." He whimpers and tries to squirm again, but the Raichu is just too fat.

What are they going to do with him? Is he going to die here because he just wanted to help? Because this big angry jerk is going to suffocate him? Accidentally, because he doesn't realize how big he is, but it's not like that will do his corpse much good!

"Mkay, either you turn on the lights now, or I destroy you. Not kill. Not eat. Destroy. So complete will be your demise, there won't be a single fucking trace that you ever fucking existed. Do you understand me?" Um. Fine. Whatever makes her turn on the lights so they can get one step closer to not killing him. "I will smother you out of the very fabric of reality. Turn. On. The goddamn. LIGHTS!"

A raspberry noise. A tense standoff he can't even see.

"Fiiiiiiine. Hold your biscuits hot damn." Shadows withdraw, sunlight streaming through the windows again. It shouldn't bother him with the heavy, oppressing weight on his chest and stomach, but the light nonetheless burns his eyes and Felix winces, closing them. "Happy now precious? Or are you going to aim more pointless death threats at a ghost?" Raven snorted. "Got a mouth on you for such a pipsqueak dontcha?"

"I aim to please."

"You've got a f-funny definition of 'please,'" he snaps. If she ends up causing his death he's going to haunt her so bad. Put glue in her stump and- and legos around her bed.

Wait she's a ghost. She can't step on legos. Darn.

What kind of thing happened to her that she thinks terrorizing a room of strangers is totally okay, anyway?